Sailormoon, its characters, struggles and story, are the copyright 
and children of Naoko Takeuchi. No recognition to this tale can be 
given without properly paying honour to her first. They are 
rightfully hers and I respect how she has raised them all. May what 
I have written here, the dark and the light, be considered worthy 
as a token of my appreciation for the world she has created.


His lordship Chaos / Angel Electric 
06 - The Children of Forever

Rated PG13.


*****

Memento Mori.   ("Remember the dead")

	--Latin proverb

*****


	The palace felt all but empty in the earliest of morning 
hours. Despite the perpetual veil of darkness and starlight hanging 
over the Moon Kingdom, there were times when almost everyone was 
asleep. Jadeite walked the corridors alone, though the echoes 
carried by his footsteps were no longer aimless or uncertain. The 
shock had passed. Now he moved with purpose. He kept moving to 
appease the demons in his mind.
	Four Earth-days had passed since the aftermath of Spinel's 
failed assassination attempt--four Earth-days had spent in 
solitude, avoiding the fearful glances being cast in his direction 
by random palace-goers. They knew who he was. They knew what he was 
capable of. The whispers of his demon eyes had not yet settled, and 
if anything the strange and ultimately wrong stories of how he had 
come to turn people into scarlet rainclouds were growing in number.
	The others knew about it, of course.
	Nephrite acted blasé about the entire thing, and Jadeite knew 
that if Nephrite acted like he didn't care, then he really didn't 
care. Nephrite was that type of person. As far as Nephrite seemed 
concerned, Jadeite had done them a favour by not only killing two 
of the rogue Seraphim, but also in instilling a good dose of fear 
and wonder in the Lunarians. It wasn't every day a Terran became 
more lethal than the best Lunarian warrior.
	Zoicite was concerned, that much was obvious. He'd tried to 
talk, but Jadeite wanted none of it. The demon eyes were his 
burden, his darkness, and it remained his weight alone to carry. 
Kunzite had said nothing one way or the other, and his eyes told 
anyone asking that he was leaving it up to Jadeite to deal with on 
his own. However, Jadeite knew he had a deadline, and it was fast 
approaching. Kunzite would expect him back soon, and would not 
settle for any delays.
	He'd been like that once before. A slap across the face, 
courtesy of Kunzite, had quickly fixed that.
	Endymion likewise had said nothing, though Jadeite was sure 
the prince had spoken with Halcyon about it. Grudgingly Jadeite had 
to admit that was the wisest course of action, and he idly 
entertained the idea that perhaps Halcyon knew of a way to purge 
the monster inside his heart. A part of him did not want to give 
such darkness up; it had been a part of him for so long. Despite 
the fear it gave him, despite how much he hated it, he knew that if 
it disappeared, a part of him would be irrevocably lost as well. 
	He moved down the halls and pushed open a set of doors 
standing before him. They were open to the general public and swung 
open easily without noise. Jadeite slipped inside and made a 
gesture with his arms to the doors. They swung closed behind him 
and sealed him inside.
	It occurred to him that he had been so bent on walking to 
escape his thoughts that he had no idea what sort of a chamber he 
had walked into. There was but one wide, single corridor stretching 
out before him. On either side stood ancient and beautiful pieces 
of art, capturing faces and events and dates of the centuries past.
	He had slipped into the Hall of Antiquity.
	Jadeite took his time, especially since there was visibly no 
one else in the hall. History had always fascinated him. For that 
matter, he was a firm believer that those who didn't study history 
were either doomed to repeat it, or teach it to others. True 
students didn't need teachers. All they needed were guides to set 
the parameters. The rest was up to personal discovery, ingenuity 
and invention. Answers would come. They did not have to be 
carelessly given out.
	He lapsed into a quiet, content mood--a welcomed change to 
the lurking dread of knowing what he had become days before. 
Jadeite drifted from piece to piece, studying the plates and 
inscriptions next to them. He found a bust of Endymion's father, 
and a sincerely flattering summary of the man's role in helping 
establish a fragile peace treaty between Earth and Lunaria. He 
walked past the Sailor Soldiers of old, and many a King and Queen. 
	For a moment he paused before a painting of the Darkstorm, 
where four hundred years ago most of the planets had been turned to 
lifeless orbs circling the sun. The painting showed the destruction 
of what appeared to be Neptune, if his knowledge of planetary 
architecture was up to snuff. People ran and screamed and reached 
in vain for loved ones as a dark cloud with a cackling mouth 
leveled a palace, and hybrids of a grotesque nature killed and 
slaughtered.
	Something about the vividness of the painting left Jadeite 
unsettled, as if it was too real for his liking. The odds were very 
good it had been painted by a witness to that horrific event and 
could not forget it. Jadeite wondered what he might have done had 
he been there four hundred years ago. Would he have fought, or 
would he have fled? 
	For as dedicated a soldier as he was, he had never fought a 
battle he knew he could never win. It came down to a question of 
sacrifice, and whether he believed standing and fighting would make 
any sort of difference, even if it meant only a single person could 
escape death because of him.
	Jadeite turned his back on the painting and moved away. He 
continued down the corridor, reading and learning and taking in 
majestic sculptures and elegant paintings. He learned more from the 
Hall of Antiquity in ten minutes than from an entire year in a 
Terran-Nihongo classroom. There were occasions where he doubted the 
sincerity of what he read; he wondered how much of it was glossed 
over for the sake of Lunarian pride. Earth was no different, of 
course. Everyone had their vanity.
	He reached the end of the hall.
	And there he found The Progenitor. 
	He stood transfixed before the terrifying flood molded into 
what might have been stone and what might have been metal. Jadeite 
was unable to look away from the lone Sailor Soldier fighting what 
appeared to be an eternal war against a tide of formless evil. He 
could have sworn it was almost a living being, and somehow he was 
merging into something both terrifying and far greater than him, 
for however briefly. Jadeite abruptly recognized a gaping maw 
somewhere in the leering tide that threatened to sweep the Sailor 
Soldier away, and his body became alive in chills and goosebumps. 
	No...that thing, whatever it was, was alive. 
	Somehow, impossibly alive.
	There were watery tendrils and crushing waves frozen in time 
everywhere he looked, hauntingly real despite the centuries that 
must have worn away the edges and details of the piece. For a 
moment, Jadeite could have sworn he heard some distant, chaotic 
noise crashing down like an ocean tide, and a woman's voice calling 
down fire to destroy it.
	And then something inside his own soul resonated with it.
	Jadeite sucked in an urgent breath as his chest grew 
constricted, tightening around his lungs and his heart like a vice. 
He broke out into a cold sweat and choked on his own tongue. The 
Progenitor brought him to his knees, and while he struggled to get 
back onto his feet, Jadeite could not shake the dreaded sense that 
he was bowing before this blasphemy.
	Tears began pooling in the corners of his eyes.
	Jadeite knew they were going to be crimson.
	The demon inside stirred, groggily lifting its head as it 
heard the calling of something powerful, something far greater and 
far older than it. It was hearing the voice of its master and 
maker. Jadeite hissed and clutched at his heart, his fingertips 
pressing violently against his ribs. The tears began to fall, and 
he fought to ensure his eyes stayed his own.
	Slowly he raised his head and stared at The Progenitor.
	From its unmoving, carved mouth came a low, guttural roar: 
distant and echoing like wind passing through the unknown depths of 
a cave. The roar began to grow louder. It was drawing closer. The 
Progenitor started to shift before Jadeite's eyes, moving and 
drawing an infernal breath. The waves of its body twirled and 
turned and shifted, reaching up and reaching out towards him.
	And then Jadeite heard a voice.
	It sounded human, and spoke in his tongue, but it was unlike 
anything he had ever heard before or wanted to hear again. His 
heart nearly exploded inside his chest, and his mind was almost 
lost into madness. That voice. Those words. Their claim.
	"What do you want of us...?"
	Jadeite suddenly awoke, and with a start. He sat up and 
scrambled across the floor of the Hall of Antiquity, frantically 
searching both ends of the hall. The chamber was empty and quiet, 
as unobtrusive and inviting as it had been when he'd first entered 
it. The voice echoed in the far recesses of Jadeite's mind, and 
carefully he stood back upon shaken legs.
	He had fallen asleep before The Progenitor piece. Or passed 
out.
	And that voice....
	Jadeite forced himself to stare at the piece, its chilling 
realism etched and frozen in time. It was no more dangerous now 
than if it were being viewed by twenty people. A piece of art could 
never be dangerous. 
	Jadeite heard the voice drifting upon the winds of the hall 
once more. He touched the side of his face, and felt the wet, 
sticky warmth of blood.
	That had been no mere dream.
	Whoever or whatever had created the sculpture had locked 
something inside of it. Some fragment or piece of some nameless 
horror had been brought along with The Progenitor, and it had 
recognized the monster inside him, like it was some grandchild or 
offspring. The Hall of Antiquity became less inviting. Jadeite 
forgot about his own demon eyes. He had just discovered something 
new to be far more terrified of. Something older. Something that 
was perhaps the darkest of darkness, the first of what they had 
come to call 'evil'. 
	He left the Hall of Antiquity, not running but preferring to 
leave sooner rather than linger in the presence of a dread that 
felt older than their worlds. 
	Jadeite slowed his steps and looked back over his shoulder.
	The Progenitor was still and unmoving.
	He turned away from the sculpture, and wondered how such 
chaos could have ever come into being, and whether it would ever be 
driven into oblivion.




			Are you dancing?


			 ANGEL ELECTRIC



	The Queen of Lunaria sat inside her chamber where rose petals 
fell like rain. At her feet was a trio of Shih-tzu dogs: living, 
loving memories of Endymion's father. They had been mere puppies 
when he had presented them to her as gifts. Now the dogs were 
growing old, though the power that flowed in her blood and radiated 
from her body had, over the years, crept into their bodies as well. 
On Earth, they would be nearing the end of their life. On the moon, 
their lives were still vibrant and playful.
	In Halcyon's lap sat Luna, who stared down at the Shih-tzu's 
cautiously. For as much as the dogs had come to view her casually 
like one of their own, her latent feline instincts always made her 
wary around them.
	"They're not going to chase you," Halcyon said with a bit of 
a laugh, and she stroked Luna's back. "It's been years since 
they've done anything like that."
	"That doesn't mean they won't suddenly decide trying it 
again," Luna replied.
	Halcyon chuckled and continued to stroke the Mau cat. "That's 
right; your world has nothing resembling canines, does it?" Her 
smile faded a little. "It's been a long time since you were last 
there, hasn't it?"
	Luna sensed the fading smile from her Queen, and looked up 
into Halcyon's eyes. "We knew this was a one-way trip, my Queen," 
she said, hoping to revive some of Halcyon's confidence. "We knew 
that in coming here we could never return to Mau."
	Against her wishes, Luna felt the pangs of homesickness crawl 
into her stomach. She laid her head down upon Halcyon's knees, and 
stared down at the Shih-tzu's. She had been away from all that she 
knew and loved for longer than she cared to admit to.
	"You and Artemis have done so much for me and asked for so 
little in return," Halcyon said, and sighed deeply. "It is a debt I 
fear I can never repay you, regardless of whatever riches and 
prestige I may offer you."
	"We asked for nothing in the past," Luna stated, looking back 
up at Halcyon. "We're not about to ask for anything now. This is 
our duty. By being here, Artemis and I are fulfilling the task 
appointed to us by our planet."
	Halcyon nodded her head, and scratched behind Luna's ears. 
Luna began to purr.
	"I am grateful to Mau for going against the Sailor Council's 
wishes and sending you both here," Halcyon said. "You have done 
more in helping find and train the Sailor Soldiers than I ever 
could have accomplished on my own."
	Luna rested her chin upon her forepaws, staring down at the 
dogs. They were starting to look more red than white as the falling 
rose petals began to blanket their fur. They didn't seem to mind. 
	"It's been so long since Galaxia disappeared," Luna said in a 
quite voice. "The cosmos are quieting down, even in the systems 
where the war raged its fiercest. Everyone believes that a time of 
peace has come. This is considered a rural system, and they all 
still believe that despite your Sailor Soldiers being reborn, you 
are under no great threat."
	"And yet they know that the Darkstorm nearly destroyed us 
all," Halcyon stated. Her voice grew bitter against this distant 
council she had only heard of through the Mau cat's recounting. 
"That threat wiped out almost all of our Soldiers in the final 
battle. Destiny brought the Soldiers to us because we were about to 
face an evil far beyond our power. If they are being reborn anew, 
then I cannot believe the evil now arising will be any less 
dangerous than the Darkstorm."
	Luna's eyes narrowed. "It doesn't matter. They still don't 
believe your system warrants any more attention or concern. Even 
the messenger who told you of the Soldier's rebirth lingered no 
more than a single night. I doubt Mau's even told the others that 
they sent Artemis and I here as a precaution after the messenger 
returned to the core systems."
	With a gesture from her hand, Halcyon called the walls to 
life. The surface of the walls behind the vines rippled and 
changed. Solid wall became a mirror into other parts of the palace, 
and the arches jutting out from the walls separated the mirror into 
eight. From here she could see whatever might go on within her 
palace. What any wall saw, she saw, so long as she was watching at 
the time.
	Or so she believed. 
	Eight different faces appeared before her.
	She saw Ami sleeping pleasantly next to a stack of open 
texts, and Makoto tossing and turning beneath her covers. She saw 
Rei fervently seeking answers from a burning fire, and Minako 
curled up contentedly in the arms of a slumbering General outside 
in a garden. She saw Haruka, unable to sleep, playing a quiet 
melody on a Lunarian piano, while Michiru slept soundly in the next 
room. She saw Hotaru quietly stirring and preparing to begin 
another day as the palace Healer. And she saw Setsuna staring 
intently down at the floor where she sat, thinking many a dark and 
brooding thought about the past, present and future.
	"Eight Sailor Soldiers," Halcyon said, looking at each of 
them in turn. "They are different from us, Luna. While their lives 
are brief, the war they face is eternal, and they are born of the 
light to fight against the rising darkness. They are indeed the 
children of forever, for their battle will never end."
	"There used to be more," Luna said quietly. 
	At this, Halcyon shook her head. "Nothing could be done about 
Aurora; it happened two hundred years ago. And as much as it pains 
me to say it, I do not believe that we will ever see another Sailor 
Soldier of Earth arise. Something happened in that final battle, 
Luna. A transference of power or destiny--we'll never know."
	"There is Endymion," Luna tentatively offered. "His powers do 
echo of something perhaps not Lunarian, but definitely of something 
beyond simple Earth 'magic'."
	Halcyon smirked. "I don't think he'd look very good in their 
uniforms."
 	They fell silent as they watched the Sailor Soldiers endure 
their destinies and struggles.
	"What about your daughter?" Luna asked. "Have you told her 
yet?"
	The walls flickered and changed, and Halcyon and Luna found 
themselves staring at a reflection of Princess Serenity's bedroom. 
She was sitting inside the window frame of her bedchambers, staring 
up at the Earth. On the balustrade next to her, a gold, star-shaped 
locket played a quiet lullaby. Serenity's silver nightgown caught a 
stray gust of wind and billowed out beside her. 
	Halcyon shook her head. "I have kept many secrets from my 
Serenity, Luna. Her destiny as both a princess and a Sailor Soldier 
is but one of them. And I do not wish to burden her with that 
secret so soon. That time will come when she takes the ceremony of 
Ascension, and the Ginzuisho becomes hers. Before she joins the 
others, I want her to at least enjoy the life she has been given."


			*	*	*
	Endymion shuffled out from his bedchambers, looking like a 
man who had slept all night and yet not slept enough. As he groped 
for the back of a settee in the common room, he found Kunzite 
already occupying one of the chairs. Savouring the quiet of the 
early morning, Kunzite had with him an open Lunarian text, and it 
seemed to have captured most of his attention.
	"Morning," Kunzite said without looking up from the book.
	Endymion slumped over the back of the settee and then rolled 
over it onto the cushions. "I don't know how you can go to bed 
later than most of us and somehow manage to get up earlier than all 
of us," he muttered. "Is it something they're putting in your 
food?"
	"Actually," Kunzite said, "it has something to do with all of 
Hotaru's healing sessions I've been attending. I think she's 
infusing me with more energy than my body can handle. I have to get 
rid of it somehow."
	"So just spent the night with Minako already and get it over 
with," Endymion said. "Or is that where you just came from?" 
	"Hardly," Kunzite said evenly. He looked up from his book. 
"She fell asleep in one of the gardens, so we stayed there all 
night. I think the bed would have been better though; my legs are 
unpleasantly stiff."
	Endymion paused, glanced over at the doors to Kunzite's 
chambers, and then looked back at Kunzite.
	"I'll let your imagination get the better of you," Kunzite 
said before Endymion could even open his mouth.
	"When you say it like that," Endymion remarked, "it means 
nothing happened."
	"Very astute. She did, however, leave me this book as a 
memento."
	"Well, it's not like we're blind," Endymion said matter-of-
factly. "You may act casual about it. She doesn't."
	"So I've noticed," Kunzite agreed, and set the book aside. He 
gestured to a tray of breakfast fruit and pastries. "They were 
delivered half an hour or so ago. Care for any?"
	"I think all I'm caring for at the moment is a warm shower 
and a morning not devoted to yet another meeting," Endymion said, 
and rubbed the temples of his head. "There's been so much endless 
speculation about Spinel's benefactor that my brain is ready to 
explode."
	"Well, Garnet's doing what she can," Kunzite said, "though 
she hasn't found any links yet. Unfortunately for us, she's the 
only solid resource we can tap into for the time being. All we can 
do outside of wait for her to provide us with any new leads is to 
speculate, and train."
	"At least you get to train."
	Kunzite smiled at Endymion. "You know, all you need do is ask 
Halcyon for the opportunity to do some private training, and she 
will give it to you. Otherwise, you'd better stop complaining about 
meetings in the morning, and afternoon social encounters meant to 
further good relations between them and us."
	He paused and then added, "The nightly masques, however, you 
can complain about."
	"Gee, thanks for your permission," Endymion grumbled.
	Kunzite glanced around the common room. "I see Jadeite's 
disappeared again," he idly remarked. "I'm starting to think it's 
time we reined him back in. We have more important tasks to contend 
with, and we need his mind and his skills. He's had enough time for 
introspection and moping about."
	"I'll go look for him after I shower," Endymion offered. 
"Talk things out with him as best I can."
	"Shall I have Setsuna summon an escort for you?" 
	"No," Endymion said quickly, almost panicked at the mention 
of it. Then he saw the stern expression of Kunzite's face, and 
realized he'd been baited. Kunzite smirked, picked the Lunarian 
book back up, and resumed his reading. Ruefully shaking his head, 
Endymion turned and headed back to his bedchambers.
	Kunzite lifted his eyes from the book as he heard Endymion's 
door shut closed. "Always the lovers who make things complicated," 
he remarked.
	He was unable to continue in his book for long. Another of 
the chamber doors opened up and Nephrite emerged with a yawn, 
already dressed in casual Terran-Nihongo military attire. These 
days no one had a problem with any of them openly carrying their 
swords.
	"General," Kunzite said with a nod of his head.
	Nephrite gave it a dismissive wave of the hand as he trudged 
past. He made no attempt to hide the fact that he was heading 
straight for the breakfast tray laid out on the common room table.
	"You certainly are being spoiled with their cuisine," Kunzite 
remarked.
	Nephrite shrugged as he shoved half a pastry into his mouth. 
"Mwy mst a goog fing?"
	"Damn it, will you swallow before you try to talk?"
	"Why waste a good thing?" Nephrite said after he swallowed 
his mouthful. "If Lunarian hospitality is this tasty, I'm not about 
to miss out for however long we're here."
	He sat down in a chair next to Kunzite and began to select an 
item of fruit to eat next. "Come to think of it, just how long are 
we going to be here anyways?"
	"I'm not altogether certain myself," Kunzite admitted.  
"Spinel's assassination attempt has thrown the environment into a 
rather unique state. Both Earth and the Moon seem more amicable 
with each other than ever before, and so far the public doesn't 
seem to think we're needed back in our homeland yet."
	"Regardless of public opinion," Nephrite said, "it's not wise 
for the five top leaders of our country to be out of our country 
for any great length of time. Raiders will soon be the least of our 
concerns."
	Kunzite smirked and set his book aside once more. "I doubt 
anyone will attempt a coup after hearing just how impressively the 
five of us helped wipe out a rogue garrison of Seraphim Guards."
	"Be that as it may, I think it unwise for all four of us to 
stay with Endymion," Nephrite stated between chews of Lunarian 
melon. "A few of us should stay, yes, but not all of us." 
	His expression darkened as he swallowed his last bite of 
melon. "I know all about the importance of good will, but I grow 
anxious the longer we are away from Earth."
	Kunzite sat up a little. "The vision?" he asked.
	Nephrite nodded. "I have spent most of the last few days 
exhausting myself in meditation," he sighed in frustration. "I have 
pushed my farseeing abilities to their limits, and come up with 
nothing. This woman is not about to show herself again."
	"Do you think the first time you encountered her was by 
chance alone?"
	"I hate to admit it," Nephrite said with a scowl, "but it's 
looking that way. She wasn't expecting a farseer and let her guard 
down enough for me to punch through. She's too smart to make that 
mistake a second time."
	Kunzite sat back in his chair and mulled over the 
possibilities. If there was one skill he excelled at, it was on-
the-spot troubleshooting. His genius for it had secured him most of 
his victories in the past--and the rest were secured through sheer 
force and numbers.
	"Your way isn't working," he said finally to Nephrite. "She's 
found a means to block against that. Perhaps it's time you looked 
elsewhere."
	Nephrite regarded his elder with some confusion. "What are 
you suggesting?"
	"That a change of tactics and technique is in order."
	"And how would you suggest we go about doing that?"
	One of Kunzite's eyebrows arched, as if the thought should 
have occurred to Nephrite days ago. "From what Jadeite has told 
both of us, I believe Sailor Mars has a gift not unlike your own."
	Nephrite sighed and slumped back in his chair, evidently 
having expected something grander. "She's been doing her 
own...whatever in front of that sacred fire, hasn't she?" he said. 
"Not much luck on her part either, from what I've gathered. She's 
getting as frustrated as me."
	"This woman you saw may be able to counter Terran and 
Lunarian farsensing techniques separately," Kunzite said. "But do 
you think she will be able to so easily mount a defence against a 
hybrid between the two?" 
	Nephrite stared at Kunzite in mild surprise, but the more he 
considered the strategy, the more he found himself agreeing with 
it. "That's an intriguing idea," he said. "Not to mention tricky. I 
don't even know if I can master her technique, or vice versa, in 
the short amount of time we require."
	"You believe we have that little time?" Kunzite asked, 
suddenly worried.
	"I know it," Nephrite stated, and he looked right at Kunzite. 
"I saw her eyes, Kunzite. She's getting ready to make her move. 
What I don't like is how she acted as if she's been planning this 
for years." 
	Nephrite shifted uncomfortably at the thought, and grabbed 
another piece of fruit. "Do you think she'll go for it--Sailor 
Mars, I mean?"
	"If there's something for her to learn in turn, I think so," 
Kunzite said. "You both are seeking a common goal, so at the very 
least that should give you some room to manoeuvre when making your 
request."
	"It's worth asking," Nephrite agreed. "I'll get right on it."
	He stood up and grabbed a few more of what resembled grapes. 
"What about you? What's on your morning agenda?"
	Kunzite shrugged. "I've already completed the morning 
communiqué with our homeland, which means I'm free until the 
afternoon. I was thinking of taking some time to spar with some of 
the Sailor Soldiers."
	"Again?" Nephrite said, and shook his head. "You're wasting 
your time--at least with the Inners. It will take years of combat 
experience before they reach our level."
	"Their naiveté does give them a unique edge, Nephrite. Do not 
discount that so easily."  
	"It's not that I'm discounting."
	"Indeed," Kunzite soberly agreed. "Not something, but 
someone. Just what do you have against Sailor Jupiter?"
	Nephrite's pleasant expression grew corroded and cold. "That 
is between her and me, General," he stated. His voice grew 
menacing. "You would do well not to pry into my personal affairs."
	"For now, I see no need," Kunzite concurred. "However, if 
your private affairs become too public, believe me, I will make it 
my business." 
	"I'd be frightened if you didn't," Nephrite said. He glanced 
down at the book beside Kunzite's chair. "What are you reading 
anyways?"
	Kunzite turned to the book, and let his hand rest upon the 
cover. "Ancient poetry from Venus. Minako wanted me to read it."
	"Any good?"
	"It has its moments."
	Nephrite tilted his head a bit, and caught the title. Even 
though it was written in Venusian runes, which were different from 
the more common Lunarian ones, he could still decipher it. 
	"I'll bet it does," he said with a smirk, and departed. 
	Kunzite shook his head and pinched the bridge of his nose 
again. "I don't even know why she has a book of erotic literature 
in the first place," he muttered to himself. 


			*	*	*
	Finding Jadeite proved an unexpectedly simpler task than 
Endymion had imagined it would be. Not five minutes after leaving 
the guest quarters, they encountered each other, moving in opposite 
directions. Jadeite's eyes were cast down at the floor, and he 
looked like he was brooding. Again. Or still. Endymion saw Jadeite 
first, and was surprised to see Jadeite walking down such a public 
corridor.
	A few of the Lunarians in the hallway paused and whispered as 
Jadeite passed them. Their fear was just as strong now as it had 
been days ago, even though there had been no further incidents of 
Jadeite losing control. Endymion's plan had not been to have their 
confrontation in front of outsiders, but it would work to his 
advantage. Jadeite knew well enough to show and convey proper 
authority when in the presence of others.
	"General!" Endymion said sharply. His tone was designed to 
catch Jadeite's attention. It was the voice of a commanding 
officer.
	Jadeite lifted his head, saw Endymion, and stopped.
	Endymion stalked up to him, and opened his mouth to give not 
an encouragement, but a verbal slap across the face telling him to 
start acting like a Terran-Nihonjin General again. 
	"I know what you're going to say," Jadeite abruptly told him 
in Terran-Nihongo. "You needn't waste your breath. I've been 
running long enough." Jadeite glanced down the corridor. "It's time 
I started moving in another direction."
	Endymion closed his mouth, half relieved that he didn't have 
to berate one of his best soldiers, half disappointed to discover 
he had been psyching himself up for nothing. "What brought this 
on?" he asked.
	A dark, rueful smile appeared on Jadeite's face. "I found 
something far worse than my demon eyes. Do what you must, Endymion, 
and I will go where you command. Now if you'll excuse me, I have 
much to catch up on."
	He resumed whatever course he was heading on, leaving 
Endymion to stand in the middle of the corridor. "If you see 
Nephrite," Jadeite added over his shoulder, "tell him he's hunting 
something old. Something very old."
	Something about the way Jadeite spoke sent a chill down 
Endymion's spine. He turned to his fleeting General. "Jadeite, what 
happened to you?" he said.
	Jadeite paused, but did not turn around. "I'm afraid, 
Endymion. I fear for the future."
	"No," Endymion said, incredulous, shaking his head. "In all 
the years I've known you, you have never once been afraid of 
anything save those demon eyes. Wary, yes. Concerned, definitely. 
But never afraid."
	Jadeite exhaled, and his jaw clenched as the voice of The 
Progenitor echoed in his mind. "There's always a first for 
everything, Milord. I just wish this didn't have to be it."
	"Dammit Jadeite, stop talking in riddles!" Endymion said. 
"What happened to you?" 
	But Jadeite would say no more. He walked away and disappeared 
around a corner. Endymion was left to wonder just what they were 
getting themselves into.


			*	*	*
	All the days spent inside the Lunarian palace had left 
Kunzite with a growing mental map of the layout. Day by day, with 
each new hour and each new journey he made for this function or 
that meeting, the otherwise tangle of corridors, promenades, 
gardens, waterways and staircases became more familiar.
	He no longer required a guide as he made his way to the 
Sailor Soldier's private sparring arena. Halcyon had also granted 
him at least a temporary pass into some of the more restricted 
areas of the palace. It meant getting some sort or mark or 
invisible identification branded onto the palm of his right hand, 
but he didn't object. There had been a disturbingly mystical 
ceremony involving some people in long robes who resembled shamans, 
and a lot of chanting. Nothing had been inserted into his palm, but 
at the time Kunzite caught sight of some Lunarian rune flickering 
across his skin like a tattoo. For the most part it remained hidden 
and unseen. Still, it felt very odd to show one's hand to a set of 
doors instead of pushing them open or reaching for the door 
handles. 
	The cool Lunarian winds rushed through the doorway, greeting 
Kunzite with the scent of damp grass and fresh air. Without a sound 
the doors closed behind him, and he began to descend down the small 
flight of stone stairs that would lead him into the arena itself.
	He expected the sparring arena to be empty.
	Instead, he found Makoto.
	She never saw him breeze into the arena, her eyes and 
attention focused solely on a ghost that only she could see. 
Kunzite recognized it well enough; he had shadow-boxed on countless 
occasions in the past. Now he stood back and watched as Makoto 
fought whatever personal demons rose up from within her.
	She moved with incredible speed, her punches looking like 
lightning. The entire series of kicks and punches, spins and twist 
became like a dance. Makoto's shouts were all he ever heard, save 
for the lethal swishing of air. Abruptly she slipped on the grass 
as she kicked into the air once more, and hit the ground. She swore 
twice in her native tongue, since it sounded distinctly not 
Lunarian, then forced herself back onto her feet and resumed her 
practice.
	Watching her, Kunzite admired what he could only describe as 
great respect for her dedication to the craft. He was only vaguely 
aware of Minako entering the arena and joining him on the stairs.
	"I've been looking all over for you," she whispered.
	Kunzite smiled and whispered back, "I've been here the entire 
time."
	"What are you doing here?"
	"I was hoping to practice." His attention was drawn back into 
the arena, as Makoto leap into the air with some astonishing height 
and performed a roundhouse kick that would have easily broken the 
necks of any normal human being. "Magnificent, isn't she?" he said 
breathlessly.
	Minako not so mercifully elbowed him in the ribs.
	"Ow! I didn't mean it that way!" Kunzite hissed through 
gritted teeth as he tenderly gripped the side of his chest.
	The noise of their scuffling echoed across the sparring 
arena. Makoto froze in mid-kick and stared at them. Very slowly she 
lowered her leg and scowled at them both over the intrusion.
	"What do you want?" she demanded.
	Minako grimaced. "Ooh, she's grumpier than usual today."
	That only made Kunzite smirk. An idea was forming in his 
mind, and he was not about to pass up such a perfect opportunity. 
He started moving towards Makoto. "I came here to spar with you," 
he stated in a loud, clear voice.
	Makoto straightened in suspicion and surprise. "You did?"
	"You did?" Minako echoed in equal surprise as she chased 
after him.
	Kunzite undid his scabbard from his waist, and handed his 
weapon to Minako. "Hold this for me, please." He fixed his gaze on 
Makoto. "No fancy weapons, no special attacks. Skill against 
skill."
	Makoto snorted and looked to be on the verge of laughing at 
him.
	"All right," she said. "If it wipes that arrogant smirk off 
your face, I'm game."
	"Makoto!" Minako exclaimed.
	Kunzite held out a restraining hand before Minako. "Let her 
be," he said quietly in Terran-Nihongo. "This fight's meant for 
her, not me."
	He faced his opponent.
	Makoto drew out what resembled a small golden wand and called 
out, "Jupiter Star Power: Make Up!" The pillar of light that 
erupted from the ground beneath her was a brilliant emerald. 
Kunzite had to turn his eyes away from its intensity. When the 
light faded, Sailor Jupiter stood before him.
	"I won't hold back," Jupiter warned him. She almost seemed 
itching to fight, as if he was about to become a vent for whatever 
bad blood existed between her and Nephrite.
	"I'd be disappointed if you did," Kunzite agreed. "I've 
already fought Minako once, and she beat me quite impressively. I 
expect better from you. You have raw power. Now let's see how well 
you can control it."
	He assumed a battle stance, one arm outstretched and awaiting 
Jupiter to come within reach of his fingers. Sailor Jupiter took up 
a stance of her own, though she resembled someone about to enter a 
brawl than a sparring match.
	The air thickened with tension as they waited to see who 
would attack first.
	Kunzite had watched Jupiter long enough; she would be the 
first to charge. She was that audacious.
	Then unexpectedly a new voice echoed across the arena: 
someone deliberately cleared her throat to draw everyone's 
attention. Kunzite and Jupiter looked away from each other, and saw 
Haruka standing atop the stairs. Quietly standing behind her was 
Michiru.
	"Haruka!" Jupiter exclaimed, surprised and intimidated all at 
once.
	"What are they doing here?" Minako said as she approached 
Kunzite.
	Kunzite relaxed his stance and dropped his guard. Haruka's 
eyes were boring into him. "I know what you're trying to do," 
Haruka said to him in Terran-Nihongo, "but you should go. Leave her 
in my hands."
	For as much as he personally wanted to test out Jupiter's 
skills, Kunzite knew better than to push the issue. "As you wish," 
he conceded, bowing first to Haruka. He then turned and bowed to 
Sailor Jupiter. "Jupiter."
	"You and I," Haruka then added as they brushed past each 
other, "can test our mettle at a later date and time."
	Kunzite left the centre of the arena, and Haruka moved in to 
take his place. She held out a similar short, golden wand and 
called out, "Uranus Planet Power: Make Up!"
	An altogether different shaft of light swallowed her up, but 
she was unmistakably a Sailor Soldier when the light faded away.
	"You're my sparring partner," Sailor Uranus stated to 
Jupiter. She flashed Kunzite a rakish grin. "He would have made 
victory too easy for you. You'll have to actually work to beat me, 
Jupiter." 
	"And there goes the last shred of my pride," Kunzite casually 
remarked to Minako.
	Minako laughed and grabbed hold of his arm. "There, there, 
I'll bandage up your wounded ego." Her bubbly grin disappeared as 
she watched Uranus and Jupiter face off against each other. "Do you 
want to stay and watch?"
	"And miss the first official match with an Inner Soldier 
against an Outer Soldier?" Kunzite said, boggled that she would 
even ask. "I wouldn't miss this for anything."
	"Though we may want to give Hotaru a heads-up," Michiru said 
as she descended the stairs and stood next to them. "Just in case."


			*	*	*
	Nephrite made his way down a new series of palace corridors 
he had never before seen, and given how decorated and how quiet 
they were, he guessed that these were in some of the more 
restricted sections reserved for the royal family, their advisors, 
and the Sailor Soldiers.
	"How are you faring, General?" Setsuna asked.
	Nephrite turned away from the polished pillars and silken 
draperies to his guide. A step or two ahead of him, Setsuna smiled 
from over her shoulder. "Think you're going to lose your way if you 
try to return back on your own?"
	"In this place, definitely," he said.
	"At least you're honest." 
	"And this place is built like a maze."
	Setsuna nodded her head. "Ancient Lunarians quite thoroughly 
enjoyed labyrinths, as is reflected in the architecture. However, 
with every generation, expansions are added to the palace, which 
makes for a greater confusion as new corridors are made, older ones 
are hidden away, and others are made to criss-cross all over."
	She led him up a staircase, and at the top of the landing 
they passed by Serenity and Sailor Mercury. Nephrite gave them both 
a courteous bow as the two made their way down the stairs.
	"How many people see this place?" Nephrite asked Setsuna.
	"Not many," she answered. "You normally wouldn't either, but 
given the circumstances I can understand your request to see Sailor 
Mars."
	Her tone of voice was playful and ultimately hinted that she 
was aware of so many secrets she was itching to tell. With some 
degree of suspicion, Nephrite asked, "Just how much of this do you 
understand?"
	Setsuna turned and looked back at him. "You'd be surprised."
	She brought him before a set of wooden doors that looked 
centuries old, the wood grain stained with some dark and rich 
lacquer. "There will be a long corridor with two more sets of doors 
on the other side," Setsuna said. "Pass through them, and you will 
find her."
	Nephrite nodded, still inspecting the quality of the doors. 
Everything looked incredibly ceremonial, if not religious. "Are 
there any rites I'll need to perform in there?" he asked.
	Setsuna's magenta eyes flickered in mild curiosity. 
	"Where I'm from," Nephrite explained, "you can't go into 
sacred places without ritually cleansing yourself first. I'm not 
about to offend anyone here by going in the wrong way."
	"Ah," Setsuna said, and smiled. "I think you're the first to 
ever really think to ask before needing to be told." 
	Nephrite shrugged. "Yay, go me."
 	Setsuna's smile broadened, and she gestured down at 
Nephrite's feet. "Your footwear will need to come off. You are 
required to walk barefoot once you cross the threshold of these 
doors. Once you pass through the first set of doors down that 
corridor, you will see a large bucket of water, and a drawing 
spoon. You must use that to wash your face and your hands. After 
the second set of doors will be another bucket of water. Draw the 
water out and drink it, to cleanse your words and your thoughts."
	Nephrite nodded, his mind racing as he memorized Setsuna's 
instructions. "Anything else?" he asked as he began to remove his 
boots.
	"Not to my knowledge, no. Those are all the instructions I 
have ever given to guests seeking an audience with the Fire of 
Mars. I myself have not gone through these doors."
	"Want me to tell you what I see when I come back?"
	"If you want to."
	Nephrite removed his other boot, and set them both neatly 
next to the doors. "I don't know how long I'll be," he said to 
Setsuna. "If Rei declines, I may be out in ten minutes. Wait that 
long for me. If I'm not back by then, you might as well go about 
doing whatever you need to get done."
	"And who will show you the way back once you are finished?" 
Setsuna asked. 
	Nephrite glanced back over his shoulder at the way he had 
come. "I'll manage."
	Setsuna nodded, and moved away from the doors.
	Slowly Nephrite stepped inside. The doors swung closed once 
he was inside, and the corridor became very still. Nephrite did not 
entirely like hearing only the sound of his own breath. It felt as 
if he were disturbing some sort of hushed, awed silence permeating 
the corridor. He did as Setsuna instructed, first washing his face 
and hands, and then drinking the water. It tasted remarkably crisp 
and cold.
	Awaiting him at the end of the corridor was a third set of 
doors Setsuna had not told him about. Instead of swinging open, 
these doors slid aside like Terran-Nihonjin shojo screens. On the 
other side laid shadow and fire.
	Nephrite stepped into a large darkened chamber where an 
enormous fire blazed in the centre. When the doors slid closed 
behind him, he was lost in the darkness. All he could see was the 
myriad of flames licking the wood and leaping high into the air. 
Kneeling just a few feet away from the Fire was Rei. Her eyes were 
closed, her hands frozen in a meditative gesture Nephrite did not 
recognize. Rei's eyes fluttered open as she heard Nephrite's 
footsteps.
	"Oh. Hello," she said. "I didn't expect to see you here."
	"I asked Setsuna where you would be, and she led me here," 
Nephrite said as he stepped towards Rei and the fire. "I trust I'm 
not interrupting."
	Rei shook her head. "No, I was just finishing."
	Nephrite turned to the blazing fire, and was amazed that Rei 
didn't feel overheated beneath all those layers of ceremonial 
robes. The heat coming from it was enough to make him 
uncomfortable, and he was standing a good five feet behind Rei.
	"I would have thought your sacred flames would be located in 
a temple somewhere within the Mars Kingdom," he said.
	"It is," Rei answered. "This fire is a transplant. When I was 
old enough to understand the meditations I had been taught, my 
father took wood and fire from the original sacred flames, and 
brought them here. This fire may be an echo of the true Fire, but I 
seek guidance and insight from it nevertheless."
	"And has it worked?" Nephrite asked.
	Rei sat up abruptly and flashed an indignant glare at 
Nephrite, her eyes demanding coldly if Jadeite had put him up to 
such a stunt. Nephrite remained perfectly calm as he met her gaze 
once more.
	"Just wondering, that's all," he said. "There was nothing 
acrid behind it." 
	Nephrite settled down on the floor next to her, mimicking her 
sitting position. "In our country, we have many temples for many 
different relics and gods. It's always hard to tell who's 
listening, or who you should be listening to." 
	Rei's anger faded as she heard the honesty in his voice. "Do 
your people fight over what is the right thing to listen to?" she 
asked him.
	Nephrite sighed and rolled his eyes. "Constantly."
	Rei cracked a smile. "I know that aggravation all too well. 
My own people still debate whether the Fire is alive or dead. My 
father believes that there are answers to be found within it, and 
that most people have simply forgotten how to look. Others think 
I'm praying to nothing, to a dead tradition belonging to a now dead 
world."
	The dancing light pulled their gaze back to the Fire, where 
it burned and crackled and frolicked about before them. Nephrite 
suddenly found it odd that as he gazed upon the Fire, he did not 
feel so overheated anymore.
	"That's the problem with our worlds today," Nephrite said. 
"Everyone wants to be right so desperately, they forget that you 
can be wrong and still come out of an argument respected. Everyone 
wants to be right, so they shout it so loud that they can't hear 
anyone else's voice. They can no longer listen, and have lost the 
respect of those around them, both allies and detractors. In my 
eyes, those people have already lost the argument before they open 
their mouths. Unfortunately, our political offices are filled with 
too many of such people."
	Rei closed her eyes, and seemed to be offering up a silent 
word or prayer to the Fire. Nephrite patiently and silently waited 
for her to finish. When her eyes at last opened, she asked him, 
"What brings you to me, General?"
	"Jadeite's told me you commune with the Fire, that you seek 
prophecy and guidance through it," he answered, and turned to look 
directly at her. "I want to learn." 
	Rei's eyes widened in surprise, and then disbelief. 
	Nephrite understood why, at least to an extent. It was 
difficult enough for anyone even of Mars heritage to use the Fire, 
but for a Terran to ask seemed altogether ridiculous. His motives 
for even thinking to ask boggled her, until she recalled something 
one of the other Soldiers had mentioned.
	"You're the one who can farsee," she said to him.
	Nephrite nodded. "I believe there are things we can teach 
each other," he said. "Perhaps you more than me, but I want to at 
least try."
	With a sigh, Rei stared into the Fire and said quietly, "It 
showed me a doorway, and a stranger standing veiled in darkness on 
the other side. He had hair just like yours. I was asked to honour 
his request, even though I knew not what it might be."
	"And what did you tell the Fire?" Nephrite asked.
	"'Yes'," she answered, and glanced at him. "Had I known that 
you were the one to ask, and what you were asking, I think I would 
have declined the Fire's request."
	Nephrite looked into the Fire with some degree of surprise 
and amusement. "You can do that?"
	"The Fire guides. It does not dictate. Choice is left up to 
us." 
	Nephrite had to chuckle for a moment.
	Rei cast her gaze to him, puzzled and not yet suspicious.
	"You know," Nephrite said to her, "I have stood in the courts 
of philosophers and priests, and you have just made them all sound 
like children. Your wisdom is older than your eyes, Hono'o-no-Miko. 
I would very much like to see you never lose that." 
	Whether it was from the heat or from his words, Rei's cheeks 
grew flushed, and she stared down at the wooden floor beneath them. 
Nephrite smiled and continued to watch the Fire. They were meant to 
be flattering words. He wasn't the type to praise others, or even 
himself, often, but when he did he made sure those praises would be 
worthwhile and memorable.
	"What does this mean?" she asked, and then stumbled over the 
words. "Ho...Ho-no?"
	"In my language, it means 'Priestess of the Fire'," Nephrite 
explained. "I don't give out titles like that lightly, so take it 
as a compliment."
	Rei's cheeks returned to their normal colour, and she was 
able to look up at Nephrite once more. "Why are you asking this of 
me, Nephrite?"
	"Because there is someone I need to find," Nephrite answered, 
and he tapped the side of his head, "and I can only find her in 
here. And she's hiding from me at the moment. I want to see if a 
change of tactics will grant me access to her."
	Rei closed her eyes, drew in a deep breath and rose to her 
feet. She looked down at him, and in that moment possessed the 
elegance and authority as a priestess of the Fire. "I shall teach 
you what I can, whatever you are willing to learn. But you must 
show me what you can do first."
	"All right," Nephrite said without hesitation. "You'll want 
to sit down for this."
	"Why?"
	He was fast becoming aware that successful meditation before 
the Fire required direct eye contact with the Fire. The same held 
true for what he was about to show Rei, and so he locked his gaze 
onto hers. Nephrite reached out and grabbed hold of Rei's hand, 
never blinking, and pulled her into his mind.
 	Rei's entire body convulsed, and she threw her head back and 
cried out. The world went blurred and spun upside-down on her. 
Tresses of her long black hair danced around her as she collapsed 
onto the ground, and Nephrite's grip was lost from hers. Her body 
broke out into a cold sweat. Rei laid there gasping for air that 
had suddenly been stolen from her lungs. 
	Her eyes regained their focus.
	Rei sucked in a gasp and scrambled backwards when she saw she 
was kneeling upon the vast depths of the heavens. Black cosmos and 
thousands of shimmering stars were beneath her. She frantically 
turned her head left and right, and saw only darkness and stars. 
She looked above. Darkness and stars.
	"I apologize for that," Nephrite said, emerging from an 
obscure fringe of a dark nebula. He brushed a trail of stardust 
from the armour of his uniform. "Usually it's not such a...traumatic 
experience. Then again, I've never performed this on a non-Terran 
before."
	Rei stared at the haunting beauty and emptiness that had 
engulfed them. "Wh-what did you do?"
	"We're sharing minds," Nephrite said, gesturing to the 
heavens around them. "More specifically, I pulled you into mine. 
It's a lot easier than if I were to invade yours. That can get 
rather messy, especially if you're untrained and have your defences 
up." 
	"I'll take your word on it," Rei said in a distracted voice. 
She was still staring at the stars. "So is this a dream, or a 
vision?"
	Nephrite shrugged. "Not really one or the other. It's a bit 
of a construct from my mind, yet this place has drawn power and 
form from something far beyond and far older than me. I can't even 
begin to think of a way to describe it. I do most of my meditation 
in here. This is where I go to find answers."
	He walked over to Rei. "I'm actually rather surprised it was 
this easy. As I already said, I've only done this to other Terrans 
before." Nephrite stopped in front of her and held out his hand. 
"You're incredibly receptive to other farseers, you know that?"
	"I didn't," Rei said, and took his hand.
	Nephrite pulled Rei to her feet.
	There was some awkwardness in her stance and steps as she 
adjusted to walking without any visible, solid ground beneath her. 
"Where do we go from here?" Rei asked once she decided she could 
move about without tripping or growing dizzy.
	"Now I teach you what I can," Nephrite said, bringing her to 
the centre of the heavens. "This will take time, but we are in the 
best possible place for you to learn."
	Rei seemed sceptical. "Why is that?" she asked. "I'm already 
in your mind."
	"Ah, but can you read it?" Nephrite countered with a smirk. 
"Can you know what thoughts I'm hiding from you?"
	He sat down upon the vast reaches of space and time within 
his mind, and gestured for Rei to join him. Intrigued, Rei sat 
down, and became Nephrite's pupil.


			*	*	*
	By the time Zoicite roused himself, everyone else had left 
the guest quarters. The common room was empty, which didn't 
surprise him. At the very least none of the other Generals were 
griping about how he was always the last of them to get up in the 
mornings--his training sessions with Cioran tended to span most of 
the night, and had a habit of leaving him completely drained, 
mentally and physically.
	Zoicite treated himself with a longer than usual shower, 
donned his uniform and strolled back out into the common room. He 
spent the next hour grazing on the pastries and fruit left for him, 
and reading an old text he had found in the Archives while helping 
Garnet a few days prior. After spending a good half hour skimming 
through some of the old passages, he rose from the chair and walked 
over to the open doors of his bedchambers. He tossed the book onto 
the covers of his bed, and left the guest quarters.
	As Zoicite walked down the corridors of the palace, many of 
the courtesans and officials turned and whispered to each other as 
he passed. It was a relief for him to know that theirs words were 
more or less flattering now. Hardly anyone had harsh things to say 
about sword-bearing Terrans who had managed to foil a particularly 
brutal and bloody assassination attempt.
	Zoicite followed the corridors to the Archives and let the 
main doors swing open for him. As always, the Archives were quiet 
and instilled with a sense of comfortable tranquility. Tracking 
Garnet down proved not all that difficult; he simply had to locate 
a section of the Archives that were roped off to the general 
public.
	In performing her frighteningly thorough scouring of the 
Archives, Garnet had cordoned off an entire area. The shelves had 
been moved around to allow for more open space, and as the site 
came into view all Zoicite could see were tables upon tables with 
books stacked ten or fifteen titles high. Even higher stacks of 
books took up most of the floor space. Papers and scrolls littered 
whatever table space the books hadn't already taken up. There was 
also an alarming number of dishes from Garnet's meals scattered 
across the area--dirty plates topping bookstacks, and half-eaten 
desserts and mostly-full cups of tea haphazardly stacked atop each 
other.
	Garnet sat at one of the tables, practically wedged into a 
corner of the organized chaos. Oblivious to his presence, she 
scribbled away notes from a thick and dusty text in front of her, 
and looked thoroughly frazzled. Zoicite was willing to bet she felt 
worse. Finally, in a sure sign of giving up, Garnet let out an 
exasperated cry and let her head drop onto the nearest stack of 
books.
	"The battle goes that well, does it?" Zoicite asked as he 
drew up to the table.
	Garnet groaned, not about to lift her head from the book 
stack. "I've searched so many books in the last few days that the 
words are starting to run off every page I open up to."
	She tilted her head up towards Zoicite. "What brings you 
here?"
	"I was looking for Ami, actually."
	"And what does that make me?" Garnet said, acting as 
indignant as she could despite how tired she was.
	Zoicite had to laugh; at least she was keeping as much a 
sense of humour as she could given the situation. He did not envy 
her task in the slightest. "I thought you had enough to contend 
with already, without me nagging you with petty questions," he 
said.
	"Point," Garnet conceded. "But as for Ami, she hasn't been 
here all day. It's not uncommon, but an unusual thing for her. She 
might be pulling extra shift-work guarding the princess and all 
that."
	She rolled her head across the book cover. Her strawberry-
blonde hair spilled over her face and hid the weary, aggravated 
expression it wore.
	"Why don't you take a break?" Zoicite said.
	"I'm too stubborn to," Garnet mumbled through the book cover. 
"There has to be a mention somewhere of this woman Nephrite saw."
	Zoicite's grin disappeared as his concern grew. "Don't push 
yourself, Garnet."
	Garnet lifted her head and stared solemnly at him. "I think 
the situation warrants a little pushing, General."
	"I'd still rather not see you burn yourself out," Zoicite 
said. "We may need you just in case something appears on the 
horizon. You're going by a vague description in the first place, 
and this witch has proven very adept at concealing herself. At best 
there's not going to be much of anything on her, as I think you've 
already noticed."
	"Unfortunately, yes," Garnet grudgingly admitted.
	Zoicite found a corner edge of the table that wasn't already 
littered with notes, scroll or books, and sat down on it. "Look, 
take some time off over the next few days," he insisted. "Spend 
your mornings in the archive, and your afternoons doing something 
you like." He paused in consideration. "Come to think of it, what 
sorts of things do you like?"
	A thin, nostalgic smile appeared on Garnet's face. "The 
stars," she answered. "I enjoy looking at the stars."
	"For their beauty?" Zoicite asked.
	Garnet shook her head. "For their vastness and depth. Every 
time I start thinking I'm more important than I am, I look to the 
stars. They're far older than me, and they hold many mysteries I 
will never even have the chance to glimpse. My arrogance dims 
considerably when I realize how large the universe is, and how 
small we truly are in it."
	Zoicite sat on the edge of the table and listened to her with 
growing admiration. Here before him was a woman who had suffered a 
traumatic childhood, and yet grown up with a better perspective on 
the world than he'd seen in most people.
	"So there we have it," he stated to her. "Tomorrow you're 
going to be star-gazing during the afternoon. If not, I will be 
very unimpressed."
	Garnet chuckled. "Ooh, is that a threat, General?"
	"More a guarantee."
	"I can live with that," she said with another laugh. "But 
since your decree starts tomorrow, I'm going to return to scouring 
the books."
	Zoicite leaned over the stacks of books to see just what she 
was reading this hour. The text was in stylized, fanciful font the 
likes of which he had seen earlier that morning. "Ancient lore of 
Lunaria?" he asked.
	Garnet shrugged and leaned back in her chair. "You never know 
what bits of truth faerie tales hide. There's been a lot of 
references to some ancient evil embodied in the form of a woman 
with long, dark hair."
	"No red hair though?"
	"Not a single one," Garnet lamented. "Apparently you have to 
have black or blonde hair to be the ultimate personification of 
evil." 
	Zoicite rolled his eyes. "Someone should tell our wraith-
woman that."
	"I wish," Garnet agreed. "I've been going back five, ten, 
twenty years even. So far I've found nothing. Hell, those Lunarian 
folk tales are almost a hundred or so years old, and there's only 
spotty allusions to what might be her at best."
	She picked up one page of notes and skimmed through it. 
"Let's see...there's an old legend about a witch-queen who lives in a 
forest on some large island on Earth. Not anywhere near you, 
though; this one came from halfway around the world. No description 
of her hair, mind you, but she apparently she had a thing for 
devouring infant princes who had not yet been named. I don't know 
how good this is, as anyone I'd like to question about this legend 
has been dead for easily sixty or seventy years."
	"Maybe we're not going far back enough," Zoicite suggested.
	Garnet looked up from her book, a little surprised by his 
recommendation. "What?"
	"Well," Zoicite said, "what can you tell me about the 
Darkstorm?"
	Garnet's interest faded, and she shook her head at Zoicite. 
"The scourge they called the Darkstorm was destroyed four hundred 
years ago."
	"As I recall," Zoicite said evenly, "no one really knows what 
happened at the end of that war. Maybe there's a link, maybe not. 
But it's worth looking into."
	"Already have," Garnet sighed. "Darkstorm lore's actually 
been a hobby of mine for the last decade. Unfortunately, not once 
have I come across a mention of any sort of female harbinger seen 
or associated with the Darkstorm--though now I wish I had. It'd 
make our work a lot easier. Sorry," she added apologetically.
	"That makes two of us," Zoicite sighed, shifting his place on 
the tabletop. He scowled and crossed his arms over his chest. "This 
is getting aggravating. We're nowhere nearer to finding her, and 
yet it somehow feels like this witch is closer to us than we know, 
like she's hiding in the very shadows of this palace."
	Garnet closed the book cover and studied the stern expression 
on his face. "What makes you say that?"
	"My intuition," he answered. "But this time around, I'm not 
sure if I want to be proven right."


			*	*	*
 	Endymion stood in a garden of silence, the Soul Constellation 
his only companion, and he danced with the air. The blade of his 
father's katana caught flickers of starlight and earthlight from 
the heavens above, and made shimmers of light parade around the 
vibrant leaves and grass. He moved like a ghost, the air scarcely 
disturbed by even the fiercest of kicks or slashes made against and 
unseen enemy.
	He danced for nearly an hour, never moving beyond an 
invisible circle his mind had drawn upon the grass around himself. 
The Soul Constellation sang unheard melodies as it cut apart 
nothingness, almost yearning to seek out blood and justice instead 
of performing mere ritual practices.
	Just as Kunzite had predicted, all he'd needed to do was ask 
Halcyon, and he found himself with a few hours each day all to 
himself.
	They were his kata, his exercises.
	Every movement was fluid and without error. Every stance was 
a reminder of what it meant to be a soldier. His sword was his own 
arm. He allowed his unseen enemies draw closer to him instead of 
racing blindly towards them. Sweat coated his naked chest, droplets 
falling from his skin onto the grass. He paid it no heed. His 
encounter with Jadeite had left him more troubles than ever before. 
Jadeite wasn't the type to scare easily, and now seemed frightened 
of something none of them could name. 
	Someone came walking upon the garden grass. 
	Endymion ceased his kata. He lowered the sword and relaxed 
his stance, resting the flat of the blade upon his shoulder. He 
turned around and saw Serenity watching him, Sailor Mercury at her 
side. He saw her large, blue eyes, and then saw just how beautiful 
they were. His chest became constricted, crushed within an 
invisible fist. An unexpected and indescribable sensation rose up 
from the depths of his being. It was almost exquisite. 
	Serenity's smile was unchanged, as content as he had always 
seen it. Endymion felt a jolt of newfound adrenaline surging 
through his body. He smiled and shook his head as he sheathed the 
Soul Constellation.
	"Good afternoon," he said to her in the Lunarian tongue, and 
sheathed his weapon.
	Serenity nodded a mutual greeting, and waited for him to 
towel the sweat off his chest. She glanced over her shoulder at 
Sailor Mercury. "Ami, please leave us."
	Mercury straightened, caught between her duty and her respect 
for her princess' wishes. "Serenity Princess..."
	"You don't need to disappear altogether," Serenity said to 
her Soldier, and her lips turned into a reassuring a smile. 
"Please, give Endymion and I the chance to talk in private."
	Sailor Mercury shot Endymion a look that placed any 
consequences of this action primarily on him. Her eyes softened 
when she looked back at Serenity and bowed her head. "As you wish."
	Mercury backed away until she was but a silhouette down at 
the ends of the corridor, ever present but almost forgotten. 
Serenity sat down next to the pool, her fingers drifting in the 
current of the water. "It's beautiful, the way you dance with your 
sword," she said to him.
	"It's still lethal," he answered, and tipped his chin up as 
he wiped his neck dry. "Every movement serves a purpose, and no 
matter how noble or honourable my intentions are--to protect, to 
defend, to serve--that purpose is to shed blood."
	Endymion draped the towel around his shoulders. "I would 
rather serve a kingdom than rule an army, but that can only be in 
an ideal world, and the Earth is not an ideal place right now." 
	He scowled and studied the shadow cast at his feet. Not every 
Terran was a warmonger, he wanted to tell her; not every Terran 
dreamed of bloody battle and conquest. But those words would have 
seemed hollow, coming from someone like him. Endymion sat down next 
to Serenity. Fatigue started to set in, now that his body was being 
given a chance to rest.
	Serenity's gaze briefly moved over the Soul Constellation. 
"It's a beautiful sword," she said quietly.
	In her voice, Endymion could hear her trying to offer up 
distractions from what she really wanted to say. He didn't press 
the issue. "It was my father's sword," he said. "He called it the 
Soul Constellation. When I was seven or eight, I asked him why it 
called that. My father answered that the sword had been forged from 
the power of our ancestor's very soul, and from the power of the 
stars above."
	Endymion let out a short burst of rueful laughter. "I never 
could figure out what he meant by that, though now I think I'm 
beginning to understand." He opened up one of his hands, and with 
his palm caressed one of the flowers standing at the pool's edge. 
The flower shivered in delight and swayed to the motions his hand 
made. 
	"Whatever power ran in his blood, that same power flows in 
mine. Yet the Soul Constellation is my father's sword. I can sense 
it with each passing day. Before he...he died, he told me a time 
would come when I must call upon whatever strange power runs in our 
bloodline, and re-forge the sword. Whatever that might mean. He 
never had the chance to tell me what it meant. He never had the 
chance to tell me a lot of things."
	Endymion closed his palm to the flower, and with great 
reluctance the flower went back to sleep. He turned to Serenity. "I 
used to believe that what I had was unnatural. It put me at odds 
with those around me, and they feared what I could do. Only Kunzite 
understood; at his request I kept hidden what powers I could 
manifest. Even then, I couldn't tap the true depths of that power 
until I had something to protect."
	The closest he'd ever come to truly using them before Spinel 
had been eleven years ago, and he'd been protecting himself.
	"Even in leading your country, you had nothing to protect?" 
Serenity asked him.
	"All I am doing right now is trying my best to keep things 
under control," he answered. "The country still belongs to my 
father, even in death. I am here for revenge, Serenity. I am here 
to find his killers." Endymion's fingers traced their way along her 
cheek. "When I return to Earth, I shall make his nation mine, and I 
intend to keep them safe as he did."
	For once Serenity had trouble meeting his gaze, and she 
averted her eyes, preferring to look down at her reflection in the 
water. "You killed Spinel in order to protect me," she said 
quietly. "That was the first time I have ever seen such violence, 
that I have seen someone die. I wish it had not ended that way...and 
yet I am grateful for what you did."
	She shook her head at herself. "I have spent a lot of time 
thinking about that night, Endymion. While I pity Spinel, I am not 
sorry to see him dead. What he did was terrible, but there is 
someone worse than him, and she must be found. But what can I do? 
All I am, all I have, is but a smile. I cannot fight the way you or 
your Generals do. I have no mystical powers like my Sailor 
Soldiers. I do not have experience to draw on like my mother does. 
All I can do is sit here in your shadow, and smile at you because 
you saved me." 
	Endymion sighed. "You saw something that night you shouldn't 
have. For that, I am sorry."
	"It was going to happen, one way or another," Serenity 
countered. Her voice had suddenly gained an edge Endymion had never 
heard before. "The Sailor Soldiers have been reborn, and all the 
signs are pointing towards a war that may tear our worlds apart. 
That night in the ballroom showed me what I have been oblivious to, 
perhaps even what I have been avoiding."
	Serenity looked up at him. "I want you to teach me, 
Endymion."
	"Teach you what?" Endymion asked, a little surprised at her 
sudden boldness.
	"How to fight back," Serenity stated. "How to protect the 
people I care about. I cannot let another night like that happen 
again. I will not sit by and allow everything I love be destroyed."
	To say this was unexpected would have been a lie. Everyone 
came to a point like this in their lives. After this everything 
would change, and so Endymion treated the moment with the 
importance it deserved.
	"Are you sure you want this?" he asked Serenity.
	She nodded, more determined than ever. "Everyone around me is 
making their stand. It's time for me to stand with you all." 
	"And what about Halcyon Queen?" Endymion pressed. "Is this 
what she wants for you?" 
	"This is one thing she cannot stop me from doing," Serenity 
countered, and for a moment Endymion could have sworn she'd scowled 
at him for even bringing Halcyon into it. "There is too much at 
stake for me to back down and play the princess. I cannot pretend 
there is nothing wrong, Endymion. If evil is coming for me, for us 
all, then I want it to find me ready for it, like the rest of you. 
I will not be a victim any longer."
	Endymion let out a long breath as he contemplated her 
request. Depending on how Halcyon reacted, this could get out of 
hand incredibly fast. But he could not ignore what she had already 
spoken: if evil came for them, he'd rather it find all of them 
prepared to fight. 
	"I don't know how much I can teach you," he admitted, "but I 
can begin it tomorrow. It won't be a lot at first--basic combat and 
maybe swordsmanship. If you have any powers like the Sailor 
Soldiers do, you'd be better off having them teach you."
	Serenity nodded as she listened. "I have considered that as 
well. I just...I wanted to know your answer first."
	"Why me?" Endymion asked.
	"Because," she answered, but when she looked up at him she 
seemed to forget the rest of her response. "Because...."
	They were so close now.
	He could feel the heat of her breath against his skin.
	A deliberate if not apologetic cough pulled them apart. 
Setsuna was standing next to Sailor Mercury, both of them a few 
steps away. Endymion made no attempt to hide what he had been doing 
with Serenity, and gracefully drew away from her as one hand stayed 
at her side. 
	Setsuna's knowing eyes glanced down at his hand, and then 
back up at his face. If Endymion didn't know any better, she was 
wearing a look of wry approval. "Endymion," Setsuna said, bowing 
first to him, and then to Serenity. "Serenity. Halcyon Queen wishes 
to see you both."


			*	*	*
	Artemis was curled up on one of the chairs when Jadeite found 
his way back to the guest quarters. The little white cat's eyes 
fluttered open as Jadeite closed the main doors, and Artemis let 
out a tired "myu?"
	"Hard at work yourself, I see," Jadeite said as he walked 
past Artemis, pausing long enough to give the cat an affectionate 
scratching on the head. Artemis purred and rubbed his head against 
Jadeite's palm.
	"If you'll excuse me," Jadeite told Artemis, though he didn't 
expect the cat to understand what he was saying, "I need to shower 
and make myself feel alive again. Feel free to...lounge there."
	Artemis let out a loud, "Myu!"
	"Impatient, aren't we?" Jadeite laughed, obliging the cat. He 
began to scratch behind Artemis' ears. "If I didn't know any 
better, I'd swear you were deliberately following me."
	Artemis purred contentedly.
	"I never did thank you for doing what you did at the masque," 
Jadeite said. "I heard about it afterwards. Thanks. I didn't know 
cats could be so loyal, but for what it's worth, I am in your 
debt."
	With a sigh and a shrug, Jadeite retired to his bedchamber to 
shower. The hot water pouring down over his hair and skin helped to 
wash away what he felt was the stigma of his demon eyes. It had 
been clinging to him for days, but now it felt like it was peeling 
off him like the skin of a fruit. Jadeite found his senses grow 
sharp once more, the focus within his mind restored.
	He listened to the Progenitor's voice once more, and the 
water abruptly went cold as the mere memory reverberated through 
his mind. Jadeite clenched his jaw and forced himself to hear it in 
its entirety. That damned voice sounded so familiar, as if 
something deep within him echoed a similar chord. It felt closer to 
him than anything or anyone else he knew. 
	What was the secret that bound him to it?
	For that matter, was he the only one bound to it by chains 
unseen?
	Jadeite stepped out of his shower and grabbed at the nearest 
towel sitting upon its shelf.  As he towelled himself dry, he 
walked into his chambers and began to unpack his spare uniform. It 
was not uncommon for them to carry two or three sets of armour, 
hence all their trunks and baggage in coming to Lunaria. 
Considering how easily the armour could soak up their sweat and 
scents to disturbingly powerful degrees, it was worth the added 
load.
	Unfortunately, having that many trunks did pose a few 
problems.
	"Damn it, I know it's in here somewhere," Jadeite muttered to 
himself as he rummaged through his clothes. "I know I brought it 
with me."
	After searching three of his trunks, Jadeite was forced to 
concede that his shortsword had somehow been misplaced--a 
disturbing development, since it was not exactly a very small 
weapon and was stored in a very ornamental sheath. Did it 
accidentally get put in with one of the other trunks?
	"Well," Jadeite sighed, and flipped his towel over his 
shoulder, "it's not like Nephrite's going to notice if I borrow one 
of his."
	Nephrite was a notorious collector of shortswords, and 
usually had three or four in his possession wherever he went. 
Besides, Jadeite thought to himself, he'd just borrow the weapon 
until he figured out where his had gotten to. Jadeite walked out of 
his bedchambers and crossed the common room to Nephrite's quarters.
	"Don't bother getting up," he said to Artemis, who was still 
lounging on one of the chairs.
 	The main doors to the common room abruptly opened up. 
	"...and here," came Kunzite's voice, "we are."
	The doors swung open, letting Kunzite and Minako see inside. 
	Minako took in a sweeping view of the common room, and then 
her gaze couldn't help but stop dead on Jadeite, who was quite 
naked save for the towel draped over one shoulder. Jadeite paused, 
glancing over at her.
	Minako's face went a bright shade of red.
	"Perhaps I should have knocked first," Kunzite dryly remarked 
as he saw Jadeite.
	Jadeite nonchalantly shrugged, and continued sauntering over 
to Nephrite's bedchambers.
	"Do you guys usually walk around naked in here?" Minako 
asked, her face still flushed.
	Kunzite sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Only when 
unexpected guests come over, it would appear. I'm sorry you had to 
see that, Minako."
	"I'm not," Minako said, trying desperately not to grin or 
giggle.
	Kunzite shot her a somewhat indignant look as he closed the 
door behind them. "And just what exactly does that make me?"
	"Don't know, really," Minako replied coyly. "I haven't seen 
you naked yet, so I have no basis for comparison. This is, after 
all, the first time I'm even seeing your room here."
	Jadeite emerged from Nephrite's bedchambers, a sheathed 
shortsword being casually held in one hand. He still made no effort 
to cover up or try and sneak around them. Kunzite shot Jadeite a 
glare.
	There was a polite knock at the doors.
	Minako turned back to Jadeite. "Would you like to get it?"
	"Two shows in one day?" Jadeite remarked, frowning. "I should 
be getting paid for this."
	"Get suited up and start acting like a Terran-Nihonjin 
General again!" growled Kunzite in Terran-Nihongo.
 	"Believe me, I already am," Jadeite replied, unexpectedly 
grave, and he disappeared into his chambers. 
	The door swung closed behind him.
	Kunzite retuned his attention to Minako before answering the 
door. "Should I be expecting you to flirt with everyone else in the 
envoy?"
	"Depends," Minako said casually, though there was a rakish 
glimmer in her eyes. "Will I get to see you walk around naked in 
the near future?"
	"Not in my quarters," he stated, and moved towards the main 
doors.
	"What about mine, then?"
	Kunzite paused before grasping the doorknob. "We'll talk." 
	Hotaru was patiently waiting on the other side, and Kunzite 
invited her into the common room. She did not venture in very far. 
"Halcyon Queen wishes to see you." Hotaru's eyes moved to Minako. 
"All of you. I can show you the way."
	Kunzite nodded. "It will be my pleasure. But if you could 
give us a few minutes first. General Jadeite needs to finish 
suiting up."
	"Of course."
	A short time later, Jadeite appeared with his armour, Artemis 
draped over his left shoulder. Hotaru smiled as she saw the small, 
white cat. "I see you've found a new accessory to go with your 
armour, General."
	Artemis tipped his head to one side. "Myu?"


			*	*	*
	"How do you feel?" Nephrite asked as he walked Rei out from 
the chamber of the sacred Fire.
	Rei winced and continued to rotate her shoulder around in its 
socket. "Sore. I could use a nice, warm bath right about now."
	"It's easy to forget that while we exhaust ourselves in a 
place that only exists in the mind, our bodies still experience all 
the stress we are put under," he agreed. "You learned faster than I 
expected. I don't think I've seen anyone show signs of mastering my 
construct so quickly."
	They had begun with the simpler of techniques: moving stars. 
Inside another's mind, being able to alter and control their 
playground-like constructs was necessary if one wished to master 
farseeing. One was never truly bound by the rules of another's 
mind, though it certainly seemed as if that was the case. It came 
down to skill against skill, strength against strength.
	Rei was beginning to understand, to reach out her hand and 
silently command distant spiral galaxies to move from one side of 
the cosmos to the other. The exercises served to strengthen her 
focus and skills. The more she came to realize that the "rules" 
inside a mind were more illusions than set laws, the easier it 
would soon be for her to seek out the mind of another person and 
slip through their mental defences.
	That was the way of the farseers. Even Nephrite had to admit 
that some degree of mysticism was involved. Here in this temple of 
the mind was where he meditated regularly and sought answers-
sometimes from people, sometimes from other sources, like the 
stars. Forces, both altruistic and destructive, coursed through the 
universe. From Nephrite's experience under his master's tutelage, 
the stars were excellent receptors for both the good and the bad.  
	But to a larger extent, farsensing embodied the ability to 
look into the mind of another and learn all their secrets. Nephrite 
found himself wondering how many more days would pass before Rei 
could start reading his thoughts. Even if she could only sense 
empathic feelings and general thoughts, she would have come further 
than most Terrans studying farseeing ever had. She was surprisingly 
receptive, and a quick learner. And he had very little of anything 
to hide from her; there would be no future sessions where she might 
accidentally stumble into some darker memory or secret he was 
hiding.
	What did worry him was their true target.
	Even if he and Rei both tried to penetrate her mind with 
their altered techniques, would the woman with red hair let them in 
so easily? 
	"You're worried about something," Rei said abruptly, and 
looked up at him.
	Surprised, Nephrite laughed and nodded his head. "You're 
advancing almost too quickly. It would appear I'll have to be more 
guarded around you when I teach you how to play poker."
	"Play what?"
	"Nothing. Off-hand remark." 
	"Ah." Rei brought Nephrite to a stop at the first set of 
doors and brought the ladle of water to her lips. Whether it was 
ritual or Rei just quenching her thirst, regardless Nephrite still 
drank some of the water himself afterwards.
	Rei smiled, and he could have sworn there was some admiration 
in that smile. "You know the customs required to come before the 
sacred flames," she said.
	"Actually, I had Setsuna fill me in," he replied casually. 
"Though right now I'm just following your lead."
	That caused Rei to laugh a little. "How very considerate of 
you." 
	She tried to speak those words casually, but Nephrite could 
detect the simple gratitude in her thanks. He shrugged. "Hey, I 
wouldn't like it if someone walked into my house still wearing 
their muddy boots," he said. "There are expectations on both sides. 
I have equally high standards for how I behave, and others behave."
	They had reached the next set of doors. Rei knelt down, very 
ceremonially scooped up the water in the palms of her hand, and 
splashed it upon her face. Streams rolled down her cheeks and chin, 
spattering the white of her robes.
	"And how do you expect me to behave, General?" she asked him, 
turning her face away from her reflection in the water.
	Nephrite met her gaze, then knelt down before the bucket of 
water and took the ladle up in his gasp. He scooped out some water, 
lifted the ladle over his head and tipped his face up towards the 
ladle. The water that came pouring down washed over his face, and 
indeed felt cool and cleansing as it washed away the sweat and 
fatigue from their session before the Fire.
	"Continue to ensure you do not disappoint me," he told Rei as 
the lingering droplets fell from his chin, "and I shall endeavour 
to do the same." 
	Revelation flickered in Rei's eyes. "You give respect as you 
receive it," she said quietly, her eyes directed to the floor where 
they both knelt. Her smile fluctuated and changed, and she glanced 
over at Nephrite. "You're not the hardass that Makoto makes you out 
to be."
	Nephrite's eyes narrowed, and the look he gave Rei in return 
was colder, though the glint was not meant for her. "As you said," 
he agreed dryly, "I give respect as I receive it."
	They returned to the final set of doors, where Nephrite's 
boots waited on the other side. Upon pushing the doors open, they 
were greeted with a cool burst of air from the corridor. Nephrite 
glanced down at Rei's feet. "Are you going to walk barefoot for the 
rest of the day?"
	"Only until I return to my chambers," Rei answered. "In these 
robes, anyone I pass knows why I would be walking barefoot." She 
then added, "Very few people are allowed into these corridors in 
the first place. So, are we continuing this tomorrow?"
	"My afternoon is free if yours is," Nephrite said as he put 
his boots back on.
	Rei's quiet smile broadened. "I'll find you and bring you 
here."
	They had not gone halfway down the corridor when Michiru 
appeared, looking expectantly at Nephrite in particular. He could 
tell from her posturing she had either been waiting to talk with 
him in private, or was relaying a message meant for him.
	"Michiru," Nephrite said, nodding his head slightly in 
acknowledgement.
	Michiru smiled pleasantly at him. "General. Sailor Mars. 
Halcyon Queen seeks your counsel."
	With a sigh, Nephrite stepped forward. "Looks like that hot 
bath will have to wait," he muttered aside to Rei.
	Michiru watched Nephrite approach, then turned to Rei. "Why 
are you lingering there? This summons includes you as well."
	Rei blinked in surprise. "Me?"
	"Her?" Nephrite asked.
	"Oh yes," Michiru said, her enigmatic smile growing. "Our 
queen wishes the both of you to be present."
	"What do you think it is?" Rei whispered to Nephrite as they 
followed after Michiru.
	Nephrite shook his head. "I'm not altogether certain. I just 
hope it's nothing serious."


			*	*	*
	Endymion and Serenity were led into a large studio, one with 
a seemingly perfect view of the Earth through a large glass canopy 
in the roof. Small waterfalls cascaded down from walls made to 
resemble volcanic rock, and emptied into pools filled with small 
fish. The floors were a marble tiling the shade of emerald, and 
looked almost like someone had taken the green grass of a beautiful 
countryside and changed it into stone. At the far end of the room 
stood an enormous artist's easel and a table laid out with drawing 
supplies. Standing next to the easel was the artist, and Halcyon.
	To their right was a small area closed off by hanging cloths 
draping down from part of the ceiling. It resembled a makeshift 
changing area.
	With a sudden, uneasy feeling in his stomach, Endymion had a 
good idea of what was about to happen. When Serenity looked up at 
him, her eyes wide in curiosity, he tried to give her a smile that 
was more reassuring than exasperated. He'd seen enough Lunarian 
murals to know how much they loved paintings. 
	Another set of doors opened up, and through them appeared 
Kunzite, Minako and Jadeite, with Artemis draped over Jadeite's 
shoulder. Nephrite and Rei soon followed. Zoicite was the last to 
appear. He strolled in by himself, and was visibly surprised by the 
assemblage already in the room.
	Endymion performed a quick mental tally: he and his four 
Generals; Serenity and her four Inner Soldiers; and Halcyon, with a 
distinctly amused look on her face.
	"Perhaps I missed the first part of this," Zoicite said, 
speaking Lunarian. "Would someone be able to let me know what's 
happening? Is this a briefing?"
	All eyes turned to Halcyon.
	"If you think this is yet another tedious meeting, then you 
are pleasantly mistaken," she said, addressing them all. "We have 
all been working countless hours these past few days, and we have 
all been under great amounts of stress. This is my way of thanking 
you for your efforts." She glanced at Endymion and his Generals. 
"And to give you a notable excuse for missing tonight's masque."
	Nephrite perked up. "I'm in," he stated.
	Jadeite and Zoicite snickered. 
	Kunzite closed his eyes and shook his head. 
	With a smirk on his face, Endymion turned his attention back 
to Halcyon. "What did you have in mind, Halcyon Queen?"
	"I am trusting this sits well with you all," Halcyon said. 
"It was meant to be a surprise, though one can only let a surprise 
go so far when the people you want to surprise need to pose for 
their surprise."
	She stepped aside, and with a gesture presented the young 
woman standing by the artist's easel. The woman bowed to the group, 
waves of black hair falling down by her shoulders.
	"She is one of five royal painters," Halcyon explained.
	Nephrite flashed Kunzite a notably dubious look. "A...painter?"
	Halcyon nodded her head, still smiling. "In the Lunarian 
tongue, her name is Nyaoucco." She turned to Endymion. "Your 
equivalent would be 'Naoko', I believe. I am hoping you all would 
be able to spend an hour or two tonight posing for a painting that 
she will paint in celebration of your time here."
	Nyaoucco smiled pleasantly at them, though it was evident she 
was more than a little daunted by being in the presence of such a 
gathering. In her hands she clutched a slender shaft of what was 
probably charcoal, to be used for preliminary sketchwork; 
afterwards she would do her painting based on the sketches and 
studies.
	Endymion glanced back at his Generals. 
	"Sounds decent enough to me," Zoicite said in Terran-
Nihonjin.
	Jadeite nodded his head. "It works."
	"An hour of still-life instead of an evening of dancing and 
idle chitchat," Nephrite said, acting as if he was musing it over. 
Everyone knew what his answer would be. "I can make that 
sacrifice."
	Kunzite simply bowed his head towards Endymion, and said 
nothing. Minako then whispered to him, "Do you think this will be a 
nude painting?" 
	Kunzite paused, blinked, and looked down at her. "Is that all 
you think about?"
	"It's what gets you reacting," Minako replied with a shrug. 
	Meanwhile, Halcyon discussed Nyaoucco's vision for the 
painting with the others. "Yes," she said, addressing one of 
Jadeite's questions, "she wishes to pair off the ambassadors and 
paint them as couples."
	Kunzite and Minako's heads snapped towards Nyaoucco.
	"See what you miss when you're whispering romantic things 
into each other's ears?" Nephrite muttered with a grin.
	"Shut up," was Kunzite's response.
	Nyaoucco abruptly clapped her hands and began to herd the 
group together with unexpected speed and authority. They had 
suddenly gone from respected nobles and soldiers to just another 
model. And perhaps most peculiar of all, Nyaoucco was flitting 
about from one to the other with a girlish grin on her face, more 
enthusiastic than all of them combined, like an excited child about 
to receive a present.
	The Generals were first required to change into Lunarian 
dress robes, which were adorned in silver fabrics with long flowing 
cloaks behind them. Minako volunteered to help Kunzite change. 
Kunzite said thank you very much, but it wasn't at all necessary. 
It took about ten minutes for them to emerge from the change area 
in their new attire.
	"I look like I'm supposed to get married," Nephrite hissed. 
	"And I feel unnaturally shiny," Jadeite added dryly.
	Zoicite pulled at his collar. "Are they supposed to be this 
high and tight? I'm practically choking." He glanced back at 
Kunzite. "What about you?"
	Kunzite frowned as he rubbed the ends of his cloak between 
his fingers. "Unofficially, I have never been happier to wear 
Terran-Nihongo armour on a regular basis. Fighting with these 
damned capes on would be near impossible." 
	Nyaoucco, however, clasped her hands together and beamed. 
"Fantastic!" she exclaimed. "You're just the sort of dashing heroes 
I want to marry one day!"
	The Generals exchanged uneasy looks with each other.	
	"Is this punishment for something we did?" Nephrite hissed.
	"What do you mean something 'we' did?" Jadeite hissed back. 
	Kunzite looked in Endymion's direction, and noted the amused 
expression Endymion was not at all bothering to hide as he watched 
them follow Nyaoucco's instructions.
	She set Kunzite and Minako to the far left side of the line 
she was creating. Originally she planned on having his arms around 
her shoulders. Minako cheerfully suggested that his hands be 
wrapped around her waist instead, and Nyaoucco cheerfully agreed 
that it was a superb idea.
	Kunzite not so cheerfully groaned and shook his head at them 
both.
	Next Nyaoucco paired Jadeite and Rei together, with them 
holding each other's hands as Jadeite stood in behind Rei. With 
more suspicion than usual in her eyes, Rei hesitated, and then 
dared to grasp Jadeite's hands. Jadeite regarded her, and gave Rei 
a brief, reassuring squeeze. When she looked back at him in 
surprise, Jadeite stared forward as Nyaoucco called out 
instructions for where to place their feet.
	When she was finished with them, she moved on to Nephrite and 
Makoto, and somehow remained utterly oblivious to the crackling 
glares they gave each other as they were forced to be in closer 
proximity than either would have ever preferred.
	"Now then," Nyaoucco said, "you need to hold General 
Nephrite's hand, Makoto." 
	Her eyes suddenly lit up in a way that made Nephrite and 
Makoto grimace. "Ah, such a wonderful idea!" she exclaimed. She 
skittered over to the pair, and brought their hands to Makoto's 
mouth. "Kiss General Nephrite's hand, and wink for me. It will be 
like a princess cuddling with her knight--perfect for this 
portrait!"
	Zoicite and Jadeite immediately turned to Kunzite, their eyes 
saying everything. Kunzite was certain his own expression was quite 
similar to theirs. They all braced themselves for what would no 
doubt be a catalyst for an ugly explosion between the two. He and 
Endymion would have to do a lot of apologizing for this one.... 
	Entranced with another idea for Zoicite and Ami's pose, 
Nyaoucco darted off and left Nephrite & Makoto with their loathing 
of each other. With Nyaoucco's back turned, Makoto let go of 
Nephrite's hand.
	"I believe," Nephrite politely spoke up, "that you are 
supposed to bring my hand to your lips."
	Makoto's hand balled into a fist. She looked ready to punch 
his hand--or any other part of him.
	"Still feisty, aren't we?" Nephrite remarked.
	Makoto glared at him.
	Nephrite rolled his eyes. "The less either of us squirms," he 
said in a voice meant for only the two of them to hear, "the sooner 
we can get away from each other."
	Makoto arched one of her eyebrows, then cast a glance back at 
Nyaoucco, who was busy arranging the pose for Ami and Zoicite. 
"Deal," she stated.
	Ami and Zoicite's pose consisted of them having one set of 
hands clasped over Ami's breasts, and the other set of hands 
clasped at their sides. Nyaoucco gave a few more final corrections 
and she raced from one pair to the next, and finally satisfied with 
the way they looked, scurried to her artist's easel.
	The sketchwork for the portrait began.
	"This is kind of fun," Ami said quietly to Zoicite as they 
stood and stared straight ahead. Nyaoucco was sketching with 
furious speed on the other side of the easel, her face poking out 
from behind the large sheet of paper every fifteen seconds.
	"And," Ami added playfully, "you're hating every minute of 
it, aren't you?"
	Zoicite smirked. "That obvious?"
	"Your entire body is as stern and tense as your expression," 
Ami said. 
	Zoicite's gaze darted down to Ami's face; she was a complete 
contrast, her enjoyment of being a painter's model showing in her 
smile and shining in her eyes. He quickly looked back to Nyaoucco 
before she chided him to tip his chin back up.
	"Is it because you don't have your katana at your side?" Ami 
asked.
	"Partially," Zoicite admitted. "I also don't like this 
uniform every much."
	In a very bold whisper, Ami replied, "Neither do I. You look 
much better in your regular one." 


			*	*	*
	From the sidelines, Endymion and Serenity waited for their 
time and turn to pose for Nyaoucco's portrait. Because theirs was 
going to be of a different nature, Nyaoucco wished that they pose 
separately after the session with the Generals and Sailor Soldiers. 
While it meant departing from the studio later than everyone else, 
the entertainment value from watching his Generals' expressions 
made Endymion consider it worth the added time.
	Nyaoucco sketched their poses from different angles and 
different distances, every now and again bobbing her head left or 
right, as if evaluating the way the light was being cast down on 
their faces. The session lapsed into almost an hour, and by that 
time everyone looked tired and stiff. Nyaoucco applauded their 
strength and thanked them very much for their time. 
	"Your uniform," she told Edymion as the others were dismissed 
and allowed to change, "is hanging right here."
	Endymion stared blankly at this new uniform, which was more 
formal, and consisted of a black jacket, pants and cape over a 
white dress shirt. He removed the cape from its hanger and tried to 
see how wide it stretched.
	"It's called a tuxedo," Serenity explained to him. "You've 
probably seen most of the men at the masquerade wearing them. And 
you're holding the cape upside down."
	"I haven't the slightest idea how to put this on," Endymion 
murmured.
	Serenity smiled and placed her palm on his shoulder. "I can 
help you if you like."
	Endymion warily regarded her proposition. "That might be a 
little...dangerous."
	"What makes you say that?" Serenity asked. The innocence 
echoed in her voice and shimmered through her blue eyes. "There is 
no dividing wall in the change area; we shall be changing side by 
side."
	Endymion's fingers tightened around the cape. With a sudden, 
bewildered look he glanced over at Halcyon. "Are you sure?"
	Serenity nodded. "I have been in this studio before, 
modelling for Nyaoucco's paintings. There is a very beautiful 
portrait of my Soldiers and I that hangs in my mother's private 
chambers."
	"I'm sure," Endymion said in a distracted tone as he watched 
Halcyon. 
	Halcyon, however, was enjoying Artemis' company. The little 
white cat sat draped over her shoulder the same way he tended to 
drape over Jadeite's shoulder. If Endymion didn't know any better, 
it looked as if Halcyon was having an actual conversation with the 
cat.
	"Endymion?" Serenity asked.
	Endymion turned his gaze back to her. "Let me struggle with 
it first, and if I require your assistance I'll give a call."
	Serenity was puzzled. "Does that mean you are changing out 
here in front of everyone else?"
	"No. I'll let you change first, and once you're finished I'll 
go in and change."
	His answer made Serenity smile. "You are a true prince and 
knight, Endymion. I am glad to know and love you."
	When she spoke the word 'love', something burned inside 
Endymion's chest. It was his heart, and for the first time, 
Endymion didn't mind or panic over it. He smiled and gestured for 
Serenity to make use of the change area; the Generals were exiting 
from behind the drapes, once more clad in their Terran-Nihongo 
armour.
	Unexpectedly Nyaoucco appeared in front of Endymion, and led 
him by the hands to the centre of the studio. Endymion found 
himself being given a talk about what Nyaoucco had in mind, and how 
she was hoping to capture him in mid-kiss with Serenity while she 
slept. A bed was going to be brought in so Serenity's positioning 
and the folds of her dress would be right, but in the final work, 
Nyaoucco was hoping the bed would be switched for a crescent moon.
	Her sketches of the Generals and Inner Soldiers were left 
unguarded on the easel and table. The subjects of the sketches 
quietly slipped over and examined the fruit of an hour of standing 
painfully still. 
	"I thought she was supposed to be kissing your hand," Jadeite 
murmured to Nephrite in Terran-Nihongo. "It looks more like you're 
covering Makoto's mouth. Or were you?"
	Puzzled himself, Nephrite could only shrug. "You didn't hear 
her protest, did you? And since when was Minako holding a staff?"
	"News to me," Zoicite said. "And just what sort of jewel is 
on the end of the staff anyways? It's like nothing I have ever seen 
before..."
	Nyaoucco came racing over and shooed them away; she wanted to 
make a few smaller sketches of Endymion's facial profile, and was 
not certain if she wished him to be wearing a domino mask for the 
portrait.
	With Halcyon's permission, they scattered and went their 
separate ways. Nephrite respectfully bowed to the queen, and 
departed. Makoto stalked off, more than likely to return to the 
sparring arena. Ami lingered as she watched over Serenity, and 
Zoicite kept her company. Jadeite slipped away, and shortly 
afterwards Rei followed.
	Kunzite and Minako took their time in leaving, and they 
departed arm in arm. Though it was more like Minako's arms were 
wrapped around his. They had been rather quiet in evaluating the 
painting, and stayed quiet as they left the studio and wandered the 
palace.
	Minako finally said, "She certainly...took some creative 
liberties, didn't she?"
	Kunzite slowly nodded his head. "A few, yes. But I think that 
when it's finished, it will be a very good painting."


			*	*	*
	Zoicite clenched his jaw as he gingerly bent his elbows. They 
were unexpectedly sore; he would need to perform a lot of 
stretching later in the evening if he wanted to wake up without 
every joint in his body stiff and locked up. 
	"It's surprising how you can suffer the same pains from an 
hour of being an artist's model as you would from an hour of 
exhaustive physical training," Ami said to him.
	"Unfortunately," Zoicite ruefully agreed. "How do you usually 
handle it?"
	"I visit Hotaru for a short while," she replied. "She is our 
personal physician and healer, after all. We're spoiled that way."
	Zoicite nodded his head, and noted that her tone was not as 
scathing as it usually was. "You don't seem to mind though."
	"If there is one luxury I indulge in, it's to have a physical 
therapy session with Hotaru whenever I have the chance," Ami said. 
"Our sparring matches can be quite gruelling."
	"Mind if I sit in on one of your bouts?"
	Ami grinned. "Not at all. And after seeing your performance 
at the masque, I should like to test my skills against yours."
	With a great deal of optimistic hope in his voice, Zoicite 
asked, "Are you available for that later tonight?"
	Ami momentarily turned her gaze away from Serenity, her smile 
tainted with melancholy. "Sadly, no," she said regretfully, and 
shook her head. "It is my time to guard Serenity tonight."
	"But you were guarding her this morning too," Zoicite said, 
and scowled. "That makes for a rather long day." It reminded him of 
pulling three consecutive watches through the night for a war being 
waged later at dawn. Midway through, he always found himself 
wanting the damned battle to be over and done with, regardless of 
how it ended. The impatient urges were always suppressed in the 
end; any fool to rush into something as significant as a deciding 
battle would have everything quickly turn against them. Unless they 
were racing in to seize an advantage or opportunity.
	"Minako was originally to look over our princess this 
morning," Ami explained. "She asked me to cover for her, since she 
couldn't find the others."
	"Ah. Tomorrow, then?"
	"I'd like that." And Ami's smile warmed up once more.
	Zoicite suddenly became aware of someone else standing with 
them. He turned his head, and saw Cioran standing there.
	"Can't you ever walk into a room normally, Cioran?" Ami 
asked. Her eyes never left Serenity.
	"Sorry. Force of habit," Cioran replied.
	Ami smiled. "I'd expect nothing less from you."
	Cioran nodded his head appreciatively, and turned his gaze to 
Zoicite. "It's just as well you and her cannot spent some time 
together this night." 
 	"Why is that?" Zoicite asked.
	Cioran grinned. "Because tonight, you get to practice your 
ice daggers again."


			*	*	*
	Tucked away somewhere within the palace was a garden of water 
and marble. Canals sunken into a floor ran in great, elegant curves 
and circles, criss-crossing to form a design that could only be 
appreciated when it was viewed from the second-level balcony. 
Jadeite had seen the design from higher up, and recognized it to be 
an old Lunarian artistry rune. The meanings were multiple, and the 
exact meaning or translation had been lost centuries before. An 
educated guess was the best thing anyone could give. The swirling 
lines of the rune might have meant 'eternity'. Or a poetic 
significance like: 'the water runs/forever/and I/am but one/who has 
seen it/pass by.'
	Jadeite didn't try to venture any sort of guess. He 
appreciated the garden for what it was: quiet, serene and 
beautiful. He had stumbled across it days before, when he wandered 
the palace lost in his own frailty and despair. To watch the 
tranquil waters flow past his eyes was to lose himself, and at the 
time Jadeite had been content to simply watch and forget. Now the 
water garden served a new purpose: it meant to purify his mind and 
clarify his thoughts.
	It reminded him so much of the Zen Buddhist gardens in his 
homeland, where the tranquility was not a means to escape and lose 
oneself. Its purpose was to provide a means of finding oneself, of 
finding truth. Jadeite needed answers. He sought them here.
	He knelt down before the water in traditional Terran-Nihonjin 
fashion, with his legs folded beneath him. To an outsider it 
probably looked like he was petitioning the water. To an outsider, 
he probably looked strange, maybe even foolish. Yet there he knelt 
at the edge of one of the curving canals, upon a narrow walkway 
that tapered into a spiral some ten steps away.
	Jadeite's eyes were closed as he listened to the surprisingly 
loud noise of flowing and bubbling water. It was the sound of life. 
It was also a sound that almost completely masked the footsteps of 
another drawing near.
	Jadeite's eyes opened up. "Hello again, Rei."
	He turned his head. Rei stood beside him, and preferred to 
remain standing. Her eyes were callous, but not without their 
curiosity...and hope.
	"You led me here, General," she stated.
	Jadeite sought himself out in the water, and laughed. "I 
suppose I did."
	"What did you want to say with me?"
	Jadeite found his reflection, and realized despite its 
distortions how haunted his face looked. He drew in a breath, and 
prepared himself. "Ever since our first encounter," he said to her, 
"I have been evasive of all your questions. I have repaid your 
honesty with silence and riddles." 
	He sighed and stared up at the glass ceiling high over their 
heads. The stars seemed to be smiling down at them. "In this vast 
universe, there is no world greater or more terrifying than that in 
which our mind dwells."
	Rei said nothing for a time. Her eyes watched and puzzled 
over his calm, and he could feel them trying to probe the very 
secrets of his heart. A distant buzz rang in his ears; Jadeite 
wondered if she was somehow trying to farsee and pick up his 
thoughts.
	"You've changed," she said finally.
	Her seemingly decisive statement made him smile. It almost 
made him laugh. Almost. Jadeite turned his gaze towards her, and 
for the first time his smile was sincere and without any mask or 
guise. "Despite our differences," he said quietly, "we all share 
the same basic traits. Everything changes. And everything bleeds." 
	Jadeite went back to watching the stars.
	"Today I learned that I have been bleeding for years, and 
what I thought were scars were actually the stings of an unsealed 
wound."
	He ceased his confession and stared down into the water, 
saying nothing. 
	Rei slowly turned and began to walk away.
	"His name was Hikari," Jadeite said abruptly. "He was my best 
friend since I could remember. We used to play with wooden swords 
and pretend we were samurai. Every day we would win impossible 
wars, and were feared by men and demon alike. One day we were 
playing in the woods about a half hour's walk from our village. I 
stumbled and sprained my ankle. Hikari wanted to help carry me 
back, but I told him it would be better if he went off to get help. 
I wanted to think my injury was greater than it really was. I 
sulked from the pain, and did not want to hobble home. I wanted my 
father to carry me back. I was but a child then; what did I know?
	"I sat there for half an hour...an hour...two hours. No one came. 
The afternoon was waning, and it was growing darker. Indignant, I 
forced myself up and began a long, painful journey home."
	Jadeite paused.
	His chest had become constricted.
	He couldn't bring himself to look into Rei's eyes. The last 
thing he wanted to see what emotion might be shaping the expression 
on her face.
	"They must have left not ten minutes before I arrived, 
because the houses were burning, but had not yet collapsed. They 
left no one alive. Those who were not slaughtered in the streets 
were burned to ash by the fires. Hikari was the first one I saw. I 
found him just on the outskirts of the village, and his wooden 
sword was still in his hands. He had drawn a child's playtoy 
against an armed marauder, and expected to win."
	Jadeite suddenly realized that the hands resting upon his 
legs were now clenched into fists, trembling from the pressure of 
his taut muscles. He could hear something baying in the distance, a 
dull roar of blood in his ears. The darkness was calling to him. 
His memories were stirring it awake once more.
	"My best friend died because I did not want to limp home," he 
said through clenched jaws. "His courage was extinguished that day, 
because I let the hurt get in my way."
	Very tentatively, Rei spoke. "Had you both walked home 
together, you both would have died."
	"And we would have both died with wooden swords in our 
hands," Jadeite stated. "We would have died with honour. There's 
even the chance that we both might have survived, if the journey 
home had taken a long time."
	He turned towards Rei. His eyes burned with a cold ferocity. 
"I have seen more horror in the last ten years than anyone 
deserves, but I endure it, because I let Hikari run home when I 
should have bit down on the pain and pettiness, and walked with 
him."
	Rei was shaking her head. He couldn't tell if she was moved 
by pity or protest. He didn't want either from her, for that 
matter. "You speak with such sadness," Rei said, "and yet you do 
not cry."
	"I can't," he told her. "After I buried everyone I had ever 
known, everyone I had ever loved, I cried from sunrise to sunset. 
Since that day, I have shed not a single, normal tear. If I cry, my 
tears are of blood, and the monster in my mind takes control. I 
feel regret still, yes, but I am numb to sadness. For years I used 
to believe that if you did not get close, if you did not allow 
yourself to feel, then you could the master the game instead if it 
mastering you."
	"What do you believe now?" Rei asked him.
	Jadeite cast his eyes back down to the water. His reflection 
seemed murky, as uncertain as his being. "It's not what I believe. 
It's what I doubt."
	"What do you doubt?"
	"Everything. My blood carries with it a darkness that has no 
name, and I can hear its terrible roar. Whatever that darkness is, 
it's old...and it is awakening with newfound strength. Its master is 
calling to me."
	A cool draft swept through the water garden, sending ripples 
down the canals. The edges of Rei's gown and hair fluttered about. 
Jadeite felt goosebumps rise upon his skin.
	"What are you going to do now?" Rei asked.
	Jadeite shook his head. "I don't know. But regardless of how 
I play it from here on, the game may very well destroy me before it 
comes to its end."
	Rei's voice regained a touch of its callousness and 
suspicion. "Is that why you called me here? To warn me?"
	Jadeite saw himself in the water once more. And for a brief 
moment, the reflection he saw was of a little boy sobbing and 
clutching his chest. He had grown up, and still not changed very 
much.
	With slow, deliberate movement Jadeite rose to his feet, and 
turned around so he faced Rei. "No," he said. "I brought you here 
to make my penance. All you ever heard from me before this were 
scraps from a game of wits and wills between us. You deserve to 
hear the truth, to understand.
	"I have not yet told you everything, Rei. After Hikari and my 
family were murdered, and my home burned to the ground, I took up a 
sword left behind at my village. I spent a year wandering alone, 
barely able to keep myself fed from day to day. And then one 
evening I found them...I found their killers. It was a purely chance 
encounter. They were drunk and falling asleep, celebrating another 
rousing attack on another helpless village."
	He could see the hesitation in Rei's eyes as she asked, "How 
did you know they were the ones responsible?"
	"Their leader was wearing the armour of my father," he 
answered.
	He did not speak of what happened after he found the 
marauders.
	Rei searched his eyes, and found the dark, disturbing answer.
	"You killed them all," she whispered. 
	Every syllable she spoke was laced with quiet horror. It made 
Jadeite let out a near sadistic laugh. "That's the nice way of 
saying it," he remarked. "I cut off their heads and hung them from 
a nearby tree, like they were fruit. I wore their blood. The gods 
only know how much of it I drank as it sprayed over me. They were 
so drunk and slow that they couldn't even scratch me. I couldn't 
stop laughing as I slashed their throats and cut open their 
stomachs."
	Echoes of that terrifying laughter to escape his throat 
drifted in with the wind, and the hair on the back of Jadeite's 
neck stood up. He was beginning to enjoy the recounting of his 
vengeance a little too much. Jadeite forced himself to continue on.
	"At the time, Endymion's father had been leading a small 
garrison of soldiers after these raiders. I later learned this gang 
had been razzing other villages for years, and never been caught. 
Imagine his surprise when Endymion's father found me there: 
laughing and covered in the blood of Hikari and my family's 
killers. I would have never survived to see the next sunrise has 
his father not taken me in. I owe everything to him, and to 
Endymion."
	Jadeite turned to his reflection.
	Much to his relief, it was still himself he saw in the water.
	"To this day, if I lose control of myself in battle, I enter 
a berserker state. It does not matter who might be in front of me-
friend, enemy, family. I kill them all without hesitation or mercy. 
And I do it with such speed and ferocity that some believe I am 
possessed by a demon."
	He glanced over at Rei. "If you ever see me taken by those 
demon eyes again, Rei, you run. You run and don't look back."
	"And what if I don't run?" Rei challenged. 
	Her voice lacked the resolve to see such a challenge to its 
end. Despite that, Jadeite had to smirk at her brazenness. People 
like her were the ones who would shape the future.
	"Then in all likelihood," he answered, "one of us will die."


			*	*	*
	Inside their windowless chamber, surrounded by tapestries of 
heroic knights slaying dragons and Sailor Soldiers battling a 
slithering darkness alive with eyes, the twins slept. They were 
entwined in each other's arms, hands clasped together, their lips 
separated by a mere breath. Tresses of hair spilled out over their 
white gowns and scarlet sheets, reaching past their waists in waves 
of sandy-blonde.
	They were dreaming. And in their dreams, they called to each 
other. The air in their chamber was alive with the sound of 
whispers, wicked and delighting. Their voices echoed in the 
furthest corner and highest point of the sloping ceiling, but their 
lips did not move.
	Then a third voice was heard, and it tittered like a maniacal 
child.
	All other whispers in the room stopped.
	Lazuli's eyes fluttered open. "I was having a most wonderful 
dream," she purred to her sister. 
	"As did I," Lapis agreed in the same tired, content voice.
	"Did yours get interrupted?" Lazuli asked.
	Lapis nodded her head, and with delicate fingers reached up 
to caress her sister's hair. "Unfortunately."
	"What was that?" Lazuli wondered.
	"Snow," Lapis said. "That's what they call it on Earth."
	They stared into each other's eyes, and saw glimmers of 
snowflakes falling upon Lunarian courtyards.
	"We'll have to tell Beryl when she arrives," Lapis said.
	"Tell me what, my loves?" Beryl asked.
	The twins turned to Beryl, who stood in the doorway of their 
bedchambers. She had made no sound upon entering, made no prior 
indication of when she had entered or how long she had been 
listening to them. Lapis and Lazuli sat up in their bed, rising as 
a single entity. They stared at Beryl, and looked more ravenous 
than pouting. 
	"Enjoyable meeting?" Lapis asked. 
	Beryl stroked Lapis' cheek. "Indeed, it was."
	As strange as it seemed, there was honour among thieves. And 
that honour and respect was bound solely by fear. Those in power 
within Endymion's homeland who were plotting their petty 
treacheries and slaughters had been almost ridiculously easy to 
unify beneath her banner. For the moment, they would be held at bay 
by a power greater than their own, a power they both feared and 
sought. Soon Earth and Lunaria would be lulled into a false sense 
of security, and the final preparations would be complete. Soon she 
would have her war, and her master would have its revenge.
	But now, she focused her attention on her twins.
	"What have you seen?" she asked them. 
	"Someone is being very, very naughty," Lazuli said. 
	Lapis nodded her head. "We have someone who wants to poach on 
our territory."
	"She really deserves a spanking for it," Lazuli agreed, 
turning to her sister.
	"The next time we dream," Lapis stated, "I'll hold her down. 
You can hold the sword."
	Lazuli's smile became leering. "Delicious."




	The dance continues soon with the secrets and the shadows...




Sailormoon, its characters, struggles and story, are copyright and 
the children of Nyaoucco Takeuchi. No recognition of my story can 
be made without giving her proper recognition first. There are 
original characters in my story (currently Spinel, Cioran, Garnet, 
the twins...and sort of "Nyaoucco"), and if you wish to make use of 
them I'd rather you asked first rather than after the fact.


Close, personal thanks goes out to: Mel, who's excited to know this 
entire fic is just a warm-up to something else; the Fic Bitch, 
whose own unique experiences with chilling art pieces helped create 
the "Jadeite/Progenitor" experience; Meara; who agreed that yeah, 
the Fic Bitch's head has probably imploded with the inevitable 
inclusion of "that damned Senshi/General picture" scene; and to 
Nighbreak & Sean Gaffney, the best friends and co-conspirators a 
fanboy could ever have. 


My sincerest appreciations to Andrea & George for creating, 
updating, maintaining and revising 'A Sailormoon Romance.' 
(www.moonromance.net) It is good to know that so many wonderful 
stories will always have a home at ASMR, and it is a good home I 
will always enjoy coming back to.


Email Chaos at: hislordshipchaos@hotmail.com





	ON THE DARKSTORM


Listen to me, children, and listen well. Words such as these should 
never be forgotten, for the names I shall speak here are of things 
that may still live. It was the end of the world, and the 
beginning.

Four hundred years into the past. Four hundred years before the 
Silver Millennium met its end, there was peace in the system. A 
golden age had settled upon the planets, then inhabited and 
flourishing with peoples and cultures.

The Darkstorm appeared one day on the fringe edges of the solar 
system, mistaken at first for a black nebula or a wormhole of some 
kind. Any research came back making little or no sense. The 
Darkstorm defied any rationality or physics. Some wondered if it 
was in fact alive. 

Two days after appearing, the Darkstorm fell upon Pluto. The 
survivors who escaped fled to Neptune. The Darkstorm chased after 
them. It began to move from planet to planet, tearing worlds 
asunder and life apart. All it left behind were desolate balls of 
rock, gas and ice. No one knew what happened to any of those lost 
to the Darkstorm...not until it reached Saturn. The monstrosities 
began to appear, raining down from the black, pulsating clouds that 
seemed to form the Darkstorm's body. They held echoes of human 
beings, but were more perversions and grotesques than anything 
else. People fled. Those who weren't torn apart or devoured by the 
demons were swept away by the Darkstorm. 

It was during the wars upon Neptune that the Sailor Soldiers first 
appeared. They numbered fifteen in total: four came from another 
system, having chased the Darkstorm across the galaxy; one for each 
planet in the solar system, including a planet called Aurora, which 
was later completely annihilated; and a leader of the ten, born of 
Lunarian blood. 

The soldier for Pluto was the first to be known, chosen from among 
her planet's survivors and awakened by the outsider Soldiers. She 
arose to stand against the Darkstorm when it came for Neptune. The 
others were quick to join her. They came from different situations 
and different classes from different worlds, yet they stood united 
and wielded powers no one had ever before seen. As the Soldiers 
fought against the Darkstorm, Lunaria assembled the first members 
of what would one day become the Seraphim Guard. 

These Sailor Soldiers were hailed as angels, gods even by some, for 
they alone were able to drive back the Darkstorm and its hellish 
armies long enough to let the survivors escape to another planet. 
Yet no one knew how or why they appeared just when they were 
needed. 

Aurora, a planet of mystics, barely had the chance to give a Sailor 
Soldier to the war. However, what they were able to give before 
they were destroyed was the immense power of the Talismans to the 
Outer Soldiers. To Pluto they gave a garnet orb that could unlock 
the gates of Time itself. To Uranus they gave a sword that could 
cut through the very fabric of the shadows. To Neptune they gave a 
mirror capable of gazing into the hearts and minds of any enemy. 
And to Saturn, they gave a glaive with the power of life and death. 
This "Silence Glaive" was meant as a last-ditch suicide weapon that 
could destroy the Darkstorm along with the entire planet, if it 
came to that.

Responding to Aurora's defiance, the Darkstorm annihilated the 
planet, creating the asteroid belt. From there, the Darkstorm 
jumped ahead and fell upon Mercury. Venus was quickly gobbled up 
after it. Then it came for Mars. Finally, it descended upon the 
Earth, leaving Lunaria for last. 

Ultimately, one by one they fell in the war, and were claimed by 
the Darkstorm. The Seraphim were sent to the Moon in case the 
Sailor Soldiers were defeated; they would become the Moon's last 
line of defence. The final battle raged on the Earth, and in the 
aftermath only three soldiers emerged: the Sailor Soldier of 
Mercury, the Sailor Soldier of Lunaria, and one of the four 
outsiders.

What became of them, none of the surviving texts say. 

In the aftermath of the Darkstorm Wars, Lunaria brought the 
survivors of each world together, and formed new kingdoms upon the 
moon. The enmity between Earth and Lunaria has partial origins from 
this incident: the Earth, while saved by the Sailor Soldiers, did 
not like knowing that the Seraphim Guard had been pulled back to 
protect the moon while the Earth was being ravaged. Lunaria was 
quietly cursed for being selfish, abandoning the Earth just to save 
itself.

Listen to me, children, and listen well. Words such as these should 
never be forgotten. Because sometimes, just sometimes, the story 
they tell isn't over.

Not yet.

Not by far...