Before the Beginning

	

	"Serenity!  Can you feel it?"

	Serenity twirled with a flair of silver hair to look at Sol, and despite 
the danger in their situation, she felt a faint flutter as he jogged into sight, 
his armor glinting gold in the setting sun.  <No time to think about that!>  Her 
eyes squinted with concentration.  "Yes--I can feel the change.  They know who 
we are."  She began to reach out with her mind while she pulled out a small 
communicator to contact the less skilled ones among their group.  "Everyone!  
Code red!  We've been discovered!  Clear out!  We can do no more from here!"  
While she was still gasping out her message, Sol grabbed her arm and pulled her 
down the path toward their getaway hideout.

	"We have to get moving.  They're sure to know we're the leaders of the 
revolutionary faction!  Let's go!"  She followed along behind as quickly as she 
could, casting longing glance at the beautiful wildlife around her.  As she 
passed, she picked a small green branch off of a silver berry tree.  Her last 
piece of home.  "C'mon!"  Serenity shook off her reverie, stuck the little twig 
in her hair, and began to run again.  

	She and Sol wrestled the camouflage away from the cave mouth while she 
dismissed her mental shields, and they piled into their small space craft.  Sol 
hunched over the controls, struggling to set the coordinate of their jump point 
and bring the real-space engines to life.  Serenity slumped into her padded 
chair and brought her considerable mental powers to bear on the minds she could 
feel outside, questing for some sign of her and her compatriots.  Her mind was 
stretched almost impossibly thin, but she gritted her teeth and held on.  If she 
failed, they would all be lost.  She didn't even notice the G forces as they 
took off, or her weightlessness, or Sol belting her back into her seat.  She did 
feel their passage into the hyperspace terminal, though-their entrance cut off 
all the searching minds she held at bay.  Serenity opened her eyes with a tired 
sigh, and smiled when she saw Sol's concerned face hovering in front of her.

	"Are you all right, Serenity?"

	"I'm fine.  How long until we reach the rendezvous co-ordinates?"

	He didn't even have to glance at the chronometer.  "A minute or so-but 
they won't know where to search for us for a little while, more than long enough 
for us to leave.  Even the government doesn't have the ability to read the 
residual clues in our jump point in less than a day.  We're safe for that long."

	Serenity nodded, and felt a jolt as their ship slid out of hyperspace, and 
her mind connected up with her fellow subversives' minds again.  "We're here."

	Sol turned and began to examine their position, waiting for more 
information from Serenity.  She turned to him.  "Do you have the co-ordinates?"  
He nodded and read them off to her.  She repeated them mind to mind, and was 
just finishing up when Sol began to swear.  Serenity looked to him in concern.  
"What is it?"

	"We didn't jump away from the planet fast enough.  A government ship 
followed our wake.  We have to get out now!"

	"I'll take the controls!  You're going to have to make a diversion.  
There's a red giant less than a light minute away-you get ready, I'll draw the 
ship toward it while the others jump to safety."  Sol nodded grimly, and they 
solemnly traded places.  Serenity gripped the control in her sweaty palms and 
concentrated on pulling the government ship after her.  After a minute of tricky 
maneuvering, she got the ship close to the star.  She slammed her hand down on 
the hyperspace engines' emergency start button, and screamed out, adrenaline 
rushing though her veins, "Now Sol!  We're jumping!"  The engines roared to 
life, and pushed them through to the fifth dimension, throwing Serenity to the 
ground.  She didn't even have time to feel the pain of impact as she passed out.

*****

	"Serenity!  Serenity!  Please wake up!"  Serenity considered opening her 
eyes, but decided it would take too much work.  Instead she weakly raised a hand 
and tried to wave the pesky fly that kept calling her name away.  A strong hand 
grabbed ahold of hers, and she finally opened her eyes to see who it could be.  
"Serenity!  Are you all right?"

	She blinked her sapphire blue eyes and looked around in confusion, hoping 
her memory would catch up with her.  Suddenly it did.  She sat up with a shout.  
"The ship!  Did we stop it?  Are we safe?"

	Sol smiled, crinkling the corners of his amber eyes.  His wavy blond hair 
brushed her cheeks as he leaned in close.  "Yes.  We're safe.  We stopped the 
ship.  I set off the nova successfully, and it swallowed the vessel up just as 
we jumped."

	Serenity felt a sharp pang of guilt assault her at the thought of lives 
lost.  Sol read her expression and smiled sadly in sympathy.  "I know.  I don't 
really like it either.  But it was a over sixty of us, or them.  We really 
didn't have any choice.  Besides," he shrugged, "they wouldn't have even 
hesitated in doing the same to us."

	Serenity nodded in reluctant agreement.  "I know, but..."

	Sol gave her a gentle hug.  She wished he wouldn't.  It was hard enough 
hiding her feelings as it was.  "We have to decide on a system to settle in.  
We've narrowed our choices down to ten systems, all on the edge of the galaxy.  
We're going to conference in a few minutes."  Serenity pushed her emotions out 
of the way at the news.  She had to be calm and collected, or everyone would 
sense her strong emotions.  She had to be strong.  She was their leader after 
all.  If she couldn't control her fear and uncertainty, they wouldn't either.  
She struggled to sit up.  Sol knelt at her side to give her a hand.

	"What system looks most promising?"

	"The one with twelve planets looks quite nice.  It's the only one with any 
planets that don't need terraforming to support life.  It's quite unusual, 
though."

	"Why?"

	"It has two double planetary systems within the stellar system, and one of 
them contains both life-bearing planets."

	"Two!  That's unheard of!"

	"I know, but it seems to be the best choice, and you can just bet Hermes 
is drooling in anticipation of studying such an odd planetary arrangement."

	Serenity chuckled faintly at Sol's jab.  He was a man of action, and 
couldn't seem to understand Hermes insatiable thirst for knowledge.  "Yes, I'm 
sure he is.  This unusual system sounds promising.  Twelve planets gives us 
plenty of room.  I think we'll settle for that one, unless someone at the 
assembly gives good reason not to."  She strode forward in a weak reassertment 
of her usual forceful presence, toward her waiting people.

*****

	The meeting was a mess.  They'd all squished into the largest ship.  It 
was really too small to hold them all comfortably, and tempers were as hot as 
the temperature in the stuffy cargo hold.  Serenity waited until shouted 
arguments reached a fevered pitch, then she swept into the room, radiating calm.  
She stopped at the podium, followed by Sol, and they stood in front of their 
tired, bedraggled followers, completely silent.  Arguments slowly petered out 
into silence, and when Serenity felt everyone was finally ready to listen, she 
began to speak.

	"I know you are all tired and worried, and in a bit of a shock at the 
suddenness of our discovery, but all of us have made it out, and the government 
can't follow us here.  We're safe, everyone.  We can rest easy in that 
knowledge."

	"We can never rest easy as long as the government can trace us!"  Serenity 
raised her eyes, which suddenly cooled from a warm summer sky to cold glaciers 
of ice, toward the loudmouthed Zeus.

	"I repeat, the government can't follow us.  There is a reason we were 
discovered.  Just before the alert went out, Sol and I managed to steal 
something I think you'll all recognize from the imperial palace."  She reached 
with her mind into the dimensional pocket she'd stored her treasure in, and it 
popped into existence in her open palm.  An awed silence filled the cargo bay.  
"I see you all recognize Ginzuishou.  This is the reason you made me leader, 
after all.  Only the women of my family have ever been able to keep the vast 
amount of energy in Ginzuishou under control.  Without this, the government will 
never be able to find us."  She turned her hand ever so slightly, letting the 
bright facets of Ginzuishou sparkle and flash in her audience's eyes.

	"Then why didn't you use Ginzuishou to stop our pursuers?" Zeus couldn't 
seem to curb his combativeness.  Serenity frowned at him.

	"You know how much control Chaos has over our world.  Do you really think 
we could stop it right now, even with my hand controlling Ginzuishou?  We barely 
managed to escape with our lives!"  The ice was more pronounced now, having 
migrated into her voice, and Zeus pulled back from the her cold gaze.  "I had 
hoped we could become stronger before we were forced to make a play for 
Ginzuishou, but Sol and I could tell they were beginning to suspect  our 
existence.  Do you think any of us would be alive right now if it weren't for 
our possession of Ginzuishou?"

	Hermes leaned close to his impulsive friend and elbowed him in the ribs.  
"Why don't you be quiet now, Zeus, before you make an idiot of yourself?"

	Serenity thought she heard a sour "Too late," from Poseidon's general 
direction and smothered a chuckle as ominous thunderclouds of anger filled Zeus' 
face.  

	"Well," she interjected before a quarrel could develop, "to continue, we 
failed in our attempt to oust Chaos' influence over our home planet, but we have 
managed to escape, and we have a few different stellar systems that are 
candidates for settlement."  Serenity motioned toward Hermes, who turned on the 
holoprojector as soon as the lights dimmed.  Serenity gestured toward the 
glowing simulation of the strange twelve planet system Sol had explained to her.  
"This is the most promising system.  As you can see, three of the planets are 
within the habitable ring around this star, and two of them, a very rare double 
planet group, have developed life on their own.  There are twelve planets, so 
there is plenty of room for all of us--"

	"Don't forget the star itself," Sol grinned and cracked his knuckles.  
Serenity gave him a fond but exasperated look.

	"Only you would even consider a star viable real estate."  His grin 
widened and he made an exaggerated bow in her direction.  Serenity turned back 
to her audience, now noticeably amused.  Trust Sol to lighten things up.  She 
shot a quick thought of warm gratitude toward him.  "The other possible systems 
all have fewer planets, and none of them have planets with life already 
developed on them."

	Hermes spoke up.  "Well, then, I'd say our choice is obvious.  Wouldn't 
you?"  He looked around at his comrades, then pushed ahead without bothering to 
wait for agreement.  "There are fewer than a hundred of us.  We should be able 
to live here without any problems, and we'll be far enough away from the center 
of the galaxy for Chaos and her ilk to have a hard time finding us, at least 
until we've had enough time to build up our strength.  I assume that's what 
we're doing, Serenity?"  He stopped talking long enough to breathe, and Serenity 
seized the brief lull in his speech to get control of the meeting again.

	"Yes, Hermes, that's what we thought.  We'll fly to the system, and decide 
who will live where.  We'll need to make these planets habitable, and also keep 
in mind we may have to defend our new home."  Serenity looked over to Sol.  "Can 
you think of anything else we need to cover before we split up again?"  Sol 
nodded and made his way to the podium.  Serenity stepped back.

	He cleared his throat uncomfortably.  "Uh, we all left Haven rather 
hastily.  Does everyone have enough supplies to see them though?  We're at the 
edge of civilized space, and this will probably be our last chance to get 
supplies before we arrive at our new home."

	A few people raised their voice to say they needed fuel, replacement 
parts, and various supplies.  Sol nodded.  "The safest place for us to attempt 
to buy supplies is this planet here."  Sol gestured toward the holoprojector, 
which obligingly changed from the simulation of the twelve planet system to a 
picture of a pretty purple planet with pink clouds.  "They're far enough from 
Haven that Chaos' influence will be weak, and there may even be some who 
sympathize with us.  We'll stop there, pool all of our currency, and buy what we 
need.  Let's go-we don't have a lot of time, here, folks.  We'll send the co-
ordinates to you over the com systems after all of our engines are hot."

	Serenity and Sol watched their friends and comrades pop out of their sight 
one by one, until the crew of the ship they were on and they themselves were the 
only ones left on the ship.  Sol saluted the crew, then turned with a gallant 
bow to hold out his hand to Serenity.  With a happy giggle she took it, and they 
teleported to their own small ship.  Serenity turned to Sol as he sent out their 
resupply planet's co-ordinates.  

	"What is the name of the planet, anyway, Sol?"

	He turned his burning amber eyes on her.  "Mau."

PART ONE

	



	"We have to be careful who we send down to purchase supplies.  I don't 
know how much Haven would have revealed to the authorities here.  They could 
already be waiting for us!"  Serenity wrung her hands in worry.  Sol leaned 
close in worry.  She was so weighed down by her responsibility.  Her eyes were 
dark with fatigue.  He smiled gently and took her hands in his own before she 
could hurt them.  

	"Don't worry.  We'll send the strongest of us to purchase the supplies."

	"Shouldn't we send some of the less prominent of us?  Ones they're less 
likely to have descriptions of?"

	He shook his head.  "We've got Ginzuishou.  Haven'll be shouting all of 
our descriptions in every direction--they have to catch us.  No one will go 
unrecognized, but some of us can go through safely, if we're well protected."  
He paused for a second, and Serenity nodded in agreement.

	"Yes, I see now.  I almost have to go--Ginzuishou's protection will be 
invaluable.  I think Cronus will have to come along too..."

	Sol shook his head in disgust.  "I think you're the only one who could 
convince him to.  The man is so reclusive!"

	Serenity smiled.  "He's just shy.  I think it's rather sweet...."  Sol 
fought his jealousy down as Serenity continued.  Sometimes his emotions were as 
fiery as his powers.  "Hades and Poseidon would probably also be good."  
Serenity turned back toward Sol and leveled the full devastating effect of her 
smile on him.  "Of course, I couldn't forget you, Sol."

	Sol's heart melted again.  Every time he saw her. . .  He cleared his 
throat.  "I know my powers come in useful--most people don't want to anger 
someone who can make their sun go nova, among other things--but I don't like 
threatening people with my presence."  He forced his voice to sound nonchalant.  
He felt Serenity's soft hand fall on his shoulder.

	"I understand, but we both know you would never do anything to their sun--
I think we would both rather die than destroy a whole stellar system."

	Sol looked into her sapphire eyes.  "That doesn't mean we have to tell 
them they're perfectly safe while we need to buy supplies, though."

	Serenity nodded.  "Exactly."  Her lips looked so soft. . .  His heart 
finished melting, and kindled into a hot flame.  He began to lean toward her, 
his eyes fixed on hers.  His heart began to beat more loudly.  

	Serenity's eyes widened; she took a hasty step back, and quickly 
interposed the wordpad with their shopping list printed out in glowing letters 
between them.  "I--uh--I was wondering if we could add something else to the 
list."

	Sol stepped back too, and stared at Serenity from across the small command 
room of their ship.  He felt his cheeks and ears heat up, and was thankful for 
his dark complexion.  His eyes wandered uncomfortably around the walls before 
coming to rest again on Serenity.  "Sure," he stuck his hands in his pockets, 
"what would you like to add?"

	Serenity cocked her head to one side and brought her hand up to her head 
to finger her distinctive hairstyle.  She pulled out a sprig of some sort of 
plant.  "I want to buy some soil to plant this in.  It's a twig from a 
silverberry bush.  See," she held it out toward him, and he looked at it 
awkwardly.  "it has some berries on it.  I want to plant it, if I can."  
Serenity brought the twig close to her body and cradled it gently in her hands.  
"My last piece of home.  I'd like to keep it alive if I can."

	Sol felt an overwhelming desire to hug her, but after their awkward moment 
he couldn't quite bring himself to go to her.  Instead he forced a smile to his 
lips.

	"Of course we can.  It's not as if we're going to need money where we're 
going."

	Serenity lifted her tear-streaked face up to look into his eyes.

*****

	Serenity jerked her head up to look at Sol.  He was smiling at her after 
giving her those kind words, but the smile didn't reach his eyes, didn't give 
them their usual merry crinkle.  <I'm so sorry, Sol!>  Her tears weren't for the 
branch she held cupped in her hands.  They were for the pain she heard 
reverberating in Sol's voice.  She couldn't allow anything to develop between 
them--at least not yet.  No matter how much her body rebelled against her 
reason, and screamed for her to give in to her impulses, she couldn't let 
anything happen.  They were their small group's leaders, and had to keep their 
survival utmost in their minds.  After they settled in to their new stellar 
system, though, and all their problems were taken care of . . .

	Serenity could barely wait.

*****

	Aphrodite smiled winsomely at the customs agent, while Sol and Chronus 
glared at him threateningly, and Serenity, in icy silence, refused to even 
acknowledge his existence.  This was such an adventure!  Aphrodite was stronger 
than her deceptively soft appearance first suggested, but her magic was always 
leveled at one person--it had a strong effect, but narrow focus.  She put most 
of her attention into befuddling the poor man in front of her.  It wasn't really 
necessary with such big, strong men behind her--Chronus' glaive was so 
wonderfully threatening--but it didn't really hurt either.

	"I'm sorry miss, but we've received word that you were to be detained for 
questioning," the red-faced guard managed to stutter.

	"Oh, bother," Aphrodite stuck out her bottom lip in her most enticing 
pout, "Please don't tell me there's going to be any unpleasantness."

	The guard's eyes widened, and he opened his mouth to speak, but before he 
could manage a single word, Sol cleared his throat loudly, and raised one 
eyebrow, while Chronus' knees bent ever so slightly, obviously ready for action.  
Serenity didn't move a single muscle, but a pale white glow--with it's 
unmistakable source cupped within her hand--suddenly surrounded her, and the 
guard took a frightened step back.  Aphrodite grinned with excitement.  What 
fun!

	Sol's face was just as jovial.  Aphrodite pursed her lips in thought.  Now 
he would make a good match for her.  With that blond hair and those amber eyes, 
they would make beautiful children together.  She sidled up to him and took his 
hand as they walked out of the spaceport toward the market area.  He held her 
hand, but Aphrodite didn't get the feeling he was as flattered as men usually 
were when they received her attention.  She looked over to her other companions.  
Chronus' gaze was fixed ahead of them, his mind on the purpose of their visit 
and nothing else.  As usual.  Chronus was such a bore.  Serenity's reaction was 
more revealing, however.  She kept glancing at the two of them, and more than 
once her gaze fixed on Sol's and Aphrodite's twined fingers.

	Well, wouldn't this be interesting!

	"Let's start there," Chronus pointed toward a brightly colored building 
right ahead of them, with loud signs declaring the quality and low prices of the 
establishment's wares.  Having no objection, the group began to make their way 
toward the store.

	"Excuse me, ladies, gentlemen, but I think I may be of service to you."  
Aphrodite turned to look at a strange looking man, with the most outlandish 
white costume on.  What was with all of the straps and belts?  Close behind him 
was a beautiful woman, with curly black hair and four small odangos on her head, 
almost like Serenity.  She sighed.  Yet another unavailable male.  It was most 
unfair.  Well, back to work.  She had come along for a reason, after all.  She 
smiled again with a little less seduction and a lot more friendliness.  

	"How kind of you to offer!  What do you wish to tell us?"

	"I was just going to offer a friendly piece of advice.  I know Hestia's 
establishment is the most obvious one to outsiders, but you really don't want to 
shop there.  She overcharges and sells defective equipment."

	The woman spoke up.  "She knows offworlders will be too far away to 
complain to her when her products break down.  We can lead you to better 
stores."

	Chronus spoke up.  "I'm curious.  Why would you want to help us?"

	The man in white grinned, and flipped his long pale hair over one 
shoulder.  "Well, usually monetary compensation would be sufficient, but-"

	"Oh, Artemis!  Stop that!  We don't have time!"  The woman's teasing smile 
belied her harsh words.  "We don't want money.  We want to leave with you when 
you go.  My name is Luna, and this is Artemis."

	"Artemis?!"  Aphrodite winced at the mocking tone in Sol's voice.  "Isn't 
that a woman's na-"  She gritted her teeth and dug her nails as deep into Sol's 
hand as she could.  ::Idiot!:: she sent.  ::Don't alienate a possible contact!::

	Artemis didn't hear their silent conversation.  He grinned, showing more 
teeth than was strictly necessary.  Luna leaned forward to grab his arm, and 
Aphrodite winced.  Luna was more ruthless than she--she thought she saw a little 
blood where Luna's nails had been.  Suddenly Aphrodite focused on Luna's nails.  
They were sharper than normal, as if they were claws, not nails at all.  There 
was more to these people then there seemed.  

	Aphrodite breathed a sigh of relief as Serenity stepped forward.  At last!  
They needed women to take over this conversation before the men started beating 
on each other.  Honestly, men were so stupid about these things!

	"Please excuse my companion," she started quietly, shooting a dangerous 
look in Sol's direction.  "I'm sure he meant nothing by his hasty comment.  But 
I'm not sure I understood what you said earlier.  You only want to be allowed to 
go with us?  Do you know who we are?"

	Luna chuckled.  "How could we not?  It's not often one of the members of 
your family is declared outlaw, Lady Serenity.  We are also concerned about the 
rise of Chaos' power in Haven, and we want to escape her reach before we come to 
her attention.  Things are too hot for revolutionaries now, and we're well known 
as such here on Mau.  Right now, we're respected for it, and tolerated because 
Chaos' influence is weak here.  Soon, we'll be in great danger.  We want to help 
your voyage succeed, because we want to go with you."  Luna spread her hands, 
indicating she'd put all her cards on the table, and Aphrodite had to admit she 
had said it all.  She cast a loaded look in Serenity's direction, but she could 
tell Serenity had already come to the same conclusion.  She smiled that dazzling 
smile that even Aphrodite couldn't match, and held out a delicate hand.

	"I would be pleased to have you join us,"  Luna reached out to take 
Serenity's hand.  As soon as it entered Serenity's grip, she tightened her hold 
and her eyes held Luna's.  "but if I ever have reason to suspect duplicity from 
you, I will kill you."

	Luna held her gaze, and the smile on her face froze a bit, but did not 
leave her face.  "We will never give you reason to doubt us."

	Serenity nodded and let go.  "Well, then," she handed Artemis their list, 
"these are the items we need, and this is the amount of money we have to buy 
them with.  Don't worry about reserves.  Where we're going, we won't need them."

	"Well then, since all that unpleasantness is over, finally, can we please 
begin to shop?  That is the whole reason I came along, you know."  Aphrodite 
fluttered her eyelashes shamelessly.  As they began to walk down the street she 
smothered a smug expression.  She'd even managed to coax a smile out of Chronus 
with that one.



PART TWO







	Hermes shifted as he tried to get more comfortable in his seat.  "We are 
here to divide up our new stellar system." Serenity said to open the meeting.  
"There are twelve planets, and sixty-eight of us, that makes five or six of us 
per planet."

	Aphrodite smiled lazily and drawled out, "Sounds awfully crowded to me!"

	Serenity shot a look of annoyance toward her as titters flitted through 
her audience.  "In order to minimize conflict," Hermes stifled a smile.  Did 
Serenity give that word just a bit more emphasis than was necessary?  "we should 
choose a leader for each planet, and then split up.  First we have to choose 
twelve leaders."

	Ares stood up.  "I think there are a few we can easily agree on, here."  
He hooked his fingers in his belt.  Hermes wanted to give him a sound thrashing-
-the man annoyed him to no end--but he had to admit, only a man of all brawn, no 
brain, would stand up during a delicate moment like this and take over the 
conversation.

	Serenity motioned for Ares to continue and Hermes nodded in appreciation.  
He'd always known Serenity was a compassionate and wise leader.  Right now she 
was being wise, and letting Ares handle this difficult moment.  

	"I think we can all agree that Serenity and Sol each should get a 
leadership position.  Chronus and Hades also unquestionably number among the 
most powerful of us."  Ares glared around the room, but no one even wanted to 
challenge these obvious choices.  "Minerva and Hermes are also two good choices-
-we need smart people, not just fighters."  Hermes looked up in surprise at 
that.  Everyone knew how he felt about Ares.  Maybe the soldier wasn't an idiot 
after all!  Ares continued, ignoring the startled reactions of those around him.  
"We probably will want some strong fighters on the perimeter planets, such as 
Charon, Poseidon, and Ouranos.  Zeus and Aphrodite are also good choices."  He 
turned to bow valiantly in Aphrodite's direction, and she smiled winsomely back 
at him.  Lastly he turned toward Gaia.  "Lastly, I suggest Gaia receive one of 
the already habitable planets.  Since she is so skilled with living things, I 
think its only wise she have one of the two planets that are going to supply 
most of our food for the first few decades.  Now, if I'm not too thick to count 
I believe that adds up to twelve."  Ares smiled over at Hermes with an ironic 
tilt in his eyebrows.  Hermes felt a sudden urge to stand up and applaud, but 
Sol found his feet first.

	"I would suggest," he began, with his trademark grin, "that Ares himself 
be given a planet as well."

	Hermes couldn't resist a smart comment.  "I'm afraid, Sol, that your grasp 
of numbers seems to be less firm than Ares.  You see, that would make thirteen."  
Sol shot him a sour look.

	"I know that.  I wish to step down from ruling one of the planets.  I want 
the star."

	Serenity stood up at that.  "It's wonderful that you're willing to step 
down from rule, but you can't really live on the star--even with our 
technology."

	"I don't have to live there.  But I think it's the most appropriate body 
in this system for me to rule.  Don't you?"  He turned to her and took her hands 
in his.  Hermes smiled.  He'd never seen Serenity blush like that before.  She 
could do nothing more than nod.  Sol turned to the assembly, but didn't let go 
of Serenity's hands.  "Can anyone think of a reason these appointments, with 
Ares in my place, should be changed?"  No one ventured to raise a hand.  Hermes 
nodded in agreement.  Ares' choices were very appropriate.   Sol smiled out over 
everyone. "Well, then, since nobody has any objections, all we have to do is 
decide who gets what planet."  He turned back to face Serenity.  "I just wanted 
to ask, Serenity, before we got to that, if you'd mind if I lived on whatever 
planet you choose."

	"I--I don't quite know if I understand what you're asking," she stuttered.  
Hermes got ready to cheer--he could see what was coming.

	Sol went down to one knee.  "Serenity, will you marry me?"

	"I--I. . ."  Her blue eyes filled with tears.  Hermes grinned.  This was 
absolutely perfect!

	Sol gently kissed her hand.  "Please?"

	"Yes!"  She cried out happily, and fell to her knees next to him to give 
him a long kiss.

	Hermes shook his head.  Why didn't he ever have cigars when he needed 
them?  Well, there was no help for it.  He had to do something to congratulate 
the couple.  He raised his voice.  "Hip!  Hip!"

	Everyone else caught on quickly.  "Hooray!"

	"Hip!  Hip!"

	"Hooray!"

	  While everyone was still cheering, Bacchus ran forward with a bottle of 
wine.  He happily popped off the cork.  "We need to make a toast, everyone!  
Gather 'round!"  Everyone surged forward to congratulate Serenity and Sol.  
Somehow, Hermes doubted any more business would be completed tonight.

*****

	Serenity opened her eyes and looked around in confusion for a minute.  
Where was she?  This wasn't her berth on her ship. . .  She sat up suddenly as 
she remembered.  She held up her hand.  Her new wedding ring sparkled in the dim 
light.  She turned to look over at Sol, still asleep.  She was tempted to reach 
out and touch his face--so smooth and childlike when he was asleep--but held 
back.  He'd need all the sleep he could get.  Last night had been their only 
honeymoon.  They didn't have time for anything more.  She smiled as she gently 
got out of bed, being careful not to jostle Sol.  Everything had moved so fast.  
She pulled on her robe and walked over to the little mirror on the wall.  In one 
night she'd been proposed to, engaged, and married.  Life was so uncertain now.  
Serenity and Sol had decided they didn't want to put things off any longer.  She 
began to brush out her long, silver hair.  She felt a bit guilty.  They were all 
still in grave danger, and she felt as if she were betraying her duty by being 
so happy.  She'd planned to wait, but when Sol had looked up at her with his 
burning amber eyes, and said "please" to her, so forlornly. . .what else could 
she do?  She divided her hair in half and pulled the two halves forward on 
opposite sides of her neck, then she took a large lock of hair and began to make 
the first odango.  Aphrodite had even been kind enough to offer them her 
luxurious ship for the next week or so, with synthetic gravity, a bed, a mirror, 
and a bathroom with running water.  What more could a newly married couple 
desire?  Serenity smiled and hummed as she pulled the first ponytail up to the 
odango, and started on the other.  Today would be a busy day.  She was thankful 
to Ares for taking care of the difficult task of appointing leaders, but now 
they had to decide who got what planet, and split up the rest of their group.  
Then they had to make plans for their defense.  Serenity sighed mournfully, her 
momentarily cheerful tune forgotten.  She knew Chaos would come after them 
eventually.  She had to--Serenity had Ginzuishou.  She closed her eyes and held 
out her hand, and the silvery stone popped into existence above her open palm.  
She held it up to the light and looked at it.  So much trouble over such a small 
stone.  Was it worth the lives that would probably be lost over it?  She closed 
her eyes and fought down depression.  It was worth it.  It was.  If she had let 
irresponsible people continue to possess it, it would have been used to enslave 
the whole galaxy. 

	Serenity shook her head.  This responsibility shouldn't have fallen to her 
hands.  She was well versed in magic and leadership, but such duties should 
rightfully have fallen to Galaxia.  If only she hadn't been missing!  Serenity 
had no idea where Galaxia was, and finally, when she saw that Chaos was getting 
strong, almost too strong to be stopped, she'd been forced to take Ginzuishou 
from out of her feeble mother's hands and forced to take matters into her own.  
Maybe--maybe if her mother hadn't been so sick--so tired--maybe then Haven 
wouldn't have been so easily taken over by Chaos.  But maybe's did no good.  
Serenity and her small group of followers were on their own. 

	Serenity put down her brush and stared at herself in the mirror.  She 
shook her head and straightened her slumping shoulders.  This was much too 
depressing to think about on the day after her wedding!  She should be 

happy!  She should be smiling and singing!  She should be-- 

 	"Good morning, Serenity."  Sol's sleepy words interrupted Serenity's 
thoughts.  She turned to face him, and 

couldn't help but smile as she met his eyes. 

 	"Good morning.  What would you like for breakfast?"  Serenity stood up and 
walked over to the small kitchen alcove.  Aphrodite's little yacht had 
everything. 

	Two hands fell on her shoulders, and she could feel their burning warmth 
through her thin robe. 

 	I wasn't thinking about breakfast...." 

 	Business and breakfast would have to wait a little longer. 

***** 

	"Serenity!  Lady Serenity!  Wait, please!"  Luna gasped out.  Finally the 
tall woman in white heard her, and 

slowed her pace.  She turned with an abstracted look in her eyes. 

	"Yes?" 

 	"Lady Serenity, everyone's waiting for you!  They've been waiting for 
almost half an hour!  We were worried something was wrong!  It's not in the 
cargo bay--we're conferencing from the bridge of Hermes' ship.  Where 

were you?" 

	 Serenity gave her a dreamy smile.  "I was just married yesterday, Luna.  
Surely you and Artemis haven't been together so long that that doesn't mean 
anything to you." 

 	Luna felt her face heat up.  In her rush to organize everything for the 
conference, she'd forgotten about last night's momentous event.  It didn't help 
that she'd been up all night working, either.  She coughed uncomfortably.  "I 
think you have the wrong idea.  Artemis and I aren't--we don't--we're just 

friends....er...co-conspirators, you understand." 

	Serenity laughed happily and patted her on her back.  "Of course.  Of 
course.  How silly of me!"  She straightened her dress and looked at the smaller 
woman.  "Well, then, let's get down to business.  Hermes' bridge, did you say?" 

 	"Yes, Lady Serenity." 

***** 

 	Sol wiped his forehead.  Even though they weren't all crowded into that 
horrible cargo bay, there were still to many people in Hermes' ship's command 
room.  This meeting would probably be unpleasant-it was way too warm, 

and the conference hadn't even started yet. 

 	Serenity was speaking.  Sol had an almost insurpressable urge to grab her 
hand, but he held back.  This wasn't the place...  Instead he listened. 

 	"I think we can all agree that the larger habitable planet should go to 
Gaia.  It will give her room to grow all of the food and other supplies we'll 
need the first few years after we settle."  She waited for any objection, and 

receiving none, continued.  "Next we should worry about our outer defenses.  
Hades and Charon should take the outer two planets, the second binary system.  
They're both strong fighters, and work well together.  Next should 

come Poseidon and Ouranos, to provide back up if Hades and Charon need it." 

	Chronos interrupted Serenity suddenly.  "I think I should have the next 
planet--the one with the extensive ring system.  My powers over time will be 
useful closer to the edge of the stellar system, where I won't interfere with 

the population centers so much, but I do want to be within the protected 
perimeter." 

 	Serenity nodded at him.  "That is good thinking, Chronos.  I agree.  Okay, 
then.  Next we have the largest planet.  I think that Zeus should have that one-
-the dividing line between safe territory and the frontier."  She looked 

over to Zeus with a smile.  "Can you be hold that planet against attack, Zeus?" 

 	He stood up and clapped a fist to his large chest.  "Of course I can!  I 
may not have the most spectacular powers of anyone here, but I think I speak 
fairly when I say am one of the best fighters here."  Sol watched Ares' face 
redden at the rude challenge, and he cleared his throat loudly.  Ares looked at 
him, his eyes fairly bulging out of his head, and Sol slowly shook his head.  
Ares gave him an angry look, but did sit back down.  Serenity continued as if 
she hadn't noticed any disturbance. 

 	"Next comes the first rocky planet, and the largest.  I think Minerva 
would be a good choice for that planet. Then Ares on the smaller red planet."  
Sol smiled as Serenity went out of her way not to look at either Ares or Zeus. 

It was definitely smart to put the mild-mannered Minerva between those two.  
He'd managed to marry not only the most beautiful woman in the galaxy, but also 
the smartest.  He glowed with pride.  Serenity's voice went on. 

 	"Then comes the second binary system--two lush, life-filled planets.  
We've already decided Gaia should have the largest of the two.  I would like to 
request the other, but if Aphrodite or Hermes would rather--"  She looked over 
at them, and they both negligently waved her offer away. 

 	Aphrodite smiled.  "I want the next one--the bright, pretty one." 

 	Hermes spoke up as well.  "And I would actually prefer the first planet 
from the star.  This is a very interesting system, and I'll greatly enjoy 
studying it."  He rubbed his hands together gleefully.  Sol just shook his head.  
He'd never understand that man. 

 	"I would like everyone who doesn't already have a planet assigned to 
choose where they want to live.  I think that at first most will want to live on 
Gaia's planet or mine, until the others are ready for larger populations.  We'll 
arrive at the system in a week, so let's be organized for landings by the time 
we get there." 

 	Serenity stepped back from the holocamera and microphone, and strode up to 
Sol.  He put his hands on her waist.  "Now that that's over," Serenity said 
softly, "I think we should go back to the room Aphrodite was so kind to lend to 
us for the rest of our trip." 

 	Sol didn't even try to say anything.  He just nodded and followed her 
back. 

***** 



PART THREE 









	Hades pulled his hand through his short black hair as he looked across the 
room at Charon.  He'd been married to her for over two years, and he thought 
they'd had a good relationship, but lately she'd been moody and irritable.  He 
was almost afraid to talk to her anymore, and being cramped in their small 
spaceship didn't help him any either.  He decided he'd give it one more try.

	"Um--honey?"  he asked softly, lowering his overpowering rumble of a voice 
to little more than a rasp.  "I've been, uh, wondering...."

	She raised her ruby eyes to look at him.  "Hades, I'm sorry I've been so 
nasty lately," she blurted out.  Hades took a step back in surprise, and she 
forged ahead.  "I--I'm pregnant."  Hades didn't waste time on dramatics, he 
simply fell down to the ground with a thud.  Charon rushed up to him.  "Hades!  
Are-are you okay?"

	"I'll be fine in a minute."  He was too shocked to even be embarrassed by 
his fall.  He looked up at her, and he knew his eyes looked blank with surprise.  
"How-how long?"

	"Long enough."  She shrugged, shifting her heavy red hair.  "I didn't want 
to say anything at first, because we were still at Haven, and I was so 
frightened for our future.  Once we escaped I was worried about a home for our 
little one.  I finally decided I couldn't put off telling you any longer"  She 
knelt by his side.  "Are you sure you're okay?"

	He nodded and pulled himself to his feet, then turned to offer her a hand 
up.  When he'd pulled her to her feet as well, he stepped up to her and 
enveloped her in a tight hug.  "I'm going to be a father!"  A father!

*****

	Charon waited until she was sure her husband was asleep, then she closed 
her eyes and concentrated.  She felt the slight disorientation of her 
teleportation, and when she opened her eyes again, she stood in Chronus' ship.  
Thank goodness she could teleport over planetary distances without any 
assistance.  She walked up to the berth and knocked on the door.

	"Chronus?  It's me."  Please let him be here!

	The door slowly opened.  Chronus looked at her in surprise, then stepped 
back to let her in.  She walked in, wringing her hands.  This would be hard, but 
she had to do this.

	"Chronus, I've told him."

	"You told him?  Are you crazy?"  Chronus walked over to pick up the Garnet 
Rod, but Charon put out a hand to forestall him. 

	"I didn't tell him that.  I told him that I'm pregnant."

	"Oh."  Chronus relaxed.  "Is that all."

	"I-I don't think I can see you again."

	"Why not?  Charon, you mean so much to me!"  Chronus ran over to grab her, 
putting his hot hand on her cheek, bringing his lips close to hers....

	"No!"  Charon put her hand between his lips and hers.  "I--I want to 
provide a good home for this child.  I can't allow us to do this anymore."

	"Isn't the child mine?  Isn't that what you said?  Leave him and marry 
me!"

	Charon closed her eyes.  She had been so stupid.  This could easily tear 
apart the whole group.  She had to fix this.  She took a deep breath and 
started.  "I lied.  Actually, at first, I thought it was ours, but I counted 
back again, and it's not.  The child is Hades'.  Chronus, I'm so sorry, but I 
have to do this.  You do understand, don't you?"  She tried to smooth his 
emotions, cool them from fire to a warm memory, but he was too angry for her to 
have much effect.

	His eyes got a little wild.  "I'll go back in time, and make the child 
mine!  Then you'll stay with me, won't you?  Please, Charon, don't do this!"

	Charon gasped with fear.  If he was willing to break his vows over her, 
she'd put the rebel group in more danger than she'd thought.  She opened her 
mind to it's fullest extent and bore down on his raging emotions.

	"NO!  You mustn't do something so evil, Chronus!  I could never love a man 
who would do such a terrible thing!"  Please, please let this work!

	He was silent for a minute, his hand still on her cheek, his mouth not 
more than a few inches from hers.  For a minute she feared she had failed, and 
that this would cause a terrible war.  Suddenly he doubled over with a forlorn 
sob.  Charon knelt next to him and sadly smoothed his beautiful dark green hair.  
She leaned close and gave him a gentle kiss.  "I did love you.  I think I still 
do.  I'm so sorry, Chronus."  She stood up and stepped away.  Chronus was still 
on his knees on the cold steel floor.  She turned around and began to teleport 
back to her husband.  Back home.  "Be well," she whispered quietly, and 
disappeared.

*****

	Serenity smiled happily.  "Oh, but that's wonderful!  Your baby will be 
the first one born in our new home!  You must be so pleased!"  She gave Charon 
an enthusiastic hug.  Charon had been so depressed lately.  Serenity hoped it 
was only worry over her new baby.  She turned to Sol.  "Isn't that great?"

	Sol nodded happily and smiled at Charon.  "It's wonderful, Charon."  He 
turned to Hades and shook his hand.  "Congratulations!"  Serenity smothered a 
smile at how proudly Hades puffed out his chest.  The man was usually so somber.  
Serenity certainly hoped this would loosen him up a bit.  Sol walked up and 
clapped Hades on the back.  "I still have a few cigars from Haven.  Why don't 
you and I find a few close friends and celebrate this, hm?"  He led the larger 
man off, and just before they rounded the corner in the corridor, he turned back 
to give Serenity a wink.  She laughed softly and blew him a kiss.  Then she 
turned back to Charon.  She stopped, and looked more closely at her friend.  She 
had a strange, wistful look in her eyes.  Serenity tilted her head.

	"What's wrong, Charon.  You don't seem happy.  Is there a problem?"

	Charon shook herself as if she had been lost in thought and blinked.  "Oh, 
no not at all!  I was just a little jealous of you and Sol.  You seem so happy 
together.  Hades and I lost a lot of that spark a while ago.  I miss the heady 
days of being newlyweds...."  Charon reached down and rubbed her belly.  "Maybe 
this will change things."

	Serenity privately thought she and Sol would never let their love wane, 
but she smiled at Charon and didn't say anything about that.  Instead, "Tell you 
what.  Let's plan a huge baby shower!  It'll give us something to look forward 
to during the last few days of this voyage."

	Charon smiled.  "That sounds wonderful.  I think I'd like that."

	Serenity chuckled.  "Now our only problem is trying to find something 
appropriate for a baby on these  spaceships!"

	Charon smiled.  "I know you--you'll improvise something wonderful."

	The two women walked down the corridor, laughing and planning.

*****

	"Sol!  Wake up!  Wake up!"

	"Wha--"  Sol blinked the sleep out of his eyes, and looked up into 
Serenity's face.  "Mmmmm.  Good morning."  Sol reached up for her, and she 
laughingly pushed his hands away.  

	"Stop that!"  He loved the way she could laugh behind her voice like that-
-laugh through her eyes and face, yet without a sound.  "Sol!  I mean it!  We're 
about to go into planetary orbit around my planet and Gaia's!  Get up!"  Sol 
ignored her words and tried to capture her hands, and with a final chuckle she 
left his side and walked out of the room.  "Hurry up!" she called as she closed 
the door behind her.

	Sol grumbled good naturedly and tumbled out of bed.  He quickly put on his 
brightest armor, and washed his face.  He pulled back his hair in a pony-tail at 
the nape of his neck.  His hair was getting too long.  He'd have to cut it soon.  
After one last look at himself to make sure everything was in place--Serenity 
teased him ceaselessly when he put on a shirt with a spot on it, or clothes that 
didn't quite match--he strolled out of their little room toward the bridge of 
the ship.

	Serenity stood on the command deck and gazed at the view screen.  On it 
were two lush planets, blue and green jewels in the sky.  Their ship began to 
fall toward the smaller one and all of the others followed.  They were going to 
establish themselves here first, then get the other started on their planets.  
Sol strode up behind Serenity and stood behind her with his arms around her 
waist and his chin resting on her shoulder.  He gave her a quick peck on her 
cheek and they stood, completely still, a beautiful statue etched in the light 
of their new planet.  Sol braced his feet to hold them steady as the planet grew 
larger and larger, covering the whole screen.  Suddenly they were almost jarred 
off their feet as the ship touched down.  Once the ship had settled, Sol let go 
of his wife to go to one of the control panels and press a glowing yellow 
button.  The main hatch opened, and Sol walked down it, to set the first foot 
down on the surface.  He turned, taking deep breaths of the alien, yet pleasant 
new air, and held out his hand to Serenity, who stood at the top of the ramp, a 
beautiful vision of white and silver.  He smiled.

	"Welcome home."

*****



PART FOUR





	Serenity sighed happily.  After all of their hard work, both physical and 
magical, their first building was finished.  Serenity loved it--a light gray 
palace, large enough to house all of them for now, until the other planets had 
buildings put up, and in the morning it glowed palely, almost like polished 
silver, while in the evening it took on a golden hue.  The lavender grass that 
was native to the planet reminded her of home, and she'd had a special courtyard 
built for her silverberry cutting, which still managed to cling to life.  
Serenity looked around at the wild flowers--all seemed to have a light purple or 
blue shade to them.  She couldn't wait to see what Gaia's planet had in store 
for them.  But first things first.  They had to all work hard to establish the 
outer planets, their first defense against outside attack, before they could 
start on the inner ones.  Serenity looked up into the sky, but the star in the 
center of the system made the sky too bright for her to see their first 
destination.  Hades' planet.

*****

	Charon shifted uncomfortably in her seat.  The ship was about to land on 
her husband's new planet, and the straps on the gravity seats were not made to 
handle a woman in the final stages of pregnancy.  She felt the baby shift inside 
her, and kick out in anger at her stomach.  The gravity began to increase as 
they sped toward the planet's surface, and she once more regretted not having a 
ship with artificially regulated gravity, like Aphrodite's.

	She closed her eyes as the ship jarred to a stop, and she waited for 
someone to come and help her get out of the gravity seat.  It was Serenity who 
came and unbuckled her and pulled her out of the deeply padded chair.  The two 
women walked out of the room and started down the gangplank together, toward a 
small bubble with safe air and a survivable temperature.  Charon was not 
prepared for what happened as her foot touched the surface of the planet.  A 
shock ran up her leg, rushed through the rest of her body, and left her gasping 
and dizzy.  Her knees buckled and Serenity looked over at her in concern.

	"Charon! What's wrong?!"  Charon saw her friend hover over her, and tried 
to force words out--tried to explain the pain that seared though her belly.  It 
felt as if a hot, sharp-bladed star had just been born inside of her, and she 
feared for the safety of her baby.  Serenity must have seen the panic in her 
eyes--she turned to Hades and Sol and said something to them, but Charon was too 
busy holding in a cry of pain to hear what she said.  Instead she closed her 
eyes and let the encroaching blackness wash over her.  Her last thought was 
<What about the baby?!>

******

	Serenity looked at the unconscious Charon with worry--for some reason, she 
had gone into early labor, and a painful one at that.  Serenity lifted the cover 
over the new baby's face.  There was a small tuft of hair, and it was a dark 
green.  Serenity shuddered as a thought crossed her mind.  Suddenly Charon's odd 
behavior over the past few months made sense.  <Charon, what have you done?!>  
She shot an accusing look at her friend, who was  resting peacefully for the 
first time in months, then slowly stood up and carried the new child out of the 
room.

	She put on a happy face for her husband and Hades.  "Congratulations!  You 
have a healthy new baby girl!"  Hades stood up.

	"What about Charon?"  He was so worried for her.  Serenity only hoped he 
never realized the truth. . .

	"She's fine--very tired, but fine.  You should let her rest.  She said she 
wanted you to name your new daughter before she fell asleep."  She pulled back 
the cover over the baby's face again and held it out to Hades.

	The second Hades' hands touched her, a strange symbol, like a "P" crossed 
with an "L" appeared in black on her forehead, and her chest began to glow 
almost as bright as the stars.  Serenity brought her hands to her mouth as she 
tried to understand what this meant, but the two men didn't seem to notice 
anything.  Instead, Hades gently reached out to touch one large finger to the 
baby's forehead, right on the symbol, and smiled gently as he whispered,  "Her 
name is Pluto."

*****

	"You didn't see anything strange?"  Serenity was being so insistent about 
this, and Sol just couldn't understand why.  

	"No."  He shook his head.  "Maybe you should just tell  me what you 
noticed, and it'll jog my memory."

	She shook her head vigorously, her hair whipped back and forth.  "No, this 
isn't something you just 'fail to notice', Sol."  She reached out and took his 
hands in her own.  She pulled him close and looked straight into his eyes, 
speaking very slowly.  "Her forehead glowed black!  Her heart glowed through her 
chest!  That's not just something you fail to notice!"

	Sol took his hands out of his wife's and waved them in the air as he shook 
his head.  "Whoa!  Okay, you're right, if I had seen that, I'd remember it.  But 
dear," he took a deep breath and kept any hint of accusation or doubt out of his 
voice, "how can something glow black?  This just doesn't make sense.  I really 
didn't see any of this."

	Serenity sat down, frustration emanating from her in waves.  "I know.  
That's why I don't understand.  It's almost as if she had a--"  Serenity stopped 
speaking with a gasp.  Sol leaned toward her, concerned.

	"What is it?"  He placed his hands on her shoulders as the look of shock 
slowly faded from her face.  "What have you thought of?"

	She raised wondering eyes up to him.  "What is the biggest difference 
between me and you and Hades?"

	Sol thought about that for a second.  He suppressed a grin.  There was 
always the obvious answer, but he didn't think she was talking about gender.  "I 
don't know.  What?"

	"What do I have that you two don't?"

	Sol smothered a childish chuckle.  She was digging a deeper hole for 
herself, but her face said she wasn't in the mood for teasing.  "I'm not really 
good with riddles, Serenity.  You know that."

	"I have a planet crystal."

	Sol suddenly understood.  "Yes--I remember.  As soon as your mother said 
that she wouldn't fight Chaos anymore, you joined the Resistance, and you said 
it was because--"

	"The crystal left my mother when she gave up, and it fell to me.  I had no 
choice but to continue the battle my mother couldn't fight anymore."

	Sol cocked his head to one side, still confused.  "But I don't understand 
what significance that has."

	"I think that only I could see this, because only I already have a planet 
crystal.  You see, I think that when Charon stepped onto this planet, that 
doesn't already have it's own warrior, with a baby in her womb, the planet 
imbued it's crystal into the child."

	"You mean that Pluto is-"

	"The protector of this planet--it's senshi."

*****

	Luna walked into Serenity's study and quietly waited for her to finish 
going over the piece of paper she was holding.  When Serenity was done, she 
looked up at the dark-haired woman with a weary smile.

	"Yes, Luna?"

	"I thought I should report to you that Poseidon's wife had a healthy new 
baby girl born to her, and according to Aphrodite, this child too has a planet 
crystal."

	Serenity leaned over her desk with a sigh and rubbed her eyes.  "Another 
girl?  How odd!  Well, thank goodness Aphrodite's a skilled midwife as well as 
another planet senshi.  It would be tiring to have to travel to all these births 
myself to verify whether the child's a senshi."  She looked back at Luna.  
"What's this child's name?"

	"Her name is Neptune, Queen Serenity."

	Serenity smiled and waved her hand at Luna.  "No, no, just call me 
Serenity.  No need for titles.  Hmmm.  Neptune.  That makes it three so far--
Pluto, Uranus, and Neptune.  Oh, and isn't Gaia due any day now?"

	Luna nodded.  "Yes, your Majesty.  That's another reason I came in to see 
you.  She moved onto her planet only a month ago or so, but already she's found 
a major problem."

	"What is it, Luna."

	"There are already sentient beings her planet.  They're not very advanced 
at all yet--they're still in the Stone Age, but fast approaching the widespread 
use of metals.  Most of them seem to be concentrated in just a few small areas 
of the planet's surface, but one of those areas is the place Gaia and her people 
decided to land.  They had already met up with the creatures when they 
discovered their existence."

	"Have they been threatening in any way?"

	Luna shook her head.  "They're still too awe-struck.  I think we'll want 
to keep it that way.  We don't want violence to break out.  Even though we could 
probably keep ourselves safe there, there are many more of them than us at the 
moment."

	Serenity nodded.  "That sounds like a good idea.  Establish good contact 
with them, and maybe we could even push their development along as much as we 
can.  After all, wouldn't it be nice if we could raise our own allies?  We'll 
need all the help we can get when Chaos finally finds us.  Tell Gaia I trust in 
her discretion."  Serenity looked over at one of the stacks of paper on her 
crowded desk.  "Anything else?"

	"No, your Majesty."

	"Well, I guess that means it's back to my paperwork."

	Luna recognized a dismissal when she heard one, and backed out of the 
room.

*****

 	"This main settlement is on a small island in that warm sea between two of 
the largest continents," Gaia said as she and Serenity strolled through her 
palace, just finished.  "We use wind powered ships to do our trading with these 
people, and we hire them to help us build our city.  So far we've kept them from 
realizing just how advanced we are--I don't want to make them start worshipping 
us--but we've also convinced them it would be the height of stupidity to try to 
fight us in any way."

	Serenity gave her a smile of approval, and Gaia could feel herself 
responding.  Sometimes it annoyed her that Serenity had that sort of effect on 
her, but since it was the same for everyone, she ignored her small stirrings of 
resentment.  Instead she pointed at their first garden.  "Our crops are doing 
well.  This is one of the best growing climates on the planet.  We should have 
no problems with providing food for everyone on all the other planets."

	Serenity nodded.  "Good.  I knew I could count on you for this."  She 
motioned at the fields and all of the natives mingling with her people.  Then 
she turned to look directly at Gaia.  "How are you doing?"

	Gaia smiled.  "I'm fine.  One nice thing about having powers over 
fertility is having children isn't much of a worry."  Serenity nodded.

	"I'm glad.  When are you due?"

	"Any day now.  My husband is very worried about me.  He keeps trying to 
make me lie down and rest.  I can only do so much of that before I want to start 
tearing things apart, so it's nice that you've come for this visit.  It gives me 
an excuse to get out."  Gaia looked over at one of the natives that happened to 
be walking by.  "They look a lot like us, but their greatest difference from us 
is their lifespan."

	"What do you mean?"

	"Their lives are so short.  They measure their year by the orbit of their 
planet--"

	"Just like us," Serenity agreed with a nod.

	"But they only live for forty or fifty years, on average.  Though I've 
heard reports that some have lived as long as 80 years."

	Serenity slowed her walk to a crawl.  "But their years are already only 
half as long as ours.  And you say they only live up to 80 of their years?"  
Gaia nodded.  "But their lives must be so short!"

	"We've only been here for five of our years, but that's a fourth of most 
of these peoples' lives.  By the time this child is grown," Gaia patted her 
large stomach, "roughly ten generations of the natives will have been born."

	Serenity shook her head.  "So short as that?"  She stood quietly by Gaia, 
looking at the people working the fields and trading goods.  After a minute or 
so Gaia put her hand on Serenity's shoulder.

	"We should go back to the palace now."  She struggled to keep her voice 
steady, but she saw Serenity look at her with concern.

	"What's wrong, Gaia?"

	She brought forth a smile, but ruined it with a gasp as another 
contraction rippled through her.  "I'm afraid the baby has decided it want's to 
be born today.  We really should start walking back to the palace right now." 
She urged.  Serenity nodded with concern.

	"Of course!  Let me help you!"  She put her arm under Gaia's shoulders, 
and they quickly walked back to the palace.

*****

	Sol met Serenity's ship just as it touched down.  She stumbled out of the 
hatch as soon as it opened, and Sol caught her a she seemed to fall against him.  
"Serenity!  What's wrong?"

	"I'm just so tired, Sol.  I was helping Gaia with her birth, and before 
that I was touring her planet with her, and then I had to pilot the ship back.  
We've had our first baby boy born here.  His name is Endymion.  He's a planet 
senshi as well."  She snuggled up against him with a small sigh.  "It's good to 
be back."

	Sol bent over and picked up her legs with one hand, keeping a good grip on 
her back with the other.  Then he solemnly carried her inside.  She put her arm 
around his neck, and he smiled down at her.  "I'll just take you to our room, 
and you can rest."

	She strained her neck up, and gave him a long kiss.  When she finally 
broke away, his head was spinning, and he heard her say, in a dreamy voice, 
"Well, maybe I'm not that tired."

*****

PART FIVE







	Serenity smiled happily to herself.  Things were going so well.  Everyone 
was settled in on their own planet, and was almost entirely self-sufficient.  
Only the farthest planets had difficulty growing enough food for their 
populations, but Gaia produced more than enough excess to make up for the slack.  
It seemed, despite her indiscretion, that Charon wasn't going to make any more 
trouble, and they hadn't heard anything about Haven in years.  The Earth--Gaia 
said that's what the natives called it--the Earth's people, despite their short 
life spans, had proved to be of enormous help.  They were eager to provide labor 
for help in starting up their own civilizations, and though Gaia couldn't let 
them see the full truth of what her people could do, what she had allowed them 
to learn greatly enriched them.  The only worry was that some of them seemed to 
be developing a desire to worship Serenity's people.  Serenity had sent a 
missive to Gaia stating that she wanted that avoided if at all possible, but she 
understood how hard it could be.  Since Gaia's planet had already been named by 
the natives, she'd used the name she'd been saving for the planet--Atlantis--for 
her settlement.  Already it's fame was spreading across the blue globe.

	All around her, things seemed to be going well.  Serenity sighed.  Now all 
everything had to do was stay that way.  Somehow, Serenity doubted such peace 
could last forever.

	As if her gloomy thought had signaled him, Hermes came dashing into her 
office, not even bothering to knock.  She stood as he skidded to a stop, gasping 
for breath.

	"Serenity!  Somehow Chaos has brought some fighters here!  Hades signaled 
word back to us a few minutes ago!"

	Serenity slammed her hand down on her desk and swore, then began to think 
furiously, ignoring the surprised look Hermes gave her at her outburst.  She 
looked up as a thought struck her.  "How could they have gotten here so fast?  
We couldn't have been followed!"

	Hermes shook his head.  "No, we couldn't have been.  There are three 
choices.  They have some sort of technology that we know nothing about that 
allowed them to find us, they got lucky, or--" he took a deep breath, "we have a 
traitor among us."

	"We can't do anything about the first two possibilities, but the 
third....there aren't too many who could betray us.  Only the twelve leaders 
know the coordinates of this system, and only a few of us have access to 
transmitting equipment strong enough to reach Haven."

	Sol strolled casually into Serenity's office.  He walked up to his wife 
and began to give her a kiss, but she pulled away.  "Don't, Sol, we don't have 
time right now.  We have a problem."

	Sol looked from her face to Hermes'.  His lazy grin immediately fell off 
his lips, to be replaced by a worried wrinkle on his brow.  "What is it?"

	"Chaos has ships just outside our system.  We've decided that we probably 
have a traitor in our midst, who gave our coordinates to Haven."

	"But that's next to impossible!  Only the twelve of us knew them!"

	Serenity and Hermes nodded in unison.  "Exactly." Hermes said.

	"And only a few of us have strong enough transmitters to send out the 
message."

	Sol slammed his hand down on Serenity's elegant writing desk, and she 
winced.  It was taking a lot of punishment today.  "How are we going to find out 
who it was?"

	Hermes thought out loud.  "I have a strong communicator, and you two do as 
well.  Who else?"

	Serenity paced back and forth across the room, ignoring the clicking her 
shoes made against the stone floor.  "Aphrodite has one in that yacht of hers, 
and Chronos has one too."

	Sol nodded.  "And don't forget Minerva and Charon."

	Hermes smiled a little, despite the seriousness of their conversation.  
"It would be in bad taste for me say I'm not guilty, so let me start analyzing 
all of us with you, m'Lady."  He bowed a little in Serenity's direction.  "I 
seriously doubt you would offer us up to Haven, simply for the fact that you 
betrayed Haven most spectacularly with the theft of Ginzuishou.   You most 
certainly are up for execution if they catch us."  Serenity nodded, being 
careful to hide any thrill of fear that crept down her spine at that dire, yet 
accurate, prediction.  Hermes turned to look at Sol.  "And you, my boy, would 
receive harsh treatment as well after you made that sun go nova right on top of 
the government ship.  You two have invested far too much of your future into our 
success to give up to Haven.  Aphrodite used her powers on Mau, which they're 
sure to know by now, so she probably wouldn't have blown the whistle either."

	"I have personal reasons for distrusting Charon right now," Serenity said 
softly.  "I can't reveal why yet, because if what I know went public, I'm afraid 
we wouldn't need the Haven ships to blow us all to kingdom come, we'd end up 
taking care of that ourselves.  I'm going to have a talk with her soon."  Sol 
knew better than to press Serenity for more of an explanation, and when Hermes 
opened his mouth, Serenity saw  him give him a look that could set granite on 
fire.  Serenity continued.  "I trust you, Hermes, because, besides Sol and I, 
you've been in the revolution the longest, and taken the most risks back on 
Haven.  I don't think you could have fooled us all those years so successfully.  
Especially since you were around when Ethos was still alive, and scanned us all 
for loyalty."  

	He gave her a jaunty little bow and a pleased grin.  "I'm glad you trust 
me so well."

	"Chronos wouldn't betray us like this if he were a traitor--he wouldn't 
have to.  He could have interfered with time a long while ago and made us fail.  
He wouldn't do it this way."  Sol and Hermes nodded and waited for her to 
continue.  "Minerva. . .I'm not completely sure about.  I can't think of any 
reason why she would betray us, but I can't think of a good reason she wouldn't 
either, while I can for all the others except Charon.  I say,"  she whirled 
around to face her husband and Hermes.  "that we concentrate all our attention 
on these two, but keep an eye on everyone else, including each other."

	Hermes nodded, almost serious for once, but Sol more than made up for it 
when he took her hand in his and looked at her with glowing eyes.  "I would like 
to volunteer for the job of keeping an eye on you, my dear."  She swatted at 
him.

	"Stop that!  This is serious!"

	Sol nodded.  "I know it is, but I just can't help myself."  She laughed a 
little and threw herself into his arms.  How could he do that?  How could he 
make any problem shrink to nothing in the face of his love for her?  She 
snuggled in his arms for a minute, pretending there were no ships outside the 
system, waiting for a chance to pounce, pretending that no one would ever betray 
them to Chaos, pretending nothing could ever ruin their happiness.

*****

	Ares slapped the side of his head gently, as if he were trying to knock 
something out of his ears.  "Did I hear you right?  You want me to attempt to 
read Charon's and Minerva's minds to see if they're traitors?  Why would you 
think they've betrayed us?"

	Serenity shook her head.  "We don't have time for lots of questions, Ares, 
but our long range scanners have detected Haven ships on a course directly 
toward this system.  They'll be within firing range of Pluto in a few hours.  
One of us with a long range transmitter betrayed us to Chaos, and it's probably 
either Charon or Minerva.  You're not a mind reader--I realize that--but you've 
always had an amazing amount of insight into people when you look through the 
fire.  We need to know who it is."

	Ares' head was spinning with the sudden flow of shocking information, but 
after a silent second he nodded.  "Okay.  Are we going to visit them?"

	Serenity shook her head.  "It takes too long.  Does close proximity help 
you get more accurate readings?"

	Ares nodded.  "Usually."

	"All right then.  We'll hold our council of war here, and I'll ask Charon 
to teleport the leaders here to your planet while I have Hermes pilot the ship 
to evacuate everyone from the outer planets."  She shook her head.  "It's a 
shame Charon's the only one who can teleport over planetary distances.  That 
means it'll be much more difficult if she is the traitor.  Anyway,  during the 
council I want you to examine Minerva and Charon, all right?"  

	Ares nodded sadly.  "I understand."

*****

	He didn't know what to think.  He wasn't nearly as stupid as his muscle 
bound body often led people to believe, but even he had to admit he couldn't 
understand why Serenity would distrust Charon.  They'd been close friends since 
they were children.  But she was their leader, so he closed his eyes and 
concentrated on the bright orange flames while the others in the conference room 
held council.  He searched for her with his mind, and found her, a roiling 
cauldron of guilt.  He was saddened, and about to give up the rest of his 
investigation, assuming she was guilty of treason, when he suddenly caught a 
glimpse of the reason for her guilt.

	He gagged as he dove into the depths of her fear and self-loathing, and he 
couldn't believe what he saw.  Charon...and Chronos?!  Was she trying to get 
them all blown up?  

	He shook his head and moved on to Minerva.

	Her mind was a beautiful placid lake compared to Charon's--she felt no 
guilt at all.  He searched though her mind carefully--her family had always had 
ways of detecting unwary intruders into their thoughts--and found it.  He shook 
his head.  Her family was supposed to be one of the wisest on Haven, and it 
seemed her family had deemed the safe course--following Chaos--the wise one.  
She was here as an agent of the government, and since she had never been a 
believer in their cause, she felt no guilt whatsoever at betraying them.  Ares 
wanted to reach out and set her on fire, but he held his temper in check and 
drew himself out of the trance.  He got up off the gray stone floor, dusted off 
his knees, and began to make his way to the council chamber.

	Serenity would want to hear of this.

*****

	Everyone but Minerva knew about the second--the real--council meeting, and 
they discussed strategy.

	Serenity looked around the table.  "Our greatest weapon is Hades' power, 
but we'd have to get all the Haven forces onto a planet, and we'd have to blow 
that planet up to stop them."

	Ouranos looked up an angry light in his eyes.  "I'd like to nominate 
Minerva's planet for our battle.  If we get most of the ships to land on her 
planet, then have Hades destroy it, we'll only have to mop up.  We've already 
evacuated everyone to Gaia's planet, and yours."

	Hermes spoke up.  "While I definitely agree with the principle behind such 
an action, blowing up Minerva's planet would seriously alter the mechanics that 
govern this system.  The outer planets would orbit a little farther away, having 
less concentrated mass pulling them to the center of this system, and the inner 
planets would move in a bit, having less pulling them out.  And the debris would 
make for a few problems as well."  Protests started ringing around the room, and 
Hermes held up a quieting hand.  "However, Minerva's planet is the one we can 
most easily spare.  It performs few useful functions, except for keeping Ares 
and Zeus apart.  I think, in the interests of winning this battle, Zeus and Ares 
should redouble their efforts to get along with each other."

	Serenity stood and took a deep breath.  "Well, there you have it.  Two 
very good reasons to lure our enemy to Minerva's planet and blow it up.  Can 
anyone come up with a good objection?"  She looked around the table, and, 
receiving no objections, decided.  "Very good.  Let's work with that as our 
plan, then.  Next, we need some way to lure the Haven ships to Minerva's 
planet."

	Sol looked up.  "I have a suggestion.  Their main goal has to be Serenity.  
I say we put Serenity in our fastest ship--Hermes' ship--and let them intercept 
a message coded very simply that lets them know where she is.  We have them scan 
the ship, confirm that Ginzuishou is in it, and have Chronos teleport Serenity 
out to safety, after which our best pilot will outmaneuver all the Haven ships 
in Hermes' most excellent craft until it approaches Minerva's planet, when he 
will artfully let himself get shot, and then fall to the planet.  He teleports 
out of the ship so the enemy doesn't know he's no longer there, and the ships 
are forced to follow the ship down to the surface.  As soon as they're close 
enough, Hades will blow the planet to kingdom come."

	Hermes nodded.  "That would probably work.  Especially if we fed dis-
information to Minerva before-hand, claiming Serenity had had a secret base 
built on her planet.  That would force them to land, instead of just shooting 
from the sky.  It's a decent plan, Sol."

	Serenity smiled at her husband.  "And who would that most excellent pilot 
be?"

	Sol bowed flamboyantly.  "Why me, of course!"

*****

PART SIX





	Serenity rolled over in bed to face Sol.  The star had just risen, and 
it's warm, yellow glow drifted through the diaphanous curtain over their bedroom 
window onto Sol's face.  It woke her up a few minutes ago as it crawled along 
her face, and now the ray had just reached his eyes, and his long blonde lashes 
fluttered as he began to wake up.  She tickled his cheek with her fingers and 
sighed sadly.

	Sol snagged her fingers and brought them to his lips to kiss them.  She 
smiled fondly at him as he asked, "What's wrong, Serenity?"

	She ran her hand along his cheek and her smile widened a little as her 
fingers felt the stiff little bristles of his beard.  "Do you really have to 
pilot the ship?  Couldn't Hermes or--"

	He sadly shook his head.  "You know I'm the best pilot, Serenity--"

	"But it'll be so dangerous!" she wailed forlornly.

	"Yes, it will be, but that's why it has to be me.  I have the most chance 
of coming back alive.  Surely you realize that."

	Serenity looked down.  "But--"

	"Besides, you'll be there.  What kind of husband would let his wife be put 
in such danger when he wouldn't accept it himself?"

	Serenity sighed.  "I know you're right.  I just don't feel good about it 
at all."

	Sol moved in closer to her.  "Why don't we see if I can make you feel 
better, then, hmm?"

	Serenity giggled.

*****

	"We've evacuated Minerva's planet.  There may be traitors that moved it 
with her, but we can't kill them for it.  Besides, all long range transmitters 
but one have been destroyed."  Hermes said to the council.  

	Aphrodite stood up.  "But what good will that do?  They already know where 
we are.  They can just send another fleet whenever they feel like it."

	Hermes shook his head.  "No, they won't.  That's why we worked so hard to 
evacuate everyone from off the outer planets.  The Haven ships will only see 
unsettled planets when they pass through the system on their way to Minerva, and 
they'll begin to doubt Minerva's information.  We'll send a doctored message out 
with Serenity's  transmitter, the last left, where Minerva informs Chaos that 
she not only lied to Haven, but set a trap for the government fleet.  Then we'll 
let them watch a live transmission of the destruction of Minerva's planet and 
their fleet.  That will convince them we aren't really here."  He smiled a 
sarcastic smile, mocking himself and those around him.  "After all, what nutcase 
would destroy a whole  planet in their own system?  Right?"

	Aphrodite bobbed down in a quick approximation of a bow.  "I concede, 
Hermes.  You are much too smart for me."

	He simply nodded back.  "Of course I am."

	Serenity rolled her eyes and stood up.  "Before this degenerates into pure 
silliness--" she gave a fond warning glance to both Hermes and Aphrodite, "I'm 
going to dismiss this meeting.  We all know what to do, right?"  Everyone around 
the table nodded.  "Good.  Let's go then."  She walked over to Sol.  "Let's get 
to that ship.  The sooner this is over with, the sooner I can stop worrying 
about you."

*****

	"Ready?"  Hermes' tinny voice called out through the intercom.

	Sol answered with his own "Ready!" and began to power up the ship.  
Serenity sat strapped in her gravity chair and held Ginzuishou in her hands.  
Such a lot of trouble over such a small stone.  Such a powerful stone.  
Dangerous stone.

	"Hold tight, dear!" Sol called out as the engines whirred to life.  She 
was pressed back into the cushioned seat, and closed her eyes.  When she felt 
herself become nearly weightless she unstrapped herself and carefully drifted 
over to float behind Sol.  He looked up at her with an excited smile.  "The ship 
that Charon's on is a little ways behind us.  We'll be up close and personal 
with the Haven fleet in just a few minutes.  Ready to go on the air."

	Serenity made her crystal flare to life, and made it pulse dangerously, in 
time with her heartbeat.  He grinned recklessly at her as his finger moved to 
hover over the transmit button.  Serenity squared her shoulders and stared into 
the holocamera.  Sol's finger pressed down, and Serenity opened her mouth to 
talk.

*****

	"Attention, Haven fleet.  Attention, Haven fleet.  Turn around, and do not 
attack us here.  I repeat, turn around and retreat, or I will be forced to do 
you all grave harm."

	Captain Paris spun around at the steel armored feminine voice that emerged 
from the holocommunitcator.  A woman of the Serenity family stood before him, 
and she was holding....it.

	He looked over to the comms man, who shook his head.  "They're in transmit 
mode only, sir.  There's no way we can respond."

	The captain nodded.  "Can you tell where they're transmitting from?"

	The man nodded.  "They tried to conceal it, sir, but they didn't do a good 
job."

	He smiled.  What a good group of boys he had.  His crew was full of the 
most talented men.  "Give the coordinates to the helm, and we'll go after 'em."

	The comms man began typing, then stopped and looked back up at the captain 
in surprise.  "There's a message coming from the Trojan, sir--secure channel."

	"Just play it, Lieutenant."

	"Sir."  Comms pressed the correct buttons.

	"Captain Paris, this is the Trojan.  My scanners have detected another 
ship, one other than the one transmitting the message.  Request permission to 
break off from formation to investigate, sir."

	"Negative, Captain Hector.  Maintain formation."

	"Sir, I--"

	"Did you hear me, Captain?"

	"Sir!  Yes I did, sir!  But I really think someone should investigate-"

	Paris cut off the audio, but sat and thought for a second.  They were in a 
position of strength here.  One ship missing from formation wouldn't be a big 
loss, and they might find something of importance on that ship.  He thumbed the 
audio back on.  "Very well, Trojan.  You, and you alone, may go off to 
investigate the other ship."

	"Thank you sir!  Trojan out."

	Captain Paris turned to his helmsman.  "Follow that ship, ensign.  Don't 
let her get away."

	"Aye aye!"

*****

	Charon suddenly popped onto the ship and held her hand out to Serenity.  
"Hurry up, Serenity!  Let's go!  And you be ready to let me know when you need 
to get out, Sol."

	Serenity grabbed Charon's hand as Sol turned around enough to catch sight 
of Charon and give her a jaunty thumbs up.  "No problem.  Just keep an eye on my 
wife for me."

	Charon smiled.  No one was immune to Sol's charm.  "Sure, Sol.  See you in 
a bit."

	Serenity turned toward her husband.  "Goodbye.  I l--"

	The air shimmered into Aphrodite's pleasure yacht around her.

	"--ove you..."  She stopped.  She hadn't even gotten a chance to say that 
to him.

	"Sorry about that Serenity, but your husband was going to start evasive 
maneuvers, and I was not about to try to hold coordinates in my mind with the 
ship we were on weaving all over the place."

	Serenity smiled at her friend.  "That's okay.  I'll just tell him twice 
when he gets back."

	Charon smiled.  "That's the spirit."

	Luna and Artemis both looked up from their place at the ship's controls.  
"Fasten the straps of your gravity chairs, ladies.  There's a ship on approach 
vector--it's broken off from formation and it's coming straight for us."

*****

	"The ship is using evasive maneuvers, sir.  It's a first class personal 
yacht, with minimal weaponry."

	"Very good.  We'll use the tractor beam to pull it into Cargo Bay One."

	"Aye sir.  Pulling it in."

	"Very well.  Commander?"  Captain Hector turned to his first in command.

	"Sir?"

	"Prepare a boarding party.  Be careful, a few of these rebels are quite 
dangerous."

	"Yes sir!"

	Hector turned back to the view screen and wondered how Paris and the rest 
of the fleet were doing.

*****

	"She's drawing us toward the planet, Captain!  Should we follow?"

	"That's the planet our agent has settled on.  It should be safe for us.  
Follow."

	"Yes sir!"

*****

	"I can't pull away, everyone!  Get ready!"  Artemis clutched his chair as 
their ship was dropped onto the floor of the enemy ship's hold with a shivering 
thud.  As soon as they'd landed everyone struggled with their straps in a 
desperate attempt to get out of their seats.  Just as Luna stood up first, with 
a triumphant cry, troops dressed in black battle armor broke in the hatch and 
piled into the ship.  Serenity watched the leader of the assault as his eyes 
widened in surprise behind his shaded visor.  He'd recognized her.  He raised 
his gun and Serenity braced herself for the blast that was about to come.

	The soldier pulled the trigger.

	"No!"  Serenity heard someone shout, and a small black creature leapt in 
the air between her and the laser gun blast.  Artemis then stepped in front of 
her and began to shoot wildly with his own drawn weapon.  He was a crack shot, 
he got five before they hit him.  When he was hit a second time, in his right 
shoulder, he dropped his gun and fell to his knees, and Serenity snatched up his 
fallen weapon and began shooting at the remaining soldiers.  Charon had drawn 
her own weapon by then, and the two noblewomen shot an impressive volley out at 
their enemies.  Serenity was so filled with adrenaline she didn't even notice as 
one shot grazed her left arm, and another her leg.  She finally felt a beam that 
hit the top edge of her ear since she noticed the bright light as it went just 
past her eye.  She took a quick look over at Charon, and saw her down on one 
knee, the other leg was bleeding a lot--too much.

	[This isn't working!] Serenity thought to herself, and dropped the gun to 
pull out Ginzuishou.  She closed her eyes and thought hard about blowing the 
attacking bastards out of Aphrodite's ship.  It worked.  She heard screams of 
surprised pain as men were thrown against the bulkheads of Aphrodite's yacht, 
then silence as they thudded down to the ground.  She opened her eyes and ran 
over to Charon.  "Are you all right?" she gasped out.  Charon shook her head.  

	"Not really.  I was shot in the leg.  There's not too much blood, so an 
artery wasn't hit, but I definitely feel a little bit under the weather."

	Artemis dragged himself over to them, carrying a small black furry body 
with him.  

	"What's that?" Charon asked.  Artemis looked up with narrowed blue eyes, 
and Charon moved back with a frightened cry.

	"This is Luna."  He cradled her gently in his arms, and Serenity gasped at 
the spreading red stain that marred an otherwise impeccable ebony coat.  "She's 
dying."

	"Can we do anything, Artemis?"

	"No."  He shook his head and his long hair swept slowly back and forth, 
hypnotic as a swinging pocketwatch.  "Luckily she was able to get into cat form 
before she threw herself in front of you, Lady Serenity, or this death would be 
her final death."

	"What do you mean?"

	"Cats have nine lives."  He caressed her small head and swept back her 
velvet ears with tears in his eyes, then he looked up.  "We have to get off this 
ship, but those soldiers ripped the hatch right off its hinges.  I don't think 
we're going to make it."

	Serenity looked at Charon.  "You'll have to teleport us out of here."

	Charon shook her head.  "I can't transport more than one person other than 
myself at full strength, and I'm very weak right now."

	Artemis looked at Serenity.  "You should go, m'Lady.  You're the most 
important person here."

	Serenity picked up Ginzuishou and it blazed to life.  "I'll give you the 
strength to get us all out with Ginzuishou, Charon.  We can all make it."  She 
got up and began to type something in to the control panel of Aphrodite's yacht.

	Charon looked up at her uncertainly.  "I don't think I can, Serenity, I--"

	"You'd better," Serenity interrupted, "because I just set this ship's self 
destruct mechanism.  We have one minute before this ship sends it's nuclear 
reactor into meltdown and blows the hell out of the warship's structural 
integrity!"

	Charon and Artemis both sat up straight at that little bit of news.  "But-
-" Charon began, eyes wide with shock.

	Serenity shook her head.  "No time for 'but's, it's time to do, or die."

	Charon gritted her teeth.  "Okay.  Hold tight to me, everyone!"

	Charon reached out with her mind and pulled toward Serenity's palace.

	Serenity shook her head to clear her disorientation.

	"What the hell are you doing here, Charon?!  Sol's been signaling for at 
least a minute that he needs to get out!"  Hermes looked up from his console.  
Suddenly the angry red look faded from his face.  "Uh, did you know that you're 
bleeding?"  Charon collapsed to the ground without a word.  "Oh, I-uh-guess you 
did."

	Serenity ignored his useless babble and knelt next to her friend.  
"Charon?  Sol needs you!  You have to get up!"

	"I'll need more strength, Serenity.  A lot more."

	Serenity dove into Ginzuishou and pulled every ounce of energy she could.  
She pulled until she felt her eyes were about to pop out with all the energy she 
held, then shoved it all into Charon.  Her friend screamed as enormous amounts 
of energy flowed into her and teleported them to the desperately waiting Sol.

	Serenity stumbled as she landed in Hermes' speedy little ship, and she 
looked at its course.  They were very close to Minerva's planet.  Too close--
Hades was going to blow it up soon.  They had to get Sol out of here.

	"Sol!  Sol!  We're here!"

	Her husband looked up at her.  The ship had taken a beating, despite his 
excellent piloting skills, and he'd been thrown around a bit--he had a black eye 
and a cracked lip that spilled blood all down the right side of his face, but he 
was still grinning that wonderful, reckless smile.  He got out of the pilot's 
chair to stand on two very unsteady legs and weaved his way toward her.  She put 
a hand on his bloody cheek.  He'd forgotten to shave that morning--it was still 
rough with stubble.

	"About time.  Why are you here?  What's happened to you two?"  Sol's face 
went from cheerful recognition to worry as he saw the blaster stains and shallow 
wounds on Serenity, and took in Charon's terrible state-a wet, red stain was 
spreading under her again.  Serenity couldn't help wondering a little 
hysterically exactly how much blood Charon could have left.

	"We were attacked--barely got out.  C'mon!  We have to go!"

	"Link hands, you two," Charon said weakly.

	Serenity held tight to her husband and Charon with her hands while her 
mind once more struggled to pull power from Ginzuishou.  She was infinitely 
tired, and she could tell she wasn't getting as much as before to Charon, but 
she kept trying, hoping her friend could still pull it off.

	Her fragile hopes were shattered as Charon began to sob and fell back to 
her knees.  "I can't do it.  There's just not enough energy!  I can't carry 
three...."

	Serenity heard Sol ask, "How about two?" but her tired mind didn't realize 
what he was planning until Charon answered that she probably could handle two.  

	"No!"  She held to his hand as tight as she could.  "NO!  All or nothing!  
I WON'T LEAVE YOU!"  Sol had already let go of Charon's hand, and he gently but 
firmly pulled her hand away and took a step back.

	"NO!  SOL!"

	He smiled again, sad but proud, and blew her a soft kiss as reality 
wavered from a smoking, cracked mockery of a spaceship into the command 
headquarters of the battle in her private palace.  She heard Hermes say, 
"They're here, Hades, go ahead," in a wavy voice, as if he was speaking through 
a foot of water, but before she could scream out that Sol wasn't with them Hades 
bowed his head and black ribbons swirled around his Silence Glaive.  Serenity 
looked out the window in despair to see a new, terrible star born in the sky.

	She ran to the window and stared up at her husband's funeral pyre.

	"I love you," she whispered softly.  "I love you." .

*****

PART SEVEN





          "Serenity."  She opened her eyes, and gasped at what she saw.  
"Serenity, it took you long enough to wake up!"

               "Sol?"  She reached a shaking hand out toward his face.  "Sol?  
Is that you?"

               "Of course it is!"  He chuckled softly and caught her hand.  "Who 
else would be in our bedroom this early in the morning?"

               "Oh, Sol!  I had the most terrible dream!  I dreamt that Haven 
had found us, that Minerva was a traitor, and that you died fighting them off!"  
She started crying in relief.  Sol was alive.

               He enveloped her in comforting hug when he saw how disturbed she 
was.  "Shh....don't worry.  I'd never leave you. . ."

               Never leave you. . .

               Never leave you. . .

               "I'll never leave you, Lady Serenity.  Shh.  Quiet down now.  
I'll never leave you."

               That was the wrong voice.  It didn't sound like Sol at all.  She 
slowly opened her eyes again.

               "Good, that's right, quiet down.  I won't leave you."  A dark 
shape hovered over her, trying to comfort her, to quiet her down.  She struggled 
to focus her eyes.  Luna.

               Sol really was dead.

               Serenity was suddenly overcome by a wave of nausea as that 
horrible thought struck her, and she rolled away from Luna in her cold, empty 
bed and held her hands to her mouth.  She closed her eyes and concentrated on 
holding her food in its proper place.  [Sol!]  her mind screamed while she tried 
to muffle her crying.  [Sol!]

     *****

               Aphrodite quickly tied her robe shut as she heard cries coming 
from Serenity's room.  Again.  Every night for the past month she'd woken up 
either crying or screaming.  Aphrodite shook her head.  The price of love could 
be high.  As she walked towards Serenity's door, she saw Luna stumble in, 
disheveled and tired, but worried.  

               Aphrodite was still amazed by Luna's amazing recovery.  She'd 
been dead when Artemis had brought her to the infirmary, but he'd simply placed 
his hands on her small furry cat body, and she'd shimmered into the human form 
of Luna they'd all known before, and she'd slowly blinked her eyes open.  
Aphrodite still wanted to know how she'd done that.  It could be a handy trick 
someday!

               She followed Luna into Serenity's room just as Serenity woke up 
and realized everything had been just a dream.  She saw Serenity turn away from 
Luna's comfort and begin to retch and cry at the same time.  She hurried to her 
friend's side and pulled her out of bed to help her stumble to the bathroom.  
After a few minutes Serenity lifted her weary head and reached out for a glass 
of water.  Aphrodite looked at her, and an amazing thought struck her.  If what 
she suspected was right, it could force Serenity to push her sorrow aside enough 
to begin ruling again.  She leaned in close to Serenity.  

               "This is the fourth night in a row you've been sick like this, 
Serenity.  Do you think it could be morning sickness?"

               "What?"  Serenity was too tired to think clearly.  

               "Do you think you could be pregnant?"  

               Serenity just looked up at her, then she began to count on her 
fingers and mumble to herself.  Suddenly she looked at Aphrodite again with 
something like shock in her eyes.  "It just could be."

               Aphrodite nodded.  Serenity could hardly be said to be glowing 
with all of the mourning she'd been doing, but she did have a certain look about 
her.  Aphrodite sighed.  As the only midwife, she'd be staying here for a while 
longer.

     *****

               "This is unbelievable!"  Zeus laughed with delight in the council 
room.  After such a tragedy, we're all about to be parents!"

               Aphrodite's hands cradled her growing stomach as she smiled at 
Zeus.  "Your wife is pregnant too?  Congratulations!"

               Hermes leaned in to talk to Aphrodite.  "How is Serenity?"

               Aphrodite shook her head.  "Her pregnancy's coming along fine, 
and she's better than she was, but. . ."  She sighed.  "She's still so 
depressed.  I don't know what to do to bring her out of it."

               "Maybe we can ask Luna what she thinks.  She and Luna have become 
very close lately."  Aphrodite nodded and stood up. 

               "That's a good idea, I'll go do that."  She walked down echoing, 
empty corridors until she came to Luna's suite.  She knocked on the door, but no 
one answered.  Then a bleary-eyed Artemis stuck his head out his door and 
blinked.  

 	"Are you looking for Luna?" he inquired sleepily.

          	"Yes.  Why are you such a mess?"

               "Serenity was screaming in her sleep again.  Luna was exhausted 
from the night before, so I tried to calm her down."

               "She has to get over this!  We need her!  Who else could hold 
everyone together?  All of us on the inner planets are close, but all of the 
outers except Zeus are drifting away.  We need her back!  Ever since Minerva's 
planet was blasted into that asteroid field we've had a difficult time 
maintaining contact with them!"

               Artemis nodded in agreement.  "I know, but I don't know what to 
do anymore.  Maybe we need a crisis or something to force her to pull herself 
out of this melancholy."  He shook his head and yawned.  

               "Do you know where Luna is?"

               "She's probably in the garden.  She said the silverberry bush was 
about to bloom for the first time, and the flowers are all coming out.  It must 
finally be spring on this planet.  The seasons move slowly."

               Aphrodite nodded and started turning to go to the garden when 
Charon suddenly popped into existence in front of Artemis' door.  He leapt back 
with a shocked yelp and missed his footing to sprawl on the floor.  Charon 
dismissed his antics with little more than a distracted look.  "Aphrodite!  
Hurry!  Ares' wife is having contractions!  We need you on his planet!"

               Without another word Aphrodite took her hand and they shimmered 
out of the palace.

     *****

               Charon tried to keep her footing after taking Aphrodite to Ares' 
planet, but the stabbing pain up her back made her knees fold up under her.  
Aphrodite turned to help her, but she weakly waved her off with vague comments 
about being tired, and the blond haired woman nodded and ran to help with the 
labor.  Charon kept her breaths shallow and short as she thought about what this 
meant.  It had only happened a couple of times before.  One was during that 
horrible fight with the Haven ships when she had to teleport more than two 
people, and the other was when. . .when she had tried to carry someone else 
while she was pregnant!

               She put her hands over her belly and wondered.  Could it be?  
That would make sense, since she was already carrying two people every time she 
jumped while pregnant.  Aphrodite would have made it seem like three to her 
magic.  That must be the explanation.  She waited about an hour for the pain to 
fade a little, then jumped back to Pluto to tell her husband the wonderful news.

     *****

               Hades answered the insistently beeping communicator.  Chronos' 
face appeared on the screen.  "The delivery was quick--Ares has a new daughter 
named Mars.  In keeping with our new tradition, his planet has now been named 
the same."  Hades nodded and smiled.

               "That's wonderful news, Chronos.  Have you heard anything new 
about Lady Serenity?"

               Chronos was about to say something when Pluto suddenly ran into 
the room.  "Daddy!  Daddy!  I wanna play a game!"  Hades reached down to pick up 
his dark-skinned daughter and playfully batted at her dark green hair.  He'd 
always wondered a bit at his daughter's dark complexion--his was so very pale, 
and Charon wasn't much darker.  Pluto's skin looked almost as dark as Chronos'.  
Hades looked up to apologize for the interruption, only to catch a very strange 
look on Chronos' face.  He was staring at Pluto as if seeing her for the first 
time, and the girl was staring back at him just as intently.  Hades' stopped 
breathing for a second as an unthinkable thought struck him.  He carefully 
examined both his daughter and Chronos.  Reddish-purple eyes, dark skin, green 
hair. . .

               It was true.  Hades' mind spun in confusion for a split second.  
How could Charon do this to him?  How could Chronos--

               Suddenly Charon popped into the room.  "Husband!" she cried 
happily.  "I have wonderful news!  I think I'm pregn--"  She stopped suddenly, 
seeing the blank look in Hades' eyes, then she saw who was on the screen, 
staring at her daughter, and she realized what the men had both discovered.  She 
brought shaking hands to her face.  "No!  N-no!"  Without a word of explanation 
or apology she teleported out again.

               Hades gave one black look to Chronos.  "You're a dead man, 
Chronos,"  was all he said as he reached forward to cut off communication.

     *****

               Artemis decided it was time to get up, or he'd never get to sleep 
again that night.  He finished getting dressed and wandered the palace in search 
of breakfast--or lunch, as the case may be.  He finally found the kitchen and 
snatched a few loaves of bread and a glass of wine, then made his way toward the 
gardens.  Maybe together, he and Luna could come up with a way to get Serenity 
out of her depressed state.

               He slowly stepped into the garden and sniffed the flowery scent-
laden air.  It was so beautiful out today!  The weather was warm, the flowers 
were coming out, the pastel plants were growing. . .  He came to the center of 
the garden and found Luna watching the silverberry tree.  She looked up as he 
walked into the grove and smiled at him.

               "Hi, Artemis.  What brings you out here?"  

               He offered her some of his bread and sat on the graceful stone 
bench next to her.  She gratefully accepted and began to eat as he answered.  
"I'm worried about Lady Serenity.  She's not getting any better, and I was 
wondering if we could come up with a possible solution to her depression."

               "I can't think of anything," Luna began, and then Charon appeared 
out of thin air, right in front of Artemis again.  He jumped backward over the 
bench and glared at her over it, breathing heavily.

               "Do you have to do that to me all the time?" he cried.  "I don't 
think my poor heart can take much more!"  He stood up and began to wipe at his 
shirt.  "And look, you made me spill all over myself!"

               Charon ignored him again and grabbed Luna by the front of her 
dress.  "Where's Serenity?"

               Luna grappled with the desperate woman, trying to free herself.  
Finally she pulled free with a loud rip.  The lace inset on her dress had been 
torn right off.  She looked back up at Charon.  "What'd you go and do that for?  
Serenity's not feeling well.  She's probably in her room."

               "I need to see her!"  Charon took the torn piece of lace and 
twisted it nervously in her hands.  "It's an emergency!"

               "Surely it can wait unti--"

               "You don't understand!" Charon wailed.  "I had an affair with--
with Chronos!  Pluto's his child, and Hades  j-just f-f-f-found out!"  She began 
to shake and cry.  "They'll kill each other!  They'll kill each other, and then 
what will I do?!"

               Luna gave Artemis a commanding look, then moved in to comfort the 
shaking woman.  Artemis took off for Serenity's quarters.  He really wished that 
they didn't need to have something so drastic happen, but at the very least it 
might help pull Serenity out of her slump.

     *****

               Artemis ran to Serenity's quarters, but she wasn't there.  He 
dashed off to the council room in the hopes that the inner planet nobles hadn't 
scattered to their ships yet to go visit Ares, his wife and his new daughter.  
He arrived, out of breath, to see Hermes and Zeus and Serenity all quietly 
talking around the almost empty council table.  He stumbled to Serenity's side 
and stopped, gasping, in front of her.  Hermes and Zeus looked up at him in 
surprise and annoyance, but Serenity smiled sweetly at him.

               "What is it, Artemis?"

               "Charon just teleported into the garden, Lady Serenity, and she 
says--well--she says. . ."  Artemis cleared his throat uncomfortably, then 
rushed forward, deciding to get such disturbing news out as quickly as possible.  
"She says she cheated on Hades with Chronos and that Hades just found out-"  
Hermes and Zeus leapt to their feet with startled cries, but Serenity just 
nodded.

               "I had guessed that was what she had done, but I never asked."  
She shook her head slowly.  "How could she be so foolish?"  She bowed her head.

               Artemis hesitantly reached out to touch her.  "Serenity, you're 
the only one with enough power to stop this from blowing up in our faces."

	"Ever since Minerva and her planet were both destroyed the outers have 
been drifting farther from us, Serenity, politically as well as physically.  
None of us have any influence over them anymore."  Hermes murmured in agreement.

               She sighed and raised her head.  Artemis thought he heard her 
mutter her husband's name under her breath, then she stood up resolutely and 
began to walk out of the room.  The three men took off after her.  "Where are 
you going, Serenity?" Zeus called out.  Serenity didn't even slow her pace or 
turn her head, but eventually she answered.

               "Artemis said that Charon was in the garden.  I'm going to have 
to stop this now, before they actually have a chance to start fighting.  
Charon's the only one that can move fast enough.  I have to get her to transport 
me there."

               Zeus smiled proudly.  "I knew you'd be strong enough to help us 
when things really got bad, Serenity.  Hermes here didn't think you'd ever get 
over losing Sol."  He boisterously slapped an embarrassed Hermes on the back.  
Serenity's eyes darkened a bit at the mention of her husband's name, but she 
smiled weakly.

               "I'm glad you had so much faith in me, Zeus.  I'm afraid I myself 
would have had Hermes opinion, but I guess I'm stronger than I thought. . ."  
She trailed off to a whisper, then shook her head and began to stroll 
purposefully off toward the garden.

               Zeus turned to Hermes.  "We should follow along in our ships.  We 
may not get there as fast, but maybe we can provide her with some backup."

               "That sounds like a good idea.  Let's go!"  They ran off leaving 
Artemis alone in the corridor.  He decided to go to the garden, since he and 
Luna couldn't do anything else.

     *****

               Charon knelt on the floor of Chronos' palace, groaning with pain, 
but Serenity stepped away from her without more than a concerned glance.  She 
had something more important to attend to, and she couldn't help being angry at 
Charon for bringing this trouble on them.  She strode down the main corridor and 
pulled Ginzuishou out as she neared the door to his main chamber.  She reached 
out and knocked.

               "Who is it?"  Chronos' voice sounded angry and unsure.

               "It's Serenity.  Open up.  Now."  She put the crack of authority 
into her voice, something she rarely bothered with.  The door opened almost 
immediately.

               "How--how much do you know?" he asked as he stepped back to let 
her in.

               She swept in.  "Everything.  You had an affair with Charon awhile 
ago, though I think it's been over for a time.  Pluto is your daughter.  And now 
Hades knows about it and is probably going to kill you."

               "No, he won't.  I was just preparing to travel back and fix this 
mess--"

               "I FORBID it!"  Her voice echoed back and forth in the stone 
chamber, and Chronos froze, shocked by her outburst.  "I will not let you adjust 
the time stream for your own benefit!"  She held up her fist to reveal that she 
was holding Ginzuishou.  "I will use any means necessary to prevent it, Chronos.  
Any means."

               Chronos recovered enough to draw himself up to his full height.  
"Does that mean you're taking Hades' side?  Are you going to allow him to--"

               Serenity didn't even bother to respond to that.  Instead she just 
gave him such a rage-filled look that he quickly closed his mouth and turned to 
walk to his chair and sit down in front of the fire.  Serenity walked up next to 
him and stood over him, looking down.  "I'm not going to take sides," she began 
softly.  "I need both of you.  I'm quite angry at you and Charon for causing 
this situation, but I will prevent you from using your power, and I will prevent 
Hades from using his.  I will not tolerate infighting."

               Chronos just nodded, lost in thought, his eyes on the flames.  
There was another knock on Chronos' chamber door, and he looked up with panic in 
his eyes.  Serenity strode over to answer it, holding Ginzuishou tightly in her 
hand.  As she neared the door Chronos rose to his feet and stepped up close 
behind her.  Serenity pulled open the door, and Chronos gripped his Garnet Rod, 
ready for anything.

               Charon stumbled in, as if she'd been leaning on the door.  Her 
eyes were red and tears fell down her face, mingling with the sweat that stood 
out on her face.  She tripped as she came into the room, and Chronos dropped his 
staff with a metallic clatter as he moved in to catch her.  "What's wrong?" he 
asked her, worried.

               "I-I'm pregnant, and since Serenity is too, I was carrying four 
of us here.  Even with power from Ginzuishou. . ."  She groaned softly and 
collapsed in his arms.  Just then Hades strode in behind her.

               "You!  You don't even have the decency to hide what you've been 
doing anymore!  Is that it?"  His eyes seemed to catch fire, and he began to 
walk purposefully forward, but Serenity interposed herself between Hades and 
Chronos.

               "Stop!"  She again held up her hand, only this time Ginzuishou 
was pulsing with a threatening light.  "I will not allow you to do this!"

               "But Serenity!  Don't you know what my wife and this man have 
done?"

               "Of course I know.  I've known for a long time.  But I cannot 
allow you to destroy either of them or this planet because of it.  I have to 
look past the fact that you have been wronged.  I need you both too much to 
allow anything to happen to you."  She stepped up to Hades and put a cool hand--
the one that wasn't holding Ginzuishou--on Hades' forearm.  "I know you are the 
one who has been wronged, but I can't allow you to exact revenge.  I need your 
solemn oath that you won't harm either of them.  I won't allow them to do 
anything to you either."

               Hades didn't say anything at first, then he turned to face his 
wife and Chronos.  "How long?  How long have you been. . ."  

               Charon looked wearily up at him.  "I stopped before Pluto was 
even born.  I couldn't do it anymore, no matter how I felt--"  She pushed 
herself off Chronos' chest and made her way toward him.  "I love you, Hades, and 
I'm so very sorry."  She held her arms out toward him, but he turned away.

               "Get away from me," he growled angrily.

               "But, Hades, I'm pregnant again."

               "Whose is it this time?"

               "Hades!"  Charon brought shocked hands up to her mouth.  "Yours!"

               "I don't believe you.  I don't ever want to see you again.  Stay 
with you lover if he'll still have you.  I want nothing to do with you."  Hades 
glanced at Serenity.  "I'll do nothing more to either of them."  He walked out 
of the chamber. 

               "Hades!  Hades!  Wait!"  Charon took off after him, but she 
couldn't run in her condition, and fell to the stone floor with a thud.  "Hades. 
. ."  She put her face in her arms and began to cry.  Chronos quickly made his 
way to Charon's side, knelt next to her, and began to soothe her.

               Now that the crisis was over Serenity's face went pale and waxy, 
and she began to stumble toward the entrance to Chronos' palace.  Just as she 
made it to the door Hermes and Zeus burst into the room, with Aphrodite, Gaia 
and Ares close behind.  Serenity collapsed against Zeus' chest.  "I knew you'd 
follow me here," she smiled faintly.  "You should have trusted me, but I'm glad 
you're here.  Bring me to your ship, please.  I need to get back to my planet 
now."

               "Why the rush, Serenity?" Aphrodite asked, curious.

               "Because, I'm about to have my baby."

     *****

               Serenity's voice was worn out from her cries of pain, so she lay 
back and gasped quietly.  She'd been carried off the ship while in labor at her 
own insistence, so her daughter could be born on her planet, and hopefully 
receive the planet crystal.  It had been a long and hard labor, and it was 
finally over.  She wearily lifted her head just as Luna reached out to wipe the 
sweat off her face.  "I-is the baby all right?"  Aphrodite looked up at her with 
a wide smile.

               "The baby's fine.  Just a minute, let me wrap her up."

               "A girl?  I have a daughter?"

               "Here you go, Serenity."

               Serenity reached out for the wrapped bundle, and pulled back the 
corner of the blanket that covered her new daughter's face.  She began to cry in 
disappointment.  Her daughter's eyes were blue, like her own.  She'd hoped her 
daughter would have Sol's wonderful amber eyes, but they were sapphire instead.  
Then she pulled the corner of the blanket back farther off her daughter's head, 
and her tears turned from sorrow to joy, because on her daughter's head rested 
one lock of hair, a bright, glorious gold, yellow as the sun.  She leaned 
forward and gave her daughter a gentle kiss on her forehead.

               "Welcome to the universe, little Serenity."

     *****

     PART EIGHT







	Luna looked at her friend.  Serenity was silently gazing into the sky, 
looking out at the asteroid belt.  Now that she had her daughter, she'd found 
joy in life again, but her long period of mourning had killed all of her 
youthful exuberance.  She was so driven by duty that she had time for almost 
nothing else.  She only came out of her self-imposed prison for little Serenity.  
Luna worried about it, but Lady Serenity staunchly ignored all her attempts to 
draw her out.

	Little Serenity began to fuss, and Luna swiftly bent over to quiet her--
this was one of the few times Lady Serenity had to herself--but Serenity just 
slowly turned her head and smiled.  

	"It's all right, Luna, I'll take care of her."  Serenity took her daughter 
from Luna's arms.  Little Serenity quieted immediately.  "It's rather nice to be 
needed so much, actually."

	Luna smiled back, a little unsure, but nevertheless glad that Serenity 
seemed to be happy.

*****

	Serenity looked around the council table and shook her head.  "I don't 
want such a title.  We have no reason to need a queen, or a king for that 
manner.  We've been fine as things are."

	Zeus took up the argument.  "We need to establish some sort of order, Lady 
Serenity, for future generations.  All of our decisions have been sort of rough 
and tumble, we need a definite set of rules to follow, or sometime later, when 
our children, or our children's children are ruling, they'll have a problem, and 
they won't bother to work things out, they'll just get right to the fighting."

	Everyone nodded in agreement.

	"You are the most logical choice for our ruler, Serenity, because you are 
the strongest of us, and your daughter will be even stronger, with her being a 
planet warrior as well as holding Ginzuishou."  Aphrodite laid a strong hand on 
her arm.

	"But I don't want to be a queen--" Serenity started again, but Hermes 
shook his head to silence her.

	"Our choice is unanimous, Serenity.  Even though the outers didn't come to 
this meeting, we got their agreement--you are the only possible choice.  It's 
your duty to us, Serenity.  You are our leader."

	Ares and Gaia nodded in solemn agreement, and Serenity sighed sadly.  "All 
right, I'll accept the responsibility, and the title.  What else did you have in 
mind, then?"

	"We thought we'd send all our daughters to your planet--"

	Gaia broke in.  "The natives call it the moon, by the way."

	"The moon, then.  We'd send them all here for training, and they could 
also be like a royal court to surround your daughter, our future queen."

	Aphrodite broke in after Zeus when she saw the uncomfortable look wash 
over Serenity's face.  "They wouldn't come right away of course.  Maybe when 
they're about five or so."

	"And we could all call ourselves princes and princesses, I suppose. . ."  
Hermes trailed off thoughtfully.

	Serenity shook her head.  "I'm liking this less and less.  Why make such a 
large difference between us all.  We'll all be kings or queens of our planets, 
we can rule by council, as we have been.  If you want, I'll head the council, 
but I don't think I should outrank you all."

	The rest of them looked at each other around the table, the Gaia nodded.  
"We can't force you.  I think that might work.  It's not exactly what we had in 
mind, but I'm sure the outers will agree with it."

	"If they even notice," Zeus muttered.  "They seem to be drifting farther 
and farther from us lately."

	"It's only to be expected.  They have to keep themselves ready for outside 
attacks, and after the trouble between Hades and Chronos, neither of them want 
to be in the same room anymore," Serenity offered an excuse for the outers.  She 
did miss her friend Charon though.  They'd grown so distant, lately.  It seemed 
as if the only two things holding her to this world any longer were her daughter 
and her duty.  "Luckily, Poseidon and Ouranos are still close friends.  Even 
though Chronos and Hades won't stand together in a fight, they will."

	"I still think we should send our children here when they reach schooling 
age--raise them all together."  Aphrodite reasserted.  Everyone but Gaia and 
Serenity nodded.

	"I won't object to having them taught schooling and control of their 
powers here, but I can't say we should force anyone."  Serenity caught Gaia's 
discomfort.  "Luna, I have found, is indispensable at running things around 
here, and I think she could handle a few children well.  Artemis is a genius 
with technology and science, so he would make a good tutor.  And both of them 
could teach fighting.  I would be willing to devote some time to teaching self-
control and magic, but if I'm to head the council. . .maybe I could find 
somebody else who's settled here to teach them."  She put her head in her hands 
in a gesture of frustration and indecision.  Aphrodite put a commiserating hand 
on her shoulder.  

	"Don't worry about it so much Serenity.  The children aren't even a year 
old yet--except for Gaia's Endymion and the outers--we can decide later."

	Serenity nodded.  Later.

*****

	"Why are they bowing to us like that?" Queen Serenity asked curiously.

	"They know I'm the ruler of Atlantis, and they know you came from the 
Moon.  I think they almost worship us as gods."

	"Well, then, make them stop!" Serenity exclaimed with worry.

	"Why?"

	"We're not gods, we're not at all!"

	"I know that, but how am I going to explain that to them, when we seem to 
live forever, have technological marvels, and inexplicable powers?  I discourage 
worship of us, but there's only so much I can do.  At first I tried explaining 
things, how we had ships made of metal that traveled to the planets, I even 
pointed out the visible planets, how they move differently through the sky, and 
told them who lived on which planet, and even explained the planets and rulers 
that are out of eyesight.  It did no good.  So I gave up."

	Serenity calmed down a bit.  "I understand.  I guess there's no help for 
it.  Well, at least you're trying."  She scanned the lush ground around them for 
another topic of conversation that wouldn't be so touchy.  "You really did pick 
a paradise spot, Gaia.  The Moon has some plants, a few insects, and one or two 
small mammals, but Earth. . ."  She smiled.  "I'm almost jealous!"

	Gaia smiled back.  "Yes, I did find a good place to settle.  And I got 
some good people to come with me, which is a relief, considering the surprise we 
had when we found an intelligent race here."

	Serenity nodded.  "Almost everyone came either here or to the Moon."  Her 
smile widened.  "Seems most of us don't have the temperament to be pioneers--
most wanted to live in the most civilized area.  Who's been most helpful?"

	Gaia pointed at a tight knot of people--mostly natives, with one tall 
woman in the center, talking animatedly.  "That woman's name is Metallia."

	"Metallia?  I don't recall--oh, yes, I've seen her before.  She's the one 
who showed us how Chaos was taking control of the universities with propaganda, 
wasn't she?  She hasn't done much else, as I recall."

	"No, but she's an absolute wonder working with these humans.  She 
especially likes to work with some tribe to the south of us.  She has a little 
girl, too, I can't remember the child's name right now but she's showing promise 
as well--well, speak of the devil!"  She pointed at a little red-haired girl 
that was running toward them.  "There she is.  Her name is Beryl.  She stays 
with her mother most of the time, so I'm hoping when she grows up, she can help 
handle human affairs for Endymion."  Gaia leaned in a little to speak to 
Serenity confidentially.  "I already have my eye on her for him, you know."  
Serenity saw the little girl pause momentarily on her way toward her mother at 
Gaia's words, then continue on as if she'd heard nothing.  "She's not Metallia's 
real daughter though, she was adopted.  I heard that her biological parents died 
in an illegal raid conducted by Chaos' people."  Serenity looked at the young 
girl in sympathy as Gaia led her on the rest of the tour of her kingdom 
Atlantis.

*****

	Serenity looked around the council chamber at her friends who'd showed up 
for the meeting.  "Ouranos.  It's good to see you here.  We haven't had anyone 
from the outer planets in a long time."

	Ouranos smiled faintly.  "We're so far away, and with the bad blood 
between," he cleared his throat, "some of us, only Poseidon and I can really 
ever represent everyone.  Our main concern is keeping Chaos and her minions out 
of the Solar system."

	Serenity clutched her hands to her chest at his last words, and she looked 
around the table to see all of the inner planet representatives turn away from 
her gaze uncomfortably.  "Wha-what did you just say?  S-Solar. . .System?"

	Ouranos looked a little worried, and glanced around at the others, and 
they again looked away uncomfortably from his questioning eyes.  "You mean to 
say you haven't told her yet?"  He shook his head, then turned to explain the 
new name of the system with gentle tones.  "We voted a while ago that we would 
name this system after your husband.  He wouldn't take a planet, but he died 
defending us, and we thought it was the least we could do to make sure he's 
remembered forever."

	"We were just so worried, after your long depression, none of us felt 
comfortable to bring the subject up, though we voted in the name soon after your 
daughter was born."  Aphrodite hurried in to explain the inners' reasons.  Then 
she bowed her head.  "We're sorry.  This had to be quite a shock for you."

	"Quite a shock," Serenity repeated under her breath, then she visibly 
pulled herself together, and spoke with brisk authority, though her eyes were 
still moist.  "Well, continue."  Ouranos sat back down and did so.

	"As I was saying, we really want to keep Chaos out of this system, and 
we're so remote, none of us really see any need for us to be closely associated 
with you.  We'll send a representative back every once in a while to keep 
contact up, but-"  He shrugged.  "I don't see any reason for someone to be 
constantly traveling back and forth."  At his last comment Serenity wanted to 
ask him a question, but she decided to wait.  It was a little too personal for 
this meeting.  So she just nodded and continued.

	"Well, then, we're happy to have you for now, Ouranos, and please tell the 
outers that we'll always be pleased to hear from them."  She turned to the 
others gathered, and her brow wrinkled as she noticed someone was missing.  
"Where's Gaia?  This is the second time she hasn't shown."

	"None of us have heard from her in a long time, Serenity.   She seems to 
be isolating herself."  Hermes shrugged.  "She doesn't seem to like leaving her 
planet.  It must be a lot of work to run."

	Serenity filed that information away to deal with later.  "Well, then, 
let's get on with business."

*****

	"Ouranos!"  Serenity snagged him after the meeting adjourned.  "How's 
Charon?  Couldn't she come back and forth to represent you, or couldn't she 
carry one of you to represent the outers?  It wouldn't be such a long trip, 
then."

	"Charon refuses to leave Chronos' palace.  I'm a little worried for her.  
The pregnancy's not going too well.  All of us except Hades are trying to 
convince her to come here to have the child, so Aphrodite can be there, but she 
won't listen.  Hades still won't have anything to do with her."

	"Why haven't any of you made her call me, so I can convince her?"

	He just shook his head.  "She refuses to leave her chambers, and won't use 
a communicator."  Poseidon lowered his voice.  "I was going to talk to you about 
this anyway, Serenity.  I'm a little worried about Chronos.  He's terribly 
worried about Charon.  I think he sees that something bad is going to happen, 
and I'm afraid he's going to mess with the time stream.  I think he needs 
another reminder of your power and the rules about diverting the time line."

	Serenity nodded worriedly, fears for her old friend and for the danger to 
their time line creating wrinkles on her forehead.  "I'll see what I can do."  
She mumbled to herself.  "I should send Aphrodite out there in a ship.  Charon's 
due soon, but maybe Aphrodite can get there in time to help out.  Yes, I'll 
definitely call her."  She looked back up at Poseidon.  "Thank you for coming, 
and bringing this to my attention."  She flashed him a brilliant smile and swept 
off down the corridor.  Ouranos simply stood there and watched her go.

	"You were a lucky man, Sol."

*****

	Serenity collapsed in the soft padded chair next to her bed.  She looked 
over toward the crib where her daughter slept soundly.  She smiled.  If only she 
could sleep so peacefully, without a care in the world, without responsibility 
dragging her down like a ball and chain.  She pulled herself up to her feet to 
walk over to little Serenity's crib and tiredly drape the top half of her body 
over the tall rail to gaze down on her dozing daughter.  She tenderly reached 
down with a gentle finger to wrap a downy lock of golden hair around it.

	"Sleep while you can, little Serenity.  When I'm gone, all the troubles 
and fighting will fall on your shoulders."  She disengaged her fingers from her 
daughter's hair and traced a feathery trail along her daughter's rosy cheek.  "I 
only hope you find someone to share that burden with, as I did, and that you 
don't lose him."  She felt tears once more well up in her eyes, and blinked them 
away.  She clenched her fist until it was white and hard, a block of ivory, and 
her eyes sharpened into knives of cold, blue ice.  "I'll protect your future, 
Serenity.  I'll make sure that you don't have these troubles.  I'll find a way 
for you to live in peace."

	Still sleeping, her tiny daughter brought a small hand up to wrap it 
around her mother's finger in a warm grasp.  Serenity's hard face softened 
immediately, and her lips curved up into a soft, maternal smile.  She just stood 
there, silent, and watched her daughter dream of white clouds and frilly dresses 
and happy days filled with laughter.

*****

	Luna stood in the shadowed doorway between the living room of Serenity's 
suite and her bedroom.  She'd walked in to check on the small Lady, only to find 
both of them in the room.  She brought her hands to her mouth in sad shock when 
she heard Serenity's speak, and tears rose unbidden to her eyes at the 
hopelessness that seemed to underlie her words.  She looked at her mistress, 
and, she hoped, her friend, and made a vow of her own.

	"I'll guard over you and yours as long as live, my Queen," she whispered 
into the darkness, then closed the door and made her way out to leave mother and 
daughter in peace.

*****

Part 9



 



	"You'll watch her carefully, won't you, Luna?"  Serenity's arms were 
clutched tightly around her daughter as Luna reached out to take the little 
princess.  Luna smiled gently and began to softly pry baby Serenity out of her 
mother's grasp.

	"Of course I will.  She'll never leave my sight.  Don't you worry, just 
concentrate on Charon and Chronos, Serenity.  Everything will be fine here."

	Artemis stood close behind her and nodded.  "Fine.  We'll take care of 
everything.  Don't worry."

	Serenity watched Luna cradle her daughter tenderly for a moment, then took 
a deep breath and nodded.  "All right, then.  I won't.  Thank you."  She turned 
and walked into the ship.  Hermes shot Luna and Artemis reassuring looks before 
he boarded.  They'd really grown to be part of the family over the years.  He 
could barely remember a time when they hadn't been around.  He closed the hatch 
of his new ship--actually, it was Minerva's old craft--and prepared for the trip 
to Chronos' planet as Serenity silently settled into her seat.  He wished 
someone other than him was coming along, but Ares had to hold the fort and 
everyone else was busy.  This could get messy.

*****

	Aphrodite crooned softly to little Venus and jiggled her gently, only 
paying a little attention to her daughter.  Charon was lying in bed, groaning 
softly in her sleep, and Aphrodite couldn't help but wonder if contractions had 
started.  Charon's stomach seemed much too big.  Even if this baby wasn't going 
to cause political problems between Chronos and Hades, she feared the birth 
would be difficult.  She snorted to herself with annoyance.  As if things 
weren't already difficult enough for her!

	She heard Charon's chamber door open behind her and whirled on the balls 
of her feet to turn to face whoever was entering, jostling little Venus awake 
from her light doze.  Venus let loose with her most admirable lungs as Aphrodite 
sighed with relief to see Serenity and Hermes quietly make their way into the 
room.

	"I'm so glad to see you two here.  I was feeling so jumpy and tense.  You 
have no idea how terrible the atmosphere is on this planet.  I've only been here 
a day and I jump at every shadow.  I've had to personally threaten Chronos to 
keep him from doing something stupid."  She turned to attempt to quiet her 
daughter, who was still outraged at being disturbed from her nap.  "They almost 
wouldn't let me land in the first place, and I had to exert all my most" she 
raised one eyebrow at Serenity and Hermes "considerable powers of persuasion to 
make my way in to Charon's palace."  She cocked her head.  "By the way, however 
did you manage to get in here?"

	Serenity opened one closed fist to reveal Ginzuishou and a grim smile 
spread on her face in it's pale light.  "I threatened them with this.  It also 
helped Chronos see reason.  He was getting ready to use the Garnet Rod as we 
forced our way in."

	Aphrodite smiled, showing a lot of tooth as the grin turned ferocious.  
"Good for you.  Any sign of Hades or the other outers?  And where's Zeus and 
Gaia?"

	"You know how Gaia's been lately."  Hermes shrugged, as if that explained 
everything.  "And Zeus' wife is sick, so he wouldn't leave her side."

	"Mmmmm."  Charon let loose with a faint cry and Aphrodite shot a sharp 
look in her direction just as she opened her eyes.  Charon brought shaking hands 
down to her stomach and Aphrodite actually saw it ripple.  "Here."  She blindly 
handed Venus in the direction of  the other two nobles and made her way to 
Charon's side.  "Shhh. . .it's all right.  You've been through this before, so 
you know there's nothing to worry about.  Let me help you, now.  Breathe.  
Remember from last time?  That's it.  That's right, just keep on like that."

	The door burst open with a bang, Chronos rushed into the room.  "It's 
starting, isn't it?  Isn't it?  I felt something!"

	Aphrodite didn't even look up.  "Get him out of here!" she ordered.  "And 
bring me some boiling water and clean cloths!"  It looked like it would be a 
breech birth.  Very bad.  Very bad indeed.

*****



	Serenity had sent a message to Hades informing him that Charon was in 
labor.  He deserved to know that much, even if he couldn't possibly make it here 
in time.  The faint cries that reached her from Charon's chambers made her 
shiver in fear.  Things were taking a long time--too long.  She could tell from 
the haggard look on poor Aphrodite's face as she poked out her head to issue 
commands that she was tiring.  Serenity fingered Gizuishou thoughtfully.  Maybe 
she could help out.  She was still a little angry at Charon for causing this 
whole mess with the outers, but she was still her friend, and couldn't stand 
hearing her in pain like this.  If only they'd had the foresight to have a 
doctor among their number maybe this wouldn't be so hard.  She heard a 
particularly high pitched shriek emerge from behind the stone wall and made up 
her mind.  She had to do something!

	"Aphrodite?"  She knocked softly at the chamber door.  After a protracted 
silence she raised her hand to knock again but the door softly opened before she 
could.

	"Who is it?  Oh, Serenity."  Aphrodite's eyes were dark with fatigue.  "Do 
you need something?"

	"How-"  Serenity swallowed.  "How is Charon?  Are you hav-having 
problems?"

	Aphrodite sighed.  "The child's head's facing the wrong direction.  It's 
going to be bad.  Hopefully I can keep the baby from tearing Charon too badly.  
It's awfully large."  She leaned against the cool stone wall and closed her eyes 
for a second.  "I hate breech births!  And this one's taking too long as well.  
I'm worried."

	Serenity sent a tendril of thought into Ginzuishou and it began to pulse 
softly.  "If I use this to give you both energy, will that help?"

	Aphrodite nodded solemnly.  "It should,  but you should help the poor baby 
too.  This is almost as difficult on the child as it is on-"  Aphrodite stopped 
speaking suddenly and her eyes snapped in the direction of Charon, who was 
beginning to moan again.  "Come on,"  Not wasting time or energy on politeness, 
Aphrodite snatched up Serenity's wrist and pulled her to Charon's bedside.  "Do 
it now, Serenity."

	Serenity nodded and began to pull power from Ginzuishou.  If she pulled 
too much to save her friend, she'd die, like she almost had when she'd tried to 
get Sol off that stupid ship.  Maybe if she hadn't been so careful back then, 
Charon would've been able to carry them all.  Maybe it was her fault that Sol 
had died.  As Serenity reached out toward the baby she felt her self-hatred rear 
it's ugly head, and she wasn't ready try to put it back into the back of her 
mind, where it belonged.  She began to pull energy at a furious rate, no longer 
caring if she died, only sure she had to save this little baby and it's mother.  
She had to!  She'd already failed once.  She dove deeper into the crystal and 
kept on pushing all the energy she could into the child.  Her vision began to 
darken around the edges, but she pushed on, stubbornly ignoring the warning 
signs that she was going too far.

	"Serenity!"  Something intruded on her attention.  "Serenity!  What are 
you doing!  Stop!  Serenity!"  Something was shaking her.  She ignored it.  She 
had to save this baby.  This little innocent child didn't deserve to die.  She 
did--she'd failed her people when they'd been found by Haven.  She'd failed Sol 
by not trying hard enough to save him.  It was only fair she paid. . .

	"Serenity!  Stop this!  No!  What about your daughter?!"  Serenity paused 
briefly in her quest for more energy to give to the small life struggling to 
make it's way out to the world.  "Yes!  Your daughter!  What about little 
Princess Serenity?!  Are you going to leave her alone?"  

	[Aphrodite?  Princess. . .]  Serenity shrugged off her depression as best 
she could, and looked around.  She was surprised to realize she was kneeling on 
the floor, barely able to breathe.  Aphrodite was angrily shaking her, her usual 
urbane expression completely stripped from her features as she wept angry tears.  
"Stop this!  Stop!  Stop!  That's enough!"

	Serenity took a deep breath, troubled by how difficult a task it had 
become, and waved Aphrodite off.  Aphrodite paused and looked at her carefully, 
disregarding her own emotional state.  "Serenity?  Are you done?"

	"Yes. . ." Serenity breathed softly.  "Sorry. . ."

	Aphrodite sniffed and dashed the tears out of her eyes.  "I should say so.  
You gave me a scare.  I thought I was going to lose Charon and the baby, and 
almost lost you instead!"  She began to stand.  "You sure you'll be all right?"  
Serenity nodded.  "All right.  I have to go back to Charon."  Aphrodite turned 
back to the bed, which was now silent.  Serenity fought her way to her feet.  
What had come over her?  She had to get a handle on this tendency of hers to 
sink into depression like that.  She had responsibilities.  A kingdom to rule.  
A beautiful daughter to raise.  Peace to win, so her daughter could live a 
happy, light filled life.  She pulled herself to her knees and looked over at 
the bed.  It was a mess, blood all over, and as she watched, Serenity saw two 
feet emerge from Charon, kicking energetically.  Aphrodite began to pull.  
Serenity looked down at her feet to make sure she set them on the floor 
correctly.  She was still feeling terribly unsteady.  And she'd only sent energy 
to the baby.  What a fool!  Yet another failure. . .

	"Shit!"  Serenity jerked her head up at Aphrodite's heartfelt exclamation.  
Aphrodite turned with a flare of blonde hair to pin her down with a glare.  "I 
need more cloths!  And more water!  Quickly!"

	Serenity was frozen, and she widened her eyes.  "Charon?  Will she be all 
right?"

	"Not if you don't get moving!"  Serenity flinched at the raw worry in 
Aphrodite's voice and ran out of the room.  She was such an idiot!  She stumbled 
to the door and raised her voice.

	"Hermes?  Chronos!"  She didn't get an answer and made her way down the 
corridors.  Where was everybody?  "Someone!  I need help!"  She made her way 
toward the gathering room in Chronos' palace.  She stopped and gaped in 
amazement at what she saw.  Hades had arrived.  In less than a few hours!  How 
had he done that, without Charon's long distance teleporting abilities?  Hermes 
and Chronos were both in defensive positions, ready to defend themselves, and it 
was obvious some heated words had already passed between them.  "What's going on 
here?"

	Everyone turned to face her. 

	"How did you get here so quickly, Hades?"

	"I helped him."  A tall green haired young woman stepped out from behind 
Hades.

	"Where'd you get that?"  Chronos pointed in shock to the staff the woman 
carried.  It looked like an exact copy of his Garnet Rod.  The woman looked over 
at him with her red eyes, and Chronos took a shocked step back.

	"I got it from you," she paused almost imperceptibly, then she continued.  
"Father."

	"Pluto?"  Serenity was getting very confused.  "Hades, how on Haven did 
your daughter grow up so fast?"

	Hades shrugged.  Serenity shot him an annoyed look at his unresponsiveness 
but Pluto began to answer her question before Serenity could say anything to 
him.

	"I didn't.  When I offered to transport my father here I also took my 
younger self off of the planet."  Serenity was disturbed by the impenetrable 
depths in Pluto's eyes when the young woman turned them on her.  "I had to--have 
to--grow up somewhere else.  I'm only doing what you commanded, Queen Serenity.  
I'm only preserving the time line."

	"What are you talking about?  I've never said anything like that!"

	Pluto smiled knowingly.  "You will.  Now, if I'm not mistaken, Aphrodite 
asked for some cloths and more boiling water, didn't she?"

	Serenity brought her hands up to her face in horror.  "That's right!  The 
birth's not going well!  We have to hurry!"  Thankful for a simple task to 
devote her mind to she turned to Chronos.  "Where can I find some to bring to 
her?"  Chronos opened his mouth to answer her, but he was interrupted.

	"Too late."  Aphrodite stepped out of the shadows of the corridor holding 
a small figure in a warm blanket.  Tears ran down her face unchecked.  "Your 
sacrifice saved the baby though, Serenity."  She pulled back enough of the 
blanket for Serenity to catch a glance of her face.  As she saw Serenity's eyes 
widen, Aphrodite sighed.  "Yes, you're not imagining it.  She's also a planet 
Senshi."  She looked up in surprise as she saw the older Pluto stride up to the 
baby to trace the 'h' shaped symbol on her forehead.

	"Yes she is. . ." the woman murmured to herself.  Without another word she 
spun around and the nobles all took a step back with cries of surprise as a door 
appeared out of mid-air.  A Pluto that appeared to be the right age stepped out.  
"Pluto, this is your sister.  You're going to have to take care of her."

	The young girl took this all in with a serious nod.  "What's her name?"

	The older Pluto looked up at Chronos, who held out his hands in protest.  
"I'm not her father!  Don't ask me!"  She turned to Hades, but the man who'd 
been a father to her turned his back without a word.  She frowned at him, then 
turned back to her younger self.  "Her name is to be Saturn."

	"Saturn."  Young Pluto held out her hands toward her new baby sister.  
Aphrodite looked over at Serenity with confusion evident in her eyes.

	"Why does she-er, you-want the baby?"

	"I have to raise her.  Neither Chronos or Hades will be willing to raise 
her, will they?"

	"But-"  Serenity halted, obviously confused.  "I really don't understand 
what's going on here at all, you know.  Can't you just explain yourself?"

	Pluto shook her head.  "No, not really.  It took me more years to 
understand myself than you could ever imagine.  But I have to do this, don't you 
see?  It's already happened for me."  She gestured toward the young Pluto, who 
was still patiently waiting for her sister to be handed to her, but was also 
obviously taking everything in.  

	Serenity nodded.  "I understand that, at least.  Are you saying you can 
travel through time at will?"

	"Not only that, but I, myself, can live outside of time."  An abstracted 
look entered her expression, as if she were searching for words.  "I don't know 
how else to put it.  But everything has to happen this way, since I remember it 
all."

	Serenity nodded thoughtfully, then looked at Hades and Chronos.  They were 
still shooting looks of hatred at each other.  [Oh, Charon, all the damage you 
caused!  What were you thinking?]  She came to a decision.  "Chronos, I want you 
to give the Garnet Rod to young Pluto there."

	"What?!"  

	"You heard her.  You gave it to her already, in one sense.  You have to do 
it, so you might as well do it now."

	"But I'll be defenseless!"

	Serenity didn't answer his protest, but turned instead to Hades.  "And you 
have give the Silence Glaive to your daughter."

	"But she's just an infant!"

	"You can give it to me.  I'll care for it until Saturn's old enough to use 
it."  Pluto held her hand out demandingly.  Hades saw the ice cold determination 
in Serenity's eyes, and sighed.  He gave Chronos an angry look, but began to 
hand the glaive over.  Chronos nodded and handed young Pluto his Garnet Rod.

	"Good.  Now I know you two won't blow up the system over this feud, and I 
know the time stream won't be corrupted either."  Serenity turned to Pluto.  "Am 
I doing all right so far?"

	Pluto smiled.  "Just fine."

	"Good.  Then I also am going  to order you to preserve the time line, as 
you predicted I would.  Just like your father was supposed to.  Do you 
understand?" she asked the young one first, who watched her with wide eyes.  The 
young Pluto nodded, a small spark of zeal lighting in her eyes.  Serenity turned 
to the older woman.  "And you?"

	Pluto's smile had soured a bit.  "Yes, I understand.  But I don't think 
you do.  If you knew. . ."  Pluto clutched her hands tight around the rod until 
they looked as bloodless as bone and took a deep breath.  "I swear I will do as 
you command, my Queen.  On pain of death if I disobey."

	Serenity blinked at the ferocity of the oath, but nodded in approval at 
her intensity.  "Well, then.  See that you do."

	"And now, your Majesty, I, my sister, and my younger self must leave.  
They have much to learn."  Pluto motioned Young Pluto, still holding the Garnet 
Rod and Saturn, through the door.

	"Pluto-" Serenity took a step forward and reached out a hand, unable to 
let her go without answering a question.  "Will I see you again?"

	Pluto smiled, and Serenity stifled a gasp at the bitter curve of it.  "I 
can garauntee you will.  Until then, my Queen."  She bowed curtly and leapt 
through the disappearing door before another word could be spoken.

	Silence reigned in the cold, stone palace for a few minutes.

	"What an amazing thing!"  Aphrodite murmured in shock.  

*****

Part 10





	"So, what exactly happened out there?"  Zeus couldn't keep the annoyance 
out of his voice.  He'd wanted to go as well, but someone had to stay in the 
Moon Palace to guard it.  Aphrodite just shook her head with a rueful expression 
on her face.  

	"I don't know!  That's the problem!  Sure, I was there for the birth, and 
for Charon's death, but I walked in in the middle of the conversation, and 
nobody bothered to explain anything to me."  Venus snuggled against her mother 
and Aphrodite spared enough attention to give her daughter a gentle smile.

	"Well, where are they, then?  I know you were given the fastest ship to 
get to Charon in time, but they shouldn't be this far behind you.  It's been 
hours!  Over half a day!"

	"Oh, stop bothering me!  It's not like I've had a relaxing couple of days!  
Hermes and Serenity are visiting Neptune and Uranus.  Since Hades won't be able 
to protect the Solar System anymore Serenity decided she needed to stop and talk 
with them.  Evidently the two are going to have to work closely to protect us 
now."

	"What!?  Why can't Hades protect us?  You have to give me something!"  
Zeus felt his face begin to redden with frustration, and he took deep breaths in 
an attempt to calm himself.

	"Well, if you must know, Hades gave the Silence Glaive to Saturn.  Oh, 
that's the name of his and Charon's new daughter, in case you were wondering."

	"He gave the glaive to an infant?!"

	"It was the oddest thing, you know.  Pluto named him.  Neither of those 
two men" Aphrodite tried not to use too sarcastic a tone as she said that word 
"would deign to name her themselves."  Zeus' cheeks were blown out in 
consternation.  "First Hades gave the glaive to Pluto to guard until Saturn was 
old enough to use it, then Chronos gave the Garnet Rod to Pluto, then all three 
girls jumped through that time portal-"

	"Three?!  What three?  There were only two girls, Saturn and Pluto!"

	Aphrodite gave him a wide-eyed look.  "Oh, didn't I tell you?  There were 
two Plutos there."

	Zeus collapsed into a faint with a loud crash as he hit the ground.

	Venus took her thumb out her mouth long enough to look down in surprise at 
the big man lying down on the floor.  Then she turned questioning blue eyes to 
her mother.

	"Well, he deserved it."  Aphrodite tried to justify her behavior.  "I 
wouldn't have done it if he hadn't been so annoying!"

*****

	"So we won't be hearing from the outers again?"

	Serenity sadly shook her head.  "No, I'm afraid not.  They'll be spending 
most of their time learning to fight, to defend us from outside attacks.  They 
just can't spare the time necessary to travel back and forth among the planets.  
I'm sure they'll send us messages if things go wrong or they need help, but 
other than that, they're completely cut off.  They even support themselves with 
hydroponics, so there won't be any food runs between us anymore either."  
Serenity looked around at her four good friends.  There were others she knew 
among the common population, but they were nothing more than acquaintances.  The 
only other people who could be considered close to her were Luna, Artemis, and, 
of course, her daughter.  Serenity stifled a sad sigh.  Her world was growing 
smaller.  Friends were dying or leaving. . .  She choked back tears and forced 
herself to continue.

	"Another problem is Gaia's troubling silence.  She'll respond to direct 
messages, but even then her responses are terse.  I just don't know what to do 
about it.  It's not that she's doing anything wrong. . ."

	"We're still getting food shipments on time.  It's not like she's cut 
herself off."  Hermes offered, but he, too, looked concerned.  "Maybe we should 
just pay her a visit and try to find out what's going on."

	Serenity opened her mouth to agree when she noticed that Aphrodite was 
shaking her head.  She gave her the floor.  "We can't all just show up and 
demand to know what's going on.  Gaia would feel threatened if we all ganged up 
against her like that.  That's not the way to get an answer.  It's easier and 
more pleasant all around to get answers through sweetness instead of with a 
threat."

	"And you're our resident expert on being sweet, aren't you, Aphrodite?"  
Zeus sulked.

	"Well, Zeus, it's certainly not you."

	Serenity held up her hands for silence before things got nasty.  She 
wasn't in the mood to put up with quarrels like this.  "Stop it!  We're breaking 
up here!  Everyone, count to a hundred and calm down!"

	Ares raised his eyebrows at Serenity.  She sighed.  "Yes, Ares?"

	"Do I have to count to one hundred?  I wasn't fighting."

	"Why, can't you count that high?"  Hermes voice cut in before Serenity 
could respond.

	"STOP IT!"

	Everyone leaned back from the table as Serenity swept it with an angry 
glare.  "I have enough problems, I don't need you to all start acting like 
you're the same age as your children!"  Everyone looked at each other with wide 
eyes at Serenity's outburst.  She took a slow breath and began again.  "I don't 
know why you're all baiting each other like this, but I need it to stop."

	"And who gave you the right to order us around?" Zeus muttered sullenly.

	"You did.  It was your idea to make me Queen.  I haven't pulled rank 
before, but if all of you are going to force me to do it in order to get some 
cooperation, I will!"

	Hermes' face split in a wide grin.  "And you guys said it wouldn't work!  
I told you we could get her to finally take control!"

	Zeus smothered a chortle with one huge hand while he slapped the table in 
glee.  "I loved that line of yours, Ares!  Asking if you have to count to a 
hundred."

	Ares smiled and looked over at Hermes.  "Who knows, maybe I can't count 
that high!"  Hermes shook his head, tacitly admitting that Ares was much more 
intelligent than appearances led one to believe.

	Aphrodite sniffed disdainfully.  "You men are all children.  I'm the only 
one who had to act.  Immaturity came naturally to the rest of you."

	Serenity sat silently at the table, trying to master her temper.  "You 
mean this whole thing was staged just to annoy me?"

	"You'd be a great ruler, Serenity, if you'd stop being so laid back and 
just rule.  We'd almost despaired of ever getting you to realize your position.  
These councils are nice and all, but we can't always come here to meet when a 
decision's got to be made.  You need to take your title more seriously, your 
Majesty.  I saw how your face soured whenever that older version of Pluto called 
you her queen.  I figured that since she was so respectful of your position, at 
some time or another you'll have to assert yourself.  So we pushed you to it."  
Hermes smiled kindly at Serenity.  "After all, I'm just carrying out your own 
command too-I've preserved the time stream."

	"As I recall, I gave that command to Pluto,"  Serenity tried, but she 
couldn't stay angry at them.  They were all so pleased that their little plan 
had worked.  She took a playful swipe at Hermes in an attempt to wash that 
stupid grin off his face.  "Stop it!  I know you're all laughing at me!"  
Serenity straightened in her chair.  "So, who are we going to send to Earth?"

	"I think you should go, Serenity.  You'll know what you're looking for."

	"No," She shook her head, "I can't leave again.  If I'm really gong to be 
queen-" she raised her eyebrow at her friends, "-I'm going to have to stay here 
as much as possible.  Zeus!"

	He jerked his head up.  "Yes?"

	"Since you were so disappointed about being stuck here during the Saturn 
crisis, why don't you go find out what's made Gaia so reticent lately."

	Zeus smiled over at Aphrodite.  She looked at him out of the corner of her 
eyes and Serenity thought she heard her mumble something about flies and honey.

*****

	"Look, I'm just too busy to bother keeping up with things out there, 
okay?"  Gaia was nearly yelling as she put her face directly in front of Zeus'.  
"If you'd just stop sending such inane messages and leave me in peace, maybe I 
would have enough time to get things done around here!"

	Zeus held his hand up, palms forward, in the unusual position of 
peacemaker.  "Okay, okay, just calm down!  There's no need to shout!"

	"Mom?"  A young boy with jet black hair stuck his head in the room.  Gaia 
turned with a swish of her long chestnut hair at the sound.  "What's going on?"  
It was night on Earth, and the boy was yawning and rubbing the sleep out of his 
eyes.  "Why are you yelling?"

	"Endymion!  Why are you out of bed?"

	"You were shouting.  Very loud.  Who is this?"  Endymion turned sharp blue 
eyes on Zeus, and he felt an irrational urge to take a step back.  There was 
something very special about this boy. . .Zeus started as he remembered 
something.  Hadn't he heard somewhere that Endymion was shaping up to be a great 
fighter, even at such a tender age?  It was a measure of Gaia's isolation that 
her son didn't know who he was.  He took a step forward.

	"Hello, son, my name is Zeus.  I'm a friend of your mother's."

	Endymion eyed him distrustfully.  "It didn't sound like she and you are 
friends."  Zeus laughed.  The boy had spunk.

	"That's why I came here.  We haven't been hearing much from you in a 
while, so I came down to make sure everything's all right."

	"Oh, you mean you're here to help with the-"

	"Endymion!"  Gaia tried so sound authoritative, but just came off as 
frightened.  "It's past your bedtime.  You have to get up early tomorrow for 
arms practice, remember.  You should go back to bed."

	Endymion hung his head at her tone.  "Yes, Mother."  He left, throwing one 
last glance backward before he left.

	"What's going on, Gaia?  And don't open your mouth and start yelling at me 
again.  You've got a problem here, don't you?  Is it with those humans?  You 
have to tell us what's going on.  We can help you!"  Why wouldn't she tell him 
anything?!

	"Gaia!  Gaia?  Gaia!  Where are you?!  Gaia!"

	Zeus watched in amazement as a worried look washed over Gaia's expression 
before she schooled her features into a pleasant smile.  She turned and called 
out "Here I am, Metallia!"  A woman strode into the office and stopped in her 
tracks when she saw Zeus there.

	"What are you doing here?"  Zeus raised his eyebrow at her rude tone.  She 
must have sensed his disapproval.  She quickly made a small bow.  "Sorry, Zeus, 
it's just that a storm has damaged one of our crops, and. . ."  She stopped.  
"Anyway, Gaia, I need to talk to you as soon as you're finished."

	"Oh, that's all right."  Zeus was intrigued by Gaia's reaction to this 
woman, and wanted to hear what she'd have to say.  "You go ahead and talk with 
her."  He dropped a gem of information, being very careful not to smile-he loved 
this cloak and dagger stuff.  As long as he won, anyway.  "I'm going to be 
staying here for a few days."  Gaia blanched at the news.

	Metallia just gave him a flat, unfriendly stare, then shot a look at Gaia.  
Gaia cleared her throat.  "I'm afraid you can't do that, Zeus.  We-ah-we don't 
have anyplace for you to sleep."  

	"Oh, well, that's all right.  I can share a room with someone.  It's not a 
problem."

	"No!  No.  I mean it.  There's no place for you.  You-you'll have to go 
now."  Without another word Gaia turned around and practically ran out of the 
room.  Metallia followed, pointedly ignoring Zeus' presence.

	He stood there for a moment, completely nonplused at their attitude.  He'd 
been very effectively stonewalled.  He was convinced that the only way he could 
get any more answers than he already had would be to start threatening Gaia with 
violence, and that was hardly a solution.  He shrugged helplessly.  He'd just 
have to go back to the Moon and tell Serenity everything that had transpired.  
He only wished he had found out more.  Aphrodite would be absolutely 
insufferable over this.  Without another word he slowly made his way back to his 
craft.

*****

Part 11









	"But Da-aaa-ad!  I don't want to go!"  Mars resisted with all the stubborn 
strength in her small body, despite the fact she knew she didn't really have a 
chance of winning this argument.

	Ares spun her around to face him.  She widened her eyes at the leashed 
fury in his tone.  "Child, I've never hit you in my life, but if you keep this 
up, I'll be much more than tempted to spank you!"

	Mars hesitated for second, but she wasn't old enough to recognize when an 
argument was unwinnable yet.  "I" tug "don't" tug "want" tug  "to!"  Her tiny 
hand slipped out of her father's grasp and she took off back down the hall 
toward the spacecraft they'd disembarked from.  She wanted to go home!

	Ares stifled a shout.  It wouldn't do any good.  Maybe he'd spoiled her 
too much.  Oh, well.  Luna and Artemis w3ould take care of that.  Wasn't that 
part of the reason all the children were coming?  He took a few long strides and 
easily caught up with his daughter, who desperately pumped her small legs in an 
attempt to escape.  He grabbed her by the shoulders and hefted her up.

	"Very well, if you're too much of a baby to walk in by yourself, I guess 
I'll have to carry you in.  Then everyone can see what a baby you are."

	"No I'm not!  I'm not a baby!"  Mars' cry of rage revealed her 
indignation.

	"You're older than all the other girls.  Now are you going to act like 
your age, or am I going to have to embarrass you?"  Ares stared into his 
daughter's purple eyes.  She considered for a moment, but the thought of being 
humiliated in front of the other princesses, girls she'd only heard of in 
stories from her father, was too much for her.  She hung her head in a 
reasonable facsimile of contrition.

	"I'm sorry, Daddy.  I can walk in by myself."

	"Very well.  But don't try to run again, or I'll carry you in over my 
shoulder.  Understand?"

	"Yes."  She walked sedately in front of him, only the stiff line of her 
small shoulders indicating her anger.  Ares smiled.  Where did she get all that 
fire?  Once it was under control she'd be a formidable fighter.  He reached over 
her head to open the throne room door.  He looked around the room.  Serenity 
hadn't arrived yet, but all the inners except Gaia were there.

	Jupiter wore a resentful expression very similar to Mars'.  Ares and Zeus 
exchanged amused looks over their little girls' heads.  Mercury was quietly 
waiting, hand folded serenely and her eyes half-closed.  She didn't make any 
moves as Ares and Mars moved into seats next to her, as though she were too busy 
pondering the mysteries of the universe to bother noticing her surroundings.  
Ares compared the calm little girl to her father, who constantly fidgeted in his 
seat and looked about with bright, darting glances.  Ares shook his head.  The 
difference between them was striking.

	Last he looked over at Aphrodite and young Venus.  Other than his own 
daughter he'd seen Venus the most, since Aphrodite brought her along to all the 
councils they held.  She wasn't bright and cheerful like she usually was, 
however.  Instead she seemed to be in a slightly gloomy and contemplative mood, 
like Aphrodite when she discarded her gloss of social cheerfulness and her hard 
gritty practical side peeked through.

	As he was watching Venus and Aphrodite the private door behind the throne 
opened, and the two Serenitys stepped through.  The queen walked gracefully 
toward the raised dais, while her daughter practically ran to keep up.  Both 
wore their signature long white gowns, and while the elder Serenity seemed to 
glide across the floor, Ares winced as he saw younger Serenity's feet constantly 
catch on the hem of her dress.  He'd heard the little princess was clumsy, and 
he couldn't decide whether to credit the rumor as true because of the way she 
kept stumbling and almost tripping, or to dismiss it as a lie because the little 
girl somehow managed to keep her feet.  He sighed in relief when they both 
reached the dais safely, and watched Serenity pick up her daughter to settle her 
in the small chair next to her throne.  Ares squirmed uncomfortably.  This 
wasn't good.  The princess was five Haven years old now.  She should be more 
than able to seat herself.  It was perfectly natural for Serenity to dote over 
her daughter since Sol had died, but this was ridiculous!  If the child couldn't 
even seat herself, how was she going to learn to run a kingdom?  When Serenity 
decided that her daughter was finally comfortable enough, she turned to her own 
throne and sat down, turning on a bright smile to her assembled friends, and 
their children.

	"Welcome!  So, I take it you all have decided that the girls will be 
schooled here?"  She seemed relieved at the thought that her daughter wouldn't 
have to leave her.  After what he'd seen, Ares almost wished they'd decided on 
someplace else to teach the girls, but Luna and Artemis were the best and safest 
choices for tutors, and the Moon was the best defended planet.  The girls would 
obviously be safest here.

	Hermes spoke up.  "Yes, your Majesty, I think we all agree that this would 
be the best place for our daughters to be taught."  He paused for breath and 
Serenity broke in with a wave of her hand and a slight smile.  

	"Please, please!  Let's dispense with the titles, please!  They're much 
too cumbersome."  She glared around the room.  "We've all been friends much to 
long to have that sort of nonsense between us."

	Hermes gave a perfunctory little bow.  "Forgive me.  As I was saying, we 
think this is the best place for our girls, but first we'd like to talk to 
Artemis and Luna, and find out what they plan for our daughters to learn.  Maybe 
we can make some suggestions if we see they haven't thought of something."

	Serenity nodded.  "That's a fair idea.  Just a moment, while I send for 
them."  She reached up with her left hand and pulled a braided silver bell pull, 
worn smooth and shiny from the many times it had been used.  Next to her right 
hand was another, tarnished and unused.  Ares smiled.  It really was too obvious 
which pull signaled an emergency in the throne room, and which merely called for 
the presence of a servant.  As he watched the queen his eyes wandered over to 
little Serenity.  She looked so cute, a small blonde copy of her mother, even 
down to the signature odangos.  She squirmed uncomfortably from time to time, as 
one would expect from any child, but all in all she was surprisingly well 
behaved-especially considering how much her mother pampered her.  Ares began to 
have a little hope that things might not be as bad as they at first seemed.  He 
suspected any maturity he saw in the girl was a product of Luna's deft teaching.  
Sometimes that woman amazed him.  A courtier slipped into the room and Serenity 
gave out the order for Luna and Artemis to come to the throne room.  The man 
bowed and backed out to search for the pair.  "It should only take a few 
minutes," Serenity said with a smile as she turned her eyes to the young charges 
that would live in her palace for the next twelve to thirteen years.  

	She smiled at the stubborn grumpiness on both Mars' and Jupiter's faces.  
Ares looked down with disappointment at Mars.  She'd started off her pouting 
with occasional glances up at his face, hoping he would relent, but after he'd 
staunchly ignored her the first few times she just sat in a slump, staring 
angrily at the ground.  He sighed.  Goodness knew Serenity wasn't the only one 
that had spoiled her child a bit too much.  He saw Serenity wave a little at 
young Venus since she had also seen her often as an infant and toddler.  Venus 
seemed to know something unusual was happening, however, for she ignored 
Serenity's greeting and buried her face in her mother's side, clutching 
convulsively to Aphrodite's exquisite yellow dress.  Then Serenity turned toward 
Hermes and Mercury, and she looked a little surprised at the calm equanimity on 
Mercury's face.

	Artemis, these five girls are going to left in your care for their 
schooling and training for the next few years.  Their parents would like to know 
exactly what you're going to be teaching them during this time."

Luna nodded.  "Of course.  Well, we'll teach them the normal subjects-reading, 
writing and arithmetic as the basic building blocks, then all of the sciences 
and philosophy, and lots of history.  They'll need that to know what a good 
ruler does and doesn't do."  She raised an eyebrow at the young girls.

	"That's all very well and good, but books aren't the only things they'll 
need to deal with in their life.  What about physical and military training?"  
Ares nodded at Zeus' comment.  He knew the value of intellectual knowledge, but 
military strategy and personal fitness were just as important to him.

	their magic, and we'll bring the girls to Serenity for some of her 
expertise in magic to get any problems they may have with that under control 
long before they reach puberty."  He raised his eyebrows and Aphrodite nodded in 
agreement with him.  "Then we'll work on teamwork and military strategy and 
tactics, not to mention leadership skills."

	Ares smiled, pleased with the plans so far laid out.  He stood.  "That 
sounds good to me.  I think," he swept his eyes around the room, stopping to 
look into each parents' eyes, "that now would be a good time to go, before 
things get any more difficult.  Unless someone has another question?"  Nobody 
offered one, so Ares quickly stood and began to walk out.  He saw the shocked 
incomprehension on Mars' face and made his feet move faster, before his little 
girl could figure out that he was leaving her and begin to throw a tantrum.  He 
saw the others get up and follow, Aphrodite having to pry Venus' fingers off of 
her first.  They filed out of the room in complete silence, and hurriedly closed 
the door behind them while the throne room still rang with shocked silence.

	Luna hid a smile as she watched panic wash over all four girls' faces, 
even composed little Mercury.  She turned to Princess Serenity and jerked her 
head in the girls' direction.  Little Serenity looked at her with wide eyes, 
then swallowed and began to get out of her seat.  Queen Serenity turned to her 
daughter, protests on her lips as the little girl climbed down, but the princess 
ignored her with the same stubbornness that her father used to have, and the 
queen abruptly stopped her abortive gesture, shocked at her little girl's total 
disregard of her presence.  Luna smiled at the determined look on little 
Serenity's face.  She knew this was her best chance to prove to her mother that 
she wasn't an infant anymore, that she was slowly growing up.  Her smile widened 
to a proud grin as Serenity scanned the four little girls before and immediately 
walked in the direction of Mars.

	Artemis leaned over to talk to her.  "Why are you grinning like an idiot?  
Did you tell her to do this?  You may give the queen a heart attack, you know."

	"The princess has been frightened to the point of immobility over this 
meeting with the other princesses.  I told her they'll be just as frightened as 
she is, but if she makes the first effort to be kind and outgoing, she'll become 
their best friend." Luna answered in a whisper.  "And about the queen, it's high 
time she allowed Serenity to grow up a little.  She's going to be queen someday-
she has to be able to perform her duties!"

	"Hey, I'm not disagreeing with you!"  Artemis held up his hands in a 
calming gesture.  "In fact, I agree with you.  What I can't figure out is why 
you're so infernally pleased that she's going to Mars first.  That girl looks as 
if she'll gladly rip someone's head off.  She doesn't strike me as the first one 
to approach with overtures of friendship."

	Luna waved him off.  "Oh, you don't know anything.  The reason she's 
working so hard on looking dangerous is because she's the most frightened.  It 
makes perfect sense for the princess to go to her first."

	"Did you tell her that?"

	"No, she figured it out by herself.  That's why I'm so proud."  She turned 
to him with her forefinger over her lips.  "Now shush.  I want to hear what she 
has to say."

	"Shush!?"

	"Shush!!!!"

	The princess stopped just in front of Mars.  She stuck out her hand, and 
while Luna saw she had developed a slight shake, her voice was admirably steady 
as she said, "Hello!  My name's Serenity.  What's yours?"

	Mars looked up at her from her seat, then jumped to her feet as if she 
couldn't stand looking up at someone.  "My name is Mars.  Princess Mars."  She 
stuck face as high into the air as it could go in an attempt to look regal.

	"Oh, yes, this is already going so well!"  Artemis winced.

	"Shush!"  Luna clenched her hands together.  <C'mon, Serenity, you can do 
it!>  

	Little Serenity didn't let Mars' combativeness faze her.  "Oh!  You're a 
princess too?  So am I!"  She clapped her hand with excitement and Luna judged 
that while she was overacting a bit, she wasn't doing all that bad for a five-
year-old.  "That means we can do all sorts of stuff together!  Maybe we could 
even have sleepovers!"  Luna smothered a smile as Serenity hesitated, obviously 
furiously searching her thoughts for more "stuff".  "And. . .we can trade 
clothes, and do each other's hair and help each other with schoolwork and play 
games together!"  Mars' sulky expression slowly began to lighten as little 
Serenity babbled on.  Serenity held out her small hand, and after a second's 
hesitation Mars snatched it up in her own.  "It will be so fun to have someone 
to play with."  She peered at her new raven-haired friend, then looked over at 
Jupiter, who stood watching the scene with an unmistakable hunger on her face.  
"What do you think about going over to that other girl and seeing if she wants 
to be our friend too?"

	Mars' face softened imperceptibly, and she nodded a little.  Serenity 
pulled her over to the girl dressed in a cute little green pantsuit.  "Hi!  I'm 
Princess Serenity!"

	Jupiter opened wide her emerald eyes.  "Hello.  I-I'm a princess too.  Can 
we do things together too?"  Her eyes wandered to Serenity's and Mars' entwined 
fingers, and Serenity automatically reached out to comfort the hurt that filled 
Jupiter's face.  

	"Of course!  I wouldn't have it any other way!"  Before she'd even 
finished speaking Venus stood up, and the despair that had covered her 
expression when her mother had left slowly lightened until she was smiling 
bright enough to rival Princess Serenity's friendliness.  She walked over to the 
busily chatting girls.  

	"Can I join too?"  Serenity didn't even let her finish her sentence before 
she pulled her unceremoniously into their new little group.  Luna waited with 
bated breath.  Just one more little girl, all dressed in blue, wasn't in their 
happy little group.  Had Serenity forgotten about her?

	Even as she wondered this Serenity squirmed out from her place in the 
middle of the three other girls and looked across the room at Mercury.  She 
squared her shoulders and walked over to the still silent girl.  As she got 
close a smile spread across her face, and she stopped in front of Mercury.

	"Hello, my name's-"

	"Princess Serenity.  Yes.  I heard."  Mercury made a picture-perfect 
curtsy.  Serenity shifted from foot to foot uncomfortably, then tried again.

	"Would you like to come over with us?  We have room for one more."

	"I know what you're doing.  You're not really as stupid as you try to 
look.  Your Highness."  Mercury tilted her head and peered up at Serenity 
intensely.

	Serenity stood there for a moment, completely nonplused.  Luna held her 
breath.  She hadn't been expecting such difficulty from this corner.  The worry 
on Serenity's face finally cleared and she leaned in close.  Luna strained to 
hear her.  "You're right.  I am acting a bit.  Do you know why?"  Serenity 
pushed on without waiting for an answer.  "It's because I'm scared too."  She 
held Mercury's eyes with her own.  "I thought I'd make it easier for everyone by 
being the one to get us together.  You're smart-you saw right through me.  Maybe 
you think you're too smart for us."

	Mercury looked at her with surprise.  "My dad said he didn't think you 
were too smart."  Luna and Artemis gasped at hearing that.  Mercury's lips 
twitched.  "I think he was wrong, your Highness."

	Serenity waved her hand in a conscious imitation of her mother.  "Oh, 
don't call me that, or I'll have to start calling you 'your Highness' too," she 
grinned, "your Highness."  Mercury actually giggled, covering her mouth with her 
small hand.  "Anyway, your dad isn't so far off the mark."  Serenity screwed her 
face up in a comical expression of despair.  "You should see how bad I am at 
math."  She put her arm across Mercury's shoulders and began to lead her gently 
in the direction of the other girls.  "One thing you could do is teach me how to 
curtsy so well!  Every time I try I trip over my own feet!"

	Artemis and Queen Serenity were both staring at the princess as if she'd 
grown a second nose.  Luna felt herself swell with pride.  Let Serenity try to 
treat her daughter like a baby now!

	Artemis turned to her in surprise.  "Did you teach her to do that?"

	Luna winked at him.  "Shush!"  She smiled.  His snow white hair set off 
his bright red face so dramatically!

Part 12









	Serenity laid aside her paperwork with a relieved sigh as Luna strode into 
her office.  "Yes?  Did you want to see me?"

	Luna bobbed her head a little in an abbreviated bow.  "I thought you might 
like an update on how the girls were doing."  Luna tried to appear light 
hearted, but Serenity could see that she was tense.  She settled back into her 
chair and closed her eyes.  Great.  More bad news.  "All of the girls seem to be 
doing well in classes.  Mercury is still by far the fastest, and Mars is close 
behind her.  The other three are tying for last place"  Luna looked up.  
"Serenity could be doing better.  If she truly cared about her studies, I feel 
she could do well-not as well as Mercury, perhaps, but much better than her 
current scores."  She looked down at her notes.  "As for their physical 
training, Mars, Venus, and Jupiter are doing quite well.  Their abilities all 
seem closely related to their parents.  Both Mars and Jupiter have great skill 
at hand to hand combat, and while Venus is only fair to middling in that area, 
her leadership skills are shaping up to be nothing short of amazing.  Mercury 
and your daughter, on the other hand, are not very strong in that area.  Mercury 
doesn't have a combative nature-she'd much rather take a defensive stance and 
think her way out.  Serenity is so busy trying to get along with everyone she 
barely fights at all.  Again, I feel that if Serenity had a desire to learn to 
fight, she could.  But she doesn't want to."  Luna sighed.  "And lastly we come 
to magic.  Their magic matches their fighting skills quite well.  Venus' attacks 
tend to be very powerful, but also very concentrated.  They're good for taking 
out a single powerful enemy more than fighting a large group.  Mars and Jupiter 
have powerful attacks that cause more widespread damage, and Mercury's powers 
lend themselves best toward concealment and defense."  Luna lowered her hand and 
looked up from her note pad.  Serenity leaned forward, eager to hear about her 
daughter's magical abilities.  Luna spoke in a whisper.  "Lastly, Serenity 
doesn't exhibit any signs of a magical attack."

	Serenity felt tempted to clean out her ears with her fingers, but decided 
it wouldn't be dignified.  "What?"

	Luna dropped her voice even lower, a feat Serenity wouldn't have thought 
possible.  "She hasn't used a single magical ability that I've seen.  No 
telepathy, no teleporting, no magical attacks."  Serenity's hands gripped the 
armrests of her chair.

	No.  It wasn't possible.  Sol had been very powerful, almost as powerful 
as she.  And their daughter had nothing?  What would they do?  She forced 
herself to calm down and think logically.

	"It's not necessarily a cause for worry, your Majesty."  For once Serenity 
was too busy with other concerns to object at the title.  "By all accounts, the 
other four girls are extremely unusual in the strength and early appearance of 
their powers."  Luna consulted her notepad again, as if it held answers for her 
if she stared at it hard enough.  "She's improving in both her physical and 
mental education, now that we've got her interested, and her friendships with 
the other princesses are nothing less than amazing."  Luna looked up into 
Serenity's worried eyes.  "She'll be a great leader-people automatically love 
her, much like they do you, and while her grasp of strategy and tactics leaves 
much to be desired, Venus' abilities make her an excellent advisor.  If they all 
work together, they'll be an unbeatable team, and right now the only thing that 
truly holds them together is your daughter, Majesty."  Serenity closed her eyes 
and nodded, but didn't say anything.  Luna waited a moment for some sort of 
response.  When she didn't receive one she walked over to Serenity's side a 
placed a warm, comforting hand on her shoulder.  Then, without another word, she 
slipped out of the room.

	The second the door closed behind her Serenity hid her face in her hands.  
This would all be so much easier if she weren't so alone.

	<Sol!  Why did you have to leave?>

	Serenity concentrated on not stumbling as she walked down the marble 
corridors toward her room.  It had been a long and emotional day, and she was 
thankful it was finally over.  She undid her hair and sighed as the full weight 
of it cascaded down her back.  She was about to change into her nightgown when 
she noticed a stray shadow out on the balcony.  She walked up to the glass door 
that opened to it and peeked out.  Her daughter was on the other half of the 
balcony, that half that had a door that led to her room, leaning out far over 
the edge, staring with rapture up at the Earth.  Serenity smiled and stepped out 
onto the balcony to settle on the railing next to the princess.  She reached out 
and pulled her daughter back.

	"Not so far, dear.  I'd hate to see you lose your balance."  Her daughter 
blinked and looked at her.  "What's so interesting about the Earth, anyway?"

	Little Serenity smiled with heartrending longing.  "It's just so 
beautiful, there aren't words for it.  It's a sapphire, calling to me.  I can 
practically feel how it teems with life."  She looked up at her mother.  "Do we 
look so beautiful to them, Mom?"

	Serenity tilted her head a little and thought.  "I'm sure we look as 
striking, even though we are a lot smaller.  Earth is so blue because of all the 
water it contains.  We have water, but not in so much abundance.  We probably 
appear very white to them, or maybe even a little lavender."  She smiled down at 
the smooth railing, carved from the lilac stone that was most common on the 
Moon.  "I'm sure we appear as beautiful as they do."

	"But, are we in the same place in their sky all the time, like they are in 
ours?  It doesn't rise or set like the sun and stars do."

	Serenity struggled to remember the orbital mechanics of their little two 
planet system.  She'd been so involved in petty conflicts lately that she 
couldn't recall some of the simplest things.  "No, I don't believe so.  They 
always see the same face of the Moon, but we see different parts of the Earth 
all the time, so we must rise and set in their sky."  She lapsed into silence 
again.

	Her daughter spoke up.  "I'm glad they don't move in our sky.  I would 
miss the Earth if it set.  I'd rather it was up above me all the time, watching 
over me."

	Serenity smiled at her daughter's musings, then her expression sobered.  
She had to broach the subject.

	She took a deep breath.  "Serenity, Luna came and talked to me today.  She 
said you could do better in school and in arms practice if you would work harder 
at it."

	Her daughter winced.  "I know.  She's lectured me on it too.  It's just. . 
.I can't seem to make myself care about things like that."  She gestured wildly.  
"What's the use of it anyway?  Why in the world would I want to know how to 
knock the breath out of somebody, or how to aim a laser beam so it hits the 
target on the first shot.  It's stupid.  We're safe here."

	Serenity didn't respond to her daughter's assumption of safety.  Instead 
she brought up the subject that was really bothering her.  "She also said that 
you don't have any magic abilities."

	Her daughter turned to her with an angry expression on her face.  "She's 
lying!  I have magic!  I'm not worthless and stupid!"  She brought her hands up 
to her face as it began to crumple toward tears.  Serenity enfolded her daughter 
in a hug.

	"Of course you're not dear!  Did Luna say that to you?  I'd never think 
you were worthless or stupid."  She leaned down and brushed her daughter's bangs 
off her forehead to give her a small kiss on top of the crescent moon.

	Her daughter's voice came out muffled as she buried her face in her 
mother's hug.  "No.  Luna didn't say it, but I can tell everyone's thinking it.  
I'm a klutz, I can't understand any of my studies half as well as Mercury does, 
I'm always the worst in arms practice, and Luna's right!  I haven't shown any 
sort of magic power.  I'm just useless, Mom!  I can't do anything right!  I just 
know I never will, and I'll always disappoint you. . ."  Her voice gave out and 
she began to sob in earnest.  Serenity bent over her and knelt on the ground, 
pulling her daughter on her lap with her.  She was dismayed at how large her 
daughter was.  She'd missed so much of her little girl's childhood because of 
her duties.  She hadn't been here for her little girl, and now look at her, 
consumed with the thought that she was a failure.  A failure at nine.  She 
should have been here for her-then she would know about things like this.  What 
hurt the most was the echo of her own never-ending self doubt she heard in her 
daughter.  She rocked Serenity and sighed.

	"Shhhh. . . shhhhh. . .don't worry.  Don't worry so much about it, 
sweetie.  It'll all work out.  You'll see.  You'll see."  

	Her daughter raised her head at her words of comfort.  "No it won't." She 
said, her wet eyes suddenly hardening.

	"Of course it will, honey.  I promise."

	Her daughter fought her way out of her mother's grip with sudden violence 
and stood up.  "No, it won't.  That's a lie.  If things would work out, Dad 
wouldn't have died.  Nothing ever works out.  Or Dad wouldn't have left.  I-I 
never even got to see him!"  Her voice rose to a shriek and broke as she turned 
with another sob and ran back to her room, slamming her door closed behind her.

	Serenity sat there in a shocked daze as her daughter's words faded into 
the night mist.  The shock faded into numbing grief.  She looked up and the 
Earth shone down on her, swimming in the tears that filled her eyes.

	<Sol!  Oh, Sol, why did you have to die?  Why did you sacrifice yourself 
for me?>  She looked down to the garden below, and her tears fell down, 
sparkling like diamonds in the earthlight, to water the garden below.

	<Oh, Sol, I miss you so much!   We both miss you. . .>

	She slowly pulled herself back to her feet and walked to her room.

	"Your Majesty!  Your Majesty!"

	Someone was shaking her awake.  Serenity clawed her way toward the voice, 
finding it a welcome relief from sleep.  She slowly opened her eyes.  Icy hands 
gripped her bare shoulders and she struggled to brush them off.  "Wake up, your 
Majesty!"  She blinked her eyes open and looked around.  Luna was bent over her 
in her nightgown, her hair hanging thick and loose down her back.  When Luna saw 
Serenity's eyes stay open she stopped her vigorous shaking.  "I'm so sorry to 
wake you up, Serenity. . ."  There was barely restrained panic in her voice.

	"Oh, that's okay," Serenity mumbled under her breath.  Truth to be told, 
she was glad she'd been awakened.  Sleep was so hard for her-her dreams still 
haunted her.  It wasn't nightmares-nightmares she could live with.  It was the 
happy dreams-the dreams where Sol was still alive.  The dreams where he was 
proud of their daughter, and laughed at all their troubles.  The dreams where he 
took her in his arms after a hard day, or swiped all her paperwork off her desk 
with a grin to insist they needed to go off and have a picnic.  Even in her 
dreams Serenity knew they weren't real, and the happier her imagination 
struggled to make her, the more despair encroached on her sleep.

	It was better to just stay awake.  

	Luna was holding her robe, and Serenity blinked the sleep and tears out of 
her eyes and obediently put her arms through the correct holes.  Artemis was 
standing behind Luna, in a white dressing gown, and as Serenity got out of bed, 
pulling her robe shut and tying its belt, she noticed four little girls crowded 
into the doorway, turning her chamber into a rainbow of blue, green, orange and 
red nightgowns.

	One person was missing.  Serenity's eyes scanned the room, then turned to 
Luna.  "Where's my daughter?"  Luna opened her mouth, but only a strangled 
squeak emerged.  Serenity forced her eyes to focus better on the black haired 
woman.  "Where my daughter?"  Luna's face fell into her cupped hands, and a 
strange sound emerged from them.  Was she crying?

	Artemis leaned forward and pulled Luna to his chest, allowing her to lean 
on him.  He looked over her head at Serenity.  "That's why we woke her up.  Luna 
got up to check in on her, and she was gone."

	"What?"

	Luna sniffed and raised her head.  "She was gone.  The guards insist no 
one left the wing, but we've already searched it, top to bottom, twice.  I 
didn't know what else to do, so we came in to wake you."

	Serenity felt herself begin to shake.  Surely she couldn't lose her 
daughter as well!  She forced herself past her self pity, and her eyes fell on 
the four girls, watching everything with wide open eyes.  She walked over to 
them and knelt in front of them.  She held them with her eyes.

	"Do any of you know where Serenity would go if she wanted to run away?"

	At first she didn't get any reaction, but she suddenly saw Mars' eyes 
flicker in the direction of the balcony.  She seized the little girl.  "Mars!  
You have an idea, don't you?  Tell me!"

	Mars' mouth was wide open in shock.  She'd probably never seen the Queen 
so distraught before.  After a second of silence she got her voice to work.  "I-
I was just thinking that she's always staring up at the Earth.  If she were 
going to run anywhere, that'd be where I'd expect her to go."

	Serenity began to shake her head.  "I don't' think so-"

	"It's true!" Jupiter cried out.  "That's what she's always doing-looking 
at Earth!  I think that's where she'd go too."

	Luna and Artemis stood next to Serenity.  "No children.  There's no way 
she could get there.  The ships are all here-we checked that already.  There's 
no way she could get to Earth."

	Mercury had been looking at the ground, and now she snapped her fingers 
and looked up with a triumphant look on her face.  She looked at the other three 
girls.  "Do you guys remember last month when we were practicing teleporting?"  
Everyone nodded.  "When were we able to go farthest?"

	Venus opened her mouth to answer, but Artemis beat her to it.  "You 
consistently got farthest when Serenity was with you."  He paused as Mercury's 
eyes glinted at him in the monochrome blue light streaming from Earth.  "You 
think she teleported there, don't you, Mercury?"  She nodded earnestly.

	"Everyone underestimates her," Venus said.  "She may not fight as well as 
Mars, and she may not command as well as me, and she may not be as smart as 
Mercury, but-"

	"Hey, what about me?" Jupiter's voice was outraged.

	"And she may not cook as well as Jupiter," Venus hurriedly added.

	"Thank you."  Jupiter nodded with a smile as Serenity struggled to hold 
her annoyance in.  They were only children.

	"But she always ends up surprising people.  Just when you think she's a 
hopeless case, poof," Venus' hands flew apart in imitation of an explosion, "she 
surprises you."  Everyone else in the room was nodding in agreement.

	"But teleporting to Earth!  The only one of us who could do that was 
Charon!"  Serenity heard her own disbelief and quieted, shamed by her own 
dismissal of her daughter's abilities.

	"It's not unheard of, and she has two powerful parents, that could both 
teleport.  Granted, neither of you could go that far, but," Luna shrugged.  
"It's possible."

	"But if she did go there, what are we going to do?"

	"Hmm?"

	Serenity rolled her eyes.  "Don't any of you understand?  Earth is 
volatile right now.  Gaia's this short," She held her fingers a millimeter 
apart, "of being outright rude, and I send my daughter into that mess?  Who 
knows exactly what's wrong down there.  The natives could have turned violent, 
her people could be revolting, or she herself could have some sort of attack in 
mind.  We have to get her out of there!"

	Artemis nodded.  "I understand.  I'll go and try to get her back without 
causing a diplomatic incident, and you can keep things safe here."

	Serenity shook her head.  "You'll never get Gaia to listen.  I have to go 
down and talk to her, and you both have to protect the Moon."

	Luna shook her head.  "I don't think that's a good ide-"  Luna stopped up 
short.  A loud crash resounded through the hallways, and everyone looked at each 
other in shock.

	"It sounds like it came from Serenity's room."  The queen barely heard 
Artemis' words through the ringing in her ears, but she shook off the worst of 
the shock and ran to her door.  Everyone sprinted after her, and they all dashed 
down the hall, robes and nightgown flapping against their legs.  Serenity 
stifled a hysterical urge to laugh-they must all look like raving idiots!

	Artemis reached the princess's room first and opened the door.  Luna 
brushed past him and scooped up Serenity, who was sitting on the floor, crying.  
The princess buried her face in Luna's chest and clung to her like a barnacle.  
Serenity felt a flash of jealousy knife through her gut.  It should be her that 
hugged her daughter at a time like this, but she knew such thoughts were 
unworthy of her.  She'd been too busy when Serenity was younger to spend enough 
time with her-of course her daughter would turn to Luna for comfort.

	She knelt down next to her little girl and brushed back her hair.  Her 
dress was a mess, torn and dirtied past any hope of repair.  Her hair was half 
undone, and her face was a mess.  And she reeked of the oddest scents-as if 
she'd fallen into a vat of twenty different perfumes all mixed together.  The 
princess sniffed one last time and wiped her face with the back of her hand 
before raising her head.  "What's wrong, sweetie?" Serenity asked her daughter.  
"Are you hurt?"

	Her daughter nodded, and Serenity noticed she was rubbing her bottom.  "I 
judged where I was going to land wrong."  She pointed to her right.  "I landed 
on the dresser."  

	Serenity raised her hands to her mouth and felt a mingled reaction of 
anger, relief, and amusement at the sight her eyes beheld.  Her daughter had 
appeared above the dresser, and fallen on top of it, splintering the top in half 
and breaking all of her different perfumes and not a few ceramic figurines.  
Serenity winced at the thought of all that glass her daughter had landed on and 
examined her daughter's back side.  There were a few spots that were bloody on 
her legs and back, but most of the glass had been stopped by the princess's 
dress and petticoats.  Serenity held open her arms and Luna transferred her 
daughter to her.  She was careful not to hurt her little girl any farther as she 
pulled her close in a fervent hug.

	"Don't ever do that to me again, do you understand?" she whispered.  "You 
had me so afraid!  I was going to go down to Earth to look for you!"

	Her daughter looked up at her and tears began to appear in her eyes.  "I-
I'm sorry, Mother.  I was just so mad, and I couldn't go anywhere to get away, 
so I just. . .wished."

	"That's some 'wish'," someone mumbled, but Serenity was too busy with her 
daughter to bother finding out who.  She picked her daughter up with a grunt-she 
was really too big to do this with-and began to walk back to her own room.

"What do you say we clean you up in my bathroom, hmm?  Then, if you want, you 
can sleep with me tonight, and we can worry about your punishment tomorrow 
morning."

	She felt her daughter snuggle closer, despite her mention of punishment, 
and smiled.  She should have done this more often.  "I'd rather you just told me 
what my punishment is now," her daughter said softly, "That way I won't stay up 
all night worrying about what it's going to be."  All her friends began to laugh 
at that, but Serenity was too tired to join in or scold them.  She reached her 
door and opened it.  Her legs felt like rubber-her daughter was definitely too 
big to be carried anymore-and she was thankful to reach the bathroom.  She put 
Serenity down and leaned back to see who'd entered her suite.  Luna stood at the 
door, and Serenity caught a glimpse of Artemis bustling the girls off to bed.

	"You go back to be too, Luna.  I can handle this."  Luna smiled and yawned 
and left, closing the door softly behind her.  Serenity turned back to her 
daughter and began to gently remove her once beautiful dress, now fit for 
nothing but rags.  "Let's see if we can get this all off without hurting you any 
more, hmm?"  She rocked back as her daughter crashed into her, her small arms 
wrapping around Serenity's neck.

	"I'm sorry, Mom.  I love you."

	She reached up and undid the sad remains of her daughter's hairdo.  "I 
love you too, dear.

Part 13











	Serenity woke up suddenly.  Something was different this morning.  There 
was someone else in her bed!   She snapped open her eyes and looked around, then 
her lips softened into a smile as her eyes fell on her daughter, snuggled up 
against her.  She reached out and gently smoothed her little girl's golden hair 
as she thought.  She should have done this more often.  Her daughter was really 
too old to sleep with her anymore.  It'd been years since she'd asked to sleep 
here after a nightmare.  She sighed.  This was probably the last time.  She 
looked down at her sleeping daughter and made a special effort to etch this 
moment in her memory, to cherish forever.

	Her smile soured.  Now she'd have to come up with a suitable punishment 
for little Serenity.  It was good she'd waited until her emotions had calmed 
down to pronounce any judgment, but now she didn't really want to punish her 
little girl, especially after she'd been hurt by her dangerous landing.

	The door to her bedroom opened silently and Luna stuck her head in.  
Serenity put a finger to her lips to signal for silence as the woman softly 
padded into the room.  Luna stopped right next to the queen's side of the bed 
and sat in a cushioned chair.

	"Isn't she sweet?" Serenity looked down at her daughter, and Luna nodded 
in agreement.

	"She surely is.  But what are you going to do about last night?"

	"I was just wondering the same thing.  What she did was dangerous."  
Serenity paused.  "Not to mention abysmally stupid," she added ruefully.  "I'm 
not sure if I can convince her of the gravity of the situation, though.  And 
what can I do for punishment?"

	"I could assign her extra school work, your Majesty."

	Serenity shook her head.  "No, that's not a good idea.  I don't want her 
to associate learning with punishment.  So that also cuts out extra arms 
practice."

	Luna scratched her head.  "Maybe you could take away a privilege."

	"Hmm.  Maybe I won't allow her to wear her nice clothes.  Or maybe she 
won't be allowed to the next ball.  I'll definitely make her work to replace the 
dresser.  But that doesn't seem like enough, somehow."

	Luna nodded in agreement, but didn't offer any other suggestions.  
Suddenly Serenity snapped her fingers as a thought occurred to her.  "I have it!  
For the next month she has to help the kitchen workers with every meal!  That 
will work!"  She smiled, pleased with herself, but the smile faded.  Now she had 
to mete out the punishment.  Why couldn't Serenity have just stayed home, safe 
and sound?  Why did she have to cause this trouble?  She sighed and went back to 
stroking her daughter's tangled hair, still damp from last night's bath.  Luna 
stood up. 

	"I came in here to let you know that your first audience is in an hour.  I 
was wondering if you wanted me to put it off."

	Serenity nodded.  "I think you have to, Luna.  I can't get ready that 
quickly and take care of the problems my daughter caused."  Luna nodded and 
stood up, efficient as always.  Serenity reached down to shake her daughter's 
shoulder.  "Time to wake up, dear.  C'mon.  Wake up."  She began to shake 
harder.  Her daughter slept like the dead!  Finally she had to stand up to shove 
her and shout her name out loud to get the princess' eyes to blink blearily 
open.

	"Wha. . .?"  She raised her head and looked around in confusion.  "Where 
am I?"  She yawned hugely, and in the middle of it her eyes suddenly snapped 
wide open.  "Endymion?  Is that where. . .?"

	Serenity listened to this with trepidation.  So her daughter had met young 
Endymion.  Did that mean Gaia knew about her daughter's little excursion?  She 
watched comprehension was across the princess's face as she noticed her mother.

	"Mom?  Oh!  That's right!  I'm in your room!"  She began to crawl out of 
bed.  "I guess I'd better go get cleaned up. . ."

	"Just a minute, young lady.  We need to have a serious talk."  Little 
Serenity froze in mid-step and slowly turned back around to face her mother.  
Her expression was worried.  "First I'm going to tell you what your 
punishments," her daughter winced at the plural for of that word, "will be.  
Then you're going to tell me exactly what happened down there, and why you 
didn't tell anyone you could teleport yourself large distances like that!"

	Her daughter sat down gingerly on the edge of the bed.  "Your punishments 
are that you are not allowed to attend the next two balls, your dresser and the 
things that broke when you came back will not be replaced, and you're going to 
help the kitchen staff with every meal for the next month.  Do you understand?"  
Her daughter's eyes widened at the severity of the punishments, but she nodded.  
"Good.  Now that that unpleasantness is over, I need you to tell me everything 
you saw while you were on Earth."

	"How did you know I went there?  I didn't tell anyone!"

	"Please, dear, give me some credit.  I'm not stupid.  Just tell me what 
happened."

	"Well, I was feeling mad, and a little guilty too, for those things I said 
to you, and I was thinking about them in my room.  Then I decided that I was 
going to try to do something on my own, to prove to you and Luna that I could.  
I thought about it for awhile."  She shrugged.  "The only thing I could think of 
was teleporting.  And I've always wanted to go to Earth, so I just closed my 
eyes and. . ."  She clapped her hands.  "Suddenly, there I was."  Her face was 
bright with wonder.  "You should have seen it, Mom!  It was beautiful!  All 
bright greens and yellows!  The sky was so blue!  You didn't tell me the sky 
would be that color!  And the clouds were just as beautiful from below as they 
are from above.  I even saw a few animals as they ran away.  There was this one 
with long ears and a bushy tail.  He hopped a lot, and his nose twitched all the 
time.  It was so cute!  Did you know that the moon lights up the whole night on 
Earth?  It's like a gentler version of the sun.  I had no idea our planet was so 
beautiful from far away!  It's like a smooth, lilac colored ball!"

	Serenity was tempted to smile at her daughter's excitement, and sternly 
held back her amusement.  This was serious.  "That's all very nice dear, but 
what happened?  I heard you mumble a name.  Endymion.  Did you meet Gaia's son?"  
Little Serenity looked down at the floor and nodded silently.  "Well?  Tell me 
about it."

	"I was just walking around, you know, looking at things?  Well, I was just 
strolling when this boy jumped out from behind a tree with a sword.  Did you 
know that swords really aren't that long, Mother?  They'd be too heavy to carry 
if they were really long.  Well, I jumped back.  Oh!  Did you know that some of 
Artemis' training must have caught on?  I did a kinda back flip to get out of 
his way.  You should have seen the look on his face!  He was so surprised!"  She 
was getting into her story again, and her voice got louder as she got more 
excited.  Serenity considered interrupting her and putting her back on track, 
but then she stopped herself.  Maybe it would be a better idea to let her 
daughter ramble her various thoughts out in her own way.  She could go over 
anything she thought she'd missed later.  "He's ever so good at fighting, Mom!  
You should have seen him!  He was outside 'cause he likes to get away from his 
mother's house.  He says it's not too nice there anymore.  He says his mom's 
always scared and that he's scared too because he's not really sure what's going 
on, so he can't help her.  He sounded really worried, Mom."  The princess turned 
to her.  "You said something about Earth not being safe.  Is that what you were 
talking about?"

	"We know that Gaia's having problems, dear, but she won't tell us what, so 
we can't help her.  It's very frustrating."  

	Serenity nodded.  "He thought so too.  Anyway, he asked me who I was, so I 
told him.  He didn't even know my name, though he says he remembers you when he 
was little.  He says I look a lot like you, did you know that?  So, he took me 
to his hover car-it's really old.  He says they haven't made any new ones in 
years.  He says that nobody remembers how to do a lot of the things they used to 
do.  He says the older people are being ignored and forgotten, and he said that 
it was stupid of them.  Isn't that smart of him?  So anyway, he took me to the 
car and he drove to the ocean-will you teach me to drive a hover car soon, Mom?  
It doesn't look that hard."

	"You're in trouble right now, remember, Serenity?  I don't think you'll be 
getting any new privileges soon."

	"Oh."  Her daughter stopped talking and suddenly looked depressed.

	"You went to the ocean. . .?"  the queen prompted her.

	"Yes, the ocean.  It was beautiful!  Did you know that the Moon causes the 
seas to change level?  Endymion called them tides.  Isn't that neat?  It went on 
forever, Mom.  You'd never believe it!"

	"It sounds like you spent a lot of time with Endymion.  Did you go back to 
Gaia's palace with him?"

	"No.  In fact, I did remember that you were worried about something to do 
with Earth, so I asked him not to tell anyone about my visit."  Little Serenity 
looked embarrassed about something.  "Actually, I asked him not to tell anyone 
so you wouldn't find out about the whole trip."  She clenched her fists.  "If 
only I'd been able to miss that stupid dresser."  She looked up.  "Anyway, he 
promised he wouldn't tell.  He's really nice, Mom.  You should go back down 
there and visit sometime."  Serenity turned earnest eyes to her mother.

	"Maybe someday, dear, but I don't want to upset what small contact we 
still have with Gaia by stepping in where I'm not wanted."  She leaned forward 
and brushed her daughter's bangs off her forehead so she could plant a light 
kiss on the crescent moon.  It sparkled brightly in the rising sun.  "I don't 
want you doing something so dangerous again.  You missed your target on your way 
home.  What if you'd missed on the way there and had ended up in space?  You 
can't do impulsive things like that, Serenity."  She pulled back.  "Okay, that's 
the end of the lecture.  Why don't you go clean up?  You'll have to help get 
breakfast ready."  She laughed softly at the disgusted and resigned expression 
on her daughter's face as she left the room.  Thank goodness her daughter had 
had enough sense not to go to the palace on Earth.  Maybe this wouldn't be a 
disaster after all.  Maybe it would end up being a story they'd laugh over 
during dinner.

	And maybe not.

Part 14









"No, young lady!  You will stop this now!"  Serenity fought to rein in her 
temper.  How could her daughter be so stupid and blind?  "How many times to I 
have to tell you!?"

	"But Mom, we were so careful!  We really were!" 

	"No.  If I find out that you're doing this again, I-I'll-I'll lock you in 
one of my dungeons!"

	Serenity instantly regretted her hasty words as ripples of gossip spread 
through the tables in the royal dining room.  She cursed under her breath.  She 
had to control her temper-airing the family laundry in front of almost a hundred 
luncheon guests wasn't a very wise thing to do.  If only this news hadn't come 
out during one of the most important social gatherings of the year.  She looked 
over at the four princesses and scowled.  They'd known about this.  They'd 
almost have to.  No doubt they'd helped her engineer these little expeditions to 
Earth.  If Serenity had been sneaking off to Earth for over two years now, there 
was no way she could have kept it secret from them.  And what about Luna and 
Artemis?  Would they have allowed this sort of thing to "slip through" their 
attention, or were they truly oblivious?

	She slammed her knife down into the table, and it shattered on the heavy 
marble.

	Damn!

	She'd been carefully smoothing things over with Gaia, slowly gaining her 
trust and assuring her of protection if she told Serenity what was going on.  
She'd been on the verge of asking Gaia outright what was happening, the 
negotiations had been going so well.  Then a very irate Gaia had called, 
accusing Serenity of using her daughter's teleporting ability to spy on her and 
her family.

	Damn!

	She'd been this close.  And now that fool boy and her own stupid daughter 
were whining about true love and other such rubbish as an excuse for their 
inexcusable behavior.

	Damn!

	Pain intruded on her angry thoughts, and she blinked red-hazed eyes and 
looked up.  Everyone at the table was frozen, looking at her with surprise and 
fear.  For the first time she noticed the broken knife, and the plates that 
littered the floor near her.  Her hands hurt.  Had she gotten some splinters in 
them?  She looked forward and noticed that she was bending her fork in half with 
tense and angry fingers, and the tines had begun to draw blood, she held them so 
tight.  With conscious effort she let go of the fork and pushed back from the 
table.  Almost a year of careful diplomatic negotiations, undone in one day.

	Damn!

	She leveled a forefinger at her daughter's frightened face, and noticed 
her hand was shaking with repressed rage.  "I want to see you in one hour in my 
office."  Her eyes turned to the four princesses who watched her as if she were 
a poisonous viper.  "And I want to see all of you in two."  She turned and 
stalked out of the room.  She had to calm before she could hand out punishment.  
Right now she was angry enough to wring her daughter's neck!

	Damn!

	"But you were in love with Dad!  I'm telling you, this is the same thing!  
We were meant for each other!"  Her daughter was on the verge of tears, and 
trying desperately to hold them in.  "You can't keep us apart!  If you do, I-
I'll die!"

	Serenity had managed to calm down after snatching one of her guard's 
swords straight out of his hands and going to the practice ground to 
methodically hack apart each dummy target.  When she'd finished she'd stood 
alone in a pile of splinters, her hair hanging loose in sweat soaked strands and 
her dress an absolute disaster.  And she'd felt much better.  Serene, almost.  
Of course, the sword was unsalvageable.  It was advisable to use axes when 
hacking at wood, not swords.  She'd shrugged, handed the useless sword back to 
it's owner with the promise of getting him a new one, and gone to her bedroom 
suite to clean up.  Now she held desperately to that sense of calm.  "No, dear, 
you won't die."

	"I will!!"  Serenity searched her mother's face for understanding, and, 
finding none, sat back in her chair to pout.  "You don't understand.  You 
couldn't.  You're too old."  She sniffed pitifully.

	Serenity folded her hands together, weaving her fingers carefully around 
each other.  Calm.  Serene.  Composed.  And not old, dammit!

	Tranquil. . .

	She took a deep breath.  "Honey, I just don't understand!  You've been 
doing so well, lately. You've raised your grades substantially.  Luna is 
absolutely amazed at your progress in relativistic physics and chaos theory, and 
she says your grasp of genetic sequencing is almost as good as Mercury's!  
You're doing better in arms practice, your ice-skating is breathtaking to 
behold!  You've worked so hard to be graceful, and your control of Ginzuishou is 
exquisite!  And now you pull this!"  Serenity put her head in her hands.  "I was 
so proud of you.  How could you do this to me?"

	"You don't understand."  Her daughter tossed her head in a fit of pique 
and Serenity sighed.

	"What don't I understand?  Try to explain to your thick mother, dear."

	"I didn't work so hard to improve myself at everything and then suddenly 
decide to go back to Earth!  I've been going there for years!  Ever since the 
first time!  The only reason I've worked so hard is because I had to to impress 
Endymion."  The princess's eyes suddenly filled with tears.  "Oh, Mom, he's 
perfect!  He's smart, and sweet, and a great fighter.  And I'm terrible at 
everything.  I-I had to show him I'm not some stupid little bimbo."  She was 
looking down at the ground, shame evident in her voice, but as she finished she 
jerked her head back up to pin her mother down with a tear-laden glare.  "So if 
you like what I've worked so hard to become-educated, graceful, skilled, and 
hard-working-then you have no one to thank but Endymion!"

	Serenity stared at her daughter in shock.  The girl was only fourteen!  
Where had all of this steel suddenly come from?  She put her fingers to her 
temples and began to massage them.  This was really too much in one day.

	"You've been going for years?  Ever since you were nine?"

	Younger Serenity nodded.  "How would you feel if after you first met 
father your mother said you shouldn't have anything to do with him?  She would 
have-she didn't want to stop Chaos.  Would you have listened to her?"

	Elder Serenity smiled ruefully.  "Point taken.  No, I wouldn't have.  But 
dear, are you sure this isn't just infatuation?"

	Her daughter gave her a look of scorn that only a teenage could summon.  
"A five year long infatuation?"

	"No.  I didn't think so."  Serenity paused.  "Do you plan to marry him?"

	"Of course!  Oh, you have to meet him, Mother!  I'll bring you down to 
Earth and you can get to know him.  You'll love him, Mother!  Truly you will!"

	"Take me down to Earth?  Can you?"

	Her daughter nodded eagerly.  "Of course I can.  I have been-" She coughed 
uncomfortably.  "The other girls found out about us a few years ago-"

	"When?"

	"Oh, when I was eleven.  After they found out they insisted that at least 
two of them go with me at all times in case anything happened.  I can manage 
you, Mother."  Serenity's eyes widened at her daughter's casual acknowledgment 
of her power.  "Say you'll come.  I just know you'll grow to love him almost as 
much as I do!"

	Serenity sighed and looked down.  "What about the problems Gaia's been 
having.  I've picked up enough to know that the Earth is very volatile right 
now."

	Her daughter sighed.  "Actually, Mother, it would have been nice if I 
could have talked to you a while ago.  I know what's going on."

	"WHAT?!"  Calm. . .tranquil. . .damn that girl!

	Serene. . .

	Her daughter winced at her scream.  "Uh-well, I didn't want to get in 
trouble.  The problem is that Metallia has a bunch of the natives loyal to her, 
and she's had control of most of the high technology weapons for a while now, so 
none of our people will dare fight her.  She wants to force Endymion to marry 
her daughter, Beryl, so she can rule Earth through her daughter."

	Serenity shook her head.  "That doesn't make sense.  Doesn't she rule the 
Earth already?"

	Her daughter shook her head.  "Not legitimately."  She looked down at her 
hands.  "Endymion thinks she wants to force all of you to accept her and her 
daughter.  Right now she can't have obvious power because if she just took over 
she knows you'd go to war with her.  She's not ready for that yet, so she let's 
Gaia do some things that she really doesn't want her to do."  She looked up, her 
brow furrowed with worry.  <Oh, my little girl,> Serenity thought, <you're 
growing up so fast!>  "He's really worried, Mom.  I was hoping to wait until 
after you finished negotiating with Gaia to tell you everything, Mom.  I didn't 
want to ruin them."  She shrugged sheepishly.  "Since that plan didn't work, I 
might as well tell you everything.  The last time I went down, about a week ago, 
Endymion said he feels that time is short."

	Serenity was silent as she thought through this new information.  If 
Metallia gained complete control of Earth she would have an unending food 
supply.  While the Moon was in good shape food wise, the other planets still 
struggled to grow enough to meet the needs of their growing populations.  If 
Metallia wanted, she could make it very difficult for everyone.  Why hadn't Gaia 
come to her for help before things got this bad?  <No, that's unfair of me.  I 
saw Metallia with those natives on that trip to Earth so long ago-if Metallia 
threatened to use her allies to kill Endymion. . .If she'd threatened to kill my 
daughter, I'm not sure what I would have done either.>  "So now what?"  she 
asked, resigned to the fact that events were moving too quickly for her to waste 
time chewing her daughter out any longer. 

	The younger Serenity sat up straighter and smiled faintly in relief at the 
resignation in her mother's tone.  "If we start pulling Metallia's hostages out, 
we can go to war with Earth and not worry about killing our allies."

	The older Serenity smiled and said with a small bite of sarcasm in her 
tones, "And I suppose Endymion should stay here on the Moon with us, hmm?"  Her 
daughter didn't answer, but the blush that stained her cheeks bright pink was 
confirmation enough.  "Well, even though there are hidden motives behind you 
plan, I agree with the essential elements of it."  She raised an eyebrow at her 
daughter, secretly pleased at the way she'd tried to maneuver things.  Her 
little girl-no, she had to stop thinking of her that way.  She may be young, but 
she'd matured greatly in the last few years, and if that truly was because of 
Endymion's influence, maybe she should be grateful to the boy after all.  Her 
young lady constantly surprised her.  She remembered that night so long ago when 
Venus had said something to that effect and she shook her head ruefully.  She 
should have listened more closely, it seemed.

	She pushed herself up from her seat behind her desk and her daughter 
hastily rose as well.  "Let's go talk to the inners about this.  If you're 
right, we'll have to move quickly."

	"What about the outers?  Wouldn't Neptune and Uranus be useful in a fight 
like this?"

	"They're great warriors, dear, but they protect us from outside threats.  
This is something we have to take care of on our own."  She swept down the hall 
to the com room.  Artemis was there fiddling with the controls.  He turned with 
surprise as both Serenitys swept into the room.

	"What are you doing here?" he asked in surprise.

	"I was just going to ask you the same thing, Artemis."  She watched his 
face turn a bit red as he realized what sort of tone he'd taken with his queen 
and he looked down.

	"Sorry about that.  It seems the man on duty in here decided this job was 
too dull and took the day off without informing anyone."  He pointed to one 
glowing screen.  "We don't know how long it's been on, but we're receiving a 
distress call."

	"From who?"  Serenity felt a sinking sensation in her stomach.   Surely it 
couldn't be. . .

	Artemis shook his head in frustration as concentration and worry made him 
forget his embarrassment.  "I just got in here a second ago.  I don't know yet, 
the computer's finding the coordinates. . .there!"  His mouth dropped open with 
shock as he watched numbers flow across the screen.

	"What is it?  Artemis?  Artemis!"  He didn't answer, his mouth opening and 
closing silently.  Her daughter shoved him aside and he fell against her, still 
doing a good impression of a suffocating fish.  She watched her daughter take on 
a business like air as she studied the information, and couldn't quite supress a 
completely inappropriate glow of pride at her efficiency.  Then her daughter 
raised her eyes from the screen to look at her mother, and the fear in her eyes 
made Serenity clutch her hands to her chest.  Suddenly she knew what it was.  
She closed her eyes and slowly sank to the floor.

	"I-I'm sorry, Mother.  I didn't tell you soon enough."

	"Who?  Who is it?  Do we have time to warn the others?"

	Her daughter shook her head.  "It's already too late.  For all of them."  
Serenity watched her daughter turn her head away and take a deep breath.  "All 
of them have been transmitting for days.  All of the signals except Aphrodite's 
have stopped.  We could send someone to Venus' planet to see if her mother made 
it, but the others-the others almost have to be dead by now."

	Serenity's mind raced.  "Days?  How long has this post been empty?"  A 
horrible thought overcame her.  "Does Metallia's arm extend even here?"

	Artemis finally began to shake off his shock.  "Metallia?   Who's that?"

	"The woman that's been causing such difficulties on Earth."  Serenity took 
a deep breath and began to struggle to stand.  Her daughter gave her a hand up.  
First things first.  She had to find a way to save Aphrodite.  But how, if she 
couldn't telep-

	"Princess Serenity!"  Her daughter raised her head in surprise.  "I need 
you to get together your team, and I need you to teleport to Venus to rescue 
Aphrodite!"

	"Venus!  Mother!  Do you know how far that is?"

	"I can lend you some strength from Ginzuishou.  If we wait for a ship to 
arrive she'll surely be dead, and no one else has the ability you have.  How 
many can you take?"

	Her daughter firmed her shoulders in determination.  I can take all five 
of us.  I'm certain of it."  

	Serenity nodded.  "Good.  Get them together.  Only. . .try to break it 
gently to Venus.  And the others. . ."  Her daughter nodded and ran off, leaving 
Serenity to stumble out of the communication room.  She stumbled to the first 
empty room she came to and slumped against the door frame, her shoulders shaking 
as she struggled to hold back sobs of pain.  Bright, eccentric Hermes, as quick 
with a joke as he was with his mind.  Fiercely loyal Zeus, so proud of his 
strength.  Ares, wise and strong.  All three of them were dead.  And what if she 
lost Aphrodite too?  And all their people. . .all dead.  She was a failure as a 
queen.  She couldn't even keep her best friends alive.

	A puff of air blew across her skin and she looked up with sudden fear.  
Could Metallia already be here?

	A cloud of mist obscured her vision, then it cleared as suddenly as it had 
appeared and she gasped as she saw who it was.  "Pluto!  What are you doing 
here?"

	Pluto smiled sadly and bowed low.  "Your Majesty, didn't I promise you 
that I'd see you later?  I've come back."

	"But why-why now?  Why only after everyone but Aphrodite-"

	"Everyone, your Majesty."

	"What?" Serenity asked in confusion, momentarily lost by Pluto's cryptic 
interruption.

	"Everyone is dead, your Majesty.  I came to keep you from sending your 
daughter and her four guardians to Venus.  There is a reason the distress beacon 
is still on, there."

	Serenity felt her world crumbling to pieces and she was slightly surprised 
the palace wasn't crashing down around her ears.  She struggled to shove her 
emotions back far enough so that she could think.  "A reason?"  Her next thought 
washed away her grief in a cold wave of dread.  "A trap?  On Venus?"

	"Yes, your Majesty.  As soon as Metallia found out about your daughter's 
trips to Earth, and her disturbing ability to teleport so far, she knew she had 
to move quickly.  She killed the other nobles and now she hopes to kill your 
daughter and ruin your chances of saving Earth.  If she can keep you neutralized 
and demoralized here. . ."  Pluto looked down.  ". . .she's won."

	"Why didn't you warn me earlier?  When it would have done more good?"  
Serenity felt anger creep through her.  She was desperately searching for 
someone to blame, and Pluto made a very tempting target right now. . .

	"I didn't dare.  You don't seem to understand my problem, Queen Serenity.  
I not only live outside of time and have the ability to travel through time, I 
also have the duty of guarding time.  I'm not just following your order, and 
protecting the time stream.  I'm also keeping others from using the Time Door 
improperly.  I don't dare leave it for long."

	"Why, what happens if you leave it?"

	"There are physical entrances into the realm I protect, my Queen.  If I'm 
not there to guard it against casual entrance, it's entirely possible anyone 
could walk in there and change history.  I wept, your Majesty, as I watched your 
friends die, but I did not leave.  Then I saw your daughter, and their 
daughters, die, and that future was too much for me to bear.  Stop your charges 
from walking into an ambush, your Majesty.  Save their-"  Pluto stopped, and a 
curious look of shame and pain covered her face.  "-save their futures."

	Serenity thought about all that Pluto had said.  She stood up.  In light 
of this new information, she decided to expand her earlier command to Pluto.

"Pluto," she said, "you watch the Time Door. You are the soldier who controls 
time and space. There are three things you must not do.  First, you may not let 
the time stream be corrupted.  Second, you can never leave the Door unless 
staying will let an enemy destroy everything.  And third, you mustn't stop time. 
You are endowed with the power to move time, but no matter what happens you must 
never stop time. If you ever violate that law, you will give up your life."

	Pluto's eyes glittered at her, unreadable and hard as rubies.  "Yes, your 
Majesty."

Suddenly a new thought struck Serenity.  "How long will you be able to guard the 
gate, Pluto?"

	Red eyes, haunted with demons she couldn't even hope to understand, looked 
into her eyes.  "I will guard it as long as I live, your Majesty."

	"But how long will you live?"

	"I live outside of time, your Majesty.  It has no effect on me, if I 
choose it not to.  I will live forever, or until someone stronger than me fights 
for control of the Time Door."

	Serenity's eyes filled with tears as she suddenly understood the weariness 
in Pluto's eyes.  "Oh my god. . .I'm so sorry!  I-I've consigned you to this 
terrible life. . ."

	Pluto smiled at her, her lips tight.  "It is necessary.  I know that."  
She bowed again, lower this time.  "It will always be an honor to serve your 
family, Serenity-sama.  I promise you that."

	"Serenity-sama?  What does that mean?"

	"It's a language that doesn't exist yet.  It means I honor you, your 
Majesty."  Pluto looked up from her bow to pin Serenity to the wall with a 
piercing glare.  "One more thing.  There will come a time when you will want to 
send all of the heirs someplace.  Please, do not send me, or I will be forced to 
do as you desire, and I will be unable to guard the Time Door.  Remember.  
Wherever you send the others, do not send me."

	Serenity opened her mouth to ask for a better explanation, then quickly 
closed it again.  From the look in Pluto's eyes, she really didn't want to know.  
Instead she simply nodded her head and tried to pull herself together.  "I will 
remember.  And Pluto?"  At her words Pluto stopped her turn and looked back at 
the queen.  "Thank you for letting me save my daughter, and my friends' 
daughters."  Pluto smiled that tight smile of pain again, nodded, and then 
walked down the corridor, her dark hair swinging heavily as she walked away.  
Serenity sighed and looked down.  She had to hurry and stop the girls.  When she 
looked up again Pluto was gone.

	She ran out of the little alcove she'd collapsed in and toward her 
daughter's suite.  As she arrived she was surprised to see her daughter walking 
out with her friends.  She'd found them all already, and from the grim looks on 
their faces, she'd already broken the news.  Thank goodness they hadn't left 
yet.

	"Mom?  We need Ginzuishou's help to teleport to Venus.  We're ready to 
go."

	Serenity stopped in front her determined charges and gasped for breath.  
When she could, she began to speak.  "I'm sorry, dear, but that's impossible.  
You can't go to Venus."

	"What?!"  Venus had obviously forgotten she was speaking to her queen.  
"How can you say that?  My mother may still be alive!  We have to help her!"

	Serenity shook her head.  "We can't.  It's too late for her too, Venus."  
She watched tears fill Venus' eyes and took an instinctive step forward to pull 
the suddenly sobbing girl into her arms.  "I'm so sorry, Venus.  Your mother was 
a close friend."  She looked up at the other three girls.  "All your parents 
were.  But I just found out the distress beacon on Venus is a trap.  Metallia is 
frightened of you, so she hoped to separate you from me so she could destroy 
you."  She watched the girls begin to sob.  Mars struggled to keep her face 
impassive, and her tears fell down cheeks that were as stiff as stone.  Mercury 
sank to the floor and cried silently, hiding her tears from them, as if she was 
ashamed of her own weakness.  Jupiter, tall, strong, and confident, collapsed 
again her daughter with a wail and pulled her to the ground in sobbing heap.

	Serenity had never felt more helpless in her life.  Now what?

Part 15









	Serenity tossed and turned in bed.  She couldn't seem to get to sleep.  
All she'd wanted was a nap, but she just couldn't feel safe enough to close her 
eyes.  All of the guards were on alert status, patrols were doubled, and the 
news of the destruction of the other planets had shocked everyone into a stunned 
silence for the afternoon.  What a terrible, terrible day, and it wasn't over 
yet.  What irony that one of the biggest balls of the year was scheduled for 
tonight.  What a joke.  The constant ache that always resided in the back of her 
mind again pushed its way forward.



	<Sol!  I need you so much now!  If I just had somebody to fall back on. . 
.>  Her depressed thoughts trailed off as she heard something. 

	"Serenity!  Princess!"  She got out of bed.  She heard the clatter of 
servants getting ready for the dance that would start later, and tried to filter 
out the noise.  There it was again!  "Princess!  Serenity!  Are you there?"

	"Yes!  Endymion!  What are you doing here?  How did you arrive?  Are you 
here for the ball?"  Serenity quietly opened her door and looked out.  She could 
see her daughter hanging over the edge of the balcony, only instead of gazing up 
at the Earth she was leaning down toward the gardens.  With the door open her 
daughter's and Endymion's voice came to her ears much more clearly.  She heard a 
bitter, masculine laugh, then her daughter.  "Is everything all right?"

	"No!  Metallia attacked!  Those of us that could tried to fight her off, 
but we ended up retreating to that mountain I showed you, off in Greece."

	"Olympus?  The one where you stashed the last operable space-craft?"

	Serenity crept forward.  Her daughter was too engrossed in her 
conversation to notice as she peeked over the edge, down at Endymion.  He was 
dressed in ragged battle armor, his black hair was damp with sweat and fear, and 
she could see dark circles under his eyes.  He nodded in response to her 
daughter's question.  "We made our last stand there.  Mother was already dead."  
Serenity brought her hand to her mouth to cover her gasp of shock.  Gaia, dead!  
Endymion looked down, and Serenity could tell he was struggling to hold back 
tears of grief and exhaustion.  "My generals covered me while I readied the 
ship, but they were overwhelmed, and I had no choice but to take off alone.  
Goodness knows what the natives thought when they saw me take off."  He shook 
his head for a moment, then looked up at Serenity's daughter, whose face was 
frozen in shock.  "You didn't know about this?"

	"No!  Oh, Endymion!  I have terrible news too!  Mercury, Venus, Mars, and 
Jupiter have fallen to Metallia as well.  Everyone there is dead."  Endymion 
shook his head.

	"Looks like I came to the right place then.  This is our last hope, 
Serenity."

	"Come on up, Endymion, so my mother can meet you.  I'll help you get 
cleaned up, and then you can present yourself to her.  You should come in 
anyway-the guards are at their highest level of alert short of war.  If they see 
you, they'll attack first and ask questions later."  

	As if that bit of news had attracted their attention, three guards entered 
the garden and looked at Endymion with suspicion.  He glanced at them, blanched 
a little, then turned and blew a kiss to Serenity's daughter.  "Don't worry 
about me!" he called over his shoulder as he took off, the soldiers in close 
pursuit."  Serenity gasped.  His bravery so reminded her of Sol.  She saw her 
daughter staring up at Earth again, only this time with fear.  She was tempted 
to go over and comfort her little girl, but restrained herself-she could tell 
her daughter wanted to be alone right now.  As she walked back into her room, 
much too wide awake to attempt to sleep again, she considered canceling the 
ball.  After a second she shook her head and began to prepare for it herself, 
pulling out her most beautiful white gown.  They all needed something to keep 
their hopes up.  Metallia had done too much in the last few days-surely it would 
take her a while to work up enough strength to take on the Moon Kingdom.  This 
would probably be the last ball for a long time-why not enjoy it while it was 
still possible?

	Serenity smiled as the black-clad man stepped into the room, present a red 
rose to her daughter.  She could recognize Endymion through the mask, and she 
watched as a happy smile spread over her daughter's face as she, too, recognized 
her love.  Serenity watched them dance for a bit, then turned to look at the 
four guardians.  Their tears had dried, and they'd worn their most beautiful 
gowns, but none of them were in a mood for celebration.  

	She thought back on her short interview in Endymion.  That young man 
impressed her.  She could see why her daughter was in love with him-they would 
be good for each other.  She sighed softly, remembering the good times she'd had 
with Sol.  For once she didn't feel tearing grief as she thought back, instead 
she felt a rosy glow of bittersweet happiness.  Yes, that part of her life was 
over, but she'd still experienced it.  For a while she'd had true love, and 
nearly perfect happiness.  She liked the way the black suit and black and red 
cape looked on Endymion.  She was glad she'd suggested it for the masquerade.  
She walked over to get a glass of punch, and sipped it as she tried very hard to 
dismiss the disturbing news she'd heard from Endymion for a little while longer.  
Surely it could wait just a little while more.

	"To arms!  To arms!  The kingdom's under attack!"  Serenity dropped her 
punch as she saw two small shapes streak through the crowded dance floor.  
Suddenly she remembered where she'd seen one of those shapes before.  "Luna?  
Luna, why are you in your cat body?"  The white shape kept running, sounding the 
alarm, as the black one stopped in front of her, carefully avoided the puddle of 
red drink at Serenity's feet, and looked up.  

	"Your Majesty, Queen Metallia is here!  As to being a cat, surely you 
remember it's safer to fight in this form."

	Serenity nodded and scanned the room.  Everyone was piling out the exits, 
and the few people capable of teleporting were disappearing with quiet pops from 
the crowd.  She began to walk toward an exit herself.  The four princesses were 
already gone, probably to get ready for battle, and Endymion and her daughter 
were nowhere to be seen.  

	There was no time to change.  If she was forced to fight with Ginzuishou, 
it wouldn't really matter what she was wearing, anyway.  She closed her eyes and 
brought Ginzuishou out her dimensional pocket.  It began to glow faintly, 
responding to her desperate worry.  Where was everyone?

	A loud explosion sounded nearby, and the concussion threw Serenity to her 
knees.  With a grunt she pulled herself to her feet again and began threading 
her way out the palace.  She came to her apartment and stopped.  It sounded like 
there was fighting on the balcony!  She dashed toward the sound.

	As she came to the balcony she stopped dead in her tracks and gasped.  The 
four guardians were lying dead on the grounds in front of the palace.  Her 
daughter was crying and clinging desperately to Endymion, and a strange, red-
haired woman was shouting up at him.  She waved behind herself and four men 
stepped up.  Both Endymion and little Serenity gasped in fear, and Serenity 
thought she heard something about four generals.  She looked up into the sky and 
took an unsteady step back.  Before her was a huge black cloud, with the barest 
indication of a face etched into it, and suddenly she realized what she faced.  
Metallia had found some source of energy, and absorbed so much into herself that 
she'd lost all physical form.  She recoiled in horror.  She was in no way ready 
for this!

	Beryl's eyes blazed with her possessive desire for Endymion, and she 
reached out toward him as he refused to stay with her and rule as her consort.  
She lifted him into the air with pure force and he cried out as he struggled to 
escape her magical grip.  Then Serenity turned her horrified eyes in her 
daughter's direction.  

	"No!" she shrieked as she watched her daughter jump off the ledge in 
pursuit of Endymion.  She held her hands clenched around Ginzuishou, desperately 
hoping her daughter had a plan.  Surely she wouldn't have jumped without 
something in mind. . .  Beryl attacked her daughter and Endymion with an energy 
field, and Serenity raised her own voice in a cry as the two lovers screamed in 
agony.  "No!  Stop!  My baby!"  She began to bring her hands up to her ears to 
block out the horrible noise when it suddenly stopped.  Silence reigned for what 
seemed like an eternity, a horrible absence of noise that was much more 
horrifying then the pain-filled shrieks.  Her eyes widened and began to overflow 
with tears as she realized what the silence meant.  "No.   N-n-n-NOOOOOOOOOO!"  
Her voice caught as she fell to her knees.  

	She felt two furry shapes stop beside her, and she heard Luna's voice, 
thick with tears.  "No, no, no!  Not the princess!  Little Serenity!  They can't 
be dead!  They can't!"  Serenity closed her eyes and tried to think through her 
own tearing grief and the cackling laughter of Beryl and her forces as they 
closed in.

	There was only one solution.  If her daughter were still alive, she 
probably wouldn't even consider it, but with her last reason for staying alive 
gone, Serenity suddenly knew exactly what she had to do.  She pulled out 
Ginzuishou and raised it into the air.  Artemis looked up at her in concern as 
it began to glow pink.  She smiled sadly.  Her loyal friends.  The last ones 
left.  She took a deep breath.  She could do this.  She could give her daughter 
a chance to live in peace.  It hadn't worked out in this life.  Flashes of her 
life began to flicker through her thoughts, almost faster than she could 
recognize them.  She did remember little Serenity, angry at the world at only 
nine, looking at her with tears in her eyes and insisting everything wouldn't 
work out.  She closed her eyes for a second.  <How wise you were, Serenity.  My. 
. .> she began to sob, <little. . .girl. . .>  Her eyes snapped back open.  She 
would fix this.

	"Your Majesty, what are you doing?"  The fear and worry in Artemis' voice 
was unmistakable.

	"I'm going to stop them, that's what I'm going to do."  She looked down at 
her two faithful servants, looking so odd in their cat forms.  "Then I'm going 
to send everything to the future.  I need you to promise you'll look after the 
girls and if the need arises, you'll train them again, to be a fighting team."

	Luna and Artemis both gasped as they realized what she was planning.  Luna 
opened her mouth to argue, but stopped as she looked into Serenity's eyes.  She 
nodded sadly.  "That's right.  Don't even try to change my mind.  It will just 
be a waste of precious time.  Will you do it?  I know it's a lot to ask. . ."

	"Don't be silly," Artemis broke in, "we'll be honored to guard and teach 
them."

	Luna nodded.  "Honored."

	Serenity smiled sadly.  "I'll send back the tools you'll need."  She 
looked up into the air.  "Moon Cosmic Power!"  She clenched her teeth as she 
felt too much of her strength being pulled into Ginzuishou.  She almost grinned 
as she heard the screams of protest Metallia and Beryl, and all her minions 
uttered while she forced them into suspended animation.  When they were all 
sealed into nearly unbreakable bubbles of space-time, she turned toward her 
daughter's still body.  She looked as if she were sleeping, only the odd angle 
her head was lying at indicated that she was dead.  Serenity brought forth her 
power again to seal up her daughter and all the younger generation of the 
nobility as she had the enemy.  Suddenly memory tickled at the edge of her 
consciousness and she held back.  What had Pluto said?  When she sends the 
guardians, don't send her.  Tears began to flow harder.  Had that conversation 
truly taken place only hours ago?  Very well, she would let Pluto remain to 
guard time.

	She looked at her two friends in their animal form.  "Look after her.  
That's all I ask."

	"Yes, your Majesty."

	"Of course, your Majesty."

	With a groan she closed her eyes and used her power to put the cats in two 
small cryogenic modules.  She was almost done.  She just had to hold on long 
enough to send the planet senshi. . .

	Three forms shimmered into existence around her.  A strong young woman 
with short hair brushed back impatiently, as if she couldn't stand having to 
worry about it, carried a short cutlass tucked into a deep blue sash around her 
waist.  Another young woman with flowing green hair looked around at the ruins 
of the Moon Kingdom with sadness in her eyes, her mirror clutched in tense 
hands.  They both looked at their queen and fell to their knees.

	"Forgive us, your Majesty.  We failed to protect your kingdom."

	Suddenly she knew who they were.  "No you didn't, Uranus, Neptune.  Your 
duty was to protect against outside threats.  This came from us."  She struggled 
to hold her narrowing vision intact.  "How are your parents?"  The girls looked 
at her with frightening, impassive faces, and she suddenly knew.  	"Oh, 
girls, I'm so sorry."

	"It is time, Queen Serenity."  She looked up in surprise at that voice-the 
voice of a young child, younger than her own daughter had been.  <Had been.  Oh, 
little Serenity. . .why did it have to end this way?>  She studied the young 
girl before her.  She held the Silence Glaive in a steady grip, and her dark 
hair blew across her face in the bleak wind that shrieked across Serenity's once 
bright kingdom, hiding any expression.  

	"Time for what?"

	"I must destroy this planet, and finish what has been started."  Her eyes 
seemed to shine in the darkness that surrounded her.  "The outer layer of the 
planet will be scoured off, along with the water and it's atmosphere, so it will 
become nothing except a barren satellite, slightly larger than most, that orbits 
the Earth."

	Serenity began to shake.  "Why?  Why do you have to take what little 
beauty is left?"

	"We can't be reborn here.  We will grow on Earth, and make that our home.  
This place will only bring painful reminders, but if it still exists, this is 
where we will be reborn.  That cannot be allowed."  Serenity cowered before the 
cold impersonal child, and was surprised when the girl brushed her hair back to 
reveal that tears were falling, unchecked, down her pale cheeks.  "My sister has 
told me this, my Queen."  She bowed her head, and the curtain of hair fell 
forward to once again hide her grief behind darkness.  "I'm sorry."

	Serenity closed her eyes for a moment and sighed, then forced them open 
again.  "I understand.  Start it now, and I'll send you."

	Saturn didn't respond with words, but she suddenly raised her glaive into 
the air, straining to raise it high, and Serenity's failing vision narrowed to 
focus on the shining surface of the glaive's broad blades.  "Death Reborn 
Revolution!"  The glaive began to fall, and time seemed to stretch out into 
infinity.  Was that Pluto's doing?  Giving her time to do what she must?  No 
matter.  The glaive glinted and flashed red as fresh blood in the light of the 
setting sun as it approached the ground, and then it hit the ground, and 
everything seemed to freeze.  A wave of darkness emerged from the dirt where the 
glaive rested, and now that the destruction of her home had started, Serenity 
screamed as she forced herself to once more use Ginzuishou.  She brought forth 
time-space bubbles for each of the senshi and enclosed them safely within.  Her 
eyes were still wide open as the wave, still seeming to move at a snail's pace, 
finally approached.

	"Goodbye, little Serenity.  I love you.  I pray that you are able to 
finally. . .live. . .in. . .peace."  She felt herself begin to fall into the 
darkness as her hands went limp, dropping Ginzuishou into the last time 
distortion.  "Remember me. . ."

*****

Part 16



THE END





EPILOGUE





Serenity

by Jessica Door





The universe's thousand year vision

Died yesterday as mist in the sun.

Blue, green, orange and red angels'

Lightning and fire and water were broken,

And love and a red rose

Could not pierce the dread night.

Darkness and death overshadowed

Smooth marble, gorgeous flower gardens,

Dazzling champagne, beauty and music.

Then the moon goddess,

With her white gown and steel colored hair,

Her eyes like blue ice stars,

Fresh peach skin blushing

Like a delicate pink petal,

Embraced the sacred, blazing diamond,

And its brilliant shining magic

Stopped the black cloud.

Weak, she fell, and whispered into the breeze

Of a dream of laughing, peace, love, and eternity,

And asked for her daughter to remember

In the light of morning.