A Sailor Moon story by Tim Nolan
e-mail: nomad@cyberverse.com

Please see comments following the story.

Awakening

part 1


     " Yes, Lieutenant?"
     " Azarite reporting, sir."
     Kunzite put aside the reports he was reading and leaned back in
his favorite couch in the quarters he shared with Zoisite while he
studied the younger man. He knew Zoisite didn't like his doing
business in their quarters, but he refused to do any serious work in
the spy infested military compounds. 
     Azarite looked more like a clerk than a warrior, with his short
brown hair and serious expression. His only concession to fashion or
individuality was the well-tailored uniform with a smart looking black
half-cloak that saved him from looking too plain. The lieutenant was
one of the few survivors of the attack on the Moon Kingdom and one of
the rising stars among Kunzite's sub-commanders since the emergence of
his abilities as a mage a few centuries ago. That's probably because
he learned to survive by thinking instead of  relying on any powers,
he thought to himself. I wish I had more who did that than being
barely one step better than the youma.
     " I have just received an assignment from Queen Beryl," Kunzite
said with a wry smile.  "The magii in the research branch have finally
managed to stabilize a portal to Earth."
     " You mean it only took them 13 years, sir," Azarite responded
with a tight grin. " I'm still glad you pulled me out of there after
my abilities began to manifest. I'd have died of shame being in an
outfit that took that long to do such a simple task."
     " They had the Queens' favor at that time and were able to swing
what they thought was a soft assignment that would leave them covered
in glory. The only swinging that they will be doing soon is from the
end of a rope. Her Majesty was not pleased with their lack of
progress,"  Kunzite replied, grinning at the thought of those pompous
asses in Research getting their just rewards. "Remember this in
regards with the Queen; don't volunteer and then fail her. Pass this
tale on to the other lieutenants. Maybe they will learn something from
it.
     " Her Majesty has commanded me to begin scouting operations on
Earth. They are to concentrate on two locations. The islands the
inhabitants call England and Japan. You've read the information packet
that was sent to you. Tell me why she chose those areas."
     Azarite thought for a few moments, recalling the facts he had
gleaned from the initial contact reports. " Those two islands are
small enough in size for the gate spells to be accurate as the
accuracy depends on the size of the targeted land mass. If we tried to
hit one of the large continents, we could be tens to hundreds of their
kilometers off target. 
     " Second, they have a large enough population base to support
mass energy draining operations once those operations get under way;
and their military forces are small enough for us to deal with using
conventional weapons if our normal tactics and strategies don't work.
I assume the third is the scans for magic resources, although my
packet did not have that," he finished, fishing for a third good
reason to impress the general. The four of them knew far more about
the situation regarding Earth and volumes more on strategy and
deception than the junior officers under them. There was a good reason
that there were so few captains serving the generals. The four were
perfectionists about their staffs and were notorious for promoting
only for ability, and not connections or bribes. That was also why
they ran so many important operations themselves. 
     Kunzite watched the lieutenant for a few more moments calculated
to make the other just begin to sweat. " Short and accurate, Lt.
Azarite. The magic resources are the deciding point on this." He
pulled out a chart and handed it over. " There are two major
concentrations of magic present on the planet. Queen Beryl would much
prefer taking those two over the slower process of the mass draining.
Either source should just be about enough to awaken Queen Metallia and
allow Beryl to smash her way out of here like the bindings placed by
Serenity were so much wet paper. 
     " The sources in England  are concentrated in two major points.
The other, in Japan, is the more difficult to pinpoint. It doesn't
seem as to be concentrated, instead it seems to be a very high
level of background energy. I don't think Japan will be of much use,
so I want you to work the area of England. Send your second to Japan
with a smaller force to see if they can get any results."
     Kunzite then gave the younger man the grin Azarite had hoped to
avoid. " I plan on making this an interesting assignment for you,
Azarite.  You have a simple mission: get information and energy
samples from the local humans. Just to make it more challenging, I'm
sending Drake along with your squad. If we can ever get him to start
thinking before smashing things, he will be a valuable resource. You
get to give it a try.
     " Your other interesting factor is that Zoisite is insisting on
sending one of his 2nd Lieutenants along so he can be represented in
this and not miss out on the action. He has assigned Beld to the
mission. She is a telepath and telekinetic, so her abilities should be
useful in Japan if there is something hidden there. The problem,
according to Zoisite, is that she is a sadist who enjoys inflicting
pain with her gifts just because she can. Show me you can handle this
bunch and complete the assignment to Beryl's satisfaction, and I just
might bump you up to captain," Kunzite finished." If nothing else, you
will be on the fast track for that position. Dismissed."

**********************************************************    

     Azarite walked into the briefing room as the occupants rose and
saluted with crisp efficiency. They all wore the simple gray tunics
and trousers of the military forces, along with brown boots made from
hides. Most kept the personalized adornments to a minimum as they were
only second lieutenants. The only real exception was the strikingly
exotic young woman with long, braided blue hair and the insignia of 
Zoisite's forces. Her uniform was set off by a bright red sash and
gold in place of the metals that normally made the buckles and snaps.
This must be Beld, Azarite said to himself. She's beautiful, but just 
doesn't look right, he decided from the cruel cast of her features.
Sort of blighted, like a rose grown in poor conditions and harsh
environs. He also realized that she would be a tough one to control on
this mission from that look on her face, nor would it do any good to
tell her of her problems. Besides, he thought wryly to himself, she
isn't old enough to remember roses. He did.
     " At ease, troopers. We have been assigned to a recon and
information gathering mission by Lord Kunzite. These operations will
be conducted on the Earth in two locations. We will traverse the
dimensional gate to the base camp set up in the polar regions. From
there, we will be using regular gates to reach the operation area. You
will be dropped off and pick up will be several hours later by gates.
We are not able to keep these up for the length of the missions, so do
not miss the pick-up. The exact assignments and schedules will be
given to you later.
     " These are not difficult tasks. All you will be doing is going
to your target area and wandering around for several hours. The
crystals you will be given will handle the sampling of energies in
your area. They can also be used to drain energy from the humans. You
are not to use them as such. Your job is to not, I repeat, not get
involved with the inhabitants in any way that might alarm them. We
still don't know enough about them to risk any engagements right now.
All you have to do is observe and write up your findings later on. The
translation pendants will facilitate your work with the language." 
     " Sir, wouldn't it be more effective for me to probe some of the
locals for information?" Beld interjected. " It would be far more
effective and quick than this cautious approach."  
     Azarite took a breath to keep his temper from flaring up and
decided to nip this in the bud at once. He did not want her challenge
to have a chance to even linger in the mind of his squad. 
     " These orders came directly from Lord Kunzite, who was given
them By Her Majesty, Queen Beryl. Perhaps you would like to discuss
these issues with her, Second Lieutenant Beld?" he said, laying on
what he thought was just enough sarcasm to back her down but not
outright antagonize her. He for one did not want a telepath too angry
with him.
     " No, Sir," she replied, somewhat chastened. 
     Azarite surveyed the group for any other signs of dissent or
disagreement, aside for Drake's look of boredom. That one was just
waiting for an opportunity for a good fight and was hoping an
earthling could give it to him, he decided.
     " All right, then. We form up for the first gate at the barracks
in two hours. Standard equipment packs will not be required for this
mission, so you all have a few moments to prepare for this. That is
all." 
     He saluted, turned sharply, and left the room.

********************************************************* 

     Beld was still furious as she stalked through the streets of
Tokyo, ignoring the stares from passers-by as they looked at the
distinctive figure she cut among them. I'll show that bastard of a
lieutenant, she swore to herself. Nobody puts me down like that and
lives. I'll rip out his soul piece by piece and feed it to a youma as
he watches. 
     After several more minutes of cursing where she only repeated
herself once, she finally started thinking about her assignment here.
She still had to do it right so she would not get in trouble while she
plotted and enacted her vengeance on Azarite. She looked about for a
few minutes, studying the crowds and looking for a good target. 
     There, she thought to herself. She slashed into the young man's
mind with her talent and seized the sections regarding the surrounding
area and the concept of charts and maps. She then tore her way out and
made her way to a nearby store that dealt in maps and tourism
information. Behind her, the young man collapsed onto the ground as
his mind went into shock from the breakage of memory chains in his
mind.
     She went into the shop and browsed through it for a few minutes
and selected several good atlases of Japan and England, as well as the
rest of the world. She threw in a stack of information books on the
two countries as well that were designed for tourists. These ought to
show him up, she thought. Let him try to give me a hassle when I'm
getting all of this information abut the target area. 
     It only took a moments work to brush her mind across that of the
cashier and convince her that she had paid for these items. She also
made her ignore the fact that several small stacks of currency floated
out of the register and into Belds' hand, and with another touch of
her mind the cashier was kind enough to throw in an expensive book bag
to carry all of her items in. Now for a bit of fun, she decided.

*********************************************************

     Something had happened, she decided. Something had happened about
twenty one orbits ago. She was not as fast at analyzing things as her
swifter sibling who was first out from the center,but she had a truer
picture of their minds, and more importantly, their hearts. 
     She had been born a very long time ago by any standards, in a
system far removed from the galactic core. She was second out from the
center and had nine other siblings who came into being around the same
time as her, so to speak. She had come to a limited form of awareness,
but had never even thought that there were others like her. They felt
the same way, she later found out.
     It was the cries of suffering from one of her sisters that
alerted them to each other. In her pain, she reached the conclusion
that there _may_ be something besides herself. She had tried to
form too close to her largest brother, and the mistake had proved
fatal. There was nothing they could do except watch her slow, painful
death as she was ripped apart by his mere presence.
     This did not make them sad, however. They had learned of each
other from this, and promised the dying one that she would be
remembered forever for giving them the glorious gift of togetherness
that they now shared. They continued their contemplation, but now
conversed with each other and remembered their sister. 
     Her sister who was third out brought them surprising news after
more time had passed. She had discovered new things upon her. Small
things that died soon after their birth, but made copies of themselves
before their death. They marveled at this and celebrated the diversity
of this thing called life.
     Even more pleasing was the form of life called humans that became
predominant.The humans did something they had not expected. The humans
slowly spread to the other siblings after reaching the child of the
third one out from the center. The siblings came to love the humans
and grew protective of them. 
     They all agreed to hide their presence from the humans and only
let them see their physical forms so as to not hinder their growth.
They instead successively empowered a small group of humans to be
their avatars and help guide and protect their humans. The only
exception to this was the third one out. She had so much life in
abundance on her that she could not choose to help one type over the
others.
     The siblings were happy for a brief time. Suddenly, in a struggle
between the humans, they suddenly lost contact with all the avatars,
save one. Much of their essence had gone into their avatars, and they
lacked the power to protect the humans who were not on the third one
out.
     The loss of their inhabitants troubled them. The furthest one out
then spoke up. The others listened, for he was wise and patient. He
counseled them to wait for a time. His avatar still lived,and might
restore the others. They agreed to bide their time, and dropped into a
deep slumber to conserve their dwindled energies. 
     This was some 1600 orbits ago for her. Something had happened
recently. It had been so long since she had stirred that she had been
very slow to wake and realize what she thought she had felt. Her sleep
would be lighter now. She had to listen for something. It was for only
the tiniest fraction of a moment, but she thought she had heard her
avatar.

*********************************************************

     It took her an hour of wandering around and searching for a
suitable candidate while she entertained herself with a few minor
tricks of telekinesis and telepathy. A dropped and broken package
here, a choice thought suddenly vocalized against a person's will
there, and dissension ruled in her wake.  Her new prey, however, was
easily going to be far more entertaining and satisfying. 
     The new mother practically radiated her uncertainty in dealing
with her infant. It was so strong she couldn't tell why the natives
couldn't pick it up, even at their lack of talent. It was a simple
mental nudge of a leg that caused the mother to trip and sent the
stroller out into the busy traffic. The results were predictable.
Screams of alarm and anguish rang out and the sound of several
cars colliding resounded in the air. 
     Beld had long since established a link to the woman and rejoiced
in the feelings of guilt and despair she had caused. This was far
better than the finest wines, in her opinion. Nothing could compare to
feeling this from her. She didn't even have to try and make the
sobbing woman feel that it was her fault; her sense of shame and grief
were already doing a wonderful job of  convincing her subconscious. 
     She studied the mind she was linked to for a few moments more to
fix the pattern in her mind. She then severed the link so gently as to
not even make the slightest disturbance. She simply would have to
return later and see what the results of her handiwork were. But for
know, she left and walked back to the recall site, humming contentedly
to herself.

************************************************************

     Damn, the young woman said to herself. She turned away from the
tragic scene so quickly her hair flared about her, a green so dark as
to practically be black. She studied the face and odd gray clothing of
the only person to walk away from the sight of the accident with a
smile on her face as the blue-haired woman walked past her and into
the distance. 
     After several more minutes had passed, she went to a coffee shop
that had opened recently. The waitress brought her order over after a
few minutes and she relaxed into the cushions of the booth. The sounds
from the arcade downstairs were barely noticed as she thought about
the situation. She didn't have time for this. There were too many
things that required her personal attentions right now. The sight of
the gray clothing was a sign to her that she was correct in her
earlier assumptions. The problem was in how to deal with it. She could
not deal with it by herself, as much as she would have liked to. I
can't have too many irons in the fire at once. 
     An hour was spent juggling the possibilities, and then a course
of action was decided on. She reached out to her right and took hold
of a staff that suddenly was there, although none in the cafe seemed
to notice it. The red orb at the top of the staff glowed faintly as
she visualized two objects in her mind. They still had not fully
adjusted to this time and would still be traceable for about another
year at the most. One was still moving towards this area, but the
other was still in the same general physical location that it had
occupied for about four years. It looked like one of the hunters
had found prey. It was time to give it a nudge. 

************************************************************ 

     The two figures emerged from the thick fog of a London night. One
was of medium height and build. The other looked more like a giant
than a man, standing slightly over two meters with broad shoulders and
powerful limbs.  As he stumbled out of a pub and looked blearily at
the two, a half-drunken patronof said establishment called out to the
large man.
     " Let me know what football team your rooting for in the match
'tween Arsenal and Manchester, mate. I'd hate to be wearing the wrong
colors if your team lost."
     A deep voice rumbled back. " Arsenal. They have a better sounding
name. Now, leave us and get out of here." The larger of the two took a
step towards the drunk, who went pale and quickly left the two alone
as he hurried back to the pub. He turned back to the smaller man as
they returned to their walking. 
     " Would you mind if I stuck around for this 'match' that he
mentioned, Lieutenant? It sounds like there might be a fight as a
result of it and it could give me a chance to get some first hand
experiences of how these people fight each other."
     "Sorry, Drake, but I think you are just looking for a fight and
coming up with an excuse," Azarite responded with a chuckle. "
Besides, I don' think that this planet offers a person who could
give you a real workout. I don't even know anyone in the Dark Kingdom
who could challenge you in a physical fight short of the Four."
     After thinking about this for a few moments, Drake pushed back
his coarse red hair, now dampened by the fog. " I still don't get it,
Lieutenant. The other officers I've had over me treat me as a little
more than a weapon to be used and discarded. Why do you and the
general keep on trying to get me to do more? Ever since he pulled me
out of Nephrite's corps in the exchange program, it's been nothing but
books and lessons."
     " Well, Drake," Azarite replied. " The reason is what I just told
you. I don't know of any besides the Four who could beat you in a
physical match. If the general and I can teach you to think before
using your fists, we'll gain a valuable commodity for our use. You
benefit by becoming a better soldier, and we benefit by having you
become better. 
     " The general is also looking forward to the challenge you may
pose to him later on. If you become a more skilled officer and learn
to use your skills more effectively, you may become a challenge to
him, and that keeps him sharp. At least, that's what he told me when
he gave me my training as a mage. He said he wanted me to become
better so as to make him better."
     Drake mulled this over for a few minutes as they approached the
point were they would separate for their patrols. " So that's why you
keep on working with me to learn how to fight you as a mage and not
just as another combatant?"
     " Exactly. If I just went against you with my fists, you'd beat
me ten falls out of ten every day. Instead, I use my abilities to
counteract yours. You leap to the attack and I simply use a little
bit of energy to give you a push that will change the angle of your
leap. You charge, I use that groundshaker spell."
     The big man laughed harshly at the memory of that one. He'd been
surprised when Azarite challenged him to a bout as part of his
training. He had expected to tear the smaller man apart. The ground
seemed to fall out from under his feet as he charged in to attack and
he ended up with a lump on his head, a bruised backside, and a rage
that would have made him try to kill his adversary if he was being
laughed at. Instead, the lieutenant had simply explained what he had
done to him and that this was a lesson in not underestimating your
opponents. No gloating, no boasting. This was nothing like his
previous commanders.
     " We're here, Drake." Azarite said, breaking him out of his
reverie. " I'll take the route to the left. You go right, into the
upper class areas. There are probably going to be less unruly
'football' fans there, whatever it is."

*************************************************************

     The white cat pulled himself up onto his favorite branch in the
tree by the house. It wasn't his house, but he thought of it that way.
This spot gave him some very good options for watching the residents,
jumping to the balcony for attention, escape and comfort. The latter
was a requirement, after all. He examined his thoughts while he
settled himself down for a nap in the mid-afternoon sun. 
     It was almost four years since he had spotted her. She didn't
look quite the same at the time, but the memories that had burst into
his mind upon seeing her convinced him that he had found her. The
sight of her long, blonde hair, blue eyes, and the red ribbon holding
her hair back had been a wonderful surprise to him. It had been
what... eight, nine years he had been searching for them. Some he had
to find. One he had to protect. 
     Why the stasis capsules, Serenity? he asked himself bitterly. I
don't have any unusual powers. I can't do any heroic, last minute
rescues. Why did you have to mess with my memories. They're my only 
weapon here. I've spent four years looking for the other senshi, and I
haven't found them. Or worse,I couldn't recognize them if I did. 
     At least he had found one of them. It was a good thing she was
here in Tokyo. If she was in America or Europe, he might not have even
noticed her due to her hair. In Japan, she stood out in the crowd. He
was so shocked by seeing her, he nearly fell out of the tree. After
that encounter, he followed her home closely enough to be her shadow.
This area became his new home, at least after he drove off the other
cats and the dogs. There's only one other cat he wanted prowling
around here, and he wished he could find her.  
     The worst of it was the fear of the decision he may have to make.
What if he did it and turned out to be wrong? Could he condemn her to
a life without her real friends? A life that may go on forever without
any need for her, or anyone who would understand what she truly is,
except for the stupid cat who did such a terrible thing to her? What
if she hates me so much for it she leaves me? He didn't think he could
handle that.
     Then there were the last words from Queen Serenity. She had
wanted the children of the Moon Kingdom to be happy. To know peace and
not be burdened by the memories of their past. He had promised to try
and achieve that. How could he do it and still hold true to that
promise?
     He began to make a list in his head concerning the issue, but
gave it up after a few moments. The only thing on the other side was
that he felt uneasy and the dreams. He had bad ones every several days
starting about six moons ago that he could not remember but left him
shaking and snarling when he woke. More importantly, he thought that
she was beginning to have them also. 
     He had watched with concern as her lifestyle began to change. She
had always been able to juggle her schooling, training and friends
before. She'd go to school and then to one of several different
masters she had been studying under since her sudden interest in
martial arts a couple of years ago. She hadn't stayed with any one for
a long period but had gathered a lot of basics from several different
styles. After her workout, she'd return home to spend time with her
family and friends and was the terror of the local mall and arcade on
the weekends. This all changed after his dreams began. Her contacts
with her school friends had dwindled down to a few quick gatherings
every couple of weekends. Her sleep was notas good as it once was, for
he had watched the lights go on in her room in the middle of the night
and stay on far too many times to be simple insomnia. 
     Something was up. It had to be. It was the only option that fit
the available information. He was a strategist; a tactician. He could
tell that something was going to happen. He should be able to make
this decision as easily as the other ones in the past. It should be as
easy for him as when he was teaching tactics at the Guard Academy in
the days of the Silver Millennium. He just studied the situation and
moved the pieces accordingly. Could he ask this piece to pay such a
price?

**********************************************************

     The girl winced as she pulled on a bathrobe after her shower. The
movements caused the sore muscles in her arms to complain to her of
the work they did today. Her sensei had decided she needed more
strength and flexibility in her arms and had worked her harder than
usual. She walked through a quiet house and into her room. Her parents
were at the theater tonight, courtesy of the tickets she had bought
with most of her savings from her allowance. The play was a favorite
of her parents and they had been so happy to get another chance to see
it. They had tickets for the opening night, but her father had been
called away for an emergency situation at his job at the last minute.
Their smiles this morning when she gave them the tickets had been
worth the effort. Luckily for her,the daughter of a previous sensei
had lived up to her promises and found the tickets.
     She eased herself into the seat in front of the mirror in her
room and began to brush her long hair as the late afternoon sun turned
her room to a golden red. It took a lot of work to maintain her hair
and she was more than willing to do it. Blondes were rare in Japan and
it was almost like a magnet for the boys at her school. She had
started noticing them a couple of years ago and liked being the center
of their attentions. She just wished she had more time for that. For
the last several months, she had been throwing herself into her
studies at school and the dojo with a vengeance. Her last outing with
her friends had been two weeks ago, and that had just been for a movie
and ice cream. She hadn't been shopping at the mall for a month.  
     Something was driving her with an increasing sense of urgency. It
felt like she somehow knew the calm moments before the storm were
running out. The anxiety was stretching her thin between her
preparations and her lack of sleep recently. Something was going to
happen. Something had to happen, or she would go crazy from the
waiting. If she wasn't so tired, she thought as she put the brush down
and tied her hair back, she could think about it for a while. 

***********************************************************   

     The woman stepped out of the doorway to the roof access several
rooftops away from the now sleeping cat. She was dressed differently
now, in a white blouse and short skirt and carried the staff openly as
a dim light from the red orb lit her way through the early evening
darkness. I just have enough time to do this before my appointment,
she thought. What she intended was not as difficult as a full portal,
but it did still require her full concentration. She took a seat on
the chair she had put on the roof earlier in the day and closed her
eyes.
     Images of the Silver Millennium filled her mind. The joyous
memories of the happiness there still tugged at her heart after all
this time. The balls held every night for celebrating the peace and
progress around them. The fireworks shattering the darkness for a
moment, bringing murmurs of appreciation from the crowds and causing
lovers to seek their sanctuary deeper in the luxurious gardens of the
palace. The libraries that held the knowledge that was the cornerstone
of their progress.  The colonies on the other planets that had thrived
and were prosperous centers of culture on their own. It made the
images of the destruction all the worse as it passed away in scenes of
poignant sorrows and sacrifices as an era died. 
     Fleeting thoughts of those lost quickly followed. The Queen, with
gentle eyes and a look of youth that belied her wisdom. Her
councilors, skilled and benevolent diplomats, who held the darkness of
war away with their combined talents. The nobles of the court, who
administered their sprawling estates with a tender concern for all in
their care. The skilled artisans and craftsmen whose joy was creating
beauty, and the commoners who strove to pay back the care given to
them with their utmost efforts and glad hearts.
      The sadness was especially sharp when the thoughts concerned
several young woman wearing outfits similar to what she now wore. They
were all of high birth and would be royalty except for their decision
to sacrifice that life of ease so as to protect the people they loved. 
I miss you, my friends, she thought, even if I was not there as often
as I would have liked. Our duties may have been different, but our
purpose was the same.  
     All of these images and feelings were tied into the matching
eddies and currents of the time stream and directed gently towards the
cat. He was about to have a dream he would never forget, she thought.
It will be like he was right there, because in a sense he will be. 
     " I'm sorry, Artemis," she said softly. " I wish there was
another way." She reverted to her regular clothing and looked at the
ticket in her pocket. She had just enough time to make the classical
music recital at Mugen Gakuen High School.

************************************************************* 

     The one who was sixth out from the center stirred in his sleep
and woke briefly to consider his worries again. Long ago, before the
growth of life, something had troubled him. He spent a long time
comtemplating it, but to no avail.
     It was only after the humans had begun to prosper on his siblings
that he realized what it was. He confererred with his brothers who
were further out than he. The largest brother was busy in his care for
the humans, as he considered this his atonement for his part in the
death of their sister long ago, and would not discuss it with them.
The others closer in were also similarly pre-occupied. The ringed one
was concerned that something meant to harm the humans, or even the
siblings themselves.He could not determine what the threat was,
however, but felt it came from further from the center than even the
outermost of the brothers.
     The outer four considered this issue for a while. The one
furthest out suggested that this may be an event yet to come, as the
siblings did not journey through time like the humans did. The ringed
one may be foreseeing a problem that was to occur. The four decided to
watch for this threat, andto set their avatars to guard against any
harm from beyond.  
     He who was sixth out thought about the decision made long ago.
The siblings involved had not found any threat, nor had their avatars
when they were present. He couldn't be totally sure, but he thought he
had a better idea of what concerned him. The unease now centered on
the fact that something seemed to be very interested in his avatar.
This confused him; however, as his avatar was missing like the others.

**********************************************************


     A lucky swing of a paw caught a branch and stopped Artemis just
before he hit the ground. 
     " What the hell was that," he said aloud, disregarding years of
training in keeping himself from talking in the wrong circumstances.
Then he heard the screaming from inside the house. That's it, he
thought to himself as he almost flew through the branches and flung
himself into a leap impossible to an ordinary cat. If her dreams can
do this to me, imagine what it's like for her. He would have to do it.
It must be about to start if she's getting dreams this strong, he
decided. It was as clear as if he was there, although the images were
so fast he could barely recognize any of them. They  were clear
images, however, unlike his earlier nightmares and shocking enough to
cause him to fall out of his tree. 
     He landed lightly on the railing of the balcony outside her
window and looked in. She was sitting in front of her mirror where she
had apparently fallen asleep while at the desk. She had a wild
look to her eyes and was breathing large gasps of air in response to
her sudden awakening. Sweat had matted her hair down and she got up
and took the ribbon off. She then walked out of the room and into the
hallway.  Artemis heard the sound of a bath being drawn a few moments
later. 
     " That's good," he said. "It will help her relax." After she is
done, He'd have a talk with her. He began to groom himself. The act
was as much to make himself more presentable as it was to have the
familiar routine relax himself. 

*************************************************************

     Minako came out of the nightmare screaming. It took her several
moments to realize she wasn't at the place in her dream. The sensation
of loss was like a knife in her belly, it hurt so much. Her home and
her friends were gone, destroyed. No, she thought savagely to herself.
That was just the dream. She was in her house. No, her home, she
emphasized. This was her home, not some fairy tale castle with a blue
moon far bigger than it had any right to be.
     But why did that place feel so right? The deeper parts of her
mind still screamed at her that what she saw in the nightmare was the
proper place for her. The people she had glimpsed so briefly felt like
old and familiar acquaintances. Her heart almost broke from the pain
at the memory of a certain group of young women whose images had a
strong emotional context to them.
     She concentrated on evening out her breathing and soon felt her
heart slow to a more normal rate. She'd have the shakes soon from
coming down after all that adrenaline in her system. After getting up,
she removed the ribbon from her hair and went down the hall to draw a
hot bath. It was the only way she'd relax after waking up like that.
Maybe I'll have a sundae later on, she thought. I probably won't get
any more sleep tonight. 

************************************************************

     The applause thundered out in the auditorium as the violinist
finished her piece with a flourish. This had easily been the most
skilled performer of the evening and her talent was more on a level
with a professional than a high school student. It was a welcome
relief to the usual caliber of players at school recitals. She did an
elegant bow to the appreciative crowd and smiled as several bouquets
came out of the audience to land on the stage. Red roses for the most
part, mainly from some of the boys at school who were infatuated with
her. She did find the flower she was looking for, a yellow rose in
a simple yet deceptively elegant arrangement. This was the one she
picked up as she bowed  again to the audience and flashed a smile that
was only meant for one person in the crowd. 
     The violinist left the stage to let the next performer on and
walked towards the small dressing room that was hers for this night.
The privacy after performing for an audience was valuable to her and
she knew she would be left alone for a few minutes by her friend so
she could wind down from the high of her work on stage. She paused
briefly before a full length mirror to check that her hair was in
order. The sea-green color of her hair was nicely set off by the black
dress. She had a date later on and wanted to look her best. She closed
the door behind her and then gasped as she realized she was not alone.
     The woman with the long dark green hair stood and warmly smiled
at her. 
     " You play very well, Michiru. My name is Setsuna Meiou. I'd like
to talk with you for a few moments."

***********************************************************

     Minako felt much better after soaking in hot water for a couple
of hours and making a quick snack for herself. She returned to her
room and sat in front of her mirror again. She didn't believe in
superstition and doubted that sitting there would cause another
nightmare. The routine of brushing her hair relaxed her as she let her
thoughts wander to anything but what she dreamed of earlier. A soft
voice woke her from her reverie.
     " Venus?"
     She turned slowly, not realizing who had spoken. There was nobody
in the room except for herself. Then she noticed the white stray cat
who had taken over their yard. He had somehow gotten into her room and
was sitting in a patch of light from the rising moon. He almost looked
like a transparent statue. She knew he was friendly, although the cat
has always been very reserved, almost shy around her. This was the
first time she could think of where he had gotten into the house. He
was normally content with staying in the yard and accepting handouts
on rare occasions. She began to get up to let him out and started to 
dismiss the notion that someone said anything. I'm just hearing
things, she thought. 
     Then she noticed what was different. There was something on the
cat's forehead. Some kind of half-circle, she thought. No, wait. It's
a crescent shape. A golden crescent, like the moon when it was low in
the sky.  She wondered where the cat had gotten it or why she had not
seen it before when it began to glow a faint, warm gold that seemed to
grow until it occupied her entire field of vision. 
     Suddenly, her world twisted and fell out from underneath her as a
word  reverberated through her soul.
     " Remember."

***********************************************************

     That's enough time, the young woman thought to herself. If we
don't get started soon, we'll be late and I worked so long at the
track to have time for this evening. She got up and looked at the
stage where a custodian was picking up a few scattered roses from the
bouquets thrown earlier in the program. A tear or two threatened to
form in her eyes as she considered the situation. My rose, she picked
up my rose and no others. Such romantics the two of them were. 
     With a smile, she spun to her right and walked to the aisle. The
sudden movement caused her short, golden hair to twirl around her head
and settle back into it's normal position. She reached into a pocket
and took out a gold loop earring that was a gift from her friend and
put it in her left ear as she walked up the aisle and into the lobby
of the auditorium, steering her way through the few remaining knots of
people gathered there.
      An older man made to intercept her, attracted by her good looks
and slim figure, no doubt. He wasn't even put off by the fact she wore
a suit more appropriate for a man than a woman. Old pervert, she
thought and fixed him in his tracks with a steely-eyed stare that made
him blink and remember the wife he had left a few paces behind him. 
     After that, it was only a few more steps and she was through the
door and into the area where the dressing rooms for the performers
were. She was excited about the prospects she had for the evening
ahead of her. She was even a bit nervous. Driving a car at 350
kilometers an hour didn't even phase her, and here she was, nervous at
what was to come. 
     Well, she thought to herself as she straightened her slender tie,
here is her room. It was showtime. Tonight was a night they would
never forget. She licked her lips once in a brief surrender to her
nerves as she reached for the door.

************************************************************

     She felt like she was slowly rising through a thick, clear liquid
as she fought her way to consciousness. Her heart was racing at the
edge of her control and she fought that down as well while she opened
her eyes. It was still there.
     The cat remained were he had been, the golden crescent moon and
his large blue eyes shining in the gentle moonlight. Was he the cause
of this, she wondered. What is with the mark on his head? I never saw
it before. I know it hadn't been there before. These and many other
questions about what had happened raced through her mind at a frantic
rate. 
     The third major shock of the evening came in and hit her like the
proverbial freight train. The cat looked at her for a few moments with
what seemed like concern, and then he spoke.
     " I'm sorry, Venus. I truly am sorry to have had to do this."
     " Venus," she exclaimed. " Who is Venus? I'm Minako. Why are you
calling me Venus? You're a cat. How can you talk? Am I still asleep or
am I crazy?" she finished in a rush, panting for breath. 
     The cat sat there and waited for her to catch her breath. " I
know, you are Minako Aino," he said calmly. " You are also someone
else. Please sit down and I'll try to explain it to you."
     She numbly moved back and sat on the bed. The cat jumped up and
sat on the desk by the window, next to one of her many stuffed
animals. This was too much, she thought. I'm talking to a cat. A
talking cat. I've flipped, she thought, almost in hysterics. I'm going
to scream soon and wake up from this. It has to be a dream. 
     " This must be a dream," she told the cat. " A dream, or that
crazy American TV show with the hidden cameras. Cats can't talk. I'm
barely thirteen; I'm too young for a nervous breakdown. Where is the
speaker hidden, or is there a ventriloquist hiding in here? Where is
the camera?" she yelled at the cat, her nerves starting to go.
     The cat studied her for a moment, noting the growing hysteria in
her voice and the strain she seemed to be under. Her muscles were
taught and she was starting to tremble. The sigil of Venus shone on
her forehead, but it wasn't the clear glow he had expected. The light
was flickering and wavering. This isn't going right, he thought to
himself. He had only one other ace to play.
     " I have to ask something of you before I can explain it," he
said to girl in a soothing tone. You will need to do something before
I can really explain it to you properly."  He looked down at the table
and concentrated for a moment. The moonlight at his feet seemed to
grow brighter andbrighter and something appeared. 
     " Please come here," he said to the girl, using a touch of
command in his voice to ensure her response. If she ran right now, I
may not be able to undo the damage. Her memory blockage seems to be
worse than mine.
     Minako slowly stood and walked over to the desk. A short wand lay
there. Maybe it was a pen. It had an orange body and a gold cap, like
a pen, but there was a symbol on the end. A heart with a cross coming
off of the base. For some reason it was familiar, but she couldn't
remember ever seeing it before. Her mind, her whole body felt numb.
Why am I doing this? she screamed at herself. 
     " Take the pen and hold it up over your head," the cat said in
the same calm voice that made her keep on going and pick up the pen.
It was something that seemed stable as everything around her seemed
ready to spin away. 
     " Now, say the words, Minako. I know you know them. They're just
hidden away from you, just like your past has been. Say the words. Say
the words and you can remember."
     She slowly raised the pen to just over her head. Part of her
screamed at what was going to happen. You'll lose yourself, that part
cried in fear. No, another part sang in exultation. You will be whole
again. The siren call of the latter proved to be more temptation than
she could take. It was a hope of inner peace, an end to the pain and
uncertainty she felt for the last two years. She took a deep breath
and shoved her right arm to it's full length over her head.
     " VENUS POWER, MAKE UP!"
     The world exploded around her.

**************************************************************

     Artemis leaped clear as she yelled. He was away just in time as
gold and orange lights fountained up behind him and surrounded her
form. He was still seeing spots and stars before his eyes as he landed
on the bed at the other side of the room. It worked! It worked, you
lucky fool. I've got her back! He turned around to see the welcome
sight as relief washed over him. 

**************************************************************

     There. There it was, again. She rejoiced inside and sang her
pleasure in a hymn of joy. She could be whole again, and so could her
beloved siblings. It had only been a tiny flash, and not very bright,
but it was there. It was unmistakable.
     She basked for a short time in her joy, enjoying her pleasure
after the ending of so much pain and uncertainty. They had suffered
due to the loss of their humans, but that paled in comparison to
the heights they could feel because of them. They had learned so much
because of them, and now the siblings could begin to repay the debt
once again.

*************************************************************

     Everything suddenly felt right within her. All of the myriad
small differences were gone. This is how she was meant to be. Tension
faded away as long-clenched muscles relaxed and the worries of two
years were swept away from her mind. I'm who I am supposed to be. I'm
whole, not a small part hiding from the rest. 
     She turned to look at the other occupant of the room and stopped
as she caught sight of herself in the mirror. Her hair descended in a
beautiful golden cascade around her shoulders. A tiara, gold with an
orange stone in the center graces her forehead. An orange ribbon was
around her neck like a choker. She wore a white, sleeveless blouse
with a dark blue bow in the front held by a yellow broach. Her skirt
was orange with a yellow bow at the back of her waist. Orange trim on
her long white gloves and orange sandals completed her outfit.
     " This is me?" she gasped in surprise. This wasn't a slightly
insecure 13 year old. The image before her was someone to be reckoned
with. She giggled, " Wow. Wait 'till the boys see me now."
     After admiring her image a moment more to make sure she wasn't
dreaming, she turned to the cat and engulfed him in an embrace. "
Artemis," she said, her voice thick with emotion.
     She held the cat a few moments more and then the tears came. She
started sobbing as the effects of the losses she had suffered in the
past came back to her. She now knew she had lost something very
important to her and could now mourn that loss. All of the images from
the nightmare of earlier flashed before her again, this time with an
air of familiarity to it. She could still not make out many names and
places, or understand what they were, but now she knew she was a part
of it. 
     After several minutes, the tears stopped. She reached out from
her seat on the bed where she must have sat down while she was crying
and took a tissue from the box on the desk. She wiped her eyes and
cheeks, and then realized the cat was in far worse shape than her
face. He was partially soaked from her tears and wore a bemused
expression. 
     " I'm sorry, Artemis. I didn't mean to do that to you. It's
just... I finally remembered who I was and then what I lost. What we
lost. The Silver Millennium is over, isn't it?"
     " I'm afraid so, Venus. It is gone, but not forgotten. I remember
it, and now you do also. As long as it is not forgotten, it will still
exist, at least in our hearts. Don't worry about the fur, either. I'm
probably due for a real bath, anyway."
     She smiled at the joke and thought for a few moments. " I've seen
you around here for several years," she said. " Why did you wait for
so long to wake me up?"
     " Serenity wanted you to have a peaceful, normal life. She wanted
that for all of the children of the Moon. You were reincarnated into
this body. I assume that the others from the Moon have also been
returning."
     " Artemis, it's not 'this body'. I'm Minako Aino. I'm also
Venus," she said, almost testily. She continued in a more gentle
voice. 'Please, call me Minako. I don't know if I can fill the
shoes...uhm, sandals of Venus."
     He laughed at the joke. " Certainly, Minako Aino."
     How long had it been since he had laughed, he wondered.

**********************************************************

     They resumed their conversation after he showed her how to change
her clothes back and had dunked himself in a bathtub filled with warm
water and suffered through a shampooing from her. He did draw the line
when she pulled out the hair dryer and mousse.  
     They went back to her room after a quick snack and kept the
lights off to keep her parents from being suspicious. They were due
back at any time now. Minako got under the covers of her bed and
Artemis curled up near her on the other pillow. 
     " How much do you remember, Minako?  Tell me what you recall of
the past."
     She slowly told him, pausing for a few moments here and there to
search her mind for things that felt like they should be there but she
couldn't recall. The gaps were of some concern to her as she started
to realize that she was missing much of the information of her distant
past.
     " Don't worry too much, Minako" he responded to soothe her fears.
" I didn't fare much better. Let me start from the beginning.
     " There was an era of peace and prosperity for this system
starting a little over two thousand years ago. The Moon Kingdom had
spread it's influence and quitely helped the people on Earth. They had
established colonies on the other planets. The cavern cities on
Mercury were designed by their princess and hewn from rock deep
beneath the surface there. There were the domed cities on Venus, and
the great canals built on Mars to bring water down to the cities from
the icecap. The moons of Jupiter were settled and the Floating Palace
there was truly a sight to behold. The other planets were also settled
and grew into prosperity.
     " In honor of the works of those before them, and in honor of
their goals in the upcoming years, the Queen of the Moon Kingdom
proclaimed that a new age had begun. It was to be called the Silver
Millennium. This was just over a thousand years ago. It looked to
truly be a great thing.  The arts and sciences flourished. People were
happy and knew peace. 
     " This was all possible because of the Queen of the Moon. Her
name was Serenity. She was a good, wise ruler. Her daughter was raised
to follow in her footsteps. The people loved and revered them.
     " Unfortunately, there are always people who will spoil this kind
of happiness. A Queen on Earth grew to despise the Moon Kingdom and
coveted their position and power. She gathered evil people from Earth
around her and attacked the Moon by surprise."
     " That was Beryl, right? I seem to remember hating that name,"
Minako said. The name caused her skin to crawl. Artemis nodded and
continued.
     " The Moon Kingdom had it's protectors, however. The Guard was
never large but they were very capable. They lay down their lives to
give the other protectors a chance. The others were the Sailor Senshi,
Minako. As Sailor Venus, you were one of them.  Do you remember the
images of the other young women from the dream? They were royalty from
the colonies on the planets. They gave that up to become the Sailor
Senshi and be the last line of defense for the Moon Kingdom."
     " Royalty," she said. " Me, royalty? What was I, a princess?"
     Artemis nodded. " Yes, a princess. Your parents there were the
rulers of the domed cities on the planet Venus. That's where you got
your name; it's from the planet you came from." He broke off at her
giggling.
     " What's so funny?"
     " All girls want to be princesses, Artemis. I did when I was
little and now I just found out that not only was I a real princess,
but I gave it up."
     " You're not being too serious about this, Minako Aino." the cat
replied. " It is very important for you to know this."
     " I'll try to be more serious, sensei," she replied with a wink.
" Why was it Sailor Senshi?"
     " I'm not really sure about that. Why do you ask?"
     " I just realized the clothes look a lot like a school uniform."
     Artemis sighed and hung his head for a moment. He looked back
into her eyes and continued.
     " They were able to defeat the rest of the army of Queen Beryl,
but fell before the power Beryl herself wielded. Beryl destroyed the
Moon Kingdom in her wrath and faced Serenity."
     " What happened to the other planets. Where they attacked? "
     " Yes, Beryl attacked them also.  The power of the Imperial
Silver Crystal was the only thing enabling the colonies to exist. The
Queen chose to sacrifice herself by using the Crystal and giving up
her life to save the children of the Moon Kingdom and seal Beryl and
the rest of her forces away forever. Without that, the colonies were
destoyed. The environmental conditions were too severe without the
power of the Crystal.
     " The spirits of the Sailor Senshi, along with those of the Moon
Princess and the children of the Moon, were sent ahead by Serenity to
a time where they could be reincarnated and know peace like they did
in the Moon Kingdom. The Senshi were to protect them if Beryl somehow
returned." 
     Minako thought about this for a few minutes as Artemis paused to
give his voice a chance to recover. It had been out of practice for
several years, after all. Minako got him a drink of water and then
asked him a question.
     " What was your part in all of this? I remember that you were an
advisor, but nothing else is very clear."
     " I was one of the advisors to Queen Serenity." he said with a
degree of pride, but Minako caught the slight bitterness behind his
tone of voice. " She sent me to Earth in a stasis capsule since I was
one of the few survivors when Beryl destroyed everything. That's why
my memories are not perfectly clear. The stasis affected them. I was
hoping that yours would be better, since you were reincarnated here."
     " Something you said bothered you."
     The cat considered his feelings for a few moments before
responding. " I feel that I should have seen the attack coming when it
did. We had an idea that something was up on Earth, but Beryl
surprised us. I still sometimes feel like it's my fault for not seeing
it. I know better than that. I know it's not my fault, but I still
can't help feeling it."
     " Beryl wasn't quite...sane, was she? She seemed twisted, turned
in on herself. How can you expect to anticipate a sick mind? From what
I recall, nobody thought it would happen like that. All I remember is
the surprise of the attack."
     She quickly changed the conversation away from what was obviously
a tender subject for him. " Our job is to protect the Moon Princess,
from what you said." Minako said to him. " How many others of the
Sailor Senshi have you found and woken up?"
     " None," he replied. " You're the only one I found or could
recognize."
     " What about the Moon Princess? Surely you've found her."
     " No, I haven't found her either."
     " Any of the children from the Moon Kingdom?"
     " No," he said sheepishly. " It's just the two of us, I'm
afraid."
     Minako hit him gently with a pillow before yawning and closing
her eyes to go to sleep.
     " Some wise advisor you are."

******************************************************   

     " That was good work getting the maps of the target area, Beld."
     " Thank you, Sir." she replied to the lieutenant in front of her.
After sketching a brief salute, she returned to studying her briefing
notes as he moved away. She was sure he was being condescending to
her. He had to be, to be so calm. She wished she could scan him, but
he always had his mindscreen up, like any competent mage.
     The squad was in an small chamber near the gate to Earth,
preparing for the next mission. It would be daylight at her insertion
time, on what was generally a day of rest for the humans in Tokyo.
They called it a weekend and it was generally looked forward to, she
recalled from her notes. 
      The mission was going to be another milk run like the first.
Wander around, let the crystal gather energy samples, and watch the
stupid humans. At least she would be able to check in on her plaything
and see how she was doing. The memory of the anguish she had caused a
shiver of pleasure to run down her spine. Then she would look for an
even larger canvas to work on. It was a big city, after all. 

*************************************************************

     Azarite walked away from Beld and started getting the gear he
needed ready. He carried a few specialized pieces of equipment that
his squad didn't. He used this as a cover to observe the telepath out 
of the corner of his eye. She looked far too happy about something for
his liking. She's up to something, he thought to himself.
     Azarite may not have been the most powerful mage in the Dark
Kingdom, but he was one of the best at getting the full use of what he
had. Subtlety was the key, not raw power. Kunzite had worked long and
hard with him to prove that point. He quickly wove together a few
strands of energy from a crystal he carried in his pocket that was one
of his stored reserves of power. These were looped together and then
sent towards the telepath. The strands settled about her without her
noticing. 
     It's such a low power spell, she didn't even feel it. Now, if she
tried using her power on Earth, she's be as loud as an explosion to
anyone looking for a magical disturbance. One of the troopers also
going to Tokyo had a minor talent. He couldn't cast any spells, but he
could 'hear' them if they were sufficiently 'loud.' This would
definitely be loud. The trooper was also squarely in Azarite's camp.
This way, he'd have proof of her disobeying his orders if she acted
up.

***************************************************************

     The dawn was particularly nice today, Artemis thought to himself.
He had let himself out the window a bit before sunrise to make quick
patrolof his territory. A brief chat with one of the local tomcats had
assured him that there had been no sign of the cat that he had been
looking for, at least not in this area. Once he had assured them that
he was not trying to claim any territory except the one house, his
relationships with the local cats had improved and they were often a
good source of information about new cats in the surrounding area. The
appearance of a sharp-clawed and sharp-tongued new female in the area
would be noticed by the other cats and he would eventually hear of her
arrival. I was drawn here by something, so I would assume she would
be, also. 
     It may not be the best logic, but it's the only hope he had on
this. I need her help. She was always with the Queen and the Senshi.
She'd know more about how to handle things here. I guess I'll have to
teach Minako the basics on my own. He got up and stretched lazily in
the clear sunlight of the early morning. He had slept well last night,
he thought. I just may be able to face this day.     
     " Once more into the breach," he whispered to the wind, and left
to find his new pupil.

**************************************************************

     Minako took the stairs at her usual three-at-a-time pace and the
last several in one leap, landing lightly in the hallway and startled
her mother, who was headed for the stairs.
     " Good morning, dear," her mother said, after getting her breath.
She embraced her daughter warmly and continued speaking. " Your father
and I would both like to thank you very much for getting those
tickets. We had a wonderful time, thanks to you."
     " Any time, mom. I knew you both had wanted to see that show and
that it a big disappointment to have had to miss it. I'm glad you had
a good time. Where's Dad?"
     " He's in the garage packing up the car. We decided last night
after the show to go out for a picnic today in the forest. You know,
the camping site by the old temple we sometimes go to. We both
realized how much fun we had last night and how some things had been
keeping us apart lately. We are going to go up there and spend a
little time together today. We'll be back later on, at about
seven or eight. Think you can handle a day on your own, sunshine?"
     " I think so, mom. I'm glad I could play matchmaker for the two
of you. Have fun up there."
     " That's good. Here, go to the mall and have some fun today or
get out for a bit." Her mother pressed several bills into her hand. "
It's too nice a day to stay inside."
     Her mother studied her for a few moments. " You look like you're
in good spirits today. I hope that you're over whatever had been
keeping you down lately"
     " I think I am. I got a good night's sleep and I think I could
take on the world! Tell Dad I said hi and I hope you both have a great
time," she said as she slipped around her mother and into the kitchen
to take care of her growling stomach.

************************************************************

     The young man who walked into the mens clothing shop was a real
hunk, the saleswoman thought. With those looks and eyes, she'd be
surprised if he wasn't a model. She kept her eye on him as he browsed
around the shop while she finished setting up the rfirst of the boys
coming in for suits for graduation and the proms should be starting
soon. 
     The young man had finished looking over the casual clothes and
business suits without really finding anything that interested him,
she thought. She saw him go over into the formal wear section and took
her chance. She walked over to him while considering what she thought
he should be wearing. 
     " Can I help you, sir?" she said in a sweet voice. She didn't
want to frighten him off by being too pushy or insistent. " Are you
looking for anything in particular?"     
     His eyes narrowed for a few moments as he was obviously thinking
about something. " I don't have anything coming up that I need it for,
but I thought I'd get a new suit today." he replied to her. She helped
him take off the green jacket he was wearing which left him in a black
shirt. " Let me take some measurements," she said. " Then I'll bring
out a few things in the right size and we can see what you would
like." After measuring him and resisting the temptation of a quick
feel, she spent about an hour with him trying on several different
suits.
     She had just returned from briefly helping another customer while
he was considering one her latest choices. The tuxedo looked wonderful
on him, and she decided to tell him so. She took a rose from a vase
and handed it to him as he stood before a full length mirror. 
     " You look great in that. The girls will be all over you. "
     He smiled back at her.
     " Thank you. I think I'll take it."
     He turned back to the image in the mirror. The sight of himself
in the elegant formal wear with the rose in one hand just seemed so...
so right.

*************************************************************

     She finished the last of her breakfast and let the cat in.
     " Here, I saved you some."
     The cat thanked her and began to eat. She finished cleaning up
and waited for him to finish. 
     "What happened to your parents, Minako? I haven't seen them
around here this morning."
     " They left to take a trip up to the mountains today. Dad's job
has been keeping him busy lately and they haven't had much time
together recently. I was hoping that the show last night would help
bring them a little closer together. It worked, so when it comes to
love, Venus knows all," she said with a wink at him.   
     " Congratulations. That will give us plenty of time to work on
some things today. You'll have to start practicing to learn more about
yourself."
     " More practice!" she cried in dismay. " I'm still sore from the
other night."
     " Are you really?" he replied. 
     She thought about it for a moment and flexed her arms around in a
very conservative motion,expecting a jolt of pain. It didn't come. She
swung her arms about her, reveling in the lack of the pain she had
from her workout yesterday.     
     " What happened? I should be so sore I shouldn't be able to
move."
     " I think there may have been some changes in you due to the
transformation. The senshi were all very strong and tough for their
size. Maybe your body is changing. Do you have a scale for measuring
with?"
     " Yes, in the bathroom. Why?"
     " We need to check something out. " He indicated for her to lead
the way, and they went into the other room. 
     " Try weighing yourself, Minako." The cat turned away and sat
with his back to her.
     " Don't peek, Artemis," she teased him as she slipped off the
robe and stepped on the scale.
     " What?!?" she exclaimed, and got off the scale and back on a few
times. " I don't believe this. I put on five pounds between yesterday
and today. I barely ate anything. It's not fair," she finished with a
pout as she put the robe back on. 
     Artemis glanced over his shoulder at sound of cloth on skin and
verified it was safe. He turned to her and said, " It may not be your
fault. Come on, let's go up to your room and check something out. I
think I know what happened."
     In her room, he directed her to try on several items of clothes
while he resolutely kept his back turned. After she had finished and
put on a pair of white shorts and a shirt, they discussed the results.
     " Minako, you gained about five pounds and grew about a half inch
overnight. It's either one sudden growth spurt or there have been a
few changes made by the transformation process. Now, you should start
practicing using that pen. Change back and forth several times." 
     She complied by switching to Venus and back as directed. She
hated the changing back part, she decided. It felt like she was
somehow lessened by taking her normal form. After he was satisfied
by that, he had her spend a couple of hours as Venus. This was, he
explained, to let her get to know the differences in her bodies. He
had her go through several of her martial arts drills as part of her
practice. 
     " What were you doing, following me to my workouts?" she
complained after several repetitions of a difficult maneuver. She was
starting to get sore from all the exercise he was putting her through.
This cat was a worse taskmaster than her current sensei.
     " No, but you did spend a lot of time working out in the yard in
the summer." he replied. "I just watched you here at the house while
you were outside. Karate, kendo, indiscriminate grappling, kung fu,
hapkido, and now jujitsu, if I recall."
     " How do you know so much about what I was practicing?" she
questioned him a few moments later. 
     " One of my duties was as a strategist. To do that properly, I
had to have a very good grounding in a lot of different things
concerning warfare and politics. I was able to notice the different
styles you used. "  
     " That's another thing I thing I wanted to ask, Artemis. You've
been around here for about 4 years. How come we didn't notice the
crescent on your forehead before?"
     " Of the few things that I can do, one of them is to hide the
crescent moon from people seeing it. From what I've been able to
figure out, it just seems unremarkable and is forgotten about. This is
a low level enchantment that affect everyone who sees it. I can
concentrate on a specific person and make them forget they ever saw
it, if the other ability doesn't work."
     " Did you ever do that to me?" she said.
     He thought for a moment and sighed. " No, Minako Aino. I did not.
I would never do anything like that to you." She thought about the
implications in his statement and how he had worded it. The cat
continued.
     " Now, I think that's enough practice for the day. I've got one
other thing to show you. You need to have the pen to be able to
transform, to the best of my knowledge. This is how you access
your storage space for keeping it in when you're not using it."

*********************************************************

     The bells of a clock tower tolling noon found them in one her
favorite outdoor malls. She already had picked a new dress to buy
later on and was looking for some accessories to go with it.
Artemis was currently riding on her shoulders as he found it safer
than trying to avoid the feet of so many people. 
     Minako had already spent about a half an hour talking to some of
her school friends she had ran into. He had to play at being a normal
cat during that time, and was glad when she seemed to notice his
plight and had left the group with a promise to see them at school.
     " I'm sorry about that. I haven't seen them for a while and got
to talking to them about a few things. You know, I feel really good
today, Artemis. I don't think I've enjoyed going out and shopping and
seeing people for a few months. I feel like I'm floating." she said a
she stepped up onto the rim of a fountain and walked around on the
narrow rim while pirouetting. " Let's get some ice cream! There's a
good shop up ahead."
     From her vantage point on the fountain, she could see a crowd of
people gathering up ahead. Sensing something amiss, she jumped down
and raced through the crowd and elbowed her way to the front.
     The scene in front of her was one of confusion. A young man lay
unmoving on the pavement.  Several other young men, wearing similar
shirts to their fallen companion, were gathered around the fallen
figure and a tall, pale man in a gray uniform of some sorts. They were
arguing about something.
     She felt the hair on her neck rising as a chill swept over her.
The cat had arched his back and dug his claws into her shoulder. He
hissed at the memories the uniform brought to the surface of his
mind.
     " Minako, get back out of here, now!" he said in her ear. " That
is the uniform of a soldier of the Dark Kingdom." She had worked her
way out of most of the crowd when a mass of black tendrils rushed
through the front rows of people and dropped them in their tracks. The
pale man stood there, clenching a black crystal and speaking in a
strange tongue. She backpedaled and cut into a side walkway as the
mass of people behind her broke and ran in panic, narrowly missing her
in their flight.
     " Artemis, get down." she barked as the cat leaped away from her.
She reached behind her and concentrated on the transformation pen. She
surged forward towards the main walkway, the cat in close pursuit.
     " Venus power, make up!" she cried and changed while she turned
the corner and looked at her adversary while charging him. He looked
surprised and confused already by what had been happening. I hope he's
up to another shock. 
     Her leap had been planned to just clear a person who had fallen
and had partially risen. She landed  behind the pale man, who had gone
even whiter upon seeing her.
     " It can't be! You're dead. We killed you back-"
     She whirled and snapped out a kick to his stomach that robbed him
of his words and breath.  This was followed up by a chop to the neck
that caused a sickening crunch of bone when it landed. He crumpled and
fell to the ground. 
     Venus looked at the body with a sense of grim satisfaction.
Minako looked at him in horror.  She'd just killed a man. She didn't
know why, but she'd just came in at him and everything she had learned
the past two years had clicked together and she had used lethal force.
This was against all her training, all her convictions she had learned
when she was growing up. Killing is wrong, she cried out to herself.
Why did you make me do this, she shouted at a part of her mind. Why
did you make-
     " Minako!" Artemis yelled at her and smacked her in the leg with
a paw. " The roof, now. Jump!" The cat leaped up to her shoulder as
part of her realized that getting away from the scene might be a good
idea. She looked up and leaped, not really believing she could make
it. 
     Her feet came to rest on the top of the ledge surrounding the
roof of the two-story building she had been in front of. How, she
thought to herself. How can I do that. The cat nudged the side of her
face.
     " Turn around, Minako. You need to see this." 
     The body on the ground was starting to disappear, turning into a
mound of dust that seemed to melt away. Some of the people on the
ground were beginning to stir. She stepped back away from the ledge.
     " Are they going to be all right?"
     " I think so. Those tendrils were draining energy from them.
Their life energy. They'll probably just need a few days rest to
recover." Artemis caught her eyes and held them on his. He needed to
make her understand the next part or self doubt would start to cripple
her.
     " Minako, I recognize that look on your face. You were blaming
yourself. You did not kill a man. You killed a monster who would've
preyed on these people and destroyed them if he had the chance. You 
are not to blame here. You did not do anything wrong."
     Minako stood there on the verge of tears for a few moments. Then
she gathered her self control and calmed herself. " I think I know
that now. It just scared me how part of me killed him so... casually.
So easily. I never thought I could do anything like that. Venus did it
without a second thought. I was thinking that being Venus was going to
be a breeze. I didn't realize that there would side effects like
this."
     " Venus had been a warrior for some time, Minako." the cat
replied. " She has fought these things before. I think you can trust
that part of you. She was never, never malicious or dishonest. I
don't think you have anything to worry about there. Look, the crowds
starting to wake up down there. Let's go check them out and make sure
they are all right. Then, I want to try that ice cream."
he said with a plaintive voice that brought a little smile to her. 
     She moved to the back of the roof and leaped down after making
sure it was clear. She put the cat down and reverted. Then they went
to take a lookat the real victims of this engagement.

***********************************************************

     Azarite was growing concerned. He had already returned from his
mission in England. The scans he was making of the two primary magic
sources were complete. He would be able to go and directly 
investigate the two sites on his next mission.
     His problem had to do with the group going to Tokyo. Aside from
Beld, two of the three lieutenants had already reported back in. The
one who was missing was his spy. This is not good, he thought to
himself. She must have done something to him, the mage thought. My
agent was too good to have provoked her.
     The gate flared into life behind him. He turned with anticipation
that faded as the blue haired telepath  stepped through and sketched
him a quick salute. She handed him her crystal and spoke.
     " Sir, I believe that something happened in Tokyo that was
unusual. The crystal grew very warm around midday for a few moments.
Then it seemed to vibrate and then settled down. I could not track
anything down in the limited time I had remaining without using my
other abilities, sir.  I'm sorry I could not determine what had
happened."
     Azarite gritted his teeth and collected the crystals from the
other two who were in Tokyo. They denied feeling anything unusual. He
cast a few spells, openly this time, and studied the sampling
crystals. There was a sharp spike in the background emanations, all at
the same time index and all about the same power in relation to it.
The three others would have had to be all at the source or all at the
same distance away from it at the time of the surge to have that kind
of information. This isn't helping determine what happened.
     " Beld, keep watch here until they close the gate. Report back to
me if the lieutenant comes through. Please also be here when the gate
is open tonight when they try for a delayed pick up. In the meantime,
I think we have just about enough information on Tokyo. I'll send you
in for one more recon in a few days. I'll have more orders on it for
you tomorrow." He swiftly went out of the room and to his office,
where he sprawled in a chair to think about the events that had just
occurred. This time, she had dodged his thrust.

************************************************************** 

     The girl sat in front of the roaring fire and contemplated what
she had seen there earlier. In spite of the warmth, she wore a red
robe with a white shirt over that. She kept the concentration up
that enabled her to continue her rapport with the flames.
     She had seen something. A blurred outline of a man in dark
clothing, attacking a group of people with some kind of energy. The
feelings she got from the man were bad enough, but the black
tendrils chilled her to the bone with the evil she sensed from them.
Then, almost too quick for her to see, a shadow swept by the man and
he fell and faded away just before her visions did.
     With a thought, she banked the fire in the ceremonial pit and
returned to the coolness of her rooms. This was not just a simple
matter of finding a lost key for someone, she had mastered that
years ago. This was the first time the fire had given her a
premonition of danger like this. The other warnings had only the
vaguest  feeling of danger to them. This one seemed serious. 
     Just to be on the safe side, she went to the storage room and got
some writing parchments and brushes and an inkstone. The very old
inkstone, the one that had been at the temple since the before the
gaijin came. These were the best in the temple, and her grandfather
would have a fit if he found her using them. She returned to her room
and began the laborious rituals for making her wards against evil. If
anything did happen, she would have a brand new set at the height of
their power. 


***********************************************************

     " Why did you let me eat so much? I think I'm going to die."
     " You insisted that you could handle it."
     " Yes, but why did you believe me? "
     " I figured that you would know your limitations."
     Artemis groaned and collapsed on the bed in Minako's room. He
never had thought that it was that rich, before. That shop must be
using some really good cream.
     The day had gone better than he expected. They had checked out
the victims of the attack and found them to be all right, but very
tired. The police had been talking about mass hysteria and UFO's when
they left to hit the ice cream shop. They had seen the crystal, or the
remains of it once they got around to looking for it. Something had
broken it, perhaps the fall when the man had flung it away due to
Minako's kick. It had been disintegrating like the corpse had. After a
few moments, it was gone.
     " Minako, I've got an idea." 
     She looked up from her reading of the late edition of the paper. 
     " Yes?"
     " He seemed to recognize you, at the last moment."
     " You're right, he did."
     " I think that we could get around that. If the Dark Kingdom
knows one of the Sailor Senshi is here, they might attack in force
right way. I don't think you're up to dealing with a small horde on
your own, just yet. I also think it would be a good idea to have
someone for them to see doing things that they will notice. They will
probably stop and investigate. It just might give us more time to find
the other senshi or the princess. How do you feel about becoming a
super-heroine?"
     " A what! Did that ice cream go to your head? " she said with a
little smile, teasing him about his overdoing it earlier. She sighed
and thought about it for a moment. " You mean hiding in plain sight? I
could stillfight the Dark Kingdom, but they wouldn't recognize the
enemy as one of their hated foes. I recall they didn't like us very
much there."
     " I should say so. There was a nice bounty on the heads of the
senshi if a Dark Kingdom warrior could collect it. If we change the
costume, we can confuse them. A few emblems of the Moon Kingdom 
thrown in will make them believe they're facing someone from there,
but their intelligence won't have any up to date information. They
must have only broken out recently, or we would have heard of them
before. We make a new costume, and Bingo!, an enemy who looks like a
Sailor Senshi but isn't like any of the ones they know. I like it!"
the cat finished, his stomach forgotten. " I know that none of them
used a color scheme of white, blue and red. That'll be our motif. Open
up the closets, girl, and pull out that transformation pen. We have a
senshi to create."

***********************************************************

     " All right, hand over the cash! Now!"  the young man yelled. He
emphasized the point by waving the wicked looking knife in the face of
the bank teller and shoved a bag at her. " Do it quickly, and you
won't get hurt. Hurry!" he yelled at her again.
     She had finally put the money in and he took off for the door
with the bag. As he ran out, he saw a pair of policeman running
towards the bank from the nearby substation.They must have gotten
to the silent alarm, he thought. In desperation, he looked around for
a diversion or distraction.  There! He raced towards a group of
children and grabbed a small girl and waved the knife in front of her
face. I just have to hold 'em a few more seconds and I'll be at my
ride.
     " Back off, man! I'll cut her if you don't!" he shrieked at the
police. He started backing away from them, with the child being
dragged along while crying. Just a few more feet.
     Something whipped past him and hit the knife, sending it flying
away to land near the police officers. A woman stood there, looking at
him with disdain. She had long blonde hair and wore a short blue
skirt. Her white shirt was cut short, exposing her waist and a red
ribbon was tied in a bow in the front. Sort of like a schoolgirl, he
thought, except for the red mask. He relaxed a little at the sight of
the pretty girl, and eased his grip on his hostage. It proved his
undoing. Her high kick slammed into his chest, safely above the
child's head. He flew back onto his car and barely saw his partner
there, with his hands tied to passenger side door, before he blacked
out. 
     She posed briefly for the mini-cam she pretended she didn't
notice being run by a concerned onlooker. " Don't worry, little girl,"
she said to the youngster, who had stopped crying. " I'm Sailor
V. I'm here to protect all of you." She flashed a V sign with her
fingers at the camera and gave it a quick, dazzling smile before
jumping down the street and up onto a building. She continued for a
few blocks, going from rooftop to rooftop. She finally jumped down,
changed back and scooped up the white cat.
     " Just like clockwork, Artemis. It couldn't go better if we had
planned it. There was even a camera. I bet we get on the news
tonight."
     " That's great, Minako. Sailor V is off to a good start. Let's
make the most of this holiday you have this week. "

************************************************************

     The evening news on Monday led off with a feature about the
mysterious heroine who had foiled a bank robbery in the morning and
was full of eyewitness accounts and the amateur footage from the
scene. She watched it with her parents and did a good job of being
impressed by it. She then went in to help her mother fix dinner. Her
father continued to watch the news program. He left to come to the
table just before the sports segment.
     " The auto racing world was stunned yesterday by the sudden
retirement of racing sensation Haruka Ten'ou, last years rookie
champion. Personal reasons were cited by the driver. This puts the
trophy in anyone's hands, as Ten'ou had a commanding lead in the
standings on the circuit. More sports and business, after these
messages..."
     Minako walked into the room to turn off the television. She
thought the boy in the picture was real cute, although she only saw
him for a moment before the commercials started. 

*************************************************************

     Azarite finished the reports concerning the missing soldier.
There was no sign of him or the crystal. He would have to send Beld
there one more time to complete the survey properly. He couldn't do it
himself, as much as he wanted to. He did not like losing any of his
men and would have liked to find out what had happened. The results on
England were just too important to ignore.
     The power sources there were gigantic. A small portion of either
would be enough to make him as powerful as Kunzite, at least in terms
of raw power. He still didn't think he was ready for that challenge,
yet. Maybe after a few more centuries of my studying him and Zoisite's
meddling, he thought. He still wasn't impressed by the nature of the
other general. He gets too involved in things, Azarite said to
himself. He can't keep business separate from personal issues. 
     Still, there was much he could do in England before he turned in
his final, doctored  reports. They should keep anyone from noticing
what I'm up to. The chance to work with a power source of that
magnitude was not one to be passed up. The experience would give him a
great advantage over his rivals here. The rivals he had now and the
ones to come. If he could somehow fully tap one or both sources, that
list could include anyone he could think of. Even Beryl herself. 

***********************************************************

     Beld stepped through the gate to Tokyo. The alley she used for
her entry point was nice and secluded. There had been no problems with
anyone finding it during several jumps. She walked to a park and read
the notes her spy in Azarite's group had written for her. The
lieutenant had been pre-occupied and used one of his troopers to
deliver his reports to Kunzite. She had him briefly read it and give
her a summary of the contents.
     He seems to think he can get away with this, she thought to
herself. He's got access to something with almost as much power as
Metallia and he's going to play with it. Beryl will have his head on a
pike, she thought with a happy smile at the image. She would never let
anyone get used to working with something like that. The Queen liked
to keep her advantages, and one of them was that she was the only one
who dealt with Metallia.
     I've got to leak this out, she thought. That will be a beautiful
revenge on him, she thought.  Beryl will probably keep him alive on
that pike for a while, too. She got up and left to finish her
assignment. 
     She had refrained from using her powers on her last assignment.
This would be her last time here, so she decided to check on her toy.
She fixed the image of the young mother in her mind and gently reached
towards it. The chaos and suffering that her target was going through
was sheer bliss to her. She savored it while walking throughout the
city streets, looking for a fitting event to mark her last visit here
for the near future.
     She didn't even notice the activation of the spell that Azarite
had cast a few days earlier.

***********************************************************

     Tuesday had been a boring day for the new darling of the media.
The consensus was that the heroine was from America, according to the
press. She still wondered why she let Artemis get that side of the
bet. She was sure she would have been considered an alien princess.
The only things she helped out with on Tuesday were a few accidents
and getting cats out of trees. 
     Wednesday had been a far different story. The morning had a fire
in an apartment complex and she had rescued a firefighter from being
trapped by the blaze. She was still astonished by how fast she could
run when she was Venus. As Minako, she was a fast runner. Venus could
move like the wind. She was considering what other differences there
might be when she felt her skin crawl. 
     She turned and looked at the cat next to her. " You felt it,
also?"
     " Yes," Artemis replied. He scanned the skyline from their
vantage point up on a building. He finally stopped when looking in the
direction of the Tokyo Tower. " There, I think. It seems to be coming
from that direction. I wish I could figure it out. As soon as I start
to notice it, it's gone."
     She put the cat on her shoulder and headed towards the tower.

************************************************************

     " Yes, Mother?"
     The young girl sat and looked at her mother. She wished she
looked more like her mother. She was feeling slightly awkward at this
age and would have loved to trade in her blue hair for the lustrous
black her mother had. Besides, she had explored the family tree as far
back as she could and found no mention or record of blue hair.
Genetics was an interesting thing but there was no valid reason she
could find for the color. She returned her attention to her mother.
     " I told you a few weeks ago that I had applied for a position at
the hospital near the Juban region. I just received word from them
today. I've been accepted for the pediatrics position there." 
     " That's nice, Mother. I'm glad you were accepted. You were
really looking forward to it."
     " Yes, dear. I was."
     After a few moments, the girl continued. " I guess this means we
will be moving again?"
     " I'm afraid so. We won't have to go for about six months to a
year, however. The hospital has already lined up a deal on a wonderful
house very close to the hospital, so I'll have more time to spend with
you there. I'm sorry it has been so difficult for you here, Ami. 
Please bear with it for a little longer."
     She gave her mother a faint, sad smile. " It's all right, Mother.
At least I'll be able to have a chance to say good bye to some of my
friends this time." 
     She turned and left the room to continue her studies.

***********************************************************

     Now, this has possibilities, Beld decided. Busy traffic and a
crowded park. She spent several minutes looking for a suitable
approach. Her last work had come out just fine, but the artist in her
did not want to do a mere repeat performance.
     She sat on a bench and moved the bag to her side. Another clerk
had been more than happy to give her duplicates of the maps she had
obtained earlier on her first mission here. These joined the notes
from her spy in the bag, obtained in  much the same manner as the
first. 
     Decisions, decisions, she thought to herself. Hoping that
inspiration would strike her in a way as satisfying as it had before,
she steered a child away from the now dozing mother in front of
her. The child could walk relatively well, and gamely trundled along
at the top speed his short legs would sustain.
     She almost had him into traffic when someone raced in and
snatched up the child and put him on the grass near his mother.
     " Afraid to pick on someone your own size, witch?" the figure
before her said. " Going after poor, defenseless children is pretty
low.  I'm Sailor V! On behalf of mothers everywhere, I'll punish
you for that." 
     The cat hiding behind the park bench the gray-clad menace sat on
winced at her choice of words and delivery. 
     " So you're the Sailor V I heard people talking about this
morning," Beld said as she rose to her feet, letting the bag slip from
her shoulder. There would be time to return for it after she dealt
with this nuisance. She whipped out the crystal and shouted the
command for it to drain everyone in the zone of effect except for her.
     The tendrils started to shoot out, but her primary target had
moved as soon as she had. The crystal was smashed out her grip by a
white-gloved hand. She heard the crystal break on the concrete as
Sailor V smashed into her and the two went flying from the collision. 
     " You'll pay for that one, maggot." Beld hissed as she struggled
to her feet. That shoulder in her chest had hurt. She lashed out with
her mind at her opponent, who had also just risen. She clamped down on
her assailant to keep her from moving. It was not an easy struggle,
for her opponent had a resilient and stubborn mind. This was her turf,
however. Few of the operatives in the psi-branch of the Dark Kingdom 
could even best her at this. That is how she stayed out the
organization; it had proven to be too expensive for them to continue
trying to bring her in. 
     " I've got you now. You can squirm all you want, but I've got
you. Your mind is nothing compared to mine. You'll wish you were dead
when I get through with you."
     She sent a lash of white hot pain through the link and was
rewarded by a scream of agony. Several more followed as she explored
how much this one could take. This promised to be a very fun time for
her. Then, she saw the right hand begin to rise. 
      Her mind bore down in a furious assault on the one in her mental
grasp. Still, the hand slowly continued to rise until it was pointed
at her, the thumb and index finger pointed at her and the rest
clenched. She could barely contain the seething maelstrom of raging
fury in front of her, but she_still_could_contain_it.
     Pain?!? What happened? Her concentration slipped for a moment as
she looked down at the white cat who stood by her leg and fastidiously
examined the claws it had just removed from the holes in the sensitive
skin at the back of her left knee.
     " Crescent Beam!"
     A blast of light tore across the space between the two as it
punched through the gray uniform.

**********************************************************

     Minako sank to her knees as both of them collapsed. The other
fell full-length on the grass of the park and began to turn to dust.
The pain in her head was unbearable and the light was causing
more waves of pain. From somewhere, she gathered her strength and
forced herself to stand.
     " Meow?"
     This caused her to open her eyes. This had to be Artemis, she
thought. If he wasn't speaking, it had to mean something was going on.
She spotted him on the park bench, standing on the bag the telepath
had dropped with his eyes full of concern. He couldn't say anything as
there was a crowd forming around her.
     " Who is she?"
     " It's that girl who's been on the news."
     " Is it Sailor V? She's so cool?"
     " Sailor V! Where?!?" 
     " Hey, everybody. It's her!"
     The crowd started to gather in around her, cutting off her from
her intended path to the cat and the bench. People started to grab at
her and a multitude of questions were shouted at her over the din of
the throng. She couldn't move without hitting someone. This was
getting bad, she thought over the rising panic.  
     A man in front of her reached out and took a firm hold on her
wrist. She didn't like the look on his face and instinctively pulled
her arm back a little bit. It was enough to cause him to react by
unconsciously pulling his arm back. This was the opening she needed,
as she remembered one of her lessons. His center of gravity shifted
back when he tried to withdraw his arm and she turned her wrist
slightly, yanked it free and shoved him. Her push combined with his
shift caused him to fall back, taking a few others with him.
     Freedom, she thought, and desperately leaped clear of the pack.
She landed near the cat and scooped him and the bag up as she tore out
of the park at her fastest speed. A few blocks later, she jumped up to
her new, private walkway that the city roofs had become. She stumbled
to a halt and put the cat down.
     " What did I do?" she asked the cat. " What was that?"
     " One of your abilities, I guess. Now that I've seen you do it,
it doesn't seem strange. I must have forgotten about it," the cat
responded with another look of concern in his eyes. " You were
really spooked there."
     " That wasn't good. I didn't think people would react like that.
Oh, gods, I never thought I'd be afraid of a crowd."
     " That wasn't a crowd, Minako. That was a mob. Are you all right?
You were really screaming back there." 
     " I think so. Beld was really messing me up, until you distracted
her. Thanks, Artemis. You saved my life there."
     " Beld? What, do you know her?" he said in surprise. 
     " No, we were still in rapport when her concentration lapsed and
the words came to me out of nowhere. It must have been Venus again. I
think we're starting to learn how to work together, finally. When Beld
died, I got a flash of images from her."
     " What about Beld? Who was she, where was she from? This could be
the break we need to stop the Dark Kingdom." Artemis replied,
excitedly. 
     " She was a telepath in the armies of the Dark Kingdom. She was
here on a scouting mission. They're planning something. I just can't
make it out."
     Minako walked around in a circle for a few moments, and then
reverted back to her normal self. It didn't feel so bad, today. She
opened the bag and started to look through the contents as the cat
looked on. The bag was full of maps.
     There were maps of Tokyo. These she recognized right away. The
others were of an island she did not easily recognize, with several
small circles in some areas. She looked at the characters on the map
and translated them. 
     " England? Why would she have maps of England?" she said to her
companion. " I can understand Japan and Tokyo. Why England if she was
here?"
     " Look! That page there. It's handwritten, not printed. Open it
up so I can see it." 
     Minako opened the note and held it so both could look at it. The
characters were unfamiliarto her, but Artemis had swung both his ears
forward and tensed. He looked just like a cat concentrating on a
mouse.
     " That looks the writing from an Old Earth language. It hasn't
been used since the end of theSilver Millennium."
     " How do you know that?"
     " Atlantis sank, silly. That's were Beryl had her staging area. I
can make out a few words. The language must have changed over the
intervening years. These symbols mean 'magic' and this one modifies it
to mean large or great. This is 'hero' and this translates out to
'rock.' " He paused as he thought about the others. " I think this one
is 'blade' and this is 'ring.' The others I'm not too sure about. I
wasn't up on my Atlantean."
     She thought about it for a few moments when something started
nagging at her. She searched her memories for a few moments and came
up blank.
     " What is magic? I know it seems a foolish question right now,
but what is it?"
     The cat sighed and put on his best instructor's demeanor. " Magic
is energy. It comes from all living beings and has to do with their
being alive. This type is normally the stronger. The other has to do
with what people believe in. This type has to do with faith. If
someone believes in something, a portion of their energy is instilled
in it. It is normally not as strong as the first, but if enough people
believe in the same thing-"
     " Wait!" She interjected. " Faith, like religion? Or is it just
'faith' in something. What if a bunch of people believed in the same
story? Could that be a concentration of energy?"
     He nodded to her. " I don't see where you're taking this,
though." 
     Minako pulled out the map of England. She stabbed her finger at
one of several spots that were circled. " Rock. Ring. Stonehenge."
     Artemis frowned. " But what is the other? Blade. Hero. What's the
connection?"
     Minako snapped her fingers in triumph.
      " Arthur!"
     He looked up at her and sat down on his haunches, clearly
startled. " They still believe in that old story? After all these
years? This is real bad. Minako, we have to go there. Now! If they can
tap that kind of power, the combined faith of a nation that has built
up for that long, they'll be able to break Serenity's seal and take
over the Earth. They'll be unstoppable."

***********************************************************

     The two had raced back to her house in order to figure out what
to do next. Minako used the stairs while Artemis took his shortcut
through a tree, and they met in her bedroom. 
     " How are we ever going to get to England, Artemis. I don't have
that kind of money. I'm just a kid to most people. They won't let me
go there alone."
     He paced back and forth on the desk, his tail switching as he
considered the alternatives. He looked at the computer she had at the
far wall and a plan began to form. First the computer, and now the
excuse.
     " Minako, is your father still at work? Can we get there before
he leaves?" 
     She looked at the clock and nodded. It was only three o'clock. "
I don't think the buses can, but I can, if you don't mind being
carried. He only works a few miles away."
     " Good. First, I want you to turn on that computer. Then I want
you to go make a snack of some sort and pack it to go. We're going to
go visit your father."

**************************************************************

     " Hi, Miss Aino! What brings you here today?" the secretary said
to her with a smile. Mr. Aino's daughter was always a welcome visitor
due to her cheerful disposition and the sweets she sent in for her
father's co-workers. 
     Minako set her bags down to give the cat a chance to get out. She
saw him scamper off around the corner and smiled back at the woman
after giving her a short, impulsive bow. " I thought I'd surprise him
today. Is he in his office?"
     " Yes, go right on in. He's not in a meeting or on the phone
right now."
     " Thanks! " she replied and picked up the now-lighter load and
went further into the maze of corridors on the second floor. She took
the familiar path to her dad's office and smiled at the greetings she
got. 
     " Hi, Dad! " she said as she opened the door. " Surprise!"
     " Hi, sweetheart. What brings you in here today? " He sat back
and looked around conspiratorially. " Did your mother say no to a
raise in your allowance?"
     " Dad! Stop it. I just wanted to surprise you today."  She took
out a package from one of her bags and handed it to him. Here are a
bunch of cookies for you and your friends here. What are you designing
today?" she said, indicating the computer in front of him. " I know
that's a CAD program." 
  
     He laughed and made some room in front of the terminal for her.
He tapped in the savecommand and then spent several minutes showing
her the portion of a building he was working on. A knock on the door
interrupted them.
     " Mr. Aino. I'm glad you're here. Hello, Minako," her father's
supervisor said warmly as he came in and took a seat. Minako stood,
bowed respectfully, and made to leave.
     " No, please stay, Miss Aino. This will only take a moment. Get
ready to pack your bags, little girl.  There is a company in England
that we've been dealing with that wants an engineer to consult with on
a project. I'm sending your father there for this assignment. He's
done great work here for us here and I think that he's the best person
we have for the job."
     She giggled to herself. So that's what he was up to. She smiled
eagerly and turned to her father. " That's great, Daddy. Can we go,
please? I've been wanting to go there for so long. We've been studying
about it in school" 
     Her father nodded and spoke to his supervisor. " How long of an
assignment are we talking about here?  This is very sudden."
     " It should be about three months. The firm in England contacted
me a few days ago and I just made my final decision. They will be
covering the expense of the visit. We have a hotel lined up for now,
and they are looking into a house for you to stay in and a tutor for
your daughter to help cover her missed schooling here. 
     " They do need you right away, however. The plane leaves tomorrow
evening at around eight. What do you say?"
     " I'd be glad to, sir. It sounds like a good assignment. Thank
you for the opportunity." her father replied.
     " That's good, very good. My secretary, Kimiko, has the tickets
being sent over and the paperwork being drawn up.  Check with her when
you leave today for them. You'll need tomorrow to pack, so don't
bother coming in." 
     He turned and left after snagging a cookie as she congratulated
her father. She was excited about the trip, even though the prospects
of what she might face there scared her.  She barely heard her
father's supervisor speaking to someone outside.
     " -and one other thing. That cat got up on my windowsill again
somehow. Please go get him down, and give him some milk or fish or
something."

***********************************************************

     " Good evening." the girl said cheerfully with a forced smile on
her face as the door opened. The older man stepped back in surprise at
the cloth covered plate she pushed into his hands.
     " What's this for?" he questioned her.
     " My cousin decided to rent the apartment you showed to me last
weekend." She piled several pieces of paper and an envelope filled
with currency on top of the cloth as she continued. " Here is the
rental agreement and information forms he picked up last night, the
first and last month's rent, and a plate of cookies for you."
     She smiled at him again and bowed quickly, the brown hair in her
ponytail bobbing up and down. Please say yes, she thought desperately.
I couldn't take it in that foster home and I think I'll go crazy or
kill somebody if they try the orphanage again.
     The man frowned for a moment and then relented with a smile at
her hopeful expression. " All right, we'll do it. I was expecting to
see your cousin, however. I had thought he would be handling this."
     " I'm sorry, sir, but he had to take on a second job because of
me. My parents died several months ago and he was the only one of my
family who would take me in." Actually, none of them had, she thought
bitterly. Her 'cousin' had been a close friend of hers.  Both her
parent's families had been against the marriage and she was treated as
an outcast by both branches. She forced herself to continue past the
sudden tightness in her throat at the memory of her parents.
     "His old apartment was too small for two people, so he got a
second job to cover the new expenses and he's looking for a new job
closer to this area. He'll be around on some of the weekends,
however. Sometimes the commute is tough enough for him to rent out a
coffin near work, sometimes.  I handle keeping up the house so he
won't have to do that also. He's pretty exhausted doing this and it's
very sweet of him."
     The weekends were the only time her friend could come over and
pretend to be her cousin. She was tall enough to put on a guys
clothing and come and go a few times at night to help keep up the
illusion of two people staying there. As long as the insurance checks
continued to come, she'd be all right.
     The man turned and rummaged through a drawer near him. He took
out a set of keys which he put down while he signed the forms and
counted the cash and made her a receipt. Then he handed her the keys.
     " Here you go, Miss Kino. I'm very sorry about your parents and I
hope that you enjoy yourstay here."
     " Please, call me Mako-chan. Everybody does." She said back with
another smile, this one not as forced.

****************************************************************

     " There is a danger here, master." the boy said. He looked at the
old man before him. The years had not been kind to one who had eluded
their touch for so long. The masters face was deeply lined by the
sudden onset of old age in the last several years. He wished all the
others who slept could be here to help the three of them. The only
other person in the room dozed before the fireplace, his broad
shoulders blocking most of the light.
     " I know, young one. It is our job to face it." he paused to
cough a few times, hoarse dry coughs that brought him no relief from
the fluid in his lungs. " We have to protect the realm, but only if
someone in the realm defends it first. If nobody does, then the dream
is dead and the realm is not worth protecting. Those are the rules the
dreamer gave us."
     The boy thought about this for a few minutes. The particulars
about this case that confronted them were slightly different from the
normal emergencies. " Master, what if the threat is one who should
defend the realm, like in this case?" 
     The old man smiled at the eagerness that the boy approached the
problem with. The lad wasn't sure of himself yet, but he will be
someday. He'll make a fine successor for him to pass the reins to. "
Then, someone will come from outside the realm to protect it, just
like the legends say." 


**************************************************************

     The old place doesn't look the same, he thought to himself with a
touch of homesickness. The fields that were his were now tracts of
housing on the outskirts of London. He shrugged off the emotion. It
was a luxury for him that he could not afford.
     He had come a long way since he had last left his fields. He had
been a successful and prosperous farmer at one time, with an eye for
opportunity. He had convinced several farmers near him to cooperate
with him and pool their crops together, which he sold in nearby
Londonium, as the Romans had called it. Some of the natives had still
called it that in his time.
     The profits he had made were split up among the other farmers,
with his getting a double share for his work in selling it. This had
enabled him to own and have several farms operated for him by the time
he was thirty. Then he heard the siren call of power. The attack on
the Moon Kingdom promised much in the way of spoils and power if it
succeeded. While most considered it a myth, he knew better. He had
spent much of his free time in the libraries the Romans had left and
consulting with the traders who visited the growing city. There was a
kingdom up there, and it was rich beyond his wildest dreams. 
     He sold off his farms and that of his partners, as they had made
him the manager of their affairs. He used that money to outfit enough
troops to give him a position of rank in the armies that were forming
up on Atlantis as Beryl readied her attack on the Moon Kingdom.
     The ensuing battle was a nightmare. Most of his troops were
unskilled farmers eager for the glory he had promised them to lure
them to his side. They died to a man in the first clash with the
Guard on the moon. He had barely escaped his death there, but the
press of numbers had prevailed and the Guard had been defeated. 
     Then the nightmare got worse. Several women in strange costumes
slashed in from all sides at Beryl's forces. They were unstoppable,
going through ranks of armed men like he had once gone through rows of
wheat with his scythe. The elements themselves seemed to conspire
against them as the women bested the remainder of Beryl's mercenaries.
He had seen a bird made of fire rise from the legends he had read.
Others told tales of wondrous and terrible sights; ice that fell from
the sky, waves without oceans, shafts of sunlight that burned, a
shrieking madwoman with a sword that went through iron and flesh
without seeming to notice the difference, and lightning that fell from
the cloudless skies of the moon.
     Later, after he had learned of the personalities of those
involved and the powers used, he was able to piece together what had
happened after he somehow had made it to the rallying point around
Beryl. She had her agents preparing long and well for this. The
mercenaries had all just been cannon fodder to exhaust the Guard and
slow down the Sailor Senshi. On Earth, monasteries and churches were
ransacked and libraries plundered all over what was to be known as
Europe. Priceless works of art, rare and valuable tomes, people and
the whole kingdom of Atlantis were sacrificed to gain power for Beryl,
and those times truly became the Dark Ages. The 'sacrifice' spells
gave power based on the value of what was sacrificed. She had used
this to annihilate the senshi in one blast and destroy the Moon
Kingdom. She was sure she had her triumph, for her enemy did nothing
to resist her destruction.
     Serenity; however, did the one thing Beryl could not anticipate
and would never consider. Her hired mages would not do it, either. The
sacrifice spell gives one power in relation to the value of the item
to the one who sacrificed it. 
     Serenity sacrificed her life. In one awesome blast of white
light, the scales were tipped. The remaining several hundred troops
loyal to Beryl who had made it to her standard were sealed away in the
darkness, sealed away from the Earth. Metallia was comatose, and Beryl
not much better for several years. The generals who Beryl had
bewitched took over running the remaining troops and exploring this
new land that they were in. None of their efforts could break the
seal. They learned to support themselves and eke out an existence in
the darkness.
     They used their tactics to carve a kingdom from the monsters
around them. The more intelligent and humanoid of the monsters were
subjugated. Some could cross breed with the refugees from Earth and 
those children became the hideous youma. They would be the cannon
fodder of the next war. The remaining troops became the officer corps
for the growing armies. As the survivors grew older, they made a
startling discovery. Whatever happened on the moon had changed them in
one way. They were not aging as fast as their children, and would
enjoy a life that was long enough to give them a hope of getting
revenge on the ones who had banished them here.

************************************************************

     He returned to the problems of the present. If he could manage to
pull off his plans here, he could get his revenge on Beryl for using
him like that. He went to a public garden near his old home and
stretched out under a tree there. The smell of the roses reminded him
of all he had lost here and had to go through in the past thousand
years. The flowers and the other growing things were the things he had
missed most of all in the Dark Kingdom. 
     The two power sources were of different kinds. Stonehenge was a
node, a rare gathering point of magical energies. When he was younger,
he had wondered why the druids had put the stones there. Now, he knew.
It was a great source of power, but tricky to work because of the
sheer magnitude. 
     He had worked with the small node in the Dark Kingdom that sat
under Beryl's castle. This one was not really that much different
except for the sheer size. His mage sight had told him that much
during his studies. It would be his first goal, as he was confident he
could control it.
     The other had truly surprised him. He had heard the stories when
he was a youngster. There were still bards in those times, and he had
thrilled to the exploits of the boy who became king and drove invaders
from his land. The tale had persisted over the years and spread and
grew, until many besides those from England truly believed the tale
that he still rested, waiting to protect it. 
     Glastonbury Abbey was the supposed resting site of King Arthur.
He knew better from the stories of his time. They were not distorted
by a millennia of artisans exploiting it for their own gain. The bards
of his days were honored and revered, and held true to the tradition
of passing down stories without change. 
     Glastonbury Tor was his point of attack. That was the place where
Arthur was supposed to rest in. According to his mage sight, the hill
was the focal point of this power, not the Abbey. That building was
just an attempt by the followers of the Christ to absorb a pagan
legend.
     It was too soon to try anything, however. He decided to stop
operations in Tokyo and concentrate on England. This would give him
more time to study the situation here and keep him away from the Dark
Kingdom where he would be observed more readily. The moon was full
right now and he did not want to challenge these places at the peak of
their power. He would wait until the new moon in a few weeks and do it
then. The power he would gain if he was successful would still be more
than enough for his purpose. He considered the irony of it. A Briton
was about to steal the power from the ultimate protector of Britain. 
     He stood and stretched as he walked over to the rose garden and
chose two of the best there. One was for his quarters so he could
remember his home and the place he was about to try and conquer. The
other was for his commander. He'd take it and give it to Zoisite, and
the two would be too smitten to think straight for a week or more.
That should keep Kunzite from realizing what was between the lines in
his reports long enough for him to make his play.    

***************************************************************

     Minako was frantically packing her clothes and trying to figure
out what she really needed for an extended stay in another country and
possibly saving the world. She looked over at the cat who slept
contentedly in the sun. He'd done his work earlier in the day.
     With her permission, he had gently altered the memories of her
parents to make him seem like a pet they had for several years. She
had her misgivings, but his arguments were correct. He had to go to
England with her. It would take him too long on his own to get there,
and sneak through customs to avoid the quarantine they put on animals
traveling from one country to another. That was worse than a prison to
him. He could handle customs with her help.  
     Last night, he had explained what he had done to her father's
supervisor.
     " I told you before that I would never use my mind to do anything
to you, Minako.The reason you never saw much of me was that eventually
I have to change someone's memories if they see me to many times. The
spell I use that masks me will only affect a person for so long. After
that, they'll start to notice the crescent mark. I never wanted to
have to do that to you or your parents, so I stayed away from you most
of the time. I stayed out of sight, and therefore out of mind.
     " The same doesn't apply to anyone else. What we are doing is far
too important. I changed your father's supervisor's decision on this
project. He was going to give it the son of a business partner of his
in a company he has stock in as a gift to keep his partner happy. I
kept him from sending your father away to a position in Hokkaido two
years ago, and made him give your father the promotion he deserved and
got last Christmas. Your father deserved it, and I saw that he got it. 
     " It also insured that you would not be moved away from this
area. I found you here after searching all over the world. I think I
woke up about when you were born, Minako. I roamed all over Europe,
and when I didn't find anyone I recognized, I went west to the United
States. I still didn't find anyone that I knew. When I arrived in
Tokyo a year before I found you, something felt right about it. When I
did find you, I decided that I would not lose you. 
     " Furthermore, I found you here. If any of the other Sailor
Senshi are to be found, it will probably be here. I will not lose you
again, Minako. I will sacrifice anything, including my life, to be
able to find the Moon Princess and protect both you and her."
     She sat down suddenly, overwhelmed by the force of his
convictions. Then, she realized something. " You said again. When did
you lose me before? " 
     The cat replied in a quiet, sad voice.  " I lost you when the
Moon Kingdom was destroyed. I know you're Minako Aino, but you're also
Sailor Venus. I was friends with the Sailor Senshi, and the pain I
suffered when Beryl destroyed them was nothing I plan on going through
again."
     She picked him up and held him to her as he shook from the pain
of the emotions he was remembering. She recalled him saying that there
was a bond between them. If the pain she was feeling  was part of
that, he must be in anguish right now.
     She thought she was having problems with adjusting to being
Venus. He'd been alone for at least thirteen years, with nobody to
talk to or relate to and had a mission to fulfill while not even
knowing what to do to accomplish it. She'd held him until he had gone
to sleep, and then gently put him on pillow to let him rest. 

************************************************************


     Minako slipped out of her room and walked to the stairs at the
end of the hallway. The separate rooms that Artemis had arranged
through her computer had been very welcome. She couldn't have been
doing this every night if she was in the same room as her parents. 
     England was a very different place than Japan. Gray and gloomy,
she thought. The only bright spot was what she was learning.  Her
skill with the language had been improving steadily since her arrival
a week and a half ago.
     True to his word, customs had been a breeze for Artemis with her
help. She had simply stuck him in a bag and he had suffered through
the long flight with her in the passenger compartment. At customs, he
merely made himself 'unremarkable' for a moment and the customs agent
had merely thought it was a stuffed animal the girl had in there. She
had kept the vacant look and sweet smile up for as long as she could
and he was busier looking at her than her bags.  
     Sailor V had been making appearances in England with a great deal
of success and the press was now fully into the swing. She even could
be a princess again, if the stories in the tabloids were correct. The
older of the two young princes was apparently head over heels in love
with her, and one was even running a story that she was meeting him
for romantic trysts at night on the castle grounds. Her real nightly
excursions had been into a different world than what her textbooks
told her about England. She had stayed in the worst areas of town and
broken up several fights and robberies, and rescued a few others.
     There had been no signs of the gray uniforms. There weren't any
magical disturbances, either. At least, none they could detect. She
had gone on a tour of several tourist spots on their second day there,
including Stonehenge and Glastonbury with her mother and a cat hiding
in a bag. There was nothing unusual about what was going on there. She
had returned to the hotel with her mind full of questions. They had
discussed it on the night after the tour and decided Sailor V needed
to generate some publicity to turn up the heat and see if anything was
flushed from it's cover.

*******************************************************

     " It's better than we could have dreamed about, sir," the younger
man said to his supervisor. " She's was seen here for about a week and
now she's in London.  It's perfect. We've got a super-heroine who
travels the globe and fights crime. No licensing fees. Free
advertising from the press."
     " I know. The staff in the model department has been working
overtime on this since the word broke out she was spotted in London on 
last Monday. We expect to have the lawyers'  decision tomorrow.
      " In the meantime, get some people to start on designs for
buttons, patches and anything else we can put her likeness on. Then go
see the video game people. Tell them to drop whatever they are working
on and adapt their engines for games with her. We'll ride this wave as
far as we can. The profits could be remarkable on this one."
     " And then I'll go check on the animation studio, sir," the
younger man said with a predatory smile.

*********************************************************
     
     This couldn't be going better than if I planned it, Azarite
thought to himself. The situation in the Dark Kingdom was one of
chaos. General Nephrite had led a campaign to have himself made
the commander of the armies that would attack the Earth. Kunzite held
that position and was not about to give it up for anything. Zoisite
due to something Nephrite had said to him and he had turned on Kunzite
and belittled him in public before the throne. Jadeite simply stood
out of the way. Nobody knew where Nephrite got his information, but
Azarite thanked several deities for the timing. 
     The day after tomorrow, he would make his move. The uproar in the
ranks of the generals had kept them from their normal duties and no
concerns had been raised at his recommending that Tokyo was to be
disregarded as a source of energy. Two agents had been lost there, and
no information had been gained on the magic there. He had reported
that there were too many variables there, and suggested that
operations be halted while he concentrated on the delicate situation
in England. 
     The prospect of the power available in England had blinded Beryl
to his machinations, thanks to the distractions the generals had
provided. He had not mentioned anything of the problem that this
Sailor V person might represent. That would cause the generals and
Beryl to drop everything to concentrate on what appeared to be an old
enemy who had returned. His curtailing of many of the scouting
missions, and the misdirection of the others into the uninhabited
areas had worked. He didn't think that any of his troopers had even
heard of her or seen any of the papers that covered her exploits. 
     He'd have to be careful, of course. She could show up at any
time, but he had a defense against her. Drake had been thrilled at the
prospect of combat with one of these legendary enemies,and had sworn
an oath of loyalty to Azarite in exchange for the chance to hunt her
down. He hadn't seen Drake for a couple of days, but he was not too
concerned. Drake was not bright, but he was extremely cunning. He'd
figure out a way to flush her out and then he would destroy her.

************************************************************

     " Don't these kids do anything but fight," she remarked to her
companion as they perched on a roof.  " Arsenal this, Manchester that,
and the next thing you know there is a brawl going on that the bobbies
don't even want to break up because they're arguing it out among
themselves."
     " Don't be too harsh, Minako," the cat laughed. " I saw the look
on you're face when that pop star showed up at the hotel the other
night. You were ready to turn into Venus just to get up there
for an autograph. I saw you start to reach for _the_  pen, and it
wasn't for him to sign something with."
     " I did not!" she exclaimed in her defense. " That girl in front
me of had sent my other pen flying with her elbow. That big cow did it
on purpose."
     " Now, now," the cat said, trying to placate his partner. 
     As the fight before them began to calm down, a large figure
walked up from out of an alley. " It looks like I'm almost too late
for the fun, lads." He wore a green, white and orange flag draped
over his shoulders. He looked at the apparent winners and sneered at
them. " You Manchester fans are a bunch of poofters. Arsenal isn't any
better. The lads over in Dublin would eat 'em alive if you weren't
afraid to play in the same league."
     This was too much for the group of young men. With a roar of
outrage, enemies became allies as they staggered up and rushed the
newcomer. He awaited them with a smile. The flag was flung into the
face of the first victim as he delivered a powerful forward kick that
sent the young
man flying to the accompaniment of several broken ribs.
     The rest didn't even stop. They piled onto the large man, but the
pair observing the fight from the roof top had seen enough. The
antagonist had been wearing a gray uniform under the Irish flag.
As they leaped down to the street, the man was laying about him with a
passion and sending bodies flying. The last of the toughs fell to the
ground as Minako came running up. The giant turned to her.
     She gasped in surprise. From a distance, he had not looked so
big. Up close, she could see he was a monster. About a foot and a half
taller, and probably twice or more her weight. She'd have to be
careful here. She'd already made the mistake of getting in too close
for her crescent beam, she chided hereself as she slid her feet into a
combat position. She wouldn't have the time to fire it off before he
could hit her. 
     He looked at her for a moment and then spoke in a deep rumble. "
You're that girl in the papers. They taught us about you. The Sailor
Senshi were supposed to be the best the Moon Kingdom had to offer.
I've always wanted to fight one of you." A savage grin spread across
his face." My name is Drake. Your head will make a worthy trophy!" 
     He darted forward and swung a roundhouse at her. It was fast, but
not fast enough. She ducked under the punch and stepped slightly to
her left and forward so she was facing the side he had left open 
as his punch went past. She hammered two short, quick punches into his
kidneys. He didn't even notice. 
     A backhand slap came in, far faster than the original punch. It
struck her squarely in the face, staggering her and sending her mask
flying. She tried to move out of the way of what was next, but to no
avail. That first punch had been designed to throw her off her guard
and make her think he was slow. He wasn't.
     The man turned to face her and then planted his left foot forward
and to _her_ left. She struggled and raised her arms up to try and
block. This was going to hurt. The spinning kick smashed through her
guard like it wasn't there. She felt several things break inside as
she impacted against the wall that was several feet behind her.
     Before she even had the time to slide down the wall, a massive
fist slammed into her stomach. She collapsed over it from the force of
the blow and lost her breath. She could taste blood. She must be
bleeding internally from one of those hits.
     Artemis stood in shock at the sight before him. It had happened
so quickly he hadn't been able to do anything. She crumpled to the
ground after the last hit and managed to roll over onto her back. He
could see the blood staining her clothes. Not again, he cried to
himself. Not again. I won't lose her again. He snarled and rushed the
Dark Kingdom warrior. At the last moment, he darted to the side and
leaped, hoping to avoid a counter-attack.
     The hope was futile. The man quickly pivoted out of the way and
swatted the cat halfway to the end of the street.  Artemis landed and
skidded into a ball that did not move. Minako bit back a cry as the
pain from trying to call his name hit her. She could barely draw a
breath. She watched as he walked over to her and noticed she was
alive.
     " You're tougher than you look. That should have killed you.
You'd have made a good opponent with some training." He put one
massive boot on her chest and applied a small amount of pressure. "
Unfortunately, you won't get that training. I have to kill you now."
     She winced at the pain and looked up at him. She knew that she
would probably die here. She couldn't see any way out. Why now, after
she had just found out who she was? She wouldn't be able to see her
sisters-in-arms. Her parents. Artemis. They had gone through so much
for her. She wouldn't see them again. Her duty would not be finished.
Venus, Minako thought, I need you now. I can't do it on my own. We can
do it, together. I know now that this is the way it must be. We are
one and the same now, not two different people in the same body. I was
wrong to think that.
     Something moved in her, something old and hard, and she felt the
energy gather in her. She looked up at the monster above her, who was
clearly enjoying her pain and suffering. " They never told you what
happened to Beld, did they?" she rasped out in harsh whisper. She
reached up and took hold of the man's leg with her left hand and
closed her fist on the fabric around his knee. She pulled herself up
slightly so she could see him clearly through the red haze obscuring
her vision. He bent down to look at her, expecting another statement
from her. 
     Now, she thought to herself. The sigil on her forehead shone with
orange fire as she forced the words past the pain of her broken ribs.
" Crescent..." It hurt so much to say it, the pressure in her chest
was so bad. She flung her right arm up and pointed it at his face. "
...Beam." 
     The pain coursed through her as the energy did. She fell into the
blackness of oblivion. 

**************************************************************

     The black cat dragged herself up into the tree. Traveling all
through the night had exhausted her, but she had been so near her goal
she was compelled to reach it as soon as possible. The noises outside
had died down as the flood of children going to school dropped off to
a trickle and then stopped.
     This place finally felt right. For years, she had been driven to
find a certain place. This was it. Now, she could really rest. The
tree promised to be a good spot for a long sleep. There was a wide
flat branch to rest on, and the leaves would let in enough sunlight to
keep her pleasantly warm but not overheat her due to her black coat.
She stretched lazily and curled up into a ball, with the tip of her
tail covering her nose.
     In a few moments, she was sound asleep. The ending of the world
would probably not even wake her up. Only one of her ears barely gave
the hint of twitching as a young girl ran by underneath the tree with
a piece of toast in one hand. 
     " Why didn't they get me up sooner?!? I'm going to be so late!!"
she cried as she ran past, her long blonde hair fanningout behind her
in twin streams that descended from the two small odango on her head.

**************************************************************

     " There, lad. What did I tell you?"
     " It's just like the legends said, Master. Can we help them
now?"
     He smiled again at the boy's eagerness. His heart was truly in
the right place. The old man felt much better now. The prospect of
action seemed to ease his old pains, even if the only thing he
would be doing was sitting here and giving orders. Well, almost the
only thing.
     " Yes. Go and get your things ready."
     The boy dashed off with all the eagerness of youth that the old
man wished he had now. He turned to the other man, who was sitting in
the far corner and putting an edge on a wicked looking lochaber axe. 
     " Percy?"  
     The other looked up, happy to hear the familiar banter once
again. The old man had been inactive for too long and it had worried
him.
     " You know that isn't my name, you old fool. What is it now?"
     " Please go and dig up that casket I had you bury back when we
started here. Be very careful with the contents, as the container is
bound to have gotten a bit fragile over the years."
     " I go to all that work to get it and now you think I'll drop it
or use it to water the daisies. You're impossible, old man. Of course
I'll be careful. I know better than you what is in there." He left to
get a shovel and a pick. They would have to be there soon and time was
important. 
     The old man looked at him as he left and softly replied to the
empty room. " Thank you, Percival."

************************************************************

     She was hurt. Badly. She could tell that much, even as she
drifted in the darkness. There had to be a couple of ribs damaged, if
not outright broken. Probably some internal organs, also. She could
still taste blood in her mouth, and her breathing was labored and had
a bubbly feel to it that she did not like at all. I'm dying, she
thought. Is this what it is like? I thought it would hurt more.
Everything seems to be sort of detached from me, like it really isn't
happening to me.
     Voices seemed to come to her, but they seemed far away, distant. 
     " Over here. She's badly hurt." A young voice, clear and even.
He'd make a wonderful singer, she thought. An older voice, deep and
gravelly, responded.
     " Don't be in such a hurry. If she is still breathing, we can
take care of her with it. Will you look at those clothes? I thought
they had gotten funny the last time I was here during the real Great
War. How is the other one?" 
     " You mean the cat?"
     " No, I mean the one without a head who's dissolving. Yes, I mean
the cat." 
     " Badly bruised and unconscious, but he'll live. He's made of
sterner stuff than he looks.About a drop, I think. She'll need more."
     Artemis must be alive, she thought. She could let go now. He
could still finish the mission. The princess would be safe. She felt
herself start to slip further away from what was happening. She
didn't mind dying so much now. She felt something out there that
called to her, and she longed to join it in the blackness.
     " She's going, Percival. Get it, quickly."
     " Don't worry, lad. This here is mighty potent. She'll be all
right after a sip."
     Something cold was pressed against her lips. She swallowed the
water by reflex. It seemed to help. The pain inside her seemed to
recede away. She felt parts of her insides seem to churn a moment and
then agony as her broken bones set themselves back together. She
screamed once, softly, and then began to sob as the pain was suddenly
gone.   
     " That wasn't what it was like the first time," the older voice
commented. 
     " His soul was sick, and he drank straight from it," the younger
replied as he showed off his learning to the older man. " Her injuries
are physical, and she is one step removed. Look, the sign on her
forehead is glowing. The master said that she would be all right when
that happened."
     Minako opened her eyes and looked around her. She still lay on
the street, but her body was blissfully free of the pain. She looked
up to her two benefactors. They made a strange pair. The boy was only
about seven or eight, but had a fierce intensity to his gaze and
couldn't seem  to sit still for a moment. The man was almost as big as
the beast that she had just fought, but had a look of gentleness to
him that was a distinct contrast to the axe slung over his back. 
     " Who are you?" she said to the pair. " What happened?"
     The boy sat next to her and helped her to sit up. " I'm one of
the Merlin. My friend there is Percy. We came here to help you. Your
friend will be all right." he said, indicating the cat next to her.
Artemis had been moved and put on top of a blanket.
     " We call him the sprout, lassie. One minute he was barely up to
my knee, and look at him now. I figure he's decided to become a tree,
from the way he's growing up so fast." Percy said to her. " Don't let
him fool you with that 'Merlin' stuff. It will be a long time till
he's one of them."
     The boy looked slightly crestfallen. Minako gave him a smile of
gratitude and he perked right up. She giggled softly, just for a
moment, to spare him too much embarrassment at his reaction to her
smile. " Thank you. What was that you gave me?" 
     " Percy was the one who found the Holy Grail,"  the boy said. 
     " What!" she cried out. 
     " He's Percival; the Percival in the legend." the boy patiently
explained. " When he gave Arthur a drink from it, the king was healed,
as was the land. The Merlin who was there took the remaining water and
hid it away from the curious and the evil-doers. We gave you just a
little bit to heal you. You were starting to die."
     " This is a little hard to believe," she said. She looked closely
at the youth before her. " Aren't you a little short to be Merlin?
He's taller, with white hair and a long white beard."
     The man answered her. " It's _the_  Merlin, lass. It's a title,
not a name. The bards erred and turned it into a name. The sprout here
will be one of the Merlin someday, if he keeps his learning up." He
took a deep breath and conjured up some old and painful memories. " I
came back to thebattle after returning Excalibur to the Lady of the
Lake. Merlin took the few surviving knights with him to guard England,
just as Arthur had wanted us to. It was the King's dream to have a
land where doing the right thing was important, not how strong you
were or how big an army you could raise. Me and the knights had
sworn an oath to fulfill that dream, and Arthur's death wouldn't stop
us from obeying it. 
     " The Merlin put most of 'em to sleep to wait until they would be
needed. They've kept me alive to help them stand guard. We watch over
England from the realm of Faerie, and if need be, we'll awaken the
King." He took a small stone jar from inside his shirt. After working
the stopper out, he carefully put one tiny drop of a liquid that
glowed like sunlight onto Artemis' tongue. The cat's eyes started to
open, and he blinked a few times as he took in his surroundings.    
     " That should be good enough for credentials, lass. Tell her,
sprout. We can't stay all night here."
     " He's right, Mistress Venus. We have to be getting back to help
my master. He's the Merlin right now. He told me of the stories of the
Moon and of who you were and what you had done. I'm sorry your kingdom
was lost also. It sounded like it was as glorious as Camelot in some
ways." 
     The boy stood up and gave her a warm smile. " We would like to
thank you for your help in defending England. That is why we helped
you. The one you seek is a traitor to his land. We cannot stop him,
but my master can close off the place of power to him. He will go to
usurp the power of the dreamer. You must protect the King, Mistress.
The traitor will come to Glastonbury Tor soon and try to ruin the
dream for everyone." Tears were running down his face as he continued
to plead his case.
     " Please stop him, Mistress. More than this realm will suffer if
he succeeds. The king never could imagine betrayal like this, my
master said. We can only protect England from threats from the
outside. The traitor was once an Englishman, and we can only hope that
you will protect England from one of her sons gone astray."
     The two seemed to blur for a moment, and then faded away. 

*************************************************************

     They had somehow managed to make it back to the hotel after she
collected her mask. She was still in a daze at the events of the
evening and probably overpaid the cab driver by a large margin. She
didn't care right now. All she could manage was to drag herself up the
stairs to her room and make it to the bed. She put him on it and
collapsed next to the already sleeping cat.
     Morning found them still asleep. At around noon, they both woke
to a knock at her door.
     " Minako?" her mother called softly. 
     She sat up in surprise, realizing the hour and dove under the
covers. " Yes, Mom?"
     Her mother opened the door and looked in on her daughter. " Are
you feeling better, dear? You sounded awfully tired this morning.
We're back from looking at some houses. Will you join us for lunch?"
     " Lunch sounds great. I'll be over in about fifteen minutes."
     " We'll see you then, dear."
     Minako rushed into the bathroom to get changed and cleaned up
after the door closed. When she swept past him fifteen minutes later,
she paused for a moment.
     " What would you like for lunch, Artemis?"
     " Anything but what they do to a poor fish over here."
     " Right. You should see what they try to pass off as curry. One
order of fish and chips, coming up!" she said brightly and scurried
out the door. Artemis sighed and returned to his spot on the bed.
Maybe room service would consider letting a cat sign for the bill. 

***********************************************************

     He's late, Azarite thought. Drake should have checked in by now.
I think the girl got him. Drake knew that Azarite was going to do
something on this date and would have checked in by now. This Sailor V
was a problem he wished he did not have to face.
     He was about to make his play for power. If it worked, he would
probably end up controlling the Dark Kingdom and the Earth. He had to
handle the details correctly, or his bid would fail. He decided to
deploy several troopers at the newer church in Glastonbury. The tor
was the real focus of power, but the presence of several targets may
tempt his enemy into striking at his decoys instead of himself. He had
cut his group to the bare minimum for a scouting expedition and could
not send these back. He'd have to make use of them, and it might as
well be as cannon fodder.
     It would have to be tonight. It was a new moon, and all the parts
were in place for him. He would strike at Stonehenge first. With the
resulting power, the old king would be easy. If Stonehenge didn't
work, he'd try Glastonbury Tor or he'd be dead. He knew the problems
the node held as he had some experience with them in the past 
     The power around the legend was a thornier problem. He still
didn't know what kind of defenses it had, so he planned on that as his
second choice. The place hadn't reacted to him or his mage sight when
he was there, so he might get lucky. He didn't believe in luck and
knew better than to plan on it, though. 
     His preparations were complete. He had taken every crystal he had
stored power in and had drained it to add to his personal supply. He
had even siphoned enough power from the small node that Beryl
controlled to fully charge his own energy. The crystals were nice for
the long term, but I can't get the power from them quickly enough. The
day had been spent in meditation and refreshing his memory from his
books on spells and the abilities of the Sailor Senshi. He may have
to face one tonight and he wanted to be ready for anything.
     The images of the slaughter on the moon came back to him for a
moment and a chill ran down his back. He had remembered what the
Sailor Senshi did to Beryl's army. He may have to face one of the
demons from his dreams. The memory of that battle always gave him a
healthy dose of respect.  I can't underestimate her, or my life will
be lost. I can't afford that right now, not when I'm so close.

************************************************************* 

     Minako bustled into the room, her arms full with a pair of
grocery bags. She plopped these down on the bed and sorted through the
contents. Three bottles of mineral water, enough brown sugar to make
the clerk think she was crazy, several boxes of gelatin mix, an
assortment of various pins, and a pair of pliers.  She had some
cooking to do, she thought with a grin.
     " It all looks good, Minako. What's for dinner?"
     " A mechanic's nightmare, " she replied with a grin that totally
confused the cat. She had discussed the situation with Artemis and
they had concocted a plan. She hadn't told him what she would do to
the bus. She was going to have to spend the night at Glastonbury Tor.
Her parents probably would not let her go camping alone, so they would
have to resort to subterfuge. The ticket had been booked for the last
tour that would arrive at her destination that night. The bus was
going to make it there, but nothing short of a mechanical miracle
would enable it to get back that night.
     That would cover the problem with her parents. They liked the
fact she was so interested in this place and did not mind her going
off with the tours. She got up and began heating water in the small
electric range the thoughtful staff put in every room for making tea.
She was very glad of the English love for the drink right now. When
the water began boiling, she began to add the brown sugar and cooked
it enough to make an easy pouring syrup. This went into the now
emptied bottles after it had cooled down a ways.
     Artemis seemed somewhat surprised when she sat down with the
pliers and started bending the pins into several odd looking shapes. "
What are those, Minako?" he said after jumping up onto the table next
to her work. 
     " Lock picks," she replied as she worked. Artemis started in
surprise and nearly fell off the table. She laughed softly at the
surprised look on his face.
     " What are you doing with those?" the cat questioned her. " How
do you even know how to use them?" 
     " When I was in school during the last couple of years, something
made me...no, I decided to start learning as much as I could about a
lot of different things. I have to remember I'm really one person now.
It takes some time to adjust. Anyway, I studied anything I could that
I thought might be useful. One was how locks worked. Another was
internal combustion engines and how they worked on automobiles."
     " What do automobiles have to do with this?" Artemis queried her.
He was still slightly puzzled.
     " The bus is going to make it to Glastonbury. It will not leave
there." She stood and reached behind her and pulled out her
transformation pen and a knife from her dimensional pocket. This
really startled the cat.
     " Minako! What are you doing with that?"
     " This is a war, Artemis. I'm making sure I'm ready for it. I
realize now that it isn't a game."
     " This is a surprise. I never would have thought that you would
carry something like that."
     " I just look like a dumb blonde, Artemis. I hope my enemies make
the same mistake." She put the lock picks into a small bag and put
them along with the other two items into her storage. The bottles of
syrup went into her pack along with the gelatin and a few other odds
and ends. She indicated the pack to the cat.
     " Your chariot awaits. Hop in, my friend. This is it."

*************************************************************

     Azarite put his hands down and swore. Then he hit the stone he
stood in front of and considered having a childish tantrum. It
wouldn't solve anything, he thought to himself and sighed instead. It
would feel good, though.
     The access should have been open to him. He'd followed the steps
properly and hadn't made any mistakes. He should have the
nigh-unimaginable power from the node flowing through him and be ready
to rule the worlds. 
     The node was closed to him. This should have not happened.
Nothing was out of the ordinary to regular or mage sight. The node
appeared as it should, a large gathering of power like a lake is a
gathering of water. It was just that he couldn't take the power that
was right in front of him. Nor could he figure out why.
     Several minutes were spent in consideration of the factors. He
made his decision. He had not made a mistake. Therefore, this was a
defense he did not know about. It was the only thing that made sense.
Breaking into a run, he dashed back to the portal point to the Dark
Kingdom to gate over to Glastonbury Tor. He hadn't a moment to lose.
The defenses here might trigger something else at his secondary
objective.

***********************************************************

     The bus pulled to a stop at the foot of the path leading to the
newer buildings at Glastonbury Abbey. It disgorged a group of tourists
eager to catch the sights before the oncoming sunset ruined the light.
One was a girl with long blond hair who took advantage of the room to
walk around the bus to stretch her legs and confirm the location of
the fuel tanks and where they were filled from. A white cat sat in her
backpack and observed everything from inside the concealing veil of
her hair.
     The last stop had worked out well. The rest of the tour had gone
into a small church on the way as part of a short break during the
trip. She had convinced the driver to take a break himself and go to a
local shop for a quick cup of tea to warm his bones against the chill
that was hitting so late in the season. He had left, reassured by her
promise to watch the bus while he was gone. She thanked the turn the
weather was taking as she went to the engine compartment and carefully
removed the radiator cap with a towel to avoid being scalded. She then
poured several packs of the gelatin into the water of the radiator 
and recapped it. The operating temperatures would boil the gelatin
quite well. After the engine cooled down at the stop at their
destination and the temperature had dropped, they'd have anti-freeze
flavored orange gelatin.
     The tour left the bus for the trip through Glastonbury Abbey. She
tagged along for a few minutes and then left the group without being
noticed. She returned to the bus and removed her knife from her pocket
and slashed all the tire stems while the cat stood guard. She replaced
the knife and used the lock picks to open the locked caps of the fuel
tanks. A bottle of the sugar syrup went into each. 
     She wasn't sure if the brown sugar would affect the diesel fuel,
but her other two measures would work. The bus would be lucky to get
more than a few miles before the flats would occur or the engine died.
By the time they got someone out to fix these, the water in the
radiator would be a block of gelatin. They wouldn't be able to get
that solved easily and the tour would be stranded. The tour company
might be able to make some arrangements, but would probably have to
put the tour up for the night. They'd contact her parents to let her
know what happened and that would allay their suspicions if she
survived the night.
     Minako snuck into the bushes and made her way to small clearing
in the shrubs surrounding the newer buildings. She turned into Sailor
V and pulled out a thick gray blanket which she wrapped around herself
and pulled the cat in afterwards. It was going to be a while yet
before the fireworks began and it was starting to get cold.

***************************************************************

     After the bus left a few hours later, Minako was sure that one
part of her plan had worked. The tires looked low and the engine
sounded very labored. One part down, she thought. 
     She was much stronger and faster now than when she was just
Minako Aino. These were things she could only be as Sailor Venus or
Sailor V. She also only had her ability to attack at range with her
'Crescent Beam' when she was transformed. She'd keep this fight at
range. She did not want to close in if she could help it. There might
be things like Drake that could hurt her here. Her early success with
her martial arts and the way she could now integrate it all had made
her make a mistake in choosing to close with Drake and Beld. She's
stick with a sniping match, if she could help it.
     " ...That's it exactly." The voice came to her out of nowhere
from the deep recesses of memory. " Stay with what you know you can
do. You can't beat her up close so stay..." She started in surprise at
the memories that she just recalled. They were only distant voices,
like she was remembering a lecture from a long time ago.
     The cat hadn't even noticed as he half-drowsed on her lap. It was
time for her to get moving, she thought. She folded up the blanket and
hid her pack after a quick drink of water. She then glided out into
the night to see what her enemy was up to.
     She found several of the gray uniforms near the newer buildings.
Two were on guard at the entrance to the actual church. The rest were
clumped together around what appeared to be a small fire under the
protecting roof of a two level parking garage. Something was in the
darkness behind them, but it seemed to be darker than the shadows
themselves.
     Her best firing position would be to one side of the two and
moved so she until was on a line with the two of them and away from
the group at the structure. She took a deep breath and began to let
the energy accumulate inside her. She'd need just a little more than
normal here.
     " Crescent Beam!" she cried, sending a shaft of light that
speared through the two on guard. As the two fell with a hole in each,
she turned and sent the small surplus she saved from the first blast
into the barrel that contained the fire. As the light flared up around
the group, she melted back into the bushes and began to circle back
towards the parking structure.  
     They behaved predictably, she thought. Step on the anthill and
out come the ants. One ran back into the gloom towards the darkness
and disappeared into it. The others took up a defensive perimeter
around that area, but all within a few feet of the structure.
     Foolish, she thought, bunching up like that. They hadn't spotted
her new position yet. She concentrated and gathered in energy. When
she was to the bursting point from the strain of holding it, she cried
her mantra again and released the attack, not at any of the guards,
but at the patch of blackness in the gloom behind them.
     The results were satisfactory. The blackness shone white for a
moment, then wavered and exploded out in a ball of white light. The
building collapsed in on itself as nearby windows broke in the church
and dust billowed up in massive clouds around her that the breeze
started to clear away.

*****************************************************************

     Azarite finished the gate spell and appeared at his destination
near the new buildings. The scene there was appalling. The parking
structure had collapsed and several tell tale piles of dust were
dissolving away. She must have done this, he thought. That must have
been why he couldn't use the gate to travel back to the Dark Kingdom. 
     He had been forced to create his own gate and it had taken much
out of him to do so. He'd need to recharge soon if he was to stand a
chance against his foe. She was a clever one, all right. Most of the
fading energy signatures from his troopers were still inside the
rubble.
     The rookies had made a terrible mistake for night duty. They had
clustered around the fire, he thought. They were used to the near
perpetual gloom of the Dark Kingdom and were as attracted to a fire as
a moth to a candle. She must have taken advantage of this easy target
after disposing of the other two who were on guard where they were
supposed to be.
     Enough, he thought. He was stranded here unless he could steal
the power from the sleeping king. The gate to the Dark Kingdom was
destroyed and there was no way he could open it up. He had to succeed
here or there was no going home. He set off at a run to the old abbey
and the path to the tor.

***************************************************************
     
     Artemis felt something. A split second 'feel' of something
tearing. A gate, he believed. Queen Serenity had instructed him on
some of the things magic could do and the gates she created felt
something like this. Hers, however, did not have the same intrusive
quality to them.
     " Over there," he indicated to Sailor V, pointing a paw into the
cloud of dust that was settling. They saw a dim outline of a person in
dark clothing running along the path towards the old church buildings.

****************************************************************

     Azarite paused on the path and quickly wove a strand of power
between two shrubs at just above ankle height. A low powered fireburst
was all he had the power for and it was tied into the strand. That
should give me a few moments more. It won't hurt her, but she'll have
to be on guard for more traps.
     In a few minutes, he reached the old abbey. It was mainly closed
to the public for restoration and preservation right now, but fortune
seemed to smile on him. There were a few people there, probably
tourists from their garb. They'd have had to sneak out here to be here
this late. The gates were closed for the evening at the entrance to
the abbey grounds. 
     He reached into his tunic and pulled out his energy draining
crystal. His was not a cheap knock-off like those issued to his
troops. It was far more durable and capable. Theirs would knock
someone out from the draining of power. His could kill from the power
it could draw. He intoned the command words as he ran up to them and
took their lives. The energy was channeled through the crystal and
into him as he dashed past, not even looking at the corpses. Back at
full power, he said to himself. He didn't like doing this to
non-combatants, but his life was at stake here and far more important
than theirs.

****************************************************************

     The flames washed around her as she cried out in surprise when
something tangled her feet and she went down in a heap on the path.
Nothing seemed to be hurt, she thought. It certainly was a surprise,
though.
     " Minako! Are you all right?" the cat cried as he brought up the
rear. He was not as suited for long distance running and was
struggling to keep up and was breathing heavily from the effort.
     " Yes, Artemis," she replied with a sigh as she stood up. " It
wasn't a strong attack. I think it was just a warning and something to
slow me down. I'll have to keep my pace down to look for any others.
He's a smart one, he is."
     " Don't rush off on me like that, Minako. I can sometimes be of
use, you know." he said, slightly testy at being left behind by her
pace. " I'm not just an advisor. I might be able to sense any more
traps up ahead"
     " I didn't know you could sense magic." 
     " I can't, except for some really strong spells. He does have to
stop to set these, and I can smell him. He's sweating and slightly
afraid. I should be able to notice when he does." 
     She scooped the cat up and set out at a walk while looking around
her for more traps. He was doing the same. After several minutes, they
came to the old abbey buildings. 
     " Oh, no," she cried softly. " We're too late for them." Four
bodies lay lifeless on the gravel path. They were quite young, she
thought.  A family that had just started out. The parents were only
in their mid twenties, and the two children hadn't even hit six at the
most. The youngest was dressed in a cowboy outfit, complete with hat
and toy pistols. 
     Tears began to roll down her face. " That...bastard!" she
growled. " He's dead, Artemis. I'm going to kill him. They must have
snuck in here to see the old buildings that had been closed. This
is too high a price for them to pay." She wiped the tears from her
eyes and ran towards the tor. That was where he would be. That is
where he would die.

*************************************************************

     Azarite made it to the top of the low hill. The top was
relatively flat from years of pilgrims walking on it. They probably
even took the larger rocks away until the others built the church
below and started to convert the local population. The hill was the
only noticeable landmark near the old battle a long time ago. When the
king fell, he was taken here for burial.
     This is it, he thought. I betray my own here. His efforts enabled
me to have the life I had when I was young. If not for the king, he
would have probably died after being pressed into service to fight the
roving tribes of savages the king had put down. 
     It wasn't a contest, he decided after a few minutes. His life was
too important to him to care for a dream dead for over a thousand
years. His vengeance was more important, as was his survival. He
started a small fire with a bundle of branches he had left at the foot
of the hill a few days ago. He raised his arms and prepared to begin
the chant. It died on his lips as he saw who stood on the other side
of the flames. A nightmare, dressed in blue, white and red with a
white cat at her side.
     " You must be Azarite," she said as the breeze caused her long
blonde hair to billow out to one side. 
     " I'm Sailor V. I'm here to stop you."

***************************************************************

     She looked at the man opposite her. He was not especially
imposing. The only thing that set him off from the others was a
half-cloak about his shoulders and the air of command about the man.
That, and the look of intelligence in his eyes. He was of a different
breed than the others. This one's most dangerous weapon was between
his ears.
     Startle him, she thought. Put him on the defensive. She reached
up and removed the red mask and let the wind carry it away. " You're
dressed in the uniform of the Dark Kingdom. After what you did to the
Silver Millennium, it's only fair I show you who I really am. " She
reached into her space and removed the pen. She pulled in the energy
around her and said the words as her sigil burst into light on her
forehead with the symbol of Venus.
     " Venus Power, Make-up." she said. No shouting, just the utterly
calm words of her new found confidence. She had truly made peace with
herself. Light flared around her as her opponent stood in shock. 
     " I am Sailor Venus." she said. " In the name of Venus, for your
actions in the past, and for killing that poor family today, I will
kill you." She took advantage of his confusion to focus her mind
and gathered her energy for her opening move.
     He brought his hands up and a darkness formed about them. She
darted to the side and just avoided a blast of chill, evil malevolence
that tore through the spot where she had stood. " Crescent Beam!
Crescent Beam!" She cried as she sent two blasts of light at him.
Neither was as strong as her normal attack, but this was designed to
test his defenses and keep him off balance. A quickly erected mage
shield sprang up and just blocked the bolts inches from him, to his
obvious relief. 
     She swept her hand around behind her as she took advantage of his
lack of movement while casting to close in. That's one thing she had
over him, she thought. I can do things while moving and he apparently
can't. The knife slashed through his tunic, creating a thin line of
blood as she jumped out of the reach of any counterstroke.

*****************************************************************

     Magnificent, he thought. Her tactics matched her beauty. First,
she'd thrown him off by revealing herself as one of his nightmares
come to life. That had caused him to react with a powerful but slow
'soul fire' spell which she had avoided. He barely managed to parry
her counterattack with a shield. Then, she kept switching her tactics
to keep him off guard and guessing. 
     She closed in and feinted, then stood off and let fly with her
attack. She only seemed to haveone, but it was dangerous enough. He
had missed getting beheaded by inches a few minutes ago as a blast
tore through his shields. He then changed his defenses to lower
powered ones that moved with him and were angled to deflect rather
than block. That should protect him from the worst if another hit.
     He tried to gain the offensive with a variety of low powered,
quick spells that would distract or disable her instead of killing. He
couldn't take the time to set up a big one that would kill her as
she'd be on him before he could finish. His only hope was to distract
or stun her for the few moments he'd need.

*****************************************************************

     This was a tricky one, she thought. He was moving too much for
Artemis to sneak in and distract him, and his attacks were keeping her
from the coup-de-grace. He countered every attack with a new one, and
some of these were coming perilously close to hitting her. She'd
barely avoided the cloud of burning smoke and a lucky dodge had
avoided the glowing lightning that came out from it. Her counterattack
with a crescent beam had moved him back, as they had both discovered
she could punch through his defenses.  He circled around the
dissipating smoke as she moved in for a melee attack and she saw a
band of sickly yellow light flow up his body from his feet to his
upraised hand-
     Suddenly, she was somewhere else. She was sitting on the ground
again, in a clearing in the middle of a fair garden. Her hair was
pulled back in a braid to keep it out of the way. There was no blue
sky above her, only the massive blue orb of the earth. It seemed she
had been doing a lot of sitting or falling, as her backside was very
sore. She looked at the figure who stood and faced away from her, with
a hand brushing her short golden hair back. A familiar voice scolded
her gently.
     " You're going to learn it before we leave here." One of her
'sisters', she thought. The one with the temper who insisted on their
constant training as a precaution. They did work with her, but
liked to gently tease her about -
     The man's hand slashed down and the ball of light smashed into
the ground. The memory was gone, but that did not concern her now. She
knew what this was. More importantly, she had learned the counter on
that day long ago.
     She dove over the ball of light as she gathered her energy for an
attack. Her body went limp as she got herself over and rolled out of
the landing on her shoulder and came to her feet in the same smooth
motion. She sprang, startling Azarite by her survival and her jump.
Both fell to the ground with her on top of her enemy. She jammed her
fingers into the soft skin under his jaw and screamed," Crescent
Beam!"

****************************************************************

     He was shocked. She'd somehow evaded his ground shaker spell. It
had even fooled Kunzite once during training. He saw her dive and roll
over it and spring forward while the tell-tale crescents appeared
around her hand that signaled her attack. He dropped all of his other
spells and defenses and quickly put everything he had into an angled
shield over his throat as her fingers jabbed into it, and he wished
he had learned Kunzite's spell of attack reflection. Everything, that
is, except a tendril of energy that he flung into the heart of the
power below him. 
     He didn't have the time for the rituals or the careful analysis
that he would need. His fear drove him as she cried out and the light
and heat began to tear through his shields. Protect your countryman,
he implored. One of the outlanders seeks to harm me.

******************************************************************

     She felt the panic in him as her attack punched through his
shields and into him. She rolled off of the body and got up. He was a
corpse now, she thought. It is done.
     " We did it, Artemis. It's safe now."
     The cat's eyes got very large in response. She spun around to see
a truly horrible sight. Azarite was standing. He didn't even have a
mark on him. Behind the Dark Kingdom warrior stood a figure in
tattered chain mail with a dragon on the bloodstained tabard. A thin
circlet of silver sat on his brow and a shining sword was in his hand.
His graying hair and manner of standing reminded her of the glimpses
of the Guard members from her dreams of the moon. He had the same aura
of familiarity with battle.
     She sighed and got herself in position again. Artemis jumped to
her side, as if ready to square off against this new foe. There were
now two to fight. Azarite was seemingly unhurt and now the newcomer.
The older man spoke. The words chilled her soul.
     " Who seeks to destroy Britian? I stand by her sons in the hour
of their need."
     His identity came to her. " King Arthur?" she said in disbelief.
" I'm here to save it. He's the one who seeks to steal your power and
enslave the land."
     He strode around the intervening fire and brandished his sword.
Excalibur, she thought. She was now fighting two legends, not just the
king. " He is a Briton. He has the blood of my country. Blood that you
tried to spill. Prepare to meet your doom, for I am Arthur Pendragon
and I wield Excalibur. You will fall before me, for I have only lost
to one other and he died a long time ago."
     He leaped forward with blinding speed and slashed out with the
mighty sword. It was all she could do to get out of the way as the
sword trimmed a lock of her hair that got in the way. She could
see why he had such a reputation. This was an older man, slowed by the
years since his youth. He must have been an unstoppable force when
young. 
     Several more attacks followed as she tried to work up the courage
to fight back. She couldn't. This was too much to consider attacking.
How could she fight him? Did she even have the ability to hurt him,
let alone the right to try? She continued to dodge and evade while
trying to work up the nerve to attack. 
     Her luck finally ran out. Her sandal caught on a gouge in the
turf from someone's foot earlier in the fight and she fell. He was on
her in a moment. His battle hardened reflexes seized upon her stumble
and he leaped with the blade held high. She was going to die-
     "Stop, my lord! " A bellow resounded through the night air. She
opened her eyes and looked to the side. Percival stood there, in
shining full armor with his helm in one hand and an old man supported
with the other. " If that blow lands, Arthur, you will have made an
error as grave as when you banished Lancelot and Guenevere. This girl
is the one who protected the realm."
     The king looked at the knight and the old man. " Percival?
Merlin? What is going on here? She was attacking a Briton. I heard his
cries for help and appeared to give him aid. It was the first time any
pleas had reached me. I had though something had happened to you."
     The old man painfully drew himself up straight, bowed and looked
at Arthur. " I am not the Merlin you knew, my lord. There have been
several of us over the years. I have the stories the Merlin of your
time passed on. Look closely at this man, Arthur. He is the evil here.
The lass is innocent. She is the one who stood forth to protect your
dream. She drank the same draught that healed you. Evil could not
survive that." 
     Arthur moved towards Azarite and looked at him for several long
moments before speaking. " Gods preserve me. I fear I was about to
make a terrible mistake." He held forth the sword and a sphere of
energy surrounded the lieutenant. After this he turned back to the
pair of men who were slowly walking forward. " Am I truly needed at
this time? Is the dream still alive?" he asked them.
     " The dream lives, Arthur. We continue our watch and will wake
you if you are needed. Return to your slumber after this is resolved."
Percival said, his eyes sad. He waited for a moment more and
addressed his king again in a different tone of voice. This was not a
subject to his master, this was an old friend to another when speaking
about a source of great pain.
     " You did them wrong, Arthur. They died of broken hearts shortly
after you died on the battlefield. Can you see it in your heart to
forgive them? Gwen and Lance did not mean to harm you, Arthur. They
were weak, as are we all. They did not do it with the intention of
hurting you. The banishment was a harsh punishment. Will you forgive
them, after all this time?"
     The king seemed to get several years older as pain crossed his
face. A tear worked it's way down one side of his face. " Yes,
Percival. I've had little to do except think. Say a prayer for me, and
let them know they are forgiven. Let them have their peace." the king
said and turned to the girl and her cat.
     " Thank you. Thank you for keeping me from truly doing something
foolish. If you had attacked me, I'd have probably gone into a
battle-rage and would have played into the hands of our enemy. What
are your names?" He drew himself to his full height and drew the sword
again. 
     " Minako Aino, Sailor Venus."
     " Artemis."
     Arthur saluted the two with his sword. " We thank you. You will
be remembered, after all this is done. A song will be sung in your
honor." 
     Minako curtsied in response to his salute. It seemed more
appropriate to use a response from her past to reply to the salute
that was from his. Artemis respectfully inclined his head to the king.
     Arthur indicated the trapped warrior from the Dark Kingdom.
Azarite was watching the exchange with a wild look in his eyes and was
still pushing at the globe, trying to break free. " I will take this
one with me. I could never understand treachery and wish to discuss it
with him. If you see him again, I will have released him because he
has reformed his ways." 
     With a last look at his two old friends, the king sunk back down
into the hill, followed by the sphere with Azarite. The remaining four
stood for several seconds, absorbing the events that had just
occurred.
     " This place is safe now, Sailor Venus," the old Merlin said. " I
have sealed away the power collected at Stonehenge and the king guards
this one now. He will not let any get to this power after the events
of tonight. England is safe, thanks to the two of you. 
     " I have studied the invaders since they appeared. They will
target your home next. Go there and protect it as you have protected
ours. I only wish that there was something we could do to repay you,
but we are constrained to stay here. We consider ourselves in your
debt." The old man inclined his head respectfully. He couldn't manage
anther bow like he gave his king due to the pain.
     Minako looked at the two and thought for a few moments.
     " There may be something you can do. Artemis and I are seeking
the Moon Princess so we can protect her. After we find her, if she is
in a danger that we cannot protect her from, I want you to hide her
away and protect her." 
     The Merlin thought for a few moments and then nodded. " You are a
strange one. Most would ask for something for themselves. This duty
must weigh heavily on your shoulders."
     " I have friends to help me with my duty." She reached down and
briefly gave the cat a scratch between his ears. " Someone gave their
life to save us from the destruction of the Moon Kingdom. How can I
not respond to that? I've only now come to realize how important that
duty is, and that I may not be around to fulfill it. I need to make
precautions so that it is done, even if I fall in the struggle."
     " You are wise, child." the Merlin responded with a smile. " We
will protect her if it comes to that. I will also try to locate her
and inform you if we find any sign of her.We must leave now. We
cannot tarry long in the realm of man."
     Percival saluted her, took the arm of the old man and guided him
off into the darkness. She reverted her clothing back to the more
sensible garb that Minako was wearing. The uniform of Venus was nice,
but it was lacking in this weather. She went to get her pack from her
hiding place and to begin the long walk to the village. She'd have to
see what happened to the bus tour when she got there.

****************************************** *************************

     " Kunzite. We are not pleased with your performance in this
matter. It will be three to six months for the gates to Earth to be
re-established and stabilized. You are fortunate that the attack on
the gate chamber did not destroy both gate crystals and it only
damaged the one to the region called Japan. 
     " Because of the incompetence of your troops and the loss of the
gate to England, We have decided that a new commander will lead the
first forays into Japan." Beryl paused for the right effect. She
wanted all of the generals thinking here. She could see the barely
concealed grin on Nephrite's face. He had misinterpreted the stars in
this case, she thought.
     " This petty squabble that you three were involved in has
displeased us," she announced while pointing to Kunzite, Zoisite and
Nephrite. " Jadeite will be the new commander of the first attack.
These attacks will be using the youma for the most part, Jadeite. The
loss of that many officers, even if they are junior grade, cannot be
allowed to happen again.  We cannot jeopardize the structure of
our armies due to the loss of so many officers. Do you understand us?"
she said in a quiet tone.
     The four were suitably wary at this. Beryl was at her worst when
she was quiet. The normal routine was the grand pronouncements in a
loud voice. The quiet voice was the one she used when she was going to
banish someone to an eternity in crystal.
     The Queen gave her generals another long look and dismissed them,
ending the audiences for the day. She walked into her private chambers
with a very angry look on her face. The four gathered together in a
small group that the others in the chamber left alone. The matter at
hand was important enough for them to put aside their differences for
the moment.
     " Are you sure, Kunzite?" Nephrite asked.
     Jadeite looked at the white haired general. " Is it true?"
     Kunzite stood still for a few moments and reached into his tunic
and pulled out a scrying crystal. He waved his hand over it and it
projected an image into the air above it. The image was a composite of
what the sole survivor of Azarite's squad remembered and what an
intelligence operative had obtained in Japan before the gate there was
damaged.
     A young woman looked out at them. Her long blond hair was tied
back with a ribbon and a red mask hid her identity. The rest of the
outfit was not precisely familiar to the four, but it was close
enough to cause concern. It was too much in the style of an old enemy
to be a coincidence. The uniform was like one of the Sailor Senshi,
the defenders of the Moon Kingdom. 
     " This is the enemy, gentleman." Kunzite said. " This is the
reason the Queen is so upset. It appears that one of our ancient
enemies may have returned." He looked at the other three carefully.
     " We have survived much. We will need our wits about us to save
ourselves from Beryl here. She is working herself into a rage over
this. She banished the only survivor of the mission to England,
even though he followed his orders about reporting if anything
occurred. She decided he was to be punished because his unit failed.
     "Over the next months, she will be a raving madwoman due to the
sighting of this 'Sailor V'. Even the name is close to the ones of her
old enemies.You all must remember her actions when she first woke
after the banishing. She killed or banished many who had simply looked
like or reminded her of Serenity or the Sailor Senshi."  
     They let this sink during several long moments while each thought
at a furious pace. Nephrite spoke up. " I propose a truce during this
time. I will support the rest of you to save us all from her. The
stars have shown me many strange things that may be occurring. The
Queen is not quite sane in some of them. Do you all agree?"
     The four nodded. These were to be dangerous times for them. Their
enemy on Earth was no laughing matter. They knew of the training
Kunzite had invested in Azarite and that this 'Sailor V' was not
someone to be taken lightly. There was also Beryl to deal with here.
They had to survive this, if their plans from long ago could continue.
Atlantis had to be reborn, and one other matter remained unresolved.
If one of the Sailor Senshi survived, there was a chance that Prince
Endymion lived. They had a score to settle with the one who had
forsaken his duty and betrayed their home.

****************************************** ******************** 

     " I'm all right, mom," she said to her mother. " The bus had some
mechanical problems up at the church and the tour company is putting
us up for the night at a bed and breakfast here. They'll have another
bus here in the morning. I should be back by mid-morning. I'll be all
right."
     Her mother continued to make a fuss about the situation while she
looked at the cat and shrugged her shoulders. When her mother paused
for a breath, she cut in and interrupted her. " Mom? Someone here has
to use the phone. There's only one. I'll see you  in the morning. I
love you both. Bye!" 
     She put the phone back down on the cradle in her room and
stretched out on the bed. The cat came over and curled up on the
pillow next to her. 
     " They found a nice house, Mom said. We should be moving our
things in next week. Dad says the job should only be another 3 months.
We'll be back home sooner than I thought."
     The cat let out a yawn that threatened to dislocate his jaw. "
Excuse me. I'm more tired than I thought. That's good, Minako. With
the business here finished, I think that the next attacks will be
back at home. Remember the maps? They had the same symbols on them for
strong magic that the one of England had."
     " Yes, but why weren't there any circles there like the England
map?" She responded. The thought of these monsters loose in her home
was unsettling. " What if the princess appears? Unless I run away from
my parents, we won't be back there for 3 months. What should we do?"
     " I don't know yet, Minako. I do think it would be a good idea
for Sailor V to keep on working here. If the Dark Kingdom is still
operating here, it may cause them to concentrate on this area.
Hopefully, they'll see you as a threat and concentrate their efforts
here and that might take some pressure off the Moon Princess or the
other Sailor Senshi if they show up."
     " Thanks. Should I paint a big, fat target on my back while I'm
at it?" she said dryly. " I just love being the center of their
attentions. Artemis, did I offend you in some way you never told me
about?"
     " Yes. I hate deep fried fish and that's what you brought me for
what could have been my last meal."
     They both laughed and settled down for the night. Their next
three months would be interesting times, as the ancient curse went. 

****************************************** *******************
     The boy slipped around the side of the hill and continued to look
around the area. After another hour of searching, he found it. He
picked up the red mask and carefully wrapped a soft cloth around it.
He'd take the time to store it properly when he got home. 
     He knew, when their labors were over, that the knights would
gather around their table again and remember the stories of those who
had helped the cause. She did as much as any of them, he thought.
Actually, she did a lot more, he decided after remembering the
stories. Her tale deserved to be told. He'd keep the mask and put it
with the few mementos his master showed him. He walked to the top of
the hill in one world and then down it in another world and entered
the house that was built in front of the mouth of a cave.


The End.

****************************************** ******************

All characters are copyrights of the respective holders.
Please send comments, etc. to above e-mail address.

Special thanks to the following...

Naoko Takeuchi, of course.

Luna and Artemis for kind words and support.
  check out their page at
  http://pages.prodigy.com/vbaa85a/index.html

Chris Davies for inspiring me to continue.

Jackie Chiang for being the sage I turned to for knowledge.

Chi Ming Cheung for keeping me laughing.

Rav Dhiraj for reading and thoughtful comments.
  check out his page at  
  http://www.express.ca/pdhiraj/newpage.htm 

Jupiter Knight for reading and thoughtful comments.
  check out his page at
  http://www.ualberta.ca/~jarcher/jupknght.h tml