Youma Blues
Jadeite Days 4: Promotion and the second interview.


        Checking myself into a hotel after my Sailor V adventure 
I did the only logical thing: I slept.  For about twenty hours.
        But it seemed that somebody didn't love me at all, 
because as I was buisily stacking Z's and going for thirty, I was 
awakened to the tune of forty thousand volts and a pissed Youma 
general.
        All things considered, I prefer birdsong.  The altercation 
went something like this:
        I was, as previously mentioned, sleeping and not at all 
intending on awakening anytime soon.  Then Jadeite shows up in 
my room, having already searched all of Japan for my 'lazy 
disloyal &*!&!' as he later put it, and hits me with more lightning 
.  I screamed - something to the tune of 'ARGH!',  jumped out of 
bed (I'd fallen asleep still clothed) and threw my luggage at him.
        "I'm sleeping! Come back later!" I yelled (big mistake).
Then I lay back down to sleep some more. (bigger mistake, but I 
was -tired-)
        This elicited more lightning, more screaming and (finally) 
me half awake sans benefit of strong  coffee (the *first* thing I 
took the liberty of importing to the dark kingdom).
        "What are you doing here, my servant?  Running from 
me, perhaps?  And with such a stock of energy to -  I might 
think you were trying to betray your calling, Youma."  Jadeite 
positively *delights* in being snide around me..beats me why, 
though.  But I wasn't in the mood to play along, so I was frank.
        "Hiding from Sailors - and not very successfully, either.  I 
spent almost all of -" I looked at the clock and did fast 
calculations -"The day before yesterday dodging one.  I'd have 
more energy for you, but I had to use most of it fighting off Sailor 
V."
        Jadeite just raised an eyebrow.  "You are the mystery 
Youma who was moving in on the Dark Ministry's territory?  A 
very industrious servant indeed..I see I shall have to keep a 
better eye on you.  In the mean time -" He grabbed both gems, 
and pocketed them, and then gestured, teleporting us both back 
to japan. " In the meantime we have work to do.  I am going to 
begin gathering energy in earnest.  If I can move a large enough 
number of people into a subspace I can drain them at my leisure, 
with out the interference of those brats.  You, however, have an 
Appointment with the queen.    She wants to meet my oh so 
successful servant."
        I sighed.    I knew this was going to be a bad day, I just 
knew it.
        
        Now it's time for Dark Kingdom Geography 101.   
Three things:  
1.  There is no sun. The only light is what you bring with you or 
make yourself.  It turned out to be a *very good* thing I see 
clearly in the dark.
2.  The entire place is somewhat dimensionally messed up.  It 
makes maps mostly useless, and teleportation a good survival 
skill.
3. There is no native flora, and the native fauna is all carnivorous.  
The Youma still come out as being the top  of the food chain - 
But only just.  Frankly, I have no trouble seeing why Beryl & co 
want to conquer earth - It would be a much better place to live.  
Well, that and the main food is mushrooms...
        Jadeite, of course, gives me the express teleport 
treatment while he goes into his next scheme.
        Of course, this means I reappear in the center of the 
Dark kingdom party circuit - the only part, in fact, of the dark 
kingdom party circuit: Beryl's audience chamber.
        Beryl.  God I dispise her.
        "Gathered Youma, Servants of the glory of Metallia hear 
me!"  Her voice is the first thing that reaches my ears and I just 
*know* I'm about to be thrown to the wolves.
        I'm right.
        "The being that stands before you serves my greatest 
general!  Jadeite has brought him into our ranks and made him of 
your kind!  And in the service of my general he has achieved a 
level of success unprecedented amongst you!" I checked: Blazing 
red hair, spiky shoulders, insane megalomaniacal smile, gown 
showing off more cleavage than baywatch, yep, thats Beryl all 
right. (Her words, by the way, were my first clue that I'm a bit 
more efficient with the energy drain thing than your average 
Youma - of course, most of those don't come back, either...)
        "But now he must be tested!" Damn, I don't like the 
sound of that.
        "Youma, you may stand!"  That was directed towards 
me - I only then realized I'd been kneeling.  Of course, I stood - 
in the Dark Kingdom, when Beryl says you can do something, 
you *DO IT*.  No question. 
        It was Zoicyte who spoke next, saying, "You who would 
serve in the armies of Atlantis, for the next day you are marked 
as prey for any who seek to take your position. "  His words 
were stilted, formalized, and had the tapings of ritual about them 
- I later found out that it was a ritual, albeit a very bastardized 
one.
        "Give me your name."  Oh damn.  I don't like the sound 
of -that- not one bit.  The marked as prey thing I expected - this 
was Psycho-babe's court, after all.  But the 'give me your name' 
thing, in a magical society - that sounded like name based magic.   
Give them my name, and they'd be able to do what they wanted 
to me, if anything I'd read in the fantasy novels I used to love 
were true.    So I lied.  Good thing Jadeite had never bother to 
ask for my full name.
        "Sheldon James."  Of course, any answer at all was bad 
enough.  
        Nephrite stepped forward from the crowd of Youma 
who circled the chamber.  "You have give your name truly."  
There was a knowing twinkle in his eye as he turned to Beryl and 
bowed.  I guess there was a bit of rebellion in him even them - or 
perhaps, through the stars, he knew just how much of a mockery 
the ceremony was, or maybe he was just bored, and wanted to 
see how far my daring would carry me.  With Nephrite it's hard 
to tell. 
        Then Kunzite stepped forwards.  "His name has been 
given.  He has no name- yet the Youma are not nameless, and the 
nameless do not live.  He must claim one."  He too bowed.  
Now I really didn't like the sound of this.  Then Beryl spoke.
        "His old name is destroyed; It was given into my hands.  
If he stands before me upon the dying of this fire -" And at her 
words a tall, twisted candle appeared and blazed with flame - 
"He may choose a name in my service. " Her lips turned into a 
bloodthirsty smile. "Should he live.  Should he fall I will accept a 
name from any who dare to stand before me at the fire's dying - 
and they shall have his place at my general's side."  She was 
obviously going to enjoy watching the scuffle, too.
        "I have spoken."
        That was obviously a dismissal, given the way the Youma 
were surging greedily towards me;  I didn't stick around to find 
out how promotion worked in the dark kingdom (actually I had a 
pretty good idea).   Instead I took a big gamble and  teleported 
blind. 

        I won't go into what the next twenty or so hours were 
like, except to point out that teleporting is much easier in the 
Dark Kingdom.  I did learn that you can - or at least, I can - 
drain energy from other Youma.  It's a lot harder than with 
normals - but not the ludicrous impossibility it is with Senshi.
        Suffice it to say that I learned a lot about myself and 
about (Youma) life in general in twenty hours, and that, when the 
flame guttered and died I was still standing, and, more 
importantly, I was standing in front of Beryl.
        There was a look of...interest on her face, and a look of 
satisfaction on Jadeite's, where he stood flanking her - slightly 
subdued satisfaction, but satisfaction nevertheless.
        Zoicyte looked like he'd swallowed a live frog, while 
Nephrite looked smug. (I believe there was a bet involved).
        Kunzite I could never read - he looked bored, but then 
Kunzite *allways* looks bored.  Except when he's fighting.
        "The flame dies."  Beryl.  Damn she's scary when she 
focuses on you...you get to see just how absolutely insane she 
really is..
        "The one who stands before me is truly a Youma 
amongst my armies; How does it name itself?"  In the past few 
hours I'd learned a bit about this ritual  - including what 
happened to those who tried to take back their old names.  (I 
asked really nicely.)  I'd even managed to put about twenty 
seconds into thinking up a new one.  Around the same time I'd 
picked up the sword, actually.
        "Tenshino Aoi."  I even managed to keep my voice even 
when I said it.  Well, perhaps not entirely even - there was just a 
bit of challenge there, directed at her, over my choice of names.   
I knew she'd pick up on it.   But if she wanted the ritual to be 
honored, she couldn't object - even if I named myself an angel.   
If she didn't honor the ritual she just might have a mass rebellion 
on her hands - and while she could probably take all the Youma, 
she also didn't want to have to kill her own cannon-fodder.    I'm 
afraid *some* of the traditions of Atlantis survived, despite her 
determined attempt to rout them out.
        "So be it."  Of course she could just kill me later, but I'd 
only just thought of that.
        "I make the servant to the generals, Aoi Tenshino; Under 
their hand shall you be trained in our ways.  Now take your 
insolent face from my court  - if you've not learned humility by 
the time I see you next, you will die. "  She somehow knows just 
what it take to warm my heart, I tell you...
        Anyway, that's how I met Beryl.
        My 'education' was of slightly more note...but that's for 
next time.

Youma Blues
Jadeite Days 5: On the Job Training

        School is in session.  Well, maybe.  
        When Beryl said that the generals would be 'training you 
in our ways'  I don't think a determined attempt to kill me was 
quite what she had in mind - or maybe it was.
My schedule went something like this: 
Mornings:  Wake up.  Two hour bout of swordplay with Kunzite 
& the other Lieutenants (more on them in a moment). Breakfast 
(mushrooms and unidentifiable thing pie)
Afternoon:  Magic lessons with Nephrite (I stretched this out as 
far as possible.  Neph is a *great* teacher, if a bit preachy about 
the stars thing. Besides, I had an interest.)
Evening: Freedom! My time to run away. If I had enough energy 
I tended to teleport to Juban. 
Late night: Head back to the dark kingdom, dragging Jadeites 
latest energy package with me, and wishing I could stay in Juban.
Reason: You remember those other Lt's I mentioned?  Well, 
there were about ten of them (until last week it was twelve, but 
two of them didn't dodge Sailor V's Crescent beams fast 
enough), and they called themselves the Dark Circle (this week)  
And they'd decided that they didn't like me.
        Something about my one upping them in Singapore.
        I found out the hard way, to...
        It was after my first 'lesson' with Kunzite (who said very 
little to me at the time.  Not a talkative guy when it came to the 
lower ranks, Kunzite. Damn scary fighter, though.)  that I noticed 
the first face I recognized, aside from those that I recognized as 
'monsters to be avoided' - I was still somewhat naive in those 
days.
        It was a rather strikingly shojo - type human-like Youma 
who had been one of the last of the Shadow cabinet to teleport 
out.
        The Shadow Cabinet, if you don't remember, was the 
utterly iane and rather awful goth band put together by our 
friends in the Dark Circle, as a two fold energy drain/lets get 
killed by Sailor V operation.
        His name was Sinhalite, and aside from being Zoicite's 
understudy, he was a right bastard.
        Anyway, I recognized him as one of the gawkers who 
came to watch me get my ass kicked by the best, and after 
practice he approached me.
        "You.  Wannabe."  He announced his presence - and the 
desire to talk - with the same attitude he does everything with: 
effeminate, refined, arrogance.
        Pissed me off immediately.  Did I mention my temper 
had already gone to beyond frayed?
        "Get lost looser." I had to fight to keep my voice pitched 
to within 'non-deadly insult' range, but I managed.
        "Excuse me?"  I'd never heard that phrase turned quite 
so handily into an insult.   Sinhalite carried it off with the ease of 
long standing, and an implication that I had better not use that 
tone of voice around him.    Of course, being a contrary sort, I 
used a worse one instead.       
        "Youma who cannot even manage to keep their whole 
party alive when confronting a foe *four on one* have no place 
calling their savior a 'wannabe'.   If it wasn't for me your ashes 
would be floating on the breeze courtesy Sailor V.   Therefore I 
suggest you put a bit more *respect* into your voice when you 
speak to your betters."  I really enjoyed saying that.  I enjoyed 
the look on his face even more.   In fact I enjoyed it so much I 
must say that I don't regret the consequences one bit.  Besides, it 
was good propaganda- the unaffiliated humaics and 
swordweilding monsters watching practice would carry the story 
throughout the dark kingdom.  
        It almost got me backhanded across the room, though.  
Sinhalite (henceforth dubbed 'Sinny') looked rather startled when 
I managed to get out of the way;  I found out later that he's 
supposedly the second fastest of the other humanics and hence, 
used to connecting with what he swings at as a result.
        To bad for Sinny I'm faster than anyone short of Kunzite.  
Maybe even a little faster than Kunzite - I survived 
wordsmanship practice with surprising ease for some one with no 
experience. 
        In any event, I'm definitely faster than this refuge from the 
bad taste club, and the fist he sent towards my face only came 
close to me.
        "Dear me.  I believe I hit a nerve."  Truth?  I find it really 
easy to get wrapped up in my 'bad guy' routine.  I certainly did 
this time - didn't even notice the rest of the gang of ten (soon to 
be the gang of six-the next few months wouldn't be kind to 
them.) sneaking up to me.
        What followed was an extended and highly painful forum 
on manners, interrupted only by lord Nephrite coming to test my 
powers 'for the record'.

        I might as well say a few words at this time, about my 
fellow Youma.
        Now, for obvious reasons, most of these observations 
don't apply well to me - I'm a transformed individual like the 
generals themselves, and not a descendant of the original 
Atlanteans - but in the main there are four types of Youma's.  
(I'm one of the forth, and rarest, type, and something of an 
oddity even amougnst my brothers and sisters. )
        The most common type aren't really Youma in the way 
Beryl and the generals mean it - really, they're just monsters - but 
the sailor crowd would probably mistake them for members of 
the last Atlantean army, anyhow.    Honestly, I think they are the 
magic twisted descendants of the native wildlife - mostly because 
they're to dumb to be related to humans in any way.   For the 
most part they're either: A big, B dumb, and C really dangerous 
because they're totally vicious and rabid, or A small, B smart, for 
animals, and C really dangerous because they have minor magic 
powers and the nature of a stalking predator.  Both types are 
very bad news.  The larger ones tend to travel in packs, the 
smaller ones in pairs, and all of them eat other youmas.
        Err - people too, I suppose.  Don't try domesticating 
them.  Bad idea.
        The next step up are the common Youma - these are the 
humanoid monsters.  They're human-smart, violent, and not 
(usually) educated, though there is a surprising literacy rate - 
possibly because Beryl is as vain as all hell, and wants them to 
be able to read about her glories in those godawful books she 
has written about the Silver Millenniums.
 Most have minimal magic powers - things like illusion, minor 
shapeshifting or disguise, sensing, and energy leaching that are 
standard Youma tricks - but some, like that gang of total 
psychopaths Zoicyte trained - I believe they called themselves 
the doom and gloom girls - are real ass kickers, with theme 
based powers that can be used for a variety of stuff.  Like the 
one of them that could actually make plants grow in the dark 
kingdom (an impressive talent.  Most of our vegetation tends to 
be ferns or fungus because of the lighting problem).
Often they're not really that loyal to Beryl - more like afraid of 
her.  Most of them aren't even in the army, although the mortality 
rate amongst the ones that aren't is astounding.
        This is what the average citizen of the dark kingdom 
becomes when they grow up - they're actually born human-like 
(uniformly so) and begin changing around six years old -by the 
time they hit puberty (around ten) they usually don't look very 
human.  I've never met anyone dissatisfied with their change, so 
there must be  some psychological influences that determine what 
you become.
        The next level up is the tiny population of humanics, like 
the dark circle.  They're the exception that proves the rule, 
because while the other Youma are changing, they usually don't - 
or at least, don't change much.  Many so called 'humanics' are 
actually pretty far from human, on a closer inspection, but, if you 
can pass a first glance test without glamour(what they called 
illusion-powers), you get a very big advantage - automatic 
membership in Beryl's army and a spiffy new mineral name.
        All the humanics have fairly potent powers - usually three 
or more, including basic teleporting, and unlike the lower -class 
Youma, humanic's powers often aren't unified by a common 
theme.
        That said, humanics are usually the worst of the lot.  'Evil' 
comes closest to describing their usual bent.  I attribute this to 
the fact that there are almost no female humanics - strike that.
        There are almost no *surviving* female humanics.  Beryl 
gets jellous very easily - and the punishment for threatening 
Beryl's position as 'most beautiful/skilled/whatever' is usually 
death.   Or at least horrible disfigurement.   (One lady humanic I 
met - Cassiterite - escaped this fate in a rather..unique(and 
gruesome) way: she was possessed of a regeneration power, 
and, as a precaution, tore off the left half of her face 
occasionally.  The resultant scarring would last about a week, 
and kept Beryl from seeing her as a rival.  Her sisters, however, 
were not so lucky-or perhaps, not so ruthless.) 
        Actually, humanics tend to be vicious because they are 
trained from their identification as such to be the 'nobles' of the 
dark kingdom. Trained by Beryl's private staff of tutors, Beryl, 
and the generals, that is.  Of course, such 'identification' is tricky 
- there are quite a few non-humanics who were 'picked' but 
simply turned out to be late bloomers.   (As, reportedly, the 
doom and gloom girls were.)
        The last type of Youma are the transformed.  
        This is a vanishingly small category, and with one 
exception, consists almost exclusively of millennia old immortal 
Youma - Some of Beryl's original troops who, upon the 
transformation that struck them when they were imprisoned with 
Metilla's insensate form, acquired some resistance to age.  It 
includes the generals, a few officers and bureaucrats who haven't 
tried Beryl's patience yet, the child-like 'serisi' who police the 
lesser Youma for Beryl, Beryl herself and me.  All are Humanics 
- there are immortal monster-type youmas, but no transformed 
had ever shown a 'monster form', until the rainbow crystal 
incident - and that turned out to be temporary.   
But I'm getting ahead of myself.

        After Nephrite turned my mind inside out testing me for 
powers, and offered to teach me a few more tricks of magic, it 
was time for me to be given my assignment.
        Everybody had to be busy, we were in a war of sorts, 
after all.
        Given that I was one of those rare Youma who could 
teleport himself out of the dark kingdom with no assistance, I 
was put to permanent Sailor-watch, helping Jadeite.
        Jadeite immediately told me to be on the lookout for the 
Senshi, and warn him of their approach.  Oh, and I'd be the one 
delivering energy to Beryl for him.
        It was obvious that he still didn't believe that I knew their 
identities, which was fine by me; However, I figured that it would 
be best if I kept an eye on them anyhow. 
        That being said my course of action was clear: I was 
going back to highschool.   
        By myself in a school frequented by four of the most 
powerful creatures on the planet, with no possibility of backup 
and a strong possibility that at least one of them could sense me.
Oh, this would be fun.
Not.

Gamlain@airmail.net
Gamlain, transuniversal courier & Hero for rent
Sorcerer to the three great Anime demonesses: Ryoko, Marller, and Ifruita 
"So then I shot a goon and I cut the head man's throat, and after that
things got violent." - Tarnkep Protree
Of course, my homepage is at
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