CHAPTER 6 - The Council Of Senshi

  The Hikawa Shrine.  Midtown Tokyo.  It's a temple devoted to the Shinto
religion, a religion which basically forms the traditions of Japan.
However, it is also home to something not quite Shinto in origin.
  Well, not exactly `home'.  The Hikawa Shrine actually happens to be only
a meeting place for this `new generation'.  But Shinto originates from
around the 6th Century after the introduction of Buddhism into Japan.  This
`new generation' stems from something that is much older.
  Not many people remember the Silver Millenium.  In fact, only a handful
of people out of the entire population of the Earth would remember it as
anything more than a dream.
  It's a good thing too.  NASA would have a lot of explaining to do if it
were discovered that not only have the other planets once been inhabited,
but that the people doing the inhabiting were humans.
  Another interesting point was that the power base hadn't been centered on
Earth.  Indeed, each of the planets had their own linage and kingdom, but
as often occurs, there was one nation upon which all the others rested on.
  Of course, that's all so much dust now.
  Moondust, naturally.

  Inside the shrine right now, are five girls.  They weren't the only ones
in the shrine, but they were, perhaps, the most important.
  These girls are the legacy of the Silver Millenium; the reincarnation of
the last princess, and her guardians.  The Sailor Senshi are holding their
regular meeting, discussing the threat of the Dark Kingdom.
  At least, they _were_ discussing that.  However, as usual for one of
their meetings, there was a short intermission as insults were exchanged
between Usagi and Rei, the familiar sticking out of tongues, and the usual
calming down period before they got back down to business.
  After all, they may be Earth's only hope, but they _are_ teenagers.

  "Okay," said Makoto - a tall girl with her brown hair in a ponytail -
after the commotion had ceased, "it doesn't matter whose fault it was in
letting the guy go.  I mean, we don't really know if he comes from the Dark
Kingdom, do we?  Ami?  Luna?"
  Ami - an intelligent young girl who had short dark hair, with blue
highlights - smiled regretfully.  "I'm afraid he didn't keep still enough
for me to scan him properly.  The readings I got seem to suggest that he's
human; but then, they say that about _all_ the Dark Generals.  And most of
the youmas, at least while they're still in human form.  I didn't detect
any dark energy from him though."
  Makoto laughed in response.  "I doubt you'd need a computer to detect the
difference between a human and a ten foot tall plant.  Anyway, I suppose
that clears up one problem."  She turned back to the two who were still
shooting dirty looks at each other when they thought no one else was
watching them.  "You see, Rei, Usagi?  There's no problem, he's not...."
  "But I got some interesting readings afterwards," chipped in Ami, ever
helpful.
  That silenced Makoto rather effectively.  Luna, the black cat `belonging'
to Usagi, leaped up onto the table the senshi were sitting around.  "What
readings?" she asked Ami, surprising any hidden observers, had there been
any.
  "I found some residual traces of a burst of energy near where he was.  It
was very different from what I've detected since our first dealings with
the Dark Kingdom.  It dissipated quickly though.  However, I don't remember
seeing him when we came in.  Also, he _did_ successfully keep the youma
busy while we were changing.  I didn't get a chance to scan whatever it was
he hit the youma with, but that youma was half dead before we even touched
it.  And there is the fact that either he managed to successfully keep
himself hidden from the youma for a couple of minutes, or he wasn't
affected by the energy drain.  You see, he only attacked the youma a few
moments after we came in, and most of the people were drained already."
  "I knew it," burst out Rei.  She had long black hair, and a fiery look in
her eye.  "I knew he was up to something.  He doesn't _belong_ here!"
  "Hold on, Rei," Luna said soothingly, "we don't even know who he is.
>From what you've described of him, he doesn't sound like anything I
remember from the Moon Kingdom.  Right, Artemis?  Artemis?!"
  Artemis, the white cat `belonging' to Minako, frowned.  "No, Luna, I
honestly doubt it.  Besides, we're too close to worry about any other
threats.  The final battle is almost at hand."
  "Speaking of which," Luna said, "how close are you to discovering the
entrance to the Dark Kingdom?"
  "Very close now.  Minako and I have narrowed the search down to a few
places.  I suspect we shall have the results in a few days."
  Rei wasn't so easily deterred.  "Don't change the subject, Luna.  You
weren't there.  You didn't see what _I_ saw."
  "And what _was_ it that you saw?" countered Luna.
  "He just felt... wrong, somehow.  Like he's not a part of this... oh I
don't know, Luna!  I just felt something, okay?!"
  "If he's not part of this, than we shouldn't worry about him," replied
Artemis.
  "And we can't leap to conclusions because of feelings, Rei," Luna
continued in an almost patronizing manner.
  Usagi grinned.  Her description was best summarised by the fact that her
nickname was "odango atama", literally translated as "dumpling head", more
figuratively translated as "meatball head".  Her long hair had been tied up
into two balls that each had a three foot long ponytail dangling from them.
It was a hairstyle she was proud of, and naturally, the nickname was one
that she hated.
  "What about the time when you thought Ami was from the Dark Kingdom," she
taunted, "because of _strange_ energies you were feeling?  _And_ Rei for
that matter...."
  Luna, advisor to the Sailor Senshi and respitory of knowledge, sweated.
"Uh, well, anyone can make a mistake...."
  "Well," Minako - the one with the long blonde hair - intervened, "at the
very least it might be best to keep a look out for him.  You never know, he
_might_ actually be important."
  "That shouldn't be too hard," mused Rei.  "I mean, you saw the state of
him.  You could probably smell him a mile away!"
  "I wonder where he is now?" Ami thought aloud.

  --**************--
  
  Ian strolled out of the coffee shop, feeling like a new man.  This was
most likely because of the amount of caffiene in his body, but he didn't
care; he hadn't felt this alive in weeks.
  Of course, there was still the little matter of a bath, and perhaps a
trip to the laundresses, but right now, he felt great.
  On the other hand, he still had time to kill.  He'd only been here for
about half an hour, and it was still early afternoon; about four o'clock
the last time he checked.
  He grimaced at the thought.  There wasn't much to do except wait....
  He stopped.  Just down the road, was an icecream parlour.  /Icecream?
I... I haven't had icecream in..../  He paused, trying to figure it out,
and came to the conclusion that he hadn't had icecream since he got trapped
in this whole mess.  He had a few different types of currency; Altarian
Dollars, a piece of gold-pressed latinum, Zorkmids, and a few crowns, but
at the moment, Yen was the most important one.  He had plenty; one of the
better souvenirs from his ill-fated stay in "Ranma 1/2".  He rifled through
his backpack, and pulled out his remaining reserves of cash.  /Well, I've
certainly got a lot left over... and it wouldn't harm anyone if I just..../
  Firmly convinced that it was the right thing to do, Ian marched right
into the parlour, and made preparations for a massive icecream binge.
After all, icecream was a luxury for him, and right now, it was one he
could afford.

  --**************--

  Ten minutes later, the senshi meeting was over.  Everyone was heading
home - generally by the scenic routes - and Usagi was no exception.  Luna
suspected Usagi had deliberately chosen this route _just_ so that she could
say....
  "Oh, look, an icecream parlour!  Let's go in!"  Luna mentally chalked one
up on her princess.
  "Usagi, we are going to be late.  Besides, you'll ruin your appetite."
  "Aw, come on, Luna, just _one_!"
  "No, Usagi, there's no way...."  Luna trailed off as she glanced into the
shop again.  There was a man sitting at a table with a large helping of
icecream; not as much as Usagi was known for, but larger than most anyway.
It was not his disheveled appearance that caused Luna to shut up and take
notice, or the way he was going blissfully through the icecream, savouring
each bite as if it might be his last.  Of course, the latter wasn't so much
of a surprise considering he looked like he had spent the last few months
sleeping rough.
  But there was a feeling about him; she thought that now she knew what Rei
had meant.  Luna was _positive_ this was the guy they were talking about.
Rei was right; for some reason, the man didn't belong here at all.  With
things coming to a head against the Dark Kingdom, they needed to be more
alert now than ever.  They couldn't risk losing this one; he must have a
part to play in the oncoming battle.  The only problem was that Luna didn't
know what that part would be.
  "Inside, now," she told the young girl.
  "But Luna, all I want is an ice... huh?"
  "I said inside.  I'll explain it in a minute."
  "Great!"  Whatever doubts Usagi had about the cat's motives were quickly
dispelled by the presence of icecream.  She scooped Luna up and hurried
into the parlour.

  --**************--
  
  Secret identities are always very hard to keep.  Most known superheros
try to keep them secret by wearing masks, or trying some subtle change of
appearance: taking off glasses, for instance, or wearing a ton of powered
armour.  It varies with personal preference.
  However, the Sailor Senshi look almost exactly the same in either form.
If Usagi and the others dressed up in sailor fuku without using the
transformation artifacts, no one would know the difference.
  Or perhaps they would.  As with real life, you are more likely to see
what you expect to see.  Magic is kind of like that, no matter if it's
sleight of hand or the real McCoy.
  The reason people would know the difference, is because what they'll
actually see is Usagi _trying_ to be Sailor Moon, rather than Sailor Moon
herself.  "Usagi?  Sailor Moon?  Nah!" has exactly the same ring to it as
"Clark Kent?  Superman?  Nah!"  Actually, more so; who would think that a
ditz like Usagi would be the leader of a team of guardians dedicated to
defeating the Dark Kingdom, not to mention being a princess fated to become
the future ruler of Crystal Tokyo?
  Of course, there are a few people whose mind is set in just such a way so
that the previous fact would be believable to them.  Most of these people
wouldn't know Usagi personally, so almost all of the previous argument
would be lost on them.  But this is where the magic _really_ kicks in; no
one not actually seeing the transformation has a chance in hell of
recognising any of the Sailor Senshi in their civilian forms.
  As stated before, but not in the same way as either Rei or Luna thought,
Ian Robinson is a refugee into this reality, and hence, does not belong
here.
  Unlike usual refugees, Ian would be glad to be sent back home.  That is
besides the point though, since he was not going home at that moment, and
was, in fact, in an icecream parlour, stuffing his face with vanilla
icecream.
  On the other side of the room, Usagi sat herself at a table with a
gallon's worth of icecream made out of every flavour ever thought of, and
then some.  Luna perched herself on the table, and stared at Ian.  What she
hoped to see became academic as Ian's paranoia kicked in and he looked up
to find where the feeling of being watched was coming from.
  His eyes came to rest on a young 14 year old girl with a hairstyle he
remembered from events not an hour ago before.  She, of course, was not the
one watching him; her attention was focused on the multicoloured mound in
front of her.  However, unlike anyone in this reality, Ian had, in what he
regarded as his misfortune, watched a few episodes of "Sailor Moon".  This
is as good, if not better, as seeing the transformations in real life.
Which he had anyway.  He gulped nervously.
  Unfortunately, he was trying to swallow icecream at the same time.

  --**************--

  Fortunately, choking on icecream isn't easy.  It doesn't have a tendancy
to stick in your throat, and it is simple enough to cough the stuff back
up.
  But it _does_ draw attention.  And Ian had found, through trial and
error, that attention was usually a bad thing.
  Take this case for example.  Usagi, with a heart of gold, always ready to
help, was distracted by the coughing.  This is unusual in itself, since
almost nothing could distract or separate Usagi from icecream, unless it
was a crowbar.
  She looked up and noticed exactly _who_ was coughing.  The man they'd
seen earlier who had escaped.  Naturally, she was now a little confused.
  However, Luna, Usagi's cat, saw this as an oppurtunity to find out more
about this mysterious foreigner.  She leapt off her perch, and walked under
Ian's table.  Ian, having more important things to worry about, didn't
notice.
  Usagi sighed in a resigned manner, picked up her bowl, and followed the
cat.  There had to be a good reason why Luna was doing this, but she
couldn't think of one off-hand.

  --**************--

  Ian wiped his eyes again, wishing they'd stop watering so he could see
properly.  With a final hack, he brought up the last of the icecream, and
swallowed it properly.  His vision cleared slightly, and he noticed that
he'd finished his icecream.  He moved to get up and leave as soon as
possible.
  Something landed heavily in his lap, forcing him down slightly.  He
looked down to see a black ball of fur looking at him.
  He tickled the cat under its chin.  He liked cats.  There wasn't any
deviousness about them at all; they always told you _exactly_ how they
felt.  Ian had the scars to prove it.  "So," he said, "who do you belong
to, little one?"
  "Me," said the girl who'd just taken the seat across from him.
  Ian yelped and fell back in his chair, forcing the cat to leap onto his
chest.  He lay there looking at the ceiling for a while.  It was at least
something that wasn't about to jump out at him.  It stayed where it was,
and if it was about to move, it would give him prior warning.  So relaxing.
  "Hello?"  Usagi's face appeared in front of him, looking concerned.
  Ian closed his eyes, counted to ten, taking deep breaths all the while.
It wouldn't do to start hyperventilating.  That was for when Chronos caught
up with him.  At the moment, he'd just have to deal with this reality as
best he could.
  He was nervous.  The upside of being nervous was that it made Ian more
alert, as he looked around for an escape route.  The downside was that it
made him just a little sarcastic.
  To understand why sarcasm is a downside, look under "Heckling your
captor, and why you shouldn't do it."  There's nothing worse than pissing
off someone who has you at their mercy.  But Ian has a tendency to do it
anyway.
  "Glad to see you're no longer in uniform," he told the girl as he got up,
lifting the cat off his chest, and placing it carefully on the table.
  The cat's eyes widened in response, something Ian wouldn't normally have
noticed, except for the fact that he was used to the idea of intelligent
animals, ever since the incident in Narnia.  In Manga, he was more than
alert for this kind of thing.  Usually.  Surprises had a tendency to creep
up from behind and ambush him rather effectively, especially if they were
surprises he'd met before.
  Usagi, on the other hand, just looked at him in confusion, with no hint
that she had even _heard_ the sarcasm, much less understood it.  "What do
you mean?  Today's a Sunday.  No school, you see."
  Ian started, but then relaxed.  /If she doesn't get what I mean, maybe
she doesn't recognise me..../  "Oh, well, I seem to have finished, so I'll
just... be... going now."
  "Okay."
  He managed to hide a look of surprise.  Barely.  He was so certain that
she had him cornered, that now it seemed ludricous to think that escape was
possible.
  Picking up his empty bowl, he made his way to the counter and deposited
it.  Glancing back at Usagi, he noticed that the black cat appeared to be
nuzzling the girl's ear.  Nuzzling it rather angrily, he might add.
  The widening of Usagi's eyes and the muffled whispering forced Ian to
reconsider his previous analysis.  Especially the apologetic expression the
girl gave to the cat.  He thought he knew what was going to come next, so
he quickly paid the man behind the counter and strode towards the door.
/Odds are that cute black cat can talk, if what I remember of Sailor Moon
is correct.  Hell, it was smarter than she was.  Therefore, any second
now..../
  "Hey, mister," said Usagi, trying to get his attention.  Ian's answer was
to slip through the door, pretending he hadn't heard.  The speed with which
he did so said otherwise.
  Usagi got up to follow him.  She got as far as the door when a polite
cough from behind caused her to stop and look around.  The icecream vendor
was looking pointedly at her.
  Embarrassed, Usagi went back to the counter to pay for the icecream she'd
had.  By the time she got outside, Ian was long gone.

  --**************--

  From the shadows of a nearby alley, an unseen observer looked on as a
young man wearing a brown weatherbeaten leather jacket raced out of the
icecream parlour, and skidded around the corner, out of view.
  About a minute later, the observer watched as a young girl and her cat
also emerged, looking both ways in consternation, before walking off in, as
luck would have it, exactly the same direction.
  Unnoticed, the observer slipped further back into the alley.  Things
appeared to be going well, but it was a pity that Ian hadn't teamed up with
the Senshi yet.  That was disappointing.  Mind you, he'd only had an hour
here so far, but for the plan to work, it had to be seen that Robinson and
the Sailor Senshi were working together.
  Chronos decided that there was still a lot left to do.

  Ian sometimes wondered why Chronos didn't just kill him whenever he had
the chance.  Most people would see the logic in just offing the one
annoyance that kept Chronos from moving freely throughout the `books' and
finally conquering the entire realm of imagination and its limitless
possibilities.
  Several months ago, when the anomaly that brought Ian here happened,
Chronos would have accepted that way of dealing with the problem.  However,
luck successfully sheltered Ian through those initial confusing moments,
allowing him time to learn about this strange new world.  And his
relentless opponent.
  However, time has mellowed Chronos's reaction.  He has accepted Ian in
the scheme of things.  Which is why Chronos wanted to make sure that Ian's
demise be as interesting as possible.
  Many people, by now, would be wondering why then that Chronos sends teams
of Chronotroopers out to kill Ian, asking exactly how that would be
memorable.
  This _may_ take some explaining.
  It has been written, at one time, that there is a force called Normality.
It is often known as Fate, Destiny, or all manner of other names.  It is a
force that plays a major part in human life.  It is not inviolate, but it
is very powerful.  It's powers are probably best expressed as the well-
known proverb: "The more things change, the more they stay the same."
  This is _not_ about Normality.  Normality is a part of real life.  This
is about imagination.  It is about books.
  Books, of course, have their own laws.  As mentioned before, one of them
is that things always get worse if the character thinks that they cannot.
There are many of these laws; ones governing ambushes, love scenes, sieges,
comedy, and so on.
  Some laws are very much unwritten ones, not even classed as laws, but
they are so fundamental that even though they are not really acknowledged,
everyone follows them.  Due to the unofficial nature of these laws, only a
generalisation can be made as to their contents.  One of these happens to
be this: "The hero is never killed in the first scene."
  Actually, like all other laws, they are really only classed as
guidelines.  Even laws as seemingly fundamental as the one above have been
broken; in this case, due to the imaginative idea of reincarnation.  "The
Eye Of The World", the first book of the Wheel Of Time series by Robert
Jordan, breaks that unwritten rule, having his hero die, in the prologue,
no less.  One episode in Star Trek : The Next Generation had the entire
Enterprise crew in a time loop which ended each time with the entire ship
being destroyed, a scene shown in the prologue before the opening credits.
Perhaps a better generalisation of the aforementioned rule should be: "The
hero will always appear in the final scene."
  Once again, that law still isn't perfect.  In fact, many books feature
martyrs, heroes or heroines who die for their belief, or sacrifice
themselves to save some ideal.  The last scene of Alien3 is memorable in
that respect.  Usually, after some sort of sacrifice like that, there is an
epilogue, which is normally about how the hero's death changed the world
around him or her.  Thus, there wouldn't be any possible way for the hero
to appear in the `last scene'.  Which means that the above rule would have
to be modified yet again.  Unless they became a ghost.
  This is all very tiresome, and there can never be _one_ generalisation,
since somebody somewhere will think of an inventive way to be original, so
all that is really needed is that Ian is classed as a hero, and heroes are
generally very hard to kill.
  The whole point about all this, is that you have to realise that there
are forces in this realm that are often working in the background.  If
Chronos attempted a full frontal assualt to destroy Ian Robinson, it would
most assuredly fail.  Probably.
  But that isn't what is stopping Chronos from even attempting to take Ian
out like this.  The previous exploration of the laws and physics of books
isn't useless though, for it is partly essential in explaining Chronos's
motives.
  Chronos has style.  It isn't necessarily a good style, but it is a style
nonetheless.  He appears to be very impressionable.  He _believes_ in the
final showdown, and so, will most likely allow Ian to get that far.  He
enjoys puzzles and conumdrums, and takes great pains in allowing Ian a
chance to escape every predicament Chronos puts him in.  Even if it's only
a tiny infintesimal chance, it will still be there.  Thus, Chronos will
never confront Ian directly, especially just out of nowhere.  He likes
drama, and so would prefer a much more appropriate setting; say, drawing
Ian to a fortress of Chronos's devising.  Just appearing out of thin air,
shouting "DIE", and wiping Ian from existence, lacks a certain... flair.
It wasn't that Chronos wasn't aware that having ventilation ducts big
enough to crawl through; he was very aware of that fact.  Enough so that
it had become a standard feature in his fortresses.  With all of eternity
to endure, entertainment was rare.  Thus the need for new challenges, and
new conquests.  And now, the appearance of Ian had made his existence more
invigorating yet.  He knew that this was the moment he had been waiting
for, for over six hundred years.  He would savour every moment until the
end.
  And as for the teams of Chronotroopers?  Chronos usually expects Ian to
deal with them successfully.  And if he doesn't... well, that's one less
problem for Chronos to worry about.

  But, something is most certainly different this time.  Chronos was just a
little ticked off by his meeting with Beryl.  He felt that Beryl needed to
be taken down a peg or two.  However, he couldn't do that _himself_; that
would be breaking the rules.  He needed Beryl later, so any outright
confrontation would end up with Beryl concentrating more on Chronos than on
the Senshi, or even Ian.  Obviously, Ian would have to be the one to anger
Beryl.
  Something unprecendented is going to happen.
  Chronos is going to actually help Ian.  Even if it _is_ in the short
term.

  --**************--


  End Chapter 6

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