Mina looked at the two figures as they walked down the street.  Somehow, she
knew who they were.  The one was Nakiad, the man who saved her life.  He was
older now, almost fully grown, perhaps seventeen, for she felt several years
had passed since the last vision.  The other, who called himself Artem, was
Artemis, he had to be.  But younger in a way, before he was her guardian.  And
the scout herself knew that she was now twelve, and had been accepted as a
candidate for Sailor Venus.  Mina remembered distinctly her thrill at being
chosen for that honor.

The two continued down the street toward a large building, one that Mina
somehow knew to be a combat practice gym.  Then the man stopped in his tracks,
so suddenly that Artem continued for a meter before stopping and turning to
figure out why the man had stopped.

And Mina saw herself.

She, too, was walking down the street, in the opposite direction.  And she, too
was staring.  With a start, Mina realized that this was the first time she ever
saw Nakiad.

The first time in her life she fell in love.

All of a sudden, the orange scouts' memories were swamped, barriers collapsing
as she remembered her emotions, remembered the happiness.... and the pain.

The two people on the street approached each other meanwhile, ignoring everyone
else.

"I am... Nakiad."  The youth stumbled across the word.

"Mina," the girl answered shyly.

Suddenly, the white cat leaped up to the man, and, outside the girl's view, he
slashed his claws down across Nakiad's leg.

The pain brought him out of the daze, and he looked down at his guardian. "We
have to go, now," Artem whispered intensely.

For a moment, the youth seemed about to disagree, then shrugged. "I will see
you around." He nodded to the girl as he went on.

"Bye," Mina whispered.

The observing scout floated after the man and cat as she struggled to get
control of her emotions.  The memories of her past and her present were
colliding in her mind, messing up her thoughts, but she could still hear what
was happening.

The cat walked for a while in silence, until he looked up at Nakiad staring at
him.  Then Artem sighed. "Then you are the one," he whispered.  Nakiad looked
down at the white cat, justifiably confused, but said nothing. And after a
moment, the cat continued.  "When the Chosen was being created, the leaders of
the Universe decided they needed some sort of compensation for the weight that
one person would have to carry.  And the Dark Lord was able to influence them
in such a way that they made the Chosen fall in love during his life."

Fall in love?  The youth mouthed the words silently.  "How?"

The cat sighed yet again. "The Dark Lord cannot directly change the happenings
of this Universe, but he can influence other's minds if they let him.  And the
council was not used to the idea of evil." Artem shook his head. "You have to
understand, the Universe was a place of Good only, and so the people were
innocent.  So the Council arranged it that the true love of the Chosen would be
born in a similar time slot.  And so it has always been, by destiny."

The man continued to walk. "It was a mistake?"

"Of course.  The Evil one used that weakness, he used the Chosen's love against
them, by attacking the love, or forcing the Chosen to abandon her or him."

"But it is destiny.  And that is what just happened." Nakiad referred to
Mina.

Artem looked up. "Yes, I felt it.  There is nothing you can do."

"I will probably never meet her again, so it is over?"  He glanced over at the
cat and saw the expression. "Destiny, huh?  I could try to make her hate me."

"You could, but you won't."  The two had arrived at the gym. "Most of the other
Chosen have been able to deal with it."

"Then I am going to have to as well."

But the white cat did not seem nearly as sure.

As the two went in, Mina found the scene dissolving once more.

The pause was also long this time again, she felt perhaps a year go by.  Then
things reappeared, a street again, to Mina's surprise.

Once more, Artemis and the Chosen were going down the road.

"You are thinking of her again, aren't you?"  The white cat accused Nakiad with
a certain tiredness, as if Artem had said the same thing too many times.

"Destiny," the man murmured, "is a funny thing."  He changed the subject. "Why
am I to meet the Princess and the ones chosen to be the Sailor Scouts?"

"They are the best fighters of their worlds.  You are to train with them now,
since you are the most likely candidate for the Chosen."

They were approaching the palace. "Do you remember the proper greetings?" The
white cat asked somewhat apprehensively.

"Relax, Art, you've told me already.  Why is it so important, anyway?"

"It's Artem, and protocol is required in the palace.  Your position is high,
but you must maintain your social status.  And despite everything, you remain a
commoner, not royalty.  Although Queen Serenity is supposed to be liberal, it
is not the time to change a tradition this old."

"Social status, yerch."  The man made a sound of disgust. "I've never
understood the obsession with protocol.  Oh well."  they had arrived at the
entrance.

The scene blinked and they were inside, standing in a spacious chamber.  The
queen approached them.

The Chosen inclined his head gently, but without actually bending his back.
"Your highness," he said politely.  Artem seemed to sigh in relief.

"Nakiad."  Queen Serenity extended here hand, which he took, bringing it up to
his lips for a moment, then letting it go.

The Queen half turned, gesturing to the others behind her to come forward. "My
daughter, Princess Serena."  A girl in a long whit dress approached Nakiad, and
he greeted her the same way he did the queen.  The appellation of 'Princess'
seemed to bother her, but not unduly.  "And Serena's guardian, Lu."  Nakiad
nodded to the black cat as Artemis smiled a bit, looking the lithe black shape
over.  The man glanced down at the white cat for a moment, arching an eyebrow,
but did not comment.

The Queen turned again. "And may I present the future Sailor Scouts, champions
of their planets and defenders of the Silver Millennium."

As the four girls approached, the man straightened suddenly, gasping.
Observing, Mina followed his gaze, knowing exactly what was going on without
understanding how.  He was staring at herself once more.  Artem closed his eyes
as he sighed silently.

Queen Serenity was continuing, meanwhile. "Ami, the Sailor of Mercury."  The
blue-headed girl cam forward, shaking Nakiad's hand. Rei and Lita followed
similarly, then Mina approached. "And this is Mina, the Scout chosen to
represent the planet Venus."  

The youth stared into her eyes as she extended her hand, then took it.  And
held it, for a time much longer than that of the other scouts, the Queen
turning to Artem as the touch lingered.  As the two released each other, the
white cat nodded almost imperceptibly to the Queen and she frowned just a bit
as she turned back to the others. "You will be studying together in combat, so
you ought to get aquatinted.

Mina's spirit followed the Queen and the cat as they left the others.

Serenity waited until they were out of hearing of the scouts, then turned to
the cat. "You were correct.  I felt it-"

"As I have," the white cat finished. "It is destined, there is nothing we can
do."

"Nor is there anything we should do."  They turned to look at the others, who
seemed to be getting along. "It'll work out, it always has."

Artem shook his head. "Almost always."

"True."

The two faded into darkness.



Serena tried to blink to wash away the imaginary tears the previous scene had
generated, failing, naturally, since the tears were not physical.  Though a
part of her mind still wondered how she was viewing all of this, most of her
had agreed with everything she saw.  And she somehow *knew*< >that
this all happened, and had no doubts.

She felt a little more time pass, the scouts and Nakiad getting along in their
training, other for some petty annoyances such as Lita never being able to
quite beat him in hand to hand combat.  The scout of Jupiter was not used to
being thwarted like that, but there was little she could do.  And Serena
remembered the man and Mina falling in love, going out into the parks of the
Moon, spending a lot of time there....

Slowly, another scene appeared, one of the man's room.  Only a little bit of
time had passed, but she knew that the attack from Queen Beryl was approaching
fast.  And Serena remembered falling in love with Darian at about this time, so
things were coming to a head.

Nakiad was sitting in the room, poring over some sort of document when the door
opened.  The white cat came in, a strange expression on his face.  It was as if
he was sad and happy at the same time.

The youth looked up at him. "Hey, Art."

"Artemis," came the reply.

It took a few seconds for the word to sink in, then Nakiad looked up again,
pushing away the document. "Artemis?  Then that means that...."

The cat sighed. "A guardian gets his first syllable at birth," he reflected,
almost to himself. "On finishing his tutoring of his first ward, he gets his
second syllable, one that he gets to choose himself.  But only a few guardians
ever get a third syllable."  The cat suddenly jumped on the table. "A guardian
can only get a third syllable by finishing the teaching of someone who is
picked as the Chosen."

The man stared at Artemis for a few moments. "Then I have been picked."

"Yes.  Officially, you are the one, you are the Chosen.  And I have finished
teaching you everything I could."

"Wait, what?" Nakiad looked up at that last. "You can't mean I'm ready?"

Suddenly, a new voice penetrated the room. <"By that very question, you show
that you are not.">

Nakiad turned slowly to find a sphere of light hovering behind him, just
hanging in the air.  Artemis made a little cough, attracting attention.
"Nakiad, this is Guardian."

The man shook his head. "A guardian?"

"No," the cat's voice was reproachful. "Guardian."

The strange voice came again. <"When a Chosen dies, there must always be a
way of going on, for there must always be a Chosen to preserve the balance.  So
the first Chosen, Nemesis, finding herself dead, did not entirely disappear.
Instead, her essence became concentrated in a protector of sorts, a tutor for
new Chosen.  And each Chosen that perishes will join with me, becoming part of
me.">

After a few seconds of digesting this, Serena realized what she found strange
about the light's voice; it was not any particular voice but rather all of
them.  As if many people were speaking together, not in a crowd all together,
but more like their voices were all averaged.  The princess tried to make sense
of that thought and failed.

Nakiad, meanwhile, seemed to have absorbed the information much faster. "If you
will continue my training, what will happen to Artemis?"

The white cat got a little uncomfortable. "I've been assigned a new ward."

"Who?"

"The Sailor Scouts needed someone with more experience than Lu to help them.
She will soon get her second syllable, since she is doing very well with her
teaching of Serena, but she could use some advice.  So I have been assigned to
Mina."

The man sat back in his chair. "Somehow I doubt that is a coincidence.  The
only question is what exactly happened.  Did you want to keep an eye on us?  Or
perhaps the Queen felt.."

<"Enough.">  Guardian interrupted suddenly. <"You are the Chosen, but
that does not give you permission to question the leader of the Kingdom.">

Nakiad sighed. "You are correct.  Fare well, then Artemis."

The scene dissolved into darkness.



Darian blinked as the room disappeared.  He no longer questioned the
information that he seemed to be remembering.  The Chosen was getting along
well in his training when rumors of a power shift in the Negaverse first came.
And the next scene showed Darian himself.

He was looking at Serena, an expression on his face that he was sure gave
everything away.  His younger self was being introduced to the court, and
finally, Nakiad came up as someone not directly part of the hierarchy, but
associated with it.

"Prince Darian."  As was customary, Nakiad inclined his head.

"Chosen," the prince returned to favor.  Then he turned to Serenity. "Queen,
there are rumors of a power shift in the Negaverse.  Things seem to be
changing, the gap between us shortens at a speed that no one can predict.  I do
not know how much time we have before Earth itself will be assailed.  The
prince looked openly at Nakiad.

Watching himself, Darian's disembodied eye saw Nakiad jerk, just barely
visibly.  The man seemed to steel himself, then stepped forward into the
conversation.

The man did not hesitate. "Then it is time."  A globe of light appeared over
Nakiad's shoulder, promptly ignored by the man. "I must stop Him, before He,
too can cross over."

The Queen looked at him sadly. "Are you sure you are ready?"

The man did not flinch, he did not turn to Guardian, he merely looked Serenity
straight in her eyes and answered. 

"Yes."

"No," Mina gasped, back among the scouts.

The man walked up to her softly, the other scouts fading away from the view of
Darian's spirit. Nakiad stopped, placing his hands on her shoulders. "It must
be this way," he whispered. "In the end, you and I are the same, we each have a
path to follow, a battle to fight.  If you are to have a chance of winning when
the Negaverse attacks, as it will, I *must* stop the Dark Lord.  It is my
destiny."

Her voice faded to a barely audible whisper. "Can't you stay just a little
longer?"

He sighed. "You know I can't.  I can not shirk my duty anymore than you can
yours."  He wiped away a tear about to roll down here cheek. "I will find a way
back to you.  Our love is eternal, nothing can change that.
*Remember*<.>"  Darian wondered what Nakiad was referring to. "I will
find a way."  He lowered his head, kissing her on her lips, then straightened.
"I must go."

He turned, not seeing Mina's hands go up as if to stop him, not seeing tears
start coming down her cheeks.

But watching, Darian could swear he could see the Chosen's eyes become moist as
he walked away.

Briefly, Darian caught the images of a portal through which Nakiad stepped, not
to be heard from again, then the prince relived Beryl's attack, but it all
flashed by in a blur until the end of the last fight.

Then everything went blank, like a lid slamming on a box, until he could no
longer see anything and was blind.



Nakiad watched as the scouts, Luna, and Darian continued in their strange
slumber.  He had not spoken to Artemis much, mostly holding back his thoughts.
Then he saw a slight alteration in the others' demeanors.  Slowly but steadily,
they seemed to be waking up.

Suddenly, they opened their eyes, all at the same time, blinking as if to rid
themselves of a long dream.

Serena murmured to herself as she stretched. "Mom, I had the *weirdest*
dream..."  Her voice trailed off as her brain seemed to kick into high gear, at
the same time as everyone else's did.

Mina looked up, her eyes focused on only one thing. "Nakiad," she whispered
softly, one word that shook his heart.  The scout did not seem to be aware that
she was getting up.

"No."  The word came out as a croak.  He held his hand up, stopping her and
everyone else.  For the first time, the others saw his feelings show plainly, a
look of pain plain on his face.  "You have remembered what you knew before.
Now you will know the rest."

He got up, swallowing. "You saw me pass through the Gate, but not anything
afterward. There is an ancient arena in the Negaverse, made especially for that
single fight, once every millennium. There, I challenged him."

Nakiad tried to relax. "We fought for a long time in the dark.  The story of
that battle could be a long one indeed-"  He paused, a look of pain crossing
his face for a moment, then he shook his head.  "But I do not like to remember
it. Suffice it to say that I was winning."

"Yes, winning.  The Dark Lord had not managed to attack anyone I care about in
order to decrease my power, and so we were equal.  But I was fighting for a
just cause, and he was fighting out of greed, so in the end, I had to triumph."
Then he shrugged. "In retrospect, it seemed luck more than anything else.  He
underestimated me, and I was able to attack better than he thought, and he
suffered the consequences."

Nakiad sighed. "I canceled out is energy until it was down to a basic fight,
all skills and no power.  He was wounded, weak, while I was young and strong.
I got his sword away from him, and raised it over his heart, ready to kill him
with his own weapon."  The man paused, his voice close to breaking.

"When a Chosen dies, another might take his place.  And it is believed that the
Dark Lord cannot be destroyed, which means the cycle will repeat forever.  That
belief is wrong.  It is possible to finish it, it is possible to destroy the
evil that He contains."

Nakiad looked at the others, a strange look in his eyes. "But in order to do
so, a Chosen has to sacrifice himself, completely.  For if the Dark Lord dies,
there will be no continuation within Guardian, no immortality.  The chain of
Chosen will end there and then."

"And as I raised the sword, I realized this with a clearness than bore no
doubt, I knew that I would die if I killed him.  And I knew that I could
destroy the evil that he was for all eternity if I would just strike."

Nakiad raised his head, staring Mina in the eyes. "And I hesitated."

A silence hovered over Lita's dining room like a beast ready to attack.

The man sighed.  "Before I met you," he included the scouts, but everyone knew
he meant Mina more than anyone else, "my life was simple.  I would be the
Chosen, I would honor the name of my family and I would die doing it.
Somewhere deep inside, I knew this from the moment I was a five year old boy
who passed the first Test.  And then..."

"After I met you, for really the first time in my life, I was actually happy.
I had friends, I was in love.  I liked my life.  I was young, I did not want to
die."  The scouts realized that two creases of moisture ran down Nakiad's
face.

"And then I saw it in His eyes, I saw the power flare inside.  Knowing I was
too late, I thrust with the sword, but it was futile.  Like fog, he dissolved
into the darkness, and I felt myself doing the same.  If I had struck him there
and them, he would be gone, but he had enough time to separate us, trapping us
both without bodies until the next Conjunction."

The scouts settled down, trying to absorb the news.  Passing seconds stretched
into minutes as everyone silently thought.

Nakiad raised his head. "It is all my fault.  The attack of Queen Beryl.  Queen
Serenity's death.  The death of all those who died for the Moon Kingdom, and
those on Earth who were killed in the initial attack.  I saw it all."

Artemis raised his head. "What is your fault?"  The others turned to him,
surprised by the question.

"Don't you understand?"  Inside, Nakiad was screaming in pain, while he strove
to remain in control of his outward emotions. "When Queen Beryl attacked, when
she attacked again.  If I had killed Him there and then, the Universes might
have gone back to the way they were, far apart.  And you would not have lost
the Moon Kingdom."

"No," the white cat answered.  In that moment, his diminutive shape seemed to
gather strength. "You are wrong.  If you had destroyed Him, then everything
would have stayed the same.  There would have been nothing to push the
universes apart once more.  Beryl would have still attacked, and no one could
predict what would have happened. And you are wrong about one other thing."

The cat continued to stare at him, continuing. "The day Beryl attacked, we did
not lose.  We won."

"But.." Nakiad did not have a chance to finish.

"*We won*<.>  Queen Beryl was trapped until such time as Princess
Serena could finish her, which happened now.  And the people of the kingdom
were saved, sent to a new time on Earth where they were reborn."

"What about the kingdom?"

Artemis's eyes flashed anger for an instant, then subsided. "It was just a
kingdom.  It hardly matters, only people matter.  And the people survived."

Nakiad sighed. "Then what about Queen Serenity?"

Artemis bowed his head for a moment. "She died saving her people, saving her
daughter.  There is no higher honor than that.  Nakiad, remember this; you have
done the same thing that every Chosen has been able to do, but you did it
without dying."

Nakiad shook his head, settling down into a chair. "Perhaps you are right," he
whispered.  He knew the white cat to be wrong, a large part of the fault for
that attack lay on his shoulders, but he would never convince Artemis of that.
Did that cat not understand?  He had blamed himself for thousands of years, it
was too late to change that.

Then he looked at Mina, that single focus making the scouts fade away in
comparison.  She was silent, simply looking at him, but he could feel her
emotions stir.  A storm was gathering behind those eyes, a storm that was
directed at him, and he could feel the anger gathered.

And then it faltered for a moment, and collapsed, the clouds clearing to reveal
a bright blue sky, and she smiled.

The smile went through his heart like a sword, slamming into his feelings.

"Just because you hesitated, you didn't kill him at once, you thought we'd hate
you?"  Mina asked the question seriously, calmly.  Rei looked up as if to
protest, but kept quiet.  Mina came up to Nakiad, her eyes moist. "You thought
I'd hate you?"  To his surprise, she hugged him, clutching her hands around him
as if he was the only thing keeping her stable.

A sharp pain from his back lanced through him, but he did not flinch.  He saw
Ami look with concern at him and tried to look reassuring as he comforted Mina,
feeling strange.  Somehow, he had thought that it would be he who needed
comforting.

Lita looked up. "Um, is anyone else hungry?  I have some potatoes and beef that
just need to be warmed up."  

Nakiad's stomach rumbled at a level that Mina could feel and she raised her
head, looking into his eyes.  "Well, he does, anyway."  She was obviously
trying to keep her voice light and he thanked her for that silently.

Then, he, too smiled. "You wouldn't believe how much energy a good regeneration
takes out of you."



The group was finishing its collective meal, with everyone surprised at the
sheer amount of food Nakiad consumed.  But as he said, regeneration must take a
lot of energy, and from Mina's story, he had not eaten in a while.

Darian looked up, pushing away his plate with a smile. "Your cooking always was
great, Lita."  He looked at everyone. "So, what now?"

The question was probably on everyone's minds, but Lita answered first. "Well,
I hate to play an discourteous host, but my parents are supposed to come today,
so I kind of need things back to the way they were around here.  And hopefully,
there shouldn't be too many strangers hanging around." She looked pointedly at
Nakiad and Darian, the prince looking behind him to see whom she was talking
about.

Serena looked at Luna. "Speaking of parents, I need you to do your thing, you
know?"

The black cat sighed, exchanging a glance with Artemis, who nodded. "All right,
like I said, we don't like to mess around with other's minds, but in this case,
it seems unavoidable.  "Who else needs it?"

Ami and Mina needed it, but the rest did not seem to have a problem.  Except
for Rei, who looked strange for a moment. "I'm not sure," the raven hair scout
answered. "Grandpa was here last night, and... I just don't know.  He seems to
understand, anyway."

Luna thought for a moment. "All right, we'll see how it goes.  I'll take
Serena's parents and-"

"And I'll do Mina's and Ami's," the white cat finished for her.  He turned to
Nakiad. "Do you need a place to stay?"

The man wondered if he should tell them about his home, but it was not the
time, and neither would it be for a while.  "I guess I could use one."

Artemis nodded. "Darian?"

The Prince looked up from staring into space. "What's that?... Oh, sure."

Then Rei frowned. "Maybe he should stay with me, at the temple."  The rest of
the scouts, particularly Mina, looked sharply at her, but the red scout did not
flinch.  So, Nakiad thought, you still don't quite trust me.  

Good.

"All right," he answered. "Anything else?"

Ami looked at him. "Yes.  How's your back?"  Everyone was reminded
uncomfortably of the incident of the night before, which had faded in their
memories due to everything else that had happened.

"It'll heal completely within a week, so you won't be able to tell anything
happened."  He was keeping his eyes on Mina, who seemed to deal with the
reminder all right.  Nakiad suddenly got up, a thought going through his
mind.

"Where's Kaneth?"

*	*	*

He stared as the Chosen got hit by the beam despite his efforts to save the
man.  Kaneth had decided that the one who was able to defeat him should be
under his protection.  The warrior was not entirely sure why that was, but the
reason came from deep inside him, from a part of himself he trusted.  From the
part that was honorable. And now he had failed.

The warrior watched silently as one of the scouts, Sailor Mercury according to
the intelligence reports, decided that the Chosen was dead.

Then the man had come alive, and seemed to be in good hands.  At the same time,
two of the others, an old man and a boy started to leave, and Kaneth noticed
something strange.  The boy was one of the human faces he had been trained to
recognize.  He was one of Beryl's seven shadows.  And, if his memory served and
the reports were correct, the boy could predict the future.

Glancing once more at the figure of the Chosen, Kaneth forced himself to blend
with the shadows, making his body all but invisible as his training had taught
him.  After several moments, he sneaked out, a black shadow going through the
darkness of the door.

Outside, the warrior looked around, spotting the old man and former shadow, and
followed them, then stopped.  The street to which the others had turned was
filled with people, even at this late hour, and there would be no hiding from
the lights.  For a moment, the warrior thought to himself, but the answer was
obvious if uncomfortable.

Every creature of the Negaverse had certain powers, and one of them was the
ability to assume a disguise for limited periods of time.  Unfortunately, even
for the ones that were used to the process, it was uncomfortable.  For Kaneth,
it would be the first time in a long while, and would be very painful.  But if
he was to follow the two figures, he had to appear human, and this was the only
way.  And so Kaneth concentrated, forcing his shape to morph into that of a
human man, steeling himself as best he could against the pain.  Within moments,
he looked like nothing more than a businessman rushing to a late night meeting,
or coming home from work.  The only thing that might have given him away was
his face, which was somewhat unnatural as Kaneth had little practice with this
particular disguise. Few would notice this, and, according to the reports of
others who had come to the plant, most would studiously ignore the difference
in appearance.  Shifting in the uncomfortable suit, the Negaverse warrior
followed the two figures toward their destination, whatever that might be.

After a few blocks, they reached something the warrior's memory identified as a
train station where after speaking some words, the old man left, heading back
the way he came.  As he passed Kaneth, the man turned for a moment, as if
feeling something, and the warrior tried to improve his disguise, but the old
man was already continuing down the street.

Recovering from the strange meeting, Kaneth covered the distance between him
and his target rapidly, closing in on the boy.  He moved from shadow to shadow,
sneaking up on the youth, then lay a hand on the other's shoulder.

To Kaneth's surprise, the boy did not even flinch. "Hello, Kaneth."

"Then you are the shadow."

The boy turned around. "I no longer call myself that.  I am Greg.  And you
are?"

Kaneth shook his head in surprise. "You just said it, did you not?"

The boy sighed, seemingly in frustration. "In order for me to have known it
then, you have to have told me now, so I could see it in the future."

For a few seconds, Kaneth tried to make sense of this, his head starting to
spin. "You mean that you could not have seen it in the future until I told
you?"  The boy nodded, and a thought came to the warrior. "Then how come you
couldn't have just seen yourself say Kaneth, then you would know I am
Kaneth?"

Greg almost smiled. "It's possible.  Smacks of paradox, I know, but it is
possible.  However, I did not see that particular part of my future, just your
sneaking up on me and saying you were Kaneth.  And some other vague things."

"So what if I don't tell you who I am?"

The boy spread his hands. "Paradox.  But paradox is impossible by definition,
you will tell me because you< >have told me."

Kaneth struggled with this for a moment, then gave up. "Fine.  My name is
Kaneth."

"So nice to meet you.  Go to the Temple on Cherry Hill."

"What?  I don't understand.  I haven't even asked a question yet.  Which is,
what do I do if I want to repay my debt to the Chosen?"  Kaneth paused for a
while, then got it. "Oh."

Greg watched as the figure faded out of sight, then smiled.  That was one of
the stranger predictions in his life, and the strangest piece of advice yet.
But he had seen himself giving the advice, so it must be right.  Or, at least,
it must *be*, he thought to himself.

There was no way  to find out how right the advice was.

*	*	*

"So where do you think he went?"  They had ascertained that the last time
anyone saw Kaneth was when he tried to stop Mina's ill-judged blast, after that
he must have left.

Nakiad turned to Serena, who had asked the question. "I do not know, Princess."
She frowned a bit at the appellation, but let it pass. "He did try to save my
life, and I do not think there is anything we have to fear from him."

"But he's a monster from the Negaverse."  Serena almost sounded peeved at not
being able to fight, something that drew glances of surprise from the other
scouts.  Serena's abhorrence of any danger was legendary.

Nakiad sighed. "Princess, I.."

Serena snapped. "Would you please stop calling me that?!!"

"What should I call you?" Nakiad asked, obviously startled.

"Not Princess, not Sailor Moon, like I'm just some object.  Anything is better
than that, Serena, even *Meatball Head*!"

The man smiled. "All right.. Meatball Head."

"Oooooooo!"

Ami sighed, prepared to stop another argument, but Nakiad raised his hand as a
gesture of peace. "Serena," he amended.

"Better," the blonde replied, still somewhat miffed, then she shook her head.
"Now what were we talking about?"  The others smiled.

Artemis got up. "All right, let's get to work. I'll go with Mina and Ami to..
er.. enlighten their parents."

"And I'll go with Serena, she had a paper due after vacation which I'm going to
have to drag out of her."

"Homework?  But it's vacation! Whaaaaaaaaah!"  The black cat swiftly thrust
Serena toward the exit.  At the last moment, the blonde stopped crying, turning
for a moment. "See you guys," she yelled as the door slammed behind her.

Rei expelled a sigh borne of long suffering as Mina and Ami headed for the
door. "Bye," she said almost simultaneously with Lita.

"Bye," Ami and Mina answered together as they left, Artemis on their heels.

Rei turned to Lita. "Looks like you have a major cleanup job to do, you want
some help?"

Darian seconded the suggestion, but Rei exchanged a glance with the green scout
and shook her head. "Thanks, but we'll be all right. Why don't you take Nakiad
to the temple, introduce him to grandpa.  He'll be staying there.." She glanced
at the man in question.

He shrugged, obviously unsure. "Not long, perhaps a week.  More likely a couple
of days."

"Whatever," Rei agreed.

"All right.  See you around."  The two girls, already at work, paid scant
notice as the two walked out.



Darian blinked as the light from the sun hit him, the day was already well on
its way, what with the memories coming back and everything else that happened.
As his eyes adjusted, he figured out the best way to the temple, pointing the
rough direction. "Come on, it's this way."

The prince had an irresistible urge to smile as they walked. "It's been a long
time."

The other looked at him strangely. "You have no idea."  Nakiad smiled a little
as well, but his tone was tinged with sadness.

Unbidden, more of Darian's memories came flooding back to him, training with
the man walking beside him as well as with the scouts.  He remembered the
sparring sessions, getting beaten mostly, he thought with a slight smile.  And
the parallel, the love between Darian and Serena almost identical to the one
between Nakiad and Mina.  It even rhymed, Darian thought, slightly amused.
Then another thought came into his mind, one he did not like nearly as much.

"How do I know which memories are mine and which are not."  The idea had been
sparked by a passing thought about Queen Beryl, and her mind wipe.

Nakiad glanced at him. "Look deep within your heart, and you will find the
answer there," he answered cryptically. Then, with a smile, he added. "Or you
could just trust me."

Trust?  Darian had been an orphan for his whole life, had to care for himself
most of the time.  Even now, he was self sufficient, and trust did not come
easy to an independent mind like his.  The whole story with Queen Beryl had
just aggravated that problem.  He trusted the scouts, but truthfully, he was
saving them more often than the other way around.  So how could he trust?

*Look deep within your heart.*  Darian tried to make sense of that.

And then he found that he could trust the man because he already did.  His mind
may have been unsure, but his heart was not.  Deep inside, he believed
Nakiad.

And, in the end, that was all that really mattered.

"So how have you been, o old and wise one?"  The other smiled.

*	*	*

Exactly eight hours after his eyes had closed, Nakiad's subconscious jerked him
awake.  He got up in the strange surroundings without surprise, the confusion
most people get after waking up completely absent.  Rays of light streamed
through the windows and penetrated the thin walls, making things unnaturally
bright.  The effect would go away as the sun rose higher, but for now, it gave
the temple an almost surreal aspect.

Nakiad looked in the mirror over the sink, rubbing his hand over his chin in
satisfaction.  Not one hair peeked out, after he had ordered it to grow the
night before, and his control seemed as good as ever.  He felt under his shirt
at the bandages.

Several minutes and a discarded roll of gauze later, he emerged into the
daylight, smiling as the sun hit him.  For a moment, some sort of presence
nudged at him, like someone was watching, but there was no one in sight when he
turned.  He closed his eyes, concentrating on the feeling, a vague four armed
shape almost forming, but nothing definite.  He sighed, letting it go since it
did not seem to be dangerous, then walked toward the sound of a car.
Two burly men were unloading a three or four yard tall sapling birch tree from
the back of a truck, the process made considerably harder than usual because of
Rei impatiently fuming over them.

"Do you want us to help you plant it, miss...?"

Rei frowned in annoyance as she replied in an impatient tone of voice. "No, we
can handle it.  Just leave it here."

"All right," the worker agreed doubtfully, getting back in the truck with his
partner and driving off.

"They would never be able to plant it right," Rei grumbled as she grabbed the
burlap bag encasing the roots and yanked.

The tree budged. Barely.  Nakiad watched for a few moments as Rei continued to
struggle, then came over at a normal pace. "Want some help?" He offered,
looking down at her.

"I can handle it."  Her voice was even more annoyed.

For a few moments, he remained silent, then looked at her penetratingly once
more. "You don't trust me, do you?" Rei stayed down, continuing to pull at the
plant. "That is why you invited me to stay here, so you could watch over me."

The girl sighed, letting go of the tree. "No, I don't trust you."

"Why not?"

She glared at him, brushing a few stray locks of hair away from her eyes. "I
don't believe your story.  At least not all of it.  And those memories could
have been planted, like Beryl did with Darian.  The others might not believe,
but I am going to keep an eye out on you, just in case." 

"Fair enough."

For a moment, she seemed a bit surprised at his ready acquiescence. "And I
cannot read you, your mind is closed.  Usually, I can pick up what a person is
by his or her aura, but yours is blank, like you are not even there.  I do not
trust that, either."

She glanced at him, then looked back at the tree. "And if you are who you say
you are, and your story is true, then things are even worse.  You did not do
your duty and did not carry out your destiny.  That is already crime enough for
me to convict you."

Nakiad forced his voice to be soft. "You place duty above a lot of other
things, don't you?"  He told himself to remember that.

"Yes, I do."

He paused. "So do I," he said abruptly.  He reached out with one bare hand,
bending down to encircle the trunk at the base of the tree, then readjusting
his grip to grasp a part of the burlap bag as well.  Concentrating, he sent a
surge of strength through his body, easily lifting the three hundred pound plus
load. "Now, where do you want it?"

Rei stared at him and the tree for a few seconds, then unfroze.  "This way.
Chad dug a hole before he left for the week, so.." She moved, Nakiad closely
behind her.

Despite her relenting, she obviously did not trust him.

Good, Nakiad thought to himself. 

*I do not deserve to be trusted.*

*	*	*
A blow came at Tuxedo Mask's head, one that could have knocked it off his
shoulders, permanently.

He dodged it.

Nakiad smiled a grin of danger as he faced Darian, shifting slightly from foot
to foot.  The grin seemed to me some sort of battle masking, it hid all actual
emotions behind that readiness for battle, and the prince had no idea what his
opponent might be thinking.

The blow had knocked his hat off, leaving it to lie on the grass, and Darian
became conscious of his ridiculous costume. The other attacked, lightning fast,
giving the prince insufficient time to dodge, and Darian's foot got hit, but
only softly.

He turned around as soon as he was balanced again, and threw a rose as hard as
he could at the other.  The Chosen merely dodged, seeming to flow like a dark
shadow around the missile, then continued inward, making a feint to Darian's
stomach that the prince went for, then flowing like water around him.

Darian abruptly felt his hand strain, levered away from his body, then a black
clad arm went around his throat.  Slowly, it squeezed, choking him.

Darian tried to free himself, yanking as hard as he could but only succeeding
in twisting his arm slightly.  A knee came up into the small of his back,
pressuring him there, not letting him move without severe injury. As the world
turned black around him, he managed to open his moth. "All right," he whispered
hoarsely.

Instantly, the arms that held him let go and he stumbled forward, almost
falling.  Turning a dark glare to Nakiad, he straightened up, forcing air past
his throat.

The other merely smiled. "You really ought to have yielded earlier, you
know."

Darian was abruptly consumed by the wish to tear him apart, and at the same
time, an almost irresistible wish the grin. "Why, you..." That was all he
managed to say before a vaguely yellow topped projectile slammed into him,
almost making him fall again.

"Are you all right, did he hurt you, are you OK, muffin, do you need help, can
I..."  

Darian gently separated himself from Serena, looking at her. "I'm fine.  What
are you doing here, anyway?"

"Oh, I was going to go shopping-" Darian looked at Nakiad with pain at the
word, and was only slightly surprised to see a similar expression in the other.
"- with Mina, and heard you two are going to be practicing, so we decided to
meet here."

Great, Darian thought to himself, someone else to witness my ignominy.  As if
on cue, a second girl rushed up so fast that she seemed blurred, slamming at
full speed into Nakiad.  The other did not even lose his balance, Darian
noticed with admiration, and reminded himself to talk the Chosen about how he
did that.  It could come in useful, the prince thought with a smile as he
glanced at his true love.

Mina separated herself from Nakiad for a moment, looking at him with a strange
expression, then turned to Serena. "Hey, I heard there's a big shoe sale at the
mall!"

"A shoe sale!  Gotta go, muffin."  The prince flinched internally at the
nickname, steeling his expression.

"Bye," Mina yelled as the two girls disappeared.

Nakiad stared after them for a moment, then shook his head.  "Sometimes, I
wonder just why it is I.."

He did not need to finish. "Ditto here," Darian said with a smile, then
launched another rose at him.



A long time later and, for Darian, many bruises later, they finished, Nakiad
finally stopping his attacks.  Slowly, they walked over to the main building of
the temple, Darian finally being able to relax.  With a thought he reversed the
transformation, reverting to his ordinary self, then looked up ruefully at the
other. "You haven't changed.  Fighting against you is still horrible for my
ego."  And educational, Darian added mentally, for the other had kept up a
running commentary on what it was he was doing wrong. And every once in a
while, what the prince was doing right.  In the past hour, Darian had probably
learned more about fighting in hand to hand combat than in his all previous
life combined, not counting the time in the Silver Millennium.

"You were overmatched."  For some reason, that statement made the other sad.

Darian picked up a towel, wiping off a layer of sweat on his face.  Admirably,
the other did not sweat nearly as much, and most of it had already evaporated.
"Well, I had a bit of practice since the last time we sparred."

"So have I," the other answered.  "And you wouldn't believe how much practice
you can get over a millennium."

Darian shook his head in wonder, then remembered something.  Reaching into his
jacket, he pulled out a single red rose, handing it to Nakiad. "Just what was
it you did to it, anyway?"  He asked, hoping for an answer he'd be able to
understand.

The Chosen took the flower, an understanding look on his face. He sighed. "One
of my most basic powers is that of draining."

"I remember that much."  There were still gaps in Darian's memories, but a lot
of them had been filled.

"Over time, I've noticed that I can not only take away energy, I can also put
it back.  That is how I saved Mina, approximately.  The rose... I basically
gave it some of my strength, something that is possible because it is a very
good focusing tool.  Generally, without a specific focus, my power emerges as a
random discharge of energy unless I concentrate very carefully.  With something
like one of your roses, I can make the energy very specified, setting it to do
a certain task, like destroying a shadow."

Darian nodded, he had suspected something like that. "Will it work again?"

Nakiad smiled. "Ah, what you *really* wanted to know."  He seemed to think
for a moment. "Yes, it will work again, as long as it is the same rose."  For a
moment, the two stared at each other, both lost in thought.  Then Nakiad
slapped Darian on his shoulder. "You said you have to work today, you'll be
late."

Darian remembered, there had been a mix-up in the stage assignments at the
studio, and he had to go and straighten it out.  Typical, he sighed to himself,
just as you are learning something, you have to go.  "Well, I'll see you
around," he said, grabbing his bag and rushing out.

Nakiad looked after him with piercing eyes. "Perhaps," he whispered, unheard.



Ami walked into the temple, staring thoughtfully at her computer, held in one
hand, and chewing on an apple, held in the other.  Her scan of the Chosen's
systems, extensive as it had been, revealed almost nothing about his
physiology.  One part of her mind had asked why she was even bothering with the
whole procedure, since she now knew who he was, but her curiosity was running
away with her.  What she remembered from the Silver Millennium and what he
seemed to be able to do now were two different things, and apparently he had
changed a lot over the years.  So Ami had decided to come to the temple to find
out more about him and, incidentally, to visit him.

She walked into his room quietly, the door open, and found him sitting silently
on the bed, his eyes closed.  As she came up, he spoke, without opening his
eyes. "Hello, Ami."

He always did have a way of knowing who people were, Ami remembered, without
seeing them. "Um, Chosen?"

His eyes opened as he sighed. "Please, the name's Nakiad.  Granted, I haven't
used it for a long time, but it remains the same."  He smiled at the last,
looking at her.  "We've known each other too long to use titles, Sailor
Mercury."

She smiled, sitting down on a low bench across from him. "It is true that we
have known each other.  But you have changed." His eyes flickered as she tried
to distinguish the difference between her memories of him and what he was now.
"It's more than just physical stuff, it goes farther than that.  When I knew
you in the Silver Millennium, you were always a very-"  Ami tried to say it in
a way that would not affront him, then decided it did not really matter.  He
had never been known to be quick to anger, and now he seemed even less so.
"Private," she finished.  "But now, it is even more than that, I can't read you
at all.  I can't tell what you are thinking, what you are feeling, nothing."
She looked at him, and noticed his eyes again, staring at her unflinchingly."
And your eyes are closed, they do not show you, they do not show your soul."

He sighed, sitting back a little, and seemed to murmur to himself. "This is not
exactly unexpected, you know."  Then he turned to her. "Experience teaches may
things..."  He rubbed his forehead, seeming tired for a moment, then it was
gone. "It sounds like a cliche, but it is true.  I have had to live with what I
had done for a millennium, if only counting the time I was physical, here, on
Earth."  His tone was almost conversational. "I made a resolution, long ago."
He stared at her, his eyes holding hers, his voice growing strong.  "I promised
myself that when the next time came, as I knew it would, I would be ready.  And
when it came, I would do what I was meant to do in the first place."

She just looked at him, astonished. "How could you do that to yourself?"

He answered without a pause, obviously expecting the response. "How could I
not?  How else could I live with causing the death of Queen Serenity, causing
the end of the Silver Millennium?"  He held up a hand to stop her protest.
"Perhaps it was not entirely my fault, but it was at least in part."

"And so I trained, I forced myself to become who I had to become, I forced
myself to be the Chosen.  Physically, I changed myself, I am stronger now, more
in control of myself.  I can concentrate my strength more, and I have learned
from the greatest teachers on Earth."

"But that isn't all," Ami whispered quietly.  "Your mind, it's changed."

He sighed. "No, it is not all.  I have lived with my guilt for a millennium.  I
have seen death and suffering, I have seen despair, all on this piece of rock
so many call home."  For a moment, his tone was bitter, then the harshness
vanished, replaced by a thoughtful tone. "And it changed me, it made me
stronger, but at a price.  For my soul is dark now, not evil but dangerous,
full of pain.  I learned to control my emotions, to steel my mind against stray
thoughts.  I learned to control my eyes, for the experiences of a millennium
are too much for an ordinary person to see at once, and it can be dangerous.  I
learned to *control myself*."

For a few moments, Ami processed that, afraid to hear more, but she had to ask.
She had to know if he was still human.  "Do you have no feelings then?  Do you
not love, or care?"

She thought she saw a slight flinch, but it was too swift and too tiny for her
to be sure. "Of course I do.  I love Mina, I care about her.  I care about the
scouts, I care about my friends."  He paused, looking at her sadly, then
finished. "But more than that, I care about the Universe."

Ami stared at him, stricken. "Then you have changed far more than I thought at
first.  You are not the Nakiad I knew so many years ago."

He sighed. "Perhaps not.  But I am the Nakiad that is needed, I am the
Chosen."

Again, a pause stretched between them, then Ami looked up from the spot on the
floor at which she had been staring. "If you had to pick between Mina and the
world, what would you choose?"

The question seemed to plunge into his heart, and he jerked slightly, his eyes
wide open.  And for the first time in a millennium she *saw* him, she
looked into his eyes and into his soul.  Deep inside, dark forces strove around
a single object, grasping and attacking at it, tearing it apart.  Hatred and
despair fought inside him for the center of his soul.  But in the middle, a
single immovable object stood.

Ami jerked back to reality as Nakiad answered. "I do not know," he said
simply.

"Then there is still hope for you yet," she smiled.

For a while, they looked at each other, and the scout almost saw a smile form
at his lips, then it was gone.  Looking for something to break the silence, she
looked down, seeing her computer, and remembered.

"How is it that you can breathe underwater?"

He smiled sadly. "Ever heard of genetic engineering?"  He waved away Ami's
affront at the question and continued. "Well, I've had a millennium in which to
practice, and I sort of made a copy of a fish's gills."

Ami shook her head. "But how does it work?  And how could you use the air you
got to give Mina?"

"Oh... let's see..."  He put on a show of having difficulty in remembering
until she smiled, then he explained.  "OK, basically, there is a second tube
that runs from my trachea, the windpipe, away from the lungs.  There is sort of
a switch that allows that to happen, and only one can be used at a time.  The
other canal runs to two sets of gills, which take the oxygen out of whatever
instead of out of air.  If I'm breathing air, those canals collapse, and a thin
layer of skin forms over the gills."  He shrugged. "I didn't want anyone to
think I was the devil, my longevity was trouble enough.  Anyway, the blood
vessels that run to the lungs, the pulmonary arteries, also stop there, and
there is always a balance between the three systems.  So when I was with Mina,
I would breathe in, wait for an equilibrium between my blood and gills, then
that blood would make an equilibrium between the blood and lungs, then I would
breathe out the water and switch to the lungs, then breathe out air with a
reasonable concentration of oxygen, enough to keep a scout alive if not an
ordinary human.  And then again, and so on."

An explanation that would have messed up most people took Ami only a few
seconds to digest.  "Interesting... I suppose it would be futile to ask you
exactly how you got your DNA to have gills?"

"Well... do you have a couple of years?"

Ami suddenly grew serious. "That depends on how close it is to the time."

He sighed. "Close."

"Then that is that," she sighed.  "So how did you keep my scan from
penetrating, anyway?"

"Well," he began, not to finish for a while.

The conversation went on, and it was a long time before Ami finally left the
temple, slowly walking toward the entrance.

As she reached the top of the stairs at the exit, she turned back for a moment,
and a slight smile lifted her lips.  

When she had looked into his eyes, she saw the dark forces battling inside of
him.  But at the very center, a white planet stood immovable against the pain
and horrors of the surroundings.

Despite the time that had passed, despite everything he had seen and done, deep
inside, he was still Nakiad.

Smiling, Ami walked down the steps.

*	*	*

Nakiad smiled as he heard footsteps coming up the steps of the temple.  It
seems that there will be no peace for me today, he thought quietly as he
continued to clean the wooden floor with a broom, a task entrusted to him by
Rei.  He had a suspicion as to who the person coming was, one that was quickly
being confirmed through a combination of small things, like hearing the length
and period of footsteps, the speed of breathing and the like.

"Hello, Lita," he said as soon as she came closer, then turned around after
identifying her.  He rarely admitted it to himself, but he privately enjoyed
the surprise most people felt when he knew who they were without seeing them.

He was not disappointed. "How did you know who I was?" Lita asked, coming up to
him.

"Simple," he answered, smiling a bit, "elimination.  You are the only one who
hasn't been here today."  Well, he thought, that *is* true, though not
exactly the reason I recognized you.

"Well, I had a few things to straighten out around the house, and then I went
shopping, and met Serena and Mina, and er... well, it went on from there."
Nakiad smiled to himself, looking up at the sun which was just touching the
horizon.  That must have been one hell of a shopping spree.

"So what did you want to talk to me about?"  He continued to wipe the floor,
not about to betray even that slight trust of Rei's.  She seemed to be the only
one that did not trust him, a feeling that he somehow approved of even as he
tried to alleviate it.

Lita looked a bit embarrassed. "Well, actually, I'm not sure.  It's like some
voice inside me wanted to talk to you, and so I went, but now I'm not sure
why."  She paused for a few moments. "So, Mina tells you are a fair fighter?"

The Chosen smiled to himself a little. "I guess you could say that."

"Hmmm.  Want to spar?"

Lita always had been the most combative of the scouts.  "Remember the time when
you fought against Darian?  You know, Ami went to protect Greg to stop him from
being sucked into the crystal, and you faced him alone?"

Lita frowned, sitting down of the wooden floor, dangling her legs to the
ground. "Yeah, well, I wasn't stretched out that day.  Say, just how do you
know that anyway?"

Nakiad smiled to himself again, having distracted her from a slightly dangerous
topic. 
The one thing he did not want was a sailor scout dejected by her inability to
beat him.  He looked at her carefully, deciding that he could tell her. "Right
after I got defeated by the Dark Lord, I was floating through space, and then
somehow, I got drawn into a place in the palace on the Moon.  Apparently, Queen
Serenity had figured out what happened, and was able to make me see a casting
she did about my future, about my destiny."

He sighed, remembering.  Serenity had not even blamed him for what he had done,
or failed to do, she merely showed him things to come, and explained things.
Already at that time, the Queen knew she was going to die, and did not think of
him responsible.  And she never showed anyone else fear of death, for she was
the only one who knew.  Nakiad remembered where he was abruptly and remembered
that he was about to answer Lita's question. "I knew that you would turn up
somewhere in this century, and I knew that while the rest of the scouts would
start here, Mina would be born in England, and only come here at the last,
before the final conflict."

"At first you followed her, right?  She told us you saved her several time back
when she was Sailor V."

"Yes, but I had ways of seeing what was happening back here as well."  This was
not a good time to tell her about his research into portals. "But I only know
in detail what happened after she came to Tokyo, and after that, I followed the
different battles."

Lita suddenly looked up, angry. "Why didn't you help us then?  Or at least told
us something about what was going to happen, or what was happening?"

He groaned inside, keeping silent, then put the broom down.  Walking over to
her, he sat down, his back to the building. Unaware of it, he had placed
himself in a way that made the sun outline his face in lines of darkness and
light, making him seem somewhat unreal.
"There are balances between good and evil, forces that must stay equal at all
times.  I am a balance, and opposite, for the Dark Lord, and that is the only
place where I am of any use.  I could not fight Queen Beryl without disturbing
the balance any more than you can help me with the Shadow.  Even if I tried, I
could be of little help.  It is not simply that the balance would be ruined, it
is that our strengths are different.  The Sailor Scouts have as much power,
perhaps, as I do, but although the strengths are equivalent, the powers are too
different for us to help each other much.  And so my destiny is to fight the
Dark Lord, just as yours is to fight Queen Beryl and the like."

Lita thought about that for a few moments. "What would have happened if you had
tired to help us with Queen Beryl?"

He looked at her directly, almost staring her down, then shook his head.  "No
one knows, exactly.  It is thought that if two forces of good attack one of
evil, the evil will become strong enough to fight destroy both of the good.
And that would upset the balance, forcing an even greater change on the other
side, which would start a chain reaction leading to..."  He stopped, hearing a
slight sound behind him.  The light of the setting sun was blocked by a corner
of the building now, casting his face into darkness.

"Leading to what?"  She was entirely serious now.

"Armageddon," he answered, entirely serious.

"Oh.."  She glanced at the time, her eyes suddenly snapped out of seriousness.
"Oh, no, I'm going to be late for dinner.  I gotta go!" She was already moving,
then turned around. "Can you give me a few tips in fighting later?"  Apparently
she had not forgotten that topic entirely.

She did not see the pain that went through him at that phrase. "Perhaps," he
answered.

"Well, bye!"

"See you, Lita."

He stared thoughtfully into space for a few moments, then got up and picked up
the broom.  Rei came around the corner, her eyes also thoughtful.

"You heard," he said.  It was not a question, since the sound he had heard was
that of her drawing in her breath in surprise.

"Yes."

"Do you understand?"

"Yes," she answered, "in a way I do.  It is your duty.  But I also think that
good should fight evil wherever and whenever it can.  You should have helped
us."  She walked away, black hair waving slightly in the wind.  The sun had
finished going down and it was dark, but he continued sweeping the floor.

<How long can you stay here this way?>  Guardian came into his thoughts.

He sighed. "I don't know."

<You know what you have to do.>

"Yes," but it is not that simple, he added mentally.

<Yes, it is>, the Guardian answered, picking up his thoughts easily.
<It is your duty.>

"Soon," he promised, "soon."

<You know that might not be enough.>

"I have to-" He did not finish.

<You have to what?  If you do not do this, Mina will die along with everyone
else.>

Pain lanced through him, and the wooden handle of the broom shattered suddenly
in his hands as he clenched them in anger. "I know," he said, throwing the
remains of the brush on the wooden floor. "I know."

Sighing, he walked inside.

*	*	*

A set of footsteps echoed outside the door, somewhere else in the building.
Absently, almost without thinking, Nakiad focused in on the sounds, bringing
the volume up to a level where he could hear voices.

Rei was speaking. "I don't trust him, and neither should you."  Her voice
dipped down for a few moments, so all Nakiad could hear were murmurs, then
another voice interrupted.

"I love him."  It was Mina.  Nakiad swore silently at himself.  I should have
known this would happen, he thought furiously.  The orange scout had apparently
ended the conversation, and she was approaching him.

She walked in, quietly opening the door and he pretended sleep, going over the
possible outcomes of the conversation in his mind, trying to be ready.  She
came next to his bead, then sat down next to him.  He could feel her mind, full
of emotions, love, anger, and something else.  

Fear.  The Chosen tried to focus the emotions, bring them into relief but his
mind link, the bond of true love, was not strong enough, not after millennia of
separation.

She was looking at him.  "I know you are not asleep."  Her voice was soft. "If
you had been, my presence would have woken you up instantly.  I told my parents
I will be staying over at Rei's tonight."

He opened his eyes, surprised to see her on the edge of crying.  His hand
reached up to touch her cheek on impulse, without conscious thought. "What is
it?"  He sat up and moved over, letting her take more space in the bed.

"Lita told me."

Nakiad sighed. "I supposed she might."

"She felt she had to, being my friend.  And I agreed.  Why didn't you tell
me?"

"Tell you what?"  For a moment, he was truly confused.

"That you are going to fight Him again."

He sighed. "Destiny is impossible to reverse or change.  The Dark Lord has
awakened and regained his power.  He is threatening the Universe again.  I have
to stop him no matter what the cost.  That is who I am.  The Chosen."

She sobbed. "You are also the man I love.  I don't want you to go."  Before he
could respond, she continued. "Long ago, you told me that you will find a way
back to me.  And now you have, you are here.  I do not want to lose you again,
like I did so long ago."

His voice grew somber. "What would you have me do?"

"Do not go."  Her voice was a whisper.

"And let the Universe get destroyed?"

He felt her shiver and put an arm around her, cursing himself immediately for
doing so. 

"At least," she began.  "At least do not go alone.  Let us come with you, help
you.  Together, we can destroy him without you dying as well.  Please." She was
crying now, and his body responded automatically, enfolding her in his arms.
She raised her head from his chest, looking into his eyes through her tears.
"Promise me you will not go alone."

His features froze as a debate raged inside him, choices flowing through.  He
had to pick the best one, the fate of the Universe rested in his hands.
Emotions he did not know he still had strove at his mind, and he tried to
ignore them.  Finally, the fire finished, and he found only one choice, only
one thing he could do.  He looked back at her. 

"I promise," he whispered quietly.

She seemed to sigh, and the tension ran out of her body.  The tears stopped,
and her eyes slowly closed.  She relaxed in his embrace, and he felt her
breathing assume the rhythmical balance of sleep.

In the darkness, the Chosen alone did not sleep, staring into space, thinking,
while his arms embraced his true love.



Outside, a dark figure finished listening, creeping away from the thin wall.
The moon cast a light on it, forming a shadow on the grass as the figure slowly
made its way to the entrance of the building.  The shadow abruptly changed,
growing larger, a second set of arms projecting underneath the first.



In front of the fire, Rei flinched a little, almost awakened from her
meditation, but not quite.  The sacred flame flickered, relaxing her.



Nakiad silently cursed himself.  How could I be so stupid?, he asked himself, I
should have seen that coming.

<Indeed you should have.>  Guardian answered his thought.

Nakiad glared into space. <You were right.  It is time.>

Gently, he disentangled himself from the still sleeping figure, moving out from
under her.  As her head touched the pillow, she stirred, but he concentrated,
moving into her mind, smoothing the folds.  She should sleep peacefully for a
long time, he thought as he covered her.

He stood over her for a few moments, silent. "I'm sorry, Mina," he whispered.
She moved a bit under the covers, but did not react, asleep. "You said you did
not wish to lose me as you did so long ago."  He paused, looking at her
sleeping form. "Nor do I want to cause your death once more."  For a long
moment, he stood over her, then sighed. "I love you."  A single drop of water
landed on her cheek, and he wiped the tear away, angry at himself, then moved
away.

He moved silently, putting the top of his gi on, then finding the battle
harness.  As he cinched it tight on his back, he winced slightly, and cursed
the damage to his back.  He would not have the time to heal it completely now,
but there was nothing he could do about it. 

He felt for the two blades across his back, closing his eyes as the energy in
the ancient weapons tingled through his fingers.

Soon, he thought, you will fight again.  Soon, he told the swords, then dropped
his hand.

As he walked to the exit, a brief beam of moonlight illuminated him, showing a
grim face and dark, almost black eyes.

As he walked out into the cool air of the night, someone came up from behind
him, separating from the shadows.  Nakiad tensed for a moment, then relaxed.
He turned around, looking at the figure.

"I heard," Kaneth said.  He waited, looking at the Chosen for a long moment.
"You broke your word."

Angry, Nakiad glared at the ex-Negaverse warrior. "Honor," he whispered, "does
not just lie in telling the truth."

Kaneth thought for a moment. "When I made that shadow drop Sailor Venus, that
was dishonorable because I lied.  But it was honorable because it was the right
thing to do.  I understand."

Nakiad shook his head. "It's not that easy."  His voice was harsh suddenly,
grating. "The ends might sometimes justify the means, but your conscience never
thinks so.  You always have to be ready to live with what you do."  An sadness
crossed over his features. "Longer than you sometimes think."

"Perhaps," Kaneth answered.

Nakiad turned around, preparing to walk away.  He knew where he had to go.

Kaneth grasped his shoulder, stopping him. "I'm with you."

The Chosen clenched his fists. "You owe me nothing."

"You spared my life, and now it is yours.  I *will* follow you."

For some reason, the statement provoked another look of pain.  "You don't know
how expensive that choice can be, either," Nakiad whispered bitterly, then
turned away, striding into the night.

Kaneth followed.

*	*	*

Ami looked up from her book, Advanced Sinusoid Waves and Patterns, as a strange
feeling went through her.  A movement of sorts in her peripheral vision made
her turn to the window in her room, and she stared in surprised at what was
happening.



The sacred flame jumped, and a strange feeling woke Rei up suddenly from her
meditation.  She tried to figure our what was going on, but her mind only gave
her confused patterns.  Even the fire could not produce any answers, flickering
in the growing darkness.

The scout got up from her position in front of the flame, something prompting
her to walk to a window.

Outside, the lights of the city were going out, section by section.  The
buildings dimmed, the windows became black as a darkness took over Tokyo.  Rei
drew in her breath, remembering Luna telling her the same thing had happened
when Beryl was making her final attack.  The strange dimming of the lights
combined with Rei's uneasy feelings to make her worry escalate.

A sudden thought went through her mind and she grasped at her robes, searching
for something.  Finally, she found it, a slim object, about the size of a
credit card, though larger, with buttons on it.

She pressed the one with the mercury symbol on it, knowing that Ami often
stayed up late reading, and hoping she would hear.

A slightly worried face appeared on the tiny screen. "Mercury here.  What is
it, Rei?"

"Have you looked outside?"

"Yes, I know, the power is going out.  My lights turned off a few seconds ago,
and much of the rest of the city is without power as well.  Do you think it
could be an ordinary power failure?"



Ami looked at her friend through the computer screen, wondering why she was
getting  a strange feeling if it was ordinary.

Rei shook her head. "I got a really weird feeling a few moments before it, like
something was happening," the red scout continued, echoing Ami's thoughts.

A sudden thought went through Ami's mind. "Is Nakiad still there?"

For a moment, Rei was completely astonished, her mouth actually gaping.
"Damn..."  Re flashed a quick look of apology for the expletive, then
continued. "I'd forgotten all about him."  The picture suddenly veered, showing
the walls rushing by at a crazy angle.  After a quick rush, the picture became
darker, then stabilized. Ami though she heard Rei swear again, then the
communicator went up to her face once more. "Ami, he's gone."  Rei sighed in
frustration. "Mina had come over an hour or so ago, wanted to see how he was
doing, and I think, talk to him, and now... She's still here, sleeping, but
there is no trace of him."

Ami added everything up, then remembered something. "Rei, remember when he went
to fight the Dark Lord the first time?"  When Rei nodded worriedly, Ami
continued. "When he made the gateway to go and fight, did he use his own
power?"

Rei thought for a moment, then shook her head. "No, I believe he drew power
from the crystal.  Wait, do you think he went to Serena's to..."

"No, I don't think so.  But if I remember correctly, he can use most forms of
energy, converting them as he likes.  So all he needs is a large source of
power...."  She trailed off as both girls turned to windows, looking at the
darkened city.

Rei turned back. "Would you say that the main power lines of Tokyo would give
him sufficient energy to create a gateway to the Negaverse?"

Ami did not need to reply. "I'll call Serena and Lita, you wake up Mina, OK?
We'll meet at the temple."  As Rei nodded, Ami pressed the off button on her
communicator, then pressed the one with the crescent moon on it.



Rei looked at the darkened screen, then shook her head, putting the
communicator aside.  She came up to Mina, shaking the sleeping girl lightly. 

"Wake up, Mina, we have a problem."  Rei suddenly realized that the orange
scout was he only one who knew why Nakiad had left, and shook her harder, but
Mina continued to sleep.

"May I?"  Rei looked at the white cat that had come up behind her.

"Artemis?  How did you get here?"

The cat shook his head, jumping onto the bed. "I was wondering where Mina was,
and, well... it did not take a lot of deductive powers to reason it out."  He
looked at his ward worriedly. "She's in a deeper sleep than normal.  Well, no
help for it."  Rei suddenly saw claws emerging from one of the cat's paws, then
there was a blur of motion and Mina yelped as she sat up, holding her slightly
bleeding arm."

"I don't want to go to schoo..... what happened?"

Rei frowned. "That's what we want to know.  He's gone, and the city just lost
its power.  What did you tell him, anyway?"

Shocked into awakening, Mina shook her head, an expression of worry swiftly
taking over her head. "I... I asked him not to go."

Artemis groaned, then looked up. "He refused, naturally, then what?"

Mina sighed. "I made promise not to go alone," she blurted out.

The white cat sighed in apparent pain, sinking down to the floor. "You made him
promise?"  He paused, muttering to himself.  "Stubborn fool.. should have seen
that coming.."  Rei wondered who he meant by fool, Nakiad, Mina, or himself.
Then Artemis looked up. "Well, no help for it now. We just have to hope."

Rei glared at him. "We have to go and help him."

"You can't help him, you can't fight the Dark Lord for him any more than he
could fight Beryl for you.  It is his destiny."  

Rei was startled to hear the same thing Nakiad had told Lita, and protested.
"We could at least help him.  We could fight the shadows, since Ami found a
way.  And we could offer moral support."

Mina had followed the interchange silently, now she put a hand on the cat's
paw. "Please," she whispered.

Artemis frowned, then nodded reluctantly. "On your heads be it."



Ami pressed the sign of the moon several times before a sleepy Luna answered.
"What is it, Ami?"

"Have you looked outside lately?"  Ami asked as sweetly as she could.

Luna apparently did, because she looked worried when she came back. "What do
you think it is, Ami?"

Briefly, the blue scout outlined the situation, and Luna nodded understanding.
"I'll wake Serena up."  The black cat sighed. "If I can," she added with a grim
sort of humor.

"OK," the other answered, "I still have to get Lita."  The screen turned
blank.



Luna looked at the sleeping princess with annoyance, tugging at one pigtail.
"Wake up, Serena, it's time for Sailor Moon." The cat muttered through a
mouthful of hair.

The girl murmured something indistinct about muffins, then relapsed into a deep
slumber.  Luna thought that over for a few moments, then looked at the girl.
"Oh, hi Darian," the black cat said very distinctly.

Abruptly, Luna was rocketed to one side as Serena almost leapt out of her bed.
"Darian?  Where?  Where?"

The black cat sighed, dusting off her coat, then turned to Serena. "Listen to
me, Serena.  Nakiad is gone, and we are going after him.  It's time for Sailor
Moon."

"Sailor Moon?  But what?...  Why?...  Who?..."

Luna, sensing this could go on forever, ground her teeth. "Just transform!"

"All right, all right!...  Moon Prism......"

The girl raised a hand to the ceiling, closing her eyes. "Power!"


<br>Darian was abruptly jerked awake by a very familiar feeling.  A few minutes
before, he had felt uneasy in his dreams, and now, he felt the unmistakable
stigma of a Sailor Moon transformation.  Sleepily, he reached out with a hand,
groping around for the vase of roses he always kept next to his bed, grasping
at one, then concentrated.

A few seconds later, Tuxedo Mask swept through the room, only pausing to grab
the rose that Nakiad had messed with before leaping out the window.  He leapt
from building to building, homing in on his feeling of Sailor Moon.



Sailor Jupiter ran through the streets, rapidly closing in on the temple, when
a blue blur intersected her path.  She braked just in time, avoiding Sailor
Mercury, then coming up beside her.

"Do we," Lita panted, "know where he is?"

Ami nodded, also breathing heavily. "There is only one place where he can get
at all the power in the city, a power line junction fifteen miles away or so.
Rei said he left an hour or so ago at most, so that's how long it took him to
get there.  But we have to hurry, it shouldn't take him more than a few minutes
to gather enough energy for a portal."

"Fifteen miles?"  Lita gaped. "If he's already started...  how are we going to
get there in time?"

Ami looked at the girl in surprise. "We'll teleport, I guess."

The temple was straight ahead. "Oh, yeah," Lita muttered as they came through
the entrance.

Sailor Mars and Sailor Venus were waiting for them, along with Artemis.

"All right, everyone here?" Ami asked as she came up the stairs.

"No," replied Rei crossly, "Serena isn't, as usual."

"I'm here, already," replied a slightly sleepy voice from behind them, and
Sailor Moon came up the steps, followed by a black cat. "Did you *have* to
wake me up so late?  You have no idea how hard it is to sneak out without my
dad knowing."

Rei sighed. "Never mind.  We have to get to Nakiad now, before he uses the
portal.  Ami, do you have the coordinates?"

"Yes, bearing, two hundred and seventeen degrees, distance, fourteen point four
seven miles."

"Good, everyone join hands and concentrate on that."

"Wait a second," Serena complained crossly.  "Aren't I the leader?"  Ignoring
Luna's groan at the grammar, the girl continued.  "And what about Tuxedo
Mask?"

Rei shook her head. "No time.  Just do it!" The girl exclaimed almost exactly
like Luna.

"All right."



Darian bounded through the streets between a run and flight, purposefully not
flying because it was too slow and took too much energy.  Finally, he reached
it, leaping up on the sign in front of the temple, he saw the girls in a
circle, their hands linked and two cats in the middle.

"Scout Power!"  Their joined voices reached him and he remembered the
teleportation from the time he was evil.  Hoping it will work, he leapt
straight down into the middle of the circle, noticing as he did that all of the
scouts' eyes were closed.

Then the world dissolved into a blinding light.



Nakiad stood in front of the portal, concentrating his strength on it,
channeling the energy he was receiving.  To either side of him, massive cables
that usually conducted electricity to the city now gave him the strength to
open the portal.

It whirled in front of him, a black tear in the scenery, warped and twisted,
flowing without changing, never ceasing its motion.

Inside, a strikingly similar process was taking place, the different parts of
him questioning his actions.

Why am I doing this? 

There was no answer, then another part of his brain kicked in.  You want to
save the Universe, it told him, you want to save the world, the new voice told
him.

Perhaps, the first voice responded, but that is not the real reason, merely a
justification.  

Because you hate the Dark Lord.

Hate is not a reason to fight evil, hate *is* evil.

Because you love Mina.

True, the first voice responded, but that is not why you do this.

For a long time, the second voice was silent, and then words bubbled up through
Nakiad's mind, words from a long time ago.

He opened his lips without thinking, the words coming out. "'And this above all
else..'"  He paused, then finished it. *"'To thine own self be true.'"*

Guardian suddenly appeared. <You are the Chosen.>  

He nodded. <And this is what I must do.>

The first voice was silent, no longer protesting.

Without hesitation, Nakiad stepped through and the world faded into darkness.

Kaneth, wondering what the Chosen's statement was about, followed him.

The portal began to close.



A hundred yards away, several figures appeared, a circle of girls
materializing.  A black shape flickered between them, leaping up and out of the
ring before any opened their eyes.

"All right, there it is!"

They began running toward it, but it became apparent that it was closing far
too fast for them to reach it in time.

They stopped together, breathing heavily and looking at the diminishing circle
of black.

"Any ideas," Rei gasped, "would be welcome."

Serena looked thoughtful for a few moments, then turned to Ami. "Sailor
Mercury, do you remember the episode with the busses?"  Rei, Luna and Ami
looked up in surprise while the rest looked confused.

"Of course," Ami whispered.  Rei and Serena had been stuck inside a pocket
dimension, and Ami had kept the portal open long enough for them to make it
through.

The blue scout searched herself urgently, finally finding her stick, then
concentrated.  A beam of blue light lanced out of the symbol of Mercury, going
through the portal.  The gate slowed, then stopped closing as sweat began to
bead on the girl's forehead.

"All right, you did it!"

"Yes, but I don't know how long I can hold it.  This one is far more powerful
than Jadeite's."

"Then let's go!"

The scouts rushed to the gateway with the cats, half dragging Mercury who was
still concentrating.  Finally, they stopped, several yards away from the
flickering circle.

Rei looked around. "Well, I guess there's no help for it."

Mina looked at her. "What are we waiting for?  I let him go alone once, I'm not
about to make the same mistake again," and the girl leapt through the portal,
disappearing without a trace."

The others exchanged a series of glances, ranging from bemused to openly
annoyed, then followed her, four scouts and two cats throwing themselves into
the darkness.

The portal began to close once more, but at the last moment a blurred black
shape made its way through.  These scouts are going to be the end of me, Darian
thought, not for the first time, as the portal surrounded him.

Back on Earth, the black gate closed, leaving nothing behind.  The moon
continued to shine over the silent houses of the scouts, not knowing that the
fate of the universe for a thousand years might be decided that night.

*	*	*

The two of them walked through the fog, Kaneth breathing in the air of his
native universe with relief.  I have been born and raised here, he thought, I
have lived here most of my life.  And now I will die here.  The realization did
not come with any regret or pain, it was a simple knowledge of meaning in his
life.  He should have died when he failed to destroy the Chosen, and now that
destiny would be complete.

The fog seemed to be clearing a bit, the dust particles settling to the ground.
Slowly, a giant arena became visible, a flat dark surface stretching to all
directions for as far as Kaneth could see.  In the center of the space left
visible by the fog, a single figure stood.

The Dark Lord.

He was invisible in the direct sense, no light reflected off him, no light was
made by him.  But his presence could be felt by the feeling of evil that
emanated from the figure, and could be seen by the blackness that stopped any
light from coming through from behind him.

"So, you have come."  The voice was grating, but Kaneth took it without
wincing, having been used to it.  And the phrase had not been directed toward
him.  Only now the shadowy head turned toward the ex-Negaverse warrior.  "And
you have brought my warrior with you," the Lord continued, then abruptly seemed
to address someone else. "Take them," he spat.

Blotches of darkness appeared to one side, taking shape in the fog.  Shadows,
the darkest creatures in the Negaverse, and loyal minions to the Dark Lord.
They had been gone for over a thousand years, but now they were back, and no
one could stop them.  Almost no one.  Kaneth took a deep breath, then turned to
the Chosen. "They are mine.  Your duty lies with Him."

Nakiad nodded and turned away as Kaneth faced the shadows.  They were moving
back and forth, making it difficult to count them, a difficulty increased by
their blackness. Still, there was no question that there were too many of them
for him to defeat, even with his Maraki blades.

He looked at them calmly, taking a moment to go through his mind.  There was no
clutter, no problems that were his, nothing he could do any more.  He was
ready.

He was ready to die.

With a piercing yell, he pulled out the three blades he retained and launched
himself at the dark shapes.



"Amy, can you really tell anything in this fog?"  Lita asked once more.

Since they had come through the portal, an impenetrable mist had settled over
them, blocking out all sight.  Ami was using her computer to find the area of
greatest disturbance and was leading the scouts there.

"My visor is scanning large energy sources ahead, it can only be them."  Ami
answered once more, unriled.  The darkness was getting on everyone's nerves.

"This is dangerous, you have to watch what you do," Luna reminded them once
more, just to make them aware that she was still there.

Artemis paused. "And remember, in the end, this is the Chosen's fight, you can
do nothing to help him directly."

The group continued on in the dark, traveling much slower than the two who had
gone before.



"Yes, I have come for you."

"Fool.  I have grown stronger than the last time, wiser.  And you have used up
your energy in the foolish rescue of your sailor friends, too much energy.
Tell me, how much did you use to save this Sailor Venus?"

Although inside he winced as the truth of the attack, Nakiad forced to keep his
features neutral. It was true, he had wasted energy in that rescue, that was
what the whole capture was aimed at.  And now he was almost sure he would not
have enough to defeat him.  But he would try, as he must.  "I love her.  That
is something you will never be able to understand."

"And that is why you will be defeated even now.  Even if you manage to get a
stalemate like the other Chosen, you will not be able to let your love-" he
spat the word, "-feel your death."

"I will do what I must."  That much was true.

The dark figure seemed to sneer behind the darkness, then raised its hands.
"Then feel the power of the Negaverse!"

The landscape went dark, all light smothered out as if by a candle. Dark energy
concentrated in a center, the blackness driven toward a central point in the
battleground.

Toward the Dark Lord.

He was gathering all of his evil, all his power into the battle, as the legends
said, as he had done before.  Where stood a black creature before, now was a
darkness so absolute that compared to it, the shadows were a mere gray.

A snarl came from the center. "Your turn."

Nakiad shrugged, almost in relief.  He did not need to use words, not after the
centuries of training and effort, working on his mental discipline.  But just
this once...

He spread his arms slightly, raising his head to look up at the foul sky of the
Negaverse, then opened his mouth.



Behind him, unseen by either of the two combatants, emerged the sailor scouts,
ready for battle.  They had penetrated the sudden darkness with relief,
following Ami, and had found the source of danger.  To one side, Kaneth fought
with shadows, and to the front...

Nakiad stood, his arms spread slightly, as if to say that he did not know
something.
The scouts paused for a moment, and then he said it.

The words were not loud, certainly not a shout, but they contained power beyond
expression.  Filled with the strength of his will, they resonated in the plain,
chasing away darkness and fog.

*"UNIVERSAL POWER."*

And a beam of light as bright as the sun lanced through the center of
his chest!

It was as if a star had ignited before the scouts, light beams slamming into
the figure, brightening it, giving it good energy to match that of the Dark
Lord's blackness.  But the light, bright as it was, did not hurt the eyes of
the scouts, it went through them, cleaning away their petty hatred and
jealousies, and leaving them to gape at what Nakiad had become.

A figure of pure light, he stood relaxed opposite the Shadow, ready to attack,
ready for anything.  For a moment, he looked back at the scouts and seemed to
sigh, then turned back.

And simultaneously, the two opposing forces, light and dark, good and evil,
sprung at each other, colliding in the middle.

A second flash of power shone over the scouts, the two energies colliding into
a single sphere of power, two barely visible figures striving against each
other.

Artemis shouted something, but no one heard him, all the scouts concentrating
on the battle.  The cat shouted again. "It is his fight, we cannot help.  We
must aid Kaneth for if he is overwhelmed, then the shadows will turn to help
their lord."

Finally hearing, the scouts obeyed, jumping into the fray.



Kaneth blocked the tendril, severing it with his sword, the shadow fading back
for a moment only to allow ten more to take its place.  He was losing, the
shadows slowly overwhelming his defenses, and despite his three Maraki blades,
capable of killing shadows, he was already hurt.  One whole arm was numb, the
energy in it drained, and frost covered several portions of his torso.  He had
lost the two knives in the battle, retaining only his sword, with which he
blocked the attacks desperately.  Nevertheless, he fought on, not giving up,
for he knew that in this final battle, he would die.  The only thing up to him
was the way he died, and he chose that to be honorable.  The Chosen, the person
who had spared his life was the one Kaneth was defending, and for that, the
Negaverse warrior was willing give his life.

Then a tendril wrapped around his wrist, trapping the energy within, and
abruptly his hand went numb. The sword dropped to the floor and he failed to
catch it, another tentacle encircling his torso.

His head went cold, and he sank rapidly through a fog that covered all of his
senses.  So this is what death feels like, he thought quietly, with a calmness
that surprised a part of him.  Some voice in his brain yelled at him to get up,
to fight, but he could not.  Slowly, he started to go to sleep, and then a
group of voices reached him through the fog.

"Mars Power!"

"Jupiter Power!"

"Venus Power!"

"Mercury Power!"

"Moon Crystal Power!"

Miraculously, the freezing tendrils disappeared, releasing him, and his
consciousness returned rapidly.  Within a moment, he opened his eyes, staring
at the shadow that had clutched him.

A bubble of energy surrounded it, closing quickly, limiting its powers.  Within
a moment, the shadow was forced to shrink to a size that was insufficient for
it to support itself, and it dissolved, flowing through the energy bubble like
so much more fog, shrieking its rage as it died.

Turning, he saw the sailor scouts standing together around their leader, Sailor
Moon, and began to hope.  While the shadows remained back, not sure about the
new complication, he retrieved the three blades, then distinctly saluted the
scouts, taking up a position in front of them.

They had a chance.



It was not going well.

The battle between Nakiad and the Shadow was not a battle of arms or weapons,
not at first. Before that could come, the two had energy that needed to be
canceled out, and this was the struggle that was taking place.  Pure white
strove against the darkness, the forces clashing, warping the very fabric of
reality, then fading out as they mixed, becoming neutral.  Slowly, the powers
were diminishing in both of them, the brightness of the sphere of conflict
diminishing, and a fact became painfully obvious.

When Nakiad had saved Mina, completely disassembling her atom by atom, then
recreated her back on Earth, he did not really have enough power in himself to
do it.  In order not to lose her, he had used up a chunk of energy that was his
as the Chosen, and now that diminishment was showing through.

He did not have enough energy.

That was the basic fact of it.  At this stage of battle, it was not really
skill that counted, though some ability to channel energy and a lot of
concentration was required.  At that, they both seemed equally adept, and
beyond that, nothing could be done to affect the outcome.

Nakiad would lose.  He knew that now, not having realized until the clash how
much of an advantage the Dark Lord had over him.

A voice in his head told him to give up, but he merely rebelled in response,
continuing to strive for power.  He would not give up until the very end, even
if there was no way to win.  Picturing the suffering the Universe would have to
endure if he lost, he forced himself to go on, hoping against hope.

But he could feel the Dark Lord laughing, for his enemy knew his advantage and
pressed on.



The battle with the shadows was not going well either.

Kaneth was still injured, only able to use two of his hands effectively, and he
could only really battle one shadow at a time.  And the scouts had to
concentrate their collective energy on a single shadow and hold it for a few
moments before it would be destroyed.  The cats were of no use at all, though
they tried to aid as distractions, only ending up needing to be saved.  As a
result, the shadows were overpowering them slowly, attacking, injuring several
of the scouts.

They needed an advantage of some sort, another variable to tip the scales in
their favor.

Abruptly, Serena stumbled, separating from the formation of the scouts, away
from the shield they had managed to erect to protect them a bit against shadow
attacks.  

Immediately, the dark creatures surrounded the princess, separating her further
from the others despite their efforts.

Almost in slow motion, Kaneth saw a shadow descend upon her, ready to drain all
of her energy.  She screamed piercingly, holding her arms up against the
inevitable, and Kaneth knew all was lost.



Darian had been stumbling through the fog since he had first come through the
portal, not seeing anything.  His normal knowledge of Serena's direction did
not work, and he began to worry desperately that she was in some sort of
trouble.  A part of his mind was screaming that she was dead, but he ignored
it.  If that was the case, life would no longer be worth living, and so it must
not be true.  His mind ignored the illogic of it as he tried to see something
in the darkness.

On the other hand, he was apparently in the Negaverse, which meant that his
sense of direction might not work here, dependent as it was on the power of
good.  Unfortunately, while this meant that Serena was probably all right, it
also meant that he was lost.

And then he saw the flash of light, visible even through the seemingly
impenetrable veil of darkness, and headed toward it.  Somehow, instinctively,
he knew that the light was good, and staggered on in the general direction
until he came to the clearing.

He did not see the scouts at first, his whole mind taken up by the sphere of
energy with two flickering figures inside of them.  Thus he did not see
Serena's fall until she shrieked.

He reacted immediately, without thinking.  A single hand went into a jacket,
drawing out a rose, then threw it as hard as it could.  He did not seem to aim,
but his subconscious must have taken care of that, for the flower flew true.

He saw it in mid-flight, questions going through his mind at the same time as
he ran toward the scouts.  Would it work again?  Was it even the same rose as
the Chosen had changed?  His hand had gone automatically, without guidance, and
he had no idea if it chose the right one.

He need not have worried.

As the rose touched the creature, petals first, it shrieked, the other shadows
flowing back, startled. The flower suddenly ignited into a glaring white, but
like the white of the Chosen, it did not blind the people surrounding it. The
rose went all the way through the creature, leaving a glowing white hole in the
shape of the petals in its wake.  The creature clutched its middle, collapsing,
then seemed to pull itself together, moving away, severely if not mortally
wounded.

Suddenly, Tuxedo Mask had a vision of the rose going on behind the ring of
shadows, not recoverable, and he had no more.  Raising his  hand, he
concentrated, knowing it was not something a rose could usually do, but hoping
for a miracle.

The rose, already back to its normal red, suddenly sparkled, then veered
sharply, returning to Darian's hand. He grasped the stem gratefully, finally
reaching the scouts and Kaneth.  Together, they stood at ready, and the shadows
faded back a little.



The Dark Lord snarled again, pressing on his victory, then he noticed
something.  Where once only one stood against the shadows, now was a group.
With a start, he recognized the Sailor Scouts and, wearing a strange costume
indeed, the former Prince Darian of Earth.

And they were defeating the warriors.  Kaneth and Darian defended the scouts,
the latter having embedded a rose into the tip of his cane, a rose that seemed
capable of damaging shadows.  The Shadow glared at the Chosen through the veil
of conflicting energy, recognizing that it was he who had altered the rose
so.

At the same time, Kaneth held off the enemies from the other side with his
blades, leaving glaring white cuts on the black flesh of the shadows.  And from
the protection of the two, the scouts stood in formation, and fired energy
bubbles that slowly encircled and destroyed the shadows, one by one.

The Dark Lord tried to come up with the scenario that would come from all of
this, but there were so many variables that it was impossible to predict the
outcome.

If the shadows were defeated, they would not be able to come to his aid,
something that might be needed in case the battle ended up in ordinary combat.
Technically, that would be cheating, but the shadows were in some ways part of
him, so the rules of balance would be only bent, not broken.

At the same time, if the scouts won, they might disregard the balance if they
knew their friend would die.  Although he had never experienced anything like
loyalty or friendship, the Dark Lord did understand the concept, and knew it
was a powerful driving force.

In the end, he decided, their motives could not be trusted, since they just
might risk the destruction of both universes merely to save a friend.
Therefore, he needed some way of getting rid of them, or at least occupying
them until the Chosen was destroyed, and he, the Dark Lord had prevailed.

His mind searched the Negaverse, searching for an ally.  He needed someone
powerful enough to at least hold the scouts back, while at the same time not so
strong as to challenge his power.

For a moment, his thoughts lingered on Queen Beryl, but it would have taken too
much power to bring her back, destroyed as she was by the Imperium Silver
Crystal.  Then he found what he was looking for.

They had been destroyed by their own side, therefore easy for him to retrieve
for a time.

And together, they were stronger than the scouts, he remembered that from the
Silver Millennium.

He laughed to himself as his mind cast outward, concentrating energy.