CHAPTER 6 - The Council Of Senshi

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


  End Chapter 6

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PS.  The address to reply to can be found at
the top of chapters 1 and 5.