Sailor Moon - Warriors of Ether
Part 5
Astra raised her right hand to her breast and closed it as if holding
something. She stood still for a moment, the her robes started moving. The
grey cloth became like water and flowed across her body into her enclosed
hand.
Sailor Moon, Sailor Mercury and Tuxedo Mask
gasped in shock. "Katsuko?!"
Katsuko Chino, bartender at the Pigeon's Nest, recoiled in surprise.
"Wha? Do I know you?" she stuttered.
Tuxedo Mask chuckled. "You mean you don't? And here I was believing
the bartender was the ultimate source of knowledge." The glow of
transformation surrounded him for a second, leaving Darien standing there.
Katsuko shuddered in suppressed laughter. "That explains a lot." She
looked at Sailor Moon. "Serena right, and Sailor Mercury is your friend Amy."
The pair looked each. Mercury shrugged and they both transformed back.
"Katsuko, how long have you been Astra?" Serena asked, bouncing up to
her.
Katsuko looked thoughtful for a few seconds. "It's been a long time.
Since I was your age, anyway."
Mars and the others were watching the exchange in confusion. "Woe,
wait a minute, who is this woman?" Mars demanded.
"I run the bar Darien has been frequenting for a couple of years,
Serena's been going to for over a week and Amy's been working on a project
for a couple of days there," The woman explained. "If you want to know more,
you'll have to wait."
"What for?!" Mars demanded of her.
"I'm not the one wearing a lie." Katsuko turned away, walking back
towards the starry sphere. "The truth comes not for free. Besides which, I
can't turn off the astrolabe until you do."
"I think you'd better," Amy advised the other three scouts. After a
few seconds the three remaining scouts shimmered, leaving Raye, Lita and Mina
standing in their place. Serena quickly made the introductions.
Katsuko glanced back at the scouts, then waved her hand at the
Astrolabe. Moments later the large globe faded from existence and the lights
came up. The room was largely empty.
"Tried furnishing this room when I first moved in," Katsuko commented,
looking around. "I accidently activated the Astrolabe in the middle of
watching the news. Come on, lets go out to the balcony, I set drinks out on
the table."
"Katsuko, do you know who used to own this place?" Serena asked as
they followed her.
"The millionaire Maxfield Stanton, whoever he was. He left the way he
arrived, in a shroud of mystery. Of course, this place makes me wonder who he
really was."
Raye snorted. "He was a general for the nega-verse," she commented. "I
surprised you couldn't find that out."
"My resources are great, but we've stayed out of your fights," Katsuko
replied. She lead then through an ornate set of glass doors onto a moonlit
balcony. A white table sat in the centre of the balcony, surround by seven
chairs. Upon the table sat seven glasses of a red liquid and two bowls of
milk.
"Why the milk?" Mina asked, spotting the last items on the table.
Katsuko shrugged. "Just a feeling. For some reasons I thought you
might bring a pair of cats."
Darien and the girls looked a little uneasy for a few seconds before
Artemis and Luna leapt onto the balcony from the bushes. "How did you know
about us?" Artemis demanded, looking irritated.
Katsuko, for her part, looked like she had just received the shock of
her life. "Moon cats, of course, moon cats," she muttered. "Makes sense."
Luna gave gazed at her through slitted eyes. "You didn't know about
us?" she demanded.
"And, how would I know the Scouts had moon cats with them? It's not as
if you appear in the news." Katsuko slid into one of the table seats, and
took a sip from her glass. "Please don't pull surprises like that on me, my
heart's not as strong as it used to be." She looked at the still standing
group. "Take a seat, don't stand on ceremony."
Darien and the girls took seats while the cats leapt onto the table.
Artemis immediately sampled one of the bowls of milk. "Good," he commented.
Lita held up her glass and looked at the liquid inside. "What is it?"
she asked suspiciously.
"Blackcurrant juice, I would offer you wine, but I think you'd prefer
to be sober," Katsuko took another sip from her glass. "Now I suppose you'd
like me to explain things to you."
"That would be nice," Raye snapped.
Katsuko shot her a glare, then stared into the red liquid in her
glass. "No one, even back then, knew how it started..."
*****
...it was a time almost before time, back when humanity really could
call the sol system its home. The various planetary systems had yet to unify
under the banner of the Moon Kingdom and the Silver Millennium.
The folk of Mercury had long since isolated themselves deep with their
world's catacombs. They preferred to study the cosmos in peace, away from the
politics of the planets. Contact was so rare that it was public belief that
they didn't exist, and that may have been what saved them.
The Plutoians were equally isolated, although not by choice. A
combination of distance and their attitude made them unapproachable by most
people. Even in the eyes of most governments they were viewed with mistrust.
The inhabitants of the Jovian system were hardy, if provincial,
individuals. They had learnt to tame the power of the red storm, and used it
to ease their lives. Living in small communities, the Jovians were loathe to
accept strangers, leaving them, at the beginning out of the wars of the
planets.
Neptune and Uranus had been fighting since memory began. Neither
planet could remember the original dispute, but the rivalry had permeated to
almost every part of their societies. Even they didn't cause much worry.
Typically the two worlds found contests to prove their superiority and war
was never declared.
The ruling house of Saturn was almost permanently fractured by strife.
Civil wars were common, as one faction tried to out manoeuvre another for
power. Thankfully the secrets of Saturn's magic were a carefully kept secret
and never became a weapon.
Of all the worlds only Mars and Venus regularly came to blows. The
Martian theocracy and Venusian council disagreed on everything, often
violently. It took very little to set them to fighting.
It was to this stage of isolationists and fighting that a new alliance
between the Earth and Moon Kingdoms wished to bring peace. They dispatched
envoys to both Mars and Venus, thinking that bringing peace between them
would set an example for the rest of the system.
The ambassador to Mars never returned. However the Venusian envoy had
better luck. He had discovered a frightening truth, the Venusian council were
not, in truth, controlling Venus.
Retreating for a time, the Earth and the Moon needed to decide what to
do with this information. Obviously they would have to locate whatever force
was controlling Venus. The two Kingdoms pooled their resources and dispatched
a number of spying missions into both Mars and Venus space.
Evidence of the devils and angles interference came to light. The King
of Earth and Queen of the Moon faced a difficult choice. In the end they
decided to declare war upon both Mars and Venus, in order to free humanity
from the control of the invaders.
The chips immediately began to fall. Neptune announced its alliance to
Venus the same day Uranus declared their own pact with Mars. Jupiter,
strangely, joined the Earth and Moon, where their help was greatly needed.
While the forces of Earth and Jupiter fought a war on two fronts, the
Queen of the Moon concentrated her resources on gathering intelligence on
their true enemies. In those days their were no royal guardians like in the
Silver Millennium. However the Queen had collected a strange group as
Advisors. They were outcasts from the other worlds, and for reasons of their
own they had agreed to serve the moon.
Under their advice the Queen formed a small task force of mages. She
needed people she could trust, both with the fate of humanity and to keep her
actions secret. Two of her choices came from amongst the children of her
advisors. The third she chose from her own family. Of course she couldn't
send the heir apparent, however she had adopted a child she had found
floating in a wrecked ship. No one knew that child's heritage, but there was
a strange power in her.
The Warriors each took new names to hide their identities. Mystra,
Phasma and Astra they named themselves.
*****
"I won't bore you with the tale of the war," Katsuko continued,
swirling the glass of juice in front of her. "Needless to say, the Warriors
found that the devils and angles came from other universes that briefly
touched upon ours. With the help of Plutoian and Mercurian mages they found a
way to push the realities apart.
"The Warriors of Ether died in the attempt. While they were able to
close the doors the angles and devils used to come into our world, hey
couldn't lock them. It was discovered that, given time the invaders would
return.
"Somehow, the spirit of the first Astra knew that, and refused to
continue onto her next life. She infused the locket of," Katsuko paused, "one
of my ancestors, giving her the powers of Astra." Katsuko pulled a small
silver locket from under her top. It was the shape of a tear drop, and
gleamed in the moonlight.
"Once every three hundred years a member of my family is born with the
power of foresight. She can see the future, but only imperfectly and never
far. It is a curse as much as a gift, because she will live, never aging,
until her successor is found and taught. If she fails to find a successor,
she lives until she does, always young." Katsuko stood and wandered over to
lean on the balcony railing.
"Three hundred years is a long time," she sighed, gazing into the star
filled sky.
Silence covered the group for a time.
"Katsuko, how old are you?" Amy ventured.
Katsuko turned back to face the group, elbows resting on the railing.
"How old do I look?" she inquired.
Amy shrugged. "Thirty maybe," she replied hesitantly.
Katsuko shook her head. "Ten times that. My successor has been born, I
just need to hand over the reigns. Of course I can't do that until after this
is finished."
"A more important question is how did the first Astra defeat our
enemies," Luna stated, getting up from her empty bowl.
Katsuko hung her head. "I have no idea," she admitted. "While my
family has persevered a lot from before the fall of silver millennium, that
most important piece of knowledge is lost. We'll have to figure out something
ourselves."
Amy frowned. "We'll need to find their entrance into this world and
analyse it. Worst comes to the worst we can try pushing all our power through
the silver crystal again."
Serena paled, but her reaction went unnoticed by the other. Darien
shook his head. "That should be an absolute last resort, it may not succeed
and will probably kill us."
"We fought the thirst..." Luna muttered, a look of concentration on
her face. "How does that poem go?"
"We fought the thirst, a life passed to quench it. We faced a hunger,
a death did sate it. The storm it raged, in madness it stopped. The light it
cut us, in pain we prevailed. These trials we faced, so the stars could die."
Katsuko voice had been soft during her recitation.
Luna shook her head. "Its important, I think."
"It was the ramblings of the only survivors of the that final battle."
Katsuko sighed. "The Warriors of Ether were aided by two others, they made it
out alive, but refused to say more than that poem."
Raye glanced at Serena, then back at Katsuko. "Its interesting, but
not very helpful."
Mina nodded. "She's right, we have to start making plans. To start
with we have to find Phasma and Mystra."
"Katsuko, do you know them?" Serena asked.
"As far as I knew, they died millennia ago. Their transformation
artifacts were recovered and are currently being held in a vault in Germany.
I can get them couriered here, but that doesn't explain why Phasma turned up
today."
"Perhaps her situation is like what mine was when all the trouble
started," Darien suggested.
The scouts nodded, but Katsuko looked confused. "I'm sorry, I don't
understand."
"At first I was totally unaware of who I was, other than a few strange
dreams. Every time Sailor Moon was in trouble I'd become Tuxedo Mask and
hurry off to save her. In neither form could I remember the other." Darien
explained. "Maybe the spirit of Phasma was reincarnated in this era, and was
awoken by the battle. It was the largest fight we've had in a civilised
area."
"Not to mention it involved her enemies," Amy added.
Katsuko nodded. "Its as good an answer as anything else. I'll get
their artifacts sent over, they'll probably arrive in a few days."
Serena suddenly gave a wide yawn. "Oh, sorry."
"No, I'm keeping you up. You'd all best head home before you fall
asleep," Katsuko suggested. "You're welcome here anytime, but don't forget, I
have a bar to run."
*****
Aki and Fujiko watched as the numbers scrolled past on the screen.
They had spent the whole day analysing the data they had collected during the
battle. Fujiko's lab, filled with all the gadgets the young mad scientist
could want, was dimly lit, the pair sitting at the computer had yet to notice
that night had fallen.
"Yes! Yes! YES!" cried Fujiko. "Seperate readings on eight of the
scouts and their friends, and five of their enemies. Aki, that place was
perfect! We're geniuses I tell you, geniuses!" Fujiko let out a wave of her
spine chilling laughter.
"Yeah," Aki commented, wincing at her laughter. "But it'll take months
to analyse this data."
"Aha, not so, already I have spotted a pattern. Give me a few hours
and I'll have figured out the Quantum secret of magic." Fujiko laughed once
more.
"Fine, wake me when you're done," Aki returned, stumbling towards a
cot in the corner.
*****
Gabriel frowned as Arthiel gave her report. While he could not fault
the dedication of his troops, the uncalled for battle had ruined his latest
plan. Fortunately it seemed their opponents had suffered a similar setback.
"It is obvious that we will continue to encounter problems of this
nature," he told her once she finished. "We will need to seek another way to
influence these humans. I charge you with this mission."
Arthiel bowed before him. "I will bend all my powers to your will my
lord, I shall not fail."
"Dismissd," he declared.
Arthiel bowed again, then turned to pass once more through the mists
bounding Gabriel's office. Moments later the mists parted again to reveal a
male angle standing in full armour. He strode into the office.
"Your will, my lord?" the newcomer inquired.
"Micheal, you heard her report." It was a statement, not a question.
"Depressing news my lord, but typical of our warriors I'm afraid,"
Micheal, second lord of the angles replied.
"Yes, they are as they are. Arthiel will be an effective foil to
human's champions, these Sailor Scouts and those blasted Warriors of Ether. I
want you to start building up our human followers, we will see how these
Scouts deal with that." Gabriel's grin could only be called evil.
*****
The rooms beneath the church were plush. Obviously the negaverse
general who had owned it before was a man used to opulence. For the most part
Katsuko didn't care. You got used to sleeping rough after three hundred
years.
A small shrine sat in one of the smaller rooms. It components had
recently been retrieved from various storage vaults, where they had sat,
carefully protected, for most of Katsuko's long life. Above the shrine sat
the most important thing in her life, a portrait of a woman, six years
younger than Katsuko's apparent twenty-eight.
Katsuko knelt, praying at the shine. It had been a long time since she
had performed such a simple, yet profound, action. Learning the true history
of the world had severely disrupted her religious conviction. Still it wasn't
to a god she prayed.
Standing, Katsuko gazed at the painting. "It's been a long time. I
sometimes wish I'd never been chosen, then of course I meet people like the
Scouts. They're what make it all worthwhile. You'd like the girls, I think. A
little too independent maybe."
She sighed and looked down at the ground. "I'm sorry I left you, but
she was right, I couldn't bare the thought of watching you age. How was I to
know that fate dictated that you were to die so young?"
"A few more years, beloved Sakura, just a few more. I shall find my
successor, and then we shall be together once more in the next life." Katsuko
bowed to the painting and shrine, then walked back towards the door. She
stopped, hand resting on the light switch, her gaze once more at the picture
of her long dead sister. A twitch of her hand plunged the room into darkness.
*****
At three almost every afternoon the Pigeon's Nest experienced a lull.
The last of the lunch crowd had packed off back to their jobs, the local
students had yet to get out of classes and the cafe crew had yet to show up.
Katsuko sighed and flopped into a chair. The lull was viewed as a
blessing amongst the staff. Business usually had them on their feet
constantly, often working straight through their breaks. Katsuko, though, was
not usually in such a bad way.
"Are you okay?" Junko, Katsuko's waitress, asked, sliding into the
chair opposite.
"A few too many late nights," Katsuko replied, letting out a deep
breath.
"Late nights, us, never!" Junko gasped in mock shock.
"Okay, maybe early days. I can't believe I was up and busy in the
middle of yesterday morning," Katsuko returned. The pair smiled and laughed.
"Nice to see someone having some fun," a kindly voice cut through
their laughter. They turned to find Koan Nakata standing at the employee
door, a fair haired gaijin woman standing behind him.
"Just relaxing for a moment, oh great and kind leader," Katsuko joked.
"Who's your friend?"
Koan stepped into the barroom, the woman following. "This is Arianna,
I've hired her to assist the cooks, you know, ease their load."
Katsuko's brow furrowed. "I didn't know you were looking for a new
cook."
"I've been thinking about it for a while. When Arianna came in looking
for work, I decided to snap her up while she was available," Koan told her.
Katsuko nodded. "If you say so Koan." She turned to look at Arianna.
"Welcome aboard, I'm sure you'll be a great asset."
The new woman smiled. "May I ask, what foods come in here?" she asked
in crisp Japanese.
"Snacks, sandwiches, small things like that, it keeps down the work we
need to do. Besides which, there's a perfectly good restaurant right next
door," Katsuko replied.
"I see, thank you," Arianna gave Katsuko a small bow. "Mr Nakata,
perhaps we should continue our tour."
Katsuko and Junko watched as the pair once more headed into the rear
of the restaurant.
"Strange woman," Katsuko commented.
"There's an understatement," Junko added.