USAGI IS DEAD II DEAD IS USAGI
by DARK DAY FOR ANIME

Diclaimer - Sailormoon is owned by Takeuchi Naoko and Bandai, so
these characters really belong to them, except ones I made up.  This
means I'm only using the Sailormoon characters for purposes benign.
I'm not a ripoff merchant like "Anya Romanov".  ^_^

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	Usagi was about to say something, when her double clamped her
lips over hers in a passionate kiss.  Usagi couldn't fight her 
strength, and felt sickened by the expression of lust, or love, or
whatever it was her double was trying to express.  The double pulled
herself away, panting heavily, and gripped Usagi by the back of her
hair.

	"Yes....  Together, we shall change HISTORY!  Like it has 
never been changed before...."

----o

	Mamoru turned the key to his apartment door, and immediately 
he knew something was afoot.


	He'd just said goodbye to his beloved Usako, having seen her 
home after a wonderful dinner at a reasonably expensive restaurant.
Of course, Usagi, still being 16 and reasonably immature, went nuts
over the food and took a hefty bite out of his tight budget.  Good
thing he'd saved up for just such an possibility.

	Feeling happy after receiving a goodnight kiss, he'd decided
to walk home, it being a warm night and all.  Well, walk was a 
relative concept.  Float would be more accurate a term.  The 
relationship between both Usagi and himself, despite being a little
rocky at times, was beginning to settle in....  For the first time,
he'd begun to get used to the concept of actually being in love.


	Not that he hadn't felt anything for Usagi before, but he 
often wondered just how many of those feelings were being driven by
the emotions of his past life.  Because of this, he had always felt 
a certain nervousness.... an uncomfortable feeling, about being 
close to Usagi.

	There were other factors, of course.  The drives of his past
life, virtually working against the relationship....  The momentary
intervention of Rei (he had almost allowed himself to fall for her),
the rather incestuous closeness of Chibiusa.... (a scary thought in
retrospect)....  There had been so many things that had scared him
from committing to the relationship.

	But now....  Now he felt totally at ease with her.  Not only 
was he settling, but she was beginning to fall into the pattern of 
her Serenity persona.  This emotional stability.... this quietness,
had finally cemented the feelings he had been ignoring for so long.


	It still didn't change the fact that, as soon as he'd opened 
the door to his apartment, he just KNEW something was up.  The first
thing to stand out was the Usagi in the butler's tuxedo, standing in 
the doorway.

	"Ah, the man of the house has finally arrived."  She said, in 
a slightly cultured accent that totally unsuited her.  "Please 
follow me, master Mamoru."  She bowed and gestured into the 
apartment.

	Mamoru was so astounded that he followed her in, speechlessly.
All the lights in his apartment were on, and lining the walls of the
loungeroom were a half dozen Usagis, in french maid costumes.  Not 
that he minded this, it was just a little out of place.  For a 
start, there was only supposed to be one Usagi.

	"Wh....  What on Earth is going on here?  Who are you people?"
He stopped at the entrance to the loungeroom.  The butler turned and 
scowled at him, disapprovingly.

	"Master Mamoru, it is not good to keep out lady Serenity 
waiting.  Please proceed to the bedroom forthwith."  She turned back
once more and stepped over to the doorway which lead to the passage.

	As Mamoru slowly stepped into the room, the maids bowed, one 
by one, as he passed.

	"Welcome home, Master Mamoru..."  They would say.  He looked 
at them.  Each and every one of them was precisely the same.  The 
golden hair, done up in those super-kawaii odangos and ponytails, 
sitting underneath the little caps.  The black and white dresses,
hugging their waists' in a rather interesting fashion.  The short
dresses....  The suspenders and stockings....

	Mamoru found himself drooling.  Despite his misgivings about 
the situation, his ecchi side had taken the controls.  This could be
heaven....  Then again, this was Usagi....  It could be hell on 
Earth....


	"Hurry up, Master Mamoru....  the Lady Serenity grows 
impatient."  The butler peered from the passage door, gesturing with 
an arm.  Mamoru managed to avert his gaze from the maids and 
followed her, through the passage and up to his bedroom door.

	He could smell the gentle fragrance of incense, wafting from 
the tiny cracks around the door.  The butler stood beside it and 
watched as he sniffed....  A kind of soft musk.  He placed his hand 
on the doorknob to open it, only for the butler to smack him across 
the back of the hand.  He shot her a questioning look.

	"One should not enter the domain of the Lady without 
announcing one's presence."  She chided him, sternly.  He swallowed 
as she softly tapped on the door.

	"Haiii...."  Said a soft voice from within.

	"Ma'am....  His most gracious Lord Endymion has arrived home."

	"Ah.  Send him in immediately."  The voice carried a hint of 
amusement, and the butler smiled, turning to Mamoru.

	"Now you can enter, my lord."


	Mamoru looked at the butler, then at the door.  Slowly, he 
mustered up the energy to bring his hand to the doorknob again.  He
turned the knob, opened the door, and looked within.


	"Ah, my dear Mamo-chan....  Where have you been?  It is so 
late."  Said the seductive figure of the young woman, dressed only 
in lace underwear, lounging on the king-sized bed that replaced his
normal one in his massively enlarged bedroom.

	His jaw hit the floor.

----o

Part Seven
The Long and Twisting Road to a Shy City I

----o

	Serenity stared down at the silence glaive, the handle of 
which was protruding from her chest.  In front of her, the young
Sailorsaturn shifted her feet, looking like a schoolgirl who had
been caught out doing the wrong thing.

	"I tripped, okay?  It was an accident."

	"You could, at the very least, whilst performing a Death 
Reborn Revolution to rid this world of menaces like Pharaoh 90, 
check to see if anyone is in range when you swing that thing 
around."  Serenity coughed blood as she pulled the glaive from her
chest and held it out to Saturn.  "I believe this is yours."

	"Umm...  Yeah, thanks."  Saturn took the glaive and turned
back to the shimmering presence of Pharaoh 90.  "Now, where were 
we?"

	"Death Reborn Revolution.  You'll find it in the dictionary
under D, next to Dork, Dickhead, Dumkopf, Dipstick and a couple 
other words not worth repeating right now."  Serenity offered, and
promptly died.

	Pluto, Uranus and Neptune watched this train of disasterous 
ineptitude from a safe distance.

	"Well, there goes your messiah."  Uranus turned aside to 
Pluto, who shrugged.

	"So what.  I can't always predict when strange young women are
going to jump out of the doorways to the worlds of the dead and trip
up a sailorsenshi in full flight."

	"Where did that silver-haired bitch go, anyway?"  Neptune 
rubbed her chin as Saturn started the end of the world.

	"Dunno.  Probably back through the same doorway, or another 
much like it."  Rumble crash rumble.  "Doesn't look like we're going
to get an opportunity to find out, does it?"

	"DEATH REBORN....  REVOLUTION!"

	"By the way....  Isn't that 'Ribbon', not 'Reborn'?"  Neptune
asked Pluto.  The elder senshi was not given an opportunity to 
answer.

	Everything exploded into a large expanse of white....

----o

	"Aww bugger shit damn!"  Makoto found herself floating through
a series of blue clouds, all of which was immediately recognisable 
to her.  "What the hell did you do this, for?  I don't wanna ever 
come back to this place for as long as I live."

	She looked over at Naiad, who was also floating, mesmerised by
the patterns of the blue clouds.  She roused herself from her 
musings.  "Ah, yes, well....  There was something I had to ask you."

	"What?"  Makoto looked up at the blue sky, lit by a pale blue 
sun.  Was everything here blue?  Not really....  Most of the clouds
themselves were wispy and white....  Something she'd obviously 
failed to notice on her previous visit.

	"Before I entered the doorways of the dead, to find who it was
who had been playing with time, I experienced a vision....  within 
the dream of Tranquility, the Queen to be of the Moon Kingdom."

	"Oh her."  Makoto blinked without understanding.  Naiad 
sighed.

	"Serenity's replacement."

	"Oh her."  For a few moments, Makoto was none the wiser, as 
Naiad proceeded to pull out her hair.  How could she be in the 
presence of such a decerebrate individual, the Miko thought to 
herself.  Then a look of realisation crossed Makoto's face.  "You
mean Naru-chan, don't you?"

	"Naru-chan...."  Naiad thought for a few moments.  "Her next
life....  Well, whatever....  I experienced this in a dream of hers,
and somehow, you were connected to it."

	"In what way?"

	A figure fell between them, crying out in mortal fear as she 
did so.  Makoto watched herself tumble towards a small object that 
was floating in the lower cloud decks.

	"Oh...  I see...  That way."  Makoto sweatdropped.  "Well, 
that's kind of hard to explain, really...."

	"You said you never wanted to return to this place, again....
Why?  What happened here?  And why would the Queen-elect dream of
this event?"

	"How would I know, fer chrissakes....  I'm not her.  Maybe she
had eaten too many pork dumplings for dinner or something...."


	Naiad rubbed her face with her hands and counted from ten to 
one.  "How about the events that are taking place here?  Why do they
hold such a sense of fear and trepidation for you?  Enough to make 
you resist returning...."

	Makoto turned away.  Not easy to do when there wasn't anything
to turn on to create such an action.  "I'd really rather not talk 
about it....  It's too personal."

	"How did you find yourself in this place?"

	"I'm not sure....  One moment I was on Earth, the next...."

	"A door to the worlds of the dead opened up beneath your 
feet?"  Naiad seemed prompted by searching Makoto's thoughts.  The
senshi curled up, holding her knees.

	"Stay out of there.  This mind belongs to me."  Makoto spat,
bitterly.  Naiad was surprised by the vitriol.

	"I'm sorry...."

	"No you're not.  You read my thoughts...  Entering the very 
core of my being in a cavalier manner.  Don't you ever give thought
to your actions?"

	"What are you afraid of?  In this place?"

	"Take me away from here."  Makoto turned, almost lashing out 
at Naiad....


	For a fraction of a second, Naiad saw a being of immense size
and ethereal beauty....  It's form made of gossamyr-like thread.  It
descended upon what looked like a floating glass and metal airship.  
And immediately, Naiad realised that this was the fearful memory 
that Makoto was hiding within....

----o

	A gentle but cool night breeze blew through the line of trees
at the far end of the small rural township of Le'Kshier.  Those 
trees symbolised the railway that was the lifeline for the 
community, the only one like it for nearly three hundred miles.

	The main street of Le'Kshier, and the only properly sealed 
road in the township, ran from the council chambers to the railway
station, like an aorta, pumping blood from the town's heart to the
town's mind.  And along that street, at this late hour, ambled a 
couple of strange figures.

	Both were women, and both wore traditional Japanese-styled 
attire of the early Meiji period....  Quite out of step, considering
this wasn't Earth.  Not that that mattered to the pair.

	The taller of the two, a redhead, wore a simple, loose-fitting 
morone-red top with a greyish skirt, brown socks and those Japanese 
style sandals with the small stilts on their base that made a 
clacking sound when the wearer walked anywhere.  Right now, in the
silence of the main street, it echoed almost painfully.

	At her left was a samurai sword within its sheath.  She had a
hand resting upon the handle of the weapon, as if expecting someone 
to attck at any moment.  She had become long used to the vagaries of
potential enemies.

	Her companion was dressed in an attractive yellow kimono, and
had her dark hair tied up in a ponytail by a flowing red ribbon.  
She wore white socks within the same kind of sandal, and her hands
were slipped within the long arms of the kimono, seemingly more at
ease with her surroundings.

	Usashin raised her head, slightly, as they approached the 
railway station.  In a strange kind of way, it bore a resemblance to
an old rural English style of station, with an ornate Victorian-
style guardhouse and platform, covered with ivy on its rear wall.
There was a flower garden around the entranceway to the platform,
lining the street.  She rather liked the way it looked, never having
had the opportunity to visit England in her previous life.  Her 
companion broke her from her reverie.

	"Usashiiiin..."  Kaorusagi whined in an annoying, high-pitched
shrill, looking up at the taller girl.  "Why do we have to leave 
this town?  It was so nice here...."

	"Because our destiny lies within the capital."  Usashin smiled
at Kaorusagi beatifically, making the dark-haired girl puff up her 
face with annoyance.

	"It's cold and I'm hungry.  There better be something worth 
eating on the train."

	"Honestly, Kaorusagi-dono....  You must temper this appetite 
of yours.  You'll put on weight de gozaru."

	Kaorusagi's expression changed to one of tragedy, large tear
rivulets running from her eyes.  "You don't think I'm getting fat, 
do you?"

	"Oro..."  Usashin blinked, then sweatdropped as Kaorusagi 
studied her figure, hard to do when dressed in a kimono.

	"I've tried so hard...  To hold back my appetite....  Maybe I
burn it all off.  Yeah, that's gotta be it...  I'm too active to get
fat."  She put her hands on her hips and let out a maniacal laugh.
"Yes, I'm looking DAMN good."  And with that, she strode along the
small path that lead from the street, up to the platform entrance.
Usashin followed her with a dubious expression.

----o

	Michiru saw the approach of the township through her cabin 
window.  She'd not seen the conductor since he had left to attend
whomever it had been that was calling him in the other cabin.

	She'd left the light off, preferring the strange darkness of
this alien world of Wyccfaer.  The sky had an orange hue.  Not that
it didn't carry the darkness of night, but the glow that the sky
carried during the nocturnal hours had always been a pale shade of
blue, or even a shade of white-gray....  This was orange.

	This natural glow filled her cabin.  All the dark spaces 
illuminated, giving her a strange sense of peace.  In fact, 
everything about this world spoke volumes of peace and tranquility.
She wondered why, but didn't argue the point with herself.

	It was because she could see very little else that the lights
of the approaching township were so bright and vivid.  So much so 
that it almost hurt her when they became visible over the small 
rise.  She wondered whether the train would be stopping at this 
town, and immediately chided herself.  If it stopped at a middle of
nowhere station like the one she had boarded from, then it would 
most certainly stop here.

	Not that it looked like there would be too many people getting
on the train from this town.  So she was rather surprised when she
saw a couple, standing in the relative darkness of the platform as 
the train pulled to a stop.

	She opened the window and peered her head through the gap, 
trying to catch a glimpse of who it was that was getting on board.

	"Whee!  It's been a while since I've ridden on a train."

	"I thought you were against our travelling, Kaorusagi-dono."

	"Aww, come on.  I'm allowed to change my mind when I want to."

	Michiru was surprised to find the pair were speaking Japanese.
Now, not that she should have been all that surprised.  The vast 
majority of alien visitations to the planet Earth that she had 
encountered had all been by individuals who were fluent in nearly 
every known Japanese dialect....  But considering this was a planet
that was, clearly, somewhere on the other side of the universe, it
was an infinity to one chance that she would bump into someone with
such a capability.

	The Japanese was classical, even....  Almost antiquated in its
pronunciation.  She had learnt this style of speech during her 
numerous sessions of private tutorage.

	She couldn't see the individuals in question.  They had 
managed to board the train long before she had managed to get the
cantankerous window open.  Pulling her head in, she heard the 
whistle of the train blow and the sounds of the doors sliding shut.
Before the train could move, she'd thrown open the door to her cabin
and was desperately looking left and right along the thin corridor 
of the sleeper car.

	She didn't know if she was in the first or second car.  She 
hadn't so much as attempted to explore the train upon her recovery
from the fright the conductor had given her.  From the looks of 
things, when she had peered through the window, she was in the 
first.  It also appeared that the pair of Japanese speakers had 
entered the train by another of the cars.

	For some reason, she felt herself driven to make contact with
them.  Leaving the door to her cabin open, she made her way along 
the corridor towards the rear sleeper car.

----o

	"What have you done with Hotaru?"  Makoto had finally uncurled
herself from the foetal position that must have been way difficult
to achieve, floating in a myriad of whirling and streaming blue and 
white clouds.

	"I haven't done anything with the dark child."  Naiad sniffed.
"To her, these moments we share alone shall not exist.  I have 
removed our beings from the splinter reality, and shall return to a
point only fragments of a second later."

	"All because of some dream.  Some dream your great and 
honoured Queen to be had brewed up?"

	"I want to know WHY she had this dream....  What possible 
importance could these events have for her."

	"I really wouldn't know.  Can we go back, now?  I don't want
to remain here a second longer."

	"In case you meet up with something you had seen here, 
before?"  Naiad raised an eyebrow.  The question seemed to shake 
Makoto, who closed her eyes and shivered.

	"If you know that much, then why keep me here.  Stop screwing
with my head and let me go, bitch!"  Makoto opened her eyes and 
clenched her fists, looking like someone who was neck deep in a 
fighting mood.

	Naiad wasn't much into the vagaries of physical combat, and
decided that any further probing of Makoto's mind, right now, would
agitate the already unstable and violent frame of mind the young 
woman posessed.  With a wave of her hand, the world of clouds 
dissipated into a seething mass of chaos, to be replaced by the 
scene on the airport runway.

	Makoto felt herself land, as if she had appeared in mid-air.
Hotaru, standing next to her slightly stunned form, stepped forward,
around the bodies of the three unfortunate Sailorsenshi, as well as
that of Jadeite, looking for Naiad who, for some reason, seemed to
have disappeared.

	"Where did she go?"  Hotaru scratched her head.  When she 
received no reply from Makoto, she turned.

	Makoto was sitting on her haunches, turned away from her.  She
appeared to be toying with a straw or something she had found on the
ground.

	"Are you okay?"  Hotaru blinked.  Makoto looked over her 
shoulder at her companion.

	"I dunno.  I guess it depends on your definition of okay."

----o

	Naiad felt the crunch of soil underneath her feet as she 
landed upon the darkened plain.  Staring up into the pale orange 
glow of the Wyccfaerian atmosphere, and shivering at the cold, she
wondered if every night was like this, here.

	The door to the worlds of the dead had lead her to the very
heart of the labyrinthine passageways, and she found herself on 
Wyccfaer, which was the last thing she had expected.  Wyccfaer had
been, throughout recorded history, about the last place anyone using
the passageways had found time to visit.

	That was recorded history, however.

	So, Wyccfaer was where the passages were spawned.  The hub of 
a universal network.  A pan-dimensional network, even.  She decided
that this place might be worth her while to investigate.

	If she knew where to start.  Hard to do when one was standing
in the middle of an open field at the dead of night.

----o

	Over the Valley of Souls flew the dirigible....  Long, sleek
and gray, carrying a small basket of passengers to whatever 
destination awaited it.

	On the day side of Wyccfaer, five figures, clad in long, 
hooded cloaks that hid their regular clothing, wandered along a 
dirt road, hoping to reach some sizeable settlement.  The two 
smallest stared up at the dirigible.

	"Shouldn't we try and wave those people down, or something?"
Umi watched the vehicle slowly disappear with disappointment.

	"Puuu...."  Said the small, white bunny thing named Mokosagi
that sat on her shoulder.

	"It wouldn't matter if we did.  Their destination is set, and
they won't land for anyone.  Not even people in a dire situation 
such as we."  Usako looked down at Umi's depressed face with a kind
smile, trying to reassure the smaller girl.  "Do not worry, we shall
find someone who shall be kind enough to aid us."

	"Either that, or we find another one of those goddamn doors."
Natsagi growled.  "I can't believe I got myself caught up in this.  
I have a job, you know?"  She pushed her hood back and stared up at
her green hair and cat's ears.  "Ohhh...  Look at me!  I need a 
bath."

	Usako, Umi and Mokosagi looked at her, dubiously.

	"You're the one who got us caught up in all this."  Umi 
pointed at the catgirl.

	"Puu."  Agreed Mokosagi.

	"ME?  You're accusing ME of getting us caught up in all of 
this?"  Natsagi huffed.  "I seem to remember those other two were 
the bright sparks who started this wonderous venture.  And where are
they, eh?  Nowhere to be seen.  They're probably lounging away in 
some resort hotel on the other side of this planet."

	"Now now..."  CereCere stepped between them.  "Wouldn't it
be more intelligent to see what awaits us than to carry on with this
accusatory banter?"  She pointed past Umi and Mokosagi towards what
appeared to be a lake within a small valley.

	On the edge of the lake sat a group of buildings.  They all 
momentarily got their hopes up.

	"Is that a town?"  Umi jumped up and down, trying to get a 
better look at the buildings, giving Mokosagi a bumpy ride.  Usako
was forced to place a calming hand on her shoulder.

	"They look pretty abandoned to me."  Natsagi shrugged.  "There
is only one way to find out, wouldn't you say?"


END OF PART 7

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Next Chapter - "The Long and Twisting Road to a Shy City II"

DDFA ayanami@merlin.net.au
Chief Propoganda Officer, Keeper of the Tapes
and co-founder of the Sai-chan Appreciation Society
Adelaide Japanese Animation Society
http://adelaide.net.au/~nene/ajas.html

Version 1.0 - 28th May 1998