Note: I'm not normally fond of posting incomplete segments of a story.
But chapter 9 is turning out ridiculously large (300K so far, and still
growing), and I've had enough where-is-it emails that I've posted the
first chunk of it on my web page. Under the circumstances, and in the
interests of spreading the woe, I may as well post it here as well. :)
Angus
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SAILOR MOON 4200: What has gone before
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In the year 3478 Crystal Tokyo was destroyed in an as-yet unexplained
disaster. Queen Serenity and her Senshi died fighting a hopeless battle
against the invaders. Civilisation fell; a new dark age began. Now, in
the year 4200, a new world order has risen, centred on the city of Third
Tokyo and ruled by the shadowy Serenity Council.
Artemis survived the final battle; now he and his great-granddaughter
Bendis are searching for a new generation of Senshi. Working separately
after a violent argument, the two gradually succeed: Bendis finds Sailor
Venus (McCrea Beth) and Mars (Kodama Iku); while Artemis locates Jupiter
(Hayashi Miyo), Mercury (Sharma Dhiti) and Uranus (Itagaki Suzue).
The first exploits of the Senshi are national news but public opinion
soon takes a disturbing direction: some people hate them; others want to
worship them. The Council, who are already searching for Bendis, create
"vitrimorphs" -- sinister, crystalline monsters designed to hunt Senshi,
under the command of Twelve, a Council member who has been given strange
powers by the unseen Master who rules the Council.
Meanwhile, two other survivors of Crystal Tokyo have become involved:
Pappadopoulos Itsuko (previously known as Hino Rei), and Fumihiko Sadako
(once Meiou Setsuna). Itsuko, now powerless, lives quietly as the owner
of the Olympus Gymnasium. The Olympus comes under Council investigation
when Itsuko tries to aid Artemis, and to preserve the secret of her past
Itsuko seeks help from an old friend with criminal connections; but this
simply makes the investigators more suspicious.
Artemis learns that Miyo is actually Kino Makoto, now reborn into her
third lifetime. When her family learn her secret, they are shocked; her
father formally disowns her, and she moves into the Olympus with Itsuko.
At the same time, a new attack by Twelve finally brings the two teams of
Senshi together ...
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S A I L O R M O O N 4 2 0 0
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by Angus MacSpon
macspon@ihug.co.nz
http://shell.ihug.co.nz/~macspon/fanfic/index.html
Comments and criticism welcome!
Based on "Sailor Moon" created by Naoko Takeuchi
------------------------------------------------------------------------
C H A P T E R N I N E
"Crystal Fall: Times Past and Times Changing"
[Draft Text]
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"So," said Dhiti. "This is where you live now."
Miyo nodded, sitting down at the table. "So what do you think?"
Dhiti shrugged, affecting nonchalance. "Nice enough place, I suppose,"
she said. "But -- well, a gymnasium? That's kind of weird, Hayashi,
even for you."
"So sorry," said Miyo acerbically. "I'll just go and find somewhere
else to live, shall I?"
"No, no! This is ... well, it suits you."
There was a slight pause as Miyo tried to decide whether this was a
compliment or not. In the end she gave up. "Umm, thanks," she said.
Dhiti was clearly being diplomatic, in any case. This place -- this
room, at least -- did not suit Miyo ... yet.
They were in Miyo's room at the Olympus. It was a little larger than
she'd had before, and bright and cheerful; there was a big window that
looked out over the city, flooding the room with morning light. But by
comparison to her room at her parents' house it looked almost empty.
The shelves of romantic novels were missing; there was no sign of the
neat pile of binders that Miyo used to keep her favourite recipes (and
the ones she'd created herself); and above all, there were almost no
plants here. A cluster of cuttings in tiny pots showed that she'd made
a start at remedying that lack; but it would be some time before she had
anything approaching the profusion of greenery she'd had before.
"No probs," said Dhiti nonchalantly. She sat down cross-legged on the
floor beside Miyo and leaned back, stretching her arms. Then she gave
Miyo a sharp look; and the good humour suddenly vanished from her face.
"So, Hayashi," she said. "How are you holding up?"
Miyo shifted uncomfortably. "I -- well, I'm --" She fumbled a little
before finally saying, "I'm fine, I guess. I ... look, I'd really
rather not talk about it, if you don't mind."
"Uh-huh." Dhiti nodded slowly. "So, how long do you think before the
others get here? It's going to be weird, having five at a meeting. Oh,
and by the way, how _are_ you holding up?"
"Look, can't you take a hint?" Miyo burst out. "I don't want to talk
about it, all right! I don't --" She stopped suddenly. Dhiti did not
flinch or look away. "Oh -- hell," she said at last. The anger faded
from her voice, to be replaced by resignation. "Look, I have good days
and bad days, all right? That enough, or do you want more? Yesterday
was ... not so good. After we got back from that warehouse, Itsuko had
to go down to the offices, and Artemis took Bendis off to yell at her
some more, and I ..." She looked down. "I tried to call my parents."
"Oh, no." Dhiti tried to bite the words back, in vain.
Miyo showed no reaction. Perhaps she did not hear. She said, "I got my
mother. I said, 'Hello, okaasan.' She didn't say anything. I heard
her start to cry. Then she hung up."
"Oh, no." Dhiti didn't quite say it this time; but the words hung in
the air between them regardless.
"So ... yesterday was a pretty bad day." Miyo gave a forced smile.
"But who knows? Maybe today will be good. If I can just manage to
concentrate on this meeting, and forget about ... all the rest. So,
now, can we change the subject, _please_?"
"Sorry." Dhiti could not meet her eye. She cleared her throat
unnecessarily, visibly groping for another topic, and finally said, with
a forced smile, "Um ... I was thinking it's funny, the way we always end
up meeting at your place, even when -- well, you know."
Miyo shrugged, ignoring the gaffe. "Can you see us going to your place?
Your parents don't even like _me_. I'm _sure_ they'd enjoy having four
of us all swarming there regularly. And Suzue is --" She hesitated.
"Well, you remember how she got when we were talking about it, last
meeting. All funny about her family."
"Maybe they're really wealthy or something, and she doesn't think they'd
approve of us," suggested Dhiti. "Hey, don't look at me like that! It
could be! You remember how she was dressed on Tuesday."
"Yes, but --" Miyo sighed. "Oh, well. It could be. Anyway, here
seemed convenient, and it'll be a bit more private than ... you know."
She sighed again at the memory.
"Pappadopoulos-san doesn't mind, I take it?" inquired Dhiti. Miyo shook
her head. "Right. Now she _definitely_ must be loaded, to own a place
like this. Hey --" A frown crossed her face. "This Pappadopoulos-san,
she wouldn't be the 'Itsuko' that you and Artemis were being so coy
about on Tuesday, would she?"
"Um. Yes," Miyo answered reluctantly.
"So, you know the owner of one of the most successful health clubs in
Third Tokyo ... well enough that you can move in with her when you get
thro-- well, um. Sorry. So what is she, an old family friend?"
"I've known her for a while, yes," said Miyo truthfully.
"I just hope your parents don't make any trouble, that's all -- oh,
damn, I'm sorry, I did it again --"
Miyo sighed. Having Dhiti try to stay away from the topic was almost
worse than just talking about it outright. "It's all right," she said
patiently.
"Sorry," Dhiti mumbled again. "I just wish I had your connections,
that's all. This Pappadopoulos-san must be loaded -- hey, wait a
minute!" She stared at Miyo. "You said -- no, Artemis said that she
knows that you're ..."
"Sailor Jupiter, yes." Artemis strolled in through the door casually.
"Don't worry about it, Dhiti. Itsuko can be trusted. I've known her
for ages." He jumped up onto the table and sat down calmly. Then,
glancing up at the clock on Miyo's dresser, he added, "What's keeping
everybody else? They said they'd be here by now."
"There's still five minutes to go," Dhiti pointed out, glancing at her
watch. "Don't be so impa--" She stopped, staring at Artemis. "Quite a
coincidence, you _both_ having known this Itsuko for a long time."
Artemis shot her a quick look. "Yes, it is, isn't it?" he said, a
little too casually.
"Did I ever tell you how much I hate riddles?" asked Dhiti meaningfully.
"Once or twice," said Miyo. "Look, Dhiti, I'm sorry. I've asked Itsuko
if I can tell you about -- about her. She said she's thinking about it.
I know it's not fair, but ... but, well, she does have her reasons."
Dhiti was silent for a moment. Then she said, "Does she know about me?
Who I am?"
Miyo and Artemis looked at each other. Neither spoke.
"Is she going to want to be at this meeting?"
Miyo hesitated. "I doubt it --" she began.
"Probably not," said Artemis at the same time. "I think she'd find that
... well, uncomfortable. Which is a pity, in a way --"
"_She'd_ find it uncomfortable?" demanded Dhiti incredulously. "What
about _us_? What is this? Why don't you just give her a henshin stick
and have done with it? Maybe she can be Sailor Pluto, if she likes
being so mysterious. Always assuming there is a Sailor Pluto, state
secret or not." She shot a look at Miyo, who looked guilty.
"State secret?" said Artemis, puzzled. "What are you talking about?
Pluto keeps a low profile, sure, but she's perfectly real. I saw her,
Friday before last."
"She is?" said Dhiti, distracted for a moment.
"You did?" said Miyo at the same time.
They glanced at each other. In other circumstances it would have been
funny. "Now who's keeping secrets from who?" muttered Dhiti.
"I'm sorry," said Artemis to Miyo. "It never came up, that's all. It
was only for a few moments, anyway -- she just dropped a few cryptic
hints, as usual, then took off --"
"She survived the Fall," murmured Miyo. "It figures she would ..."
"Yes, and maybe someday we'll be able to persuade her to tell us why she
didn't warn anyone about what was coming _this_ time," Artemis added
grimly. "Look, this is beside the point. Dhiti, I'm not going to give
Itsuko a henshin stick. She ... she isn't a Senshi. She's someone who,
ahh, someone who's helped me out on a number of occasions, and I think
she deserves a little --"
"Forget it, Artemis," said Miyo suddenly. "Look, Dhiti's right. She
deserves to know. Dhiti, I -- I'll tell you everything. I promise,
whatever Itsuko says. After the meeting. All right?"
"Why not now?" muttered Dhiti, a little sulkily.
"Well, it's ... er, kind of a long story."
"That's putting it mildly," said Artemis. "She's going to kill you when
she hears about this, Miyo."
"Too bad. I told you, Dhiti's right. If we can't trust the other
Senshi, who can we trust? They all ought to know about this."
"Let's not jump the gun," the cat urged. "All right, tell Dhiti if you
have to, but there's no need to go making public announcements without
at least checking with her first --"
There was a rap at the door, and they all jumped. Miyo went to answer
it, and found Suzue standing outside. "I take it this is the right
place?" she said.
"Yes," said Miyo, looking relieved at the distraction. "Come on in. We
were starting to think everyone had gotten lost." She led Suzue through
to her room.
"Well, I wasn't sure I had the address right," Suzue said, sitting down.
"You didn't mention it was a gymnasium. I just wasn't expecting ..."
She trailed off, reddening.
"Umm, yeah. Sorry." Privately Miyo thought that Suzue looked more than
a little out of place here. She looked ... well, elegant. As at their
previous meeting, she was dressed expensively, in a matching blouse and
slacks that might have been tailored to fit her. The scarf around her
neck was the only bright spot, though; everything else was in dark,
subdued colours. Maybe she'd been depressed when she got up that
morning. But did she dress up this way normally, or was she trying to
impress them? Or both? Miyo did not quite like to ask. Maybe Dhiti
was right; maybe her family _was_ wealthy.
"It's all right," Suzue answered. She glanced around the room. "So,
the other two aren't here yet? I wonder what they'll be like?"
Miyo was looking forward to finding that out herself. What with one
thing and another, they'd all had to leave in a hurry after the battle
the previous evening. All the noise and destruction must have set off
burglar alarms in the nearby warehouses, and police Opals were moving
in. They'd never gotten a chance for proper introductions. And the
usual disguise effect was still in place; she had no idea what Mars and
Venus would look like in civilian form.
"Well, Mars seemed ..." Miyo paused for a moment. Mars had seemed as
though she was about to faint whenever any of them spoke to her. "The
shy type," she finished tactfully. That was putting it mildly. It was
hard to believe that she was Rei's -- Itsuko's -- successor.
"Mars?" said Dhiti, looking up. "Oh, right, the Stuttering Senshi. It
was kind of cute, actually." She grinned. "Don't worry, though. I'm
sure she'll work out fine." There was an odd glint in her eye. What
was she planning? Miyo made a mental note to warn Mars to be very
cautious about anything Dhiti told her.
"Um ... we'll see," she said. Then she grinned too. "As for Venus,
that's easy. Just imagine a carbon-copy of Dhiti here --"
"Hey!" protested Dhiti.
"One who thinks she's a cat," Miyo finished, grinning. "You'll see.
They're bound to get here soon ..."
"Let's hope so," said Artemis, stretching. Suzue started at the sound
of his voice. It was odd, the way she behaved around him. Sometimes
she was deferential -- almost subservient, even -- but at other times,
she treated him with an almost exaggerated familiarity, as if she were
forcing herself to be casual.
Odder yet, once or twice Miyo had caught Suzue treating _her_ the same
way.
She seemed normal enough for the moment, though, after that one twitch.
"What happened to Bendis?" she asked.
"Out keeping an eye open for Venus and Mars," said Artemis. "After all,
she's the only one who'll recognise them." He sniffed. "At least she
can hardly mess _that_ up."
Miyo almost winced at the distrust in his voice. The two cats had
obviously not finished settling whatever lay between them. After
yesterday's battle, when Artemis led a very chastened-looking Bendis
back to rejoin the five Senshi, Miyo had thought it all dealt with.
Then, when he announced that Bendis was coming back with him, there'd
been a shouting match with Sailor Venus that only ended when Bendis
unexpectedly agreed to go. And once they got back to the Olympus, she'd
heard the two of them yelling at each other several times. (Miyo had
stayed well away, at Itsuko's insistence.)
What was their problem, anyway? Why couldn't they get along? Both of
them refused to speak about it ...
She was distracted by a light tap at the door. Suzue looked up quickly.
"That could be them now," she said, a definite note of anticipation in
her voice. Miyo went to get the door, and Suzue followed. With a sigh,
Dhiti got up and trailed along behind them.
There was a girl of about their age, a Claver with light brown,
shoulder-length hair, on the landing. She was just reaching for the
door to knock again when Miyo opened it; she snatched her hand back
quickly. "Umm ... I was looking for, uh, Hayashi Miyo?" she said
tentatively.
"That's me," said Miyo. "Come on in. You'd be one of our two ... err,
missing members?"
"Um, I suppose so." The girl gave a quick, shy smile. "I'm McCrea
Beth. I, er, saw Bendis downstairs, and she sent me up. Ahh ... hi."
Miyo breathed a silent sigh of relief. All right, that was easy enough:
timid, fidgety, diffident; she was even wearing a red shirt. She had to
be Sailor Mars. That only left Venus to come.
She took a good look at the girl. A Claver; that surprised her, though
rationally she could not think why it should. She looked pretty
nervous, but at the same time expectant. That was natural enough. Miyo
was feeling more than a little nervous herself. Everything was changing
so fast. After more than a thousand years working with her friends --
with the old Senshi -- it was a wrench to try and adjust to so many new
names and new faces in the old costumes. Dhiti had been her friend
already, when her memories re-awoke; but Suzue was an unknown to her,
still something of a cipher, and now there was this new girl, and
another one due in just a few minutes ...
She shook herself mentally. This was no time to go bemoaning the good
old days; she thought she'd managed to cure herself of that.
"Come on through," she said with a smile, trying to make the girl feel
more at ease.
They trooped back to Miyo's room, where Miyo performed introductions.
"So," she said finally, "that just leaves one, and then we can get
started."
"I'm sure Iku will be here soon," said Beth hesitantly. "She can be
a little ... umm, nervous about strangers, but --"
"Really? Nervous?" said Miyo, surprised. The last thing Venus had ever
seemed to her was nervous. Oh, well, it could happen to anyone, she
supposed. Maybe she overcompensated; maybe that was why she seemed so
over-the-top ...
"Oh, yes," Beth replied earnestly. "You must have noticed, last night."
Nervous? Miyo thought back. Venus _had_ seemed a little spaced-out.
"I thought she was just dazed," she said.
"Well, maybe," Beth answered doubtfully. "Anyway, I'm sure she'll be
here soon." She gave a rather nervous smile.
"Don't worry about it," said Dhiti cheerfully. "Come on, sit down and
relax!" She waved Beth toward the table. "I promise, we can survive
without her for a little bit longer."
Miyo snickered. "You just don't want the competition."
Dhiti glared at her. "There seems to be some kind of delusion going
around," she said, "that Venus and I are in some way similar, when it is
blindingly obvious to anybody with a grain of sense that she is as nutty
as a fruitcake, whereas I am merely, umm, a little exuberant --"
"Don't be silly, Dhiti, of course you're crazy," said Miyo sweetly.
"You're just saying that," grouched Dhiti. Her eyes flashed. "Anyway,
you're a fine one to talk! I'm not the one who threatened to maroon her
own brothers on Io --"
"You don't _have_ any brothers."
"Oh, that's right. Well -- that's beside the point --"
Beth was watching them both, a little puzzled. "I suppose Sailor Venus
_is_ a little ... um, wild," she admitted.
Dhiti snorted. "You could put it like that," she said. "You should
have seen her when we were being chased by an Opal, though. 'Wild' was
not the word. Remember, Hayashi? She gave this big, crazy laugh, and
jumped off a building, and went swinging away on that chain thing of
hers ..."
Beth gave her an odd look. "Yes, I know," she said.
"Oh, she told you about that? And there was the time before that, when
we were at that fire, and she did that crazy rescue ..." Dhiti tsk'd
reprovingly. Then she winked at Beth. "At least you seem normal
enough. It'll be nice to have someone _sane_ to be Sailor Mars."
"Look who's talking about sanity," murmured Miyo, with a faint grin.
"Mars?" said Beth, confused. "I'm not Sailor Mars."
"Can we leave out the slurs?" asked Dhiti plaintively. "I'm not ..."
She trailed off slowly, looking at Beth. "You're not?"
"Umm, no," said Beth. "I'm, er, Sailor Venus." She looked around at
them all. "Can't you tell?" she asked, a little hopefully.
"It's the disguise field," said Miyo after a moment. "I thought -- no,
never mind." She did a double-take. "Wait, _you're_ Sailor Venus? And
Iku is Mars? But that's not --"
"This is some kind of trick," declared Dhiti, adding uncertainly, "isn't
it? You -- don't act _anything_ like she does ..."
"No, I know," Beth answered glumly. "It's --- that's sort of hard to
explain, actually. I'm not sure ..." She spread her hands helplessly.
Artemis sprang up on the table and stared at her. "Bendis didn't do
anything funny to you, did she?" he growled. "Hypnosis, or anything
like that? How's your memory? Do you remember any past lives?"
"Have you been eating slugs without noticing?" added Dhiti.
"Dhiti!"
"Slugs?" Beth inched a little away from Dhiti. "I don't think she did
anything to me," she told Artemis. "And my memory's fine. I mean, I
remember everything. The fire, and the man that turned into that -- you
know, thing. Vitrimorph. And when we were chased by that Opal. And
all the rest."
Miyo scratched her head. "This has got to be some kind of mistake,"
she said. "I mean, you're nothing _like_ Venus --"
"That's what I said," muttered Dhiti.
"Prove it," suggested Suzue. "Show us!"
"What, in here?" said Beth doubtfully.
Miyo thought about it, and said, "Sure, why not? No -- wait a moment."
She got up and closed the curtains. Then she waved Beth on.
Beth shrugged, and pulled out what was unmistakably a henshin stick. It
had the symbol for Venus -- the circle and cross -- on one end. She
glanced at Miyo once more, and then, before Miyo could stop her, stood
up and cried out, "VENUS POWER, MAKE-UP!"
The room was filled with light and sound and energy. They saw her
shift, change. And when it was finished --
"I am Sailor Venus!" Venus proclaimed, taking up a dramatic pose. "The
spectacular Senshi of the Planet of Love! On behalf of the planet
Venus, I will -- I will --" She stopped, looking vexed. "It's no good,
it's just not the same without a villain," she announced to nobody in
particular.
They stared at her.
Venus shrugged, and put her henshin stick away. "Boy, you're a
talkative lot, aren't you?" she commented. "So, what, am I supposed to
just stand here? Sign autographs? Or is this some kind of audition?"
Her eyes widened. "Wait a minute!" she exclaimed delightedly. "You're
testing me! All right!"
"Um --" began Miyo.
"What do you want me to do? I know, what about target practise? Watch
this! VENUS LOVE-ME --" She stopped suddenly. "No, wait, Bendis gets
mad when I do that inside," she said in a very different, more subdued
voice. Then, just as abruptly, the manic glint was back. "I could
stand on my head," she suggested. "Or I could juggle -- I haven't
actually tried juggling before, but it can't be that hard -- has anybody
got any balls? No? Well, how about --"
"That's the Sailor Venus I remember," said Dhiti firmly.
"The one and only!" agreed Venus cheerfully. "You're Mercury, right?
You don't know how to juggle, do you?"
"Er, yes I do, actually. You're right, it's not that hard. You just
need to --"
"Dhiti!" snapped Miyo.
"Oh, right. Sorry."
"I don't believe this," said Suzue. "I saw it, and I still don't
believe it."
"You don't?" Venus gave her a concerned look. "Boy, that's rough. Wait
a minute, who are you again? Uranus, right? Somehow I thought you'd be
taller." She stared at Suzue for a moment longer, frowning a little, as
if she held it against her, and then suddenly shrugged. "Oh, well, I
expect it doesn't matter," she said, dropping back to her seat on the
floor. Her gaze fell on Miyo, and she waved. "Hiya, obaachan," she
added breezily.
Miyo started to bristle, then gave up. Somehow she didn't think it
was likely to do any good.
"Artemis!" Venus exclaimed, hitching herself closer to the table, where
the white cat was still staring at her. "Oh, wow, this is great, I was
_so_ looking forward to meeting you! Well, I met you last night, of
course, but, I mean, it's just ... wow!" She beamed at the cat, and
leaned forward to bump noses with him, cat-fashion, before he could react.
"Hey, you're not much like you look on that viddy program, are you?" she
prattled on. "Not that I watch it any more, of course. Do you suppose
they'll want to make a new program about _us_, now? Oh, I'm so glad to
meet you at last, I mean, Bendis talks about you _so_ much ..."
"She does?" said Artemis, startled and a little overwhelmed.
"Well, not really, I suppose. Actually she refuses to talk about you at
all, but in a way that's almost like talking about you all the time,
isn't it?"
Miyo shot Venus a thoughtful look. That had almost sounded like an
intelligent thought. But buried in that constant chatter it was hard to
be sure ...
One thing was for certain. Beth might have been nervous, but Sailor
Venus was definitely not. And whatever did that mean? It was hard to
imagine a greater contrast; it was as if they were dealing with two
completely different people. A Senshi with a split personality? That
could make things difficult. Or was it possible that --
She felt a sudden chill. Might it be a split personality in truth? Was
it possible that, buried somewhere deep inside, there was ... someone
else? Was it just barely conceivable that, against all odds, an old
friend of hers had somehow survived, reborn in this Claver girl?
Might it be -- could it possibly be -- Minako in there?
There was a lump in her throat. And Venus _had_ seemed to recognise
Artemis --
[Later,] she told herself. It was hard; she wanted to jump up and shout
in excitement, but she forced herself to put it aside. [Later.] Later
on Artemis might be able to detect if it was true; but now was not the
time to go into it. They would be able to speak in private after the
meeting, and maybe talk to Bendis about exactly what she knew about the
girl. After all, if Minako was in there, then Beth was apparently
unaware of it (though she certainly seemed to know that _something_ was
wrong). For now, they had other business.
She cleared her throat. Venus, who was still chattering away at
Artemis, glanced up in surprise. "Do you think you could change back
again?" Miyo asked.
Venus looked faintly disappointed. "Oh, well," she said, shrugging, and
let her transformation lapse.
McCrea Beth sat at the table where she had been. She looked around at
their faces -- everyone seemed to be looking at her -- and flushed
scarlet. "Um," she said.
"That is just so bizarre," Dhiti said, shaking her head in wonder. "You
and ... and ... and _her_ ... are so completely different!" She studied
Beth, a tiny frown on her face. "What's it feel like?" she asked
curiously.
Beth considered it. "It's like ... well, it's hard to describe,
actually," she said, a little lamely.
"She certainly is ... enthusiastic," said Suzue thoughtfully.
"Well, yeah," Beth answered. She had an oddly wistful look on her face.
"Sometimes I wish ..." She sighed. "Never mind. It doesn't matter."
"No, what?" Suzue prodded her.
Beth fidgeted. "Well, sometimes I ... I wish I could be like that." She
looked down at her feet. "But I'd never dare."
"It has its down-side," said Miyo dryly. "Just ask Dhiti."
"Hey!" Dhiti looked at Miyo reproachfully. "You'll regret that,
obaasan. I'll have you know that it doesn't have any downside at all.
Can I help it if I'm perfect and everyone else is envious of me?"
"Perfect? Is that what you call it?"
Dhiti assumed a saintly expression. "You see?" she said to Beth and
Suzue. "Envy. Pure envy." Beth gave a tentative grin. Suzue sighed
and rolled her eyes.
Miyo took a deep breath. "You can call it envy --" she began. It
was, perhaps, just as well that at that moment, there was a hesitant
knock at the door.
"Ah," said Artemis. "That may be our missing Senshi at last."
Miyo snorted, cast a humorous just-you-wait look at Dhiti, and went to
answer it. There was a tall girl with long black hair outside,
accompanied by a small tabby cat. The girl looked upset; her body was
tense, and she was playing with a strand of her hair, twisting it
nervously between thumb and forefinger.
"Finally!" said the cat, looking relieved. "Hi, Miyo. This is Iku.
Iku, this is Hayashi Miyo. She's Sailor Jupiter. Are the others here,
Miyo? I sent Beth up."
"Yes, they're all here," Miyo answered. "Hello, Iku. Nice to meet
you." She smiled in welcome; and after a few seconds Iku smiled back.
If it could be called a smile. It was more of a grimace.
"I'm sorry," she said in a quick, nervous voice. "I didn't mean to be
late -- I tried, really I did --"
"What? Hey!" Miyo stared at her, astonished. The girl actually
sounded terrified. What was wrong with her? She opened her mouth to
ask, and then bit the question back. At her first words, the fear had
drained out of Iku's expression, to be replaced by ... resignation?
She changed tack hastily. "It's okay," she said, as soothingly as she
could. "It doesn't matter. Really. Nobody's upset, I promise."
"You aren't?" There was a quick flash of something on Iku's face.
Hope, perhaps. But she looked so pale and shaken ...
Miyo reached a quick decision. "C'mon through here," she ordered. She
led Iku into the kitchen and poured her a glass of water. "Here," she
said. "You look like you could use this."
Iku took it gratefully. As she drank, Miyo stepped aside and hissed to
Bendis, "What the hell's wrong with her?"
"I don't know," the cat whispered back. "She had a kind of panic attack
on the way up. I thought I'd never get her here."
"Is she always like this?" Miyo demanded incredulously.
"Ask Beth! I only met her yesterday myself."
"Oh, great." Miyo turned back to Iku, hoping she hadn't noticed the
hurried debate. "Feeling better?" she asked, trying to keep her voice
calm and soothing.
Iku nodded quickly, putting the glass down. She'd only half-finished
it. There was a little more colour in her cheeks, though. Her skin was
actually rather dark, Miyo noticed absently, though not as dark as
Dhiti's.
"Come on," she said. "I'll introduce you to the others."
They went through to her room, where the others were waiting. Out of
the corner of her eye, Miyo noticed that Bendis held back, following on
behind Iku. That was actually pretty smart of the cat, she thought
approvingly. Still, Iku seemed calmer now, even docile. She wasn't
sure if that was better or worse.
What was wrong with her? What had made her so afraid? Beth had said
Iku was nervous about strangers, but this was far beyond nervousness.
As she stepped into her room, she was almost shaken by the contrast.
Everyone there was relaxed, cheerful. Dhiti was as manic as ever; Suzue
was leaning back contentedly, listening to the other two (Miyo was
beginning to realise that she simply didn't talk much, though she always
listened carefully to what was going on); and Beth, while she wasn't
exploding the way she had as Sailor Venus, was chatting away happily
enough; in fact she was --
Oh, no. She was telling Dhiti and Suzue the story about why she called
Miyo 'obaasan.' And while Dhiti already knew part of it, the rapt
expression on her face suggested that Miyo was in for trouble ...
She cleared her throat, and the others looked up quickly. Beth cut her
story short with a cough, looking faintly guilty. Dhiti made a face,
and sighed. Suzue grinned for a moment.
Iku came in after Miyo, and Beth waved to her with a smile. She gave a
much more vigorous wave to Bendis as the cat followed after. Bendis
bounded over to her, and Beth swept her up in her arms, saying happily,
"Bendis! Where have you _been_?"
"Don't be silly," the cat answered in a slightly muffled voice. "You
just saw me a few minutes ago, down on the street." She was purring
rather loudly, though. In fact it almost sounded as if Beth were
purring herself, but of course that was silly.
"Yes, but that hardly counted," objected Beth, somewhat nonsensically.
"Anyway, it doesn't matter. I missed you ..."
"Ahem," said Artemis, unnecessarily loudly. "If I might interrupt for
a moment?" he went on in a sarcastic tone. "We do have a meeting to
run, remember?"
"Oh, right." Bendis squirmed free of Beth's arms and jumped up on the
table. "All right, everyone, this is McCrea Beth -- um, well, I suppose
you've met Beth now, haven't you?" She brushed her whiskers quickly and
padded over to Iku's side, then tried again. "All right, _this_ is
Kodama Iku ... Sailor Mars. Iku, this is Hayashi Miyo; she's Sailor
Jupiter. And ..." She hesitated, glancing at the other girls. She
hadn't actually met them before, but Miyo had told her who to expect.
"Um. This is Sharma Dhiti, Sailor Mercury, and Itagaki Suzue, Sailor
Uranus. How's that?" Artemis made a threatening noise and she added,
"Oh, yeah, and Artemis, too."
Miyo hid a smile as Artemis visibly fumed. She gave a friendly nod to
Iku, as Dhiti and Suzue added their own welcomes. Now, had she managed
to calm Iku down enough ...?
Iku stared back at them all uncomfortably. She licked her lips nervously
and said, "Um ... hello?"
Miyo sighed. Suzue frowned. Beth shook her head wryly. Dhiti ...
Dhiti grinned. "Hi!" she called cheerfully. "Come on over here, sit by
me. Welcome to the all-Senshi basketball league." Iku stared at her,
baffled, and Dhiti beckoned, still grinning. "C'mon, sit down! I won't
bite you. I hardly ever bite my friends. Well, there was that one time
with Hayashi, but --"
"For heaven's sake, Dhiti --" began Miyo.
"Pay not attention to obaasan, it's just her arthritis acting up," went
on Dhiti blithely. "Come on, sit down! There, that didn't hurt, did
it? We don't electrify the floor until _next_ meeting. Don't mind the
others, they stare at everyone. Boy, you _are_ a talkative one, aren't
you? Did you ever think about going into public speaking? Well, it's
no big deal; we'll have you up singing karaoke in no time ..."
She rattled on, as Miyo groped for a way to shut her up. The poor girl
was already scared half-witless, and the last thing she needed was an
overdose of Dhiti. At this rate they'd be lucky if she didn't break
down completely --
But just as she was about to get up and knock some sense into her best
friend, she stopped. Iku was sitting next to Dhiti, staring at her, a
stunned expression on her face; she was all too obviously overpowered,
swamped, drowning in a sea of nonsense ...
And just for a moment, helplessly, she smiled.
Miyo forced herself to relax. [Then again,] she thought, [maybe I'll
leave well enough alone.]
She managed to catch Dhiti's eye for a moment. Dhiti winked.
Miyo took a deep breath. "All right," she said. "Welcome, everyone.
It's good to see you all ... together at last."
Together at last. That was one way of putting it. They were all in the
same place at once, yes; but what sort of team was this unruly bunch
going to make? A teenager with thousands of years' memory swirling
around in her head; a smartass with a runaway mouth; a girl with
multiple personalities, who occasionally thought she was a cat; another
girl who seemed to be terrified of everything, including the universe in
general; a pair of talking cats, one of them millennia old and the other
only two ... at least Suzue seemed normal enough. Mostly.
She sighed, and got the meeting underway.
****************
On a narrow back street behind the Olympus building, a big, beaten-up
old van was parked. It had been there for several weeks now, and nobody
even noticed it any more. It was visibly a wreck; the sides were
scratched and battered, with body panels hanging loose or missing
altogether, and both rear wheels were gone. Worse, it appeared that
squatters had taken up residence; there was a frayed power cable hanging
from the roof down to a nearby charging station. The wonder of it, to
anybody who bothered to give it a second glance, was that it hadn't been
towed away long ago.
Inside, it was another matter. Hiiro's team had been using the van as a
mobile base for several years now (those missing wheels were actually
mounted inside the van's body, and could be dropped into place in a few
seconds if they actually had to move), and the interior was fitted out
as a highly-efficient command post.
It was mostly empty, of late. Hiiro himself had not stepped in for
several days; he was spending most of his time on the recent Hoseki
raid, and the questioning of witnesses. Aoiro was still working
steadily on the Olympus operation, but it was clear that his heart was
not in it; he arrived, put in his hours, and left again with hardly a
word. Kuroi spent most of his time working with Kitada, putting him
through endless training exercises and swearing to himself at how well
the young Irregular was doing. And Mitsukai --
She was still there, day after day, sitting in the van at her
electronics post. She was very busy indeed. There were technical
journals to read, and records to browse, and Lieutenant Murasaki's team
over in the Han Domain had asked her for help in a decryption problem,
and there was the Hoseki data to help analyse, and ... somehow, looking
for a missing cat was no longer very high on her task-list. She
occasionally glanced at the transcriptions of the bugs inside the
building, but there was never anything interesting on them. The cameras
watched over the Olympus building, faithfully recording everything; but
most of the time, nobody checked the recordings.
It was a pity, really. For several minutes that morning, the cameras
that monitored the main entrance to the gymnasium had clearly showed a
small tabby cat with a circular mark on its forehead. The faces of the
girls that the cat met and spoke to were quite recognisable. If
Mitsukai had happened to glance up at the right moment, the mission
would have been over.
She tapped a key on her console and started to read the next page.
****************
Bendis was in heaven.
Somehow or other the conversation had worked its way around to how each
of the girls had been discovered. Naturally Bendis, who had found three
of them (one _more_ than Artemis, but of course she wasn't going to rub
that in ... much), was having a wonderful time.
Dhiti had told her story to start with, with suitable embellishments and
unnecessary digressions (and with suitable sarcastic comments from
Artemis). Miyo, rather more reluctantly, talked about her own discovery
-- and thoroughly delighted Bendis with the news of Artemis' mistake in
restoring her memories.
Then it was Beth's turn. She did her best; but Bendis could not resist
helping her out on a few of the details, and before long Beth simply
gave up and let the cat handle it.
"-- And the _same_ morning that he threw me out, I ran into Beth," she
was saying now. Artemis put in something about how he didn't remember
doing any throwing, but she ignored him. "I didn't realise which girl
it was at first, but I soon managed to track her down." Well, with a
little help from a certain obnoxious human, but like she was _really_
going to tell them that. "After that, it was just a matter of working
out which Senshi she was."
"Yes, I'd been wondering about that, actually," said Artemis coolly.
"How _did_ you manage that? Normally Senshi powers only manifest during
a crisis. It's very difficult to pinpoint them otherwise; it took me
years to learn it. So how did you work it out?"
Bendis hesitated, suspecting a trap, but couldn't resist. "Oh, that was
easy," she bragged. "Like you said, it takes a crisis. So I just had
to --"
"Wait a minute!" Beth burst out. "You mean _that's_ what you were
doing?" Addressing the others, she said, "All that afternoon, I kept
having these little ... accidents. Things falling on me. Getting
tripped up. You know. And _she_ was always there ..."
Dhiti stared at her. She started to snicker. "You ... you mean she was
deliberately putting you in danger, to try and make your ... your ..."
She would have said more that that, but she was laughing too hard.
"It worked, didn't it?" protested Bendis.
"You dropped a _piano_ on my head!" Beth complained.
At that point, Miyo lost it too.
"So let me get this straight," said Artemis, with ominous calm. "You
kept on causing her bigger and bigger accidents, until finally her
powers manifested?"
"Right," said Bendis, nodding in satisfaction. Some vestige of honesty
made her add, "Oh, well, I suppose the last one really was an accident.
I was ... er, almost hit by a truck, and she jumped out to save me. The
truck nearly hit her, instead. That was when the symbol appeared on her
forehead."
Artemis sighed, shaking his head. "You little idiot. It doesn't matter
how big an accident you make it. I thought I taught you better than
that. An ordinary, mundane accident is not something that will bring
out a Senshi's powers."
Bendis blinked at him. "Than what --"
He sighed again. "She didn't become Venus because she was in danger,
you ass. She became Venus because _you_ were in danger."
Bendis stared. After a while, she said, "oh," in a very small voice.
"To defend, and to serve, Bendis," he told her. "Serving the Queen, the
Princess, the Kingdom and all its people ... and even fatheads like you,
because you have a part in this too, though goodness knows why. Whether
it's by fighting against a youma attack, or an invasion from Nemesis --
or just protecting some idiot who doesn't know better than to stand in
front of an oncoming truck. That's what it's all about. Not silly
little contests to see who can find the most Senshi!"
"I know, I know," she grumbled, subdued.
He batted her gently with one paw. "When you really _do_ know, you'll
actually be ready to go out on your own," he said, not unkindly. "For
now, though --"
"Go easy on her, Artemis," said an amused voice from behind them.
They all looked around quickly. There was a woman standing in the
doorway: tall, slender, young-looking, with close-cropped hair of a
pure, brilliant white. "I think she's got the idea," the newcomer
finished.
[Oboy,] Bendis thought. [She's doing it. She's actually going to do
it.]
She remembered:
Meeting Itsuko the night before had been rather a shock. Long before,
when Artemis had told her about the backup contact point, he'd said that
the human there could be trusted. But he'd never mentioned just who she
was. Coming face-to-face with a two-thousand-year-old legend had been
somewhat disconcerting, to say the least. Then they'd explained to her
why Itsuko was keeping her identity hidden, and how bad it would be if
anyone found out, and they'd sworn her to secrecy, and --
And now, it looked as though Itsuko had decided that enough was enough,
after all.
The white-haired woman looked around the room slowly. The five girls
were all staring up at her. Miyo looked surprised, but pleased. The
others' expressions ranged from shocked ... to outraged.
"So," Itsuko said. "This is the new crop of Senshi." She was smiling
faintly.
That produced an even bigger reaction, as she'd probably intended.
Beth looked dismayed. Suzue actually gasped in dismay. Iku shrank
back. But Dhiti --
What was wrong with her? She looked furious! Bendis found herself
shrinking back involuntarily as the girl stood, fists clenched, her face
dark with anger, and burst out, "_Miyo_!"
Itsuko seemed to understand, though. She reached out and touched Dhiti
lightly on the shoulder, and whispered, "Relax." Dhiti froze. "Miyo
had nothing to do with this," Itsuko told her quietly. "She didn't know
that I was ... planning this. It's time, that's all."
Dhiti scowled again, refusing to look at her. Itsuko nodded slowly,
then removed her hand and left Dhiti's side, moving around to stand at
the head of the low table. Perhaps it was a coincidence, perhaps not;
but as she stood there, her back to the window, her face was half in
shadow, and when she spoke her voice seemed almost disembodied.
"My name is Pappadopoulos Itsuko," she said softly, "and I am the owner
of the Olympus Gymnasium. I am Miyo's host, for the time being. I am
also an old acquaintance of Artemis; I have worked with him in the past,
and I know at least a little about all of you. I know who you are ...
and _what_ you are. But I know how to keep a secret, too, and I will
not give any of you away."
She was silent for a moment. Then she said, "This is all true. But it
is not the whole truth."
Her voice seemed to grow deeper as she spoke. "I was born in the days
of the Silver Millennium. I died when it was destroyed, only to be
reborn, two thousand, two hundred and twenty-two years ago. I grew up
in the city of Tokyo -- First Tokyo, you call it now. I survived the
time of the Great Ice. I walked the streets of Crystal Tokyo. I was
injured during the time of the Fall, but I survived that, too, and the
dark times that followed. When they began to rebuild Tokyo again, I
came back, and I have been here ever since. My true name --" She
paused, and her eyes seemed to burn. "My true name is Hino Rei, and I
was the Senshi of Mars in the court of Queen Serenity."
The room was completely silent as she finished speaking. Nobody spoke;
nobody even dared breathe. Even the distant sound of traffic from
outside seemed to have ceased. They could only stare up at her; she
seemed to tower over them, silhouetted against the window, faintly
haloed in light.
Then Miyo said, "Geez, Rei, you don't have to be so pretentious about
it."
"Umm, I think Suzue has fainted," added Beth.
--**--
To Dhiti it came as a revelation. A whole collection of facts suddenly
rearranged themselves in her mind. Artemis' hints that Itsuko knew all
about them. The way Hayashi suddenly moved into the Olympus building.
Her reticence about the mysterious 'Itsuko.' And maybe even that time,
a couple of weeks ago, when she had been so upset about something ...
She stood quietly for a few minutes, putting the pieces together. [I'm
going to have to apologise to Hayashi,] she thought absently; but for
now it was a distant concern. She barely even noticed the fuss as
everyone else crowded around Suzue, helping her up and asking if she was
all right.
A thousand random thoughts buzzed through her mind. [The real -- the
_original_ Sailor Mars! And I just almost decked her. Oops. Hey, does
that mean we're going to have two Marses now? Is there any such word as
'Marses'? I can't believe she's real. She doesn't look two thousand
years old ...]
But that, too, was distant and unimportant. Instead, what was foremost
in her mind was: it was all right. Hayashi had had a good reason to
keep all this from her. They could still be friends. And it was truly
amazing, how relieved she felt knowing that.
-- She blinked. Somebody was waving a hand in front of her face. "Um,
what?" she said.
"Earth to Dhiti, Earth to Dhiti. Are you receiving me, over?" said
Hayashi, smiling.
She breathed a silent sigh. Yes, it really _was_ all right. And that
being the case ...
The manic spark flared into life again. "Calling Earth, calling Earth,"
she said into an imaginary microphone, grinning wickedly. "Your signal
is breaking up, say again. What was that about goats?"
"Are you all right? You were looking a little zoned-out there for a --"
Hayashi broke off. "Goats?" she said.
Dhiti winked. "Gotcha," she said. Then, in a whisper that only the two
of them could hear, she added, "I need to talk to you, Hayashi."
Hayashi nodded. "I know," she replied, equally softly. "Later." Then
she grabbed Dhiti by the arm and pulled her over to where the others
were standing. Everyone was talking at once, it seemed. Suzue was
upright again, though her face was pale. It had been a bit of shock,
Dhiti supposed. Coming face-to-face with a figure from the past ...
At that moment she came literally face-to-face with a figure from the
past. "Itsuko," said Hayashi, "this is my best friend, Sharma Dhiti.
She's Sailor Mercury."
Itsuko studied her for a moment. "Yes," she said to Dhiti slowly.
"I've been hearing quite a lot about you, actually."
Dhiti's mind went blank. What should she say? What should she say?
What could she say to a living legend? "What did you do to your hair?"
she blurted out.
Itsuko stared at her. Then her lips twitched. "I see what you mean,"
she said to Hayashi.
"Told you so," the latter answered smugly.
Shaking her head ruefully, Itsuko said to Dhiti, "Believe it or not, I
can do _without_ everybody in the world knowing who I am. There are
enough pictures of me around in the history books that a few minor
changes seemed a good idea. If that's all right with you?" There was a
dangerous glint in her eye that suggested that it had better be all
right.
Dhiti cleared her throat hurriedly, before she said something that
really _did_ get her in trouble. "Um ... so what happens to Iku now?"
she asked. "If you take over as Sailor Mars, does she had to leave the
team, or something?"
To her surprise, the question seemed to upset Itsuko. She and Hayashi
exchanged glances, and Dhiti could tell that whatever it was, it
bothered Hayashi too. More secrets? But then Itsuko said, "No. But I
should explain that to everyone ..."
She raised her voice a little. "Can I have your attention for a
moment?" The room fell silent with remarkable speed, making Dhiti
suspect that the others had been listening in.
"I should tell you this now, before we go any further," Itsuko told them
all. "I am no longer Sailor Mars. I lost my ability to transform after
the Fall, and have never regained it --" Her voice broke for a moment.
The look on her face was ... painful to see. She cleared her throat and
went on after a moment. "Obviously I still don't age, and I do seem to
be able to tell when the Mars Power is being used -- that was how I
guided Miyo to bring you all together last night. But apart from that
... Iku is the only Sailor Mars now. I'm sorry if any of you were
getting your hopes up."
There was silence for a few seconds. Dhiti tried to imagine what it
would be like. She had only been Mercury for a little while, but the
idea of having to give it up ... She shuddered.
(And a memory stirred, a voice that she had heard in a dream. "If you
take this chance, there's no way out. No turning back. You must follow
the path all the way. Wherever it leads ...")
Itsuko was speaking again. "-- Hope I may be able to help you in other
ways. I do have a fair bit of experience, and I may be able to offer
some advice in your training, or with any other problems you're having.
Miyo and Artemis can do that too, of course; but I hope I can contribute
something. If ... if you'll have me?"
She really meant it, Dhiti realised, amazed. Itsuko genuinely wasn't
sure that they'd accept her. She was ... afraid?
And with that realisation, her awe for the woman suddenly vanished.
Itsuko might be the legendary Senshi of Fire; she might be thousands of
years old; she might have been Queen Serenity's closest friend, all
those years ago -- she might be all this and more; but over and above
that, she was still a human being. As capable of doubt and uncertainty
as anyone. Maybe, just maybe, somebody that Dhiti could get to like.
Someone who was still waiting for an answer. [Break the mood,] Dhiti's
instincts told her. [Quickly, before everyone else gets maudlin too.]
She snickered. Everyone looked at her. "Like we're really going to
say no to that," she said. "C'mon, this is a joke, right?"
And Hayashi smiled, and McCrea grinned, Iku and Suzue both seemed to
relax, and the look of relief on Itsuko's face was inexpressible.
"That being the case," Itsuko said, "perhaps we should discuss what's
been happening lately --"
--**--
Beth was uncomfortably aware that she had not made the best of first
impressions. They _would_ have to ask her to become Venus! Everything
had been going so well up until that point, too (though she wasn't quite
sure why they had mistaken her for Iku).
She squirmed at the memory. Had she _really_ volunteered to juggle for
the others? What had she been thinking of? But of course she hadn't
been thinking. Venus had been doing the thinking, and Venus would do
just about anything if it seemed like a good idea ...
(Venus got all the fun.)
She sighed and tried to concentrate on what Pappadopoulos-san was
saying. It was difficult to keep her attention focused, though. Some
of the bruises she'd gotten the previous night were uncomfortable
to sit on for long, and she had to keep shifting around, trying to
find a more tolerable position; and that disturbed Bendis on her lap,
and Bendis wasn't afraid to use her claws.
It was worth the discomfort, though, to be together with Bendis again.
Strange, how quickly the cat had become part of her life. It had only
been a month since they'd met; but it seemed like they'd been together
forever. They were partners; and the idea of anyone breaking that
partnership was unbearable.
She had never realised how strongly she'd come to feel, until someone
tried to separate them. The previous evening, when Artemis had said he
was taking Bendis with him, it had been as if he was threatening to cut
off her arm. She'd overreacted (or rather, Venus had) -- screaming at
him for wanting to take her friend away, promising to do unmentionable
things to him if he touched a hair on Bendis' head ... it was kind of
embarrassing to remember, now; but she was pretty sure she'd do the same
again. And all of it over a single night apart. Bendis had been away
from her for much longer than that when she was out looking for Suzue.
But this time it was a forced separation, and that made all the
difference.
If only she could work out just why Bendis was afraid of Artemis ...
Bendis had agreed to go with him, though. She had seemed ... defeated,
somehow. It was almost as if she'd been expecting it; as if she were
going to face some unpleasant fate that she'd been avoiding for a long
time ...
Could that be it?
Yet when Beth arrived at the Olympus this morning, and met Bendis at the
main entrance, the cat had seemed relaxed, even cheerful. And when she
went in to meet the others, Artemis had been perfectly friendly, and
somehow her anger from the previous evening had faded, and all she could
remember (all Venus could remember) was how much she'd been looking
forward to meeting him. So what had happened?
She shifted uncomfortably, trying to find another position that didn't
hurt. As she did, her eye fell upon Iku, sitting next to Dhiti on the
other side of the table.
There was another riddle. Back when she'd first met Iku, the girl had
been almost normal. Oh, she'd been shy, quiet, she always kept to the
background; but she would talk to people, she could even be sarcastic at
times. Then she began to change. She became uncomfortable when anybody
paid attention to her. She seemed perpetually nervous, afraid of almost
everyone except Nanako. It seemed to get worse and worse as time went
by. By the time she and Beth met last night, when she became Sailor
Mars, she was a virtual wreck. And today ... well, Beth and the others
had heard a little of what was said when Miyo answered the door.
Something changed, though, when Iku met Dhiti. She had actually smiled.
And now, as she sat listening to Pappadopoulos-san speaking, she seemed
relaxed, almost peaceful --
[Whoops.] The thought of Pappadopoulos-san brought Beth back to Earth
in a hurry. She had been speaking for some time and Beth hadn't heard a
word of it. Flushing guiltily, Beth turned her attention back to what
the woman was saying, and hoped that nobody had noticed.
"-- Would suggest that the first thing you need to consider is what
their primary objective is," the white-haired woman was saying. It was
hard to believe that she was really the legendary Hino Rei. Beth
wondered what Venus would say about the matter, and hastily suppressed
the thought.
"That's easy enough to say," protested Dhiti. "But how are we supposed
to tell? They appear, they cause trouble, and then we show up and blow
them to pieces."
"That's all very well," said Pappadopoulos-san patiently. "But I doubt
that they're simply attacking at random. There may be some common
element. What sort of 'trouble' do they cause?"
"The first one just attacked Venus," said Miyo thoughtfully. "It didn't
seem to do anything else at all."
"There was that fire," Beth pointed out. "It might have started that."
"Yeah, but why burn down a department store?" asked Dhiti. "It doesn't
make any sense. Look, _none_ of them make any sense! The second one
was trashing a dressmaker's when I found it! It was even disguised as a
dressmaker's dummy!"
"The third one attacked a theatre," Miyo said. "It managed to hurt
quite a few people. That might be a common thread -- if the first one
set that fire, then maybe they're just trying to kill people --"
"Then how do you explain the dressmaker's?" demanded Dhiti. "And that
woman who's controlling them? The way she acted at the theatre, she
wasn't just out to kill people."
"Woman?" said Beth. "What woman?"
"You know," said Miyo. "The same one as last night. Blue clothes,
jewel in her forehead, remember?"
"She was at the theatre?" said Beth, startled. She looked over at
Bendis. "You didn't tell me anything about that."
"I didn't see her," protested Bendis. "Must have been after I left."
"Oh. She did seem surprised that I didn't recognise her --"
"I think she's the same one as at the dressmaker's," put in Dhiti. "You
know, when she told the thingamajig to kill us."
Beth blinked. "That's right!" she said. "Last night, she looked normal
to start with. Then she ... changed." She shivered suddenly.
"We're getting off the point," said Miyo. "The one last night wasn't
trying to kill lots of people, either. So much for my idea, I guess."
"It was trying to kill me," said Iku in a very small voice.
They were silent for a moment. Dhiti flashed Iku a quick grin, then
frowned in thought. "The whole thing last night looks like a trap," she
said slowly. "They were deliberately trying to kill you, McCrea-kun.
Came pretty close, too," she finished with a faint smirk.
Beth flushed red. "She's a lot faster than she looks," she muttered.
"And a _lot_ stronger."
"This is all very well," said Pappadopoulos-san, "but --"
"The only common point," said Suzue suddenly, "is us."
Miyo stared at her. "What?" she asked.
"They aren't attacking people or buildings or anything, at least not
consistently. From what you've said, they seem to act differently every
time. The only thing they always do is ... attack us."
"That can't be right," objected Beth. "If we were ..." She trailed
off. "Maybe you're right," she admitted after a few seconds. "That
first one actually acted like it was _looking_ for me." It was a queasy
thought. "It started off looking human, and it didn't change until I
said I was Sailor Venus."
"And then it kept on ignoring me, and only going after you," added Miyo.
"Just like that second one kept on concentrating on you, Dhiti ..."
"The third one wasn't concentrating on anyone," pointed out Dhiti.
"No, but the one last night was focused on Iku," said Bendis
unexpectedly. "Even when Beth was attacking that woman, it ignored her
and kept after Iku."
"So ... you're saying they're Senshi-killers? They just show up and
make trouble one of us comes along, and then they attack us?" Dhiti
made a face. "So what does Lady Blue have against us?"
"'Lady Blue'?" said Artemis.
"You know. The one with the crystal. Hey, if she won't tell us her
real name ..." Dhiti shrugged, grinning.
"The third one," said Miyo grimly, "might have been hunting us as well.
Your 'Lady Blue' had a Crystal Tokyo tracker. She could have used it to
find us -- locked onto our henshin sticks, or something like that."
"But if they're hunting us," said Beth, "why are they doing it so
badly?"
The others stared at her. "Badly?" said Bendis. "They almost _killed_
you last night, Beth-chan!"
"But they didn't," Beth pointed out. "And they could have. Lady Blue
could have done it, easily. It was like she was ... playing with me.
And that vitrimorph thing at the fire -- it acted slow and clumsy at
first, but it was moving much faster later."
"The one at the dressmaker's was the same," said Miyo thoughtfully.
"And the one at the theatre was actually _shooting_ at us," added Dhiti.
"I wonder if the others could have done that, too?"
Bendis cleared her throat. "Last night, when Lady Blue ordered the
vitrimorph to kill Iku, she said she needed an 'object lesson.' I never
thought -- but if she meant --"
"They're playing with us," said Beth in a low voice. "She wanted to
make an example of Iku-kun so the rest of us would try harder."
"But _why_?" protested Bendis. "What's she doing this _for_?"
"Maybe they're hunting Sailor Moon, and they want us to find her," said
Suzue.
A silence fell as everyone thought about that. Pappadopoulos-san
hitched herself forward, looking interested. "Why do you say that?" she
asked.
Suzue looked embarrassed. "Well ... they seem to be pushing us to do
something," she said. "And that _is_ what we do, isn't it? Serve the
-- the Queen?"
"Well ... I wouldn't put it quite like that --" said Miyo, a little
uncomfortably.
"And if they're after the -- Sailor Moon," Suzue went on, stumbling for
a moment, "couldn't they be connected to the ones who destroyed her
before? They used crystal warriors just like these ones."
"Not quite like these ones," said Dhiti, shooting a glance at Miyo and
Artemis. "I already asked about that."
"But there could be a connection," admitted Artemis. "If this Lady Blue
had a tracker -- well, crystal technology doesn't work any more,
everyone knows that. But the ones who destroyed Crystal Tokyo might be
able to get one working -- considering what they were able to do back
then."
Dhiti sighed. "It would help," she said, looking pointedly at Miyo, "if
we had a better idea of just what _did_ happen during the Fall."
Miyo looked pained. "You keep asking me that," she complained. "Look,
it's a long, nasty story. You're the history buff; you probably know
as much about it as I do anyway ..."
Dhiti snorted. "Oh, please."
"It might be worth going into," said Pappadopoulos-san slowly. "I've
had certain ... presentiments ... that the Enemy is still active. I'd
hoped that these vitrimorphs were unconnected, but now, from the sound
of it ..."
Miyo glared at Artemis. "I know what you're going to say --" she began.
"You can tell it, Miyo," said Artemis cheerfully. "After all, your
memories are so much fresher than Itsuko's and mine."
"We'll _all_ tell it," said Pappadopoulos-san firmly. "I'm sure there
are parts that you and I remember that Makoto never knew. Look, the way
it started --"
Artemis cleared this throat. "If you're going to be that way -- I think
I was with Ami when it started, actually," he said. "She was --"
****************
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[Continued in part 9b]
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Angus MacSpon Allen Gainsford
http://shell.ihug.co.nz/~macspon/ http://shell.ihug.co.nz/~macspon/