[Author's note:
The Website for this is now up at:
http://www.maison-otaku.net/~rhea/SMC/index.html ]
Garnet's Travel Journal
Blooming 18, 25,994 GY
I remember now why I had chosen to stay
outside of time where Banality could not touch me.
It grows stronger every year. The Winter is
coming, and I can see no end to it in this
millenium. The best we can do is to stave it off
as we did with Hotaru. She has been reborn, and
she is happier that way.
I will miss her father; he was a good man
before he was forced to become one of the Nephandi
to save her. Now that he is free of them, he will
keep her safe in one of their Horizon Realms. I
wish I could go with them, but the power he and his
brothers in the Sons of Ether wield, since they are
mages of technology, is too dangerous for my kind.
Hotaru's faerie self may never awaken again while
she is with them, and while I hate to say it, she's
better off that way. Princess Amethyst was cursed
even more than her kith normally is, and every time
she awakens, she suffers. Perhaps she will awaken
as a mage like her father this time; she might
finally find peace.
Or it may be that her destiny is
inescapable. Diamond would not tell me of what she
saw when she confronted the great Nightmare Lord,
Master Pharoah 90. I should have gone with her,
but I...I dared not. The Lords of the Deep
Dreaming possess power before which the mightiest
of our kind is but a speck. Yet somehow...she
destroyed him.
I both expected it and feared it would not
happen. Her mother had possessed the power long
ago, but Serenity had been one of the Tuatha de
Danaan, who stood to us as the Umbrood Lords stand
to a pebble spirit. And if the rumors were true,
Serenity's mother was Luna, one of the mightiest of
the Spirit Lords.
In my youth, the legends said that
Serenity was one of five sisters, each of whom bore
a sign of one of the phases of the moon upon her
brow. If it is true, I never met the other
sisters, though I heard legends of them.
Those were the days when we travelled
freely between Arcadia and Earth. We still had
dealings with all the other races as well. That is
how Princess Diamond, a Sidhe, came to love Prince
Onyx, a human magus.
But our dealings were not always
friendly, for there have always been those among
our kind who abused their superior powers to take
advantage of humanity. And thus Beryl was able to
exploit the resentments to take control of Onyx's
kingdom, claiming he was bewitched by the faeries,
who had to be destroyed.
And so there was war between our kinds,
and in the end, Serenity was forced to show her
true might, devastating both kingdoms to stop
Beryl's army before the dark mistress she served
could be unleashed upon the world.
Only I escaped the holocaust. But I
digress...why am I explaining all this to myself?
I know this. Perhaps I am growing senile. I pray
that is not the case.
Yet with all her power, even Diamond
cannot escape Banality's icy grip. Indeed, I fear
it is worse because she has so much power and has
seen so much. I know I would wish to forget
whatever she saw in the foul realm Master Pharoah
Ninety called his own.
If I cannot convince her to withdraw into
the freehold for a time, to abandon the mortal life
she clings to, it will strip her of her memory of
her true self bit by bit. And I cannot allow that.
She must not forget, or she will never be able to
fulfil her destiny. Not only Winter, but the
darkness which howls in the void, hungering to
devour everything, is coming. And her fate, which
I have seen with my arts, is to do battle with one
of the many heads of the hydra that drives the
darkness on.
But I cannot force her. If I was to
kidnap her, her resentment would destroy her,
robbing her of her power. And she is my friend and
my queen. It would be betrayal. And yet, if she
stays, she will wither and forget and dwindle away.
I wish I knew what to do, but my visions
of the future are too distant to guide my present
choices. Such is the danger of my Art.
--From Volume 50,667 of Garnet's Travel Journal
**************
Chasing the Moon and the Sun
A Sailor Moon Elseworlds
Chapter Two: Week Two
by John Biles
**************
Rei's Deep Thoughts For December 8, 2000
We had a war council today. We needed to get
ahold of Makoto and Usagi and awaken them. Also,
Ryo had several visions when we reawakened him the
previous day; today, we were going to discuss them
in detail.
One part of it got a lot easier; the second
we sat down, Makoto called, and by the time I
finished talking to her, I knew that she had
awakened as well, so we called her to come on over.
When she arrived, we got Ryo to start talking.
He pulled out his diary and quoted it. "I
was in a cave, deep beneath the surface. Some sort
of huge black furred thing, an animal, was wrapped
in chains and straining to be free. It was chewing
on a huge hand, or something. Then the chains
snapped, one by one."
"The ground ripped open and it tore
loose, climbing the Milky Way into the sky. It
charged across the sky, and began to pursue the
Moon and ate it, then turned on the Sun. It ate
the Sun too, and then the world froze over."
He closed the diary. "And then I woke
up. I've had several similar dreams. And one
where Tokyo Tower got angry from being destroyed in
various anime and summoned Godzilla, but I think
that one was just a normal dream."
"Fenris Wolf," Sapphire said. "He's
supposed to kill Odin and eat the Sun during the
Fimbulwinter. Well, he kills Odin at Ragnarok. In
fact, the Norse used to say that eclipses were when
Fenris tried to eat the Sun, but it burned his
mouth so he had to let it out."
She's the smart one, but I'm the one with a
concert scheduled for the lunar eclipse on the
winter solstice. I didn't need a cute little Sidhe
brain to tell me what was going to happen. "In
other words, Fenris is gonna fucking eat the sun
during our goddamn concert and then we're all gonna
end up dying horribly when Surtur burns reality to
the ground." I like fire, but not that much. A
second later, I slammed a hand over my mouth.
Dammit, I hate it when I fu...when I curse. It's
the flaw of being a nocker. Well, one of them. We
all curse like sailors.
Usually, I can keep it under control, and
I just get harsh instead of vulgar. But if I get
really mad or worried, I turn into a toilet mouth.
Which drives me nuts. Most nockers revel in it,
but I go...hate it.
"That about sums it up," Sapphire said
faintly.
"Oh man, Mom's gonna get pissed if she
finally comes to one of my concerts and reality
gets destroyed!" Tourmaline said.
Leave it to Minako to bring the pointless
human interest angle into any discussion.
>From Rei's Deep Thoughts, the Journal of Rei Hino,
Songwriter and Singer for 'Light for the Nations'.
****************
FROM: "Eagle Eye"<EagleEye@Necros.net>
TO: "Hamster"<Hamster@Necros.net>
DATE: 120800
TIME: 11:23:34 PM
SUBJECT: SERIOUS BAD NEWS
See the attached email...I told you ghouling the
webmaster for Shonen Sunday would pay off. And you
thought I just wanted free manga. Either this is
one big coincidence, or this woman KNOWS SOMETHING.
Youji Hakano
o/~ Ding Dong, the Bitch is Dead o/~
----Attachment #1-----
FROM: "Usagi Chiba"<UChiba@Bozo.TENDOM.net>
TO: "Keiichi Taimoto"<KeiichiT@SSunday.com>
DATE: 120800
TIME: 8:13:34 PM
SUBJECT: Next Big Story
Here's the big picture on what I'm planning for the
next major plotline; it came to me in a dream.
Cool, eh? Karnak will be an interlude before this
with a few hints of what is to come.
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
TITLE: "ETERNAL NIGHT"
THEME: The Quest for Power Without Thought for
Consequences
SUMMARY:
Once every seven years, representatives of the
Nine Houses of Vampires meet in the city of Ecinev
in the Kingdom of Amethyst, a dark, haunted city of
islands connected by bridges at the mouth of the
Praline River, which turns into a huge marsh where
it meets the sea. There, they resolve disputes and
deal with problems like how best to fight the
werefoxes, how to deal with the groups that hunt
them like the Shaolin, and who gets to prey on
which cities.
The Nine Houses:
Giovanni--Necromancers
Soprano--Gangster Vampires
Brouhaha--'Gangsta' and 'Rebel' Vampires
Picador--Entertainer/Artist Vampires
Adams--Spooky shapechangers
Mongrel--Wilderness, Friendly to Animals Vampires
Riceanne--Pretentious, Angst-ridden Vampires
Raistlin--Mage vampires
Carey--Crazy vampires
The Nine Houses share a holy book, the Book of
Rod (named after the city in which they were
created by Dracula). They argue endlessly over the
meaning of the book, which is full of cryptic
passages, such as 'The city of Angels will be
plagued by smoke which kills', which no one really
understands. However, one of the passages becomes
the focus of the meeting, brought up by House
Giovanni. 'On the Day when the Sun Dies And Is
Reborn, then shall the rulers of the rainbow cast
down one of the Nine Houses into the abyss that
waits for it.'
Prince Augustus, head of House Giovanni,
argues that the 'rulers of the rainbow' is a
reference to the Gemstone Warriors. He tells the
other Princes he believes that the Gemstone
Warriors will attack one of the Houses on the
Winter Solstice that is coming up, for it will
coincide with an eclipse, and thus truly be 'the
day when the Sun Dies And Is Reborn'.
Everyone panics and they start to bicker over
how to prevent this. They can't agree on what to
do, and so they all send a series of discoordinated
seperate attacks on the Gemstone Warriors, trying
to preempt the assault.
This, of course, has the effect of attracting
the Gemstone Warriors' attention, and causing them
to investigate. They travel around, and have to
break into a few Vampire bases to find out what's
going on.
What even the Vampires don't know is that
House Giovanni is actually planning to conduct a
secret ritual on that day, one they've prepared for
a thousand years. They hope the war with the
Gemstone Warriors will keep them too busy to notice
their plan.
What they want to do is to rip the 'Curtain of
Night', the barrier between the worlds of the
living and the dead. They've snuck agents to each
of the nine Cities of Power, and during the
Eclipse, they will shatter the curtain by
unleashing their carefully built up army of ghosts,
zombies, skeletons, and ghouls to slay enough
people to taint each of the Cities. Then they can
use the Power of the Cities to shatter the Curtain
in a great rite. With the Curtain destroyed, they
will be able to enslave all the ghosts with ease,
and use them to take over the world, destroying all
the other Vampires and ruling as gods over the dead
and a small body of the living kept as a herd for
them to get the blood they need from them.
However, Amethyst (because of her powers),
starts to have visions of this happening, and her
visions guide them to Giovanni's base in the
catacombs under the City of Holy Power, Reme. They
have to fight their way through legions of the dead
(including everyone who ever died in the series) to
the tomb where Augustus Giovanni is conducting his
part of the ritual with his five 'Children' (the
vampires he has made himself). I'm thinking I'll
model them after the Evangelion characters as a
tribute.
Massive fight. The ritual is disrupted, and
the the holes in the Curtain only open enough for
the dead to drag Augustus through, then they haul
him off to hurl him into the Vortex of Despair and
Agony. The catacombs collapse, and our heroines
only narrowly escape. They emerge just as the
Eclipse ends; I've already done a sketch for the
big splash page it will end with.
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
This should run for the next year or so. Tell the
animators they can breathe easy now :)
Usagi Chiba
Creator of 'Legend of the Five Kingdoms'
A Legend in her Own Mind
UChiba@Bozo.TENDOM.net
http://www.TENDOM.net/~UChiba/FiveKingdoms/index.ht
ml
****************
December 8, 2000
Dear Diary,
I am, to say the least, scared out of my mind.
I can definitely say vampires are real. I met up
with Ayaka Kisaragi, the exorcist, and her friend
the vampire bartender. Kisaragi was the most
gorgeous exorcist I've ever seen. She has red hair
like me, but her hair is just twenty times better
than mine has ever been. She has a disgustingly
good figure, and she wears such elegant clothing, I
couldn't believe she was who I was supposed to meet
at first.
She also drinks like a fish; luckily, she was
only on her second drink when I arrived. She knew
me on sight. "Hello, Officer Umino. I understand
you had a little run in with the local vampire
community."
I nodded quietly, coming over and sitting by
her. "Rum and Coke please," I said to the
bartender, who brought me a glass. I don't drink
often, but this seemed like the time. "Are they
that common?"
"There's two dozen in Tokyo," she said.
"Maybe more now. Guns won't kill them, so the one
you went up against is probably out there looking
for you."
I wished again that my husband had come with
me. He refuses to believe in anything
supernatural, so he had stayed home. "What will?"
"Burn them to ash. Sever their head. Acid.
Magic. Feed them to something. Prolonged exposure
to sunlight. If they don't feed for long enough,
they go into torpor and can't wake up, but it won't
kill them."
I nodded. "Where do they come from?"
"There's a dozen or so different tribes, but
they're all basically the same except for attitude.
They all make someone a vampire by sucking their
blood and then giving the victim a bit of their
blood. If they don't give their blood, the victim
simply dies. If they give you blood without taking
yours, you turn into a superstrong blood addict,
usually called a ghoul."
The woman, I thought. "Delightful. Anything
that wards them off?"
"It varies a lot. Truly holy people can ward
them off with their faith. Some vampires are
afraid of garlic or mirrors or whatever, but you
can't count on it. Open flame usually scares them,
and enough fire will make them run screaming."
Can't just set my house on fire, I thought.
"If I kill this one, will the others come after
me?"
"Depends on which Clan he's from," the
bartender said. "His friends likely will, but
he'll probably have enemies who are glad someone
shot him."
"Do you have any idea who this guy is?" I
asked.
"I'll look into it," he said. "Are you going
to help her, Kisaragi-san?"
"If she can get rid of these parking tickets
for me..." Ayaka said, smiling.
She's running around the house right now,
putting up some evil wards, which makes me feel a
little safer, but still...
--From the Diary of Officer Naru Umino, Tokyo
Metropolitan Police, Juuban District
****************
FROM: "Daisuke Ozaka"<Hamster@Necros.net>
TO: "Youji Hakano"<EagleEye@Necros.net>
DATE: 120900
TIME: 12:34:56 AM
SUBJECT: Re: SERIOUS BAD NEWS
See the attached email...I told you ghouling the
webmaster for >Shonen Sunday would pay off. And
you thought I just wanted free >manga. Either this
is one big coincidence, or this woman KNOWS
SOMETHING.
Our superiors are not going to be pleased. I have
forwarded the information to them; I think we're
likely going to be told to arrange an accident
soon.
And the man I ghouled is not a 'webmaster'. He's
the 'Information Services Coordinator'. Then
again, you call all sodas 'Coke', so I shouldn't
expect any better than...anyway, thanks for the
info; get ready for action.
Daisuke Ozaka
Hamster@Necros.net
****************
FROM: "Keiichi Taimoto"<KeiichiT@SSunday.com>
TO: "Usagi Chiba"<UChiba@Bozo.TENDOM.net>
DATE: 120900
TIME: 9:05:22 AM
SUBJECT: Re: Legend of the Five Kingdoms Summary
This looks pretty good, although I think we need to
change a few names, unless you enjoy lawsuits.
Come in this afternoon, and we can discuss it.
Keiichi Taimoto
Editor of Shojo Sunday
Look for the frazzled guy on the left. That's me.
KeiichiT@SSunday.com
http://www.SSunday.com/~KeiichiT/index.html
http://www.SSunday.com/
****************
December 9, 2000
Dear Diary
Ami had to work today and so did Makoto, so it
was up to me and Rei to go tell Usagi she's
Princess Diamond and it's time to save the world
again. We brought a box of glamour-infused donuts,
I was pretty sure that and Artemis talking to her
would be enough.
So, we go and knock on her apartment door. No
one is home. We call her husband at work, and he
tells us he has no clue where she is, but he'll
tell her to call us if she calls him. So, I'm
thinking I should go apologize to Taiki about the
nachoes things, but of course Rei won't let me go
take care of that, because she wants me to be alone
for the rest of my life and slowly wither away into
a small blue plushie.
Okay, she didn't SAY that, but...or maybe
she's just jealous because she hasn't had a
boyfriend since Makoto dumped her for that Lost
One, Frito, or whatever her name was. Boy Makoto,
that is. If she and girl Makoto ever got it on,
they sure didn't let us know. Hmmm...
Anyway, so we go down to this little park near
Usagi's apartments and start playing with some
local kids because we're bored. Some of them could
even see my fur. I got a lot of compliments,
though they kept thinking Artemis was my boyfriend.
As if.
--The Diary of Minako Aino, Lead Singer for 'Lights
to the Nations'
***********
December 9, 2000
Dear Diary:
Wise people thank heaven for every small
blessing. My daughter was a perfect angel today
when I dressed her up and took her with me to my
conference with Keiichi. I even got to spend a
while dressing myself up properly and doing my hair
like I like.
So, we both looked good when we arrived there.
I went straight to Keiichi's office. Everyone
there knows me.
"No, Shirow, I can't help it if your
girlfriend dumped you. Well, maybe if she actually
STUDIED, she wouldn't have failed, left school, and
left you!" Keiichi was on the phone with another
one of Shojo Sunday's writer-artists. Not too many
men do Shojo style manga. Then again, not many
claim to be a cyborg from the future to get women
to date them either. I hope.
"Look, just get the next episode of
'Peachcore' done, okay?" Pause. "Goodbye,
Shirow." He slammed down the phone and began to
bang his head on the desk. "I hate artists. I hate
them. I hate..." He noticed me. "Oh, hi, Usagi!"
I sat down. "Is there anyone you don't hate?"
"I'm just frustrated. You're the only sane
artist I have. No imaginary girlfriends who come
out of TV sets. No claiming you're here to save
humanity just to pick up women. No writing manga
attacking people for making the paper it's printed
on." He sighed. "I'm getting too old for this."
Keiichi isn't that old; he's only about forty,
with short black hair, bright green eyes, and a
perpetual look of harrassment.
"So which names do I need to change?"
"All the ones that lead to lawsuits."
"Got any suggestions?"
The door opened, and three men came in. They
were tall and strong, all with short black hair.
"We're here to arrest you for copyright
infringement," one of them said.
"Hey! We haven't published anything like
that!" I said.
"Sorry, Ma'am. You'll get a trial, of course.
You'd best give your baby to the editor. She's
innocent."
I protested futilely, but they led me away in
handcuffs. I guessed they must have been spying on
my email. "I demand to see a lawyer!"
"All in due time."
--From the Diary of Usagi Chiba, Creator of 'Legend
of the Five Kingdoms'
***************
December 9, 2000
Dear Diary,
Today was only the third time I've ever seen
Mamoru panic. The first time was when we were
trying to move his couch up the stairs and it
toppled back on top of him. The second time was
when Usagi and her daughter started vomiting in
unison in a posh restaurant. And the third time
was today when he called me.
I got woken up from sleeping; Since I'm on the
night shift, I sleep a large chunk of the day.
"Huh?" I said onto the phone.
"The copyright police arrested Usagi! You've
got to do something! Our lawyer went on vacation
to the Carribean this week."
Copyright police? I tried to think of who
would actually enforce copyright law. It wasn't
something a beat cop like myself ever thought
about, really. I was pretty sure we didn't have a
special police force for it, though. "I'll make
some enquiries and call you back, okay? Are you at
home?"
"I'm at work, but I'll probably head home soon
to make calls. And go pick up my daughter from
Keiichi. You have my cellular number, right?"
"Right."
"Okay, give me a call when you find something
out."
I spent an hour on the phone, calling everyone
and their dog. If any police force in Tokyo had
arrested Usagi, they wouldn't admit to it.
Kidnapping, I thought. Boldly done. I called
Mamoru and told him that, then got my gun and went
to rendevous with him to wait for the inevitable
ransom demand.
--From the Diary of Officer Naru Umino, Tokyo
Metropolitan Police, Juuban District
****************
>From The Exciting Saga of Makoto Kino, Volume 12:
December 9, 2000 AD.
I got over to Usagi and Mamoru's place as fast
as I could once Rei called me. Rei was sure this
was some kind of trick; there's no such thing as
'The Copyright Police'. And they wouldn't hold
Usagi without allowing any outside contact. Naru
had tried to find out who was holding Usagi where,
and she'd just vanished off the face of the Earth.
So it had to be some kind of cover. But who
could have taken Usagi? The Shadow Court? They'd
never forgiven us for what happened to Beryl, the
Black Moon Family, and Nephrenia, but why would
they wait so long? The vampires? We'd slain a few
in our time, but again, why had they waited? The
Nephandi were a possiblity, but impersonating the
Copyright Police just isn't their style. Evil
mages like them tend to send tentacular
monstrosities and chop your friends and neighbors
into meat statues, just to make a fashion
statement. I just couldn't think of who it might
be...none of our old enemies would have waited
years to get even.
A thought suddenly struck me. Mamoru wasn't a
changeling like us...he was a human. A magus. So
why had he forgotten like the rest of us? Mages
don't get worn down by banality like we do...they
blow up instead. I could remember that now. If
they go around breaking the laws of nature too
much, nature kicks them in the head. Maybe
something like that had made him forget everything.
Everyone was there when I arrived. As I got
there, Naru said, "I bet it's the same damn
vampires I ran into before. I'll try and get ahold
of Ayaka to come put up wards on your house."
I blinked. "Hi, everyone!"
Naru looked at me, blinked, then said simply,
"I know."
I blinked back, then understood. "You can see
us?"
She nodded. "I'm not sure how, but..."
"She can see us without being Enchanted," Rei
said. Faeries enchant mortals by giving them
something glamour infused, often food. Then, for a
day or so, they can see changelings and interact
with all the things faeries see that no one else
does...like stygian vorgols. A few mages can see
us without being Enchanted, but most can't. Mamoru
can, but he's unusual. I guessed from his lack of
reaction to all this that they'd already awakened
him.
"Vampires can't go out in sunlight, though,"
Mamoru pointed out.
"Yeah, but they have servants and junk,"
Minako said. "If they're after Naru, they might
have kidnapped Usagi to give them an angle to move
Naru with."
Whatever that meant.
I turned to Ami. "Can you find her with the
Orb?"
"I'm working on it," she said. "But it's slow
work, searching an entire city." She was seated in
the corner with her Orb in her lap and her Lens in
place over one eye. Images swam at high speed
through the Orb. "We need Princess Diamond."
"Has anyone tried to go out to Garnet's
Freehold and see if they can help us?" I asked. A
Freehold is a faerie stronghold, where all the
glamour of the Dreaming, our true home, is still
strong. From the outside, it might look like a
shack, but sometimes entire kingdoms can be found
on the inside.
Garnet, Topaz, and Aquamarine had withdrawn to
Garnet's Freehold after we had our big battle with
Master Pharoah Ninety, warning us we would forget
our true selves if we stayed out in the world, for
Winter, the end of dreams and Faeries, was drawing
nigh. We didn't listen. They were right.
"The path is gone. Professor Tomoe's house
has vanished, the freehold has disappeared, it's
like they never existed," Rei said somberly.
"Perhaps Banality destroyed them."
"Or perhaps we did not want to be found,"
Garnet said from behind me. I nearly fell down
from shock; I hate it when she does that.
Garnet, Topaz, and Aquamarine stood in the
doorway behind me, dressed in the full regalia of
our long passed away Queendom of Serenity, the land
of the Crescent Moon. None of them had aged a day
since last I saw them. Garnet's hair was still
long and green-black, flowing down in a great
sheet. Her skin remained dark, and her eyes a
reddish violet. In her hands, she still clasped
her staff, with its power to open Trods into the
Dreaming, and to show her the past and future. It
was said that once, when the Tuatha de Danaan still
strode across the world in glory, that whoever held
her staff could actually travel through time, but
with the coming of Winter, our power fades.
Topaz and Aquamarine stood behind her, next to
each other, still lovers I could easily see. Topaz
is a blonde satyr, passionate, strong, hardy, and
fast, while Aquamarine is a blue-green haired
sidhe, graceful and powerful with controlled
passion. Topaz wore her Topaz Sword on her belt,
while Aquamarine carried the Aqua Mirror in her
right hand. They have always followed where Garnet
led, sometimes into clashes with the rest of us,
but I have missed them a lot.
They came in now; I got out of their way.
Garnet said, "We have held ourselves in reserve,
waiting for the appointed time. The Day When the
Sun Dies is coming, and on that day, we must fight
the battle for which we were born. The
Fimbulwinter is upon us, and Great Fenris stirs.
And when he wakes, he shall rise and strive to
devour the sun."
"The eclipse," Rei said.
"I know not for sure who seeks to unleash him,
only that they have chosen Tokyo because the
combination of eclipse and solstice is ideal for
such a task. Yet, he is not the only threat we
face."
"Just frigging great," Rei spat out.
"Another group hopes to use our city as a
sacrifice, along with six other cities, in order to
rend the shroud between the lands of the dead and
the living, in order to rule over both. I do not
know their name, only that I have seen their leader
sleeping on a black bier, surrounded by his
'children' waiting for him to arise and lead them.
How they will sacrifice this city, I do not yet
know." She came over to a chair and sat down.
"But first we must find Diamond. Only she can stop
the Fenris Wolf."
"Is he another Lord of the Deep Dreaming like
Master Pharoah Ninety?" Minako asked.
"He is vastly powerful and worshipped by an
entire tribe of werewolves."
"Ahah! Maybe that's what that thing was,"
Naru said.
"That thing?" Garnet asked.
Naru launched into a lengthy explanation of
the encounter which had started her down the path
of weirdness a week and a half ago.
"Perhaps," Garnet said. "Or a chimera of some
kind."
"I will help you, Sapphire," Aquamarine said,
going over to her. "My mirror can aid your
search."
The baby began to howl, and Mamoru sprinted
over to her crib, picking her up and making
soothing noises. Little Usagi wanted her mama,
though, and refused to be comforted. Soon, a horde
of would be helpers crowded around him, trying to
cheer up the baby.
Topaz, on the other hand, came over to me.
"How ya' been doing?"
"Pretty good," I said. We've always gotten
along because we both prefer action to yakking.
"Been teaching martial arts."
"Heh. I bet I could still kick your butt."
"Oh yeah? Let's see you put your money where
your mouth is!"
Topaz and I have done this a million times.
Sometimes I win, but usually, she kicks my butt.
This was one of those times.
--from The Exciting Saga of Makoto Kino, Volume 12,
by Kino Makoto, Owner and Chief Instructor at the
Kino Self-Defense Academy
***********
Rei's Deep Thoughts For December 9, 2000
Of course Topaz and Emerald had to go kick
each other's ass just before we were all going to
go hunting for the forces of evil who had kidnapped
Princess Diamond. Why, any rational person would
go and get themselves massively pummeled before
going into a fight, and of course it should be our
two best fighters who do this. It's a good thing
we don't count on them to do the thinking. Then
again, I suppose you have to expect people with
goat horns to butt heads when they meet.
I sat and fretted while Aquamarine and
Sapphire worked out where Usagi was being held. It
was, of course, an abandoned warehouse. I
immediately knew it had to be vampires; they just
can't resist hauling people off to warehouses to
interrogate them. I think it's an instinctual
drive like salmon going upstream to spawn.
Minako said, "How about if we all dress up as
vampires and bluff our way in?" when I pointed
this out.
Many foreheads were slapped.
"It's not that easy." Garnet said. "Vampires
are not complete fools. I suggest we head over
there, then scout out the site and decide on a
plan. Perhaps you can sneak in and scout around
with your changing talent, Tourmaline." Minako,
like any phooka, can assume an animal form; she
turns into a white furred cat that looks rather
like a female Artemis. But she can only make the
change when no one is looking.
"Sounds good to me!" Minako said.
I prayed I wouldn't have to go get her out of
the animal shelter again.
>From Rei's Deep Thoughts, the Journal of Rei Hino,
Songwriter and Singer for 'Light for the Nations'.
****************
December 9, 2000
Dear Diary,
So, like, we got over to the warehouse, and I
managed to squeeze through a hole in the wall,
though I got tiny metal bits all in my fur. It was
seriously nasty. Anyway, it's pretty dimly lit in
the warehouse, which has a big crane at one end and
some lifting stuff, and boxes EVERYWHERE. You'd
think they'd remember to empty out an abandoned
warehouse, but then you'd think I had time to clean
my room and it's a total mess.
So, I go wandering around, and I hear people
talking. "Where are the rebel tapes?" they were
asking over and over.
Okay, I made that up. Actually, they were
asking, "How did you find out about our plans?"
And Usagi replied, "What plans?"
I heard a slapping noise and tried to home in,
but of course, I couldn't find them; the place was
a maze, and I was trapped like a rat in a cage,
with Usagi as the cheese. Or something.
I finally found them. Four thugs in suits,
and a pale old man dressed in a nice suit. He
looked kind of sad, and if he hadn't been slapping
Usagi, I would have probably tried rubbing against
his legs to comfort him. He said, "Don't play dumb
with me. We intercepted your little communique to
your editor in which you pretty much laid out a
thinly disguised version of the Great Work. A
clever way to try and pass it around, I have to
admit. So how did you find out?"
"I don't know what you're talking about! I
just had a dream, and I thought it would make a
good story, so I changed it a little to add my
characters to it!"
"If it was just a dream, how did you end up
using the name Giovanni?"
I looked at the old man again; he certainly
didn't look Italian. Although maybe he just worked
for some. "It was in my dream! I can't help what
I dream. I didn't mean to do whatever you think
I've done! I'm just a cartoonist!" Usagi was
starting to panic. "Don't hurt me!"
I turned to go; time to get the others before
the vampire and his goons did something horrible to
her. Unfortunately, one of his goons, who had
short brown hair, spotted me. "Hey, boss, it's a
cat!"
Another one of the goons laughed. "Taiki,
you're a freak." This fellow was short and thin
and a little androgynous with silver hair despite a
youthful face. "It's a cat. What's a cat going to
do to us? Now if it was a dog, it could be a
werewolf, but it's just a cute kitty."
I paused and licked my paws, doing my best to
look innocent.
The old man looked over at me assessingly,
then did his best to smile. He patted his lap and
made sort of...cooing noises. To my horror, I
found myself padding over to him, leaping up into
his lap, and curling up against his chest. He
petted me with cold hands, and said, "I like cats.
Do you like cats, Mrs. Chiba?"
"Yeah," she said. "That...hey, he looks like
Artemis."
I twitched despite having very little control
of my own body. I do NOT look like Artemis. I was
wishing we hadn't left him with Naru to guard the
baby, though.
The old man blinked. "Artemis?"
"Yeah, a friend of mine used to have a cat
that looked like that, but he ran away years ago,"
Usagi said. "I suppose he could still be alive."
"And who did he belong to?" The old man
asked, his voice dropped to a very soft level.
"My friend Minako Aino. She's in a band now;
they have a concert on the Solstice. I suppose I
won't be making it to their performance." Usagi
sounded somewhat distracted, and looked a little
dazed.
"Now, now, if I wanted you dead, I would
simply kill you and interrogate your ghost. But
unlike some of my relatives, I prefer some degree
of subtlety. Most of them seem to believe one
should perform surgery with chainsaws and weave
lace by shooting bullets through cloth. They seem
to forget the necessity of keeping ourselves
unseen. I have not; perhaps it is because I am
from a different land with different ways. Now,
you want to tell me how you found out about the
Great Work, don't you?"
Her voice was subdued now. "I dreamed it.
All my best stories come from dreams."
"Do you often dream true things?"
"Yes. I dreamed about my husband before I
ever met him. I woke up the morning after my
daughter was concieved and knew I was pregnant. I
made five million yen on a stock deal after I
dreamed it would triple in value in a month. I
dreamed that Star Trek V would suck, but I stupidly
went to it anyway, because I didn't think anything
could really be that bad."
The old man frowned, and petted me while he
thought. I tried to regain control of my limbs,
but I couldn't. Finally, he said, "Are you a mage,
Mrs. Chiba?"
"Only in Umino's D&D game."
The old man laughed at that, as did the thugs.
So did I. "Are you a werewolf or other
werecreature?"
"No."
"A faerie?"
"Only in my dreams."
He smiled a bit at that, and leaned forward
slightly. "So, you remember having been one, at
one time, but now you see it only as a dream?"
"There are no such thing as faeries. I wish
there were."
"And no such thing as vampires either, I
suppose."
"Of course not."
He scratched his chin for a moment.
"Fascinating. I had heard this happened, but I had
never seen it. It would be tempting to embrace you
and see what the result would be."
"My husband would beat you up. And he
wouldn't be happy with me either."
The old man laughed loudly. "I believe your
husband would have a hard time beating me up. Is
he like you?"
"Yes, he likes me."
The old man blinked, and the silver-haired
thug snickered. Then the old man said, "Is he a
faerie?"
"Not as far as I know."
"I am tempted to see if I could evoke your
other personality, but since I now know what is
going on, there are better options. Bring me a
knife, Taiki," he said to the dimmest looking of
the thugs.
Taiki nodded and pulled out a switchblade,
popped it open, and handed it to his boss, who
handed me over to Taiki. Taiki held me clumsily
while the old man walked over to Usagi, who now
looked thoroughly glazed over. "You're going to
forget our entire conversation, but the next time
you hear my voice, you will return here with your
husband. Do you understand?"
"Yes."
He took the knife, and I suddenly realized
what he was going to do. Drink the blood of a
vampire, and it puts you partly under his control.
Drink it three times, and you become his slave
until he either dies or manages to abuse you to the
point where the bond snaps. Makoto's old boyfriend
she was obsessed with turned out to be a vampire
who had done that to her. I killed him for that.
I...but that's another story.
I had to do something, but much as I
struggled, I couldn't move. Running through my
magical talents in my mind, I couldn't think of any
useful. I can't do ninety percent of my tricks
when I'm in cat form, and I can't do ANY of them
while my body won't take marching orders.
Instead, I had to watch as the knife slowly
slid across the old man's wrist, as beads of red
slowly formed, then became a slow drip. He held
his wrist up to her mouth, and her eyes closed.
She lapped at his wrist, then began to suck on it
in a manner I found entirely disgusting.
Unfortunately, I couldn't even close my eyes.
And then she began to convulse. The old man
lept back in shock, and Taiki dropped me. I
slammed into the floor painfully, unable to land on
my feet. The other two goons drew their guns.
Usagi screamed like a lost soul, and I heard the
glass of the windows shatter. The goons dropped
their guns and put their hands to their ears, while
the old man tried to move back to her, looking like
he was walking into a stiff wind. I could feel her
shouting pushing me along the floor, and suddenly,
my limbs were my own.
I ducked out of sight between two boxes and
assumed my humanoid body, drawing an arrow from my
quiver and nocking it. Then I called upon the
Wyrd, the power of Fate, so that I could force my
foes to percieve me as I truly am for a short time.
Normally, no one can see faeries as they truly are,
unless we enchant them, but by spending a bit of
our Glamour, we can shove it down people's throats
briefly, for a few minutes. Which was all I would
need.
Across the warehouse, there was a boom of
thunder and two loud thumps followed by metallic
vibrations as the loading dock doors slammed to the
ground. Everyone else surged in.
Usagi was...it's hard to describe. It was
like the inside of her body had turned into a
liquid and was surging in places against her skin,
trying to burst loose. Makoto never mentioned
anything like THIS happening when she drank vampire
blood. For a moment, I could have sworn she had
fangs, then that her skin turned red like a redcap
or a knocker, then she sprouted bunny ears for just
a moment, and then her she suddenly went limp and
almost...oozed out of her bonds onto the
floor...like Sluagh do. Her skin flashed blue, and
for a second hair sprouted through her pantyhose.
And then the gem set into the brooch she
always wears shone like a beacon, drawing all eyes
to it. Our friends froze just inside the door in
mid-attack, the goons took their hands away from
their ears, Usagi ceased to scream, and the old man
stared as if he didn't know whether salvation or
damnation was staring him in the face. She stood,
her eyes closed, and a heavenly choir sang a tune I
had heard before only on the handful of occasions
when desperation had bade us call upon the Crescent
Moon Crystal, said by legend to have been forged
from a teardrop of Luna, goddess of the Moon. The
light flowed over her clothing, washing it away.
For a moment, she stood before us naked, and
then I saw her clad in white fur like my own fur
when I'm in my faerie seeming, although she had
rabbit ears, instead of cat ears like me. And upon
her brow, a yellow crescent moon shone like a
beacon. Then clothing returned to her; she wore a
long white dress with a broad but shallow neckline
fringed with elaborate lace, and her seeming
assumed its true form, that of a Sidhe, beautiful
and terrible beyond measure, her natural beauty
raised to a height that could inspire both rapture
and terror.
The old man fell to his knees before her,
staring at her feet. "I...I did not understand.
Forgive me. I never...believed in anything,
but..." He tried to look up at her, and failed.
"I just...I never..."
Her eyes snapped open, and she smiled at him
with the compassion which I think is her greatest
weapon. "I know. How long has your family served
the Giovanni?"
"Since the aftermath of World War II when we
needed money to help rebuild our home. I didn't
realize what my family was getting into when I went
to them for help...I just thought they were like
European Yakuza, not...creatures of the night.
Kuei. I have done...so many horrible things. I
never...Forgive me, Amaterasu. I have betrayed my
nation and our gods." He began to cry tears of
blood.
"I am not Amaterasu, for my power is that of
the Moon, not the sun. I am Tsukui-Yomi's
granddaughter, Diamond, the leader of the Gemstone
Warriors of the Kingdom of Serenity. But I do
wield some power. Would you be free of your
curse?"
He stared in shock. "That's not possible."
"All things are possible to those who
believe," she replied, lifting the crystal, and
closing her eyes once more. I could feel its
power; the Crescent Moon Crystal wields vast power,
but it works by taking part of your life force and
magnifying it. If your own life force isn't
enough, it sucks it out of the surrounding area
too, and kills you in the process. Anyone could
use it, but it would be pretty dangerous for them.
The music rose to a crescendo, and the old man
howled in agony, his back arching, and then a
blackness erupted from his chest, forming a dark
black ghost carrying a scythe which struck at
Diamond, but evaporated in another blaze of light.
The old man fell to the ground breathing heavily,
then laughed. "I...it's over," he said.
"I'm...human again."
Diamond smiled at him. "You must go to your
family and get them to safety." The nimbus of
light around her faded, and the three goons simply
collapsed. She held out a hand and helped the old
man up. "The Giovanni will not be pleased with
you. But we can help you protect them."
He nodded dumbly as everyone else rushed over,
and then the happy reunion began.
--The Diary of Minako Aino, Lead Singer for 'Lights
to the Nations'
***********
December 9, 2000
Dear Diary:
I remember now. I remember everything. I
remember standing on the palace balcony with my
love, watching the Earth hanging just above the
Horizon. It was the springtime of the world, when
the Tuatha de Danaan still walked among us, when
the war with the Fomorians had yet to begin.
I remember death, the shattering of hope.
Queen Beryl sold herself to the Nightmare Lords and
led an army of Fomorians along the Golden Path into
our Kingdom, and tarnished it behind her. We saw
her army coming, for the ground burned, and the sky
filled with smoke, and one by one, my Gemstone
Warriors perished trying to stop her.
I remember rebirth, the rekindling of fire.
The Chrysalis came upon me when my friend Naru and
I both nearly fell victim to a Ravaging, an attempt
to steal our Glamour by crushing out the spark of
hope and faith within us, carried out by one of the
servants of the Tokyo Shadow Court, which Beryl
led.
I remember battles which forged me into a
weapon. Princess Diamond had been a peaceful,
gentle soul in her first life. I became a weapon
and a warrior in my second life, though I sought to
always temper the wrath of my guardians with mercy.
And it was through that mercy and love that I
redeemed Amethyst from the Lords of Nightmare and
laid Master Pharoah Ninety to rest. But it drained
me, for his realm contained horrors that even now
haunt me.
I remember dwindling, wishing to forget what I
had seen, being consumed by the responsibilities of
my mortal life. The threats that had kept me
actively engaged in my shadow life faded away as
our enemies all perished, reformed, or fled. And
so my second life as Princess Diamond became only
memory, and then only a dream. One by one,
Banality claimed us all, shrouding our memories
with the very same Mists that help to protect us
from our enemies.
Now I am thrice-born. They say third time's
the charm. I suppose I shall find out.
--From the Diary of Usagi Chiba, Creator of 'Legend
of the Five Kingdoms'
***************
My Diary
Date: 12/10/00
Time: 11:20 AM
I've arranged for some leave time from the
hospital. It was running me ragged...I don't want
to abandon being a doctor, but I never realized how
entirely drained I was until now. I don't know
what I'm going to do about that.
Mr. Ozaka told us quite a bit. His superiors
are a clan of vampires known as the Giovanni. They
were founded by Venetian necromancers who stole the
power of a 'Clan' of vampires that had necromancy
based powers. They mostly use their powers to
control people's minds, make lots of money, talk to
and control ghosts, and plan for their 'Great
Work'.
They plan to tear down the Shroud that
seperates the living and the dead in a way that
will make most people dead. They'll keep a herd of
mortals to feed on, and let everyone else die so
they will be able to weild god-like power over
them. I never thought I'd meet people who made
Beryl and Nephrenia look nice, but I see I was
simply running in the wrong circles.
Apparently, they plan to somehow massacre a
huge number of people in various cities which
contain important nexi of power. This will weaken
the Shroud enough to let them rip it apart
completely with some sort of massive ritual.
We haven't figured out yet how this connects
to Ryo's dreams, or if there's more than one
disaster coming down the road. Or, for that
matter, how we can stop them. Nine Gemstone
warriors, Naru, and Mamoru isn't enough to fight a
clan of hundreds of Vampires and their ghoul
minions.
It's like fighting a hydra...you have to kill
all the heads. And their leader, according to Mr.
Ozaka, is something called an 'Antediluvian', a
vampire who has been around since before the Flood.
I'm not sure how this squares with their Clan
coming into existence in the Middle Ages, though.
But I gather that the Antediluvians stand to
Vampires as the Tuatha de Danaan stand to the
faeries. With the Silver Crystal, Diamond might be
able to slay one...she did defeat Metallia and
Master Pharoah Ninety.
One of these days, I need to ask Garnet what
happened to Master Pharaohs One through Eighty-
Nine. But I digress.
Garnet says she has an idea; she's closeted
with Diamond and Mamoru right now, while the rest
of us mill about their apartment and play with
Chibi-Usagi. I suppose I'll go check my email
while I wait. Bye for now.
--From Ami Mizuno's On-line Personal Journal
**************
Garnet's Travel Journal
Snow 16, 26,000 GY
"We will deal with Augustus Giovanni," I said.
"You will be needed here. Fenris dwarfs Giovanni's
power and threat. Their ritual may or may not
work, but if Fenris is free to swallow the Sun...we
will all perish."
Prince Onyx laughed at me. "You'll deal with
Augustus Giovanni just like that. We'll leave out
his army of minions and the fact that his fortress
will be heavily warded. The Antediluvians wield
godlike power. If half the stories in the Hermetic
archives are true, they could easily go toe to toe
with the Oracles and win, for their magick is free
of the shackles that chain both Magi and Fae. That
is why the Tremere betrayed my Order to join the
Vampires. If the stories are true, he could go toe
to toe with the Lords of the Deep Dreaming and win.
Still, I might be able to gain enough help from the
Order to enable us to defeat him. But whether we
would have the resources to deal with him and
recover in time to return and deal with Fenris...If
only we'd had more warning."
"Even the Antediluvians must sleep during the
day, and if they do not, like any Vampire, they
become groggy and have a harder time functioning,"
I said. "But I do not plan to simply walk into his
house and beat him to death with my staff. That is
how Topaz or Emerald would solve this problem. I
plan to travel to Hyperion's court and ask his aid
with both our problems."
"Yeah!" Princess Diamond said. "He needs to
know that Fenris is planning to eat him. I'm sure
he wouldn't like that. When do we leave?"
"Topaz, Aquamarine, and I will depart at dawn
tomorrow," I said. "But you will have the harder
task. I pray Hyperion will be able to send you
some aid, but it will be up to you and your
warriors to battle Fenris when he comes forth. I
would suggest that you try to contact your Order
for help, Prince Onyx. The Houses of Hermes want
to see this world survive as much as we do, and you
will need help. And I would advise contacting as
many of the Changeling Courts as you can find that
have survived the onset of Winter. And..." I
paused, reluctant to say it. "The gates of Arcadia
must be opened. By force, if necessary. If the
Shining Host does not come forth, then all shall
perish."
Princess Diamond frowned, as I knew she would.
"We cannot force those who hide within Arcadia to
help us. If we batter down the gates, they will
turn and flee from us. As if such a thing could
even be done. This battle cannot be won by force,
we must persuade them somehow to come forth."
"So be it. I am not apt to that task by
either approach, I fear. Whatever you choose to
do, you must begin soon. Unless you command
otherwise, I shall set forth at dawn to seek
Hyperion and bring what aid he can, then I will go
forth with my squires to do battle with Augustus.
It is my fate; I have seen it." I knew she would
say yes, for I had seen that as well, and I knew
what is to come. I will sacrifice myself; I must,
for I am the only one who can stop him. Perhaps it
is vanity to think that, but I know only what I
have seen. And it is only my Queen who can stop
Fenris, though I fear she will not like the cost,
and most of all I fear whether she will be willing
to pay it. "But before we depart, there is
something else which must be done first."
"What?" Princess Diamond asked.
"You must be crowned. Only my freehold
remains of the glory that once was the Moon Kingdom
of Serenity, but it shall have to do. While we
waited for this day, I searched the Deep Dreaming
and found your mother's crown. Your reign may not
be very long if all turns to ill, but I know you
are worthy of it."
"We shall do it this evening. I want to spend
the afternoon making plans and trying to figure out
how best to quickly alert as many other Courts as
possible. If any survive." She frowned. "Why
can't the forces of Evil schedule disasters for
when my schedule is less busy?"
I laughed, as did Prince Onyx. "They must all
work for your business rivals."
"That would explain a lot," she replied.
--From Volume 50,673 of Garnet's Travel Journal
****************
Rei's Deep Thoughts For December 10, 2000
Usagi made a beeline for me the instant she
came out of the conference with Setsuna. I could
tell from the look on her face that I wasn't going
to like whatever she was about to ask me to do;
Usagi has a really hard time asking anyone to do
something she knows they won't like, so she shakes
and contorts and tends to act like something's
chewing on her when she tries.
When she took me by the hand and took me into
the sewing room, I knew I was in serious trouble.
If the others couldn't even be allowed to hear her
ask it...
I cut to the chase. "So, what horrible task
have I been assigned? Do I have to turn a GMC Van
into a tank or something?" I still have nightmare
flashbacks to that incident, especially when the A-
Team chimera showed up and...let's not think about
that.
"Hmm...maybe I should have you armor our
Toyota. But that's not it. I need
you...to...ahh...umm...deliver a message and
ask...ummm...some people...for our help. I mean to
help us." She shifted back and forth, and focused
her gaze intently on the sewing machine off to one
side of us.
I couldn't see why, though. Well, besides
wondering why she chose ME to be the emmisary.
After a little thought, I concluded she was
probably going to send each of us to try to rally
our kin to the cause. And since only Nockers can
really handle other knockers, I was the natural
choice. But why was she so embarrassed about it?
"You want me to round up a Nocker army?"
"IneedyoutogotoElHazardandgettheirhelp!" she
shouted.
I literally frothed, though I didn't plan to.
"You WANT ME TO WHAT? They #$%$$^$#^ cut out my
heart with an axe the last time I went! That
#$%$#^!@#@!^$#^ Makoto dumped me for a fergulckin
golem! And they're a bunch of Lost Ones! They'll
evaporate like a snowball in Hell if they come out
because they never learned how to deal with
Banality! Even if I didn't want to kill them all,
I can't...I mean...they'll die. Well, Makoto
won't, even though she should, the little..." I
got a grip on myself. "I can't do this."
"You have to. You're the only one of us, and
the Lost Ones of El Hazard know enough about
technology that they can help us deal with..." She
looked around, and whispered, "The nuke."
My eyes widened. "The....The Giovanni have a
NUKE?"
"That's what Ozaka thinks. Not just a normal
one, but a spiritual one. It's part magickal,
which is why we can't just call the government or
something. We need Makoto."
"Because he can control machines." I said.
"Dammit, I'll find a way to bind some FUBARS into
some kinda nuke-dearming gizmo..." I started
thinking about how it could be done. FUBARS, for
any bastards who might be READING MY DIARY, are a
kind of...energy critter made out of raw Glamour
that we Nockers use to power our devices. They're
sort of like super-economy sized living quarks.
Sort of. It would take too long to explain, and
anyone who is reading my diary without permission
deserves a beating, not an explanation, you dirty
little sneak.
"Rei, you have no experience with that, and we
can't take any chances." Her voice had turned
serious, and I knew I'd already lost, that I was
going to end up going back to El Hazard if it
killed me. And I had the nervous feeling that it
probably would.
"I can't," I said. "I can't face him again."
"Rei, you need to get over him, and you never
will if you don't face him. I'd send one of the
others if I could, but you're the only one who has
a chance to get them to come out."
Now I was the one staring at the ground.
"She'll laugh at me."
"I can say from experience that won't kill
you." She put a hand on my shoulder. "I believe
in you, Rei. And I know you can do this."
I sighed, and shrank in on myself. "I'll do
it. I've been needing to kick his ass," I said,
mostly trying to persuade myself.
"Thanks, Rei," she said, smiling that horrible
Sidhe smile that makes you willing to do things
like hurl yourself into a blast furnace to see it
again. "Garnet found the Crown of Serenity. I'm
going to be crowned this evening."
"Congratulations," I said. "Not that there's
much for you to rule, but I think you're ready for
it. You're not half the ungainly klutz you used to
be." I didn't mean to put it that way...it just
slipped out.
But she knew what I really meant, and she
smiled more brightly. "I'll try not to collapse
under its weight," she replied. "Or lose my grip
on the royal sceptre and hit you in the head.
Oh...I have something for you." She took me by the
hand and dragged me halfway across the apartment to
the disaster zone that doubles as her office. The
carpet is covered with a tarp to keep paint off it,
and the walls should have been covered with tarps,
as they used to be salmon, but now they're polka-
dot. Chibi-Usagi got into the paints once, when
Usagi was fool enough to bring her in here.
I'd seen it before, drawing desk, paints, and
a million sketches scattered all over, including
one tacked to the middle of the ceiling for no
apparent reason. However, there was something new.
A painting hung on the wall over the desk. It was
done with oil paints, and must have taken her quite
a while to do. It was a painting of the nine of us
in our mundane forms, along with Mamoru and Artemis
in front of Grandpa's temple. Most of us were in
our school uniforms, except for Hotaru, who was a
baby held by Michiru, and Setsuna and Mamoru.
Well, and Artemis. It was a stunning piece of
work; Usagi had managed to capture a little bit of
everyone's personalities in their poses, right down
to Minako holding up one hand to make 'bunny ears'
behind Usagi's head. "When did you do this?"
"I finished it about two weeks ago after
puttering away at it for close to three months."
She started digging through the drawers under her
drawing desk. "Ahh, here we go." She pulled out a
small velvet pouch with golden runes on it, with a
dark black, thick drawstring. She pulled it open
and poured out a handful of glittering silver and
gold dust.
"What are you going to do?" I asked; I could
feel the power of the Glamour in the dust.
"The final touch I couldn't do before." She
raised her hand to her lips and blew, and the dust
whirled off her palm in a cloud of sparkles,
settling onto the painting, which shifted visibily.
Now it showed all of us in our court finery in our
faerie visages. The temple behind us stood
revealed in its full majesty, a place of peace and
comfort, as only the fae can see it. Tourmaline
was still making those bunny ears, though.
"You ought to bring the others in to see
this," I said faintly.
"It's for you," she said, then clambered up on
the desk and took it off the wall. "Put it
somewhere Minako won't accidentally destroy it."
"I...for me?"
She nodded. "I was saving it to give you as a
Christmas present, but we can't be sure we'll make
it to Christmas."
I took it from her. "I'll put it in our
living room. I'm afraid I don't have your
Christmas present yet." I hadn't even thought
about it.
"Don't worry about it. We've got more
important stuff to do than shop. Although I'd
certainly RATHER be shopping." She jumped off the
desk, landing as gracefully as such a thing can be
done. Back when we first learned who we were, she
would have slammed face first into the ground if
she had tried that. For a moment, I was back in
junior high, battling the Shadow Court. I wonder
if the Shadow Court even still exists...they used
to claim they would handle the coming of Winter
with ease, but I suspect they're all working at the
grocery store, and dimly remembering how they used
to pretend to be Elves and Trolls and Goblins...But
enough of that. Time to think about how I'm going
to face Makoto.
>From Rei's Deep Thoughts, the Journal of Rei Hino,
Songwriter and Singer for 'Light for the Nations'.
****************
Personal Journal
Date: 12/10/00
Time: 11:45 PM
Garnet's freehold was as beautiful as I
remembered it being. On the outside, it looks like
a normal two-story suburban house, complete with
mailbox and white picket fence. And if you enter
through the front door, you enter a perfectly
normal house. The back door, however, opens into a
three hundred foot long marble collonade, the
ceiling a good hundred feet above with inlaid
mosaics showing the foundation of the Moon Kingdom.
That's just the foyer.
Garnet says that her freehold's faerie aspect
is on the planet Pluto's faerie aspect. I can
believe it; when you look through the crystalline
windows, you can see bright stars that don't
twinkle against a totally black background. It
perches atop a mountain peak, and you can see a
vast range of spires which would dwarf Mount Fuji
spreading out north and south of it, all coated
with white ice through which strange flourescent
violet and blue fungi poke up in forests around the
bases. Strange pinkish beings, like crustaceans
with wings, flit about the forests, and you can see
a city built of basalt and the various kinds of
fungi at the base of a huge mountain to the north.
Garnet forged an alliance with them long ago, I've
been told.
I can't understand how anything could survive
on Pluto, but this is its magical aspect, so I
suppose they feed on magic, somehow.
The coronation was held in Garnet's throne
room; she's technically the Duchess of Pluto,
although there's not much here to rule but herself
and her house. Garnet claims stories about Santa's
workshop at the North Pole is faded memories of the
boggans and nockers who once dwelt in this realm,
but I sometimes wonder if she makes things up to
amuse herself if she knows we can't check on them.
Everyone was dressed up in court finery, a
plethora of styles even among such a small group,
as we all have rather different tastes in clothing.
I was simply wearing my suit, which looked rather
out of place among brightly colored Renaissance
clothing. I could spend forever describing
everyone, so I'll stick to Ami. She wore one of
those jeweled hairnets, with several sapphires set
in it, along with a silver tiara with a huge
sapphire set right upon her brow, her symbol inlaid
in the sapphire with gold. She wore a long
midnight blue blouse, with poufy sleeves that were
tied shut at the wrist with a silver cord, and over
that, a sky blue bodice edged with gold. There
were several layers of skirts, all of them going
most of the way down to the ankles, but layered so
as to show the bottom fringe of each. She wore
light blue slippers over dark blue stockings. Her
engagement ring, a simple silver band, dominated
her left hand, while a golden band carved like an
owl with sapphire eyes rested upon her right ring
finger.
I basically stood to one side and watched the
whole thing, while everyone else stumbled through
the rite, since they had never done it before, not
even Garnet. It began with Ami reciting Diamond's
lineage. "I call forth Princess Diamond, Daughter
of Serenity, Daughter of Luna, Sister of Gaea."
In full royal regalia, which really wasn't a
whole lot of regalia, especially since most of it
was lost, Diamond strode in. While I knew this was
Usagi at an intellectual level, at the gut level,
there was no one present but a queen of the Sidhe,
in all her glory. I had to fight not to sink to my
knees, and I could see a few of the others
struggling as well. "I have come."
Rei spoke next, a quick prayer to the spirits
and gods that they would bless what was about to
take place, and that they might show their
displeasure if this coronation displeased them.
They remained silent.
Garnet spoke next, as the Chamberlain of the
court. "Is there any present who would dispute her
claim to the throne of the Moon Kingdom?"
No one said anything, of course, although I
could see Minako mouth something and giggle.
"As Chamberlain, and Regent, I call upon the
heir to come forward and recieve the Crown of
Serenity, to take up her title and rule wisely and
well."
Diamond strode forward. "I will accept this
task, and take up this burden. If I fail in my
duties, may I be cast down into the Nightmare
Realms to gnash my teeth and be tormented." Her
voice was serene; Usagi is never serene.
She knealt, and Setsuna placed the crown upon
her head. "Then I crown thee Queen of the Moon
Kingdom of Serenity. Long may you reign in peace
and plenty. Rise now and take your throne."
Diamond stood, and sat upon the throne, and
turned to smile at us.
Topaz stepped forward now, clad in shining
silver armor, and bearing in her hands the Topaz
Sword, carven from a huge topaz that fell from
space long ago. Topaz claims it can cut through
anything. It was sheathed in a bronze sheath that
is one of the gaudiest things I've ever seen,
covered with dozens of tiny gems, apparently on the
'add more gems to add more beauty' principle. She
knelt before Diamond and laid the sword across
Diamond's lap. "The power of my sword is yours to
command."
She lifted the sword, and tapped each of
Topaz's shoulders with it, then returned it to her.
"Bear it well in my service, Marshall."
Aquamarine was next, kneeling down and holding
out her Mirror. "My second sight and my song is
yours to command."
Diamond took the mirror and gazed into it,
then turned and held it in such a way that only
Aquamarine could see what it showed. For a moment,
they both looked very sad, then Diamond brightened
and said, "I accept your gift, and I return it to
you that you might use it to guide hearts and
lighten them, for you are my Oracle and Bard, a
kindler of the fires of the soul. Use your talents
wisely and well."
Emerald was next. She stepped forward and
knelt before Diamond, stripping off her gauntlets
and laying them in Diamond's lap, with her great
emerald hammer atop them. She bowed her head, and
said, "I place my strength at your service, my
Queen, for it is all that I have."
Diamond smiled, and put on the gauntlets, then
placed her hand upon Emerald's brow, and gently
lifted Emerald's head to gaze into her eyes. "You
forget your greatest talent, for it is the strength
of your heart I will most need in the days to come.
Tools and weapons can boost anyone's might, but
what lies within is beyond any artifact of man's
making to enhance. I accept your strength, and I
pray you wield it in my service, for I shall have
need of you, my Champion." She took off the
gauntlets, and put them onto Emerald's hands, one
by one, then handed her the hammer. "Use it wisely
and well."
Ami was next, stepping forward and putting her
Orb and Lens in Diamond's lap, and kneeling. "I
place my knowledge in your hands, my queen.
Whatever you need to know, I shall learn. Accept
my tools of learning."
Diamond smiled and picked up the Orb, then
whispered something to Ami, who later told me she
asked Ami if the Orb could pick up television
stations. Then she said more loudly, "I accept
your gift, and I return it to you, my Sage. Advise
me well in the days to come, for I shall have need
of your shining mind," and she handed them back to
Ami.
Minako was next. She came over, dressed like
a gypsy woman, and knealt before Diamond, placing
her bow and arrows in Diamond's lap. "I place my
tools of the hunt in your hands, my Queen. Command
me and I shall chivvy your foes, driving them
before you."
Diamond placed her hands on the bow. "I
accept your offer, my Huntress, and I return to you
the tools of your trade. May you never hunt in
vain. Soon, there will be much for you to do."
She handed the bow and arrows back to Minako. "For
winter is upon us, the Season of the Wolf."
Ruby was next, bearing her own Hammer, not a
weapon, but a tool for forging. She laid it in
Diamond's lap. "The power of the forge is mine to
command, and now my forge is yours to command.
Whatsoever you need, I shall make, or break myself
in the forging."
I could see Topaz and Aquamarine whispering
back and forth to each other, and Diamond smiled a
radiant smile. "All my making is but the shadow of
your gift, Ruby, my Smith. Take this hammer, and
wield it well in the battle called creation. And
may all your dreams be forged into truth, for I
know you will wield it wisely and well."
Garnet was the last, stepping around the
throne, and passing her staff into Diamond's hands.
She knealt, her forehead touching Diamond's knees.
"And finally, I, the Chamberlain and Regent, I lay
down my burden into your hands. The Staff of
Chronos is yours, with which you may turn the wheel
forward, so that Spring may come and Winter not
last eternally."
"Noble Garnet, I know your suffering and pain,
all you have given up. But I must regretfully ask
more of you. The burdens which lie before us,
neither of us can avoid or abandon, else all shall
perish beneath the ice. Will you take up your
staff and continue your service, knowing what is to
come?" Her face was troubled now, and I had the
definite feeling something was going on I didn't
know about.
Garnet raised her head and stared into
Diamond's eyes. "You know what must be?"
"I know the price to turn the wheel," Diamond
replied, "Though I know not what lies beyond that
price. Only you can do what must be done,
Setsuna."
Garnet began to cry, and everyone of us
watching literally jumped. I've never seen her
cry; I didn't think it was possible. But now her
tears poured forth, staining Diamond's skirt. For
several minutes, we all simply stared in shock
while Diamond held Garnet...no, held Setsuna's head
in her lap, as Setsuna cried and babbled things I
couldn't hear clearly enough to understand. I
think it was the first time I've ever seen her
be...Setsuna in truth. It had always been a mask
before, behind which the ancient one, Garnet, had
been hidden. Ami reached over and took my hand,
and we tried to turn our gaze away from her.
Finally, the tears ceased, and Setsuna said,
"There must be another way." Few words have
terrified me so much. It was as if the world had
reversed itself, and now Setsuna was the child
Diamond once had been, and Diamond was the
messenger of Fate. If what was to come was so
horrible that Garnet could not bear it...
"We shall see. Perhaps we will find another
way, but I will not run from my destiny if what we
fear comes to pass. And even if it comes to the
worst, know that I will never hate you for it."
They stared at each other, then Diamond kissed
Setsuna's brow, and for a moment, Garnet's Sigil
flared there. "You have been my strength, my
guide, and the shepherd that has kept me to my
path. Accept this gift from me, for you will need
it when you face the one who would break the Law of
Death. It is but a meagre return for what you have
given me."
"I have given you nothing but trouble and
pain," Setsuna whispered.
Diamond lifted the staff, and the orb at its
top began to glow. "You have opened my eyes to the
glories of the universe and called me back to my
true self. There is no life without pain, we
cannot grasp the rose without being pricked by the
thorns. I do not hate you for what you have done
and what you must do. I love you and all my
friends." She held out the staff. "Take now the
badge of your office, that it may aid you on your
final quest, and take with it all the joy I can
give you."
Setsuna nodded, and stood, and took it. "I
will not waver or falter until all is done, and
Spring comes again."
"Do not fear to waver or falter, for only a
fool is without fear, as I well know," Diamond
said. "But I know you will not fail."
Garnet turned, her composure returned, though
tear streaks still marked her face. "All hail
Queen Diamond the Thrice-Born!"
And our shouts rose up to heaven, but my heart
was heavy, for I feared the future.
--From Urawa Ryo's On-line Personal Journal
**************
Aquamarine's Book of Remembrances
Snow 17, 26,000 GY
It drives me insane when Garnet knows
something and won't talk about it. I tried to ask
her after the coronation what she was so worried
about, but she wouldn't say. She's doing the 'I
will nobly sacrifice myself' thing again, now. I
suppose I shouldn't complain, since I've done that
myself, but I never felt it necessary to hide WHY I
was being noble.
So, instead, I went for a drive with Topaz. I
was a little worried at first; neither of us has
driven in years, since we've been living in the
Dreaming in a Freehold without any cars. I should
have known better; she was born to drive.
Indeed, I could tell she was seriously
enjoying this, speeding through the streets as if
traffic laws didn't exist. Maybe for her they
don't. Certainly no cops stopped us.
We drove in silence for a while until we got
out into the countryside on a highway, and then
Topaz really opened up, pouring it on at a good 160
KPH, then faster than that. She said, "I wish it
was warmer so we could put the top down."
I laughed. "I think our heads would blow
off."
"Yeah, but what a way to go."
"I think we may be going soon enough," I said
a little too somberly.
Topaz glanced over at me. "Worried about the
new mission?"
"Aren't you?"
"Naah. Garnet's never steered us wrong
before."
I twitched. Sometimes Topaz has only
marginally better perception abilities than a
tomato. "Did you see her begging Diamond not to
have to do this?"
"I assumed that was just an act. I mean,
c'mon, she doesn't do the weepy female thing." He
zoomed past a highway patrol car, then grinned.
"Now the real fun starts."
The real fun was going to be when I made her
sleep in the snow once we got home.
--From Volume 12 of Aquamarine's Book of
Remembrances
****************
'The Unauthorized Autobiography of the Mysterious
Saint Tail', chapter 7, section III.
I had thought Sister <check name> had been
joking about vampires having the book I was looking
for. Of course not. Luckily, vampires don't look
up any more often than normal people do, so they
couldn't spot me up in the third story window of
the warehouse. I briefly wondered why warehouses
have windows up where no one can see through them
unless they're as good at climbing as me, then
decided not to worry about it.
The first thing I asked myself was why all the
vampires were dressed as if they were living in the
eighteenth century, then suddenly realized that
maybe they HAD lived in the eighteenth century,
even if they did look like teenagers. They were
both male and female, but they all wore what looked
sort of like eighteenth century officer uniforms,
brightly colored but with no obvious national
insignia. And they all had swords. Seriously
weird.
Most of them looked Japanese, except for one
girl who had purple hair and dark skin. She was
wearing a beautiful red dress and had flowers in
her hair. She was also the only person to be
wearing glasses; I'd always thought becoming a
vampire cleared up your vision, but I guess I was
wrong.
Her eyes were closed, and everyone was
gathered around her in a circle. There was a red
haired woman, a guy with long green hair, a shorter
guy with very short blue hair, a woman with long
pink hair, and a guy with red hair as well. Fairly
normal Japanese hair colors, in other words,
nothing to mark them as particularly distinctive.
Or even as vampires.
I was starting to wonder if I'd gone to the
wrong warehouse, and had stumbled onto some sort of
weird club; they were all about the right age to be
in high school. Sister had been pretty insistent
this was where the vampires who had stolen the
National Library's copy of 'The Book of Nod' hung
out, though.
I resolved to sit and observe for a while;
there was no way I could fight them; my powers are
mostly souped up conjuring tricks, although I could
count on getting away with my balloons. I'd already
done a little test to make sure I could outrun
bats.
The pink haired woman spoke. "You don't have
to do this if you don't want to."
"I must," she said. "It calls to me."
The pink haired woman sighed and picked up a
huge leatherbound book off the ground where it had
laid by the purple haired girl's feet. "Here you
go."
Then she took her sword, and winced, and cut
her own wrist. I stared in shock as the girl in
the red dress leaned up on her tip toes and drank
from the pink haired one's vein, slurping like a
baby at a nipple.
I closed my eyes; the whole thing was just too
disturbring. Then I half-slitted them open; I had
to watch. Soon enough, the girl finished drinking,
and licked the wrist; there was no trace of a wound
left. I shuddered again, and nearly fell.
The purple haired girl stared at the pink
haired one with worshipful eyes, while the pink
haired one looked like she wished she was somewhere
else. Then the red haired woman produced a cup,
which they passed around solemnly, and each of them
slit their wrist with their own sword and bled into
it (including the pink haired woman, but not the
red dress one). They handed the golden goblet to
the woman in the middle, and she placed it on top
of the book, then closed her eyes. She let go of
the book, and it floated in the air with the goblet
on top of it.
Then she herself began to float into the air,
and she spoke with a strangely deep voice. "Let
all come to the feast and be sated, let the blood
of our Father that flows within our veins sustain
us. Let all who would do his will come forward and
drink."
They passed the cup around the circle, and
each of them drank from it, and finally they passed
the cup to her, and she took the deepest draught of
all. Then she leaned back. And back. And
finally, she was floating horizontally to the
ground. The book floated out of the way, and the
pink haired girl...okay, you're not gonna believe
this. Well, maybe if you believed everything so
far you will, but...it was just weird. She pulled
a sword out of the purple haired girl's stomach.
And a long wand of rowan wood as well. They put
both of those on the floating book, and she
returned to standing up, although she was still
floating.
"You have done well," she said in the strange
deep voice. "But there is more to be done to bring
about the World Revolution. She is born."
The blue haired boy said, "Who? Who is born?"
"The one of prophecy." The deep voice took on
a chanting tone. "When the snows consume the earth
and the sun gutters like a cndle in the wind, then,
and only then will there be born a woman, the last
Daughter of Eve, and in her there will be decided
the fate of all. And you will not know this woman,
except by the mark of the Moon on her, and she will
face treachery, hatred, and pain, but in her is the
last hope."
"How is a BABY supposed to make a difference?"
the red haired woman snarled, then paled for no
discernable reason.
"She walks among the Wild Ones, where even a
baby can make a difference, but she is no infant.
You must find her, and aid her, or the sun and the
moon will be blotted out, and all shall be cast
into Gehenna to be burnt." And then the voice
faded, and the woman settled to the ground, and her
eyes opened. She slumped and the pink haired woman
and the blue haired boy caught her.
I could see this was going to be one of my
harder cases.
--From 'The Unauthorized Autobiography of the
Mysterious Saint Tail'
***************
Garnet's Travel Journal
Snow 18, 26,000 GY
I had to get everyone out of bed early so we
wouldn't miss our departure; Topaz was not amused,
and Aquamarine didn't seem too pleased, either.
They'd had some sort of argument the previous night
and hadn't gotten much sleep. But they were ready
in time, and that was what was important.
Aquamarine was giving me funny looks; she knew
too much and not enough, I was sure. No time to
worry about that.
The sun came up, first a glow on the horizon,
and then the shadows took on definition. You can
see Tokyo Bay and the ocean from the roof of my
house; which is why it was built where it was. I
needed this view. As the sun crept above the
horizon, its rays formed a golden highway into the
sky that rose from my rooftop. I uttered the words
of power to unlock the Trod and the sunlight
solidified.
Praying no one would be watching for the few
seconds it would take us to pass into the Dreaming,
I stepped onto the Trod and began to walk along it.
Topaz followed me confidently, while Aquamarine was
a little more hesitant; she took a nasty fall on
one of these a few years ago when our enemies
managed to briefly block out the sun; thankfully,
the sky was nearly cloudless, except at the far
southeastern horizon. That wouldn't last long, I
knew.
"It's been a while since I've been to
Hyperion's court," I said. "But I'm sure you'll
like it."
"I brought my sunglasses, just to be sure,"
Topaz said, taking them out and putting them on.
Aquamarine and I both laughed, and we were on
our way.
--From Volume 50,673 of Garnet's Travel Journal
***************
December 11, 2000
Dear Diary,
Everyone's scattered to the winds, leaving me
to babysit little Usagi and pray the vampire who
may be looking for me doesn't find me. There's
nothing more aggravating than sitting around the
house waiting for an attack which might never come.
I'm still not sure what Umino thinks of all
this. The faerie horde came over and sort of
shoved a reality check down his throat yesterday,
but...He still wishes it wasn't true.
So do I. But wishing won't make it so. I'll
do my part and keep baby Usagi safe while everyone
else rallies the troops. Noa came over for a
while, and we talked about all this; it's good to
have a partner I can talk to. We got the silver
bullets made, and some stakes and mallets and
crosses, and anything else that might help stop a
vampire. I've been eating so much garlic I could
probably kill real people with my breath, let along
vampires.
Oh great, Chibi-Usagi's crying again...I'm
starting to understand why she's been driving her
mother insane. That's all for now.
--From the Diary of Officer Naru Umino, Tokyo
Metropolitan Police, Juuban District
*******************
John Biles
Emperor of all He Surveys
http://www.tass.org/~rhea/falcon.html
"He who breaks a thing to find out what it is, has left the path of
wisdom."
-Gandalf