Here's another short chapter. Things'll really slow down posting-wise after
chapter three, because from chapter four on of this, I don't have much
material written yet. But regardless, please enjoy, and C&C is appreciated.





                         Chapter Two


The throne room of the Crystal Palace once again buzzed with activity. The
Queen sat upon her throne, her Senshi surrounding her. The Royal Guard had
stationed themselves around the edges of the room, and the other courtiers
knelt a respectful distance from the throne.

"The Queen will now address matters of importance," Sailor Pluto spoke. "In
light of recent events, the Court respectfully asks that business be
conducted in as brief a manner as possible."

Serenity glanced around at her subjects. "I wish to know the status of our
situation with the outer world."

Mercury stepped forward. "There is to be a conference at the emergency
shelter on the outskirts of the Juuban area," she said. "Sailor Pluto and
myself will attend to offer assistance in reconstruction on behalf of Your
Majesty."

"Also, at the Prime Minister's bequest, I've agreed to a press conference
prior to the reconstruction meeting," Pluto added. "The general public isn't
sure what to make of all this, and apparently needs reassurance that we're
not a threat."

Serenity nodded. "Very well, I trust you will deal with this
issue...diplomatically." Noticing that Mercury failed to return to her
position, the queen inclined her head. "Is there anything further, Sailor
Mercury?"

The blue-haired Senshi nodded. "There is, Your Majesty. I beg forgiveness in
not bringing this matter to your attention sooner, but..." she shifted
nervously.

"Continue," Serenity said gently.

"Two days ago," Mercury began after an awkward pause, "while I was visiting
my mother on the outside..." She swallowed. "I discovered that one of our
former enemies is still alive."

Everyone blinked. "I see," the queen said. "And which enemy might that be?"

The blue-haired Senshi barely spoke above a whisper, yet her voice carried
clearly throughout the room. "Kaolinite."

The other Senshi gasped. Uranus grew angry. "NANI!? That bitch was
vaporized! How the hell--?" The soldier was quickly reminded of her place by
a gentle but firm swat of Pluto's staff.

"Are you certain, Mercury?" Serenity asked quietly.

Mercury nodded. "She was in the intensive care unit of the hospital my
mother works...worked at. Apparently, she had just come out of a coma when I
went to visit my mother."

"Why did you not bring this matter to my attention sooner, Sailor Mercury?"
The queen's voice was still gentle, but a somewhat stern tone had crept into
it.

"I beg forgiveness, but I felt it prudent to gather certain data first." A
pause. "Kaolinite does not remember who she is. She has remembered only the
name 'Kaori', and nothing more.

"I consulted with Tomoe-sensei, who confirmed that Kaolinite could well have
survived both the fall from Tokyo Tower and being destroyed by Mistress
Nine," Mercury continued. "He believes it may be possible, provided her
memory is slow in returning, to rehabilitate Kaolinite."

"I see," Serenity said. "Where is Kaolinite now?"

"She is in the medical aid camp, acting as a nurse. I've asked my mother to
keep a close eye on her. And of course, I gave her a way to contact us
immediately if something should happen."

The queen was silent for a moment. "Very well then. You have dealt with this
matter appropriately, in light of the circumstances." She smiled briefly as
Mercury bowed and moved away from the throne. "Are there any other matters?"

The two cats approached the throne. "We wish to request something of you,
Your Majesty," Luna said.

"Very well, state your request."

Luna glanced at Artemis. The white cat cleared his throat. "As you know,
Luna and I have had certain gaps in our memory for a long time. After
discussing the matter, we've come to the conclusion that in the last days of
the Silver Millenium, the former Queen sealed away certain abilities we poss
essed."

Serenity raised an eyebrow. "Abilities? Such as?"

"We're...not exactly sure, Your Majesty," Luna admitted. "It's just a hunch
we both have...we were hoping you'd use the Ginzuishou to break any limiting
spells that may have been placed on us in the past."

The queen frowned. "Hmmm..." She glanced at Pluto, who shrugged. "Very
well...I'll see what I can do." The silver crystal began to shimmer
brilliantly as Serenity focused on the two cats. Her eyes flew open. "You're
right...there *are* strong Royal spells on both of you." Closing her eyes
again, she concentrated, the Ginzuishou strobing brilliantly. Luna and
Artemis were bathed in brilliant silver light as the young queen attempted
to dispel ancient magicks.

The throne room suddenly erupted in a blinding flash, causing everyone to
shield their eyes. As the illumination became more tolerable, those present
watched in awe as the silhouettes of the two cats began to grow and change.
For a long moment, the two figures before the throne were silhouetted by the
strobing luminescense of the Ginzuishou and the golden aura surrounding
them.

When the dazzling light show finally faded, two humans--one male and one
female--stood where two cats had been only a few moments earlier. The man
was easily two meters tall, with long, wavy white hair and storm-grey eyes.
A finely tailored white uniform with grey trim covered his slim, muscular
frame, accented by a gleaming pearl breastplate and flowing white silk cape.
A basket-hilted rapier hung sheathed at his side. The woman, somewhat
shorter than her counterpart, had flowing blue-black hair and eyes like
sparkling garnets. Her outfit consisted of elegant golden silk robes adorned
with various crests and runes and a tall, cylindrical hat of similar design.
An ornate brass staff topped with a crescent-shaped crystal was held loosely
in her right hand. Golden crescent moons adorned both of their foreheads.

"It is done," Neo-Queen Serenity said. "The limiting spell has been
released, and your true forms restored to you."

The man and woman glanced at each other, wide-eyed, and gasped. They then
promptly turned to kneel before the throne, heads bowed. "We thank you
sincerely, Your Majesty," the man spoke in a familiar voice.

The queen's eyes sparkled with mirth. "You may rise, my Royal Advisors."

As the two advisors stood, the Senshi goggled. "A-Artemis?" Sailor Venus
gasped.

"Luna?" Mars' voice held a similar note of surprise.

"Yes, it's true. We remember everything now," Luna said.

"That's right," Artemis nodded. "In the Silver Millenium, we had the ability
to take on either human or cat form at will. When the war with the Dark
Kingdom broke out, and things began to look desperate..."

"My mother sealed your human forms and powers away, making it impossible for
the youma to find you while you revived the Sailor Senshi," Serenity said.

"What the Queen didn't realize," Luna added, "was that locking us in our cat
forms would interfere with our memories. That's why we've had so many
annoying lapses over the years."

"The worst, of course, being that we forgot we even *had* human forms,"
Artemis muttered.

Serenity giggled. "Well...now that you've been restored to your full power,
I trust you will be happy to resume your former rank as Captain of the
Guard?" she asked the white-haired man.

Artemis bowed. "It would be an honor, Your Majesty," he said.

"And I shall be happy to resume my duties as advisor and oracle," Luna
added.

"Very well, then. Is there any other business?" Serenity asked. After a
period of silence, she rose from her throne, prompting the Senshi and other
courtiers to kneel. "Then I shall retire for the day. Mercury, Pluto...I
wish you well in dealings with the outside world. Act in my name, but act
carefully." The Queen departed, and the court was dismissed.


           *****


Goro scowled down at the body of the man he had just killed, mind whirling.

He had lost contact with his savior, which could only mean that she had done
something foolish, and was either bereft of her power or dead. He had also
felt a tremendous surge of dark energy which he couldn't make sense of.

As his power grew, he began to think less and less of his "savior". Clearly
mired in idiotic tactics that would never lead to dominance, Princess Wraith
was doomed to failure, doomed to be defeated again. A being of his power and
intelligence should not be forced to serve one so foolish.

After two days of striking silently from the shadows, he had decided on a
course of action. The dead human at his feet was a powerful Japanese
businessman, ruthless in his own right...a man Goro could respect.

What he planned to do would involve expending a fair amount of his own
personal power, but...what gain came without loss?

Picking up the corpse, Goro began to concentrate, probing the dead man with
tendrils of dark energy. The flesh began to dissolve from the body,
absorbing itself into the Shokan prince's muscular arms, and Goro clenched
his jaw, fighting the scream of pain that wished to emerge...

Fifteen minutes later, the three-meter-tall, four-armed subterranean general
had been replaced by a Japanese businessman in his fifties, immaculately
dressed in a navy blue suit. The only sign of the imposing figure that had
stood there before were the burning red eyes that glared out from beneath
heavy grey eyebrows.

Removing a pair of expensive sunglasses from his breast pocket and slipping
them on, Goro emerged into the outside world.

It was time to go to Japan.


            *****


In sub-level one of the Palace, the Guard had assembled for a training
session.

At the head of the room stood Artemis, armor gleaming; the old priest Hino
and Yuuichirou stood with him. Motoki, Umino, and Shingo formed a line
before them, waiting for instruction. Off to the side, Hotaru, Haruka, and
Michiru observed quietly.

"Today, we will be pairing off for training," Artemis said. "Shingo, you
will train with Yuuichirou, since he has experience in the bo and the
naginata."

"Hai," Shingo said, removing his cape and banishing it to pocketspace. He
easily caught the crystal quarterstaff his sensei tossed him, bowing before
the two moved off to a more open area.

"Umino, I'll be training you today," Hino-san said, pulling an old pair of
nunchaku out of his robes.

"And that leaves you, Motoki," Artemis said. "Have you given any thought to
what type of weapon you might wish to use?"

"Well, I used to fence a bit," the young man said. "How about that?"

Artemis grinned. "Perfect." With a flourish, he produced a silver foil,
tossing it to the other man, along with a protective mask. After equipping
himself similarly, the two began to spar.

"I hope Yuuichirou doesn't wear Shingo out too much," Haruka said. "He's
still got advanced training to do downstairs later."

Hotaru glared sharply at her. "Speaking of which, Haruka-papa..."

Haruka gulped, and Michiru giggled.

"Your lover is a fast learner, Hotaru-chan," Sailor Pluto said as she
appeared without warning.

Eyebrows were raised, and Hotaru blushed. "Setsuna! We're not...I mean..."

Pluto covered her mouth with her hand, eyes wide. "Oops! Silly me, I was
looking farther ahead..." She ducked as, incredibly, the shorter girl
managed to bap her on the back of the head.

"Well, it's not like you needed to see into the future to know," Haruka
commented dryly.

Hotaru blushed deeply, hoping nobody else was overhearing this conversation.

"Pluto's right about one thing, though," Michiru said. "Shingo-kun *does*
learn quickly. I thought you said he wasn't a fighter at all..."

Hotaru shrugged. "I think it's a mix of natural talent and what he absorbed
when Serenity-sama gave him part of the Saturn powers." She watched as
Shingo deftly evaded a strike and countered by sweeping Yuuichirou's legs
out from under him. "He was already pretty good with a staff without any
powers or training at all, remember?"

Pluto nodded. "Yes, I have to admit I was surprised at his skill."

"Well, the Saturn powers he absorbed enhanced that. Also," she frowned. "I
don't know how it is that he's gotten so good with his actual powers so
fast, but..."

"It's because he's always turned on," Haruka commented. Everyone glanced at
her, and Hotaru began blushing again. The blonde smirked. "What I mean," she
amended, "is that he doesn't transform and detransform the way we do."

"That's precisely it," Pluto agreed. "Since he has no transformation, he
always has full access to his powers."

"So he can learn and grow outside of battle or practice," Hotaru realized.
"Since he never reverts, it never 'shuts off'..."

"I'm surprised nobody else noticed he's been playing with his gravity powers
all day," Pluto added. "Testing how much control he has over them when
nobody's looking."

"Sou ka," Haruka said. "Ne, Hotaru, I don't suppose you know exactly what
abilities he has...?"

The youngest Senshi blinked. "Well, I was here when he was training alone
before. So far, I know he has two gravity attacks, and..." She trailed off.

"And?"

"And...a really bad attack that scares both of us," she said quietly. "He
can..." She lowered her eyes.

"He can do what?" Pluto asked, although she already knew the answer.

"He can drain energy," Hotaru whispered.

Haruka and Michiru eyed the seemingly happy teenager who was enjoying his
sparring session with the scruffy-looking acolyte. They then shared a
nervous glance.


Across the room, Umino grinned as he ensnared the chain of the old priest's
nunchaku with one sai, and used the butt end of the other to deliver a sharp
blow to his wrist. Hino-san yelped as he reflexively let go of the weapon,
which clattered noisily to the ground.

"Excellent, excellent!" he said, smiling at his student. "I see you're quite
the quick study."

"Well, I'm not entirely without experience," Umino said. As the old priest
launched himself into the air, the younger man sidestepped, catching him and
tossing him to the ground with a simple yet effective judo maneuver.

Hino-san picked himself up, rubbing his back. "Careful, youngster! I'm not
as sturdy as I used to be!"

Umino smiled. "I guess the stars are just aligned in my favor today."


          *****


"I'm glad you came up again, Naru-chan. I didn't really want to be alone
right now..."

The young queen and her friend sat in the parlor of the royal suite, sipping
tea. "I can't imagine how it must feel," Naru said.

Serenity nodded, eyes shimmering. "It's hard, but..." She sighed. "For some
reason, I want to think he'll be coming back to me again." Her gaze fell
into the honeyed liquid in her cup. "So many times, love has found a way...I
keep thinking love will find a way again..."

Naru reached out, patting her friend on the hand. "I hope so," she said. "I
hope so. Still..." Her gaze became unfocused for a moment. "I can't imagine
losing anyone I loved like that..."

The queen's eyes clouded at a distant memory. "No, I suppose you can't," she
said. "You know, I never expected Umino-kun to turn out the way he did," she
changed the subject as she sipped her tea.

The auburn-haired girl smiled. "Yeah, who would have guessed? Nerdy, geeky
Umino Gurio..." Her eyes sparkled. "I loved him even when he was still a
geek, you know. But he...well, he changed. He turned cool somehow..." She
shrugged. "It wasn't an overnight thing or anything, but..."

"It was still one of those things you didn't realize until you woke up one
morning beside him, like in those old shoujo manga we used to read?"
Serenity said, smiling impishly.

Naru giggled. "Yeah, something like that." She gazed dreamily out the
window. "You know, he'd probably tell you to hold onto your hopes about
Endymion. He's always been a bit of a romantic..." She smiled. "Even more
after he took up astrology."

"Astrology?" the young queen asked, setting aside her empty cup.

"Yeah," her friend said. "He's always telling me how love is guided by the
stars and stuff like that. I don't always understand it, but it sounds so
romantic..."

Unnoticed by the daydreaming girl, Serenity's eyes widened.


            *****


"Are we ready to go live?" a reporter from one of the national networks
asked her crew. All around the area facing the magnificent Crystal Palace,
news crews were busily setting up cameras and microphones, cables snaking
from the palace entrance to the street below, which was now lined with as
many news vans as it was with jeeps and tanks.

"It's getting close to showtime," the cameraman noted. "We're all set here."
He paused. "We're getting a network signal. They're ready to cut to live
feed."

The reporter smoothed her skirt and assumed her most professional demeanor.
As the cameraman finished the countdown, she raised her microphone. "I'm
standing here in front of the structure which is officially recognized as
the 'Crystal Palace', awaiting the start of one of the most unusual and
momentous press conferences in history.

"In a few short minutes, I'm told the Sailor Senshi known as Mercury and
Pluto will address news media from across the globe regarding the appearance
of their Palace four days ago, as well as the earthquake which destroyed the
Juuban district." The cameraman motioned behind her, and she turned
partially. "Well, it appears the two Senshi have arrived, so let's listen to
what they have to say."


            *****


The blue-haired Senshi in the silver and blue fuku stepped up to a podium
decked with microphones, holding a palmtop computer and a slender pad. She
coughed once before tapping a microphone to test it. "Ladies and gentlemen
of the press, welcome," she greeted in a soft voice. "I am Sailor Mercury,
and this," she gestured to the tall, stately woman with dark skin and
flowing green hair, "is Sailor Pluto. We're here today to speak to you on
behalf of Her Majesty, Neo-Queen Serenity. We are aware that the world has a
number of questions, and we hope to provide answers to satisfy your
curiosity.

"Before that, I wish to assure everyone that we were not responsible for the
destruction that occurred two nights ago. Had it been within our power to
prevent, we would have, but we were dealing with something far too unstable
to contain. Rest assured, we will be assisting the Japanese government in
the reconstruction of Juuban-cho."

"I believe we will take questions at this time," Pluto said.

One reporter raised his hand. "Where did this Crystal Palace of yours come
from?"

"The Palace was constructed thousands of years ago, and hidden in a number
of pieces both deep within the Earth and the Moon," Mercury said. "It was
dormant until the marriage of our queen, upon which time it appeared as was
prophecized long ago."

"Who is this queen you keep mentioning?" another reporter queried.

"Although she is not available for comment at this time due to a personal
tragedy which occurred the night of Juuban's destruction, the ruler of this
Crystal Palace is Neo-Queen Serenity, heir to the throne of the Moon
Kingdom."

There were a number of murmurs among the media crews below. Pluto took this
as a sign to elaborate.

"Many millenia ago," the green-haired Senshi began, "a great empire existed
which spanned the entire solar system. It may be difficult to believe,
especially in light of what modern science has discovered about these nine
planets, but rest assured it is true. The seat of government for this empire
was the Earth's moon.

"This great empire came to be known not only as the Moon Kingdom, but as the
Silver Millenium, a name given in light of the peace and prosperity which
Queen Serenity of the Moon brought to the entire solar system for one
thousand years. The Silver Millenium ended when a powerful evil force from a
place known as the Dark Kingdom invaded Earth, spreading death and terror
across this planet and beyond. In the end, the glorious empire was
decimated, and Queen Serenity sacrificed her own life to seal away the
demonic legions of the Dark Kingdom.

"As her dying act, Serenity preserved the souls of her daughter and her
court, sending them into the future...to this time, where the Sailor Senshi
were reborn to destroy the Dark Kingdom once and for all. Our queen,
Neo-Queen Serenity, is the Princess of that ancient empire."

There was a long moment of silence as the reporters digested this tale. "So
what you're saying is, you consider yourselves separate from the nation of
Japan?" one reporter asked at length.

"That is correct," Pluto said. "The Crystal Palace is a sovereign nation. We
humbly ask the governments of the world to recognize our sovereignty with no
objection."

"What do you offer the government in return for your sovereignty?" This
question was put forth not by a reporter, but by Major Takada.

Pluto inclined her head. "The same thing we have always provided," she
replied. "Protection from dangerous forces no normal military can defeat."

"Like the one that destroyed this district?" the major pressed.

Mercury broke in. "That enemy was an anomaly," she said. "A rogue general
named Jadeite who somehow escaped the destruction of the Dark Kingdom. We
are admittedly uncertain as to how he gained so much power, but we *are*
certain that he destroyed himself, and that he was the *last* threat from
the Dark Kingdom."

"We're also stepping up our own training regimen to familiarize ourself with
new powers gained when Neo-Queen Serenity ascended her throne," Pluto added.
"Jadeite caught us at a bad time, but we assure you we *will* be ready
should such a threat appear again."

After a few more questions, some handled perfunctorily and some evaded with
a 'no comment', the press conference ended, and the two Senshi retreated to
the palace antechamber.

"That went well," Mercury said, grimacing.

Pluto nodded. "It did. Better than I expected, to be honest. The world is
going to be wary of us for a while to come, but I foresee no immediate
difficulties."

"In other words, we didn't just set off a war," the blue-haired Senshi
commented. "At least, not until the reconstruction meeting."

"Which we should be leaving for," Pluto said. The two Senshi teleported to
the edge of Juuban.


-------------------------------------------

Studio ELL: Back in Crack!
http://www.lurkerdrome.com
The Eternal Lost Lurker
lurker@lurkerdrome.com
http://www.livejournal.com/users/lurkerdrome



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