Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ Crystal Trials ❯ The End of the Beginning ( Chapter 5 )

The phone rang in the quiet kitchen. Michiru paused in what she was doing and glanced quickly at a motionless Haruka. The blonde sat at the counter with her elbows propped on the surface and a glass held in both hands, looking grim and thoughtful and worried all at the same time. She made no motion to answer it, so Michiru did.

"Hello?" she said, leaning on the counter.

"Michiru?" a young voice on the other end asked. "Its Hotaru."

"Hotaru?" Michiru said, unable to completely hide her surprise. At the counter, Haruka looked up. Since Hotaru had moved away to Usagi's house, she hadn't called. "How have you been?"

"Fine," Hotaru replied after a moment. "Usagi and Mamoru have been good to me."

Hotaru's tone was not accusatory, but Michiru knew that statement for what it was. She looked again at Haruka who had resumed her contemplative attitude and sighed quietly.

An uncomfortable silence grew on the line. "Michiru, may I come over?" Hotaru finally asked all at once, her words tumbling over each other to get out.

"Come over? Why?" Michiru asked before she could stop herself. "Not that you aren't always welcome, but this is...sudden," she added hastily.

"No reason," Hotaru said carefully. "Just to...to talk."

Michiru knew there was something more to this than Hotaru would say, but she said, "Alright Hotaru, you can-" She broke off as she turned to see Setsuna standing in the doorway. Hotaru didn't know Setsuna had returned-or about the artifact they harbored.

"She may come," Setsuna said quietly.

"Sorry, Hotaru; I got distracted," Michiru quickly said into the silence. "Yes, you can come over."

"Good. I'll be over after lunch sometime," Hotaru said, sounding relieved. Then, with an abrupt click, she was gone.

Michiru replaced the reciever. "Was that wise?" Haruka asked Setsuna who still lingered in the doorway.

"We are all guardians of the outer solar system," Setsuna returned cooly. "Hotaru is one of us."

Haruka set her cup down abruptly. "She is also harboring evil inside of her, remnants of Mistress 9, of the Messiah of Silence. What would happen if we brought her close to...to that?" Haruka indicated the artifact upstairs with a wave of her hand.

"I have no proof that it will be harmful," Setsuna responded stiffly. She paused, then sighed. "And, truth be known, none that it won't. I feel confident, however, that her rebirth will have shielded both her and it from the evil inside. Hotaru, as Sailorsaturn, has a right to know."

"I hope you're right," Haruka said. Setsuna gave her a long look, then left. "Winds of change are blowing again, Michiru," Haruka said after Setsuna had gone. "A storm is brewing."

Michiru stirred from where she had watched the entire conversation. "A strong storm?" she asked.

"The strongest yet," Haruka replied, closing her eyes and tilting her head back. "Do you not feel it?"

"I do," Michiru replied without hesitation. "The seas are in turmoil. The crash of waves is so erratic, I cannot understand their words." She paused, considering her words. "It is much the same feeling as I got in the days before the Silver Millennium fell."

" 'None shall pass between the Old Age and the New Age that do not prove their worth...' " Haruka said to herself, her eyes still closed. "We must be careful. Somehow, I feel that Hotaru will once again play an important role in what is to come."

"Yes," Michiru agreed. "But does Setsuna know?"

"She does not need to know," Haruka replied sternly. "She's concerned with that crystal up there and that crystal alone. We will have to do the watching."

Michiru felt sad. "So we must once again protect the world on our own..."

"Do you not feel strong enough?" Haruka asked, her eyes open and penetrating.

"No. I am strong enough," Michiru returned confidently. "We are strong enough."

"Are we?" Haruka asked mysteriously, her Trial replaying in her mind.

Hotaru hung up the phone, feeling elated and uneasy at the same time. She hadn't been to see her former guardians since she moved out three months ago, but she was still uneasy. There was something going on, she knew, something that could change the world if only she could put the right pieces together. It was the feeling she had that told her this. Unfortunately, she held little of the pieces, and didn't know how they fit together anyway.

"Hotaru?" Chiba Usagi (formerly Tsukino Usagi) poked her head into the hall. Seeing Hotaru's slight smile, the blonde's face brightened. "She said yes?"

Hotaru nodded. "I told her I'd be over today." Why had Michiru stopped in mid-sentence?

"That's great!" Usagi said brightly. "Do you think she'd mind if we all tagged along?" The question was innocent enough and her bright expression never changed, but Usagi's eyes sparkled shrewdly.

"I don't think they would...." Hotaru ventured, trying not to stare at the un-Usagi-like expression on her face. "Are you going to call first?"

Usagi shook her head vehemently. "We'll just suprise them. I think they'd like that."

"I'm going to my room to get ready then," Hotaru said. "I'll be back out in a few minutes." She walked past Usagi. What was going on?

Usagi waited until she heard Hotaru's door shut before pouncing on the phone. Feeling satisfied with herself, she hurriedly dialed Mizuno Ami's number. Just as she was going to hang up, the line picked up.

"Ami? Great!" Usagi said brightly. Looking over her shoulder as if expecting Hotaru to be standing there, she added lowly, "I got us all invited to Haruka and Michiru's house. Are you still getting those strange readings?" She listened a moment. "We can check them out, then. Get everybody who can come. I'll see you in a bit." Usagi hung up the phone, suddenly feeling guilty at using Hotaru as an excuse to get in. However, weighted against the powerful and potentially dangerous readings Ami had picked up around their area, they had to check it out.

(...you could have called and asked about them...)

Usagi dismissed this thought reluctantly. Her friends had all advised her against asking them outright about what was going on. She had argued with all she was worth, but her pleadings that they were all senshi went relatively unnoticed. So she reluctantly agreed, although she could have used her rank as Sailormoon, leader of the senshi, and as the queen of the future Crystal Tokyo to do what she wanted. A working team was based on cooperation, and to pull rank would force her friends to do something they didn't want.

Hotaru came in then, wearing overalls and a purple-black shirt. "Can we go?" she asked.

"Mamo-chan should be home soon. We'll go in his car after he arrives," Usagi said with a fair approximation of a smile, even while she felt like crying and confessing what they were planning.

Hotaru nodded, suddenly looking pale. "I'll be in my room," she said faintly, then nearly ran from the room with a hand to her head.

Hotaru shut the door to her room and threw herself on her bed. "Go away..." she said into her pillow.

(...your friends are using you...)

It was the bad Voice again. The Voices had left her alone up until now. What had changed that?

(...they aren't truly your friends...)

"They are too," Hotaru muttered irritably.

(...we need the crystal...)

Hotaru froze. The Bad Voice sounded almost desperate in its plea. Surely it couldn't mean the ginzuishou, right? But if it didn't, what crystal?

"Hotaru? It's time to go," Usagi's voice floated from beyond the closed door.

She scrambled up from the bed, shoving the bad Voice away from her as it gibbered about the crystal. Glancing at the clock, she was startled to see that almost half an hour had passed since she had first entered her room. She must have fallen asleep. "I'm coming!" Hotaru called as she left her room. She needed to talk to Michiru more than ever.

Through a miracle of skill, all six of them managed to cram into Chiba Mamoru's sporty red car. This involved throwing dignity aside and sitting on each other's laps, but it was accomplished. Usagi shared the front seats with her husband, Mamoru, the future King of Crystal Tokyo. Hotaru was perched shyly on her lap. In the back seat, Kino Makoto sat on one side while Aino Minako sat on Hino Rei's lap. Between them was Mizuno Ami, who was busily punching keys on a small hand-held computer.

"The closer we get the stronger the readings are..." Ami said with something akin to wonder on her face. "A few more miles and my computer won't even register the readings!" Ami was the brains of the group, a practicing doctor now that she was home from studying abroad. With clear blue eyes, a matching shade of hair, and a sweet personality, nobody would suspect that she was also the soldier of water, Sailormercury.

"Is it good energy or bad?" Makoto asked. Makoto was in her last year at a famous culinary school, and wanted her own restaurant. She treated the girls like family, because her own mother and father died when she was young. Makoto, with her tall build and fierce temper, sometimes comes off as being unapproachable despite her pretty green eyes and brown hair always tied back into a ponytail. Her strength is an asset, however, making the soldier of lightning, Sailorjupiter, a formidable opponent.

Ami shook her head at Makoto's question. "There's no way to distinguish, Makoto. Power can be used for either purpose."

"Minako, your hair's getting in my face!" Hino Rei said irritably, brushing her hands across her face. A Shinto priestess in training, Rei helps her grandfather maintain Hikawa Shrine. She graduated from an all-girls school four years ago, and has dedicated her life to the temple she was raised at despite her dreams of becoming a musician. With raven black hair and blue-violet eyes, one hardly ever sees her firey temper coming until its too late. Aside from all of this, she has also managed to identity as the soldier of flame, Sailormars.

The blonde on Rei's lap giggled as she swiped her hair away. "Sorry, Rei." Aino Minkao was following her dream to become an idol star, and had earned walk-on roles in many movies. Also a fierce volleyball player, she had tried her hand at many tournaments after finishing school. However, her long blonde hair held back with a red ribbon (the origin of which she wouldn't talk about) and her sparkling blue eyes and personality destined her for stardom. Behind her carefree and sometimes ditzy attitude hid a natural-born leader and the determined soldier of love and beauty, Sailorvenus. "I'll be more careful."

Rei grunted in response.

"What power?" Hotaru asked quietly from up front.

Makoto exchanged looks with Rei and Minako, wondering how to smooth things over. She couldn't believe they had forgotten that Hotaru was in the car with them. From the front seat, Usagi glanced back at them through the rearview mirror reproachfully. Mamoru cleared his throat. As the silence stretched out, Ami quickly salvaged the situation.

"I've been monitoring the area ever since Chaos left us, and I've come up with strange readings. But the more I look at them, the more I realize that it really isn't anything unusual after all. Nothing to be worried about," she said glibely, shutting her mini-computer engraved with the sign of Mercury with a snap to show her unconcern.

"Oh," Hotaru said, feeling sheepish. Honestly, she would have to be more careful who she accused.

Usagi, looking into the rearview mirror, was the only one who noticed Ami's hands clutched around her computer, evidence at how badly she wanted to reopen it and return to analyzing the readings.

Mamoru parked the car out front and everybody piled out.

"Honestly, you have the boniest legs, Rei," Minako complained, rubbing her rear as she joined the others.

"You could afford to lose a few pounds, Minako," Rei muttered in response. "Maybe then you'd get cast for a larger part." Makoto laughed, and Hotaru smiled faintly.

"Go ring the doorbell, Hotaru," Ami interjected hastily after catching a glimpse of the blonde idol's enraged face, managing to smile at Hotaru and look chidingly at the others at the same time. 'Remember what we're here for,' her look seemed to say. Her friends drooped slightly.

"C'mon Hotaru!" Usagi said cheerfully, leading Hotaru up the walk and chattering about how long it had been since she had seen either of the two inside.

Hotaru rang the doorbell and waited, the others standing behind her.

Within moments, the doorknob turned and opened. Michiru was standing there, her smile freezing some as she saw the large group. "Welcome, Hotaru. I didn't know you were bringing guests," she said not exactly disapprovingly, but not necessarily welcoming either.

"Hi Michiru!" Usagi greeted brightly, quickly picing up the conversation. "We decided to stop by because Hotaru needed a ride. I hope you don't mind."

"Not at all," Michiru said warmly, smoothly regaining her composure. Stepping aside, she said, "Please, come in."

Obediantly the large group tramped through the doorway and into the spacious hall. After discarding their shoes, they passed through a series of rooms and halls until they reached the large living room. "I love this room, Michiru," Makoto said, looking appreciatively at the plants scattered around.

"Thank you," the aqua-haired woman said, sounding distracted. "I'll go make some tea. I'll be back in a moment."

"I'll help," Hotaru said suddenly, rising and joining Michiru at the door. 'I need to talk to you,' she added silently. Almost as if she understood Hotaru's plea, Michiru nodded and left the inner senshi alone, Hotaru in tow.

Ami touched one of her earrings, a visor appearing over her eyes. With her computer out as well, she began comparing the readings she was getting from both. "Amazing..." she murmered, looking slowly around the room.

"What is it?" Minako asked.

"The readings exceed even my visor's capabilities. Whatever's producing them is extremely powerful, possibly more powerful than the ginzuishou," she said quietly. Moving around the room, she added, "As best as I can tell, the source is upstairs."

Rei's head jerked up. "It's in this house?" She said, sounding startled.

"They know about it," Makoto said at the same time. The two exchanged grim looks.

On the couch, Usagi looked like she wasn't paying attention as she rubbed her temples. "Usako?" Mamoru questioned. "Are you alright?"

"I have a headache suddenly...." She admitted. "It's just because I'm tired. I'll be fine." Despite her words, Mamoru still looked concerned.

In the kitchen, Hotaru watched as Michiru poured tea into small china cups. She felt restless and energetic, as if she had taken in too much coffee that morning. Every now and then, she heard either one or the other of the Voices in her mind mutter, "...the crystal..." and then lapse into silence. All in all, it was quite unsettling.

"What did you want to speak with me about?" Michiru asked finally, wiping up a few drips. "I can tell you look concerned.

Hotaru considered her words, suddenly realizing she didn't know what to say. "I...think we should get back together," she said finally. "We can't be a team if we don't trust each other." Partially the truth of what was bothering her, but she couldn't put the strange feelings she was having into words.

Michiru looked sad for a brief moment, but she quickly regained her smooth countenance. "I know, Hotaru. But just saying it doesn't make it so."

"I'm willing to move back in," Hotaru said slowly. "That is, if you'll have me."

"We haven't touched your room, Hotaru," Michiru said with a smile, but Hotaru saw her eyes slide up to the ceiling, almost as if she were looking hard at something. "Would you help me with the cups?" Together, the two left the kitchen.

"We should really get upstairs to check this out," Rei said. "We don't know what they're hiding up there.

Makoto nodded her head in agreement. "If they aren't willing to tell us straight out, then we have the right to investigate."

"Or to come out and ask," Usagi murmered, half to herself. This headache was starting to make her irritable.

"I have to agree with Usagi," Mamoru said at last. "It can't hurt to ask them first."

From where she stood by a vase of roses, Ami said, "We really don't-" The door opened then, and one of Ami's hands flew to her earring. Just as Hotaru and Michiru entered, her visor vanished in a brief flash of light. From the couch, Rei cast Minako an irritated look. Minako, who was supposed to be keeping watch, shrugged slightly in apology.

Michiru's face tightened briefly, and Hotaru looked puzzled. They had seen after all, Ami realized. "These roses are lovely, Michiru," Ami said innocently, fingering a petal. "I can't get them to grow half so well."

"It takes the proper care," Michiru said, ushering Hotaru to the low table in front of the pair of couches. "Please, help yourself."

Everybody did so. Mundane conversation was passed around the table until they all fell silent, looking at each other calculatingly.

Usagi decided then to take matters into her own hands. Setting her cup down carefully (no doubt it was worth more than she was willing to know), she assumed an air of what she hoped was authority. There was a time to be a friend and a time to be a leader. Right now, it was time for the latter. Ignoring Rei's frantic looks, she turned her full attention on Michiru and said, "We-all of us-want to know what's upstairs."

A teacup rattled as Minako set it down rather ungracefully. Somewhere, a clock ticked the seconds by. Several emotions flickered across Michiru's face, including guilt, anger, and...fear?

"It isn't the time..." Michiru said quietly, meeting Usagi's blue eyes and refusing to be daunted. Usagi was every bit the queen as she met the elder's eyes stare for stare, and Michiru half-expected her future crown to appear on her head. "We all agreed that it wasn't time."

"Why should you decide what to tell us and when to tell us?" Rei burst out.

Minako joined in. "We have a right to know what you do! We're senshi too!"

"Rei...Minako..." Usagi merely said their names, yet the two of them lapsed into sullen silence. "Please Michiru. Ami says that it's extremely powerful, and we should know what it is."

"Michiru, what are they talking about?" Hotaru asked. When nobody responded, she added almost to herself, "You're hiding it from even me?"

This seemed to shake Michiru. She rose slowly, opening her mouth several times as if searching for what to say. "Follow me," she said finally.

"Thank you, Michiru," Usagi said as she rose. The others exchanged looks of surprise, then rose as well.

Resisting the sudden urge to curtsey, Michiru led them out.

At the top of the stairs leading to the second floor, Usagi stumbled and nearly fell. "What's wrong? Are you alright?" Mamoru asked, supporting her.

"I feel dizzy..." Usagi managed, leaning on him for support.

Michiru looked at the blonde calculatingly, then cast her eyes down the hallway. "Perhaps we should save it for another time, if Usagi isn't well," she suggested.

"I'll be fine," Usagi returned, pulling away from Mamoru. "Show us."

Resisting a sigh, Michiru led them through the second floor until they stopped outside a deep brown wooden door. "It's in here," she said unnecessarily. Turning the knob, she pushed the door open and walked in, followed by the rest.

Several things happened at once. Haruka and Setsuna, who had been standing in the room, wheeled on the sudden intruders. "What...?" Haruka said angrily. Setsuna just stared. Between the two, situated on top of the fireplace mantle sat a crystal that was pulsing erratically.

"What is that?" Makoto demanded.

"Setsuna?!" Minako said at the same time, pushing forward from the rear of the group to get a better view.

"Mamo-chan..." Usagi murmered, sagging the floor as she passed out, her face ghost-white.

"Usako!" Mamoru exclaimed, shaking her. The other inners gathered around her, casting worried glances between the crystal and Usagi.

Then Hotaru, who had been silent up until then, started forward. Her eyes were blank, and her Saturn sign glimmered faintly purple on her forehead. She reached up for the crystal.

"Stop her!" Setsuna shouted, snatching the crystal up.

"Get everybody out of here!" Haruka ordered angrily, grabbing Hotaru by the waist and preceding to haul her out. Mamoru gathered Usagi up into his arms and followed her out, the other senshi in tow.

"Downstairs," he said as Haruka stopped in the hallway. His tone allowed for no arguing.

Usagi was laid out on one couch, and Hotaru, who had also passed out, occupied the other. Ami examined them both and pronounced them to be fine. All eyes turned to Haruka and Michiru. "What were you doing bringing them in there?" Haruka demanded of Michiru, ignoring the others.

"They knew, Haruka," Michiru responded. "We were fools to think that we could keep it hidden." She sounded bitter.

"But to bring them in there without so much as warning us? Look what happened!"

"I'm fine, Haruka," Usagi murmered from the couch, opening her eyes and shrugging off Mamoru's attempts to help her up. "We're all fine, and I'm glad you showed us, Michiru."

The door opened again, admitting Setsuna. "It's safe," she said in response to Haruka's questioning look. Haruka looked relieved. Turning to Usagi who had achieved a sitting position, Setsuna asked, "What happened?"

Usagi hesitated. "The light reached out to me. I touched the crystal...I heard its thoughts..." she murmered. "Is it true? Is it really...?"

Setsuna sighed. "Yes. I was almost hoping it wasn't true, but you just confirmed it."

Usagi shuddered and fell silent.

"What is she talking about?" Rei demanded. "What was it?"

Instead of answering, Setsuna moved over to the still-unconscious Hotaru. "I was wrong. It will affect Hotaru after all," she mused quietly. "I can see it affecting Usagi, but Hotaru? Why?"

Almost as if she heard, Hotaru's eyes fluttered open. "Wh...what?" she asked, her violet eyes clear but confused. "We walked into the room, and that crystal...caught me...or something."

"Can they handle the truth?" Haruka asked of Setsuna. Michiru glowered at her.

Setsuna ignored her. Turning to the others, she perched on the edge of one of the facing chairs. "We were given that crystal as a...reward of sorts. We must keep it safe for when it will be needed," she explained. Ami gasped.

"No..." she said faintly, sinking down onto a chair. "It's physically impossible and-" She broke off, running out of words.

Setsuna nodded. "That crystal is where the future begins. That crystal is the future palace of Crystal Tokyo."

Stunned silence.

"No way!" Minako breathed.

"Can it be?" Rei asked.

"This was why you came back, isn't it?" Hotaru asked, finally realizing that Setsuna had returned from the Gates. When the woman nodded, she continued. "Were you finally Te-"

"That will be enough, Hotaru," Haruka broke in, giving her a hard look. Hotaru's mouth snapped shut, and she looked chagrined.

"I think maybe we've given you enough to think about," Michiru said smoothly. "I'm sorry things had to happen the way they did, but we were operating with your best interests in mind."

Glancing at Usagi who still looked shocked and shaken, Mamoru responded, "We will be back." He rose, and the others did too, though their motions were automatic.

"Hotaru, you may stay," Setsuna said. The girl looked at Setsuna, Haruka, and Michiru, correctly interpreting the rest of what Setsuna was saying. 'We need to keep an eye on you...' She nodded with some reluctance, no longer sure she wanted to return to the household after all.

One by one they filed out of the lving room, until only Mamoru remained. "Is there something else?" Haruka asked cooly.

Mamoru's eyes roamed the room, taking in each of the four outers. "I'm displeased with you all. I know you were charged to protect us, but this is too much." When nobody said anything, he started to leave, then paused. He looked back at Setsuna. "I think you should know this, even after your actions lately. Usagi is pregnant," he said, never taking his eyes from Setsuna. With that, he left.

"Chibiusa..." Hotaru whispered. Even Haruka looked shaken.

"Then that's why you sent Chibiusa back to the 30th Century? Because she's about to be born here?" Michiru asked of Setsuna.

Setsuna nodded. "I wasn't sure what would happen if the two were to meet."

"But Chibiusa's from the 30th Century, too far ahead to be born now!" Haruka protested. "Granted we live longer as senshi...but a thousand years?"

Setsuna rose. "Come with me. I have to tell you something."

Haruka and Michiru gathered in Setsuna's study. Hotaru was sent to her room to get some rest. Setsuna was quiet as she stood staring meditatively at the crystal. "I've seen disturbing images of the future, lately," she said at last. "Would you like to hear the truth of what is to come?"

The other two nodded.

"The palace of Crystal Tokyo is, above all, a palace, but that wasn't its original purpose. The palace was originally used as a refuge, a shelter," Setsuna said.

"A shelter from what?" Michiru asked.

"The end of the world."

Michiru swallowed. After a moment's hesitation, Haruka took her hand.

"We, as senshi, will be charged with protecting as many of the citizens as we can. I do not know how this is accomplished, but I have seen the aftermath. They will be put to sleep and protected by the ginzuishou's power. We will be put to sleep as well, after this is accomplished," Setsuna said calmly, as if she were commenting on the weather instead of forcasting the doom of the world. "I also know that, even taking into consideration Usagi's growing mastery of the ginzuishou, there is no way to protect every single person on this planet. We will be lucky to protect all of Tokyo, if it came right down to it."

More silence. Michiru's heart reached out to Usagi, who would no doubt take the loss of a planet hard.

"And Chibiusa?" Haruka prompted. "You still haven't answered my question."

"She will be born in the 30th Century," Setsuna said.

"But with Usagi pregnant now, how can that be?" Haruka demanded, then sudden understanding burst onto her face. "Unless..."

"Unless Usagi is put to sleep while pregnant. Which means the world will have to end in the next nine months," Michiru finished softly.

"How?" Haruka asked, her voice grating harshly. "How will it happen?"

"I don't know," Setsuna said with a sigh. "I wish I did, but I don't."

"We will fight it," Michiru said quietly with more confidence than she felt. "Whatever it takes." How did one go about fighting the end of the world?

Setsuna shook her head. "It's not that easy, Michiru. We cannot fight the end of the world, because it has to come, sooner or later. It's not a force we can easily fight."

"So we wait?" Haruka asked.

"And hope," Setsuna said with a nod.

In the dark of the night, Hotaru tossed and turned in her bed. The touch of the crystal fresh in her mind, she alternated between dreams of putting as much distance between it and her as she possibly could, and dreams of holding it triumphantly in her hands as she wrought untold destruction. She wanted nothing more than to wake from these dreams, but she could not. As they repeated in her mind, she was gradually aware of words being spoken in the background.

"Are you fit to protect your princess?"

She ignored these words at first, but they repeated at steady intervals during the dream sequences, always louder than the previous time. At length, she shouted, "Yes!"

The dream vanished. "What have you done to prove yourself?" The voice was, she recognized, that of the Bad Voice.

"I am a sailor senshi. That is enough," Hotaru replied at once. "I don't think we could be sailor senshi if we meant harm to the princess."

"What of Galaxia? Chaos swayed her so that, in the end, she betrayed all she had once protected."

Hotaru paused and gave this thought. She realized that the Voice had a point, so she let that go. "Why are you here?" she asked instead.

"To convince you of your wrongness."

"My wrongness? I don't understand."

"Precisely my point. If you understood, you wouldn't need convincing."

"But..." Hotaru trailed off.

The Voice laughed. "Why do you think you were given the power to destroy worlds if you could never use it? Don't you sometimes feel like you're useless? That you really don't do anything to protect your Princess?"

Hotaru found herself reliving battle after battle, against her will. Always she was accompanied by Sailoruranus, Neptune, and Pluto, and it was always them that fought. She herself had only envoked the power of Destruction once, and even then she was stopped by Sailorchibimoon. What had she done to protect the Princess? Nevertheless, she responded, "No. Never."

"You lie!" the Voice hissed. "I read your thoughts. I know what you were thinking."

Hotaru felt a pang of fear at how easily read she was. "Who are you?" she demanded instead. "You have been with me since my Trial, you and that other Voice."

"A messanger from the future. Would you like to see the glory that is in store for you?" the Voice asked slyly. "You won't be disappointed, I think."

"N-no!" Hotaru shouted. "I don't want glory! I just want to protect my Princess!" She realized what she was saying after she had said it and could have kicked herself.

"Of course, Sailorsaturn. Of course. Helping you is one of my goals." An indulgent tone, one that infuriated Hotaru.

"I don't want your help!" Hotaru exclaimed.

"But you just said.." the Voice started, then trailed off. "It is no matter. Whether you want it or not, you will recieve it. There really isn't much you can do." The Voice ended this statement with something like a chuckle. "Your Princess would want you to be able to protect her, so accept my offer and all will be well."

Hotaru didn't know what to say. Would she really be able to do her part to protect Usagi at last? No; best not to think of that. But even as she banished these thoughts, the Voice laughed mockingly. "Get out of my head!" Hotaru shrieked, and yanked her mind away. There was an intense falling sensation, then she settled deep into sleep.

The firelight cast dim shadows across the whole of the room where the two met. The room was large, so large that the fitful light never touched the far wall where one of them stood silently regarding the kneeling one before her. Where the firelight touched, one could see that the walls were crystalline and glowed faintly, so very faintly that it was easy to attribute it to a trick of the eyes. It wasn't always so faint, but times had changed since these walls provided all the light they could ever want and more.

From her kneeling position, she dared to look up at the robed figure before her. Though her features were indiscernable from the surrounding shadows, she knew her summoner's face by heart. Which was why she was reluctant to bring up this last bit of news. "Speak, child," her musical voice drifted from the shadows.

She lowered her head again. "Mother, the Soldier of Death is caving."

She heard the woman shift in the shadows, moving to one of the many windows that opened out onto the city. Looking up again, she saw her framed against the purple-blue of the night sky as she looked out. Suddenly, a bright flash of red light lit up the sky for a brief moment and stained the woman's pristine white robes the color of blood before it was gone just as quickly as it had come. Several more red bursts accompanied it, each shorter than the first, then all was quiet again. "It is growing worse," the woman said finally, sounding sad. "I can't help but think that this worsening has to do with how the ones we're depending on are faring."

She cleared her throat and rose after a moment's pause. "Pardon me, Mother, but I doubt that. There is no proof yet that we even need them to win this war. Certainly, I don't believe it," she said, looking at the woman's back with an air of confidence tinged with defiance.

The woman at the window sighed. "I know the others question my actions, but I am quite sure that I am right," she said slowly. A particularly large burst of red light illuminated for a split second the woman's twin pigtails that brushed the smooth, slightly opaque crystal floor. "I commend you on feeling that you should say something, but please, have faith in me a while longer. I promise that this will bear fruit and we will be delivered into an era of peace."

"And the Soldier of Death?" she prompted after a moment of chagrined silence. "If you are right, then she must stand firm. Should she cave, there's no stopping her from becoming-"

"Yes, I am aware of what she will become," the woman interrupted sharply. "There is no need to speak her name in this place. I had hoped to avoid intervening in what has already been, but these times call for drastic measures. I only hope that if Sailorpluto yet lived she would agree with me. Or at least forgive me for meddling in the past."

Just then, a thunderous blast rocked the floor beneath them accompanied by a blinding red flash. "Mother!" she cried, shielding her eyes and blindly starting forward to the window.

"Stop!" she heard the woman's voice ring out, and she immediately froze in her tracks. When her vision cleared, she saw that she was mere steps from plunging down into darkness. She drew in a shaky breath and looked to where the woman hovered, the silver sheen of a shield partially obscuring her from sight. The room was partially gone, the crystal shaping it vaporized by a direct hit from the powerful energy blasts. Around the edges of the gaping holes, the crystal was melted and twisted into unnatural positions. Slowly, the woman descended from where she had saved herself down to what remained of the floor just as footsteps clattered down the hallway outside the room. "We can't take much more of this, child," she said breathlessly.

She averted her eyes from the woman, her gaze wandering to the hole. Outside she could see more clearly than before the blasts rock the city that extended outward below them. The people had long since withdrawn into the corridors hastily carved out of the rock under the city, but seeing the city as it was, smouldering and falling apart beneath the eternal night sky, filled her with intense sadness.

"We are fine," she heard the woman say to the people that streamed into the room. "It was close, but we are fine. Does the shield hold?"

"It holds now, my Queen. One failed in keeping his strength up and collapsed, so we were vulnerable until we could get a replacement. The enemy took advantage of our momentary weakness."

"Do we have enough left to fix the damage done?"

She heard one sigh, and she tore her eyes from the red death below her to the small group that had entered, all clad in the same white robes as she. "I'm afraid we can't spare the energy. We are all tired from maintaining the shield around the palace that we can't spare any extra."

"I will move what I can to a new location, then," the woman said. "You may go."

Obediantly they all filed out, leaving them alone once more. The woman began to gather books strewn about the room from the blast, picking up some and discarding others. "Mother, wouldn't it be wise to take shelter under the ground with the others? Your life is in jeopardy here," she said, helping her pick up the mess.

The woman shook her head vehemently, pigtails whipping. "If I retreat and give up the palace, then the people will see that there is little hope left. I must keep their faith in me unshakable. We will move to the opposite side of the palace."

There was no arguing with her mother once she had come to a decision, so she gave up. "I must go take my turn in maintaining the shield, Mother," she said instead.

"Go. But return immediately after you are replaced. I have a special mission for you," the woman said, fixing her with intense red eyes akin to her own.

"I will be back as soon as I am able," she said, turning and retreating out the door. She needed to put distance between her and that hellish landscape outside she took pains never to look at.

The woman rose from the books she had stacked on the floor and took her own turn at looking out at the city. Her city. The bright flashes lit up two of the five points of the star her city was laid out in, beyond which was nothing but land put to waste by the beseiging enemy. Even after all the countless hours put to studying what was attacking them, they still had no definite idea of who or what it was-or where they attacked from. All they knew about them was that they were cold, calculating, and rutheless. Sailormercury had taken it upon herself to leave the relative safety of the palace and gather data on the enemy unannounced three weeks ago. Two days ago, she was told that they had found her head carelessly discarded outside the city walls, the crushed remains of her computer and visor beside it. She had not cried even then; all her tears had been shed long ago at the deaths of her other friends. The tombs of the sailor senshi were almost filled; all that remained empty were the resting places of Sailoruranus and Neptune, and contact had been lost with them long ago as they fought to reclaim their land. Of her family of three, only her daughter remained safely in the palace. But she was preparing to send her off on a dangerous mission, her last stab at a resolution to this never-ending battle-one way or another. Was she destined to be alone?

One tear leaked out of the corner of one of her red eyes and streaked down her face, a face that was rapidly aging without the ginzuishou to protect her. She had lost the ginzuishou to the enemy long ago as well. "Usagi....Mother....what would you do?" she whispered. "And you, Helios? If either of you were alive, what would you have me do?"

Usagi woke with a start. Sprawled as she was lengthwise across the bed, she stared at the ceiling and wondered what had woken her. She glanced beside her and smiled in spite of her disquiet at her husband asleep in the smallest portion of the bed that he could manage to occupy. He had learned early on that the only way to get a good night's sleep in bed with her was to curl up and hope for the best. Still feeling oddly disconcerted, she tucked her legs close to her body and fell asleep.

The light from Michiru's studio drew Haruka as she wandered their home restlessly. Silently, the blonde watched from the doorway as Michiru, perched as she was on a stool before a large canvas, slowly drew her paintbrush across its surface. Soft classical music played in the background, seemingly out of place when one looked at the half-finished panorama of destruction the aqua-haired woman was painting.

"You couldn't sleep either?" Michiru asked, never pausing in her painting except to dip her brush into a different dark color. "I hope I didn't wake you when I got up."

Haruka drew closer to the painting woman, stopping just behind her. "No. I was awake long before you got up," she said.

"Setsuna's predictions disturbed you as well?" Michiru asked calmly, her brush finally faltering. "I can't get my mind to accept the fact that we face destruction in less than a year."

The pair remained silent then, Michiru with her back to the standing blonde as she studied what she had painted. A black sky swirled with red loomed over the beginnings of some city, a city that looked broken and battered from attack after attack. Even with the painting not even halfway finished, Michiru knew what the end result was, having seen it in a dream that night. Crystal Tokyo under attack. She dreaded reaching the point where she would have to paint the palace, the jagged, misshapen spire of crystal that remained of the palace, anyway.

"Another dream?" Haruka asked quietly. "Is it...Crystal Tokyo?"

Michiru nodded her head once. "Yes." She resumed painting.

For long minutes, Haruka watched Michiru paint. She had seen portions of this scene in her dreams as well, but nothing as clearly as Michiru so obviously had seen it. "Michiru..."

"Hmm?" Michiru continued painting.

"I...I'm sorry...for what's happened," Haruka finally managed, putting a hand on the woman's shoulders. "And for what I've said."

This finally attracted the woman's attention, for Michiru calmly placed her paintbrush in a nearby pot of water and turned to look Haruka in the eye. "I know. It was only a matter of time." She offered the blonde a smile.

Slowly, Haruka shook her head. "How can you say that? You don't know why I was angry in the first place." She pulled up a stool beside Michiru. "During my Trial, I saw-"

She was interrupted by Michiru's finger on her lips. "Don't speak of it. What's done is done," she said, entirely serious. "It doesn't matter why you were angry."

"But you passed your Trial and I failed! What will happen?" Haruka burst out.

"We will take each day as it comes, Haruka," Michiru said with a faint smile. "And right now, I'm living for tonight." She leaned in to give the blonde a kiss, which she gladly returned.

Time passed. Summer hit Tokyo hard that year, bringing record high temperatures and no sign of relief in the future. Setsuna regarded this summer uneasily, wondering time after time if the unnatural temperatures were foreshadowing a more disasterous calamity. But then again, she had been looking at every unusual event from every possible angle, trying to determine if it somehow had something to do with the end of it all. She came to no conclusions. The end would come when the time was right, and when it did, it would surprise them all.

The months ticked by, one by one. The inners kept to themselves, while the outers started each day wondering if it would be their last. Michiru reported seeing Usagi on the street some three months later, hand in hand with Mamoru and looking extremely proud of the bulge she was now sporting. Six months...only six months left...

But the end came much sooner than that.

Michiru was painting. Haruka was beside her. They sat silently, the aqua haired woman painting calmly and with a singleness of mind that allowed room for nothing else. Haruka watched equally silent, watched as her soulmate touched the canvas with the brush and added more chaotic swirls to the sky above the battle-torn city. Crystal buildings jutted out from the ground like broken bones, remnants of the civilization that had once lived there. Here and there, bolts of blood red lightning attacked the ground, bathing the buildings in uneasy muddy light. Rising above it all was the Crystal Palace, but not as she recognized it. It was just as ravaged as the buildings scattered around its base, fully a third of the pointed crest gone. The crystal looked mangled and dingy, more dingy than the fitful light from the sky would account for. The scene made Haruka's skin crawl.

Michiru's brush paused. Her hand shook. Her trembling made the brush slip from her fingers and fall to the ground. "Michiru, what...?" Haruka started to ask, but even as she did so, the Aqua Mirror appeared unsummoned before them. Its surface was blank. Nothing reflected, not even their own faces. Nothing showed on its dim grey surface.

Michiru's face turned from her painting to the mirror, then slowly turned to face Haruka. Her face was somber, though her eyes contained fear and dread. "The end. It's here," she said softly. Just as she said this, the sunshine that streamed in from the bright summer morning abruptly faded away. Haruka looked out one of the many windows and saw the landscape being enveloped in darkness, as if the sun were eclipsing...

Setsuna, spending much of her time at the Gates, was next to be aware of it by a sense of wrongness. Her vision blurred. She felt herself stretched infinitely far, pressed down infinitely flat. The pain she experienced was beyond words, yet she felt nothing at all at the same time. Then, abruptly, it was gone. Gasping for breath as she lay where she had fallen from the suddenness of the attack, she felt as if something had just blew past her through the Gate, something too large for the small portal. She looked up, looked up to see that the Gate was black. Nothing showed. No future. No past. No present. Her heart pounding, she raced for the timestream...

"Get...out..." Hotaru moaned in her room. "Get out...of my head..." Curled up on her bed, she was oblivious to the unnatural darkness outside.

One voice laughed in her head, a voice that she recognized, but at the same time didn't. "Will you protect your princess? She needs you. Now." There was an echoing quality to the voice, making it sound both concerned and mocking at the same time. "You can save her."

"Who...who are you?" Hotaru asked shakily, not even aware that she was speaking aloud to a voice inside her mind. Yet somehow, the voice knew what she had said.

All at once, the voice changed. "Why...I just want to help," a voice said, filled with compassion. The Good Voice she recognized from the time after her Trial.

Another change."Help...yes, help," the Bad Voice agreed, though the tone was malicious.

All at once, Hotaru realized that the Voices were both one and the same. Two halves of a whole. Her heart sank.

"Yes, Sailorsaturn. You finally realize that you have been tricked this entire time. There is no 'good' or 'bad' voice. Only I." The two different voices merged into the echoing voice, the voice she knew as its real voice. "Your future self."

It took a moment for the impact of these words to take hold, but when they did, her heart was seized by icy hands. "My...future self? I am...will be...you?" Her mind whirled from the implications.

"Yes, Hotaru. I have come to you with a choice. What you decide will decide your future," the voice of her future self said bemusedly, as if it enjoyed the weight she had just placed on Hotaru's shoulders. The echo of the bemusement sounded tender and apologetic, as if guilty for giving her such a burden.

The two entirely different tones to the voice made it hard for Hotaru to decide which was her future self's true feelings. Maybe they both were, and she was doomed to become torn between two very different personalities. This thought so chilled her that she remained silent. The voice went on, though.

"You may help your Princess finally, with the battle that is to come. It will be against what your friends would want you to do. You may use your power without fear of injuring yourself or any of your friends at last, which is your deepest wish, is it not?" When Hotaru didn't respond, the voice laughed shortly as if unsurprised. "Or, you may accompany your friends and watch as they help the Princess instead. More will die this way, however your Princess will still be safe, and you would have acted how your friends will want you to. What is your decision?"

Hotaru felt helpless. The Princess would be safe either way, which was what she and the outers lived for, yet her duty was ultimately to the people and the planet. One way would save the lives of her friends, and the other would put them into jeopardy. Unbidden, words from her Trial echoed in her mind.

(...what if, to save the planet from evil, you must decide between your friends' lives and your duty?...)

Was this what the Voice from then had meant? What was the right decision? To keep her friends safe, she was sure. The Princess would still be safe, and she would finally be able to do her part to keep her safe. But still, something held her back. Hotaru couldn't help but think there was a catch to this that she couldn't see.

Dark laughter echoed in her mind. She knew then that her thoughts were being read, and that her future self knew her ultimate decision. But it was too late to rethink, for she felt her hold and control over her body slowly slip away. She was already too far gone to determine whether her scream for help passed beyond her lips or if it only echoed in her mind...

Pieces of the crystal ceiling fell with a musical tinkle around them as the palace shook from its very foundation. "You must go, Daughter!" she said urgently. "We have little time!"

"But mother! The attacks have increased so much! I can't leave now!" the red-head protested. "And I don't understand why you're sending me away anyway!"

"To save us!" the woman said through clenched teeth, brushing stray pieces of sugar-pink hair from her face. "All will be well here. You have to go back and try to stop this all from happening!" She watched as her daughter wrestled with her emotions, and correctly guessed the track of her thoughts. "Daughter...Hoshi...I know I sent you away once, and for that I am sorry. Even as young as you were, you still handled yourself wonderfully. I need your help again...this one last time."

Hoshi considered her mother's words, knowing with a sinking feeling deep inside that there really was no decision to make. "I will go," she said at last, just as a deafening explosion rocked the palace. A slab of crystal dislodged itself from the ceiling and hurtled towards her mother. A bright sphere of silvery light enveloped the pink-haired woman and the substantial piece of crystal was harmlessly deflected. Hoshi was swiftly at her mother's side, supporting the older woman as the silver shield vanished and she stumbled.

"It's so hard now, without the ginzuishou," her mother breathed to no-one in particular, accepting the help. "With each passing day I feel my slow aging melt away a little more. I'm starting to feel my age."

"Don't talk like that!" Hoshi said sharply. "I'll do all I can to change things."

The woman nodded in tired acceptance. "That is all I ask."

With a last look, Hoshi gathered up her power as she had been taught and, with a blinding flash of pink light, she was gone. Her mission had begun.

Usagi-she had done away with her affectionate name of Chibiusa long ago-looked out the window of her new room. She knew that the outers she had Hoshi test in the past were poised at a critical moment, for the attacks had doubled in frequency and power. She only hoped her daughter would be successful.

Suddenly, the already-dim fire that burned low on the hearth went out completely, plunging Usagi into darkness. A presence filled the room, malicious and smothering. "You have failed before you have begun, my Queen," a hateful voice sneered from the dark around Usagi. "Can't you see that?"

Usagi took a steadying breath, barely recognizing the voice she knew buried under the evil. "Why are you doing this to us?" she asked. "You're one of us!" Her eyes, gradually adjusting to the new dark, saw the red light from the fight outside reflect on the curved metal blade of a weapon. "She came under her senshi guise?" she thought to herself.

"I am NOT one of you!" the holder of the weapon shot back. "I craved something more than you friends could give me!"

"Why have you come?" Usagi asked tiredly. "If you seek my surrender, you won't have it."

A low chuckle. "Just to tell you that your attempts to change the past won't work. I've already taken steps to prevent whatever you do."

Usagi stilled. "What do you mean?"

"Simply this. Did your daughter tell you that some of the outers you're relying on failed the Tests you had her give them? They will be mine," the intruder said smugly. "Oh, and just so you're aware, the Saturn you're trying to save also failed hers. She is in my hands already. I hold your ginzuishou, the bodies and blood of your husband and your mother, and your last hope at changing their future-your present. What will you do now, beloved Queen? What will you do now?"

The smothering presence of the intruder vanished, leaving Usagi gulping for air. Her mind was racing, and her heart fluttered fearfully. Was everything she had been planning on about to crash around her? She struggled to remember if the outers of her time had passed their Trials, but honestly couldn't recall.

Usagi moved to one of the clear glass crystal panes and looked outside. It was dark as pitch outside, save the frequent red bolts that came crashing from the sky and, with luck, deflected off the glimmering silver shield over the city. Usagi rested her forehead on the cool glass and looked upward at the sky. "Hotaru...why are you doing this to us? Why?"

The sun had indeed been eclipsed. Looking up, they could faintly see a glowing golden aura around a giant black disk, the only glimpse of the sun beyond. "What is that?" Haruka asked of Michiru, who wordlessly shook her head in response. There was no suitable response.

"The question is, will it move?"

The pair turned from the window they stood before to see Setsuna. "This is how it will end, then?" Michiru asked of the green-haired woman who nodded once in return.

"The scientists are at a loss to explain it, and they're scrambling to come up with answers. The truth of the matter is, the object you see out there will not move. It will remain where it is, positioned between us and the sun, blocking out the rays until the planet is thoroughly frozen." Setsuna's voice was as steady as if she were reporting the weather, but her dark complexion looked several shades paler and her garnet eyes were restless as they darted between the pair and the outdoors.

The fact that even Setsuna was shaken by this turn of events further alarmed Michiru. "What is it?" she asked thinly. "I can't imagine something of that size just appearing from nowhere."

Setsuna shook her head. "I don't know what it is, nor how it came to appear. I can only guess, because the Gates went dark so suddenly, that it came from the future."

Haruka turned back to the window. "I always thought things would end...differently," she mused. "Not as unelegantly as freezing to death..." She spoke like she was unconcerned with the whole ordeal, but Michiru knew her better. Haruka was as rattled as the rest of them. She took the blonde's hand.

"We can't do anything about this?" Michiru asked though she already knew the answer.

Setsuna shook her head. "Nothing. We have to rely on Usagi to know what to do. This is what wakens Crystal Tokyo," she said solemnly. She looked startled as a realization hit her, and she added, "I'm going to check the crystal." With that, she left.

Michiru turned back to the window. It had been early evening when the sun had first been eclipsed, but now the time was drawing closer to sunset. Silently, for there were no words to describe the scene before them, they watched the black disk with the weak golden aura from the sun set. There was barely any color to the sky, only a slight orange flare in an otherwise cobalt sky just as the last tip of it sank out of sight. Somehow, the colorless sunset was even more ominous than the black disk that blocked the sun's light to Michiru, who had the unnerving idea that this might very well be the last sunset they see for an eternity...

Setsuna was back moments later. "The crystal is gone," Setsuna told them as if unsurprised. "And...so is Hotaru."

This caught their attention. "She couldn't have gone with the crystal, could she?" Michiru asked, looking to Haruka.

"If she did, we have to stop her. If that crystal fell into the wrong hands..." Haruka deliberately left that statement unfinished, knowing that they understood just as well as she the dangers of having the senshi of Destruction with the future palace of Crystal Tokyo. All three of them looked grimly at each other.

"Pluto Planet Power..." Setsuna raised her golden wand, power swirling her green-black hair around her.

"Uranus Planet Power..." Haruka likewise raised hers, looking determined.

"Neptune Planet Power..." Michiru tossed her aqua-green hair as she raised hers.

"MAKE UP!" they chorused. A blinding flash of light and three sailor senshi stood where Setsuna, Haruka, and Michiru once were.

"We'll find Hotaru when we find the crystal, I have no doubt," Setsuna said. "However, Tokyo is a large place, so we'll split up." The other two nodded. With a last look, they took off at a dead run for the outskirts of Tokyo. Setsuna set off for downtown. She prayed they weren't too late...

Mamoru almost forced Usagi to turn off the television that night. Usagi had been pacing between the balcony of their apartment to gaze at the disk over the sun with fear mixed with uncertainty and perching nervously on the edge of the couch and watching news reports since it had begun. Panic was sweeping the globe as the scientists of the world put their heads together to come up with a poorly-conceived story intended to calm the people. It didn't work. Riots broke out worldwide, ending in violence and death only to spring up elsewhere. Martial law had been declared in America, and though Usagi only had a vague idea of what martial law was, she was gripped by fear anyway. The world was falling apart before her, and the thought of so many people suffering brought her close to tears. She hugged her growing stomach close as she watched news clips of fear-stricken people clawing at military officials everywhere, and the leaders of the world trying their best to calm them. What sort of world would her daughter be born in?

And so, Mamoru turned off the TV, despite Usagi's protests and pleaded with her until she finally gave in and meekly threw herself in bed. Even though she thought she wouldn't sleep a bit, she was asleep almost immediately.

Usagi woke again not long after first falling asleep, roused by a strange feeling of urgency. She rose from the bed and padded to the window overlooking downtown Tokyo, unsure of what it was she looked for. She stood there for long moments, just preparing to return to bed when a blinding silvery-white flash momentarily blinded her as it bathed her in its light. The same light that had flooded into her when she was close to what would become the palace of Crystal Tokyo.

"So warm..." she murmered, unaware of Mamoru tossing fitfully in his sleep behind her. She moved as if in a dream to the bureau across the room. Usagi dug into the top drawer, withdrawing at last the brooch she never used anymore. Still moving dreamily, she left the bedroom and went out onto the living room balcony. The light still glittered from somewhere downtown, and she couldn't seem to tear her eyes from it.

She was only half aware of touching the brooch she held and whispering, "Moon Eternal...Make Up!" In the blink of an eye she stood in her Eternal Sailormoon fuku, graceful white wings streatching out behind her. Usagi wondered vaguely at what she was doing, but the twinkle of light caused that thought to vanish as she lept gracefully from the balcony towards it.

Plunging into downtown Tokyo, Sailorpluto let her senses roam free. Almost immediately, she felt the crystal tugging on her mind, tugging on her with incredible force. She thought fleetingly of contacting Sailoruranus and Neptune, but no doubt they would discover the crystal soon enough. Heedless of caution, she raced with inhuman speed through the narrow streets of Tokyo. And then, as she came to one of the major intersections directly in the heart of Tokyo, she glanced to her right-and stopped.

The crystal had grown radically. Embedded in the pavement of the street, it reached upwards of twenty feet or more into the air and glittered so brightly that Sailorpluto had difficulty looking at it for long periods of time.

A mighty leap carried Sailorpluto to the roofs running along both sides of the street. Slowly she approached a position closer to the crystal, choosing the roof of a low building and settling in to wait. She contemplated the enlarged crystal below her for a minute or two, ultimately deciding she could already see the palace beginning to form. Was it her imagination or was it still enlarging very slowly? Not that it mattered any; she was here for another reason. Sailorsaturn must be kept from the crystal at all costs. She knew Sailorsaturn would happen by her position sooner or later, and it made more sense to sit and wait than to waste valuable time scournig the city. Sailorsaturn would be by. Sooner or later.

"I've never seen Tokyo so dead," Sailorneptune commented as she and Sailoruranus paused momentarily in their search.

"They're inside," Sailoruranus responded absently, her attention elsewhere. "Look," she said, nodding her head at a storefront.

The display consisted of televisions, all tuned to the same channel. Though there was no sound, the grim-faced reporter and short clips of frightened people were clear enough messages. People were urged to stay indoors. Then, the reporter vanished, replaced by an unsteady picture. A helicopter was circling what was apparently downtown Tokyo, the caption that appeared a moment later confirming this. A bright object glittered from some internal light, the brightness making it hard to clearly discern the edges.

"The crystal..." Sailorneptune said after a moment, after the picture had returned to the newscaster. "I'm sure it was. Just before the picture changed, I thought I saw Sailorpluto on one of the buildings."

But Sailoruranus wasn't paying attention. Staring down the street they were on, she said abruptly, "I thought I just saw Usagi."

"Her too?" Sailorneptune said with a sigh. "I had hoped she wouldn't get involved. If she finds Sailorsaturn before we do, there's no telling what will happen." Usagi-rather, Sailormoon-would put herself in grave danger to save the life of a friend, even if that friend might be Sailorsaturn.

Sailoruranus shook her head. "I might have just been seeing things. Let's go." With that, she took off at a run, Sailorneptune matching her step for step.

A light drizzle began to fall as Sailorpluto looked watchfully down the street, searching for movement of any sort. She would probably have been uncomfortable as she slowly got soaked, had she not been transformed. As she was, however, it was barely noticeable. A helicopter had happened over not too long ago, though she made no attempts to hide herself. As she watched down the street, she let her thoughts drift to the up-and-coming end, wondering what sort of role they would play. Having spent many many years watching the ebb and flow of Time and Destiny, however, Sailorpluto knew that acting as they would have in any situation would fulfill their part. However, she still half-wished she knew.

Her thoughts scattered as she saw movement. A lone figure rounded the corner down the street and stopped. Sailorpluto tensed as she took in the laced purple boots, the purple fuku, and short black hair. Sailorsaturn. As if she were waiting to be recognized, the senshi started forward toward the growing crystal.

Sailorpluto stood and leaped into the air, grasping her Time Staff out of nowhere as she landed lightly between Sailorsaturn and the crystal. Sailorsaturn looked at her vaguely through vacant eyes, then made as if to move around her.

"Stop, Hotaru!" Sailorpluto demanded, moving in front of her once more. "Don't you know what you're doing?"

Sailorsaturn gave Sailorpluto another vacant look, then remarkably lept into the air and landed some distance beyond her and much closer to the crystal. She resumed her measured steps to reach it.

Sailorpluto gripped her Time Staff and ran after Sailorsaturn. Sweeping it low, she caught the girl off balance and sent her tumbling to the ground. Sailorpluto was on her in an instant, pinning her to the pavement with the help of the staff. "Hotaru! Listen to me!"

Gone was the vacant look in an instant, replaced by one of anger. Snarling savagely, Sailorsaturn flexed her pinned arms and Sailorpluto was sent flying by some unseen force.

Sailorpluto tucked her head low and rolled to a stop, looking up just in time to see Sailorsaturn regain her footing and call her Silence Glaive to her hands. Springing into the air again, she flew at Sailorpluto, who was only just able to roll away from the razor-sharp blade of the glaive. Once again she was on her feet in an instant, twirling her Time Staff around her. "Dead...Scream..." she whispered, the resulting purple orb of power flying towards the enraged senshi.

Sailorsaturn whipped around from her landing just in time to see it coming at her. She leapt deftly aside, avoiding all of the orb that crashed into a nearby building. Quickly recovering from her dodge, she ran at Sailorpluto, slashing wildly with her weapon. Caught off guard, Sailorpluto stumbled backward, avoiding the wicked blade. Her back collided with the wall of a building, and she was barely able to deflect the next slash with her staff. The two weapons locked, Sailorsaturn glaring red anger at Sailorpluto as her glaive inched closer and closer to Sailorpluto. Gritting her teeth at the unexpected strength of the younger girl, Sailorpluto threw all the strength she had at her attacker. All she managed to do was halt the slowly descending blade as her arms, trembling from the exhertion, fought to maintain their hold. If her strength gave out now, she was as good as dead.

Unexpectedly, Sailorsaturn grinned maliciously. Switching tactics, she thrust the lower haft of her glaive into Sailorpluto's unprotected midsection. As the air wooshed from Sailorpluto's lungs, Sailorsaturn yanked upward and successfully knocked the Time Staff from Sailorpluto's hands, sending it spinning across the pavement.

Sailorpluto doubled over, fighting to regain breath enough to act before her attacker took advantage of this opportunity. As spots danced across her vision, she saw Sailorsaturn leap into the air and descend on her with the Silence Glaive. She tried to stumble aside, but her legs wouldn't cooperate. Dismayed, she watched the glittering blade fall...

"Venus Love Me Chain!"

A strand of glowing linked hearts shot from the dimness of the pre-dawn and wrapped around the glaive's haft. The chain snapped taunt, jerking Sailorsaturn from the air as she strived to keep a hold on her weapon. She crashed hard to the ground at Sailorpluto's feet, her glaive clattering not far away. Still trying to draw a full breath into her lungs, Sailorpluto rose and carefully nudged Sailorsaturn's still form. Satisfied that she was safely unconscious, she turned to her rescuers.

Sailorvenus stood at the head of the group of four, releasing the chain of hearts and allowing them to dissolve into nothing. Sailorvenus, Sailormars, Sailormercury, and Sailorjupiter regarded Sailorpluto closely. "What's going on here?" Sailorvenus asked, speaking for the group. Her tone was cool, and her blue eyes were serious.

"I don't know," Sailorpluto replied honestly. An expert at skirting around the truth, she wasn't prepared to tell these four senshi-barely adults-about the impending end of it all. She saw immediately that her response was not taken seriously, and continued, "The crystal vanished and Sailorsaturn started acting strangely. I do not know more than that."

Sailormercury stepped forward next to Sailorvenus then, blue-tinted visor shading her eyes as she took in readings from all around. "And this mysterious eclipse?" she asked. "My computer will not register the object covering the sun even exists, but we all know that for a lie. Surely you must know something."

Sailorpluto considered her words carefully and was just about to respond when Sailorjupiter suddenly stiffened. "Sailormoon?" she asked in disbelief, looking beyond Sailorpluto in the direction of the crystal. The others craned their necks, and their faces lit up. Sailorpluto turned as well.

Eternal Sailormoon stood not far from the crystal, feathery wings in place of her stiff-looking fuku wings fluttering in the pre-dawn breeze. Her eyes were clear as far as Sailorpluto could see, and trained on the limp form of Sailorsaturn. Looking at Sailorsaturn, she noticed that the senshi of Silence was stirring. Within moments, she would be awake again. "What is wrong with Hotaru?" Sailormoon asked quietly, her eyes still trained on the waking senshi. "Something is wrong."

Sailorsaturn's head snapped up. Startlingly, she laughed. In a voice Sailorpluto found both familiar and strange, she said, "I have won. The Sailorsaturn of the past is mine." It clicked for Sailorpluto then that the voice indeed sounded like Hotaru...a Hotaru of several years older. Her mind whirled as she stood there mutely, unsure of how to act. Was this how Crystal Tokyo was supposed to come into being?

"Mars....Flame...Sniper!" A bolt of flame arced out from behind Sailorpluto toward Sailorsaturn who was still chuckling darkly as she stood. Without even turning to face the attack, a globe of purple energy sprung up around her, deflecting Sailormars' attack. Sailorsaturn lunged for the crystal. The four senshi gasped in shock at the ease Sailormars' attack was foiled and started dashing forward in a half-hearted attempt to reach Sailorsaturn before she touched the crystal, but Sailorpluto just looked on grimly, a fist clenched to her side. This was between Sailormoon and Sailorsaturn. She was not going to intervene...was not going to intervene...

"We're too late," Sailorneptune breathed as Sailorsaturn lunged unhindered for the crystal. Suddenly, Eternal Sailormoon shot down from the sky, flying toward the crystal on her wings. She stretched for the crystal just as Sailorsaturn did as well. They touched, seemingly at the same moment. Time slowed. Sailorsaturn laughed darkly, a laugh not her own as she glowed a sickly purple-black.

"Hotaru, why are you doing this?" Sailormoon burst out then, both hands pressed up against the crystal. "Why are you against us again? Did I fail to banish all the evil inside you when I gave you a new life? Is this my fault?"

Sailorsaturn, still glowing, laughed loudly. "There is always evil, Sailormoon. Without evil, there would be no reason for good. The universe needs evil just as it needs good. Evil is the balancing force. Yet I am not content with this, so I seek more. And you senshi are the only beings that might possess enough power to stand in my way."

Sailorneptune felt a splinter of fear lodge itself in her spine. Those same words were spoken at her Trial, the Trial she had fought her own lover in. Fought and killed. She looked at Sailoruranus beside her, who looked back inquiringly. Sailorneptune shook her head wordlessly, then turned back to the drama playing out before them. Sailorpluto was there, but what did she want them to do?

"You will not win," all watching heard Sailormoon say confidently as she glowed an answering pink. But almost as soon as she did so, the purple-black of Sailorsaturn's aura raced across the crystal's surface. A thin whine resonated from deep within the crystal, increasing in intensity until the very ground beneath them heaved and buckled uncontrollably. The buildings around them creaked and groaned alarmingly, showering the senshi with pieces of concrete and glass. Sailorpluto was struck a glancing blow by one of the larger pieces and crumpled to the pavement unconscious. "What should I have done...?" ran through her head before she knew nothing.

Amid all this, a figure appeared unnoticed. She surveyed the scene with some horror. "This isn't right! I'm too late!" Hoshi moaned, glancing first at the two locked in a struggle for the crystal, then at the other senshi standing in small groups and watching in horror. Her mind raced. How could she salvage this? Then, her eyes fell on Sailoruranus and Sailorneptune.

"There is no choice. Sailorsaturn must be stopped," Sailoruranus said. Unbiddingly, an image from her Trial flashed through her mind of the false Hotaru with the uncertain, flickering face and the words she had first said. "What's the matter, Haruka-poppa...?"

An unfelt wind rushed past her ears. "World..."

The ocean waves only Sailorneptune could see crashed around her. "Deep..."

"STOP!" a voice shrieked. "Stop and run or your lives are forfeit! The crystal is preparing to unleash forces you cannot stand against! For the sake of the Queen, RUN!"

Thrown off by this unexpected voice, their attacks fizzled. Apparently the other senshi heard this same voice, for they were looking at each other uneasily.

"RUN! DON'T HESITATE!"

The thin whine from deep inside the crystal was quickly turning into a howl. As one, the inner senshi turned and ran.

"Cowards," Sailoruranus spat, though uneasiness colored her voice. "We stand together." Wind howled in her hears. Winds of Change. Winds of Destruction. The storm she had sensed from the beginning was breaking upon them.

"Fools! Go!" the same voice ordered.

"We can't die here, Haruka. It isn't the time. I can feel that," Sailorneptune said rapidly. "We must go." Without waiting to see if Sailoruranus understood, she ran over to Sailorpluto's unmoving form and began dragging her away slowly. Too slowly. Sailoruranus felt tension in the air, the power she sensed around the crystal preparing to unleash. Too late. Desperately, she ran after Sailorneptune, shoving both her and the unconscious Sailorpluto roughly into a nearby alley.

The howling grew to earsplitting proportions, then, everything went silent. Not the silence of a calm, but weird, unnatural silence of a world devoid of sound. Sailorneptune tried to say something, but her words were swallowed up. Sailorneptune and Sailoruranus looked at each other grimly, knowing Sailorsaturn was unleashing her world-destroying powers. Their hands found each other just as a deep, final-sounding rumble began in the ground accompanied by a tremendous crash. The wall they huddled under began to creak, bow, and finally buckle, sending bricks and concrete slabs raining down on them. The walls crashed around them, their cries swallowed up by the rumbling...

Usagi felt her control slipping, felt all her incarnations being slowly, painfully, stripped from her until she was no more than an average Tokyo high school student. Deep in her mind, she heard the cries of her friends, felt the very planet groan in anguish. The people of the planet were in jeopardy she realized with a pang of pure fear. She reached inside her, touched her soul, brushed her link with Mamoru- where was he?-and felt even her identity as Chiba Usagi vanish. It was time to become something more than a mere student, time to become what she had been destined to become from the very beginning. With this revelation, pure, holy power bubbled up within her. "Sleep..." she breathed her command, carried into the minds of all the people of the planet who would listen. "All will be ready when you wake." Then, wielding her new power, she returned to the struggle with Sailorsaturn as the unquestioned ruler of the new world-Neo-Queen Serenity.

The effects of the epic battle were felt in all corners of the world. People watched uneasily as the skies turned an awful red, as a solid wall of purple-black sped across the land. But, proceeding this, people felt their minds touched by peace, calm, and caring. Heeding the words spoken in their mind, they dropped into a deep sleep, undisturbed even by the wave of Destruction that swept over them and left the people untouched. The wave ripped across the planet, leaving nothing but the sleeping remnants of mankind in its wake. Thrown into violent upheaval, violent storms rocked the blasted surface with gale-force winds and incessant lightning. Far to the south and north, the temperatures dropped so much that the icecaps grew to double their proportions. And, above this, the ominous black sphere that had appeared so mysteriously hung unmoving in the sky, a blank eye witness to the destruction below. The end had come.

But even among all the devastation, a bright twinkle of light shone from what had once been Japan. Soaring a mile or more into the air, the spire of crystal jutted up from the skeletal remains of a city. A silent sentinel lying in quiet wait for the people that would eventually come inhabit its halls. A bright point of hope, waiting for a time when they would wake to find it.