Crystal Points
Emania, Land of Infinite Gods



There will come soft rains and the smell of the ground,
And swallows circling with their shimmering sound;
And frogs in the pools singing at night,
And wild plum-trees in tremulous white;
Robins will wear their feathery fire
Whistling their whims on a low fence wire;
And not one will know of the war, not one
Will care when at last it is done.
Not one would mind, neither bird nor tree
If mankind perished utterly;
And Spring herself, when she woke at dawn,
Would scarcely know that we were gone.
-Sara Teasdale,“There Will Come Soft RRains”



Episode 7- A Dream Deferred? Protection for the Senshi.


	*Up, up into the Mountains of the East, high, high into the air where our 
sibling sleeps, curled around the pinnacle of Emania’s highest point. Here, 
will you find what you seek. Here, in the High Mountains....*
	Into the mountain range they again traveled, following the path that the 
two dragons lay out for them, gliding along ahead silently. As they had bid 
farewell to Rory and Balan, watching them float away downriver, the dragons 
had become strangely silent, as though contemplating the next branch of 
their journey. The four girls had returned to the inn, gathering up their 
horses and seeing that Rory’s and Balan’s were cared for, especially if they 
were unable to return for the beasts. It was strange, wandering though the 
city outskirts, looking for the road that would take them to the mountains. 
But once safely out of the city’s sight, Rei urged her mount into the lead, 
and again they watched her open up the faerie road, the slight and subtle 
shifting that marked a path of the faerie. The difference was so subtle, a 
gentle illumination of the edges of vision, a faint glow that danced on the 
hems of the grasses and leaves. They had grown used to it before, passing 
though to Aerial, but now it again seemed fresh and new and magical. The 
ugliness that marred the city’s magic was not yet tainting this path, and it 
smelled of fresh spring rain.
	At the same time, it seemed frightening, wild still and uncharted. Not 
familiar and safe like the city’s smells of spice and food and fish. But it 
was that bit of uncertainty that made them shiver, remembering that this was 
what they were there to save. To rescue. Such beauty.
	So swift was their traveling on the faerie road, that they could look 
around them and see walls that seemed like glass, just slightly bubbled, as 
though the glassblower had intentionally left it to be opaque. At once 
point, Minako reached out and touched this substance, not expecting to feel 
anything. But her fingers met with a soft wall that hummed under fingertip, 
sending quiet ripples out from the epicenter of her nails. And though this 
obscure glass, daylight penetrated, but it seemed to be moving slowly. They 
ran parallel to the man-made trail, or perhaps the man-made trail ran 
parallel to theirs. Regardless, it did not matter. The richness of greenery 
that swallowed them upon leaving the city grew thinner as the trees gave way 
to rock, and a tougher kind of grass grew under horse hooves.
	At last, the mortal trail swerved, taking an easier route though mountain 
pass.
	*Up, straight up, and travel swift. Too much time lost already. Over the 
stones, over the rocks. Even now, the ground far away is watered, and it is 
not with rain.*
	Rei and Ami were the only ones to hear this, and they exchanged worried 
looks, knowing too well that the feeling of infinite sadness so depressing 
their dragons was that of death, and what watered the ground was blood. 
Battle raged somewhere, and they hoped that their friends would be spared of 
it. And as there was nothing they could do, they decided it best to let 
Minako and Makoto have some slight ignorance of it. Ignorance may not be 
bliss, but it could, at least, keep hopes up.
	They left the horses at this crux in the trailways, seeing that if they 
were unable to return, the creatures would be easily found by overland 
merchants, judging by the deep and fairly fresh wheel ruts in the ground. 
Too many boulders and upslopes lay ahead, too dangerous, risking broken 
legs. An injured animal would hinder them more than help.
	So they marched.
	*Up, up higher, to find what you seek. Follow us. We will take you there.*
	Four girls from modern day Tokyo, supplies on their backs, regardless of 
their youth and general good health, got tired of marching for several hours 
on end. Soldiers they may be, but not in any army that consisted of a boot 
camp- unless you counted video games virtual training.
	They were now fully surrounded by canyon walls, drop cliffs that were 
painted in earthy hues, brown and purple and yellow. Mist from fresh morning 
rain rose gorgeously over the high slopes, dazzled with hardy plants and 
mosses. Though they looked tired, and felt dirty and worn, no one 
complained. It didn’t matter. Food was strangely available, not too much, 
but enough so that they weren’t hungry. As they slept that second night, Ami 
tried an experiment. Not one of science or chemistry, but of very simple 
logic.
	If food is left out, in a likely place, and a trap set, the hypothesis is 
that within a desired amount of time, something will be caught. And being 
the intelligent girl she is, her hypothesis was proven that next morning, 
leaving Makoto a rabbit to roast over a fire Rei provided.
	To use their powers or either magic, intuition or logic in this way seemed 
odd, but strangely natural. Peaceful, even, and in the near absolute 
silence, they packed up again and headed up the base of the largest 
mountain.
	*Here. Here is where you will find what you seek. Look up. Look up!*
	Makoto looked up ahead of her, seeing Ami, and in the lead, Minako. Again 
they were working their way up a mountain. It wasn’t too steep, but it wound 
in circles, broken and interrupted by the natural shifting of the land, and 
the rainwater that wore away stone. They were a good way up the mountain, 
and the air was only just becoming thin. That was marked by a slight need to 
draw deeper breaths. Two walls of rock stood above them, and an arch of 
stone covered moss bridged a gap between mountains. But that was not what 
made her hair suddenly stand on end. It was the fact that Rei’s quiet 
leather boots were not making sound behind her.
	So she turned to see what was holding the Soldier of Fire up. Rei stood 
just a few lengths behind her, and the breeze was catching at the ends of 
her hair as she slowly turned, eyes closed. Makoto knew that look. That was 
the look when Rei sensed danger, and was looking for its source. With 
certainty, the raven haired priestess stopped as she faced forward, eyes 
opening and hand going to the air.
	“Mars Crystal Power! Make-up!”
	It echoed. And fire scorched rings of black against the stone as Ken 
flapped out of the way. Ami and Minako turned, hearing the familiar cry, and 
within moments, three more cries joined the first.
	“Mercury Crystal Power! Make-up!”
	“Jupiter Crystal Power! Make-up!”
	“Venus Crystal Power! Make-up!”
	Arrayed in a downward row, they turned forward, seeking out whatever was to 
the front that Mars was searching for. A light laugh alerted them to the 
source, and, perched on a boulder, sat a woman with bronze skin and white 
hair, legs dangling off the side, crossed at the ankles. She sat at a 
crevice in the mountainside, and the darkness of her clothes and dress 
merged her with the shadows. Even as they watched, she smiled at them, 
setting her elbows on her knees and lacing her fingers together, sweetly 
placing her chin on them. Her eyes were filled with amusement, but beneath 
that, the senshi saw something else. And, oddly, it was fear.
	“Pretty show you girls put on, you know.”
	The words were like silksteel.
	“Who are you?” Venus demanded, stepping forward as though to approach her. 
She heard the other three shifting, coming closer together for a more 
defensive position. Many thoughts raced through their minds. She was new. 
Where was Caradoc? Was she alone? Or was she with him? And if so, where was 
he? If he was here, how did he get there? With her? A faerie road, same as 
them? And why was she laughing? Then again, didn’t they always laugh?
	“I would be Daeva,” the woman replied bemusedly. She was gazing down at 
them from her position just above, with every appearance of enjoying 
herself. “And...Minako,” she gestured at Venus, “Makoto...Ami,” she moved 
her hand, pointing at each in turn, “and Rei. How nice to meet you at last. 
And you too, Lagu. Ken.” Her smile was withering, watching the two small 
dragons that had set themselves on the ground, wings arched and with the 
appearance of readiness.
	“What do you want with us?” Jupiter asked, feeling that she knew the answer 
already.
	Daeva gave a nonchalant shrug, flicking her fingers carelessly.
	It seemed that she was done talking, and would rather fight. Mars gathered 
a gasp, which was audible in the quiet of the mountain. That small motion 
was in fact an attack signal. Two dark figures slithered out of the sharp 
shadows, and hovered in the air on either side of the senshi.
	“Jupiter! Get the Point!” Venus called as the two wraiths swept in with 
blinding quickness. The ones from Aerial had been swift, and these were just 
as fast. All four of the senshi dropped as these emitted a high keening 
noise, which reverberated off the bare walls of rock. They flew around 
again, preparing for another run. Venus, still closest to Daeva, the obvious 
conductor of this attack, watched her blithely stand, turning to leave. 
“Like hell you will!” Still on her knees, a hand went into the air, in the 
familiar ‘I love you’ in sign language. “Venus Love-me Chain!”
	The line of glowing hearts sliced straight and clean though the air, 
stretching as Daeva was nearly out of range. She wasn’t able to hit her. But 
the tip of the chain wrapped itself around her wrist, which was swung back 
in natural motion. Forced to swing around when Venus tugged, her distant 
eyes narrowed and her lovely face was marred with an expression of anger. 
Then Venus watched her turn back, and leap off the boulder, legs tucked up 
neatly as she soared down, arm back. There was no time to react. Venus spun 
as the back of Daeva’s fist impacted on her left cheek, sending her reeling 
and the chain dissolving. She landed on her back, seeing Daeva above her, 
hand in the air. Just enough time to spin away, Venus heard and felt, rather 
than saw, the ground she had laid on burst into a cloud of rubble.
	In the way it is in a hectic battle, she saw Mercury and Mars again 
fighting with the wraithlike things, back to back and fending them off. But 
the speedy demons were dodging the attacks, and the dragons were soaring 
about, their small wings not fast enough to compete with the ghosts. Jupiter 
was not there, and as Venus rolled herself to her feet, saw a greenish blur 
moving rapidly up the mountain, on a narrow path.
	“Hurry, Mako-chan,” she prayed, and then prepared herself for a fight.


	Under her gloves, Sailor Jupiter felt a nail split as she pulled herself up 
to the next foothold in the cliff face. She winced, eyes squeezing shut as 
she felt a trickle of blood pool though the tip of fabric. Fukus were not 
designed for mountain climbing. At least her bootlike shoes were better than 
Mars’ heels in this situation. The fastest way: straight up. She had covered 
quite a bit of ground in the last few minutes, trying very hard not to look 
down. Not because she was afraid of heights, but because she didn’t want to 
know how bad the situation was for the others. She might be tempted to go 
back. No, she had to continue here. This was more important, right now. 
Right?
	Another foothold was an outcropping of rock, and a slight depression behind 
it. She got her toes onto it, then slid upward. Almost there. Almost to the 
ledge, then a respite, since it seemed the ledge ran in a spiral up and 
around for several meters. Then up again. No time, no time, just hurry. Damn 
it for a helicopter, or a plane, an airlift, and elevator, or even just a 
band-aid for her stupid bleeding finger, now staining though to the palm. 
She already had a few other wounds scraped across exposed skin, rubbed raw.
	Her hand hit flat ground. She heard herself grunt as she rolled herself up 
onto the horizontal ledge. Closed her eyes and breathed for two seconds, 
then hauled herself up. There could be more of those wraithlike dead things 
flying around. Or worse. She took several breaths, looking around. Sailor 
Jupiter then looked up, and saw something flap, just beyond the edge of the 
outcropping above. It brushed against some greyish shrubbery that clung to 
the face of it, making it shake.
	Several things clicked into place.
	The melee below was nothing more than a distraction, a trap. If successful, 
good. If not, it didn’t matter. That Daeva creature had a minion already 
on..his? way up the mountain. Caradoc? Did she work for him? Or he for her? 
Jupiter edged herself backward, trying to see more of what was above her. 
The angle hid most of the body, but as he rounded the corner ahead of him, 
the long sweep of black hair and wide shoulders was familiar to her. Not one 
to act too impulsively, Jupiter rushed forward. She could not catch up to 
him on time. The rock leading to that ledge went straight up, sheared off 
and perfectly smooth. And this space was too narrow to fight. So she ran 
ahead, seeking slightly more space.
	She found it, in a depression that dented the side, a few minutes later, 
trying to quietly keep the man in sight. She could not catch up. Being below 
him was her disadvantage, but she could not let him reach the top of the 
mountain first. Already she had passed the rocky bridge that seemed so high 
when the battle began. Now, rather than mist, faint clouds winged their way 
around the stone.
	“Caradoc!”
	No one had ever said Jupiter was the quiet one. Her voice vibrated off the 
bare rock, amplified, and he unmistakably heard it. “Coward! Bastard!” That 
was enough to get him to turn, peering down at his taunter. He clearly knew 
that she was too late, and provoking him was her only chance. So he grinned, 
saluted her mockingly, and began to turn away. But he was still on the edge. 
And he didn’t know what usually happened when the antenna was out of the 
little green gemstone in her tiara. “Supreme...Thunder!”
	The ledge exploded in a shower of electricity as she focused the blast at 
his feet. Not one to be forced off balance, Caradoc was able to leap lightly 
into the air before he found himself without anything to walk on. Falling 
downward, he drew his sword from its scabbard, and Jupiter lunged in even as 
he hit dirt. She couldn’t let him use that. She needed distance for her 
attacks, and good hand to hand combat fighter she was, she was unarmed, and 
he looked like he sure as hell knew how to use that blade.
	She felt pain shoot up her arm as her fist connected with his jaw. With a 
backhand, she knocked him down further, still trying to keep him below her. 
With her other arm, she pinwheeled his into hers, lashing again against his 
face. The stun of it was enough to loosen his grip, and she saw blood 
trickle out of his mouth. Jupiter pretended he was just another school 
bully. But bullies don’t usually hold swords, and even though they may try 
to pummel you, they usually stop short of death.
	Slipping around, she grabbed his wrist and twisted as hard as she could. 
The leather gauntlet on his arm kept it from snapping, but the fingers 
released the weapon at last. Turned in, she realized he was up, and was much 
larger than she. A bare moment. She ducked low enough to keep him off her 
neck. The jab sent with her elbow to his stomach connected, but hurt her 
more than him. Tears sprung to her eyes as she impacted hard leather armor.
	For all her strength, she couldn’t lift him, flip him over in an Akido 
roll. So she managed to slip out of his grip, skittering backward. Then she 
broke into a cold sweat.
	“Kuso.”
	It didn’t matter that he was unarmed now. Because she knew he had the same 
kind of weapon she did. Magic. In the form of a pair of lovely, reflective 
silver eyes. That, she didn’t expect. “Air, Element of Breath,” he began, 
and she charged forward blindly, knowing that she had to keep him from 
chanting any of those spells. Only now she was bound to the same problem. No 
time to summon the lightning.
	He caught her fist, drawing her in close, but she spun and kicked back, 
aiming for a knees and missing. But she swiveled around quickly, and tripped 
him as his other hand slammed into her stomach, sending the air out of her 
lungs. Sparkles danced in her eyes.
	“Oh god....” It was little more than a croak as her feet left the ground. 
Her charge had brought them close to the ledge. And though the blow was 
hard, it was not designed to beat her down. It was designed for effect, to 
send her flying. He knew, too, the restraint of using only magic. So he was 
going to hurl her into the vastness of space.
	But she would be damned if she was going alone.
	Her hands were free, and she brought them in close, wrapping bloody fingers 
around his forearm, sliding down to his wrist. Already off balance, the full 
weight of Sailor Jupiter tipped him over, and though he tried to throw 
himself backward, she was already too far. He, too, left the ground, and the 
slowness of the moment became a howling scream of wind.


	Venus leapt up onto the boulder Daeva had been forced to abandon. Her 
fastest attack. “Crescent Beam!” She held it, using it to laser across the 
rock below where her enemy stood. Lithely, the dark woman leapt aside, 
fingers in the air.
	Underneath her, Venus felt the rock begin to soften, and her feet grew hot. 
She jumped with every bit of strength she had, as the heat within the stone 
erupted, melting the ground she had stood on. Their battle raged on, as did 
that of Mercury and Mars.
	The two senshi of opposing elements were still back to back, though a 
couple armslengths apart. Whether or not these two had learned from the 
earlier ones, neither knew, but their attack patterns were distinctly 
different, and far more erratic. They let the senshi attack, but kept in 
such a wild dance of flight and distance, they were unable to strike. And 
the sharp talons of their dragons were useless. The wraiths outflew them, 
and they had to dodge any attacks flung out as well. So they glided lowly, 
waiting. One of Mars’ arrows had winged a creature, striking off its arm. 
But it was unfazed. And the longer they fought, Mars watched a tiny stub 
begin to fill the torn cloth. Then a tiny, babylike hand, which was no once 
again at full strength. Regeneration. Great.
	“This isn’t getting us anywhere, Mercury!” Mars shouted as she finished off 
a rapid Fire Soul. “We can’t keep this up forever!”
	“Venus is busy with that woman!” She paused to cry, “Mercury Aqua 
Rhapsody!” Again, the creature’s erratic flight pattern carried it out of 
the way before any more than the hem of its robe was doused. “There has to 
be a way to take them both out at once!”
	*Together.*
	Both senshi paused, though still alert. The same word reached their minds 
at the same moment, in the voice of both Lagu and Ken at once.
	*Together.*
	Again the creatures swung around for another attack run, their sunken faces 
clear in the sunlight. Fingers were splayed, gnarled like old oak trees.
	Instead of turning to fight again, the two faced each other, eyes closed 
and concentrating. Right hand met right hand, then above it, left met with 
left in a kind of helix. Flames ran in Mars’ blood, and she felt them grow 
hot, burning her from within. Water that usually ran deep and calm within 
Mercury became rapid, a torrent and a flood.
	When they opened their eyes, their gazes locked.
	What is the result, of two different elements, not working to fight the 
other, but to work together? What happens when water ceases to put out fire? 
And what happens when water scalds a person rather than chills them? In 
alignment, who knows what combined magic can do?
	Blue water and red fire merged, and the result was a blossoming lavender 
light.



	So much wind.
	Jupiter didn’t know that wind could hurt, screaming in her ears, pulling at 
her arms and body. She felt herself spinning around, and realized that in a 
few moments, she would be quite dead. Now she looked downward, and saw the 
battle below rushing up to greet her with very hard arms. Her hair had come 
unbound from the little ribbon holding it up, and it streamed though her 
vision, slapping her cheeks sharply, stinging. She could see Venus, leaping 
into the air as a boulder melted. And Mercury and Mars. What were they 
doing? Ignoring the enemy? No, they’re coming to kill you...turn around, 
face them...there won’t be a Jupiter to protect you anymore....
	“I want to protect them....”
	*And why is it, that your final wish is to protect them?*
	The wind tore the words from her lips, but it seemed that it did not 
matter. “They’re my friends....”
	*So?*
	“That is...my life....”
	*Do you know, girl, what it is to protect a thing? Do you know that breath 
is the air that animates a being? That without breath in their lungs, humans 
cannot live? Do you understand, girl, that the wind screams even as a person 
does scream? That it sighs as a person does sigh, and cries as a human does 
cry? People do not listen to the wind, anymore. *
	“Then they should....”
	Light of painful brightness enveloped Jupiter, glittering lavender, alight 
with gleaming fireflies of silver and gold, swimming in blue fire. And wind 
fed the flames.
	Under her body, so close now to the ground, something drew up under her 
belly, gently easing her into the air once more. Prickly but also soft, firm 
and also pliant. Strong.
	Her hands wrapped around something, and as her eyes eased open, she saw 
feathers. Green, spring green, like brightly sunlit grass, almost yellow. As 
she turned her head, she felt them soar upward, and felt the streaming 
currents of air across the broad back of a dragon. Below, she heard a dull 
sound, almost a smack. “Oh god....” her eyes squeezed shut as she realized 
it was the sound of flesh and bone impacting very hard, very fast, against 
stone. She buried her face into the feathers, and felt them turn around, to 
land.


	Where Mercury and Mars stood, hand still in hand, they hesitated, not 
believing the sensations that rippled in them and around them, the very air 
filled with illusionary currents. Slowly, their grips unlocked, and they 
looked at the ground around them. A circle had been blown out of the rock 
around them. Together, a cone of power had risen from their hands, spiraling 
counterclockwise in banishment from where they stood. A crater, more than 
ten meters in diameter. And above them, no wraiths hovered.
	“Venus!” Mercury exclaimed, recovering first and leaping the short step 
into the crater. Mars was barely a step behind her. The blast of their power 
had flung both opponents from their feet. Venus was on her knees, staggering 
up, quickly aided by Mercury’s hand, as Mars took a position before them, 
ready. But she need not have worried. Daeva was on her feet, but her lovely 
face was contorted, hideous in its fury.
	A bugle blast interrupted anything that might have been said, and in the 
empty stone walls, it was like an earthquake. Winds of high velocity whipped 
around them, sending hands before faces to ward off flying dust. Another 
bugle sounded, and their eyes set upon a new dragon. Four giant feathered 
wings were spread out, and its curved, eagle-like beak was open, the source 
of the trumpeting. A high crest of feathers rose around his face, and dark 
green eyes contrasted with the light green prism of the crystal in its 
forehead.
	Behind them, two trumpets sounded, a light soprano and a resonating 
baritone, the answering calls of Lagu and Ken. The senshi turned their heads 
to see them once again donning their full forms, wings also extended.
	Daeva seemed little impressed, though the expression of rage on her face 
did not cease. Though the expression, she gave a short laugh. Not one of 
happiness, but of hatred, little more than a bark. “I was beginning to 
wonder, if you would kill him,” she said plainly, first to the three senshi 
before her, then turning to momentarily look up at Jupiter, still 
dragonback. “He’s dead?”
	So emotionless.
	Jupiter inclined her head downward in response. “Too bad. I was rather fond 
of that one.” Another sharp bark of laughter was emitted from Daeva as she 
pulled herself tall again. Her lips twisted into a scowl, but she forced a 
smile though it. “I’ll sound pathetic now- but you should know...this isn’t 
over.”
	Mars broke out of the silence, stepping forward, prepared to fight her, to 
attack, bringing her hands up and around, flames stretching as she nocked an 
arrow. But Daeva needed to only move a hand, and then she was gone, a ripple 
where she had stood.
	“Faerie road,” Venus mumbled as she stood, taking a couple cleansing 
breaths. Reluctantly, she dusted herself off. “So she can use them too.”


	Just beyond them, the two smaller dragons moved to greet their brother, 
touching noses delicately. Then the newest lowered the pair of wings on one 
side, dipping them so Jupiter could slide off. “Minna?”
	Venus began to laugh a little, harshly, but with relief filling it. 
Mercury’s eyes filled up with tears and she placed her hands to her lips, as 
Mars ran forward, laughing hysterically with relief. “You’re okay! Jupiter! 
What happened? Did you fight that Caradoc guy?”
	“Yeah...” she gasped, beginning to join in the relieved, shaky laughter. 
“We went over the side of the cliff.... Eolh...Eolh caught me....”
	“Eolh?” Mars glanced around her friend, and took in the size of the dragon. 
Twice the size of Lagu, half again as large as Ken. “Your dragon? Geez, I 
guess he’s the largest now.”
	*Actually, she is largest,* Ken commented.
	“Who?” Mars asked the dragon, craning her neck back to meet his eyes. They 
swiveled to Venus, who was beginning to approach them. Mercury walked 
alongside, both smiling that everything was all right.
	“Are you okay, Mako-chan?” Venus asked as Eolh moved his beaky head down to 
give Jupiter a light shove in the back.
	*Jupiter, we must not wait here, now. Things move quickly. Listen.*
	And so she did, and felt a breeze of air across her face. It was cool, but 
there was a metallic twang to it. Far away and faint, she heard a scream, as 
though only a whispered one. “Eolh, what is that?”
	*That is the sound of a battle that should not be fought.*
	“Jupiter, what is it?” Mercury asked. She whipped out the trusty 
mini-computer, and began taking in information.
	“Eolh says that we need to move. There’s a battle going on...” a puzzled 
frown formed on her lips. “I don’t know where...I...I can’t hear it....”
	“Hear it?” Venus asked, confused. “The battle’s over....”
	“No, a different one. Lots of people. An army. Far from here.”
	“There’s residual energy in our area,” Mercury added into the conversation. 
“But the faerie roads...I don’t know how to explain them. I wish Pluto were 
here...it’s not temporal, but I’m getting some bizarre readings that break 
into that field of physics. More like some form of pocket dimension, or a 
subspace field. If Daeva went to this battle you’re talking about, there may 
not be a way to trace her.”
	“She said it wasn’t over,” Mars reminded them. “We knew about the battle, 
Mercury. If she went there, there isn’t much she’ll change-”
	“You knew?” Venus interrupted, startled. “You didn’t tell us there was a 
battle going on somewhere?”
	“Mars! Mercury! Balan...and Rory-hime could be in the middle of it!”
	No.
	Three senshi straightened as the single word entered their minds. Venus 
scowled. “Will you let me in on the dragon-speak?”
	“They all say that Balan and Rory-hime are okay,” Mercury informed her.
	*The water along the river runs peacefully. Do not fear. They still travel 
my domain. But soon they will leave. Then I may not track them. But then, it 
is not far, and the blood enters my river north of Ken’s home. Do not worry 
for them.*
	“Lagu also says that the battle is north of there.” Mercury intentionally 
declined to say how, exactly, her dragon knew that. But it didn’t matter. 
“We should get going. It will take awhile to cross Emania.” She looked at 
her dragon, then turned the computer around to show them her virtual map of 
the land. “Lagu and I have been trying to pinpoint the next location. There 
are some caves far to the east. Even in the subspace dimension of the faerie 
road, it will take us a a couple weeks. And we still need to go back for the 
horses.”
	*That is stupid.*
	Mars rolled her eyes and repeated Ken’s newest declaration of stupidity. 
Mercury flushed. She wasn’t used to being called stupid, for any reason.
	*Lagu and I are not large enough for two. Our backs are not made for it. 
Look at Eolh. He is much larger. He can carry the Minako one as well as 
Makoto. And on wing, we travel much more quickly than those stupid horses. 
We will take you to our sister much more quickly.*
	Mars repeated Ken’s words, and there were nods of agreement at the idea.
	“Eolh, you can carry Minako too?”
	*Ken is right. I am bigger than he and Lagu. There is room for your friend 
on my back.*
	Jupiter smiled. “V-chan, Eolh says he can carry you, too.”
	“Great. Always wanted to fly.” She blinked a couple times, then stared at 
Jupiter. “Mako-chan, I though you were afraid to fly.”
	“Only in airplanes. Besides,” she turned grateful eyes up to Eolh, who 
would have been smiling, if he could. “Eolh won’t crash.”
	“Then let’s go!” Mars laughed, turning. She touched the pin on her bow, 
then looked over her shoulder as the rings of fire faded away, returning her 
to the tunic and boots. “Between one of my faerie roads, and being on wing, 
who can stop us?”
	There were three smiling faces, who nodded in agreement. Detransfoming, the 
little canyon was filled with light and magic, and then the sound of rushing 
wings as three dragons spread their sails, beating hard on the downstroke to 
raise themselves up.
	“Doesn’t he come with a seat belt?” Minako asked warily as winds sent her 
hair swirling up around her head. Instead, she grabbed onto two of the 
feathers before her, precariously hanging on.
	“Ready?” Makoto called over her shoulder.
	“Hai!” Minako screamed back over the wind.
	The newest addition soared upward, joining the fire and water dragons.
	Then they vanished.



	Into the shadows of a rubble-strewn alleyway, a woman stepped though a 
tear. It was rough on the edges, as though a scythe had raggedly torn though 
in anger. But the figure emerging was calm, detached from the world around 
her. Absently, Daeva flipped a lock of white hair over her shoulder, and 
looked around with a kind of observant disinterest.
	A man lay in a puddle of dirty water to her left, unconscious. She sniffed 
in disdain. With a graceful motion, she touched her hair, meaning to push 
the messy strands out of her eyes. No time to brush it after that last 
encounter. No, not to move quickly enough. But as she pushed it back, her 
fingertips contacted something hard. A comb, which she drew from her hair, 
noticing the lovely butterfly design, inlaid with pink seashell. A mother of 
pearl sat in its center. With a frown, she grimaced as a drop of rain fell 
onto it. Last thing she would need was a storm. She looked up, though the 
layers of hanging laundry, flapping in the breeze. But though it was cloudy, 
the cumulus clouds towered white, not grey. Puzzled, her eyebrows lifted, 
then she touched her face, feeling another raindrop. With a startled 
realization, she looked down again at her gift. “Tears, Caradoc? My, I did 
love you after all, then, didn’t I? How odd.” She made a small humming 
sound, as though considering it. With a shrug, she returned the comb to its 
place, sweeping back her hair neatly in the process. She didn’t like to 
feel...unkempt. “Well, if that is true, then I suppose that I’ll have to 
take some revenge for you. Would you like revenge, my silver eyed love?”
	She spoke very softly to herself, less than a murmur. But she stepped out 
of the alley, around the broken stone she had left several nights before. 
Walking along the stream of humanity, she watched them. Men shouted and 
women squabbled, and a dirty child nearly ran into her in a game of tag. 
Such filth this place reeked of. Spoiled fish and fragrance layered too 
heavily. Cologne. “A proper job of it,” she decided, “and continue the 
work.”
	Within a few minutes, she had turned towards Aerial’s busy marketplace, the 
crowd of people growing thicker as did the smells and sounds. Barefoot, she 
nearly stepped in some animal’s offal. Disgusted, she began to see why so 
many people here held their heads down. Too look for any filth underfoot.
	She began to cross to the center of the plaza. But a roar of laughter 
distracted her, causing her to turn in curiosity, and hope. Laughter, true 
laughter, was something she wished she heard more of. But as the sound 
erupted again, Daeva sensed an aura of menace within it. The laughter not 
with a person, but at them.
	“What’s so funny?” She asked a pudgy woman beside her.
	In reply, the woman snorted, “Some loony. Can’t you hear ‘im?”
	Curiosity again piqued, she leaned forward, rising to her toes to see over 
the heads of men before her. A man stood on the streetcorner, unwashed and 
unshaved, railing, “It’s the end! Go back to the old ways...or the demons 
will kill all who corrupt the world! Take it for themselves,” he lowered his 
voice. “Could be anywhere...watching! The furies...faeries filled with 
anger! Vengeance!” He wheeled crazily, a bony hand accusing the crowd. Too 
close to Daeva’s direction it landed, and she rolled back on her heels as 
she heard, “Nothing to save us! The Priestesses purge the dark magics, but 
still the demons return! You’ll all die! Die!”
	“Very...loony,” Daeva agreed with the woman, who was giving her a 
disapproving frown with thin lips. Amused that she was not matching the 
woman’s standards of ‘modesty’ she arched an eyebrow, laughing inwardly at 
her. So colorless, this woman, with washed out skin and eyes that held no 
color. Even her hair was a dullish shade, not brown and not grey. 
Forgettable, easily. Just like any middle aged woman anywhere, who had no 
sense of self, no life other than the day’s chores. Which, for this woman, 
appeared to be a bushel of dirty rags for the laundry. “Why, is there 
something the matter?” Daeva asked perversely, just to unbalance her.
	To her delight, the woman stuttered, “Just...thinking about those new 
styles you younger girls wear. Nothing like that in my day.” Her nose went 
into the air. Daeva smoothed the black cloth of her dress, proudly admiring 
the silk of it. She spun it herself.
	But to get the conversation off her, the colorless woman again referred to 
the ranter. “Faeries. What garbage.”
	“Oh?”
	“Don’t tell me you believe in such stupid things! Nonsense.”
	“I don’t know...I was always taught that the world around us is important. 
Were you not, when you were young?”
	“’Course,” the sniffed, as though insulted. “But no one never seen a fairy 
or their kin in generations. Gran said she seen one when she was a girl, but 
not my ma or me. Crazy,” she repeated, as though to convince Daeva as well 
as herself.
	“So what, then? You don’t need magic in your-”
	Before Daeva could even finish, she was interrupted by a short, harsh laugh 
from the woman. “Magic? What magic? Magic’s for them up on the Fire 
Mountain, or those witches with the funny eyes. This here,” she hefted the 
bushel, “this is my magic. Goes in the water dirty, comes out clean. This is 
what we do,” she said, stomping on the ground and referring to the pavement. 
“we make our own magic. Clear some space, get rich on the profit.”
	“At the expense of the faerie?”
	“At the expense of- Didn’t you ‘ear me? Ain’t no faeries. Delusions! No 
proof of ‘em. You sound almost as crazy as that loon,” she huffed, jerking 
her chin at the raving man. Two armed men were pushing their way though the 
crowd now, and taking his flailing arms. “They’ll put him where loonies 
can’t rave like that. Make life difficult for civilized folk.”
	“So you’re civilized now, are you?”
	“Better than living like animals out in the woods! Lock up the loons, let 
us have our peace.”
	“Hm,” Daeva agreed, watching the crowd dissipate. “So then, civilized 
people need...proof? To ensure what they do not see is real?”
	The woman laughed at her, shaking her head. “Mayhap I call those guards 
back for you! Loon,” she muttered as she turned away, shaking her head and 
vanishing into the crowd.
	“Civilized people need proof. What next?” She sighed and turned, feeling 
the people brush past her. “Proof. Yes, I can give them proof. Lots of 
proof. All this civilization needs is proof that they’re wrong. That they’re 
insane. That their lives are insane...yes, proof will be very good, if the 
people are thinking logically. But those who are insane aren’t thinking 
logically. No, not at all.”
	If anyone heard her quiet speech, they ignored her. They were used to 
people who talked to themselves out loud, thinking they had an audience. Or 
crazies like the man on the corner. One young, pretty woman would cause 
little stir. So no one stopped her progress to the center of the plaza, no 
one noticed her smile sadly as she lifted a hand into the air and began to 
speak. If they had, maybe someone would have recognized her words as a 
chant, a spell. If they were trained, maybe they would have acted to prevent 
it, the summoning of whatever it was she called. But no one listened. No, 
civilized people let the authorities take care of crazies. Get them out of 
sight, where no one wants to look.
	But what people did notice was the blackness in the sky. They noticed, too, 
the ground tear up underfoot as dead things began to rise from their graves 
of stone and concrete. They saw each other scream and begin to run from the 
locus of the melee. They saw things of shadow fly, and fires flame into the 
daylight.
	And for many hours, Aerial burned.



	It was a long trip, even on wing. The day passed by with unnatural 
swiftness, swiftness felt oddly on the faerie road. A translucent world flew 
by underneath, shimmering in colors unseen by mortal eyes, shifting into the 
sunset’s purple and red. Rei kept herself flat against Ken’s scaly neck and 
back, fingers clinging to the armored ridges. If she turned her head to the 
side, she could see Makoto and Minako on Eolh to her right, the giant wings 
on full display. Just ahead was Lagu, wings in downbeat, then soaring again, 
and Ami’s small body could be seen on her neck.
	Clinging there, she could smell the sulfuric tang of Ken’s scales, bitter 
but not unpleasant. She could also feel the warmth radiating from him, as 
though a fire burned under his skin. And, in a way, she supposed, there was 
one. There was one point in the day that the heat grew scalding, and she was 
forced to remove her cheek from his neck. But now it was quiet again, cool 
though still warm, and pleasant. Still, she wondered at the heat, and about 
the new enemy. Daeva, she called herself. Odd name. Too pretty for a demon, 
really. But then, Beryl, Nepherenia, Galaxia...those weren’t ugly names. It 
didn’t matter.
	“Ken?” Rei whispered, tilting her head against the scales. The wind 
currents passing over her were strong, and it was easiest to make herself as 
flat as possible, sending wind flying sleekly over her. “Ken? Can you hear 
me this way?”
	*Yes.*
	She smiled faintly, and jerked her head slightly, whipping a strand of hair 
from her eyes. “That Daeva woman...what is she? I don’t think she’s human.”
	*You are right. She is not human.*
	To this, Rei blinked a couple times, unsure what to think. “Then what is 
she?”
	*She is a fairy.*
	That was so blunt and unexpected, Rei froze, unthinking for a moment. 
“Nani? That’s impossible! She can’t be a fairy! That doesn’t make sense!”
	*Why not?*
	She thought about that. Then finally, “Like Prilla?”
	*No. Not like Prilla. Prilla was very little. Barely more than a baby. Her 
power is not strong yet. Daeva is old. Very, very old. And very, very 
angry.*
	“About what? She’s the one going around trying to kill everything!”
	Ken made a mental motion much like a shrug. *Yes, exactly.*
	“But...!” Rei was interrupted as Ken suddenly shifted direction.
	*Lagu says we must descend. Eolh and I follow her.*
	Then Rei had no time to argue, because she found herself diving downward. 
And she saw, after a moment, why.


	A very sharp claw raked across the cheek of the fighting woman. She was not 
alone, but her companions were busy with their own battles. It was a shallow 
scratch, but brought blood to the surface. The sword swung around again, 
impacting on the creature’s arm. Armor blocked it. She felt her cloak 
grabbed and pulled, tearing as her windpipe was cut by the brooch holding it 
together. Fighting off a gag, she ducked, hair catching, but it was enough. 
Her sword cut into its exposed underbelly, and the hairy creature crashed 
down before her, and she scrambled out of the way before too much blood or 
guts soaked her.
	Ripping the cloak off, she was barely able to deflect the blow of a new 
opponent, larger and with eyes that burned. “Water, element of life....” The 
creature’s mouth opened, and a tongue of flame slithered out, and she rolled 
to the side, abandoning her chant to escape. Again! “Water...!”
	Light from above, blue and crystalline, descended through the treetops, and 
a trumpet blast that would shatter eardrums. No words. Just a sudden flood 
that engulfed the walking nightmare. Silver eyes looked up, watching a 
gilded blue dragon encompass the monster in claws bursting with its element. 
Any sound was the gurgle of water, of a drowned thing.
	The person on the back of the dragon was not expected, though perhaps she 
should have expected it. “Ami?”
	“Caitlyn! We’re here to help!”
	The sorceress’ face set hard, and she wordlessly turned, running back into 
the fray. It was dispelling rapidly, with the aid of the dragons. Roars 
could be heard, though voices not human, and though voices draconic. The 
wings of Eolh could be seen over the trees, and char and ash were swirling 
hotly though the air on Eolh’s winds. Lagu pivoted, leaping into the air and 
gliding a few feet to take them to the next person. Mercury braced herself 
as her dragon swiveled, tail swinging along behind her, and sending the 
goblin crashing into a tree, a loud snap heard as its neck broke.
	The man stared up at her a moment, then grunted, turning and snatching up 
his dropped axe. Then, he too was gone, back into the fight. “Lagu, let’s 
follow. There must be a center to the fighting, somewhere.”
	Lagu was already on her way.

	Several minutes later, an exhausted group of silver eyed men and women 
ringed around the four Sailor Senshi and the three dragons. The silver eyed 
combatants were weary looking, rag tag and more than slightly battered. But 
they held their heads high, proudly. In the dawning darkness, the smoky 
winds held a red glow. Caitlyn stepped forward, glancing at the remaining 
debris and demon carcasses left around them. “Thanks,” she said, looking 
first at Mercury, then the others. “I see you all met up again. We’ll talk 
at dinner. We’re moving out. This isn’t a good place to rest.” That was 
obvious, considering the remains that were around them. With that, Caitlyn 
turned away, walking back to her group. Over her shoulder, she called as an 
afterthought, “You can drop the illusion! No one here will care!”
	With some final suspicious glances, the others began to follow her.
	“You’d think they could show some gratitude,” Rei muttered as the final 
ring of fire vanished into the earth. “We just saved their lives.” She 
glanced up and saw Ken’s head towering above her. He bent down, and she 
touched his muzzle. “We need to keep going. The sooner we find yours, 
Minako-chan, the better.”
	“No, she’s right,” Minako shook her head. “It’s already dark. We need to 
get some sleep, and your dragons need some rest. And they have food. We’ve 
got what, Mako-chan?”
	“Some bread. But I think the cheese is moldy.”
	Minako wrinkled her nose. “Yeah. Mold would be bad.”
	“Do you think they’ll give us anything?” Makoto commented quietly, looking 
down. She still felt guilty over the battle in Ansur, helping to ‘cleanse’ 
the region of ‘witches.’ It didn’t matter that she hadn’t known better.
	“I’m sure they will,” Ami sighed, shaking her head. “Come on, minna. We 
have to catch up. And I don’t want to stay here any longer.” She began to 
move forward, Minako falling in step beside her.

	The sorcerers made rapid progress, and the senshi had to run to keep up, 
knocking brambles out of their way as they tried to follow the weaving path 
made before them. Lagu, Ken, and Eolh had taken to wing, and though were 
still close, had tucked themselves away on the ledge of a nearby cliff. By 
the time the four senshi caught up, they found that a campsite was already 
nearly done, sparse though it was. A clearing, and two men were setting up a 
cookfire and a makeshift tripod over it. A woman was rooting around in the 
dirt beneath a tree, looking for tubers. After a moment, she was successful, 
and produced a hairy, bulbous brown root from the ground.
	No one spoke to them, and the one person they tentatively knew was nowhere 
to be seen. But no one stopped them, and other than a few odd glances their 
way, the senshi were left alone. “Maybe we should try talking to them....” 
Minako began, but Makoto grabbed her before she could go introduce herself.
	“Minako-chan, let’s just wait for...Caitlyn-san. I mean, they may just be 
tolerating us...you and me, at least....”
	Minako looked over at the group and received a hard look from one of the 
men. She smiled weakly and retreated, backing closer to the other three. 
“Then we might as well have that bread... Let’s get our own fire going, too. 
Rei-chan, try not to burn the forest down.”
	“Hey!”
	Within a few minutes, the air around them was filled with the familiar 
(Minako doing an admirable job of replacing Usagi) bickering that came when 
Rei decided to argue about something. Their small fire was crackling away 
into the night, smokelessly. Rei had more than mastered the ‘trick’ Ken had 
taught her, and even not powered up, was able to create a fair stream of 
fire from her fingertips. The bread was still good, if dried out, and as 
Makoto had mentioned, the cheese was bad. That got pitched into the forest. 
No one wanted to try going over to the other group to ask for food. They 
still had water enough, but there was a definite back-turning to the four 
girls. There was a tiny fire off to the side, where a couple of injured men 
lay, a petite woman tending them carefully, hands glittering as she worked 
healing magic.
	Then, abruptly, as they munched on their bread, “Those are the Points, 
aren’t they?”
	Four heads spun around and saw Caitlyn standing above them, holding a 
largish, shallow bowl. “Rosalinde wanted me to bring you something to eat, 
too.” She set the bowl down, and pushed it towards Makoto as she folded her 
legs and settled in. “She says you four couldn’t figure your way around some 
roots when you’re standing on them. Which you’re fairly close to doing,” she 
gestured at a shrub behind them. “Plants like that usually grow around more 
vegetables. Look underneath and dig them up. Guess your world doesn’t have 
that, does it?”
	“We go to the supermarket,” Rei commented dryly as she took a portion from 
the offered bowl.
	“Not even going to ask what that is,” Caitlyn snorted, shrugging. “But I 
repeat. Those are the Points, aren’t they?” She gestured up at the heights 
that the dragons had curled up on. The wings of Ken and Eolh could just be 
seen over the rise of the ledge.
	“Hai,” Ami agreed, biting carefully into the food. Her eyes lit up as it 
was sweet, and she began to chew thoughtfully. “Lagu, Ken, and Eolh.”
	“Hm,” Caitlyn mumbled, warming her hands absently at the fire. “I wouldn’t 
get worried then,” she added, looking sharply at Makoto, then Minako. “About 
any of us stealing such creatures. Obviously we couldn’t control them.”
	It was a pointed mark, and it stung. Though veiled, it did seem to 
represent where two of them stood with the silver eyed. They remembered 
Ansur.
	“But still,” Caitlyn continued, not missing a beat, “thanks. For today. 
There have been more and more of those things lately. Today was the worst, 
actually. We lost a good man this morning. The Seal must be degenerating 
further. And they’re all heading west.” She jerked her chin back in 
reference to the other silver eyed. “Eliana’s sent out troops to kill off 
any in the region. Don’t want to get attacked in our new hidey hole.” She 
paused a moment, deliberately not saying where the ‘hidey hole’ was. Then, 
“They’re coming out of nowhere. You seen anything?”
	There were glances exchanged, and Caitlyn’s eyebrows arched expectantly. 
“Well?”
	“When we found Eolh,” Makoto told her. “There was an attack. Led by a woman 
who calls herself Daeva. We killed Caradoc, but she escaped. I think she’s 
the one behind all this.”
	There were nods from the other three, and Caitlyn bit her lip. “Caradoc? 
That’s not the most common name...you couldn’t mean... No, that’s-”
	“The Southern King,” Minako affirmed, looking at her hands. “He was working 
with Daeva.”
	“And he was silver eyed,” Makoto told them quietly. Mouths went agape. “I 
saw, when we fought. He was going to try magic, since I disarmed him.”
	“Huh. What do you know. Hiding it. But why work with a demon?” Caitlyn 
asked them, looking for an answer.
	“She wasn’t a demon,” Ami protested. “Not like the others we’ve seen. She 
looked more like...I don’t know...Kaolinite, or something. Human, but 
not....”
	“I was talking to Ken, just before the battle,” Rei mentioned, frowning as 
she finished the baked...whatever it was. Her fingers were sticky and she 
dribbled some water on them to wash it off. “He says that she’s a fairy. And 
old one.”
	“A fairy?” Caitlyn asked. “You’ve seen them?”
	Four sets of eyes turned to Caitlyn who had an unexplainable expression on 
her face. Not quite hope, or amazement, but a bit of both and something 
more. “I have,” Rei told her. “A little one.”
	That caused Caitlyn to smile. “I haven’t. A little one? Then they are still 
being born,” she said, and her voice was bordering on a laugh. Then she 
placed her face in her hands and chuckled, “Thank the gods, they’re still 
being born.”
	“You haven’t, Caitlyn-san?” Ami asked gently, tilting her head to the side 
and watching her.
	The sorceress shook her head as she looked up. “No. Rosalinde says she did, 
once. At a fairy ring. She was looking for mushrooms, and there they were. 
Some of us have. But when we talk to the others, they say they never have.” 
She hesitated as though realizing something, then elaborated, “Non-silver 
eyed. Especially in the North or West. Haven’t figured out why yet.”
	“Wait.” Minako held up a hand. “Rei-chan, didn’t you tell us that 
Prilla...Prilla, right?” At Rei’s nod, she continued, “Was protecting that 
area? Is that the duty of a fairy? To protect?” There was an acknowledgment 
from Caitlyn, and Minako again continued, “Then why is Daeva attacking 
people? Shouldn’t she be protecting them then?”
	There was a long silence, and the popping of the fire was clearly heard 
amongst the mutterings of the other group. From where she sat, Ami wrapped 
her arms around her knees and thought about that. A rogue fairy? It sounded 
ridiculous. Fairies should be like the Prilla one Rei told them about. Not 
like Daeva. ‘Fairy’ didn’t sound right. It brought that Disney fairy to 
mind: Tinkerbell, wasn’t it? ‘Fey’ -that sounded better, or ‘faerie.’ Older 
words for the same meaning. It didn’t matter. Fire rippled in her eyes as 
she considered the possibilities. None of the people she had met in Emania 
seemed to be what they initially thought. Sweet Lenora, so uncertain, 
issuing edicts to slaughter innocent men and women. Rory, a princess who 
wished to be an adventurer instead. Caitlyn, a witch on a mission.
	A witch...on a mission.
	Ami blinked a couple times to clear the dryness from her eyes. “Minna,” she 
began carefully, aware all eyes were on her. “What if Daeva is like 
Caitlyn-san?”
	Stares.
	“If Rei is right and she’s a fairy, she is not going to be a silver eyed,” 
Caitlyn snapped, then seemed to catch Ami’s train of thought, leaving her 
mouth open a moment as her mind processed the thought. “No. You mean....”
	“Hai.”
	“Want to clue us in, geniuses?” Makoto drolled, arching her eyebrows in 
query.
	Caitlyn and Ami turned to look at the other three. Ami then explained, 
“When we first met Caitlyn-san, we thought she was after Lagu and the others 
for herself, or for the other silver eyed. We then learned that was not 
quite accurate.”
	“Quite?” Caitlyn asked, frowning.
	“You still want to use them to your advantage, to rule Emania. If not you 
personally, then someone among you. Though not for dark reasons, but for 
survival. Ne?”
	The sorceress allowed this and shrugged nonchalantly.
	“What if Daeva, too, is fighting for survival?”
	As the other three caught on, chills caressed their spines, both from 
realization of the implications, and from the cool breeze stirring the 
leaves overhead. “I have a question then,” Minako announced, waiting for 
them to focus on her. She was clasping the water bottle she held tightly, 
twisting it. “Why would she want to kill the humans? Why would she summon 
demons from beyond the Seal thing? And another thing,” she looked puzzled, 
“what exactly is beyond this ‘Seal’ everyone is so worried about?”
	Eyes switched expectantly from Caitlyn to Ami and back again.
	Caitlyn began cautiously, thinking it out even as the words passed her 
lips. “I can only guess. If it is the duty of a fairy to protect the land,” 
she brought her fingers to her lips in thought, “then Daeva must see 
something as a threat. That means something is leading her to believe it is 
a threat. Something that has happened over the last few generations. What 
has changed?” Now she seemed to be musing aloud, more to herself than to the 
other four. Her eyes literally brightened when the thought struck her. “The 
land. The cities. The babies. Too many. The threats of war, since the North 
and West are burgeoning with people. The South is strong, but very old 
fashioned. The East has grown very poor, clinging to the old ways. No 
armies, nothing. Too few people to fight. That’s why Boreas was always 
making overtures to the Eastern lands. Then the colonists along the borders. 
Expansion. What happens when the land gets paved over for too many people? 
What happens when too many people begin to fight for not enough resources? 
The water’s barely begun to boil. But Daeva’s already felt the heat, and 
she’s acting on it. That’s it. She’s trying to prevent a collapse.”
	The other four were staring blankly.
	“Huh?” -from Minako.
	“Isn’t it the same in your world? Don’t people fight over resources in your 
world?”
	Looks were exchanged, and the thoughts of wars over oil and land and 
energy. Of pollution and corruption that erupts when one country or king or 
dictator got too greedy. Their expressions were enough for Caitlyn. “Your 
faces....” she breathed nervously. “How bad, are the wars in your world?”
	There were pained looks.
	“Hundreds of people dead?” Caitlyn asked, feeling sorry for them.
	Eyes were averted.
	Startled, she tilted her head and asked nervously, “Thousands?”
	When there was no response, she paled, and weakly whispered, “Millions....”
	“That’ll change soon!” Rei protested after a moment. “When Usagi-chan 
becomes the Neo-Queen!”
	Caitlyn still looked ill, and commented cynically, “And what about a world 
with no ‘Usagi-chan’?”
	The sorceress watched as they suddenly found the ground at their feet very 
interesting. “Still...” Minako choked after a moment. “Then Daeva is trying 
to prevent worse wars or...collapse? Oh god. Then...then...she’s trying to 
prevent our world from happening here.”
	“The cauldron has just begun to get warm,” Caitlyn echoed herself quietly. 
“Minako, as for your earlier question. The Seal...it’s a legend, same’s 
everything else here. There is no exact definition of what is beyond it. 
There are many interpretations, the most popular is a place where only 
demons dwell.”
	“Hell,” Rei stated bluntly, knowing very well where demons would dwell.
	“Uh...minna....” Ami asked uncertainly, a very bad feeling in the pit of 
her stomach. “What happens to a fairy when it’s killed?”
	“They can die?”
	Caitlyn snorted, “What do you think happens when you build a city over a 
forest?”
	“Oh...” Makoto mumbled, trying to keep from squirming. She wanted to get 
away from this conversation. It made her uncomfortable, and she was aware 
that the others were feeling the same effect. No Sailor Senshi. No Sailor 
Moon, Princess or Neo-Queen Serenity. Who or what could cleanse the negative 
energy? The logical thought would be the people themselves. It almost made 
all they had accomplished in their time as nothing more than a ‘quick fix.’ 
Poof, one moment the world is a shambles, frozen for a millennia. Wake up, 
ruled by the kindhearted Neo-Queen. Just like...magic.
	“Do fairies become demons?” Ami’s voice was so faint they could barely hear 
her, even in the quiet. “Is that what happens?” She paused thoughtfully then 
said,
	“’What happens to a dream deferred?
	Does it dry up
	Like a raisin in the sun?
	Or fester like a sore--
	And then run?
	Does it stink like rotten meat?
	Or crust and sugar over--
	like a syrupy sweet?
	Maybe it just sags
	like a heavy load.
	 Or does it explode?”
	“I remember that poem,” Rei commented quietly. “Some American poet.”
	Ami just nodded in agreement, saying, “Langston Hughes.”
	“She’s summoning the dead faerie,” Caitlyn concluded. “If she is one, then 
they will listen to her. And the fact that they were murdered...” she looked 
at her own hands, as though expecting to find them red. “She’ll attack 
again.”
	“But that still leaves the question: Why stop us from finding the Points? 
They’re the Elements, right?” Rei demanded, palms up and looking from face 
to face. “They’ll save Emania, not destroy it. That makes no sense at all! 
Has she cracked then?”
	A deranged, sociopathic fairy. Oh goody. Caitlyn groaned as she considered 
that. Then she realized, “No, it does make sense. Think about it. Ami said 
she’s like me. Any of us. We wanted the Points to use them. Control their 
power. Eliana sent me out to catch one of you, to lead me to them.” When she 
got a couple sharp glares from the senshi, reminded of the day on the Fire 
Mountain, she ignored them and continued, “Daeva is very much under the 
impression you will use it to merely destroy her and what she’s been doing. 
For your betterment, not Emania’s. Even from another world, you’re hardly 
impartial. Your wars. Your world. Your own destruction.”
	She looked each senshi in the eye as she said these things, and made them 
think of the violence and hatred that often raged across the planet. It 
might have seemed silly, to think about saving the world. But then, isn’t 
that what they did all the time? “You’d side with the Priestesses, on the 
Fire Mountain, wouldn’t you? Use the power to obliterate the demons.”
	“Then it’s easy!” Minako exclaimed, catching the drift. “We do what Sailor 
Moon does! Heal them! Return the to normal!” She was bright with excitement, 
and the others were catching it, suddenly seeing some light at the end of 
the tunnel. “We use Lagu, Ken and Eolh, and whatever the Earth one’s name 
will be. Use their power to fix everything!”
	Caitlyn was smiling a small, sad smile, watching the enthusiasm between 
them. She didn’t want to bring them down, now that they had an idea as to 
what to do. But every fiber of her memory told her that it would not be that 
easy. Nothing was that easy. Spinning around and calling out words and using 
magic to heal things. Nice idea, but unless the people changed their ways as 
well, it would just revert back to the same old thing. No lesson learned. No 
change in thought. No change in vision. Without that, these four girls from 
another world would have accomplished nothing. And if nothing changed, then 
it would be back to fighting tooth and nail as more silver eyed witches were 
born. More kidnapping out of cradles to keep them alive. More wandering and 
more running and more killing. She wasn’t old, but she was already tired of 
living. It would be nice, maybe, to have a house. And a garden? Some 
bookshelves. Ink for her grimore. She took a sidelong glance at the backs to 
her, and found that her lips quirked upward when they swept over one figure. 
Maybe.
	“It’s getting late,” she yawned lazily, and stretched. That was enough to 
catch their attention for a moment, a pause in the sudden vehement chatter. 
“I don’t know about you girls, but I’m getting some sleep. You’ll have a 
long trip in the morning, and so will I.” She stood, in her abrupt way, and 
looked down at them. The despair was gone, replaced with hope. So bright, 
these four. If only everyone could shine like that. “Good luck, too.” She 
added cryptically, then turned and began to walk back to her own fireside. 
The senshi were too busy being excited about this new development to see her 
make a quiet motion to one of the figures, who stood and followed her out of 
the fire’s glow.

	“I could tell you had some luck,” the man stated as Caitlyn ducked under a 
tree branch, him a step behind. They stopped just behind the veil of leaves, 
where some grass grew high and bushy. There was just enough light to see by, 
without the light pollution of a city. The fires, and the starlight and 
moonlight. And the fact that their eyes glowed faintly.
	“I’m leaving tonight.”
	To that, he stared. Then, “I’ll come with you.”
	“I need you here, Undine. A level head. The others won’t be happy. I want 
you to keep them out of this.” She sighed and leaned up against a tree, 
folding her arms. “We’re up against a fairy. An old one, if the fire dragon 
is correct.”
	“But that’s-” He began to protest, and she shook her head, waving her hand 
to silence him.
	“Been there. Done that. It’s possible. Trust me.”
	Undine drew his lips thin, and ran a hand though short, blackish-blue hair. 
“Tell Eliana?”
	“Yes. I’m betting here, but the fairy woman- name’s Daeva, apparently- 
She’ll go after the Fire Mountain. There may be a token resistance at the 
next Point, but-” she shrugged and trailed off.
	“Only a token? Why?” Stepped closer, and she glanced up at him, shifting 
away slightly uncomfortable. “Cait...”
	“It’s what I’d do. She can’t control the Points herself. She can’t beat out 
three dragons and those girls. Next best thing is the Priestesses.”
	Undine sighed, looking at her. Her face was set very hard, lips drawn 
tightly into a near scowl. “What makes you think she can’t control them?”
	Caitlyn rolled her eyes, a trademark gesture from when she was younger. 
Undine grinned, remembering when he saw her do that the first time. He had 
made some stupid comment, as young boys will do. Then she had turned and 
huffed off, prepared to prove him wrong. It was funny. But she was speaking 
again, in that toneless voice she tried to use when she was distancing 
herself. It never did work right, really.
	“She’s been using humans to get to them. Believe it or not, it seems that 
King Caradoc of the South was one of us.” She didn’t hesitate long enough to 
let him comment on that, only watching his mouth open and close in 
astonishment. “So it’s logical to think that she cannot manipulate them 
herself. She needs a mortal. Why,” she threw her hands up into the air, “I 
have no clue. One of those cosmic magical things, I guess. Maybe a human has 
to want to change the course of history, I don’t know. So now I’m off to see 
Eliana. I need enough of us to...” she laughed harshly, “go protect Lenora, 
High Priestess of Emania.”
	Several thoughts passed though Undine’s head at once. First, he didn’t want 
to be left out of this. Second, though their leader would see Caitlyn’s 
logic, too many- too damn many- of their kind would not. Too many 
Cleansings. Too much death. It hardens a people, and makes it difficult help 
one recognized as an enemy. He said as much to Caitlyn, and she just 
shrugged.
	“Then we see how good a public speaker I am. We’re strong, Undine. I’ll get 
as many as I can. That’s all.” Underneath, he could tell she was uncertain 
about this, and though he stepped forward half a pace, she was already away 
from her tree, and heading to the remaining horses. They were idling just 
within the fire’s glow, munching contentedly on the grass and roots at their 
feet. “Undine....” she paused, and looked back. “Stay out of it. Getting 
yourself killed won’t make me very happy.”
	It was as close as an admission he had ever gotten from her.
	Of course, that meant he was now required to meet up with her later, but 
she wouldn’t know that. It would take her several hours, almost til dawn, 
probably, to get to camp. A few minutes with Eliane. Then another hour or 
two to assemble the willing sorcerers. Then more time to actually get to the 
Fire Mountain. “Good luck,” he said to her back, which was already enveloped 
by the darkness.


	Sleep is a wonderful thing, when tired. But there are times that no matter 
how exhausted your body is, your mind is alert, still questioning and 
querying, wondering about the events of the day, and of the day to come. It 
was cool, and though Minako tightened her fists into the fabric of her 
cloak, it seemed she could not draw it tight enough to hold in enough 
warmth. Their fire had dwindled for the night, dull coals rather than the 
bright blaze of the evening meal. When it flared up a bit, sending fireflies 
into the dark, she blinked a couple times, turning her head to see Ami 
settling herself down, folding up her legs.
	“Ami-chan, couldn’t sleep either?” Minako turned her head and yawned, 
watching the other girl shrug, dully watching the orange embers. “What’s 
wrong?”  She pushed herself up and hunkered down beside Ami, shoving a stray 
lock of hair out of her eyes. Irritated that she had removed the bow for the 
night, she twisted it quickly into a rude tail at the back of her neck. 
“What’s wrong?” she repeated after she had tied her hair off, looking at 
Ami’s profile.
	“I don’t know...just thinking about what’s next. It’s so strange, with 
Usagi-chan gone, Minako-chan.”
	“Ami-chan, you worry too much!” Minako giggled, shaking her head and 
motioning to the other two sleeping bodies nearby. Rei had an arm flung out 
over her head, mouth slightly open as she dreamed. Makoto was curled up into 
a ball, nose wrinkled and eyelids flickering. Both were shadowed by the dim 
firelight, illuminated more from the shine in the night sky. “We’ve been in 
worse spots than this before! Hey, no one’s even tried to target us yet.” 
Minako considered that a moment, then added, “Well, not specifically.” She 
counted on fingers as she ticked off the various targets of their enemies. 
“No Pure Heart Crystals ripped out, no Dream Mirrors pulled out, no energy 
zapped, no one after our Star Seeds. No youma, Cardians, droids, daimon, 
lemures or phages. Why, this has been a brownie run!”
	Ami couldn’t help but groan and laugh at once, shaking her head as Minako 
continued to tell her about how easy it had been so far, in attempts to 
cheer her up. “Cake walk, Minako-chan,” Ami corrected when Minako paused for 
breath. “Cake walk.”
	“Oh, well that sounds good too!” Minako decided cheerily, “I’d like some 
cake!”
	“Minako-chan, you’re so silly.”
	“I am?”
	Ami just shook her head, smiling faintly. “We don’t even know how to do 
what Sailor Moon does, Minako-chan...” she said after a moment, too worried 
to be cheered up for long. “Our powers...they’ve never been to cleanse out 
evil energy.” She tilted her head back, and looked up at the moons between 
the trees. Thin fingers of branches scratched against each other, obscuring 
but also revealing the four moons, all, save one, full. Against the sky, 
they seemed robed and gowned in stars, faces lit. “Mako-chan was telling me 
a thing Balan-kun told her...about the borders between the worlds being 
thinner when more than one moon is in the sky. In stories, it is always when 
such celestial entities are in conjunction, that is the time of the greatest 
magic, and hence the greatest power. The last of those moons will be full in 
only a few more nights, Minako-chan.” She paused, thinking, a hand to her 
lips as she considered what was soon to come. “That will be when we’ll have 
to do it. Whatever ‘it’ is.”
	As Ami had spoken, Minako had grown very still, settling herself onto the 
ground as she listened. Ami always took in every option, but as she had said 
before, the water senshi always worried too much. Her advice was always 
sound and solid, but the worried expression was almost always on her face. 
As though incessantly considering a next move. Like chess, always thinking a 
few moves ahead. Minako placed her chin on her knees, tucking her legs up 
under her. “You know, Ami-chan,” she began carefully, not really sure if 
this would make sense. “Back when I was just Sailor V....it was just me and 
Artemis. It was fun, just the two of us, kicking butt.” She grinned at the 
memories of England, but after a moment it became bittersweet, and she shook 
her head to clear the memory.
	“But look at all that’s happened since then.... We’re stronger together 
than alone. Oh, I know, I know,” she waved her hand, cutting off Ami before 
she could take the conversation down another path, “It’s just us four, not 
five or nine or ten, or even thirteen, with the Starlights.... But the 
Starlights aren’t from our system, and the Outers have duties outside of 
protecting Usagi-chan. I’ve always wondered, like about Pluto? What would 
happen if she had to decide between the timestream and defending Usagi-chan? 
One person or all the people who have ever lived? Or will live? Protecting 
the Princess has been our job since the Old Silver Millennium,” she motioned 
around the dim fire, a thin smile on her lips. “And back then, 
Usagi-chan...Princess Serenity...she didn’t have the Silver Crystal. We 
protected her. It took Metallia to kill us off. What I’d kind of like to 
know is; how? I mean, why us? Can we do something that we don’t know about? 
I mean, maybe we’ve never had to use it, with Sailor Moon around. Usually, 
guards are supposed to protect people who can’t defend themselves, not the 
other way around. Look at Rory-hime, and Balan-kun. Rory-hime can fight, 
but...well...” she trailed off, Ami’s expression obviously showing that she 
remembered the first time fighting Daeva’s lackeys. Demons. Faeries. “This 
is kind of crazy, ne?”
	Ami just shrugged, eyes distant since her mind was now whirling with 
consideration as to Minako’s random musings. She sighed, looking up into the 
cloudless heavens sadly. “Let’s wish for luck, Minako-chan. I think we’re 
going to need it....”
	With that, the two senshi closed their eyes and wished on the moons.




************************************************************************

	Well, how is it coming? A bit more action this time, as promised, ne? Daeva 
is still shocking me...my original plans didn’t include her at all, and now 
she’s the main ‘villain’. I liked Caradoc. But he was just not manipulative 
enough... Anyway, for the names in this chapter! Eolh, for starters. His 
name is ‘Protection’ according to the runes...I tried to pick dragon names 
that would fit with their senshi... Jupiter is the ‘Soldier of Protection’ 
so, Eolh it became. (at least according to the manga!) Daeva is an 
interesting one...I was browsing for names for a villianess, and I liked 
it...it sounds- as well as looks- pretty....but it means ‘devil.’ More 
interestingly, if you trace the origins of the word, it traces to ‘divinity’ 
from the Indo-European word ‘devi’ (meaning ‘goddess’) or ‘deva’ (meaning 
‘god’). So, good or evil? Your choice.
	The poem that Ami quotes is ‘Dream Deferred’ by Langston Hughes. He was a 
poet of the Harlem Renaissance, and that poem just came to mind as I was 
writing that scene...it just seemed to fit, somehow. Such a wonderful poem. 
So sad.
	Things are going to start getting fast from here...the end is coming....It 
should be interesting to see how that turns out exactly. Hm...we’ll see. 
Well, til next time.
	Ja ne!
	-Queen

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