Chapter 8- Beauty of Water
The thundering waves are calling me home to you
The pounding sea is calling me home to you.
I heard your voice singing
Your eyes danced the song
Your hands played the tune
T'was a vision before me.
We left the music behind and the dance carried on
As we stole away to the seashore
We smelt the brine, felt the wind in our hair
And with sadness you paused.
Sudenly I knew that you'd have to go
My world was not yours, your eyes told me so
Yet it was there I felt the crossroads of time
And I wondered why.
As we cast our gaze on the tumbling sea
A vision came o'er me
Of thundering hooves and beating wings
In clouds above.
As you turned to go I heard you call my name.
You were like a bird in a cage, spreading its
Wings to fly
"The old ways are lost" you sang as you flew
And I wondered why....
-"The Old Ways"
Music and Lyrics by Loreena McKennitt
From "The Visit"
They spent three days at Aegae.
That was the length of time it took for Amy, Hermes and Lita to drift among
the seafolk of the city, making small inquiries and listening to rumors.
Aegae was a sprawling city, climbing its way up the hill it sat upon, men
and women clambering in the marketplace. Hermes had been the one to get the
most reliable information, a ships captain who cared to relive his moments
of glory, for once, on a voyage, he swore that he saw the Earth-Shaker
driving his horse drawn chariot over the waters, calming them as he wound
his way to an island on the horizon.
"So it does exist," Hermes had told Amy and Lita as they began their trip
again. The winds around Aegae remained brisk, sweeping the vessels at dock
out to the searoads they wished to travel.
Now they had passed beyond sight of the edge of the land, the city's
bustling noise fading into the sea. Clouds of white rose overhead, the sun
peering through their curtain. The sail was full out, a graceful crescent
urging them onwards. Hermes was at the tiller, navigating them along.
Amy was at the prow, eyes downcast into the reflections of light the sun
cast onto the water, the brightness shining up into her face. Lita leaned up
against the rail beside her, watching her outline as she talked. "This is
nuts, Amy-chan. We don't know if that guy Hermes talked to was reliable, and
looking back and forth for land isn't-"
"Lita, please. I'm sorry, but I need quiet now." Amy did not look away from
the water, leaving Lita with a hurt expression. Lita took on a questioning
look a moment later, but backed away as Amy had requested. She checked the
sail with a glance, then decided to settle herself opposite Hermes. Nothing
else to do, save scan the horizon. A needle in a haystack, she decided. She
let herself look at Hermes a moment as she sat down. He was stretched out,
legs crossed at the ankles, hands tucked behind his head. He looked
perfectly calm.
"You look a little too sure of yourself," Lita told him, knowing he
wouldn't understand her.
Hermes arched an eyebrow at the ponytailed girl beside him, shrugged. "No
clue what you said, Lita. But you look worried. Relax. No point getting
nervous unless you know you're going to get killed or something, right?" He
yawned and returned to scanning the sea.
Lita frowned. She knew, by the tone of his voice and his posture that he
was encouraging her boredly, taking a slightly superior attitude even as he
was trying to sound nice. She watched his profile. The straight nose,
sculpted chin and defined brows. A noble face, if usually looking despondent
as it was now. Not her type, Lita decided, rolling her eyes after a moment
of thinking about what she had just thought. However, after a moment, she
noticed how unusually often Hermes was turning his wandering eyes across
Amy's still form at the prow.
It was at such a moment that Lita saw Amy straighten from her preoccupation
with the water, a look of determination set on her face. Hermes was up and
moving instantly, saying something to her. Amy appeared to give Hermes an
order, which, much to Lita's surprise, he followed, returning to angle the
rudder north.
"Amy-chan?"
Amy turned away from watching Hermes and looked at her. "We're heading
north. There's an...anomaly...in the sea. It might be an island."
"You know that from staring at the water? Without the Mercury computer?"
Amy shifted, placing a hand in a gesture of nervousness over the smooth
coils of the Medusa brooch, a motion Lita had noticed Amy had picked up
whenever she was considering something. She did not meet Lita's eyes. Amy's
reply was cryptic, if blunt. "Yes."
It was an island, as Amy had predicted. Sheer drop cliffs walled the
interior off from travelers. A thin strip of rocky beach was found to the
westerly side, amid clashing rocks. Hermes steered them through, Seastrider
taking a few blows to the hull, which, luckily, did not breach. There, where
the rocks met the wall of stone, a long, narrow gash had been torn, an
entrance that would be submerged in the sea at high tide. This was where
they decided to enter. White foam smashed around them as they ran Seastrider
onto the beach, anchoring it as best they could.
"Ames, take a weapon!" Hermes argued, sounding angry at her incessant
refusals.
"A knife is fine, Hermes."
"Amy, please take something," Lita, from Hermes' irate shouting and waving
of a sword, guessed what the problem was. "You don't have any powers."
"I have the aegis. And I will take a knife. That is enough," she tapped the
blade that had been strapped to her forearm.
Shaking his head, Hermes knew what she was saying in Japanese. "You're
insane. I think you took a couple hits to the head you didn't tell me
about."
Amy shook her head and refused to answer him. "Lita, you'd better henshin."
"Right. Jupiter Crystal Power! Make-up!"
Electricity enveloped Lita, shortening her skirt, forming a bow, a tiara
and star-decorated choker. "Ready," she announced as the transformation
sequence completed.
Hermes tested his sword for a moment, then nodded. "Ready. Let's go."
"Wait," said Amy, who began to sift through their stores. When she stood,
she held a blanket, which she promptly began to tear into strips.
"What are you doing, Ames?"
"It's pretty dark looking. We'll need torches."
Amy, followed by Hermes and Lita, strode off the ship, searching up and
down the small expanse for driftwood. She found what she needed, a tangled
piece warped from sea salt, that had branches reaching out from the knotted
center. Bracing her foot against the middle, she broke off a branch length
for each of them, wrapping the strip of blanket around one end. "Anyone have
a match?"
"A what?" Hermes asked. Lita stared, not understanding Hellenic.
*Oops. Matches don't exist yet.* "Wait. I'll be right back," she hurried
back up into the ship. Within the brazier, several embers were glowing
orange dully, and she held the end of one of the torches against these coals
until it lit, a tiny tendril of fire ribboning itself up the cloth. The
torch began to glow. Amy headed back to Hermes and Lita, who were waiting at
the plank. Handing them the other two, Amy lit the torches.
"Now we can go."
Rocks crunched underfoot as they made their way to the gash, watching the
black expanse warily. *Nothing charging out of it, at least. Hopefully, the
Kraken is still trapped in the aegis. He must know that we're here. Unless I
have made a serious blunder and this is not the island. But...it is. I'm
sure of it. The water.*
Torchlit, the cave opened up before them, the walls smooth from centuries
of the sea carving away at the stone. Water, ever slow, but steady in its
desires, willing to spend eons wearing away at the boundaries and barriers
of its realm. Even here, the place claimed by the god of the sea, it does
not cease its function. The crashing of the waves echoed down to the three
of them, revibrating off the low ceiling. Amy could just stand straight, her
hair lightly brushing the rock above her. Hermes and Sailor Jupiter were
forced to keep their heads down, each of them holding their torch just
before them like a ward against the blackness.
The light that fell through the opening grew dimmer as they passed deeper
into the interior of the island. Grey, then gone, the only light the reddish
orange glow that came from their hands.
They walked forward steadily, hearing the sounds of dripping water
pattering onto the floor, the muffled thundering of the water behind them.
*Two hundred and twenty two steps in. Twenty three. Twenty four. Who knows
how deep this place will go? Twenty five. Another step. Twenty six. Remember
the count. If we get lost, then I will have at least some perception of how
far in we are. Twenty seven. Twenty eight.*
Amy halted. Jupiter slammed into her. Realized that he was not being
followed, Hermes stopped after a step. Shadows cast deep into the hollows of
his face. "Ames, what's wrong?"
"Water," she stepped forward, around Hermes. Lifting her torch before her,
she took a few more paces forward, then held the flames up. They filled a
high cavern with torchlit shades, which grew stronger as Hermes and Jupiter
added the strength of their fires to hers. A oblong mirror lake stretched
across the space before them. Undisturbed, it reflected the ceiling to a
state of perfection, stalactites and stalagmites doubling their number
though the lake's illusion. The lip of the lake was drawn away from the
walls, revealing darkened archways, symbols cut deep into the apex of each
arch. They bent their way around the whole of the lake.
*Which one? Which way to Poseidon in this labyrinth?* Closing her eyes
halfway, Amy leaned closer to the water, placing her fingertips onto the
reflective surface, tiny ripples waving away from the disturbed spot.
She gasped at the water's coldness. "Nani?" she exclaimed as the water
grabbed at her. "Jupiter!"
Out of the water, a slinky jet scaled form coiled upward. It had no eyes,
nor did it need any in the ever pitch blackness of the cave, an adaption to
its bleak habitat. A mouth lensed open from the rising end, as its tail
snaked out of the water around Amy's wrist. It pulled, hauling her off
balance and into the its water. The torch fell from her fingers, smoking out
as it hissed in the water. "Hermes!" she choked, then was cut off as she
went under the surface, the head of the creature following silently.
Under the water she was plunged, the whiteness of her clothes a grey spot
from where Hermes and Jupiter stood. Jupiter charged forward, dropping her
torch. "Wait!" Hermes grabbed her arm, hauling her back with all his
strength as Jupiter resisted him. "No. No!" He forced Jupiter to look into
his eyes, to see the intensity there. He knew she would not understand his
speech, but the sound of his voice and the urgency in it would have to be
enough. "No. We find another way. This is his domain. His rules. Unless you
can breathe underwater, there's no way to get her out. Understand? We search
the tunnels."
Jupiter's eyes narrowed as she watched the cold fury in Hermes' face. It
was an unusual look for him, and she was wary of it. She looked at the
bubbles in the water of the lake. Hermes, she thought to herself, knew this
strange god of the sea. She did not. The sharpness in his voice warned her.
He was gesturing at the tunnels around the lake. Perhaps one of them would
lead to Amy. And she wondered how long it would be to find her. If they
could at all.
Oxygen was being replaced by the harsh tang of saltwater. Amy choked as the
water invaded her lungs, the final gasp of air she had taken in being
squeezed out of her by the tightening iron coils of Poseidon's sea serpent.
*All this way, only to die of axphixiation...not like this. Not like
this...!* Her hand, to which her blood was being cut off, was pulled along
the slick scales of the water snake, tucking it tightly under and flattening
it against her chest. Her hand traveled with painful slowness to her
opposite arm, fingers clasping around the hilt of her knife. Weakly. Hair
floated into her face, around it, haloing her in blue waves.
Fingernails scraped against the hilt, reaching for it again as her hand
loosened. She blankly stared out before her as she felt a curve of serpent
ring around her neck.
*Killed by a serpent. Wasn't the sea...no, Ocean, a serpent? Yes,
Ourobouros. I wear the symbol on my arm. Elissa gave it to me.
Eternal Ourobouros, who swallows his tail. Water endlessly returning to
itself. The flowing sound. I still hear it, within me. Water is in our
blood. Our bodies are made of water. My body is made of water. I am attuned
to it. As I was in my past life, and as I am in this. Elissa said the sea is
a cauldron of generation and rebirth. She is right. Nothing may live without
water. If I am the water, then am I not a part of it? Lakes feed the rivers.
Rivers run to the sea. The seas deposit into the Ocean, which sends vapor to
the clouds to return again as rain, falling into the land, the lakes, the
rivers. All water returns to itself. All water is one water. Ourobouros.*
Deep into the calm, she exhaled her final breath of air. Then, she breathed
into her lungs the water that she had been plunged into. It filled her
throat, stinging in salty sweetness. It cascaded into her lungs, pooling
them upward in liquid. Then she breathed out the same fluid. The tightening
around her body grew as oxygen derived from the water flooded into her body.
Fingers tightened around the knife, and with a desperate pull, she drew the
blade from its sheath, slicing it outward.
It cut into the scales of the beast, and inky red blood clouded the water
before her face. The coil loosened, and Amy kicked, struggling, forcing her
way out of the grip the serpent had on her. Blade down, she daggered her way
forward, plunging it in and ripping down whenever she could.
There was no light above her, and in the pitch, she found the surface, her
lungs protesting at the sudden change from breathing water to breathing air.
Harshly, the water was spat out, air rattling down her windpipe. Coils of
the snake floated around her, and she felt them defeatedly sinking away from
her, sending disruptions in the water.
Something was wrong. She grabbed at her arm. *Elissa's gift! Ouroboros!
It's gone!* During the fight with the serpent, the metal had slid from her
slickened skin, floating down into the murky depths.
She reached up, palm striking an expanse of rock. *It moved me. I'm not in
the same place. Hermes. Jupiter. They think I'm drowned. Or at least carried
off.*
She looked before and behind her. There was only the blackness. She slid
her hand along the rock, feeling it's slope. Behind, the rock angled into
the water. Before, it remained out. *I've been turned around so much, I
don't know which way I came from. Hermes. Jupiter. They'll look for me, even
if they think I'm dead. Now, which way?*
She ducked back under the surface. *I can feel it. The water flows....this
way. It's stronger. Deeper. I can breathe the water.*
Amy took in a breath of water, easing it into her lungs, forcing it back
out again. It was not as disorienting as she would have believed it to be. A
moment of doing this, and she kicked her way to the lowering end behind her.
Cold undercurrents flickered over her body, teasing at her skirt and hair,
fanning it out. *Water. I will not be Ophelia to drown in despair.*
The tunnel she had entered narrowed, then expanded, and she found herself
surfacing. Light flickered in its watery way over her face, shades of
gleaming aqua. The dome of the ceiling carved over her head by the sea. A
throne, before her, still occupied by the figure it had been when she had
first seen it, trident in hand.
On each arm of the chair, an object sat, each globed in an orb of blue
water. The left, the timekey. The right, her Mercury Crystal.
"Poseidon."
He stood and brought his trident around, and Amy knew what such and act
would cause. She swung her arms down and around, and water arched up on
either side of her, sending her up on a pillar of spray. It seemed instinct
to do so, to command the water in this way.
Poseidon did not need to speak to hurl his blast at her. The galestorm hit
her as she brought her arms up, aegis blossoming at her need. She was thrown
against the wall behind the pool she had surfaced in, held there by the
force of the water.
Seeing it did not harm her, blocked by her invisible shield, Poseidon
released his grip, and Amy slumped to the floor, pulling herself up a moment
later.
"So you returned," Poseidon stated, and on a less imposing figure, it would
have seemed a sneer. "And you have some help from Athena. Has my niece given
you any other powers?" Another wall of water rushed its way at Amy. She did
not respond to his question.
She rolled out of the way as Poseidon's fury crashed into the wall of rock
behind her. There was little room to fight there, a small expanse between
wall and water. *All water returns to itself. All water flows into itself.
No difference between the water that is trapped in the glaciers. No
difference between a droplet that once was sipped at a riverbank by a
dinosaur. No difference between a glass of water in Tokyo or New York. If
that is so, then there is no difference between the water that encases my
Crystal and me.*
She looked past Poseidon, past the trident that was leveled at her. Palm
out, she held hand before her. "Come."
"What are you doing?"
She ignored him still, repeating only, "Come."
Then the orb encasing the Crystal exploded.
It returned to its owner.
"Mercury Crystal Power! Make-up!"
Something different happened as Amy began to feel the power of Mercury grow
within her. A new strength blended into the familiar watery sense. The
blank, closed eyes of the Medusa opened, glowing in the faceted azure blue
of the Mercury Crystal. The silvery snaky hair extended outward, ribboning
over Amy's shoulders, arms, legs. Her hair floated upward in a floe of ice
that drew up around her, cascading over her transforming body. Gloves
formed. Her bodysuit. A tiara of silver arched over her brows, the blue
symbol of Mercury fastening itself to the center of her forehead. The
choker's tiny star was replaced by the image of two serpents, swallowing one
another's tail. The bow at her back lengthened, lightening, turning from sky
blue to sparkling sapphire and silver, as the bow pinned by the Medusa
brooch did. Her skirt, boots and collar took on shades of aqua, indigo and
turquoise, rippling as the water they represented. She shimmered like the
Nile.
*The Medusa. Athena's symbol. Athena's gift. Not merely an aegis to shield
me. Sign of feminine wisdom, said Anticleia. Sign of knowledge. That is my
realm. Champion of Justice and Wisdom. That is my duty and life!*
Her skirt and bow flowed out around her as she turned, her harp forming in
her hands. "Mercury Aqua Rhapsody!"
Jagged ice crystals flew out at the Earth-Shaker, forcing him to bring one
arm up to protect his face. He swung the trident around, bringing it to bear
against Super Sailor Mercury. This time, no water came from its end.
Instead, he struck it against the ground, sending the cavern to tremble
around them, shaking violently.
Sailor Mercury staggered under the unsteadiness of the floor under her
feet. Poseidon's face was grim as he turned again on her, the quaking of the
rock causing a rift to tear out across the space between them. Water from
the lake geysered upward as the dome of the ceiling began to crumble down.
"I am the god of the sea," Poseidon told her, his voice deep with the
rumblings of a storm. "You would have been great, water soldier, had you
been loyal. Pity," amid the chaos he had created around them, Poseidon
unleashed the sea at the figure he faced, so small in comparison to the sea
god's power.
*The Medusa has given me strength. Wisdom. Intelligence. But it does not
come from some carved silver object. It comes from within me. Water against
water. What can water do against itself? It can return.*
"Mercury..."
From her head, silver blue light waterfalled around her, sending her
clothing rippling outward. She brought her hands out before her, crossing
them, fingers as delicately displayed as a dancer's. A river of whitewater
fell over her shoulders, winged out from her wrists, cascading over her
hips, her legs, clothing her in a dress for a Queen, not merely a Princess
any longer. Rippling silk of the color of the sunset sea linked to her
shoulders, draped and flew out like the wings of a dove from her as she
whispered these new words.
"...Crimson..."
The Medusa's eyes were blue fire, intense as the tides of the sea, linked
by the moon's strength. A whirlpool of water formed before her, the shapes
of two snakes circling its rim. The chaos of water that Poseidon unleashed
struck this cycling mandala, adding itself into the churning tempest that
Mercury held before her. Then, as the blast was taken in fully, she drew her
hands apart, sending her rivery dress to flight around her as she released
the final word, turning the mass she had absorbed into a streak of scarlet.
"...Riptide."
Released, it was a tsunami.
Shattering everything in its path, the riptide returned all the force
Poseidon had attempted to throw, returning it to its source, power
multiplied exponentially. Poseidon was caught in this maelstrom, forced back
into the thin film of watery glass that had once held the hulking figure of
the Kraken. Glassy shards sang against each other as it exploded, the water
that it had restrained rushing out to meet the empty space that was now
provided. Within the water, Poseidon disappeared, either engulfed or by use
of some magic to spirit himself away.
Amy watched her element approach her in a state of deep calm, the silence
of the darkest regions of the ocean where all is black, and only the
strongest, most adaptable forms of life dare to dwell. The sea claimed the
throne, then cast forward the orb encased timekey that rested there still,
sending it coasting along the crest of the wave.
Amy stepped forward, feeling the water crash around her legs, sending her
saphirre robes swirling. She scooped up the timekey, the watery orb slipping
through her fingers as they closed around it.
The water would have claimed Amy as well had not a figure of immortal
speed then found his way into the cavern where she stood. Watching the water
with lazuli eyes, she felt herself swept from her feet as the first streams
of water washed their way over the floor behind her. Wind rippled her hair
as they flew along the corridors she had not traveled to reach Poseidon.
Amy heard Jupiter, carried on Hermes' opposite arm, shout at her to hang
on, but her hands held to Hermes' arm lightly, the timekey twined in her
fingers. The water that chased after them did not frighten her, even though
it strove to grab out at the winged sandals that flew them so swiftly away.
Through the narrow passage, out past the beach, up into the air Hermes
carried them, Seastrider being flung about on the rocks as the water roiled
around her. The center of the island collapsed in on itself as though
Charbydis had opened its mouth underneath, swallowing it from within. Water
flew in columns of steamy froth up from the disintegrating isle, sinking as
a tiny Atlantis within the sea. Seastrider, lodged on the beach, anchored to
the shore, was dragged down with the island.
Hermes hovered in the air above the sinking isle. Sailor Jupiter was tucked
under one arm, Amy the other. He held them there, his powers returned as Amy
had reclaimed hers, watching the death of the isle of Poseidon. Amy glanced
down furtively after the last image of land slipped into what would soon be
its grave. Hermes' feet were now encased in sandals, ambrosial, golden,
winged with white feathers that flew back. It might have looked ridiculous
on another person, sandals with wings, but on Hermes, Amy decided, he was
born for it. He was holding, with the hand that was supporting Amy, the
caduceus that was the symbol of his godhood, a symbol that would one day
represent the medical profession, the staff, winged at the top, twin
serpents twined around it.
It was Hermes, of course, that broke the strangely respectful silence.
"I'm back!" he shouted joyously, and did a flip midair, sending Jupiter
screaming in a fury that he was going to drop them. Hermes, of course, not
understanding her words, but certainly her meaning, just broke into a laugh.
"Ames, you look beautiful in that dress."
"Thank you," she acknowledged, shaking her head, smiling solemnly at his
antics. Not to be put out of his good mood, Hermes turned to Jupiter, who
was, at the moment, glaring at him, and said, "Do you think you could use
that Crystal thing to get a dress? Because girls," he turned from Jupiter to
Amy, giving them his best lopsided grin, "we're going to Olympus for the
party of the century!" With that, he took off, racing them into the sunlit
clouds.
Bunny slumped against Darien's arm. She was tired. More than usual. The
mess made by the Kraken/Godzilla thing the day before had made an incredible
mess. Clean-up crews were still working on it, and the price of the
destruction was growing with every report. It was nearing sunset the day
after that particular fight. That day had been just as insane, if not more
so. There had been an attack of some even more bizarre looking creature that
morning at Crossroads High, showing up in the gym before school started.
Sailor Moon and Venus had been there in seconds, of course, since that was
their school, with Mars appearing along with Chibi Moon a few minutes later.
It had been Chibi Moon, of all people, who had identified the weird
creature, calling it a Chimera. Later, she would explain she had seen it on
TV. Who said Xena and Hercules wasn't educational? With the head and body of
a lion and the tail of a viper, no one wanted to get remotely close to the
sniping thing, which could bite with either end. It even had the horns of a
goat, which ended up ramming a few extra doors in the side of the building.
Tuxedo Mask had showed up at the most desperate moment, with that impeccable
timing he always seemed to have, throwing one of his razor sharp roses at
the snaky end, which actually managed to swallow the thing somehow.
That got it distracted long enough for Sailor Moon to get a clear shot of
it. She'd already thrown two of Pluto's garnet colored beads at the thing,
and ended up sending a stack of mats and a soccer ball back to the Mycenaean
period. This time, it was the Chimera.
News crews had swarmed the school. Bunny and Mina, who claimed they were
together in the bathroom during the attack, became alibis for each other.
The others had quietly slipped away in the aftermath. Mina even got recorded
by one of the reporters after she said she had seen the thing. That, of
course, led to a ten minute description of how weird the thing was, ensuring
her a place on the evening news. Mina was ecstatic the rest of the day.
They had been out of school for exactly two minutes when Luna and Artemis,
who were watching Dr. Mizuno during the school day, contacted Bunny with
another harpy attack, this time having a Minotaur with them. After Luna had
to explain to Bunny what a Minotaur looked like, Bunny and Mina were on
their way. The half man, half bull was terrorizing a local grocery store,
apparently while Dr. Mizuno was doing the weekly shopping. The harpies had
gotten into half the store's supplies, sending boxes of ice cream flying
into lettuce heads and bananas from the produce department. Apparently, some
very peculiar form of harpy baseball.
The Minotaur had chased Amy's mother into the parking lot, along with the
other shoppers. The result of everyone trying to get out of the parking lot
at once was, of course, a car accident and the resulting traffic jam.
Mars had reached there first, having been closest, forcing the new monster
back as she attacked with the "Burning Mandala."
He had then proceeded to throw cars at her, causing Mars to begin screaming
into her communicator for the queens of tardiness Sailors Moon and Venus to
hurry up or she'd fry them after this particular monster.
The harpies, bringing some of the store's items with them, had decided to
come outside to play as Sailor Moon and Venus had arrived, and Sailor Moon
used nearly all of the Pluto's beads on them, especially since she ended up
sending the Mycenaean period a few rolls of toilet paper, tomatoes, a couple
cans of Folgers and a nice cherry red convertible.
After that, Bunny decided she was absolutely not going to study for the
rest of the day, and had begged Darien to take her out. Now they sat in the
park, watching the fountain from a bench. Bunny leaned her head on his
shoulder, a blonde pigtail sweeping gracefully down his back. She sighed,
then yawned sleepily. Darien shut the textbook he had been studying and
glanced at his sleepy girlfriend, her eyes closed dreamily. A faint smile
tugged at his lips and he kissed the top of her odangoed head. That dragged
her out of her daze somewhat, and she snuggled closer, sighing. Then she
asked, "How do you think Lita-chan and Amy-chan are doing?"
"I'm sure they're fine, Buns."
"Time's passing faster for them. How long to you think they've been there?
I hope its not months or something. I wish Pluto had been more specific
about how fast."
Unsure what to say, Darien put an arm around Bunny.
There were other couples in the park. They strolled along easily, some of
the eating ice cream cones from a nearby vendor. It would be sunset in less
than an hour, and the sky was just beginning to deepen into its evening
shades. It took a few minutes for anyone to begin screaming into this
otherwise quiet late afternoon. The scream that did reach them was cut off
mid-cry, as though the ability to use their voice was stopped even in the
action.
From the path, two figures emerged. They were lithe of body, winged with
scraggly feathers that hung loosely from them. From the waist down, their
legs had been melded together, scaled, elongated into the shape of a snake.
Fiery red eyes glared out across the park, searching. They did not make any
direct attack, did not approach anyone to harm them. They merely looked,
their snaky hair hissing about their heads as they focused their gaze into
the startled eyes of their victims.
They were Gorgons.
Medusa's two sisters, immortal, with the same petrifying power of their
dead sister. They came silently, cutting off the beginnings of cries with a
gurgle.
Bunny and Darien were on their feet, Bunny beginning to rush forward to the
people she had just seen turned to stone. Darien, however, had searched for
the source of the attack. "Buns! Don't look!" he shouted, grabbing her and
spinning her around, flinging her down as he felt himself stiffening, face
becoming locked into the mask of warning.
"Darien?" Bunny asked the statuesque face, disbelieving. "Darien!" she
screamed at him, clasping his face in her hands. "No! No! Darien!"
Intent as she was on him, she heard in the distance the hiss of the snakes.
"Don't look!" echoed in her mind. Slowly, she slid her face to the ground,
seeing their shadows stretched out before them. Shaking with terror, horror
and fury, she stepped back a pace, keeping her eyes lowered, focusing on the
stretching shadows. "Darien...." she clasped the Imperium Crystal within its
brooch. Gathering herself, she lifted her hand to the air, calling out,
"Moon Crisis! Make-up!"
Running behind their bench, ducking down, Super Sailor Moon tried to catch
her breath, which was racing nervously out of control. "Guys, I need the
guys," she clambered at her wrist for the comm. "Raye? V-babe? Anyone?
Please!"
Raye's face came into view, looking irritated for the interruption. It was
her turn to follow Dr. Mizuno. Her expression altered dramatically as she
saw Sailor Moon's terrified face. "Sailor Moon! An attack?"
"The park...."
"Hang on! I'm on my way! Hang on, okay? I'll be there right away!"
The line was cut off abruptly as Sailor Moon whispered hoarsely, "They got
Darien," to the blank screen. "What do I do? I can't even look at them!
Darien, what do I do?"
The hissing was coming closer. "I'm not leaving him. I'm not!" she looked
at the ground. The shadow was looming over her. With the ghostly hand, she
saw one reach closer. She flung herself forward, rolling, squeezing her eyes
shut as she faced upward, opening them again as she reached her stomach. She
scrambled upward, aware that a sharp nailed hand had sliced through the air
she had occupied a moment before.
Heeled feet striking against the soft grass, bow and hair streaming out
behind her, she headed for the trees, skittering to a halt a moment before
reaching them. She realized that the trees may give her some protection, but
they also cast many shadows of their own...her only way to see the
creatures. She checked the bag of beads. Three rattled within. Only three.
And with her aim, that did not suggest good chances. Only one mistake could
be afforded here.
She ran along the treeline, circling. She had to stay to the west of them.
The sun set in the west, casting the shadows along that direction. There was
a playground not far from her. She ran to it, dodging behind a slide. It
took what to her seemed like centuries before she heard the soft crushing of
woodchips under the slithering bodies of the Gorgons.
"Is it good to be back!" Lita announced as she lowered the timekey around
her neck. Like Hermes had promised, they had gone to Olympus. Zeus and
Athena had negated his desire for a party, since no one was supposed to know
that Amy or Lita were there in the first place, but he did manage to get
Athena to give Lita a similar potion to Amy's for speech. She was now quite
fluent in just about every language, including ancient Greek. They had spent
a little time at the home of the Olympians, dining at a grand banquet with
Zeus, Hera, Athena and Hermes, all of them deciding on a good nights sleep
in a real bed before heading back to modern day Tokyo.
Lita had returned herself to her school uniform before they had left
Olympus. They stood now in the street before Crossroads High.
"This is the place you live?" Hermes asked Amy as he glanced at the school.
"Oh no, I live-"
Lita cut her off with a laugh. "No, but it seems like she does!"
Amy shook her head then giggled lightly at Lita's joke. Then she cast a
glance around nervously, running a hand over the white dress Athena had
given her at the beginning of her little trip. Hermes, too, was in his blue
tunic, but not knowing any better, didn't appear to care about fitting in
with the current fashion. Of course, it was also Hermes, who was unlikely to
care even if he did know about haute coture. He leapt into the air, hovering
there, folding his arms and crossing his legs at the ankles. "Hermes!"
both girls exclaimed, pulling him down.
"What? Can't a god do what he likes?"
"Not here!" Amy exclaimed. "You don't understand!"
"Understand what? You act like no one ever sees Olympians or gods around
here."
Amy and Lita exchanged a glance. Hermes opened his mouth to question that
particular exchange, but was interrupted by Amy suddenly gasping, turning to
look out across the street.
"Ames? What's wrong?"
"I...I don't know," she ran a finger along the cheek of the Medusa.
"Something's not right."
"Turning into Raye, Amy-chan? Sensing stuff?"
Amy rolled her eyes and shook her head. "It's not like that. Something
else. A feeling. I don't know. Like when someone is staring at you, and you
can't see them."
She turned around, looking up and down the street. A couple kids tore
around the corner on bikes, chasing each other, not paying attention to the
three standing in the middle of the road. Amy began to walk forward.
"Something's wrong."
Lita frowned, pushing back her sleeve to check her communicator. "Anyone
there?" It fizzled. After a moment, the face of Sailor Chibi Moon appeared.
"Rini?"
"Lita! Oh God! You're back! The park! Get to the....!" her face looked up
in horror. As she was pulled away, Lita watched a strange image swing past
the comm's viewscreen. A serpentine woman filled it for a moment, then she
heard Chibi's screech of protest cut abruptly off. The screen blanked.
"Rini! Amy! The park! Something's gone wrong!"
"What was it? What did you see?"
"A woman! With snakes...Amy! It was Medusa!"
Amy shook her head, grabbing Lita's arms, shaking her. "It can't be!
Medusa's dead! But...oh, God. There were...are...three Gorgons. Hermes!
Medusa's sisters! Could Poseidon have...?"
Grimly, Hermes leapt into the air. "You'd better get ready. Time was
operating differently, remember? He must have sent them through before you
fought him, Ames."
"Jupiter Crystal Power!"
"Mercury Crystal Power!"
"MAKE-UP!"
Speed was not a problem for Hermes. With both Sailor Mercury and Sailor
Jupiter tucked neatly under his arms, screaming directions into his ears,
they reached the park within moments. The scene before them was an odd one.
Several couples were frozen in stone, faces with looks of surprise or horror
twisted on them. Mercury's hand gripped Hermes' arm tightly as her eyes fell
on two figures. Both he and Jupiter turned to see what she had seen. Darien
was half bent over, hands extended before him as though he had thrown
something...or someone...out of the way. Before him, the marble figure of
Sailor Chibi Moon lay on the ground, one arm up before her eyes to ward off
whatever had entered her vision. Her Kaleidoscope lay discarded several feet
away, out of reach of the frozen fingers.
Yellow light flew above the trees beyond them. "Venus Love-me Ch-" the
light died, the way a switch cuts off power to a lamp. Two figures tore away
from the obscure shape of a swing set, a crimson skirted Sailor Mars holding
Sailor Moon's arm even as they ran, heads down, back towards the fountain.
"Sailor Moon! Mars!" Jupiter shouted, running forward to meet them.
Together, the three of them raced towards the small ice cream stand, the
pudgy little ice cream man behind it frozen in stone.
"Hermes," Mercury tugged at his arm, and the two of them slipped themselves
behind the rim of the fountain. Water cheerily continued to burble its way
up into the air and back into the awaiting pool, cycling endlessly. Mercury
cast a quick glance to the pushcart, and saw Jupiter's leg from between the
spokes of the wheel. It was drawn out of sight. "I hope they're okay."
She tapped her tiara. The blue stained glass of her visor slid over her
eyes, and she reached for her mini computer. Rapidly keying in a sequence of
commands, the screen turned black, then outlined objects formed. Behind a
squat square, the symbols of Mars and Jupiter took shape, the crescent of
the Moon wedged between them. Where a blue circle lay several feet from
there, two blue Mercury symbols glowed, one sky, the other azure.
"Ames, what is that thing?" Hermes asked as he peered over her shoulder.
"Magic?"
"Not exactly," she said distractedly, concentrating. Two new figures wove
their way into view. Red triangles sitting atop crosses. *Interesting....
The Gorgons are coming up with the symbol of Athena.*
"Hermes, what do you know about the Gorgons?"
He frowned for a moment, considering. "Medusa, who's been beheaded,
Stheino, and Euryale. Perseus left them on their island after he killed
Medusa. Far as I know, they never worked for Poseidon."
*Stheino and Euryale. Stheino meaning Strength, Euryale meaning
Universality. Hardly the names of monsters. Medusa was Wisdom. Part of their
triad has been killed. Their sister.*
Sailor Mercury, Hermes looking over her shoulder, watched the two triangle
topped crosses slowly approach their locations. "Hermes, you wouldn't happen
to be invulnerable to Gorgons, would you?"
"I don't know. I've never gone up against one before."
*Perfect. No matter what we do, we're risking more lives. Hermes is
immortal, and has his full powers back, but who knows what the reaction will
be to face the Gorgons? I can't just send him out there without some idea.
If Anticleia was correct, and their power is linked to Athena's, then they
are at least as powerful, if not more so, than Hermes is. If none of us can
even look at them, how are we supposed to fight them? Perseus had weapons
given to him by the gods. He looked at Medusa's reflection to see. But
then, these two, unlike Medusa, are immortal. They may not be killed at
all.*
Sailor Mercury's hand clasped around the brooch that pinned her bow. She
had retained her new senshi appearance after fighting Poseidon. The silvery
blue bows and sunlit rivery shades on her skirt and collar. The eyes of the
Medusa brooch were steadily gleaming through her gloved fingers.
*Athena gave this to me. For saving her city. Athens, the city of Athena.
She placed her power in it. It has blended with my own. I can feel it. If
that power is now within me, and is so closely linked to the power of the
Gorgons...well, Medusa didn't turn to stone when she looked at her sisters,
did she? I don't like this, working on an untried theory. Sailor Moon, Mars
and Jupiter would be turned to stone. Best I can tell, Hermes or
I...maybe...may have the best chance of doing anything.*
"Hermes," Mercury placed a hand on his, fixing on him intently. "If this
doesn't work, I want you to get the others out of here, understand? Just get
them out."
"Ames, what are you talking about?" Hermes' chocolate hued eyes were caught
between confusion and concern.
Mercury took a deep breath and stood up, clicking her computer to a close
as she turned around to face the two sister Gorgons. She heard Jupiter's
voice scream for her to turn around, to go back. Through her visor, she
watched the Gorgon sisters turn to face the lone standing figure.
*Here goes everything....*
She met their eyes.
And then, nothing happened. Still holding her breath, Mercury took a
tentative step forward, cautiously approaching the snaky forms. Her boots
struck the stone path hollowly as she angled herself closer. The sisters
drew closer together, watching her as warily as she watched them. She held
her hands out, palms up in entreaty.
"You wear our sign," one spoke by way of beginning. "Why?"
Mercury watched the two. There were slight differences between them
physically, though they were so similar. One was taller slightly, her arms
more muscular and her chin held more proudly. Her scaled green body had a
rust shaded diamond pattern on it. *Stheino.*
The second was more delicate, her flashing eyes set wide in her face. Grey
wave patterns overlaid the forested shades of her scaling. *Euryale.*
The voice of Stheino was deep and musical, far the opposite of what she had
expected to be high and scratchy, slithering in sound like the snakes that
hissed in their hair. The two sisters drew closer together, facing the thin
figure of the senshi of water.
"Athena gave it to me."
Strength and Universality exchanged a flickering glance before focusing on
Mercury again. The vipers of their hair rose in hackles. "And why would she
do such a thing?" Euryale asked. Her voice, though similar in timbre to her
sister's, was gentler, resounding.
"Why would she wear the head of your sister on her aegis?"
Stheino hissed, her tongue pressing against the back of her teeth. She
began to slide forward, but was restrained by the tiny movement of her
sister's hand. "Athena," Euryale said to her, "does things for reasons of
her own."
"And this?" Mercury gestured to the park of frozen figures around her. "Is
this for reasons of your own? Vengeance?"
"Vengeance is blood right!"
"But what does that bring but more death? What did these people do to you?
They are innocent, Euryale. Stheino. Your sister was killed by a Hellenic
man what these people consider centuries ago. Her blood is not on their
hands."
The two Gorgons debated silently between themselves. Suspiciously, Euryale
inched forward. "And how is it that we know to trust you? You who wear
strange clothes and speak a strange language?"
*A strange language? I've been speaking Japanese to them, not Hellenic! And
they understood me. That potion that Athena gave me...universality. The
ability to speak any language. That comes from Euryale's power. And the
Riptide...so strong! Stheino's strength. Parts of them.*
"Without Medusa, you have lost your wisdom, haven't you?"
The silent hissing of snakes made Mercury's assumption a certainty.
"She was your sister. Do you think this is what she would have desired?"
The Gorgons looked at the forms of stone around them. "A portal opened
before us," Euryale began slowly. "We thought it an escape from the island
we were imprisoned on."
"And it led us here," Stheino finished grimly.
*No explanations. No reasons to them, Poseidon? Just tempt them through?*
"Can you release your spell?" Mercury asked of them, face open, guileless.
She looked at Chibi Moon and Darien. Through the few trees, she saw a
playground, where the shadowy sailor suited form of Venus stood mid-attack.
The sound of cracking reached her ears, and she watched the stone that
encased the figures shatter in an explosion of shards. Released, people
started from their stillness. Darien turned around. Chibi Moon hesitated,
watching the twin figures of the Gorgons in disbelief. Venus silently ran to
the edge of their clearing, wordlessly watching.
Other couples and figures backed away slowly, edging themselves further
from this scene, until they had disappeared into the trees or felt safe
enough to run from the park. The Sailor Scouts were there now. Whatever the
problem was, they'd be able to handle it.
Sailor Moon, Mars and Jupiter peered around from the edges of the ice cream
cart, slowly standing. Hermes slowly came out from behind the curtain of
water, coming to stand just to the side of Mercury.
At the appearance of one who had aided Perseus, Stheino hissed loudly and
began to slither forward on her tail, but Mercury interrupted her approach,
standing before Hermes. "He helped Athena. Take it up with her."
Charge checked, Stheino backed up slightly. "We have no way to return."
"Yes, you do," Mercury reached up into the air. From within the pocket of
space she had placed it, she drew out the timekey she had retrieved from
Poseidon's island. "And with this, you can return to anywhere you wish."
She placed it within the hands of Euryale, who held it between herself and
her sister to appraise it. "Thank you," Euryale whispered as the key
brightened in her hands. The portal opened above them, whirling, and they
vanished within it, the light enveloping them fully. Within moments, they
were gone.
"Ames, was that really a good idea? Giving that thing to the Gorgons?"
Hermes was watching the newly emptied space with a quirked eyebrow, arms
folded.
Mercury shrugged, a small smile forming on her face. She imitated Hermes'
nonchalance, rolling her eyes in imitation of him. "Hey!" he protested.
"That's my look!"
"And I'm Sailor Mercury, remember?" she teased back, laughing.
"Buns?" Darien asked, approaching, accompanied by Chibi Moon.
"Darien!" Sailor Moon shrieked, launching herself at him, tears flowing in
streamers as she sobbed in relief. "You're alive!" she began to hiccup. Mars
rolled her eyes in disgust at the extensive display.
"Mercury!" Venus cried as she grabbed the returned senshi's hands. "You're
back! You got a tan! Oh my God! Your outfit!" Venus, ever fashion conscious,
was gawking at the alterations to Mercury's usual fuku. "That is so cool!"
"Thank you," Mercury replied shyly, nervous at the attention.
"Amy-chan!" Sailor Moon managed to tear herself off of the still stunned
figure of Darien, switching her focus from one thing to another with her
usual whirlwind ability. "You're back!" Now it was Mercury's turn to be
bogged down by the Senshi of the Moon. "You're okay!"
"Sailor Moon, you're going to smother her," that from Mars.
"It's okay, Mars," Mercury allowed. "I missed you guys."
Mars grinned and came over, hugging Mercury since Darien had managed to pry
Sailor Moon off.
"Don't forget me! I was gone too!" Jupiter laughed.
Chibi Moon grinned and wrapped her arms around her. "No one did, don't
worry!"
"Excuse me," Darien interrupted, his blue gaze focusing intently on Hermes,
who was watching the senshi reunion with some interest. "Who are you?"
"Ames? I think that guy is trying to talk to me."
"Hermes, this is Darien," then, switching, "Darien, guys, this is Hermes."
Everyone stared at each other, except for Jupiter, who looked like she had
a secret she was just dying to tell. Instead, she said, "Guys, I think they
need a moment," she cleared her throat suggestively, distracting everyone.
"Looks like it's time for me to go?" Hermes asked Mercury. She just nodded,
not meeting his eyes. Hands clasped at the brooch, her nervous gesture.
"Hey. Relax. It's not like I won't be back," he chuckled, and in his hand, a
timekey appeared.
"Hermes? Where did you get that?"
"Hey!" Jupiter shrieked, checking the thin silver chain around her neck. It
was lacking its key. "You baka! You stole my-!"
Hermes shrugged, grinning devilishly. He gave Sailor Mercury his best
lopsided grin while Mars and Venus attempted to restrain Jupiter from
pummeling him into the ground for his thievery. They didn't understand
everything that was happening, since Hermes had been speaking, of course, in
his native Hellenic.
Mercury shook her head in despair. "All that, and you still haven't learned
anything, have you?"
Flippantly, he agreed, "Nope."
"Don't do anything stupid, Hermes."
"Stupid? Now why would I do something stupid?"
Mercury sighed. "Just don't, Hermes. Promise?"
"On the Styx. But allow me one last stupidity, please."
"And what is that?"
The mouths of five shocked Sailor Scouts and one non-transformed Tuxedo
Mask hit the ground when this stranger suddenly grabbed their shy, reserved
little Sailor Mercury, dipped her, and kissed her quite firmly on the lips.
Releasing her to stagger a step, Hermes grinned one last time. "See you
around Ames," then he winked once in farewell, held the timekey to the air,
and was gone.
Mercury placed her hand to her mouth and flushed an interesting shade of
crimson.
Sailor Moon, Chibi Moon and Venus made small choking noises for a moment,
then everyone proceeded to scream very loudly, forcing Darien to cover his
ears in pain at the incredible pitch.
"Oh my God! Mercury!" Sailor Moon bubbled, all but leaping up and down. "He
kissed you! That is so cool!"
"It's about time!" Jupiter exclaimed, beaming down at the pink faced
Mercury. "I thought he never would!"
Mercury flushed darker.
Jupiter stared along with everyone else. "He did before?"
Mercury buried her face in her hands, darkening to purple.
There was another ear shattering scream, to which everyone shouted at
once, "YOU kissed HIM?!?!"
"It wasn't like that!" she cried desperately. "I had to save him from the
Sirens!"
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