Sailor Moon V
                                    *
                 The Dark Adventures of the Sailor Scouts


                              Episode Seven
                                    *
                          "Something To Remember"

  


     "Susan, what's that?" the six-year-old asked quietly as she pressed her
fingertip against the glass casing.
     Sailor Pluto looked up from the book she was reading and cast a glance
in the indicated direction.  "A collection of books that belonged to your
great-grandmother," she said.  "They're rather old and fragile, which is why
they've been put into protective storage."
     The child shook her head, sending her jet-black bangs flying back and
forth.  "Not the books, that," she said, emphasizing her meaning with a jab
of her finger against the glass.
     Pluto blinked for a moment as her mind tried to recall what else might
have been sealed in the casings.  Her demonic memory drew a blank and she
mentally shrugged, setting her book aside as she stood up.  "Let me see," she
said as she walked over to the case.  "You mean that little box on the second
shelf, near the very end?"
     "Yes," the child replied instantly.
     "Oh, that," Pluto chuckled as she finally remembered what it was.  "That
is the deck of tarot cards that your great-grandmother sometimes used in her
spiritual readings."
     "What's tarrow?" she asked, fumbling over the unfamiliar syllables.
     "Tarot," Pluto corrected gently out of sheer reflex.  "It's...." she said
slowly as she sought the best phrasing that would make sense to the child.
     "One method of fortune-telling," came the soft voice of Sailor Mars as she
entered the library and moved next to Sailor Pluto.  "The cards are randomly
drawn, and it is said that the Hand of Fate guides the teller into picking the
cards that symbolize whatever it is that is being asked or sought."
     "Hi, Aria!" the little girl said as she darted forward to hug the new
arrival.
     Mars chuckled quietly to herself and returned the enthusiastic embrace.
"Hello, Hotaru.  I see you're feeling better today."
     "The resilience of youth," Pluto observed with a faint smile.
     "Do you use tarrow cards in your medada.... met...." Hotaru fumbled.
     "Meditations," Pluto said slowly.
     Mars shook her head.  "No, astrology is the domain of your House, not
mine.  I deal with the spiritual that comes from within."
     Hotaru blinked and turned her attention back to the ancient deck in the
case.  "But why....?"
     Mars coughed quickly.  "I think that answer would take quite some time
for even Sailor Pluto to explain," she interjected to stem off the question.
She was fully aware of Hotaru's extremely high intelligence, but also knew that
her ability to fully comprehend was still somewhat overshadowed by her sense
of curiosity.  More than a few crying fits had erupted when she got curious
about something but couldn't quite grasp a solid understanding.
     "Most likely," Pluto agreed with only a slight pause.
     Hotaru frowned slightly at the interruption.  She reached out to touch
the glass casing again and paused.  "The Hand of Fate guides you when you read
the cards?" she asked slowly.
     Both Sailor Scouts blinked at the unexpected question.  "So I've been
told," Mars said slowly, "But I've never used tarot cards before.  I think
Sailor Pluto has before, though."
     "Several times, yes, but only as a hobby," Pluto replied.
     "Were you guided by Fate?" the six-year-old asked.
     "Well.... I'm not sure," Pluto replied truthfully.  "I mean, the readings
were somewhat accurate, but they are usually very difficult to interpret except
in a very generalized sense."
     Hotaru paused to digest this as she continued to stare at the deck.  Pluto
took the opportunity to lean towards Mars and very quietly whisper, "So how's
the Queen?"
     Mars sighed.  "Lady Mercury was frustrated to the point of tears an hour
ago, if that's any indication," she whispered back, equally as softly.  "She
doesn't think the Queen's in any mortal danger, but she's very worried about
that faint rasp in her voice for some reason."
     "Dryness?"
     Mars suppressed a snort.  "With as much herbal tea my mother keeps feeding
her?  I think not."
     "Can I hold the cards?" Hotaru said suddenly, startling them both.
     "That's probably not a good idea, Hotaru," Mars said gently.  "They are
very old and...."
     "But aren't they part of my House?" Hotaru asked tentatively.
     "Well, yes...." Mars said slowly.
     "Which means I'll have to use them soon, right?"
     Mars paused as she realized where this was heading.  "Actually...."
     "So I should start practicing now so I'll be ready when I become a Sailor
Scout like you and Susan, right?"
     "Um, maybe not right now, but...."
     "And didn't the Lady Mars suggest that I start learning soon?"
     Sailor Pluto chuckled dryly.  "I think you've been out-maneuvered, Aria."
     Mars shot Pluto a dark glare.  "She's your student," she muttered.
     "As you were once mine," Pluto replied gently.
     "You didn't raise me," Sailor Mars grumbled, almost too softly for Pluto's
demonic hearing to pick up.
     Hotaru's jet-black eyes darted back and forth between the two of them as
she tried to make sense of the fragments of speech she was hearing.  She had
long ago figured out that people whispered around her when they were discussing
things they didn't want her to hear, such as her frail life-force and the
Queen's current ill health.
     "Admit it, you don't like the idea of being cornered by a girl one-third
your age," Sailor Pluto observed lightly with a faint smile.
     "Alright, alright," Mars fumed, her temper starting to fray at the edges.
"I still don't think it's a good idea, but I'm not going to file a complaint
with our beloved Minister Dejanna or anything," she grumbled, referring to the
current Minister of Science.  "And I'm not taking responsibility."
     "No one asked you to," Pluto said consolingly as she turned to Hotaru.
"I will let you hold them, Hotaru, but you must be very careful.  They are
very old and could be easily damaged."
     Hotaru nodded solemnly.  "I promise to be careful."
     "Spoken like a true six-year-old," Sailor Mars muttered.
     "Aria, go find something to do before I tell her the story about the jar
of coconut oil," Sailor Pluto said lightly as she turned her attention to the
storage casing and began to unlock the front panel.
     Sailor Mars shot her a dark look and mumbled something incoherent beneath
her breath.  "I'll catch you two later," she said and left the library.
     Hotaru blinked and cast a questioning glance at Pluto.  "What jar of
coconut oil?" she inquired.
     "It's a long story," Pluto demurred as she finished entering the cipher
codes into the lock.  The lock clicked open and there was a faint hiss of
escaping gas as the nitrogen seal was broken.  She only opened the panel as
long as necessary to reach in and remove the deck of cards before she firmly
shut it and triggered the resealing process.
     "Ick," Hotaru coughed as she pinched her nose shut.
     "The gas is designed to prevent oxygen from speeding up the process of
decay," Pluto explained as she idly waved her free hand under her nose for a
moment.  "It smells terrible, but that's actually a good thing as it doesn't
encourage someone to try to break into the storage cases.  Here," she said as
she handed the ancient tarot cards to the young girl she was essentially
raising as her own daughter.
     Hotaru's black eyes went wide as she felt the deck's weight in her hands.
"Why is it so warm?"
     Pluto blinked hard and reached out to touch the deck.  "I don't feel any
temperature difference," she said slowly.
     "You don't?  That's funny.... maybe because you have wings?"
     Pluto felt her insides twinge faintly.  Everyone in the kingdom knew of
her half-human/half-demon heritage, but she had made a conscious effort to
avoid explaining some aspects to Hotaru until she was sure she could fully
understand them.  "I don't think that has anything to do with it, but you
never know," she said neutrally.
     Hotaru barely heard her.  She was absolutely captivated by the deck of
cards for some strange reason.  With deliberate slowness, she opened the box
and removed the stack of well-used cards, handing the box back to Pluto.  "The
cards feel strange," she said quietly.
     A very cold wind blew through Pluto's bones.  "How so?" she asked as she
fought a sudden urge to snatch the cards away from her.
     "I don't know," the child admitted.  "They just.... feel strange."
     "Do you know what to do with the cards?" Pluto asked gently.
     "Umm.... I just draw a few, right?" Hotaru said with uncertainty.
     Pluto nodded and sat down on the ground.  "Well, drawing is half of it.
The other half is trying to determine the meaning of the cards."
     Hotaru paused to assimilate the information before she sat down and set
the deck on the ground, slowly and carefully spreading the cards in an arc in
front of her.
     "Usually you're supposed to shuffle the deck before you draw," Pluto said
in a gentle tone.  "That's to help remove any remaining influences from other
readings."
     Hotaru blinked and looked up.  "I thought the Hand of Fate was supposed
to guide me when I drew the cards," she said, almost as if in protest.
     "Well, that's true," Pluto admitted.
     Hotaru studied the array of cards before her before she slowly extended
a fingertip towards the first card in the stack.  She paused just short of
touching it and very slowly moved her hand over the rest of the cards.  She
paused with her finger over one card and frowned.  "This one feels different
than the rest," she said quietly.
     Pluto's breath immediately snagged in her throat.  She has the gift, she
thought silently to herself, a gift that her bloodline hasn't seen in three
hundred years.  "Well, if that's the one you want, then draw it and flip it
over so we can see," she said as evenly as she could manage.
     Hotaru nodded and carefully withdrew the card from the stack before she
laid it down face-up above the deck.  The picture of a red-robed being holding
the banner of a white rose looked up at them, and Pluto could feel her jaw
sagging open of its own volition.
     "Death?" Hotaru breathed as she read the single word scrolled along the
bottom of the card.  "Susan, what's this mean?"
     It took a moment of great effort before Pluto could close her mouth.  "It
represents the force of Death, Hotaru, but not necessarily literally.  It often
can mean a major or catastrophic change instead.  It is a very powerful card,
but without some sort of influence to tell us if it's a good or a bad thing,
the card itself is meaningless."
     The future Sailor Scout paused to think for a very long time.  "So this
means it would help to draw another card to try to explain the meaning?" she
ventured after what had to be a full minute of silence and contemplation.
     Pluto blinked hard and thought carefully.  If she does have the gift, then
this really does have a meaning.... and it will happen regardless of whether
or not she becomes aware of it.  "Yes," she finally said slowly, "You're right,
we would need another card to explain this."
     Hotaru nodded and studied the array of cards in front of her before she
slowly reached out and withdrew another card.  She flipped it face-up next to
the first card and studied the picture: A man in a black cloak standing over a
pool of blood spilling from five gold goblets that had been dropped at his
feet.  "What's this one?" she asked.
     It took a moment for Pluto to find her voice.  "The Five of Cups," she
finally managed to say with a faint tremble in her voice despite her best
efforts.  "The suit of Cups are generally linked to matters of the heart and
material comfort.  However, the Five of Cups usually represents a sense of
loss or despair."
     Hotaru blinked.  "This is a bad influence on Death, right?" she asked
very slowly as her pale complexion lost most of what little color she had to
begin with.
     Sailor Pluto couldn't lie to her.  "I'm afraid so, Hotaru," she said,
almost in a whisper.  "Listen to me very carefully.... I dearly hope I'm wrong
about this, but it seems you have a natural gift for astrology.  It used to be
very common in your bloodline, but the last Lady Saturn to possess it was over
three hundred years ago.  There has always been a strong tie between your House
and astrology, just as there has been a tie between the House of Mars and the
spiritual."
     Her bottomless black eyes went wide as she absorbed the information.  "So
what does this mean?" she said as she gestured to the deck.  "Is that why it
feels funny to me?"
     "Maybe," Pluto said carefully, "But I can't say for sure unless we observe
your readings for some time to determine their accuracy and hence the strength
of your gift."
     There was another protracted silence as Hotaru sought to process the new
information and apply it to her present situation.  "Susan, my ancist....
cest...."
     "Ancestor."
     "How accurate was she?"
     Pluto swallowed hard.  "In retrospect?  Never wrong," she said quietly.
     "Then.... someone is going to die, right?" Hotaru said, her skin now a
sickly shade of white.
     "There is a good possibility of that," Sailor Pluto replied.  "However,
bear in mind this is just an interpretation.  It might not mean a literal
death."
     Hotaru studied the two face-up cards for a moment.  "Would drawing a third
card tell us more?  Like who it is going to aff.... affect?" she said, adding
the last word with hesitation.
     "You pronounced it correctly," Pluto replied as she chewed on the edge of
her lips, trying to decide if she should permit the reading to continue.  She
was intimately familiar with death, but Hotaru was only a child.  A child whose
mother died giving birth to her and as a result would probably never have the
strength to survive birthing her own daughter, she darkly reminded herself.
     She sighed quietly and made a decision.  "Yes, a third card might make it
clearer.... but you have to understand this now, Hotaru, that no matter what
good or ill comes from the reading, you are not at fault."
     Hotaru blinked hard before she slowly nodded and ran her fingertips over
the array of cards for a third time.  She twitched slightly as she snatched
her finger away from a card.  "Hey, that started to tingle...."
     Pluto felt her throat constrict again.  "Just that one card?"
     Hotaru quickly checked the other cards and nodded.  "Yes, just this one.
Is that supposed to be the Hand of Fate?" she asked as she gestured to the
card that had bothered her.
     She chose her words carefully.  "Well, if you feel as if one particular
card is standing out from the rest, then perhaps it is a suggestion."
     Hotaru nodded and reached for the card, gently tugging it free before
flipping it face-up next to the Five of Cups.  The picture showed a dog and a
wolf, sitting by a small pond and howling up at a massive moon.  "The Moon,"
she said as she read the words scrolled at the bottom.
     Sailor Pluto was on her feet in an instant as the shock tore through her
like a lightning bolt.  Two bulges formed on her back and exploded outward into
demonic wings, easily tearing through the specially designed strips of thin
fabric on the back of her Sailor Suit.  Her hand came up to her throat and
began twisting the tiny star that adorned the ribbon around her neck.  She
turned it to the right until it clicked twice, then pressed inward and down
until she felt it catch on a hook and stay in place.
     "Susan, what's wrong?" Hotaru said, startled by her sudden reaction.
     "Pluto to Mercury," she said as a small rod unfolded from the rear edge
of her tiara and settled into place directly over her ear canal.  She heard a
click from the tiny speaker inside before she heard the throaty sound of the
collar-based microphone being used at the other end.
      came the voice of Sailor Mercury.
     "Find your mother and meet me at the Queen's bedside," she snapped as she
made a snatching motion in the air.  Her staff seemed to materialize out of
thin air as it slapped into her palm.
      the voice in her ear started to say.
     "NOW, Amelia, I'll explain later.  Out," she said sharply as she flicked
the star with her thumb, closing the link.
     "What's wrong?  What did I do?" Hotaru started to cry in anguish.
     Pluto paused to kneel down and gently grip her shoulder.  "You didn't do
anything, Hotaru.  In fact, you might have even warned us."
     "It's the Queen, isn't it?" she sniffed.  "You think she's going to die."
     "Maybe not, but she is sick and I'm not going to take a chance with this
one," she explained.
     "I'm coming with you," she said suddenly and scooped up the tarot cards.
     Pluto was about to protest when she remembered another duty of the House
of Saturn, one that mirrored her own duties with disturbing closeness.  "Very
well, then," she said as she wrapped her arm around Hotaru's waist and lifted
her up in an embrace that probably wasn't as gentle as she would have liked.
Then making sure she had a firm grip on her staff, she sent them both into a
temporal vortex destined to emerge only a moment later in a different spot....
     And with a sharp gasp, Susan bolted upright in her bed as the dream of a
memory dissolved around her like sand through an open hand.  There was a squeak
of protest as the kitten that had been sleeping on her bare chest was sent
tumbling to the edge of the bed and almost onto the floor.
     "Damn," she muttered softly to herself as she fully woke up.  She glanced
at the window and saw that sunrise was still a couple hours away.  "Myst, are
you alright?"
     The silky gray kitten uncurled herself and gave Susan a dazed look.  "You
had a nightmare?"
     Susan shook her head.  "No, I was just reliving a memory in the form of a
dream, that's all," she said as she laid back down with a soft sigh.
     "A bad memory?" Myst asked as she carefully made her way back over to the
succubus and settled herself down next to her shoulder.
     "Not so much bad as.... unpleasant," Susan replied quietly.  "A very young
Sailor Saturn warning me of the Queen's death just before it happens."
     The Shinma said nothing as Susan began stroking her soft fur absently.
"I just find it odd that I would remember that particular memory in a dream
instead of something else, or a dream itself," Susan continued.  "And I'm not
sure why it woke me up like it did.  Did you happen to dream?"
     "No, I was fortunate this time," Myst replied quietly.
     Susan made a soft noise to herself, knowing that sometimes a dreamless
sleep is preferable to being at the mercy of one's subconscious mind.  But
still, she continued to wonder, of all the things to remember.... why this?
     The question seemed to echo in her mind for very long time until the first
rays of the dawning sun began to refocus her mind to other matters.

                *               *               *               *

     Alex grunted softly to herself as something woke her up.  Her subconscious
mind twitched her elbow very gently and quickly assured her that, if nothing
else, Michelle was still sleeping next to her.  The realization didn't fully
register in her brain, but it was enough to prevent a mental alarm from going
off and shocking her into full consciousness.
     She was giving serious consideration to simply going back to sleep when
the room was very briefly lit by a muted flash of light.  A subvocal grunt of
protest emerged from her throat as she lifted her head off of the pillow and
opened her eyes, trying to see through the blur caused by still being only
half-awake.
     Susan carefully unhooked the cargo container from the load-bearing webbing
she had strapped to her back and eased it onto the floor as quietly as she
could.  Beside her was a second cargo container that seemed identical to the
first, both of which were marked with a pair of sigils that denoted their
owners.  "Good morning," she said very quietly as she noticed Alex's bleary
gaze in her direction.
     "... th' hell?" the blonde mumbled as she carefully edged her arm out from
under Michelle and sat up, ignoring the sheets as they tumbled away to expose
her small breasts.  Michelle stirred slightly but remained fast asleep, totally
oblivious to the world around her.
     "A few things from the Moon Kingdom, mostly clothes," Susan replied in a
quiet voice.  "I returned to a point in time shortly after the attack took
place but before the Shield collapsed, which didn't give me much time to gather
everything together."
     "Underwear?" Alex said as she fully woke up.  She tossed the covers aside
to expose the rest of her nude body and carefully eased herself out of bed,
trying not to disturb Michelle.  She quickly made her way over to the cargo
containers and opened the first one.  "Oh, crap, what is that smell?" she
muttered as she sorted through the stack of clothes inside.
     "You don't want to know," Susan replied in a tone that made Alex shiver.
     "Okay.  Ah, here we go," Alex said with satisfaction as she dug a pair of
panties out of the container and put them on.  "Oh, yeah, this is what I'm
talking about.... clean, dry underwear," she cooed.
     "I know what you mean.  I'm going to see if I have enough time to get a
few more things," Susan said as she readjusted the webbing.  "However, don't
count on anything.  I got the impression on the last trip that I was getting
very close to a temporal overlap, and that's something I have to avoid at all
costs."
     "Yeah, whatever that means," the blonde replied, only half-listening as
she sorted through the rest of the container's contents.  "Great, you got my
good pair of sweatpants.  You're a sweetheart."
     The succubus just shook her head.  "Michelle's clothes and a few personal
effects are in the other container.  I suggest you both take the time to sort
through them after breakfast so you have a good idea of what else you might
need me to acquire.  Did you sleep well?"
     "Like a rock," Alex said as she dug a sports bra out of the container and
slipped it on.  "I think we both pretty much conked out as soon as we hit the
pillows."
     "Good," Susan replied as she made a snatching motion at the air.  Her
staff seemed to materialize out of nowhere as it quietly slapped into her palm.
"I sense that we'll need as much of our strength as possible.  This morning
shouldn't be too taxing, but this afternoon is going to be quite the opposite."
     Alex winced slightly as Susan disappeared in a brief flash of temporal
energy.  "I hate it when she gets all mysterious like that," she muttered to
herself as she started to open the second cargo container.  She froze as she
heard a sound behind her and felt a gentle touch on her arm.
     "Love, you need to quit sneaking up on me like that," she said quietly as
she let out her breath.
     "Sorry," Michelle breathed softly as she slid her arms around the blonde's
waist and pressed herself close.  "What did she bring us?"
     "Mostly clothes," Alex murmured as she brought her hands up to cover
Michelle's.  She could feel the softness of Michelle's bare breasts pressed
against her back, the hardened nipples sending an almost electric thrill down
her spine as they slowly moved back and forth.
     "Mmmmm...." Michelle purred softly in her ear as her fingertips slowly
traced a path up from Alex's stomach to the bottom edge of her bra.  "Do we
need them right now, or do we still have awhile before breakfast?"
     "I see you slept well," Alex replied almost breathlessly as she felt the
sports bra slide up to expose the swells of her breasts.
     "Of course, I have you to sleep next to me," Michelle replied quietly as
she lightly brushed her lips across lover's neck, drawing a soft sigh from the
blonde.  Her hands came up to gently cup Alex's small breasts, very slowly
rolling the hardening nipples against her palms.
     Humans, Myst thought to herself from her vantage point beneath the bed as
she watched the two lovers with only slight interest in their activities.  I'll
never understand their fascination with each other's bodies.  Shaking her head
to herself, she merged herself with the deep shadows under the bed and entered
the demiplane of existence that she had discovered only a few hours ago.
     The room seemed to warp and bend slightly as the fundamental properties
of light were altered.  Solid objects became partially translucent and almost
all the color was drained away, shifted into gauzy stains of pale reds, light
blues, and sickly greens.  Shadows that seemed small and faint before blossomed
into massive pools of inky darkness, making the room seem smaller than before.
     She paused for a moment to study the spectral images that the humans had
become.  They were transparent enough to almost be invisible, ghostly figures
with very blurry, undefined details.  Faint auras surrounded them both, bright
yellow for Alex and aquamarine sharply edged in black for Michelle.  The colors
seemed to bleed from one aura to the other as they touched and caressed in what
was seen as very slow motion, moving from the corner of the room over to the
fuzzy image of the bed.
     Shaking her head to herself again, she started moving through the strange
demiplane, passing through the bedroom wall as if it were only an illusion.  It
had taken her several minutes before to determine that objects didn't fully
exist in the demiplane.  However, light waves were partially able to bleed
through from the normal three-dimensional plane, thus giving the appearance of
an object's existence.
     She paused for a moment to study the shimmering conduits that ran along
the inside of the walls, appearing to her to be a glittering network of rapid
pulses of light.  Curious, she started to trace the conduits to their source,
following the twisting trail of energy downward until she arrived in a room
dominated by a massive pulsing core surrounded by a haze of radiation.
     This doesn't look good, Myst thought as she started to edge away from the
reactor core.  She briefly considered shifting back to the material plane to
get a better look, then reconsidered her decision after studying the haze of
radiation.  It seemed to be fully contained in what appeared to be a very solid
housing, but she wasn't sure she wanted to chance anything.
     She turned around to head back up when she saw a ghostly figure walking
down the hallway towards the reactor core.  The figure stopped at the doorway
and started touching a small box on the outside, triggering a brief flurry of
activity in the conduits lining the walls.  The walls seemed to slide apart
after a moment, allowing the figure to enter the small room.
     Interesting, she thought as she watched the walls return to their usual
position.  She carefully studied the new arrival, noting that he was surrounded
by a fairly strong gray aura that seemed to be speckled with tiny pinpoints of
yellow.  The figure moved over to a set of controls mounted on a console and
seemed to be looking at them carefully.
     Curious about what was going on, she shifted herself from the demiplane
back into the material plane.  The process only took a moment and then she was
suddenly wincing as her senses were bombarded with both color and sound.  How
strange that I didn't notice sound doesn't exist there, she thought dourly as
she batted at her whiskers.
     Tolaris glanced up as he caught motion out of the corner of his eye and
almost leapt out of his skin.  "And where did you come from?" he inquired as
he slowly let his breath out and glanced back at the reactor control panel.
"I didn't see you following me down the hallway."
     "I shifted dimensions," Myst explained quietly as she sat back and started
to preen her whiskers.  She was still getting used to her feline form and had
learned that her whiskers provided a great deal of sensory information.... as
long as they were kept clean.
     "Mmm.  I know Whisper can do some sort of dimensional shifting as well,
but she said it really wasn't a good idea to spend much time in that form,"
Tolaris replied absently.  His attention was focused on a blinking green light
on one of the status panels, a light that normally would have remained a steady
green color.  "Great, just p'tahk'enn great.  Don't do it, don't do it...."
     The light turned a solid yellow color and a warning chime began to echo
in the room.  Tolaris sighed quietly as he turned the alarm off and let loose
with a very long, complex string of profanity.  "P'tai," he muttered to himself
when he finished and began running a series of diagnostics on the reactor.
     Myst blinked at the sudden activity.  "Is something wrong?" she asked.
     "Not really, just a plasma filter that's partially clogged," the Dragoon
explained.  "However, if we don't do something about it relatively soon, like
clean it or replace it, it could start to cause problems with the rest of the
reactor.  And that's when we start to worry.  Tolaris to Ra'vel," he said as
he dug out his communicator and opened the frequency assigned to the Dragoon
sigil.
     There was a slight pause before he saw Ra'vel's image appear on the tiny
monitor and heard a slightly scratchy chirp in response.  "I'm in the reactor
control room and I need your help," Tolaris explained.  "Level 5 advisory, got
a plasma filter that is starting to clog.  I want to see if you can use your
telekinetic powers to pull it out so we don't have to drag out the radiation
suits."
     Ra'vel fluffed her feathers and chittered at him for a few moments before
shrugging in apology.  "No problem, just thought I'd ask," Tolaris replied.
"Thanks anyway."  The image of Ra'vel nodded before the channel closed and
fell silent.
     "She doesn't feel comfortable with using her telekinetic powers on the
reactor from a distance," the Dragoon told Myst as he reset the communicator
and opened a different frequency, this one denoted by the Star sigil.  "Not
that I blame her in the least.  Tolaris to Maze."
     "Morning, boss," Maze replied as his image appeared on the screen.
     "Idle curiosity.... when was the last time you changed a plasma filter on
a class 3A reactor unit?" Tolaris asked.
     Maze blinked and sighed.  "Idle curiosity, my ptanka.  I take it we need
to have one changed now?"
     "Changed or cleaned, depending on what it looks like," Tolaris replied.
"The computer picked up on it last night and flagged it as a possible problem.
I came down here to check on it and just now got a Level 5 advisory."
     "Just a Level 5?" Maze said as his image heaved a sigh of relief.  "Had me
worried for a moment that we might have had a serious problem on our hands."
     Tolaris chuckled.  "Yes, well it's going to get that way if we don't do
something about it.  Which brings me back to my first question."
     "Never worked on a 3A before," Maze admitted.  "Helped tear apart and
refurbish a class 2A-2 reactor located in the Headquarters Complex, though.
It's part of the backup system so it's not being used constantly like this one
here is, but at least it didn't blow up when we tested it."
     Tolaris grunted.  "Fair enough.  I'll do the hardsuit part and you can
handle the console."
     "Deal.  Umm, do I have time for a shower?" Maze inquired.
     Tolaris glanced at the display console for a moment.  "Probably, but try
to keep it short.  I think we're going to have to do a replacement instead of
just a cleaning, and I'd rather get that over and done with as soon as we can."
     "No problem, just give me ten minutes and I'll be down there," Maze
replied and closed the connection.
     Tolaris just grunted softly as he put his communicator back in his pocket.
"Probably going to take me that long just to get into the hardsuit," he said,
more to the room in general than to Myst.  He made his way over to a small
access hatch at the far corner of the room, stripping off various articles of
clothing as he went.
     "I will never understand you people and clothes," Myst said sourly as she
watched Tolaris finish stripping down to his underwear.
     The Dragoon chuckled dryly.  "Try it like this," he explained as he keyed
open the access hatch.  "We pretty much wear clothes constantly, and only take
them off when they get in the way, like when you go to use the bathroom or take
a shower.  Or in this case, have to put on a skin-tight bodysuit and thick
radiation armor.  Excuse me," he added as he climbed into the access chamber
and sealed the hatch behind him.
     "That helps," Myst muttered to herself as she walked over to the control
console and carefully leapt up onto it, making quite sure she didn't touch or
bump anything.  She threaded her way along the rows of controls until she found
a space large enough for her to sit down comfortably without being in the way
of anything, yet still permitted her a good view of the reactor housing.
     From what she was able to see, the reactor was housed in a small metal
sphere supported by two massive conduits on either side.  A series of small
tubes tapped into the sphere in a complex three-dimensional pattern, presumably
circulating coolant inside the reactor chamber.  A small airlock stood at the
far end of the chamber, and through the windows Myst could make out a slightly
blurry humanoid figure moving around inside.
     Every few seconds she could almost feel a very faint thrum of energy from
the reactor core.  Curious, she scanned the various display panels until she
found one that showed a sine wave that peaked every time she felt a thrum.  The
wave rose and fell in perfect rhythm, and she took that to be a display of the
actual power reaction inside the chamber.
     The computer panel next to the door chittered for a brief moment and the
doors slid open with a pneumatic hiss.  Myst raised an eyebrow as a slightly
damp Dragoon Lieutenant Maze entered, wearing only a pair of sweatpants and
slippers.  He was still in the process of toweling his short, spiky purple hair
dry and didn't notice Myst until he was almost standing right next to her.
     "Hey, what are you doing down here?" he said as he blinked in surprise,
wrapping the towel around his shoulders.
     "Just observing," Myst replied quietly as she started to preen the silky
gray fur on her tail.
     Maze grunted softly.  "Just as long as you're not sitting on something of
importance," he said as he studied the various displays.  "Mmm, just as long as
a clogged plasma filter is the only thing wrong with this thing.  Low-level
maintenance I can deal with.  I don't know what Tolaris knows about reactors,
but I'm willing to bet we'd be k'vesen if we needed something major done.  Of
course, if something critical happened like we lost magnetic containment, it
really wouldn't matter if we were engineers or not because we'd all have our
ptankas blown out the other side in an instant."
     Myst paused in mid-motion, her tongue still hanging out.  "What do you
need magnets for in a reactor?" she said slowly.
     "Not magnets, but magnetic containment fields," Maze explained as he began
typing commands on the reactor control console.  "We use them to store the
reactor fuel and keep it isolated from everything else.  It's very volatile
stuff.  Maze to Tolaris," he said as he keyed open the intercom.
     "Almost ready," came the muffled response from the speaker.  "This is made
a lot simpler because we're stocked with the same class of hardsuits we use at
the Complex.  I think I've put on a little extra weight, however, because this
thing is a lot tighter than I remember."
     Maze shook his head.  "For shame, Commander.  You know we have exercise
equipment readily available in the training room."
     There was a soft grunt from the speaker.  "Stuff it, Lieutenant, and give
me a radiation reading on the core," Tolaris grumped.
     Maze smirked and decided not to comment about who was trying to stuff what
at the moment.  "Seventeen in the core," he replied as he glanced up at the
radiation sensor display.  "And the reading in the airlock is four."
     "Amusing," Tolaris replied.  There was a sharp click followed by the soft
hiss of gas over the intercom.  "Okay, I've sealed the suit, so you can link
me into the sensor array," he said, his voice now echoing slightly from within
the confines of his helmet.  "Serial number 3A2LE7933."
     Maze keyed in the information into the panel and paused for a moment as
the suit's serial number sank into his mind.  "Wait a minute.... that suit is
supposed to be stored at the Lex'eri storage facility, right?  7900 series?"
     There was a short pause from the intercom.  "Looks that way."
     "So that's where they went," Maze said as he shook his head.  "About a
month after Shar-Tei was put in charge, Little Q tried to requisition a few
replacement suits from Lex'eri and created quite a stir when he found a bunch
of them had gone missing.  And if memory serves, they were all listed under the
7900 series."
     Tolaris chuckled dryly at the image of the Dragoon Complex Quartermaster
throwing a fit over "his" cache of supplies at Lex'eri.  An avian like Ra'vel,
the usually dour V'Lan was known unofficially as "Little Q" despite his rather
large frame, and was renown for his seriousness over the tiniest detail when
it came to supply orders and storage.
     "Okay, you're tapped in," Maze said as the display for Tolaris's hardsuit
appeared on his monitor.  "External radiation is four, internal is zero, and
all your vital signs are green."
     "That's a relief," Tolaris replied dryly.  "Reactor status?"
     "Still idling down," Maze replied as he watched the sine wave display
that had attracted Myst's attention earlier.  "Give it another thirty seconds
before I can shunt the plasma into a buffer.  Unless, of course, you want to
play in the deuterium stream, in which case you can crack the hatch whenever
you want."
     "I'll pass, thanks.  Speaking of deuterium, what's our fuel status?"
     "At the current rate of consumption?  Serena's grand-daughter might have
to worry about it one day, but we're good for at least another fifty years at
this rate.  I might have to recalculate if we ramp up the reactor to start
providing power for something else, but I can't imagine anything we have that
would draw that much power."
     "Mina's laser array?" Tolaris offered.
     "Bah, the only reason that put a dent in the power supply was because the
reactor was set not to increase power on demand," Maze replied.  "Nephlyte had
it set to simulate common household power levels for some reason.  Okay, I'm
starting the plasma diversion."
     There was a heavy sigh from the intercom.  "Why do these things always
have to itch in places where you can't scratch?"
     "You want me to answer that?" Maze asked with a grin at Myst as he kept a
close eye on the plasma conduits.
     "Not that question, but I have a different one for you," Tolaris said.
"If all Nephlyte wanted to do was simulate common household voltage, then why
did he use a class 3A reactor?  Safety alone would dictate that you don't use
any of the type A's unless you need to power a platform that requires a very
substantial energy source."
     Maze paused to consider the question.  "I haven't given it much thought,
to be honest with you," he said after a lengthy pause.  "I mean, I suppose that
Nephlyte did intend this to be the eventual base of operations for an invasion
of Earth.  That would mean a massive power requirement once things got set into
motion, so it would make some sense to get the design right the first time
instead of trying to upgrade the reactor in mid-stream."
     "True," Tolaris admitted, "But if you went along with that logic, then you
would have designed this place as a fortress instead of a cathedral."
     "Hold that thought, boss," Maze replied as a series of amber lights lit up
on his console.  "The reactor's now idle and the plasma stream has been shunted
into the buffer.  We've got twenty minutes to do this before the buffer gets
overloaded."
     "Twenty minutes?" Tolaris said in bemusement.  "Usually the specs call for
a fifteen minute window.  I'm opening the airlock now."
     Maze nodded to himself as he watched a green light go red on his panel.
"Usually, but keep in mind that this reactor is rated 300 and we've only been
drawing maybe 45 off of it, so we don't need a large plasma flow."
     Myst blinked as she saw a heavily armored figure step out of the airlock
and slowly make his way towards the reactor core.  "Still, I'm going to try to
aim for fifteen minutes," Tolaris replied.  "Radiation count?"
     "External rising to seventeen, internal is still zero," Maze said, then
paused for a moment.  "Let me ask you a question that's been bugging me for
some time now.  Rune knows we're here in the cathedral, right?"
     There was a noise from the speaker that could have been either a grunt or
a random burst of radiation-induced static.  "She knew enough about where I was
at in order to plan a very intricate trap for me, so I wouldn't be surprised in
the least if she did know where we were," Tolaris replied.  "East end or west
end?"
     Maze consulted the display and frowned.  "East end, and the radiation
count is starting to rise slowly.  At twenty-four now, and sensor web on the
conduit is starting to look a bit unsteady.  I think the filter is starting to
disintegrate."
     "Wonderful.  So much for a simple cleaning."
     "You know you wanted to do a replacement anyway," Maze replied as he began
typing on the control console.  "Hey, back up a few feet.  You want the blue
container on your left, the one with two red stripes and a yellow starburst.
That should have the replacement filters."
     "Convenient," Tolaris said as he retrieved the small container.  "Odd,
this is also marked as supposedly in storage at Lex'eri.  Makes you wonder if
there's a manifest of issued supplies around here somewhere."
     Maze shook his head.  "One headache at a time, Commander.  Let's get this
filter replaced first, then we can worry about where the towels came from."
     "Probably the same place the military gets all that stuff from," Tolaris
observed as he carefully carried the metallic container towards the conduit.
"This should have all the proper tools in it, right?"
     The purple-haired Dragoon shrugged.  "It should...." he said slowly.  The
speaker replied with a word that drew a dry chuckle from Maze.  "Hey, it's not
like any of us has bothered to check, you know?"
     "Guess what we're doing tonight then, assuming we're still around to talk
about it," Tolaris replied with a grunt.  He carefully set the container on a
nearby ledge and examined the hatch over the plasma filter housing.  "Give me
a reading before I open this thing."
     Maze glanced down at the display panels. "Radiation is at twenty-nine on
the outside, and still zero on the inside.  However, you're going to have to
be careful with cracking it open.  The sensor web has gotten very twitchy all
of a sudden, and I'm guessing it'll trigger a level 4 alarm in short order."
     Tolaris paused for a moment. "Worst-case scenario, what happens if I
totally ruin the plasma filter already in there before I take out?"
     "You have pieces everywhere that need to be cleaned out, and the system
triggers a level 3 alarm about foreign objects inside the conduit," Maze said.
"And unless you get all of the fragments out, they'll be swept up in the plasma
flow once it starts up again and probably wind up in the core chamber."
     Tolaris got a chill just thinking about it and very carefully began to
unlock the access hatch.  "Let's just hope that doesn't happen.  We do have a
vacuum device in here, right?"
     Maze blinked and glanced around the console.  "Uh, probably not.  I think
the only vacuum system we have is the emergency venting system, and that's for
a coolant leak.  I'll add it to tonight's list," he said quickly before Tolaris
could reply.
     There was a heavy sigh from the speaker, followed by a series of heavy
clicking noises.  "Finished unlocking the panel, opening it now...."
     Three different alarms on the console suddenly flashed red as the conduit
was opened and exposed to air.  The radiation count promptly doubled and the
display from the sensor web became highly unstable.  "Rad warning!" Maze yelled
into the microphone as he tried to assess what was happening.  The sensor web
display caught his eye and his heart skipped a beat.  "Get down!"
     Tolaris didn't hesitate and threw himself on the floor, shielding his
helmet with his arms.  There was a sharp crack as the plasma filter, partly
ionized by constant exposure to high-energy plasma, reacted with the normally
stable molecules in the air and combusted, producing a miniature explosion.
     The air around Tolaris was immediately filled with a dense fog, a result
of the automatic fire-suppression system kicking in.  The vent fans kicked in
a moment later, slowly drawing the fog out of the reactor room and sending it
through a series of air-scrubbers before venting it out a small duct outside
the cathedral.
     Maze scrambled to keep up with what was happening as a level 3 alarm
blared around him, the loud klaxon giving him an instant headache.  Beside him,
Myst's gray fur was standing on end as she looked around the room, trying to
figure out what was going on.
     "Nak'seth!" Maze yelled at the control panel, hoping that Tolaris had
gotten around to setting up an audio link to the main computer. "Kurush a'vel,
s'vaer il'yed ie cha'nak, men'taka Maze Aerce juun juun s'ech!"
     Much to his relief, the klaxon immediately fell silent and he could feel
the vibrations of the reinforced blast doors locking into place outside the
room.  "A'vel kurush'en," the synthesized voice of the computer echoed around
the room in a flat monotone.  "Il'yed s'vaer'en.  Il'yan: kesha senn cha'nak
il'yan na'e dai'san."
     "What did it say?" Myst asked as she gave very serious consideration to
shifting back to the demiplane and finding a place to hide.
     "It did what I asked it to do," Maze said curtly as he started typing
away on the console as fast as his fingers would move.
     "Maze?" came the voice from the speaker.
     "Hold still a moment," Maze said as he scanned and rescanned everything
he possibly could.  "Okay, here's what I can figure out.... the plasma filter
was clogged with something really ionized that reacted with the air when you
opened the hatch."
     "Radiation?" Tolaris asked as he slowly stood up.
     "Seventy-three outside, six inside your suit, but that outside reading is
starting to drop.  I think it was just an ion burst."
     "Atmosphere?" he asked next as he noticed the fog in the air and suddenly
very grateful for his suit's internal air supply.
     "Uh.... half-second burst of AC-73," Maze replied, referring to the fire
suppression compound that inhibited combustion.  The only downside was that the
air was unbreathable until it was totally vented from the area.  "The system
is processing it now, and the scrubbers are taking most of the radiation with
it.  Maybe four points making it outside."
     Tolaris grunted and carefully peeked into the conduit.  "You're going to
find this amusing.  The filter seems to still be in one piece."
     "Whisper to Maze," the speaker said with a faint crackle.
     "You're right, that is amusing.  Just a moment, ma'am, we're working on
it.  Minor problem with the plasma filter, ion spark," Maze said without taking
his eyes off the readings.
     There was a slight pause from the second connection.  "The computer starts
screaming a Level 3 reactor warning, and you say it's a minor problem?" Whisper
replied after a moment.
     A hideous crunching noise followed her words as Tolaris yanked the remains
of the plasma filter from the housing.  "Tolaris to Whisper, I'm in the reactor
room at the moment, and it appears that, ion spark aside, everything is well
within control."
     Maze could hear someone asking about what the hell an ion spark was in the
background before Whisper sighed heavily.  "I really hope you do, Commander,
because I have a few upset guests here and I'm not sure what to tell them."
     "Tell them we're working on it," Tolaris suggested.  "Maze, how much time
is left?"
     Maze glanced at a display.  "Call it ten minutes by the manual, fifteen
if we trust the buffer."
     "What happens after fifteen minutes?" Alex could be heard asking in the
background.
     "Well, if I'm not done by then, we shut down the reactor and lose power
until I can get it fixed and restarted," Tolaris explained as he opened the
storage container holding the replacement plasma filters.
     Maze just bit his tongue, knowing full well that shutting down the reactor
was a last-resort option.  Then he heard his communicator start beeping at a
rapid rate, a signal that someone was trying to use the Emergency frequency to
contact him.  He turned his attention away from the reactor console only long
enough to dig his communicator out of his back pocket and glance at the tiny
sigil display.
     Oh boy, this is going to be a fun one to explain, he thought as he saw
the Mercury sigil lit up and blinking rapidly.  Sighing heavily, he thumbed
the connection open and turned his attention back to the console.
     "Maze, what's going on?  Why isn't Tolaris answering me?" Ami's worried
image demanded.  "And what's with the reactor?"
     "Well...." Maze said as he composed his thoughts, "It's like this...."

                *               *               *               *

     Ael'ien kept a wary eye over her shoulder as she knocked on the closed
door to K'tal's office, watching a very upset Felinoid with beautifully soft
black fur pace back and forth in front of a control console.  Everyone else was
giving the area a wide berth, making sure not to come too close to what was
obviously a walking health-hazard.
     The door to the office was yanked open and Dragoon Commander K'tal stuck
his head out with a very harried look on his face.  "Asrial, please tell me
that.... oh, morning, Captain," he said, blinking in surprise.
     "Trouble?" Ael'ien inquired as she gestured over her shoulder.
     "The uplink to a very crucial satellite is k'vesen," he replied bluntly.
"It's us, not the satellite, so I've got Asrial and Ji'an working on it.  What
can I do for you?"
     Ael'ien sighed and held up a message form marked 'Eyes Only - Division'.
"Rune sends her regards.  You're going to love this one."
     The Dragoon groaned quietly and sagged against the wall for support.  "I
have three different tasking orders for preparations for Nop'tera's arrival,
all of which are going to screw up every single field exercise I have running,
plus I have a mission-critical communication problem that supercedes all of
that.  You're supposed to be bringing me good news, Ael," he said as he waved
her into his office and closed the door behind them.
     The telepath gave him a wry look.  "You should see what I've got to deal
with," she said as she handed him the message.
     "I can imagine," he replied as he scanned the message.  "From Commanding
General, to all division-level and theater commanders, due to recent events
and the planned arrival.... okay.... okay.... wait.... she wants what?"
     Ael'ien sighed and ran her fingers through her hair.  "It gets better."
     K'tal blinked hard as he continued to read the message.  "A maximum-level
defensive systems readiness test to be conducted before the arrival of General
Nop'tera's fleet?" he said slowly.  "That doesn't sound too bad."
     "Until you stop and think what you have in your basement here," Ael'ien
reminded him.  She blinked hard as she could almost hear a mental click in his
mind, immediately followed by the color draining out of his face.
     "Ay'cha navidshi, the cannon!"
     Ael'ien nodded silently.  It was widely known that deep inside each of the
divisional headquarters complexes was an energy weapon capable of ripping a
sizable hole in a mountain.  Each weapon was uniquely designed with roughly the
same firepower, but required an incredible amount of power to use and was not
something that could be used casually or with any modicum of secrecy.  The
Dragoon Headquarters Complex housed a particle-wave cannon that was one step
below a full-blown reflex cannon.  The fundamental difference was that a very
precise and powerful orbital mirror could be used to deflect the blast from a
particle-wave cannon into another trajectory, thus allowing a shot to be placed
over the visible horizon.
     K'tal sighed heavily.  "Let me guess, this dispatch will very shortly be
in the hands of Internal Review, who will probably come dangerously close to
wetting themselves in excitement at the prospect of being able to throw an
immediate and unannounced command-level practice exercise."
     "Something like that," Ael'ien said with a faint smile.
     "You do know where our orbital mirror is, right?" K'tal added darkly.
     "On the satellite with the bad uplink?" she ventured with a frown.
     "And they say you need to touch a person to read minds."
     The telepath winced.  "So what's the procedure for this?"
     K'tal sighed and sat down at his desk.  "IR is usually very good about
giving me a five-minute advanced notice message so I can make emergency fixes
to my schedule and take care of some critical business before it kicks off."
     As if on cue, the printer on his desk began beeping in alarm as it began
to print out something as fast as it could.  The Dragoon Commander gave a very
dour look to the Psi-Corp Captain as he motioned her over to a row of chairs
that sat against one wall.  "Have a seat, Ael, just not near the door," he
said as he grabbed the finished printout and wearily cleared off the center of
his desk.  "As expected, a no-notice full-scale cannon exercise, with a
courtesy five-minute warning to the commander to tie up loose ends.  This is
going to get very interesting and very ugly in a few seconds.  Plug your ears
for a moment," he added as he sat down.
     Ael'ien gave him an odd look as she did so, then blinked hard as she could
feel the force of his voice as he bellowed "ASRIAL!!!" through the door of his
office.  The door slammed open a few seconds later and the upset Felinoid she
saw earlier stormed into the office.  The Felinoid extended her claws as she
leaned over and promptly buried them in the surface of the desk, her ears flat
against her head and her tail lashing back and forth like a whip.
     "What do you want NOW?" Dragoon Lieutenant Asrial demanded furiously.
     Virtually everyone Ael'ien knew, herself included, would have immediately
thrown the Felinoid into the nearest holding cell for gross insubordination
and blatant disrespect to a superior officer.  K'tal, much to her surprise,
merely leaned forward and started rubbing his hand over her paw.  "Asrial,
ne'ana," he cooed quietly, using a term of endearment usually reserved for an
intimate friend, "We have a bit of a crisis on our hands.  See this?" he said
as he held the dispatch up so she could read it.
     Asrial growled dangerously as she started to read the message.  She got
as far as the first sentence before she blinked hard, freezing her tail in
mid-motion.  After a few more moments of reading her tail abruptly coiled into
a tight helix, looking very much like a corkscrew.
     "Yes, now you see my problem," K'tal said soothingly to her.  "I don't
suppose you can do anything about this?"
     The Felinoid growled quietly to herself as she pulled her claws free from
K'tal's desk and grabbed the message from his hand, her tail still frozen in
the corkscrew shape as she re-read the message.  As soon as she finished the
message for the second time, she turned around and let loose with a very loud
and protracted screaming roar that made Ael'ien's hair stand on end.
     She was answered with a much quieter, almost subdued growl of protest and
a few seconds later another Felinoid walked into the room.  Unlike Asrial's
black fur, the new arrival's fur was a deep shade of forest-green and banded
with black stripes, much like a bengal tiger.  "Mwwerh?" he growled softly to
Asrial as he tried to towel off the pink goo that coated his arms up to his
elbows.
     Asrial thrust the message at him, holding it a few inches away from the
tip of his nose.  Ji'an continued to try to clean himself as he read, halting
in mid-motion after he got past the second line.  Ael'ien had to literally
bite the tip of her tongue to keep herself from laughing as his tail abruptly
coiled into the same tight helix as Asrial's tail had done earlier.
     "We have three minutes before I have to call a general alert," K'tal said
calmly.  "It will take several minutes for each of the phase-transformations,
which is about as much time as I can give you.  So if we don't have the uplink
restored by then, well.... I think we'll all have to find a new line of work."
     Ji'an turned around and left without saying a word, moving quickly back
to the control console.  Asrial shot K'tal a dark look and growled something
profane under her breath before tossing the message on his desk.  She quickly
followed the other Felinoid out of the office, closing the door with her tail
behind her with a sharp bang.
     Ael'ien cleared her throat delicately.  "Commander...." she said slowly.
     K'tal waved his hand.  "Yelling at an already agitated Felinoid is a very
bad idea, especially when they're as young and as hot-headed as she is.  The
key to dealing with her is not to react to her temper.  She's one of my best
computer operators, and admittedly has been under quite a lot of pressure this
past week, so I allow her temper a little leeway.  Besides, she knows where the
line is at," he added.
     "And the desk?" she inquired as she leaned over to examine the puncture
marks in the center.  She blinked hard as she realized that there were several
sets of claw marks on the desk and that the surface wasn't made out of wood as
she expected, but a very spongy material.
     "Corkboard," he explained as he tapped a knuckle on it.  "Tolaris came up
with the idea about forty years ago after she kept perforating his in fits of
rage.  Very easy to replace, very inexpensive, and surprisingly sturdy."
     Ael'ien blinked yet again and looked back up at the Dragoon.  "You mean
Commander Tolaris put up with her acting like that?" she said incredulously,
knowing that Tolaris had a reputation for being a bit on the strict side of
enforcing rules and regulations.  It was common, if quiet, knowledge that the
Dragoon Legion was composed of some of the most eccentric personnel in the
military.  The sole reason that it was overlooked by the highest ranks was due
to the simple fact that their efficiency and effectiveness was unarguably the
best of all the divisions.
     K'tal shrugged.  "It was messy when she first joined the Legion, but after
a few confrontations Tolaris was able to reach an understanding with her.  She
kept her temper to a low-volume minimum and tried not to destroy anything, and
he wouldn't slam the rule-book on her tail.  Like I said, she knows where the
line is at," he repeated.
     She just shook her head and made a mental note to have a quiet discussion
with General Al'vexi about personnel management styles the next time she was
able to meet with the retired telepath.  "Whatever works, I suppose," she said
neutrally.
     "Precisely," K'tal said as he looked at his desk.  "Captain, you have
about sixty seconds to get clear of this place before I have to put everything
in serious lockdown."
     Ael'ien thought quickly.  "You mind having a neutral observer?"
     The Dragoon snorted quietly.  "Sure, there's nothing like having a fellow
division-level officer around to watch you screw things up during a command
exercise to make things worthwhile."
     "I'll stay out of the way," the telepath said with a chuckle.
     "You're so kind," K'tal said dryly as he made for the door.  "Things are
going to get chaotic in about twenty seconds, so make sure to stay as close to
me as possible."
     The door swung open and they stepped out into the main operations center
of the Dragoon Headquarters Complex.  "Status?" K'tal called out as he strode
into the center of the room.  He received an almost flatulent growl in reply
and sighed quietly.  "Just keep at it, Lieutenant.  Okay, people, time for a
proverbial fire drill," he said as he clapped his hands to make sure he had
everyone's attention.  "Any second now we're going to get...."
     "Sir," the communications officer interrupted, "We're receiving Priority
One flash traffic from Central Command."
     "...authority for a test-firing of our particle-wave cannon," K'tal said
smoothly as he moved next to the communication console, picked up a handset,
and keyed the "all-hands" function.
     A three-note electronic whistle sounded throughout the entire complex and
he began to speak into the handset.  "This is Dragoon Commander K'tal.  All
hands to battle stations for a Phase Two evolution and firing of the primary
cannon.  This is an exercise.  Chief D'Nina report to operations immediately,
all other section chiefs to your Phase Two stations.  K'tal out."
     Controlled chaos broke out two seconds later as a flood of reports began
coming across the data lines.  A loud klaxon started going off as the lights
dimmed and took on a pulsing orange hue.
     "Prepare the complex for the transformation sequence," K'tal ordered as
he moved over to an isolated console and powered it up.
     "Prepare complex for sequence, aye sir.  Security, recall all perimeter
personnel and activate containment fields.  Engineering...."
     "Containment fields initializing...."
     "D'Nina to Operations, I'm on my way.  Just don't close the Junction Seven
bulkheads on me and I'll be there in four minutes."
     "...reactor status and prepare to release the interlocks on the primary
systems.  Communications, sever datalinks...."
     "Reactor Two is spooling up, estimating active status in five minutes,
reactors One and Three are being restarted..."
     "...perimeter secured, all personnel accounted for...."
     "...all orbital uplinks, resynchronize as necessary."
     "Engineering to Station Seven, confirm status...."
     "Sir, the uplinks to Pri'va and T'Cer are active, still attempting to
resync with Rasche, still no signal from Essence...."
     "Rrrrrrwwwwwwaaaaaaaahhhhhllllll!"
     "Mwwerh?"
     "GGGGHHHAAAAANNNNNNOOOWWWWWLLLL!!!"
     "Not so loud, Asrial," K'tal admonished as he confirmed to the central
computer that he was who he claimed to be, that he did have the authority to
change the Dragoon complex's defensive status, and that, yes, he did desire to
do so at this very moment.
     "Station Seven, sector is clear...."
     "...Reactor Two output is ramping up, power level now at 45."
     "...External containment fields online.  Bulkheads at Junctions One, Two,
Five, and Eight have closed."
     "...Synchronization with Rasche completed, system is responding."
     "Engineering to Commander K'tal."
     "Prrrran."
     "WHAT?  Grrrrrrrrah!  Bypass it!"
     "Commander K'tal here."
     "Sir, do you want a dry-firing for this exercise, or do we have a nice
spot in the sand picked out for a round?"
     "Prrrrkeeeeeet?"
     "I don't CARE how, just bypass the v'tek'ka thing!"
     "Sulaaaaaaacht."
     "Now there's a thought," K'tal mused quietly as he glanced over his left
shoulder as the door hissed open to admit the stooped figure of Chief D'Nina
into Operations.  "Stand by for a moment."
     "Venta."
     "Somebody spike the ma'cha with le'un berries again?" D'Nina observed as
she stepped next to K'tal and keyed active her own command ciphers.  Although
not an officer, her rank was based on her technical expertise and proficiency,
thus making her a suitable counterpart for the two-person authority needed to
initiate the complex's transformation sequence.  The fact that she was also a
very critical component of the final sequence made the selection of her as the
secondary authority all the easier.
     "...All remaining bulkhead junctions have closed, the Complex is sealed."
     "...Reactor Two still ramping up, now reading 145."
     "Chief, have you met Psi-Corp Captain Ael'ien before?"
     "No, but I figure it can wait," D'Nina replied.  "Due respect, ma'am,"
she added to the telepath with a quick nod of her head.
     Ael'ien almost smiled.  "Perfectly understandable, Chief," she replied as
she wondered just how old the chief was.  She looked to be pushing seventeen
hundred, but it was rather difficult to tell any given denizen's age.
     "Live fire, D'Nina, or we just fake it?" K'tal asked without preamble.
     "With Nop'tera's carrier out there somewhere?  Fire that thing for real
and we might have a real close look at that new tactical warhead."
     K'tal cringed slightly.  "Good enough for me.  K'tal to Engineering."
     "Engineering."
     "Dry-fire.  Pull the primary back and lock the housing open."
     "Dry firing, understood.  Engineering out."
     "...Reactor Two output now above 200, power systems are ready for Phase
One sequence."
     "Asrial?" K'tal ventured.
     "BRRRRRAAAAAUUUUGGGGHHHH!!!"
     K'tal sighed quietly.  "What's the problem, ne'ana?"
     "Fused data conduit in the crypto-linker," the Felinoid growled.  "It's
jammed in the open position.  Trying to bypass it now."
     "Umm, sir...?"     
     K'tal just sighed quietly to himself as he glanced over his shoulder at
the communications officer.  "It always has to be something," he muttered under
his breath to Ael'ien.  "What is it, Lieutenant?"
     The lieutenant held up the priority message from Central Command.  "It
says in the orders that we're to use a live round for the cannon, and they've
given us the targeting information."
     "That's convenient," K'tal said absently as he turned around to share an
even look with D'Nina.  "Opinion?" he asked quietly.
     Ael'ien blinked at the question.  She rarely asked for the opinions of
other senior officers about clear-cut orders from Central Command, and the idea
of asking an enlisted chief, even a senior one, was almost shocking.
     "Bothersome, but nothing I'll lose any sleep over," D'Nina shrugged.
     "System status?" K'tal called out.
     "Communications are Phase One ready."
     "Engineering is Phase One ready."
     "Security is Phase One ready."
     "All stations manned, all personnel accounted for."
     "Tactical computer node is online and ready."
     "Fair enough," K'tal replied and turned to the isolated computer console
he and D'Nina were keyed into.  "Recognize Dragoon K'tal, commander, primary
authority for phase transformation."
     "Voiceprint recognized," the computer responded in a flat monotone.
     "Initiate Phase One transformation sequence," he said loudly, so that both
the computer and the rest of Operations could hear him.
     "Require concurrence," the computer replied.
     D'Nina cleared her throat.  "Recognize Dragoon D'Nina, master chief,
secondary authority for phase transformation."
     "Voiceprint recognized."
     "Initiate Phase One transformation sequence," she said forcefully.
     "Compliance," the computer responded and began to generate a series of
digital signals that flowed through a special series of data conduits.

                *               *               *               *

     Molly glanced around the crowded school hallway, trying to spot either
Serena or someone who knew where she was.  With a unique hairstyle like hers,
she thought as she continued to search the hallways, you'd think that she would
stick out like a sore thumb.  And speaking of sore thumbs....
     "Oh, hi, Molly!" a voice called out from in front of her.
     "Melvin, have you seen Serena?" Molly asked without preamble.
     Melvin blinked behind his oversized glasses.  "No, I haven't.  Why, is she
in trouble again?"
     The redhead sighed.  "No, I just need to tell her that Luna followed her
to school for some reason.  If the school officials find out, they'll have a
fit," she explained.
     "Huh, Luna followed her to school?" Melvin repeated as he blinked again.
     I see he forgot to have his brain follow him to school, Molly thought to
herself with a patient sigh.  "Yes, Melvin, she's prowling around outside, so
do you know where Serena is?"
     "No, but we can ask Ami, she might know," the school gossip replied as he
pointed over Molly's shoulder.  "She looks like she's heading this way, and boy
does she look mad about something."
     Molly glanced over her shoulder and suddenly wished she hadn't.  She had
known Ami for quite some time now, but had rarely seen her looking as angry as
she did now.  If that look were on Leda's face, she thought, the hallway would
have been cleared out by now.
     As it was, people were noticing the dark look on Ami's face and were doing
their best to make a path for her.  "Melvin, we need to talk," she said flatly
when she reached the spot next to Molly.
     "Uh, sure, Ami," he stuttered as he broke out in a cold sweat.
     Molly suddenly wasn't feeling too good herself as she suddenly remembered
the newest piece of gossip making its way around Melvin's grapevine network
of rumors.  This might get ugly if it's about her boyfriend....
     "I don't know why you persist in spreading rumors about people and their
social lives," Ami growled, "But you need to leave me and my friends out of it.
It's both unbecoming and highly inaccurate...."
     Her tirade was interrupted as a stocky girl with dirty blonde hair walked
up next to her and leaned against the lockers with a heavy thump.  "Oh, look,
bookworms," she cooed with a sneer.  "And they're fighting, how cute...."
     Ami glanced at the new arrival before returning her focus to Melvin.  "As
I was saying," she continued, "Engaging in baseless slander is something only
weak-minded individuals indulge in.  I honestly expected better of someone with
a modicum of intelligence like you."
     "Oh, my, she's pissed about something," the girl observed loudly.  "Wonder
what got her panties in a bunch?  A boyfriend, maybe?"
     Both Molly and Melvin blinked hard as Ami turned back to her and the
surrounding air temperature seemed to drop by about forty degrees.  "Is there
something I can help you with?" Ami asked in an edged tone.
     "Yeah, you can tell us what it's like to date someone who's old enough to
be your father," the girl replied with a cruel smile.  "Kinda gives new meaning
to the phrase 'Who's yer daddy?'"
     Molly felt her breath jam in her throat as she noticed the raw tension in
Ami's shoulders.  Oh, lord, please don't let her go off, she thought, her mind
flashing back to the scene on the bus the other day where Ami revealed she had
martial arts training.  She saw motion out of the corner of her eye and turned
briefly to look, her eyes going wide at what she saw.  Oh, no, not now....
     Ami considered her options briefly before smirking.  "At least I know who
my father was," she shot back.  "Has your mother sorted out all the trash in
the trailer park yet?"
     The girl's eyes blazed at the insult while Melvin's jaw sagged open and
Molly almost keeled over on the spot from shock.  "Let me tell you something,
little bookworm," the blonde hissed as she grabbed Ami's arm.  The grip lasted
for half a second before someone grabbed her by the shoulder and tossed her
back against the lockers.  "Hey, this ain't no petting zoo," a voice growled,
"Hands off the bookworms."
     "You're in for it now, sister," the girl snarled as she lunged forward and
found herself nose-to-nose with her new adversary.  The shock of recognition
caused her to go pale and produced a silence that stretched on for what seemed
to be a minor eternity.
     "Well, well, well, what have we here?" her opponent said languidly as she
slowly broke into a smug smile.
     "L-L-L-Leda!" the girl stammered as she broke out into a cold sweat.
     "Amanda Parkins, so good to see you again," Leda drawled with what some
might have called a predatory grin as she took a firm grip on the blonde's
wrist.  "Let me give you a nice welcome to my school, seeing how you're still
a trouble-making little tart...."
     "It's not what you think," Amanda replied hastily as she looked for a way
out of the impending scuffle that she knew she would most likely lose.
     "Oh, really?" Leda said casually as she looked around at the assembled
group.  "Funny, it looks like you were harassing my best friend."
     Amanda's face turned even paler.  "Your best friend?" she said weakly.
     "Hey, Ami, did I ever introduce you to my favorite peon punching bag from
my old school?" Leda said as she continued to relish the thought of being able
to intimidate her former classmate and rival.
     "We've just met," Ami said in a voice as dry as most desert regions.
     "Best friend, like Jenni?" Amanda said without thinking.  Her mistake was
made quite obvious by the sudden flash of pure rage in Leda's green eyes that
caused everyone else to flinch in the fear of a nuclear outburst of temper.
     Leda grabbed the front of her rival's blouse with both hands and yanked
her up almost entirely off the ground.  "You have something to say about the
dearly departed?" she said in a very soft tone, her whole body taut with barely
contained rage as the blonde tried to keep her balance on her tip-toes.
     Molly felt the color draining from her face as she witnessed the events
unfolding around her.  She generally tried to avoid being anywhere near one of
Leda's temperamental outbursts, but she knew enough to realize that the most
dangerous fits was when her voice turned quiet.  She glanced to her side and
saw that Melvin was as white as a sheet.  Hopefully he'll learn something from
this, she thought to herself.
     "Leda," Ami said quietly as she watched Amanda struggle for air.
     The brunette ignored her and kept her focus on the blonde.  "Well?"
     "Back off, cupcake," Amanda wheezed, "Just because I never snuggled up to
her like you did doesn't mean I wasn't her friend as well.  Remember?"
     Leda glared at her for a few seconds before releasing her grip.  Amanda
rocked back on her heels as she fought to keep her balance and breathe at the
same time.  "I remember," Leda replied acidly.
     The blonde coughed lightly and rubbed her neck.  "Damn, you been lifting
weights or something?"
     "So I take it you two know each other?" Melvin ventured carefully.
     Leda smirked and put her arm around Amanda's shoulder.  "Oh, sure, we've
known each other for years, haven't we?" she said darkly as she squeezed hard
and pulled her close until their shoulders ground against one another.
     "Something like that," Amanda muttered through gritted teeth.
     "Leda," Ami said quietly again with a patient sigh.
     "What?"
     Ami sighed again.  "Are you finished?"
     Leda raised a slender eyebrow.  "Not overly glad to see me, are you?"
     "I can take care of myself, you know," Ami replied.  "I might not have
your skill at martial arts, but there are other ways to defend oneself."
     "Like tossing a childish insult back?" Leda observed lightly.
     "Just what I was thinking," Amanda muttered as she tried to pry herself
free from Leda's iron grip.  She grunted as Leda's foot came down hard on her
toes in a quick stomp.
     "I don't think you realize your situation, pop-tart," Leda replied with
an edge to her voice, "So let me explain this one to you.  First and foremost,
Ami is my best friend and you were harassing her.  That alone is good enough
for me to kick you into next week.  Second of all, you really picked the wrong
person to harass.  Ami looks harmless, and I'll admit that the bookworm image
of her's doesn't help much, but she can be worse than I am when she gets mad."
     The blonde cast a sidelong glance at the brunette.  "Worse, eh?"
     "Yeah.  Watch out for her, she bites," Leda replied evenly.  "Hard."
     "That explain that little nibble mark on your neck?" Amanda inquired.
     Molly just closed her eyes as Leda became a sudden blur of motion.  There
was the expected impact noise, but it sounded differently enough that she very
carefully opened her eyes to see what had happened.
     Leda's punch had been intercepted by Ami's hand about an inch in front of
Amanda's face.  The blonde's eyes were the size of dinner plates as her mind
caught up to the events around her.  Melvin's eyes were likewise wide with
shock and almost visible around the edges of his glasses.  But what bothered
Molly the most was the look in Ami's steel-blue eyes, a sort of dark glare that
she couldn't remember ever seeing in anyone's eyes before.
     "She's not worth it," Ami said flatly.
     "You my mother or something?" Leda growled as she pulled her fist back.
     "No, just your best friend."
     The brunette paused for a long moment before sighing heavily through her
nose.  "Fine, you deal with the little hellion," she grumbled as she leaned
against the lockers with a heavy thump.
     Ami turned to face the suddenly leery blonde.  "Yes, I am Leda's best
friend, no, we're not intimately involved, yes, I have a boyfriend who is older
than I am.  Is that sufficient?" she asked evenly.
     Everyone blinked hard at the sudden confession.  "Why?" Amanda asked as
she tried to calm herself down from her brush with physical injury.
     "Pay attention, because I'm not repeating myself," Ami told Melvin in a
glacial tone before turning her attention back to Amanda.  "I need someone who
can keep up with me.  Someone who is capable of discussing things on a mature
and intellectual level.  Someone who knows about and keeps up with the news,
both local and global.  Someone who can hold a conversation about celestial
mechanics or biological science or physics or some other topic that often seems
complicated to those who haven't educated themselves about the higher sciences
yet.  Look around, do you think any mere school-boy can offer that?"  Ami said
in an even tone.
     "You don't ask for much, do you?" Leda muttered, drawing a dark look.
     "Would you prefer I have your standards?" Ami shot back.
     "Ouch," Leda sighed as she leaned back against the lockers.
     Amanda blinked and looked around her. "Well, seeing how you put it like
that, I guess we can't blame you...." she said slowly, trying to gauge the
reaction to her words.
     "Yet you still find it amusing?" Ami replied evenly.  "I don't flaunt my
social life or lack thereof, as others have put it.  I'm guessing your past is
as checkered as Leda's?"
     "Hey," Leda protested.
     The blonde sighed quietly.  "Probably," she muttered.
     "Worry about tending to the flaws in yourself before you start prying into
the business of others, please," Ami said calmly.  "You might discover that in
doing so you will find things of value that will make others seek you out for
friendship instead of you having to try to find them."
     Amanda blinked and looked at Ami for a moment before nodding.  "I'll try
to keep that in mind.  Just one more question."
     Ami raised an eyebrow.  "Yes?"
     The blonde jerked her thumb over her slightly bruised shoulder.  "How is
it that a piece of work like you got to be best friends with a rabid wombat?"
she asked as she gestured at Leda.  That prompted a growl from the brunette
that was silenced by a dark look from Ami.
     "It's simple," she replied after thinking carefully.  "I looked past the
aggressive posturing and saw what she was like inside.  All she needed was to
be smacked upside the head to realize that some people do care about her for
who she is now instead of what she once was."
     Amanda blinked hard and glanced back at Leda for a moment.  Leda glared
at her for a moment before looking around the hallway, noticing the sizable
crowd that had gathered to watch.  "Somebody have something to say?" she said
loudly in an edged tone.
     The hallway emptied in twenty seconds, leaving only Leda, Amanda, Ami,
Melvin, and Molly gathered together in a small bunch.
     Amanda blew her breath out quietly.  "I see you're still the queen of
clearing a room out," she observed.
     "What good is a reputation if you don't make use of it?" Leda replied.
     "I see some things haven't changed," the blonde said with a smirk.
     Leda shrugged.  "Why should they?  Hold still, I don't think she's done
with you yet," she said as she reached out to snag the back of Melvin's shirt
as he tried to sneak away.
     "I was just heading back to class...." Melvin said in a shaky voice.
     "Sit.  Stay.  Good bookworm," Leda said with a glare before turning back
to Amanda.  "You, on the other hand, need to take a hike."
     "Yeah, whatever," Amanda replied as she turned to leave.  She paused for
a moment and turned back to Leda.  "About that mark on your neck...."
     "Grease burn," Leda replied flatly as she tugged her collar down to expose
the dark splotch on her throat.
     "Ouch," the blonde said as she studied the mark for a moment.  "You should
be more careful."
     "Look who's talking, mouth," Leda replied as she released her collar and
glared at her long-time adversary.  "Do us both a favor and leave my friends
alone, okay?  Otherwise I'd have to reintroduce my foot to your fat...."
     "I get the picture," Amanda interrupted with an edged tone.  "So nice to
see you too.  Anyway, it's been a blast, but I need to go now.  Have fun," she
said with a wave before vanishing around a corner.
     "What are we going to do with you?" Ami asked wearily.
     Leda snorted.  "Don't ask me that because you know I'll tell you exactly
what you can do with me.  And vice versa."
     Molly blinked hard as she glanced back and forth between the two of them,
not entirely sure what to make of that last exchange.  She glanced over at
Melvin and noticed that he had a "go figure" look on his face as well.  Maybe
one of these days I'll have this all sorted out, she thought with a mental
sigh.
     "Melvin," Ami said in a neutral tone.
     "Yes?" he replied as he started to sweat again.
     "It would be in everybody's best interests if nothing was ever said or
repeated about this incident," Ami said very slowly.  "That includes any more
information about my social life.  Your penchant for gossip has caused enough
trouble as it is.  Do you understand?"
     "Perfectly," Melvin squeaked in a high-pitched voice.
     "Good," Ami said with a small sigh of relief.
     "Now get out of our sight," Leda growled at the school gossip.  Melvin
took the overt hint and made a very rapid exit, disappearing down the same
corridor that Amanda had used moments earlier.
     "That boy annoys me," Leda grumbled.
     "Was that really necessary?" Ami inquired as she leaned against the bank
of lockers and rubbed her forehead.  She could already feel the beginnings of
a tension headache taking up residence in her frontal lobes and wondered how
long it would be before it went away.
     "Ami, in case you hadn't noticed, he was more afraid of you than me," Leda
observed with a smirk.  "He about wet himself every time you glared at him."
     Ami ignored her and turned her attention to the still-pale Molly.  "Is
something wrong, Molly?  You looked like you had something on your mind even
before this nonsense happened."
     The redhead blinked.  "What?  Oh, yes, I was wondering if either of you
knew where Serena was.  Her cat followed her to school and I'm worried about
school officials finding her prowling around outside."
     Ami and Leda exchanged discreet glances.  "Luna is outside?" Leda asked
carefully as Ami looked for the nearest exit to the schoolyard.
     "Yes, last I saw she was perched on that large oak tree," Molly explained.
     Leda and Ami exchanged glances again and both breathed a silent sigh of
relief.  It had been discussed awhile ago that in case of a situation in which
their communicators couldn't be used, either Luna or Artemis would be sitting
out in the open on the playground equipment.  However, if they were seen around
any of the large trees, it meant that the information wasn't a high priority.
     "We'll keep an eye out for Serena," Ami promised.
     Molly nodded.  "Okay, thank you.  Hey, we better get to class or we'll be
late."
     Leda smirked.  "You go on ahead, I've got to have a word with Ami for a
moment," she said, drawing a very wary look from the blue-haired student.
     Molly blinked before she shrugged.  "Okay, see you later," she said and
quickly made her way down the nearly empty corridor.
     "Yes?" Ami asked warily.
     "All I needed was to be smacked upside the head, huh?" Leda mimicked with
a lopsided smirk.  "Gee, some friend you are."
     Ami just sighed and rubbed her temples.  "Save it for later, okay?  I've
got a headache now, plus I'm worried about what Luna wants."
     Leda shrugged.  "If she's on the tree, it can wait until lunchtime."
     "Let's hope it doesn't have anything to do with the reactor," Ami said
with another quiet sigh as she gathered her books together and started walking
to her next class.
     "Shouldn't we have felt the explosion if it did?" Leda inquired as she
fell into step next to her best friend.
     Ami shivered.  "If the reactor lost containment, we might be lucky enough
to see the flash for a microsecond before the entire city gets taken off the
map," she replied in a voice that quite clearly conveyed her feelings.
     Leda blinked hard.  "Hold it, back up a second.  You're saying that the
reactor in the cathedral is powerful enough to wipe out the whole city if it
ever blew up?"
     "Unfortunately, yes."
     The brunette fell silent as she contemplated the new information as they
quickly made their way to class.  "How long have you known about this?" she
asked just as they were about to enter the classroom.
     "Long enough to be able to sleep peacefully at night now," Ami replied.
     "Great, now I'm worried," Leda said with a heavy sigh.
     Ami gave her a wry smile.  "Don't be.  Like I said, if the reactor ever
lost containment, it would be over in an instant.  We probably wouldn't even
be able to feel it."
     "Lovely," Leda sighed as they entered the classroom moments before the
tardy bell rang.  "Yeah, conversation at lunch should be interesting...."


                *               *               *               *

     The Dragoon Headquarters Complex was a fairly large building, composed
of a central axis bisected by three parallel lines, much like a pair of capital
E's merged together at the spine.  Its size was deceptive, seeming to stand 
only three stories high when viewed from ground level when in fact it extended
almost seven stories underground.  Some speculated this was merely to reduce
the exposure of the complex to above-ground attacks, although there were rumors
that the lower levels housed something more than the power systems for the
particle-wave cannon.
     The first visible change to the complex's exterior was a network of armor
plates unfolding from hidden housings.  The plates began to spread out like the
petals of steel flowers, primarily locking into place over the windows, air
vents, and external infrastructure junctions with echoing booms.
     Several circular panels irised open at seemingly random locations along
the length of the complex, allowing a series of diamond-shaped generators to
protrude into the open air.  Tiny motes of energy started to flow through the
delicate circuitry along their flat surfaces, giving them the appearance of
glowing, glittering spiderwebs.
     A massive crack appeared on top of the complex, quickly becoming a deep
crevice as the two halves of the roof seemed to fold inward on themselves.  The
opening only lasted a few seconds before a massive weapons platform rose up to
take the place of the roof.  The weapons themselves began to unfold and extend
as power began to flow into the conduits, revealing a wide array of missile
batteries, anti-aircraft weaponry, sensors, and plasma cannons.
     The diamond-shaped generators began to emit bubbles of electromagnetic
energy as they became fully charged, slowly growing in size like translucent
balloons until they started to press against each other.  The energy shields
quickly organized themselves into a honeycomb shape that coated the entire
complex with a protective layer of crackling energy.
     Deep inside the complex, dozens of blast-resistant bulkheads slid into
place around doorways and corridor junctions, further sealing off non-critical
sections and providing an extra layer of containment from both external and
internal events.  The outside air vents sealed shut and a network of fans
began to circulate the air supply through a series of filters, cutting off the
complex from any external atmospheric threat.
     "Phase One transformation completed," the computer reported in the usual
dry monotone.
     "Well, that's good to hear," K'tal replied.
     "Sir, we're receiving a coded signal from Essence," the Communications
lieutenant reported, "You'll need to use your ciphers to authorize the system
to process it."
     "Navidshi," Asrial spat over her shoulder from the damaged console.
     K'tal shot her a dark look.  "That's not the usual procedure, is it?" he
inquired as he turned his attention back to his own panel.
     "Not usually, sir," the lieutenant replied with a shake of her head, "But
we're trying to establish a new encryption link instead of re-establishing an
old one, and that requires command-level approval."
     "Nonsense, you don't have the satellite signal," Asrial growled.
     The Communications officer blinked hard.  "No, I have the satellite," she
countered.  "I've already double-checked the signal algorithms and the data
path.  It's coming from the precise coordinates as the Essence satellite and
with the exact same timing sequence," she explained as she transferred her
console display to the main center screen.  "See?"
     The Felinoid growled as she looked over the display.  "And I'm telling you
that what you have can't be the satellite.  You must have your head up your..."
     "Asrial," K'tal said flatly.
     "It's not the satellite," she spat.  "The data path is invalid."
     "I just verified the path ten seconds ago for the fourth time," the young
Communications lieutenant shot back with an edge to her own voice, shrugging
off the warning nudge from a fellow technician.
     "Enough, people," K'tal sighed as he re-read the display yet again.  "It
looks like a valid signal to me.  Let's see what the computer says," he said as
he typed in a command to his terminal.
     "I'm telling you that it's not the satellite," Asrial growled even louder.
     "Asrial, if you yell at me again I'll have you tossed in the brig," the
Dragoon commander replied flatly with a warning glare at the Felinoid.  "Now
bite your tongue or it will be bitten for you.  Is that clear, Lieutenant?"
     "Clear, sir," Asrial replied in a neutral tone.
     "Algorithm accepted," the computer announced in a flat monotone.
     "Well?" K'tal said to the Communications lieutenant.
     "Systems are synchronizing with Essence," she reported smugly.
     "Commander," D'Nina said very quietly.
     "Hold that thought, Chief," K'tal whispered back to her just as quietly.
     "Synchronization complete."
     "K'tal to Engineering."
     "Engineering, we see it, sir," the speaker replied.  "The targeting lasers
have acquired the mirror and are calibrating now."
     K'tal nodded to the microphone.  "Change of plans, Chief.  We're going to
use a live round for this one."
     "Live round, aye sir.  The housing will be available as soon as we make
the Phase Two evolution."
     "Carry on, Chief.  K'tal out," the Dragoon said as he flicked off the
microphone.  "Tactical, have we got those firing coordinates yet?"
     "Already in the system, sir," the Tactical officer replied.
     "System status?"
     "Communications are Phase Two ready."
     "Engineering is Phase Two ready, optimal firing window in ten minutes."
     "Tactical is Phase Two ready."
     "Weapons are in stand-by mode and are Phase Two ready."
     "Security is Phase Two ready, defensive shields fully energized."
     "Commander...." Asrial pleaded in an usually quiet tone.
     K'tal rubbed his forehead.  "I haven't forgotten you, Asrial, but as you
can see, that really is the satellite."
     "The satellite, yes, but not the on-board computer," Asrial replied.  "It
is a physical impossibility for us to be in contact with it."
     The Dragoon commander paused and exchanged a slightly concerned glance
with D'Nina.  "Okay, Lieutenant, tell me why," he said warily.
     Asrial reached into the console she was working on and picked up a loose
circuit board.  "Not only is the crypto-linker still off-line, but the signal
wave guide and processing matrix aren't even connected."
     "What?" the Communications lieutenant gasped as she turned her attention
to her console.  "But I've verified the data path!  That has to be from the
satellite as there is NOTHING else around it!"
     "I'm not saying it's not coming from the satellite," Asrial argued, "I'm
saying it's not from the satellite's computer!"
     "Then what am I connected to?" the lieutenant demanded.
     "How should I know?" the Felinoid growled back.  "I just know what it's
NOT coming from."
     "D'Nina, do you have as much of a bad feeling about this as I do?" K'tal
said quietly to his second-in-command.
     The elder Dragoon grunted in reply.  "I've been having bad feelings about
everything since they exiled Tolaris," she said.  "We can't stall for time to
hash this out, unfortunately."
     "So make the evolution?" K'tal asked.
     Captain Ael'ien had to literally bite the tip of her tongue in an effort
to keep herself from lashing out at the Dragoon.  You're supposed to be the
one making the decisions, K'tal, she thought angrily to herself.  If this is
how the command structure has degenerated, then perhaps I need to have a very
long talk with both Al'vexi and General Rune.
     "Yes, unless you have a substantiated reason for calling off a mandated
exercise and printed instructions from Central Command," the master chief said
with a mild shrug.
     K'tal thought quietly for a moment.  "Not yet," he admitted.  "Computer,
initiate Phase Two transformation sequence," he said loudly to his command
console.
     "Voiceprint recognized.  Require concurrence," the computer replied.
     D'Nina hesitated for a moment and cast a glance at K'tal.  "You're right,
I probably do have a worse-than-usual bad feeling about this.  Computer,
initiate Phase Two transformation sequence."
     "Voiceprint recognized.  Compliance...."

                *               *               *               *

     Her skin tingled with energy as she entered the flow of Time and began to
navigate the temporal currents with practiced ease, slipping from one physical
location to another in a cosmic instant.  She knew of several ways to compare
the flow of Time in other, more easily understood concepts when attempting to
explain it to the uninitiated, but her personal favorite was that of a vast
river with countless eddies and currents.
     A conduit opened before her and she slipped into it, her physical body
reforming in normal four-dimensional space with a brief flash of light.  She
waited for a moment for the residual temporal energy to drain away before she
opened her eyes and looked around the small chamber she relocated into.
     "I must say, you have excellent timing," a soft voice said from directly
behind her.
     Susan blinked and glanced over her shoulder.  "I am the Guardian of Time,"
she said evenly.  "I'm supposed to have good timing.  Why are you here?"
     Megan smiled and stretched her wings.  "I was waiting for you."
     "That much is obvious," Susan observed as she set her staff aside and
began to undress.  "Is there something I should be made aware of before I go
see Lord Hades?"
     The full-blooded succubus blinked and the pair of tiny bat-like wings on
her head fluttered nervously.  "My, you're in a testy mood about something."
     "This is my keep," Susan replied archly as she stepped out of her dress
and slipped her panties off.  "I know you're an emissary and all, but I think
trespassing is a bit uncalled for."
     Megan raised a slender eyebrow.  "This keep belongs to your father," she
corrected Susan as she opened a closet and pulled out a long black ribbon that
was almost identical to the one she was wearing.
     Susan gave the other succubus a mild look.  "Your point?"
     "I have his full permission to use this keep as I see fit, just as you
do, Setsuna," Megan replied as she gave Susan's body an appraising look before
she put the black ribbon back in the closet and picked up a dark blue one.  She
held it against Susan's bare skin for a moment before nodding and began to wrap
it around Susan's slender hips.
     Susan took a step back and scowled at her unexpected guest.  "Just who
exactly are you, and how do you know my true-name?" she demanded.
     Megan paused and looked up at Susan.  "Your father told me."
     The half-breed succubus blinked hard.  "What?  Why?"
     Megan smiled softly as she reached up and ran her fingers through Susan's
dark green hair.  She grabbed a lock of her own hair with her free hand and
held it close to Susan's hair for comparison.  Susan examined both sets of hair
and blinked hard as possible explanations filled her mind.  She looked up and
silently stared deep into Megan's red eyes for what seemed an eternity.  "You
have to be kidding me," she finally said softly.
     "Not in the least," Megan replied with a warm smile.
     "So do I have any other siblings?" Susan inquired as the realization that
she had a sister sunk into her brain.
     Megan paused for a moment.  "Funny you should mention that...."
     "How many?" Susan said with a heavy sigh.
     "Just one more," Megan replied with a soft chuckle.  "I'm not quite sure
why Lisa isn't here yet, but then again she is a bit of a wild child."
     Susan tugged the ribbon of fabric off of her hips and crossed the room to
sit down on the edge of the bed.  "He could have said something," she said
quietly to the room as she studied her toenails.  Maybe they could use a bit
of color, she thought.  Father, what about your promise to Mother?  What were
you thinking?
     Megan shrugged and sat down next to her half-sister.  "Well, I wasn't
conceived until about three hundred years after your supposed death, so it's
not like he was keeping any secrets."
     Susan sighed quietly and rubbed her temples.  "Where is he right now?"
She heard silence in response and turned her head to study Megan's face.  "He's
dead, isn't he?"
     "Two hundred years ago," Megan replied with a soft sigh and a reluctant
nod.  "It's a very complicated story, but the short version is he sacrificed
himself so that his wife and child could escape being burned at the stake."
     "So he remarried," Susan observed with yet another heavy sigh as she
wondered what happened.  She knew she would eventually hear about it, but she
wasn't sure if she wanted to know anytime soon.  She knew of her father's love
of women and near-constant dalliances with them, but that was entirely expected
of an incubus.  She had decided centuries ago that it would most likely be the
death of him and had planned for that eventuality, but had never really fully
prepared herself for hearing about his eternal lifespan being violently ended.
A sudden thought blasted into her mind and she cast a sidelong glance at her
sister.  "Don't tell me that he fell in love with another human...."
     "The pagan leaders didn't take well to the idea that she willingly gave
herself over to a demon," Megan muttered sourly.  "The frenzy of burnings and
executions that followed in the aftermath of that incident was called the Salem
Witch Hunts."
     "Lovely," Susan sighed as she flopped back on the bed, a sudden tide of
emotions washing over her without warning.  Tears formed at the corners of her
eyes as she felt the strength draining away from her, leaving her body feeling
cold and unresponsive.  She closed her eyes as she felt Megan's light touch on
her bare thigh, gently tracing the almost invisible network of veins beneath
the surface of her skin.
     "I don't know what to tell you, Susan," Megan said softly.  "I was the
result of a causal dalliance, so I don't know what it's like to grow up with a
real loving father.  Yes, we kept in touch, but he always seemed to either be
busy having an affair or talking about you."
     "What?" Susan said as she blinked her tears away and sat up.
     Megan chuckled very quietly and started running her fingertips under the
gentle swell of Susan's bare breast.  "I'm told that after you vanished, he
really changed.  He took up smoking nahrlat weed and spending most of his time
on the Beach," she said, referring to a particular region in the Lake of Fire
where amorous succubi were known to gather to search for willing partners.
"And during the brief periods of time when he was in full possession of all of
his senses, he would tell the others how you were the best thing that had ever
happened in his life."
     "I find that a little hard to believe," Susan said.  "We were always on
good terms, but we weren't that close."
     Megan shrugged as she shifted positions to get a closer look at Susan's
breasts.  "Apparently he didn't realize what he had until you were lost," she
replied as she studied the ultra-soft skin.
     Susan raised a slender eyebrow and took a guess as to what Megan was
trying to do.  "Other side, an inch below the nipple," she suggested.
     Megan looked at the other breast and saw the tiny star-shaped freckle that
she was looking for.  "Ah, I was wondering where it was.  Lisa's is also on
her breast, but hers is above the nipple."
     "Should I ask about yours?" Susan wondered as she thought about the odd
tendency of birthmarks to appear in the most unusual places.  It could always
be worse, she thought to herself as she briefly thought of Lady Mercury's
heart-shaped birthmark and the rather embarrassing location.
     "Back of the neck," Megan replied as she straightened up and brushed her
hair aside to reveal an identical star-shaped freckle on the nape of her neck
at the hairline.  "It took me a month to find it, and believe me when I say I
was looking everywhere."
     "I can imagine.  Tell me about Lisa," Susan asked softly.
     Megan chuckled quietly and the tiny wings in her hair fluttered briefly.
"Eliza," she said quietly.  "Lisa was the name chosen by her mother."
     Susan blinked at being told the true-name of another demon, even if it
belonged to her half-sister.  "While we're briefly on the subject of names...."
     "Mordakhen," the pure succubus said quietly as she leaned forward and
gave Susan a soft kiss.  The sensation sent tingles rippling through them both
as they briefly shared one of the finer pleasures of being a succubus.
     "I trust you'll forgive me if it takes me awhile to adjust to going from
being an only child to having two sisters," Susan murmured after their lips
separated.
     Megan chuckled quietly.  "You were presumed dead long before I was born,
so I didn't have any siblings either until I learned that Father had seduced a
human and she ended up bearing his child."
     "Alu demon?" Susan asked, knowing it was the usual result of a fruitful
union between a human female and an incubus.
     "Actually, she's half-human like you," Megan said, then scrambled back to
avoid a cranial collision as Susan bolted upright in shock.  "Don't ask me how
that happened, but she's not an alu demon."
     Susan rubbed her temples as she tried to think.  "It's my understanding
that the only reason I wasn't born an alu was because Mother's DNA was partly
protected by the Imperium Silver Crystal's influence and thus couldn't be
dominated."
     Megan chuckled and ran her fingers through Susan's dark green hair again.
"Guess your theory was wrong.  My mother's hair was platinum blonde, so you
know my hair coloring had to have come from Father."
     "Amazing," Susan replied.  "My mother also had dark green hair, so I had
figured it was her influence.  What color is Lisa's hair?"
     "Purple, would you believe?"
     "So much for genetic domination," Susan said with a faint chuckle.
     Megan sighed and cast an irritated glance over her shoulder.  "She should
have been here by now.  I really hope she didn't let herself get side-tracked
again.  Don't get me wrong, I enjoy sex just as much as the next succubus, but
she has me worried."
     Susan blushed slightly.  "It's probably her human heritage.  I was rather
promiscuous myself when I was in my youth," she admitted.
     Megan blinked and gave her a curious look.  "I was led to believe that you
were rather conservative about your sexuality."
     "I am a bit more discriminatory about who I prey upon these days," Susan
replied as she rolled over on her side and leaned on her elbow.  "But between
the ages of thirty and two hundred, I had a rather... active lifestyle."
     Megan chuckled and sat back, lightly rubbing the tiny pair of wings on
her head.  "Just how active are we talking here?"
     "A slow week was anything less than ten or twelve times in seven days."
     Her sister blinked hard and straightened up.  "Are you serious?"
     Susan shrugged her shoulder causally.  "Human blood burns far hotter than
demonic blood when it's ignited by desire.  So put human desires and demonic
endurance together...."
     "And you get a really interesting combination," Megan finished for her.
     "Precisely."
     Megan just shook her head.  "And I thought I tended to over-indulge."
     Susan smiled.  "You forget that I'm able to travel back and forth through
Time.  I may have had countless encounters, but they're spread over about two
thousand years, give or take a century."
     The pure-blood succubus opened her mouth to ask a question when a burst of
light behind her caused her to nearly leap off the bed in shock.  She quickly
turned around and clenched a fist, creating a ball of seething red energy
around her hand.  She aimed her fist at the new arrival and waited to see what
was going to happen next.
     "Hi, sis!  I just... WHOA!" the newcomer babbled excitedly before blinking
hard at the sight of a ball of lethal energy hovering two inches in front of
her nose.
     Megan growled quietly.  "How many times do I have to tell you not to do
that so close to a person?" she said as she let the energy dissipate into the
air around her fist.
     The purple-haired succubus whimpered quietly.  "I'm sorry...." she said
as she fidgeted with the edges of her red leotard.
     Susan raised a slender green eyebrow.  "A little edgy, aren't we?" she
said to Megan as she carefully looked over the new arrival.  "And you must be
Lisa."
     Lisa's face almost exploded into a joyful grin as she lunged forward to
wrap her arms around her newly-discovered eldest sister.  "I am so glad to
finally meet you!" she gushed as she hugged Susan hard enough to make her
wince in pain.
     "Lisa!" Megan said sharply.
     Susan chuckled quietly as Lisa abruptly pulled back, allowing air to once
again enter her lungs.  "The exuberance of youth," she observed as she studied
Lisa's somewhat petite figure, noticing that the only hint that she wasn't a
full-blooded succubus was the size and coloring of her wings.  They were half
the size of normal succubus wings and were a very dark shade of red instead of
the usual leathery brown.
     "You're late," Megan commented darkly to her younger sister.
     Lisa's face immediately puckered into a sad frown.  "It's not my fault,"
she pleaded, "I was on my way here when I was intercepted by a messenger from
Lord Hades."
     The other two succubi immediately sat up and blinked.  "What was the
message?" Susan asked.
     "The messenger said that Lord Hades would be coming here to meet with us
privately instead of having you summoned to his chambers," Lisa replied.
     Megan immediately scrambled off the bed and started to yank Susan to her
feet.  "If he's coming here, we have to get you dressed properly," she said as
she grabbed the almost-forgotten dark blue ribbon of fabric and started to wrap
it around Susan's naked body.  "Her boots should be in there somewhere," she
said over her shoulder to Lisa.
     Susan sighed quietly and submitted to the whirlwind attention, holding
still as the ribbon was expertly wrapped around her body in such a way as to
conceal her groin and criss-cross over her breasts.  For added measure, a jet-
black loin cloth that hung down to her knees was looped through a gold chain
wrapped around her hips like a belt.  Knee-high black leather boots were put
on as the ribbon was secured in a knot behind her neck and the ends allowed to
trail freely down her back like a second pair of wings.
     "You look good in this," Megan said admiringly as she debated on trying a
quick hair adjustment before settling for a quick but gentle brushing-out.
     Susan smiled at the compliment.  "Someone once said that any succubus can
look good in anything, everything, and nothing," she replied.
     Megan chuckled quietly as she worked the brush.  "That's the truth."
     "You think these earrings would go well?" Lisa inquired as she held up a
pair of dark sapphires that almost matched the ribbon perfectly.
     "I like these earrings," Susan protested as she ran her fingertips along
the dark red double-chevron earrings she usually wore.
     "When did the messenger say Lord Hades was coming?" Megan asked.
     A sudden heavy knock on the chamber door sent a momentary chill through
everyone.  "Never mind, just get the door," Megan said hastily as she quickly
gave Susan's attire a final once-over before setting the hairbrush down and
smoothing out her own clothing, the tiny wings in her hair fluttering madly.
     The door swung open with a soft creak before Lisa could reach the handle
and a young woman poked her head in.  "I hope I'm not interrupting anything,"
she said softly with a gentle smile.
     The succubi immediately fell to one knee and bowed their heads before the
Queen of the Underworld.  "Lady Persephone," Susan said in surprise and awe.
     Persephone's smile grew wider as she stepped into the room, the hem of her
peach-colored skirt barely brushing the stone floor.  "My husband sent me a
message saying that you had returned, Susan, so of course I had to come see
things for myself."
     Susan blinked hard, realizing that it was the wrong time of the year for
the goddess to be living in the Underworld with her husband, Hades.  According
to the legends, the deal was struck between Hades and her mother, the goddess
Demeter, so that Persephone would spend six months of every year with Hades
in the Underworld and the other six months with Demeter on Mount Olympus.  It
was also said that when her daughter was absent, Demeter would withhold her
life-giving warmth from nature until Persephone returned unharmed, thus giving
rise to the turn of the seasons.
     "My lady, I don't know what to say," Susan said, still in awe.  "Surely I
am not worth risking your mother's wrath upon the mortal realm for a visit..."
     The goddess laughed softly as she held up her hand.  "My mother knows how
much I adore you like you were my own daughter," she said kindly.  "She has
given permission for a brief visit without any undue effects."
     Susan bowed her head, moved almost to the point of tears.  "My lady..."
she started to say before her voice failed her.
     Persephone drew Susan to her feet and gestured for the other succubi to
rise as well.  "You have been missed by many in the Underworld," she said
quietly.  "I have not yet heard all of the details, as my husband's message
was brief and my father's was just as devoid of information, but even I felt
the Portal's opening and knew it had to herald your return."
     There was a soft cough from behind Persephone as a dark figure entered
the room.  "Sorry if I only had a brief moment to send only a short message,
my love," Lord Hades said with bemusement.  "Oh, stop that," he said in mild
irritation as the succubi fell to their knees again before him.  "There is a
time and place for such things, and a quiet family gathering isn't it."
     "My lord," Susan replied demurely as they slowly got to their feet again.
     "I trust you've already met your sisters?" Hades observed as he studied
the three succubi.  He had known Susan since her birth and recently gotten to
know about Lisa when she became one of Persephone's more favored servants, but
knew next to nothing about Megan.
     "I have, my lord, and have to admit being a bit... overwhelmed," Susan
replied.
     "Surely that will not preclude you from your duties," Hades observed.
     "Of course not, my lord," his avatar replied with a bow of her head.  "I
am always ready to serve you."
     Hades nodded quietly and turned to his wife.  "I know your mother only
intended for you to see her and not linger, but it is still good to see you,"
he said softly as he gave her a gentle kiss.
     Persephone smiled warmly at him.  "Another few months, my dark knight."
     Susan and Megan exchanged a momentary look, not surprised in the least
to see that divinities in love could be every bit as sappy as humans.  Lisa,
for her part, briefly flashed a classic "you have to be kidding me" look at
her elder sisters.
     "Lisa," Persephone said quietly, still smiling at her husband and not
noticing Lisa hastily clearing her face of expression.  "I must return to
Mount Olympus now.  I would like you to accompany me to the entrance."
     "As you wish, my lady," Lisa replied properly with a bow of her head.
     "It is good to see you've returned to us, Susan," the Queen said with a
smile.  "And I look forward to hearing your stories again in a few months."
     "A pleasure as always, my lady," Susan said with a smile of her own.
     "My lord," Persephone said to her husband as she took his hand and bowed
her head slightly.  She gave him a final loving smile before she released her
hold and left the room.  Lisa only paused long enough to give her master one
final bow before hastily following her mistress out the door.
     "At least her manners seem sufficient," Susan observed with a smile as
the heavy door closed with a gentle creak.
     "Believe me when I say that's taken some work," Megan muttered dourly.
     "Perhaps her training could bear some scrutiny if that is the case," Hades
said evenly.  He watched as Megan blinked involuntarily before quickly averting
her eyes at the suggestion of his displeasure.  "I don't envy you having to
suffer the attentions of siblings, having a few unpleasant experiences dealing
with my own."
     Susan ventured a smile.  "With due respect, my lord, now that I've gotten
a chance to come to terms with the prospect, I rather look forward to it."
     "Your headache," Hades muttered quietly to himself.  He sighed quietly and
rubbed his hands across his face.  "The situation has changed drastically with
the loss of the Moon Kingdom," he said evenly.  "We no longer have a buffer
between us and the other worlds, and there have been numerous attacks on Earth
already."
     Susan nodded her head.  "I have attempted to analyze the situation and
believe I have a rudimentary understanding of current events."
     The god raised his eyebrow.  "This should be interesting," he replied.
     Megan cast a sidelong glance at Susan and was grateful that she wasn't
involved in things.  It wasn't every day that someone essentially told a higher
power that they knew as much as he did, and she was curious to find out just
how far Susan would push things.
     "Queen Beryl is dead, and there are no other known members of their royal
family," Susan said as her mind sifted through the conclusions she had drawn
the day before.  "Therefore, while the power of the NegaForce can be loaned to
other denizens, the full potential remains sealed and would not be able to
decisively counteract the full power of the Imperium Silver Crystal."
     Hades nodded slowly, quietly impressed by his avatar's prowess at looking
at the bigger picture.  "However...." he prodded.
     Susan sighed quietly.  "However, the Princess and her court were killed
during the battle and were reincarnated a thousand years later, without their
memories or full training.  Luna and Artemis have done an admirable job in
teaching them the basics, but they are a far cry from being the Celestial
Guardians they once were.  Worse, Serena has almost no clue about how to use
the Imperium Silver Crystal except as a means of defense.  If there were to be
a head-on confrontation between her and an avatar of the NegaForce tomorrow,
I would probably put the odds at 5-to-4 in favor of the NegaForce."
     "Not exactly betting odds," Megan muttered.
     "Agreed," Hades sighed.  "I'm changing your instructions, Setsuna.  You
will no longer serve the Lunar throne directly, as the Moon Kingdom lies in
ruins.  Your primary duty instead is to ensure the continuity of the line of
succession to the Imperium Silver Crystal, even if it has to jump bloodlines."
     Susan's red eyes widened.  "My lord?"
     Hades rubbed his face with his hands again.  "We are extremely vulnerable
right now, to a degree not seen since the first days of Creation," he said
wearily.  "They have attacked the Princess, repeatedly, and indeed killed the
others once already.  She used the power of the Imperium Silver Crystal to
resurrect them, amazingly enough, but none of us believe she knew how she did
it, or if she can do it again.  If they succeed in killing her now, then the
power will be lost to us forever.  We can't risk that, not now, not with the
pantheon still weakened.  We must make sure that the Crystal will always have
a dedicated avatar."
     Susan was at a total loss for words as she struggled to understand the
exact nature of her new orders.  She moved over to her bed and sat down on the
edge of it, ignoring for the moment her sister and her master still standing
by the door.
     "I don't understand," Megan ventured quietly.
     The Lord of the Underworld shot her a dark look.  "You're not expected to
be able to understand, as you're neither an avatar nor one who has personal
experience dealing with one of the most powerful relics in Creation," he said
flatly.  "I'm sure Setsuna, however, is able to appreciate the magnitude of
importance placed on her duties as my avatar and can fathom the ramifications
of failing to protect the Crystal."
     Susan blinked as the connection finally clicked in her mind.  "So faced
with the option of protecting either the royal bloodline or protecting the
possible successor...." she said slowly.
     "You protect the successor," Hades said succinctly.
     "Understood, my lord," his avatar replied as she stood up, looking as if
she had just eaten a mouthful of very sour grapes.
     Hades sighed quietly again.  "Be at ease, my child," he said softly.  "I
honestly do not expect you will be forced to make such a choice, but it must be
understood now what you must do should the time come.  This only changes your
highest priority, that's all.  You are still expected to do what you can to
protect the life of the Moon Princess and the other avatars, of course."
     "Of course," Susan echoed quietly, still rather unsettled.
     "There is one more change to your instructions," Hades added.  "You know
that the soul of the Earth prince has been compromised, right?"
     "What?" Susan said as her jaw fell open.
     Hades leaned against the wall and rubbed the bridge of his nose.  "We only
know that he was infused with a latent power from the other side during his
kidnapping.  We have yet to determine what sort of impact this is going to have
on matters, but we do believe it will be ultimately significant.  We must keep
him safe until we know more.  Therefore, in the unlikely event you are faced
with the choice of protecting either the Princess or the Prince, you are to
protect the Prince at all costs, save losing the line of succession for the
Crystal."
     Susan sat back down on the edge of the bed and buried her face in her
hands.  "Are things really that bad that I must contemplate sacrificing the
life of the Crown Princess for other goals?" she whispered quietly.  "Is her
death that likely that we must actively plan for someone else to take her
place?"
     Hades frowned as he pushed himself off of the wall and stood up straight.
"Consider this, Chancellor," he said, using her official title from the Moon
Kingdom.  "She was killed once, a thousand years ago.  Her mother sacrificed
her own life so she could be reborn.  If she can be killed once, she can be
killed again, only this time there wouldn't be anyone else capable of using
the powers of the Imperium Silver Crystal to save this world.  Think about it,
Setsuna, think very long and hard about it."
     Megan bowed to her master as he turned around and left the room, closing
the chamber door behind him.  Susan said nothing as she stared at the stone
floor of the keep, her thoughts a chaotic whirl inside the intricate depths
of her mind.
     "How much of a problem is this going to present?" Megan asked as she gave
Susan a curious look, trying to fathom what the problem could possibly be.
     "Depends on how you look at it," Susan responded quietly.  "I basically
have to throw away a lifetime of work to the royal family and restructure what
my priorities are.  That won't be easy or pleasant."
     "So you guard a prince instead of a princess," Megan shrugged.  "That
doesn't sound too difficult.  You could probably even make him your sex slave,
that'd keep him under real tight control," she added lightly.
     Susan just looked at her younger sister, realizing not for the first time
that full-blooded demons had different ideas about morals and ethics.  The
concept of emotional bonds such as love was foreign to most of them, and it
was only due to her human heritage that she herself was able to experience
such strong feelings for her friends.
     "Lord Hades is right," she said as she stood up.  "You don't understand,
but then again, you aren't expected to.  I will perform my duties as he has
instructed, but it will take some time to adjust.  Until then, I'll just have
to do the best I can."
     Megan raised a slender green eyebrow.  "This really is going to be a bit
of a problem for you, isn't it?"  She snorted in contempt when Susan nodded
her head in response.  "Imagine, an avatar with issues over whom to protect
just because she knows them.  I had honestly thought you had a stronger spine
than this."
     Susan blinked hard as Megan teleported out of the room in a flash of
dimensional energy, leaving her alone in the empty keep.  "Apparently, Lord
Hades was right about siblings being a headache," she said to the empty air.
"Perhaps this won't be nearly as interesting as I had imagined."
     She sighed heavily and made a snatching motion in the air, her staff
materializing out of the temporal flow to smack solidly into her palm.  Her
free hand smoothed out a wrinkle in her attire and made a minor adjustment to
her loin cloth before she wrapped herself in temporal energy and slipped back
into the eternal flow of Time.

                *               *               *               *

     "You have a visitor this morning," the wall seemed to say to her as she
sat down to her morning breakfast.
     Al'vexi raised an eyebrow as she poured herself a glass of juice.  "Good
morning to you too, V'Sari," the retired general told the pocket of shadows in
the far corner.  "Business or personal?"
     A shadowy figure emerged from the darkness and assumed what appeared to
be a three-dimensional humanoid form.  "He said it was personal," she replied,
her voice a soft, sibilant whisper that often reminded others of leaves being
stirred in a breeze.
      Al'vexi telepathed to her
bodyguard as she bit into a slice of toast.  V'Sari hesitated before replying,
which was unusual enough to raise the hair on the back of the general's neck.
     "Call it a woman's intuition," V'Sari finally said.
     Al'vexi said nothing as she spread some le'un preserves on another slice
of toast and took a sip of her juice.  She was one of only a handful of people
in military history to live long enough to retire as a flag-rank officer, and
at present was the only one still living.  The threat to her was still quite
real, as it was to all senior military officials, which was why she still rated
a bodyguard in retirement.
     "Security scan?" she said aloud before taking another bite of toast.
     V'Sari consulted the tiny computer pad in her hand.  "He's got a symipa
spear with him, appears to be a standard Dragoon model.  No significant psi
activity detected, no unusual energy signatures around him."
     Al'vexi grunted in quiet amusement.  She wasn't worried about the weapon
in the slightest, as any would-be assassin would first have to get past her
formidable psionic defenses.  She mused that if things got unruly, she could
always give her opponent a psi-spike with enough energy to physically destroy
the brain tissue, but that tended to give herself a migraine that persisted for
days at a time.
     "Show him in," she said as she reached for the scrambled ertu eggs.  She
made significant progress in devouring most of them before a young man in a
dark cloak entered the room and stood next to the chair on the opposite side
of the table.
     "Nice to know you still prefer the simple breakfast," he said lightly as
he examined the selection of v'etu toast, talan juice, scrambled ertu eggs,
and slices of assorted fruits.  "Mind if I sit?"
     Al'vexi looked up in surprise, and it was only due to many centuries of
rigid mental discipline that kept her from spitting out a mouthful of egg and
gasping for air.  As it was, it took her several seconds before she could pull
her mind together to form coherent thought.  "I thought you were dead," she
said after swallowing hard and taking a deep breath.
     Jedyt smiled coldly as he moved the chair back and sat down.  "Beryl is
dead," he corrected her.  "I was merely hidden in the rafters."
     "Well, now, this is a surprise," Al'vexi said as she spooned some more
scrambled ertu eggs onto her plate and fought very hard to retain her casual
outside composure.  "So what brings you here?"
     "You tell me," he replied as he grabbed a slice of s'car from the pile of
fruit and started munching on it.
      she telepathed at him as she resumed her
attack on the eggs.  
     Jedyt chuckled. "Good guess, but you're wrong.  Rune released me from my
crystal for just that purpose, but to be honest I don't give a wet rakketh
corpse about who's running things."
     The retired general glanced up at him in irritation as she refilled her
glass of juice.  
     "Revenge," he said simply.
     "On whom?" Al'vexi prompted after draining half the glass.
     "Sailor Moon," the blond general replied as he picked up a wedge of the
bittersweet d'ael melon.
     Al'vexi smiled darkly at her unexpected guest.  "You don't ask for much,
do you?"
     "I know who she is on Earth," he replied around a mouthful of melon.  "I
watched her, Sailor Mercury, and Sailor Mars transform, and know their true
identities."
     That gave the telepath a momentary chill.  "Really," she said slowly in
mild disbelief.
     "Really," Jedyt confirmed.  "Serena, Ami, and Rei.  And I know exactly
where Rei's temple is, too," he added with a malicious grin.  "I spent some
time there once, working as a temporary aide as part of a disguise.  She's a
feisty one...." he mused.
     "And the others?" Al'vexi said, curious now.  She knew from the reports
she had seen that they had figured out that Sailor Mercury's real name was Ami
and that she had become a vampire, but virtually everything else they knew
about her was very sketchy conjecture.  Except, of course, for what they knew
about Prince Darian, but that was a different matter entirely....
     "What others?" Jedyt said flatly as he gave her a slightly wary look.
     Al'vexi smirked as she took a sip of juice.  "Not nearly as informed as
you thought you were, Jedyt?  There are two other Sailor Scouts to deal with as
well, Sailor Jupiter and Sailor Venus.  Plus, I'd imagine, we still have the
odd problem with that Sailor V girl."
     "That bitch," Jedyt spat.  "We haven't found her yet?"
     "She's apparently harder to find than Sailor Moon," Al'vexi observed with
a casual shrug.  "She wiped out most of our long-term agents, but we still have
Agent M in place and sending back regular reports.  Including sightings of our
beloved Sailor V, alive and well."
     Jedyt grunted quietly to himself.  He realized that his knowledge of the
long-term operations on Earth was obviously outdated by now, but he still
remembered the plans drawn up about Agent M.  Jedyt thought it was a he, but
didn't have much information about him, save that he was one of the most highly
skilled surveillance agents ever trained by the military.  His mission on Earth
was to blend in as a native and report back on what he learned and observed
about humans that could be of use to the Negaverse.
     "So two more Sailor Scouts to deal with?" he said warily after a long
pause to consider developments.
     "Seems that way," Al'vexi replied as she picked up the last piece of
toast and spread more le'un preserves on it.  "And they're just as lethal as
the other three.  Anyone ever tell you about the Psi-Corp Complex?"
     Jedyt shrugged.  "I heard the reactor got blown out, that was it.  I take
it they managed to crater it?"
     She scowled at his casual attitude about the total destruction of the
Psi-Corp Headquarters Complex and the loss of almost a full ninety percent of
the ranks of the Psi-Corp.  She herself had been the Captain of the Psi-Corp
at one point before her promotion to Brigadier started her along the very
treacherous path to full General.
     "We're still not entirely sure what happened," she said in an edged tone.
"I understand that some of the debris in the crater still glows at night, so
we can't get close enough to try and find out."
     Jedyt made a noise in his throat.  "Radiation is a bitch, isn't it?"
     Al'vexi sighed as her patience started to fray at the edges.  "Why are
you here, Jedyt?"
     The young general smirked and leaned back in his chair.  "I understand
that we managed to capture that annoying Tuxedo Mask for awhile, and that you
got to spend some time with his mind under your telepathic microscope."
     "That much is true," Al'vexi admitted neutrally.
     "I would be most interested in reading your personal notes about that
experience," he said.  "Not just the official reports, but your psychological
analysis as well.  The stuff that you left out before filing the reports."
     Al'vexi took a large bite out of the toast.  
     Jedyt reached into his cloak and pulled out a small folder.  Even from
across the table, Al'vexi could make out four different types of high-level
classification sigils stamped on it, including the "Seven-Aerce" designation
from the Dragoon Legion, usually reserved only for the Queen herself.
     "A little biographical sketch about Sailor Moon," Jedyt said in response
to Al'vexi's eyebrows hitting the proverbial roof.  "Something General Rune
was able to observe for herself that hasn't become public knowledge yet.  This
secret report in exchange for your secret report."
     The retired general thought very carefully for a moment.  "How do I know
that is genuine information?" she said, trying to stall for time to think.
     Jedyt opened the report and flipped to the very last page.  "Here, you
can use your famous object-sense skill on the signature," he offered as he
laid the report in front of her.
     Al'vexi leaned forward to examine the page, noticing immediately that the
signature was real ink instead of a carbon-copy reproduction.  "This is the
original?" she said in surprise.  She glanced up in time to catch Jedyt rolling
his eyes at the ceiling.  "Never mind," she muttered as she wiped her hand on
a napkin and lightly pressed her fingertip against the signature.
     Every object and creature has a unique psionic aura around it, some with
stronger or more noticeable auras than others.  One of Al'vexi's better mental
skills was the ability to sense the imprints of psionic auras left on objects
by contact with other unique auras.  It was rather difficult to read some types
of objects, as imprints tend to fade with time or become obscured by multiple
imprints, but the auras in the ink were relatively easy to read.
     This is a medium grade of soyo ink, not very common, used primarily in the
North Polar Region, she thought to herself as her psionic powers analyzed every
aspect of the ink.  However, it is also exported to the other regions for use
in fancy pens.  The ink in this signature was housed in an aluminum-tungsten
cylinder inlaid with several small carbon gemstones, most likely high-grade
cubic zirconium.  There appears to be several other contaminants around the
housing, at least half a dozen unique crystal structures with stunted growth.
Very tiny, probably not visible to the naked eye.  And both the housing and
the crystal seeds have been recently in contact with a single denizen.  Female,
strong grip, I'd say middle-aged, with dark purple hair and a penchant for
manipulating the molecular structure of crystals and minerals....
     "It's Rune, alright," Al'vexi admitted as she mentally cleared her mind of
the sudden clutter of information.
     "And you know that if Rune puts her signature on paper...." Jedyt offered.
     "...That she regards it as being official truth," she finished.  "Which,
if you stop and think, really doesn't say a lot."
     Jedyt leaned back in the chair and smirked.  "Yes, but this is about a
report she didn't release, so why would she bother to make it up?"
     "Disinformation?" the telepath suggested.
     Jedyt snorted in distain and took the report back.  "Just tell me you're
not interested so we can move on with other things," he said darkly.
     "Why do you want my report on Prince Darian?" Al'vexi inquired as she sat
back to contemplate matters.  She had no doubt that Rune wrote the report, but
was still trying to determine just how curious she really was about what it
contained.
     "There is a saying on Earth.... know thine enemy," Jedyt replied.  "That,
and I want to see if anyone knows why the NegaForce has such a keen interest
in him."
     Al'vexi said nothing as she sipped at her nearly-empty cup of juice.   she telepathed.
     "How long have we known one another?" Jedyt said quietly.
      she thought honestly.
     "I'm touched," he responded dryly.
     
     He tapped the report.  "If this report is true, then we are probably....
no, if this becomes public knowledge, then we WILL have a civil war.  I may be
many things, Al'vexi, most of them repulsive to you, but I am not one prone to
doomsday predictions.  This report has me worried, deeply worried.  I have
every reason to believe this report is accurate, and the reason I came to you
is that I want another experienced opinion for comparison."
     The telepath sighed as she sat back in her chair.  "Spare me the drama."
     "Sailor Moon is only half-human."
     It took several seconds for the icy shiver to quit running up and down
her spine.  "You're serious," she said very slowly.
     He nodded and held up the report, the highest levels of classification
markings clearly stamped on the front cover.  "This report for your report,
and believe me when I say I think you're getting the better end of the deal.
I just want to know as much about Darian as possible."
     Al'vexi eyeballed the report long and hard before she sighed heavily and
stood up from the table. "Wait here," she said simply and left, leaving a
relieved Jedyt sitting alone at the table.  He examined the contents of the
fruit bowl for a few seconds before he picked out another slice of s'car and
idly nibbled on it.
     She returned a minute later holding a well-used data tablet and a small
memory crystal.  "I never bothered to print it out," she commented as she sat
down at the table and held the items out to Jedyt.  "Some things are just too
dangerous to leave lying around."
     He nodded in complete understanding as he passed his report over to her
and picked up the data tablet.  "No offense, Al'vexi, but this has seen better
days," he observed as he studied it.  "They quit making this model how many
centuries ago?"
     "It was a gift from a friend when I was accepted into the academy," the
telepath replied absently as she opened the cover and started reading the long
list of security citations and warnings.  "Unlike most other things, it has
served me quite well over the years.  If you ever live long enough to reach my
age, perhaps you'll be able to appreciate such seemingly trivial things," she
said as she glanced up at him.
     Jedyt grunted quietly to himself as he mentally calculated the probable
age difference between them.  He had participated in the attack on the Moon
Kingdom, but had only been a very young Field Captain at the time.  Al'vexi,
on the other hand, had already been promoted to Brigadier before the attack
took place and was well on her way to making Lieutenant General.  She had asked
to remain behind in the Negaverse to oversee the reserve forces rather than
lead a division of her own during the invasion, a move that had caused many of
her peers to question her ability to lead.  Ultimately, however, it proved to
have been a wise course of action as the few senior officers to return alive
from the invasion ended up spending anywhere between a month and a decade in
suspended animation while their bodies were slowly regenerated.
     He sighed quietly to himself as he carefully plugged in the memory crystal
and instructed the tablet to retrieve the data.  No sense in upsetting her over
some foolish sentimental issue, he thought as he began to read.
     Al'vexi also read in silence, trying to absorb the contents of the report
without jumping to any conclusions.  It was a detailed contact report about
the events that transpired in the depths of the Dragoon Legion Headquarters
Complex when the Sailor Scouts, aided by the denizens now in exile on Earth,
broke into one of the lower level storage facilities.  Rune had laid a trap
for them, of course, which ultimately had failed.  That in itself was of no
surprise to her, as they had yet to be successfully caught in any sort of trap
laid by the military.
     What she found the most shocking, however, was the information that was
revealed about Sailor Moon during that incident.  She read and re-read the
paragraph several times to make absolutely sure there was no misunderstanding
of the situation.  "Jedyt..." she said slowly.
     "That's something worth losing sleep over, don't you agree?" he replied
absently, still rapidly reading the psychological report and trying to absorb
as much information as possible.
     "If she is half-denizen, that changes the equation to a degree you would
simply not believe," she sighed as she leaned back and rubbed her eyes.
     Jedyt paused and glanced up.  "Try me," he suggested.
     "Sailor Moon could become the Queen Regent," Al'vexi replied.
     It took a minute for his blood to thaw out after a momentary chill.  "You
want to run that one past me again?"
     She gestured to her report on the data tablet.  "Keep reading and let me
know when you get to the part about when Darian was quietly named Crown Prince
by both Beryl and the NegaForce."
     "What?!" Jedyt exclaimed and started to speed-read as fast as he could.
      the retired general
telepathed to her bodyguard.
     "Unbelievable," Jedyt spat as he read the paragraph.  "What was Beryl
thinking?"
     "She was apparently thinking that she had found her lifemate," Al'vexi
replied dryly as she closed her mind and focused on a small box buried in the
back of a drawer in her dresser.  Her limited telekinetic powers were just
strong enough to reach out, grab hold of the box, and start to twist four-
dimensional space around it.
     "What are you doing?" he asked as he saw the look of intense concentration
on her heavily lined and well-aged face.  He blinked hard as a very fuzzy
geometric configuration started to appear on the table, a shimmering tangle of
lines of power.  The fuzzy shape persisted for a few seconds before unraveling
at the seams and disappearing, leaving a small wooden box behind.
     "That was an effort," Al'vexi grunted as she reached out and opened the
box.  "Teleportation is not my thing.  Want one?"
     Jedyt peered into the box and blinked.  "Citran?" he ventured.
     "Citran laced with mee'pa and vel'sik," Al'vexi corrected as she picked
up one of the herbal cigarettes.
     "Al'vexi, you surprise me," he said as he leaned back to observe her
carefully.  "You had always seemed so straight-laced to me.  I'm sure I don't
have to remind a trained telepath about the dangers of mind-altering drugs."
     "Oh, stuff it," she grumped.  "Yes, if you smoked each component alone it
will have you on your ptanka in various ways.  Blend them together in the right
proportions, however, and the psychotic effects are nullified.  The only effect
it has then is to dampen higher thought and psionic activity."
     "So you can get stoned without worrying about having the wrong thoughts
triggering random psionic powers," Jedyt summarized dryly.
     "I'm immune to most analgesics," she sighed.  "So when I get a migraine
headache like I just got three minutes ago, my only options are suffer for
hours or take something that blots out most of my brain's sensory functions,"
she explained as she held out the end of the cigarette to him.
     Jedyt gave her a reproving look before he reached out and touched his
fingertip to the end of the cigarette, sending a surge of raw energy through
it.  The end started to smoulder briefly before igniting in a soft whoosh of
air and heat.
     "Thank you," the retired telepath said as she blew out the small flame and
took a slow puff from the herbal blend.  "We have a lot to think about," she
said slowly.  "We have two pieces of a deeply disturbing picture on our hands
right now.  My piece comes from my probing of Prince Darian's mind, but when
we add your piece about Princess Serena... this might take quite some time for
us to hash out.  Oh, thank you, V'Sari," she added as her bodyguard silently
appeared at her elbow and set the bottle and glasses on the table.
     Jedyt grunted quietly and glanced back down at the data tablet.  "You seem
to have a head-start on this already," he replied.  "I still don't see where
you get Sailor Moon becoming the Queen Regent."
     "Classified discussion, V'Sari," Al'vexi said mildly as she stripped the
gold foil off of the top of the wine bottle.  "Truth be told, I'm probably not
cleared for it, so please don't mention this to anyone."
     "Of course not," V'Sari replied quietly and silently withdrew.
     "You trust her?" Jedyt asked softly.
     "If you can't trust your bodyguard, who can you trust?" Al'vexi said with
a shrug.  "My logic for the Regent is very simple.  Darian is the Crown Prince,
his daughter will be the next Crown Princess, and the child's mother will be
the Queen Regent until the Princess is old enough to assume the throne," she
said evenly as she puffed quietly on her cigarette while trying to work the
cork free of the bottle.  "And the way things look, his most likely choice for
a lifemate will be Sailor Moon."
     Jedyt grunted quietly as he continued to read the report.  "Even if that
was a given, we're still missing several things.  Tell me again how he ended
up as the Crown Prince?"
     The telepath closed her eyes for a moment to think.  "When we kidnapped
him and brought him to Beryl, she had a team of telepaths suppress his memories
of Earth and the Sailor Scouts.  She then took him to see the NegaForce.  I'm
not entirely sure what happened then, but when they emerged he was very much
under her spell.  So much so, in fact, that Beryl took him as her lover and
proclaimed him her Prince."
     Jedyt found himself suppressing a shudder of revulsion.  "That's not the
most pleasant of mental images," he said sourly.
     There was a soft pop as the cork finally came free.  "Beryl wasn't what
most would call fashion model material, but even you have to admit she had a
certain appeal to her that most men would find intriguing to some degree," she
said as she poured the wine into a glass and held it out to her guest.
     "Granted, but not enough to sleep with.  What's this?" he inquired as he
accepted the glass and sniffed it carefully.
     "Asleen Purple Twenty-Three," Al'vexi replied as she poured a glass for
herself.  "I know it's not made anymore, and you usually save rare wines like
this for special occasions, but I thought it a good idea to have some now.  You
can think of it as celebrating what will undoubtedly be a very major turning
point in the history of the Negaverse."
     He smirked.  "Yes, nothing like the prospect of a global upheaval to make
one want to celebrate.  Here's to the grand and glorious revolution," he said
and clinked his glass against hers.
     "Be very careful what you wish for," she said after sipping her wine.

                *               *               *               *

     The central axis of the Dragoon Headquarters Complex was not perfectly
parallel to the equator, being instead tilted at a six-degree angle towards
the north.  The logic for this was to take advantage of a natural depression
on the western horizon where two ridges had formed countless eons ago.
     A tiny point of light hovered on the horizon between the peaks of the
ridges, just high enough in the sky to be visible above any lingering morning
fog.  Soaring high above the planet in a perfect geosynchronous position, the
orbital mirror known as Essence kept a constant electronic eye on the western
face of the Complex and waited for further instructions.
     The ground beneath the Complex began to rumble as massive motors started
up, pushing a pair of giant steel platforms up from the ground and away from
the space between the western and central spines of the building.  The topsoil
normally covering the plates had been kept very shallow for just this reason,
spilling away with ease as the plates angled up like the ends of a drawbridge.
The result was an almost cavern-like void between the spines, free from dirt
or any other obstacles that might get in the way.
     The entire west wing of the Complex began to split in two, the normally
perpendicular north and south spines slowly folding inward to run parallel to
the main axis and exposing a massive exhaust port that was easily twenty feet
in diameter.  Special reflective plates extended out from inside the port,
forming a guide path for what was clearly becoming the business end of a very
powerful weapon.
     A small laser array on the roof of the Complex oriented on the orbital
mirror and started firing pulses of light at it, checking the alignment of the
barrel and instructing the firing computer to elevate the barrel by another
full degree.  A misty cloud formed at the end as the barrel was purged with
inert xenon gas and the magnetic coils started to power up, giving the highly
reflective metal a faint glow of energy.
     "Phase Two transformation completed," the computer reported.
     "Engineering to Commander K'tal," the speaker crackled.  "The firing
housing is now available, estimate we will have a full charge in five minutes."
     K'tal thumbed the microphone switch.  "Lock and load the shell, Chief,
but keep full safeties on it until I say otherwise."
     "Safe loading, aye sir.  Engineering out."
     D'Nina gave him a curious glance.  "Hedging our bets, Commander?"
     K'tal grunted quietly.  "Call it a hunch, Chief."
     D'Nina studied him for a moment before turning her attention to the young
lieutenant at Communications. "Lieutenant T'Pri, are we still operating under
the VBF system?" she asked.
     The lieutenant blinked hard.  "VBF?  Actually, that system is not in use
unless it's specifically called for," she replied with a small frown.
     Captain Ael'ien leaned over to K'tal.  "What's the VBF system?" she asked
in a low tone.
     "It's nothing sanctioned by current regulations," he replied as he watched
his console.  "Basically, it means that if anyone in the building gets any sort
of premonition about our current situation, they have permission to call it in
to Operations.  True precognition is rare, as you no doubt know, but the theory
behind the VBF system is that psionically active denizens may be able to get a
bit of a 'gut feeling' about the immediate future."
     Ael'ien blinked and thought about the concept for a moment.  "If you stop
and think about it, it sounds like a plausible theory.  Should I ask why the
Psi-Corp hasn't been consulted about it?"
     K'tal snorted quietly.  "It has, Captain.  Problem is, everyone who was
directly involved in the group discussion is either dead or in exile," he said
with a sour look.  "The VBF system is a low-priority experiment, so it doesn't
surprise me in the least that you haven't heard about it yet."
     "Very well, Lieutenant," D'Nina said to Communications, "I am officially
requesting that the VBF system be activated immediately."
     The lieutenant cleared her throat.  "Actually, Chief, that requires...."
she started to say, then trailed off as she noticed K'tal giving her a dark
look.  She blinked hard, swallowed, and reached for her headset.
     Everyone looked up at the nearest speaker as the three-note electronic
whistle echoed throughout the Complex.  "Attention all hands, the VBF system
is now in effect.  I repeat, the VBF system is now in effect.  All notices are
to be sent to Operations using prefix seven-two and a level-two priority.
Operations out."
     "Thank you, Lieutenant," D'Nina said with a slight nod of her head.
     "Got a premonition of your own, Chief?" K'tal asked quietly.
     She shrugged.  "Call it a hunch, Commander."
     "One last question," Ael'ien asked.  "What exactly does VBF stand for?"
     "Very Bad Feeling," K'tal replied with a straight face.
     The telepath blinked hard.  "Seriously?"
     "Seriously."
     Psi-Corp Captain Ael'ien promptly made a mental note to make a discreet
inquiry about the possibility of reading K'tal's psychological profile.
     "I've got a bad feeling about this," Asrial growled flatly.
     K'tal gave her a reproving look.  "You're not psionic, Lieutenant, but I
will take your recommendation into consideration."
     "Commander?" the communications lieutenant said as she frowned at her
console.  "I have a level 3 VBF report from a field sergeant in Security."
     "Noted," K'tal replied.  The VBF system was rated from one to three, with
a three being a low-confidence feeling, a two being of medium-confidence, and
a one being a premonition that the psionicist believed had a high degree of
confidence.  He had decided long ago that he wouldn't let himself become very
concerned about the VBF results until he either got a VBF-1 report or if he
started getting several reports at once.
     "Engineering to Commander K'tal."
     "K'tal here."
     "Sir, the shell is ready," the Chief Engineer reported.  "I'm requesting
permission to seal the housing and arm the primary."
     K'tal crossed his arms and briefly closed his eyes.  "Why do I have this
sinking feeling, D'Nina?" he murmured quietly.
     The master chief gave him a concerned look.  "Don't tell me you're having
premonitions of your own," she grumbled.  "I thought all the psi tests were
normal for you."
     "I thought so too, but who knows.  K'tal to Engineering."
     "Venta."
     "Seal the housing and arm the primary.  Estimated time until the primary
is fully charged and ready to fire?"
     "Two minutes, sir," the speaker responded as a low rumbling frequency
started up in the background.  Deep inside the Complex, the cannon's housing
sealed itself off from the atmosphere around it and started to purge itself
with xenon gas.  Directly behind the cannon's breech, the primary firing
chamber was rolled forward on tracks and connected to the base of the cannon.
Once fully charged, it would be rammed into the bore of the cannon to create a
super-dense plasma spark that would immolate the shell and trigger a powerful
ionized shock front.  The front would sweep through the length of the barrel
and become hyper-accelerated by successive layers of magnetic fields, emerging
from the end of the barrel as a focused beam composed of waves of super-charged
particles with enough kinetic energy to crater a mountain.
     The primary interlock was released as the chamber was fully connected to
the bore and the magnetic coils began to energize.  The mouth of the barrel
began to softly glow blue as small particles of air became ionized and were
drawn inward towards the coils, looking like a small gathering of fireflies
converging down a large tunnel.
     "Let's not screw the pooch on this one, Chief," K'tal admonished as he
watched the status screen changing on his display.
     There was a lengthy silence on the other end.  "We'll try not to, sir,"
the engineer replied cautiously before closing the circuit.
     "Screw the pooch?" Ael'ien asked with a puzzled look on her face.
     K'tal shrugged.  "Earth expression.  The translation would be close to
making a k'vesi mess of things and ending up taking it in the ptanka."
     "Thank you for sharing that with us, Commander," D'Nina replied dryly with
a faint blush on her elderly features.
     "My pleasure, Chief," K'tal responded with a grin.  "Remind me to invite
you to my office for lunch one day and we can go over some of the other, more
colorful expressions the humans have come up with."
     "Commander...." his Communications officer said in a warning tone.  "I've
just gotten a level 3 VBF report from a junior lieutenant in Supply and a level
2 report from a cadet in Engineering."
     K'tal felt a slight chill start to creep into his veins.  "Noted," he said
in response and re-examined his console display.  "Asrial, what's the situation
with the crypto-linker?"
     The Felinoid growled flatly and held up the still-disconnected circuit
board.  "Offline," she spat.  She then stuck her head inside the dismembered
console and growled a question at the forest-green tail that was the only part
of Ji'an anyone could see.  There was a muted response from within and she
rolled her eyes at the ceiling.
     K'tal turned around and stared at the console's access panel that had been
almost literally ripped off the housing and tossed aside.  The silence seemed
to stretch on for an eternity as his eyes went slightly vacant, a sign to those
who knew him that he was doing some very serious thinking.
     "Engineering to Commander K'tal," the speaker crackled, "The particle-wave
cannon is now fully armed and ready to fire.  Firing control is now available
on your master console."
     K'tal looked up at his console as a yellow light began blinking.  "K'tal
here," he said into the microphone as he stared at the flashing light.  "I now
have the firing control system.  Chief...." he said slowly.  "Find that cadet
who filed the VBF report and put him on the circuit."
     He could practically hear half of Operations blinking in surprise behind
his back.  "One moment, sir," the engineer said.
     "Commander, what are you doing?" Ael'ien inquired softly.
     K'tal didn't bother looking over his shoulder.  "I'm running my division
as I see fit," he replied evenly.  "This may be an exercise, but we will fire
when and only when I am satisfied everything is as it should be."
     Ael'ien blinked hard and looked over at D'Nina.  She noticed that the
master chief seemed surprised as well but didn't appear upset in the least.
     "Engineering, Cadet Sash," a nervous voice said from the speaker.
     "This is Dragoon Commander K'tal," the Dragoon said as he leaned closer
to the microphone.  "Listen very carefully, Cadet.  You obviously had a reason
for filing that Level 2 VBF report, so I want to hear it.  Tell me precisely
what went through your mind, no matter how silly or asinine it might sound.  If
you have a thought, I want to hear it.  That's a direct order."
     The sound of the cadet swallowing hard was heard quite clearly.  "Sir, I
just felt that something was very.... out of place.  Like something was....
well, not missing, but just not where it should be."
     K'tal grunted quietly.  "Anything specific?"
     "No, sir," the speaker quivered.  "It was just a horrific feeling that
something wasn't quite right.  Didn't last very long, sir, just long enough to
get spooked and send that report."
     The Dragoon commander closed his eyes for a moment.  "You said your name
is Sash?"
     "Yes, sir."
     "So what do you recommend?" K'tal asked the cadet.
     "Sir??" the cadet replied, his state of near-panic evident in his voice.
Around him, both Ael'ien and D'Nina blinked hard at the idea of the commanding
officer asking for input from a mere cadet.
     "I said I wanted to hear what you think, Cadet," K'tal said gently.  "Let
me worry about what to make of your suggestion, but I still want to hear it."
     There was a very faint sound of someone in the background that sounded to
K'tal like someone offering words of advice to the cadet.  "Sir," he finally
said in a somewhat shaky tone, "It is my recommendation that we do not fire the
particle-wave cannon until we have everything double- and triple-checked."
     "Thank you, Cadet Sash, sounds like a good idea to me," K'tal responded.
"Engineering, you heard him.  I want every reading checked again, including the
targeting and mirror alignment data."
     "Engineering copies," the voice of the chief engineer said on the circuit.
"We're double-checking everything now."
     "Well done, Cadet, you may return to your post," K'tal said.
     "Thank you, sir," the speaker said in an obviously relieved tone before
it clicked off.
     "You planned on having everything checked anyway, right?" D'Nina ventured.
     K'tal nodded.  "Of course, but it never hurts to occasionally give a cadet
the impression that he's making a serious contribution.  Tactical, can you tell
me precisely where those target coordinates are aimed at?"
     The tactical officer consulted his display.  "Target coordinates are for
the Number 2 Orbital Bombardment Range in the Northern Mountains."
     "Makes sense," K'tal mused.  "Just how far away is the range from the
repair facility in Sector Seven?  In general terms," he added.
     "Close enough to see the light show, far enough away not to have to worry
about blast effects or a drifting shot," the officer replied after punching the
data request into his terminal.
     "Fair enough.  T'Pri, would you be so kind as to send a brief message to
Sector Seven, my respects to Master Chief Octane and her team, and advise her
of an incoming round?  Just to be polite."
     D'Nina chuckled.  "I remember Chief Octane," she said with a smile and a
shake of her head.  "Fortunate that our scout cruiser landed so close to her
facility and that she had a spare gravity shield available."
     K'tal grunted in amusement.  "Fortunate that she didn't charge us an arm
and a leg for the repairs," he replied.
     "Engineering to Commander K'tal."
     K'tal sighed quietly and opened the circuit.  "K'tal here."
     "Sir, all systems have been triple-checked and are operating normally.
All computer systems are responding without error, the targeting data checks
out, and the mirror array is responding within tolerances," the speaker said.
     The Dragoon commander paused for a moment.  "Run that one past me again,
Chief," he said slowly.  "What exactly do you mean within tolerances?"
     "The targeting laser is having to adjust the angle by a millimeter every
thirty seconds," the engineering chief reported.  "That is still well within
the margins for using an orbital reflection weapon, taking into account the
rotational motion of the planet, the satellite, and the gravity wells of our
three moons."
     K'tal sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose, knowing he wasn't the
first denizen who dearly wished the Negaverse's three moons would settle down
into stable, predictable orbits instead of behaving like three massive insects
buzzing around a pile of vep'tera turds.  Theories for their erratic movements
numbered in the hundreds, but to date not a single one had been proven to the
point of allowing a plotted orbit that lasted longer than a week.
     There was a sharp grunt from within the depths of the disassembled console
and Ji'an scrambled out from inside.  "Excuse me, Commander," he said in a
tone that was surprisingly gentle in contrast to Asrial's usually edged tone.
He leaned over to the microphone and spoke into it.  "Chief, this is Ji'an."
     "Go ahead," Engineering replied.
     "Essence is in a perfect geosynchronous orbit," he said slowly, his tail
lashing back and forth in a steady rhythm.  "Last I checked, the orbital wobble
period for Essence was on the order of one millimeter every eight hours.  Even
taking into account a sudden change in the local gravity field, I fail to see
how the period would increase drastically."
     There was a sudden silence from the speaker.  "You know...."
     K'tal gently moved Ji'an aside and leaned over the microphone.  "Listen,
Chief, I'm giving you the same order I gave the cadet.  If you have a thought,
I want to hear it, no matter how odd.  Start talking," he ordered.
     "Well, sir, could be one of three things.  One, the laser receiver is in
subtle motion and keeps losing track of the return beam.  That's a non-starter
as we'd have been able to detect any wobble on the ground station."
     K'tal nodded.  "Keep going."
     There was a faint scratching sound from the speaker as a chin was rubbed.
"Two, the whole satellite could have a sudden wobble to it.  That's definitely
possible, as inertia isn't easily bled off in space, but I'm inclined to doubt
that's the case.  If it was hit by something, like a micro-meteorite, we would
also know about it, and I'm not seeing any unusual readings from the system."
     The commander shared an uneasy glance with D'Nina and Ji'an.  "And the
third option?"
     "That would be that the mirrored array is realigning itself in reference
to the target, which I find slightly bothersome as both the mirror and the
target are essentially stationary in relation to one another.  Unless...." he
said, then trailed off.
     K'tal frowned and was about to verbally prod the chief engineer when a
burst of profanity emerged from the speaker.  K'tal blinked and felt his blood
temperature drop by twenty degrees.  "Talk to me, Chief."
     "Unless you're tracking a moving target," the speaker replied flatly.
     K'tal said nothing as he turned his attention back to the blinking yellow
light on his control console.  A simple touch would open a panel that housed
the physical trigger mechanism, a traditional pistol-grip with a pull-back
safety to arm the device and a simple trigger to close the firing circuit.
     "Tactical," he said in an emotionless tone.  "Is the Number 2 Orbital
Bombardment Range moving?"
     Everyone exchanged glances at the question.  "No, sir, the target range
is currently stationary," the tactical officer replied, trying not to feel like
a fool for stating the obvious.
     "Engineering, is the mirror still correcting for target drift?"
     There was a slight pause.  "Yes sir, the mirror is still making a small
adjustment every thirty seconds."
     "Lieutenant Asrial, you are one of my best and most experienced computer
operators.  What is your professional evaluation of the onboard systems on
the Essence satellite?"
     Asrial blinked at the sudden question and choose her words very carefully.
"Sir, we physically do not have a functioning crypto-linker installed, nor do
we have a certified wave-matrix guide in place.  I cannot verify with complete
and total accuracy the state of the computer on the satellite.  It is possible
that the computer could be compromised."
     K'tal closed his eyes.  "Tactical, are there any large moving objects in
the general vicinity of the target coordinates that are moving at a speed that
would require a targeting correction every thirty seconds?"
     "One moment, sir," Tactical replied.
     "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" D'Nina asked.
     "I hope not, Chief," K'tal replied, "I really, really hope not."
     "Sir, there are no moving targets in the mountain range area.  I have,
however, identified one such object in a different location."
     "Let's hear it," the commander said as his stomach turned to lead.
     "Long-distance radar networks identify it as the V'ral, a Vresh'tan-class
airborne carrier," the officer said as he read his display.  "It is currently
two hundred miles west of the demarcation line between the Eastern Frontier
and the Outreaches, bearing two seven six at a height of twenty-four angels."
     Dragoon Commander K'tal looked up at the ceiling and started to quietly
cuss out the carrier, the satellite, Internal Review, his chain of command,
the military, the three moons, the universe, and life as a whole.  It was a
lengthy litany that impressed almost everyone in Operations that he could do
such a thing and not repeat himself once during the entire event.
     "Not literally, I trust?" Master Chief D'Nina asked calmly when K'tal
finally fell silent.
     "My apologies, Master Chief," K'tal said wearily.  "If things were a bit
complicated before, it's ten times worse now.  Ji'an, do you have a moment?"
     The forest-green Felinoid blinked and stepped over next to him.  K'tal
quietly muttered instructions in his ear and he nodded in understanding.  He
flexed his hands for a moment, unintentionally displaying his claws in a move
that unsettled Ael'ien before climbing back into the depths of the control
console he had been working on all day.
     "K'tal to Engineering."
     "Venta," the voice from the speaker replied warily.  He had heard every
word of K'tal's outburst of profanity and was leery as to what was going to
happen next.
     "Stand down the cannon," K'tal instructed.  "Bleed off the coils, pull
the primary back, unload and secure the shell, and lock the housing in the
open position."
     "Disarm the cannon, aye sir," the engineer replied wearily.  "Okay, kids,
you heard the man," the voice was heard saying before the circuit closed.
     "Maybe I should send him something for a headache," K'tal mused to himself
as he secured his terminal.  He jumped along with the rest of Operations when
there was a violent spark from inside the dismembered console and the Felinoid
tail that was hanging out suddenly went as rigid as steel, the black-banded
green fur sticking out at right angles to the skin beneath it.
     Asrial snarled a curse as she grabbed the base of the tail with both hands
and jerked Ji'an out from the console's innards.  The Felinoid landed hard on
his haunches with a wild-eyed glazed look on his face, his whiskers scorched
with carbon and a puff of smoke drifting up from the ends.
     "Ji'an, you idiot, that was NOT what I had in mind," K'tal growled as he
stepped aside to let an officer trained in field medicine get a closer look.
     Ji'an coughed up a lungful of smoke and shook his head rapidly, making a
weak growling noise.  "Accident," he replied as both Asrial and the on-duty
medical officer looked him over.  "Whiskers hit an open circuit."
     "Sir, we just lost our communications link with Essence and T'Cer," the
Communications lieutenant reported.
     K'tal glanced over at the red lights on his display.  "Well, it's a closed
circuit now.  Right idea, wrong method.  Thank you regardless, Chief.  Now go
haul your tail over to Medical and make sure you didn't fry anything else."
     The forest-green Felinoid rose unsteadily to his feet.  "Sir," he said in
acknowledgement as he was led out of Operations by the medical officer.
     "Now what?" D'Nina asked.
     "I'm terminating this drill," K'tal replied flatly as he keyed in a few
commands on his console.  "Computer, recognize Dragoon K'tal, commander,
primary authority for phase transformation."
     "Voiceprint recognized," the monotone voice replied at once.
     "Initiate automated reverse-evolution to Phase Zero status."
     "Require concurrence."
     D'Nina raised an eyebrow.  "Internal Review is going to want to question
you at length about this," she commented.
     K'tal snorted.  "It wouldn't be the first time they've probed me like a
woman at the gynecologist's office.  Uhh, no offense, Chief, ma'am," he said
quickly when he saw the look of severe unamusement on the faces of both D'Nina
and Ael'ien.
     "Computer," D'Nina said in a tone best described as glacial.  "Recognize
Dragoon D'Nina, master chief, secondary authority for phase transformation."
     "Voiceprint recognized."
     "Initiate automated reverse-evolution to Phase Zero status."
     "Compliance," the computer responded and started to send signals to all
the appropriate hardware.
     "Unless it's from a division-level officer or higher, I'm not available,"
K'tal said as he motioned for Ael'ien to follow him.  "I will be in my office.
Master Chief D'Nina has control of Operations, both the VBF and alert systems
are cancelled unless she has a reason for keeping them active."
     "Which I don't," D'Nina said with a shrug.
     "Great job, everyone," K'tal said to the Operations room in general as he
ushered Ael'ien into his office.  "I'm not sure what exactly we just did, or
didn't do, but I intend to find out.  Until then, just keep an extra eye out
for anything untoward by anyone else.  Carry on," he added as he stepped into
his office and closed the door behind him.
     "What the hell just happened?" Ael'ien asked as K'tal plopped into his
chair and leaned back to stare up at the ceiling.
     "Truthfully?  I think we just avoided having our k'vesan caught in the
rakketh trap," he said bluntly.  "We get an order to fire the cannon, for some
odd reason we don't have a verified signal to the satellite computer, we are
given the coordinates for a known testing ground, yet the orbital mirror acts
like it's tracking something else entirely, and the only moving object in this
hemisphere that fits the pattern is a carrier used by a returning general who
scares the living navidshi out of everyone, myself included.  Now tell me that
doesn't literally raise the hair on the back of your neck," he concluded.
     "It does," the telepath admitted.
     "Think it's Rune?" K'tal asked.
     Ael'ien chewed on the edge of her lip.  "Who else could it be?"
     "Rune, Admiral Si'ren, your friend Al'vexi, any one of the regional or
divisional commanders, anyone with high-level access to the computer on the
satellite...." he said slowly as he ticked off his fingers one by one.
     "I get the picture," Ael'ien sighed quietly as she rubbed her temples.
"What we're going to need is solid proof, however, if this is going to go
anywhere.  And that includes how you're going to handle Internal Review."
     "Please, IR can kiss my ptanka," K'tal rolled his eyes.  "If nothing
else, I can show them that the uplink to Essence was never repaired to begin
with and thus made the whole affair unreliable."
     "By having Ji'an disable the uplink?" Ael'ien asked with a raised eyebrow.
     "Nope.  Every single person in Operations can truthfully swear before any
review board that the circuit board containing the crypto-linker was never
physically connected at any point in this exercise," he replied.
     Ael'ien chuckled quietly.  "That much is the honest truth," she admitted.
     K'tal stretched.  "See?  It's not IR I'm worried about."
     "So what are you worried about?"
     K'tal sat up and looked her squarely in the eyes.  "What worries me is,
now that this trap has failed, what trap is going to be laid next, and for
whom?" he said darkly.
     The ominous silence in response brought a chill to them both.

                *               *               *               *

     Ami approached the tree very carefully, not entirely sure what to make
of the blonde's somewhat erratic movements.  She knew that she was listening
to a portable music player and could see part of the wire between the device
and the tiny earpiece, but had absolutely no idea what sort of music she could
be listening to that would incite her to thrash her head around like that.
     Mina looked up and smiled as Ami sat down a few feet away.  "Hey there,
girl, how's it going?" she said cheerfully.
     "I've had better days," Ami said warily.  "What are you listening to?"
     Mina grinned as she held out the other earpiece.  Ami looked at it for a
moment as if it were a snake and she was trying to decide if it was poisonous
or not.  She carefully reached out to pick it up and blinked when she could
feel the rhythmic vibration of sound coming from the speaker.  This is probably
a bad idea, she thought to herself as she leaned over to put the tiny speaker
to her ear.
     "...DIG through the ditches and BURN through the witches, I SLAM in the
back of my DRAG-U-LA...."
     "Spoilsport," Mina chided as the speaker went flying out of Ami's grasp
like it was a hot potato.  She reduced the volume a few decibels and leaned
back against the trunk of the ancient oak tree.
     "What was that noise?" Ami protested as she rubbed her ear furiously.
     "Quality music," Mina said with an impish grin.
     Ami gave her a look that needed no translation.  "Rock and roll?" she
ventured.
     "Heavy metal," Mina replied.  "Dragula, by Rob Zombie."
     "Zombies?" a voice said in amusement.
     "Hello, Rei," Ami said as she rubbed her ear again.
     The priestess sat down with a chuckle.  "I heard from Leda that Luna was
in the area and wanted to talk to us, but about zombies?"
     "Rob Zombie," Mina said as she closed her eyes.  "Heavy metal musician."
     Rei just shook her head.  "You and music.  Almost as bad as meatball head
and food."
     "I heard that," Serena grumbled as she and Leda joined the group, finding
comfortable places to sit down.  "I'm not as bad as you think, pyro."
     "Let's not start this one again," Leda growled, "I'm having a bad enough
day as it is."
     "Yeah, I heard about that," Mina said as she switched off her music and
sat up.  "Word is you almost wiped the floor with someone."
     The brunette sighed heavily and looked up at the sky while Serena and Rei
exchanged glances.  "I'm gonna kill that little gossiping weasel," Leda said
dangerously.  "Cat," she added as she saw motion in the tree.
     There was a snapping sound and Mina immediately ducked, holding her arms
over her head.  Half a second later, an inky shadow dropped from an overhead
branch amid a flurry of leaves and landed squarely on the blonde's head.
     "Hey!" Mina protested as the new arrival hopped to the ground.
     Luna gave her a bashful look.  "I'm sorry, Mina, but I slipped off the
branch just as I went to leap," she explained apologetically.  She paused for
a moment before adding, "Thank you for breaking my fall."
     "So what's the problem?" Ami interjected quickly before Mina could come
up with a suitable reply.
     Luna sat back and tried to remove a leaf that had gotten snared on her
claws.  "Well, it seems that we have company...." she started to say before
being interrupted by another snapping sound from up above.
     Mina flinched again, but the suddenly flurry of leaves was from further
out on the branch.  There was a startled yelp as a small fluffy mass bounced
off of Rei's head and tumbled into her lap.
     "OW!  What is this, Relive Newton's Apple Day?" Rei demanded sourly as she
rubbed the sore spot on her head.
     "Ouch," the white cat groaned as he uncurled himself, "That hurt.  A lot."
     Mina sighed as she reached over to pick him up.  "Artemis, you dingbat,
what'd you do that for?"
     "Slipped," Artemis said.  "I was aiming for Leda's lap, to be honest, but
I think that branch isn't what it used to be.  Not springy enough."
     "Gee, thanks," Leda said dryly.  "Just be glad Rei has a hard head."
     "Excuse me!"
     Serena just looked at the two cats.  "If this is any indication of what
the rest of the day is like, I wanna go back to class," she muttered.
     Leda chuckled.  "Never thought I'd hear you say that," she commented.
     "And where have you been?" the black cat demanded of her counterpart.
     "None of your business," Artemis shot back.  "I got your message and I'm
here on time, so the details aren't important."
     Everyone blinked at the flat reply and exchanged glances.  "You're not
getting into something you shouldn't be, are you?" Mina inquired with an edged
tone as she scratched behind his ears.
     "You're one to talk," both Leda and Artemis muttered at the same time.
     The blonde blinked and looked at Leda.  "What'd I do to you?"
     "Can we get on with this?" Ami said in an unusual display of impatience.
"I have studying to do."  Everyone blinked again and Ami sighed very quietly.
"Luna, what sort of company are we supposed to expect?"
     "Please don't say the Negaverse," Leda added.  "I think I've had my fill
of denizens for quite some time.  Not counting the crew we have parked in the
cathedral, of course."
     Ami and Mina looked at one another as the same thought occurred to them
both.  The blonde smirked and the blue-haired vampire glanced away with a
faint blush.
     The exchange went unnoticed by everyone else.  "Does this have to do with
what you and Darian did last night?" Serena asked her feline mentor.
     Luna nodded.  "Exactly."
     "Start at the beginning," Leda said with a sigh.
     "Well, last night Dyvach was able to convey a precognitive dream of sorts
to Darian.  It said that he needed to pick me up and take a bunch of towels
with us to meet a few people by the lake," Luna explained.
     "Already I don't like this," Rei muttered quietly.
     Luna ignored the comment.  "We were told to expect the rest of Serena's
royal court...."
     "What?" six voices demanded in unison.
     "...And got there just as they teleported above the surface of the lake,"
Luna finished without missing a beat.  "We fished them out of the lake and now
they're at the cathedral waiting for you five to get out of school."
     There was a deathly silence for a few moments as everyone blinked hard.
"What others?" Serena said slowly.
     "Sailor Uranus, Sailor Pluto, and Sailor Neptune," Luna replied.  "They
were with us in the Moon Kingdom when the Negaverse attacked.  I was never
sure why they weren't reincarnated along with the five of you, but now they're
back again."
     The five girls exchanged glances while Artemis sat up and frowned.  "Why
am I having such a hard time remembering details about them?" he complained to
Luna.  "I remember Uranus and Neptune, but there's something about Pluto that
I can't quite pin down...."
     "Wings?" Luna prompted.
     Everyone blinked hard as Artemis surrendered to a rather protracted full-
body shiver.  "I had forgotten about that aspect of her," he muttered.
     "Back up and start over," Leda sighed.  "You lost me when you got to the
royal court part."
     "So there are three other Sailor Scouts now?" Ami asked.
     Luna nodded.  "Yes, there are.  And as soon as school is out for the day,
we're going to go meet them at the cathedral."
     "So tell us about them," Mina prompted, drawing nods from everyone else.
     "Well, what I can say is.... meow," she said suddenly as she looked up
over Serena's shoulder.
     The girls blinked in surprise at the sudden change in the cat's demeanor
and turned to see what she was looking at.  "Great," Leda muttered beneath her
breath as the redhead approached the group.
     "Hi, Molly," Serena said as her best friend drew close.
     "I was wondering where you were," Molly said, slightly out of breath.  She
blinked as she saw Luna sitting on the ground and a white cat being cuddled in
Mina's lap.  "I see you found Luna.  And who do you have there, Mina?"
     Mina smiled.  "This is my cat Artemis," she said cheerfully as she gently
scratched his ears.  "Apparently he followed me to school as well."
     "Meow," Artemis said flatly.
     "I'm not interrupting anything, am I?" Molly inquired as she looked for
a place to sit down.
     "Not really," Rei said casually as everyone discreetly exchanged glances.
"We were just trying to figure out what it is about cats that make them want
to follow you to school like dogs now and then."
     "Mrrrrow," Luna muttered dourly as Leda chuckled and picked her up.
     "Bah, she just probably wanted some loving attention," she said gleefully
as she gently stroked Luna's dark fur.
     "Hey, I pay attention to her," Serena protested.
     "Which is why she followed you to school, meatball head," Rei replied.
"She knows you're easy when it comes to pets."
     "That was wrong, Rei," Leda chuckled.  "Accurate, but wrong."
     Serena pouted.  "At least I have a cat who loves me.  What do you have,
a pair of ravens?"
     Rei frowned.  "They're not pets, they just live there and help keep the
pest population under control a lot more effectively than a cat can."
     "Meow," Luna muttered in protest.
     Molly just shook her head as Serena and Rei started in on yet another
heated argument.  She glanced over her shoulder at Ami and wasn't surprised in
the slightest to see that she had her nose buried in a science textbook.  She
looked back at Leda and Mina, both focusing their attention on the pair of cats
in their respective laps.
     "Hey, is that a crescent mark on his forehead?" Molly suddenly asked Mina
as she gestured to the white cat.
     The blonde blinked.  "Yeah, the vet said it's just an aberation with his
fur coloring," she explained, making a slight face as claws were discreetly
extended and lightly scratched across the skin of her leg.
     "Strange, Luna has the same marking," Molly observed as she studied the
black feline still being petted by Leda.
     "What about Luna?" Serena asked, suddenly distracted from her argument by
the mention of her cat.
     "We think they're related somehow," Mina explained casually.  "Hey, hey,
hey, watch the claws," she said gently as she picked Artemis up and moved him
to a more comfortable position.  "The crescent marking," she said to Serena.
     "Oh, that...." Serena said with a slight edge of nervousness.
     "Strange cat, strange owner," Rei smirked.
     "Birdbrain," Serena shot back.
     "No brain."
     "You're just jealous because Luna is cute and fun to play with, and you
have to spend your afternoons washing raven poop off the sidewalk at your
grandfather's temple."
     Rei's eyes blazed.  "Of course a blonde like you wouldn't be able to have
an appreciation of the rewards of hard work!"
     "Hey, watch it," Mina protested as she put her earphones back on and did
her best to tune out the argument.  Artemis just sighed quietly to himself and
curled up in a small ball of fur in her lap.
     "What's so rewarding about having to spend most of your time working?"
     Rei smirked.  "Satisfaction knowing that you've done something useful."
     "By becoming a walking pooper-scooper?"
     "Enough, you two," Leda sighed.
     "You stay out of this," Rei growled.  "Meatball head here still doesn't
get it.  Not every job is pleasant or easy, but that still doesn't make it any
less worthwhile to do and do right."
     The brunette raised an eyebrow and gave her a mild look.  "She'll learn
in time, Rei," she said evenly.  "You get it, I get it, Ami gets it, I don't
know if Mina gets it yet but still.... no need to argue so loudly."
     "Get what?" Mina blinked as she refocused on the present.
     "A clue," Rei said tartly.
     Mina just rolled her eyes and went back to listening to her music, idly
running her fingers through Artemis's soft fur.
     "You're one to talk," Serena grumbled.
     "I'm doing a lot better than you in class!"
     "Only because you've been leaning on Ami for study help!"
     "And you don't?!"
     "Leave me out of this," Ami sighed quietly as she tried to refocus on her
studies.
     "Did you understand what Mr. Meyers was talking about in physics lab?"
Leda quickly asked in an attempt to interrupt the argument.
     Ami sighed again and looked up at her, a classic 'You have to be kidding
me, right?' look on her features.  "Of course I understood it," she replied.
     "Of course," Rei muttered, drawing an amused look from Molly and a dark
look from Ami.
     "Hush," Leda told her, then turned back to Ami.  "Can you explain...?"
     "No," Ami said abruptly as she stood up and gathered her books together,
causing everyone to blink hard.  "I'm a bit busy trying to study, which is
very hard to accomplish with all this noise.  I'll be in the library," she
said brusquely and quickly left without another word.
     "I think we upset her," Serena said quietly.
     "I think she was already upset," Molly suggested.
     "Can you blame her?" Leda growled.  "I warned you two to knock it off."
     "Mrrrow," Luna said quietly from Leda's lap.
     Rei snorted.  "She'll be alright."
     "She's been in a bad mood all day," Molly observed carefully.
     Serena blinked.  "Why's that?"
     "Gossip," Mina said from behind closed eyelids.  "It seems everyone has
been talking about her all morning long."
     Molly and Leda exchanged glances while Serena and Rei frowned.  "Talking
about what?" Rei asked, suddenly wary.
     "Something about a boyfriend," Mina replied casually.  "I find that just
a touch hard to believe, to be honest."
     "She admitted it," Molly replied.
     Mina's eyes snapped open as she yanked the earphones out.  "She what?"
she blurted out as two sets of feline ears suddenly darted straight up.  Rei
almost fell over in shock and Serena's blue eyes suddenly doubled in size.
     Leda sighed.  "She basically admitted in front of Melvin, of all people,
that she's got a boyfriend.  One older than she is," she added with a slight
but discernable emphasis.
     "Oh, crap," Mina said quietly.  She knew about Tolaris, of course, but
still wanted to give the impression that it was fresh news to her.  "When did
this happen?"
     "Earlier today," Molly said with a slightly puzzled look on her face.  "I
thought you three knew already," she ventured as she studied the shocked looks
on their faces.  "I mean, aren't the five of you pretty close friends?"
     "Mrrrrrrr," Artemis purred quietly, his whiskers twitching.
     "It wasn't something she wanted discussed," Mina replied carefully.
     "I am going to find that little gossiping inchworm," Leda growled very
quietly as she looked around the schoolyard.  "And when I do, I am going to
make him wish he had never even heard of the word grapevine...."
     "Take it easy," Rei cautioned.
     "Meow," Luna seconded as she flicked her tail back and forth.
     Leda glanced down at the ball of black fur in her lap and sighed.  "He's
just so maddening at times," she grumped as she resumed stroking Luna.  "At
least Mina has half a clue as to what NOT to gossip about.  Usually," she added
with a glare.
     "I told you that wasn't me," Mina protested.
     "So what are we going to do?" Serena asked.
     "Why do we have to do anything?" Rei countered.  "She had to have known
that people would talk if she spoke out about having a boyfriend."
     Leda gave her an odd look.  "For someone who spends a lot of time sitting
next to small fires, you sure do have a cold streak in you.  They were talking
about it before she said anything, and she only spoke up in an effort to set
the record straight."
     Rei snorted quietly.  "Oh, please.  This is Ami we're talking about, she
always knows what she's doing as well as possible repercussions of doing it."
     "Hey, Molly?" Mina spoke up suddenly, "When did you hear about this?"
     The redhead blinked and exchanged glances with Serena before blushing a
mild shade of pink.  "I heard a rumor the other day and sort of managed to
weasel the truth out of Serena...."
     "It was an accident," Serena protested with a blush of embarrassment.
     "Way to go, meatball head," Rei sighed.
     "Oh, and I suppose you've never made a mistake, pyro?"
     "I've never blown anyone's secret about having a boyfriend."
     "At least some of us can find a boyfriend," Serena countered.
     Both Mina and Leda blinked hard.  "Foul ball, Serena," Mina replied.
     Rei gave Serena a neutral look, her face slipping into an expressionless
mask that concealed her emotions from everyone else.  "That has no bearing on
your inability to keep a secret," she said evenly.
     Serena sighed heavily.  "Yeah, so I made a mistake," she said quietly.
"Ami knew I slipped, I already apologized to her, and she knows that the rumor
was started before I told Molly."
     Rei silently got to her feet.  "Just bear in mind that friendships are
known to have been broken over less," she said quietly and left the group.
     Serena blinked hard and looked at everyone else.  "What gives?"
     "I think that comment about a boyfriend stung just a little too deeply,"
Leda muttered as she scooped up Luna and passed her over to Serena.  "We know
how you meant it, Serena, but you really need to learn to think just a little
bit more before opening your mouth.  Here, have a cat."
     "Brrrow," Luna purred in soft protest as she was dumped in Serena's lap.
     "Where are you going?" Mina inquired warily as Leda got to her feet.
     "I'm gonna go see if I can find Melvin and turn him into a pretzel before
class starts," the brunette said flatly.
     "You have five minutes," Mina replied as she glanced at her music player.
     Leda snorted in distain.  "Bah, takes longer than that just to dish out a
decent set of bruises," she muttered.  "I'll have to have a discussion with him
later.  See you after class," she said with a distracted wave and walked off.
     Serena looked down at Luna for a moment before looking up at Molly.  "You
think we should warn him?"
     The redhead just sighed and looked up at the sky.  "I don't know.  I think
Ami already scared him straight, but you never know.  Which is rather scary in
of itself," she added.
     Mina chuckled as she stuffed her music player in her backpack.  "Oh, cheer
up.  Leda is a wonderful person when she's not stressing out about something.
I don't blame her for getting a bit out of sorts with everyone talking about
Ami her behind her back.  Just give her a few days and a lot of space, she'll
go back to being her usual, only mildly aggressive self soon enough."
     "You sure about that?" Molly ventured.
     Mina paused for a moment and shrugged.  "Not really," she admitted.  "But
then again, what choice do we have?  Okay, kitty, off you go," she said as she
picked up Artemis and set him high on the trunk of the oak tree.  "I have to go
back to class now, so stay in the area and be good."
     "Meow," Artemis muttered darkly as he preened his paws.
     "Is he going to be okay out here?" Molly wondered as Mina picked up her
backpack.
     "Oh, sure," Mina replied cheerfully.  "This isn't the first time that he
followed me to school.  He'll just stick around up in the tree until it's time
to go home.  Which is probably what Luna is going to do as well," she added.
     "Mrrow," Luna said with a look of patient suffering.
     "Come on, Blondie," Mina said to Serena, "Time to get back to work."
     "Don't remind me," Serena replied as she set Luna on the tree next to
Artemis and briefly scratched both sets of ears.  "You ready, Mol?"
     Molly nodded and rose to her feet.  "As ready as I'll ever be."
     "Once more, dear Watson, unto the breech," Mina quoted with a wink and a
grin at the cats before leading her friends back towards the school.
     "Well, that was unpleasant," Luna muttered when everyone else was out of
earshot.  "One more meow and I would have had to claw somebody."
     "Tell me about it," Artemis grumbled.  "Sounds to me like Ami has a lot
on her plate to deal with right now."
     Luna sighed and started to preen her tail.  "Well, hopefully we can take
her mind off her issues tonight when we introduce them to the other Scouts."
     "That's been bugging me," the white cat replied.  "I know I should have a
lot more memories of them in the Moon Kingdom, yet I can't quite seem to get
the right pictures in my head."
     "It must be the effects of the stasis fields," she said with yet another
sigh.  "I kept shocking myself by how much I had forgotten about them."
     "You remembered after having your memory jogged, right?" he prompted.
     "Well, yes...."
     He shrugged.  "Shouldn't be too bad, then."
     Luna raised an eyebrow.  "You forgot that Lady Pluto was half-demon and
could manifest wings," she observed.  "That's not exactly a minor detail."
     Artemis shuddered again.  "That's not something I wanted to remember," he
said dourly.  "I know she's a decent person, but that she also has a bit of a
dark side to her.  The trick this evening, however, is going to get our bunch
of Sailor Scouts to remember."
     The black cat shook her head.  "That's not going to happen and you know
it," she replied sadly.  "Remember what we had to go through just to get them
to remember about the Moon Kingdom?"
     "Maybe we'll get lucky tonight?" he asked hopefully.
     Luna peered over her shoulder at the school.  "I'm not sure today is what
you would call a lucky day so far," she replied.
     "Day isn't over yet," Artemis said with a yawn.
     "You're right," Luna muttered, "There's still time for it to get worse."

                *               *               *               *

     "She's late," she said flatly as she paced back and forth in the small
chamber loaded with high-powered machinery and electronics.  The stylized red
patch on her right breast and the silver emblem on her shoulders denoted her
rank as a Brigadier of the Red Wings, the elite airborne combat division.  "She
should have sent the return signal by now."
     A massive armored figure grunted from the far corner of the room.  "Give
her time, Sor'en," he said, his rumbling voice emerging from the depths of his
helmet as a hollow but forceful echo.  "You know as well as I do that she has
a lot of work to do."
     Sor'en sighed and looked up at him, privately wondering yet again what
he looked like behind the concealing armor.  "You're not much help," she said
to him.
     General Ar'kanis laughed very softly, a low-pitched haunting noise that
raised the hair on Sor'en's arms.  "Would you have me pull her back now and
risk execution if I interrupted something crucial?" he said in bemusement.
     She sighed quietly.  "Of course not.  Freya, any signals yet?"
     The slender young woman tending to the master control console looked up
at her.  "No, there hasn't," she said softly.  "I've been monitoring all of the
communication sidebands as well."
     Sor'en ran her fingers through her snowy white hair and resumed pacing,
much to the amusement of Ar'kanis.  "This is crazy," she muttered.  "She's been
gone all morning long.  Who knows what could have happened to her?"
     "I think she can take care of herself," Ar'kanis rumbled quietly.
     "She's an army by herself, but she's not invincible," So'ren muttered.
     "Tell her that," the armored general suggested.
     So'ren rolled her ash-gray eyes.  "I've tried," she said dourly.  "She
just won't listen to me."
     "Incoming signal," Freya said softly as she powered up the main platform.
"Beam reversal commencing."
     The brigadier immediately crossed the room to lean on the cold metal rail
that surrounded the raised dais.  The floor tiles began to glow white with raw
energy as the receiver node began to emit a series of blue sparks.
     Freya manipulated the controls for a few seconds before grabbing the main
switch with both hands.  "Convergence," she reported as the switch was pulled
down into the receive position.
     A jagged line of whirling blue energy ripped through the air above the
platform before spiraling open into a glittering maelstrom of tiny energized
particles.  The pinpoints of light were drawn together and took on a humanoid
shape as the rift closed just as quickly as it had opened.  With a final snap
of blue light, the energy field faded and left behind the imposing figure of
General Nop'tera.
     The Dark General immediately fell to her knees and reached for the large
metal pail sitting on the very edge of the platform.  She yanked it over and
promptly stuck her head in, her insides heaving as she fought the reflex to
unload the contents of her stomach.
     Everyone waited in silence for the wave of transport-induced nausea to
leave her body, each having been through the process themselves at least once
before and could readily sympathize.  The visible trembling finally subsided
and the blue-skinned general was finally able to lift her head up.
     "I think I'm getting used to it," she said weakly as she stifled another
urge to heave.  "This is the first time I've been able to keep lunch down after
the transport beam reversal."
     "You had us worried," Sor'en replied.  "You took so long to signal, I
thought something had gone wrong."
     "She had you worried," Ar'kanis rumbled from the corner.  "The rest of us
had a bit more faith in her."
     "Oh, stop it, you two," Nop'tera grumbled as she set the pail back on the
edge of the platform and rose unsteadily to her feet.  Freya reached out to
provide support and the eternal vampire gratefully accepted the help.  "You
sound like lovers having a bad week.  Thank you, Freya."
     Sor'en fumed quietly while Ar'kanis chuckled.  "Sorry if I care enough
about my own mother to worry," she replied with a pout.  "We all know you're
probably not going to be welcomed with open arms.  In private, at least," she
amended.
     Nop'tera smiled at the young girl she called her daughter.  "I'm touched,
Sor'en, truly.  However, I thought you would have learned by now that I am
quite capable at getting myself out of whatever trouble that I happen to find
myself in."
     "Not everyone goes looking for it like you do, either," she replied.
     Nop'tera sighed.  "That's enough, Sor'en.  I had business to attend to in
the Imperial Castle that needed to be settled before my official arrival.  What
is the status of the fleet?"
     "The V'ral is continuing on an approach vector to the Castle," Ar'kanis
spoke up.  "The Visage has landed in the water in the north ocean and will be
changing course to an approach vector to the D'Mal seaport in two hours.  The
Veil is still airborne and is scheduled to land at the airfield near the
Southern Division Headquarters in six hours."
     Nop'tera nodded as she steadied herself under her own power.  "And what of
the subsurface groups?"
     "The Green group will be forming up behind the Visage when it goes to
make the approach," Ar'kanis replied.  "The Blue group commander still hasn't
made her decision which port to dock at in the south ocean.  She says she will
signal with a final answer by the end of the second watch."
     Nop'tera stretched carefully, trying to work out the slight joint pain
that always accompanied the use of the molecular transport beam.  Although
teleportation was hardly a new concept, virtually all of it was done with the
use of psionics and warped dimensional fields.  The device she was using was
strictly mechanical in nature, a specialized field of energy that ripped apart
solid objects down to the atomic level and sent the particle stream through
a matrix of quantum energy to self-assemble in another location.  The energy
signature was unique enough as to not be either noticed by sensors or become
affected by the anti-dimensional energy wards layered around most important
military structures.
     She watched with interest as Freya left her side and started to shut down
the transport machinery.  Nop'tera didn't often use the device for personal
use, as it had originally been designed with cargo in mind.  However, when she
deemed it necessary for her molecules be "squirted" elsewhere, she only let the
one person she trusted implicitly near the main controls to handle the complex
device.  She had seen herself what a mistake or a wrong setting could do to an
object.  Fortunately it had only been a crate of melons at the time, but the
image of the way the jumbled molecules had reassembled would forever be seared
into her eternal memory.
     Sor'en didn't fail to take note of her mother's lingering attention on
Freya.  She knew that the beautiful young woman with pale blue hair was by all
rights Nop'tera's slave, having been taken prisoner in some conflict a thousand
years ago, but that Nop'tera tended to treat her more like a trusted friend.
Or, if the quietly whispered rumors were true, a secret lover.
     "How long until we make the final approach to the Imperial Castle?" came
the voice of the Dark General, cutting through Sor'en's thoughts.
     "Twenty-six hours," the commanding officer of the V'ral replied evenly.
"We have been instructed by the Eastern Division Commander to maintain our
present course, speed, and altitude.  He also has advised us that his fleet of
drones will continue to orbit us until we cross the demarcation line and enter
the Central Division airspace."
     "How kind of him," Nop'tera said dryly.
     "We could always induce a magnetic field along the hull," Sor'en suggested
lightly.  "Make it strong enough and it'll drive those drones crazy."
     "And serve what purpose?" Ar'kanis rumbled quietly.
     "Enough," Nop'tera said flatly, her featureless yellow eyes narrowing at
her daughter and her second-in-command.  "You two can argue later, but right
now I've got work to do.  Sor'en, have you been able to access the databases I
specified?"
     Sor'en sighed quietly.  "The databases, yes, but most of the individual
files that were flagged by the search worms were heavily guarded and highly
encrypted.  Communications is working on solving that issue, but there are
still a number of files behind the security barriers that we are having a very
difficult time bypassing."
     The vampire grunted.  "Who do you have working on it?"
     "Anyone who's not scheduled to be asleep," the brigadier replied.
     "You shouldn't work them so hard, Sor'en," Nop'tera advised.  "Yes, I do
want the files, and yesterday would have been nice, but this isn't a priority
issue.  Not yet, at least," she added.
     "Yes, Mother," Sor'en replied wearily.
     Nop'tera chuckled quietly in amusement and kissed her forehead.  "You're
becoming a fine officer," she said.  "We're all still learning better and more
efficient ways of taking care of our soldiers, including myself."
     "You have a five-thousand year advantage," the armored general spoke up
from the corner in amusement.  "Commanding your soldiers in battle is easy.
Understanding them is moderately more complicated."
     "Someone ask you for dating advice again?" Sor'en muttered.
     There was a low rumble from the depths of his helmet.  "No, I was asked
if I had any advice on the best way to deflower a virgin," he said with an
obvious smile of amusement in his sepulchral voice.
     Nop'tera laughed softly at the look on Sor'en's face.  "And what was your
response?" she inquired.
     "Bring her to me and I'd show him," he replied.
     Sor'en sighed and glanced over at Freya, noticing that the slave had
finished shutting down the transport machine and was silently hovering right
behind Nop'tera's elbow, her pale violet eyes downcast.  Everything about her
is so pale, she thought as she studied the tone of Freya's skin.  I wonder if
Mother's been leeching more than just the blood from her veins....
     "Men," Nop'tera said in obvious amusement.
     "Can't live with them, can't kill them...." Sor'en muttered.
     "You'll find someone one of these centuries," Nop'tera said with a faint
twinkle in her featureless yellow eyes.
     "Find someone that you haven't interviewed or otherwise grilled before
granting them 'permission' to approach me?" her daughter grumbled.
     "She has a point," Ar'kanis mentioned.  "I know a number of young and
respectable men who would like to get to know her, but are deathly afraid of
your influence or intervention."
     "Like yourself?" Nop'tera said on pure impulse.
     Sor'en rolled her eyes while Ar'kanis laughed softly to himself.  "I am
many things, my General, most importantly your second-in-command and loyal
subordinate," he said to her.  "I respect your power, but I do not fear it."
     Nop'tera tilted her head to one side to study the figure enshrouded in
dark armor.  She knew why he always wore it, keeping himself completely hidden
from the eyes of other denizens.  She had even seen his face once, but that
one instance was more than enough for her.  She had in the past inflicted a
wide variety of pain and suffering on her enemies, but had never been able to
fully match the bitter cruelty that could result from the random evolutions of
the denizen Chaos Factor.
     "You are evading the question, Ar'kanis," she said lightly.  "Do you want
my daughter or not?"
     "Mother!" Sor'en said in sharp protest.
     There was a creaking noise as he pushed off the wall and fully stood up,
towering almost seven feet above the floor.  He stepped closer to the light,
the shadows falling away to reveal massive draconic wings that seemed to brush
the ceiling.  Attached to his belt was the scabbard of a broadsword that was
almost as large as he was, the tip almost scraping the floor as he walked.
     "It is not an issue of what I want or even what you want," he said very
slowly and evenly.  "It is what Brigadier Sor'en wants."
     "I was just curious," Nop'tera replied, noticing the venomous glare she
was getting from her daughter.  "And I do care about you, Sor'en, which is why
I make the effort to ensure you are not taken advantage of."
     Sor'en muttered something acidic beneath her breath that didn't escape the
vampire's sharp ears.  She glanced up at her mother and blinked as she suddenly
found herself on the receiving end of an icy stare.  "If there isn't anything
else, Brigadier, you may return to your post," Nop'tera said in a glacial tone.
"I want the flight deck checked and cleared before we make the final approach
tomorrow."
     Sor'en immediately straightened up at the sudden shift in her mother's
mood.  She knew she was allowed some leeway in private with her, but there
were still some lines that even she dared not cross.  "It will be done before
the end of the third watch, ma'am," she said crisply.
     "Dismissed."
     Ar'kanis watched impassively as the young officer saluted, turned sharply
on her heels, and quickly left the transport chamber.  Everyone knew that she
was an exceptionally bright young woman, having attained a very senior rank
before her four-hundredth birthday based almost entirely on merit.  The fact
that she was the daughter of the division commander only very rarely came up
in discussions about her leadership abilities, and when it did it was quickly
brushed off as being mere coincidence.  They had all seen Nop'tera treat her
just as equally and as fairly as any other officer under her command, including
the rare rebuke or punishment when required.
     "Her parents would have been proud," he rumbled softly.  The only people
who knew that Sor'en was adopted instead of Nop'tera's biological daughter were
Nop'tera, himself, and Freya.
     "You're unusually vocal today," Nop'tera replied.  "I'm almost inclined
to think that you are attracted to her."
     There was a hollow grunt from her second-in-command.  "Your daughter is
undeniably beautiful," he said slowly, the slight echo-effect from his helmet
making his tone seem cold and unfeeling.  "As is your personal minion," he
added, watching Freya glance away, "But I am not as interested as you would
have others believe.  I am satisfied with my duty and service to you as your
loyal soldier."
     Nop'tera said nothing as she turned to look at Freya, having heard his
speech several times before in various forms.  She almost felt pity for him at
times, but held back any such gestures out of respect for his wishes.  She knew
what it felt like to feel alone in the world, unable to emotionally reach out
with only transient company for entertainment.  At least, only up until Freya
became a seemingly permanent part of her life.
     "Are the troops prepared for tomorrow?" she asked evenly with a silent
sigh and gave in to an impulse to run her fingers through Freya's pale blue
hair.
     "They are looking forward to it," Ar'kanis replied without hesitation.
"They see it as a chance to prove themselves to the rest of the military, as
well as an opportunity to glorify your victory in the Hinterland Campaign."
     The Dark General shook her head.  The campaign had lasted for close to
three thousand years, a seemingly endless blur of bloody field combats, naval
battles, aerial assaults, and three different battles in the depths of space
that Nop'tera would just as soon not have to fight again.  I wonder if their
fourth moon has finished imploding, she mused idly.  That was a rather unique
and spectacular research accident on their part....
     "A glorious victory," Nop'tera said with a small trace of bitterness as
she studied the delicate network of veins visible on Freya's neck and throat.
"A victory at what cost, General?  How many thousands of denizens dead, and how
many millions of Renn inhabitants?"
     "War is horrendous," he replied quietly.  "As well it should be, so that
such a monumental event not be repeated lightly."
     She looked up sharply at the soft hissing noise, the unmistakable sound of
a metallic blade being withdrawn from its protective scabbard.  "This blade
knows the taste of blood," he said quietly as he held up his broadsword to the
light.  "It is an acquired taste that only weapons have come to savor.  Even
one such as you who relishes in the flavor of fresh blood hesitates, even if
only for a moment, to draw it forth unwillingly or without just cause.  Such is
the nature of war... to temper the brave, slake the thirst of the wicked, and
force the righteous into examining their own souls."
     Nop'tera contemplated his words in silence as she studied the well-used
weapon.  When she had given it to him as a gift upon his promotion to full
general so long ago, the blade had been the unique silvery-blue color of a rare
ore found in an extinct volcano on the Renn homeworld.  However, both time and
the ravages of war had turned the blade a deep shade of sapphire blue, almost
the same color of the mineral-rich blood that flowed in the veins of the race
known as the Renn.
     "You sound like you're questioning our purpose," she finally said to him.
     His helmet slowly shook back and forth.  "My purpose has been clear since
I pledged my loyalty to you," he rumbled, the heavy sepulchral echo seeming to
fill the room.  "It is your purpose that bothers you, and it is my job to see
that it does not."
     She raised a snow-white eyebrow at him.  "Explain."
     "You grow tired of war, yet feel you should not be," he said as he tilted
his blood-stained blade to reflect the light.  "I know you better than anyone.
Being war-weary is natural, Nop'tera, more so that you of all of us have borne
the heaviest burden through it all.  My solders and I have always looked up to
you, as we still do today.  Tomorrow we will land at the Imperial Castle, join
the rest of the NegaForce's military might, and celebrate the fruits of your
leadership skills.  We will rest then, as we have rarely rested during the war.
And once you are rested, you will get bored, anxious to return to your soldiers
and their ceaseless adoration of you.  You lead them, and they will follow.
That cycle is what sustains you, the give-and-take nature of command.  It is
what you know best, and what comforts you the most."
     Again she said nothing as she considered his words of wisdom, pondering
their varied meanings as she had done countless times before when he saw it
necessary to act as her council.  She watched as he returned the broadsword to
the scabbard on his belt and flexed his wings slowly.
     "Consider this," he said quietly.  "You have your doubts about war.  That
is good, my general, for it means that you, unlike so many others, still retain
your sense of morality and humanity."
     Nop'tera remained uncharacteristically silent as Ar'kanis turned around
and left the chamber, leaving her alone with Freya.  It wasn't the first time
that he had given her something to think about, but this time the thoughts were
far more profound than usual.
     "Tell me what's on your mind, Freya," she said to her slave.
     "He's right," Freya replied softly.  "You were born to lead men and women
into battle, and that you are sustained by their devotion and adoration."
     "And what of my... humanity?"
     The pale woman glanced away.  "I don't know what it's like to be human
anymore," she said sadly.
     Nop'tera reached out and brushed her fingertips along her face.  "You were
born a human," she reminded her gently.
     Freya finally turned to face her, pale violet eyes looking up and staring
deep into featureless yellow eyes.  "My humanity was destroyed when I was torn
kicking and screaming from my world," she whispered quietly.  "I was made a
prisoner, abused, tortured, raped, robbed of everything except my life.  Had I
the chance, I would have gladly surrendered that as well.  You came and rescued
me, gave me your gift of eternal life.  I was reborn, and whatever was left in
me that was once human died on that night."
     "Gift," the denizen vampire laughed quietly.  "Believe me when I say it
was not anticipated that you would become cursed like me."
     "It doesn't matter," the human vampire replied quietly as she took her
hand.  "I am yours, now and always.  You are my only reason for existing, and
it sustains me to know that my blood and service is what sustains you."
     "Even as a slave?" Nop'tera asked, not for the first time.
     Freya glanced away.  "I exist for you now," she said, almost too softly
to be heard.  "Nothing else matters anymore."
     Nop'tera thought quietly as she gently squeezed her hand, feeling the
warm pulse beneath her fingertips and wondering yet again what Freya truly
thought of her situation.  "If you say so," she said quietly as she pulled her
close, resting her slave's head on her shoulder and allowing herself to bask
in the quiet comfort of her presence.  She knew that if she had one fatal
weakness, it was her feelings for her human slave.
     "I have some of those reports ready that Sor'en was able to retrieve,"
Freya said quietly after a minor eternity seemed to pass.  "You might want to
read them soon as we don't have a lot of time left before your arrival."
     The general sighed quietly.  "Time has a habit of catching up to you,
doesn't it?  Very well," she said as she gently pushed away from her slave.
"I will be on the flight bridge if I'm needed," she said, her voice changing
to the even tone of command quite familiar to everyone else.  "Inform the crew
that there will be a formal command dinner this evening to discuss the plans
for tomorrow's events."
     Freya bowed her head slightly.  "Is there anything in particular you want
to see on the menu?"
     Nop'tera paused for a moment.  "See if you can find a decent vintage of
wine, preferably an Asleen or a Tei-Nul-Ral," she suggested.  "We probably have
a poor selection onboard, but I figure the Quartermaster won't care if we end
up depleting her supply tonight.  She can always restock what she wants after
tomorrow."
     "An hour after the end of the second watch?" Freya inquired.
     Nop'tera nodded.  "Yes, best to give them time to shower and all."
     "I will see to it," she promised.
     The Dark General gave her a small smile.  "You always do, Freya.  I will
be back in my quarters to change as soon as the second watch ends."
     "Everything will be waiting," Freya replied with another slight bow of
her head before she quietly left the room.
     Nop'tera paused a moment to watch her leave, admiring as always the way
her pale blue hair swayed as she walked.  Even after a thousand years of her,
I never cease to tire of her presence, she mused.  What is it about humans that
make them so fascinating?
     She shook her head to herself as she straightened her uniform with a tug
on her jacket.  Her face slipped into what some privately called her "face of
command", a seemingly stern mien that rarely failed to make others both wary
and respectful of her imposing presence.  Then with a quick brush of her hands
through her snow-white hair, she left the transport chamber and headed up to
the secondary command center on the airborne carrier's flight deck.

                *               *               *               *

     Alex and Michelle both stared at the television in awe, confusion, and
amazement.  "This is something else," Alex said to Whisper without taking her
eyes off of the screen.  The local news broadcast was just ending and a quick
blur of closing credits scrolled up.  "How long has this been around?"
     Whisper chuckled.  "I'm not entirely sure, to be honest, but I'm guessing
not for too many years.  I take it mass-media wasn't invented in your era?"
     Alex grunted quietly.  "The Moon Kingdom doesn't have anything like this,
I know that much.  Sue might have a better idea of things, however."
     "Why do they keep having these interruptions?" Michelle asked as she gave
Whisper a questioning look.  She was sitting on the far end of the couch,
leaning against Alex and absently stroking the ball of gray fur in her lap.
     "Commercials," the telepath replied as she leaned back in the chair.  "My
understanding is that the network channels sell blocks of time to companies to
advertise their products, and the revenue generated from that is how a lot of
their income is made."
     Alex made a face.  "These things are so tacky," she complained as a cheap
commercial for used cars was shown.  "Do people really have to suffer through
all this nonsense every time they want to watch something?"
     "So it seems," Whisper replied with a faint grimace.  "We have mass-media
in the Negaverse as well, but it's not even half as commercialized as this."
     The blonde shot her a dark glare at the mention of the Negaverse before
returning her attention back to the television screen.  Beside her, Michelle
shivered lightly and leaned even more on her lover for comfort.
     "These are some really stupid ads," Alex grumbled.  "Do people actually
buy crap like that?"
     "You'd be surprised," Whisper said dryly.
     Michelle blinked and straightened up as a commercial for a local mall was
shown.  "Whisper, what's a mall?" she inquired as she watched the images with
rapt attention.
     The denizen telepath blinked hard.  "Umm... what exactly did you have as
a shopping venue in the Moon Kingdom?" she said carefully, trying to get a good
idea of what they knew so as to have a fair idea of what she needed to explain.
     "We have a large bazaar, plus a few small ones when merchants from Earth
come to visit," Michelle replied.
     Whisper nodded.  "Okay.  A mall is like a bazaar, except that everything
is indoors and that each store has an assigned partition."
     "A permanent bazaar?" Alex said with a blink of confusion.  "That's odd."
     Whisper shrugged.  "Why?  Your society is now heavily industrialized on a
global scale, so it's only natural for commerce to expand at close to the same
rate.  For example, there are millions of people in this one city alone, so of
course they need a massive base of commercial support."
     Michelle and Alex looked at one another for a few moments as they sought
to comprehend the magnitude of the situation.  "What's the current planetary
population?" Michelle asked.
     "Mine or yours?" the denizen inquired.
     Michelle shot Alex a look as the blonde muttered something impolite under
her breath that involved large rats.  "Earth, please," she said calmly as she
squeezed Alex's leg.
     "On the order of six billion, give or take a few," Whisper said casually.
     "Holy crap, that's a lot of people," Alex said as her jaw sagged open.
Michelle made a soft whimper of disbelief while Myst's ears perked up in quiet
surprise.  "How'd that happen?"
     Whisper gave her a small grin.  "I think you know how it happened."
     Michelle giggled as Alex just rolled her eyes at the ceiling.  "Thank you,
Chancellor Meiou, for that very insightful explanation," the blonde said dryly.
     "Be nice," Michelle chided as she lightly smacked her leg.
     "What is the population count of your world?" Myst said, speaking up for
the first time in the better part of an hour.
     "Probably close to a billion," Whisper said after a moment of thought.
"Our planet is not as gifted with abundant natural resources as Earth is, so
we're not able to support an overly massive population."
     Alex grunted as she leaned back against the cushions.  "I was wondering
why you people invaded," she muttered darkly.  Next to her, Michelle sighed
quietly and curled up into a ball, resting her head on Alex's shoulder while
slowly running her fingertips through Myst's silky gray fur.
     Whisper said nothing as she leaned forward to reach her cup of ma'cha on
the coffee table.   she telepathed softly as she sipped on the denizen
brew.  
     "Think I give a damn?" Alex snapped.  "That battle was last week, as far
as I can tell.  Hell, I'm surprised I still don't have six different colors of
bloodstains beneath my fingernails," she growled as she reflexively looked at
her hands.  "And that's just from what managed to soak through my gloves."
     "Alex?" Michelle whimpered plaintively as she clutched her arm.
     "It might be a freakin' thousand years to you," Alex continued, "But you
haven't basically been unconscious since then.  No sense of time.  No time to
stop and mourn those good people we lost that day, friends I'll never see....
Friends and family...." she said, her words coming slower with each moment and
her tone starting to drop in pitch.
     "Alex...." Michelle whimpered again as she wrapped herself around Alex's
arm and hugged her tight.
     "They're all gone now," Alex said in a hollow tone as her gaze started to
turn vacant.  "My mother, your parents, the Queen, the Ministers, the other
Ladies and nobles.... the soldiers who were with us... all gone now...."
     Whisper couldn't find any words of comfort to say or even telepath as she
watched the tears start to well up in Alex's haunted blue eyes.  Michelle was
already sobbing quietly as she held onto her lover and the source of emotional
support in her life, both now slipping into grief and despair over the loss of
life from so long ago.
     She closed her eyes and extended her telepathic senses as far as she was
able, trying to find the faint "echo" of Susan's mind so she could tell her of
the situation.  A small frown tugged on the corners of her lips as she realized
that she wasn't anywhere in the cathedral, a less-than-comfortable realization
of her having left without warning and leaving the other two humans alone.
     She looked back up at them and sighed, knowing they needed comfort right
now.  Michelle was wracked with sobs, her tears already visibly soaking the
sleeve of Alex's shirt.  Alex's breathing was unsteady but still silent, a look
of anger and resentment on her face as she wrapped her arms around Michelle
and gently rocked her back and forth.  There were tears on her face as well,
small droplets of grief and sadness trailing down across her cheeks.
      she telepathed to them after taking a deep breath.

     "You're comparing a childhood accident to blatant genocide?" Alex spat,
her tone almost literally dripping with bitterness.
      she telepathed back, trying to suppress a shudder.  
     "Your point?"
      was the flat mental reply.  
     "You people started it!" Alex yelled, causing Michelle to whimper loudly.
"So what if it was finished with extreme prejudice?  YOU DESERVED IT!!"
     "What did I ever do to you?" Whisper said aloud.  "To hell with all that
has happened long before I was even born, what have *I* done to deserve any of
that pain and suffering?  Nothing, Alex," she said as the blonde remained
silent, her face still glistening with fallen tears.  "I do not deny in the
slightest that your kingdom and you personally have been greatly wronged by my
world, and if you decide to do something about it, I won't blame you one bit.
     "But for the sake of all that you hold dear, for all the values that you
uphold in your culture as sacred, make sure you take it out only on those few
who are truly deserving of such retribution, not the common denizen peasant who
tills his farm and only wishes to live his life in peace, not the young soldier
who only seeks to serve her society as best she can.  I know the pain in your
soul right now is great, but how can you wish to inflict that same pain upon
the genuinely innocent and still continue to call yourself righteous and just?"
     Alex stared at her for a moment before looking away, the look of anger
starting to fade from her eyes.  Michelle's sobs were tapering off, becoming
quieter with each passing moment as the words sank into her mind.
     "Whatever," the blonde muttered softly, more to herself than anyone else.
"Try that crap again and next time we'll take your whole freaking planet off
the known celestial map, your so-called innocents be damned."
     The denizen telepath thought it wise to say nothing further at that point,
letting Alex express the anger and frustrations she was experiencing.  Beside
her, Michelle had fallen silent save for the odd sniffle, her head still buried
in the crook of Alex's shoulder and clutching Myst in a death-grip.
     A faint chiming sound echoed down from the hallway and Michelle bolted
upright, her aquamarine eyes wide with something between fear and terror.  Alex
immediately reached over and clamped her hand over Michelle's mouth before she
could scream.
     "Love, don't do it," she cautioned as the chiming sound grew closer.  "I
know you don't like spiders, but I don't want my eardrums to rupture because
you're screaming four inches away from me."
     Michelle made a muffled but very high-pitched whimpering noise as Dyvach
skittered into view, holding a small box of tissues.  It paused for a moment
before very slowly walking over to Alex, holding out the box in front of it and
chiming quietly.
     "Umm.... ahh.... t-thank you," Alex said hesitantly to the weaver as she
reached out with her free hand to take the box of tissues.  Dyvach's crystal
carapace turned a bright pink color as it cooed quietly in response, waving a
leg at her before quickly skittering back down the residential hallway.
     The blonde gave the tissues a dubious look.  "That's scary," she said to
the room in general as she fished a pair of tissues out of the box and passed
it to Michelle.  "They look normal to me, hon," she said as Michelle whimpered
quietly.  "Just take a few and degunk your nose before it ends up on my shirt,
if you please."
     Michelle gave her a slightly insulted look before she grabbed a large wad
of tissues and started drying her eyes, still sniffling quietly.
     "Do you feel better?" Whisper asked gently.
     "Hell no," Alex replied as she wiped the remains of her tears away.
     "Yes, we do," Michelle said softly as she leaned back against Alex.
     "Speak for yourself," the blonde muttered.
     "You humans have got to be the strangest creatures I've ever met," Myst
said sourly as she wriggled out of Michelle's lap and jumped down to the floor.
     Alex cast an irritated glance at the kitten.  "Who asked you?"
     The Shinma ignored her as she examined the patch of wet fur on her tail.
"Why are your eyes leaking?"
     "Biology is a bitch," Alex grumped.  "You're better off asking Susan to
explain crap like tears when she gets back."
     Whisper gave her a curious look.  "Do you know where she is right now?  I
can't sense her anywhere in the cathedral."
     "Who knows," the blonde said as she rubbed Michelle's back gently.  "She
rarely tells us anything about her time-travel stunts.  She said she'd be back
in time for lunch, then blipped out like she usually does."
     Whisper glanced at the clock on the wall outside the kitchen.  "Well, it's
almost time for lunch now, so...."
     Almost as if on cue, there was a flash of temporal energy as Susan went
sprawling onto the floor.  Everyone gasped in shock as they suddenly realized
that something was gravely wrong with the succubus.
     "Sue, what the hell happened?" Alex yelled as she darted forward, the
color draining from her features at the sight of Susan's face and skin.
     "I'll recover," Susan rasped weakly as she tried to wipe the blood out of
her eyes.  Her dark red blood was oozing from her nose, eyes, and ears, and a
harsh rasp was evident in her breathing.  Her skin was severely blotched with
vicious purple bruises and her eyes were so bloodshot as to almost appear to be
a uniform red.  Her wings were hanging limply from her back, the dark surface
seemingly blistered with red splotches.
     "Bullcrap, what happened?" Alex demanded, her eyes wide and wondering if
things were truly as bad as they looked.
     "Vacuum exposure?" Whisper said quickly as she darted up from her chair,
suddenly remembering seeing someone else in that condition a long time ago.
     Susan nodded in her general direction, essentially blinded by the blood in
her eyes.  "Precisely.  I'll be able to recover," she added with a grimace.
     "Let me see what we have for that," the telepath said as she ran down the
hall to the supply closet.
     "Susan, what happened?" Michelle whimpered, horrified to see the extensive
damage to Susan's body.
     "I... went back in Time to the Kingdom," Susan rasped as she sat up.  "I
returned after the Shield collapsed and... supposedly regenerated itself, but
it seems that it was... highly unstable for a period of time and kept...
collapsing.  I got caught by surprise and... the atmosphere vented before I
could relocate.  Do... Do you have anything I could use to clean my eyes?"
     "Gimme that," Alex said to Michelle as she pointed to the forgotten box of
tissues sitting on the edge of the couch.  The box was promptly picked up and
tossed across the room to the blonde, who just as quickly put it in Susan's
hands.  "Here, a box of tissues.  Courtesy of that giant spider," she added.
     "Thank you," Susan said gratefully as she started to wipe the blood from
her eyes and nose.  She coughed several times before being able to draw in a
deep breath for a sigh.  "That was... decidedly unpleasant."
     Alex just shook her head.  "Sue, you look like you've just been beaten to
within an inch of your life," she said sadly.
     Much to her surprise, the succubus chuckled quietly.  "It just looks bad,
Alex.  The purple discoloration is caused by ruptured capillaries in the skin.
It's minor cosmetic damage that will heal itself in about an hour."
     "You're dripping blood on the floor, and you call that minor?"
     Just then, Whisper came back into the room holding a small bottle.  "Here,
this should help," she said as she held it out to Susan.
     Susan blinked several times before sighing.  "I can't really see much of
anything right now," she admitted.
     The telepath blinked hard as she knelt next to her.  "I hope you don't
have retinal damage," she said in a worried tone as she opened the bottle.
"Tilt your head back.  These eyedrops should help reduce swelling, but they
might sting a bit at first," she cautioned.
     "I probably wouldn't notice if they did," Susan replied as she complied
with Whisper's instructions.  "And I'm not worried about retinal damage, as I
should be finished healing before dinner."
     "Regeneration must be nice," Whisper said as she carefully put three drops
of the solution in each bloodstained eye.  "Low-level or high-level?"
     The succubus grunted as the drops stung worse than she had anticipated.
"Technically both, but my rate of high-level regeneration is often described as
ponderously slow by other succubi."
     Alex just sighed and sat back on her heels.  "Sue, you're a real piece of
work, you know?  You look like crap, you have purple marks the size of grapes
all over your entire body, your wings look like they've been grilled over an
open flame, you have blood dripping from your tear ducts of all places, and
here you are having a casual conversation with someone who is busy trying to
put drops in your eyes to salvage your vision."
     Susan smiled despite the pain she was in.  "I've been injured worse," she
said.  "As I said, most of this damage is purely cosmetic."
     "How are your lungs?" Whisper asked as she capped the bottle.  "I know
what even a brief exposure to a total vacuum can do to a person."
     Susan took a deep breath and winced at the tightness in her chest.  "I
think they're still functional for the most part," she replied.  "It took a few
seconds for the atmosphere to vent completely, and I think I was able to shift
away before then.  Since I can still breathe, the damage obviously isn't very
severe and will be fully healed in a few hours," she added as she wiped the
drops from her eyes with a tissue.
     Whisper just shook her head as she sat back to study Susan's wings.  "I
saw the scars last night, but I didn't know they were from wings."
     The succubus winced as she tried flexing her wings.  "I had planned to
explain it to everyone tonight after dinner had settled.  Hopefully the worst
of the bruising will have healed before then."
     Alex looked at Susan's minimal attire.  "I hope you're not going to come
to dinner dressed like that," she commented.  "Or nearly undressed, as the case
might be.  You actually comfortable wearing just a ribbon like that?"
     Susan rolled her eyes and immediately regretted it.  "Of course I plan on
changing into a more formal dress," she replied.  "I haven't had time to change
since my meeting with Lord Hades in the Underworld."
     Myst's ears perked up at the mention of the ruler of the Underworld. "You
met with Hades?" she said incredulously.  The Shinma was curled up beneath the
coffee table in a spot that was well away from edgy humans but still let her
observe everything going on around her.
     "Yes, and a rather interesting meeting it turned out to be," Susan said
as she set the box of tissues on the floor and tried to stand up.  Her joints
throbbed in agonizing protest as she slowly drew herself to her feet.
     "Hey, whoa, easy," Alex protested, grabbing Susan's arm as her balance
visibly wavered.
     "Alex, that hurts...." Susan gasped as the nerves in her arm seemed to
explode in pain.
     The blonde immediately let go and stepped close to the succubus, letting
her lean on her shoulder under her own power.  "Sorry," she apologized.
     "Are you sure you're going to be alright?" Michelle asked cautiously from
the couch, her aquamarine eyes still wide with shock and bloodshot from her
crying fit earlier.
     Susan nodded.  "I've had far better days, but I will be fine."  She paused
as she noticed Michelle's eyes and cast a glance at Alex.  "Perhaps I should be
asking you two if you are alright.  Have you been crying?"
     Alex snorted.  "Me, cry?  You have to be kidding."
     There was a soft sigh.  "Alexis Ten'ou, what happened?"
     "Oh, stuff it, Sue," the blonde growled.  "You know I hate it when you
call me that."
     "You're evading the question."
     "And?"
     Susan sighed again and turned to Michelle.  "What happened?"
     "Don't get her started again," Alex interrupted as Michelle started to
sniffle again.  She carefully pulled away from Susan and crossed the room to
sit down next to her lover, wrapping her arms around her in a comforting hug.
      Whisper
privately telepathed to Susan.  
     Susan made a noise in her throat that could have either been a grunt of
pain or a subvocal acknowledgement.  She wasn't sure she had fully come to
terms with events herself, but she had already let her own tears fall in the
privacy of her keep days ago.  She waited until Michelle had calmed back down
before she spoke up.
     "The reason I returned to the Kingdom in the past was so I could retrieve
this," she said as she pulled an ornate mirror out of her Lunar Space pocket.
     Michelle blinked hard and her face immediately lit up.  "My mirror!" she
exclaimed as she leapt to her feet, almost knocking Alex over in the process.
     "Hey, watch it, Mich!" Alex complained as she rubbed her elbow.
     "It needs some work, though," Susan cautioned as she handed over the Soul
Mirror.  The body was a bright aquamarine color, inlaid with silver filigree,
with several precious stones spaced around the circular mirror.  The sign of
Neptune was inlaid in gold on the back, partially obscured by the thick layer
of dust and dried blood coating the upper half of the mirror.
     "It's broken," Michelle said plaintively as her mood just as quickly went
back to a near-depressive state.  The normally polished surface of the mirror
was thoroughly shattered and several large pieces were missing, giving the
mirror a dark and hideous look.
     "The true power of the mirror lies within, Michelle, not merely in the
glass itself," Susan explained gently as Michelle's expression became downcast.
"Believe me, I've had to have the glass reforged countless times over the span
of seven centuries."
     "Screw the glass," Alex said with a distasteful look on her face, "You
better soak that bad boy in some serious disinfectant.  How much blood is on
that thing, anyway?"
     "Eww...." Michelle whimpered as she suddenly realized what the dark red
coloring was beneath the dirt.  A particularly dark thought occurred to her as
she gave Susan an uncertain look.  "Is this... my blood?" she asked hesitantly.
     Susan shrugged.  "I have no idea, to be honest, but if I had to take an
educated guess, I'd say that's a distinct possibility."
     "Eww...." she repeated, looking like she was ready to drop the mirror.
     "I would have taken it directly to one of the attendants of the Hellforge
in the Underworld, but I had more pressing matters on my mind at the time,"
Susan said with a shrug of apology.
     "Hellforge?" Alex asked warily.  "That doesn't sound good."
     The succubus raised a delicate green eyebrow.  "Where do you think your
Soul Saber was forged?"
     "In Hellfire?  Aww, don't tell me that...." Alex said with a faint look
of unease as Susan nodded her head.  "Hey, speaking of which...."
     Susan sighed quietly as she flexed her wings slowly.  "I'm sorry, Alex,
but I couldn't find it.  It's possible it was destroyed in the explosion."
     The blonde flopped back against the couch cushions.  "Man, that bites the
big one," she said sourly.  "I really, really liked that saber."
     "I take it you know how to use a sword?" Whisper inquired cautiously.
     "With an arm like this?" Alex replied as she rolled her right sleeve up
and flexed the muscles in her arm and shoulder.  "Trust me, I'm quite good at
turning an opponent into a fillet."
     Michelle glanced over at her and sighed quietly before returning her gaze
to the shattered mirror.  "You sure this is easy to fix?" she asked quietly.
     "Decidedly easy," Susan replied.  "I will take it to the Hellforge early
tomorrow morning to have the glass reforged, and it should be as good as new
by lunchtime."
     "Assuming they can get all the blood off first," Alex commented with a
shake of her head.  "That looks kinda messy."
     Michelle whimpered softly to herself at the thought of the mirror having
been dropped in a pool of her own blood after the fatal explosion.  Susan took
note of the expression on her face and just shook her head slowly.  I still
don't see how they could possibly have ended up together as lovers, she mused
to herself.
     There was a soft creaking noise from across the room as the door to the
staircase opened up.  Everyone turned to look as Tolaris and Maze entered the
living room, neither one wearing much more than pants.  Tolaris's body had
turned a noticeable shade of pink and he was using Maze's towel to wipe a sheen
of strange blue fluid off of his skin.
     "Cheer up," Maze was saying, "That could have gone a lot worse."
     "Yes, it could have taken off three layers of skin instead of two," the
other Dragoon shot back.
     "Hey, you're the one who took the dose of radiation, so you know the....
AY'CHA NAVIDSHI, what happened?!" Maze exclaimed suddenly as he saw Susan.
     Susan sighed and gently blew her nose.  "I had the unfortunate experience
of being suspended in a total vacuum for a brief moment," she said, making a
face at the amount of blood that ended up in the tissue.
     "Are you going to be okay?" Tolaris asked with a concerned expression.
     "Sue's a tough bitch," Alex said dryly as she him and Maze very appraising
looks.  "We think she'll be okay once she quits bleeding."
     "Thank you, Alex," Susan said with a patient sigh.
     Maze blinked hard.  "What's with the wings?  I thought humans didn't have
those...." he said cautiously.
     "I'm only half-human," Susan said with another sigh.  "The other half is
a winged species of demon known as a succubus."
     "Sounds like fun," Maze commented.  "And what are you looking at?"
     "You look like you've seen better days," Alex replied casually as she
started counting the scars she could see from halfway across the room.  "What's
with the big scar on your shoulder?"
     The purple-haired Dragoon cast a reflexive look at his shoulder.  "Which
one?  I have several.  Pales in comparison to what Tolaris has, however," he
added with a jerk of his thumb at Tolaris's exposed abdomen.
     "Leave me alone," Tolaris muttered.
     "Holy crap," Alex said as she blinked at the area of skin that had been
burned away and regenerated a long time ago.  "What happened there?"
     "A plasma strike at very close range," Tolaris replied as he moved past
the couch towards the residential wing.  "Very painful, I assure you.  Now if
you'll excuse me, I need to finish getting this anti-radiation acid off of my
skin before it eats through another layer."
     "Yeech," Alex said with a sour expression.
     A sudden idea flashed into Whisper's mind with the force of a supernova.
"One second, Commander," she said quickly as she grabbed his arm.  "Turn around
for a moment.  Here, see this scar, Alex?" she asked as she ran her fingertip
along a particular scar on Tolaris' arm.  "That was caused by crystal shards
from a fragmentation grenade.  That same grenade gave me a rather unsightly
scar on my back, left a sizable scar on Maze's leg, and nearly killed Ra'vel."
     Alex gave the telepath a slightly confused look.  "Okay, and...?"
     "We got those scars while helping to protect Sailor Moon and the others
when they were in the Negaverse awhile ago," Whisper said evenly.  She had to
suppress the urge to smile as Alex blinked hard at the concept of denizens
trying to protect the Moon Princess.  Just as I figured you would, she thought
to herself.  Now let's see if that breaks the ice a tiny bit more....
     "You were protecting the Princess?" a voice asked.  Whisper was mildly
surprised to hear Michelle's voice instead of Alex asking the expected
question for confirmation.
     "Not everyone has a grudge against Sailor Moon," Tolaris replied.  "Some
of us believe in being responsible hosts and trying to take care of our guests,
even if they are from another world.  I don't mean to be rude, but this acid
is really beginning to burn."
     Whisper shook her head as she released his arm.  "Go on, I should have
lunch ready by the time you're finished scrubbing."
     "Acid?" Susan inquired mildly as she watched Tolaris make a rapid exit.
     "Decontamination protocol," Maze explained.  "Anytime we're exposed to
radiation that registers inside the hardsuits, we're required to undergo a full
chemical scrubbing procedure.  It usually only takes off the top layer of skin,
but it's a small price to pay to avoid any possible problems down the line."
     "Ouch," Alex said with a sympathetic wince.
     "Ouch indeed," Whisper said, looking at her hand as it started to tingle
from exposure to the acid.  "I trust the reactor is working fine now?"
     Maze chuckled for a brief moment.  "You'd know if it wasn't.  Susan, are
you quite sure you're fine?  I don't mean any disrespect, but you really look
like you could use a visit from a Healer."
     Susan stretched her arms out in front of her to examine her blotched skin.
"I'm already healing," she replied patiently.  "It will just take an hour or
two for my regenerative abilities to repair all the capillaries and drain the
blood clots.  It really is not as bad as it looks," she added.
     Maze grunted quietly.  "If you say so," he muttered as he looked up and
down at Susan's minimal attire.  "I must say, I like your tailor.  I've seen
many styles of clothing designed to compliments a woman's figure before, but
that seems to be the most inventive one I've encountered in centuries."
     A soft smile tugged on Susan's lips.  "Thank you."
     "Lieutenant, go get dressed before I consider telling Mina about that,"
Whisper suggested as she walked into the kitchen and promptly rinsed her hand
off in the sink.  "We're having soup and salad for lunch, plus a selection of
sandwiches if I can find what I did with the package of deli meat."
     "Yes, ma'am," the Dragoon muttered as he cast one final glance of wonder
at Susan's wings before walking down the hallway towards the bedroom he shared
with Mina.
     Alex frowned slightly.  "What's Mina have to do with this?"
     There was a slight pause in the activity in the kitchen.  "No one told you
that Mina and Maze were dating?"
     "What?" both Alex and Michelle said in unison as their jaws sagged open.
     "I hadn't gotten around to telling them that," Susan explained.  "I had
figured it was a minor detail that could wait until everyone was here."
     Alex just sighed heavily.  "Sue, what else do you know?"
     Susan started flexing her wings slowly, trying to restore circulation to
the damaged capillaries.  "Ami and Tolaris are dating as well."
     "Wait," Alex said slowly.  "So what you're telling me is that we have two
different Sailor Scouts dating people from the Negaverse?"
     "Three, actually," Susan replied.  "It's my understanding that Leda also
has a romantic interest who isn't human, but I don't have that one entirely
sorted out yet."
     "Great, that's just freakin' great...."
     Michelle moved over to Alex and took her hand gently.  "Is that really a
bad thing?" she asked Susan quietly as she rested her head on the blonde's
shoulder.  "I mean, isn't it good that they have someone to care about?"
     The succubus shrugged, then winced as a joint in her shoulder popped.  "I
have yet to determine that, but from what I've seen it appears to be a quite
serious affair.  No pun intended," she added.
     Alex shivered.  "Now there's an image I didn't need.  Can you imagine one
of them in bed with someone from the Negaverse?"
     Whisper poked her head out of the kitchen with a small frown.  "Excuse me,
but can you please stop saying that like it's a bad thing to be from a world
other than Earth?"
     "It's not far from the truth, but I'll still consider it," Alex in a tone
laced with acid, ignoring the warning prod in the back from Michelle.
     Susan gave the blonde a rather smug smile.  "Actually, Alex, it doesn't
have to be imagined at all," she said lightly.
     There was a long pause as the meaning of her words sank into Alex's mind.
"Sue?  I really didn't need to know that," she said sourly as Michelle nodded
in agreement.  "Don't get me wrong, Ami and Mina are wonderful friends, I love
them both, but I don't need to be told about what they do with whom once the
sun sets."
     "Neither do the rest of us," Whisper muttered.  She looked up and caught
Susan's questioning look.  "Tolaris is still working on keeping a lid on his
powers when.... distracted," she explained with a faint blush.  "He's gotten
better at it, but we still tend to get an awful lot of rainfall around here."
     "Ah, I see," Susan replied as her eyebrows arched up to her hairline.
     "I don't," Alex grumbled.  "What's the rain have to do with Tolaris?"
     "Commander Tolaris can control the weather," Whisper explained as she
turned her telekinetic powers loose on various culinary items and implements.
"To make a long story short, we have frequent storms in the area."
     Alex and Michelle looked at one another for several seconds.  "I remember
you talking yesterday about denizen powers and chaos," Michelle said.  "Is that
what you meant?"
     The telepath nodded.  "Yes.  Tolaris can control the weather in addition
to a few minor things, Maze can project an energy shield and has some type of
kinetic energy dart attack, I can assume a quasi-dimensional form as well as
having psionics, and Ra'vel has both psionics and a high-energy sonic attack."
     "So everyone's powers are all different?" Michelle asked.
     "Usually," Whisper replied.  "It's called the Chaos Factor for several
reasons, one of them being because it is so unpredictable."
     "Lovely," Alex muttered.  "That explains most of the problems we ran into
during the battle.  Sue, you remember that one chick with the fire beast?"
     Susan shook her head.  "Perhaps you shouldn't dwell so much on the past,"
she suggested gently.  "I assure you that, while I have not and probably never
will forget, I have no particular desire to keep those memories fresh in my
mind."
     The blonde grunted quietly as she felt Michelle's hand wrapping around
her waist.  "Hey, Mich?  Watch where you put that thing," she said with a
gesture to the broken Soul Mirror in Michelle's other hand.  "Blood stains are
a bitch-kitty to get out of fabric, and these were just washed."
     Michelle gave her a dour look as she moved to set the mirror down on the
coffee table.  She froze in mid-motion as she heard a clattering noise followed
by the echo of chimes coming down the hall.
     "Oh, not this one again," Alex sighed as she tightly squeezed Michelle's
hand.  "Just relax, hon.  Breathe deep, chill out, he won't bother you."
     Michelle just whimpered quietly as Dyvach wandered into the living room,
chiming softly to itself.  Susan raised a questioning eyebrow at the weaver,
having dealt with it several times in the past but still not fully able to
make sense of the musical tones of the weaver language.
     Whisper frowned as she stuck her head out of the kitchen, still using her
telekinetic powers to prepare lunch.  "Yes, Dyvach, what is it?"  She blinked
hard as the oversized crystal spider made a very complicated series of chimes,
its carapace turning a dark purple color.  "You want to eat what?"
     Dyvach made a sound very much akin to hailstones falling onto a broken
xylophone as it pointed to the ruined mirror in Michelle's hand.  It continued
to chime quietly at the telepath before folding half of its many legs and did
the weaver equivalent of sitting cross-legged on the floor.
     "I don't think I like the sound of this one," Alex said warily.
     "I think it said it wants to try fixing the mirror," Whisper replied with
an uncertain look.  "That meant repair and not deconstruct, right?"
     Susan blinked as Dyvach chimed an affirmative.  "You want to repair the
mirror?" she asked slowly.
     "Whoa, wait, time out," Alex said as she felt Michelle's grip tighten.
"Someone want to run this one past me again?"
     Whisper set everything down on the counter before focusing her full span
of attention on the situation.  "Weavers have the innate ability to eat almost
any object, analyze the molecular content and structure, and reconstitute a
duplicate item from sufficient raw materials," she explained.  "Tolaris tells
me that Dyvach is better than most weavers due to its high intelligence."
     Susan gave the weaver an odd look as it made a dour chiming noise.  "I
know you are a sentient being, Dyvach, but do you really know what exactly the
Soul Mirror is?"
     "Important artifact," Whisper translated as Dyvach made very slow and
distinct chimes.  "Glass unimportant, not damage anything, clean up.  Eat
glass, analyze, reconstitute."
     Susan mentally shrugged.  "It's up to you, Michelle, it's your mirror,"
she said.  "If it doesn't work the way Dyvach had in mind, I can still take it
back to the Hellforge to have it reworked."
     "Let me get this right," Alex said slowly as Michelle whimpered again.
"You want Mich here to let a giant spider try to fix the mirror?"
     The succubus nodded.  "I don't see any harm as long as only the glass is
worked on.  And either way, it still needs cleaning."
     "Dyvach is harmless, I assure you," Whisper said consolingly as the weaver
flushed a medium blue color.
     Alex blew her breath out and looked at her lover.  "This is crazy, hon."
     Michelle gave Alex an uncertain look before turning her attention back to
Dyvach.  Her mouth opened and closed silently several times as she tried to
find something to say.  She finally settled for whimpering quietly as she held
the mirror out to the weaver, her hand visibly shaking.
     Dyvach cooed softly at her as it took the mirror in four legs and gently
brought it down to what passed for eye-level.  It examined the surface of the
mirror for several seconds before it ripped a shard of glass out and promptly
ate it.
     "Hey!" Alex exclaimed in protest at the horrid crunching sound.  "Watch
it, you're gonna leave shards everywhere!"
     Whisper shrugged and turned her attention back to making lunch.  "It told
you it had to analyze the glass first," she chided gently.  "And Dyvach is very
good about not leaving a mess behind."
     Michelle and Alex just stared at the weaver as it ripped off another shard
of glass and ate it, the crunching noise raising the hair on their arms.  It
then paused for a few moments before making a decidedly pleasant series of soft
chimes as its carapace turned a dusky rose color.
     "I give up," Alex said quietly.  "I know I've only been around for about
seventeen years and have seen only a fraction of the strangeness this universe
has to offer, but watching a giant spider eat glass has got to be on the top of
the list.  What do you think, Sue?"
     Susan tilted her head as the studied the weaver, listening more to the
musical chimes than Alex.  "I think that color would make a perfect shade of
nail polish," she said absently.
     Alex gave her a startled look before glancing back at Dyvach's crystal
carapace.  "You think of the damnedest things," she muttered.  "And the truly
scary part is, you're probably right."
     Michelle barely heard the exchange, listening with rapt attention to the
sequence of chimes.  She thought she could hear a sort of pattern to the way
the notes were arranged, something only a musician would casually be able to
notice.  "Is that music.... mathematical?" she asked hesitantly.
     "What?" Alex asked in confusion.
     Susan blinked.  "I take it you hear something unusual?" she inquired.
     "You can't hear that?" Michelle replied with a look of confusion on her
delicate features.
     "Hear what?" Alex grumbled.
     Susan said nothing as she studied the weaver, still curled up and chiming
quietly to itself.  She herself was quite skilled in music, having learned to
play the cello over the course of a century, but knew that whatever skills she
had acquired paled in comparison to Michelle's innate skill with the violin.
It was no surprise to her that Michelle would also have a superior "musician's
ear" for picking up patterns in music.
     Dyvach fell silent for a moment before chittering something at Michelle,
its carapace darkening to a purple hue.  "It's the chemical composition of the
glass in musical form," Whisper said from the kitchen as she shredded a head
of lettuce.  "I guess you could call it a form of mathematics."
     "That was beautiful," Michelle said, giving the weaver a cautious look.
"Is that a composition or a direct translation?"
     "Translation," Whisper said after Dyvach made a single multi-harmonic
chime in response.  It then launched into a brief explanation that sounded to
everyone like a set of wind-chimes caught in a really bad gale.  "I didn't
understand a word of that," Whisper said with a sigh.
     Dyvach made a flat chime of frustration that needed little translation.
It flipped the mirror over and started to clean the dirt and blood off, doing
so in a manner that wasn't immediately obvious to the others in the room.
     "Oh, for the love of Xavier Pendragon," Alex groaned after a moment of
cautious observation.  "Susan, please tell me he's not licking it off...."
     "Ewwwwwwww," Michelle whimpered as she turned around, her skin visibly
crawling with revulsion.
     Whisper wrinkled her nose in disgust.  "Must you do that?"  Dyvach replied
with an unusually happy chime and gave a lengthy reply.  "Dyvach, you really
need to learn about the concept of too much information," she sighed.
     Susan tilted her head slightly.  "That was about the quality of the blood,
wasn't it?" she asked carefully.
     The denizen blinked hard and gave her a measured look.  "Yes, that was it
exactly," she said slowly.  "Should I ask how you knew that?"
     "An educated guess," Susan said calmly.  "Besides," she added, "I would
imagine that the blood molecules contain a high degree of iron which would be
useful in certain chemical reactions."
     "Funny someone should bring up the subject of too much information," Alex
grumbled quietly as she wrapped her arms around Michelle's shuddering form.
     "There's no such thing as too much information," Maze's voice said as he
walked down the hallway, now fully dressed.  "There might be information you
really don't want to hear, but too much information is always preferable to not
enough.  Dyvach, what are you eating this time?"
     Whisper shook her head and ducked back into the kitchen.  "Trust me, Maze,
some questions are better left unanswered."
     Susan stepped to one side and tried flexing her wings again.  "Dyvach is
attempting to clean and repair Michelle's hand mirror," she explained.
     The Dragoon laughed quietly.  "Child's play for it," he said with a grin.
"You should have been here when we were building a laser array.  Now that was
a real challenge."
     "What's a laser?" Alex asked with a frown.
     "A focused beam of coherent light on a specific wavelength," Susan said
with a glance of annoyance.  "You've seen the Screen control chamber before,
Alex.  The glowing beams of light between the crystal elements were lasers."
     "Ohh, those things," the blonde said as the proverbial lightbulb lit up.
     Maze paused as he looked up and down at Susan's body.  "Is it me or are
those bruises fading already?"
     Susan looked at her arms and nodded.  "I keep telling everyone that I
would be finished healing in a few hours," she said patiently.  She flinched
along with everyone else as more crunching noises filled the air, the result of
Dyvach eating the remainder of the glass shards.
     "Hey, hey, hey!" Alex protested.  "Eat the glass, not the mirror!"
     Maze gave the oversized spider a strange look.  "I hope you're just doing
that to analyze the glass," he said guardedly.
     Dyvach chittered an affirmative and resumed chiming the oddly beautiful
musical pattern of the chemical structure of the glass.  Its carapace flushed
a dark purple hue for a moment before assuming a dusky rose coloring.  The
melody continued for several minutes before Dyvach abruptly turned a vivid pink
color and fell silent.
     Michelle made a face, more at having the music interrupted than anything.
"Is everything okay?" she asked.  She received a flatulent chime in response
and cast a startled look at Maze.  "What did he say?"
     Maze raised a purple eyebrow at the weaver.  "You want what?"  He listened
as Dyvach explained at length what exactly it needed and why.  "You lost me on
that last word, but I think I get the general idea."  Dyvach replied with a
harsh chime of denial before flushing a dark purple color once again.
     "Not so loud," Whisper complained as the weaver's crude psionic voice
intruded into her mind.  "It says that the glass is composed of several very
rare elements mixed with a highly refined grade of sand," she explained to the
group.  "I don't quite get what it wants, but I keep seeing a small hourglass
filled with sparkling sand."
     Susan blinked.  "The Sands of Time?" she asked Dyvach.  She got a rather
happy chime in response and she paused for a moment to think.  "That's a rather
exotic substance to be used for forging a reflective mirror...."
     Alex rolled her eyes at the ceiling.  "Here we go again, somebody needs a
very rare thing that you can only gather once a generation under the light of
a blue moon during a solstice or some other crap," she grumbled quietly.  "And
of course, being the eternal packrat that you are, you probably have some of
whatever it is we need stashed away either in your keep in the Border Ethereal
or in the keep you have in Hell."
     The succubus gave her an exasperated look.  "Time-sand is not as rare as
you think, Alex.  And yes, I have several small hourglasses filled with it in
my Border Ethereal keep, as it becomes volatile when in the Underworld."
     Michelle managed to almost completely muffle her giggle as Alex smirked.
"Your honor, the prosecution rests," the blonde replied.
     Susan just shook her head to herself.  "I will return shortly," she said
as she snatched at the air.  Her staff seemed to materialize out of nowhere as
it smacked solidly into the palm of her hand.
     "Hey, where did that come from?" Maze said as he blinked in surprise.
     "A long story," Susan replied as she tilted her head to look under the
coffee table.  "Myst, would you like to come with me?"
     The silky gray kitten wasted no time in leaving the relative sanctity of
the coffee table to stand next to her.  Susan cradled her arm against her hip
and Myst promptly leapt up, landing neatly in the space provided.  "Thank you,"
the Shinma said quietly.
     "Aww, we're not that bad," Alex chuckled as she reached over to scratch
Myst's ears.
     "You'd be surprised," the kitten replied flatly.
     "Be nice," Susan said gently as Alex made a face.  She looked up at the
pair of humans and readjusted her grip on her staff.  "I should only be gone
for a few minutes," she said.  "I need to change first, then I shall return
with some time-sand for Dyvach."
     Maze's eyebrows arched up as he glanced over her attire.  "Don't change
on our account," he muttered, then dodged the kick that Alex aimed at his leg.
"Hey, be careful.  You would almost think we were friends or something with a
gesture like that," he teased.
     "Whatever," the blonde muttered darkly.
     Susan smiled.  "Thank you, Lieutenant, I think you just made my day," she
said before disappearing in a flash of temporal energy.
     Maze blinked in confusion for a moment before casting a questioning look
at Alex and Michelle.  "Did that make any sense to either of you?"
     Michelle sighed quietly as she rested her head on Alex's shoulder.  "Not
at all," the blonde said with a careful shrug.  "Vintage Susan Meiou for you.
Always cryptic, never explains the important things until the last second."
     The Dragoon looked at her for a moment before shrugging as well.  "Okay,
nothing like a little mystery to keep life interesting.  That smells good," he
added as he wandered into the kitchen.
     "Go away," came the other voice from the kitchen.
     Alex just looked at Michelle, glanced down at the giant crystal spider
cooing at her feet, looked into the kitchen to observe two people from another
world casually fighting over a loaf of bread, then looked back at her lover.
"I'm not sure which bothers me worse," she said quietly as she ran her fingers
through Michelle's aquamarine hair.  "The fact that the day has been filled
with strange things, or the fact that the day is far from over and there is
still plenty of room for things to get stranger...."

                *               *               *               *

     Alex looked around the table as she and Michelle sat down to eat lunch.
"So where is everyone?" she asked Whisper.  "And what's with the bread?"
     "Maze is unlocking the arsenal vault for Dyvach so it can nibble on the
battleship armor plate we have stored in there," the telepath explained.  "It
said something about needing the extra neutrons.  Tolaris is probably still
dealing with the anti-radiation treatment, and I believe Susan is still busy
changing."
     "It shouldn't take this long," Alex grumbled quietly as she picked up a
fork and studied the bowl of salad.  "Especially seeing how she was barely
dressed to begin with.  No croutons, huh?"
     "What kind of bread is that?" Michelle asked quickly, more to interrupt
Alex's impending rant than out of curiosity.
     Whisper picked up the loaf of denizen wheat bread and began to slice it
into chunks.  "V'etu," she said.
     "Gezundheit," Alex replied.
     Whisper shot her an unamused look.  "It's a type of wheat bread from the
Southern Flatlands region.  Here, try some," she offered as she held out a
chunk of the dark brown bread.
     The blonde gave it a dubious look before accepting it.  She sniffed at it
cautiously before taking a small bite.  She chewed for a few moments before
swallowing, trying to decide if she liked the rather bland taste.  "You know,"
she said slowly, "This isn't too bad.  Recently made, which is always a bonus.
A little seasoning would go for a lot, but I bet it would make a good crouton."
     Whisper raised a questioning eyebrow as Michelle quietly rolled her eyes.
"You and croutons," she said teasingly as she reached for the soup tureen.
"Almost as bad as the Princess and sugar."
     Alex frowned at her.  "What's wrong with croutons?" she said as she began
to pile the salad mixture onto her plate.  "They taste good and add a little
crunchy texture.  Speaking of which, what kind of dressing do we have?"
     Whisper glanced at the bottles briefly.  "Italian, Catalina, and White
N'Taki Seven."
     Both Alex and Michelle paused.  "What, what, and what?" Alex said slowly.
     There was a soft grunt as Tolaris walked into the dining room wearing a
loose-fitting tank-top and sweatpants.  His skin had turned a shade of dark
pink that most people associated with a light sunburn.  "What was the question
again?" he asked as he sat down in slow-motion, the pain evident on his face.
     Alex raised an eyebrow at him.  "I asked what kind of salad dressing we
have, but I've never heard of any of them.  You alright?"
     "I've had better days," Tolaris said as he studied the selections laid out
for lunch.  "White N'Taki is a somewhat popular brand of condiment, and the
number just denotes which type.  Six and Seven are often used in salads, but
Ra'vel is rather forcefully allergic to Six so we didn't bother stocking it.
Don't ask me about the stuff that originates from Earth.  What kind of soup is
that, Michelle?"
     "Looks like chicken noodle to me," Michelle replied as she ladled some of
the soup into her bowl.  "You going to want some?" she asked Alex.
     Alex leaned over to get a better look at the soup.  "Smells good.  Let's
just hope that's chicken, though."
     Michelle paused in mid-motion and gave Whisper an uncertain look.  "This
is chicken noodle, right?"
     Whisper chuckled quietly.  "That's what the can said.  At least, that was
what was on the label before Dyvach ate it," she added.
     Alex just shook her head.  "An oversized spider with delusions of being a
chameleon that likes eating glass and metal cans.  Now I've seen it all."
     Tolaris grunted quietly in amusement.  "You should watch it eat trees.
So what is Dyvach trying to build this time?" he asked as Michelle carefully
passed the soup tureen over to him.  "Thank you."
     "He's trying to fix Michelle's mirror," Alex replied as she picked up the
bottle of Italian salad dressing and studied the label.  "At least they didn't
screw up the Roman alphabet in the past thousand years," she said to herself.
     "It," Tolaris corrected.  "Weavers don't develop a gender until a later
stage of their lives, so Dyvach is technically a neuter."
     Alex blinked.  "There's a charming thought," she muttered.  "Back to the
salad dressing...."
     Tolaris shrugged.  "Serena and Mina like the Italian, Ami and Rei prefer
Catalina, and Leda usually makes her own red wine vinaigrette that only Rei's
sense of taste is overly adverse to."
     "Huh," Alex commented as she debated between the Italian and Catalina.
"So when did Leda learn how to cook, by the way?  I mean, she's always been
good help in the kitchen when the staff let her in, but I didn't think she was
a master chef or anything."
     "You need to ask her, not me," Tolaris replied with a casual shrug as he
ladled some soup into his bowl.
     "You're a lot of help," the blonde grunted as she finally decided to go
for the Catalina and grabbed the bottle.  She shook it vigorously for a few
moments to make sure it was thoroughly mixed, then set it down to open it.  She
paused as she realized that the top of the bottle was oddly shaped with a small
indentation on the lid.  "Okay, stupid question time.  How do I open this?"
     Both Whisper and Tolaris raised an eyebrow.  "Push down on the back of the
lid to open up the spout in the front," Tolaris explained gently.
     Alex complied with the instructions and jammed her thumb down on the small
depression in the back.  The front popped up with a wet noise that sent tiny
droplets of salad dressing on a ballistic arc.  She flinched as her cheek was
flecked with small spots of Catalina and sighed heavily, giving the Dragoon a
dour look.
     "Air bubble, happens to everyone," Tolaris observed with a moderate degree
of humor.  "Just don't shake it so forcefully next time."
     Alex glared at him as she grabbed the napkin in Michelle's lap.  "I'll try
to keep that in mind," she growled, then blinked as a flash of temporal light
filled the room.
     Susan tilted her head to one side as she surveyed the room she had just
time-shifted into.  She had exchanged her minimalistic ribbon attire for a dark
green long-sleeved evening gown that gave everyone else a faint sensation of
being under-dressed.  "I hope I'm not late for lunch," she said demurely as she
leaned her staff against the wall.  She paused as she noticed the small spray
of salad dressing on Alex's cheek.  "Alex, what did you do this time?"
     Alex heard a muffled giggle next to her and decided to ignore it.  "I
should have gone with the Italian," she griped as she wiped her face with the
napkin.
     Susan raised a delicate green eyebrow and decided not to pursue the matter
any further.  She shifted Myst's weight in her arm and moved towards one of the
unoccupied chairs at the table.  She carefully set the kitten down at the far
end of the table, away from everyone else, and then put a small but very ornate
hourglass down on the table.  "I found what Dyvach wanted," she said simply as
she sat down.
     Everyone paused to stare at the hourglass.  The highly-polished ends had
been fashioned from an exotic type of wood and the slender glass seemed to be
sculpted from transparent ice.  The sand at the bottom of the device sparkled
like diamond-dust, each individual grain seeming to refract the light into a
collection of miniature rainbows.
     "That's beautiful," Whisper said quietly and heads nodded in agreement.
     "The Sands of Time," Susan explained with just a hint of pride.  "The
eternal flow of Time can never be stopped, but with a device like this and the
right knowledge, one can briefly alter its course."
     Tolaris blinked.  "So why did you bring that here?" he inquired.
     "Dyvach wanted to use the sand to reforge the glass in Michelle's mirror,"
she explained as she studied the bowl of salad.  "I am not fully sanguine about
the idea of using time-sand to make common glass, to be honest, but I plan on
having the mirror redone by a master craftsman if anything goes awry.  Did you
eat all the croutons already, Alex?"
     Alex grumbled something inarticulate to herself as she drizzled the orange
Catalina over her salad.  "No, Chancellor, I didn't eat the croutons," she said
as she set the bottle down on the table.  "There weren't any to begin with."
     "V'etu-k'er kun shi'ana," Whisper said in response to the questioning look
on Tolaris' face.  "Leda never showed me how to make them the way humans like
them, so I didn't bother this time."
     Tolaris shrugged.  "I didn't know what they were called.  Not that I like
them to begin with," he said as he picked up a spoon and started to eat his
bowl of chicken noodle soup.
     "What's a crouton?" Myst asked Susan as the succubus scooped some of the
salad mixture into her bowl.
     "A small square of toasted bread, usually seasoned with spices, commonly
used in salads," Susan replied off-handedly.  "They are a touch difficult to
make as the bread is easily burnt or over-baked if not watched carefully.  Can
someone tell me what salad dressings we have?"
     "Here we go," Alex muttered to Michelle.
     Whisper gave the blonde a partially amused look.  "Italian, Catalina, and
White N'Taki Seven."
     Susan blinked for a moment.  "I trust that is safe for humans?"
     The Dragoon nodded.  "Ami scanned it with her computer and said that the
worst that could happen is a minor case of gas cramps.  Which is pretty mild
compared to what some of your spices can do to our digestive systems," he said
with a grimace.  "Ami wasn't impressed with the taste, but she didn't report
any discomfort."
     "Interesting," Susan commented as she reached for the dark plastic bottle
with the denizen label on it.
     "Uhh, Sue is that a good idea?" Alex cautioned.  "I know you think that
you can withstand an awful lot because of your heritage, and you're probably
right, but do we really need to risk you running around with a case of gas?"
     "Alex!" Michelle admonished her best friend with an embarrased blush.
     Susan gave the blonde a reproving look.  "I assure you that I will be
quite fine," she said dryly as she opened the bottle and peered inside.  She
blinked at what she saw and gave Tolaris a questioning look.
     Tolaris chuckled quietly.  "Yes, it's supposed to be that color, even
though the brand name is White N'Taki."
     Susan sniffed the denizen salad dressing for a moment before she shrugged
and poured it in the corner of her bowl.  "The smell is definitely unusual,"
she commented.
     Alex's eyebrows nearly hit the roof.  "Electric-blue salad dressing?"
     The succubus gave her an unamused look as she speared a piece of lettuce
with her fork and dabbed it in the unusually-colored salad dressing.  Both Alex
and Michelle waited in nervous silence as Susan took a bite and chewed slowly.
"Well?" Alex prompted after several seconds.
     Susan shrugged.  "It won't become my favorite type of salad dressing, but
it is still quite interesting.  You should always try new things, Alex."
     The blonde rolled her eyes.  "Yes, mother," she said dryly as she began
to voraciously devour her own salad.
     Whisper just shook her head.  "So what is your favorite, if I may ask?"
     Alex muttered something very quietly to herself around a mouthful of
iceberg lettuce and shredded cheese.  The only person who could hear her was
Michelle, who promptly choked on her soup and immediately clamped her hands
over her mouth, her aquamarine eyes wide with shock.
     "A raspberry and walnut vinaigrette that I discovered during a visit to
seventeenth-century Baghdad," Susan replied as she gave Alex an icy look.  "I
have the recipe on file in my keep somewhere.  Are you alright, Michelle?"
     Alex smirked and gently rubbed her lover's back.  "Wrong pipe, honey?"
     "I'm fine," Michelle managed to cough out, her cheeks burning crimson.
     Tolaris picked up his wineglass and swirled the amber contents around.
"Where's Maze?" he asked before he took a sip.
     As if on cue, the stairwell door opened to admit Maze and Ra'vel into the
living room.  They were having a rather animated discussion about something in
a denizen dialect that neither Whisper nor Tolaris could easily identify.  The
matter was complicated by both Ra'vel's disjointed speech patterns and the fact
that she currently sounded almost identical to a very irritated parakeet.
     "Lieutenant!" Tolaris said sharply as the volume increased a notch.
     Both Maze and Ra'vel fell silent, giving him a curious look.  "Which one?"
Maze ventured.
     "Both of you," the Dragoon commander replied.  "I could care less what
you're arguing about, but please don't do it so loudly near the dinner table."
     Maze chuckled quietly as he and Ra'vel approached the unoccupied chairs.
"Sorry, boss," he said as Ra'vel chirped an apology.  "We were just going over
this morning's incident report from K'tal and discussing what we would have
done in the same situation."
     Everyone blinked as Tolaris' mood visibly darkened.  "Have a seat and some
soup," he suggested quietly as he sipped at his wine.
     "Afternoon, ladies," Maze said charmingly as he sat down between Susan and
Tolaris.  Ra'vel took the empty seat between Tolaris and Whisper, not noticing
the unsettled look from Michelle directly across her.
     "That's stretching the term," Alex muttered.
     Susan sighed quietly.  "In one sense, you're absolutely right," she said
dryly.  "In another sense, however, he is quite accurate."
     Michelle finished wiping her mouth with a napkin and gave Susan an odd
look.  "What do you mean?"
     "V'etu?" Whisper offered as a chunk of the bread was telekinetically
lifted into the air and migrated over to Maze's plate.
     "M'sen," Maze replied.
     "Both you and Alex are Ladies of your respective houses," Susan said.
     Tolaris frowned as the color drained out of Alex's face.  "That doesn't
sound like it's a bad thing," he said slowly.
     "It's a painful reminder that our mothers are dead," Alex said flatly as
Michelle slid her hand into Alex's, gently intertwining their fingers.
     Susan sighed quietly.  "It has to do with the social structure of the Moon
Kingdom," she explained to the denizens.  "Upon the death of her mother or the
birth of her daughter, which ever comes first, a Sailor Scout is granted the
title of nobility of her House.  For instance, I became Lady Pluto at the age
of nineteen when my mother died, and Amelia became Lady Mercury when she gave
birth to Ami."
     Alex sighed heavily.  "Yeah, yeah, so technically I'm Lady Uranus now,"
she growled.  "Doesn't mean you have to remind us."
     Susan shrugged as she reached for her glass of wine.  "You're still part
of the nobility, even if you don't act like it or care to hear it said."
     "Stuff it, Sue."
     "What incident report were you talking about?" Whisper asked in an attempt
to break the dark turn of the conversation.
     Ra'vel made a flat squawk and Maze just shook his head.  "Another fun trap
of somebody's," he sighed.  "We're guessing Rune, but it could also have been
your friend Al'vexi or Si'ren."
     Whisper scowled at the Dragoon.  "Al'vexi isn't that type of woman."
     "I beg to differ," Tolaris said politely.  "I've seen her set a few....
shall we say, less-than-pleasant bureaucratic snares for people before."
     The telepath sighed heavily as she stabbed a cherry tomato with her fork,
almost causing it to explode.  "Politics," she sighed.  "Should I ask what went
on this time?"
     Tolaris shrugged casually as he continued to swirl the wine in his glass.
"Test-firing of the particle-wave cannon in the Headquarters Complex, came this
close to cratering Nop'tera's carrier.  K'tal aborted the firing sequence at
the last moment, and Internal Review is still screaming like it was a case of
p'tahk'enn k'shen-tal."
     Maze choked on a mouthful of wine and nearly spewed it everywhere.  "Was
it really necessary to phrase it like that?" he gasped as he accepted a napkin
from Whisper.
     "Really, Commander," Whisper chided the Dragoon, "You of all people should
have better manners than that.  At the dinner table, in front of ladies?"
     Alex cast a sidelong glance at Susan.  "So what'd he say?"
     "Nothing I'm going to repeat," Whisper replied dryly.
     The blonde crossed her arms.  "Well, that's no fun."
     "Leave it alone, Alex," Susan sighed heavily.
     "Spoilsport."
     Maze shook his head.  "You remind me of Leda."
     "Yeah, she's a trip, alright," Alex replied with a smirk.  "Trust me, we
get along quite well.  Umm, you going to be alright with that?" she asked as
she noticed Ra'vel filling up her bowl with chicken noodle soup.
      Ra'vel telepathed back.
     Alex swallowed hard.  "It's not the noodles I was referring to."
     "Alex," Susan chided her.
     The blonde spread her hands helplessly.  "Hey, I'm just saying that it's
somewhat unusual to see a giant bird eating chicken soup, that's all."
     Susan just sighed up at the ceiling as Michelle's expression took on a
pained look.  "Alex, is it asking too much for you to be on your best behavior
whenever you are at a dinner table, or to at least make some attempt at a
modicum of diplomacy?" she said in a weary tone.
     "You really want me to answer that one, Sue?"
     "Rhetorical question, I assure you."
     Maze leaned back in his chair with a faint smirk, the gesture not passing
unnoticed by Tolaris.  "Lieutenant," he said quietly as he set his wineglass
down on the table with a muted thump.
     "Sir," Maze replied with sudden wariness.
     "I heard that thought from here," Tolaris said evenly.
     Whisper raised an eyebrow.  "Not bad for a psi-mute," she commented.
     "You people are strange," Myst spoke up from her corner of the table.
     Alex chuckled.  "Great, now the cat is busting on us," she teased.
     "So much for decorum," Susan muttered to herself as she picked up her
wineglass and idly toyed with it.
     Maze chuckled.  "What's wrong with having a casual atmosphere between
friends?" he observed cheerfully.
     "Speak for yourself," Alex muttered.
     Susan sighed quietly.  "That will be enough, Alex."
     Whisper shrugged.  "You should see how some nights go when everyone is
here," she said.  "It can get pretty interesting at times.  No, not like that,"
she amended as Susan put her head in her hands.  "They are wonderful people to
know, and I'm rather glad we met them.  They are just.... young and full of the
exuberance of youth."
     Maze looked up at the ceiling.  "I wonder if they got the pizza stains off
the ceiling yet?" he mused.
     Both Alex and Michelle reflexively glanced up at the spot he was looking
at.  "I don't see anything," Alex frowned.  "And what's pizza?"
     "No need to worry, Susan," Tolaris said gently as there was a very heavy
sigh from the end of the table.  "They are well-behaved for the most part, I
assure you."
     Michelle blinked as there was a muffled grunt from beneath the mass of
dark green hair.  "Susan, are you alright?"
     "I'm fine," Susan said quietly.  "I'm just putting off my plans to have
children for another century or two, that's all."  She lifted her head up to
level an icy glare at Alex as the blonde's laughter filled the room.
     Whisper shrugged.  "Nothing wrong with waiting until you're ready."
     "Or keeping in practice until then," Maze added with a wicked grin.
     "Oh boy, let's not go there," Alex snickered, drawing yet another heavy
sigh from Susan.
     "Indeed, as it is wise not to discuss a complicated topic of significance
in which you have no personal knowledge of that could be construed as being of
remote usefulness or pertinence," Susan said in an edged tone as she drained
her glass of wine.
     "So back to the incident report," Whisper said quickly as Alex gave the
succubus an unamused look that bordered on being openly hostile.
     Tolaris rubbed the bridge of his nose.  "I haven't had the chance to talk
to K'tal about it, as he's a bit busy at the moment.  He had Ael'ien with him
at the time as a neutral observer, and I'm told she was just as disturbed about
the whole incident as he was."
     The telepath frowned.  "They must really be hurting for people if Ael has
been put in command of the Psi-Corp," she sighed.  "Don't get me wrong, she's
definitely a good person, but she could use a bit more seasoning as a senior
executive officer before moving up to a divisional post."
     "Problem on the home front?" Alex inquired as she munched on the remains
of her Catalina-doused salad.
     "I'm sure the day-to-day events of your Kingdom were at times just as much
of a concern to the common citizens as they were to the throne," Tolaris said
neutrally.  "The incident report is bothersome, but nothing to lose much sleep
over as such situations are not all that uncommon in the military."
     Alex snorted.  "If you want to talk about concerns of the throne, you're
in the right company.  Sue over there practically ran things."
     Susan rolled her eyes at the ceiling.  "Your persistent failure to grasp
the mechanics of running a small and geographically isolated kingdom continues
to amaze me, Alex, even though I've explained it seven different ways to you.
I never ran the Kingdom, only ensured that the daily functions and duties were
coordinated and executed while minimizing the level of disruption and potential
confusion."
     "The Queen gives the orders and she cracks the whip," Alex explained.
     Susan's knuckles went white as she unconsciously tightened her grip on her
salad fork.  "That is not the case, Alex, nor has it ever been.  I am the
Queen's Chancellor, it is my duty to take the burden of daily minutiae off of
the throne so that the Queen may focus on the truly important decision of the
Kingdom, and even then she is made aware of what sort of decisions are being
made in her name should she desire to have them changed to suit her needs."
     The denizens exchanged glances before leaning back in their respective
chairs.  "Now there's an interesting concept," Maze mused aloud.  "A Queen's
personal aide, if you will.  Of course, you'd have to pick someone you utterly
trust, which is asking quite a bit in our world, but still...."
     Tolaris snorted.  "Nothing new about it, Maze.  We've had them in the
military since the start.  They're called executive officers."
     Maze blinked for a moment.  "Huh, never thought of it like that."
     There was a leery pause from the elder Dragoon.  "And how did you think
of it as?" he finally asked.
     Maze smirked as he leaned back, his tan eyes twinkling with amusement.
"A gopher comes to mind," he said.  "You know.... go for this, go for that, oh
by the way, can you draw up that quarterly budget analysis the Queen wants
before dinner tonight?"
     Tolaris sighed.  "I only asked you to do that once because both myself and
Shar-Tei were literally up to our knees in liquid adhesive after that holding
tank in the Lex'eri storage facility ruptured and we couldn't go anywhere
because we were quite literally stuck in our tracks."
     Alex blinked.  "That must have been fun," she commented.
     "What, his situation or mine?" Maze replied.  "To be perfectly honest,
after doing that report, which was done with about six full minutes to spare,
I would have preferred to have spent the day stuck to the floor as well.  You
never did tell me how they managed to get you two out of that," he added.
     Tolaris grunted softly.  "They waited until the adhesive solidified, then
put a liquid polymer lubricant down our pants to help us get out of them."
     There was a sharp chirp of laughter from Ra'vel and Maze looked to be
visibly biting his tongue.  "So you ended up leaving your pants behind?" Maze
somehow managed to say with a straight face.
     "It was not a shining moment for personal dignity," Tolaris replied with
a sigh.  "Shar-Tei's sense of humor throughout the whole incident could have
used a little work as well, but at least the rescue crews had the presence of
mind to have a few blankets available."
     "Show some respect, Alex," Susan sighed as the blonde erupted into peals
of laughter.  Next to her, Michelle was suffering from a mild attack of the
giggles as well, but at least she kept the volume down to a tolerable level.
"Or should I tell them about the beach incident last year?" she added.
     "Oh, do tell," Maze said languidly as Alex's laughter died down.
     "Please," Alex said as she rolled her eyes.  "Okay, so I wasn't watching
the ocean waves while walking along the beach and a rogue wave ended up taking
most of my swimsuit out with the tide.  You happy now?"
     Susan gave her a small smile.  "No, and neither was the Queen, but I can
assure you that the Prince and his squire were."
     "Yeah, whatever," Alex grumbled.  "Like you have any room to talk about
being out of uniform or otherwise undressed at various intervals."
     Maze chuckled quietly.  "Ladies, please.  Unless you plan on doing a few
re-enactments for us, kindly don't tease us with such stories," he said with a
lecherous grin.
     "Lieutenant Maze, shame on you," Whisper sighed.
     "Indeed," Tolaris added with a disapproving glare.
     Alex smirked.  "Don't ask Sue, she just might show you."
     Michelle blushed and poked her in the shoulder.  "Alex!" she admonished.
     "Alexis Ten'ou, that is enough," Susan said with a heavy sigh of her own.
     "Hey, can I ask a personal question?" Maze asked as he leaned forward to
pick up his glass of wine.
     "Depending," Alex said warily.
     "Your name is Alexis, but you prefer to go by Alex, right?"
     Alex raised an eyebrow.  "Damn straight, and don't let me hear you call
me Alexis or I'm going to shorten your name with my saber.  Clear?"
     The Dragoon just chuckled.  "I was just wondering, that's all.  Believe
me, it is a very serious point of protocol in our society to call someone by
what they want to be called.  To do so otherwise is a grievous insult at best,
and an invitation to a duel at worst."
     "May I ask you a question about denizen names?" Susan asked as Alex leaned
back in her chair and rubbed Michelle's arm.
     Maze smirked.  "About our naming conventions?"
     "Exactly."
     "Tag, Tolaris, you're it," Maze said with a chuckle as he refilled his
wineglass.
     Tolaris shot a bemused look towards his friend.  "When a denizen enters
military service, it is viewed as the first step in a new life.  We are given
the choice of assuming a new name and identity, sort of symbolically leaving
our past behind.  The choice of the name is a personal one, of course, but it
often reflects a hidden meaning to the individual.  Not everyone chooses to do
so, but those who do are accorded every respect as if their chosen name was
their birth-name.  And before you ask, it is considered an epitome of rudeness
to ask anyone about their birth-name or their previous life."
     Alex blinked.  "So I'm guessing you weren't born with the name Maze?"
     Maze stretched and ran his hands through his spiky purple hair.  "Fairly
reasonable assumption, but does it really matter?" he said languidly.
     "That makes some sense now," Michelle quietly spoke up.
     "Indeed," Susan said with a slow nod of her head.  "Thank you for helping
clarify that matter for me."
     "There's a denizen saying," Maze replied, "What's in a name?"
     "That's an Earth saying," Alex interjected.
     Whisper sighed.  "Not this argument again...."
     Susan tilted her head to one side.  "How was it resolved earlier?"
     "Simple issue, really," Tolaris said with a shrug.  "It's our saying for
the simple fact that our culture and society has been around for a far greater
time than yours has."
     Michelle and Alex exchanged glances.  "He might have a point," Michelle
said softly as she squeezed Alex's hand.
     "Bah, don't matter to me," Alex said with a wave of her free hand.  She
paused for a moment and looked around the room.  "Hey, anyone hear something?"
     Everyone held perfectly still for a few moments, straining their ears
before they could detect a series of faint scratching sounds.  "I think it's
coming from over there," Michelle said as she pointed to the stairwell door.
     Tolaris rose from the table and crossed the room to the door.  He listened
at the door for a moment before opening it, stepping back in surprise at the
sight of Dyvach in the stairwell.  "You okay?"
     The weaver's carapace was literally glowing with a neon green color as it
very slowly crawled along the floor, unable to lift its abdomen completely off
the floor.  It moved in eerie silence, slowly making its way in the general
direction of the fireplace.
     "Dyvach, what's wrong?" Tolaris asked with concern.
     A pale purple color infused itself into the neon green glow as Dyvach
tried to reach out with its rudimentary telepathic mind to contact Whisper.
"I think its got gas," Whisper said after a moment.  "Something about a very
heavy elemental reaction.  All I can make out is that it wants a box of matches
and a wide clearance around it."
     Alex chuckled quietly.  "If I ate soup cans, I'd probably have gas too."
     "Eww," Michelle whimpered at the mental image.
     "Great," Tolaris muttered.  "Can you talk?"
     Whisper frowned as the psionic voice intruded in her mind again.  "I think
it's doing all it can to hold it in.  The image I keep seeing is it igniting a
match and venting into the fireplace."
     Tolaris sighed.  "Take it outside, Dyvach."
     Dyvach tapped a leg against the floor repeatedly as it continued to make
its way to the fireplace, still glowing.  "I think that might be a bad idea,
Commander," Whisper said with a frown.  "I keep seeing some sort of molecular
structure in my mind, but I don't know what it is."
     Maze sighed and stood up.  "Might as well make sure the flue is open," he
muttered as he moved over to the fireplace.
     "It should still be open, unless Rei closed it last night," Tolaris said
as he kept a very wary eye on the weaver's sluggish movements.
     Susan frowned.  "Is this going to pose a hazard to us?"
     "Probably not," Maze said as he got the package of matches off of the
mantle and set it on the ground where Dyvach could reach them.  "I would think
that Dyvach is smart enough to figure out what kind of chemicals it can burn
off safely in a fireplace and which ones to take outside.  Still," he added as
he opened a hidden panel and extracted a denizen-model fire extinguisher, "It
wouldn't hurt to keep this available."
     "That better be AC-44," Whisper warned from the table.
     Maze tossed an insulted glance over his shoulder.  "Like I'd use AC-73 in
an open environment," he said evenly.  He watched as Dyvach finally reached the
fireplace and grabbed the pack of matches.  "Okay, people, let's hope this is
just going to be a form of entertainment."
     "Fire in the hole," Alex chuckled as the weaver lit a match and aimed it
at the center of the fireplace.  Her eyes went wide as a truly thunderous belch
echoed in the room, immediately followed by an arc of green flame.  "Hot damn,
and I thought Susan's idea of spicy chili gave you some wicked gas...."
     "I beg your pardon," Susan said before another arc of fire crossed the
distance between Dyvach's mouth and the back wall of the fireplace.  There was
a very disgruntled chime from the weaver as it took a deep breath, lit another
match, and braced its many legs.
     "Holy crap!" Alex breathed in awe as Dyvach began a sustained venting of
the highly volatile gas, essentially turning itself into a crystalline flame-
thrower that bathed the back wall of the fireplace in emerald fire.
     "Yeah, venting something like that outside might have been unwise," Maze
said casually as he took a few steps back from the fireplace.  "What do you
think, boss, hydrogen-deuterium gas?"
     "I'd have said tritium mixed with something else," Tolaris replied as he
watched the green glow.  "Something highly reactive when exposed to oxygen."
     Ra'vel chirped a suggestion and Maze made a face.  "Chlorine?"
     Tolaris shook his head.  "We'd be dead right now if that was chlorine gas
being vented."
     The stream of flame pulsed twice before sputtering out, leaving a faint
green cloud of smoke rising up from the back wall of the fireplace.  Dyvach
immediately climbed into the fireplace and stuck as much of its body up the
flue as it could fit.  Tolaris was about to ask what the problem was when the
muffled sound of a very powerful belch being released inside a small pipe
echoed throughout the room.
     "Now THAT was a belch," Alex said in amused satisfaction as Dyvach slowly
crawled out of the fireplace, chiming a lengthy apology to everyone.  "Let's
hear it for the spider.... OW, hey!" she protested as Michelle smacked her in
the back of the head.  "C'mon, Mich, you have to admit that was impressive."
     "That was disgusting," Michelle said sourly.
     Susan sighed heavily.  "Not everybody revels in juvenile humor as you do,
Alex.  Are you alright, Dyvach?"
     Dyvach made a sour chiming noise as its carapace slowly took on a dark
blue hue.  It made a slight coughing noise and a wisp of smoke curled up from
its mouth before it slowly started flexing each leg.
     "We don't need to know how that tasted," Tolaris said with a sigh and a
barely-repressed shiver.  "What was that, by the way?"  He blinked as Dyvach
immediately turned a deep shade of crimson and began to chitter at an unusually
rapid pace.  "Like I understood any of that," he grumbled.
     Maze chuckled.  "Oh, come on, Commander, couldn't you tell that was the
chemical formula for the six by-products of a chain reaction involving heavy
isotopes of hydrogen and certain metallic alloys?"
     Everyone stopped and stared at him as Dyvach made a complex chime of
confusion.  "Okay, okay, so I made that up," he said with a grin.
     "Ptanka," Whisper muttered beneath her breath as she rolled her eyes.
     Ra'vel made a flat squawking noise as she picked a cherry tomato out of
the salad bowl and threw it at him.  The tomato flew on a ballistic arc before
it encountered a strong electromagnetic field around him and bounced off in a
random direction.
     "Hey, watch it," Alex yelped as she ducked to avoid the stray vegetable.
     "Shields are useful toys," Maze said with a grin at Ra'vel.
     "Shield this," Whisper muttered as she focused her psionic powers.
     "Ow, hey, get out of my skull, ow, ay'cha navidshi, ow, that hurts...."
     Tolaris and Susan exchanged identical looks of patient suffering as Ra'vel
chirped with smug satisfaction while Alex winced in sympathy.  "Angels and
ministers of grace, defend us," Tolaris quoted with a sigh.
     "William Shakespeare," Susan replied promptly.  "Hamlet, Act One, Scene
Four.  Ami's influence, I presume?"
     Tolaris shrugged.  "She says she prefers a more classical flavor to the
books she chooses to read for entertainment rather than to the... how did she
phrase it?... 'Dry, uncultured, and uneducated tripe of so many contemporary
authors and so-called poets.'"
     Susan wrinkled her nose.  "That's a bit harsh.  Granted you won't find a
contemporary Shakespeare in this era, but there are still some very fine poets
and authors to be found."
     They both looked down as Dyvach skittered over to them, chittering softly
in its native language.  It made a complex multi-harmonic chime as it pointed
to the ornate hourglass sitting on the edge of the table next to Myst.
     "Go away," Myst said as her fur began to spike at the sudden attention.
     "I think it wants the hourglass," Susan said reassuringly to the kitten.
She turned her attention back to Dyvach and studied it carefully.  "Are you
sure about using time-sand for this?"
     "Especially after that reaction," Tolaris added.  He waited while Dyvach
slowly explained what had happened in as simplistic terms as possible.  "Well,
what did you expect?  You said you wanted the extra neutrons."
     The weaver made a dour chiming noise to itself as it flushed a creamy
shade of brown.  It reached beneath its carapace and brought out Michelle's
mirror, the polished frame looking decidedly cleaner than before.  The frame
was completely devoid of glass, which gave the appearance of having a gaping
hole in the center.
     Susan shrugged.  "Very well, just be very careful with the sand," she
cautioned as she picked up the hourglass and started to loosen the nearly
invisible fastenings on the end of the device.  She paused when Dyvach started
to chime at her, waving a pair of legs back and forth.  "What is it?"
     "It says it can just cut a small hole in the glass at the base, drain the
sand, and patch the hole," Tolaris translated slowly.  "It says that you won't
be able to tell that the glass had been breached or patched."
     "If that's convenient for you," Susan said with another shrug and handed
the hourglass to the crystal spider.  It manipulated it with its legs for a
moment to find the best position, then brought the device to what passed for
its lips.
     "That's scary," Alex observed as she craned her neck to observe the rate
at which the glittering time-sand disappeared from the base of the hourglass.
     "Not too fast, Dyvach," Tolaris cautioned.  "Don't need you to choke or
get a case of the hiccups."
     Michelle blinked as Dyvach's carapace suddenly changed colors, taking on
the exact same refractive properties as the time-sand.  "Ooh, that's pretty,"
she cooed as the spider seemed to sparkle in the light.
     "A pretty spider?" Alex teased her.  "Never thought I'd hear you saying
something like that."  Michelle's expression changed slightly as she was
reminded of Dyvach's nature, but she didn't take her aquamarine eyes off of the
glittering weaver carapace.
     There was a brief motion from Dyvach's mouth before it held up the empty
hourglass to Susan.  The succubus carefully took it from the weaver and held
it up to the light.  "You're right, you can't tell it was punctured," she said
with faint admiration to Tolaris.  "Thank you, Dyvach."
     Dyvach chimed back at her before turning a dusky rose color and began to
hum to itself, analyzing the molecular structure of the sand.  The almost
hypnotic humming continued for several minutes before it fell silent and set
the mirror down on the ground.  It then promptly curled up into a smooth,
featureless ball in the middle of the floor.
     "Well?" Alex prompted as everyone exchanged glances.
     "How fast can you rework molecular structures?" Tolaris inquired.  "I'd
give it five minutes to digest and reassemble the various components."
     "So now what?"
     Susan shook her head.  "So now the rest of us can finish lunch in relative
peace and quiet," she said lightly as she sat back down and resumed eating her
salad.
     "That wasn't funny, Captain," Maze grumbled as he rested his head in his
hands.  "You do realize how much that hurts, right?"
     Whisper snorted.  "One thing you need to learn about life, Maze.  Don't
try to talk to telepaths about headaches anymore than you'd try to talk to
avians about flying.  It'll fade in a few minutes."
     "How common is telepathy?" Michelle asked as Alex munched on one of the
remaining chunks of v'etu.
     "Telepathy or psionics?" Whisper replied.  "Psionics are fairly common.
I think the ratio is somewhere on the order of one denizen in seven developing
some form of mental skills from the Chaos Factor.  Telepathy is one of the most
wide-spread forms of psionics, but a noticeable percentage of psionicists lack
viable telepathic skills.  For example, telepathy is actually my strongest psi
power, but Ra'vel's telepathic senses aren't nearly as developed."
     Susan tilted her head to one side.  "Is there some sort of rating system
for that, by any chance?"
     "Actually, there is," Whisper said with a nod.  "Your average non-psionic
denizen like Maze is rated a one.  I think my psi score was seventeen at my
last examination, and I believe Ra'vel was rated a twelve.  Tolaris, on the
other hand, is a flat zero because he's totally psi-mute."
     Maze chuckled.  "I'm technically a one-point-two, as my motion tracking
power counts as an enhanced sensory function in the clairsentience portion of
the exam, but on the telepathic section I'm a straight one-point-zero."
     The telepath gave him a mischievous grin.  "Care to put that point-two
up against another psi-spike?" she teased.
     "I'd rather be brain-dead like Tolaris in that case," Maze muttered.
     "Excuse me, Lieutenant," Tolaris said dryly as Michelle giggled.
     Ra'vel chirped something in amusement and Whisper smiled.  "Well, to be
honest, you don't register on a telepathic scan for mental function, so...."
     The Dragoon just shook his head before draining his wineglass.  "Just try
to keep in mind that being invulnerable to psionic attack has its uses," he
said with a wry grin.  "Telepaths can't spike you, for one."
     "Or try to blow your brains out your ear canal," Maze suggested.  "You
remember that one incident in the Outreaches, right, Tolaris?"
     "Thank you, Lieutenant."
     "Eww...." Michelle said with a sour look.
     Whisper shot Maze an unamused look.  "Depends on how you try that.  A
strictly telepathic attack won't work, but if you use a focused psychokinetic
attack, that's a whole different issue as that works directly on physical
matter instead of mental function."
     Alex frowned, a look of mild confusion on her face.  "Meaning...?"
     "Meaning there's more than one way to give a psi-mute a headache," Tolaris
said dryly as he wiped his mouth with a napkin.
     The telepath paused for a moment to give him a measured look.  "Anything
you want to share with the rest of us?" she inquired.
     Tolaris sighed.  "I almost had my retinas burnt out once by a warrior with
a talent for inducing hypnosis with colored sparks of light.  I could hear the
suggestion being planted in my mind, but the visual lure was about as bright as
a magnesium flare and I think the pain was what kept me focused.  The headache
lasted for three days, and it's nothing I want to experience again."
     Whisper paused for a moment before she leaned back in her chair, fixing
Tolaris with a piercing gaze and a look of serious contemplation on her face.
"I'm missing something," she said, mostly to herself.  "There's a thought out
there, a very important detail, I know it's there, but I'm missing it...."
     Both Susan and Michelle promptly looked at Alex, who blinked at the sudden
focus of attention.  "What?" she said around a mouthful of v'etu.
     "We had the suspicion that you were about to make an unwelcome comment,
that's all," Susan said lightly with a hint of a smile.
     The blonde just rolled her eyes.  "You rip me for speaking my mind, then
give me funny looks when I hold my tongue," she griped.  "Make up your mind."
     "Silence is golden," the succubus replied casually.
     "Except when it's from your left turbine," Maze muttered.
     "Problem?" Tolaris inquired.
     "Nah, just a minor technical glitch last time I was onboard an aerial
cruiser," the lieutenant replied darkly.  "The gravity shield on our turbine
went whack-a-ding-hoy on us, to borrow Mina's phrase, and we ended up landing
ptanka-first in the middle of nowhere in a valley up north."
     "Now there's an interesting turn of phrase," Alex commented.
     "When was this?" Tolaris asked with a frown.
     "When Shar-Tei was in charge," Maze replied as he closed his eyes to try
to remember the details.  "If memory serves, it was me, Asrial, Chief D'Nina,
and Little Q doing a quick cargo-run to the D'Mal seaport for something obscure
that wasn't stocked at Lex'eri.  We got there just fine, but the return trip
was the kinker."
     "Little Q?" Alex asked.
     "Quartermaster V'Lan," Maze explained.  "He's about six feet tall, which
is considered imposing for an avian.  His older sister Thorn is also a Dragoon,
and everyone calls her Big Q despite her being shorter than Ra'vel."
     Ra'vel chirped in mild amusement and Tolaris raised an eyebrow.  "I can
understand why V'Lan was along, but why D'Nina?"
     The purple-haired Dragoon snickered.  "What, you think anyone in their
right mind would let Asrial drive a scout cruiser?  D'Nina was the pilot for
that trip.  Which probably explains why we were able to casually walk away from
a decidedly hard landing with only minor bruises on our backsides and a dire
need for a new coat of paint on the underside of the cruiser."
     Susan tilted her head slightly to one side as Tolaris grunted in faint
amusement.  "Can I ask how that little adventure was resolved?"
     Maze smirked.  "Funny you should mention that," he said with a grin. "We
had the amazing luck to land near a repair facility called Sector Seven.  They
mostly worked on surface vehicles, but they managed to scrounge up a compatible
type of gravity shield that we could use.  Friendly bunch, too...."
     Tolaris sighed quietly.  "I can tell by your tone that you don't mean they
were friendly in the conventional sense," he said guardedly.
     "Well..." Maze replied as he leaned back in the chair and put his arms
behind his head.  "Let's just say that this one mechanic named Mint was quite
glad to see someone like me.  Dark green hair, probably two shades lighter than
Susan's hair, with a natural skin-color to match, but she had this amazing
ability to change the color of her skin.  Like Dyvach, really, but she could
also become nearly invisible.  Quite amusing...."
     Both Whisper and Ra'vel rolled their eyes in unison, and Tolaris just
shook his head.  "Thank you, Lieutenant, we get the picture," he said dourly.
     "I keep telling people it's the hair color," Alex muttered, drawing an
unamused look from Susan and an embarrassed blush from Michelle.  A very odd
liquid sound filled the air, causing everyone to blink in surprise and turn
around in unison to look.
     Dyvach was leaning over the mirror and was pouring some sort of silvery
liquid in the gap where the glass used to be.  A faint gurgle erupted from its
mouth as another stream of liquid was expelled, adding to the strange pool of
shiny metallic liquid.
     "You know, I don't think I needed to see that," Alex said as she wrinkled
her nose in disgust.  Michelle just whimpered quietly as the weaver continued
to make strange horking sounds.
     "What did you expect?" Susan said as she studied the process with rapt
interest.  "I'm curious, Dyvach.... will that harden on its own or will you
need to use a catalyst to make that solidify?"
     The response from the weaver was to inhale deeply and light a match.  The
resulting burst of flammable gas that it vented was sufficiently hot enough to
boil the metallic liquid, the heat turning the air around it into a shimmering
curtain.  The flame persisted for a few more seconds before it vanished and
the residual heat allowed to dissipate.
     "Is that a good enough answer for you, Sue?" Alex said as she cringed
from the wave of heat that drifted over to the table.  She darted upright as
an icy blast of wind blew across the table, raising goose bumps on her arms.
"Holy crap, that was cold!  What happened?" she said with a shiver.
     Everyone suddenly turned to look at Tolaris as he lowered his hand.  "That
was just a bit on the warm side, Dyvach," he chided the weaver.
     Alex gave the Dragoon a piercing look.  "What was that?" she demanded.
     Whisper cleared her throat quietly.  "I told you that he can control the
weather," she said gently.  "That includes decidedly icy breezes."
     "Would you prefer I let the heat get close enough to boil the wine?"
     "Not at all, Commander, I was just stating a simple fact."
     Alex just shook her head.  "I just love this place, always full of new
and fun surprises.  Oh, hell.... Dyvach, what are you doing now?"
     Dyvach made a slightly irritated chime at her as it started to coat the
tips of its legs with a slightly coarse lubricant.  Tolaris nodded and turned
to Alex.  "Dyvach said that the glass has inherent imperfections from the
reforging process and it will have to grind the glass to a reflective polish."
     "As is the case with all industrially-produced glass," Susan added.  "I'm
quite surprised the process only took this long to complete.  Usually it takes
a master craftsman several hours from start to finish."
     "Huh," Alex said noncommittally as a muted grinding noise filled the air.
"So I take it Dyvach is really handy to have around?"
     All four of the denizens nodded.  "You have no idea," Maze replied.  "If
it wasn't for Dyvach's help, we would probably have been in some very serious
trouble during the time the Sailor Scouts were in the Negaverse with Tolaris."
     Susan raised an eyebrow.  "How long is the full story?" she inquired.
     Alex smirked.  "You'll have to forgive her," she said lightly.  "Since she
doesn't sleep like the rest of us, she has a lot of time on her hands and does
odd things to keep herself amused.  Like paint a portrait of something at three
in the morning or collect stories to tell to other people during after-dinner
gatherings."
     There was a slight pause from everyone else.  "And that's a bad thing to
do because...?" Maze prompted.
     "Never mind," the blonde said with a sigh.
     "Probably several hours from start to finish," Tolaris told Susan.  "It
most likely would take an entire evening to relate it all."
     "Especially if you have everyone adding their individual points of view,"
Whisper added.
     Susan smiled gently.  "I have the time to listen if you have the desire to
talk about it," she offered.
     Whisper rubbed the bridge of her nose as she gave up on her current train
of thought and shoved it onto a back burner.  "Speaking loosely of which, I
remember your little recording gem from awhile ago, and I know you are a bit of
a time-traveler.  Are you a historian, by chance?"
     "Chronologist," Susan corrected.  "History is the study of the past, but
what I study and observe happens throughout time.  Past, present, and future."
     "Which of course she can't reveal to us for fear of contaminating the
events of the future," Alex muttered darkly.
     Tolaris shrugged.  "That makes a bit of sense.  I'm not sure how you avoid
temporal paradoxes when you time-travel, but that's probably a bit above my
capability for understanding."
     "Not at all, Commander," Susan said with a tilt of her head.  "I'm sure I
can sit down and explain it to you one night in such a way that a man of your
level of intelligence can reasonably comprehend."
     There was a slightly awkward pause as Tolaris tried to determine if that
was a subtle insult or not.  "We'll see," he said neutrally.
     Dyvach finished polishing the mirror and held it up to the light with a
triumphant chime.  It checked the reflection from several angles before it
cooed with satisfaction and skittered over to the table, holding out the newly
repaired mirror to Michelle.
     "Ooo, thank you!" she said, her eyes wide with delight.  She seemed to be
momentarily oblivious to the fact that a giant spider was six inches away from
her as she accepted the Soul Mirror.
     "Not bad for a spider," Alex said as she peered over Michelle's shoulder
to look at the reflective surface.
     "Alex, be nice," Susan chided her before turning to the weaver.  "Thank
you for your help, Dyvach," she said, drawing a happy chime in response.
     Michelle closed her eyes and concentrated for a moment, trying to focus
the powers of the mirror.  The glass surface seemed to ripple slightly in the
light, as if it were a pool of still water stirred by a breeze.  "It feels
normal to me," she said with a joyful grin as she opened her eyes.
     Susan nodded.  "We'll have to test it later, of course, but for the moment
it seems that all is as it should be."
     "So what does it do?" Maze asked as he leaned forward on his elbows.
     Michelle cast a slightly uncertain look at Susan, taking a deep breath
when she got a nod in return.  "My Soul Mirror is capable of reflecting almost
any sort of focused energy," she said cautiously.  "It can also show a person's
true nature to someone if you look hard enough."
     "That could be useful," Maze commented as Ra'vel chirped in agreement.
     "Hmm...." Alex said as she looked at Myst.  "Hey, kitty, c'mere for a
moment, I want to see something."
     Susan blinked.  "Actually, Alex, that would probably be a bad idea."
     "Huh?" the blonde blinked in confusion.  "What do you mean?"
     "This isn't Myst's true form," Susan explained as she brushed her fingers
across Myst's silky gray fur.
     "I know that," Alex said as she blew her breath out through her nostrils.
"That's why I want to see what she looks like in the mirror."
     Susan just shook her head.  "And that's the bad part.  You remember what
you saw when you were drying her off after we pulled her out of the lake?"
     Eyebrows were raised around the table as Alex chewed on her lower lip.
"I really wasn't sure what I saw," she finally said after a moment of silence.
     Myst flicked her ears back.  "I'm told that my natural form is terrifying
to humans," she said as her tail lashed back and forth.
     Blue eyes met pale red eyes for a moment before Alex finally blinked and
glanced away from the Shinma.  "Okay, we'll skip this one, then," she muttered.
     Whisper continued to study the ornate mirror.  "You said it could deflect
focused energy attacks, right?" she asked Michelle.
     "It should, if it was repaired right," she replied hesitantly.
     Whisper thought for another few seconds.  "And you said you would have it
reforged elsewhere if Dyvach didn't do the repair correctly, right?"
     "Most assuredly," Susan said in a dry tone.
     "Do you think it can deflect a psi-spike focused on physical matter?"
     Michelle blinked.  "What do you mean?"
     Whisper pointed at her wineglass.  "I can use a telekinetic shockwave, as
it were, to shatter this glass using psi-energy instead of agitating the air or
the physical structure of the glass.  I was wondering if you would be able to
deflect something like that, or if that would crack the mirror's glass."
     Alex shot her an odd look.  "She just had it replaced, and you want to see
if you can break it?" she said slowly.
     The telepath shrugged.  "Susan said it needed testing, and I just thought
it would be a simple and easy thing to do, that's all."
     Susan and Michelle exchanged glances for several seconds before Susan gave
her a slow nod.  "If I understand her correctly, it should indeed be quite able
to reflect such an energy burst," Susan said slowly.  "And if not, or if the
mirror fails, I can still have it taken to the Hellforge in the morning.  It's
up to you, Michelle."
     "This should be fun," Alex muttered to herself.
     Michelle blinked and gave Whisper a very uncertain look.  "How strong is
this test going to be?" she ventured.
     "Strong enough to crack a wineglass, but not strong enough to shatter it,"
Whisper replied.  "At least, it shouldn't shatter it," she added.
     Maze smirked.  "Time to see if your mirror is all that it's cracked up to
be?" he suggested, drawing groans from everyone else.
     Whisper gave him a partially amused look.  "I should spike you again just
for that one," she said languidly.
     Tolaris shook his head.  "I think you've injured my lieutenant enough for
one day, Captain.  Save it for something truly deserving.  And no, you can't
spike him either," he added as Ra'vel gave him a wicked chirp.
     "Can I at least aim for his wineglass?" Whisper muttered.
     The Dragoon commander chuckled.  "Sure, but you get to clean up any mess
it makes," he cautioned her.
     Michelle gave Alex an uncertain look as she gripped her mirror tightly,
the surface momentarily rippling again in the light.  The blonde leaned over
and kissed her cheek.  "I say give it a shot, love.  Worst that can happen is
we need a dustpan for the fragments and Sue fixes it tomorrow."
     "Okay," Michelle said nervously as she adjusted her grip on the mirror and
held it up facing Whisper, angling the mirror so that any reflection would be
in Maze's general direction.
     "Put your shield up, Maze, just in case I have bad aim," Whisper said as
she steepled her fingertips and concentrated.  An infinitesimal disturbance was
created in the air in front of her and darted forward, leaving a very slight
visual wake in its path.  There was a slight pinging noise as the disturbance
bounced off of the surface of the mirror, causing it to ripple like a pool of
water after a stone had been thrown in.  The spark of psi-energy continued on
a new course until it impacted in the center of Maze's wineglass, causing a
small crack to form with a soft snap.
     "Bull's-eye!" Alex cheered as everyone looked at the cracked wineglass.
     "Thank you," Maze said dryly as the barrier around him faded away.
     "You could always let Dyvach repair it," Whisper suggested lightly.
     "Thank you, Captain, I don't know what I would do without you."
     "Probably be relatively headache-free," Alex muttered as she rubbed her
temples at the memory of her own experience with a psi-spike.
     Whisper chuckled quietly.  "I don't spike him that often."
     "Once is enough," Maze muttered.
     Ra'vel clicked her beak several times before chittering a question.  There
was a brief pause from the other denizens before they all glanced at the clock
hanging on the wall outside the kitchen.  "Yeah, you're right," Maze replied.
     Alex blinked and glanced over her shoulder.  "What's up?"
     "Almost time for the others to get out of school," Tolaris said.
     The blonde blinked and exchanged glances with Susan and Alex.  "Okay, so
things are going to get even more interesting soon.  Don't give me that look,
Chancellor, you know I'm not going to create a riot or anything."
     "It's not you I'm worried about," Susan said quietly.  "Perhaps you and
Michelle should go take a shower and get dressed in something a bit more
formal.  This is the Crown Princess of the Moon we're meeting, and since she
doesn't remember anything about us, this would be an excellent opportunity to
make a respectable first impression."
     "Far too late," Maze muttered with a smirk, drawing a look from Tolaris.
     Alex chuckled quietly.  "You're no prize yourself, you know."
     The denizen smiled and leaned back in his chair.  "So what's the problem?
At least we have a very hospitable understanding, right?  Nobody's perfect."
     Alex paused for a moment to consider that.  "I suppose you're right," she
said slowly.  "Still doesn't mean I'd trust you any farther than I can throw
you," she said without any rancor.
     "Alex!" Susan said sharply.
     "I don't know," Whisper said casually, "Maze is such a lightweight, and
I've seen your sword arm.  You might actually be able to toss him for a rather
respectable distance."
     "Hey!" Maze protested as Ra'vel erupted into a cackle of laughter.
     "Anytime, anyplace," Alex said as she flexed her muscles.
     Both Tolaris and Susan put their heads in their hands at the same moment,
each unaware of what the other was doing.  "Kids, play nice," the Dragoon said
with a heavy sigh.
     Michelle gently took Alex's arm.  "Come on," she said softly.
     "Yeah, yeah, whatever," the blonde grumbled as she was led away.
     Both Whisper and Ra'vel stood up from the table.  "Guess what, Maze?"
     Maze just sighed.  "Yeah, yeah," he said, unconsciously mimicking Alex.
"I get to clean the table, right?"
     "Good boy, Lieutenant, the Dragoons have trained you well."
     "Thank you, ma'am, we live to serve," he replied dryly.
     Tolaris and Susan lifted their heads up to trade looks.  "Cue the cat,"
Susan said almost inaudibly.
     "You people are strange," Myst said as she preened her whiskers, totally
unaware of what Susan just said.
     Tolaris smiled at the succubus.  "I like your style."
     "Thank you.  I think that, all tensions aside, we might actually be able
to become decent friends."
     "Was there really that much doubt?"
     "You'd be surprised, Commander."
     "That bad, hmm?"
     "Picture your own world destroyed by an alien species, then see just how
easy it is for you to put the recent past behind you," she suggested.
     "It's only recent from your perspective."
     "If I'm to make friends, isn't that what really counts?"
     "A valid point," he conceded.
     "At least you seem reasonable, that's a good sign."
     "Thank you.... I think."
     Susan chuckled quietly.  "Cheer up, Commander, I think things are going
to turn out reasonably well tonight."
     Tolaris shrugged.  "Let's hope so, I think we've both had enough headaches
for one day, and we're just on the proverbial sidelines."
     She smiled as she held up her nearly empty wineglass.  "Here's to that."

                *               *               *               *

     Mina looked around her as the school began to empty, the students making
a casual rush for their respective buses.  "So how are we going to do this?"
she asked quietly.
     Leda shrugged. "We walk," she said simply.  "It's not that far away, and
that gives us plenty of time for Luna and Artemis to fill us in on the details
they couldn't mention earlier.  HEY PYRO, OVER HERE!!"
     Mina winced at the sudden change in volume.  "Not so loud, I think she
could have heard that through a closed door in the second floor bathroom at
the other end of the school," she protested.
     "Just making sure Rei heard me, that's all," the brunette replied.
     Rei fought her way through the exodus of students, a dark scowl marring
her otherwise exotic beauty.  "Was that really necessary?" she growled as she
drew close enough for normal conversation.  "I was looking for you anyway."
     Mina just sighed.  "Have you seen Serena or Ami?"
     "Right behind you," said a soft voice, causing everyone to jump.
     Leda cast an irritated glance over her shoulder.  "You really need to
start making more noise when you sneak up behind people," she growled.
     Ami sighed softly.  "It's not my fault you weren't paying attention.  Does
anyone know where...?" she started to ask before an inky black shape dropped
out of the tree in front of her.
     "Meow," Luna said in a bored tone.
     "Timing is everything," Mina said with a slight giggle.
     Ami shrugged as she knelt down to scoop up the cat.  "I suppose so," she
said quietly.
     Rei raised an eyebrow.  "Problem, Ami?  You don't sound too happy."
     "It's nothing," Ami replied, still using a soft tone.
     Everyone exchanged glances before Mina cleared her throat quietly.  "You
sure about that, Ami?  We can't do much to help if we don't know what's on your
mind," she ventured.
     "It's nothing," Ami repeated as she slowly stroked Luna's dark fur.
     Leda continued to frown as Rei shrugged.  "If you insist," the priestess
said as she looked around.  "So where'd Serena run off to now?  I don't see her
anywhere around here."
     Mina put her face in her hands with a theatrical groan.  "Man, I hope she
didn't do something stupid and end up in detention again.  Today is not a good
day for that...."
     Leda snorted.  "Is there ever a good day for detention?"
     "Well, Tuesdays are kind of boring.... rarely any sales at the mall, not
much happening on television, no real special events going on...."
     Rei rolled her eyes.  "Thank you, Ann Landers," she muttered.
     "Yesterday, by the way, was a great day for mall-shopping, you should have
seen the on-sale display at the shoe store...."
     Leda cast a dangerous look over her shoulder.  "Enough, Blondie."
     Mina blinked and held up her hands in a gesture of surrender.  "Okay, I
get the idea.  Keep the dogs of war on the leash, willya?"
     "Should keep you on a leash," the brunette muttered to herself.
     Mina smirked.  "Nah, that'd be way too kinky, even by Rei's standards."
     "Excuse me!"
     "Enough," Ami said with a soft sigh.  "Serena should be here in a few
moments.  She stayed behind in class with Molly and Melvin to ask one of their
teachers a few questions about a history assignment."
     Rei just shook her head.  "Now there's a first."
     "Can it, Rei," Leda said in an edged tone.  "Where's Artemis?"
     "Brrrrrrow," Luna replied as she arched her tail up at the tree.
     Mina immediately looked skyward and frowned.  "I think he's asleep.  Hey,
Artemis, wake up!" she yelled.
     Rei rolled her eyes.  "Are you kidding?  He sleeps like Serena."
     Leda cast an irritated glance at Luna as she sneezed.  "Guess we'll just
have to do this the hard way.  Move," she growled at Ami as she made her way
over to the oak tree.
     Both Rei and Mina raised eyebrows as Ami stepped back to observe Leda's
actions.  The brunette stood next to the tree and turned sideways so her right
side was facing the trunk.  She reached out and positioned herself so that her
fingertips were barely touching the bark, then slowly lowered her hand to her
side.  Four sets of eyes widened in shock as Leda took a breath and suddenly
uncoiled with the force of a steel spring into a backwards half-circle kick,
spinning around on her right foot and lashing out with her left heel.
     The entire tree shuddered violently and rocked back and forth from the
blow.  Dozens of leaves went flying into the air as the white cat was woken up
and unceremoniously dislodged from his supposedly stable perch.  There was a
strangled cry of shock as he fell like a lead weight, only to be spared from a
painful encounter with the ground by Mina's quick reflexes.
     "Oooof!" he grunted as he landed in her arms.
     "Good afternoon, sunshine," Mina said in an overly-cheerful tone.
     "Meow," Luna muttered to herself.
     Artemis coughed up a tiny feather and glared at Leda.  "Was that...." he
started to say before Mina clamped her hand over his mouth.
     "Uh uh uh, no ventriloquism on school grounds," Mina said casually, her
blue eyes twinkling with amusement as he made a disgruntled meow of protest.
     Rei just shook her head as she watched the top of the tree continue to
gently sway back and forth.  "Remind me not to let you do any more kick-boxing
during training," she muttered, more to herself than to Leda.
     "C'mon, kicks like that have their uses," Mina said lightly.  "You just
gotta have a little flexibility, that's all," she said as she balanced on one
leg and raised the other up until it was parallel to the ground.  She blinked
when Rei blushed unexpectedly and glanced away.  "What?" she asked as she began
a slow pirouette on her toes.
     Leda smirked.  "Girls wearing dark skirts and white panties shouldn't be
trying to perform ballet in public."
     Mina immediately brought her leg back down, her cheeks burning pink with
embarrassment.  "Sorry...." she mumbled as she pressed her finger against
Artemis' mouth, keeping him effectively silenced.
     "Especially when they have cutesy floral prints on them," Rei muttered.
     "Problem with that, or are you just being judgmental?"
     "You're the one who displayed them for all to see."
     "Accidents happen, but that's not an invite for social commentary."
     "Funny, you talk about what other people wear all the time...."
     "And you don't?  OW, hey, that hurt!" Mina gasped as Artemis clawed her.
     Leda sighed and scowled at her.  "I think you were suffocating him," she
said in an edged tone.  "Either that, or he was telling you to SHUT UP."
     The blonde blinked hard and frowned lightly.  "What's your problem?"
     "Stop it, all of you," Ami said suddenly, causing heads to turn.  She was
sitting on the ground with her back against the tree, curled up in a ball and
running her fingertips through Luna's dark fur in obvious agitation.  Everyone
else exchanged glances, knowing that Ami was deeply disturbed about something
that she didn't want to talk about.
     Mina blinked and peered past Leda as she saw a familiar figure running
towards them, her unique and unmistakable hairstyle trailing behind her.  "It's
about time," she grumbled.
     "SorryI'mlatebutIhadtotalktotheteacheraboutanassignment," Serena blurted
out as she got close enough to be heard, gasping for breath.
     Leda blinked.  "Slow down before you blow a fuse."
     "Too late," Rei muttered to herself, drawing an icy look from Leda.
     "Look, I'm not in a happy mood, okay?" Leda growled.  "Ami's not in a
happy mood either, and everyone else seems to be having a less-than-pleasant
day as well, so can we possibly skip the comments from the peanut gallery and
get on with business?"
     Mina and Rei exchanged glances as Ami seemed to withdraw further into her
shell, trying to ignore the outside world as much as possible.  Serena blinked
hard as she studied the expressions on their faces, suddenly realizing there
was a high degree of tension among her circle of friends.  "Is anything wrong?"
she ventured.  "You guys look worried about something."
     "Just one of those days," Mina sighed as she ran her free hand through
her waist-length blond hair.  "I guess you could say we're all a touch edgy
about meeting these new Sailor Scouts."
     "Probably," Rei admitted with a sigh.
     Leda knew Rei was being unusually temperamental for another reason, but
decided it was best not to bring it up.  "Anyway," she said neutrally.  "The
coast is clear, so you two cats can spill the beans now."
     Artemis sighed quietly.  "There's not a whole lot to tell you," he said.
"Luna and I spent the afternoon trying to jog one another's memories, and I
kept finding so many gaps it wasn't even remotely funny."
     Mina tickled the back of his ear lightly.  "Well, some information is
better than none," she suggested.  "So how about telling us what you do know?"
     "Walk as you talk," Leda said as she moved past Mina, tugging on the edge
of Rei's sleeve as she passed the priestess.  "We can discuss this on the way
up there."
     Mina and Rei exchanged concerned glances before they fell into step beside
the brunette.  Serena started to follow them, then paused when she realized
that Ami was still curled up beneath the tree.  "Ami, you coming?" she asked.
     Ami stood up without making a sound and wordlessly started following the
group.  Luna gave Serena a saddened look but decided to remain tucked away in
Ami's arms for the moment, still unsure of what was bothering the blue-haired
girl so badly.
     "Sailor Uranus I remember rather vividly," Artemis was saying as Serena
and Ami caught up with the group.  "Her name is Alex.  Blonde like Mina and
about as temperamental as Leda."
     "Stow it, kitty," the brunette grumped.
     Artemis snorted.  "I'm not being facetious, I'm simply trying to give you
an accurate idea of what she's like.  You and her should get along quite well.
This is where my memory fails me, but I keep having this mental image of a
barbarian.  I mean in an historical sense, not in terms of her manners," he
added.  "Although those too could use a bit of work...."
     Rei raised an eyebrow.  "So you're saying she's barbaric?"
     Luna spoke up from her cradle in Ami's arms.  "Actually, we believe her
grandfather was a Viking and that some of their more headstrong genes ended up
being passed down the bloodline."
     Artemis did the feline equivalent of a shrug.  "Well, she is a blue-eyed
blonde, and that wicked skill with a sword is just icing on the cake."
     "Hey!" both Serena and Mina protested in unison.
     Leda just rolled her eyes.  "Stuff it, Mina, we all know that you're a
blonde because of your English grandmother, and your manners show it."
     "Umm.... thank you?" Mina said as she tried to figure out her meaning.
     "Next," Rei said in a tired tone.
     "Sailor Neptune," Luna said.  "Her name is Michelle.  She's rather shy
and quiet, not the bravest of souls, but she has a strength of character that
isn't easily found elsewhere."
     Leda altered her course briefly to avoid a utility pole in the middle of
the sidewalk.  "Sounds like a cross between Serena and Ami," she mused.  "It
sounds like a good idea to have a Viking next to you when it comes down to
crunch time, but what about her potential?"
     The white cat sighed quietly.  "Best suited to a support role, but she's
quite good at it.  She should get along quite well with Ami."
     "Are you sure you're alright?" Luna asked softly from her vantage point.
     "I'm fine," Ami said in a hollow tone.
     Serena blinked and studied the expression on Ami's face.  "Ami, are you
sure about that?  You looked really bummed out about something."
     Leda stopped in her tracks, resulting in her elbow being accidentally
jabbed into a soft but prominent portion of Rei's anatomy.  "Hey, watch it!"
the priestess protested as she backed up and rubbed her chest.
     The brunette ignored her and turned her attention to Serena.  "Just leave
her alone, Serena," she said flatly.  "If she wants to talk, she will, and if
she says she's fine, what do we know otherwise?"
     Serena blinked hard and visibly backed off.  "I was just worried, that's
all...." she whimpered as she glanced over at her best friend.  Ami's eyes
remained downcast and focused solely on the sidewalk, holding onto Luna in an
almost suffocating embrace.
     "Keep talking, furball," Leda said as she resumed walking, the others
following in step behind her.  She glanced over her shoulder in irritation as
both Artemis and Luna remained silent.  "I said keep talking."
     "Sailor Pluto," Artemis said, his voice lowering a notch and his tail
lashing back and forth like a whip.  "Lady Susan Meiou, the Queen's Chancellor.
She is...."
     Luna sighed softly.  "Go ahead, just spit it out," she muttered as her
ears flicked back against her head.
     Rei stopped, making quite sure that no one would plow into her has she
did so.  "Why do I suddenly have a creepy feeling about this?" she said with
a suspicious look on her face.
     Mina sighed as she stopped as well.  "We're waiting," she said as she
gently poked the white cat with a fingertip.
     He took a deep breath and closed his eyes.  "Susan is a half-demon hybrid
who is several hundred years old," he said evenly.
     The only sound that could be heard for several seconds was the generic
background noise found in any major city.  "That's funny," Leda finally said.
     Luna shook her head slowly.  "He's not kidding," she said quietly.  "Lady
Pluto is only half-human.  Her father was a demon from the Underworld."
     "A demon," Rei echoed softly, her face locked in an expressionless mask
that was quite familiar to those who knew her well.  "From Hell."
     "Okay, back up," Leda growled as she leaned against another utility pole.
"Run this past me one more time.  We have a Sailor Scout by the name of Pluto
who just dropped in.  That I understand.  Now you're trying to tell me that
she is an ancient demon?"
     "I don't know about the ancient part," Luna said slowly, "But yes, she has
demonic blood in her veins and can assume a winged form when it suits her to.
She has also served the Moon Kingdom for several hundred years, and if memory
serves, was one of Queen Serenity's best friends and her most trusted advisor."
     "Is she eternal?" Ami asked almost inaudibly, still staring at the ground
and shivering lightly.  Serena blinked hard and put her hand on her shoulder,
frowning lightly as Ami flinched and shied away from the contact.
     Artemis sighed quietly.  "As far as we can remember, yes.  Keep in mind
that we've forgotten so much since the Silver Millennium."
     "What kind of demon?" Mina asked as calmly as possible, trying not to let
the icy hand that was clawing at her heart get the best of her.
     "A succubus," Luna explained.
     "Wonderful," Mina sighed quietly and buried her face in her hands.  "Of
all the possible demons to pick, it has to be a succubus.  This just keeps
getting better and better."
     "I don't understand...." Serena confessed, her eyes wide with concern.
     "Don't worry," Rei said with eerie calmness, her emotions still securely
hidden by her stony expression.  "We can handle a demon."
     Leda's scowl deepened by three degrees.  "I don't think I like the way
you said that," she said in a dark tone.  "Want to tell us what you mean?"
     The priestess ignored her.  "It should come as no surprise to anyone that
demons exist after all," she said in an even tone, betraying no trace of what
she was feeling inside.  "It is bothersome to learn that a fruitful union took
place between a human and a demon, more so to discover that it involved one of
the Sailor Scouts of a previous generation, but the concept of mixed blood is
not a new experience to us."
     Leda raised an eyebrow.  "Keep going, we're with you so far."
     "Look at Serena," Rei said simply.  Serena blinked hard as everyone except
Ami reflexively looked in her direction.  "She is a half-human hybrid as well,"
the priestess continued.  "Granted she is half-denizen instead of half-demon,
but she has turned out remarkably well as a Sailor Scout.  I know she has her
faults.... as do we all.... but I will also be the first to admit her strengths
generally outweigh her weaknesses.  It would be best if we reserved judgment
until we actually meet this Sailor Pluto and get to know her better."
     Luna nodded.  "Rather well put, Rei.  Mina, I sense this upsets you more
than anyone," she said as she studied the sudden lines that had appeared on
the blonde's forehead.
     Mina sighed and cuddled Artemis.  "Put it like this.... I used to think
all those stories my grandmother used to tell me about demons and vampires and
the like were just that.... stories, ancient lore.  Now I'm suddenly not too
sure about that, and if you had heard some of those stories, you wouldn't be
feeling warm and fuzzy on the inside at the prospect of meeting one.  Even if
she is a trusted Sailor Scout."
     Leda crossed her arms over her ample chest.  "You guys are overlooking a
rather serious detail," she said.  "They're already at the cathedral and have
met Tolaris and the others.  If being a demon really posed a hazard, I think
they would have either dealt with it themselves or at least would have warned
us about it by now."
     "They did," Ami said very softly.
     Six heads swiveled in unison to look at her.  "I spoke with Tolaris on
the communicator after lunch," she continued quietly, still not looking up at
any of them.  "He told me what he and Darian had learned about her last night,
and about what also happened earlier today after I talked to Maze about the
cathedral's reactor."
     The corners of Mina's mouth dipped down into a slight frown.  "Ami, is
that what's been bothering you?"
     Ami sighed and turned away.  "Partly."
     Leda quietly walked over to her and plucked Luna out of her arms.  "Why
don't you guys go find a park bench for a few?" she suggested over her shoulder
as she passed the black cat over to Serena.  "Ami and I need to have a quick
talk.  We'll catch up in a bit."
     "Hey, Leda, I think...." Mina started to say.
     "We will catch up in a bit," Leda repeated in a tone that clearly said
the subject was not open to debate.
     Mina and Rei exchanged glances before the priestess turned her back on
the brunette and quietly walked further up the street.  Mina hesitated for a
brief moment before sighing quietly and following her, pausing only to give
Serena a discreet "let's go" gesture.  The blonde gave Leda a worried look
before she headed up the street after the others, hugging Luna tightly.
     Leda waited until they were well out of earshot before turning her full
attention to Ami.  "Come on, we can talk over here," she said quietly as she
gently took her by the wrist and tugged her toward a near-by alley.
     "Leave me alone," Ami said in a near-whisper as she resisted.
     The brunette gave her a dark look.  "You can either come with me, or I can
pick you up and physically carry you over there.  Choice is yours."
     Ami sighed quietly and yielded to the insistent tugging on her wrist,
following Leda into the small alleyway between two buildings.
     "How bad was Tolaris' message?" Leda asked in a low tone.
     "Worrisome, but he said he felt there wasn't any significant hazard to
us or anyone else," Ami replied quietly as she studied the psuedo-brick facade
of the building opposite her.
     "So that means something else bothers you," Leda said flatly. "Talk."
     "It's nothing."
     Leda reached out and gently cupped Ami's face in both hands, forcing Ami
to look up at her.  "Do you have any idea how much it hurts to see you like
this?" Leda said in a near-whisper, her inner pain showing in the depths of her
green eyes.  "If you call me your best friend.... if you have any love for me,
please.... tell me what's wrong."
     Ami blinked at the unexpected shift in Leda's mood and cringed inwardly
at the sudden focus.  She glanced away, unable to meet her penetrating gaze for
more than a few moments.
     "It's the kids at school, isn't it?" the brunette asked softly.  She heard
silence in response and pressed on.  "They're teasing you about Tolaris, about
having an older boyfriend, right?"
     Ami closed her eyes as the tears started to well up.  "I can hear it in
the halls," she whispered as her emotional defenses started to crumble around
her.  "They don't say anything when someone like you is around or when they
think I'm close enough to hear, but I can hear what they are saying...."
     Leda snorted in distain.  "Uncultured punks, all of them," she groused.
     Ami didn't seem to hear her.  "They think I'm a monster," she whispered as
a single tear slid down her cheek.  "They think I'm some type of freak, a girl
with blue hair who has delusions of being an adult, trying to act grown up by
dating someone my mother's age.  They think that because my mother is a doctor
that I've been.... engineered, and that my behavior means I'm defective...."
     Leda blinked hard as she realized just how deeply the words were cutting
Ami's heart and soul.  It was widely rumored that Ami's IQ was sufficiently
high to rank her as a literal genius, which in of itself stirred feelings of
inadequacy among the dregs of school society and led to a fair number of foul
taunts.  Having blue hair only added fuel to the fire, as some have quietly
speculated that the extremely rare genetic sequence was a mutation, a sign of
a deeply flawed human being.  Having a surgeon for a mother didn't help the
picture any, as Dr. Anderson was every bit as intelligent as her daughter and
possessed the blue-haired genome as well.
     The color drained out of Leda's face as she finally realized where Ami's
thoughts had went.  Factor in her vampirism.... she thought, then shuddered
inwardly as the picture became all too disturbingly clear.  All manners of
creative and highly profane invectives filled her mind at the image of Ami
being subjected to such inhumane cruelty, and a distant part of her mind was
amazed that the blood vessels in her temples didn't simply blow apart from
sheer rage.
     "Ami?" she managed to say in a level tone.  "That's the biggest load of
horsecrap I have heard in my entire life, and believe me when I say I've heard
a lot of it.  You and I both know you were not genetically engineered, and you
damn well know you're not a monster.  Period."
     Ami sniffled quietly as another tear slid down her cheek.  "Some nights I
wonder," she said, her voice choked with emotion.  She yelped as Leda grabbed
the front of her blouse with both hands and pinned her against the wall.
     "That is BULLCRAP!" Leda snarled, her nose a mere inch from Ami's face.
"You honestly doubt yourself that much?  Bullcrap.  I'm your best friend, Ami
Mizuno, I know you better than anyone else except maybe for Serena and your
mother, and your mother doesn't know Sailor Mercury like I know her.  You are
NOT a monster, or a freak, or any sort of wingnut mad scientist job, or any
other crackpot concept like that.  Or do you still not believe me?"
     Ami blinked hard, her medium-blue eyes almost double their usual size in
shock and fear.  "You don't understand," she whispered.  "You don't know what
it's like to be talked about behind your back, whispered about, treated as an
outsider...."
     "Oh, really?" Leda replied in a low-pitched tone.  "You think that because
I make a stand against bullies, that because I confront them head-on when they
try to start stuff, you think that makes me part of the in-crowd?  Some days
it's great when they see me coming and scramble to get out of my way, but there
are days when I'd like to shoot the breeze with someone about whatever happens
to come up, but can't find anyone because no one wants to get close enough to
the Psycho-Killer to say hi.  Ever consider that?"
     Ami sniffled quietly as she thought about it for a moment.  Leda sighed
heavily and relaxed her grip on Ami's blouse.  "Let me ask you something," she
said very quietly as she idly smoothed the wrinkles out.  "Do you have a clue,
any idea at all, just how much you mean to me?"
     "I know," she said quietly.  "I can taste it in your blood."
     Leda nodded.  "Then you know that I'm always going to be here for you,
and that I'm not going to let you tear yourself apart over a few doubts about
yourself.  I've lost so many people in my life as it is, I'll be damned if I
lose another."
     Ami looked up at her, seeing the genuine warmth and caring reflected in
her eyes.  "I know," she said again in a soft tone, a hint of what might have
been a smile tugging on the corners of her lips.  She closed her eyes as her
chin was tilted up slightly and felt the sudden warmth of Leda's lips brushing
against her own in a soft kiss.  The sensation sent a strange shiver through
her, a feeling that she found oddly comforting in a distant sense.
     "You know I wouldn't know what I'd do without you," Leda said quietly as
she lifted her head up.  "Of course, sometimes I don't know what to do with
you either.  Like now, for instance...."
     A soft echo of a hollow laugh rose up from her throat.  "I'm not that kind
of girl," Ami said as she felt some of the tension drain out of her.
     Leda gave her a coy look.  "Maybe I can change your mind?  Kidding," she
added as Ami blinked.  She chuckled and wrapped her arms around Ami in a tight
hug, sighing quietly as the stress started to bleed off and she began to feel
incredibly weary.
     "I often wonder," Ami replied dryly as she hugged back for a moment.
     Leda pulled back and gave her a stunned look.  "Ami, I just got you to
quit wondering, and now you're at it again?"
     They shared a brief look before they both burst into a fit of giggles.
Ami just shook her head as she wiped away the dried remains of her tears.
"Thank you," she said simply.
     The brunette smirked and lightly clapped her on the shoulder.  "Bah, what
are best friends for?  Besides," she added with a malicious grin, "All you
needed was to be smacked upside the head to realize that some people do care
about you for who you are now instead of what you once were."
     Ami gave her a dour look as her own words came back to proverbially bite
her in the butt.  "Thanks a lot."
     "Your words, not mine."
     "Irony like that is what stings the most."
     Leda chuckled.  "Cheer up, I could have used a more inventive phrase."
     Ami just shook her head ruefully.  "Believe me, I know."
     Leda smiled and leaned forward to plant a kiss on Ami's cheek.  "C'mon,
let's go catch up with the others before they get really worried."

                *               *               *               *

     "So where'd Mina go?" Leda asked with a slight frown as she and Ami found
the fountain on the street corner where Serena and Rei were sitting.  Luna was
taking a nap in Serena's lap while Artemis was sitting on the edge of the old
fountain, his tail lashing back and forth.
     Rei just sighed and pointed a finger across the street.  Leda and Ami both
turned to look and blinked in unison at the pair of police cruisers parked in
front of a convenience store, the red and blue strobes reflecting off of every
shiny surface the eye could see.
     "Oh, hell, what'd she do now?" Leda demanded with a heavy sigh.
     "Someone tried to rob that convenience store," Artemis said with a yawn.
"We heard the security alarm go off, and next thing you know she's making a
beeline for the place."
     The brunette blinked.  "So why are you guys just sitting here, then?" she
demanded.  "You're supposed to be backing her up in a bad situation!"
     Rei smirked.  "The matter was well in hand."
     "Look," Ami said quietly.
     Leda turned back around and blinked yet again as the police left the
small store, towing a hooded suspect in handcuffs and having a very animated
conversation with the blonde girl standing in the doorway.  She adjusted the
oversized red glasses perched on her undeniably beautiful features and looked
around, flashing a quick victory sign to the group sitting by the fountain.
     "It would be Sailor V," Leda sighed quietly.  "Great, now she's going to
be insufferable all week."
     "And she wasn't before?" Artemis muttered beneath his breath.
     Serena blinked and looked at her best friend.  "You okay, Ami?"
     "Yeah," Ami said with a quiet sigh.  "I just had a lot on my mind, that's
all.  Didn't mean to worry anyone."
     Serena smiled in relief and looked at Leda.  "Well, that's one less thing
to worry about.  How long does this sort of event usually take?" she asked the
white cat as they watched Sailor V discuss something with a police officer.
The suspect was none-too-gently tossed in the back of a squad car and the
second officer rejoined the first in talking with the young girl.
     Artemis rolled his eyes and dipped his tail in the fountain.  "At first
it took a few hours each time, but these days she's used to filing the report
and making sworn statements, so it shouldn't be too much longer.  Luna?"
     "Prrrrrrrrrm?" was the sleepy response from the ball of black fur curled
up in Serena's lap.
     "Wake up," Artemis said as the tip of his tail came out of the water and
wedged itself in her ear canal.  There was a horrendous screeching sound as she
fairly exploded out of Serena's lap, landing on the ground in a tumble and
furiously rubbing at her ear.
     "Ow, claws, ow, ow, pain, ow, ow...." Serena yelped.
     Rei sighed and grabbed Artemis by the scruff the neck, lifting him off
his feet entirely.  "That was rude," she said as she leaned back and dunked
him in the fountain.
     Leda winced.  "Bad idea, Rei," she said as she observed the frenzy of
motion just beneath the surface of the pool of water.
     "No, no, I think it's a fine response," Luna muttered darkly.
     Rei smirked and hauled Artemis out of the water, holding the dripping
feline at arm's-length to try to avoid getting herself splashed.  "Well?" she
said as he gave her a venomous look.  "And don't even think about clawing me
as I would have no hesitations of tossing you into traffic."
     Leda shook her head.  "That's a touch harsh, don't you think?"
     "Pppplllllleeeehhhhh," Artemis said as he spat out a mouthful of water.
     "Serves you right," Luna harrumphed.
     "Ow, that hurt...." Serena whimpered as she examined the puncture marks
in her skirt and the faint traces of blood seeping from the scratches.
     "Rei?" Artemis said neutrally as he twisted back and forth slowly.
     "Yes?"
     "All's fair in love and war, and maybe I deserved that, but if you don't
put me down right now, I will be forced to pee on your shoes."
     There was a quiet giggle from behind the group.  "When a male cat says he
has to take a leak, it's best to take him at his word."
     "Welcome back," Leda told Sailor V as Rei let go of Artemis.
     V smiled.  "I see I missed some fun," she said cheerfully as she took a
quick step back.  Her action made immediate sense as Artemis started to shake
out his fur, sending water splashing everywhere.
     "Hey, watch it!" Rei growled as the majority of the water was flung in
her general direction.
     "You dunked him," Leda replied.  "Guess you should have thought of the
possible consequences beforehand."
     V giggled and picked up Artemis, holding him at a distance.  "Okay, kitty,
what'd you get caught doing this time?"
     Serena looked up.  "He woke up Luna with a wet tail," she said sourly.
     "Ah, the old wet willie tactic again?  Shame on you, Artemis," Sailor V
chided her feline friend.
     Everyone blinked at the somewhat profane reply from the white cat.  "So
are you finished taking care of business?" Rei asked, ignoring the outburst.
     V winked at her.  "Oh, you know it.  Gotta keep up the appearances on the
police beat.  Plus I got to add another contact to my little collection."
     Eyebrows were raised at that last statement.  "What kind of collection
are you talking about?" Ami inquired with a slight frown.
     "Hey, girl, I see you're feeling better," V replied happily.  "I take it
old Grumblepuss here was able to crack that shell you were trying to crawl
into?" she added with a wink at Leda from behind her oversized Sailor V
Transformation Glasses.
     Leda just sighed.  "What kind of drugs are you on now?"
     "Just high on life like everyone should be," was the cheerful reply.
     Rei just sighed.  "Now we understand why the Negaverse wanted to kill you
first before Sailor Moon started giving them hell," she grumbled.
     V blinked and pouted.  "Hey, hey, hey, that's not nice."
     "You're evading my question," Ami said pointedly.
     "Boy, you are feeling better," Sailor V said with a theatrical sigh.  "I
haven't been harassed like this since I made that drug bust in the old district
a few months ago.  Anyway, to answer you question, I just saved the life of
that convenience store clerk, so it belongs to me now."
     "Really," Ami said slowly, her voice dripping with sarcasm.
     "Yup, really," V confirmed with a sly grin.  "Which means that he now gets
to be part of my little network.  If I or someone of importance to me ever has
a need for his services or something he can reasonably provide, we sort of clue
him in about it in a discreet manner, and he is rather obligated to assist."
     Everyone exchanged glances at the sudden revelation.  "Uh, this isn't a
new development, is it?" Leda asked warily.
     Sailor V shook her head as she set Artemis back on the ground.  "Are you
kidding?  You think I got to be this popular just because I look sexy in a
short skirt?  Don't answer that, rhetorical question anyway," she quickly added
as both Rei and Leda opened their mouths to say something.  "I've been keeping
a little black book, as it were, of people I've saved since day one."
     "How many?" Ami asked warily.
     V wrinkled her nose at her.  "Nyah nyah, I'm not telling," she teased in
a singsong tone.  "A girl has to have some secrets.  Suffice it to say that I
am a well-connected individual."
     "Well," Luna said with a huge yawn, "That probably answers a few minor
questions I had about a few things."
     Serena stood up and straightened her skirt, trying to see if any of the
puncture marks were large enough to be visible.  "I have a question...."
     V smiled impishly and held up a hand.  "Going to ask about that Sailor V
comic series?" she asked lightly.
     "Exactly."
     "I thought I explained this one to you awhile ago.  I had a hand in saving
the life of a comic book illustrator," V said as she craned her neck up at the
sky.  "We later struck a deal.  I'd tell him a few juicy details about some of
my little adventures.... with a few modified details, of course, don't need to
tip anyone off about people with green blood running around.... and he in turn
would set aside some of the royalties he made from the comic for donation to a
few charities as well as a little under-the-table financial support for me."
     "What?" Ami said sharply.
     V shot her a look.  "Hey, back off.  Sometimes you need a few resources
when dealing with certain people for certain things.  I've always had a legal
expert, who also happens to owe me, do some reviewing of certain gray-area
transactions, so I'm always aware of what lines I'm crossing when I decide to
do certain things or take care of certain issues.  Besides, who's going to
throw a fit when most of it is going to charity to help children in need?"
     Artemis grumbled quietly as he preened his drenched fur.  "I've tried to
talk her out of it, but this one is a lost cause.  Just let it rest."
     "You can relax, girl," V added as Ami sighed.  "Granted that means I can
afford to have a little extra fun at the shopping mall, but I also have my
priorities straight.  Mom and Dad are okay financially, but college costs will
most likely be a royal pain, so most of what I have set aside for my personal
use is just that, set aside for college.  That too has been taken care of by,
shall we say, a friend of the extended family who works for a major and well-
respected international bank."
     Leda shook her head in amazement.  "You have your grubby little fingers
in everything, don't you?"
     "I know you just didn't say grubby little fingers," V said with a pout.
"Just look at these fine examples of evolutionary dexterity...."
     Rei smirked.  "The easier to pick locks with, right?"
     V chuckled.  "My dear priestess, I don't know what you're talking about,"
she said mischievously.  "Are you insinuating that I am not a paragon of noble
virtue?"
     Leda laughed.  "You are a true rogue, you know that?"
     "You know it," Sailor V said cheerfully as she struck a pose.  "Now if you
ladies don't mind, I need to high-tail it out of here before the press starts
to show up.  Then I'd really be late for dinner tonight.  Oh, come on," she
said as the general mood visibly dropped a degree.  "This is going to be so
much fun tonight, you'll see.  Take care now!"
     "Can I ask a question?" Rei said quietly as Sailor V bounded away and
disappeared around a corner.  "Does that mask of hers really have that much of
an influence on her personality, or is anyone else starting to have doubts
about her sanity?"
     Leda gave her an odd look.  "That's a touch harsh, Rei.  Granted she has
a loose screw or two, but I don't think it's fair to call her crazy."
     The priestess shrugged and looked at Ami.  "What do you think?"
     Ami chewed on the edge of her lower lip.  "I haven't decided."
     "What, you too?" Leda said incredulously.
     "Let's just say I have my reservations," Ami replied with a soft sigh.
     Rei raised an eyebrow.  "Artemis?" she prompted.
     "It's Mina, enough said," he replied as he shook his fur out one final
time.  "Stick a candy bar under Serena's nose and you'd think her ravenous
reaction would be borderline insanity as well."
     "Hey!" Serena protested as she picked up Luna.  "I'm not that bad!"
     Leda smirked and dug around in her skirt pocket.  "Chocolate mint?" she
offered as she held up a small foil packet.
     "Ooo, thank you!"
     "You're drooling, you know."
     "What?  Oh, sorry...."
     Rei almost fell backwards into the fountain with laughter as Serena tried
to juggle Luna in one arm and open the foil packet with both hands.  "I think
you just made his point," she snickered.
     "Mmmph?" Serena said as the packet finally tore open and the contents
promptly devoured with enthusiasm.
     "Nothing, meatball head."
     Leda sighed heavily.  "Don't start this one again," she said with a mild
glare at the priestess.  "Now come on, we've still got a ways to go before we
get to the cathedral, and we won't get there if we're sitting around talking
smack."
     Rei just shook her head as she got to her feet.  "You seem to be a bit
more impatient than usual about this one," she observed neutrally.  "You really
looking forward to meeting them that badly?"
     "Hey, they're Sailor Scouts like us, why shouldn't I be?" Leda inquired.
     "I think you know why," Rei said as her voice tone changed as her facial
expression slipped back into an expressionless mask.
     The brunette frowned at her as they resumed walking up the street.  "If
I didn't know better, Rei, I'd say that you're bothered worse than Mina about
this whole deal."
     Rei said nothing, glancing behind her and taking idle note of the fact
that Artemis was leaving a trail of wet paw-prints behind him.  She turned her
head back and found herself almost nose-to-nose with Ami.  "Yes?"
     "You are bothered by Sailor Pluto, aren't you?" Ami asked softly.
     Rei's bottomless-black eyes effectively concealed any signs of emotion
that might have been visible in anyone else's eyes.  "As I said before," she
said in an emotionless tone, "Her heritage is a disturbing revelation, but it
is nothing we will not be able to handle on our own if the situation requires
us to take any form of action."
     Ami said nothing as Rei brushed past her, turning her head to follow the
priestess as she walked further ahead in stony silence.  "She's frightened,"
she said softly to Serena and Leda as they drew close.
     Leda blinked.  "Are you kidding?  She seems just fine to me."
     Luna gave Ami a slightly confused look.  "I have to agree with Leda.  What
makes you think that Rei is afraid of something?  Guarded, definitely, and even
leery, but frightened?"
     Ami sighed and fell in step beside Serena, making sure she didn't step on
Artemis' tail.  "She's never that.... formally verbose, if you will, unless
she's withdrawn or internally focused, and she doesn't do that unless something
is deeply bothering her."
     Leda snorted.  "You're one to talk about being withdrawn," she muttered.
     Ami glanced at her.  "You know why," she said quietly.
     "Just saying.  Hey, you alright?" Leda asked as Artemis sneezed.
     "Bah," the white cat grumbled.  "Just had a bit of water up my nose."
     Serena giggled as Luna stuck her nose up in the air.  "I think you'll be
a bit hard-pressed to find sympathy at the moment," she teased as she scratched
behind Luna's ears.
     "Or at least not until you dry out enough so someone would think about
picking you up," Leda added with a wicked grin.
     Ami frowned lightly as they turned a corner and saw the horizon ahead of
them.  "Might not dry out for awhile if that storm breaks," she said.
     Leda blinked.  "Oooh, that looks bad," she commented as they studied the
roiling stormclouds in the distance.  "Might be a real kinker of a storm.  Not
that I care, but I'm wondering.... that natural, or is Tolaris in a dark mood
again?"
     Ami shook her head.  "Has to be natural, it's at least a hundred miles
away.  There might be a low-pressure front over the cathedral, however, as that
seems to be the most common side-effect of Tolaris' mood swings.  Problem is,
that would actually enhance the force of a storm entering this area if they
merged."
     Serena sighed.  "So we should have brought an umbrella?"
     "Bah, a little water never hurt anyone," Leda said.  "Right, Artemis?"
     Both Ami and Serena blushed crimson as Artemis made a very blunt and far
from polite suggestion.  "That was uncalled for," Luna replied, her ears flat
against her head.
     Leda smirked and scooped up the still-damp white cat.  "Tell you what,"
she said casually.  "Why don't you show me how that's done first, then I can
think about it, okay?  Uh, wait...." she added as Artemis hopped out of her
arms, sat on the ground, and promptly started to lick himself.
     "ARTEMIS!!" Luna screeched.
     Ami and Serena exchanged mildly sickened looks while Leda blinked hard
and sighed.  "There's a line from a cartoon that comes to mind," she said with
a rueful shake of her head.  "Foghorn Leghorn, I think."
     "And what line might that be?" Serena asked with a sour expression.
     "You know, Ah say, you know.... Ah asked for it...."

                *               *               *               *

     Rei didn't turn around as she heard the single pair of footsteps making
their way up the gravel path behind her.  She was standing at the edge of the
small forest, just close enough to the cathedral to see most of the outline
through the thinning treeline.
     "Well?" Mina asked softly as she stood next to Rei, her gaze reflexively
sweeping the horizon for any signs of activity.
     "Can't you feel it?" Rei said softly.  Her hands were clasped in front of
her chest, fingers steepled together as she continued to focus her spiritual
powers on the dark vibes brushing against her.
     The blonde shook her head.  "You know I'm not that attuned to anything,"
she muttered.  "I can usually feel it when someone starts tossing energy fields
around, but that's about it.  Wha'cha got?"
     "Something," Rei replied softly.  "I have to be honest, it doesn't feel
truly evil, but it's dark.... very, very dark."
     Mina ran her fingers through her hair nervously.  "Dark like Ami?"
     "Darker.  I know when Ami gets close, but her aura isn't strong enough to
be felt from a distance like this one is."
     Mina glanced behind her, wondering what was taking the others so long to
catch up.  "All kidding aside, Rei, how badly should this be spooking me?  I
mean, I know a lot about demons and demonic lore from my grandmother, and some
of it might even be accurate enough to count, but are you really sure we can
handle things if this ends up going to Hell in a handbasket?"
     Rei glanced at her in mild irritation at the phrasing before returning her
focus to the denizen cathedral.  "We have the power of the Imperium Silver
Crystal on our side," Rei said simply.  "We might not survive, but you know it
won't permit Serena to be harmed."
     Mina gave her a sour look.  "You're not much comfort at all.  And speaking
of the devil...." she said as she looked over her shoulder again at the sound
of several footsteps on gravel.
     Rei didn't move a muscle.  "The devil is in front of us, not behind us,"
she said quietly as she felt Ami's presence start to draw close.
     "We were wondering where you were," Leda said quietly as they stopped on
the road behind Rei.  "Is there a problem?"
     Mina glanced at Rei as the priestess remained silent.  "Just a few odd
vibes we're trying to sort out, that's all," she said cautiously.
     Leda frowned and glanced at the cathedral.  "I don't feel anything."
     "I do," Ami said quietly as she took a few steps forward to stand next to
Rei.  "It feels.... warm and chilling at the same time."
     Luna sighed quietly as she hopped down from Serena's arms.  "I assure you
that whatever spiritual energies you two are feeling, there isn't any sort of
danger to any of us."
     Mina turned to ask Serena a question and paused, her blue eyes widening
slightly.  She wordlessly reached out and tugged on Ami's sleeve, making a
subtle gesture with her chin when Ami looked at her.  Ami turned to look and
blinked hard, nudging Rei in the shoulder until the priestess cast a glance
behind her.
     Serena was staring at the cathedral, a strange look reflected in her blue
eyes and an unreadable expression on her face.  Both hands were wrapped around
the broach that she always wore, a faint glow of light escaping from the ornate
lid covering the sparkling gem hidden beneath.
     "What?" Leda asked as she saw their expressions, then blinked hard when
she turned around to look at Serena.  "Hey, you okay?"
     "No, there is no danger to us at all," she said in a soft and strangely
hypnotic tone.  "Let us go now, for our friends are waiting for us...."
     Leda bent down to scoop up Luna as Serena started to walk forward slowly,
her hands still toying with the faintly glowing broach.  "C'mon, people, let's
not be rude to our guests," she said as she strode after the blonde.
     Ami hesitated for a moment before following Leda as well, leaving Mina,
Rei, and Artemis behind.  Mina glanced at Rei for a moment before she sighed
and bent down to pick up her cat.  "Might as well get this over with.  Phew,
you still reek of wet fur.  You're getting a bath tomorrow."
     "Already had one, thanks," he muttered darkly with a look at Rei.
     The priestess stood perfectly still for a moment before she cast a glance
over her shoulder at the gravel road.  She gave quite serious contemplation to
simply walking away from the cathedral and leaving the whole situation behind,
but ended up thinking about Serena's strange reaction.  Sighing heavily and
starting to doubt her sanity, she wordlessly strode up the stretch of gravel
road to catch up with the rest of the group.
     They got to within a dozen yards of the front door before it opened up
and Dyvach skittered out, its carapace glittering like a polished diamond as
it waved several legs at them in greeting.
     "Oooo," Serena, Mina, and Leda cooed in unison as they saw the weaver.
"Hey, Dyvach, that looks pretty," Mina added.
     Leda nodded.  "I wouldn't mind having a pair of earrings like that."
     Everyone stopped in their tracks as Dyvach moved aside to permit a woman
in a jet-black evening gown to step outside.  Her dark-green hair seemed to
flow gracefully down her back as she walked, holding a strangely-shaped silver
staff in one hand.  Behind her, a woman with close-cropped yellow hair and a
white dress patted the weaver's carapace as she stepped out as well, closely
followed by a woman with an aquamarine dress that perfectly matched her hair.
     "Your Highness," Susan said, visibly choked with emotion as she approached
Serena and went down to one knee before her, "I know you and your court don't
remember us, but we are deeply glad to see you are all still alive and well."
     Serena blinked and was at a total loss for words as Alex and Michelle
approached, also kneeling before her.  Tears were visible in Michelle's eyes
and Alex's mouth was set in a stern line of restrained emotion.
     "I.... uh.... well...." she stammered.
     Susan smiled and slowly stood up.  "I am Lady Susan Meiou of the House of
Pluto, your Highness, Chancellor to the Royal House of the Moon.  This is Lady
Alexis Ten'ou of the House of Uranus, and this is Lady Michelle Kaiou of the
House of Neptune."
     "Your Highness," Michelle murmured with a smile.
     "Glad to see you again, your Highness," Alex said.
     Serena blinked again and glanced over her shoulder at her friends.  "Well,
I, um.... wish I could say the same, but.... I.... uh...."
     Luna sighed as she hopped out of Ami's arms.  "Serena, please.  I know you
don't have any memories of them at all, but you can at least say hello."
     Alex chuckled.  "Oh, give it a rest, Luna, she's just surprised as hell,
that's all.  How you guys doing?" she said, addressing the rest of the group.
     Leda smirked as she stepped forward.  "We've had better days.  You must
be the Viking, right?"
     "Leda!" Luna said with an embarrassed look as Susan just shook her head.
     Alex just threw her head back and laughed.  "Yeah, you could say that.  I
never got to meet my Granddad, but I've heard the war stories.  It's really
great to see you again, girl," she added as she moved forward and wrapped Leda
in a bearhug.
     Leda just shook her head.  "Sorry, Alexis, but like Luna just said, we
don't remember anything about the Moon Kingdom at all."
     "Call me Alex," the blonde replied in a slightly edged tone.
     Rei and Mina exchanged glances as Susan stepped forward to look at Ami.
"And how are you doing this evening, Ami?"
     Ami blinked.  "Umm.... I'm doing okay, I think," she replied with a slight
note of trepidation in her tone.
     Susan smiled gently at her.  "I realize that this probably isn't the most
comfortable meeting you've had, but I assure you that everything is going to
turn out just fine.  Alex may be a little rambunctious at times, but she is a
decent person overall."
     Alex shot her a look.  "Oh, don't start with that already," she grumbled.
     Mina chuckled.  "Now where does that sound familiar, hmm?"
     "Stuff it," Leda said in mild amusement.
     Michelle smiled shyly as she approached Serena.  "Some things don't seem
to change," she said as she gestured at Leda.  "I'm glad to see you again, your
Highness."
     "Why do you keep calling me that?" Serena blurted out as she gave both
Susan and Michelle a slightly worrisome look.
     Alex sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose.  "Here we go again."
     Leda raised an eyebrow.  "Problem?"
     "Nah, just had to hash this one out with Darian earlier, that's all."
     "You are the Crown Princess of the Moon, Serena," Susan said gently.  "If
being addressed like that makes you feel uncomfortable, we can try to keep it
to a minimum if you wish."
     Rei simply couldn't resist.  "Please, we've had enough problems with this
royalty thing going to her head as it is."
     Serena gave her an irritated look.  "Don't start this one again."
     "It took a week to shut you up after you discovered you were a princess."
     "Well, I just thought that since I really am a princess and all...."
     "That was your first mistake, trying to think."
     "Excuse me...!"
     Alex exchanged horrified looks with Michelle as Susan sighed quietly and
moved between Rei and Serena.  "Is this really necessary, Rei?  I know you and
Serena have a casual friendship, but badgering her like this isn't needed."
She blinked and cast a glance over her shoulder as Alex burst into laughter.
"Yes, Alex, what is it?"
     "You really need to stop and listen to yourself now and then, Sue," Alex
said as she gasped for air.  "Things like that make the best friendships.  I
mean, listen to what you and I go through every so often."
     "Which is exactly what I'm trying to avoid," Susan said with a sigh.
     Alex blinked.  "Hey now," she protested, then glanced at Mina as she tried
to suppress a case of the giggles and failed miserably.  "What's your problem?"
     "Nuffin'," Mina snickered.
     Alex shot her a mild look before she blinked and quickly walked over to
her.  "Hey, hey, hey, and look what we have here!" she said as she reached out
and plucked Artemis out of her grasp, startling them both.  She made a face and
promptly shoved him back in Mina's arms.  "Ick, what happened to you?" she said
as she looked at her hands and wiped the moisture on the hem of her gown.
     "Remember your manners, Alex," Susan said with a weary sigh.
     "Had a most unfortunate accident involving a fountain," Artemis replied
casually, flicking his tail at Rei.
     "Uh huh.  So, Mina, what'd he do?" Alex asked as she clapped Mina on the
shoulder.
     Mina blinked and frowned lightly.  "I don't know, I wasn't there."
     "Rei?" Michelle asked quietly.
     Rei blinked and turned to face her.  "Yes?"
     Michelle smiled shyly.  "I was just wondering why you're so quiet, that's
all.  Is everything okay with you?"
     "It could be better, but it could be worse," the priestess replied evenly.
"I take it everything is okay inside?" she asked as she gestured to the open
cathedral door and the still-glittering weaver parked in the doorway.
     Susan came up beside Michelle and nodded.  "Actually, things are going
quite well," she said.  "The events these past twenty-four hours have been a
bit chaotic to say in the least, but Tolaris and his friends seem to be quite
a unique group of individuals."
     Mina smirked.  "Yeah, they take some getting used to, but they're a trip
and a half most of the time.  Serena, you look like you're going to pass out
or something."
     Serena managed a wan smile.  "I'm just.... a bit overwhelmed all of a
sudden, that's all.  I.... just.... I...."
     "HEY!" Leda yelped as Serena started to waver on her feet.  She and Alex
darted forward to each grab an arm, keeping her steady.  The broach securely
pinned to her blouse suddenly popped open, exposing the glow of the Imperium
Silver Crystal.  The crystal began to glow brighter as the sign of the Moon
became visible on the blonde's forehead.
     Everyone looked around as they felt their own sigils start to glow in
response to the crystal's powerful aura.  "Well, that solves one issue," Mina
said as she saw the sign of Neptune glowing a soft aquamarine color on
Michelle's forehead.
     Susan nodded, the dark green sigil of Pluto visible on her head as well.
"Indeed," she said quietly as she studied the sigils glowing on everyone.  She
blinked as she felt a wave of warmth pass through her body and turned to look
at the radiance of the Imperium Silver Crystal.  "Your Majesty," she said very
quietly in awe and reverence as a shimmering form took place next to Serena.
     "It is good to see you again, Susan," came the musical voice of Queen
Serenity.  She appeared far more translucent and ethereal than she usually did
when her spirit was projected from within the crystal, but the tears of joy
were quite unmistakable as they flowed down her cheeks.
     "Mother?" Serena said sleepily.  "Who's that standing next to Susan?"
     Everyone blinked hard and looked at Susan.  "Is she alright?" Alex said
quietly to Leda.  "I don't see anything...."
     Susan strode forward and knelt before the spectral image of Serenity.
"Your Majesty, I...." she started to say.
     "Susan, please," Serenity said quietly, her pale lavender hair swaying
in an unfelt breeze.  "We can talk later, but right now there is something we
must take care of immediately."
     Susan looked up and blinked in confusion before she felt a surge of icy
warmth in her shoulder.  "Yes, of course," she murmured as she stood up and
closed her eyes, turning her focus inward for a brief moment.
     Eyes widened as a glowing blue sigil flared into existence on her arm,
clearly visible even beneath her jet-black gown.  The sigil quickly broke up
into tiny motes of light that swirled around madly before coalescing into a
humanoid form.
     "What...?" Rei gasped quietly as a red sigil began to shine.
     Serenity smiled and reached out to lay her hand on the new arrival's
shoulder.  "Welcome home, Lady Mars," she said quietly.
     "M-M-Mars?" Rei stammered in shock as the figure turned to face her, the
sign of Mars clearly glowing on both their foreheads.  The resemblance was
quite unmistakable, both women having the exact same type of raven-black hair
and deep, bottomless eyes.  The cheekbones were a little more pronounced on
the elder Mars, but the exotic beauty was nearly identical.
     "I have waited a millennium to see you again, Rei," Aria said softly.
     "....Mother?" Rei whispered, her voice on the verge of cracking.
     The image of Lady Mars smiled gently.  "I knew you would remember me,"
she said fondly.  "I'm sorry I never got the chance to be with you until now."
     "But.... but.... but...."
     "Be at ease, my daughter.  Thanks to Lady Pluto, I'm able to become part
of the Imperium Silver Crystal now," Aria explained with a grateful smile to
Susan.  "It will be some time before you and I will be able talk to each
another, but hopefully it will bring some peace to your heart and soul to know
that I finally am able to help guide your path."
     "Mother, wait!"
     Lady Mars closed her eyes for a moment.  "I have to rest now, Rei, but I
will always be by your side," she said as she reached out and brushed her hand
across Rei's cheek.
     "Serena," Queen Serenity said quietly.  "Open your heart to the power of
the Imperium Silver Crystal, and give the Lady Mars the peace that her soul
deserves.  Let her join me in the realm of eternal love and warmth."
     Tears were streaming down Rei's cheeks as she turned to watch Serena nod
and close her eyes, turning her focus inward as she removed the crystal from
the broach.  The spirit of Queen Serenity seemed to dissolve as the crystal
suddenly turned a deep shade of red, matching the color of the sigil of Mars.
It rose up into the air as a spectral vortex formed, surrounding the fringes
with a whirling maelstrom of energy as a deep harmonic hum filled the air.
     "No, wait!  Mother!!" Rei cried out as the form of Lady Mars dissolved
into pinpoints of light that were drawn into the vortex.  The motes of light
seemed to swirl like water down a drain before the vortex closed in on itself
and vanished.  The crystal continued to hum for a moment before the blood-red
color faded and it dropped to the ground.  A deep, haunting moan echoed on the
wind for a chilling moment as the crystal bounced and rolled to a stop.
     "What the hell was that?" Alex said as an icy shiver blew through her
bones.  She glanced around and noticed that everyone else seemed to be feeling
the same chill in their bodies.
     "The Crystal mourns the loss of one of its own," Susan said quietly as she
reached down to pick up the fallen crystal.  She paused as she studied the gem,
realizing that the edges of the sparkling facets seemed to be tinted with a
dark purple coloring.  "Serena.... did something happen to the Crystal?  It
looks different than I last remember it," she said before she handed it back
to the princess.
     Serena looked down at the crystal for a moment before looking back up at
Rei.  "Are you going to be alright?" she asked with concern.
     "I don't know," Rei said quietly as the tears abated.  She felt someone
touch her shoulder and she gently shrugged it off without seeing who it was.
"I mean.... I never knew anything about my parents.  It's just that...."
     "Rei?" Susan said softly.  "Your mother has exhausted herself in trying
to reach you on Earth, but she is here now.  Once she has rested enough, you
will be able to talk to her through the Crystal."
     "Thank you," the priestess said quietly as she brushed her tears away.
She looked up as Michelle took her hand and squeezed it lightly, trying to
offer some measure of comfort.
     "You should go inside and sit down for a few moments," Michelle said to
her in a gentle tone.  "We can all imagine how you're feeling right now."
     "She's right," Mina said very quietly as she set Artemis down and lightly
took hold of Rei's elbow.  "Come on, I'll go start boiling some water so you
can try to relax with some tea."
     "That's okay," Rei said reflexively at the mere thought of Mina trying to
do something in the kitchen.  "I just need a moment, that's all."
     Serena gave her an uncertain look before turning her attention to the
Imperium Silver Crystal.  "Susan, what just happened?" she asked as she stared
at the gleaming gem that was her royal birthright.
     Susan gave her a gentle smile.  "After we were resurrected, we returned to
the Moon Kingdom of this era and discovered that the spirit of Lady Mars had
remained behind, guarding the lost spirits of the dead.  I took her soul with
us when we came to Earth so that she could become one with the Crystal."
     Rei paused as she made her way towards the door.  "That happens with all
the Sailor Scouts, right?  They get to be part of the Crystal?"
     "Usually," Susan said in a quiet tone.
     Mina blinked and cast a glance at Rei.  "What do you mean, usually?"
     "Hey, Mina?" Alex spoke up from behind Serena.  "Can you worry about that
later?  I want to make sure Serena is alright first.  That, and Rei looks like
she could use that cup of tea."
     "Fair enough," Mina said with a shrug as she and Michelle guided Rei to
the door and ushered her inside.  "So where do you keep the herbs for tea?"
     "No, no, trust me, I'm fine...."
     "Oh, don't be such a stubborn mule, now where are they?"
     "Mina, really, I can make it myself...."
     Leda chuckled quietly in sympathy.  "I can see this one coming down the
pipe," she mused.  "Mina is going to try to make some herbal tea, and odds are
she'll end up making a blend that gives you stomach cramps or something."
     Alex shivered.  "Not again.  I remember the last cup of tea she tried to
brew.  I think we ended up burning it as lamp fuel."
     Susan just rolled her eyes.  "Alex, please.  It was only flammable after
you dumped a glass of alcohol in it, and even then it wasn't a viable fuel."
     Leda chuckled.  "I'll bet you're a lot of fun at parties."
     "Hon, you better believe it."
     Susan rolled her eyes again and cast a glance at Ami, blinking in surprise
at the wide-eyed look on her face.  "Is something wrong, Ami?"
     "What?" Ami blinked as she refocused.  "Oh, I'm sorry, I just.... saw the
scars on your back and was trying to imagine what happened," she said with an
embarrassed blush.
     "What scars?" Leda inquired before Susan gave her a mild look and turned
her back to the brunette.  "Ouch," Leda hissed in sympathy.  She blinked hard
as a thought popped into her mind with the force of a thunderbolt and she cast
a glance at Ami.  Uh oh, if she's thinking what I'm thinking....
     "I will explain later," Susan said demurely as she turned her attention
back to Serena.  She sighed quietly as she watched most of the color draining
out of the blonde's face, and immediately noticed that almost identical looks
were starting to form on Ami and Leda's faces as well.  "Are you alright, your
Highness?"
     Serena swallowed hard.  "I.... umm.... was just wondering if.... you....
I mean, that is...."
     Alex frowned.  "Just spit it out, your Highness, Sue won't bite you.  Not
too hard, at any rate...."
     "That's enough, Alex," Susan said quietly.  "I take it the three of you
are concerned about my heritage?  I am not an evil woman, I assure you," she
added as only Leda was able to nod fractionally.  "Yes, I am a demon from the
Underworld, and the scars are caused by my wings."
     Alex sighed and put her hand on Leda's shoulder.  "Hey, listen, Sue may
be a bitch at times, and she's sometimes harder to figure out than ancient
Chinese algebra, but I've known her all my life.  She's nothing to be worried
about.  Honest."
     Susan just gave Alex a weary look.  "Thank you, Alex, for that shining
endorsement of my personality and trustworthiness.  Why don't you go back
inside for a moment?  The Princess and I will be there shortly."
     The blonde blinked hard at the subtle dismissal.  "Yeah, sure, Sue.  Hey,
Artemis, c'mere," she added as she bent down to pick him up.  "Haven't seen
you in awhile, how's it going?"
     Artemis blinked and cast a slightly worried look at Ami.  "I'm doing fine,
I think...."
     "Yeech, you reek.  Let's go find you some deodorant or something...."
     "I'm sorry," Susan apologized as Alex carried Artemis inside, "Alex can
be somewhat unrefined at times."
     Leda chuckled.  "Hey, I kinda like her."
     "You would," Serena muttered quietly.
     The brunette blinked and frowned lightly.  "Oh, come on, Serena, I know
she and I sound alike, but is that really a bad thing?"
     Serena just shook her head.  "No, it's just a bit amusing, that's all."
     "Ami?" Susan said quietly.  "You seem to be handling things rather well
at the moment.  Are you okay?"
     Ami swallowed hard.  "We've been a little.... edgy since Luna and Artemis
told us about you," she said slowly.  "I personally don't know what to make of
it, but then again...."
     "You have a rather unique viewpoint considering your own situation," Susan
finished for her.  "I know about your vampirism, but Alex and Michelle don't
know just yet.  I wanted to talk to you about it before the subject came up in
conversation."
     Leda raised an eyebrow.  "You don't seem very concerned at all."
     Susan shook her head slowly.  "Believe me, Leda, I am gravely concerned.
I just am not intimidated by it nor do I feel threatened by it.  The three of
you seem to be more accepting of my heritage than I imagine Rei and Mina would
be at the moment."
     Leda cast a glance at Ami and Serena, both of whom seemed to be at a loss
for words.  "Let's just say that I probably don't know enough to be scared like
I should be," she ventured.  "Ami probably is the most accepting, given her own
brush with darkness, and Serena here is probably just scared stupid."
     "Hey, that's not fair," Serena protested.  "I'm not scared.  Well, too
much, at least...." she admitted with a slight waver in her voice.
     Susan sighed very quietly.  "Your Highness, please," she said in a soft
and gentle tone.  "I understand your concerns, and I want to do everything in
my power to show you that I am not someone to be afraid of.  I'm sure Ami felt
the same way when she became a vampire, correct?"
     Ami blinked at the shift of attention.  "Well, yes...."
     Susan nodded slightly and adjusted the grip on her staff, causing everyone
else to blink at the sudden realization of its presence in her hand.  "Yet you
two still found it within yourselves to reopen your hearts to her love and
friendship, despite the changes she has undergone.  I plan on explaining as
best I can to everyone about my heritage after dinner.  If any of you has an
idea or suggestion as to how I can allay your fears, I would like to hear them
then.  I suspect, however, that both Alex and Michelle will need just as much
comfort and reassurance in return once Ami's vampirism is brought up."
     Leda frowned.  "Does it have to be brought up?" she said as Ami seemed to
suddenly withdraw into herself once again.  "And where'd that staff come from,
anyway?"
     "This is the Key to Time," Susan said with a gesture.  "I will explain it
later as well, as that in itself is a complicated story.  And yes, I'm afraid
the subject will have to be broached as it wouldn't be fair to keep such an
important condition hidden from the others.  Ami?"
     "Yes?" Ami said softly, her gaze sliding down to the ground.
     "Are you going to be able to talk about this?" Susan asked gently.  "I
know how you feel about it, and I don't want to make this any more painful for
you than is absolutely necessary."
     "I understand."
     Susan tilted her head slightly.  "I knew your mother quite well, Ami.  She
and Queen Serenity were the best friends I've ever had in my entire life.  I
would be more than happy to try to extend that same depth of friendship to her
daughter if you'll let me," she offered quietly.
     Ami looked up at her, medium-blue eyes meeting dark red eyes for what
seemed an eternity.  "I think I'd like that," she ventured quietly.
     Susan smiled warmly at her.  "I can show you a few portraits I painted of
her later, if you wish.  And portraits of your parents as well," she added to
Leda and Serena.
     "I'll skip that one, if you don't mind," Leda said bluntly.  "I've lost
one pair already, I don't need anyone to be getting teary-eyed about the pair
that I've never met before."
     "Leda, don't be rude," Luna admonished with a light frown.
     Susan merely chuckled quietly and shook her head.  "It's alright, I'm
quite used to dealing with Leda and Alex.  Even if they're not used to dealing
with me," she added with a twinkle in her eye.
     "Do you have a portrait of my father?" Serena blurted out suddenly.
     Susan blinked and thought for a moment, her demonic memory sifting through
the mental catalog of what she had in her art gallery.  "One," she said in a
quiet tone as the memory bubble rose up to the surface of her mind.  "He once
was roaming the corridors in the middle of the night for some reason, and on
impulse I asked him to pose for a portrait for me."
     Leda blinked.  "You actually knew who he was?"
     "Yes, I did," Susan replied.  "Serenity couldn't keep it a secret from
Lady Mercury, of course, nor could she have kept it from me for very long.  The
three of us were the only ones who knew, however, and Serenity thought it was
best not to tell anyone else.  Not even you, Serena," she added sadly.
     Serena shook her head slowly, her hairstyle swaying in the slight breeze.
"It doesn't matter now," she said quietly as she toyed with the Imperium Silver
Crystal.  "I have everything that is important to me here on Earth.  Including
new friends," she added with a soft smile as she set the crystal back into her
broach and closed the lid.
     Everyone turned around as a familiar figure approached from the cathedral.
"Is everything alright?" Tolaris asked as he walked over to Ami, a look of
mild concern etched on his features.
     Ami smiled at him.  "Of course," she said as she stood up on her tiptoes
to kiss him.
     Tolaris returned the kiss with gentle passion.  "A soldier once said that
there is very little 'of course' when dealing with a first-contact situation
between two cultures," he said neutrally.  "I just wanted to make sure all was
going well."
     Leda smirked.  "You would have heard Serena screaming if it wasn't."
     "Now if that doesn't have the ring of truth to it...." Luna muttered.
     Serena sighed impatiently.  "Oh, stop it, Luna, I'm not that bad."
     "OH CRAP, RABID DOG!  GO AWAY!" Leda suddenly yelled, causing everyone to
jump in momentary shock, then promptly wince in pain as Serena panicked and
screamed at the top of her lungs.
     Sparks of lightning arced between Tolaris' fingers for a moment before he
realized the joke and relaxed with a dour sigh.  "Very funny, Leda," he said
as Leda fell to the ground, her entire body shaking as she laughed out loud
like a maniac.
     "Leda!" Serena yelled, her face purple with embarrassment and anger.
     Heads turned as both Rei and Mina almost literally exploded out the door
of the cathedral, looks of pure horror on their faces.  Mina had her stiletto
out and held at the ready while Rei had a ward in each hand, her eyes almost
literally blazing with an inner fire.
     The both braked hard at the sight of Leda curled up on the ground and
rolling around with laughter as Serena continued to yell at her.  Ami was
leaning heavily against Tolaris and both of them looking like they could use a
stiff drink.  Susan looked to be ten years older as she leaned on her staff,
giving the brunette a distinctly unamused look.
     "What, what happened?" Mina demanded.
     "I'm.... sorry.... I.... just.... BWHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Leda gasped.
     "Ooooooh!" Serena fumed as she hopped from foot to foot.  "That was NOT
even remotely funny!"
     Mina sighed as she and Rei exchanged looks before she put her stiletto
back into the sheath hidden up her sleeve.  Rei's hands were visibly shaking
as she closed her eyes and breathed hard through her nose, trying to take a
few calming breaths before she returned the wards to her skirt pocket.  She
cast a venomous glance at Leda before she stormed back into the cathedral,
slamming the door behind her and leaving Mina to wonder about the details.
     The door opened back up a few moments later and Alex stuck her head out.
"Mina, you pinhead, that fizzy crap ended up all over Michelle's gown!" she
yelled.  "How are we supposed to get it out now?"
     Mina sighed.  "Just shove it in the washer," she shot back.  "Okay, so
what exactly happened?" she asked the group.
     "Leda's sense of humor is what happened," Ami replied in a voice as dry
as most desert regions.  "She thought it would be funny to panic Serena."
     "Great going, bean-brain," Mina growled.  "I almost wet myself when she
screamed, and that bottle of soda we were saving for a rainy day just got
splashed everywhere.  On a nice gown, I might add."
     "Let's go," Serena growled as she scooped up Luna and marched into the
cathedral, ignoring the still-chuckling Leda.  Mina just rolled her eyes and
followed her inside, muttering choice things to herself about soda stains.
     Ami just shook her head and squeezed Tolaris' hand.  "I'll be inside in a
minute," she told him.  "Just as soon as I have a few more words with Leda and
Susan."
     "Polite words, I trust," the Dragoon said dryly with another glance at
the brunette.
     "I haven't decided," Ami said with a wry grin.
     Tolaris just shook his head and chuckled to himself.  "Very well," he said
quietly and went back inside without another word.
     "Hoo, that was funny," Leda chuckled as she got to her feet, her eyes wet
with tears of laughter.
     Susan sighed quietly.  "So nice to see you still have your original sense
of humor, if not your noble bearing," she muttered.
     "You know Rei is going to be really mad at you," Ami said.  "Did you see
the look in her eyes?  She thought Serena was under attack."
     Leda waved a hand in dismissal.  "Bah, Rei will be just fine."
     "You're missing a point, Leda," Ami warned her.
     Leda paused to take a sobering breath to try to clear her head.  "Okay,
so enlighten me."
     "I think what Ami is trying to suggest is that both Mina and Rei thought
that I was a danger to the Princess," Susan interjected.  "Had they pressed
their assault, things could have gotten out of hand in very short order as I
would have been obligated to defend myself."
     "Uh huh," Leda said neutrally as it finally sunk into her brain.  "And if
you don't mind my asking, how would you have gone about doing that?"
     Susan raised a slender eyebrow.  "Disarming Mina would have been the easy
part.  My response to Rei would have hinged on what exactly her spiritual wards
would have done to me, and no doubt, to Ami as well."
     Leda gave her a measured look before she glanced at Ami.  "Don't get me
wrong, Susan, you seem like a decent woman and all, which is why I guess I'm
rather inclined to trust you despite all this nonsense and talk about being a
demon.  Just do us all a favor and don't prove any of us wrong, okay?"
     "I shall endeavor not to," Susan replied dryly with a faint smile.
     Leda grunted quietly and glanced at Ami again, then turned back at Susan.
"Deal.  I'm gonna go see if I can talk to Rei without getting killed.  See you
two inside," she said evenly and walked towards the cathedral.  She paused in
the doorway long enough to give Ami a final measured look before she stepped
inside and closed the door gently.
     Ami sighed and turned to face Susan, a slightly icy chill crawling down
her back.  The silence seemed to stretch between them before the corners of
Susan's mouth twitched and she closed her eyes for a brief moment.
     Ami's eyes went wide and she took a step back as Susan's wings flared out
behind her, spreading slightly in the afternoon sunlight to cast a dark shadow
on the ground.  The icy chill turned even colder as Susan opened her eyes and
Ami could see the faint red glow in their depths.
     "You have nothing to fear, Ami," Susan said softly in a voice that made
Ami's pulse race.  She couldn't help but notice the sharp fangs in Susan's jaw,
razor-sharp teeth more suited to rending flesh from bone than merely piercing
a vein and drawing blood.
     She could feel the sudden change in the air, a subtle darkness enveloping
her like a cloak.  She found herself wanting to respond in kind, her vampiric
nature gently urging her to release the mental lock that kept it imprisoned.
She fought the urge before she saw Susan smile as she reached out to lightly
touch her cheek.
     "Don't fight it," the succubus said quietly.  "I want to see for myself."
     Ami felt a curious shiver of icy warmth from the touch and suddenly found
herself unable to resist the gentle lure any longer.  With a silent sigh, she
withdrew the internal barriers that kept her vampiric nature in a slumber and
allowed it to emerge.
     Susan watched with interest as Ami's medium-blue eyes darkened to a steel
blue shade.  She would have missed the subtle movement of descending fangs if
she hadn't been paying very close attention to Ami's upper lip, seeing the skin
twitch just slightly for a moment.
     The gentle surge of spiritual energy in her fingertips was unmistakable
as Ami's vampiric nature fully took hold.  It wasn't an evil feeling, as she
had suspected, but the dark potential was most certainly there.  She moved her
thumb very lightly and Ami's lips parted, allowing her a glimpse of the tiny
fangs on her upper jaw.
     Their eyes met for a moment and Susan smiled, a soft curving of her lips
as she studied what she felt was a kindred spirit.  "Ami?" Susan asked very
softly as time seemed to stop for a moment, "Will you permit me to probe your
soul for a moment?"
     Another eternity seemed to pass before Ami nodded slowly, steel-blue eyes
still entranced with glowing red eyes.  Susan leaned forward slightly to press
her lips against Ami's, sending a warm tingle through the vampire.
     Ami closed her eyes as the warmth flowed over her like a waterfall.  She
could feel the slightest of tickling sensations in her mind, similar to the
touch of a telepath but also quite different.  The kiss was unlike any other
kiss she had experienced before, and she was quite surprised with herself at
how depressed she became when the kiss was broken.
     Susan smiled gently as Ami blinked.  "The first kiss from a succubus is
always the most chaotic," she said softly.  "Our powers to tap into the soul
are used with our kiss, and the sensation is always a unique experience."
     Ami blinked again and brushed her fingertips across her lips.  "That was
definitely unique," she admitted quietly.  "Everyone I've ever bitten had said
that they have different reactions from one another."
     "Have you taken many people?" Susan asked gently.
     Ami shook her head.  "Not really, just the other Sailor Scouts."
     "You don't feed too often, do you?"
     "No, just once every other week."
     Susan laughed very softly.  "You feed about as often as I sleep," she said
with a note of amusement as she took a step back.
     Ami blinked hard as the dark wings were absorbed and the air around her
suddenly seemed to lighten by a degree.  A slight chill lingered in her veins
as she tried to shake off the sensation, gently forcing her vampiric nature to
return to a dormant state.  She waited until the feeling of loss had faded
before she looked up at Susan.  "You don't sleep?" she inquired.
     Susan shrugged.  "A few hours every now and then is sufficient.  Part of
my heritage, a demonic constitution that rarely takes a break," she admitted.
     Ami blinked at the concept.  "So what do you do with all that time?"
     "It depends," Susan explained.  "Granted there isn't exactly a profusion
of viable options available in the middle of the night, especially if you have
no desire to disturb any of your neighbors, but I do keep myself reasonably
occupied and entertained.  Painting is a favorite hobby of mine."
     Ami just shook her head.  "I think I'd go crazy if I didn't get to enjoy
sleep every night."
     Susan chuckled quietly.  "Actually, you would.  The human mind requires
a certain amount of time spent in REM sleep to remain functional and somewhat
sane.  Full demons never sleep, which is why I have a significantly reduced
need for sleeping and dreams.  Still, I am half-human after all, so I have a
few limitations imposed on me that other demons aren't burdened with."
     Ami gave her an uncertain look.  "You say that rather casually."
     "To most people, it seems that way," Susan replied.  "But you have to keep
in mind, I've had over seven hundred years to come to terms with what I am.
There was some concern at first, I assure you, but I've learned over time to
cope with what I am without hating myself each morning.  And before you ask,
yes that has been a problem at various points in my life.  As I'm sure you've
had your own experience with that particular subject," she added.
     Ami glanced away.  "Yeah, you can say that."
     "Come on," Susan said as she put her arm around Ami's shoulder.  "I think
we should go inside before the others start to worry too much."
     "Yeah," Ami said quietly as they walked towards the cathedral door.  The
door swung open as they reached it, Dyvach chittering a welcome to them as they
approached.  Ami felt a funny sensation as Susan stepped inside and she glanced
over at a window in the residential wing.  She saw nothing unusual and shook
her head, telling herself to calm down.  She sighed quietly and followed the
succubus inside, letting Dyvach close the door behind her.
     The pair of bottomless black eyes continued to stare out the window for a
few moments before vanishing back inside as the shutters closed.

                *               *               *               *

     K'tal rose to his feet and stood at rigid attention as the seven members
of the Internal Review's Board of Inquiry re-entered the room.  "Please stand
at ease, Commander, this one won't take long," the ranking member said as they
moved to their respective seats in the chamber.
     "Ma'am," K'tal said crisply as he clasped his hands behind his back.
     She sat down in the oversized high-backed chair and waited until the other
board members took their seats before leaning forward on her elbows.  "Based
on our initial review of the situation, to include sworn statements filed by
several material witnesses as well as by our staff of technical analysts, it is
our preliminary judgment that your actions pursuant to the cancellation of a
mandated exercise on technical and safety grounds were found to be proper and
correct.  While there are concerns about the manner in which your decision was
ultimately reached, specifically through the use of an unsanctioned warning
system, this Board of Inquiry does not view any action or decision from you or
your division as meriting further official scrutiny beyond already established
guidelines and procedures for such reviews."
     "Thank you, ma'am," K'tal said as he breathed a silent sigh of relief.
The idea of spending any length of time under Internal Review's high-powered
microscope was universally recognized as one of the more unpleasant experiences
the Negaverse military had to offer commanding officers, and the mere prospect
of such an extended review was enough to chill anyone's blood.
     She looked up at him with a look of warning in her eyes.  "There will be
a full and routine investigation into this incident, Commander, as this is only
our preliminary findings, so I would not be so quick to relax.  This is still
a rather serious matter and one that warrants our full attention."
     I'll bet it does, K'tal thought to himself.  "Understood, ma'am."
     She glanced to her sides for a moment, getting subtle nods of assent in
response, before she returned her focus to the Dragoon Commander.  "Off the
record, I don't know what the t'zarn happened, but I don't look forward to
having to sort this one out.  This one reeks, and I'm reasonably sure that
everyone in this room is well-acquainted with the stench that I am referring
to.  Speaking only for myself and not as a member of this Board of Inquiry, I
would like to thank you for not accidentally starting yet another civil war."
     She sighed and leaned back in her armchair.  "For the record, Commander,
we find that the issue in question, while far from being a closed case, is one
that we do not anticipate any undue difficulty in bringing to a conclusion what
appears to be a serious technical glitch, one in which you, of course, cannot
be held accountable for as the referenced system in question was properly and
duly registered as being unavailable for emergency maintenance.  Barring any
serious or radical developments, a notation will appear in your record stating
that your presence before this Board of Inquiry is a routine matter and thus
should not in any way reflect negatively on you.  Do you have any questions?"
     K'tal snapped back to rigid attention.  "No questions, ma'am."
     "Very well then," she said as she and the other board members stood up.
"This session of the Board of Inquiry is adjourned.  Dismissed, Commander."
     He waited for the double doors to close behind them before he sagged back
into his chair, his breath leaving his body in an exodus of exhaustion.  He
waited until he could no longer hear his heartbeat pounding in his ears before
sighing and rising to his feet, trying to relax as he made his way towards the
chamber's exit.
     "Well?" Ael'ien said as he stepped out into the hallway.
     "What, don't the grill marks show?" he said with a straight face as he
checked his backside for burns.  "I told you I wasn't worried about IR."
     She reached out and grabbed his wrist, holding two fingers against the
major veins used to check a pulse.  "Really?  How strange, you don't usually
have a heart rate in the triple-digits, do you?" she observed.  "That, and you
look like you've been sweating.  What were you doing in there, exercises?"
     He grumbled quietly and yanked his hand out of her grasp.  "Stuff a wet
rakketh in it, Ael, you know being before a board like that would make a rock
experience some signs of stress."
     Ael'ien rolled her eyes.  "Believe me, I know.  Sticking around as a
neutral observer was probably a bad idea, seeing how it was my turn to bask in
their spotlight an hour ago.  So what did they say?"
     K'tal shrugged and started walking down the corridor.  "It sounds like
they're going to take the electronic fault approach," he sighed.  "Although I
got the impression that they already had an idea what the real problem was."
     "Politics," the telepath spat as she gave in to a momentary impulse and
did the telekinetic equivalent of slamming her fist against the wall.
     K'tal blinked hard as a dent appeared in a panel on the wall next to him
with a sharp crack.  "Hey, watch where you put that thing."
     "Sorry, I just...." she said, then trailed off unexpectedly.
     K'tal blinked and looked at her, a frown forming on his face as he noticed
her expression momentarily going vacant.  He knew from past experiences with
telepaths that they sometimes momentarily lose touch with reality when dealing
with something that required their attention on a psionic level.  "Problem?"
he asked when she blinked and refocused.
     "Psi-Net broadcast for me, something about a level 2 message," she said
with a sigh.
     The frown on his face deepened.  "Psi-Net?" he echoed.  He had heard of
the term in passing before, but never got around to asking anyone about it.
     "Psi-Net is basically a public broadcast system used by telepaths," she
explained as she got her bearings and walked down the corridor, forcing K'tal
to have to walk fast to keep up with her.  "If there is something of importance
that needs to get to a recipient, it is sent out as a high-powered broadcast
that only a psionically-attuned individual can sense.  Any telepath who hears
it then re-broadcasts it as loudly as they can.  The concept is that eventually
the message will reach the intended individual."
     "Sounds messy," K'tal commented.  "And wouldn't a page work just as well?"
     Ael'ien shrugged.  "Probably, but I don't have a commlink with me right
now, we're in a shielded area, and the Psi-Net concept has been around about
as long as psionics have, which is essentially since the dawn of Time."
     They both dodged around a pair of maintenance workers trying to repair a
broken elevator shaft and headed for the staircase.  "Doesn't that annoy the
other telepaths, however?" K'tal inquired.
     "That's what broadcast shields are for," she replied.  "Not everyone keeps
a psionic ear tuned to broadcasts, but enough do to make it worthwhile to use
when something has to go out.  You can call it a social culture unto itself."
     "Sounds like fun," he said neutrally as they jogged down the stairs to the
ground level of the building.  "So where are we going?"
     "I'm going over here," she said pointedly as she strode over to a bank of
public network terminals.  "You might want to have a seat and contact your own
staff," she added as she pointed to an empty terminal.
     K'tal shrugged as they both sat down and tapped into their respective
networks.  "Lovely," K'tal grunted as he accessed his messaging system and the
icon for a Level-2 Priority message promptly lit up.
     Ael'ien was busy reading her own message and barely glanced over at him.
"Mine's from Rune about the ceremony for tomorrow.  Yours?"
     "Same.  Full-armor ceremonial uniforms?" he grunted.
     "Could be worse," the telepath replied as she keyed in an acknowledgement
and forwarded copies of the message to her the rest of her staff.  "At least
the Dragoon Legion has some impressive ceremonial armor."
     K'tal just shook his head.  "You think Hospitality is going to be there?"
     She blinked hard at the thought and gave him a stunned look.  "Are you
kidding?  Who do you think is going to be catering this event?"
     He leaned back and put his hands behind his head.  "In full ceremonial
uniforms, or what passes for their idea of uniforms?" he added with a grin.
     She sighed and rested her forehead on the display screen.  The Hospitality
division of the military's support branch was a questionable one at best, often
being compared to sanctioned prostitution among other services as their role
was officially described as "offering physical, mental, and spiritual support
and relief to maintain a balanced standard of health and well-being".
     "Yes, Commander, I am reasonably sure there will be an abundance of women
in attendance who will be in uniforms of varying degrees of modesty," she said
dryly.  She thought about it for a moment before adding with a shrug, "Odds are
there will be a fair number of men following a similar dress code as well, so
I guess I can't complain too loudly...."
     "Something to be said for equal opportunity," K'tal added.
     "Only if you like scantily-clad men."
     "And a youthful woman like yourself doesn't?"
     Ael'ien shot him a withering look.  "Spare me your flattery."
     K'tal chuckled quietly to himself as he composed a quick memo to Master
Chief D'Nina and several other key chiefs.  "What, trying to say you're not as
young as you look?"
     She sighed heavily.  "And how young do I look?"
     He paused typing and looked at her carefully.  "All kidding aside?  Right
around four seventy-five."
     "Four eighty-two," she replied with a raised eyebrow.  "You?"
     "Your turn to guess," he said with a smirk as he resumed typing.
     "You're a pain in the ptanka, you know that?"
     "I live to serve the throne and the military," K'tal replied smoothly.
"Any pleasure or pain inflicted on others in pursuit of that is incidental."
     Ael'ien just sighed again.  "Any idea just how many people have wanted to
return the favor?" she muttered.
     He paused typing again and cast a sidelong glance at her.  "Which part,
returning pain or returning pleasure?"
     She took a slow, deep breath and vented it out her nose.  "You're asking
for a psi-spike, you know that...."
     "Can I get a package deal?" he inquired.  "A little of both?  You know,
just to balance it all out."     
     It took her a few seconds to decide how exactly to respond to that one.
"Commander K'tal, do you really enjoy needling people that much?" she sighed.
     "Absolutely, my dear Captain," he replied smoothly.  "So easy to keep my
temper while watching other people lose their own.  Yes, it backfires with
regularity, but the overall track record is.... amusing."
     She sighed heavily again and found herself staring at the monitor.  "What
was I doing?" she muttered as she struggled to remember.
     "You really want me to answer that?" K'tal suggested as he hit the enter
key to send his message out.  He then leaned back in the chair as his vision
seemed to explode into sparks, the optical nerves briefly overloaded by the
surge of psionic energy that lanced through his mind.  "On second thought...."
he said very calmly through gritted teeth.
     "Thinking is a dangerous habit for you," she said lightly as she finished
composing her own message to her staff and sent it out.  She blinked hard when
she felt his hand on her shoulder and her psionic shields flared under a brief
but forceful psi-spike.  "Hey!" she protested as her head snapped around, her
eyes wide.  "You're not supposed to be psionic, how'd you do that?"
     "What comes around, goes around," K'tal said quietly and lightly squeezed
her shoulder, a sudden weariness appearing on his face.  "I can't quite defend
against most of the abilities that I find myself exposed to, but what I can do
is try to give them a taste of their own medicine."
     Ael'ien blinked hard at the idea.  "Reflective or mimetic?"
     "Mimetic, but at a serious energy cost," K'tal admitted.  "It only works
for a few seconds after I've been exposed before the imprint fades, and even
then it's pretty much a one-shot deal."
     She nodded slowly and rubbed her temples for a brief moment.  Like most
telepaths, she kept a subconscious psionic barrier continually in place to
prevent casual or unexpected mental attacks from doing damage.  Her shield had
been able to deflect and absorb K'tal's return psi-spike without harm, but the
sheer surprise of it was still enough to give her a brief headache.  "I'll say
this much for you, K'tal, you're full of surprises."
     He shrugged dismissively.  "It's kept me alive so far."
     "We can fix that for you," she suggested.
     K'tal opened his mouth to deliver a retort when both their terminals made
a flat chiming sound at the same time.  "Now what?" K'tal grumbled as they
focused their attention to the new high-priority message.  "Another one from
Rune.  Busy woman today, isn't she?"
     "Wouldn't you be if you were in charge of everything?" Ael'ien replied
quietly as she opened the message.  "To Captain Ael'ien, Psi-Corp Commanding
Officer, your presence is.... don't you just love it when it's a 'request' and
not a simple order?"
     "Maybe someone was nice to her last night or something."
     "K'tal!"
     He shrugged.  "Hey, we all have our needs, and I'm sure General Rune is
no exception.  It's not the most pleasant of images, granted, but still...."
     "Thank you, Commander."
     "Anytime, anyplace, Captain."
     She grumbled quietly as she debated the merits of tagging him with another
psi-spike.  "I'll give you anytime, anyplace," she muttered as she settled for
the mental equivalent of a poke in the shoulder.
     "Can that wait until we're both off-duty?" he suggested casually as he
felt his mind twinge gently.  He pointedly ignored the look he received and
tapped the screen.  "According to this, Rune is going to hold a holographic
meeting with all the divisional and theater commanders in three hours from the
Royal Chamber."
     The telepath sighed and turned her attention back to business.  "Lovely.
Full dress uniform today, full ceremonial armor tomorrow.  I'm glad I had them
both cleaned last week on a hunch."
     K'tal nodded absently as he keyed in an acknowledgement.  "Precognition
or just the infamous woman's intuition?"
     She wrinkled her nose.  "Who knows, who cares, just as long as it works."
     "True, true," he admitted as he composed a brief message to Quartermaster
V'Lan to double-check on the condition of the racks of ceremonial armor stored
in the Dragoon Headquarters Complex and to arrange for the transferal of any
replacements from the Lex'eri storage facility if needed.  The computer made
a soft beep as the message was transmitted and he sighed quietly.  "Okay, so
now what?"
     Ael'ien ran her fingers through her hair walnut-brown hair as she looked
at the chronometer on the lower corner of the console display.  "How about
grabbing lunch?  I knew I forgot to do something earlier."
     "That doesn't sound like a bad idea," he mused as he checked a few other
low-importance messages waiting for him.  "Nothing from a grill, though, as
I've had my fill of being roasted by Internal Review for one day, and I'm not
inclined to trust what they serve in the dining hall in this building."
     Ael'ien waited for a few seconds to see if there was a punchline she was
missing.  "And why not?" she asked guardedly.
     He shrugged casually.  "I make it a habit of not eating at a place called
Internal Review, as that sounds like a medical exam procedure."
     "Thanks for the mental image," she muttered as she felt her stomach turn
sour at the thought.  "Okay, how does my cooking grab you?  My quarters aren't
too far from here."
     K'tal blinked hard.  "If your cooking grabs me, odds are it's not edible
yet, and I'm not a fan of anything like ne'ahk that is supposed to be mobile
in the first place," he said guardedly.
     She gave him a mildly insulted look.  "I think I know how to cook," she
said with a slight edge to her tone.  She paused as she noticed the faint look
of unease on K'tal's face.  "What, don't like the idea of visiting a fellow
officer's quarters for lunch?"
     He blinked again.  "What?  Oh, no, it's nothing like that."
     A thought popped into her mind and she narrowed her eyes at him.  "K'tal,
be honest.  Coming over to my quarters bothers you, doesn't it?"
     K'tal debated on his choices for a response before settling for a simple
version of the truth.  "A little," he ventured.
     The corners of her lips curled up in a smile.  "Good."
     "Good?" he echoed, blinking hard.
     "Yes, good," she said smugly.  "It's about time I found something that
bothers you as much as you tend to bother me."
     The Dragoon thought long and hard about that one.  "Thank you?" he said
tentatively, still not sure of how she had meant it.
     She just shook her head as she logged out of the remote network.  "You're
hopeless, Commander, you know that?"
     K'tal just shrugged as he closed his connection down as well.  "Well, I
can think of several ways you could have meant that, and decided to go with the
one that is least likely to get myself in more trouble."
     The telepath paused for a moment.  "How do you think I meant it?"
     "Are you asking me to get myself in trouble, Captain?  We do have laws
about self-incrimination, you know...."
     She gave him a withering look for a moment, then blinked when she noticed
that he was still somewhat edgy for some reason.  "I'm waiting," she said in a
wary tone.  She blinked again when she noticed that he seemed to blush for a
brief moment as he turned away to clear his display screen.   she telepathed to him on impulse.
     She could see the sudden tension in his shoulders before he turned to give
her an odd look.  "Hard to say what one doesn't know," he said carefully.
     Ael'ien chewed on the bottom edge of her lip for a moment as a feeling of
curiosity started to gnaw at her.  
     He reached out to gently lay a hand on her shoulder, using his mimetic
power to momentarily duplicate her psionic ability.  
his voice gently intruded into her mind.
      she suggested.
     
     She paused as a tiny droplet of ice seemed to crawl down her back.   she inquired.
     "In exactly the same way as you meant your first statement, however that
turns out to be," K'tal said quietly as he became too exhausted to replicate
her power any further.
     It was as if a switch had been turned on inside her mind, the realization
of the whole situation and the possible ways it could be taken coming as an
icy shock to her.  "Well, this just got interesting," she finally commented.
     He nodded slowly.  "Yes, and to be perfectly blunt, Ael, I'm quite afraid
to find out just how interesting."
     The telepath blinked and tilted her head to one side.  "We could always
just sit down and sort this out like reasonable adults," she suggested.
     K'tal sighed and rubbed his face with his hands.  "Might have to wait
until the worst of this current situation with General Nop'tera blows over,"
he said wearily.  "Don't think we can afford to be distracted right now."
     "Oh, I don't know," she said casually.  "Distractions can be useful."
     He blinked hard.  "Now you're starting to scare me."
     She laughed quietly.  "Please.  Just think of it as returning the favor
for all the uneasiness you've dealt out to others."
     K'tal shook his head.  "What scares me is that you might be serious."
     She paused for a moment to consider that.  "I haven't decided."
     "So we're back to where we started," he said with a soft grunt.
     She gave him a shrug of dismissal.  "As I said, we can sit down and work
it out like adults."
     "Later," he sighed.
     "Maybe," she countered.  "If letting this persist without an answer is
going to be a distraction, then it needs to be answered."
     He raised an eyebrow as he leaned against the partition separating the
two terminals.  "Answering this might also be equally distracting."
     "Commander K'tal, are you suggesting that either of us would be unable to
perform our duties simply because of a possible change in friendship?" she said
in a level tone.  "I don't know how you view yourself, but I find that one to
be quite an insult."
     K'tal had the grace to look abashed as he realized her point.  "Well, when
you put it like that...." he admitted with obvious trepidation.
     "So glad you see things my way for a change," she said with a smirk as she
stood up.  "Now come on, I'm hungry and want to get some lunch."  She turned to
leave and realized that K'tal was still sitting down.  "What?"
     "At your place, right?" he said, still visibly edgy with the idea.
     She sighed.  "Yes, K'tal, you and I are going to go have lunch over at my
quarters, after which we will hash this one out.  And before you start to give
me that protest I know you're thinking about, by all rights I outrank you and
can make this an order if need be."
     He raised an eyebrow.  "You know technical rank is irrelevant as we are
both divisional commanders," he said guardedly.
     "The Psi-Corp was founded before the Dragoon Legion was, and you know the
laws about how that resolves itself.  Face it, I have a higher place on the
proverbial food-chain than you do, so let's not get into a pissing contest
unless you want to lose to a woman," she said with a grin.
     K'tal snorted.  "Wouldn't be the first time that's happened," he muttered.
     She shrugged.  "It's called being outranked.  You get used to it."
     "Who said I was talking about rank?" he replied with a faint smile.
     Ael'ien paused and gave him a wary look.  "I don't want to know, do I?"
     He gave her a wicked grin.  "Asrial can be fun when she's drunk."
     She sighed and buried her face in her hands.  "Too much information."
     "You asked," he said as he rose to his feet.
     "Not like that," she replied dourly.  "Let's go, Commander."
     "I still have a bad feeling about this...."
     "K'tal?"
     "Yes, ma'am?"
     "One thing at a time.  Worry about lunch first."
     "Yes, ma'am."
     "You're going to annoy me with that all day now, aren't you?"
     "Yes, ma'am."
     "Thank you, Commander."
     "I live to serve, ma'am."

                *               *               *               *

     Ami and Susan entered the living room of the cathedral just in time to
catch Michelle walking out of the kitchen with a roll of paper towels in her
hands.  She gave them both a sour look as she tried in vain to wring the rest
of the cherry soda out of her aquamarine gown.  "Susan, what is this stuff?"
she grumbled.  "It smells entirely too sweet and it's rather sticky."
     Ami raised an eyebrow.  "I think Mina said it was soda."
     "A sugar-based drink infused with carbon dioxide for texture," Susan said
in response to Michelle's blank look.  "The gas is also what makes it fizz."
     "So how does it come out?" Michelle asked as she wrinkled her nose.
     "It will come out when you wash it," Susan replied.  "For the present,
you should just go change into something more comfortable and worry about the
gown later.  Where's Alex?"
     Michelle just shook her head.  "Trying to help Mina make some herbal tea
without melting anything," she said ruefully.
     A knowing smirk appeared on Ami's face as Susan just shook her head.  "It
is a questionable comfort in this case to know some things haven't changed."
     Michelle shrugged and stepped back into the kitchen to put the roll of
paper towels on the counter.  "It makes it easier on us, I think," she said as
she gave Ami a shy smile.  "You still like cold weather, Ami?"
     Ami blinked at the unexpected question.  "It depends on my mood and how
cold you're talking about, but I don't have much of a problem with it."
     "See?" Michelle said with a faint giggle.  "I'll be back," she added as
she walked down the corridor towards the residential wing.  She went to open
the door to the bedroom she shared with Alex when she noticed Leda further
down the hallway, knocking on another door.
     "I know you're in there, Rei," Leda was saying.  "You wanna talk for a
sec?  Hey, listen, I...." she started to say as the door opened.
     Michelle gasped as Rei stepped into the doorway and promptly put her full
weight behind a right cross that caught the brunette squarely on the jaw,
rocking her back on her heels.
     "Don't you EVER do that again!" Rei snarled, her eyes smouldering with
barely restrained rage.  "Mina and I were terrified that something was wrong
with Serena, and you could have gotten someone seriously hurt!"
     Leda's expression hardened as she took a step back and brought her fingers
up to the corner of her mouth.  "You know, Rei," she said slowly in an even
voice, "Ami already bitched me out about it, which made me realize just how
stupid that was, so I was coming here to apologize for upsetting you.  You have
my word that I won't do something like that again."
     Rei snorted in distain and brushed past her, intent on walking back toward
the living room.  She paused when she felt Leda gently but firmly grabbing her
wrist, forcing her to turn around.
     Leda raised her other hand to show Rei the blood that was flowing out from
the cut on the inside of her mouth.  "Now having said all that," she said in a
low, flat tone, "Let me just make it clear that, however wrong I was.... hit
me like that again and I'll put you in the hospital, friendship be damned."
     Rei said nothing as she tugged her wrist free and turned her back on the
fuming brunette, walking back up the corridor.  She gave Michelle a sidelong
glance as she passed her but otherwise didn't acknowledge her presence, turning
the corner and disappearing from sight.
     Michelle blinked hard and looked back at Leda, a chill enveloping her as
she watched her dab at the trickle of blood on her jaw.  "Not the best way it
could have gone, huh?" the brunette said with a heavy sigh.
     "Are you alright?" Michelle asked nervously, mindful of what Leda's temper
was like in the distant past.
     Leda snorted.  "I'll be fine.  I'm not entirely sure I deserved that, but
I'm not going to make an issue of it.  This time," she added darkly as she
stepped into the hallway bathroom.
     Michelle shivered lightly and ducked into her bedroom to change, deciding
on a rather simple cream-colored blouse and pale blue skirt.  She left the
soda-stained gown hanging from the shower curtain, unsure of what else to do
about the garment.  She stepped out of the bedroom and came within a fraction
of an inch of running face-first into Alex, startling them both.
     "Whoa, hey, watch it," Alex yelped as she took a quick step back.
     "Sorry," Michelle apologized with a pale blush of embarrassment.
     Alex just shook her head and moved forward to slide her arms around her
lover's waist.  "I don't mind being close to you, hon, just warn me if you're
in a mood to get THAT close," she teased softly before melding her lips to
Michelle's in a soft kiss.
     Michelle made an almost silent moan as she leaned back against the wall,
losing herself in the warmth of the moment spent with the one person who meant
everything to her.  The feeling was abruptly dispelled by a soft cough from
behind Alex, and they quickly broke apart to see what the disturbance was.
     "I'm not interrupting anything, am I?" Leda asked, her eyebrows arched up
to her hairline and a rather bemused expression on her face.  A faint bruise
was already visible along her jaw, and it gave every indication of becoming a
quite prominent bruise before sundown.
     Alex looked back at Michelle in time to study the fierce blush spreading
across her face.  "Nah, not really," the blonde said casually as she winked at
Michelle.  "I just like the way her kiss tastes."
     "Alex!" Michelle protested softly, her blush deepening by three shades.
     Leda paused for a moment and tilted her head.  "I take it you two are a
couple or something?" she said hesitantly.
     Alex chuckled and squeezed Michelle's waist gently.  "Hell yes.  As cute
as she is, who wouldn't want to be with her?" she said coyly, grinning as the
blush on Michelle's face took on an even darker hue.
     Leda alternated her glances between them for a moment before shrugging her
shoulders.  "Hey, to each their own.  I had a girlfriend like her once, so I
know how much fun it can be."
     Both Michelle and Alex blinked hard before exchanging glances.  "Huh," the
blonde said quietly.  "Nice to know you still keep an open mind about such
things, but I thought you only liked guys.  At least, you did back in the Moon
Kingdom," she amended.
     Leda shrugged again and leaned against the wall.  "I had a boyfriend once,
and it was a miserable experience, so I didn't protest too much when a good
friend of mine made a move on me.  I'm glad she did, too, and believe me when
I say it was fun while it lasted."
     "Huh," Alex repeated quietly.  "Learn something new every day."
     "Did you two break up?" Michelle asked gently.
     "Hell no," Leda sighed as she seemed to wilt like a dead flower.  "She and
I were like how you two were three minutes ago.  She.... she died in a freak
accident when a car hit some ice and skidded onto the sidewalk."
     Both Michelle and Alex cringed at the thought, and Alex reached out to put
a comforting hand on the brunette's shoulder.  "I'm sorry, Leda, we didn't mean
to dredge that up," she said quietly.
     "Nah, it's okay, it's been over a year now," Leda replied as she sighed
and pushed herself off the wall.  "I miss her a lot some nights, but I have
friends like Ami and Serena to keep me company.  Not like that," she added as
Alex raised an eyebrow.  "They're just my best friends, that's all."
     Alex chuckled quietly.  "Had me worried for a second, girl.  Ami doesn't
strike me as that type, and you probably couldn't pry the Princess away from
Darian with a crowbar."
     "You're right on both counts, which is a bit of a pity," Leda said dryly.
She paused as she noticed Alex taking a sobering breath and Michelle giving
her a slightly concerned look.  "I happen to like Ami," she explained.
     "Ahh, okay," the blonde replied as both she and Michelle breathed silent
sighs of relief.
     Leda gave them a slightly puzzled look.  "You both are really concerned
about how Serena has turned out, aren't you?"
     Michelle nodded.  "She's the Princess, we're supposed to look after her,"
she said simply.
     "We've been dragged across time and space for a reason," Alex added, "And
it's not just so we can have another cup of Rei's herbal tea.  Speaking of
which, I hope Mina hasn't set fire to anything in the kitchen yet...."
     The brunette repressed a shiver.  "Believe me, that wouldn't be a first
around here.  Fortunately, Dyvach has been always able to take care of matters
before the fire-suppression system went off, but still....  Hey, you okay?" she
asked as Michelle shuddered.
     "I'm fine," she said quietly.
     Alex smirked and wrapped her arm around Michelle's shoulders.  "Mich here
doesn't like spiders," she explained.  "Especially the big freaky ones that
change colors, eat glass, belch fire, and then try to talk to you."
     "Oh, come on, Dyvach is perfectly harmless and very friendly," Leda said
with an airy wave of her hand.  "Yeah, he takes a few days to get used to, and
even longer before you can understand him, but trust me, he's a good friend."
     Michelle gave her an odd look.  "Is Dyvach a he or an it?"
     Leda craned her neck to look up at the ceiling.  "Tolaris keeps trying to
explain why Dyvach is technically an it, but I think that's just a little on
the dehumanizing side."
     Alex raised an eyebrow.  "Uhh, Leda?  Dyvach isn't human, so...."
     The brunette gave her a slightly unamused look.  "You know what I mean."
     "Can I ask you a question?" Michelle inquired.
     "Sure," Leda replied as she leaned back against the wall.  "I'm not sure
I can guarantee an answer, of course, but you know how it goes."
     "Of course," Alex echoed dryly.
     Michelle lightly nudged her in the ribs.  "I heard earlier that both you
and Ami have boyfriends right now, or are at least interested in someone," she
said cautiously.
     Leda gave her a slightly wary look.  "Yeah, something like that...."
     "Would it be too nosy to ask you to tell us about them?" Michelle asked.
     "Well...." the brunette said slowly.  "Ami is dating Tolaris, if that's
what you're fishing for."
     "Partly," Alex said in a guarded tone.  "We heard that you had a.... how
the hell did she put it?.... a romantic interest who isn't human.  We were just
curious as to what exactly that meant."
     Leda narrowed her eyes.  "And who told you that one?" she demanded.
     "Susan," Alex and Michelle replied in unison.
     Leda blinked.  "And who told her?"
     Alex just shook her head.  "That's just Susan for you.  She has ways of
knowing all sorts of tidbits of information you simply wouldn't think it'd be
remotely possible to independently learn on her own, but she somehow manages to
do precisely that anyway."
     Leda sighed quietly and absently rubbed the bruise on her jaw.  "Look, I
don't want you girls getting the wrong idea or anything, but I'm not quite sure
I want to start babbling on about our relationship.  I think there are roughly
four dozen people on this whole planet who have more than half a clue that the
Negaverse even exists, probably only seven or eight of them know anything about
Felinoids, and I dearly want to keep it that way."
     Alex gave her a blank look.  "What the hell is a Felinoid?"
     "You don't have to explain it to us if you don't want to," Michelle said
gently as Leda sighed and buried her face in her hands.  "We just want to get
to know you better, that's all."
     "Yeah, yeah," Leda said with another sigh.  "And seeing how you're both
Sailor Scouts as well, we'll probably be working along side one another next
time some militant nutball from the Negaverse wants to come play.  I just don't
want you to get the wrong impression about us, that's all."
     Alex chuckled and slipped her arm around Michelle's waist.  "Relax, hon,
if you can barely bat an eyelash at Mich and I, returning the open-minded favor
shouldn't be all that difficult."
     "Ooooookay," Leda said guardedly.  "His name is Reish'id, and the easiest
way to describe him is he's a giant black panther."
     "What?" Alex said, blinking in surprise.
     Leda shrugged.  "I don't have a picture of him, which would be a bad idea
if it got loose and into the wrong hands, but he's a bit taller than I am when
he stands on his hind legs.  Jet black fur, very soft to the touch."
     Alex and Michelle exchanged slightly stunned glances.  "You're serious,"
Alex stated in disbelief.  "A giant black panther?  You mean like one of those
really, really large mountain cats?"
     "Yup."
     "Guy or girl?" Alex wondered as she lightly scratched her chin.
     "He's a guy," Leda said with a chuckle.
     "He able to please you in bed?"
     "ALEX!!" Michelle said with a mortified expression.
     The brunette snorted derisively.  "Remember what I said about getting the
wrong idea?"
     Alex nodded her head in apology.  "Yeah, my mistake, sorry.  I was just
wondering if that was even possible, seeing how you two are from different
species and all...."
     Leda gave her a faint chuckle of amusement.  "Our friendship isn't based
on how good he is in bed, but I have to say I don't have any real complaints
in that particular department.  Not that I have much to compare it to, aside
from that punk I first dated, but that's not the point."
     Michelle lightly rubbed Alex's neck as the blonde sighed and began to
massage her temples.  "Bad mental image," she groused.  "So how exactly would
you characterize your relationship?"
     Leda thought about it for a moment.  "Probably somewhere between 'friends
with benefits' and 'the love of my life'.  Don't get me wrong, he means quite
a lot to me, but I'm not sure I'd want to settle down with him or anything."
     "Looking for a good time, not a long time, eh?" Alex quipped.
     Michelle frowned at her.  "That's not very fair," she quietly protested.
     Leda raised an eyebrow.  "So what about you two?"
     "She's mine and she's not going anywhere," Michelle promptly said as Alex
opened her mouth to speak.
     Alex gave Leda a classic what-can-you-do shrug.  "The feelings are quite
mutual, so I guess you could say we're together for the long haul."
     "You guess?" Michelle asked archly.
     Alex blinked.  "Something in particular you're trying to tell me, hon?"
     Michelle promptly yanked the blonde close, wrapping her in a sensuous
embrace and giving her a passionate kiss that was enough to make Leda blush
just from watching it.
     "I'll be back later," she murmured as she edged past them and walked
down the corridor, leaving the two lovers behind to express their passion for
one another in their own fashion.  She had almost reached the living room when
a strange smell wafted past her nose, causing her to pause in mid-motion and
try to identify it.
     "Yeech," she muttered to herself as she began speed-walking towards the
kitchen.  "Mina, what did you do now?" she demanded as she entered what she
often thought of as her own private domain.
     "I followed Rei's instructions!" Mina protested as she waved a dishtowel
over the kettle of boiling water.  "Don't ask me why it reeks...."
     Leda glanced at the counter and the small hand-labeled jars of herbs that
Rei usually kept half-hidden on the top row of the spice rack.  "Did you use
tablespoons or teaspoons?" the brunette asked warily.
     "Rei said one teaspoon of each," Mina replied curtly as she pointed to the
spoon she had used.
     Leda groaned inwardly, realizing that Mina had used a literal spoon used
for stirring drinks instead of the set of measured cooking spoons.  "You use a
heaping scoop or a level scoop?" she asked, already knowing the answer.
     The blonde blinked.  "Umm.... explain the difference between the two?"
     "Never mind," Leda sighed as she grabbed the pot off the stove and fished
out the permeable basket, pouring the contents of the former down the drain and
emptying the latter into the trash can.
     "Hey!" Mina protested with a very unhappy look on her face.
     "Let me show you how it's done," the brunette replied, knowing full-well
it was a wasted effort.  She then dug out the measuring spoons and began the
agonizing process of trying to teach the still-upset blonde how to measure a
level teaspoon of tea herbs without making a mess of things.
     Ami poked her head into the kitchen with a sour look on her face.  "What
exactly is that smell?" she inquired carefully as she edged back behind the
corner, trying to keep her nose as far away from the kitchen as possible.
     "I've got it under control," Leda said absently as she measured out the
last herbal blend and dumped it in the tea basket.  She snapped it shut and
tossed it back into the empty kettle.  "Now, all you need to do is add eight
measured cups of water," she told Mina, emphasizing the word measured.  "Then
bring it to a slow boil.  Here, use this," she added as she got the measured
Pyrex cup out from the cabinet.  "Whenever a recipe calls for a cup of liquid,
you always use a measured cup like this.  Always."
     "Alright, I got it," Mina groused quietly.
     Leda was debating on whether or not she wanted to stick around to make
absolutely certain that the blonde wouldn't mess things up when she glanced up
and noticed Ami giving her a slightly odd look.  "What?"
     Ami gestured to the hall behind her.  "Got a moment?" she asked quietly.
     "Slow boil, Mina, so turn the heat down a notch," Leda said as she walked
out of the kitchen.  "There's no rush, and people will usually wait for some
good tea."  She followed Ami down the hallway for about twenty feet before Ami
stopped and turned around, giving her another odd look.
     "What's up?" Leda asked as she leaned against the wall.  She blinked and
sighed heavily when Ami reached out to lightly run her fingertips along the
darkening bruise on her jaw.  "Don't ask," she grumbled.
     "I'm asking anyway," Ami replied.  "What happened?"
     Leda shrugged.  "Rei's in a mood," she said simply.
     Ami blinked hard.  "She hit you?" she said incredulously.
     "Pretty solidly, I might add.  I guess Luna's exercises are paying off,"
Leda replied casually.  "If anyone else had tried it they'd be needing a doctor
by now, but I'm just chalking that one up as a point being made and leaving it
at that.  Of course, if she tries it again she WILL need a doctor, but what
comes around goes around...."
     Ami just buried her face in her hands.  "Leda, what are we going to do
with you?" she said with a heavy sigh.  She looked up and turned around as she
heard a quiet chuckle behind her.
     "If it's any consolation, we've been asking that question for years now,"
Alex said with a grin.  She had changed out of her gown and was now wearing a
pair of dark gray sweatpants with a matching colored tanktop.  Beside her,
Michelle just shook her head and did her best not to give in to the smile that
was tugging at the corners of her lips.
     Leda smirked back.  "Boy, that was fast.  I thought you two would be busy
rumpling the sheets by now," she teased.
     Alex chuckled quietly while Michelle's face turned crimson.  "There's a
time and place for everything," the blonde replied.  "Besides, I just put this
on," she added as she tugged on the front of her tanktop.  "No sense in going
to all the effort of putting it on if it comes back off in five minutes."
     "Maybe," Leda countered with a shrug.  "Depends on why it's being worn.
Or for whom," she added with a wink at Michelle, causing her blush to darken.
     "Do I want to ask what you're talking about?" Ami asked with a slightly
confused expression on her face.
     Leda chuckled quietly.  "Give them a few minutes, they'll end up showing
you eventually."
     Ami sighed heavily as she glared at Leda for a moment, then glanced over
at the bemused Alex and still-blushing Michelle.  "What's going on?"
     Alex smirked and ran her hand up and down Michelle's back lightly.  "You
tell her, hon, I just want to watch her expression," she said with a wink.
     Michelle blushed even harder and gave Ami a shy smile.  "Alex and I have
been lovers for awhile now," she said demurely.
     "Oh," was all Ami could say as she blinked hard.  She looked over at Alex
and noticed that the blonde was highly amused at the situation.  Behind her,
Leda's soft chuckle of amusement only added to her slight discomfort.
     "That doesn't bother you, does it?" Alex asked.
     Ami sighed softly and shook her head.  "Not really," she replied.  "It's
a bit of a surprise, but it's not anything I can't deal with."
     "I should hope not," Leda murmured quietly with a soft smile, drawing a
weary and unamused look from Ami.
     "Did Mina burn the tea yet?" Alex said, more to try to break the sudden
shift in mood than out of genuine curiosity.
     Leda rolled her eyes.  "Be careful what you wish for."
     Alex just shrugged.  "Hey, I'm just wondering, that's all....  What?" she
asked as Michelle sniffed the air.
     "Something smells good," she said, causing everyone else to test the air.
     "I'll be damned, she got it right this time," Leda said in amazement as
she inhaled deeply.
     Alex chuckled and lightly ran her fingers across the back of Michelle's
neck.  "Maybe there's hope for her after all," she mused.  "C'mon, love, let's
go see how it turned out."
     Ami remained in place, silently watching as Alex and Michelle walked up
the hallway and turned the corner into the kitchen.  She shook her head to
herself before she caught Leda's gaze out of the corner of her eye.  "Yes?"
     Leda gave her a soft smile.  "Nothing."
     Ami paused, giving the brunette a slightly suspicious look.  "Go ahead
and tell me what's on your mind," she said warily.
     "Sure about that?" Leda inquired, arching her eyebrows.  She got a stony
look of impatience in response and shrugged to herself.  "I was just thinking
about their relationship and wondering...."
     "Keep going," Ami said in a neutral tone.
     Leda sighed quietly and looked her square in the eyes.  "I was wondering
what you would do if I ever got the courage to make a serious pass at you," she
managed to say as she felt her blood chill from a sudden anxiety attack.  She
blinked hard as an almost visible cloud passed over Ami's medium-blue eyes.
"Umm, did something just happen to you?" she asked hesitantly as Ami leaned
against the wall for support.
     "A small headache just took up residence in my frontal lobes," Ami said
wearily as she rubbed the bridge of her nose.  "Why do you ask?"
     "I think I saw it moving in...."
     Ami chuckled quietly to herself despite the sudden shift in her mood.  "I
almost went vampiric," she said softly.  "That tends to happen now and then."
     "Yeah," Leda said quietly.  "Listen, I'm sorry, I just...."
     "Enough," Ami interrupted softly.  "You're one of my best friends, Leda,
and I really don't want to think about changing that anytime soon.  We have
entirely too many what-if's and what-could's and what-might's to deal at the
moment, so I would greatly appreciate it if you could quit wondering about that
particular topic for the present."
     "Promise me we'll sit down and talk about it once things settle," Leda
blurted out without thinking, then blinked hard as her blood turned to ice at
the realization of actually saying it.
     Ami gave her a piercing gaze for a moment before she sighed quietly and
leaned back against the wall.  "Yes, Leda, I promise we'll talk about it one
of these days," she said quietly.
     "Thanks," Leda managed to whisper as the chill in her blood deepened.
     Ami just shook her head.  "Save the thanks for.... what was that?" she
suddenly said as a muted explosion rumbled down the hall accompanied by a very
subtle shaking of the floor.
     "I don't know," Leda said as she whirled around and started to run for
the living room, "But I intend to find out.  C'mon!"
     They both ran into the living room and found Rei flat on her back several
feet from the fireplace with a very upset weaver hovering over her, chittering
away at a rapid-fire pace.  Everyone in the room was on their feet, watching
Rei and Dyvach with varying degrees of concern and horror.
     "What the hell was that?" Leda demanded as Rei slowly moved into a sitting
position and none-too-gently shoved Dyvach out of her face.
     "Ask me in a moment," Rei replied with a cough as she cast an acidic glare
at the fireplace.  Small curls of green smoke were drifting up from the back
wall of the fireplace and the air was filled with a sharp, acrid smell.
     "I think Dyvach forgot to thoroughly clean the fireplace after it vented
some combustible gas earlier this afternoon," Tolaris said with a heavy scowl.
"Are you alright, Rei?"
     "I think so," the priestess replied as she shoved Dyvach again.  "Will you
get out of my face already?"
     The weaver made a sour chiming noise as it backed off, its carapace taking
on a pale white hue flecked with spots of orange.  It chittered something at
Rei before it skittered into a corner and curled up in a featureless ball.
     "Yeah, whatever," Rei grunted to herself as she slowly stood up and dusted
off the front of her school uniform.  She glanced up and saw the collection of
concerned looks she was getting from everyone else and sighed.  "I'm fine, so
you can all relax now," she said.
     "We were just concerned about you, that's all," Luna said as she preened
the surprise-induced spikes out of her fur.
     Susan nodded as she sat back down at the table.  "Indeed," she replied.
"I didn't realize that some of the gas was able to persist after it had been
burned off."
     Whisper sighed and rubbed her temples.  "It shouldn't have been able to
persist without igniting earlier, giving the extreme heat of the combustion,"
she added.
     "Nothing like a bad case of gas to ruin a party," Alex said as she sunk
back down on the couch and drew Michelle down next to her.
     Maze shuddered reflexively.  "Tell me about it," he muttered quietly.
"Almost as bad as garlic bread."
     Mina poked her head out from the kitchen.  "I thought you said you liked
the garlic bread," she complained.
     "The bread, yes," Maze shot back.  "Just not the after-effects."
     Leda and Ami exchanged knowing glances as both Tolaris and Mina made the
exact same type of repressed-shiver gesture with their shoulders.  "You don't
have to remind us," Tolaris said quietly as he bent down to scoop up Luna.
     Maze shrugged and resumed his self-appointed task of drying off Artemis
with a washcloth.  "I think you of all people know what I mean."
     "I do, which is why a reminder quite unnecessary," Tolaris said dryly,
drawing a soft smile from Ami.
     "You still think it's worthwhile," she said as she walked over to him and
squeezed his shoulder affectionately.
     "True," the Dragoon conceded as he warily watched Rei get ready to try
building another fire.  "I just wish that, for once, I could find something
from our world that would give you the same kind of digestive problems," he
teased.
     "You already have," Leda said as she stepped into the kitchen.  "They're
called things like special agents, operatives, and the odd general officer."
     Artemis grunted softly.  "Don't get me started on special agents," he
said with a faint edge to his voice.  "I almost got an ulcer just thinking
about how to deal with them, and I wasn't the one who actually had to."
     Whisper shook her head.  "I'd laugh if that wasn't true," she mused.
     Alex snorted as she leaned back against a pillow.  "What, the Negaverse
making trouble on Earth?  Oh, say it ain't so...."
     "That's enough, Alex," Susan said with a soft sigh.
     There was a louder-than-usual whooshing noise from the fireplace as Rei
re-ignited the kindling, but much to everyone's relief the gas residue had
apparently been completely removed by the first ignition attempt and thus
didn't produce another small but forceful explosion.
     Serena emerged from the hallway with a slightly confused expression on
her face.  "Did somebody drop something heavy a few moments ago?" she asked as
she looked around the living room.  "I could have sworn I felt something...."
     Alex smirked at her.  "Ain't it always the way?  You try to take a piss
break and all hell breaks loose around you while you're busy sitting pretty."
     Maze chuckled quietly.  "Okay, who cloned Leda with blonde hair?" he asked
the room in general, drawing mildly amused looks from everyone else.
     "I heard that," a voice said from the kitchen.
     "There was a minor problem with the fireplace," Whisper explained to
Serena.  "Dyvach vented some combustible gas earlier and forgot to scrub the
inside of the fireplace before Rei tried to start a fire."
     Serena blinked and looked at the priestess.  "So that was you?" she asked
hesitantly.
     Rei sighed and cast an unamused glance at her.  "It wasn't my fault," she
grumbled as she adjusted the pleats of her skirt.
     "So what was Dyvach doing with combustible gas?" Ami asked quickly before
Serena could make a comment about Rei and fire.
     "Reforging Michelle's mirror," Susan replied.  "The glass was broken and
Dyvach volunteered to recast it.  The gas was presumably needed to liquefy the
materials with extreme heat."
     Mina walked out of the kitchen holding the steaming kettle of tea and a
heat-resistant pad.  "Yeah, he's useful like that," she said as she set the pad
on the table and gingerly set the kettle on top of it.  "Tea's ready."
     Discreetly wary glances were exchanged around the table before Leda moved
over to the table holding several empty mugs.  "Relax, I checked it myself, she
did a good job brewing it," she said with a wink at Maze.
     Maze reached out and took a cup from the brunette.  "Let's just let this
cool for a moment since I don't want to burn my tongue," he said neutrally as
he poured some of the tea into his mug and set it aside.
     "That smells pretty good, Mina," Susan observed as she accepted a mug from
Leda and reached for the kettle.  "What kind of tea is this?"
     "Well...." Mina said slowly, "I'm not exactly sure."
     Susan froze in mid-motion and blinked.  "What do you mean?" she said in a
guarded tone, suddenly leery of the liquid in the kettle.
     "Oatstraw, linden flower, lemon balm, and passionflower," Rei spoke up
from behind closed eyes in her usual place in front of the fireplace.  "At
least, that's what I told her to use."
     Mina nodded emphatically.  "Yeah, what she said."
     Alex chuckled quietly.  "That's great, all we need is for Sue to drink
anything with the word passion in it and she'll be wired for hours."
     Susan just rolled her eyes as she filled her mug with the steaming tea.
"I see I neglected to teach you about the nuisances of herbal botany," she said
as she studied the color of the tea.  "The names are not always indicative of
their effects when ingested."
     Maze examined his own mug of steaming tea.  "Let's hope not."
     "Would I do a thing like that to anyone on purpose?" Mina asked as she
filled a mug of tea for Rei.
     "Yes," four voices promptly said in unison.
     "You hush," she said to Leda, then paused when she saw the bruise.  "Hey,
what happened to your jaw?"
     Leda sighed and stared up at the ceiling.  "Was using the bathroom, went
to wash my hands, tripped over the floormat and caught myself on the edge of
the sink," she lied.
     "Owwww," Mina winced as she walked across the room to pass the cup of tea
to Rei.  "Here, drink this."
     The priestess sighed quietly and looked up at her.  "I'm fine, really."
     "Don't argue," the blonde chided her as Rei reluctantly accepted the mug.
     Alex craned her neck to get a better look at the mark on Leda's jaw.  "Oh
man, you don't mess around when you decide to hurt yourself, do you?" she said
with a slight wince.  Beside her, Michelle blinked hard at Leda's lie but kept
silent about the issue.
     Leda shrugged.  "Gravity works.  Just calling it a learning experience."
     "I think even Serena has learned about gravity by now," Luna said dryly
as she continued to preen her silky black fur.
     Serena cast a slightly irritated glance at her feline mentor as she moved
over to the big stuffed chair next to the couch.  "Oh, stop it, Luna, I'm not
that clumsy," she said, right before she tripped over something and ended up
landing face-first into the chair.
     Alex immediately clamped her hand over her mouth and struggled to keep
from laughing aloud, her body shaking with barely-contained amusement.  "Are
you okay, your Highness?" Michelle asked as she darted to her feet and went
over to help the blonde.
     "What the...?" Serena said as she glanced down and blinked hard at the
ball of gray fur she would have sworn wasn't there five seconds ago.  "Hey,
where'd you come from?"
     Myst uncurled herself with a slightly dizzy expression on her face.  "Is
there no haven from you people?" she muttered darkly as she sat back to try to
unkink her tail.
     "Hey, who's that?" Leda asked as Serena picked up the kitten.
     "This is Myst," Michelle explained.  "If it wasn't for her, we probably
would still be lost souls floating around."
     Several sets of eyes blinked at her statement.  "Lost souls?" Rei asked
as she hesitantly sipped at her tea.  She blinked again in surprise when she
realized that the tea tasted better than she had expected.  "This is some good
tea, Mina."
     "Thank you," Mina replied with a beaming smile.
     "Indeed it is," Susan said in agreement as she sipped her own mug.  "The
story of our resurrection and subsequent return is a rather large narration,
and as there are a few other important stories I think I should tell tonight,
I was planning on spending the entire evening after dinner discussing it."
     Alex sighed and stretched languidly.  "Just a bit of warning to you guys,"
she said ominously.  "Susan is probably one of the most long-winded people you
will ever meet on this side of Hell, so be prepared to get an earful."
     Leda raised an eyebrow as Susan rolled her eyes.  "You two don't get along
too well, do you?" she ventured.
     "We actually get along remarkably well, considering the frequency in which
we find ourselves, shall we say, at odds with one another over our respective
schools of thought," Susan said demurely as she sipped her tea.
     "She talks in rhymes and riddles, I try to tell it like it is," Alex added
with a grin.  "It sounds bad, and sometimes it's no walk in the park, but I
usually don't let her bother me."
     Susan sighed softly.  "Some of us believe in being polite and diplomatic
when attempting to hold a civilized discourse on a given subject," she replied
with a faint edge to her tone.  "Such a bearing is quite becoming of educated
and noble members of society, which we should all strive to become."
     "I rest my case," Alex said with a grin.
     "They've been like that all day," Maze chimed in.  "Fortunately the rest
of us are used to Serena and Rei's back-and-forth banter, but this one seems
to have a few unique twists to it."
     Leda blinked.  "Worse than Serena and Rei?  Oh, crap...."
     "Hey!" Serena protested as she sat down in the chair and carefully cradled
Myst in her arms, stroking her silky gray fur.  Rei just shook her head and
turned her focus inward again, trying to tune out the world around her.
     "Stuff it, meatball head," Leda groused.  "You and Pyro over there fight
so often, you'd think you two were sisters or something."
     Susan's mug of tea hit the table with a soft thump as Alex came off the
couch at the nickname for Serena's hairstyle.  "Hey, what did you call the
princess?" Alex demanded, the muscles in her bare shoulders tense with anger.
     Everyone else blinked hard at the unexpected reaction.  "Whoa, down girl,"
Leda replied slowly.  "Did something just bite you on the butt?"
     "Alex, please," Susan said calmly.  "Bear in mind that times have changed
and that there are no formalities among friends.  I am sure that the phrase
wasn't intended as an insult or to be derogatory."
     "Except when Rei uses it," Serena muttered quietly, still quite surprised
by Alex's reaction.
     "Don't start," Rei warned without opening her eyes.  "Besides, Darian was
the one who first used it."
     Alex's jaw nearly hit the floor.  "DARIAN came up with that?" she echoed.
     Michelle frowned as she gently tugged on Alex's arm.  "I find that one a
bit hard to believe," she said cautiously.
     The priestess turned around to look at her, her face locked in a mask of
concealed emotions.  "Do you mean to suggest that I am misrepresenting the
truth in some fashion?" she said neutrally.
     "Ladies, please," Tolaris said as Michelle seemed to visibly shrink back
from Rei's statement and edged herself behind Alex.  "There is no need to make
suggestions and accusations of anything.  To the best of my knowledge, Darian
is indeed the one who originated the nickname for Serena's hairstyle, and no,
it is not used to be mean or spiteful among friends, so please try relax and
remain calm."
     Ami and Leda exchanged discreet glances, knowing full-well that there had
been times when the nickname had very much been used with malicious intent.
Alex cast a questioning look at Susan, sighing softly and sinking back down on
the couch when the succubus gave her a subtle nod in return.
     "Look, I don't mean to be a wedge in someone's underwear," Alex said with
a slight edge to her tone, "But this is the Princess we're talking about.  You
know, the person we're supposed to be protecting with our lives?"
     Susan brushed a lock of dark green hair out of her face.  "I assure you,
Alex, that your protective nature, while sometimes overbearing, is of great
value to us and assuredly most welcome to the throne, if not at all times to
the current occupant," she said gently.
     Alex just looked at her for a moment.  "Soon as I figure out how I should
take that, I'll get back to you," she said guardedly.
     "So where's Ra'vel?" Mina asked loudly as an uneasy silence descended
around the room like a heavy cloak.
     "Taking a nap," Maze said as he reached for his mug of tea.  "She's been
having a bad week for reason."  He paused in mid-sip as a psionic voice quietly
intruded in his mind for a moment, and he cast a glance in Whisper's direction.
"So that's it, huh?  I was wondering how that one worked," he mused.
     "Anything we want to know about?" Leda asked as she leaned against the
nearest wall.
     Whisper shrugged.  "Feminine biology is a royal pain, no matter what
species you happen to be from," she explained simply.
     "Ah," Leda said quietly as all the women in the room nodded their heads
in a universal gesture of understanding and sympathy.
     Alex just shook her head.  "A giant owl on the rag?  Now that's something
you don't hear about every day," she commented, drawing a soft sigh of patient
suffering from both Michelle and Susan.
     "Must you be so crude?" Susan wondered wearily as she finished her tea.
     "Viking heritage strikes again?" Leda ventured.
     Alex snickered quietly.  "Damn straight," she confirmed with a grin.
     "Now isn't this a motley crew?" Artemis said from Maze's lap.  "A royal
princess, a bookworm, a priestess, a combat chef, a street-smart musician, a
Viking swordswoman and her soft-spoken lover, and a demonic noble all grouped
together to try to save the world."
     "Hey, be nice," Leda teased him.
     "Soft-spoken lover?" Mina echoed, blinking hard in surprise before casting
a stunned look at Alex and Michelle.  Both Serena and Rei blinked in surprise
as well and likewise cast curious glances towards the couple on the couch.
     Alex just sighed and shook her head.  "Why is this concept so hard for
you guys to deal with?" she groused as she leaned back into Michelle's arms.
"Yes, this sexy creature behind me and I are lovers, we have been for awhile,
and barring any fatal accidents we'll be together for the visible future."
     "Huh," Mina said before she shrugged in dismissal.  "Well, as long as you
two are happy," she said.
     Serena and Rei exchanged glances before Rei wordlessly turned back to the
gently roaring fire and tried to return to her meditations.  Serena blinked
hard at what seemed to her as a somewhat cold gesture and turned her attention
back to the looks on everyone else's faces at the revelation.
     "You look lost, Serena," Leda commented.
     The blonde just shook her head.  "I'm just a little confused, I guess,"
she admitted as she scratched Myst's ears lightly.
     "Hey, Serena?" Mina said as she walked over to the couch and sat on the
end opposite Alex and Michelle.  "You remember that conversation we had a long
time ago, back at the Hot Springs Resort?"
     Serena blinked as the memory bubbled up in her mind.  "Oh, yeah!  That was
when we first met Tolaris, right?"
     "Exactly," Mina confirmed with a nod.  "So you remember what we talked
about that afternoon, right?"
     Alex raised an eyebrow as Serena's face took on a thoughtful expression.
"Anything you want to share with us?" she ventured.
     Mina shook her head.  "Just a babble-fest about having an open mind."
     "Or an open something," Rei muttered beneath her breath.
     "Excuse me?" Mina asked.
     "Just remember what triggered that conversation," Rei said sourly.
     "Ah, yes, well...." Mina stammered as she glanced at Leda, a delicate
blush appearing on her cheeks.  "Nothing wrong with being curious, right?"
     Artemis and Maze exchanged glances.  "Why do I have a bad feeling about
this?" the white cat asked warily.
     Maze shrugged.  "It's Mina, she's curious about everything."
     "Well, it's when she tries to satisfy that curiosity that usually has me
worried," Artemis replied.
     Leda couldn't resist.  "Trust me, it was quite satisfying," she said with
a grin, causing eyebrows to raise and Mina to blush a deep shade of red.
     There was three distinct thumps as two heads encountered the table and Rei
flopped onto her back.  "I did NOT need that mental image!" Rei sighed.
     "Tell me about it," Artemis muttered, still face-first against the table.
     Maze shrugged as he sipped his tea.  "I'm not going to pretend to know
what she means, but it probably isn't as bad as you think.  Are you going to
be okay, Susan?"
     Susan sighed and lifted her head up.  "I am sorely tempted to resign my
position as Queen's Chancellor and go retire to some tropical island," she
muttered to nobody in particular.  "Either that, or take a very long vacation
somewhere remote where I don't have to contemplate what exactly has become of
the noble Houses."
     "Oh, stuff it, Sue," Alex replied.  "So sorry that we don't measure up to
your exacting standards of prim and proper aristocrats.  So what if Mina and
Leda apparently got it on one weekend?  It's like what she said, nothing wrong
with being a little curious about a few things.  Besides, I thought she was
sleeping with Maze now and Leda's got a big cat of her own to play with, so
what's the big deal?"
     "Alex," Michelle chided her gently as she squeezed her waist.
     There was a soft yawn from the ball of fur in Serena's lap.  "You people
keep getting stranger and stranger," Myst complained.
     "You need a new tagline, kitty," Alex replied.  "That's getting old."
     Leda sighed.  "I think I need a beer," she grumbled.
     "Oh, no you don't," Michelle said sharply as she tightened her hold on
Alex's waist, keeping the suddenly excited blonde pinned down.  "You're not
going to get drunk tonight.  And neither are you," she added, casting a rather
venomous look at Leda.
     The brunette blinked in surprise at the forceful reaction.  "Hey now, take
it easy, I was just making a joke...."
     "Aw, c'mon, Mich, I want to see what they've done to the brewing industry
in the past thousand years," Alex protested weakly, knowing that it was a very
futile battle when Michelle got into one of her moods.
     "Absolutely not."
     "Mich...."
     "No."
     "But...."
     "No."
     Alex sighed and leaned back against her best friend.  "I'll have to take
you up on that offer later, Leda," she said sullenly.
     Leda raised an eyebrow.  "What offer?  I didn't say anything about giving
any beer to anyone else," she said pointedly.
     "Spoilsport," Alex muttered.
     Tolaris leaned back in his chair and brushed his fingertips against Ami's
arm.  "You seem to have made some interesting friends," he said quietly in his
native language.
     Ami shrugged.  "That remains to be seen," she replied equally as softly
using the same regional dialect.
     Whisper shook her head.  "I have yet to figure out where you picked up
that accent," she said in English so everyone could understand her.
     "Her or me?" Tolaris asked.
     "You.  That is supposed to be the Eastern Frontier dialect, right?"
     The Dragoon smirked.  "Depends on how you look at it.  I was raised in a
small village in the Southern Flatlands that was maybe two miles from the
official Eastern Frontier demarcation line, so that might have had a bit of an
influence in how the language was pronounced."
     Susan raised her eyebrows in interest.  "Do you have a map of your world
that I could look at?"
     Tolaris blinked.  "Good question," he said slowly as he looked over at the
other denizens at the table.
     "Don't look at me," Maze replied.  "We don't have any maps here, at least
none I know of.  The Astroglobe might have something programmed in memory, but
that's about it.  Unless you want to tap into the phased-link network and try
to find an imaged map."
     Tolaris shook his head.  "No, that's a little risky for just a map.  Let
me go see what the Astroglobe has," he said as he rose to his feet.
     Ami blinked as an idea occurred to her.  "Have you shown them the star
mosaic before?" she suggested.  "It's pretty to look at sometimes."
     "We were going to earlier," Whisper said as she stood up as well, "But we
got a little distracted when the reactor alarm went off and I forgot about it.
I guess now is a good time as any."
     Susan raised an eyebrow as she stood up to follow the others.  "And where
are we going, if I may ask?"
     Tolaris gestured towards the corridor that branched off the small hallway
between the living room and the cathedral's front door.  "Let's just say that
the previous occupant of this facility had a natural gift for astrology and
built himself a rather elaborate planetarium.  The Astroglobe is the key to
controlling it, and the mosaic on the ceiling seems to come alive when you use
it correctly."
     "Interesting," Susan said as she tilted her head slightly.  "I think that
you two should see this as well," she suggested to Alex and Michelle.
     "Do we have to?" Alex said, still sulking about the beer.
     "Yes, we're going to," Michelle said evenly as she put her hands behind
Alex and pushed, almost completely shoving the blonde off the couch.
     "Hey, watch it," the blonde complained as she stood up with Michelle in
tow behind her.  "Alright, alright, we'll go see this ceiling thing of yours."
     Susan just shook her head as she followed Tolaris and Whisper down the
hallway and into the vast room.  "Oh, my," she breathed softly as she craned
her head up at the soaring ceiling.  "This is quite breath-taking...."
     "Oooo," Michelle cooed as she looked around the room.  She stepped aside
to let Alex and Ami enter the room, shortly followed by Serena and Leda.  Myst
was still curled up in Serena's arms, her ears flicking back in surprise at
the majestic sight of the room's interior.
     "It's called a cathedral for a reason," Tolaris said quietly as he too
looked up at the ceiling where a giant solar system was depicted, several sets
of orbital lines criss-crossing one another in a complex pattern.  Several odd
glyphs and sigils surrounded the image at regular intervals, their meaning a
complete mystery to everyone in the room.
     "Indeed," Susan murmured.  "Do you happen to know anything about its
construction?" she wondered as she studied the profusion of glittering gems
studding the ceiling.  She wasn't able to discern any sort of pattern to their
placement, which made her wonder how it functioned as a planetarium.
     Alex snorted.  "Can we skip the archaeology lesson for now, Sue?"
     Tolaris just shook his head to himself as he opened a hidden panel and
brushed his fingertips across a small control panel.  A soft whirring noise
filled the room as the door closed behind him and shutters rolled into place
over the windows, blocking out all external light.
     "Oh, my," Susan breathed softly as the star mosaic seemed to glow from
within, giving it a celestial, almost realistic look.  Her soft sigh deepened
as the mosaic seemed to expand, becoming a three-dimensional image that almost
looked like it was in motion.
     "It's moving!" Michelle cooed quietly in delight as the image continued
to brighten and expand, moving downward until everyone felt like they were
standing at eye-level with a miniature cosmos.
     "Okay, I'll admit it, now I'm impressed," Alex said in quiet awe as she
stared at the strange image.  "And I thought the House of Saturn had beautiful
maps of the stars...."
     Tolaris turned his attention to the control panel and played with the
settings for a moment.  "Sorry, Susan, I don't think this has any planetary
maps," he said after a moment.
     Susan shook her head as she took a cautious step forward to stand under
the giant, blazing sphere of the sun.  "That's quite alright, Commander," she
said softly as she reached out, brushing her fingertips against a glowing blue
line that represented the orbit of a planet.  "Amazing...."
     Alex leaned over Serena's shoulder.  "I haven't seen her this excited in
years," she whispered.  "I just hope she doesn't wet herself or anything."
     Serena giggled quietly.  "I don't think that'll happen, because...." she
started to say, then trailed off in shock as she saw the skin on Susan's back
begin to ripple, the dark scars pulsing with her heartbeat.  Her jaw nearly
became completely unhinged as the skin finally exploded outward, taking on the
dark shape of leathery, bat-like wings.
     Susan was completely oblivious to the looks of shock and horror on Leda
and Serena's faces, or even to the fact that she had slipped into her demonic
form.  She was absolutely captivated by the strange spiritual energies she was
feeling as she brushed her fingertips across the various holographic images.
"Tolaris, what IS this?" she breathed softly.
     "Uhh, Sue?"
     Tolaris shook his head, momentarily taken off-guard by her wings.  "To be
completely honest, I really don't know," he said quietly.  "I know that.... he
used to use this in conjunction with his powers of Astrology.  I've seen those
powers used before, and I can assure you that there is definitely something to
them.  Just don't ask me what or how."
     "Sue?"
     "Hush a moment, Alex."
     "Sue, snap out of it, you're scaring the princess."
     Susan blinked and glanced at Serena, blinking again in surprise when she
noticed the wide-eyed look of shock on the blonde's face.  She cast a glance at
Ami and Leda and noticed that Leda's expression was almost identical.  Ami's
expression was equally as rattled, and Susan suddenly felt an icy chill crawl
down her spine.  "What is it?"
     Alex just shook her head.  "You might want to scratch that itch on your
back," she suggested.
     The succubus gave her a blank look for a moment before her eyes went wide
at the realization of having gone demonic.  "I'm sorry, I.... didn't realize
that I had changed," she said quietly, glancing back at Serena and Leda.
     Leda blinked hard.  "Are those for real?"
     Michelle looked at her with a gentle expression.  "They are," she said
quietly.  "I know it must be a shock to see her with wings, but I can promise
you that everything is just fine.  It's just her heritage, that's all."
     "Oooooooo-kay," Leda breathed slowly, still not sure what to make of the
whole situation.  "Serena?"
     "W-w-w-what?" the blonde stammered, still staring at Susan's wings.
     "Breathe, please.  I can see you're about to pass out," Leda suggested.
     Alex shook her head and gently took hold of Serena's elbow.  "She'll be
just fine," she reassured the brunette.  "C'mon, your Highness, just take a
slow, deep breath.  Susan won't bite you, honest.  She might bite someone else
when she's in a mood, but she won't bite a member of the Royal House."
     "Alex, please," Susan sighed quietly.
     "Serena?" Ami said quietly.  "Susan's no more a danger to you than I am,"
she said quietly.  "Yes, it is a bit unnerving to see her demonic form, but I
don't believe she would harm anyone here."
     Leda just shook her head.  "Ami?  That's not much comfort if you really
stop and think about it."
     "You know what I mean," Ami said with a heavy sigh.
     Alex scoffed quietly.  "Since when did Ami ever pose a danger to anyone?
Hell, she had a hard time dealing with that mouse that somehow got loose and
ended up in the bathhouse...."
     Susan and Ami looked at one another for a long moment before Ami very
slowly shook her head.  "Later," she said very quietly.
     Michelle blinked and cast a slightly unnerved look at Ami.  "Susan, is
something wrong?"
     Susan shook her head and turned her attention back to Serena.  "Are you
sure you're going to be alright, your Highness?" she asked gently.
     Serena turned around to look at Alex, relaxing fractionally when she got
a warm smile in response.  "Easy, Serena, everything is cool," Alex said in a
soothing tone.  "Sue can be a right spooky bitch when you first meet her, but
deep inside she's quite the loving and caring type.  Even if it takes a few
years for her to show it."
     "Alexis Ten'ou, that will be enough," Susan sighed, her wings starting
to twitch in quiet frustration.  "Why do you persist in misrepresenting me to
other people in such terms?"
     "Hey, that's just how you sometimes seem to me," Alex said with a casual
shrug.  "You don't exactly strike me as the warm-fuzzy type."
     Michelle sighed quietly.  "Susan, you do seem a bit emotionally distant
at times," she said gently.  "Granted that might just be a perception issue
because we're still young, but it is still occasionally viewed as being on the
emotionally problematic side, and I must say that I've had several people in
the bathhouses tell me something similar."
     "I see," Susan said quietly.  She flexed her wings for a moment before
reabsorbing them, returning to a fully human form.  "Perhaps one does lose
touch with succeeding generations as time wears on...." she conceded.
     "Nonsense," Serena said quietly, almost as if in a trance.  The broach on
her blouse started to glow faintly, the light of the Imperium Silver Crystal
seeping out from beneath the protective cover.  "You have always been there for
us when we truly needed you, Lady Pluto."
     Susan smiled gently and bowed her head.  "Thank you, your Highness," she
murmured softly.  "I am glad to know that such sentiments are strong enough to
carry over across the boundaries of space and time."
     Serena nodded and turned to look at the nearly-forgotten star mosaic, the
celestial landscape silently rotating in slow-motion.  "There is a presence
here," she said quietly, her voice taking on a slightly musical aspect.  "I'm
not sure what it is, or why it lingers here, but I sense it means us no harm.
Can you sense it?"
     The succubus looked back at the planetary orbit she had been studying,
noticing that the holographic planet had made substantial progress in wandering
across the room.  "I don't know," she said softly.  "I thought I did, but I'm
not sure anymore."
     Serena smiled softly.  "Remember to keep an open heart as well as an open
mind, my friends, even if it means embracing something that may seem to be
unpleasant.  Once the veil is pierced, you might be surprised at what truly
lies beneath," she said quietly.
     Everyone blinked at her words of wisdom before Susan nodded.  "Well said,
your Highness.  We shall endeavor to keep that in mind."
     Serena blinked and looked up at the star mosaic, the glow of the Imperium
Silver Crystal fading.  She blinked hard as she thought she saw something, a
fleeting image that seemed both strange and familiar to her.  "Hey, did anyone
see that?" she asked as she looked around.
     "See what?" Alex demanded as she too began to look around.
     Serena sighed quietly.  "Never mind, it must have been a glitch in the
hologram," she muttered.  "Thought I saw someone else in the room."
     Leda chuckled.  "Time to lay off the sugar, Serena," she teased.
     "Like that'll ever happen," Alex muttered quietly, drawing a giggle from
Michelle and a knowing smile from Susan.
     Tolaris and Whisper exchanged glances before the telepath shrugged.  "It
probably wouldn't hurt to run a full diagnostic on the Astroglobe," she said.
"I don't know much about holographic projectors, but I know they still need to
be cleaned on a regular basis like everything else."
     Tolaris nodded.  "I'll have either Maze or Dyvach check it out later."
     Alex looked around the room as best she could in the dim light.  "So what
else do you have hiding in this place, aside from this oversized light show?"
     "Well, we never got around to the tour of the place...." Whisper mused.
     The Dragoon nodded again.  "Sure.  I'm not sure it would be a good idea
to take them inside the reactor control room at the moment, given the problem
we had this morning...."
     Ami blinked hard.  "I thought that was resolved," she said guardedly.
     "It was," Tolaris replied.  "Still doesn't mean I want anyone playing
around with the controls unless necessary.  I can show them the arsenal vault,
however, as that is.... well, it's not entirely devoid of any potential for
bodily harm, but it's decidedly less harmful than being near an operational
anti-matter reactor core."
     "What?" Susan said as her eyes nearly doubled in size.
     "Don't ask," Ami muttered.  "Trust me."
     "Ooo, the vault!" Leda said as her eyes lit up.  "Can we play with the
target drones again?"
     Serena shivered.  "Not those exploding things again...." she muttered.
     "Bite your tongue, girl, those things are fun to play with."
     Michelle glanced at Alex.  "Bite your tongue as well," she said with a
coy grin.  "I know you were about to say something."
     Alex smirked.  "And you know what you can do with your tongue, too," she
replied.  She chuckled as she could see the blush develop on Michelle's face,
even in the darkened room.
     "Be nice," Susan said wearily as Tolaris toyed with the control panel to
the Astroglobe.  The shutters began to pull back, letting sunlight enter the
room again and causing the celestial illusion to fade into nothingness.
     "Oh, believe me, it's real nice when that tongue of hers is.... MMMMPH!"
Alex said before Michelle's hand clamped firmly around her mouth, her cheeks
almost glowing red with embarrassment.
     Whisper just shook her head.  "We understand, Michelle, we've all had one
of those days when we wished the significant other would simply shut up," she
said comfortingly as Alex struggled to breathe.
     "Some days more than others," Michelle responded with a glare at Alex.
     Tolaris and Ami exchanged glances.  "Did we....?" Tolaris started to say.
     "No," Ami cut him off, "And neither will we in the future.  Let's go."
     "Are you finished?" Michelle said icily as Alex started to wave her arms
frantically, her face turning a dark shade of red from oxygen deprivation.
     "Mmmmmph!  Mmm mmm hmmm hmph mmm mmph!"
     "You sure about that?" she inquired casually.  Whisper just shook her
head and gave her a sympathetic look before she followed Ami and Tolaris back
into the main living room of the cathedral.
     "Mmm hmm!  Mmm hmm!!"
     Michelle sighed and removed her hand, resulting in a sharp gasp from the
blonde.  "Goddamn, that hurt," Alex panted as she tried to breathe evenly.
     "Are you two finished?" Susan said mildly as she walked past them towards
the exit, followed by a slightly wary Ami and a rather bemused Leda.
     "I almost was finished," Alex grumbled with a light cough.  Michelle
snorted quietly and followed Susan out of the room, leaving Alex behind with
Serena and Myst.  "Tell me, your Highness, did I really deserve that?"
     "Umm.... maybe," Serena hedged.  "I don't talk about Darian like that, and
I'd probably be embarrassed and upset if he talked about me in that way."
     Alex took a deep breath and sighed, wincing at the momentary tightness in
her chest.  "Yeah, I guess you're right.  Still...." she grumbled as she headed
for the exit.
     Serena paused to look around the empty room, a sense of uneasiness still
lingering around her.  I know I was just seeing things, she thought to herself
as she hugged Myst, I just know it was an illusion.  I mean, he can't be here,
he's gone.  I saw it myself, he's dead.  The hologram goofed for an instant and
my mind played a trick on me.  It has to be.
     So why am I still bothered by it? she thought as she left the room, the
brief image of Nephlyte's watching eyes still haunting her for some reason.

                *               *               *               *

     Al'vexi opened her eyes as she felt more than heard her bodyguard enter
the living room.  She sighed quietly and sat up, feeling both her muscles and
the headache painfully protest the movement.  Maybe I am getting too old for
this, she mused to herself as she blinked the sleepiness from her eyes.
     "Your visitor has returned," V'Sari said quietly.
     The telepath chuckled quietly at her bodyguard's flat tone.  "You don't
like him very much, do you?" she said as she adjusted her position on the couch
and tucked the pillow behind her back.
     V'Sari paused, knowing full-well she was allowed a considerable amount of
informality in responding.  "He bothers me," she said after a moment.
     "But not from a security standpoint that you can validate," Al'vexi added
as she studied the shadowy denizen.
     "No," she conceded.
     Al'vexi chuckled quietly again.  "At least you're honest, V'Sari.  Just
between you and me, I find him to be a bit on the loathsome side as well.  To
be fair, however, he is one of the more useful people to have around.  For the
most part," she added.  "Show him in."
     V'Sari nodded her head and withdrew, giving Al'vexi enough time to fold
the blanket she had been using for what had lately become an increasingly
common afternoon nap.  Life's way of getting even for all those sleepless days
and nights during one's youth, she mused.  Such an irony....
     "I hope I'm not interrupting anything of importance," the hooded figure
said as he entered the living room with surprising quietness.
     Al'vexi snorted quietly.  "No more so than usual."
     Jedyt smiled coldly as he lowered the hood on his cloak.  "A pity, I was
almost looking forward to annoying you in some fashion."
     The telepath waved her hand.  "Rest assured, I still have the headache
from your visit this morning.  Is there a purpose to this second disturbance?"
     "Why would I waste my time coming here if I didn't have a good reason?"
the blond general mused as he set a large plastic bag on the denizen equivalent
of a coffee table.
     "Safety?" Al'vexi replied.  "You have to admit, most people wouldn't think
twice about welcoming you into their homes for the simple pleasure of being
able to kill you themselves."
     Jedyt snorted.  "I can handle myself, thank you."
     "Like you handled the Sailor Scouts?" Al'vexi replied smoothly, unable to
resist twisting the proverbial thorn in his side.  "And how did you manage to
get that aircraft's tire tracks off of your dress uniform, anyway?"
     He paused to give her a venomous look before he opened the bag and began
to remove several small plastic containers.  "Very funny."
     Al'vexi tilted her head to one side.  "I'm serious, in a sense.  All bad
jokes aside, that must have left quite a stain.  How was it removed?"
     Jedyt blinked as he realized she was being quite serious about the stain
removal.  "The humans have a product called 'Oxy-Clean'.  I'll explain later.
Would you care for some lunch?" he offered as he held out two of the packages
to her.  "I figure it's the least I can do after raiding your bowl of fruit at
breakfast."
     The telepath shook her head in amazement as she took the containers from
him.  "You never cease to amaze me, Jedyt.  I would have thought such a gesture
was completely beyond your grasp.  Can I trust you, or should I run this past
V'Sari first?"
     The former general just rolled his eyes.  "She already scanned it, not to
mention giving me a quick lecture on not letting you have any d'nai sauce for
your chi'ma rolls."
     She blinked in surprise before laughing softly to herself.  "She could
have said something to me earlier," she mused.  She noticed Jedyt's questioning
look and added, "At my age, d'nai sauce tends to have a disruptive effect on
one's digestive system."
     He wrinkled his nose at the thought.  "A pity," he observed as he opened
a box of the deep-fried shredded fruit rolls known as chi'ma and sat on the
floor next to the table.
      Al'vexi telepathed to him as she grabbed her pillow and tossed it
in a high ballistic arc to him.  
     "Thank you," he replied acidly as he wiped his hand on a napkin before
grabbing the pillow and sitting on it.
      she thought as she opened a box of small strips
of meat that were regarded as being quite spicy by denizen standards.  
     Jedyt shrugged.  "I'm well-known in the military, but not so well among
remote villages and tribes.  I paid a visit to a small avian tribe in the
Western Forests, just north of the fourth polar band."
     Al'vexi raised her eyebrows in surprise.   she commented as
she removed the plastic tool stuck to the side of the box and used it to spear
a piece of the spicy meat.  
     "I'm many things, Al, but I'm not one for imitation take-out," he said
with a grunt before biting into a chi'ma roll.
     The telepath nodded her head in a suggestion of an apology as she popped
the grilled meat into her mouth.  The resulting burst of spices and hot juice
was enough to bring tears to her eyes as her tongue seemed to catch fire.
     "That good, hmm?" he said around a mouthful of fried fruit, smirking as
she frantically waved her hand in front of her mouth.
      she telepathed in genuine agreement, a faint smile on her
lips as she grabbed a napkin to wipe the tears away.  
     He managed to swallow before laughing at her statement.  "Had I known you
were this easy to bribe, I'd have done this centuries ago," he teased.
     
     "Perhaps," he admitted as he set the box of chi'ma down and opened up a
large container of denizen rice mixed in a pale green sauce.  "You in a mood
to continue our conversation from this morning?"
     Al'vexi paused momentarily before spearing another chunk of a'hiele.  "I
might," she said slowly.  "It depends on what you have to say."
     He shot her an unamused look.  "Actually, it depends on whether or not you
plan on staying in full possession of your mental capacity," he shot back.
      she telepathed with resignation as she took
another bite of the spicy avian delicacy.
     He shrugged in dismissal.  "If you don't want to talk, just say so."
     
     "I know," he muttered around a mouthful of rice.  "Which is why I want to
talk about it now so maybe we can prevent this from happening in the future."
     She sighed quietly as she leaned over and speared a piece of chi'ma with
her a'hiele utensil.  "Just as long as it doesn't ruin my appetite.  This is
some of the best avian food I've eaten in the better part of a century.  I may
end up twisting your arm until you tell me where exactly this tribe is at."
     Jedyt rolled his eyes.  "I'll give you the coordinates before I leave,"
he said dryly.
     She nodded as she munched on the fruit roll.  
     He just shook his head to himself.  "I keep coming back to the image of
Sailor Moon as Regent."
      said
the telepathic voice in his mind.  
     "You said that much earlier," he observed.  "Let's ignore the Crown Prince
aspect for a brief moment.  Sailor Moon is half-denizen.... will she even be
able to become pregnant with Darian's child?"
     "That's what bothers me," Al'vexi muttered as she impaled another chi'ma
roll and crammed the whole thing in her mouth.  
     "You think the NegaForce would allow Darian to have a child with Sailor
Moon?" Jedyt said, pausing in surprise.  "I would imagine that it would take
steps to ensure that such a union never happens."
      she thought
with a frown.  
     Jedyt paused in mid-chew at the mental image.  He made a sour face before
swallowing hard and sighing.  "And you didn't want me to spoil lunch?" he said
darkly.  "I suppose it's possible, but seeing how he's human...."
      she suggested.
     "What?" he said, blinking in surprise before he really thought about it.
"I'm not sure it could, namely because of Darian's human DNA...."
     
     The package of chi'ma hit the table with a soft thump and almost knocked
over the container of rice.  "Ay'cha navidshi," he breathed softly.
     "That's probably an accurate assessment," Al'vexi observed as she grabbed
a spoon and scooped up some of the rice.  "I'm guessing that their Imperium
Silver Crystal was able to somehow permit a human to bear a denizen's child,
so why can't the Negaforce permit a denizen to bear a human's child?"
     Jedyt swallowed hard and suddenly felt a desire for a stiff drink.  "So if
Beryl wanted Darian's child, and the NegaForce did something to him to allow
such a thing...."
     "...Then why wouldn't it work when Darian goes to sleep with a half-human,
half-denizen woman?" she finished for him.  "Human or denizen, he'll have all
the categories covered."
     "Ay'cha navidshi...." he repeated softly, his face turning ashen.
     She nodded in understanding.  "This whole scenario is based on more than 
a few assumptions, of course, so it could be completely wrong.... but it could
just as easily be completely right."
     He pondered the implications of that as he quietly resumed eating, both
denizens lost in thought and remotely enjoying the avian meal.  Neither one of
them noticed when V'Sari entered the room to check on Al'vexi, re-scanned the
safety of the take-out food, and just as unobtrusively departed.
     "Al'vexi?" he said slowly several minutes later.
     "Hmm?"
     "Do you know who Beryl's personal physician was?"
     The telepath blinked at the question.  "Not off-hand, but I'm sure that
finding out would be a very simple matter.  Why?"
     Jedyt hesitated for a moment, toying with one of the remaining pieces of
chi'ma.  "Do you think he or she would have known if Beryl had managed to get
pregnant before her death?"
     "Maybe," the retired general said slowly.  "I'm not sure how often she
would be examined by her doctor, but if she was trying to get pregnant, I'm
sure that it would be on a regular basis.  Jedyt, what are you thinking?"
     He sighed quietly and set the empty container on the table.  "I don't
know for sure," he admitted.
     
     "This is serious," he said wearily.  "What if...."
     She waited for him to finish sorting out his thoughts, surprising herself
with her level of patience.  Maybe there is something to be said for mellowing
out during retirement after all, she thought to herself.
     "What would happen if it became known that Beryl was pregnant when she
died?" he ventured.  "And I don't mean in a domestic opinion sense, either."
      she ventured.
     Jedyt shook his head.  "They're already guilty of that."
      she amended.
     "And what would the legal ramifications of that one be?" he inquired.
     Al'vexi shook her head.  "You'd have to ask a magistrate, as I really
wouldn't know.  I know military law, of course, but not civil law.  Jedyt, I'm
not sure I like where this one is going."
     He sighed quietly.  "You know as well as I do that information such as
this will get out eventually.  What I'm concerned about is knowing if we will
be able to make use of this once it does."
     She speared the last piece of a'hiele and set the empty container down.
"So what are you thinking?" she asked before she popped the spicy avian meat
in her mouth and chewed slowly.
     "Just for the sake of argument, let's say that this entire story becomes
known, that Beryl was pregnant with Darian's child when she died, and that
Sailor Moon is half-denizen.  What happens?" he asked slowly.
     She thought about it for a moment.  "First, you get an immediate public
backlash against the Sailor Scouts, including a hard push by the military for
a full-scale invasion with the objective of bringing them back impaled on some
sharp object or something.  Second, the legal system will go insane trying to
figure out what to do about Darian.  And third, we might end up having one of
the biggest insurrections in recorded history."
     "Explain the third," he said with a frown, even though he already had a
fair idea as to why it would happen.
     "If it's revealed that Sailor Moon is half-denizen, they will demand to
know who the father is, and how they found this one out," Al'vexi explained.
"Rune is going to be put in the spotlight for keeping it a secret, but that
will pale in comparison to the uproar when they find out that her father is
the legendary Dragoon Captain Raijen.  Now just imagine what our own batch of
Dragoons are going to think when they learn that Sailor Moon is the daughter of
their revered founder...."
     He nodded slowly in understanding.  "That's what I figured as well," he
said as an icy ball formed in his gut.
     "There's more," Al'vexi warned.  "You have to take into account that not
everyone supported the invasion of the Moon Kingdom a thousand years ago, and
there is still a small undercurrent of sympathy.  Beryl was not the kindest of
queens, and more than a few whispers have been heard outside of the military
that it was deserved retribution and that the balance is now equal."
     He snorted quietly.  "I'm not exactly crying into my ma'cha over her death
either, you know," he said with a touch of bitterness.  "What's your idea of a
worst-case scenario?"
     "The story goes public," she said as she licked the plastic a'hiele tool
clean.  "There is an insurrection, a revolt led by the Dragoon Legion, someone
steps in with nuclear weapons, the gesture is returned in kind, game over."
     He sighed quietly.  "Take out the nukes?" he suggested.
     The telepath shrugged.  "A non-nuclear civil war?  Good luck."
     "If the Dragoon Legion leads this, they won't even consider using nukes
as a first-strike option," he observed.  "Part of their Rules of Engagement,
remember?"
     She paused to give him a measured look.  "Jedyt, what are you thinking?"
     "What if we could put Sailor Moon on the throne?" he suggested.
     The silence was so sudden it almost echoed.  "You're serious," she said
after a momentary struggle to keep her heart beating, her lungs breathing, and
her pants dry.
     "Just for the sake of argument, let's say I am quite serious," he said
off-handedly.  "What would be the benefits?"
     "One person could rule two worlds," Al'vexi replied calmly as she wiped
her mouth on a napkin and tried to ease the sudden chaos in her mind.  "In a
perfect setting, we might be able to open up economic ties with Earth, start
some cultural exchanges.  We might not need to invade for their resources,"
she said, the concept startling her the more she thought about it.
     "And the military is brought to heel," Jedyt suggested.  "We wouldn't
have to worry about a struggle between Rune and Nop'tera for control of the
military, because our new Queen would decide who gets what.  And then in about
ten years or so, when Sailor Moon has gotten a bit older and turned to Crown
Prince Darian for love and affection...."
     "...Their daughter would then rule both worlds," the telepath said quietly
as she pressed her hands to her head.  "I can see where you're trying to go
with this, Jedyt, and aside from being somewhere between grossly optimistic and
an outright fantasy, this disturbs me greatly.  Such a child would be able to
use the powers of both the Imperium Silver Crystal and the NegaForce, and no
doubt a person like you would then gleefully try to turn her against her mother
or otherwise subvert her so that you could thus rule both worlds through her."
     Jedyt sat back slowly.  "I will be honest, Al, I never thought of things
in precisely that way.... but now that you mention it.... this would be utterly
perfect in ways you can't imagine."
     She raised an eyebrow.  "I don't know, I can imagine a lot."  She blinked
at the cold smile she got in response, and suddenly remembered what exactly it
was about him that she despised so much over the centuries.
     "I want revenge on Sailor Moon for what she did to me," Jedyt said very
quietly in a tone that chilled Al'vexi's blood.  "What better way for me to do
so than by turning her own daughter against her, the bearer of the same royal
blood she herself sought to destroy?  The sheer, delicious irony of it...."
     "Again, this is all based on a lot of assumptions," she warned him.  "We
could be entirely wrong about the whole notion of Darian being able to give a
denizen woman a child."
     He raised an eyebrow at her.  "All plans have to start somewhere, my dear
general.  And today I plan on having a quiet discussion with Beryl's personal
physician."
     "Then what?" she asked as she struggled to fight off the icy chill that
was beginning to creep down her spine.
     He rose to his feet and gathered the empty containers together.  "First I
will see what information I can get from the doctor, and then I will see if I
can take things from there," he said simply.  "If so, I will be sure to keep
you informed about this.  Unless, of course, you wish to have no part of it,"
he added, giving her a measured look.
     General Al'vexi sat back on her couch with a heavy sigh and closed her
eyes.  So this it is, she thought to herself, the opportunity to choose sides
in the opening stages of what will.... no, what MUST unfold sooner or later.
     "I will be candid with you, Jedyt," she said quietly.  "This plan of yours
disturbs me in ways I haven't felt since I was asked to command an assault
division for the Moon Kingdom invasion.  Don't misunderstand me, I have every
desire to see the Negaverse move forward into a prosperous era and, if it's not
asking too much, a relatively peaceful one.  I also realize that in order for
such a change to take place, things have to be forcefully set into motion that
will have dire consequences no matter what the final outcome, and that the end
game, such as it may be, might require decades for results to emerge.  You will
have my support as long as it appears to be for the benefit of this world, but
I will not allow you to tear the Negaverse apart for personal gain.  Of that
you have my word of honor."
     He bowed his head, a hint of a smile tugging at his lips.  "I wouldn't
have expected anything less of you.  Rest assured I'll be keeping in touch,"
he added as he gathered the trash together and raised the hood on his cloak.
"Fair evening, General Al'vexi."
     "Fair evening, General Jedyt," she said quietly as he departed, leaving
her alone with her darkened thoughts.  Time seemed to slip past her unnoticed
as she stared at her belongings on the far wall, idly remembering where she
got this book from, and where that knick-knack had been purchased.  At what
point does one have to destroy a world in order to save it from itself?
     "I don't understand," the shadow on the wall said quietly, startling her
out of her thoughts.
     "What?" Al'vexi asked.
     V'Sari spoke up from the corner, her body merged with the shadows in the
innate way that was unique to her species.  "You asked if I knew at what point
one has to destroy a world in order to save it," she said softly, her sibilant
tone offering some measure of comfort to Al'vexi's chaotic state of mind.
     "I'm sorry, V'Sari, I didn't realize I was thinking aloud," she replied.
"My.... guest.... has left me with quite a lot to think about."
     "The destruction of the world?" the shadowy voice asked, a note of concern
evident in her voice.
     Al'vexi raised an eyebrow at the darkness.  "If you've heard as much of
our conversation as I think you have, V'Sari, I think you know the answer to
that well enough to draw your own conclusions."
     The silence that ensued was entirely expected, as the telepath knew that
V'Sari privately felt she had already pushed things by asking the question and
wouldn't dare ask anything further.  It's just as well, she thought with a soft
sigh, bad enough that such a burden rests on my mind as it is, don't need to
be weighing down anyone else with this.
     Ever the legacy of command, she mused as her thoughts darkened once again.
Amazing how such a small thing as a silver pin on a collar can come to weigh
so much on a person's shoulders.  Sailor Moon, Queen of the Negaverse.... I
shudder to think what burdens she would be under if she were to rule two very
different worlds....  Would she be a fair and just queen, like her mother was
rumored to have been?  Would she rule peacefully and with enough wisdom to be
able to balance two societies?  Would she like it?  Could she be the one to
lead our world into a new era?  She's so young right now.... Even with all the
help of her friends, would she be able to handle it?
     The scary part, of course, is what if she really DOES become Queen...?

                *               *               *               *

     "I knew this was a bad idea," K'tal muttered for the eighth time.
     Ael'ien glanced up at him.  "Will you just shut up and hold still?" she
growled as she went back to trying to dig the remaining pieces of shrapnel out
of his arm.  Smoke still drifted up from the ruined interior of the microwave,
a result of her accidentally leaving an apparently reactive metallic spoon in
the soup container when it was flash-heated to near-boiling.
     The Dragoon just sighed again and held as still as possible, watching the
trickle of midnight-blue blood making its way down his arm.  He winced as she
dug around in the puncture with a pair of tweezers, trying to find the last
fragments that her psionic senses knew were still present.  "Easy for you to
say, you're not bleeding.... OW!"
     "Got it," she said as she extracted the metallic sliver as gently as she
could.  "Oh, quit being such a baby.  There's only one more left," she chided
as she dropped the fragment in a small, blood-coated pile of similar objects.
     "Ael, do you have ANY IDEA how much this hurts?" he protested.  Pain was
far from a new experience to him, and while his current encounter with it was
well within his tolerances, it was still a situation that he would just as soon
put behind him as rapidly as possible.
     "Actually, I have a fair idea," she replied smoothly as she extended her
senses once again and tried to locate the last fragment.  "When I was a child,
I made the mistake of tripping over a sleeping vez'vet.  The quill-count was
just over two hundred when they pulled the last one out of my chest, and we'll
not waste time talking about the pain I was in during the incident."
     K'tal blinked hard at the image.  His own childhood memories contained a
rather painful encounter with one of the heavily-quilled vez'vets, but that
only necessitated the removal of four quills from his lower leg.  "That sounds
distinctly unpleasant," he commented, then grunted as she began to dig around
with the tweezers again.  "Any scars?"
     "None I'm going to show you anytime soon," she replied.
     "You're not much fun...."
     She paused and gave him an amused look.  "You need to make up your mind,
K'tal," she said with a faint smile.
     He just shook his head.  "One thing at a time, Ael."
     "Typical," she muttered as she dug a little deeper in the wound.
     "Ouch, hey, careful.... I could have said something about if that meant
that you would show me *OW* eventually...."
     She took a step back and held up the last bloody fragment.  "I'll think
about it," she replied.  "There, that's the last one."
     He let out his breath in a massive sigh.  "Thank you, I think," he said
as he studied the swath of puncture wounds.  He had been leaning against the
refrigerator when the microwave blew out, the end result being that only his
arm had been within range of the shrapnel.  "Now comes the REALLY fun part."
     Ael'ien cringed slightly at the thought.  "You want some help with that?"
she offered as she picked up the bottle of medical antiseptic and gingerly held
it out to him.
     He accepted the solution with resignation.  "You have a pain-dampener or
something?" he asked, not looking forward in the least to having to flush the
wounds with the antiseptic to prevent infection.  The solution worked quickly
to temporarily deaden nerve endings, but there would still be a brief period
during which the solution would sting in an almost excruciating fashion.
     She blinked and thought carefully.  "Well, I can try a mind-link and see
if I can dampen the nerve impulses that way...." she ventured.
     K'tal raised an eyebrow.  "Just what I need, someone rooting around in my
mind as I scream in agony.  You have a wonderful sense of humor, Ael."
     The telepath just shook her head.  "For a Dragoon, K'tal, you are such a
wimp.  Hold still," she said as she reached out and laid her hand on the back
of his neck.
     He blinked hard as he felt a surge of warmth down his spine and suddenly
got the impression of a hollow echo surrounding his senses.  What did you do?
he thought to himself, hoping she would be able to pick up on it.
      her voice echoed faintly in his mind.  
     K'tal blinked hard as he tried to walk over to the sink and felt like he
was moving through water.  This is really strange, Ael....  He blinked again
when he felt a gentle surge of amusement wash over him.  And why is it I can
feel your emotions?
      she replied with a touch of impatience, 
     He paused as he uncapped the bottle and held his arm over the sink.  Are
you going to be feeling this as well? he wondered.  If so, you may as well get
out of my skull now, as I don't need two voices screaming in my head....
      she grunted quietly, a faint tickle rippling down his spine.
     Ooooookay, he thought as he tilted the bottle slightly and let the pale
brown liquid flow over the puncture wounds.  The result was that it suddenly
felt like he had covered his arm with napalm and was igniting it with a small
oxy-acetylene torch.  The feeling only lasted for an instant before his senses
suddenly switched off and he found himself floating in a dark, empty void.
     Ummm....
      the voice said.
     I noticed.  Thank you.... I think....
     A sense of gentle amusement surrounded him.  
     Well, I can't feel anything right now....
     
     Well, it would be nice to know if I was still breathing or not....
     A soft, gentle laugh.  
     I'm too cynical for that sort of trust, we both know that.
     The feeling of amusement grew stronger, wrapping around him like a warm
blanket.  
     He would have raised an eyebrow if he could.  What makes you so sure?
      she admitted with a faint note of embarrassment.  
     He paused to consider that.  So you know how I feel about things, even if
I don't? he ventured.
     
     Wonder if it works both ways...? he mused as he focused his powers.
     
     <...............>
     <....Uh oh.>
     <...?>
     
     <....>
     
     <....Seemed like a good idea at the time....>
     <....>
     <....Sorry?>
     
     <...?>
     
     
     
     
     
     
     <*NO!*>
     <...?>
     
     <....I really stepped in the navidshi this time, didn't I?>
     
     <...?>
     <....>
     <....What?>
     <............>
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     <....>
     
     <....It could be worse.>
     
     
     <....I'm sorry.>
     
     
     
     
     
     <....Funny, this memory of yours thinks otherwise....>
     <*HEY!*  Get out of there, that's classified information....>
     
     
     
     <....>
     
     <....>
     
     
     
     
     
     <....>
     
     <....I had.... no idea....>
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     <....That might not work.>
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     <....Commander.>
     
     
     
     
     
     
     <....Lovely.>
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     The world snapped back into focus in a rush of light and sound, dazzling
them both and momentarily overwhelming them by the sheer volume of sensation.
They staggered briefly before their reflexes kicked in and they recovered,
keeping them both in their feet.
     K'tal blinked hard as he realized he was still holding the bottle of
antiseptic over his arm and that fully half of it had already been poured.  He
quickly set the bottle down and flexed his hands, slightly amazed at the tingle
of sensation.  A sudden jolt along his arm reminded him of his wounds, further
anchoring him in reality once again.
     "Well now," he rasped quietly.  "That was an adventure."
      the words echoed in his mind as Ael'ien removed her
hand from his neck and flexed her fingers.  
     "I think so," he said.
      she telepathed.
     Yeah, right, he thought to himself.
     "What?" Ael'ien gasped.
     "What?" the Dragoon replied as he cast a glance over his shoulder.
     "How...?"
     He blinked and gave her a worried look.  "Ael, are you okay?"
     "I heard your voice in my mind!" she replied, looking rather pale.
     "Sure it wasn't an echo?" he suggested.
     "Quite sure," she said firmly as he gave him a piercing look.  "Think of
something at random."
     I think you need a new microwave, he thought, then blinked hard as he saw
the color completely drain from her face.  "What?"
     "You said I needed a new microwave, didn't you?" she demanded.
     K'tal's face turned just as pale.  "How...?" he started to say before he
took a deep breath and cleared his mind.  Don't tell me we're still somehow
linked, he thought.
      her psionic voice echoed quietly in his mind.  
     Not again, he thought to himself.
     
     Ael, you're a good friend and all, but if you don't find a way to get out
of my mind and stay out....  Ael?  Hello?  Hmm.... 
     
     "What are you doing?" he said quietly to her.
     "Giving you the equivalent of an on-off switch," she replied.  "I don't
know how this mind-link is able to persist as neither one of us are actively
sustaining it, at least that I've been able to determine.  You should now have
a rudimentary ability to allow and block the flow of thoughts on your end of
the link."
      he telepathed to her.
      she replied.  
     He gave her an odd look as he grabbed a paper towel and carefully patted
his wounds dry.  "So what exactly does this mean?"
     "I don't know," she admitted as she walked out of the kitchen.  
      he thought as he shook his head, a smile tugging at his lips.

     There was a long pause from the other end of the link.   she wondered.
     
      she asked as she returned to the kitchen with
a roll of gauze, some medical tape, and a bottle of medically-approved skin
sealant.
      he admitted with a shrug, giving her a slightly upset
look.  
     She raised an eyebrow at him.   she suggested
as she opened the bottle and began to swab some of the sealant over the edges
of the puncture mark on his arm.
     "That was low, Ael," he said quietly.
     
     
     
     "I'm sorry," he said quietly as she finished covering the puncture marks
with a thin layer of sealant.  "You don't.... feel that way, do you?"
      she admitted as she started to wrap the gauze around his
arm.  
     "Yes, and I feel like crap now," he replied.
     She looked up at him, her eyes meeting his for a minor eternity.   she telepathed gently.  
     "And why's that?" he asked warily.
     She smiled gently as she took his hand and squeezed lightly.   she thought.
     K'tal blinked as he could suddenly feel the warmth of her emotions flowing
along the mind-link.  
      she mused as she
released his hand and started to tape the gauze in place.  
     "Considering what?"
      she
explained gently.  
     "Amusing," K'tal commented.
     
      he thought as he flashed
her a wicked grin.
     She raised an eyebrow up at him.   she replied with a
twinkle in her eye.
     
     She chuckled quietly at his nervousness and gently prodded him in the
shoulder.  
     He blinked hard.  "You're starting to scare me now," he said quietly.
     
      he wondered as he looked around
for the nearest clock.  
     She thought for a moment before reaching out with her mind to sense the
alarm-clock on her nightstand.  
     He chuckled quietly.  "So much for lunch.  Still, I didn't think we spent
that much time with our brains blended together...."
     The telepath sighed quietly and leaned against the counter.  
      he replied with a faint grin.  
     
     
     "Go home," Ael'ien muttered quietly.  "Go change, I'll meet you in the
Royal Chambers in an hour, and as soon as that's over with we're going to go
see a master telepath."
     "That eager to get me out of your mind?" he suggested.
     She looked up at him with a strange emotion stirring in her eyes.  "No, I
just want to make sure this isn't going to become a problem down the line.  I
still don't know what's sustaining it, and I'm worried it could be leeching
energy from something important."
     He blinked as he considered it.  "You have a point," he admitted.  "I'm
fairly sure it's not my mimetic power, as that has always been very taxing and
quite limited, and since I'm not keeling over right now...."
     "That can change," she warned.
     "Concern, my dear captain?  I'm touched," he teased.
     She sighed quietly.  "K'tal?"
     "Yes, ma'am?"
     "Go change before I do something I might have cause to regret."
     He paused as a slight chill enveloped him.  "And what might that be?"
     She sighed quietly and took his hand in hers, squeezing it gently as she
expanded the psionic link between them.  She then leaned forward and brushed
her lips against his, letting the tingle from the contact resonate back and
forth along the link for several moments.
     She blinked hard and took a step back as the link was essentially slammed
shut on the other end, abruptly cutting off contact.  She tentatively probed
the link, realizing that it was simply turned off instead of severed as she had
momentarily feared.  "What?" she asked, deeply hurt by the cold gesture.
     "I'm.... I'm sorry," he whispered quietly.
     "No, I... I understand, K'tal, I just...." she stammered before being
silenced by a return kiss that lasted for several seconds.
     "Don't get me wrong, Ael," he said softly in her ear as they broke apart.
"I didn't block that feeling out of rejection.  I only did it because if I had
let it continue, I can assure you that we'd end up finding out what mind-linked
sex is like.  And just between you and me, I wouldn't want to try to have to
explain to Rune why we were considerably late for her staff meeting."
     She blinked and smiled gently at him.  "That good, hmm?"
     "Are you kidding?" he replied as he re-opened the link and let her feel
the surge of hormones racing through his bloodstream.
     "Oh, my.... are you going to be alright?" she asked with concern.
     He rolled his eyes.  "I'm a guy, this is pretty much normal for us."
     She blinked.  "You're kidding, right?"
     "Ael, don't you think there's a basis to all those jokes by women about
how men are horny beasts when they're not sleeping, and even sometimes then?"
he suggested with a waggle of his eyebrows.
     She tentatively probed the link again.  "Okay, maybe that's not such a
good idea anymore...."
     "Cheer up, you'll get used to it.  After all, us men are used to it."
     Ael'ien just shook her head and kissed him on the cheek.  "Go home and go
change," she told him.  "I'll see you in an hour."
     "Of course, Captain," the Dragoon replied, lightly squeezing her hand.
He then turned to leave, gingerly stepping around a few metallic fragments that
where scattered around on the kitchen floor.   he asked as he
stepped into the hallway and quietly closed the apartment door behind him.
      she replied as she sighed and started to clean out the inside of
the ruined microwave.
     
     She paused as she lifted the soup container out of the charred mass of
electronics and burnt vegetables.   she thought warily.  She blinked,
then smiled to herself as his gentle laughter echoed across the link.
     <....Let ME do the cooking....>

                *               *               *               *

     "I have a question," Alex asked as they continued down the staircase and
finally came to the bottom.  "Just how big is this place, and how much of it
is underground?"
     Tolaris stepped into the main hallway and held the door open for the rest
of the group.  "There really isn't much below ground level, aside from the
reactor, the arsenal vault, and the training room.  The rest is mostly plumbing
and service conduits, although I think Dyvach's nest is in some dark corner."
     "What?" Michelle asked as she froze in place, causing Ami and Serena to
plow into her.  Serena lost her balance and ended up tumbling chest-first into
the railing with a soft thump.  Only Ami's quick reflexes prevented Myst from
being squished like a pancake, plucking the kitten out of Serena's grasp a bare
instant before impact.
     "Ooof...." Serena breathed quietly as a tender portion of her anatomy was
compressed beneath her own body-weight.
     Tolaris sighed quietly as Michelle blushed with embarrassment at causing
the minor traffic accident.  "You probably won't find it, Michelle, as I went
looking one time and couldn't find it myself, so you can relax."
     "I'm sorry," Michelle replied sheepishly with a glance at Serena.  "Are
you okay, Serena?"
     "Owwww," the blonde grunted as she stood up right.  "I've had better....
hey, where's Myst?" she said in a sudden panic.
     "Right here," Ami said as she held up the gray kitten.
     Serena's body sagged with relief.  "Whew, I thought for a moment that she
had gotten mashed as well.  You okay?"
     Myst just sighed quietly and lashed her tail back and forth.  "Are all
humans as dangerous to be around as you are?" she grumped.
     Ami chuckled quietly at the look on Serena's face.  "Not really, Serena
just has a slight coordination problem," she explained gently as she cradled
Myst in her arms.  "She'll grow out of it in another year or two.  At least,
that's what we all hope...."
     "Thanks a lot, Ami," Serena replied dryly.
     "Hey, what's the hold-up?" an impatient voice drifted down the hall.
     Michelle just rolled her eyes and started walking down the hall to where
the rest of the group was waiting outside the sealed blast-doors to the vast
room used for training.  "What's this?" she asked as she drew close.
     "Training room," Leda replied.  "All sorts of fun stuff inside.  Door's
locked, however," she added as she poked her access code into the panel and
got a flat buzz in response from the display.
     Alex craned her neck to try to see past Tolaris.  "So what happened over
there, hon?"
     A faint blush crept back into Michelle's face.  "I bumped into Serena and
she lost her balance," she said demurely.
     "Huh," Alex replied.  "She's usually not this clumsy...."
     "Are you kidding?" Leda said in amazement. "This is Serena we're talking
about.... she has issues trying to walk and chew bubblegum at the same time."
     Both Alex and Michelle blinked hard before exchanging glances as Susan
raised an eyebrow.  "Are you meaning to suggest that Serena isn't as graceful
as she once was?" the succubus asked quietly.
     "Are you kidding?" Leda repeated.  "Let me put it like this.... Mina is
grace incarnate, and Ami has a level of inherent grace that can be poetry in
motion when she sets her mind to it.  Rei and I are probably somewhere in the
middle on the scale of average grace, mostly due to training.  Serena, on the
other hand, is definitely in the shallow end of the natural grace gene pool.
So shallow, in fact, that I'd be surprised if her ankles got wet if she stood
up in it."
     Both Michelle and Susan gave her a pained look as Alex shook her head.
"That's a little harsh, honey, even by my standards," the blonde replied.
     Leda shrugged.  "Hey, ask her how many times she tried to play baseball,
whiffed completely every time she was at bat, and got conked on the head when
she went to catch a pop-fly ball."
     "I'll explain the sport of baseball later," Susan said as both Alex and
Michelle gave her identical blank looks.  "Suffice it to say that it requires
a high degree of hand-eye coordination and dexterity."
     "Oooooooooookay," Alex said slowly.
     "Is there a problem?" Tolaris asked as he approached the group, followed
by the others.  "And where's Whisper?"
     Leda pointed further down the corridor.  "She went to go check on the
reactor, and the door is locked."
     "Let me see, please?" the Dragoon asked as Leda stepped aside.  He entered
a short command and got a decidedly different display screen than what Leda
had gotten.  "No wonder.  Ra'vel's inside, and the according to the computer
she has several psi-fields active."
     "Meaning...?" Alex prompted.
     "Meaning she's probably training with something and closed the door so
she wouldn't disturb anyone.  The door isn't locked, by the way, just set to
require an additional command to allow entry," Tolaris replied.
     Susan raised an eyebrow as Tolaris typed in a second command.  "This isn't
going to disturb her, is it?  A tour can wait until she's finished...."
     The control panel flashed green and the blast-doors retracted into their
housings with a heavy pneumatic hiss.  A faint stench of fried electronics
wafted out from inside, causing everyone to unconsciously wrinkle their noses
in one way or another.  The pneumatic hissing faded as the doors locked open,
letting a much softer electronic hum fill the hallway.
     "What the hell?!" Leda demanded as two other jaws hit the floor at the
sight of Ra'vel holding a glowing sword in both hands, engaged in a rather
slow-paced duel with another similarly glowing sword that seemed to hover in
the air of it's own accord.
     Tolaris blinked in surprise at Leda's forceful reaction.  "Surely you've
seen her using her telekinetic powers before...." he said slowly.
     The brunette shook her head in disbelief as both Ami and Serena continued
to stare in shock.  "Not the hovering thing, doofus, the damned sword!"  She
turned and darted back down the hall to the stairwell.  "MINA, GET DOWN HERE
NOW!!" she roared.
     Everyone cringed slightly at the force of her voice.  "Holy crap, where
did she get those lungs?" Alex muttered as she rubbed the inside of her ear.
"She was loud before, but never THAT loud.  Hell, I don't think Michelle can
scream that loud when she's terrified...."
     "Tolaris," Ami said, her voice absolutely flat, "That sword Ra'vel is
using.... it's a sustained plasma flare created by a micro-fusion generator in
the handle and held in place by an hourglass-shaped magnetic field, isn't it?"
     Everyone blinked and turned to look at her.  "What did she say?" Alex
whispered to Susan.
     "Actually, that's precisely what it is," Tolaris said slowly.  "Where
exactly did you learn about how they operate?"
     "How long have you had them?" Ami demanded with a dark glare.
     "Close to fifteen hundred years now," the Dragoon replied warily, highly
disturbed by Ami's hostile reaction.  "Ami, is something wrong?"
     Ami glanced back at the glowing weapon in Ra'vel's hands as the avian
paused her training to chirp a greeting at the group.  "I haven't decided yet,"
she said quietly.
     "What, what??" Mina said in concern as she ran down the stairs, panting
heavily with Maze right behind her.  "Somebody trip the alarm in the vault or
something?  What?"
     "Where's the fire?" Maze asked Tolaris as he glanced around with concern.
     Leda pointed a finger at Ra'vel's sword.  "Look at that and tell me what
it looks like to you," she growled.
     "Look at...?  JESUS CHRIST!" Mina blurted out, her eyes going wide.
     Alex and Michelle looked at one another before glancing at Susan.  "That
reminds me," Alex said quietly.  "You never did get around to telling us about
the time you supposedly met him...."
     "Not now, Alex."
     "What?" Maze asked in confusion.  "It's just a plasma sword.... HEY!" he
yelped as Mina grabbed the front of his shirt, spun around, and pinned him
against the wall.
     "What have you people done to our society?" she demanded furiously.
     "Mina, what are you babbling about?" Maze asked.
     "Do you know what that is??"
     "Yes, I told you, it's a plasma sword...."
     "THAT is a LIGHTSABER!!"
     "What?" four voices asked at once.
     "Sue, what's a lightsaber?" Alex added quietly.
     "Not now, Alex."
     "Mina," Tolaris said quietly as he put his hand on her shoulder.  "Calm
down and tell me what exactly the problem is."
     Ami cleared her throat quietly.  "There was a series of science-fiction
movies produced several years ago that featured weapons that looked perfectly
identical to the one Ra'vel has now," she said quietly.  "They operated on the
exact principles I just asked you about, and they were called 'lightsabers' in
the series."
     Maze blinked.  "Okay, and...?" he prompted, still wary of Mina's sudden
change in behavior.
     "Makes you wonder how they ended up in our world, eh?" Mina said in a
dangerous tone.  "Gee, a futuristic weapon from an alien society that somehow
happens to be depicted in our own.  Now ain't that a co-inky-dink?"
     "That's it?" Maze said incredulously.  "You're getting all worked up over
something as simple as a sheer coincidence?"
     "I know it's a fact that the Negaverse has had agents in our society for
at least a decade," Mina said flatly.  "I'm just wondering how badly they have
interfered with things over time."
     Maze just looked at her as everyone else exchanged glances.  "Mina?" he
said quietly.  "Do you have any real proof of anything like that, aside from a
single coincidence which can't be proven either way at the moment?  If so, I'll
be one of the first denizens lining up to hear it because I happen to like this
pretty blue planet that I've been exiled to for the rest of my natural life.
However, if you don't have any such proof, and I think that's the case for the
moment, could you please get off me before I decide to get upset?"
     She blinked and looked at him for a moment before letting go of him with
a soft sigh.  "Yeah, I guess you're right," she said as she leaned forward and
buried her head in his chest.  "You know I love you and all, and I really like
Tolaris and the others here, but it really boils my blood to think of what else
your world has done to us...."
     "Coincidences are quite possible, Mina," Susan said gently.  "I freely
admit I am skeptical of most of them, but there are a few that I have examined
at length and came to the conclusion that they were truly unrelated despite
feelings, intuitions, and suspicions to the contrary."
     "It's still disturbing," Leda said with a grunt, still eyeing the light
gray glow of Ra'vel's sword and the darker hue of the hovering weapon.
     Ra'vel chirped a question as she walked over to the group, flicking the
toggle on the hilt and closing down the plasma field with a soft whoosh that
was quite familiar to several people.
     "It even sounds the same when you turn it off," Serena said quietly as a
small shiver ran through her body.
     Tolaris shook his head.  "No, Lieutenant, everything is fine," he assured
the avian.  "Leda and Mina just thought the plasma swords were something they
had seen in an Earth movie awhile ago, that's all."
     Ra'vel nodded her head in understanding and touched a panel on the wall,
turning off the other plasma sword and instructing the computer to return it
to the charging unit.
     "So...." Alex said slowly, making sure the earlier chaos had completely
settled before she started asking questions.  "That's a type of sword, huh?"
     Maze nodded.  "You could say that.  I think the original technology was
developed for use as a plasma-welder, but somehow the design got played with
by a few people in the military's R&D branch and ended up as a weapon."
     Ami snorted quietly.  "The military turning an invention into a weapon?
Now there's a novel idea...." she muttered almost inaudibly.
     Tolaris raised an eyebrow at her unexpected reaction.  "You okay?"
     "I'm fine," she replied as she closed her eyes with a soft sigh, drawing
a dubious look from Tolaris.
     "Anyway...." Alex said.  "You mind if I take a look at that thing?"
     Susan blinked.  "That might not be a wise idea, Alex, as plasma is not a
substance one would wish to toss around with reckless abandon."
     "That's the truth," Tolaris muttered absently as he briefly remembered
what a bolt of plasma had done to him centuries earlier.
     Maze looked at the metallic cylinder in Ra'vel's hands.  "The governor is
still on that thing, right?" he asked, drawing an affirmative nod from her.
"Well, as long as it stays put, the plasma should be contained and almost
completely harmless."
     "Harmless?" Mina said incredulously.  "Can't those things go through metal
like a hot knife through butter?"
     Tolaris nodded.  "They can, but that's only if you don't have a governor
installed to encase the plasma in a forcefield."
     Alex's eyebrows arched up to her hairline.  "Run that past me again?"
     Maze shook his head.  "Ordinarily, Mina would be right.... a plasma flare
contained only by a magnetic field would be able to melt through most objects
if you let them come in contact, which is why it was originally designed to be
a welder.  However, to make it safe enough to use as a training device, the
magnetic fields are themselves surrounded by a kinetic energy forcefield which
prevents the plasma from coming in physical contact with other matter.  The
heat dispersal is a different matter, so it'll still burn if you get tagged
with it, but enough of the heat is bled off to prevent it from killing you.
It's probably no worse than being momentarily splashed with cooking grease."
     Leda shivered.  "I don't know, I've met some very hot oil before...."
     "Yes, I'll bet you have, too," Alex murmured absently as she approached
Ra'vel.  "Mind if I have a go at it for a few?  I'm rather skilled with swords
and sabers, you see, and I want to see how this puppy handles...."
     "Susan?" Tolaris asked quietly.
     Susan shook her head.  "If you're sure about its safety, then I have no
objection to it."
     "Thanks, Sue," Alex said as Ra'vel handed over the hilt with a quiet
chirp.  "Okay, so this switch here turns it on, hmm?  Oh, yeah, and this is
the business end, right?  Don't want to jab myself in the foot or something
stupid like that...."
     Michelle shook her head slowly.  "A pity she's never this serious about
anything else," she muttered quietly.
     "I heard that, hon.  It's called priorities.  Ah...." she cooed as she
thumbed the switch and the plasma field ignited with a whoosh.  "Damn, this is
a bit on the light side.... no pun intended with this glow.... whoa, hey, is
this thing supposed to do that?" she asked nervously as the dark gray glow
suddenly took on a bright yellow hue.
     Both Tolaris and Maze blinked hard.  "Actually, no it's not," Maze said
with a wary edge to his voice.  "At least, not that I know of.... Possible
influence in the magnetic field?"
     "Possibly," Tolaris replied.
     "Odd," Susan said quietly.  "It's the same color as your aura, Alex."
     "Huh," Alex said as she waved the lightsaber around slowly, testing the
weight and feel of the weapon.  "Like I said, it's a bit on the light side,
but I still think I could use this without any problems."
     Serena shook her head in amazement.  "Seeing those things in reality is
spooky," she said quietly.  "Makes you wonder what else went from science-
fiction to science-fact."
     "Actually, I don't think I want to know," Mina said in a slightly edged
tone.  "I might start to get pissed off again."
     "Is it really that bad?" Maze ventured.
     "I'll answer that later," she replied with a quiet sigh.
     "Hey, how many more of these things do you have?" Alex wondered as she
stepped away from the group and slashed experimentally at the air, producing
a pronounced hum with each stroke.  "Oh, yeah, I like the sound of this....
take that!"
     Leda stretched slowly.  "I'm not sure I'd want to play with anything that
glows in the dark, you know?  It'll really be asking for trouble during a night
battle, if you know what I mean."
     Tolaris checked the status panel on the inside wall of the training room.
"I think we have four plasma swords in total, plus a plasma lance.  That's
basically two swords joined together at the hilt with a governor between to
shield both ends," he added.
     "Sort of like a bladed staff?" Susan inquired.
     "Exactly," Tolaris nodded.
     Alex paused.  "A staff weapon, huh?  Hey, Sue...."
     Susan chuckled quietly.  "Yes, I know.  I'm thinking about it."
     "I can pull it out of the vault if you want to give it a try," Tolaris
offered quietly at Susan's thoughtful expression.
     Leda's expression immediately lit up.  "Oh, yeah, go ahead and open the
arsenal up for us, please?" she said with enthusiasm, drawing heavy sighs from
Ami and Mina.
     "Girl, you need to get out more," Mina muttered.
     "And you get out too much," Leda shot back.
     "What's wrong with being sociable?"
     "Ladies, please," Tolaris said with a weary sigh as he strode over to the
control panel for the arsenal vault and began typing.  The computer took a few
seconds to validate the password before the display flashed a dark green and
began the unlocking process.
     "Damn, that sounds heavy," Alex commented at the series of clicks that
was more felt than heard.  "What kind of door is that?"
     "Put it like this," Maze said as he leaned against the wall.  "Even an
unshielded plasma sword couldn't cut through it."
     "Huh," Alex replied noncommittally as the room began to vibrate slightly.
The massive 24-inch doors of vault began to retract into housings in the floor
and ceiling at a ponderous pace, producing a sound pitched deep enough to make
everyone's teeth rattle ever so slightly.
     "Holy crap, is that door big enough?" Alex said as her jaw sagged open at
the thickness of the mammoth bulkheads.
     Tolaris shrugged.  "It's not perfect, but it serves a purpose."
     Alex blinked.  "What, there are things that bad boy WON'T stop?"
     Ra'vel chirped something quietly and Maze nodded in agreement.  "A really
determined psionicist could probably phase out enough of the wall to allow
entry, but it'd take a long time.  Plus there are a few rather high-powered
weapons that stand reasonable chances of slicing, cutting, or otherwise getting
through a bulkhead like that."
     The floor shook gently as the bulkheads finished retracting with a muted
thump and locked in the open position.  The security display flashed gold for
several seconds as the internal sensors were systematically disabled before it
resumed a solid green coloring.  "That should do it," Tolaris said.
     "Cool, cool, cool," Leda cooed as she slipped past him, giving him a quick
kiss on the cheek.  "You're a sweetheart, Tolaris.  Now, where was that siege
crossbow I saw the last time...?"
     Mina chuckled as she walked over to the open vault.  "Cheer up, Tolaris,
at least she's on our side," she said with a twinkle in her eye as she stepped
inside to browse the various weapon displays.
     The Dragoon just shook his head as he ducked inside, returning a moment
later with a large metallic cylinder.  "This is the plasma lance," he said to
Susan as he handed it to her.  "Ignition for the ends are here and here, this
is what separates the two halves for charging and maintenance, doing so when
the ends are charged would be quite unhealthy so please try to avoid that."
     "Thank you, Commander," Susan said quietly as she stepped away from the
group and studied the lance.  She hefted the cylinder's weight in her hands,
then started twirling it like a cheerleader would handle a baton.
     "Works better if you turn it on, Sue," Alex suggested as she flexed the
muscles and joints in her sword arm.
     "Patience, Alex," Sue replied as she continued to test the balance of the
weapon.  Satisfied that it was something she would be able to handle, she gave
a quick tug on the ends to make sure they were connected properly before she
flipped both ignition toggles.
     "Oh, now that is one sweet toy," Alex said in awe as both ends of the
lance ignited with dual hissing-snaps, the dark gray plasma fields extending
out two feet in either direction.  The glowing energy then darkened, taking on
a dark green coloring that matched Susan's hair perfectly.  "Interesting choice
of color, I might add...."
     "Indeed," Susan observed as she carefully studied the glowing plasma.
     Serena blinked.  "Is it supposed to do that?" she asked Maze.
     "I really don't think so," Maze said guardedly.
     Susan twirled the lance around slowly, again testing it for balance and
ease of use.  "Very interesting...." Susan commented to herself at the odd hum
it produced.  She adjusted her grip and lashed out at the air in a quick but
powerful series of snaps and thrusts.
     Several sets of eyebrows rose at the demonstration of skill.  "I think
she's serious, boss," Maze said quietly as he scratched his chin, drawing a
slightly unsettled look from Tolaris.
     A smile tugged on the corners of Alex's lips.  "Ready, Sue?" she said as
she brought her plasma sword up and held it at the ready.
     Susan sighed quietly and assumed a defensive stance.  "Slowly at first,
Alex, the idea is to test how the weapons handle, not to test one another."
     "Whatever," Alex said as she suddenly tensed.  "En garde!"
     Eyes went wide as Alex suddenly became a blur of motion, lashing out with
the yellow plasma sword.  Susan was an equal blur as she took a step back and
parried with the end of her green lance, the contact causing a sharp crackle of
charged energy as the two force-fields came into contact.  The blonde braced
herself and heaved in the other direction, causing Susan to spin her lance
around to block with the other end before coming up with a short swipe that was
blocked almost casually with a flick of Alex's wrist.
     "Not bad," Alex mused as they both took a step back.  "I'm going to need
time to play with this, as I'm not used to the weight.  Feels like the damn
thing is ready to fly out of my hand at any second."
     "Yes, I know what you mean," Susan replied as she spun the lance around
several times.  "I think I will have an easier time with it, however, as I am
quite used to using two hands.  The downside, of course, is a greater risk of
catching it wrong and doing damage to my hands."
     "Price you pay for choosing a staff over a sword," Alex replied.
     Michelle sighed and buried her face in her hands.  "Not this argument
again," she moaned softly.  She caught the questioning look from Ami and added,
"They seem to have rather protracted debates about the merits of choosing a
saber over a staff, or vice versa."
     "I see," Ami said quietly, warily watching the plasma-wielding opponents.
     "Still...." Alex said before suddenly lashing out again and triggering a
short flurry of strikes, blocks, and counter-strikes.  She waited until they
both stepped back again before finishing her thought.  "I think I like it...."
     Susan nodded.  "It does have a certain appeal to it," she acknowledged
before she spun her lance once more and went on the offensive, launching into
a series of swipes and slashes that sorely tested Alex's ability to parry and
block with the new weapon.
     "Remind me not to piss Susan off anytime soon," Maze said quietly as he
watched the flurry of attacks that kept Alex under siege.  The blonde finally
managed to deflect the lance aside long enough to brace herself and put her
full weight behind a rising slash that forced Susan to block or face very dire
consequences.  Susan blocked as best she could, but the lance was forced up
high away from her body, giving Alex the opportunity to slip her torso beneath
the glowing green weapon and ram her shoulder squarely into Susan's chest.
     The succubus staggered back and managed to retain her footing, but was
unable to recover her defenses before the plasma sword was thrust past her,
the hum echoing quite loudly as it hovered a few inches away from her ear.
"Touche, Alex," Susan chuckled quietly as she finally recovered her balance
and sense of direction, lightly batting the lightsaber way with the end of her
own plasma weapon.
     Alex nodded in acknowledgement and took a step back, slightly winded from
the onslaught.  "I wasn't... sure I could pull that off," she puffed.  "I damn
near had to dig that glow-stick of yours out of my butt, and I'm still rather
surprised I was able to block all that crap.  Whew.... So much for not testing
one another," she added with a faint grin.
     "Whatever," Susan responded lightly with a faint smile.
     Alex blinked at the unexpected response before laughing softly to herself
and shutting off her plasma sword.  "You're a pain in my butt, Sue, you know
that?"
     "The feeling is often quite mutual, I assure you," Susan responded as she
spun her lance around a few times before turning off one end.  She brought the
other end close and studied the base for a few before she shut it off as well,
listening intently to the soft whooshing noises it made.
     The blonde stretched and rotated her shoulder slowly.  "You know you love
it," she teased as she flipped the hilt in the air, watching it spin in a lazy
arc before it came down to land solidly in her palm.  "Don't get me wrong, I
still want my saber back, but this would make a suitable...." she said before
trailing off suddenly.  "Okay, what the hell is that?"
     Susan cast a glance over her shoulder and blinked as a swarm of small
spherical objects came floating out of the open vault.  "I have no idea," she
replied with a slight frown.
     Tolaris sighed heavily and grabbed one of the spheres as it drifted past
him.  "Leda, put the target drones back," he said wearily as he turned around
and tossed the drone back inside.
     "Hey, watch where you throw that thing!" a voice said from the vault.
     "Sorry, Mina," Tolaris apologized as he grabbed another pair of drones
and heaved them back inside at a slightly different angle.
     "Spoilsport...." came the other voice from inside.
     Serena just shook her head as Ami and Michelle traded glances.  "Is she
always like that?" Michelle asked softly.
     Ami sighed.  "Unfortunately."
     Michelle blinked and cast an uncertain glance in the direction of the open
vault.  "She was a little enthusiastic before when it came to the training
equipment, but not like that...."
     "Her nickname at school is Psycho-Killer for a reason," Serena muttered.
     Ami saw Michelle go pale and shook her head.  "Relax, she hasn't killed
anyone," she said soothingly.  "At least, not anyone from Earth."
     Maze rolled his eyes.  "Don't remind me," he grumbled almost silently.  He
glanced up at Michelle and raised an eyebrow.  "Behind you," he added.
     "What?" Michelle blinked.   She turned around and yelped in surprise at
the sight of Whisper quietly standing behind her.
     "Sorry, didn't mean to startle you," the telepath apologized.
     "Hey, is this dangerous?" Alex said warily as a target drone hovered a few
feet away from her, a pair of lights blinking as it examined her weapon.
     Tolaris shook his head.  "It shouldn't be, but that depends on how Leda
programmed it."
     "Wonderful," the blonde replied with a distinct lack of enthusiasm.  "I
have a bad feeling about this...."
     Ami sighed as she walked over to the open vault and stuck her head inside.
"Recall the drones, Leda," she said wearily.  "Function twelve, code six."
     The sound of a heavy sigh drifted out.  "Yeah, yeah, I got it...."
     Alex just shook her head as the drone beeped quietly before floating back
towards the vault.  "Bizarre," she said to herself.  "Sue, is this place ever
going to make sense to someone like me?"
     "Probably not," Susan replied in a rare moment of humor as she followed
the hovering drone inside the arsenal vault.  She watched it disappear into a
small pipe and turned around to study the room, blinking hard at the sight of
literally hundreds of weapons of all shapes and sizes.  "Oh, my...."
     "Oh, hello...." Alex breathed softly to herself as she looked around.  "A
girl could definitely find something useful in here.  Hey, where should I put
this?" she asked Tolaris, gesturing with the deactivated plasma sword hilt.
     "On the back wall, over there," the Dragoon said as he pointed.  "There
should only be one open slot that it will fit into, and the lance goes into the
large slot at the top."
     Alex looked around briefly before she spotted the charging unit.  "Ahh,
okay.  Hey, Sue, you wanna toss me that puppy?  Thanks," she added as the lance
was tossed in a carefully planned ballistic arc that terminated precisely where
her outstretched hand was.
     "What's all this?" Michelle asked as she hovered just inside the massive
doorway, her eyes wide with wonder.
     Mina looked up from a sealed glass display and smiled.  "The Negaverse's
idea of fun," she said mischievously.
     "Mina...." Maze's voice drifted in from the hallway, tinged with patient
suffering and drawing a tongue-in-cheek raspberry from the blonde in response.
     "Play nice," Alex chuckled as she set the plasma weapons in the empty
slots, watching the lights turn from green to red to indicate the weapons
entering a charging status.  "Now, what else do we have here, hmm?" she said
as she looked around at the various racks and display cases.  "Damn, do you
people have enough ways of shedding blood?  Just look at all this love and
affection...."
     Susan shook her head as she studied a denizen model crossbow.  "Violence,
in all its splendor and glory, is hardly unique to humans, Alex."
     Mina raised an eyebrow.  "Splendor and glory, huh?"
     "When one works so closely with the forces of death and destruction, you
learn to find and appreciate beauty where you can," the succubus said with a
casual shrug.  "Beauty is, after all, in the eye of the beholder."
     Mina blinked and swallowed hard.  "Hey, can I ask you something...?"
     Alex snickered quietly.  "Careful what you ask her, honey, she's liable
to answer you," she said.  "And half the time the answer is either so cryptic
that it's useless or it's downright frightening."
     "Thank you, Alex."
     "Anytime, Chancellor."
     Mina blinked again and took a deep breath.  "Demons have a culture just
like humans do, right?  A society and all?"
     "Of course," Susan said as she turned her attention to a mace that, for
all intents and practical purposes, appeared to be made out of solid concrete.
"Why wouldn't we?"
     "So how does that culture tie into what happens here on Earth?" Mina asked
cautiously, ignoring the strange looks she was getting from Ami and Serena.
     Susan paused and looked up at her.  "Well, it's a complicated story, and
I had planned on discussing it at...."
     "*HEY!*" Alex suddenly roared loudly, momentarily deafening everyone.
     "What the hell?" Leda demanded as she winced.
     Alex's hand shot forward like a cannon, her fingertip making solid contact
with the surface of a glass casing.  "THAT'S MY SABER!!" she shouted.
     "What?" both Susan and Michelle asked in unison, blinking hard.
     "Look at it!" the blonde demanded as she jabbed her finger against the
casing again.  "Where's the lock on this thing?"
     Tolaris blinked and took a step forward.  "Calm down a moment, Alex...."
     "Calm down, hell!" she replied sharply.  "I don't know how it ended up in
here but I'm damn well taking it back, so where's the damned lock?"
     "Alexis Ten'ou, that will be enough!" Susan said sharply.
     Ra'vel chirped quietly as she turned to the cataloging computer and typed
in a question, waiting patiently for the answer.   she telepathed to the group.  
     Alex blinked hard and gave the avian a blank look.  "Huh?"
     Whisper cleared her throat softly as she stepped into the room.  "What I
think she just said was that, while that blade is listed as being a thousand
years old, we're not sure where Nephlyte got it from and that the best method
of figuring that out would be for Ra'vel to do an object reading."
     Glanced were exchanged as Alex visibly struggled to figure out what the
telepath had just said.  "Sue, help me out here...." she said quietly with a
pained look on her face.
     Susan walked over to the display case to study it better.  Several weapons
hung inside, but the one that drew her attention was a saber that was quite
familiar with her.  "Yes, that appears to be the Soul Saber," she said quietly
as she studied the jewels embedded along the length of the blade and the tiny
gems encrusted on the gold hilt.  "Can you call it?"
     Alex closed her eyes and extended her arm outward, trying to focus on the
energies buried deep within the ancient blade.  Her eyes snapped back open as
she failed to sense them, a small trickle of ice crawling down her spine.  "I
can't," she whispered as a sinking feeling engulfed her.  "Sue, I can't feel
anything from it...."
     Susan narrowed her eyes as she stared at the blade, comparing it to the
memories she had etched into her demonic memory.  "It looks identical," she
said slowly, "But it's possible this could merely be a high-quality replica."
     "A fake?" Alex said with an upset frown.
     They both looked behind them as Ra'vel approached, her talons clicking
softly on the metallic floor.  She moved past them and entered a code into the
nearly invisible cipher pad, waiting patiently as the computer processed the
request.  The casing finally unlocked itself and popped open with a soft hiss
of escaping gas, allowing her to reach inside and grab the saber before quickly
closing and resealing the casing.
     "Oh, dear crap, what died?" Alex coughed as she held her nose.
     "Inert atmospheric sealant," Susan suggested as she discreetly avoided
breathing through her nose for several seconds.  "I would guess a mixture of
nitrogen and xenon gas."
     Tolaris nodded.  "That's not too far off the mark.  Ra'vel?"
     The avian chirped once at him as she held the saber in both hands, using
her psionic abilities to scan the ancient blade and analyze the auras that had
been imprinted on it.  Everyone watched in silence as her beak moved slowly,
almost as if she were talking to someone.  The scene continued for several
seconds in eerie silence before she squawked suddenly and puffed her feathers
out as if mimicking a minor explosion.
     "What?" Alex demanded as she took a reflexive step back.
     Ra'vel turned to look at Whisper, her round eyes nearly triple their usual
diameter.  She made a plaintive, almost mournful chirping noise at Whisper as
she held the blade out to the Psi-Corp telepath.
     "You saw what?" Whisper asked, blinking hard before walking over to the
distraught avian and touching the blade herself.  She froze in place as her
mind reached out, contacting Ra'vel's mind as well as scanning the saber's aura
with her own psionic senses.
     "I don't like this...." Alex said softly to the room in general.
     Whisper suddenly bolted upright as if she had been hit with an electric
shock.  She snatched her hand away from the saber and focused on slowing her
breathing.  "Well...." she said slowly as she cast a sidelong glance at Leda.
"I can say with absolute certainty that this is indeed from the Moon Kingdom,
although I would not like to speculate how it.... got loose."
     Leda blinked hard.  "Why are you looking at me like that?"
     Whisper just shook her head.  "Nothing, Leda, just.... witnessing the
final moments of the Moon Kingdom invasion before the Negaverse retreat."
     "Anything you want to share with us?" Alex asked in a slightly wary tone
as Ra'vel passed her the saber.  "Thanks...."
     Ra'vel made a sour chirping noise as she fluffed her feathers.  "It's not
anything you really want to see for yourself," Whisper said with a shudder.
     Mina cleared her throat as she moved over to lean on Maze.  "Let me guess,
that's where we got killed during the invasion?"
     "You could say that...."
     Mina shivered.  "I'll pass."
     Alex hefted the saber in her hand and examined it carefully.  "Hey...."
she said slowly as she felt a faint but definite tingle beneath her fingertips.
"I think this thing's asleep or something.  I can feel it, but it's really
faint."
     Susan nodded.  "It's possible, seeing how it has lain dormant for nearly
a thousand years now.  Perhaps it will reawaken with time."
     "How exactly did we die?" Leda asked Whisper quietly.
     Mina wrinkled her nose.  "Is it really necessary to know?"
     The brunette glanced at her out of the corner of her eye.  "Maybe I want
to know how it happened so I can make sure it won't happen again.  Or maybe I
just have a sinking feeling about something."
     Whisper and Ra'vel exchanged glances.  "I can show you if you truly want,
Leda, but I assure you that it is.... not pretty."
     "I must confess some curiosity as well," Susan said.
     Alex rolled her eyes.  "Curious about a spectacular death, you of all
people, Chancellor?  Oh, the surprise of it all...."
     "I want to know as well," Ami spoke up softly from the doorway.
     Several eyes blinked.  "Okay, now that's a real surprise," Alex said.  "I
thought you weren't the type to wonder about blood, guts, and gore?"
     "Enough, Alex," Susan said gently.
     Whisper took a deep breath and sighed.  "Well.... I think if I link minds
with Ra'vel, I can thought-broadcast it to everyone.  The only drawback is it
won't be focused, so if you don't want to see it you'll have to leave."
     Mina sighed and eyed Tolaris warily.  "Think I can hide my brain behind
Tolaris's psi-mute mind?"
     "Be nice," Maze chided her gently.
     "Serena?" Whisper asked quietly.
     Everyone looked at Serena as she blinked nervously.  "I'm not exactly
thrilled at the idea of watching my friends die," she said slowly.
     "Call it a learning experience," Leda suggested carefully.
     Serena sighed softly.  "Alright, I just hope I won't regret this...."
     Alex just shook her head.  "Trust me, your Highness, we already do."
     "Alright," Mina sighed impatiently.  "Let's just get this over with."
     "Very well then," Whisper said quietly as she reached out to touch the
side of Ra'vel's head.  She waited until she had a solid connection established
and a mutual understanding quickly sorted out before she turned her psionic
senses inward and began to broadcast the series of images she had seen just
minutes ago, locked away in the Soul Saber for a thousand lonely years....

                *               *               *               *

     The world swirled around him in a mad cacophony of light, sound, and most
disturbingly, pain.  He could feel his life-force trickling out through the
bone-deep slash in his arm, slowly drawing his mind further down the deepening
spiral that surrounded him.  He heard a voice nearby, someone saying something
to him, followed by a soft click of a capsule being broken open and held under
his nose.
     Reality promptly snapped back into sharp focus as if a button had simply
been pressed.  The nose-searing aroma of the smelling salts registered on his
senses a bare instant later, and he almost knocked himself senseless again in
a reflexive attempt to get away from it.
     "Easy, sir," the combat medic said quietly as he quickly put the salts
away and went back to bandaging his arm.  "Are you still with me?"
     "What.... what happened?" he asked as his memories slowly filtered back
into place.  He looked around, noticing that he was in a small courtyard just
outside the main palace gates.  Several one-on-one battles raged around him
between his soldiers and the castle guards, but the closest one was several
dozen yards away.
     "You've been gravely wounded, Captain," the medic said as he tightened
the field tourniquet.  "You've lost a lot of blood, and we need to get you to
a Healer as soon as possible."
     He looked down and blinked hard when he realized that he was sitting in a
pool of his own dark green blood.  "How did that.... never mind," he began to
say before remembering the short duel he had with a female warrior.  He had
managed to inflict a wound on her shoulder that was bound to leave a scar, but
his minor victory was quite short-lived as her counter-stroke cut through his
forearm, severing the artery and grazing the bone itself.
     "Do you remember who you are?" the medic asked as he pulled a syringe out
of his satchel and snapped a vial into the chamber.
     "Nephlyte, Captain of the Second Assault Division, and one very angry
denizen," he replied bitterly.  "This is not going very well...."
     The medic nodded sadly, already having had three other people die in his
presence.  "We've almost breached the palace, sir, so just hold on a little
longer," he said as he leaned over him to find a suitable place to inject the
mind-numbing painkiller.
     He was about to say something when the horizon flashed white, a brilliant
blinding glow followed immediately by a shockwave that send him tumbling across
the marble flooring as if he were merely a leaf before a stiff breeze.  His
senses started to swirl again before slowly and agonizingly reorienting on his
surroundings.
     "Ay'cha navidshi," he gasped as a searing pain lanced through his chest.
He could almost feel his lungs start to clog with fluid, causing him to gasp
for air.  So much for that, he thought to himself with resignation, knowing
that something had just punctured a lung.  I wonder which will kill me first,
the lungs or the blood loss...?
     A flash of light caught his eye, and he looked up just in time to catch
a glimpse of the debris that was spinning towards him from the direction of the
explosion.  One particular object caught his eye and he reflexively rolled to
one side, sending waves of pain shooting along every nerve in his body and
exacerbating his chest wound.  The result was that the spinning object only
nicked his ribcage instead of impaling him as it embedded itself into the
ground with a minor shockwave.
     Pain, he thought to himself as his senses blurred together once again.
Pain means I'm still alive for the moment, pain is my friend....  His mind
eventually refocused to the point of allowing him to look down and see what
had nearly killed him this time.
     He blinked hard as he recognized the jeweled weapon that had wounded him
not ten minutes ago, the gleaming blade encrusted with several glittering gems
and coated with at least six distinct colors of denizen blood.  What...? he
thought to himself in shock and amazement.  But, how...?
     He looked up in the direction of the explosion, an unholy black cloud
starting to drift up from the area.  It was too far away for him to see or even
guess at what had happened, but he was fairly sure that whomever had been in
the area was quite dead now.  Including the medic, he realized as he saw the
slumped corpse a surprising distance away.
     Well, well, well, he thought to himself as he glanced down at the blade,
coughing softly.  A bitter metallic taste filled his mouth and he turned to
spit, noticing a light green froth accompanying the darker green blood.  You
tried to kill me once, he thought, and even with your mistress dead, you come
back to try to finish the task.  In another time and place, I think I would
really like you....
     He used his good arm to push himself back up into a sitting position,
ignoring the waves of pain that radiated from his arm and chest.  Once he was
reasonably sure of his balance, he reached out and pulled the jeweled saber
from the ground.  He was surprised at the weight of the blade, seeming to be
heavier than a similar-sized weapon but with a far superior balance.  Now this
is a sword, he thought with another painful cough.
     "Come, my friend," he rasped weakly to the blade, both his breath and his
words gurgling in his chest, "You may watch me die from the wound you gave me,
but you will be coming with me from now on...."
     He looked up as the air seemed to moan softly to itself, and a sudden
smile played across his lips.  "So the end begins...." he said to the blade as
a massive swath of darkness began to enshroud the palace.  A rift opened up,
permitting the dark form of Queen Beryl to emerge and stand in front of the
courtyard.
     He blinked as he saw who she was confronting.  Prince Darian, his sword
drawn, was standing in front of the Moon Princess, trying to protect her from
Queen Beryl.  A foolish gesture, he thought as he watched the blonde princess
cower like a rat behind her lover.  What could he possibly hope to accomplish
by sacrificing himself for the princess?  Sentimental fool....
     His head turned slightly as four more of the oddly uniformed warrior women
appeared at the top of the palace steps, surrounding a lavender-haired woman
as they all ran for the courtyard.  So that is Queen Serenity, he thought as
he watched the scene unfold.  Now I know where the princess got that strange
hairstyle from....
     The smirk of contempt was quite evident on Beryl's face as she made a
sweeping gesture with her staff.  The shroud of darkness engulfing the palace
gathered together and coalesced into the massive spectral form of the ultimate
champion of the NegaForce, the Great Shadow Warrior.
     He smiled, momentarily forgetting his life-threatening wounds as he could
almost hear the gasps of shock and horror from the humans.  That's right, he
thought as he unconsciously tightened his grip on the saber, you girls don't
have a chance.  Surrender or face oblivion....
     He blinked hard as the four warriors charged forward, each summoning an
elemental attack.  They paused at the bottom of the stairs and focused their
powers, merging the elements into single, concentrated blast directed upwards
at the Great Shadow.  Even from a distance, he could tell that the energies
they were using were quite potent and not easily brushed aside.
     "Mercury Arctic Blizzard, Enshroud!"
     "Mars Raging Firestorm, Immolate!"
     "Jupiter Lightning Barrage, Electrocute!"
     "Venus Divine Retribution, Impale!"
     The four elements merged together in a single ball of pure energy that
burned his eyes to look at.  The air itself seemed to scream for mercy as it
was parted by the blast, catching the Great Shadow square in the chest.  An
unholy cry of pain echoed across the land, the spectral form writhing about in
obvious agony.
     The light faded after a few seconds and the air stood still.  He could
feel his lungs burning for air as he struggled to breathe, watching in utter
amazement as the Great Shadow recovered from the unified attack.  A small smile
appeared on the corner of the Great Shadow's lips as it began to draw energy
together in preparation for a return strike.
     A cold wind blew through his body that had nothing to do with the severe
loss of blood in his veins.  He quickly looked around, trying to decide if he
was too close to the impending retribution and if he could somehow find a place
to hide until it had passed.  Say goodnight, girls, he thought as the ball of
seething black energy lashed out and impacted in the center of the group of
horrified warriors.
     The explosion was nothing short of apocalyptic.  Even from dozens of yards
away, he could feel the bone-crushing force of the shockwave pushing against
him, knocking him to the ground and sending more mind-searing pain dancing
across what was left of his nerves.  The saber was almost torn from his grasp
as he struggled to look up, intent on witnessing the demise of the warriors.
     He couldn't spot the orange warrior at all.  He caught a glimpse of the
blue warrior's corpse as she tumbled down the stairs, leaving a carpet of blood
and gore behind in her wake.  The red warrior was smashed against a wall, her
neck and limbs bending at unnatural angles before she slumped to the ground in
a lifeless heap.  He first thought that her uniform had been torn and stuck
to the wall, but then realized that the coloring he saw was her blood splashed
across the marble surface like so much red paint.
     So much for that, he thought to himself before he caught motion out of
the corner of his eye.  He turned his head just in time to see the body of the
green warrior hit the ground like a sack of wheat, skidding several yards to a
stop almost directly in front of him.  He winced in reflexive sympathy at the
thought of being thrown all the way from the courtyard to his location.
     His jaw nearly dislocated itself falling open as she twitched and started
to move in slow motion.  She's still alive? he thought in shock, noticing that
the back of her uniform had been melted by the explosion, the charred flesh
beneath now little more than a useless and bloody ruin.  How is this possible?
Just who is she...?
     He watched in sheer amazement as she got her arms beneath her ample chest
and managed to rise up onto one elbow.  The movement was a costly one, her body
suddenly becoming wracked with spasms and a pool of bright red blood forming
around her.  She moaned softly, a rasping gurgle that meant her lungs were
filling with fluid.  Most likely blood, he thought as he was suddenly reminded
of his own situation and started coughing again.
     Her head jerked as she heard him, and she lifted her head up in agonizing
slowness to look at him.  It was a strange moment as their eyes met, two dying
warriors from different cultures assessing one another.  They were close enough
to have touched if they wanted to, each remaining perfectly still as they
fought their own battles to prolong the inevitable slip into darkness.
     A child? he thought in shock as he studied her youthful face.  No, not a
child, but not fully an adult.... She's beautiful, whomever she is, he mused
as he studied her.  Such a travesty to have such a young life cut short like
this.... even if she is a human....
     Time seemed to grind to a halt as their eyes met, a sort of wordless
communication passing between them.  The ruins of her tiara started to spark
with electricity before a wave of pain passed over her face and she was forced
to let the energy fade.  Even defeated, you still remain defiant, he thought as
her gaze hardened slightly.  You are an amazing young woman.... have you served
your Queen well, then?  Are you truly at peace with dying to protect her and
your world?
     Words alone could never have described the feelings that passed between
them as they lay next to one another in slowly expanding pools of blood.  She
started coughing, a harsh rasping noise the brought a bright pink froth to her
lips.  She spat weakly, then glanced down as she noticed the pool of red blood
starting to merge with the pool of green blood.  She looked back up at him,
her green eyes changing slightly with a different emotion.
     Yes, I see it, he thought with a faint shiver.  Are we related now that
our blood has mixed, spilled on the cold ground by our worlds?  You who did
nothing more than defend your world, and I.... I who followed my Queen's order
to try to take it.... Is this the price I am to pay, then, to die in another
world with you?  So be it, my friend.... better to die with another warrior,
even if you are the enemy, than to die alone....
     Something intangible passed between them at that moment, an understanding
that could never have been put into words.  Slowly and painfully, she raised
her hand to her throat and grasped the small pendant that she wore around her
neck on a fine gold chain.
     He was amazed that it was still there, seeing what had happened to the
back of her uniform from the explosion.  He blinked as he realized that most
of the gold chain had also melted in the blast and was fused to her skin.  He
watched in silence as she tugged on the pendant until the chain broke, most of
the material remaining melted onto her skin.  A small segment remained intact,
however, forming a small loop from which hung the emerald gemstone.
     She wordlessly reached out to him, holding the pendant cupped in a shaking
hand.  He blinked hard at the gesture, his own hand seeming to reach out of its
own volition.  Their fingers brushed against each other and the emerald gem
spilled into his palm.
     He looked up at her in confusion.  And what is this? he wondered as she
curled his fingers around the gem.  Her lips moved, but was unable to make any
coherent sound as blood started to trickle from her mouth.  She said a single
word, her mouth moving slow enough that he was able to translate.
     Protect.
     He blinked hard as a deep chill enveloped him.  She wanted him to protect
the pendant, whatever it was.  He glanced down at it, studying it briefly in
the waning light of the setting sun.  He looked back up at her to see the look
in her eyes, a mournful plea to do as she asked.
     Their eyes met again and he nodded slowly, realizing that there was such
a thing as a universal bond among warriors, be they friend or foe.  He would
not refuse her dying wish, realizing that they were truly bound by more than
the blood that was mixing beneath them on the marble flooring.  Very well then,
my friend.... one warrior to another.... you have my word of honor.
     Perhaps it was a trick of the light, but it seemed that for one instant
she might have smiled at him.  Then the life faded from her eyes and she
slumped to the ground, her chest heaving once before becoming still and the
pool of blood ceasing to expand.
     Words failed him as he looked at the pendant in his hand, wondering for
the first time in his adult life if he was really doing the right thing for
his Queen and his world.  He looked up as a voice echoed across the kingdom,
accompanied by a bright light of holy radiance.  Is that Queen Serenity?  What
is she doing...?
     "Cosmic Moon Power...."
     A ball of light lashed out into the sky, narrowly missing Queen Beryl and
impacting the Great Shadow Warrior.  A scream the likes of which he had never
heard before seemed to rupture his eardrums as the Great Shadow was torn apart
by the holy light.  He felt his heart sink into his chest, realizing that he
was witnessing the full power of the Imperium Silver Crystal in action, and if
it could do that to the NegaForce's champion....
      the telepathic voice intruded into his mind.  
     So it ends, he thought bitterly as he tightened his grip on the pendant
and the strange jeweled saber.  All this effort, all these lives lost.... and
for what?  There will be much to answer for, Queen Beryl, but of course you
will not be to blame....
     His senses started to swim again and he once again found himself being
pulled down a spiraling path of chaos.  It's just as well, he thought, I'm not
sure I want to see anymore of this.... such a waste.... such a travesty....
     "Hey, this one's still alive!" a voice said faintly.  "Someone one give
me a hand!"
     "Got him.... ay'cha navidshi, he's lost a lot of blood.... MEDIC!"
     "Come on, Captain, don't die now, we have to get you to a Healer...."
     "What about her...?"
     "Dead."
     "Pity, she looked beautiful, too...."
     "Stow it, soldier, we have enough captives for the moment.  Now, give me
a hand with him.... easy now.... one, two, three, lift!...."
     The darkness was quite welcome when the voices finally fell silent and
his tortured spirit was able rest for the moment, taking scant comfort in the
fact that he would most likely reawaken and live to be haunted another day by
the memory of a young woman he never knew and the bond they briefly shared,
one warrior to another.

                *               *               *               *

     The silence that gripped the arsenal vault was profound as Tolaris cast a
concerned glance around the room.  Everyone else seemed to be frozen in time,
swept up in the telepathic images that he was unable to see for himself.  He
had a fair idea of what they were seeing, however, as he had seen footage from
battle cameras taken during the time of the Moon Kingdom invasion.
     War is never pleasant, he thought to himself, blinking hard as he noticed
everyone seeming to go deathly pale at almost exactly the same instant.  He
figured he would quietly ask either Whisper or Maze to tell him about what they
were seeing.... once enough time had passed for his human allies to calm down
and largely forget about the horrors visited upon their world by Queen Beryl
and her lust for power.
     Everyone suddenly seemed to blink in unison as the broadcast ended and
their conscious minds were restored to the present.  The air felt unusually
heavy for a brief moment as they all glanced around at one another, shocked and
horrified eyes filling with tears.  Even Susan seemed deeply moved, her face
unusually pale and her lower lip trembling slightly.
     A sudden flush of color caused him to turn his head, blinking hard as he
could visibly see the blood rushing to Alex's face.  Her skin turned a vivid
shade of crimson and her eyes seemed to catch fire, the saber held in a white-
knuckled grip trembling with rage.
     He glanced around, realizing that only Maze seemed to notice Alex's sudden
mood-swing.  They shared a concerned glance before the purple-haired denizen
made a discreet gesture of warning.  Tolaris nodded in return and set his hand
on the security console, ready to initiate the emergency containment fields in
the vault and release an incapacitating gas.  He figured that being gassed into
unconsciousness for a few hours was preferable to being inside an enclosed room
filled with lethal weapons at the mercy of a human enraged beyond all reason.
     "Alex," Susan said very softly as she leaned against a display case.
     Alex closed her eyes and breathed through her nose, the sound echoing
loudly in the room.  She opened her eyes as she felt Michelle's hand slipping
in hers, intertwining their fingers and squeezing hard.  She didn't dare look
into those aquamarine eyes, knowing that they would be overflowing with tears
and would only push her over the edge.
     She took a deep breath and slowly set the saber down on top of the nearest
display case.  Her hands still trembled with rage as she took a step back from
the saber and wrapped her arms around Michelle, trying to offer as much comfort
as she could.  Michelle's sobs echoed quite clearly in room as she clutched the
blonde tightly, her body wracked with pain and sorrow.
     "Thank you," Susan whispered as she struggled to control her emotions.
     Tolaris felt the tension drain from him as he sighed with silent relief,
lifting his hand off the security controls.  He looked at Ami, a heavy weight
settling around his shoulders at the look of shock and grief on her face.  She
was clutching Myst tightly, the lunar kitten curled up in a ball of gray fur
with only two large eyes visible.
     "Is everyone alright?" he asked softly, hating to break the somber mood
but deeply concerned for everyone's well-being and state of mind.
     "I think I'm going to throw up," Leda said very quietly, her skin as pale
as freshly-fallen snow.
     "Not in here," Mina said, her voice cracking slightly.  "The floors will
be a pain to scrub."
     Maze grunted quietly as he reached out to hold Mina's hand.  "We have mops
for that," he replied quietly.
     "Don't encourage her to throw up," Mina said with a sour expression.
     Susan took a deep breath and stood up straight.  "Serena, are you going to
be alright?" she inquired gently.
     "I-I-I-I think s-s-s-so...." Serena whimpered as she hugged her shoulders
tightly, her face dangerously pale and shivering slightly.  She closed her eyes
and surrendered to a full-body shiver as Leda turned around and wrapped her in
a gentle hug.
     "You'll be alright," Leda said quietly.
     "What about you?" Ami asked softly.  "Are you going to be alright?"
     "I think so," the brunette replied as she gently rocked Serena back and
forth.  "I mean.... this was in the past, right?"
     Whisper nodded.  "Yes, what you saw happened a thousand years ago."
     Leda nodded and released her hold on Serena.  "Give me a few days, I'll
be fine.  A few stiff drinks in the meantime wouldn't hurt, however...."
     Maze nodded.  "We should have a few bottles of wine in the storage pool
if you want some," he offered gently, knowing that no one would object under
the circumstances.
     "I don't think wine is what she had in mind," Alex said, her voice colder
than liquid nitrogen as she gently rubbed Michelle's back.
     Leda chuckled weakly.  "Yeah, I was thinking of something that would have
me on my butt after the second shot.... Hey, Alex, you okay?"
     "Oh, me?  I'm fine," Alex replied in a tone laced with tempered steel.
"Nothing like watching your best friends die to make your day, you know?  That,
and knowing who's the rat-bastard that got my saber.... Should've skewered him
when I got the chance, that damned sonofab...." she said before being cut off
by a sudden and forceful kiss from Michelle.
     Several sets of eyebrows rose at the gesture.  "Mina?" Maze said softly.
"Remind me have you try that next time you want me to shut up in a hurry."
     "Beats being kicked in the nuts, eh?" she replied.
     "My sentiments exactly."
     "I'll try, dear."
     "Don't start," Michelle whispered as she backed off, still tightly wrapped
around Alex for comfort and support.  "Worry about Leda and the Princess right
now, okay?"
     Alex just sighed and rested her head on Michelle's shoulder.  "Yeah, hon,
I know," she said quietly.  "But still.... I'm not going to forget this one
anytime soon, believe me."
     "Nor should we," Susan said as she walked over and put her hand on the
blonde's shoulder.  "Rest assured that there will come a day of reckoning when
all of this will be balanced on the scales of Judgment, but remember that it
is not our place to judge.  We all saw what he saw and heard his thoughts, and
I for one think that he might have changed for the better that evening."
     Alex's jaw set in a stern line as she closed her eyes.  "Sue?  I hope you
won't take this personally when I say I don't give a dead rat's rear end what
you think about him at the moment.  If I ever find him, he's toast, end of
discussion."
     "He's already dead," Ami said quietly.  "Serena and I were there when he
died trying to protect Molly from another Negaverse general."
     Alex snorted quietly.  "Great, now I can't even dream about eviscerating
him myself.  Today is turning out to be such a fun day...."
     "That's enough, Alex," Susan said quietly as she squeezed her shoulder.
"Ami, when you say Molly.... do you mean Molly Baker, by chance?"
     Three sets of eyes blinked in unison.  "That's it exactly," Serena said,
her eyes going wide.  "She's my best friend.  How did you know?"
     Susan shook her head gently.  "An educated guess, that's all.  Serenity's
Ambassador to Earth had a daughter named Molly who was in the Kingdom during
the time of the attack.  It would make some sense that Serenity would also try
to reincarnate as many of her citizens as she could...."
     Mina cleared her throat quietly.  "Can we talk about this later?  I think
we all need to sit down and try to relax or something.  I don't know about the
rest of you guys, but that offer of a glass of wine sounds really good right
about now."
     "Yeah, I suppose," Leda said quietly as she glanced around the vault at
the assorted displays of weapons.  "Tolaris, I have a question.... do you....
do you think that the pendant we saw might be in here, somewhere?"
     Tolaris blinked and sighed quietly, cursing his psi-muteness.  "You'll
have to explain it to me as I couldn't see anything," he apologized.
     "I've got it, boss," Maze said as he stepped over to the library computer
and typed in a quick inquiry.  The computer took a few seconds to process the
request before it came back with a schematic, a single red dot flashing on the
screen.  "That one," he said as he turned around and pointed to a particular
display case in the corner.  "I'll unlock it from here."
     "Thanks," Leda said quietly as she walked over to the case.
     "Leda," Susan said softly.  "I think you should just leave it alone."
     "What?" the brunette replied, blinking in surprise.  "Why?"
     Susan just shook her head.  "Trust me.  Leave it alone."
     Leda looked at her for a few moments before glancing over at Serena and
Ami.  "Apparently it was important to me at one time," she said guardedly as
she glanced back at the succubus.  "I want to know why."
     "A gift from Lady Mercury," Susan replied evenly.  "Nothing more."
     Alex and Michelle blinked at the dark tone and exchanged glances.  "Sue,
you're being awfully cagey about something," Alex ventured.
     Susan sighed quietly.  "Yes, I know what it is, and I'm telling you that
you would be better off leaving it alone.  It was a gift from the past, and I
fear that whatever value it once had is now tainted by the memories we just
observed.  It is an unnecessary reminder and should be left forgotten."
     Leda frowned as a faint chill started to creep down her spine.  "I think
I'll be the judge of what reminders of the past I want to keep," she said in a
faintly edged tone.  "That, and I think you're hiding something.  Please open
the lock," she said to Maze as she turned back to the casing.
     Maze entered a command and the casing unlocked with a sharp hiss of gas.
Leda lifted the lid up and reached inside, doing her best to ignore the smell
of the inert atmospheric sealant as it vented past her.  She very carefully
grasped the emerald gemstone and withdrew it, moving slowly to ensure that the
fragile segment of gold chain didn't break.  She closed the lid with a soft
thump, making sure was firmly closed before nodding to Maze to seal and relock
the glass casing.
     She carefully held it up to the light, studying the way the emerald was
cut and how it was set in the pendant's clasp.  "It looks pretty," she said
slowly.  "Huh?  It almost looks hollow.... Hey, Ami, can you take a look at
this with your computer?"
     "Sure," Ami said as she carefully passed Myst over to Serena and pulled
her miniature computer out of her Lunar Space pocket.
     "Nice to know we still have that toy around," Alex observed.
     "Ami," Susan said in a warning tone.  "Don't."
     Ami paused as she was about to turn the device on.  "Why not?"
     "It's a reminder of a forgotten past and it should stay that way."
     Leda cast a dark glare at the succubus.  "Scan it," she said flatly.
     Ami hesitated for a moment before she powered up her computer and focused
the sensor suite on the small gem.  "It's a real emerald, high quality, very
dense carbon structure.  It appears that a tiny air bubble was trapped when it
was formed.  That's odd...." she trailed off.
     "Keep going, we're listening," Leda prodded her.
     Ami gave her computer a puzzled look and typed in a few commands, altering
the type of sensor scan.  "I'm detecting what appears to be the remains of a
strong magnetic field.... and I think some organic residue in the bubble."
     Leda blinked and looked at Susan, not liking the look of resignation on
her face.  "You know what this is, don't you?" she asked.  Susan said nothing
and looked away, a heavy sigh silently escaping past her lips.  "Goddamn it,
Susan, if you know something, tell us!  What is so important about this thing
that I was willing to give it to a complete stranger to protect?"
     "Ami," Susan said very quietly.  "You said you could detect a magnetic
field.  Is it still present?"
     Ami rechecked her computer and shook her head.  "No, I'm guessing that
whatever was causing it must have quit a long time ago."
     "How long ago?"
     "Call it seven centuries," Ami said carefully.  "What was it?"
     Susan shook her head sadly.  "Let it rest.  Please," she pleaded quietly.
     "Susan?" Mina spoke up as she leaned against the inside housing of the
vault bulkhead.  "Why won't you tell us what that thing is?"
     "I guard many secrets," Susan said very softly.  "To tell you the story
behind the pendant would also reveal another story, and it's that secret which
I am bound to protect.  You have asked far more questions than I would have
liked already, and I cannot permit any more to be asked.  I can only ask that
you trust me when I say the secret is not dangerous and that it is best left
undisturbed."
     Leda looked down at the ruined pendant in her hand.  "Susan, this is not
just a mystery," she said slowly.  "This is something that I did, something
that I have no memory of.  This is going to bother me greatly until I get an
answer, and I'm not about to stop asking questions now."
     "I implore you, Leda, don't continue with this," Susan said sadly.
     "Tell me about the bubble," Leda quietly asked Ami.
     Ami poked at her computer for several seconds.  "The bubble gives every
indication of being naturally formed, and there are no unusual changes in the
rate of carbon-14 decay.  I can't quite identify the residue inside, but I'm
almost positive it's organic in nature.  There's simply too much carbon for it
to be otherwise, and it's a different carbon structure than the gem."
     Alex blinked and stood up straight.  "Susan?" she said, her voice creaking
unexpectedly.  "When did Leda start wearing that pendant?"  She got silence in
response and swallowed hard.  "It was about a year ago, right?" she added, her
voice breaking up even more.
     "Alex, what's wrong?" Michelle asked, her eyes wide with concern.
     "Let it rest, Alex," Susan said, knowing the battle was already lost.
     "Oh, dear god, Sue, tell me that's not what I think it is...." Alex said,
her face turning ashen as she stared at the emerald gemstone in Leda's hand.
     Leda and Ami exchanged deeply unsettled glances as Ami resumed scanning
the gem with her computer.  "Hey, Alex?" Leda asked gently.  "If you know
something, I'd really like to hear it...."
     "Sue, it's related to that.... that.... incident, isn't it?" Alex said,
hew jaw visibly quivering.  "You said Lady Mercury gave it to her.... that was
after.... after...."
     Susan closed her eyes and leaned against the nearest solid object, feeling
every bit as old as she was.  "Yes, Alexis, it is what you think.  Now do you
see why I didn't want it remembered?"
     "So that story you don't want to reveal.... that's mine, isn't it?"
     "Yes, Alex, it is," Susan said with a soft sigh.
     Michelle blinked and wrapped Alex in a tight hug as the blonde began to
shiver uncontrollably, her gaze fixated on the gemstone.  "Alex, please, you
have to let it go," Michelle whispered to her.  "It's in the past, it's over
with...."
     "Hey!" Serena protested quietly as Myst suddenly leapt out of her arms.
The silky gray kitten made her way across the floor and jumped up onto the
storage casing next to Alex, studying the blonde with pale red eyes and slowly
lashing her tail back and forth.
     "W-W-What do you want?" Alex stammered as she stared back at the kitten.
     "Your emotions are filled with dark energy," Myst said quietly.
     "You think?" Alex muttered.
     "May I have some of it?" Myst asked.
     "What?" the blonde replied in confusion, blinking hard.
     Susan stepped forward and studied the kitten carefully.  "You feed off of
dark energy, don't you?"
     Myst nodded.  "Such energy is common in the Dark, and I've developed a
taste for it.  Feeding on it won't hurt her, and drawing some of it off might
even help her," she explained.
     "Hold it...." Alex said warily.  "Run this past me again?"
     "Myst would like to feed on your negative emotions," Susan explained.  "In
doing so, they should disappear faster and let your mood recover quicker.  I've
heard of this being done before, although I have never witnessed it, and I am
reasonably sure there is little danger to you."
     Mina raised her hand in the air and waved it around gently.  "Uhh, excuse
me, stupid question time here.... but what exactly is a lunar cat doing trying
to feed off of emotional energy?  I've never heard of Artemis or Luna trying
to do that."
     Michelle blinked and cast an odd look at Susan.  "You didn't tell them?"
     Leda snorted quietly.  "Seems Susan doesn't like to tell people much of
anything, now does she?" she said in an edged tone, drawing a cautioning look
from Ami as she reset her computer and started to scan Myst from across the
room.  The readings she got in return were decidedly unexpected, causing her
eyebrows to arch up to her hairline.
     "Ami, I hate it when you get that expression," Mina said warily.
     Susan sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose.  "I must have forgotten.
Myst isn't a lunar cat, but a Shinma that we met when we were trapped in a
side dimension of the Underworld called the Dark.  She is essentially a demon
like me, but with a few minor, mostly cultural differences."
     "Charming," Mina said, her voice almost literally dripping acid.
     "I have a question," Serena said quietly.  "Are we stuck in a dream or
something?  Everything quit making sense ten minutes ago.... OW!" she yelped
as Leda reached over and pinched her elbow.
     "I guess that means you're not dreaming," the brunette said casually.
     "Thanks a lot," Serena muttered quietly as she rubbed her elbow.
     Maze sighed quietly and looked up at the ceiling.  "Why don't we all go
upstairs and sit down to talk this one over?  I'll pop a few wine corks, maybe
cajole Leda into telling me where she hid the snacks, and we'll see if we can't
make heads or tails of this in a more relaxed setting instead of standing in
the middle of a cache of weapons," he suggested in a level tone.
     Susan nodded to him as she gently picked up Myst.  "A wise idea.  Alex,
please.... just calm down and let Michelle take care of you for the moment."
     "Come on," Michelle said gently as she tugged on the blonde's arm.
     "One sec," Alex replied as she reached out and grabbed her saber.  "I'm
not letting this out of my sight anymore.  Now, where did I put the sheath?
Back up a sec," she said as she took a step back and held the blade behind
her shoulders.  Her hand made a gentle shoving motion, causing the saber to
shimmer briefly before vanishing from sight.  "Ahh, yes, there we go, right
where it's supposed to be."
     "That's an interesting trick," Maze observed.
     Mina shrugged.  "Hey, if Serena can keep her Moon Scepter tucked into her
panties and not tip anyone off about its presence, I don't see why Alex can't
keep a sword in the back of her bra," she commented.
     "Excuse me," Serena said with a faint blush.
     Alex paused as she yielded to Michelle's insistent tugging.  "The only
problem with that theory, hon, is that I don't often wear a bra."
     "Oh?" Mina said archly with a raised eyebrow.
     "You gotta have tits first," Alex replied as she pulled her tanktop flat
against her chest, emphasizing the lack of any noticeable curves.  "Hell, I
think Ami wears a bigger bra size than I do, and just look at her chest.  I'm
not saying you're flat like I am, hon," she added as Ami blushed faintly, "I'm
just saying that tits like mine that barely fill an A-cup don't need a lot of
restraint."
     "Alex!" Michelle said with a furious blush.
     "Too much information," Leda added with a quiet sigh.
     "No such thing," Maze countered as he busied himself with the vault's
library computer and pointedly ignored the scene behind him.
     "Mina, feel free to smack him," Leda suggested.
     "Don't tempt me...."
     "How about unnecessary information?" Whisper said as she exited the vault,
shaking her head to herself.
     "Now that's a different story," Maze said with a casual shrug.  "What do
you think, Ra'vel?"  He got a series of odd chirps in response as the avian
followed Whisper out of the room.  "Well.... okay, I see your point."
     "Should we ask?" Leda said as she fell into step behind Ami and Serena as
they too exited the interior of the vault.
     "Only if you want to know about avian anatomy," Tolaris replied.
     "Another day," the brunette responded dryly as she carefully cupped the
ancient gemstone in her hand, watching it sparkle in the light.
     Tolaris paused at the entrance and glanced back.  "Lieutenant?"
     "Catch up in a second, boss," Maze replied.  He waited until the doorway
was clear before he turned to Susan with a slight frown on his face.  "Got a
moment, by chance?"
     "I do," Susan said as she paused, absently stroking Myst's fur.
     "This is probably none of my business," he said slowly, "And you're more
than welcome to blow me off completely, but I don't think withholding anything
from your friends and allies is going to score you any points.  Believe me when
I say I know about the value of guarding secrets, but sometimes there comes a
point at which you do far more damage by continuing to keep it than by letting
it become known."
     "Thank you, Lieutenant," Susan replied evenly.  "I shall try to bear that
in mind.  Is there anything else?"
     Maze just shook his head.  "No, ma'am, that's it."
     "Then let us rejoin the others," Susan suggested as she adjusted Myst's
weight in her arms and carried her out of the vault.
     He turned to leave, then paused for a moment to look around at the various
displays of weapons and other artifacts that were regarded as important enough
to Nephlyte for the general to decide to take with him on his supposedly short
assignment to Earth.
     "You know," Maze said to the empty air, "Sometimes I wish you were still
alive.  That way, you could explain to us just what the hell you were thinking
when you kicked open this a'vech's nest of questions about what exactly it is
about these humans that we as a society find so completely fascinating."
     The air remained completely still as he left the room and triggered the
security monitor behind him, the massive bulkheads slowly extending from their
housings and sealing off the vault with a heavy thump.

                *               *               *               *

     Rei turned around as the stairwell door creaked open to admit Serena and
Ami into the room.  "Is everything alright?" the priestess demanded without
preamble.
     "We're still working on that," Ami replied slowly.  She paused and blinked
when she noticed that Rei's face was as white as chalk and that both Luna and
Artemis were curled up in very small balls in her lap.  "Rei, are you okay?
You don't look too good...."
     "I.... I had a vision," Rei said slowly as Serena stepped aside to let the
rest of the group exit the stairwell.  "I was meditating, trying to relax and
all, and all of a sudden I had a vision of the past...."
     "Let me guess," Leda said as she stepped past Ami.  "You saw me dying on
the floor and giving this to some Negaverse warrior?" she said as she held up
the ruined emerald pendant.
     Rei's bottomless black eyes went wide in shock and her jaw sagged open
with an audible pop.  She started to gasp for air, and for one horrid instant
everyone thought that she had suddenly gone into cardiac arrest.
     "Then.... that really happened?" she rasped, her voice two full octaves
higher than her usual tone.
     The answer came from the ball of white fur in her lap.  "Yes, Rei, that
really happened," Artemis said quietly.  "Luna and I were right next to Queen
Serenity at the time."
      Whisper's voice said in Rei's mind as the
telepath took a seat at the table.  
     Alex sighed heavily as she plopped down on the couch and scooted over to
make room for Michelle.  "If you were that close to things, Artemis, couldn't
you at least have tried to bite Beryl's ankle or something?" she grumbled, her
complexion still tinted crimson with repressed anger.
     "Truthfully?" Artemis replied as he shivered.  "I was too busy peeing on
the carpet after seeing what had just happened to you guys...."
     "You're a lot of help," Leda grumbled as she claimed the other end of the
sofa and curled up, tucking her legs beneath her.  She sighed quietly and held
the emerald gemstone up to the light, trying to get a better look at it.
     Luna's ears shot up as if she has been electrocuted.  "Leda, is that...?"
she said slowly as she recognized the ruined pendant.
     "Yes, Luna, it is," Susan said gently as she sat down at the table.  "And
I'm trying to get them to quit asking about it."
     Leda blinked and gave Luna a piercing stare.  "So you know what this is,
then?  So tell us," she said in a flat tone.
     Luna blinked and exchanged looks with Artemis.  "Actually, I'm not sure I
remember what precisely it is," the black cat said slowly.  "It was a gift from
Ami's mother, I remember that much...."
     Leda leaned back and sighed heavily as Serena sat down in one of the
armchairs.  "I swear I'm going to start breaking bones if somebody doesn't tell
me what's so important about this thing," she growled.
     Maze lightly tapped Tolaris on the shoulder.  "You mind if I go dig up
those two bottles of Tei-Nul-Ral in the pool, or do you want me to finish off
the avian labels?"
     Ra'vel clicked her beak and Tolaris nodded in agreement.  "I'd use the
avian labels first," he suggested.  "The Tei-Nul-Rals aren't cheap or easy to
find these days."
     "Just checking," Maze replied as he headed off back down the staircase.
     "Tei-Nul-Ral?" Ami echoed in slight confusion as she sat on the armrest of
the other unoccupied armchair and gestured for Tolaris to sit next to her.
     "A joint business venture by three of the prominent wine clans," Tolaris
explained as he sat down, blinking in slight surprise when Ami promptly sat in
his lap and curled up.  "The Tei and Ral clans have a few blood ties between
them, and the Nul clan was included for political reasons.  Between the three
of them, they make some of the best wines our world has to offer."
     "Tei clan, huh?" Mina said as she sat on the floor in front of the couch
and leaned back against it.  "Any relation to your friend Shar-Tei?"
     Tolaris nodded.  "Yes, she was from that clan, but she never had any real
ties to it.  She was a black sheep in the family, if I understand the Earth
expression correctly."
     "Ba-a-a-a-a," Alex muttered quietly to herself, drawing a collection of
odd looks from the rest of the room.
     Mina glanced over her shoulder.  "Alex, please don't tell me you have a
thing for sheep," she said warily.
     Alex shrugged.  "Mutton tastes pretty good, especially when you use the
right marinade, and wool definitely has its uses.  Aside from that?  I might
try to plink one or two with a crossbow for practice, but that's it."
     "Back to the original issue, please," Leda said with a sigh.
     Alex sighed heavily and looked up at the ceiling.  "Yeah, yeah, just give
me a few minutes first," she said in weary tone.  "This one is not going to be
easy to talk about."
     "You don't have to talk at all, Alex," Susan suggested from the table.
     "I know, Sue, but.... I've been thinking....  Yes, I do think, so don't
give me that look," she added as she glanced at Michelle.
     Michelle blinked.  "I didn't say anything," she protested softly.
     "You didn't have to."
     "Keep going," Leda said with a faint edge to her voice.
     The blonde cast a glance back at Leda.  "Trust me, hon, you're not going
to like this one either, so don't rush me, okay?  Hey...!" she yelped as Myst
suddenly leapt up on the back of the couch right behind her.  "Damn it, kitty,
I about pissed myself.  Warn me before you do that, okay?"
     Mina sighed.  "Oh, yeah, before I forget.... Rei?"
     "Yes?"
     "You'll never guess what Myst is," Mina said wearily.
     There was a long pause from the priestess as she alternated her attention
between the blonde and the gray kitten sitting behind Alex.  "Let's hear it,"
she finally said in a guarded tone.
     "Another demon.  What kind did you say she was?" Mina asked Susan.
     Susan raised an eyebrow.  "Shinma," she said evenly.
     Rei said nothing for a moment as she reached down and started stroking
both lunar cats sitting in her lap.  "I think I need a cigarette," Rei finally
said with a silent sigh, causing five jaws to sag open in shock and seven sets
of eyebrows to arch up in surprise.
     "Rei!" Luna admonished.
     "Relax, I don't smoke," Rei said with an irritated look at her.  "I just
figured that at the rate things are going, I need to take up some destructive
vice or something...."
     Alex smirked.  "Sue's got the herbal cigarettes, if you can wheedle them
out of her, but taking up drinking is far easier on your system...."
     "Maybe," Leda countered.  "It's called 'rot-gut' for a reason, and trust
me when I say I've had some pretty rough booze before."
     Ami frowned lightly and looked behind the chair at Susan.  "Do you smoke?"
     "Well...." Susan said slowly.
     "Depends on how fast she's going when having sex," Alex muttered.
     Susan sighed heavily and rubbed the bridge of her nose.  "Alex, just what
exactly have I done to you to deserve such constant badgering?"
     Alex shrugged and leaned back against Michelle.  "I don't know, I'll think
of something," she said causally.  "Tell her about the cigarettes."
     The succubus just rolled her eyes and sighed again.  "There is a herb that
is native to the Underworld that succubi use to temporarily dampen or otherwise
suppress our sex drive," she explained.  "The least toxic means of getting the
enzymes into our system is by inhalation, as burning the leaves will vaporize
the molecules and cause them to bind to gaseous nitrogen.  The bond is rather
unstable with a half-life on the order of two seconds, so smoking is the most
efficient means of absorbing the enzymes."
     Ami raised an eyebrow.  "What about the by-products of the smoke?"
     "Not perfectly harmless," Susan admitted, "But something our regenerative
abilities are quite capable of coping with."
     "Tell her what it does to humans,"  Michelle said flatly, giving Alex a
distinctly unhappy look.
     "Aw, c'mon, Mich, don't give me any grief...."
     Leda sighed.  "Play nice, kids," she growled.
     "The effect of the herb on humans is somewhat different," Susan said with
a mildly amused glance at Alex's expression.  "The molecular structure is quite
similar to the compound tetrahyrdocannabinol, but with a few differences in how
it reacts when absorbed."
     "What?" Ami gasped as her jaw fell open.
     "Tetra-what?" Leda asked with a puzzled look.
     "Wait, wait, I think I've heard of it before," Mina said as she struggled
to remember.  "That's some sort of plant extract, right?"
     "THC," Ami said curtly.
     "Marijuana?" Mina replied, her eyes widening.
     "Whaaaaaaaat?" Leda demanded, giving Alex a dark look.  "Don't tell me
the Viking is a pothead...." she growled.
     "Hey, watch it," Alex countered.
     "ENOUGH!"
     Everyone blinked at the sudden outburst from Rei.  She was still pale from
the shock of seeing the psionic vision, but the fire that burned in her dark
eyes was enough to make everyone suddenly wary of her temper.  A sudden wave
of pain quickly passed across her face and she glanced away, her expression
slipping into the featureless mask of guarded emotions.
     "Rei, are you alright?" Mina said hesitantly.
     "I'm getting a migraine," Rei replied evenly.  "Now will someone try to
explain all this in a calm, rational manner?"
     "The herb is safe for human use, but has a slightly different effect that
depends on one's gender," Susan explained.  "It has a significant impact on
sensory processing and conscious thought in addition to a suppression of the
sex drive, but it is otherwise harmless.  The enzyme is completely metabolized
in an hour, so there are no long-lasting or lingering effects, nor is it
addictive.  Still, as it wasn't engineered for human consumption, I don't let
Alex smoke any of it when I'm not around to keep a close eye on her, nor do I
use the herb myself very often as I'm half-human."
     "So basically, you just get stoned," Mina said in an edged tone.
     Alex shrugged.  "And that's a bad thing?  You light up, your mind gets
pleasantly foggy for an hour, then it all goes away like nothing happened."
     "You don't need it," Michelle said dourly.
     Alex chuckled and kissed Michelle's wrist.  "Nope, I sure don't, just like
I don't need beer or alcohol.  But it's still fun to have now and then.  As our
dear Chancellor keeps telling us, moderation is the key."
     "Sometimes you surprise me, Alex," Susan observed.
     "Payback for all the surprises you keep tossing at us," Alex muttered.
     Leda sighed.  "Don't start.  You two are getting to be just as annoying as
Rei and Serena get when they have an argument.  And that's not an invitation
for commentary, either," she added as Rei and Serena exchanged glances.
     "Spoilsport," Alex replied.  "Whoa, cold nose!" she yelped as Myst leaned
forward and sniffed the base of the blonde's neck.
     "Sorry," the kitten apologized as she backed up a step.
     "And you call us strange?" Alex grumbled as she twisted around to pluck
the kitten off the back of the couch.  "What exactly where you doing, anyway?"
     Myst licked her whiskers slowly, looking up at Alex with pale red eyes.
"I was checking to see if there was any lingering dark energy that I could try
to absorb," she said quietly.
     Alex raised an eyebrow.  "You still haven't explained that," she said as
the stairwell opened up to admit Maze into the room with a rack of bottles in
his arms.
     "Ooo, alcohol," Leda cooed as she eyed the bottles of pale denizen wine.
"Over here, Lieutenant...."
     Maze smirked.  "Let me find some glasses first," he said dryly.  "And the
original idea was to save the bulk of this for dinner."
     "Speaking of which...." Serena said as she looked at Leda.
     Leda chuckled.  "Yes, yes, we all know your stomach clock never lies,"
she teased.  "Don't look at me, however, as it's not my turn to cook."
     Glances were exchanged and memories sifted through to try to remember who
was scheduled to try to cook dinner.  Ami bolted upright as her memory clicked
first, accidentally jabbing an elbow into Tolaris' stomach in the process.
     "Careful," the Dragoon protested.
     "Sorry," Ami said as she kissed his cheek.  "Actually, I think it's Mina's
turn to cook dinner...." she said with slight trepidation.
     Mina blinked.  "Oh, is it?" she said with genuine innocence as discreetly
horrified looks were exchanged around her.  "Huh, I might need some help this
time, as I don't think I've cooked for this large a group before...."
     The silence was almost deafening for a few moments before Alex shifted her
weight slightly.  "Hey, I have a question...." she said slowly with a quick
glance at the ceiling.  "What exactly is pizza?"
     "Hey, there's a thought," Leda said quickly before Susan could open her
mouth to try to explain.  "Anyone object to coughing up a few bucks to spring
for pizza for dinner?"
     "Nope."
     "Not at all."
     "Mmm, pizza...."
     "Good idea."
     Leda chuckled at the prompt replies.  "I didn't think so," she said with
a grin as she started to dig around in her skirt pocket.  "Once Darian gets
here, I don't think he'll mind going to pick them up after we explain things
to him."
     Ami peered over her shoulder as Dyvach quietly skittered down the hall
and headed towards the main entrance to the cathedral.  "I don't think you'll
have a long wait," she ventured.  "That might be him now."
     Alex wrinkled her nose.  "I'm glad we were able to settle the issue of
dinner without any bloodshed or other undue violence," she said, casting a wary
glance at Mina.  "But I still want to know what it is before I try to eat it."
     Susan smiled gently.  "A baked Italian dish consisting of a circular bread
crust usually layered with a mildly spicy tomato sauce, a form of curd cheese,
and several meat and vegetable toppings."
     "Huh," Alex said with raised eyebrows.  "Sounds like fun."
     "Curd cheese?" Tolaris quietly asked Ami.
     "Mozzarella," Ami replied.
     "Ah," Tolaris replied, then glanced up as a tray of full wineglasses was
held out to him.  "Thank you, Lieutenant."
     "A pleasure as always, boss," Maze replied as he handed the first glass to
Tolaris and the second to Ami.
     Susan nodded her head respectfully as Darian entered the room with an
excited weaver in tow.  "Fair evening, your Highness," she murmured.
     Darian shrugged.  "I think it's been one so far.... Umm, did something
happen?  You guys look a little.... depressed," he said cautiously as he looked
around the room.
     "You have no idea," Rei said quietly as Maze handed her a glass of wine.
     Darian blinked.  "Hitting the bottle already?" he asked as he took the
offered glass of wine from the Dragoon and sat on the edge of the armchair next
to Serena.  He dipped his head down to give her a gentle kiss before passing
her the glass, giving her a slightly worried look.  "What's wrong?"
     Serena shivered lightly.  "It's something you should see for yourself,"
she said quietly.
     Susan shook her head.  "It's not me," she said as Darian gave her a level
look.  "Although they are aware of my demonic nature."
     "A memory of the Moon Kingdom," Michelle said softly, shaking her head as
she was offered a glass of wine.  "No thank you, I'll pass."
     Darian blinked and looked around the room again.  "That bad?"
     Alex shrugged as she took a glass from the offered tray.  "Nothing like
seeing your best friend's guts getting blown out the other side to make your
day," she said in an edged tone.
      Whisper telepathed, 
     Darian blinked again and studied Serena's face carefully.  "I take it I
should be sitting down for this one?" he asked with a glance at Whisper.
     Serena looked up at him and took his hand, pain and sorrow reflecting
quite clearly in her blue eyes.  She set the wineglass on the floor and scooted
back to make room for him in front of her.  "Sit," she said softly.
     Whisper walked over to him as he sat down in Serena's arms.  She reached
out and brushed her fingertips across his temple, gently establishing psionic
contact before tapping into a contained memory and letting it replay inside
his mind.
     "Anyone else getting the willies just thinking about it?" Mina muttered as
Darian's expression went vacant.
     "I'm trying not to think about it," Alex replied as she took a sip of the
wine.  She blinked at the taste and sat up, taking a second sip and letting the
unique flavor roll around on her tongue.  "Damn, this is some pretty smooth
stuff.  Hon, you sure you don't want to try it?"
     Michelle gave the glass a leery look before accepting it and taking a
small sip.  "It's a bit too sweet for my taste," she said with a slightly sour
look as she passed the glass back.
     "Remind me to dig up a bottle of plum wine for you," Leda suggested as she
took a sip from her own glass.  "You probably won't like it if wine isn't your
thing, but you can ask Ami about the taste if you're curious."
     Ami blinked reflexively as several sets of eyes suddenly focused on her.
"What?  It tasted okay to me," she said with a note of wariness in her voice.
"I'm no expert, of course, but I didn't have any problems with it."
     Heads turned as Darian gasped softly, the color starting to drain out of
his complexion.  Alex snorted and buried her nose in her wineglass.  "Yeah, we
know what you mean," she muttered, knowing that he wasn't aware of his current
physical surroundings and couldn't hear her.
     Dyvach paused and chimed a question at Ra'vel, its carapace taking on a
dark purple hue.  Ra'vel quietly chittered back at him, her feathers starting
to puff out again in distaste.  The weaver made a sour chiming noise and went
back down the hall, slowly turning a pastel blue color.
     "Bizarre," Alex said quietly to herself, then blinked hard.  "Myst, honey,
what are you doing?  That tickles...."
     Myst lifted her head up from where she had been nuzzling Alex's wrist,
giving the blonde a plaintive look.  "You're still slightly charged with dark
energy," she replied.  "I'm trying to consume it out without bothering you."
     "Hey, watch that tongue of yours," Alex said with a frown.  "No one gets
to eat me but Michelle.  OW, HEY!" she yelped as Michelle smacked her in the
back of the head, her cheeks burning crimson with embarrassment.
     Rei tried not to choke on her wine and only had partial success.  "That
was a mental image I really didn't need," she muttered as she coughed.
     "Funny you should talk about mental images," Darian rasped as he refocused
on his surroundings.  He shivered lightly and was quickly enveloped in a tight
embrace by Serena, the pain in her eyes mirroring his haunted expression.
     "How do you think I feel?" Leda grumbled as she tossed back the rest of
her wine.
     Darian nodded at Whisper as she withdrew her hand and sat back down at
the table.  "Thanks.... I think.  So I take it everyone saw that image?"
     "Everyone except Tolaris," Whisper replied.
     "Psi-mute," Tolaris explained as Darian gave him a curious look.
     "Oh, that's right.... Trust me, right now that's a good thing," Darian
said with another shiver.  "No wonder you guys don't look too happy."
     "Here," Serena said quietly as she picked up the wineglass and held it
out to him.
     Mina paused in mid-sip and quickly put her own glass down.  "Hey, before
you tank that down...." she said quickly before Darian could take a drink.
"You brought your jeep instead of your motorcycle, right?"
     "Yeah...." he said warily, frozen in mid-motion.
     "We were thinking about getting pizza for dinner tonight and wanted to
know if you'd go out and pick it up for us," Mina explained.  "We've got the
money.... I think," she added as she studied the small pile of money that had
already been removed from various pockets.  "But we still need someone to go
get it as having it delivered would be a really bad idea."
     Darian shrugged and set the wineglass back down.  "No problem."
     "Motorcycle?" Alex inquired, her eyebrows arched up.
     Susan sighed quietly, already knowing where this one could end up going.
"A small surface vehicle powered by a combustion engine, much like a lunar
rover stripped of the support frame and balanced on two wheels."
     "Huh...." Alex replied.  "Is it fast?"
     Michelle rolled her eyes as Darian blinked.  "What, my motorcycle?  Yeah,
it can go at a decent speed," he said cautiously.
     "You'll have to show me one of these days," Alex replied with a smile.
"I like fast things.  And if you say anything, Sue, I'll toss Myst over there
to claw you," she added as Susan shook her head.
     "I have no such intentions, I assure you," Susan said dryly before she
turned her attention to Tolaris and Ami.  "Would I offend anybody if I inquire
about your financial status here on Earth?"
     There was a long pause as Tolaris blinked hard, cast a glance at Ami,
looked over at Maze and Whisper, glanced at Mina, glanced back at Ami, and
finally cleared his throat.  "We have a workable arrangement already in place,"
he said neutrally.  "We have sufficient resources to ensure a level of comfort,
and I assure you that there are no questionable legalities involved."
     Ami raised an eyebrow as she took a calculated sip of her wine.  "So let's
hear it, Commander," she said in a tone laced with a thin veil of ice.
     Susan blinked at the sudden shift in Ami's mood.  "Is there something
wrong, Ami?"
     "I don't know," Ami said flatly, "I've never been able to get a straight
answer out of him about the issue."
     Tolaris sighed quietly.  "You worry too much.  Or do we have to have a
rehashing of the argument about needing to know about certain things?  The one
about the reactor, for example...."
     Ami sighed heavily and looked up at the ceiling.  "That's the only reason
why I haven't tried to nail you to the floor about it," she said wearily.
     Mina cleared her throat delicately.  "Maybe I should explain?"
     Ami blinked hard and cast a glare at the blonde.  "Don't tell me you have
something to do with it."
     "Well...." Mina hesitated.
     Ami sighed and downed the glass of wine in a single gulp, almost choking
in the process.  "Bleah.  Alright, go ahead and tell us about it," she said
with an air of resignation.
     Mina sat back and ran her fingers through her hair nervously.  "Well, put
it like this.... Sailor V has a friend...."
     "Sailor who?" Alex interrupted.
     Susan blinked and a small frown tugged on her lips.  "Let her finish her
story first, Alex," she suggested neutrally.
     "Anyway," Mina continued.  "Sailor V has a friend who deals in wholesale
diamonds.  Legally, not on the black market," she added as she got a poisonous
look from Ami.  "Diamonds are little more than chunks of pure carbon, right?
So every now and then, Dyvach will cough up a few high-grade lumps of carbon
which would otherwise be disposed of as organic waste, and those little rough
beauties get taken to this guy and examined for value.  Most of them are only
industrial-grade quality, which are still pretty valuable, but every now and
then a high-quality diamond is found in the mix.  So the diamonds end up being
sorted by grade and a price haggled out for the whole batch, with a small bonus
tossed in for any exceptionally high-quality diamonds, and the next business
day a deposit is made into a specific, nondescript account managed by someone
who is, shall we say, a friend of Sailor V's extended family...."
     Ami sighed and buried her face in her hands.  "Mina.... what are we going
to do with you?" she moaned softly.
     "I can think of a few things," Maze suggested as he leaned back in his
chair and winked at Mina.
     Tolaris cleared his throat delicately.  "It was either that or resort to
forging the money again," he suggested quietly.
     Ami paused and lifted her head up.  "Again?"
     "Well.... remember when I took you out to dinner that first night?  Oh,
relax," he sighed as Ami put her head back in her hands.  "We only did that
once and that was before we were able to figure out this current plan."
     Susan nodded her head slowly.  "That is actually a quite ingenious plan,"
she said.  "Who's idea was it?"
     "Mine, of course," Mina replied smugly.  "Who else has the resources to
set up something like that?"
     Susan decided to ignore the soft comment muttered beneath Ami's breath.
"I have a question, however.... just who exactly is Sailor V?"
     "Tag, Artemis, you're it," Mina said with an impish smile.
     The white cat in Rei's lap blinked and cringed slightly from the sudden
shift of attention.  "Well.... It's a long story...."
     Luna sighed and started preening her paw.  "Then perhaps you should tell
her the short version," she suggested archly.
     Susan paused and gave the white cat a concerned look.  "Artemis, please
tell me you didn't try to create another Sailor Scout...." she said slowly as
a tendril of ice started to wrap around her spine.
     "I.... didn't have a choice," Artemis said quietly.  "When Queen Serenity
sent the souls of the Sailor Scouts into the future, she put Luna and I into
stasis until the souls were reborn.  I had only been out of stasis for a few
hours when I ran across Mina just as a Negaverse agent was getting ready to
attack her.  I was still weak from the stasis, and I couldn't gather together
enough energy to completely activate her Venus Wand, so I did the best that I
could and infused a pair of glasses with what energy I could muster."
     Mina smiled at him.  "It wasn't until several months later that I was able
to become Sailor Venus, but with those glasses I could still take on those
Negaverse punks.  No offense," she added as the denizens twitched reflexively.
"So in short, Sailor V was born.  And believe me, if he had waited another
thirty seconds to give me that thing, I probably wouldn't be around today."
     Alex and Michelle exchanged glances as Susan suddenly seemed to wilt like
a dead flower.  "Sue, I'll admit I don't know much about how these powers of
ours work and all, but why does that sound like a bad thing?" Alex ventured.
     "It is," Susan said wearily.  "Dividing the power of Venus like this is a
very dangerous proposition.  Do you still have those glasses?"
     "Heck yeah," Mina grinned.  "And before you ask, yes I still use them.
They come in handy at times, you know.  Like this afternoon...."
     "Don't remind us," Rei muttered quietly, drawing a casual tail-slap from
Artemis and returning a discreet tail-tug in retaliation.
     Susan blinked hard.  "So you use both powers?" she asked, stunned at the
mental image and the possible consequences.
     Mina blinked and gave Susan a guarded look.  "Yeah," she said slowly.  "I
can't use both at the same time, of course, and I don't even switch between
them directly, but I actively use them both.  Why?"
     "The power of a Sailor Scout was never meant to be divided," Susan warned
her.  "And if such a split power is used by the same person, it could cause a
problem with prolonged usage.  I would strongly recommend that you immediately
cease using this Sailor V transformation."
     "Are you kidding?" Mina blinked.  "Sailor V has become quite a popular
figure, both in the media and as a role-model for kids, not to mention having
a small but significant role in crime-fighting.  There's no way I'm going to
give her up!"
     "Calm down, Blondie," Leda said as she nudged Mina with her knee.
     Ami frowned and cast a look at Susan.  "What sort of problems could it
cause?"
     Susan shrugged.  "It's hard to say for sure, as I can't remember it ever
having been done before and the rest lies somewhere between the theoretical and
a few educated guesses.  I strongly doubt there will be any physical changes,
but the strain of assuming different identities and imprinted auras could start
to cause mental trauma."
     Mina blinked and exchanged glances with Ami.  "Mental trauma?"
     Ami glanced back at Susan.  "Borderline schizophrenia and insanity?"
     "It's possible," Susan conceded.  "Again, I don't know for sure as it's
never been done before, and in any case such trauma could take months or even
years to manifest itself, if it does so at all."
     "You know, Ami," Mina said slowly, "I really don't think I like the way
you said that.  Are you trying to suggest I'm crazy?"
     "Like we would be able to tell," Leda said with a sigh.  "Relax, Mina, we
all know your screws are a little looser than most, but no one here is trying
to accuse you of anything."
     Alex smirked.  "Tell me about it," she teased.  "I don't know about the
rest of you girls, but Mina doesn't seem to be any different than from what I
remember about her."
     "Umm.... thank you?" Mina ventured with a blank look on her face.
     "Anytime, hon," Alex replied.  "Just lay off the sugar, you'll be fine,"
she added with a wink.
     "Hey!"
     Ami gave Susan a subtle "we'll talk later" look and turned her attention
back to Tolaris with a quiet sigh.  "You could have told me about this," she
said petulantly.
     The Dragoon sighed.  "We didn't need you giving us grief about it," he
replied quietly.
     "Mina," Susan said quietly.  "All I can say is that, as Chancellor of the
Moon Kingdom, it is my strongest recommendation that you refrain from using
the divided powers entirely.  I know you have your reasons for doing so," she
said as she held up her hand to forestall the rebuttal, "And I know you don't
trust me at this point, but all I can say is be careful."
     "I'll try to keep that in mind," Mina replied neutrally.
     Rei sighed inaudibly.  "You know she won't," she muttered to the cats in
her lap as she started to absently scratch their ears.
     "Tell me about it," Artemis replied, equally as softly.
     "Hey, Leda?" Darian spoke up quietly, still being tightly cuddled by
Serena.  "What exactly is that in your hand?"
     The brunette smirked and held up the ruined pendant.  "What, this?  If you
saw what we saw, then I think you know about as much as we do right now.  Well,
at least some of us," she added with a less-than-pleasant glance at Susan.
     Alex sighed and set her empty wineglass on the coffee table.  "Let me get
this one over with," she muttered, drawing a comforting hug from Michelle and
a concerned look from Susan.
     "Alex, you are not required to speak of this," Susan cautioned.
     "Yeah, Sue, I know," Alex said, sounding extremely tired all of a sudden.
She glanced at the ball of gray fur in her arms and sighed.  "Myst, I swear I
am going to glue your nostrils shut if you don't quit that."
     Michelle blinked and peered over Alex's shoulder.  "What is she doing?"
     Susan tilted her head slightly.  "Trying to siphon off some of the dark
energy surrounding your mood, I believe....  Myst, how exactly do you usually
go about absorbing such energy?"
     Myst sat back and licked her whiskers.  "Usually I engulf the source as
completely as possible, then let the energy seep out on its own."
     "Do you think changing your form would help?"
     Alex blinked.  "Whoa, wait a second...."
     "What do you mean?" the kitten asked.
     "You merged yourself into my dress earlier when we were in the Dark,"
Susan explained.  "Perhaps if Alex permitted you to do the same...?"
     "Whoooooooaaaaaa, wait," Alex said slowly as she picked up the Shinma and
cautiously held her out at arm's-length.  "I saw that little trick she did, and
that had me spooked.  You saying I should turn her into bodypaint so she can
feed off my emotions or something?"
     Mina chuckled.  "Bodypaint has its uses," she said with a wink at Ami.
     Ami frowned.  "What now?"
     "Nothing, nothing...."
     Ami gave her a suspicious look before she noticed Leda giving her a very
odd look.  "What?" she demanded.
     The brunette shook her head.  "Just a conversation Mina and I had about
who would look good in what kind of bodypaint while flipping through a random
catalog, that's all."
     "And...?" Ami asked in an edged tone.
     Leda shrugged.  "I tried explaining to her that black-and-white zebra
stripes would clash with your blue hair, but she didn't seem to believe me."
     "Anyway...." Alex said warily, still eyeing Myst while actively ignoring
the decidedly unsettling look Ami was directing at Mina.
     Susan just sighed.  "Yes, Alex, I am suggesting precisely that.  You have
my complete assurances that Myst will not harm you."
     Alex blinked and cast an uncertain glance over her shoulder.  "So what do
think, Mich?"
     Michelle blinked and gave her a helpless shrug.  "I have no idea."
     "You're a lot of help, hon."
     Michelle whimpered quietly and hugged her.  "I'm sorry...."
     Alex sighed heavily and shook her head.  "Alright, kitty, go ahead and do
your thing.  Just don't make me regret this, okay?" she said as she set Myst
down in her lap.
     "Thank you," Myst said quietly as she braced her hind legs and suddenly
leapt forward, her gray body seeming to melt into a shapeless black mass.  A
collective gasp of shock went around the room as the black shape became as thin
as oil, spreading across the front of Alex's body before oozing down the front
of her tanktop.
     "Hey, hey, hey, that tickles!" Alex yelped, her eyes wide.  "Whoa, hey,
easy...!  Watch the tits, watch the tits!  Damn, that TICKLES!!" she said, her
expression besieged with the reflexive distortion that comes with being tickled
in a sensitive area.
     There was a slight pause as Myst effectively disappeared from view and
the tanktop quit writhing around.  Alex very hesitantly peered down the front
of her tanktop, raising an eyebrow as she couldn't find anything out of the
ordinary.  "Damn, that was spooky," she said quietly.  She tentatively poked
herself in the chest and made a slight face as she felt something twitch.
     "You okay?" Michelle asked, her eyes wide as she nudged a strap aside to
try to look down the tanktop.
     Alex let her breath out slowly.  "I'm fine.  That tickled like hell, and
now my tits are stiff from all that rubbing, but I'm fine...."
     "Thanks for sharing," Mina muttered.
     Darian glanced at Alex's tanktop for a moment before he exchanged looks
with Serena and shrugged.  She raised an eyebrow at him in response and drew
him back against her, holding him tighter than before.
     Alex nudged her tanktop again before sighing quietly and leaning back
against Michelle.  "Anyway.... what was I saying?"
     Leda raised an eyebrow.  "You were going to explain what you knew about
this," she said as she held up the ruined pendant.
     Alex sighed again and looked up at the ceiling.  "Let me make absolutely
certain about something first.  Susan, that pendant is from the same incident
that gives me nightmares, right?"
     "Correct," Susan replied quietly.
     "Yeah, that's what I thought," Alex said wearily.
     "Nightmares?" Mina asked cautiously.
     "Bear with me, hon, this ain't easy," Alex replied.  "Anyone know where
that box of tissues crawled off to?  I have a sinking feeling that I'm going
to need the bitches...."
     Eyes darted around the room in a quick search of the area before the box
was spotted under the coffee table.  "Mina, you're closest," Rei said as she
pointed.  The blonde ducked her head under the table for a moment and emerged
with the box, which was promptly passed over to Alex.
     "Thanks," Alex said as she took the box and wedged it between the couch
cushions for easy access.  "You ever have one of those dark secrets where you
know you should talk about it, but can't quite find the strength to do so?"
     Ami looked up as Michelle tightened her grip on Alex's waist.  "Actually,
yes, I do," she said softly, drawing a surprised look from the couple.
     Alex chuckled quietly.  "I can see someone like Leda or Rei saying that,
Ami, but you?  C'mon, you're like Serena, you could probably find a bright spot
in a train wreck without looking too hard.  What could haunt you?"
     Susan cleared her throat before Ami could reply.  "I would be very, very
careful in saying that, Alex," she warned.  "Remember, they have different
memories of life than we do."
     Alex just shook her head slowly.  "Yeah, Sue, I know, but from what we've
seen so far, there aren't many differences."
     Ami uncurled herself from Tolaris' lap and stood up.  "We both have dark
nightmares, it seems," she said quietly.  "I'm willing to bet you hide yours
because it causes you pain or shame.  I hide mine to protect others."
     Alex raised an eyebrow as she felt Michelle's grip tighten even more.
"Protect us from what?" she asked slowly as an icy drop of sweat slowly slid
down her back.
     "Take it easy, Ami," Leda said quietly from the other end of the couch.
     Ami gave the brunette a faint suggestion of a smile.  "To protect you from
myself," she said softly to Alex.  "It is a frightening thing, my secret, and
so I keep it hidden to protect myself from the reaction of others as well."
     Michelle blinked and edged ever so slightly to one side to see her better.
"You mean like Susan's demonic nature?" she ventured.
     Ami nodded slowly and the corners of Alex's lips tugged downward in a
slight frown.  "Question, Sue...."
     Susan sighed quietly.  "Yes, I know.  No, I don't know precisely how much
of a danger it poses, but I am confident it is minimal.  And no, it is not for
me to say anything on the subject."
     Alex blew her breath out through her nose.  "You're not exactly making me
feel all warm and fuzzy about this, Chancellor," she said dourly.  "Alright,
Ami, you've got me curious now.  Share with us this dark secret you harbor."
     Ami took a moment to choose her words carefully.  "We have been able to
venture into the Negaverse on occasion," she said slowly.  "It is a different
world and alien to us, but it is beautiful in its own way.... and just as
deadly as our world can be.  They have three moons, and when they come together
in the sky in such a way so that the red moon eclipses the other two, a dark
evil is awakened in many people."
     She ignored the sudden tension in Alex's shoulders and continued speaking
softly.  "During one such time I was bitten by a denizen infected with such
evil, and the infection was spread to me.  It is a spiritual infection, and
even though I am human I was still transformed by it, cursed to live with an
alien hunger for the rest of my life."
     Alex remained silent for several seconds, absently rubbing her hands over
the trembling arm that encircled her waist.  "Why do I get the impression that
this hunger isn't for denizen take-out cuisine?" she said warily.
     "Because now I am.... I am a vampire," Ami said almost inaudibly.
     "Riiiiiiight," Alex said slowly.  "A vampire, hmm?  Funny, you did just
fine in the sunlight outside...."
     "Noble, Alex, not nosferatu," Susan said quietly.
     "Meaning...?" Alex inquired, giving the succubus a wary look.
     Michelle reached up and clamped her hand around Alex's mouth, her hand
visibly trembling.  "Ask later," she said, her voice quivering.  "Ami.... does
that mean you need.... blood?"
     Ami nodded sadly.  "Every now and then, yes."
     Alex reached up and pried Michelle's hand off of her face.  "Wait, wait.
You're not kidding, are you?  You're seriously a blood-sucking vampire?" she
asked carefully.
     "Hey, back off," Leda growled quietly.  "Ami isn't evil or anything."
     Alex blinked hard and stared at Ami, her muscles hard as stone with barely
contained tension.  "Show me," she said quietly, ignoring Michelle's sudden
whimper of fear at the request.
     Ami stared into her eyes for a moment before unlocking her dark nature,
letting it slowly take control and triggering the transformation.  She waited
until she saw Alex blink at the color change in her eyes before slowly parting
her lips to expose the tiny vampiric fangs.
     "Holy crap...." Alex breathed quietly, not entirely aware of Michelle's
sudden surrender to a full-body shiver behind her.  "And the blood issue?"
     Ami walked back to Tolaris and curled up in his lap, shaking slightly from
the weary tension wracking her body and soul.  "A small amount every now and
then is sufficient," she said softly.  "I only feed from a willing volunteer,
and everyone here knows I'd rather take my own life than force someone."
     "Back off," Leda repeated as Alex's expression changed.  "Ami isn't a
danger to anyone."
     Alex blinked and glanced over at the brunette.  "You're awfully protective
about this," she commented evenly.
     "So?" Leda countered.  "I've given her my blood before, and it is an
absolutely wonderful experience.  Hell, ask anyone else here, we've all given
her some blood before.  Well, us humans at any rate," she added with a slightly
apologetic shrug of her shoulders at the denizens.
     Alex blinked hard and cast a glance around the room.  "Well?"
     Mina smiled and leaned back against the couch.  "Loved it."
     Rei studied the floor.  "It was.... interesting," she admitted quietly.
     Alex blinked again and looked back at Ami.  Ami glanced away and sighed,
willing herself to return to a purely human form.  "I won't ask you for your
blood or anything, Alex, so you don't have to worry about me.  I only told you
about what I've become because it is the right thing to do."
     "Lovely," Alex muttered as she sighed yet again and gently took Michelle's
hand in her own.  "Mich, honey, unless you have aspirations of being a human
vibrator or are otherwise being electrocuted, you can quit shaking now."
     "Ami is no more a danger to you than I am," Susan spoke up from the table.
"I have observed her behavior in the past and can assure you of that much."
     Rei snorted quietly.  "That's not much of a comfort," she muttered.
     "So let me get this right," Alex said slowly.  "You and the other Sailor
Scouts went traipsing around the Negaverse, the moons did a little dance, and
Ami wound up being bitten by a vampire?"
     Mina shook her head.  "That's not exactly the case, but the end result is
the same," she said, ignoring the warning looks from Tolaris and Ami.
     Alex just shook her head and looked up at the ceiling.  "Why am I not
surprised in the least to hear about the Negaverse making our lives a living
hell at every single damned opportunity?"
     Susan sighed quietly.  "That's enough, Alex."
     "Screw that," Alex spat out, her cheeks flushing crimson.  "I am really
getting sick and tired of hearing about what the Negaverse has done to us over
the course of history.  They invade our world, kill our people...."
     "I said that will be enough," Susan said flatly, her own temper starting
to flare slightly.
     Alex ignored her, gesturing to Ami.  "Now look what they've done to Ami.
Bitten by a vampire?  At least we know how to fix that, just find the dirty
rat-bastard who bit her, remove his heart with a pike, and burn the rest...."
     Ami shook her head.  "That won't work," she said quietly.
     "Let go of me," Alex muttered as she tried to stand up, only to be held
back by Michelle's iron grip on her waist.  "I've had enough of this crap, I
say we start dealing with this here and now...."
     Heads whipped around as Susan shot to her feet, her eyes blazing an almost
neon red with anger. "Alexis Ten'ou, I said enough!" she snapped as her wings
exploded from her back, quickly taking shape and twitching with anger.  "You
have no idea what you're talking about, nor do you have the first clue how to
go about solving any issue aside from blindly attacking the first thing that
crosses your path, and I will not permit it!"
     Alex narrowed her eyes as her hand went up to her shoulder.  She scowled
as Michelle's hand grabbed her wrist hard, keeping her from reaching the hilt
of her saber.  "Stop it," Michelle pleaded, tears filling her aquamarine eyes.
     "This is going to end very soon," Alex said in a glacial tone.  "I don't
give a rat's rear end if I have to go there myself, I swear I'll carpet their
world with blood until I find who did this to her."
     "You will do no such thing," Susan snarled, gripping the chair with enough
force to turn her knuckles white.
     Darian cleared his throat gently.  "Susan, I think you need to calm down
just a bit," he suggested.
     "How will you enter the Negaverse, Alex?" Susan demanded.  "How will you
return, assuming you even survive that long?  What about supplies?  Shelter for
the night?  You are blinded by unfocused rage, and that will get you killed in
less time than it takes to enter their world, if I don't kill you first!  I've
taught you far better than this!"
     "Stuff it, Sue, when did you become my mother?" Alex shot back.
     "I became so when your mother died," Susan said icily.  "I became so when
I helped raise you, and your mother, and your grandmother.  I am the Chancellor
of the Moon Kingdom, second only to the Queen herself, and as much as I dislike
having to use my seat of office to order other people around, I will do so if
necessary.  If I tell you to sit down and shut up, Lady Uranus, you are to do
so without argument.  Am I understood?"
     "Sue, you really need to go taking a flying...."
     "Am I understood?!" Susan roared, her temper snapping like a twig.
     "CHANCELLOR MEIOU, *SIT DOWN!!*" a deafening voice thundered.
     Everyone blinked hard for a moment before slowly turning to look at
Serena.  She was holding her mouth with both hands, her blue eyes impossibly
wide with shock.  Very slowly, her hands moved away from her trembling lips
and said in a tiny, almost inaudible voice, "..... Was that me?"
     "Felt like it," Darian suggested as he rubbed his ear.
     Everyone blinked hard again as Susan started to laugh softly.  It wasn't
the laughter of an individual suddenly gone insane, but rather the laughter of
a realization of a truly bittersweet irony.  "Ahh, yes, I had almost forgotten
that one," she said as she slowly sat down, her wings twitching as a faint
smile tugged on her lips.  "You've been waiting all this time for that one,
haven't you Serenity?"
     Serena blinked.  "What?" she asked as her broach started to glow softly
for a moment.  The light faded just as quickly as it had come, making those who
saw it wonder if they had really seen it glow or not.
     The succubus chuckled quietly as her temper cooled like a hot iron thrust
into a bucket of ice water.  "Ask me later tonight and I will tell you about
the social upheaval your birth caused," she suggested calmly.  She took a deep
breath and let it out slowly before turning to face Alex.  "No, Alex, I am not
your mother.  I am, however, still your guardian, and ask that you stop and at
least try to think some things through before acting."
     Alex closed her eyes and yielded to Michelle's embrace, leaning back once
again and trying to let the tension drain away from her body.  "You of all
people know that ain't easy," she grumbled quietly.  She felt her chest start
to tingle slightly and made a face.  "And I hope you're enjoying this, Myst."
     "Is everyone alright?" Maze finally ventured as an uneasy silence fell
around the room.  "I've got more wine if anyone wants it...."
     "Sure," Alex replied as she held out her glass without opening her eyes.
"I'll say this much, Maze, your species might be a grand royal pain in our
collective butts, but at least you're a decent host."
     Maze chuckled dryly.  "Thanks, I think," he said as he topped off her
glass from a nearly empty bottle.  "You have a few valid gripes about our
world, and I have to be honest in saying that I agree with some of them myself.
We really aren't a pleasant lot as a whole, but we do have our moments."
     Tolaris grunted quietly as he tried to comfort Ami.  "Try not to defame
our society too badly, Lieutenant," he sighed.  "It's not perfect, but neither
is human society."
     Leda smirked.  "Well, if your military would start playing in your own
yard instead of trampling on our grass, we wouldn't have many problems...."
     "Don't start," Ami pleaded quietly.
     Alex took a sip of the wine and sighed as she felt it tingle on the way
down.  "Question, Maze.... what color is your blood?" she asked idly as the
rhythmic motion of Michelle's hands on her neck started to relax her slightly.
     "Green, which is fairly common," Maze replied as he corked the bottle.
"Tolaris has gray blood, which isn't as common, Ra'vel has black blood, which
again is somewhat common, and Whisper has.... what color is it this time?"
     "Blue," Whisper replied, causing a few eyebrows to raise.
     "Hey, I thought it was green," Mina commented, remembering an incident
involving a crystal fragmentation grenade and a multitude of very sharp shards
drawing large amounts of blood from everyone.
     The telepath shrugged casually.  "A biological quirk caused by the Chaos
Factor.  I was born with green blood, but once the Factor kicked in the color
will sometimes change during my menstrual cycle.  The healers have all said it
was a purely cosmetic change and that nothing else was affected."
     "Huh," Alex commented as she took a large swallow of wine.  "Now there's
a vivid image."
     "Sorry," Whisper replied with a chuckle.
     Alex sighed and tilted her head back, resting it on Michelle's shoulder.
"So tell us about this blood hunger of yours, Ami," she said quietly.  "Does it
really taste all that good to you, or do you just have to choke it down and
grab a mint when you're done?"
     Ami blinked at the question and glanced away.  "I've come to like it," she
said quietly.  "But everyone tastes unique."
     Rei coughed quietly.  "That could have been phrased better...."
     "So who do you like most?  Mmm, Mich, you know I love you," Alex purred
quietly as Michelle began massaging her temples.
     "Does it matter?" Ami replied softly.
     A hollow echo of a laugh rose up from Alex's chest.  "Usually an evasive
response like that means I won't like the answer."
     Ami sighed quietly.  "Serena's blood is the sweetest I've had so far,"
she said, "But I've had.... problems taking it, so I try not to."
     That caused Alex to open her eyes and tilt her head slightly to look at
her.  "You've taken Serena's blood?"
     "Yes, she has," Serena spoke up.  "It hurts at first, but then the pain
goes away and it feels really nice."
     "Huh."
     Susan blinked and regarded Ami carefully.  "When you say you've had a
problem taking Serena's blood, do you mean her aura?"
     "Yes," Ami replied with a faint shiver.  "It is quite strong."
     "There you go again, Sue," Alex said in a bored tone.  "Talking about
things that the rest of us need to research in a rare and exotic library before
we can figure out what the hell is going on.  And yes, I know you'll be more
than happy to later spend an hour or two trying to explain it to me in simple
two-syllable sentences, so don't start."
     Tolaris shook his head and murmured something in Ami's ear in his native
denizen dialect, drawing an odd look from both Ami and Alex.  Ami replied in
kind, her voice a soft murmur of fractured syllables that made no sense at all
to anyone not intimately familiar with the language.  The exchange lasted for
several minutes, Tolaris appearing to be making a suggestion and Ami giving a
reluctant response.
     Alex blinked as she heard Michelle's name mentioned and reflexively sat
up.  "Okay, time to share it with the rest of us," she said in a slightly edged
tone.  "I heard Michelle's name in there somewhere, and I want to know why."
     Tolaris shrugged and said something to Ami, drawing a dark look from Alex.
Ami shook her head slowly.  "No, that's too direct," she countered.
     "What's too direct?" Alex demanded.
     Mina tilted her head at an angle and spoke up, offering a suggestion in
the denizen language using Maze's native dialect.  She blinked with both Ami
and Tolaris gave her a blank look in response.  "Let me guess, I mangled the
pronunciation?" she ventured.
     "That's putting it mildly," Maze chuckled.  Mina stuck her tongue out at
him and Maze smirked before properly repeating the word to Tolaris.
     "That was the general idea, yes," Tolaris admitted.
     Leda shook her head as Alex started to fume.  "You're too uptight, girl,"
she said to the blonde.  "You need to let your hair down a little."
     Alex snorted.  "So what are they talking about?"
     "Feeding you to Ami," Leda said casually.
     "Leda!" Ami said sharply.
     "Uh huh," Alex said neutrally with a sidelong glance at Ami.
     "Grow up," Leda said flatly, drawing a surprised blink from Alex.  "Once
you get it into your head that every single life-form in this room is on the
same team, including the spider, the sooner we can get down to the business of
being the life-long friends that we apparently were at one point in time.  Yes,
Ami is a vampire who needs blood.  Those of us who truly know her and care for
her didn't throw a hissy when it happened, but did a little soul-searching and
decided to share our blood with her.  That's what friends are for, helping one
another when in need, but after sharing our blood we realized that we were far
more than mere friends.  We're family, and we look out for one another, watch
each other's backs, and somewhere along the way minor details like the color
of a person's blood or what planet they grew up on becomes largely forgotten.
I guess what I'm ranting about is if you want to be a part of this team, this
family, you gotta learn to close your mouth, open your eyes, and don't be so
damn close-minded about trust."
     There was a stunned silence from the rest of the room as her words began
to register on their minds.  Alex blinked hard and twisted around to give
Michelle a long look, seeming to communicate on a wordless level and trying to
gauge one another's reactions.
     "She has a point," Michelle said soft with a squeeze of the blonde's hand.
"I don't like it, but it really shouldn't matter.... right?" he added with a
note of hesitation.
     Alex grunted.  "What, you want to volunteer or something?  Go right ahead,
hon, I'm not going anywhere, and I can promise to take off her head if she
hurts you...."
     Michelle's lips compressed into a thin line.  "That's not what I meant."
     Leda sighed.  "You still don't get it, Alex.  This isn't about blood, it's
about the principle of trust.  Look at Ami.... we try to ask you for her, and
she still balks at the idea.  She hasn't done a damn thing that would give you
cause or reason not to trust her, but all of a sudden because you realize that
she has sharp teeth, she's untrustworthy?"
     Alex exchanged glances with Michelle again before turning back to look at
Ami.  "Okay, so just what precisely am I supposed to be trusting?" she said in
a guarded tone.
     Leda opened her mouth to speak only to be pre-empted by Darian.  "It's a
very simple thing, Alex.  Trust her to be like everyone else.  Or do you peer
over your shoulder every now and then to see if Serena or Rei is sneaking up
behind you for some nefarious purpose?"
     Alex snorted.  "Please.  Serena's not a vampire."
     "Would you trust someone with denizen blood?" Darian said flatly.
     Susan blinked hard.  "Your Highness, I must caution you against this
particular course of action," she warned.
     "Why should I?" Alex replied in an edged tone.  "They don't strike me as
being overly trustworthy as a whole, despite having a few odd ones here and
there," she added with a glance at Tolaris.
     "You trust Serena implicitly, though," Darian pointed out, ignoring the
tight embrace Serena was wrapping him in.
     Alex blinked.  "What does Serena have to do with anything?" she demanded.
     "The Princess is half-denizen," Susan said very quietly.
     "What?" both Alex and Michelle echoed in shocked unison.
     Susan sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose, feeling the weight of
seven centuries of life bearing down on her shoulders.  "Serena's father was
from the Negaverse," she said gently.  "That story is another lengthy and
complicated one, but only myself, Lady Mercury, and of course Queen Serenity
knew of it, and the Queen forbade either one of us to discuss it.  We weren't
even allowed to tell the Princess."
     Serena looked at the shocked expression on Michelle's face and sighed.
"I didn't find out until a few months ago, during our last trip into the
Negaverse," she said quietly.
     "That shocked the crap out of us as well," Leda said quietly.  "But once
we changed our underwear, we were cool with the idea.  After all, it really
didn't change who she was all along, the Moon Princess we all know and love.
And we love her for who she really is inside, not for whatever happens to be
lurking in her DNA."
     The brunette uncurled her legs and leaned forward, staring into Alex's
face.  "But what really bothers me is how you can sit there and voice distrust
of others based on their heritage instead of what they've actually done.  Ami
hasn't done anything wrong, nor has Tolaris, yet you're disrespecting them.
But you trust Susan over there, who from what I can tell has the very nasty
habit of hiding all sorts of secrets and not telling people until well after
the fact.  That's not very trustworthy in my book, but that's just me."
     Alex took a few seconds to think about her response.  "You're still pissed
about not knowing the story behind the pendant, aren't you?" she ventured.
     Leda got to her feet with a snarl.  She glared at the blonde for a few
moments before she headed towards the sliding glass door that led to the deck,
muttering all sorts of profane things beneath her breath about Alex's mindset.
The door was almost ripped off the tracks as it screeched open, only to nearly
shatter as it was slammed shut behind her.
     "This is a first," Mina commented.  She looked around, noticing the array
of puzzled looks and adding, "Well, at least she didn't try to hurt anybody.
Just between you and me, however, I think you really pissed her off big-time."
     "Wah," Alex muttered as she cast a glance over her shoulder.
     Mina gave her an irritated look.  "Are you sure you're from the same Moon
Kingdom that we're from?  You really don't sound like a Sailor Scout to me."
     "Ladies, ladies, please," Maze said affably as he stood up with a bottle
of avian wine in hand.  "There is nothing wrong with having a difference of
opinion, or even agreeing to disagree, but there is no need for such strong
tides of emotion.  Here," he said as he uncorked the bottle and began refilling
various glasses.
     He looked up as Alex gave him a guarded look when he went to refill her
glass.  "What, do you think I would poison you after such a well-crafted litany
of defamation against my kind?" he said lightly with an exaggerated waggle of
his eyebrows.
     Alex looked at him for a moment before shaking her head slowly.  "You're
a piece of work," she replied as she watched him top off her glass.
     Maze shrugged as he eyed the remaining amount of wine in the bottle.  He
shook it gently before shrugging again and up-ending it, downing the last few
swallows in a single gulp.  "Pah," he gasped quietly.  "I try not to take an
opposing view personally.  Besides, you're still a guest here, and those of us
who are in the Dragoon Legion.... or are associated with it," he added with a
nod to Whisper, "Well, we tend to take it as a serious matter of honor to treat
guests right and afford them every courtesy."
     He shrugged again as he wedged the cork in the empty bottle.  "Of course,
it'd be nice if the favor was returned, but then again, I suppose we were given
a bit of advanced warning about you."
     "Lieutenant," Tolaris said flatly.
     "Easy, boss," Maze replied with a chuckle and a wink at a leery Alex.  "I
just meant that Vikings had a reputation for being.... barbaric isn't the right
term, but I'm told they could have used a few pointers about social graces.
And after all, a fine young woman like Alex who takes personal pride in being  
an embodiment of her grandfather's heritage has a reputation to maintain...."
     Tolaris, Mina, and Susan all seemed to sigh heavily at the same instant as
Alex threw her head back and laughed, almost spilling her wine.  Michelle just
rolled her eyes and sat back, crossing her arms over her chest.  There was a
dry chirp from Ra'vel as she began a telepathic conversation with Whisper,
occasionally drawing a sour nod from the Psi-Corp Captain.
     Darian and Serena exchanged glances.  "What are we going to do with her?"
Darian asked quietly, causing her to blink in surprise.
     "I have no idea, why are you asking me?" she protested.
     Darian chuckled.  "She's part of your royal court," he teased.
     Serena glanced Alex.  "Royal jester is more like it," she muttered.
     Alex almost spilled her wine again with renewed laughter.  "Hey, I heard
that," she snickered.
     "Good," Serena replied sharply in an unexpected outburst, causing heads
to turn and eyes to blink.  "Then hear me now: if you can't trust my friends,
ALL of them, then leave us alone."
     Alex blinked hard and set her wineglass down on the coffee table, slowly
taking a sobering breath.  "Are you okay, your Highness?" she said slowly.
     Serena sighed and curled up against Darian again.  "I don't know," she
said after a moment as her mood evaporated as soon as it had struck.  "I....
just want everyone to get along.  There's no need to fight.... r-r-really,
there's n-n-not...."
     Darian twisted around to wrap her in a gentle embrace.  "Easy, Serena,"
he murmured quietly in her ear as she started to sniffle.  "It's okay, I'm sure
everyone is just upset over recent developments, that's all."
     "Alex," Susan said quietly.
     "Yeah?" the blonde replied warily.
     "You must understand that Michelle and I are the only ones who know you,"
Susan said gently.  "Everyone is meeting you for the first time, and despite
what you think, you are meeting them for the first time.  Your memories are of
people who died a thousand years ago.  Their souls have been reborn, yes, but
they are not who you think they are anymore.  You have to start over if you
want to be friends again, and for that you must be willing to accept them for
who they are now, today.... not for what they once were a thousand years ago."
     "We understand it's not easy," Mina said as she got up off the floor and
took Leda's spot on the couch.  "I mean, look at Susan.  This is the first time
we've ever met a demon before, what with the wings and all, but we're still
doing okay.  I think," she added with a slight hesitation.
     Alex looked at her for a few moments before glancing over at Ami and
sighing.  "This might take some time," she admitted quietly.  "Hell, there are
some days when Sue still scares the bejeebers out of me."
     "I must profess that the feeling is occasionally mutual," Susan said in a
tone as dry as some desert regions.  "I suggest that if you do not care to
listen to or otherwise seek my council, you should at least have the courtesy
to listen to what guidance and advice your peers have to offer."
     "Thanks, Sue, I'll keep that in mind," Alex replied tartly.
     Rei snorted quietly.  "You haven't listened so far," she grumbled.
     Alex raised an eyebrow.  "Alright, let's hear you weigh in on this."
     The priestess sighed quietly and ran her hands through her waist-length
raven-black hair.  "I like Ami, but I don't like her vampirism," she said in an
even tone as her face slipped into her expressionless mask.  "I don't blame her
for it as it's not her fault.  I still try to help her when she needs it and
take steps to ensure that her vampiric nature doesn't become a grave concern,
whatever that happens to require.  I trust her because I know her, because I've
been through a lot with her.  It's the same with Tolaris and his friends.  We
had a less-than-pleasant initial encounter, but after going through a minor
hell in a valley.... and going through it together.... we saw past the racial
and social differences.  I gave them the chance to earn my trust and they did
not let me down."
     "Same here," Mina said as she stretched casually.  "Granted I was a bit
blinded by love at the time, but I don't have too many regrets," she said with
a saucy wink at Maze.
     Maze raised a purple eyebrow.  "Too many regrets?" he echoed.
     "Well," Mina said slowly, "I could have done without having all that water
splashed up my nose in the shower.... and then there was the time you tried to
bake some bread and put too much yeast in it so it ended up exploding in my
face when I went to shove it in the oven.... then there was that time you...."
     "I love you too, Mina," Maze said dryly.
     Alex just rolled her eyes.  "So what do you think, hon?" she quietly asked
over her shoulder, giving Michelle a slightly unsettled look.
     Michelle blinked and looked back at her with slightly saddened aquamarine
eyes.  "I think you already know what I think," she said softly.  "And if you
really don't know, then I can't help you anymore."
     Alex sighed and leaned back against her, kissing her wrist softly.  "Yeah,
you're right, love," she said quietly.  "Like Mina said, however.... this crap
ain't easy, and it's going to take time."
     Michelle nodded as she reached up to tug open Alex's collar a bit.  "How
long did it take you to trust Myst?" she asked softly as she did a quick search
for the hidden Shinma.
     Alex laughed very quietly.  "If you're trying to make me feel like crap
about this, it's starting to work," she said, only half-jokingly.
     Michelle smiled and leaned forward to kiss her cheek.  "I'm scared too,
but I have friends around me to comfort me, friends like you and the Princess
and Ami."
     The blonde made a quiet noise deep in her chest.  "So you'd be willing to
share yourself with a hungry vampire?"
     Michelle sighed quietly.  "I'm willing to give Ami a chance to earn my
trust," she replied.  "It doesn't matter who or what she is anymore, she still
deserves to have that much."
     "I'm not asking anyone for their blood," Ami said quietly.  "And I'm not
going to bother anyone about it if they don't like the idea.  You can ask Rei
and Mina about it if you don't trust me."
     Alex sighed yet again.  "Yeah, yeah, I get the idea.  Still...."
     "If I may suggest," Susan said quietly, "Perhaps going for a walk would
give you time to clear your mind and consider things?"
     Mina blinked and started digging in her pocket.  "I have a better idea,"
she said.  "How about you thumb a ride with Darian to go get dinner?  I get the
impression that you haven't seen much of the city yet, and a quick drive should
be enough to take your mind off things.... Unless, of course, Darian has an
objection to someone riding shotgun," she amended hastily.
     Darian shook his head.  "No, that's fine with me."
     "Ah, what the hell," Alex said with a grunt as she disengaged herself from
Michelle's embrace and stood up.
     "Anyone else want to come along?" Darian said as he gave Serena a gentle
hug and stood up, patting his pocket for his keys.  "And what should I get?"
     "I'll pass," Rei replied.
     Mina stood up and passed over the pile of money collected for dinner.  "A
little of everything," she suggested.  "We're trying to feed.... let's see, six
plus four, don't forget the spider, three guests.... whoa, fourteen people."
     "Save some for us," Artemis piped up, licking his whiskers.
     Darian blinked and did a little mental math of his own.  "Think five large
pizzas would be enough?"
     Mina winced.  "Do we have enough for five...?"
     "I got it covered," Darian replied with a wave of his hand.  "Besides, I
know exactly where to get them at a discount.  Who wants what?"
     "Two pepperoni, two with the works, one with just cheese," Mina answered.
"That should provide enough of a variety for everyone."
     Maze smirked.  "How are we stocked on jen'yan?" he asked Tolaris.
     "More than enough," the Dragoon reassured him.  "A form of antacid," he
explained to Susan as she gave him a curious look.  "Helps us cope with spicy
human foods with only a minimal of internal disruptions."
     "Ahh, I see.  A rather wise investment...."
     "You mean everything-everything?" Darian hedged.
     Mina nodded.  "Ra'vel loves anchovies, and Dy'vach won't hesitate to eat
what's left.  Including the cardboard box," she added.
     Alex grunted.  "Now there's a cheerful image.  You coming, hon?"
     Michelle shook her head.  "No, you go on ahead."
     "You sure?" Alex asked with a slight frown.  She got a soft smile in
return, the gentle loving kind that usually managed to melt her insides when
she was subjected to it.
     "I'm sure," Michelle replied quietly.  "Just don't forget to look around
so you can tell me about it later."
     Alex smirked.  "Sure thing, hon.  Alright, your Highness, let's go see
this 'pizza' friend of yours."
     "Anyone else want to come along?" Darian said.  "Serena?  Ami?  Maze?"
     Serena shook her head.  "Not today," she said quietly.
     Maze chuckled.  "We'll hold down the fort for you, Darian."
     "Thanks," Darian replied with a dry chuckle of his own.  "Oh, yeah, umm,
could someone...?" he asked with a gesture towards the outside deck.
     Susan smiled as she stood up.  "Rest assured, your Highness, we will try
to ensure everything is in order by the time you get back," she said demurely,
her wings flexing slightly.
     "Right...." Darian said slowly.  "Okay, then, see you in about an hour."
     "Drive carefully," Mina called out as Darian waved to the group and left
with Alex in tow.  "Just between you and me?" she said when the door closed
behind them, "I wouldn't want to be sitting next to her at the moment."
     Susan paused on her way to the sliding glass door.  "Alex is a rather
headstrong young woman," she said carefully, "But I assure you that she is a
most reliable and steadfast ally.  Once you get to know her," she added.
     Mina wrinkled her nose.  "That's the kicker, ain't it?"
     "When you have gone through a few dark hours as she has, perhaps then you
can appreciate her hesitancy to trust," Susan advised.  "Like Rei's comment on
Ami's vampirism.... Alex is not to blame, but an understanding is required for
her to be dealt with effectively.  Please try to remember that," she said as
she opened the door and stepped outside.
     Mina sighed.  "Who would you rather deal with, Alex or Leda?"
     "A pissed off General Rune," Rei muttered.  "She'd probably be the most
straight-forward to deal with."
     Tolaris grunted.  "Careful what you wish for."
     Michelle blinked and sat up slightly.  "Who is General Rune?"
     "Ohh, you're going to love this one," Mina said with another sigh as she
reached for her glass of wine sitting on the coffee table.  "It all started a
few months ago, after we taught Queen Beryl the error of her ways...."

                *               *               *               *

     The Royal Chamber's blueprints had taken several years to design before
it was built along with the rest of the Imperial Castle tens of thousands of
years ago.  The desired effect was to maximize the effectiveness of any sort
of imposing aura generated by the individual standing in the center of the
vast chamber, and it was generally agreed that such a feat of acoustical and
landscaping design had been nothing short of brilliantly completed.
     "The Dragoon Commander!" called out the guard at the door, her voice
seeming to thunder across the room as it was amplified by the natural shape
of the chamber.
     K'tal bowed his head slightly to the officers already assembled in the
room as he entered.  Cleverly placed lights seemed to highlight him in a rather
subtle way for a moment, causing the decorations on his formal dress uniform
to glitter briefly.   he thought along the psionic link, 
     A slight hint of amusement filtered down from the other end.  
     He smirked quietly to himself as he nodded to Chief Mal'ek standing by
himself off to one side.   he replied.    "Fair evening, Chief,"
he said pleasantly.
     Mal'ek slowly shook his head.  "'Tis ne'er a good e'enin' if'n ye have t'
call a full-staff meetin' at this hour, or so close t' th' return o' th' Dark
One," he said quietly.  "I hae a bad feelin', Commander."
     K'tal sighed.  "Likewise, Chief," he replied very softly.  "Still, what
can you do aside from wait for the next surprise to bite you on the ptanka?"
     The ancient denizen chuckled quietly as a wallscreen lit up to display a
video-feed of a general.  "The Western Division Commander!" the guard called
out as the signal made a quiet clicking sound, indicating that an audio link
was established as well.
     Both K'tal and Mal'ek straightened up out of reflex.  Salutes and bows
were not required, as everyone was indoors and the gathering was technically
an informal one for the moment, but respect for higher-ranking officers were
still both due and shown.
     "So who's here, not here, virtually here, and elsewhere?" K'tal mused as
he looked around, making sure to glance up at the row of video screens.  He
noticed that the screens for the Northern and Eastern divisional commanders
were active, but displaying a "signal suspended" sigil.  Guess they don't want
to waste time looking at us, he thought to himself.
     Mal'ek gave him a slightly unamused look.  "I be led t' believe, K'tal,
that a full meetin' means that if'n ye like y'r job, ye'll make quite sure that
y'r face 'tis seen when 'tis time t' be seen.  Rest assured that th' rest o'
th' military'll be here when General Rune is here."
     K'tal shook his head.  "Missed the point, Chief.  I guess what I'm trying
to figure out is just who is supposed to be here.  I can see why Brigadier Z
is here," he said with a subtle gesture to the admittedly sultry commander of
the Hospitality Division.  "I can even see why Colonel Azi'mar is here," he
added with a gesture to the one-eyed commander of the Training Division based
in the Northern Mountains.  "But the woman talking to Azi'mar.... isn't she a
civilian?"
     Mal'ek didn't bother looking over his shoulder.  "She's here on behalf o'
th' D'Mal Port Authority and 'twas specifically requested by Rune," he said
quietly.  "Th' Dark One's carriers will be a'callin' o' th' port for harbor,
so Rune thought it 'twould be wise t' keep them a'breast o' any changes.  And
as for Brigadier Zan'zemet.... wha' would a party be wi' out Hospitality?" he
added with a slight waggle of his eyebrows.
     The Dragoon laughed quietly.  "You surprise me, Chief."
     "Aye, I tend t'," Mal'ek replied with a wink.  "And if'n ye be trying' t'
say somethin' about me age, I'll hae t' beat ye senseless wi' m'cane."  They
both laughed quietly for a moment, knowing that the ancient denizen had never
needed to use a cane in his entire life, but enjoying the joke anyway.
      Ael'ien's psionic voice echoed in K'tal's mind.
     "The Psi-Corp Commander!" the guard announced to the room as Ael'ien
entered the Royal Chamber.  She gave the requisite nod of acknowledgement to
the others in the room before she looked around and approached K'tal.  "Why do
I feel like I just walked into a funeral?" she said with a slight frown as she
glanced around the room.  "You can feel the tension in the air.  Fair evening,
Chief."
     "Th' Commander an' I hae already discussed that one," Mal'ek replied
dryly.  "'Tis no' so much a fair e'enin' as a moment t' make one weary."
     Ael'ien nodded.  "That's almost always the case."
     "The Fleet Admiral!" the door guard's voice boomed.
     Everyone reflexively snapped to attention as Si'ren nodded her head and
strode into the center of the room, the pressed edges of her uniform looking
to be sharp enough to draw blood.  She cast a glance up at the row of virtual
monitors and gave a shallow smile to the images of the theater commanders as
they suddenly winked into visibility.
     "Attention to all naval units," the white-haired admiral called out.  "A
memorial service will be held tomorrow at sunset at the Helix Seaport for
Lieutenant Admiral Ne'tan, who was killed in the line of duty yesterday.  There
will be a fleet-wide rendering of honors the following sunrise when he will be
given a champion's farewell and burial at sea.  Any land-based units wishing
to participate are asked to contact their nearest naval unit captains to make
arrangements, and all Navy personnel are asked to be as accommodating as their
situation permits.  We will not let his sacrifice go unremembered.  Carry on."
     K'tal let his breath out quietly along with the rest of the assembled
group.  "No disrespect to the Navy, but what is it with their fascination of
being fed to the sea creatures instead of being properly entombed?" he asked
very quietly.
     "Tradition," Mal'ek replied with a casual shrug.  "'Tis most likely th'
same thinkin' Dragoons use t' avoid puttin' on th' Captain's rank.  No' t'
offend o' speak ill o' ye command, K'tal, but such traditions hae people like
m'self a'wonderin' wha' ye be a'thinkin' as well."
     A wry grin briefly crossed the Dragoon's face.  "Duly noted, Chief."
      Ael'ien's voice said in his head.
     K'tal sighed quietly and rubbed the bridge of his nose.  
      the telepath informed him.
       "Any guesses on what Rune is going to say tonight?" he asked
aloud.
     Mal'ek shook his head.  "I dinna hae a clue, Commander, nor do I really
be a'wantin' t' know."
     Ael'ien smiled at him.  "You worry too much, Chief."  
     "Aye, an' because I worry s'much that I still be around t' talk about wha'
be a'weighin' on me mind," the chief replied with a short wheeze of laughter.
"Ye'll be quite wise t' pay attention t' y'r s'rroundin's, Captain, if'n so ye
know wha' be a'brewin' in th' wind, an' can then do th' right thing t' protect
y'self."
     "If you can," K'tal muttered.  
     Ael'ien bit her lower lip.   she replied with amusement.
     Mal'ek nodded sagely.  "Aye, if'n ye can," he echoed.
     "The Commander-General!" the guard announced, causing the entire room to
snap to rigid attention as one.  The sound echoed faintly in the chamber, a
unique and probably meticulously planned detail of the architecture.  It was,
everyone would agree if asked, a rather impressive and imposing sound.
     General Rune walked across the chamber to the throne, her boots quietly
clicking on the polished floor.  She ascended the short flight of stairs to
the ancient seat and turned around, standing in front of it but making no move
to sit down.  The Negaverse was essentially hers to run for the present, but
even she knew that some lines couldn't be crossed.
     "At ease," she said, her voice being naturally augmented by the chamber's
unique acoustics.  Several shielded lights hidden in the ceiling were focused
on the throne dais, making the small forest of decorations on her uniform
sparkle as if they were cast from diamonds instead of precious metals and rare
crystals.  She surveyed the room slowly, almost causally, trying to see if
anyone was missing before glancing up at the bank of virtual monitors to do a
quick count.  Satisfied, she took a deep breath and started to speak.
     "I am sure all of you are aware of the events that have recently taken
place, so I will try to keep this as short as possible.  General Nop'tera's
mission has been deemed a success after her historical three-thousand year
campaign, a concept that most of us can hardly fathom given the limitation of
our lifespan.  Unless, of course, you happen to be someone like Chief Mal'ek,"
she added with a casual smile.
     A quiet round of chuckles went around the room as Mal'ek nodded his head
in acknowledgement to Rune's jab about his age, a faint smile on his lips.
     "Nevertheless," Rune continued, "Her work in the other dimension is done
and now she and her division are coming home.  I hope I do not have to take any
extra time in explaining to anyone that she and her soldiers are to be afforded
every courtesy due to them after such a noble and well-fought campaign.
     "Her flagship is scheduled to land on the eastern staging grounds of the
Central Division's airfield at noon tomorrow, with a coordinated victory march
to the Imperial Castle as soon as they have formed up.  An honor guard of a
battalion from each regional division will provide escort.  Be advised that we
expect her to perform a combat-drop before landing, so all unit commanders need
to be aware of the situation.  I will NOT have a repeat of the Hinterland Rift
incident, is that clear?"
     Various forms of acknowledgement, assent, and concurrence echoed in the
Royal Chamber for a moment as they all responded to her flat statement.
     "General Ra'en, status report?" Rune said as she looked up at the bank of
virtual monitors.
     The images on the monitors seemed to blur for a moment as the displays
were reshuffled until the image of the Eastern Division commander was shown in
the center, directly facing Rune.  "Ma'am, the V'ral is continuing on a direct
bearing to the Imperial Castle, and is expected to cross the demarcation line
into the Central Division airspace shortly before midnight tonight," the image
of Lieutenant General Ra'en replied crisply.  "Our reconnaissance drones have
reported no significant activity aside from a routine two-element air patrol
kept in an orbiting track at all times."
     The monitor displays briefly shuffled again until the middle-aged image
of the Central Division commander occupied the center.  "We have the carrier
on long-range radar at the moment and are observing them as well.  Unless we
receive another tasking, our intention is to send up a patrol to escort them
across the demarcation line and along the flight path to the Imperial Castle."
     Rune nodded her head.  "Very well, Brigadier, you are free to do so."
     "Thank you, ma'am," the Central Division commander replied.
     "I understand our culture is at a singularly unique moment in history,"
Rune said very carefully.  "We are not only welcoming the victorious return of
a long-lost comrade but are still mourning for the loss of the royal bloodline
as well.  The NegaForce has chosen to remain silent on both issues for reasons
of its own, and so we will have to do the best we can until it decides to speak
out.  If anyone has any questions about what tomorrow might bring, I ask that
you speak now, for tonight we have the luxury of time to consider things.  That
may not be the case after tomorrow."
     K'tal and Ael'ien exchanged quick glances, knowing that Rune had just
unlocked the door to a particularly nasty question and wondering who would be
the brave fool who would kick it open.
     "May I ask a question?" a young voice hesitantly said in the sudden void
of uneasy silence.
      K'tal thought to Ael'ien.
      she replied.
     Rune glanced at the source of the voice and smiled.  "Ten'gent S'Lul has
been asked to join this meeting on behalf of the D'Mal Seaport Authority," she
explained to the gathering.  "By all means, Ten'gent, please ask."
     S'Lul frowned slightly at the use of her administrative title as if it
were a military ranking.  "The question is in regard to what happens after the
death of the Queen," she said carefully, waiting to see if the subject would
evoke any negative reactions.  When Rune merely tilted her head slightly, she
took a deep breath and pressed on.  "A number of scholars in our district,
including the magistrate, are not entirely clear on who is to oversee the
government on an interim basis until the monarchy can be re-established."
     Rune gave the civilian a benevolent smile, pointedly ignoring the sudden
wave of increased tension in the room.  "The laws are quite clear, actually,
both civilian and military.... the Commander-General will be administratively
put in charge until a new bloodline can be created and accepted by the power
of the NegaForce."
     S'Lul shook her head.  "That much is clear, General Rune, but the question
has to do with how exactly the position is chosen.  Some of our scholars think
that given her tenure of service, General Nop'tera will be eligible for the
position upon her return...."
     The silence that followed her statement was of the kind that one usually
can only experience in the depths of space, and even then only after a fatal
hull-breach has vented the sound-carrying atmosphere into the void.
     "It is a valid question," Rune said calmly.  "I understand your concerns
that there might be a conflict, and that such a conflict would prove to be
quite detrimental to the day-to-day functioning of the government.  Let me
assure you here and now that in any case, there will be no noticeable impact
on how things work around here.
     "This world is ruled by the NegaForce, of that there is no question or
ambiguity.  The embodiment of the NegaForce is the monarchy, and we in the
military serve the monarchy in whatever capacity it requires.  Even in the
event of a major command-level reshuffling of who gets to decide what, the
system is quite sound and will continue to function normally.  The military
will still be quite able to serve and protect the needs and interests of the
citizens of the Negaverse, which of course includes the D'Mal Seaport.
     "The so-called question of command is a non-issue, namely because our
system is set up with safeguards to ensure chaos doesn't break out if one or
two pieces of the chain-of-command end up being broken or removed.  The highest
ranks of the military can only be obtained by royal decree of promotion, and
so we all serve at the wish of the Queen.  There are laws of succession to
keep order and stability should the Queen become incapacitated or worse, but
they do not otherwise supercede royal command.
     "I was designated as Commander-General upon the death of General Malachite
at the hands of the Sailor Scouts, and I became designated interim overseer of
both the military and the government when Queen Beryl died.... again, at the
hands of the Sailor Scouts.  My promotion was her wish, and it was done so with
the full knowledge and realization that I might have to take her place one day.
General Nop'tera has not been appointed to the position, even though she has
far more experience and time spent in service to the throne than I do, but that
has no bearing on the simple fact that Queen Beryl made a choice.  Therefore,
there should be no issue as to who is ultimately responsible.
     "However, in the unlikely event that there is some legal challenge posed
about this, we cannot forget that the NegaForce is the ultimate arbiter of all
things and should it say one way or the other, that is how it shall be and that
will be the end of any discussion on the issue.  The military is a structured
organization, and we take great pride in knowing that the stability of our
chain of command will remain strong, even under the most unexpected and trying
of circumstances.  I hope, Ten'gent S'Lul, that your question has been answered
to your satisfaction?"
     S'Lul nodded her head.  "Indeed it has, General Rune, and I thank you for
taking the time to educate a mere civilian on this matter," she said in a
gracious and slightly abashed tone.
     The only thing that kept K'tal from unleashing a torrent of inventive and
rather profane commentary across the telepathic link was the simple fact that
Ael'ien has beaten him to it.  It took him a great deal of effort to keep a
straight face, not betraying any shock at Rune's public stand on the issue of
succession while avoiding any hint of a blush at some of Ael'ien's creative
rewriting of the syntax and grammar of certain segments of her native dialect.
     Rune nodded her head back and turned to face the assembled group of the
highest-ranking officers in the military.  "I trust that the explanation and
reasoning is sufficient to clear up matters for the rest of you as well?" she
said in a level tone, one laced with the slightest hint of warning.
     "I believe it does, General Rune," Admiral Si'ren answered for the rest
of the assembled.
     "Excellent," Rune replied with a faint hint of satisfaction as her gaze
casually swept the chamber, trying to see any signs of dissent.  Finding none,
she let a small smile tug on the corners of her lips and looked up at the row
of video displays.  "General Nop'tera's return tomorrow will hopefully be the
herald of a new era, one in which we can look forward to bettering our society
with the fruits of her heroic labor.  She will be welcomed as a tried and true
champion of the Negaverse, and we should all seek to learn from the experience
that she brings with her."
     Brigadier Zan'zemet took a step forward, just enough so that her motion
would draw everyone's attention.  "My division is already well-prepared for
the welcoming ceremony," she said with a small smile.  "I can assure you that,
if nothing else, her return will be a celebration that will not be easily
forgotten by anyone.... especially the morning after," she added with a hint
of sultry humor in her silken tone.
     A quiet round of amused chuckles went through the room, knowing that her
words were not an idle boast.  Any event catered by Hospitality was virtually
guaranteed to be memorable, and everyone was looking forward with varying
degrees of curiosity and interest to what would happen during an event in which
all of the proverbial stops would be pulled out.
     Rune shook her head, a genuine smile on her lips as well.  She too was
looking forward to the military equivalent of a block party, as such events
had been relatively rare in her life as of late.  "Does anyone else have any
other questions?" she asked the room.  The mood seemed to evaporate slightly
as she reminded them of business, but no one else stepped forward.  "In that
case, then I trust each one of you to carry out your duties with dignity and
honor tomorrow.... not to mention avoid embarrassing yourselves to any serious
degree when indulging in Brigadier Zan'zemet's idea of entertainment."
     Her added statement elicited another round of chuckles and not a few quick
blushes of embarrassment.  There were stories about what went on at such events
when the alcohol and "alternate forms of relaxation" would loosen tongues and
sometimes even the odd article of clothing, but somehow the incidents never
managed to become too public or otherwise detrimental to one's career.  All
things were taken in moderation, including doses of public embarrassment.
     Rune stood up straight, a subtle shift in her demeanor that caused spines
to stiffen elsewhere in the room.  "I strongly advise that everyone get as
much sleep tonight as your duty schedule permits, because tomorrow gives every
indication of being a long day.  However, before I end this meeting, I think
there is one more piece of business to attend to.... Admiral?"
     Fleet Admiral Si'ren nodded and stepped forward.  "Commander T'zon, front
and center!" she called out, looking up at the row of video signals.
     The display shuffled until the image of a young Naval officer appeared on
the center monitor.  In the background was the image of a surface vessel's
control room and various officers could be seen snapping to attention at their
consoles, facing the video camera.
     "Ma'am," T'zon replied crisply, his posture ramrod straight.
     Si'ren made a gesture and an aide stepped next to her, opening a dark blue
folder to read the sheet of paper inside.  "Attention to orders!" the aide
called out, waiting as the officers in the room snapped to attention.  "Let it
be known that upon this day, under the auspices of the Imperial Navy and by
written command of the Fleet Admiral, that Commander T'zon, commanding officer
of the Imperial Naval Cruiser 'Index', is hereby promoted this day to the rank
of Captain in the Imperial Navy in recognition for his superior performance and
distinguished leadership ability during his tenure as commanding offer of the
Index.  With this promotion comes increased responsibilities and authority to
faithfully serve and execute the orders and the will of the NegaForce for the
defense, protection, and the betterment of the Negaverse.  You are charged as
of this date to carry out these duties with the same degree of professionalism
and honor you have so adequately demonstrated in the past.  May your seas be
even and the wind be at your back.  Signed, Fleet Admiral Si'ren, Commander,
Imperial Navy."
     The assembled erupted into applause as someone removed the four-bar rank
insignia of a Commander from the lapels of T'zon's dress uniform and pinned on
the silver starburst of Captain.  It wasn't every day that one reached a very
well-respected rank in one's career, and the newly-appointed captain looked
ready to break down and cry at any moment.
     "I thank you for your vote of confidence and trust, Admiral, and both the
crew of the Index and I look forward to continuing to serve you and the Navy
to the best of our abilities," T'zon managed to say in a level tone.
     Si'ren smiled, remembering the day she had been promoted to Captain and
given command of a surface ship.  T'zon had gotten his command a decade ago at
the rank of Commander and was referred to as a captain on a technical basis,
but with the promotion he was now truly worthy of the title and the respect it
drew from other members of the Navy.
     "I understand the Index is on patrol and won't be able to make port to
celebrate for another five weeks," she said with a hint of an apology.  "But
rest assured we will have the harbormaster set aside a few cases for you and
your crew for when you get the time."
     T'zon bowed his head.  "We'll be sure to save a round for you, Admiral,
and your generosity is most appreciated.  Permission to return to post?"
     "Permission granted, Captain.  Fair wind to the Index."
     T'zon drew himself to attention and saluted.  "Fair wind, Admiral," he
said before the signal was closed and the image winked out.
     There was a quiet chuckle.  "Sounds like somebody is going to get drunk
tonight," the Western Division commander commented a grin.
     Rune raised an eyebrow in amusement.  "And how hard did you celebrate
when you were promoted to Captain of your unit?" she inquired.
     "You don't want to know," Zan'zemet said coyly, causing a chorus of loud
laughs to erupt around the room and a dark blush of embarrassment to appear on
the Lieutenant General's holographic image.
     "You're right, I probably don't," Rune replied with a smile.  Like almost
everyone else in the room, she too was briefly remembering her own promotion to
Captain, and the rather riotous celebration that ensued.  "It is always a good
thing to be able to end these meetings on a positive note, as it makes you a
little more inclined to look forward to the next one," she said, ignoring the
faked groans of agony.  "Thank you all for your time.  Dismissed."
     The room snapped to attention as one as Rune and Si'ren left the room.
There was a universal silent count to five before everyone relaxed and started
quietly talking among themselves.  The video monitors winked out one by one as
the remote cameras were turned off, leaving the rest of the group to casually
wander off on their own and out of the room.
     "Well, that was entertaining," K'tal commented.
     Ael'ien shook her head.  "You have a strange idea of what constitutes
entertainment, Commander," she replied flatly.
     Mal'ek chuckled quietly.  "Aye, sometimes I be a'wond'rin' that m'self,"
he added.  "Dinna get me wrong, K'tal, but I don' be a'seein' things th' same
way ye be a'seein' them."
     K'tal shrugged and stretched, casually eyeing Brigadier Zan'zemet as she
strode past the group towards the door.  She didn't miss the look, giving him
a raised eyebrow and an amused glance in casual reply before making her exit
from the Royal Chamber.
      said Ael'ien's faintly amused voice his mind.
      he telepathed back with a mental grunt.
     "Look at it this way," he said aloud.  "At least we know where one line
in the sand is drawn, and that's half the battle, right?"
     Mal'ek gave him a withering look.  "If'n I 'twere you, Commander, I'd be
quite careful about talkin' about lines an' battles," he said slowly.  "Ye may
be a'gettin' y'r wish granted in th' end."
     K'tal frowned.  "I don't recall wishing for a fight, Chief."
     Ael'ien sighed and slowly ran her fingers through her hair.  "Let it rest,
K'tal, we have more important things to worry about at the moment."
     "Don't remind me," the Dragoon replied with a flat grunt.
     "Somethin' on y'r mind, Commander?" Mal'ek inquired.
     K'tal didn't dare look at Ael'ien.  "Yeah, you could say that," he said
in a casual tone.  "Just one of those things that one wishes could be washed
away with a decent bottle, you know?"
     "Aye," Mal'ek said with a knowing chuckle.  "Well, if'n 'tis any comf'rt
o' cons'lation, Commander, I be havin' a wee bit o' a headache m'self now an'
then o'er such min'r things that I be a'sharin' y'r pain wi' enthusiasm."
     "Somehow, Chief, I find that hard to believe," Ael'ien said in a tone dry
enough to evaporate free-standing water.  "Now if you'll excuse me, K'tal and
I have yet another meeting to attend to."
     K'tal just shook his head before nodding to the ancient denizen.  "Fair
evening, Chief."
     Mal'ek returned the gesture.  "Fair e'enin' t' th' both o' ye," he said
before turning and wandering off to strike up a conversation with Colonel
Azi'mar about training supplies.
      K'tal thought wearily along the link as he followed the
telepath out the door and down the long corridor.
      she groused back.  
     He followed her in silence until they got to the staircase that would
eventually lead to the main level of the Imperial Castle and hence to the
unshielded nodes that permitted teleportation to and from specific locations.

      Ael'ien replied.
     "Comforting," he said aloud.
     
     I'm not sure how, he thought to himself, deciding it wise not to let that
particular comment make its way across the telepathic link.  The day's events
were starting to wear heavily on him now, and he had the disturbing feeling
that the chain of events, like the evening, was still far from being over.

                *               *               *               *

     Darian glanced over as he buckled his seat belt, making sure that his
passenger did the same.  "You alright?" he asked as he slid the key in the
ignition.
     Alex wrinkled her nose.  "Bah, probably not," she said sullenly.  "I'm
not looking forward to telling that story, and seeing Ami as a vampire really
bothers the crap out of me."
     "She's harmless," Darian assured her as he started the engine, listening
to it catch on the second revolution.  "Well, not perfectly harmless, but I
can promise you that she's quite serious about her promise not to take anyone's
blood unwillingly."
     The blonde just shook her head.  "It's still a mental image that gives me
the chills, you know?  Just picturing her at someone's throat is.... is...."
     "Erotic?" he ventured as he paused with his hand on the gearshift, giving
her a measured look.
     She blinked hard and stared back at him.  "You have got to be kidding."
     He shrugged and slipped the transmission into reverse.  "I've watched her
take Serena's blood practically at point-blank range," he explained as he kept
a casual eye on his rear-view mirror while he backed the jeep up.
     "And...?" Alex prodded him.
     He shrugged again as he braked, put the transmission in first gear, and
slowly drove down the gravel path.  "And I almost ended up begging her to take
me as well," he said quietly.  "It was rather.... interesting to watch."
     "Huh," she replied quietly.  "She ever do it?"
     The bad phrasing caused his mind to jam for a brief instant.  "What, take
my blood?  Once, by accident," he admitted.  "Don't ask me to explain how, but
it was an honest accident and I didn't mind at all.  Felt quite good, really."
     "How good?" she persisted.
     Good enough to consider taking her on the spot myself, he thought.  He had
finally admitted the desire to himself after several days of agonizing thought,
but it wasn't something he would ever dare speak aloud to anyone else.  "Let's
just say I was in no rush for her to stop and Serena's presence was a good
thing at the time."
     "Huh," she repeated quietly.
     He blew his breath out quietly as he turned off the gravel strip and onto
the city streets proper, shifting gears as he accelerated.  "Ami is not evil,"
he said quietly.  "I know her vampirism is a hell of a thing to try to come to
terms with, but we all managed to do so with very few problems.  Well, most of
us at least," he added.
     "I'm listening," she said warily.
     "Well.... Rei and Mina aren't nearly as openly trusting as Leda is, but
that's just their nature," he explained.  "Rei can sense the dark change in
Ami's soul, which bothers her more than anything, and Mina has delusions of
being a vampire-hunter.  Something her grandmother has been teaching her."
     Alex shot him a confused look.  "I thought her grandmother died before she
was even born," she protested.
     "In the Moon Kingdom, maybe," he countered.
     The blonde sighed quietly.  "Oh, yeah," she murmured as she looked around
the landscape.  "Hey, why are we slowing down?"
     "Traffic light," he explained as he leaned on the brake pedal.  "See that
device on the wire?  That tells the people in the lane beneath it when they're
allowed to go through the intersection and when to stop to let traffic in the
other directions go through."
     She looked up and nodded.  "So red means stop, right?"
     "Exactly.  Green means it's okay to drive, yellow means the light is going
to turn red so you better slow down unless you're too close to the intersection
to stop safely," he explained.
     "Hey, green," she said as she pointed to the light for the left lane.
     Darian shook his head.  "Different lane.  A green arrow means you can turn
in that direction, like that truck is doing now."
     "Ahh," she said as she watched the flatbed truck make a ponderous turn.
"And these markings on the road?"
     "Lane markers.  Broken white means separate lanes that you're allowed to
change between, solid white means no lane-changing, solid double-yellow marks
the barrier between different directions and crossing that will probably get
yourself killed."
     Alex wrinkled her nose at the thought.  "That happen often?"
     "No, but accidents do happen," he said as the light turned green and he
started to accelerate.  "When they do, it's usually quite messy."
     "So I've heard," she said in a flat tone.
     Darian blinked at the sudden shift in mood and cast a quick glance over
at her.  "So what did you hear from whom?" he ventured.
     "Heard what a car accident did to Leda's girlfriend," she replied.
     "Ah, that," he said softly.
     She looked over at him.  "You know the details?"
     He sighed quietly.  "Somewhat.  Her girlfriend was walking home one cold
day when a car went through an intersection, hit a patch of ice, and ended up
on the same part of the sidewalk she was on.  They were able to...."
     "Yes?" she prodded him.
     He found himself unable to explain how they managed to pry her out of the
crater that the car made when it impacted with the side of the building.  "They
were able get her to a hospital, but.... they weren't able to save her."
     Alex winced at the mental image.  "Ow, damn."
     Darian chose his next words carefully.  "Leda is the kind of girl who has
been through quite a lot in this life.  She's tough on the outside, but we all
know she sometimes hurts like hell inside.  We try to give her the space she
wants, but we also sometimes press the issue until she breaks down and talks
to us because we know that the only way she'll heal is if she lets it out."
     She shot him a weary look.  "That was just a little transparent, your
Highness, even to someone as dense as I can be."
     He just sighed as he put on his turn signal and got into the right turn
lane.  "I'm just saying, Alex.  Like Leda said, we are all on the same team,
and so we try to look out for one another.  Even when they scare the hell out
of us or if we don't fully understand them."
     "You mean Sue, right?"
     "Among other things," he admitted as he turned down a side street.
     She laughed quietly.  "Yeah, well, when you grow up with a constant in
your life, you can't help but think of it as normal.... even when it manages
to keep spooking the hell out of you on a regular basis," she added wearily.
"And what the hell is that?"
     "Cement truck.  That rotating drum holds liquid concrete," he explained
as he changed lanes to pass the hulking vehicle.
     Alex just shook her head as she studied the truck.  "Slow bastard, isn't
it?  How much does it weigh?"
     "Probably a couple of tons when it's empty," Darian replied.  "Toss in a
few more tons of cement and a lot of water, and you're talking about one heavy
load to try to haul around."
     Alex blinked.  "Damn, that's a lot of weight."
     "Ironic how physical weight sometimes can't compare to emotional weight,"
he casually mused, ignoring the dark glance his words drew from her.
     "Fine," she growled as she crossed her arms and leaned back against the
leather seat.  "The short story?  I was raped.  HEY, WATCH IT!!" she yelped as
the jeep swerved off the road and barely missed ramming a telephone pole.
     Darian very quickly found a place to park, killing the engine as soon as
it came to a complete stop.  "Alex," he said quietly.  "Did you just say what
I think you said?"
     Alex closed her eyes and breathed hard through her nose, her arms tightly
wrapped around her chest.  "Yes, Darian, I said I was raped.  That's not the
kind of story you tell people you don't know over a glass of some alien wine,
you know?  The only reason I'm telling you this now is so you'll shut up and
leave the subject alone for awhile."
     There was a heavy silence as Darian struggled to get past the shock and
decide what to do, if anything.  Part of him wanted to reach out and hold her
hand, but he knew that he was just as liable to set her off as it would to be
of any remote comfort to her.  "Did I know about this in the Moon Kingdom?" he
asked quietly.
     A hollow laugh slipped past her lips.  "Are you kidding?  You heard that
I was in the medical ward and barged in like a goddamned thunderstorm.  Your
reaction upon hearing the story from Lady Mercury was forceful enough to make
her summon the guards in fright.  The scene you made had Queen Serenity furious
enough to threaten to have you thrown in irons and banned from the Kingdom if
you didn't put your sword away and calm down."
     Darian blinked hard.  "I didn't take it well, I presume?"
     Another hollow laugh bubbled up from her chest.  "Not really, seeing how
you had the Princess in tears and her Majesty's complexion tinted a rather
interesting shade of purple.  I remember it well, Darian.... and I guess that
because your reaction was genuine and from the heart.... well, I guess that's
why I still trusted you despite your being a guy."
     He blinked hard again and paused to study her expression.  Her mouth was
compressed in a thin line and her lower lip was quivering ever so slightly.
Her eyes were closed, and he guessed that she was probably on the verge of
tears.  Her hands were securely around her elbows, the knuckles white with
restrained tension.
     He reached over and very gently laid his hand over hers.  She opened her
eyes and cast a neutral look at him, not a hostile glance but not an overly
welcoming one either.  "I know telling you that I'm sorry probably won't mean
a thing to you, Alex, but.... if there's anything I can do for you...."
     The corners of her mouth twitched briefly.  "Let's get this one straight,
your Highness," she said quietly.  "I wasn't exactly enamored with men as a
whole before that crap happened, and I damn well didn't like them afterwards.
You are probably the single exception in my book, if only because I know you
well, because we were such good friends, and because I knew that at the time
you were quite willing to physically and literally rip out the hearts of those
punks if the Queen didn't forbid you with threats of exile.  The bottom line is
that I trust you, Darian, and even like you a lot.... but don't push it."
     Darian got the message loud and clear, giving her a nod of understanding
as he removed his hand.  "Sorry, Alex," he apologized quietly as he restarted
the jeep.  "Still...." he said slowly.
     "I don't want to talk about it anymore," she replied curtly.
     He nodded again and put the jeep into gear, smoothly merging back into
the flow of traffic.  "Hey, I understand.  At least, I think I do.  I take it
you've never had pizza before?"
     She snorted at the obvious attempt to change the conversation.  "Nope."
     "Well, I think you'll like it," he said.  "I don't know about your tastes
in toppings, so the maximum-supreme might not appeal to you, but pretty much
everyone likes pepperoni pizza."
     "We'll see," she said neutrally.
     "Trust me," he replied.  "A good friend of mine not only works at the
pizza place but also runs the video arcade right next to it, he'll be able to
get us a good bulk-deal on the pizzas."
     "Sounds like a busy man," she said emotionlessly.
     Darian shrugged as he changed lanes.  "He said he started working at the
pizza parlor for some extra cash, as running the arcade just wasn't cutting
it well enough for his liking.  Yeah, he works long hours, but he's still a
good friend.  His name is Andrew, and he's good friends with Serena as well."
     The short bark of laughter from the blonde surprised him.  "Oh, man, this
is what Sue would call deliciously ironic," she chuckled.  "Wait, wait, let me
guess.... Andrew Card, right?  Blond, about your height, a few freckles?"
     Darian blinked and came dangerously close to losing control of the jeep
again.  "Yeah, sounds like him.  Should I ask how you know him?"
     Alex smirked and finally let her arms fall to her sides.  "He was your
squire from Earth," she said.  "He wasn't a talkative one, but you two seemed
to get along considering...."
     "Considering what?" he ventured.
     She shrugged.  "Considering you were a prince and he was basically a
peasant who did what you told him to do, which in retrospect wasn't much.  He
was always respectful and polite to everyone, and you never treated him badly
or anything, which is probably why you had a good relationship."
     "Odd," Darian said with a shrug.  "We were good friends in college, which
is how we know each other in this day and era."
     "Like I said, the irony is amazing," she said with a faint chuckle.  "I'm
almost tempted to wonder who else around here is really from the Moon Kingdom,
but I'm afraid I just might find out."
     Darian didn't quite know how to respond to that one, and instead choose
to focus on driving the last few blocks to the pizza parlor.  Lady Luck was
apparently in a kind mood, as he managed to find an open parking spot almost
directly in front of the corner restaurant.
     "Interesting place," Alex commented as she looked around briefly before
unbuckling her belt.  "Noisy, though."
     "That's just the video arcade," he explained as he put the transmission
in park and set the brake before shutting off the engine.  "Serena and Mina
come here quite a lot to play the games, and everyone likes the food in the
restaurant next door."
     Alex blinked as she climbed out of the jeep, not bothering with the door.
"What's all that flashy crap?" she asked as she walked up to the massive pane
of glass and peered inside.
     He sighed quietly, realizing that trying to explain some venues of modern
entertainment could end up taking quite some time.  "I'm sure Susan can explain
better than I can," he hedged in a neutral tone.  "Come on, let's go get the
pizza."
     She shot him a dark look but followed him into the pizza parlor.  It was
surprisingly empty for the time of day, with only a scattering of customers in
various booths and tables throughout the large room.  Quick glimpses of motion
could be seen through the chef's window in the kitchen, although they didn't
look to be overly rushed movements.
     "Huh," Alex commented as she looked around the room.  "Light's a little
dim, but it looks kinda cozy."
     "You get used to it," Darian said absently before he waved to the quite
familiar blond figure of his best friend from college.  "Hey, Andrew, working
hard?"
     Andrew just shook his head as he stepped out from the kitchen and moved
behind the counter, casually wiping his hands on a towel.  "Not today," he said
with a good-natured chuckle.  "Business is quite slow at the moment.  Must be
one of those days.  So you going to introduce me to your friend here or what?"
     Alex snorted dryly.  "That's not really necessary, as I've already heard
all about you," she said in a slightly flat tone.
     "You have, huh?" Andrew replied casually, giving Darian a side-long look.
     Darian groaned inwardly.  "Alex is one of Serena's friends and just made
it into town the other day," he tried to explain.
     "Ahh, okay," Andrew said, arching his eyebrows slightly.  "Going to be
staying for awhile, or just passing through, or what?"
     Alex gave him a decidedly unhealthy look.  "What's it to you, hmm?"
     "Easy, Alex," Darian said with a quiet sigh.  "Jet lag," he said quietly
to Andrew.  "Flew in from Iceland, I think.  A real Viking, and it shows."
     "And damn proud of it," Alex said tartly.
     "That must've been a long flight," Andrew said cautiously.
     Alex shot Darian a slightly nonplussed look.  "Darian, what in the hell
is he talking about?  And what is jet lag, anyway?"
     "I rest my case," Darian said, sotto voce.
     "So I see," Andrew replied just as quietly.  "Anyway, so what can I get
the two of you?" he inquired, giving Alex a studied look and getting a very
cool stare back in response.
     "Five larges," Darian replied, drawing a hard blink from his friend.
     "Five?" he repeated.  "What are you trying to do, feed an army?"
     Alex smirked.  "You could put it like that, yes."
     "Feeding Serena and her friends," Darian explained dryly.  "An empty
stomach only makes a weary traveler all the more irritable."
     Andrew chuckled.  "Ahh, now I see.  Give me a moment to see if I've got
enough dough mixed up first.  Back in a second," he promised before turning
around and disappearing into the kitchen.
     Alex scowled and turned to face Darian.  "Alright, your Highness, what the
hell were you talking about?" she demanded flatly.
     Darian just sighed and rubbed his face with his hands.  "You really need
to learn to calm down and quit greeting people with hostility," he said with a
weary sigh.
     The blonde grumbled quietly to herself and cast a dark glance over her
shoulder.  "I liked you, but I never cared for him," she muttered.  "Reminded
me of some puppy fawning over you, so eager to please.  Made me sick to watch."
     "Just be civil, okay?" Darian replied.  "Don't have to be friends, don't
even have to say much, just be polite.  It's the decent thing to do."
     Alex sighed and waved her hand through the air.  "Yeah, yeah, whatever."
     The door opened up again and Andrew strode back out with a small grin on
his face.  "You're in luck, D, got six crusts readily available so we can get
this fixed up in one batch.  What kind of toppings on each?"
     Darian thought quickly.  "One Zen, three pepperoni, one cheese."
     "Not a problem," Andrew said with a quick nod of his head and ducked back
into the kitchen to start preparing the pizza crusts.
     Alex blinked and gave Darian a confused look.  "Zen?"
     Darian shrugged.  "One with everything," he dead-panned.
     Alex chuckled quietly and just shook her head.  "Okay, but I thought Mina
wanted two of those and two with pepperoni...."
     "Call it a gut feeling, but I think one loaded pizza will be enough for
everyone's tastes," he replied.  "And like I said earlier, pretty much everyone
loves pepperoni.  Except Tolaris, because the spice gives him gas, but that's
what the cheese-only pizza is for."
     Alex wrinkled her nose.  "Cheerful thought," she grumbled.  "You'd think
that spices like that would be a problem for everyone from the MMMMPH??" she
said before Darian quickly pressed a pair of fingers to her lips.
     "We don't mention such things in public," he said in a very low voice.
     She pried his hand away and sighed quietly.  "Yeah, yeah, I know."
     He shrugged and sat down on one of the stools in front of the counter.
"Just saying, have to be careful.  Might as well grab a seat, these things
usually take a bit to bake," he suggested.  "Want a soda or something?"
     "If you mean that fizzy crap that Mina splashed around the kitchen, I'll
pass," she replied with a sour look as she plopped down onto the stool next to
him.  "I about pissed when it started fizzing like it was acid or something."
     Darian chuckled quietly.  "Well, it does contain phosphoric acid...."
     "WHAT?"
     He winced at the volume.  "Not so loud, please," he said in a quiet voice
as he cast a quick glance around.  Fortunately her outburst didn't seem to have
disturbed any of the other patrons, but he still would have preferred for her
behavior to be somewhat more restrained in public.  Viking indeed, he mused.
     "This is a crazy world I'm in," she muttered to herself.  "There's stuff
on the walls that don't look like paintings, there's stuff hanging from the
ceiling that looks heavy as hell but is hanging by what appears to be a mere
thread, there's something glowing in that tube running along the ceiling, I can
still hear some really funny noises from next door, and worst of all, what in
the name of all that is holy is that stomach-churning smell?"
     Darian sniffed the air cautiously before inhaling slowly.  "Ahh, now that
is the smell of oregano and parmesan cheese.  Here," he said as he picked up a
bulbous shaker filled with the spices and held it out to her.
     She sniffed at the lid before making a gagging noise.  "Goddamn, Darian,
that smells like dried barf," she coughed.
     He blinked hard before setting the shaker back on the counter.  "You're
not a fan of Italian cooking, are you?" he said slowly.
     She waved her hand in front of her nose for a few moments before replying.
"It's a bit oily for my taste, but they make some pretty wicked pasta.  They
never made it smell like that, however, at least not any of the stuff I've had
a chance to sample.  Phew, people actually put that crap on their food?"
     "Now I know what Susan must go through on a daily basis," he muttered.
     "Put a cork in it, D," she groused.  "That stuff reeks."
     "If you say so," he countered casually.
     "So back to this jet lag thing you were talking about...."
     He groaned inaudibly.  "I had to make something up, so I told him that
you were from Iceland and that you flew halfway across the planet in a plane
to get here, and that because of the long trip you were hungry, tired, and very
irritable.  Makes you look like you had a good excuse to be bitchy," he added
with a small smirk.
     "Gee, thanks," she replied flatly.  "What's a plane?  Hey, you okay?" she
added as Darian slumped forward and let his head bump the counter surface.
     "When we get back," he said slowly, "I'm going to have to sit down with
Susan and figure out just what precisely you don't know about this era, so we
can explain it to you and Michelle in one sitting and get this over with.  Or
at least try to explain it to you...."
     "So sorry," she replied acidly.
     Darian blinked and sat back up.  "Hey, I'm not blaming you for anything,
I'm just.... trying to adjust to seeing things from your point of view, that's
all.  You'd be surprised what modern technology gets taken for granted that
would have seemed to be essentially magical a thousand years ago."
     She raked her fingers through her blonde hair and shrugged.  "Maybe," she
countered.  "We had plenty of magic back in the Kingdom that couldn't or didn't
function here on Earth, so who knows.  I know the sewer system was a blessing,
as we all hated having to use chamberpots when outside the Kingdom.... oh,
now what?" she grumbled.
     "Be nice," he muttered to her as Andrew came back out from the kitchen.
     "It'll be about ten minutes," he told them as he wiped his hands on the
towel behind the counter.  "To-go, right?"
     Darian chuckled.  "Of course."
     "Just checking," Andrew said as he rang up the bill on the register.  The
electronic beeping caught Alex's attention and she craned her neck over to
watch him punch the buttons at a rapid rate.  "One large cheese, three large
one-toppings, and one large everything.... discount for volume.... add tax....
and here's the damage report," he said as he hit the 'total' button with a
flourish.
     Alex blinked at the display.  "Is that a lot?" she asked Darian.
     Darian chuckled quietly again and dug around in the pocket that held the
money collected by Mina.  "Yeah, but it could have been a lot worse," he said
as he withdrew the small wad of bills and handed them to Andrew.  "I think this
should more than cover things."
     Andrew quickly sorted through the bills and nodded.  "Definitely," he said
in agreement as he typed in a sum and hit the cash-out button.  The cash-drawer
popped out with a loud ring, startling Alex and causing her to jump back.
     "Hey, easy," he said as he made the proper change and handed it back to
Darian along with a printed receipt.  "Cash-registers sound different up in
Iceland or something?"
     She blinked before giving him a slightly dark look.  "Yeah, something like
that," she said in a neutral tone.
     "You'll like it here in Japan," Andrew assured her with a gentle smile.
     "I'll stick with home, thanks," Alex replied flatly.
     Darian just shook his head.  "Be nice, Alex."
     "You know, I swear I'm gonna whip out my saber on the next person who
tells me that," she growled.
     "So how's the arcade holding up?" Darian asked quickly in an attempt to
change the topic to something hopefully more manageable.
     "Pretty good, actually," Andrew replied with a nod of his head.  "They're
supposed to deliver the newest Sailor V game next week, and I heard rumors of
one of the companies trying to put together a design team to make an action
game based on Sailor Moon."
     Uh-oh, Darian thought as Alex's eyes widened at the mention of both Sailor
V and Sailor Moon.  Think fast, Darian, think fast....
     "So tell us about it," he said calmly as he reached out and casually took
hold of Alex's hand as if it was something he naturally did.  He discreetly
applied a bit of pressure to her wrist, drawing a surprised look that quickly
became tainted with suspicion.  Much to Darian's relief, however, she remained
silent and showed no outward reaction to his touch.
     "Which one?"
     "Sailor V," Alex answered quite calmly before Darian could open his mouth.
     Andrew smiled knowingly to himself at the sight of Darian holding Alex's
hand.  "Well, this is the fourth adventure, and it's been titled 'Sailor V:
Dark Legacy'.  It's still a single-player game, but the graphics and animations
are so realistic you'd think that they got her into a studio for some modeling
or something."
     Darian feigned a casual shrug.  "You never know," he said as he briefly
squeezed Alex's wrist one final time before letting go, hoping like mad that
she got the message and would keep relatively quiet.
     "Hey, do they import Sailor V merchandise up where you live?" Andrew asked
as he started to clean something behind the counter.
     Alex shook her head.  "No, this is the first I've heard of her.  So what
were you saying about Sailor Moon?"
     "There's not a lot to tell," Andrew admitted with a look of disappointment
on his freckled face.  "I attended a convention last month, and they said they
were just still in the early concept phase.  Supposedly it's going to be a
really large team-player console where you can have up to five people playing.
I think they're trying to see if they can get in contact with Sailor Moon to
talk about it, but you know how it goes."
     "No one knows who they are," Darian explained quickly before Alex could
ask any questions.  "They don't appear in public very often, either, unlike
Sailor V, so it's really hard to find anything out about them."
     "I see," Alex said neutrally.
     "Anyway, seeing how much money the Sailor V line is making, I'd imagine
that sales of Sailor Moon stuff will be quite impressive," Andrew rattled on,
not fully paying attention to Alex's mood or words.  "It'd be cool as heck if
someone could get an interview or something, that way we'd really get an idea
of who they are and what they do."
     "Is that important?" Alex wondered.
     Andrew paused and shrugged.  "Not really.  I mean, it'd be nice to know
what exactly has been going on lately, as I've seen a few things that I really
can't explain...."
     "I think we all have, Andy," Darian said carefully, watching Alex out of
the corner of his eye for any sudden reactions or mood-swings.
     Alex glanced at Darian before frowning lightly.  "How much longer before
the pizzas are ready?" she asked.
     Andrew glanced down at his watch.  "Another five minutes or so."
     "Good, where's your bathroom?" she asked as she stood up.
     Both Darian and Andrew pointed at the same time.  "Back wall, down the
corridor, right-hand side," Andrew replied smoothly.
     "Thank you," Alex replied as she walked off in the indicated direction.
     Andrew just shook his head.  "I know you have a thing for blondes, D, but
dang...." he said quietly, eyeing Alex's slender figure as she vanished around
the corner.  "You dumped Serena for her?"
     Darian just shook his head.  "It's not what you think," he protested.
     Andrew smirked.  "Sure, pal, whatever you say."
     "I'm serious," Darian said as he gave his friend an irritated look.  "She
really is one of Serena's friends, she just got into town the other day, and I
thought it was a good idea to show her around while I picked up dinner."
     "Hmm," the arcade-manager said to himself.  "Think she has a boyfriend?"
     Darian laughed quietly.  "You have got to be kidding me."
     Andrew shrugged.  "Hey, she seems feisty enough, if a touch cold.  Make
somebody's day interesting, you know?"
     "Does the term 'butch' mean anything to you?" Darian suggested lightly.
     "Man, you are so wrong," Andrew chuckled as he shook his head.
     Darian shrugged and leaned back on the stool.  "Boyfriend?  No, she's not
the type who likes guys.  She's got a girlfriend, however, so I guess you can
draw your own conclusions from that."
     "Ouch," Andrew winced with a quick glance towards the hallway.  "A pity."
     "You really need to find someone soon," Darian said with a snicker.
     Andrew smirked.  "Someone who isn't jailbait, you mean?" he teased.
     Darian blinked hard.  "Hey, now...." he protested.
     Andrew laughed and patted his friend on the shoulder.  "Cheer up, D, I'm
just giving you a hard time.  I know you and Serena aren't like that."
     Darian thought it best not to reply to that one and instead tried to alter
the course of the conversation.  "Anyway, I thought you were seeing Rita?"
     The blond wrinkled his nose in disgust.  "It's one of those on-again,
off-again deals that appears to be off at the moment.  I don't know, D, maybe
we're just not right for one another with all this fighting and the like."
     Darian raised an eyebrow at the news.  "That's not good," he observed.
     "Yeah, tell me about it," Andrew replied with a sigh.
     "Maybe if you started hanging around bars like the rest of us?" Darian
teased with a faint grin, knowing that his friend didn't drink.  "You know,
toss back a brew or two, talk to the pretty girl next to you, find yourself
with someone to talk to for the rest of the evening?"
     Andrew smirked back.  "So that's how you met Serena?  And she seemed like
such a nice girl...."
     Darian had to laugh.  "I'll tell her you said that," he promised, knowing
that Serena would probably get a giggle out of it if nothing else.  He had
first met Serena in a hospital when they were both very young, he recovering
from some illness gotten at the orphanage and she a precocious four-year-old
handing out roses after the birth of her baby brother.  It had taken them a
dozen years to become friends before falling in love, but that first meeting
had always been remembered by both as being oddly special for some reason.
     Andrew looked up and smirked.  "Time to check the pizzas," he muttered as
he wandered back into the kitchen.
     Darian blinked before he glanced over his shoulder to see Alex walking
back over to him.  "Please tell me you didn't have problems with the soap
dispenser or something," he said when he noticed the look on her face.
     "Bah," she grunted as she sat down.  "Liquid soap isn't new, but I about
had a heart-attack when I hit the start button on that air machine."
     He chuckled quietly.  "Yeah, a heated-air hand-dryer can take some getting
used to if you don't expect it to crank up like that."
     "Tell me about it," she grumbled.  "And should I ask what was in that
white box on the far wall?  Something about padded tubes and thin wafers?"
     Darian thought about it for a moment before a light went off and a faint
blush came to his cheeks.  "Ahh, that's probably a vending machine that sells
feminine products," he said neutrally.  "You know, for that monthly issue."
     She blinked.  "They sell that in the open?"
     "Society is a bit more open-minded these days," he replied with a shrug.
"It's not like it's a hidden secret about women's biology or anything, so why
not make it discreetly accessible when needed?"
     "Huh," she said quietly as she thought about it.  "So.... they sell it
in public kiosks, right?"
     "They're sold in stores, yes," he said slowly.  "We don't have kiosks or
bazaars anymore, but commercial buildings dedicated to selling certain types
of stuff."
     She nodded.  "So I heard.  Umm," she said hesitantly as she glanced around
to make sure no one was trying to eavesdrop.  "You know how much they cost?"
     "Not personally, but we can make a quick trip to a drug store if you want
to pick up a box or two," he offered.
     "They sell drugs in the open as well?" she inquired, blinking hard.
     "No, no, no, not like that," he said hastily.  "Pharmaceuticals.  Umm....
think of it as a modern-day apothecary."
     "Ahh, okay," she said, breathing a small sigh of relief.  "For a moment
you had me wondering just how open Earth had gotten to be."
     He chuckled quietly and tried to relax.  "Not that open, I assure you."
     "Yeah," she said, then glanced around again.  "Hey, listen, thanks for
not.... you know, making a big deal out of having to ask about that...."
     "We're both adults," he said with a shrug.  "And it's a fact of life."
     "Still," she said with a faint blush.
     They both looked up as the door banged open and Andrew walked out with a
stack of white cardboard boxes.  "Here you go, fresh out of oven.  Careful,
they're hot," he warned as he passed the pizzas over to Darian.
     "Hey, thanks, Andy," Darian replied.  "Whoa, you're not kidding."
     Andrew chuckled dryly.  "How often do I make jokes like that?"
     "Every five minutes?" Darian countered with a grin.
     "Well.... okay, but I don't mislead paying customers," Andrew replied with
a lopsided grin of his own.  "Zen's on the bottom, cheese is on the top, and
make sure to tell Serena I said hi."
     Alex snorted as she stood up.  "I'll think about it."
     Darian just discreetly rolled his eyes as he stood up as well.  "Thanks
again, Andrew.  Good luck with the arcade and all that."
     "Sure thing," Andrew said.  "And nice meeting you, Alex."
     It took Alex almost a full second to decide on a suitable reply.  "Thanks,
I think," she said neutrally as she turned around and headed for the door.
     "She just takes some getting used to," Darian muttered quietly.
     Andrew just shook his head.  "Serena's got odd tastes in friends, but as
long as she's happy."
     "She is," Darian assured his friend as he headed towards the door.  "Take
care, man."
     "You too, D, drive carefully," Andrew replied with a wave before heading
back into the kitchen.
     Alex just shook her head to herself as she held the door open for Darian.
"It's been a thousand years, and I still don't like him," she grumbled.
     He just gave her a mildly irritated look as he walked out the door.  "Did
he ever do anything in the past to piss you off or something?" he wondered as
he carried the pizza boxes over to his jeep.  He carefully stacked them in one
of the back seats and locked the seat belt over them to keep them in place.
     Alex snorted as she climbed into the front seat, again not bothering with
the door.  "You could say that," she said.
     "I'm listening," he said cautiously as he opened the door and sat in the
driver's seat.
     She sighed quietly and buckled her belt as Darian got situated.  "Well, to
make a long story short, I lost my top at the beach one day and got leered at
by your squire, which didn't exactly land him on my good side," she said with
a quiet grunt and a faint blush.
     Darian paused with his hand on the ignition, then glanced over at her as
he suddenly felt the weight of her stare.  "What?"
     "You looked like you were about to say something," she said with a slight
edge to her tone.
     "Well...." he hedged before deciding what-the-hell and took a deep breath.
"Was I there at the time?" he ventured.
     She snorted dryly.  "Yeah, and you both got a nice view of my tits.  Not
that there's a lot to see or anything," she groused.  She unexpectedly blinked
a moment later and glanced over at him with a slightly darker blush.
     "What?" Darian asked guardedly, wary of the sudden shift in her mood.
     "Nothing," she replied hastily.
     Darian went to start the engine and paused again, giving her another wary
look after a few seconds.  "Tell me what's on your mind, Alex."
     The blush on her cheeks darkened by another shade.  "Well, it's just that
it wasn't the only time you saw me in a state of undress," she said quietly.
     That prompted a blink from Darian.  "Umm, seeing how I don't remember any
of this, would you mind telling me about the other time?  It doesn't matter if
you don't want to," he added.
     "Well...." she said after a long pause.  "There was a time in which you
sort of weaseled your way into the bathhouse with the intention of tending to
Serena in her bath, but the attendant who let you in somehow forgot that the
Princess is rarely alone when in such a setting, and so.... well...."
     Darian blinked.  "So I basically walked in on you and Serena in the bath?"
     "Her, me, and Mina," Alex admitted as her blush deepened yet again.  "Mina
was lucky, however, as she had her back to the door and her hair was able to
effectively hide everything."
     "Mmm," he said quietly as he started the engine.  "Just out of curiosity,
just how much trouble did I get into?"
     "I'm not sure," she replied.  "I know word never got back to the Queen,
but Chancellor Meiou was.... less than pleased," she said with a wry grin.  "I
think she later took you aside and let you try to explain yourself, but I never
heard of any fallout from the incident.  Of course, you never tried that one
again, at least not that I know of, but it was still.... memorable," she added
as her blush continued to taint her face a vivid shade of crimson.
     Darian was about to shift the engine into reverse when he caught her last
statement and heard the change of tone in her voice.  He glanced at her for a
moment before leaving the transmission in park and shutting off the engine.
     "Hey, what'd you do that for?" she asked with a puzzled look.
     "It's so I don't get us killed with surprise," he said warily.  "Alex,
what exactly happened and why are you blushing as bright as a tomato?"
     She sighed softly and glanced away.  "You have to promise not to tell
anyone else, okay?  I don't think Susan heard the full story...."
     He blinked hard as an icy drop of sweat started to crawl down his spine.
"Oh, lord, what did I do?"
     Alex giggled quietly.  "No, no, nothing like that, Darian.  The Princess
wouldn't have permitted it.  What happened was that the Princess asked if you
would step outside for a moment, which you did, and she then asked us point-
blank if we had any objections to him lending a hand in the bath.  Mina didn't
care for the idea but wasn't about to make a scene, so she got dressed and
slipped out the door.  I.... decided to stay, just to make sure that nothing
happened that would get anyone executed, so.... I ended up scrubbing the both
of you."
     Darian's eyebrows arched up to his hairline at the image being painted in
his mind.  "And what was I wearing at the time?" he said with a slight note of
trepidation in his voice, reasonably sure he already knew the answer.
     Alex glanced away.  "A towel, and that got tossed in the corner in due
course," she murmured.  "This was all before.... well, before I took an active
disliking of men, which is probably why I didn't have a panic-attack, and since
I had never really seen a guy naked before and we all trusted you.... well....
I figured what the hell...."
     "I get the idea," Darian said flatly as he restarted the engine.
     She blinked and cast him a slightly hurt look.  "You didn't seem to mind
at the time," she said.
     He shook his head.  "Of course not, what kind of man wouldn't like the
thought of being naked in a pool with two other naked women, even if it's only
for the express and singular purpose of enjoying a bath?"
     She paused to think as he put the jeep in reverse and backed out of the
parking lot.  "So.... why do you sound like you just ate a sour grape?" she
finally asked.
     He shrugged as he dropped the transmission in first gear and drove out
onto the street.  "I'm just a bit peeved that I don't remember any of this,
that's all.  Days like that is what makes the rest of your week, after all....
especially when it involves beautiful women like you and Serena.  Umm, I'm not
trying to hit on you or anything, Alex," he added hastily as he caught the way
her expression changed out of the corner of his eye.  "I'm just saying you're
all beautiful young ladies that I'm glad to know."
     She smirked.  "Flat tits and all, huh?"
     "Not everyone drools over a D-cup," he said without thinking.
     That drew a blink from her.  "And what's that supposed to mean?"
     Great going, he thought to himself.  "It means that, all things being
equal in life, I'd rather not be trying to bite off more than I can chew, as
you can only fit so much in your mouth at a given moment...."
     "Huh," Alex commented with a thoughtful look.  "Never heard it put like
that before.  Makes a bit of sense too, you know?"
     "Something like that, yes," he replied.  "You still interested in making
a pit-stop at the drug store?"
     "What?  Oh, umm...." she said.  "Not today, I was just wondering about it
for the future, that's all."
     He nodded absently and changed lanes.  Past, present, future.... where do
the lines get drawn, and how often are they blurred? he mused.  One of these
days I'm going to have to break down and have Susan tell me about my past life.
Thing is, am I going to like what she has to say?  And what else have I done
that I wish I could remember?
     Careful what you wish for, he thought to himself with a sigh as the jeep
drove back in the general direction of the denizen cathedral.  You just might
get your wish granted....

                *               *               *               *

     Leda didn't bother glancing over her shoulder as she heard the sliding
glass door quietly open and close.  She had a fair idea of who wouldn't bother
trying to come out and calm her down, which meant she had a fair guess of who
it could be, but she was still presently beyond giving a damn.
     She sighed quietly and continued staring off into the distance, the true
horizon obscured by the thick band of trees surrounding the denizen cathedral.
Even in winter when all the leaves had fallen off, there were enough trees in
the way to prevent any casual observation past a certain distance.
     "Is the weather usually this fair around here?" said the soft voice from
behind her.
     Leda just closed her eyes, recognizing Susan's voice and feeling her
temper suddenly rekindle itself.  She had come out here to get away from Alex's
maddeningly closed mind, but she was far from in a mood to put up with the
strange mystique that surrounded Susan's personality.
     "Sometimes," she replied, not bothering to conceal her irritation at the
disturbance.
     Susan quietly walked over and leaned on the railing a few feet away from
the brunette, close enough for casual conversation but not close enough to
trigger any feelings of intrusion.  "I have traveled many places in my life
and seen many things.  It is not often I find a place as veiled in seclusion as
this cathedral.... so close to the city and yet so well protected," she said
quietly as she gazed out at the landscape.
     Leda glanced over at her, blinking when as she noticed the demonic wings
exposed and neatly folded against her back.  She turned her attention back out
to the treeline, privately wondering if she should be worried now.
     "Have you ever wondered what this would have looked like in the past?"
Susan asked idly.  "A land bereft of the influence of mankind, where only the
majesty of Nature reigned supreme, where rain and wind and the elements were
of only minor concern to the seeds of life that roamed the land?"
     Leda blinked and shot her an odd look.  "Not really.  Why would I?"
     "Is that because it never occurred to you to wonder, or is it because it
was so long ago in the past that it doesn't matter?" Susan inquired, still
studying the terrain.
     Leda was about to reply when the meaning of the words registered on her
mind.  "Cute," she snorted.
     "Does it really matter?" Susan said quietly.
     "It matters enough to make me wonder what the hell was going on," Leda
shot back in an edged tone.
     Susan sighed softly.  "I am trying to spare you unnecessary pain, that's
all.  If you are unable to remember pain, is that not a blessing?"
     "Look, I don't give a good goddamn what you think," Leda snapped.  "It's
not up to you to decide for me what I should remember or what I should try to
forget.  These are supposedly my memories, not yours, and I want to know!"
     The succubus sighed again, unconsciously flexing her wings.  "If I tell
you now, Leda, you must promise me not to talk about it with anyone else, not
a single word, until Alex tells her own story," she offered.
     "Deal," Leda replied instantly.
     "Very well," Susan replied and turned to face Leda.  "You became pregnant
before you were ready.  At your request, Lady Mercury extracted the embryo and
encased it in a stasis field with the intention of reimplanting it once you
decided to have your child.  That pendant was what housed the stasis field and
thus held your unborn daughter in suspended animation."
     Leda staggered back as if she had been hit with a sledgehammer, her green
eyes wide with shock.  "W-W-What?" she stammered, feeling her blood chill and
her muscles turning to jelly.
     Susan turned away and looked back out at the landscape.  "There is more
to the story than that, but it would only cause even more pain.  Suffice it to
say that what happened is only a memory now, as the pendant was only meant to
hold the stasis field for a decade, two at the absolute most."
     The brunette was unable to speak as she clutched the railing for support,
her knuckles turning white with the force of her grip.  A wave of nausea swept
over her, and it was all she could do to refrain from leaning over the railing
and disgorging the remains of her lunch.
     "Mortally wounded, you entrusted the spark of life that was your daughter,
barely more than a fertilized seed, to the hands of an alien man you didn't
know," Susan continued quietly in a flat, emotionless tone.  "Your intention
was to preserve that life, and thus your bloodline, but the fact that Ami was
unable to find the stasis field means that it failed long ago and the embryo
it held in suspended animation was allowed to...."
     "STOP!" Leda rasped as her senses started to swim.  She felt her balance
waver for a moment before steadying once again, sagging leg muscles threatening
to quit of their own accord.  Her stomach continued to roil violently, and it
was only through sheer willpower that she was able to keep the urge to heave
under control.
     Susan's voice was not overly forgiving.  "You asked, Leda, even after I
cautioned you repeatedly.  That was but one of the countless dark secrets that
I am sworn to protect, both for myself and to protect others.  Do you have any
idea how I feel inside, knowing them all and not being able to discuss my own
pain with anyone else?"
     Leda finally summoned the strength to stand up straight.  "What are you?"
she whispered, fighting back the sudden slew of tears welling up in her eyes.
     "Eternal," Susan replied quietly.  "An ageless guardian of many things,
condemned since birth and later damned for eternity for a selfish and foolish
choice made hundreds of years ago.  I have seen things in my lifetime that you
cannot possibly imagine, done things of my own free will that would have you
screaming in nightmares for years.  I know what pain is, Lady Jupiter, and so
I thought it an act of mercy to spare others as much of it as possible."
     Leda said nothing as she leaned forward over the railing.  The wave of
nausea faded as quickly as it had come, leaving her grasping the railing with
trembling hands while sparing her an upheaval of stomach acid.  Even so, she
could still feel her throat being seared from tension and raw emotion.
     She felt a light touch on her shoulder, a gentle and comforting gesture,
and without warning she felt her tear-ducts open up of their own accord.  The
tears fell in silence, gliding down her cheeks to form glistening paths that
ended at her chin, dropping down to stain the surface of the wooden railing.
     "It is in the past," Susan said very quietly, gently rubbing her back in
a gesture of comfort.  "Not in the sense of a year ago, or ten years, but over
a thousand years ago.  You remember nothing, of course, because it simply was
not you, Leda.  Yes, you are the reincarnation of Sailor Jupiter, but despite
being identical in name and genetic composition, as well as having very similar
mannerisms, you are two separate beings.  You are unique, not a copy of what
once was.  You must understand that."
     "I know," Leda replied quietly, her voice rasping in her throat.  "But for
some reason, I can't help it, can't help thinking that I.... I had a daughter
once, a living p-part of me.... a-a-and now I've lost her...."
     Susan enveloped her in a hug as the sobbing started, gently wrapping her
wings around the brunette in an almost protective cocoon.  Words were no longer
needed or necessary at this point, as she understood that sorrow is often best
left alone to be released in its own fashion.
     She didn't bother to keep track of how long it took before the sobbing
and the tears finally abated, gently holding and rocking her until she was able
to recover on her own.  She gently withdrew and took a step back as she felt
Leda move away from her, leaning back against the railing for support.
     "Thank you," she said quietly, her voice barely audible.
     Susan just shook her head.  "Thank me when you've heard the full story
from Alex, as I am quite sure you will find no comfort in what other details
there are to convey about the incident."
     A hollow, dry laugh emerged from Leda's lips as she brushed the remains
of her tears away.  "Are you kidding?  I'm not sure it could hurt any worse."
     "It can," Susan warned her quietly.  "And it will."
     Leda blinked and gave her an unhappy look.  "Don't say that."
     Susan merely shrugged, her wings flexing impressively with the gesture.
"As I said, it is a dark secret that happened in the past that I can see no
positive value in having it spoken of," she replied.  "However, as you will
most likely push the issue regardless...."
     Leda sighed and rested her head on her forearms.  "Yeah, yeah," she said
quietly, her voice muffled by the railing.  "Do you have any good stories to
tell me about the past, or are they all equally as depressing?"
     A smile touched the corner of Susan's lips.  "I assure you, Leda, that in
due time I will regale everyone with suitably entertaining stories, anecdotes,
events, and the occasional diplomatic embarrassment that happened in the Moon
Kingdom during my tenure as Chancellor," she said lightly.  "As I said earlier,
I will tell the story behind Serena's genesis after dinner."
     Leda groaned and leaned further over the railing.  "Don't talk about food
right now," she said with a sour look.  "I'm still ready to throw up, and the
thought of eating is not an option at the moment."
     "Perhaps you should go inside and rest then," Susan suggested.  "You do
have several friends who are more than willing to provide comfort if you need
it.  As with most things, you have but to ask them."
     Leda shivered lightly.  "No, that's okay," she said quietly.  "I'm fine,
really, I just.... needed to get that out of my system, I think."
     Susan paused and tilted her head slightly.  "Are you sure about that?"
     "Yeah," the brunette replied after taking a deep breath and letting it
back out in an almost explosive sigh.  "I probably wouldn't find much comfort
in them at the moment, though.  There's just been too much happening at once
and I think everyone's nerves are a little fried.  Especially Rei's."
     Susan paused to consider that, studying Leda's expression carefully.  She
suspected that it would be quite some time before Leda truly got over the idea
of what had happened in the past, but that her outward composure would quickly
recover soon enough.  Much like my own composure at times, she admitted.
     "Time will allow many things to heal," she said quietly, drawing a look
from Leda.  "Perhaps once enough of it has passed, you will no longer feel the
need to hide your pain from your friends and open back up to them.... and they,
in turn, open back up to you."
     Leda just sighed again, her body slumping slightly with draining tension.
"Yeah, well, we all have bad days.  Or weeks, at it seems.  Rei is just Rei,
just like Mina is occasionally one bean short of a three-bean salad.  You get
used to it."
     "I think getting used to something is part of the issue," Susan ventured.
     "Tell me about it," Leda replied with a sigh as she looked up at the sky,
making idle note of the density of the clouds.  "You know, things used to be
just fine.  It took me awhile to get used to being a Sailor Scout, then we had
to adapt to Ami's vampirism, then we had to get used to a few denizens living
in our part of town.  But maybe it's just me, but things seem to be suddenly
snowballing at a rather rapid pace.  I don't know," she added with another
heavy sigh.  "Too much to absorb too quickly?  Don't know, and if things keep
going downhill they way they are, I'm not going to be able to give a wet rat
screw about anything."
     "You'll still care about Ami and Serena," Susan observed neutrally.
     Leda snorted.  "That's true."
     Susan blinked.  "You say that as if it was a distasteful thought."
     "Nah, everyone adores Serena regardless.  Even Rei, despite the fact that
she and Serena fight about piddly stuff at the drop of a hat," she added with
a roll of her eyes.
     "And what of your love for Ami?" Susan prodded quietly, drawing a sharp
look from the brunette.
     "She's my best friend," Leda replied in a slightly edged tone.
     "Is that all she is?" Susan asked mildly.
     Leda's green eyes narrowed dangerously.  "If you have something to say, I
suggest you say it and be ready to back it up.  Otherwise, you can flush those
accusations down the nearest toilet."
     Susan shook her head.  "I am merely curious about the nature and depth of
your friendship with Ami, that's all," she assured her.  "And even if it is a
deep bond you two share, it is of no true concern to me as sometimes being more
than just friends can be a good thing.  Look at Alex and Michelle."
     Leda just grunted softly.  "I can see what Alex sees in Michelle, but I'm
having a hard time seeing what Michelle sees in that blonde brickhead.  She's
blunt, crude, denser than I am, which is saying something, and more than a
little stubborn, which isn't always a bad thing but she carries it to the
extreme.  Hell, Serena can pick up on things faster than Alex can, and Serena
is just one step below a full-blown ditz.  Well, she used to be," she admitted
after a slight pause.  "She's gotten a lot better as of late, but we think that
Ami is having an influence on her.  But still...."
     "So I've heard," Susan muttered dryly, drawing an odd look from Leda.  "I
have done a little remote observation of her in the past, and I must confess
that Serena Tsukino is more than a little different from the Moon Princess I
once knew.  However, there is more to her than meets the eye."
     Leda nodded.  "Yeah, we know."
     Susan tilted her head slightly.  "Feeling better?"
     "A little," Leda admitted with a soft sigh.
     "Sometimes, you take what you can get," the succubus said gently as she
slowly stretched her wings out to their full span.  She paused as she noticed
the look on Leda's face and sighed quietly.  "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to
disturb you by stretching."
     Leda shook her head as she took a good look at the leathery wings.  "No,
it's okay, it's just.... different, that's all.  Can you fly?"
     "No, they're too small for that," Susan replied as she flexed the joints
slowly.  "I can glide, however, but there isn't sufficient aerodynamic lift to
permit anything more than a moderately-controlled descent."
     "Kinda like a parachute, huh?" Leda suggested as she cautiously reached
out to run her finger along the trailing edge of the closest wing.
     "Exactly.  Do be careful, please, they are quite sensitive to the touch,"
Susan cautioned her gently as she felt the nerves start to tingle from the
light contact.
     "Whoops, sorry...."
     Susan smiled as she drew her wings in close and concentrated, absorbing
them into the dark scars on her back.  "It's quite alright.  Believe me, their
sensitivity has proven to be quite useful and most rewarding."
     "Umm.... okay," Leda said slowly, blinking in mild confusion.
     "Sometime an itch can be scratched from many locations," Susan replied
demurely.  "Suffice it to say that in such situations I am quite glad to have
been granted sensitive wings."
     "Right," Leda replied.  "I'll just leave that one alone."
     Susan shrugged casually.  "Regular sexual release is just as much of a
necessity for succubi as blood is for a vampire," she explained calmly.  "While
sex is usually quite enjoyable, there are days when it can be.... in need of a
little something extra.  Sensitive wings can sometimes provide just that."
     The brunette just shook her head.  "If sex isn't enjoyable, then you're
probably doing something wrong," she grumbled quietly.
     A soft smile touched Susan's lips.  "You will, I trust, forgive me if I
don't try to compare your 'voice of experience' to my sexual history over the
past seven hundred years," she said lightly.
     Leda blinked at the reminder of Susan's age.  "You don't look like you're
Tolaris' age," she grumbled.  She paused and cast an uncertain glance at the
succubus.  "Umm, while we're on the subject of age and eternal youth...."
     Susan paused briefly and sighed.  "If I may hazard a guess as to your
question, I think Ami's body will cease visibly aging in another few years and
that yes, she will probably look like a very young college student for quite
a number of centuries."
     Leda blinked again and slowly let her breath out.  "Was my question that
hideously obvious?" she ventured.
     Susan smiled at her gently.  "As I said, Leda, I have a fair idea of just
how much Ami means to you.  I should like to point out that, while those of us
with eternal lifespans seem ageless, the flow of Time can never be completely
halted so as to preserve us indefinitely.  I have aged somewhat noticeably in
the past seven centuries, and at this rate I suspect that my hair will start
to go gray in another four thousand years or so, should I happen to exist for
that long."
     The brunette snorted in contempt.  "If Alex doesn't give you gray hair
first," she growled.  "Lord knows she's stressing me out...."
     "I assure you I've dealt with far worse individuals," Susan assured her
dryly.  "Granted both you and Alex were.... problematic to raise properly when
you were children, but in their youth both Serenity and Amelia could be quite
the vexing hellions when they put their minds to it."
     Leda smirked.  "Nothing like a Queen with a wicked streak.  Who's Amelia,
though?  Name sounds vaguely familiar, but I can't place it...."
     "Ami's mother, Lady Mercury," Susan replied.
     Leda blinked.  "Doctor Anderson?"
     Susan tilted her head at a slight angle.  "Yes, that is her maiden name,"
she said slowly.  "Are you suggesting that she is also Ami's mother here in
this era?"
     "Where do you think Ami got her blue hair from?" Leda said dryly.
     "Interesting," Susan said softly.  Her mind worked for a moment before a
thought bubbled up from the depths of her subconscious.  "Would you come with
me for a moment?  I have a portrait I'd like you and Ami to look at."
     Leda shrugged.  "Might as well," she said as she followed Susan back into
the cathedral, gently closing the sliding glass door behind her with a muted
thump.
     Mina turned around to look behind her at the quiet sound, a small smile
spreading across her face.  "You didn't break the railing again, did you?" she
called out the brunette without preamble, raising eyebrows in the room.
     "Huh?" Leda said as she paused in mid-motion.  "Again?  When did I ever
break it in the first place?"
     Mina blinked.  "I thought Dyvach had to rebuild part of it awhile ago?"
she ventured, the smile slipping from her face as she struggled to remember.
     Ami cleared her throat delicately.  "That was me," she said quietly.
     Both Susan and Michelle blinked hard as Mina winced.  "Oh, yeah, that's
right," she said in an abashed tone.  "I don't know why I keep thinking Leda's
temper was the one that went nuclear."
     Leda snorted.  "You're a blonde, enough said," she grumbled.
     "Hey," Serena protested.
     Leda raised an eyebrow.  "Save it, girl, you're a classic case of blonde
mathematics, so don't start."
     The denizens exchanged slightly confused glances while Susan paused to try
to sort that particular one out.  "I'm not sure I understand what you mean,"
she prompted as both Serena and Mina seemed to grumble quietly to themselves.
     "Beauty times brains equals a constant," Rei offered from her kneeling
position before the fireplace.
     "You stay out of this," Serena said archly as she scratched Luna behind
the ears.
     "Maze," Mina called out behind her without turning around.
     "Ma'am?" the Dragoon replied, obviously biting his tongue.
     "If you don't wipe that smile off your face before I turn around, you're
going to regret it," she said evenly.  She mentally counted to three before
twisting around to look at her purple-haired lover.
     "I don't know what you're talking about," Maze replied calmly, his face
quite impassive and showing no signs of humor.
     "Just checking, dear," Mina said lightly with a disarming smile.
     Michelle gave Ami a nervous look.  "You destroyed the railing?" she asked
in an uncertain voice.
     Ami sighed and leaned back against Tolaris, curling up into a tight ball
and drawing a gentle hug from the denizen.  "It was a bad day for everyone,"
she replied quietly.
     "That's putting it mildly," Rei muttered beneath her breath.
     Leda just rolled her eyes.  "Save it for later, pyro, Susan says she has
something she wants to show us."
     Susan chuckled quietly and looked around.  "Perhaps, if I can find enough
space to open the gate," she said as she walked over to the back wall of the
living room and mentally estimated its size.
     "Open what gate?" Mina asked with a slight frown.
     Michelle blinked and sat up straight.  "Oh, you mean the archway for your
portrait library?  It looks like you have enough space over there."
     Glances were exchanged as Susan gently grabbed at the air, pulling her
silvery staff out of the temporal ether and into physical existence.  "I like
to paint in my spare time," she explained over her shoulder as she twisted the
top of her staff.  The heart-shaped loop disconnected itself with a soft snap
and started to leak a thin stream of sparkling gas.  "As I've made a sizable
number of portraits over time, I've created a quasi-dimensional portal to a
small bubble in the Ethereal plane to use as a storage medium since keeping
the portraits elsewhere would require the equivalent storage space of a large
warehouse."
     Leda stood behind the armchair and leaned over to whisper to Tolaris and
Ami.  "You guys understand any of what she's saying?"
     "I think so," Ami replied quietly, watching in rapt attention as Susan
held the end of the loop against the wall and twisted it as if it were a large
doorknob.  There was a heavy clicking noise and glowing lines began to flow
along the surface of the wall, quickly creating the outline of a large door.
     "Good," Leda said softly.  "You can explain it to me later."
     "We'll try," Tolaris assured her.
     "What exactly are you doing?" Whisper asked from her vantage point at the
table, idly munching on a small plate of denizen crackers.
     "Forging a portal between this world and the dimensional bubble in the
Ethereal plane," Susan replied as she let go of the loop.  It remained firmly
in place on the wall's surface, seeming to be part of it as the glowing archway
became more and more defined with each passing moment.  The network of lines
pulsed briefly in unison before fading to a dull shade of silver, giving the
wall the appearance of having become a large vertical bulkhead.
     "Okay, now that was spooky," Mina commented.
     Michelle gave her a gentle smile.  "You'll get used to it."
     "What, Susan or the staff?" Mina countered with a wary glance.
     "Both," Michelle replied as she leaned back on the couch and hugged a
cushion tightly against her chest.
     Susan grabbed the loop with both hands and pushed upwards on it until it
was flat against the wall.  There was a deep sighing sound as the halves of
the archway parted slowly, seeming to melt into the floor and ceiling.
     "That's not going to do anything to the wall, is it?" Maze asked with a
moderate degree of concern.
     Susan shot him an amused glance over her shoulder.  "Of course not," she
assured him.  "Dimensional space is being bent around the physical matter that
makes up the wall, so there is no harm being done.  This archway technically
isn't here on Earth, it's located in the bubble dimension.  However, it only
seems like it's here because the dimensional bridge that connects them is only
one molecule thick.  Or at least appears that way."
     "Oh, yeah, that makes perfect sense to me," Leda muttered.
     "Hush," Ami admonished her quietly.
     Mina blinked and squinted her eyes at the archway.  "I'm not exactly a
genius in physics, but are you saying that they're connected by the equivalent
of a flat wormhole?" she ventured.
     Artemis sighed and buried his face in his paws.  "I sense that a headache
is about to commence," he muttered, drawing dour looks of agreement from both
Luna and Rei.
     "Of course not," Susan replied, slightly offended.  "A wormhole is a solid
dimensional conduit that has a definite depth.  Think of two separate grids
that are being connected by a line.  That is your wormhole.  This dimensional
bridge, however, is something different.  Picture those two same grids being
warped until they converge at a single point."
     Mina blinked and sat up straight.  "Uhh... so how's a convergence any
different that a flat wormhole of the same point-to-point length?" she said
with a confused expression.
     Ami yawned quietly.  "A wormhole exists in at least two dimensions, and
by definition has a quantifiable length," she said in a patient tone to the
blonde.  "A convergence, however, consists of only one dimensional point during
any given reference period and thus does not have a quantifiable length."
     Leda sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose.  "Thank you, Carl Sagan,"
she muttered to nobody in particular.
     "Who?" Maze asked, casting an uncertain glance at Whisper.
     The telepath shrugged in response.  "Don't look at me, I haven't studied
quantum physics since I was in the academy," she replied.
     "A very interesting man," Susan commented as she stepped inside the open
archway and turned to a display console.  She searched her memory for a moment
before punching in a series of numbers on the keypad, instructing the library
computer to retrieve a specific rack of portraits.
     Mina craned her neck back to try to get a good look at the cavernous room
behind Susan.  "So how many portraits do you have in there, anyway?" she asked
out of curiosity.
     "Probably close to seventy-five thousand," Susan replied after a few 
moments of mental mathematics.
     That drew a round of hard blinks from the rest of the room.  "And you
painted each one of those yourself?" Leda said in amazement.
     "Of course.  Bear in mind that I've been at this for centuries, and that
I usually paint at least twice a week," Susan explained as a hiss of pneumatic
machinery started up.  A large object on slid into view, mounted on the tracks
imbedded in the floor.  It moved with startling speed and surprising silence
as it rolled up behind Susan and came to a soft, hissing halt.
     She unlocked the lid and rolled it back, revealing two rows of wooden
portrait frames stacked on top of one another.  The edges had been numbered
with black ink and sorted sequentially for ease of identification.
     "This should be it," Susan said as she tugged on one of the frames.  It
slid out smoothly on a rolled track, allowing her to look at it before trying
to extract it from the collection.  "Ami, would you come here for a moment?"
she said as she lifted the portrait off the rack.
     Ami blinked and carefully extracted herself from Tolaris' lap, making sure
not to bump him by accident.  She crossed the room to stand to Susan, her blue
eyes going wide as soon as she saw the picture.  "Hey!" she protested.  "That's
my mother!"
     Susan nodded as everyone else exchanged glances and started to gather
around to get a better look.  "I figured as much.  This is a portrait of Lady
Mercury," she explained as she turned the portrait around to show everyone.
"At least, the Lady Mercury of your generation."
     The woman in the portrait was dressed in a flowing gown of midnight blue,
the sleeves coming down to her wrists and the hem almost brushing the floor.
Her shoulder-length blue hair was neatly trimmed and gathered together in a
simple braid that was coiled over one shoulder.  She appeared to be rather
young in the picture, but it was unmistakably Doctor Amelia Anderson's gently
smiling face painted on the portrait.
     "Wow," Serena breathed.  "She's beautiful in that painting."
     Tolaris' eyebrows arched up to his hairline.  "That's your mother?" he
echoed with respect and admiration.  He knew that, unless there was a drastic
change in his relationship with Ami, he would eventually have to meet her
mother and attempt to gain her approval.  It was, however, not an event that
he was looking forward to.
     "Sure looks like it," Leda commented as she peered over the top of Mina's
head, her hand casually flattening the red hair ribbon blocking her view.
     "Hey, careful, you'll wrinkle it," Mina protested sourly.
     "Wah," the brunette replied dryly.
     "Nice," Maze said.  "Now we know where Ami gets her good looks from," he
added with a casual wink at Ami, causing her to blush with embarassment at the
sudden focus of attention.
     "How old was she when this was done?" Ami inquired, suddenly realizing
that she couldn't remember ever having seen a picture of her mother that had
been taken before she had been born.
     Susan closed her eyes as she sifted through the memories etched into her
demonic memory.  "I think this one was shortly before she turned twenty-two,"
she replied.  "Several years before she became Lady Mercury," she added.
     Rei blinked.  "So her mother was a Sailor Scout at the time?"
     "Of course," Susan said with a nod as she replaced the portrait on the
rack and slid it back into the collection.  She paused for a moment as she
searched her memory for what else was in this particular display case that was
both pertinent and something she would be able to show the group.  The fourth
portrait from the end on the bottom row was also of a young Amelia, but had
been painted, with blushing consent, when she was relaxing in the bathhouse
and thus in a potentially embarassing situation should it ever become public.
     "One moment," she said as she rolled the lid closed and locked it before
turning her attention to the catalog computer.  She entered a new sequence of
numbers and took a step back, giving the machinery a wide berth as it began to
return the container to its original location.
     "How long did it take to set this up?" Maze asked as he causally glanced
around the inside of the 'bubble'.  It appeared to be nothing more than an
ordinary warehouse with a low roof and an endless collection of rows upon rows
of identical metallic storage containers.
     "Two months for the blueprints, another month of searching for a suitably
stable pocket dimension in the Ethereal plane that would cooperate with four-
dimensional physics, at least as you know it, and another six weeks of actual
construction," Susan explained as the faint sound of machinery started back up
in the distance.  "I had to use real materials instead of relying on ethereal
constructs given their tendency to fade over time.  Otherwise I could have had
it set up in fifteen minutes."
     Everyone waited in anticipation as another container rolled into view in
the distance.  There was a soft click from the tracks as the container seemed
to leap forward at terrifying speed, coming to a rest in surprising silence in
the same spot as the previous container.
     "I'd hate to be run over by that thing," Leda observed.  "Looks like it
would give a bullet-train a run for it's money."
     Ami blinked and looked down at the tracks.  "What principle does your
system run on, magnetic-levitation?" she ventured.
     "Exactly," Susan confirmed as she unlocked the casing and rolled it back
to expose a nearly identical double-row of portraits.  She selected one on the
bottom row and pulled it out a few inches, checking to make sure it was the
one she thought it was.  Satisifed it was the correct one, the pulled it out
the rest of the way and very carefully lifted it off of the railings.
     "Wow, now that's nice," Mina said as several heads nodded in agreement.
     The portrait was of Amelia in her transformation as Sailor Mercury.  Her
suit was almost identical to Ami's, with the exception of the addition of a
slender neck ribbon adorned by a gold star and a few extra transparent layers
of ruffling on her shoulders.  The same gentle smile that graced the first
portrait was still evident, a soft smile of friendship directed at the artist
painting her picture.
     "And you painted this?" Whisper asked.  "Very impressive skills."
     "Thank you," Susan said with a slight nod of her head.  "I usually have a
fair amount of time on my hands during the night, so I have ample time to try
to practice."
     Serena stared at the portrait of Ami's mother for a few seconds before
turning to Susan.  "You have any paintings of my mother?"
     Michelle smiled.  "Are you kidding?  I think Susan has pictures of pretty
much everyone in the Kingdom," she said.  "Or at least it seems like it."
     "I think I have one in this collection," Susan said slowly as she sought
to remember which one it was.  She put the portrait of Mercury back on the
railings and slid it back into place before moving to the opposite side of the
display casing.  She carefully eased the last portrait out and glanced at it
before hastily shoving it back, then checking the painting next to it.
     "Problem?" Leda inquired with a raised eyebrow.
     "It depends on your perspective," Susan said calmly.  "I prefer to paint
nudes, as I view the human figure to be quite the artistic accomplishment, but
the general rule is that no one is allowed to see such portraits without the
express permission of the subjects in the painting."
     Glances were exchanged as Susan slid the second portrait back into the
casing and tried to think which portrait she was remembering.  "Should we ask
about who has volunteered to have a portrait drawn like that?" the brunette
asked in a wary tone.
     "You didn't mind it at the time," Susan said demurely as she checked the
bottom row of pictures.
     "What?" Leda said, blinking hard.  "You're saying I posed for you?"
     "All of you have," Susan replied with a glance over her shoulder.  "And
before you ask, each of you has allowed me to paint at least one nude of you,
the portraits are still in my collection, they have not been shown to anyone
else that you haven't asked me to, and I will continue to maintain my policy
of discretion and privacy, so you may relax."
     There was a moment of uneasy silence as glances were exchanged again while
Susan continued to search for the portrait she had in mind.  "I was wondering
where this was," she muttered to herself as she checked a particular portrait
before returning it to the collection.
     "Wait, let me get this straight," Leda said warily.  "You're saying that
you have nude portraits of everyone here?  Including Serena?"
     Susan sighed quietly.  "Yes, Leda, including the Princess.  I assure you
that they are all quite tastefully done and that each of you reviewed it for
yourselves before I either archived it or had it destroyed, depending on how
you felt when it was finished.  Fortunately, I have only rarely been asked to
destroy any such portraits."
     "Alex and I have posed together a few times," Michelle confessed with a
deep crimson blush.  "It can get suggestive at times, especially when Alex is
in a mood, but it's almost always a little refreshing.  As she said, it's more
art than anything.  Granted I would be embarassed if anyone else saw them, but
I honestly don't think I'd be ashamed.  Too much," she added sheepishly.
     Mina just shook her head slowly.  "I'm curious now, but I'm also afraid
to ask," she said ruefully.
     Susan shrugged.  "As I said, none of you minded at the time, and you were
shown the portrait when I was finished.  I can show you later, if you like.
That is, if I can remember which bank it's in, seeing how I can't for the life
of me remember where I.... oh, here it is," she said as extracted a portrait
from the casing and removed it from the rails.
     In the painting, a rather young Queen Serenity in a dusky rose formal
gown was sitting next to what appeared to be a hospital bed, holding the hand
of a young girl with jet-black hair.  The girl's complexion was rather pale
and seemingly marred with exhaustion, but otherwise appeared to be in good
spirits as she smiled at her Queen.
     Tolaris grunted very softly to himself.  "The resemblance between you and
your mother is quite striking, Serena," he said quietly.  "And I don't mean
because of the hairstyle."
     Serena smiled gently.  "Thank you."
     "Who's the other girl in the picture?" Mina asked.  "She's pretty, but....
I don't know, she seems a little sad despite the smile, I guess."
     "That is Hotaru, Sailor Saturn," Susan said quietly.  "She died shortly
after Michelle was born.  In fact, her death is what ultimately lead to your
conception, Serena, a fact that was only known to a handful of individuals."
     "What?" Serena said, her blue eyes widening in surprise.
     Whisper tilted her head to one side.  "Interesting.  Do you think you
could tell us about it?  Minus a few unimportant details, of course," she added
with a faint blush.  "We're more interested in the why than the how."
     Susan chuckled quietly as there was a brief round of slightly embarassed
snickers and giggles at the expression on Serena's face.  "Perhaps I can tell
you the story from my perspective after dinner," she suggested.  She paused as
Dyvach entered the room and headed towards the door with surprising silence.
"Speaking of which, I believe that Alex and Darian have returned."
     "Either that or Dyvach has to take a leak," Leda replied as she followed
the weaver to the main door of the cathedral.
     Rei just shook her head as she gently passed Artemis over to Mina.  "Not
a mental image worth contemplating," she muttered.  "Here, have a cat.  Have
two, if you like," she added as she carefully perched both cats on the blonde's
shoulders.  "I'll be back, need to wash all this cat fur off my hands."
     "Gee, thanks," Artemis muttered as he promptly hopped to the ground and
poked his head inside the archway.  "What's that smell, by the way?"
     "Washing up probably isn't a bad idea," Maze commented as he gave Mina's
cheek a quick kiss before brushing past her.  "So where'd you hide the paper
plates?"
     "Second cabinet on the left, top shelf," Mina called out over her shoulder
as Ami and Tolaris moved past her and headed towards the residential wing,
followed by Whisper, Michelle, and Rei.
     Susan shrugged as she returned the portrait to the collection and rolled
the lid back down.  "The air isn't circulated very well in this bubble," she
observed as she instructed the library control to return the container to its
usual parking spot.  "Are you okay, Serena?"
     Serena sighed quietly as she gently picked up Luna and cradled her close.
"I'm just.... a little overwhelmed, I guess," she said quietly.  "Too much
happening too fast."
     "I'm sure everything will be fine once you've had a chance to sit down
and sort through it all," Luna assured her with a slight yawn.  "At least, once
you've gotten something to eat.  You hardly touched your breakfast and barely
bothered with lunch, which is quite unlike you."
     Serena sighed as both Mina and Susan gave her concerned looks.  "Have you
been feeling alright lately, your Highness?" Susan asked carefully.
     "Just one of those days, I guess," Serena replied quietly.
     Mina flashed her a smile.  "Well, lighten up, meatball head, we've got
pizza on the incoming," she said cheerfully with a pat on the shoulder.
     "Thanks," Serena replied dryly, turning her head to look as Leda and Alex
entered the room bearing the pizza boxes.  "Well, at least it smells good....
Hey, where's Darian?" she called out.
     "Putting the cover on," Alex replied.  "It looks like it's going to rain
soon and he said he didn't want to flood the inside of his creep."
     "Jeep," Leda corrected her.
     "Whatever.  Oh, now what?" she paused as she noticed the open vault of
portraits.  "Aww, crap, Sue, not the baby pictures again...."
     Mina giggled.  "No, she was just showing us how you and Michelle posed
nude together for paintings," she teased with an impish grin.
     "Oh, those," Alex replied with a shrug as she carried the pizzas to the
table.  "Ain't much to see, hon, unless Sue showed you the one she painted of
us making out beneath a waterfall."
     Mina blinked hard in surprise at the casual response and traded looks with
an equally surprised Serena.  Susan sighed quietly as she stepped out of the
storage bubble and moved past the pair of blondes.  "I haven't shown them any
such paintings, only reminded them of their existence," she said evenly.
     "That's fine with me," Alex replied as she set the boxes down.  "I don't
know what's in these things, but they're staring to smell awfully damn good."
     Leda chuckled as she set the other boxes down and opened the lid on the
top box.  "Mmm, pepperoni," she said with a grin.  She looked up as Maze came
out of the kitchen with a stack of paper plates, a plastic spatula, and a very
large stack of napkins.  "Oh, good, instant service.  Thanks, Maze."
     Maze shook his head ruefully as he passed her the spatula and the plates.
"Thank me when this is over, I've got a hunch that this is about to get very
interesting, very quickly."
     The brunette blinked and gave him a guarded look.  "Why do you say that?"
     He shrugged to himself.  "A hunch," he said casually as he picked up a
slice of pizza and plopped it onto a plate.  "Nothing more.  You did order a
pizza with everything on it, right?"
     Alex carefully edged the bottom box out from under the stack and opened
it up.  "Right here.  Whoa," she said as she blinked in surprise at the sheer
density of toppings.  "That's a lot of stuff piled on there."
     Maze chuckled as he grabbed a slice of the loaded pizza and put it on a
separate plate.  "Here, could you pass this to Dyvach?  We don't need to have
him drooling on the floor," he said as he passed the plate to Alex.
     Alex paused and looked down as something brushed her ankle, blinking as
she saw the coloring of the crystal carapace.  The smooth obsidian hue gave it
an almost sinister look, but the truly disturbing aspect was the way Dyvach's
multi-faceted eyes were revealed in very stark contrast, spread across the
front of what passed for its face.
     "Dyvach, honey, don't look at me like that," Alex said warily as she held
the plate down to where the weaver could easily reach it.  "Do me a favor and
change colors before Mich gets back and you scare the crap out of her."  She
got a happy chime in response as the black coloring slowly faded into a mellow
bronze hue.  "Thanks.  Hope you like....  What the hell?!"
     "What?" Leda demanded, peering over the blonde's shoulder.
     Alex's blue eyes widened at the hideous crunching noise.  "You're supposed
to eat the pizza, not the plate!" she exclaimed, watching in stunned disbelief
as Dyvach folded the plate around the pizza and started to eat the end.
     Leda merely shrugged as she started loading slices of pizza onto plates
for everyone else.  "Oh, that.  You get used to it.  Just think of him as the
denizen version of a billy-goat.  Back off, I'm not finished yet," she said as
Artemis hopped up on the edge of the table next to her.
     "No rush, no rush," the white cat said languidly as he inhaled deeply.
"Mmmmmmmm, that smells good.  Where'd you get this from, anyway?"
     Alex wrinkled her nose.  "Apparently Darian's squire runs a restaurant of
some kind," she said sourly.
     Both Leda and Artemis blinked.  "Squire?" the brunette echoed.
     "Andrew," Darian said as he walked into the room, brushing a thin layer
of dirt off of his shirt.  "Apparently he's from the Silver Millenium era as
well and somehow got reincarnated in this time period with the rest of us."
     "Huh," Leda said, blinking again.  "Now that's interesting."
     "Learned a few interesting things today," Darian said quietly, giving
Alex a discreet glance before he headed towards the residential wing for a
quick wash-up.
     Maze and Artemis exchanged glances before looking at Alex.  "Anything we
should know about?" the lunar cat asked carefully.
     Alex snorted.  "You'll find out soon enough," she grumbled as she picked
up a slice of pepperoni pizza and studied it carefully.  "Damn, this is warm.
Any particular way to eat this, or will point-first suffice?"
     Leda almost giggled.  "That's usually how it's done, yes."
     Alex shrugged.  "When in Rome," she muttered and took a large bite out of
the pizza.  She blinked in surprise as she chewed before swallowing.  "This is
pretty good," she admitted before taking another large bite.
     "It usually is," Leda confirmed as she picked up a plate of pepperoni
pizza and held it out.  "Here you go, Serena, we know how much you like....
Serena?" she said, blinking as she looked around.  "Hey, where'd she go?"
     Alex simply pointed in the general direction of the residential wing as
she continued to devour her slice of pizza.  She paused in mid-chew and cast a
glance at her feet as Dyvach took another massive bite of the paper-plate-and-
pizza combination, making a series of rather odd crunching noises.  "Lovely,
that sound is probably going to end up haunting my dreams for a month or so
now," she said sourly around a mouthful of pizza.
     "What sound?" Mina inquired as she bounded into the room and grabbed the
plate of pizza Leda was still absently holding out.  "Thanks."
     "You're welcome," Leda said dryly.
     Alex swallowed and made a face.  "That," she grumbled as another soft
crunching noise filled the air, followed by an apologetic chime.  "The spider
seems to think the plate is just as edible as the pizza."
     Mina craned her head to look behind Leda's back.  "Oh, that.  You get
used to it."
     "Thanks, bubbles, I don't know what I'd do without you," Alex replied with
a roll of her eyes.  "Oh, there you are," she said as Michelle approached the
table.  "Grab a slice of pizza, you're going to like this stuff."
     Michelle nodded as she accepted a plate from Maze.  "It smells good," she
agreed as she briefly studied the pizza slice.  She blinked and took a closer
look at the thin sheen on the toppings.  "This looks a little greasy," she
protested in an uncertain tone.
     Alex licked her lips before nodding.  "It is, believe me, but a little
grease ain't going to kill you, love.  Trust me, it tastes pretty good."
     Michelle gave her a dubious look before carefully picking up the slice
and biting into the tip.  She blinked and chewed carefully before swallowing,
her expression virtually identical to Alex's first taste of pepperoni pizza.
     "Well?" Leda prompted.
     "A little spicy," Michelle replied.  "But otherwise it's okay."
     Maze chuckled quietly.  "I had pretty much the same opinion about Earth
when I first came here," he teased.  He blinked as his statement was met with
a dead silence that seemed to echo.  "Umm.... problem?" he ventured.
     Leda smirked and crossed her arms.  "You're not talking about our food,
now are you?" she said with a wicked grin.  Mina blinked hard and promptly
turned a very vivid shade of crimson.  She hastily tore the crust off of her
pizza and fairly crammed it in Artemis' mouth as his jaw sagged open.
     "Here, have some pizza," she blurted out, ignoring the look of amusement
from Leda.  Artemis shot her a dark look before starting to munch away at the
still-warm pizza crust, his tail lashing back and forth.
     Alex and Michelle exchanged glances before the blonde shook her head.
"Nope, I don't want to know," she said as she picked up a second slice of pizza
and bit into it.
     Michelle blinked again as she alternated her glances between Maze, who at
the moment was studiously munching on a slice of cheese pizza, and Mina, who
was still blushing like a neon light.  "Is everything okay?" she ventured.
     "Mmmph wh-umph," Artemis muttered, still chewing quietly.
     "Fine, fine, just fine," Mina babbled in a rush, actively ignoring the
look on Leda's face as the brunette reached for a pizza slice of her own.
     Maze shrugged his shoulders.  "Told you it would get interesting," he said
lightly between bites of pizza, stepping aside to make room for the group of
hungry people entering the dining room as dinner began in earnest.

                *               *               *               *

     The quiet conversation in the banquet hall quickly faded away to silence
as the ornate double-doors opened with a soft creak and General Nop'tera strode
into the room, dressed in her formal uniform.  The rows of medals across the
front of her chest glittered in the subdued light, outshone only by the gleam
of the gold triple-starburst insignia on her shoulders that denoted her rank.
     "Thank you all for coming," she said quietly to the assembled group of
senior officers as they got to their feet and stood at attention.  She made her
way to her seat at the head of the table, noting that there was only one other
vaccant chair in the room.  It was entirely expected, of course, as even when
all the senior officers were called to attend a meeting or a dinner, at least
one senior officer had to remain on duty on the bridge to oversee the carrier's
command center and operations.
     "Please be seated," she said as she sat down, waiting for the rest of the
group to follow suit.  Dinner had already been laid out, an unusually lavish
assortment of meats, vegetables, and fruits.  Several bottles of dark-colored
wine were scattered about at random, most of them already uncorked and poured
into various glasses.
     She looked around the room, briefly making individual eye-contact with
everyone in the room, the idle part of her mind reminding her of random facts
about each one.  She knew them all well, practically since their birth as many
of their parents had served under her as well.  Four of the officers at the
table were in fact third-generation soldiers under her command, a testament to
the fierce loyalty and devotion that often formed in such a close-knit society.
     "Tomorrow we return home," she said, speaking just loud enough to be heard
at the opposite end of the banquet table.  "I know that might not mean much to
some of you, having been born or lived most of your lives in the Hinterlands.
However, it means a great deal to me.  I have spent three thousand years away
from my home in service to the NegaForce, and it is because of the bravery and
valiant efforts of each and every one of you that I am allowed the honor to
return home.  I am not an overly emotional woman, as most of you know, but for
the life of me I am unable to find sufficient words to express myself.  All I
can say is thank you."
     She smiled gently at the round of soft applause, noticing more than one
pair of eyes getting somewhat misty with emotion.  There was a heavy creaking
sound as General Ar'kanis stood up, the light reflecting in unusual patterns
off of his armor.  "I believe I speak for all of us when I say you are more
than welcome, my General," he rumbled, his words followed by nods and murmurs
of agreement.  "We are what we are because of you and your leadership, and it
is with great pride that we are able to accompany you on your journey home, as
you have journeyed with us for so long.  To General Nop'tera!" he said as he
raised his wineglass in a toast.
     "To General Nop'tera!" the rest of the room echoed as they raised their
own glasses of wine in a salute before sipping deeply.
     Nop'tera couldn't help the blush that spread across her cheeks at the
gesture.  "Thank you," she said as Ar'kanis sat down.  She couldn't help but
notice that he had left his glass untouched, but that was expected as well.
There were dinner plates in front of every chair except his, as it was rather
impossible for him to eat or drink anything without removing his helmet.  She
knew he only ate alone in his quarters, tended to only by an elderly squire who
was unable to see the visible light spectrum.
     She looked up at the group and took a deep breath to try to steady her
suddenly wary nerves.  "There are a few things I would like to discuss tonight,
but I'm not sure I want to spoil your appetites or let the food grow cold.  On
the other hand, I've no desire to sour anyone's stomach either.  Is there any
objection to waiting until after dinner for the speech?"
     "Better a sour stomach than an empty one," her chief medical officer said
with a dry smirk.  "A soldier can still fight on a sour stomach."
     "Easy for you to say," the captain of one of her armored units countered
with a hearty laugh.  "When you're bouncing around in a tank on rough terrain,
an empty stomach is far easier to cope with.  A sour stomach just leads to an
empty stomach, usually in very short order," she added, drawing a round of
knowing smiles and chuckles.
     A young naval officer shook his head.  "I was wondering why you landworms
had holes in bottoms of your cruisers," he teased, eliciting a fair number of
good-natured taunts about sea combat from the other land-based unit commanders.
     "Stow it, sea-rat, this landworm is hungry,", the captain replied.  "The
next time someone calls for a toast to our honored general, I'm doing it with
a piece of steak," she said, holding up a cube of meat impaled on her fork.
"Unless there is an objection, ma'am," she amended hastily as Nop'tera raised
an eyebrow in amusement.
     "Very well then, eat," Nop'tera replied with a smile as the rest of the
group laughed.  "I don't want anyone to complain I'm not feeding my soldiers."
     "By your command," the tank captain replied with a nod of her head before
popping the steak into her mouth and chewing with enthusiasm.  The rest of the
group followed suit, piling various foodstuffs onto their plates and eating
dinner in a slightly more restrained fashion.
     Nop'tera shook her head as she selected a few slices of a what was simply
called roast-beast.  She knew that it was from the heavily-forested region of
the Renn homeworld and could usually pronounce the name without undue confusion
as to what she meant, but spelling it was quite beyond her grasp.  Most of the
denizens under her command had a likewise difficulty trying to understand the
mechanics of the written language of the Renn, seeming to be little more than
a random collection of squiggly lines and the occasional punctuation mark.  To
her amazement, Freya had little difficulty learning and understanding the odd
language, claiming that it was not much different than learning to understand
a language called Arabic in her world.
     She mentally shrugged as she bit into the alien meat, savoring the taste
of the hot juices and the sharp burst of spices that went with it.  It was an
odd combination and definitely an acquired taste, but one she thought was well
worth developing.  As long as you have the intestinal fortitude to cope with
it, she mused to herself, trying not to remember what had happened the first
time she had sampled the exotic dish.
     Time seemed to blur together as various dishes were consumed, both Renn
and denizen, despite the tendency for native Renn foods to cause mostly minor
gas cramps and digestive issues.  The Renn idea of wine was decidedly toxic to
all but a handful of denizens, however, and so the selection of rare wines at
the table was entirely of denizen origin.
     Dessert was just being served to the group when the door opened up just
enough for Freya to slip into the room with a small sheaf of papers in her
hands.  Nop'tera raised an eyebrow in curiosity as she approached Sor'en and
whispered something in her ear, letting the young brigadier read the summary
for herself.
     The quiet but animated dinner conversations around the table slowly began
to come to a halt as Sor'en abruptly froze in mid-motion as she read.  The
wineglass hit the table with a muted thump as her ash-gray eyes widened, the
quiet sound effectively ending the rest of the conversations as all eyes came
to rest on her.
     Sor'en wordlessly handed the report back to Freya, casting a very unhappy
glance towards her mother.  A dark chill swept through Nop'tera as Freya came
over to her and handed her the report.  "This just came in from an intercept of
a closed-channel communication from the Imperial Castle," her slave whispered
in her ear before quietly retreating to a corner of the room.
     The Dark General quickly read through the report, the icy chill in her
blood growing colder with each new paragraph.  She finished the report and
immediately re-read it again, trying to make absolutely sure there were no
misunderstandings of any sort.
     She glanced up at the group and noticed that they were all slightly tense
at the change in her mood.  She sighed quietly and finished the rest of the
ruby wine in her glass in a single gulp, knowing that they knew her entirely
too well to not know that something was wrong.  "It appears that we are not as
welcome as some would have us believe," she said, keeping her tone as level as
possible.  "Captain V'ier, how much do you know about the Dragoon Legion?" she
asked her intelligence officer.
     He blinked at the question and thought for a moment.  "I've never met a
Dragoon personally, but I've seen their work and know that they're a very
sharp division.  They're an odd bunch, at least by our standards of personal
conduct and decorum, but they're also quite loyal to both the throne and to
one another."
     Nop'tera nodded and let her gaze return to the report once again.  "It
seems that they were about to test-fire their primary weapon systems a few
hours ago, but aborted when they discovered that the targeting system had the
V'ral bracketed instead of the firing range," she explained, causing several
sets of eyes to widen.  "I suppose we should be grateful for their vigilance,
as a shell from a particle-wave cannon would probably have put a significant
damper on the rest of our day," she added in a neutral tone.
     She sighed quietly and looked up at the denizens under her command, a
diverse collection of individuals from all fields and social backgrounds united
in their common respect and loyalty for her.  "I met with both General Rune,
the current commander-general of the military, and Fleet Admiral Si'ren the
other day.  The impression I received from General Rune was not a welcome one,
as it seems she is intent on remaining in command of the military.  You of
course know that our Queen was assassinated several months ago, and so Rune is
also empowered to rule the Negaverse for the time being.  The story that she
and a significant number of other individuals were killed by a group of five
female warriors from Earth sounds quite suspicious to me.  That might very well
have been the case, however, so I will initiate my own investigation once we
return to the Negaverse and have settled in.
     "Regardless of why or how, the throne is now vacant, and it is our duty to
assist the NegaForce in seeing it filled once again.  It is a good thing that
the laws permit the military to take control in such a situation to stabilize
things and ensure that the impact on the rest of the population is minimal.
However, martial law and military rule should only be a temporary measure at
best.  We are the best and the strongest servants of the NegaForce and the
throne, respected and admired for our power and ability to execute the will of
the Queen, but we are still servants nonetheless and should never dare to seek
or covet that power for ourselves.
     "General Rune strikes me as a woman who, once given any degree of power,
will hold onto that power no matter what the cost.  I will not seek command of
the military immediately upon my return to the Negaverse, but as I was promoted
to the rank of general long before her mother was even an idea, I think it is
quite obvious who has seniority in the chain of command.  It is my intention
to spend some time reacquainting myself with the Negaverse military as it is
today before asserting my seniority in regards to this issue, at which time I
will pass the mantle of leadership of the Red Wings to General Ar'kanis, whose
performance as my second-in-command is nothing short of legendary."
     She paused as the murmurs of assent and approval swept across the room.
She was fairly sure Ar'kanis was blushing beneath his concealing armor, but it
was of course quite impossible to tell.
     "Your words do me honor," the sepulchral voice echoing faintly around the
room.  "I may succeed you as the commander of the Red Wings, but I can never
replace you or your valiant leadership.  However...." he said, trailing off in
a calculated gesture.
     Nop'tera nodded in understanding.  "However, there is the distinct and
unsavory possibility that General Rune will not yield to the law.  In such a
case, we may have a situation on our hands that could border on rebellion.  I
am not a greedy woman, but I will not hesitate to ask for what is lawfully and
rightfully mine.  Should the NegaForce wish to resolve things as it sees fit,
there will of course be no hesitations to obey and respect its desires, and I
for one would rather that be the case instead of having to rely upon the laws
of succession for a resolution.
     "However," she said, her tone changing to one of command, "Let there be no
misunderstanding of those laws.  In the absence of the monarchy, the commanding
general of the military will assume the executive powers of the Negaverse, and
the determination of the commander-general on the basis of rank and time in
service is quite clear.  General Rune has rightfully assumed the post in my
absence, but upon my return it should be just as rightfully yielded."
     "Do you expect a fight, then?" an officer spoke up.
     Nop'tera sighed.  "I dearly hope not, as I've had my fill of battles and
combat for the moment.  But make no mistake, I will not hesitate to fight for
what is right and what is best for the Negaverse.  And that means we all must
be ready for what the future might hold."
     "Bring it on, ma'am," the tank captain said as she shot to her feet.  "We
know that you have always been beside us, no matter what the Renn threw at us,
and so we will always be beside you.  My crew is ready, and I'm sure everyone
else can say the same about their units."
     "Indeed we can," Sor'en said as she got to her feet with the rest of the
group.  "You will always have the Red Wings ready to serve both you and the
Negaverse.  To General Nop'tera and the NegaForce!" she said as she thrust her
wineglass into the air.
     "To General Nop'tera and the NegaForce!" the assembled fairly roared in
response as a sizable amount of wine was downed in unison.
     Nop'tera rose to her feet and nodded in acknowledgement to the honor.  "I
have never served with a more worthy division than this one.  Always remember
that, while I may be your leader, my strength comes from brave and noble people
like you and those under your command.  Such a thing shall never be forgotten.
You are all ordered to stand down for the night and get some rest.  Tomorrow
will be a new day, and perhaps a new era as well, for tomorrow the Red Wings
will return home.  That, I promise you, shall be a day I will never forget for
the rest of my life.  To the Red Wings!" she said as she picked up a fresh
wineglass and held it high in the air.
     "To the Red Wings!" the group shouted, the room seeming to shake from the
force of the echo.
     The Dark General smiled and sipped deeply at the wine, figuring it would
be quite some time before she would be able to savor the sweet taste under any
relaxed circustances.  "Then unless you want to stay behind to help clean up,
you are dismissed for the evening.  Rest well."
     The group snapped to attention as one, then quietly left the banquet hall
in an organized exodus, leaving behind Nop'tera, Sor'en, Ar'kanis, and Freya.
Nop'tera sighed quietly and sat back down, idly peering over the rim of her
glass at her daughter and her second-in-command.  "That went better than I had
expected," she observed.
     Sor'en blinked and came dangerously close to choking on her dessert, her
eyes widening with surprise.  "What, you didn't think we would support you or
something?" she coughed as she thumped her chest.
     "Of course I expected support," Nop'tera replied as she gently swirled the
amethyest contents of her glass.  "I just didn't expect the prospect of heading
into a civil war among military factions would be met with such enthusiasm."
     A quiet snort of contempt echoed within the confines of Ar'kanis' helmet.
"Do you really think it matters?" he said quietly.  "The men and women who
serve under your leadership revel in doing so, taking great personal pride at
being able to do as you ask.  They have faith and trust in you, an unshakable
belief that you are doing what is right when calling upon them, and that very
faith is embedded in your past history of doing just that.  You have never let
them down, and thus they will not let you down.  You could have said you were
going to lay siege to the gates of Hell itself, and they would have clamored
for the chance to ride with you into battle."
     Nop'tera shrugged.  "I figured I would save that particular assault for
the next century," she said casually, smiling in amusement as Sor'en sighed
and rolled her eyes.
     "Be careful what you wish for," the brigadier muttered.
     "My thanks to the both of you," Nop'tera replied.  "You should return to
your quarters and get some rest.  I wasn't making a joke about how tomorrow
might be the dawn of a new era."
     Sor'en nodded and turned to leave when Ar'kanis spoke up.  "A new era for
us, or for the Negaverse as a whole?" he wondered aloud, causing Sor'en to
pause to listen for the response.
     Nop'tera raised an eyebrow.  "If it doesn't matter, Ar'kanis, then why is
it bothering you enough to ask?" she observed neutrally, her featureless yellow
eyes fixing him with a level look.
     "I'm not the one who has self-doubts about whether or not I am doing what
is right for myself or my world," he said quietly.  "Fair evening, my General."
     Sor'en blinked as she watched the armored figure leave the room, then
turned her attention to her mother, who was studying the plate of wispy dessert
in front of her and apparently already lost in thought.  She glanced up at the
pale figure of Freya waiting in silence in the corner of the room, wondering
once again just how deep the bond was between the women.
     "Sor'en," Nop'tera called out quietly, startling her out of her thoughts.
She looked up to find the woman she called her mother still lost in thought,
studying her reflection in the glass of wine.  "You may take your fighter out
on a flight if you wish, as I know how it often helps you relax.  Just don't
spend too much time up there, as you will need your rest for tomorrow."
     "Thank you, ma'am," Sor'en replied with a salute and took her leave.  She
paused for a brief instant in the doorway, turning her head to watch as Freya
walked over and gently took Nop'tera's hand in her own.  She wasn't able to
make out the words that fell from her lips, but she didn't need to understand
them to see the strange calming effect they had on her mother.
     Shaking her head to herself and trying not to wonder, she left the banquet
hall and headed towards the flight deck, her mind already starting to climb up
to the level of the clouds and beyond.

                *               *               *               *

To be continued.... (Last edit: 28 March 2003)
                    (Last distro: 28 March 2003)
                    (Distro break point: 12505)

    Source: geocities.com/tokyo/pagoda/4361