How many people out there hated the SuperS season? Well, I certainly 
did and I dare say that I’m not alone in the dislike for whole Dead
Moon Circus arc in the anime (at least until they moved into the 
Stars arc. Then Nephelenia got really interesting. I do so adore an 
openly psychotic villain!) The only “saving grace” in the plotline
morass of pink-sugary Chibi-Usa overload was Fisheye. You have got to 
love a blue haired, rubber suited, transgender, transpecies bad guy. 
How could I possibly resist the urge to have a confrontation between 
Fisheye and one of the Outer Senshi? 

My humble thanks go to Donnar-I for the use of her extraordinary 
skills as a Beta-reader. She graciously takes time out of her 
insanely busy life to look at my work. Without her help this story 
would not have the polish it does and I am grateful for her gifts of 
time and wisdom!

Is anybody reading this story? I certainly couldn’t tell from the 
mail, or lack thereof, that I get. A short letter means a lot to 
fanfics writers and is the only form of “payment” we can rightfully 
expect. Have pity on us all and drop your author of choice a short 
note today!

Standard Disclaimer:  I do not own Sailor Moon or any of the other 
characters created by the gifted Naoko Takeuchi. They are used here 
without permission and without expectation of monetary gain. Neither
do I own the Chaos Theory or the flash freezing process invented by 
Clarence Birdseye for vegetables! I do, however, claim as my very own 
intellectual property the characters created for this series by me 
(such as the Sons of the Golden Kingdom, the S’Eyre, their Imperium 
and the way I have Gates work in my twisted, little universe). Please
ask permission if you’d like to borrow them for a story of your own. 


************************
“The Quest”
  
 by Meara

Chapter Five

I will get everything that I want.  Everything…” Prince Demando, 
episode 74.

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

In the very center of Elysion was a grove that was being used by 
Setsuna to, temporarily at least, house a set of portals specifically
created for the Timegate. Searching through the tides of time 
required that one end of her Gate be kept open, a dangerous practice 
under any circumstances. This place with its ancient and formidable 
wards was perfect for the task. It was also well away from prying 
eyes.  The ability to travel through time was the most closely 
guarded secret of the Moon Kingdom. That was the one constant that 
had never changed through the years.  

Luna and Artemis had been dispatched to the past to scout out the 
area that Setsuna said Minako was in. The rest of them waited in the 
grove. Usagi was withdrawn this morning and quiet enough to worry 
Mamoru. Her aborted attempt to go into the Balance had left her with 
a nasty headache and, worse yet, nagging doubts about her ability to 
use the Ginzuishou. Since the silver crystal reacted as much to 
Usagi’s emotional state as to her mind, it could very quickly turn 
into a self-fulfilling prophecy. Mamoru knew his wife well enough to 
realize that there was only one possible way to deal with her current 
mood. Distract her until it passed. To that end he unobtrusively 
pushed the tray with what looked suspiciously like chocolate biscotti
on it a little closer to Usagi. The Prince of Earth didn’t know and, 
frankly right now, didn’t care how Helios had managed to come up with 
the delicacies. He simply blessed his guardian priest and made good 
use of the gift.  

“My mother’s people, the S’Eyre, call it ‘the walls between worlds’,” 
Setsuna started out in an attempt to explain the strange phenomenon 
they’d witnessed when she opened her Gate yesterday. “Simply put, 
it’s other realities trying to leak through into ours. Remember what
I said about bad things happening when two Gates try to open in the 
same place at the same time? Well, that’s one of them – a biggie. 
Stepping into an alternate reality and getting stuck there could 
have disastrous consequences.”

“There are schools of temporal theories that say every time we make 
a decision, no matter how small, a new time line is formed around it.  
That ghosting effect with the other portals into different universes
 might add validity to those hypotheses,” Ami reached out and took one
of the delicate confections. With a cup of good coffee in one hand, a 
biscotti in the other and temporal theories to expound on, life was good.  

Rei gave a snort, deciding against dunking the chocolate cookie in 
her green tea. “So the fate of our reality hinges on whether or not I 
buy carrots at the market?”

“Think about it,” Ami was in philosophical paradise. “You decide to 
buy frozen green beans instead of fresh carrots. On the way home the 
green beans thaw, and causes a hole in your paper bag. The bag breaks
and you pause to pick up the groceries now strewn on the sidewalk. 
Because you do pause, you cross the street a few seconds later than 
you would have had the bag not broken. A car runs the light and had 
you been crossing the street, you’d have been struck. Do you see where
I’m going with this?”

“Frozen vegetables are evil?” Usagi ventured lightly, finally joining 
the conversation. She took a bite of the biscotti, savoring the way 
the rich, smooth chocolate blended perfectly with the taste of the 
coffee in her mouth.  

“We can influence the way the future unfolds,” the magnitude of the 
implications were not lost on Mamoru. “But does the knowledge we have 
give us the right to change things to our liking?”

“You know,” Ami looked thoughtful. “We never did find out how Demando 
was able to travel to the 20th century. Also, the way Rubeus 
introduced himself to us gives me the impression that he’d never met 
us before. That makes me wonder if, although we know him from our 
past and our future too, he’s meeting us for the first time.”

“This is making my head hurt to think about,” Rei took a bite of the 
biscotti and a sip of her tea. “I mean, the future we saw has to 
happen because we know it’s there. For Kami’s sake, we traveled to 
it.”

Setsuna grimaced. “Not necessarily. It’s possible that we’re creating
a new, separate timeline; that the future you saw will not come about
for us. It’s also possible that nothing short of death can change the 
way the future will unfold. We just don’t know. That’s why mucking 
around in the past is so appallingly dangerous.” 

“If there’s one thing I’ve learned over the years,” Haruka said 
dryly. “It’s that fate does not like to be screwed around with. The
more you try to fix things, the worse they get.”

“Not unlike your motorcycle,” Michiru teased her life-mate.

For a man who only looked to be in his early teens, Helios had an 
air of wisdom that was hard to ignore. “Not quite the way I’d have 
put it, but I essentially agree with you, Lady Uranus. There is a 
pattern to creation, a greater plan that none of us can truly 
comprehend. The mysteries of that plan mean that things will happen
a certain way no matter how we try to change them. Some call that 
destiny, some call it fate.”

“Some call it a pain in the butt,” Haruka grumbled.

“What I want to know,” Usagi sounded frustrated, “is why whenever we 
solve one mystery three more pop up to take its place? I’ve got the 
Grail inside me, which is no surprise since we knew before we went 
into suspension that Hotaru had given it to me. But why is the thing 
sealed and why did it show up when I tried to use the Ginzuishou to 
go into the Balance?”

“That’s only two questions,” Rei poured herself more tea. She wasn’t 
about to let Usagi sink into melancholy. “So what’s the third?”

“Why is my hair blonde again?” Usagi took a handful of her silken 
tresses, letting them fall through her fingers. “It was silver when 
Earth went into the cold sleep. It’s blonde again and every time I 
see myself in the mirror it creeps me out!”

“It’s a reflection of the changes that have occurred in the 
Ginzuishou.” The voice was carried on the breeze and seemed to be 
everywhere at once.  

Selene, one time Queen of the Moon Kingdom, partially materialized 
into view. Her body was not quite solid, shifting and flowing as it 
was subjected to the mystic winds that had carried her here. She 
bestowed a tender smile on her daughter and son-in-law.

“Hello Serenity, Endymion,” Selene turned to look at the other Senshi 
gathered around, “It’s so good to see all of you, my dear ones.” 
Helios went to one knee, his head bowed. “Please Helios, don’t kneel. 
I haven’t been a queen in a very long time.”

There was reverence in his voice but, as Helios lifted his head, a 
mischievous light in his eyes. “I bow not you, Lady, but to the One 
who’s light you carry.”

“Well said young Priest, “Selene smiled. “Endymion, when my 
granddaughter is old enough to date you’d best watch out for this 
one. He could charm the birds right out of their trees.”

“Mother, I tried to go into the Balance but I couldn’t,” Usagi
blurted out. “What did I do wrong?”

“You didn’t do anything wrong. The problem is more basic.” Selene 
motioned with her hands and an image of Earth floated before them 
all. “Working together, you and Endymion have healed this world but
to accomplish this miracle, the power drain on the Ginzuishou was 
substantial. It may take decades before you’re able to use the 
crystal’s greater magics, such as the Balance.”

Usagi’s face went pale, Mamoru noticed, as if this was what she had 
feared all along. “Then how can the spell of crystal sleep be 
broken?” he asked, slipping a supportive arm around his wife.

The Earth disappeared, replaced by the ghostly outline of the Grail.  
“Millennia ago, when my ancestors first harnessed their power and set
it in the Ginzuishou, the vessel you call the Grail was used to house 
it. This sacred cup has retained the residual energies from that 

time. By combining the two, you should be able to achieve the Balance 
and awaken humanity.”

“If I need it, then why is it sealed?” Usagi called out in 
frustration.

“Unlike the Ginzuishou, which needs a member of the Lunar bloodline 
to properly work, the Grail’s mystic energies can be used by anyone.  
The seal was put in place to make sure that only you can harness its
might. Once you have gathered all nine of the soldiers of this solar 
system together, they can break the Seal and you can access the 
Grail’s power.”

Rei couldn’t stay silent any longer. “Excuse me, but we still have a 
problem.  Mercury, Venus, Moon, Mars,” she began to tick the names 
off using her fingers to count as she went, “Jupiter, Neptune, Uranus
and Pluto. That’s only eight. With Saturn gone we don’t have nine 
soldiers in this solar system anymore.”

The soft laugh that came from Ami caused everyone to look at her.  
“Yes, we do. People seem to forget it, but Mamoru is the Soldier of 
Earth. After all, he carries Earth’s star seed, the Golden Crystal.”

“Please listen to me. I can’t stay here much longer like this.  
Serenity, to harness the energies of both the Ginzuishou and the 
Grail you must allow yourself to truly become the Keeper of the 
Balance, the one who forges a single power out of many sources. The 
awesome power of the Balance was meant as a tool of last resort. In 
having to achieve it this way, there may be no controlling it. Be 
careful that it does not consume you, Serenity.” Selene was all ready 
starting to fade away. “This is a dangerous time for you my precious 
child, for all of you. The re-emergence of the Ginzuishou has not 
gone un-noticed. The Darkness is rising. It covets the Light, seeks 
to control it but the very power it wants so badly is a two edged
sword. In it lies the potential for both salvation and ruin.” 
 
Her spectral body was carried away on the wind, but her last warning 
remained, echoing through the minds and hearts of all present.  

“The future will come, but what shape it will take is up to all of 
you. Choose your path wisely.”  

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

While the official histories of the people who now called themselves
the Black Moon Clan had plenty to say about the man who they believed 
was at the root of their misery, Endymion, they barely touched on 
Serenity.  She was his wife, all the tomes agreed; beautiful, 
powerful and completely under his spell. The impression given by all
the tales was that Serenity was Endymion’s enthralled toy, blinded by 
her love for him to the fact that she was little more than a pawn 
used to keep the throne of Earth in his traitorous hands. The opinion
of the Elders of the Clan concerning women had never been very good 
to begin with. They considered Serenity to be just another one of 
Endymion’s tools and like most females, not a very bright tool. 
Demando suspected there was much more to it than that.  

The White Prince sat in an overstuffed chair that while very 
comfortable had seen much better days. He had a book in his lap, his 
feet resting on an equally shabby looking ottoman and his eyes were 
distant. Demando liked this quiet, private corner of his suites. A 
piece of the Jakozuishou ran up one wall of the room and like a pillar
of black fire it roiled, the lights within it constantly shifting and 
swirling. He took a deep breath as he contemplated the power, feeling 
it echo inside him. There was the very real sense that the crystal 
was somehow sentient, waiting patiently for the White Prince to call 
on 
its limitless power.

The only lasting effect from his attempt to channel Serenity’s power 
directly into himself was a nagging headache and an even more nagging 
question. Just what was the source of the power that the Neo-Queen of 
Earth controlled? His desire to get some answers had led him to his 
mother’s journals. He’d been careful to keep and preserve them after 
her death, as if he could keep a part of her with him through her 
writings. The Lady Amethyst was held up as the model of what all good 
women of the Clan should be; obedient, beautiful and totally 
subservient to the wishes of the men in her life. Demando also knew 
that for all her public docility she’d had a clever mind. He’d 
inherited it after all as had Saffir. His mother saw things that 
others missed. Her journal had been the one place she wrote it all 
down. While the male Elders of the people once called the Sons of the 
Golden Kingdom focused only on Endymion and his betrayal, Amethyst 
had looked beyond that.   

According to his mother the power Serenity controlled was called by 
several of names. The Devils’ Stone, the Stone of Illusions and the 
Silver Crystal being the most oft mentioned. It had been Serenity, 
not Endymion, who had awakened Earth from the Great Sleep; a fact 
glossed over by the official histories of the Black Moon Clan. 
Amethyst carefully put down all of the facts and credible rumors that 
she’d heard about the Silver Crystal. Serenity had been said to seal 
away demons with it, battle extraterrestrials and even once stop an 
asteroid from slamming into the Earth. That spoke of a greater power 
than the Elders were willing to credit the Neo-Queen of Earth with. 
Endymion was able to channel mystic energy, take it and shape it to 
his will. How much, Demando now wondered, of that man’s power came 
not from the Golden Crystal but from Serenity?

So deep in thought was Demando that he never noticed the passing of
time and the fatigue that overtook him. The eyes closed to think 
became shut by sleep, instead. Everything he’d read along with his
own ideas came together in his slumbering mind and the White Prince 
began to dream.

A part of him knew that this was a dream but the other part didn’t 
care.  He had his foot on a prone Endymion’s chest and looked down at 
his hated rival with a predatory smile.  The fear in the Neo-King’s 
eyes made Demando’s heart sing. This was what the White Prince had 
been born to do. From his earliest days, the need to take back Earth 
and punish Endymion had been meticulously drilled into him. He was 
the instrument of revenge for all that his ancestors had suffered 
over the course of a thousand years. That long awaited vengeance was 
finally at hand and Demando intended to savor it.


<Do it> a voice in his dream hissed, <Show Endymion your power. Make
him see how weak he really his. Take back what he stole from you!>

“I am everything you should have been Endymion and so much more. I am 
the True Prince, the Hope of a Thousand Years, the rightful King of 
Earth!” Demando snarled. The power of the Jakozuishou ran through his 
body. “And as such, I claim what is mine by right!” 

A blast of ebony lightning lanced into the body of Endymion and he 
gave a short, shriek of mortal agony. It was over too fast and the 
smoking body of the Ex-King lay sprawled at the White Prince’s feet. 
Even above the smell of charred flesh came the scent of roses. 
Startled, Demando turned and saw her.

Serenity, her hands clasped to her bosom, demurely stood a few feet 
away from him. “You killed him,” she whispered to the White Prince,
her voice soft with trepidation.

A single stride took Demando to her. He reached out and with a 
gentleness that surprised him, cupped her chin. “But I won’t hurt 
you, my Angel. Don’t be afraid.”  

She raised those incredible, blue eyes and looked shyly at him 
through thick lashes. “I’m not afraid of you…Demando. What are you 
going to do with me?”

The voice in Demando’s dream was subtle, the hissing voice was never 
raised beyond persistent whisper. <Everything that Endymion possessed
is now yours. Take her!>

Serenity’s skin was like silk beneath his hands and her sunshine hair 
scented with the delicate fragrance of damask roses. The White Prince 
pulled her into his arms, tilting her head up. “I told Endymion that 
I’d have everything that was his. His throne, his world,” he paused 
before lowering his lips to capture hers, “his wife.”

Serenity returned the kiss with a burning passion that Demando had 
somehow known she’d possess. Her arms ran up and down his back with 
growing ardor as he let his lips explore her neck, move down onto her 
willing body.

“Demando…” she moaned his name, making his own passion rise even 
higher.

“Demando, please…” the longing for him in her voice filled a primal 
need within the White Prince. He wanted to savor this moment and make
it last forever.

“Demando, please wake up!” Serenity’s voice seemed to drop by about 
an octave.

The White Prince nearly fell out of the chair he’d been asleep on.  
His purple eyes blinked, the last images of the dream still playing 
in his mind. “S…S…” he stumbled over her name, suddenly realizing 
that it wasn’t the flaxen haired Neo-Queen who stood over him.  “S…
Saffir?”

“You were moaning in your sleep,” a lock of raven hair fell across 
Saffir’s eyes as he leaned over his brother and he brushed it away.  
“Are you all right?”

You mean other than the fact that I need a really cold shower right 
about now? Demando thought collecting himself. “I’m fine. It was a 
dream, nothing more. What’s happening?” He rubbed the sleep out of 
his eyes. 

There was a look on Saffir’s face that said that he wanted to ask 
just what was really going on with his brother. After a tiny pause, 
the younger man decided that, perhaps, now was not the time to indulge
his curiosity. There were other, more important, matters to attend 
to.

“Everything is ready to go, just as you ordered. I brought a dozen 
of the new model droids into service, somewhat prematurely but I 
think they’ll do what you wish of them without too much trouble. 
Rubeus is ready to go as well. I can’t vouch for how much trouble 
he’ll give you, however.”

With a long, feline stretch the White Prince rose. He went to the 
vein of crystal in the wall, running his hands over it lightly. The 
roiling energies pulsed at his touch, deep greens and purple high-
lights swirling in place.  

“Very good,” Demando all but purred. Had his dream been an omen of 
success, he wondered? “I can always count on you Saffir. You’ve never 
let me down. That’s why I want you with me when I strike. As for 
Rubeus,” a sly smile crept across Demando’s face. He was well aware 
of how self important Rubeus was feeling these days. “Despite his 
high opinion of himself, Rubeus is just another tool for me to use 
as
I see fit.”

He let the ebony fire run through him, careful not to open himself 
too much to the Jakozuishou lest he become lost in its intoxicating 
song.  “With a single move I’m going to cripple Endymion both 
strategically and emotionally, Saffir. Once I have her, I’m going to 
make Serenity mine in every way. Having her at my side when I finally 
kill Endymion, the pain on his face as he sees that I’ve won her, will
only make the moment all that much sweeter.”


“You know that might not be quite as simple as you make it sound,” 
Saffir said almost hesitantly. He was the only one who could tell 
Demando truths he sometimes didn’t want to hear. It wasn’t always an 
easy thing.  He tried to choose a way to say what he wanted without 
hurting his brother. “Your plan is to show up and take Serenity with 
you whether or not she wants to go. That doesn’t strike me as the way
to win a woman’s heart. The enchantment Endymion has her under has 
got to be pretty powerful. All of her behavior makes it seem as if 
she really does love the man. I can’t see her taking her ‘liberation’ 
from him very well.”

A wicked smile came to the handsome face of the White Prince. “Then 
once I have her back here, I’ll just have to make Serenity love me 
more than him. Come now, Saffir. Have you ever known me to be unable
to charm a woman into doing what I want?”

He had a point, Saffir had to admit. “Well, no…”

There wasn’t a woman on Nemesis who wouldn’t willingly fall into 
Demando’s arms – or his bed. On rare occasions a girl might put up a 
small, almost token resistance, and it only whetted Demando’s 
appetite further. Saffir found himself hoping that Serenity would 
indeed fall to his brother’s overwhelming charms and quickly. There 
was nothing Demando wanted more than something he couldn’t have. 

Striding out of the room, Demando called back over his shoulder. 
“Then let’s go little brother. Our ancestors suffered for a thousand 
years, keeping our bloodlines pure while having to pass themselves 
off as those mongrels that now inhabit Earth, all just to be ready 
when the True Prince came once more. Endymion betrayed them and then 
exiled them to this cold, dark world. I think it’s time he was the 
one who did the suffering for a change.”

Neither of the two men noticed that the ebony fires in the vein of 
black crystal embedded in the wall suddenly burned brighter. From 
inside the stone came two pin-points of light, like eyes in the 
night. For an instant there was the ghostly impression of a figure 
deep within the heart of the giant crystal. 

“Indeed, little Prince, the time to act has come at last,” the voice 
that echoed harshly in the room held the harsh and grating tones of 
rock being dragged against rock. “Bring the power of the stone of 
illusions to Nemesis.”

Dark, ethereal hands pressed against the crystal prison that trapped 
him. “Bring me Serenity so that I may be free once more.”

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

It was all a jumble in her mind, a confusing blur of sights and 
sounds that only made her head spin. The people she passed glanced 
with curiosity at the woman in the sailor fuku, wondering if she was 
part of some new marketing campaign. The citizens of Tokyo were long 
used to the excesses to which businesses would go to hawk their wares 
and she was left to amble through the gardens unmolested. 

How long she wandered aimlessly, the young woman with the golden hair 
wasn’t sure. She simply kept putting one foot in front of the other 
until her shoe snagged in the tangle of vines hidden amongst the other
wise manicured greenery, caused her to fall to her hands and 
knees.  The jarring bump made her close her eyes for a moment to try 
and collect herself enough to think straight. 

Venus, yes that’s who she was, Sailor Venus. The small revelation 
cheered her considerably. Sky blue eyes snapped open, the fog in them 
abating somewhat. She was Venus, Leader of the Senshi who guarded the 
Princess of the Silver Millennium. Now that she was reasonably sure 
who she was, the next burning question was where was she? The answer 
came on the breeze that carried with it the hauntingly familiar scent
of flowers and sun-warmed grass. She was on Earth.  That idea alarmed
Sailor Venus more than a little. Her mind was very confused and she 
wasn’t sure of much, but Venus did know that Earth was forbidden to 
those of the Moon Kingdom. Why was she here? 

“Serenity,” Sailor Venus mumbled still on her hands and knees, 
“Serenity…”

The information exploded in her scattered mind like fireworks in the 
night. She was here because she’d followed Princess Serenity when 
the girl had snuck off to see the Earth Prince, Endymion, again. Her 
ability to think was limited by the physical state of her body, but 
Venus knew that Serenity being here with the Prince of Earth was not 
a good thing. That concern would have to wait and Sailor Venus 
stumbled to her feet. Right now her obligation was to Serenity. As 
Leader of the Princess’s guardians, Venus knew her duty. She would 
wait here, patiently, until Serenity was finished “visiting” with 
Endymion. Then she’d haul her Princess’s royal butt back to the Moon
and have a few words with her. 

Venus ignored the obvious signs that this was not the Golden Kingdom, 
such as the airplane flying overhead and the din raised by a harried 
man as he shouted into his cell phone. Her mind was simply incapable 
of handling the confusing barrage of sights and sounds around her. 
Without realizing it, her mind drifted into a dream-like state, not 
really asleep, but not truly awake. Instinct more than rational 
thought made her melt away into a quiet corner of the park, a small, 
secluded glen well away from the beaten path. At last in a place that
gave her the quiet she so desperately needed, Sailor Venus stationed
herself under the shady canopy of an old tree and settled in to wait 
for her Princess.

Her eyes grew distant, her mind turning ever more inward. A faint 
halo enveloped the unmoving form of Sailor Venus. It quickly raced up 
her body, causing her long, blonde hair to lift gently and move in 
the mystic wind. The sign of Venus shone brightly on her forehead 
before the light dwindled away.

“Serenity,” she called out. Unable to fight the exhaustion she was 
feeling Venus let her mind drift into a dream like trance. 
“Serenity…”

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

“This waiting is making me nuts,” Usagi said, annoyed.  She walked in 
a circle around the beautiful courtyard they were in, her nerves not 
allowing her to sit still for very long. “We should have gone with 
the others.” 

Mamoru smiled where he sat watching her. Of the two of them he had 
always been the more patient. “If Minako needs to be healed before 
she can be moved through Setsuna’s Gate, then they’ll come and get 
you.  I know you don’t like this but we only want to keep you safe.”


“Safe? Safe from what - dangerous crowds of harried housewives? A 
threatening horde of school girls heading for the mall? The 
unspeakable horrors of rush hour?” Usagi threw up her hands and 
rolled her eyes. “We’ve faced more dangerous enemies than the traffic 
in Tokyo of the past.”

That remark made Mamoru narrow his ocean blue eyes. “The danger I’m 
worried about has to do with a certain Prince from Nemesis and his 
nasty habit of showing up wherever we go. I’m not sure just what it 
is the man is really after, but it can’t be anything good.”

Usagi never stopped her nervous walking, but did give her husband a
look of disbelief. “Demando isn’t evil Mamo-chan; misguided and a 
little impulsive, yes, but not truly evil.”

Mamoru had a flash of memory from the battle yesterday. He could see 
the White Prince, rage distorting his features. The words Demando had 
snarled were both a threat and promise. 

“I take back what I just said,” Mamoru grumbled. “I know a part of 
what Demando’s after – you.  Did I tell you what he said to me? ‘You
are going to suffer long and slowly, Endymion; die a little at a time. 
You’re going to watch as I take your life apart piece by piece and 
make it mine - starting with her.’ After a speech like that how could
I have possibly mistaken Demando for some misanthropic megalomaniac? 
He’s not evil, just misunderstood.” The Prince of Earth was 
frustrated by the unanswered and frightening questions Demando’s 
repeated appearances left him with. His voice never rose in pitch, 
but Usagi could sense the simmering anger behind the words. 

“Mamo-chan, haven’t you wondered why?” With a sigh, she finally sat 
down beside her husband, taking his hands in hers. “Why is it that 
Demando so set on revenge? There’s got be a reason for the way he’s 
acting. Once we find out what it is, we can fix things and make them 
right.”

The simplicity, the way Usagi cut through everything else and saw the 
core issues made Mamoru pause. This was her gift, he knew, the 
ability to see into a person’s soul and more; to find the potential 
for good in them. That strength was also a weakness that made Usagi 
vulnerable. If someone like the White Prince knew Usagi’s penchant 
for trying to see the good in people, he could very easily manipulate 
her. That thought frightened Mamoru. 

“I’m not sure that’s possible,” Mamoru finally said. “Demando seems 
to be blinded to anything but his need for vengeance. He may not want 
to see past his own hates.”

“Demando was,” she paused shaking her head in a slightly confused 
fashion, “Or will be lied to and manipulated by Wiseman.  In the last 
moments of his life he saw that there was the possibility of peace 
between Earth and Nemesis after all.  I believe that he was basically 
a good person who got caught up in events that spiraled out his 
control.” 

Her cerulean eyes looked into her husband’s, bright and shining with 
hope. “But we can change all that this time.  We know about the 
future and we can change it so that Demando doesn’t think that war 
with Earth is the only way out. We can save so many lives, stop so 
much suffering before it even happens!”

“Change the future,” Mamoru only shook his head. “Do we have the 
right to do that? How do we know that by trying to stop the war with 
the Black Moon Clan we don’t end up making things worse in the end?”

“How could anything be worse than the death and destruction we saw 
when Chibi-Usa took us to Crystal Tokyo?” Usagi sounded almost 
desperate. “How can we not try to stop that carnage?”

Taking a deep breath, Mamoru took her hands in his. “We’ve talked 
about this, Usako. I know you,” he smiled gently at her, “I know that 
more than anything you want to avoid a fight with the Black Moon Clan 
and the suffering that will bring.  

“Is that so awful?” Crystal blue eyes begged him to deny the truth 
she’d always known but still resisted.

“Our power and our fore-knowledge doesn’t give us the right to play 
God. We’re talking about affecting the course of two worlds, Earth 
and Nemesis, about changing the way countless lives play out. I don’t 
want that kind of responsibility and I don’t think you really do 
either.” Mamoru let a hand caress her cheek, as if to take some of 
the sting out the words he’d just spoken.

“Mamo-chan…” Usagi started slowly. 

“I’m sorry to interrupt,” came a lilting female voice.  Rei walked 
into the courtyard with Ami, Luna bounding ahead of the two. She 
seemed embarrassed at having caught them in what was obviously a very 
private conversation. “But things have gotten somewhat …complicated.”

“You couldn’t find Minako-chan?” Usagi said, her voice laced with 
uncertainty.  “But Setsuna told us she’d located when and where she 
was, the time of the Dead Moon Circus, right?”

The ebony tail of the tiny cat was swishing back and forth in 
agitation. “Oh it’s the correct time period, all right.” Luna sighed
heavily as she jumped up into Usagi’s lap.  Letting the Queen of the 
Moon Kingdom pet her into a blissful coma sounded really good after 
the morning she’d just had. “Things got a little complicated, however.  
We didn’t find Minako.  We found Sailor Venus.”

“But Minako-chan is Sailor Venus,” Usagi said, confused.

Ami gave her a weary smile. “Not right now she isn’t.”

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

In the sparkling, polished glass of the Aqua Mirror two women could
be seen. The first was Sailor Venus. The Soldier of Love stood 
proudly, her eyes fixed on a distant point. A closer look showed a 
second, fainter image of a sleeping Aino Minako ghosted just below 
the first. “Look at her fuku,” Michiru said softly to the cat beside 
her. She crouched down to pet him as she spoke. 

Just as with both Rei and Ami, the long bow in the back and 
transparent sleeves were gone from Sailor Venus. She looked much the 
same as she had when she’d first taken on the mantle of the Soldier 
of Love. There was no denying the subtle power that the unmoving 
Senshi still radiated.

“I suspect that it’s just as Ami said,” Artemis allowed Michiru to 
run her hands across his snowy coat in a soothing fashion. He wasn’t 
sure if she was trying to calm her own nerves, or his. “Every thing 

non-essential was burned away during the Spell of Crystal Sleep. 
Minako is who she was meant to be; Venus pure and simple.”

As if reacting to the name, the young woman with the golden hair 
threw her head back and let her eyes slip closed. The stillness of 
the afternoon was broken by the faint, eldritch breeze that began to 
move. It ruffled Venus’s skirt, played with her hair as it danced up
and around her body. A subtle glow appeared, joining with the mystic 
winds that moved around the Senshi of Venus.

“She’s going to do it again,” Haruka grumbled from where she sat on a 
nearby bench.

Sure enough the faint glow didn’t abate. It began to pulse steadily, 
as if beating in time with Minako’s heart. It raced around her body, 
swirling in a photoelectric ballet that crested when the light 
reached her head. 

“Serenity,” Minako called out plaintively, her arms opened wide in 
appeal. “Serenity…” The sigil of Venus appeared on Minako’s brow, 
burning brightly for an instant before the winds and the power 
carried on it, died away. 

Haruka folded her arms across her chest and sighed unhappily. “What 
is taking everyone so long to bring Usagi and Mamoru here? Minako 
can’t keep doing her imitation of a lighthouse much longer before 
people are going to start to notice.”

“Why didn’t her henshin break like the others?” Michiru asked, 
looking deeply into the Mirror once more. “And why is she Sailor 
Venus of the Moon Kingdom and not Aino Minako?”

“Well, all of you do have memories from two lifetimes floating 
around inside your heads, you know. Both Usagi and Mamoru shifted into 
Serenity and Endymion after the accident. Maybe Minako was dreaming 
of the Silver Millennium when the spell of crystal sleep was 
shattered.” Artemis paused, round feline eyes suddenly full of 
compassion as he looked at Minako. “Maybe it’s because her life as 
Aino Minako wasn’t as happy as her life as the Princess of Venus a 
thousand years before. Who among us wouldn’t want to forget the bad 
times if we could?”

The slender and skilled fingers of a concert violinist played with 
the snow white coat in an attempt to soothe. “It’s the hard times 
that make us grow, Artemis. You should know that better than any of 
us. Sailor V fought alone but it made her strong enough to lead the 
Inner Senshi when the time came, ne?”

The exchange between Michiru and Artemis was soft enough that, from 
the bench, Haruka really couldn’t hear it but it didn’t matter to her. 
The sun was pleasantly warm and the breeze sweet. The last few days 
have been very rough on all of them and Haruka was tired. She closed 
her eyes for a moment, letting the peace and quiet of the garden ease 
her mind. She only wished it was as easy to alleviate the tension in 
her body.

After a moment warm hands slipped onto her shoulders and began to 
massage them gently. A decadent sigh escaped Haruka’s lips and she 
smiled with delight at having some of the knots in her muscles worked 
out. “That feels wonderful, love.”

“I’m so glad you’re enjoying it.” Michiru’s voice was sharp with 
annoyance, Haruka noted, and it was coming from in front of her. 

One eye cracked open to see Michiru still petting Artemis. If her 
life-mate was across the glen then who was rubbing her shoulders? 
Slowly the blonde tilted her head back until she saw who it was. 
Long, blue hair pulled back into a ponytail that ran halfway down his 
back, Fisheye gave Haruka a mischievous grin.

“If you were my boy friend then I’d never leave you sitting on a park
bench all alone in such a romantic setting, like she does,” the 
minion of the Dark Moon Circus cooed. This person looked so much more interesting than the artist Zirconia had sent her to investigate – 
and cuter, too! The man who drew fairies could wait a few minutes. 

“Hello, do I know you?” Haruka asked in a bemused voice. 

Fisheye gave Michiru a cursory glance and looked once at the strange 
woman in the Venus costume. The blonde didn’t seem to notice the 
smallest of the Amazon Trio at all, just kept staring off into space.  
Satisfied that she was nothing more than another one of those space-
case, Sailor Senshi wannabe’s that occasionally popped up in Tokyo, 
Fisheye gave a coy giggle and settled comfortably against a flustered
Haruka. 

“Forget about her,” he nodded in Michiru’s direction. “I could be so 
much better for you, handsome boy. Let me prove it to you.”

Before Haruka could protest Fisheye leaned into a deep and passionate 
kiss. The dainty tool of evil slipped his arms around Haruka and 
pulled her close. As Fisheye rubbed himself against Haruka a mutually 
shocking discovery was made.

Fisheye pulled away from Haruka as if he’d been burned. “You’re a 
woman!” 

“And you’re not,” Haruka gave a shudder of disgust as she realized 
that she’d just been kissed by a man. She made a gagging noise and 
shoved the still gaping Fisheye from her lap. The blue haired she-
male tumbled to the ground with a cry of indignation, taking Haruka 
with him. That Haruka could hear Michiru laughing at her predicament 
did not help her any. “This isn’t funny!”

“On the contrary, this is turning out to be very amusing,” Michiru 
replied, bringing a hand up to her mouth to try and stifle the 
laughter. 

“Don’t you laugh at me,” Fisheye was furious and embarrassed by 
turns. ”I’m not used to being made a fool of like this!” 

“Really? So, how do you usually make a fool of yourself?” Michiru 
gave her “rival” a look of scorn. She was going to teach this hussy 
a lesson. “May I suggest that if you’re going to keep kissing total 
strangers than being considered a fool is an idea that you should get comfortable with.”

“I am Fisheye of the Amazon Trio and no one plays tricks on me.” The 
delicate man snapped his fingers once. A curtain appeared out of thin 
air and unrolled. It snapped back up and disappeared an instant 
later. Gone was the dress and in its place was Fisheye’s usual, blue 
body suit. If he expected his sudden transformation to inspire fear 
or awe, he was about to be disappointed yet again.

“Oh dear…latex is not a good look for you,” Michiru clucked her 
tongue in elegant disgust. “And who’s your fashion designer, the 
Michelin Man?” 

The eyes of the smallest of the Amazon Trio were hard and cold. He 
glanced once, dismissively, at Michiru then looked down at the still 
prone and very confused Haruka. He snapped his fingers. “I’ll bet 
that your dreams are very interesting.  I think I’ll just have a look 
into them. One…”

Haruka found herself being lifted abruptly from the ground by 
something hard and flat. “What the hell…?”

“Two…”

The tall blonde blinked in surprise as she was shackled in place by
cold metal cuffs at the wrists and ankles. The contraption she was 
bound to was pulling her energy from her. Haruka found that she 
couldn’t concentrate enough to call her henshin wand.

“Th…” Before he could finish the incantation that would rip a part of 
Haruka’s soul out of her, Artemis launched himself at Fisheye with a 
feline growl. The delicate man stumbled backwards and shrieked in 
panic, his phobia about cats taking hold of him. Artemis raked his 
very sharp claws across Fisheye’s forehead, opening a pair of deep 
gouges.

“Aarrgghh!” with a high pitched scream of both fear and pain the 
smallest of the Amazon Trio grabbed the white cat and flung him away
as hard as he could. “Getoffmegetoffmegetoffme!”

Thin trickles of blood were running into his eyes and the inky but 
ineffectual minion of the Dark Moon Circus was blinded by it for a 
moment. He ran one hand across his face, blinking to clear his 
vision. When at last he could see again he was in for a surprise.

Standing before him was a woman in the fuku of a soldier of the White 
Moon Kingdom. “My guardian world is the planet with the sea of sand. 
I am the Soldier of Embrace!”

Like the creature he was named for, all Fisheye could do was gape a 
growing sense of shock that was compounded when a white rose whistled
by his head. It sank into the board that was holding Haruka. A burst 
of golden fire came from it, the magics of Earth disrupting the spell
of imprisonment that held Haruka. The shackles shattered with a loud 
crack and the tall, lanky blonde tumbled to the ground.

“My guardian planet floats in time and space,” said Setsuna from 
beside Tuxedo Kamen. “I am the Soldier with the blessings of the 
underworld!"

“I burn with the desire for justice,” Rei declared, leaping into join 
the small, but growing, group surrounding Fisheye. “The Soldier of 
Fire, Sailor Mars is here!”

Completing the box that now trapped the small man in the rubber suit, 
Ami now appeared. “I am the Soldier of Wisdom. Sailor Mercury will 
cool your head with the power of water!”

The Senshi did know how to make an entrance, Mamoru had to admit. 
“The dreams of a loving heart are precious. I, Tuxedo Kamen, will not 
allow you to violate them!” His entrances however, he mused 
unhappily, still needed some work.

There were Senshi to the right of Fisheye, Senshi to the left of him
and that really annoying (but very cute in those tight trousers 
Fisheye couldn’t help but notice) masked man who fought with the 
Sailor Soldiers, all looking for a fight. It was then that the 
smallest of the Amazon Trio decided that someone who drew fairies 
sounded like a much better target than the stunned blonde on the 
ground. He made a strange motion over his head with his hands and a 
hole in the fabric of reality opened up above him. 

“I am Fisheye of the Amazon Trio and I am totally out of here,” he
moaned loudly, leaping with amazing agility up and into the watery 
circle he’d summoned. 

The flames that had briefly wreathed Rei’s hands died away as she let 
the power of Mars withdraw back into her body. Her eyes were riveted 
on the unmoving form of Sailor Venus. “I don’t suppose someone would 
like to tell me what this was all about?”

Haruka was getting to her feet and she blushed hotly, sensing 
Neptune’s eyes on her. Michiru was not going to let her forget this 
little episode any time soon. “Actually no, that wouldn’t be my first 
choice.”

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


She was a vision in that white gown. One that Demando enjoyed 
watching. The way the dress shimmered to life then flowed over her 
frame as it replaced the more mundane clothing she wore was 
enthralling. There was an instant between one step and the next when 
he caught a tantalizing glimpse of her naked body. But Serenity’s 
beauty alone wasn’t what held the interest of the White Prince. As 
the undisputed ruler of the Black Moon Clan he had his pick of 
desirable women. The fascination for the queen of Earth was two fold. 
First there was the power she radiated; that brilliant shining energy 
that fed the source of Demando’s power, the Jakozuishou. Second, and 
for Demando, the most important, was the look on Endymion’s face as he 
watched Serenity. That the Neo-King held his Queen so foolishly close 
to his heart made the desire to take her from him even more 
compelling for the White Prince. The pain Serenity’s loss would cause 
Endymion would be almost as sweet as the pleasure Demando would take 
in the moment of her inevitable surrender to his charms.

“Now, my Prince?” came the anxious voice of Crimson Rubeus. He, too, 
looked at the group on the other side of the portal with hungry eyes.
“With the amount of droids we have we can take them all easily.”

The lust driving Rubeus was for the power and recognition that a 
defeat of the Senshi would gain him. The slights and scorn he had 
endured as the love child of a nobleman’s mistress made him bitter. 
Rubeus was driven by the compulsion to prove that he was better than 
anyone else around him and by the need for revenge. Once Crimson 
Rubeus had the power and status he longed for, he’d make those who 
had tormented him as a boy pay dearly. Those dreams vengeance made 
his eyes shine brightly with anticipation.

Demando had to suppress a smile at the look on the face of the feral
man with the red hair. He knew exactly what drove Rubeus and although 
he’d never admit it to Saffir, he felt some sympathy for the man. For 
all his lofty title, Demando was also a child born outside the bonds 
of matrimony. His mother had, in a last desperate act decreed by the 
Elders, allowed herself to be impregnated in order that his people 
might have the True Prince they so longed for. 

“Patience Rubeus,” Demando said, carefully watching Endymion. The 
look on his rival’s face as he watched Serenity use her power spoke 
of a man who knew the value of the treasure he possessed. Her loss 
was going to hurt Endymion a great deal and Demando found that 
thought satisfying.

Serenity was encased in a soft, silver glow and she gently reached 
out to touch the unmoving woman in the fuku. The White Prince looked 
at the others in the glen and noticed that Endymion had, as 
anticipated, stepped back from his Queen as she used her power. This 
was the moment that Demando had been waiting for. He spoke to Rubeus 
over his shoulder, never taking his eyes from Serenity.

“You may start your attack now. Saffir, you’re with me. I have a 
prize to collect.”

“I thought the plan was to…” his brother teleported away too fast to 
hear Saffir. “…let the droids taken on the Senshi first before we go in.”

Muttering a soft curse under his breath at the White Prince’s 
impetuousness, Saffir slipped the proto-gate’s control panel into his 
pocket. His belief in his own destiny as the future King of Earth, 
the confidence Demando displayed so forcefully, was part of his regal 
mystique as ruling Prince of Nemesis. Saffir wondered if he as the 
only one who saw the potential danger that Demando’s supreme self 
confidence, although it boarded on arrogance at times, could bring? 
Demando was much too valuable to risk in this fashion. Teleporting 
after his brother, Saffir wondered how he could possibly get that 
point across in a manner that the White Prince would listen to. 

There only an instant’s warning for Mamoru, the all too brief sensing
of the dark power of the Jakozuishou that radiated from Demando. 
Before he had time to do more than turn in Usagi’s direction, the 
White Prince materialized only a few feet from him.  The teleport had 
been carefully planned and Demando now stood between the Neo-King of 
Earth and his Queen. In back of the two men 
a wall of dark energy sprang up, cutting Mamoru off from the others.

“I hope you don’t mind,” Demando drawled lazily, “but I’ve taken the 
liberty of making sure that you and I aren’t interrupted. If you’re a
good, little despot, then we might finish our business before all of 
your Senshi are killed by Rubeus and the droids he brought with him. 
I’ll just take Serenity and be on my way.”

“You don’t really think that I’m going to let you do that?” Mamoru 
tried to sound more confident than he felt. A glance told him that 
Usagi was still locked away inside herself, lost in the healing 
magics of the Ginzuishou. 

Black fire ran along Demando’s body, moved into his hands. “Actually 
no,” he said with a vicious grin, “I’m rather hoping you’ll give me 
the chance to hurt you.” 

A blast of dark energy erupted from the White Prince’s raised palm. 
It writhed and twisted like a living creature as it raced for Mamoru. 
He leapt into the air but it followed his every move. A handful of 
white roses were tossed, each finding their target. The power of 
earth inherent in the flowers managed to redirect some of the 
Jakozuishou’s fire but not all of it. A portion of the blast caught 
Mamoru in the side. It picked him up like a toy and tossed him even 
further away from where an oblivious Usagi was healing Venus. While
he was on the ground, stunned, two droids appeared and firmly held 
the Prince of Earth down. 

“Is that the best you can do? I was expecting more of a challenge,” 
the White Prince laughed loudly as he watched his rival struggle 
against the silent droids. Demando began to walk towards Usagi. 
“Where is Endymion, the mighty warrior king I was raised on tales of? 
You’re pathetic!”

The wind had been knocked out of Mamoru and his head was buzzing from 
the force of the blast. Demando could use any weapon against Mamoru 
that he chose to. Tuxedo Kamen was fettered by his knowledge of the 
future and the role Demando was destined to play. As he struggle 
against the droids that held him brutally pinned down, Mamoru tried 
to buy time in which to gather his strength and formulate some kind 
of plan to get out this mess. 

“Why are you doing this? Why do you hate us so much?” Mamoru called
out. He opened his link to the Golden Crystal, alarmed to sense that 
the dark energies of the Black Poison Crystal were siphoning away its 
power as fast as he called on it. 

Rage suffused the handsome face of the Prince of Nemesis. “Why? 
Haven’t you figured it out yet, Endymion? Are you really that stupid?” 
He was mortally insulted that the King of Earth had no clue as to who
he truly was. He stopped, turning back to face Mamoru. “I am the 
instrument of vengeance for those you betrayed. They gave up 
everything for you, waited a thousand years and suffered beyond 
comprehension just to ensure your rule when you came again. And how
did you repay that noble sacrifice? You turned your back on them 
and then drove them from Earth into exile on a dark, barren world.”
 
Mamoru knew that Demando and his people had grievances against Earth.  
But the depth of the raw hatred, the almost irrational anger 
surprised him. What was worse was the nagging suspicion that he 
suddenly knew just where the Black Moon Clan had come from. 

“The Sons of the Golden Kingdom,” there was such shock with the 
knowledge that the words slipped from Mamoru’s lips unbidden. 
 
Royal purple eyes narrowed at the name and Demando’s voice dropped to 
a dangerous whisper. “That’s what we were called once upon a time but 
when we came to Nemesis we took another name, one that better suited
our current situation. Some things haven’t changed though. The True 
Prince will rule Earth and I am the True Prince, the Hope of a 
Thousand Years, the rightful Heir to Elysion not you. I will have 
everything you possess because it is mine by right!”

He turned abruptly and took the last few steps to where Usagi was 
healing Minako. The black energies of the Jakozuishou slithered 
around his hands and he used the power to roughly shove Venus from 
Usagi’s arms. She gasped, her eyes going wide with shock as the 
healing trance was jarringly interrupted. Demando pulled a still 
dazed Usagi firmly but surprisingly gently to her feet.

“Watch as I take your Queen from you,” Unable to resist the urge to 
torment his enemy, the White Prince pulled her close. “I’m going to 
make her mine in every possible way. I know how to give a woman what 
she needs, Endymion. Soon you’ll be little more than an unpleasant 
memory to her.”

Demando slowly and deliberately dipped his head to find Usagi’s lips. 
His hands roamed first onto her back then down her body, teasing and 
caressing. Usagi gave a jerk as she suddenly fully awoke to find 
Demando all over her. 

Putting both hands on his shoulders she pushed him away. “What do you
think you’re doing?!”

“Don’t touch her!” Tuxedo Kamen struggled vainly against the 
constructs that held him down. 

The White Prince used his hand to cup Usagi’s chin gently. He gave 
her his most charming smile. “You have such beautiful eyes, Serenity.
I have to wonder if the rest of you is as fair? It’ll be such fun to 
find out.”

Usagi felt her cheeks turn red with embarrassment and anger. She 
pulled her hand back to slap him across the face. The White Prince 
deftly caught it, giving a small amused laugh at her action. 

“You’ve made your token protest and honor has been satisfied. Now you
can give into me with a clean conscience. You should be with me Angel, 
it’s destiny. I am the Prince of the Black Moon, you the Princess of 

the White Moon. You belong with me.” He nuzzled her neck. “I’ll make 
sure that you never regret leaving Endymion.”

“You think I’m just going to leave everything and go with you?” 
Getting madder by the second, Usagi was almost dumbfounded by how 
sure of himself Demando was. Hadn’t anyone ever said no to the man, 
“Just because you asked me to?”

“Of course,” the White Prince arched an eyebrow at her. He leaned 
closer once more, whispering in her ear with a seductive purr. “Don’t
fight what you know you really want, Serenity. Just give in.”

The smug look on his face made Usagi narrow her eyes and hiss with a 
building rage, “You know, what I really want to do right now is – 
this!” Usagi’s knee flashed up and into the crotch of the 
meticulously tailored white pants.  Giving a small, strangled gasp 
the White Prince of Nemesis fell to his knees then over onto the
ground, in more pain than he’d have thought possible from a single 
blow.

The wall of night, maintained by the power of the Jakozuishou, 
started to thin when Demando fell, his control broken along with his 
ability to think clearly. The war that was raging behind it was now 
dimly visible. The other Sailor Senshi were blasting, freezing, 
pummeling, searing and in Uranus’s case, hacking to bits the dozen 
battle droids under the command of Crimson Rubeus.   

Saffir, who had watched across the glen, observed his brother’s 
attempts to charm the Neo-Queen of Earth. He was too far away to see 
clearly. All Saffir knew was the one moment Demando was talking to 
Serenity and the next the White Prince was falling to the ground. 
Shocked and frightened, he began to run to where his brother lay 
twitching.  It was his frenzied call that sent the situation over the 
edge of the abyss and into total chaos.

“Protect Prince Demando!”

The first of the two battle droids holding Mamoru down moved with 
unnatural speed. Screaming with rage it launched itself straight at 
Usagi. Before anyone could do more than blink the monster caught her 
by the throat with a hand and slammed her to the ground, the force of 
the blow stunning Usagi. The hand around her throat closed tightly, 
threatening to crush her windpipe and making it impossible for her to 
breathe, never mind call out her henshin phrase. All Usagi could do 
was look up at the droid and feebly pluck at the hand that was 
strangling her. The construct’s other hand morphed into razor sharp 
claws. It pulled the hand back preparing for a lethal strike.

“No! Tuxedo Kamen struggled wildly against the remaining construct 
that held him down, cold panic lancing through him. 

He could feel his link to Earth strengthen the moment Demando went
down, the energies of the Golden Crystal once more singing inside 
him.  A burst of amber fire sent the other droid rocketing away from 
the Prince of Earth, but his attention was fully focused on the night-
mare unfolding before him. He knew with sick certainty that he would 
never get to Usagi in time.  In desperation Mamoru opened his
bond to the Golden Crystal to its fullest and slammed both hands down
to the ground. His body exploded with amber fire and the great power 
of Earth responded to the call of its master. Still on his knees, his 
eyes burning with the eldritch fires he commanded, Mamoru reached out 
with his arms. The ground around Usagi churned, rising with a 
terrible groan. The monster of soil and stone lunged in eerie 
symmetry to Tuxedo Kamen’s movements. It snatched the droid into its 
gaping maw, crushing the creature to dust, but leaving Usagi 
untouched. 

Sweat was running into Mamoru’s eyes as he tried to focus once more
and move against the other droid that was closing in on his beloved. 
His body, however, had reached its limit and the world spun in 
circles. The best Mamoru could do right now was use a trembling hand 
to call one of his roses. He pulled his arm back, threw it with all 
the strength he could muster but knew that he was too far away from 
Usagi to save her this time.

He was too far away, but the Leader of the Inner Senshi was not. 

Sailor Venus had shaken off the shock of the ruptured healing and 
gotten to her feet. She raised her arm, calling out in the ancient 
dialect of the Moon Kingdom. “Holy blade that protects our Princess,
come to my hand!”

Even as she moved, leaping in the air with breath taking grace and 
agility, a sword of light shimmered into existence before her. Venus 
grasped the hilt of the shining, crystalline blade with both hands. 
There was no hesitation, no waste of time or energy. Sailor Venus 
used her momentum to meet the creature as it was on its downward arc. 
She rammed the sword into the monster, the impossibly sharp blade 
slicing deeply into the metallic body. The blade gave a burst of blue 
white light and neatly vaporized the droid. She landed in front of
her Princess, standing guard over a wheezing Usagi.

In the meantime Saffir helped the still gasping Demando carefully up. 
The White Prince couldn’t stand up straight yet and without his 
brother’s help would have fallen back to the ground. He grabbed 
Saffir by the shoulder, trying desperately to collect his wits.

“No,” Demando’s normally deep voice was thin and reedy with pain. He 
resisted Saffir’s attempts to move him away from the fight. “I’m…I’m 
not leaving without my prize!” 

“Please, Onii-san, listen to me. You’re too important to risk losing 
this way.” Saffir’s only thought was for his brother’s safety.

A glance showed him that the dozen droids Rubeus had taken into 
battle were gone.  The barrier held in place by Demando’s will was 
continuing to thin. It would dissipate completely in a few, short 
seconds and the Senshi would be free to come after them. Endymion was 
stumbling to take Serenity in his arms, rage burning in the ocean 
blue eyes as he looked at Demando. Sailor Venus still had the blade 
in her hands and turned to face both the White Prince and his
brother. She brought the shining sword down and pointed it directly 
at them, challenge in her stance.

“I won’t let Endymion win!” Demando snarled, fighting the idea that 
Saffir was right. He’d never been rejected by a woman in quite this 
fashion before and more than the White Prince’s pride was wounded 
right now. 

“He can only win if you let him.” The situation was completely out of 
hand and it was time to leave. If that made Demando angry then Saffir 
would gladly face his wrath – later when he was safely back on
Nemesis. “Fighting when you’re hurt can only give Endymion the 
advantage he needs to best you. Don’t let him manipulate you like 
this.” 

If anyone else but his brother had said those words… Demando gave a 
low growl of pain and anger. Saffir was right; Saffir was always 
right and just occasionally it was irritating to be reminded of that. 
The White Prince looked over at where Crimson Rubeus was surrounded 
by Senshi. There was the temptation to let the arrogant Rubeus learn 
a lesson in over confidence the hard way, but Demando decided against
it at the last moment. He, too, had just learned a lesson in under 
estimating the enemy. It was time to rethink the way the war against 
Endymion would play out.

“Rubeus, come!” the White Prince snapped and like an obedient dog the 
vicious man with the red hair was teleported to his side. He 
considered, for an instant, attempting to take Serenity this way. 

The golden haired Queen of Earth was coughing and gasping, struggling 
to breathe in her husband’s arms. Demando could see bruises all ready 
forming where the droid had throttled her. Endymion placed a hand on 
her, golden energy flowing into Serenity. Almost at once she seemed 
to breathe easier. A full scale battle could very easily hurt her and 
Demando was somewhat surprised to find that the idea of her being 
injured bothered him. 

“Let’s go,” he said his eyes hard at the sight of Serenity relaxing 
so totally into Endymion’s embrace. “This isn’t over Endymion. If it 
takes me a thousand years I will do what I’ve vowed. I’m going to 
take everything you cherish and make it mine. Run back to your 
crystal palace and hide for all the good it will do you.”

Demando nodded to Saffir who reached into his pocket and took out the 
controls for the proto-gate. He gave the King of Earth a wicked
smile.  You’re not the only one with access to alien technology, you 
see. There’s no where you can go that I can’t follow. Enjoy your 
treasures, King of Earth. They won’t be yours much longer.”

The burst of light that erupted washed everyone and everything in the
glen with a blinding blue white glare. The dancing luminescence 
settled slowly into a rectangular shape. Demando, Saffir and Rubeus 
were silhouetted harshly against the pure, white light before they 
moved into the doorway. It was over in an instant, and when the long 
golden sunlight of afternoon once more filled the garden, the 
children of the Black Moon were gone. 

“Was that what I think it was?” Mercury asked, not really wanting to 
know the answer.

Gritting her teeth as she closed her eyes, Pluto was unable to deny 
what her senses were telling her. There was the lingering and 
unmistakable feeling of a harmonic resonance signature vibrating 
through her body that could be left by only one thing. “Oh yes, that 
was a Gate.” She cocked her head to one side, using her psychic 
senses to their fullest. “A proto-gate, to be exact.” 

“Wait a minute,” Mars sounded outraged. She looked at Setsuna as 
though Pluto was personally responsible for the dilemma she was now 
coming to grips with. “I thought you said that only the S’Eyre have
this technology and they’re so compulsively paranoid about it that 
you almost never see a Gate outside of their territory?!”

“It gets better,” Setsuna raised her hands in frustration. “Demando
is using a proto-gate that shouldn’t be able to move more than one 
or two people at once, never mind moving himself and a pack of droids 
through time. What they are doing is totally unachievable by every 
standard I know of. What just happened here is unfeasible and utterly 
impossible.”

Finally letting the crystal sword melt back into the mystic void that 
housed it, Venus blinked several time. Thanks to the healing magics 
of the Ginzuishou, Aino Minako was starting emerge and reassert 
herself. Looking around the blonde still seemed a little confused. 
“So, what does that mean in plain Japanese?” 

“I’ll tell you what it means,” a bitter bark of laughter came from 
Haruka. She’d known Setsuna long enough to recognize the look on her 
face. That Pluto was this frightened was not a good thing. 

“It means we’re in deep trouble.”

Next in Chapter Six:  Oh yes, they are all in very deep trouble! 
Makoto is wandering around Tokyo during the time of Galaxia and her 
star-seed stealing animates, Death Phantom takes the art of talking 
to yourself to a whole new level and Demando gains a mysterious new 
adviser. The clever but creepy soothsayer will show the White Prince
how to get what he wants – revenge against Endymion and possession of 
the Neo-King’s wife!