Author’s notes are at the end! ******************* “The Quest” By Meara Chapter Seven “I want to have you by any means.” Prince Demando, episode 83 ******************* There was no up or down, no left or right, no backwards or forwards. There was only the pain and the smothering darkness. One moment they were being crushed, the next pulled with such force that it felt as if they were being torn into small pieces. One moment of agony blended into the next until time itself ceased to have any meaning. How long that hellish torment went on, no one could be sure. What they did know was the exact moment it ended. A brilliant, ruby light penetrated the agonizing sea of night. The light brought shelter from the nightmarish storm, wrapping them all in a cocoon that sheltered them from the darkness that sought to consume them. At the heart of the light was a woman, riding the turbulent tides of this place with great effort. Setsuna, Sailor Pluto raised her head, her eyes eerily reflecting the light in her garnet orb. “We have to form a shield,” she called out, lifting her staff high. Her voice was distorted by this place and those around the Soldier of Time heard her words more in their minds than in their ears. “Use the talismans!” Uranus held her Space Sword aloft. A thin line of golden fire raced from it towards the garnet orb. Neptune called on her Aqua Mirror, the light that came from it the color of raging seas. It joined with the other two talismans and formed a triangle. Sailor Pluto took her staff in both hands and thrust the butt end of it into the roiling mire beneath her feet. The staff shimmered then burst into song, discordant at first. The dissonant harmonies slowly changed as Setsuna focused her will. One by one, the grating, harsh notes resolved into a single, clear tone and the chaos abated. The Senshi fell to the blessedly solid ground. For a long moment there was only the sound of labored breathing as they tried to shake off the trauma they had just endured. Still trembling from the effort that had saved them, Setsuna lifted her head and looked around. They were surrounded by a writhing, misty wall that featured jumbled snippets of faces and events beyond counting. The strange, conflicting scenes would play until they were swallowed up by a new set of images. The bizarre tableau went on and on, one reality melting into another in an endless and eternal storm. Oh no,” Setsuna’s heart went cold in her chest as she looked around, then up. The seamless walls formed a cylindrical pocket of subspace that kept out the lethal forces that had almost torn them asunder. Using her staff to help her stand, Setsuna tried to deny the truth but knew that this place was much more than a shelter – it was a prison. “Master of Life, have mercy,” Setsuna whispered with cold dread, “We’re in The Well.” *************************************** It was a long, slow climb back to consciousness for Usagi. The light pulsed strangely in her half-awake mind, odd colors and star bursts that came and went with no discernable pattern. The only constant was the pain. It felt as if someone was very slowly driving a dull blade through the back of her head. That ache was what convinced Usagi that she was finally awake. Her body was sluggish and her hand was slow to obey her as she tried to press it to her throbbing head. “You’re awake,” came a deep male voice across the room. Out of the shadows walked Demando, Prince of the Black Moon Clan. “You were sleeping so soundly that I was sure that you’d be out for a few more hours.” Usagi sat up abruptly. That turned out to be a mistake as it only made the pounding in her head worse. “Where am I?” she asked, in a tight voice that reflected the pain she was in. Usagi had a sinking feeling that she knew exactly where she was. The White Prince moved at a measured pace towards the woman on the bed. “Welcome to Nemesis, Serenity, and to my castle. I’m sure you’ll enjoy your stay with us,” he said with a smile. “Where is…” she bit back the name Mamoru at the last moment. If Demando didn’t know that Chiba Mamoru was also King Endymion, Usagi was not about to clue him in. “Where’s Endymion? Where are my friends? What did you do to them?” “Endymion was fine the last time I saw him,” the White Prince gave a dismissive wave of his hand. “Mind you he was a bit annoyed that I’d managed to coax you into coming with me, but physically he was just fine.” Usagi’s eyes narrowed with outrage. “You didn’t ‘coax’ me into doing anything! You kidnapped me!” “Kidnap is such an ugly word, Angel. I prefer to think of it as liberating you from Endymion,” Demando replied in a calm voice that implied that his actions had been totally reasonable. Usagi swung her feet over the edge of the bed. She felt dizzy and weak, her head pounding in time to the beating of her heart. “Excuse me, but knocking someone unconscious and carrying them off is not ‘liberating’ them!” “Semantics…” Demando said with a shrug. “Once I’ve freed you from the spell Endymion has you under, you’ll thank me for rescuing you.” The room was still moving around Usagi but she gritted her teeth and concentrated. Cupping her hands, she called the Ginzuishou to her. The light filled Usagi, giving her the strength to face Demando. “I’ll thank you to show me the door,” Usagi opened herself a little more to the mystic fire. Her body pulsed with a silver aura. The pain in her head melted away as the healing energies of the Ginzuishou flowed through her. “I mean it, Demando. Show me how to get back to my husband and friends or I’ll bring this place down around your ears.” The statement was a bluff, but Usagi hoped that Demando didn’t know that. She absently wondered what kind of destruction the silver crystal could inflict if she set her mind to it. “I wouldn’t do that if I were you, Angel,” Demando said in a nonchalant manner. He opened his link to the Jakozuishou and felt the dark energy roar to life, greedily consuming the silver light and wanting more. “All you’re going to do is exhaust yourself.” He was right, Usagi knew with building dread. She could feel the power of the Ginzuishou being leeched away as fast as she called on it. Her headache pounded to life again with a vengeance and Usagi could feel the strength given her by the healing power of the Ginzuishou drain out of her like water. Reluctantly, Usagi let the mystic stone fade away to sleep inside her once more. Usagi sat back down on the bed, trying to hide from Demando just how shaky she was. “Please Demando, I want to go home.” The pain in her eyes made the White Prince sigh. “I’m sorry, Serenity,” he said with real regret. “But that’s not possible right now. Even if I had decided to let you go, there been an accident…” *************************************** “The S’Eyre call this place ‘The Well’,” Setsuna started out. “When Saffir opened his Proto-Gate on top of mine they both ended up trying to occupy the same space at the same time. God doesn’t like having the fundamental law of physics flouted like that and the reaction was, to say the least, catastrophic. The fabric of the fourth dimension was torn and we were thrown into a kind of… subspace, for lack of a better term.” “I’ve got a better term,” Makoto grumbled while massaging the back of her neck. “I think ‘hell’ describes it quite nicely.” Michiru still held the Aqua Mirror in a hand that shook slightly. “It felt as if I was being torn apart.” “We were,” Pluto replied grimly. The garnet orb at the top of her staff pulsed, casting a crimson glow. “It’s only the power of our talismans combined that allows me to shield this small pocket.” His head finally cleared enough for Mamoru to remember what had happened just before everything went to hell in a hand-basket. “Usako, where is she? Demando had her when…” his face went ashen. “Setsuna, what would have happened to Demando’s Gate?” His eyes begged her to tell him that his beloved was not dead or lost in the hell they’d just endured. He reached for the bond he shared with Usagi and found it frighteningly still within him. Pluto was looking at what lay just beyond the light cast by her staff. “They’re safe, Mamoru, and most likely on Nemesis but I’ll bet it was a wild ride. Because my Gate was opened first we took the brunt of the accident. To be honest, I’m very surprised that we’re not all dead. I’m also quite sure that Demando’s misbegotten, jury- rigged, piece of junk, proto-gate,” she spat with venom, “fried every relay it has, so they won’t be making any more trips. If we can manage to get home at least you know where Usagi will be.” That wasn’t much comfort for Mamoru. Demando wouldn’t kill her, he told himself in an effort to keep the panic he was feeling under control. Right now he had to focus on getting back to Elysion. Once he did that Chiba Mamoru had every intention of paying the White Prince a call. If he had hurt his wife then, the future be damned, he was going to make Demando pay. Uranus came to stand beside Setsuna. “What do you mean ‘if’ we can get home?” With a resigned sigh, Setsuna gave a wave of her hand. “Look around us. Do you see all those images? They’re other realities, other universes all over lapping each other.” Ami’s visor popped into place and she gave a sharp hiss of surprise at the readings. Mercury turned in a slow circle then began to look up. They seemed to be at the bottom of a very large shaft that was surrounded on all sides by blurring, shimmering doorways of every hue and shape. She could see why it could be called a “well” - and they were at the bottom of it. “This is some kind of inter-dimensional nexus,” Ami said, awed by the implications. “There must be thousands, no hundreds of thousands, of different universes all converging here.” Looking around, Minako knew this was all too much for her to comprehend, so she chose to concentrate on something a bit simpler. “That’s all very nice but we have enough problems as it is. Just open the portal to Elysion so we can get back there, re-group then go and kick Demando’s royal posterior.” “I don’t think you understand,” Pluto said slowly. She looked up at the countless doorways to countless dimensions. “We’re in a void where I have no points of reference, no sense of ‘direction’. It’s like being dropped into the middle of the ocean and told to swim for land. You pick a direction and hope that you’ve chosen wisely or you drown.” “Then how do we get back to our Earth?” Rei wasn’t sure she wanted to know the answer. Setsuna gestured to myriad portals, “By trial and error. Praying wouldn’t hurt either because we’re going to need all the help we can get.” “There’s more bad news, isn’t there?” Rei asked suspiciously. Uranus gave a snort of agreement, “There’s always more bad news.” Setsuna continued to look up at the endless array of images, a shiver of trepidation running through her, “The chaos just beyond those barriers can’t be held back by the power of our Talismans forever. Those walls will collapse eventually. If we’re in The Well when that happens we’ll most likely be ripped to pieces. If we’re in one of the other realities when it happens, then we’ll be trapped there.” “The S’Eyre have been making and using Gates for over a thousand years,” Ami said in a reasonable tone. There was always a way out of a trap. You just had to find the right key. “So what have other Gatekeepers done to get themselves out of here?” Setsuna’s golden skin blanched. “That’s the problem. Out of all the Keepers who have had the misfortune to be trapped here only three have made it out alive and only one of them was more or less sane afterwards. That Gatekeeper claimed that it was sheer luck that he walked through the right portal and into the right universe.” “Luck?!” Rei seemed outraged by the idea. “I don’t know about the rest of you but I have no intention of entrusting my future to the whims of fate.” Mamoru cupped his hands, a small golden star appearing between them. “Mars is right. We have a powerful array tools both mystic and intellectual at our disposal. Let’s try and use them to find the way home as quickly as possible.” Pluto looked up at the endless array of realities that extended beyond her range of sight. She couldn’t resist the wry smile that came to her lips. “We have a lot more to work with then the average Gatekeeper would, Mamoru-san. Quite a stroke of luck, ne?” *************************************** The work bench was littered with singed and blackened circuitry. Usagi reached out and took a piece, turning it over and over in her hand. Examining the part helped give Usagi something to do while she dealt with the shock of seeing Saffir again. He was dead; no, she corrected herself, he would be dead at the hands of Wiseman in the future. “Endymion launched some kind of attack at us when I opened the portal,” Saffir said. Serenity kept glancing furtively at him, making Saffir oddly nervous. “That overloaded most of the control relays. We were lucky to get back here in one piece.” “I shielded us with the power of the Jakozuishou,” Demando had his arms folded neatly over his chest. There was no braggadocio in his tone, just a statement of the facts. “Without it we would have been lost forever in the chaos of that place.” Usagi’s mind was racing. Where was Wiseman? His lust for the Ginzuishou had driven him to extremes in both the past and the future. If he was here on Nemesis, why hadn’t he moved to try and take it from her? “But you can fix the Gate, can’t you?” she asked nervously. “It may take some time,” Saffir said slowly. The truth was that he wasn’t at all sure that he could repair the alien device, but Demando had told him that Serenity mustn’t know that – not yet anyway. “And while you’re my guest here on Nemesis, this will give you some time to get to know us better,” the White Prince gave Usagi his most charming smile. “We of the Clan aren’t the ogres Endymion has made us out to be.” “I have news for you, Demando. Drugging people unconscious then hauling them off like a sack of potatoes makes a very poor first impression,” Usagi snapped. She had to stay angry, she knew, or the fear that she would never again see Mamoru and her friends would take control of her. Serenity was beautiful when she was angry, Demando thought. Her cheeks were flushed and her eyes sparkled. After a life time of having women fawn over him, the White Prince found Serenity refreshingly candid. “I’ll make you a deal, Angel. If you agree to keep an open mind while you’re here, then I promise that when the Gate is working, that I’ll ask if you want to stay here or go back to Endymion.” Crystal blue eyes narrowed suspiciously. She gave Demando a long, hard look. “You’d really do that? Just let me go if that’s what I want?” It was hard for Demando to keep a smile from his face. Her naiveté was utterly enchanting. “I’m many things, Serenity, but I’ve never broken my word. If you hold up your end of the bargain, then I solemnly vow that I’ll ask you if you choose to stay here or leave.” There was a long, quiet moment as a whirlwind of conflicting emotions and thoughts danced inside Usagi’s mind. That Demando and the Black Moon Clan were here had to be proof that she had somehow managed to escape from Nemesis, didn’t it? If Earth had never awakened from the spell of crystal sleep, then they couldn’t exist. Usagi reached for the bond that connected her to Mamoru. He’d always been more sensitive to it but she would have felt it if the tie had been shattered by his death. It was quiet, sleeping inside her like a rose in the winter, waiting for the warm kiss of spring. The knowledge that Mamoru was at least alive didn’t diminish the panic that clawed at Usagi’s soul. She had a flash of memory, the fear making it sharp and clear. Pluto had said something about Nemesis existing outside the normal boundaries of time. While Usagi wasn’t sure exactly what that meant, she had a nasty suspicion. Time flowed differently here. Whether she found a way to escape Nemesis on her own or whether Mamoru and her friends found a way to get to her, there was no telling how long she’d be trapped here. It could be a week, a month or longer. Usagi was being forced to do the one thing she had never done well; be patient. Perhaps by agreeing to Demando’s proposition she could buy the needed time to find that avenue of escape. She looked into the amethyst eyes of the White Prince. If nothing else, she believed that he was as good as his word. With a sigh Usagi held out her hand, “I’ll agree to your deal, Demando.” The White Prince took her hand in his, turning it over so he could place a genteel kiss on the back of it. His eyes brimmed with amusement and mischief, giving him a boyish charm. “Thank you, Angel. I know that you’ll find your stay here with me most enlightening.” *************************************** “So let me see if I have all the facts correctly,” Trista Meiou paused, her warm alto voice not managing to completely hide the disbelief she was currently feeling. “According to you, my father was the King of Pluto and my mother was an alien Princess from some far flung empire no one has ever heard of. Serena has been carted off by Prince Diamond who, by the way, is traveling through time due to some mysterious happenchance. You and the others are going from reality to reality, trying to find your way home.” Meiou Setsuna, Sailor Pluto, returned the look of scorn in a flawless imitation of this universe’s version of herself. “Am I this patronizing in most realities or is it just you?” Never one to back down from a challenge, Trista Meiou locked eyes with her double. “You know, you haven’t quite managed to hit on all the trite and clichéd ideas I can think of. So, which one of you has the evil twin sister?” “Lorilei is not evil,” Setsuna hissed back, “She’s a musician The dislike of music was a trait shared by all the various Plutos. Trista rolled her eyes in disgust, “Well, that sounds evil to me. How much worse can this get?” “Cousins? You pass yourself off as cousins? Open the closet, girl, and come on out.” The outrage in Haruka’s voice stopped the bickering between the two Plutos. Haruka’s face was flushed with amazement. Amara’s face had a similar florid rush but hers was due to embarrassment. Michelle and Michiru looked at each other and gave a sigh. The Sailor Scouts all had a confused look on their faces. The Senshi had a slightly smug look to counter it. “Okay,” Amara said slowly, “So we’re not really cousins.” “Then why do you live together?” Amy Anderson asked. The question was no sooner out of her mouth then the truth of the situation dawned on her. It was her turn to blush. “Oh, I see…” Raye folded her arms across her chest, looking quite annoyed. She hated surprises; like having your doppelgangers from another universe suddenly show up. “Are there any other tidbits of information you’d like to shock us with?” Makoto gave a pragmatic shrug. “Hey, that revelation is nothing. We ended up in this one reality where there was this man in a Sailor fuku. The poor guy was being pursued by a masked hero named ‘Under- dressed, Over-sexed Kamen’.” Ami put a hand to her brow where she could feel the headache starting. “We followed the two of them into a place called,” she paused and looked nervously at Rei, “‘Crazy Hino’s Magical House of Hosiery.” Rei narrowed her eyes and muttered darkly to herself. “That masked moron put the moves on me.” “And?” Raye asked her counterpart. She had a pretty good idea of what had happened but curiosity got the better of her. Hino Rei let the power of Mars flow down her hand and into a single finger. A burst of fire danced above the raised digit. “I gave him a little bit of Fire Soul Love.” An evil smile came to her lips “At least the talking gerbil, Omelet, was sort of cute,” Minako added, “In a lecherous kind of way. You know, Sailor Drag Queen wouldn’t get so many odd looks if he’d just learn to shave his legs properly.” “This is way more information than I need,” Lita shuddered bringing her hands up to her ears. Trista Meiou gave a loud sigh. “It sounds as if you’ve run into the bane of the multi-verse. A being so twisted and feared that the housing values in entire solar systems crash after he moves in for even a short stay,” she looked at her counterpart with annoyance. “He’s called by many names but the best known is Lord Chaos.” “Oh Pooh,” Setsuna mumbled unhappily. “He’s been here too? I’d give much to know just how is it that Chaos manages to slide between realities so easily.” Setsuna closed her eyes for a moment, trying to feel if she was able to align the portal to the Timegate and get back into the Well. It was getting more difficult with each jump they made. She felt her Gate at last falling into alignment with a jarring physic “bump”. If they couldn’t find their way back home soon, they were going to end up stuck in one of these alternate universes. Even as she prepared to open her Gate, Setsuna could sense a whisper on the temporal winds. It lasted only a heartbeat, but in that brief moment Setsuna could have sworn that she felt a tugging along the lines of the bond she shared with Lorilei. The whisper faded away, swallowed up so fast that Setsuna wondered if she had imagined it. She looked over at Mamoru, debating if she should say something to him. The quiet desperation in his eyes as he looked at this world’s Moon Princess was answer enough. Until she had more to go on, Setsuna was not about to add to his misery by raising false hopes. “What is it that I call you in this other world?” Serena asked softly. She could feel the Sailor Pluto from the other reality staring at her. No, she amended hastily, staring at the man who looked so much like her Darien. Her own Prince, Darien, was definitely on edge but Serena could sense that these strange visitors posed no real threat. “Mamo-chan,” Mamoru replied softly. “Mamo-chan,” Serena repeated. Impulsively she leaned over and on tip-toes gave a feather light kiss on the cheek to Mamoru. “Please, don’t loose hope, Mamo-chan.” Darien slipped an arm around Serena and she glanced up at him as she spoke. “I’ve walk through hell itself to get my Prince back. If your Usagi loves you as much as I love Darien, then nothing on Earth can stop her from getting back to you.” *************************************** Demando was not a happy man. The White Prince was as annoyed and frustrated as Saffir had ever seen him. He’d stomped into the younger man’s workshop, muttering darkly to himself as he flopped into a near by chair. Saffir paused, taking a moment to look at his older brother before going back to work on the circuit he held in his hand. Experience told him that Demando would talk about was bothering him when he was good and ready and not before. “What does it take?” Demando finally mumbled sullenly. His hand snaked out to snatch up a piece of scrap paper. He began to methodically rip it into bits as he spoke. “I show her the palace, I show her the jewels, I show her some of what I can do with the power of the Jakozuishou and is she impressed?” Saffir bent his head to peer closely at his work. “I gather we’re talking about Serenity.” “Of course I’m talking about Serenity,” Demando snapped. “I show her everything that makes us great and she just smiles and nods her head.” Saffir closed one eye as he tinkered with the delicate circuitry. “Really, smiling and nodding? How awful. I can see why you’re mad at her.” “It’s not her I’m really angry at. It’s him…Endymion,” the White Prince snarled the name. “Each time she smiles and nods her head ever so politely, I can tell that she’s thinking of him. I’ve managed to steal her from Endymion and take her to a place he can never find and that miserable bastard is still here – still firmly between Serenity and me.” With a grunt of total frustration the scraps of paper were thrown away, raining down to the floor. “What can he possibly have that I don’t?! A woman of our Clan would be flattered, no more than flattered, to receive the kind of attentions I’m lavishing on Serenity.” Saffir put down the piece he was working on. Do you want some suggestions or are you here to vent your frustrations? Mind you, my track record with the opposite sex isn’t very good.” The White Prince folded his arms across his chest in a dour fashion. “I’m open to suggestions.” The shadows in a cold corner of the room gathered together and coalesced. A pair of banked coal eyes burned in the darkness. “If you desire Serenity then take her, Prince Demando.” Wiseman’s voice was harsh and grating to listen to. “She is yours by right of conquest; a tool to be broken to your will.” If Wiseman’s sudden appearance un-nerved the Prince, he didn’t show it. “That seems a bit…crude to me. I’ve never needed to force my attentions on any woman before and I don’t intend to start now,” Demando didn’t even bother to turn his head to look at the odd, dark man. The mottled hands never ceased to endlessly circle, yet never touch, the crystal ball that was Wiseman’s constant companion. “Serenity is unlike any woman you have ever known. The power she possesses, when added to the might of the Jakozuishou will help you to gain the revenge that you were born to mete out. You must make her yours.” “You forget your place, Wiseman,” the White Prince snapped, “Do not presume to lecture me on my duty. If I want your advice I’ll ask for it.” The exchange made Saffir’s blue eyes narrow. His dislike of the shadowy shaman was growing by the day. “You know, Onii-san, if you think about it, showing Serenity the wonders of Nemesis really shouldn’t impress her all that much. She all ready lives in a palace, has jewels and a crystal of her own which, despite the spell Endymion has her under, is capable of great power, too.” “She was born a Princess,” Demando mused aloud. He nodded his head as if things finally made sense to him. “No doubt she was surrounded by the finer things from her earliest memories. And I’m quite sure that the cage Endymion keeps her in is lavishly gilded,” the White Prince sat back in the chair amethyst eyes narrowing as an idea came to him. “But if power and jewels don’t catch her attention, then perhaps it’s time to try a different approach.” Saffir recognized the look on his brother’s face. “I take it you have an idea?” A feral smile slowly came to Demando’s lips. “Do you know where Mother’s old sketchbook is these days?” *************************************** It was a scene straight out of a nightmare. The images were so sharp for a moment, so real that it broke Mercury’s heart to witness it. It was what could have happened but hadn’t. In the space of a heartbeat Earth was lost. ~Mamoru held a lifeless Usagi in his arms, rocking back and forth in anguish. He was so shattered by his grief that all Mamoru could do was moan softly. Usagi’s pure heart had been ripped out of her by a daimon then stolen by Sailor Uranus in her desperate search for the talismans. The shining reflection of Usagi’s soul finally crumbled to dust in Haruka’s hands just as Usagi breathed her last. The Soldier of the Sky couldn’t know that by letting Usagi die she had just doomed humanity to extinction. The Silence was coming and now there was no Messiah to stop it.~ “This is absolutely amazing,” Ami said to Setsuna softly. “Now there’s a reality I’m just as pleased never to think about again. If you look at the horizon you can see the Silence getting closer, destroying everything in its path.” She turned from the sight and looked into another of the thousands of portals that made up the endless walls of The Well. ~Usagi ran across the cobblestone courtyard of the Hikawa Shrine, her eyes bright with tears of joy as she ran into the arms of the one who had always loved her – Rei. The Soldier of Fire was there to greet Usagi, senses set aflame by her Princess’s sweaty charms.~ That remark startled Setsuna enough that she turned sharply to look at the Soldier of Wisdom. Ami was making a slow, precise turn, taking in the array that played out around them. She was, Setsuna was further stunned to realize, mentally sorting them out as she went along. “You can See into the portals, can’t you? You can look beyond the surface images.” ~Usagi boarded an airplane. The nasty things her so-called “friends” had said about her crushed Usagi’s heart like a damp Dixie cup. Her true guardians and friends, the Outer Senshi, followed her as she prepared to head for a new life in Canada.~ “Well yes,” Ami took a second to glance at Pluto, mystified by her tone. “It’s easy if I just let go and allow the images to run through my head. Is that so unusual?” ~This was the end. The Senshi were beaten, and badly, by the cosmically powered villain. He laughed at their imminent defeat when a bolt of power stronger then even than that of the Ginzuishou cut through the night. It Mamoru’s lost twin sister – Sailor Earth!~ “Actually, that skill is very rare, even among the S’Eyre. If we manage to get back to our universe I’d like to have you tested. You may be latent Gatekeeper.” Pluto concentrated on Mercury rather than watch the debacle playing out before her eyes. Some realities were better left to die out. ~This was the end. The Senshi were beaten, and badly, by the cosmically power villain. He laughed at their imminent defeat when a bolt of power stronger then even that of the Ginzuishou cut through the night. It Mamoru’s long lost cross dressing brother… Sailor Earth!~ “Really? Just because I See inside the portals? I can hear the sounds the portals make as well. It’s strange but I feel the tones with my body instead of my ears. Can that be right?” Ami cringed at the eality writhing through the mists around them. ~…Mamoru’s lost long cousin, twice removed and her transgender twin – Sailor Earth and Sailor Sun!~ “Besides the kind of Sight I just mentioned, all Gate Keepers have good musical ‘ears’. It comes with the job, but lucky me, I have perfect pitch,” Setsuna replied. “I can tell when a singer is a quarter note sharp or when the second violin in the orchestra is slightly flat. That’s why I’m not fond of most music. Unless it’s done perfectly it’s like slow torture to listen to.” ~…Mamoru’s long lost, sister with multiple personality disorder, Sailor Earth and Sailor Sun! The villain was going to be trounced eventually but seemed content to wait for his end while the girl argued with herself over which of her incredibly powerful aspects got to act.~ With a shudder, Pluto waited for the images to change once more. “The problem is that those tonal signatures are altered inside the Well. This, I suspect, is why no one has been able to find their way out of this place. You don’t know until you’re in that other reality if it’s the right one or not. And since you have to be here in The Well to open a portal that crosses into other universes…” It all came together for Ami. “If the barrier collapses while we’re in a universe that’s not ours, we’ll be trapped there. We may be safe enough but Usagi will remain ensnared for all time with Demando. Without her to break the suspension our Earth will be doomed to the spell of crystal sleep forever.” *************************************** Usagi sat in the large chair, her feet tucked up under her while she gazed quietly out the window. The curious, muted light that gave Nemesis it’s “day” casting long shadows on everything it touched. The wind was up again, causing curtains of the gritty soil to rise and undulate in a chaotic pattern. Usagi sighed heavily, feeling as bleak as the world she was trapped on. For the first few days she’d been able to stay angry at Demando. That kind of intense, raw fury was very draining for Usagi and at last the anger finally faded away. Usagi tried to keep up hope that Mamoru and her friends would find a way to rescue her from this place, but that hope was growing fainter as the days wore on. The stark reality of her situation was becoming painfully clear. Setsuna was more correct then she could have guessed. Time did indeed flowed differently on Nemesis than it did in the rest of the universe. Over twenty years had passed for Demando and his people since the rebels had fled Earth for this small, dark world. Time enough for the White Prince to grow into a man. A man bent on a quest for revenge. When Usagi had left Elysion, Earth was still under the healing spell of crystal sleep. Was it really possible, Usagi wondered, for Demando to drastically change the way the future would unfold? Was there a chance that when she was finally able to leave this inhospitable world, that Mamoru and her friends would be gone forever? Would Demando and his people be immune to the changes they caused in the time-stream or upon leaving the safety of Nemesis fade away into the abyss of temporal anomaly? Usagi put a hand to her head. It throbbed miserably the more she thought about the “what-ifs” and the “maybes”. The nightmare scenarios followed her into her dreams and she found no peace in sleep. Exhausted, Usagi had numbly followed Demando as he showed her his castle, no doubt trying to impress her with its wonders. She smiled when appropriate, nodded her head every now and then, all the time dying inside. It was so hard not to give in to the despair that dogged her step even more persistently than Demando. She knew that the White Prince could tell that something was wrong with her. His concern for her, the gentle way he treated her was the one bright spot in Usagi’s world. Demando wasn’t the monster others wanted him to be. At least she’d been right about that. The White Prince was a man who had been raised to believe his destiny was to rule Earth and gain vengeance for the shattered dreams of his ancestors. Vengeance, in Usagi’s experience, took as bloody a toll on the one meting it out as on the one it was extracted from. Usually when she was frightened and unsure what to do, Usagi would hear Mamoru’s voice, encouraging her to be brave. Perhaps it was because she was so completely cut off from him, or perhaps that what Usagi needed more than encouragement was a psychological kick in the butt. Whatever the reason, it was Rei’s voice that popped into her head and a very loud and very annoyed voice it was at that. ~Don’t just sit there and wait to be rescued. You’re Sailor Moon, the Champion of Freakin’ Justice, for Kami’s sake, so act like it! If Demando can channel off the power of the Ginzuishou, then try using it when he’s not around, baka Usagi!~ Cupping her hands in her lap, Usagi carefully reached for the great power of the Moon Kingdom that slept inside her. With the kind of finesse that would have been impossible even a few years ago, Usagi molded the mystic energies. A small ball of silver light came and danced at her summons. “Moon healing escalation,” she whispered softly to small star between her cupped hands. A pulse of the eldritch fire ran through her. Usagi let her eyes close and her head tilt back. For the first time since she’d awakened on Nemesis, Usagi felt strong and sure of herself. She allowed the healing balm of the Ginzuishou to wash over her and smiled with delight at the sweet, gentle song the power sang to her. “You shine like a star in the darkness, Serenity,” Demando walked into the room. “But you play a dangerous game. The Black Poison Crystal can absorb any energy, even the light from your Ginzuishou.” There was no drain, Usagi noticed despite his words, no sense of the ravenous darkness that had been unleashed when Demando had used the power of the Black Poison Crystal against her. “So why isn’t it doing that right now?” she asked daringly. His laughter surprised her. “The power is my servant and acts according to my commands, Angel.” Even as he spoke, Demando could sense the dark power stirring, beginning to notice the bright, shining light of the Ginzuishou. “As long as you don’t threaten to wreck my palace you can play with your crystal all you’d like.” The White Prince sat on the arm of the large chair Usagi was in, a rakish grin on his face. He leaned slightly forward, enjoying the game he was playing with her immensely. “Actually, I’d think I’d like watching you play with your crystal.” “You would, wouldn’t you?” Usagi’s cheeks flushed red at the ribald inference in Demando’s statement. With a flip of her hands she let the silver crystal fade away to sleep safely inside her. “Is there a reason for this visit or did you just come here to annoy me?” Usagi asked. She silently prayed that the White Prince wouldn’t drag her on yet another tour of his dark palace. “Actually, I have something I want you to see.” Demando opened the rough edged book he carried. A single piece of yellowed paper was removed carefully and handed to Usagi. “I’ve been trying to show you who I am, Serenity but I think I’ve been going about it the wrong way. I want you to get to know me, not the ruling Prince of Nemesis, not the True Prince of Earth, but me; Demando.” Cautiously Usagi took the sheet and when she looked at it, blinked in surprise. There were two children in the sketch, a little boy of about five with silver hair that fell into his eyes. In his lap was a chubby, dark haired toddler who was smiling broadly. Crystal blue eyes glanced up at Demando then back down at the drawing. “This is you, isn’t it; you and Saffir?” “I was five, Saffir just over two when this was done.” He reached again into the portfolio, this time producing a drawing of a boy on the edge of puberty. “And this,” he pointed to the picture of the gangly, young prince who was all arms and legs, “was done on my twelfth birthday. I was trying my best to look regal and princely. As you can see I still had to work on that some more.” “These are wonderful,” Usagi said softly as the White Prince handed her another page. The artist had managed to capture the look of childish glee on Demando’s face as he chased his younger brother in a game long forgotten. “Who drew these?” That prompted the White Prince to reach into the book and with great care pull out a large piece of parchment. “My mother,” he said handing it to Usagi. “Her name was Amethyst and she was the most extraordinary woman you’d ever want to meet. I owe much of what I am to her. She died a few weeks after my thirteenth birthday,” he paused, the pain of loss still lingered after all these years. “I miss her a great deal.” “She was beautiful,” Usagi said, still looking at the drawing. The woman in the half completed portrait had luminous, silver hair that was loose around her shoulder. Her delicate features were accented by the large, almond shaped purple eyes that held a light of intelligence in them. The way Amethyst tipped her chin up reminded Usagi immediately of Demando. “You look a great deal like her.” “I was lucky enough to favor my mother but poor Saffir ended up looking like his father,” Demando said, reaching for another picture. “The Regent was a difficult man to please. I was just as happy not to be his son. He could be very demanding.” Usagi took the sketch. She hadn’t missed the significance of what had just been said and peered closely at the unfinished picture. The facial features of the Regent were in pencil and still rough but there was something about the eyes that drew her attention. “Don’t you and Saffir have the same father?” “Gods no,” the White Prince laughed lightly. “Why do think I’m called by the title Prince and Saffir isn’t?” Usagi’s hands shook slightly and she found herself staring at the indistinct face on the paper. Her mind began to turn in furious circles and she actually went pale. “Then who…who…?” Demando seemed puzzled by her reaction. “You really don’t know do you? No, of course you don’t. Endymion could hardly admit that he wasn’t the one True Prince and still claim to be King of Earth.” “Demando, please,” Usagi laid a hand on his arm, looking up at him. Her eyes were so beautiful, Demando thought, so deep and endlessly blue as the skies of Earth were said to be. He found himself unable to refuse her. “The Elders wouldn’t discuss him with me, other than to say that he’d done his duty and no more. Mother didn’t like to talk about him either but on my thirteenth birthday she finally told me the truth. Until Endymion showed up he was considered by many to be the True Prince and was the best hope of his generation. His name was Goruden Kobushi but my people called him the Black Prince.” “Goruden Kobushi? Goruden Kobushi was considered the rightful True Prince?” the name tripped off of Usagi’s lips and she stammered slightly. He was supposed to be in love with Minako. What could possibly have happened that he would turn against her so totally as to take up with the rebels? The anguish and confusion on her face bothered the White Prince. Demando gently took her hand and smiled. “It’s all right, Angel. I know that you’re as much a victim of Endymion’s madness as any of our Clan. You have nothing to fear from me or my people.” Taking the hand, he raised it to his lips and placed a delicate kiss on it. “When I’m at last King of Earth, I’ll take very good care of you.” *************************************** Setsuna drifted in a gray world of shifting shadows. A part of her knew that she was in a state halfway between sleep and wakefulness. There was pain at the edges of her consciousness; pain that wanted to pull her fully awake. Even more insistent than the pain was a murmur on the faint breeze in this world of dreams, one that called to her. It was the name of her soul. In that one word was everything Setsuna was and everything she’d ever hoped to be. It was the sum total of her life with every pretense stripped away. Only one other living being knew that secret, sacred name; the one who shared it with her. Following the thin murmur Setsuna saw that there was a shape trying to form in the misty realm she now occupied. It was Lorilei, she realized. She’d felt the faint pull along the lines of the bond she shared with her twin several times but it had always faded away so quickly that Setsuna had wondered if she had imagined it. Lorilei’s mouth was moving but no sound came from it. Even though her body flickered in and out of focus, the frustration was easy to read on her face. At last she held out her hand, palm up in a gesture that she knew Setsuna would understand. “We are two but we are one,” Pluto said evenly. Her hand was raised to meet her twin’s. She laced her fingers through Lorilei’s and pulled them closed. She felt Lorilei’s hand grow solid for a moment. Lorilei’s voice filled Setsuna like the sun in the sky at dawn, full of promise and beautiful beyond comparison. In the moment when their souls touched a burst of images filled Setsuna’s mind. She saw Helios on his knees in prayer. One hand reached down to touch the soil of Elysion and a golden aura shone brightly around him. He looked up and held out the other hand in a silent yet desperate invitation. Lorilei abruptly faded away and Setsuna felt herself falling. She woke with a start, the pain convincing her that she was back in her body. The room was only dimly lit, Pluto noted as she slowly shook her head to clear the last of the cobwebs from her mind. She raised a hand to her head to find that her wrists were manacled and chained to the wall. “Pluto? Are you awake?” said a rough voice from a darkened corner. “I…I think so.” Setsuna blinked hard, trying to force her eyes to hurry adjusting to the gloom. Sailor Jupiter sat with a still unconscious Ami’s head on her lap. A quick glance found Venus and Mars huddled together in another corner, still and unmoving. The chains rattled as Makoto shifted slightly. She looked at Pluto, an odd half smile on her face. “As you see we’ve run into a small problem in this reality.” “How ‘small’ a problem?” Setsuna wasn’t sure she really wanted to know right now. From out of the fourth dank corner came a voice that made Setsuna’s head snap around at the sound of it. A figure stirred in the darkness, leaning forward into the paltry light to be better seen. Her long, green hair matted in places with dirt and blood, her face bruised Sailor Pluto never the less gave a sharp bark of cynical laughter. “Nothing too dire,” this world’s Pluto told her counterpart. “It’s just that on this Earth, the Dark Kingdom rules supreme.” *************************************** The piercing cold of the floor he lay on was what finally forced Mamoru awake. The biting chill seemed to eat into his bones, made his body stiff and unresponsive. For once he was glad of the heavy cape he wore as Tuxedo Kamen and pulled it closed with clumsy fingers in an attempt to warm himself. Even as Mamoru dragged himself into a sitting position a sound came out of the shadows around him. There was the steady click, click, click of heels on the highly polished marble floor. “Who’s there?” Mamoru managed to stumble to his feet. “Who’s there?” came the mocking echo. Laughter began, bitter and with an edge of insanity to it. “Who’s there? Better you should ask where you are, fool.” A figure became slowly visible. The shadows lingered on the form, slowly, hesitantly falling away as the man began to walk with a unhurried step towards Mamoru. He stopped for an instant at the place where the dim light in the chamber was at its brightest. With a final step, he became visible and Tuxedo Kamen couldn’t stop the gasp that escaped from his lips. The ebony armor seemed to swallow the light, the cape attached at the shoulders little more than a mass of night that moved and slithered as if alive. Eyes gleamed golden in the semi darkness as Endymion, King of Earth looked at his counterpart. A predatory smile split the handsome face, fangs evident. “Welcome to hell, Chiba Mamoru.” ************************************** Authors Notes: First and foremost I want to apologize for taking so long to get this chapter out. To say that my life in these last few months has been crazy is like saying that is like saying that Prince Demando has only a passing interest in Neo-Queen Serenity. At any rate, I promise that it won’t take me another four months to post chapter eight. If, that is, anyone is still even remotely interested in reading this story at this point… Many thanks go out to my beta-readers, Masked Maiden and Donnar-I (note to the Exalted Editor - I want to see the lap dance scene!) for taking time out of their incredibly busy lives to help me. There’s something to said for public humiliation, but I get enough of that on a regular basis as it is. If you’d like to take a whack at castigating me, feel free to write to me at MearaD@aol.com. I also want to thank Lord Chaos for his kind permission to abuse him mightily in this chapter. If you haven’t read his “When Magical Girls Go Wrong” series, then I suggest you do. It’s just like the man who wrote it – delightfully twisted and wickedly funny. One of the alternate realities that makes a cameo appearance is taken from LeVar Bouyer “Moon Revenge”. It’s an excellent story and I highly recommend it. Standard Disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon or any of the attendant characters to which valid copyright laws apply. The S’Eyre (although they only get a passing mention), their Imperium and the way I have Gates work are my intellectual property. Please ask permission if you’d like to use them.