From: Ken Wolfe

This is my fifth Sailor Moon fan fiction story. Just as a warning, this story brings together events and themes from my previous four. In chronological order, they are:

The Four Horsemen
Frozen Time
Kiss of the Enemy
Under a Cloud

It's not necessary to have read them to understand what is going on, I haven't made any big changes from the continuity in the TV series. But there are references to events in the previous stories that might be a bit confusing without having read them.

Most of this story takes place after the end of the TV series, and it is *full* of spoilers, so be warned if you haven't seen the whole series. I use the character names from the original Japanese series, not the English dub. I would probably give the story a PG-13 rating for violence and adult content.

I'd like to mention some unusual punctuation I use in the text. As is normal in plan ASCII text I indicate italics with asterisks, *like this.* There are places where I indicate non-verbal communication with double asterisks, **like this.** As to what this non-verbal communication is ... you'll see soon enough.

I couldn't resist using some Japanese words in a few places, so for those unfamiliar with these words, here's a really short translation dictionary:

baka - fool, idiot.
onisan/onisama - elder brother (also term of respect)
onesan/onesama - elder sister (also term of respect)
senpai - upperclassman, senior (term of respect)
obatarian - crabby old lady ... basically an old battle axe
kami - god (either a shinto god, or gods in general)

Name suffixes:
-chan - casual, used mostly between women
-kun - casual, used mostly between men
-san/sama - formal honorific

This story contains characters created by Naoko Takeuchi. All the usual fanfic disclaimers apply.

Secrets
Chapter 1 - Galaxia's Shadow

    "This must surely be the ugliest city in all the galaxy," K'Theelm said.
    "Careful, Tony," Thetan said, using K'Theelm's assumed name. He glanced nervously around the noisy, crowded cafe. The noon hour rush was in full swing. They were in a small booth next to the big window looking out onto the street.
    "Are you afraid somebody might overhear us?" K'Theelm said, reverting to their native language. "Well, this way they'll just assume we're a pair of foreigners speaking in our inscrutable language."
    "Yes, I suppose ... "
    K'Theelm smiled. "Besides, we can barely hear each other, who do you think could overhear?"
    "Granted. Ugly or not, it is certainly the noisiest place I have ever lived in."
    "Is that why you moved into a monastery?"
    Thetan actually smiled, something he did rarely these days. He was a big man, nearly two meters, stocky and well muscled. His shaved head and monk's robes made him stand out all the more in this bustling crowd of people in business suits.
    But he didn't stand out half as much as if he hadn't been wearing the glamour. The one that made him look more or less like a caucasian Earthling.
    K'Theelm himself wore the appearance of a tall, wiry brown-skinned man with tightly curled hair cut short. His features made it difficult to guess his racial origins, most would have guessed Arab or southern European or some combination thereof. Like Thetan's assumed appearance, his was one likely to get a second glance from many people. Hide in plain sight, that was the idea.
    "Anyway, what prompted you to suddenly comment on the city's appearance?" Thetan asked.
    "Just the irony of it, I suppose. The city seems to be a tribute to chaos. Hardly a place we would expect to find a great power of order."
    Thetan nodded. "Yet that power is here. Even after a year I still feel it, fresh as when we first arrived."
    Yes, when they first arrived. K'Theelm was aura mute, but Thetan and Jeneth described the feeling upon approaching the planet as overwhelming. Even from deep space, to their aura sense Tokyo had shone brighter than the sun.
    Somewhere here was the force that just might stand against the coming storm.
    K'Theelm finished off his coffee, and saw that Thetan was done with his tea. "Perhaps we should be going," he said, noting people lined up at the entrance. He preceded Thetan, paying their bill on the way out. They walked in silence for a few minutes, until they came to a slightly less crowded street.
    "Has Jeneth felt any more disturbances?" the big warrior asked.
    "Not that she's told me," K'Theelm replied. "She's been rather consumed by a couple of cases she's involved with."
    Thetan sighed, the sound from deep in his chest almost a rumble. "Ah, her errands of mercy."
    K'Theelm raised an eyebrow. He had never heard their leader utter a disparaging remark about the healer. He could guess the source of his friend's frustration. "You gave your blessing to her work, do you regret that?"
    "No, I can't fault her for seeking small victories over the darkness. I'm hardly in a position to criticize," he said with a crooked smile, gesturing at his monk's robes. K'Theelm took his meaning. Thetan had found some comfort in the Zen Buddhist temple he had joined months ago. Perhaps comfort enough not to dwell on the blasted earth that covered the ruins of his own order's temples, so far away.
    "I suppose we are all trying not to think too hard of what is coming," K'Theelm said.
    "Yes. It goes against the grain, this trusting in fate. But I still think that Jeneth is right. It was grandiose tampering with the old powers that brought about this catastrophe. Fighting fire with fire just makes it worse. Even if we could make a difference ..."
    K'Theelm's thoughts suddenly flew back to the final day of their homeworld, the day they watched Galaxia's twisted Avatars carve through their armies, destroying in hours what had taken millennia to build. Thetan was right, they could hardly hope to make a difference in what was to come.
    He felt Thetan suddenly give him a friendly slap on the back. The symbiont embedded there made its displeasure known through their neural link. The cut of K'Theelm's suit was made carefully to hide the slight hunchbacked look it gave him, there was only so much you could do with glamours.
    "Enough about the fate of the galaxy, K'Theelm. It has been days since we talked, tell me what more you have learned of this strange and wonderful world we have flown to."
    K'Theelm felt himself relax already, glad for the diversion. "I've been trying to learn more about these electronic devices they are so fond of. I purchased one of those general purpose digital computing machines I told you about. I was able to connect it to a global communications network right from our apartment. The technology is crude, but it's remarkable what they've achieved with it. It's almost like a virtual world laid on top of the physical one, with its own cultures and families spanning continents."
    "And all this with just electronic devices?" Thetan asked. "I would hardly have thought it possible."
    "That's the remarkable part. It's all based just on electricity and solid state physics. No biotechnology, no psionic devices, no quantum crystals, no telepathic enhancers, none of that."
    "Hmmm," Thetan's basso voice sounded a low rumble. "Sounds like quite the Engineer's paradise, you must be delighted."
    K'Theelm chuckled. "The Engineer Caste triumphant? Yes, that's what I thought at first. But what passes for engineering here, it just seems hopelessly myopic. I mean, look at this," they stopped before the window of an electronics store, and he gestured to a bank of televisions on display, all showing the same image of a newscaster. "Those images are sent here by a colossal, immensely powerful radio wave transmitter, probably that one over there." He pointed to the top of the Tokyo Tower, just visible over a neighbouring building. "On our world, the same thing would be done with a set of resonating quantum crystals, all slaved to one master crystal. Those crystals are grown in little vats, but these television sets ... the factories they make them in are a mile long."
    "Sounds like an allegory of their history. Earthmen seem to delight in taking the thorniest road, whatever their journey."
    K'Theelm thought about that for a moment. "Perhaps they're somehow compensating for living on such a benign world. Despite all they are doing to it, this earth is a paradise, more fertile than anything I've ever heard of."
    "You wouldn't think so from standing on these miles of concrete, but you're right. The web of life on our own world was so much more fragile. If we had taken this path, tried to live like this, it would surely have all collapsed."
    Mention of their world was like a shadow passing over them. K'Theelm didn't feel like thinking about that right now. "At least here they seem to take good care of what little green space remains, almost obsessively. Speaking of which, I found a remarkable garden not far from here, perhaps we should go visit there."
    Thetan smiled and nodded. He made a move to continue on their way, then hesitated. A shadow passed over his face again. He was staring at the bank of televisions. K'Theelm turned to look. There was a different newscaster now, a young woman framed by a blank background. K'Theelm was shocked by her expression. She was trying hard to hold on to her cool detachment, but he could see that she was terrified. They could not hear what she was saying through the store window. Feeling a sudden dread, K'Theelm thought he should go inside and ask somebody to turn up the sound on one of the sets.
    "K'Theelm, look." The warrior's voice was expressionless. But K'Theelm knew better, could hear the undercurrents of tension that not even his discipline could hide entirely. Thetan was pointing up to the sky. K'Theelm looked up and his whole world collapsed.
    Dark clouds were forming at an unnatural, hellish speed, wherever he looked. What had been a clear blue sky was blotted out in a matter of seconds, and the city was plunged into sudden darkness. "It can't be, not so soon," he breathed. Then the first flash of lightning came, as he knew it would, lighting up the unnatural purple clouds. It was not the clear white light of a natural thunderstorm, but a sick blood-red bolt of jagged snake lightning that seemed to leave unfathomable blackness in its wake. The thunder was muted, as if the air had suddenly grown thick. It was followed by another bolt, and another, now coming more quickly.
    "It has begun," Thetan said. People around them were starting to panic. Some were rushing into buildings, some were rushing out of them, all equally certain that some place, any place must be safer than where they were standing now. Traffic had stalled as people either abandoned their vehicles or just leaned out their windows to stare up at the impossible sky.
    The televisions caught K'Theelm's eye again, and he spasmed as if he had been stabbed. "Thetan," he croaked.
    It was Galaxia. The images of her sneering lips moved silently in perfect unison. He didn't need the words to know what she was saying. She was gleefully explaining to the people of Earth that she was their new master, that they would all give up their lives to her.
    "We have to go to Jeneth," Thetan said.
    K'Theelm just shook his head. His symbiont was bleeding off his excess adrenaline, taking the tension out of his body. But his mind was still screaming. "She's at Sanno Hospital ... trying to get there through this chaos-"
    "It doesn't matter, we'll fly. Prepare yourself."
    He wanted to protest that somebody might see. But that was unlikely, given what was happening. And it hardly mattered now. "I understand," he said, acknowledging that he understood it to be an order. He ordered the symbiont to generate the field. The air around them seemed to ripple like disturbed water, and they were enveloped in a shimmering translucent globe. Colours played across it like a soap bubble. But they could see through it well enough, even in the preternatural darkness. He directed the symbiont to cloak them as best it could. They could not be made invisible, but to outside observers they were now little more than a nebulous heat shimmer. The feeling of weightlessness came, and they slowly lifted into the sky.
    It really didn't matter at this point if people saw them. But there was another whose attention he would avoid at all cost.
    With increasing speed they flew to join their companion. K'Theelm flew as low as he dared. He had no idea whether that did any good, but he felt better close to the ground, as far from those clouds as possible.
    "She begins to take their Star Seeds," Thetan said. K'Theelm, concentrating on weaving between the buildings, only spared brief glances to their sides. Sure enough, some of the lightning was now reaching down to the ground. No doubt Thetan was feeling what he could not: the people having their very souls ripped from them, their Star Seeds drifting up to go complete Galaxia's collection.
    K'Theelm had been to this hospital with Jeneth several times before, so he had little difficulty locating it, even from the air. He dropped them into a rear loading dock area. He withdrew the shield and without a word they ran around to a side entrance. They dropped to a brisk walk as they approached the nurse's station in the section he knew Jeneth to be. He didn't want to alarm them ... though that hardly seemed a consideration now. People around them were obviously aware of what was going on outside. The staff went about their duties briskly and solemnly, as if determined to pretend that it was just business as usual.
    "I'm here to see doctor Constantine," K'Theelm informed the nurse.
    She spared a quick, annoyed glance at the towering monk. K'Theelm recalled that buddhist priests officiated at funerals here. For many people they had an unfortunate association with death, so they were not a welcome sight at hospitals.
    The nurse looked back at K'Theelm. "I'm sorry, she is with a patient right now, you'll-"
    "Nurse," Thetan growled, getting her attention and looking her straight in the eye. "Listen closely. This is professor Anthony Harth, a specialist with whom Doctor Constantine needs to consult. Doctor Constantine has instructed you to bring him to her the moment he arrives, along with his companion."
    The nurse blinked several times. Then her blank expression broke, and she was suddenly all flustered. "Oh, Professor Harth ... yes, Doctor Constantine has been expecting you ... right this way please."
    "Thank you," K'Theelm said. They followed the nurse down the corridor. He glanced at Thetan, but his friend's face was expressionless. K'Theelm knew he considered such tricks a misuse of his powers. Right now they didn't have time to ponder the ethics of mind control.
    The nurse pointed them to a closed door, bowed and left them. Thetan opened the door and they entered, both taking care to make no unnecessary noise. K'Theelm quietly closed the door behind them and locked it. He walked over to join Thetan near the foot of the room's single bed.
    Jeneth sat by the bed, holding her patient's hand and watching her face intently. Her glamour presented the form of an attractive caucasian woman with flaming red hair worn loosely around her shoulders and expressive, emerald green eyes. Like those of her companions hers was an ageless face, perhaps somebody in her thirties. Her slim form was covered by a long white lab coat. She had not acknowledged their presence in any way.
    Her patient was a young girl, asleep or unconscious. Her hairless scalp, sallow face and withered body all indicated the extent of her sickness, and the desperate measures being used to combat it. There were intravenous feeds and monitoring machines arrayed along the other side of the bed, but the girl was no longer connected to any of them. Jeneth was applying a quite different form of healing.
    The two of them waited silently for several minutes. K'Theelm could hear the muted thunder from outside. The lights flickered once or twice, no doubt a side effect of the colossal energies Galaxia was unleashing upon the city. The hospital could very well be under its own power by now.
    Presently, Jeneth broke contact with the girl. She took a slow breath and sighed deeply. She took two more deep breaths, then finally turned to her companions. "So it has begun," she said.
    "Yes, healer," Thetan answered. "We should leave this place right away."
    Jeneth shook her head, gestured to her patient. "I am not done with her yet. She will need me again in a few minutes, to complete her treatment. Then I must observe her for hours more."
    "Jeneth, she already takes their Star Seeds. It is only a matter of time before we are found out. And even if we survive the feeding, her corrupted Avatars cannot be far behind."
    Jeneth nodded incrementally. "I know. I can feel what is happening, just as you can. But tell me, where is there to run?"
    "She must be seeking out the power of order that we found here, for now she only attacks this city." Thetan still sounded calm, but K'Theelm could once again hear the undercurrents of tension, he was desperate to take his friends to safety.
    "No doubt. And when she finds that power, either it will defeat her, or she will consume it. If the latter, then it will no longer matter where we are." She spoke while sitting calmly, hands folded in her lap. Part of that would be the inward focus she required while in the process of a healing. K'Theelm had grown used to her unshakable poise, but still marvelled at how she could calmly sit there and discuss the ultimate victory of chaos.
    "Jeneth, the battle you speak of could start any moment and will unleash powers beyond comprehension. The farther we are from this place, the better."
    "I wish to remain with my patient." In her unwavering stare was the question she did not need to ask: *Will you make it an order?* K'Theelm glanced at Thetan. His expression was unreadable.
    After a brief pause, Thetan nodded. "Very well, we will remain." None of them contemplated or discussed the possibility of them leaving Jeneth behind. Thetan turned to K'Theelm. "Pilot, I believe our chances of escaping Galaxia's power will be greater if you put a cloak about us. Make it one that you can maintain indefinitely, I don't want you draining your power."
    "It won't be a very effective cloak."
    "It will have to do."
    K'Theelm nodded, then went to stand beside Jeneth, who was still sitting quietly, preparing herself for the next step in the healing. He linked with his symbiont, and once again a shimmering sphere formed in the air around them. It was a larger one, encompassing the four of them, and looked like little more than a heat shimmer. It would cloak their lifeforce to some degree. Perhaps enough to make Galaxia's power pass them by. He and Thetan stood by their companion, and they all silently listened to the muffled thunder.
    "Am I being selfish, Thetan?"
    Thetan looked to her and frowned. "Healer ... ?"
    Her stoic expression had softened somewhat. "Is it just hubris on my part, seeking these small victories against the darkness?"
    Thetan's expression also softened as he shook his head, slipping out of his role as commander. "No, healer. I believe the attempt alone is a victory. The small kindnesses done in the dark, the ones that nobody will ever sing of, those are the most precious." He smiled. "But you taught me this yourself, Jeneth, why do you ask me?"
    She returned his smile. "Perhaps because I find my friend's voice comforting." She turned to her other companion. "K'Theelm, your aura is wavering, are you overextending yourself?"
    He shook his head. "No, healer. The trip here was taxing, but this shield - such as it is - I can maintain as long as required." Or until one of those soul crushing bolts crashes into us.
    "Then if you will both excuse me, I will continue."
    They watched her carefully take the frail young girl's hand and once again stare into her tiny face. Had he not been making every effort to conserve energy K'Theelm could have tapped into his symbiont senses, seen some of the side effects of the energy Jeneth was wielding. The power itself was invisible to him, that was a world open only to his two friends. For quite different purposes, the adepts of the Warrior and Healer Castes tapped into the arcane powers that flowed between this plane of existence and its neighbours. As an Engineer, K'Theelm concerned himself strictly with what happened on this plane.
    They watched over Jeneth as she continued her work. Once they heard a clap of thunder that seemed to be right on top of them, followed by a barely audible scream from the hallway outside. Galaxia taking another victim. They could still hear the occasional voice or set of footfalls go past their room, people valiantly trying to continue with their work.
    "These people, they know nothing of the other worlds," K'Theelm commented when Jeneth was resting again. "They have no idea what is happening to them. That must make it worse, even than it was for us." They had at least heard rumours of the fall of other worlds, of Galaxia's onslaught, before their own world had come under attack.
    "It's not just that," Jeneth said. "They don't even understand the power hidden in their own worlds, in their own souls, or how that power could unleash something like ... this. How could they, without their Avatars as examples?"
    Thetan grunted. "Yet we know that one of their Avatars lives." Jeneth nodded. What but an Avatar could contain the power that had drawn them here? "It still puzzles me, how they could be here and none be aware of them."
    "I have an idea about that."
    They both looked to K'Theelm, who suddenly felt awkward. Now that he had broached the subject, he was unsure. But he could hardly stay silent now. "The forces of chaos that have been unleashed on this city since we arrived, the ones we feared were Galaxia's vanguard ... they were beaten back by something."
    Thetan nodded. They could hardly forget. Once the city seemed to be draped in shadow and spiderwebs, dripping with malevolent energy. Then it was as if all the mirrors in the city had become black holes, sucking in the souls of the unwary. Each time, something had turned the tide, beaten back the forces of chaos that threatened to consume them.
    "It's not just those two times either. I've read of other reports in the local news literature. Creatures which they pass off as phantoms from their mythical past have attacked people here. Always here, in this city that glows like a beacon even from deep space."
    "I've read of those myself," Jeneth said. "Do you think there's something to them?"
    "There's a common thread that runs through many of them. A set of mythical figures known as the Sailor Senshi."
    Thetan and Jeneth looked at each other. Of course they had heard of the Sailor Senshi. Anyone who worked with children as Jeneth did for any time could hardly help but hear of them, it seemed to be one of the most popular fairy tales, at least here.
    Jeneth was the first to make the connection. "K'Theelm, are you suggesting they could be ... ?"
    He nodded. "The Avatars." He could imagine the image what was going through his friends' minds right now. An image of a group of young girls in colourful skirts standing before Galaxia and her legions.
    Thetan sighed. "If you are right ... Heaven help us all."
    K'Theelm smiled ghoulishly. "It was not my intention to dash your hopes."
    Thetan chuckled. "I could think of worse things to put my faith in ... pretty young girls whose exploits are the delight of children."
    "We know that one of them possesses power unlike anything that has ever stood against Galaxia," Jeneth said. "They may surprise us.
    "Your pardon, I must tend my patient again."
    They stood watch over Jeneth and her charge again. The day passed. At one point there was a colossal explosion that rattled the windows, and the lights went out. Jeneth continued her work in the dim glow of K'Theelm's shield.
    While she was resting again, Galaxia's shadow suddenly lifted.
    The room was brightened ever so slightly by the sunlight that now crept in around the drawn curtains. To them, it was like a glorious sunrise. And the thunder which had long since passed into the backs of their minds stopped, leaving a silence that was shocking and wonderful.
    Almost without thinking, K'Theelm dropped his shield. Thetan walked to the window and drew the curtains, letting the early evening sun flood the room.
    K'Theelm looked unbelievingly at the blue sky. "Jeneth ... is it over?"
    Jeneth released the young girl's hand and smiled up at her friend. "Yes, I'm done. She still has a long recovery ahead of her, poor girl. But I'm sure she'll be fine."
    K'Theelm and Thetan looked at each other. For a variety of reasons, they both started to laugh.

    *****

    Shoji brought his motorcycle to a halt in front of the gate that gave entrance to the grounds of his mother's house. As always, the great sliding iron gates were closed. He rang the buzzer, flipped up the visor of his helmet and winked at the camera, flashing a peace sign. Whoever answered the call didn't say anything through the intercom but must have recognized him, for shortly the gates started to open. He flipped the visor back down, gunned the engine and sped down the winding gravel road that led up the slope to the house.
    He cleared the woods and came onto the wide lawn that surrounded the big house. There would be space in the garages, but it was a clear day so he just parked his bike where the road widened out in front of the house. He removed his helmet, hung it on the handlebar and ran his hand through his coppery red hair a couple if times. Not that it did much to tame the unruly mop. He could see people working in the garden and a few of the children flying a kite on the lawn. The latter looked rather more interesting. He zipped open his black leather jacket to let the afternoon breeze cool him a bit and headed that way.
    There were happy cries of "Shoji-onisan!" from the older ones as he approached. They were the only ones he would know well, it had been years since he lived here. Some of the younger ones he was just barely able to attach names to.
    "Hey everyone, long time no see," he called as a couple of them came running out to greet him. He grabbed one of the boys and hoisted him up onto his shoulder. "Oof! By the First Ancestor, you've grown. Next year I won't be able to do that." Not wanting a sore shoulder all night he lowered the boy back down onto the ground. The boy was grinning, basking in the attention of his older cousin.
    "Shoji took the Ancestors' name in vain again." one of the girls said to another in a conspiratorial voice that really wasn't meant to be hidden at all.
    "Grownup's privilege," Shoji said, walking over and tousling her hair. She squealed and sidestepped away from him. The others ignored her and gathered around. Some of the younger ones had walked over too, curious about this cool cousin they'd heard about, the one who lived among the outsiders.
    "Did you bring us anything from Tokyo?" one asked.
    "Sorry, not this time. I'm just here to talk with my mom for a bit, I won't be staying long."
    There was a chorus of "Awww...." Then one of the younger ones asked "Shoji onisan, have you really been to Hokkaido?"
    "Yep, I've been to our house there lots of times."
    "Is it true the Matriarch has horns?" The older kids all groaned and one of them pulled the boy's cap down over his eyes.
    Shoji just laughed. "I've never seen her grow horns but you never know." Feeling some sympathy for the boy and wanting to divert attention from his gaffe, Shoji looked over to the three boys who were still standing some distance away. "So who's flying the kite today?"
    "Gen," four different voices chorused. Shoji and his fan club walked over to them. Even if he hadn't recognized Gen, Shoji could see who was doing the work. Little Gen stood stock still, his arms held rigid at his sides, his fists clenched. His brow was furrowed and beads of sweat trickled down his face. He was tensed up a little too much, but at least his face wasn't flushed, he was more or less in control. Shoji followed the boy's gaze up to the kite that fluttered about twenty meters overhead. The kite danced and bobbed in the breeze. But the stone it was tied to by the short string floated unmoving in the air, exactly where Gen was holding it.
    Shoji nodded approvingly. "Nice and steady. How long?"
    One of the girls, acting every part the official timekeeper, looked carefully at her stopwatch and solemnly declared "Thirteen minutes and twenty ... *three* seconds."
    "Not too shabby at all." Telekinesis wasn't Shoji's strong point, he hadn't been able to do half that good at Gen's age.
    A very familiar thirteen year old girl materialized above him and went into a ballistic freefall. **Senpai!** she called out as she slammed into him and wrapped her arms around his neck.
    Shoji absorbed the impact and fell down onto his back. Only an instinctive burst of levitation stopped the landing from being very painful. A couple of the children just barely dove out of the way on time.
    **Senpai!** she cried again, practically choking him. As always her telepathic voice was clear and bright, washing through his mind like springwater. Just as he imagined her real voice would be, if she had one.
    **Hi, Yui-chan** he returned, smiling and gently returning her embrace.
    She let him go and pushed herself up, straddling his chest. **I saw you from the house, nobody told me you were coming today!**
    **Mom asked me to come see her, I just got here.**
    "She should be more careful," one of the other girls said in a huff.
    Shoji focused carefully, sending his message only to that girl.
**That's very rude. Use telepathy when Yui is here.**
    The girl was startled. No doubt having heard how protective Shoji was of Yui, she transmitted back a clear feeling of apology.
    Shoji lifted Yui up, sat her a little further back then levered himself up so that she was in his lap. **And what has my favourite girl been doing today?**
    She pouted **Kaori-mama was trying to teach me sign language again. So that I can talk to the animals. It was really boring.**
    Ah. He had an idea of what he and his mother would be discussing. Not that he hadn't already guessed. **Not animals, Yui. Outsiders.**
    **I don't call them animals when Kaori-mama is around,** she said in a huff, implying he should give her some credit for brains.
    **Well, you really shouldn't call them that at all. Come on, let's go into the house.**
    She got up off him, but wrapped her hands around his arm as soon as he had picked himself up off the ground.
    **Aren't you going to stay and see how long Gen will go?** the timekeeper asked. She looked not at all pleased by the way Yui had suddenly monopolized his attention.
    **I'll just watch from the house. Be sure to mark down his time, that's your responsibility.** She smiled proudly and nodded, mollified somewhat.
    **How come just Yui gets to go with Shoji-onisan?** One of the young boys asked.
    **'Cause I'm his girlfriend, that's why!** Yui said, making everybody jump with the vehemence of her inner voice. Even Gen's floating stone wavered a bit. Shoji smiled. A couple of the boys here were nearly her age, but she made it clear even to them that they were out of her league.
    Shoji waved goodbye, and they started walking over to the house. He smiled fondly down at Yui, who was still two heads shorter than him. She had taken to wearing very tight jeans now, emphasizing that her figure was becoming a little less boyish. And she was letting her hair grow a bit longer now, the straight jet black hair bobbed around her shoulders. It still looked very cute.
    **So is my mom really getting on your case?**
    **All the time!** she said, pouting again. **If it's not that stupid sign language, then it's going on and on about how nice the outsiders really are.**
    **Some of them really are nice, Yui-chan. And you can't talk to any of them like this, you know.**
    **Hmph. Most of *them* don't know sign language either, so what's the point?**
    **Most of the deaf ones do.**
    **Yeah, but there's hardly any of them, just like there's only one of me.**
    Shoji grinned. **Yep, you're unique alright, that's why I love you.**
    Yui's eyes sparkled. **So when are you going to marry me?**
    **Maybe when your breasts get a little bigger.**
    **SENPAI!** She jumped back and then leaped into him, knocking him down on the ground again. This time, there was some telekinesis backing up her momentum. But this time he was more prepared, so the result was much the same as last time. He laughed merrily, something that came out both as sound and as a telepathic signal, deftly blocking the half-hearted blows she rained down on him. **Meanie! Meanie! Meanie! Meanie!**
    **Shoji, are you teasing Yui-chan again?**
    They stopped their grappling, recognizing the familiar voice. They turned to see Kaori standing in front of the main door, her arms crossed, a friendly smile on her face.
    Shoji grinned. **Hi mom.**
    **Hi Kaori-mama**
    The two of them untangled themselves from each other and stood up as Kaori walked over to them. She was a tall woman with a very beautiful heart-shaped face and wavy black hair that cascaded down over her shoulders and back. As was her habit she wore a plain kimono. Even her very conservative dress could not hide her ample figure, which would be the envy of women much younger than her.
    **You're both looking very energetic,** she said. **I'm not surprised to see that Yui intercepted you even before you got to the house.**
    **Well of course. He's my boyfriend, after all.**
    Kaori raised an eyebrow. **I see.** She had only a hint of a smile.
    Shoji knew that look. Time for business. **Yui-chan, Mom and I have to talk about some boring family stuff, I'll talk to you later, okay?**
    Yui didn't like being sent away, but the promise to see her later kept her happy. **Okay. I'll be in my room, so I'll see you there.** She waved and vanished. The teleport made a barely audible pop.
    "She's gotten a lot better at that," Shoji commented.
    Kaori nodded. "That's one thing she doesn't seem to mind practicing."
    "She's got a lot finer control over her TK too," Shoji said, reaching through his open jacket to rub the back of his shoulder where it had hit the ground.
    "Yes, she's coming along very well," Kaori said. She turned slightly and gestured towards the door. "Shall we go into the house?"
    "Sure." Shoji followed his mother towards the house. This wing of the house, like the others beside and behind it, had a style that owed more to modernity than tradition. The first level, mostly shared living space, was floor to ceiling windows almost all the way around. It was surrounded by an open hardwood patio that Shoji knew went all around the complex. The patio was covered all around by a roof supported on plain wood beams. The second story, mostly private bedrooms and suites, had painted walls and smaller windows, but some had large glass doors opening onto open patios. The roof was flat, the lines simple and clean with no ornamentation.
    "I don't think we've made any changes since you were last here," Kaori said as she walked across the patio from the steps to the great double doors that led into the house.
    "That was just a couple of weeks ago, mom," Shoji said, noting the implication that he didn't come here often enough.
    She smiled. "Yes, it was, wasn't it?" She opened one of the doors and they walked into the spacious foyer. The doors opened onto a tile floor. All around them, two wide, shallow wooden steps led up to the level of the hardwood floor of the foyer. The smoked glass windows to either side of the doors let the sunlight brighten the room.
    Shoji sat on the steps and removed his boots as his mother changed into her indoor slippers. "Lots of people out today," he said, noting that there were many slippers in the bin to one side but not too many sets of shoes laid out on the floor.
    "Yes, it's such a nice day, most everybody is either on the grounds or gone on an outing."
    "That's good, people here need to get out more."
    Again, that merest hint of a smile. "I try to encourage everyone in the household to take an interest in the world around us."
    Shoji just put his slippers on, saying nothing. That was the Matriarch talking. At least that was one thing she and his mother could agree on. He took off his jacket and hung it in the wide closet. Underneath he had just a tight red T-shirt that emphasized the well developed muscles on his slim form.
    "I have tea for us upstairs," Kaori said. Shoji followed her up the stairway, down the hall and into her private suite. It was the biggest in the house, almost an apartment in its own right with a separate bedroom, bath and sitting room with attached kitchenette. She led him to the part of the sitting room that was covered with bamboo mats. On it was a low table with a tea set. The glass doors beyond it led out onto a patio and afforded a spectacular view of the Tokyo skyline spread out below them. Seen through the hazy, humid air the city looked like a distant mirage.
    Shoji sat on a cushion by the table, opposite his mother. She busied herself serving the tea. The tea set was the only item on the simple wide black wooden table. Such a contrast to his own apartment, Shoji thought, where he barely had enough space left on the floor to lay down his futon each night. He didn't have the sort of space to play with his mother had, not where he was.
    Kaori placed his tea in front of him. "Thanks." He took a sip. Perfect, as always.
    "It must be a relief, being in an air conditioned house for a while," Kaori commented.
    "Oh, it hasn't been too bad this summer," Shoji said. "My apartment is at ground level, so it doesn't get as hot as the ones upstairs. Besides, with my job I'm usually not home until really late when it's cooled down a bit."
    "That's good." Kaori sipped her tea. "I understand you took Yui to your apartment again last week."
    *Here it comes.* "Yeah, we stopped by at my place before I brought her home from that theme park."
    "She seems to like your apartment."
    Shoji chuckled. "My whole place is smaller than her bedroom here. She just thinks it's really cool that I'm living in Tokyo, never mind what the place looks like."
    "Has she told you that she'd like to move in with you?"
    "Yes."
    They looked at each other in silence for a moment. "And what do you think of that?"
    "Same as you, Mom. I think it would be a bad idea right now. She's hardly met anybody outside the family. I don't think she could deal with living among outsiders yet."
    Kaori sighed. "Shoji, the way things are going, I don't think she'll ever be ready to live among outsiders."
    "That bad, huh?"
    Kaori nodded. She didn't need to ask what Shoji was referring to. "She's made no progress. Sign language, lip reading, nothing. She just doesn't care. Telepathy is her crutch and she won't let go of it."
    Shoji shrugged. "I don't know, is that so bad? There are others in the family that don't bother with anything else. Look at uncle Ryouchi, he talks to everyone but I don't think a word has passed his lips in twenty years."
    "Uncle Ryouchi is over sixty, and he's content to putter around on one or another of the family's farms in Hokkaido, talking to whatever family happens to drop by. I would hate to think that's all Yui has to look forward to."
    "I'm not suggesting that, mom. Our family isn't all in Hokkaido anymore," Shoji said, waving his arm to indicate the house. "The Matriarch has seen to that. So have you. It's different for us now, we're all over the place. If Yui can only talk to other Ancients, that won't put her in a prison like it used to."
    "I know. But to never even be able to speak with outsiders... it goes against everything the Matriarch has been trying to do for us. We can't live in splendid isolation anymore."
    "You're preaching to the choir, mom," Shoji said, indicating with a smile that he wasn't really complaining. His expression quickly sobered. "But you know, Yui is a special case. She wouldn't be able to talk to most outsiders anyway, at least not easily. Deaf mutes don't have an easy time of it, no matter how many tricks they learn. They're even more of outsiders than we've been."
    Kaori nodded, conceding the point. She looked very sad and troubled. "I have no illusions about her fitting easily into the outsiders' world, I know it won't happen. But I've wanted so much to at least give her a way to talk to others, not just Ancients. Without that, I don't think her attitude will ever change."
    She didn't need to tell Shoji what she was referring to. "Mom, she'll outgrow that. It's not like she hates outsiders or anything, she just thinks they're-"
    "Animals."
    Shoji looked away. "Well, yeah. But you know, it wasn't that long ago that we all thought that. A lot of the family still do, I don't need to tell you that."
    Kaori sighed. Shoji could guess what she was thinking. It had been an uphill struggle for her and all those who had led the Ancients' to their more active engagement of the modern age. This was just another reminder.
    "I think a lot of it comes from her mother, I wish she had taught Yui differently."
    "Mom, you know her mother doesn't give a shit."
    Kaori reproved him with a stern look. But she could hardly argue the point. Yui's mother had never been able to deal with her daughter's condition, had essentially rejected the girl. And of course Yui's father had been in no position to help. When he finally left in despair, it hadn't taken much for Kaori to have Yui moved here. Kaori and the other adults in her household were the closest thing Yui had to parents now.
    "I'm not the only one worried about Yui's future," Kaori said. "The Matriarch has been watching her development."
    That was not good. Shoji poured himself more tea, something to occupy him and hide his surprise as he absorbed this news. He decided on a delicate probe. "You know, Yui hasn't been to Hokkaido in a while. Maybe I should take her again, see some of the old places."
    Kaori nodded. "The Matriarch has expressed interest in seeing Yui at the house."
    She could hardly have given Shoji a more obvious hint. The Matriarch had already seen that Yui could become one of the most powerful. If she wasn't satisfied with the way Yui was being raised here, she might take the girl directly under her wing. Permanently.
    Time to end this mental jujitsu with a direct approach. Shoji sipped at his tea and put it back on the table. "You know, you don't have to worry about Yui becoming a black sheep or going rogue or anything."
    Kaori blinked. "I don't understand."
    Shoji smiled. "When she comes of age, I'm going to ask her to marry me, then we're going to settle into some nicer place in the city and have lots of little Ancients running around in no time at all. Tell the Matriarch that, I think it will make her happy."
    Kaori's surprised expression slowly faded, to be replaced by a warm smile. "Shoji ... you know that would make us all very happy."
    "Thought it might." Shoji decided to change the subject, treat this as a done deal. He gestured to a small postcard on the tea tray that he had been ignoring up until now. "Say, I think I recognize that handwriting."
    "It's from your father," Kaori said, picking up the postcard and handing it to Shoji.
    Shoji took it and read through it quickly. It was from Australia, where his father was vacationing. Shoji hadn't seen his father for several years, not since the divorce. He still sent New Years cards, and also postcards from any interesting place he visited. Like other women among the Ancients, Kaori had married an outsider, bringing new blood into the family. Like many such marriages, it had ended in divorce fairly soon after a child had been born. A mother of Ancient blood shared a gift and a bond with her children that an outsider father could never be a part of. The friction and resentment this caused was often too much to deal with. At least Kaori's divorce had been fairly amicable, both parties agreeing that it was the best thing for all of them.
    Of course, Shoji's father was sworn to secrecy. That's why he was still alive with his mind intact.
    Shoji flipped the postcard over. "Nice picture. You know, I've always wanted to go ... uh, Mom, are you okay?"
    Kaori's brow was knitted and her eyes vacant. There was growing alarm in her expression. She brought the fingers of one hand up to her temple. "I'm not sure, I ... sense a disturbance."
    Shoji watched his mother in silence for a moment. He was not as sensitive as her, maybe he was just imagining it ... no. He could feel it now, the psychic equivalent of stormclouds gathering. In a flash he remembered what this felt like. Last year, when that great black crystal appeared in the middle of Tokyo, along with a storm that had practically shut down the city for a day. All the Ancients had felt it then, like the Earth itself was stabbed, screaming in pain. Was it his imagination that it was getting darker? He glanced out the window.
    His blood turned to ice water. "Holy shit," he breathed involuntarily.
    Kaori turned toward the window and cried out loud. They both got to their feet and took a couple of steps closer to the glass doors. Stormclouds were building with hellish speed on the horizon. They were black like smoke, not white like thunderheads seen at a distance were supposed to be. It was like the whole city had been set on fire. But this was not smoke either. Shoji could see flashes of red, like alien lightning, arcing through the clouds and raining down on the city.
    Shoji didn't need to concentrate to feel its force anymore. Waves of pure malevolence washed over him like a distant scream. This was no storm, it was some monstrous abomination.
    "The children," Kaori said with a tremor in her voice. "I have to get them inside." She turned and ran out of the room as quickly as her kimono would allow.
    Shoji stood where he was, staring out at the hellish scene, struck dumb by the power he felt. Bring the children inside? What good would that do?
    Over the barely audible sound of the distant thunder, he heard a soft pop of air. Somebody teleporting.
    **Senpai!** Shoji turned around just on time to have Yui run into him, wrapping her arms around him and pressing the side of her face against his chest. **Senpai, I saw it from my window, I can feel it! What is it?**
    **I don't know, Yui-chan,** Shoji said, gently putting his hands around her back. He turned his head around to look back out the window. Whatever it was, it didn't seem to be growing any more or coming any closer. That was small comfort.
    **I'm scared.** Yui's breathing was ragged, she was crying.
    **It'll be okay, Yui-chan.** He stroked her hair. He was doing his best to mask his own fear, but he could feel Yui's, she was nearly hysterical.
    He had managed to calm her down a bit when he heard his mother's voice. It was from far away, it had the echoing quality of an open sending to everybody in range. **Everybody, this is Kaori. I have word from the Matriarch. She knows about what is happening. The Seed Crystal is reacting to the storm. She has told us to stay where we are and wait for the storm to pass. It is preventing us from contacting the Ancients in Tokyo, but when it passes they will surely contact us. Please don't worry, everything will be fine.**
    Shoji's mind was racing. The Seed Crystal. Of course, that was the best place to be. As far as possible from whatever in hell was going on here.
    He gently pulled himself from Yui's embrace, smiled down at her as he wiped her tears away. **There, you see? Grandma Himiko will take care of us, everything will be okay.**
    **Is she coming here?** Yui asked hopefully. The Matriarch was almost a legendary figure to the younger Ancients, Yui had only seen her a couple of times.
    **No, I don't think so. The Seed Crystal tells her things, so she'll want to stay with it to watch what's happening.**
    **I wish I was there.**
    That's what Shoji had been hoping to hear. **Would you like to go there, Yui?**
    Her eyes went wide, both hopeful and desperate. **Could we?**
    Shoji cradled her face in his hands. **I don't know Yui, do you feel up to it?**
    She nodded. Shoji could feel her eagerness, but also her confidence. She was desperate to seek out the protection she thought the Matriarch and the Crystal could afford. But not desperate enough to try something she wasn't sure she could do. Shoji thought he should let his mother know where they were going, but she might object. Yui might not go if Kaori told her not to. He couldn't risk that.
    **Okay Yui, I'll leave it to you.** He stepped back and took her hands in his. She took a deep breath and let it out. She relaxed visibly as she prepared herself. Shoji had seen her do this several times before, but still marvelled that somebody her age could-
    Before he was expecting it, they were standing in front of the Matriarch's house.
    It took just a moment for the vertigo to pass. Yui was powerful and skilled, but still lacked the experience that would allow her to teleport them such a distance with no ill effects. She shook her head to clear it. She was shaking slightly, and breathing a little harder than she was before. Shoji stepped toward her and allowed her to rest against him.
    It was cloudy in Hokkaido now. He could see bits of a grey sky in between the great, ancient gnarled trees that reached up and nearly succeeded in blocking it out. The big house was almost as tall as the trees that pressed around it, and looked about as ancient. It probably was as old as some of the trees, and stood on ground that had been occupied by far more ancient places. The wood, tiles and plaster were all dark, almost black. Even on a sunny day this could never be a cheery looking place. Today it looked positively grim. Shoji had never liked the place. But right now he felt just as Yui no doubt did: somehow it always seemed safe here, in the presence of the oldest and greatest of the family's places of power.
    He tried to ignore the fact that he could still feel whispers of the storm in Tokyo, all the way out here.
    He could see that Yui had pretty much shaken off the effects of the teleport. **Let's go inside,** he said.
    **Okay.** She had teleported them onto one of the great flat stones that formed the walkways that weaved through the ornamental garden that surrounded the house on all three sides. Many of the other stones, the largest ones, also acted as focus points, for other Ancients who could teleport. They walked along the path, past the fish pools, flower beds and stone gardens. As always, there was a guard at the front door. That always struck Shoji as being just a bit paranoid. The land for many kilometres around them had things that would protect them from any intruders, had protected them for millennia. The guard was a stocky middle aged man that Shoji recognized as a distant relative, one of the many who lived here. He wore a simple, traditional workman's short kimono and sandles. He stood stock still, arms crossed, regarding them sternly as they approached. Shoji marvelled how everyone in Himiko's household looked like they had dropped out of a Samurai drama, all he needed to do was shave the top of his head to make the picture complete.
    **Shoji-san, Yui-san. You bring news from Kaori's house?**
    **Nothing new,** Shoji replied. **Yui was frightened, she wanted to be here.**
    The man's frown deepened. **That was against the Matriarch's orders. The storm is interfering with long distance telepathy, it may interfere with teleporting as well. Especially for somebody so inexperienced.**
    **I got here okay,** Yui said. She was clinging tightly to Shoji's arm. She looked like she was barely resisting the urge to hide behind him.
    The man regarded her for a moment. **Since you are here, you had better go inside. Most everybody is in the Crystal room.** He went to slide open the door for them. Shoji led Yui inside. As they had been told, the house was deserted. They went to the very back of the house, where they stepped out onto a much smaller garden. It was surrounded on three sides by the great house. On the fourth side rose the rocky cliff that the house was built against. Between that and the two great gnarled oaks in the garden, they could barely see the sky from here. Even at midday the garden was dark and gloomy. Shoji wondered how anybody could stand living here.
    They walked onto a large flat stone in the middle of the garden.
**Will you be okay, Yui?** he asked.
    **Sure, this one's easy.** Almost before she finished speaking, they were in a cave on the opposite side of the mountain the house sat against. The stone they stood on was a very powerful focus point, attuned especially to the rock behind the house. It made teleporting virtually effortless even for the least experienced of them. Which was good, since it was the only way in and out of the caves.
    As always, the caves were cold and damp. Shoji suddenly wished he had his jacket again. Wind whistled around the rocks, and sunlight filtered in through the various fissures far overhead. Glowing white crystals mounted on the rough rock walls provided the only other illumination. There was a sharp smell of rotting moss. There was only so much Himiko's people could do to make the place more livable. Shoji led Yui across the stone cave floor, cut flat by ancient stonecutters and worn smooth by centuries of use.
    Even if he hadn't known the route by heart, Shoji could not have mistaken where he was headed. He could feel the presence of many Ancients, the side effects of their telepathic conversations tickling his mind. And the Matriarch hadn't been kidding about the Seed Crystal reacting to the storm, he felt as if he could practically see it through the stone walls, its presence was so powerful. Much more than normal.
    They rounded a corner in the narrow tunnel and emerged into the Seed Crystal cave. For all this prewarning, Shoji was still astonished by what he saw.
    The cave was crowded. It looked like the whole household was here, and many others besides. Normally the huge irregular cave was very dim, having no opening to the sky above and being lit only by a few glowing crystals at its circumference. But now he was seeing it as he never had before. The rough ceiling was dotted by the stumps of formerly invisible stalactites whose water source had dried up ages ago. The stone, which had never looked anything other than dark grey, was alive with colour, striped by veins of various ores and dotted with patches of sparkling crystal.
    It was all basking in the glow of the Seed Crystal.
    The crystal Shoji remembered was a milky white translucent spire standing almost as tall as him, flanked on all sides by several smaller spires, all thrust up through the cave floor like some crude sword blades. When Shoji had seen it, he could never decide whether it was glowing of its own accord or just reflecting the dim light of the other crystals.
    Now it shone so brightly, it was almost uncomfortable to look directly at it.
    The dozens of people in the cave were all keeping a respectful distance from the artifact. The ones who lived here, the ones who saw the crystal nearly every day, all looked dazed. They just stared unbelievingly at the crystal that had stood unchanging all their lives, had stood unchanging since before recorded history.
    Well, almost unchanging. Shoji had heard the stories. Two years ago, when the sun had been covered with sunspots for a day and the weather seemed to go mad. Then again when the great black crystal had appeared in Tokyo and paralyzed the city for a day. Then when the Infinity Academy had been destroyed. Then the day when Tokyo had been buried in spiderwebs. Each time, the Seed Crystal had glowed brightly, radiating the same telepathic image. Then, just as abruptly, it had gone back to normal.
    Shoji had spoken to some of the sensitives who had been in the Tokyo area each of those times. None of them liked to talk about it. Each time, they had felt a dread like nothing they had ever experienced, as if the Earth had teetered on the brink of the abyss and been snatched back. That was exactly what he had felt like at Kaori's house, watching those abominable clouds spreading over the land like a cancer.
    **What are you two doing here?**
    There was no mistaking the voice. The Matriarch stepped out of the crowd and stood before them, hands on her hips. It was not hard for her to be lost in the crowd, she was no taller than Yui. Shoji could well believe that she was nearly a century old, the creases that etched a permanent frown on her face seemed to make her into a distant cousin of the gnarled oaks that surrounded her house. Her white hair was gathered back into a small bun at the base of her neck. Her stature was stooped, her movements slow and painful. She was also quite thin, but somehow it was impossible to see her as being at all frail. Her dark, deep set eyes burned with intensity, the intensity that in her youth had given her the power to change the Ancients forever. She wore a half kimono and work pants gathered at the ankles, as if she had been working in the garden when the crisis struck.
    **Grandma Himiko!** Yui called, breaking away from Shoji and running to the Matriarch. She collapsed to her knees in front of the old woman. It was hard to tell whether she just tripped on the uneven rock floor, or whether she was showing deference. **Grandma Himiko, what's happening?**
    **You haven't answered my question.**
    Yui seemed to shrivel under the Matriarch's gaze. She lowered her gaze to the floor. **I was scared, I wanted to come here. I'm sorry.**
    Himiko sniffed. **No matter. Listen young one, even you are old enough to remember the last time the Seed Crystal warned us of approaching evil. We weathered that storm, we'll weather this one.**
    **But this one's worse,** Yui whimpered.
    **Get up on your feet, girl!**
    Yui started at the vehemence behind the Matriarch's command. Shoji flinched, could see the people around them suddenly becoming more still. Himiko was making no attempt to keep the exchange private. Quite the contrary, it was the telepathic equivalent of shouting out loud.
    Shaking slightly, Yui got to her feet. She managed to meet the Matriarch's gaze.
    **Have you learned nothing of what your elders have taught you? Did you think we were lying? The First Ancestor was not a legend, she was as real as you and I are real. The legacy she left us is the proof, the legacy of the power in our bloodline, and the power in the Crystal. Her legacy has protected our family since before recorded history, has protected our family through calamities that we in this age cannot even imagine. It gave us the power to keep her legacy alive long after the oldest empires of the outsiders had crumbled to dust.**
    The Matriarch drew herself up to her full height, such as it was.
**So I won't have a bearer of the bloodline cowering before a flashy display of power.**
    Yui nodded. **Yes, Matriarch.** Shoji could still see a slight quiver in her arms, but she was doing a good job of hiding it. She looked just as stoic as the guard at the door who had let them in. He felt a twinge of pride.
    **Now do what you should have done in the first place, sit still and wait. For now, we weather the storm as the mountain does. The mountain does not move.** She turned around and walked back toward the Seed Crystal. The crowd parted for her. They were very quite, Shoji could feel very little residual telepathy.
    After a moment, he walked up to Yui and put his arm around her. **You okay?**
    **Yeah.**
    **The old bird can be pretty scary, huh?**
    **Yeah.** She leaned against him, and they just stood there for a while.
    Every now and then one of Himiko's guards would enter the cave. Shoji called them her guards, since she seemed to run her household like a Samurai running a field command tent. The guards would come to Himiko and give her a private report. Sometimes, she would pass some of the news on to the others. Over the next couple of hours, a picture emerged of what was happening. The storm was still raging over Tokyo strong as ever. Some of the Ancients who had been trapped there had managed to get out and make their way to Kaori's house. They had seen people in the city being struck down by the unnatural lightning, had felt their souls being ripped out of them, had even claimed seeing their disembodied spirits floating up into the roiling clouds. Some had seen pictures on a television of a woman with madness in her eyes, a woman calling herself Galaxia, claiming the Earth as her own.
    Himiko said that none had reported any of the Ancients coming to harm. Shoji wondered what she might be hiding.
    He and Yui went back to the house to get something to eat and drink, as did some of the others. But they all found themselves quickly returning to the Seed Crystal room. However frightening a transformation it had undergone, it was still their point of stability, their anchor. Shoji always wondered how many of his family's legends he could really believe. But whether or not the bloodline and the crystal were as old as they said, their power was a fact that could not be denied. Here in this place, among his people, he could make himself believe that they would live through this madness.
    Then Himiko told them that the storm had passed.
    Shoji could feel his relief echoed in the minds of the Ancients around him. But it was short-lived. The tension in the room did not go down at all. Nobody spoke, but nobody had to. They knew what was wrong.
    The Seed Crystal was still glowing. The echoes of the chaos that had been unleashed over Tokyo had not abated, they were still there like a background of dark menace settling down into the land.
    **Senpai ...** Yui was at his side, staring into the light of the Seed Crystal. **I can still see it.**
    **Yes Yui, I can still see it too.** It was clearer than ever, the telepathic image that the Crystal had been radiating since they got here, the same image he had heard others describe from the last time the crystal glowed like this. Shoji locked his eyes on the featureless white light of the Crystal, allowed his inner eye to focus on the image it was sending him.
    It rose up into a dark sky, shimmering and beautiful like it was cut out of a single immense piece of glass. A great crystal palace, its spires like daggers reaching for the clouds.

    *****

    Agent Takada walked into the busy terminal building of Narita airport. He had been here many times before, but had never been to the particular place he was looking for now. He had some idea where it was. An airport directory on the wall confirmed he was headed in the right direction. Walking into a less crowded section of the terminal, he found what he was looking for. The airport police station.
    He walked in and approached the front desk. The young police woman there looked up as he approached. "Good afternoon, may I help you?" Her warm smile broadened as she got a better look at him.
    "Agent Hitoshi Takada, Special Investigations." He displayed his ID card. "I believe I am expected."
    "Yes sir!" she said brightly, standing up. "We were told to escort you directly to the aircraft as soon as you arrived. I'll take you there myself." She turned around. "Akiko, can you take over here for a while?"
    "Will do," a voice came from a door leading into the back room. The officer who had spoken came through the door, impossibly looking even younger than the first. You know you're getting older when all the police officers start looking like kids, Takada mused. Akiko got a look at him and she froze in place. She smiled shyly and bowed. "Good afternoon."
    "Afternoon," Tanaka replied, tipping his hat.
    Akiko went to sit down at the front desk, giving her counterpart a dark look that said she should have been the one to escort him to the hangar.
    "Right this way, sir," his escort said as she opened the little gate that let him come behind the front desk. She led him through the back room and into the section of the terminal that was closed to passengers. The inner sanctum, as it were.
    Takada cleared his throat. "I didn't quite catch your name, officer ... "
    "You can just call me Yuki," the young woman said cheerfully. She was keeping up a brisk pace, which the much taller Tanaka was able to maintain with a more leisurely stride.
    "I see. Yuki-san, I just wanted to confirm something. Nobody has been allowed access to the aircraft since after the police investigators and the people from Boeing were done with it, is that correct?"
    "Yes sir, we were given very specific instructions. The hanger is strictly off-limits."
    "I see. Thank you." She led him down a staircase to a utility tunnel that had all sorts of pipes and wires trailing down its length along the walls and ceiling, lit at intervals by bare light bulbs. She drove him down the corridor on an electric cart. She parked the cart and they went up another set of stairs that led out onto the runway near the hangar. Their ears were assaulted by the engines of the airliners taxiing nearby. They walked over to the tiny doorway that was lost in the immensity of the hangar wall. Two officers stood guard there. The officers removed their hearing protection headsets and exchanged some shouting with Yuki over the sound of the airplanes. Their identities were confirmed and they were admitted into the hanger.
    The relative quiet of the hangar was a relief. Takada looked up at the airplane that filled the immense space. The Japan Airlines 747 shone under the bright floodlights, there was no visible sign of the damage. That was as he had been told. The incidents in question had happened inside the aircraft.
    Yuki was standing at parade rest, smiling up at him. "If there's anything I can do to help, please let me know."
    "I should be less than half an hour, if you could wait for me here I would be very grateful."
    Her face fell. "Uh..."
    "I'll need you to escort me back through this maze of a place, Yuki- san," Takada said, and smiled.
    She blushed slightly. "Yes sir. Uh ... perhaps I could take your coat and hat."
    "No, thank you. If you'll excuse me." He tipped his hat and turned to walk over to the airplane. A universal step had been wheeled up to the one of the open doorways. He climbed the stairs and entered the lower deck. He looked up and down the rows of seats. Everything looked right and proper. He walked down the aisle to the stairway that led to the upper deck.
    Looking up the stairway, he saw the first signs of the "trouble" that had plagued this aircraft's most recent flight. There were dents and cracks in the walls of the stairway. Like something big and heavy and hard had tumbled down the stairs. He took a closer look at the damage as he ascended the stairs. This could easily have just been one of the service trollies falling down. Probably nothing of interest here.
    The upper passenger deck was another matter altogether.
    The loose debris had been cleared away and taken elsewhere. But the place was still a mess. The walls, ceiling, floor and many of the seats were scorched, cracked and dented in many places. In one spot the plastic that formed the inner walls had been blasted away completely, exposing the outer skin of the aircraft. From the looks of things, it was remarkable the plane had not lost pressure. Even more remarkable that there had been no casualties. Those pop stars and their guests had emerged unscathed.
    But the details of the physical damage was not quite what Takada was here to look at, it merely hinted at what he might find.
    He opened up the topcoat he still wore over his suit, and drew out the shorter of the two blades that hung under his coat. It was the shape of a wakizashi, a slightly curved short sword about fifty centimetres in length. The sheath, guard and grip were all of plain jet black.
    Takada chose a spot where he could see all the damaged areas of the room, and knelt down on the floor. He sat still for a few moments, collecting his thoughts. Then he brought the blade out in front of him and with his thumb pushed the guard away from the sheath, exposing some of the ancient blade within. With his other hand he gripped the sword and unsheathed it. A delicate rainbow pattern played up and down the blade, it almost seemed to glow.
    When Tanaka laid the sheath down next to him and began his incantation, the blade quite unmistakably began to glow.
    As he continued his chant, Tanaka brought up his other hand and pressed the tip of the short sword against it. He lifted his hand above the sword blade, letting blood slowly drip from his hand down onto the blade and along the blood runnel that ran down its length. The blade seemed to absorb the blood and glow even brighter. After a while Takada closed his hand into a fist, staunching the trickle of blood.
    He held the blade out in front of him, and observed what was illuminated in its glow.
    He touched a button on the recorder in his breast pocket and began reciting. "I am at the back of the upper passenger deck looking forward towards the flight deck. The areas which have received physical damage are showing unmistakable residue of magical or psionic weapons discharge. I am reading at least four distinct signatures, none of which are familiar to me. There is also a background residue throughout the room. Probable that one or more paranormal beings was disrupted or terminated in the room by said weapons discharge. Also definite spatial distortion echo in one spot on the floor. Speculate one entity teleported in and/or out of the room. Unknown teleport signature type so time delay difficult to judge, speculate around the time of the incident. Shapes of the signatures strongly indicates them to be collateral damage from weapons directed at said paranormal entity, no direct hits on the room itself. That being the case, probable high power weapons. Spells of Magi class or higher, or psionics of Ancients class or higher. Placement follows physical damage very closely, confirming this to be a melee involving several human size entities. No other signatures detected, no residual lifeforce, no psychoplasm, no spells on room or any items within."
    Takada returned his gaze to the blade, and its glow faded away. He took a deep breath and expelled it slowly. "No reason to believe the aircraft poses any further danger, recommend it be released for repair and return to service. No reason to make any change to the cover story. End recording." He stopped his recorder, sheathed his blade and stood up. He put the blade back in its place and buttoned his topcoat.
    Takada had finished his task, but he decided to have another quick look around before going back. He walked across the room and through the door to the cockpit. The crew had been incapacitated during the incident, just like everybody else. Luckily, the aircraft had been on autopilot and they had all recovered quickly. The damage had not threatened the operation of the aircraft, but after they had recovered the crew had quite properly cut the flight short and returned to Narita.
    They had the same story as the four hundred or so Three Lights fans in the airplane. We fell asleep, and when we woke up there was a mess in the upper passenger deck. That's all. It was being written off as a freak lightning strike.
    Takada continued to have a look around. In the washroom he took the opportunity to glance in the mirror and straighten his tie. He was a darkly handsome man with a long face, high cheekbones and dark, penetrating eyes. His black hair was swept back and caught in a short ponytail. His looks and lean build were well suited to the white shirt and dark suit which was the required dress for the Hidden branch of the Order. He was in his late thirties, but looked somewhat younger. He was well used to being fawned over by women half his age.
    He was about to leave the aircraft when his cellular phone gently chimed. He stopped, pulled out the phone and unfolded it. "Takada here."
    "This is the Tokyo office," came a familiar female voice.
    "Hi Noriko. What's up?"
    "We're getting reports of a major disturbance at Tokyo Stadium."
    "The Three Lights concert?" Takada asked, already knowing the answer.
    "Right. Metro police are treating it as definite Weird Shit. The stadium's already being evacuated, they're getting ready to do the same to the surrounding blocks."
    "Who's the closest field agent?"
    "Sorry, that would be you."
    Tanaka groaned. "You know I'm still at Narita?"
    "Yes. We didn't have anyone tailing the Three Lights, didn't know whether we should."
    "As it happens I was about to call and recommend we do just that."
    "You found something there?"
    "Yeah. Listen, I'll call back when I'm on the road."
    "Well, don't run any red lights. If it's like the last few, it's probably already over and done."
    "Tell me about it. Talk to you in a bit." He put away the phone and walked briskly for the exit.
    Yuki was standing right where he had left her. She frowned as she noted his quick stride. "Yuki-san, something's come up. I need you to get me to the reserved parking lot ASAP."
    "Yes, of course," she stammered. "Uh ... please follow me."
    She led him back out onto the great expanse of concrete around the hangars, and they headed for a group of airport vehicles. She trotted along beside him to keep up with his brisk walk. They requisitioned one of the vehicles, and in just a couple of minutes they were at the parking lot. They exchanged quick but polite goodbyes and Tanaka ran for his car. He started up the big black Mercedes sedan and headed for the exit. Once he was on the freeway leading back to Tokyo, he settled in behind a truck that was doing a good deal more than the speed limit. He pulled out the car phone and punched an auto dial button.
    "Tokyo office," Noriko answered.
    "Takada here."
    "Hi. I've got something new. Metro police report hearing a couple of
*big* explosions inside the stadium. They're expanding the area of evacuation."
    "Nothing visual?"
    "No, as usual they're staying clear."
    One could hardly blame them. "Find out where they're setting up their command station, I may have to report in there."
    "Will do. There's one more thing. We're getting pretty high readings on all our astral detectors in the Tokyo area."
    "*All* of them?"
    "Yeah. It's really fluctuating, but the strongest readings are near the stadium. And the closest ward is nearly a kilometre from the stadium."
    *Shit.* "Noriko, contact all the field agents and get them all moving back to the Tokyo office ASAP. All except one, whoever is near a good sanctuary on another island, tell them to go there and stay put. Just pick one, your discretion."
    There was a slight pause. "You think it could hit the fan again?"
    "Yeah."
    "Should I call the shrine and the New York office?"
    "Definitely. When you're done, get our background material on the Three Lights and call me back, I haven't even bloody read it yet."
    "I don't think there's much, but I'll call you back."
    "Later." Takada replaced the car phone. He hit a button on the centre console. A siren began sounding, and a flashing light rose out of the dashboard. Takada gunned the engine, pulled out from behind the truck and started weaving through traffic. Technically, he wasn't supposed to be doing this. But some rather complex and delicate relationships between the Order and the various police forces went a long way towards making his job easier.
    It wasn't long after the sky turned black that the office called.
    "Noriko, are you seeing this?"
    "Yes, it's all over Tokyo. Takada-san, I'm not reading you very clearly."
    "Likewise. We may lose this link soon, so keep it brief."
    "Okay. The field agents are on their way, and Eiheiji and New York are aware of the situation. Oh, and all our detectors are off the scale now, no surprise there. I just pulled our background on the Three Lights. To put it simply, there isn't any. It's like they dropped onto the planet just on time to audition as idol singers."
    "Great. It's Ingolfsson all over again."
    "Looks like we got caught with our britches down. Ah ... sorry sir."
    "Not at all." As acting head of the new Tokyo office, it was his responsibility to keep on top of things like this. Well, it looked like he was going to be getting right on top of it very quickly indeed. "Listen, this damned lightning or whatever is getting worse. If this is still going on when other field agents get into the area, tell them to hold back. I don't want all of us getting caught in this. On no account is anybody to come after me until this clears. I'll call as soon as I can."
    "Understood. Good luck sir."
    "Thanks."
    Traffic on the freeway was quickly getting backed up, so Takada exited well before the stadium. Things weren't much better on the city streets. Many people had abandoned their vehicles, running for the perceived shelter of nearby buildings. The streets were slowly becoming deserted.
    Takada noted that the sickly blood-red lightning that arced overhead was striking the ground more and more frequently. One bolt hit a nearby building, leaving no visible damage. He thought he could glimpse a spark or something rising into the air from the spot it hit, but he couldn't be sure.
    He was still over two klicks from the stadium when it became clear he could take the car no further, the roads were all blocked by abandoned vehicles. The streets were deserted already. He got out of the car and continued on foot.
    When lightning struck a building just twenty meters ahead of him, he decided it was time to use the Masamune.
    He reached into his now open topcoat and carefully drew the long katana out of its black scabbard. He held the sword out before him with both hands as he continued on his way. The clarity of vision the blade afforded him never ceased to amaze him, even now. He could feel the storm around him like a physical presence, could feel each strike of the hellish lightning. It was a disturbing feeling, each bolt seemed to be accompanied by the sound of a soul screaming in pain.
    He suddenly spun about and shouted as he swung the blade down. Blue- white light ignited along the length of the blade. It connected with the bolt of lightning that had been bearing down on Takada's back, deflecting it to a nearby building.
    Takada staggered back, shaking, breathing in gasps. His whole body was tingling. He had never felt power like that before, had just barely been able to deflect it.
    He had to deflect two more bolts of the soul-eating lightning before he reached the refuge of the stadium. The bulk of the huge building over him may very well be an illusory refuge, he had seen and felt the lightning strike down people right through walls. Be that as it may, he made his way to an entrance that opened out onto the main stage.
    It looked something like the upper deck of that 747, only fifty times worse. The Masamune did not afford him anywhere near the enhanced vision of his smaller blade, but even with it the residue around the blackened craters that dotted the stadium was as clear as day. A paranormal of immense power had been terminated here, he was sure. But whatever had happened here, he had missed it. As usual.
    He started as the horizon to his left suddenly lit up. Over the rim of the stadium he could just see the clouds open up as an immense beam of white light shot down to the ground. He started counting, one thousand and one, one thousand and two, one thousand and- the shock wave hit him like a hammer, nearly throwing him to the ground. His ears ringing, he leaned against a wall, recovering from the blast. After a minute he went running through the empty corridors under the stadium and exited in the direction of the blast. No, it wasn't his imagination, the lightning was more intense around the spot that blast had hit.
    Whatever was going on, that's where the action was. He just had to walk about a kilometre. And then presumably look for a big crater.
    Half a kilometre and five deflected lightning bolts later, Takada was really starting to think this was not such a good idea. He had given up trying to call the office after the first two tries. The office had the strongest wards they could put up, at least Noriko would probably be okay. Assuming this madness ever ended. If it didn't end soon, his soul would be going to whatever place all the other ones had gone. He was staggering along the road, his nerves screaming from the immense energy that was being thrown at him.
    The lightning suddenly stopped. The clouds started evaporating like mist. In a matter of seconds he was standing under a clear blue sky. The setting sun was just peeking over a nearby building. The constant thunder was gone, echoed only by the ringing in his ears.
    Takada collapsed to his knees, let his sword slowly sink down to the ground. He just sat there for a couple of minutes, trying to convince himself that it was really over.
    When he felt more or less mobile again, Takada got back to his feet, sheathed his sword and buttoned up his coat. He continued in the same direction he had been walking. He started to see visible damage to the buildings around him. It was getting worse the further he went. By the time he got to more or less where he thought the epicentre was, it looked like a war zone. Some of the buildings had collapsed altogether. He couldn't see any bodies. Thankfully, it looked like this had been part of the evacuation zone.
    Old instincts had long since kicked in, prompting him to move near the walls, stay low and check corners before rounding them. So when he peered around the corner of a partially collapsed building and glimpsed a group of people, he dropped back behind the building in an instant. Checking all around him, he went around the other side of the building, where it looked like he would be able to approach the group from the relative shelter of a narrow alley. Entering the alley, he crept behind a big dumpster and peered around it. The group of people was still standing where he had seen them, in the middle of the rubble-strewn street just about thirty meters away.
    No, he hadn't been seeing things. It was the Sailor Senshi.
    He counted eight girls in the flamboyant uniforms for which these urban legends had become famous, the white outfits with the colourful skirts that were so reminiscent of the sailor fuku that school girls wore. There were three others in what he could only describe as leather fetish versions of the Senshi uniforms. And one other red haired woman in a set of robes that would not have been out of place in the court of an ancient Chinese emperor. They were all congregating around a man dressed in black formal wear. In between them Takada could just glimpse a girl who the man was holding. It looked like he had wrapped his cape around her, all he could see was her bare feet and ankles and two impossibly long golden pigtails cascading down her back. Takada smiled. *Sailor Moon, I presume.*
    He managed to get a few shots with his digital camera before the man gathered Sailor Moon in his arms, and led the others away. They moved at an inhumanly fast pace. Even on his best day, Takada would have no hope of following them. He put away his camera, walked over to an appropriately sized piece of rubble and sat down. He pulled out his cellular and called the office.
    "Tokyo office," Noriko said in the same deadpan she always answered the phone with.
    "Takada here."
    "Sir! Are you okay?"
    "More or less. And you?"
    "Yes, we're fine. Communications are back up and all our detectors are back online. They're reading zero now."
    "Yeah, looks like it's over."
    "The New York office is going nuts, they're requesting a report ASAP. I've got them on the line now, did you want me to transfer you over?"
    *Oh yes, they're going to just love this one.* "Sure, go ahead."

End Chapter 1