Secrets
Chapter 15 - Serenity

    Mars lay flat on the ground, her eyes clenched tight, letting the hurricane wind howl over her. She felt that if she so much as lifted her head up, one of the larger pieces of flying debris would take her head off. She took cold comfort in the fact that nothing would be able to get near her or attack her while she was in the middle of this conjured storm. Or at least she hoped not.
    At first she thought it was her imagination, that her senses were just being numbed by the awful storm. But the wind was dying. In a matter of seconds, it had eased off to the point where Mars risked lifting herself off the ground to look around. The first thing that caught her eye was the swirling cloud of dust floating in front of the Palace. It looked eerie, being backlit by the glowing crystalline structure. Shafts of light played through the air as the silvery light fought to break through the slowly dispersing dust cloud. Mars looked at her more immediate surroundings. The residential neighbourhood they had been running through was in ruins, most of the trees and houses levelled. Jupiter and Venus were just getting to their feet. Endymion was pulling himself out from under what had probably been a support beam for a house. Mercury lay some distance away. She wasn't moving. The wind was just about gone now, so Mars ran over to her. She fell down to her knees beside her friend and bent over her. Ami was breathing. Mars put a hand over Mercury's forehead, reaching out with her mind. She was unconscious. Probably a concussion. She ran her hands quickly and lightly over Ami's body, checking for any major broken bones. There were none. But she was showing no signs of waking up anytime soon. "Everybody!" she called out. "Ami's hurt, we have to get her out of here!"
    "Where are the others?" Venus asked, running over towards them.
    "I saw them running ahead," Endymion said. "They might have been picked up by that tornado."
    "God, look at this," Jupiter said. "You can see some them lying around. They dropped that thing down on their own people too."
    "There might be some live ones coming soon," Venus said. Her expression was full of worry and uncertainty. "Damn, I wish I knew where Saturn was, Jeneth said she's the one we need to get to the Palace. Maybe that's where we should try and take Ami."
    "It may be closer than trying to go back," Endymion said. He looked at Mars, inviting her opinion.
    Just then a nuke went off in front of the Palace.
    For a moment Mars really thought that the Order had decided to call it a loss and end the game with one swift stroke. She expected to see the flesh being seared off her friends by the light of the atomic fire. But it didn't happen. She shielded her eyes against the light, not daring to look right into it. When it started to die out and she did dare look, she saw a dome of dazzling silver expanding in all directions. It rose up into the air, obscuring much of the Palace. Just when Mars thought surely it would consume them as well, it slowly faded away, leaving nothing but an afterimage behind. She blinked, trying to clear her vision. Now all she could see in front of the Palace was a circle of blackened, charred earth. There weren't very many of the Ancients in evidence.
    "What the hell was that?" Jupiter asked.
    "The Dead Scream," Mars said. She had just accepted it in her own mind, even though her instinct had been telling her that all along. The look she exchanged with Endymion said it all. Pluto must have immolated herself.
    "She must have done that to clear a path for Saturn," Venus said. "I think we have to trust them to take care of that. Let's get Ami out of here."
    Mars suspected Venus didn't understand that Pluto had just gone down in a blaze of glory. They could let it pass for now. "We'll have to carry her."
    Jupiter walked over to her. Mars was about to get Mercury into a sitting position when suddenly white hot pain exploded behind her eyes. For the split second that her eyes stayed focused she saw the same pain reflected in Jupiter's face. Mars could not even scream, she just made a strangled gurgling sound. The pain was all too familiar. A tiny part of her mind that was still working coherently was telling her that it couldn't be *that* one. She was locked up far away, a doped-up snivelling wreck. By a supreme act of will, Mars forced her body to obey, forced her eyes to focus, seeking out their attacker.
    A shrivelled up dwarf of a woman flanked by two peasants floated down out of the sky. They settled onto the ground nearby. The old woman's eyes were glowing. "Just stop struggling girl," she said in her grating voice. "The pain will go away."
    Mars wanted so much to obey, to just let go and slip into oblivion. But she absolutely would not. She forced herself to look left and right. Venus, Jupiter and Endymion were all lying on the ground, writhing and quivering. They were also resisting, but it was all they could do just to stay conscious. She was on her own.
    "Be reasonable," the old woman said. "I don't want to kill you. I'd much rather have you working for me. Just like your Princess is."
    Mars rasped the words out between clenched teeth. "She ... will ... never ... obey ... you!"
    "She already is, girl. She's making my new home for me. And when she's done that, she's going to come down here and kneel at my feet and ask me what else I'd like her to do for me."
    Rei tossed away the reins of her anger, her hatred, letting them go free to surge through her mind like a firestorm. It washed over the pain, consuming it, making it utterly irrelevant, making everything irrelevant, everything except the thing in front of her that had to be destroyed. The raging fire unleashed something new, something she had never seen before. She just let it take over, let it happen of its own accord. Without even thinking she was on her feet again. She threw one arm up over her head and thrust the other out front, her open hand sighted just under the old crone's face. She filled her lungs and shouted.
    "MARS HELLFIRE CONFLAGRATION!"
    The old crone became the heads of a blazing comet, its fiery tail shooting out behind her, charring the ground under it. Her barrier held for just a second. When it collapsed, there was just time for a look of astonishment to form on her gnarly face. Then she was burning, her ashes flying behind her. In another second she was just a blackened skeleton standing in the maelstrom. In another second she was nothing at all.
    Mars barely noticed that the pain was gone. She lowered her arms to her side and stared down the two men. They looked as if their whole world had just collapsed. They stood transfixed, waiting for her to do the same to them.
    "We're leaving. If any of you follow, we'll kill you. Now get out of my sight."
    They backed away, as if afraid she would shoot them in the back. By the time they had the nerve to turn around, they were starting to run. That was good. Mars wasn't sure how much longer she could have stayed on her feet. She fell to her knees, her head reeling. She looked back at her friends. They were all kneeling on the ground, still feeling the effects of the torture they had endured. They looked to be in little better shape than her. "We ... we should get moving."
    "Was that the Matriarch?" Venus asked weakly.
    "I sure as hell hope so."
    In due course they all got to their feet. It would probably be a little while before any of them was in condition to carry Ami.
    "That was a new attack," Venus said.
    "Yeah."
    "Do you think we all have new attacks now? Because we're near the Palace?"
    "I doubt it," Mars said. She was still trying to come to terms with it, wasn't sure whether she could explain. "It shouldn't have happened. I ... cheated."
    Venus looked puzzled. Mars tried to find the words, but suddenly there was a popping sound behind her. She whirled to see a bunch of the punks standing more or less in a line. No two of them had their hair dyed the same colour. A tall man with purple spiked hair raised his hand. "Chill. We come in peace."
    "What do you want?" Venus asked. Her voice was cold, but she was trying not to sound threatening. Good. They were in no condition to fight now. Stall for time.
    "Simple. We want to switch sides. Us and about a hundred others."
    They were lying. Mars hoped Venus knew that. "Just like that?" Venus asked.
    "We had to follow the Matriarch, but now she's dead. She didn't want to share the Palace."
    "We're not trying to take the Palace," Venus said. "We're trying to shut it down, to stop it from even existing."
    The man nodded towards the glowing Palace towering over them. "Looks like you're a bit late."
    "No, it's still not finished growing. We can still stop it. If we don't it could mean the end of the world."
    "That's cool," the man said. "We can feel the power of the Palace, even if the world ends it'll still be there. That's all we need."
    "No," Venus said. "Whatever the Palace is doing to the world, it has to be stopped. Even if we have to destroy it."
    The man shook his head. "No can do. We'll share, but half of nothing is still nothing."
    "Then I'd advise you to just step aside and let us do our work," Venus said.
    He sighed. "Okay, you can't say I didn't try to be reasonable." He raised his hand and his eyes started to glow. There was a light swishing sound barely audible over the constant thunder, and the man's body jerked. Three roses were embedded in his chest.
    It all happened at once. Jupiter's Oak Evolution and Venus' Love and Beauty shock shot out at the Ancients. Most of them had PK barriers up, they just went staggering back. The others were thrown through the air, crashing back to the ground, no longer moving. Mars whirled around, taking advantage of their confusion to make sure they didn't have other allies coming from other directions.
    A man shimmered into existence behind Jupiter. He had the same wild look in his eyes as the man who had put her into her coma. Exactly the same. Could have been his brother. She shouted a warning even though she knew it would be too late. But suddenly the man went slack-jawed, staring at the rose embedded in his hand. Jupiter jumped away from him and spun to face him, heeding Mars' warning before it had even registered, acting on pure instinct.
    Endymion flashed the man a mirthless grin. "Not this time." He snapped his fingers and the rose exploded.
    The man went down to the ground, screaming and writing in pain, holding the stump of the arm that ended just below the elbow. No longer a threat, he was promptly ignored by everybody. Mars turned and fired. barely conscious of the target she had selected for the Fire Soul. The Ancient punks had recovered from the initial assault, this one barely flinched at the new attack. He shot a blazing white kinetite that Mars was barely able to avoid. She hadn't fully recovered from the torture yet, she was slow and clumsy. Before she could even get off another shot she had to throw up her arms and absorb the impact of an unavoidable plasma bolt. She staggered back, smelling burnt hair, feeling the burns on her face. She nearly fainted from the pain. The Ancients were holding their position, firing off attacks more or less at random. Jupiter and Venus were closer now, probably having hoped to close and engage hand to hand. But the Ancients weren't making the mistake of letting them do that. Venus took a hit and went down. Endymion was already on the ground, the front of his armour charred and dented. He was trying to get up, but he probably wouldn't get the chance.
    The four parallel beams of light cut through the Ancients, annihilating two of them instantly. Nobody even heard the hummer approach over the thunder, it was already on them. It didn't even slow down, mowing down the rest of them by the simple expedient of running them over. It seemed their barriers weren't much good against blunt objects. The hummer turned, and the man at the quad guns swung them around. He played them across the fallen punks. Both the dead and the ones who showed some signs of life were cut to pieces.
    The hummer came to a stop in front of them. Smith grinned from his position at the wheel. "Hope you appreciate this, I'm going to catch hell for disobeying orders."
    Mars staggered up to the front of the vehicle, leaned against it. "We've got casualties."
    "So I see. We don't have much room, but dump them in back, my partner will try not to step on them. I'll give you a hand."
    Jupiter had already gone to pick up Mercury. She carried the still unconscious Senshi over to the hummer. Venus and Endymion were back on their feet, but like her they were in no condition to walk very far. Endymion and Jupiter joined Smith on the front bench seat, and Mars and Venus sat down beside Ami on the rear deck. Smith already had the hummer moving. He steered them away from the Palace. They moved from the area hit by the cyclone into the area hit by that weird napalm attack, which was not much of an improvement.
    "Hope we're not in your way," Venus said to the man still standing with his mounted guns at the ready.
    "We're not expecting much trouble," he said. It was a tall caucasian man with close-cropped blond hair. "Most of them are sticking a lot closer to the Palace now."
    Mars felt she should know that voice. Venus looked as if she had the same feeling. "Thanks for coming to get us," Venus said.
    He took off his dark glasses and smiled. "My pleasure, Minako."
    They both gasped. "Lafarge-san!" Venus exclaimed.
    "It's been a while hasn't it?" He put his shades back on and resumed scanning their surroundings.
    "Well I'll be damned," Smith said. "He said he was a friend of yours, I didn't know whether to believe him."
    "Lafarge-shan, I didn't get a New Years card from you this year," Venus said. Mars wanted to smack her and ask her what the hell that had to do with anything.
    He chuckled. "Company policy. Burning bridges and all that."
    "So you joined the Order last year?"
    "I was a subject of their investigation," Lafarge said. "We got to talking and they offered me a job."
    She pointed at the mounted plasma rifles. "I suppose they owe these toys to you."
    "I helped a bit."
    "You look like hell," Venus said. It was true, it looked like his jacket had actually caught fire at some point.
    "We had some fun getting here."
    "You must ruin a lot of good suits this way."
    "You have no idea."
    Suddenly he was in motion, swinging his guns around to their right. Mars looked in that direction. A jeep was speeding towards them along a road that intersected theirs.
    "Hold your fire!" Smith bellowed. Both vehicles slowed as they approached.
    Venus shouted out just before Mars recognized them. "Uranus, Neptune!"
    Uranus pulled the jeep smoothly alongside the hummer, and they continued down the same road side by side, at just a slightly slower pace. "We got Saturn into the palace," Neptune shouted. "We got cut off from her, so we had to get out."
    "Won't the Ancients follow her in?" Venus asked.
    "She just passed through the gate like it was air," Uranus said. She grinned. "I saw a couple of them try the same thing, they just bounced off the door."
    "What about Pluto?" Venus asked.
    "We lost her," Neptune said. Venus didn't ask her to elaborate on that cryptic comment. If she knew what it really meant, she showed no sign.
    "We've seen a few of them lurking about," Uranus said. "Since we picked up the wheels we've pretty much outrun them. But you'd better keep your eyes opened."
    "Right," Lafarge said. He had gone back to scanning the countryside.
    Mars looked back at the Palace slowly receding behind them. She closed her eyes. *Please bring her back to us, Hotaru-chan. Bring her back to me.*

    *****

    Saturn wiped the tears from her eyes as she ran down the brightly glowing corridor. There's no time for that, she thought. Pluto did what needed to be done and that's that. She got me in here, now I have to do my part.
    When she had realized what Pluto had done, she hadn't hesitated even for a second. She had run like the wind, leaving her two sisters far behind. Her Silence Glaive had cut through what few of the Ancients still had the presence of mind to try and impede her. She hadn't even slowed down at the door, leaping right over the line of peasants who stood before it, trusting that it would admit her entrance as it had the Princess.
    Now she was running through the inside of a lightbulb. Or that was how it felt. The floor and walls were solid enough, but it looked like a realm of pure light, of energy with no substance. She hadn't expected it to be so *big*. It wasn't a palace, it was a city turned in on itself. There was no point even calling out to the Princess, Saturn would just have to make a guess where she would be and go there. Where would I go, Saturn thought. Where would I want to be while my Palace grew around me?
    I'd want to be on top.
    She made her way to the centre of the Palace, looking for the thing that Setsuna had described to her. She found it, an opening in a corridor wall that led straight into a vertical shaft. Everything was white on white, if she hadn't been looking carefully she might have stepped over the sheer drop expecting there to be a floor. What gave it away was a pulsing of the light in the shaft beyond the opening. If she looked carefully it seemed that the pulses of light were moving upward, the way Setsuna had described. She stuck her arm through the opening into the shaft. It suddenly felt weightless, then it felt like it wanted to drift upwards.
    *Up elevator.* She paused just long enough to phase the Silence Glaive back into its pocket dimension before stepping out over the edge. She floated for just a second then began rising up the shaft. She had no idea what she would have done had this thing not been working. There were supposed to be ramps going up as well, but that would have taken forever. The Palace was supposed to be at least a kilometre high, and from the way it looked it was more than halfway there already. She looked up, could see no end in sight. Hopefully this would take her at least most of the way there. At this rate, it would take a few minutes.
    Having no task to focus on for the moment, Saturn's thoughts drifted yet again to that terrible moment. She hadn't realized it until after the battered Silence Wall had finally collapsed, allowing the last aftershocks of the cataclysmic explosion to buffet them. She had turned around to check up on her sisters and Pluto was missing. The looks on Uranus' and Neptune's faces had told her instantly what had happened. Saturn closed her eyes and let out a whimper. *Oh Setsuna-mama ...*
    She dried her tears again, watching the line of openings in the shaft drift by. The part of the shaft she was now approaching looked different. She reached it and suddenly she seemed to be flying through the air. The walls were transparent, barely visible. In fact this whole section of the Palace was transparent. She was looking out over what looked like a garden stretching from one end of the vast central spire to the other. The bright ceiling above seemed to be the bottom of a great edifice floating in the air above her. It was like the spire above her had split away from the palace and floated over it, supported by nothing more substantial than silvery moonbeams. She reached out and tapped the glassy wall passing by. It was still solid. So the walls of the spire continued unbroken, here they just happened to be transparent. She looked down at the garden, it was the only thing she had seen here that was not just blinding white crystal. She would swear she could see the trees there growing before her eyes, as if the energy coursing through the Palace were goading them to explosive growth. She had started rising from near the centre of the Palace, but now she was rising along the wall of the slim central spire that rose from the massive body of the Palace below. Outside the vast windows there was utter blackness, at least to her dazzled eyes, the Palace might as well have been floating in space. She approached the white, crystalline ceiling above and passed through it, the walls of the shaft becoming translucent glowing white again. After another minute she could see the top of the shaft above her. Her ascent slowed. She came to a stop by another entrance in the shaft wall, just below its cap. She reached for it, which seemed to be the proper signal. She felt herself being pushed towards the entrance. She sank down to the floor and her weight gradually returned.
    She was standing on yet another open space, much like the last one, with almost invisible glass walls supporting a glowing white ceiling far above. This one was not as wide as the lower one, but it was higher. It had to be, to accommodate the tower that occupied most of the floor. It was a vast cone, with a ramp spiralling up to the top of it far above. It reached more than halfway to the ceiling. Scale was hard to judge, but it had to be a hundred meters high at least. The ceiling flickered and pulsated. That must be near the tip of the spire, she thought, the origin of the beam of light that was stabbing the heavens.
    This is where I would be, she thought.
    She went at a dead run towards the base of the spiral ramp. She saw no sign of an entrance, so that must be the only way up. She raced up the ramp. Where the floor had been smooth, the ramp was roughened slightly for traction. Which was a good thing, since it was quite steep. She raced up the side of the white tower. There was no sound but her footfalls, her laboured breathing and the echoes of the thunder that raged outside.
    She came to the top of the ramp and stood there, panting. The top of the tower was a vast, featureless round floor. Her breath caught as she saw the figure standing in the middle of the tower's apex.
    Neo-Queen Serenity.
    She was faced to the side and slightly away from Saturn. She just stood with hands folded before her. The flowing white dress she wore left her arms and shoulders bare, spilled out onto the floor around her. The great lavender ribbon at her back was suggestive of butterfly wings. It was just as the others had described. At another time she would have just marvelled at how beautiful Usagi looked. Right now, the sight left her utterly cold. She looked like a great and terrible goddess, calmly watching the Armageddon she had unleashed. Saturn walked over to her. Somehow, running just did not seem appropriate here.
    As Saturn approached closer, Serenity turned her head. She smiled. "Saturn. Welcome."
    "My Queen ..." she bowed low.
    Serenity turned back to staring out into the blackness that surrounded them beyond the glass walls. "Isn't it beautiful?"
    Saturn was confused. "I ... I see nothing, My Queen." She felt like she was walking on eggshells, she knew that she was falling back on formality as a defense mechanism.
    "I can feel it growing, like it's a part of me. I can see every part of it. I even felt you coming up here to see me. That was very nice of you."
    Saturn walked around so she was more in front of Serenity, but still a bit to the side. Serenity just stood there with a pleasant but neutral expression, ignoring her for the moment. Saturn didn't know quite how to approach this. She knew she had to be careful. "Serenity ... why is it suddenly so dark? What does it mean?"
    Serenity looked at her and smiled again. "Don't worry, you'll understand. The Palace will be complete soon. Then you'll understand everything."
    She was staring into space again. Saturn took a tentative step forward. "Serenity, we were all worried about you." She reached out to Usagi. "We thought you were-"
    "Stop."
    Saturn shrank back under that stern, cold stare. "I know you want to stop me from making the Palace complete. You're afraid of it. But when it's done, you'll understand that there's nothing to be afraid of. I'll take care of you all, like I always have."
    Saturn felt despair settle over her like a shroud. *She knows. It's hopeless. She won't let me do it.* She tried to stay calm, but it was no good. All she could think of was the blackness engulfing the world, the Null Field that even Setsuna seemed to fear bringing everything to an end. And now there was nothing she could do about it.
    Then the inspiration hit her. This is still Usagi.
    It was half genuine, half calculated. She started sobbing. "Serenity, I'm scared. I'm sorry, but I'm scared." She stood rigidly, as if desperately trying to show some dignity. But she gave full vent to her fear and frustration, sobbing loudly, letting the tears flow unchecked.
    Serenity's expression softened. "Oh, my poor little girl. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you."
    "I ..." Saturn's voice broke. She started again. "I'm scared of the dark," she whimpered. She turned her head away as if in shame.
    "Hotaru-chan ..." Serenity walked up to her, embraced her gently. "Don't cry. Everything is going to be fine."
    Saturn returned her embrace, nestling against Serenity's breast. Her hands went up Serenity's back, rested across the back of her neck. Gently, discretely, she probed. She felt it immediately, the disruption the Ancient girl had set up in Usagi's head. She applied her power to it. The unnatural patterns of energy were starting to break up. It would just take a few moments.
    There was a flash of light between them and Saturn went sailing through the air. She landed hard on her back. She lay there, stunned, unable to move. Every inch of her body was tingling.
    "That was very naughty."
    Serenity came into her field of view. Her face looked terrifying, twisted with anger and underlit by the glowing Ginzuishou she held at her breast. "I'll have to make sure you can never do that again." She held the crystal out over Saturn's prone body, and it burned brightly.
    *Setsuna-mama .. we'll be together again.* She smiled. She had her voice back now, she wanted to leave at least one last message for her Princess. "It's not your fault, Usagi-onesama. I forgive you."
    The crystal's light wavered. Then it disappeared, and Serenity lowered her arms. She looked as if she had been struck by lightning. Her knees gave out, and she slumped to the floor.
    "Serenity!" Saturn managed to lever herself up off the floor. She was getting some feeing back in her limbs. "Are you okay?"
    Serenity looked at her, still appearing thunderstruck. "Hotaru-chan ... what have I done?"
    "They were hypnotizing you," Saturn said, explaining in the quickest, easiest way she could. "I think I just broke the spell. Serenity, will you let me examine you again? I want to make sure they haven't done anything else to you."
    She nodded. Saturn just crawled the short distance over to her and knelt before her. She put her hands on each side of Serenity's face and reached out with her healing touch. The disruption was gone. Serenity had broken the rest of it by her own will. "You'll be okay," she announced.
    "Saturn, how did you find me?" Serenity asked.
    "It's a long story," Saturn said. "Serenity, you've got to stop the Palace from growing any more. This darkness is spreading all over the world."
    "The darkness? What is it?"
    It would take too long to explain about Daniel. "Setsuna called it a Null Field. She said we have to stop it."
    Serenity looked out into the darkness that surrounded them on all sides. She looked back at Saturn and shook her head. "I don't know how," she whispered.
    Saturn fought down her panic. "How did you start it?"
    "I didn't do anything. I brought out the Ginzuishou and it just started happening. Then I didn't need to do anything. I just found this place and stood here."
    "Maybe we have to break something," Saturn said. She pointed overhead. "That's where its taking in its energy. Maybe the Ginzuishou can stop it."
    Serenity nodded. "You're right, I have to try." She got to her feet. "Saturn, this could be very dangerous. You should leave."
    She shook her head. "No. Please let me stay with you."
    Serenity smiled. "Saturn ... thank you." She cupped her hands and the Ginzuishou appeared again. She knit her brow and it glowed more brightly. Saturn wondered what she planned on trying. Just a simple blast of energy at the spire above them?
    A ghostly image appeared before them. The glow of the Ginzuishou dimmed as Serenity lost her concentration on it. "Mother ..." she whispered.
    The elder Queen Serenity was almost a twin of the younger. Only her white robes were different, and the hair in odango and long pigtails was platinum. She did not smile. In her face Saturn saw what she could only describe as shame. "It's too late, my daughter. You can't stop it."
    The Ginzuishou faded away again, and Usagi's arms fell to her sides. "What do you mean? Mother, what's happening?"
    "Your mind was closed to me," Queen Serenity continued. "As soon as I appeared, you were closed to me. Until now." She turned to Saturn. "I see that Saturn has appeared again. But this was no destiny, it was my own folly. I made this terrible thing and I brought it to the Earth."
    "This thing? You mean the Seed Crystal?"
    "Yes. It was to be a gift to the Golden Kingdom, a palace for you and Endymion to rule from after your marriage. But then the Dark Kingdom came. Out of fear, I allowed your gift to be made into a weapon. A trap for the Dark Kingdom, should they overrun the Earth and thereby obtain the Seed Crystal. If used, It would drain the Earth of the energy that gave the demons their power. It would make the planet uninhabitable, and provide a sanctuary only for the few who remained uncorrupted."
    "No ..." Usagi began shaking. "No."
    Queen Serenity bowed her head. "I am ashamed to even show my face to you. I planted the seed of your world's destruction with my own hand.
    "What ..." Usagi's voice broke. She swallowed. "What's going to happen?"
    "The sun will be blotted out. The world will freeze. The Null Field will keep it frozen for centuries."
    "God ..." Usagi veered to one side. Saturn barely caught her before she could fall. "What have I done?"
    "You have done nothing," Queen Serenity said, still unable to meet her gaze. "Nothing but fall into the trap I set with my own hands. I set myself up as judge of an entire world, deciding it was better destroyed than living under the rule of my enemy. And then I destroyed both worlds, leaving this horror behind. Like a negligently discarded toy, to be found by unsuspecting passersby. What unimaginable arrogance."
    "Oh Mother ..." Usagi was standing on her own now, so Saturn stepped away from her. "This palace, it's a gift? To Endymion and me?"
    Queen Serenity nodded. "I even fused a piece of my own soul to it, so that I could always be with you. But I defiled it utterly, turned it into something monstrous, a weapon forged in fear."
    Usagi seemed hardly to hear her. She was actually smiling. "You accepted Endymion. You accepted that I loved him."
    Queen Serenity looked bewildered. "Of course, child. I always did. The rest was just obligatory posturing. I was overjoyed at the love you found. I had to wait for political reasons only. I had prayed that once I was free to explain that, you could forgive me."
    "Mother, I would have forgiven you anything."
    Queen Serenity looked even more shocked. Slowly, a joyous smile formed on her lips. "Forgiveness is the hardest thing in the world. But you always gave it so freely. That is why you would have been such a splendid queen, better than I ever could have been. And now I've taken that chance from you, taken your whole world from you."
    Usagi shook her head. "No, you haven't. We'll get by, you'll see. I've got lots of wonderful friends helping me, we'll find a way to fix things."
    "My dear daughter, I haven't much time. My defilement of the Palace is such that once it is complete my soul will fade from this world utterly. That will be just a matter of minutes now, I can feel it. But before I go, there is one last gift I wish to leave with you, a gift of knowledge. I can show you things that may help you in the terrible days ahead."
    Usagi nodded. "What do I need to do?"
    Queen Serenity's image lost its transparency. She spread out her arms. "Will you embrace your mother one last time?"
    The elder and younger Queen Serenity wrapped each other in a loving embrace. A silver penumbra started to dance around them. Saturn turned and walked to the edge of the tower roof. She stood there, watching the blackness. She didn't understanding what was happening behind her, all she knew was that it was the last meeting of mother and daughter. It should be a private moment.

    *****

    Ami opened her eyes. Sailor Mars' face came into focus. The raven- haired Senshi smiled down at her. "How are you feeling?"
    "You've been burned."
    "Jeneth has critical patients to deal with right now. She'll get around to me."
    Ami sat up from the cot she had been lying on. They were in some sort of small warehouse that was half empty. Some of the free space had been taken up with cots and tables and first aid supplies. Some of the other cots were occupied by resting or sleeping men, most with bandages of one sort or another. Part of a makeshift field hospital.
    "How much do you remember?" Mars said.
    "We were running through my fog cover. Then it felt like there was a tornado. Something hit me on the head."
    "Well I guess Jeneth was right, you didn't get hit badly enough to mess up your memory."
    "How long have I been out?"
    "We brought you here just a few minutes ago."
    "What happened?"
    "They hit us with some sort of conjured cyclone. We had to fight our way out. But we managed to get Saturn inside the Palace."
    "And the others?"
    Mars took her hand. "Mercury, Pluto is missing. We're not sure what happened to her."
    Ami frowned. "Mars, there's something you're not telling me."
    Mars sighed. "She used the Dead Scream to clear a path for Saturn. Only this time it was almost like an atomic bomb. We ... we think she's gone."
    "Oh God." Mercury buried her face in her hands. She felt Mars put a comforting hand on her shoulder. Thank goodness I told her, Ami thought. Thank goodness I told her that I forgive her. "Is everybody else okay?"
    "Smith told me that Takada was killed."
    "Oh no. He was trying to protect us."
    "Yes, and he did a good job. He got most of his men back here alive, too. It was a miracle."
    "Is there any change in the Palace?"
    "No. It's still getting bigger. It's hard to tell, but I think it's at least nearly as big as the one we saw in Crystal Tokyo. And Saori tells me that the darkness is spreading even faster now. It's over most of the globe. Everywhere except a hole over the South Atlantic, and that's getting smaller."
    Ami felt mind-numbing dread. "Is it ... doing anything?"
    "All she would say is it seems to be messing up satellite communications and a lot of radio frequencies. It's about twenty kilometres in the air. As far as we can see, it's just blocking light and radio waves."
    Ami swung her legs around and sat up on the cot. "We need to get into the Palace and find out what's going on."
    "Yeah, I know. Venus was on the phone with their boss from the head office, he's on his way here to take direct command of things. He's agreed to launch a full scale assault as soon as they can. I've seen them gearing up for it, they'll be moving out in just a few minutes."
    "We should go out with them." She stood up.
    "You feeling okay?"
    "Yes, I'm fine." It was even the truth. Sometimes she really appreciated the quick healing that a Sailor Senshi could do. They walked out of the little warehouse. Ami recognized it as the same place they had gathered for their first assault on the Palace. There were a lot more vehicles now. Some of the bigger trucks had rows of men in battle fatigues in the back. They held bigger versions of the plasma rifles that seemed to be attached to elaborate shoulder harnesses. There were also a couple of armoured vehicles, brandishing three sets of the mounted quad plasma rifles each. All the engines were idling, it looked like everybody was getting ready to move out.
    "Mercury!" Ami looked over to see Venus waving at her. She was at the wheel of a hummer. Mercury and Mars trotted over. Endymion was sitting beside her, and Jupiter was standing beside the car. Neptune and Uranus were crouched down on the open back platform. Venus looked very pleased with herself. "Hey girl, glad to see you up and about. Look at what they've lent us! They've got cars coming out of their ears now."
    Mercury gauged Venus' mood, chose her words carefully. "Has there been any more word about Pluto?"
    Venus dismissed her concern with a wave. "Don't worry, she'll turn up. She always does. Hop in the back. They tell me we're going to be rear echelon so we don't even have to do anything. We just follow that command car over there."
    Mars stepped up to Venus, looked her in the eye. "Listen to me very closely. You speak for the Princess in her absence and I obey you in all matters, but for the sake of humanity you are not repeat *not* driving. Move over."
    Venus sighed. "I figured you'd say that." She slid over without any fuss. Mars looked imploringly up at Uranus. The short-haired Senshi smiled in understanding. She hopped down from the back and climbed in behind the wheel. Mars, Mercury and Jupiter climbed into the back and sat down on the floor. "So how's the arm?" Jupiter asked Neptune.
    Neptune flexed her arm and fingers. "Jeneth did enough that I can use it again."
    Vehicles started moving out. Uranus pulled in behind their designated lead, and they headed down the same road again. Rei hadn't been kidding, the Palace was visibly larger now. Ami looked to left and right. She could glimpse more columns of vehicles moving down parallel roads. Suddenly there were sounds of helicopters behind them. Ami looked behind them just on time to follow a pair of small twin tandem rotor helicopters speed overhead towards the Palace. They brandished oversized plasma rifles. She thought she could glimpse a shimmering around them, like a spherical shield. There were more of them moving in on the left and right as far as she could see, presumably from all directions. Ami shivered. This was going to be a bloodbath to dwarf the little surgical strike they had just come back from.
    Within minutes the sky and the ground around the Palace was smothered in a hail of crisscrossing fire lines. From this distance it looked like a spectacular laser light show. Ami felt sick, imagining the carnage taking place there. She hoped that Usagi wasn't seeing this.
    It was like somebody flipping a switch. The lightning just stopped and the constant rumbling was just as abruptly cut off, now very conspicuous by its absence. Nobody said anything. After a while Ami remembered to breathe again. Her hand hurt from the deathgrip she had been putting on the handhold at her side. She had bent it a bit. She had been expecting something more to happen, but the Palace just went on shining. Its steady, silvery glow was no longer challenged by the shimmering column of light that had been eclipsing it. The command car in front of them slowed and stopped, and Uranus did likewise. That was when Ami noticed that the firefight far ahead seemed to be quickly dying down.
    "There are orders to cease fire," Endymion said. That was when Ami noticed that he was wearing a headset.
    "She did it," Jupiter said. "Saturn must have found the Princess, got her to make it stop." Ami didn't say anything, but she suspected it had stopped of its own accord. The Palace looked just as she had remembered it in the future, and by now the Null Field covered the earth. Whatever its purpose, it was complete.
    "The Ancients are ..." Endymion hesitated. "I'm not sure if I'm hearing this right, but it sounds like they've lost their ESPer powers. They're surrendering in droves."
    "We should get to the Palace," Uranus said. "Find out what happened."
    "Wait a minute." Endymion sounded anxious this time. Everybody tensed up. He was listening intently to something on the headset. "Uranus, get us moving forward right now." Ami barely had time to grab onto the handhold again as Uranus tromped on the accelerator and swerved around the command car. She had them roaring along at highway speeds in no time.
    "Endymion, what's wrong?" Venus asked.
    "They've found Pluto. She's not in good shape." Ami's heart missed a beat.
    "Where?" Uranus asked.
    "Sounds like about half a kilometre from the gate. Just a second." He flipped a switch on the dash and spoke softly into the mike of his headset. "They're flying Jeneth in by helicopter right now."
    "I think I see it," Jupiter said, looking behind them.
    "Why don't they get K'Theelm to fly her?" Venus asked.
    "He and Thetan went in with the attack choppers," Endymion said. "The chopper was available, they weren't."
    One of the sleek black helicopters went flying past them to their right. Were it not for its running lights it would have been all but invisible. Uranus zeroed in on where it went down, driving all the more recklessly now. In a minute they came to a halt near the landed helicopter. Its rotors were still slowly turning. They were in the area hit by the cyclone, there was debris everywhere. "I see Jeneth," Neptune said, pointing. They all jumped out and ran over. Without even being prompted they all stepped aside and held back for Mercury and Mars to pass through. Mercury already had her visor activated.
    Pluto was lying on the ground. Her Sailor Senshi outfit was torn up, her skin burned and lacerated. Jeneth had one hand over her head, another over her heart. A couple of the men with the enormous plasma rifles stood off to one side. Presumably the ones who found her. Ami's visor told her why there had been no conventional treatment applied. Physically she was in fair shape, just a lot of small injuries that would really hurt but wouldn't endanger her. But her life force was flickering like a candle in the wind. Whatever Jeneth was doing was probably all that was keeping it stable.
    Mars brought a hand down near Pluto's forehead, hesitated. Jeneth nodded. Mars laid her fingertips softly on Pluto's brow. After a few seconds she withdrew her hand and looked back up at the assembled Senshi. She spoke softly, as if trying not to disturb Jeneth's work. "I don't think she's in any real danger anymore. But whatever happened to her ... it must have hurt worse than any pain the ESPers inflicted on us. I don't know what state she might be in when she wakes." Endymion, Venus and Jupiter all looked as if some memory was making them almost physically ill. There must be some part of their battle with the Ancients that they had glossed over.
    "I think she's coming around," Jeneth said. She withdrew her hands. Pluto's eyes fluttered, stayed about half open. Ami got up from her crouched position and stepped aside, looking at Uranus. She nodded, and she and Neptune moved in to kneel down beside their sister. Jeneth also moved aside.
    "Setsuna," Neptune said softly, taking her hand. "Can you hear me?"
    Pluto smiled. "Hello Neptune," she said weakly. "Uranus. I'm happy to see you made it."
    "We didn't know what had happened to you," Uranus said, a roundabout way of saying she thought Pluto had been killed.
    "We thought you'd been caught in your own trap, baka," Neptune said.
    "That's what would have happened," Pluto said, still speaking softly and slowly, not even lifting her head up. "I should be dead. But Kaori saved me."
    Uranus and Neptune looked at each other. They were obviously thinking the same thing Ami was. Pluto's lips curled up in a little smile. "No, I'm not delirious. I heard her, in my mind. She was there. She said goodbye. Then she used her specialty. She awakened my latent power. Even from that distance, from across that field, she was able to give me that sort of power."
    "What power?" Neptune asked.
    "To teleport myself."
    "Well I'll be damned ..." Jupiter said.
    "I think I did a poor job," Pluto said. She was gradually starting to sound a bit better. "It felt like my body went one way and my spirit went another."
    "That's not a bad way to describe it," Jeneth said. "On my world I've treated victims of very rough teleports. You were lucky, your spirit was nearly lost in the void. If I had been any later, it would have been."
    Now that Pluto seemed to be fully coherent, Ami decided she could raise a painful question. "Pluto, if Kaori could teleport then she probably escaped too. Would you like us to get the Order to look for her?"
    "No," Pluto said. "She couldn't have teleported while she was helping me. She would have had no time. She died with the rest. That was why she was saying goodbye."
    "Setsuna, I'm so sorry."
    Pluto nodded. She awkwardly sat up. She winced. Ami didn't bother asking her where it hurt. It look like the answer would be 'everywhere.' Pluto looked at Uranus. "Did Saturn get into the Palace?"
    "Yeah. It's stopped growing now, so I guess she did it."
    Pluto looked up at the Palace towering over them. Her face fell. "I'm sure she tried her best," she said softly.
    They all turned at the sound of running feet. It was one of the pilots from the helicopter. He stopped and addressed the group. "I thought you'd want to know, I just heard that the front door of the Palace is opening."
    "It must be the Princess!" Venus said. "Come on, let's go!"
    "We're practically there already," Uranus said, "It would be faster to just run." She inclined her head towards the Palace. "Go, we'll bring Pluto in the hummer."
    The Inner Senshi and Endymion all ran for the front gate. They passed by soldiers collecting, processing and taking away groups of dazed looking people. The ESPers ... or former ESPers from the looks of it. There were plenty of dead ones lying about as well. Ami tried to ignore the ones that were in pieces.
    In just a couple of minutes they were at the gate. There were vehicles parked around it, but they were all keeping a respectful distance. Either out of caution or simply under orders to let the Sailor Senshi deal with whatever was going on. They passed the line of vehicles and ran onto a vast plaza that had formed in front of the gate. It was of the same glowing crystal as the Palace itself. Ami marvelled how the surrounding ground just led straight onto the plaza as if it had been carefully laid there. The ground was not at all broken up, as if it had not just been displaced by the towering edifice. It was like the Palace had eaten up the earth as it grew, absorbing it into itself.
    They stopped just at the edge of the plaza. Two figures were walking towards them from the open doors. Saturn with her Glaive held across her chest. And ...
    "Neo-Queen Serenity," Venus whispered.
    She was exactly as Ami had remembered seeing her during the battle in the Dark Gate. Beautiful and regal, bearing herself like true royalty. It might have been a trick of the lighting, but she seemed to glow with the same power as the Palace itself. She was a goddess in mortal form.
    The effect was mitigated somewhat when her face broke into a wide grin. "Mako-chan!" she called out. She quickened her pace. It didn't look like she would really be able to run with that dress trailing behind her. Jupiter walked forward to greet her, and they joined in a close embrace. "Mako-chan, I knew you'd come back to us."
    "They told me you needed our help," Jupiter said. "Of course I had to come back."
    She embraced Endymion next. They kissed. "Usako, are you okay?" he asked.
    "Yes Mamo-chan, I'm fine." Her manner was very reserved, like they were meeting after just another busy day. Next in line was Mars. Ami frowned as she watched them hold each other. Somehow Mars looked like she felt awkward.
    "Rei-chan, I'm sorry," Serenity said. "I let myself fall into their trap. You must have been so worried."
    Mars nodded. "I'm so happy to see you, my Queen." Serenity's brows came down just incrementally, as if she were wondering about the same thing Ami was. Wondering why Mars looked like she was ashamed to show her face. Whatever her thoughts, she let it pass. She came to Venus next. Minako was already in tears. "Usagi-chan," she said, smiling and squeezing her tight. "Thank goodness you're okay."
    "You brought everybody to help me," Serenity said. "Thank you."
    Venus stepped back and bowed her head down. "Usagi, I ... I've done a poor job. People have died because if me again. We were trying to find you and-"
    Serenity put a finger just in front of Venus' lips. "You would never knowingly hurt the innocent. We both know that." Venus looked like the weight of the world had just been lifted from her shoulders. Serenity softly stroked her cheek. Then she moved over to give Ami a hug. Much of Ami's anxiety melted away as she held Serenity close. It felt like being held in mothers' arms. She could allow herself to believe that maybe, just maybe, Serenity could make things right again. Serenity stepped away slightly and looked into Ami's eyes. "Mercury, Saturn told me that Pluto's missing."
    Ami grinned. It was the first time in a very long while she had been able pass on genuinely good news. "We found her." She looked at poor Saturn, whose face reflected a battle between fear and hope. "She's fine. She'll be here soon."
    "I think I see them coming now," Jupiter said. They all looked to see the hummer with the three Outer Senshi bouncing across the rubble-strewn ground toward the line of vehicles around the front gate. Uranus drove between two of them and stopped at the edge of the plaza.
    Serenity walked over to Saturn, who was looking at her sisters as if she could not believe they were all still alive. Serenity bent and murmured in her ear, putting her hand to Saturn's back as if encouraging her along. She needed no further prompting. She dropped the posture of the stern guardian and the Glaive vanished. She took a tentative step forward, slowly increased her pace. By the time she got to them she was running. Pluto had just gotten out of her seat. Saturn flung out her arms and crashed into her, almost sending her back against the car.
    Jupiter made a sound like she was the one who had been hit. "That must have hurt."
    "I'll bet she didn't even notice," Venus said. They watched Saturn's reunion with her sisters from where they stood. Then the four of them walked over and Serenity greeted Uranus, Neptune and Pluto as she had the others. She was rather more mindful of Pluto's injuries than Saturn had been.
    "Serenity, can you tell us what the meaning of this darkness is?" Pluto asked.
    "Yes. But it's something our friends need to hear as well. We should call the refugees here, and Takada-san as well."
    It was Venus who broke the awkward silence. "Serenity, Takada-san was killed in the fight with the Ancients."
    Serenity looked saddened, but not shocked. "Oh no." She sighed, suddenly looking very weary. "That's very bad news. Is there somebody else leading the Order now?"
    "Takada's boss is on his way here," Venus said. "He's probably here by now. I'll go ask them to send him here." She ran over to what looked like a command car. To Ami's eyes she seemed very eager to leave their company. Ami looked sadly at her dear friend running away. *Oh Mina-P, how long do you intend to blame yourself?*
    "Serenity, this darkness covers the whole earth now," Neptune said. "Among other things it seems to have robbed the Ancients of their powers, at least now that the Palace is complete."
    "Yes, I know," Serenity said. "No magic save ours will work under this darkness. My mother explained it to me."
    Jupiter gasped. "You met Queen Serenity? Is she ...?"
    "She's gone now." She did not seem inclined to say more. Nobody pressed her for details.
    In short order Venus came trotting back. "He'll be here soon. And K'Theelm is bringing the others." She seemed to speak the next words with some reluctance. "Serenity, did Saturn tell you about what's been happening?"
    "Yes. The Matriarch took the Palace from the rogues and tried to take it for herself. It was very foolish of them, it would have gained them nothing." She looked around the assembled Senshi, and then into Endymion's face, as if trying to find something there. Then a smile of comprehension and sympathy appeared. "I'm sorry if I'm behaving strangely. Saturn told me I only spoke to my mother for a few minutes, but after she embraced me it seemed as if time stretched out, it seemed like we talked for a very long time. We did more than talk, she ... she gave me something. Almost like a piece of herself inside of me. I'm still trying to sort it all out. But please don't worry about me." She walked next to Endymion and they put their arms around each other. "The important things are clear to me. I know who I am and I know what I have to do. I'm Neo-Queen Serenity, and I have to do everything I can to help the people under my protection." Her expression softened, and she chuckled. "Oh dear, I've really overdone it. You all look like you want to go down on your knee."
    They all laughed, Ami included. One thing certainly hadn't changed. At the really important moments, she still knew exactly the right thing to say. Even Venus' spirits seemed to have lifted. But Mars' smile looked forced.
    "Looks like our friends have arrived," Uranus said. Ami saw K'Theelm flying Thetan and Jeneth towards them. They came down at the edge of the plaza and walked towards them. They all looked as if they were approaching a holy relic, like they wanted to prostrate themselves. But Serenity was having none of that. She walked up to Jeneth and embraced her. "Thank you for coming to help me. I'm glad to see you all well and safe."
    "Avatar," Jeneth said. "I can't tell you what a joy it is to see you."
    Serenity moved to approach the others, but Thetan raised his hand. "Your pardon if we keep our distance, Avatar, but we have the stench of battle upon us."
    "No more than the rest of us," Serenity said. But she respected their wish. "I'm sorry that you were brought into this senseless war. But it's over now, there will be no more fighting." It was spoken as a promise, not a command.
    "Jeneth," Saturn said. "I think I removed the disruption the ESPers left in Serenity, but I'd feel better if you'd have a look."
    Ami wanted to kick herself. "Serenity I'm sorry, I should have been checking on you myself as soon as I saw you."
    Serenity laughed, put up her hand. "Please, one doctor at a time."
    Jeneth went first, then Ami. They both gave her a clean bill of health. While she had her visor up, Ami noticed that Endymion's life force was weakened more than the others. Perhaps one of the ESPer attacks had hit him quite hard. They still hadn't told her about what had happened while she was out. It didn't look serious, but she made a mental note to ask about it when she got the chance.
    Their attention was drawn to a car pulling up beside the one Uranus had been driving. Ami recognized it as a Range Rover. Smith got out of the driver's seat, Daniel out of the front passenger seat, and Saori came out from the back seat. Smith held the door open for the fourth passenger. He was an elderly, stout caucasian man. He walked with a cane, though his limp was barely perceptible. The cut of his suit might have been stylish about a hundred years ago. The four of them walked towards the Senshi. Daniel smiled at Pluto. He looked pleased to see her, but not surprised. Either he had never been informed that she was missing, or had already been told that she had been found. They all stopped in front of Serenity. "My lady, how should I address you?" Smith asked.
    "I've taken on the name Serenity."
    "Serenity, please allow me to present the Director of the Hidden branch of the Order."
    The Director bowed. "Thank you for inviting me to your Palace, Serenity. Forgive me if I sound awkward, it has been some time since I have used a language spell."
    "I wish I could invite you inside," Serenity said. "But the Palace will be overcharged with energy for some time, it is inadvisable for any but myself, Endymion and the Sailor Senshi to enter."
    "I understand," he said. "Don't concern yourself about my standing, the walking stick is simply an eccentricity of mine, not a necessity. You can call me mister Brown. In these emergency conditions, I have been given command of all branches of the Order. Please consider us at your disposal."
    "Thank you," Serenity said.
    "I understand you are already acquainted with my associates, Saori and mister Smith."
    "Yes," Serenity said. She smiled. "And I believe I recognize your other companion as well. Cyrus, is it not?"
    Daniel looked truly astonished. "I'm called Daniel Churchland now, my Queen, but I was known by that name a very long time ago."
    "In the Moon Kingdom," Serenity said. "I've recently had some very old memories reawakened. Few of them are clear, but I recall your having been a good friend of Pluto's."
    "He still is," Pluto said. She walked closer to him and took his hand. "He is the one who warned us how dangerous the Null Field was. We tried to reach you and stop its spread as quickly as we could."
    "Pluto, please don't feel that you failed," Serenity implored. "Once it began, nothing could have stopped it, not even me. My mother explained it all to me. She made the Seed Crystal in the time of the Silver Millennium." She turned to mister Brown. "I'm sorry, I should explain about the Silver Millennium to you."
    "I was getting regular reports from mister Takada," the Director sad. "He summarized the story you told about the Moon Kingdom and the Silver Millennium. He was always very thorough, I imagine he passed on all that you told him."
    Serenity suddenly looked very sad. "I had always looked forward to the day when I could tell the world about my mother's lost kingdom, about the legacy I had inherited. I had always thought that would be the proudest day of my life. But now it is the blackest day in history."
    The look on Serenity's face made Ami want to cover her ears, to block out what she was going to say next. "The Seed Crystal was the Moon Kingdom's most terrible weapon. It is what you would call a doomsday weapon. The Null Field it created will blot out the sun for centuries. The world will freeze over. There is nothing we can do to prevent that."
    Ami felt herself shaking. Her body was demanding that she do something, cry, scream, anything to vent her horror. "No ..." somebody whimpered. It may or may not have been her.
    "Serenity," the Director said very calmly, "Are you telling me that all life on this world will soon perish?"
    "I am saying that in a matter of days or weeks, the earth will become uninhabitable."
    "Serenity," Saturn said. "Your mother said that the Palace was supposed to be a sanctuary." Her expression asked the question that she dare not speak.
    Serenity shook her head. "It was meant to be a temporary shelter only. To protect people until they could be taken back to the Moon Kingdom. But the Kingdom is no more, and I don't have the knowledge to make it habitable again. Right now the Palace glows with the energy it has collected, but in time that will fade. After that, it will be able to sustain a handful of people at best."
    "There must be something we can do!" Jupiter pleaded. She looked ready to fly into a rage. Makoto had never dealt well with failure, large or small. Now they had failed their world utterly.
    "There is," Serenity said. She looked at Mercury.
    Ami took a step back. *No.*
    "I'm sorry Ami, but I know you could explain it better than I could."
    Nobody spoke, but they all were looking expectantly at her. All looking for some ray of hope. Pluto at least looked as if she knew what was coming. Ami lowered her gaze, knowing she would break down if she had to watch their hopes being dashed by her words. She detached herself utterly from what she was saying. It was not her voice, but that of a cool observer reporting the facts. "Some years ago I developed a technique to put living things into a state of suspended animation, using my powers as Sailor Mercury. I also developed a plan to use this technique on a large scale, using the combined power of Sailor Moon and the Sailor Senshi. I calculated we would be able to preserve several million people in the crystals I had developed. When Nomura's Cloud approached the solar system five years ago we thought that it might blot out the sun and freeze the earth. As it turned out it did not. But we had planned to put most of the population of Tokyo into suspended animation, to be revived by us centuries later. We chose Tokyo because I felt it was where we could save the most people. It has to be done at a certain ... certain ..." she put her hand to her mouth, waited for the nausea to pass. "Sorry ..."
    She felt somebody put an arm around her shoulders. She looked up to see Setsuna smiling down at her. "It's okay, Ami," she said very softly. She turned to the Director and addressed him in a clear voice. "The technique Mercury described is best performed when the temperature is well below freezing. It will be at least a few days before the Tokyo area cools to that temperature. And it is an area effect, so it will have to be done over a contiguous area of land. There is a certain population density at which the area effect can preserve the maximum number of people. For that and other reasons, Tokyo is the logical choice."
    "The Sailor Senshi will need to prepare for this," Serenity said. "The Palace is the best place for us to do that. They all need to heal from their battle scars, and just being within it for that amount of time will enhance our power."
    "Serenity," the Director said. "I understand that you are essentially immortal. But do you really expect to inhabit this Palace for several centuries?" Ami was awed by the speed with which he was analyzing the situation, and the poise with which he did it. There was no way to tell that just a few minutes ago he had been told that the world was coming to an end.
    "There is no other way," Serenity said. "We will do what we must."
    "I see." He looked down to the ground, scratched his chin. He looked back up. "Is there anything we can do to help you?" Ami had been counting. He had approved of the plan in six seconds.
    Serenity hesitated. "Director, I can't ask anyone to decide who will live and who will not. I will only say one thing. Every person you bring into Tokyo in the next few days will probably mean one more person at the edge of the city who will not be preserved. One more person who will die to give life to another."
    It was several seconds before he replied. "I understand. I expect that you don't need it, but nevertheless we will provide the Palace with what protection we can. And when the time comes, we will provide you with safe passage back to Tokyo should you need it."
    "Thank you."
    "Well then, I imagine we both have a great deal of planning to do. I will post guards at the door. They will have means of contacting me should we need to speak further. I would be grateful if one of you would check with them on a regular basis."
    "Of course."
    "I wish we could have met under better circumstances." He turned to face the refugees. "Thetan, K'Theelm and Jeneth, I presume. Takada had spoken very highly of you. My thanks for your help to us and to the Sailor Senshi. I expect you will be returning to your own world soon."
    Their alien faces were more difficult to read without their glamours, but their hesitation alone showed they were taken off guard by the statement. "I expect so," Thetan said at length.
    "I regret that I did not have the chance to speak with you further. Safe journey."
    "May the Spirits watch over you," Thetan said.
    The director turned to Daniel. "Mister Churchland, Takada spoke to me of your gift. I suspect it could prove useful in the things I must do over the next few days. If I give you my promise to bring you back to Tokyo at the appropriate time, would you agree to assist me?"
    Daniel exchanged a brief glance with Pluto. Both their expressions were difficult to read. He nodded. "Of course, I would be happy to serve in the Order again." The director looked just slightly puzzled. Daniel put his hand to his breast. "That life shall never perish," he intoned. Then he smiled. "I directed the construction of the Stonehenge ward."
    "Flavius?"
    "I was known by that name for a time, yes."
    The director smiled wistfully. "Under other circumstances, I would have as many thousands of questions for you as I would for our friends from another planet. Ah well." He turned to Serenity. "I doubt that we shall meet in person again. I leave our future in your hands."
    "Director ..." she sighed. Her neutral, detached expression dissolved into one of open gratitude. "Mister Brown, I can't tell you how your trust honours me. I'll do my best to be worthy of it."
    He smiled. "I believe our future is in good hands." He addressed his companions. "Come, it's time to say goodbye."
    The Director waited patiently while they all said their goodbyes to Smith, Saori and Daniel. It was almost surreal for Ami. It was just starting to dawn on her what was in store for the Sailor Senshi. They would not be seeing any of these people for centuries, if ever. When the former, current and newly inducted members of the Order took their leave, Venus approached her. "Ami-chan," she said in a voice low enough to be private. "You okay?"
    "Mina-P ..." she wasn't sure what she wanted to say. Venus smiled her knowing smile. She took Ami lightly by the shoulders and gave her a quick kiss. "Ami, it's thanks to you that we have something to hope for." She closed her eyes and came forward until their foreheads touched. "I know you can do it," she murmured.
    The feeling of dread eased down to a bearable level. "Thanks." Arm in arm, they turned to face the group again. Ami saw the three refugees approaching Serenity.
    "K'Theelm," Serenity said. "The Director was right, it's time for you all to go home."
    "We'd like to stay as long as we can," Thetan said. "In case there is some other service we can render."
    Serenity shook her head. She pointed straight up. "Look into the sky over our heads and tell me what you see."
    Ami also followed their gaze. "I see a hole in the field," K'Theelm said. Ami was just barely able to see it. A hole of dark blue against the utter blackness, with a few faint stars showing.
    "That will likely close soon," Serenity continued. "My mother told me that trying to fly through the Null Field could be very dangerous. You should leave as soon as you are able."
    "My symbiont is fully prepared," K'Theelm said. "There is nothing more to do. We can leave any time."
    "Then it's time for us to say goodbye," Serenity said.
    Jeneth stepped forward. She looked a bit uncomfortable. "Queen Serenity, before we leave could I ask for a brief private audience with your majesty and with Endymion? It is a ... personal matter."
    "Of course." The three of them went aside to talk.
    Ami approached K'Theelm and Thetan, Venus coming alongside her, still holding her hand. "K'Theelm, is there anything we can do to help your journey?" Ami asked.
    The dark-skinned engineer smiled. "We'll be fine. I'll just do a few short jumps to the edge of the Solar System to get my space legs back, as it were. Then it's just a matter of retracing our steps. We know exactly where we're going, so the trip back will be much easier."
    Ami smiled. The two of them had worked closely together. Like her, K'Theelm was very reticent and private, so it had taken a while for their friendship to start forming. Ami found herself regretting that. "I'll be praying that you find all your friends and family alive and well when you get home."
    "And my prayers will be with you all, Mercury," K'Theelm said.
    "Say hello to our fellow Avatars for us," Venus said.
    "We will tell them all about you," Thetan said. "We all owe our lives to you and your Queen. Our people will sing songs of you for a thousand years."
    "Mercury," K'Theelm said. "I don't know if it will help you, but I'd like to take readings of the Null Field from above as we are leaving, and transmit them to you."
    Ami nodded. "That's a good idea. We can use the link between your Symbiont and Jeneth's communicator, that could feed the data right into my computer."
    "You would have to leave an open data channel," K'Theelm said. "We should choose a protocol."
    "Say Thetan," Venus said. "Why don't we leave these two alone, I think they want to talk technobabble." They went to talk with the other Sailor Senshi, while Ami and K'Theelm immersed themselves in the world of facts and machines that they both found so comforting. They arranged for the data transfer to be able to happen automatically, going straight into Mercury's computer without her intervention. All K'Theelm had to do was stay above the hole, in line of sight to the Palace. She could examine the data later, for what it was worth.
    Ami noticed that Jeneth's private audience was over and they were returning from where they had been speaking. Ami thought she detected an air of tension about them, but it soon vanished behind the fond farewells everyone was giving to the refugees. Serenity managed to break through their discomfort and give both Thetan and K'Theelm a hug before they gathered with Jeneth to begin their journey. The air around them shimmered, and they rose into the air. Everybody felt compelled to watch until they were barely perceivable dots far above. Ami hated herself for wanting to go with them.
    "Come, you're all tired," Serenity said. "You need to rest. Let's go into the Palace." She led them through the soaring open double doors. At a gesture from her, they slowly closed behind them, coming together without a sound. It was utterly different than the dark place Ami remembered from their desperate trip to the thirtieth century. It was almost uncomfortably bright, the walls and floor and ceiling all glowing, immersing them in a shadowless world of light. The other thing that was obvious was that this was a mere skeleton of the Palace they had visited. The crystalline walls had been adorned with detail work that had softened their stark lines. The corridors they walked through now were utterly featureless, just angles and straight lines. To Ami's eyes it looked cold and lifeless. But somehow she could not think of it that way. It seemed to radiate a warmth that penetrated right through to her bones. The inside of the fully constructed Palace had been more pleasing to the eye. And yet comparing it to this was like comparing a cold cadaver to a living thing.
    Serenity showed them to an open shaft. Even after she explained what it was, Ami felt a moment of dread when the King and Queen stepped over the precipice. But as she had said, they soon floated up out of sight. Of the rest of them, only Saturn did not seem ill at ease stepping into the shaft. Ami squeezed Venus' hand tightly, and her stomach lurched as they both stepped over the edge. She lost all sensation of weight and they started to float up the corridor with everyone else. Some force kept them away from the walls and each other. After just a couple of minutes, Ami saw the people above them one by one reaching out to the entrance at the top of the shaft and exiting through it, following Serenity's lead. Ami did likewise. She and Venus floated out the entrance and landed softly on the floor, their weight gradually returning. Venus gasped. "Ami, it's just like I remember it."
    "Yes." Unlike the stark interior, the vast garden that graced the top of this portion of the spire was fully developed. Well, almost. Ami remembered there having been more ornamentation, lanterns and statues and such. But the plants and trees were all there, and the fountains were working, making happy gurgling and splashing sounds. The glowing white ceiling far above lit everything with a diffuse light.
    "Everyone, we can relax here," Serenity said. She put her hand to her breast and closed her eyes. She was surrounded by shimmering red ribbons. When they dispersed, she was dressed in a simple sleeveless long white dress. "When we are here, we can stop being warriors." Ami saw others reversing their transformations, all surrounded by shimmering lights of their own distinctive colour. She did likewise, immersing herself in the familiar blue light. She and everybody else gasped, as they looked at each other and then down at themselves. Endymion was now in a simple tunic, and all the Senshi were in flowing white dresses, all similar but each with subtle differences.
    Venus laughed happily. She did an elegant pirouette, sending her dress billowing out around her, catching its fabric in both her hands before it went swirling down again. "We all look like Greek goddesses now!"
    "I guess we'll have to call you Aphrodite," Haruka quipped.
    Ami felt the fabric of her own dress. It was like the skirt of her Senshi uniform, soft and silky. It felt good. She realized that she was now barefoot. It was not uncomfortable, the floor seemed to be warmed from its own gentle glow.
    "I hope you like them," Serenity said. "I'm not sure how I did that, but they just came into my head."
    Serenity led them all a short distance to a little field of grass surrounded on three sides by a cluster of fruit trees, a colourful flower bed and a great towering fountain with water gently flowing down its terraces. They all sat down together. Many including Ami sighed with relief. She was just starting to realize how bone-weary she was. She ran her hand along the verdant ground cover. It was not really grass, more like a carpet of spongy moss, soft but strong and dry. It had felt good on her feet, and felt even better to recline on.
    "I can't believe it," Makoto said, looking around. "Those trees look decades old."
    "The life energy collected by the Seed Crystal went into them," Serenity said. "But as the power fades, most of this garden will begin to go dark. The plants will not die, they will just go into dormancy. In the end, just a small area here in the middle of the garden will remain living, lit by a small part of the ceiling above like a spotlight. Without an influx of energy from the Moon Kingdom, that is all it will be able to sustain."
    "I guess my plants back home will freeze to death," Makoto said. Then a look of revulsion came over her, as if she were disgusted by what she had said. She shook her head. "Oh Gods, what a thing to be thinking about."
    "Mako-chan, don't," Serenity said soothingly. "You should grieve for all the living things that will soon be gone, there's nothing wrong with that."
    Makoto looked imploringly at her. "Serenity ... what we're going to do, are you sure it's the only way?"
    For just a moment Serenity's face was a mask of grief and shame. It faded like the passing of a ghost. "I ... my mother made the Null Field so that it would bind itself to the earth. The only way to destroy the field would be to destroy the earth itself. They are now one. It will only be gone when it fades away of its own accord."
    "Why did Queen Serenity make such a thing?" Minako asked.
    "Because I advised her to."
    They all looked at Setsuna. Even Hotaru paused from the healing she had been performing on Setsuna's arm. The faint glow around her hands vanished, and she regarded her sister's expressionless face with shock.
    "The Earth was in danger of being overrun by the Dark Kingdom," she continued. "Were that to happen, we would be next. Rather than having Serenity risk her life by using the Ginzuishou, I wanted to set a trap for them on Earth. A Trojan Horse that would rob them of their power. She rejected the idea outright. But she must have had the seed for the Crystal Palace altered without telling me. I always suspected that she never fully trusted the Guardians of Time. I can hardly blame her." The last of her words were tinged with bitterness.
    "Setsuna." Ami's whole body tensed up at what she heard in Rei's voice. "You knew what the Seed Crystal might have been. You knew that it might have done this."
    "I thought it to be very unlikely."
    Rei leaped to her feet. "Get up!" she rasped. "I want you on your feet when I kill you!" She advanced a step, but something suddenly flashed across her outstretched hand and she cried out in pain and surprise.
    Mamoru was in his black armour again. His arm was still held in the follow-through of his throw. Ami followed the line of sight to see a red rose embedded in a tree trunk on the other side of the clearing.
    "I'm sorry Rei, I can't let you do that. Not here."
    Rei stared at him in shock. She held onto her bruised hand. She was shaking, her shuddering breaths coming quickly and unevenly.
    Serenity was on her feet now too. She walked over to Rei, took her gently by the shoulders. "Rei, this is not the time," she said softly. "Come sit down." Her touch seemed to calm Rei a bit. But somehow she looked even more anguished. Ashamed. She lowered her head. Ami could just glimpse her face. She looked like she wanted to go somewhere and scream or cry.
    Endymion's armour faded and he collapsed to the ground.
    There were shouts of alarm. Ami leapt to her feet and transformed as she ran, her blue visor materializing almost immediately. Serenity was already kneeling beside him. Ami would have expected her to be hysterical, but she was calmly and carefully lifting Mamoru enough to move in and rest his head on her lap. His face looked peaceful, but he was not responding. Mercury went through her diagnosis. "He's not injured," she said. "All his vital signs are fine. It looks like he just passed out, probably from exhaustion."
    "I know," Serenity said.
    "His life force is weak but stable. I think all he needs is rest. He should be coming around any second," Mercury said.
    "He will," Serenity said with the same air of assurance.
    Mamoru's eyes opened. He smiled weakly. "I guess I stood up too fast."
    "How do you feel?" Ami asked.
    "Just a little tired." He sat up, looking none the worse for wear. Ami transformed back, noting that she was in her white dress again. Absently, she wondered what happened to the clothes she had been wearing when she had transformed at the Order's headquarters. Everyone else had been gathered around, but now they were giving Mamoru more room, going to sit back more or less where they had been before. Even Rei sat down, her rage having been extinguished by her fear for Mamoru.
    "Endymion," Serenity said in a soft but clear voice. "I think we should tell them."
    He nodded. "Yes, I think you're right."
    "Tell us what?" Rei asked, her voice almost shrill with fear.
    "Jeneth noticed it when she was examining me," Serenity said. "She also took a close look at Endymion's aura. His life energy is slowly fading."
    "But there's nothing wrong with him!" Ami protested. Then she recalled her earlier curiosity about what had happened while she was out. "Serenity, is it something the Ancients did to him?"
    Serenity shook her head. "No. It's because of what has happened to the Earth. The way Jeneth explained it, Endymion is the Avatar of the Earth. He is linked to it just as we are linked to the planets we represent."
    "What's going to happen to him?" Rei asked.
    Serenity looked sympathetically at Rei. "I'm sorry, I should have said right from the beginning. He's not dying."
    Ami had already surmised that, from the calm way Serenity was explaining the matter. But Rei looked agonized, as if she still didn't dare feel relieved. Makoto moved over and put an arm around her shoulders. She hardly seemed to notice.
    "He's going to fall into a deep sleep," Serenity said. "Jeneth said it will happen gradually. He will need more and more sleep as time passes, until one day he won't be able to wake up."
    "Isn't there anything we can do?" Haruka asked.
    Serenity nodded. "Yes, there is."
    Ami had already figured that part out. "We'll have to put him in suspended animation," she said. "Until the Earth is restored."
    "But that won't be for centuries!" Rei protested.
    "Yes," Serenity said. She looked into Endymion's eyes. They joined hands, and Serenity turned to face the Senshi again. "I ... we will all have get by without Endymion until the Earth has at least started to heal."
    They all absorbed the news in stunned silence. Rei looked to be on the verge of collapse, as if Makoto's holding her was the only thing keeping her from keeling over onto the ground.
    "Rei." She looked shocked at having been addressed by Endymion. His expression was stern, but his eyes were full of sympathy and fondness. "Rei, I'll need you to take care of Serenity while I'm gone." He smiled. "Make sure she doesn't get into trouble, okay?"
    Her expression softened a bit. She was looking a little better. "How long ... ?" She couldn't seem to find the words.
    "Days or weeks," Endymion said. "Jeneth said it wouldn't be unpleasant, just like falling asleep."
    "Speaking of sleep, I think we could all use some," Michiru said.
    "That's a very good idea," Serenity said. "I'm afraid there aren't any beds. My mother told me how I might coax them to grow out of the crystal, though it will probably take me some time to learn how."
    "That's okay," Makoto said, still letting Rei lean against her. "I think I could zonk out right here."
    Serenity laughed. "Well, I would suggest everybody spread out a bit. Endymion is well used to my snoring, but I know some of you are light sleepers."
    Makoto gave Rei a little shake. "Come one, we're out of here. A hundred meters away, at least." Rei actually smiled a bit. She let Makoto coax her to her slightly wobbly feet. It looked like sheer physical and emotional exhaustion were going to drop her any moment.
    "I'll change the light cycle," Serenity said.
    "The what?" Venus asked.
    Serenity just closed her eyes and appeared to be concentrating. The light started to dim. After a few seconds, the ceiling was giving off just a gentle silvery light. It was a bit brighter than the full moon, Ami thought. Serenity's mention of the light cycle prompted her to check the chronometer in her wrist communicator. It was just early evening. That hardly seemed possible. The Earth had been doomed in an afternoon.
    "Setsuna, I should try to do at least a bit more healing on you," Hotaru said. "It will help you sleep better. Come on, let's go where we won't disturb anybody."
    Setsuna smiled. "Thank you, Hotaru." She allowed herself to be helped to her feet by the young girl and led away. Ami wondered if it was coincidence they were going in the opposite direction that Makoto had taken Rei. Whatever the case, it was probably a good idea.
    Haruka and Michiru stood up. "I'm not sure any of us can have pleasant dreams on this night," Haruka said gravely, looking down at Serenity and Endymion. "I think about all I can wish you is a good sleep with no nightmares."
    "And you," Endymion said. Haruka and Michiru walked away, their arms wrapped around each other's waist.
    Minako stood up. "Come on Ami, that leaves you and me." She reached down and helped Ami up. She waved at Serenity and Endymion. "'Night Serenity. Don't worry about sleeping in, I'm sure Ami won't let any of us do that."
    Minako managed to find a thick tuft of the spongy moss to serve as a pillow of sorts. But it was Minako's warm breast where Ami rested her head. The familiar, comforting touch soon lulled her to sleep.

    *****

    Rei woke with a start. It took her a moment to remember where she was. She sat up. To her dark adjusted eyes it actually seemed quite bright now. But it was still just moonlight. Not moonlight, she reminded herself. It would be a very, very long time before any of them saw the moon again.
    Makoto was still sleeping next to her. Rei smiled. She remembered Makoto still gently rubbing her back as she was falling asleep. She found that this simple kindness had melted away her rage, allowed her to set aside the shame. Now there was only the grief, but that she knew how to deal with.
    Rei checked her chronometer. Early morning. She smiled. What did that matter now? Their time would be measured by centuries of darkness. She got up and walked back to where she and Makoto had left the others. It looked like others had also found their own sleeping spots. There was only Mamoru, and Usagi sleeping with her head nestled under his chin.
    She shook her head. Not Usagi. Serenity. Get used to it.
    Feeling restless, she walked a little further through the garden. The sight of an oversized fountain with a shallow pool of standing water reminded her how grimy she felt. She felt the water. It was warm. Well, why not. She stripped out of the dress and climbed in, careful to keep her hair out of the water. Maybe later Serenity could conjure some towels out of wherever she got these dresses. For now she would have to be satisfied with drip-drying. She decided against becoming Mars and starting a fire to quicken the process. Even though it was darker, she felt as if she were basking under a warm sun. Only it was better, she felt warmed to her core. Even while she was drying, she did not feel chilled at all. When she had dried enough to slip the dress back on, she decided to try some of the fruit on the nearby trees. They were delicious, but Rei had no idea what they were. Something from the Moon Kingdom, maybe Serenity would know. After she slaked her thirst at a smaller fountain, she became aware of a growing discomfort. She recalled from her previous visit that they had found facilities discretely tucked in various corners of the garden and elsewhere. If the fountains were working, did that mean everything was?
    It did. Rei emerged back into the garden and walked towards where they had entered it. The little crystal structure with the two entrances
was glowing faintly. Like a night light, she thought. When she approached closer, she could clearly see the ripples of light strobing along the surface inside the two shafts, one going up one going down. Up and down elevators. That reminded Rei about their promise to the Director, to check in with the guards at the gate regularly. Hopefully if anybody else had gone to do that, they would have left a message on the voice messaging system Ami had programmed into their communicators. Rei flipped up her own communicator and set it to record a general message. "It's Rei. I've gone down to check at the front gate, I'll come right back to the garden."
    Rei had second thoughts when she leaned into the shaft and looked down. Somehow, going down was worse. She gritted her teeth and stepped up to the edge. Standing here she almost felt weightless, so it wasn't quite so bad. She pushed herself into the shaft and started to descend slowly. She had a moment of panic when she realized she didn't know how to stop at the main level. Then she remembered everybody reaching out to the door to the garden. And the entrance at that level had seemed bigger than the others. At least she thought so.
    A bigger entrance did come into view. She reached out for it, and the shaft deposited her on the ledge. She breathed easier. She found herself wondering what happened if there was a power failure. Something for Ami to figure out. They had only made one turn on the way to the elevator shaft, so even though all the corridors looked the same it wasn't difficult to find the front gate again. Now there was just the matter of how to open them. Maybe it really was as simple as Serenity had made it seem. She stood before the gates and gestured as she had, concentrating on the image of the doors opening. Silently they started to swing in. She smiled. "Open sesame," she muttered. She shivered slightly at the chill air that came in. But she still felt warmed by the presence of the Palace, so it was not really uncomfortable.
    She had expected to see the two men in overcoats and dark glasses. But the third man watching the gates open took her by surprise. "Ichiro- san!"
    The diminutive priest smiled. "It's good to see you again Rei."
    Then she remembered. "I forgot that you're a member of the Order. How long have you been waiting?"
    "Just a couple of hours. I specifically asked for the 'guard detail' as these young men call it."
    "Ichiro-san ..." she wasn't quite sure how to word this. "Do you know about what's going on?"
    "Yes. In a few days you and the other Sailor Senshi will try to put as many people as possible into a deep sleep that will keep them alive when the world freezes over."
    He made it sound so simple. And he made it sound like he had no doubt she could do it. She took some comfort from that. "We've all been sleeping."
    "I should think so. Yesterday must have been the longest day of your life."
    She sighed. "You don't know the half of it."
    "Hino-san, it's gotten colder," one of the men in glasses said. "Would you like to borrow my coat?"
    "No thank you, the Palace warms us."
    "I feel it myself," Ichiro said.
    "I'd like to invite you in, but Serenity seems to think it would be dangerous for anyone but us."
    "Quite all right. It's remarkable enough just standing here before it. I never thought to see such a wonder."
    "How have things been going out here?" Rei asked.
    "Well enough," Ichiro said. "Nobody has tried to attack the Palace."
    "Attack the Palace?" Rei said incredulously.
    "It's a definite risk," said the man who had spoken before. "The government and defense forces are aware of the appearance of the Palace. But the Director has convinced them to help keep it quiet."
    "How in hell can you keep it quiet?" Rei asked. "It's at least a kilometre high and it's glowing like a beacon!"
    "Most radio communications are down and commercial air traffic has been grounded," the man said. "We're also evacuating a wider area around the Palace. All of this is making it easier to keep news of the Palace from spreading."
    The meaning of this suddenly dawned on her. "You're not telling anybody," she said in a slow, shocked voice. "You're not telling anybody what's really going on."
    "I'm afraid we can't," Ichiro said. "Even if just the existence of the Palace became known, you can imagine what would happen."
    It wasn't hard to figure out. "Everybody would think the Palace was still causing this darkness," Rei said. "They'd attack it."
    "Yes," Ichiro said. "And needless to say, we can't make it generally be known that only people in Tokyo will be saved."
    "Gods, you're right." Rei frowned. "Ichiro-san ... I hardly know how to ask this. What's convinced you that we *haven't* caused this by ourselves?"
    He looked disappointed that she could ask that question. "I trust you. That's all. For those of us who must work in secret, trust is our only bond."
    Rei smiled, remembering Serenity's words to the Director. She couldn't think of a better way to put it. "You honour me with your trust, Ichiro-san. I swear I'll do everything I can to live up to it."
    "I know you will, Rei-san," he said. "Before I let you get back to your work, I have something to give you. Please wait a moment." He walked over and picked up a long, thin white cloth bundle Rei had noticed before. He brought it back and held it out to her. "Takada-san's blades."
    Rei's eyes went wide. She crouched down and took the bundle. "Ichiro-san ... why?"
    "He requested that they go to you upon his death, and the Director agreed."
    She hugged the bundle to her chest. "Thank you."
    "Take care of yourself, Rei."
    "You too."
    She stepped back and willed the doors to close. She stood there for a while. It was starting to get to her again, the enormity of what was happening. She went through some breathing exercises.
    "So there you are."
    Serenity was standing on a balcony overlooking the vast entrance hall that the gates opened onto. "I thought I sensed the doors opening." She was back in her more formal dress with the butterfly wings. Perhaps because she thought she would be greeting allies come to see her. She started walking down a ramp that led down to ground level. Rei walked to the base of the ramp to meet her. Serenity stopped a short distance above her. "What's in the package?"
    "Takada-san's blades. The Masamune and the dagger."
    Serenity smiled warmly. "He must have thought very highly of you, to give you such a gift."
    "I suppose so."
    Serenity looked sad. She walked a couple of steps lower and put her hand on the railing. "Rei, I sense there's something bothering you. I think you should tell me about it."
    Rei set her bundle on the wide railing beside her. She lowered her head and folded her hands. It felt like a confessional. "Serenity, yesterday I awakened a new power within myself. A new weapon. I don't even wish to name it. I awakened it in the ugliest way imaginable, when I was in the throes of blind hatred, of animal rage. Since then, I've felt as if I crossed the line from being a warrior to being a killer."
    "That's how Minako felt too. I could tell."
    Rei looked up. She had heard it in Serenity's voice, but to actually see her smile was like a benediction. "I know both of you," she continued. "I know you well enough to know that you would rather die than hurt the innocent. I don't even need to know what you did, or what you think you did. If you committed evil, I know it wasn't what you intended. Even Sailor Senshi have to learn by making mistakes."
    "But people get killed when we make mistakes," Rei said.
    "And people will be killed if we do nothing. The fact that you admit the error is proof enough you can correct it. If you lost control of your anger, then learn from it and move on. What more could anybody ask of you?"
    It was a few seconds before Rei answered. "I'll try. Thank you."
    Serenity sighed. "You were always harder on yourself than you ever were on me." She moved to embrace Rei and tripped on her dress.
    Rei caught her but lost her footing. They both went down on their knees. Rei managed to more or less cushion her fall. "Serenity, are you hurt?"
    She smiled sheepishly and scratched the back of her neck. "Eh heh. I guess I'm just not used to this dress yet." There was silence. Serenity slowly developed a frown of worry. "Rei, is something wrong?"
    Rei grabbed her by the shoulders and kissed her fiercely. She broke it off and looked into Usagi's eyes. Usagi didn't look exactly shocked, just very surprised and bewildered. Rei was just becoming fully aware of what she had done.
    "Serenity ... forgive me, I ..." There was no other simple way to put this. "I thought I'd lost you."
    Her confused expression evaporated. She stroked Rei's cheek. "Rei- chan, I'm so sorry. I should have seen it right a way. I should have seen what you were afraid of." She reached out for Rei and gathered her in her arms, holding her close. "I'm still Usagi."
    Rei felt all the tension go out of her. "God, I was so scared."
    Usagi went on stroking her hair. "I didn't become a Goddess in here. I've just got a lot of things running around in my head that I only half understand. I know I'm going to make a lot of mistakes. I'll still need you to catch me when I stumble."
    Rei squeezed her tight. "I will," she whispered. "Always."

End Chapter 15