Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon S A New Quest Part Four: Stranger Things Could Happen written by Mike Koos --------------------------------------- Our story so far: Having been returned to Ondyre, both by different means, Naru and Makoto have taken to the road with an unusual adventuring party - Hana, a young part-rabbit girl, Liana, who has learned she is of royal birth... and Chalea, the younger sister of the succubus Chelise, who is out to defeat the demon seeking to control all of Ondyre, a goal which all of Naru's party shares. Meanwhile, Ami and Minako await the results of Hirokazu's attempts to reprogram the game back on Earth and debate whether or not to tell the others what progress they've made. * * * * * One of Chalea's talents happened to be speed. Worse still, she had a fair head start. Sailor Ondyre was not the type to mutter a choice word or two under her breath... but right about now, she felt the strong urge to do precisely that. She had to prevent Chalea from reaching the boy they'd seen locked in battle first. If she didn't, Nature would take its course and there would be one less boy in Ondyre. However, she was aware she wasn't an athlete. Even though her Sailor Senshi powers gave her a slight boost in speed and agility, she was already straining herself. Hana ran faster than her in the long run, and so did Sailor Jupiter - though the taller Senshi emphasized strength over speed. Either one of them would have been a much better choice for intercepting Chalea than her. Another part of her mind wondered where everyone else had gone. Why was she the only one chasing Chalea? Then she figured five individuals descending at high speed on the scene of the battle might not be a good idea. Maybe there was a different reason why Jupiter and the others were lagging behind? In any event, she'd find out about it soon enough. She had a succubus to stop. For that she would need a bit of speed. She ignored the pain radiating from the muscles in her legs and pressed on. After several more steps Naru remembered she was making a valiant effort to haul the Vibrance Fork along with her. Yes, jumping would remove shorten the distance she had to travel and remove some of the stress on her legs. But pole-vaulting? She had tried to pole-vault seven years ago, only to crash miserably into the chain-link fence she had wanted to vault. No - she doubted she would be a better vaulter now, even with Sailor Senshi powers to back her up. Besides, both she and Chalea were running over a downsloping incline now into the valley. Merely jumping alone would be enough. She leapt high into the air. It surprised her at first; she hadn't expected her jump to be *this* powerful. Naru quickly began to reposition herself for landing. No wonder the Sailor Senshi could appear and disappear so quickly. If they could run and jump faster and higher than normal individuals... Naru saw to her relief that her arc was taking her past Chalea. Now, all she had to do was land on her feet *and* find some way to bypass Chalea's Dark urges. No problem at all for a Sailor Senshi, right? Well, the landing on her feet part was easy enough. She landed a slight distance ahead of Chalea. The demon-girl did seem to acknowledge her presence and made an attempt to stop - yet failed. Naru caught her by the arm and held on as best she could, causing both of them to skid to a stop. Chalea's eyes flashed, though that hint of duality was still present in those red-irised eyes. "What do you think you're doing?" "Are you crazy?" Sailor Ondyre hissed, trying to keep her voice low. She released Chalea's arm. "If you run up to that guy looking like that, he'll probably kill you!" Chalea blushed slightly. She had forgotten about that point. "Besides," Naru continued, a reluctant smirk to her face, "I know what kind of *help* you had in mind." Chalea's blush increased. She resumed her Elf disguise, but even changing form couldn't help hide all of her embarrassment. "I'm sorry. You're right... These compulsions are really... really... *really* hard to ignore." Especially when the only life-force she'd had in the past week was from the monster she had drained in the previous battle. Pientris' control over her had muffled the desires to venture out and drain anyone, though the *need* always existed. She hung her head in shame. The sound of footsteps told her Sailor Jupiter, Liana and Hana had finally caught up to them. "Where have all of you been?" Naru asked them, not bothering to hide her weariness. She decided to continue stretching her legs so that the muscles there wouldn't lock up on her. There was still a battle to worry about... "You know that guy?" Liana gestured to the fair-haired fighter. Naru narrowed her eyes to get a better look at the boy. "Him? Well... he does look familiar..." "That is because he is my brother." Chalea paled slightly. "You mean that's Corwyn, your brother? Then--" "You almost drained my brother. Right." There was no mistaking the displeasure in Liana's voice. "I-I'm sorry." "We don't have time for this!" Makoto insisted. "We've gotta help Corwyn!" She strode forward into the battle, sword raised. "I've said it before and I'm going to keep saying it, I *really* hate it when she does that." Nonetheless, Naru followed the path her fellow Senshi had taken. It was rapidly becoming a commonplace routine. This time, Chalea drew her sword. Using her powers as a succubus was the easy way out of a fight. She knew that if she wanted to survive long enough to see the battle with Pientris, she would have to gain some *true* experience in hand-to-hand fighting. Her magical skills wouldn't impress everyone for long. She succeeded in cleaving a monster into four quarters... an incredible feat, except she had been trying to slice the monster in half instead. Panic had caused her to swing her sword far more times than was necessary. It felt rather odd, fighting and killing monsters with a sword. Up until this point in Time she and her older sister had simply, consciously, avoided contact with all other demons and monsters. Those monsters they did encounter never bore them any malice, as these creatures did. The sad truth of the matter was that it was far too easy to make an enemy out of anyone of the Darkness. Most of the Evil or borderline Evil monsters on this world were out to destroy her now, because she opposed Pientris. Unfortunately, despite their power and considerable sway over the male gender, more often than not a succubus was not a demon of any consequence but a tool or agent for a higher Dark power. One way or another Chalea had vowed to insure her life would never again be the same. Hana impulsively unleashed a swarm of Summoned faeries upon all of the monsters on the battlefield, blinding some, confusing more and turning others to stone statues. Chalea breathed a nervous sigh of relief as the diminutive figures passed around her in each direction that none of them were interested in her. In no time at all most of the remaining monsters turned on each other, leaving Naru's party and Corwyn to clean up after them. Corwyn sent a smirk Liana's way. "I should have known you would come sooner or later. And you brought two of the Sailor Senshi with you... Sailor Ondyre?" Corwyn was understandably taken aback; it had been two years since the Sailor Senshi first visited the world of Ondyre - including the young woman who had become Ondyre's own champion, Naru. "Someone has to rescue you from all the trouble you get yourself into," Liana returned the smirk. The pixie who had fought alongside Corwyn settled on his shoulder. "Sailor Ondyre... so, does this mean you have reconciled with Liana?" Naru inhaled sharply. She and Liana hadn't *officially* come to a reconciliation... they had simply come to behave around each other as if the rift between them no longer existed. "I... suppose we have." Liana blinked. This was it! Naru was finally admitting that there was no longer any anger between them. She had envisioned this moment happening ever since Naru's last departure. Somehow, though, the moment wasn't as significant as she'd thought. Corwyn laughed. "My sister isn't always the best when it comes to diplomacy, so perhaps I should begin the introductions. My name is Corwyn, and my young friend here is Brin." "Pleased to meet you," Brin greeted them, warily. Naru assumed the introductions for her team. "You probably remember Sailor Jupiter and I," she said, "and there's no reason to reintroduce you to your sister. The only members of our group you haven't met..." She brought Corwyn and Brin before Hana. "This is Hana, an adventurer. She's also looking for any information on her people or their whereabouts." Corwyn seemed to show some interest in Hana. wondered Hana. She had a feeling that Corwyn's pixie friend, Brin, was more likely to know more about her people than Corwyn. Next, Naru brought the newcomers before Chalea. Chalea looked at Naru with a measure of helplessness in her eyes, but then she realized one of the reasons for Naru's directness was that Naru was *testing* her resolve. The boy stopped to stare at Chalea for a few seconds. "Who are you?" he inquired, raising the party's suspicions that he had fallen prey to Chalea's charms. "This is Chalea, an Elf wanderer and a singer-in-training." Corwyn narrowed his eyes. His stare made Chalea nervous. "You're not an Elf... you're a demon in disguise, aren't you?" A collective gasp rose from the others present. No one was more surprised, however, than Chalea, who expectedly backed away a step. "You can see through her disguise?" asked Naru. "Not entirely. But I can sense her aura, and it's not like an Elf's aura. It's more like the auras I have sensed surrounding demons. She is... traveling with all of you?" Liana shrugged. "Yeah. She's a succubus, and she's traveling with us for the moment." "A succubus?" Corwyn approached the demon and studied her. "Odd that I don't feel any attraction." Naru turned to Chalea. "I thought you said it was impossible for you to turn your charms all the way off!" Chalea was understandably puzzled. "I... they can't be, as far as I know!" She shifted her level of charm higher. "How about now?" "No." Now completely confused by this stage, Chalea decided to turn on her full charm. There was a visible strengthening in her composure as she did so. Her appearance seemed to shimmer and turn hazy for an instant. "Now?" "Nothing," Corwyn shook his head. Chalea reduced her charm to the levels she had previously kept it at. "How did you do that?" she asked. "No male is supposed to be immune to a succubus' temptations, with a few exceptions." There was a sense of relief to her voice, and a touch of sadness at the same time. "He must be one of the exceptions, then," Liana said, privately glad that her brother hadn't succumbed to Chalea's temptations - even if Chalea wasn't really trying to seduce him. Corwyn answered Chalea's question. "I'm not sure how I do it. Lately, I seem to have become more resistant to magic, yet not completely. Occasionally some of that resistance disappears, and returns again shortly thereafter." He felt comfortable revealing this in Chalea's presence; after all, why would the succubus risk traveling with an entire group immune to her powers of seduction if not for reasons of Good? If Chalea tried anything, Naru and the rest of the party were liable to destroy her. The arrangement, on the other hand, still struck him as odd... He would have to keep an eye on Chalea. Hopefully whatever it was protecting him from her charms wouldn't suffer one of those occasional 'failures' and leave him vulnerable. Once she seduced him it wouldn't take Chalea long after that to kill him, would it? "Corwyn," Liana began. "Brother. You are not going to believe this, but apparently, we are both of royal birth." The news brought an abrupt end to her brother's musings. "What did you say?" "It's true," Naru confirmed. She assumed Corwyn might believe the story if she or Sailor Jupiter were to back it up, as Corwyn seemed to have a lot of respect for the Sailor Senshi. Peripherally, she saw Makoto nod. They told him the story of what had happened to them, backtracking all the way to Makoto's arrival in the land outside Mirinis and ending with the reunion between brother and sister so that Corwyn and Brin would know everything they needed to know. When Corwyn next spoke his voice had become hushed. "I find that story hard to believe," he cast a glance at Naru and Makoto, "but seeing as how all five of you share the same story, I also find it hard to dispute." His own sister had come from out of nowhere to tell him they were the long-lost prince and princess of the Diaran Kingdom... which - for as long as he could remember - had been under the control of a demon, according to the stories. Sailor Ondyre and her group were on their way to rid the kingdom of that demon. The entire story sounded like a fairy tale, or an elaborate practical joke. All the members of Naru's party fully believed in the story, however. "I suppose it won't hurt if I join you and see what happens from this point on." The Diaran Kingdom was still a few days or so worth of travel from here, and any journey with these five promised to be an exciting one. "Thank goodness," Liana snorted a laugh. "I was afraid we would have to hit you over the head and drag you along with us." Brin's eyes widened. "Why would you want to do such a cruel thing as that?" "I believe she's joking, Brin." "Oh." Meanwhile, Chalea was attempting not to stare at Corwyn. Her curiosity was getting the better of her. Why was Corwyn able to readily disregard her charms when few else could? Royal heritage had nothing to do with it; a mortal man or boy were capable of being tempted regardless of blood or birthright. Chalea was well aware of the chance her curiosity was being fueled by her inability to seduce Corwyn... but she couldn't help feeling that there was something *different* about him... * * * * * Day eventually gave way to night. I wanted to keep going a while longer, but everyone else voted to stop and set up camp for the night after too long. Hana found a stream or something nearby - I don't know, I never really bothered to look - to take a bath in, "remove all the traces of the storm" we went through, as she put it. The rest of us set up the tent and the fire. She wanted to take care of dinner, too. I took my gloves off and volunteered to help. Oh, sure, it's lots of fun slaying monsters in a video game, but when you do this kind of thing full-time, it's nice to take a break now and then. Don't ever let anyone tell you being a Sailor Senshi is easy, 'cause it isn't. Everyone took a seat around the fire waiting for us to finish. "Corwyn," I heard Naru say. "You know, there's something that's been bothering me for a while now." "Oh? What would that be?" "Well..." - and here I'm guessing Naru's trying to figure out how to say whatever it is she's wanting to say - "I wasn't brought here the same way I was last time. I think... someone else wanted me to be here. A woman, because I've been hearing her voice on occasion. Please... don't think I'm crazy because I've been hearing voices." Voices? How come she didn't tell me anything about hearing any voices? "It's more likely that someone else is speaking with you telepathically." Well, it wouldn't be the first time that's happened. "Do you have any idea who it could be?" I glanced back at Corwyn to see him deep in thought. "Hmm... given who you are, the first person that comes to mind would be the Goddess of Ondyre." "The Goddess of Ondyre?" Naru asked that at the same time I was wondering the exact same thing. First I've heard of a Goddess of Ondyre... "The Goddess of Ondyre is supposedly a guardian spirit or being that watches over this world and protects it, sort of like what they say about you." Here, Naru blushed. "Mind you, I'm not sure the Goddess even exists." "Me, neither," Liana said. "It would explain quite a bit." It would? "Is there anyone else who might be able to summon someone like me from Earth to come here?" "My money's on the goddess," offered Chalea. Corwyn continued. "I'm afraid I don't, actually. Most of the mages we know of do not really have the power to summon a person from a different world." Chalea folded her arms. "I know a lot of demons with that kind of power... but they wouldn't summon you to Ondyre to destroy them." "Unless it's someone with a death wish," I spoke up. "I doubt it. If a demon wanted to end her or his own existence there are far easier ways of doing it. The easiest way is to aggravate one of the higher-powered demons." I hadn't thought about that. Still... "Considering the nature of this world, I'd say it's far more likely someone of the Light summoned you for reasons of Good." "Maybe." But I could tell Naru wasn't completely satisfied with that explanation. I know I wouldn't be. We ate dinner soon after that. Actually, we hadn't brought along that much food; we'd expected to spend our nights in towns. Hana told us that they try to arrange the towns within about a day's worth of travel between each other. With our luck that's probably *not* how long it takes to get there on foot. Well, at least this isn't that health-food junk Ami's mom insists we take a ton of every time we go camping or on a trip. I swear, I can't do a *thing* with that stuff to make it taste any better. After dinner, we cleared everything away and I took a seat in front of the fire to read through my spellbook. Naru, Liana and Corwyn had gone off to scout around. I'd asked to go along, but Corwyn told me he wanted to have a private conversation with his sister... and Naru. Okay, fine with me. I need the time to learn more spells... yet another thing I never thought I'd have to learn. The games make it seem so easy - just go up a few experience levels and the spells go along with it. After about half an hour Hana sat on the other side of the campfire and opened her spellbook. She's learning her spells, too, but I couldn't help wondering if she was reading her book because *I'm* reading mine. I stared at her for a few seconds; she missed it. Brin fluttered around us looking for a place to sit. She finally found the nerve to ask me if she could sit on my shoulder. "I guess so," I said, putting my spellbook down for the moment. Some time after that Chalea came to sit by the fire - but she seemed distant. Brin noticed it, too. She was about to ask Chalea what was bugging her when Corwyn, Liana and Naru returned. "What were all of you talking about?" Brin asked them. I winced. Brin's voice kinda made me think of a mosquito flying around my ear. Okay, it wasn't *that* high-pitched a voice, but I was still worried I'd swat at her on instinct, though. Corwyn wouldn't answer her. We tried asking Naru and Liana... they wouldn't answer either. I hate it when people do things like that. * * * * * "Okay. We've got six full-sized people in our party, and our tent only has room for four..." Naru quickly ran through the math in her head. "...so, two of us should stay out here on watch. We'll take shifts throughout the night - unless someone wants to stay awake all night." No one wanted to make that sacrifice. "I'll take first watch," Makoto raised her hand. she told herself. "Me, too," added Chalea. "And I'll watch *them*," Brin came to hover over Makoto and Chalea. They glared at her. Naru laughed. "Okay, it's set. Hana-chan and I will take over in a couple hours." "How are we supposed to know when to wake you up?" Jupiter frowned. "We don't have a watch or anything!" Sailor Ondyre grinned - the first time Makoto had seen her do so freely since her arrival. "Use your best judgment." "Hmph." Nevertheless, Makoto didn't argue the point. She watched as the four filed into the tent and closed the door flaps behind them, then went back to reading through her spellbook... at the same time keeping an eye on Chalea, Brin and the fire in turn. Fifteen minutes passed. Finally, Chalea had had enough. "If you're going to be suspicious or keep an eye on me, you don't have to be so obvious." Makoto apologized. "Sorry." "You're right to worry. I would, if I were in your place." "It's not just that," the Senshi confessed. "I've gotta admit, I'm a little curious." "About what?" Chalea avoided the urge to crack a joke about 'morbid curiosity.' Dark humor came all too easy... "Lots of things." Makoto paused. "Like when earlier today, you drained a monster. Assuming there's always gonna be an endless supply of monsters, couldn't you just drain them for the life-energy you need?" Chalea rocked back on her arms, the fire casting strange shadows on her facial features. "On Earth, the monsters were more inclined to stay hidden, so I couldn't try that there. I did try doing that after I was trapped here for a while. But... the main problem is that... to me, a monster's life-energy only provides a big boost of power that lasts a short time... and then I'm - if you'll forgive the expression - hungry again." Brin made a face. Chalea noticed and laughed in spite of herself. She continued. "You see, the average monster tends to be either completely Evil - or completely Good. One or the other. No in-betweens." "Because I'm of the Darkness, the Dark parts of an individual's nature are what gives me the most, longest-lasting strength. An evil, single-minded monster has few of those qualities, but a human..." Makoto understood. "We've got them all and then some. Enough Darkness to keep you from being... *hungry* for years." "Yes. Back on Earth, there's a lot more Darkness in people than there is in people here." She turned to Brin, smiling. "I'll bet you don't even have an ounce of Darkness in you, Brin." "I should hope not!" the pixie said, indignantly. She calmed down. "But if you are of the Darkness, and you feed on things like Evil and such, wouldn't that make *you* Evil, too?" Chalea exhaled. "Only if I let it. So long as I keep my head and conscience about me and fight the urge to do Evil things to satisfy the compulsions I'm stuck with, I won't lose myself to Evil... like my sister did." "You must have cared for her a lot," ventured Makoto. "I did." Chalea wiped away the tears that formed in her eyes. "If only she'd *listened* to me instead of the Darkness... she wouldn't have died twice." "Twice?" echoed Brin. "Once when she abandoned herself in favor of her Dark self, and twice when Sailor Ondyre was forced to stop her." Chalea saw the nervous look Brin gave the tent, Sailor Jupiter, and then her. "Don't worry, I'm not mad at Sailor Ondyre or anyone else. I'm sort of grateful for what she did. Wherever she is now, Chelise is at peace, no longer tormented by the demands of these succubus bodies. Or the Darkness." She wondered how long it would be before she could truly rest, herself. * * * * * "And WHY didn't you tell us all this earlier!?" Rei's voice echoed across the empty courtyard of the Hikawa Shrine. Minako jerked a thumb in Ami's direction. "Ask her." "We simply didn't want to worry anyone until there was anything we could do." Ami hoped to regain control of the conversation. The fact that Minako-chan had been so quick to pass all the blame on to her wasn't all that comforting. At the edge of the deck everyone sat on, Artemis shot Luna a questioning glance. She responded with what could have been considered the feline equivalent of a bewildered shrug. Usagi was skeptical. "So now we can do something?" The somber tone never left Ami's voice. "No." "Then *why*--" "Because Minako-chan was right. It's wrong to not let you know what's going on, since Naru and Mako-chan are *our* friends. Not just Usagi-chan's, not just mine... ours. I'd want to know everything that was taking place even if there was nothing I could do." Minako focused on Ami. It was always increasingly difficult to argue with her, no matter how hard any of them had tried at one time or another. "Still, there's gotta be *something* we can do, right?" Usagi refused to give up. "Something we haven't thought of. We're the Sailor Senshi, aren't we? There's *nothing* we can't do!" There was an almost pleading tone to her voice. Everyone looked at her nervously. "Usagi-chan..." Luna sighed. Usagi was notorious for never losing hope, with Tuxedo Kamen - her Mamo-chan! - and everyone else. She tended to become frustrated if she couldn't help a friend in trouble in some manner. And Ami-chan seemed to be lecturing her, though she knew that was merely part of Ami's nature. Ami, the scholar and 'brain' of the Sailor Senshi, and Usagi's closest friend among them. "All we can do for now is wait, Usagi-chan. We were planning to go to Hirokazu-san's house tomorrow afternoon; I think it's time all of us went." The gathered Senshi agreed. * * * * * It took most of the following day for Naru's newly-improved band of adventurers to pass through the next village on their path, a village large enough to be mistaken for a town - were it not for the presence of a great deal of farmland and crops. "The people of Baracen are well-known for their hospitality as well as the steel goods and food products they produce here," Corwyn said, sounding to Makoto like one of those travelogues she had never liked. "We should be able to buy some worthwhile supplies here." The first sign that indicated something wasn't right in the village were the dagger-wielding guards at the village limits who refused to let them pass. "Go away." The two men scanned the group. Two young girls wearing oddly familiar costumes underneath their armor, one young man and another girl only clad in their own versions of armor, a pixie and an Elf girl without much armor... "The regular monsters are bad enough--" one scowled, ending his scan on the sight of Hana, "without you sword-happy *wild animals* screwing things up! So get out of here, or we'll be glad to kick you out ourselves!" His fellow guard was quick to second the declaration. Chalea wondered. Hana frowned at the loaded comment obviously meant for her. "Yeah, these people sure are *hospitable*," Makoto also frowned. Naru shook her head. "It's not their fault." "It isn't? What do you mean?" Before Naru or the guards could open their mouths to say anything else screams broke the unsettling stillness of the evening. "That came from inside the village!" exclaimed Hana. Makoto nodded. "That's our cue!" The party ran past the 'greeters' and scrambled through crowds of surprised villagers toward the source of the cries - an understated mansion of a house which was larger than most others in the village, which they took to be the village elder's house. Stables and a smaller guest house were loosely attached to the main house... a good thing, because the main house was currently being consumed by flames. The found the elder at the head of a group frantically throwing buckets of water onto the burning home in a vaguely coordinated effort to put out the fire. "Don't stop!" the elder demanded. "Elis is still in there!" Naru approached the distraught man. "Elis?" 'Elis' sounded suspiciously like a girl's name... He studied Naru's band of seven adventurers for a brief moment. Some of the townspeople had already started to jeer at the seven, but he ignored the outbursts. "My granddaughter. She is only a child. Please, can you help save her?" Naru strengthened her stance. "We'll try." She met the gazes of her teammates. "Hana, I know you know Water magic. Anyone else?" Makoto stepped forward. "I'm trying to learn some Water spells. That count?" "Good enough. I want you and Hana to go inside; see if you can find Elis and get her out of there. The rest of us will stay out here and help put out the fire," she faced the crowd, "no matter *what* any of you think." Naru was aware of the reasons the villagers were behaving the way they were, though she wasn't able to stop and deal with that particular problem yet. The rescue of a young girl from a burning building was far more important. Makoto knew this as well. Public relations could wait for a while. "Okay, Hana, let's go. You lead." Brin flew to her shoulder and sat there. "I'm going, too!" "Are you sure?" Makoto asked her. "I mean, will you be safe with all that flame around?" "I don't know. But I'm going to find out." The determined look on the pixie's face told everyone Brin wouldn't be convinced otherwise. Solemnly, and with a nod to Makoto, Hana led the way into the house. Naru was privately surprised Sailor Jupiter hadn't insisted on leading the way in this time around. A wall of flame awaited them in the foyer. Hana raised her hands, palms forward, and muttered the relevant words. Streams of water formed around her hands, surging forward to douse the fire. "One fire down," Hana said darkly. Thank goodness that wet wood wouldn't catch fire immediately after she put out the fires... unless these were magic flames. She waited a few seconds. The fire did not renew itself. "Brin and I'll take the upstairs," Makoto instinctively told Hana. "Since you're more experienced with Water spells, try to keep the foundation and first floor from crumbling underneath us all." Hana let her thoughts linger as she watched Makoto and Brin make their way around the fires on the stairway. She turned her attention to the fires in her area, then, until a loud crash and Brin's scream startled her. A ceiling support beam had fallen at the very top of the stairway. Hana couldn't see whether or not Makoto and Brin had escaped being crushed by the beam. "Sailor Jupiter! Brin! Are you okay?" she called, forcing herself to continue putting out whatever fires she could. She muttered rushed spells under her breath. "We're okay!" Makoto yelled. "Brin," she tried not to breathe too much of the smoke, "you can get through the rooms faster than I can. Go find Elis and I'll put out the fires." "Okay!" the pixie darted away. Jupiter thought. She paused. The spell she cast caused storm clouds to appear over her head. A bolt of lightning emerged from the clouds, shattering a vase on one of the nearby tables. She yelped and hopped back as the rain began. The rain soaked both her and the fire thoroughly. When she moved, the clouds - and rain - moved with her. "Sailor Jupiter!" She looked up to see Brin, hovering outside the clouds' range. "What--" "Don't ask. *Please* don't ask," Makoto sighed. Brin was right to be cautious of the rain; she would be unable to fly through it. "Did you find her?" "Yes," Brin said, breathlessly. "She's this way. C'mon!" Makoto and her pet rainclouds followed. Thankfully, the spell wore off by the time they reached Elis' bedroom. Makoto reflected that Elis must have been asleep and awakened to a house full of fire. Elis was huddled in the farthest corner of her room behind the comforter from her bed. "No! Stay away!" No time to argue... "I'm Sailor Jupiter, and this is Brin. We're here to get you out of this fire, and to your grandfather." "Sailor Jupiter?" Elis poked her head out from within the covers. "Are you one of the Sailor Senshi?" "...Yes." Without missing a beat, Elis pitched another question. "Do you know Sailor Ondyre?" Makoto let out a short, pained sigh. "Yeah. She's outside." "Can I meet her? Huh? Can I?" "We'll take you to her," Brin intervened. "But we have to get you out of here, first!" Elis thought about it. She dropped her blanket and dashed to Makoto, who knelt to pick her up. The elder's granddaughter was a girl of about eight or nine years of age, with bright blue eyes and short hair the color of green apples. She buried her face in Makoto's shoulder, even after Brin settled on her shoulder to help comfort her. Another surprise was waiting for them when they returned to the top of the stairs. The surprise was that the stairs were no longer there, having collapsed while Brin and Makoto were convincing Elis to leave the house. The collapse had left behind a lot of large, mismatched fragments of debris and no easy way for Makoto to leap from the second floor to the first floor. She figured she could try to climb down if she carried Elis piggyback... but it was the second alternative that came to mind which she like better. "Hana!" yelled Makoto, careful not to startle Elis. "You still down there?" "Yeah!" came the reply. "Go ahead and get out of here! I've got Elis; we're gonna try to get out a different way!" Brin's expression turned cautious. "What do you mean, a 'different way!?' We're on the second floor!" "Trust me. And hold on to Elis and me. I'm not sure this is gonna work." Her declaration set off warning bells in Brin's thoughts. "Why?" She held on to both Elis and Makoto for good measure. "What are you going to--" The Sailor Senshi teleported them out of the house. The moment the villagers caught sight of Hana running out of the house their jeering began anew. Hana turned her back to them and readied a Water spell more powerful than any of the spells she had used inside the house. "My granddaughter," the elder demanded urgently. "What has happened to my granddaughter?" Naru shifted her eyes from the crowd to examine the village elder. He was genuinely concerned, Naru saw, having no relation to the crowd which was currently against them. Why was the entire village so full of contempt and not their elder or his granddaughter? His fears were ended a second later when Makoto popped into existence a few feet away with Elis and Brin in her arms. "Sorry about that," she apologized, setting Elis down. "I had to teleport around a bit before I wound up where I wanted to." Elis clung to her grandfather's side as Hana completed her spell. Sheets of water washed over the house to extinguish the last of the fires. As Hana lowered her arms, a rock impacted against the back of her head. "How DARE you try to destroy our homes and flood our crops!" The crowd had suddenly grown dangerously more bold. "You leave us normal, good people alone, you... *freak*!" screeched a woman. "Monster!" "Animal!" Hana shrank from the insults... until Elis stepped forward to place herself in between Hana and the crowd. "Leave her alone!" she screamed at the top of her voice. "You leave my friend alone!" The crowd froze. "What kind of people are you?" Makoto scolded them. "All of us... *each* of us... are people just like you. How can you insult someone just because they look a little different from you or carry a sword?" Hopefully, this rebuke would have something of an effect... "Yes." Now that his granddaughter was safely with him, the strength returned to his words. "Why do all of you insist on behaving with disrespect toward these people? That is *not* the way of this village. I am ashamed of the lot of you." Naru could see that the Dark influence of hatred that held the crowd together was weakening. People were looking at each other in confusion... Her suspicions had been correct. Members of the crowd soon apologized to them - especially Hana and Elis - and left to return to their homes. "I would like to apologize to all of you on behalf of the entire village of Baracen," the elder offered an apology to Naru's party. "I'm afraid events like this have become more common of late. I would not be surprised if one or more of them intentionally started that fire." "But you have not been affected?" asked Liana. Elis' physical appearance... her own innocent face, framed by green hair... was making her long to remember what she looked like at that age. "Strangely enough, no. Neither has my granddaughter." Naru relaxed. No need to be on edge for now... "I've sensed a great evil influencing the people of this village..." She gestured to Chalea. "...the same one that had controlled her once before." "I have sensed the evil influence as well," seconded Corwyn. "So I was right!" Chalea exclaimed. Makoto frowned. "Pientris, again?" "Who else?" "Who is this Pientris?" the elder inquired. "A demon from another world, who's trying to take over this world by influencing Darkness, Evil..." "Hatred, anger," said Chalea. "Prejudice," concluded Hana. She had seen more than enough of it while growing up to not recognize it. The elder nodded as understanding came. "I see. That would explain why everyone has behaved the way they have." He studied Chalea. "You were controlled by this Pientris, as well?" "Yes," Chalea lowered her head. "He forced me to attack Sailor Ondyre and her friends." The elder's interest was raised. "Sailor Ondyre?" He turned to look at Naru and Makoto. "You are the Sailor Senshi of legend?" Naru seemed to deflate slightly. "I don't know about that - but I *am* Sailor Ondyre." She proceeded to introduce the remainder of her team. "This is Sailor Jupiter, Chalea, Hana, Brin, and the prince and Princess of the Diaran Kingdom, Corwyn and Liana." Liana's face reddened. She was unused to hearing anyone describer her in such terms. "I must say, you have quite an interesting group of people with you." The elder laughed softly. "I take it that you are on your way to reclaim the Diaran Kingdom?" "We are, and Pientris is the opponent we must ultimately face," Liana said. "Yes, you likely have a trying task ahead of you. A demon who can coerce practically anyone to do his bidding by the dark aspects of their natures is truly dangerous." Chalea mentally snorted. She allowed her gaze to drift. Chalea hadn't meant to become distracted on purpose; this was the Dark urges' way of ordering her to find something more interesting, more *Dark*, to do. She spotted a small group of young men standing several yards away in the village square, warily watching them all. The urges to take their life-energy asserted themselves again. And she had had very little for so long a time... Absently, she headed in the direction of the men when, suddenly, the urges completely disappeared. Chalea blinked, confused, wondering what had happened to cause something so remarkable to happen... and noticed Brin hovering close to her head. "Where are you going?" Chalea thought about the answer to that question. "I... I don't know," she said at last, heading back to the party. Brin mused. In the meantime, the elder was attempting to convince Naru and her group to stay in the village for the night. "I know our house must now be rebuilt... but you are welcome to stay the night in our guest house with us." Naru shook her head in a negative. "We wouldn't dare impose. It's best if we go to an Inn." "It seems as if the people of our village are still resentful and angry toward you. You would not get much sleep. And since the next town along the road is closer to the Diaran Kingdom, I would imagine you would also encounter more of the same attitudes there." "Good point." Chalea turned to Naru. "If we're gonna stay anywhere tonight, it should be a place where we don't always have to watch our backs." Never mind that *she* was one of the reasons the team had to remain alert at all hours of the day. Naru considered Chalea's words. "I... guess so." The elder smiled. "Then, it's settled. I hereby, formally, invite all of you to stay the night with us in our guest house." "Thank you," Naru said, nodding her head in acceptance. "Would you mind if we have people stand watch during the night, just to make sure no one tries anything else?" "I would appreciate it if you did. I still fear for my granddaughter Elis' safety, as well as ours." "As well you should. As long as Pientris is around everyone is in danger," Chalea folded her arms. * * * * * Most of the members of Naru's party were grateful to be able to spend the night at the elder's guest house, as the house was more comfortable and better furnished than the average room in an Inn. It was also a welcome change from having to spend the night in a tent. Brin meandered into the downstairs room where everyone was gathered. She'd been exploring the small two-story house, much to her delight. What with the world the way it was, any exploring she tried to do alone out in the open was liable to be cut short by the monsters. Corwyn had told her of the battle between Sailor Ondyre and Chelise and the time of peace that followed. Once Sailor Ondyre had departed, however, it hadn't taken long for the monster problem to reassert itself. And Sailor Ondyre had returned to look into the matter. The young man she had been traveling with had turned out to be a prince. All in all, it sounded like an honest-to-goodness tale right out of the storybooks! She fluttered there in place for a second, taking in the scene before her. Sailor Ondyre and Sailor Jupiter, who had removed their armor and were only wearing their Senshi uniforms now, were busy discussing something with their host. Chalea had isolated herself at the counter looking into the kitchen, trying not to fidget. Liana and Corwyn sat beside each other on a couch, unable to make up their minds whether they wanted to say anything or not. It was Hana who finally caught her attention. The part-rabbit girl was resting in a corner, running a hand through her dark brown hair to soften the pain coming from the bump she'd received when one of the villagers had thrown a rock at her earlier. "Hana!" Brin called, flying across the room to her. Startled, Hana glanced up. "Hm? Oh, hi, Brin." The pixie hovered close to Hana. "Does that hurt a lot? I saw you get hit earlier..." A look of embarrassment found its way onto Hana's face. "Kinda. I don't know any Heal spells, though. I think Sailor Jupiter has some in her spellbook, but I've gotta wait until later to ask her." "You don't want to use the herbs or elixirs we've got?" Hana shook her head. "No. Why waste them on a little bump on the head? Magic's easier to come by." That particular fact Brin knew to be true. "I can heal you," she said softly. "You can?" "Here," Brin flew closer to Hana's head and sifted through her hair searching for the wound. "Allow me." What Hana had described as a 'little bump' turned out to be worse; the wound had by now mostly clotted but continued to bleed. Brin saw the blood hardening in the fur on Hana's fingertips. Was Hana aware of how bad her wound really was, or had she intentionally downplayed the seriousness of the problem? "I can magically heal minor wounds by touch," Brin said. "So please, don't be startled by anything I do." She rested her hands on the wound. Hana winced, but as soon as Brin's hands began to glow with magic, Hana's pained expression faded. When Brin finished a minute later, Hana checked for the wound again. It was no longer there. "Amazing," she whistled, wondering whether anyone else had seen what Brin had done. Elis bounded into the room. "Sailor Ondyre!" she sat near Naru, giving the Sailor Senshi her equivalent of a hopeful puppy-dog look. "Tell me some stories of your adventures. Pleeeease?" Naru hesitated. What kind of stories would she have to tell? This was, after all, only her second outing as a Sailor Senshi in the world of Ondyre. Jupiter would have been a better candidate, though Elis was more interested in her than a Senshi who had had far more adventures. "Now, now... we shouldn't impose on our guests, Elis," suggested the elder. "I'm not really that much of a storyteller, anyway." Naru felt a change of subject was in order. A minor change, or else Elis would see the shift and insist on a story. "So, um... tell me, Elis... what do you want to be when you grow up?" Well, it was as good a question as any, she supposed. Elis considered the question. "I... I did wanna be a dancer. An en... tertainer. But now I also wanna be a fighter like my hero." As the elder paled, Makoto asked, "Who's your hero?" "Sailor Ondyre, of course!" Both Senshi nervously met her gaze. "Uh............ yeah," Naru ultimately replied. Everyone else within earshot laughed. An hour later, as the rest of the house guests retired for the night - or until their watch shifts began - Naru and Chalea volunteered to stand the first watch outside the house. Naru sighed. If the day she had just endured was any indication of the next day, any break from the confusion would definitely be a good thing. Offhand, she wondered how many days had passed on Earth since her arrival here. "Sailor Ondyre?" People in this world were counting on *her* to make sure things didn't get out of hand. They were worried about her here, too... She was learning what it meant to be a Sailor Senshi. Naru removed her tiara and brushed the hair and perspiration away from her forehead, acknowledging Chalea's presence. "Yes?" Chalea fidgeted. "I, um...... I need to leave for a while. I-I have some business I need to take care of." The other girl replaced her tiara. "What kind of business?" When she saw the blush rising on Chalea's face, Naru understood. "It's been a while since I've really drained any energy to live." The words didn't sound right coming from Chalea, which Naru took as a good sign. "What about that monster you drained yesterday?" Chalea repeated what she had told Brin and Makoto that night for Naru's benefit. "I haven't drained any energy in a *long* while. In fact, I forgot all about it when I was under Pientris' control. So I've got no choice but to do something..." Her voice trailed off. "I must say, your self-control's been quite successful," remarked Naru. "But I still can't justify your need to drain anyone to survive." "Neither can I. It's not like they gave me much of a *choice*, though. Like I said earlier, I'm only gonna go after the bad guys who really need to be drained..." Inwardly, she sighed, turning to leave. "How can you tell? With Pientris influencing everyone *anyone* can be evil!" But Chalea had already dissolved into the shadows. "Ah, mou," she muttered softly. Well, this stay in Ondyre was interesting, to say the least. Usagi-chan would *not* believe any of it. Maybe Umino-kun would; Umino was too trusting... Naru found her thoughts wandering again. She had fallen in love with him after she'd met him... completely unaware of his connection to the Dark Kingdom. Usagi had known he wasn't who he claimed to be. So had Sailor Moon and the Sailor Senshi. They had all tried to warn her about Nephrite. She hadn't listened. There had been a misguided attempt to help Nephrite find the ginzuishou... soon after that, Zoisite kidnapped her to get to Nephrite, and Nephrite realized that somehow, for some reason, he had come to care about her. The loss of Nephrite had shaken her greatly. For a while - she wasn't even sure how long she had been depressed - she shut the world out. Usagi and Umino had been there to help, then, as had others. Her relationship with Umino had seen its roots there. How to describe their relationship? That was a difficult question to answer, much less consider. She and Umino had never truly defined whether or not they were girlfriend and boyfriend, or if they were seriously dating or merely going places with each other as friends. Was she only using Umino as a way to recover from the loss of her first true love? Naru hoped not; Umino did not deserve to be treated that way. Aside from waiting to see how things turned out, there was one other alternative Naru was more than reluctant to try. She and Umino had to discuss their relationship, honestly and openly. Mentally, she forced herself to think about something else. Osaka Naru was Sailor Ondyre now, guardian of an entire world - they expected her to be that, anyway. What she was, was a girl from Earth thrown into the role of a heroine. She had always imagined that there were special qualifications for being a Sailor Senshi. If that were true, however, there was no way she could be a Sailor Senshi in real life, right? She didn't think she was anything special. Not enough to be a Sailor Senshi... The voice made Naru jump. She knew it to be familiar, and yet... The voice stopped to take a breath. The voice hesitated again. Naru felt like this was one battle that had reached a stalemate. This wasn't the response she had expected. The very same name as the temple in which Naru had found the Amulet of Ondyre. In answering her question, Alliene had raised many more. Each of which demanded to be asked first. There was the touch of a gloved hand, grasping the upper half of her right arm - the half not covered by the fabric that made up her own glove. "Naru-chan...? You okay?" Naru realized she was leaning against the house with her arms hanging loosely at her side. Only Jupiter would be able to tell her the expression that had been on her face. She shook her head to clear it, more out of annoyance at having her telepathic conversation cut short than anything else. "I'm fine," she snapped, pushing herself away from the wall and refused offers to help. Sailor Jupiter looked at her curiously. So, too, did Hana. "...I'm sorry," Naru apologized. "It's just that you were standing there with a sort of vacant look in your eyes. And when we couldn't find Chalea..." "Where *is* she, anyway?" Hana spoke up. Naru blinked twice. "She... left for a while. She's got some business to take care of." "Oh." She didn't need to explain further; they both understood. "So what are you both doing out here? Checking up on us before your turn?" "No," Makoto said plainly. "It's time to change shifts." "What?" That... that couldn't be right! Her conversation with Alliene *couldn't* have gone on for the whole two hours... "Are you sure?" "We checked the time by the clocks in the house. Why?" Naru exhaled. "I had... another talk. With her." "The Goddess of Ondyre?" asked Hana. "Yes. Alliene, the Goddess of Ondyre." "That's her name, all right." Makoto met Naru's gaze. "You'd better go in and rest, or whatever. Maybe if you take it easy you'll be able to talk to her again." That sounded to Naru like a good idea. "...Okay." She turned and walked toward the entrance to the house, unaware that the path she walked wasn't exactly straight. * * * * * She sat alone in the darkness of her chamber elsewhere in Ondyre. Silently waiting, brooding over anything that came to mind. One of the major disadvantages in being a demon was the lack of ways to preoccupy oneself *other* than those which involved Darkness and Evil over the countless years immortality afforded. A voice flickered to life alongside the sound of a bonfire doing the same. "Alshlione." Alshlione rose to her feet. "Yes, my lord." "Those Sailor Senshi friends of Sailor Ondyre and Sailor Jupiter on Earth come closer to being able to interfere with our plans as time passes. They must be stopped." The smile on Alshlione's lips became a wide grin. "You want me to deal with them. Eliminate their interfering existences." "I want you to disable them. Disorient them. Whatever is necessary. But heed me well, Alshlione. Under *no* circumstances will you kill them. That is a privilege reserved for me, and me alone." "I do hope you understand. I would hate to have to destroy you as well." Alshlione went rigid. She knew her master would destroy her, if it came to that. The last thing she wanted to do was encourage his wrath. "I will not fail you, my lord." She bowed respectfully - and then vanished. Alshlione teleported herself into the room Hirokazu kept his computers situated in, as the programmer was working at his primary terminal on establishing more of a map of Ondyre. Hirokazu wheeled around in his chair slowly. He'd heard the sound of Alshlione's materialization in the past, from another... and if the sound *was* a demon appearing in his home, it wouldn't be for a good reason. His eyes found Alshlione, who stood behind him with her arms folded, a wicked smirk to her face. "Wh-wh-what do you want?" he stammered. "Let's just say I have a burning desire to know more about computers," the demon took a quick look at all of the computer equipment stacked in uneven piles around the room. She casually aimed a hand at the terminal Hirokazu was seated at. A stream of flames shot forth from her hand to engulf the computer... which violently exploded soon afterward. Alshlione liked to think she knew enough about computers to neutralize Hirokazu's influence; destroy the terminal Hirokazu was using and all his work was lost. Hirokazu's expression suddenly changed to anger. "You... you destroyed my computer!" He dived for the fire extinguisher and put the rest of the fire out, heaving the extinguisher into Alshlione's midsection as an afterthought. To be sure, he was no hero or Sailor Senshi, but to sit idly by cowering and not attempt to fight back... Alshlione staggered. She regained her composure, grabbing the programmer by the throat. Flames radiated from her hand. "I was ordered *not* to kill the Sailor Senshi," she sneered, causing her grip to tighten. "*You* are not a Sailor Senshi." That was painfully evident. Hirokazu winced. The Sailor Senshi were mortals, like him... there was no way they could be everywhere at once. It was up to him to save himself. His eyesight was blurring into darkness now. If he was going to do anything, it was now or never! He brought a foot back as far as he could manage and kicked her. Alshlione lost her hold on his neck. Hirokazu tumbled backward into a bookshelf and collapsed in a pile. He propped himself up, using one hand to rub any circulation he could back into his neck. This demon, whoever she was, had accomplished what she wanted to do here - or so it seemed. There was no reason for her to allow him to live. She aimed both hands at him. "I think I'm going to enjoy this. How about you?" Hirokazu didn't respond. "Oh well," she shrugged. "Can't win them all, and all that rubbish. Prepare to die..." He cringed... but after several seconds passed with nothing happening, he dared to open one eye. Alshlione appeared to be drifting toward the window as if she had heard a noise come from outside. Her face lit up. "They're coming. Perfect!" She glanced at Hirokazu for a second. "Guess you get to live, kid. Until I return." With a sort of extravagant flourish, she teleported away. Hirokazu frowned. Who had she meant by 'they?' Then the answer came to him. If anyone could defeat Alshlione, it would be Sailor Moon and her friends. So *why* did he have the feeling something else was about to go wrong? Mars sighed. "Uh, maybe I ought to go back. You know I don't really care all that much for computers. That guy's place gives me the creeps. It's all computer equipment and junk, barely any furniture or plants. Last time I was here I couldn't even find a television set." Sailor Chibi-Moon looked up at her. "Why would you be looking for a TV?" "Ah, that's not important right now," Moon waved her hands in front of her chest. "Usagi asked me to." Everyone except Mars and Moon nearly lost their footing in disbelief. "About Hirokazu-san's house," said Mercury. "You forgot about all his pictures, posters and newspaper clippings of us." "The action figures," Venus smirked. "Those things don't look anything like us." Mars snorted. "And the Sailor V stuff did?" Minako acted hurt. "I can't help it if I've got a larger, more critical fan base." "Actually," Mars was far from convinced, "I hear they like Ami-chan more." Sailor Mercury blushed on hearing the remark. "Rei-chan!" The raven-haired Senshi laughed softly. Suddenly, she froze on the sidewalk bordering Hirokazu's yard. "What's wrong, Rei-chan?" Mercury inquired, glancing back at her. Rei frowned, checking their surroundings. "Trouble, what else?" The news set the five Senshi on alert. They joined Mars in frantically glancing in every possible direction. At first, they saw nothing. Someone laughed - a cold, hollow and evil laugh. "So *you're* the dreaded Sailor Senshi? I was expecting a lot more than little *children*." Peripherally, Mars noted that the skies were turning dangerously overcast. "Who are you?" Sailor Moon privately wondered why no one in a situation like this ever asked a question like "*Where* are you?" first, instead. Oh, well... why break from an established standard? Alshlione materialized a slight distance ahead of them. "You can call me Alshlione," she said. "I'm so glad to meet you. You don't know how hard it is to find a worthy opponent..." She stared at the Senshi for a short moment. "And I'm still searching." Alshlione appeared to them to be a middle-aged woman, hints of muscle tone evident in her body. She was outfitted in what more or less resembled a bikini swimsuit cut entirely from polished black leather along with the necessary gloves, knee-length boots and studded choker. The makeup she wore was also black, to match her hair, and fit her pale complexion almost perfectly. The Senshi collectively frowned. "That doesn't really matter right now, though. You see, I've only come here to give all of you a little *present*." Alarm bells went off in Ami's mind. "What kind of present?" she narrowed her eyes. Demons rarely appeared offering gifts for any good reasons. Alshlione pulled a blood-red crystal from a pocket on her hip. "Oh, just this little crystal, here." She held it out before her for the Senshi to see. As the five pairs of eyes centered on the crystal, Alshlione allowed herself the luxury of a thin smile. She activated the crystal's powers, causing it to glow. That glow, in turn, emanated outward to consume the Sailor Senshi. The five girls slumped to the ground, losing consciousness. All that remained of the demon after she disappeared was her sinister laugh. Ten minutes passed before Hirokazu felt brave enough to venture out into his yard. He found the Senshi piled at the edge of the yard... and went straight to Sailor Moon, kneeling beside her to check the girl's pulse. It was weak, but thankfully still there. Later, when he calmed down, he would recall that Alshlione had remarked she was ordered not to kill the Sailor Senshi. Mercury and Mars' pulses were also weak. He next moved to check on Venus and Sailor Chibi-Moon. By this time Sailor Mars had come to and pulled herself - somewhat awkwardly - to her feet. "Sailor Mars?" Hirokazu asked in anticipation. The girl in question turned ever so slowly to him, blinked, then noticed her friends lying on the ground around her feet... her feet. There was something very wrong with her feet. Not to mention the body those feet were attached to. "Oh, dear," she said, subconsciously taking care to make sure the words were pronounced correctly. She shook her head and watched the strands of knee-length hair swivel all around her. "I don't believe this. I'm not in the right body." Something about her manner of speaking and her behavior was very familiar... "Mercury!?" he concluded. Hirokazu knew her well enough to believe he could recognize her mannerisms, perhaps even if he met her when she wasn't transformed as Sailor Mercury. Sailor Mars nearly stumbled and fell. She caught herself, nodding. "Yes. What... how... why am I in..." Ami's thoughts were clear enough not to give away Rei's name on accident. The programmer spoke her next thought for her. "If that's you in there... that means the others must have switched bodies, too!" Ami agreed, though she didn't like the implications of the words. "Help me wake them, would you, please?" It took another ten minutes before everyone was awake and felt comfortable enough with remaining on their feet. "Okay," said Ami, matter-of-factly, although that had not been the intent. "I know I - Mercury - am in Mars' body. I think we should hold a roll call. Find out who is where." Venus spoke first; she felt she had to, seeing as how she had come to in Ami's body. "Venus." "Chibi-Moon," came Sailor Moon's voice. "Mars," Rei spoke in Chibi-Usa's voice. Everyone looked at Sailor Venus' body - the current inhabitant of which was maintaining a tight-lipped silence. "That means *you* have to be Sailor Moon." The face on loan to Sailor Moon reddened. "Okay, it's me." "So what was with the silent act?" "I was... well, you know! Embarrassed." When her friends didn't show as much sympathy as she had hoped, she continued. "And don't you DARE do anything I'm gonna regret in my body!" she pointed an accusing finger at the one occupying her body. It was an eerie feeling. Chibi-Usa pulled down a lower eyelid and stuck her tongue out at Usagi. "Quit complaining! You're not the one who has to get used to being in *this* body!" Rei scowled. "What's WRONG with my body!?" Chibi-Usa glared at her, eyes blazing. She despised jokes about her size... "Ah, nothing!" Rei forced a laugh. "You know what I'm trying to say. How this is all so weird." "Uh......" Hirokazu cast a nervous glance at the windows in the houses nearby. No one was watching them, that he could see. "I think we'd better take this indoors." Mercury, too, noted their surroundings. "I would tend to agree," she offered, mixing her gentle demeanor with Rei's straightforward voice. "I'm afraid I have even more bad news." Hirokazu brought the mixed-up Senshi into his computer room to show them the damage. Minako whistled. "What happened here?" "That demon came here first and blew up my terminal!" Hirokazu said, still a bit peeved. Ami studied the damage done to the room... most of which had been caused by the exploding computer. "Someone is trying to keep us from helping our friends in Ondyre. I wouldn't be surprised if it was that 'major demon' they're on their way to fight." A sudden thought struck her; her mind wasn't as focused as it normally was, in her proper body. "I assume you made backups?" she asked the programmer. "Yes; that big unit on the floor over there backs up my entire system every five hours." He pointed to a large, bulky and oblong component that for some reason, Rei's mind wanted to connect with a photocopy machine. "That means I've got five hours of work left to recover, *plus* having to bring a new terminal in here and get it running from scratch." "How long do you estimate that will take?" "At least half a day." "That's all nice and fine, but what are we going to do about putting ourselves back where we belong?" Rei pointed out. Somehow, her impatience didn't seem as out of place coming from Chibi-Usa's mouth. "I don't think we *can* do anything." Four misplaced Senshi turned to Ami in surprise. "What? Why not?" "Well, for one thing, we have to start out by assuming the only way to change us back it through the use of that crystal Alshlione used on us. Does anyone have any idea where she might have gone?" Hirokazu stared at the spot where his main computer had been. "Ondyre, probably." If Alshlione had been sent to interfere with their attempts to help their friends in Ondyre, that was the most likely place for her to have come from - and likewise, to have returned to. "So? Does that mean we go find a computer and send ourselves there to find her?" asked Minako. Ami shook her head. "No! We'll have to wait, at least until we get the computers working again here. I don't want to rush into anything when there might be an alternative or more... We're not even sure if sending ourselves to Ondyre is the correct plan of action to take." Minako grumbled. "Will you *stop* saying that? You've been saying that ever since this whole thing started! We *have* to do something!" She didn't want to have to be Ami from here on out - she was no scholar, like Ami! No one would be fooled if she pretended to be Ami. And the others no doubt had similar concerns. "*What* are we going to do?" Ami fixed Minako with her gaze. "I... I don't know! Maybe..." Minako's voice seemed hopeful for a second, then lost it. "I don't know." "Exactly. All we can do, as you'll probably tell me I've been saying from the start, is wait, and pretend to be whoever we are now until we collect more information." Inwardly, Ami sighed. This wasn't turning out to be a good day. Tomorrow wouldn't be a good day, either. * * * * * Osaka Naru couldn't sleep. She had been awake on and off most of the night staring up at the ceiling from her bed, hoping that either Alliene would contact her again, or she would make some sense of her life. It was Corwyn and Liana's turn to stand watch now, and neither option had come true. From her pillow Naru could see Sailor Jupiter asleep in her bed. Didn't the taller Senshi have questions of her own to worry about? Well... Jupiter probably didn't have to be a hero all day long on a normal basis, or something like that. The Senshi were all regular people to begin with, as far as she knew. Just like her. Naru wasn't particularly surprised. Naru asked. But she could already sense in her mind's window that Alliene had removed her presence. Naru sighed, extracting herself from underneath her covers. This, she supposed, was important enough to wake Sailor Jupiter... (...to be continued...) ------------ Credits: Written by: Mike Koos Pre-readers: Richard Beaubien, Louis-Philippe Giroux, Tom Williams, David Wills Apologies: Takeuchi Naoko and the others who brought us the manga and animated versions of Sailor Moon. All parts of this series are available at the RAAC archives at ftp://ftp.cs.ubc.ca/pub/archive/anime-fan-works or from my WWW pages at http://www.fanfic.net/~makoto/ Comments and questions welcome. * Mike ('Kino Makoto') Koos: makoto@cal.net * http://www.fanfic.net/~makoto * * "I can do nothing to stop you. Your background music is too strong * for me." - Sam Johnson, Whose Line is it Anyway?