Sailormoon Zodiac: #16 - Kako no Yuurei / Ghost of the Past By: Janelle J. (miaka@bishounen.org) Official Webpage: http://www.sailormoon-millennia.net/ "Mihana, are you still reading manga?" called a voice from downstairs. Mihana cringed and quickly put down the comic book she was reading. She hadn't planned on going through three volumes, but she had to know what happened--even though she knew what happened, she'd read this particular series several times before. "No, mother, I'm cleaning my room." Mihana called as she picked up all of the stray comic books and placed them properly on her over-flowing bookshelf. "Well, you better be if you expect to be going to a sleep-over tonight!" her mother called back. Mihana didn't think it was fair that her first moment of peace in months was being filled by her mother's constant nagging for her to clean her room or study. She had just come home thirty minutes earlier and her mother was already shouting. Being a Sailor Senshi had completely stressed her out and her grades started to decline because of it. Naturally her mother had noted this and blamed it on excessive comic book reading, that was no surprise. Her parents had always been strict with her about grades and school performance. But Mihana never noticed how annoying the nagging was until she had her own life and the welfare of humanity to worry about. 'I could die during any battle! Can't you just leave me alone for a moment?' she wanted to scream. But of course the only people who would ever know her secret would be the seven other girls who were found to have died mysteriously with her some random night. * * * * Minako walked down the hallway of Juuban High School, in her hands she proudly held the first English test she had ever received a decent grade on. She was on her way to meet Ami and Makoto when the sound of a piano being played skillfully reached her ears. Curious, she peeked her head in the music room. Inside she saw Usagi, Makoto, and Ami listening to a handsome boy play the piano. She grinned slightly, 'of course they're looking at Miyaki-san, he's so cute and talented!' she thought to herself. She then noticed the bigger group of males and females gawking at a girl practicing ballet. The girl's long purple hair was tied up into a neat braided bun at the side of her head. Long curled strands hung from it and delicately brushed against her face as she pirouetted. Her face was unusual. Its features could be described as 'classically beautiful' but it was the expression that caught Minako's attention. There wasn't a drop of malice, arrogance, or the usual things would see on a girl who had attracted such a crowd. It almost seemed unnatural. "Minako-chan, isn't she amazing?" Usagi whispered, obviously in awe. "Who is she?" Minako asked, forgetting about her excitement over her test score. "Kakono-san. She's auditioning for Ballet Club..." Ami explained in a low voice, she was particularly drawn by how nice the girl seemed. For someone as shy as Ami, the warm glow the dancer radiated was very welcoming. "Is she new or something? Why wasn't she in it before?" Minako wondered, she wasn't entirely as impressed as the others seemed. What was so hard about spinning around on your tiptoes? "No, she goes to that one all girl's international school on the other side of town. Apparently they don't have a Ballet Club. She lives close to Juuban High and asked if she could join ours." Ami shrugged as the music died away. The boy, Miyaki, stood up. "Thank you, Miyaki-san, for the accompaniment, it was beautiful." the dancer said, flashing the most wonderfully kind smile. Everything about her seemed graceful, even the way her lips turned up to that gentle, non-toothy grin. "Wow, that was amazing, Kakono-san!" Usagi said as she clapped her hands loudly. Ami cocked her head to the side slightly, there was a curious look on her face. "Kakono-san, you look very familiar to me. Have we met before, somehow?" Ami asked. The girl looked thoughtful for a moment, "Perhaps you were so kind as to come to one of my performances?" the girl suggested in a gentle voice, she then seemed to smile to herself as if she knew that was a silly question to ask. "Actually, I have a twin sister. Perhaps you met her?" Her voice was like music: it was soothing, motherly, the sort of voice a dentist should have when she was explaining how she was about to pull a tooth. "Oh, well, I don't know anyone with the name Kakono. It's unusual." Ami said blushing, "Not that unusual is bad or anything." she added quickly, she didn't want to insult the girl. Nothing Ami said was insulting, but somehow it felt that saying anything the least bit rude would be improper with the girl. The girl laughed delicately. She looked delicate, like you could easily knock her over with the slightest push. It seemed impossible that her thin legs were strong enough to support her weight. The girl also had an ancient look about her. Old-worldly. Like someone who didn't belong in this time period, she FELT like someone who didn't belong in this time period. The way she spoke, the way she moved, it all felt to Ami as though Yuurei were a character in a book. She felt ethereal. "If you think my last name is strange. What about my first name? It's Yuurei." "Yuurei?" the four girls repeated at once. "Ghost, hmm?" Usagi repeated, "Well, I'm called rabbit, so we're in the same boat." "Well, it's written like this..." Yuurei said as she traced characters on the dust atop the piano, even though she was just using her finger, the calligraphy was perfect. Yuurei was obviously a girl of very traditional family. "Ah Graceful and Elegant...not a ghost after all. What a pretty name...and very suiting too!" Ami exclaimed. The girl smiled gently at Ami, "Thank you, that's kind of you. But my sister's name isn't Kakono, it's Miraino actually..." she replied. "Miraino?" the four girls repeated in unison, the singer from the night before? "She performs in a band, if any of you went to the T*A Academy school festival you might have seen her last night. She's quite good." she said and blushed slightly, "Well, I've got to be going before the traffic on the trains gets too bad." she said, much to the obvious disappointment to the many males around her who so clearly wanted to talk to her. "Nice to meet you all. Please come by Ballet Club." she said as she politely bowed, and left the room. The moment she left it was as if all the elegance had rushed out and it became once again, a boring music room. Once the life left the room, so did the rest of the students. "Ami-chan, what are the chances that we meet mysterious twins at school and then meet one half of a mysterious Zodiac Senshi duo within one week?" Makoto asked as she scratched the back of her head. "Do you want the actual odds of such an occurrence happening or--" "It is weird, you know." Minako said with a nod as she rolled up forgotten English test, "You don't suppose that girl was the...uh, the what did Sailorcancer call her? The Fish Out of Water?" "The Water that Never Dries." Ami corrected, she looked serious for a moment as she recalled the prophecy recounted by Sailorcancer the night before. "Whatever it means, I hope they're not someone we have to fight." "I don't think so, Ami-chan." Usagi replied calmly, she smiled gently. "I don't think the Zodiac Senshi are bad people, just misdirected. Clearly we are fighting the same enemy, the Black Star Galaxy. If we work together, we can defeat them and maybe have a shot of having a normal high school life." "Speaking of high school life, look at what I got on the English test." Minako declared, eager to move away from the topic of the creepily enchanting new girl. She proudly held up her paper, the B- staring at the girls with pride. "Wow, Minako, good job!" Usagi exclaimed. Makoto and Ami gave one another embarrassed glances, "Don't tell them what you got." Makoto whispered to Ami who nodded fervently. Ami then smiled brightly, "No, it's great Minako-chan. Your first B on an English test. You must have been studying hard." Ami said. "I think it's because Minako-chan's been watching so many American movies lately." Usagi commented. "No!" Minako exclaimed, her face turning red, "I mean! I have been watching movies, but I've also been studying...I swear, Ami-chan! I've been studying." she cried. "Its alright if you watched movies, Minako-chan. Whatever helps you learn." Ami smiled. "Ami-chan endorsing Minako-chan pigging out in front of the TV? That's the first *I've* ever heard of that." Makoto commented. The girls laughed together as they left the music room, briefly calmed by Usagi's words. She had gained some sort of wisdom lately and the recent occurrences with the Zodiac Senshi seemed to suggest that yes, in fact, the Zodiac Senshi weren't bad people. But Ami was more realistic, she frowned slightly as she changed out of her school slippers and into shoes. She watched Minako and Usagi talking so happily and animatedly, both seeming to forget that it wasn't too long ago that Usagi was dead to the world. Ever since the new enemy had arrived they had been beaten, bruised, their morale cracked. They watched so much death, violence...how many times had Ami cried in the night blaming herself for Hotaru's death? How many times had the thought crossed her mind, 'I can't take this anymore.' But every time she simply straightened her back and kept her head up. How many more losses could the others take? She knew behind their smiles they too shared the same worries she had. 'How much longer do we have to fight?' * * * * "I don't care what you say, I'm not changing my name." Shikami declared as she stretched across Jessica's bed. Jessica was too deep into thought to bother giving her an angry glare. Tenshi smiled at the lack of action, perhaps Hikari's kind-heart was influencing Jessica. "But, Shikami-san, your name...its...its completely not realistic sounding." Mihana protested, "You'll never fit into society this way." "Who says I want to fit into this society? I suggest you worry about yourself, rather than people who can take care of themselves just fine." Shikami replied coldly. Tenshi smiled at this as well, yes, the words were harsh...but even Shikami had warmed, just slightly. At least she was starting to feel emotions, the last time Tenshi saw Shikami she saw her smiling broadly--of course it was for a rather sadistic reason, but it was better than nothing. "Well, I want to fit into society." Hikari said softly, her eyes shining and bright. She gazed at Jessica shyly, "I just want to be normal and live a normal happy life. I think a nice way to do this would be to pick a nice Japanese name and settle into a nice job somewhere..." she mused, her voice dreamy and optimistic. Jessica seemed to flush with embarrassment and averted her eyes. "How about, Kazama?" Mihana suggested, "Oh, that's quite nice...Wind and Door." Tenshi replied as she began to concentrate on the pen sitting before Hikari. With her mind, she forced the pen to levitate as she wrote down the characters that spelled 'Kazama.' "Anyways, shouldn't we discuss how to contact the Sailor Senshi? Sailoraries said that tonight we would be illuminated with light and truth and what have you." Natalia noted as she watched Tenshi's levitation practice with amusement. It was strange for her to be amongst girls her own age, girls who'd never experienced the sorts of things she had experienced as a pop star--some experiences were ones they'd likely never even know. It made her feel more normal, for a brief moment, but also highlighted how adult of a life she'd been living up to now. "How did they know when to come all those other times?" Joanna wondered as she also watched Tenshi write. "We should lure them. Obviously they have a way of detecting our presence, let's just go to an open place and transform and wait for them to show up." Shikami said matter-of-factly, "Or, we'll end up attracting Arseniru and we'll kill him. Either way, we get a job done." she continued. The girls were silent as they considered the idea, no one bothered to note that they had as of yet been unable to harm Arseniru. For Tien-Lei, her thoughts were more focused on the fact that Jessica was apparently too engrossed with something to argue over leadership rights with Shikami. "Besides, with Sailoraries and Pisces destined to appear today, there's no way Arseniru has a chance." Shikami added. "Kazemori!" Jessica suddenly exclaimed after the longest period of silence that Tenshi could remember. Tenshi tilted her head slightly as the pen began to move on the paper again. "Wind Protecting." Jessica said as she turned to Hikari. Their eyes met for a brief second before Jessica turned away, her heart pounding. She didn't know what she felt anymore. No matter what she did, she couldn't remember Hikari at all, but she was trying to understand what her feelings might have been in the past. Maybe at the very least she should give this girl a chance? She didn't really want to, but she didn't necessarily have anything against it. "I mean, Wind Protector. That's what that last name means. It's not a common last name, but its not something ridiculous and invented." Jessica said, unable to resist an implicit stab at Shikami. Hikari stared at Jessica and smiled softly, "What a beautiful name..." she sighed, 'more beautiful because you suggested it,' she thought, but bit back. "Kazemori Hikari. I like it so much...Thank you, Le--Jessica." "What a beautiful, normal, name." Mihana noted, throwing a glance to Shikami who was buffing her nails. Shikami snorted slightly, "Who wants to be a normal Japanese person? How boring. This culture breeds such boring people. No, not this culture, this planet." Hikari smiled at Shikami, a chastising motherly smile. "Don't say such things, Scorpio." Hikari said softly, "Don't you understand? We're free now. You from the shackles of evil that bound you, me from my loneliness. There's nothing more in the world I want to be than to live here on the Sacred Star and be normal. I'm so happy now that I've found peace, true peace, not the peace of the Golden Millennium, *real* peace." The room seemed to smile; even Shikami, whose face remained stoic, seemed to take on a lighter aura. Through the happiness, no one thought to wonder what exactly Hikari had meant with her words: What exactly was "real" peace? * * * * "I'm going to destroy her..." Arseniru whispered to himself as he sat in one of his lounge chairs with a goblet of wine. He gently stroked the hair of the girl who was lying by his feet, her jet-black hair had been recently streaked red on his request. It wasn't his servant, so needless to say, Princess Lithia was rather surprised to see one of her handmaidens with this rather unusual hairstyle. The obvious resemblance to Scorpia was something she preferred not to think about. But even now she found herself starting feel a bit fearful, Arseniru was starting to become rather dangerous. He was much rougher in his actions now, much more aggressive, and far less concerned with the pleasure of the other party. From behind the sheer canopy that shielded her from Arseniru's gaze, Lithia shivered slightly as she tried to forget the fact that Arseniru had mistakenly called out to her earlier. 'Scorpia' he had said, but it was a mistake. His hatred for Scorpia must have been simply that engrossing, Lithia rationalized. But even so, she was fearful. Even now she was pretending to be fast asleep so he wouldn't bother her. "You've taken everything from me, haven't you? You always win, you're always better. Always above me, aren't you?" he asked the girl at his feet as he pulled her chin towards him with his free hand, "Haven't you, Scorpia?" he demanded as he practically yanked her face towards him. "My Lord, you're hurting me..." the girl whimpered. "Hurting you?" Arseniru sneered as he splashed the remainder of his wine at the girl's face, "But I haven't even begun yet..." He dropped the goblet on the floor and pulled the girl closer, "Besides, I'm sure my brother's much rougher with you, isn't he, Scorpia?" Lithia closed her eyes tightly, wishing she could somehow be deaf as well. He was completely delusional, wasn't he? How far had this hatred damaged his mind? "My Lord, I'm not Lady Scorpia..." the girl said pathetically, she would have tried to escape if she thought that would actually work. Arseniru seemed to heed her words for he stopped momentarily, "My...my name is Kalina, I'm Her Majesty's handmaiden, my Lord..." the girl added. Arseniru gave her a hard gaze and then, as though a veil had been lifted from his eyes, released her from his grip. He seemed to look at her with a rather disgusted look, wine was dripping from her hair, staining her white garments. "Clean yourself up, you're filthy..." he muttered. The girl nodded and bowed and hurried away, no doubt relieved. Many other servants would have killed to be in her position of closeness to the handsome captain, but Kalina knew better. Like Lithia, she had watched him become more and more frightening, with each return from a failed mission on Earth his mind became more damaged. "I'm going to destroy you, finally..." Arseniru whispered again. Lithia cringed as she heard him rise from his seat, 'please don't come here, not tonight, not like this' she prayed desperately from her place behind the sheer fabric. She wanted Scorpia dead more than anyone else, the sooner she was killed, she decided, the sooner that Arseniru would return to his normal, charming self. Perhaps it was time to send Methania? But this was not the time to think of these things, all Lithia could think about was the fact that Arseniru had stood up. Her breathing stopped as she heard him stop before the foot of the bed, perhaps he was staring at her? Moments passed, she didn't know how long, was he still standing there? After what seemed to be an eternity, she heard the heavy door to her quarters slam shut. He had left, probably to return to his room and destroy the windows and furniture as he had done the past few days. Lithia sighed, it wasn't right that *she* a Princess of the Black Star Galaxy should be fearful of one of her servants, one of her lovers. Furthermore, it was not right that a traitor should be allowed to so distress the hearts and minds of *two* of her captains. Yes, the sooner Scorpia was killed, the sooner all this would end. * * * * "Jessica, I don't want to alarm you...but I think there's something wrong with Estrella." Tenshi said quietly as she gently stroked the feline before her. "Estrella? What's wrong?" Jessica asked as she bent down next to the cat, but she knew it was in vain. Estrella hadn't spoken in such a long time, and she'd been sleeping so much lately, but there was clearly something wrong with her now. The eyes seemed completely blank. The body utterly hollow. --- "I...can't hold on to it anymore, but I must...for the sake of my kingdom." --- The Golden Queen collapsed instantly, her aides rushed to her side. The Queen heaved a heavy sigh. "I cannot...maintain..." she gasped, "I've lost the hold I had on the vessel..." she whispered as she was laid to rest in a nearby chair. She was losing power fast, she could no longer project herself across time and space, and she certainly could not force her will onto other creatures any longer. "The Time is drawing near when the Attackers from the Future will destroy us..." she cried, "I've tried so hard to save my kingdom, but my power is receding from me...I need the Golden Key..." * * * * "We know Arseniru will be back. But he almost lost last time, I'm sure this time he'll come with either a new weapon, or help." Rei said as she kicked one of the pebbles near her feet. She had just changed out of her school uniform, but the other girls were still in theirs. "Can you believe all the guys looking at Kakono-san? It's so unfair, yeah she's pretty and graceful, but does she have *my* charming personality?" Minako sighed as she twirled the wildflower in her fingers around. Luna groaned and buried her head under her paw at the sudden change of subject. "Well, they didn't get a chance to talk to her, so maybe once they do they'll flock back to your charm." Makoto smirked slightly. "Who doesn't have your personality? Kakono-san? That's a weird name." Rei interrupted as she looked to the four girls who attended Juuban High School. "Do you guys have a new transfer student? Isn't that a bit suspicious?" Rei asked. Ami cocked her head to the side thoughtfully, "She's not a transfer student. We were thinking perhaps it was that 'Water That Never Dries' person that Sailorcancer was talking about last night. Apparently she's Miraino Ako's twin sister." Ami replied. Rei raised her eyebrows in confusion. "Twin sisters who have different last names and go to separate schools?" "Yes, it's strange. It's why we thought it was probably whoever Sailorcancer was talking about last night." Makoto added with a shrug. "Did you question her about it? We don't know Miraino-san in the slightest, we don't even know if she has a sister, let alone a twin. How do we know that this 'twin' isn't one of Arseniru's henchmen in disguise? He was at the battle last night and he's a clever man, we don't know anything about this Water person. It's all assumption." Luna pointed out. "We should ask Miraino Ako about it, then we'll know right off whether or not its true." Rei suggested, "We should also contact the Zodiac Senshi and warn them, just in case." "I'll give Haruka-san and the rest a call too, so they can be on their toes." Makoto suggested as she pulled out her cell-phone. "Oh wait, they're looking for Hotaru-chan aren't they?" "How should we contact the Zodiac Senshi? I mean, we only know who they are as Senshi and we won't know until they transform, right Ami-chan? Energy signals or whatever it is?" Minako asked as she leaned over Ami's shoulder to watch the screen of Ami's pocket computer light up with various images and symbols. "I don't think that'll be a problem, Minako-chan." Ami replied as she furrowed her brows. "Apparently, the Zodiac Senshi have just transformed." * * * * "Come on, stop being so slow." Shikami hissed impatiently as the remaining girls struggled to put their shoes on. Naturally, her orders did little to help the five girls crowded into the small genkan, struggling to tie laces and button snaps. Jessica remained silent as she held Estrella in her arms, stroking the back of the feline's neck gently. "Haven't you learned anything about living in Japan?" Jessica asked as she rolled her eyes at Joanna who hopped along trying to tie the last lace on her sneakers. "I think I learned on the second day living here why girls only wear loose-fitting sneakers or heels." she said as they hurried along Jessica's tree-lined suburban street. It must have been quite a sight to see such a large group of young girls walking swiftly down the street, a strange bundle in the leader's arms. "Just because I have to live here doesn't mean I'm changing my life around it." Joanna retorted. "Can we just walk in peace? Estrella's dying so I'm sure your criticism can wait until after we take her to the vet." Tien-Lei sighed. Shikami snorted in amusement, but remained farther back from the group. She walked slowly, one arm wrapped around her body protectively, the other one fiddling with her necklace. "Have we figured out what we're going to tell the doctor? We can't very well say that Estrella was talking one day about the Golden Millennium and the next day she just stopped talking." Natalia pointed out. "I don't know why we had to ALL go to the doctor when one person could have gone." Shikami muttered. Jessica rolled her eyes, but remained quiet. The bus stop was just a few yards away. "Oh, Shikami." Hikari sighed, "Must you be so difficult? You know that it simply isn't safe to be alone when an enemy is targeting us. Furthermore, I was hoping you would have learned something about working in a team and supporting one another." she added. Shikami remained uncharacteristically quiet. "Shikami?" Hikari said and turned around quickly, just in time to see a strange figure with its arms wrapped around Shikami, pulling her backwards into a swirling portal. "Cancer Cosmic Star Power, Make Up!" ---- Shikami had been walking apart from the group, ears listening to the bickering of the girls in front of her, but mind a thousand miles away. She wanted to be away from there, away from Earth. Not in the Black Star Galaxy either, but somewhere she and Leadan could be. Somewhere away from anyone, away from being a slave to any empire, whether they were an expanding galaxy, or a shimmering one long dead. Suddenly, she felt a pair of strong arms clench around her with a vise-like grip. Cold, unfeeling arms. 'You fool, you shouldn't have let your guard down!' Shikami cursed herself. That was when the strange being instantly let go of Shikami. ---- "Don't hurt her!" Sailorcancer demanded as the others quickly transformed. Jessica gently set Estrella down on the bus bench before transforming. Much to Cancer's amazement, the strange being let go of Shikami. "I must not injure Lady Scorpia." the being said, its voice distinctly feminine. Shikami tore herself away, unblocking the figure from the rest of the Zodiac Senshi's stare. It was...Shikami's twin? "Methania!" Shikami gasped as she stared at the figure which was basically an exact replica of herself. Yes, there were a few differences--notably the green streaks and the green eyes. The slightly larger nose too, but even that was little more than barely noticeable. "Have you come here to kill me?" Shikami demanded of the robot. "I have come here to take you back to Lord Arseniru. But I must not harm Lady Scorpia." the creature responded mechanically. Despite Leadan's best attempts at creating emotion, he could not do it. He was able to erase them, but he could not recreate them: Not for Methania, and not for Scorpia. "What is this thing?" Leo asked, she understood immediately it was not human and was uncomfortable with the rather casual rapport Shikami and it shared. "This is Methania, Leadan's best invention. It was created as a proto-type of synthetic beings that could be used other than living ones for fighting. After it was decided that taking humans and erasing their memories took much too long, that is..." Shikami replied with the sort of casualness that one wouldn't have thought she was speaking about herself. "So Arseniru sent you for me. What a coward." she muttered. "Well, I'm not coming with you willingly, so you'll have to hurt me." she said with a cold smile as she flicked her wrist and extended her deadly claws. "Lady Scorpia, my orders were not to injure or harm you. However, there was no such clause against hurting your comrades." the robot responded as it responded with a flick of its own mechanical wrist, extending a frightening set of metal knives. "Unlike your friends, My Lady, I will not bleed. Please come with me peacefully." "You won't bleed, darling, but you will break." Shikami smiled as she drove her claws into Methania's chest. Methania's eyes remained hollow, but moved down to look at the gaping hole in her chest. "I hope for Master's sake that you did not actually expect me to lose so easily." Methania said as she backed away from Shikami. With monstrous speed, she leapt into the air, arms extended and came down amidst Sailorgemini and Sailorcancer. Her razor sharp claws ripped through their uniforms, leaving four red scratches on their pale skin. Her body then lurched forward as she staggered away from the two, revealing that a shining silver arrow had impaled her. Sagittarius reached behind her back and an silver arrow appeared in her fingertips, as if she had a quiver strapped to her. "Tell your Master, or whoever, to fight us himself instead of sending a doll to do it for him." Sagittarius said with a hard look on her face as she aimed between Methania's eyes. "That would be impossible, since her Master is dead." replied a voice that had become all too familiar to the Zodiac Senshi. Shikami whirled around and faced Arseniru who stood behind her, his orange eyes wild with emotion. "Do not speak lies to me Arseniru, or I swear I'll rip you into pieces." Shikami said with a coldness that was chilling, but her eyes reflected the soul of someone who was terrified. "Do you think Leadan would willingly give me Methania? His little doll that he touched and played with since you left him?" Arseniru asked with a disgusting sneer, "I couldn't bear to see my brother reduced to physically loving a replica of you, so I put him out of his misery." "You liar. He'd never do that..." Shikami said as she felt her knees go weak, her heart filled with terrible hatred for the man standing before her. "You're the one that's crazy, not him..." she whispered as her eyes darted from side to side, searching for an answer from the madness surrounding her. Her mind screamed for her to realize Arseniru was a liar, but her heart, her newly formed emotions, were left in a state of utter confusion. Arseniru sneered down at Shikami, his eyes maniacal. "Tell me the truth or I'll kill you!" she screamed. Arseniru smirked down at her, in the corner of his eyes he saw the five Sailor Senshi run up to the group. But they stopped in their tracks, shocked at the scene unfolding before them. The Zodiac Senshi too were unable to move. "Go ahead and kill me, little Lady Scorpia. Will that bring back Leadan?" Arseniru asked maliciously. "How could you kill your own brother? You're....heartless!" Shikami screamed as the horrible realization that Arseniru's claim might be true filled her heart. Sailormoon felt tears creeping into her eyes: it was a horrible scene, watching this once proud and impenetrable Senshi broken by cruelty. 'How would I react if Mamo-chan was killed by his own brother?' "You should speak of being heartless, Scorpia. Your heart was erased. I suppose that's actually sort of a curse that you can feel emotion now, if my brother's handiwork wasn't so easily erased you wouldn't feel this horrible pain, would you?" Arseniru asked with a smile as he turned to the Zodiac Senshi. "He was such a failure in life. That's why he was relegated to inventing things for the Princesses, you know." Arseniru added, as if he were talking to the remaining Senshi. "He was never much of a brother to me anyways, he was always taking what I wanted. Then he took you away from me, Scorpia...and erased your emotions and made you love him instead of me." he said with a cruel smile as he gazed into Shikami's eyes. Her back stiffened as if her spine had been injected with iron and her eyes turned cold. "You're lying. It's all lies. He never made me love him and you don't love me, you just want what your brother has because you know you're nothing compared to him. Furthermore, I don't love you. I never loved you. No one does. Lithia only wants you because you can satisfy her whorish needs. But no one *cares* about you. Your own parents abandoned you and left you for dead and if it weren't for your brother, you'd be some nameless corpse in the slave cemetery of Kuroi right now." she said with viciousness Arseniru had only seen when Shikami was Lady Scorpia of the Black Star Army. His eyes wavered, but his jaw remained clenched as hatred burned in his eyes. "Then you and I have more in common than I thought." Arseniru replied through clenched teeth, he was shaken but refused to show it. "No one came to save you when you were taken from the Golden Millennium because no one wanted you either. And the only reason Leadan loved you was because you were the only whore who would lower herself to be with him." he spat out, "Oh, but too bad he's dead now." he sneered. Shikami screamed and lunged toward Arseniru, claws fully extended. He stared at her and laughed insanely, ready to accept a most gruesome impalement when suddenly a figure dashed in front of him. An aura surrounded him and threw Shikami back into Sailorleo and Sailorcapricorn. "You mustn't kill him yet." the voice whispered. "Who are you!" Sailorleo demanded as she helped set Shikami onto the ground, "Those who protect our enemies will also be punished." "No. You cannot. If you do, then all will be lost. Do not throw everything away simply because of this worthless creature." the voice said. "I don't care! Everything I cared about has been lost, I don't care!" Shikami shouted. "Don't be selfish, Scorpio. Part of having emotions is learning not being ruled by them." the soothing voice suddenly snapped. "Enough with the idiotic sentiments." Arseniru muttered as he pushed aside the figure standing in front of him, "Methania, destroy everyone but Lady Scorpia." he ordered. Methania suddenly jumped into action, moving faster than anyone could see. Sailormars quickly removed a stack of o-mamori and prayed upon them, "Akuryou Taisan!" she shouted and threw the countless slips of paper around her in hopes one of them would touch Methania. Arseniru laughed sinisterly, "You stupid child. A synthetic creature doesn't have a soul, so your silly anti-evil charms won't work on it." Out of nowhere, Methania appeared and grabbed Sailormars by the neck and shoved her into a nearby tree. Her eyes rolled up into her head as she painfully hit the bark. Her back slid down the tree as its cold hands released her. "Mars!!" Sailormoon screamed, as she rushed to the aid of the fallen Senshi, only to be blasted by Arseniru's stream of fire. "Sun Lion, Destroy!" Leo shouted, creating the lion of flame. The flames charged towards Methania, but they passed through her as if she was made of smoke. The being smiled cruelly at her, before sweeping her arm at Leo with lightning speed. Leo was struck hard across the face and was sent flying towards the Sailortaurus and Sailoraquarius who quickly moved to protect her from further harm. "Only imbeciles would fight what can't be destroyed." Arseniru commented smirking at the remaining Sailor Senshi. The desire to help their friends clashed with their fear of moving. Suddenly, a dark shadow crept from its hiding place and jumped into a tree. It sat upon the branch and seemed to watch the spectacle from above. "ARIES!" Sailorcancer screamed, "Why don't you help us? How can you stand up there and watch us be defeated?" she demanded, fiercely staring up at the being. It didn't reply and watched her silently. "Aries..! PLEASE!" Sailorcancer cried, tears streaming down her cheeks, "Please! You're the only one who can--" she begged, but before she could finish, Methania charged towards her shoving her into Sailorvenus and slamming both of them against a tree. "I can't help you." the shadow murmured, voice full of torment. "Its not time yet." The shadow silently shook her head again. Then something strange happened, Methania instantly stopped. She stood silently, face looking concentrated, as if she were listening to something. "Yes, My Lord." she acknowledged to the air and turned around and disappeared into the portal, leaving Arseniru alone and backing away. "Leave, Arseniru of the Black Star Galaxy. If you stay, it is your destiny to be destroyed." the figure that had protected him earlier ordered. Arseniru gave the figure a cold look, before shooting a hate-filled glare at Shikami. "You'll be mine, Lady Scorpia." he whispered as he disappeared. * * * * With all enemies gone, the damage became much more clear and the silence became unbearable. "I knew you'd come... Why didn't you help us?" Cancer asked as she leaned over Sailorleo and stroked the girl's black hair from her bleeding face. "The Fire That Never Dies, The Child of the Future: Sailoraries and the Ocean That Never Dries, The Ghost of the Past: Sailorpisces..." Cancer declared as she stood up, her face showing disappointment. The figure jumped down from the tree and revealed herself to be Miraino Ako, the singer from the T*A talent show who had almost run over the Senshi with her motorcycle. She raised her hands up the sky and raised her left leg, as if she were going to leap up, but just as everyone had blinked she was transformed into a Zodiac Senshi. Her fuku was blue and red, very different looking from the other Senshi. She had in her left hand a staff with what appeared to be half of a purple star on top. Then the figure that was surrounded by the purple aura, the one who had protected Arseniru, stepped forward. The misty aura disappeared and a graceful figure dressed in a school uniform revealed herself to the Senshi. She too transformed instantly, her fuku was blue everywhere Aries' was red, and vice versa. She also had a staff in her right hand, she raised her head slightly and forced a pained smile at them. "I'm sorry we could not help you earlier, but it is not time for the Great Battle." "The Prophecies spoken by the Oracles are coming true, all of them..." Cancer whispered. "Yes," Pisces said with a small nod, "Now it is time for the Zodiac Senshi to prepare for Destiny." "Do you think we should?" Aries asked Pisces as she looked down at the fallen Senshi worriedly. "Healing them won't affect the future." In unison, the two Senshi raised their staffs to the air, forming one star with both of their halves. A radiating light surrounded the star and washed over the wounded Senshi, healing broken bones and scratched skin, but not healing their broken morale. Sailormoon stood up as she felt the pain in her limbs disappear, she brushed the dirt off her white skirt and looked at the two Senshi standing before her. "Why didn't you help them? Why didn't you help *us*?" she questioned, not in an accusing manner, but a curious one. "Did we beat him?" Sailormars asked weakly as she sat up and looked around. "No, but his mind is broken." Shikami said, her teeth clenched. "He's gone completely mad." "Do you think he's lying?" Gemini asked breathlessly, disgusted to think that she had been touched by that sadistic man who derived pleasure from pain: both physical and mental. "I don't know." Shikami replied coolly as she stood up, "I intend to find out." She then turned and stared at the twins. "Explain yourselves. Why didn't you help immediately?" she demanded. "We could not." Pisces replied in a calm voice, "Certain things are set by Fate and they cannot be altered. The Oracles of the Golden Millennium have always known that this battle would occur, they always knew you would lose. You *had* to lose." "So you must be the chosen Zodiac Senshi that Sailorcancer has spoken so much about." Sailorleo replied, her voice seemingly unimpressed by the two, but inside they intrigued her. "The Guardians of the Seven Stars..." Virgo breathed, seemingly impressed by the twins. Pisces looked at Virgo, her brows furrowed. "The Seven Stars? How do you know of that legend?" she asked. "We've been looking for them, Estrella told us all about it...and how we needed them for the Golden Key. If you're the Guardians of the Seven Stars, why don't you have them?" Sagittarius asked. "We don't have the Seven Stars." Aries answered as she glanced to Pisces nervously. "Then who does?" Virgo asked as she readjusted her glasses. "They don't exist." Pisces replied carefully, "Its an invented legend that only three people knew about--" The Senshi stared at the two, "What do you mean, they don't exist?" Mars demanded finally, "People have died because of this stupid hunt for them! We lost Hotaru, we almost lost Sailormoon!" she shouted, her fists clenched. "Do you mean the Golden Key doesn't exist either?" Capricorn asked, her mouth becoming dry. What had they been fighting for all this time? "No, the Golden Key exists." Pisces sighed, "I don't know how you heard of the Seven Stars, it was a legend we invented to confuse the Invaders from the Future...but we didn't even have the time to spread the rumor yet..." "But...what are we then? If you know everything, why have we been given these powers?" Aquarius asked the two. "You are the rebirth of Sailoraquarius. A princess chosen to control the powers of the celestial bodies, just like you were told. You were awoken in order to stop the Invaders of the Future, to try and protect the kingdom that had been destroyed. It was our duty to awaken you all." "There are two questions that we do not understand, however." Pisces said slowly as worry grew on her face. "How were you all awoken before we could even find you all? And where did you hear of the Seven Stars?" "We already told you." Leo said exasperated, "Estrella did it." as she gestured to the unconscious feline that was resting on the bus-stop bench. "She's the one who came to me first, she told me how to find the other Zodiac Senshi." Leo replied matter-of-factly. "You and her must have had a miscommunication somewhere. She told us all about the legends and about the Golden Millennium. She was an advisor to the Queen once, she said." Pisces and Aries looked at one another with worry, they seemed to be communicating with one another telepathically. After a moment of discussion, Aries cleared her throat and spoke up. "Sailorleo, we have never heard of this Estrella that you speak of."