---

Chapter Nine

---

Mercury's report had done nothing to improve Serenity's mood. In fact, the young queen was fairly radiating anger. Motoki had taken his sister and fiancee aside to explain things, while the Ayakashi sisters, Their Majesties, and the Senshi discussed the significance of a potential return visit by the Black Moon. Pluto, Uranus, and Neptune discussed defense strategies for the palace itself, while most of the civilian populace gathered into small knots to ponder the situation.

Shingo noticed Hotaru's father standing alone over in one corner, and walked over to him. "Tomoe-sensei," he said, "what's wrong? You look upset."

The white-haired man sighed. "Two enemies from the past have returned, it seems; the ancient enemies of the Moon, and the future enemies of this kingdom. It troubles me...I can't help but wonder if...if..."

"If what?"

He turned, his glasses reflecting the bright lighting of the throne room, obscuring his eyes. "If the Death Busters will be returning as well."

"Death Busters?" Shingo asked.

Tomoe sighed. "My involvement with the Sailor Senshi goes beyond the fact that my daughter is Sailor Saturn," he said. "I...I was their enemy at one time."

Shingo blinked. "Huh?"

The professor sat down, removing his glasses, examining them almost curiously. "When Hotaru was very young, I had taken her to the lab with me one day. There was an experiment I was in charge of...something terrible happened during that experiment. There was an explosion." He paused. "Hotaru was badly wounded. She...wouldn't have survived. But..."

The teen placed a hand on his shoulder. "But what?"

"From the wreckage, something dark appeared, and spoke to me. It identified itself as a daimon, the servant of a powerful entity known as Pharoah 90.

"The daimon offered a way to prevent Hotaru from dying, if I would agree to become its vessel. It would use me to begin construction of a gateway to bring its master to Earth." He hung his head. "I...agreed. I became the servant of the Death Busters, breeding thousands of daimon with which to find the Holy Chalice, which would awaken the dormant Evil Messiah, Mistress Nine..."

Shingo blinked. "You lost me, sensei."

"Hotaru's 'healing' at the hands of the Death Busters involved her possession by Mistress Nine, the Evil Messiah, the one who would open the path for Pharoah 90 to destroy Earth." Tomoe paused. "As Pharaoh 90's lieutenant, it was my job to ensure that Mistress Nine awakened, to bring about the end of the world."

Shingo gasped. "That's terrible..."

Tomoe laughed bitterly. "Now you understand what I meant when I said I have an obligation to Her Majesty. I need to make penance for the evil I wrought..."

"But you weren't in control," Shingo said. "It's not your fault."

Tomoe snorted. "Do you think I don't know that? It doesn't make it easier to sleep at night, with the knowledge of what I was part of." He scowled. "And that's why all this bothers me. The monster...part of the two early enemies of the Sailor Senshi. What—what if the Death Busters return?" He slipped his glasses back on. "Even though the daimon that possessed me was destroyed...what if another daimon appears? What if the Death Busters seek me out again, to use me for their evil purposes...?"

Shingo clenched his jaw. "We won't let that happen," he said. "Serenity-sama won't let that happen."

"I hope so," Tomoe said. "I don't want to be...can't be bound to that terrible monster again. I'd sooner die."

In the ICU ward of a hospital just outside the Juuban district, a monitor that had not fluctuated in years suddenly came to life.

Nurses and doctors rushed to a room tucked in the corner of the coma unit. Upon the bed in this room lay a pale, tall young woman with flowing red hair. Thin pinkish lines upon her arms, face, and upper chest spoke of terrible wounds that time had healed. The woman had lain here in a coma for years, with no indication that she would ever recover.

Now, the machines monitoring her vital signs beeped and flickered. Her breathing broke from the deep, regular pattern of assisted respiration, and her eyelids began to flutter.

Doctors and nursed hovered about, carefully monitoring all her vital functions, as her eyelids slowly opened. She immediately winced from the bright light.

"How do you feel?" a doctor asked.

She blinked, squinting up at the light. "Where—?"

"Kimazaki General and Surgical Hospital," the doctor said. "You've been in a coma for a very long time."

"Coma—?"

"Can you tell us your name?" a nurse prompted gently. "You weren't carrying any identification, and nobody came forth with any information about you."

The redhead blinked, then frowned. "K—" she began, then coughed slightly. "I think my name's Kaori," she slurred. "Yes, it's Kaori. I'm certain."

"Do you have a family name?" the same nurse prompted.

Kaori thought about that, then shook her head. "Don't think so," she said. "Just Kaori."

High above the clouds, invisible even to radar, Princess Wraith, encased in a dark bubble, sped to the north. A general...she needed a second general, to serve until Goro could return to her side. Her Mika and Death Phantom aspects had come up blank.

Her remaining aspect, however, knew of one option...

After a short while discussions of the new threat wound down, the majority of the palace occupants had found other business to attend to, and the Sailor Senshi turned their attention to other matters.

"Serenity-sama," Mars began in a casual tone, "I noticed that Shingo is wearing a different uniform than the last time I saw him."

"Yeah, not to mention that weapon he's carrying around," Jupiter added. "That's definitely a new accessory."

Serenity filled them in on what she had done. When she was finished, Mercury silently opened her computer, and began scanning. After a moment, she nodded. "The power reading on one is much weaker," she said, "but my computer insists that there are two Sailor Saturns in the throne room, with a link between them that involves the Saturn powers. I can't get a solid reading on that link..." she frowned.

Serenity smiled. "It's a soul bond...much like the bond I share with Endymion."

"Are you sure you did the right thing?" Venus asked. "I mean, are you sure it's what they would have chosen for themselves?"

Serenity nodded. "I'm certain of it."

Mercury glanced at Shingo, who was embroiled in conversation with Hotaru's father. She then glanced over at the knot of Senshi in another corner of the room, and noticed that Saturn was sneaking glances over at the pair every so often, smiling. "Do they understand this new element to their relationship?" she wondered aloud.

"I think Saturn, at least, understands it," Serenity said. She sighed. "They were going to talk about it, before this terrible new business came up."

A rear entrance to the throne room opened, admitting boisterious laughter. The Senshi and Serenity turned, amused, to watch as Endymion, Yuuichirou, and Umino emerged, trailed by Naru and Luna. Yuuichirou and Umino now sported the medallions of the Royal Guard on their uniforms. A crystal quarterstaff was stashed under Yuuichirou's arm, while Umino had a pair of silver sai tucked into his belt. They bowed respectfully as they caught the gaze of the queen and her Senshi.

Luna glanced about the room, and smirked as her eyes fell upon the lone purple uniform. "It's just like you," she said to Serenity, "to do something so impulsive."

Serenity shot the cat a hurt look. "Luna...I would have thought that by now, you'd trust me to know what I'm doing."

Luna sighed. "Gomen, Your Majesty," she said. "I just wish you had talked it over with me first..." she shook her head. "What's done is done. We'll just have to hope it works out for the best."

"I know it will. For their sake, it has to," Serenity said.

"Well, he's going to require special training sessions now," Luna said. "He'll need to learn what it means to have powers similar to a Senshi, and more importantly, how to control them."

"I think it'd be a good idea if you didn't spring that on him until after he's had a chance to be alone with Hotaru for a little while," Serenity said. "They have a lot to talk about now."

Luna nodded, frowning. "Yes...the significance of the bond you've forged between them..."

"Is nothing compared to the bond that was already forming between them," Serenity interrupted, smiling.

Luna's expression softened. "I suppose so."

"There's only one thing that bothers me," Jupiter said.

"What's that?" Serenity asked.

"Did it occur to anyone else," Jupiter commented, "that his uniform looks a lot like the ones the Shitennou wore?"

This took a few moments to sink in. "Serenity," Luna said slowly, "did you bestow a title upon Shingo when you changed him?"

"Hai," Serenity said, blinking. "I gave him the name Lord Titanite..." she trailed off.

"Interesting decision," Mars remarked, frowning.

"It does make sense," Mercury said. The others turned to her. "The uniform style and the titles may have been a universal standard during the time of the Silver Millenium." She paused. "This is probably a holdover from that era."

"Yeah, probably," Venus said, nodding. "Still, you gotta admit it's a little creepy."

The lethal cold didn't bother Wraith in the least as she stood upon a mound of snow, searching. The rift was weak, so weak that she could barely detect it, but it was still there. Time had almost completely sealed the small tear between worlds...not that it mattered, as the world on the other side of the rift was now dead.

Except for one entity...

Wraith paused for a moment, debating this course of action. *If I do this,* she thought, *I could end up shooting myself in the foot.*

She gazed at the barely perceptible rift. *But in the end, what other choice do I have?*

Gathering her resolve, Wraith reached out and tore apart the partially-healed fabric of space. The rift opened before her like a raw, bleeding wound, dirtying the snowy plain upon which she stood with the oppressive, lifeless darkness of the world beyond.

After a moment's preparation, Wraith stepped through the rift into the Dark Kingdom.

Once all discussion of Palace affairs had wound down, Mercury and Venus had left to conduct some important personal business. Mizuno Ami, clad in a simple blue sun dress, greeted the woman at the nurses' station by name. The young nurse smiled warmly at her. "Konnichiwa, Ami-chan. Mizuno-sensei is working in the ICU today. I'll get a message to her that you're here."

"Arigatou," Ami said. She then headed for the waiting area nearest the ICU. A short while later, she heard a slight commotion, and looked up. Several doctors and nurses were gathered in a small knot, moving down the corridor behind a woman in a wheelchair. The hospital staffers were murmuring excitedly. Ami stood up, and moved to take a closer look.

The woman in the wheelchair was rather young and beautiful, with flowing red hair. She was smiling and chatting amicably with one young male nurse walking beside her, as well as with the doctor pushing her wheelchair. The group suddenly stopped moving, and the doctor stepped aside, allowing the nurse to take over pushing the chair. She waved to Ami, who smiled and waved back. "Konnichiwa, Okaasan," Ami said.

Mizuno-sensei smiled and waved. "Konnichiwa, Ami-chan," she said.

As her mother approached, Ami asked, "What's going on? Everyone seems rather excited today."

The doctor smiled. "We've had a rather miraculous development in one of our coma patients," she said, gesturing towards the wheelchair. "She's been here a very long time. We never expected her to wake up...we certainly never expected her injuries to heal as well as they did." Turning, she waved at the group. "Go on ahead," she called. "I'm going on a lunch break."

The woman in the chair waved, and called back, "It was nice meeting you, Mizuno-sensei!" Then the group moved away. Not, however, before Ami had gotten a good look at the woman's face. *Masaka...!*

"Ami-chan? Is something wrong? You look positively pale," the doctor frowned.

Ami shook her head, smiling. "I'm fine, Okaasan." She paused. "Are you sure you can afford to leave your patient?"

Her mother laughed. "Kaori-san is in very capable hands. Everyone in this hospital is curious about her. Her recovery is quite amazing."

*Kaori...* The name echoed in Ami's head. Forcing the thought out of her mind, she decided to concentrate on the business at hand. "Okaasan," she began, "might we grab a bite to eat and go someplace private to talk, where we won't be disturbed? I have something important to tell you."

A look of concern crossed the older woman's face. "What is it?" she asked.

"Not here," Ami said. "We need to be alone."

The concerned look on her mother's face deepened. "Alright," she said. "We'll pick up some food from the hospital cafeteria and head for my office. Will that be alright?" Ami nodded.

Fifteen minutes later, the two women sat in Mizuno-sensei's office, picking at dinner trays from the cafeteria. At Ami's insistence, the door was locked. "Alright, Ami-chan," the older woman said. "We're alone...what is it you want to tell me?"

Ami was silent for a moment. "Okaasan...there's a secret I've had to keep for a long time now..." she began.

Her mother raised an eyebrow. "A secret? How long...?"

"Since I attended Juuban-gakkou," Ami said.

"That's quite some time," the elder Mizuno said. "What is this secret you've felt compelled to keep for all those years?"

Ami stood, and walked over to the window. In the distance, the barely-visible spire of the Crystal Palace gleamed in the afternoon sun.

Her mother stood, and walked over to stand beside her. "Beautiful, isn't it?" the older woman asked.

Ami nodded, smiling. "Un."

"But it still may be dangerous," the doctor said. "We still don't know what it is, where it came from, what it's going to do..." She noticed that her daughter was looking down, and that the younger woman's fists were clenched. "Ami-chan...?"

Ami seemed to remember herself, and looked up, relaxing. "It's not dangerous, Okaasan," Ami said.

"And how do you know this for certain?" the elder woman asked.

"Because..." Ami took several steps away from her mother, standing in the center of the room. A small, silver wand with a glowing crystal tip appeared in her hand. She whispered, "Mercury Silver Power, Make-Up."

Mizuno-sensei gasped as the room exploded with silver-blue light...

Kaori gasped and doubled over in her wheelchair. The doctors and nurses crowded around her. "Are you alright, Kaori-san?" they asked.

*Power...I feel a curious, familiar power...* The redhead straightened, and smiled gently, though her face was somewhat pale. "Yes...yes, I'm fine," she said. "It's nothing."

Wraith stood before a large, dark slab of crystal. A pair of gloved hands was pressed against the interior of the crystal. Beneath the surface, a face was locked forever in an expression of...outrage? Disbelief? Protest? It was impossible to know. *Do I really want to do this?* she asked herself, with some trepidation. *Yes. I am supreme, and peerless in dark power. My will shall dominate all. Starting with this.*

Closing her eyes, she gathered her power and began feeding it into the crystal. A column of black light formed around the cold glass prison.

After a moment, she felt something hungrily sucking power from her, far more than she had used for the task. Alarmed, she stopped the process, throwing up a defensive field and backing away from the crystal warily.

Dark lightning crackled along the surface of the crystal as cracks began spiderwebbing its surface. Wraith watched in astonishment as pieces of the crystal began dissolving into darkness and were sucked into its depths. A strong, dark forcefield rose around the crystal as more of it began vanishing. After a few moments, the entire crystal had vanished, and the forcefield began folding in on itself. The figure within rose into the air, crackling with dark energy. The expression which had been frozen on his face was gone, replaced by an evil grin. Sharp green eyes gleamed maniacally, crackling with the dark power surrounding him.

*He's...he shouldn't be this powerful...what—?* Wraith's mind whirled. "J—Jadeite..." she said cautiously.

The blonde, green-eyed general turned his gaze upon her. He then turned his gaze upward. "At last...free..." Jadeite floated across the room, and Wraith's hair stood on end from the power coarsing around him.

"Yes, you're free. I have freed you. Now, you will serve me," Wraith said.

Jadeite looked down at her curiously, much as one might look upon an insect. "Serve?" he asked. "Serve..." he stroked his chin, as though pondering the word. Then, he extended his hand, bolts of darkness crackling around it. "Serve this!" he roared, flinging a solid ball of black energy at her.

Wraith screamed as the attack tore into her defenses and flung her across the room. She slumped limply against the wall of the chamber.

"FREE!" Jadeite shouted. He threw his head back and laughed maniacally. The corona of energy surrounding him coalesced, and Jadeite vanished.

"A—Ami-chan..." Ami's mother gaped in shock at the young warrior standing before her. "Ami-chan...?"

Sailor Mercury nodded, smiling. "Hai, Okaasan, it's me." She walked over and gently clasped her mother's hands, grimacing as she felt the older woman tense.

"You...you're a..."

"Sailor Senshi," Mercury said.

Mizuno-sensei walked over to the window and looked out. "The Nazo no Daizuishou..."

"Actually, it's called the Crystal Palace," Mercury said.

The doctor slowly turned to look at her daughter. "So...it's true? The Sailor Senshi created it?"

Mercury frowned. "Not so much created it as are responsible for its existence." At her mother's raised eyebrow, she laughed softly. "It's a long story..."

"I still say this is a stupid idea."

"Oh, come on Artemis," Venus said, giggling. "It'll be fun!" Opening the door and stepping inside the house, she briefly contemplated the slippers by the entrance, and snorted. "That would be an interesting image, ne Artemis?"

Artemis caught sight of what Venus was referring to, and snickered. "No kidding."

Ignoring the slippers, Venus called out, "Tadaima!"

"Okaeri nasai, Minako-chan!" her mother's voice called from within. There was a shuffle of footsteps as the elder Aino moved to greet her daughter. "Where have you been? I haven't seen you...since..." Minako's mother stood, baffled, as she walked into the room, staring at Sailor Venus.

Venus giggled. "Sorry Mom. Been kinda busy." She blinked as the woman fell to the floor with an audible *whump*. "Anou..."

Artemis sweatdropped.

Motoki, Reika, and Unazuki approached Serenity's throne, kneeling. At the queen's nod, the trio stood. "Your Majesty," he said, "It has been decided." He clasped Reika's hand. "Reika and I wish to remain here."

Serenity nodded, smiling. "I'm pleased. And you, Unazuki-chan?"

Unazuki shook her head. "Gomen, Your Majesty. I can't right now."

Serenity smiled gently. "I understand. Please remember not to disclose anything you've seen in here to anyone outside, alright?"

Unazuki nodded. "Of course." She paused. "Serenity-sama...are you really Usagi?"

Serenity giggled softly. "Hai, Unazuki-chan. I was...am...Usagi. Also, Sailor Moon."

Unazuki shook her head. "Incredible."

Everyone laughed. "Be well, Unazuki-chan," Serenity said.

"I'll be in touch, imouto," Motoki said.

Unazuki nodded. "I'm happy to have had the chance to see all of this," she said. Serenity closed her eyes, and the Ginzuishou flashed briefly. Unazuki disappeared.

Mars raised an eyebrow. "You're becoming very skilled at controlling that thing, Serenity-sama."

Serenity smiled. "I think it's the Palace causing it. Both the Palace and the Ginzuishou seem to...resonate with me, somehow." Suddenly, Serenity winced, and doubled over, nearly pitching off of her throne. Immediately, everyone present gathered around her, looks of concern on all their faces.

"Serenity-sama!" Mars cried. "What's wrong?"

Slowly, Serenity righted herself, sliding back into the throne. She tilted her head back. Her face was somewhat pale, and a fine sheen of sweat shone on her brow. "Dark...dark energy..." she said, gasping for breath. "Powerful...dark...energy..." After a moment, she regained her composure. "I'm...I'm alright," she said, frowning. "I just...sensed something. Something very evil..."

"Can you get a fix on it?" Luna asked.

Serenity shook her head. "No...couldn't pin it down. It's very far from here, but it's moving. That's all I can tell."

"What could this mean?" Jupiter wondered.

"It means we have a problem," Uranus said.

"Serenity-sama," Saturn said, "perhaps you should rest."

"Yes, that's a good idea," Mars seconded.

Serenity nodded. "I...I believe I will." She stood shakily, and Endymion escorted her out of the throne room.

"This is a bad sign," Luna said. "We need to be on our guard at all times now."

A small, black storm moved swiftly over the icy plains of the Arctic. At least, that's what the casual observer would have seen.

But then, the casual observer wouldn't have heard the storm talking to itself, either.

"That bitch Beryl...heh. Got what she deserved. Yep, dead dead dead...dammit. I wanted to kill her. Hm? Kill the ones that killed her? Just as good...yeah. Just as good. Sailor Senshi. Kill the Sailor Senshi. Hmm? Endymion? Endymion...Tuxedo Kamen...should have known. Heh. Killed him already. Serves him right. Bastard. Sailor Senshi...gonna kill 'em real slow...have some fun doing it. Heh. Fun...yes. A lot of fun. Make Jadeite look bad...get Jadeite put in Eternal Sleep...little whores. You'll get yours. You'll all get yours...heheh...hahahahahaha...AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!"

Chunks of ice on the ground were blasted into steam by bolts of dark lightning as Jadeite picked up speed.

---

POWERED BY DREAMHOST