1101 (Phase 06: Annihilation) Rated R "Oh well, Plan B: we just kill each other." -John Travolta in "Face/Off" Have you ever stopped to wonder what might be? Look beyond what is real, and grasp at a destiny yet unrealized. You might be surprised at what you find--not just for yourself, but for everyone else around you. The future has been called a Pandora's Box at times. It is the mystery of not knowing what is inside, what our future truly holds, that gives us hopes and dreams. But to open the box and see what awaits you...fate becomes a cruel mistress. Everything becomes known, and the secrets die. Hope is lost in the darkness of knowing what tomorrow's sunset will bring. Dreams are dashed like fragile sands against an ocean tide. And yet there may be a way around it. Consider not one future, but many futures. Not a single Pandora's Box, but a legion of them. The possibilities of a future Naoko Takeuchi envisioned grow near infinite, the curiousity is satiated, and your dreams are always there with you. For in seeing many futures, you still see what is unknown. Which one will find you? So many realities, so little time. The past is history. The future is now. And His lordship Chaos welcomes you to the future that is Crystal Tokyo. Choose your future that is Crystal Tokyo. But choose wisely. The future has a nasty way of turning on you.... -His lordship Chaos hislordshipchaos@hotmail.com Crystal Tokyo 3XXX A.D. "Endymion?" Michiru found herself saying, unable and unwilling to believe that it was the king of Crystal Tokyo standing before them. That it was him who had created Shadowgate, hunted them down, and done this to their friends. Endymion laughed, finding her apprehension a source of amusement. "Ara ara, Michiru, why the surprise? You look like you've seen a ghost." "But...we thought you were dead," Haruka stammered. "Setsuna said you were killed in the assassination attempt." "Death is a relative thing these days," Chaos stated coldly, not fazed by the king's sudden appearance. His hand moved to the trigger of his weapon. Endymion's eyes focused on the daimon. "I don't exactly think you should try firing that--unless you want the Senshi to start throwing their powers around with you and Serenity in the middle of the crossfire." "Chaos, put it down," Setsuna muttered. "So he can kill me at his leisure?" The daimon's voice dripped with sarcasm. His eye rolled and caught sight of Sailor Jupiter moving along the upper platform. One hand left the assault rifle, and Chaos leveled his clenched fist with Jupiter's head. Out from the sleeve of the pilot's uniform slid the barrel of a smaller but just as lethal weapon. It snapped into place with metallic click, the eerie light from the glass container casting a pale reflection along the gun's smooth surface. "That sounds like such a tempting offer, Setsuna," he finished. Hands casually crossed over his chest, Endymion slightly nodded. "Impressive, Chaos. How many more tricks do you have hidden up your sleeve?" "Evidently not as many as you've got lurking in the shadows," the daimon replied darkly, his gaze returning to the Shadowgate president. "So if you're supposed to be dead, why am I pointing a gun at your face?" "To answer, King Endymion did in fact nobly sacrifice himself so our beloved queen might live." Endymion gestured to Serenity, whose pained expression was there for all to see. His grin turned malevolent as the three Inner made their way down the stairs. Soldier stood facing soldier, and the only one in the room who didn't show any signs of the growing tension was the Shadowgate president. "Well, as it just so happened," he continued. "when things started to look their worst, Ami came up with a solution. She had a recent DNA sample of the now-deceased Endymion. They knew that Serenity wouldn't be able to protect the city without him...so they created me." The Outer Senshi found themselves sucking in their breaths. Yet another shock was delivered, the blow not so crushing this time, for they were already growing numb. Chaos lowered his assault rifle slightly, shaking his head at the entire story unfolding before them. "What kind of fucked up history lesson is this?" he growled. "Oh, it gets even better than that," Endymion stated. He was enjoying using the truth as a weapon, watching the Outers find their collective resolve broken all over again. "She just shut down after that, as I'm sure Setsuna has already told you. The Silver Crystal cracked as a result, and the youma invasions began anew. But this time, their campaigns started to succeed. So they made me in order to restore balance. I was to be Mamoru's handy replacement." "You are nothing like Mamoru," Hotaru stated, glaring at him. "He would have never allowed this to happen." Endymion stopped, his gaze suddenly becoming vengeful. "That's because I didn't WANT to be like him," he snarled. "They rejected what I was supposed to be, no matter how hard I tried to be him-- and I was him! They turned their backs on me, so I turned my backs on them. "It didn't take me long to study the cloning techniques Ami had perfected, and then take control of the project myself. I took their memories, altered them as I so desired, and then core-dumped them into their clones. I orchestrated the Essence to choose those clones as the new Senshi. The information you Outers gave us during your sabbatical to Kinmoku proved rather helpful in that case. The Senshi are now my Senshi. Serenity is my propaganda." His cobalt eyes looked at each Outer Senshi in turn. "I ordered your shuttle be shot down with the intent being to gather your wounded bodies, and collect DNA and memory samples. If possible I would recreate you just as I had the Inner Senshi. However, you unfortunately emerged from the crash intact and rather grouchy." "So you decided to have us killed instead?" Haruka practically spat in contempt. Endymion nodded. "At first, yes. I think this current situation validates my concern about you. You three have been quite a threat to my empire. I had almost forgotten about you when you took up permanent residence in the Tokyo Raven and no longer remembered what it meant to have hope. Allowing you three to live was a calculated risk, but one I was willing to take." He glanced over at 1101. "And now the gamble has paid off." Chaos' eye narrowed and he cocked his head sideways. "Don't get ahead of yourself." "You're in the middle of a war you only half understand, Chaos," Endymion stated, his eyes narrowing at the daimon. "You should never have come here." "True," Chaos agreed. He raised his assault rifle, a laser sight drawing a small, crimson bead on Endymion's forehead. "My coming here was a calculated risk on my part. But you're also right in my line of fire. I actually wouldn't mind dying if I blew your head off in the process." The daimon was treating the confrontation like it were merely casual conversation, just as Endymion was. The two were talking as if none of the other Senshi existed. That perhaps might have been just as well, since Inner Senshi and Outer Senshi were glaring at each other with eyes fit to kill. Their energies made the occasional manifestation, but it would take only a fraction of a second for the entire facility to be alive in rampaging powers. Endymion smirked. "I keep forgetting the advanced intelligence we gave you. You were too damned smart for a daimon soldier." "And so you made most of my successors nothing but legions of mindless cannon fodder," Chaos retorted. "But we're digressing. If you can be cloned, then what do I have to do to make sure your sorry ass doesn't resurface after I kill you?" "Chaos," Haruka cautioned. One shot fired would mean a free- for-all of Senshi attacks. And in this close range, it was guaranteed that someone would be killed. Doing all this in front of Serenity only compounded the problem. But her warning fell on deaf ears. Endymion and Chaos were locked in their own little war, no longer focusing on anyone else but each other. It seemed that they each had a personal score to settle, a vendetta that went as far back as the Crystal Wars. "I hear you," Chaos growled with a vicious smile, his arm cannon still primed and aimed at Jupiter. But his body was growing tense. He desired to fire only one shot, to only wound Endymion, and then let his predatory instincts kick in, to once again become the white hellhound and tear his prey to shreds. The daimon's eye narrowed. "And here I thought the future would be boring." "The odds are not in your favour," Endymion stated plainly. "Four Outer Senshi, one Inner Senshi and me, against you and three Inner Senshi," Chaos replied. Solemn, remorseless and not about to back down even now. "You might want to recheck the odds there, your Highness." Endymion's eyes narrowed in accepting the challenge. "Really?" Suddenly the sound of laserfire echoed across the facility, and Chaos convulsed as a geyser of sapphiric blood erupted from his chest. He still tenaciously gripped his assault rifle in one hand, his eye wide in surprise as he stumbled forward, driven by the inertia. Blood flowed from his lips and down his chin. The daimon barely had a chance to turn himself sideways when a second volley tore his forearm from the rest of his body. The severed limb, and the gun still held in its hand, fell onto the metal grating. Chaos stumbled back yet again, staring at the gory stump in anger and confusion. The arm cannon protruding from his sleeve went off, tearing a hole in one of the machines. Sparks and debris were spewed out, littering the air with smoke. Hotaru's frantic scream of "Setsuna, no!" was lost in the roar that overtook his ears. From inside her glass prison, Serenity's eyes widened and she pounded frantically on the glass. Bubbles flowed around her body, but she could do nothing to help. Two more volleys, one right after the other, shot across the room and struck Chaos. A second round to the chest sprayed blue gore across the edge of Serenity's container. The final blast went through Chaos' remaining good eye and burst through the back of his wolfen skull. The daimon tumbled to the floor in a bloodied, mangled heap. Setsuna watched him fall, tears flowing down her cheeks as she continued to fire with a small, hidden laser cannon that had emerged from retractable panels in her right arm. She would have shot him again as he hit the floor, but Haruka shoved her against Serenity's chamber, cracking the glass in the process. "What the hell are you doing?!" Haruka shouted angrily. Setsuna could only look at her fellow Outer with magenta eyes drowned in despair. The distraction was all the Inner Senshi required. Jupiter and Mercury charged, unleashing their respective attacks. Venus was right behind them, ready to fight as best as she could. Haruka let go of Setsuna's collar and whirled, priming a World Shaking as Michiru was already letting loose with a Deep Submerge. There beneath the shimmering radiance of the Crystal Palace, all hell broke loose. And 1101 watched it all unfold. what am i? what am i destined to be? 1101 i am not your puppet [PHASE 06: ANNIHILATION] The frenzied explosion of Sailor attacks raged around 1101, showers of light and dancings of shadow parading around her form with maniacal insanity. An electric blast of Supreme Thunder found itself sheared in half by a World Shaking. Arcs of lightning crackled and burned through metal posts and conduits, ushering with them a chillingly beautiful pyrotechnics display. Sailor Neptune ducked the lightning, vaguely aware of the World Shaking burying itself into a terminal and then detonating. Metallic shrapnel went soaring in every direction, a scrap of near molten debris grazing her forearm. She moved with a speed and fluidity that astounded even her; to think that even though her powers had been dormant for so long, they were still refusing to let her down. In dodging the Supreme Thunder, she adjusted her stance and then used her shift of balance to pounce. Mercury unleashed a volley of ice, but Neptune smashed through it as if it were mere dust. With a shout Neptune drove her fist into Mercury's chest, delivering enough force to lift the blue- haired Senshi right off the floor. Mercury's eyes widened as she let out a hoarse gasp for air. Forgetting she was ever Sailor Saturn, Hotaru knelt down next to Chaos, her fingers fumbling over the slippery liquid that was dripping off the grates beneath him. There were holes going straight through him, large enough that she could fit her hand in them. Her cries of his name grew more desperate, but he didn't respond. Hotaru shook his shoulders, but found only a lifeless shell at her touch. "Chaos! CHAOS!!" Her own eyes welling up with tears, Hotaru turned and glared at Setsuna. Setsuna was looking away, unable to stare into the betrayal found within the raven-haired girl's eyes. Suddenly Hotaru found herself tackled by Sailor Venus, both women rolling across the daimon's body, sapphire blood staining their whitened fuku. Uranus caught sight of the two wrestling in the corner of her peripherals, but found her attention required elsewhere. She drew her Space Sword, tossing the scabbard aside and lurching back as Sailor Jupiter tried to swing a few punches at her face. One punch made contact with Serenity's liquid prison, causing a spiderwebbed fracture in the glass. "Kono yaro," Jupiter snarled, drawing her hand back. She seemed too enraged to care about the blood dripping from her cut knuckles. She launched into an Oak Evolution, sending out a barrage of projectiles. Uranus managed to deflect most, but found a few getting past the blade of her Talisman and slicing apart her skin. At best, they just struck her body and left a stinging bruise. One deflected projectile ricocheted and struck the glass of Serenity's chamber, this one taking no heed to the glass and punching straight through it. Uranus got an unwelcomed mouthful of that gel the queen was floating in. But then her eyes widened as she saw Endymion, forgotten by all the soldiers, calmly picking up the assault rifle Chaos had been holding. Their gazes met in but a heartbeat. And she saw what he was going to do. "Setsuna, help us!" she shouted. Looking away cost her greatly, Jupiter kicking her in the side and then moving in with a punch fueled by the Senshi's vengeful lightning. Uranus cried out as her body screamed in agony, every nerve on fire and every inch of skin registering like it had been stabbed by hot needles. Setsuna didn't answer. Hotaru leveled a vicious uppercut to Venus' jaw, knocking the newborn soldier flat on her back. She glared at Setsuna, bitter tears still falling down her cheeks. "You sold us out, Setsuna! Damn you!" But Setsuna wasn't looking at them anymore. She wasn't looking at anything. The former guardian of time, in her exposed cyborg body, looked like a marionette whose strings had just been cut. She had finally, ultimately betrayed her friends. There was no absolution for that. None at all. Now there was only one thing Setsuna wanted. Release from the pain. And she found it as Endymion aimed for her head. The restrained bitterness of his expression betrayed how much he didn't want to do it, but knew that it was what she wanted. For her, he would do anything. "Arigato," she mouthed to him. Thank you.... A single shot rang out, and Setsuna's body went limp. Neptune was unable to do anything, desperately trying to crack an icy clamp now encasing her left hand. Sailor Mercury tried to finish the job, but was washed away by a tidal rage of Deep Submerge that flooded the facility. 1101 looked down at her feet as the salty waves, charged with a Senshi's power, flowed over her boots and ran down between the gaps in the grillwork. She said nothing. Cast her eyes up to the heart of the battle. Watched in silence. And felt her heartbeat quicken, though she knew not why. Endymion now turned towards Serenity, his expression void of any emotion or love that he might have once possessed. Neo Queen Serenity tried her best to somehow swim away, to lose herself in the furious upsurgence of bubbles in her watery chamber. As attacks drove away the darkness and let fiery debris rain down from above, the president of Shadowgate took aim and pulled back the trigger. An explosive bullet struck the glass chamber, and shattered it instantly. Uranus and Jupiter both tried to throw themselves aside despite their grip on each other, as a tidal wave of the liquid gel came crashing down upon them. "Serenity!" Hotaru cried out, racing into the liquid surge towards the queen. As the flood ended, Serenity was draped over the base of the broken prison. Her hands dangled in the air, long and soaked blonde hair acting as a veil over her face. The queen was convulsing, her lungs spilling out the liquid in exchange for oxygen that had not been tasted for perhaps two centuries. She had been washed away only as far as the cables burrowing into her skin would allow. The thin, black wires were taut and refusing to let go of her. At some points of fusion, Serenity was bleeding. Hotaru ran to help. But found herself tackled by Venus. Even as a newborn, this Inner Senshi was determined to help serve the man she trusted. Hotaru nearly bit her tongue off as she felt her shoulder hit against the floor. "Get off me!" she snarled, snapping back her elbow and connecting it with Venus' cheek. The soldier of love was thrown off, and Hotaru rolled onto her back to deliver a second elbow jab right into Venus' diaphragm. Venus wheezed in pain, curling into a ball and moaning quietly to herself. Hotaru slowly rose to her feet, a shower of sparks overhead illuminating the remains of the facility. She saw the mangled corpse of her former daimon lover. She saw the shivering, pale body of Serenity. And then she saw Endymion standing in front of 1101. 1101 showed no signs of fear. He asked her something. She answered. And then the two walked away as if the battle raging on behind them wasn't happening. A doorway hidden by the jumble of conduits and machinery opened itself up, quickly swallowing the two into the folds of darkness. "Rei!" Hotaru shouted after them. But the two had already disappeared into another corridor. Hotaru held out her open palms, and a glaive materialized before her. Power coursed through her veins, enhancing the rush of adrenaline she already felt. She took up the weapon, and became Saturn. The door was blown open at her silent command, neon amethyst arcs erupting from her body and burning whatever metal it could touch. Saturn didn't look back to the other soldiers, to her friends in battle, to a helpless queen. An obsession had to end here. She had to know the answer one way or the other. And so she stalked out through the broken doorway after Endymion and 1101. "Hotaru, wait!" Neptune exclaimed, but found herself still having to contend with a disturbingly aggressive and tenacious Mercury. She risked a glance at her mate. "Haruka, we can't let her go alone!" "I'm a little busy right now," Uranus muttered, trying to slash at Jupiter and shake Venus off her back. Neptune had no choice but to step in front of Serenity's weakened form and protect their queen. She couldn't allow any of these soldiers to touch the one person who might still be able to heal the wounds of this city. But she had seen their Hotaru-chan's eyes. And they were the eyes of Death. "You will come with me," he had said to her. It was not a request. And so 1101 walked with him, forced to move at a faster pace as he grabbed her arm and dragged her alongside himself. A stray blast of ice nearly took out his skull, but he merely tipped his head to one side, narrowly averting an unpleasant but instant death. As if he had somehow been able to see it coming though he was looking away. The vicious war behind them became but a din of barely recognizable noise as they moved through a corridor. He avoided the stairwells, and took a lift elevator instead. Neither of them said or did anything that would have indicated what had transpired in the past twenty-seven hours. She remained quiet. But then abruptly she asked him, "Why did you make me?" "I did not make you, Eleven-oh-one," he answered solemnly, adjusting his hold on the daimon's weapon. "I remade you. The girl who was originally Hino Rei allowed me to come into existence, and then abandoned me. For that I shall never forgive her." 1101 continued to look ahead. Watched the levels around them slowly fall away as they ascended. "And you want me to be what she was not?" Endymion now turned his head, his cobalt eyes focused on her alone. "I wanted you to be someone who accepted me. Someone who loved me. And that is my problem: you still want to be what she once was." "Why is that so wrong?" "It is not what I wish you to be. You are beautiful to me the way you are now." Yet the way she was now was not the way she once was. Which one was better? Which one did she want? The lift shuddered to a stop, leaving them in an antechamber. Endymion led 1011 through a door hidden amidst shimmering white panels, and they stepped out into the palace's throne room. Laid out upon a table was the new clone of Sailor Mars: sleeping and ready to be injected with the power of Essence. His intention was to contain the Essence for now, and decide how to handle it later. But Saturn was waiting for them. Endymion stopped short as he saw the Outer Senshi standing there across the throne room, her head bowed, the Silence Glaive resting in her hands. "Where is Chibiusa?" she asked him. Her voice was low and dangerous. Saturn's grip on the glaive tightened when she got no response. "Where is Chibiusa?!" she demanded again, her voice louder. She lifted her head, bangs of ravendark hair revealing a pair of angered eyes and a soul on the edge. She was pleading with him to tell her that her friend was dead, that he had killed her. At least then she could bring closure. She was pleading with him to tell her that her friend was hidden somewhere in a prison not unlike Serenity's. That could only bring renewed strength to a dying hope. Chibiusa was the only reason left to keep her from using her powers. She had to know. Endymion gently pushed 1101 back with the assault rifle. "I don't know," he answered Saturn. "I doubt you'll believe what I have to say, but it is the truth regardless. I had no intention of destroying the Timegate; Setsuna chose to do that herself. And when she did, she cut off any known chance for Chibiusa to return to the future." "Lies!" Saturn screamed at him, unable to cry any more. She had discovered an exhaustion to her tears, and now all that was left was raw, unbridled emotion. "That's not possible!" Desperation. "I wanted to see my daughter come back to me even more than you wanted to see your friend again," Endymion snapped, the passion in his own voice starting to rise. "But now that is something both of us have been denied. You wish to blame someone, Hotaru, then blame the soldiers who rejected what I was. Because of them, we are now facing each other tonight as enemies!" Hotaru was glaring at him, her entire body trembling. "You're right," she said, her voice as cold as ice. "We are enemies. The future has been tainted because of it." Desperation changed to rage. There was nothing left to believe in. Nothing left to live for. For so long she had refused to give in to the desire. For two hundred years she found a reason to go on with the dawn of each darkened morning. But now that reason was gone, as eternally lost as Chibiusa. Saturn's violet eyes closed, finding a way of squeezing out one final pair of tears. She would put an end to the pain of this planet. She would put an end to all the suffering. This future would be cleansed. Beneath the palace, a battle for sheer survival was still being waged. The facility was all but completely destroyed, its deformed and scarred structure bearing witness to a Sailor War. Uranus could feel herself on the brink of exhaustion, her strength being drained away bit by bit. On the other hand Sailor Jupiter was gasping for air as they circled and faced each other once more. The Inner was the more fatigued of them. Uranus knew she had attack that weakness now, or she might make a mistake that would cost her her life. No matter what Serenity would say, no matter how the queen might try to dissuade them, there could be only one outcome. One of them had to die. Uranus drew in all her remaining power and let loose with another World Shaking. The attack tore through the metal like it was tin foil, but Jupiter dodged it. However, Jupiter wasn't able to dodge the flying kick that followed immediately in the wake of the World Shaking. Jupiter was struck on the side of the neck and tumbled over sideways. Thrown off-balance, her guard was down for only a few seconds. Uranus only required a few seconds. Jupiter's eyes nearly bulged out from their sockets as the Space Sword's blade rammed through back of her ribcage. The wound cauterized instantly, a thin smear of blood left at the tears of her fuku. A trickle of scarlet managed its way down the corner of her mouth. Uranus could see her Talisman's blade stained with the blood of a fellow soldier, its haunting shine now turning crimson. She withdrew the sword, watching silently as Jupiter collapsed onto the floor. The blood still tainted her weapon, smeared across what should have been a glowing white blade. Uranus wondered if she'd be able to clean it, cleanse it. Behind her, one final explosion shook the facility, followed by the sounds of a pair of footsteps scuffling over the metal gridwork. And then there was an abruptly and almost inaudible crack. Uranus turned around to see the outcome of the other fight. Sailor Mercury was lying on her back, blank eyes staring up at the ceiling. Her neck had been snapped. Whether Neptune had thrown Mercury against something to cause it, or had violently twisted Mercury's head with her own hands, Uranus did not desire an answer. Neptune limping towards her, clutching an arm that seemed to be covered in blood. "I'm fine," she said, giving her lover a reassuring smile. "It looks worse than it is; my arm's just drenched in water." Abruptly Neptune was knocked aside, crashing into the base of Serenity's broken glass prison. Sailor Venus was still awake and alive, and screaming at seeing her two friends dead of the floor. Uranus didn't raise her sword, but did kick Venus in the chest, forcing the Inner Senshi to the ground after Venus struck a railing. "Daijobu?" Uranus asked, looking back at Neptune. Neptune nodded. That done, Uranus raised her Space Sword. "We have to wipe the slate clean," she murmured, taking a step towards Venus. "Haruka, don't!" The voice came from their queen. It was Serenity's natural voice they heard. The two Outer Senshi looked back at Serenity, who was awkwardly sitting up amidst a tangle of slick, black cables. Tired eyes, unaccustomed to focusing in a world without liquid surrounding her, gazed at the frightened Sailor Venus with compassion. "Let her live," Serenity quietly implored them. "She's still new to the world. It would be wrong to kill her now more than ever. She can still be one of us." Mournfully she looked at the bodies of Makoto, Ami, Setsuna, and the daimon. "No one else has to die today." "What about the others?" Uranus asked. There was still the possibility to use the techniques Endymion had spoken of, but this time regaining the friends they once knew. Michiru's aqua-green eyes looked to the fallen bodies of Ami and Makoto. "Let them rest, love." Serenity's expression was still saddened, but her lips found the strength to move. "Their time as soldiers has ended. Let their Essences choose new friends for us." Abruptly something dark and ominous flowed into the room. Uranus felt a chill run down her spine, and she slowly looked around the entire facility. "Michiru." Neptune nodded, her face now haunted by a sensation permeating the underground chamber. A forbidding and ominous omen. "I feel it. Something is moving to a climax. And it's the end of everything." "Hotaru!" Serenity cried out. "Haruka, Michiru: you must stop her before she uses her powers!" Neptune let out a deep sigh. She closed her eyes briefly as she remembered Setsuna. "Perhaps she's right in what she's doing, Serenity. Look at what the future's become. And I fear we are all to blame for that." The soldier of the seas felt a warm hand touch her shoulder. She looked back at Uranus. "An end is only meant when there is no more hope," Uranus said quietly, to her lover alone. "None of us would have come here tonight unless we still thought that hope existed. Michiru, there is still a chance to change the future. If we don't take it now, then Hotaru will make sure there will never be another." Neptune's resolve wavered. She looked back at the frightened, defeated Sailor Venus. "What about her?" "I'll watch over her," Serenity said. Her smile seemed to cause Venus to stop trembling in fear. There was a safety within the queen's crystal blue eyes, even after the passing of so many dark years. "Right now Minako-chan needs a friend, and not a keeper." Neptune found sincerity in the queen's eyes, and nodded in compliance with Serenity's wish. She looked to Uranus. "Let's go." Three little words would act as the trigger. Three little words would bring about the end. Saturn was ready to see it come. She was weary from fighting. From the despair, from the pain. She was ready to welcome the end now. Power flowed through her body, strangely warm and comforting. Her tension abated as she accepted what she was about to do, and that she would die in the process. A violet aura flickered to life around her form as she raised the glaive into the air, its sharpened point reaching up to the heavens above. "Gomen, Chibiusa-chan," she whispered. "I failed you." But now perhaps they could both be together. Something rumbled across the churning clouds over Crystal Tokyo, though it was a thunder unlike any the people had ever heard. A tempest rose up and scattered the grey masses above, instantly dashing the cloud cover into oblivion. A full moon shone down brilliantly upon the city, its pale white light almost too intense for the surprised humans and youma to directly gaze upon. The entire throne room was charged with energy, the air saturated with Saturn's power. 1101 looked around. This was familiar somehow. She knew this power, and understood what it meant. And somewhere deep within, she did not want it to happen. Endymion did nothing. He simply watched with mild interest. "Death," Saturn whispered. It surprised her to feel the tears flowing once more. What wells of sadness had she now tapped to allow for this? Saturn closed her eyes, giving this final chance to mourn friends and future gone so wrong. All across Earth, life was standing up and taking notice. The winds of apocalypse swept the globe, touching everything in foreboding anticipation of the end. All who felt it were afraid. "Reborn." The glaive was poised to come down and touch the earth. And then annihilate everything on the face of the planet. Suddenly what felt like a white hot blade sliced its way through Saturn's stomach. She cried out in pain as her body twisted itself sideways. The glaive slipped out from her hands and clattered to the floor, the building charge of Death Reborn Revolution now fading away to nothingness. Saturn collapsed onto the ground, strands of her ravendark hair clinging to a face now covered in sweat. She felt sick, ready to vomit. It was like her insides were turning inside out. She weakly moved her body, and then saw a growing puddle of blood beneath her. Fumbling fingers carefully slid along her belly, and then found a part of her fuku soaked with a warm, sticky liquid. She was bleeding. She had been shot. Endymion slowly lowered the muzzle of the assault rifle. "How quickly you forget that in summoning such an intense attack, you leave yourself completely defenseless, Hotaru. But I'm impressed that you were willing to sacrifice yourself in order to end everything." He began to walk towards her, each footstep echoing across the throne room and resounding as a harsh ring in Saturn's ears. She coughed and tasted blood. If he didn't kill her now, she would be dead soon enough. And her chance to avenge Chibiusa, to avenge everyone, would be lost forever. "I will miss the daimon, in case you're wondering," the former king said to her. "Chaos was ever a thorn in my side, and yet he was the only worthy opponent I've faced in two hundred years. Pity. We may have hated each other, but we also respected each other as enemies." He had to congratulate his former weapon on that rather masterful decoy. Had he not known otherwise, his Senshi and half of Shadowgate's primary attack forces would be chasing Chaos' youma across the city right now. Saturn found herself laying in his shadow, his dark form towering over her. Cobalt eyes looked at her without mercy, without remorse. "Setsuna always informed me of anything noticeably radical that you three did. Before Eleven-oh-one came, however, you were no threat. When a soldier's will to fight is broken, what else is left for an opponent to fear?" He adjusted his aim on the weapon, leveling the cannon muzzle with Hotaru's face. "I must thank you for being my unwitting couriers, and delivering Eleven-oh-one back to me. It's time for her Essence to be transplanted into a better host." And then 1101 was standing on the other side of Hotaru, her abrupt appearance there nearly causing Endymion to jump back. She was staring at him, her eyes revealing an awakening within. "Is that all I am to you?" she asked. "Am I just someone's doll, something for you to play with?" Endymion said nothing. The barrel of the assault rifle was moved, hovering over Hotaru's fallen form. It now pressed against 1101's abdomen. "Rei!" Hotaru tried to scream. But 1101 wasn't listening to anything. She was Hino Rei. Not just a poor copy or duplicate, but the true Sailor Mars. She knew who she was. Who she was destined to be. And she would not let it end this way. Endymion pulled back the trigger--and then found himself thrown back in a violent explosion of air and fire. 1101 no longer was 1101. The tattoo branded upon the back of her neck found itself burned away. She emerged from the fiery inferno, her fuku somehow changed. Amidst the glowing embers that sparked around her, amidst the air that rippled from the heat and smoke, she became the Rei she once was. The Rei she somehow always knew. In that moment, she was unable to doubt herself. The restoration was complete. She was Eternal Sailor Mars. Endymion growled through a hiss of air, clutching at the shoulder he'd landed on. It was stinging painfully, and the assault rifle had been lost from his grip. Had he the power to fling his roses...he would not have done so. He understood what was to happen now. He had lost. Slowly he rose to his feet, standing before a female soldier whose rebirth left the air burning in her wake. Long tresses of Eternal Sailor Mars' dark hair flowed behind her. Hotaru was forgotten and left behind. There was nothing else in this universe save for her and Endymion. The air around her crackled with a vengeful inferno. Her image rippled from the immense heat, the whitened glow of the throne room now spilling into dancing hues of red, yellow and orange. "What you have done is beyond imaginable," she stated. "There must be retribution. There must come an end to this madness." Endymion did not run. He did not plead for his life. It was almost as if he welcomed death as he stood there, defiant before her once again. "I made you. And you made me first," he spoke. How vicious the circle was. Cobalt eyes scorned what he had lost, and what he was now having to relive all over again. But not for much longer now. He glanced down at Saturn, who was staring at both of them with a look of disbelief on her face. And then he gazed upon Rei one last time. "May you be haunted by my face forever more. May that be your punishment for what you did to me." Mars closed her eyes, tides of molten air suddenly erupting into flames. The fires raged around her yet she remained unharmed. Her darkened silhouette was barely visible amidst the frenzied hellstorm. Endymion kept his eyes opened. He watched as the fires screamed for his blood, and then were finally unleashed. Liquid flame spilled out across the room like a tsunami, roaring as it came crashing towards Endymion. Before he was swept away, Endymion turned his gaze to Uranus and Neptune, who only now had arrived to witness his end. A near maniacal grin of his face, he let the inferno take him. The fire's thirst for vengeance was satisfied. Endymion was consumed, vanished within the vortex of churning flame. When the fiery beast retreated into nothingness, sucked back into the body and Essence of Mars, all that remained was a long, black scorch mark on the floor to show where the firestorm had traveled. Endymion was no more. "Rei...." Uranus whispered. She'd thought only the Outers were capable of such acts. They who were once willing to sacrifice even innocents for the sake of the mission. The Inner Senshi had always tried to protect all life. And now Mars had shown no mercy in terminating Endymion's life. Had it been the right thing to do? Uranus realized she may never know the answer. Abruptly Eternal Sailor Mars collapsed to her knees, and then slumped over onto the floor. Exhausted from a burst of her Essence unbound, she slept quietly. And found within her sleep pleasant dreams. Neptune reverted out of her fuku and was Michiru once again. Here in the Crystal Palace, there was nothing left to fear. She ran to Saturn's side, quickly assessing the bullet wound. "M-Michiru...." Saturn coughed. Michiru gently pressed a finger to Saturn's lips. "Shhh. Don't talk, Hime-chan. We'll fix you up. Just hang on for me." Saturn nodded, trying to look as strong as she could. Uranus was kneeling over the slumbering form of Eternal Sailor Mars, checking the soldier's breathing. With some trepidation she said, "We'll have to tell Serenity that he's dead." Michiru cast a somber glance back at the direction they'd come in emerging from the palace's underground. Somehow she could sense their queen mourning the loss of someone who was and was not the man she always loved. "She already knows, Haruka. She already knows." Sunrise came to the city of Crystal Tokyo. While the dark clouds still laid scattered across the heavens, they were beginning to disperse and let the light shine down. The darkness was giving up the city it had for so long claimed as its child. It was the first sunrise many had seen in two hundred years. For many more, it was the first time to see what the sun truly looked like. Many had to turn away, the pain of the light stinging their eyes. But for a pair of weary soldiers, it was a welcomed sight. Haruka and Michiru stood within the pinnacle of the Crystal Palace, watching the dawn stipple the underbellies of the clouds in gold. Behind them churned the grand and silent fountain. It had never stopped the flow of water, even after all that had happened. This place forever remained a sanctuary. It cared not for specific people, but that all who came could find solace and peace somewhere amidst the garden of tranquil beauty, and a glass enclosure that allowed a breath-taking view of the city. "It's finally over, isn't it?" Michiru asked. Haruka nodded slightly. Her left hand was bandaged up, burned from Jupiter's lightning. But as a Senshi she was a fast healer. Within a few days the bandages would come off. "We almost lost everything," Haruka murmured quietly. "Even hope." Neo Queen Serenity was still weak, but had already made a public announcement on every video screen she could. Serenity Square found itself broadcasting a live image of her as opposed to the usual generated message. Everything had been told, nothing left out. Shadowgate was already falling apart as the people and youma bound together to mount an insurrection. Serenity had pled with the people to take no more lives; for now her words were being heeded by the majority. There would always be extremists. That much was a reality. In the aftermath, right now the best their queen could do was rest and recover. Learn to live a life outside a glass prison. Hotaru was recovering from her wound in the palace infirmary. A small staff of domesticated youma were caring for her needs. The raven-haired woman would be bedridden for weeks to come. Yet Hotaru would be alive. Minako was proving to be troublesome. As a newborn, her world had been turned upside-down once already, but Endymion had acted as her point of stability. Now he was gone and Minako wasn't sure of what to make of anything. 1101--no, Rei was making a genuine effort; half of her time was spent with Minako, the other half nursing Serenity back to health. Thinking about Rei made Haruka scowl a little. A frown creased her brow. The image of Eternal Sailor Mars destroying Endymion would be one to haunt her for a long time to come. Even now, she and Michiru didn't have all the answers as to what happened two hundred years ago. They barely had a grasp of the catalyst, and the events set in motion that had finally culminated in this. Rei was Rei now, the Rei they always knew. Yet Rei had also changed. They all had. To say Crystal Tokyo had left them unbroken and unscarred would be a flagrant lie. It had changed them all, nearly for the worst. None of them were who they once were before this all began. And the cost of coming back to something resembling normalcy was horribly high. In a week, a state funeral for the fallen Senshi would be held. With the people now knowing the truth, there was a tide of sympathy for the soldiers who had been used as Shadowgate's puppets. Setsuna, Makoto and Ami would all get royal burials. Interestingly enough, Serenity had also stated that the wolf daimon, Chaos, would receive the same treatment. It was the least she could do for a creature who held no loyalty to her, and yet died to help protect the future...even if his motives were far from pure. Haruka tried not to brood. Right now hope was in their grasp again. This time they would not let it slip away. Two Senshi had come back to the fold. Three new soldiers were out there, waiting for their destinies to be discovered. Neo Queen Serenity would rebuild what had been torn down. Soon enough, the future would be as it should. She was but a young girl. A child no older than seven or eight. It was too early an hour for her to be up, and so she slept the way almost all young children sleep: like an angel. Shoulder- length auburn hair framed her face as she rolled onto her side and snuggled up against her pillow. She drew the covers up over her chin a little more, and continued to dream beautiful fantasies that would be forgotten when she awoke. Her bedroom was dim but not dark from the myriad of city lights and blossoming sunshine outside. Thinly transparent drapes fluttered from the early morning breeze that came through the open window. They fluttered all the more when an orb of unearthly, glowing light made its fateful way through the open window and into her bedroom. Violet and magenta trails shimmered in its wake, the faintest sounds of ancient magik echoing across the walls. A gentle breeze caressed the bedroom, rustling some loose papers on her desk. She continued to sleep, oblivious to the presence of the light. It paused, hovering over the little girl. Contemplating. Considering. Then it leisurely drifted over to her desk, brushing past a shelf filled with stuffed animals. The shimmering sphere stopped when it found photographs. A picture of a father and daughter laughing together. Her mother had died when she was very little, no more than a year old. There was only one photograph of her mother there on the desk, but it was lovingly held within a silver frame. Upon the base were engraved the words 'I love you, mommy.' The glowing light slowly turned and moved towards the child once more. It could feel two sister Essences doing the same thing it was doing, and indications were that it was the first to find someone. For the longest time they had always drawn back to the palace, snugly fit into a familiar body. But now they had to search on their own. No longer was it allowed the luxury of an artificial reincarnation. It was required to find a new girl who could become the soldier if its planetary deity, a girl who shared nothing at all in common with the woman called Setsuna. It felt almost out of place having to search. But it knew what had to be done. Now more than ever this world needed its champions. The orb let out a pulse of rapturous magenta light, bathing the room in a cascade of colour. Somewhere amidst the dance of light, the shadow of a key-shaped staff topped with a mystic garnet orb was cast upon the wall. And then the sphere fell as if seized by gravity. The little girl asleep in her bed felt nothing as the light passed through the covers and merged with her body, arcs of magik snaking out across her belly from the union. She slept, unaware of the sigil of Pluto now burning upon her forehead. But she would learn of her newfound destiny soon enough. For now, the Essence let her sleep, and dream the beautiful and innocent dreams of a child. Hotaru was greeted with sunlight peeking through the blinds of the palace infirmary. She moaned and tried to adjust her body. The wound from the assault rifle made it painfully obvious that her body did not like such an attempt. With a beleaguered sigh, Hotaru resigned herself to laying on her back for yet another day. The room was large and spacious, but dim never the less. Crystalline walls and polished floor reflected whatever light they could. As a result Hotaru could see perfect outlines of most everything. However, the shadows made sure to obscure any details. Violet eyes glanced over to the IV line sticking in her arm. She idly wondered if this is what it had felt like for Serenity to be fused with those cables. Hotaru found herself shuddering at the thought and looked elsewhere for something to occupy her mind. She pushed the covers down past her breasts, enjoying the feel of the cool air being vented in. A shower or a nice warm bath was all she wanted. However the best she'd get would be a sponge bath by some nursing droids. At least these youma looked half normal. The absurdly comical image of having to be bathed by a feminine Sake bottle routinely shouting, "Kanpai!" made Hotaru laugh. Her laughter tapered off as her chest constricted again and reminded her of why she was in bed. She winced and gingerly felt where the bandages around her belly were. "I am going to go stir-crazy at this rate," she sighed to herself. But at least she was in good company. Hotaru turned her head, making herself comfortable on her pillow. In the bed across from her was Neo Queen Serenity. The queen's bed was enclosed to allow for a gradual adjustment from liquid to air. Her body was still very weak in trying to adapt all at once to the sudden change. Fifteen minutes of any hard effort would leave her sleeping for the remainder of the day and night. Even still, Hotaru found it encouraging just to look over and see Serenity next to her. They had their queen back. Hotaru cast her eyes to the nearest wall as she heard someone stir. Minako was sitting in a guest chair, fast asleep. Her head tipped down, long blonde hair covering part of her face. It was hard to get Minako away from Serenity these days, as if Minako had imprinted on the queen after losing Endymion. Minako refused to be even a room apart...but she listened to Rei. Only Rei. If Rei wanted to let Serenity have some time to herself, Minako obeyed those wishes. More often than not, Minako was being mentored by Rei. The Outers would get their chance to teach the impressionable young soldier, but only after Minako got over her intense fear of them. Watching your future teachers kill two of your former friends did not make for good relational ties. Hotaru settled back down in her bed. The clock was reading 6:34am. Soon enough the automated lights would turn on and the droids would arrive. For now, she could live with the quiet. The tranquility. "Ohayo gozaimasu, Hotaru-chan," came a quiet but strong-willed voice. Hotaru found herself smiling as she looked back to Serenity, and found the queen's eyes opened. Such a brilliant crystal blue. "Morning. Have you been awake long?" Serenity managed to shake her head a little. "Just woke up. But I hope to drift off again before the attendants come in." Seeing Serenity like that reminded Hotaru so much of a familiar face and smile she'd come to treasure and adore. The memory brought back with it a tinge of sadness. Hotaru stared up at the ceiling. The future held with it so many possibilities. And yet so many uncertainties. For all that had at last been answered, questions still remained. And Hotaru found it tearing her soul apart when one question still had no definite answer. "Ne, Serenity," she asked. "Do you think Chibiusa-chan's still out there somewhere?" Serenity nodded emphatically. "I know it, Hotaru. We just have to wait, and keep hoping." "I don't think I can hope anymore," Hotaru quietly confessed. She looked away, avoiding the queen's gaze. "It hurts too much to even remember her." "Hotaru, you cannot destroy time that easily," Serenity said with a soft smile. "Setsuna merely cut herself off from accessing the portal. The Timegate itself exists in more than one time. When a new Pluto is found, she will be able to restore what had been sealed off so long as Setsuna was still a soldier." "What happens then?" Hotaru murmured. Serenity exhaled and shook her head. "I don't know, Hotaru- chan. The Timegate will be returned to the way it was. Chibiusa may be there waiting for us. She may not even know that she's been waiting centuries to come back to us. There's still hope, Hotaru." Though she was still looking away, those words brought a weak smile to Hotaru's face. "Hai." Rei watched the sunrise. Alone and in silence. The blurriness that had begun it all, the uncertainty save for fear, was fading away. She no longer had to run, for she knew who she was. But the burden of knowing who she was now weighed itself down upon her. And the ghosts of the past returned. 'What the hell happened to us, Hotaru? To this place?' 'Maybe Rei can tell us.' 'There may be a way. I might have a way to help restore Serenity to her former self.' Daunting skyscrapers and rows upon rows of hovering traffic moved across the skies. The glow from the towers across the parklands still glowed as the sun crept its way across a world starving for the light. How long had it been since this city was first plunged into darkness? 'We've been better, admittedly.' 'That's the most optimistic view about Crystal Tokyo I've ever heard. Ne?' Violet eyes looked away from the city, looked down to her hands. Looked beyond the skin, at what those hands had done. In accordance of someone else's whims and commands...and of her own choice. 'Hino Rei allowed me to come into existence, and then abandoned me. For that, I shall never forgive her.' 'What happened here?' 'We can't tell you exactly when it happened, only that it did.' The strength that she had felt days ago in that final confrontation had long since departed. The intensity was still there, slumbering in the back of her mind. Rei could feel its presence, though such a presence was not manifest. She knew of the Espers, and wondered if their own psychic powers laid dormant in the same way, just waiting to be awoken and put to use. Yet in the wake of what had first felt like victory, she was now being confronted with something else. The memories of past lives and incarnations were no longer an incoherent cascade of images and voices and places. Her mind was sorting them through. Laughter was recalled. As well as words and events she wished she could take back. 'I made you. But you made me first.' 'They turned their backs on me, so I turned my back on them.' 'I did not make you, Eleven-oh-one. I remade you.' 'But Michiru, look at her! She's not like the others!' 'What makes you think you're going to be taken back this time, you freak?' 'You mean she knows that this is the actual Rei, and not some brainwashed clone?' 'You're not really Rei Hino, my dear. In fact, you're the fourth copy we've made of original girl.' Who was she now? Rei looked at her palms once more. They looked like the soft, smooth hands she'd always had. The others called her Rei because she had the unaltered memories and personality of her former self. She still had her powers as Eternal Sailor Mars. But this body...it was not her original body. Did that make her a copy, a clone? Or something else completely different? 'Shadows are born from darkness. Serenity is of the light. How could one replace the other?' 'In the past you trusted Mamoru. Why won't you trust me?' 'He may not be the original, but he's the same Mamoru down to the last detail.' A creeping fear made its way through her body as suddenly the tragedy of the past fell into place. And now she was standing in his place, knowing what he knew. Rei found a shadow of a doubt within herself. 'You...you created a clone of Mamoru, didn't you?' 'Is he even going to know that he's not the real Mamoru?' 'He IS the real Mamoru.' 'Rei, I've seen it in his eyes. He's afraid to come near you, all because you're afraid to be around him.' What she had done to him, the judgement she had passed in that moment of true rebirth; now she questioned the purity of her motives. Whether it had been the right thing to do was in doubt. 'He feels he's different because you're alienating him!' 'He is different.' 'But he's still a human being.' 'If we keep pushing him away like this, one day he might not push back.' You cannot change the past. You can only live with it. And then try to live with yourself. 'I wanted you to be someone who accepted me. Someone who loved me. And that is my problem: you still want to be what she once was.' Absolution. Forgiveness. Both were words she knew she could no longer find. Not with him. Those cobalt eyes, that cold stare would forever be burned into her memory. Just as he had wanted. Perhaps just as she deserved. 'Love...If someone loves you, then you have worth. You cannot be completely expendable.' She closed her eyes. "Gomen, Mamoru," she whispered amidst the tears. I'm sorry.... [annihilation incomplete.] [next phase: unknown] [would you like to select a new project?] My indebted gratitude goes out to Greenbeans and Meara, whose insights and questions have been invaluable to the evolution of this story. In this tale I delved into darkness; they dared me to go even further. To Angus MacSpon and "Sailor Moon 4200", which dared to ask me the question: what if Crystal Tokyo didn't last as long as we all thought it would? That question, so often overlooked by many, was the catalyst for this story. Thanks must be given to the "Crystal Tokyo for the Baka" compendium. My work as its archivist has no doubt contributed to many of the ideas that are found here within "1101." Oyasumi nasai.... There was still some beauty left within Crystal Tokyo. Enclosed by reinforced crystalline walls was a garden, quiet and deserted. Rarely anyone was here at sunrise, for there was never before a sunrise to watch. But even now sunrise was a novelty, and wondrous new miracle to behold; people were content to watch the sun slowly awaken from the solace of their own homes. And so the tranquil beauty of this garden went undisturbed. It would offer sanctuary for those who came. Until then it laid still, and waited. The rays of the dawn penetrated the city, driving back the shadows of the night. Within the transparent--yet virtually indestructible--walls, golden beams vanquished darkside delusions. Flowers stirred in sensing this unexpected warmth, and turned to this source of magical light. Blossoms opened up themselves. Trees and leaves had to restrain from shaking for joy. A once dormant pond sputtered to life, marble fish in its centre abruptly spouting out thin geysers of crystal clear water. Ripples in the pond stirred idle lilypads. The sound of flowing water beckoned more of the garden to come back to life and remember what the world had once been like. The soft croaking of frogs could be heard from amidst the moss and damp earth at the edge of the pond. Butterflies spread their wings and dried their bodies of the morning dew. Soon enough they took to the air and let their colours dance amidst the lush foliage of this garden paradise. Something else stirred with the rest of this newfound life. But it lacked the grogginess of a near-forgotten pleasure of basking beneath the sun's rays. It had always known such beauty, was always inspired by such beauty. Always dreamed of such beauty. In the haze of the garden, as thin slivers of light filtered through the dense clusters of plants and trees, something rippled in the air. If there had been a soul around to disturb this Eden awakening they might have shrugged it off as a mirage, an illusion caused by the banishment of eternal darkness. An illusion may not have been far from the truth. A small sphere of water abruptly burst free from the surface of the pond, causing the flat surface to tremble and splash playfully. It hovered there for a moment, letting white light refract through it into a rainbow of colours. And then it fell back into the pond, sinking into the water without sending up a faint ripple. A quiet, almost inaudible splash was heard. The sound of a footstep falling upon a puddle. It was joined by another. And another. Tiny ripples radiated out from where bare and unseen feet walked upon the water. And then at the edge of the pond, a soul enchanted with this beautiful garden dream appeared. His robes were pale white, of snow and moonbeams woven into cloth, and equally white hair flowed down around his shoulders. Around his collar dangled an ornate and enigmatic talisman that sparkled gold in the newborn sunlight. Eyes of misty blue searched the gardens. "I'm home," Helios said quietly. He stood upon the water but did not sink. With one final step he crossed onto solid ground, onto a cobblestone path reminiscent of an ancient world where magic had once breathed life into a palace upon the moon. It was with both delight and sadness that he saw the world he had once been so close yet so far away from. The realm of Illusion was forever hiding, forever changing its form and face to prevent it from being discovered or captured. Yet for two hundred years Illusion had been granted a most unexpected refuge from the corruption that had overtaken the rest of the planet. For two centuries Illusion had been buried somewhere amidst the sands of time. The one who was both Mamoru and Endymion had in truth possessed an Essence, but one unlike that of the Sailor Senshi. It was one that remained elusive when sought, a mystery when probed. No tests could find it, for it did not want to be found. Being found meant that the safety of Illusion would be betrayed. "It's been too long," Helios whispered to himself, daring to reach out and caress the surface of a great leaf with his fingertips. The plant was cool and smooth to the touch. When Endymion was killed, his last thoughts were of his family. Of Serenity--and his daughter, Chibiusa. Helios had found himself and the Golden Crystal being purged from Endymion in that split second between an assassin's inferno and death, hurled by the king's last wish to make sure she made it home. Endymion sent his Essence to protect Chibiusa. And that Essence was embodied in the Golden Crystal and its keeper. The Essence of Mamoru had been with Helios so long that it was now a part of him. He had become the true guardian of Earth, and had always been since Endymion had died upon the ballroom floor. Yet in not knowing it was there in the first place, the Senshi had assumed Mamoru never possessed an Essence. The absence of one in his clone only seemed to bolster their idea that he was without one entirely, when in fact it was gone to watch over Chibiusa. That error had proven to be near fatal for the entire planet. Helios cast his eyes back to the peaceful waters of the pond behind him. Abruptly the waters became peaceful no more, erupting into a frothing and churning but silent frenzy. Bubbles surged and tumbled over each other and then either disappeared or popped. The pond gave up its captive, a portal opening and revealing the sleeping form of a princess. Hair shimmering pink and framed to form a curious pair of rabbit ears was draped around her face. She wore the uniform of a Jyuban junior high student, but had seen more of heaven and hell than perhaps anyone else her age. A small, golden key hung around her neck was draped out on the water's surface next to her. The sight of her there, lying sprawled out on her stomach and asleep, made Helios smile. He knelt down next to her, one of his bare feet placed upon the pond. The water held him as firmly as solid ground. "Chibiusa, we're home," he said. He'd met her somewhere in the skeins of time, lost from everyone and yet never more than a step away from going home. And ever since, he had been guiding her home. Waiting for the time when she could safely return to a world that would welcome her. That time was now. The Essence of Pluto must have already found itself a new young girl to become a Sailor Senshi. Bestowed upon her the time key. And automatically unlocked the Timegate, giving them both the chance to return to the future. Helios tenderly rested his palm against the sleeping girl's cheeks, feeling the warmth of her skin. Chibiusa stirred and made a soft cooing noise. She had slept the entire time, unknowning of what had happened. In his heart of hearts, Helios did not have the courage to awaken her then and tell her of the tragedy. But they would face the future together. He would always be by her side. Chibiusa's rouge eyes began to slowly open. "Awake, my maiden," he whispered. "Awake...."