The chilling melody of clashing blades echoed throughout the sharp winter air, creating a cacophony of sound. For a moment, it seemed as if the two female fighters were outnumbered by the beasts that moved among them, but finally, the smaller warrior stood upright, clasping her hands in a silent prayer. Bright red light surrounded the dismal landscape, creating a startling contrast to the blood stained battlefield. The light exploded around the onslaught of beasts, rampaging across their ranks, and causing them to explode in a grisly combination of blood and bone. The girl smiled at her comrade, and they both walked away, daintily stepping over charred bodies. "So she’s around here somewhere?" "Must be. No one else could..." "Then we have to hurry. We don’t want anyone to know we’re here." They both walked off slowly, and the creatures behind them faded into dust, and scattered away in the wind. ~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~ "Any time tomorrow the rain will play a part Of a play I used to know Like no other, used to know it all by heart But a shadowman inside has let it go..." ~K’s Choice, Shadowman After school, Usagi headed off to the Hikawa shrine, with Mitsuki in tow. She had asked Mitsuki to stay outside for a moment, and went in to explain the odd occurrence to the rest of the Senshi. "So...let me get this straight. A girl popped up on your doorstep in the middle of the night, and she says she’s from another planet." Rei asked her leader, raising an eyebrow quizzically. "That’s right." "And you just let her stay in your house?" Usagi frowned and pouted. "Well, she doesn’t seem bad..." "Things are not always what they seem, Usagi," Michiru interjected gently. The others nodded and murmured in agreement. Ami frowned and clicked on her mini-computer. Without looking up, she asked, "Don’t you think she’s just a little strange?" Usagi squirmed, sensing that she was about to be scolded for poor judgment. "She’s an alien. Of course she’s strange." "She doesn’t look like an alien," Haruka said, staring outside at the porch where Mitsuki sat, catching snowflakes on her fingertips. "Neither do we dear," Michiru quipped. Haruka scratched her head sheepishly and nodded. "Yeah, point taken." "I couldn’t scan her earlier, but she seems to have odd energy traces now that I look at it. Watch how they fluctuate." The others crowded around Ami and watched the demonstration on the small screen. "That’s um...what is it?" Usagi asked. "Her energy patterns are definitely not normal, as far as human beings go. I don’t know if she’s an alien or not, but I wouldn’t be surprised if she was telling the truth," Ami said. "Do you think she might be dangerous?" Rei asked. "I’m...not sure." Ami scratched her head and tapped a pencil against her thigh. "We’ll have to wait and see." "We could ask Setsuna!" Minako exclaimed suddenly. Both Haruka and Michiru shook their heads. "She wouldn’t tell you," Haruka said. "Once, I asked her what Michiru was getting me for my birthday, and she told me she couldn’t interfere or some—" "Haruka!" "Well, she didn’t tell me anyway, so what does it matter?" The Inners gave both of the present Outers strange looks, and Makoto stared out at Mitsuki. "Hmm. Hey, I bet she’s cold. Maybe we should let her in...she really seems harmless enough." Rei sighed and shook her head. "Let her in." ~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~ "So...Rei...Haruka, and Michiru. It’s a pleasure to meet you." Mitsuki smiled weakly, trying to shake the odd feeling she was getting from the others. Rei nodded, and both Haruka and Michiru smiled. "Nice to meet you," said Haruka. "It’s a pleasure to meet you as well," Michiru said. Rei frowned, shook out her hair, bit her lip. "How did you get here?" Mitsuki blinked, a bit surprised at the question. "I don’t know." "You don’t know?" Rei raised an eyebrow. Mitsuki nodded her head. "I don’t know." "Where were you before you ended up here? What, did you just fall asleep and wake up on another planet?" "Actually...something like that. I had...we were waiting for morning, the others and I." "The others? Why were you waiting?" "The others. The other children of Ni. I am the First, Kazuki is the Last." "Ni?" "Ni. The goddess who created our planet, and who was slain by Umbra, her daughter." "So you’re half-goddess?" Mitsuki laughed. "No, no! It’s just a term we use. It means we’ve been blessed by Ni. We’re the only ones who can defeat Umbra." "You never said why you were waiting." "We were waiting...for the last battle. We had to follow the prophecy, so that’s why we waited." "Prophecy?" Minako frowned. "Rei, give her five seconds before you ask her another question, okay?" Mitsuki shook her head. "No, it’s alright. I can answer. The prophecy was given to me, and the others along our journey. First, it told us the history of our world, a story that everyone had forgotten over the years. ... the Goddess crumbled under the hand of Darkness, her own blood. And the World crumbled, and was reborn again, as Ni. The Darkness washed over Ni, and Ni created Her Children, blessed and ordained with Her Light. But each time they fought, the Darkness towered over them, destroying their precious power. Now Ni has one last hope, the Last Children, the Last Strength of Ni. If you do not vanquish the Darkness, Ni will crumble again, and Her name will be forgotten once more, scattered amongst the Galaxy." "Sounds like pressure," Makoto said. "Yes." Mitsuki suddenly looked sad. "It was." "You said something about ‘Kazuki’ being the Last. Who’s Kazuki, and why is that person last?" Ami asked. "The numbers we are given are based on our elemental gifts. I am the Hikari, and thus, the light. Kazuki is my opposite, the darkness. She was also the last person we found among our journey." "And the others?" Michiru asked. "Hotaka is the Second, imbued with wind, Ririko is the Third, imbued with fire, Nami is the Fourth, imbued with water, Ginrou is the Fifth, imbued with thunder, Juutarou is the Sixth, imbued with earth, and Suejirou is the Seventh, imbued with ice." "Wow. Sounds kind of like...nevermind," Usagi mumbled, scratching her head. "By any chance, you guys don’t run around in fukus, do you?" Mitsuki, confused, shook her head. "I don’t think the boys would have liked wearing those..." "Oh. Some of your teammates are guys?" "That’s right." Usagi looked relieved. "Good." ~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~ "Bless you, the light and hope of all. Tears drift from heaven, angels fall. Forever now, know my plight. Destroy the shadows, embrace the light." The woman finished her odd bit of poetry and blew out puffs of winter air, shivering and hugging herself tightly. She was petite, delicate, with elegant, distinctly Asian features. Her flame red hair was tied up in a long ponytail, her azure eyes glinted with a sort of world-weary harshness. She wore a simple kimono, frayed at the edges, and a long, dangerous-looking katana was strapped to her back. She whistled, walked through the snow at a slow, almost lumbering pace, and the air around her shimmered slightly, a bright, gentle warm red light surrounded her. When it faded, the katana was gone, as was the kimono. Now, she was clothed in what she assumed was the manner of dress in this place, a puffy, pale orange sweater, a pair of snug jeans, snow boots, a long red scarf, a matching hat and coat. Still, she shivered, stuffed her hands in oversized pockets. "Freezing. Kazuki left... ‘you handle it,’ she says. How dare she? I despise the cold, the snow. Too cold...I can feel it, deep in my bones, this primitive place, unholy ice ball that it is! Why did it have to be winter? Why can't it be spring, summer, even fall would be preferred over this hellish, painful cold!" She continued her rant and squealed girlishly when a snowball hit her in the back. She turned quickly, ready to ruthlessly murder who ever the trickster was. "Fool, you will...Ni, no!" "Yes." A smooth, sensuous purr. A woman stood, stately, seductive, throwing a perfect snowball in the air. "Aww, Riko-chan, does the cold bother the widdle baby? Very sexy jeans, by the way." The redhead glared at her, bit her lip to suppress a scream of rage. "Nami! What are you doing here? Well?" Nami, as she was called, laughed, ran her fingers through her dark blue hair. "Don't be that way, Ririko. I'm here to help, darling. Kazuki left, did she not?" Blue eyes, dark as the sea at night, flickered with mirth. Ririko grumbled something in the affirmative, clenched her fist and hissed a curse in some strange language. "So I'm stuck on this ice ball with you?" Nami laughed. "I believe the term is 'mud ball.' And yes, you are stuck here with me." She gave the other woman a dazzling smile. "Now to work, little one! Evil is afoot, and all that loveliness." She threw the snowball at Ririko and giggled in glee, running off and soon disappearing in a bright, aqua-blue light. Ririko sighed, stretched, and ducked the snowball that came her way. Cursing whatever god had decided to punish her with her elemental opposite for the mission, she disappeared in a flash of brilliant red light. ~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~ She was trapped, for now, but her power grew stronger. Feeding off the aura of the precious spark of the Hikari, blessed on high, was the only way she kept alive. Ironic, the thing that had her here was the only thing that kept her going. But all she had to do was wait. Time was insignificant, for one who had lived as long as her. Winter, what a beautiful time for her to return. Soon, shadows would wash across this tiny speck of a planet, and she would return to power. The Hikari would perish, finally. She had waited for centuries. A few months was nothing. She smiled, curled closer into the sweet, warm light and fell asleep. If she pretended, she could almost believe it was her mother cradling her again, when she was still the loved one, the golden child. Miles away, Setsuna Meioh dropped her teacup, wracked by a chill she could not explain.
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