There were three great magical workings in the early twentieth century. There was the Amalantrah Working presided over by "The Beast," Aleister Crowley, in 1918. In the ritual, Crowley and the members of the Ordo Templi Orientalis attempted to open a portal into another reality to contact higher intelligences. The participants in the ritual all claimed to have seen and heard a being calling itself "Lam." The drawing Crowley later drew of the creature looked remarkably like the later descriptions of "greys" given by UFO abductees. Later, in 1946, a protégé of Aleister Crowley named Jack Parsons, along with friend and science fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard performed a ritual that has come to be known as the Babylon Working. In the ritual the two, along with a "scarlet woman" who'd volunteered herself, tried to bring about a physical manifestation of Babylon, the Divine Feminine. Whether they succeeded or not has never been proven. It was neither of those two workings that brought the shapely blond Katsu Beniko and her partner to the Tokyo University campus, though. It was the third, the apocryphal "Kanto Working," presided over by the maverick occultist Shimada Shintaro. The failed ritual has attained a legendary status among occultists; a quest for the princesses who ruled the solar system and the utopia they were supposed to bring that culminated in the ritual being interrupted by the Great Kanto Earthquake. Most occultists simply dismissed it as an urban myth. Not Beniko. She knew better. She had a book that had somehow survived the earthquake in Shintaro's own handwriting which detailed how the ritual was to have been performed. Entering the science building, she and her red-haired partner Ozawa Marika headed for Professor Miyagawa's lab. The Professor looked up at the two attractive young women through his wire-rimmed glasses and smiled "Good afternoon, ladies." he said. Marika, her green skirt and black pumps just visible beneath her leather jacket, silently nodded as Beniko spoke for them both. "Have you finished with the devise?" she asked. "Yes, but just barely. For obvious reasons, I've been unable to test it, and I have no idea how long it will last." Beniko was troubled a bit, "What's your best estimate at how long we have?" "Ten minutes. Fifteen tops. Afterwards, it'll need at least twenty-four hours to recharge." Marika, listening and observing all, frowned slightly. She and Beniko had gone through the notes left behind by Shimada with a fine toothed comb. Each time they reread it, it became increasingly apparent to the two that he had made a grave error by commanding the opening of the Gates of Time. An entity was known by Kabbalists and other adepts to guard the timegate. An entity that the magus was ill-equipped to deal with. Luckily, Marika and Beniko had something on their side that Shimada didn't. A mad scientist. "Ten minutes will have to do." Beniko finally said. "We'll have to rush the ritual a bit at that point, but there's not much choice. There's no more time. They'll be on the lookout for her now as well." The scientist looked at her askance. "What do you mean. What's happened?" Marika reached into her leather jacket and pulled out a copy of The Tokyo Times. The large headline caused the blood to drain from the professor's face. "Existence of Tenth Planet Confirmed." ------- Hino Rei had not had much sleep within the last twenty-four hours. She'd sensed menaces before. She could still remember the dreams foretelling the possible rise of the Messiah of Silence. She'd been able to predict upcoming menaces in the past. But she'd never sensed anything like this. Ami had told her and the others that there would be a meeting shortly after Hotaru got out of school at the Outer Senshi's house. A tenth planet had been discovered. As Rei continued to stare into the fires, frustration began to set in. Other than the overwhelming feeling of dread, she couldn't focus in on the source of the upcoming menace. With a sigh of resignation, she got up. In another four hours Hotaru would be home, and in five she would be over to her house. She'd done all she could on her end, hopefully either Michiru or Setsuna could shed some light on what was possibly happening. She warily left the shrine to shower and change into street clothes. While she couldn't pinpoint the menace, she was sure of one thing; the timing of the threat coincided with the discovery of the tenth planet. The two were connected. But how? ------ The woman faced the board in front of her, chalk in hand, as she started writing dates and names up on it. Finally satisfied with what she'd written, she stood off to the side so the others in the room could read it. She turned to them. "Now then, who wants to answer the question about the beginning of the Edo period? Anyone?" A chorus of hands went up in the classroom. Looking around, she smiled as she picked out one of the more energetic young men in the second row. "Yes... Akikazu-san." she said, pointing at the young man with the chalk she was clutching in her hands, "Who was the shogun who ushered in the Edo period?" The student in question stood up from his chair, "Leyasu, who established the Tokugawa government in Edo, Saito-sensei." Saito Kihomi smiled at the young man. "Very good. You may sit back down." she said. As she began to go over the highlights of Leyasu's reign as shogun, she mused on how lucky she was to have landed this teaching job so soon after college. The brunet was quite young (twenty-six, in fact), and looked even younger. While she was quite attractive, she sometimes wished she didn't receive so many invites from her colleagues in the teachers lounge out to dinner. Most of them were far older than her. Besides, she didn't go for men. Her fellow teachers weren't nearly as difficult to handle, however, as the student crushes she'd been dealing with since beginning her tenure at the school the previous fall. Luckily, some of the other female staff had given her some invaluable advice on the subject, and all had been going well so far. Just as she was starting to delve into the destruction of the Toyotomi clan in 1615, the bell rang for lunch period. "We'll continue on Monday." Kihomi called out, "Remember to read pages three hundred to three hundred and fifteen by Monday. Oh, and Tomoe-san, could you please stay after class?" Hotaru looked at her teacher with a puzzled expression, "Sensei?" "Yes, please stay a few minutes." the teacher repeated. As the last of the students left, Hotaru watched nervously as Saito-sensei shut the door and turned back to her. She saw her teacher cross her arms as she looked at her, a worried expression evident in her grey eyes. "Tomoe-san... may I call you Hotaru?" Hotaru slowly nodded her head, "Yes, of course sensei." she answered a bit apprehensively. "Hotaru, is everything okay at home?" Kihomi asked. Hotaru studied her teacher, trying to figure out what to make of the question. "Yes sensei, why?" "You get along okay with your adoptive parents then?" "Of course." "Any siblings? You know, annoying older brothers or sisters?" "No, sensei. I'm an only child." "Hotaru, is there someone who's bullying you? For your lunch money perhaps? Or because your adoptive parents are somewhat wealthy?" Hotaru was now completely baffled as to what her teacher was trying to get at. "Sensei, why are you asking me all this?" she finally asked. Kihomi pointed to a small adhesive bandage above her right eye. "Because of this." she answered, "And the black eye you had about a month ago, and the black and blue mark on your arm before that. Hotaru, are you in some sort of trouble?" Hotaru breathed a sigh of relief as she realized she wasn't in trouble; the teacher was simply concerned for her well-being. The bandage was from a fight with a youma in the city park. The earlier black eye from an altercation with one in a mall, and the mark on her arm had been left after a rather nasty enemy had sent her careening into Usagi in a battle outside an ice cream parlor. As she looked once again into the concerned grey eyes of her teacher however, Hotaru realized she'd better come up with a logical explanation for her bruises quickly. "Well, actually, um... I've been taking self-defense lessons, sensei." Kihomi raised her eyebrow at that, "Self-defense lessons?" she asked skeptically. "Yes sensei, the classes are given by a family friend, Kino Makoto. We use padding and try to stay safe, but sometimes accidents do happen, of course." Kihomi studied her for a few seconds. "I see." she said finally. "Very well, you may leave." Hotaru started to walk to the door, but stopped when she reached the doorknob. "Sensei." she said, turning back to her teacher. "Yes Hotaru?" Kihomi asked. "I... Well, nothing is going on. Honestly. But... But thank you for caring enough to check up." Kihomi smiled warmly at her student. "Of course. Just remember; if you ever need someone to talk to, I'm here." Hotaru returned the smile before she exited the door and left for lunch. Kihomi turned back to her desk to prepare for her next class. ------ "May I ask you a question?" Marika turned to the speaker, a young man in his mid-twenties with a nose ring. She stared at him intently, her face betraying no emotion. The man began to become uncomfortable under her gaze. "I, um... well, that is... You have a Japanese name, but you're not Japanese. I was just wondering, um, why..." he stopped when he realized the redhead with the short hair wasn't going to answer him. He turned uncomfortably away from her and walked away. On the other side of the room, another man watched on uneasily as the exchange took place. "Professor Miyagawa, is the devise ready?" Miyagawa turned to the speaker, Beniko, and nodded. The young blond noted the professor's unease. "Is there something wrong with the device?" she asked. The professor shook his head. "No, nothing. It'll work just like I promised." Beniko smiled gleefully. The device took up almost all of the spare room outside the main circle, which was why they were renting the warehouse during the five-day ritual. The huge device, when activated, would create a steady stream of negatively charged ion particles. Once the ritual reached its climax, the professor would flick a switch, causing a mini time warp. The subatomic particles would then begin to be sent backward in time. A built-in randomizer would cause the warp to constantly shift every ten seconds. Each time the randomizer activated, the particles would be sent backward to a different time. It could be a hundred years ago, thirty seconds in the past, or even the dawn of time. It was an amazing technical and scientific achievement. It was also one of the largest red herrings in human history. If there was a time guardian, the machine would hopefully keep it distracted on a wild goose chase through time long enough for the ritualists to gain access to the time gate. Unfortunately, they would have only ten minutes in which to do so. Beniko turned her smiling continence away from the marvelous device back to the still nervous face of Professor Miyagawa. "Professor, if the device looks like it's going to function properly, what's the problem?" "Her." The professor answered, indicating Beniko's partner Marika. Beniko frowned. "What about her?" she asked. "Katsu-sama, the ritual the two of you will be performing tonight, it's a sex-rite." Beniko raised her eyebrow, "So?" "So, look at her. She doesn't look a day over sixteen, seventeen tops." The blond smiled at the professor, "She's older than she looks, professor. Far older." she answered. She would've said more, but Marika gave her a stern look of warning from the other side of the room. "Another thing." the professor added, "On the fifth night, the ritual calls for human blood. We don't have a sacrifice yet." Beniko smiled, "Don't worry, professor. When the time comes, we'll have a victim." Before the professor could ask any more questions, the rest of the group entered the warehouse. Most, never having seen Professor Miyagawa's large machine, stared in awe at the vacuum chamber, the wires and tubes running in and out of it, and the monstrous size of it all. The professor went to enter the huge circle drawn around the contraption as Beniko addressed the group. "Ladies and gentleman," she began, "Eighty-three years ago, a ritual was attempted to force the manifestation of the Princesses who rule over the solar system. As you're all well aware, the ritual was a failure, interrupted as it was by the Kanto earthquake. Also, it is believed by many that the Princesses are now among us, and are in fact the heroes known as the Sailor Senshi." "There are nine Senshi in total. If they are in fact the Princesses, then according to ancient Inca and Innuit folklore which speak of a tenth planet, there must be a tenth Senshi out there somewhere. We intend, through this working, to bring about her manifestation and bring about her subjugation to our collective wills. Theoretically, the fact that her planet is the farthestmost would make her one of the most powerful. With such a being under our control, the possibilities are limitless." "Up until now, we've been able to safely take our time; the tenth planet was considered little more than a myth, and no one else would appear to be on the lookout for either it or it's Senshi. Unfortunately, that has all changed. The world at large now knows of its existence." ------ "It was discovered in two thousand and four." Ami said, addressing the Inner and Outer Senshi in the room. "Its discoverers initially named it "Sedna" after an Inuit sea-goddess, but it was later nicknamed "Xena" by one of the discoverers who was a fan of the American show. In October of last year, a moon was discovered rotating around the object..." "Usagi." Rei whispered as she elbowed the blond next to her. "Stay awake, this is important." "(yawn) But science is so dull." Usagi complained. "Usagi." Makoto put in, "The whole point of this is that there might be a tenth Senshi out there. Try to pay attention." "...The scientists jokingly named it Gabriel, after Xena's friend on the show." "Please." Haruka murmured under her breath, "They were so more than friends." Michiru put her finger to her mouth in a gesture for Haruka to be quiet. Ami looked through her notes as she continued briefing her friends. ------ Kihomi sighed as she sat behind the desk in her classroom. She was trying to grade a set of papers now before she got home, with the hope of possibly going out later to have some fun. Unfortunately, she was only a third of the way through the papers. There was no way she'd be able to finish grading the lot before the school building closed for the evening. Frustrated, she took a sip of her coffee. She was glad to have made it this far, but she was also lonely. Since her parents passed away in her late teens in an auto accident, she'd had to work two jobs to pay for her teaching degree. She had it now, but as a teacher she had very little social life. Her colleagues were all older men and women (straight women, no less), and she dealt with children all day. What she really wished for, more than anything, was a group of friends around her own age like she'd had back in high school. Shaking herself out of her daydreams, she took another sip of coffee and continued grading the papers in front of her. ------ A spell is a formula, usually designed around a ritual, meant to direct the will of a group of participants towards a common goal. To do this, energy must be raised, contained within a field (usually a magical circle), and at the right moment released out into the outside world to do the magicians' bidding. Several methods of raising the necessary energy are available, such as the use of mind-altering drugs, infliction of pain on oneself or others, meditation, frenzied dancing, and sex. Tonight's ritual would be an act of sex magic. Beniko and Marika would be the two partners, while a male magician would be in charge of actually saying the words and directing the energy out of the circle at the right time. The others would all be chanting as they cut themselves with small razor blades, adding their pain to the energy already being raised in the circle. Professor Miyagawa would have the most critical job though. He would have to turn his machine on at just the right moment. As the last participant disrobed and entered the circle, Professor Miyagawa started up his machine. The High Priest began to cast the circle. ------ Rei's eyes suddenly opened wide as she took in a sharp intake of air. "The planet is two thousand miles wide, making it roughly five hundred and fifty miles wider than Pluto." Something was happening, something bad. Michiru suddenly began to feel something too. "Usagi, wake up." Minako said as the other girl's eyes were slowly closing. "The planet seems to take about ten thousand years to complete an orbit. Now that it is officially a planet and no longer a suspected planetoid, the International Astronomical Union, or IAU has abandoned the names Xena and Sedna, and have named it after the Roman Goddess Minerva." Rei felt dizzy as she tried to stand. Michiru reached for her mirror as Ami continued on with what they knew so far. ------ "Oh ye Guardians of the East Gate, Lords of the Air, we summon ye to protect this circle." the magus called out. Having already called upon the north, west and south guardians, the circle was now secure. Beniko lay on her back on top of the pentagram drawn out on the floor, spreading her arms and legs out to match the shape of the five-pointed star. She was to be the living altar, the receptacle. Marika looked silently down at her as a smile slowly crept across her face. She moved closer, and stopped as her smile faded. Someone, or something, was trying to eavesdrop. She closed her eyes and concentrated. ------ "Rei!" Usagi screamed. Everyone looked to where the Shinto Priestess and Senshi of Mars had fallen to the floor. Makoto reached her first. Michiru quickly glanced to her mirror. The glass had gone black. ------ Opening her eyes again, Marika once again smiled down at Beniko. As she began to kneel down in front of her, her eyes rolled back and her mouth opened, exposing her forked tongue. "In the name of the old gods, the name of the spirits of darkness, we command ye gates to open." As the blood flowed from the chanters and the room began to be filled with the sounds of invocations and moans of pleasure, Professor Miyagawa flicked the switch. They now had ten minutes. ------ "Rei!" Minako screamed, "Rei!" "What happened?" Hotaru asked. Makoto, holding the young woman, shook her head. "I don't know. She was getting up, and..." Haruka turned from their fallen friend to Michiru. "Michi-chan, what's happening? What does your mirror show?" Setsuna suddenly felt a jolt go through her body. "I... I don't know. The mirror isn't working." The Senshi of time could feel her entire body tingling. "Rei, wake up." Usagi cried, a tear traveling doen her right cheek, "Please, wake up." Ami was kneeling down holding Rei's hand in hers. "Rei, what's wrong? What's happening." Suddenly a second jolt went through Setsuna's body, roughly ten seconds after the first. "Time." she gasped. Haruka looked at her fellow Outer Senshi. "What? What about time? What's..." "Pluto Power Make-up!" Setsuna shouted, transforming into Sailor Pluto. An instant later, she was gone. ------ "We command you dimensional gates, open!" the magus called out over the sounds coming from the floor, "We command you gates of time, open! We call upon ye, hidden forces, hasten the manifestation of Princess Minerva. This we command!" "Hasten the manifestation!" all within the circle, with the exception of the two on the floor, began to chant, "Hasten the manifestation! This we command! This we command!" ------ The janitor, an old man in his fifties, ran down the school halls as fast as he could toward where he heard the scream. As he ran, he heard a second, louder one. Finally reaching the classroom at the end of the hall, he found Saito Kihomi kneeling on the floor. She was clutching her head as blood slowly began running down her nose and out of her ears. Her graded papers lay strewn about on the floor, some of them resting in the puddle left from her coffee cup smashing against the tile floor. "Saito-sempai!" the janitor cried. "What's wrong, what's happening?" Tears streamed down the young teachers face as the pain became almost unbearable. "I... I don't know, I... AAAARGH!" she screamed as her face contorted from the sudden surge of pain once again tearing through her head. The janitor got up. "Wait here, I'll get help." he said as he rushed out of the room to find a phone to call an ambulance. Now alone again, unseen by anyone around her, a strangely-shaped sigil began to glow on Kihomi's forehead. ---To Be Continued--- End notes: Source material comes from various occult books and websites. This kind of story is somewhat new to me; I've never written anything this dark before. This is therefore a bit of an experiment for me, so bear with me.
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