"I hight Don Quixote, I live on peyote, marijuana, morphine, and cocaine, I never know sadness, but only a madness that burns at the heart and the brain. I see each chairwoman, ecstatic, inhuman, angelic, demonic, divine. Each wagon a dragon, each beer mug a flagon that brims with ambrosial wine." Jack Parsons, 1943 ---- ---The Silver Millennium--- The small planet had never known war or hunger. Some attributed it to good fortune, while others gave the credit to the rich soil which was perfect for agriculture. Most, however, credited it to the princess. Universally loved by all, it was said that the ruler of the kingdom's beauty and kindness were matched only by her wisdom and strength. When Minerva was happy, her people were happy. When she felt sadness, such as at the death of one of her wives she'd had over the hundreds of years of her existence, the kingdom grieved with her. The affection was mutual, as the Princess Minerva cared deeply for all those under her care. Which was what made today so bittersweet. Two months ago, the visitors came. A group of emissaries sent on a goodwill visit from Neptune to Pluto had been blown far off course by the solar winds. Their food supplies nearly gone and despair setting in among the ambassadors, they had somehow through sheer luck arrived at the tiny kingdom. With them came incredible news. Minerva was not alone. There were other Princesses, nine in all. Minerva sat enthralled upon her throne as the men and women of Neptune told her about their aqua-haired ruler and her love Princess Uranus, as well as stories about the other rulers in the solar system. And about the Queen who ruled all from her palace on a moon circling a beautiful blue and green planet. When they finished, a tear of joy slowly ran down Minerva's face. She wasn't an orphan; there were others. She decided then that she must meet her fellow rulers. After hearing the stories of them from the ambassadors, she already felt like she knew them. For her to be unaware of their existence and them to be unaware of hers was intolerable. She would see that their ship would be repaired, and then she would go with them. The decision had been made two months ago, and the repairs had now been made. She would be leaving with them tomorrow. As she paced her state room and prepared to address her people, she looked once again at the pictures that the ambassadors had given her of her "sisters." The silver-haired Queen and her blond child, the solemn-looking Saturn, and the others all gave her cause to smile. There was one hauntingly beautiful picture though that had captured her attention. She was concentrating on the Princess in the image so hard she didn't hear her chamberlain Maiya enter the room. "Minerva, it is time. The people await your announcement." She nodded and began to walk out onto the palace balcony. Before she could cross the room though, Maiya grabbed hold of her arm. "My princess, I beg you, don't do this." the chamberlain pleaded. Minerva turned back to her and smiled reassuringly. "I'll only be gone a short while. And I fully trust in your capabilities to rule in my absence." Maiya looked down, "I know, but..." "Maiya, please try to understand. There are others now. I'm not alone anymore." "But you weren't alone before." Maiya argued, "What about your people, and your wives?" Minerva took a deep breath, "My people will always have a special place in my heart. And as for the wives I've had over the years... Do you have any idea what it's like to fall in love with someone, to marry them, and then watch them grow old and die as you remain ever youthful? It's torture." she said, her voice cracking a bit at the end. "Now please, we can continue this discussion later." she said as she turned again and walked out onto the balcony of the palace. As the crowd outside cheered and Minerva waved her arms to silence them so she could deliver her speech, her chamberlain left the Princess' chamber, wiping away a tear as she did so. ---The Present--- Kihomi stifled a yawn as she left the hospital. The staff had decided it best to keep her overnight for observation, since the X-rays and tests had shown no anomalies. Kihomi didn't argue; she was too frightened to. She'd never felt pain that intense in her life. The doctors came into her room in the morning and admitted they were baffled as to what might have happened. She was released, and told to notify them immediately if anything like that happened again. As she hailed a cab, she gave a sigh of relief as she realized today was Saturday. Once she went home, she planned to take a long shower and go out to the mall. She'd seen a coat she'd liked at one of the stores, and she also needed to walk around and think about what had happened. She always found it easier to think on her feet than when she was sitting around inactive. A taxi stopped in front of her, and she got in. ------ Rei's eyes slowly opened to find herself in Usagi's bedroom. Looking over to her left, she saw Mamoru asleep in a small chair, with Luna sleeping in his lap. Rising up to a sitting position, her movements woke up the cat. "Rei! You're awake!" Luna cried out as she jumped from Mamoru's lap to the bed. Mamoru awoke and smiled. "How are you feeling?" he asked the priestess. "A bit light headed. Where is everyone?" "Well, after Hotaru's powers were unable to bring you around, we decided it best to bring you here. Makoto had to work at the restaurant today, and Ami is busy collecting data for her med school paper on the heart. They'll both be along later. The Outers will be around later as well. And as for Minako and Usagi, they're both here waiting anxiously for you to wake up." "I see..." Rei murmured as Luna looked at her in concern. "Chiba-san, get Usagi and Minako, please. We need to know what's happening." Mamoru nodded, "While I'm at it, I'll get you something to eat." he said before he left. Left alone Luna turned to the young woman on the bed. "Rei, do you have any idea what might've happened?" Rei shook her head, "None. I can only sense a menace coming, and I believe it has something to do with this tenth planet." Just then Usagi and Minako rushed in, followed by Artemis. Luna only barely managed to get out of the way before the two friends hugged their fellow Senshi. "Rei, you're okay!" Usagi shouted with joy. Minako let go of her and backed up a bit. "Rei," the Senshi of Love began, "What happened?" "There's a menace coming." Rei answered, "A bad one." Luna nodded, "And she believes it has something to do with the recently discovered planet." Rei put her hand to her forehead as she tried to clear her head, "None of this makes any sense. How could we not know about a tenth planet, or a possible tenth Senshi?" "Well," Minako began, "According to Ami, the planet was located far beyond Pluto in a stretch of space known as the..." she stopped to pull out a slip of paper she'd taken notes on, "The Kuiper Belt, which apparently is also home to comets, asteroids and various other large chunks of space rock. That, and the fact the planet takes so long to complete its orbit, would probably explain how we could've missed it." "It makes sense." Artemis pointed out, "An object only slightly larger than Pluto could very easily be hidden among such space debris." "A new planet, and a new Sailor Senshi." Usagi said with a dreamy smile. Rei frowned. "And a new menace." she reminded. "Rei, you don't think the unknown Senshi is the menace, do you?" Minako asked. The Shinto priestess shook her head, "I don't know. The two are connected, but I can't tell yet if they're the same." ------ Hotaru watched as her Setsuna-mama wandered off to the back of the clothing store. She then turned back to Haruka and Michiru. Both noticed the look of concern on her face. "Hotaru, relax." Michiru said, "Everything will be alright." "I wish I could be so sure." Hotaru answered, "Between Setsuna-mama's running off yesterday, the revelation that there may be a tenth Senshi, and my inability to help Rei..." "Calm down firefly." Haruka urged, putting a reassuringly firm hand on her shoulder, "Rei's in no danger, Setsuna's back, and as for the possibility of another Senshi out there somewhere, we'll begin searching just as soon as Rei recovers." Hotaru was about to say more, when she saw a familiar face near the store's entrance. Saito Kihomi walked into the store through the mall entrance, an old green jacket thrown on over her white blouse. She had her hair up in a bun, with a few brown hairs dangling down around her attractive face. A pair of red tanned boots was just visible beneath her blue jeans, and she had a dark brown purse at her side. "Saito-sensei!" a girl's voice called. Kihomi turned to her left to see one of her favorite students, Tomoe Hotaru, waving to her. She smiled and waved back as her student began to walk over. The child was followed by two people Kihomi took to be her adopted parents. "Sensei." Hotaru said as she bowed to her teacher, "What are you doing here?" "The same thing as you, I'd imagine." Kihomi joked, "I'm here clothes shopping." "A-hem." the sandy blond behind Hotaru said exaggeratedly. The Senshi of Death blushed in embarrassment. "Oh yeah; sensei, these are two of my adoptive parents, Tenoh Haruka and Kaioh Michiru. Haruka-Papa, Michiru-mama, this is my Japanese history teacher Saito-sensei." "You can call me Kihomi, though." the brunet said, bowing respectfully to the two. Haruka and Michiru both returned the bow. As they came up, Kihomi noticed their matching wedding rings. "Hotaru-san told me she had three adoptive parents. You two must be the husband and wife of the trio, then." "Well, something like that." Michiru said. Hotaru started to giggle. "Hotaru-san, what's so funny?" Kihomi asked. Hotaru was about to elaborate, when Haruka gave her a stern look. It was one thing for their close friends to know they were a married lesbian couple, but they didn't know this teacher well enough to explain things to her. The racecar driver then turned from her daughter to Kihomi. "You'll have to forgive Hotaru." Haruka explained, "She..." the blond stopped when she realized the teacher was no longer paying attention. She was staring off at something behind her and Michiru, with a strange look in her eyes. Kihomi saw the most ravishingly beautiful woman she'd ever seen coming down one of the clothing aisles. She held a cell phone in her hand, and wore a form fitting light-green business suit, with a skirt that showed off her long sensuous legs. Her long hair hung down to her calves, and her violet eyes twinkled beneath the mall lights. The others turned to see what was so captivating. All they saw was Setsuna coming toward them, folding up her cell phone. "Good news everyone." The Senshi of Time called over, "Rei's awake. Mamoru just called, and she's doing fine. I..." her voice trailed off as she noted the young woman standing with her family. "Hello." she said, staring into the pretty grey eyes of a very attractive stranger, "I don't believe we've met before." she said with a smile. Kihomi was speechless. Her mouth had gone dry, and it felt like the temperature in the store had gone up a few degrees. Luckily, Hotaru stepped in. "This is my teacher, Saito-sensei. Saito-sensei, this is my Setsuna-mama." Kihomi continued to gaze in awe at Setsuna, as the slightly shorter woman stared back, equally enthralled with what she was seeing. Finally shaking herself out of it, Kihomi bowed to her. "You... You may call me Kihomi, Setsuna-sama." she stammered out, even as she could feel her face turning red. What was she doing? Here she was, a twenty-six year old school teacher, behaving like a teenager with a schoolgirl crush. "Kihomi." Setsuna said. "It's a beautiful name, Kihomi-sama." Haruka and Michiru looked at the two women, and smiled as they exchanged knowing glances. Hotaru, beginning to suspect what was happening, looked over to the Senshi of Time. "Setsuna-mama," she began reluctantly, "If Rei is awake, shouldn't we go to check up on her?" "Hmm...?" Setsuna asked, lost in Kihomi's eyes. "I said, shouldn't we check up on Rei?" "Rei? Rei! Of course, Rei." Setsuna said, the usually mysterious and aloof Senshi blushing in embarrassment herself now. "Yes, we need to go and see Rei. I'm sorry to have to leave Kihomi-sama, but a friend of ours isn't doing well, and we have to go check up on her. Maybe we can talk again sometime." she said, as she began to turn around. Haruka, Michiru and Hotaru began to follow her out. "When?" Kihomi blurted out. She immediately regretted it when Setsuna stopped and turned back to her. The question was way too forward, way too desperate sounding. Besides, she didn't even know if the woman was interested in girls, she... "Do you have any plans tomorrow night around eight?" Setsuna asked. Kihomi smiled. "No, none." "Then lets get together for dinner maybe." the fashion designer suggested. "Of course." she answered, her smile widening, "Dinner sounds great." Setsuna returned Kihomi's smile warmly before opening her purse. A few seconds later, she pulled out a pen and a small notebook. She wrote her cell number down on one of the sheets and handed it to the teacher. "Call me tomorrow. We'll make arrangements." Kihomi bowed once again to Setsuna as she took the sheet. "Thank you, I will." she promised. She turned away, clutching the sheet with both hands as if it were a gold bar. She held it closer, noting with satisfaction that it smelled of the woman's intoxicating perfume. She put the sheet in her purse and went off to look for the coat she was interested in. Setsuna, meanwhile, watched the teacher's hips sway as she walked away. She took a deep breath, and turned back to see three very amused faces staring at her. "What?" she asked. ------ "How much longer, professor?" Beniko asked. The professor turned to her and smiled, "Not much longer. The machine should be recharged in another three hours." he said as Marika entered the warehouse. The redhead was wearing her usual leather jacket and was carrying a small box that had holes punched in it. "I see. Your machine is a complete success. You should be proud, Miyagawa-sempai." "Thank you, I..." as the professor watched, Marika opened the box behind Beniko and took out a small mouse. She gripped it in her hand, and snapped its head back forcibly with her thumb, killing it. She then opened her mouth and ate the rodent. "The years and money it took to complete such a machine boggles the mind." Beniko added. The professor didn't answer the blond. He simply stared wide-eyed as Marika killed and ate a second, and then a third mouse. "When we succeed in this endeavor, it will be in no small part thanks to you, and... Professor? Professor, is everything okay?" Beniko asked as the professor began to look ill. She turned to see her partner finishing up her meal, and returned her gaze back to Professor Miyagawa. "Professor, I..." "What exactly is she?" the professor asked, as he tried to control the rising tide of nausea threatening to overtake him. Marika looked over through half-closed eyes and frowned at the professor. "Professor, who or what she is doesn't concern you. We are after power. She's here to help us attain power. That's all you need to know." The professor looked from one young woman to the other, and slowly turned and went back to his machine. Beniko went over to her lover, and allowed the silent redhead to take her by the wrist and lead her into a secluded area off in the back of the warehouse. From where he was stationed, professor Miyagawa could hear the sounds of love-making, as well as what vaguely resembled the sounds of a dog growling.
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