Those who are courageous out of daring are killed. Those who are courageous out of love survive. The first is harmful, the second beneficial The Tao Te Ching, chapter 73 ------ Kihomi slowly opened her eyes to find herself lying on a futon in a large room with what looked like a fire pit in it. She slowly sat up and began to look around. At first she wasn't sure where she was, but she was fairly certain she wasn't in Setsuna's house anymore. As her eyes wandered, she saw two cats staring intently at her. One was white, while the other was black, and both sported what looked like crescent-shaped moon designs on their foreheads. The black cat seemed to nudge the white one, who quickly went scurrying off. A few of Kihomi's bangs were hanging down over her eyes, and she went to brush them away. That was when she noticed the white glove on her arm. Looking over, she saw a second glove on her other arm. In fact, she now realized she was dressed up in a fuku just like the one she'd imagined seeing last night during her hallucinations back at the house with Setsuna's friends. Last night. Her face turned red when she remembered suffering her attack in front of everyone like that. With a sigh she hoped that, even if she had managed to totally ostracize the others by what happened, that Setsuna would still be there for her. After all, she had promised to be there, hadn't she? But then again, at the moment she had more pressing concerns. Such as; exactly where in the hell was she? And why was she wearing an outfit she saw yesterday in a hallucination? Slowly getting to her feet, she heard footsteps behind her. "Hello." she said as she straightened up, "Perhaps you could tell me where I am and why I'm dressed like..." she trailed off as she turned and saw the white cat run back into the room followed by the heroes known as the Sailor Senshi, "...this?" Kihomi was now at a loss; she'd seen news footage of the women in front of her in action, and therefore knew who they were. What she still did not know however, was why they were here or why she was dressed like one of them. There were two possibilities open before her, neither of which was very appealing. The first was that she had gone completely insane and was no longer able to differentiate between fantasy and reality. The second was that all this was really happening. One of the Senshi, the one wearing a red skirt with long black hair Kihomi remembered from yesterday saying something about somebody taking someone away, stepped forward in front of the others. "Saito Kihomi-sama," she began, "My name is Sailor Mars. And before we go any further, this is real." Kihomi's eyes widened; how did this woman know she was wondering about that? "In fact, it's all been real." The Senshi continued, "Someone has been attacking you, trying to manipulate and control you against your will." Kihomi looked stunned. She scanned the faces of the other Sailor Senshi, seeing concerned and pained expressions on their countenances. "You... You mean like some sort of... psychic rape?" the teacher asked, suddenly feeling sick and violated. She noticed behind Sailor Mars one of the Senshi, a ravishingly beautiful woman holding a staff with a garnet orb at the top, suddenly looked like she was going to cry at the word "rape." A second Senshi, with wavy aqua hair, put a consoling hand on the first one's shoulder. Sailor Mars sadly nodded her head, "Yes. That's why we're here; to help you." Kihomi shook her head, "This doesn't make any sense. Why me? If someone were going to try to take over another person, why wouldn't they go after a member of parliament or a billionaire or someone like that? Why me? I'm just a history teacher." Sailor Mars took a deep breath, "Because... You're a Senshi. You're one of us." Kihomi was speechless. She looked at Mars, then at the other women behind her, and finally down at the fuku she was wearing. Looking back up, she saw a Senshi with long blond hair pulled up into two ponytails on either side of her head step forward. "Kihomi-sama," the young woman began, "My name's Sailor Moon. We know this is difficult, but... But we believe that in a past life you were the princess of a planet called Minerva. Unfortunately, there's only one way to be sure. We... We want your permission to open your memories." Kihomi froze, "You mean, you want to get into my head too?" she asked, her voice betraying her fear. The Senshi that was holding the staff stepped forward now. "Kiho-cha... Kihomi-sama," the woman began, quickly correcting herself, "I'm Sailor Pluto. We're not like those... those monsters who are trying to hurt you. We... I, I give you my word; no harm will come to you by what we wish to do." The teacher was frightened; she didn't know any of these women, and had yet to be told where she was. But there was something about the woman's voice, and the look in her eyes, that was comforting in a strange way. Besides, at this point she was as anxious to know exactly what was going on as everyone else. "What... do I have to do?" she asked, her voice just above a whisper. Sailors Mars and Pluto stepped forward. Mars could still remember the time Pluto used her powers to show her fellow Inners the dreams of the Silence threatening the world when they were at the planetarium a few years ago. Today, the two of them would be working together to revive the young teacher's memories of her past life and share them with the others. "Close your eyes," the Senshi of fire said as the others began to walk over as well, "And try to empty your mind. Kihomi swallowed hard and did as she was instructed. She felt Sailors Pluto and Mars lay their hands on her head, and saw a bright white light. She and the other Senshi in the room now saw the Kingdom of Minerva. Queen Serenity's kingdom on the moon and the future Crystal Tokyo could scarcely be more beautiful than the paradise they now saw before them. The centuries passed. The ruler, a wise and gracious princess, fell in love and married, only to watch her wife slowly grow old and die while she stayed young. She fell in love again, and again her wife died before her eyes. Kihomi and the Senshi did more than watch, though; they felt it. The passing of time, the rise of the Minervian culture, the love the princess and her subjects shared for one another, and the heartbreak every time one of her wives died. They then saw the ship from Neptune arrive, and watched and felt the joy the princess felt upon finding out there were others. They also experienced her excitement at learning all about her fellow rulers, and observed her become infatuated with a picture of one of the other princesses. Then, they saw the embassy vessel sabotaged, the war ships, her failure to her people and the betrayal of chancellor Maiya who'd given herself over to the demon Babylon. Finally they saw and felt the heartbreak and physical pain as Minerva gave her life for a kingdom she would never see, and to save her sisters she would never meet, from the thing that had destroyed her own world. The vision over, Kihomi sank to her knees as she buried her face in her hands, sobbing uncontrollably. Waves of sorrow, loss and regret washed over her, crushing her under the weight of a sadness she'd never felt before. This was no dream she'd just seen, no hallucination. It was her life, a life that had been horribly taken away from her. She'd never met her sisters and she had failed her subjects. She'd died alone, unmourned and unloved. Then, she felt a hand rest on her shoulder. A second hand followed, then a third. Arms, strong yet gentle, came around her as she soon felt herself surrounded by women reaching out to her, holding her, comforting her. Even the two cats she'd witnessed earlier seemed to rub up against her in an attempt to console her. She felt someone's shoulder next to her face and buried her head in it as the tears continued to come. The woman whose shoulder she was crying into began to stroke her hair as she brought her mouth up to her ear. "You found us." she whispered in a voice choked with emotion, "Welcome home." Kihomi opened her eyes with a start. That voice. It sounded like... Setsuna? ------ She lay panting for air as sweat clung to her body. Marika was insatiable, often leaving the blond not just worn out, but sore after their sessions. She looked over to the clock on the wall as the redhead got off her and walked over to her clothes. It was nine in the morning. Turning back to her partner, Marika already had her red thong panties back on and was strapping her bra on as she slowly tried to push herself back up into a sitting position. "M... Marika..." she managed to get out. The woman zipped up her fly and buttoned her tight fitting jeans before turning to look at her. "It's nine." she said, "Can you really find us a sacrifice in the time needed?" The redhead just looked at Beniko impassively for a few seconds before turning back away again to put a black tee-shirt on. Beniko, her muscles aching from the workout her lover had just put her through, moved over to the edge of the bed as Marika was putting her socks on. The blond swept her sweaty hair back with her hand as the other woman began lacing up a pair of red sneakers. "Marika." Beniko said. The redhead turned to look back at her as she grabbed her leather jacket. "Be careful." the blond said. Marika raised an eyebrow at that, then turned away and walked out the door. She walked past the machine of Professor Miyagawa and exited the building. Once outside, she inhaled deeply of the sea air, smiling as she did so. She heard the birds flying overhead and the cars in the distance. She stretched her arms out as a sudden wind picked up, swirling around her, embracing her. Closing her eyes, her smile widened as her feet left the pavement. ------ The Hikawa Jinga Shrine on Sendai Hill was beautiful this time of year, as the birds sang among the trees and the sun shone down on the structure, caressing it in its light and warmth. The woman sitting on the steps to the shrine was oblivious to the beauty around her, though. She'd come out here to think. "A bit overwhelming, isn't it?" a female voice asked. Kihomi turned to the speaker and slowly nodded her head, "Yes, it is." she admitted. "Hmmm..." the speaker said as she nodded her head, "One day you're a teacher, and the next you find out you're Sailor Minerva, charged with protecting the future ruler of Crystal Tokyo and saving the earth from youma, daemons and other assorted villains. Under the best of circumstances, it's difficult to take." Kihomi nodded her head, "That's putting it mildly... Luna, is it?" she asked. The cat nodded her head as the teacher continued, "All these new memories, and all this new information I'm being asked to absorb... It's almost too fantastical to believe. I mean, between Beryl, Pharaoh 90 and Galaxia, how many times have all of you died by now?" A low, husky laugh alerted the two that they had company. Luna put her paw on the teacher's leg before heading back into the temple. In her place Mizuno Ami and Tenoh Haruka sat down on either side of Kihomi. "How are you handling all this?" the racecar driver asked. The teacher shrugged her shoulders. "About as well as can be expected, I suppose." Kihomi answered, quickly adding, "Thanks for showing me how to transform back, by the way." Haruka waved away the thanks as Ami put her hand on Kihomi's shoulder and spoke. "I can still remember when I learned I was a Senshi. I was fourteen." she began, "And I was going to Crystal Cram School. Even then, I felt I wanted to be a doctor, just like my mom. I remember... I remember Usagi bursting into my class disguised as a doctor. She..." Ami began to giggle a bit at the memory, "She thought I was a youma." Kihomi smiled at that, "What?" she asked incredulously. Haruka smiled as she shook her head. "That's our princess." the blond said, "She's got a heart of gold, but she isn't exactly the sharpest knife in the drawer." Kihomi and Ami laughed a bit at the remark, "Well now, in Usagi's defense it was Luna who told her I was a youma." Ami said, taking up her story where she left off, "Anyways, a real youma attacked, and Luna recognized me as Sailor Mercury. She tossed me a henshin wand and told me to transform. Since I had an axe-wielding monster coming at me at the time, I wasn't about to argue. I remember being scared out of my wits at the time. I mean, I had no idea what I was doing." The other two women waited until Ami was done. Haruka took a deep breath and began her tale. "My story is a tad more complicated. The short version is that Michi-chan learned she was a Senshi first, and then came looking for me. I didn't want any part of it. Then, I saw her get hurt during a fight with a youma, and... And I saw this beautiful girl, cut up and bruised in front of me, and I looked over and saw the henshin wand that was meant for me, and..." Haruka suddenly closed her eyes as she relived the event mentally. "I was given a choice. Unfortunately, you were never offered a choice. This was all just forced upon you in the worst way imaginable. Believe me, no one sympathizes more than I do. There are times when... when I sometimes wonder if I made the right decision in picking up that wand. Of course, all it takes is one look at my family; at Michi-chan, my little firefly and Setsuna, and my friends," she said, nodding her head toward Ami, "And I realize I'm not alone." she then turned to face the teacher, "Kihomi, you're not alone. All of us, we're all here for you." Ami nodded, "Ruka's right. All of us, we're all here to help you through this." Kihomi looked at the two young women on either side of her and smiled. "Thank you." she said, "Something tells me I'm going to need all the help I can get." At that moment a sound from behind them alerted the trio to the fact that they had company. Turning around, Haruka and Ami saw Setsuna walking over. "Well that's our cue to leave, Ami-chan." the blond said. As she and Ami got up, Haruka patted Kihomi on the back. The two of them left to give Setsuna and the teacher some privacy. Once out of earshot, Haruka leaned over to Ami. "I think Mako-chan's out in the garden behind the shrine if you wanted to see her." Haruka said in a low tone. Ami gave the racecar driver a startled look. "Wha... What do you mean?" Haruka just gave the med student a smirk, "Come on, Ami-chan; this is me you're talking to. You didn't think I was going to pick up on what's going on between you and Mako-chan?" Ami was speechless. Haruka just chuckled a bit. "Relax, I'm not about to tell anyone else. What the two of you do is between the two of you. For what it's worth though, the two of you really do look good together." Ami looked at the blond for a few seconds longer before smiling. "Thanks." she said. The two Senshi separated, and Ami headed for the garden. ------ Setsuna sat next to Kihomi, unsure what to say. Her mind kept racing back to the memories she and Rei had awakened, and the pain and loneliness Minerva felt when she gave her life for the others. She then thought of last night, after the two of them had declared their love for one another and she had introduced the teacher to the others. She could still remember coming down the stairs, seeing everyone transformed into the Sailor Senshi, and Ami holding the limp body of her girlfriend. She wanted to hurt them. Whoever they were, wherever they were hiding. They'd attacked her family, her friends, and the only woman she'd ever loved. She swallowed hard as she turned to her girlfriend. "Kiho-chan." she said in a low tone. Before she could get out anything more, the teacher leaned over to rest her head on the Time Senshi's shoulder. "Hold me." Kihomi whispered. "Please, just... just hold me." Setsuna put her left arm around the teacher, stroking her cheek with her right hand as she kissed her forehead. Kihomi put her own arms around Setsuna's waist as she closed her eyes and felt the arms of the woman she loved around her. ---Afternoon--- Marika was not happy. She'd been searching for hours with no luck. The only virgins she'd found so far were either far too young for the ritual to be fully effective or had way too many others around to snatch undetected. She didn't have much longer before the ritual, either. She now found herself outside Mugen Gaken Junior High, watching as the students left at the end of the school day. Then she smelled it; the foul, nauseating stench of purity. It was coming from a girl who was saying goodbye to a group of her school friends. It wasn't just purity though; the very air around the child reeked of charity and kindness. It was enough to make Marika sick. The child was leaving school, carrying her schoolbag on her back. Following from a distance, the redhead watched the girl walk down the sidewalk, and quickly figured out where she was headed. She took off to arrive there first, to wait for her Red Riding Hood to arrive as she prepared for her role as the wolf hiding behind the tree. ------ Artemis' tongue hung out a bit as he smiled on Kihomi's lap, purring softly as the teacher continued to scratch him under his chin and behind his right ear. Next to Kihomi, Setsuna sat gently rubbing her hand across her back. The others were sitting around playing checkers, sipping tea, and otherwise passing time until their last straggler came back. Minako walked over to the two women and smiled. "The two of you look wonderful together." the Senshi of Love said, adding, "I'm so very happy for both of you to find each other after all this time. I guess it's true; true love keeps the doctor away." Kihomi tilted her head at that. Wasn't it supposed to be, "True love conquers all," not "keeps the doctor away?" Setsuna just smiled back at the blond, "Thank you, Mina-chan. We..." she was cut off by the sounds of a disturbance outside. Rei stood up in alarm as suddenly every door in the temple slammed shut, and a loud noise alerted the Senshi that several trees had fallen over and were blocking all the exits. Kihomi watched as the priestess and her fellow Senshi grabbed their henshin wands, and quickly went to grab her own. Meanwhile, what sounded like a mini tornado was blowing through the temple grounds. ------ Hotaru was slowly making her way to the shrine after school. After the events of last night, her parents wanted to keep her away when Kihomi awoke just in case anything disturbing like that happened again. She loved them dearly, but sometimes they had a tendency to be overprotective, especially her Haruka-papa. She made them promise to contact her if Sailor Saturn was needed, and agreed to go to classes. The day was long, and it felt like her classes would never end. She couldn't bring herself to focus on any of the classes, and lucked out when none of the teachers called on her. As she passed by the Shishi (lion-dog statues often left to stand guard at the entranceways of Shinto shrines) and walked under the torii gate, she suddenly felt a chill go down her spine. She looked around to see if maybe it was the wind, but the wind she'd heard from a distance blowing around inside the temple grounds had gone away, and not even the leaves in the trees were rustling. The trees. The shimenawa (specially plaited rope used to ward off evil spirits) and the gohei (strips of white paper used for much the same purpose) had all been removed from the trees surrounding the shrine. The ropes and paper were scattered around haphazardly throughout the grounds, as if some vandals had decided it would be fun to desecrate the shrine. Even the small wooden ema plaques with shrine attendees wishes written on them had been removed from the tree branches, flung around the shrine property as if a tornado had gone through. Hotaru had a sinking feeling; something was definitely wrong. She needed to get inside the shrine and find out what was going on. As she started to move closer to the building, she noticed that several trees had not simply been knocked over, but had been pulled over by something and left in front of the entrances to the building. It was then she heard movement behind her. She turned around, but saw nobody. Nervously, she took her schoolbag off her back and brought it around, intending to pull her henshin wand out. The judo chop to the back of her neck stopped her. As she fell to the ground unconscious at Marika's feet, the redhead looked down at the fifteen year old, licking her lips as she did so. The child was a virgin; it'd been so long since she'd deflowered one. With a pained sigh, she realized now was not the time. The child was needed for the sacrifice. Marika smiled as she pulled the duck tape out of her leather jacket. ------ Michiru's eyes opened wide as she suddenly let out a small gasp. Haruka turned to see the wild, terrified look in her wife's eyes. "Michi-chan?" Haruka asked, "What..." The Senshi of the Seas didn't need her mirror this time. She just knew. "Hotaru!" she screamed as she ran toward the nearest wall. "Neptune Planet Power, Make Up!" The others ran after her, likewise transforming. Kihomi, still unsure of her powers, brought up the rear. "Deep Submerge!" she cried. The side of the temple exploded outward from the force of Neptune's attack. As she got outside, she saw a woman with short red hair in a black leather jacket crouched over her daughter. The young girl's mouth was taped shut, and her hands and feet were likewise bound. The woman looked up from her daughter to Neptune and the others who'd now joined her, and growled in rage at them; how in the hell had the Sailor Senshi known she'd be here? Neptune's face turned red with anger as she looked at the thing trying to take her daughter, "Deep Sub..." she stopped when the redhead grabbed her daughter and pulled her up, using Hotaru's body as a shield. As Pluto gasped in horror, the woman held Hotaru tight as they both began to float up into the air. Uranus, her fists clenched and her face contorted with rage, looked up at them. "You fucking coward!" she screamed, "Put her down and fight!" Marika just smiled at the fear and anguish she was causing the Senshi gathered below her. The redhead looked over to her captive and licked the side of the child's face with her forked tongue. She then turned back to see the short haired blond shaking with impotent rage, unable to help the child, and the angry, scared and concerned faces of the others. As she scanned the faces of the Senshi, she saw... her! No! She'd been awakened, and her fellow Senshi had reached her first! She grabbed the unconscious girl's hair and yanked her head to the side as fire shot forth from her mouth towards the women on the ground. The new one however, running in front of the others, held her wand up as she met the thing's eyes. "Great Shield!" she yelled. The force field extended from the bronze-colored shield now on her left arm to surround her fellow Senshi, protecting them from her attack. Marika let out a roar of anger. They hadn't just found her first; they'd restored her memory! All was lost now. She might as well just let the child go to dash her brains out against the ground, or... But wait, what was this? The redhead sniffed the air around the nine Senshi gathered in front of her. "Let the girl go!" Sailor Moon yelled as Kihomi released the force field. Marika then sniffed Hotaru. The girl slumped in her arms had a similar smelling aura to that of the other Senshi. She was one of them! The redhead looked straight at Kihomi as she opened her mouth to speak. "Minerva." she rasped in a low, guttural voice, "It's been awhile." Kihomi looked angrily upward at the speaker, "Let her go, you freak!" she yelled, adding, "You and I have never met before." Marika laughed, "Oh, but we have, Minerva. Of course, I had a different form the last time we met." Kihomi's eyed narrowed as she looked at the thing floating in front of her and the others. "Babylon." she growled, feeling a frenzy of rage welling up inside of her. It had taken the demon centuries to find her way back to the solar system from deep space; finally reaching this tiny rock circling around it's below average sized star. Even longer to manipulate the Kabalists, ceremonial magicians and Satanists with her lies. Her patience was finally paid off when she found the Englishman Aleister Crowley and the American Jack Parsons. Crowley would be her prophet, while Parsons would take the next, and final, step towards her goal. She had taken over the body of a Minervian before, but was limited by the fact that the owner of the host body was constantly fighting her control. What she needed was her own body, in the truest sense of the word. And, in a magical working in 1946, the fool Parsons gave her what she wanted. It had taken her centuries. The look of shock and anger on Minerva's face made it all worth it. Babylon began to laugh. "Let my daughter go, you bitch!" Pluto screamed. Sailor Venus slowly began to maneuver herself away from the others as the demon laughed at the Time Senshi. "Daughter, eh?" she sneered, "Well congratulations mom, you did such a terrific job raising your daughter that she fell right into my hands. " she said, laughing cruelly at the effect her words had on Pluto. She then began to rise higher into the air. "Babylon, wait!" Minerva yelled as Venus continued to move over to the side of the demon. "It's me you want, isn't it? That's what this has all been about, hasn't it? Here I am. Let her go." Babylon stopped to look down at her, and smirked. "I have her now." she said, "I no longer need you to..." "Venus Love-Me Chain!" With a jolt, the demon felt something grab onto her. She looked down at the blond in the orange skirt holding onto the other end of a chain of hearts wrapped around her ankle. "You're not going anywhere!" Sailor Venus yelled. The demon looked at here for a second or two before reaching into her jacket with her right hand while holding Hotaru by the waist with the other. She proceeded to pull out a switchblade. "Release me now." the redhead ordered, "Or I'll give her back to you in pieces." Sailor Venus felt her heart sank. If she let them go, she knew Hotaru was as good as dead. And one look at the eyes of the monster holding her told her that the demon wasn't bluffing about killing the child here and now. Reluctantly she released the demon, watching with the others as Babylon and Hotaru rapidly flew away.
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