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"He called you what?!"
StarHealer glared at the redhead and motioned for him to be quiet. "He called me his mother. Yes, I know you think I'm a fool for bringing him here, but honestly, where was I supposed to take him?"
"How about a police station?" Venus looked at the small boy for several moments, frowning. "We can't keep him here. What if those things come looking for us?"
Seiya shook his head. "They won't. Aevor's friends destroyed all of them that were there. Besides, it's not like we can take him anywhere. Have you really looked around out there, Venus? There aren't any cops. There isn't much of anything around here."
Venus shook her head, brushing the boy's long hair from his face. "I haven't been outside, no. This ... world creeps me out. Just knowing that that woman is still alive here ... Taiki-chan, I really wish you had insisted 'Tomi-chan go back. I know what this woman is capable of. And death is just the least of it." She looked closer at the boy and gasped. "Oh Kami-sama ... I think he's ... did you say that the man you were fighting vanished?"
"That's what Aevor said," Seiya replied.
"Around the same time you saw the boy?"
Seiya nodded. "What are you getting at, Venus?"
"I think ... I think this boy is Zoisite-baka."
StarHealer frowned. "Zoisite, as in Beryl's General? The one you said killed the Prince's uncle?"
Venus nodded. She knelt down next to the bed and smiled sadly. "He was such a nice young man before that bitch got her hands on him. And he was in love with Princess Serenity, but then again, we all were. She was just that kind of woman."
"Guys, you've got to come see this!"
The four Senshi quickly ran into the living room, where a crystal wall display was showing pictures of the outside of a palace. A tall woman with long blonde hair stood in the middle of a garden, speaking to the public.
"What is she saying?"
"Who is that?"
"It's you, Mina-chan." StarHealer changed back into her male form and stepped closer to the display. He touched the screen and the image froze on the blonde's face. "See ... she even has the same sigil."
"But that's ... impossible." Venus stared at the screen as the images started moving again. When the blonde turned away from the camera, they could see several figures standing behind her that could be no one but other Senshi of Earth. "We've never ... there have been worlds that had warriors, but never ..."
Saturn looked at the screen curiously. "They're not exact doubles. Mars' hair is the wrong color. Jupiter's is too short, Uranus' too long. And I don't see Setsuna-mama or Michiru-mama."
"Odango-atama's missing as well. So is Chiba-san." Seiya frowned as the figures moved back into the palace, the display going silent moments later. "I agree with Minako-chan ... I don't like this world."
Kunzite cursed to herself as she made it back into the house and collapsed into a chair. "Way to go, Zoi ... run off and leave your damned Youma behind, why don't you? Next time I see you, you little bastard, I'm going to-"
"Who are you?"
Kunzite jumped at the childish voice and turned to face a young girl with brown hair. There was a faint mark on her forehead that the white-haired woman had seen many times before. "M-Miyo?"
Miyo nodded, moving closer to the chair the older woman was sitting in. There was something familiar about the long white hair, but she wasn't sure what. "Do you know where my Dema is? I can't find her."
Kunzite rubbed her temples for a moment before sighing. "She's not here, sweetie, remember? You're here helping me find Zoi and your sister. Do you know where your sister is?"
Miyo shook her head as fat tears rolled down her cheeks. "I can't f-feel her. Or Urani. Or Dema. Or Kara. Or ... A-are they dead?"
"No, sweetie, they're not dead. They're just ... missing. We'll find them, I promise." Kunzite held her hands out to the younger girl and waited several moments before the brunette seemed to decide to trust her. Once she had moved closer to the chair, she pulled the girl into the seat beside her and hugged her. "I always keep my promises."
'What the hell caused this?!'
Shi pushed the older woman away from her and ran to the edge of the cell. "Don't touch me! Get away from me! Who are you?!"
"I told you, my name doesn't matter." The dark-haired woman frowned as she looked at the little girl. "That's not right ... you were supposed to change into someone I could ... nevermind. Look, kid. If you want out of here, you're going to have to trust me."
"No! Dema told me to never trust strangers! And you're stranger than anyone I've ever seen!" Shi forced herself into the corner, just inches away from the electrified wall. "Get away from me, you meanie!"
'Damnit ... I screwed up the spell ... but I have no time to try again, those brats will be here soon.' "Come on, dear ... I won't hurt you. I just want to help." Cronos heard the door down the hall open and several pairs of feet come running toward them. "Scheisse! Get over here, now! Or I will kill your sister!"
"It's Cronos!"
"Get her away from the girl!"
Cronos cursed as she vanished in a flash of green light. The electrified wall vanished and Shi grabbed the first person she saw.
Uranus nearly fell over backwards as the young girl hugged her. "What the-Who the hell is this?!"
Mercury quickly scanned the cell, then the child clinging to the blonde. "That's the girl. Cronos must have changed her into a child."
"But why? What could she possibly want with a little kid who won't even have come into her powers?"
"What does that madwoman want with any of her 'toys'?" Mars hesitantly reached out to touch the young girl's arm and smiled when she didn't pull away. "That settles it. We can't leave her here."
Uranus frowned, picking the girl up. "We'll take her to the boss. She'll know what to do with her." She ignored the smirks on her companions faces as she carried the now silent child out of the dark prison.
Earth
Tavek looked over the details for the relocation of the Vexans, frowning. "You do realize that with only the Princess choosing to go to Earth right now, it's going to make things more difficult for the other two later on."
Kageshirou nodded. "Yeah, I know, but ... she's tired of being in space. And we do have a rather nice family for her to go live with. Besides, the Commander won't leave her friend until she's sure she'll wake up. Once that happens, we'll find them a nice quiet, remote place where the girls will never have to interact with them."
Tavek smirked slightly. "Any news?"
"None. I can't believe it's been almost two weeks already. I never, ever, thought I'd miss being insulted by the blonde." Kageshirou took the papers away from the other man and pulled him into a hug.
"Commander?"
"I can't imagine what Hikari is going through right now."
Tavek returned the hug. "Hikari? Lord Yaten's daughter?"
Kageshirou nodded, releasing the other man. "Yeah. Nobody knew, but ... Hikari and Shi had started dating. As far as anyone knew, they were working on lessons together."
"What'd you do, walk in on them?"
"No. Shi told me. First time I've seen her really happy in forever, too. And it was right before this whole thing happened."
"Then, as soon as they get back, I say we lock those two in the house for a few days and not allow anyone to bother them." Tavek winked at the other man as he signed off on the papers, then put them in the desk drawer. "Now ... how are we going to tell Lady Seiya that Urani is back?"
Urani frowned at the tests in front of him. "Why do I have to do this? I already know everything I'm going to need to defeat Kara."
"You need to know how to live on Earth, as well, Urani-chan. Your sisters had trouble getting used to that idea too. Well, the older two, anyway." Rei smiled slightly as she watched the young man put his head down on the table. She walked over to the table where he was working and placed a hand on his arm. "Come on. I'll help you with this, as long as you promise you won't try to cheat."
"I miss my family."
Rei lightly hugged the boy, bringing up all her memories of seeing the twins and Seiya. "They miss you too. And they'll be overjoyed to find out you've come back to them." She felt the boy tense a little and frowned. "Urani-chan? Are you okay?"
Urani nodded as he sat up straight in his chair. "Yeah, it's just .. Dema was the only one that ever hugged me before, besides my sisters. I'm not used to it, not from ... strangers."
"Well that's certainly going to change. Just wait until Haruka-tachi get here. Adrienne-chan and Titania-chan are going to love you."
Urani cringed at the mental images he was getting of the two girls. "I really hope Dema is back before then."
Kakyuu sighed as she rocked the smallest of Taiki's adopted children to sleep. "It's ok, Rsin. Taiki will be home soon and he'll bring your big sister back, I promise."
Rsin clung to the redhead, burying her face in the older woman's shoulder. Ever since Taiki and the others had gone to the other world, the four year old had woken with nightmares several times a night unless the redhead or one of her daughters was right beside her.
Kakyuu glanced over to the triplets and smiled sadly. They had dealt with Taiki's absence better than their little sister, or at least everyone had thought. After about a week, Usami noticed that the three were not talking to anyone but each other and that they avoided any contact with the Earth Senshi. "Usami?"
Usami looked up from where she was idly tracing designs on her homework. "Yes, Dema?"
"I want you to do something for me. Until Taiki and the others return, I want you to stay home from school and keep an eye on those three." Kakyuu stood carefully and turned toward the door. "In fact, why don't you stay in here with them tonight? I think they could use the company."
Usami nodded idly, watching her mother leave. Once she was gone, she walked over to the three 9-year olds huddled together on one bed. "Ok, I know you're not sleeping. Now ... anyone care to tell me why you're hiding from the others?"
Tai opened his eyes and looked up at Usami. "They scare us."
"Scare you? What have they done to scare you?"
Tai pulled Usami down to sit next to him and hugged her. "There was fire ... and the S-Senshi ... and I ... and ..."
Asht hugged his brother from behind and sighed. "He's started having bad dreams. Ever since we moved in here. They got worse when Uncle Taiki left us."
Usami pulled both boys into the hug and frowned. "He didn't leave you. He had to go help rescue Miyo and the others, so did Tanetomi. They'll come back."
"How can you be sure? Neither of our Demas did." Mara kept her eyes closed as she felt her brothers shift away from the older girl.
The young princess pulled the little girl into her lap and smiled sadly. "I promise you that they will come back." She hugged the little girl as they both started crying. "They just have to."
Asht looked at his brother, then stood from the bed. "Usami-hime ... we need to talk to Chiba-san."
"NO!" Mara sat up, tears still falling down her face. "We can't!"
"Mara, we have to." The white-haired boy looked at his siblings, then at the older girl. "We have to talk to her ... before they get mad at us again."
Gaea
"I'm so tired of this."
"We'll find them, Seiya, don't worry."
StarFighter sighed as she glanced out over the city. "How can I not? Every time I turn around anymore, something ... I'm tired of having to constantly worry about everything."
StarHealer frowned slightly as she glanced at her childhood friend. "Kou ..."
"Things finally begin to calm down and then the world tilts again. I swear it's like being on a rollercoaster."
"And you hate rollercoasters." StarHealer smiled slightly, then sighed. "I'm tired of being so far away from all of them. I just want to find Minako, go home and never leave the house again."
"I want what you have."
"What? What could you possibly want that I have?"
"You've got three beautiful girls-"
"So do you."
"But yours don't hate you."
StarHealer frowned as she shifted back to 'normal'. "They're teenagers, give them time. Your girls don't hate you."
StarFighter smiled sadly. "Shi does. She thinks I damned us all by coming to Earth."
Yaten sighed. "Shi doesn't understand. Yes, okay, she has memories from what ... three lifetimes? But how long has she actually 'lived'? This life, she's only 16 and she thinks she has everything figured out. Much like her mother did when she was 16, if I remember correctly," the gray-haired woman replied, smirking. "Shi-chan, and the other girls, need to let go of these past lives and whatever they may or may not mean, and focus on living this one. I mean, did you even know Shi and Hikari had started dating? I didn't."
StarFighter shook her head. "I knew she was spending a lot of time at Jin-chan's, but I didn't know that. That is something you have that I don't."
"What, a house? You can buy one of those easily, Seiya-chan."
"I meant Jinia."
"Oh." Yaten was quiet for several minutes as she watched her friend. "Aren't you and Usagi-chan getting close again?"
The black-haired singer sighed as she shifted back to normal. "Only as friends. I'm finding it impossible to compete with ghosts."
"Chiba-san?"
Seiya nodded. "And Sarah-chan's father. They rule her heart."
"Just as she rules yours." Yaten smiled sadly, turning back out to the city. With no real leads to follow, the entire group of Senshi found themselves watching and waiting for the next attack. "What are you going to do about it?"
"The only thing I can do. When we find the girls and return to Earth ... I'm moving out of the mansion."
