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Gaea
"The people they found on the island are ... who, again?"
Serenede sighed and looked at the man that had spoken. "I ... think they're our siblings, but ... I'm not sure who is related to who," she replied. She was helping her half-brother, Souji, tend to Sarah's burns, while keeping a wary eye on the woman they said had burned her.
Souji nodded slightly, carefully tying off the last bandage on the blonde's arm. "I'm sure we'll figure it out, eventually. After all, it's not like we never expected there to have not been other kids. They were around a long time before I was born, after all."
"You're taking this pretty well, though," Sarah replied, grimacing at the pain from her arm.
Serenede shrugged. "I'm sure there will be problems, for all of us. But like Souji said, it's not like we didn't know there was a possibility." A woman beside her sneezed and she turned to smile at the white-haired woman. "Are you alright, Kunzite?"
Kunzite nodded as she held a tissue to her nose. "Yeah, I think I'm just allergic to Jade now."
Jadeite made a face at her, then looked down at his dusty clothes. "If I had known all that dirt would make you sneeze, I'd have brought more of it back with me," he replied. He glanced around the Throne Room for a moment, frowning. "Where's Neph?"
"Outside, I think. He said the sleepers made him nervous," Kunzite replied. She started toward the door, offering her arm to a still-weakened Jadeite. "Come on, I'll help you. As long as you promise to dust most of that stuff off of you out there. I have to talk to both of you, anyway."
"Yeah, whatever," Jadeite replied. He smiled a little at the others as he allowed Kunzite to help him outside.
Sarah watched them leave and sighed slightly. "Definitely not like the guys mom said she fought. That must be what they were like in the past."
"They weren't in the past. Not our past, anyway. After we talked, I did some research. As I thought, there was no Prince named Endymion and no Shitennou. At least ... not on Gaea. There are no records for the other worlds." Serenede finished tying off the bandage she was applying, then sat in a chair beside the bed Sarah was sitting on. She saw Souji wander off to help someone else as she placed a crystal in Sarah's injured hand. "The Prince of Gaea was named Helios. And he's still alive, but ... after Queen Serenity, Goddess rest her soul, died, Helios created and barricaded himself into Elysion and hasn't been seen since. According to what I've found out, he was in love with her, but she refused to even marry for fear of destroying her Kingdom."
"Wow, that sounds kind of like mom when she refused to marry dad. Well, he isn't really my dad, he's Kimi's dad. And the twins, and Lily and Nereid and Ishtar's dad. But mom refused to marry him because ... because if they got married, that would make me his daughter and she would become Queen ... and the cycle would repeat itself again." Sarah chuckled a little sadly and looked down at her hands. As soon as she had taken the crystal from Serenede, the pain had stopped. "But, in that cycle ... things were different. What is this thing?"
Serenede smiled a little. "I'm not sure exactly. I just know that it stops pain. You'd have to ask mother Riein exactly what it is."
Sailor V held on to the clingy teenager at her side and frowned. Ever since they had returned to the palace, Mi-ko had refused to leave the older woman's side until her father returned. There had been no sign of StarHealer, Sailor Uranus, Devii or Elara yet. Imari had returned shortly after the others, with two young blonds that were identified as Hythos, son of Jupiter and Venus; and Sefin, son of Lysithea and Uranus, and an unconscious Cronos, who was placed into stasis immediately. The redhead said that the four warriors had been right behind her, with a fifth warrior, as the earthquake struck, but that they were separated when the fire she had started suddenly flared up again.
A quick talley of all the rooms revealed that everyone had returned except those four, this mysterious fifth warrior that Imari refused to identify, Gesre & Ymede, who, it turns out, were no longer on the island at all, though no one seemed sure where they had gone, and Rosalind. She was still in the clearing when Imari had appeared with Cronos, but after seeing them to the waiting craft that would take them back to the palace, had vanished.
V shifted back to her normal form and hugged the younger woman. "Your dad's fine, Mi-ko, don't worry. I'm sure he just ... you know, he probably got lost on his way back to the palace, that's all," the blonde replied, forcing a smile. She saw a guard run into the room and approach her counterpart. From the look on her face, the former actress knew that it was not good news. She tightened her grip on her namesake as Pandora shakily stood and motioned for silence.
"The guards have just ... just informed me that ... the earthquake caused major damage to the island. It has ... crumbled ... into the sea. There is ... no sign of the others."
Sakura, first female child of Cronos' warriors to be born after they awakened from their confinement, hesitated outside of the door where the dimensional travellers were gathered. After learning that the island had crumbled, the groups had separated, withdrawing into themselves, preparing for the worst. The black-haired daughter of Fluri hesitantly knocked and jumped back as the door was almost immediately opened by a guard. "I- I need to speak with ... V-Venus."
The guard stepped back as Xavier appeared in the doorway. "If you have something to say to Aunt Minako, you had better come in and say it to all of us," she replied.
Sakura nodded hesitantly and stepped into the room. She noticed that everyone was watching her, even the young twins that Cronos had changed. The black-haired girl moved into the middle of the room and clasped her hands in front of her. "S-Shortly before Tsuki a-arrived on the island, M-Mother Cronos ... she was angry that ... that the other twin had v-vanished. She ... she told Ryu's mother, Ymede to ..." She was gripping her hands so tightly that her knuckles were turning white. "She made sure that the next portal would open on the island. She told Aunt Ymede to take Aunt Gesre to the other world once it had and ... stop any one from being able to come after you."
The StarLights and Sol Senshi exchanged nervous glances. Tanetomi stood and looked at the older woman. "How do you know this? And why are you telling us?"
"I ... my mother is Fluri, same as Gaia ... but neither of them could ... Cronos thought that I might be able to open the portals for her, like Mars can, but I ... I'm like my brothers, I can't ... I have no powers." Sakura glanced up at the blue-haired girl. "She wanted to stop you from leaving. She wanted to keep you all here, to make you like us. She wanted to make you her warriors."
Seiya frowned from her spot on one of the beds. "Why? Why did she want to make us into her warriors?"
Sakura smiled sadly. "To get back to the Moon. When the powers were sealed, Kiviuq's powers were bound in the ruins. She can never return. Gaea ... we think Kevi is Gaea, but she hasn't shown powers yet. And there is no new Lysithea or Dysnomia ... You have powers that are dead to this world, or that have never existed here. She thought that ... that with you, things could ... could be fixed."
"I think I understand. She wants this world to return to what it was during the Moon Kingdom, right?" Sarah watched the other girl for a long moment until she nodded. "But there is no longer a Queen ... how can there be a kingdom?"
"Serenity is not dead."
"It isn't possible."
"But Pandora-"
"No!" Venus glared at the woman that had spoken. "No, Eris. Serenity would have never stayed away from us if she were alive. She can't be."
Tanetomi frowned. Since Kageshirou and Seiya were both too injured to come to the goddesses and Taiki was still unsconscious, Tanetomi had volunteered to go with Sakura. Xavier had his hands full with Kaish and Mi-ko, the younger girl finally releasing her namesake to cling to her aunt. Minako and Hotaru were standing behind Tanetomi, both as moral support and as back up in case Sakura was lying about her powers. "I'm sure that she wouldn't stay away if she had a choice, but from what Sakura said, she didn't have much choice."
"She's right," Dysnomia replied. "If Cronos was the one that sealed her away, Serenity may not be able to return."
"But ... we saw her die," Imari replied. She had only reluctantly left her family's side to come to the meeting when Larissa agreed to come with her. She had just found out, after the battle, that the brunette they had rescued from the stasis pods, was her son, Rein. She hadn't taken more than a few steps from him, Fluri or the other children since. Everyone had heard her displeasure with the fact that Sakura had snuck out right under her nose. "We saw the Queen die in battle."
Riein frowned, shaking her head. "No, we didn't. We saw what we thought was the Queen ... but we didn't see her die. We saw her injured ... when she couldn't use the scepter." Her frown deepened as she glanced at her companions. "We saw someone ... but it ... couldn't have been Serenity."
"There ... was no choice. She ..." Pandora sighed as she limped over to the throne and sat down. "The morning of the battle, Cronos came to me and told me that the Queen had taken ill. She was certain she would not last through the day. Because she was dying, the defenses of the Kingdom were down and Beryl broke through. If everyone had known that the Queen was already dead ..."
"You took her place. From a distance, our Venus and Serenity are indistinguishable, as I'm sure you must have been. All that was required was for you to dress in her clothes, take up her scepter and make a stand." Hotaru frowned slightly. "But ... weren't you missed?"
Larissa shook her head. "Not then. That was the very beginning. The rest of the palace was just waking up when the cry went out. After the Queen ... we ... were stunned into inaction for ... too long. As we saw her fall, Rosalind and I charged into the battle."
"Rosa knew. She carried me back to the palace. Dione healed my wounds ... and Venus joined the fight." Pandora opened a panel on the side of the throne and removed a pink stone scepter. It was cracked at the point where the crystal should be mounted, but there was no crystal there. "The crystal vanished after Beryl's attack struck. It was the only thing that saved my life."
She stood, slowly walking over to where Sakura stood next to Imari. Placing the scepter into the younger woman's hands, she smiled sadly. "So you see, Sakura ... Puu was wrong. The Crystal goes where the Queen goes. Serenity is dead."
Sakura stared down at the scepter for several moments as tears rolled down her cheeks. "No, she can't be ... that ... she ..."
Larissa placed a hand on her granddaughter's arm and sighed. "When did she actually die?"
Pandora shrugged, wincing slightly at the pain it caused. "I don't know, exactly. Helios took her body away. Puu said she was gone before nightfall."
Minako frowned. "Helios? I didn't ... know he was here as well."
"Yes. He took her to Elysion. And that's all that it is. A graveyard."
Nephlite glanced up at the palace and sighed. "Now what?"
Kunzite shrugged as she leaned back against the railings beside him. All four of the Shitennou were sitting outside on a small balcony overlooking the city and had been since shortly after everyone returned. "I don't know. The guards are afraid of us, the humans angry at us and the Goddesses indifferent. And without the link to the Dark Kingdom, we're all growing progressively weaker."
"Not something I really wanted to be reminded of," Jadeite replied. He was sitting a short distance away, watching an equally tired Zoi rest. Both he and Nephlite had been shocked by the other man's appearance, but were more surprised by how weak he had become.
"We have to face the facts, Jade. There is nothing left for us in this world. Only a slow death on our own, or a quick one in the city." Nephlite turned to face his companions. He had been most shocked by Miyo's appearance and was still wondering why he had not been affected. The link between Gaea and the Dark Kingdom was not only active when the spell was used, but was open. He knew the brunette had, if not the same soul as him, then her dimension's equivalent, but ... was there another reason for the way Zoi had been affected? Another link between him and the blonde that he did not share with the sister? "We should ask the twins' mother to take Zoi when they leave. It'll be better for him there. It's not fair that he should have to pay for something he doesn't even remember doing."
The white-haired woman glanced at the two blonds and frowned. "It isn't fair for any of us. Not like we actually had a choice in the matter." Kunzite sighed, turning her attention to her hands. "I wish we could all go with them. At least maybe their world wouldn't kill us."
"Then ask them." Zoi opened his eyes and looked at the three adults. Even though his memory of his life with them was spotty at best, he had recognized them all immediately and was determined to be close to them. "Just ask them to take you with them. You could have a life there."
Jadeite glanced at his other two companions, then lightly pulled the other blond's ponytail. "Yeah, as if they'd want a bunch of half-demons living in their world."
"It's actually not a bad idea," Kunzite replied. "The twins and Mi-ko are, kind of ... us. Maybe there's even a Jade there. We could ... we wouldn't have to stay in the same place. We could ... find another kingdom that would take us. Or even another world."
Zoisite nodded. "Preferably one where Beryl doesn't exist, or is already dead."
"And not one where we are public enemy number one," Jade replied, remembering what Aura had said.
Nephlite sighed again as the other three turned to look at him. As far as he could tell, any world would be better than this one. "Agreed."
Kunzite smiled as she stood and helped the brunette to his feet. "Good. Tomorrow we ask the Earth Senshi to take us to their world, and from there we try to find one where we can actually live." She helped the two blonds to their feet, then turned back to the palace. "One more night boys, then we never have to fear the Goddesses again."
When Taiki first opened her eyes, a momentary wave of panic washed over her at the darkened, unfamiliar ceiling. As her eyes began to adjust to the low lighting, she realized she was once more in the palace on Gaea. Glancing to her right, she saw Seiya lying on a similar bed, with the twins curled up on her uninjured side. The redhead smiled slightly, then glanced to her left. Kageshirou was also lying on a bed, one leg propped up and wrapped in plaster. Taiki tried to lift her hand to brush a stray hair out of her face, only to feel someone latch on to it. Smirking slightly and thinking Tanetomi was being awfully clingy, the older alien propped herself up.
Instead of seeing the blue hair she was expecting, a head of red hair was lying on the edge of her bed, it's owner clinging to her hand. Frowning slightly, Taiki reached her free hand over to brush the hair back so she could see the woman's face. The redhead gasped when she realized the youngest of Kakyuu's daughters was the one sitting by her bed. "Tsuki?"
"Shh. She just went to sleep a few minutes ago." Tanetomi stepped into the older woman's line of sight and smiled a little. "She's been watching over you all day."
Taiki looked from her daughter to the younger girl, confusion written all over her face. "But ... how did she get here? Why is she here?" she asked softly.
"How is easy. Goodman-san opened the portal and she stepped through. Why .. Aura won't say. And Truli and Nami don't know. They came with her to keep her out of trouble." Tanetomi quietly pulled over a chair and sat beside the other girl. After the impromptu meeting in the Throne Room, she and the Sol Senshi had left the Goddesses to try and work out the truth from Cronos' lies. Whether or not Serenity still lived, didn't matter, as far as they were concerned. "Didn't work, though. The portal opened right on to Cronos' island. All four of them were being held along with the two Shitennou."
Taiki stared down at the young princess and shook her head. "That does it. No one goes through any more of Argent-san's portals without an adult. Or four. Or the entire fleet." She smiled a little, then glanced around the darkened room. "I see Kaish and Mi-ko, but ... where's Kou?"
Tanetomi's small smile faded as she glanced over to the other side of the room where Mi-ko was lying curled up next to Kaish. "Dema, there's ... we got Mi-ko-chan and the others back safely, but ..."
"But, what, 'Tomi-chan? What happened?"
"Uranus-san, Jupiter-san ... Haruka-oba-san ... Devii and Uncle Yaten ... haven't been seen since the island fell into the ocean."
