"Blitzkrieg blast!" Jupiter yelled. Although the damage form her attack looked small, the creature stopped and shrieked in pain every time it was even grazed.

"Tethys Damnation!" Mercury shouted, blasting it in the snout as it dove for Sailormoon, who jumped out of the way.

"Now!" Minako shouted, as the creature lunged at Mercury.

Sirius and Minako ran form under the table and out the wall, narrowly missing a slashing tail. The wall, however, suffered another injury.

As much as neither of them wanted to leave Hitomi and Tommy alone, they both thought the current situation was more important. Chiharu was with the other civilians. There were people out in the garden that couldn’t take care of themselves.

"Over there!" Sirius yelled.

"How do you know?" Minako asked as they ran toward a bridge that seemed perfectly intact. At least they were away from the battle.

"I can sense a crystal over here. Maybe Gaia or Rhea can help us."

As they crossed the bridge, they saw several people gathered together.

"Sirius!" someone yelled.

"Mommy! Daddy!" Sirius yelled, running up and hugging both her parents.

Minako looked around to see if she had allies. Liu was there, but he was rather useless. Rhea was there. She might be able to create a shield if a monster came near. Stella and Sirius were senshi, but they had to watch Satet, not fight. Aaron and Desdemona had found their way there. Strangely, Minako had no idea what to think about that. They weren’t senshi, she knew that much. But there was something, almost an aura around them. Minako didn’t like it. She trusted her deduction skills, not strange ‘vibes.’ Cuchlaine and Andarta were there, great, more useless people. They’d only get in the way.

Minako’s gaze traveled to four people behind Satet and Stella, mostly hidden behind them. Minako smiled and walked over to them.

"The star senshi I take it," she greeted.

"What else would we be?" Summerstar asked.

"We sent our husbands upstairs with the others," Autumnstar said. "Stella and Satet were on the other side of the monster, so we went the other way. We found her along the way." Autumnstar pointed at Cuchlaine.

"We need to keep a look out, don’t distract us," Winterstar said.

"Don’t be so harsh!" Springstar scolded her.

"We’ve got enough baggage already, and Satet’s in danger," Winterstar complained.

"Baggage?" Mianko asked, pulling out her henshin stick. "Wandering Star Venus Arcana."

"YOU’RE Sailorvenus?" Springstar asked.

"Would people please wear nametags to these parties," Summerstar said.

"Guys, shut up!" Winterstar said. "I mean it!"

"Sirius, Stella, get ready, Satet, Get with Princess Rhea!" Autumnstar said. "We got company."

"I don’t have any magic, though," Rhea said.

"Aren’t you a princess?" Andarta asked.

"I gave my crystal to Gaia," Rhea said.

"Why the fuck did you do that?" Cuchlaine complained. "Doesn’t she have her own?"

"She said she needed it," Rhea said. She shouldn’t tell anyone else what was going on. Liu seemed to understand but these people wouldn’t. She didn’t’ care who was the victor, so long as it was over soon.

"Just protect Satet and Sirius, then!" Springstar yelled, as the four turned to face the battle.

"Or we’re going to be in far deeper shit than you know!" Winterstar yelled back.

"I’m sorry," Rhea whispered to Liu as the non-senshi basked away.

"Don’t be," Liu said. "It’s not the choices we make, it’s whether we make them honorable."

"I hope we all live to see it that way," she said.

"Don’t worry, Daddy," Sirius said, pulling a black stone in a marquis cut. Dazzling colors sprinkled shone on nearby surfaces, refracted by the many facets. "I won’t let anything happen."

The creature thundered into view. Its heads had been reduced to three, but five of the necks were still flailing. One had been reduced to a smoldering stump that reeked of burning rot. Most of the dog

heads were dead or gone. Two were badly injured. It’s tail was missing it’s tip and it only had thee feet. The important thing was the fact that it was still alive and doing damage.

"Get back here!" Sailormars yelled, racing after it. "Coward!"

"Thanatos’ dream!" Sailorsaturn yelled from behind her.

"Danae’s Truth!" Venus shouted, pointing her balled fist at the creature. Saturn’s attack dissolved away as the best was held in place in a golden aura surrounding it. It shrieked and struggled as slices cut away at it, destroying the serpentine heads and severing the tail in half.

"Ares Fire Javelin!" Mars yelled, and the creature burst into flames. It stil it wouldn’t die. As much damage as it suffered, it was going to live through the attack—and be very pissed.

"Autumn Life Decay!" "Winter Deep Freeze!" "Summer Heat Inferno!" "Spring Life Renewal!"

The four star senshi pointed at the best, but instead of any attacks, the air around them began to glow.

Before anyone could question why it was happening, Andarta screamed falling on Aaron as her knees gave out. She grabbed her head and closed her eyes, straining against something inside her head.

The four senshi’s fuku disappeared, leaving them back in their gowns and magicless.

As Andarta fainted on the ground, everyone turned to Cuchlaine, to ask for help or at least explanation. She was standing there in a trance. Fuyumi waved her hand in front of her face. Cuchlaine didn’t even blink.

"Saturn, you’re glaive, before the spell fades!" Venus yelled.

"Screw it, you’re right" Saturn yelled, remembering herself. "Damnation!" Saturn grabbed her glaive like a pike and drove it as hard as she could into the burning mass

The fire shot feet higher, in straight blue flames like a thousand blowtorches, turning white and brighter and higher. Strangely, they seemed to emanate coldness instead of heat. It al happened in a second. One blink and the flames were gone, as well as the monster.

"Hey, wake up damn you!" Fuyumi yelled as Cuchlaine fainted, falling on her.

"What’s happening to them?" Liu asked, as a pink glow enveloped Andarta and a gold one Cuchlaine.

"Selestia created the Zodiac a long time ago," Stella said. "From them came the Star senshi, one for each season. It seems to pass on from chance."

"But there’s only two," Harumi said.

"We have to get to the palace before the other one comes this way," Venus said.

"Don’t let my cousins die," Mars said. "Or I’m really gonna pound you."

………………………….

Andarta began to wake up, feeling strange. She began to wonder… where had those bracelets gone? Karei wasn’t wearing them, and Hitomi didn’t’ have them either. Then it hit her and she vowed she’d get even.

Hitomi KNEW how she felt senshi had no right getting themselves and their powers in her life.

Then she screamed.

………………………….

"Usa lay asleep in her bed. She was sweaty and pale and weak. She’d just been moved after passing out from giving birth. Trent lay sprawled over her, clinging to her as if for protection.

Cuchlaine awoke. She knew what they were. She knew where they’d come from. She knew they had killed Usa and Trent, sapping strength from them until there was nothing left.

She knew it had waited seventeen years, and now it had bigger ambitions. She knew that unless something happened tonight, the moon, probably the universe, would become just like those asteroids: nothing.

She opened her eyes as she heard her cousin screaming.

"No! Shit!" she muttered. She no longer wore her dress, or even her fishnet gloves and pants with useless buckles and zippers. She wore gloves up to her elbows. She was in short heels, a short pink skirt adorned with black stars, gloves all the way up to her elbow, bows on her chest in the same pattern as her skirt but inverted. She had an unmistakable collar and fuku of a sailor senshi. "Goddamnit!"

"What’s wrong?" Aaron asked, suddenly by her side. "Are you hurt?"

"No, but someone will be if they don’t get this shit off!"

"Off?" Fuyumi snorted. "You were destined to take on our role to protect the next princess. You can’t throw away duty or destiny."

"We don’t want this destiny!" Andarta spat. "We had our own lives before this. We’re not dropping to be complete losers!"

"Who are you calling losers?" Summerstar yelled.

"You can’t force people into this!" Cuchlaine said. "You can’t just take someone’s life and choices away and call it destiny. There’s nothing good about being a senshi. It’s just a way to balance cheaters and cannonfodder."

"Take it back!" Andarta said.

"We can’t," Akimi said. "We don’t know how it happened. You’re descendants of Mars, and both you and you’re parents were so dormant in power nothing happened."

"How do you know?"

"We talked to your parents," Akimi said, crossing her arms and rather mad at their insolence. They just wanted to make this hard at every step, didn’t they?

"Then why didn’t he get anything?" Cuchlaine said, pointing at Liu.

"He?" the star senshi and their entourage asked in perfect unison.

Andarta burst into laughter.

"Damn, you get that reaction from almost anyone the first time around, Liu!" Cuchlaine said, chuckling and wiping tears from her eyes.

"Back to the subject," Springstar said. "You two shouldn’t have enough magic to get ours. We’re more powerful than most planetary senshi. Unless you’re descended form Merlin or Medea or something, you could barely get a third of my power, let alone twice as much.

"Well don’t look at—" Cuchlaine started.

"Blame Hitomi," Andarta said, nothing but spite in her voice. "She gave us more power and now we’ve been crowned the soldiers of Sucks-To-Be-You-Land."

"Look, this is enough," Stella said. "Once the battle is over we can try to find some way to—"

"MOMMY!" Sirius yelled. There was a swirling black…something, like a hole in space. A delicate woman’s hand reached out and grabbed the dark jewel form her hands.

"No!" Rhea whispered. Gaia’s crystal hadn’t been useless. She hadn’t’ needed Rhea’s crystal for protection. She was going too far. And it was too late to stop her now.

…………………

"That’s everyone," Chiharu said, leaning against the door as sounds of the battle thundered through the room. "That I could find." She was worried. She’d found Yao and Shun, but not Liu. Those two were going to kill her—and the rest of the senshi for that matter—if anything happened to him.

And Gunhilda was nowhere to be found, or that girl Shizuki had been with. Utako was gonna be pissed. They may not be in the room, but at least Stella and her family were getting out of the path of danger. Whether ‘the path of danger’ moved was something Chiharu had no idea.

‘Here goes,’ she thought, taking out her henshin stick.

"Wandering Star Pluto Arcana!" she said.

"What the…?" Yoake blurted out. Chiharu’s outfit looked nothing like her mothers. The boots were so high, they were held up by a garter belt under her double skirt—nothing like the usual one of the other senshi. Her gloves were higher, up to her forearms. Like all the other senshi, her gloves only went over the back of her hands to get a single loop over her middle finger. Unlike the others, black nine-pointed stars decorated the gloves over the back of her hands.

Yoake would have been slightly miffed about her daughter's piercings not disappearing along with her clothes if something important hadn’t been missing. She had given only one stick away, and it was to Chiharu, yet, there, atop the Time Key, was the Garnet Orb.

There was a Charon? Without her knowledge or permission? How?

Another blast was heard, thankfully it was tiny. As the echoes of the blast died away, everyone found themselves exchanging confused glances. Someone was knocking on the door.

Chiharu backed away from the door and tentatively opened it. If it was the beast it would have bashed the door down.

"Who are you?" Chiharu asked, seeing a tall woman who was out of breath.

"I’m Gaia. I was outside when it happened."

"So you ran past a different monster?" Chiharu asked.

Gaia shook her head, her purple tails trailing as she did. "I took another route. I came to watch these people so you can go fight."

"I can’t leave, I—"

"This is a job for a senshi. Don’t worry, they’ll be safe," Gaia said, producing a large glowing gold crystal.

Chiharu nodded and left.

Gaia watched her leave. She closed the door. And looked over the crowd. They look surprised to see her, but no one seemed to object. Good.

"When’s it due?" She adressed Kamala. People would think she was trying to make small talk. Or at least concerned for the baby. In away, she was.

Everyone had heard the two cousins of Hitomi Hisakino were having visions. No one would ever suspect that she had stood behind that tree, watching the memories of their visions, when they barely remembered them themselves.

They had no idea.

All they knew were video games and cigarettes. What was the Princess of the Sun to them? What was the iridescent jewel? This would be better than she had ever planned. But there was one problem. Solana wasn’t here yet.

Technically.

Kamala smiled. "Any day now, the doctor says. We wouldn’t miss this for the wor—"

"What’s wrong?" Govinda asked, grabbing hold of his wife as she began to fall.

"It’s coming!" she said, through gritted teeth. "The baby’s coming!"

"Now?" Makoto asked.

"Here?" Setsuna asked.

"Yes!" Kamala yelled.

Gaia promised herself: No matter what, she wouldn’t let this child die.