News travels fast in a small desert town,
So it wasn't long at all before the word got around
That a killing bad car was headed their way,
So the sheriff and the boys were going to
Stop it out on the highway.
Right where it intersected Big Black Rock,
So it wasn't long at all
Before the whole town was out hanging round,
Hammering a nail and building up a pride in a roadblock.
Just hanging round the roadblock.Stan Ridgway - The Roadblock
High up on a mountain, above the pines and mist that surround the bay of Inverness, there stands an incredible mansion. Its three towers appear to pierce the sky. Its windows are like a thousand eyes turned inward. And its doors, hinged on time, open into endless space.
It was an impressive sight, especially if you were sensitive enough to perceive the way the house extended into other realms. To the knowledgeable, the house appeared more real and substantial than the mountain itself. To Setsuna Meiou, as the Senshi known as Sailor Pluto currently called herself, it was primarily an annoyance.
"Come on, Setsuna, cheer up!" urged the small orange cat sitting on her shoulder. "You act as if you're going to a funeral."
"Frankly, Persephone, I can think of funerals I'd enjoy more," Setsuna grumbled as she walked up the road toward the great gray Victorian house. She surveyed the structure looming before them with a moue of distaste. "I much preferred the Tudor look."
"Oh, pooh. You're just saying that because you got along so well with Queen Elizabeth," Persephone sniffed. "I think it looks quite nice. Besides, the house is no different from the rest of us - it has to move with the times too."
Setsuna disdained further reply, not least because she knew exactly how the conversation would go. That was one of the principal drawbacks, and occasional comforts, of being closely associated with someone for over twenty-five thousand years - conversations tended to fall into patterns. Instead she forged steadily up the path, through the wrought iron gates, past the curiously designed garden maze, and up to the front door. She knocked loudly, and waited with the inhuman patience that comes with a life span measured in millennia.
She knew full well that the fate of more than one world hung in the balance, but the Guardian of Time had witnessed the retreat of the glaciers as the last Ice Age ended. She had watched the heavens wheel in their slow yet graceful dance - Thuban had been the northern pole star when she was born, and she had seen the whole cycle through, to Polaris and Vega and back again, and on to the next. Even if she were successful here in gaining the knowledge to avert the catastrophe that loomed over them, it would still take another thousand years before she would get a chance to rest. So she waited, and eventually the door was opened by an aged servitor, his palsied limbs trembling slightly as he peered at her.
"How may I help you, miss?" the old man asked in a gravelly voice.
"I wish to speak with the mistress of the house, Lady Jowls, I believe."
"Certainly, miss. This way please." If the old man was at all surprised to find a stunning young woman dressed in a rather severe black suit with a small cat perched demurely on her shoulder seeking admittance to a house that received notably few visitors, he gave no sign of it, but simply led the way through a somewhat gloomy passageway to the sunlit parlor where Lady Jowls sat taking tea.
"A young lady to see you, Lady Jowls."
"Send her in, send her in, Jives" a hearty voice called out. Setsuna delicately picked her way across a floor strewn with the shattered remains of myriad teacups and teapots. Lady Jowls, a large, bluff woman of late middle-age with a florid complexion, sat in an over-stuffed wing-back chair sipping from a small china tea cup that appeared positively miniscule in her hand.
"Well, aren't you a pretty young thing? But who are you? Are you one of my husband's relations, or perhaps a friend of my nephew Jack?" she boomed genially.
"My name is Meiou, Setsuna Meiou," her visitor said composedly. "I have come to ask a favor of you."
"Please sit down, Miss Meiou. I'll be glad to help if I can, my dear," Lady Jowls beamed. Throwing her empty cup over her shoulder, she called out, "Jives! Tea for our guest, please!"
"You're very kind, but I have no wish to put you out. I've come here to listen to a certain jukebox."
Lady Jowls looked surprised. "You've heard of the Wurlitzer of Wisdom, eh? We'll have to ask the Madonna Vampira, since it's located where she dwells within the walls of the east tower, but I'm sure there won't -"
"Not that one," Setsuna interrupted. "I mean the jukebox within the fourth tower."
Now the dowager looked rattled. "The fourth tower? My dear, as you must have seen on your way up here, Inverness has only three towers."
"Come, Lady Jowls, we both know better than that," Setsuna replied coolly. "There may be only three towers visible at the moment, but there are indeed four towers. Unless you truly believe your husband, Sir Henry Jowls, vanished into thin air fourteen years ago."
Paling, Lady Jowls said weakly, "How - how do you know so much? You're not one of us."
"For one thing, she's been here before, a few centuries ago, although I think she was calling herself Tara Sanjo then. Really, though, it's because she's Wisdom's Daughter, heir to Lord Enki," a voice interrupted her. A small girl with two blond pigtails had just entered the room. The large, black Cuban cigar she was smoking was the first odd thing one noticed about her; the fact that her cornflower-blue eyes had no pupils was perhaps the most disconcerting.
"Little Frieda!" Persephone cheered. She leaped from Setsuna's shoulder to Frieda's arms and began rubbing her face against the girl's chin.
Lady Jowls looked at Setsuna with ill-concealed awe. "We're honored, Lady Wisdom," she said gruffly.
Setsuna frowned. "Frieda. You know perfectly well that I am no relation to Lord Enki. He died and passed beyond with the rest of the High Council in the final battle against the Shadow when Atlantis was destroyed."
"You wield the Garnet Orb and the Staff of Time, two of his greatest creations," the little girl said with a slight smile. "You guard the Gate of Time, his greatest discovery. If anyone is worthy of being called his successor, it would have to be you." Her smile grew infinitesimally broader. "After all, would the Ispano clan obey anyone else?"
With a grimace, Setsuna decided not to contest the matter. "At all events, may I enter the fourth tower to consult the Bodhisattva Jukebox?"
Lady Jowls got herself under control with a visible effort. "In view of who you are, I don't suppose there's any need to prepare you for the rigors of the tower by running you through the maze. The problem is that the fourth tower has not appeared yet. It hasn't, in fact, been seen since Sir Henry entered it. As you may know, eight people have entered it within the last two hundred years; none have returned. No one, however, in the recorded history of the house has ever found a way to make the fourth tower appear before its time."
"That presents no difficulties," Setsuna said calmly. "I can find a way inside, if someone can conduct me to the entrance. The house has reconfigured itself since the last time I was here."
"I'll take her, Lady Jowls," Fried volunteered, stroking the loudly purring cat in her arms.
The older woman looked relieved. "Thank you, little Frieda." She hesitated a moment, then continued, "My lady, if you should chance to encounter that wandering husband of mine..."
Setsuna regarded her through narrowed eyes. "I will see what I can do. I make no promises - you will probably have to wait for your nephew Jack's arrival in any event."
"Thank you, Lady Wisdom," her petitioner responded gratefully, so much so that some of Setsuna's animosity abated. Meanwhile, Frieda walked over to a large bookcase built into one wall and pressed what must have been a hidden switch underneath one of the shelves. An oak panel on the opposite wall swung silently open, revealing a dimly lit passage. With a curt nod to her hostess, Setsuna followed the seeming child through the hidden doorway.
The door closed behind them as they walked down the narrow, darkly paneled corridor, their way illumined by candelabra shaped like human arms, each holding six long white candles. They proceeded for a few minutes in silence before Frieda said, without turning to regard her companion, "Still bearing a grudge against us humble seekers after knowledge?"
"Not at all," Setsuna said austerely.
Persephone snorted. "Of course she is. She's not exactly the 'hail fellow, well met' type under the best of circumstances, but she only gets this shirty when she's well and truly peeved." Ignoring Setsuna's outraged look, the cat pondered a moment, then went on, in a judicious tone, "You can't blame her much. Let's face it, most of the problems we're fighting now are a direct result of the fact that the Atlanteans, for all their knowledge and spiritual insights, were a bunch of prats. Naturally she's not going to be terribly well disposed toward any group trying to reclaim some of that lost wisdom."
"Idiots," Setsuna muttered, the fresh reminder of her age-old grievance overwhelming her determination to remain aloof. "Them and their talk of 'making men into gods,' when they should have been concentrating on making god-like men." She brooded darkly. "They paid the price of their folly in the end, but the nemesis for their hubris still hounds us today."
Frieda regarded her pensively. "True enough, Lady Pluto, but remember what Santayana said. You can't simply hide your head in the sand. What will you do when the Crystal Millennium reaches a similar point? Have your Neo-Queen Serenity order everyone to behave or face condign punishment?"
"You know perfectly well I'm not setting Serenity up as a temporal monarch," Setsuna retorted scornfully.
"I know," the girl said, glancing at her from half-lidded eyes. "She'll serve as a shining example, a defender and protector, and a guide to point the way. Almost," she said, with a smile that didn't quite become a smirk, "like a Bodhisattva."
Setsuna stopped, caught short, and finally barked a laugh. "Point to you."
"Then," Frieda followed up, "to press my momentary advantage, will you tell me why you're here, seeking the Bodhisattva Jukebox?"
"Ha. My adversaries would love that. The one thing that has always stood between our worlds and those forces from without that seek dominion over us is that none of them can see the timelines clearly. I'm sure they'd be willing to reward someone greatly for that knowledge, even to revealing the lost wisdom of the Ancients."
"I'm not a Twilight Master," Frieda said quietly, "switching allegiances from one side to the other to enhance my own power. I'm a Time Suspender. My cause is the cause of individual enlightenment and the Middle Path. Our goals have seldom, perhaps, been exactly identical; they have never, that I can recall, been directly opposed." She turned her uncanny gaze full upon Setsuna. "No unfriendly powers can penetrate the protective barriers that surround this house. Will you tell me what problem brings you here? I pledge to help you if I can."
Setsuna hesitated. Her natural impulse was towards silence, an impulse engendered by twenty thousand years of keeping her own counsel, of secrets shared only with her cat and her mother. The fate of the world teetered in the balance as her ingrained reticence warred with the worry that had never left her since her disquieting conversation with the Lord of Folly. Without even realizing it, she drifted to a stop in the shadowy corridor. Finally she spoke.
"I don't know what the future looks like to a Time Suspender. I can see the timelines fanning out from the present day, and follow them forward, if I try, for some years at least, before the detail gets lost. The important point is that I can tell at a glance the difference between a timeline that leads to the end of the world, and one that doesn't - there's a darkness surrounding the ones leading to destruction that is unmistakable." She frowned in thought. "I'm not sure how much you know about the future I'm working toward, the future that will, I hope, result in the foundation of the Crystal Millennium. The next few years are, of course, the turning point, but there is also an especially crucial period at the end of the next century." She paused for a moment, inviting a comment from her diminutive companion.
Scratching Persephone under the chin, Frieda pondered. "I know there is some sort of crisis coming. Some threat to the world that the Sailor Senshi will avert, leading to the eventual establishment of Sailor Moon as titular queen of a united world government based in the newly rebuilt city of Crystal Tokyo. I've never tried to find out any more, as it isn't particularly relevant to what I'm doing."
With a grimace, Setsuna said, "I'm afraid it's going to become relevant. What will happen, or rather should happen, is that a Sun-Eater will enter our Solar System in a bit less than a century and begin to drain power from the Sun. All the forces that the world's governments can muster will prove hopelessly inadequate. Ultimately, we Senshi will combine our powers to drive the Sun-Eater away. There is a good chance that some of us will die in the process," she said coolly, "but we will prevail. Unfortunately, the energy stolen from the Sun will lead to the swift onset of another Ice Age, and only the power of the ginzuishou will save most of the world's population from death while we work toward healing the Sun. Those unwilling or unable to accept the purification that is the price of the ginzuishou's help will be forced to flee to the dead cities of the tenth planet to avoid perishing from cold and hunger. Ultimately, of course, they will end up encountering the Death Phantom and attacking Earth several centuries later as the Black Moon Family."
"The dead cities?" Frieda exclaimed, while Persephone growled a protest at the cessation of her petting. "What will happen to the millions of Adders living there now?"
"I don't know all the details," Setsuna admitted. "I believe the renewal of the civil war between the Lectroids and the Adders ends up depopulating the planet, with the few survivors seeking refuge on Earth."
The little girl frowned. "So much death. This is the ideal future you're working toward?"
Setsuna sighed. "Ideal? No. It's simply the best alternative I've been able to come up with. If you find that hard to believe, let me tell you that it's the only future I've been able to foresee that doesn't involve the death of everyone on Earth at some point within the next few centuries." She stared off into the distance for a moment before continuing, "For twenty thousand years I've been working to ensure that future comes to pass. At times success has been so improbable I nearly despaired, but for the last two thousand years or so the Crystal Millennium has been the most probable of all the possible outcomes." She shook her head. "Perhaps that was what led to my carelessness. Eventually I got into the habit of simply scanning the overall shape of the branching timelines, looking for any gross deviations, without going to all the work of calculating the true probabilities.
"The trouble began almost four hundred years ago, as nearly as I can tell. Apparently, someone or something diverted the Sun-Eater from its course toward Earth - no small task with a life form massing as much as a large planet. At the same time, another future catastrophe was set into motion to take its place. It was done so neatly that not even a ripple in the time stream was created."
"What sort of catastrophe?"
Setsuna looked unhappy. "That's the problem. I don't know. Originally, the disaster, whatever it is to be, was no more probable than the chances of the Senshi failing to stop the Sun-Eater. Over the course of the last few centuries, it has become more and more likely. I first noticed it after World War I, when I decided to rerun the probability calculations. To my horror, I found that the chance of saving the Earth at the end of the next century was now so small as to be almost negligible. I tried everything I could to learn the nature of the forthcoming disaster, with no success - something blocked my sight of that entire region of time. Something will happen then that will result in the death of all the Senshi, followed by the deaths of everyone on Earth and the Hidden Worlds. Only a few timelines remain which don't lead to complete destruction. I endeavored to follow one of the successful timelines forward, to see if I could learn what actions would lead to our survival, only to watch the timeline disappear before me. When the same thing happened with another of the few desirable timelines, I was forced to conclude that if I knew exactly how to deal with the upcoming crisis, we would fail. Our only chance lay in my remaining ignorant of the exact details of our victory."
Frieda looked puzzled. "But why? Why would your foreknowledge of the way to avert the crisis help to bring it about?"
"I don't know. I don't like some of the possible answers. The least objectionable is that we're faced with an opponent at least as capable at forecasting the future as I am. Only if matters are too confused and chaotic to predict can we hope to triumph."
"Can't you get help from somewhere else?"
"Of course, I've considered it," Setsuna said, frowning. "The obvious choice would be Jurai - unfortunately at that period in time they're going to be facing off against the Thearchy of Zalgrin and the Gr'ndig Alliance, so they'll have their hands full. There are other possibilities, but I'm hampered by not knowing the exact nature of the threat. I could summon the God Knights from Doki Doki Space, or travel to the Guardian World to request assistance from the Throne of Yold. I could seek aid of the forces of the Hidden Worlds, or even from Zoom-Zammim, in a pinch, if only I knew what danger will present itself, so that I can be sure I won't be making matters worse. The point is, though, I can't know the danger, so I'm forced to make the most general of plans. Therefore I began the task of creating a weapon that could win the fight for us."
"What sort of weapon?"
"A group of beings powerful enough to challenge the Sailor Senshi, spearheaded by a man so improbable and unpredictable that no one, neither I nor anyone else, will be able to foresee the results of his actions."
Realizing that she had been nearly forgotten, Frieda kept silent while Setsuna spoke on, her eyes fixed on vistas visible only to her. "I found a child of extraordinary parents, a child who was doomed to an early death. I saved him and arranged for him to be brought up and appropriately trained by his adoptive parents and by an acquaintance of mine, one of the foremost martial artists in our world. For his mate, I took one of the greatest warriors of the Hidden Worlds from the battlefield where she lay dying, and transported her through time and space, suppressing her memories and leaving her, too, with foster parents. With the help of my acquaintance, they met and fell in love. Though she and her people are no longer precisely human, they're close enough, and a most improbable child was born. That child, who should never have been born to begin with, has undergone rigorous training, as well as exposure to a wide variety of magic and the imposition of several curses. He's already nearly impervious to many forms of mystical perception, and that will only increase. When all my plans come to fruition a century from now, the team that will form will be able to deal with almost any contingency, and no one will be able to prepare for them. At least, such was my intention."
"What went wrong?"
Startled from her reverie by the question, Setsuna took a moment to focus on Frieda again. "That's the problem - I don't know. All I can tell you is that I received a visit from the Lord of Folly." She nodded at the astonished look on Frieda's face, and continued, "He warned me that going on as I had been risked bringing the Awakening upon us all."
So great had the shock been to Frieda that she had actually dropped her cigar. Murmuring a quiet apology to the cat in her arms, she knelt down and retrieved it, then took a few puffs to steady her nerves. "He said that there was a real danger of awakening Nimir?"
"Yes, and I gathered that my 'protege', Ranma Saotome, was at the root of the trouble. My usual sources of information are of no use in this situation, so when Lord Tyddo mentioned the jukebox..." Setsuna shrugged.
"No wonder." Frieda frowned in concentration. "I wish I could help you, but the best thing I can think of is to consult the jukebox." Still, the frown on her face remained, as she cudgeled her memory for something of use.
"Thank you anyway." Setsuna looked at her curiously. "I'm a little surprised you're not counseling me to take the larger view, and not let myself get trapped in a dualistic mindset. It's what I usually hear from you Time Suspenders."
Frieda shook her head. "We've sought to transcend the artificial divisions between such concepts as good and evil, order and chaos, light and darkness, life and death. Nimir, though, is something beyond all our experiences. If there is a duality involved, it's the contrast between existence and non-existence, between something and less-than-nothing, and no one I know has overcome that one. The thought that Nimir might awaken is a terrifying one. One of Its Shadows was enough to destroy Atlantis. The release of Nimir Itself could set back the cause of enlightenment by uncounted kalpas."
"According to Tyddo, Nimir wiped out most of the intelligent life in the galaxy before his people managed to stop It, at what cost we both know. All the powers in the galaxy today combined would be hard-pressed to equal that - we would be forced to summon the Snake Mother, with little chance of success, and the cost of failure the possible destruction of sentient life in our universe. If the only choices are between the death of our Solar System, and the release of Nimir, I will have to choose to let our worlds be destroyed."
The little girl frowned again. "It wouldn't really suit my plans for the Earth to be destroyed. It would lead to a lot of complications."
"No kidding." Setsuna massaged her forehead. "Without the support of Crystal Tokyo, Jurai will never be able to overcome the Thearchy. In addition they'll be unable to restrain the Raalgon expansion under Goza the Eighth towards Summa Nulla. That will involve the Auroreans, and more than likely force the Bulldada to resume their warlike ways. In a thousand years there'll be wars raging across this entire sector. I hope that here I can find the way to win through to a better future than that."
"A better future," Frieda said. "That's it!"
"What?"
"This is something I was told many centuries ago. I can't vouch for the truth of it - I can only tell you what I heard. As you know, when the fourth tower appears in our world, it is possible to enter it and gain access to the twelve levels of consciousness, including the level where the Bodhisattva Jukebox may be found. When it is not part of our world, it serves as a transit point for many realms. You know all that, I'm sure, but you may not know this. I was told that it was possible, when the tower lies between worlds, to gain access to potential futures."
"I can already travel in time," Setsuna said, puzzled. "I even recently allowed the Senshi to travel to the future and back." That excursion had, in fact, been the event that had convinced her it was time to visit Inverness. The successful navigation of the time loop, with Chibi-Usa coming to the present-day and the Senshi going forward to Crystal Tokyo, should have boosted the probability of the Crystal Millennium by a few orders of magnitude. Instead, allowing their passages had taken nearly all the power she could muster, and somehow the end result had been no increase in the viability of the desired future. Her unknown foe had obviously take steps to negate the effectiveness of the time loop maneuver in some as-yet-undetermined fashion. Galling though it was to admit, she needed help.
"It's not quite like that," Frieda explained. "You find the appropriate door, then concentrate on the action you contemplate taking. When you go through the door, you see what the results of your action would be. It's not time travel - the world you see is not actually real. It's more like a form of astral projection. That's all I can tell you." She started walking again, Setsuna trailing behind as she considered the girl's words. Finally, they arrived at an apparent dead end in the corridor. The wall before them was covered with an enormous rectangular mirror in a massive gilded frame. Frieda pulled on one side of the frame, swinging the mirror noiselessly aside to reveal - another mirror.
"This is as far as I can take you," she said gravely. "From here on, you're on your own." Chucking Persephone under the chin, she asked, "Are you going along, or would you like to wait with me?"
The cat stretched luxuriously. "I'd like to stay, but I'd better go with Setsuna. She'd be lost without me, you know. Perhaps after we're done here I could visit for a while."
"You know you're always welcome," Frieda replied with a smile, handing the cat back to Setsuna. "Do you need any change for the jukebox?"
Setsuna shook her head. One of the perks of being the Guardian of Time was that you never lacked for pocket change, but she didn't feel like explaining just then, as the actual mechanism was rather silly.
"Good luck to both of you, then." With that Frieda turned and
headed back the way they had come.
The Mayor's wife sat in the shade
And talked her way through a few good lies,
While her husband practiced his acceptance speech
For a medal from the FBI.
And Granny rocked back in her chair and said,
"Just what did this man do?"
While some idiot kids from school ate dirty
Snow-cones colored red, white and blue at the roadblock.
Just hanging round the roadblock.Ibid.
As Persephone resumed her customary perch on Setsuna's shoulder, the Senshi focused her attention on the newly revealed mirror before her. "In times past, you have served as a gateway," she murmured. "In times to come, you will serve as such again. What was, will be. The memory of the past is within you. The potential of the future is within you." To an observer, she would have seemed to blur as she extended her consciousness through time. Finally, having spread herself through both past and future to such an extent that it would have been hard to decide what time frame she now existed in, she stepped/steps/will step through the mirror, which parted/parts/will part before her like a dense fog, and found herself standing on a narrow ledge overlooking an immense chasm. Below her, as far as she could see, stars glittered in the blackness. Across a twelve-foot gap hung another narrow ledge, at the bottom of a spiral staircase that rose into the air for some distance before vanishing into obscurity. Not for the first time, she stared into the starry abyss, wondering if there was in truth any bottom, or if one slip would send her plummeting forever through the void. The Lord of Folly might know, if he could be relied upon for a straight answer; no one else she had ever met would.
"Ouch!" She was recalled from her thoughts by the sensation of Persephone digging her claws into her shoulder.
"Sorry," Persephone said blandly. "I just wanted to get a good grip before you jumped."
Setsuna snorted, but didn't challenge the statement. One of the unspoken rules of their long association was that face-saving explanations shouldn't be questioned unless absolutely necessary. Mindful of the dangers that could lurk within the tower, Setsuna changed to her Senshi form, and leaped lightly across to the bottom step. She began climbing, and within a few steps the walls of the fourth tower faded into being around her. Endlessly burning torches cast a flickering, wavering glow over the space within. She came to the first landing, and looked briefly at the heavy oaken door before her. It was not the one she wanted, so she continued her ascent.
Now she encountered other creatures also using the steps, some going up, though more slowly than her, and others going down. Few of them were even remotely human, and some she avoided looking at, for even a glimpse was enough to cause her head to begin aching. Suddenly, one of the beings stepped directly in front of her, forcing her to stop. She looked up with a frown.
It resembled nothing she could immediately recall. She could have described it as a bundle of Tinker Toys tangled in a ball of yarn, but that wouldn't have conveyed the air of squirming, writhing malevolence. The thing rubbed several of its spindly limbs together, producing a screeching stridulation that somehow formed words she could understand. "You should not be here, human. Vermin like yourself are only permitted to wander the Unseen Paths when they inhabit your world-space."
A second creature, looking for all the world like a small horse turned inside out (and Setsuna could testify to this, having been witness long ago to the unfortunate results when her daughter's powers had begun to manifest themselves), spoke to the first in what seemed to be an urgent, if somewhat gelatinous, tone. "Don't do this! If it could find the Unseen Paths here between the realms, and even bring its body along, it is no mere human."
"Enough of your pusillanimous counsel!" The chirruping noises rose to a crescendo. "Die, fleshling!"
Two thin tubes - perhaps some sort of feeding apparatus, Setsuna surmised - lashed out at her. Before they could touch her, she whispered two words. "Dead Scream."
Afterwards, she picked her way daintily through the still-bubbling remains of her attacker. The inverted equine, she noticed, had fled, and the remaining creatures, though seeming to pay her no more heed than before, pressed very closely to the walls on either side as she walked past. Persephone, she was mildly amused to note, had been so little troubled by the encounter that she had wrapped herself around Setsuna's neck and apparently gone to sleep.
She passed a second landing, then stopped on the third. This door felt right. She lifted the latch and swung the door open, stepping through.
She found herself on a high cliff above a barren red desert. There was no sign of any way down, but then she wasn't looking for one. Anyone seeking to travel on foot through the Desert of Burning Desires would have a remarkably short trip. Instead, she focused her mind and sent her thoughts winging out across the desert. Off in the distance, two dots appeared, dots that came steadily closer and closer. Presently, two gleaming silver swans of her desiring hovered on either side of her, staring at her from cool, jade-colored eyes, wings flapping lazily in the still air. She inclined her head, then leaped lightly up and seized the birds by the neck, one in each hand. The swans, in no way discommoded by her weight, rose smoothly into the air and flew off across the scarlet sands, heading toward the mountains rising sheer and stark in the distance.
She hung quietly between the two birds, letting her mind drift unfocused. This high above the desert, there was little danger, as long as she kept her mind free from strong desires. Below, the sands swirled and heaved restlessly. A dull, smoke-colored light hung over the ground, shaping itself into the restless forms of the moaning, tormented spirits trapped in that desolate region. Now, reacting to the nearness of a thinking being, the shapes began to assume more varied forms, appearing one instant only to be gone the next, reflecting the inchoate wishes of her unconscious mind. Ignoring the display below, the travelers proceeded apace, the mountains growing ever larger before them, until it could be seen clearly that the rocky peaks had been hewn into enormous stone faces. As they approached the end of their flight, disaster struck. For some minutes, the sands ahead had been flowing together, forming a great mound directly in their path, while Persephone slept and Setsuna gazed off into the distance, unseeing. Now the mound began to mold itself into a gigantic figure of a man. He appeared tall and slim; the corners of his mouth quirked into a smile, while his hooded gaze hinted at a burden of dangerous secrets, and a solitary sorrow. The colossus raised a hand to intercept them.
Persephone woke from her doze, troubled by a nagging feeling of wrongness. She opened her eyes to see the enormous hand preparing to snatch them from the sky. She yowled in alarm and dug her claws into Setsuna's shoulder. "Setsuna! Open your eyes, now!"
The Senshi opened her eyes hastily. For a moment, she had lost track of where she was, and her eyes widened as she caught sight of the figure before her. "Rheandor," she whispered happily. Then the full awareness of their situation caught up with her, and, forcing down her panic, she concentrated on making the swans climb higher. For a few desperate moments, she thought she had left it too late, but the grasping fingers missed her dangling feet by mere inches.
The effort of the sudden ascent had taken a great deal out of her winged bearers, and they began slanting back down toward the ground. Fortunately, they were near the end of the desert, and she saw that they would make it safely into the tumbled boulders at the foothills of the great mountain range.
Setsuna hit the ground rolling, while Persephone managed to leap clear and land neatly on a nearby rock, whereupon she immediately began to groom herself. Free of their charges, the swans flew off, honking angrily in a manner that Persephone, for one, thought was entirely uncalled for. She broke off washing herself when the sounds of Setsuna's sobs reached her. She jumped down and padded over to her longtime companion, then curled up against her huddled form.
"It's all right," she said gently.
"Twenty thousand years." Setsuna raised her tear-streaked face. "It's been twenty thousand years and I'm still not over it, to the point that I nearly got us killed, and our souls trapped."
The cat merely rubbed her face against Setsuna's, until the woman obeyed her unspoken imperative and picked her up. "You were married for seven thousand years," Persephone pointed out mildly. One of their rules had long been not to discuss this topic, but this was obviously not the time to quibble. "Frankly, I'd have been disappointed in you if you had managed to get over it, especially not knowing what happened there at the end."
Setsuna hugged the cat to her, a mild indignity that Persephone put up with. "Where could he be?" she asked forlornly. "If he'd died, or gone beyond, the Lords of Death would have told me. My monitoring spells have checked every birth in the Solar System for twenty thousand years; if he had gone straight into rebirth, I would have found him. He hasn't used the Gate, or even accessed his powers anywhere in the galaxy. Where did he go? And why did he leave at such a crucial point, with just one obscure message?"
"I don't know. I just know that he did what he thought was necessary," the cat said steadily. "He loved you and your daughter too well to have done this unless he had no other choice."
"I know. It still leaves me, here and now, without him, or my only child." She stood up, fighting back a fatigue more mental and spiritual than physical. "If he did what he had to do, how can I do any less?" And the two began the wearisome trek up into the mountains in the Land of the Stone-Faced Gods.
Eventually, they came to the base of one of the great faces. Not even Setsuna knew how old these carvings were, yet they showed no sign of weathering. "You see who that looks like?"
"Yes, I do, Persephone. It's odd - I don't recall Tyddo being one of the faces here before. I suppose we should take that as a sign?"
"Probably. Is there a tunnel between the lips there?"
"Of course. Well - shall we go?" With that, Setsuna leaped into the tunnel and began the long slide downward. She lay on her back with her legs drawn up, trusting to the fuku to protect her from abrasion, while Persephone crouched on her chest. It wasn't quite the least dignified position she'd ever found herself in, but it wasn't far off, and she was glad the other Senshi weren't around.
Eventually the tunnel debouched onto the floor of the valley guarded by the mountain range they had just slid through. "The Valley of the Ten Thousand Oms Unfolded," Setsuna murmured, brushing herself off. Despite the importance of their mission, she took a moment to breathe in the heady fragrance of the air. At their feet, a path wound its way through a meadow of emerald green, past a still lake reflecting the deep cloudless blue of the sky, and on to the temple in the center of the valley. The scene was one of the utmost tranquility; not even a breath of wind disturbed the glassy surface of the water. They walked along the path as the sun started to sink below the horizon, and the very soil around began to glow with a clear white luminescence, while ahead of them the temple shone in the twilight.
They entered the temple, and Persephone jumped down from
Setsuna's shoulder. Together they paced through the quiet halls,
Setsuna's footsteps echoing in the stillness, while around them the
walls and pillars of the temple seemed to vibrate at a single steady
frequency. Setsuna kept her eyes straight ahead, refusing to be
distracted - though the temple seemed solid enough, she knew it was in
fact a single thought-form. In the world she had come from few would
have been able to sense such a thing, no matter how powerful it was,
but here in this realm it was the most real and tangible thing for
many miles around. She came to the great hall and stopped, for there
on a dais rested the softly glowing Bodhisattva Jukebox, looking for
all the world like an old Wurlitzer carved from a single immense piece
of clear jade.
Then the local paper jumped the gun,
And printed a big headline,
"Town is saved from killer car
With roadblock at state line!"Ibid.
"Well, shall we begin?" Persephone asked, with what would certainly have been a smirk on a human face.
"All right, all right," Setsuna said, a bit testily. Reaching into a subspace pocket, she pulled out the Change Purse of Time.
Enki, Lord of Wisdom, second most powerful member of the High Council of Atlantis, had been a man of great perspicacity and foresight. He had also had an odd sense of humor. He had discovered the Gate of Time, and crafted the Staff of Time for its Guardian. He had forged the Silence Glaive, the Space Sword, the Deep Aqua Mirror, and the Garnet Orb, and inspired the creation of the ginzuishou. Perhaps most notably, he had discovered the first two Hidden Worlds, and spearheaded the effort to create Gaea, the third and greatest, in the waning days of Atlantis, before the Shadow brought about its end.
He had also, for reasons best known to himself, created the Change Purse of Time.
The artifact in question was, on the outside, at least, a small, black leather purse. Inside was a small, highly specialized version of the original Time Gate. By concentrating, Setsuna could reach into the purse and take out any coin that had ever been irretrievably lost (this proviso ensuring that its removal wouldn't disturb the time stream).
She could pull out Atlantean elets, the chiming, crystalline seteks of the Moon Kingdom, or the weighty aramanels of Hyperborea, forged of the red gold they loved so well. She could pull out oboloi or tetradrachms, denarii or sestertii, karshapana or zhu or staters by the score. She could have had all the Susan B. Anthony dollars she could ever want, had she actually ever wanted any. She could even have pulled out a few of the great multi-ton stone coins carved by the inhabitants of the island of Yap, though they would have been even less useful than the Susan B. Anthony dollars, at least after the Yap culture was nearly wiped out in a horrific accident involving the world's largest vending machine. As it was, she simply reached in and pulled out an American buffalo head nickel. Setsuna dropped the nickel into the slot, and pressed the first selection.
For a long moment they heard nothing. Yet while they stood and listened to nothing, something was happening. There suddenly sprang, from the body of the jukebox, a thousand arms and hands, bursting out like an aura of dazzling rays. Setsuna's breath caught in her throat. In the palm of each hand, an eye appeared, and looked at them. The whole jukebox became an all-penetrating eye of wisdom, looking down upon the suffering in this world of ours. And Setsuna became filled with such profound compassion, that in a sudden overwhelming desire to help beings toward liberation her head burst into innumerable heads. And the tears streamed down from her eyes. And the arms of the jukebox moved slowly, and the hands opened and closed, and the eye in the palm of each hand watched them. And Setsuna understood.
She finally dragged herself back from that timeless moment, and forced herself to concentrate on the task at hand. She looked down at Persephone beside her as she tried to steady herself, and noted without surprise that the cat seemed completely unaffected. She had asked Persephone about that once, and the cat had declared it was because she was a cat, and, like most cats, naturally an enlightened being. Setsuna had never been quite sure whether to believe her or not.
She brought her eyes back up to return the gaze of the jukebox and inserted a dime, asking, "Is what Lord Tyddo hinted at correct? Is Ranma Saotome the key to the Awakening of Nimir?"
For a few moments, nothing happened. Then the music started playing, and the song began.
He went away and you hung around
And bothered me every night;
And, when I wouldn't go out with you,
You said things that weren't very nice.My boyfriend's back and you're gonna be in trouble.
(Hey-la, hey-la, my boyfriend's back)
When you see him comin', better cut out on the double.
(Hey-la, hey-la, my boyfriend's back)
The song played through to the end while Setsuna and Persephone started at each other in growing perplexity. When it finished, Persephone asked hesitantly, "Was that a yes or a no?"
"I'm - not sure," Setsuna admitted. "This is why I hate oracles." When the song began, her mind had immediately flashed to Rheandor, but how could that be? She had been present at Ranma's birth, and had verified what she had suspected would be the case - Ranma's was a newly created soul in its first incarnation. He was not Rheandor reborn. Nor was there any other sign of Rheandor's return. "Let's think it through. The 'boyfriend' could certainly refer to Ranma, given his tangled love life. The fact that there's going to be trouble could be confirming that he might help bring about the Awakening."
"It says 'he's awful strong,'" Persephone mused. "That would fit. But the whole point is that his coming back is treated as a good thing; that doesn't fit in with the Awakening."
"That must mean that he's the key to the whole thing," Setsuna said with growing sureness. "He can either help bring about Crystal Tokyo, if we handle things correctly, or the Awakening, if we misstep. It confirms what Tyddo said."
Persephone looked dubious, but held her peace.
"What do we need to do to set events on the course for the Crystal Millennium, and to avoid the Awakening?" Setsuna addressed the jukebox once more.
Earth Angel, Earth Angel,
Will you be mine?
My darling dear,
Love you all the time.
I'm just a fool,
A fool in love with you.Earth Angel, Earth Angel,
The one I adore.
Love you forever,
And ever more.
I'm just a fool,
A fool in love with you.
"That wasn't much help."
"I know." Setsuna frowned. "That was either obvious to the point of uselessness, or so obscure it's gone completely over my head."
"You've got one more play for your dime."
"Right. Maybe I need to narrow it down a little. Should I send Ranma to the Masakis to make the Jurai connection?"
If you have the time, would you keep me in mind?
Mind you, I only want to treat you kind.
If you're all alone, would you pick up the phone,
And dial the number that you know
Will bring back the glow
That's been gone for such a long, long time?I feel like I'm just acting like a fool,
Talking to my pillow, once a happy fellow was I.
I know that I'll get over you if I have to,
But do I have to?
I don't want to spend another day being so far away
From the girl that I love.
"That has to be yes, right?" Setsuna said uncertainly. "Having the time could refer to closing the time loop, just as we were planning."
"Unless the singer is supposed to be Ranma, in which case the bit about being far away from the girl he loves would argue against the whole Jurai business," the cat pointed out. "What bothers me is that the jukebox just played the Monkees. I thought it was only supposed to be Fifties tunes?"
"It is," Setsuna said, "at least in this time period. I don't know what that means."
"Try another dime."
Setsuna complied dubiously. "Could you be a little clearer? Should we involve Ranma with Jurai?"
If I could turn back time,
If I could find a way,
I'd take back those words that hurt you and you'd stay.I don't know why I did the things I did.
I don't know why I said the things I said.
Love's like a knife it can cut deep inside.
Words are like weapons, they wound sometimes.
"This isn't helping any."
"I know." Setsuna grimaced. "It seems to relate, especially the bit about turning back time, but does it refer to the time loop, or to the fact that we'll regret it and want to take it back if we go ahead?"
"Let's keep going."
If I only knew what I know
I would not have done what I did.
You said all along I was wrong,
But I went and did it anyway.
Yes, I went and did it anyway.But if only... (you should listen)
But if only... (stop and think)I was in control (so I thought)
With a foolproof plan - what a joke!
Proving what a fool I can be
As it all exploded in my face.
Whatever made me do it anyway?But if only... (time's a-wasting)
But if only... (Just move on)
But if only... (No use chasing)
But if only... (What is gone)
Persephone nearly yowled in frustration. "It's certainly warning us about something, but what?"
Setsuna's mouth twisted. "We definitely either should or shouldn't go ahead with our plans, that seems clear. I'll try the last one."
If only we could turn our heads
Into melons,
Then we could squeeze them
And they would produce
Delicious juice.If only we could turn our heads
Into breads
Then we could slice ourselves up
And make sandwiches.If only we could turn our heads
Into cheeses
We could jump into a mushroom omelet
And make it taste
Oh so much better.If only we could turn our heads
Into leaves of lettuce
Hanging out in the salad bowl
With tomatoes and carrots
Some blue cheese dressing on top
That would be quite fine, I think,
If only we could do that.But we can not.
We can not turn our heads
Into any kind of food at all.
It simply cannot be done.
We must look elsewhere for answers.
Setsuna turned on her heel and stalked out of the temple. "That was clear enough, at least. We won't find any answers here. I don't know why Tyddo suggested it."
Persephone trailed behind at a more leisurely pace. "I'm not so sure. Remember what Frieda told us?"
"That business about the alternate futures?"
"Exactly," Persephone said sedately. "It struck me that the last four selections all had one element in common - the word 'if'. I think there's a connection."
Outside the temple, the sun had set, and the stars glittered overhead in patterns unfamiliar to the inhabitants of Earth. Setsuna stopped to consider the cat's words. "You think the jukebox is telling us Ranma has been infused with so much chaos it can offer no useful advice, and that we should consider another way of looking ahead?"
"I think it's worth a try."
With a pensive expression, Setsuna raised her hand and focused her will once more. Before her appeared the great oaken door through which they had entered this world. Picking up Persephone, she pushed the door open and stepped through, back into the interior of the fourth tower. She began ascending the stairs once more, heading upwards. She passed several landings, looking for the door that had the correct feel. She had never been this high in the tower before, and she was mildly interested to note that she was now the only one on the stairs. Finally, she came to a door that seemed to call out to her as she neared it.
She stopped in front of the great oaken door, recalling Frieda's
words. "What will happen if I cut short my plans for Ranma Saotome?"
she murmured. She pushed the door open and stepped through - into
blackness.
Three miles down the highway
In a Chevy '69,
Were a pair of crazy eyeballs
Jumping left and right in time
To an eight-track tape playing Foghat and Jethro Tull,
And a gasoline-soaked hand shifting a little plastic skull,
And on the arm a blue tattoo that read,
"I'm a son of a bitch,"
A map open on the front seat,
Leather, black as pitch,
One foot slammed on the gas, no shoe,
Just an argyle sock,
And that car was screaming wild down the highway,
Like lightning toward the roadblock.
Right towards the roadblock.Ibid.
The sudden change disoriented her. For a moment, she didn't realize what had happened. Air rushed from her lungs as she became conscious of a sensation of extreme cold.
Had Setsuna needed to direct her powers, she might well have died then and there. As it was, a field of retrograde time popped into existence around her, protecting her and Persephone from the encroaching vacuum with a thin layer of warm atmosphere.
After a few seconds, her eyes adjusted to the darkness, and she looked around. They were standing on a street corner in an unknown city, surrounded by buildings of a design she didn't recognize. Many of the structures appeared to have been shattered by some great explosive force, but it was hard to glean many details, since everything in sight was covered by a foot-thick blanket of snow. This sight was immediately eclipsed by her first glimpse of the sky.
It was black, a deeper black than she had seen in thousands of years. Even the clearest, darkest night sky on Earth was somewhat softened by the atmosphere. This sky was a harsh, almost glittering black, in sharp contrast to the thousands upon thousands of stars gleaming steadily above her. A full moon rode high in the sky; though its surface could be seen much more clearly than normal, it was, curiously, rather dimmer than in bygone days, in contrast to the increased brilliance of the stars.
Save for the odd dimness of the moon, it was a sight that only a few people on Earth had seen, but she knew it instantly - the sky of an airless planet. Somehow, the Earth had lost its atmosphere, and as she glanced down at her feet, she understood why. Heat leakage from her shield was causing the snow around her to boil away into gas and disappear, for what looked like ordinary snow was in fact the oxygen, nitrogen, and trace gases that normally made up the planet's air supply. She and Persephone stood staring dumbly at the ground for some moments. She roused herself and looked around, her eyes falling on the featureless mounds on the sidewalk around her. She crouched down and held out a hand to one of the hummocks, to confirm what she already knew. The frozen air boiled away, and she found herself looking at a small girl, still clutched in her mother's arms, as the woman had striven to shield her daughter from the death that had overtaken them. She rose to her feet, stoically ignoring the pinprick pains where Persephone's claws dug into her shoulder as the cat struggled to retain her balance and her composure.
"Is there anyone left alive?" the cat asked, trembling with an inward chill reflecting the harsh conditions just a few inches away.
Setsuna closed her eyes and concentrated. All living things caused ripples and eddies in the time stream, sentient beings more than most. Normally the sheer amount of life on the Earth made this fact but a bit of useless trivia. Now though.... She extended her senses as widely as she could, and came up with an answer more quickly than she had expected. "Besides the two of us, I can sense only one living being in the entire Solar System. I suspect it is not a coincidence that we are only a short distance from that single life form," she said grayly.
Setsuna turned and plodded numbly away in the direction of that solitary reading, leaving behind a trail of steaming footprints. She was no stranger to scenes of horror and devastation; she could still vividly recall walking in much the same manner through the ruins of the Moon Kingdom. In similar fashion had she skirted the bodies of the fallen in the aftermath of Tamerlane, Genghis Khan, and Hitler. The scale of this catastrophe, though, was so much beyond anything she had ever seen that she couldn't manage to take it in.
She had traversed five blocks before she saw the huddled shape slumped on the curb, the only human figure not shrouded in white. As she came closer, the figure looked up, and Setsuna saw, with no real surprise, that the face it wore was her own.
"Begone, phantom," the other Setsuna said wearily. "I'll end this miserable existence soon enough - there is no point in tormenting me further."
"I am no phantom," Setsuna responded, "nor am I here to torment you. I came here to have a question answered."
Now the other Setsuna looked agitated. "You fool," she said in a tone freighted with despair. "My only hope was some alternate choice might replace this timeline. Now you've established this line, and trapped yourself as well, so you can never return to change things." Her gaze went to the cat on Setsuna's shoulder. "Persephone?" her voice trembled. "Oh, Persephone. I miss you so much." The cat simply pulled herself into a smaller ball on Setsuna's shoulder, seriously shaken by all that she had seen.
Her brow wrinkling, Setsuna asked, "What do you mean I'm trapped?"
"Try to access the Time Gate, or the sanctum, or anything outside this point in space and time."
Setsuna cast her mind out and located the Gate, the source of much of her power. She triggered the reflex that created a portal and felt - nothing. She blinked and tried again. Nothing. She tried to transport herself to her sanctum, the home she kept for herself just outside normal reality, and failed. Her concern mounting, she tried to send herself to any of the major loci she knew - Tsunami's chamber on Jurai, the Ultimate Game on Summa Nulla, the imperial necropolis on Raalgon - to no avail.
"No good, is it?" her counterpart said with an air almost of gloomy satisfaction. "Only to be expected, of course," as she held out a handful of dully glinting shards.
It was all Setsuna could do to stare open-mouthed at the display, so it was left to Persephone to voice their common shock. "Th- th- that's the ginzuishou!"
"Got it in one."
"But - but - what happened, Setsuna? Or whatever you've been calling yourself most recently?"
"I came out of stasis and found it lying on Usagi's body," the other Setsuna said distantly.
Setsuna pressed her fingers against her temples, half-afraid that her head would choose to burst into tiny fragments if she didn't hold it together. "Could you please start from the beginning and explain what's happened? Preferably before I go stark staring mad? In particular, what did you end up doing about Ranma?"
"Eh? Oh, certainly, certainly." Her counterpart looked around vaguely before dropping the crystal fragments into a pocket. "What time period are you from?"
"We're from 1997. The Senshi just defeated the Death Phantom, and sent Chibi-Usa back to Crystal Tokyo."
"So you are indeed Setsuna. My current name is Remi, Remi Sakamoto." Remi paused, trying to collect her scattered thoughts. "This is the year 2096, a century after your time. You asked about Ranma. Let me think - if I recall correctly, it was about your time when Lord Tyddo warned me about bringing on the Awakening." Noting Setsuna's nod, she continued. "After I consulted the Bodhisattva Jukebox, I decided to ease up on Ranma. I chose not to complete the Juraian connection, and ended up letting Ranma have a more or less normal life - normal for him. I even allowed him to get married and have children."
Her voice began to take on some life as she seemed to gather herself together. "He and his wife raised quite a little troop of martial artists, and they were all there to support their father when it came time. I hoped that their sheer numbers could make the difference in the final confrontation." She glanced at the desolation around them. "Obviously I was wrong."
"But what happened?"
"Of course, I don't know exactly." Remi correctly interpreted Setsuna's expression and explained. "It was a number of years after your time when Persephone - my Persephone - pointed out that I couldn't actually be present for the finale. It had become increasingly clear from the fragments our psychics could glean that the crisis was connected to our enemies gaining at least some measure of control over the ginzuishou, and therefore the Senshi themselves. What we were building towards was a team that could defeat the Senshi and their unknown masters. If I were in this universe when the battle began, the chances were great that I would be taken over too, and the enemy would then know everything I had done to fight them, and perhaps even gain control over the Gate of Time to undo what I had accomplished. I remained in my sanctum, and went so far as to put myself in stasis so as to take no chances.
"Persephone wanted to stay behind. She said one of us needed to know what was going on, and that she would be safe enough since she was not a Senshi, and hence was at least somewhat immune to the ginzuishou's control. I shouldn't have let her, but...." She fell silent and looked at Persephone. "You always could talk me into anything you wished.
"I can only conjecture as to what happened. The battle took place here in Tokyo, and was apparently quite violent, though short-lived. At some point, the enemy, whoever or whatever they might be, made use of the ginzuishou, which emitted a field of pure killing force. I don't know," she said parenthetically, "if it was their intent or not - it may even have been some hidden safeguard of the crystal itself - you know Serenity and Usagi never tapped more than a fraction of its power. In any event, everyone in the Solar System died instantly, including the inhabitants of the Hidden Worlds. Even I, lying in stasis in the sanctum, felt its power. I survived, but was gravely wounded, so that it was quite some time before I could leave stasis and come here to find out what had happened. I transported myself here, a much more difficult feat than I had expected, and found - this," she said, encompassing the scene around her with a sweeping gesture. "When I arrived, I found that the destruction of the ginzuishou had eliminated much of my abilities to control time and space. Briefly, I'm trapped here, and so are you."
"But what happened to the atmosphere?" Setsuna asked in puzzlement.
"Something, perhaps the ginzuishou, has damaged the Sun. If it were up now, you'd see that it's only about as bright as the Moon used to be. I'm not sure how long I was in stasis, but it was long enough for the Earth to cool off to the point that most of the atmosphere has frozen out." Remi frowned slightly. "It has occurred to me that this effect might have been caused by someone trying to use the Sunstone to amplify the ginzuishou's power."
"It can't be," Setsuna protested. "The Sunstone's locked up in the Vault, and Mother would have told me, er, you, if anyone had managed to break in."
"Mother's dead," Remi informed her bleakly. "She died some years back."
Setsuna was growing more and more agitated. "What! How could she die? Didn't you check the Vault? If someone killed her and gained access -"
"Of course I checked it!" Remi snapped. "If you thought of it, why would you think I wouldn't? Everything seemed fine; I saw no indication that anything had been disturbed, and I still don't know for sure that anything had been. As for Mother's death - gods, she's been half-dead for centuries. Is it so surprising that she should finally give up and go to be with Father again?"
"Setsuna! Remi! Stop it!" Persephone said sharply. "This bickering is pointless."
Setsuna tried to calm herself. She couldn't argue with what her future self was saying, but she was startled to realize how much the news of her mother's death had shaken her. "Have you found out what happened to her?"
Remi shook her head. "She hasn't been reborn, and the Lords of Death have refused to let me communicate with her. You know how they can be."
Setsuna stood silent for a few minutes, trying to digest all she had seen and heard. Obviously her initial impulse to cut back on her plans for Ranma were badly mistaken, yet the alternative of just going ahead and risking the Awakening was unthinkable. What did that leave? She was roused from her brooding by the voice of the cat on her shoulder.
"What will you do now?"
"I don't know. I had rather expected Tsunami or one of the other deities in the area to come around checking things out. It's a bit worrying, really. It makes me wonder just how far the power of the ginzuishou extended."
"You don't mean -" Setsuna boggled, "you don't think that it might have wiped out all life in this sector? Or even in the whole galaxy?"
Remi shrugged. "I don't know, and I don't know how to find out." She drew her knees up to her chin and wrapped her arms around her legs. "It doesn't really matter. You may do as you please. As for myself - I've failed my queen. I've failed everyone who was depending on me. There is nothing left for me."
"Well, I'm not giving up," Setsuna declared firmly. "This outcome may be almost as bad as the Awakening, but there's a way to beat it. All I have to do is go back and keep looking."
"Didn't you hear me?" asked her future self grimly. "You're trapped here, with no access to the Gate."
"But I didn't come here through the Gate."
"What?" She looked up quickly, hope openly warring with disbelief on her countenance.
"I came here through the fourth tower, at Frieda's suggestion," Setsuna began. Seeing the obvious perplexity on the familiar face across from her, she explained how she had come to this dead city seeking an answer to her dilemma.
"I never unburdened myself to Frieda, so she never told me anything." Remi shot to her feet in growing excitement. "Can you still get back to the tower?"
"I think so," Setsuna said, infected in spite of herself by her counterpart's enthusiasm. "I can still feel the doorway's presence." She started to concentrate, then stopped. "I'd better not take a chance on moving it; it might be safer to go back to it."
They walked back along the trail of Setsuna's footprints. Remi had conquered her initial giddiness and now seemed to be mulling the situation over. Setsuna struggled to suppress her worries over their possible return, while Persephone practiced looking inscrutable.
They stopped before the great wooden door that stood, alone and unsupported, in the darkened street. Setsuna turned to her other self, searching for the words to express the things she felt, yet knowing all the while that no words were necessary. Before she could say anything, Remi spoke.
"There's one thing I'd like you to do for me." She hesitated, then went on, "If this were a normal case of going back to your own time to set things right, I wouldn't worry about myself - I'd know that this timeline would simply be reset. If this experience really is akin to astral travel, then perhaps this whole world will never have existed. In case neither of those things comes to pass, I want you to take my starseed."
"What? That would kill you!"
"I was going to kill myself anyway," Remi pointed out gravely. "My primary concern, however, is to help you avoid this outcome. I propose to imprint all of my memories of what led us to this pass on my starseed. If you take it and absorb it, you may be able to use them to figure out what to do."
While Setsuna tried to formulate a response, Persephone fixed Remi with a glittering eye, saying, "And have you considered what will happen to this world if the starseed of its Time Guardian is actually removed from the timeline?"
"It may well cease to exist," she replied calmly. "That's what I want. If this world is in any sense real, I don't want to take the slightest risk that it might affect your chances at avoiding this catastrophe. I've already copied my memories over. Please," she said, her voice dropping almost to a whisper, "end this, then go back and prevent it from ever happening."
Biting her lower lip, Setsuna studied the woman who was in many ways herself for some moments before nodding abruptly. "Very well." Her hand flashed out and plunged into Remi's chest, eliciting a startled gasp from the other woman. As her hand emerged holding the glowing starseed, Remi's knees buckled.
The dying woman managed to gasp out her thanks before collapsing to the frozen pavement. Averting her eyes from the sight of what decompression and instant freezing were doing to the body, Setsuna placed the starseed over her heart and pressed it into her chest. For a brief moment her vision doubled, and she heard a great multitude of voices, some human, some otherwise, whispering to her. The whispering rose in a mighty crescendo to a deafening roar, then fell away to silence.
"Are you all right?" she heard Persephone anxiously inquire.
"Yes - yes, I'm fine," she said, a little shakily. Putting out her hand, she pushed the door open and stepped through into the fourth tower.
As she crossed the threshold, the silent city behind her suddenly vanished, and she was nearly blown back through the door into oblivion by the fierce wind that sprang up, blowing through into the void beyond the doorway. Persephone yowled in fright and leaped down to take shelter behind the door itself. Exerting her not inconsiderable strength, Setsuna forced the heavy wooden slab closed. She stood there, head bowed, one hand resting on the door, shaken by what she had seen. It was one thing to contemplate the prospect of the wholesale destruction that might result from her failure, quite another to see the horrific result. Realizing that she had been holding her breath for some time, she exhaled, her shoulders sagging with the release of the tension that had gripped her.
The question she faced now was - had it been worth it? Had she gained anything in exchange for the risk she had taken? She reached within herself, probing for the memories that should have come with her.
To her surprise, she found something else. Where she had expected to find the memories of the other Pluto, she found - another mind. Before her mental gaze, she sensed it begin to stir, and sent a probe lancing toward it, demanding its identity.
"It's - it's me," the other being sent back weakly, though the strength of the thoughts increased steadily. "Remi Sakamoto."
Setsuna blinked. "But why? Galaxia's running around taking starseeds right and left, and nothing like this has ever happened."
"I don't know," her alternate self confessed. "Perhaps because I tried to make sure all my memories of the last century were imprinted on the starseed. Perhaps because this all took place within the confines of the fourth tower. Nevertheless, here I am." Remi hesitated. "I'm sorry. I really didn't intend this."
"I know," Setsuna thought with a sigh. "Who better? Well, I tried to kill you once, and I won't pretend I'm not glad I failed - I'm certainly not going to try again. The important point is that we have what we wanted - the knowledge that might help prevent the world you came from." She smiled slightly. "You might as well make yourself at home. After all, if Brookite and Adamite can manage to co-exist with their human counterparts, I see no reason we can't do likewise. We do have a lot in common."
"Setsuna! What is going on?" Persephone demanded imperiously. "Why are you just standing here?"
"I guess you could say I've picked up a hitchhiker," Setsuna said wryly, before going on to explain the curious turn of events.
"Oh, wonderful," the cat groaned. "As if riding herd on one of you wasn't hard enough!"
Setsuna smiled briefly, then turned serious. "We need to decide what we're going to do to forestall Remi's future."
"Since our original plan wouldn't work, and Remi's idea of cutting back didn't work either, I assume we need to create an even more powerful team to oppose the Senshi," Persephone said, yawning.
"No. Remember, we know that if I involve myself too closely in the details, all chance of a favorable outcome disappears. If the answer were as simple as lining up as many friendly deities and demigods as we could manage to enlist in order to overpower the Senshi, it wouldn't matter if I knew or not. I think we need to make our response more chaotic and less predictable." Setsuna frowned. "Which is a problem, since we are, by nature, servants of Order."
Borrowing Setsuna's voice, Remi completed her thought. "Therefore, for best results, we should go to an expert in Chaos."
Persephone's eyes widened. "You don't mean - but she threatened to kill you if she ever saw you again!"
"Yes, well, that was twenty-five thousand years ago," Setsuna said brightly. "I'm sure she's gotten over it by now." She looked down at the small orange tabby sitting in front of her. "You don't have to come along. I know you have a problem with her."
The cat shivered slightly. "A problem. That's one way to put it. No, someone has to take care of you two, and that's my job."
"Then let's be off to the Realm of Chaos." Setsuna gestured,
and the Time Staff appeared in her hand. "Hear me, Nycteris, Lady of
Chaos," she intoned, in a clear, strong voice. "We come before you
as humble supplicants, to beseech your aid." Another gesture, and a
glowing vortex manifested itself. The Senshi and the cat leaped in,
and the vortex vanished.
Then all eyes turned down the highway
To a big cloud of smoke,
And Granny went into a mild state of shock,
And started to choke.
And a boy in a tree yelled out, "Here it comes!"
And twenty men strong aimed and fired point-blank
Nineteen shotguns.Ibid.
They found themselves standing in Nycteris' throne room, a surprisingly small, almost cozy room that seemed to have decorated by Salvador Dali. It was the most stable spot in all of Chaos, though that wasn't saying much. Some of the curious objects around her seemed to be furniture, although in Setsuna's experience chairs and tables didn't normally melt and flow from one form to another before one's eyes, changing color as they did so. It was rather like being inside a large lava lamp, she thought. And while Setsuna was quite fond of looking at lava lamps - indeed, her sanctum boasted the world's largest collection of lava lamps - she found it somewhat disconcerting to be inside one.
While Setsuna and Persephone didn't change shape, they were both affected by the tides of color that swept the room unceasingly. A blue-skinned Senshi turned to the only stable object in the room, a woman sitting on what she assumed, for lack of information to the contrary, to be a throne, although it currently resembled a loaf of bread that had been heavily trodden on. The woman seated on said object was tall and lean, with hair and skin as white as bleached bone. She was clad in simple black robes, and the only part of her that possessed any color was her eyes, which changed as the room did. Currently they burned blood red as she smiled coldly upon her two visitors.
"My dear Selamanra," she said with seeming delight. "And you've brought your darling little pet. After the contretemps that marred our last visit I was afraid I might not get to see you again. You didn't seem very pleased with me at the time. How's the Moon Kingdom, then? Still flourishing, is it?"
Persephone huddled at Setsuna's feet, unwilling to draw any notice to herself. Setsuna gazed back fearlessly at the ruler of Chaos. "The Moon Kingdom fell long ago, as we both knew it would. I apologize for trying to involve you in its affairs. I know now that we were too solidly entrenched on the side of Order to have lasted in any event."
"So, wisdom comes at last, even to the Daughter of Wisdom," said Nycteris, almost snarling the title. She quickly regained her composure, continuing with an air of apparent bewilderment, "And yet I thought I heard you asking for my help just now. I liked the invocation, by the way," she digressed, "especially the part about being humble supplicants. Gave me quite a chuckle, that did."
"Yes, I have come to ask for your help," Setsuna responded quietly. "It's more than just Crystal Tokyo at stake here, though. The lives of everyone on Earth, in the whole Solar System, perhaps even in the entire galaxy, hang in the balance."
"And that matters to me - how?" Nycteris asked, eyebrows raised. "The human race is admittedly a valuable source of diversions, but there are other races almost as amusing."
"You were human once, if the stories are true."
"Once. Fifty thousand years ago. Now?" She shrugged. "Still, I might be inclined to assist, if -" her eyes narrowed, "if you can come up with a reason why I should assist you, of all people, O blessed Selamanra, heir to Lord Enki," her voice dropped to a hiss, "and Lord Nergal!"
Setsuna started. That Nycteris knew her birth name, something known to only a handful of people these days, was to be expected - she had still been using her original name when she had gone to ask for aid in saving the Moon Kingdom. That Nycteris knew she was the inheritor of the power of Lord Enki was not too surprising - anyone who knew much of the history of Atlantis could have figured that out. But Nycteris had referred to her as heir to Lord Nergal, so-called Lord of Death - only Setsuna's parents, her husband, Persephone, and Queen Serenity had known that. Could Nycteris have had contact with Rheandor?
"You seem surprised," Nycteris noted. "Apparently you haven't done your research. I said I was fifty thousand years old."
Of course, Setsuna realized. That would mean she had actually been born in the heyday of Atlantis. But why would the mention of Lord Nergal's name evoke such hostility? Unless - "Who were your parents?"
"Very good," the mistress of Chaos said approvingly. "I'm glad to see you're not TOO slow. My parents were Nergal, Lord of Death, and Ereshkigal, Lady of Night." She noticed Setsuna's face paling and bared her teeth in what might have passed for a smile with an uncritical audience. "That's right, Lord Nergal, whom Enki conspired to send to his death so that the bitch queen, Inanna, could steal his power in order to destroy my mother. And you dare to come here, bearing Enki's power and the power you stole from my father, the power that should have been mine, to ask for my help for your precious Neo-Queen Serenity, heir to Inanna! I should strike you down here and now!"
She had nearly shouted those last words. Now she leaned back on her throne and gentled her voice. "But I'm being an ungracious hostess. I haven't even heard your request yet," Nycteris purred. "Let us be fair about this. You are, after all, both Lady Wisdom and Lady Death. I shouldn't just reject your plea out of hand. And yet," she said, with a troubled look that seemed almost sincere, "do you deserve those high and lofty titles? I wonder. I really need to assure myself that you are worthy. Not that there's any real doubt, of course," she hastened to add, "but these things should be done properly.
"Let's see." She pretended to ponder her problem. "Ah, I have it. Perhaps a simple demonstration of your worthiness is in order. If you can pass two simple tests, I will consider helping you."
Setsuna knew she had little choice but to agree, even though her chances were likely to be slim. She nodded silently.
"The first test," the Lady of Chaos announced, "will examine your fitness to be Lord Enki's successor." Her eyes narrowed. "Now what would be appropriate? Ah, I have it. Since we both love a mystery, I'll give you an easy one. In your capacity as the Lady of Wisdom," she leaned forward to look intently at Setsuna, "I charge you to give me the answer I seek. Name the seven dwarfs."
Setsuna stared at her in disbelief. "What?"
"You heard me," Nycteris said gravely. "What is your answer?"
Setsuna's thoughts whirled. Could it really be as simple as reciting a piece of movie trivia? There had to be some trick involved.
"There is," Remi's mental voice informed her. "You notice she named you in your capacity as the Lady of Wisdom, and she told you to give her the answer she sought - not necessarily the correct one."
"So am I supposed to read her mind?" Setsuna responded in frustration.
"I don't know. The only points that might help are these: remember that she is the Lady of Chaos; and remember her sense of humor."
Setsuna noticed Nycteris staring at her intently, her eyes seeming to glow in the pulsating light. So much was riding on this answer. She thought she might have it, but the consequences if she were wrong! She shook herself abruptly. Now she was falling into Nycteris' trap. There were times when caution was the enemy of wisdom, and this was likely one of them. "Very well," she said aloud. "Sleepy, Bashful, Sneezy, Grumpy...." She hesitated as a cruel smile began to twist Nycteris' lips, then realized that it was the best indication she could have that her supposition was correct. She took a breath, and concluded, "Jack, Doc, and Reggie."
The predatory smile vanished from Nycteris' face, as she stared at the Guardian of Time blankly. After a few moments, a real smile appeared, and she chuckled in evident pleasure. "Very good, Selamanra. I thought I had you there." Now the smile turned cold again, as she fixed her supplicant with a minatory gaze. "The second and final part of your test concerns your fitness to serve in my father's stead. In your capacity as Lady of Death, I charge you - give me back my father!" Despite her best efforts, a trace of real pain could be heard in her words.
Now Setsuna knew she was in trouble. If he had simply died, she could have interceded with the Lords of Death. Instead, Lord Nergal had passed beyond with the rest of the High Council. As part of the effort to defeat the Shadow, he had sacrificed his very soul to help create the ginzuishou, the weapon Inanna had wielded in fighting the Shadow. If Lord Nergal still existed in any meaningful way, he was forever beyond the reach of this universe. The only real way to reunite the two would be to kill Nycteris, and then destroy her soul, a feat that might, perhaps, be possible for the Guardian of Time, but would obviously eliminate her chances to gain any substantive help from the Lady of Chaos.
Her future self could offer no help in this impasse. The only chance Setsuna could see was to show Nycteris why her father had done what he had. She wasn't sure she could convince her opponent, but there seemed to be nothing else for it. With a sweeping gesture, she opened a viewing portal to the Gate of Time. Before them now hung a black rift in the very fabric of this curious reality. "Show us the last meeting of the High Council of Atlantis!"
The blackness dispersed to reveal a large room, with a great table in the center, surrounded by eight chairs. To Setsuna's surprise, instead of the eight Lords of the Council that she had expected from her previous viewings of that pivotal final meeting, only one man was seated at the table, a man whose ghost-white skin and hair clearly showed his relationship to the startled Lady of Chaos. He looked up at them with colorless eyes as a slight, sad smile crossed his patrician features. "Hello, my dearest Nycteris."
"This is some sort of trickery," Nycteris gasped, whirling to confront Setsuna, but the startled look on the Senshi's face convinced her that she, at least, was no party to any deception.
"I cannot really see or hear you," Nergal continued. "Enki has told me that he will arrange things somehow so that you may, at some point, be able to see this message, and so that you will be the first person to do so. I hope he is correct, for there are some things I wish to tell you, and I shall not get another chance, I know.
"It may occur to you to suspect that you are the victim of some form of deception, but this is not so. Do you remember the stories we told you of your childhood? Your mother always called you, 'our little crawling chaos,' you were such a handful."
Setsuna heard a gasp, quickly suppressed. When she glanced at Nycteris, she saw the face of a woman so rigidly focused on what she was seeing and hearing that she wouldn't have noticed if the room had been invaded by demons, which, in the arbitrary realm they currently inhabited, was not impossible.
"I have to go soon, to help prepare the weapon that Inanna can use to combat the Shadow. I don't know," Nergal said reflectively, "what you have learned about what happened to your mother. Yes, it is true that the group she led woke the Shadow, but it was strictly an accident. They were looking for a way to overcome death." He shook his head. "I tried to tell her that death was nothing to be feared, and indeed, she didn't fear it for her own sake, but for yours. It had been foretold that we would both die while you were still young, and that our deaths would have a devastating effect upon you, and she wished to prevent that from coming to pass. So she and some of her like-minded friends strove to find a way to finally overcome death. Instead, they released the Shadow, and found their own deaths. Make no mistake about that," he said sternly, "though I have heard the Shadow whispering to me in the night with her voice, though I have heard the tales of those who say that Ereshkigal joined with the Shadow in pursuit of her own dark ends, it is not true. The Shadow stole her memories alone; her soul is not there.
"Struggling to forestall fate, she brought that fate upon us all. If I could change that, bring her back, and all the millions that have died, I would do so. I had at first thought that Enki's Time Gate might prove the answer, but not so. Indeed, as he tells it, it was a previous attempt to circumvent this battle that led us to this pass." He sighed. "At this point, there is no choice left but Enki's plan, though it seems a faint hope indeed. The seven of us will give up our lives and our souls to create a weapon that Inanna can wield, not to destroy the Shadow, such a deed being beyond our power, but merely to weaken and disperse it, in the hopes that those who come after us will have the strength to finish the task we have left for them. We have sent as many of our people off to the Hidden Worlds as we can, though I fear we will be but postponing their doom if we fail here today. I could wish you here with me, that I might bid you farewell, yet I am glad you are gone, exploring your newly discovered realms. Perhaps you will be safe there, even if all our efforts go for naught.
"I daresay you have realized that I have asked Enki to ensure that suzerainty over Death, mine own dominion, does not pass to you, but seeks out another. This is no slight to you, my child - it is rather that Enki and I have seen that in times to come which I would spare you." The pale face clouded. "The gods know that this is no light burden, and I fear your life will be difficult enow in the ages yet unborn."
He paused for a moment. "Men call me the Lord of Death. You, of all people, know that this is inaccurate, that I am in sooth a mere intermediary between our worlds and the true Lords of Death. Still, as such, I have learned much that is hidden from most beings, mortal or otherwise, and I can assure you of this: just as I know full well that I shall meet your mother again, so too shall we meet again, this I promise you.
"Goodbye, my dear one. Know that your mother and I will be thinking of you always, and go with our love, until such time as the cycle is completed and the three of us are together once more."
The scene disappeared as the rift closed. Looking at Nycteris to catch her reaction, Setsuna found herself unable to read anything at all on the woman's face. The Lady of Chaos sat stone still for some time, then rose gracefully to her feet and paced forward slowly to stand before Setsuna. She gazed at Setsuna for a long moment, as her eyes changed color from yellow to blue, before bowing her head and sinking to her knees.
"I returned from Chaos," she began quietly, "to a near-desolate world, teetering on the edge of disintegration, and was told that my mother was the one responsible. My mother, the woman who had nursed my hurts and dried my tears and tucked me in at night, responsible for the deaths of millions of people. And my father, the man who had pursued her, and married her, and loved her well for a thousand years, had given up his life and even his soul, at the request of Lord Enki, to destroy her. I retreated in shock to my realm and hid myself for many years. When I finally returned, I learned of the final abandonment, that my father's power had not been destroyed as I had thought, but given to another." She wiped away the tears running down her cheeks and lifted her eyes toward Setsuna.
"I asked you for my father," she said, "and you have given me back both my father and my mother. Ask of me what you will, Lady Selamanra, and it is yours, even should it be to forsake Chaos and pledge myself to Order."
Setsuna's shoulders sagged with relief as Remi gave vent to a long mental sigh. "There's no need to kneel to me, Nycteris," she said gently. "Nor would I ask you to forsake your dominion. I was sincere when I said that the Silver Millennium had fallen, in part, from a surfeit of Order. I have need of some insight into the ways of Chaos to implement my plans for the future."
Her words brought a smile and a look of interest to the upturned face of Nycteris. "Then let us seat ourselves in comfort, while you tell me of your desire." She turned her smile to the hitherto silent cat. "Shall I have anything fetched for you, dear one?"
"N-no thanks, I'm fine," Persephone said in a small voice.
Setsuna marveled at Persephone's diffidence as she followed Nycteris back to her throne. She knew the power of Chaos called to the cat in ways she could only dimly perceive. She had asked once what it was like. Persephone had thought for a time before shaking her head. "You humans are too far removed from your animal roots to understand. We were created from our base species fairly recently, as these things go, and sometimes we still hear the call." And she had refused to say any more.
Initially Setsuna could only bring herself to perch rather gingerly on the slowly pulsating blob Nycteris called a chair, but it proved surprisingly comfortable, and she gradually relaxed as she told Nycteris of the puzzle that the Lord of Folly and the Bodhisattva Jukebox had set before her.
"Do you believe that your opponent is another follower of Order, based on its apparent difficulty at dealing with the increasing levels of Chaos in your plans?"
"The thought has occurred to me," Setsuna admitted. "Of course, in back of everything is bound to be another fragment of the Shadow, like Metallia or the Death Phantom, or the creature that calls itself Chaos currently possessing Galaxia. The original Shadow disdained the use of any allies, and was dispersed; so far, all the remnants we have encountered have learned from that mistake and worked through intermediaries, mortal or immortal. It does seem as if its current allies are at their weakest facing a Chaotic adversary. It's not yet enough, considering that the probabilities still favor a victory by our enemies, so I've come to you."
Nycteris rubbed her chin thoughtfully. "It's an intriguing notion," she said, "and I will admit the prospect of gaining some revenge, however belated, on the entity that was responsible for the deaths of my father and mother is an enticing one. Let us take a look at the linchpin of your little operation," she proposed, and immediately a picture of a sleeping Ranma Saotome hung in the air before her.
Nycteris studied the young man, her eyes alight with interest. "So this is the weapon you've been forging. I'm impressed. He's rather more chaotic than I would have expected from you. Trying to improve upon that will not be a simple matter. I can still follow the probabilities forward, though, so...." Her voice trailed off, as her eyes grew wide. She bent all of her senses upon Ranma. Finally she slumped back on her throne and turned to look at Setsuna.
The Guardian of Time was rather unnerved by the gaze now studying her as though through a microscope. There was surprise there, and respect, and even, it seemed, a little shock. "I underestimated you, Selamanra. I knew you could be ruthless, but this exceeds anything I could have dreamed of."
"What are you talking about?" Setsuna demanded.
Now the predominant expression on Nycteris' face was one of surprise. "You mean you don't know? It wasn't any of your doing?"
"Know what? I don't understand!" Things seemed to be spinning out of control, and Setsuna was quite unhappy about it.
"You don't. You really don't." Nycteris considered this gravely. "Then all I can assume is that the unseen and unknowable forces that guide our destinies have a rather nasty sense of humor - not that I didn't know that already." She ruminated some more. "Forget that I said anything, Selamanra. It wouldn't help you to know, and besides," her smile, though genuine, had an edge to it sharp enough to shave with, "it'll make a lovely surprise for you later. Tell me. What are your current plans for the dear boy?"
Setsuna fretted, but knew there was little chance of getting the Lady of Chaos to reveal anything she didn't care to. "I was going to arrange a visit to the Masaki household to cement the Juraian connection. After that, it'll be time for his mother's people to finally locate him."
"Visiting the Masakis, eh?" Nycteris chuckled. "That might be amusing. It's one of my favorite places on Earth these days, since Mihoshi is there. She's one of my Chosen Ones, you know," she added parenthetically.
"I didn't know, but it makes sense," Setsuna said dryly.
"Yes, I find it very handy having a foothold inside the Galaxy Police," began Nycteris. "It -" she broke off suddenly. "Wait a minute." She frowned in concentration for a minute, then her lips twitched. "You know, I think I've got just the thing."
"You can increase his chaotic index sufficiently?"
Nycteris laughed. "Dear one, with what I have in mind, I could make him such a focus for chaos he'd be eligible to take over for me. I won't go quite that far, but it will serve your purposes, believe me. Whether it will be enough to affect the final outcome, I can't predict, but then, that's the whole point, isn't it?" She held up a hand as Setsuna began to question her. "That's all I'll say for now. Given what you've told me, I think it's much safer if you don't know what I'm planning until you see it for yourself."
Setsuna couldn't argue with that, so she sighed and acquiesced. "Then I'll be getting back to Inverness. If you need me for anything, you know how to get in touch with me. I'd just like to thank you on my own behalf, and on behalf of Neo-Queen Serenity."
"No thanks are necessary. Truthfully, I suppose I'd rather the Earth didn't die, and the help I'll give you is nothing compared to what you've given me." She regarded Setsuna with unnerving intensity. "I owe you much, Selamanra. I hereby vow that, given the chance, I shall repay you. Go now. If you wish to visit me again, merely focus your will. I have created a permanent portal for you."
A permanent portal into the domain of Chaos! Setsuna couldn't
even imagine the amount of power that would require - it was
antithetical to the very nature of the place. And Nycteris still felt
she owed her a debt! Before Setsuna could say anything, Nycteris
gestured, and the amorphous realm vanished. Once more Sailor Pluto
found herself standing inside the fourth tower.
Well, the next day the sheriff just tried to stall
While they buried the body out behind a wall.
The newspaper said, "Killer still on the lam."
Seems the boys at the roadblock shot the wrong man.
Nobody really knew just who he was;
He was driving a Camaro with dashboard fuzz.
They all burned the car right there at Big Black Rock,
and no one ever said a word at all again about a roadblock.
Not about a roadblock.Ibid.
Ranma Saotome sat bolt upright, shivering violently. He'd had that dream again, only this time it had gone farther. He strove to quiet his breathing and slow down the racing of his heart. Once again he'd found himself in a large room, whose walls and ceiling seemed to recede into the distance. The room was empty save for the people gathered together near him. He drifted closer, and saw that they were all clustered around a figure lying on the floor. Several women were kneeling by the figure, sobbing in a heartbroken fashion. Impelled by a vague curiosity, he came up behind them to stare at the object of their concern. It was a man, a well-built man in a red and black bodysuit of some sort. As he moved his eyes up the body, his gaze was arrested by something glinting on the man's left hand. At first sight it appeared to be a silver glove with six fingers, until he looked closer and saw the fine lines crossing it, the calluses on the knuckles, the fine hairs growing on the back. Somehow, the man's hand was made out of a silvery metal. Always before, the dream had ended at that point. This time, however, he looked up at the man's face. Initially, all he could see was the ornately jeweled black patch covering the man's right eye. Only after a few moments was he able to take in the rest of the face. It was a handsome face, though drawn and gaunt with long suffering, fine lines of pain surrounding the eyes, and a familiar one, he felt immediately, though for some time he could not put a name to it. Suddenly it came to him. It was his own face. He was the one lying dead upon the floor, mourned by those around him. With that realization, he had come awake.
He shook his head and tried to figure out why he was trembling so badly. It wasn't as if he'd dreamt of a cat, after all. He had simply seen his own dead body, a little the worse for wear. It couldn't hold a candle to some of the really disturbing dreams he'd had, like the one about the Orochi, for example, but for some reason he could still feel the chill that had swept over him as he recognized his own face. He lay awake for quite some time before his father's snoring lulled him back to sleep.
Meanwhile, back within the walls of Inverness, the mirror that guarded the entrance to the fourth tower rippled as Setsuna stepped back through. She exhaled sharply, releasing a breath she only now realized she had been holding since her exit from Chaos. Persephone leaped down from her shoulder and stretched, affecting an air of utter unconcern. "That went fairly well."
Setsuna regarded her, one eyebrow raised. "Oh, quite." She considered reminding the cat of her behavior in the realm of Chaos, but charitably refrained. "I'm returning to the sanctum - will you accompany me?"
"No, I think I'll stay here and visit Frieda for a while. I'll catch up later." She began washing herself, pausing only to fix Setsuna briefly with an enigmatic gaze. "I don't want to interfere with your little reunion, in any event."
"Eh? What are you talking about?"
Before the cat could elaborate - assuming she had been so inclined - they were interrupted. "Lady Pluto! Did things go all right?"
Setsuna turned to regard the diminutive girl, a warmer smile upon her face than any she had been wont to gift her with heretofore. "Yes, I believe it did. Thank you, Frieda. You were a great help."
Frieda looked rather nonplused, but recovered quickly. "Uh, sure, my pleasure." Turning to Persephone, she said with a smile, "Did I hear you say you planned on visiting for a while?"
"If you don't mind," the cat said, in just the right off-handed manner to express her serene assurance that, of course, no sensible person could possibly mind acceding to her wishes in almost any circumstances.
Neither Setsuna nor Frieda missed the overtones, and shared a look of such perfect accord that they were hard pressed to suppress their laughter.
"Then I shall see you later," Setsuna said, as she created a portal and stepped through, disappearing from their view.
After a moment's disorientation, during which she seemed to exist in many places at one and the same time, she found herself standing in a large clearing, surrounded by the mighty trees of an immense forest. Even she had no real idea where this forest was - she could travel to it, and that was enough for her purposes. In the middle of the clearing stood an ash tree so huge it dwarfed even the greatest of the trees in the forest. Taller than the tallest redwoods on Earth, it housed her sanctum, the one place in all the worlds where she could truly relax. As she had done many times before, she simply stood for a few minutes, taking in the astonishing sight of Yggdrasil, the World Tree, and the closest thing to a home she had had in a very long time.
She walked through the soft grass, feeling the warmth of the Sun enfolding her. Ahead of her, growing larger with every step, were the great twin doors of her sanctum, forged of meteoritic iron plated with pure electrum, guarding the entrance to the rooms beyond, which had been created long before her birth from natural hollows in the living wood of the tree itself. To the left side of the doorway, on a small stone bench, sat her mother, as she had for the last twenty thousand years, since assuming her role as guardian of the sanctum.
As she approached, she felt an unfamiliar pang at the sight of the motionless figure, and studied it more closely than usual. The face that looked blankly back at her was almost a mirror image of her own. Her mother's eyes were gray, and her hair jet black; those were the primary distinguishing physical characteristics. Overshadowing these details was the horribly empty look on those familiar features. Setsuna steeled herself for the timeworn ritual that greeting her mother had become.
"Hello, mother, I'm back."
"Selamanra. It's about time. Did you find your father?" The voice was querulous, but the face never changed expression.
"No, mother. He's still dead, waiting for you." At first, when her mother's faculties had begun to ossify, Setsuna had tried to engage her interest in the work she was doing, or the odd antics of the beings she had met, anything to halt her deteriorating condition. With the passing centuries those tactics had become progressively less effective. Now she rarely even tried, letting the conversation follow its accustomed track.
"Any sign of that worthless husband of yours?"
"Not yet, mother." She thought of mentioning her vision of Rheandor in the fourth tower, but to what end?
"Have you made up with my grand-daughter yet?"
Another pang. "No, mother." The customary catechism concluded, she began to enter the sanctum but stopped abruptly as a wave of sorrow swept over her. She had just enough time to realize it was coming from Remi when she found herself down on her knees with her head in her mother's lap crying uncontrollably.
Remi cried like a child, with great, racking sobs. Her grief over her mother's slow decline and death, her long, futile search for Rheandor, the heartache of her long separation from her daughter, the terrible guilt over her failure to save her world - all these pent-up feelings now sought release, and for a long time she could do nothing but weep. She had nearly gotten herself under control when she felt a feather-light touch on the back of her head. She looked up, startled, to see her mother gazing down at her with the vaguely confused expression of one who has awakened from a long sleep.
"What - what's wrong, dear?"
"Mother!" And a fresh storm of tears, exultant this time, swept over her as she hugged her mother fiercely. "I'm so glad you're back!"
Explanations took quite a long time, but no one cared. With her mother's revival, Setsuna had been fully caught up in the tumultuous emotions raging through her twin, as a burden she was no longer aware she had been carrying was lifted.
"I hadn't really expected to have another child at my age," Setsuna's mother said with a tremulous smile. "At least we don't have to go through teething again."
"Thank you for accepting me, mother," Remi said humbly. "I know I'm not really your daughter. I'm not even sure I really exist...."
"Don't worry about it too much," their mother interrupted her. "I think we're all wise enough here not to get enmeshed in pointless debates. You're my daughter, and I'm glad, so very glad, to have the opportunity to get to know you."
"About that opportunity," Setsuna said with a frown. "I'm not complaining, mind you, but I am puzzled. It's been over a thousand years since you've said anything but your three standard questions, and suddenly you're back the way you used to be. Why?"
"Because I heard my daughters weeping," her mother answered with a fond look as she stroked Setsuna's hair. "I don't really regret giving up my life to become the sanctum's guardian, but, except on those rare occasions when someone actually tries to get inside, it's extraordinarily boring. As the years went by I retreated farther and farther into my role, until I was nearly one with the tree itself. The depth of your combined grief, however, was great enough to reach me and bring me back."
"Will you be going back into the tree?"
"I don't think so, Remi." Interestingly, their mother seemed to have no difficulty telling which of the two was speaking at any time. "From what you've said, my term is nearly at an end. I daresay I'll be joining your father soon, one way or another."
"Mother, no!" Setsuna protested. "Now that we know about it, we can stop it!"
"We can try if you like, dear," she replied gently, "but I have long known that I would not live to see the foundation of the new kingdom. Your father and I both agreed to seek rebirth together after my work here was over."
"Then - you knew he'd die, and that you would become the sanctum's guardian?"
"Of course. It's something that rather runs in the family, you know," her mother said with a whimsical smile. "We all know more about the future than we should, and speak of it as little as possible - sometimes," she sighed, "to the extent of causing ourselves unnecessary hardships."
The three sat in pensive silence until Setsuna finally roused herself. "I think Remi and I will ready ourselves to pay a visit to the Nekohanten. And Mother," she hesitated a moment, "I've decided to try to patch things up with our daughter."
Her mother blinked, but it was Remi who first found voice to question her decision. "Are you sure? We still don't know where Rheandor is."
"I'm sure. Mother's right - we've gotten too used to hoarding our knowledge. Perhaps we can't answer all of her questions, but we can at least tell her the truth for once. And if she ends up hating us even more," Setsuna shrugged, "at least we've been honest with her."
"It's your call. I admit it would be nice to see her again," said Remi wistfully.
"Be sure to bring her by to see me," their mother said, giving her daughters a peck on their joint cheek as they rose to enter the sanctum. She watched after them as they disappeared inside. "And be careful," she whispered. "I fear you will see yet more sorrow before all is said and done." And she composed herself once more for her long (though not, it seemed, unending) vigil.
The End
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Be with us next time, as Setsuna drops in at the Nekohanten to renew some old friendships, in "Apotheosis 3: Nighthawks at the Diner."
"Ranma 1/2" was created by Rumiko Takahashi, and is copyrighted by Rumiko Takahashi, Shogakukan, Kitty, Fuji TV, and Viz Communications (USA). "Sailor Moon" was created by Naoko Takeuchi, and is copyrighted by Naoko Takeuchi, Kodansha, and Toei Animation. "Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-oh-ki!" was created by Kajishima Masaki, and is copyrighted by AIC/Pioneer LDC, Inc. Tyddo and the Snake Mother are taken from "The Face in the Abyss" by A. Merritt. Inverness and the inhabitants thereof, as well as Summa Nulla, the Auroreans, and the Bulldada were created by Thomas M. Lopez and are owned by the ZBS Foundation. Rights belong to their respective holders.
Songs quoted: "The Roadblock" written by Stan Ridgway. "My Boyfriend's Back" written by Robert Feldman, Gerald Goldstein, and Richard Gottehrer. "Earth Angel" written by Gaynel Hodge and Jessie Belvin. "If You Have the Time" written by Davy Jones and Bill Chadwick. "If I Could Turn Back Time" written by Diane Warren. "If Only" written by Dave Faulkner of the Hoodoo Gurus. "If Only" written by John S. Hall of "King Missile."