Chaos looked around the darkness in confusion. She had been battling those creatures who called themselves Sailors. Specifically, the one named Ceres. She remembered easily defeating the girl, then another had thrown her to the ground. That infuriating man who had defeated her twice was not likely to get a third chance. She shook her head, trying to cleanse her mind the way Void did. She was thrown to the ground, and rose, and then, and then . . .
"Are you all right, my Chaos?" asked a quiet, hissing voice tenderly.
Ah, then Lord Dis had scooped her out of the battle. Now she remembered perfectly. Her only confusion was why he had carried her out of the fray.
"I am fine, Lord Dis," she acknowledged her superior, "Have I permission to speak?"
"Of course, my Chaos, you always are at ease in my presence. Speak your mind."
"Why was I summoned back? Have I done something to displease Mistress Kazracite or Master Qintozite?" she asked, bewildered.
"Kazracite did not order you back. Nor did Qintozite beg my boon. I took it upon myself to take you from that battle."
"But why, Lord Dis. What did I do?"
"You did nothing my Chaos. Kazracite sent you into battle too early. She is power mad and wants that crystal so desperately that it clouds her judgement. However, my judgement is not clouded. You shall stay with me, and train, until you are sufficiently ready."
"But Void?!"
"Void is stronger and more patient than you are. She can currently handle the responsibilities bestowed upon her, alone. Your place is by my side, Chaos, at least for a time."
"But Lord Dis!"
"That is final!"
Opening Song (Moonlight Legend)
Series Title, Sailor Moon: Remembered Senshi
Episode Title (5) The Essence of Absence
Ami shut down her miniature super computer, turned to Luna, and shrugged.
"I don't know what caused his awakening, but I know it's not physiological. He hasn't experienced anything out of the ordinary recently," said Ami.
David was sitting patiently in the center of Serena's room, in a padded bunny chair, while Ami and Luna poked and prodded him. Terra was seated to his left, holding his hand and telling him to make the best of it. Lita was lying on Serena's bed reading a comic book, while Mina attempted to pull her hair from it's usual pony-tail into three brown meatballs. Rei was sitting Indian-style on the rug, throwing popcorn at Serena, who was sitting at her desk pretending to do her math homework but was actually reading a new Child of the Star Rabbit manga book. Artemis and Celeus were both on top of a shelf. Luttra was sitting at the foot of Serena's bed, reading another book by Micheo Keiku, as Ami finished up her scan.
"Well," laughed Terra, "He did face down ol' Temper Tantrum twice today. Maybe that's what caused it."
Luna stroked her chin thoughtfully, then nodded, "That could very well be it. You know that Sailor Mercury, Sailor Mars, and Sailor Jupiter were awakened when they were in trouble. Perhaps that is why David woke."
"Yes, but that doesn't explain who he is and why he has powers in the first place. For all we know he's one of the enemy," interrupted Celeus, "As far as I can remember, there are no males with special powers that aren't evil."
"Well, then I suppose that you don't remember Endymion then, huh? What about Darien?" asked Serena, looking up from her comic book, "He's not evil."
"Well," flustered Celeus, "I forgot about him. Anyway, Darien is Serena's fiancé, and Prince of Earth Who's he supposed to be attached to?" Celeus sniffed disdainfully as he gestured to David.
"From the way he's been acting, and considering the timeliness of his awakening, my guess would be Terra," Ami thought out loud, absently.
Terra blushed an indiscreet red as she struggled to keep herself steady.
"Terra is here," she reminded Ami, who blushed in turn at the thought of being rude, "And she says you're all just being silly. David wouldn't want to do a thing like marry me."
"Darien wasn't too hot about it either, when he first met Serena," Luna reminded her with a chuckle.
Serena scowled, "That's because he didn't know how fantastically wonderful I am."
Luna chuckled again, "Actually, I think he knew just how you were then, he just doesn't seem to mind it now."
Serena stuck her tongue out and blew a raspberry at Luna, before turning back to Terra and David, "Besides you guys would make a totally ultra hot couple! Just like Rei and Chad (Rei snarled and lobbed a whole handful of popcorn at Serena) and Moll and Melvin! I am such the cupid!"
"You are such the bubble-brain," muttered Rei, under her breath.
"Girls!" chided Artemis, "Remember, we're here to figure out why David is with us, not argue about each others' love lives."
"It was a legitimate line of thought before it wandered off course," reminded Ami, "It is very possible that David is a protector of the Scouts, specifically Terra. At any rate, I doubt that you mean us any harm or you would have hurt Terra when you had the chance."
"Well," started Celeus, "I happen to know that her excellency, Princess Terra was never engaged. Even if she had been, she certainly wouldn't have been engaged to common rabble like you!" He snorted contemptuously at David in disgust.
"Her excellency may remind the humble cat advisor that she is here, and can speak for herself," Terra intoned frustratedly, "Don't you think that I have a few secrets I would keep to myself, Celeus? Do you think I told you and Mother everything? I certainly didn't go telling you who I was in love with, now did I?"
David's heart leapt into his throat in anticipation.
"You mean to tell me that you had a suitor and you never told me about it?!" fumed Celeus, adding as an afterthought, "Your excellency."
Terra scowled and David's hopes soared.
"You are telling me, that you, Terra, Princess of the Laterose, child of Lord King Oaklawn, Duke of the Marches of White Cress, ninth descendent of Goddess Demeter herself, you had a tryst with a commoner!?!"
Terra's scowl deepened, "Well, I don't remember off the top of my head, but truth be told I don't remember a lot of things, and neither do you! What I'm trying to get across to you is that just because you don't remember it happening doesn't mean it didn't!!!"
David's hopes dropped quickly and surely until they were close to absolute zero.
"Well," he thought, "I blew it, at least in a past lifetime."
"I'm hungry from all this studying!" announced Serena, filling the awkward moment as she put down her 'math' book, "Let's go get some burgers!"
~*~
Kazracite was pacing the edges of her 'chamber' of negative space, cursing whatever drew her attention. She was in a foul mood, and had been ever since she'd detected Chaos's presence in the negative temporal plane. This did not bode well with her other plans, and it momentarily confused her.
Chaos could not cause the temporal shift that was necessary to open a portal to this plane alone, she had to have had assistance. In addition, Kazracite still trusted her two servants implicitly. She trusted them the way she'd trusted Naverght an honor she had bestowed upon no others. Her faith in them was partially due to the fact that in some ways, Chaos and Void were like his children. His triumph and victory had caused their birth, and she was the obvious choice as their mother. So, she had trained them so, teaching them that she was their mother, fostering fear and respect in them, along with a misplaced sense of trust and understanding. Qintozite had never cared about her relationship with the two bastard children. He had convinced himself that her emotion would come to naught, but she could see the loyalty the two bore her.
She was closer to Chaos. She always had been. Chaos drew her power from her raw emotions, as did Kazracite, unlike the frigid Void, who drew her power from emptiness. Void was just as loyal to Kazracite as Chaos was, but Kazracite could detect the subtle differences. Still, she knew that neither Chaos, nor Void could fathom the idea of betraying their 'mother.' Her thoughts then fell back on the puzzle that confronted her. She knew that unless some bizarre temporal wrinkle had caused Chaos's appearance in this plane, she had been transported there by one of her compatriots, either Lord Dis or Qintozite.
Compatriots, she laughed to herself bitterly at the use of that word. The three of them were no closer to each other than they had been to Beryl. Their alliance had been made for their own mutual pooling of resources and protection under a likely source of power more than it had been made out of common goals and emotions. No, she was the only one who truly cared about Naverght, their own energy-wielding prodigy.
Oh, of course Lord Dis was loyal to Naverght. He had respected the Lord General implicitly, but it was more of a hunting hound's fealty to his master than a genuine like for Naverght. That was another thing that had always confused her about Lord Dis, the reason why he had sworn loyalty to Naverght in the first place. To be sure it was convenient to ally with your ex-lovers main rival (especially when that ex-lover is also a Lord General of the Dark Kingdom and had placed a extermination warrant on your head for your infidelity) but with Lord Dis's powerful death magic, Kazracite surmised that he could most likely take care of himself and Beryl as well, if need be. She sighed heavily, not sounding anything like her firey self. She'd mulled over these thoughts time and again and her thoughts still produced no fruit. Unwilling to prusue the thoughts farther, she turned her musings to her other 'ally.'
Qintozite had been high in the privy councils of Lord General Beryl. The intrigue at the court of the Dark Moon rumored him to be the new favorite of Beryl and next chancellor. That was before the former favorite Lord Dis, sovereign of the Death Knights, returned, heralding the arrival of the man who was to be Beryl's main rival for the attentions of Metallia. The raw abilities of this initiate, so named Naverght (in Sylvanic) due to his unexplainable hatred of all things green and living, were so awesome that nothing could quell the firestorm of rumors that began after his first reception at court, even Beryl's wrath.
Qintozite was not close-minded to these rumors. He knew that the initiate's powers were quite likely a match for Beryl's, and he had not yet been formally trained. A new faction was forming at court, supporting the new blood and already he had some powerful allies. Dis was his sworn protector; a promising emotional, Kazracite, was also basking in his glory; an experienced veteran shapeshifter, Titanite, had also joined. After weighing his dimming position as a favorite against potentially being the advisor to Beryl's successor, Qintozite jumped ship. His position had indeed been a successful one, that is until the prodigy succeeded at attaining his personal holy grail at the cost of his life.
Now Qintozite was a mere shadow of his former glory. Without the court, without Metallia, without a leader, without resources, Qintozite still did not fare to badly. He was still a deadly adversary and Kazracite hated him because he knew hee too well. He had an infuriating way of telling truths and half-truths and twisting them to suit his purposes. He also only served himself. He cared naught for anyone. Hell, Kazracite wasn't even sure if he had emotions. She certainly had never seen any, excluding his cold sense of humor.
She squared her 'chambers' again. She knew very well the intrigues of her own tiny sphere. Dis's infatuation regarding Chaos, Chaos's childlike adoration of Qintozite. However, she refused to believe that Chaos had betrayed her or Void. She knew that it would take an immense power to separate Chaos from Void, yet she did not detect Void's presence in the plane. And if Chaos had been forcefully taken, then why had Chaos not sent a temporal tremor, something she was quite capable of, in any given circumstances, to alert her 'mother.' It was a quandary. She squared the 'room' again, continuing her search for answers.
"Mistress Kazracite . . ." murmured a voice at the edges of her mind.
She pointedly ignored it.
~*~
Sailor Void knew that Chaos was back in the hands of Lord Dis, safe and sound. He had appeared to her after taking Chaos and had functionally healed her energy loss, returned both the wand and stone, and had even left his amulet for her.
You'll need the help it gives he had warned.
She was only slightly daunted at the responsibility that had been dumped into her singular lap. She was not of a nature to be frightened, it was not that she wasn't, it was rather that she couldn't be. Recognition of risk, yes; fear, no.
She stood quietly in the small church cemetery and then raised Dis's amulet. It's stone was the color of blood. Lifeblood, Dis had said; lifeblood to loan to those who needed it. She held it high over her head and then began her incantation. It was entirely in Necron, the language of the dead, except for the final word, which could be spoken in any language, yet still have the same effect. Death and it's antonym were universal.
"Ressurection," she whispered.
Fine white dust rose from all over the grounds of the deserted cemetery. It combined with the very earth itself and slowly solidified into a small legion of twelve grinning skeletons. Their bones were ivory polished and they glittered in the sunlight, dazzling Sailor Void's fleshy pink eyes. She knew that they would obey her loyally as long as she carried the amulet to identify herself as their necromancer. She also knew that it was not wise to leave such a valuable and indispensable item out in the open, where it might be targeted. She deftly slipped it below her collar and under her outer steel and garnet brooch.
She took out the lava-stone and it directed her south, towards downtown.
"Come, our objective is in this direction," she commanded.
Her followers formed neat ranks behind her, and she led them straight for the center of the city, and the Crown Center Cafe.
~*~
"And I'll have a double cheeseburger, a jumbo fry, some onion rings, a hotdog, and the biggest chocolate shake you have," finished Serena happily.
"Hey greedy guts, what are we going to eat?" asked Rei darkly.
Ami counted the rest of their money. "We have enough left to get a small fry."
The rest of the table groaned.
"Serena! We had enough money to get two pizzas! We could have all eaten!" added Lita.
"Well," said Mina, "On the bright side, we won't gain any weight from today's meal!"
David sighed, "I hope the rest of these girls don't eat as much as Serena," he thought, but actually said, "How much? I can treat this time."
"Really?" asked Mina ecstatically, "If Terra doesn't love you I sure do!" and she gave the astonished David a hug, "You know girl, you've got a good thing goin' here."
Terra looked embarrassed.
Suddenly, screams erupted from outside the cafe.
Luttra sighed, "No rest for the weary. Time Sleep!"
She promptly caught everyone who wasn't at their table out of time.
"How do you know it'll work this time?" asked Lita.
"It worked last time too. It works on everyone, it just doesn't work to well on other Sailors," Luttra replied.
"Okay!"
"MERCURY POWER!"
"MARS POWER!"
"JUPITER POWER!"
"VENUS POWER!"
"CERES POWER!"
"INFINITE POWER!"
"SCOUT POWER!"
~*~
Sailor Void's legion was creating general chaos in the street outside of the Cafe. She hoped to lure the carrier out into the open where it would be easy to take the Jadestone. Her skeletons were harassing everyone who dared to venture onto the street and scaring those who didn't.
Suddenly, a small group appeared in the shadows. They were unphased by the skeletons or the bizarre warrior maiden in the street.
"It's not nice to use dead people to fight for you. You ought to let sleeping bones lie! I am Sailor Moon and these are the Sailor Scouts. In the name of the Moon . . ."
"In the name of Mercury!"
"Mars!"
"For Jupiter!"
"Venus!"
"And for Ceres!"
"We will right wrongs and triumph over evil. In the name of our planets, we'll punish you!"
"And in the name of the time-stream. You'll wish you were never conceived of in this reality. I am Sailor Infinity!"
"Very nice floor show," hissed Sailor Void, "But I'm afraid I'm not in the mood for entertainment Skeletons, converge and destroy!"
The skeletons all ceased harassing the public and crowded around the Scouts. One grabbed Mars's wrist and began to drain her of her energy. She grew pale chalk white and collapsed. Two more began to chase Sailor Moon around. She flipped out and ran for her life. Unfortunately, she ran in circles around the melee, making her flight useless.
Suddenly, a pair of red roses imbedded themselves in the back of the pursing skeletons skulls, shattering them. (Tuxedo Mask Riff).
"Whew, I'm glad you showed up!" said Sailor Moon, "But I thought you had to work?"
"Coffee break."
"JUPITER THUNDER CRASH!"
Jupiter's bolt of lightning shattered another skeleton, but almost immediately, it began to reform. Tuxedo Mask's pair were up again as well.
"Sailor Moon," said Mercury, scanning the skeletons, "These forces are un-dead. 90% dirt, 10% magic. Perhaps if you heal them with the Crescent Moon Wand they'll return to the earth."
"It's worth a shot. MOON HEALING ACTIVATION!"
Mercury's thesis was correct. As soon as the white light blanketed the skeletons, they fell into piles of dirt. The general cast also caused Mars's energy to be freed and most of it returned to her. She sat up woozily.
Sailor Void was not pleased, "I better wrap things up here," she thought. A swirl of dark energy flumed around Void's arm and she directed it at Sailor Ceres.
"No! TACHYON CAST!"
"VENUS CRESCENT BEAM SMASH!"
The two attacks combined and a hurtled at Void. With a flick of her hand she absorbed the two energy attacks and used them to feed her own.
"VOID NETHER-MATTER NOVA!"
The attack slammed into Sailor Ceres despite her evasive maneuvers. She, Mercury, and Jupiter who were both standing in the vicinity, were knocked instantly unconscious, and Void readied her second attack.
With three of the scouts down for the count and another who couldn't stand, Sailor Moon pulled off her her tiara.
"MOON TIARA . . ."
"VOID NETHER-MATTER NOVA!"
"No! Sailor Moon!" cried Tuxedo Mask. He jumped in front of her at the last moment and took the brunt of the attack. He too passed out at Sailor Moon's feet. She dropped her tiara and cried out painfully, "Oh no, Tuxedo Mask! Not again!"
Void readied her third attack, directing this one at Sailor Infinty, who was trying her best to protect the fallen Scouts.
"VOID NETHER-MAT . . ."
"ETERNITY QUANTUM DISTORTION!"
"CHRONOS DIMENSION RIPPLE!"
The two time-space attacks hit Sailor Void simultaneously. She fell to her knees and summoned up the balance of her power to teleport the hell out of Dodge. She was no fool and she knew that she could not withstand another such attack. Better to retreat and fight again, than to suffer a gruesome fate for no cause.
Sailor Chronos went over and helped Sailor Infinity to her feet.
"Gee, sis, it looks like we got here just in time."
End Fifth Episode
Roll credits and play ending song (Forever)
