Guardians of the Millennium
***Pyramids of Ice****
ch. 3
alinasan@yahoo.com
Notes follow story.

2. (From Sarah Maclachlan's "Circle")
What kind of love is this that
keeps me hanging on despite everything
its doing to me?
What is this love that keeps me coming
back for more when it will only end
in misery?

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o000o0o0o0o0o0o0
Silver Millenium--Zoycite's view
o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
Zoycite avoided Endymion's eyes as they
sat in the War council room, awaiting
the tardy Jaedite. In a way, he welcomed
the break, for his world would not stop spinning.
Beryl's reaction to the scene they'd
witnessed had been, understandably, more
drastic than his own. Not that Zoycite was
at all happy about it.

Malachite turned his head towards Jaedite
as he entered, and gruffly asked
"Where were you? We summoned you hours ago"

"Sorry...I was praying..." Jaedite said, attempting
to order his appearance... "What's happened?"

At Malachite's signal, Zoycite summoned
the report. In exacting detail, he covered
everything they knew about which villages had been
attacked and how. The list was horrifying, but
gripping. Already the tactical problems emerged
from this puzzle. With some annoyance, Zoycite noted
that Jaedite appeared to be zoning out.
Finally, when he asked for Jaedite's allegiance
and received the same glassy eyed nod, he
lost his calm composure.

"Were you listening?" Zoycite
asked Jaedite, as the veins in his forehead pulsed
"I asked you a question..." He let his voice
ring sharply.

"Sorry...my mind was elsewhere." Jaedite replied
"What did you ask?"

"I asked whether you break your allegiance
to Beryl and swear to Endymion? Will you
fight against her? " Zoycite repeated this
carefully, as if to a small child.

"What? Why?"

"Did you not listen?!"Zoicite exclaimed, exasperated.
"She's joined the enemy..." If only he dared reveal
why...his eyes snaked toward Endymion, who sat
as guiltlessly as a baby, and bewildered like Jaedite.
Wordlessly he looked at Neflite for help.

"She's attacked the Earth Kingdom villages..."
Neflite added "And sacrificed our own people."

Jaedite looked at Endymion, trying to gauge
his expression.

"I got my wish...my engagement to Beryl is
broken, at the price of War...." Endymion said bitterly.

Zoycite was surprised the Prince admitted
his role in all this...but he couldn't
forget what he'd witnessed. He couldn't help
feeling Endymion deserved to have his world upset.

"I renounce the claim of Beryl's rule...
and join my fate with that of Earth and Endymion!!"
Malachite stated. He struck his hand down bringing
it up in a fist across his heart, then pointed
up "By Earth-Mineral Power, I swear fealty
to none but Endymion!"

Jaedite and Neflite followed suit, and with a slight
hesitation, Zoycite joined in, placing his hand with
the others in a square around the table. They each
repeated Malachite's words.

"Beryl's dishonor ends her claim on us...We
have pledged eternal allegiance to you
Endymion." Malachite said.

Endymion jerked then. "STOP IT. I don't deserve it...
I'm the one who's dishonorable...I broke
the engagement, and pushed Beryl too far.
It's all my fault" He disappeared in a
blaze of his cloak. Zoycite felt stunned.

Malachite slammed the table with his fist.
Zoicite flinched, unaccustomed to seeing
such strong displays of emotion from
the High General. "Find him, Zoycite.
That fool...he didn't utter the rest of
the spell necessary to bind us to him."

Again, he hesitated briefly, but nodded.
Willing himself to trace the Prince's path, he
let himself dissolve into energy, leaving only
a flurry of heart shaped petals as a magical
balance to the force of his exit.

He didn't try too hard...when Endymion wanted
to be found he'd resurface. Zoycite really
didn't feel ready to speak with him just yet, not
until he resolved whether or not to tell Malachite
about Mina and Endymion.

When, he wondered, would the world become
sane again? Desperately, he thought of
Amy, so far away from him on the Moon.

If only Queen Selenity had not bound her, Zoycite
thought, if only she were free to be with him.
Again he felt the quick heat of anger at his
lack of control. Queen Selenity and Endymion,were quite
a pair, thought Endymion. Both rulers
played so carelessly with the lives of their subjects,
he thought. His annoyance and unhappiness
began to fester deep within his mind.

***************
PRESENT
****************
Greg bolted awake from the nightmare.
Shaking with sweat he gripped the pens
that lay scattered on his desk and began
to draw the vision. Automatically the picture
formed--almost identical to the one he'd drawn
months before. The same picture that had
pushed him to run away from Amy. He stared
at the result as dawn streaked brighter across the room.
If he'd felt a sense of despair when staring
at the first one, he felt something colder
and more horrifying now. This picture wasn't
the same, innocent picture of happy couples.
The paired couples remained, and Greg recognized
Amy's friends. He stared at their partners...

His breath tore icily through him as he traced
the lines forming the men's faces. One in particular
stopped him. EZ....How had he missed *that* resemblance before?
But the recognition did not chill him as much
as the fact that the man holding Amy used not
a lover's gentle caress but was choking her.
Her eyes pleaded silently for help while the others
looked on in terror.

He was sure he hadn't drawn this picture the first time.
Why the grotesque change? With the clarity of
understanding that a psychic vision gives, Greg
knew Amy was or would be in trouble. Barely
taking the time to change, he ran to the airport
to grab the first flight to Tokyo and Japan.
He'd worry about paying for it later. Right now,
all that mattered was seeing that Amy was safe.

* * * *

The Assistant was very nervous...in so
far as she "felt" human emotions. The
mission was way off its perimeters of
acceptability. Hino had vanished, and
had carted off the best hostage.

The blonde man, Jed, continued to hover
at the temple.
He seemed to have gained a guest though,
another dark haired man. She could
never get close enough to determine if
he was the one that had taken her out
on the slope. That one
didn't leave the temple, but Jed, who
did, always managed to
give her the slip when he went out.

She did however, register some unusual
activity resonances when Jed left....-but
she didn't know what to do with that
information.

She'd set cameras monitoring the other
people she'd identified as Hino's friends.
So far they'd continued to lead perfectly
ordinary lives. The tall girl, Lita,
visited the temple occasionally, and
mostly went to her apartment.

They all moved into crowded places--as if
they knew they were being tracked...into
a park, the mall, grocery store...library.

All perfectly normal places to be--but
the Assistant suspected these destinations
were camouflage. A week of waiting, and
her energy reserves were running low.

She needed to act. She decided that she'd
capture the tall one, Lita. Logic led her
to that choice. This girl lived alone, she
had her address, and had been involved in
one of the strange incidents from the Tamaguchi
affair. Besides, the other girl, had written
her information so illegibly that the Assistant
wondered if she'd done it deliberately.
The contest forms had been an excellent idea,
but she should have had them type the information.
So she wasn't sure where the blonde girl she'd
seen had lived....and she couldn't make out
the last name...fsoplmo? Trakino? One guess
was as good as another with that chicken
scratch... Besides, she'd been lucky
that Hino *was* SailorMars...maybe
lightening could strike twice.

She fingered the door...2: am...the
security was laughable, very easily she
stole in side. The sounds of laugher
made her stop...she would have
thought the girl would be asleep...
She scanned for body heat--but sensed
only one person...The girl was probably
on the phone.

"Fre--Field, I *really* need to sleep.
Yes..I'm serious,...I miss you too...I
know...I'm going to sleep *right* now...
And...what? No, I thought I heard
something...It's ok..I'm just going
to see what it is...don't be silly,
fine...I'll keep talking to you--"

The dial tone ending was her first
sign that something was wrong.

The second was the hand that clamped
on her neck as she exited her room,
and the cloth soaked with a chemical
that replaced the view of her kitchen
with the black cloud sleep.

* * *
"Jed!" Field shouted, the sound
carrying through the quiet of the temple.

He shouted again, and finally resorted
to shaking the man to get his attention.

If he'd stopped to analyze despite his panic,
he might have wondered why he was instinctively
seeking help from this stranger...Field
had always been a loner...but rather
than his first instinct being running straight
to Lita's on his own, he sought out Jed.

"Fine I'm awake...Raye...Hey! You're
not Raye..." Jed muttered realizing the
dark hair that was hitting him was more
sun-browned than the purple-black of Raye's
luxuriant tresses. "Ah, man what's the deal,
you just ruined a great dream...."

"Something's happened to Lita."

"What? Are you sure?"

"The phone disconnected...I don't think
it was an accident...we need to get over
to her apartment *now*."

Jed smiled sleepily. "Express train or regular?"

Field shook Jed. "NOW."

"As you wish...but let me change
first...EARTH MINERAL POWER" Jed said, not
even waiting for Field to let go of his shirt...
Field felt a sensation as foreign as it was
familiar to him throw him back, and he
turned, shocked to see not Jed, but
Jaedite...similar but distinct.

He held out a hand, lifting Field up.
"You said, now didn't you?" With a wave
of his hand, the two materialized inside
of Lita's apartment.

Only silence greeted them...and a note,
typed and concise on the low table.

"Sailor Scouts:
Your friend is visiting us for awhile
Please, come join her. We're waiting
for you."

"they've got Lita..." Field swore...

"We'd better tell the others...immediately.
Are you ready to transport again?" Jaedite
asked.

"What?" Field said stumbling as his
sweat pant leg ripped a bit, as it materialized
inside of the couch.

"Whoops, spacing was off." Jaedite grinned
at the site of Field tugging his leg
free.

Field was not amused. "Right now I'm
too worried about Lita to worry about
this magic of yours."

"Sorry, that's never happened before."
Jaedite looked a little embarrassed.

They both looked a little chagrinned
when they found themselves flat on the
floor of the living room, Field pinned
by a very young teenager with dark
hair, and a blonde who was wearing
men's pajamas, but as Jaedite could
tell from their position, was not
a man.

"Haruka, right?" He grinned at her.
"Nice hair."

She wasn't amused by his pointing
out their similar hairstyle and color.

They hadn't exactly met yet, that is,
not since he'd transformed into Jaedite,
and it took her a second to recognize
him as the man they'd rescued a month
or so ago.

"Sorry Jaedite. We weren't expecting you."

Hotaru shifted, and allowed Field
to stand. Mentally he convinced himself
he could easily have shaken the little
girl off.

"I've got school tomorrow--if it's ok,
Haruka-daddy, I'm going to sleep." She said.
Michiru smiled. She'd be a bit sad
when Hotaru grew up enough to
want to stop using her pet names for
them.

"Was there some reason for this or is it
an ill-timed social call?" She said
tightening her robe around her.

Raye swept in then, "Jaedite?"

"I'm ok...They've got Lita."
He said, wishing he had more of
an explanation to offer. He
winced at the expression on
Raye's face. Only a momentary
sadness trickled over before
that was sealed with anger
and indignation.

"They won't have her long."
Raye said, grabbing her communicator.

Serena's reaction, when they told
her was much different.
"Serena, we've faced worse before,
pull yourself together."
"I know but it's just [sob] "

"Do I need to come over there and
*make* you calm down?" Raye threatened.

"I'm fine." She responded quickly.

Amy took the news calmly. "We should
have anticipated that possibility. Perhaps we should
be more careful with you Serena?"

Mina blinked in on the screen. "Hey,
what's going on?." She sounded only slightly less
perky than usual.

"You don't think that!"the warble in Serena's
voice betrayed her apprehension. "Am
I next?"

"As cautious as the enemy's been, I don't
think so. They took over a week
to take Lita but let's not take chances.
Perhaps you should go stay with Mina. From
what you told me, they can connect you, Raye and
Lita, but they probably don't know about the rest
of us." Amy hoped her guess was correct.

"Great, Mom and Dad are going to--if
only I lived alone." Serena mumbled
"Why'd this have to happen in the middle
of the night? Why is it always in the middle
of the night?"

"Better than in the middle of an exam."Amy
said practically.

".grr.."Serena and Mina muttered something
unintelligible at that.

"My scans show they've got her somewhere in the Stanton
Electronics Tower but I can't locate
specifically where unless I'm inside."
Amy continued over the muttering.
"Unfortunately, security there
is very tight. I don't know how
we could get in."

Field nodded. He'd had the same
problem.

Jed grabbed Raye's communicator and
stared at Amy. "Tell me everything
you know about this building, and
any contacts you have with it.
I just may have an idea."

Raye looked at Field. "Are *you* ok?"

"I'll worry tomorrow if she's not back...."
Field said to Raye as she stared into
the small strange device. "Because if I know Lita,
they have their hands full with her tonight."

* * * *
Seconds after light and consciousness erupted around her,
Lita's brain raced like lightening. This had
to be the same group that attacked Raye. If
as Field suggested, they were after the
Sailor Scouts power, then Lita was in trouble.
Either they knew who she was, or they intended
to find out. Either way she had to resist.
She was too weak to struggle and all she could
think was that she hadn't grabbed her transformation
pen. She was seated and held by steel arm bands
in a chair of some sort. The room was lit
by dim overhead panel lights, which reflected
off the polished metallic floor and ceiling.

She continued to squirm against the bonds--but
a voice called out. "That really won't
help you know." The Assistant walked in.
"If you just tell me what you know about
Raye Hino and Sailor Mars, then I'll let you go."

"Never!" Lita shouted.

"Really. Maybe I'll have to ask your
friend with the strange hairdo that looks
like meatballs?"

"Serena?" Lita gasped.

"Yes. Serena, that's the one." She paused
dangerously, " Would you
like a little company?"

"No, not Serena." Lita's voice went hollow.

"Lita, would you like to leave?"

"Yes" She said

"Then cooperate. You're friends with
Hino aren't you?"

"I don't know who you " She broke
off at the bands tightening around her squeezing
her. She gasped for air.

"Where is Raye Hino?"The Assistant said, her voice
as deadpan as ever. A screen on a low table lit her features
with an eerie yellowish glow.

"I don't know." Lita replied. The bands
tightened again.

"That's a lie. I can tell by your galvanic
skin responses. Everytime you lie
to me, that chair you are sitting in will get
a little more uncomfortable."

"What are you going to do? Squeeze me to death?" She
asked, feeling the bands press down. It
hurt, but she could ignore it. She'd felt
worse. If she struggled, maybe she could break them.

"The bands are tightening in preparation. Very soon,
you'll receive a small electric shock with every
lie you tell. I'm afraid if you lie enough,
the cumulative effect of the shocks could
prove deadly. As they say, honesty is
the best policy."

"I'm not telling you anything."

"Don't be so sure. Where is Raye Hino?"
]
"I don't know."

The faintest crackle of electricity trickled
through her body--the sensation was more
pleasant than bad. For the first time, Lita
realized she was in a combat situation that
required thought and not action. Brute
strength could do nothing for her--she
had to think. For a second she wished
she were Amy--but then pushed that thought
away. She wasn't a quitter, and she wasn't
stupid even if she wasn't a genius.

"On Earth." She said truthfully. Nothing trickled
past her.

The Assistant looked up. "I can bypass the
system." Of course, that was a lie,
since if she tried, she would lose the
benefit of knowing which responses were
true and which were not. Plus, if Lita
took too many shocks, her system responses
would be thrown off such that Lita herself
might not know whether she was lying or telling
the truth. None of this showed in the Assistant's
face as she bluffed.
"So where is she?"

The Assistant hadn't counted on one thing though--
Lita was as stubborn as she was strong,so she smiled
dangerously and said "In Asia." She wasn't going
to betray her friends.

Lita hadn't counted on the Assistant inhumanity.
She felt the chair squeeze in again.

"I really have nothing to lose by killing you.
Oh, nominally I am programmed according to
Asimov's laws for Robots--no killing human beings
and all that, but " The Assistant stopped
the pressure. "I'm a cyborg, I can lie, I can
hurt and I can kill, if necessary. The
choice is yours Lita. Will it be necessary?
Divulge or die. "
She said in her unexcited, even manner, that
made the threat all the more credible.

"NEVER." Lita yelled. She struggled
against the bands, as she fought for air
and awareness. "I don't know any
Raye Hino!" She felt a stroke of
of electricity--which surprised her with
how good it felt...almost like--
"Jupiter Star Power" She called out--and
felt the bands snap as simultaneously energy
crackled around her, swirling as her Sailor
Scout uniform replaced her clothes. She
stood, crossed her arms, and felt the Tiara
gather the power-- "Jupiter Thunder Crash"
She called as the small bolt of energy
flashed out striking the Assistant down.
The figure twitched for a second, enough
time for Jupiter to run forward and kick
her for good measure.
She crouched, that done, making sure the
enemy was out of commission. She looked
damaged enough.

"Very Impressive, Sailor Jupiter." A
dry voice intoned. The back wall
turned into a screen, and she could
see the face of an older man, late
40's, appear.
"But not very bright. You see ,
you still can't leave, my Assistant
can be repaired, and I have the information
I want--and now I know who you are."

She faced him then. "Well so do we.
Eris Sineheart. We know all about
you." She sounded. "We won't let you get
away with this!" She said angrily
and more confidently than she felt. She
wanted to stop the dangerous beating
of her heart. She wasn't prepared for
this. Oh, sure, Field had prepared her that the enemy
would be his stepfather.

He just hadn't prepared her for the fact that he
looked exactly like Zoycite.

END of chapter 3!!
************
Author's Note--Usual disclaimers.
1. If you're still reading, and haven't
emailed me, please do. Heck, even if you have,
email me again. Makes me smile. alinasan@yahoo.com

If you expected that *twist* then I
have to say there is no surprising you.