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A Rei of Hope:
The Burden of Duty
by Soumitra Choudhury
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In the ruin of the Tokyo Olympic Stadium, amidst a pile of rubble and debris, a 
throne of marble dominated with majesty over the throngs of steadily increasing 
youma. Hissing, slavering, moaning, screeching, they waited, some with patience, 
some without. All stared expectantly at the winged woman reclined in the seat of 
stone. She apparently slept, her wings occasionally trembling in some dream, her 
chin resting in the palm of one hand upon the left arm of the throne. 
Rumors roamed the crowds of beasts that she would perish soon, that her power 
consumed her before their very eyes. Patience would reward them with a prime 
world and no masters, away from the toxic wastes of the Lower Planes. The Earth 
would be a stepping stone for eternal carnage and chaos throughout. 
Some of the youma watched the woman's luxuriously long tresses, made it their 
overwhelming goal to witness her hair, never to stray from gazing at her locks. 
For, every few hours, if one watched extremely closely, one could see a strand 
of hair fade ever so slowly from deepest black to the aged shade of ancient 
white. 
It would not be long for the Angel who had summoned them to wither away. Then 
the youma would rule. 
*****
The symbol of Mars faded away, leaving the room bathed in the cold, drab light 
of the Silver Crystal that even the Great Fire could not overcome. 
Sailor Saturn watched the dark-haired woman carefully, her hands tightening on 
the Silence Glaive. For the last hour, Rei hadn't moved from her seated position 
in the center of the room, the Silver Crystal touching her forehead. She hadn't 
moved, hadn't made a noise. 
And then, Rei Hino opened her eyes slowly, unconsciously dropping the Crystal to 
her lap. Pupils dilated, she seemed to gaze at nothing, a horribly deadpan 
expression upon her face. 
Saturn stepped in front of her and kneeled down to look her in the eyes. 
"Rei-sama?" 
The older woman blinked, her eyes misting slightly. "It... it was my fault. I'm 
the reason the Senshi are dead." 
Then she began to cry. 
*****
The seraph's eyes snapped open. "Ma'lel?" 
A lupine youma stepped before her. "Yes, Mistress?" 
"The one I seek has awakened. Bring her to me." 
"As you wish, Mistress." The youma vanished in a cloud of foul vapors. 
*****
"We do not have time for this, Rei-san," the deep-toned voice of Trust rumbled 
through the room. "What did you see? Anything that may help us defeat her?" 
The sobbing woman rubbed an arm across her eyes, wiping away tears that would 
not go away. With great effort, she picked herself off the ground, ignoring 
Saturn's concerned look. "I recognize you, Grell. Come out and have your fun. 
I'm not in any mood to fight you." 
In one corner of the room, near the fire, the air rippled like water, and then 
parted, revealing the towering, cloaked figure of the Grell, jeweled eyes 
scintillating in the cool light. "So, you have regained your memories." It was a 
statement, not a question, and there was no hint of emotion behind it. 
Sighing wearily, Rei turned to Saturn. She reached out, and embraced the child 
tightly, burying her face into the child's hair. "I'm so sorry, Hotaru-chan. I 
should have killed her a long time ago. None of this would have happened." 
"Killed who? What happened?" 
Rei told her, fearful, but weary. 
*****
Outside the Hikawa Shrine, fifteen tall, muscalar humanoids materialized onto 
the grounds, each with a monstrous horned beetle-like head, and each sporting a 
wicked poleaxe nearly eight feet in length. 
At the head of the squadron, the lupine youma known as Ma'lel growled softly, a 
feminine growl of frustration. She tried to take a step closer to the shrine 
doors, but some divine force held her back from entering. It was a force so 
holy, she felt the beginnings of pain assault her corporeal form, attempting to 
rip her back to the bowels of the universe. 
While Ma'lel felt this, the Shrine knew a sort of pain as well, for it shuddered 
mildly, wood creaking and groaning. The wards against evil Rei and her 
grandfather had spent their lives maintaining were being forced to test their 
strength against the very essences of evil, as such were the nature of these 
youma. 
*****
Just as Rei finished her story, Trust suddenly drew his blades and stepped 
closer. The whole of the building shuddered mildly with a sad groan. "We have 
guests, Lady Rei. Guests of a rather formiddable nature." 
The priestess, realizing the shudder for what it truly was, released her mind to 
probe out the disturbance. 
When she reached the outside, a small female humanoid with a fox head turned to 
her invisible form and bowed. "Greetings, Damned One. My mistress wishes an 
audience with you," the youma purred silkily. "Please, won't you allow us to 
escort you?" Rei caught sight of the fifteen guardian youma standing in 
formation behind the lupine figure. Quickly, she remerged with her body. 
"Youma, outside," Rei murmured, rubbing her temples. She smirked sardonically to 
the Grell. "Friends of yours?" 
"Your humor is unappreciated, Lady Rei. How many of them?" His twin wakazashis 
glinted malevolently. 
"Fifteen, not including the fox." 
"Fox?" 
Rei nodded. "There was one, kinda small, like a girl, but with a fox head." She 
shivered. "That one talked to me. She wants to escort me back to the stadium." 
The Grell stared at her, unmoving, blades still drawn. She didn't want to admit 
it, but the lack of emotion he presented to her scared her silly, but she was 
too strong to allow him any sort of moral victory. "Do you mind not staring at 
me?" 
"I was just considering what it means that an arcanaloth has been brought out of 
her seclusion from the Tower of Gehenna." The cloaked villain shrugged. "Ah 
well. I am curious," and with that, he strode towards the exit. 
"Hey! Wait! Where do you think you're going?" Rei asked, then clamped her mouth 
shut. Bewildered with herself, she absently fingered her tattered clothing, 
trying hard not to blush. Strangely, though, her questions were more thoughtful 
than angry, and she began to wonder if perhaps the Grell's presence made her 
feel more... comfortable?... in her predicament. 
For his part, the Grell ignored her and continued out. 
"So... they're all... dead..." the girl sobbed, and Rei kneeled down before 
Saturn. "What are we... it's all over... we've lost." She fixed a hopeless gaze 
on the Senshi of Fire, one that seared Rei's mind with sorrow unending. The 
child before her was empty, completely and unequivocally, and Rei had no one to 
blame but her own damned self. Nothing could change that. 
Except. 
Yes. There was a way. Slim. Dangerous. More terrible than dying, but yes. 
"No, Hotaru-chan, we have not lost yet." She picked up the drab Crystal that was 
once such a desired item. It still shed the muted grey light that seemed to suck 
up all the warmth. Her resolve faltered as she held it, her hand shaking 
terribly. The pit of her stomach felt queasy. 
But all she had to do was look at the corpse of Sailor Moon to compose herself 
again. 
"What are you going to do, Mars?" Saturn sounded worried, and a little panicked 
at seeing the woman pick up the Crystal again. "They're dead! Those youma don't 
care about you, and neither does the Grell! If you try to do something, you'll 
be dead too! Where will I be then?! Alone! Again!" 
"If I try to do something, you won't be alone." Carefully, Rei stood up, 
detransformed, then transformed back into Sailor Mars. As she expected, her suit 
was fully mended again. 
"What are you going to do?" Saturn repeated, grabbing onto Rei's arm. 
"I'm going to see my twin." 
The girl shook her head. "That's a bad idea. You know she doesn't care about 
your well-being." 
"Actually, she's so worried about my well-being, I have no doubt I'll be safe. 
Remember, she wants to see me suffer by allowing me to live." Smiling wanely, 
Rei took the girl's chin in one hand and gently stroked it. "I'm going to offer 
something worse than that." 
"Huh?" 
The Senshi of Fire shook her head sadly, adding only one thing more before she 
blinked out of sight. "Remember, Hotaru-chan. Emptyness is infinitely more 
horrifying than Darkness. Good-bye, Senshi of Silence." 
*****
Outside, the Grell calmly stood atop the stairs of the Shrine, peering down at 
the congregation. Strangely, the wards did not react to his presense. 
"My, my. This is quite a treat," the arcanaloth murmured, tapping her fingers 
together in her voluminous robes. "The Grelloth Noxus, in the proverbial flesh. 
How goes the life here on this decrepit rock?" 
"What are you doing here, Ma'lel?" 
The youma clucked in disappointment. "What? No greetings, no pleasantries... no 
sweet words for a former lover?" 
The aura about the Grell gave an impression of a frown. "Don't make me repeat 
myself. Why are you here? Since when do you leave the Tower to do someone else's 
dirty work?" 
"We contract as we see fit." Ma'lel sauntered up to the granite banister at the 
bottom of the stairs, leaning on it demurely. "You know, of course, that there 
is a considerable bounty on you head, my dear." 
The Grell snorted derisively. "Are you here to collect? Is that why you're here? 
And I thought you were playing the lackey to the Dark Angel of Earth." 
Ma'lel growled, leaping up several of the stairs in a single boud. "I warn you, 
Grelloth Noxus. Toy with us not. Our interest in this world will not be denied, 
by you, the Mistress, or these Senshi. We will conquer this rock, and the Door 
of Ragnarok will be opened." 
"Hmm, so you are here as I thought." The Grell shrugged, lowering his guard. "I 
supposed as much. I wish you the best of luck, then. I assure you, though, the 
Door is not here within this shrine." 
"The Mistress wishes an audience with the wench." 
"She will not have it with the likes of you escorting her, my once-sweet 
concubine." Seemingly amused, the Grell's tone remained dead and unemotional. 
Ma'lel took a step forward. "My guards-" 
"-have no chance against me, and you are quite aware of that fact." He pointed 
one fine blade towards the lupine youma. "Don't force a confrontation neither of 
us would like. I will send you back to the malaise of Gehenna in pieces if I 
have to, then where will your search be?" 
They stared coldly at one another, and then Ma'lel smiled a toothy grin. 
"Guards." 
Suddenly, all fifteen giants were upon the stairs and surrounding the Grell, 
swinging poleaxes with brilliant speed and finesse. Eight blades sought the 
cloaked villain's death. 
All of them slammed into the ground where he had stood only a split second 
before. 
From the shadows formed on the stairs by the solid banister, the Grelloth Noxus 
leaped out, jeweled eyes piercing the boundary of darkness. His twin blades took 
one of the guards in the back, easily sliding through the gut. Wrenching 
viciously, he slashed sidewise in opposite directions, slicing the creature in 
half. With a desperate groan, it melted into a cloud of dark vapors and 
vanished. 
Like a pack of rabid dogs, the guards as a whole turned towards him, hissing and 
clicking in anger. The nearest one brought his weapon to bare, while two just 
behind pointed clawed fingers at him. A spout of fire roared from each, forcing 
the Grell to wrap his cloak about him and leap backwards. Three flips in midair 
dropped him neatly on the temple grounds below the stairs. 
Perched on the left banister like a gargoyle, Ma'lel's lips curled into a tiny 
grin. In rapid succession, the guards began popping into existence around the 
Grell, once more attempting to block his escape. As they waded into combat, the 
Cloaked One blurred into action. 
With millenia of skill behind his hand, he held off the surrounding odds, his 
inhuman speed dodging blows that he should not have realized were coming, his 
swords parrying away those few that did manage to become unavoidable. His skill 
surpassed anything the Earth had ever seen, each of his movements flowing with 
the speed of liquid light. Sparks clashed from the contact of poleaxe upon 
wakazashi, illuminating the battle area in a magnificent storm of lavender and 
violet. 
Where the Grell had not been touched in the combat as yet, the guards were 
paying desperately for their folly. 
Every few strokes, a random limb would fly lazily through the air to land some 
distance away, and the handicapped creature would find that his life soon ended 
thereafter from a killing blow, whether it be from the Grell himself or a 
halfhazard strike from a fellow companion. Poleaxes were not the best 
close-range combat weapons. 
As the numbers dwindled, and he faced the remaining nine, the Grell suddenly 
recognized a whispering chant coming from the stairs. The sudden distraction 
resulted in a well-placed axe blade to jam into his shoulder clear through to 
his chest. 
Falling, his hand shot for the bracelet on his left arm, twisting one of the 
five black sapphires a quarter to the right. 
Ma'lel finished her chant, raised both arms to the sky and twirled both index 
fingers. From the sky, the clouds opened into the blackness of starry Space. 
Several of the stars seemed to leap down from their place among the heavens. 
Three more poleaxes blasted into the prone of the Grelloth Noxus. A fourth 
attempted to strike the mask itself. As soon as the steel touched the porcelain 
fixture, however, the weapon exploded into fiery shards, throwing the assailant 
back thirty feet in a blazing inferno. 
The stars from above spun about as if caught in a vortex far above. Closer and 
closer they spun, still falling, until they passed below the line of the clouds. 
Instantly, they collapsed into each other with a flash, becoming a deadly 
concentrated beam no more than fifteen feet in diameter. With unspeakable speed, 
the cosmic ray blasted into the battle ground, incinerating with a blinding glow 
that masked the area. 
It lasted but a moment, but nothing was left wherever the beam touched. No 
ashes, no grass, no remnants. A hole fifty feet deep told the whole story. 
Purring in satisfaction, Ma'lel bounded off the banister and strolled for the 
hole. Kneeling beside it, she peered down. 
Nothing. 
"Well, well, my dear Grelloth Noxus. I guess millenia on this planet had made 
you fatally soft. Tis a shame." Turning on her heel, Ma'lel aimed to return to 
her mission. 
Sailor Saturn stood calmly upon the stairs, Silence Glaive in hand. "Leave this 
place, youma." 
Ma'lel frowned. "Who are you? Why aren't you dead?" 
A flash of grief crossed the girls eyes, but quickly froze into glinting anger. 
"Leave, or die." She gripped the Glaive more tightly. 
"Child, you know not who you deal with. I could rip your soul from your body as 
you watch and flay it, allowing you to feel the agony. I could melt the bones 
within you, liquifying your being into a massless jelly. I could-" 
"You could shut up and save us the pain of listening to your chatter," said the 
rumbling grave voice of the Grelloth Noxus as he pushed up from Ma'lel's shadow 
and pierced his blades through her chest. She gasped, then shrieked in defiance. 
"NO! I killed you! NOOO!" Her form evaporated into dark vapors, dispersing back 
to the Lower Realms. 
Saturn regarded the masked form cooly, a hint of disappointment apparent in her 
sagging shoulders. The glaive remained poised before her. The Grell absently 
brushed off the dust from his cloak, his swords disappearing within its folds. 
"Lady Saturn, you seem unhappy at my resurrection." Despite the needling humor 
of the statement, Saturn sensed a slight undertone of reprove. 
"Why do you care whether Mars' efforts save or damn the Earth?" she asked 
quietly, boldly. 
"Why do you need any justification for my actions? Is it not enough that I seek 
to aid you?" he returned. 
She shook her head. "Your presence is anathema to all the Senshi hold dear and 
true. You-" 
"Does that include Galaxia?" 
Gritting her teeth at the barb, the child forced herself to remain calm. "You," 
she continued, "have gone out of your way to wreck some sort of vengeance on 
Sailor Mars. Why the sudden change of heart?" 
The Grell's cloak fluttered in agitation, perhaps in response to the creature's 
own irritation. "What could YOU know of my vendetta against the firechild? 
You've only heard of me over the past several years, only have acquainted 
yourself with me in the past few days. Really, Lady Saturn, I tire of your 
incessant whining and-" He stopped in midsentence, cocking his masked head 
everso, as if listening intently for something at a great distance. The jeweled 
eyes flashed dangerously. "Where is Lady Mars?" 
The grave-chilled tonelessness of the question scared her, but Saturn defiantly 
set her jaw. "Tell me what your interest in the matter is." 
The lightning strike of a viper could not have matched the speed with which the 
Grelloth Noxus used at that moment, and Sailor Saturn suddenly found a wakazashi 
pressed uncomfortably to her throat. "Where is the Sailor Mars?" he repeated in 
an evil whisper that would have made her shiver had she not feared being 
skewered even more. 
"She... she left." 
"Where?" 
"I'm not sure. I think the stadium." 
The only sign of his surprise was the blade dropping nearly a millimeter. 
Nearly. "Why?" 
"I don't know. I think she has a plan, but she didn't say." A bead of sweat 
trickled down her forehead. 
"What DID she say?" 
Saturn hesitated just a moment before murmuring, " 'Emptyness is infinitely more 
horrifying than darkness'". 
The Grell held the sword in place a grueling minute longer, then sheathed it. 
Saturn readied herself for a quick stab, but halted at his words: "The Lady Mars 
is a noble fool." There was a faint note of respect in his voice. 
Blinking, forgetting her precarious situation, she gaped at him. "You know 
something, don't you?" She had the disturbing feeling that he seemed amused, but 
all he muttered was "Follow me." 
The purple-and-white clad girl frowned. "Where?" 
"Where else? The stadium." 
*****
"I should kill you, Rei." 
The moon shone a silent shaft of light through the thickly smoking haze hanging 
over Japan, illuminating the tiny passage of an alley between the arcade and a 
once prosperous restaurant. Both were gutted mounds of so much concrete and 
shattered glass, uninhabited for nearly five days now, but not the alley. Near 
the crumpled remnants of a dumpster, a huddled, shivering man crawled out, 
cradling his injured left wrist. Awkwardly, he rose from the ground, grunting 
with the effort. His torn polo shirt hung loosely, fluttering wildly in the wind 
tunnel that formed in the corridor, but he did not seek any further shelter than 
that afforded by the dumpster. Calmly, he waited. 
Waited. 
He raised his good fist in preparation. 
*****
As soon as Sailor Mars popped out of her teleport, she thought something had 
gone wrong. 
When a forceful, if not stunning, punch smashed into the side of her face, she 
was positive something had gone wrong, especially when she landed none too 
softly in the stagnant puddle of an alley, and not the relative softness of 
stadium turf. 
Years of training as one of the greatest saviors of the human race, however, had 
taught her a thing or two about combat, and one was to dodge. Quickly. With 
superhuman speed, Sailor Mars pushed off the ground and leaped backwards, 
performing a superb flip to land soundly upon her feet. "Alright, you 
scum-ridden-" She stopped at the sight of her attacker, gaping quite 
unprofessionally. 
"I pulled that punch, Rei," the young man muttered through gnashing teeth, then 
he smirked sardonically, shaking his hand to evaporate the pain. "You have a 
hard cheekbone." 
For her part, Rei had the grace to close her mouth and rub the sore spot on her 
face. "Ur... Urawa?" 
The smirk vanished, replaced with a stony glare. 
"How did you... how do you know... what?-" 
"I was there, Rei," he interrupted in a low, dangerous voice. "I saw what 
happened... in the stadium. I could have saved her. I could have." His shoulders 
trembled, from fury or sorrow, Rei could not tell. "I could have saved her, but 
I couldn't, and she died." 
"Who? Where? I didn't-" 
"AMI, DAMN YOU! I KNEW! I KNEW SHE WAS GOING TO DIE AND I COULD HAVE SAVED HER! 
I... I could have... saved her..." The rest was lost in his deep anguished sobs. 

"No, damnit, there will be no more tears!" Rei grabbed Urawa by the shoulders, 
and shook him, uncaring of the abuse. "Myself, Sailor Saturn, and now you, 
Urawa-san. There has been too much crying and not enough action!" A remote part 
of her mind was rather surprised at her callousness, but it felt necessary. "How 
did you bring me here? How do you know these things?" 
It took a few moments, but he did stop crying, gazing at her with a visage 
between bafflement and scorn. "Bring... bring you here? Don't you realize who 
you're taking to? I KNOW things! I KNEW you'd be here! I didn't bring you here." 

Puzzled, she let go of the young man. A sudden chill swept through her spine. 
She didn't even want to think about that. 
Shaking her head to clear it of the rampant thoughts, she focused again on 
Urawa. "Fine. Whatever. Why are you here then?" 
"I came to tell you not to continue on your current line of action." 
Rei frowned. "How do you know- Oh yeah." She was starting to get a headache. 
"Alright. Why?" 
"It won't succeed. You'll end up doing more harm than good." Then he smiled, and 
it seemed to Rei an almost longing smile. "And you'll cease to exist." 
*****
From her throne, She Who Embodied The Crystal listened, a touch of amusement in 
her jet black eyes. She vanished in an explosion of glowing motes. 
*****
"Then she will win, won't she?" Sailor Mars whispered, despair sinking into her 
half of the soul once again. "There isn't anything left, is there?" 
It was Urawa's turn to grab her, though it was rather awkward with only one arm. 
"Now you listen to me. I would have lost my life saving Ami from her death. 
Whether it would have been enough, I don't know. The Gods were not kind enough 
to tell me. What they have told me is that saving you from yours will, at the 
very least, postpone the end of the world. Don't you dare make Ami's death a 
waste!" 
"But what can I do?! The only thing I could think of is becoming one with her 
once again, and hope to use the Crystal's powers to reverse everything that had 
happened." 
A sparkle of light materialized, then grew into the form of Rei's twin, majesty 
and all. "So that was your plan, eh Sister? A noble endeavor, but one that I 
would have refused you." 
Cooly, Sailor Mars faced her antithesis, instinctively adopting a defensive 
stance. Urawa, on the other hand, reacted quite a bit differently. 
Screaming incoherently, he launched himself at the newcomer, both arms reaching 
to strangle her, despite the excruciating pain in his broken wrist. Too late did 
Mars attempt to stop him. 
In a beam of brilliance, Urawa evaporated to dust. No sound, no mess. Just a 
flutter of dust. 
*****
"She's not here," Saturn mumbled, a touch of condescension in her tone. 
The Grell did not reply, seeing no point in getting baited into showing emotion. 
Overlooking the stadium from their position on the precarious ledge of the 
open-air dome, he could see for himself that neither the firechild nor her 
accursed amoral spawn were within. He'd have muttered an explative or two, but 
years of maintaining a semblance of calm had taught him that it was better 
otherwise. 
"Alright, my pretty minx, where have you gone to then?" the gravelly voice 
mumbled, scanning the crowds of youma nonetheless. This particular contract was 
starting to get a might bit dangerous, what with the unexpected inclusion of the 
arcanaloths, but he would see it through, even if it led to his own demise. What 
else did he have to lose? His life would only reform within the next body to 
find the mask, though it may be a greater battle of wills. There was always the 
fear that someone would don the mask with a psyche much greater than his own... 
say perhaps any of the higher-ups on the arcanaloth echelons from the Tower of 
Gehenna. Oh, they would drool over the opportunity to escape the rigid code that 
ruled their lives on the planes of Carceri. 
Still, he had managed to stay one step ahead of the pack so far, and he had no 
intentions of giving up now. That was in the deal. He would get the Orb if he 
would aid in reinstating the currently lost royal line of the Moon Kingdom. He 
hated dealing with that old crone, but millenia of struggling against her plans, 
having his own plans foiled by the toothless hag, had blossomed a grudging 
respect for the Mistress of the Dancing Hut. Fine. He'd help the witch, but not 
without his price. Even if he succeeded in this contract, his own plans 
thereafter would hurtle the royal line back into its rightful place in the 
grave. 
The jewels in his mask shifted as he sensed the distant, but unmistakeable scent 
of the Silver Imperium Crystal's output. Without permission, he smoothly slid an 
arm around Sailor Saturn's waist, careful to pin her arms to her side. A squeak 
of protest was the only response as he leaped back, using mystical air currents 
to glide them away from the stadium. 
*****
Sailor Mars turned her head away from the sight, cold fury, stark fear, and 
utter disgust gnawing at her belly. How could such a hideous creature spawn from 
her own soul? 
"You don't approve of my methods?" the hauntingly familiar voice inquired, 
stepping that much closer. She shrugged nonchalantly, ignoring the dust motes 
that tried to settle on her blinding robes. "You've led me on quite a chase, 
Rei-san. There's no telling how long I've fought off the Crystal's... eh, 
debilitating effects, if you will, just so I could find and... talk to you 
again." She chuckled quietly, but it was tinged with a distant sadness. 
"Debilitating effects?" Mars asked, surprise twisting her back to face her twin. 
It was only then did she notice the uncommon amount of white streaks in the 
seraph's hair. Unconsciously, Mars touched her own raven locks. 
From out of thin air, an ornate crystal table and two chairs appeared, 
delicately crafted and shining as if made of solid moonlight. Sighing softly, 
the Light One sat in one, demurely spreading and arranging her robes about her 
legs. When Mars did not take the apparent invitation to sit, she looked up from 
her task. "Please, Rei-san. Sit." Cold. Demanding, but tired. 
Hesitantly, glancing about her shoulders for any surprises, Sailor Mars joined 
her twin, though wary of any traps. "What do you want? You've destroyed 
everything. Why not end my life and have done with it?" 
Crystal Rei seemed to ignore the questions, eyes wandering about the street and 
alleyway as if gazing far away. "Do you see what I am, Rei-san? My hair grows 
older every moment, moreso when I use the power of the Crystal, but it doesn't 
stop when I don't. I can't stop it, even with the magic of the Crystal." With 
graceful fingers, she ran them through her tresses absently, curling the ends 
about her fingers, the same dazed look on her face. The look concentrated on 
Mars's own hair, so intent that the heroine shied away slightly. 
"I'm dying," the sorceress spat suddenly. 
Frowning, Sailor Mars pursed her lips. "Are you requesting sympathy? Pity? Aid? 
I could care less if you're dying." 
"No. no. I did not expect nor want any of those things. I want only one thing 
from you-" 
"-You won't get it-" 
"-, I want you to understand," the being finished, ignoring the interruption. 
"Understand? I don't want to understand!" Mars was gripping the ends of the 
table so hard her knuckles were white. "You killed Sailor Moon! Do YOU 
understand ME?! SAILOR MOON IS DEAD!!" 
...Sailor Moon is Dead... 
...Moon is dead... 
...Dead... 
The echoes faded away through the alley. 
Shrugging, Dark Rei released her locks. "Do you know how I obtained the 
Crystal's powers?" she asked calmly. 
Sailor Mars struggled to compose herself, for obviously rage was not going to 
get her anywhere. She felt so small and helpless sitting next to herself, a 
being who for all practical purposes, was as a goddess in strength compared to 
her inconsequential talents. "No," Mars grated after a pause. "I don't even know 
how you escaped the Spiritwrack." 
A flash of heat passed over Dark Rei's eyes, but only for a moment. "Ah, then 
perhaps I should begin there." She settled back into her chair more comfortably. 

"Getting out of that infernal prison proved easier than we've ever known, 
actually, but that's because of our unique bond with the Weave. The moment I 
realized you indeed had the audacity to shove me in there, I reduced the amount 
of energy I was drawing from the Weave." She grinned proudly at that. "You had 
no idea, did you?" 
Instantly, Mars knew. In reducing the amount she was drawing on to sustain 
herself, Dark Rei tricked her nemesis into recalibrating the facets of the 
prison to accommodate the weakened prisoner. Originally, Mars had figured on 
allowing the facets to only allow enough of the Weave open to keep the prisoner 
in a constant state of equilibrium: enough power to hold on to life, but not 
enough to fully heal even one wound. The recalibrations allowed the facets open 
enough to gain that healing the prisoner would need. "But I didn't sense a 
thing," Mars whispered, half in shock, half in disgust. 
At this, the villainess frowned harshly. "Baka! I could only reduce it so much 
without alerting you. THAT is why it took me FIVE YEARS to escape!" 
"That still doesn't explain-" 
"Come on, Ami-chan is not the only one with any brains! Think about it! Once I 
was fully healed, I was sitting on the Weave. Granted it took a while to soak up 
enough energy to enact any dweomer, but you left me sitting on the Weave!" The 
angelic being seemed to find a great deal of humor in this. 
For her part, the irony was not lost to Mars. 
"Sure, I could not leave the Spiritwrack without someone opening it for me, but 
that didn't mean I couldn't send my astral form out, especially-" a delighted 
chuckle, "-sitting on my source of power." 
Mars refused to show any reaction. 
The sorceress continued. "After that, it was an easy matter to spy on the 
comings and goings of the Sailor Senshi, especially since you seemed to have 
disappeared from the city. Well, if I couldn't use you to release me, what else 
was left to do?" 
The Senshi of Fire didn't like where this was leading. Already, the story was 
pointing out a considerable lack of duty on her part. 
There was an malicious glint in Dark Rei's eyes. "It was an easy matter to fool 
Usagi into using the Silver Imperium Crystal to open the Spiritwrack. Hypnosis 
is a crude, but effective tool. She believed you came to her in a dream and flew 
her about the city, teaching her the uses of magic." 
"But I should have sensed the opening-" Mars's jaw clacked shut. No, she would 
not have sensed anything from all the way across the world. The facets of the 
prison were not open enough to release any great amount of the Weave's essence, 
and at that distance, the ripple would have been noticeable only if you were 
within a certain radius. 
A small sob escaped Mars despite herself. It's all my fault. All my fault. My 
fault My fault My fault my fault my fault... 
Dark Rei proceeded with the torturous tale. "My first step out into reality, and 
my only concern was how to destroy you. Obviously you're my equal. I needed some 
advantage, something that would make me better than you. I spent quite a lot of 
time thinking about that." 
"And then it hit me. How did you defeat me? What was your advantage?" Another 
cruel grin. "The Silver Imperium Crystal." 
"That's enough," Mars whispered, closing her eyes in shame. She didn't want to 
hear anymore. 
The storyteller ignored her. "Well, I'll not bore you with details of my rather 
easy task of stealing the Crystal. Do you know she wasn't even carrying it with 
her? Like the twit I always... I mean, YOU always took her for, she left it in 
her dresser at home. Does she have no originality, Rei? That's where she kept it 
all the time five years ago!" She snorted in derision. 
She suddenly fell silent, and it lasted so long that the lone listener opened 
her eyes, surprised that her nemesis had actually stopped. The glow shone slight 
brighter, so it was hard to tell, but Mars thought she saw regret in the other's 
eyes. 
There was such an echo of sorrow in the glowing being's next words that Mars 
almost felt a tinge of pity. 
"I was wrong to steal the Crystal's powers, Rei-san. I should have just hidden 
it away, or something, but I was ambitious, seeking the limitless powers of a 
God, and ignoring the price. I didn't know the power was that of the Universe. I 
didn't know it would eat away at my insides, devouring what mortal essence is 
contained within me until there is nothing left to hold it in." Yet another 
chuckle, though this one was weaker, more tired. "You know, the youma I've 
summoned here think they will get the world when I die. They think they only 
have to wait for the power to consume me, and then they will rule. Such single 
minded creatures. No, the moment I die, I think the resulting release of cosmic 
force will be so great, it will blow a hole straight through the planet." She 
sighed heavily. "That's being conservative, I think." 
"Then get rid of it! Return it to the Crystal!" 
Dark Rei shook her head. "No, I'm pretty sure that kind of loss will destroy me 
as well." 
"But you just said the world-" 
The sides of the sorceress's mouth curved upward slightly. "You mistake my 
sorrow, Rei-san. I don't care that the world will die. My regret is that you 
will die as well, absolved of the eternity of torment I wished you to 
experience." 
Mars gaped at her. "You monstrous-" 
"Please, Rei, spare me the melodrama. Remember, I'm the part of you that always 
disgusted you. I'm that part of you that felt you should have been the Queen of 
All Things. By the way, where is Sailor Pluto?" 
The dark-haired woman blinked, caught off guard by the sudden change in 
conversation. "Sailor Pluto? I thought you-" And then there was reason to smile. 
"She escaped. You didn't get a chance to kill her like the rest of them." 
"Yes, she has eluded discovery for quite some time, but I'll destroy her 
eventually. She can't hide forever, wherever she is, though, if you tell me, I 
promise to kill her quickly, painlessly." 
Sailor Mars heard nothing. All she could do is grasp onto that one thought. 
Sailor Pluto was alive somewhere! Surely there was something she could do to 
help restore things. If Mars couldn't use the Crystal to repair the damage, 
maybe she could use Time instead, one of the few categories denied to the 
Archmagi. 
"Did you hear me, Rei-san?" Dark Rei asked, irritation in her voice. 
"Huh? What? No, what did you say?" 
Narrowing her eyes dangerously, the sorceress leaned forward menacingly. "I 
asked you to find Sailor Pluto for me." 
Mars gave a start. "Me? You want me to find Pluto for you? Are you mad? I'd 
rather eat a rat." 
Dark Rei beckoned her hand and instantly, a rat appeared on the table. Quirking 
mouth in humor, the sorceress pointed at the poor rodent. "I would be more than 
happy to watch." 
Suddenly, a piercing beam of violet slashed through the crystal table, 
shattering it with enough force to throw both women back jaringly to the ground. 

*****
"What are you trying to do, kill her?!" screamed Saturn, twisting helplessly in 
the Grell's grip. It didn't do much good, especially with her glaive safely away 
in her pocket dimension. She couldn't come close to the strength of the 
creature. 
For his part, the Grell swooped in low and landed neatly upon the ground across 
the street from the pair. Releasing the Sailor Saturn to her whims, he rolled 
silently behind a streetlamp, then flicked a rapid succession of seven shurikens 
aimed for the downed seraph's head. 
As soon as she was airborne from the strike upon the table, the Crystal Rei 
rolled with the blow, an instinct setting up a barrier to protect her from 
another such blow. The resounding ping of seven tones notified her that such an 
instinct was well worth listening to. 
Angered beyond compare, the superpower rose to her feet, already recognizing the 
throwing stars that lay about her. Waves upon waves of cosmic energy corruscated 
from her outstretched arms, obliterating the far side of the street where she 
assumed the cloaked figure had been standing, but for all her rage, she could 
accomplish only the demolition of the numerous streetshops lining the road. The 
Grell disappeared far before the blast could incinerate him. 
For her part, Sailor Mars tumbled helplessly into a brick wall and lay there, 
stunned momentarily, still trying to absorb the new knowledge of Sailor Pluto's 
survival. If she could somehow contact the Guardian of Time, perhaps the two of 
them could concoct a plan that would remedy the chaos that had struck the 
planet. 
But first, she had to survive in order to contact Pluto. 
As the Crystal's energy tore apart the neighborhood, Sailor Mars crawled into 
the shadows of the alley. "Sailor Pluto, if you can hear me, I need to speak 
with you desperately," she murmured, sending out the words with as much psychic 
strength as she could muster. She could only hope that Crystal Rei's rage would 
mask the power of the sending. 
Sailor Saturn, awed and paralyzed by the sight of such cataclysmic strength, 
barely had time to blink before a column of violet struck her from the sky. When 
it vanished a moment later, the small girl was nowhere to be seen. 
Meanwhile, the Grell flowed out of the shadows just behind Sailor Mars. 
"Greetings, fair child of the Flame," he whispered in a low voice. "Take this 
opportunity to escape, as she will not be distracted by her anger for much 
longer." 
So surprised was Mars by this intrusion that she yelped before she knew who the 
intruder was, a sound that seemingly warned her nemesis twin. Halting her 
barrage, the glowing figure twisted around and glared at the two of the them. 
"So, Rei, you have thrown your lot in with the Grell, have you?" she sneered in 
abhorrent contempt. "You've-" 
Another column of mystic light slammed down from the heavens and swallowed 
Sailor Mars and the Grelloth Noxus before the evil sorceress could finish her 
words, vanishing before she could complete a thought of countering. 
"NO!! I WILL NOT BE DENIED MY RIGHT TO VENGEANCE!!" Crystal Rei screamed to no 
one, and then set to work utilizing the full might of her powers. 
The city of Tokyo groaned. 
*****
"What's happened to you, Pluto?" Mars asked, horrified, for before her, laying 
askance in Sailor Saturn's lap, was a woman who made the word 'ancient' seem 
young. Her hair hung in wisps, thinning yet long, but a shade of green like old, 
faded evergreens. Skin clung to her bones, with no hint of muscles beneath them, 
and wrinkled beyond compare. Only the eyes, shining of deep, ageless magenta, 
and her outfit, that of the Senshi of Time, spoke of the individual's true 
identity. Too, the woman gripped the Staff of Time within her bony claw, the 
Garnet Orb pulsing a glow that permeated throughout the misty realm they found 
themselves transported to. 
Sailor Saturn stroked the old woman's faded hair gently, murmuring and cooing 
like a nurse to a newborn babe. 
Ignoring the question, and the girl who pampered her, Pluto turned a glare upon 
the cloaked figure beside Mars. "I did not invite YOU here, youma," she hissed 
in a voice that rasped like old paper. 
The Grell shrugged nonchalantly. "If you are the one who sent the temporal 
portals, then it was you who brought me here, whether that was indeed your 
intention or not. My proximity to the Senshi of Fire belied any intentions you 
might have had." 
"Please, Sailor Pluto," Sailor Mars pleaded. "For all his evil, the Grell is 
interested in combatting this disaster as we are, no matter his motives. Surely 
that must be enough. We need all the allies we can get, even if they come from 
unlikely cesspools." The last was targeted towards the cloaked figure. He 
ignored the jibe. 
Pluto snorted, but did not press the issue. "As to your earlier question, I'm 
dying, just like everyone else. Only the Garnet Orb keeps me alive to complete 
whatever task it is that I have left in this despicable life that is left to 
me." Her eyes seemed bright with tears, but her voice remained bitter and cold. 
"Alas, because most of my wounds are mortal, and most of my powers are vanishing 
away, the Orb can only sustain me with its own source of energy. This is the 
result. Millenia of existence is suddenly catching up to me." 
"Do you know what we must do?" whispered Mars quietly. 
"Don't you?" 
The dark-haired woman blinked in confusion for a moment, unsure of the question, 
then nodded imperceptibly. "Once, long ago, or perhaps it hasn't happened yet, 
you sent Chibi Moon back in time to fix the future. Can you do the same for me?" 

A sudden tremor of earthquake proportions shook the realm of time, knocking 
Sailor Mars off her feet. Saturn gripped the Senshi of Time lovingly, concerned 
for her safety. Only the Grell seemed to ignore the breakdown of the system, 
though he muttered a chilling comment: "The Crystal Nemesis seems to be closer 
to breaking through to this dimension." His gloved hands trailed towards his 
hidden swords. 
Sailor Mars glanced at him, aghast at his audacity, but Pluto interrupted any 
comment. "Yes, the youma is correct. Apparently I should have tried to retrieve 
you more surreptitiously, but I didn't think we had time enough left. My blunder 
may cost us if I can't send you back immediately." Despite her urge to hurry, 
she stood up with infinite tedium and impeccable calm, gently pushing away the 
girl. "Your twin will destroy the Terran Arch of Time with her strength. At that 
point, there will be nothing left of the Earth's future." 
Mars picked herself off the misty ground. "What must I do?" 
The withered Senshi gave her an appraising look, one that Sailor Mars felt as if 
she were being tested. After a moment of apparent debating with herself, the 
Senshi of Time mumbled to herself, "I suppose there is little choice in this." 
Aloud, she continued, "Traveling back in time is a hazard best left alone, as 
you should well know. Chibi Moon was allowed because her presence in that 
particular part of history couldn't cause the paradox of running into herself. 
For you, however, you DO run that highest of risks." She paused here, her face 
furrowed in thought. "Because I have never deigned to do this, I'm not sure what 
will happen. I suspect one of two things will happen: you will erase your 
current existence at that time and take over as the true Sailor Mars, thus 
creating a new future for yourself, or your two selves will live concurrently in 
the same timestream, making it very unstable, until a point in time where you 
can be returned to this proper time frame." 
Another shudder wracked the realm, and Mars instinctively grabbed onto the 
Grell's cloak to support herself. "What are the consequences of both?" she 
asked, a nervous flutter in her voice. 
"In the former case, I suspect nothing more than your memories will slowly alter 
to accomodate the change in the timestream. You will forget all that has 
happened here, or so I believe. If that is the case, I won't be able to return 
you here. In the latter, I suspect a chaotic turbulence that will rival what has 
already occurred to the planet in this time." 
"You suspect?" questioned the Grell in that irritatingly unemotional tone. "You 
do not know for a fact?" 
"Time is a delicate and unfathomable entity," replied Pluto enigmatically. "My 
task is to guard it against such calamities as we are presented with today. 
Better to ask what the universe is than discover the secrets of Time, or so has 
been my experience." 
"So where will you send me back to?" inquired Mars. 
"Us." 
Everyone turned to the Grell, Mars and Saturn with shock, Pluto with contempt. 
"If you think I shall be sending the likes of you back to tamper with the 
continuum, you have another thing coming, youma," the ancient woman spat. "If 
anyone is going, it is Sailor Mars and Saturn." 
"I'm not going," the girl muttered, barely loud enough for anyone to here, and 
it was Pluto's turn to gasp in surprise. "I'm not leaving you here to die by 
yourself." 
"But-" 
"NO! Everyone is dead and I wasn't there to stop it! I won't leave you here by 
yourself!" cried Saturn heatedly. A bit more calmly, she added, "Besides, I'm 
the only one here not going with enough strength left to stand up against the 
Crystal's power, if for only a short amount of time." As if to deny the fact, 
another tremor, the most powerful yet, shook the dimension. 
Pluto snorted. "That's ridiculous. I'm not leaving you here-" 
"Stop treating me like a child! I am a Senshi like the rest of you, and I will 
not let the risks keep me from the sacrifices that the rest of you so 
nonchalantly commit. That is final, Sailor Pluto." 
The Guardian of Time blinked at the finality of the statement, but surprisingly, 
did not press the issue. Turning furiously back to the Grell, she hissed, "That 
still does not mean I am sending you back." 
"The Senshi of Fire will require my assistance in this matter, no matter what 
you say. I am familiar with our enemy as much as the rest of you, and I have 
abilities the Senshi may be reluctant to use. Perhaps my amorality will find a 
place in this struggle. Besides, I will take it upon myself to hinder any of 
your efforts to send Rei-san back if that is what it takes. Do you have the time 
to worry about myself also, in addition to the Crystal?" 
No one said a word for the longest time, digesting the ruthless nature of the 
being before them. For all his threats, they all knew he made a great deal of 
sense, and time WAS running out. 
Finally, Sailor Mars spoke up. "If you are to go with me, there will be a 
condition." 
The Grell gazed at her for a long moment, jeweled eyes scintillating. "I'm 
listening." 
"You must give me back Cole Gishumi once this is resolved." 
A gravelly snort issued from the mask. "You ask much for something I can just as 
easily take." He paused momentarily, then continued, "On the other hand, if you 
can repair the damage that has been done, I will be honored to reward you with 
your lost love. Besides, one body is as good as another." 
A shiver crawled up Sailor Mars's spine at the last, but she fought it down. 
"Pluto, send us back. I-" 
A tremor more destructive than all of the rest blasted through the realm, 
knocking them all off their feet. The glow of the Garnet Orb was suddenly muted 
in the shine of millions of stars pouring from a gashing portal that opened some 
distance away. 
Saturn was the first to recover. Instantly upon her feet, she sprinted towards 
the light, the Silence Glaive humming with summoned energy. "Get them out of 
here!" she screamed back before she disappeared in the surrounding mists. 
Pluto gripped her staff, and the Orb burst into awesome might. "The future is 
yours to save or destroy now, Sailor Mars. There is no one else. May Megami-sama 
aid in you quest." 
"May Megami-sama aid us all," came the surprisingly gentle reply from the Grell. 

And suddenly, the Orb cracked, a dissonating ring melding into the air. 
The Grell and Sailor Mars both doubled over in apparent pain, their forms 
distorting back and forth. Mars seemed to be screaming something, but no sound 
emerged from a mouth that continued to open, long past the breaking point. In 
fact, both of their bodies elongated beyond the normal stretch of reality. 
Sailor Pluto grasped the staff tightly and threw everything she had left to 
maintain the sending. Over and over she murmured as if the mantra would save 
them, concentrating the whole of her being into the task. 
The two forms slowly returned back to their normal form, fading away as Pluto's 
power took hold of them, though the Orb cracked several more times in the 
process. 
And just as Sailor Mars and the Grell disappeared completely, the Garnet Orb 
shattered into hundreds of sparkling motes, showering Sailor Pluto with temporal 
energy that dissipated into the realm. 
*****
The glowing being sidestepped the prone form of Sailor Saturn, disgust written 
across her features at having to deal with such a young individual. The 
dimension of Time she had managed to pierce into seemed about ready to collapse, 
but she did not care a whit. All that mattered was finding Rei and destroying 
Sailor Pluto for having hidden her away. 
All she found was an old crone, crying silently upon the ground, gripping a 
staff. "Who are you?" the glowing being asked harshly. 
"I'm so sorry, so sorry. Please, Rei-chan, forgive me. I couldn't control it. 
I'm so sorry." Over and over the decrepit woman lamented, apparently ignorant of 
the looming figure beside her. Eventually, the figure lost all patience, 
especially with the constant rumbles cracking through the realm. Reaching down 
and grabbing the woman, Crystal Rei pulled her to her feet, inches from her mask 
of fury. "Where is Sailor Mars?!" 
The old woman blinked, as if just realizing where she was, then began to cackle 
insanely. Before her eyes, Crystal Rei noticed the aging of the woman, wrinkles 
growing where there were none only moments ago, what little flesh beneath her 
fingers wasting away as she held the woman up. The evergreen hair seemed the 
only feature immune to the aging. 
Disturbed greatly, Crystal Rei dropped the woman into a heap, halting the 
cackles. Eyes blazing with bloodshot madness, the woman gazed up at her 
assailer. "You'll never have her now, Maligned One. She is beyond even your 
reach." 
"Pluto?" the glowing being whispered, aghast. 
The woman ignored her. "I may have not sent her to the correct time, but there 
is a chance. Always there is a chance. Perhaps. Anything will be better than 
this." Tears filled her eyes again. "Oh, Hotaru- chan. Why didn't you go? Why? 
Why, Hotaru-chan?" 
Fear began to crawl into Crystal Rei's being. Had she lost? What was Sailor 
Pluto talking about? "Where are they, Pluto?" 
"They are beyond even your grasp, my dear Rei." 
The sorceress straightened carefully, the words of the new voice slicing through 
her with painful clarity. Turning, her onyx orbs widened beyond startlement, 
beyond surprise. "No," she whispered at the apparition before her. "No, I killed 
you." 
The ghost smiled cryptically. "Yes, Rei, you did, but your work has dealt the 
world a might blow, and it is dying." The wraith glanced at its wrist, at an 
illusionary wristwatch. "Or rather, it was dying." She shrugged. "Nonetheless, 
much that holds the universe together at the nexus of Earth had been ripped 
asunder since your tyranny began, the least of which being those you have 
murdered." Another smile, one warm and innocent. 
Crystal Rei gaped like a fish, and fell to the ground when another earthquake 
rumbled through the realm. 
Heedless of the tremors, the apparition floated to the ancient crone, and knelt 
beside her. "Setsuna-sama," she crooned, cradling the woman as a babe, "sleep, 
my friend. Your burden of duty has ended in this time." 
The madness left Pluto's eyes, and she gripped the apparition's hand tightly, 
with tired, but hopeful, joy. "Then... everything will... be alright, 
Megami-sama?" 
"It is in the hands of the one I have placed my trust in for all ages, my Senshi 
of Time, as I once told you before. Rest, and awaken." 
A sighing breath of contentment escaped Pluto's mouth, her last. 
Gently laying the body to rest, the ghost rose and returned her attention to the 
sorceress, a face of infinite sorrow. "Do you see what you have done here, 
Rei-chan?" 
"I AM NOT YOUR REI!!!" the dark-haired woman screamed back hysterically. 
The wraith shook her head. "Ah, but you are. You are the part that sees things 
from a different perspective, the part that shows those of us too... naive... 
the dangers of reality, that it is not all bunny rabbits and ice cream sundaes. 
Sure, you're much harsher than your other half, but so is the world when you 
really look at it." She grinned mischieviously. "Who else is going to tell me to 
get off my butt and make something of myself, or make fun of my hair 
incessantly?" 
A dozen bolts of argent beams burst from Rei's chest, slamming into the ghost, 
illuminating the latter with silvery fire. "Get away from me! Leave me alone!" 
screamed the sorceress. 
"Tsk, tsk." The apparition raised a hand to the Crystal's power, and seemingly 
absorbed it into herself. "Rei, you were never meant to have the Imperium 
Crystal. It is rightfully of the Moon's Royal Family. Give it up. Join me, and 
perhaps we can watch my true Rei succeed in her quest." 
"What quest?! Where is she?!" 
The ghost stared in a moment of confusion. "You still haven't figured it out? 
Why, MY Rei-chan, along with that hateful Grell individual, has gone back in 
time to stop you." She flipped one of her blonde ponytails out from over her 
shoulder, careful to get it over her wing of angelic feathers. 
Then, in a most ungraceful manuever, the apparition stuck her tongue out at the 
sorceress.