~~SILVERMOON~~
 *Remembrance*
  Parts 9-10
  by Immora

based on the manga and anime Bishoujo Senshi Sailormoon
______________________________



Author's Notes for Silvermoon:


Hello everyone :) How are you?
Well, here's some notes on my story:

Rating: PG-13 because younger kids might not be able to handle it.
	  The story contains mild language, mild to heavy violence,
	  homosexuality, and mildly suggestive commentary. If you
	  can't handle that kind of content, don't read this story.

This is the fourth installment of the story; make sure you've read
"Encounters" before you move on to this.

The characters in this story are from the manga and anime Bishoujo Senshi 
	  Sailormoon, owned by Naoko Takeuchi, Toei Animation, Kodansha, and
	  other people whose names I don't know. Sharra, Ka'ina, Akeru, Necros, 
	  Nagera, Lorenada, E'melok, and the various races of Quenholtians and 
	  world of Quenhol are also MINE MINE MINE, so don't use them! If you 
	  couldn't figure it out, the Immora that appears in this story is my 
	  character... not ME. Sailor Moon's new form [Silver Moon] was thought 
	  up by yours truly, so you may not use it in your own fanfic. Also, the 
	  story itself is mine, but was based upon situations appearing in the 
	  manga and Japanese anime. So don't copy/plagiarize my story. If you 
	  wanna base a story on it, TOO BAD! Come up with your own idea. Be 
	  original. You shouldn't bother writing a fanfic if you can't 
	  think of your own plot! 

You can e-mail me at immora@japan.crosswinds.net

That's about it for now. Enjoy my fic!


Visit my page at:
http://come.to/immora
and the Silvermoon section at:
http://www.geocities.com/TelevisionCity/2480/silvermoon.html

Remember, you can ONLY get new additions of Silvermoon from my site!
I do not send it to any fanfic archives anymore.



					 ________

					
					   NINE

					 ________



Time: about eight months later
Place: the medical facilities, the Palace



The Senshi and Generals had gathered to check up on Saturn's condition. The frail 
girl lay in the bed, looking tiny and paler than ever. She hadn't been allowed to wake up 
yet. "Poor thing," Jupiter whispered. She clasped Nephrite's hand tightly with the one she
wore the wedding ring he'd given her. Princess Serenity leaned against Endymion for support.
"She's missed so much... our wedding, the Prince and Princess's wedding... "

Mars quietly turned on a viewing crystal, selecting a signal that delivered news.
She turned the volume low and paid scant attention to it.

"--and in other news today, Queen Serenity signed a treaty with Earth. The two will
provide military support to other planets--"

"They don't dare let her wake up," Jupiter commented, then turned to look over at 
Immora, where a doctor was monitoring her. "And Immora, she won't wake up because of 
using that attack... she saved us all and look at what she got in return!" 

Akeru silently entered the room, combing her fingers through her black hair that had 
grown to just past her cheekbones. "Anything happen yet?" she murmured. Her question was
met with sad no's. The Senshi slowly walked out of the room with sad eyes as Akeru sat
down on the chair next to Immora's bed and watched the viewing crystal.

"--Princess Hotaru of Saturn remains in a coma to prevent Mistress Nine from taking 
control. Immora is also in a coma still. Well, it's that time of year again! The annual 
harvest on Jupiter has been a success so far..."



... I hear their voices, but I cannot speak. My mind is working a bit, but they don't seem 
to notice. What is going on? My memories are fluctuating... who am I? I see a face in my 
mind... long blond hair and blue eyes, that's me... and another woman... short black hair and 
brown eyes... my lover... the names escape me though. The details are missing. What is my 
past? What is my present? Why can't I escape this empty void, alone with my dreary thoughts.
I want to open my eyes, and call out to these people, but I can't feel my body to make it 
move. 

Everything is blank again, then I see... faces... memories of faces actually... people I 
can remember but cannot place... my parents, a brother, other relatives... friends, teachers, 
rivals... then stranger memories... a man with long white hair and a sneer, a woman with 
chin-length auburn hair and a smug face, a sea of pale, sad faces, then a dark skinned elf 
maiden with long purple hair. Who are these people, these faces? Really... I know what they 
stand for but what are their names, how did I meet these people, just what _do_ they mean 
to me? Then I see Her face again... always it goes back to hers, her smile, her laugh, her 
voice, her touch, everything about her replays itself in my mind.

How long has it been like this? Me alone in this black void, with only these strange 
fragmented memories? When can I finally return to the blue skies and green land again? When
will I feel the magic course through my blood, or the joy of just being alive, or the 
gentle touch of her kiss? ...



... Akeru brushed a strand of hair away from Immora's face and wiped away a tear, 
surprised to see tiny tears gathering at the corners of Immora's eyes. What the---she 
glanced at a monitor near by. Hmmm... some brain activity, at least there was some thought 
going on, but she hadn't so much as twitched in the past several months.

Akeru sat back and hugged her knees to her chest, as the lights were shut off for 
the night. The only light now was from the medical equipment around the patients, and the 
dull sparkle of tears in the darkness.



Time: the next morning
Place: the medical facilities, the palace



Pluto gently shook Akeru awake. She'd fallen asleep in the chair next to Immora's 
bed again. Akeru groaned and blinked several times, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. Pluto 
noted the streaks on her face, perhaps from crying?

She turned to look at the monitor readouts. Hmmm... "She definitely has brain activity 
going on... it doesn't seem to be conscious thought, it's more like... as if her mind is merely 
playing out images and thoughts for her that she has no control over." She rested her chin 
in her hand as she studied the data some more. "She still isn't conscious, hasn't been 
conscious... have you noticed anything unusual?"

Akeru stretched and smoothed the front of her shirt. "Before I fell asleep I noticed 
_tears_ gathering around her eyes. I have no idea why that would happen or how."

Pluto nodded and pulled a chair up, glancing over to the chairs against the walls 
where the other Senshi had fallen asleep after the Generals left.

Pluto got up to read Saturn's monitor. No brain activity what-so-ever. That wasn't 
permitted. Brain activity could mean Mistress Nine was trying to regain control again. No 
one had any idea how to remove Mistress Nine from Saturn's body without some form of 
magical help, and the only mage with that power lay unconscious in this room.

Poor Saturn... she never wanted to get involved like this... no one sane would want to 
be possessed by Mistress Nine! She's so innocent... powerful, yes, but she doesn't like to 
use that power. 

Queen Serenity walked in. "Hello, your highness," Pluto said with a nod of her head.

Serenity nodded slightly to her. "How are things going with them?"

"Saturn hasn't been allowed any brain activity. Immora is starting to show some 
subconscious activity though."

"Is there any way to bring her out of her coma?" Akeru asked.

The other Senshi started waking up then, stretching and muttering in confused tones. They'd
also fallen asleep in their chairs.

Pluto thought hard, while Serenity summoned a doctor. The doctor came quickly and 
started checking all the machines, adjusting some knobs and making notes on a notepad. 
"She might wake up sooner than we expected, perhaps only a few more months..." she told them. 
She made some marks on a form, then looked up at them. "I'd like to get her a dosage of a 
particular medication that can stimulate her brain activity more and help her with this. 
She can't heal herself right now so we have to do it for her."

"Are you sure it will really help her and not make things worse?" Akeru asked with a 
concerned look.

The doctor adjusted the flow on the IV. "I am positive this will work. Junolistine 
is a very commonly used medication, so far it hasn't failed anyone."

Akeru growled at her, "And how do you know it will help someone who relies _completely_ 
on magic?! Nothing but her own magic can heal her, and she doesn't have that option now, 
does she?!"

The doctor cocked an eyebrow and pushed her glasses higher up on her nose. "It is 
possible that this will work. Just because she--"

"Please don't fight about this," Queen Serenity said in a soft, serious voice. "Let
us try this, Akeru. It might work. After all--"

Pluto interupted, "Akeru has a point. Immora's mental and physical stability seem to
rely on her magic, with she sorely lacks now. Modern medicine probably won't--"

A faint groan drew their attention to Immora's bedside. Their eyes widened as Immora
slowly grimaced and her eyes opened partially. The doctor froze in shock. "How could _this_
happen?!" she whispered, glancing at the monitors next to Immora's bed that were reading 
normal brain activity on them. "And so suddenly!"

Akeru wasted no time in racing to Immora's side. "Immora, are you okay?! How do you
feel?"

Immora blinked twice, then rolled her head in Akeru's direction. Her lips parted but 
no words came out. The doctor quickly came over and took the archmage's wrist, checking her 
pulse. "Normal pulse... her breathing is okay... this is a very unusual and sudden recovery.
I have no explanation for it."

Immora groaned and tried to sit up but she could barely move. Serenity came over and watched 
her movements. "I do believe she is unable to perform actions such as speech and movement. 
Without her magic she's completely helpless."

The doctor started to scribble on her notepad what had occured, when a soft purple
glow filled the room.

"Oh shit--" Uranus murmured.

Saturn was sitting up in bed, arms dangling at her sides and head tilted far back,
with the sigil on her forehead glowing faintly. Her eyes were closed with a strange red
glow coming from beneath her lids. Mars, the closest to her, screeched, "Someone put her
back under again!"

The doctor grabbed a needle and filled it with a sedative as quickly as she could
while Saturn slowly floated above the bed. Immora watched with wide eyes at what was
happening. Saturn slowly opened her glowing red eyes, the sigil on her forehead changing
into a black star as she did so. 

Without warning, there was a bright flash of red light and Hotaru dropped to the bed again, 
breathing hard. The sigil on her forehead returned to normal, the red in her eyes disappearing. 
A black shadowed form appeared briefly around her then dissipated. She lay there, completely 
still, for several moments, before giving a small choked sob and curling into a ball.

The Senshi present raced over from their beds to Saturn's side. Immora slowly sat
up, her mouth moving as if silently uttering words. Queen Serenity came up and gathered
the sobbing girl in her arms. "Shhh... it's okay... everything will be alright, Hotaru..."

Saturn sniffled and gave a choked cry. "It was so... so terrible... she *cough* she
controlled everything and *sob* I-I couldn't do a thing about it... and-and then suddenly
she was gone and--" She went into a coughing fit. The doctor set the sedative down and let
the room briefly, returning with a glass of water. Saturn drank it slowly, taking deep 
breaths to get her breathing back to normal. She wiped her eyes and drew a shuddered breath.
"I don't know why she left so suddenly... but God I am so happy..."

Serenity helped Saturn shakily stand. "Pluto," she called, "please help me to our room... 
I have some questions to ask you... about what happened."

Pluto nodded and carefully led the girl out the door. The doctor cried after them, "She's in 
no condition to be leaving!!!" Her call went ignored. The doctor sighed. "Fine then... ignore 
me..."

Akeru ahemed loudly. "I believe you have a patient right here that needs you... ?"
She glared at the doctor hard. "NOW would be a good time to help her."

The doctor sighed. "Why me?"



Time: An hour later
Place: A lake on the moon, just outside the palace grounds



Uranus, Neptune, Mars, and Mercury had gone down to a lake to sit and talk.
Several people sat along the shore opposite them and many people bathed in the waters.

"It's highly unusual for someone to recover so suddenly... and it's even more 
unusual that they recovered within seconds of each other," Mercury said in concerned tones.

"I agree," Neptune said. "I mean, how could it have happened? Just moments before
Immora was completely comatose with no brain activity whatsoever."

Mars opened her mouth to speak, when she heard footsteps coming up behind them. Everyone
turned around, and was surprised to see Saturn walking up, wearing a black dress. "Hotaru!" 
Mars said in a shocked voice. "What are you--"

Saturn sat down on a rock, her eyes closed tight. The symbol on her forehead gleamed
dully. "Pluto and I... had a talk. Mistress Nine has left me... but I've been having strange
premotions ever since I woke up. I sense... oh God, I can't even speak of it!"

"Premonitions of what?" Mars asked. "I can't see how anything else can go wrong. I mean,
look around us!" She swept her arm around, her gesture encompassing the Moon Kingdom and the rest
of the planets. "Look at all this wonder here! Sure, some bad things have happened lately, but
things will always turn out for the better! Besides, if something bad was going to happen, I 
would feel it too."

Saturn opened her eyes, the cold, sad look that marred their beauty made Mars doubt her words.
"Pluto told me... everything. About why this universe is here. Why we are in these lives now. She
told me..." Saturn started shaking. "Oh God! It's so horrible! I can't--" Saturn leapt from the 
rock and bolted, taking off flying into the sky.

"Oh great," Mercury groaned. "None of us has great experience with flying--"

"--I'll get her," Uranus said as she took off after Saturn.

Saturn was quick as she darted through the air. Uranus had a hard time keeping up. What
terrible things had Pluto told her?

Saturn suddenly stopped. Uranus barely managed to stop before hitting her. "Hotaru, you
have to tell us what she said! Please!"

Saturn whirled around. "No." Her lips compressed in a thin line. "I cannot... I cannot say
what she has told me. No one would understand... no on could ever..." Her body racked with sobs.
"It's just so terrible! Everything was so wonderful in the old world-- and-and then Mistress Nine
came... and... oh God, I destroyed it all! _I_ destroyed _everything_!"

Uranus was stunned into silence. She felt an odd sensation go through her, as if a memory
was trying to surface. She shuddered and slowly landed on the ground, followed shortly by 
Saturn.

"Saturn, I had no idea--"

Saturn just whirled to face her and bitterly rasped, "Well, it happened! And you know what
else happened, I--"

"ENOUGH!!!" A voice shouted.

The two women turned to see Pluto standing several yards from them, her Time Key in hand,
wearing her Senshi fuku. Her face was drawn in a dark scowl. "You'd said enough, Saturn. You've
told her enough."

Saturn started shaking, then cried out, "Why did you hide this from us?! We have a _right_
to know!!!"

Pluto flinched slightly. "You... have... no idea... what pain I've had to live with... all
these eons. How could I hope for any of you to understand?!"

There was a flash of light, and all the other Senshi appeared around them. They seemed 
terribly stunned; Pluto had pulled them from wherever they were and brought them here.

"What's going on here?!" Jupiter demanded.

Pluto bit her lip and bowed her head. "It's time that you knew... what happened... to the
old Silver Millennium... and the life that followed... and why you are here now."

Her forehead sigla flared with light as images formed in their minds to accompany the events
she started to describe to them. They saw the old Silver Millennium, then the new Earth that 
followed, their old lives, and finally, the destruction of their world and the rebirth of the 
galaxy. The memories weren't complete, they were from Pluto's point of view, but they were
enough for now.

None of them could tell exactly how long it all took. But when they opened their eyes, they
felt an immense sense of powerlessness come over them. "I can't believe it," Princess Serenity
whispered. "You've had to live with this knowledge all this time... you and Usagi..."

Pluto nodded sadly.

"It's all so hard to accept," Mars whispered. "All of this coming to us at once... you mean,
this place... the lives we live now... were never supposed to be?"

Pluto nodded again.

The Senshi all stood there, trying to accept what had just been revealed to them, wondering 
if they ever would be able to.



Time: A few hours lately; roughly dinnertime
Place: A meeting room inside the palace



Queen Serenity sat silently listening as her advisors, Luna and Artemis, argued over whether
or not their message was the most important to deliver first. Luna seemed about to win the debate,
when Princess Serenity burst into the meeting room in tears. Luna and Artemis fell off the marble 
table they'd been sitting on, while the queen rushed over to see what was wrong with her daughter.
Luna and Artemis quickly raced from the room as the princess fell into her mother's arms, sobbing 
loudly.

"Oh mother, Pluto showed us w-what happened in the Or-Original Time... o-our old lives... how
it all ended..." Princess Serenity drew a shuddered breath as her mother stroked her long, silvery
white hair.

"A terrible burden for someone so young," the queen murmured.

"I saw this time-- or rather, the first Silver Millennium-- end. It was horrible! So many died,
so many--" the princess broke off as she coughed hard. 

The queen saw a man hovering near the door... it was Endymion. "Go get a glass of water for the 
her," she told her son-in-law.

Endymion nodded and obediently left the room.

The queen listened to her daughter for a long time, wondering, "What did she see? What went
wrong?"



Time: Roughly the same
Place: A dining hall



Mars, Venus, and Mercury sat in stunned silence, not even noticing when their lovers arrived.
Jadeite took his seat by Mars, not taking much notice of her trance-like state. After all, she was
probably just having a premonition, right? Kunzite and Zoisite showed more concern, but didn't try
to prod the two princesses out of their state.

Jadeite reached over and clasped Mars's hand, and was surprised when she flinched and jerked her
hand back.

Will that time ever come to pass? she wondered. In that time, Jadeite tried to kill me. He
was evil. Did it really happen, or was Pluto making up images? Mars almost cried from the 
frustration she felt. She looked up and saw Jadeite there, and gave a weak smile before retreating
into her dreary thoughts again. 

Zoisite and Kunzite waiting in patient silence. Slowly, Venus and Mercury's eyes came back into
focus. They seemed surprised to see the two men there, almost scared. Kunzite looked over at Zoisite
as if to say, "What the heck is wrong with them?"

Jupiter soon entered the room, followed by Nephrite. She seemed a bit less cheerful than usual, but 
tried not to show it. I wonder what he was like in the Original Time, she wondered. As far as those 
memories show, he died before I became a senshi.

Usagi walked in, with her hair braided and a pink robe on. Luna-P trailed behind her at a short
distance. Usagi seemed no less different from usual, but as her red eyes darted nervously to each
Senshi in the room, they could tell she was upset that they'd been told about the Original Time.

After everyone had sat down, Saturn trailed in. She seemed almost trancelike, walking lightly
as if she would take to the sky any moment now. Her face quivered slightly with tension as her mind
kept repeating the image of her using her Death Reborn Revolution. She almost missed the chair when 
she sat down, and never looked at her plate as she ate.

Neptune and Uranus came in separetely for once. Neptune didn't seem at all phased by the memories
they'd received earlier. She immediately starting eating and struck up a conversation with Kunzite.
Uranus appeared deeply disturbed as she sat down. She barely ate and her eyes remained focused on her
hands during the whole meal.

It wasn't until after everyone had eaten and regained their senses that Pluto walked in. The four 
Generals were surprised to see the faces of all but Usagi harden at the arrival of the mysterious
woman. "Leave us," Pluto said softly to them.

The Generals looked at her quizzically, before they rose and left. Pluto pulled up a chair at 
the head of the table, then waited for someone to acknowledge her. Uranus looked up at her and 
sneered, "Do you expect thanks for what you did? Do you think we enjoyed that?"

Pluto's eyes narrowed. "I did it because you deserve to know what happened. I did _not_ do it
out of meanness or cruelty." She slammed her fist hard on the marble table. "I gave you all what
you wanted and now you shun me for it?!?" She sat with her shoulders shaking as the other Senshi
watched her with narrowed eyes.

"She's... right... you know..." a low, forced whisper said, coming from the doors to the room.

The Senshi looked to see Immora, leaning heavily against the door frame with a thin sky blue 
dress clinging to her thin frame. "You... should thank... her... not... hate her..." She closed her
eyes as if tired and slumped slightly. Akeru came up behind her and helped her into a chair. Immora
soon slumped down over the table in exhaustion.

Jupiter clenched her fist tightly. "I think the real problem is that you should have told us
sooner. By holding out on us, you made it worse."

Pluto gritted her teeth. "I did what was right."

Mars stood up quickly, her chair falling back behind her as she shouted, "Maybe _you_ thought
it was right, but to us it was cruel and... and terrible!"

Venus grabbed Mars's arm and pulled her back into her seat as Pluto stood up. "I don't have to
sit her and listen to this! I came to explain why I did what I did, and now you all leap down my 
throat!" She held up her Time Staff and said, "Dark Dome-- Open!"

A shimmering purple light formed, then the doors to the Time Gate opened behind her. Pluto started 
to step through when Immora's voice warned her, "If you leave... now... you'll do even more... harm." 

Pluto turned, her red eyes glaring hard at the archmage. "You woke up only today. You already start to 
judge me. I thought you to be a friend. I see I was wrong. You are weak, pathetic, and evil. I should 
be ashamed I ever thought of you as a good person."

Immora's blue eyes widened slightly in shock, while Akeru leapt from her seat, attempting to attack 
Pluto. Pluto's staff blocked her path. "Just leave me alone," Pluto muttered as she stepped through 
the doors. They started to shut behind her as Immora stood up. She held out her hand, and there was a 
bright glow. The doors ceased their closing motion. "What are you trying to do now?" Pluto murmured.

Immora narrowed her eyes slightly in consideration, then shrugged. The doors closed tight, then
shimmered away again.

"Good riddance," Mars whispered halfheartedly.



Time: An hour later
Place: The Gate of Time



Pluto stood staring into a tall mirror. Images danced across its surface. She watched things happen. 
She had no effect on them. She couldn't do anything. Pluto narrowed her eyes in frustration, then balled 
her fist and punched the mirror. Shards of glass flew from it, stinging her skin. Pluto whirled around 
angrily and smashed another mirror. "Why can't I do anything right?!?!" she cried. "Ever since this time 
started, it's been one failure after another!" Pluto slumped to her knees, then shouted to the sky, "Why 
can't I do my job right?! Why can't everything just go back to the way it was before Saturn destroyed 
everything?!"

With a sob, Pluto curled into a ball and cried. 



					 ________

					
					   TEN

					 ________



Setsuna Meiou had always been a quiet, thoughtful, and reserved person. 
She had few friends by choice, made excellent grades in school, and was 
far more intelligent than any other person her age. She was the princess 
of a freezing cold planet populated by warm hearted people. She was 
well-known, admired, and respected. And then it all changed.

She was about twenty-three at the time, when the mark of Pluto suddenly 
flared into life on her forehead, and she knew that she would become 
Sailor Pluto. Her parents thought it was wonderful. Her siblings thought 
she was amazing. The people loved her even more, for now she was their 
protector as well as their future ruler. She hated it. She hated knowing 
that one day she'd be responsible for the safety of all these people. 
She hated being given powers she couldn't understand. She hated the men 
and women that had selected her for this job.

She went to the Moon Kingdom, as she'd been ordered. She met the other 
First Senshi there. They were given a mission-- to go to Jupiter and 
prevent an attack on the capital. And so they all went. 

The Dark Kingdom had sent three dozen soldiers to kill the king and queen. 
The Senshi arrived in time to stop the murder of the king, but the queen 
was killed. The soldiers turned and opened fire on the Senshi. Pluto 
suddenly screamed a phrase that would later become one of the things her 
duties prevented her from doing. 

She stopped time. 

The bullets of energy froze. 

Her companions all turned and looked at her in shock and horror. 

Pluto dropped to her knees in shock. 

And then a man suddenly appeared, holding a staff formed to look like a 
key in his hands. He told her about the Gate of Time, and how she'd now 
be responsible for _that_ too. 

Time started again. The Senshi were able to avoid the physical blows, but 
when the man returned for Pluto, the anguish was overwhelming. Sailor 
Pluto was now spending her time watching over the Gate of Time, only 
emerging to help the Senshi in battle. The first twenty years weren't 
so bad though. There wasn't much to watch over. 

But then another, larger battle came. The Senshi were pushed to the 
limit, trying as hard as they could to battle the hundreds of Dark 
Kingdom forces. It was a long, excruciating fight, but eventually, the 
Senshi won. The Senshi went back to normal lives while Pluto returned 
to her Gate. That's when things started to get taxing.

Those First Senshi died off, except for Pluto. As she watched them 
slowly age and die, she remained youthful, stronger than ever. It 
appalled her and terrified her, having to lose her friends while she 
stayed the same. For a long, long stretch of years, no more Senshi 
arrived. But then new Senshi appeared, but no Pluto was among these. 
Setsuna would always be the only one. The Senshi fought a long hard 
battle, barely winning, but they managed to push back the Dark Kingdom 
again. And again, she watched as her friends' lives ended.

For centuries, Senshi came and went. Time flowed while Pluto 
nonchalantly watched. Time didn't pass like it did for other people. 
Most people spent their lives fighting against time, trying to cheat 
death. Pluto didn't have to. Her power was time, and she wouldn't die as 
long as time was around.

Then came the final Senshi. Ami, Minako, Rei, and Makoto were brought to 
protect Princess Serenity from the Dark Kingdom. Haruka and Michiru 
would protect the Silver Millennium, with Setsuna's assistance. Hotaru 
was held in reserve for her enormous power was unchecked. They fought 
many battles, and won most of them. Setsuna was confident in them. But 
time decided to play games. She couldn't see into the possibilities 
in time. When she finally saw what would happen, there was nothing she 
could do. The Dark Kingdom attacked. Countless people were killed. Ami 
and Rei were the first of the Senshi to be killed in the onslaught. Minako
died fending off an attack on Serenity. Makoto was largely outnumbered. 
Michiru and Haruka died in each other's arms. Then the dear Princess 
Serenity died.

She stood watching their deaths, unable to take part in the battle. The 
Silver Millennium was over. She watched the Queen use her last strength 
to send the Senshi into the future. Hotaru and Setsuna were left behind. 
Setsuna gave her a last order, then returned to the Gate of Time. Hotaru 
used her power to destroy the palace and life on the other planets. Only 
Earth was habitable now. Once prosperous planets became wastelands that 
no one could survive on. A few of them even turned into gas planets from 
the might of her attack. Then Hotaru died, and was gone for many millennia, 
just like the others.

Setsuna was overjoyed when finally they were reborn. Slowly, she became 
a part of their lives again. Her friends were back. They faced many foes, 
and for the first time, Setsuna faced death when she died in the battle 
against Galaxia. But she returned to life. They all returned. 

Their lives were peaceful for several years. Chibi-Usa was no longer a 
little girl. Hotaru had returned to her original state of behind. Mamoru 
and Usagi were engaged to be married. Then things went very wrong again. 
Again, Pluto couldn't see the possibilities. The consequences were dire. 
Mistress Nine attacked unexpectedly. They were all returning from a 
concert. There was barely enough time to henshin before Saturn was 
knocked unconscious. The battle dragged on for a long time, then finally, 
they were defeated. All but Pluto, Saturn, and Chibi-Moon were killed. 
Pluto was terrified. It was too late. After a short battle with Mistress 
Nine, Saturn woke up. At glaive point, Pluto was forced to hide herself and 
Chibi-Moon from her eyes. Saturn ended the galaxy. Pluto watched with 
Chibi-Moon, went to Crystal Tokyo briefly, watched it all end, and waited 
with her for many millennia as the galaxy slowly reformed. Time was 
starting to get to her. Pluto became emotional, tired, and irritable. 
She was tired of the endless duty. Chibi-Usa took on her mother's name. 
Finally, the Silver Millennium arrived. No Pluto was born-- again, she 
was the only one. After so many years, her friends were reborn. But she
had lost touch with time. She couldn't understand it anymore. She could 
sense it, and affect it to some extent, control it and stop it, but her 
precognitive abilities were awry. Her knowledge was disrupted. She knew 
fear. She hid all knowledge of the Original Time from her friends.

When was it that Immora had come to her, offering to take the duties 
from her? Immora was prepared for the burden. She was already immortal, 
and was willing to take the task. She had nothing to live for, after all,
why not have some purpose in her life? Why had Setsuna refused? 

Fear. Fear that time wouldn't go on without her. She had become too 
wrapped up in her duties. She had shouted at Immora, appalled at her for 
suggesting such a thing. Immora sadly shrugged and left. 

Was that where their friendship had fallen apart? After all, they 
didn't get along anymore. She really didn't know Immora that well. Her 
past was hidden from time. Her memories were shot. She couldn't remember 
her name, or certain people in her life anymore. She seemed to have lived 
enough to make up for the loss. But Pluto couldn't leave the duty. After 
countless years, it had become a part of her. She wanted to cast them 
aside, give them up, but time wouldn't let her. So she didn't. 

When did Immora change for the worse? Pluto didn't know. Immora had been 
through alot, and the change was so gradual that Pluto didn't notice at 
first. The carefree, kind archmage had slowly become bitter, resentful, 
and obsessed with power. She'd forgotten about friends and become wrapped 
up in her magic. No wonder Necros's memory-wipe spell had worked so well. 
She couldn't remember her friends, her enemies, or her lover. She couldn't 
remember Pluto. So Pluto forgot about her. She didn't want a friend who had 
turned to evil.

Her friends, the Senshi, went about their lives. Pluto spent less and 
less time at the Gate of Time. Things were going wonderful. There was 
only an occasional battle, and they had defeated Queen Beryl and 
Mistress Nine. Life looked good now. Then Immora appeared again. Things 
started going terribly wrong. Immora tried to destroy the Moon Kingdom. 
Uranus's mother died, leaving her without any family. Mistress Nine 
returned and finally took possession of Hotaru again. Hotaru and Immora 
were caught in a brief, terrible battle, that ended in an eight month 
coma for both. When they awakened, Pluto was ready to finally return the 
knowledge of the Original Millennium to her friends. So she did. But for 
some reason, they didn't seem to want it. They hated her now. They 
yelled at her. Stunned and appalled, Pluto fled to her Gate again.

Which is where she is now.



Time: Several hours after the end of the last chapter
Place: The Gate of Time



Pluto groggily woke up from a fitful sleep full of confusing dreams. 
In them, she'd relived most of her life up to this point. It was a 
startling thing for her, and she had not enjoyed the experience. Why 
_had_ she relived them? She looked around her, and thought she noticed 
a silhouette dart into the shadows. She sensed a power... was it magic? 
No... she thought about it harder... it was sorcery. She could at least 
rule out Immora as the one who'd done it, but who would come here and 
place a spell like that on her?

She grabbed her staff as she stood up and looked around her. Everything 
else was normal, it seemed. The tall mirrors still hung in the empty 
void. The Gate still loomed before her as always. Nothing had changed, 
and probably nothing ever would.

She stretched and walked over to a mirror, pressing her hand to it. An 
image flickered across the surface. Saturn. She was sitting at a large 
dining table. Pluto narrowed her eyes slightly. The image spread to 
reveal the other Senshi sitting with her too. Pluto could hear their 
words faintly and her lips tightened. She walked away from the mirror. 
She didn't feel like ever returning. Maybe she wouldn't.

Hmmm... she always loved Shakespeare's writings... why not reread them all? 
Pluto sat down in a chair, picked up a book, and began to read.



Time: About the same
Place: A dining hall, the Palace



"Pluto has been gone for several hours now," Saturn said bitterly. "It 
doesn't look like she's coming back anytime soon."

"Maybe we should look at this differently," Serenity said. "Instead of 
thinking of how 'terrible' things are, we need to realize that Pluto 
gave us these memories to help us. We need to know about the Original 
Time and what went wrong in the Silver Millennium so we can avoid the 
mistakes."

"How will we ever determine the mistakes though? We could barely remember 
them in the Original Time, so how will we now?"

"I don't know," Serenity moaned in miserable tones. "We need _someone_ 
here who remembers it, other than Pluto! But who does?!" 

"_I_ can remember it. I could help you remember it..." a voice said.

"Oh no," Mars groaned.

They turned to see Immora standing there. "I can remember parts of it. 
In fact, I could go there. Or I could place a spell on you that would 
cause your memories to surface. That is, if you want my help."

"Why would we want _your_ help?" Jupiter spat bitterly. "After all the 
pain you've caused us?"

"I also saved your lives, and that of this galaxy," Immora cried out. 
"And I paid for it! For eight months, I did! What kind of thanks is this?!" 

"Thanks?!" Mars shrieked. "You think we should _thank_ you?!"

"After all I've done--"

"After all you've done wrong?! Ha!"

"What the hell do you mean?!"

"You've done so many terrible things! I feel sorry for anyone that has 
to be near you anytime. Too bad people can't pick who they love, 
because Akeru sure wouldn't pick you if she had a choice in the matter, 
would she?!"

"ENOUGH!!!" A voice shouted.

The senshi and Immora all turned to see Queen Serenity standing in the 
doorway, an angry, disappointed look on her face. "Q-Queen Serenity!" 
Mars stuttered.

"I could hear you shouting all the way down the hall. I will not 
tolerate this kind of behavior. Tell me what's going on, NOW."

"What's to say," Neptune said, "other than that Immora offered to help 
us understand our memories and now they're getting mad at her."

"Why is that? Mars? I heard you yelling loudest, tell me why."

Mars gritted her teeth. "She thinks we owe her thanks for what she's 
done. Why should we thank her?"

Immora coldly snapped, "You wouldn't even be alive if it wasn't for me! 
No one in this galaxy would be!"

Queen Serenity sighed. "Immora, you can't expect thanks for your help. 
The negative things you've done outweigh the positive by far."

"How can you say that?!" Immora cried out. "You don't know what all I've 
lived through! For many centuries, I've tried to do what I can to help. 
I teach others how to use their magic, I've saved many planets and 
galaxies from destruction, I've helped the needy, I've done so many 
things! I've made so many sacrifices trying to do what I can to help! 
I've lost so much and barely gotten a word of thanks. I think I deserve 
that much!"

Queen Serenity took a seat and gestured for Immora to do so, but Immora 
remained standing. "Look, everyone, I don't know who all was involved in 
this argument, but we need to look past the differences. If someone 
offers to help you, you should accept."

"She probably can offer alot of help," Neptune commented. "If she's 
been to that time, as she claims, she could help us understand it 
better."

"Help twist our views to match _hers_!" Mars argued.

Immora narrowed her eyes. "Why do you hold such a strong grudge against 
me?"

"You want to know why?! Fine. I'll tell you why. Several months ago, you 
just suddenly popped up, didn't even explain who you were, and tried to 
destroy this place. Saturn barely managed to stop you. You never even 
apologized to us! You go around acting so haughty and superior to us. 
You act like having power gives you the right to do what you want. You 
only help when it benefits _you_." Mars sat back in her chair angrily. 
"_That's_ why."

Queen Serenity looked to Immora. "What do you have to say about that?"

Immora was staring at Mars with wavering eyes, her hands shaking 
slightly. "You want an apology? Fine. Fine. I'll give you one. I'm sorry 
that my former teacher put those spells on me that made me lose most of 
my memories. I'm sorry his spells made me immortal. I'm sorry his spells 
caused me to lose control over my actions. I'm sorry that I have seen so 
much more than you and know so much more. I'm sorry that I couldn't 
control my own actions when 'I' attacked Saturn. I'm sorry for saving 
this damn galaxy when no one but Akeru cares that I was comatose for 
eight months and that I had a very large chance of never waking up 
because I used so much magic to save everyone. Are you _happy_ Mars? 
Are you happy that I've so little control over my life because of Necros? 
Are you happy that I can't even remember my own family?! Are you happy 
that I had to lose Akeru for so many centuries because I was manipulated 
by my own best friend who I _thought_ I could trust?! ARE YOU?!" Immora 
fled the room, the sounds of her sobbing echoing down the halls as she ran.

Everyone sat in stunned silence as they waited for the shock to pass. "I 
had no idea..." Princess Serenity murmured. "I had no idea she felt that 
way."

"I never cared," Mars grumbled. "Who can honestly say they do?"



Time: several minutes later
Place: Immora's guest quarters, the Palace



"None of them understand! They just criticize me and hate me and--" 
Immora started coughing in between sobs. "They won't listen to me. 
They don't care that I risked so much to save this place and--" she 
broke into a fit of coughs and stopped talking. Akeru held her tightly 
in her arms, trying to calm her down.

"You can't expect them to understand," she said quietly. "They're so 
young. They have alot to learn."

"Why won't they at least try?" Immora whispered hoarsely.

"Maybe they don't want to try. They're stubborn. They don't know the 
real you."

Immora took in deep breaths and wiped her cheeks off. "I just wish that 
I didn't have to deal with this stuff. It's not fair! I never wanted to 
be immortal. I never wanted to live this long. If it weren't for you,
I'd probably do everything I could to remove the spell. You're all I 
have... but I love you so much... I keep on living so that I can be with 
you... you're the only reason I keep going on..."

Akeru was silent for a moment. "Do you really mean that?" she asked as 
gently as she could. "You have alot of things. You have students who need 
you. You have gained so much knowledge. You have friends."

"They're not important! None of that's important!" Immora cried. "I'd give 
it all up in a heart beat if it meant being with you forever. If something 
ever happened... if you died... I'd go back to Quenhol. I'd have the 
sorceresses there do everything in their power to remove the spell and let 
me die."

Akeru cupped Immora's in her hands and quietly asked, "Do I really mean 
that much to you? Am I really the only person that you really need?"

"Yes," Immora whispered, wiping another tear away from her cheek. "Yes, 
you are."

She closed her eyes as her lips brushed against Akeru's, before they 
pressed together in a long, soft kiss. They hesitated before pulling 
away from each other's touch. "I love you, Immora," Akeru breathed. "I
will love you forever. I would do anything for you."

Immora relaxed against her and sighed softly. "I love you too... 
always... thank you..." Her breathing slowed and she drew in slow, 
shuddered breaths, trying to ease her frayed nerves. Akeru's fingers 
gently stroked her hair, soothing her until Immora was calm.

Both were surprised when someone started knocking on the door. Immora 
paused, then called, "Who is it?"

"Princess Venus."

Immora's eyes widened in surprise, but she allowed Venus to open the 
door. The princess slowly walked in, her eyes on the floor. "Immora, 
we all had a talk after you left. Um, Mars said she's sorry for yelling
at you."

"Does she really mean that or is she just trying to keep the queen from 
getting mad at her again?"

Venus's head snapped up. "What??? Mars means it, really she does. She 
just... well, uh, she doesn't understand why you've done the things 
you've done. She would apologize in person, but... um, she thinks you
would try to attack her or something..."

"There's good enough reason for me to... but no, I wouldn't." Immora 
pulled away from Akeru and stood up. "Are the senshi willing to accept 
my help or not?"

Venus sighed. "Yes. We agreed that we need your help with this."

"Very well." She grabbed her cloak, which she'd thrown onto a chair, 
and fastened it around her shoulders loosely. "Do you want to come, 
Akeru?"

Akeru shook her head slightly. "No, I think they wouldn't appreciate 
that. I'll wait here."

Immora nodded and smiled slightly. "I'll be back a bit later." She 
shut the door behind her and followed Venus down the hall. "Where are 
we going, anyways?" she asked as they started walking.

"There's a large room for mages on the other side of the palace. The 
mages here like using it to perform spells, so we thought maybe you 
would too."

Immora looked around the hallway and commented, "You do realize my 
magic is still very weak? I might not be able to make the memories 
surface yet since my powers are so low now."

Venus stopped short and turned around to look at her. "Immora, it was 
hard enough to convince everyone to agree to this... if it doesn't 
work..."

Immora sighed and looked down at the floor. "Look, I can't expect them 
to understand... they don't know what it's like to have this type of 
power. I may need to call a friend for help though."

"Who?"

"A student of mine named Sharra... you remember her, right? Elf, long 
purple hair... besides, it would be good for her to meet the queen. 
Sharra is the queen of a world called Quenhol, which lies beyond Pluto.
Maybe this could be a good opportunity to open up negotiations between 
the Moon Kingdom and Quenhol."

"I remember Sharra vaguely... another world, huh? I heard some babble 
about another planet being out there, but I never really believed it..." 
Venus started walking down the hall again.

"Quenhol is real, you know. I lived there for a very long time, and my 
all students live there. It's very beautiful. You'd probably like it, 
Venus."

"Really? Maybe I'll have to-- oh, here it is."

Venus led Immora into the room and shut the door behind them. Immora 
looked around the room, shocked at the similarities between it and the 
rooms in the building where she taught her students. The circular room 
was very large, with marble floors and a high domed ceiling, also made 
of marble. The walls were made of polished wood, with a couple dozen 
candle holders set in them. The candles in them were lit and shone bright, 
their light reflecting off several communications crystals resting in 
special holders and a large mirror standing against the wall. Magical 
symbols were etched into the walls and on some of the marble pieces. A 
model of the solar system was suspended in the air under the domed 
ceiling, complete with each of the planets that were in the Moon 
Kingdom, their moons, and light shining from the model sun. The senshi, 
minus Pluto and Usagi, were standing in the center of the room, where 
dozens of cushions were scattered. Immora very slowly approached them, 
still gazing around the room.

"Are you ready, Immora?" Saturn asked. "We are."

Immora looked over to her. "I am... but I don't know if I have enough 
magic in me right now... may I call a friend here?"

The purple haired woman nodded after exchanging glances with the other 
senshi. "Please make it quick. We'd like to get this over with as soon 
as possible."

Immora walked over to the communications crystal and pressed her slender 
hand against it. A woman appeared on the screen. "I'm sorry, but if you 
are trying to make a connection from this room, you need permission 
from one of the mages--"

"I don't need permission," Immora said coolly. "I am an archmage."

The woman seemed to be unimpressed. "Unless you have proof of that--"

"I am Immora," the archmage hissed. "Doesn't that mean a thing to you?"

The woman sighed. "Ma'am, I don't care who you are, I'm required to 
check with someone before I can allow anyone to make a connection."

"Whose idea was it to give crystal transmitters operators?" Immora 
grumbled. "Fine, but hurry up!"

The screen went black for a few minutes. While she waited, Immora 
turned to the senshi. "Sorry about that," Princess Serenity said. "We 
didn't know that they would have someone on the other end to monitor
calls."

"I can't believe she didn't recognize my name..." Immora grumbled. "If 
she's around mages alot, she should know it well..."

The woman appeared on the screen again. "You have permission to make a 
call. Please limit it to five minutes. Your words will be monitored."

Immora finally was able to contact Sharra. "Immora, good to see you, 
what do you want?" Sharra asked.

"I have a favor to ask. The senshi wish to have some memories restored, 
but I don't have the energy to do it yet. Could you cast the spell for 
me?"

"Yes, but why not one of the mages there?"

Immora laughed. "I don't know them! I trust you though. You are going 
to have to link with my mind to do it right though, since the time we're 
focusing on for them hasn't been visited by you. Come here now, they're 
limiting this call and monitoring it."

"Very well, let me assign someone to assume my duties. I will be there 
shortly."

Immora nodded. The screen went dark again. "Sharra is on her way and will 
be here soon," she told the senshi.

"Where is she, anyways?" Mercury asked.


"Quenhol. It is just past Pluto. For some reason, the people here 
haven't discovered it yet."

Mercury frowned. "It will take a long time to get here... we don't 
want to wait that many hours."

"Hours? No, no, Sharra is using magic--or sorcery! She'll be here--" 
Immora looked over her shoulder at the mirror. "Ah, here she comes now."

A spiraling blue light shone on the surface of the mirror, and Sharra 
stepped through it. The light disappeared once she was through. The 
senshi looked on with mild shock at her unusual appearance and attire.
Her eyes were slanted and ice blue, their gaze sharp and unrevealing. 
Her eyebrows were slanted diagonally. Her smooth brown skin complemented 
them well. Her ears went out to the sides and came to points. Her neck 
was unusually long and slender. Her hair was rich purple in color and 
fell to her waist. She was very tall and slender. She was clothed in 
typical Quenholtian fashion. Her faded fuschia dress bared her arms 
completely and reached past her knees, but the skirt was slit to bare 
the sides of her legs. A thin line of gold circled under the bottom of 
each breast. Her skirt was trimmed in gold, as was the armholes and the 
tall collar of her dress and the small slit in the fabric that went down 
the length of her neck. The faded fuschia gloves reached to her elbows 
were also trimmed in gold, and the matching boots that came to her knees 
also. An oval shaped white crystal was affixed to the center of her 
forehead, and a string of tiny pearls kept it in place, the piece of 
jewelry being a simple of royalty. Her full, pouty lips were painted dark 
purple. 

Princess Serenity was the first to speak, "Hello, welcome to the moon. 
I'm Princess Serenity."

Sharra smiled slightly. "Queen Clorianostriana, of Quenhol."

Princess Serenity was surprised by her thick accent and name. "Nice to 
meet you, Cl-Clor-- uh..."

"Just call me Sharra."

"Right, Sharra, these are my friends..." she introduced the present 
senshi one by one.

"Tell me, why do you need this spell cast? Immora didn't exactly 
explain it to me..."

"Um... I'll explain later... it's a long story."

"Very well. I'd like to here it later. Are you all ready?"

The senshi nodded their agreement.

Sharra went over to where Immora was. "I'm ready," she said. Immora 
nodded to her as the queen placed her gloved fingers against Immora's 
temples. Her lips moved slightly as she whispered the words of a spell.
As soon as she finished, she turned to the senshi. "Sit down," she said. 
"You too, Immora. This spell will fill the room, and I can't prevent it 
from revealing all the memories of not only the senshi but us as well.
You will all see the Silver Millennium as it was in the Original Time, 
but the spell will also cause your mind to relive any other memories that 
you cannot recall." As Immora and the senshi sat down, Sharra whispered 
the last few words. The candles in the room dimmed slightly. The symbols 
on the foreheads of the senshi began to glow, as well as Immora and 
Sharra's eyes. Slowly, they began to remember. It took nearly an hour for 
the spell to complete.

Their childhoods flashed before them, then their training as senshi, 
their lovers, their enemies, good and bad times, then the attack on the 
moon, their lives in Japan, then Mistress Nine's attack...

"NO!!!" Serenity cried. "No!"

The senshi broke free of the memories, sitting and gasping. Sharra opened 
her ice blue eyes. "Did you see all that you needed to see?"

"Oh God," Serenity whispered, shaking hard. The other senshi had similar 
reactions. "I saw... Beryl... the moon... death... oh god... oh god how 
did it happen? And then Mistress Nine... she killed us too..." Tears 
streamed down her cheeks. The senshi came over to her, all forming a 
tight group hug, each wiping away tears as they whispered to one another, 
trying to shake away the awful images they had seen mixed in with the good.

As they talked, Sharra looked over to Immora, and was about to ask her 
what happened when her eyes widened in shock. "Senshi!" she cried.

They broke away and looked at Immora as Sharra ran over to her and 
started shaking her by the shoulders. Immora's eyes were closed, her 
face pale. She didn't respond at all. "Damn!" Sharra swore. "I should have
known-- the spell that is already on her-- someone get Akeru, now! Immora 
isn't coming out of it!"

Uranus came over and also started shaking her. "Damnit, Immora, wake up!" 
She slapped Immora's cheek, trying to get her to react, but the archmage 
didn't even flinch. "What the hell's happening, Sharra?!"

"The spell I spoke... it isn't reacting well with that memory wipe 
spell on her. My spell is trying to break through that spell and make 
those memories surface again... I should have been more careful! There's 
nothing I can do to stop it without causing damage to her mind! I'm not 
skilled enough yet!"

Jupiter came running back into the room with Akeru. Akeru immediately 
came over to where Sharra was. "What's happening?! Why won't she wake 
up?!"

Sharra explained to her what happened. Akeru's lips compressed into a 
thin line. "Sharra, you've done a very dangerous thing. Who knows if 
she'll ever come out of this..." Akeru held her head in her hands. 

"All we can do is wait now," Sharra said. "Until the spell breaks 
through, she won't wake up."

"I'll wait with her," Akeru said.

"I will too. It's my fault," Sharra said. "I should have waited to cast 
the spell... damn!" She hit her fist against the floor. "Immora taught 
me to know better! I should have remembered what she said..."

"Maybe it's for the best," Mars whispered.

"What did you say?" Sharra said, looking up at her.

Mars looked down at the floor and said softly, "Immora... she seemed to 
be so upset today... about how she couldn't remember so many things... 
maybe now she will... that's what she wants, right?"

"You might be right," Akeru said in awe. "Mars... yes, you are right... 
Immora always told me she hated not remembering... if this spell _does_ 
work..."

"Maybe we should go--" Mercury started.

"No," Venus said. "We insisted that she help us, so we should stay and 
make sure she is alright."

And so they waited.

And waited.

And waited.



Time: unknown
Place: in a memory



As she talked with her friends in the hallway at school, she couldn't 
help but feel a strange chill run down her spine. She had a bad feeling 
about today, and she wasn't sure why. It was almost time for homeroom to
begin, and she was sure they'd be late if they continued talking. "C'mon, 
let's get going, I don't want to be counted tardy!" she told them.

They shrugged. "Alright, let's get going."

"I think you just want to go to class today," one of her other friends 
said.

She shrugged back. "I never do, I just don't want to be late! I hope 
that teachers' meeting is over so we don't have to stand around waiting."

They walked to the door and were surprised to see how dark the room was. 
None of the other kids appeared to be there yet. "That's odd..." she 
commented as she opened the door and stepped in.

She stepped back in shock as a man suddenly walked up to her. "Who're 
you?!" she gasped.

"Necros. Come with me." He reached his hand toward her and she shrieked 
and threw her textbook at him.

"Get away from me!" she cried as she turned to run. Her friends started 
shouting for help as the man came forward.

She gasped in shock as a piercing sound entered her mind. She dropped to 
her knees, clutching her head as she tried to block out the sound. She 
couldn't hear anything but that sound. The man grabbed her wrists and she
was aware of a bright light filling her vision, then suddenly, it went 
black.

She shuddered and opened her eyes. Looking around, she was terrified to 
see that she wasn't even in her school anymore. The walls, ceiling, and 
floor around her were made of cold stone. Some furniture was strewn around,
but it was otherwise barren. The man stood there, smirking at her. "It 
took awhile to finally locate you, but once we did, we knew it would be 
easy to bring you here."

"Where am I?! How did I get here?!"

"I teleported you with my magic. It's quite simple actually, as you 
will learn."

"What do you mean, I'll learn?!"

He grabbed a bottle of wine and poured himself a glass. After sipping 
it, he responded. "I've brought you here to teach you to hone your 
magical abilities."

"Magic?"

"Yes, we-- that is, my wife and I-- have determined that you have quite
a potential as a mage. It would be dangerous to let you run loose with 
these unchecked abilities."

She stood up and started backing away. "Leave me alone!" she whispered 
fiercely. "Let me go home!" She forced herself not to cry as he walked 
towards her.

"That would be foolish. Come with me. Nagera will give you a robe to 
wear and you'll start your studies."

"I don't want to! I want to go HOME!!! LET ME GO!!!"

He narrowed his eyes and suddenly she was thrown to the ground. "I 
don't care what you want!" he snapped. "You won't get it! You'll listen 
to me, and Nagera too, from now on, you understand that?!"

"I will NOT--"

She was cut off when he slapped her hard. A tear slid down her cheek as 
she curled herself into a ball.

"This way," he said coldly as he grabbed her arm and made her stand up, 
leading the way down the hall. "You better learn not to talk back, or 
your next punishment will be _far_ worse than just a slap."



"Shut up!" Necros snapped at the defiant young Earth-born girl. His 
firm hand connected with her cheek as he slapped her. "I won't have you 
telling me that this spell goes against your beliefs! _I_ decide what 
you believe in!"

The young woman hung her head, shielding her face with her hair. The 
other students, clad in the black robes that everyone had to wear, 
looked on, too afraid to say anything. This was a event that had 
occurred rather frequently in the last few months, one which none of them 
had to courage to try to stop.

The man's red eyes glowed with anger as he whipped around, causing his 
long white hair to fly up. He wasn't old in appearance, but he had lived 
for several centuries. "I'll send for Nagera if this keeps up!"

"She can't hurt me," the young woman mumbled. "She's hurt me alot, but 
I don't even feel her slaps anymore. Or yours. You can't make me do 
anything." She lifted her head proudly, her dark blue eyes piercing 
his red ones.

"I can make you do anything I want," he hissed. "Nagera!"

A tall woman with chin length red hair and deep crimson eyes came in. 
"What is it now?"

"She's refusing to cooperate again."

Nagera went over to the young student. "You know what I will do if you 
do not obey. Aren't you tired of being hit? Why don't you just apologize 
and obey?!"

"I have a right to speak my mind. He's trying to force me to learn spells 
I will never use, and trying to make me do whatever he tells me." The girl 
lifted her eyes and hissed, "I am tired of it!"

Nagera slapped her. "Apologize!"

"No."

She slapped her again, harder this time.

"Apologize!!"

"No!"

Nagera slapped her so hard that the young student was knocked from her 
chair onto the floor. The other students murmured in surprise. "You 
stupid bitch," Nagera hissed. "You think you're better than all the other
students... you don't even have a name..."

"I have a name," she gasped as she spit out blood. "You just don't 
deserve to know it." She leapt at the older woman, trying to knock her 
to the ground, but was surprised when her chin was struck by Nagera's
knee. She stumbled backward, clutching her bruised chin in her hand.

"You will obey us," Nagera said coldly, as she kicked the girl's ribs 
hard. A crack echoed through the chamber, barely heard over the loud 
scream. "Recite the demon summon spell. Now."

Tears of pain flowed down the girl's pale cheeks as she gasped out the 
words, not putting in the magical energy needed to truly cast it. She 
collapsed on the ground as Nagera walked away, casting Necros a disgusted 
glance as if to say "she isn't worth the effort."

Necros grabbed her by the back of her robe and shoved her into a chair. 
He slid a book in front of her and opened a page. "Read. Memorize. 
Now." He walked away.

The girl coughed hard, sobbed, clutched her cracked ribs, and tried to 
study the page. Another student came over to her. He was an elf, probably 
from Quenhol, and had been here longer than the girl. "Why don't you just 
give in and do what they tell you? They wouldn't have to hurt you if you 
obeyed."

"They took everything from me!" she cried. "They're forcing me to do 
this and I don't know why! They said I have some 'immortal magic' or 
something dumb like that and that I have to listen to whatever they
tell me from now on! I don't want to!"

"Immora..." the elf murmured.

"What did you say?"

"Immora... in the Quenholtian tongue, it means 'immortal magic'. That's 
what you have. That's what you are."

"I'm not magic," she gasped, laying her head on the table and groaning 
in pain. "And I'm not immortal."

"Let me heal that," a human girl said, coming over to her. She gazed at 
the other with eyes swirled with green, silver, and blue, her long brown 
hair fell around her shoulders.

"I think not, Ka'ina," the elf hissed. "You know that when you cast a 
spell with good intentions it always causes someone to fall under your 
influence.."

"I'm just trying to help..." Ka'ina muttered. "It's not my fault my magic 
is so screwed up." She walked back to her seat as the elf healed the young 
human girl.

"You know, Immora, if they told you this you must truly be powerful. 
Maybe you will become an archmage. Who knows?"

She groaned as her bones slowly healed. "I doubt it... and stop calling 
me that!"

The elf sighed and stepped away. "Finished... and you should know, they 
have been working on casting a spell on you when you aren't paying 
attention..."

"What kind of a spell?"

"Well... it's the type that takes several exposures to take full 
effect--"

"_What_ _kind_ _of_ _spell_?!"

He looked down at the floor. "Forgive me," he murmured. "Memory 
suppression... you probably won't even remember this conversation..." 
Her eyes widened in shock as he continued, "At certain intervals of time, 
your memories will be wiped-- not fully, but you won't be able to, 
well, access them. Anything important to you will be forgotten. Then, 
you will continue your life, but of course, the spell will reactivate 
and hide the memories that you have accumulated... and it will keep 
going for who knows how long. It might not even wipe _all_ your memories,
but only select ones."

"Why?" she whispered to herself. "Why would they do this? They took me 
from my home... them hit me and hit me without any real reason... I 
haven't eaten or rested in weeks... why do they keep doing these things?"

"Fear," he said. "You have so much power... I can feel it. You have so 
much..."

Necros came back in before he could finish. He stalked over to where 
the girl and elf were. "That's enough!" he hissed, grabbing the elf's 
arm and twisting it. "You have told her too much!"

"Master, please let me--" he begged.

Necros's eyes flared with red light and flames consumed the elf. 

"Nooooooooo!!" she cried, trying to stop the fire. "No," she sobbed, 
falling to her knees by the pile of ashes, a look of horror on her face.

"What did he call you? Tell me," Necros demanded.

"I-Immora..." she whispered. "That's what he called me."

"You are that. And so much more. He told you more than you need to know, 
and you will be punished for it." He grabbed a spellbook off a shelf, 
quickly read over a spell, and turned to her. "But first, there's 
something else that needs to be done."

She lowered her head as he chanted the words of a spell. She felt her 
blood boil with magical fire as the spell overtook her. She felt 
lightheaded and dizzy, and sank down on the marble floor.

"That spell is an immortality spell. You will never age from now on. 
You will live on, and feel pain, and suffer, but you will never have 
death's release. I will bring Nagera here soon to punish you." He turned 
and walked away. "I am tired of your constant disobedience."

She lifted her eyes to him with a sneer, "If I really am immortal now, 
I'll make sure you die for what you've done to me!"

"Well then, you shouldn't be allowed control over your actions. Maybe 
an insanity spell that will emerge every few years..." he said the words 
before she had a chance to guard against them. She shrieked with rage as 
the spell overtook her.

She sat still for a moment, shaking with anger. "No more." She stood 
up, her pupils narrowing to slits. "No more. I will not take this 
anymore!"

His sharp laughter stung her ears. "And what do you plan to do--"

She cried out with rage and leapt at him, a dagger magically appearing 
in her hand. His eyes widened in horror as the blade dug deeply into 
his chest, piercing his heart. The other students raced over, trying to 
get her to stop as she repeatedly struck him, tears pouring down her 
cheeks as she did so. Nagera ran in and saw her, then her husband dead 
on the ground. She stood stock still in fright as the young woman's eyes 
turned to her. 

"You're next, Nagera!" she shouted. She started running towards the 
auburn-haired woman.

Nagera could see what was coming a mile away, and hastily spoke the last 
phrase of the spell to destroy the mage's memory. As the last word left 
Nagera's lips, the young woman threw the dagger aside. Flames consumed 
Nagera's body, burning her to death. The young woman stood, the flames 
reflecting in her tear filled eyes, watching the last of the people that 
had tormented her for four years finally die.

The students stood, shaking, before Ka'ina whispered, "What have you 
done?"

The other clenched her fist. "What had to be done." She turned to face 
them. "You saw what they did to me. You know what they did. I've done 
all of us a favor."

Her head was pounding, she could feel her memories slipping away already. 
Her name, her true name, she had already lost. "I'm leaving. I'm going to 
Quenhol." She sighed. "The elf called me Immora," she murmured. "That's
the only name I have left anymore..."

Immora turned and walked away to the portal leading to Quenhol, to try and 
build a new life.

The mages watched as she left. "You'll be back," Ka'ina said to herself. 
"I will bring you back. You were a friend to me whenever those two 
wretched beings would give everyone a chance to speak to each other. 
I am not going to lose you. I am _not_ going to lose you!"



Time: Back to the present
Place: The mage room, the palace



Akeru had fallen asleep on a makeshift bed in the large room. Sharra 
stood by the mirror, gazing into space. Serenity was the only senshi 
that had stayed. She sat near Immora, watching the reflection of the 
candle flames dancing in the marble. "Any reaction yet?" Sharra asked 
softly.

Serenity considered her answer. "She's still asleep... but her cheeks 
have some color in them finally. I think the spell broke through, so 
maybe she's remembering now, and sometimes she'll twitch, so maybe it'll 
be over soon. It didn't take us long to wake up."

Sharra came over and sat down by her. "Serenity... how old are you?"

"19..."

"How old were you in the Original Time?"

"When it ended, I was almost 20."

"And the Silver Millennium?"

"18... why are you asking me all this?"

"The spell was sorcery, not magic. Humans are gifted with magic, while
Elves are given sorcery, so our separate groups react different to a
spell depending on what type it is. It took me that whole hour to see 
my 2,500 plus years of life, since the spell was of the type I am 
attuned to, but since you are given magic, it took you an hour to see 
around 60 years. That's about a year a minute. Immora has almost 
3,000 years to see."

Serenity's eyes widened in shock. "Three THOUSAND?!?! She's THAT old?!"

"Yes, she is. Didn't you realize that?"

Serenity sat there for a long time. "But Akeru... she's around 20 
something, right? I mean, they seem to really love each other, but 
they're so far apart in age..."

Sharra chuckled slightly. "Not really... Immora stopped aging when she 
was around 19. Not just physically either. Immora can gain knowledge,
but unlike the elderly, her mind stays perfectly clear, and she still
has a more youthful outlook and sharp memory of the things that haven't
been wiped out by the spell as opposed to the more senile view and
fuzzy memory. Akeru stopped aging who knows when. I don't know how old 
she is, but she isn't nearly as young in years as she looks."

Serenity puzzled over that for a moment. "So how long will it take for 
Immora to see all her memories?"

Sharra closed her eyes and calculated. "About 2 days, if she's able to 
see all of her memories, when she does start seeing them."

"But she just woke up from her coma! Now she's missing out _again_!" 
Serenity protested.

Akeru stirred and woke up. "uhhhn... what's going on?" she mumbled, 
rubbing her eyes.

"Sharra says it will take 2 days for Immora to see all those memories, 
whenever she does start seeing them!"

Akeru's eyes widened. "Are you serious, Cloria?!?!"

Sharra looked at her. "Yes, I am. And don't call me that."

"Sorry... but it's just..." Akeru sighed loudly. "When I came here for 
that ball, it had been... let's see, thirty, maybe forty years since 
I'd last seen her. Not even ten minutes later, she battled Mistress Nine 
and was thrown into that eight month coma. Ever since she woke up 
several hours ago, she's been working on recovering. I barely have had 
the chance to talk to her. Now she's unconscious _again_..."

Serenity came over to Akeru and gave her a hug. "C'mon... it's okay... 
I kinda know how you feel. Endymion's back on Earth for some military 
training and I can't see or talk to him for the next few months. I know 
where he is, but I can't be with him. I know this is hard on you, but 
you're going to have to accept it... but you have to realize that she 
_will_ wake up. She _will_."

"Thank you," Akeru said. "Really, I mean it."

Serenity grinned. "Hey, being nice is what I do. And if it makes you 
feel happier, then I'm glad."

Akeru laughed slightly. "How long are you planning to stay here?"

"How long are _you_ planning to stay here?"

Akeru blinked in surprise. "Um, until she wakes up... but why--"

"Then that's how long I will stay. You'll probably need the company." 
Serenity settled down further into the cushions. "So, Akeru, tell me how 
you met Immora. I've always wondered about that."



Time: in a memory, over four thousand years ago
Place: in a memory, on Quenhol



She looked around the market with a smile on her face. Quenhol was such 
a beautiful world. She'd been here for the past-- she didn't know. She 
kept forgetting things. This world was so much pretty than the world 
she had vague memories of-- what was it, Earth? She was in the capital 
city, Immonu, or "Eternal City" in that language that she could remember. 
The people here talked so different. This place was so different. The 
sky was always bright blue unless it was night, and then the stars and 
moons were so bright that you could easily see where you walked. Even 
when it rained, the sky was still blue. Trees were enormous, hundreds
of feet tall, with huge, wide trunks. Houses were formed in the holes 
in the trunk. Rivers flowed across the branches. Trees of every color 
dotted the land. The lakes were always clean and sparkling, the air always
fresh to breathe. Even the rich green grass was beautiful. Immora walked 
and listened, enjoying the sights and sounds of the place she'd come to 
call home.

"Yoyta te! Crystali nomi etu! Esarul nors clo en ana aerto!"

"Aa justiel! Ka'irana kultari ju sayat..."

"Moapo shar belihty e'me..."

"Hey, let go of that! It's mine!"

Immora looked around in surprise. Had she really heard someone talk in that 
language? Not Quenholtian?

"Justiel," she apologized as she pushed her way through the crowd, looking 
for the source of the voice. "Gamani ye..." She stopped short when she saw 
a thin young woman chasing after a boy that had apparently stolen something 
from her. The woman had short, pure black hair, fair, gold tinged skin, and 
dark brown eyes that were slanted like the Elves's eyes, even though she was 
clearly human. She drew in a breath sharply; the woman was very beautiful, 
and there was something about her that seemed familiar. Immora had the 
strangest feeling when she saw her and was sure that this was the one who 
spoke in the language of Earth, for she could vaguely remember some people 
on Earth having eyes like that.

She started running after the woman and the boy. The woman kept 
screaming stop, but of course the boy didn't understand. Immora shouted, 
"Yoyta kanta!" then, "Please stop!"

Both the boy and the woman stopped. Immora slowed down and stopped when 
she came close to them, gasping for air. She was never used to physical 
exertion. "Please... tell me... what happened," she breathed.

"He stole my necklace!" the woman said, glaring at the boy who didn't 
understand her words.

"You want it back, I assume?" Immora pushed her hair out of her face, 
pulling the sleeves of her thick black dress away from her arms to 
cool herself down.

"Yeah," the woman said, brushing her bangs back from her face. "Why'd 
you come after us?"

"I heard you speak in this language, so I realized you must be from... 
that world... what's it called?"

"Earth? Yeah, I am, but I have no idea how I got here..."

Immora laughed slightly. "Yeah, that's it... and all you have to do is 
ask and he'll return the necklace."

"I can't speak that language."

Immora laughed. "I'll translate. Tell me what to tell him."

"Um... please give me back the necklace?"

Immora turned to the boy. "Yoyta sayat neresu ju pekala lanada."

The boy shyly handed her the necklace. "Tok pekala lanada Aa justiel."

Immora smiled and handed the necklace back to the woman as the boy ran 
off. "Here you go. You really need to learn the language..."

As she fastened it around her neck, the woman said, "I heard both of 
you say a phrase... what was it? Peh-kah-lah lah-nah-dah? What did the 
two of you say anyways?"

Immora covered her mouth and giggled. "I told him 'Please give the 
necklace to the pretty lady,' and he said 'tell the pretty lady I'm 
sorry'."

The woman colored slightly. " 'Pretty lady', eh? Well, thanks for 
getting my necklace back."

She turned to walk away, but Immora grabbed her arm and said, "Please 
wait! Look, you don't know this place well, and you don't know the 
language, so you'll need some help getting around... I'm willing to help
you."

"Um, I guess... thanks... what's your name?"

"I'm... well, people call me Immora, because I can't remember my real 
name. You?"

"I go by Akeru. My real name is a secret." she said, holding out her hand. 
Immora took it to shake, and was surprised when Akeru bent over and kissed 
her hand gently. "But maybe I'll tell you someday," she added.

Immora blushed slightly. "Um, my house is... this way..." She turned and 
stumbled slightly.

Akeru laughed. "What's wrong? Not used to having that happen?"

Immora nodded. "People never really make gestures like kissing on the 
hands around here. Things are quite different here than they are on 
Earth, if I remember Earth correctly. It's been a long time since I
lived there."

Akeru cocked her eyebrow. "You don't seem old enough to start forgetting 
things easily. You look to be eighteen, but you act more mature than 
that."

Immora clutched her head. Why couldn't she remember... "Actually I'm--"

She felt dizzy suddenly, and could feel herself falling but she couldn't 
stop it. Her head pounded, her eyes couldn't see quite right. Her magical
senses were out of control, and she was sensing every bit of energy
that flowed around her. She couldn't regain control of her senses. Then 
strong arms were around her to stop her from falling.

"Hey, are you okay? Tell me where your house is and I'll bring you there."

Immora mumbled directions and Akeru carried her in her arms to the house. 
She pushed the door open with her foot, then brought Immora over to the 
couch and gently laid her down. She searched for a kitchen, and was 
surprised when she found a small pond in a room. She dipped a cloth in 
it, then brought it over and set it on Immora's head. Brushing the blond 
hair from the mage's face, she asked her, "Are you alright? You almost 
passed out."

Immora closed her eyes, trying to ease the throbbing in her head. "It's 
just a little bit of dizziness that I get once in awhile..."

"Maybe I should go get help--"

"No! I mean... no, please stay here... I really don't like being left 
alone when these things happen... ow... my head..."

"That dress you're wearing is a really thick material, you might have
a heat stroke. Take it off, I'll go find you something a bit more 
lightweight."

Akeru walked off into what looked to be Immora's room and looked for a 
closet. Immora held her head in her hands to steady herself, then 
slipped off her dress and wrapped a blanket around herself. Akeru 
returned, tossed her a thin white dress, and turned around to wait for 
Immora to change.

"could i have a glass of water?" Immora asked weakly as she lay back 
down.

"Sure, where are the glasses?"

"in the cabinet near the water drip."

Akeru returned, but didn't give Immora the glass. She brought the 
glass to the mage's lips and told her to drink. "You might drop it if 
you try holding it," she said.

Immora nodded and gently pushed the glass away when she was done. "I'm 
really sorry to trouble you like this... we just met and all..."

"It's alright. You're the only one here that can understand what I 
say, so I had better keep near you. So, you were saying something 
about your age?"

Immora smiled. "Yeah, I'm not really 18. I'm 1,000."

Akeru's eyes widened. "No... way... you look too young... and you act 
like..."

Immora laughed. "I know, I know, I don't age physically or mentally... 
and I don't act my age either... but I don't _feel_ like I'm that old, 
so why act like I am?"

Akeru smiled. "That makes perfect sense. But how is it that you're this 
old?"

"Well, I--" Immora stopped. Images flashed through her mind, of Necros 
and Nagera... blood... fire... Immora closed her eyes tight and tried 
to shut out the images flooding into her... she was surprised when
suddenly she felt hands close around her arms, trying to steady her it
seemed, from the way the clutched her.

"W-What?"

"You were screaming and shaking! What's wrong?"

Immora blinked. "I... was... I don't... I can't..." Immora pressed her 
hand to her forehead. "What's wrong with me?" she whispered in a choked 

voice. "What did they do to me?" she sobbed.

She covered her face with her hands as she started crying, then Akeru's 
arms encircled her and pulled her close, her warm voice speaking soothing 
words to calm her down. "I-I'm sorry," Immora said. "I get these... 

visions... sometimes..."

"It's perfectly alright," Akeru said. "Just calm down... relax... 
everything's going to be okay."

Immora closed her eyes tight and cried against her, sobbing until she 
was almost too weak to move. "I... I think I should go... go to bed..." 
Immora pulled away and stumbled towards her room. "You can use the 
guest room... go ahead..." she fell against her bed, falling asleep 
almost immediately despite the swarm of thoughts running through her 
mind.



Time: in a memory, three months later
Place: in a memory, on Quenhol



What season was equivalent to summer was starting to set in on Quenhol, 
and the heat was starting to be unbearable. Immora irritably noted that 
this was the hottest day she'd felt in the hundreds of years she'd lived
on the planet. Today she was supposed to go to the palace, a long trek 
despite the fact it was in this city. She was supposed to meet the new 
queen, who was very young to rise to this position, and to place a spell 
of protection on her during her coronation ceremony. Immora had heard the 
queen was only 26, but since it was based on popular vote, she figure she 
couldn't really complain.

She was busy studying the spell when she heard a yawn from behind her. 
She turned around and smiled to Akeru, who'd just woken up. The woman 
had been living here with her several months and had adjusted fairly 
well to the new surroundings, but still had trouble trying to talk to 
anyone since very few people knew Earth language. "It feels really hot 
out," she commented. "Does it normally get this hot here?"

"No, this is the hottest it's been in the past... oh, 900 something 
years," Immora turned back to the book and wrinkled her nose. "This 
spell is so annoying to learn! The book doesn't give any indication of 
how to pronounce it, and I am not good at all with sorcery."

Akeru laughed. "You'll figure it out, you're a very intelligent woman. 
I'll be right back, I'm going over to your neighbors' for a moment."

Immora nodded and wistfully watched her walk outside. Akeru was such a 
kind, thoughtful person, and in the past several months, Immora had grown 
very close to her. She had told her all about her life-- what she could 
still remember of it-- and was always honest with her. She wasn't sure 
yet just how much this woman meant to her, but she already felt as if 
she couldn't live without her friendship.

Immora's eyes drifted to the pages again, trying to memorize the words. 
She almost had it, if she just repeated it several more times... she 
whispered the phrases softly to herself, not putting any magical energy 
in them for fear the spell would form prematurely, or if she 
mispronounced it, one she didn't mean to cast would happen. She knew 
from experience that when she did finally get it correct, there would 
be a rush of magic in her that would indicate that this was indeed the 
right pronunciation.

She was so busy studying the words she didn't notice Akeru come back 
in. Akeru sat down beside her and looked at her quizzically, but before 
she could ask what Immora was doing, Immora warned her to be quiet. She 
continued to mouth the words.

She was trying them for the eleventh try when a touch on the back of 
her neck made her jump in surprise. Akeru gently brushed her long hair 
off her neck and began to gather it into a ponytail. She coughed 
slightly. "Sorry, but you looked very warm so I thought you might want 
to get the hair off your neck."

"Um... that's okay..." Immora said softly. She almost forgot about the 
spell as she sat trembling slightly at the feeling of Akeru's fingers 
brushing against her neck. She cursed herself for being so embarrassed 
at the simple gesture of kindness.

"There, is that better?"

Immora blinked slightly. "Oh, um, yes, thanks... I... I need to finish 
this spell..."

"Why don't you ask that lady... what's her name? to help you with it. 
She seems to know alot about magic and sorcery and things."

"What lady? There's alot of people around here who use magic and sorcery."

"That one purple Elf lady."

Immora frowned. "Oh yeah, her. I can never remember her name. I can't keep 
track of everyone's names. There's too many people in this city!"

Akeru laughed. "You're right about that. When do you have to leave for 
the palace?"

Immora looked out the window at the sun. "In an hour... damnit, I need to 
learn that spell!"

"Well, like I said, ask her for help so you can learn it before we 
leave for the palace."

" 'We'? I didn't know you were coming too," Immora teased.

Akeru grinned. "Of course I am. If you go off to the palace, I'll be 
lost. No one would understand what I said. Besides, I'd miss you. 
You'll probably have to stay a few days for the ceremonies and all."

Immora nodded slightly. "I guess we should go to her now."

"Yup. Have you packed at all for the trip?"

Immora nodded again. "I- We'll come get the things before it's time 
to leave. You should probably pack too--oh! I forgot! We'll need some 
food for the trip... Get some paper and write this down."

Akeru grabbed a paper and pen, then wrote down the words Immora said. 
"This is all Quenholtian isn't it?" she asked. "I don't understand any 
of what you told me."

"The first two lines are how you ask to purchase something. Then tell 
him the other items. That last one--yeah, the one you're pointing to-- 
you say that to let him know that I'll pay him later for it. He should 
know you don't speak the language."

"Okay, see you soon?"

"Yeah."

Immora walked outside with Akeru, then walked in the other direction 
while Akeru went to get the food. She felt nervous going to the 
sorceress's house. The woman was at least five thousand years her 
senior, incredibly skilled in sorcery. Immora was worried that the 
woman would frown upon her asking for help with a spell like this. She 
was about to turn around and go back home when it struck her-- the 
spell really wasn't magic, it was sorcery, something that humans could 
almost never learn without an Elf's help, which Immora would need to 
learn the spell. Had Akeru realized this when she made the suggestion? 
She _was_ incredibly bright, but did she really know anything about 
sorcery and magic? Immora had sometimes sensed an unusual energy within 
her, but could never pinpoint what it was. Could she have abilities in 
those fields?

Immora continued on and was surprised when the sorceress opened the 
door before she knocked. "Come in," she said. "Welcome."

Immora stood frozen in shock a moment. "How did you know that la--"

"I study it some. Try to learn what I can. Not easy. Odd way of speak. 
I not very good at it yet, will get better."

Immora slowly nodded her head. Well, if I can learn hers, she can learn 
mine, she reasoned. Still, it was unnerving to hear a Quenholtian 
speak an Earth tongue though.

"Something wrong?"

"No," she lied, "I was just trying to remember your name."

"Lorenada. No stand there more, come in."

Immora walked in after the woman, taking awhile to look over her to etch 
her appearance and name in her mind. She'd have to check the records 
back at the mage study to see if she was listed, so she'd need to remember 
them. Lorenada was one of the Pure Elves, she noted. The Elf's ears rose 
to points, unlike Forest Elves, who's pointed ears slanted out to the 
sides. Lorenada had lavender skin, long purple hair with a slight 
magenta tinge, and royal purple eyes that had a definite slant to them 
similar to Akeru's, with a small mole under the inside corner of her
right eye. She was tall and thin, even for an Elf. She wore a silky 
magenta dress with several arcane markings on it. Six silver earrings 
decorated her left ear, each shaped like a sharp tooth, while the other 
ear had a chain attached to her lobe and then to a cuff higher on her ear.

"Ellae..." Immora breathed when she entered the woman's study. In typical 
Quenholtian fashion, she lived in a house formed by a hollow in a tree, 
but she'd taken extra care to polish the wood on the walls and ceiling, 
and to add marble to her floors. Rich tapestries decorated the walls, 
along with dark blue and crimson rugs, curtains, and furniture. Crystal 
balls for communications were resting in silver stands, along with 
several long shelves filled with books.

"<It is beautiful!>" Immora said in the Quenholtian language.

"<Ah, good, you are speaking _our_ language. I find yours cumbersome 
and irritating.>"

"<I've spoken Quenholtian far longer than 'my' language. I'm quite fluent.>"

"<What about the young woman that's been with you these past few months? 
Does she know any?>"

Immora stopped short, shocked by the sudden question. "<You've seen her 
with me?>"

"<Yes, I watch over all that happens in this city. What was her name? 
I could never pronounce it.>"

"Akeru."

"<Eh? What does that mean?>"

Immora sat down in a chair across from Lorenada and considered her answer. 
"<I am not entirely sure. I don't really know the language, but I remember 
some words. I believe it means 'sunrise', if I _do_ remember correctly.>"

"<Don't all Terrans speak the same language?>"

"<Not entirely. She doesn't realize it, I don't think, that Quenhol runs 
on a different sort of time than Earth. Did you know that we can live 
thousands of years here, then go to Earth in the same time we left? 
Earth, while we're on this world, will age, but we can always travel 
back to where we started. Right now, though, Earth is farther into the 
future. The time she came from is the same one I did-- a thousand years 
ago, to us. Everyone speaks one tongue on Earth now, but she isn't from 
that Earth, she's from mine. I speak with her in a language called 
English.>"

"<You didn't tell her about the time flow?>"

"<No... I forgot to... I have never really found time for it anyways.>"

Lorenada sighed. "<You need to find time... or bring the Guardian of 
Time in to explain... I believe she doesn't like how our planet is 
separate from the time she's used to controlling... What did you come 
here for anyways?>"

"<I'm trying to learn a protection spell to place on the new queen, 
but it's sorcery-->"

"<I understand. She'll probably need it... either that or one of us 
would have to teach her magic or sorcery so she can protect herself.>"

"<Why me though? Why am I the one who should place the spell on her?>"

"<They would have picked me--a sorceress-- to do it, but a mage has 
never been in a royal ceremony before. They wanted a wellknown mage 
to do it. You are the oldest mage alive, don't you know that?>"

Immora shook her head. "<I didn't. What is the queen's name anyways?>"

"<Clorianostriana.>"

"<What a name!>"

"<I know, she goes by Sharra more commonly though.>"

Not long after that, Lorenada explained the spell to her and how to 
speak it, and Immora left and went back to her house, telling Lorenada 
thank you as she left. She returned to see Akeru sitting on the couch, 
all the items they'd packed sitting around her. She smiled sheepishly 
at Immora. "I got the things... but I think I made a fool of myself in 
front of the man at the store."

"Why do you say that?"

"Well, I got the groceries okay, but then when I was trying to get 
these I had some difficulty, and I tried to say the word but I guess 
I said the wrong thing and it took me awhile to get it right--"

"What are you referring to, that you were trying to say?"

"Close your eyes."

Immora raised her eyebrow, but complied. "Okay, open them."

Immora was surprised to see Akeru now standing in front of her, holding 
several flowers of a type Immora had never seen before in her hand. 
"Akeru, what did you get these for?" Akeru handed them to her and Immora 
stood staring at her.

"I thought you'd like them. Do you?"

"Yes, I do..." Immora looked down at them. These are very rare... she 
thought to herself. Waitaminute, I told her to tell them I'd pay for 
everything--

"In case you're wondering, I've been saving some money I earned 
helping our neighbors in their garden. Took me two months, but--"

Akeru stopped as Immora hugged her tightly. "Thank you," she whispered. 
"I really appreciate it."

Akeru blushed slightly. "Um, you're welcome."

Immora placed them in a stasis crystal in her room, then came back 
into the main room. "Well, I guess we should go. We're going to have to 
walk, so we should bring some packs."

Immora got the packs from her room, and was putting items in them when 
Akeru told her, "You're going to have a heat stroke again, wearing those 
thick black dresses of yours. Especially on a day like this, you should 
really wear something more lightweight."

Immora considered it a moment. She was right, after all. Immora often 
had dizzy spells and the heat only made them worse... Akeru was prepared 
for it, unlike her. She'd worn lightweight cotton pants and a thin white 
shirt, while Immora was standing there like a fool in a long, thick dress.

"Can you finish my packing while I go change?"

"No problem."

Immora came back wearing a pale blue cotton dress. "Okay, I'm ready to go." 
She picked up her packs and strapped them onto her back. "By the way, 
Lorenada told me how to say the spell."

"Oh really? That's good. One less thing to worry about, eh?"

Immora laughed as they left her house. "Yes, it is. And once she told 
me it, it was so easy to remember. I felt silly asking her."

Akeru laughed with her as they entered the forest that led to the 
castle. "I hate trying to talk to people around here; no one understands 
me!"

"How did the neighbors know you wanted to help then?"

Akeru shrugged. "She was working in the garden, so I came over and 
started helping. She tried to talk but she could tell I didn't 
understand. When we were done, she gave me some money. The next day, 
I came back. She paid me again. It kept going on until I had enough 
money to buy the flowers. I never asked for pay, but since she was
giving me money, I decided I should buy you something with it."

Immora's eyes widened in surprise as they crossed a stream. "That was 
very nice of you to do that for me... I want to thank you, but I don't 
know how... I know! The protection spell I learned... after the 
ceremony, I'll put it on you."

"What is that spell for anyways?" she asked.

Immora lowered her head as they continued walking. "It's supposed to 
keep you from receiving extensive physical harm... it only works to a 
certain extent, but it's very helpful... I don't want you to be hurt, ever,
that's why I want you to give it to you. I know it's not really much--"

Akeru walked over closer to where she was. "It means alot to me... 
what you just said. Thank you."

Immora felt oddly nervous after that. "Um, you're welcome." She watched 
the ground as she walked, aware of Akeru walking next to her. It was 
silent, with only the sounds of the animals living in the forest to hear. 
She felt like she had to say something, do something, anything to break 
the silence. She slowly reached her hand over to Akeru's and gently 
clasped in. She felt Akeru tense up at first, as if startled, then 
after a few moments she squeezed Immora's hand back.

"You alright?" Akeru asked, looking around in the trees as they walked.

"I'm fine..." Immora said slowly, even more nervous than before. Her 
hand almost slipped from Akeru's, and she looked up at her face slowly. 
Akeru looked calm at first glance, but as Immora studied her face she 
noticed a faint blush on her cheeks. "You're blushing," she whispered 
softly, barely enough to be heard.

Akeru looked over to her. "Am I?" she asked with a faint smile.

"Yes, you are." Immora turned away, looking at anything that caught her 
eye... the waterfall dropping off the ledge next to them, the shadows 
in the trees, silhouettes of animals in the distance. "Why are you?"

"Huh?"

"Why're you blushing? I'm guessing it's because I'm holding your hand... 
why does that make you blush?"

Akeru's pace slowed to a stop. "Immora... I..." Her fingers slid away 
from Immora's as she turned away, clutching her arms in her hands. "I 
think I--"

Before she could finish, Immora heard a noise and whirled around. That 
noise she heard behind them, it sounded like a knife being unsheathed--

She gasped in shock as a woman leapt from the trees and knocked Akeru 
to the ground. She twirled around and kicked Immora's legs, painfully 
dropping her to the ground too. Her knife was at Immora's throat, 
keeping her from moving.

"Let her go!" Akeru shouted in a horrified voice.

"I think not," the woman said, surprisingly speaking the Earth tongue 
fluently. "I've been told to kill both of you."

Immora trembled, too afraid to try to cast a spell. The woman looked to 
be half human, half Forest Elf, and would undoubtedly know she was 
trying to use her magic. She had bright red hair which she wore in an 
unusual style--it was pushed back from her face, except for a small 
section falling across her right temple, then parted in the center, 
with the sections of hair that probably normally reached her chin 
rising up in the air. Her skin was pale green, like many Forest Elf's 
skin, but her ears had only small points to them, not long enough to be a 
true Forest Elf. Her dark emerald eyes lined with thick forest green 
liner had a slight slant, her eyebrows also slanting, but the shape of 
her face, the low cheekbones and downturned nose, along with the thin, 
dark green painted lips were distinctly human. She was thin, but also 
muscular, the nearly black leather tinged green she wore clinging to her 
like a second skin, with a light brown trench coat that was very long in the 
back with the sleeves rolled up to her elbows worn over her bodysuit. 
A second bodysuit, this one light brown, covered her chest partially in 
an "m" shape, was tight around her torso but baggy in the legs where 
she tucked it into her tall dark boots. The small green circles that 
went down the front of her dark bodysuit along with the sides of her arms 
and legs marked her as an assassin. Immora closed her eyes tightly and 
tried not to scream. She tried to remind herself that she couldn't be 
killed... but then she could imagine just how painful it would be, to 
be wounded so horribly and to not be granted death.

"Please, let her go! Don't do this!" Akeru pleaded in a voice dripping 
with fear. "You can't kill her, so please don't try!"

The assassin only laughed. "Whether she will die or not, it is my job 
to at least try."

Immora gasped in pain as the woman drew her knife across the side of 
her neck, not deep enough to cause major bleeding, but the stinging 
sensation was terrible.

"Leave her alone!" Akeru screamed. Immora looked to her and saw she was 
close to tears. Akeru fumbled in her pack and pulled out a metal object
... a gun. "Let her go or I'll KILL YOU!!"

The woman chuckled and pressed the knife near the front of Immora's 
throat. Immora gulped, and felt sweat drip down her forehead. Akeru's 
hands trembled, barely managing to keep a grip on her weapon that she 
was aiming at the assassin's head. Her face was drawn tight with fear, 
the beads of sweat obvious as she bit her lip. "I-I'm warning you-- 
don't try anything else--"

"Drop the gun," the assassin hissed. "If you don't, I'll kill her 
right now."

Akeru stood still in fright, then she lowered the gun and dropped it on 
her ground. She buried her head in her hands and sobbed.

Immora felt a dull ache go through her. She wanted to run over to Akeru 
and hold her tight and comfort her. She only vaguely heard a voice say 
to the assassin, "Hurry up and do it, E'melok," before she realized that 
she was drawing in her magic. She fearfully stopped as the knife pressed 
into her skin slightly.

"You just sit right there and don't move," E'melok hissed as she walked 
over to Akeru.

"Don't hurt her!" Immora cried. "She hasn't done anything to harm you!"

E'melok laughed and kicked Akeru in the side. Akeru cried out in pain 
and tried to pull away as E'melok grabbed her arm. "Don't struggle too 
much, there's a river next to you that leads to a very long waterfall, 
and I am sure you wouldn't want to go off it."

E'melok kicked Akeru again, then slapped her across the face. Immora 
trembled hard, trying not to cry as she watched. Finally, she had seen 
enough. She couldn't take it anymore. E'melok continued to hit Akeru, 
not noticing that Immora was quickly drawing in her magic. Immora leapt 
at E'melok, fire blazing around her. E'melok screamed as the flames bit 
into her skin, but managed to shove Akeru into the river as she tried 
to fight off Immora.

Immediately, Immora turned to dive into the river after her, not 
noticing that E'melok had slashed her across the back with her knife. 
She dove into the river, trying to swim to Akeru, but her skirt was 
dragging her and she couldn't swim in the fast current. Akeru barely 
kept above the water, gasping for air as she kicked her legs to remain 
above the surface. Immora felt herself being dragged under and couldn't 
do anything to stop it. Her neck and back burned with pain as the cold 
water bit into her wounds. She was thrown against a rock by the current, 
and couldn't work up the strength to keep herself above the surface. 
She was pulled under the water, her lungs feeling like they'd burst 
from lack of oxygen. She tried to push herself up but was too weak. 
She felt herself brush against something underwater-- was it Akeru?-- 
as she plummeted down the waterfall to the water below.



It felt like hours later when she opened her eyes. She'd washed up on 
the shore. The sun was beating down on her, and had already dried her. 
Waves gently lapped at her feet. She was aware of someone beside her, 
breathing deeply. She closed her eyes, trying to block out the light. 
Her magical senses felt like they were on fire, and she couldn't help 
but feel the energy running through everything around her-- the water, 
the forests, herself... when she could feel the energy coming from the 
person next to her, she realized it was Akeru. There was something
distinctive about her energy, Immora noticed, a certain note in it that
was unique to her.

"I-Immora?" came a cracked whisper.

Immora rolled over on her side to see her friend was also exhausted. 
"Are you alright?"

"I don't know," Immora admitted in a soft whisper. "I feel awful..."

She lay there, gazing into Akeru's beautiful eyes, aware of Akeru's 
gaze on her at the same time. She felt a slight ache go through her, 
but it wasn't the one of pain she'd felt earlier. "Akeru..." she 
whispered. "I..."

She stopped, her voice leaving her as Akeru sat up, pulling her against 
her as she wrapped her arms around her. Immora returned her embrace, 
burying her head against her as she fought tears, pressing her cheek to 
hers. Akeru whispered soothing words to her as she stroked her knotted 
hair. Immora whispered in a choked voice, "I didn't want you to be 
hurt... I didn't want her to kill you... and look what happened... you 
could have drowned or something in that waterfall..."

She felt Akeru's tears against her cheek. "I didn't want you to be hurt 
either... Immora, I don't want you to ever be hurt, not by anyone, not 
in any way... you mean too much to me."

They lay staring at each other for a little bit, neither wanting to speak 
for the moment.

"I love you," Akeru said after a few moments. "I was too afraid to tell 
you any sooner, but I love you, fully and completely..."

"I love you too," Immora returned. "I wasn't sure for a long time... 
I've never loved anyone before... but ... oh god... Akeru, you're 
everything to me..."

Akeru kissed her forehead gently. "And you're everything to me... thank 
you... for being here for me..."

Immora felt a blush rise through her cheeks. "Thank you... for all that 
you've done for me..." Immora shut her eyes, wrapping her arms tighter 
around Akeru. Akeru stopped stroking her hair and pressed her hand to 
the back of Immora's head. Then her soft, warm lips were against 
Immora's, kissing her gently as Immora slid her arms around Akeru's 
neck and returned the kiss with deep passion. Her tongue darted into 
Akeru's mouth as the other woman pulled her closer to her. She closed 
her eyes tight, wishing for the kiss to never end. Finally, they pulled
away from each other and rested their heads against each other. 

Akeru smiled at her and Immora shyly smiled back. They lay there, holding 
each other, until they drifted away into sleep.



"<Immora? Wake up. *ahem* Please wake up, Immora.>"

"Huh?" Immora stirred and woke up to see three of the Royal Guards 
standing over her and Akeru. The two human males, accompanied by an 
female Forest Elf, watched her as she sat up further. She winced in 
pain, her hand trailing to her neck where she'd been cut, noting the 
numbness in her back from the cut she hadn't felt earlier. Akeru 
remained cuddled against her, still asleep, as Immora looked up at the 
guards. She looked around and noticed it was almost dusk--how long had 
they been asleep? "<What are _you_ here for?>" she asked coldly.

"<Well, you were supposed to have arrived a few hours ago for the 
coronation ceremony, so we'll probably have to wait until much later or 
tomorrow to have it. Please stand up and wake up your friend.>"

Immora gently nudged Akeru until she woke up. "Hmmm? What's going on? 
It's almost sunset???"

"Three of the Royal Guards are here since we were late. Stand up."

They both stood up and the Forest Elf guard looked them over. Immora's 
wounds had scabbed lightly, and bruises stood out on Akeru's skin. 
"<You've been attacked, I see. By whom?>"

"<An assassin by the name of E'melok.>"

The Forest Elf looked immediately to the other two guards. "<I am 
surprised you survived the attack! She is a very dangerous woman, 
quickly rising in the ranks of the Assassins' Guild. We'd heard they 
might try to kill someone before the ceremony, but we never thought 
they really would.>"

Immora's eyes flickered slightly and she raised an eyebrow, almost in 
amusement. "<And _why_ would they send her to kill me? Why would they 
involve Akeru?>"

"<They probably felt that if you were killed, the queen would be left 
vulnerable and they'd be able to move in easily to kill you. I don't 
know why they would attack this woman who's with you though. You need 
to come with us now, the ceremony's been delayed long enough already... 
and you both need healing.>"

As the guards turned to lead them, Akeru asked Immora, "What just 
happened?"

Immora laughed slightly, "They told me that E'melok tried to kill us to 
sabotage the ceremony, and that they came to find us because we're so late. 
We to go with them to the palace for the ceremony and to receive healing."

"I _really_ need to learn this language," Akeru mumbled irritably as 
they started to walk behind the guards.

Immora laughed again and took her hand. "I could ask someone to make a 
translation crystal for you. I would make one if I knew how, but they 
are difficult to make. They could translate people's words in your mind 
for you, and whatever you say will come out sounding to others as being 
their own language. It only works when you want it to."

"Sounds like a handy thing to have."

"It is. I had one when I first came here, but not long after I finished 
learning the language, it broke."

"Huh, that's odd... Hey, if we were so late, how come they aren't more 
upset about it? It _is_ important, right?"

Immora grinned at her. "Quenholtians are funny about things like time. 
They try hard to be punctual, but if you end up being late, it's really 
no big deal. We could have turned up three days late and they would have 
waited the whole time for us."

"That's unusual... I guess it worked in our favor though."

"Well, the Quenholtians do tend to think in ways that work to the 
advantage of everyone. Quite nice, if you ask me." 

They continued to follow the guards, talking quietly with each other, 
until Immora asked them to stop. "<Is something wrong?>" one of the 
guards asked.

"<Ahhh... my back... ow... sorry, the cuts sting bad...> Akeru, you 
still have your pack, did you happen to bring any medicine with you?"

"No, sorry," Akeru said. "I didn't think we'd need any."

"<I know a bit of sorcery,>" the Forest Elf said. "<Would you like me 
to heal them? You might have been poisoned you know. Your friend can 
wait, but you can't if you are.>"

Immora nodded as the woman came over and said the words of the spell. 
The wounds healed slowly. "<I'm surprised that spell took so long. Where do 
you draw energy from?>"

"<I tend to align my magic with the forests, and one type of tree in 
particular has healing properties. I drew on the power of those trees.>"

"<Who was your teacher?>"

"<Lorenada, why?>"

Immora frowned. "<A powerful sorceress like her shouldn't waste her time 
teaching, and I would expect her to do a better job. She should have told
you that using trees for healing energy is absurd.>"

"<Er, do you know her?>" the Elf asked.

"<It doesn't concern you, now does it?>"

"<Oh. We should continue on.>"

They continued to walk through the woods until they reached the palace. 
Akeru's eyes widened in shock at the sprawling grounds. "What do you 
think?" Immora asked her.

"It's wonderful!" Akeru said in awe.

The palace itself covered a few miles of space and was made of marble 
and crystal, with tall spires stretching towards the sky and domed 
roofs, several murals decorating the walls. The grounds around the 
palace were filled with gardens and small shops, some temporary huts 
while others were more permanent. All types of Quenholtians-- Humans, 
Pure Elves, Forest Elves, Katrisa, and even a few Dragana-- walked 
among the buildings, talking, doing business, and preparing for the 
ceremony. The palace had stood for thousands of years, and was open 
to all but a few. People turned to watch them as they entered the 
grounds through a gate in front, for the ground were surrounded by a 
high wall. Several people dropped to their knees, others trying to push 
their way over, while the rest ignored them.

"<We'll be entering through the east doors,>" one of the guards said 
as he led them to a large wooden door with carvings on it. "<Then 
proceed down the hall until you reach the ninth door on the right.>"

"<You can leave us,>" Immora said as she walked down the hall with Akeru 
following her. 

"I'm assuming we are going to a room somewhere?" Akeru asked.

"Yep. I have to prepare for the ceremony. A guard told me while we were 
walking here that they would announce our arrival and the ceremony would 
start a few hours following. I need to change and they'll probably give us 
some food."

"Oh... hey, Immora? Why were all those people trying to get over to 
where we were, and some of those people started kneeling and all when 
we walked in? Are they really so surprised to see people?"

Immora tightened her lips as they approached the door. "No, not 
surprised to see people, surprised to see me."

"Why would they be?"

Immora sighed and opened the door. "Akeru... I haven't really told you 
this... I'm quite well known on this world, for many things both good 

and bad. Everyone except for the newborns and those who have lost their 
memories know who I am. I have been a sort of ambassador between the 
mages and the government. Some people even have started some strange 
sort of worshipping towards me. I rarely go into heavily populated areas 
to avoid the attention, and that's why I live out in the woods. They 
are surprised to see me because of that."

They entered the room in silence. Five women sat in there, three humans, 
a Pure Elf, and a Forest Elf. Immora didn't recognize either of the Elves, 
but could tell by their clothing that they were assistants to whoever would
be at the palace as a guest, two of the humans seemed to be dressmakers 
of some sort, but the other human... she didn't look Quenholtian at all. 
Her hair was long and dark green, pulled back in a bun with the loose 
ends hanging down to her waist, with deeply tanned skin and crimson eyes. 
She wore a long black dress with several pieces of silver jewelry, and in 
one hand she held a long silver staff that resembled a key, with a 
decoration on top shaped like a heart with a magenta gem set into it. Immora 
suddenly felt a chill go down her spine, and a strange prickling 
sensation on the back of her neck. She had a feeling she should know 
this woman, but she wasn't sure where from.

Akeru, however, looked at the green haired woman, almost in horror. "You!" 
she gasped.

The woman narrowed her eyes. "Yes?"

"Akeru, who is that?" Immora asked in a slightly choked voice. Her 
magical senses were flaring out of control and she couldn't prevent 
herself from drawing in magical energy.

Akeru was frozen in place with shock and didn't answer. "<Is something 
wrong?>" one of the Elves asked. "<Oh, just ignore that lady over there. 
We don't know why she's here. Says her name is 'Setsuna'>."

Setsuna... where had she heard that name before? Immora took an 
involuntary step back. What was this strange sensation? It was as if she 
recognized the woman, but she'd never seen her before! "Who are you?!" 
she demanded, slipping into the Earth tongue in her confusion. "What do 
you want?!"

Setsuna answered calmly, "I'm just here to observe. I won't interfere 
with you."

"The hell you won't!" Akeru shouted.

Immora turned to her. "Do you know this woman?!"

Akeru shuddered slightly. "She's the one who brought me here... she 
just suddenly appeared and took me away from my home..."

Immora narrowed her eyes. "Look, 'Setsuna', I don't exactly feel 
comfortable having you here. If you don't tell us who you are and why 
you're here--"

"Yes, you'll use your magic, won't you?" Setsuna cut in. "I told you 
already, I am here to observe. Don't worry about it."

Immora clenched her fist. "There's more to you than that, isn't there? 
You really expect us to believe that you're only here to watch things?"

"It is my duty as the Guardian of Time."

Immora felt like she'd been frozen in place. The Guardian of Time... 
here??? What would she be doing here? Why had she taken Akeru here? 
"What's going on?" she whispered to herself.

"<Um, excuse me? Immora? We need to begin fitting you, if you could come 
over here please.>"

Immora nodded weakly and walked over. She didn't notice the dressmakers 
as they started measuring her, and could only wonder about the presence 
of the Guardian of Time. She'd always been told that she never, EVER left
her post, except for rare occasions when she went to Earth to assume her 
role as a "Sailor Senshi". But here she was, on Quenhol of all places, 
acting as if she'd lived here all her life and ignoring Akeru's accusations.

Akeru, however, watched Setsuna with narrowed eyes. She was incredibly 
upset to see this woman here. Immora looked over to her, her eyes more 
than anything warning her to not try to attack the Guardian. Akeru 
stifled a sigh.

"<Hmmm... blue or purple?>"

Immora blinked in surprised. "<What?>"

"<Blue or purple. Which one would you prefer for your dress?>"

"<Blue.>" She turned to an assistant. "<You there, get my friend a 
translations crystal.>"

"<Yes, m'lady, I'll go get one for her.>"

The assistant left the room to find the crystal and Immora told Akeru 
where she was going to. Akeru just nodded, then her eyes widened in shock. 
"Immora-- Setsuna isn't here anymore!"

"What?!" Immora whirled around and saw that the woman had indeed 
disappeared. "Where could she have gone to?" she murmured. "And without 
anyone noticing her?"

"<Ma'am, if you don't mind me saying so, your friend might like a healing 
spell, some new clothes, a bath perhaps? You seem to have had a rough 
journey.>"

"<Excuse me, my friend still needs a translations crystal. I will not do
anything until the assistant is able to return with it.>"

"<Alright.>"

The assistant soon returned and handed the crystal on a thin gold chain 
to Akeru. She put it on and her eyes widened in amazement. "It feels... 
different..."

"That's just the sorcery taking effect," Immora commented. "Don't worry, 
it won't take long to work. In fact, I'm speaking in Quenholtian now. 
Do you understand what I'm saying?"

Akeru nodded in awe. "This will be a handy thing to have."

"Excuse me?" one of the dressmakers said. "Excuse me, umm..."

"Akeru."

"Yes, Akeru, we were just saying that you might like us to heal those 
bruises, then you'll probably want to wash up and get some clothes made. 
This _is_ an important ceremony, after all."

Akeru nodded her agreement. One of the assistants came forward and cast 
the healing spell on her. The bruises faded almost immediately. "There 
you go, the bath houses are that way. Oh, Miss Immora, you might want to 
consider bathing also."

"I will when I feel like it," Immora said coldly. "Stop making suggestions
and do your job."

The dressmakers took a quick measurement of Akeru before telling them 
they could go. Immora sighed and took Akeru's arm in hers. "It'll take 
awhile for them to finish our clothes. Might as well go down to the bath 
houses."

"Um, if you don't mind me asking, but are they, well--"

"Public baths? Pretty much. You get used to them after awhile. Besides, 
it's a nice change from the river behind my house. These baths are 
heated."

Immora opened the door and Akeru followed her in. There were two giant 
pools of water inside, a large amount of steam rising off one of them. 
Towels were neatly folded on tables and chairs all around the room. 
Several closed doors led to where the showers were. The bath houses 
were empty at this time of night. "That one steaming over there would 
probably come close to burning our skin. The Elves have a much higher 
tolerance for temperature than humans and wouldn't notice." She pulled 
her hair up and pinned it to keep from getting it wet, then she started 
slipping out of her dress and stopped when Akeru emitted a slightly 
choked sound. "Something wrong?" she asked.

"Sorry... it's just... ummm..." Akeru turned away quickly.

Immora giggled slightly and set her clothes on a chair. "I think I 
understand. The first time I came here there was already five people 
using the baths and I nearly had a heart attack when one of my 
Quenhol-born students told me it would be rude to just stand there. 
The Quenholtians are far different from Earth people, remember? 
Nudity isn't that big of a deal to them."

Immora slipped into the bath and cocked an eyebrow at Akeru, who was 
adamantly avoiding looking her way. "Akeru, come on," she prodded. "If 
you're _that_ nervous, I promise I won't look. You have to get in 
eventually, you know. After being on the trail, we both got pretty 
dirty. Besides, if you want, I _can_ put a spell on the water so that 
you can't see through it-- quite useless spell in most cases, actually, 
but it would make you feel better, wouldn't it?"

"Oh alright," she grumbled. Immora turned away and spoke the spell as 
waited for her to finish undressing. She felt the water ripple as 
Akeru slid in. "There, I'm in. Happy?"

Immora laughed slightly. "You're rather touchy about this. It's not 
_that_ bad, is it?"

"It's embarrassing," she murmured. "And it makes me really nervous."

Immora chuckled and pointed a finger at herself. "It's just _me_, 
Akeru! It's not like it's someone you don't even know..." She moved 
over near Akeru and whispered teasingly, "We'll probably end up seeing 
each other without clothes one day anyways, so you should just get used 
to it."

"Immora!" Akeru gasped in shock, staring at her with wide eyes. "How 
can you say something like that?!"

She shrugged slightly and looked up at the skylight above them. "When 
you've been around as long as I have, you tend to be a little blunt 
with your words."


Akeru still seemed a bit shocked. "That was _blunt_ alright..."

"Well, it's true, isn't it?"

Akeru coughed. "Well, I... ummm..." she turned away to hide her face.

Immora smiled slightly. "I'm just trying to lighten you up. You seemed 
so upset when Setsuna was there. Try to enjoy yourself and loosen up, 
alright?"

Akeru sighed and leaned back against the side of the pool. "I'll try... 
my nerves are still strung pretty tight though... I was really scared 
when I first saw her there. I thought she'd take me away again. I really 
don't want to leave Quenhol, especially since this is where you live."

"I'd go with you, you know, so it's nothing to worry about."

Akeru smiled slightly. "I know... Immora?" Her smile turned to a frown. 
"Doesn't it bother you at all... knowing that you'll outlive me by 
far? I'll be dead sooner than you realize."

Immora froze in place and her heart felt like it slowed. She'd never 
considered that... Akeru was mortal, and here she was, over a thousand 
already... "Oh my God... I never thought..." She buried her face against 
her knees. She'd live so much longer than Akeru... she'd have to live 
on knowing that Akeru was dead... "I don't think I'd be able to live 
with myself if you died," she whispered. "Maybe... there's some way..."

"That I can live longer? I hope so. I want to spend my life with you... 
and if you feel the same, well... since your life is going to be pretty 
long, I'm going to _have_ to extend mine somehow..."

Immora nodded slowly. "I could ask someone... to..." She bit her lip 
hard as she considered her words. "I... Akeru, it's not that I don't 
want to be with you... but I don't know if you really should do this... 
I mean, I love you, and I want to spend my life with you, but being 
immortal, having a longer life... it's awful. I hate it. I don't think 
you'd want to have the same kind of immortality that I have."

"Maybe there's a way to arrange it so I live as long as I feel like 
living?"

"I think so..." Immora sighed softly. "I wish _I_ could choose... I've 
nearly been killed three times, and only because of that spell I 
survived. But I still had to feel all the pain... until I could heal 
myself..." She shuddered and wiped a tear from her eye. "I would hate 
to see you live with that kind of suffering. If you ever, _ever_ get 
hurt like that, don't make yourself suffer unless there's someone there 
to heal you, because believe me, you WILL feel the pain for as long as 
the wound remains, and it'll stay for a long, long time if you can't 
get healing..."

Akeru slid over beside her and (almost shyly) slipped her arms around 
Immora. Immora blushed very faintly, but returned the gesture and hugged 
her. "Immora, I can endure it, I will endure it willingly, because it'll 
mean that I can stay with you."

"Are you sure?"

She gently kissed her forehead and whispered softly, "Of course, my love. 
You're worth it, whether you believe you are or not."

"I'm not," she faintly returned as tears streamed down her cheeks. "I 
most certainly am not."



The dressmakers smiled at them warmly as they came back into the room. 
"We've finished your garments, would you like to get them on now?"

"Yes, bring them in," Immora told her. The dressmaker handed Akeru her 
clothes and then Akeru left the room to change, then the woman handed 
Immora a dress and she slipped it on, then nodded her approval to the 
dressmakers. "Good job, thank you." She looked over her dress. It was 
midnight blue in color, with thin straps for sleeves, and it fell to 
her knees with a long slit up the right side. The straps were lined in 
silver, along with the trim of her low-cut top, and the hem and slit of 
her skirt. 

"If you'd like, we also found accessories that would match nicely," the 
other dressmaker said, handing them to her.

Immora slipped on the long white gloves and fastened on the snowy white 
cape with the inside lined deep red. She put the silver hoops in her ears, 
then sat down at the vanity to brush her hair and to put on her makeup. 
Akeru soon came back wearing a rich red shirt that buttoned up the front 
with a v-neckline. The collar, sleeves, and hem were trimmed thinly in 
black. With it she wore loose white pants with a black line going down 
the side of each leg, a shiny brown boots. She wore a faint brownish red 
lipstick and had combed her black hair so it was soft and shiny. Immora 
looked over to her and smiled broadly. "You look simply amazing," she 
breathed. 

Akeru grinned. "Why thank you, m'love. So do you." She took Immora's 
hand and helped her up from her seat.

One of the guards came in and told them that as soon as they were 
ready, the ceremony would begin. Immora told him they were ready, then 
told Akeru to go with him and find a seat since she'd have to be in the 
procession.

As soon stood in line with the other people who'd be walking in, she 
felt terribly nervous. This was a very important ceremony that they 
were having her participate in. She wasn't sure if she was ready to 
do this. Several dozen other sorcerers, sorceresses, and mages were 
standing there, not actually a part of the ceremony, but as 
representatives of their respective groups. Dozens of humans, Pure 
Elves, Forest Elves, Katrisa, and Dragana stood with them, also as 
representatives. Immora looked over to them. She didn't have much 
contact with the Katrisa and Dragana. The Katrisa were a group of 
people that could take the appearance of a cat, human, or a form 
in-between, which was what they usually went about as. In that form, 
their eyes had slit pupils like a cat's, their ears cat's ears on top 
of their head, their hair and skin colored in a way that a cat's fur 
would be, and a tail curled around in back of them. Their nails were 
long, sharp claws, and their teeth were also particularly sharp. The 
Dragana were a very unusual group, having the appearance of being 
something between Elf and Dragon. They all had brown hair with black 
bangs, red eyes, green skin that was both pale and bright, and wings 
sprouting from their back like dragons have, with two talons pointing 
from each. Their ears were similar to the Pure Elves' in their 
appearance, and they were all known for being tall, lanky, with 
vicious fangs and claws. Both races were seldom seen by the others,
so it was an unusual sight to see them here.

Immora sighed and took a deep breath. She had to get this over with...
it wouldn't be THAT difficult... walk down the aisle, stand still for a
bit, then cast the spell and leave... God, there were so many people
here! She took a deep breath, then looked around again and saw Akeru
sitting in the rows of seats. Akeru waved to her and winked. Immora
smiled back, suddenly feeling not so nervous. She then glanced around
and saw that Setsuna had returned; she was sitting in a row not that
far from Akeru. Akeru hadn't noticed her yet, from what Immora could tell.
Immora frowned to herself. Why was Setsuna here, what was she here to
observe?

When the orchestra started up, the groups of people started marching
down the aisle towards the throne, where Sharra sat waiting. When they
reached it, they bowed, and turned to walk to their seats. Immora was
the only one who was supposed to stay, and she did so. A man started
reading aloud from a book some things that had to do with the ceremony.
Immora let her mind wander as she waited for her time to come.

Eventually, the man stopped speaking and looked to her and said her cue.
Immora nodded, then walked over to the young, soon-to-be queen. Sharra
raised her ice blue eyes to her, her shoulder length purple hair falling
away from her face. Sharra lowered her head slightly in a gesture of 
respect, and Immora did the same. The mage placed her fingertips to 
Sharra's temples and slowly said the words of the spell.

The crowd fell completely silent and Immora shut her eyes tightly as the
flow of sorcery rushed through her, spreading to her fingertips and sending
the spell into Sharra. It felt like her blood was on fire; the sensation
of the sorcery flowing through her was almost painful, unlike the pleasant,
comforting sensation that magic usually gave her. She gritted her teeth,
hoping the spell would take effect quickly.

Sharra soon sat back, indicating the spell was done. Immora stumbled 
backward as the crowd starting cheering wildly, and Sharra placed the string
of pearls that wou