This Fanfiction is, in fact, a work of fiction. Any resemblance of the characters to persons living or dead is purely coincidental. People who insist otherwise need help. The Sailor Senshi and Tuxedo Kamen are all copyright of Toei Animation and Takeuchi Naoko, as if you didn't know that. This fic is considered PG-13 by its Author due to violence, mild horror and potentially offensive language. If you can't handle Buffy the Vampire Slayer, don't read on. Shades of the Soul - By Gaunt Chapter Three. ------------------------------------- A rumpled heap lay in the middle of an empty, stone-flagged room. Long moments passed as a haunting wind blew through an open window arch and echoed around the room. The heap stirred, and revealed itself to be a dirty, unkempt young woman. The girl struggled to her knees, then to a sitting position. "What the heck is going ON." The girl held her head as a rush of memories from the last few days hit her with a wave of vertigo. She'd just been at some kind of music festival. That memory was clear. She had sung along with a violin and a flute. She had hoped that someone in the audience would help her, because she was so hungry she thought she'd die. So she had sung hoping to get their attention. A lot of people had crowded around to listen and... and now she wasn't hungry anymore. The girl put her hands to her stomach and was amazed to realize that not only was she full, she actually felt bloated and nauseous from eating so much garbage. Distasteful memories of the dumpster where she had slept welled up. The dampness, the darkness, the stench, the erratic hidden movements and noises of the things that lived in the alley, all these came back to her, and she trembled. The dumpster was where she'd taken shelter from the rain, and where she'd been driven by merciless hunger to eat garbage. She'd eventually collapsed with exhaustion and slept there, after aimlessly walking the streets for hours. She'd been trying to find her way back to... she didn't remember. Thoughts overwhelmed by insistent hunger, now sated, erupted in her mind. She didn't remember where she was from. She didn't even remember who she WAS. Overcome with fear and confusion, the girl wept. ------------------------------------- Ami paced through a green, forested park, periodically poking at her Mercury computer. Rei was walking a similar path, but stopped periodically to close her eyes and concentrate. The cats and the other inner Senshi sat on benches nearby, watching their friends. Eventually Ami stopped, frowning at the display on her computer. "I'm only getting vague readings, but I don't like what I see." The short-haired girl played with her data for a few more moments. "If Haruka was right, and there were two sorceresses here, we may have a big problem." "What KIND of big problem?" Usagi asked, a small tremor in her voice. "The power each sorceress uses has a specific waveform signature, and I've recorded a lot of samples of these waveforms from when we've fought them before. Essentially, I can tell them apart by their magic." After checking to see if everyone understood this explanation, she went on. "The problem is that while I'm picking up the remains of two power waveforms, I only recognise one of them. It matches the jealousy sorceress, which fits with Michiru and Haruka's report. The second signature I have no samples of at all. It's new." The girls' and the cats' eyes grew very large. "There's five of them now?" Usagi twitched once, and fell over in a dead faint. As Luna attempted to rouse their fearless leader, Rei walked over to the discussion. "Well I don't know WHAT to make of the impressions I'm getting. If there were two sorceresses here, and they were both `feeding', there should be two strong emotional impressions. Only there isn't. There's only one strong impression, and it's jealousy, which we already knew about." The young spiritualist leaned, dejected, against a tree. Usagi, now roused, climbed gingerly down from a decorative wall, keeping an eye on Luna's sharp claws. "I'm awake now Luna, okay? Really. Stop looking at me like that." Taking a position of relative safety with Makoto between herself and Luna, Usagi addressed Rei. "So maybe only the jealousy girl was feeding. Maybe the other one had been snacking before." Minako shook her head. "As much as I'd like to believe that explanation, I don't think so Usagi. From what we've seen before, these women like their privacy, and only team up when there's a bigger plan going on. Plus, if any of the others had been feeding before, we'd have heard about it. None of them but jealousy seems to know what the word subtlety means. What do you think ARTEMIS!" Minako's shout drew the Senshi's eyes to the white cat, who was sitting rigid, his fur standing on end and his tail straight up in the air. "R-Rei. Are there any unusual emotion impressions at the point where Haruka told us the singer was?" The brunette walked over to the spot and concentrated. "Umm, yes actually. Nothing as strong as the wave of jealousy, but there are a couple of unusually strong echoes." Her brow furrowed. "Only they're all different. There's jealousy, of course, but there's also disgust, pity, awe, a little fear and even love. There are many traces. Why do you ask?" Rei opened her eyes. Minako, attempting to brush Artemis back to some semblance of normalcy, paused and looked him in the eye. "No way Artemis, you can't be thinking what I think you're thinking." "I'm afraid so." The white cat looked grim. Usagi, eyes wide, whipped her head back and forth to look between Artemis, Minako and the rest of the group. "What, what? Why am I always the last one to be told anything?" Minako looked at the blonde. "We seem to have a sorceress who's power signature we don't have a record of, who doesn't seem to have chosen a particular emotion to feed off of, and according to Haruka and Michiru's report, didn't recognise Jealousy and didn't seem to know she was using magic." "A new sorceress." Makoto cracked her knuckles. "A new enemy." "Let's hope she's not a new enemy." Ami spoke up. "She hasn't hurt anyone yet, and she doesn't seem to be allied with the others. Still, if she IS a new sorceress, she might be the answer to our other mystery. She may be the result of that strange energy discharge that interacted oddly with Setsuna's powers at the temple the other day." Usagi put a hand to her mouth. "But that would mean... that would mean we... created her." ------------------------------------- The setting sun had painted the stones of the room in shades of fire by the time the mysterious girl had gathered herself enough to stop crying. With a haggard gaze, she surveyed her surroundings. The room was of moderate size, and perfectly round. The walls and floor seemed to be made from closely fitted stone, and the ceiling was wooden. One wall held a large, window-like arched opening, and there was a stairwell descending opposite it. [[Where am I? What is this place?]] The girl thought to herself. The girl stood, and walked to the window to see if that would reveal anything. Abruptly, she grabbed the windowsill with white- knuckled tension. As clouds drifted past a hundred feet below it, the window had revealed exactly where she was. The window looked out over empty sky. Even gripped by shock as she was, the girl couldn't help but be awed by the view. The setting sun burned the sky with colour, and the city below shone as if cast from pure gold. In front of her, impossibly, four stone castles and a pillared temple floated, majestically. The fortresses plied the skies like mighty ships in calm seas, clouds cresting and breaking against their walls. Soon, realization dawned to the girl that she herself was looking out the highest tower window of just such a fantastic castle. More stable now, the girl put a hand to her thudding heart. "That's just... just ridiculous. Why doesn't anybody see this place? For that matter, what IS this place, and how did I get here?" [[Detection Ward is operating fully. You are in the observation room at the top of the North Tower of your castle. Your castle is currently above the place known as Tokyo, Japan on the planet Earth. The planet is in the star system known as Yassailia's Crown. You Gated yourself here.]] The voice came from nowhere, cold and flat. It was in the girl's head, but it wasn't her thought. She spun around, but there was no one there. "Who are you, where are you?" The girl moved away from the window, trying to keep an eye on it and the stairwell at the same time. "What do you want from me?" [[First question cannot be answered. I am in the Throne Room. Third question cannot be answered.]] Faced with this cryptic response, the girl stood silent and still. When no further comments were forthcoming, she tried again. "Do you mean me harm?" [[I cannot do you harm.]] There was still no inflection in the disembodied voice. The girl realized that this voice, whatever it was, was only answering direct questions. Biting her lip, she screwed up her courage. Putting on the bravest face she could, she mostly kept the fear out of her voice. "I want to meet you." There was no response. After several minutes of breathless waiting, she almost smacked herself when she realized her error. "How do I get to where you are, to the Throne room?" [[Follow.]] Immediately, the girl felt a strange sensation. It wasn't so much an actual pull as a feeling of direction. She just knew, suddenly, which way to go. Trembling slightly, she followed the impression through the empty, echoing stone halls of the castle. Finally, a doorway opened up into a huge, yawning space. The girl moved slowly, overcome with awe at the massive, domed ceiling, and the sheer size of the space enclosed by the stone walls. Eventually, her eyes were drawn to the only other thing in the hall. In the exact center of the room, floating in space, was a two-foot long, featureless grey rod. She paced out the perimeter of the room, looking into every shadowed alcove. She found no one. "Where are you? You said you were in this room." [[I am here.]] It was the rod. The ROD was speaking to her in her mind. "What... what are you?" She tentatively reached forward, and touched the rod lightly with one hand. Immediately she felt a rush of strength. Information flooded her mind. She suddenly knew what magic was making the castle float, and all of the things which protected it from detection, attack and intrusion. She knew with complete certainty that she could change, strengthen or weaken any of those magics at any time she chose. It was incredible, and it was only a fraction of the potential. She realized she could do almost anything she wanted, almost anything at all. [[I am your wand, Sorceress.]] The voice was still without emotion, but it seemed less frightening now. It was really more... subservient. She held the rod lightly and turned it from side to side, watching the light play along its smooth surface. The girl's eyes widened with wonder. This thing was not some mysterious force to be feared, it was just a tool. HER tool, she knew with complete certainty, hers and no one else's. Her fear left her as more knowledge came to her. She had feared the castle when it was a mystery, but it was a mystery no more. She intimately knew every passage, every room, every nook, cranny, door, shelf, tower, everything. The castle held no secrets from her, and she felt safe there. Castles exist to protect those who belong within their walls, and somehow the girl knew she belonged here in this castle, in this room, more than anywhere else in the world. ------------------------------------- At a granite table in an impossible, flying temple two women worked, one with platinum hair, one with gold. Cove and Avaria poured over tables and charts in their quest to reach the mysterious fifth sorceress. Not only were they attempting to divine her location, but they also sought a way to breach the wards on her castle, at least enough to send a message through. Cove ran a tired hand through her shining tresses. "This divination is getting us nowhere. We simply don't know enough about her to read the charts right, and we can't learn anything about her until she's found." "You must have job experience to be hired for this job." At Cove's raised eyebrow, Avaria explained. "It's a similar paradox the locals inflict on themselves when chasing wealth. I discovered a lot of things like that while studying them. Makes me wonder why we haven't subjugated them completely yet." Cove smiled. "They are a most bizarre people, true. Now, to the business at hand. Have you made any progress against her wards?" Avaria shook her head. "No, and I don't think I'm going to. I've tried every trick in the book, and even made up some new ones. They didn't even wiggle. I think her entire power is tied up in those wards right now, and unless she diverts some of it, they're staying right where they HELLO." Avaria leapt half out of her chair to look at the castle in question. "Success?" Cove also turned to look. "It wasn't me. I've been monitoring the wards all along, but I wasn't doing anything right then. There was just a big flux in every ward on that rock, and even in the levitation spells. It was like somebody was playing with them." Avaria didn't like surprises, but this was the first response of any kind from the new castle. "So our mysterious woman has found herself a new toy." Cove put a hand to her mouth thoughtfully. "If she's realized her power, it's become even more crucial for us to bring her to our way. Avaria, resume trying to communicate. If she's in the castle and touching her power, maybe she'll answer this time." "It might be too many shocks too fast for her." Avaria cautioned while beginning a message spell. "Metal-haired, magic-wielding women in a floating temple aren't too reassuring. Can you think of something that will make this easier for her?" Cove paced for a moment, then smiled. "Send the first message sound only." With a wave of her hand, a golden flute appeared. "In her current state of undoubtable confusion, even a small familiarity will be an anchor she will cling to. Once we have her attention, we can answer her no doubt numerous questions." "Feeding her our truth in the process. Very slick, Cove. You keep her busy, and tell her what she needs to know. I'm going to contact the others and tell them this is a good time to cast the Senshi in an unfavourable light." Avaria grinned and rubbed her hands together. "If we play this right, we can make the whole population of this sorry world look bad, and crush out any budding sympathy our neonate may have for them." "I hadn't thought of that, but it's an excellent idea." A wide smile came to Cove's face. "If this new one works as well with the rest of us as we work with each other, this world is ours. Now, I think we should stop talking about it and begin." With that, Cove put the flute to her lips and began the same piece she'd played in the park earlier that day. Avaria made a gesture with her wand. "Sending. Now all you do is wait. I've set it up so you can send your image whenever you want. I'm going back to my castle to contact the others now." With that, Avaria bowed and gated herself away. Cove continued to play her flute, enjoying the pure tones. It was a great blessing that something that gave her so much pleasure was also so useful to her. Several minutes passed, and then a tentative signal came through the link. "H-Hello?" It was a soft voice, but Cove recognised it immediately. Cove took the flute from her lips. "Hello. I'm very glad to finally hear from you. I was very impressed by your singing at the park. You have a beautiful voice." "You're the flute player? How are you calling me?" The girl's voice was filled with confusion. Cove smiled invisibly. "Yes, I am the flute player. My name is Cove, and I can call you because I have a castle like yours." Cove then interrupted the other girl before she could reply. "This is awkward, only hearing each other. Would you accept a visual image?" There was a long pause. "I... I guess so. How do I... oh, right." With a shimmer, an image appeared, floating in the air above the temple's stone table. The girl was dirty, dressed in rags, and her hair was a wild nest of tangles. In contrast, her eyes were bright and clear, her posture straight, and her face composed. Only an occasional nervous twitch betrayed her insecurity. [[Power suits you, girl.]] Cove thought to herself. [[Already you shed the trembling babe you were this morning.]] On seeing Cove, the girl startled, but composed herself. "You look so... different than you did in the park." She seemed to look over Cove's shoulder. "Where are you?" Cove affected to look sad. "This style is my preference, and the fashion among my friends. However, when going about among common people, I must adapt to local custom, or risk attracting scorn and ridicule." Cove took a few steps away from the image and gestured at the temple surrounding her. "As for where I am, you've probably seen it from the windows of your castle. This temple is a common meeting place for we of the castles. It is a neutral place where we meet to share each other's company and to work on common projects. You are welcome here." The girl bit her lip thoughtfully, and looked around herself before addressing Cove again. "I keep hearing that this is my castle, but I don't understand. Frankly, I don't understand any of this." Cove nodded, and searched for words. [[I must be careful. A wrong word here may ruin everything.]] The Sorceress of jealousy gave the girl her most reassuring smile. "Each of the castles you've seen is owned and ruled by one of my friends or I. They are both our homes and the seat of our power, as the wands are both the symbol of our station and the focus of that power. Each of us has a castle and a wand. It is the way it has always been." Cove paused to let the girl draw her own conclusions. The fifth Sorceress stood gazing at the grey rod in her hand, an unreadable look on her face. Finally, she spoke. "Why? Why do I have this... power? What am I? What are... we?" Cove smiled broadly. "I will be happy to tell you everything you need to know. We are sorceresses, women who wield great magical power. While we are long lived, and our powers grant us many benefits, until recently, there have only been four of us, and we have been lonely. Your sudden appearance has brought us joy." The girl looked at her own hands, caked with dirt, one holding the grey rod. "Sudden appearance? How long... how old... how?" Cove graced the girl with a look of deepest sympathy. "Less than two days ago, warriors from this world interfered with powerful magic we were researching. Great, uncontrolled energies were released, and before we had realized what was happening, your castle had appeared in our skies. We inferred your existence from that, and have been searching for you ever since." "No, that can't be. These clothes I'm wearing..." The rag-clad girl put her hands to her head. [[How much do I really remember about those first few hours? I could have found these clothes in the dumpster.]] After agonizing for a few moments, she spoke again. "I can't be only two days old, I CAN'T." Cove nodded. "Maybe so. However, that you are one of us is an undeniable truth." Catching the girl's uncertain look, Cove smiled reassuringly. "A HAPPY truth, as far as the rest of we four are concerned. The world is a vast, empty place, and even with such power as we possess it is a sad thing to be alone in it. Please, come here. The others will be arriving shortly and I'm sure they will be overjoyed to meet you." At that moment, Avaria re-appeared in the temple. She and Cove bowed to each other, and Avaria bowed to the new one's image. "So you're the new Sorceress. Pleased to meet you, I'm Avaria." Avaria waved, her gold bangles jingling against each other. "It would be great to meet you in person. This temple is the best place to view the stars from. Plus, you've probably not had a chance to really furnish or settle into your castle properly, am I right? Well, until you do, there are comfortable chairs here, and nice people to talk with." Avaria smiled warmly. "I've got some chairs and other stuff I'm not using in storage, too. You can have them, if you don't mind hand-me-downs." With a gesture Avaria created an image of the storage room in question. Never had the new Sorceress seen such opulence treated so casually. Antiques and the latest high-fashion furniture were piled on each other with no care or organization. Gold leaf shone from tables and the frames of silver mirrors. State of the art sound systems were buried under silk curtains and satin pillows. Uncountable wealth was strewn about like the makings of a garage sale. The gold- haired woman smiled at the newcomer. "Do you want what I have?" The image of the girl staggered backwards. "I... I'm sorry. This is all happening so fast. Please, I need... I need a short time to myself. Forgive me." Cove, smiling a little sadly, bowed. "Of course. You can't be expected to accept such momentous things casually, as if they occurred every day. Take as much time as you wish. We have waited an eternity for a new one of us, we can wait a bit longer." The girl's image vanished, and Cove turned to Avaria. "That was not your best plan..." Cove trailed off as she recognised a wicked twinkle in Avaria's eyes. "Or am I missing something?" "Ranka and Terra asked me to help them with the set up. They're ready to put on a show, but they wanted an appreciative audience. That girl is very seriously looking for a bit or normalcy, so she's going to head down to the city for some nice, unmiraculous urban grey. What she's going to find is the Senshi viciously attacking two sadly outmatched Sorceresses." Avaria watched Cove, smiling, as this information sank in. Then Cove's face split into a wide grin. "Please open an illusion window, dear Avaria. This is going to be simply too wonderful to miss." Avaria, laughing, complied. "I am having the BEST day." ------------------------------------- ------------------------------------- Well, further proof that the delays in the writing of this monster are due to a lack of interest in writing about the Sailor Senshi, especially the Outers. This chapter, which is mostly about my own characters, just flew onto the page. It's getting out of hand, though. I'm getting more cynical, and have considered at least once having the Senshi lose. Not die, just lose. They ALWAYS win, though sometimes at terrible cost, and losing might be a refreshing change of pace. You, dear readers, are going to have to wait and see what outcome I finally decide on. Remember though, there are losses and losses. My four magical beauties need mankind alive, which is a step up from most of the dark powers the Senshi encounter. What? Is the evil writer dropping realism onto our nice white hats/black hats cartoon world? Oh, the horror. Hmm, Terra self-check... yep, still evil glee. Oh well. Another observation from the world of the writer, for all you prospective would-bes. A deadline, even an arbitrary one, is surprisingly motivational. I wrote this chapter, and the second half of its predecessor, in the early part of August, 1998. I had set the arbitrary deadline of the 22 - 23 weekend (the date of Anime North, a local Anime con) to finish writing the second chapter. I finished it so far ahead of schedule, I decided to see exactly how much I could finish before the con. This chapter is the result of that deadline. Odd, as I usually leave things to the last minute. For those of you who have wondered for the last three chapters WHY I get such sadistic enjoyment from having a villain named Terra, I will let you in on the joke. Most Sailor Moon fanfics involve the introduction of a new Sailor Senshi (usually a shameless self-insertion by the author). And any new Senshi needs a celestial body to be named after, right? Often writers of such fanfictions are struck with the thought `hey, every planet has a Senshi, except the Earth', completely ignoring the fact that Tuxedo Kamen/Prince Endymion is the guardian of the Earth, and so create a Sailor Earth. (Other common choices include Sailor Sun (why would you need a guardian of the Sun? No one lives there.) and Sailors for mythic or fictitious planets.) In an even more horrible lack of creativity, these Sailor Earths are almost invariably named Terra in their `normal girl' guises. There are probably a dozen such Terra Senshi on the web, which means the number created quietly in the privacy of people's homes is probably ten times that. To turn the tables and have a villain named Terra, for a good reason, amuses me. (Yes. I AM easily amused.) Comments, critiques and the like may be sent to John.Evans@ng.gryn.org, though this may change. If it does, I'll put the updated addresses in later episodes. I will seriously consider and take into account any well-thought-out and well written messages. Mindless one-liners and flames, as well as anything that looks like it was typed by a caveman will receive much lower priority. ~~~ Telegard v3.02/mL