Tiamat's Tide

by Jaziria25

Summary:

Just when you thought you've moved on, old traumas can come back to haunt you. Michiru Kaioh had long settled into her new life in the land of Mu and thought she found peace. That peace is shattered when an old ghost from her past returns to her, and an ancient conflict harking back to the Silver Millennium is reignited. Second story in the "Neptune's Tsunami" saga.

Chapter 1

 Prologue

 

Rea, the fifth planet within the crystal sphere of Realmspace. A giant world enshrouded in blue clouds and a mist-ocean, it was called the Planet of Dreams by those who knew of its existence. At the world's core, an entity greater than most deities lay coiled and, as Her 24 sisters did in other realms, watched this crystal sphere closely. Now, She watched as two of the greatest players in an unfolding tapestry swam the mist-oceans of Her world.

The Herald of Sekolah swam by the Great Shark’s side as Her Mistress hunted within the Blue Planet's mist-ocean. This world was considered holy to the Goddesses and Gods of the seas, and Silaqui relished joining these hunts with Sekolah.

The Great Shark announced Her hunt with a song that resounded through the mist-ocean, and soon found Her song answered. Another song, nearly as beautiful and haunting as Her own. It came not from a voice, but from a string instrument. The melody it played called to Her, and She felt the rare desire to answer that call.

 

                                                                                  ***

 

 The Mother of the Malenti manifested in a universe She and Her Mistress had not visited often, but thought highly of, nonetheless.  The blue, misty world Silaqui arrived on was the mirror image of Kshira Sagara, and just as mystical in its own way.

 It did not take Her long to find the one who summoned called to Sekolah Though this universe was “animated”, the woman that greeted her was “live action”, obviously not a native of this particular universe. The dark-haired woman ceased playing her cello, obviously experiencing great physical and spiritual strain.

 “Your melody was enticing” Silaqui told her. “And the smell of blood and death you exude tells us you summoned us out of desperation.”

 The woman looked up as the spectral jaws of a vast great white shark manifested behind Silaqui.

 “I need you to take my daughter’s spirit with you.” The woman answered, getting straight to the point. “Before I fade from this universe forever….”

 

                                                                                         ***

 

 

Michiru Kaioh listened intently as her teacher spoke. The other kids in her class were visibly bored, but Michiru gave the man an eager ear. Her 1st grade class was only just beginning to learn about astronomy, but Michiru was already familiar with the subject the teacher began to discuss. On the front wall, the projector displayed the brand-new images taken Voyager 2 by of a planet that Michiru always felt was close to her heart. The blue clouds that swirled like the waves of the ocean. That famous dark spot. Neptune.
"Neptune's moons are considered an oddity in our solar system. Unlike the more spherical shapes that moons typically have, Neptune's known moons are malformed, looking like broken meteors. Astronomers believe that the moon Triton is responsible. Because of its retrograde orbit, Triton is believed to be a capture object that was pulled into Neptune's orbit. Astronomers hypothesize that the capture of Triton may have had a cataclysmic effect on Neptune's other moons, shattering many, and possibly destroying others completely."
Michiru's eyes widened. She loved the planet Neptune dearly, but this information was new to her. Or was it? Something echoed in the back of her mind. Her body began to quake. All manners of emotions started to assault her being. Dread. A feeling of someone doing something to her that she did not want. A feeling of something she loved being torn away by someone's cruelty.
The whole class was startled as Michiru screamed. They turned and looked at her as she fell from her desk and cradled herself on the floor, wailing uncontrollably.
"PLEASE DON'T TAKE THEM FROM ME!!!" were the only coherent words coming from her mouth.
The teacher quickly lifted Michiru and rushed her to the nurse.

 

***

Two women rushed into the nurse's office to see Her daughter. Michiru was still huddled in a ball weeping when Michiru’s mother, Same Kaioh and Her lover, Saika, arrived. Saika wore dark sunglasses, and the way she covered her eyes showed some discomfort even with those on. 

 "Would you like me to dim the lights, ma'am?" The nurse asked. 

 "Please." Saika answered.

Once the lights were dimmed, Same quickly went over to Michiru and took the child into her arms. The nurse didn't really care how disapproving many people were of the Kaioh women's relationship. Right now, she just felt relief seeing Michiru's distress fade more and more as her mother sang.
"Can we have a moment?" Saika asked the nurse.
The nurse nodded and left the room.
Ururoa looked down at Michiru. The girl repeatedly whimpered the word "mommy" in between words of an ancient prayer to five named deities, and her arms were folded around herself as if she cradled something.

Same waved Her hand over the girl's forehead, and a glowing light emanated.
"Please forget." She whispered to her.
Same pulled out an item She had brought with Her. Michiru's stuffed brontosaur. Even though she had begun to outgrow it, Same thought it would bring the girl comfort right now. Michiru silently held the toy and then peacefully drifted to sleep in her mother's arms as Same sang an ancient lullaby. Saika sat with them and joined Her mate in embracing their child.
 “I wish we could erase that whole horrible past of hers.” Saika whispered to Her mistress as she watched Michiru sadly.

 “Some things can never truly be washed way, I’m afraid.” The Shark Mother incarnate spoke regrettably.

 And deep within dreams and emotions of all, life’s twisted desires manifest delighted at the pleasure derived from Neptune’s pain.

 

Chapter 1

 

"I'm still not really sure about this, Mom." Minako said anxiously.
"You'll do fine." Michiru told her with a chuckle. "You're the Guardian of Venus, after all."
"Umm, yeah, but not this Venus." Minako shot back.

 “I, for one, believe in you, Sister-Mommy.” A girl’s voice spoke.

 Minako met the smile of the little girl who held Michiru’s hand. At barely five years old, Jaziria had been as much a guiding light for Minako during her stay in Mu as both Her mothers. It was certainly something Minako needed right now.

 And to think I used to be so uncomfortable around kids. Minako mused.

 “I know you will do fine as well, my dear.” Soma cooed, causing Mina to blush as she gave her an affectionate lick on the cheek with her forked tongue.

 "Thank you, Mama Soma." Minako sighed with a smile.

 With Soma in her serpent form, Silaqui, Thulsa, and even Michi’s new surrogate brother Nanaue at their side, and a host of Muvian people behind them, all looked up at the ship that descended from the dusk sky as the Evening Star shined brightly behind it. It had been ages since the mahoraga of Earth had any contact with their Venusian cousins. The Lords of Venus, as they were called, were also children of Mother Ryujin and Yig when those two deities planted their seed upon Suadela, the Sister World (the affectionate title the mahoraga gave to Earth's twin planet). And these Lords of Venus were said in legend to have aided the mahoraga in civilizing early humans, though some questioned the truth of that.
While Michiru, Minako, and the others were focused on the arriving ship, Jaziria’s gaze turned to Her grandmother. Silaqui’s expression was locked in an angry snarl. Jaziria sensed what She sensed and looked back to the ship with alarm.

 Without noticing Jaziria and Silaqui’s apprehension, Minako watched as the Venusian ship opened up. They all stood at attention. There was a collective gasp as two individuals strolled out. The first individual was expected. A Venusian female, her appearance like that of a mahoraga, albeit with an amphibious looking fin jutting from the top of her head. It was the second individual that shocked everyone. Incased in a sphere of water that seemed to hover in the air, the being was shark-like in appearance. Two fins jutted out from its back, and the creature had four flippers instead of the two that Earth's sharks had. It had six oil-black eyes on each side of its head.
"I....I don't know this race." Soma said in a near whisper to her mate.
Not letting this surprising development get to her, Minako prepared to greet the Venusian representative as was planned. However, Silaqui barged past her and stormed towards the shark creature.
"HOW DARE YOU COME HERE UNANNOUNCED TO TROUBLE MY FAMILY!!!" The Malenti Goddess roared at the creature.
Everybody else, including the Venusian representative, gasped in shock and confusion. But the shark alien simply bowed to Her in reverence.
"Apologies, Great Herald." the shark told her. "We must speak to her. Yaksh is in peril, and we need its guardian to guide us."
"Yaksh?" Minako wondered aloud.
"Neptune." Soma answered solemnly. "That's the name given to Planet Neptune in this universe."

 Jaziria felt Her mother clench the hand that held Hers a little more tightly.

 

***

Michiru, Soma, Silaqui, and Minako all listened to the Yakshed shark creature's story.
"When the Progenitor was awakened prematurely, we took it as a foreboding sign." she explained, referring to Lanaikea Ai's attempt at attacking the Sol System. "Our fears came true when an ancient foe of ours was resurrected more powerful than before."
"I'm guessing you want me to help against this foe." Michiru started in. "I can look into what help I can provide, but you should know the Neptune I once protected was a different Neptune from another universe."
"You did not allow me to finish." the shark went on. "When you first came to this universe 500 of this planet's cycles ago, you radiated a power that my people could sense all the way to Yaksh, a power that resonated with a special connection to our world. Not long after the Progenitor's awakening and the return of your Snake Mother, another nearly identical power appeared in this universe, and we feel traces of that power in our ancient foe."
Michiru's heart skipped a beat. She put a hand to her chest and clenched it tightly.
"Michiru...." Soma tried to get out.
"No no no....."
Soma tried to reach out to comfort her, but Michiru quickly stood and rushed from the room. As Minako sat dumbfounded by the exchange, Sekolah put a hand on her shoulder.
"I think you should be the one to speak with her." Silaqui told Minako.
Soma nodded in agreement.

 

***

It did not take long for Minako to find where Michiru had run off to. She only had to follow the cries. When Minako rushed to the old shrine she and Soma kept in the palace, the Muvian empress was huddled on the ground, clutching her hair and rocking back and forth frantically. She heard Michiru muttering prayers to the quintet of idols at the shrine, deities she had worshipped since the Silver Millennium (three of which now were her literal family).Few people who knew Michiru back in their own universe could have imagined the seemingly confident and serene woman who lit up stages with her violin reduced to this, but Minako had seen this side of her before in a distant era.

Minako approached Michiru, and she felt the ruby eyes of the emerald ophidian idol among the quintet glare at her ominously, just as it had always done in the Silver Millennium. She brushed off that old discomforting feeling and knelt beside her mate. She wrapped her arm around Michiru. It seemed like an eternity before Michiru could calm herself down enough to finally speak.

"I miss your old pretty hair color, Mina." Michiru sobbed. "It's one of the many precious things we lost."

"Mama…..." Minako said to her as she hugged her tightly, tears swelling in her own eyes.

 I failed them. Minako chided herself. My family from that age, our peoples, shattered and gone because I couldn’t protect them.

"I can still feel what She did to our peoples, Mina, to our families." Michiru wept. "That taint of Her touch. She violated us."

"I still feel it too." Minako said in a near-whisper. "I don't think we'll ever be able to wipe that clean."

"We’re never going to see them again, are we, Mina?" Michiru wept. "There isn't any afterlife for them, I know. She and Her brothers feed on souls, Mina….."

Minako put her remaining arm around Michiru and cradled her softly. Nobody in the Silver Millennium could have guessed at the existence of things far worse than the Dark Kingdom that lay beyond their universe. The peoples of Neptune and Venus learned too late what horror their joyful and adventurous way of life would feed from.

"How did Usagi and the others feel when you told them the truth?" Michiru asked, almost afraid to do so.

"It was a shock, of course, but I think most of them dealt with it really well." Minako answered, pausing for a moment. “Except…..maybe Rei. I think she has always carried some lingering guilt about the past in somewhere in her mind, which only made her fiercer in her loyalty to Usagi, but now that she knows why she carries that guilt…..”

As their minds dwelled on the shadows of the past, an individual important to them both entered their thoughts.
"Did she ever make it? Did she survive the end of the Silver Millennium?" Michiru wondered aloud in a faint voice.
"I wish I knew." Minako answered. "Jupiter and I tried to keep her safe, like we promised you, but I have no way of knowing if she survived that cataclysm."

"She was my last connection to our family." Michiru went on, a mix of fondness and grief in her voice. "She was that last piece of mother's spirit, the spirit of Neptune’s people, that told me she could live on in some form, and since my awakening, I've feared she was lost to me too. And now this strange power the Yaksh natives speak of....."
A moment of silence passed before Minako spoke further.
“You and Soma have shared so much with each other in your time here.” Minako said. “I know you’ve been able to open up to her in ways that you couldn’t with a lot of the others since we were all reborn.”

 “Yeah.” Michiru responded, displaying a smile for the first time in their talk.
"It's awesome that you and I both have someone like that in our lives now." Minako told her. "You have a whole new family in this age, including the most darling daughter, all of whom you seem to have one hell of a bond with, and they're not going to let anything bad happen to you. Neither will I, not this time. And you know what? You've graced so many people with your beautiful music here and back home, which was always so inspiring to me in our past life and now. There's still that beautiful light in you that She couldn't take away, and I know that nobody could take that from either of us.”

Michiru smiled and nuzzled herself against her mate even more snugly.
"Now, you should probably try and get yourself together." Minako finally pushed her. "We probably aren't leaving too good of an impression on our alien guests."

 

                                                                             ***

 

 

  As the light of the moon hung over the Hikawa Shrine, Rei tossed and turned in her sleep. Her body was soaked with sweat as she gritted her teeth.

 “Mina, Michiru……”

 

Chapter 2

"Will you be alright, Benzaiten?" Soma asked Michiru.
"I don’t know.” Michiru answered as plainly as she could.

 Michiru felt her child’s tiny hand touch hers. Jaziria looked up at her with those big sapphire eyes, and the Muvian Empress felt a little bit of strength build within her.

 “You and Sister-Mommy Mina won’t be alone.” The girl vowed gesturing to Silaqui as the Goddess stepped beside Her. “You will pull through this, Mommy.”

 The girl held up Her brontosaur toy. 

 "And Gertie knows you can do it!" She declared. "So, give her a kiss for good luck!"

 Mina sighed and Michiru giggled. They each bent down and gave the toy a kiss on the cheek, a small moment of levity before what was to come.

 

                                                                        ***

 

 Michiru carried her daughter’s words with her as she, Mina, and Silaqui left for Yaksh aboard the Venusian vessel. She prepared herself, as the ship approached the Blue Planet.
 It was odd seeing her ancient home, Neptune, in this fashion. She had lived in a live-action world for centuries now, but this was her first time seeing Neptune in live-action form. Even though the essential features were the same, seeing it in this light gave her a feeling of unease she had not felt since she had first arrived in this universe.
Not far away, the commander of the Venusian ship they were now aboard joined them along with Minako in observing the planet below.
"Tell me, why are the Venusians so intent on joining the war efforts of these shark people?" Minako inquired.
The captain shrugged.
"The peoples of Suadela and Yaksh have always been aligned with one another." she explained, flicking her odd tongue in the middle of her words. "We have always joined each other side by side since time immemorable. It has always been that way, and none have questioned why."
Venus and Neptune are tied by the strands of fate even in this universe. Minako mused.
The ship began to descend into the blue clouds of Neptune's atmosphere. Silaqui wondered if this plan would really work, but She was feeling about as bold as Michiru and Minako right now.

 I wonder if that damned blue ring of Soma’s is getting to us all. She mused.

Something caught the attention of Her divine senses. Someone already took notice of their arrival.
"Brace yourselves, everybody. We're about to receive a warm welcome." the Malenti Mother announced.
The others looked at Her questioningly, and then the ship shook. They quickly realized they had stalled. The group ran to the command center. All but Silaqui gasped at what was shown on the viewing screen. The ship was quickly encased by multiple plant vines. And then there was the source of those vines. A gargantuan pink rose, with a small flytrap mouth at its center.
"Umm, Michi, is that....?" Minako began to ask.
Michiru nodded. This would be their second time facing a kaiju from Japanese cinema.
Hello, Erica. Silaqui greeted the plant monster telepathically.
Greetings Herald. came a reply. I do not wish any of you harm. You know as well as I do how precious your cargo is. However, I cannot allow you to engage in hostilities.
You know, it would be rather easy for me to flick you aside. Silaqui reminded her.
Neither one of us would want that. You are not the only deity in play in this matter.
Silaqui grinned, certain suspicions having just been confirmed.
Now, if you agree to come peacefully, I will guide all of you to where you need to go.
Silaqui nodded. There was much relief across the ship as it was released from the creature's vines. Silaqui looked at the captain with an almost sneering smile that she did not appreciate.
"I suggest you follow the shrub."

 

***

"They are the enemy you spoke of?" Minako asked the Neptunian shark.
"Indeed." she answered.
Minako's skin crawled as she gazed out at the procession that greeted them. For her companions, the feeling was mutual. Through the blue haze they could make out beings that seemed more like something that would be growing out from rotting vegetation in one's than sentient beings. The beings were said to be a race of fungal organisms, and that was certainly what they all observed before them. A multitude of growths jutted from the top of their bodies, giving them the appearance of anemones, and they stood on a multitude of leg.
"I believe we have to leave you off here." the Venusian captain told them.
Indeed, it was instructed to them that the only ones allowed an audience for what was to come were Michiru and those close to her. Michiru bid the captain a farewell and she, Minako, and Silaqui made their way onward. It was strange that they had no trouble breathing. One would not have thought the alien atmosphere of Neptune to be breathable by anybody besides maybe Sekolah, yet they apparently could. The procession of fungoid creatures stepped aside, clearing a path for the group leading to the entrance of a large structure of which the full form was largely concealed by blue mist.
Michiru took a deep breath as she prepared to face old demons once again.

 

***

With Her scotopic vision, Silaqui saw it first. She snarled and uttered an old sahuagin curse upon recognizing the statue's features. It wasn't long before Michiru and Mina, stepping out ahead of her, finally saw the figure carved in alien stone.

One would have expected fungoid beings to worship some incomprehensible eldritch horror as their deity, and it was said that these beings indeed did so at one point in their history. Yet, that was not what towered over Michiru and her group as they approached the heart of this temple. Looking down upon them was the statue of a human woman, one of extraordinary beauty that almost mirrored Michiru's. Minako's heart raced. Silaqui snarled, uttering an old sahuagin curse under Her breath.
"Oh god, Michi it is her." Minako spoke, her voice quaking.
Michiru remained silent. While the others kept their distance from the statue, she plainly approached it. Upon reaching its base, she fell to her knees. Though she saw nothing, she could feel spectral hands stroking her cheeks. She wept.
"I missed you so much." she whispered to the presence.

 

***

Umi looked out over the ocean glumly. The beauty of the moonlight over the waves did little to ease his sadness. Several weeks had gone by since the disappearance of famed violinist Michiru Kaioh. His idol. It seemed silly to grieve over a girl he did not actually know, but he couldn't help himself. It was too bad that the one occasion he got to meet her in a record store was marred by some blonde asshole jumping in and nearly tearing Umi's arm off in a vicious handshake.
And his family taking him aboard this crowded yacht for a social gathering wasn't exactly helping his blues, either. If anything, being out on the ocean only made him think of Michiru more, though he didn't quite understand the reasons for associating her with the sea.

His mood soured even further when he saw a blanket of dark clouds pulling over the moon. A rumble in the distance foretold the potential for rough weather.

I guess this really won't be a beautiful night after all.....

A sudden flash in his mind. Umi saw the image of a red, slitted eye surrounded by green scales. Whispers of a forgotten past and history resounded through him.
Umi snapped back to the present. His widened. His attention was caught by a blue flash of light in the waters. The flashes of light grew more intense before the waters around the lights began to churn. It was intense enough for everyone on the yacht to cease their partying and rush to the starboard to see what was going on. Panicked screams erupted from them all as the source of the light emerged- three rows of spikes shaped like maple leaves that glowed with blue radiance.
A large wave hit the boat, nearly knocking most people aboard off their feet, and a gargantuan dark form rose up from the water. The screams grew louder as the giant black saurian monster glared down at them all. They all knew him. A Japanese cinema icon now given life, though the people of this animated world had never seen him in live-action form before.
As the blue light in his spines grew more intense, a similar blue light gathered in the creature's jaws. Before Umi could react, his mother cried out and pushed him over the side of the ship to the water below. This would prevent him from sharing the fate of his family and all aboard the boat as it exploded from the blast of thermonuclear energy.
Umi surfaced. He was struck silent when he saw the flaming wreckage of the yacht. The King of the Monster's bellowing echoed through the night, and Umi watched helplessly as the beast made his way to the shore.

 

Chapter 3

Mina……

 Rei saw the image of her dear friend, Minako, kneeling in the darkness. But Minako was not how Rei knew her now. In this vision, Minako was a small child in a torn blue dress. Rei’s heart sunk as she watched little Minako sob.

 “Mommy…..”

 Rei reached out to little Mina, but the vision fell away and was replaced by that of……Michiru. Michiru quivered in fear as a blue-tressed woman approached her. Rei reached out to Princess Neptune in vain. She called out to her, but her words went unheard as she watched the blue-haired woman grab the princess and pull her to the ground. Rei cried desperately at what unfolded before her eyes.

 It’s all our fault. Rei told herself in despair. We did that to them.

The images fell away, and a vision of the Red Planet took their place. The emerald coils of a cosmic serpent constricted Planet Mars in its python-like grip. She could not even scream as the red world she embodied and protected was crushed into rubble. The death cries of Mars’ people from the Silver Millennium nearly shattered Rei’s eardrums.

 One final scene played out before Rei’s eyes. Standing before the shattered Red Planet were two figures, men she had known her entire life. Takashi Hino and her grandfather, Hachi, smiled at her, as if unaware of the destruction behind them. Rei tried to scream as she watched them both vaporized by a streak blue fire and in their place, seven pairs of red eyes glared at her. She knew those eyes.

"What do you want?!" She called out to dream daemon.

 “Whelp of the War God, your element shall now bring you and those who stand with you eternal sorrow.”

Rei’s eyes shot open at the loud cawing of Phobos and Deimos. Her crows had been frantically attempting to wake her. She quickly sat up as she became aware of the sirens blaring over the city. Before she could ask aloud what was happening, she nearly jumped out of her bed as a monstrous roar echoed in the night.

“That sounds like…..” She whispered, realizing that roar was right out of a famous film series.
"Everybody, get to the harbor now!" Artemis called out to the Senshi from the intercom Rei placed by her bed.

 

***

 

"He....clearly didn't come from our universe." Ami stated.
The Senshi were all stunned and dumbfounded as they watched a famous movie monster crashing through buildings at the edge of Tokyo's harbor.
"And, unfortunately, it's not the goofy version of him from the 70s." Makoto noted.
Indeed, the heavy-muscled frame of his body and his height 100 meters showed that this was the Gojira of their modern 1990s.
"What are we gonna do?" Usagi wondered. "This may be out of our league."
They all quietly realized that, in their current state of power, the remaining Inner Senshi had no attacks that could be used against the monster. Usagi still wasn't sure of her mastery of the Silver Crystal with Mamoru being overseas. And Hotaru's Silence Glave would be too dangerous to use on Earth. Without Soma's Blue Ring, the Glaive's destructive power would not be tempered here.
They all looked to Setsuna. As before, she was reluctant to use the attack that she knew they wanted her to use.
"Dark Dome Close is risky." she told them. "Chrono's power over time and space is not to be called upon lightly and I do not know how to open a path to his universe.”
“I really wish Yurlun was here.” Chibiusa said.
Setsuna’s lips tightened as she looked back to the carnage that was already beginning to unfold. She would have to try. She hit her Garnet Rod to the ground. Her eyes closed, and she called out an enchantment to summon Chronos.
It was not Him who answered. In her mind, they appeared before her. Slitted reptilian eyes. Though the face was expressionless, she could see venom in those eyes. A chill coursed through her soul as the eyes fixated on her.
Setsuna cried out as an unseen force threw her aside.
“PLUTO!” Usagi cried out.
The Senshi rushed to Setsuna’s side. Makoto lifted her up. Setsuna quickly got back to her senses. When she did so, a feeling of shock and despair overtook her as she looked at her sacred Garnet Rod. The jewel at its heart had been broken. It was now useless.
While the others tended to Setsuna, Rei looked back towards Gojira. He looked upward, and his gaze met hers. The monster’s eyes narrowed before he let out another roar to pierce the night and moved onward. A spark of memory from the night’s dream-vision hit Rei’s mind, and she realized where he was heading.

 “Grandfather, father…..” Rei muttered as a chill ran up her spine.

 

                                                                                          ***

 

 

Takashi Hino gave the Boeing jet a long look as sirens blared over Tokyo. The blue flashes in the clouds above made him question whether it was safe to take flight in such weather. One of his aides gestured to him to move on.

 “Mr. Prime Minister, you need to get aboard now!” The man shouted. "We need to leave Japan ASAP!"

 I pray that Rei and Father can find safety. He told himself as he prepared for his mission abroad. 

 

                                                                                       ***

 

 

“My sweet little Nesirie.” The spectral voice said to Michiru. “My dearest princess of the waves. You are as beautiful a sight in my eyes in your new life as you were in the past.”
Michiru never thought she’d hear her voice again. Masela Neptune. Queen of Neptune during the Silver Millennium. And the mother of Princess Nesirie Neptune, Michiru in her past life.
Though Maesla was still not visible to human eyes, Michiru could feel her spectral embrace. It was every bit as warm as she remembered it to be. She felt as if she could melt in her old mother’s arms once more.
Minako shivered. So many feelings were going through her soul at this moment. Old emotions, old trauma, all her past failings, they all coursed through her now. Among them all, she saw a flash of Jaziria’s eyes beckoning her to proceed on.

Minako glanced at Silaqui, who grudgingly nodded in encouragement. She took a deep breath and meekly made her way to the altar. After a moment of silence, Minako fell to her knees beside Michiru. It was now her turn to feel the Queen’s spectral embrace.

“Nana Maesla, I never thought you’d return to us.” Minako finally said, breaking down with tears pent up. "I'm so sorry I failed you."

 "You were never at fault, my child." the ghost assured her. "You have nothing to apologize for."

 Minako felt the warmth of the specter's touch. A touch she longed for in what seemed like eternity.
Soma stepped forward. While human eyes could not see the ghost, Soma could see her just fine. And she could see the ghost turn her attention towards her. For all the horrible things people believed about this queen during the Silver Millennium, Soma only saw love in the eyes that looked upon her.
 Maelsa’s attention turned towards the only one of the group who could see her. She felt the ice of the Malenti Goddess’ glare.

 “Why do you look at me so?” Maesla asked. “Why not come forward so I can meet Nesirie’s mother in this age?”

 Silaqui stood in apprehension, sensing the sevenfold eyes that watched them all from a place unseen.

      

                                                                                     ***

 

The pavement beneath Gojira cracked as his booming footsteps hit the ground. He noticed not the people below him who screamed and fled in terror, nor did he pay any mind to those who could not escape being crushed underfoot as he trudged onward towards his target.

Tiny forms flying around his eyes diverted his attention for a moment. The twin crows were little more than a passing annoyance, but it was the distraction Rei needed to enact her incantation.

 I hope Usagi and the others can get their loved ones to safety while I attempt this….

 

                                                                                ***

 

 Ikuko Tsukino rushed to the car with Kenji and Shingo as the sirens rang in the night. Ikuko looked up as she heard the crashes and explosions in the distance.

 God, I hope Usagi will be alright!

 “Dad, I don’t think we’ll be able to get out in the car.” Shingo commented, bringing Ikuko’s attention back.

 The Tsukinos saw how the street was jammed with people trying to flee on foot.

 “How will we…?” Ikuko wondered aloud before another voice chimed in.

 “Mom? Dad? Shingo?” They heard a girl’s voice call out to them.

 The familiar figure of heroine Sailor Moon landed in the driveway. The family saw the look of worry, bordering on panic, in her eyes. Ikuko then realized what Sailor Moon had just called them, and it struck her why the Senshi’s voice was so familiar.

 “Usagi?!”

 

                                                                              ***

 

With Gojira momentarily distracted, Rei hovered in the sky above him, whispering incantations. She knew who guided the monster, and she had the faint hope that her prayers and incantations could banish or subdue His power.

With the incantation completed, she tossed her Ofuda towards Gojira. It never landed. The glowing image of two snakes joined as one at the tail manifested before Gojira, and the Ofuda disintegrated. As if that wasn’t enough, she felt the power of that strange seal completely drain her.

As she fell from the sky, she glimpsed Gojira looking upward. His spines glowed with brilliant blue light, and atomic flame came from his jaws.

“Father….” She whispered.

 

                                                                          ***

 

 Aboard Japan Air Force One, Prime Minister Takashi Hino could have sworn he heard the voice of his estranged daughter call to him before he had a premonition of what was coming to him.

 I am sorry Rei. Once again, I won't be coming home......

 Blue flame struck the plane, and it exploded in a fall of fire.

 

                                                                            ***

 

“OH GOD!!!!” Saeko Mizuno screamed as she watched the explosion in the sky.

“Come on, Mom, we need to get going!” Ami, still in her Senshi garb, told her as she rushed her out of their place.

Likewise, Makoto rushed Ittou Asanuma from his apartment complex while Setsuna and Hotaru helped evacuate fleeing civilians. They all had their attention drawn towards the explosion of Japan Air Force One.

“Oh no….” Hotaru whispered as the flaming remains of the jet shot towards the ground.

Collective silence from all who witnessed it as the streak of flames fell to the Earth. Many never got a chance to scream as the fireball hit the ground and an even more massive explosion of flame shattered the night. It was a cruel twist of fate for the downed jet to have hit a gas line.

People tried in vain to flee as the burst of flame ran towards them, many stepping over others in the stampede. Most caught in the path of the growing river of fire could not reach safety in time as it consumed them. Mako got Ittou just faraway enough from his place before the flames consumed it, holding him to the ground tightly to try and shield him from the blast.

The Hikawa Shrine stood in the path of the all-consuming flames. Hachi Hikawa, unable to evacuate the Shrine in time, clapped his hands together and said his final, silent prayers as flame ate the Shrine.

 

                                                                              ***

 

Gojira watched the river of fire sprawled out before him and snarled with satisfaction. A roar of triumph shook the air. Streaks of lightning shot down from the dark clouds and struck the monster's body while he roared, the blue electricity only seeming to energize him as it coursed through him. He turned his face downward once more while his body glowed. His spines lit up, and he bathed the area around him with nuclear fire, adding to the inferno surrounding him.

 

                                                                              ***

 

 Usagi held Ikuko close. Although the Tsukinos had been at a relatively safe distance from the destruction, it still shook them and threw them off their feet.

Usagi looked down at her shivering mother. She couldn’t have anticipated what she saw. A glowing symbol appeared on Ikuko’s forehead. A circle above a cross.

The symbol of Planet Venus?!

Ikuko continued praying silently, a single teardrop streaking down her face. And from far beyond, she received an answer.

“We hear you, Nana.”

 

                                                                             ***

 

Rei could barely keep her eyes open as she lay on the pavement, Phobos and Deimos watching over her and trying their best to keep her conscious. She could hear the explosions all around them. And the screams.

A new sound filled the air, one that could have drowned out the traumatic noises around them. Rei suddenly felt peace fill her heart.

It’s so beautiful……

 

                                                                 ***

                                 

 

“What is that music?” Hotaru asked an equally bewildered Setsuna.

 “It’s as if Michiru has returned….” Setsuna spoke in awe.

 All in Tokyo heard it. Even Gojira turned his attention to the skies as a strange melodic sound echoed in the air. A melody more beautiful than any that the people had ever heard. People sifting through the rubble and rushing from the flames stopped and looked up to the sky in wonder as the heavenly music of a string instrument resounded over them all, drowning out even the blare of the sirens. It was enough to make survivors of the carnage nearly forget the horror that had befallen them.

Gojira’s head cocked back as the glowing symbol of a green trident manifested in front of him, and a crack of lightning illuminated a dark, lumbering figure from behind it. The symbol faded, and the figure stepped forward from the darkness. What stood before Gojira now was a shock even to him. The monster towered over him at a whopping 121 meters. It was a new monster to him yet incredibly familiar all at once.
Gojira was looking in a mirror. Another of his own kind, no, another incarnation of him. And his other looked at him with a curled lip as if to sneer at him.
Godzilla leaned forward and let out a wail that was like Gojira’s roar, yet its high pitch shattered glass for miles. Gojira roared in return.

The challenge was accepted.

Chapter 4

The enchanting music that echoed over the city did little to ease Umi's grief. Floating in the water of Tokyo Bay, he wept as he watched the burning wreckage of the yacht his family had been on. Breaking his despair was an unusual sight- a little blue jay flew past him.

What are you doing in Japan, little guy?

The bird circled a blue light that manifested in the water. A feminine shape appeared within the light, shrouded in mist. Umi could swear he knew this girl.

“M….Michiru Kaioh?” He whispered.

“Please don’t give up.” The girl’s voice told him. “Mama would want you to keep fighting as you always have.”

The girl reached out her hand to him.

 

                                                                                               ***

 

 

Those survivors that watched the face-off between Gojira and his other self were puzzled and dumbfounded. Clearly, this was another incarnation of him that arrived, but none of them recognized this one. It was still the 1990s on this Earth, and no one living before 2014 would have known him.
Neither Godzilla’s deafening cry nor his greater size did anything to intimidate Gojira. He had fought foes of such imposing size in the past and had emerged victorious. The only thing that took Gojira aback was how Godzilla seemed to grin at him before launching his attack.
Gojira’s head cocked back as Godzilla charged at him. Despite his imposing size, Godzilla was far speedier than most foes Gojira faced. And it was enough of a distraction that Gojira did not notice another presence.
Down below the monsters, Rei watched helplessly as the two monsters prepared to fight. As Godzilla launched himself at Gojira, she said a prayer to the Gods for safe passage to the afterlife, thinking she would be crushed underfoot. That’s when she felt herself being lifted away from the battle by an unknown hand….

The two Gojis continued their combat. Godzilla was the stronger of the two, but he had one disadvantage- the woman who spoke in his mind didn't want him to kill Gojira, only make him submit, and Godzilla obliged her instructions. Gojira did not reciprocate that lack of desire to kill.
Godzilla attempted to hold Gojira in a lock to get him to calm his rage. It wasn’t doing much good, and while Godzilla was stronger, Gojira was no weakling by comparison. Godzilla then sensed danger as sparks of energy shot from Gojira’s mouth.

 

                                                                                      ***

 

 

Hearing the unfolding battle in the distance did nothing to draw the attention of Usagi, Genji, and Shingo from the change overtaking Ikuko. The blue aura that encircled her as Usagi held her. Ikuko was just as bewildered as the others.

And then a brooch appeared in the Tsukino matriarch’s hand, one that Usagi immediately recognized. A voice whispered in Ikuko’s mind, and a long-concealed memory awakened and told her what she must do. She stood up and held the brooch above her.

“VENUS POWER, MAKE-UP!!!!”

 

***

Godzilla was caught off guard by the power of Gojira’s nuclear pulse. The burst of energy from Gojira’s body threw Godzilla back.
However, Gojira underestimated his opponent. The nuclear pulse rendered a near killing blow to foes in the past, but after being knocked aside a ways, Godzilla simply got back up and looked as if he was amused by Gojira’s attack. To a creature who had repeatedly taken direct hits from nuclear weapons in his own world over the years, the pulse was nothing.
Godzilla charged Gojira again and resumed his attempts to pacify him and get him to submit. Then, Gojira was caught off guard. The melody of the string instrument playing over the city was joined…..by the equally enchanting voice of a woman. Both monsters felt the magic power encircling them.

 Behind Gojira, a teal-colored vortex opened. Godzilla finally had what he needed. He maintained his hold on Gojira and threw both himself and his rival into the portal. It vanished, and they were both gone.

***

The dust may have settled, but Tokyo was still ablaze where Gojira had trekked, and the sounds of sirens and cries from injured people and people looking over casualties filled the night air.
Rei felt her rescuing hand lower her to the ground as Phobos and Deimos landed beside her. Feeling some of her energy return to her, she looked up to see who, or what, had saved her. She almost jumped out of her skin as a gargantuan eye gazed back down at her.

“Wha….?!”

“YOU OKAY, MISS MARS?!” The giant entity asked with a feminine voice.

Rei sat up to take in the entity’s form. She almost had to stifle a laughter when she realized what the entity was. The 100-foot-tall humanoid form, the white skin and sailor’s cap bearing the words “Stay Puft”. The only difference here was that this Stay Puft was clearly a very buxom and well-endowed woman with long-flowing hair.

And, I must say, this gender-inversed Stay Puft is surprisingly……pretty.

“REI?!” a familiar voice called out to her.

She turned to see Usagi, followed by the other Senshi, who also had all the loved ones they searched for along with them. She stood up as best as she could as Usagi ran to embrace her. The others were too relieved to see she was still alive to ask the obvious question about the marshmallow giant standing above them.

In the middle of her embrace with Usagi, Rei caught sight of Ikuko. The Tsukino matriarch garbed in a blue-trimmed Sailor Senshi uniform was about as big a surprise as anything that had occurred this night. And seeing Ikuko in that uniform sparked flashes of memories suppressed for ages.

She’s awakened…… Rei realized as the dark clouds parted to reveal the light of the moon once more.

 

***

 

 Soma and Michiru’s palace was aglow with the light of the full moon as Soma slumbered with Jaziria in her arms. Spectral hands attempted to touch them but simply passed through.

 I’ve returned after all this time, and I can’t even touch them. The ghost told herself sadly.

 

***

On the other side of the world from Mu lay the continent of Atlantis. It was a savage land, even in its greatest cities. Whereas mainland kingdoms like Valusia had long since forbidden dark practices such as blood rites, the Atlanteans still engaged in these practices even towards deities other kingdoms assumed were beneficent. As the sun drenched an Atlantean city with its light, one such rite was being performed for Atlantis’s highest recognized God, Valka.
The girl quivered in fear as the priest held his dagger above her. She knew she must fulfill this sacred duty to allow her family’s freedom from being executed for what most cultures would consider a minor transgression. She whispered a prayer to Valka, hoping that He would receive her warmly in His high realm.
If such a realm existed, her passage would not happen. She heard a streaking sound through the air. The priest paused. Then his head left his body.
Cries rang out as the procession of worshipers found themselves being attacked from all angles. And as the scene unfolding, the would-be sacrifice saw a woman with green skin and serpentine features standing above her.
“My my.” Nagala said. “The Atlanteans of this universe sure are a barbaric lot. And people back home say we Lemurians are evil.”
She snickered as she looked down at the girl tied to the altar. She pulled out a dagger.
"My dear, Valka is such lame and impotent deity. Would you not prefer to be a sacrifice for Father Set instead?”

Notes:

My idea for the gender reversed Stay Puft came from this art- https://www.tumblr.com/shepherd0821/159801631749/stay-puft-marshmallow-girl

Chapter 5

A huge crowd of people gathered outside the Crown Game Center. Despite what had befallen Tokyo that night, and despite fires raging not far away, they all stood in awe of what sat in the street outside the Center, many trying to get a photograph.

Ms. Stay Puft sat patiently in the street, her titantic form hovering above the height of the Center and other nearby buildings. She scratched her head and paid the curious and awestruck crowd no mind.

 

                                                                               ***

 

Below the Game Center, all the Senshi, the Mau, and even Motoki Furuhata were gathered in the Lunar Command Centre. Of them all, only Chibiusa was absent, as she was still taking care of things with someone she had gone to help.

They observed the footage of areas of Tokyo that still burned. Usagi and Ami kept their arms around Rei as the side of town where the Hikawa Shrine once stood flashed across the screen.

Rei is an orphan. Usagi realized. I can’t even imagine how she feels or what she’s going to do now.

“It was us.” Rei said in a muted tone. “He cursed Planet Mars because of what we did in the Silver Millennium.”

“Who?” Ami asked. “Who cursed you, and why would they do something horrible like this?”

Rei bit her lip. She couldn't bring herself to look at Ikuko.

“I…..He……His names are sevenfold. He’s punishing us for what happened to the Venus and Neptune Queendoms. And I don’t think He’s finished with us yet.”

All the while, Ikuko was focused on the Center's computer. Along with the images of the burning city, another image was displayed on the computer screens. An image file of a queen from the Silver Millennium whose features were precisely identical to the Tsukino matriarch.

“How did we not see it?” Luna wondered aloud.

“It’s always a curiosity how we don’t immediately recognize anybody reincarnated from that time, even when they look exactly the same.” Artemis commented.

Ikuko stayed silent, lost in thought. Usagi had to ask the question on all their minds.

“Why? Why was the Queen of Planet Venus reincarnated as my mother?”

“I mean, we know it was the sacred duty of both the Queen and Princess of Venus to be the protectors and caretakers of Princess Serenity, so I guess it makes sense that in this era…..” Artemis surmised.

That comment finally broke Ikuko’s silence.

“Umm, Artemis….that’s you’re name, correct?......I’m wondering, can you show me images of Princess Venus and Princess Neptune?” She asked him. “Or Minako and Michiru, if you will?”

Artemis looked at Luna and nodded his head. With the push of a few buttons, multiple images were displayed, some of Princess Venus and Neptune from the Silver Millennium, and some of Mina and Michiru in the modern era.

Ikuko stepped forward. Usagi touched her mother’s shoulder as the Tsukino matriarch’s eyes wavered. Ancient memories began to return to her. Along with them, ancient wounds were ripped open once more.

Chapter 6

Blue eyes gazed at the palace dreamily. Fountains of water gushed from various ports around its open clamshell-like form, making it glisten beneath the blue clouds.

“Pontia Palace is breathtaking.” A voice noted.

Princess Nesirie Neptune felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked into the smiling face of her mother, Queen Maesla Neptune. The Queen’s striking emerald eyes complimented her light blue hair which matched the clouds above.

“Much like the queen who bears its name.” Maesla added.

Nesirie’s face became flushed and crimson. Queen Pontia of Planet Venus possessed a beauty fitting for the incarnation of the Goddess of Love. Nesirie had grown from girlhood smitten with Pontia, as so many others have, and finding herself in the early years of womanhood only made those feelings burn all the more intensely.

“I don’t know how I’ll get through this.” Nesirie told Maesla timidly. “I can’t make my heart stop galloping.”

Maesla giggled playfully. She leaned closer to her daughter.

“Such desires that make your heart dance are precisely what you should experience for the Conjunction.” The queen cooed in her ear.

Through her anxiety, Nesirie managed to smile. She lifted her sacred moselle and marched to the palace with her mother.

 

                                                                                      ***

 

Blue eyes reflected the water of the pond they watched as delicate fingers touched the surface. She smiled as two large koi fish swam to the surface to greet her. The woman’s mouth opened, and a soft song was sung. The koi fish began to swim in a pattern, their little dance to the music. When she finished, she gave a joyful chuckle.

“I hope those vocal cords are prepared for what is to come.” A woman called out to her.

The woman’s smile grew, and she stood to greet the newcomers. Queen Pontia Venus felt her heart flutter as she gazed upon Neptunian women. Maesla and Nesirie could almost be the mirror image of one another if not for Nesirie’s green hair and blue eyes, the reverse of those features on her mother.

“Hello, dear Maesla, Nesirie.” Pontia greeted them.

She took in another view of the princess and their eyes met. For a moment, they could not pull from one another’s gaze.

“You….have become quite the beauty, sweet Nesirie.” Pontia remarked, a noticeable quivering in her voice. “I always knew you’d one day rival your mother.”

Nesirie felt as if she had just been blown a kiss. Pontia’s voice, and the sight of her pretty face and flowing purple hair was almost too much for Neptune’s princess. That the Venusian Queen left little to the imagination with that form-fitting toga over her curvy figure didn’t help, either.

“I……” Nesirie stuttered, eliciting a laughter from her mother.

“I’m already loving the energy here.” Maesla declared. “What do you both say we make music from this passion?”

Pontia nodded, and Nesirie snapped back to attention with an “ah!”. Maesla and Nesirie lifted their sacred moselles, a string instrument unique to the culture of Neptune that the Blue Planet’s royalty were traditionally trained to play. And Pontia prepared her voice.

Each woman soon put their talents to work. Despite her younger age, Nesirie showed that she was just as much a pro at playing the moselle as her mother. A wonderous melody emanated from the strings, and Pontia joined in with a song whose beauty reflected their melody.

As the music intensified, a reaction occurred in the spring. The water sparkled more intensely, and the fish danced. The sparkling light became a glow, and mist rose from the water. The mist coalesced at the heart of the spring, and a solid form appeared.
The form was that of a large clam shell. As the music played on, the shell mouth opened wide to reveal a wonder. A massive pearl that shimmered with blue light. The Yorokobi Pearl.
This sacred stone was summoned during the conjunction of Venus and Neptune. When the Planet of Love and the Planet of Inspiration connected to one another, the Pearl’s power resonated though the entire Sol System. Artists, musicians, and storytellers were compelled to create masterpieces, and lovers joined in each other’s arms. In its own way, the Yorokobi Pearl was as important as the Moon Queendom’s Silver Crystal. Where the Crystal protected life, the Pearl embodied everything that made life worth living.
As they felt the Pearl’s spirit within them, the ladies finally broke out into dance as they played on. The three of them twirled around in a circle, and for the first time Nesirie broke her shyness and laughed with joy as she looked into the eyes of the princess who she loved her entire life. Far above them, the blue clouds of the Second Planet danced in concert with the blue clouds of faraway Fifth Planet.

 

Almost Unreal (AC Mix)

                                                                   

The trio’s dance continued long after the music faded. Nesirie and Maesla would each take Pontia’s hand and dance amongst the halls of her palace as the waters from the fountains and channels glistened all about them. And each time Nesirie joined with Pontia’s dance, the Queen of Venus saw the Neptunian princess’ true feelings in her eyes.

Their dance finally took them to Pontia’s chambers, where at last the queen took Nesirie into her arms. One final gaze between them spoke of what they both wished for in that moment. For the first time in her life, Nesirie’s lips joined another’s. They held on for the longest time as Maesla watched them hungrily. Then, Pontia turned to Maesla, and Neptune’s queen had her own turn before the trio entered the chamber.

This was not the first time Maesla shared Pontia’s bed, but such would be a new and wonderous experience for Nesirie. On that night, the blood of Venus and Neptune would become one in Nesirie’s womb.

 

                                                                               ***

 

 Deep within a realm between universes, a realm of dreams come true, an entity danced. Born from the dreams and joys of Neptune and Venus, the being grew even greater during the celebrations of the Conjunction. However, they were not the only ones who provided sustenance.

 Upon the Red Planet, just beyond Planet Earth, a single man exuded a powerful emotion as he watched Planet Venus from afar, knowing that its Queen now lay in the arms of someone other than him. Jealousy. It was an emotion more powerful than any the entity had ever tasted. And it was delicious.

Chapter 7

Tiny eyes slowly opened into the waking world. The first thing to touch the child’s senses was the sweet fragrance of her mother’s which always brought her a sense of happiness.

The girl felt the soft embrace of her mother’s arms as she woke up. In a short time, the slumbering woman’s own eyes slowly opened, and she looked down at her daughter, still in a bit of a daze, and smiled.

“Once again, I kept Mommy safe for another night!” The little girl declared.

“I know I can always count on the Princess of Venus for protection.” Nesirie told her, rubbing her eyes before stroking her child’s light blue hair. “The newborn Luna Princess has a truly worthy guardian.”

 

  ***

 

 Naderi greeted her mother as they prepared for their regular morning swim through the marine waterways of Triton Castle. As always, Naderi hoped her mother didn’t notice her blush as Nesirie stood at the edge of the water in a white form-fitting bathing suit that left little to the imagination.

 Nesirie looked out across the water surface. Her eyes closed, and the trident symbol of Planet Neptune manifested on her forehead. Within seconds, five blue fins surfaced from the water.

 “You ready?” Nesirie asked her daughter.

 “Mmm hmmm!” The girl answered excitedly.

 The fins were revealed to belong to five blue-scaled ichthyosauruses, their snouts bobbing up from the water to greet the Princesses.

"We are at your service, miladies." The lead ichthyosaur, the lone animated one of their number, announced. 

"Lead the way, Ichy!" Naderi squealed in anticipation.

Nesirie chuckled before she dove in, and soon Naderi joined her. They each grabbed the fin of one of the marine reptiles and let the creatures lead them on to an adventure.

                                                                                   ***

 

They were a wonder to behold. No matter how many times Naderi swum through Triton Castle's waterways, she never ceased to find the all the sights and the life that swam about it breathtaking. All around her were marine animals from the oceans of different worlds and different ages and time periods, the collection and the pride and joy of Neptune's royalty. At her young age, Naderi didn't understand nor think much about where all these animals came from, but she relished swimming among them with her mother. 

While the ichthyosaurs swam on, Nesirie and Naderi released their hold the animal's fins and were soon afloat in a vast space. Here was the heart of the waterways, at Triton Castle's core. Nesirie took Naderi's hand, and they smiled at one another as they spun around in the water. The water around them began to swirl with them, announcing the arrival of one of the waterway's denizens. 

A great serpentine creature, 150 meters in length, coiled around them in the water, seeming to dance with them. The two princesses looked up into the serpent's eyes and Naderi waved at Manda cheerfully.

 

                                                                                                       ***

 

The blue light of Neptune shone through the glass of the shrine as Princess Naderi Venus sat beside her mother, both kneeling in prayer to the five idols. While Nesirie kept her eyes closed, Naderi opened one eye to scrutinize one of the idols. As usual, she did not like the feeling she got when she saw its ruby eyes.

“Mommy, I don’t like the way the green snake one looks at me.” She spoke.

Nesirie’s eyes opened to share her daughter’s scrutiny.

“Hmm, yeah, Father Gozuryu is known to be the darkest among the Five, so I can understand the discomfort.” Nesirie commented on the lone male deity of the quintet.

She put a hand on Naderi’s shoulder.

“Still, I know the others of the Five keep His darkness in check, so you can trust in them as I do. And you can trust that I would never allow anyone, mortal or deity, to harm you.”

The combined religion of Neptune and Venus was a paradox of sorts. On the surface, it would seem simple. They worshiped the concept of imagination and the creative spirit embodied in a Goddess they called So’Zo, the Mother of Creation. However, there were greater complexities to their beliefs. They believed that Mother was so abstract that conduits were needed to truly feel Her touch. These conduits came from the deities of the Ichi toh Go, half of which were represented here by the Five.

Suija Einai’, the Snake Mother. Ssa’nami, the Blue Goddess of Primal Waters. Sekolah, The Great Shark. Merrouroboros, the Elder Brontosaur. And Gozuryu, the Sevenfold Serpent, whose worship was brought as a “gift” by immigrants from another realm.

Nesirie looked at her daughter while as she pondered this.

And the other half of the Ichi toh Go, the Duo, are enshrined on Planet Venus.

The Duo was comprised of the Sweet Moon Maiden and the Sultry Sea Serpent. Where the Five acted as conduits for the Mother, the Duo were seen as gatekeepers to Her home in the Sea.

Someday, I hope my dear Naderi can grow to appreciate the spirit of both worlds within her. Nesirie mused.

“Lady Nesirie, Queen Pontia has arrived to escort Naderi to the Lunar Queendom.” A booming voice informed them.

The two of them looked up to see the woman who sired Naderi, escorted by one of the Sea Kings. They both got up to greet them.

“Are you ready to meet the new princess?” Pontia asked her daughter.

“I can’t wait!” Naderi squealed with excitement.

Nesirie and Pontia clasped hands and gave each other a peck on the lips.

“I hope you two enjoy your time at Serenity’s palace.” Nesirie told her mate.

“I’m sure we will.” Pontia replied. “And it will be fun for Naderi and I to have a girls’ night away.”

They chuckled and said their goodbyes and Nesirie watched them leave. She leaned into the Sea King and he put an arm around her. Nesirie looked up at the man who was the closest she had to a father, though many humans would struggle to see this tall figure as a “man”. His scaly light blue skin, long snake-like neck ending on an elongated head and snout, and his immense tail to back it all up showed how Bronto Thunder was anything but human.

 

                                                                                   ***

 

 Queen Maesla felt Nesirie stroll up beside her, Sailor Mare, and Sailor Galatea as she joined them in gazing upon relic under Galatea’s guardianship.

“I really wish we could tell Serenity the truth.” Nesirie sighed. “I’m sure her daughter will be as wonderful as she is, but I would have loved for Naderi to follow the Path of Neptune as well as the Path of Venus. Plus, I would think the other princesses would be suitable enough protectors for Little Serenity without needing Naderi to join them.”

“It is becoming harder and harder to keep our secret.” Maesla said. “I don’t know how much longer we can keep the identities of our Senshi and the Sea Kings from Serenity, and she may view what we do as an affront to our sacred duties to her if she ever learns the truth.”

“Our way of life is sacred.” Mare interjected. “I never want anyone, not even your Queen Serenity, to take it all from us.”

Nesirie held Mare’s hand. She and Maesla knew full well what she really meant, for Sailor Mare an immigrant from another universe, was the one who sired Nesirie and helped build a family upon Neptune.

“I would imagine that once the final Sea King is ready to come to us that he would intimidate even the Mars Kingdom.” Galatea commented.

She gestured to the relic.

“And I also look forward to him finally having his reunion with her.”

Concealed within a tank of sea water she rested. Long ago, her arrival on Planet Neptune opened their eyes to a new reality- the existence of other universes and a larger Omniverse beyond their own universe. Since then, their adventures to other realms brought new settlers to Neptune and its moons, and indeed many of the Senshi that had awakened and now guarded those moons, like Sailor Mare, were extra universal immigrants.

But she who rested here before them in Sailor Galatea’s personal shrine was a wonder to behold even among others which had come to Neptune. The skeleton was truly titanic in size, several hundred feet from head to tail. Her thick-bodied, bipedal form was saurian, sharing vague similarities with a theropod dinosaur. Upon her back were three rows of spines, shaped like maple leaves, growing larger at the middle of her back.

They called her Echidna.

 

                                                                                    ***

 

 

Nesirie stood ready at the front gates of Triton Castle to greet Naderi and Pontia, but upon their return, she could see their darkened spirits.

“Naderi, Pontia, what’s wrong?” She asked as she rushed to them.

 Pontia took her hand, the worry apparent in her eyes.

“We….need to talk.” Pontia said in a muted tone.

That night, Nesirie would learn of the Queen of the Dead Moon.

 

                                                                                    ***

 

Naderi tapped the glass at the end of her bedroom, and a giant pale blue hand touched it from the other side. Naderi's room was connected to Triton Castle's aquarium network, giving the girl a view of anything that may be swimming by, and she now had a delightful visitor- a unique kind of mermaid, 100 feet in length. Her dark blue hair flowed behind her, and her pale, human-like upper torso ended in a lower body of a blue whale. 

"Hey, Lady Triton, how ya doing?" Naderi greeted the half-cetacean Senshi of Moon Triton. 

"I'm just having a fun swim, as usual." The Senshi answered through the glass.

Soon, a second figure joined Sailor Triton, or rather, a vehicle piloted by another figure. Naderi recognized the cute blonde with the mouse ears piloting the submersible as Sailor Naiad, and the two of them waved at each other. Hearing a knock on her door, she gave a cheerful “come in!” and Nesirie walked inside. Nesirie nodded at Triton and Naiad before the latter drifted off.

"Buh bye!" Naderi waved.

Nesirie sat beside Naderi on her bed and placed a hand on the child’s back as she continued to watch the sea life.

“I hear Queen Serenity had a very bad visitor during your time there.” Nesirie said. “Are you feeling alright?”

“Yeah. That bad lady was really nasty, but the Queen took care of her, so it’s all good!” Naderi assured her.

Nesirie wasn’t so certain. Curses like what Nehellennia gave were often nothing to laugh off.

“I did meet some cool friends, though!” Naderi went on.

“Oh?”

“Yeah, the princesses of Jupiter, Mercury, and Mars! They’re all so cool! Even though Mars’ dad was kinda weird, I still think she’s awesome!”

Nesirie was a bit struck by that last statement.

“What was wrong with King Ares?” Nesirie inquired with growing concern.

“I didn’t really like the way he was gawking at Mommy Pontia all the time. I don’t think she liked it, either. I think Kaiyo scared him off pretty good, though.”

“Hmmm….” Was the only response Nesirie could give.

“Say, Mommy, I know there is a whole lot of sea animals in this aquarium that you say came from other places, and I know a lot of Nana’s Senshi-Wives come from other places. What are those other places?”

Nesirie’s mood brightened.

“I guess it’s about time to show you something…..”

 

                                                                               ***

 

 

 “WWWWOOOOOOOWWWW!!!!” Naderi squeed.

It was a wonder to behold. An oval of glass standing more than 200 meters in height with a golden frame all around it.

“That’s like a giant version of your mirror, Mommy!”

“And just wait until you see what the true Deep Aqua Mirror can do!” Nesirie spoke.

Hand in hand with Naderi, tapped the bottom of the immense Mirror. Naderi gasped as images manifested in the vast stretch of glass. Scenes of many other places, whole other worlds, universes, and realms. Naderi witnessed flashes of scenes from myths, folktales, and the bedtime stories her mothers would tell her.

“You see, Naderi, Planet Neptune is a nexus point for the passage to these other places.” Nesirie began to explain.

“Huh?” Naderi responded, scratching her head with her free hand.

“All the myths, fairytales, and stories you’ve ever heard, they are all real, existing in other universes beyond our own.” Nesirie went on. “When we say that Neptune is the Planet of Inspiration, it is because Neptune is connected to these other places right out of all our stories, imaginations and dreams. And we travel to these places through the Deep Aqua Mirror.”

“Oooooohhhhh…..”

Nesirie tapped the mirror once more. A scene manifested of a place made up of nebulous blue clouds. Cubes of light danced in concert amongst these clouds.

“The Sea of Creation, so we call it. What you see there is the realm between realms which tie all these universes together. We believe the Sea itself is the very fabric of dreams and imagination, and that the imaginations of living beings spur the Sea to form all the universes into reality from the fabric of its being. We even think our universe was made real by someone’s imagination.”

“Oh, wow.” Naderi responded, awestruck.

The image shifted to display a figure within the Sea of Creation. The figure seemed as if it was made of the same substance as the blue nebulae. It took on a vaguely feminine humanoid shape and it danced within the Sea.

“Heeeyyyy, Mommy, would that be So’Zo, the Mother of Creation that we all worship?” Naderi asked as she watched the dancing figure.

Nesirie sighed.

“I wish we had been able to find Mother So’Zo in such a distinct form, but, no, that is not her.” Nesirie answered. “The Dancer, as we’ve come to call Her, appears to be an entity manifested from all the desires of the Sol System’s peoples. She especially grows larger, with Her dance becoming more complex and intense with each Conjunction of Neptune and Venus.”

Naderi smiled as she looked up at her mother’s serene face watching the Dancer. A desire of her own was realized.

 

                                                                                        ***

 

 While Nesirie was away for music lessons with Nana Mare, Naderi found her mother’s personal Deep Aqua Mirror, the smaller replica of what Nesirie had just revealed to her, in her mother’s room. She gazed into the Mirror, hoping to see a truth revealed.

“I’ve always known who it is I love.” Naderi whispered to herself.

The image of the one she most desired manifested, and Naderi gazed upon the face of the woman gave her life once again.

“Someday, when I get bigger, I’ll tell Mommy Nesirie that I love her!”

 

Notes:

For reference, my image of Queen Maesela and Sailor Galatea are based on Queen Riva Neptune and Sailor Galatea by Sailor Serenity- https://www.deviantart.com/sailor-serenity/art/MM-Mother-and-Princess-182550915

https://www.deviantart.com/sailor-serenity/art/Sailor-Galatea-253024435

Chapter 8

Oh dear, here we go again….

Princess Serenity tapped her foot as she and Princess Lucina Jupiter watched the slumbering form of the Senshi of Venus sprawled out on her bed, snoring like crazy.

“She overslept again.” Jupiter sighed. “We’d better wake her up before Antiope finds her and scolds her.”

“That honor will fall on me, of course.” Serenity giggled.

“Time to wake up, my dear guardian.” She whispered in her ear.

“GAH!” Naderi shouted as she nearly hit the ceiling.

 In a huff, she looked up at Serenity and Lucina.

“Ah, crap, I did it again!” She realized. “Does Antiope know I’m late?”

“Nah, we wouldn’t see you out to her like that.” Lucina assured her, sharing solidarity with Naderi in their discomfort towards the Senshi of Mars’ strictness. “But you really need to hurry up, ‘cause she’ll be coming this way soon enough!”

“Right!” Naderi shouted as she leapt from her bed to get ready.

 

                                                                                  

                                                                                  ***

 

 

 Later in the day, Naderi finally got a chance to settle down and relax in the bath. This was the time-of-day Naderi looked forward to the most, and the reasons for her looking forward stepped in the water on both sides of her. 

 And there they are. Remarked in her mind as she glanced back and forth at Serenity and Lucina's generous busts.

“Ugh, that Kunzite dude is a piece of work.” Naderi confided with them. “Just ‘cause I got a little flirty with him a few years ago, he thinks we’re soulmates and won’t leave me alone with his pathetic attempts at propositioning me!”

“Hmm, I wonder how he’d feel if he found out who you really love.” Lucina commented, stretching her arms behind her head.

“Hmmm….” Naderi responded, her mood dampening a bit.

Naderi reached for an item she often carried with her. The small Deep Aqua Mirror replica, which her mother had bequeathed to her once she took on the full duties of guardian to Serenity. On cue, the image of Nesirie displayed in the glass.

“It’s been awhile since you’ve had time off to see her.” Serenity said sympathetically.

“Yeah, I’ll finally get to visit her and Mama Pontia tomorrow.” Naderi answered. “There is apparently something big about to happen on Planet Neptune, and they both want me to see it.”

Serenity gave the matter some thought.

“You know, since you don’t know if you’ll get to see her again, you should tell her you love her while you have the chance.” Serenity suggested.

Naderi looked at her, surprised.

“Hey, yeah, that would be awesome driving Kunzite up the wall propositioning somebody else the way he propositions you!” Lucina added with a sly grin. “Especially if it’s your own mom you give your confession of love to!”

Naderi sighed.

“Imagine the backlash if your mother found out, Serenity.” Naderi cautioned.

Serenity touched Naderi’s shoulder and gave her a comforting look.

“Hey, it’s not as if you would be the only one engaged in a romance my mother doesn’t like.” Serenity told her. “And I promise I would do what I can to support you.”

Naderi and Lucina understood what she meant. They both knew about the Lunar Princess’ secret getaways to Planet Earth to engage in a forbidden romance of her own.

“And we’ve heard the….ahem….rumors about your birth mom and Nana, so we know your mom probably wouldn’t object to your confession.” Lucina added with a sigh.

Lucina was right, and Naderi knew it was no mere rumor. Ever since that night they shared with each other in Mama Pontia’s bed, Nesirie and Queen Maesla engaged in the very taboo relationship that Naderi wished to begin. All of the Senshi of Neptune and Her moons were, in fact, consorts of the Queen.

It’s all taboo to the rest of the Sol System, but very much a sacred tradition for both Venus and Neptune. Naderi noted in her mind.

“Thanks you two.” Naderi finally said. “I’ve made up my mind now.”

All the while, they knew not the jealous eyes that spied on them and their conversation.

 

                                                                                     ***

 

Naderi held Nesirie’s hand tight. Naderi’s forehead was sweaty with nervous anticipation. All who stood in the procession before the giant Deep Aqua Mirror felt the same as the Mirror’s glass illuminated with blue light.

He’s finally ready to take his place among us. Queen Maesla told herself while she, Pontia, and Mare stood by Nesirie and Naderi’s side.

The first form to emerge from the Mirror was familiar. The 100-foot-tall woman whose body was oddly made of marshmallow, Sailor Nammu. She was soon followed by the smaller form of Sailor Galatea.

“Make way everyone!” Galatea called out. “He’s right behind me!”

The form that emerged behind her was even more titanic than Sailor Nammu. Towering 400 feet in height, the saurian being with huge maple leaf-shaped spines jutting from his back reminded all present of the Echidna in full flesh.

The last and mightiest of the prophesied 5 Sea Kings let out a triumphant roar that shook all of Triton Castle.

 

                                                                                     

     ***

 

 

 It was a place more sacred to the Neptunians than even the shrine to the Five in Triton Castle. The core of Planet Neptune itself. It was here that Naderi found her mother, as the swirl of energy from the Sea of Creation that made up Neptune’s heart danced wildly above them in the blue mists.

 Nesirie turned to meet Naderi’s gaze. Naderi felt anxious about what she intended to confess here, but her mother’s eyes told her that she already knew and had waited for this herself. They didn’t need to say anything then, and they embraced one another. The symbols of Planet Neptune and Planet Venus lit up on their foreheads, and their lips joined as they lowered themselves into Neptune’s mists. Not far away, Pontia and Maesla stood hand in hand watching them. Pontia smiled as she gave Maesla a kiss of her own.

 In the distance, the roars of the 5 Sea Kings could be heard as they made their pact to protect the Planet of Inspiration.

 

Chapter 9

Ruby light shone through the window, seeming to bathe the throne room in blood as fists clenched with rising anger. Hephaestus, knight of Mars’ Blood Army, quivered in fear as his king soaked in the report.

Hephaestus had been working as a spy for his king within the ranks of Planet Venus’ defenders. Living under the alias of “Adonis”, Hephaestus kept tabs on the object of King Ares’ obsession- Queen Pontia Venus. However, amid his espionage, Hephaestus developed his own obsession with Pontia’s daughter, Princess Naderi Venus, and a truth had come to light about Naderi’s romantic and sexual escapades that made Hephaestus green eyed and vengeful, and his king was taking the news even worse.

“This whole time, Pontia’s daughter was spawned from some carnal dalliance with those Neptunian harlots, and Nesirie and Maesla both engage in perversities with Pontia’s blood?!” Ares growled.

The king stood and gritted his teeth so tightly that Hephaestus thought they would crack. A fiery aura appeared around Ares which the young servant feared would burn him to cinder.

“The Planet of War will not stand for such Pagan hedonism!”

Deep within the Sea of Creation, the Dancer fed that scrumptious morsel of the king’s envy.

                                                                              ***

 

 It was an oddity. Sailor Thalassa and Sailor Mare rushed to the greater Deep Aqua Mirror because they sensed it had opened. Indeed, the Mirror was alight with the blue glow of the passage from one universe to another, but as they stood at ready, it ceased without anything visibly passing through. They both wrapped their arms around themselves as a strange burst of cold momentarily hit them.

“This…is all wrong….Thalassa whispered.

 

                                                                                 ***

 

As a new day arose in Triton Castle, Nesrie stroked the skin of her sleeping daughter as Planet Neptune bathed her bed chamber with Her blue light. Nesrie reflected on the past month since she and Naderi had made their vows of love, and how much fun they had in each other’s arms.

Soon, Queen Serenity will call her back to service. And I don’t know how I’ll tell her the news before she leaves.

Letting Naderi sleep in, she got herself dressed for a morning stroll.

 

                                                                               ***

 

A brief, yet unsettling chill was the only hint the denizens of Neptune and Her moons felt whenever the specter glided by them. The spirit took in all the sights and wonders which the Planet of Inspiration and the Seas had to offer. Relics from realms he only knew from myths and fairytales adorned the various palaces, temples and shrines which adorned the moons.

One relic made him stop in his tracks above all the others. Paying no mind to the discomfort Sailor Galatea clearly felt by his presence as she guarded it, the spirit gazed upon the skeleton of Echidna with awe and admiration.

Very interesting. Such a titan is like the Olds Ones from long-buried heathen myths.

Galatea would continue wondering about the odd chill she felt long after the specter left.

 

                                                                       ***

 

Nesire pulled her robe over herself tighter as she walked down a corridor.

Why do I feel so cold all of a sudden? Triton Castle is never this drafty.

The specter observed the Princess during her moment of discomfort. His attention was drawn to her lower abdomen. He could sense what slept within.

Yes, what I seek is indeed here.

The cold draft left Nesirie as suddenly as it arrived.

 

                                                                               ***

 

For the second time that day, the Deep Aqua Mirror opened a passageway before closing again, leaving the denizens of Triton Palace all the more bewildered.

Upon the Earth of a far-off universe, the specter returned to his body. Blue eyes opened as the sorcerer was whole once more.

I will need to act quickly. Gav’rel told himself.

Chapter 10

“What is this?!” Serenity cried as she watched the skies above the Moon.

She and her court watched the fleet of ships pass over the Moon and Earth.

Martian warships. And they’re heading towards Venus.

“Where’s my daughter?!” She cried.

                                                                            ***

 

As the Deep Aqua Mirror was alight once more, Neptune’s guardians were prepared this time. Even Naderi stood by her mother’s side, her sword of the Silver Crystal at ready. Hearing the multiple reports of strange chills felt by a number of her people, including her daughter, Maesla surmised that a specter of some manner had passed through the Mirror on the previous occasions, and now she and the others anticipated its return.

Instead of a ghost, what came through the Mirror was something seemingly less otherworldly. A man, appearing to be in his 40s or 50s, from one of the “live-action” universes. He had blue eyes, brown hair, and a rather hawkish nose. His outfit gave the impression of a dark trench coat, though it’s fabric and make were of a more primitive design. From his smile, he didn’t seem too concerned with everyone standing ready to attack him.

His attention turned to Nesirie and Maesla. Naderi held her mother close, sensing her discomfort at the man’s smile growing wider.

“It is a rather dangerous game your people play, traversing the sea of dreams and emotions.” He spoke to them all. “You know not the things that may be watching you and feeding on what you think and what you feel.”

“Who are you?!” Maesla demanded to know.

“I am Lorca, and calamity approaches your beautiful world, Queen of the Sea.” He replied.

 

                                                                           ***

 

 “WHAT ARE YOU DOING??!!!!” Queen Pontia screamed as the Martian troops stormed her palace.

 She only caught a brief glimpse of King Ares before she felt her senses knocked from her. After she hit the floor, Ares lifted the dazed queen and dragged her along with him.

“Find that damned heathen idol!” He commanded his troops.

 

                                                                              ***

 

Gav’rel Lorca waited in the chamber which the Queen ordered him placed in for someone to finally come and speak to him. He knew he was currently a prisoner, but the room was rather cushy regardless. He found the aquarium especially pleasant. At last, the Queen arrived, flanked by two Senshi, an animated woman with brown hair who carried a giant spatula as a weapon, and an animated young woman with violet hair and eyes.

“It is about time you returned.” He told them as he stood, for a moment making them question the insolence of speaking to the Queen in such a manner. “I come bearing a warning to you all. The Blood Red Planet knows what practices you all engage in, and your granddaughter is especially in danger.”

The three of them looked at each other, bewildered.

“Why is Nade…?” Maesla tried to ask.

“It is not the Princess of Venus I speak of, Queen.” He responded, cutting her question short.

Realization struck Maesla, and her heart sunk.

“Sailor Laomedia, Sailor Sao, would you give us a moment alone?” She instructed the Senshi.

“But…..” Sao started in.

“Please!” Maesla shot back.

They looked at each other, bowed, and left the room as she asked. Now that they were alone, Lorca circled Maesla, who was stunned into silence.

“You know, on my home world, I saw plenty of kings and men in power engage in carnal relations with those of their own blood, many of whom were not quite willing.” He commented. “But I have to admit, until I discovered your people, I had never seen queens and princesses partake in those pleasures.”

“What is King Ares planning for my family?” Maesla asked, hoping he would get to the point.

“The king has developed some green eyes towards you.” He finally explained. “He’s always had a hard-on for the Queen of Venus and resented her affection towards you. That envy only grew a thousandfold more intense after the curse of a dark queen poisoned his already degenerate soul even further.”

Maesla clenched her chest. She remembered the story Pontia told her of the Dead Moon Queen cursing Serenity and her daughter. She always believed the curse would never land, as the Lunar queen and princess were too pure of heart, but it never occurred to her that the curse could strike in a more indirect way.

“And now that he had learned of the transgressions you and your family have made through your journeys through the Immaterium and with your incestuous liaisons, he…..”

Maesla turned and burst out of the room. Lorca stood and pondered her exit.

I was hoping she would listen to my offers for aid. But at least she left the door open…..

 

                                                                            ***

“SAO! LAOMEDIA! WE MUST FIND NESIRIE AND NADERI!” Maesla cried frantically.

The two of them didn’t waste time asking questions. They rushed after her in her search.

 

                                                                          ***

 

They quickly found the princesses. Nesirie was spending time with Naderi by the shrine of the Five. They heard the others rushing to them.

“NESIRIE!!!!” Masela cried out.
The two princesses looked at her in shock and bewilderment as she ran to them. She was just out of reach of them when they were struck. They fell to their knees in agony. And they were not alone.

 

                                                                           ***

“Please….don’t….” Pontia pleaded with Ares and his men.

 While his men held Pontia down, Ares stood by the sacred pool and whispered an incantation which Hephaestus had stolen from the Venusians. Pontia wept as she saw the clam shell containing the Yorokobi Pearl rising from the water. She knew the disaster which would befall them all if the Pearl was forced awake outside the Conjunction, but she realized they would not listen to her now.

The soldiers pried the shell open. Upon viewing the Pearl, it was already apparent that something was horribly wrong. The Pearl’s sparkling blue color shifted to a sickly pink-purple, and they swore they could hear a piercing scream in their minds. And in the mists of the Sea, the Dancer found the Pearl’s agony intoxicating as the Sea around Her went from blue to pink-purple, and the swirling cubes manifest teeth like hungry piranhas.

 

                                                                               ***

 

Our emotions can be a double-edged sword. Feelings that seem beautiful and give us pleasure can also overwhelm us and cause us to lose control.
The worlds of Venus and Neptune represented the powers of Love and Inspiration. When channeled in a controlled manner, people created beautiful things, both individually and with one another. Now, control was lost.
The Yorokubi Pearl was released by force at an improper time, and the powers it held exploded in chaos. The peoples of Venus and Neptune all felt it. Feelings of joy and pleasure became the desire for base vices, and the love people had for one another mutated into feelings of carnal hunger.
The orgy began.

 

                                                                                     ***

 

Lorca displayed his teeth as he stormed through the halls of Triton Castle. He expected Ares to come for Nesirie and Masela’s child, but he didn’t expect the Martians to do something so stupid and careless as what they had just done. He needed to make it to the Deep Aqua Mirror fast before what passed for virtue with him got taken from him by one of the castle’s denizens.
He reached his destination, and the Mirror crackled wildly. The blue light of the space between universes had transformed into a vomit-inducing maroon color. For a brief moment, the sight of an eerily beautiful face lashing a forked tongue revealed the truth. Lorca struggled to fight back the urges and desires a voice from the vortex promised to fulfill.

There were many names for the spaces between universes. Wildspace. The Ether. Kshira Sagara, the Ocean of Milk. The Confluence. Lorca knew it most of all as the Warp. A realm that could be shaped by thoughts, dreams, and emotions. And he also knew of the beings, the Ruinous Ones, that waited from afar in this realm and fed on the baser and wilder emotions of living beings. The youngest of the Ruinous Ones was already seen as ancient in many universes, but time held no meaning within the Warp, and on this day, Lorca would bear witness to the reality-ripping birth of She Who Thirsts.

As horrifying as this situation may seem, Lorca now found himself at an advantage he did not expect. The chaos of the Warp allowed the barriers between universes to rip open wider, and Lorca now had easier access to various universes that he did not before.
And he knew one such being he wished to summon right now.

 

                                                                            ***

 

 ‘What’s wrong with me?!’ Nesirie asked herself.
The princess felt all her inner desires assaulting her mind at once. What should have been bringing her joy and pleasure was instead bringing her a strange agony. And why did she want that so much?
She looked up and saw things she did not wish to see. Or did she? Sao, the woman who had helped raise Nesirie from birth, was now trying to grab a hold of a struggling Sailor Laomedia and was handling Laomedia's body in ways she did not want.
Nesirie felt the stroke of delicate fingers across her cheek. Her eyes looked up into those of her mother’s. Masela looked at her with a savage hunger that Nesirie had never seen in the woman before. Nesirie's fear grew as Maesla pulled her close in a forceful manner unlike what Nesirie knew.
“Mother, please….” Nesirie pleaded meekly.
Masela seemed to take a strange enjoyment from her daughter’s cry, which drove her hunger even more. Nesirie felt helpless as her mother threw her to the ground, knocking over the idols. Nesirie caught one final view of Father Gozuryu's shattered idol and whispered a faint “help”. Then, Maesla pulled Nesirie's face up to meet her gaze, and the princess' eyes grew wide as Maesla forced her own lips on hers.....

Chapter 11

 

Naderi tried to come to her senses. She was fighting a battle unlike any she had ever fought, a battle against herself. The urge to do things that were unsavory even to her kinky mind was starting to overwhelm her. In her struggles, she managed to force herself to look upward. What she witnessed made her want to cry out.
Queen Masela was on top of Princess Nesirie like a jungle cat on prey it was consuming. Their mouths were joined, and it was clear that the queen’s tongue danced inside her daughter’s mouth savagely. All the while Nesirie’s shocked eyes were as wide as Naderi had ever seen them.

***

Sweat rolled down Lorca’s face as he struggled to maintain the magic he used to open the Mirror to what he sought. Between that and his desires beginning to overtake him, wasn’t winning the fight.
“You are trying to summon Her?”
Lorca did not break his concentration as Mare and another Senshi moved up beside him.

“My partner, Sailor Thalassa and I have a special relationship with the One you seek” Mare told him weakly. “We shall attempt to help you summon Her.”

 "For the sake of my family." Mare struggled to say.

***

“Please stop.” Nesirie begged her mother in a near whisper.
If the queen heard her child’s cry, she did not pay attention. Her tongue ran up and down Nesirie’s neck and face as the princess remained frozen with her wide eyes.
Another voice called out to Masela. A voice not unlike Nesirie’s. The voice came not from the outside, but from within Nesirie herself.
It felt like a slap. Something hit Masela’s soul, and suddenly her true senses were restored to her. Her head darted around in bewilderment. What had just happened?
Then she looked downward. Nesirie lie beneath her, the frozen shock remaining on her face. Her clothes were torn.
Masela’s jaw dropped as realization struck her. Her body grew cold and she shivered.
“No no no no no no no no…..” she muttered repeatedly.
A hand came up to her lower neck and pinched her. Masela’s eyes closed, and she fell to the ground.
Nesirie was lifted off her feet. She remained in shock and said nothing as her surrogate father held her in his arms.
“I’m sorry, princess.” Bronto Thunder said, a tear streaming from his eye as craddled her tightly.

"We all failed her." A humanoid ichthyosaur said as he stood beside his long-necked comrade.

Ichy shook his head with regret, barely able to hide the devastation in his soul. They had arrived before the queen had gone too far, but Ichy knew it the damage had already been done.

 
Another figure stood over the queen. A young live-action beauty with black hair and striking blue eyes. Rows of dark blue spots ran down her face and neck, and her ears were pointed. These features were all a sign of Sailor Larissa’s combined Trill and Vulcan heritage.
“That was….regrettable.” Kay said sadly, pondering her queen’s unconscious state.
Meanwhile, Sailor Laomedia managed to subdue Sao’s advances with a good whack from her spatula.
Naderi still struggled, that voice or instinct in the back of her mind which beckoned her to partake in the carnal gratifications overtaking her worlds growing more and more powerful. She found herself lifted to her feet. She glanced up to see Apatty Saurus looking down at her.
“T….the Pearl.” Naderi told her. “Someone has done something to the Yorokobi Pearl.”
Apatty’s despair intensified. All the inhabitants of Neptune and its moons who were native to them were succumbing to this madness. And judging from what was happening to Naderi, the same was happening to the people of Venus.
And it was not just madness of the mind. Many people and Neptunian animal life were beginning to mutate into new and more twisted forms.  Neptune’s wonders were transforming into horrors.
“My god, what is that?!” Ichy cried out.
They all looked outside the nearby window. Throughout the skies and the cosmos around Neptune, the fabric of space was being ripped open. Unlike the beautiful gate created by the Deep Aqua Mirror, these rips were sheer abomination. One could not help but think that they resembled something akin to the maws of leeches. Apatty and her friend screamed in horror as one of the maws let out a seemingly endless whip-like tongue that licked Neptune’s atmosphere seductively.

                                                                          ***

 

Sorrow-filled eyes watched the monster bound within the containment cell. A vaguely humanoid torso was held up by an oozing, slug-like lower body. Arms ending in clawed hands thrashed against the bonds that held it, and an eyeless head ended in a lamprey-like mouth with a tube-shaped tongue that lashed about uncontrollably. Only the scraggly blue hair jutting from the back of its head gave any clue that this abomination had once been the Queen of Neptune.

Tears swelled in Princess Antiope Mars’ eyes as she prepared to carry out Serenity's orders.

“I’m so sorry, Naderi.” She wept. “I should have killed my father years ago.”

A fire blazed, and the monster’s screeching ceased.

 

                                                                                ***

Queen Serenity sat quietly on the throne of her court as she pondered the three women on trial. Pontia Venus held her daughter, Naderi, and Nesirie close to her. Naderi wept quietly, while Nesirie seemed to stare into space in total silence. Naderi’s once blue hair had turned gold, a subtle hint of the mutations that overtook many survivors among her people. And in the months since they had been taken into custody, Nesirie’s belly swelled, the life inside her due to be born any day.

Serenity finally decided to start the trial. With a gesture of her hand, a holographic image manifested before them. Neptune and Her moons. What was left of them, anyway.

It was a catastrophe the likes of which even the most apocalyptic myths could never dream of, and it would have become pure Armageddon for the entire Sol System had Serenity’s forces not arrived on Venus to put the Pearl back to sleep. The very fabric of reality around both Venus and Neptune had ripped open, either consuming or altering their spaces. The passions of Venus’ people engaging in a planet-wide murder orgy caused the planet Herself to heat up to the broiling point, killing ¾ of the population, and the Second Planet’s blue clouds became a sickly yellow color, almost mirroring the change in Naderi’s hair.

What happened to Neptune was even more cataclysmic. Once the Fifth Planet of the Sol System, a rip in the fabric of space sent the Blue Planet to the far end of the Sol System, just before Pluto. Only the remains of shattered moons between Mars and Jupiter hinted at Neptune’s original place in the Sol System. Even more bizarre horrors unfolded. The Moon Triton took on a life of its own and savagely devoured many of Her sister moons. Naderi could still hear those moons scream in her mind. And the Senshi who guarded Neptune and Her moons had all either vanished or taken or were horrifically mutated……just like Maesla.

“I…..” Serenity began, her voice wavering. “I’ll start off by saying that for his crimes, King Ares has paid the ultimate price.”

That memory still haunted Pontia. How one among the Sea Kings had come to her rescue, but that rescue led to blood being spilled on Planet Venus for the first time. She could still see the gory, decimated remains of King Ares as the Neptunian knight stood above him and then vanished.

“However, there have been….other….transgressions committed.” Serenity went on. “Planet Neptune had long engaged in travels and contact with other universes without informing us or gaining my authorization and opened the door to untold danger. And both Neptune and Venus long engaged in sexual practices that we do not condone, nor can we accept the…..results.”

For the first time, Nesirie came out of her catatonic state, shivering and wrapping her arms around her belly in a protective gesture. Naderi embraced her, displaying similar futility in protecting their unborn daughter. Serenity’s heart was already broken even before she saw this.

“I’m sorry to have to do this, but our laws say that for a transgression like this, the offending planets must be forever separated.” Serenity declared. “You will continue protecting what is left of your worlds, and you, Naderi, will continue being my daughter’s protector as always. But Venus and Neptune can never unite again.”

Nesirie finally broke down. The Queen said she would protect what was left of her world, but there was nothing. Her people were all gone, and Neptune was a dead place now.

“And what of their daughter?” Pontia finally built up the nerve to ask.

Serenity looked into Pontia’s pleading eyes. The Sol System’s laws forbade such inbreeding, though it stopped short of saying what should actually be done with such a child. It was as if those who wrote the laws didn’t wish to state what they obviously implied.

Serenity loathed to do such a thing. Already, she did not know how she would live with the sentences she already gave them on her conscience. And her daughter loved Naderi dearly and would never forgive her if she did such an abominable act.

There must be another way.

***

“She’s beautiful.” Naderi told her lover as she and Lanica Jupiter watched over the new mother with tears in their eyes.
Nesirie held her baby daughter in her arms. When the little girl was born, a small spark of spirit returned within the Princess of Neptune.

“I am eternally grateful to you.” Nesirie told Lucina.

“And I swear I will see that she is safe.” Lucina assured her.

It is what Serenity commanded, after all. The Princess of Jupiter reminded herself.

The Princesses of Venus and Neptune embraced one more time. It would be the last time either of them would lay eyes on each other in the Silver Millennium.
Naderi and Lanica knew Serenity was risking her own reputation by not having the baby exterminated like many others would demand. They would have to find a safe place for the girl in secret. Nesrie took a last tearful look at her baby before Naderi rushed out of the cell.
“Fair thee well my beloved Halia. May the Two and Five watch over you and dear Naderi.”

 

Chapter 12

Ikuko Tsukino quietly watched Usagi, Genji, and Shingo sleep. The family had rented a small hotel on the outskirts of Tokyo after fires forced them to evacuate their home. She watched them as someone who may never see them again.

“Whatever you choose will rip your heart out and theirs.” A woman’s voice told her. “I….don’t envy you.”

"I've sacrificed so much to bring my Usagi and Shingo into this world." Ikuko answered her. "Sometimes, I still have thoughts about the old choir I left after Genji and I got engaged."

Tears swelled in Ikuko’s eyes, and she leaned into Taian’s embrace.

“I don’t want to leave either family.” Ikuko sobbed. “But I have to choose one, don't I?"

She allowed herself this moment of tears and then pulled herself together. Her ultimate decision was indeed difficult, but it came to her quickly. There were two entire worlds of people who needed her now. Before dawn, Usagi would feel a tug on her shoulder, waking up to see her mother's tearful gaze.

"Hey, Usagi." Ikuko whispered, struggling to smile.

 

                                                                                   ***

 

 The ancient spirit sobbed as she watched her slumbering daughter and granddaughter.

 How I wish I could tell Soma how proud I am.

 “You can, grandma.” Jaziria suddenly whispered.

 The blue snake birthmark on the girl’s face illuminated with heavenly light.

 

***

 In the midst of their reunion, a burning question about Maesla’s return echoed in the back of Minako’s mind. When the swell of emotion had subsided, she finally had it in her to ask.

 “Nana, how are you even here? When She Who Thirsts manifested in our universe, she consumed the souls of Neptune and Venus’ peoples, including yours.”
Masela’s ghost turned to her granddaughter and smiled. There was joy in finally being able to give her family a wonderful revelation that had been kept from them.
“My dear Nesirie, Naderi, we all made it.” Masela told them. “We were saved from Shornaal’s jaws.”
Mina stood confused, while Michiru and Silaqui squinted their eyes.
“I don’t know if Naderi ever told you, but on the day that Chaos erupted, we had a strange visitor.” Masela explained.
Minako’s memory suddenly snapped back to the odd man who arrived on Neptune that day. The one who had intruded on Neptune via astral projection hours before.

“We admittedly did not trust him when he first arrived, but when the fabric of our reality was being torn apart, he knew of a magic that preserved our souls and pulled away from Shornaal’s grasp.”

                                                                                     ***

 

The Atlantean temple lay in rubble as a vast serpent slithered through it. At Manda’s feet, a Lemurian procession stived forward with a hooded figure in the lead. Twin points of light that marked the figure’s eyes could be seen from the darkness within their hood. The figure carried a jade crown carved in the shape of coiled snakes. The Serpent Crown cracked with eldritch power as the Lemurians chanted “SET!” while they marched along.
Crashing sounds resounded from nearby as two more great titans tore the city apart. These were two different incarnations of the same monster. One of the beaked, hook-armed cyclopes stood at 50 meters in height, while his other incarnation stood over 120 meters in height. Their single visor-like eye glowed red with a mix of fury and excitement at the carnage they wrought.
All throughout the destruction, portals opened wide and scores of Lemurian forces poured out. The voice of the Elder God Set rang in their minds as they were guided to this new universe. They reveled at the opportunity to lay waste to an incarnation of Atlantis without King Namor protecting it.
Thulsa Doom would have grinned if he had any flesh left on his face. He was merely warming up. The destruction he brought to the humans of Atlantis was just a small taste of what he had in store for humans in his homeland of Valusia. He has both Set’s power and the magic of Neptune to thank for all this.
There was still one wrench in the machine. He had made a promise to Masela and had thus far been unable to keep it. He had sent Gojira to acquire what he needed for that, but intervention from an unexpected source prevented that.
He pondered when she would make her next move. It would be exactly what he needed.

***

“We are not lost, Nesirie.” Masela said joyfully. “Our people survive, and life will come to Neptune and Venus again.”
“W….what do you mean?” A bewildered Minako asked.
“You must have forgotten after so long.” Masela answered. “That time that our peoples have always celebrated.”
Michiru’s eyes sunk once she understood. Indeed, after so many millennia, and after centuries of ruling Mu, she had forgotten that part of her past that had once defined her and all she loved.
“The conjunction of Neptune and Venus.” Michiru said plainly.
“When we bring forth what gives life meaning.” Minako added, suddenly having the same realization.
As this exchange took place, Silaqui was trying to spark one of Her own.
I know you’re there, Set, and we both know you can’t be trusted.’ She spoke telepathically to the presence She felt since coming to this place. Whatever it is you are planning, I won’t let you harm my daughter or her loved ones, not even Masela.

Is that what you assume I wish for them? A voice hissed back at Her. Perish the thought, malenti.

“And I swear to you all that with Gav’rel’s help I will find ghosts of all who wronged us in the Silver Millennum and they will answer for their crimes!” Masela declared with a sudden fire in her voice.
Michiru and Minako froze.
And there it is. Silaqui said to Herself.

 

***

 

Doom’s procession halted. A lone figure stood before them. Manda hissed apprehensively, recognizing the tiny figure.

"I see you managed to rescue one of the denizens of Triton Castle." The figure greeted them, acknowledging the serpent kaiju.

That anthropomorphic sauropod that once served Neptune’s queen. Doom might have felt a sense of relief and gratitude that this knight had actually survived after all this time, if not for the fact that he was clearly here to challenge them.
“If you are looking for a fight, that is not what I would seek.” Thulsa told Bronto Thunder. “I think it would be best for all of us if you told me the whereabouts of Princess Halia.”

Chapter 13

Just outside the orbit of Yaksh, a rip in the fabric of space opened, and a large spacecraft emerged. The thick saucer section and nacelles of a Starfleet Galaxy class ship with the navigational deflector of an Ambassador class ship made it appear as a hybrid of the two. USS Jadzia marked the top of its saucer hull.
Aboard the ship, Kay Grayson sat in the captain’s chair of the living ship that bore her mother’s name. The Queen Neptune was the offspring of Starfleet’s former flagship, the USS Enterprise-D, when that ship had achieved sentience in the 24th century. The Enterprise used schematics and trace materials of the Enterprise-C to form Her offspring, making the older ship like a second parent. Now the Jadzia was pulling up to the Blue Planet in a scene that was eerily reminiscent of when her mother led a charge towards Jupiter in a final battle against the Borg.
“I detect an unknown object approaching us.” The ship’s consciousness announced in a voice that sounded exactly like her namesake.
Kay’s eyes narrowed as the bridge’s viewing screen picked up an object pulling into the ship’s line of sight. A gargantuan pink rose that hovered in Neptune’s orbit.
“I wouldn’t worry about her.” One of the girls that stood at the front of the bridge told everyone. “Biollante will not attack us with me aboard.”
The green-tressed pre-adolescent turned to look at everyone on the bride. Her blue eyes were the serene mirror image of her birth mother’s.
“In fact, I’m sure both of my mothers will be overjoyed to see us all.” Halia said.
“I’m not entirely sure Queen Masela is the same person you all knew.” The anthropomorphic brontosaurus girl sitting next to Kay commented.
Sara Pod, the daughter of Apatty Saurus and Bronto Thunder, had not been born yet before the fall of Masela’s queendom. She stood next to Aquaria, Apatty's daughter with Ichy. All the two of them knew were the stories her family told her and wasn’t able to make the same emotional connections to the queen that they did.

 "She could be right, Halia." The girl standing next to the princess said. "We have no idea what sort of influence Set and Lorca have over your mother now."

 Halia felt a hand on her shoulder and looked into the concerned violet eyes of her girlfriend, Lilica.

“Whatever may have overtaken the queen’s spirit, we still need to help her and Michiru.” A hooded figure declared as they walked up and put an arm around Halia. “We will get you back together with them.

 At the back of the bridge, Umi watched the others. He felt determination like he never had before in his life. His true place in existence had been revealed to him. He lost his family but rediscovered an old one. He would see to it that his family in this life had not died in vain, and he would not fail his princess. Not this time.

***

“I don’t know what you really want the Princess for, Gav’rel, but I don’t trust what’s watching us from inside that crown.” Bron boomed at Doom, the sound of his voice like his name.
Bron directed the sword he had been carrying at Doom.
“And I’m warning you now to release my Queen and Neptune’s people from whatever control you have over them!”
“Interesting.” Doom commented. “What will that sword do against all of us?
Doom gestured in the direction of where one of the Gigans carried out their rampage. Bron snickered. Of course, the sword wouldn’t do anything. It was just for a little display. He had something much bigger up his sleeve.
Bron reached for a patch on the chest of his suit and opened it. A small push of a button was all he needed. A glow of power enveloped his body, and a change began. Bron’s body rapidly grew in size.
During his days as a member of the Dinosaucers, Bron was given the power of Dinovolving, a power which allowed him and the other Dinosaucers to morph into their prehistoric dinosaur forms. When Bron came to the Neptune Queendom and became one of Masela’s knights, her Senshi powers enhanced Bron’s Dinovolving in a way he never dreamed of.
What towered over Doom and the Lemurians was no simple brontosaurus. Bron’s newer brontosaurus form was a full-fledged kaiju. On all fours, his back arched over 150 meters into the air, and the length of his body from head to tail seemed to stretch forever. And now his blue skin seemed more like an armor plating.
The Lemurians started falling back as Bron’s head, held by his immensely long neck, loomed over them all. Doom did not flinch, however.
“Very well, then.”
Manda wrapped his coils in a protective gesture around Doom and the Lemurians. As if accepting some inaudible command, the two Gigans readied themselves for combat. The smaller Showa Gigan took to the air. The jewel in Legendary Gigan’s forehead sparked with a white light and shot out a beam in Bron’s direction.
Bron roared in anger as the beam hit him. Sparks rained from his body, yet there was no visible damage. Bron struck back by lashing his tail like a whip. A surge of blue kinetic energy shot forth towards his attacker. Legendary Gigan held his hook hand in front of himself in a protective gesture. As Bron’s attack nearly hit Gigan, a translucent jewel manifested in front of Gigan.
A shockwave could be felt for over a mile as the surge struck. Manda’s coils protected those within them. When things settled, Legendary Gigan remained unscathed, protected by the shield.
Bron bellowed in pain as something streaked across his back. Showa Gigan had grazed Bron with his chest cutter. It hurt, but Bron’s armor was strong enough that he only had a light scratch.
Legendary Gigan clapped his hook arms together in delight at what his fellow had done. His revery was interrupted by the sounds of bubbling water. His attention turned to the city’s harbor. The water of the bay churned violently. A large dorsal fin popped up.
A new creature surfaced from the water. Its form could be vaguely compared to that of a reptilian dolphin with deep blue scales. It slid ashore, and its back fins somehow allowed it to stand upright. It called out a challenge to Bron’s oppenents.
Bron grinned at the arrival of his comrade. Ichy, too, had his Dinovolving powers greatly enhanced.
***

 

Michiru and the others felt the atmosphere around them beginning to change. The blue mists which permeated their surroundings started to swirl chaotically. Even the fungoid aliens that gathered around the temple began to dance in fury.
The ghost of Neptune’s queen screamed and cried. The more unhinged she became, the more chaotic their surroundings became.
"I'LL MAKE HER SUFFER FOR WHAT SHE DID TO US!!!" the specter screamed. "I'LL MAKE IT ALL END!!!"
Even in death, the image never left Masela’s mind. The look of dull shock in her daughter’s eyes as she lay beneath her. The realization in Maesla’s soul that it was her hands and body that did this.
All these ages, she had blamed the other worlds of the Sol System for what happened, but deep within, she held herself responsible and could never disassociate between her actions and the Ruinous Power that used her body.

"I'LL MAKE THE PAIN END!!!"

***

“Oh, God.” Sara whispered as she and Jadzia’s crew watched blue planet on the screen.
It was as if one immense storm was engulfing all of Yaksh. The planet’s blue clouds began to swirl with hurricane force. Halia knew her mothers were in peril somehow.
"We will go down." Halia announced before turning her attention to a pair of hooded figures. “You ready?”

 They both nodded in the affirmative.

 “Get us closer, Neptune.” The figure instructed the ship.

The ship responded in the affirmative. Halia closed her eyes and began to strum the strings of the ancient moselle passed down through her family.

***

Masela was not alone in her agony. The spirits of Neptune’s people cried out over the memories of all they had done under the Dark Prince’s influence. They all carried the same guilt and trauma as their queen. In their suffering, they flew forth to the call of an Elder God. One who promised retribution. And they were not the only ones. There were another people who had horrors committed against them. They were all too eager to gather with the Neptunians at the Serpent’s behest.

***

Silaqui saw the image of the great seven headed serpent in Her mind. All seven of Set’s head flicked their tongues in satisfaction as Masela descended into fury.
‘I think you’ve done enough with them.’ She told Him.

The Malenti Goddess prepared Herself for what She came to do. It seemed early, but She could not stand to watch this display any further.
She halted.
As Masela huddled into a fetal position, Michiru approached her. She leaned down to the ghost of her ancient mother. Her mouth opened, and a gentle song came forth.

Notes:

The main inspiration for the USS Jadzia's design are the Ross class ships from Star Trek: Online (albeit with a blue navigational deflector): https://memory-beta.fandom.com/wiki/Ross_class

Chapter 14

Lorca’s soul strained under the magic he attempted to invoke. Standing beside him, Starla kept calm, but her body was clearly mutating and changing shape. Sailor Thalassa was not being physically affected, but she was experiencing the same strain as Lorca.
“I can feel Her, but She is so far away.” Thalassa said, growing desperation in her tone.

 “I don’t know if we can reach Her in time.” Mare spoke in despair.

Lorca could feel Her as well. Perhaps that is why the Lord of Excess' influence over his mind had wavered.
So deep into their conversation they were that they did not notice what loomed over them. The lamprey-like monster, a twisted deformation of one of an animal from Triton Castle's aquarium waterway, lurched up behind them and prepared to suck them into its maw. It did not get the chance.
Giant scaly hands grabbed hold of the monster. The monster screeched as it was ripped apart from its maw onward. Lorca tried not to break his concentration at the sound of a thunderous ear-piercing roar. Godzilla was the mightiest of Queen Masela’s Ri no Kaio-rui Eigo, the five male knights who complemented the female Senshi and fought by the queen’s side, like the Shitennou did for Endymion and Serenity.

Down below, Sailor Galatea led the titan onward. The strain upon her was evident as well, as her body broke out in a cold sweat, and she struggled to stand.
Mare lost her remaining strength. She fell back and Thalassa caught her, the action breaking the latter's own concentration. Starla's body bubbled and liquified into blob-like jelly as Thalassa cried. Lorca watched helplessly as Thalassa, Mare, Galatea, and Godzilla's forms began to fade.

"I'm sorry, we failed to reach Her." Thalassa cried. "We've failed all of them."

And they were gone. Lorca felt the weight of Neptune's collapse upon his soul. He knew it was him who had failed these people. But he swore this was not the end. He brushed it off as mere intuition when another voice from the Warp, a different one from that of the Despoiler, whispered to him the secrets of how to preserve souls of the Neptunians. It gave him the spark to learn the secrets of contacting and bringing the dead back from beyond. And, most of all, it whispered promises of vengeance against the Despoiler and all who wrong those he cared for.

***

 

Silaqui’s heart melted as She listened to the song Michiru sung to Masela. She knew it all too well. It was the old lullaby She would sing to Michiru whenever she was in a state of distress.
Minako was so proud of Michiru. People back on their Earth who loved the sound of her violin would be equally awestruck to discover she also had an amazing singing voice.

And she had one hell of a vocal coach in the last five centuries. Mina mused with thoughts of Mu’s Ugajin
Masela began to calm down, and the maelstrom across the planet eased. Michiru reached down and held her old mother. Even though Masela was a ghost, Michiru somehow could still touch her as if she was still in the flesh.
“What happened will never be okay, and I don’t think the wounds will truly heal.” Michiru whispered to Masela. “But I’ve always understood that the one who did that to me was not you, so please don’t do this to yourself. I still love you, and I need you to come back to us.”
“Our whole family needs you, my love.”
All attention was drawn to a trio of newcomers. The taller two figures removed their hooded robes to reveal themselves as Senshi, and Michiru and Mina both gasped. They recognized Tai, Sailor Mare, as Nesirie’s second mother from the past. The second woman struck them dumbfounded, and they started to cry when the truth struck them.

How did we never see it? Mina wondered.

They knew the woman they looked at was Ikuko Tsukino. She wore the sailor uniform of the old Queen of Venus.

“Pontia.” Michiru whispered.

Ikuko walked over and touched Michiru’s face. She turned to look at Maesla’s ghost with those loving eyes that Neptune’s Queen had long missed.

“We’re all here.” She told them. "Nana Pontia's cry for help woke us all from a long slumber."

Their attention turned to the final figure. They were shorter than the other two. Tai placed a hand on their shoulder, and they nodded. Pulling back their hood, Michiru and Minako laid eyes on a girl whose face they had never seen, but they knew her just the same.

She looks like a little Nesirie. Mina realized.

Halia lifted her moselle.

“Please continue singing for Nana, Mama.” She said.

***

A wave of sound launched from Ichy’s mouth towards Legendary Gigan. Gigan put up his crystal shield, but it cracked when hit by the wave. Ichy ducked away as Showa Gigan swooped down and tried to hit him with his chest cutter. As Showa Gigan tried to circle back up to the sky, he was knocked to the ground by a blast from a previously unseen source.

Bron and Ichy nodded as a second brontosaurus-like giant entered the fray. A mechanized creature bathed in colors of navy blue and silver. On Her world, She was known as Bronton, the God-Queen of the Guardian Beasts watching over five ancient human tribes, but Bron and Ichy knew Her as Sailor Sagara.
 As Sagara and Ichy continued their assault on the Gigans, Bron turned his attention to Manda’s coiled form and stormed towards the serpent. Within Manda’s coils, Thulsa Doom realized things were not going well for him at this moment.
“You seem to be in a bit of a mess.” The voice within the Crown told him. “I may have to pull you out of this one. I have what I need anyway.”
Before Doom could say anything, he and the Crown vanished. After a moment of silence, Manda uncoiled, leaving the remaining Lemurians exposed, and began to slither towards the ocean. Likewise, both Gigans ceased fighting and took to the sky, leaving the scene.
Bron and Ichy knew that such a thing was never a good sign.

***

They all joined in. Michiru, Mina, Ikuko, and even Silaqui with their voices, while Halia and Tai played on their moselle and cello. Maesla’s restless spirit found true peace for the first time in her afterlife, and the crew of Queen Neptune in orbit watched in awe as the clouds of the Blue Planet ceased their furious maelstrom.

***

 

Doom returned to his consecrated temple to the Great Serpent. The Great Serpent, the original deity of worship here, was the Mother of All Snakes in this world. She had long been the one Doom venerated and wished to awaken. Now, with the Great Serpent moving on elsewhere, a new Snake God claimed this temple as His own.
“It should please you as it does I that Nesire and Maesla have reconnected.” Set told Doom through the Serpent Crown. "Our promise has been fulfilled. Now we move to the next phase."
Doom nodded as he entered the temple and made his way to the altar.
“And what of the Lemurians we left behind?” Doom inquired.
“They are fulfilling their own sacred duties. You should concern yourself with what is at hand."

Doom froze. He knew obsession when he heard it. Set had taken an interest in the people of Neptune for reasons He would not disclose, and whatever ties He had to their Queendom He was willing to throw the Lemurians away for. Doom pondered his own importance in the Elder God's eyes.

It did not matter. Whatever Set's designs may be, Doom still had promises of his own to fulfill, and he would carry out their plans regardless.
And it had begun. He could feel the energies of all the souls he called to gathering at the altar. And he had just the vessel for them all.
“You had better make it fast.” Set warned him. “He is approaching.”
Doom gnashed his teeth. Soma and Michiru were obviously not the only ones with mommy issues.

***

Off the shores of Valusia’s coast, something moved fast. Three rows of spines surfaced from the sea as a massive shape sped through the water.
Godzilla felt her presence in this land he made his way towards. She called to him, and he would not let those that took her use her power.

Chapter 15

Waves crashed against the docks of Valusia’s royal city as Godzilla stormed ashore. Many on the docks did not get the chance to hear his roar of challenge as they were swept to the sea. Those further into the city experienced a more profound dread than any before. To them, a god-monster like what they beheld now should only exist in myth.
“Well, then, this so-called protector seems to be causing quite a bit a of carnage out there.” Set commented as Doom performed the needed rites in the temple. “He’s still far less destructive than a certain version of Superman that I know.”
“Heh, the more Valusian humans killed the merrier.” Doom noted with a bit of gratification.
That gratification the necromancer got from hearing the screams outside was nothing compared to what he felt as he held the head of the final sacrifice he needed to perform. Brule the Spear-Slayer and his Pict warriors had been a thorn in Doom’s side for decades now. Indeed, the Picts had been on a crusade to slaughter the mahoraga people in Valusia for untold generations. But, in the past year, Doom and his mahoraga followers were able to hunt down and exterminate the Picts under the guidance of Set in a way that they continuously failed to do following the Great Serpent.
Doom ran a trail of blood from Brule’s disembodied head around the altar as he chanted. A congregation of mahoraga followers chanted along with him while the Serpent Crown crackled with power on the altar. It was with the blood of their people’s murderers that they called forth those who had been lost.
The blue lights danced far above them. Countless in number. So many generations from the past gathered in one place. And they all cried out in agony. They represented the unjustly slain from two different universes. The peoples lost on Neptune and Venus in the cataclysm in the Silver Millennium, and the generations of serpentfolk slain in this world that could not connect to the Great Serpent in death.
At last, these souls would have the opportunity to reap vengeance on the worlds that inflicted atrocities and injustices upon them. First the human kingdoms of this world would burn, and then what remained of Serenity’s world would be next.
The living serpentfolk that gathered called upon their slain ancestors along with Doom. The energies of these gathered souls coalesced to a single point. In the immense caverns of the temple, a skeletal giant lay. In the wake of Neptune’s catastrophe, there was one thing Gabriel Lorca, Thulsa Doom’s given name in those days, managed to salvage. That skeletal titan the Neptunians called “The Echidna.” Doom had largely kept it to commemorate his failure to save Neptune, but he knew he would find use for it someday. Now was that time.
The soul-mass entered the skeleton, and in a sense merged with it. The skeleton was soon aglow with dark blue power, and flesh began to grow.

***

Godzilla growled in anger as the blue shaft of light burst from the temple of the Great Serpent. A dark shape surfaced from the structure, the stone masonry crumbling around it.
It was not often that the King of the Monsters was taken aback by something, but he felt a rip in his spirit as he beheld the form in front of him. Superficially, the monster resembled him, albeit standing taller at a whopping 200 meters. Its skin was charred black, and the ghost-white eyes lacked pupils. Its body glowed with a dark blue aura, and the faces of crying ghosts could be seen within that aura.
Godzilla knew this monster well. In the distant past, it was she who laid the egg from which he hatched. Echidna bellowed a challenge to her offspring in a voice that sounded like his, yet with the cries of anguished spirits behind it.
***

 

In his pocket dimension, Set flicked the tongue of His middle head in satisfaction. When His attention had been drawn to prayers from Neptune, he discovered a greater multiverse beyond His own. In His explorations, He found these “kaiju” rather delightful. With the help of the Neptunian magic Thulsa Doom took from Serenity’s universe, Set had greater access to universes such as those these monsters existed in, and he had plenty of such new tools at His disposal now.
More than that, Set could now spread His influence farther than even an Elder God like Himself could have imagined. In exchange for giving Doom the instruments of his petty “justice”, Doom worked with many of Set’s followers, from serpentfolk to Lemurian priests, to place Serpent Crowns across this greater multiverse He had been enlightened to.

In the world of El Hazard, a fallen water priestess laughed maniacally as she conjured tidal waves in the shape of anacondas with the power of the Crown placed on her head.

In Kay and Jadzia’s home universe, a rouge group of the python-like U’tani people gathered in an ancient shrine dedicated to the great feathered serpent race that helped bring up their civilization. The statues of the plumed ones were shattered while the cult chanted to their leader who held a Crown on her head. She swore to them that with Set’s power they would rise up and avenge themselves against the vile reptilian Xindi who inflicted generations of trauma on their people.

On Bron, Apatty, and Ichy’s homeworld of Reptilon, the little-known race of titanboa people planned to rise from their own obscurity under the glorious leadership of Father Set.

In the ancient age of one universe, long before mammals on Earth would evolve, the Queen of a race of snake people who dominated the Galaxy stood before the new generation as the Serpent Crown crackled with green light on her head. Row upon row of unhatched eggs lay out before her while two of her offspring bowed beside her. With the aid of the Great Serpent, her race would finally achieve the evolution into the perfect lifeform they always sought. The Queen’s inner jaw hissed with gratification as her head formed into a thick, crown-like carapace, her skin becoming and exoskeleton, and her blood like that of acid….

In the realm of Ea, there existed a lost age wiped from the memories of even the elves. A great race of ophidian people once held a bright civilization before Morgoth crushed them with his army of corrupted elves, the same who would one day become orcs. Now, those who remain wish retribution against the elves, unable to differentiate between those that survive now and those that wronged them, and they look to Father Set to guide them in their revenge.

***

 

Godzilla sensed danger as Echidna’s mouth glowed with nuclear power. He darted from the path of the blast that came out.
This proved to be a wise move. The blast turned out to be more than mere nuclear fire. As it swept over the cityscape, all the humans who were caught in its path were not vaporized. Instead, their bodies remained as their souls were ripped out. The cone of blue flame sucked these souls into Echidna’s maw. Within the monster’s body, these poor spirits found themselves being savagely attacked and torn at by the angry ghosts that empowered Echidna.
Godzilla knew he would need to avoid Echidna’s front to keep from being hit by this strange attack. Angling himself to his opponent’s side, he launched his own breath attack at her. His breath hit the side of her ribs. Rotting flesh melted away when touched by nuclear fire. She turned at glared at him, seeming to be unhurt by this wound. He would soon learn why, as the wound closed and healed itself, leaving no evidence that it even happened.
Godzilla soon found himself wishing he was facing Mechagodzilla over again.

                                                                       ***

With Maelsa’s spirit at rest, she felt the embrace of her old family. The two women she loved, her daughter, and now both of her grandchildren. With their family restored, Michiru knew what she must do now.

 “Mother Masela, you may already know that I have gained a divine heritage in this new life.” She announced, giving a knowing glance to Silaqui. “And ever since Mother Sekolah returned to me and helped me realize that heritage, I’ve been cultivating that power.”
A sly grin suddenly streaked across Her face.
“And that is why I, too, have been able to sense your presence, Father Gozuryu. And I will not allow you to go down this path any further!”
A glowing aura appeared around Michiru, as her skin tone changed. Her skin was now silvery, and the pupils in Her eyes blazed with spectral white and blue. A giant shark fin grew from Her back.

Michiru was not alone. As the Senshi of Venus, Minako was the reincarnation of the planet’s namesake, and She had also been aware of the Elder God watching them. Venus’ Queen could hardly suppress a cheer as she watched a blue aura encircle Mina, and She transformed, Her hair now the blue of the seas with a dress to match. She took Michiru’s hand.
“Go rip him a new one.” Ikuko whispered to the Guardians of Neptune and Venus.

Silaqui smirked. This was what they were waiting for, and now the Herald could make Her move.

 Let’s open the door now, shall we? She spoke to the One who had been hiding inside Her like a seed.

 Silaqui opened Her being, and a divine light shot forth, coalescing into the form of a Great Shark.

***

 

The Jadzia arrived in Earth’s orbit. There was already a welcoming party. Several Gigans were hovering in their path.
“There are five of him?!” Aquaria exclaimed.

"I recognize Gigan's Showa, Heisei, Legendary, Minus, and even the anime incarnation." Kay commented.
“Umm, what are they doing?” Ukyo Kuonji, the Senshi once known as Sailor Danu, wondered aloud.
Together, the Gigans manifested a crystalline barrier. They all watched as the Gigans used their combined power to surround the entire Earth with this barrier.
“It seems they were prepared for our arrival.” Kay noted.
“I cannot seem to get through that.” The ship’s voice informed them. “Not without Halia’s instrument.”
They muttered in frustration. Halia needed to stay behind on Neptune with her family.
“Can you beam us down?” Kay inquired.
“There is too much interference.” The ship explained. “This barrier is unlike anything documented in our universe.”
Umi gritted his teeth in frustration. An old comrade was down there locked in the fight of his life, and he could do nothing. The aura of failure hung over him again.

***

The ground near the docks nearly shattered from the impact of Godzilla landing upon it as Echidna threw him aside. The collective spirits decided that Godzilla would be more amusing as a toy to toss around rather than simply ripping his soul out.
Godzilla was exhausted and was having trouble not giving out. He had battled many foes throughout the ages, but none with the sort of supernatural power that his mother’s undead form had been imbued with. He was not sure how much longer he could even remain conscious now.
As he struggled not to fade, something flashed across his senses. Blue light flashed from the waters off the coast, and the water churned and bubbled. Maple leaf-shaped spines stuck up from the foam as a dark shape emerged.
Gojira roared defiantly as he approached the shore.

 

***

The path to Oḱeyṃnós, the Serpent Sea, was torn open by powerful jaws and three Goddesses walked strode into Set's realm. Sekolah led the way, Her fin protruding the waters.

 Through the mists, they could see a sinuous shape drifting through the water to greet them. The waters churned, and a dark shape surfaced. Seven pairs of red, blazing eyes glared at them through the fog.

 "One would think you would appreciate my blessings." Set hissed at Michiru. "After all this time, I have answered your prayers. Your loved ones are returned to you, and the first step of divine retribution towards those who wronged you was enacted."

 Michiru sighed and smiled at Him

 "You are correct, to a degree." She told Him. "I have so much to thank you for now, even if I don't stand with your methods. That is why I wish to give you a gift in return."

 A melody came from Sekolah’s jaws, and Set felt two more intruders summoned by the Great Shark.The trap laid out for Him had been set. Lady Sasami and Young Sasami, the spirits of Snake Mother and Tsunami emanating from them, appeared behind Him. He was surrounded. The five Goddesses opened their mouths, and a song like that of a beautiful choir came forth. Set found Himself trapped in place by a force intangible even to Him.

 A strange sensation overtook the Elder God as their power began to course through Him.

***

"The moment of truth arrives." Sailor Galatea whispered as she prepared to piece together a design she had envisioned before Neptune's fall.

Gojira’s lip curled at Echidna before he looked down at his alternate incarnation. Godzilla was barely clinging to life.
It was a wonder to Gojira that Godzilla had spared his life early on despite being an opponent. Such a thing only happened to Gojira once, where his opponent Rodan resurrected him from the brink of death. Now, the feminine voice of Jazirian in his mind compelled him to take a similar action.
Gojira’s body radiated with a blue light, not unlike what he gives off with his nuclear pulse attack. This, however, was no attack. He moved closer to Godzilla, and the blue glow became an aura that enveloped them both.
People across the city had to shield their eyes. The burst of light was almost like a nuclear bomb exploding, something which no human in this world knew anything of.
The light slowly subsided. Those who were not blinded by the burst found themselves gazing upon what they thought was a heavenly being in the place of the two monsters. A saurian-draconic shape stood within the aura. It was the perfect mix of the incarnations of a monster. Its stance and shape were like that of Gojira, with the skin texture and dorsal spines of Godzilla, and it stood the same height as Echidna.
The spirits who dwelled in Echidna’s corpse felt a sudden apprehension. No longer were they facing a monster. It was the hybrid of defender and destroyer. A true God.
Goji blazed with divine fury. A blast of blue flame shot from His jaws and struck true on Echidna. This time, the damage delt by the blast did not regenerate, and the undead beast howled with pain.
Echidna responded by launching her own breath attack. The soul-collective within was not going to toy around this time. They would take Goji’s soul from His body before He could destroy them. Or so they thought. As the soul-stealing flame came to Goji, He grabbed a hold of it as if it were a solid object and held it in place.
Realizing that the attack was not working, Echidna ceased her efforts. Goji stormed towards the undead abomination. Oddly, Echidna did not retaliate. It was as if the soul-collective realized what their fate was about to be and resigned themselves to that.
Goji’s blazing hand reached for Echidna. Instead of grabbing a hold of her physically, His hand seemed to pass through her body. As it did, it caught hold of a swirl of dark blue energy. The soul-collective cried as they were ripped out of Echidna’s body. He continued to glare at them as they whimpered in His grasp.

Sailor Galatea fell to her knees and gave a sigh of relief.

***

“Urgh, what are you doing?!” Set hissed at the five Goddesses surrounding Him as they continued working their divine magic on Him.

Set did not like the feeling that was overtaking Him as His two darkest head-aspects burned away to ash. It was a feeling He found abominable. It was….peace.

***

The Jadzia remained hovering outside Earth’s orbit. The crew pondered what they could do to get past the barrier erected by the Gigans. They tried phasers and photon torpedoes, but the barrier would not crack.
“Kay, I detect another ship dropping out of warp.” Jadzia’s voice announced.
The arriving ship was of a design they recognized. The flagship of the Zigran Empire pulled up beside the Jadzia, its immense size dwarfing the Enterprise's offspring.
"Greetings, puny humanoids." The voice of Queen Zigra chimed in over Jadzia's com. "You appear to require a little aid, and we have with us a lost friend of yours who is eager to provide." 

 On the viewing screen, Jadzia's crew watched a gigantic hatch in the Zigran ship's hull open, and an equally gigantic form lunged out into the void. Hearts filled with joy at the sight of an animated, blue-scaled kaiju with a body, tail, and spines similar to Godzilla, but with the head of a great white shark. The last of Neptune's five Sea Kings had finally arrived.

 "Sharkjira." Aquaria said happily.

 "He always preferred Nanaue, the name the ancients of his Earth called him." Apatty humorously corrected her.

 A sly grin spread across Umi's face.

 "Jadzia, there is somewhere I need you to beam me....." He instructed the ship.

 The crew watched as the Gojira Shark descended through space towards Earth. In an instant, they saw a tiny figure transported on the shark kaiju's back. Sharkjira looked back, noting his comrade's presence and nodding. Sharkjira and Umi grinned savagely as Sharkjira's sped up his descent to Earth. The animated Gigan panicked as he watched Sharkjira come at him. The two of them had a history of enmity in their home universe, but Anime Gigan did not expect to see his foe here. 

 Shakjira smashed through Anime Gigan's section of the barrier and grabbed his foe, latching his jaws on the cyborg's neck. This was enough to cause the other Gigans to falter.

 "They have done it." Jadzia announced. "The barrier has weakened to the point where we may be able to break through."

 "Alright, then, lock all weapons on the barrier and fire!" Kay commanded.

***

Thulsa Doom stood quietly as he watched the cumulation of his work crash and burn. Goji was holding the soul-collective of the mahoraga and Neptunian-Venusian peoples, as if He was deciding what to do with them.
Standing behind him in the crumbling temple, his mahoraga followers looked on in despair. Those were the souls of their families and ancestors who were being held in the God-monster’s grasp. What would He do to them?
“Is this what you have wanted all these centuries, Gav’rel?” A voice questioned him. “You have brought suffering and anguish to the very souls you wished to avenge.”
Thulsa Doom did not look behind him as the young man who bore the name he had long given himself approached him. There must be some manner of divine intervention at play if Thulsa could reach Valusia from Mu so quickly. Doom shook his head.
“What your surrogate mothers achieved in Mu was noble and miraculous.” Doom told him. “But, like most miracles, one should not expect it to happen twice. What was achieved in Mu will never work here in Valusia, as the humans of this land thirst for serpentfolk blood in a way that people in the far east never truly have.”
The young Thulsa pondered the necromancer’s words. He was not sure if the ancient one was correct in his beliefs or not. With his own experiences in his former homeland, he could see why one would consider the situation hopeless.
“Perhaps the humans of Valusia will never see the light.” Young Thulsa decided. “But I assure you that if they do not, it will be them that fall to extinction, and they shall do so by their own hands. You do not need to torment the souls of the past to bring retribution, nor should you continue taking the serpentfolk in these lands down this dark path.”
“The Great Serpent sent you here, didn’t She?” Doom inquired.
“Indeed.”
Both of them pondered the significance of Young Thulsa being the one to speak to his namesake, as Snake Mother did not offer the younger man an explanation before sending him. Maybe it was a chance for both to get some closure, and maybe there was something poetic in the idea of Thulsa Doom being talked down from darkness by one who inherited his name.
“When you traveled to Neptune in my mother’s universe, what was your reason for doing so?” Young Thulsa inquired.
“Even before I witnessed Shahmaran’s murder at the hands of my liege, I yearned for someone. I believe all intelligent beings in the multiverse have. We do not know Her name, but we long for Her in our souls. It is a feeling both abstract and powerful. At times, I swore I could even see Her in my dreams, though the true sight of Her was just out of reach.
“When Shahmaran was murdered before my eyes, it jaded me, and nearly turned me away from that One I yearned for. But years into my growing crusade to aid the mahoraga, the visions of Her came to me again. This time something slightly more concrete came to me in my dreams. I saw a strange version of the world of Yaksh that I did not recognize, and something whispered to me that the Key to finding that One would be found in this world in the form of child from the union of princesses from Suadela and Yaksh. I even felt some hint that finding the One would help me save the serpentfolk somehow.
“With the aid of Father Yig, I traveled to “Neptune” to find this Key, but with the caveat that the Planet of Blood and Fire would try to murder her soon. Obviously, I was too late, and the means by which Ares tried to kill Princess Halia was infinitely more catastrophic than I anticipated. Because I was so close to Halia and Neptune’s magic, I thought I could summon the One from whatever distant realm She resides to save Masela and her people, but could not.”
Young Thulsa found it odd that his namesake would go to such extreme and outrageous lengths to seek something or someone so vague. Yet, such was the nature of faith in many men and women.
“Mu is a land where both serpentfolk and humans are welcome and treated as equals.” Young Thulsa went on, seeing if he could offer something to grant his namesake some peace. “If serpentfolk cannot find peace and sanctuary here, I can guarantee they will be safe in Mu.”
It wasn’t what the ancient necromancer wished to hear. He wanted the Valusian mahoraga to be safe in their own ancestral lands, not to have to flee elsewhere. But he realized that would very well be what they would need to do in the near future.
Without giving an answer, he returned his focus to Goji, hoping He would spare the souls of the serpentfolk in his grasp. The churning waters announcing new arrivals caught his attention.

***

 

Two titanic forms rose from the waters and moved up towards Goji. Bronto Thunder and Ichy, both still in their kaiju forms, were both more than a little amazed at what they saw, not only the new form their comrade took, but how He managed to hold non-corporeal beings in his hand. They could not help but feel pity for the crying spirits.
Two more individuals appeared out of thin air. After the Gigans in orbit had fled, Umi and Nanaue, the latter having freed his rival from his jaws, were beamed down to the location of their fellows and viewed the scene.  Bron and Ichy returned to their normal sizes to meet Umi as Goji and Nanaue towered above them.
"Sorry we're late to the party." Umi told the others.
The five of them pondered the spirits in Goji's grasp.
“Now, that we have them, we need to find a way to put their suffering at ease.” Ichy insisted.
“We can give them proper purification.” Umi told them. “I hope they will be able to rest, then.”
Goji peered back at the one whose spirit did not get torn out with the others. Echidna looked up at her offspring. She gave him a peaceful look as if to say “thank you” before her flesh withered away, leaving only a skeleton once more.

***

 

Set lay in the waters of His realm, more defeated than He had ever felt even at the hands of some of the greatest heroes. Two of His heads, Apep and Niddhogr, had fallen away to ash in the water. Set’s five remaining pairs of eyes, having gone from red to a brilliant shade of sapphire blue, looked up a to see the five beautiful Goddesses smiling down at Him.

“Do you feel any different now?” Tsunami inquired, trying to withhold a playful giggle.
He hated to admit it, but He did. He still had many of the same drives and desires as before, one desire in particular, but His views of existence felt different. He could suddenly see that all He had done to achieve His desires would never allow Him to do so. Evil would get Him nowhere.
“What would you all have me do now?” The Serpent God grumbled. "I do not know what to do with these thoughts and emotions you have flooded my soul with."
“Since you had been trying to spread your influence throughout the multiverse, you now have the opportunity to show the peoples of these universes your benevolence.” Snake Mother proposed with a smirk. "And maybe you should try and make some peace with your sister, Gaea."

 Michiru walked to Set and placed Her hands on His middle head.

“Thank you for always listening, Gozuryu." She whispered to Him.
They gazed into one another's eyes. To see the eyes of the girl whose prayers had always somehow reached him in his prison dimension. The face behind the voice that had reached into Him in a way that not even the ancient serpentfolk of His Earth could. She who drew Him to shake the foundations of the Multiverse in ways He never realized He could.

 "Please be at peace with those whom you love." He finally found the tongue to say. "Do not let all this be for nothing."

 Michiru understood. The Elder God had at last betrayed His reasons behind all of this.

 "When you are ready, I will share that with you." She promised.

 With Michiru's farewell, Set watched Her and the other Goddesses leave His dimension. He saw Minako place a hand on Her shoulder as the five of them disappeared, leaving Him to contemplate His future.

 And they left the door to my prison wide open......

Notes:

The Sharkjira character originates from the game Hungry Shark, but the idea to name him Nanaue comes from Vincentmarucut10292: https://www.deviantart.com/vincentmarucut10292/art/Monsterverse-NEO-Nanaue-1077091642

Chapter 16

Silaqui sighed in relief, having watched the scene through Her Mistress’ eyes. The others felt it too.

“They did it, my love.” Ikuko whispered to Maelsa as she and Tai held the spirit close to them. “Our girls saved the day.”

“We’ll finally be able to go home.” Tai told her.

 

                                                                                  ***

 

“You are beautiful, my princess.” The ghost of Mu’s ancient Ugajin told Jaziria. “You are everything I have dreamed of seeing in the ages of my existence.”

 “And there are many more like her, Mother.” Soma said joyfully.

 Shamaran’s emotions as she hovered before her daughter and granddaughter were bittersweet.

 “Everything we have ever worked for has been born, and yet I cannot even…..”

 Jaziria reached out and took Shamaran’s hand. The spirit gasped.

 “You can touch me?”

 “Mmm hmm.” The girl answered. “And I can help make sure you get to see all your dreams come alive.”

 Jaziria’s birthmark was aglow once more.

***

In the heavens, Lady Sasami and Young Sasami stood beside two younger girls. They had both long since completed their blending with Snake Mother and Tsunami with the guidance of daughters that had visited from the future along with their lover. And before those future daughters returned to their time, they would help both women raise the firstborn daughters they shared with each other, both of whom were nearly of age now.

"Are we all ready?" Young Sasami asked.

"I...I think so..." Purple-haired Shaorin, Young Sasami's birth child answered timidly. 

"I sure am!" Samma, Lady Sasami's daughter who bore silver-blue hair and a similarly colored serpent tail, proudly declared.

"Well, then, let's give Mama Michiru and Sister Mina the gift we promised." Lady Sasami told them. 

The facial markings on Lady Sasami and Young Sasami lit up when they clasped hands, as did the marking of a crescent moon on Shaorin's forehead and a serpent marking over Samma's eye.

***

Another gathering of five appeared at Mu’s shores, the same location where Michiru first met Soma. The 5 Sea Kings stood in a circle as Goji released the soul collective from His grasp. With them was Sailor Ceto, a live-action woman with raven-black hair and a glowing blue aura surrounding her, and her lover, a blonde with green eyes named Sailor Psamathe.
The warriors of Queen Neptune gathered their own collective spiritual powers granted by the spirit of Planet Neptune Herself, and Ceto held Psamthe's hands as she channeled her own natural ability to collect and disperse souls.

***

The souls of the ancient mahoraga and Neptunian-Venusian peoples calmed their cries. For the first time in their afterlives, they all felt a sense of peace. As the Neptunian-Venusian souls ascended to the heavens, the souls of the mahoraga spread out across the globe and descended into the soil, plants and waters of, becoming one with the spirit of the Earth. Even the human souls that Echidna had ripped out were free to find peace.
“They will finally be able to rest and watch over their descendants” Umi said happily.

                                                                             ***

 

Maesla felt a soft hand touch her shoulder. Michiru, Mina, and Sekolah returned from Set’s realm, Sekolah embracing Her mate and Herald. With her daughter’s touch, the Queen of Neptune felt a change overtake her.

They all saw it. Maesla went from a dim specter to a luminous spirit being whose radiance brightened the entire temple and invoked bows of reverence from the fungal beings that populated it. All present knew that true divinity had just awakened.

 

***

Soma clasped hands with Shahmaran as they felt the power course through them both. A power that linked them together in more than mind.

"Soma...."

"It is okay, Mother."

The two of them felt their spirits join. As the ancient Ugajin ascended to become the kami guardian of Mu, Her daughter would become the vessel to channel Her divine power.

 We will never be parted again.

***

Back on Earth in Michiru and Minako’s universe, Usagi felt a warmth within herself that she rarely felt. The Silver Crystal was alight.
“Neptune…..Venus…..”

 

***

Michiru and Minako embraced the family they once lost, including one they had never gotten a chance to know.

"You're adorable as fuck, kid." Minako told Halia, wiping a tear away. "I'm proud to say that you get it from your moms."

Halia relished her mother's voice as she nuzzled closer to Mina and Michiru.

“I wish I could stay with you a little bit longer.” Halia wept while she felt the embrace of her mothers. “To leave you both so soon….”

“I think we all feel the same way right now.” Ikuko said.

They held on for as long as they could, but the time came for them to go their separate ways. Ikuko looked into Michiru’s eyes one last time before they shared a kiss like in ancient times, Ikuko whispering a final "I love you, always" in Michiru's ear after their lips parted. Then, Ikuko joined hands with Maesla and Halia with Tai beside them, who nodded a silent “thank you” to Silaqui and Sekolah.

But Michiru had something more to say.

“Halia, before you all leave, there is something I wish for you to have….”

 

                                                                            ***

 

The Yorokobi Pearl felt their touch. Those that had been lost to her for so long. Her people. And now their cries were not those of anguish, but of elation.
“You need not suffer anymore.” The Pearl heard her queen call to her. “None of us do.”
Ikuko’s presence in Pontia Palace was like a spark, igniting a spirit once lost. Ikuko sung an ancient song, and the worn-out stones of its structure healed as if built anew, and the fountains and springs flowed with sparkling water once more.

 

                                                                             ***

 

The distant song of Venus' Queen reverberated was heard upon faraway Planet Neptune. And with Pontia's song came the melody of a familiar violin. As Marine Cathedrale played, the Blue Planet's lost princess felt the spirits of Neptune's people dance around her. Masela’s kami-spirit joined with the planet, what was long dead awoke with new life.

The blue clouds of Neptune joined the spirits in their dance, and the planet swirled with new life. Masela saw the spirits of the Senshi She loved in life return to Her.

They were not alone. The Neptunian Senshi who survived the ancient catastrophe felt their powers return to them once more in their home universes. The long-vanished moons, including Nesirie's beloved Moon Bunzi, returned to their place in the sky while the other moons began their healing process. Kay Grayson’s Sailor Larissa outfit manifested aboard a rather pleased Jadzia. Apatty Saurus became Sailor Bunzi again before her daughters. Ms. Stay Puft transformed into Sailor Nammu in front of the stunned onlookers outside the Crown Game Center. And Sailor Galatea returned to her post, laying Echidna's skeleton to rest once more in her moon's shrine.

The song of Nepune and Venus finished, and Halia opened her eyes. She held her hand to her chest as she watched Tai become Sailor Mare once more before Masela took her in Her arms. The two of them floated about Neptune’s mists, dancing and laughing the whole way.

Halia felt Lilica's hand clasp hers. The watched as the uniform of Sailor Sao manifested on her. The Guardian of Sao had been among those that perished when Neptune fell, but she had not become a lost spirit like so many of the Queendom's people. Like Nesirie, Naderi, Serenity, and others, Sao had been reincarnated as a human girl named Lilica Hubert on Earth and was one of the first of those who Halia had found, and something about hearing Halia play her moselle during their adventures captured Lilica's heart.

They pulled each other close as the marine waterways swelled with water once more, and the presence of the Ten Thousand Serpent coiling through the channels signaled the return of Triton Castle's lifeblood.

 

                                                                             ***

 

“Mom….” Usagi whispered with a tear in her eye as she held her family close.

She, Chibiusa, Genji, and Shingo watched from Lunar Command Centre as Planet Venus transformed. Not since an age forgotten by most of humanity had anyone seen what they watched now. The dull yellow clouds of the Second Planet turned into brilliant blue.

The group watched life return not only to Pontia Palace, but the whole of Venus. The temperatures cooled to what life on Earth could survive in. Oceans, rivers, and lakes formed all over the world, and luscious vegetation began to grow. Usagi could swear she heard the calls of animal life spring among the trees and bushes.

The screens showed the image of Ikuko standing the heart of Pontia Palace, the freed spirits of Venus’ people dancing in delight among the restored waters around her as she sang. With the circle-cross symbol of planet Venus alight on her forehead, Ikuko’s face turned direction until it appeared she was watching her family on Earth through the screen, and when she smiled, they knew it was for them.

My caretaker in the Silver Millennum and my dear Mom in this life, I know we will be together again someday. Usagi knew in her heart. There will be a new Silver Millennium someday, and we’ll all be as one again.

 

 

                                                                            ***

Astronomers would speak of it for centuries to come. This day when the alignments of the planets they had always known through written history were altered forever.

Planet Venus’ clouds took on a beautiful shade of blue. And observations from NASA discovered never before detected signs of life on its surface.

Even more shocking was what happened to Neptune. It suddenly vanished from its place beyond Uranus and instantly reappeared in the space of the Asteroid Belt. They would spend the next few years studying its gravitational effects on the planets and celestial bodies around it.

After the battle between Gojira and Godzilla in Tokyo, this was the next cosmos-shattering sign to the people on Earth that their lives would never be the same.

 

                                                                              ***

 

The 5 Sea Kings stood before Empress Michiru and Ugajin Soma outside their palace, with Goji and Greater Nanaue towering over them all. Because life was returning to Neptune in Michiru’s universe, the knights had to return to Masela’s service. So, this was a goodbye, even if only a temporary one.

"I'm so happy I got to see you and Mama 'Patty again, even if you couldn't stay for too long." Michiru said as She embraced Bron.

"Hopefully, we won't be away for too long." He told Her, trying not to get choked up. "I...."

Michiru knew the big 'ol softy was about to bawl his eyes out. She looked him firmly in the eyes.

"Hey now, you have a new princess of Neptune to look after." She declared. "I need you to watch over my Halia the way you always watched over me."

She looked to the other Sea Kings.

"All of you."

The all bowed to Her, the shadows of Goji and Nanaue shifting above the palace. She turned Her attention to one in their number. The one who She could see bowed out of a sense of shame.
"I'm sorry I didn't quite make it in time to join the fight." Umi told Her, sensing Her gaze upon him. "I guess I haven't lived up to my duties in this age, either."
Michiru smiled at him. It was a look of perfect understanding.
"You know that I would never measure your worth by how you fight in battle." She assured him. "You have always been a dear friend who has supported us in the direst of times, and that's all I would ever ask of you."
Neptune's Princess embraced the knight.

 "And my gratitude for staying by my side on that day is endless." She whispered.

 Kaiyo closed his eyes. Of the Ri no Kaoi-ru Eigo, only he had perished on that day of Neptune's destruction. He had helped Nesirie and Naderi escape, but at the cost of his own life. He considered it his penance for his failure to prevent Nesirie's trauma. If it had been up to him, he would have remained dead, but somewhere in the back of his mind he felt that call from One in the Warp who whispered promises of vengeance, and knew He would not allow him to die just yet.

 Michiru pulled back a bit and took another look at her knight. Her lip curled with slight amusement.

“You look different in this age, Kaiyo.” Michiru told Umi. “Without your green skin I couldn’t quite recognize you when you approached me in the record store, though I had a sense I knew you somehow.”
“Yeah, too bad we were, ahem, interrupted.” Umi responded.
500 years later, Michiru still fumed over the way Haruka would bully Michiru’s fans whenever she saw them approach Her.
Michiru then gave the knight a warm hug.
“Take good care of Planet Neptune, brave knight.”
“I will, Princess.”
‘After I take care of some unfinished family business.’ He thought to himself.
As they let go of each other’s embrace, the five knights vanished in the air, Goji nodded to the Earth, a quiet signal to Ga'Zira, His counterpart slumbering beneath Mu in this universe.The sunlight filled the area the shadows of Goji and Nanaue disappeared. Michiru and Soma did not notice the look Bron towards two women who were walking up to Michiru, a look of an unspoken “goodbye.”
Sekolah, Silaqui, Minako, and two generations of Sasamis all stepped up beside the two queens, and Michiru pondered the new situation. The two Sasamis, along with former queen Misaki Jurai and her new wife, Kiyone, decided they wished to stay in Mu with Michiru and Soma. And it seemed like it was a permanent arrangement this time around. There were a lot of emotions from the past they needed to work out here with Michiru and Soma. Michiru wondered what it would be like to live with two incarnations of Snake Mother, but in the end, She had no problem with it.

Mina was lost in thoughts about the past and the future when She felt the embrace of tiny arms. She looked down to see the sapphire eyes of Jaziria looking up at Her with that bright smile.

"You did good, Sister-Mommy!" Jaziria declared proudly.

Mina felt a hand on Her shoulder and met the gaze of Michiru. It was looking at that serene smile in that moment that She realized that, this time, She didn't fail those who mattered most.

"Mama..." Mina whispered, just enough for Michiru and one other to hear. 

Michiru embraced Mina, and Mina soon felt the arms of Soma joining in on the group hug. Mina cried tears of happiness as Michiru kissed Her on the cheek and Soma gave Her those affectionate licks with the forked tongue the Goddess of Love came to adore so much.

***

 

Halia stood before the original Deep Aqua Mirror. The instrument she now held was not the Neptunian moselle, but violin which was the final heirloom from her mother.

Taian moved up beside her. She readied her cello like Halia readied her new violin.

“I don’t know if I can do this, Grandma.” The new princess said anxiously.
“I don’t know if we’ll succeed, either, but I’ll try and help.”
Halia took a deep breath. She ran the bow over her violin while Tai did the same with her cello. In a display not seen in ages, the Deep Aqua Mirror began to light up. The light was dim at first but gained in intensity. They were doing something most would find impossible. Calling out to One who existed far beyond known time and space. Halia had to reach Her. She promised her loved ones that much.
It seemed like forever, and they both felt the strain, but Halia eventually smiled as she sensed a response, and the trident symbol of Neptune lit up on her forehead.

***

Thusla Doom stood in the ruins of the Great Serpent’s temple and waited. It was a paradox. He knew what waited for, and at the same time did not know.
There was a reason why Neptune was at the intersection of a greater multiverse. Neptune, in all universes, was the Planet of Inspiration. The world where the spirit of imagination flourished. The various universes in existence were born from the dreams of many other universes. They came from the stories, myths, and folktales intelligent beings told one another through the ages. They were the realms of peoples’ imaginations, and Neptune was connected to them all.
That is who She was. She was Imagination itself. All sentient beings longed for Her to give provide that spark for their dreams to flourish. And in this barbaric world, someone like him needed those dreams. And it was She who could restore the beauty to all that Shornaal taints.
After a long wait, an old feeling came to him. An instinct telling him of a presence. At last, She called to him once more. Something was different this time. Somehow, there was more substance to Her call than there had ever been for him before. And the call became more intense.
Shivers ran through his soul as an image appeared in his mind. A woman of untold beauty, surrounded by the waters of primordial Creation. And a realization struck him as he took in Her form. This beauty of his longing was the perfect mix of Michiru, Tsunami, and Snake Mother. Could She be….?
Release finally came to him. He knew his time had come, having passed on leadership of Valusia’s serpentfolk to his namesake. A final vision of Soma reunited with her mother's spirit formed in his mind granting Gav’rel a final sense of peace as his skeletal body crumbled to dust and his spirit left for a realm that all dream of.

***

 

Halia sighed as she resigned herself from her task. She took a long look at Masela's old throne. The role she was going to play now was unlike any she had ever had to do in her life, but Neptune Reborn needed its new monarch. As she marched toward the throne, she felt somebody walking up behind her.
"That's a pretty big job for just one girl to take on." A girl's voice called out to her.

 She turned to see five girls younger than her all smiling at her. She recognized their physical features as bearing a strong resemblance to her birth mother. The snake tails coming out on their backsides and the great white shark fins on their backs confirmed it. She understood she was in the presence of a family she was meeting for the first time and returned their warm smile. The girl at the lead, who resembled a perfect mix of Michiru, Lady Sasami, and Tsunami, but with blue skin and equally blue hair, approached Halia, and tipped the witch hat she wore to her.

 "It's nice to meet you, sister." Ranni greeted her.

 Halia held the sides of her dress and responded with a formal bow.

 "I'm happy to meet all of you as well." She told them.

 The girls that appeared before her were about age five. She understood that they came from a time that was, to her, the future. She knew the various universes did not flow in the same timestream.

 "We thought you could use our help." Sumi, a girl with blue hair that matched Planet Neptune, blue eyes and alabaster skin like Lady Sasami, but with the younger Sasami's more delicate facial features, spoke up.

 "Plus, the care of Neptune is our sacred birthright as well." Sumi added.

 Halia looked the other three over. A girl with skin whiter than snow, frosty blue hair and matching eyes. Kubo. A girl with flowing pale hair and striking blue eyes that reminded Halia of her birth mother's. Mylene. That face was like her birth mother's, with the alabaster skin of Lady Sasami and sky-blue hair. Kaicho. The last girl who held the old stuffed brontosaur in Her arms made Halia gasp. Though She was merely a child, unlike the shapely woman in Halia's dream visions, Halia still knew Her.  Gav’rel would have recognized Her as well had his vision of Her not been his last in the mortal world.

 Sozo Hime's bright smile and brilliant marine-blue eyes reflected the dreams of all.

 

***


"OH GOD YES!" Mrs. Aino shouted she rode the young gigolo in reverse on their bed. "I’M ACTUALLY SATISFIED FOR ONCE!!!"

She momentarily paused.

"Wait, all of a sudden I feel I'm forgetting something." She wondered aloud.

Muffled sounds came from Mr. Aino while he sat handcuffed to the chair on the other side of the hotel room. Through the ball gag in his mouth, he attempted to remind his wife that Mina hadn’t been seen in several weeks, but it was to no avail.

"Ah, I'd probably remember if it were something important." She decided before she resumed waiving a cowgirl hat in the air. "YEE HAW!!!!"

 

Thomas Bergersen - One Last Day

Chapter 17

Finale

A sea of flames lit up the Tokyo night as Gojira and Godzilla fought.
“Are you sure this is a good idea, Small Lady?” Diana called out to Chibiusa as the girl ran ahead. “This could change the timeline!”
“The timeline has already been altered a lot!” Chibiusa shouted back. “And if we don’t save her now, I won’t exist!”

***

“Come on, we need to get out of here!” Naru Osaka cried out to her mother and sister.
Her panic intensified. The explosions, the crashing noises, and the roars of the battling monsters getting closer.
Her mother, Mayumi, finally came out from the back of their family’s jewelry store, having collected the money she felt they would need after evacuating. Naru’s sister, Naruru, was close behind.
Naru took Naruru’s hand and the three of them rushed out of the store. Their blood froze the moment they walked out the door.
“Oh….god….” Mayumi whispered.

The three of them barely got out a scream as a massive chunk of a distant structure that was flung through the air with a hit of Gojira's tail smashed into the top of OSA-P, sending debris downward.

                                                                                 ***

“Mom? Naruru?” She cried out to them desperately.
Nothing.
“Somebody help me!” She screamed and cried in desperation.
She did not expect what happened next. Her screams caused the rubble to fly apart as if slapped aside by an unseen hand. She finally saw her family, though what she saw did not fill her with any hope. It looked as though they had been crushed and were unlikely to still be alive.
“Naru?!”
A grieving Naru looked up to see Chibiusa, the odd girl who Usagi claimed was a cousin. Chibiusa ran to Naru’s side.
“Why did mom have to go back for that money?!” Naru finally screamed. “We could have gotten away from here so much sooner!!”
Chibiusa embraced Naru, trying her best to comfort her. There was something about the girl’s embrace that Naru found odd. The loving manner in which Chibiusa embraced her seemed like the embrace one would give to a dear family member. And then there was what Naru sensed within the girl as she embraced her.
“We need to go now.” Chibiusa told her.
“No! I want to look at them one more time!”
Despite her injuries, Naru managed to make her way to her mother and sister’s bodies. She collapsed to her knees, and the tears fell.
The first teardrop hit, and the ground beneath them lit up with a green glow. As if she did not notice this, Naru’s tears continued to flow.
“Oh, wow, she’s awakening early!” Diana noted, running up beside Chibiusa.
As the glow from the Earth intensified, the grievous wounds Mayumi and Naruru bore began to mend. Their broken bodies were quickly restored.
Their eyes opened. Naru came back to her senses when she saw her mother and sister moving again. She had no idea what just happened, but her gratitude knew no measure.
“What’s going on?” A bewildered Naru wondered.
Chibiusa leaned down to Naru and hugged her again.

As they embraced, Naru felt something within Chibiusa she could not immediately explain.

I feel Usagi’s life…..mixed with my own in her.
“Come on, we need to get out of here.” The pink-haired girl said.

                                                                            ***

 

The wreckage of the Hikawa Shrine still smoldered long after the fires had subsided. Rei stood at its heart, whispering a silent prayer and incantation in the hopes she could purify her grandfather’s spirit and help him pass on. It was all she could think of doing now.

The red shield-spear symbol of Mars lit up on her forehead. She could almost touch the spirit realms now.

Then, she was struck cold and fell to the ground. A vision entered her mind, one so intense that it was like being hit by a bus.

She saw two women. In two separate lives, she called each of these women “Mother”. She saw the ancient Queen of Mars suddenly burn in fire, and then Risa Hino crumbled to dust.

It was not so much a voice that spoke to her, but a strange instinct compelling her onward. From the Sea of Dreams, it whispered promises of vengeance.

The glowing symbol of Planet Mars shattered like glass, and the symbol of a black and white grinning skull imprinted itself on her abdomen....

                                                                          ***

                                                                                        
King Namor of Atlantis smirked as his old nemesis approached the throne outside his palace. The young man had the audacity to walk into Atlantis' Royal Palace unannounced like he owned the place, and Namor admired his gall. The Serpent Crown rested in the man's hands. Lady Dorma sat by her king's side, less amused and more alarmed. They knew this man, but he appeared in a different form than when Namor vanquished him and his family.
The man brought with him what appeared to be an army, albeit a rather unusual one for Lemurian aristocracy. The man led legions of strange fungoid creatures. Namor would learn that they were the denizens of Neptune in another universe.
“This is a rather bold move, son of Llyra.” Namor told the young man. “And I’m interested to know how you transformed into what surface dwellers call a ‘cartoon.’”
“And with Father Set's intervention, I have reclaimed my old identity and left my newer one behind.” Kaiyo explained. “Now, I come to you with a boon.”
“I will listen.” Namor answered.
“Since you vanquished my family and banished us to another universe, I had, of course, thirsted for vengeance. However, becoming one of Queen Masela’s knights had shown me a much different path in life. Even our God, Father Set, has seen that light.”
Kaiyo paused to let Namor ponder his words.
“Therefore, I come to Atlantis not to make war, but to make peace. I wish for our two nations to form an alliance.”
Namor scratched his chin.
“It sounds as if there is a specific purpose for this alliance. Speak up.”
Kaiyo grinned. Strange whispers from an unknown source were heard all around them. Then, the Serpent Crown in Kaiyo's hands crumbled, and the spectral image of an emerald serpent manifested above them all.

Great Set hissed His new designs to the Atlantean King.

 

***


"OH GOD YES!" Mrs. Aino shouted she rode the young gigolo in reverse on their bed. "I’M ACTUALLY SATISFIED FOR ONCE!!!"

She momentarily paused.

"Wait, all of a sudden I feel I'm forgetting something." She wondered aloud.

Muffled sounds came from Mr. Aino while he sat handcuffed to the chair on the other side of the hotel room. Through the ball gag in his mouth, he attempted to remind his wife that Mina hadn’t been seen in several weeks and the even greater concern for her after Gojira's attack, but it was to no avail.

"Ah, I'd probably remember if it were something important." She decided before she resumed waiving a cowgirl hat in the air. "YEE HAW!!!!"

 

END

 

Chibiusa and Naru's story continues in the "Lunar Spirt" saga! Lunar Spirit - Jaziria25 - 

Makoto Kino has her own story to tell after all this. Planet of Faith: Manga - Chapter 1 - Jaziria25 - Multifandom [Archive of Our Own] 

Rei Hino's story continues in the "Fury of the Red Planet" series. Fury of the Red Planet - Jaziria25 - 

Series this work belongs to:

• Part 2 of Neptune's Tsunami