Summary: Aftermath of the rescue; Taiki heals, sort of, and Lun@ copes, sort of. Others struggle to catch up, and Cassima screws with history.
Author's notes: 1) In chess, the player of the "black" side moves second. 2) I borrowed "the Great Destroyer" from Duo of Gundam Wing.
Website: The Scribs: Home of the Insane Fanfiction Writer Cassima
"I have two words that'll make it all better: Miniature golf."
--The Mayor, BtVS
She awoke to find herself in a surprisingly bright--well, for night--open room, lying on a pad covered with a blanket. She blinked a few times. What kind of magic was this? Sitting up, she winced in pain and grabbed her spinning head. "Oh," she groaned unhappily.
"Lun@, try not to move," Oz told her, pushing her shoulders back onto the pad.
"Where am I?" she mumbled, trying to resist but failing. Her throat tickled, so she coughed a few times.
"We brought you back to Rei's temple," he told her, going over to a pitcher on the table and pouring her a glass of water.
"You're in the States," she told him as he set the pitcher back down and turned.
"That would be a wild trip, but no, I arrived yesterday. Drink this." He helped her into a position raised enough for her to drink without choking.
"Where--?" she asked.
"Buffy's sleeping," he told her, putting the glass to her lips. "Tiny sips, the doc said. I brought enough jet lag to fill a small house, so I volunteered to stay with you for a while." He pulled the glass back. "Done?"
She nodded a little and allowed herself to be lowered, but when he tried to stand, she held onto his sleeve tightly. "That girl...?"
"The one in the cell with you? She's back with--well, as far as I understand, back with her family. Let me tell you, I have got to brush up on my Japanese." He tried to pull back, but she didn't let go of his arm.
Closing her eyes, she muttered something almost chant-like, and then said something in Japanese.
"I'm sorry, what?" he asked, confused.
Her brow creased with concentration and frustration, and she re-doubled her efforts. Finally, her eyes opened, and Oz wondered if that was a tear he saw in her eye. "It's not working." She bit her lip. "I just... just have to force it."
"That's enough forcing for now," he said, extracting himself. "We can play Jedi later."
"Right," she whispered. "Later." While dropping back into sleep, she casually wondered if she had ever heard Oz speak so much in a conversation before.
"Are you in any pain?" he asked again, fidgiting. "Can I get you some tea, or some food, or a hot water bottle--anything?"
"Yaten, I'm fine," Taiki said patiently. "I have everything I need." She directed a bright smile--uncharacteristic for the normally serious girl--and squeezed his hand. "I'm just happy to have my sisters back. I thought you were dead. I thought they killed you both, and the Princess. Is she--?"
"Princess Kakyuu is safe," Yaten assured her. "We thought that you were--Oh, Taiki, it's good to have you back!"
She nodded. "I feel strange, being on Earth, out of uniform, and--female."
"You can change later. I want to have Dr. Scully take another look at you, first."
She rolled her eyes. "Bossy as ever, Yaten." She sobered quickly, though, and one of her long hands pressed to the wound on her ribs she had recieved during one of the fights during their escape. "You and Seiya--haven't changed a bit."
"Taiki!" Yaten yelped, and helped her lie down. Her face was ashen! "Are you alright? Should I go get--"
"I'm fine," she replied, a bit stiffly. "I just need to lie down for a while."
"Go to sleep," Yaten said. "It's late, and you need your rest. Either Seiya or I will be here when you wake up."
She hurt, all over. Her skin was pale, more so than normal, and there was a smooth, long cut running from her right eye down to her chin. She ghosted the edge of the purple-red line with her fingertips, watching how it just cut down, through her cheek, through where her silly freckles had once splattered, veering away from her nose, through the black-blue bruises that clouded her skin--as if it were the most important part of her. It just cleaved her face, carved it.
She tore her gaze from the mirror to look at her hands, her arms--cut and bruised, everywhere she looked.
She was ugly.
"I am ugly," she said to the mirror, hating to look but unable to pull herself away.
It was so. She had almost betrayed the world--almost told a vampire, of all the creatures to tell!--the true identity of Sailor Moon. She would have, if not for the girl in chains. If not for their water dish. Some angel she was... Some Guardian.
Some Death.
She rested her hands above the edge of the sink, not touching the clean, white porceline. Who am I? she wondered, and how do I live with myself?
"It looks fine, Taiki," the petite, red-haired woman told her as she re-wrapped the deep slice on her ribs. "No signs of infection yet, but you have to keep it clean and dry." She sat down next to her patient on the bed. "Now, as for this--'changing' thing, I don't know anything about it. Are you sure it's safe? You're still a teenager, and your body is still growing. All those fluxuating hormones can't be healthy."
"I've never had any problems before, Dr. Scully," Taiki said. "And, as you can see, it's hardly stunted my growth."
Scully nodded in reluctance. The girl was taller than both her brothers. "Well, go ahead if you really want to, but I'm going to keep an eye on your progress. If this--change causes more pain, however, I want you to change back. Okay?"
Taiki nodded. "Perfectly reasonable, Doctor."
The FBI agent leaned forward. "If you don't mind me asking, though--how does it work?"
Taiki smiled. "I'll show you." Taking a deep breath, she allowed her body to shift, feeling certain flesh retract and move, things shift, until she opened her eyes and found herself a man again.
Ironic that the talent that had gotten the Sailor Starlights banished from their kingdom was the same talent that made them feel so comfortable on Earth. This androgynous body that gave them a form for every occasion was the same that helped Sailor Moon save the universe--
But men could not be Sailor senshi.
At a sudden poke in the chest, he broke from his thoughts and looked down to see a very confused Scully. "They're gone," he told her, more than a little amused.
She pulled away and blushed. "I'm sorry, it's just that--that's not possible! I mean, they were real, and then you glowed blue, and--poof! That's incredible! How did you--?"
He chuckled and decided to save her from her babbling. "It's a trait Yaten and Seiya and I took on when we came to Earth."
She tore her eyes from his chest. "You're not human?"
"We're not from Earth," he corrected. "We're human."
She stood abruptly. "Excuse me," she said. "But this is... I mean... I don't know what to say." She backed up a few paces. "I'll be back later to check you out--over again, but I have to go..." She walked out the door, still looking back at him. The expression on her face, however, was not fear; it was one he was more intimately familiar with: scientific fascination.
"I'll be here," he called, bemused. What a strange woman, to be caught up in all this magic and still be impressed by the slightest things.
He sighed, and leaned back into his pillows. It felt good to be back in his male body, if strange. This was how the other senshi knew him; hopefully, this would help put them more at ease. And, he could concentrate on--
"Taiki?" he heard a soft voice. "Are you resting?"
"Ami," he identified, and opened his eyes. "No, please come in," he said, sitting up. He could feel a smile settle onto his face, practically of its own accord.
The petite, blue-haired girl walked into the room a little shyly, holding a tray. "I thought, maybe, you might like some tea. And, a game of chess, if you're up to it."
A fluttering feeling danced inside his chest, and he knew the smile was still there. He meant to say, The pleasure of your company is always appreciated. I'd love to play with such a beautiful, intelligent woman. I always like to spend time with someone who challenges my wit so gracefully. "Chess is good," he said instead, and inwardly smacked himself. "Chess is good"?! Oh, yeah, Taiki, that was impressive. She's going to think you're a moron!
He watched as she arranged the tea pot on the dresser, using the tray to set up the chess board on the bed. She handed him a steaming cup with a smile, and he watched as she arranged herself on the bed with her own cup. She was wearing pants today, an unusual event. Skirts or jumpers were her normal attire; they were always long and modest, and very flowing. She crossed her legs Indian style across from him. "Which color?"
"I'll be black," he responded, willing to take the handicap of moving second, and began to arrange the pieces. "This is a beautiful set."
"Thank you," she said, pinking at the cheeks a little. "My father designed it for my 18th birthday, and a friend of his made it. It's my favorite."
"I can see why." He ran his fingers over the edges of one of the pawns and set it down almost reluctantly. "The artistry is beautiful. What does your father do?"
"He's a painter." She waited for him to finish arranging his pieces before she made a move. "He's working over in the States right now."
"When is he coming home?" Taiki asked, moving his pawn up to block hers.
"I haven't seen him for a very long time." She moved again and took a sip of tea. "He and my mother divorced when I was a baby. I don't remember anything about him, but he sends me postcards on my birthday."
"Is your mother dating anyone?" he asked, considering his next move.
"She's very busy," Ami replied, staring into her tea. "Between the hospital where she works and school and being a Sailor Senshi, I really don't see her a lot. I don't think she has time to date."
He nodded, and moved his knight.
She continued to stare into the mirror. She was a girl with no past. Her future was shakey--she seemed to be losing touch with whatever made her herself. Her present was unbalanced, and sliding away from her grasp.
She didn't deserve to exist.
Raising her hands, she traced her jawline with her trembling fingers, feeling the bruises under the skin, and the swollen part of her face where she'd been hit that one time with the whip handle. It was ghastly, and she winced at her own complexion.
She pulled back from her face and her eyes hardened. Fingers in the air began to trace, to draw the runes of healing and sleep, but the magic wouldn't come.
It would not come.
No matter how hard she tried, how much she concentrated, the powers that she had once held so close
so dear
escaped her, and refused her calls. She knew she wasn't trying hard enough, that these powers were well within the abilities of a guardian angel, not to mention an angel of death, so she tried again, until her eyes burned with the strain, and her body felt drained. She still she tried, calling to her the magical powers that she knew, the magics that were in her blood. But they would not answer.
So she tried again.
Pounding on the door finally interrupted the repetition. "Come on, I you've been in there forever! Lun@, open the door! I gotta go!"
She touched her hair, pulled back tight against her skull in her heavy braid. Perfect.
She opened the door with controlled movements, to hide the trembling of her limbs, and left silently.
"Lun@, you should be resting," Xander said as Buffy scrambled into the bathroom with a muttered curse. "Are you hungry? Can I get you anything to eat? My grilled-cheese sandwiches have been known to cause riots."
"Or, um, Makoto made chicken soup," Willow added from her chair as she looked up from her book. "It's really good. I, uh, tasted it."
"Lun@?" Oz asked quietly, after she didn't answer. "Is something wrong?"
"Lun@ is dead," she responded in her stone voice.
"Lun@?" Xander whispered into the silence.
"Lun@ is dead," she repeated, a little louder, but still stone. "I am Diabolique." I am a killer. I am Death. I fear no mortal, nor anyone, for I am the Great Destroyer. With a smooth walk, slow to cover a limp, she silently left the room.
There was silence for a while, and everyone fought a sudden case of the chills.
"This is a bad thing," Xander finally decided, arms crossed. "Does anyone else see the powerful badness of this?"
"She's gone hardcore," Oz answered. "Do you think we should follow her?"
"I think we should find her psychiatric help right now," Xander answered. "While we're following her."
When Buffy emerged from the bathroom a few minutes later to an empty room, she frowned. "Guys?" Where had they gone? And why had Lun@ been in the bathroom so long?
So many mysteries, so little time.
"Hey, Scully, I come bearing coffee and some reports from Detective Ino. Maybe we should get working, you think?" Mulder frowned at her back. She looked so tired...
"Well, Mulder, we know what we've come here to know, and that's that the Sailor Senshi exist, are not bent on destroying the world, and actually do fight crime in high-heels and bathing suits," she said, accepting the coffee with a frown. "I don't know what we have left to do here."
"You don't think we should help them with the creatures that are bent on world domination?"
"What can we do?" she asked, pushing her hair back behind her ear. "We don't have any magic, or even any means to help them."
"I don't know about that," he said, super-casually. "You seemed to be doing pretty well earlier."
"What are you talking about, Mulder?" Scully asked, cupping her hands around the coffee cup. Funny, but they felt so cold now... they never used to feel so cold.
"Oh, come on, Scully, don't give me that. This is me you're talking to; I've noticed your sudden plethora of information on All That Is Mystical, so give."
"Mulder," she started uneasily, looking away and taking a sip of the steaming liquid, "I--I don't know what to say."
He remained silent, knowing there was more.
"I mean," she continued, after a pause, "the dreams I've had lately are so confusing; I don't know what I'm supposed to get from them. Lun@ told me they were related--that these flashes I've been having are related--to this case, and to this Moon Kingdom." She sipped her coffee, reluctant to say more.
Mulder pursed his lips a little. "What do you see?" he prompted when she didn't speak.
"You," she finally whispered. "You, and me, and Endymion-sama--I mean, Mamoru. Mr. Chiba. It's the past, or so Lun@ says, and Mamoru and the others seem to agree with her. Lun@'s there, too, but she's--different, somehow. She wears a lot of grey."
"Grey, huh?" he responded after a pause.
"Willow told me she'd researched her under her previous name, 'Diabolique', and turned up that she was from Ireland. Mr. Chiba, however, called yesterday to say he found references to her dating back almost 2,000 years in a part of modern-day Russia.. The book our young friend read was based highly on speculation of the times, and, while in some cases is quite accurate, is still merely presumption. The fact is, there are numerous documented appearances of the Angel of Death, Diabolique, before the eight hundred years previous that research placed her at. But, Russia, Mulder!"
"What about it?" he asked. "What, was she killed by the black oil?"
"Forget about the black oil, Mulder. Don't you know anything about the history of the Sailor Senshi?"
He looked at her strangely before answering. "Girls in bathing suits battle evil?"
Scully lifted her coffee cup to her lips before she realized she'd already drunk it all, but Mulder was ready to refill her mug. "2,000 years ago, the Earth was plunged into chaos."
"I know this one," Mulder interrupted. "Birth of Jesus of Nazareth!"
"Yes, and a few years earlier, the Earth kingdom destroyed the Moon Kingdom, ending the peace from the Silver Millenium. According to the legend," Mulder raised his eyebrows at the skeptical tone, "humans inhabited all of the planets and a few of the moons in the solar system, with the help of magic. The royal family representing the Earth in this solar system-wide alliance is rumored to be located in modern day Russia. Based on what Mr. Chiba has said and various correlating texts that Mr. Giles has provided, we've pieced together that the leader of the Earth Kingdom, Queen Beryl, was--I don't know, possessed, corrupted, pick a word--by an evil," she paused a breath, not quite believing that she was about to say the word, "entity--or, force--a demon of some sort by the name of Metallia. This Metallia went on to destroy the Moon Kingdom's Silver Millenium of rule, which was led at the time by a certain Queen Selenity."
"Mother of Princess Selene," Mulder connected. "And Prince Endymion was Beryl's--son?"
"Cousin, but still heir to the throne," Scully said. "You get the idea now."
"Endymion and Selene start with the hanky-panky, and the power of love defeats the evil Metallia?"
Scully took a deep drink from her mug. "No, Metallia corrupts the populace and wipes out life everywhere except for Earth. Queen Selenity some how seals the demon away for 2,000 years until Selene and Endymion are reborn, and then they banish the Metallia."
Mulder just stared at her, a bit disturbed, and suddenly began to smile. "Demons? Aliens? Resurrection? Who are you, and what have you done with Scully?"
"Mulder, I'm at my wits end. People are telling me all these crazy things, and I've been dreaming about these things before I even heard about the Senshi themselves. I'm starting to believe things that I'd usually dismiss as outlandish and ridiculous!" She set her cup down on the table and rested her head on her hands.
"Don't tell me there's more!" Mulder exclaimed.
"I think you and I were there, too."
"Scully, are you pulling my leg? Please let me know now."
"You were... some sort of consultant. An advisor to Endymion, I believe. I think I was his personal doctor."
Mulder wanted to believe. He really did. This was Scully telling him this, and he trusted Scully with his life and more. But...
But this was Scully telling him this, and Scully didn't believe in... well, any of this kind of thing.
But Scully was dying, and involved in sudden random prophetic urges, and...
He sighed and sat back in his chair. "You don't lay it on light, do you?"
"Am I going crazy, Mulder? Am I trying to hard to believe?" Her voice shook a little, and her hands were so cold. "I don't know anymore. I'm so tired of all this, all the strange, bad things..."
"It will end soon," came a calm voice from the door. Both FBI agents stood and turned towards the speaker.
"What do you mean?" Mulder asked after he and Scully had exchanged a glance.
"The enemy will be defeated, or she will die. Perhaps both. But, in any event, it will not take long."
Scully paled, and Mulder snapped, "What the hell's the matter with you, Lun@?"
"Lun@'s weakness is no more. There is only Diabolique."
"What about your past self?" Scully asked. "Mr. Chiba has possibly discovered somethi--"
"My past no longer interests me," she said coldly. "I am only interested in death." Her eyes slid to Scully before she turned and walked away.
"She's in denial," Scully told Mulder, who was about to explode. "She's suffering from her imprisonment. I should go--"
"Just leave it, Scully," Mulder interrupted. "Let's just go home and take a few months off. We can't do anything here--leave the experts to fight this, and we can go to Disney world, and see the giant ball of yarn, and just..." He knew they wouldn't, even as he said it, and he grabbed Scully's hand tightly as she moved closer to him. "I just found you," he said hoarsely. "I'm not ready to lose you yet."
Whatever she was going to say was cut off by a scream from somewhere in the temple. "Dr. Scully, Dr. Scully, come quick!"
Biting her lip, she grabbed her medical bag and took off, Mulder close at her heels. "Where are you?"
"In here!" called the girl, and Scully turned into Taiki's room to see a chess set lying half on the floor, half on the bed, and Ami holding the boy's pale form. Two tea cups lay on their sides on the bedspread, thankfully empty. "He just collapsed!" Ami cried. "We were playing chess, when he suddenly grabbed his side and passed out!"
The petite woman was already next to them as Ami expertly pushed up his shirt and unwrapped the darkening bandage around his middle. "Oh, my God..." she whispered when she saw the way the wound pulsated and glowed malevolantly. "He needs to change forms--he's took weak to sustain--" she gestured, "this one, and the gash is starting to re-open."
"Taiki!" Ami called, putting a hand to his face. "Taiki, look at me."
"Ami?" he asked distantly, violet eyes glazed.
"Yes, Taiki-kun. Dr. Scully's here. She and I need you to do something--are you listening?"
"Hurts..." he gasped.
"Yes, I know," Scully said, holding a clean cloth to the gash. "But you need to go back to your female form."
"No!" Taiki moaned, looking paler.
"Taiki, you're too weak right now," Ami said gently, though her worry was plain under the calm front. "I need you to change back."
"No," he repeated, but less adamantly.
"Taiki, change now," Ami directed.
"Shit, his stitches are dissolving," Scully muttered.
"Taiki!" Ami demanded, and suddenly he glowed blue and then red, and the women pulled back until the change was complete.
Scully sighed in relief as the mark calmed and settled. "He's stabilizing."
Taiki blinked a few times and then closed her eyes. "I'm sorry," she whispered. "I just wanted to..."
"Shhh," Ami calmed, and pulled her into a hug. "It's okay."
Taiki pulled away and wrapped her arms around herself. "No."
"I'm sorry," the blue haired girl whispered, drawing away also. The look on her face was heartbreaking.
The brunette pulled herself together and looked at Scully, who had finished examining the stitches and was in the process of re-wrapping the bandage.
"No more of that," Scully said with a stern look. "I told you to change back if there was pain!"
"I'm sorry," she whispered. "I didn't want..."
"I'll bring you some more tea," Ami said quietly, and began to gather her chess pieces and the tea cups, placing them all on the tray she'd brought and excusing herself, head bowed.
After she left, Taiki slammed her fist on the bed. "Damn it!" she cried, biting her lip.
"These things take time," Scully said, taking her pulse. "You can't expect to be better the next day."
"She hates me now," Taiki whispered, closing her eyes, and allowed herself to be settled back on the pillows.
Scully blinked as her vision swum before her eyes for a moment, and then settled. But now, Taiki was glowingly a light purple, light shining from her skin. The effect didn't go away, so she rubbed her temples. "Whatever you're doing, stop it, it's giving me a headache."
Taiki didn't answer, and continued to clench her eyes shut.
"Scully," Mulder said from the doorway, still feeling a little overwhelmed from observing the gender-change, "you okay?"
"I..." she opened her eyes and looked around. Taiki was still glowing faintly, and when she looked, she could see that Mulder was glowing, too, but with bright, yellow light. "What the hell?"
Ami quietly came to the door, hands filled with the tea tray. She was glowing blue, but the color was more like Taiki's--dampened, somehow, and not as bright. "This should help with the pain," she said quietly as she set down the tray. "I'll let you rest now."
As she turned to go, Taiki reached out grabbed her wrist. "Wait," she said, and Scully watched the light jump suddenly from both of them. With a frown, she looked down at her own hand. Why was she the only one who wasn't glowing?
Ami turned, and her eyes were full of hope.
"I'm sorry," Taiki said, and Scully suddenly realized what was happening, picked up her doctor's bag, and moved to the door. "I just... I wanted to play chess, and drink tea, and spend time... with you." The two girls stared at each other for a moment. "Please don't leave."
Ami sat down on the bed next to her, and they held hands quietly.
"Come on, Mulder," Scully said quietly at the door. "Let's leave them alone."
"Are you okay, Scully?" he asked with one backward glance, closing the door behind them.
"I'm seeing strange light," Scully said, and described it to him.
"Scully," he said, and they stopped walking for a minute. "You're seeing auras."
And, suddenly, the magic light was gone, and her upper lip tingled, and she knew she was having a nosebleed.
Note: To those of you who are wondering, I've been told you can't see your own aura.
