Insert standard disclaimer.
Insert C&C/MST request and flame deterrent.
I'm tired. 
----------------------
Sailor Moon Aia

Chapter Three: Sacrifice

"I don't get it!" Usagi said around a mouthful of chicken. "The Dark
Kingdom was destroyed!"

"Not destroyed." Aradia hopped back up into Shana's lap and curled up.
"When you defeated Queen Metallia, the portals between this world and the
Dark Kingdom were closed...forever, we'd hoped. Now they've been reopened."

"By Queen Onyx?" asked Janie. Aradia nodded.

"After Onyx trashed Kyrthei, Beryl had finally had enough of her, and
trapped her inside the Dark Prism. Then she flung the Prism into space."

"Our space." Ami put her chopsticks down. 

"Beryl never liked Onyx much, but she knew the woman was ruthless and she
knew Onyx was a better ruler than she was. The Dark Prism was programmed to
shatter and release Onyx if the Dark Kingdom were ever sealed off, because
Onyx was one of the few with enough power to reopen the portal. But she
could only do it from this side. Why, I don't know." Aradia licked her paw
and ran it over her face. "There's something I haven't told you. I have a
contact in the future. Queen Ila sent him there to keep an eye on these
events. That's how I know what happened here." She looked up at Shana. "One
of your men of the Queen's Guard."

Shana turned white. "Who?" she asked weakly, already knowing the answer.

"Danos Aragon. Don't worry, he's quite safe, and he says hello to you. He
tells me he sees two futures for Earth...also for Solathei, Kyrthei, and
Loquathei."

"Kyrthei is dead! It has no future!" Allie snapped. "Uninhabitable! Onyx's
attacks left it a radioactive wasteland!"

"Not exactly. The 'radioactivity' the sensors on Solathei picked up just
before the fall was the taint of evil." Aradia noticed the girls looking at
her funny. "Okay, so it's a corny explanation, but it's the best one I can
think of. Sue me." She continued. "It can be broken, and Kyrthei can be
revived. So can Solathei and Loquathei."

"But there are no more of my people!"

"Listen to me." Aradia hopped over to Allie. "Danos has seen this, and so
it can be. The worlds of Aia can live again. Some of your people still
live, Aylia. They went deep underground, and they wait for Kyrthei's curse
to be broken. Loquathei is safe to live on already, but all of its people
either died in the wars or fled to Solathei."

"Aradia, what happened to Solathei?" Shana asked softly. 

Aradia swallowed. "Solathei is a prison planet now," she said, her voice
thick with sorrow. "The Queen's Palace was destroyed. The Bluerose Gardens
and the Temple of Istal too. Onyx's slaves work themselves to death moving
rocks and digging holes and filling the holes back in. Some of them are
chosen for her experiments."

Angry tears welled up in Shana's eyes. "That bitch."

"But the world itself lives. That's what is important." Aradia sighed and 
continued. "As for Earth, Usagi is destined to create Crystal Tokyo, but
you all know that already." She grew serious. "But Danos has seen a second
future. He has seen Earth under the control of Queen Onyx, and the Aia
system as nothing more than a few bands of asteroids. His time equipment
isn't great. Solthasti science was just beginning to explore time when the
end came. Danos is unable to see what brings these futures about; he only
sees fleeting images of what is to be."

"Well, it's pretty obvious what we should do, isn't it?" Mako finished her
dinner and picked up her plate. 

"Yeah." Rei said. "Get rid of that Onyx bitch once and for all."

*			*			*

"They're all together. This is perfect." Zircon patted the arm of his third
crystal senshi, Sailor Emerald. "This time, we shall not fail."

"Those little sailor dolls of yours are cute, but I think you should leave
this to a real man." Zircon turned around, and found himself face to face
with Zoicite.

"Sure." Zircon turned away. "I'd be glad to, if you could kindly tell me
where one is, pretty boy." He turned back around, took a second to enjoy
the look on Zoicite's face, and then went back to his work. "Sailor Emerald
is my best yet. And Sailor Topaz has already demonstrated her powers, more
than once."

"Sailor Topaz has already gotten her ass kicked, more than once."

"At least she hasn't been killed by a bunch of teenage girls yet, like your
boyfriend." That had the desired effect. Zoicite screamed in rage. He had
had ENOUGH. He fired a stream of transparent rose petals at Zircon; they
looked much like the weapon he had used in his previous life, except now
they were dark red with razor-sharp edges. Before they reached their
target, Sailor Emerald flung her arm out in front of Zircon.

"Emerald Shade Barrier!" she intoned, and the petals were deflected
harmlessly away from Zircon.

"Zoicite! Knock that crap off!" Kunzite grabbed Zoicite's arm and dragged
him away. "Save your energy!"

"He started it!"

"I don't care who started it, we are supposed to be working together on
this. After we get rid of those sailor brats, you can do what you want with
him. For now, we do what we're told. And we have been told to go in after
Sailor Topaz traps the senshi and get those Aia talismans. Got that?"
Kunzite looked away quickly to make sure Zircon wasn't watching, then
looked back at Zoicite. "I don't care much for him either. Too arrogant. In
fact, I don't care much for any of these people except Ruby, but we've been
given second chances at life and it's because of them. For now we do what
they want." He softened his voice and smiled thinly. "It won't be long. Can
you do this for me?"

"Why do we have to get those stupid talismans anyway?" Zoicite whined.

"Because the Aia senshi can't return to their home worlds without them, and
if they ever get back there, we're all in a world of hurt. Especially if
Sailor Solathei makes it back. She's the most dangerous one of all."
Kunzite glanced over at Ruby, who was napping and regaining her energy in
preparation for the coming ambush. "I wonder if she's okay? She used up a
lot of energy to bring us back..."

"I hope so...I like her. She gave up some of her powers to make us stronger
than we were. Did you see my petals? It's amazing!" Zoicite held out his
hand and issued forth a small flurry of petals. He caught one and held it
up. "Sharp as razors. These could do some real damage. Carve up those
sailor girls' pretty faces quite nicely." He took the petal and ran it
across the palm of his hand, drawing blood. "You're right, we have been
given a second chance." He smiled up at Kunzite. "Let's make the best of
it, hmm?" Then he took Kunzite's hand and drew a petal across his palm.
Kunzite gasped softly, partly with pleasure, partly because that petal hurt
like hell. They clasped their bleeding hands together, tightly. 

"I don't think I could stand losing you again," Kunzite whispered. 

"You won't."

"Excuse me." Zircon cleared his throat. "I hate to interrupt this Kodak
moment, but it's time for us to move out." He kicked Ruby in the ribs hard
enough to wake her, and she sat up with a growl. "I trust your creatures
will not fail us?" He snickered. "You've been sleeping a lot since you made
them. What's wrong? Your get-up-and-go got up and went?"

"Bite me," muttered Ruby as she made an impolite hand gesture at him.

Zircon snorted. "You're staying here. I don't want you in the way." He
looked at his three crystal senshi, then at Zoicite and Kunzite. "Let's
move."

*			*			*

"Aradia, what happened to the talismans?" Jaana asked as she played
solitaire with her trusty cards. She frowned. The three of Staves was gone.


So much for solitaire.

"It will take some time to retrieve them. They weren't sent here, but to
the future with Danos. He's sent them, but like I said, the equipment he
has is crude, and I think he's missed by a few hours...or days...or
weeks..."

"Great." Shana toyed with her fencing foil idly, then suddenly sat up.
"HEY! I just remembered something!"

"Oh no, she's going to try one of her damn spells." Allie smirked. "Run,
run for your lives!"

"I think you'll recall this one worked great! PHANTOM BLADE!" The foil
shimmered and then on either side of it, there appeared two others!

"Whoa!" Minako sat up. "That is COOL!"

Shana laughed. "It saved my butt a few times back home!" She swung the foil
a few times, and the phantom copies knocked books and a lamp onto the
floor, and trimmed an inch off Mako's ponytail.

"HEY!" Mako hit the floor. "Watch it!"

"Wow," Shana muttered. "I didn't think it'd do that. This is just a fencing
foil. I didn't think the phantoms would be sharp either. Phantom Blade,
dissolve!" The phantom swords vanished. "Sorry about that." She grinned
sheepishly. Aradia, Artemis, and Luna, who had hidden under the bed as soon
as the first knick-knacks fell, crept out and checked each other for
missing ears or tails. When they were satisfied that they were intact, they
glared up at Shana.  

"Promise me you won't do that again unless a big nasty monster is 
attacking you, okay?" Aradia sat down and sniffed indignantly.

"Ohmigod!" Usagi leapt up and started jumping around. "How did you DO that?
That was sooooo cool! I can't believe it!" She continued to rant. 

Some sort of strange look crept across Allie's face...something that
started as a frown, then turned to a look of surprise, and finished as an
evil grin. She opened her purse and drew out a coin. Then she picked up a
salt packet from the take-out they'd just eaten, ripped it open, and
sprinkled the salt on the coin while mumbling under her breath. Then, with
a mischievous grin, she slapped the coin against Usagi's shoulder. "Sygilas
Nalaseia'ana!" she chirped, and Usagi was instantly silenced. Her mouth was
still moving and she was still hopping around, though, and this spectacle
first elicited an array of shocked faces from the girls...then laughter.

Usagi finally noticed she wasn't making any noise, and she glared at Allie.
Her mouth moved, shaping what were probably not very kind words, and she
angrily shook her fist at Allie. Shana shook her head.

"Allie..."

"What?" Allie laughed. 

"That's not nice." Shana snickered. "Funny, yes. But nice?"

"Oh, you're no fun. Dispel!" She touched Usagi's shoulder.

"--better start running because when I get my voice back I'm gonna--" Usagi
stopped in mid-rant again and glared at Allie. "What did you do that for!?
I never did anything to you!" And right on cue, she burst into tears. Shana
patted her shoulder. Most of the other senshi rolled their eyes.

"Come on, now. Allie doesn't pick on people unless she likes them." 

"But she didn't have to be so mean to meeeeeeeee..." And this was followed
by a second volley of waterworks.

A bright yellow flash outside caught Luna's attention. "Again!? This is
getting ridiculous!" 

"We have to get outside!" Janie took off at a run, and the rest followed.
Allie tripped over the fallen lamp and fell far behind the others.

The senshi poured out onto the street, where the yellow flash was presently
followed by a blue one, and then a green one. "There's a new one!
Transform! FAST!" Janie yelled.

Too late. 

"Topaz Flare Wall!"

"DAMMIT!" roared Mako. She looked around, and saw everyone except Allie 
trapped in the flaming wall; and then she regained some semblance of hope.
"Allie's still inside!"

"You forgot about me, you freak! Kyrthei Vengeance Power, make up!" Allie
transformed, stepping on the lamp as she did so. She didn't notice. She
made herself invisible, flapped her wings, and flew out the window, landing
on the lawn near Sailor Topaz and her two comrades. She looked at the
ground near her feet and noticed a coin dropped on the sidewalk. It would
have to do. She ripped a common weed-flower out of the nearby grass, tore
the petals off, and sprinkled them over the coin. -Please, please, please,-
she prayed and whispered the words that would transform the lifeless metal
disk into a magical weapon. It sparkled briefly, indicating that the
charging was successful. She threw it at Topaz, crying out "Sygilas
Nara'ana!"

Emerald instinctively flung out her arm and shouted "Emerald Shade
Barrier!" The token struck the invisible wall, sparked, and fell to the
ground as a useless little coin again. "That was a good try, Sailor
Kyrthei. And I'm sorry, but your little invisibility trick doesn't work on
me. I don't have to use my eyes. As one of the Narah, I'm sure you can
appreciate that." Emerald smiled and looked directly at the space where
Kyrthei stood. She picked up the coin that had bounced at her feet and
smiled. She too plucked a little flower from the grass and sprinkled its
petals on the coin, then she threw it at Kyrthei with a yell of "Sygilas
Crysnara'ana!" [Magic-killing mark]

The token struck Kyrthei, and her Shadow Veil fell away.

"How?" Kyrthei gasped, eyes wide in shock. "That's Narah magic!"

Emerald laughed. "Do you think the Dark Kingdom would let magic this
powerful die after they took Solathei? Some of the Narah were easily
convinced to cooperate with us. Some--" She smiled unpleasantly. "Some were
not as easily convinced, but they were convinced all the same."

"NO!" Kyrthei screamed. "The Narah would NEVER work for you! You're a
liar!"

"I assure you, I'm not. Go on, look at me. Look at me with your true Sight.
See for yourself that I speak the truth."

Kyrthei shut her eyes, expecting the three crystal senshi to jump her as
she did, but the attack did not come. And she saw, exactly as she had
feared, that Emerald was telling the truth. She opened her eyes, releasing
hot tears. "What do you want?"

"We want your talismans. Hand them over, and I'll instruct Sailor Topaz to
let your friends go."

"We don't have them."

"She's lying," muttered Sapphire. Emerald shut her eyes briefly, then
opened them again, and shook her head.

"I'm afraid she isn't. Worse yet, she doesn't know where they are." She
shrugged. "I think we should give her friends some incentive to find them."

"And Onyx wants her anyway..." Sapphire grinned. "May I?"

"Certainly." Emerald stepped aside.

-She's going to-- Kyrthei thought as she heard Sapphire speak the words 
"Sapphire Ice Coffin!" Kyrthei realized the attack was meant for her, but
she realized it too late. The ice trapped her. -That's it,- she thought,
-I'm trapped here, they're all trapped in there.- She was only able to
close her eyes and pray.

-Gracious Goddess Istal, if you still hear me, if you still live, help us.-
Kyrthei felt a tear slide out of her left eye and freeze against the ice.
-I can't break this ice. I can't even move. My friends are helpless.
Please.-

Now she heard a shrill laugh, muffled by the thick ice. "Good job, crystal
girls. You got them all...well, what have we here? Batgirl on ice?" She
wasn't sure if the speaker was a man or a woman.  She heard a tap on the
ice. "Hellooooo? Anyone in there?" She knew that voice.

Then another voice,  definitely male. "Quit screwing around, Zoicite. We've
got her. Let's get her out of here." 

A third voice, also male, spoke up. "Why not just kill her, Zircon?"

The first spoke again. "Onyx wants this one. She's got a score to settle
with the little blue bitch. Besides, you know how the sailor senshi
are...we can use her to get the talismans."

That did it. Kyrthei wanted to beat her fists against the ice in rage.
Actually, she would rather have beaten them against Zoicite's face. She
strained and sobbed, but the ice would not yield. She heard muffled screams
from inside Topaz's wall of fire. One of them sounded like Shana, rage
mixed with pain and fear.

"Fine, we'll take her." The third voice sighed. "Open the damn portal 
already."

-I'll get out of here somehow,- Kyrthei thought. -And once I do, I'll kill
every last one of those creatures.-

"What about the rest of them?" the first voice asked.

"Leave them," said the second. "You three, return to the Dark Kingdom with
her."

"Yes, Master," came Emerald's voice. 

Then there was darkness...

*			*			*

The wall of fire dropped. Looking around, Shana noticed that the crystal
senshi were gone, as well as the owners of the three voices she'd heard.  

She inspected her arm closely. Her shirt sleeve had been burned away, 
and there was a painful red welt on her arm. She suddenly forgot the 
pain as she realized Allie was gone as well. She shook a semi-conscious 
Usagi violently. "Wake up! All of you! Wake the hell up! Those bastards 
got Allie!"

Janie rose groggily. As Shana's words reached her ears and were 
processed by her brain, she burst into tears.

"What are they going to do to her?" Janie sobbed. 

"Kill her, most likely, if they haven't already." Shana kicked a tree 
trunk, hard. Janie screamed.

"This isn't happening! It isn't! I won't believe it!"

Shana whirled around and slapped her. "Get a hold of yourself, Jaana!" she
screamed in Solthasti, totally unaware that she was speaking her native
tongue. "Would you want her to see you crying like a damned baby? If you
can't handle this, maybe you better get yourself back in the damn kitchen
where you belong--" She suddenly realized what she had done, and held Janie
tightly in her arms. "I'm sorry." She began to cry, softly. "I'm so sorry,
Jaana." Janie held onto her, sobbing. "There's nothing we can do for her."

"I heard what they were saying," Usagi sniffled. "They took her away!"
 
"To the Dark Kingdom?" Ami blurted.

"That's what I heard them say...and I heard that guy call one of them
'Zoicite!'" 

"That's impossible!" Rei spat. "He's dead!"

"He seems pretty lively for a dead guy." Janie snorted.

"Aradia!" Shana screamed, stomping back inside. "Aradia!"

"What!?" the cat cried out. "Calm down!"

"Aradia, Allie is gone! They took her away! Where are our talismans?"

"I told you already! Danos has sent them, but it may be a while!"

"We don't HAVE 'a while!'" Shana picked Aradia up and held her at eye
level. "Get a hold of Danos and tell him he needs to chase the damn things
down!"

"I'll do what I can."

*			*			*

"Ach!" Danos slammed his fist against the console of the temporal viewer.
Where the hell had the talismans gone? His crummy equipment had sent them 
spinning out into the timestream, heading for the general vicinity of the
signal Aradia had sent him, but they didn't get there. "If they'd only
arrived...this wouldn't have happened!"

*			*			*

Bonk!

"HEY!" Setsuna awoke unpleasantly that night. Something had hit her on the
head. She sat up, rubbing her forehead, and turned to see what on earth
that was that had conked her on the head at such an ungodly hour. 

It was a staff, made of pure crystal, topped with three spheres. Above her,
some sort of portal was closing.

"Hmm..." She scratched her head, and quietly got up. From the next room,
she heard a cry of "Aah!" and another of "What the HELL!?"

Setsuna went to Haruka and Michiru's room and opened the door to see the
two sitting up examining a strange artifact that had dropped out of thin
air onto the bed. It was a sharp-edged silver star with a clear crystal in
the center.

"You two okay?"

"I think so...what's this thing?" Haruka held up the star and squinted at
it. She experimentally ran her thumb along one of its points, and drew her
hand back with a yelp. "Kuso...it's sharp!" She stuck her bleeding thumb in
her mouth and handed the star to Michiru.

"Looks like some sort of a throwing star," muttered Michiru. "It could have
really hurt us!"

"Mamas? Papa?"

All three heads turned to face a sleepy Hotaru standing in the doorway. "I
think you better come look at this."

Setsuna dashed down the hall to Hotaru's room, where a portal was opening
in the corner. "That's a time portal! Someone's sending this stuff through
the timestream--I'm going to find out what's going on here! Pluto Planet
Power, make up!" 

After an interesting transformation sequence, she gathered the staff and
the star and caught a long black-handled scythe just as it dropped from the
portal. She wedged her own staff into the portal to keep it open while she
balanced her unwieldy load of weaponry, then she grabbed the end of her
staff. The Garnet Orb flashed, and Sailor Pluto was sucked into the portal.

It was a short trip, but that was all the time Pluto needed to gather that
whoever was opening these portals either a) didn't know what he was doing,
b) had some kind of jury-rigged equipment, c) was playing a sick joke, or
d) all of the above. The portal spat her out in a small chamber filled with
computer consoles, crystal orbs, and stacks of books written in a language
she'd never seen. A tall man dressed in a gray poet's shirt and black pants
looked like he was about to have a heart attack.

"What!?"

Pluto dropped the three Aia talismans on the floor at his feet. "These
belong to you?"

"How'd YOU get them!?" the man sputtered. Then he slapped his forehead.
"Stupid machine!" He kicked the nearest computer console. "I knew it! I
KNEW something like this was gonna happen! Crummy temporal transport--"

"This thing's a time machine? But how?" Pluto gaped at the man, who was
still stomping around saying unpleasant things to the machine. "Are you
from Earth?"

"No!" The man grumbled. "I don't know why I'm telling you this, but here
goes." 

Danos related to Pluto the story of how he came to be stuck there with the
piece of junk that had once been Solathei's most advanced time gate
equipment. He told her about the Aia senshi, and about the talismans he had
sent, and about the newly revitalized Dark Kingdom.

Pluto just nodded. "Tell you what. I'll get these talismans where they
belong. Maybe--" She paused, trying to phrase her thoughts as delicately as
possible-- "maybe you should consider another line of work?"

Danos laughed. "Like what?" Pluto nodded towards the suit of blue armor and
silver sword in the corner of the tiny room. "Oh."

"I think they could use your help." Pluto picked up the sword and examined
it closely. "It's a nice blade. Shame it's sitting here gathering dust."
She handed it back to him, and grinned. "Let me show you how to properly
open up a time portal." She concentrated, then held up her staff. The
Garnet Orb flared once more, and a shimmering portal opened in front of
them. "Your friends need you, Danos. You should be there with them."

Danos nodded, put on his armor, and stepped up to the portal.

"Go on." Pluto smiled at him.

"Thank you." Danos stepped through. Pluto followed him, carrying the Aia
talismans.

*			*			*

BRRRRRRING!!

"Oh no! It can't be time to get up ALREADY!" Usagi jumped out of bed
nevertheless, hopping around and frantically dressing in the dark--

Dark!?

BRRRRRRRRING!

"Wha--phone!? Aaargh!" Usagi groaned and picked up the phone. "Do you know
what time it is!?" she wailed into the receiver.

"Good morning, sunshine. It's Haruka."

"Oooh!" growled Usagi. "What do you want? I'm TRYING to sleep!"

"Have you got some friends named Shana, Allie, and Janie?"

Usagi went silent for a second, then replied. "Yeah...so what?"

"So...we just had some stuff of theirs fall on us. A staff, a silver star,
and a big wicked pointy thing."

"WHAT!? How did YOU get those? I'm going to call them right now!"

"I think it can wait till morning, odango." Usagi heard her yawn. "It's
kind of rude to call people in the middle of the night, ne?" And this was
followed by laughter.

"Why you--" Usagi slammed the phone down. She thought about it a second,
then dialed Shana's number to tell her the good news.

--------------------
--Sailor Solathei
The Sailor Moon Aia homepage--
http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Lofts/1054/sma.html