"So, this is it, then."

"Yes, by all accounts, this is the proverbial 'it'."

"Which proverb would that be from, exactly?"

"Must it be from a specific one?"

"Point taken."

"Quite."

"Somewhat of a pity, isn't it? I shall be sad to see it go."

"Really? You don't think it dragged on a bit long?"

"Perhaps just a bit long..."

"Yes, just a bit."

"A smidge."

"A trifle."

"But now, to think of it..."

"Hmm?"

"It is going to go, isn't it? It's quite inevitable. The question is, where?"

"Where will it go?"

"Yes, where will it go?"

"Well, where does a dream go when the dreamer awakens? Where does a name go once it ceases to be spoken?"

"Unusually poetic, for you."

"Clearly, you've been an influence on me."

"A good influence, or a bad influence?"

"Both."

"Oh, of course, both. I wonder..."

"Hmm?"

"Do they remember us, after all this time?"

"I suspect not. We only appeared once, all that time ago from their perspective. Just for a few moments before we sent them on their way. Those two we saved didn't even see us, or hear our names. Never even woke up."

"No, not those two. Them."

"Them?"

"Yes, them."

"Well, they can hear us right now, can they not?"

"One would assume so, yes. After all, the final Act hasn't properly begun yet, yet here we are."

"And here we are not. Regardless. Shall we send them off, then?"

"Yes, a proper send-off. Excellent idea, my dear."

"Thank you. Yes, I think a musing on a particular paradox would be appropriate here."

"A paradox?"

"Yes, a paradox. For it's a well-known aphorism that nothing lasts forever."

"No, nothing. People die, stories end, empires crumble, planets crack apart, and even the stars fade out."

"And yet..."

"And yet?"

"Despite the fact that nothing ever lasts forever..."

"... So it is also true that nothing ever truly ends. Was that what you meant to say?"

"Of course."

"So with that in mind..."

"... as the final Act begins..."

"... a toast. To the end."

"And to the beginning."

"If you think about it, they're one and the same."

"Quite the same."

"Quite."

"Cheers?"

"Cheers."

SHATTERED SKIES: THE MORNING LIGHTS

By BHS

ACT IV (FINAL): UNDYING

Chapter 62: Suddenly

-VERTEX ONE: 15.556984-

Amishiro Park

Azabu-Juuban, Minato Ward, Tokyo

Under the circumstances, Usagi Tsukino, Sailor Moon, thought the first response out of her mouth was a pretty smart one. After all, she had been under incredible stress today, to say nothing of the past few weeks spent helping put the plan together. That much pressure would affect anyone's ability to communicate. Also, her senses were still a little cloudy from the aftereffects of getting drunk during the poker game. The Arthra's medics had spells that sobered one up in seconds rather than hours, but they could only soften and shorten the duration of hangovers. Furthermore, just minutes before, she took a significant blow to the head from a large metal object moving at high velocity. While still in recovery from that, it was impressive that she could talk at all. Then there was the person she was attempting to talk to...

All things taken into account, her response was outright profound, as far as she was concerned. That response was: "Huh...?"

"An alliance. Didn't you hear me?" Sailor Galaxia wore the same callous, cold scowl she remembered from five years ago. It was the same expression burned into Sailor Moon's mind, right beside her smirks of narcissistic smugness and wild, psychotic grins, both second only to Joker's.

Being afraid of Chaos was one thing, it was a sapient force of nature gone rogue. It was evil itself, it acted according to its nature. Her fear of Galaxia was quite another thing, a more personal fear: Galaxia was a Sailor Senshi like herself, a Senshi who wrought death and destruction on an unimaginable scale. Not because she was born evil, not because it was her nature, but because she chose to do it.

A tiny spark of rationality in Sailor Moon's brain delivered faint protests: one timeline's Galaxia used to be a legendary hero before Chaos corrupted her. The other, the scourge of the galaxy, died upon realizing that all she really wanted was to be loved and admired. Redemption had been possible for both. But right now, her rationality was smothered in the face of all the horrible things both versions of Galaxia had done, all the buried memories and trauma rushing to the forefront of her mind which froze her blood in her veins...

*****

"She's another Sailor Senshi, right?" said Nagisa Misumi, Cure Black. She pulled herself and the other Morning Lights back from the ruins of the park after the Senshi and Tuxedo Mask sprung into place to shield Sailor Moon. "She's got the uniform—armor, whatever—but the way they're looking at her, it's like she's Frieza or something. I don't recognize her, I never watched that far in the Sailor Moon anime... You're the expert here, Peace, who are we dealing with?"

Yayoi Kise, Cure Peace, couldn't answer, her throat was closed tight. She could only stand by clinging to Tsubomi Hanasaki, Cure Blossom, next to her. Outside of the eight people in the crater facing her directly, it was only Sailor Iron Mouse and herself who understood the full implications of Galaxia's return. The others didn't know. They didn't know...

Scenes from long ago bubbled up inside her: watching the Sailor Moon anime with her father, bathed in the television's glow. She remembered laughing at the funny parts, and huddling in the safety of his arms at the scary parts. They watched the whole series together, didn't they? And then she heard that there was more Sailor Moon, not just the anime. There was a manga... half her motivation for learning to read in kindergarten must have been for the manga's sake. So much of that time was a blur with the passing of years, but suddenly she recalled with perfect clarity the sensation of a warm, understanding hand atop her head as her father gave a sad, pained little smile and said "Sorry, Yayoi. You need to wait until you're a little older to read the manga, it's too much for you right now." At that, her cheeks puffed up and her lips crinkled into a rare frown. Why wouldn't Papa let her do it?

Years later, when she finally read it, she understood exactly why.

"Sailor Galaxia. She's..." Peace whimpered. "N-not all Sailor Senshi are good. Some went bad, really bad. Worse. And she... she and her army killed everyone. Everywhere. J-just to break Sailor Moon." There was more to it, of course. The anime's Galaxia was a brainwashed puppet of Chaos, not in control of her actions at all. But somehow Peace knew, just by looking, just by feeling, that the Galaxia standing there in the crater wasn't that one... or if it was somehow both, like with Sailor Mars, then she knew which side was dominant.

Every face she could see slipped into a variation of one of the same few emotions: horror, disbelief, appalled shock, anger.

"It wasn't just you guys," said a small, trembling monotone. Peace turned to look, and found that Iron Mouse was behind her, huddled low to the ground and fetal as she rocked back and forth on the balls of her feet. Her wide grey eyes were riveted onto Galaxia, but it was clear that all she could see was her own memories. "She scared everyone," Iron Mouse said. "Even those of us who worshipped her like a goddess were terrified of her. I know, I was one of them. Part of Shadow Galactica, her army. I remember both ways it happened. She destroyed so many planets, snuffed out stars like she was blowing out candles.

"And I helped her... I helped her do it. I—or one of me—murdered Sailor Chuu with my own hands and gave Lady Galaxia her Sailor Crystal, just because I wanted power like she had. And once I got my bracelets and became Sailor Iron Mouse..." There was a long, aghast silence. "I watched from space as she turned my planet to dust, poof. Chuu. My home. Billions of people, dead in just a few seconds. And I didn't care, because I had power and I thought that was all that mattered. I never even thought about what I did until—" Another silence. Then, softer and smaller than ever: "Why did I do that...?"

The Lights standing closest to Iron Mouse moved away from her, receding like a tide, and Peace thought she understood why. It was one thing to do horrible acts while possessed, corrupted, or brainwashed; Tuxedo Mask, Chibi-Moon, and Saturn knew what that was like, and so did Beat and Scarlet from her own universe. For that matter, so did Hayate Yagami.

This was different. They had all grown so used to Iron Mouse being... well, if not part of the team, then at least a nominal ally. She appeared to be so tiny, frightened, and harmless, especially in the face of the threat Joker posed to reality, that everyone sort of glossed over what she did in her former life. Even Iron Mouse herself forgot, or didn't think about it... until now. Until the reappearance of Galaxia made it impossible to ignore or dismiss.

Peace couldn't place the first voice to speak, low and quiet with a slight tremble of an emotion that might have been sympathy. "Some sins are unforgivable," it said. "When you look back on them, death seems like the only way to atone, because death is often easy. It's simple. To live with your burden... It's agony, it's thankless, and it's endless. But it's better, because to be alive is to have a small hope of repentance. The universe is vast and indifferent, and the dark is everywhere... but you can choose to be a light in it."

Peace turned her head to see who was talking, and had to blink a few times to be sure: it was Homura Akemi.

*****

Minako Aino, Sailor Venus, was positioned to Tuxedo Mask's right. Her chain was stretched taut between her spread fists, as if to make a garotte out of it if things went further south. "[Bullshit,]" she spat through Comeback Tour, which grated with harsh metallic notes. "[Leave, now, or there won't be enough left of you to bury.]"

"This is your only warning." Rei Hino, Sailor Mars, threw an arm out before Sailor Moon. With the other, she summoned an ofuda between each of her fingers. Rings of flame lit her eyes, the red streaks in her hair spat a rain of embers.

"I believe I share the ladies' sentiments." Mamoru Chiba, Tuxedo Mask, spoke in a tone Sailor Moon hadn't heard him use in years. "You won't be harming or killing anyone tonight, Galaxia. Or ever again, should you test our patience."

"Please." Galaxia didn't even spare the three of them a glance. "If I wanted you all dead, I'd annihilate this planet from space. Even in this half-crippled state, I doubt it would be difficult."

She was in bad shape, wasn't she? When she looked closer, a tiny bit of Sailor Moon's fear subsided, replaced by an equally tiny bit of sympathy. She had never seen a Sailor Senshi with signs of injury quite like this. On both legs and from her fingertips to her armpits, almost every centimeter of her visible skin was gnarled and lumpy as tree bark. There were so many crisscrossing ropes of raised collagen, it was as though she had tattooed maps of a subway system on herself. The right half of her face was a mess of the same scarring: hardened, shiny and plasticy, it lagged behind the undamaged half by a half-second or two when she spoke or altered her expression. Her right eye was completely filmed over with a thick, milky white cataract; it hadn't seen anything for some time.

Medical stuff wasn't at all her field, but she heard the description of what was done to Yuko Omori. She had to imagine that if Yuko somehow healed on her own without treatment or grafts, she might look a little like Galaxia did now. It clicked: "Joker got you," she said. "Y-you... you were on the Merry-Go-Round..."

Galaxia's good eye burned with the inferno of a supernova, and Sailor Moon scuttled backward half a meter at the sight. One hand clutched with tremorous fingers at the armor plate that covered her heart, her aura swelled to life like someone lighting a flare. "That vile creature..." she snarled. "I believe I was one of the first he attempted to sway to join his army. When I made to kill him for his insolence, he tore the Chaos Seed from my chest and bound my empty shell to his abomination, as its first victim. He returned my soul only when he wished to watch me suffer and revel in my helplessness. I swear by the stars, he'll regret that mistake... when I've finished with him, the blackest pit in Hell will seem like a mercy."

"What an irony. And you refused him?" Michiru Kaioh, Sailor Neptune, chuckled dry as bone and pressed a hand to one cheek. "Strange. One would think that there'd be a sort of camaraderie between omnicidal lunatics... You're two of a kind. Or were you envious that he outclassed you in terms of destruction and mass murder? Poor dear, I imagine that had to be quite a blow to your pride."

For the first time, Galaxia turned her volcanic gaze away, just for a moment, and redirected it at Neptune. "I'll allow that dust speck to flap her jaws, if only because she isn't worth the miniscule effort it would take to silence her," she said as her eye focused back on Sailor Moon. "Know this: I will be no one's servant and no one's slave. All the heavens will crumble before I bow my head to another. I am not the chaff you surround yourself with, nor am I one of the outsiders—" Here she spared a fleeting, contemptuous glance at the rest of the Lights waiting outside the crater. "—whom you've convinced to fight your war for you. I am not your friend, your comrade, your subject, or anything of the sort.

"However. You and I are the greatest this universe has to offer. I have memories of two timelines in which I took everything from you, and still in both you proved your strength and extended your hand to me. It's only logical to do the same, given the magnitude of the threat we both face. Make no mistake, I will have my vengeance upon Joker with or without you, but I'm offering you this one single chance to align our goals. It's a courtesy, nothing more."

Her rage, her hatred so pure and bright that it hurt to see, like staring at the sun for too long... by all rights, it should have terrified Sailor Moon even more than she already was. This was Galaxia; if she was involved, fear was not only appropriate, it was wise and necessary. But something else penetrated the dense, icy clouds smothering her brain...

I was wrong. The thought was strangely clear. It's not the same Galaxia as before. It's not either one. What Joker put her through would change anyone, wouldn't it? One memory pushed through all the others: on the stone outcropping suspended above the Galaxy Cauldron, Galaxia reached for her hand... and there was a stricken expression on her face as her bracelets shattered and she crumbled to dust, leaving only her Lazurite Crystal behind.

Back then, she tried to save Galaxia despite her monstrous crimes, because it was only the two of them and Chibi-Chibi left. That was what she was meant to do as Sailor Moon: save people when she could. Back then, the weight of grief and exhaustion pushed her fear away, she acted according to her base instincts. Galaxia, Chaos, and the Cauldron only began plaguing her night terrors and waking hours after she was reborn...

"Acute Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder", that was what her therapist called it, the therapist whom Mamoru insisted that she see afterward. He didn't even know about her life as Sailor Moon or Princess Serenity or anything, and didn't need to; Dr. Koishi read her like a book after just one session. "Simply put, you keep reliving your traumatic experiences, in dreams and flashbacks in this case. Think of your brain and nervous system as a hypersensitive home security system: it sounds an alarm when it detects any movement at all, from an intruder to a harmless thing like a bird or squirrel.

"I want you to know that despite what you might have heard, it's okay to feel this way, and there's no reason to be ashamed, none at all. The importance of mental health counseling is an idea that's been slower to catch on here than it has in other countries. Doing what you're doing, seeking therapy from a professional, even though you had to be convinced to come here? That shows remarkable courage, Usagi-san. Not many Japanese people are willing to take that step. You were willing to accept help, and you reached out your hand..."

Sailor Moon swallowed heavily. She knew what she had to do. "O-okay," she said.

Consternation from the other Senshi around her:

"Sailor Moon, are you nuts?!"

"Think of all the people she's killed, all the misery she's caused!"

"She can't be trusted!"

"Easy," said Tuxedo Mask, who spread his arms out to gently push them all back. "Give her space."

"I..." Her voice was husky, almost a croak. She swallowed again. "I know, guys. Believe me, I know. But just look at her. She..." With some effort, she rose to her feet and faced Galaxia directly, looking into her good eye. "You didn't have to come here, or help us finish off Walpurgisnacht. Yet here you are anyway. I..." Time for honesty, she supposed. "I'm scared to death of you. I don't think I can even touch you without melting down. What you've done is too horrible for words. B-but Joker's worse than you, we both know that. And if he wins, reality dies.

"I know how strong you are, so if you're willing to use that strength against Dead End and not against us... th-then I'll do it. I'll agree to your alliance. Let's take him out."

Grumbles went up from the other Senshi. In fairness, they had all the reason in the worlds to protest: apart from all her other horrific crimes, Galaxia killed most of them. It wasn't fair to make them put that aside, and Sailor Moon wasn't about to ask them to. Nevertheless, her scars were evident to anyone with functioning senses, her hatred equally so. Whatever she was before, whatever her reasons were for coming here, her offer had to be sincere because the alternatives—that all of this was some labyrinthine Dead End plot, or Galaxia's attempt to conquer the galaxy through subterfuge instead of brute force—made no sense if one bothered to think them through. Sailor Moon had to choose one way or the other, and she opted in favor of the alliance. The other Senshi were allowed to distrust her and hold grudges. As long as there wasn't outright mutiny, she thought, she'd take it. For now.

Galaxia made a noise that she chose to believe was an affirmative, then crossed her arms and turned away. A handshake to seal the deal was out of the question. Not that Sailor Moon expected or would be able to give one, but. "Admitting your fear and weakness only gives others power over you," she said. "All your years of battle, and you still haven't learned that?"

"I, uh—"

"The brightest star of all, savior of the universe." Sarcasm all but dripped off of Galaxia's tongue. Her good eye raised to the stars. "Other Senshi are coming. Prepare yourself."

"Others?" Sailor Moon blinked and took a rapid head count. "What others? All of us are here except Mercury, Uranus, and Pluto... Wait, did they escape?"

Out of the corner of her eye, Chibi-Usa Tsukino, Sailor Chibi-Moon, flinched and opened her mouth to speak, but no sound came out.

"Typical Sol Senshi arrogance," said Galaxia with a heavy scoff. "Just because your system is home to the Silver Crystal, you think all of creation revolves around you. Did it never occur to you that Dead End attacked the rest of the universe as well?"

"[No way,]" said Venus, incredulous. "[Don't tell me you convinced Kakyuu and the Star Lights to come with you! They hate your guts more than we do!]"

"Me? No. But the Kinmoku Senshi have indeed joined the war. They were engaged in an attempt to liberate a planet in the 40 Eridani system last I heard of them," said Galaxia. "They're not the only ones. On my way here, I convinced a number of other stragglers to fight, and they spread the word. Sailor Qo'noS, Sailor Thessia, and Sailor Magrathea joined forces to protect Delta Vulpeculae II-C. Sailor Thermia is currently leading four fleets of her species's navy in the Klaatu Nebula." A wicked smile spread across her cracked and pitted lips. "Heh. And stars help Dead End's soldiers whenever or wherever Sailor Skaro finds them."

Makoto Kino, Sailor Jupiter, followed her gaze, mystefied. "So if all of them are spread across the universe, then who's coming here?"

"Three from your own solar system, only recently awakened. You didn't sense them?"

"Wait," said Sailor Moon. Now that she mentioned it, she did sense something, but aside from traces of the common aura shared by all Sailor Senshi, it was unlike any presence she'd felt before. "Our system? Who else could there be?!"

"See for yourself." Galaxia's response curt and dismissive. "There's no need for me to be present for this. When there's something else to kill, I'll find you." There was a golden flash; she reappeared at the lip of the southwest spire's crater a block away, where she sat with her back to everyone else.

In the opposite direction, a pool of sparkling white light spread over the torn-apart asphalt a block away. Three figures took shape and stepped out of it...

The one in the center took one look at Sailor Moon and Chibi-Moon, burst into a huge smile, and bellowed a rush of syllables that started with something like "mahalo"; the rest was incomprehensible to her. Like no Sailor Senshi she had ever seen, she resembled a living mountain, over three meters tall and wider than any four of them put together side-by-side, her hair a thick curtain of umber curls in nonstop motion. At first glance, her prominent belly and general roundness might have invited a crass person to make unflattering comments about her... but Sailor Moon thought that impression wouldn't last long, nor might the person making it. Heavy and matronly, yes, but she was powerful... muscles rippled not too far beneath her handsome sienna skin when she moved. She shone with an innate glow of both strength and beauty, in all senses of both words. A mother, Sailor Moon could tell by her aura. An expecting mother, if she wasn't one already... A mother who could probably bench press trucks as easily as she baked cookies.

"Um, Haumea?" said the redhead next to her. She tapped the left side of her head with one finger.

"Ah, sorry!" The giantess said in Japanese. Her voice boomed like a taiko drum, not just loud and deep but soulful, full of ebulliant joy. Despite her exhaustion, Sailor Moon found herself smiling just from hearing it. "My translator atom has always been finicky. Greetings and blessings upon you, Neo Queen Emeritus Serenity, Queen Lady Serenity!" When she grinned, her dark brown eyes disappeared into her many dimples. She waved an arm at them, an arm which could topple a tree in one swing. "Of course, you're Sailor Moon and Sailor Chibi-Moon right now. Sorry, but it's such an honor to meet you!" The street trembled with her every step as she jogged closer.

No doubt, Haumea was the most colorful Senshi that Sailor Moon had ever seen. Her skirt, collar, and choker were fiery scarlet and accented with gold piping, and her ribbons were such a bright shade of fuscia that they could have been neon lights. She wore no gloves or boots, only a number of bracelets and anklets, studded with shiny stones in a whole palette's worth of colors: orange, green, grey, white, pink, purple. Dozens of hibiscuses were woven into her hair in every stage of growth from bud to brown and withered, the liveliest in vivid shades of pink and yellow.

Up close, the urge to smile was even harder to resist. Whoever she was, she was bursting with so much love that it seeped from her body as a tangible aura of its own. True, Sailor Moon—and everyone else, to be fair—had to crane her neck up to see the face inside her mane of curly hair, but it was worth the effort. Along with great kindness and all that love, she radiated purpose. Within her was a fierce and wild heart that refused to be tamed or yield to injustice... all this was conveyed by a single look at her face.

Her features dimpled into another smile, softer this time, as she dropped to one knee and extended her hand. Sailor Moon was in awe; she didn't think she could close her entire hand around a single one of Haumea's fingers if she tried. Even her pinky would be a stretch. Unsure of what else to do, she grasped the tip of her index finger and shook, gently.

The Senshi to her right made for a contrast so jarring that it took a second for the brain to register. This one was tall, too: still dwarfed by Haumea, but taller than Jupiter and Uranus, maybe just a hair shorter than Tuxedo Mask. If her comrade was a mountain, she was a tree: almost all her body's mass appeared to go into height, with precious little left over for anything else. Impossibly slender limbs like one of those fashion dolls, a chest without any hint of fullness, a thin and narrow head perched on a long, deerlike neck.

Then there was the mask. Thanks to it, most of her features couldn't be made out. Nothing like Tux's, this mask was frankly unnerving. Smooth and stark white with huge, round, empty eye sockets and an elongated beak, it was like she was wearing the skull of some strange and ancient species of bird, or at least an abstract representation of one. The eyes inside the mask's sockets were owlish and inky black, they stared intently at everything around them in a way that suggested she didn't blink much... or ever. Her skin was earthy reddish-brown and tattooed with intricate designs in dark ink. Long, jet-black hair as coarse as steel wool fell in corkscrews down her back.

Again in direct contrast to Haumea, her uniform was close to monochrome. Save for a sparse few gold accents, it was all varying shades of grey where it wasn't white or black. Earrings of black pinion feathers dangled on silver chains attached to studs in each earlobe. Her spindly hands clutched a spear, a wicked-looking thing with an obsidian head mounted on a shaft that resembled a polished bone stretched out to be even taller than its wielder. While Haumea shared cheerful greetings with the others, this one stayed still and dead silent. If not for the faint rise and fall of her chest as she breathed, one could mistake her for an eerie statue.

On Haumea's left was the redhead, the only one of the trio who wasn't an extreme of one sort or another. Teenaged by the look of her, with an average height, average build, and average everything except for her hair. Half was wavy red locks, half was wild red spikes which stuck up and pointed outward from her skull. The style made her look like an escaped protagonist from a shonen manga.

Her fuku was primarily black and gold, not too different from Sailor Moon's own in terms of design... except for the translucent black visor that extended from the bottom edge of her tiara and covered her eyes like a set of wrap-around sunglasses. Unlike Mercury's visor, it had a rounded, goggle-like shape with protruding convex lenses for eyepieces. Sailor Moon noticed that she kept a slight distance from both her comrades and the Lights. Antisocial, or just shy?

"Wooooooow!" said a voice from down by Sailor Moon's waist. It was Nagisa Momoe, all smiles. She stood on her tiptoes to get a good look at Haumea. "You're huge! You're just like a kaiju!"

"Nagisa!" Red-faced, Mami Tomoe pushed between Venus and Jupiter from behind to snatch her charge's hand. She bowed low, and hauled Nagisa down to do the same. "I'm so dreadfully sorry, she seems to have forgotten her manners, please forgive us! Nagisa, apologize to the poor woman..."

Haumea put a hand on her sizable belly, and her laugh shook the street and everyone standing on it. "No apologies necessary from either of you! I am huge! Come on, stand back up, both of you. There you go."

"See, Mami-nee? She's a nice kaiju, like Gamera! Rawr, fwoosh!"

To Haumea's left, the redhead sighed. "Maybe we should all introduce ourselves before this gets even more out of hand?" she said. There was a very slight hint of an accent to her speech, not enough to define it as one thing or another. "We know who most of you are, of course, but..."

"An excellent idea, since I'm already on one knee," said Haumea. "Ladies, if you please."

The other two took position to her sides and knelt, placing their hands over their hearts.

"The Distant Star Senshi of abundant love," said Haumea as softly as she could. "I am Sailor Haumea."

The tall, thin one finally spoke, in barely above a whisper with pauses for breath between every few words. "The Distant Star Senshi... of adamant love... I am... Sailor Makemake..."

And now the redhead: "The Distant Star Senshi of ever-changing love, I am Sailor Eris."

Haumea again: "On behalf of the Silver Millennium past and future, we, the Distant Star Senshi of the Sol System, pledge our hearts and souls to the defense of you and yours. Whatever you need us to do, just ask."

"Haumea, Makemake, Eris," said Sailor Moon as she came forward and put a hand on Haumea's knee. "Thank you, the pleasure is ours."

Chibi-Moon seemed hopelessly lost, staring from one to the other and back. "I don't understand. You called me 'Queen', and Usagi 'Neo Queen Emeritus'. But that means—"

"Your war called us back to this time period, long before we were supposed to awaken." Eris got to her feet and backed off in a hurry. "Sorry, I really don't mean to be rude, but my powers tend to go off at random. Bad for enemies, worse for allies."

"Eris controls discord," Haumea explained. "Misfortune, disaster, or just plain bad luck. Or maybe 'controls' is the wrong word. I keep telling her it gets worse when she frets about it, but it hasn't helped yet."

"Go back to what you said about 'before you were supposed to awaken,'" said Hotaru Tomoe, Sailor Saturn, at Chibi-Moon's side as always. "Obviously you must be from even farther in the future than the 30th Century, but we've never heard anything about Sailor Senshi representing the other dwarf planets. We had no idea you even existed..."

"I don't think you were supposed to know, not yet. The fact that we're here now tells you something's really wrong," sighed Eris. She ran a hand through her hair, an action which had no noticeable effect on its bizarre style... her waves stayed wavy, and her spikes sprung back into place as if made of elastic.

"[It's great to meet you all and we're glad for your help, but...]" Venus fidgeted, clearly uncomfortable. "[Um, why is that one staring at me and not saying anything? It's kinda... off-putting. Is she mad at me?]"

If Makemake heard, she didn't respond. Her gaze remained locked on Venus, all but unblinking.

Again Haumea let out that booming laugh. "Makemake? Aw, you don't have to worry about her, she a real sweetheart. She just has—"

Before she could finish her sentence, Makemake dropped her spear and darted close to Venus. Only a few centimeters from physical contact with her, she peered down from behind the mask with those owlish eyes. "Yuh..." she murmured. Then, in a rapid-fire stutter only barely louder than before: "Yuh-you're Suh-Sailor Vuh-Venus... M-M-M-M-M-Minako A-A-Aino...! I'm your buh-biggest fuh-fuh-fan... S-s-s-s-sign, p-p-p-p-please...?" With that, she thrust a rectangular pane of crystal no thicker than a hair into Venus's hands, followed by a transparent stylus.

Mars gave Venus a bewildered but not displeased look.

By contrast, Venus glowed with joy and no small amount of pride. "[Hey, I'm starting to like the sound of the future! Sorry I sound a little off right now, I should be getting this fixed soon. Who do I make it out to? 'Makemake', or...?]"

Makemake shifted back and forth from foot to foot, looking more birdlike than ever. "Hepeue..."

"[Okay, spell that out for me. I don't want to mess it up...]"

Deep, steadying breaths came from behind the mask before Makemake complied. When she was finished, they could feel the smile threatening to burst through it. "Your second album... I know... it didn't sell... as well as the first... but the eighth track on it..." Tears gathered at the corners of her eyes. "It's... a masterpiece. Changed... my life. Thank you."

"Careful, Makemake." Eris chuckled. "I don't think she's even written that one yet, don't put pressure on her. Besides, we..." She trailed off, having caught sight of a face in the crowd of other Lights, who were emboldened to come closer now that Galaxia was gone. "Oh wow. 'Scuse me a second."

*****

The one calling herself Sailor Eris bounded to the lip of the crater, then threaded through bodies, mumbling apologies until she came to the back of the group... and stopped in front of Homura. Her body shone golden and sparkly for a moment as her transformation dropped. There was some manner of school uniform underneath, but if the purpose of a school uniform was to blend in and avoid attracting attention, this one seemed to have missed the memo. Its colors shifted depending on how the light hit them, and there wasn't a single visible stitch or seam in the fabric... if it was fabric, for the skirt and blouse appeared to be a single, almost liquid-smooth piece. The only mundane article of clothing she wore was a pair of thick, round glasses, which looked positively anachronistic compared to the rest. Their arms and bridge showed generous signs of frequent breakage and repair, though what they were prepared with was anyone's guess.

To Homura, it made no sense. Why on earth would a Sailor Senshi from the far future seek her out?

Eris gently took her hand before she could object. "Sorry," she said, a bit sheepish. "I probably shouldn't be doing this, and I can't talk for too long, but I just had to." With her free hand, she removed her glasses to reveal teal eyes misty with warmth and fondness. "I'm still on the Arthra with my parents right now, aren't I?" she said, quietly so the others wouldn't hear. "When you see them, you can tell them not to worry. I'll turn out okay."

Stunned, Homura gaped at her. "You—"

"And you'll turn out okay too..." Eris paused, as if unsure whether to continue, then pressed on anyway: "... Auntie Homura. Mom and Dad and especially me, we never forget all the things you did for us, ever. So keep doing your best. And thank you, for everything." With that, she released Homura's hand, put her glasses back on, and returned to her teammates, transforming again along the way.

Madoka Kaname, who was standing close enough to see Eris's glasses come off, stared after her in disbelief. "That was...!" she sputtered. "But she's from— She can't be! Can she?"

Homura stood motionless, her train of thought brought to a screeching halt. "Madoka." In a daze, she traced the palm of the hand Eris held with her thumb. "Something very strange is happening..."

*****

"Arthra, this is Lyrical with Red Dog, Round Table, and Epoch, reporting in," said Nanoha Takamachi into her comm screen. She, Fate, Hayate, and Chrono stood atop the Nishimoto Mansion, next door to the building that housed the ruins of the Game Center Crown and the Sailor Senshi's command center beneath it. Of the six officers Lindy sent to assist, three were now keeping watch, two were back aboard the Arthra tending their wounds, and one was with the rest of the Lights down at street level. "Do you read us?"

"Loud and clear, Lyrical," said Operator Amy Limietta in the window. "I'm sure Admiral Lindy will be relieved to see the three of you... I'm manning the bridge while she has a well-deserved drink. What's your status?"

"For now, the situation appears nominal," said Nanoha. Her training made it easy to lapse into protocol in times of crisis, that was part of what it was for. "The source of the comms interference and the unidentified signature in the final minutes of the battle was a... very unexpected new ally. At the moment, there are no further casualties or critical injuries to report among the combatants, thank goodness."

Amy's face fell. "'Among the combatants.' So that means..."

"Yeah," Chrono Harlaown said gravely as he looked out over the building's edge. "We were insanely lucky. Aside from Scrya, it wasn't us that got the worst of it."

What spread out before them was devastation in the purest sense, a scene that belonged in a sobering news report about some unfortunate third-world country, not in the heart of the biggest city in the world. They chose the Nishimoto Mansion to survey the damage to the district and surrounding areas because it was one of the only multi-story buildings still standing. Entire blocks of Azabu-Juuban and its neighboring districts were not just flattened but pulverized; the foundations of their buildings gaped open like empty graves. Sad piles of rubble—splintered and smoldering wood, brick and concrete reduced to powder, girders scorched black and twisted into pretzel shapes—were the only signs that there had been functioning businesses and restaurants and apartment complexes there just hours ago. Electrical fires large and small burned bright throughout Minato Ward's districts for kilometers around, the result of innumerable fallen power cables... the process of removing them was sluggish at best, for emergency vehicles were stymied by broken and flooded roads at almost every turn. Strewn throughout the landscape were the remains of the skyscrapers Walpurgisnacht uprooted: great gutted hulks that did almost as much damage coming down in pieces as the Witch did lifting them in the first place. It's not fair, Nanoha thought. We're the TSAB, we're supposed to prevent disasters like this. That's what our temporal force fields are for. All our power, and just look. Minato Ward is in ruins, and we can hardly do anything. On Midchilda, we'd already be in the thick of it, saving people. In this world, we can't even use our magic to help the rescue workers or put out fires. If the civilians saw unfamiliar magic users right now, it would only cause a bigger panic.

Wordlessly, Fate wrapped her arms around Nanoha for support. She knew, as always.

"From what I'm seein'," said Hayate, taking over. She called up another screen from her Storage Device's interface, stuffed to bursting with information feeds from Tokyo's various media. "The current figures... are estimatin' at least forty-seven hundred dead or missing, an' well over ten thousand wounded. Sailor Moon an' Chibi-Moon are gonna try to heal as many as they can with the Silver Crystal, but..."

"That was with Kinomoto holding back the storm as long as she could, and the evacuation measures, last-minute as they were," said Chrono. "If Inspector Nakamura hadn't come along, we'd probably be looking at double or triple those figures. At least."

"You all did everything you could," said Amy gently. "Every one of you went above and beyond what was expected of you, and that the city's still here at all is proof of that."

"Yuuno-kun," said Nanoha. There was a waver in her voice as she said his name, which would put the lie to her legendary composure and coolheadedness in other circumstances. Here, after the battle and alone with her closest friends and comrades, was the only time and place she would allow it to come out. "How is he?"

On the screen, Amy bowed her head. "Still in ICU, they're trying to stabilize him. I promise I'll let you know as soon as anything changes. Admiral Lindy..." She took a moment to wipe her eyes. "Admiral Lindy put his name forward for the Olivie Star Cluster."

That was no small honor; the Olivie Star Cluster was one of the highest accolades for heroism that the TSAB could give. Nanoha sniffled and nodded. "Good. He deserves it."

"Agreed," said Chrono. A tiny attempt at a smile, which was rare for him. "Though if I know Scrya, we'll have to force him to accept it."

"Definitely," said Hayate. "We'll need binding spells on him just to pin it on his chest."

"There is one other thing," said Amy. "Yuuno gave Lindy special instructions last week, during the final preparations... a standing order."

"Huh?" Fate blinked. "But even if he was a full TSAB officer, he couldn't do that. Mother's an admiral."

Chrono began to bristle, his XO's pride wounded. "I never heard about this."

"Well, she took it on regardless. If something happened to him during the operation, she was supposed to tell you on his behalf..." Amy brought up a holopanel, scanned it, and grinned through fresh tears. "'Don't you dare worry about me. Admiral's orders.'"

Something even more rare and improbable than a smile happened then: Chrono chuckled. "That cocky little weasel."

"Ferret, dummy," said Hayate, before she broke into a confused mixture of sobs and giggles.

Nanoha put her free arm around Hayate, and Fate did the same to Chrono, who only mumbled a token protest. Together, if only for a moment, they had a quiet little laugh, for the first time in what felt like ages.

*****

If there was one thing that could be said for Nagisa Momoe, it was that she knew how to liven the mood. Alone among the Lights, she seemed free of angst or exhaustion as she rode on Haumea's massive shoulders with the Chibi-Stranger. From her perch, she belted out a song that was probably the Gamera theme. At least, Sailor Moon thought that was what it sounded like; the tune was vaguely familiar and the name "Gamera" appeared frequently in its lyrics, but the rest of it was in English. Her grasp of the language was tenuous at best, but if she heard it correctly, there was even more cause for confusion. Translated or not, she was pretty sure that the kaiju's theme song wasn't supposed to be about eating him...

"Take a good look, Usako," Tuxedo Mask nodded at Nagisa and pulled her close, into the welcoming folds of his cape. "That's what we have to look forward to whenever we have Chibi-Usa. Hundreds of years of it."

"Stop it," she said with a playful finger poke between his ribs. "Besides, that's the last thing I want to think about right now. Parental responsibility, adult responsibility, being queen of the planet... blech. Right now, I just want a bath, a hot meal, and a twelve-hour nap."

He planted a kiss to the top of her head, right between her odango. "Sorry, Your Majesty. Believe me, I'd love to have a lazy day in bed with you now that you're back, but you still have work to do. Nobody in the city's going to have baths or hot meals or naps until this disaster gets cleaned up."

"You just had to remind me." A worried sigh. "It's been a long time since I had to fix so much at once. I hope I can still do it."

"Haven't I told you enough times? You can do anything."

"Flatterer. You keep saying stuff like that and I'll forget there are people watching."

One eyebrow raised behind his mask. "Does that mean what I think it means?"

She set her lip, tilted her head back, and fixed him with her best glare. "You're damned right it does. I haven't seen you for, what, months? It could be even longer, since time in the Lighthouse is all... weird. It's been the longest dry spell since we moved in together, and I hate it."

"You're telling me you didn't even consider having a fling while I was gone? I'm honored."

"Mmmmaybe I thought about asking Rei-chan or Minako-chan once or twice, just to burn off some stress. But no, they're too into each other, and I'm too into you."

"Why, Madam. I believe my innocence is being besmirched."

"I don't know what that means, but." As she turned to face him, her hands closed on his lapels and hauled him down to her level. She dropped her voice low, to something like a purr. "Once we're alone... I'm gonna besmirch you until you drop, cape boy."

"Oh my. One of those moods." Another kiss, this time on the lips. "Too many of those and I'll be in my grave. Again."

"Nuh uh. As future Queen of the Neo Silver Millennium, I hereby declare that both of us have died enough times. No more, not until we're good and ready."

For a while they lapsed into silence and watched the scene before them. Mars and Venus sat on a park bench together, hand in hand and dangerously close to nodding off. Haumea ran laps around Juuban Patio with both Nagisa and the Chibi-Stranger on her shoulders, both of whom laughed and clapped their hands in paroxysms of pure joy. Jupiter and Madoka were deep in discussion about something Sailor Moon couldn't make out. Makemake stood guard with her spear, like a statue once more, with her precious autograph tucked under one arm. And of course Chibi-Moon and Saturn were together, but this time Homura was with them... an odd sight, one that she didn't think she'd get used to seeing any time soon. Against the cracked concrete wall neighboring what used to be the Cafe La Boheme and was now a smoking ruin, Neptune leaned with her head down and arms folded... asleep? Quite possibly. Meanwhile, Eris stood before the Osa-P and gazed intently at the ruined storefront, apparently deep in thought.

Then there were the others: Ayumi Sakagami, Cure Echo, seemed at a loss for what to do, and dithered each time she took a step in one direction or the other. Blossom made a valiant attempt to salvage a crushed flower bed in front of a demolished store, with Peace assisting. Black paced back and forth in a restless fashion and did stretches when that wasn't enough. Kirara Amanogawa, Cure Twinkle, and Towa Akagi, Cure Scarlet, had found a miraculously undamaged set of tables and chairs, and were seated at one, holding each other close. She spotted Nanoha, the other two Aces, and Chrono descending from the skies to the northeast. From the patio, Mami keept watch on the two little ones riding Haumea's shoulders, making little attempt to hide her motherly concern. Kyoko Sakura was seated on a fallen tree, eating pocky alongside an orange-haired young man in a TSAB uniform whom Sailor Moon didn't know. As for Sayaka Miki, she stood by herself apart from anyone else and cast the occasional wounded glance in Kyoko's direction, none of which were returned. Likewise, Galaxia kept her silent vigil at the edge of the crater. Of Iron Mouse, she could find no sign.

All these people, so different from each other and from such diverse backgrounds... humans, humanoids, magical creatures, and aliens from a dozen different worlds, all brought together by conflict. And she, Usagi Tsukino, would be one of the ones leading them in the final battle, if they lasted that long.

A sudden chill seized her as she remembered that whenever that happened, if it happened, she probably wouldn't be doing so as Sailor Moon. There was that conversation with Fantine from forever ago, in the Immaterial recreation of her childhood bedroom... the conversation about Sailor Cosmos. The enigmatic Senshi of existence itself, the time-lost refugee from the hopeless final war against Sailor Chaos. Some part of her knew: when and if she became Sailor Cosmos, it would be like nothing she had ever experienced before. Whether she was regular or Super or Eternal Sailor Moon, she still felt like herself whenever she transformed, just with more power. By her very nature, Sailor Cosmos would be beyond that, so far beyond that...

... that she would likely never be able to come back.

There it was. If there was anything she feared more than losing everyone and everything in the war against Joker and Dead End, it was that: that even if they somehow won, the mere act of tapping into Cosmos's power would mean the permanent end of plain, simple Usagi Tsukino. Her self, the silly, flawed, human part of her being, the part she loved so dearly, would be subsumed entirely by that primal force... if not lost forever. And the most frightening part was, if in the end it came down to preserving her self or saving reality... she was pretty sure she knew which one she would choose.

God, it was already hard enough to think of herself as the savior of her universe. It was already hard enough to picture herself becoming a mother, or becoming queen of Earth and a living goddess. To be a concept, or an avatar of one, or whatever Sailor Cosmos was...

I wonder how Madoka-chan did it. "Mamo-chan," she said aloud. "If someday I have to—"

His arms tightened around her. "Someday isn't today, Usako. What's important here and now is restoring the city and its people. After that, you get your bath and food and rest. And whatever comes next, I'll be there with you. Until this is over, I won't leave your side again."

"Mamo-chan?" she said as she peered back up at him. "But what about Earth? What if Dead End comes back?"

Tuxedo Mask chuckled. "We have four new allies, all of whom seem more than capable of minding the place while we're gone. Of course, we'll need to lay down a few ground rules..." Behind the mask, his eyes shifted over to the crater where Galaxia sat. "But once that's done and the planetary shields are back up, I can join you at your Lighthouse. Whatever you need me to be—whether it's your bodyguard, your comrade-in-arms, your fiancé, or just your emotional support—that's what I'll be for you. Happily."

Now it was her turn to raise an eyebrow. In a whisper so soft that no one else could hear it—or so she desperately hoped—she made one other suggestion to him.

That dazzling smile, the one that still stopped her heart after all these years. "Okay, yes. It'll be my privilege to do that for you too, when you need it."

"See, there's the motivation I need to get back to work." Into her comm, she said: "Okay, everybody. If you want to help rebuild the city, gather up in the square."

*****

"L-L-L-Lady Galaxia...?"

It wasn't often that something surprised her. To hear that small, trembling voice again, here, now, gave Galaxia a rare moment of pause and disbelief. She looked back over her shoulder, her good eye widened just a hair. "Iron Mouse?"

Her former soldier shook like a leaf, threading her tail through her hands as a nervous tic. It appeared she was mere seconds from collapse. She nodded. "Y-y-y-y-yes, Milady."

Galaxia scanned her up and down. Iron Mouse was smeared with grime, wet from rain, covered in cuts, bruises, and burns. A pathetic mess. So she had been in battle... but she was in plain sight of Sailor Moon and the roughly thirty others with her and they made no move to capture or eliminate her. "You fought alongside them?" It was the only logical conclusion.

Again Iron Mouse nodded. "I... I did, I guess. Just tonight. They... they saved me from Joker. From Dead End."

Ah, now the picture became clear. "You mean you begged them to protect you."

Iron Mouse's features all drew inward, as if something sour had painted her tongue. "I...! Yes, I did, but! At first all I wanted was to save myself. But then later on..." She stared down at her palm, curled and uncurled her fingers. "They actually said they needed me, and I told them no, but... I changed my mind. I don't know why."

"Why tell me all this, Iron Mouse?" There was something very odd about her, but it was difficult to tell just what that something was. "You're not one of Shadow Galactica's Animamates anymore. You're not part of Dead End. And whatever Sailor Moon's band of fools is called—"

"Th-the Morning Lights, Milady."

How trite. "I hardly think you're one of them, either. Yet here you are, for reasons you clearly don't understand or have the capacity to comprehend. Years ago, you claimed you came to me because I offered you power, but I know why you really did it." Galaxia stood and glowered down at her. "You're a small, weak, insignificant being. You wanted a source of strength that you could cling to, someone or something to cower behind when you were too afraid to fight for yourself. That was who you were when you found me, and how you are now is no different."

Iron Mouse shrank down into a ball, clutching herself tight. Now that was more like the person she remembered.

"The way I see it," said Galaxia, "there's just one question you should be asking yourself: why are you alive?"

The question was rhetorical; she expected it to send Iron Mouse into a full breakdown, to reduce her to a quivering blob of jelly at her feet. What she didn't expect...

"I... I don't know," said Iron Mouse after a deep breath. Watery grey eyes turned upward and faced Galaxia directly. "I don't know, Milady. I've asked myself that question over and over again ever since I was brought back. For as long as I can remember, I've been small and weak and cowardly and self-centered. All that mattered to me was me. My power, my desires, my life. It was simple that way. I liked it that way."

And in a motion that shocked Galaxia more than she would ever admit, Iron Mouse stiffened her shaky knees and stood up to her full if diminutive height. One of her tiny hands balled into a fist. The other, Galaxia saw, held tight onto some manner of empy beverage can... a piece of garbage. Yet for as hard as she gripped it, she seemed unwilling to crush it or otherwise damage it. "But now? Now nothing makes sense. I should be terrified of dying, and I am, but there's something else inside me, pushing me, and I can't figure out what it is. It's not courage... Courage was what I saw tonight, when the Lights kept fighting even though it was impossible to win. That's not me. That can never be me. I just... Th-there's a little voice inside that keeps whispering to me...

"I came back to life. And I... I shouldn't have come back. I d-didn't deserve to come back. If anyone should get a second chance, it isn't me. My first life didn't amount to anything. And Joker's going to negate reality with the Merry-Go-Round, so my second life won't either! I know it won't! So if it's all pointless, then why..." A plaintive pause. "Why is my heart telling me I should keep trying to make this life worth something?"

The question hung between them, swelling to occupy the silence.

"I can't answer that," said Galaxia finally. "If you're looking for absolution, go to Sailor Moon. If you're looking for sympathy or pity, there are dozens of others to turn to. I have no words of wisdom to share with you, and I don't waste time with empty platitudes or useless emotions. Even if I were inclined, I couldn't tell you how to find meaning in your existence... because there is no meaning in your existence, Iron Mouse. The universe doesn't care if you're alive or dead, it doesn't care what you've done for good or ill, and it never will. You are less than than a single atom, utterly beneath notice, there and gone in a billionth of a second. But your consciousness is your own, and for this brief flicker of time, your choices are your own. They are all you truly have. Make use of them, or don't. Either way, it won't matter in the end."

Iron Mouse's eyes swam with conflicted feelings for a moment. For reasons Galaxia couldn't begin to understand, she brought her empty can up to her chest and hugged it to herself, and some measure of peace settled over her. Then she swallowed and bowed. "I... I think I get it. Thank you, Milady."

With a click of her tongue, Galaxia turned back to the crater. She intended to say nothing more, but she could feel the eyes staring at the back of her head. "Stop your scraping. I'm not your lady, not anymore."

The voice that answered was timid, but not afraid. "Then... then what should I call you? Just 'Galaxia'? What was your name before you became a Sailor Senshi?"

Full of questions, wasn't she? "It wouldn't mean anything to you, even if I told you. It was a worthless trash name, given by a worthless trash society on a worthless trash planet. I discarded it long ago."

"Maybe so, but... could I still hear it? Please? I promise I won't tell anyone."

Damn it all. She wouldn't go away without it, would she? And because there was no reason not to, Galaxia closed her eyes, sighed, and answered her.

*****

Sailor Moon stood in the center of the square before the Jewelry Osa-P. Her fingertips hovered over the open brooch that Chibi-Moon held in her outstretched hands. The future Silver Crystal's shape and color and mystical light were just as she remembered, but on some deeper level it wasn't quite the same. Now she was sure of what she felt during the fight with Walpurgisnacht: what was inside Chibi-Moon's brooch was the Legendary Silver Crystal, beyond any doubt, but it wasn't her Silver Crystal anymore. Chibi-Moon had carried it so long that her essence suffused it, just being near it felt like her. The thought was as warm and comforting as it was bittersweet; she knew she would never be able to use this version of the Silver Crystal in quite the same way as before, for Chibi-Moon had made it her own.

Around them, the Morning Lights and their allies held hands in a circle, thirty-two strong. Galaxia refused to participate, of course, and Iron Mouse bowed out and went to sit by a piece of rubble with her empty juice can. Sayaka Miki was among those in the circle, surprisingly... she tried to refuse, but Madoka would have none of it. At her own insistence, she stood on the opposite side of the circle from her fellow Puellae Magi, between two of the TSAB officers from the Arthra, complete strangers to her.

It was a little like being immersed in the Galaxy Cauldron, and what a strange thing to feel nostalgic about. The sensation of connection was already there, even before she took action. Herself, Chibi-Moon, the thirty-two people in the circle, even Iron Mouse and Galaxia were musical notes, resonating with each other. The ones from the other Vertices were distinctly different: if she and the other Senshi felt like piano notes, the Precure were chimes, the TSAB officers were tenor woodwinds, and the Puellae Magi were powerful baritone and bass chords. All different instruments, but all contributing to the song.

Out beyond their circle, there were millions of other piano notes. Some harmonized along with them, some played faint or harsh or off-key, some were muted altogether. And there was a struggling note that all of Tokyo played, which was the sound of the great city itself, bleeding and grievously wounded but not destroyed.

It wasn't how it needed to be. Sailor Moon focused on all the discordant notes, all the notes that played too soft or too loud, all the notes that trembled when they should have been strong, all the notes silenced before their time. As the Silver Crystal shone with heavenly light, she bid all the wounded notes to strengthen and return to the way they should be, to join in the song with all of them. Tokyo, her home, the place where she was born, the largest city in the world. The place where you could find pretty much anything you might be looking for: museums, boutiques, towering skyscrapers, corner markets, ancient shrines, wooded parks, narrow and crowded little back alleys, thousands of different kinds of food from all across the globe... and people! More than thirty-five million people, people of every size, shape, and gender, and they ranged from the upper echelon of celebrities to quiet, ordinary folks who preferred the simple and mundane life. She loved this city and the people in it with all her heart, and she couldn't bear to see them in pain. It was her duty to restore them to how they should be.

The Silver Crystal blazed with the light of creation itself, and Sailor Moon called out: "Moon Healing Escalation!"

And when bathed in that light, the sad piles of twisted steel and concrete rose and resolved into their proper forms. Dust particles that blanketed well over two thousand square kilometers funneled back to fill the countless cracks and broken parts in mighty, rippling streams. In the distance, the mangled wreckage of the Tokyo Tower straightened, its many lattice strips knit back together as the two halves became one again. Stumps of felled trees sprouted new growth which subsumed the old, new branches burst into green clusters of leafy fireworks and fragrant blossoms. And the people, the people dead and wounded and suffering as casualties of the grueling battle... Sailor Moon knew she couldn't save them all, not without her own Silver Crystal. But she poured the combined energy of herself and all the Lights and their allies into saving whoever she could with what they had right now... In droves, sour and muted notes rejoined the melody. Despair and loss gave way to the hope of new life, the effects rippled outward like rings made when a rock was tossed into a still lake. So many were restored, but just a few more, just a few more, she could take it!

It wasn't entirely a lie. She could take it, her knees couldn't. The Silver Crystal's glow faded as they buckled beneath her, her transformation broke, and she fell to the asphalt in a heap, weakness descending on her like a sudden fall of snow. Even with so many sharing the burden with her, there was still a price to pay.

"Usako!"

"Usagi!"

Tuxedo Mask's arms gently took hold of her, and that was Chibi-Moon's hand on her forehead, no doubt. The others were near, she felt their warmth. "I'm all right, guys," she mumbled. "I'm all right, it's just—"

And her stomach chose that moment to make a sound like the snore of a hibernating bear.

She smiled, sheepish. "... I'm absolutely starving for pizza."

Titters and giggles and guffaws all around. It was all right. Not everything was fixed, not everyone was saved... but Azabu-Juuban at least felt intact again. The old familiar sights she had grown up with were restored: the Jewelry Osa-P gleamed like one of the diamonds in its display windows, across the street the Palette Plaza was bright and cheerful, and even the statue of Kimi-chan stood quiet and whole on her granite pedestal. As far as she could see, all was as it should be. Nostalgia was a powerful and strange thing; for all the months she spent in the Lighthouse, this moment was the first time she realized how much she missed this place. Home.

There was a playful smirk on Chibi-Moon's lips. "Funny you should mention that. Kero wanted us to go to this one place on our way in... What was it called, Madoka-chan?"

"Pizza Strada, I think," said Madoka with a soft chuckle.

"Yeah, that was it! Sakura-chan got so mad..."

Tuxedo Mask raised his voice to address the group. "Well, if that's what you all want... Go on, it'll be my treat."

"Mamo-chan!" said Usagi over the near-unanimous cries of agreement that followed, trying to sit up. "That's thirty-some people! You can't—"

That dazzling smile again. "I'm rich, remember?"

"Wait, rich?!" Cure Black goggled from across the street. "Usagi-san, you're telling me your fiancé looks like a supermodel, he dresses like that, he has a masters degree in whatever physics, he's gonna be king, and he's rich? How's that fair?! I don't believe this...!"

Bursting with undisguised pride, Tuxedo Mask planted another kiss atop her head. "Don't let all of that fool you, it's just details," he said with complete sincerity. "It's Usako who's the real catch. She's so far out of my league that I'm amazed she still talks to me. I'm the luckiest man in the multiverse."

*****

It was during the gales of laughter—and some "aww"-ing, to be fair—that followed that Madoka felt it: the familiar, peculiar tingle in the back of her skull that accompanied telepathy from her own universe. She didn't need to look to know that all six Puellae Magi were already here close by. There was only one explanation, and it extinguished any desire to laugh like someone throwing water on a fire.

Homura and the others felt it too, she could see it in their faces. In synchronized motion, the six of them drew their weapons and turned around, aiming them up Daikokuzaka Street before the first words were spoken...

Impressive work, all of you. Your resilience and strength have exceeded all expected parameters.

Bathed in the light of a newly-restored streetlight was an Incubator, its foxlike tail swishing back and forth, watching them all with unblinking red eyes and a frozen smile. It rose to its feet and approached them... as it did so, another identical Incubator emerged from its shadow, and another, and another, until nine of them stood staring, waiting.

"Incubator," said Madoka by way of greeting as she pulled back on an arrow. This was her responsibility. It was her idea for "their" Kyubey to restore the hive mind in this universe, therefore, the consequences were on her head. Ordinarily, the Incubators were only slightly more trustworthy than Joker was. Still, some irrational part of her prayed that "their" Kyubey becoming the new template would have some kind of positive effect on the species, at least a little... "You're all back to normal?"

Indeed, said the Incubators in unison. All biological units present in this universe are operating normally. The sole exception is the nonfunctional unit which initiated the purge, which was stored in Hayate Yagami's personal temporo-spatial storage claudication. We have retrieved it for proper recycling of its resources.

"Oi!" sputtered Hayate, red-faced and outraged. "Creeps! Don't go rootin' around in a lady's pocket dimension without askin', that's rude!"

"Hayate-chan, you kept that thing?!"

The answer was meek. "Didn't seem right to just dump him in the trash, ya know. He helped us."

Regardless, said the Incubator in front. You and your comrades have done well, Madoka Kaname.

That was as close to gratitude as she was likely to get. "It was either that or let Joker keep controlling you. We made a choice."

An unexpectedly pragmatic decision. The one in front looked around at the weapons trained upon them... more than there were a minute ago, as the rest of the Lights had taken notice. We trust you are all aware that acts of violence toward us are pointless?

"Yeah, but they'll make us feel better," Kyoko growled around something in her teeth.

"Kyoko-chan, hush," said Madoka. Her eyes didn't stray for a second. "Let them talk, for now. We need to get a few things straight. Such as what you plan to do now that Joker's gone."

Ah, said the first Incubator. You expect that with the corruption purged, we will prioritize the creation of a Witch system in this universe. There is no need for consternation; we have no intention of making contracts here.

"You... you don't?" said Chibi-Moon. Her disbelief was evident. And warranted.

This is not our universe, said the Incubator. It settled on its back haunches and curled its tail around itself. We were aware of the existence of other planes of reality—Vertices, in your species's terminology—but they are outside of our scope. We are not present here of our own volition.

Our foremost goal is to prolong the life of our universe, said the one to its right. At this stage, prolonging that of the others would be a waste of resources, which would be better spent on our local efforts.

Hayate crossed her arms and glowered. "Gee, thanks a heap."

You are welcome, said the third Incubator to the left of the first. For that matter, as far as this particular universe is concerned, there is no need to implement the Witch system. As you know, magic defies the laws of thermodynamics. Nine heads swiveled in unison to stare at Usagi and Chibi-Moon, who both shivered. The Silver Crystals normally in your possession are a step beyond that, sources of infinite energy. Their very presence in this plane is a more effective means of counteracting entropy than trillions of contracts. Implementing our system here would be superfluous. More study of the Silver Crystals and similar objects is warranted, but.

"You can look," said Usagi, "but you don't get to touch." Though she was in her civilian form, she extended her arm before Chibi-Moon as a shield.

In summation, we will not interfere with this universe's operation. Is that not what you wanted? Their heads swiveled back to Madoka.

If only it were that easy. Still, Madoka nodded. "That's right. But as for the other Vertices..."

Yes. Corrupted Incubators are still present in the other planes, and we cannot establish contact with them without risk of contamination. Should they be freed and added to the group mind—

"That's the thing," said Madoka. Here it was, the biggest gamble of them all. All the Lights weighed in on this proposal, and there was only a narrow majority that supported it out of necessity. Desperate times... "We're willing to do the same in Vertices Two through Five, on one condition: no more contracts and no more Witches in any of them. Once the war's over, there won't be any more Puellae Magi. We'll be the last."

The foremost Incubator tilted its head. And for what reason would we agree to such a condition?

Now it was Nanoha's turn to speak. "Because we can help you build a system that's better. You said it yourselves: the Silver Crystals are a source of infinite energy. And once Usagi's Crystal is restored, with the help of magic and technology from my Vertex, we can find a way to share its benefits with every universe. Yuuno-kun was already drawing up plans before—" Her voice quivered, then reasserted itself. "Before he was hurt. If you have the mind of our Kyubey, you know what my friends and I can do, how much influence we have. We can gather the greatest minds in our universe, we can use the Infinity Library... it can work, and you don't even have to help us do it. You just have to trust us, and let us fight the war without interference."

If it was possible for an Incubator to register surprise, the one in front did: its ears perked, just slightly. Your proposal is sound. However, we cannot agree to discontinue the Witch system on the basis of blind faith. Currently, none of you are in position to implement such widespread changes. Therefore, until a superior system is operational and proven reliable—

"There it is." Homura's eyes narrowed to slits, her tone was like a knife's edge. "They want to keep making contracts until then."

Indeed, Homura Akemi. Once that condition has been met, we will cease our less-efficient work, but not before then. After all, you still need Puellae Magi for your war, do you not?

Their chance was slipping away. Madoka grasped for it: "We're not asking for an end to the system right now. We just want you to stop it for a while, at least until we take back our universe from Dead End. Once the Incubators there are freed..." She swallowed. "Well, we'll need them—you—to restart the system. Whatever's going on back home, Dead End wouldn't just do away with Puellae Magi altogether, not when they can get use out of them. And whatever they've done will need to be fixed."

A logical assumption. Again the Incubator settled on its haunches. You truly believe you can liberate the multiverse from Dead End without contracts and without wishes?

"In case you didn't notice," said Black, her voice husky, "we just killed Walpurgisnacht forever, and Usagi-san brought a couple thousand people back from the dead with a Silver Crystal that wasn't even hers. You need any more proof that we can do the impossible?"

There is that. The Incubator lowered its head. Very well. For now, we shall deliberate and withdraw. The Witch system will not be implemented on this plane. We will contact you with additional data when necessary. Is this acceptable, Madoka Kaname?

"Yes." Madoka finally let out the breath she had been holding in and lowered her bow. "That's acceptable."

"Now beat it," said Nagisa. Her trumpet's bell had a bead on the foremost Incubator, and hadn't faltered once for the whole exchange.

They said nothing more; the nine of them turned on the spot and vanished without a sound.

Their departure was followed by approximately two dozen relieved sighs. A few of the Lights collapsed altogether.

Haumea and her team remained standing, however, and the giantess only seemed vaguely puzzled. "I'm not sure what just happened, but... it looks to me like you all could really use that pizza, now more than ever. Can't fight a war on an empty stomach, can you?" she said, breaking into a wide grin.

Blossom smiled gratefully up at her from her position on the ground. "Haumea-san, that sounds like a wonderful idea."

In a flurry of rose petals, Tuxedo Mask changed back into Mamoru Chiba and drew his phone from his pocket. "Pizza Strada, right? I hope they have enough seats... hmm? Well, hello!"

Nagisa was tugging on his pant leg. "Chiba-san, can Nagisa make the reservation? Pleeeeease?"

"Sure, I don't see why not. Here, the number's already punched in."

"Wow, thanks!" One pudgy finger jabbed at the screen. "H'llo, pizza man? Tables for at least thirty-five people, please... and the biggest table and chair you've got. Yeah. Oh, it's no problem! It's not my phone, Chiba-san is paying for it. Mmmhmm, that Chiba-san, the physicist! You know him? Great! Yeah. Yeah, in a few minutes. Right away." Here she wandered away from Mamoru, and her voice faded into the general sounds of relief, exhaustion, and hunger from the other Lights. "Oh, don't worry. You'll for sure know it's us when you see us coming. Listen..."

*****

Twenty Minutes Later

Madoka imagined that they made for a decidedly odd little party as they approached the restaurant... about half of them were still transformed, for one, and they had picked up a few more from the Arthra along the way. Of course Kero was there, proclaiming his intent to eat four pizzas by himself, at minimum... and surprisingly, Sakura Kinomoto was with him, leaning on Tomoyo Daidouji for support. Likewise, Erika Kurumi did pretty well in Madoka's opinion for her first time on her crutches outside of the Lighthouse or the Arthra, only stumbling over her dummy leg a few times. Luna and Artemis hitched rides on the shoulders of Usagi and Minako, respectively. And there was still the matter of Haumea and Makemake, who stood many heads and shoulders above anyone around them, but the latter seemed utterly unbothered by any strange looks she attracted and the former was outright cheerful about it. Madoka couldn't help but find that charming.

Pizza Strada had come through with chairs and tables aplenty out on their patio... including one enormous antique table which must have been borrowed from a nearby furniture store. There wasn't a chair the right size for Haumea, of course, but otherwise Nagisa did her job with aplomb. Some clandestine magic could take care of that when the staff wasn't looking.

One of those staff members was waiting for them at the door, wearing a suit that paled in comparison to Tuxedo Mask's... but then, there were few suits Madoka knew of that wouldn't. The man was a professional; he didn't even bat an eye at Haumea or anyone else, he simply looked down at his tablet to confirm as he would with any other customer. "Party of thirty-five, reservation in the name of..." Only then did he frown, and it was only the most polite frown. "'... Sonoko Muranaka-McVelociraptor...?'"

Somewhere back in the crowd, Nagisa burst into hysterical laughter.

"Nagisa!" And naturally, that was Mami's voice. "Shame on you! Honestly, I don't know where you pick up this behavior..."

"Yup, that's us," said Mamoru, nonplussed.

Somehow, Madoka felt compelled to be embarrassed on Nagisa's behalf. Her face warmed. "S-sorry, Mamoru-san. Nagisa-chan is, well..."

His hand patted her shoulder. "Don't worry about it, she's no trouble at all. Please, go take a seat."

She did. Next to Homura, of course, who didn't move or speak as she sat down. Her blush grew deeper, for she was pretty certain she knew the reason why. "Homura-chan?" she said, as softly as she could while still being audible over the chatter of the others. "Homura-chan, are you angry with me?"

Her response was automatic. "Madoka, I could never be angry with—" A long pause. Homura sagged. "Yes," she said, defeated. "Yes, I am."

"I'm sorry, Homura-chan."

"You promised you would stay by my side, that we would fight Walpurgisnacht together," said Homura. Only Madoka could have detected the tremor in her words, the almost imperceptible shaking of her shoulders. "And yet... you were about to...! Again! If Galaxia hadn't—"

Stab. "I know," said Madoka. "I broke my promise. It was terrible of me."

Homura turned away. All Madoka could see was her lovely black hair. "Part of me wants to forgive you, and part of me wants to stay angry. Hotaru has been teaching me how to express my emotions, but I don't know how to feel about this. I don't know how to resolve it."

"We'll work through it. Together, I promise. For real this time."

*****

"Look at that," Chibi-Usa gestured to Madoka and Homura's nearby table with a complimentary breadstick. "Trouble in paradise. Or Paradise Lost."

That threw Hotaru for a loop; she paused with a bottle of green tea halfway to her lips. "You know Milton?"

"I know the title, and that it's about the Devil," Chibi-Usa admitted, sheepish. "Sorry. That was mean, and I know I need to be nicer to her. It's just hard, you know? It's only been a couple hours since I heard her say it, and all this insanity has happened... This is the first time we've been able to sit down and think about it."

"Your perception of her has changed."

"Sorta, yeah. There's plenty about her that still irritates me, and I think actually liking her is a long way off, but... I understand her a little better."

"That's good, I'm glad to hear it." That said, Hotaru raised her bottle again.

Chibi-Usa leaned forward and put her chin in her hand as she watched the two of them talk. "I dunno, Hotaru-chan. I get why she likes you, don't get me wrong. And I know she's been through her share of living hell. But part of me just can't get past her being so..." She waved her free hand, but it was a difficult concept to put a label on. "Well..." A memory sparked. "'Hi my name is Homura Dark'ness Dementia Raven Akemi and I have long ebony black hair and purple eyes like limpid tears...'"

"Hgrkpfffffffffft—" A localized geyser of green tea erupted across the table, and a violent coughing fit followed it.

"Whoa! Easy, Hotaru-chan, easy!" Chibi-Usa pounded on her back. "Are you okay?"

There were tears in Hotaru's eyes as she attempted to cough and laugh at the same time. Wheezing and doubled over, she pressed a napkin to her soaked face. "Huh-how..." she managed between gasps for breath. "I'm suh-sorry, it's a-awful of me to laugh, b-but... ha-ha-ha-how do you even know about... about that story...?!"

"Are you kidding? By the 30th Century, it's considered a classic of this era's literature, it's better known than whatever it was it was based off of. It's been adapted into a movie about seventeen times. The eighth one was the best, but the musical they did for the twelfth was good too."

Hotaru smiled weakly. "You'll... have to tell me more sometime. Help me clean up this mess I've made."

*****

"... and I'm tellin' you, Luna," said Kero between rapturous mouthfuls of a loaded pizza slice larger than his head, "quintuple meat with extra-extra-extra cheese is the way to go. Ohhhh, this is heaven! That replicated stuff is so bland..." With a working of his jaws that resembled a running garbage disposal in practice, he dove back in, then reemerged with his round face coated in a thick layer of marinara sauce and mozzarella, resembling a pizza himself. "'s still some left if you want!"

"I'll pass," said Luna politely.

It was understandable that the restaurant had a strict "no animals" policy, so they couldn't eat with the others... but the staff begrudgingly conceded that there was nothing stopping the group from laying out food in the empty street for them. Of course, Luna could have simply assumed her humanoid form, but the ears and tail would invite too many questions she was too tired to answer. Besides, she wasn't all that hungry. Watching Kero eat had a way of dampening one's appetite.

While Artemis snoozed in a tree down the block, Luna was on her own with Kero. She didn't mind; this was a victory that Usagi and the others deserved to enjoy to the fullest. It warmed her heart to see them all together, enjoying good food and each other's company, sharing laughs and stories... Their world from before seemed so small now. How had they ever survived without all their friends from the other Vertices? She didn't know. At least for now, this was enough.

Greetings, Luna and Kerberos, said a most unwelcome voice in her mind... and presumably her companion's.

Kero's reaction was immediate; he dropped what little was left of his slice and snarled as he took to the air, his tiny eyes slits. "You!"

Her own response was more composed, but only because she had so much experience keeping her temper under control. Still, the fur of her hackles raised. "I thought your kind agreed to stay out of our way."

The Incubator sat a few paces away, it had appeared out of thin air. It tilted its head at them. We agreed we would contact you with pertinent information when necessary. Do you not wish to share data?

Kero bobbed down a few centimeters. "Well, yeah, but..."

"Why bring it to us and not the Lights?" Luna filled in. "We're just running support."

The humanoids are engaged in a communal meal as a recreational activity. Given the contents of our findings, I judged it best to refrain from interrupting. You both had substantial contact with the nonfunctional unit, therefore I deemed it logical to approach you. Is this in error?

No choice but to admit defeat on that one. Luna hung her head. "No, it's not. So what is it? If you're being tactful, it can't be anything good."

'Good' is a subjective term, but I digress. In order to decrease the likelihood of alarming the humanoids, I will share our findings via telepathy. That way, there will be no possibility of misunderstanding.

"Wait," said Kero. "You can't just—"

And the Incubator's mind opened to her, and Luna saw... no, she bore witness...

It spoke and spoke and spoke at them in language beyond speech. Terms like "thermodynamic equilibrium" and "quasistatic" and "matrix logarithm" were mingled with concepts that human civilization had no words for yet, because human civilization didn't know these concepts existed. If it had explained it aloud, she would have been completely lost within its first few sentences. She doubted if even Ami could have understood it.

But by delivering its species's findings mind to mind, she received not only the information itself, but the context needed to make sense of it, the thought processes that led to their discovery... everything she needed to understand what it was trying to them poured into her brain. And Luna couldn't make a sound, but some part of her knew it should be screaming, wailing, gnashing her teeth. She should be doing anything except staring slack-jawed at the inescapable conclusion the Incubators had found, going dead inside...

When it was over, she stared without seeing at the asphalt beneath her paws. "This can't be true..." Her throat was dry as sandpaper. "The data has to be flawed somehow!"

I assure you, said the Incubator, it is not.

"No... no way. Kyubey, you gotta check it again!" Kero was sprawled across one of his empty pizza boxes, all strength in his wings gone. "It's gotta be wrong!"

We have verified the data to be factually accurate to within a 0.00001% margin of error. Our results are sound, Kerberos. I apologize if this upsets you.

"But if it's true, then..." A grave chill seized Luna as she gazed back over at Usagi and the others, at their happiness. "Then it's all for nothing. All their sacrifices, all their suffering, all this destruction..."

It would appear to be so, said the Incubator.

"No..." said Luna. Then, more firmly: "I won't accept this, I won't! There has to be some way. There has to be..."

While I am impressed by your optimism, Luna, I am afraid the facts are clear. With appalling calm, the Incubator regarded them both with its unblinking stare. Despite all we have done to preserve it, the multiverse is dying. It cannot be saved.

Luna thought. She stared back at the asphalt, at the tiny flecks of quartz embedded in it, and she thought. She thought of her many battles alongside Usagi over the last seven years. In that time, she saw someone who was once a lazy, gluttonous crybaby of a schoolgirl metamorphose into a proud warrior and a leader, one who overcame a million traumas, all of which should have destroyed her. Usagi and her friends pulled off more miracles than she could count, and with Sakura, Madoka, and the other Lights to help her...

The Incubators' conclusion was clear, a burning brand in her mind. She couldn't forget it if she tried. It made sense to her. It was logical.

And yet...

"You can all take your data," said Luna, "and shove it. Go run your numbers again, because you've made a mistake."

Excuse me? The Incubator's tone was as close to shock as it could manage.

"You heard me," Luna hissed. Now all her hackles rose. "I don't care if your data says the sky's about to fall. You haven't seen what I've seen. Those girls won't stop fighting. They won't give up. They'll find a way, even if it's impossible. Especially if it's impossible. They'll never accept that it's hopeless, and neither will I."

"Y-yeah," said Kero, shaken but recovering. "Me neither. If anything... this is just gonna make us fight harder, to prove you wrong."

The Incubator lowered its head and heaved a mental sigh. So much for our hope that the non-humanoids would be more rational. Really, if we pool our resources immediately, we should be able to extend the multiverse's remaining time by a minimum of—

"Shove it," Kero spat. "Go back to your creepy little rat family and let us worry about saving everyone."

"Or to put it succinctly," said Luna, "fuck off."

Another sigh, and the Incubator disappeared.

Silence between them. The sounds of the party were muted and distant.

"We..." said Kero. He swallowed. "We gotta tell them, right? At least the Big Five. They have to know."

"They do," said Luna, "but not right now. Let them have this. You and I both know how much they need it." She turned and padded back toward the restaurant, or as close as its staff would allow.

"Luna?" Kero's voice behind her was small and hollow, so unlike him. "Do you really think they can do it? Do you think Kyubey's people are wrong?"

Luna didn't turn around. "I know they're wrong. Look at them, Kero. We trained them, taught them everything we could, and they somehow learned more and became stronger than we ever dreamed. How many times did we swear they were finished, only for them to beat impossible odds?" And as she spoke, she remembered a certain teenage girl in a Senshi fuku with a tiny cut on her leg, her very first battle injury... bawling her eyes out over it. Luna's lips curled into a smile, for she recalled the exact feeling of frustration and hopelessness from back then. She recalled the thought that crossed her mind: this whiny, slovenly, pathetic creature couldn't be the one destined to find the Silver Crystal and save the world...

How gloriously wrong she'd been.

END OF CHAPTER 62

NEXT:

INTER-MISSION II - WITHOUT HIM

[Author's Note:

Thank you to my readers for the last nine years, and for more to come.

In regards to that last scene... take a look at the prologue to the first chapter.

A very special thanks to the real Dr. Koishi, for generously granting me his permission to introduce his Shattered Skies counterpart.

Remember: comments and detailed feedback are an author's food pellets, so leave plenty! - BHS

My links: http://link.space/@bhsdesk ]