Skysaber's Choice Part Eight by Jared Ornstead ===== Mina was watching Jared sprawled across her bed out of the corner of her eye, and smiling slightly. Yup! Sure looked like he belonged to her. It'd been a masterstroke to ask the Tsukinos for a ride home, then suggest they lay him up here while waiting for him to recover. As she’d been the first to ask for a ride and there wasn’t much room in the car, she’d got him! Leaving all those other girls growling and unhappy, but... The blonde Sailor Scout was standing at the top of the stairs, where she could peek an occasional glance into her room to see if her hero had woken up yet (and entertain naughty thoughts about him *not* waking up, just leaving him there all night - a Sailor suited warrior's favorite cuddle toy). She grinned. So far she'd been left with the kids, which was okay as they mostly entertained themselves. Serena would poke at her pink haired sister and cry when she got rebuked or a toy taken away from her. Sammy, the boy Tsukino and their oldest if you didn't count Jared, mostly sat sulking that they didn't have any video games. Hey, was it Mina's fault that her life was too interesting to want to play those? So they didn't have a set, so what was the big deal? Rini had given Jared a quick frisk that had *looked* like it might have been a hug, but wasn't. Mina had to stop the girl every time she went over and started to go through Jared's belongings. It wasn't hard after the last time Rini had tried to open Jared's bag. That blast of combined electricity and fire had looked like it *hurt!* So now little Rini's pink hair was a little crispy around the edges. Luckily their parents hadn't noticed. Mina eavesdropped as they talked down the stairs below her, seated in a semicircle in the family's living room. "He isn't really our biological son," Mr. Tsukino was saying. "But we've raised him for so long its hard not to think so." "He really belongs to my sister." Mrs Tsukino butted in. "But she fell so ill when her husband left and took their oldest son on a training journey so long ago that she asked us to take care of Jared while she recovered. That was almost eight years ago, now." Mr. Tsukino went on in place of his wife. "It turns out Nodoka, that's my wife's sister and my sister in law, she was pregnant when Genma left her. She got so ill from the strain of having them gone..." "...and when little Rini was delivered we got to help out." Mrs. Tsukino took over. "Oh, it's *such* a long story! I have to thank you for listening to us. All our friends got bored of this long ago." "No, that's fine." Mina's mother, and hostess for this situation, delicately sipped at her tea. "So how did Rini end up with you today?" Mina's father put in. Mrs. Tsukino giggled, then snorted, apologizing. "Sorry. It just seemed so funny. We've had Rini as part of our family almost as long as we've had Jared." Now Mrs. Lovejoy was curious. Mina noticed little Rini get up and go down the stairs during this, popping into Mrs. Tsukino's lap. Rini began to play with a toy parasol while listening to her adoptive almost-parent talk. Mrs. Tsukino rubbed Rini's hair affectionately. "Nodoka was never well back then, you see, so we just took over. And when she was feeling better she wanted to go off and search for her husband, so we agreed that we'd keep her kids for as long as she needed." Mr. Tsukino nodded. "The way it's worked is that she'll be gone for a few weeks or months, come back and visit, and then go off again. I think she's been almost near the point of despair. Everyone we know has wanted her to give up on that deadbeat, even if he is alive." Mrs. Tsukino shushed her husband, but Mina's dad agreed with him. "I'm afraid it isn't very likely that a man could take his son and disappear for years *without* there being some kind of problem. Maybe a youma got him, but I'm afraid I couldn't think very highly of a man who'd abandon his family for so many years." Both wives looked lovingly at their loyal husbands, and inwardly pitied the poor Nodoka. Mina was growing suspicious about that Rini kid. Something seemed wrong about that parasol... Suddenly Jared was at her elbow and all other thoughts fled. Her heart skipped a beat and it had *nothing* to do with surprise. Though maybe those little hearts in her eyes and the floating pink breeze with the cherry blossoms (indoors??) had something to do with it. He was beginning to be a little disturbed by that. "The rotten little kid has got a good story implanted, I'll give her that. Very solidly tied to some existing facts. Shouldn't be surprised if she's got supporting evidence, photos, school records, hypnotized neighbors and all that. She seems to have been very thorough." "What are you talking about?" Artemis asked, brushing a cherry blossom off his nose. He was speaking low and softly, sitting with his back toward both sets of parents, who were discussing things below them. The redhead indicated the pink haired girl. "Her. She's using the Luna Ball in its hypnotic parasol configuration. She's feeding them memories they don't have. And if this is anything like the last time she's also produced supporting evidence in spades. Also, she's gone for a far more ambitious story than I recall her doing. The 'cousin here visiting' takes alot less groundwork and support than the 'I... no, *we've* been living as part of your family for years'. I wonder... No, it's pretty clear why she changed it from what her story was before." "Last time?" Mina queried. "Do you mean she's done this before?" Jared nodded, still speaking softly. "Yes, this is fairly... well, almost expected for her. It works, too. It seems while I was spending the last few days hunting down allies she was preparing to take over my life." He held up a hand and gestured. "It works like this: We met, and she demanded an artifact I dare not part with. So rather than coming at me directly she uses indirect force. She hypnotized that family there and produced background information to support a story where I cannot spend any significant time away from her. She has the upper hand because she knows the background she's put in. By her story we're supposed to be sibs. But all of the side facts I might use to defend myself from whatever she wants to try, I don't know. And if I don't know it, I can't use it. For as long as she can keep me playing her game she maintains the advantage, and can use these 'family members' of ours to influence me." "Is she a youma?" Artemis asked. ~Hmm, there *did* seem to be something odd about that parasol. Such pretty colors, swirling in such lovely patterns, twirling and shifting...~ Meanwhile, Mina's hand went to her brooch. She could duck into her room... She looked down when she heard mumbling and saw her cat swaying dazedly back and forth. “Saotome Jared... of course he’s always been part of our family...” She gave her cat a quick lift and shook him out of the trance. Jared was smiling on the sideline. "No, she's an ally, but she's too immature to act like one, nor will she acknowledge that we're her friends. She doesn't recognize us. Or at least so my information leads me to believe." He leaned forward, resting his arms on the rail. "Fascinating. According to this story, I would be Ranma's junior by about a year, which would make me a ripe, old thirteen. Rini probably would've kept the month and day of my birthday unchanged. She'd be seven according to this clock, with Genma having been gone eight years. Nodoka newly pregnant, so that's eight years minus eight or nine months, a little older than seven. Total age of Tsukino kids: me at thirteen, Sammy at twelve, Rini at seven, and Serena at five. Glorious. What did she have in mind for that sort of tangle?" "Could you explain that?" Mina presented a doubtful face. Artemis lurked ever more doubtfully behind. The sometime Scout pressed. "That bit about her not knowing we're her allies?" "Simple, she's from the future, and whatever future she comes from we are a bit changed from our present selves, thus, she doesn't recognize us. I believe Sailor Pluto sent her." Was the redhead's reply. "Rini hasn't even been born yet, and... well, one of the Sailor Scouts... Well, I *think* one of the Scouts is her mom. I could be wrong on that though, not all of my information has been correct so far, especially as far as that topic goes." "Sailor Pluto?? Do you know how to find her!??" Artemis' voice was so excited that it rose and the sound of the parents talking below them stopped. "Red-kun," Mrs. Tsukino called, hearing a muffled male voice, but looking up saw only Mina and her cat. "Is that you? Are you up already?" "Showtime." Jared whispered to Mina, stepping out from around the corner he’d ducked behind, then was off walking down the stairs. The point posed by Artemis was a good one, though. Perhaps Detect Temporal Anomaly from his chronomancy library would help track down the elusive Sailor and Guardian of Time. She was sure to be concealed. But... It would be worth checking on. Jared emerged on the main floor of the living room, facing both set of parents sitting around the coffee table. He nodded to Mina's parents, then bowed shallowly to the Tsukinos. "Excuse me, do I know you? You look familiar somehow." The car had driven away, leaving a few disappointed young girls behind. "Well, darn." Amy said, being unusually harsh. "What's it like? Being a Scout?" Michelle asked, breaking into the gloom they all felt. Amy looked a little embarrassed. "I am not sure. This is my first day as one. It was very exciting, but it was also very scary." She looked off to skyline for a moment. "Everything happened so fast. I am used to thinking about things before I do them, but there was not any time. Jay-chan was really good, though, and very brave. "He thought he was going to die trying to save me and Mina, but he didn't even hesitate. And when he needed help, I was too stunned to do anything. Mina knew what to do, though. I can't imagine what she's been going through, doing this on all her own for so long." Amy looked back at the other two girls. "I just realized I have a lot to learn about this. But I know that you have to trust your friends. My life was saved today, more than once, by Mina and Jared. I want to be there for them in the future. I want to save them, be someone they can trust like that." Rae nodded, moved by the longhaired girl’s words. It was a very high standard to live up to. Her life had been spent in training to reach high standards, though. She could do this. She *would* do this. "Wow," Michelle responded a few moments later. "I sort of thought it would be glamorous and exciting. I never thought about it being scary. I guess it's like playing music in front a crowd for the first time. Everyone thinks its exciting and beautiful, but it is scary having everyone look to you like that, counting on you. "Except that people's lives are in danger now." Michelle looked at her two new friends. No, more than friends. They had to be. "I do not know what I can do yet, but I will do whatever I can to help you out." Whatever it takes, the young woman promised herself. Rae looked over at the motorcycle left behind and concealed a smirk. He'd be back. And by then, she'd have a plan! "Well, I need to get working on cleaning up this yard. Anyone want to stick around and help?" Amy finished memorizing the license plate number. Last name Tsukino, figure they were in the area and Tsukino wasn't exactly a common name. It shouldn't take *that* long to narrow it down. "I don't think I can. I've got homework and all. Though we do need to exchange phone numbers, for Sailor Scout business from what Jay-chan was saying." Michelle quickly scratched out her phone number on a note pad. "I’ll be staying here for a while, but that is my home number. If that’s all right, Rae?” The shrine priestess nodded. It would be good to have the company. Aqua hair was shaking. “Though, without one of those transformation brooches, I'm not sure how much I can do." "Well, we can still talk.” Rae mentioned, not saying how BADLY she needed to. “Hey! What about that ring from the Boomer's sack?" Rae pointed out. "It *looks* magic. I bet it could do something." "So does that bow of yours." "This little thing?" Rae took out the miniature bow from where she had tucked it into her top. "Yeah, it looks magical, but the things only as long as my forearm. See? There can't be much draw to it. Pretty useless." Rae held the grip out as if sighting along her arm. Amy nodded. "That's a full sized daikyu now. You know, this magic stuff may seem impossible, but it *does* seem handy. I hope you didn’t steal those things." Rae laughed nervously. Michelle didn't waste any further time, but stuck the ring on her finger. Then she tried squeezing the sides, pointing it at a few objects, and using phrases like "In the name of Justice I invoke thee" and "Abracadabra, Hocus Pocus" without any visible effect. "It may require a specific phrase to activate it. Jay-chan may be able to research it," Amy opined after a few minutes of watching Michelle try everything she could think of. As well as some ducking and flinching from her as she accidentally pointed it in the direction of the others. Michelle nodded. This gave her an excellent excuse to monopolize her Red-chan's time briefly, and who knew what could come of that! Well, she did if she made the appropriate plan. She was now one of these Scouts, and so she had an even better chance than the average citizen of dying from a youma attack. The same thing was running through three young ladies heads. ~Life is but a candle in the wind. Best to blaze while you can.~ It was determined by common consent of the Tsukinos that Jared had lost his memory through some youma assault or other, and they'd forgive him and take care of him anyway and this also happened to explain his absence rather well. For Jared it left him free from trying to live 'remembering' whatever history Rini had developed. But it still bound him to their rules, which he wasn't ready to break yet. They bundled him off to their home, where it turned out that Sammy had his own room, Rini and Serena bundled together, and he got the remodeled attic. Lifting up the model race car and looking over the sports posters and rock star photographs, he concluded that whoever had been hypnotized into decorating his room didn't know a thing about him. Late that night, the door to Rini's room crept open. The two five year olds (Rini may have constructed a history where she was seven, but she *looked* five, and that's what his sourcebook had said her age was) had apparently fallen asleep not long after both of them had gotten exhausted during their fighting, and they were now engaged in a slow motion, unconscious wresting match to see who could get the most covers. A packet of waxy, black substance was produced from within folds of the dark and shadowy intruder's garments. Twin, bright needles were rubbed in the substance. Then the intruder went to the bedside, sprayed two spots with topical anesthetic, and stabbed both children. Jared swept off his mask. The Drow sleep poison would keep them out of it for awhile, hours really, but it wouldn't harm them. Still, he would have done without it if he'd had a pick pockets skill. However that was one of the thieving abilities a fighting monk did without. It would have caused problems if either of them had woken up during this. Swiftly, he searched both children, their room, and finally found what he wanted in Rini's clothes discarded by the side of the bed. Odd, he would've expected her to be wearing it at all times. Probing more deeply with his magical senses, he determined that this was, indeed, a fake. A magical trap. Replacing the fake where he'd found it, the youth went to the bedside and searched Rini again, finally coming up with what he was looking for, concealed in one of the twin, earlike buns on the side of her head. The youth took the time key and arranged all as it was, though he spread the covers evenly over both children. Then he retreated softly to his own room and applied magical energy to the key. Before him opened up a wide magical portal, and he went inside. On the other side was what he'd expected, Pluto beside the Gates of Time, an enigmatic smile on her face, amidst what *might* have been a well-lighted chamber if it had held any features other than the light and mist and a sense of space. ~Smiling because she knows something, one of her plans is working, or that I am now here and convenient to be destroyed?~ The youth walked forward boldly. "Sailor Pluto, it is my intention to assist the Scouts, and I need forty years." He held up a finger. "One to get my magic back unscrambled from the tangle it's become. Four to integrate that new spellbook into my style and to devise and test new spells. Five to complete projects that I've left for far too long and could be of significant use to us, and thirty to research the magic of the Silver Moon Kingdom and devise additional weapons and equipment for the Scouts." He stopped and stood at parade rest, hands clasped behind his back. "I figure most of that I could do in a sea floor in a protected habitat I could create, but for the last two I'll need access to the libraries of the Moon Kingdom. If you'll put me back during a period before their fall I'm confident that I can handle all of the infiltrating of their mage emporiums, libraries, and academies myself. I am also confident that my impact could be kept negligible, especially if I was forewarned of significant details." He smiled wryly and lowered his head to gaze below his brows. "But perhaps even if I was not. All I ask is the time and to return to this night." Without a word, Sailor Pluto took two steps to the side, leaving open the way to the time portal. He made no move, but raised a single eyebrow. "It is pre-set." She said simply. He gave her a nod and started forward. "That was a flattering image you presented of me down there." She said to his departing back. "Thank you." The youth would have stopped but at that moment time seized him and he was off into the past. Behind him, Pluto rubbed her almost unnoticeably swollen belly. "You see that? How brave your father is?" She bowed to her double, now stepping out from behind the cover of mists, and the Pluto from the future departed into the portal herself, back into the time from which she'd come. Behind her, the Pluto of the present's eyes had widened considerably. "That *would* explain why she was so anxious that I not hurt him." She said to herself. A speculative gleam came to her eye, and a real grin found its way to her face. A while before this was going on, Nephlite had walked into one of the many caverns in the remnants of the fortress Jedite had created. Rows upon rows of shiny, black crystal coffins were filled with comatose humans feeding their energy directly into the stores of the Negaverse. The energy of a trapped human was pitiful, nothing when compared to the live ones wandering about, releasing their energy through all those pathetic emotions. And yet here the dark general paused. They *had* the energy, and they, the dark forces, had to steal it. What had that other self, that fated self the Mage had been so convinced of, what would Nephlite figure out in his future that would cause him to forsake this dark kingdom? And that girl, what of her? What part did *she* play? The general looked around himself. This was the last of the energy caverns, places where humans were kept as source for the Dark Kingdom's power. Jedite had practically abandoned this when the difference between their rich, wild energy and the pathetic trickle from those trapped had become obvious. But these were also a secure source, not drying up like their raids or other outside sources were doing from security measures forced upon them by the war. Beryl wanted this operation expanded again. Nephlite paused. The only surprise had been that one, empty cave, where all of the coffins were unoccupied. The girl... Molly, that was her name. She was not here, as he'd half expected she would be. The general stalked off again. He would ask the stars, they would show him. The Pheonix Mage stepped out of the time corridor into a blasted and wretched landscape, filled with grey ash. He grumbled about how, if one of his pet projects had been finished before this, he could've seen through this stuff. But casting aside that care as unprofitable, he went into full stealth mode, concealing himself as best he was able from prying eyes, both magical and normal, and flew to a greater height that he might see what was going on. In the distance vast fires had burned down to embers and coals, the landscape was one of horrid ruin, with grey ash covering it all. The atmosphere was all choked up with floating sparks, ash, and embers. The flames he was indifferent to, the choking ash might be a problem. He could breathe water, but he *was* required to breathe, and it was becoming apparent that the fires were not dying for lack of fuel, but for lack of air to sustain them. Then he looked up high above and saw the Earth wheeling in the night. ~Oh, Pluto, was this humor for you? That I would get to see the dying of your beloved moon?~ The mage flew on. Flying was actually one of his natural abilities, it's just that he was restricted to a flight speed that was a fraction of what he could manage running on the ground. So he reserved his flight for those things that required it, and for a surprise for his enemies. But he was suspecting that even his magical skates, which could carry him across grass, snow and ice, mud and stairs, water, walls, and worse trials, would find a hard time carrying him through the gunk below. Worse, he wouldn't be able to see anything. The ash below his was a nearly solid cloud a dozen feet thick, it was going to eventually settle and cover everything below it in a shapeless grey surface... ...just like the blasted moon he'd always remembered from pictures. Odd. He wondered if all of those craters were where cities had once been, and instead of impact craters from meteors were something more sinister, like blasts from Beryl's Invincible Shadow, that servant she'd relied upon to lead this assault. This was beginning to make an oddly compelling logic. The destruction here was near total. The ash and fire... He'd never suspected *fire* was the cause of so much traceless destruction. No reason he shouldn't have, though. It had been used that way historically too many places to count, just not to the extent of burning away an atmosphere. Still, all this destruction by fire... There was something he could do about that, but not now. Too much historical disruption would be caused. Perhaps later he would. If he did it in his own time then Pluto would have no excuse to have a fit. Just as he was beginning to have a concern for air, the presently flame haired redhead saw a flash of white out of a previously unnoticed clear spot of ground. He flew over that way. It was the remnants of a hill, with fallen columns and broken stone. A seal of stone was implanted in the ground, one he even recognized from the series as containing the last message of Serenity to her child and her guardians. What he saw before all this though... Jared canceled his flight and dropped down beside her, checking the body. In a state torn between a sigh, a groan, and tears from discovery or from the monumental bravery he clearly saw represented, he couldn't tell which, he closed Queen Serenity's sightless eyes. He bit back the choking up he felt, speaking to order his thoughts, and checked her more thoroughly. "She's been dead less than an hour." Shaking remorse away, he stood up and considered his options. With a smile, he concluded. "She's dead. What can I hurt?" Kneeling beside her body, he placed both of his hands upon it, then blushed. "Aw, c'mon, don't I have any *other* rhyme for that?" A moment's thought revealed nothing. Sighing, the mage intoned his spell, glad at least that her body was intact and thus within the rather limited parameters of his Raise Dead spell, which was his only option if he didn't want to bring her back as a dryad, dog or weasel (or, if she was less than lucky, a centaur, troll or goblin) via a Reincarnate spell, which was his only other option for restoring life to the dead. "By the love that is intended let this damsel's life be mended limb and trunk receive their form let bands of life become untorn." The former corpse coughed weakly. Fortunately, the clouds of dust and choking ash were all at lower altitudes now. The mage lifted her head, uncapping a potion and raising it to her lips. "Here, drink." A few swallows of Potion of Vitality passed her lips. Serenity could no sooner catch her breath than she asked. "How? How long?" He raised the potion. "First drink. I will explain all as you do so. I requested that Pluto send me back in time to your Moon Kingdom. Apparently she had a sense of humor and dropped me in right after it fell. You have been dead less than an hour. All of your final charges; sending your daughter, the Sailor Scouts, their advisors to the Earth, those have been completed." "Tubular." Serenity whispered. "And," the mage whispered, a smile forcing its way to his face at the ridiculous state of things. "It appears that I have accidentally transformed you into a teenage Valley Elf. Sorry." The Queen pursed her lips. "That would explain this urge I feel to find out what a 'mall' is and shop it, would it?" He nodded, fighting a losing battle against a smile. "Yes, it would. Though if you get any skanky old men wanting 'ders, 'bite me' would *not* be a chill snap. Too many young girls mess up on that one. You'd want something wittier." The Queen sat up, looking out over the wasted landscape, then began to look flustered. "How am I going to find any earrings in this? I'll bet this has *totally* wasted my wardrobe. Oh, and you can call me Tiffany. That's a more Val name, and I wouldn't want my friends to think I was a raghead or a melvin." "Or a double-bagger." He offered. She turned, stunned, and unconsciously pulled at her hair. "What!? You don't think I'm *that* bad, do you? Do I need a nose job? Certainly something with my hair, though." She held it up, piling both long ponytails up and posing. "Oh, I wish I had a mirror." The mage was sucking in one of his lips and thinking. "Here, use mine," he offered, handing it over. Serenity squealed and sized the proffered magical object, entranced by its gorgeous appearance, exclaiming over the silver sculpting and jewels and especially over the pheonix mosaic over the back. That's when Jared hit her with the second spell. He managed to ignore the Zentraedi cruiser plowing into the ground behind him as Serenity regained something of a mature demeanor. She handed back the mirror. "So that is what a Valley Elf thinks like?" Jared nodded. "Unbridled hormones and vanity, combined with a unique accent and a certain charm. I say that only in greatest fondness, some of my favorite friends are valley elves. It just didn't seem you." The Queen nodded, delicately fingering the tips of her still pointed ears. "And now?" The mage strolled about, comfortable and glad that atmosphere was obviously maintained around this spot by some kind of magic. "Sorry about that. I would have tried a full polymorph but that tends to erase some amount of memory, aligning it with a history in accordance to the new form. That would pose drawbacks for both of us." ~The full explanation? Yes, I think so.~ He sat upon the side of a fallen pillar. "Upon my world elves are still called the Shattered Race, though on most planets this knowledge has been lost. We were once all one race of unimaginable potential. Rather like what you've done with your Moon Kingdom; worlds were our playthings, fighting titans was a fun way to pass an evening. Then, no one knows what happened. We call it the Sundering, a magical catastrophe or a natural disaster unknown to us now. Whatever happened, we are fairly sure it was done to us rather than anything we might've done ourselves. Our race was broken up into a few major subraces and an uncountable horde of minor ones, each with only a fraction of the potential we'd once had. Not any more than men, really. At least on their scale." The flame-haired mage looked up, meeting the eyes of the queen. "I tell you this because you ARE an elf now. We don't precisely share this with just anyone. Anyway, soon after the Sundering elves fell to war. We were broken into parts not yet separately organized, and of every possible temperament. The very best of elves, the Bright Elves, did their best establishing research to discover, and if possible reverse, what had happened. They *did* discover a way after not too long, but they were fallen upon by the most evil of elves and were destroyed. That's because they'd uncovered the secret that each major race held a portion of our original power, but it was like a bowl fragment; The curve held a small amount of liquid, but shallowly and easily spilled. The discovery was completed when bright elves performed a ceremony now forgotten, and with the cooperation of a good race of elves who flew the sky, they absorbed and adopted that entire race, blending the two into one with greater power than either had held alone. A greater portion of the bowl because their fragments were fused together." He paused to take breath, no longer looking at her. "Their racial abilities had increased, but their temperament was that of bright elves. This solution would blend all of the fragmented races into one. But the catch was the race doing the receiving was the one whose personality and morals would prevail. Naturally, evil elves thought this was a fine route to power and slaughtered the bright elves, stealing the secret. One of the evil races overcame another, absorbing it into their own and gaining in power. But all of the other fragmented races turned against them and nearly destroyed the Dark Elves, driving them far below the earth into caverns until, thinking them dead, the rest of the elves abandoned the war." He inhaled deeply, staring at the ground to continue his story. "Of course it didn't work out that way. The Dark Elves, more commonly called drow, were greater in natural ability than any other race of elves, except for the slaughtered bright elves. So they survived, and eventually thrived, and finally have become a great threat again on most worlds. But they made a mistake in tying their powers so strongly to darkness that outside their caves their powers wane considerably, and sunlight causes most of them some problems." The youth shrugged and raised his slumped shoulders. "Into the power vacuum on the surface, the Grey Elves, who previously been the most neutral, adopted some of the precepts of good just to balance out the memory of how wicked the Dark Elves had been. A race of truly good elves did not exist in sufficient numbers, so the grey elves kind of stepped into the gap as balance was important to them. The two greatest races of good elves had combined, then been exterminated, the two most foul and vile had combined and also been nearly wiped out. That left the uncaring and aloof as the most dominant force, and they retain many of those traits still." He met her eyes again. "The secret of how to combine the whole race was lost. Even the drow, who'd commit genocide to have it once again, haven't a clue to how it was done. They were nearly made extinct and lost the secret so thoroughly they mostly don't even know they once had it. However, before all knowledge of that time was lost beyond our recovery, mages did develop a spell that would change one elf at a time to the race of the one casting it. It has to be done by consent, but you *really* didn't match the profile of a valley elf, so that counts as an unspoken agreement." Serenity nodded, having absorbed the information. "And now?" ~Quick on the uptake, this Serenity.~ He adjusted his position and nodded to her. "I could only make you into the kind of elf I am. It only works that way. One of the most common uses is to take half elves born of a union with humans and turn them into full elves. That, also, does not require consent. They can't even resist if they want to." The queen looked at him and adjusted her skirts. She was waiting for the rest of her answer and royalty would not be denied. Well, he'd asked for it by explaining things so far. "The Bright Elves are not quite as extinct as the other races believe us to be." He answered her. "Our most common tactic is to walk among the other races, impersonating them. Right now the drow still outnumber us by quite a large margin, and wouldn't hesitate to destroy us. Our abilities include a resistance to divination powers, so you'll not have to worry about that. And most who'll look upon you will make their own assumptions as to what kind of elf you are, so there's not much to worry about on that. The only problem is that in this solar system which we are in now, you and I are the only two elves I know of. We’ll both have to impersonate humans." He laughed, flashing a smile. "But I don't think that'll be too hard. We both once *were* humans! That includes an understanding of some things a few elves would find difficult to grasp, like immediacy and haste." The queen nodded. "So now I know what I am. If you'll excuse me, I have a kingdom to mourn over. Oh, by the way...?" She pointed to the green hulk of the fallen Robotech vessel, now being coated in ash thrown up by its fall. Jared smiled. "Sorry about that. I've been fighting the Negaverse alongside of your Sailor Scouts. That's why I was coming back here, to research the powers of your kingdom and help them. But another reason was one of the youma we were fighting hit me with a whammy and now all of my spells...." he shrugged. "I've already compared a few to the pristine copies I keep in my spellbook. The ones in my head got warped, like a book getting wet. Now all these chaotic things happen when I try and use them. I will have to record these versions, clear them out of my brain, and then rememorize good ones." "You're going to record them? Why?" In that moment, what that intonation, she'd almost reminded him of Luna. But it was logical, they *were* long associates. The mage jumped to his feet and shrugged expansively. "It's hard enough to find spells that work. These *do* work, just chaotically. They'll be invaluable research material for later on. Think of it like this, you have a machine whose function you barely understand. Then someone comes along and cuts away half of it, but it still *works*. Now you know where the vital core of that machine is, don't you?" The queen might've blanched at the concept of someone being so cavalier in their attitudes about unpredictable magic at another time. Now she could barely care. "You *do* realize," he offered to her, bouncing to perch seated on a fallen pillar. "That your final spell worked, don't you? All who died in this battle went to the future of Earth." The queen turned a sad smile to him. "Thank you." He watched her for a moment more, then took out his pheonix quill and began to write. He wanted all the warped magic copied down before he cleared any of it out and replaced it with safer spells. He didn't want any new being corrupted by the old. Of course, give him time and these corrupted copies might just be as beneficial as the playing around with nagas he'd done. The Pluto who'd seen her future self pass this unaffiliated mortal into their past now turned from the scene she'd been viewing with a sense of wonderment. It spoke well of him that he raised their queen as his first action, and then did his best to repair the damage his spell had caused to her. Raising the dead was worth an eyebrow being lifted as well. It spoke even *better* of him that her future self was pregnant by him, but she would try not to be guided by that. Too much. Then again, there had been that persistent tangle in the twists of time for around eight years now, that despite her best efforts had grown and escalated until it’d looked like it might strangle and change all of time. He was reversing that, almost from the very point of despair. He might be an anomaly, but he was a positive one. She could tolerate that. Inside his berth in the abandoned Zentraedi cruiser (where he'd found that light, heat, and nutrient processing worked for the most part) he looked up to see Queen Serenity standing in the door like the toy doll he felt like in the oversize quarters of these giant aliens. The queen strode through the eighty-foot tall doorway and into the room. She nodded very politely to him. "Thank you for your patience in waiting, kind sir. Now I am ready to go home." Jared adjusted his glasses and the papers he'd been working on over the surface of the giant clipboard he'd been using. He lay aside his pen and the book he'd been gradually filling, closing the cover on the tome of altered spells. A thick tome. She spoke before he could divine her intent on his own. "Wherever my child is, there is my home. You say you come from there, where you fought alongside Serena and her Scouts, yes? I wish to go there." The mage blinked. This was practically the first time he'd seen her since moving into the hulk of the cruiser. He protested. "But it's only been a week?" The Queen shook her head in a single, regal negating motion. "It has been long enough. I wish to go home." He struggled with how to broach this. "Um, my Queen, I'm unsure of what your purpose is in this, but for my own I'd mentally labeled this as 'down time' and I needed about forty years of it." ~Hmm, she *can* give bug eyes.~ After the Queen had recovered, she asked of him. "Why... I'm certain you must have reason. However, this place holds no more for me, and I wish to see my daughter again. Quickly. You bear the key that I might do that." For an instant he considered giving her the time key and waiting the thousand years until he'd caught up to 'present time'. But he'd either break the habits of secrecy long before then, leave or screw up, or by the time that present had caught up to him it would pass him by. He was unlikely to recognize it when he saw it. At least not in the sense of 'go to this place tonight and try to remember what you'd been saying three hundred, sixty five thousand and one nights ago.' More likely he'd emerge briefly from one of his projects and discover he was fifty years too late. He'd made notes, but in the inevitable paper mess they'd get lost, or forgotten about. Forty *might* have been manageable. A thousand certainly was not. He'd felt the need for forty because he'd had specific projects in mind. Living for a millennium in the hulk of a giant space cruiser would drive him mad, and going to the surface he knew he'd meddle. He couldn't help it. He liked helping. "I am waiting." Serenity informed him. He rubbed his eyes. "A moment, my Queen, I'm thinking." He'd been making the most of his time but even with all the aids he'd been using he was only just beginning his work. The redhead looked up. “Can I use the key to send you alone, while I keep the key behind with me?” Again that single shake of the head. It was unnerving how completely that said ‘No.’ Serenity met his eyes. “That key allows travel through time. It is also a control device. Without it there can be no travel or destination chosen. I have no wish to wind up in my own past or in a far flung future. I wish to meet my daughter. Do you not wish to accompany me?” “I wish to recover my combat capability.” He answered her in honesty. She offered him no answer. ~Okay, this is important to her, and she’s willing to press it. What can she do to me without that silver crystal or moon wand? More than I want to contemplate.~ He answered himself. Jared had more than a dozen spells that would handle this, but was he willing to risk more spell casting when said lady was of great potential value in their struggle and he might accidentally do something to her that would ruin that? Something like switch her alignment to evil, perhaps? ~An Evil Queen Serenity. Brrr!~ ~Okay, what can I do real quick? There's no *way* I can get my mage spells running with any degree of safety. Forget all the research or item creation.~ It occurred to him that Serenity was, at heart, an emotionally distraught mother, anxious for the comfort of seeing her child again. She’d lost so much that she obviously was dealing with great pain, and her preferred method was to deal with it by being with her child. Pleading for more time during this emotional crisis of hers, even just for the remainder of his first year, was hopeless. ~So what kind of compromise could be struck?~ He looked up and met her eyes. "I need ten more days." ~Ten? I'll be lucky to get TWO!~ Serenity nodded. "You may have them. Then we will go and see my daughter and her friends." He stared at her departing back. ~Wow. Fair rulers. What a remarkable thing.~ Hastily, he began to stow away about half of his notes. ~Forget converting the crystal spellbook, forget the research for now, put the mage spells on hold. If I start with my druidical ones, those are much fewer in scope and number (and which, while not precisely dependent on spellbooks, still benefited from the research. Or at least my last Dungeon Master demanded it, and that seems to have carried over. Hmph! He’d even required I make a druidic spellbook the *last* time I time hopped, so I wouldn’t revert to the more backward magic prevailing at the time). Provided that I work VERY hard I can get them all recorded and then replaced with fresh, uncorrupted copies in my active memory. That'll at least bring me online as a reliable healer without worrying if I'll turn somebody into a chipmunk every time I cure a scraped knee. I don't *think* the warped mage spells will corrupt the fresh druid ones.~ A noise occurred in the deep hull. ~Hmm, there *may* even be a way to do this. Do I want to risk it? Well, yes. It’s FAR less dangerous than to face those generals not having done it.~ He looked around suspiciously. He’d heard it again. Noises? Could Serenity have triggered something? Recalling the *first* of these vessels ever to crash on Earth, the eventual SDF-1, there was something about the automated machines taking one of the men from among the first explorers and chopping him into little bits for a clone vat. A score or so Queens of the Moon would be *politically* awkward even if she survived the experience with her mind and powers intact. Getting her reprogrammed from being a loyal, Zentraedi warrior... battalion... was something that he didn’t want to deal with. Getting up, he stared at his work. “Well, if I don’t start this *now* when will I? It ought to work, and even if I’m just rescuing Serenity from being *lost* she may want to talk for hours.” Breathing deeply, he focused on his quill pen. There was a utility spell that allowed a wu jen to hand off a task that required concentration to his subconscious. Normally it was used to maintain special defensive measures in battle while the rest of him cast more spells and beat up on the enemy. He’d even used it during his attack on the Negaverse harbor fort. It wouldn’t ordinarily work on something like scribing spells, but his pen only required mental direction. This could work, and if he merely got all of the bad ones cleared away he could take a year rememorizing his spells, where the real cost in time lay. That would leave him with a steadily increasing arsenal of reliable spells again, instead of disasters waiting to happen. A far more tenable situation. A noise occurred again from further deep within the hull, and it had sounded mechanical in nature. Enough hesitating, he cast the spell. A duplicate of himself appeared, picked up the pen, and began to write in the book. ~Okaaay...~ He’d have to check his work later. The original mage was distracted by a noise in the deep hull. He headed off after it at maximum velocity. It would be important to know if there were Zentraedi still in this wreck. That could cause problems More importantly, that had sounded like a shriek! Racing at a speed that would have gotten him a ticket on any highway, even if he was just a pedestrian, the monk whipped past bulkheads and around corridors. His destination actually turned out to be not that far. Queen Serenity was locked in the grasp of a humongous battle mecha. Worse, it was a Zentraedi female power armor. Their best stuff, enough to bring down the best of Earth’s aces. If there was anything he could do against that, it did not presently spring to mind. Disintegrate and Metal to Rust both hit too small an area.... The humongous power armor was joined by two others. The extras rotated on him even as the first began to stalk away with the shrieking Queen held in her vice-like grasp. There comes a time to stop considering and act. Sometimes you are wrong, but more often indecision brings about worse than mistakes. Suddenly calm, Jared slipped a hand into a special pouch, sliding on a heavy, gold ring held there. He lifted that ring into the air before him, saying, “I wish...” and began to hastily rattle off provisions, exclusions, clauses, contingencies, and so forth, sweating as he saw the Queen in danger, until he finally concluded in a long breath. “and involving nothing that I would view as unpleasant, undesirable, or worse from my present state of mind, grant me additional power and ability from this moment forward that I can reliably beat those things!” And it happened.