The palace shone like a jewel on the lunar lake; spires and domes rising into the night, and both Earth and palace reflected in the lake. Ranma glanced at Ukyou and smiled nervously. They had been greeted at the star port by a small honor guard of royal knights, and now were being led up the front steps and into the grand entryway of the palace. Almost all the structure was silver or white, save where green and growing things grew. Ranma may not have been the most knowledgeable person around, but even she knew that there probably shouldn’t be gardens on the moon. She took a deep breath. The air tasted of flowers in bloom, and it wasn’t hard to see why; the entrance to the royal gardens stood off to their right as they entered. A young girl, perhaps fourteen years old, with silver hair and a crescent moon on her forehead stood by the entrance to the gardens, watching them curiously.

Ranma winked at the girl when she walked past, and then frowned. She had no idea who that was or why she had winked, but it had felt normal to this body. The muscles remembered, even if the mind did not.

The girl waved. “Hi Neptune! Hi Uranus!”

As they entered the palace, Ranma began to think that maybe, just maybe, they were in over their heads.

The audience hall was a grand affair, filled with nobles and courtiers, with guards positioned at the entrances and exits. Against the far wall, a grand silver throne stood alone. On the throne, Queen Serenity was waiting for them.

The guards escorted them to the queen and immediately knelt. There was an awkward moment then before Ukyou realized that they should do the same and dropped to one knee. Ranma did the same a moment later.

“Your majesty,” Ukyou said, faking it as best she could.

“Rise,” Serenity said, meeting each of their gazes in turn as they did so. The sheer presence of the woman was almost frightening. Here, in this room, rested Power with a capital P.

Ukyou looked away, but Ranma stared.

Then the Queen smiled gently. “It is good to see you, Diana,” she said, looking at Ukyou. She turned her gaze to Ranma, and it cooled ever so slightly, but remained friendly, “And you, Ishtar.”

Ranma swallowed nervously. ‘I guess that answers what our names are supposed to be.’ “Uh,” she said, “You too.”

Ukyou gave Ranma a look that said ‘Let me handle this.’ Ranma fell silent.

“It’s good to see you as well, your majesty,” Ukyou said as politely as she could. She concentrated intently.

Ranma tried to force herself to remain silent. This was too much. She could feel her foot heading towards her mouth. It was on its way, and it was only a matter of time before it reached its destination.

“How can we be of service?” Ukyou managed after a moment.

Serenity nodded. “Straight to business, then. Come. Attend to us, my Senshi.” She rose from her throne and walked gracefully through a small door to the right of and behind the throne.

Ukyou and Ranma exchanged panicked glances, and then followed, leaving the crowded audience chamber behind.

The room beyond was considerably less silver than the audience chamber. Earth tones were predominant. Neither Ranma nor Ukyou had any experience in this sort of environment, but the closest thing they could compare it to was a living room. Certainly it seemed a thing more suitable for living in than the audience chamber; here at least were comfortable seats. Serenity sat down on one of the chairs, and her two Senshi sat down next to each other near her.

“The seeds of rebellion are growing on Earth,” Serenity said as they settled into their seats.

They nodded as if they had any idea what she was talking about.

“And though your oaths to me as Outer Senshi prevent your direct, personal intervention, I would like to discuss the sending of your ships and soldiers to the aid of your Queen.” Her speech pattern was more relaxed here than it was in the audience hall: the royal ‘we’ was missing.

“Huh? I ain’t got no shi...” Ranma trailed off as Ukyou’s glare of death silenced her.

“I’m sure we could arrange for that,” Ukyou said.

“Anythin’ else ya want?” Ranma asked before she could stop herself.

Serenity frowned, looking closely at the two of them. Then she rose to her feet. “Yes, there is. You can answer a few questions.”

Ranma suddenly had a very, very bad feeling about this. “What kind of questions?”

“You can start with telling me who you are.” the Queen said calmly, though her eyes flashed with anger. “What have you done with Uranus and Neptune?”

“I...” Ranma began, then trailed off. “That is, we, uh...” she turned to Ukyou. “I told you this was a bad idea. Sure, we’ll just go right on into the Royal Palace, meet with the Queen, then go back home like it’s nothin’. Right. Like anything in my life ever goes that easy.”

Ukyou sighed. “What we mean to say is that we’re very sorry for deceiving you, your majesty.”

The Queen did not appear threatened, only angry. For a moment, Ranma feared that she was going to call the guards in. Then a wave of sheer power rolled off the woman, and it occurred to the normally-pig-tailed martial artist that Serenity didn’t need guards at all...

---------------

PRESENT DAY NERIMA

It was dark. Night hung heavily over the Hikawa shrine. The full moon filled the courtyard with a faint sheen, and a cold breeze blew through the trees. In the middle of the courtyard, a great silver symbol – a rune representative of the power of the Silver Millennium - had been drawn, stretching from one side to the other. In the center of this symbol, Sailor Mars knelt.

Sailor Mars shivered faintly as the cold breeze blew across her bare legs. These uniforms might provide great protection from physical and magical attacks, but they were still downright freezing on cold nights. “Ready?” she asked.

Luna and Artemis considered the silver sigil carefully.

“What do you think, Luna?” Artemis asked.

Luna made one last careful stroke with her claws, and the mark immediately took on a silvery glow, completing the sigil. “We’re as ready as we’re ever going to be,” she said.

The two moon cats turned to face the Senshi of Mars. “Asuka,” Artemis began, “It’s very important that you not allow your concentration to be broken. Ordinarily, you’d be given time to grow into your initial power, to learn how to use it effectively before you gained access to more. Since you’re not used to channeling so much of it, it’s going to be hard to keep control of it. If you lose your focus while traveling through interstellar space, the magic protecting you from the vacuum could fail. Are you sure you want to do this?”

Mars nodded. “I have to go to her. She called me, Artemis.”

“OK. We’ll start the spell to unlock your higher Senshi form now,” Artemis said. “It’s going to feel really strange at first, so be prepared.”

“Be careful, Asuka!” Luna said.

Mars nodded determinedly. “I will.”

The two moon cats took positions on either side of the sigil and began to concentrate intently. After a few moments, the crescent moons on their foreheads began to give off a gentle golden light. Power gathered, swirling around Asuka’s kneeling form. The silver sigil began to turn bright, brilliant gold. Runes of power swirled through the air as the magic gathered power, and then the whole sigil flared brightly. Mars’s whole body glowed with fiery energy for a moment as her fuku upgraded itself. Then vast wings of flame flickered into being, coming out of her back. She stared at them in awe for a moment.

“Asuka! Now!” Luna called.

Asuka flapped her fiery wings, lifted off the ground, and disappeared into the sky.

Ranma 1/2: WHY SAILOR PLUTO HATES THE BET
by P.H. Wise

Episode 14: The Galaxy Cauldron, part I

Disclaimer: Sailor Moon is the property of Takeuichi Naoko. Ranma belongs to Takahashi Rumiko. Evangelion belongs to Gainax. The Bet concept and the accompanying cast and background of Mimir's Well belong to Metroanime.

Silver Millennium

Lillith’s arrival in Serenity’s court did not go without notice. Everyone knew that she was powerful, and not a subject of the Moon Kingdom, and so very few had much trust for her wherever she went, but fewer still knew the truth of what she was. Had the known, they would not have allowed her entry so casually. No one announced her. She swept into the palace alone, but such was the force of her will that none dared bar her way.

She was beautiful today. Her hair was dark, and seemed almost to shine in the light of the audience hall. She wore a fine dress typical of the style of the Moon Kingdom, and there was a look of curious impatience in her eyes as she glanced across the hall.

“Lady Lillith!” a nervous guard exclaimed as she entered the audience hall.

Lillith’s gaze fixed upon the guard, and he swallowed nervously. She could feel the fear rolling off of this one. Feh. Without a word, she made her way towards the door behind the empty throne.

“Lady Lillith, shall I send word to Queen Serenity that you wish an audience?”

A faint ghost of a smile graced her lips. “No, child. I don’t think that shall be necessary. I shall tell her myself.”

“But...!”

Sailor Mars stepped forward. “The Queen is busy, Lady Lillith,” she said. “You’ll have to wait until she finishes.”

Lillith gave Mars a harsh look, and the Senshi of Fire visibly wilted beneath the First Woman’s gaze. “I am here to see my daughter, Mars, and I know she’s beyond this door. Step aside.”

Mars stood there for a long moment, matching Lillith’s stare. Then she looked away and stepped aside.

Lillith opened the door and went into the room beyond, and the courtiers began to breathe again. As the door shut behind her, she frowned. Her own daughter, Az, and her daughter’s lover were floating in the air, bound up in a sphere of energy before the Queen, who was looking upon them both sternly.

“What have you done, Az?” she asked. Her tone was that of a mother who has caught her child’s hand in the cookie jar.

Uranus and Neptune exchanged confused glances.

“I did not send for you, Lillith,” Queen Serenity said, directing an irritated glance her way.

“No,” Lillith replied, “I sensed my daughter’s distress.” She looked curiously at Uranus, moving ever closer to the sphere. “You don’t know who I am, do you?”

Uranus shook her head. “Uh... should I?”

“I am in the middle of interrogating these interlopers,” Serenity said, watching Lillith warily.

“Interlopers?” Lillith asked wryly. “Don’t you recognize your own Senshi? No. While I am unsure how this could have happened, how she could have possibly forgotten me, this is my daughter. Neither death nor a hundred rebirths could break the bond between we two.” She studied Ranma very closely. “Explain yourself, Az.”

“Don’t call me that!” Uranus said fiercely.

Lillith cackled. “What would you rather I call you? A mother has a right to name her children, doesn’t she? Come now. Uranus, then, if you must.”

Neptune glared at Uranus, giving the other woman her best ‘shut up, stupid’ look.

Uranus didn’t take the hint. “My name is Ranma,” she said.

Neptune pinched the bridge of her nose between her thumb and index finger. “You’re not making this any better, Ranchan.”

Serenity glanced from Lillith to Uranus and back, shrugged, and took a step back. “They’re all yours, Lil-chan,” she murmured.

Lillith shot Serenity a dirty look before returning her attention to the two Senshi. “I suggest you explain yourselves immediately. I’m not nearly as patient and forgiving as the Queen.”

Lady Uranus and Lady Neptune exchanged uneasy glances.

“If you’re the same Lillith that we know,” Neptune began, “Then we’re here because you sent us here.”

“Indeed?” Lillith asked. “Perhaps you had better start at the beginning.

“OK,” Ranma said, “It all started when you got all cranky about how we didn’t remember our past lives. You said we needed ta remember it all, and ya gave us somethin’ called a nanban mirror to send us back here to job our memories.”

Ukyou nodded, continuing from where Ranma had left off. “Except the mirror didn’t make the trip back with us, and instead of actually traveling back ourselves, we somehow ended up inside the bodies of our previous incarnations.”

Lillith and Serenity both studied them very carefully as they spoke, and when they finished, Serenity nodded.

“I see,” the Queen said. “I sense no deception in your words. That’s good.” She looked to Lillith, then back to Ladies Uranus and Neptune. With a gesture, the sphere of energy dissipated, and both Uranus and Neptune floated gently down to the floor. “Reincarnated or not, then, you are still my Senshi. Such bonds cannot be broken by mere death. Therefore I command you, tell me of the future. Tell me of this place you have come from. Are you all happy then?” Her voice grew softer. “Is my daughter happy?”

Uranus and Neptune visibly struggled to resist the command, but discovered themselves unable to resist the will of their Queen. So they told her. They told her all that had happened. The story of their lives, and everything leading up to their use of the nanban mirror.

“Sailor Suited Evangelions!?” Serenity spluttered. “What sort of whacko would dress a bunch of living weapons in Sailor Fukus and expect them to be taken seriousl...” she trailed off and turned a very interesting shade of red.

“So they’re not supposed to have fukus?” Ukyou asked.

The Queen shook her head. “The Evangelions are... artifacts. From what our best mages can discern, they were designed by the First People as a tool to bring about a race’s Ascension to a higher level of being, and as weapon in the war against Chaos. We’ve not had any use for them, being that humanity is not ready for such a thing, and we have our own ways of opposing Chaos and her spawn.” She glanced uneasily at Lillith. “No offense, Lil-chan.”

Lillith smiled faintly. “None taken.”

They went on like that for a while, the Queen interrupting whenever it was her wont, with Lillith mostly watching Ranma and her reactions. As their narrative drew towards its end, the Queen frowned.

“My daughter is not among you, then?” Serenity asked.

Ranma shrugged. “I dunno. Ain’t nobody running around with a crescent moon on their foreheads at least, ‘cept for Luna and Artemis.”

The Queen nodded. “I see,” she said, clearly troubled. “Perhaps she has simply not awakened yet. Though there is much that sounds... unbelievable. Why would Saturn be awake, but not Princess Serenity?” She shook her head. “I shall have to discuss the matter with Pluto.”

“So,” Ranma said, “Uh, the whole point in comin’ back here was ta get back our memories of our previous lives, uh, your Highness.”

The Queen directed an amused look Ranma’s way. “Is that your way of telling me ‘hurry up,’ Ishtar?”

Ranma frowned.

“Ranma, then.”

Ukyou shook her head incredulously. There really was no hope for Ranma in this matter.

“Neptune’s memory is easily restored,” Serenity said. “Yours, on the other hand... is not quite so easy.”

Ukyou raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”

The Queen looked at Ukyou. “You, Diana, like all of my Senshi, are wholly Lunarian. What’s more, like all my Senshi, your soul is the living Star-Seed of your representative planet. In a very real way, you are Neptune, and have always been Neptune, both Senshi and planet. Your Star-Seed was spun out of the Galaxy Cauldron and became a living soul. You were born into a Lunarian body to serve as a Senshi, and have continually been reincarnated for that purpose since before the dawn of the Silver Millenium. And because of your Lunarian heritage, you take to the powers of the Senshi both easily and well. Like all my Senshi, restoring your memory is a simple matter.” She looked at Ranma. “Like all my Senshi, save one.”

Ranma swallowed nervously.

“You, Ishtar, are different.”

“Because of my mom?” Ranma asked.

“Yes,” Lillith said, smiling at Ranma. “Because of me.”

“Your star-seed was not spun out of the Galaxy cauldron. You were made in a manner altogether different from the normal formation of a Senshi. Unlike Diana and myself, who are descended from the Second Woman, you are a child of the First Woman, Lillith, and of her mate, the Chaos-Spawn Azmodeus.” She spoke the latter name as if it carried with it a bad taste.

Lillith nodded, taking over the explanation at this point. “My second husband and I had many children, Ranma.” It sounded strange for her to use the name ‘Ranma.’ “Most of them sons.” She smiled fondly. “Azmodeus always was fond of sons.” The smile faded, and seriousness returned to her expression. “But of all of the innumerable children we had together, I have only two daughters. Ayanami was the elder, and she was everything her father could have hoped for.” Her fond smile got a little starry. “She gave me granddaughters and great-granddaughters beyond the counting of them. But you... I wanted to try something different with you. I went to the Galaxy Cauldron. Right to the very brink of the Zero Star. I took what would someday become the star-seed of Uranus, and I used it to forge the soul of my unborn daughter. You. Or at least, your previous incarnation.” She looked at Ranma closely. “But your reborn spirit still bears the mark of my blood. Interesting.”

Ranma stared at Lillith, her eyes open wide. “So you’re sayin’ I’m some kind of demon?”

Lillith laughed, and the sound was like ringing silver. “After a fashion. You’ve certainly been called that before. You were rather ill behaved before you fell in love with Diana, and came here to join Serenity’s Court.”

“Now that was a day I shall not soon forget,” Serenity said. “A daughter of Lillith come to my Court, asking for admittance.” She shook her head. “Fifty years later, the uproar has still not died down. But we linger overlong.” She looked to Ukyou. “Come, Diana. I will restore your memories to you. Use them wisely.” She headed off towards an adjoining room.

Ukyou glanced at Ranma, then at the departing Queen. “See you in a bit, Ranchan?” she asked.

Ranma nodded.

Ukyou followed the Queen.

“You,” Lillith said, “Will need my help to remember. The Queen’s healing spells actually accomplish the opposite effect on those who bear your Father’s lineage.”

“I’m not so sure I want to remember,” Ranma said, shaking her head.

Lillith laughed. “Who said you had a choice? If my future self sent you here to have your memory restored, I must have had a good reason for doing it. Prepare yourself, Az.”

“Hey, wait a minute...!” and that was as far as Ranma got before Lillith shoved a fist into her head. Her eyes went wide, and she reached up, trying to pull Lillith’s hand out, and then...

-------------------

Mist hung heavily over Jusenkyou, drifting visibly around the bamboo poles that rose up out of each spring. It was cold and damp, and no sun could be seen through the fog.

Ranma stood at the banks of the Ayanami-nichuan, staring at her reflection in the spring. For all the world it looked as though there were two girls, one above and one below, and staring at each other; one with red hair and blue eyes, the other with blue hair and red eyes. She frowned, and the girl in the pool remained expressionless.

“So,” said a brash male voice from behind her. “Ya just couldn’t stay away, could ya?”

She turned. There, once again, stood her male self.

A young woman with sandy-blonde hair stepped out from behind one of the poles that rose up out of the spring, never mind that she couldn’t have fit behind it. She walked across the surface of the water, looking the two Ranmas up and down. “You’re back,” she said.

Onna-Ranma grimaced and shook her head. “Last thing I remember, that Lillith chick stuck her hand into my head... how’d I get here?”

The woman with sandy-blonde hair blinked. “Lillith? That name sounds... familiar.”

“Well it should, Daughter,” Cologne’s voice replied. She materialized a moment later, about twenty yards away from the three. “I’d be concerned if at least some part of you didn’t remember me.”

Onna-Ranma, Otoko-Ranma, and the young woman all whirled around to face the newcomer.

“Whaddya want, old ghoul?” Otoko-Ranma asked. “Ain’t you done enough to ruin my life?”

WHACK “Respect your elders.”

Otoko-Ranma winced, rubbing his head.

Cologne looked down at herself. “So this is the form you associate with me, then, is it?” She cackled. “I have to admit, it has its charms. No matter. Are you ready?”

“Ready for what?” Onna-Ranma asked, backing away from Cologne warily.

“Ready for the three of you to become one, of course.”

“WHAT!” it was shouted by three voices simultaneously. None of them liked that idea.

“No way am I becoming one with a jerk like that!” Onna-Ranma shouted.

“Yeah, what she said!” Otoko-Ranma echoed.

The sandy-blonde haired woman shook her head. “You want me to give up my individuality for these two? You have to be kidding.”

Cologne’s eyebrow twitched. “You never had any individuality apart from them, Uranus,” she snapped, and then looked at the two Ranmas. “Listen carefully, all of you. I am only going to explain this once. The three of you are the same person. The differences between you exist only here, in this dreamscape; they exist because you think they do. Now stop being such a child and merge already.”

Three sets of defiant eyes glared back at her.

Cologne shook her head. “This could take a while...”

PRESENT DAY

Stars whirled around her as she soared through the Black, quickly leaving Earth far, far behind. Power suffused her body. Incredible, unbelievable power. Was this the true power of a Senshi? It felt like the heart of a star, burning within her. Her blood screaming within her, Sailor Mars blazed her way across the Solar System and beyond, her journey every bit as metaphysical as it was physical. Hours passed, though she did not grow hungry or thirsty, with all the splendor and all the emptiness of space stretched out before her. Her concentration was strained nearly to the breaking point, yet she held on, stubbornly refusing to lose; every time she began to lose heart, the image of the blonde woman standing over the pool of liquid starlight urged her on. And on she soared.

Mists began to gather around her, obscuring her view of the stars, and she flew on. It grew darker, darker, and darker still, and soon, the distant starlight was entirely absent, and the mists were lit only by the light of her wings. Time stretched out like a vast ocean, and she lost count of that which was passing. Was it hours? Days? Years? Perhaps no time at all.

Mars’s feet touched down on solid ground, and in that moment, she knew she had come home. Zero Star Sagittarius. The mist thinned, and she discerned shapes around her. Gravestones. Gravestones as far as she could see in every direction, some marked with crosses, some marked with Shinto symbols, some with still others. Instinctively, she knew that the markers were her own mind’s interpretation of what she was seeing, but what it was supposed to be, she had no idea. Some of the tombstones glowed with a gentle light, but most didn’t.

A tiny, glowing purple butterfly emerged from a grave and flew towards her. Mars stared, even though her supernatural senses were screaming at her to flee. She reached out her hand to touch it, and it passed through her as easily as if she had been made of smoke. It felt cold. Deathly cold.

“What is this?” she asked aloud, turning to watch the butterfly.

A voice spoke from behind her, from the space that had been empty a moment before. “You should not be here.”

Mars whirled around, only to come face to face with a sailor suited woman with long purple hair and purple eyes. Her fuku was a deep blue, and her skirt was red and black. “Who are you?” Mars asked, resting in a defensive stance.

The woman looked Mars in the eye. “I am the guardian of the Graveyard of Stars. Those that care to address me know me as the Soul Hunter. Why have you come here?”

“I came to find...” Asuka trailed off, uncertain. She began again, falteringly, “I came to find... someone important.”

“Someone you lost?” the Soul Hunter asked.

An unknown grief welled up from the deep places of her soul, and Asuka clenched her teeth in an effort to control the sheer strength of the emotion. It felt like... an utterly devoted, hopeless love mixed with sadness, longing, and joy. “I don’t remember,” she whispered.

The Soul Hunter only nodded, as if that were the response she had expected. “I see,” she said. “You may find what you lost here, in this place. Or you may find your death. He is here, waiting for you.”

“He?”

“The Voice and the Soul of the Outer Gods. I had thought to drive him off, but he is beyond my power. I cannot collect what he does not have.”

“Where is he?” Mars asked.

The Soul Hunter pointed, and off in the distance, Mars began to perceive a distant light - dim, gentle, and powerful beyond measure.

“Thank you,” Mars said.

The Soul Hunter shook her head. “Do not thank me. He guards what you seek, and I send you to your death. When he is finished with you, I will return your soul to the Cauldron.” She smiled faintly, and mused, half to herself, “I wonder what colour butterfly it will be?”

Mars went towards the distant light and did not look back.

END EPISODE 14

-------------

Author’s notes: That chapter was irritatingly serious, and the next one is looking no better. Ah well. I suppose not every chapter can be parody. I have to sneak plot and exposition in there at some point, or the whole thing just collapses.

Next: The Galaxy Cauldron, Part II, Wherein we learn of Usagi’s fate, Ranma finally transforms into Sailor Uranus, and Mars engages in a battle of wills (and possibly of magical blasts, too) with the Voice and the Soul of the Outer Gods, with the very existence of the Moon Princess hanging in the balance.