Cold... dark... hurts... A drop of water splattered against too pale skin. Wet... alone... Well, maybe "alone" is a good thing in this case. "Alone" meant none of the people in the white jackets who brought the pain with them.

How long had she been here now? An hour? A day? A month? A year? Time held little meaning when you spent most of it drugged out of your mind.

Very vaguely, she could recall that things were not always as they were now...

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *~ * ~ * ~

This had to have been the weirdest dream she'd ever had, the dark-haired young woman thought to herself, slowly taking in the scene around her. She stood in the midst of what looked like castle ruins, everything around her a glittering white. No... not everything. Now that she looked, there were other people here too. Two other women besides herself and several men.

A slight flash of colour to her right and she nearly jumped out of her skin. A man stood beside her, taller than her but not by too much, brilliantly red hair trimmed close to his head except for tendrils that framed his face. Dressed mostly in black and with skin only a shade or two darker than her own and cold amethyst eyes that went on forever, he was a sight to behold.

I've never seen anyone as beautiful as him before... how'd he get into my dreams?

A brilliant light exploded from the sky, and blinded by its brightness, she turned away, shielding her eyes with her arm.

"I have a feeling this isn't going to be one of those good dreams...," she heard herself whispering.

"I wish it were only a dream, Morrigan," a silvery voice whispered. Out of the light, a pixie-like woman descended to touch the ground in the midst of them all.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *~ * ~ * ~

Blood. All he ever saw around him was the endless sea of blood that plagued his dreams, or the wide unseeing eyes of his parents lifeless bodies, or the comatose one of his younger sister. He could remember a time when he had been young, and led a normal life before Takatori Reiji had decided to snatch it all away. He could remember the way his heart stopped beating, and the cry that came from his sister? throat, combined with the horror that filled his heart at the sight of the bomb. 5?

?et out of here!! he had cried out hoarsely, shoving his sister out, but not before the blast had caught him.

When he had finally awoken, it was to the sight of her walking in confusion. Devastation filled his soul at his inability to act as he watched her get run over helplessly. It had consumed him and devoured what was left of Fujimiya Ran. From then on, revenge replaced the warmth that had once remained within.

Staring at the man pleading in front of him with cold, dead eyes, he felt a brief flicker of life surging in him before he squelched it. Kuso. Who the hell was responsible for bringing it back? With a swift flick of his wrist, the blade sliced through the air soundlessly, and the man gurgled before his life emptied onto the ground.

Blood. It was all he had ever known.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *~ * ~ * ~

"Marie! Marie!" a voice broke through the sleep still clinging to her brain. Slowly opening her eyes, she spied her roommate above her. "Are you awake now?"

She rubbed her eyes. "I think so. I've got the headache to end all headaches."

"You were having a nightmare. I couldn't wake you up. And you slept through your first class. If you don't hurry, you'll miss your second too."

She let out a short shriek and rushed to throw on some clothes. Running through the university halls, she took a moment to smile slightly at a friend of hers. I'll never say Danny has the reddest hair I've ever seen again. That guy... Aed... She shook her head. What am I talking about? It was just a dream. He doesn't exist, and even if he did, he'd never be interested in someone like me. Anyone who looks like that has to have thousands of girls waiting for him. But... dream or not, he was hot!

"Watch it!" she called out with a grin. "I'm late!" Naturally no one listened.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *~ * ~ * ~

"What did you do to your hair, Marie?"

She met Lizzy's horrified look with a cheeky grin. "Well, I was trying to go red." She fingered one dark maroon lock. "It didn't come out quite right."

"You're out of your mind, girl." The sandy blonde junior sat on the bed beside her. "So, are you going on the Japan trip?"

You have been brought here from all over the world. Signe from Norway, Morrigan from Ireland, Hyperion from Germany, Aed and Thanatos from Japan... "Japan...? I... think... I will."

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *~ * ~ * ~

He didn? know when those cursed dreams began, or how they began to haunt him. It was bad enough that Sakura had wanted to tag around him. Sakura. What was he to do with that girl? He couldn? help the softening of his heart, or the dreams that plagued his mind. Lately, he hadn? been himself. And yet, he had no confidant, no one he could burden.

Slipping his hands into smaller delicate ones, he clasped it lightly, longing to feel some signal of life within. Aya only slept there, eyes closed as if in repose, except this was one that she stood a good chance of never awakening from.

?ya-chan, did I tell you about the dreams?

He had learned to shut out his emotions so effectively that he had forgotten how to share.

?t? like I? on a different planet. I? being warned of things to come, and and?

His tongue lodged itself in his throat, and he struggled to work it through. Once verbalized, it would solidify the insanity. How could he believe such a thing was possible? It was only a dream of little consequence. There was still revenge at hand. How could he possibly allow himself such weakness?

?? to be a god, he whispered.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *~ * ~ * ~

Oh yeah... That was how this happened... I was stupid enough to come to Japan, just to see if the dream was real. God, I was an idiot.

She snorted. I wish I had a way to slit my wrists; it would probably be the only way I'll ever get out of here. She laughed humourlessly. If the accident didn't care of it, though, somehow I don't think slitting my wrists would work either.

The accident...? I'd almost forgotten it...

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *~ * ~ * ~

The pain... that was the first thing she noticed. Next was the feeling of weightlessness. Then the ground beneath her face, the asphalt tearing into her skin. Everything went numb... then black.

When she woke up, it was to a choking - no, trapped! - sensation. Even though her limbs felt weak as a kitten's, she flailed against the material around her. With a sudden hissing sound, it was gone and light appeared; she sprang forward to meet it. Looking to her side as the panic began to ease off, she watched a man scream something in a language she didn't understand to the other man driving the vehicle. An ambulance? No... there aren't any medical supplies here.

The vehicle lurched sharply to the left, and a moment later, she was thrown into the back of the driver's seat and the man who had been beside her was thrown into the front of the vehicle; she heard a banging noise which she could only assume was his head hitting the dashboard.

Limbs all but useless, she hauled herself out of the vehicle and stumbled away.

Two hours later, she sat against the side of a building shivering as a light mist fell. Small images flew through the back of her mind. The sleek black car tearing out of nowhere, the split second of absolute knowledge, the pain as it collided with her body, weightlessness as she flew up into the air, pain again as she hit the ground, then the blessed numbness and darkness.

"Gomen ne... ojousan?"

She looked up, recognizing only the word "gomen." A man stood before her, holding an umbrella over them both, wearing a long white jacket. She bit her lip, trying to remember one of the phrases she'd learned for the trip. "Nihongo o hanasemasen."

"Kimi wa Amerikajin?"

"Iie." [1]

Something sharp embedded itself in her neck. Numbness began to seep through her body again. It was such an effort to lift her hand and pull the dart out. When she passed out this time, the blackness was not nearly so welcomed.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *~ * ~ * ~

The slaying continued, and he tried desperately to forget the dreams that plagued him incessantly. It was impossible. How could he be a god? One who had sinned repeatedly and long lost his soul. One who had failed to protect his family. One who had the blood of many on his hands.

The dark images descended upon him, and he sought to forget. There were others who had been brought in as well. The woman standing next to him was not beautiful by any conventional standards, but there was a quality to her that made his eyes turn to her form repeatedly. What had they called him? Aed?

There would be powers unimaginable, but before that, their own deaths had to occur. He had found himself catching his breath at that thought. Iie, he couldn't leave this earth. Not yet. Not when he still had Aya-chan to protect. ~ I will always protect you, Aya-chan. I won't fail you again. ~

The sudden blast caught his attention as he sliced the SS bastard who had been responsible for taking causing all this grief. He had to make sure that his sister and Sakura were safe. All hell broke loose and he found himself confronting Brad Crawford. Trepidation crawled up his spine at the confident expression on the American's face, causing a brief flicker of self-doubt to enter. How could he hope to defeat such a powerful opponent?

As he turned his head, all he saw was his sister laying unconscious. Sakura knelt beside her, looking eerily like Aya-chan's twin. Manx caught his gaze and nodded reassuringly.

"Shimpai janai. I will take care of them. Just be careful."

He knew that if anything were to happen to him, she would be safe under Manx's care. Besides, one of Wei? was bound to make it out alive.

Somehow, he already realised he wouldn't be that one.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *~ * ~ * ~

And then I woke up here, in this medical prison.

God, I think I'm going crazy in here. Need something to think about, someone to talk to. I can only count the ventilation grates in the floor so many times...

What was it that lady in the dream (Face it, girl; it was no dream!) said? Gods?

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *~ * ~ * ~

"I brought you all here for a purpose," the woman with the faery wings stated.

"And that would be?" the woman with the long curly blonde hair asked, her voice just a tad on the sharp side.

"That would be, Signe, to keep the world from being destroyed."

"I don't know who you think I am, lady, but my name is not Signe."

"It will be your title soon enough. I'm sorry that this will be disturbing your mortal lives, but there are only a handful of people I could choose," she gestured expansively, "and that's you. You have been brought here from all over the world. Signe from Norway, Morrigan from Ireland, Hyperion from Germany, Aed and Thanatos from Japan..."

"How are we supposed to protect the entire world?" She blinked at the sudden interruption, turning to stare at the silver-haired man. He's so gorgeous too. Why am I dreaming of these people I've never seen before?

"I am going to give you all powers, Freyr. Make you all gods."

"Why?" The question slipped out of her mouth without her realizing it, and she blushed scarlet when they all turned to stare at her, letting out a slight "eep" and trying to shrink in within herself.

The silver-haired man, Freyr, favoured her a small smile then turned back to the faery woman. "Yes. Why, exactly?"

The woman sighed. "The one who was supposed to defeat the approaching enemies has vanished from our time. Pharoah 90 and Galaxia are approaching quickly, and the world is sure to be destroyed with Sailormoon gone." The tall, dark-haired man standing the furthest from the group gasped slightly at the sound of that name. "Yes, Thanatos, Sailormoon."

"How are we supposed to fight these creatures?" She glanced over at the man who spoke. Those are some wicked eyebrows, she thought with a slight smile.

"Simple, Hyperion. By coming here," another expansive gesture, "you have all been given... powers. When you return to Earth, it will only be a matter of time before you die and are reborn as gods."

"Die?" she barely heard herself choke out. I really don't like this dream!

"I hate to break it to you, lady," Signe spoke again, "but I'm not planning on dying for quite a while yet." She pointed vaguely in Marie's direction. "And what about her? She's barely a kid."

She felt herself bristling, as always ready to defend that she was almost twenty, not some overgrown teenager, but the pixie woman's next words cut her short. "I'm afraid you have very little choice in the matter."

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *~ * ~ * ~

Caught in the throes of his dream, he struggled against the bonds that held him down. The explosion. That was all he remembered before the blackness descended upon him. A brief cry had escaped his mouth accompanied with the searing of his flesh. Then, there had been nothing.

The whole scenario had been eerie, and if he had known better, he would've shut it out, just like he had done with life. His purpose, as he had been told, was to save the world from imminent destruction. His thoughts had of course immediately flashed to Aya-chan and protecting her. Giving the woman with the faery wings an ominous look, he spoke. "Doushite?"

"It has been decreed, Aed. There's no simple explanation for it," she replied gently.

The young woman, Morrigan if he remembered correctly, took in the scene wide-eyed. Again, a wave of familiarity hit him as he took in her figure.

"I don't want to die. It's too soon."

The bewildered expression on her face affected him in powerful ways. He had no idea who this woman was or how it was possible that they could somehow understand each other.

"The powers may take some time before they appear, and for some of you, it may work differently," the woman continued, staring at him strangely.

He didn't know what to make of it all. Frankly, he was caught somewhere between amusement and hysteria. He struggled to make sense of it, and why this dream stood out above the others. All he had been able to dream about until now were his parents' death and Aya-chan's accident.

As a god, would he not have the ability to change what had happened? Or punish those who were responsible for his family's tragedies? His heart and mind revolted at the thought of Schwarz still running free, and all he could see was Aya-chan's form lying still on the ground. They had to pay for the crimes they had committed. Yurusunai...

"You cannot tamper with the timelines or take vengeance for events that occurred in your human lives. It's strictly forbidden."

Gritting his teeth, he fought to control the temper that threatened to explode. He was being forced into something he did not want. The overwhelming feeling of helplessness was drowning him again.

"What's the point then?" he finally choked out.

The woman gave him a sad glance. "I realise there's little choice for any of you, and your life is ruled by destiny. But, for the good of the world, for the people who still remain a part of you, do it for them."

~ Aya-chan?

He had no idea what happened to her after the blast. If anything happened to her, he wasn't sure if he could live with himself.

Cold hands gripped his arms roughly, forcing him awake.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *~ * ~ * ~

Pain...

That was the first thing she noticed after rising from the darkness the second time.

Next of course was that she was strapped down to a table of some sort. Everything around her was white, medical white, and antiseptic smelling. The scent rolled into her brain and nearly floored her.

"Hello?" she screamed, noting with no small amount of terror that her voice echoed.

She jerked against the bonds - and felt her terror rise as they did not give an inch. She couldn't stop struggling though. Have to get out... have to get out... have to get out... havetogetout!!!!!!

Weariness began to sink into her, and her thrashings eased. Faintly she noticed a sweet smell in the air. Poison? Why would they want to kill me? Gas? Her strength sapped, she could only lie on the table and think.

Her eyes were the only things that could move, and they did, as the door opened with a whoosh (air lock, her mind wearily supplied) and three people in air tight suits entered. They widened sharply as she took note of a flash of light reflecting off the bright sharp edge of a scalpel.

And then the real pain started.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *~ * ~ * ~

So tired... Smells so very sweet... They're gassing the room again... But it's been forever since they've taken me out of here for their so-called "testing"... What could they want with me this time?

She laughed shortly and tiredly to herself. After the disaster last time, one would think they'd give up.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *~ * ~ * ~

"Subject A has ceased to address itself as 'Marie,' instead now favouring the name 'Morrigan.' No tests have been able to ascertain why."

On a basic level, she understood that this was a different doctor from the others, one that spoke in English for a change. He has an American accent, her mind stated weakly.

"Subject A has shown no major physiomolecular changes to indicate any reason for coming back to life two weeks ago." Two weeks? It's been that long? "All scars from the fatal accident have disappeared, and the only scar tissue that remains now is from -" rustling noises as he checked his notes "- a childhood accident.

"Today, we will begin with a skin sample for further DNA testing. We will follow with a spinal tap and a brain scraping. If time allows, we will close today with a closer investigation of the reproductive systems -" Hey! What kind of a girl do you think I am?!?! "-to see if these humanoid creatures will be able to breed." C-creatures...

Her eyes followed the bright light reflecting off the scalpel as it arched towards her body. It took such an effort to wince them shut, but she did all the same. She'd quit watching long ago, could no longer stand to see what they did to her, in the name of science.

I'm in my dorm room, playing a video game or studying with Lizzie, and they can't touch me.

"Shit," she heard the American doctor say. "Subject A appears to have generated some sort of impenetrable shield around itself. Attempts to go past the shield result in damage to medical equipment. Aborting test." She forced her eyes open to see him setting down a scalpel with a chipped blade on it and walking away.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *~ * ~ * ~

And that was *yawn* the last time they took me out of here. So *yawn, yawn* why are they gassing the room again now? It's not possible that they captured one of the others, is it? No way! They all seemed like good fighters (even the quiet guy, Thanatos); they'd never get taken.

I guess the pixie woman in the strange ruins made a mistake picking me. I must not be cut out for this saving the world stuff, when I can't even save myself.

She turned on her side, facing the wall on her bench of a bed, adjusting the thin blanket around her. I'll just wait right here and see what they have in store this time.

Just as she was about to succumb to the tranquilizer's effects, she heard the door open and a loud bang against the metal of the floor vents and the air-tight door closing again. Summoning up all her strength, she rolled back over and sat up - and nearly felt her eyes explode out of her head as she took in the too familiar redheaded man on the floor.

I guess it really wasn't a dream after all. He's real.

[1] "Excuse me... miss?"
"I don't understand Japanese."
"Are you an American?"
"No."

Written: 15 June 2001
Revision: 21 October 2001
Final Revision: 16 October 2003