One of the major difficulties Trillian experienced in her relationship with Zaphod was learning to distinguish between him pretending to be stupid just to get people off their guard, pretending to be stupid because he couldn't be bothered to think and wanted someone else to do it for him, pretending to be outrageously stupid to hide the fact that he actually didn't understand what was going on, and really being genuinely stupid . . . "Funny," Marvin intoned funerally, "how just when you think life can't possibly get any worse, it suddenly does." Douglas Adams, _The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy_ Ballantine, 1980 _______________________________________________________________________ Kinmokusei Story Chapter Fourteen: The Sultan of Turan by Kotetsu _______________________________________________________________________ The spaceport itself was more incredible than anything Minako had ever imagined. Turan Northern Intergalactic was a bustling hub of space travel, crawling with an even mix of vacationers, business travelers, space explorers, diplomats and politicians, and even military personnel. Minako watched in awe as a neat file of exotically uniformed soldiers marched past them on their way from the arrival gates. "Forrester Three military elite," Taiki whispered into Minako's ear. "They might be here on peacekeeping business, unless they want to declare war on Turan. Forrester Three has a history of doing that. When they become bored, they start a war." Minako turned her head in all directions, trying to absorb the sights, sounds, and smells assaulting her. "Hey, there's another purple-skinned guy!" "Come on," Yaten snapped impatiently, grabbing Minako's hand and pulling her through the thickening crowd. All four of them were loaded with their own luggage, and it was becoming difficult to navigate through the crowded passages. "Stupid spaceport is always overcrowded," Yaten muttered under her breath. Minako could feel the curious tinglings in the back of her head as her translator chip began doing its work. The cacophony of languages surrounding her began to blend into a smooth stream of Japanese that echoed loudly through her ears. And as her vision blurred momentarily, the signs and notices posted around her began to morph into Japanese kanji. "This way to gates A, B, and C," Minako read, rather proud of herself. "Ahead on left: restrooms, dining, telephone. Luggage claim downstairs. Rental cars--" "I can *read*, Minako-chan," Yaten sighed, rolling her eyes. They were passing a food court. Minako turned her head, reading the signs as she rushed by. The signs advertised strange and exotic cuisine that her translator chip transformed into katakana. "Ne, Yaten-chan, what the heck is a 'grumphort stew'?" "Stew of a grumphort. Duh." "What's a grumphort?" "Some small, hairy farm animal from the Vega system--" They abruptly stopped walking. "Drat! I hate lines," Seiya grumbled. They were in the back of a long line of impatiently milling people. Minako craned her neck, squinting to make out the kiosk at the end of the hall where the line ended. "Customs," Yaten explained. "Got your passport?" "Right here," Minako grinned as she produced it with a flourish. As an Earthling, but a Sailor Senshi, she was exempt from the normal travel restrictions imposed on pre-Subspace societies. Taiki had printed her the proper documents while on board their ship. Now, all she would have to do would be to show her papers to the customs official, and provide proof of her identity as Sailor Venus. That meant showing the sign of Venus on her forehead; Minako had practiced it several times during their journey, just to make sure that she could do it quickly and easily. It only required a moment of concentration, and it didn't really drain her of any of her energy. Minako craned her neck again, scanning the crowd in front of her. Most of them looked perfectly human, but here and there she could spot a tufted ear, a fur-covered face, or a shimmer of pearly scales on the back of someone's neck. She turned her head around in circles again, observing her surroundings carefully. Aha! To her left, against the far wall of the passageway, was something absolutely fascinating. It was a news kiosk, brimming with foreign magazines, exotic newspapers, colorful and strangely-shaped candy, bags of snacks with names that she couldn't even begin to pronounce, and souvenir keychains and mugs covered in photographs of breathtaking Turan geography. "Yaten-chan, Yaten-chan!" She tugged at Yaten's sleeve excitedly. "Can we go over there?!" She pointed toward the kiosk. "I promised I would buy gifts for everyone, anyway, so let's do it now!" Yaten hesitated for a moment, chewing her lip. "Minako-chan, we have to stay in line--" "We'll hold your place," Taiki said quickly. "Just don't take too long." She gave Yaten a pointed look. "You know that lines bore you to the point of tears, anyway. Go on. Have some fun." With a sigh of resignation, Yaten allowed Minako to pull her away from the line of people. Minako hopped toward the news kiosk, barely restraining herself from squealing with delight. Scandalous headlines on the tabloids blared at her; glossy fashion magazines tantalized her; even the news magazines, with their cover photographs of alien dignitaries or blazing spaceship battles in some faraway sector of the galaxy looked exciting. A woman with flowing violet hair, pale skin, and startling rose-colored irises stood behind the kiosk, flipping through a magazine idly. When she noticed Minako staring at the magazine rack as if it were the most fascinating thing she had ever seen in her entire life, she blinked, and looked up. Two new customers . . . ? One of them, a bored-looking girl with silver hair who was standing slightly off to the side, she recognized as a Sailor Senshi. But the other one, the strange new girl with alien clothing and an alien scent, was unfamiliar to her. She somehow managed to catch Minako's eye. "May I help you?" "YES!" Minako cried out. "I want to buy this one!" She grabbed a magazine off the rack and plopped it beside the cash register. "And this one!" Another one, thrown beside the cash register. "And this one! And this one!" The pile grew. The woman blinked again, thumbing through the growing pile of magazines with confusion. What eccentric taste this girl had! She had chosen issues of Popular Astrophysics, Intergalactic Girl, Homeowner's Companion, and the Stocks and Bonds Journal. And now she was adding tabloids to the pile-- "Ne, ne, Minako-chan," the silver-haired girl suddenly tugged on the blonde's wrist, addressing her in a language that the woman had *never* heard before. "Okane ga aru?" "Hai, okane ga aru." The blonde shifted her heavy luggage bag on her shoulder, and began digging through her purse. She pulled out her wallet, opened it, and showed her companion a thick wad of green bills. "Koko ga." The silver-haired girl slapped her forehead. "Iie, sore wa . . . Ano . . ." She sighed, obviously frustrated. Then she turned toward the woman. "I'm sorry," she said, once again speaking in Galactic Standard, "but my friend does not have any Standard credits. I will pay for these." She pulled out her wallet. The blonde took one look at the other one's wallet, and her eyes sparkled with tears of joy and love. "Ahhh . . . Yaten-chan . . . You *do* love me, don't you?!" The woman noticed that she was speaking in Galactic Standard again. How odd. But her voice sounded slightly tinny, slightly artificial. She must have a translator embedded in her brains and vocal cords, the woman mused. But it might be a very new and still very faulty design, if she could still suddenly lapse into her native language. The silver-haired girl, Yaten, blushed a deep crimson, obviously embarrassed. "It's nothing. My treat." "YATEN-CHAN GA DAI SUKI!!!!" The blonde threw her arms around Yaten, crushing the petite girl in a rib-shattering bear hug. "Gaah! Minako-chan, I can't breathe--" "Oh! I'm so sorry." The blonde, Minako, pulled away from Yaten. She then began yanking souvenir keychains off their hooks, and throwing them on top of the pile of magazines. "Oh, oh, I just LOVE these things!!! Can we get these, too, Yaten-chan? One for everybody back home! Ooooh, and a stuffed toy for Hotaru- chan." Minako pulled a furry, feline-like stuffed animal wearing a perky 'I LUV TURAN' bandana off its shelf, and threw it on top of the pile near the register. Yaten shrugged. "Sure. Whatever." The woman tapped her fingers against the side of the register. It figures, she mused. Sailor Senshi never had to worry about money. They were always supported by their planetary governments. The woman noticed that Minako's shopping blitz seemed to be slowing down. "Anything else?" she asked politely. Minako frowned, biting her lip. Then she shook her head. "Nah, I think that's it." She suddenly glanced up, catching the woman's eyes. She gasped. "Oh, you have beautiful eyes! They look like roses!" The woman began ringing up Minako's purchases. "What are roses?" "Oh, it's a flower . . . from where I come from . . . " The woman paused, first looking to Yaten, then to Minako. "You aren't from Kinmokusei?" Yaten smiled slightly, happy to be recognized. But Minako didn't notice. "I'm from Earth," she answered, her gaze still captivated by the alien woman's eyes. "Well, I'm from Dereni." The woman bowed her head in greeting. "It is an honor to meet a traveler from Earth. Since you *are* a traveler from Earth, then you must be a Sailor Senshi. Am I right?" "Yup, that's me!" Minako beamed with pride. "Aino Minako, the one and only Sailor Venus, at your service!" "And I am called Keltra'adin. It is a pleasure and an honor to meet you." Minako was oblivious to the fact that Yaten's eyes widened with sudden surprise the moment that Keltra'adin said her name. But she *did* notice the pulsing, fleshy bulge on the back of Keltra'adin's neck that appeared the moment the alien woman turned her head slightly, searching for the price tag on the stuffed animal. Minako gasped, then quickly covered her mouth, lowering her eyes in shame. How rude of her, to react like that! Still, it was pretty gross-- "You noticed my neck?" Keltra'adin asked softly. Minako was afraid to look up and meet her eyes, but she nodded humbly. "Don't be embarrassed. It's always startling to foreigners, the first time that they see it." Keltra'adin's voice was soft and gentle. Minako dared to raise her eyes, and finally relaxed when she saw the other woman smiling at her, her rose-colored eyes twinkling with amusement. She finished bundling Minako's purchases into a paper bag, and handed it to the flustered girl. "Here you go." Yaten paid, and they left quickly, Minako waving goodbye as Yaten pulled her away from the news kiosk. Keltra'adin waved back, grinning. It was a good omen, to meet two Sailor Senshi in one day. Besides, the foreign girl had bought enough magazines and goodies to be about the equivalent of a full day's worth of business. Keltra'adin was in a very good mood indeed. Yaten, however, was not. As she pulled Minako back toward the line, she whispered hurriedly into Minako's ear, "Do you have any idea what that woman *was*?!" "No. What's wrong with her?" "The name. Keltra'adin. The 'adin' ending is added to modify the birth name of a Bi'adar host." "A what what?" "That thing on the back of her neck. That was an *alien life form*." "No way! I just thought it was a . . . giant pulsing wart, or something." "No. That was a parasitic life form. You could see its heartbeat pulsing." "But . . . But . . . That doesn't make sense. You said that almost all aliens were just like humans." "Almost. Not all." They were back in line at that moment, standing beside Taiki and Seiya. Taiki took one look at Yaten's face, and clucked her tongue disapprovingly. "*Now* what's wrong with you?!" "We saw a Bi'adar host," Yaten muttered, suddenly and inexplicably embarrassed, staring at her toes. "Oh, is *that* all?" Seiya rolled her eyes. "Geez, Minako, don't let Yaten get to you, okay? She just doesn't like the Bi'adar because they can't be detected by empathic senses." Yaten shifted her weight back and forth on her feet. "They make me uncomfortable," she pouted, almost childish in her stubborn dislike of the alien. Minako's confused gaze jumped from Yaten to Seiya to Taiki. "Wait a minute . . . I don't understand." "The Bi'adar," Taiki began, instantly morphing into lecture mode, "are a generally benevolent race of symbiotic life forms from one of the Core worlds, a planet orbiting a star of the same name. Outside of its host body, a Bi'adar actually looks somewhat like a gray tentacled slug . . . about yea big . . . " She gestured with her hands, indicating a length of six or so inches. "They require host bodies to survive for a desirably long lifespan. A Bi'adar will affix itself to the host body's brain and spinal cord, and feed off the nutrients in a very small amount of the host body's blood. Through a very complex and fascinating biological process, the Bi'adar and the host consciousness merge into one brain, although still retaining two distinctly different personalities and thought processes. It's almost as if two intelligent beings were sharing the same body." "They take turns . . . I guess you could call it that . . . when they possess the host body." Yaten shuddered. "While one mind is conscious and awake, the other mind sleeps. And vice versa." She shuddered again. "That woman said that her name was Keltra'adin; so it must have been the host consciousness speaking to us. If she had called herself Nida'artlek, then it would have been the Bi'adar speaking through the host's body." "Can it . . . " Minako gulped. "Can it be removed?" "Sure. Easily. But no host ever *wants* their Bi'adar to be removed. They say that they've become so close, that they're like soul mates." "I guess you'd *have* to be close enough to be soul mates, if you were sharing the same body all the time," Seiya shrugged. "The important thing to remember is that they're nothing to be afraid of," Taiki said as she cast a pointed glance at the sullen Yaten. "Other than the fact that they make empaths and telepaths uncomfortable, the Bi'adar a gentle, benevolent race who would never seek to harm anyone. They cannot even join with a host body unless the host is perfectly willing to accept them." "That's way weird," Minako sighed, shaking her head. "This whole galaxy is way weird." Then she perked up, suddenly remembering the bag full of goodies clutched in her hands. "Hey, guess what, guys?! I bought everyone keychains!!!" The other three groaned. ******************** After passing through the customs checkpoint, the four of them made their way toward the crowded meeting lounges in the front of the building. Seiya scanned the crowd carefully, frowning slightly to herself. "Celun said that she would meet us here--" Minako tapped Seiya's shoulder. "Who's Celun?" she asked. "Sailor Turan," Yaten replied absent-mindedly, standing on her tiptoes to see above the heads and shoulders crowded around her. At moments like this, she hated being short. "She's probably over there," Taiki said, pointing toward a bobbing indigo head in the crowd. Seiya squinted, also raising herself up on her tiptoes. "Hey, wait a minute . . . " Then, suddenly, her face lit up with the joy of recognition. "That's her! Hey! HEY!!" She waved enthusiastically at the approaching woman. "HEY, WE'RE OVER HERE!" "Now *there's* a civilized greeting for you," Yaten muttered drolly. "I'm going to meet an alien Sailor Senshi!" Minako squealed with excitement as she clutched Yaten's shoulder. At that moment, a stranger suddenly burst through the crowd and rushed toward Seiya, embracing her warmly, kissing her cheek and encircling her slender arms all the way around Seiya's waist. "Ara'tete, kyoegei de ontero Senshi." And, as if it was the most natural thing in the world, Seiya returned the kiss, brushing her lips against the stranger's cheeks. "Thank you. We're glad we made it, too." She laughed, lightly and cheerfully. The stranger returned her cheerful grin. Minako whacked the side of her head with her palm. "Yaten - the translator chip's not working!" she hissed. "It must not be programmed for any Turanese dialects," Yaten stage- whispered back. "Then who just kissed Seiya?!" "Celun di'Biar. Sailor Turan." Yaten pursed her lips. "Concentrate on her dialect. You should be able to understand it, anyway. The Senshi Communication Principle, remember?" Minako gaped at the strange woman. She looked like a young, slender human female; that much, at least, was familiar enough. But the thin, crinkled indigo locks that spilled down her shoulders and back and all the way past her knees, the shimmering silver irises, the thin indigo lips, and the slightly pointed elfin ears, combined to make the woman appear more exotic and foreign than any Minako had seen yet. Her skin was pale, pearly white; it only looked even whiter when contrasted with her dark blue skirts and overcoat. She wore many rings on each finger, and had several gold and silver studs lined up along the pierced rim of her ears. She carried herself with a casual grace and elegance, but still appeared energetic and enthusiastically happy about their arrival; were it not for the casual clothing and the strange multiple piercings, Minako would have instantly marked her as a princess. But then again, Celun di'Biar WAS a princess, wasn't she?! Celun said something else to Seiya, something that Minako simply couldn't hear over the din of the crowd around her; then, suddenly, Celun pulled away from Seiya's embrace and rushed toward Taiki, throwing her arms around the chagrined girl and standing on her tiptoes to reach up and kiss Taiki's cheek. "Kyoegei de ontero Senshi, vristate ya!" Minako still gaped openly. Celun's words still sounded utterly foreign in her ears, but now . . . now, suddenly, inexplicably, she found that she understood the meaning behind those alien syllables. "Welcome, honorable Senshi, and good cheer!" Celun had said, her words echoing clear and true through Minako's brain. Then, before Taiki could respond, Celun pulled away from her and stepped aside, jumping forward to grab Yaten and pull her into her embrace. She kissed the startled Yaten's cheek. "Ara'tete, ara'tete!" she repeated. Yaten struggled in her embrace. "Um, um, hi yourself," she somehow managed to stutter. "And yet you insist on speaking in Standard," Celun sighed, half-teasingly, a merry twinkle in her eye. "But then again, you haven't exactly come for a taste of the local culture, have you?" For a brief moment, her silver eyes became flat and serious. "I only hope that my brother and I can aid you sufficiently in your battle." "Thank you." Yaten managed a wan smile. "We appreciate it." Celun glanced over Yaten's shoulder, and finally noticed Minako standing there, silently, shyly. "Oh, my." She pulled her arms away from Yaten and stepped toward the strange blonde girl. "And who might you be?" Minako curtsied prettily, which actually made her feel rather silly, but at the moment, it was really the only appropriate thing to do. "My name is Minako Aino," she introduced herself, carefully switching her names to Galactic Standard order. "I'm from the planet Earth, of the Sol system." "A Sailor Senshi of the Sol System," Celun breathed, her eyes widening with inexplicable awe and reverence. Then, unexpectedly, she bowed low, her indigo locks brushing against the ground below her. "It is a great honor to meet you, fellow Senshi. My people and I - nay, the entire galaxy, at that - owe you a great debt." "Oh." Minako blushed redder than she ever had in her entire life. The weird truth was that she *would* have enjoyed this bit of hero-worship, if not for the fact that Yaten was staring at her with a bemused little smile dancing across her lips. Well, she could ask Yaten just what was so darn funny about the whole thing later. After a moment, Celun straightened herself up, and favored Minako with a playful wink. "Well, miss Aino, it's certainly an unexpected pleasure to enjoy the honor of your visit. But I'm afraid that our time together is short," she said, casting a glance at the three other Senshi patiently waiting for her, "seeing as how I can already sense the eagerness of these three to return to their home planet. Come, we must be going." She reached out, and gently grasped Minako's hand within her own. Celun's hand felt warm and curiously slender, almost delicate, folded inside of Minako's own hand. "There are so many questions that I want to ask you!" Celun grinned cheerfully as she pulled Minako forward, signaling the other three to follow her with a mere flicker of her eyes. "There's transportation waiting for us outside the main terminal. Are you all doing all right with your bags? Do you need me to carry anything? No? Are you sure? Well, that's fine, then. We're a two hour drive away from the capitol, I'm afraid. But that gives us plenty of time to talk to each other, doesn't it?" "You do talk a lot," Yaten observed, not unkindly. Celun laughed, a light joyful trill that floated above the noisy crowd of the spaceport. "I'm normally much quieter than I am now. But I'm just so excited to finally meet all of you!" "The feeling is mutual," Seiya agreed cheerfully. She stretched her arms above her head, gratefully. "I *hated* being cramped up in that ship for three days. And now we have to endure another two hours all packed together--" Taiki bopped her lightly on the head. "Quit complaining. It's unbecoming of you." Seiya stuck out her tongue. "Make me," she dared Taiki, more joking than serious. Celun laughed again, still pulling Minako forward. "Come on, let's get going! As soon as we get outside, my attendants can relieve you of your luggage." The five of them slowly made their way through the crowds. ******************** Minako was awestruck by the sight of the palace gates that finally loomed before them at the end of their drive; awestruck by the lavish marble halls that arched several stories above their heads as they entered the palace; and awestruck by the colorful silken drapes and exotic, sweet-smelling flowers that covered and decorated the receiving court of the Sultan of Turan. The five of them had barely stepped into the receiving hall before Celun suddenly rushed forward and embraced her brother, the Sultan, warmly. "Brother, I've returned!" "Sultan sees," the little Sultan said, his voice muffled by Celun's arms. Even with her translator chip, Minako could detect the heavy accent behind his words. The Sultan pushed away from Celun and gasped for air, looking rather annoyed. Minako peered at him carefully, her sharp, observant eyes recording every detail of his visage. He had Celun's same thin indigo hair, combed back in a carefully oiled coif above his head; the same pointed ears, silver eyes, and pale skin; but he was very short in stature, and rather plump, at that. His silken robes hung loosely on his small, round frame. He looked older than Celun, by anywhere from five to ten years. The Sultan turned his head, and his eyes fell upon the four Senshi waiting patiently at the back of the hall. His face lit up with a sudden delighted smile. "Aha, my beautiful blossom! You come back to Sultan, after all!" Four pairs of eyes blinked in startled unison. "Eh?" Seiya asked, the most brilliant response by far that any of them could have made. "Beautiful olive blossom!" the Sultan continued enthusiastically, almost tripping over his own badly accented words. "Sultan send flowers and love to beautiful blossom, and blossom comes to Sultan's planet to kiss Sultan's hand with sacred lips and confess true love to Sultan's pretty pointed ears." "Sacred . . . lips?" Minako squeaked. Taiki leaned over and whispered loudly, "I think he's talking to one of us." "But who?" "He sent . . . flowers . . . ?!" Yaten's voice was quiet and subdued, yet unmistakably too high on her register to be passed off as normal. She sounded as if she were suddenly choking on her own panic. "F-F-F-Flowers?!" As one, three heads swiveled toward Yaten. "Um . . . I got flowers . . . Four nights ago . . . " Yaten's face blushed deep crimson, and her jaw clenched with a sudden realization. "Oh . . . drat." As if it were a signal, the Sultan pushed himself away from Celun and dashed forward, his little legs pounding frantically across the silk carpet. Before any of them even realized what was happening, the Sultan had wrapped his arms around Yaten and was embracing her in a crushing bear hug, showering her face with dozens of smacking kisses. "My beauty, my love, my angel!" he cried out with euphoric joy. "You come to seek Sultan's hand in marriage!" Yaten did not merely snap; she practically *exploded* with outrage. "LET ME GO! LET ME GO!" Yaten struggled against his grasp, hissing and snarling, finally managing to wriggle one arm free of his embrace and hook her fingernails into curved claws, slashing at his face with it. "WHAT ARE YOU, CRAZY?!" "Ah, feisty she is!" The Sultan, completely oblivious to her protests, easily dodged his face out of the path of her swiping claws and smacked her lips with another enthusiastic kiss. "But we must save energy for honeymoon bed, yes yes. Does blossom like being on top? No matter, Sultan will accommodate." Celun stared at the spectacle, horrified. Minako stared at the spectacle, horrified. Taiki, however, merely stifled a yawn behind her hand. "Oh, dear," she sighed. "Another mad suitor for Yaten." Seiya pouted, crossing her arms across her chest. "Man, it's getting to the point where we can't take her *anywhere* anymore." "MMMFF!" Yaten's protests were silenced by the Sultan's insistent lips. Finally, the Sultan broke the kiss, and Yaten thrust her hands forward, slamming her palms into his chest and pushing him roughly away from her. She stumbled backward, gagging and coughing. "You're crazy!" she gasped, glaring daggers at the vapidly grinning Sultan. "I don't love you. I don't even KNOW you!" "But Sultan sent blossom beautiful flowers! With confession of true undying love!" "But--" "Sultan *loves* blossom!" "But--" "Yaten-chan, are you all right?!" Minako finally broke her paralysis and rushed to Yaten's side, supporting her with her shoulder. "Are you out of breath? Do you need to catch some air?" Taiki coughed, loudly. "Ahem. Lord Sultan, might I remind you that we come before you with a matter of grave importance--" "Oh. Yes." Momentarily distracted, the Sultan turned to face them. "You want Sultan's book, no?" "That's why we're here--" "What do you want for it?" Seiya asked, sounding a bit more desperate than she would have liked. "Money? Jewels? Rare artwork? Anything, anything we can offer - just name the price, and it's yours!" "We have the authority of the Royal House of Kinmoku to authorize any demand that you make," Taiki added solemnly. For a moment, the Sultan's brow furrowed with thought. Then, with a flourish, he turned and pointed toward Yaten. "I will have her as my bride!" Yaten's jaw dropped. "WHAT?!" "Er, ah, wouldn't you rather have a mountain of gold, or the Crown Jewels, or--" Minako protested desperately, clutching Yaten tightly to her side. "Wouldn't you rather have, you know, what they said, artwork and antiques and stuff--" "No no no no no no no." The Sultan shook his head. "Sultan will marry, and Senshi will have their book. Senshi leave, blossom stays; Sultan and everyone is happy." Celun clasped her hands before her chest and pleaded with her brother. "But you *can't* demand that of her. She's a Sailor Senshi, like me - we aren't supposed to leave our home worlds permanently!" "Sultan does not care for silly Senshi rules." The Sultan wrinkled his nose with disgust. A heavy, tense silence descended upon the hall. And then, suddenly . . . It was broken by the sound of Taiki's soft giggles. No, it wasn't just Taiki giggling . . . Seiya, too, was laughing in perfect harmony. Yaten clenched her fists at her sides and glared at both of them. "I don't see what's FUNNY about any of this!" she growled. Ignoring her, Taiki turned and addressed the Sultan, managing to mostly suppress her giggles. "You DON'T want to marry Yaten." She punctuated the remark with a chortle of laughter. "Yeah," Seiya continued, "she'd make a HORRIBLE bride!" "She can't cook--" "She can't clean--" "She's nasty and mean-spirited--" "She's vain and her tastes are expensive--" "She's downright *incorrigible* during her menstrual period--" "Her hips are too thin, she's not good for bearing children--" "She'd make a lousy mother anyway--" "She won't flatter you--" "She won't dance with you at balls--" "She won't wear her hair the way you tell her to--" "She'll find hundreds of little ways to spite you--" "She kicks in bed during the night--" "She hogs the covers while you sleep--" "And she even--" "All right," Yaten said flatly, "that's enough, guys." "Sultan does not care!" the Sultan exclaimed exuberantly, gesturing grandiosely with his little arms. "True love is true love!" "Brother, please!" Celun pleaded, clutching at his shoulder. The Sultan brushed her aside. He turned toward Taiki and Seiya, both of whom were still giggling helplessly at the spectacle unfolding before them. "This is final offer. You take book, and leave Turan. Sultan marries wife, and wife stays. Is good?" "I OBJECT!" Yaten protested loudly. Minako's arms were the only thing holding her back from marching straight up to the Sultan and smashing her fist into his little button nose. Taiki wiped a tear of mirth from her eye. "Sure," she managed to gasp, stifling her giggles for a moment. "That sounds fine." "Uh-huh," Seiya was quick to agree. "No problem." Yaten's jaw dropped, again. "WHAT?!" Minako clutched at Yaten even tighter. "No, Yaten-chan, don't leave me!" She whirled toward Seiya and Taiki, glaring at them furiously. "You two - how could you be so cruel?!" Celun buried her head in her hands and moaned. "Oh, no. Oh, no. This can't be happening." Ignoring them both, Seiya was now actually managing to converse seriously with the Sultan. "So, we'll just agree to let you marry Yaten, then, right? That's all we have to do to uphold our part of the bargain?" "Yes; is all. Then you take book." "Right." Seiya grinned, rather maliciously. "But isn't it a little discourteous to marry a bride that you've only just met? I mean, you two should be spending some more quality time together." "OVER MY DEAD BODY!" Yaten shouted from behind them, overhearing their conversation and outraged that her protests were being ignored. "Hmmm." The Sultan's brow furrowed again, as if he were thinking deeply about a ponderous topic. "You are right . . . Sultan should spend night with blossom." "Um, not quite yet--" Taiki elbowed her way into the conversation. "We'd recommend that you start a bit slower than that. Besides, you don't want to rush things. When she's naked in bed, she bites. And those little fangs are *sharp*." "HEY, I HEARD THAT!" "All good, all good." The Sultan flapped his hands, almost sheepishly. "Sultan and blossom will have getting-to-know-each-other-with-all-clothes-still- on night. Tonight. Tomorrow morning will be wedding ceremony. All come and eat much cake, okay?" "Sounds great!" "It's a deal." Yaten watched incredously as the three shook hands. "BETRAYAL, BETRAYAL!" she shrieked. "I'M TELLING KAKYUU!!!" "I love enthusiastic bride!" the Sultan exclaimed happily as he clapped his hands twice, loudly. "All okay. All dismissed!" From out of nowhere, two burly, half-dressed guards appeared and grasped Yaten by the arms, forcibly pulling her away from Minako. "No, no, don't take her away!" Minako cried out helplessly as the guards rudely pushed her aside. "NOW WAIT JUST A MINUTE!" Yaten demonstrated her considerable vocal capacity as the guards began roughly dragging her out between the two main doors of the hallway. "JUST WHAT IN THE HELL MAKES YOU THINK THAT I'M GOING TO LET MYSELF GET MARRIED TO THAT CREEPY LITTLE--" The door slammed shut behind her; she was gone. With a melodramatic swirl of his robes, the Sultan turned and began marching toward the back of the royal hall. "You may leave Sultan now," he proclaimed as he disappeared behind a marble column, his footsteps echoing down a unseen hallway in one of the hidden wings along the side of the throne room. "Or the Sultan could leave *us,*" Seiya muttered under her breath. "I don't think his Galactic Standard is very good," Taiki commented wryly. There was a moment of expectant silence. Then, her face flushed with utter fury, Minako marched straight up to Taiki and Seiya and lowered a trembling, angry, accusatory finger at Seiya's nose. "YOU! How could you DO something like THAT?!" Celun sniffled back her tears of despair, wiping her running nose awkwardly with the back of her hand. She stared at Seiya and Taiki expectantly, her eyes wide and shimmering. "Hmph." Taiki favored them with a bemused smile. "The problem, Celun, is that your brother is too stubborn for his own good. We could tell right away that no amount of argument or persuasion from any of us was going to convince him to change his mind about Yaten." "So we figured," Seiya explained, obviously fighting back another attack of the giggles, "that the best way to show him his folly would be to send him straight into the belly of the beast." Taiki cuffed Seiya lightly with her fist. "Make sensible metaphors, please." Then she continued, "We're going to let the two of them spend one night together. Just trust us on this one. In the course of several hours, your brother will be CONVINCED beyond a shadow of a doubt that marrying Yaten would be the most terrible decision that any sane, rational being could ever make." Both Minako and Celun relaxed, but only by a miniscule amount. "Really?" Minako still sounded suspicious, skeptical. "How so?" "Well, to start with, Yaten is Yaten." "To make matters worse, Yaten hates the Sultan already." "So . . . Lock the two of them in a room together for an hour or two . . . " "Trust us." Taiki smiled benignly. "The wedding will be canceled before tomorrow morning." "And when it is, the Sultan will be ready to make us another offer for the book," Seiya finished cheerfully. "In fact, he'll be downright *desperate* to give us the book and get us off the planet. Because we - and that includes Yaten - aren't leaving until we can get our hands on that book." "All right . . . " Minako said, slowly, cautiously. She finally lowered her hand back down to her side, folding her formerly accusatory finger into one round, balled fist. "But what if the Sultan *doesn't* decide to cancel the wedding?" "That won't happen," Seiya and Taiki replied in flat unison. "Then answer me this . . . Have you two given any thought on how to break the energy link yet?" "Um . . . " "Er--" "What 'energy link'?" Celun suddenly asked, swiveling her head from side to side, from Senshi to Senshi, blinking with sudden confusion. "Um, Celun . . . " Seiya gently reached out for her hand. "There are still a couple of things that we need to tell you about Yaten . . ." ******************** The guards threw Yaten into a lavishly decorated bedroom; and promptly shut the only door and locked it, ignoring her screams of protests and her angry fists pounding on the door. "YOU CAN'T KEEP ME IN HERE FOREVER! JUST WAIT UNTIL I GET OUT OF HERE! I'LL KILL EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOU!" "Save the death threats for the honeymoon," one of the guards commented wryly. His partner chuckled; they left the furious girl locked in her bedroom, walking away without casting a single glance behind. On the other side of the locked door, Yaten slowly lowered her fists, clenched her jaw in anger, and finally whirled around, scanning her imprisonment with her sharp, observant eyes. Colorful drapes, silk cushions, and an enormous, soft, rather comfortable- looking bed filled her field of vision. No furniture, nothing but the bed and the cushions . . . There was an incense burner in one corner, but it didn't look large enough or heavy enough to be used as a cudgel. Yaten considered the wall- sized glass windows. She could see treetops just outside the windows, so she couldn't have been more than two or three stories up, could she? If she could break the glass, then--? "To such devices have I been reduced," she sighed, reluctantly. Yaten braced herself against the back of the door . . . Then sprang forward, sprinting with all of her might-- She smashed into the glass window panes. And then promptly bounced backward, landing ungracefully on her behind, but thankfully falling into a rather soft pile of silk cushions instead of hitting only the hard wooden floor underneath. Yaten rubbed her nose and winced, groaning with pain. The glass was shatter-proof. Drat. She stood up, shakily, slowly recovering from the shock of her failed experiment. She swiveled her head around, scanning the room again. The drapes! The bedcovers! She could pull them down, twist them, tie them together, make a sort of crude rope-- A rope for what? She couldn't exactly lower herself out the window, if she couldn't even break it in the first place. And what good would a rope do as a weapon? Well . . . A lot of good, actually. If the Sultan was planning on letting himself into her bedroom for a getting-to-know-each-other-with-all-clothes-still-on night, then he was in for a rude awakening. It would be ludicrously easy to incapacitate him, tie him up, use him as a hostage against his own demands . . . Oh, sure, it would probably spark an intergalactic diplomat incident, but, heck. "A girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do," Yaten muttered to herself, already having decided her course of action. She reached out toward the hanging drapes and pulled the first one down. ******************** "Oh, Goddess," Celun gasped weakly, her hand flying to her mouth. "That's terrible." The four of them - Celun, Minako, Taiki, and Seiya - were walking quietly down the palace hallways. Taiki had just finished whispering Yaten's little secret into Celun's ear. Celun turned her shimmering eyes toward the others, her face pale and thin, reflecting her obvious sense of helplessness. "I'm sorry, but I just don't know if there's a way that we can help you." "If you can't help us break the link," Seiya said somberly, "will you at least protect Yaten if she has to stay behind on this planet?" Celun nodded, slowly. "I swear that I won't let her come to any harm." Minako clenched and unclenched her hands nervously in front of her. "But there must be something we can do to break the link. There *must* be! I'm not gonna give up on Yaten-chan that easily!" Taiki could hear the raw emotion behind Minako's words, and flinched inwardly. She and Seiya had decided to be completely honest with Celun. If nothing else, it was the diplomatic thing to do. Taiki thought darkly. Taiki suddenly found that she did not want to finish that thought. At that moment, Celun stopped walking. "We're here." "Where?" Celun gestured with a sweep of her slender arm. They were standing in front of a long, narrow hallway, with two robed guards standing at attention on either side of the entrance. The guards saluted Celun cordially, and then bowed their heads, stepping aside silently to let her pass. "Come. Follow me," Celun took her first step into the passageway. "I'll take you to the texts that you seek." The three of them nervously followed her. As soon as they stepped into the hallway, Taiki could see why there were guards posted at the entrance. The walls were covered in thick, transparent glass. And behind the glass, on dozens of marble steps and pedestals, were displayed hundreds of ancient artifacts - antique armor and weapons, bronze busts of famous dignitaries and oil portraits of past royalty, stone-age pottery and Colonial-era tile mosaics, ornate Holy Texts hand-copied by monks of by-gone times, and even, displayed prominently on the largest pedestal of all, the twinkling silver tiara of the very first Sailor Turan. Minako whistled softly. "What a collection!" Celun shrugged. "These are my brother's private treasures. It's an eccentric mix, I'll admit. There's no rhyme or reason to the collection here. It's just . . . the items that he loves. His personal favorites." She smiled softly to herself, almost indulgently, as if she were a mother smiling patiently at her spoiled young child. "Everything here is attached to an important memory of his. Like the man in the portrait over there - that was General Dade, the military leader that unified the planet of Turan into a single hegemony. My brother and I studied him when we were being tutored and educated, back when we were small children . . . General Dade was my brother's hero. He still is." She trailed her hand along the glass, unmindful of the small smudging smears that her fingers left behind . . . She paused, resting her hand on the cold glass that covered the original Sailor Turan's tiara. "Ariana di'Biar, the original Sailor Turan." She gazed wistfully at the tiara. "I'm directly descended from her, but she lived so many generations back that I can't even begin to count them . . . I remember the first time I transformed. I scared my brother out of his wits. I saved him from a daimon assassin, that day. I still don't know which of us surprised him more, the daimon that suddenly held a dagger to his throat, or me showing up in my fuku and sailor collar--" She chuckled to herself, softly. "When it was all over, when I had somehow managed to defeat the daimon, he fell down to his knees and kissed my feet." She blushed, slightly, caught up in the memory. "It was horribly embarrassing. All of the courtiers were staring at us. That very night, he demanded that this tiara be removed from the Congressional Museum, and be placed here, in the palace . . . in my honor. Back then, he loved having a Sailor Senshi for a sister." Her face clouded, suddenly, growing dark and blank. "But that was before Galaxia attacked, before he taught himself to hate the Sailor Senshi." And then, just as suddenly, the clouds lifted, and her face filled with sunshine again. She turned toward Seiya and Taiki. "You two are the first, right? The first Fighter and Maker crystals from your planet?" "Aw, gee." Seiya grinned, but shuffled her feet and blushed, mildly embarrassed. "Yeah, we're the first." "And you--?" Celun cocked her head toward Minako, blinking curiously. "Are you the first Sailor Venus?" "I . . . " Minako looked at her hands. "I'm the first in a thousand years, but I don't know if I'm the first *ever*." "What do you mean? How can you not know something like that? I mean . . . " Celun flushed, noticing Minako's discomfort, and sharing it. "That's something awfully, terribly important to a planet's history, you understand." "Earth lost most of its history," Minako explained, a bit mournfully. "Nobody on the planet, except us Sailor Senshi, know about Earth's true past anymore." "Interesting." Celun rubbed her chin, smiling again. "Fascinating. I really do want to talk to you more about your planet. Earth is such an anomaly in the galaxy. It's just so . . . interesting." She turned, and began walking down the hallway again. "Come on. The book should be right over here." No more than five steps later, she stopped again. "Here," she said. Taiki and Seiya peered over her shoulder. Minako craned her neck to get a better look. Again, sitting on its own pedestal, stood a rather shoddy-looking, plain, brown, ugly, battered, weathered, but appropriately thick and antique-looking book. There were no markings on its front or spine. "How old is it?" Seiya asked, nervously. "It looks like if we touch it, it will crumble." "It's a lot sturdier than it looks," Celun assured them. "But like I told your Queen, it's so old, nobody can even understand the language that it's written in anymore. My brother only keeps it here because when he was younger, the Royal Necromancers used to let him play in their sacred library, and he would look at this book for hours, fascinated by the strange letters and ideograms that decorated its pages . . . " "But if it's behind glass," Minako pointed out, "then how are we supposed to get to it?" "Glass?" Celun giggled. "It's not really glass at all. It's a complicated enchantment, that the Necromancers devised especially for my brother. Watch." She slid her hands over the glass surface, and it rippled and dissolved beneath her fingertips. She reached through the glass, closed her hands around the sides of the thick book, and easily pulled it back through the disappearing glass. Seiya whistled. "Cool." "It only lets my brother or I pass our hands through," Celun explained softly, a bit humbled, or perhaps embarrassed, by the display. "Anyway, here it is. Didn't you want to look at it?" "I'll take it." Taiki reached forward eagerly, and Celun placed the old book carefully into her open hands. Without wasting a moment, Taiki dusted off the wordless cover of the book, lifted it, tilted the first page up toward her face, and began scanning the alien words with her sharp eyes. Suddenly, she sucked in her breath sharply. "No way . . . " "What is it?" Taiki began flipping through the pages of the book rapidly, shaking her head with disbelief. "Absolutely not - I can't be seeing this!" "What is it?!" Minako and Seiya demanded in loud unison. Taiki held the open book out toward them. They gasped. "How can that be?" Seiya's voice was sharp, disbelieving. Celun stared at the open pages, confused, blinking. "What are you seeing? It only looks like gibberish to me." Taiki turned slowly toward her, her hands trembling as she struggled to hold on to the old book. "This entire book," she explained calmly, "is written in Japanese." - end part fourteen -