Written by BHart
August 19, 2007

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Act LXXI
Old Stomping Grounds

They reached Konschtat Highlands. The hills, windmills and cloudy skies brought back a lot of memories to Kousagi. "I remember this place; the first place that's been familiar to me."

"That's a good sign. I'm sure the rest of your memories will soon follow," said Fatty.

"You should remember this place. You grew up around here," replied Mia.

"I could use a break," mentioned Lantard.

"Good idea; we can regain our strength before reaching the next city," agreed Artemis Evans. They climbed a small hill and sat down by a windmill.

Fatty laid a picnic blanket down and put food on it. "We can restock our rations when we get to Basdor."

Kousagi saw a bottle labeled "Mary's Milk." "That's my favorite milk."

They had a small lunch while enjoying the scenery. It soon came time to leave. "Can't we stay a little longer?" asked Kousagi.

It started raining. "At least until this rainstorm ends. Let's get some cover," said Artemis Evans.

They stood underneath a windmill having a small alcove. "Standing here, watching the rain, brings back so many pleasant memories. I remember one time Tameria and I came here and..uh, never mind," said Kousagi, blushing.

"Don't be embarrassed. We know more about you than you remember about yourself right now," said Mia.

"Whatever happened to you and that elf guy you were dating?" asked Kousagi.

"I'm surprised you remember that. He died on a quest while fighting Tros. That's one thing I miss being in hiding, a social life."

There was a stone monument on some hills northeast of them. "You see that large slab of stone over there?" said Mia, pointing.

"Yeah, what about it?" asked Kousagi.

"I used to come here with my grandfather when he painted pictures of different scenery. He painted a picture of that stone monument over there when I was a child. He watched over me after my parents were killed by the council. After he died, I had nowhere to go. I would've been dead had I not met up with a resistance group. With the council out of the way, things will be like they used to," said Mia.

"They killed a lot of our parents. That's why I had to leave with the barazuishou. No more running. This time, we will fight" said Kousagi.

"How was that other world? Did you make any friends there?" asked Mia.

"Yes, I did. There are sailor senshi there, too."

"It's too bad they can't be here with us," commented Mia.

"The rain is starting to let up a little, let's get going," ordered Artemis Evans. They walked through Aulgung pass, entering North Gustaberg.

They walked southward towards an outpost. "There's an outpost down there where they check travelers passing by. We need to take the Drachenfall shortcut," said Lantard.

"Good idea. Those outposts generally aren't very safe," agreed Artemis Evans.

They headed eastward, arriving at Drachenfall. They jumped in the waterfall, carrying them over some rocky terrain. They landed in a river that carried them farther east. They ended up at the base of Zegham hill.

"We can get a bird's eye view from the top of this hill," said Fatty. At the top, they saw the city of Basdor.

Lantard pulled out his binoculars. "No one is guarding this side of the city. The coast is clear."

"What? That's odd. What happened to all the Quadav that usually guard the entrance?" asked Artemis Evans.

"I might be able to find out," replied Fatty, pulling out a device resembling a pearl with an antenna on it. There was a wire attached to it. On the other end of the wire was a small knob. Fatty put the object up to his ear, moving the knob around with his fingers.

"What's he doing?" asked Kousagi.

"He can listen in on other link shells with that. The council uses devices like that. That's why we don't carry any link shells with us," answered Mia.

"Fatty and I stole one of their devices a while back. It's been very useful," explained Lantard.

"There won't be any guards near this entrance of Basdor for a couple of days. Seems they were sent elsewhere to mine for crystals," reported Fatty.

They headed down to Basdor. "Hold on a minute, here comes some Traliz soldiers," warned Lantard. There were Traliz soldiers walking up the hill.

"The council has hired tons of soldiers and monsters to work for them," said Fatty.

They hid behind a boulder. Traliz soldiers regularly patrolled the area. "There's only three of them, we can take them," said Kousagi.

"There are always more of them nearby. They will call in reinforcements," said Fatty. After the coast was clear, they entered Basdor.

They entered the market place through the port. There were people coming and going everywhere. They stopped in front of an auction house. "What are we doing here?" asked Kousagi.

They were standing on a stone tile hidden under the grass. When no one else was nearby, Artemis Evans pushed a button on a remote. A hydraulic lift took them underneath the auction house.

They entered a large room with leather furniture. Artemis Evans walked up to the counter and spoke with a bald man. "Hi Cid, do you know if Ashlynn is here?"

"She and her husband won't be back until later. Why don't you take a rest while you wait?"

"Sounds like a great idea to me," said Lantard.

There were some humes walking around in their underwear, talking with each other. "What's up with them?" asked Kousagi.

"They call themselves Pandora Soldiers. They get intel from anyone who works for the council by seduction or other means. They're like spies," explained Artemis Evans.

Night came. "I can't believe they're still not back. Do you think they're in trouble?" wondered Fatty.

"I don't know. We'll go looking for them tomorrow if they're still not back," replied Artemis Evans.

Early the next morning during breakfast, two tarutarus, one male, one female, entered the underground quarters. "You've got some visitors, Ashlynn and Potter," yelled Cid.

"Artemis Evans? Fatty? Lantard? It's been a while," said Ashlynn. They introduced them to Kousagi and Mia.

"You're here to retrieve another sailor senshi, I take it?" asked Potter.

"Yes," replied Artemis Evans.

"We'll be ready to go in a minute," said Ashlynn.

"Where were you? We waited here overnight," inquired Lantard.

"We were out getting steam clocks by the lighthouse. It was nighttime before we knew it, so we decided to camp out under the stars at the top of Vomp hill," explained Potter.

It didn't take long for Ashlynn and Potter to get ready. "Well then, let's go," said Potter.

"Lantard, could you teleport us to the Crag of Dem?" asked Ashlynn.

"Um, I can't. I don't have that spell yet."

"Funds getting low? I'll teleport us there," said Ashlynn. Within a few moments, they were teleported to the Crag of Dem.

"We're going to ride some chocobos to our next destination," said Ashlynn.

"There's a small problem with that. None of us have our chocobo license," mentioned Fatty.

"Then meet us at the Crawler's Nest. I'd like to walk with you, but I hate going anywhere on foot. Must be these short taru taru legs," said Ashlynn. She and Potter left on chocobos.

"We'll meet you there," yelled Artemis Evans.

Heading northward on foot, a group of quadav started running towards them. "Oh great, looks like we have another battle on our hands," said Lantard.

"What are you quadavs doing here?" asked Artemis Evans.

"We came out for a break from mining crystals in the Gusgen mines and recognized Sailor Marina. There is a large reward for her capture," answered an elder quadav.

"So you're the quadavs that were taken away from guarding Basdor to work in the mines," realized Fatty.

"We won't surrender, so it looks like we'll have to kill you," threatened Kousagi.

"There's only six of you, this will be easy," added Mia.

"Wow, we'll get double the reward for capturing two sailor senshi," said an elder quadav.

Sailor Parallel Moon's Lavender Cottontail Fantasy attack reflected off the elder quadavs strong shells.

"What's wrong? Why don't my powers work on this world?"

"We'll take care of them for you," reassured Sailor Marina. She was holding a serrated swordfish blade, endowed with the powers of water and ice.

Sailor Marina attacked them with sleet. The combination of rain and snow kept them cold, slowing them down. She gave them frostbite with each strike of her sword. She cut off an arm of an elder quadav, causing it to retreat. They chased it down and killed it.

The elder quadavs head butted, shell bashed and tossed ore at them in a last attempt to win, but failed.

"How foolish; they were far outnumbered," said Artemis Evans.

"They dented up my armor pretty good," commented Fatty.

"Are you okay?" asked Artemis Evans, looking at Sailor Parallel Moon.

She was sitting on the ground with a look of disbelief on her face. "I just don't get it. My powers worked fine on the other world. What's going on?"

"You may need time for your body to adjust to this parallel world," thought Fatty.

"I don't think you'll be whole until all the pieces of yourself come back," said Mia.

"Yeah, I think you're right. I'll just have to be patient."