An Ancient Mother and Another Encounter

The group was preparing to leave the Nexus when a voice hollered out "Mum!" in a distinctive Irish accent.

Andrallia flinched. "Corinn Mae Ithlya, how many times do I have to tell you not to call me ‘Mum’?! It makes me sound old."

"No offense, Mum, but you are old. How many other people do you know of who are over 5½ quintillion years old? Not many, methinks."

"Honesty, who needs it?" Lauren grinned. "Alright, I’m not old, I’m ancient. But hey, I’m very youthful for my age."

Corinn snorted, her pink eyes darting around the room, taking in the surprised expressions on the visitors’ faces. "The Sailor Scouts?"

"Yeah. So, Cory, what’s up?"

"I just talked to someone called ‘Senshi Annwn’."

"What?!"

Corinn blinked at the group’s shocked reaction.

"What’d she say?" asked Lauren, gripping her daughter by the shoulders.

"She told me I have the ‘pure power of Charon’ and she needed to either activate or remove it."

"So which is it?"

"Does this clear it up?" Corinn asked, holding up a dark silver stick with a symbol carved on it. The symbol looked like a Ch fused together.

The symbol of Charon.

The other scouts looked at each other. Finally Serena broke the silence.

Walking over, she bent to face Corinn. "Welcome, to the club, Corinn."

Corinn smiled, then turned. "Oh, I almost forgot. Senshi Annwn told me to tell you that you need to find Sailor Sun, Sailor Titan, Sailor Chronos, and Sailor Nyx."

"Great. More Sailor Scouts? Just how many of us are there?"

Andrallia moved to the panel. "At last count, 6072."

The others, except for Corinn, stared at her.

"You’re kidding, right?"

Andrallia shook her head. "Don’t worry, though. We don’t have to meet all of them. They each have their own duties. Some are members of groups similar to ours, some aren’t. Odds are, sometime we’ll run into a few who either can’t or won’t stay with us. Up until now, however, all the scouts you’ve met are part of your group anyways."

"Similar powers bind groups together, and the pureness binds all Senshi to each other."

The scouts spun. Senshi Annwn stood behind them.

"Actually, there is at least one more scout who belongs to your group, if I can find her."

Annwn paused, surveying the group. "Remember this, though. Do not become too dependent on one scout. It is dangerous." She began to fade.

"Wait?!" Serena cried. "What are you trying to do? Why won’t you stay?!"

"I’m fixing the dimension. Andrallia told you why I can’t stay."

"Can’t? Or won’t?" Cayley asked, arms crossed in annoyance.

"It makes little difference. But you and your friend may want to reconsider your decision to remain as scouts. Do not become a scout if it requires you to sacrifice your own integrity."

"We have no choice! It’s our duty!"

"Perhaps. But there are others who can do this job as well as, if not better than, you, and if you continue with your disruptive attitude and actions, I will remove your powers . . . permanently."

With that, Senshi Annwn disappeared.

The scouts looked at each other.

"Well, then," sighed Andrallia, "shall we go?"