Sakura Yugure phased in to a slightly familiar landscape. {Yup, it really is where Morri-neesan and I had our sparring match on her castle grounds,} she thought as she looked around. {Now to find my way to the front gate - where Morri-neesan says she's left word to summon 'guides' for me... ones I'll 'like.' Should I be worried, I wonder?} Getting her bearings, she walked away in the direction of the massive castle that was the centerpiece of the floating mountain it occupied.

Some time later, Sakura arrived at the front gate.

"Halt an' identify yuirself!" one of the door-guards said in a Scots burr, levelling a pike cast of some black metal at her.

She stopped, set down her travel-bag, and nodded to the guard and his partner. "My name is Sakura Yugure. Morrigan-sama," and she paused, not used to adding the honorific to Morrigan's name, "summoned me here so I can repay a favour she did me."

The second guard, the one who hadn't yet spoken, got very wide-eyed and whispered quickly into the ear of the first one, then slipped inside the gateway and picked up a crier's horn - the medieval equivalent of a bullhorn.

"Announcin' the Lady Baroness Sakura Yugure o' the House o' Aensland!!" he bellowed, then moved aside quickly as if he was trying to avoid something horrific.

Shocked at the title applied to her name, Sakura didn't immediately catch the implication. {Baroness?? Mou! (Aw!) Morri, what have you been up to now...?} she thought, only then noticing, {That guard moved aside awfully fast after he announced me, the other guard is keeping the gate between him and the castle proper, and there's a sort of rumbling noise coming from the castle keep...} Having experienced little touches of Morrigan's sometimes malicious sense of humour, Sakura dropped into a ready stance, prepared to face anything...

...except, of course, what emerged from the keep and began charging across the castle grounds to reach the gate - and her.

"SAKURA-CHAAAANNN!!!" bellowed seven vampiresses, among whom were five Sailor Senshi and two Devil Hunters (one in training.)

"Usagi-chan! Mako-chan! Ami-chan! Mina-chan! Rei-chan! Yohko-chan! Asuza-chan!!" Sakura called back, delighted, and rushed into the castle to meet her friends halfway.

Soon afterwards, the resulting friendly tussle was done (lasting half an hour, and surprisingly gentle - only one inner building was destroyed, and the outer walls were hardly cracked at all... which *is* light damage, considering. It *was* a tussle between seven vampires, with all the attendant power and speed - and independent magical power besides - and Sakura, who could be kindly said to get a bit out of hand at times.)

Amid a fair number of worried glances at them, the eight girls strolled into the Aensland keep, chatting away.

"...but where'd the rank come from??" Sakura was asking for the *n*th time. "I'm no noble!!"

"Oh, Lady Morrigan made her adoption of you as her sister official," Yohko said, clapping Sakura on the back. "Congratulations! You've got a family again!!"

"And *what* a family," Makoto (AKA Mako-chan, or Sailor Jupiter) added. "You wouldn't *believe* some of the things we've learned," she added in a husky whisper.

Sakura sweatdropped. "Um, I think I would - I know what 'Neesan can do," she commented uneasily. "But I'd better talk to her about that," she finished. "Where *is* she, anyway?"

Makoto nodded to a side gate in the inner keep, where a familiar outline stood waiting for her. "She's over there, Sakura-chan... and maybe we'll get to show what we've learned later, ne?" she finished with a whisper *right* into Sakura's ear, making her shiver as a chill went down her spine. Before Sakura could formulate a coherent reply to that, the other seven girls all stampeded off, waving goodbyes and calling out requests for her to visit them before she left.

Shaking her head, Sakura headed for Morrigan.

As the two 'sisters' walked through the lower levels of Castle Aensland, they talked... mostly Sakura explaining how she came to be in the situation that Morrigan had helped remedy at the Rindou Dojo.

"It was awful," Sakura said of the time she'd spent in the grip of the Satsu no Hadou. "Malignant, deadly, and," she cast an ironic glance at her older sister, "even a bit seductive. I don't know if I'd have recovered control if I hadn't seen Kho-Om spare Bison... and even with that reminder of how this wasn't like me, I *still* tried to kill him!"

"Sometimes we must all do distasteful things in order to survive, dear," Morrigan reassured her, one hand on the girl's shoulder.

"This wasn't distasteful, 'Neesan, this was nearly suicide. I might have attacked *anyone* who got my attention, I was that far out of control. I'm just glad all the others at the dojo had the sense to stay quiet... and I'm *NEVER* going to do that again." Sakura retorted, then shed her fearful mood as she saw a tombstone set up in one cavern and stopped.

"Hang on, 'Neesan... There's something I have to do," she said, moving to kneel in front of the stone, which read:

"Woad-san... thank you. I don't know how or why, but you rose beyond your limits to save my adopted sister, and I will not forget you. May you know as much or more happiness wherever your spirit resides now as you did while alive."

The *tak-tak-tak* of high heels on stone announced Morrigan's rapid approach. "Sister, how did you know that?" she asked, one eyebrow arched. "No one was there for that except-"

"-except you, your father, Woad, and at the end, Demitri... but I guess you were too, um..." Sakura blushed. "..distracted - through most of that to look on the spirit plane. I dreamed the whole thing... and more than dreamed it," she finished, frowning a bit. "I was *there* in all but body... I tried to give you my own energy as your father was, um, draining you," she blushed again, "and then your father tried to use a spirit-form double of himself to backshoot Demitri." The blush went away as Sakura's troubled frown returned. "I stopped him..."

Morrigan, eyes wide, laid a hand on Sakura's shoulder. "So *that's* where that last reserve of strength came from! I owe you more than I knew - twice over if you prevented him from harming Demitri," the Aensland queen said... and then her smile wavered as she saw Sakura's unchanged frown. "Dear, what's the matter?"

"Oneesan, I may have done the greater of two evils there," the girl commented. "I broke Moloch's spirit-form, but someone else finished him off and took his energy. I'm sorry, Oneesan," Sakura said, bowing in apology. "Jedah's back, and I think it's kind of my fault. He grabbed Berial's spirit-form right out of my hands and used that Prova Del Servo attack. I..."

Sakura was cut off by Morrigan wrapping her arms around the girl from the side. "Sister, as I understand it, if you hadn't intervened, Moloch might have beaten Demitri and destroyed me, yes?" she asked, reasonably enough.

"Well, yes, but..."

"So let's accept the good things and deal with the bad parts as they happen," Morrigan admonished her gently. With a gentle arm around Sakura's shoulder, she guided the young girl to the stairs, where they ascended to the royal chambers, atop one of the towers of the floating castle Aensland.

Only once there did Morrigan stop, letting a panting Sakura catch her breath. "(Hahh) Oneesan (hahh) why are we (hahh) up here..?" the girl asked, trying valiantly to catch a breath that seemed to still be climbing while Sakura rested.

Morrigan turned around and smiled at her. "Because I wanted to give you a gift, sister," she said, proffering a small ring with a bat engraved into it. "An Aensland Signet Ring. This way, you can call upon us even from Ningenkai, by casting your thoughts through the ring... and *no one* in Makai will doubt that you are one of us."

Sakura grinned as she slipped it onto her middle finger, in imitation of where Morrigan's usual costume kept her rings. "Cool! I have to admit, I never thought you'd really adopt me this way... thank you," she finished, hugging the succubus queen. "I admit, looking like I do, the *proof* that I'm an Aensland is also good."

"There's more to the 'proof,' as you call it, than that," Morrigan replied with a mischeivous grin down at the teenager pressed against her.

Sakura stepped back and looked up at her with the familiar expression of a younger sibling who's wary of a prank from an elder. "Um.... like what...?" she asked in a cautious tone.

"Like allowing even latent shapeshifters, like yourself, to assume the form of an Aensland as one of their 'natural' shapes," Morrigan replied, still smiling. "Try it!"

Sakura *blinkblink*ed at her adoptive sister before squinching her eyes shut and concentrating. {Okay... the form of an Aensland, huh? *Me* as an Aensland? Stop doubting, Sakura. Visualize it, just like with the clothes, use the focus Morri taught you...}

There was a rippling sensation, a breath of air along her skin, and a feeling similar to the one given by a good, deep stretch... and a surge of emotion, of energy, of *vitality* that hadn't been there a moment ago. Sakura opened her eyes, looking up to find her big sister's face...

...and had to lower her gaze a bit as Morrigan's smiling visage wasn't as far above Sakura's as it had been a moment ago. {Oooh, I'm taller! Nice...} she thought, looking around to find a mirror as her smile took on a sensual anticipation.

As Sakura had expected, Morrigan had a *huge* vanity mirror near her bed, and the youngster walked over to it, noting that her walk, while it felt as natural as ever, had become more of a strut... and she approved. A look in the mirror brought an appreciative intake of breath. {Ooooh!} she squealed internally. {I'm taller, I'm more... hmm, full-figured...} The smile climbed an inch and got more sensual yet as Sakura looked herself up and down.

She was taller, duskier, and more lithe than she had been: her curves were more accentuated and her eyes' blue shade, formerly as clear as the sky, had become a smokier, more mysterious version of itself, one that seemed to draw attention and hold it tight. Her face was leaner, more sleek and had lost its childish look, and her hair had turned from its former drab brown to a shade of smoky blue that matched her eyes.

Her outfit had changed as well: The blouse was gone, transformed into a form-fitting top made of a spandex-like material, the skirt was so short as to bend common decency (but Sakura thought it rather nice,) and the bike shorts beneath were gone as well. Her sneakers and socks had become a pair of red-and- white shapely boots that encased her legs to just below the knees, and dark hosiery clung to her legs until they vanished beneath the microskirt. Her back sprouted a pair of gray batwings, the colour of her Satsu flames, that seemed to sprout from her shoulderblades right through her top without tearing or disturbing it.

She licked her lips as she turned back to her sister. "Thank you, Oneesan," she purred, and had another thrill as her voice emerged from her mouth. It was the same pitch, but it had lost its childish ring and had a resonance and timbre that almost thrummed out, like a well-tuned electric guitar. "Do the wings work just like yours?"

"If you mean, can you fly with them, why don't you see for yourself?" Morrigan asked, gesturing out her window to a tower platform across the way. "The Dueling Ground is open - try out your new self, see what it can do."

Sakura flashed her a quick smile of thanks and took a running start, then leapt out of the window.

Some time later, Sakura landed back in Morrigan's room, breathing hard both from exertion - she'd put her new form through its paces on the other tower - and exhiliration. Flight for an Aensland was not mechanical - no mundane flapping of wings for them. Instead, the wings were spread and aligned, and by will and Power thrust was provided, thus having given Sakura the feeling of having been a jet fighter with all the flexibility of a human. "*SUGOI!!*" she yelled at the top of her lungs, punching one hand into the air. "Oneechan, that was... well, thank you," she finished, strutting over to Morrigan and kissing her in appreciation.

Full on the lips, and for a good minute (during which the elder Aensland showed every sign of approval)... before Sakura realized what she was doing.

"EEK!" she screeched, leaping back from Morrigan and reverting to her human form in midair... and promptly blushing hugely as she recalled her thoughts and actions after her transformation... and how entirely natural those attitudes had seemed.

{Is that what it's like for Usagi and the others...?} one part of her mind managed to think, but the rest of her brain seemed to have shut down from mortification as she babbled out incoherent apologies, denials, and assorted mutterings.

Morrigan made it to Sakura in a moment and took the shaken girl in her arms just as Sakura babbled without thinking, "Wh-what did you *do* to me...?"

Morrigan wrapped Sakura in her embrace, then stared forcefully at her and said, "*Calm down.*"

Sakura found herself doing so, almost against her will, and fumed internally, {Damn that magnetism of hers!} However, she did regain coherence and stopped babbling, tilting her head to look up at Morrigan.

"Now, first, I didn't do *anything* to you," Morrigan answered. "Quite frankly, this was an idea I'd had for a prank, and to show you what limits you were needlessly holding yourself to. The ring doesn't really allow you to change shape."

Sakura stammered, again shocked speechless by this revelation. "Bu-bu, but, but I..."

Morrigan sighed. "I'll take it slowly, dear. What is your body made of..?"

Sakura gulped and got control of her voice back. "Um, Power held in a solid form by my Will..."

"And your clothes are made of...?"

Sakura shook her head. "Huh? What does that have to do with..?"

Morrigan put a finger to Sakura's lips. "Later, dear. For now, answer the question."

"Okay... the clothes are like my body, Power shaped and solidified by Will..." Sakura answered uncertainly.

Morrigan smiled at her. "And since you can alter your clothes almost at will, doesn't it follow that...?"

Sakura stared at her big sister, then her eyes lit in shocked understanding. "..that I could change my body just as easily... or at least, I *should* be able to change it!"

Morrigan nodded. "And so, to avoid your aversion to the subject, I planned this little prank to plant the idea that you *could* in your mind. I admit, though, I'm surprised. You were *acting* like an Aensland there... why would that be?"

Sakura started to shake her head to signal that she didn't know, but stopped, shocked by a realization. {Justice! She's the embodiment of my 'desire to understand,' she said... and Kage-san hinted that what she did for me was like empathic powers... did she 'teach' me how an Aensland feels?}

Morrigan didn't miss the arrested motion. "Little sister? What is it? Do you have an idea?"

Sakura hemmed for a moment, trying to summarize, and settled on, "Well... 'Neesan, I found out recently that sometimes I can just pick up on thoughts and feelings from people... um, not really consciously. It's possible that *you* just unintentionally gave me a crash course on 'the complete Aensland, 101.' I'm sorry, I don't control it really, it sort of happens..."

Morrigan nodded, releasing Sakura from the hug and stepping back. "In that case, you really *do* become an Aensland now, complete with the nature of the form. Which is rather more serious than just looking like one. There are traits of our family that can be of great service... or leave you vulnerable. Which means I have to make sure you really *are*... educated... in all the important things."

Sakura sweatdropped. "Do we have time for that? I said, you could only keep me for one day..."

Morrigan gave Sakura a small smile. "I'm afraid it's rather important that you learn this before someone tries to take advantage of your inexperience... and I was hoping you'd stay for a few days longer of your own free will anyway..."

Sakura looked up at the uncharacteristically reticient succubus. "Oneesan? *Why* did you want me to stay..?"

Morrigan's eyes were suspiciously moist. "Because I'm getting married in another few days, and I was hoping you could be the maid of honour..."

Sakura facefaulted. "Well, of *course* I would, Oneesan- all you had to do was ask me!!" she replied indignatly when she regained her feet.

Morrigan smiled back. "Wonderful! Now we just have to get done with your education first - and make no mistake, this will *not* be all in fun!" she stated, snagging Sakura by the wrist and dragging her out of the room.

That night, Sakura was bunked in with her Senshi and Devil Hunter friends, and to tell the truth was rather relieved to be done with Morrigan's "education."

{A lot of that history stuff was *bor-ring* and Morri made me memorize it anyway... and the other parts...} Sakura flushed scarlet at the mere memory. {Never mind. Relax, Sakura... you need to get some sleep,} she told herself firmly, running through a quick stretch to loosen her joints and settling back to lie down.

Sakura opened her eyes to find herself on a grey plain stretching off into infinity. {Oh swell, the dreamscape again,} she thought, recalling her similar experiences with Shin Akuma.

Mists began to rise from the ground, and Sakura heard motion behind her. She spun around, fully expecting Morrigan to be standing there, preparing a scathing reprimand for her older sister...

...which died in her throat as she saw Sailor Jupiter standing there. The Sailor of Thunder, alias Makoto Kino and the reason Sakura didn't call Makoto Rindou 'Mako-chan,' seemed unaware of Sakura's presence and was simply staring off into the distance.

Sakura shook her head and rubbed her eyes. {Wha... I'm seeing Mako-chan in a weird sort of double vision,} she noted. It was as if two Jupiters were standing in the same place, one translucent and surrounding the other one, as if a china doll - the kind which can be opened to reveal a second of the same doll within - had been made in translucent glass.

The 'outside' Makoto said, "Oh... Demitri-sama... You're the only man to ever make me forget about my sempai. Please let me return to you soon..."

Sakura blinked, and almost called out to Jupiter, but the 'inside' Jupiter spoke - well, almost. It was her voice, but her lips never moved, trapped inside her Outer's shell. ~No. I don't want to go back to him. At least here, whatever horrible things we have to do won't involve killing people for their blood... thank Kami-sama for Sakura-chan asking that succubus queen to not let us get further corrupted...~

Taking a closer look revealed several differences between the two 'layers' to Sakura. The 'outside' layer was pale-skinned and red-eyed, and had small fangs - Jupiter as she had become after Demitri had bitten her. The 'inside' layer was tanned and brown-eyed, the Jupiter that Sakura remembered. {Does that mean that, while the vampire is happy, the person she used to be wants to escape?} Sakura thought, staring at the ground for a moment.

She looked up, meaning to ask Jupiter a question, but she was gone, leaving only swirling mist in her place.

"Demitri-sama..." came a quiet voice from behind Sakura, and she whirled to find Sailor Mercury standing there, in the same double-image state as Jupiter. Sakura stood quietly, wondering what she would hear.

"You're so wonderful, and Lady Morrigan is too! Letting me see all your books and libraries, there's more to learn than I could ever have hoped for in a normal lifetime, and now I have much longer than that to study them!" the outside said, a shiny-eyed look of adoration on her face.

The inside Mercury shook her head violently in denial. ~No! For all that might appeal to me, the trade was not worth the life I was living, the life I was looking forward to!~ Though she could not collapse within the shell of her outer self, Inner Mercury sagged. ~Mom... Greg... everyone I left behind... and not knowing what tomorrow might bring... what might we do at Demitri's command?~

Sakura blinked and the mist swirled, hiding Mercury from sight. Sakura plunged forwards, trying to reach her studious friend, but found nothing but smoke.

"Now I can have my cake and bite it too!!" a voice rang out from one side.

{Some things never change,} thought Sakura as she turned to see Sailor Venus emerge from the mist. {Minako-chan never could get a quote right.}

Outer Venus was almost dancing. "Life is wonderful! Well, not life, really, but close enough! I'm even more glamourous, athletic, and irresistible than I ever was, and it's all thanks to Demitri-sama!"

Inner Venus moved sullenly along with Outer Venus' motions, like a puppet on loose strings. ~No! This isn't what I want! Sure I'm all those things, I'm a vampire! But ever since I became Sailor V, I *fought* monsters, I didn't *become* them! Me and Yohko-chan and her apprentice Asuza-chan... we were fighting for *good* then...~ A silent, eloquent tear traced a line down Inner Venus' cheek.

Sakura moved forward to comfort her friend, but lost sight of her as the mist swirled again. This time it died down quickly - to reveal Yohko and Asuza, the Devil Hunters.

"Yohko, this is so cool!" Outer Asuza said, spinning her spear over her head for emphasis. "We get to fight beside your friend Minako, and help Demitri-sama too!"

"Un!" Outer Yohko nodded, agreeing in Japanese fashion. "And no school or other boys - who needs other guys with Demitri-sama for our lord? - or annoying Chigako to get in the way!"

Their inner selves were much less enthused. ~Oh, Yohko-sama,~ Asuza said, though neither Inner nor Outer Yohko seemed to hear her. ~I'm sorry... if I hadn't insisted it was our duty to come here, we wouldn't be in this mess... and your poor friend!~

Inner Yohko was in much the same state as Minako had been. ~Shut up, you damn fake of me!~ she ranted as her Outer self pulled her along. ~I *never* hated school - well, maybe a little - but all I ever wanted was a *normal* life! Me and Chi-chan... and poor Minako, trapped just like me... or does she really like this...?~ Inner Yohko's expression was frightened. ~Will I like it too...? I don't want to!~

The two Devil Hunters then made one of their trademark leaps, vanishing once again into the mist.

Sakura pursued, but lost sight of the two. She did, however, stumble across Sailor Mars, kneeling in front of a fire.

Outer Mars' expression was one of utter disdain. "What did I ever see in this? Besides a bunch of visions, I mean. It's just a fire... I should stop, too. It's nothing mystical, just one of the few things that could end my existence. I don't want *anything* to take me away from Demitri-sama." With that, she stood and turned away, drawing a shrieking protest from Inner Mars.

~NO! Stop! Don't turn away!! Please, no... Fire meditation is the only thing that lets me have some peace, that lets me forget the monster I've become!! STOP! NOOO!!~ she howled silently, as the unheeding Outer Mars strode away.

Sakura stood frozen by the crazed horror in Mars' inner scream, and by the time her spine unfroze, Sakura was alone in the mist again. {Oh, god...} Sakura thought quietly to herself. {If it's that bad for Rei-chan, what sort of state will Usagi be in...?} she wondered, referring to the often- overwrought Sailor Moon.

{Speak of the devil,} Sakura thought as Sailor Moon herself came traipsing out of the mist. Her Outer self didn't speak, just hummed merrily as she skipped along and occaisionally running a finger across the bite mark on her neck, smiling a dreamy smile.

Her Inner self was a marked contrast to the others. She was not sagging, crying, or hysterical. She alone of the others seemed to not be locked within the limbs of her Outer self, though the two images still overlapped. Inner Moon was poised, defiant, calm - even a bit regal. It was one of those infrequent moments that made Sakura believe the stories her friends told her, that Usagi was royalty in a past life and again later in this one.

~Prance all you like,~ she calmly told her Outer self. ~I believe in my friends. Uranus, Neptune, Pluto... they'll search for us. Yohko's grandmother knows even more about monsters than Pluto does. And I had a dream... I think Sakura will save us.~

Sakura stepped back in shock as Inner Moon's head turned to look directly at her. ~Won't you, Sakura?~

Sakura woke with a jolt, snapping bolt upright in the giant bed of cushions she was snoozing on beside her seven friends. Her breath hissed inwards in a huge gasp as she stifled the urge to scream.

A body stirred beside her. "S'kura-chan?" it muzzed through the pillow it was burying its face into. A quick look down identified the speaker as Makoto Kino - Sailor Jupiter. "Y' okay?" the brunette asked in a mutter.

"Uh... yeah... I'm fine, Mako-chan," Sakura replied. {What on earth? That was no ordinary dream! What happened there? Was it Justice again, or...} Her eye caught a glimmer from one corner of the cushions.

From its brooch on Sailor Moon's chest, the Imperium Silver Crystal was glowing faintly. {...or was it something else..?}

"Sa-chan.....?" Jupiter murmured again.

Sakura turned to her and patted her shoulder. "I'm fine, Mako-chan," she repeated. "Just a wierd dream. You go back to sleep - I'm gonna meditate a bit, OK?"

"Mmmm hmmmm..." Jupiter muttered back, already sinking back to her pillow.

Sakura paid her no attention, already running through her memories of Akiko guiding her into meditation. It was difficult, thanks to Sakura's agitated state, but after three or four times through the exercise, she slipped into the half-dreaming state she needed.

She quickly floated down through the greyness within her, eyes alert for any hint of green. Once she glimpsed it, she willed herself to it and was shortly face-to-face with her most mysterious Aspect once again.

"So... now we know," Justice said quietly.

"I thought so! It *was* you!!" Sakura exclaimed, but Justice shook her head.

"No. I had been trying, but I was unable to sense the faint cries of their souls past the louder voices of their compliant minds. Until I was somehow helped," the green-hued Aspect replied.

"Usagi...! somehow even with her mind convinced she likes this, she used the Crystal to reach out to me, and to help me reach out to the others," Sakura stated. "Amazing!"

"Yes... but how can we remedy this situation?" Justice asked. "You have confronted Demitri about it already, and even in the unlikely event that you could compel him to aid you, he has stated that he is unable to undo their transformation. What then can be done?"

Sakura frowned. "I can't ask Morri-neechan to go against Demitri - she loves him, for Kami's sake! And anyone else I could ask here are all Aenslands or Maximoffs. No, if we're going to find a way to get them out of this, I think it'll have to be in the human world. Usagi said it herself - Sailor Pluto and Grandmother Mano know the most about this. If we can ask them, we should find some way - if there is any."

"And if there is not?" Justice asked quietly.

Sakura sagged, then replied as she began to ascend back to herself again. "Then we come back here... and put them out of their misery," she said in a quiet voice. "I'll hate myself for it, but I'd hate it worse if I just left them to... to *this.*"

The next morning, trumpets awoke the castle in a glorious fanfare as swarms of the denizens of Makai went on the move - preparing to attend the wedding of Morrigan Aensland and Demitri Maximoff.