Previous chapters available at:
http://www.fanfiction.net/~tempestdash

----------
    If the whole Kingdom could be there, they would have found a way
to fit themselves into Queen Beryl's throne room.  As it was,
thousands of youma had come to see the great event that had been much
discussed and debated.  From the nearly human to the most twisted
beast, all had something in common, some for the first time in their
lives.

    The word in the kingdom was that the great General Jadeite had
failed for the last time and he was going to be given the eternal
waking sleep upon his return.  Many who had been before the ruthless
Jadeite before had known his ways and failed to understand how a
simple human girl could have bested him time after time.  Others who
had been the tools of Jadeite's plans before knew different and had
insisted that the fool's time had finally come.  With the great
controversy apparent to everyone, they came in hordes to witness
Jadeite's (supposedly) last hour.

    When they all arrived in the dark, cavernous lair of the powerful
Queen Beryl, a new debate arose with increasing fervor.  The time of
Jadeite's fate had come and gone and still the rogue general had not
brought himself before the Queen.  Even more, his successor, General
Nephrite had also not yet arrived leaving a much pleased and anxious
Zoicite biting at the queen's ear.

    "My queen, surely you'll not stand for this insurrection," pleaded
Zoicite who was growing increasingly impatient at Beryl's reluctance
to punish the as yet successful Nephrite for being a few minutes
tardy.

    "You will know your place!" yelled Beryl, immediately quieting the
crowd.  "My decisions to punish my soldiers remain my right alone.  I
will not stand this presumption on your part that I require advice
from you!"

    Zoicite immediately wilted and stepped back beside Kunzite, his
superior general and teacher, hanging his head.  "I'm sorry my queen,
I misspoke.  It won't happen again."

    "It had better not!" returned Beryl with vile.  She looked to the
assembled crowd and was about to address them when suddenly a black
shadow fell beside Zoicite, and Nephrite, apparently a little worse
for wear, appeared, already with his head bowed before Beryl.
"Nephrite," she quickly yet calmly said.  "Why have you taken so long
to come at my call?"

    "I apologize, my queen," he admitted.  "I did not predict that a
ceremony I was conducting would take so long.  Has Jadeite not arrived
yet?"

    "The failed general doesn't even appear before his queen,"
supplied Kunzite.  "You would be wise not to follow his lead."

    "He showed up at my manor on Earth not long ago," said Nephrite.
"He seemed to have met with some success, he should be eager to tell
that to you, my queen."

    "Some success?" said Beryl incredulously.  "What did he do?"

    "If I am to believe him," began Nephrite slowly.  "And I have
reason to do so, then Sailor Moon is dead."

    The murmurs through the crowd exploded into energetic conversation
all at once.  The normal restraint the youma exhibited before Beryl
was lost to the sudden unexpected announcement.  Also lost in the
moment, Beryl ignored their defiance and looked to Nephrite.  "If
Jadeite refuses to appear before me, you will take over his post and
gather energy for Metallia."

    Nephrite bowed, "Yes, my queen."

    "Zoicite," Beryl continued.  "I have for you a special task."

    Zoicite smiled.  Things were certainly looking up for him.

--

Twist of Fate
By Adam Leigh

Based on the works of Naoko Takeuchi

Chapter 1: Empty Heart

--

    In the misty realm beyond the physical and ethereal worlds lies a
sturdy door through which only one person ever enters.  The door is
majestic and stands over fifteen feet tall and adorned with wrought
iron and twisted gold.  The bulk of the door itself is made of a
sturdy wood from a tree that had not budded on the Earth in over
10,000 years and even then only once.  The door never leads to the
same place twice and sometimes even exists in the physical world
before him or her who summons it.  However, they can't ever enter, for
upon the door there is a lock that will open with only one key.

    The guardian of that key is a soldier who has never aged in the
10,000 years that have passed since the door was made; a warrior who's
great skill has only been paralleled by her ability to sacrifice to
protect the door.  She had once had 'friends', but they had met their
destinies long ago and ever since then she has been alone.  She is
comforted by nothing but her patience and meditations and, of course,
the view.

    Through the ages, her choices have been made based on the view
through the door.  It shows a story that tells the misty saga of the
universe from its very creation to its endless end.  It is an infinite
vision of cause and effect and the threads that extend from the
everyday choices of sentient beings.  It would take the smartest man
alive an eternity to properly understand the meanings of the images.
Thankfully, the soldier had a lot of time on her hands.

    Recently, however, things had changed.  The images were very
different, darker, as if the very universe had been turned on its edge
and everything had been scrambled around.  She had not seen the reason
for the change in the images yet, the myriad of causes still had not
settled, but the soldier recognized it now, the strange green tendrils
of fate twisting their way around every event, it could only be one
person.

    The soldier stood, banishing the long purple robe she wore and
summoning her warrior's outfit.  It was a little strange, she had to
admit, the uniform of her compatriots.  The tight white bodice, the
pleated skirt, the large bows and jeweled accessories, they seemed as
if they provided no advantage at all, but the magicks that created
them were very clever and subtle.  The fabrics were stronger than most
metals, and the 'exposed' areas were not as bare as they appeared.
She called upon the final piece of her uniform, her Garnet Staff, the
great key.

    The door resonated subtly as the key was brought into existence.
The two artifacts were forged of magicks nearly impossible in the
world today, and they were created only to work with one another, but
they were fundamental opposites.  The energies they were fused with
were polar opposites, causing each one to repel the other.  The key
did not want to fit in the lock.  It was a safeguard, conceived of by
the creators, to protect the great door from being used by those
unauthorized to do so, namely anyone other than the soldier.

    Waving the staff she created a vortex out of the misty realm where
the door stoically sat and stepped through...

    Into a trap.  She knew it immediately.  Her connection to the key
and the door allowed her to see the consequences of her actions, the
chain of cause and effect leading directly from the now.  As soon as
the vortex closed behind her she saw the barriers that would be raised
if she tried to leave and the great emptiness in her own fate told her
she would be stuck here for quite some time.  Raising an eyebrow
curiously she waited patiently.

    Sixteen minutes later she appeared, slithering out of the darkness
she came, dressed to the nines wearing a long black gown covered with
diamonds made to resemble constellations seen in the sky from Earth.
Her green eyes met with the soldier's bold, yet ancient, reddish eyes
and slightly wilted.

    "Oh, Puu-chan, you're no fun," she said sighing.

    "You are not the one who is to call me that," said the sailor
suited warrior fiercely.  "I won't be your toy, I know that you have
me trapped here.  You know I have patience, and I know you could never
harm me, so I will wait until it is my time to leave."

    "This is why I don't hang around with my peers," said the green
eyed woman.  "You're all so boring."

    "I am far beyond your peer, Calypso," said the soldier.  "Your
tinkering in the multitude of worlds is a mere inconvenience."

    "You have a good game face, Sailor Pluto," she emphasized the last
bit with annoyance.  "But I know your future sense is dead here, and I
had to have done something really important for you to have sought me
out directly.  So don't think I'm not aware of my effect on your
world.  Let us see how extensive those effects are without your
meddling."

    "This is not a game," said Pluto.  "You're changing the flow of
forces beyond even yours or my power."

    "We are eternal," announced Calypso majestically.  "We transcend
time and the dimensional barriers, what could possibly be beyond our
power?"  She turned suddenly and smiled.  "We'll continue this at
another time."  She sank into the darkness and vanished.

    Pluto sighed.  "Clearly you're unfamiliar with the folly of
hubris."

--

    Ami walked down the long angled halls for what must have been the
fourth time this week.  Again she had brought flowers and again she
had felt embarrassed as she almost got to her destination.  It was
starting to look more like a florist shop than a hospital room.  The
quick change happened in less than a week of Usagi's admittance for
'unknown hemolytic anemia', and had really stunned Ami that so many
people Usagi had run into knew immediately of her condition and came
with bouquets.  Many of the people were victims of the Dark Kingdom's
attacks and only barely knew Usagi, having been much more familiar
with her alter-ego Sailor Moon, but still came to pay their respects.
Usagi's profound impact on the city was never more obvious to Ami, and
neither was the pain of her loss.

    Rei wasn't taking things any better.  'She is dead,' she had said
several times now, 'That's just her body.  Unless you know some way of
getting her soul and putting it back inside, it will never be more
than that.'  Rei had not visited Usagi's hospital room, and she said
she never would.  It hurt that she would say that, and Ami wondered
what Usagi's reaction would have been.

    The Dark Kingdom had yet to surface since Jadeite ... since their
failure, which was perhaps a godsend.  Ami was glad she wouldn't have
to fight so soon, but she was more relieved that it wouldn't give Rei
the chance to get what Ami knew she wanted right now most of all:
Revenge.

    Ami shivered as she opened the door to Usagi's room.  It was
always cold inside but at least the forest of flowers had done much to
suppress the sterile smell.  Ami had always known the smell and had
even gotten used to it from her mother who was a surgeon at this very
hospital.  But it seemed so much more morbid when she smelled it in
Usagi's room.  Now even when Ami's mother returned home she felt
uncomfortable and quickly retreated to her room.

    Stepping into the room Ami noticed Naru's sleeping form at the
side of Usagi's bed.  The soft beeping sound penetrated the room,
making every moment tenser.  Ami could see the dried up tears along
her cheeks as she leaned over to gently nudge her awake.  She stirred
then suddenly sat up.

    "Ami!" she said suddenly then covered her mouth.  After removing
her hands she whispered and began wiping her eyes.  "I'm sorry, I was
just... I just wanted to talk to Usagi."  Ami nodded and looked down.
"I'm all done now.  I'll be on my way."  Naru stood and brushed the
wrinkles out of her skirt.  Bowing to Ami and then to Usagi, she
backed out of the room and closed the door.  Several times during her
exit Ami tried to thing of something appropriate, something positive
to say to comfort her, but she felt... disconnected.

    After what happened to Usagi it became apparent to Ami how much of
her life existed as a conduit through her.  Her new friends, the fun
times, they were all because of Usagi.  Now, without her, and since
Rei was becoming increasingly distant, she felt more alone than she
ever did.  Before she met Usagi, she had never really had close
friends, so she never knew what she was missing.  Now she was aware,
and could feel the hole in her heart that she wasn't sure would ever
be filled again.

--

    Nephrite nursed a drink as he sat and stared at the stars floating
above him and silently begged them to answer him.  He was still
connected with them in a way, but it was different, subtly misleading
from what it was before.  He wasn't sure but it seemed as though
something was hiding some of the details from his readings of the
stars ever since that night Jadeite killed Sailor Moon.

    He threw his tumbler across the hall, spilling the few remaining
drops and rolling along the marble floor.  Sailor Moon.  The very name
drudged up feelings of hate and disgust.  Not at her, of course,
Nephrite had never met the crusader who pummeled Jadeite so many times
only to suddenly fall.  He was not even angry at Jadeite for keeping
secrets and appearing feeble minded when he was really biding his
time. He was not even angry at him for accomplishing his task in the
eleventh hour only to disappear completely afterwards.

    The person those feelings of hate and disgust were directed at was
himself.  Something had gone dreadfully wrong and Nephrite knew it.
Something that had to do with that boy, the one connected to Tuxedo
Mask.  He could very well be Tuxedo Mask as far as Nephrite knew but
it was not as if he was going to ask the stars for guidance about it.
They had made their message clear the first time he asked: it was more
than he was prepared to know.

    But that hadn't meant he couldn't take other measures to find out
what he wanted.  The sudden rise in temperature marked the entrance of
Honoji as he stepped out in front of Nephrite.  The stoic general
merely stared back as the fire youma bowed in respect.

    "It is my honor to come as called, my lord," said Honoji, tilting
his head upwards just enough to peer forward.  "How may I serve you?"
Nephrite caught his fiery eyes and could feel the intense heat coming
off of the youma before him.  Nephrite himself was in no danger, no
youma in Beryl's army could stand before him, but he was impressed all
the same.  He had summoned the notoriously stealthy Honoji mere
minutes ago, however, suggesting he was either very fast, or largely
unoccupied.  If it was the later, Nephrite had decided that things
were going to change.

    "There is a human boy," started Nephrite, waving his hand in the
air causing his image to appear.  "He is connected to an enemy of mine
and I want you to find out how.  Follow him around, stalk his
movements, determine who he interacts with and how, and tell me, every
step along the way.  Understood?"

    The youma's eyes dropped for a moment and he dipped his head
slightly lower.  "As you wish, my lord."  Without a word, flames
erupted from beneath the soles of his boots and then flared outwards,
encircling the tall, gaunt demon and almost immediately vanished.
Nephrite examined the scorch marks on the floor and shook his head.
He would have to find a cleaner soon.

    A new, more powerful presence suddenly turned the hairs on
Nephrite's neck up and he stood and turned to be face-to-face with
Kunzite, who, as usual, was frowning seriously.  Nephrite wondered if
his face was born that way.  "Nephrite," said the elder general.
"Queen Beryl wishes to see you and would have you be escorted so you
don't lose your way like the traitor Jadeite."

    "I have nothing to hide coming before Queen Beryl," replied
Nephrite.  "There is no reason for me to run."  Nephrite stood firm
and confidently before the General but Kunzite's gaze was unfaltering.
"I should wonder, however," he continued.  "Why, by the stars, would a
powerful soldier such as you be reduced to ferrying others around?"

    "The answer is simple," said Kunzite, slightly smiling.  The look
was menacing. "I have the authority to kill you should you disobey."

    Nephrite blinked.  Hidden, however, behind that blink was the
sudden realization that everything had changed in the Dark Kingdom.
He held no illusions about Beryl's opinion of her people, they were
the dirt upon which she strode and she had the power to put them there
should they ever move out of line.  But with that understanding had
always been the comfort that he and his compatriot generals, although
antagonistic to one another, would always align with their desires to
serve their queen.

    Jadeite's rebellion had changed all that in a matter of days.  The
generals, who had stayed where they were for as long as they did
because of their power and loyalty to the queen, had become
questionable.  The leadership of the Dark Kingdom had suddenly reduced
not by one, but by four, leaving only the great queen in charge and
everyone else to scramble before her throne.  Nephrite knew that
Kunzite was favored by Beryl more than he, but their diverse duties
had never made the matter an issue.  Kunzite's simple statement,
however, reminded him that he could be slain by the elder and there
would be no retaliation.

    "You needn't be dramatic," said Nephrite, not missing a beat.  He
straightened his uniform and, with a sidelong glance at the platinum
haired general, vanished.

--

    Mamoru Chiba had often walked the streets at night.  He didn't
necessarily enjoy it all the time (although there were those nights
when the moon was extra big and he felt like a part of his soul was
singing to it), but his lengthy night courses at Azabu Tech made it
almost a necessity four days out of the week.  Thankfully, Motoki
often hung around late at Crown 'just in case Mamoru happened to stop
by' which turned to be most nights.  They would chat while Mamoru
tried to play a game or use the UFO Catcher and after an hour or so he
would leave and head back home.  Unless, of course, he would get that
feeling in his stomach and have to suddenly back to do ... whatever it
was that he did.  It was far from a regular activity, but it brought
some order to his life knowing that certain things would happen and he
couldn't control it.

    Recently though, his schedule had been disrupted.  His night
classes seemed slightly less interesting than usual and he would often
pack up and leave the sessions early, frustrated with his inability to
focus on what should be some pretty easy concepts.  Even in the case
of the full moon last night, he didn't feel the same 'at-ease' feeling
he normally did.  He wondered, casually, if it had something to do
with Usagi.

    He hadn't known the girl very well, which made him feel almost
guilty now, and had only heard about her condition by running into,
what he assumed to be her close friend, Osaka-san in a teary eyed
delirium.  He'd visited her bed, which made him more uncomfortable
than he expected for someone he merely teased every now and then, and
had been sending roses ever other day, but he didn't feel satisfied.
Something, it felt like, was missing, and it wasn't even tangible.  It
was like there was something that needed to be done but he didn't know
how or when.  Whatever it was, though, it happened to be very
distracting.

    Mamoru dragged himself into the Crown Arcade and noticed Motoki
helping a younger boy, probably in his late teens, with one of the
games.  Probably sharing secrets or battle strategies, Mamoru guessed.
Motoki noticed Mamoru and waved, motioning for him to wait a short
while.  Slipping his hands into his sports jacket pocket, he leaned
against the UFO Catcher machine and looked around.

    It wasn't very frequently that Mamoru hung out at the arcade for
anything other than talking with Motoki and he'd never really
appreciated how diverse the crowd was that played there.  There were
kids, who were probably out past their kerfew, teens, young adults and
a few elderly at the pair of pachinko machines in the corner.  Mamoru
remembered when the machines showed up and Motoki protested their
installation, saying that the type of people it would attract were
unsavory.  Apparently, or at least tonight, it was not the case.  The
two men playing were being quite mellow.

    Mamoru sighed and considered leaving.  He'd felt drained for the
last week and his lack of focus wasn't helping him stay awake any
longer than necessary.  He didn't want to waste Motoki's time but he
also felt bad leaving when he'd just arrived.  Deciding to hold out
for a few more minutes, he glanced at the video machines and noticed
something he hadn't before.

    There was a girl, probably no more than fourteen, with long,
beautiful raven hair and sharp features just sitting at the Sailor V
game but not playing.  It seemed as though she were in a trance, just
staring at the screen as it went through its demos.  She looked lost,
like Mamoru felt, and it was a full minute more that he realized he
knew the girl, if indirectly.  He stepped up to her slowly and waved
his hand.

    "Hi, Hino-san," he said as casually as he could.  She seemed to
stir slightly but not turn or say anything.  Frowning, Mamoru put a
hand on her shoulder.  "Hino-sa---"

    He found himself on the other side of the back of arcade machines
and lying on his back before he even knew it.  His head felt sore and
he rubbed his neck experimentally before looking up to see what hit
him.  He noticed the girl, Rei, standing above him with a stunned and
horrified expression.  She immediately bent down and started hefting
his arm up.

    "Oh my... by the Kamis," she said quickly.  "I'm so sorry, Mamoru-
san!  I -- I don't know what I was thinking.  I didn't know it was
you!"  She kept pulling up on his arm which was twisting his shoulder
and keeping him from righting himself to stand again.  He wondered if
she was trying to help him or finish him off.  A few moments later she
realized what she was doing and quickly released him, allowing gravity
to do its thing and causing him to slam to the ground again.

    "Gak," she said and stepped back a step as Mamoru stood himself
up.  She bowed immediately after he was upright.  "I humbly apologize
for-"

    Mamoru raised his hands.  "Its okay, Hino-san, I shouldn't have
snuck up on you like that."  He slowly lowered his arms as if he under
guard and began dusting off his coat.  Motoki came rushing over then,
joining the impromptu crowd of about a half-dozen other people.

    "Are you okay, Mamoru?" asked Motoki experimentally.  "I have a
first aid kit behind the counter."

    "I'm really fine," said Mamoru with a smile.  "I don't bruise that
easily."  He noticed something out of the corner of his eye.  "You can
stop bowing, Hino-san."

    Rei looked up and blushed slightly.  "I -- uh, of course, I can."
She glanced around at the crowd like a deer in headlights.  "Excuse
me," she said suddenly and grabbed her bag and headed for the door.

    Motoki looked at Mamoru's shocked look and patted his friend on
the shoulder.  "Are you sure you're all right?  I should have warned
you about Rei, she's been kinda in a slump since Usagi... well, you
know."

     Mamoru watched Rei leave the Crown.  "She's been around a lot
recently?" he asked.

    "Couple times a day, actually," said Motoki.  "Usagi used to play
that Sailor V game all the time.  I guess it makes her feel closer to
her to be here."  Motoki raised an eyebrow.  "If you're really okay,
why do you still have that look on your face?"

    "What look?" asked Mamoru, facing Motoki.  "I just, feel slightly
better for some reason."

    "What do you mean?"

    "I'm not sure."  He rubbed his shoulder where his arm had been
twisted.  "Have you told her family what she's been doing?" he asked.
"I mean, shouldn't they know if she's having trouble."
 
   Motoki shook his head.  "Rei doesn't have very much family," he
said sullenly.  "Her parents are always traveling and she doesn't have
any siblings.  I think she told me she's been with her grandfather for
at least the last seven years.  He's a Shinto priest I believe."

    "The Hikawa Shrine?" added Mamoru.  "By the bus stop?"

    "Yeah, that's the one."

    "Hmm."

    "What?"

    Mamoru started walking towards the sliding glass doors.  "I hadn't
been accidentally injured in a while," he said over his shoulder as he
waited for the doors to open then stepped out.

    Motoki puzzled for a moment then turned to look towards the boy he
was helping earlier.  There was someone else with him now, a tall,
well dressed man with brown hair and very serious eyes.  Motoki
figured he was the boy's father or relative and walked back to the
counter to begin cleaning up for the night.

--

    Luna paced around Ami's room as the quiet girl studied silently
for her classes.  Silently, that is, but ineffectually as Luna had
learned this morning.  The frustrated feline could definitely
sympathize.  Usagi's condition had fragmented them all and was
certainly unexpected.  Without the glue that Usagi had provided them,
it was difficult, Luna found, to get Rei and Ami to get along.  They
had both seemed so much more mature than Usagi before, as if they
would have been the better choices for leaders, but now all they did
was argue.  Luna tried to reconcile their vastly different approaches,
but it was hard.  Not to mention she was distracted by this gut
feeling of inevitable doom since the fall of Sailor Moon.

    Ami quietly took off her glasses and placed them on her desk,
taking care to wipe the lenses once so they remained pristinely clean.
She closed the textbooks she was referring to and then pushed them
right off her desk and into the wastebasket beside it with a loud
thump.  Luna jumped, startled and turned to see Ami put her head on
the desk.

    "Ami-chan," started Luna.

    "It's not fair to her," sighed Ami, closing her eyes.  "I'm not
even sure where she is anymore and here we are trying to get back to
our normal lives."

    "There's nothing we can do until the Dark Kingdom surfaces again,"
explained Luna.  She leaped up onto the desk and patted Ami on the
shoulder with her paw.  "Usagi wouldn't want us to be so sad."

    "I'm not sure I can just choose to be okay with this," admitted
Ami.  "I knew we were fighting for peoples lives, it just ... it never
occurred to me that we fighting for our own."  Luna hung her head as
Ami lifted hers.  "I mean, naturally we knew we were trying to
survive, but, it just never seemed as though it would happen.  We
should be getting stronger, not weaker."  She hesitated.  "I don't
know if I can do this anymore."

    "Ami..."  Luna looked up suddenly.  She tried to come up with
something reassuring to tell Ami.  "People will get hurt," was all she
could come up with.  Despite the mission and the risks of failure,
Luna had to accept that she might not want to see Ami go into battle
again.  She'd lost Usagi, innocent, brave, and cheerful Usagi.  She
could never face herself again if she lost Ami too.

    "I can't do anything on my own," Ami continued.  "The brains are
useless without the brawns in this case and what can I do?  Cover our
enemies in fog and hope they fall to their doom?"  Luna couldn't
argue.  "And Rei's been ... she's not ready to be in a team right
now."

    "There are others," Luna suddenly announced.  "Other Senshi, other
warriors of the planets.  And the princess!  You can team up with
them."

    "Where are they, Luna?  Unless Sailor V is really a senshi, I
don't see anyone else who can help."  Ami sighed.  "I can continue my
research into finding where the Dark Kingdom is located, and if there
is some way to find these other senshi and awaken them, I'll help.
But ... I don't know if I can fight anymore."

    Luna wanted to inspire her, she knew there was a way, but she
couldn't get over the image of Sailor Moon after Jadeite had finished
with her.  The frail, mindless, empty shell that had been left behind
was burning in the back of her mind.  Then she imagined Sailor Mercury
and Mars like that as well.  Luna nodded slowly.  "I can't ask you to
do more," came the resigned reply.

    Outside, in the cloudy sky, the last visible sliver of the moon
was obscured by a passing cloud.

--

    The runways were still closed and the police tape remained, but
only a pair of guards remained from the massive investigation that
took place following the battle on the runway of Haneda Airport.
After a weeks worth of investigation, the MPD had apparently been
satisfied with their findings and were already moving on.  That made
it exceptionally easy for Zoicite to teleport in and have a look
around.

    The police had investigated the area quite thoroughly with their
machines and their crawling over every inch of pavement looking for
clues, leaving behind little physical evidence of anything other than
the fact that the police had been there.  Fortunately for Zoicite, he
wasn't looking for something physical.  Stretching out his arms and
spreading his fingers he extended his perception beyond the visual and
into the energy realm that ran parallel to the physical.  Through his
sight he could feel the disturbances of strong energy signs such as
the magical fire that melted the airplane and the teleportation signs
left as Jadeite erratically moved across the tarmac.

    The signs of the battle were clearly apparent to Zoicite, for the
energies that had been expended here caused great waves the parallel
realm.  He could see where Jadeite had used his magic to keep the
police away from the airport, as well as the dark energy attacks he
used to battle the senshi.  He was even slightly surprised to feel the
holy energy in the area, doubtlessly from the Senshi Mars' magical
wards.  Each attack left a unique signature, but none were what
Zoicite was looking for.

    He was about to give up and try elsewhere when he felt it.  A
slightly tingling just at the edge of his sensory ability.  It was a
strong, flowing energy, alive and fluctuating in the neighbor realm
like a worm on a hook waiting for a fish.  The signature was unusual,
he didn't understand what he was feeling but he wanted to know more so
he bit.  Focusing his attention on the silvery thread he explored
deeper, trying to expand his sense of the energy realm to find its
source.  A trickle of sweat beaded on Zoicite's jaw as he
concentrated.  He was skilled in his sense, but had not developed it
as much as he'd now wished he had.

    Extending himself as much as he could he felt the energy and
almost immediately recoiled.  It was PURE and very cohesive and
strong.  Something had breached its container here and was carried
away with the wind.  The wave of energy was diluted here, mixed
amongst the other magics that had been used, but it pointed a
direction into the city, a path, that would lead to where it had been
taken.

    Zoicite breathed and collected himself.  He didn't like getting
sweaty doing work like this, it made him uncomfortable and he'd have
to change.  Kunzite would be disappointed that it took him so much
effort just to peer into the neighbor realm that little bit, but
Zoicite knew ways of easing Kunzite's frustrations.  The good part was
that Zoicite could still see the path in his minds eye and could
follow it to its destination.  It might lead him to Jadeite, which was
want Beryl had wanted, but the energy intrigued him.  It was a strong
energy, opposite to the Dark Kingdom, but similar to another that
Zoicite had been searching for.

    Eager to catch his prey, Zoicite consider following the path right
away, but he remembered he was still sweaty and thought about
something else he might do to get worked up and teleported away with a
smirk.

    The two guards ran over to where the dark general had been and
looked around in a puzzled fashion.  Deciding that the instant ramen
they had been eating was perhaps a little too old, they returned to
their station to dispose of the offending food.

--

    Akira showed up bright and early at Crown Arcade raring to go.
His parents had raised a fuss about his arrival, late into the night,
but he just blew them off.  What did they know, anyhow?  He was
building skills that would make him a world class video game player,
he couldn't be held back by his befuddled parents.  Or classes, for
that matter, regardless of how much they complained about his cutting
class.  Nobody understood what he was doing.

    Nobody except that man from last night, that is.  He said he was a
professional trainer for video game competitors and that Akira had
caught his interest.  He didn't even want to be paid anything for his
advice other.  He said he knew how the little people around him would
try to stop him and how important it was to take what was his.  Akira
wasn't sure at first if he was ready to go that far but after he gave
him that advice about adjusting the straps on his favorite gaming
gloves, he felt ready to take on the world.  His skill immediately
improved too, that evening.

    He had to remember to make some mention of the man when he was
famous.  Or maybe he wouldn't, it didn't really matter in the long run
he supposed.  Akira had never heard of Masato Sanjouin before, anyway,
he must not have gotten recognized by any of his other students
either.

    As the doors to the Crown Arcade opened he noticed that annoying
attendant standing there waiting for him.  The blonde haired, apron
covered man walked up to Akira and smiled.  "Good morning, Akira," he
said in his cheery voice that Akira knew now was probably hiding
contempt for being better than him at Sailor V.

    "'Morning, Motoki," replied Akira, as disinterested as possible,
hoping the man would just leave him alone today.  "Just coming to
practice."  He waved his hand and started to move around the
attendant.

    "Hold on a moment," said Motoki.  "I was talking with your parents
last night and they're very worried about you.  Shouldn't you be at
class right now?"

    Akira glared at him fiercely and Motoki took a step back.  "I'll
do what I need to do to become the best.  You would do best not to get
in my way or you might get hurt."  Akira reached out and pushed Motoki
back as he walked past and over to the corner where his favorite game
was.  He slipped on his glove, the one that Sanjouin adjusted, and
slotted a 100 yen coin.  He was in the groove, he could feel it, and
he was going to ride it to the top.

--

    Without intending it, Naru had made the pain in her heart expand
to encompass her whole body.  For years she had gotten into a strange,
but comforting pattern and now that her whole impetus to follow the
pattern was gone, she was having trouble keeping herself from falling
back into old habits.  As she stood before the Tsukino residence,
about to step onto the property, she realized that no matter how hard
she yelled, Usgai wouldn't be getting up to run with her for school.
Her mother wouldn't run after them with Usagi's lunch, and they
wouldn't stand outside Haruna-sensei's class together, looking cross
but laughing on the inside at their own mistakes.

    The knife in Naru's heart twisted in her chest and as she turned
and walked on past the house.  She knew there were others, people who
missed Usagi as much, if not more than she did, but it didn't seem to
matter to her.  She felt awful projecting her pain as being worse than
everyone else's, but she couldn't help it.  Usagi had been there for
her when she needed her most, to laugh and cry with her, to share her
life with her, and remember with fondness.  Now, there was nothing but
a hole.  She hung her head and trudged on, and nearly missed the
series of calls of her name.

    "Naru-chan!" came the calls from behind her.  After the third or
forth call, she realized that someone must have been talking to her so
she turned and looked back down the street she had been on.  A tall
dark haired woman wearing a flight-attendant's outfit came running up
to her.  It was Yumi Ishigawa, one of Naru's mother's friends who
lived near to Usagi.  Naru tried to smile but felt that she was
probably not doing a very good job of it.

    "Good morning, Ishigawa-san," said Naru without enthusiasm.

    "Naru-chan," said the woman as she reached Naru.  "Could you help
with Akira, please?"

    "Akira?" Yumi had a son named Akira that was around Naru's age.
The two used to play together when they were younger, Akira always had
an interest in computer games and Naru found them distracting enough.
Recently they hadn't seen much of one another, ever since Akira's
parents put him into a private school, but Naru would hear about him
now and then from her mother.  Naru realized that Ishigawa sounded
slightly alarmed.  "What is it?"

    "He's become obsessed with this gaming competition and is spending
all his time 'training'," explained Ishigawa.  Naru nodded along, that
made sense given what she knew of Akira.  "Now he's cutting classes to
do it and the school threatened to kick him out if he doesn't show up
tomorrow.  He won't listen to us, could you talk to him?  Try to get
him to come back to class for a while?  You used to be good friends."

    "But I've got to get to school," said Naru at first, and then
reconsidered.  Anything to keep her mind off of her loneliness.  "I
suppose this is more important.  Is he at Crown?"

    Ishigawa nodded and then bowed suddenly.  "Thank you so much,
Naru-chan."

    Naru bowed back, nervously.

--

    Rei absently swept up the recently fallen leaves on the temple
grounds.  The spring was almost over now and soon, it would be summer.
The cool breeze would become warm and soon the temple would be
bustling with even more activity than now.  Rei wished she had more
reasons to hide indoors from the world.  She hadn't been going to
school lately, and her general depression had kept her grandpa from
mentioning it, but she knew, eventually, the school would get
concerned and she'd be forced to go again.  She didn't want to learn
anything from them anymore, but she'd go, just to keep Grandpa from
getting in trouble.

    She tried not to think about it and her thoughts fell to Usagi, as
they had been whenever she wasn't preoccupied.  She had always treated
her as such a crybaby.  Even in the short time Rei knew her, it seemed
obvious, and it had always been easy to justify her actions to Usagi
as ones taken to console a pitiful child, but inside, she knew that
she was wrong.  Usagi had strength within her that Rei couldn't ever
possess, courage and morality that surpassed her more childish
instincts and sometimes bearing a more noble soul.  Rei could only
dream what she might have become one day, had she not fallen to the
vipers.

    The priestess swept harder.  She wished Jadeite would show his
face again so she could forcibly remove it, set it aflame and toss it
into the stratosphere.  Never had Rei realized she had such feelings
of hatred buried within her, but in the face of the man who slain
perhaps the one mote of light in this dark world, she found she was
capable of doing anything.

    She picked up the leaves she had piled together and brought them
to the trash.  There had been many more leaves than last week but much
of the trees had already dropped all they had.  She didn't expect to
have to do this much longer.  After disposing of the leaves she walked
back to where she had left the broom only to find a tall man in a
green blazer using it to brush a few remaining leaves off to the side.
Rei was surprised she hadn't heard him come up but still approached
him casually.

    "Mamoru," she said.  He stroked the stone grounds with the broom a
couple more times before looking up and holding the broom on his
shoulder like a kendo sword.

    "Hino-san," he said politely.  "I noticed a few leaves blow in and
thought I might give you a hand.  I didn't mean to intrude on your
work."

    "I was just finishing, it's okay."  She hesitated and an awkward
moment passed between them.  "I'm sorry," she said after a while.
"For yesterday."

    Mamoru laughed once.  "That's fine, I should be more on my guard
anyway."  He smiled slightly.  "I'm more worried about you."

    "Me?" asked Rei.  "You don't have to do that.  I've just been out
of it for a while.  I'll be fine."

    Mamoru nodded, in a sort of way that made Rei think he wasn't
really acknowledging what she was saying.  She stumbled a bit when she
remembered that Usagi used to do the same thing.  Mamoru turned and
looked down through the Torii gate and out into the city.  "I regret
it a little," he finally said.

    Rei raised her eyebrows.  "Regret?"

    "What I said to her," he said over his shoulder.  He paused, then
added, "She was very clumsy, though."

    Rei's lips turned up just a tad.  "And pretty sloppy," she added.
"Never quite could find anything in her room."

    Mamoru turned slightly so he could better see her as she walked up
behind him.  "Or in her head.  I've been beaned enough times with her
failing test papers to know that much."

    "She would cry whenever things didn't go her way either."  Rei
stood next to Mamoru and looked out.  The sun was high in the sky and
the partially bare trees cast shadows like spider webs across the
temple grounds creating a nexus of dark lines between the two.  "Which
would be most of the time, of course."

    "But when things did go right, she would glow," Mamoru said, but
in an unsure tone.

    "Yeah," said Rei, continuing on.  "Because she knew people would
be happy."  The barest beginnings of a smile crept onto her face.

    Then she noticed Mamoru again and the smile fled.  "But she won't
look like that ever again, because of me," she spat and turned and
started walking back towards the temple.  Mamoru frowned and followed
her.

    "You're taking this very personally," said Mamoru.  "How is it
your fault that Usagi ended up in the hospital?"  And more
importantly, he thought to himself, why do I feel the same way?

    "I should have been there," said Rei turning at the temple and
walking to the shed beside it.  "I was supposed to protect her."  Rei
shivered at how awful she felt, as if an oily substance was creeping
all over her body.  She wanted to shed her skin and run away but she
knew there was nowhere she could go to escape what was bothering her.

    "You couldn't watch her all the time," offered Mamoru.  Then
suddenly he added, "But that doesn't change how you feel."

    Rei stopped at the shed and shook her head.  "No."  She opened the
door and put the broom away.  Turning to face Mamoru she tried to
smile slightly.  "Thank you for your help.  Would you like some tea?
I usually make some for grandpa and myself after cleaning up."

    "Sure."

--

    Naru became more weary the closer she got to the arcade.  She
wasn't really the type of person to convince someone they've been
playing too many video games.  It clearly hadn't worked with Usagi,
and she didn't even know Akira very much.  She didn't want to
disappoint Ishigawa-san by not trying, though, so she tried to commit
herself to the task.

    Caught up in her own thoughts, she didn't even notice the man
standing outside the arcade until she had run right into him.  She
backed up and bowed apologetically.

    "I'm very sorry," she said several times before looking up.  The
man was tall, but young, probably in this mid-twenties, with long
flowing brown hair and a deadly serious stare.  He was dressed in a
pair of light blue slacks and  a white shirt buttoned most of the way
up.  He stared down at Naru.

    "I should be apologizing; I should have taken better care of where
I was standing."  He smiled kindly at her.  "Are you all right?"

    Naru swooned, feeling her heart racing.  "Uh, that's okay, I was
kind of dazed there anyway.  Um... I'm Naru, Naru Osaka."  She blushed
deeply, feeling like an idiot just suddenly introducing herself to a
stranger on the street.  He was so handsome, though.

    The man held out his hand.  "Masato Sanjoiun.  I'm a scout for a
local gaming competition."  Naru went to shake his hand but instead he
brought it to his lips and kissed it.  "It's pleasure to meet you,
Naru.  Heading into the arcade?"

    "No... I mean, yes.  But not to play, not that I don't like
playing, but, I'm meeting someone..." Naru babbled for a few seconds
then stopped and tried again.  "I'm actually here to find a friend
who's been skipping class to play games.  He's made his parents very
worried."

    "Then, by all means, don't let me stop you from your mission."
Masato started down the sidewalk back the direction that Naru had come
from.  "See you later, Naru!"

    Naru waved with a goofy grin as he left.  "Masato Sanjoiun," she
said to herself.  After a few more seconds of waving she turned and
walked into the arcade.

    "Please, Akira!" Naru heard Motoki, the game attendant, plead as
soon as she walked in.  Broken from her reverie, she looked around the
game center and gaped at the despotic sight.

    Akira, the little boy she remembered, was much more grown up than
she thought he would be, and was currently sitting intently at an
arcade machine looking rather scary.  A young girl was crying on the
floor beside him and Motoki was trying to comfort her while yelling at
Akira.

    "She had every right to play as you do," Motoki said.  He picked
up the girl and carried her off to the side.  "You need to leave if
you're going to be violent like that."

    "Heh," laughed Akira with a grin.  He continued to stare at his
video game without looking up.  "Just try and make me leave.  I'm in
the zone, now.  I'm going to be so good that I'll clean up tomorrow's
tournament.  You'll be begging me for autographs and to visit your
crummy arcade just for the popularity.  I'll be bigger than 'Crane no
Joe!'"

    "Joe is wonderfully kind person," yelled the girl between sobs.
"You'll never be as cool as him!"

    Akira suddenly slammed his fist on the arcade machine, shattering
the button that was there.  "Who care's about 'cool'? I'm going to be
the BEST!"  He stood and looked evenly with the girl.  "I don't need
crying little girls like you to tell me who's better than who."

    Naru ran over to Motoki and the little girl.  "Akira," she said
standing in front of them.  "What's wrong?  Why are you acting like
this?  Your mother is very worried about you and she's afraid that
you'll get kicked out of school."

    "Naru?" said Akira then laughed maniacally.  "Big-sister Naru has
come for me?  I remember when we used to play games when we were
younger.  You always used to tell me I was so cool for being so good
at them.  Don't you remember?"

    "I do," said Naru, nodding slightly.  She got a sinking feeling in
her gut that made her nauseous.  She knew the feeling well.  She
always got it just before something awful was about to happen.

    "Well look how cool I am now!" he bellowed then laughed again.
Naru shivered in response as Akira's laugh changed into a cackle and
his body began to convulse.  His skin turned a sickly grey as he grew
taller and thinner, with long claws growing from his fingertips.  His
laugh turned into a scream and then a triumphant yell as the
transformation completed leaving behind a six foot tall grey skinned
monster with purple eyes and radiant green hair.  In a final
convulsion, the monster suddenly blurred and split into two forms, one
which coalesced on the floor and looked like the unconscious body of
Akira.

    Naru wanted to faint away and hope the creature was gone when she
awoke, but then she thought of Usagi.  She would have wanted her to be
strong, to fight on for her.  She grabbed the girl behind her by the
arm and began running towards the door.  She could never fight that
thing, but maybe she could buy time for Sailor Moon.

--

    The chirp was insistent and Ami quickly excused herself from class
and opened her portable computer in the bathroom.  A collection of
readings represented as waves converged and formed a signature her
computer had recognized as being similar to the energies recorded
during the Senshi's battles with Jadeite.  She tagged the pattern and
filed for later.  Then she pulled out the small calculator that Luna
had given her last night.  It seemed like a normal, blue colored,
four-function calculator, but Luna had said it was a communicator that
could contact her or Rei at any time.  Ami figured this was as good a
time as any to test it.

    She pressed a button on the face of the device and Luna's face
appeared in the small, circular window in the upper corner of the
calculator.  "Ami, what is it?" the Luna face said.

    "Its Dark Kingdom activity," Ami said, typing into her pocket
computer.  "I'm trying to reference these coordinates, but it could be
Jadeite."

    "Good work, Ami!" Luna smiled for the first in a while.  "As soon
you find out where I'll tell Rei and have her meet you there."

    Ami paused and looked down.  "Luna..." she started.  The churning
in her stomach started again.  It was a feeling she'd been getting
every time she thought about her Senshi business and Usagi.  She was
glad she was already in a bathroom.  "I can't," she finally finished.

    "I know you're at school--" replied Luna but Ami didn't let her
finish.

    "No, Luna.  I told you last night, I can't do this anymore.  I'm
not strong enough."  Ami wanted to cry she felt so bad.

    "Ami, I can't force you to go, but think about all those people
Jadeite could hurt.  If we let the Dark Kingdom run free, countless
number of people could have their energy drained and even die.  Nobody
else has the power to stop them but us."

    "Please, don't make me do this, Luna," said Ami, wiping her eyes.
She glanced at her computer and noticed the address.  "Oh no..."

    "What is it?"

    "It's--the youma, it's at Crown."

--

    She knew it before she even got the message, the feeling of
something wrong.  Sailor Mars raced across the rooftops of Tokyo,
determined.  It had not been as long as she had thought.  She fully
expected Jadeite to revel in his victory, take time off and flaunt his
power before... whoever he worked with in the Dark Kingdom, and then
come back to finish the job.  But he was back, only days later, and
she was ready to take him.

    She felt guilty, slightly, for having to vanish just after pouring
tea for Mamoru and Grandpa, especially Mamoru.  He was being really
nice to her and it made her feel much less alone than she had in the
morning thinking about Usagi.  She wanted to go to Ami and talk about
it but, even though they had fought so closely together, she just
didn't know her like that.  Mamoru had a way of talking about Usagi
without ever mentioning her, which comforted Rei a great deal.  She
wondered if he'd come back tomorrow...

    Cursing herself, she shook such thoughts from her mind.  She
needed to focus now and thinking about Mamoru wouldn't help her.  The
image of Jadeite, holding Sailor Moon, was all she wanted to see.  It
made her burn inside with a fire stronger than any of her attacks.
She could feel the heat within her and she was sure it had a name, a
way to summon it in the world, she just needed to figure out what it
was.

    The cries reached her ears even before she saw the arcade.  Sailor
Mars jumped down to the streets and saw the small crowd in front of
the storefront.  As she jumped over the half-dozen people a loud crash
drew her attention to the arcade machine that had just crashed through
the sliding glass doorway.  A large grey-skinned youma with long
wicked claws stood inside and slashing threateningly at Motoki, the
blonde haired arcade attendant.  As the shattered glass settled, she
saw Naru carrying a younger girl through the wreckage.

    Mars ran over to them.  "Are you all right?" she said.  Naru
looked panicked but she nodded and then put the girl on the ground who
quickly ran into the crowd.

    "Motoki is inside!" Naru said, looking back into the arcade.  "And
Akira... I think he's hurt, I'm not sure.  He was in the back."

    Mars nodded.  "Okay, just stand back."  She jumped through the
broken doorway just in time to see the young attendant get hit by the
youma and go flying.  "Hey, you ugly, uh... gamer!" Mars announced.
"No matter how many times you lose you can't just tear the place up.
I'm Sailor Mars, and you're--OOF!"

    Mars collapsed as the body of Motoki collided with her after being
tossed by the youma.  She rolled as best she could to lessen the
impact on the unconscious attendant and ended up scraping her arms
against the broken glass.  Pain lanced across her skin and down her
spine causing her hair to stand on end.

    "Stupid, Mars," she cursed to herself.  "No time for speeches.
Naru!  Get Motoki out of here!"  Interlocking her hands together she
jumped through the broken doorway and pointed her hands at the youma.
Fire danced along her arms and collected at her fingers.

    Uninterested in knowing how this would end, the youma suddenly
jumped straight up through the ceiling of the arcade, raining debris
across the dozens of machines below.  Screams echoed from above
followed quickly by the sound of broken glass as the youma left the
building from the second floor.

    Mars let her fire fade away and she surveyed the damage quickly.
The place was a mess, but she couldn't see anyone else inside.  Better
to keep that youma from hurting anyone else, she thought.  Running
back outside, she gathered her energy and leapt to the rooftops and
saw the youma running, nearly a block away already.  "It's running
away. That's certainly different," she commented before leaping after
it.

--

    The youma was leading her somewhere.

    Mars gathered as much and was concerned why one of Jadeite's
minions would do such a thing.  Before Jadeite confronted them
directly, all of the youma they fought had seemed panicked by the
Senshi finding them, and always fought to the end where they had been
discovered.  This arcade-youma seemed to be acting differently, as if
it was several degrees smarter than anything she'd fought previously.

    The trashcan suddenly flying at her from below broke her train of
thought and the second one that hit her in chest effectively took the
train completely out of service.  She fell three stories to the alley
beside the building she had been running on and landed hard on her
side, dizzying her with pain.

    The arcade-youma was in the alley and was staring at her with a
larger dumpster over its head.  Mars had no time to think, she simply
rose her hands and screamed.  Fire exploded from her hands, hotter
than she ever remember her flames being, and melted the dumpster in
half, startling the youma.  She tried to use the opportunity to stand
but the leg she fell on felt completely numb.

    Not fazed for very long, the arcade-youma dropped one half of the
dumpster, littering the alley with assorted trash, and flung the
remaining half at Mars.  There was no time to react, she could only
close her eyes and wait for the impact.

    Instead, a sharp noise like the breaking of thick metal sounded
out followed by a crash to either side of Mars.  She snapped open her
eyes and was staring at the back of a tall man dressed completely in
white, with a tall top hat and a flowing cape.  He was wielding a
sword and had apparently cut the flying dumpster in half as the
remains lay around her.

    "Tuxedo Ma--" started Mars but then noticed the long blonde hair
flowing from beneath the hat.  The man turned slightly to look at
Mars, revealing a black mask covering his eyes, the only non-white
article on his body, then turned back to the arcade-youma, brandishing
his sword.

    "Stand back," he ordered, in a soft voice that Mars didn't
recognize.  A fire rose in her.  She didn't want to be protected, she
was a warrior too.  When she was about to protest she felt the
soreness in her legs and realize that even standing might be too much
for her now.  She grumbled in anger at her own weakness.

    The arcade-youma roared, apparently furious at its attack being
foiled, and charged at the White Tuxedo Mask with its claws viciously
slashing in the tall blonde's direction.  Without ceremony, White
Tuxedo Mask stepped forward and parried a slash from the youma,
following with a quickly vertical cut across its torso.

    Mars blinked at the speed he demonstrated and watched as the youma
roared in defeat then dissolved into a black dust before vanishing
completely.  The White Tuxedo Mask was still in his follow-though pose
by the time they were alone in the alley.  He quickly straightened
himself and slid his sword, which Mars quickly noticed was of European
design, into a gilded scabbard at his side.  His legs tensed as if he
was about to jump then paused and looked back at Mars.  She blinked in
response.

    "I'm sorry," he said with downward eyes then leapt to the rooftops
and vanished out of sight.

    Mars tried to collect herself and organize all the strange things
that had happened today, but gave up when the throbbing of her scraped
arms threatened to overwhelm all conscious thought.  She willed
herself to return to normal and felt the familiar rush energy
associated with her transformation.

    When she was back in her robes she tried to stand again and yelped
in pain.  Pulling back the bottom of her outfit she saw the large
black-and-blue marks across her legs.  There was always collateral
damage when she got hurt as Sailor Mars, but she must have misjudged
how badly she'd hurt her legs.  Crawling to the alley wall she climbed
up to stand on her good leg and looked ahead.

    She was almost on the opposite side of Juuban from the temple.  It
would take her over an hour to limp home.  She summed up the remainder
of her will to fight back the urge to cry.

    She failed.

--

    Nephrite was pleased and displeased at the same time.  There was a
great balance in the universe, good things always came with bad and
energy could not simply disappear on it's own it had to go somewhere.
This fundamental equality had been revealed to him through the stars
and their vast, ancient knowledge.  He knew that the death of Sailor
Moon would have consequences, not all of which good.  He had expected
that some of those consequences would befall him, as the successor to
Jadeite's legacy, but he had not expected what had happened today.

    His youma had done well, just as he had expected.  The energies
received from that young boy made it strong as well as clever.
Nephrite had not considered the boy's tactical knowledge to be useful
but it had encouraged the youma to retreat to find a better location
to fight Sailor Mars.  The tactic would have succeeded if it hadn't
been for that tuxedoed man.

    Nephrite knew quite a bit about Tuxedo Mask from watching Jadeite
and paying attention to his reports to Queen Beryl.  The man, though
an ally to the Senshi, rarely fought directly in the battles.  Rather,
he tended to act in a supportive role, encouraging the Senshi's use of
tactics.  And while Jadeite had apparently viewed him as a threat to
his previous operation, Nephrite did not expect his presence to make a
significant difference in the battle.

    This new Tuxedo Mask, the one with the white clothes, was
different, and hadn't spoken much at all.  Instead of acting as
support, he took over the battled and very capably ended it.  He was a
dangerous combination of strength and discretion that Nephrite himself
often felt to be the most powerful type of adversary.  Whether he was
the same as the previous Tuxedo Mask or a new enemy entirely remained
to be seen.  What was clear to Nephrite is that while Sailor Moon was
gone, a potentially more powerful enemy had taken her place.

    Nephrite had returned to his manor in Japan after seeing his youma
being dispatched to consult the stars on his new revelations.  He
paused to make himself a drink, and then regretted it entirely.

    "Drowning your sorrows?" sneered a particularly annoying voice.

    "Leave me alone, Zoicite," replied Nephrite, taking a drink from
his glass. "I'm busy."

    The thin, effeminate general stepped from the shadows to come up
behind Nephrite.  He was smiling in a way that repulsed Nephrite and
he wondered how Kunzite ever put up with him.

    "I heard that your wonderful plan failed," Zoicite continued.  "It
must be painful to hear that little Jadeite succeeded in such an
important undertaking and you can barely gather energy."

    "I gathered exactly the amount of energy I had predicted," said
Nephrite, staring strongly into Zoicite's eyes.  "I don't play games,
everything goes according to the stars.  I knew exactly how much
energy my plan would yield."

    "I bet your stars didn't tell you about that fashion-challenged
tuxedoed man, though," Zoicite smirked back.

    Nephrite's eyes widened instinctively but he quickly tried to
restore his air of calm.  How had Zoicite known so much?  He'd not
even reported fully to Beryl, there was no way he could have known
that unless he was there.  But how?  Nephrite had not felt the
presence of another General at all.

    "Try not to look so panicked," the general continued.  "I have a
way of... knowing things."  He left that statement in the air for
several moments, letting Nephrite stew in the implications of it.  "I
just wanted to let you know that I discovered something interesting
yesterday and that you might as well give up because you'll never top
this."

    "Hmph."  Nephrite turned away.  Zoicite loved these games and he
absolutely loathed them.  Everything was always some sort of coercion
with Zoicite, a trick to get people to reveal things they hadn't
wanted anyone to know.  Nephrite refused to play along.  "Be gone."

    "Aww," pouted Zoicite.  "You're not any fun.  I guess I won't tell
you then."  He turned and immediately brightened, skipping playfully
away.

    He hated himself for admitting it, but there was always a point to
Zoicite's games as well, and Nephrite didn't want to be in the dark.
"What is it?"

    "I thought you didn't want to--"

    "I want to know now!"

    "Well, if you're going to be rude..."

    "ZOICITE!" bellowed Nephrite.  Zoicite had made him lose his cool,
just like he probably wanted.  Nephrite angered more for falling into
the game.  When Zoicite suddenly rushed up to him and placed his mouth
by Nephrite's ear, he almost yelped.  "What ARE you--?"

    "I found the Silver Crystal."

    He giggled and then vanished in a cloud of cherry blossom petals.

--

    Rei looked up the stairs leading to the Hikawa Temple and sighed.
Two hours it had taken to get here, and now both her legs felt like
lead instead of just the injured one.  She tried not to attract
attention to herself, make it look like a leisurely stroll across the
district, but the look of deep concentration on her face belied that
effect.  She wished it was over.

    She sat down on the steps and took a break.  She would probably
have to explain her injuries to Grandpa, there was no way she could
hide it.  She would have to come up with an excuse, something that
sounded reasonable, but she couldn't think of anything better than
falling down the stairs that she was now going to have to climb.  It
wouldn't explain her sudden disappearance, though, even if she had to
run out to get something she should have told someone.

    She sighed again, her thoughts returning to the youma who had
gotten the better of her.  It didn't seem much different than the
other youma she'd defeated, and yet she would have died today if it
wasn't for White Tuxedo Mask.  How could she have gotten so careless?
Was she really this weak without Sailor Moon?

    "Rei?" a concerned voice drifted from above.  Rei turned on the
steps and saw Mamoru descending cautiously.  He was frowning and
looking down at her.  "Are you okay?  What happened?"

    "Oh, um," she tried to think of what to say and the only thought
that was flooding her brain was how relieved she was that she wasn't
alone anymore.  She looked up at his concerned expression and hoped
that maybe her day of misfortune was coming to an end.  "I fell," she
finally eeked out.

    Mamoru looked up the stairs then down at Rei, and then back up
again.  "Down here?" he said then added, "From the kitchen?"

    Rei smiled meekly and realized she didn't have the energy to come
up with anything better.  Mamoru quickly came down beside her and
placed his hand on her shoulder.  "Are you hurt," he asked quickly.

    Rei nodded slightly, "A little.  I'll be okay."

    "Can you stand?" He tried to help her to her feet and she winced
from the pain down her side.  Mamoru noticed and immediately stopped
and then bent down to pick her up.

    "Hey!" she said in surprise.  "I said I'll be okay!"

    "Just let me help you," he replied in a surprisingly serious tone.
"I don't want you to have to take on anything you can't handle."

    "I--" Rei started then stopped herself and leaned into Mamoru's
shoulder.  "Thank you."

    Mamoru didn't hesitated after that and carried up the stairs
effortlessly and brought her into the house at the temple.  They said
nothing to each other, but Rei listened closely to the sound of
Mamoru's heart in his chest.  Concentrating on it somehow made the
pain more tolerable.  He was warm, and strong, and, Rei hated to
admit, exactly what she wanted right now after her failure.

--

    "Ami," Naru said suddenly and ran over to Usagi's friend.  They
were in the lobby of the hospital she, Motoki and Akira had been taken
to after the incident at the Crown Arcade.  Naru, having only been
scratched, had been released first and found several people waiting
for her in the lobby, including Ami.

    "Hello, Naru," said Ami.  "I heard what happened at Crown, is
everyone okay?"

    "Yeah, it was really strange," Naru explained.  "Akira just
suddenly went crazy and this big monster appeared from him.  Motoki
tried to protect us from it and got a little hurt, but he's okay.
Akira doesn't even remember any of it."

    Ami nodded.  "I'm glad you're okay, I know you were a very
important friend of Usagi's."  She smiled weakly, expressing the
uneasiness of the conversation topic but trying to be sympathetic.
"She... uh, used to tell me how worried she was that you kept getting
into these attacks.  She would be sad if you got seriously hurt."

    "Yeah," Naru said looking down.  "Did you hear of any change...?"
she trailed off as Ami shook her head slowly.  They both stared at the
ground for several moments.

    Eventually, Ami picked her head up.  "Well, as long as
everything's okay, I'll be going now."  She bowed politely and turned
to leave.

    "Wait," said Naru.  Ami turned back.  "I'm sure Usagi wouldn't
want us to be so sad because of her.  She'll get better eventually,
she's way to stubborn not to."  Ami smiled slightly at that.  "I want
to make sure she knows her friends got on all right while she was
gone.  So, uh, maybe we can hang out sometime at the... well, not the
arcade, but after school some time."

    Ami blinked and then smiled. "Yes, I'd like that."  Naru smiled
back and nodded.  "Thank you.  I really have to go now, though.  See
you tomorrow at school?"

    Naru waved, "See you then!"

    Ami turned and left the hospital lobby and then through the gates.
Luna was standing on the curb when she reached the street.  Ami looked
down but didn't meet her eyes.  "I guess Rei took care of it," she
said finally.

    Luna nodded.  "I think so.  Although the last anyone saw of the
youma was when Sailor Mars was chasing it away from the arcade.  I
hope she's all right as well, I haven't been able to reach her on the
communicator."

    "I'll stop by the temple tomorrow after school and talk to her
about it and... about what we talked about."

    "Ami, this is your destiny--"

    "No," Ami shook her head.  "This is a sentence that took Usagi
to... to where she is now.  I'll do what I can to help, but I can't go
that far."  She shivered.  "I just can't."

    Luna hung her head as Ami turned and walked away.  "This wasn't
how it was supposed to go at all."

--

    She woke up and it was dark in her room.  She hadn't remembered
falling asleep but wasn't terribly surprised.  She hoped Mamoru wasn't
offended, or too confused by what happened.  She knew what she said
must have sounded strange to him, but he didn't ask any questions.  It
was kind of him not to drill holes in her flimsy story.

    She tried to move and found it much easier than before, making
standing a effort that required only a little concentration.  Slowly
padding her way out of her room she moved into the living room and
found Mamoru sitting on a couch watching television with the volume
down.  She was a little surprised and stood there for several moments
until he noticed her.

    "Rei," he said.  "You should be lying down."

    "You're still here," she said, slowly moving over to him.

    "Your grandfather asked me to look after you while he went to get
some medicines for the bruises on your legs." Mamoru glanced at his
watch.  "He's a little later getting back than I expected."

    Rei smiled slightly.  "He's probably gotten distracted by some
young girls at the pharmacy, that happens all the time."  Mamoru stood
when she got close but she waved him down and sat on the sofa beside
him.  "I'm okay, anyway, just a little banged up."

    "He was worried about you.  We were about to go looking for you
when I saw you on the steps.  He'll probably want to know what
happened to you."

    Rei nodded, absently.  On the television was a game show about
people doing silly things to themselves.  The objective, from what Rei
could see, was to get a close as you could to killing yourself and
survive.  Her stomach turned and she closed her eyes to concentrate on
calming it.

    "Do you need help?" Mamoru suddenly said.  Rei shook her head in
response.

    "I'll be all right, just a little queasy.  It'll pass."

    "No."

    Rei opened her eyes and looked at Mamoru.  He was calm, almost
stoic, but his eyes had an intensity behind them that seemed
strengthened by experience beyond his years.  "Not with that, with
this."  He placed his hand on her chest above her left breast.  His
hand felt soft over her heart, and tempered.  She felt fragile in his
presence, like she could be blown apart by a summer's breeze.

    It was like living in a nightmare, the past few days, and today
was the worst. People she knew got hurt today and the monster
responsible not only beat her, but seriously injured her.  A stranger
saved her left and said nothing except an apology.  She knew why he
apologized; she knew the moment he looked at her.  He looked hurt when
he said it, and she knew why.  It was because in that moment when he
glanced at her, and just that moment, she felt furious at him.  Not
for treating her like a damsel in distress, not for butting into her
business, not even for showing her up in battle.

    It was because she wanted that thing to kill her, and he stopped
it.

    "Usagi," said Rei as tears fell like fountains from her eyes.
"Why did she leave me alone?"  She trembled and collapsed in Mamoru's
lap, sobbing.

--

    Aurora suspected something was dreadfully wrong.  Her whole body
had that, "I'm not quite sure I'm supposed to be here" feeling and she
normally only got that when she visited the mall.  She was lying down,
and she felt her clothes against her, which was a good thing consider
how frequently miscast spells seemed to have unexplained perverted
effects.  However, they felt heavy, like they were soaked in water,
and the air was unusually damp, as if she'd fallen into a bog
recently.  She tried to think of Bogs in Ohio and decided that it
wasn't very likely she was still in Ohio anyway.

    Determining that she'd either have to make a movement or consider
falling into a coma for a while, Aurora stirred once, experimentally,
just to test the waters.  Not finding the experience pain inducing,
she decided to venture further and open her eyes.

    The room she was in was dark, but not completely.  Thin shards of
light crept from between the window shades striking the extravagant
furniture and strange fixtures.  The walls were adorn with tribal
masks and a stray beam of light illuminated a series of stone urns
along a distant shelf.  Aurora herself was in an enormous bed against
one of the walls which was covered in tablets engraved with runes.
Aurora considered how she could have gotten here and then decided she
should have gone with the coma option.

    A shadowy form moved behind the leather armchair near to the
window.  It stalked around the edge of the room, strategically
avoiding the lines of sunlight, before finally coming up to her and
turning on a lamp next to the bed.  The dim light brought features to
what she found to be a smiling face.  He was a tall man with long
brown hair and hazel eyes that were looking straight into hers in a
very hypnotic way.  Aurora immediately felt self conscious and looked
away, slightly blushing.

    "You're awake," he said, rather obviously.  He sat on the edge of
the bed and held out a damp cloth.  "Here, if you're still feeling
warm."  He was dressed in a loose fitting dark green shirt and brown
slacks and almost seemed to blend into the shadows behind him.  Aurora
shyly took the cloth and wiped her brow which she only just realized
was beaded with sweat.  She blushed heavier and nearly passed out from
the rush.  The man looked concerned.

    "You've been out for quite some time," he explained.  "And you had
a fever for most of it.  I would have brought you to a hospital
but..." he trailed off and looked uncomfortable for just a moment.
"Anyway, you seemed to start recovering so I thought I would make you
comfortable.  I noticed what you had in your bag so I thought you
might like being in my room when you woke up."  He stood up and moved
to the shelf, grabbing a pitcher and pouring water into a glass.
"Here, you're probably pretty try."

    Aurora, still a little dazed, took the glass obligingly and drank
heavily, only realizing her thirst after she began.  The glass was dry
a moment later and she tried to keep herself from looking sheepish.
"Thank you," she murmured.

    "You're welcome," the man said, smiling again then refilling her
glass.  "My name is Richard Vedas."

    "Aurora," she said, drinking again.  "Where am I?"

    "This is my apartment on 6th avenue," he said at first, then,
seeing her puzzled look, added, "In New York."

    "Oh my," said the lost magician.  "You wouldn't happen to know
anything about the multiverse, would you?"  She tried the long-shot.
She was pretty sure she hadn't gotten to the place she wanted and
without the Tome of the Passing Moon, which she had left in the
library in Elyria, she wasn't sure she'd be able to cast the return
spell.

    To Aurora's surprise, Richard's face lit with recognition.  "You
were hopping dimensions, weren't you?" he asked suspiciously.  Aurora
nodded fiercely.  "But you mixed up your spell."  Aurora looked down
at her lap and nodded slightly less fiercely, like a cat to a lion.

    Richard laughed, which caused Aurora to jump.  "I thought you were
just some new-age wicca when I found you, smelling of thyme like you
were, but you're an actual Magus, aren't you?"

    "Actually," she pointed out.  "I'm a more of a librarian."
Richard looked confused but before he could say anything more she
added, "Who is a bit of a witch."

    "Well, either way, you're pretty lucky you fell into my lap.  I'm
probably one of only five people in the city that would have even
known what you're talking about."  Richard sat down again after
putting the water away.  "Not that I'm an expert on the matter.  If I
knew how to leave this dimension, I'm sure I would have done so long
ago."  His voice turned dark for just a second before scampering back
into the light.  "So, where are you from?"

    "Ohio," she said, placing the glass on the nightstand by the bed.
Richard blinked.

    "Oh," he sounded disappointed.  "Is Ohio a pretty happening place
where you come from?"

    "Oh, no," Aurora said as if the concept was dreadful.  "It's very
peaceful and predictable.  I like it very much."

    "Hrm," considered Richard.  "Anyway, I don't really know very much
about dimensional hopping, only a few bits a pieces I've picked up
over the years.  Don't you need a Key Book or something?"

    "Yes!"  She was getting enthusiastic.  Maybe things weren't as bad
as they seemed.  "In my world, it's called the Book of the Passing
Moon."

    Richard froze and then stood suddenly.  "The Tome of Lunar Fall,"
he said as he walked stiffly to the shelves again.  He picked up a
glass and filled it.

    "That's probably it," Aurora said, her eyes lighting up.  "Given
the age of the text there are probably numerous translations of its
title.  Do you have it?"

    "No," he said, taking a long drink from the glass.  "I know where
it is, though.  I'm afraid I can't help you get it."

    "But," started Aurora.  "I don't know anything about this world...
or even New York at all!  I'm sorry I've been a burden for you already
but--"

    "Listen," interrupted Richard.  "I'd like to help, I really do.
But, I can't go to where it is."

    "Why?  Where is it?"

    Richard walked towards the window with his glass in hand.  Aurora
could see it was filled with a reddish liquid, perhaps wine or fruit
punch as it cast brilliant red reflections on the ceiling.  "It's at
Covenant Headquarters, in Bryan Gospel's vault."  He sipped his drink
which was definitely too thick to be wine.  "He doesn't like me very
much."

    "Why... why not?" Aurora got that sense of impending doom one
always gets just moments after it's probably too late to do anything
about it.  She swallowed nervously.

    "Because my mother was a vampire," Richard Vedas admitted.  He
turned towards her and bared his teeth, extended canines and all.
"And the apple doesn't fall far from the tree."

    Aurora struggled for the breath to scream.

    And then she found it.  The wail was louder than anything she
remembered ever doing before.  Louder than a screech, more defined
than a scream, she had, in an instant, formulated the perfect wail and
was hanging on to it for dear life.  The vampire dropped his glass of
thick red blood and covered his ears, squeezing his eyes shut, and
clenching his teeth.

    "Hey, hang on a minute!" he called through the wail, but Aurora
kept at it.  "Hey!  Heeeeeeeey!"  Unable to get her attention he did
the next best thing.  He was immediately next to her with his hand
over her mouth.  Her eyes were wide with fear and he could feel her
trying to scream again though his palm to little success.

    Richard looked her right in the eyes and she could feel his will
extending forth into her mind, draining her will to fight, her desire
to live leaving only the shell and a tasty meal for an eag--

    "What the hell did you do that for?" he asked suddenly.  "Did you
have to go and notify everyone in the building that you were here?
'Cause that's not the way to sneak into the Covenant!"

    Aurora calmed down for a moment and Richard removed his hand,
cautiously.  She looked up at him with wide eyes.  "Aren't you going
to... you know?"  She pointed at her neck.  The dark man rolled his
eyes.

    "Oh, right, that's exactly why I spent the last day and a half
helping you recuperate!" he announced sarcastically.  "Just so I could
take a bite!  Get a hold of yourself.  I generally don't find blood to
be all that satisfying, I'll have you know, and I would like to
believe I'm one of the good guys."

    "But... but," she pointed at the empty glass and red stain on the
rug.  Richard turned to look and panicked.

    "My Persian rug!" he yelled before quickly running over to the
glass with a cloth and trying to blot the red away.  He spent several
long minutes trying to soak up every last drop before finally sighing
and throwing the red rag across the room.  "Well that's great, it's
not like I can just go back to the eighteenth century, you know."

    "Is it, blood?" Aurora timidly asked.

    "What? I thought I just got over explaining this to you!"

    "Then what is it?" Aurora was getting a little frazzled and felt
the fever coming back upon her.

    "It's V8!" he cried.  "My doctor says I have a vitamin
deficiency."

    Aurora considered those statements for several long moments before
finally turning herself to face Richard and posing her question.

    "You go to a doctor?"

    Richard sighed, this had been a really long day.


-End Chapter 1

AFTERWORD

This chapter should better illustrate exactly the sort of story I'm
aiming for here.  The prologue was intented to set up the events, now
I'm getting into the meat of them.

I know most people wait until a series is finished before they really
go through and comment, but I'm really hoping to get more by-chapter
critcism.  The foundation of the story is in these early chapters, and
I want to know I'm getting things right before I go too far.

Chapter 2 is being a pain, so it may not come next week, but I'll try.

----[STORY STATUS]---
Chapter 0 (Prologue) has been released in DRAFT.
Chapter 1 has been released in DRAFT.
Chapter 2 is being written, about 20% completed.
Chapters 3-13 are roughly plotted.

-- 
---
Adam C. Leigh
Tempestdash@gmail.com

RoguePenguin
http://www.rogue-penguin.com

"It's a mistake to say that one person has more worth than another not
because all people are of equal worth, but because the comparison
doesn't even make sense." --Adam Cadre

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