[All right. Here's the next installment of my Sailormoon fanfic that 
is taking forever to write. It's part 5, but I redid the 
numbering--changing the prologue into part 1--so by the old method 
this is just part 4. Any and all C&C welcome, and tell me if you 
think I should repost parts 1-4 for C&C.]


SAILOR MOON: DARK JEWEL
by: Marie Kelly


CHAPTER 5

	"Usagi?" There was a light rapping at the door. "Usagi...dear.   
Open up, please. It's your mother."
	Usagi closed her eyes, though it didn't make much difference. Open. 
Closed. She still saw the same thing. Still saw Sailor 
  nus...Minako... dying.  Still saw her body disappearing.	
	"Usagi? Is anything wrong?"	
	She had never known Minako; never gotten a chance to discover her   
personality. All she knew was that Minako appeared to be a rather 
kind, sweet,  fun-loving girl. {We would have had fun,} Usagi 
thought. {I know we would have.} She rolled over and pressed her face 
hard against the pillow, as  though that would stop the tears that 
would, inevitably, pour out. She could  no more stop crying at will 
than she could stop her heart from beating.  Perhaps some could, but 
Usagi was not blessed with either of those abilities. 	The knocking 
continued. "Usagi?"	
	"I'm busy, Mama."	
	"Usagi...have you been crying? Let me in."	
	"Mama!" Usagi snapped. "I said I'm busy! Please--leave me 
alone!"	
	There was an audible intake of breath. 
	"Usagi, why won't you tell me what's wrong?"	
	"Nothing's wrong, Mama."	
	"But--"	
	"Mama, please. I'm fine. There's nothing you can do. Please, I want 
to be by myself."	
	"Usagi, something's wrong, and I think I know what it is."	Usagi 
gasped, touching her locket instinctively. How--could-- was it 
possible her mother knew that *she* was Sailor Moon? Knew what had 
happened? But how?  Hadn't she done a good enough job of keeping it 
secret? What had gone wrong?		
	"Please, open up and talk to me. You've been upset for a week.  Why 
don't you talk to her?"	
	"What?" Usagi's face and voice both registered confusion. How could 
she talk to Minako? Minako was dead. Unless her mother happened to be 
referring to something else entirely.	
	"I'm certain it's nothing that can't be handled. You and Naru have 
been best friends for years. I would hate to see you break up like a 
silly little fight."	
	"Silly little fight?" Usagi sat up and parroted her mother's words. 
That meant...her mother...did *not* know. Usagi walked silently over 
to the door, and opened it. "Mama," she whispered. "That's--" She 
paused, and  cleared her throat, anguish visible on her face. Usagi 
could not believe it. She had been about to reveal everything. She 
breathed deeply, praying that she would not suffer from such a lapse 
of judgment ever again. "That's true, mama. It's not such a big 
deal."	That much wasn't a lie. Usagi supposed that she and Naru had 
had a fight, of sorts. They hadn't talked to each other in the past 
week. But  Usagi hardly noticed that; Naru's strange behavior didn't 
matter.	
	"Oh, Usagi. I hate to see you so upset. Perhaps if I talked 
to Naru's mother--"	
	"NO!" Usagi shouted. "You can't do that! You'll embarass me! Please, 
Mama!"	
	"Usagi..."	
	"Mama," Usagi wondered. "Why? Why are you doing this? You 
never talk to me. Not like this," she amended.	
	"I'm worried about you. I do love you, Usagi, and I want you to be 
happy. You seem so sad. Usagi--" Mrs. Tsukino held her daughter's 
chin in  her hands so that her their eyes met. "I don't think I know 
you anymore."	{Yes, Mama,} agreed Usagi with a tinge of sadness. {You 
don't.}

 	"Where is she?" the voice was harsh, and impatient. Long, slender   
fingers tapped impatiently upon the the wood of the shrine. The 
speaker blew dark bangs out of her eyes with a heavy puff of air. 
	"Rei, relax. She's not that late."
	"Not that late!" Hino Rei snapped at the tall girl in front of  her. 
 "Only an hour! What--does she think this evil doesn't matter?" She 
began pacing the grounds. "She should be here! What right does she 
have to skip on our meetings."
	"I'm here." Normally the voice would have been cheery, and   
accompanied by heavy breathing, that of one running. This time it 
was  different, however. This time the voice was flat, and the 
breathing  was normal...as though she had merely walked here. 
	Rei didn't appear to notice this, though, as she marched up to the 
pigtailed girl and put her face in hers. "What...do you think you 
can march in here late? Who do you think you are?"
 	"I don't want to be here," muttered Usagi. "So you can just leave 
me alone."
	"Wha--" Rei sputtered. "What right do you think you have to march 
in an hour late and--"
	"Bitch." The word was soft, yet crystal clear. Rei's jaw dropped,   
and both Makoto  and Ami registered shock on their faces. Usagi 
continued,  not caring what the others thought of her. "Minako-chan 
is dead. Maybe all of you can get over it in a week, but I can't!"
	"Oh, come off it," Rei snorted. 
	"Rei-chan...Usagi-chan..." Ami spoke quietly, holding out one hand 
slowly, as an attempted moderatation. She *knew* Rei was correct--as 
did Makoto-but if Rei wanted Usagi to see it, she would have to work 
on her diplomacy  a bit more.
	"You hardly knew Minako! You were about as close to her as any of us!
Don't act like you've lost your soul!"
	Usagi blanched at that reference, turned, and ran away. 
	"Oh, dear," commented Ami, shaking her head. "Rei, please, you 
really should learn to be a bit more diplomatic."

	She sat on the swings, slightly pushing her toe in the dirt, yet 
not attempting any more movement than that. "Don't act like you've 
lost  your soul!" Rei's words came unbidden to her, and she felt the 
bile rise up in her chest. She swallowed rapidly, both to keep from 
crying and from throwing up. 	
	"Usagi?" Usagi felt the gentle pressure of a hand on her 
shoulder.	
	"Go away."	
	Instead of obeying her wishes, the girl simply sat down next to  the 
swing. 
	"Usagi--"	
	"I said go away. Please..."
	"Usagi, please, Rei didn't mean it."
	"She was right."
 	"What?" Makoto was confused. "Usagi-chan, if you know that then  
why   are you--"
	"She was right." Usagi continued. "I wasn't close to Minako.  I   
admired her as Sailor V, but that means nothing."		
	"Usagi-chan..." Makoto didn't know why all she could say was her 
friend's name. It pained her greatly to see her friend so depressed. 
	"But she didn't have to be such a bitch! Doesn't she care! Don't any 
of you care?"	
	Makoto knew a chance, and took it. "Usagi-chan, we care deeply. This 
 has upset all of us."	
	"But Rei's so mean! She doesn't care at all!"
	"Not true." Makoto shook her head. "Rei cares." 
	"So why doesn't she show it? Why doesn't she cry?"
	Makoto paused. "I don't know. Maybe it's because she's a Sailor  
Senshi."	
	"That makes her cold and unfeeling?"
	"No," whispered Makoto, slowly. "That makes her able to handle  
grief." Makoto felt a pressure against her eyelids, yet she refused 
to give  in to them, to let the tears fall. "That makes all of us 
more able to handle grief."	
	"I'm a Sailor Senshi," whispered Usagi. "Why don't I--" Her voice 
broke off, as sobs racked her body. Makoto went up to her, attempting 
to give  a comforting embrace.	
	"I don't know," she whispered, for that was the only answer that 
could be given to Usagi's unfinished query.		
	"When Rei said...Rei said...I do feel like a part of me has died! I 
never knew her--Rei's right--but, there was something about her! She 
seemed to be me! Like I could be...if I only tried hard enough. I 
died then."	Usagi suddenly sat up. Why had she said that? How could 
Makoto possibly  understand?		
	"I know what you mean," Makoto whispered softly. "I've had parts of 
me die before. When that happens, you can either let the rest of you 
die, or you can...you can do things which create new life from the 
old, dead life."		
	"I don't understand."	
	"My mother was a wonderful cook," Makoto continued, almost to 
herself. "My dad ran a rather successful housecleaning business."	
	"Mako-chan..." Usagi was beginning to understand.	
	"I try to emulate them as best I can. But, that's not important. 
Cooking. Cleaning. It's all outside fluff.  If I don't remember the 
kind of people they were. I have to do my best to remember their 
legacy."		
	"I think I understand," Usagi whispered. 
	"You can't mourn Minako like this. None of us can. Cry. But at 
night, where no one can see you. Mourn, but don't let it cloud your 
judgment."	
	"Minako fought...as Sailor V...as Sailorvenus," thought  Usagi, out 
loud. Makoto nodded. "I...I have to keep her legacy alive. Perhaps 
then I can bring back that part of me? And it will be like she's 
still here." She  smiled through her tears at Makoto.	
	Makoto smiled back. "Perhaps so," she said, falsely cheerful. "Come  
on, I bet you're hungry. What say I get you something to eat?" Makoto 
hated lying like this--she knew that it would not be as though Minako 
were alive;  she still felt the death of her parents, despite all her 
attempts to emulate them.; Yet, she knew with  greater accuracy that 
the healing process must begin, and Usagi would  need all the 
positive encouragement she could get.	And she would need her friends. 
Makoto vowed to stay with Usagi,  no matter what.


	"Well now, doesn't *that* sound like a bad sappy movie," Naru 
sneered in disgust as she watched Usagi and Makoto walk away. "What 
a wonderful  friend this 'Mako-chan' is. Look at how she has managed 
to  comfort Sailor Moon." A cruel smile played upon her lips. "It is 
apparent  now who the next  to die will be."
	"Naru! Naru!" The high-pitched, super-nerdy voice drove her crazy.
"There you are!"
	"Umino." Naru plastered a big, fake smile on her face, and turned 
around. "My...how lovely it is to see you tonight! What are you 
doing here? Never mind! How would you like to come to my place? You 
would! Perfect!" Naru did not wait for Umino to reply as she grabbed 
him by the lapel and began scooting him towards her voice.
	"Naru!" Umino managed. "I came her to talk to you about something 
very important!"
	"What?" The boy certainly had nerve. 
	"It's Usagi."
	"So?" Naru sniffed disdainfully. "Am I supposed to care about her?"
	"Well..." Umino felt a bit of fear. No, he corrected himself.  
Apprehension. He could never feel fear when he was around Naru. 
"She's your best friend."
	"Not any more." Naru spoke the truth. "She has other friends.  
Besides," There was a note of bitterness in the voice, "We've 
changed.  We've grown apart. We're simply not friends."
	"But you've been friends for so long!"
	"So!" snapped Naru. "I've grown up. She hasn't." Not quite the 
 truth...Usagi had done a remarkable lot of growing that day. "Our 
friendship is in the past. Let's go home."
	"Naru--" Umino didn't like the way his girlfriend was acting. 
	"Didn't you hear me? I want to go home!" snapped Naru.
	A strange feeling told Umino to be wary of Naru, who was acting so 
differently from normal. Yet such a thought was ridiculous. 
Obviously, despite what she said,  Naru was concerned about the 
breakup of her and Usagi...why else would she be acting like this? 
So, slightly against his better judgment, he decided to go home with 
her, so that nothing would happen to her.
	As it turns out, Naru wasn't the one he should have been worrying 
about. 


	Naru sighed. This was rather dull, and she hated doing it. Still, it
must be done. She had to put Umino into the Afterlife, and remove 
Nephrite, so that she could use his energy. The Dark Jewel did not 
yet have the power to do sense the Senshi on its own...she still 
needed to take power from the one that activated it.
	"Nephrite," she whispered. "You will help me to defeat 
Sailorjupiter." 
	{No....Naru...please, cast off this evil.} Nephrite gave a cry as 
he felt the Dark Jewel invading his body. 
	Naru touched the jewel to the green candle and lit it. "Dark Jewel," 
she whispered. "Allow me to observe the Sailor Senshi Jupiter...Kino 
Makoto."  I  will kill her. Yet the way...it must be perfect. Fill 
me with your knowledge." NOOOOOO! Nephrite screamed in agony. The 
horror...the horror...of  having his energy used to power that which 
was controlling Molly. His whole body fairly shook with rage, and he 
willed it to stop. Willed the evil to end.
	Quite suddenly, he felt a release, as of a great tension leaving his 
body.
	"What?" Naru sounded surprised and visibly upset. "What is going  on 
here? Why is--ah." The realization dawned upon both Nephrite and 
Naru,  and they had understandably opposite reactions. 
	"It is powerful enough."
	{It is too powerful.}
	"The Dark Jewel no longer needs your puny energy!" Naru laughed 
wickedly. "I have grown ill of you for quite some time. How 
pleasurable this will be." Naru gently placed the Dark Jewel against 
the invisible  cocoon which protected him. The cocoon shimmered, and 
vanished.	Nephrite screamed in agony, as he felt his skin beginning 
to peel and blister. His insides felt warm--too warm--he noticed a 
strange burning smell. "How can this be! I am dead! My spirit should  
flee my body!"	
	Naru offered up an explanation. "Not quite. It was necessary  that I 
have your physical body, so I recreated it each time I drew your 
spirit from the Afterlife. A bit of necromancy, you might say." She 
giggled lightly. "And I linked your spirit to your body. It was not 
supposed to be there. It  was wrong. Therefore, whenever I allowed 
the air of this plane to come in contanct with your body you felt 
pain. And now, I need neither you nor your body.  Goodbye, dearest," 
she sneered cruelly.	
	"Naru!!!" he cried, attempting to warn her. "Please..."	
 	Naru closed her eyes and breathed deeply, relishing in the scent 
of death. Yes, she thought, this was far more satisfying than the 
first time he had died for her.


	***You are not permitted entrance.***
	"What?" Though he was a ghost, Nephrite still used his mouth to 
speak...telepathy wasn't his strong suit. "I belong here."
	***We have no records of anybody of your signature pattern here.***
	"I have been here before! I am Nephrite!"
	***We have no records of your signature pattern here. You are denied 
entrance.***
	Signature pattern? Were it possible, Nephrite would have paled. No. 
It couldn't be. Not yet. The Afterlife had taken...
	"UMINO! Is there a signature pattern for an Umino Gurio?"
	***Yes.***
	Damn. "He does not belong there! I do! You must switch us!" A  part 
 of Nephrite wondered why he was acting like this; he would not get 
a chance to help Naru if he was on the Afterlife plane. Yet, he 
knew. 	
	Naru...the Naru he had fallen in love with, was a sweet girl. She 
would be upset if she knew he had sacrificed Umino for his own 
wishes.  Nephrite could not upset her, not if there was the slightest 
chance the Naru of old still existed. 		
	***You weary us. Your senseless babble is quite dull and serves no 
purpose. Farewell.***		
	"Wait---!"; Nephrite called out, though there was no reply. 	
	The Afterlife had turned its back on him.


	She wiped her brow, tired.
	She had been walking...if one could call it that...for what seemed 
to be hours. Walking, in nothingness.
	"Where the hell am I?" she swore to herself for what seemed like the 
thousandth time...and may as well have been.
	"Does it matter?" A voice said.
	"Who is it!?" she turned around, and saw nothing. Nothing but the  
empty blackness which consumed this infernal place. "Who are you? 
Show  yourself!"
	Though she could not see it, she could almost sense a shrugging of 
shoulders. "Are you certain you wish me to reveal myself? You are so  
innocent, wouldn't you rather remain that way?"
	"No."
	High pitched laughter seemed to come from the entire place. She 
could not pinpoint a location, and some of it seemed to be coming 
from her, though of course that was impossible. "Very well. If you 
insist. I aim to please."
	She stood ready for whatever appeared.
	Save what did.
	"Oh my go--!" she gasped, and felt her legs turn to cooked 
spaghetti. "It's a--it's--"
	She stepped forward, weakly, not believing what she was seeing 
with  her own eyes. She looked at the figure standing before her. The 
figure was of average height, with wide blue eyes, long blonde hair 
half pulled up into a red bow, and an orange Sailor fuku with a blue 
breast bow and a yellow back bow. She swallowed, and the figure 
smiled, and spoke. 	
	"I believe the word you are searching for is doppelganger. At 
least," she shrugged. "That is what one language would call what you 
are seeing."	
	"What are you?" Sailorvenus asked. She was staring at a 
twisted copy of  herself. Though this other her looked exactly the 
same as her, there was something decidedly evil about it. 	"I am 
Tsrif, as will you be."	
	"As will I be what? What are you talking about?"	Her doppelganger 
smiled. "Do you really think you can defeat me? Pretty young 
Sailorvenus, do you?"	Anger filled her. "I don't know who you are, or 
why you've brought me here, but you can't do stuff like that!" 	She 
lifted a finger. "Crescent," she intoned.	
	Her doppelganger merely smiled, as if amused at all that was going 
on. 
	"BEAM!" she shouted the word, and aimed her hand, index finger  
pointed out, at the mirror image. The bright, yellow, laser-like beam 
shot out, and hit the creature, who vanished into nothingness. 
	"YAY!" shouted Sailorvenus, jumping up and down several times. "I 
did it! I did it!"	
	"You did what?"	Sailorvenus facefaulted. How could that be? She 
had seen her double die. How could she be here?
	"You cannot kill me Sailorvenus. Try as hard as you like. This is 
 *my* world, wherein I make the rules."
	"But--I saw you die!" she protested.
	"You never saw me die, Sailorvenus." Her double reappeared. "But I 
saw you die."
	"What?"
	"Oh, you don't remember." Her doppelganger smiled. "Very well then. 
I shall brief you on the situation. You are dead."
	"Dead?"
	"But of course. You were murdered at a party. Tragic." The  
doppelganger smiled as she saw the look of horror cross Sailorvenus's 
face. She was remembering. "I used my power...with the help of my 
Father...and brought you here. I shall not let you enter the outside 
world."	
	"But you're going to go out there and take my place?" Sailorvenus 
deduced.	
	Her doppelganger laughed and shook her head. "Oh, Venus, darling, of 
course not! I, too, could not survive without a host 
body."	
	"Host...body...?" Sailorvenus stuttered, confused. "What are you 
talking about?" There was something else the doppelganger had said 
that  bothered her, though she could not put her finger on precisely 
what it was.		
	Her doppelganger smiled. "This...what you see...is but an illusion. 
I have chosen to show you the body of what I will be, not what I am. 
I, myself, have no physical form. In order to exist on that plane 
after what my sister has done, I must choose a host body. You are 
that body."
	"So, you're going to possess me?"	
	"In a manner of speaking. I shall take over the body. The soul will 
die."


	Luna suddenly felt an extremely tight, rather unpleasant pressure 
around her.  She proceeded  to yowl with all the fury a cat could 
muster, at  whatever monster had snuck up on her while she slept,  
and was now squeezing  the lifeforce out of her.
	"Oooh, Tuxedo Kamen-sama," the "monster" mumbled. "Motoki-san. I 
love you both." Usagi then proceeded to plant kisses on the objects 
of her desire, of which Luna was forced to take the role. 
	"Blegh!" she shouted. "I really should learn not to sleep on her 
bed. "Usagi!" she shouted. "WAKE UP"
	Usagi merely smiled in her sleep, and squeezed tighter.
	{Great,} Luna thought. {I'm going to die here and now.}
	"Usagi!!" Mrs. Tsukino called, with an expression of urgency that  
Luna had never before heard on Usagi's mother's voice. 
	"Mmmmmm," Usagi was off in dreamland.
	"USAGI!!!!!" Luna could hear Usagi's mother tramping up the stairs. 
"WAKE UP! It's important! There's a police officer here to see you!"
	"What!?" Usagi jumped up, upsetting Luna on to the floor. "Mama, 
what's wrong? Why's he here?"
	"I don't know," Mrs. Tsukino replied. "He asked to see a Tsukino  
Usagi. He said it's important."
	Usagi ran through her room, throwing on clothes. She ran a comb 
through her hair, brushed her teeth, and ran downstairs.
	{Minako!} she thought, quite forgetting that Minako had disappeared 
and nobody else remembered her dying. {Maybe they've found her 
killer!}	
	The officer had a somber expression on his face. "Miss 
Tsukino?"	
	"Yes?"	
	"I have information that you may be friends with one Kino  Makoto. 
Is that correct?"	
	Usagi swallowed. Had something bad happened to Makoto? "Yes," she 
finally answered. 	
	"Do you have any idea where she could be?"
	Usagi shook her head.
	"Are you certain?"; The officer looked like he didn't believe her. 
"She hasn't come to your house in the past twelve hours?"
	"No." Usagi thought of the conversation she had had a couple days 
ago in the park, and prayed Makoto was all right. She couldn't lose 
another friend. "Why? Is something the matter?"
	The officer looked somberly at her. "I'm afraid so. Miss Tsukino," 
he announced, "Your friend is wanted for first degree murder."