Sailor Moon - Warriors of Ether
by David Farr

Disclaimer: The characters of Sailor Moon belong to their copyright
holder. They are used here with permission for fanfiction purposes.

All other parts may be found at
	http://homepages.ihug.co.nz/~djfarr/


Part 8

*****

	Katsuko reached up and felt along the top of the door frame. Sure enough
she found the spare key amongst the dust. She paused and stared at the
key sadly. Lita was the only member of the Sailor Scouts who didn't have
someone checking up on her, a very depressing thought that Katsuko
banished quickly.

	The key slid into the lock and the door opened with a click. A gentle
push swung the door open to reveal the empty apartment. Even unoccupied
for a couple of days, the apartment still carried the smell of cooking.
With a smile Katsuko remembered Serena's tales of Lita's meals.

	"Hello? Lita? You home?" Katsuko called hopefully. It was always
possible that Lita hadn't been able to answer the door.

	The apartment stayed silent. Frowning Katsuko started looking around.
The main room held a simple stereo and Television, a few pieces of
furniture. A bag sitting on the sofa turned out to contain exercise
clothes.

	Katsuko swept into the kitchen. It was the work place of a master cook.
Utensils hung from hooks; a spice rack held a large selection of
condiments, all neatly arranged. The stove was well cleaned and the only
thing on the bench was a plate full of small cakes.

	The bedroom was sparse, just a bed and a wardrobe. A set of night
clothes had been set out on a chair, waiting to be worn.

	The bathroom contained only a shower and a vanity. Katsuko checked to
make sure Lita's toothbrush was still there. It was.

	Katsuko sighed. Just like the other three scouts Lita had simply
vanished. The only good thing was that with Lita there was no family left
behind to worry. Some comfort.

*****

	Luna sat watching Raye. Unfortunately so did Chad. 'Two days,' she fumed
silently. 'They haven't left her alone for two days!'

	After the hospital had released Raye to her Grandfather's care Luna had
hung about waiting for a few minutes alone with her in order to try the
Luna Mind Meld. Only Chad and Raye grandfather hadn't left her alone for
more than a minute.

	All four of the remaining scout mainstays were starting to run out of
patience. Both Darien and Artemis had taken to vanishing off on searching
missions. Katsuko was spending her time a little more constructively,
using her family connections to put out feelers. Luna still felt that
Raye was still their best lead.

	"Raye, what are you reading?" Chad asked, leaning to look over the
girl's shoulder.

	Raye looked up from the book and smiled pleasantly at Chad. "Advanced
Data Communication Standards," she replied in a quite voice.

	Chad stared at her in disbelief. Luna sighed, sometimes she wondered
about that boy. After two days Raye's strange behaviour shouldn't
surprise him, yet here he was looking like a stunned fish.

	The ring of the phone snapped Chad out of it. He shook his head, stood
and strode out of the room. Luna's ears pricked up, listening to the
phone conversation. It sounded like the beginning of a long discussion,
so Luna decided to seize the day.

	Luna leapt up onto the table and walked proudly onto Raye's book.

	Raye smiled at her. "What do you want kitty?"

	"Raye, we have to talk," Luna announced.

	The surprised girl shot backwards. "You-you talked!"

	"Yes, as I said, we have to talk about you and the scouts."

	"What would I have to do with the scouts?"

	Luna rolled her eyes. "You're Sailor Mars!"

	Raye smiled and shook her head. "Me, Sailor Mars? I don't think so,
she's so... so... fiery, I don't think I could be like that."

	Luna looked down at the table. Well talking wasn't going to help, she'd
knew it would come to this. She quickly raised her head and locked eyes
with Raye. The crescent moon on her forehead shone, then shot beam of
light at the girl.

	Almost immediately she felt resistance. This wasn't a simple case of
dredging up repressed  memories, instead something, a spell, was working
against her, attempting to keep Raye in her other persona. But the spell
wasn't evil, in fact it somehow felt familiar.

	In Rei's mind the dam shattered, and for a brief moment Rei fought Raye.
Backed by the force of Luna's mind the girl's true self quickly overcame
the other personality to regain her body.

	Luna collapsed to the table as the link broke. The battle had been hard
and she was just a little cat.

	"Luna?" Raye asked, her voice shaking. "What's happening?"

	Luna looked up, here heart filling with dismay. "I was hoping you'd be
able to tell me."

	"What do you mean?"

	"Raye, the others are all missing. You were our only hope for a lead."

	"Missing, how?"

	"I think we should get Katsuko, Darien and Artemis in on that
discussion."

	"Right!"

	Behind them the door was quickly pulled closed and Chad walked back to
the phone to slam it down on the hook. What he had seen confused him, but
he wasn't just going to confront Raye with tales of a talking cat, she'd
say he was crazy.

	Raye threw the doors open. "Chad!" she snapped. "I'm going out and don't
argue."

	Chad smiled to himself. The old Raye was back.

*****

	Imp crawled into the fiery office of the Lord of Hell. The large demonic
entity sat behind his desk, reading a report from one of his generals.

	Imp cleared his throat. "My Lord. I have some ah... mixed news."

	Lucifer look up at the scrawny creature. "What is it Imp?"

	Imp glanced around nervously. "Well, ah, the human heroes known as the
Sailor Scouts seem to have been defeated. Spies report that they were
lost in a battle three days ago."

	"Surely this is good news."

	"Yes, it would, but you see, it wasn't by us."

	Lucifer leaned forward. "So the Angels have the power to destroy them."

	"Ah, no, it wasn't them either."

	Lucifer laughed. "Your telling me that they were defeated by a natural
monster?!"

	"I don't know master, but if so, it worries me that such power exists in
the world now."

	"You worry too much Imp. Come, we must plan to take advantage of the
humans' weakness."

*****

	The park had been a special place for them, somehow Darien had hoped
that whatever had happened to her, Serena would remember and be their. It
had been a false hope. Couples walked the paths, laughing and giggling in
the sunshine, but nowhere was the lost girl Darien loved so much.

	Screams broke Darien's pensive mood. He orientated quickly on the sound
and charged off, deviating only to dive through some bushes and emerge as
Tuxedo Mask.

	The source of the commotion was a group of park goers. A single  winged
female stood atop the fountain. Rainbows of light reflected through the
Angels watery body as she directed jets of water at those around her.

	"Do not run, my waters bring only peace," the creature called to the
fleeing people.

	"These people don't want your peace!" Tuxedo Mask sneered, tossing a
rose at creature. The projectile struck the creature passing right its
liquid body.

	Another voice laughed from above. "Not very useful without your
girlfriends, are you?"

	The lone hero looked up, to find a second Angel hovering above him. This
one was also a woman, but more human looking. She had golden blonde hair
that streamed in the wind and a haughty look on her beauteous face.
Despite the massive armour and sword at her hip her wings lazily bet
against the air.

	"I am Arthiel, Lieutenant of the Angel Gabriel, and you, Tuxedo Mask,
are all alone." The Angel sneered. "What are you going, throw roses at
us?"

	Tuxedo Mask smiled. "No, just keep you and your flunky busy until the
people escape." He looked around at the empty park. "Wow, I guess I
have."

	Glancing about her Arthiel searched the park. "Yes, you have, but no
matter, this was never about them. Where are your girlfriends? Have they
abandoned you?"

	"Hardy," yet another voice commented. All eyes turned to find two
figures standing in the trees. The speaker wore the familiar red and
orange skintight outfit of Phasma, the other was dress in a dark blue
robe that hung open revealing another skintight wrap. The newcomers hood
was down, revealing raven black hair streaming over a simple mask
strapped across her face.

	"The baptism is a sacred rite for many, bringing them closer to their
beliefs," the newcomer preached, "yet you use it to force your beliefs
upon others. I, the Warrior of Ether Mystra, born of the seas of the
mind, cannot allow this!"

	Arthiel growled. "What is it with you people and speeches?! DIE!!" Her
sword flashed out of its scabbard. Mystra and Phasma both vaulted from
their perches, which fell away as Arthiel's blast sliced through the
trees.

	"Phasmic Falcon Fly!" screamed Phasma, throwing out her arms as she
arced through the air. For a brief moment the form of a giant bird of
prey surrounded the teen, then it shot forward striking at Arthiel. The
Angel stood for a second, then folded her wings and dropped under the
attack.

	Meanwhile Mystra dropped to the ground next to the fountain. "Now shall
we see which of us understands the mysteries better."

	"Challenge me if you dare warrior, none may defeat me in my element,"
hissed the water angel, gathering up the water around her.

	Mystra grinned. "Then we'll hare to do something about that." She threw
out her hand. "LUNA TIDES!" The waters of the fountain sank once more
then surged up into the sky, raining down across the park

	As Arthiel dropped to her feet Tuxedo Mask charged forward, his cane
flashing out into his hand. White wood met shinning metal as the two
engaged. Arthiel swung her broadsword, but her opponent ducked under the
blade and struck out, his cane bouncing off her hip plate.

	"Not much use, are you cape boy?" Arthiel sneered.

	"Ah, but I have friends."

	A pair of hands reached round and clapped over the angels eyes. "Guess
who!" Phasma cried. Reflexively Arthiel dropped her sword and raised her
hands to pry off the hands. Seizing the moment Tuxedo Mask stabbed his
cane at the Angel's throat. Phasma leapt away as Arthiel staggered,
clutching her neck and coughing.

	Next to the fountain the Water angel had taken to swinging at Mystra.
"Hold still will you!" she steamed. "Your water tricks can't affect me
anymore."

	Mystra smiled as she saw a grey shape slip from the trees. "No thanks, I
think I'll let  my friends deal with you." She jumped backwards into the
air and vanished in the blink of an eye. The water Angel stared in
confusion for a few seconds.

	"Feel the wrath of the stars," Astra hissed, shadows gathering
unnaturally about her. "Solar FLARE!" All darkness in the park vanished
as a column of light slammed down from the sun.

	"Nnnoooo!!!" the water Angel cried as its body evaporated.

	Astra turned to see Arthiel recovering and jumping once more into the
air. Tuxedo Mask and Phasma both stood ready to attack her again.

	"Where oh where are the rest of your friends," Arthiel sneered. "I guess
the rumours we heard are true, the Sailor Scouts are truly gone. Fare
thee well, cause when we next meet you will fall beneath our righteous
might!" The air around the Angel sparkled for a moment before she
vanished.

	"And she accuses us of making speeches," Phasma muttered as Astra joined
them.

	"D-- Tuxedo Mask," Astra started, "I came looking for you. Our friend
has waken up and wants to meet us at my place."

	Tuxedo Mask glanced at Phasma. "Okay, ah shouldn't she come along."

	"Huh?" Phasma turned and looked at the pair. "Oh no, don't worry, I was
on my way somewhere. See you later!" See hurried off, vanishing into the
trees.

*****

	"About time you two showed up," Raye snapped over the squealing hinges
as Katsuko pushed open the church's front door.

	"Must fix that," Katsuko commented, leading Raye, Darien and the two
cats inside. "Sorry Raye, we had some trouble in the park." She crossed
the floor and flopped into a chair. "Gods I'm tired."

	"Trouble, what kind of trouble?" Artemis asked jumping onto her lap.

	"Angels," she sighed. "Testing us to see if the news reports were true."

	"Which suggests that they aren't responsible," the cat mused.

	"That's not important," Darien exclaimed. "Raye, where's Serena?!"

	"How would I know?!" Raye demanded. "I don't even know what's happening,
Luna's been refusing to tell me anything!"

	"Calm down, both of you." Katsuko snapped. "Raye, why don't you start
with what happened the other night."

	Raye glared at Darien for a second, then paused to collect her thoughts.
"The night out had been Mina's idea. We planned to just swing down to the
mall and hit the shops. Serena managed to convince me to join in, you
know how she is." Raye smiled faintly.

	"When we reached the shopping district I spotted a new clothing store.
It was strange, the others hadn't wanted to go in, they decided to wait
outside. I must have lost track of time, because the next thing I know I
hear the crack of Jupiter's thunder.

	"I quickly found a place to change, then hurried towards the battle.
When I arrived they were still fighting some giant monster. It didn't
look like an Angle or Demon, more like some of the creatures the
Negaverse sent after us.

	"Mercury was down, it looked like she'd taken a blow from the monster,
and Venus was quickly checking on her. Jupiter was busy trying to get in
position for another attack. Sailor Moon was being her usual clumsy self,
wailing as the monster took time out from sparring with Jupiter to keep
her busy.

	"Anyway, I shot off a Celestial Fire from a distance. It wasn't enough
to damage the thing, but I did distract it long enough for Sailor Jupiter
to release a Thunder Clap. The thing, whatever it was, was knocked down,
and Jupiter yelled at Sailor Moon, who pulled out the sceptre and
dispatched the thing. Next thing I remember I'm waking up from a strange
dream about being Amy."

	"Which brings us up to now," Luna added.

	Katsuko frowned. "I'm afraid it wasn't a dream. While the men folk were
out scouring the city, I was chasing some more official channels. What I
discovered is perhaps more shocking. There was evidence of a Rei Hino, an
A+ student, who went missing three days ago. Stranger was the
description, she was almost an exact duplicate for our Raye."

	Artemis frowned. "So someone found a girl who resembles Raye, had a
similar name, and planned to put her in her place."

	"Sounds like too much of a coincidence to me," Darien commented.

	Katsuko nodded. "That's what I thought, so I just did some checking
before you all came round. All the evidence of the fake Rei has vanished,
including the report of her disappearance. In fact my contact at the
police department didn't remember giving me the information in the first
place."

	"That's powerful magic," Luna gasped. "Someone is going to great lengths
to cover their tracks."

	Katsuko shrugged. "It certainly kills all our leads."

	"But it does leave us with a hope of finding the other scouts."

	"I've started a search for people of similar names, things like Amy with
an eye, Mina with two ens or Lita with an ee, but I'm not holding out
much hope."

	Darien smiled. "One thing I've learnt since becoming involved with
Serena is never to give up hope."

	Raye sorted. "Yeah, she'll probably come knocking at the door selling
cookies or something."

	As if on cue, the booming of the door knocker echoed once more through
the building. All five presents froze and turned to stare.

	"Oh, if that's her this is too much!"

	Katsuko gave Raye a withering look and swept across the room to the
door. Again the hinges shrieked as the door swung open. "Namoyi! What a
pleasant surprise."

	The teenager at the door smiled wanly at the woman. Katsuko noticed
immediately she wasn't her normally perky self. Dark bags hung under her
eyes and she walked with a slump.

	"Hi Katsuko, I need to talk to you." Her voice was a tired whisper.

	"What's the matter? You look terrible."

	"I haven't been sleeping well since the last couple of nights."

	Katsuko frowned. "Why not?"

	Namoyi shook her head, trying to clear it. "I've been having these
strange dreams."

	Katsuko reached out and put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Why
don't you come in and talk about it?"

	"Thanks."

	Katsuko lead the girl into the house. "Oh, you know Darien of course."
Darien smiled at her as Katsuko did the introductions. "And this is Raye,
a good friend, she's a Miko at Cherry Hill temple."

	Namoyi stared at her for a few seconds. "Oh, of course, you were chasing
that boy, yelling at him."

	Raye blushed as Darien chuckled. "Chad been singing again?"

	The black haired girl glared at Darien before turning to Namoyi. "You
said you were having bad dreams, why don't you tell them to me, maybe I
can help."

	Namoyi nodded. "It's really strange, it starts off in this crystal city.
Everything's beautiful, sunny, then the sky darkens. Suddenly I'm
somewhere else, its a beautiful palace and the earth is hanging in the
sky. Finally I'm standing in front of this huge horrifying castle. I go
inside and wake up screaming. The strangest thing is that each scene was
something I drew before I started having these dreams."

	Raye glanced at Darien, a frown on her face. "And how often do you have
these dreams?"

	"Almost as often as I close my eyes, but today it actually hit me while
I was shopping at the mall, and when I woke up I was in the park. That's
why I came up here."

	The group fell into silence for a few seconds before Luna mewed and
brushed up against Katsuko's legs. Katsuko scooped up the cat. "Excuse
me, I think Luna here wants to be fed." The others nodded thoughtfully as
Katsuko strode away.

	"Okay Luna, what is it?" Katsuko hissed.

	"She's one of the warriors, isn't she."

	Katsuko nodded. "I think that's a strong possibility."

-----

Author's Note:
	Well, revised and extended. Hope you enjoyed it. Especially Mystra's first
appearance.
-----------
Rarstarr,
David Farr
http://homepages.ihug.co.nz/~djfarr/
djfarr@ihug.co.nz