And as promised, here's chapter four right on the heels of three ...
Last time: Jupiter fought with werecat Rin and his flunkies over her capture
of one of their fellow changelings, but the fight was cut short by the arrival
of the others. Ranko had a strange vision in a bathhouse which caused the
hyperlink key to react. Wynneth had her playtime interrupted, which made her
very cranky indeed. And Mamoru ended up at the scene of a wraith attack,
where a man was found drained of blood. The description of the probable vamp
rings some unwelcome bells for him ...
-- Attached file included as plaintext by Listar --
-- File: clearday4r.txt
This story is a work of fanfiction. As such, it owes a great
debt to the creators of the characters used herein: Rumiko
Takahashi, creator of Ranma, and Naoko Takeuchi, creator of
Sailor Moon.
This story is contains scenes of a dark nature and Lime
rated material, and thus is not suited for younger readers.
Reader discretion is advised.
On a Clear Day You Can See Forever
Chapter Four: Shadows of the Past
Usagi woke slowly to the most wonderful sensation. Soft
lips were tracing along the tender skin of her throat, slowly making
their way up to slide along the curve of her jaw. A throaty, feline
purr escaped her as someone embraced her from behind, wrapping
her in drowsy heat. She arched her back, giving the teasing lips
freedom to do as they wished, her eyelids fluttering, still heavy with
sleep. The mouth trailed sweet heat down to the point of her chin,
then slowly moved up towards her mouth. Her breath quickened at
the delicious sensations as she was rolled slowly onto her back, the
gentle pressure of hot breath teasing her lips apart in anticipation.
"Minako, what are you doing?" a voice demanded angrily.
Frowning, Usagi pried her eyes open to see sparkling blue eyes and
a tousled mane of blonde hair.
"Morning, princess," Minako said sweetly.
"Miiinaaakooo," Usagi moaned. "I thought you were
Mamo-chan!"
"He wakes you up like this?" Minako asked mischievously.
"Well ..."
"You can get off of her any time," the voice came again.
Out of the corner of her eye, Usagi could see Rei standing beside
the sofa bed, arms crossed. Minako sighed and began pull away,
but Usagi reached up and twined her arms around the other girl's
neck, pulling herself up enough to kiss Minako lightly on the lips.
"It is a nice way to wake up, anyway," Usagi said impishly.
"Thank you, Minako."
"Anything for my princess," Minako said, smirking at Rei.
Usagi had to admit that the look on the raven-haired girl's face as
she stomped away was priceless.
"Hey, Makoto," Minako yawned as she crawled from the
rumpled bed. "What's for breakfast?"
"Mustard," Makoto replied. "Unless someone goes for
groceries."
"If you're cooking, I'm up for it," Minako said easily,
raking her heavy blonde hair back from her face with her fingers.
Usagi watched her strut across the floor, reflecting wryly that her
friend always acted as if all eyes were on her. And, much of the
time, it seemed she was right.
"Great," Makoto said. "While you're doing that, I'm going
to run down to Memorial Square. There's something in for me."
"I can get that too," Minako offered, rooting around in her
bag.
"No, I want to make sure it's what I'm after before I pay,"
Makoto told her. "Anyway, it's a little out of the way. I should be
there and back by the time you finish, though."
"You're taking your motorcycle?" Usagi asked, grabbing at
the opportunity. "Can I come?"
"Someone has to be here if Ami calls," Makoto told her.
"No problem," Rei said. "I'll stay."
"So it's okay?" Usagi asked. Makoto gave her a grin.
"Sure, why not? Get dressed and we'll run down there
now." Usagi bounded out of bed and grabbed her things. She
always liked riding on the back of a motorcycle, but that wasn't the
reason she wanted to go with Makoto. Somewhere along the way
there was bound to be a pay phone, and she wanted to make a call
in private.
Rei might not want to discuss the woman from the club, but
Usagi wasn't going to be put off. If that woman had some sort of
hold over Rei, then the sooner it was dealt with, the better.
And Usagi was just the person to handle this. Well, with
Mamoru's help; she'd noted the license plate of the fancy car from
last night, and Mamoru could track the owner down for her easily.
Usagi suppressed a satisfied grin.
She loved being clever.
***
The knock startled Hotaru out of her reverie, and she turned
to see Setsuna standing in the doorway.
"So here you are," the emerald-haired woman said. "I
figured as much." She came into the bathroom and moved to stand
behind Hotaru, gently taking the straight razor from the smaller
woman's hand. Then she began combing Hotaru's thick midnight
locks back with her fingers, gathering them at the base of the girl's
neck.
"You got it a little too short last time," Setsuna murmured
idly. Hotaru sneaked a look at the other woman in the mirror,
suddenly feeling anxious about Setsuna's close proximity. The
strange events of the previous night had shaken her, but the hunger
remained dormant and after a moment she forced herself to relax.
"Setsuna," Hotaru began.
"Hush," Setsuna ordered sternly. "Stop moving around, I
don't want to get it crooked." Hotaru did as she was told, her head
feeling immediately lighter as Setsuna made an expert pass with the
razor. Then she set it down and retrieved a small pair of scissors,
touching up the ends.
"I can do that," Hotaru protested.
"It's all right," Setsuna replied. "Let me."
"I'm sorry," Hotaru said after a few moments of strained silence.
"About last night. I let things go too long, and ..."
"Hotaru, I understand," Setsuna murmured as she worked.
"I know you weren't trying to hurt me. We're just going to have to
work together to make sure your hunger doesn't get so intense in
the future. You understand that, don't you?"
"Yes," Hotaru said quietly. Setsuna's calm, almost sisterly
tone had the effect of relieving Hotaru's anxiety, allowing her to
relax a little. For a moment, she considered telling Setsuna about
the previous night, about her dream and waking up with the hunger
fully on her.
But in the end, she didn't. Hotaru didn't understand what
had happened, but the hunger had vanished as suddenly as it had
come on her. And surely, whatever it had been, it was simply an
anomaly. If it began to recur, then she would have to tell the
others, but for now tensions were high enough under her roof.
"I owe Haruka an apology, too," Hotaru sighed at last. "I
said some unpleasant things to her last night."
"So I hear," Setsuna murmured. "You don't really believe she's
looking for an excuse to kill you, do you?"
"Of course not," Hotaru said, scowling. She started to turn
her head and Setsuna gently tugged it back into position.
"Haruka and Michiru are ... careful," Setsuna murmured,
pausing to meet Hotaru's eyes in the mirror. "That's all. They're
as protective of you as I am, they just don't show it the same way."
"Sometimes it doesn't feel that way," Hotaru muttered.
"I know. But trust me, they're on your side. We all are.
Now hold still so I can finish this."
Hotaru complied, the metallic snick-snick of the scissors
near her ear strangely soothing. Soon enough she would have to
go downstairs and apologize to Haruka, no doubt enduring a
lecture on hiding the intensity of the hunger from them. Then she
would have to see what had happened in the city over night, taking
the time to sift through for anything that might be significant.
In the meantime, though, it was nice to sit here and be
fussed over. The normality of it pushed the aftereffects of her
nightmare away, made her feel stable and secure and good.
That was a feeling she intended to cherish for as long as she
could.
***
The rain had stopped and the clouds scattered, letting
watery sunlight through to kiss the earth for the first time in days.
The wind was cool but lacked winter's biting edge, and Usagi
couldn't help but grin as she clung to Makoto's back. It was
always fun, riding on a motorcycle. Almost made her want to learn
how to drive one.
Almost.
She closed her eyes a moment, just letting herself be
surrounded by the sensation of being near Makoto. The tall girl's
long ponytail rippled in the wind where it hung below her helmet,
and it tickled Usagi's face as she leaned into her friend's
reassuringly strong body. It smelled faintly of rose perfume, and
for a moment Usagi could recall a time when she'd been injured,
and how safe she'd felt cradled in Makoto's strong arms.
If she'd ever had a big sister, she would have wanted her to
be just like Makoto; stubborn, brave, and strong, but also gentle.
At their destination, Usagi had called Mamoru's office while
Makoto went inside to conduct her business. He hadn't been at his
desk, and the surge of disappointment had been sudden and intense.
That made twice she'd had to leave messages; she had the sudden
urge to talk to him, just to hear his voice.
You're being unreasonable, she told herself now as the sleek
motorcycle raced along the expressway. He has a lot to deal with
at work right now, a lot of responsibility. You can't expect him to
put everything on hold just because you want to say hi.
After all, she wanted him to respect her ability. And if
something was threatening her senshi, her people, then it was up to
her to figure out what it was and find a way to deal with it. And
that was just what she was going to do.
She just wished she had some idea where to start.
The fine thrum of the bike's engine resonated in her nerves
as Makoto manoeuvred the machine through traffic, steadily
passing cars and leaving them behind. Usagi took a deep breath
and let it out slowly. All that could wait for a little while; this
feeling was something she wanted to cherish. The wind tugged
playfully at her ponytails, the world rushed by at dizzying speed,
and all she had to do was hold on and let someone else do the
driving.
They were on an elevated section of the roadway, and Usagi
caught a glimpse of the bay in the distance, shards of broken light
thrown from the water's choppy surface drawing the eye.
Then something else caught her eye, something much closer.
They were overtaking a red car in the lane beside them, and
something about it niggled at Usagi's memory. It only took a
moment for her to place it, though.
Minako had called it a Fransescetti or something, but all that
mattered was that it looked like the car that woman had been
driving. As they drew closer, she could make out the plate number
and felt a tingle of apprehension mixed with excitement.
It was the same car, all right. Ironically, after she'd gone to
so much trouble to track the woman down, she'd found her
completely by accident.
The bike came abreast of the low-slung car, and Usagi
turned her head to get a look at the driver. She was driving with
her window down, and Usagi caught a glimpse of luxuriant
platinum hair being tousled by the wind, then the curve of one high
cheekbone, the smooth line of the jaw.
The woman glanced over just at that moment and caught
her staring.
Makoto had a full helmet with a visor, but the one Usagi
was wearing left her face bare, and startled recognition flared
briefly in the woman's captivating dark eyes. It was as if Usagi
could actually FEEL the force of the woman's personality as their
gazes locked, and her mouth went inexplicably dry.
Then they were past, and Usagi realized her heart was
racing in her chest. She couldn't let this woman get to her like this;
if she was going to confront the stranger, she'd have to give the
impression of power. Usagi felt certain a woman like that would
eat her alive if she sensed weakness.
Her reverie was interrupted by a flash of motion that she
caught out of the corner of her eye. With a throaty roar, the red car
lunged ahead, pulling alongside them once more. The enigmatic
beauty stared brazenly at Usagi, keeping pace with the motorcycle
effortlessly. Usagi felt a warm flush spread from her neck down
across her chest, almost as if the woman's gaze was touching her,
insinuating itself into intimate, hidden places.
The sensation was disturbing; all the more so for not being
totally unpleasant.
Makoto had taken notice of the other vehicle's actions, and
was glancing over at it now. The driver took no notice, though, her
disconcerting gaze reserved solely for Usagi. Finally, the corners of
those lush red lips curled up arrogantly, and the woman blew a
contemptuous kiss from her fingertips. Then, with a high-pitched
whine, the car accelerated away, leaving Usagi feeling strangely
light-headed.
That ... woman. Usagi shook her head. Her confusion was
fading, to be replaced with anger. That woman had been taunting
her. She had some kind of hold over Rei, and she no doubt
believed that no one was strong enough to challenge it.
Well, she was wrong. Her shadow talents would find their
match in Usagi, princess of the White Moon. That woman would
soon find out that Rei had friends, friends who were not to be
trifled with.
Her plan of having Mamoru track the woman down had
been a good one, but suddenly Usagi was stricken by the need to
seize the moment. After all, the challenge had been issued, and she
had no intention of ignoring it.
"Hey!" Makoto shouted, her voice muffled by the helmet.
"Who was that?"
"Mako-chan! Can you catch up to her?" Usagi asked,
leaning forward. The visor of Makoto's helmet was depolarized,
and Usagi could see the taller girl's brow furrow.
"Catch her? Usagi ..."
"Please! I'll explain later, just don't lose her!" Makoto
paused a moment, staring at the exotic sports car that was now a
small speck quickly receding into the distance, then nodded her
head sharply.
"Okay," she called back. "Hold on tight!" Usagi huddled
against Makoto's back, excitement surging in her chest as the bike
leapt ahead almost eagerly.
The chase was on.
***
At least the rain had finally stopped.
I stared out the window of the cheap hotel room, yawning
hugely. The paint was worn and the walls were cracked in places,
but the room was fairly clean, not to mention warm and dry. The
accommodations were better than anything I'd seen in weeks.
Unfortunately, I hadn't slept well. There had been the
standard issue nightmares, the ones I still had sometimes; I hadn't
dreamt of my Nerima in months, but last night had found me once
again wandering those shattered streets, lost in a nightmare
landscape. In the dream I'd found Ukyou's shoe in the street, full
of blood. She was the last one to die, and I don't have very clear
memories of what happened after that thing took her. Maybe the
events in my dream really had happened and I'd just repressed
them, or maybe it was just a freaky dream thing. I honestly don't
know for sure.
After that, I'd turned a corner in the dream, figuratively and
literally, to find myself staring down the street that led past the
dojo. There, neatly lined up in the middle of the roadway, had been
lonely pairs of shoes; blood-soaked, they formed a line that
disappeared into the distance. Being a dream, I'd known who each
pair belonged to, and I shouted out a name for each as I ran along,
knowing I needed to get to the end of the line.
But I ran and ran, and there were always more shoes, and
they were all empty. All of them. I know it probably doesn't sound
frightening; I mean, shoes? Scary, huh? But I woke up in a cold
sweat, heart slamming against my ribs, and a name on my lips, the
only name I hadn't uttered in my dream.
No prizes for guessing whose name it was. I didn't say it,
though. I'm not sure why, but it just felt like saying her name aloud
would have been ... I don't know, improper somehow. I couldn't
live in the past forever.
Unfortunately, I couldn't make it let go either. Made for
bad nights, on occasion.
And then there was the other thing, of course. I couldn't
seem to get the events in the bathhouse out of my head. The
strange little girl and her weird rhyme had made guest appearances
in my dreams too, along with a lot of things that didn't frighten me
the way my earlier nightmares had, but did disturb me for reasons I
couldn't explain.
I hadn't really gotten any sleep until almost dawn, and now
it was nearly nine-thirty. I had to check out within the hour
unless I was going to stay another night, and that idea didn't really
appeal to me. The world outside my window was still somewhat
dingy and gray, despite the gleam of sunlight on fresh rainwater, but
I'd seen far worse. And the temptation to just lie down and let the
world go on its merry way was, I knew from experience, a both
seductive and dangerous one.
So I packed up my meagre possessions, stuffing them into
the hidden pocket in my sash, and headed out. Since I'd paid cash,
I'd had to pay the night in advance, so that saved me a trip to the
desk. The morning clerk was every bit as sullen as her counterpart
from the night-shift had been, and she ignored me effortlessly as I
strode through the cramped lobby and out the doors.
I turned and started walking aimlessly, forming the vague
intention of finding somewhere to eat. That was as far as my plans
for life went; beyond that, my calender was pretty uncluttered.
That thought brought me back to the sailor girls from the
previous day, Rei and Usagi. And the flashy dominatrix in the black
leather, too; the more I thought about it, the more certain I was that
she was the blonde in the cat outfit who'd been at their table. I was
still curious about them, or more specifically about their reaction to
me. I might be making too much out of it, but that girl Rei had
definitely recognized me, and I wanted to know why.
I had no idea how to find them, but thinking about it would
at least give me something to focus on for a while.
The air was cool and smelled clean, as if the rain had
washed all the smells of a city out of it. Faintly, I caught the tang
of salt water, although I couldn't see the ocean itself. Maybe I'd go
down to the waterfront later on. Somehow, watching the sea was
always soothing.
I walked for a time, heading back through the area I'd traversed
the previous night. The area was a mix of semi-abandoned
industrial buildings and new development, and I'd seen some places
where I was pretty sure I could get something to eat. As I turned
onto a familiar street, though, I found myself slowing.
A couple of blocks down, a small crowd was gathered
behind some hastily erected barricades. Flashing lights strobed
from an untidy tangle of police cars that blocked part of the road
with casual disregard.
Something about the scene tickled my memory, and I
stopped for a moment, hit by a sensation of deja vu. Frowning, I
started walking again, drawn by the atmosphere of fascination given
off by the crowd.
I had closed about half the distance when I finally realized
that the action was centred around the very bathhouse where I'd
seen the strange girl the previous night.
Fighting down a sense of apprehension, I edged up to the
back of the crowd. From this vantage point, I could see that there
was damage to the building's walls; some holes had been added
since my last visit, and debris was scattered across the narrow
sidewalk and into the street. Whatever had happened, it had been
sudden and violent.
An explosion, the rational part of my mind stated. Natural
gas, or whatever they use around here. This doesn't have to have
anything to do with you.
And that was absolutely true, but I didn't believe for a
second that it was anything simple.
"Hey," I said to a guy about my age who was peering
through the press at the uniformed cops clustered around the
remains of the front door. "What happened?"
"Place got hit last night," he replied without turning. "Torn
up real bad, from what I hear."
"Robbery?" I asked, striving to sound casual. The guy
snorted.
"Who in the hells robs a bathhouse?" he asked derisively.
"Naw, this was another weird night in the neighbourhood. They
really did a job on the place. Funny, huh?"
"What is?" I asked.
"Why would wraiths attack a bathhouse?"
I hard-edged shard of ice fell into my gut at his words.
Wraiths? First wraiths show up when I meet those two girls, then
they make another appearance, this time in force, again where the
girls are. And now, they attack a bathhouse where I had a vision or
something.
They must have showed up soon after I left. That thought
shattered some of the numbness that had begun to settle around me.
Coincidence? How could it be? But why? How were all these
things connected?
I had no idea, but I knew some girls who might be able to
shed some light on the matter.
The urge to find them had suddenly gotten stronger.
A lot stronger.
***
It took a while before the chase ended.
It seemed to Usagi that the woman in the red car was
enjoying the pursuit, dodging in and out of traffic, powering her
way through small gaps and surging ahead whenever she had any
space.
But even with two riders, the bike stayed with her. The ride
was exhilarating; Makoto may not have been the driver that Haruka
was, but she knew how to handle her machine. She never let their
quarry get too far ahead, but left a margin of safety in case the
other woman did something drastic.
When the racy red machine finally cut off the expressway, Usagi
figured things were about to get even stickier. Chasing someone
through city traffic was an entirely different matter, and she
wondered if she should tell Makoto to back off. She could still
proceed with her original plan, after all.
But the woman didn't go far. When she hit the surface
streets she slowed, then signalled and swung into a parking lot,
cruising all the way to the back before parking slantwise across two
spaces. Makoto followed cautiously, coming to a stop some
distance away. She planted her feet as the bike braked, and Usagi
peered around the taller girl's body to see the car's door swing up.
The woman emerged with that same sleek grace that Usagi recalled
from the previous night, then closed the door and just stood there, a
half-smile on her ruby lips.
Waiting.
The message was clear; Usagi would have to go to her.
Well, all right, then. After all, she'd chased the woman this far.
Usagi slipped off the back of the bike and loosened the chin strap of
her helmet. When Makoto killed the bike's engine and followed
suit, though, she shook her head.
"Here," she said, handing the tall girl the helmet. "Wait for
me here, okay?"
"What?" Makoto asked, her green eyes narrowing. "Usagi,
what is all this about? Who is that woman?"
"I'll explain later, I promise," Usagi said, gazing imploringly
into Makoto's eyes. "But I have to talk to her alone, Mako-chan.
It won't take long. Please?"
Makoto frowned, turning to stare at the woman across the
parking lot.
"All right," she said grudgingly. "But I'll be right here if
you need anything."
"Thanks, Mako-chan!" Usagi beamed. "You're the best!"
Turning, she began walking towards the other woman, trying to
ignore the maddening tingle of apprehension in her belly. Perhaps
she should let Makoto come with her; what if the woman tried
something?
No, she told herself firmly. I should be the one to handle
this. And my light is strong enough to beat her shadow, if it comes
to that. Squaring her shoulders, she marched straight up to where
the woman stood watching her with what appeared to be mild
amusement.
"Well, well," the woman murmured huskily. "The pretty
little flower. How is it that I always find you in the company of
such strong, beautiful women?" With this last, she flicked a lazy
glance over Usagi's shoulder towards where Makoto was waiting.
"I'm Usagi Tsukino," Usagi said firmly.
"Saekianna der Kae," the woman replied, her bottomless
dark eyes returning to Usagi, looking her over brazenly. Usagi felt
herself flush at the frankness of the woman's appraisal. "It seems
you wanted to talk to me, Usagi. Well, here I am."
"Yes," Usagi replied. Heat still suffused her cheeks, and
she paused to marshal her thoughts. This was beginning badly; next
to Saekianna's poise and effortless sophistication, she suddenly felt
young and clumsy. "It's about Rei."
"What about her?" Saekianna asked.
"I ..." Usagi stopped, cursing herself. There was something
about the woman facing her, an almost subliminal pull, that
distracted her, confused her. Remember, a little voice piped up.
Remember what she is. Don't be beguiled by her tricks.
"In the club," Usagi said firmly. "It was you who threw that
rose."
"Yes," Saekianna said, inclining her head slightly. "And if
you went to all this trouble just to thank me for saving you, I must
say I'm touched."
"What?" Usagi blurted. She hadn't expected the woman to
admit it so freely. And, in fact, she did have a point. She'd killed
the wraith that had been on the verge of attacking Usagi and the
waitress. "No! I mean ... I know what you are."
"And what is that, little flower?" Saekianna asked, crossing
her arms.
"A Sister of Shadows," Usagi said, lifting her chin to stare
defiantly into the woman's eyes. "A priestess of Dasma."
"In fact, I am the reigning High Priestess," Saekianna
corrected her haughtily, once again taking the wind from Usagi's
sails by refusing to be defensive. "And you, if I am any judge, claim
that pale witch Alieva as your patron. Perhaps you are even
favoured by her somehow." This last was delivered with an arched
eyebrow.
"Perhaps I am," Usagi replied, giving a smug smile of her
own. "I was raised by White Lady's sisterhood, after all. And I
know all about your kind."
"My kind?" the other woman echoed, more amused than
insulted. "And what sorts of things did you learn at the knees of
our counterparts?"
"The Sisters of Shadows know all sorts of ways to corrupt,
to manipulate, to control," Usagi said righteously. "That's how
you got a hold over Rei, isn't it?"
"What?" For the first time, the alluring beauty's control
slipped, and Usagi pressed her advantage.
"I don't know exactly what's going on, but Rei is my friend.
If you try to force her to serve you, I promise you'll answer to me,
in the name of the ..." Usagi broke off as Saekianna threw her head
back.
And started to laugh.
Even her laugh was sultry, caressing the ear like fine silk.
Usagi was too angry to care, though.
"What's so funny?" she demanded, furious. "If you think
I'm joking, you're wrong! Stay away from Rei from now on, or
there will be trouble!"
Saekianna suddenly moved so that she was standing directly
in front of Usagi, so close they were almost touching. Usagi was
enveloped in a heady wave of perfume, and the sense of the
woman's personality was so powerful it seemed to prickle across
her skin like raw electricity. The laughter had died away, but there
was still a trace of dark amusement in those entrancing eyes as they
locked with Usagi's, demanding her full attention.
"Is that what this is all about?" she asked softly, her breath
warm against Usagi's face. "You think I'm pulling Rei's strings?"
"Y-Yes," Usagi breathed, her throat strangely tight.
"Little fool," Saekianna crooned. "You say she's your
friend, but you understand nothing about her. She is no unwilling
pawn of the Sisterhood. She is one of us."
"What?" Usagi whispered. "You ... you're lying! That's
impossible!"
"Is it?" Saekianna reached out and caught Usagi's hand in
her own, slowly twining her fingers with the other girl's while
holding her gaze. Usagi was peripherally aware of Makoto moving
closer, but her gaze was trapped in the silken vise of the other
woman's mesmerizing eyes.
"Rei's ... she's not like you," Usagi said weakly.
"How would you know what she's like?" Saekianna
murmured, stroking the back of Usagi's captive hand with her
thumb in a delicately distracting manner. "I knew her when she was
younger, pale little flower. We were Sisters, partners ... and lovers.
I know the dark fires that drove her to the Sisterhood. I have
tasted them, ridden their fury and tamed them as much as any
person could. Together we fought, whored, seduced, and
subjugated, all in the name of our Dark Lady." Saekianna reached
up and lightly traced her long nails up the taut flesh of Usagi's
throat, curling her slim fingers around the curve of the girl's jaw
and tilting Usagi's head back.
"Hey!" Usagi heard Makoto growl from close by.
"Rei is not only like me, little flower," Saekianna whispered
huskily to the spellbound girl, "she is the only Sister who could ever
challenge me. She might have been Nightmistress one day, had she
stayed with us." The platinum-maned beauty let her fingers trail
slowly away from Usagi's chin, the sensation of those fingers
slipping over flesh very nearly making Usagi whimper. Her senses
seemed almost painfully acute, a hot prickling spreading over her
body as Saekianna raised the still captive hand towards her lips,
compelling dark eyes still haughtily dominating Usagi's own.
Just as those full red lips were about to brush her hand,
though, a thought made it through the submissive fog that had
somehow clouded her mind unopposed. She'd chosen to confront
this woman, both as Rei's friend and as princess of the White
Moon, and yet here she was not even putting up a fight. If she let
herself be dominated so easily, then perhaps she really didn't
deserve to be either.
With a cry, she yanked her hand back, stumbling off balance
with the force of the motion. Fortunately, Makoto was right behind
her and caught her easily, but Usagi realized she was breathing
heavily, as if she'd just run up twenty flights of stairs. Saekianna
regarded her with languid hauteur, her gorgeous eyes lidded.
"You would be easy, if I wanted you," the alluring beauty
said with the faintest sneer playing at her lips.
"You'd have to go through me first," Makoto said flatly.
Usagi had always thought the tall girl possessed a great intimidating
stare, and she was levelling one at Saekianna at that moment, green
eyes flashing coldly. Saekianna, for her part, was checking out
Makoto's long curvaceous body with undisguised interest. The tall
girl's form-fitting leather motorcycle suit left little to the
imagination.
"How a fragile little thing like you manages to attract such
strong women is beyond me," Saekianna said, ignoring Makoto's
terse threat and turning her gaze back to Usagi. "But I do know
this. Rei may feel some obligation to help you with your problems,
but you can never be to her what I was. Never. I know things
about her that she would never share with you."
"Shut up!" Usagi blurted, stung. Some part of her curdled
under the woman's taunts as they struck at her deepest insecurities,
lodging their barbs in the most vulnerable places.
"She wants to come back to Dasma's bosom," Saekianna
said softly, her eyes flashing. Usagi felt Makoto stiffen behind her
at the Dark Lady's name. "If you try to chain her down with your
insipid righteousness, she will only come to resent you."
"I don't believe you!" Usagi shouted, driven to distraction
by the woman's cool detachment. "Rei is not a Sister of Shadows!"
"You don't have to believe me," Saekianna said with a sly
smile. "Just ask her. Ask the girl you think you know so well, and
see what she says. Then you'll know, little flower. You'll know
that she has never revealed her true heart to you. That heart is only
for those she regards as equals." With that, Saekianna turned, her
hair flowing around her body like a cloak, and strode back to her
car. Usagi wanted to shout something as the arrogant beauty
slipped inside and started the powerful engine, something defiant
and devastating.
But she could only stand there and watch impotently as the
sleek machine powered out of the lot and back onto the street. The
confidence she'd felt earlier, when she'd schemed to find this
woman and confront her, had been shattered, vaporised. Had she
ever really thought that she was favoured of Alieva, that her power
would sustain her and dispel the shadows of the sultry priestess?
How could she have been so foolish?
"Usagi?" Makoto's voice was soft as her hands fell on
Usagi's shoulders, turning her. Usagi couldn't meet the other girl's
eyes, though. She felt belittled, humiliated.
"Usagi?" Makoto repeated. "Are you all right?"
Usagi swallowed against the lump in her throat, hot tears
stinging her eyes as they fought to be free. Rei IS my friend, she
told herself silently, but there was a terrible doubt there, its seeds
laid by Saekianna's taunts. She would never lie to me that way,
never.
Never.
But there was only one way for Usagi to set her heart at
rest.
She had to talk to Rei, had to hear it from her friend's own lips.
Rei, she thought desolately, why did she say those things?
***
"Careful!" Rei blurted.
"Look," Minako sighed, rolling her eyes. "There was lots
of space there, so just relax and let me drive."
"You call this driving?" Rei scowled.
"You didn't have to come," Minako pointed out.
"I'm tired of sitting around," Rei growled. "But I'm not so
bored that I want to get hospitalized, okay?"
Minako shrugged. When she'd returned with the groceries,
Rei had been on the phone with Ami. The last senshi was at the
train station, but the line didn't run any closer to this part of town,
so Minako had offered to go and pick her up. Rei had invited
herself along, since Usagi and Makoto hadn't returned from their
errands yet.
Minako drove with her usual flair, which people like Rei
insisted on interpreting as recklessness. It was funny; Minako had
seen first hand that Rei knew how to enjoy herself, but sometimes
the girl could be such a pain in the ass.
"It's nice to see Usagi happy again," Rei said at last.
"Mmm-hmm," Minako agreed. "After all that stuff that
Hotaru said that night, I wasn't sure how she'd react to being
around us again. I mean, finding out that we were all just pawns in
Hotaru's private little war ... that kind of thing could make you
doubt yourself, your purpose."
"Usagi was meant for better things than that, and she knows
it," Rei replied. "She's special."
"I know," Minako said with a fond smile.
"Do you?" Rei asked, her tone cutting. "Then why do you
insist on throwing yourself at her the way you do?"
"Come on, Rei," Minako shot back. "You're an
experienced woman, I don't have to explain this to you. Do I?"
"My point," Rei snapped. "Usagi has Mamoru. He's what
she wants, she's made that pretty clear ..."
"Fine by me," Minako replied. "I want our princess to be
happy as much as you do, Rei."
"Do you? Then why are you always mauling her, trying to
confuse her?"
"It's called flirting, Rei," Minako said flatly. "I know for a
fact that you're pretty good at it yourself."
"There's a difference between flirtation and throwing
yourself at someone!" Rei growled. "Usagi is not some tavern
wench, you know! You could show a little restraint!"
"You know what your problem is, Rei Hino?" Minako said,
wrenching the wheel to bolt around a pack of cars. "You've put
Usagi up on a pedestal, ever since we discovered our lives in the
Silver Millennium. You treat her like some fragile glass sculpture
that has to be protected from everything. In the beginning, there
was more than a little heat between you two, as I recall."
"Everything is about sex as far as you're concerned," Rei
snapped.
"Don't deny it, babe," Minako replied. "I was there. But
now you've idealized her relationship with the shining prince, and I
can't figure out why."
"Because she deserves to be happy!"
"I agree! But shouldn't she get to decide what makes her
happy? She likes it when I hit on her, Rei. It makes her feel sexy
and desirable and wanted. She's a woman, and she needs to be
treated that way, not as some untouchable princess!" Minako
turned her attention to the road, and an awkward silence grew up
between the two. Minako knew that, for some reason, Rei hated to
talk about Usagi in this context. She couldn't figure out why; Rei
was at least as sensual a woman as Minako herself, enjoying the
pleasures of touch and the fine arts of flirtation and seduction.
Well, if Rei wanted to deny her own feelings for whatever reason,
that was her business.
Minako took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Rei's
temper was up, and she wondered if the silence would drag out
until they reached the train station, or if Rei would give vent to her
anger. She could be pretty unreasonable when the subject was their
princess.
"I just don't want her to get hurt." Rei's words were soft in the
still air of the car's cabin, the cutting edge of anger gone now, and
Minako gave a silent sigh of relief.
"I don't either," Minako replied, changing lanes with a
cursory glance over her shoulder. "But unlike you, I don't think
she's some fragile, innocent waif. She's pretty tough, and she
knows what she wants. Mamoru may have more on his hands then
he bargained for."
"It's hard enough to find happiness in this screwed up city,"
Rei shot back darkly. "We should be helping her, not getting in the
way."
"Rei, I am not getting in the way!" Minako exclaimed,
exasperated. "Usagi loves the attention! It makes her feel beautiful
and special, which she is. And I refuse to hide the fact that I'd
happily bed her. But if Mamoru makes her happy, then I'm all for
them being together. I'm not trying to steal her away from him.
Why should I? After all, as princess she's entitled to concubines,
isn't she?"
That got Rei's attention.
"What?" the dark-haired girl blurted.
"Well, isn't she?" Minako continued. "She could have
Mamoru and all of us, if she wanted. Her mother exercised that
privilege in the early days of her rule, as I recall ..."
"This isn't the Court of the White Moon," Rei informed her.
"Things are different now."
"Well, she's still our princess," Minako said stubbornly.
"And there's nothing that would prevent her from having lovers, as
long as Mamoru approved, right?" Minako smiled slyly. "You may
be her favourite, Rei, but I bet I'll be her first concubine."
"You are really amazing," Rei said, shaking her head.
"That's a crazy idea. Usagi is NOT going to have concubines, or
consorts, or anything of the sort!"
"Why not?" Minako argued. "She's a healthy girl with healthy
appetites and a warm, sensual nature. I bet she'd love the idea."
"I hope you haven't been filling her head with this
nonsense," Rei muttered, slumping back against her seat.
"You know, you're almost a different person when it comes
to mentioning Usagi and sex in the same sentence," Minako mused,
watching Rei out of the corner of her eye. "I mean, you are a very
sexual person, Rei. You like to flirt, to tease, to seduce ... and you
like to have those things done to you in return. What's so wrong
about Usagi liking the same things?" Rei didn't respond at first,
rolling her head loosely on the headrest to stare out the window,
and Minako wondered if the other girl was going to respond.
"Desire has its dark side," Rei murmured at last, her voice
surprisingly soft. "You may think you know it, but you're wrong.
It's intoxicating, like a drug, and you can lose your way so easily
under its spell. You think you're in control but really, you're just
hanging on to the tiger's tail. And that tiger is hungry, Minako. I
don't want our princess ever driven by that hunger. I prefer her the
way she is now, a little too trusting, always wanting justice, always
wanting to make things right. That's special in this world, and
when we find a shining light like that we have to protect it."
There was something oddly wistful about Rei's words, and
Minako felt an odd certainty that Rei had been talking about herself
as much as Usagi. It made her wonder, not for the first time, about
Rei's shadowed past. She recalled the woman in the Ferengetti,
remembered the way she'd stood near Rei, her stance speaking
silent volumes of the intimacy between the two. Perhaps she should
push her luck just a little more, try to part the curtains that
obscured Rei's past just a little. Maybe if she understood what this
was really all about, she'd know why Rei was so strangely
protective of Usagi.
But at that moment, something caught her eye, and seconds
later she wrenched the wheel hard, swerving into a nearby parking
lot in a cacophony of horns and squealing tires. Rei had braced her
hands against the dashboard, and glared darkly at Minako as the car
came to a shuddering halt.
"Nice going," she growled, peering out from under the
silken screen of her dishevelled raven hair. "But this is a tube
station, genius. Ami's at the surface station near the strip,
remember?"
"Come on," Minako said shortly, bolting from the car. She
moved around the other cars parked nearby so that she had a
clearer view of the building ahead of them. It was an interchange
station, a nexus of commuter lines for the tube lines and surface
transit. As such, it saw a lot of commuter traffic.
Right at the moment, all those commuters seemed intent on
leaving the building. Quickly.
"What's going on?" Rei asked, following Minako's gaze.
"What's wrong?"
The reply came in the form of something bursting from the
flat roof of the terminal building, propelled by a beam of intense
blue light. That something appeared to be a wraith, and the light ...
"That's her, isn't it?" Minako asked, eyes narrowed. The
energy seemed the same as that used by the mysterious red-head
from the club.
"I think so," Rei replied with a grim smile. "Looks like we
can finally get some answers from this girl.
"If the wraiths don't get her first." Minako winced as
several windows along the front of the terminal shattered in quick
succession.
"They won't," Rei said, breaking into a run. "Come on!"
***
It had only taken them a few seconds to find someplace to
change. Mars suspected the urgent desire of nearly everyone
present to be somewhere else had something to do with that.
Broken glass crunched underfoot as she dashed into the
nearly deserted building, Venus close behind.
Oops. Make that Mistress V close behind ...
"Couldn't you just wear your fuku for once?" Mars snapped
as she ran. V smirked.
"I stand out this way," she informed the fiery senshi.
"Anyway, I think I look much better in black than in orange."
Mars didn't bother reply, scanning the main concourse for
trouble. There was debris scattered across the cool polished tile,
and water gushed from a broken pipe in one of the walls. Most of
the action, though, seemed to be near the stairs leading to the tube
platform.
As she led the charge, several things registered at once.
First, although there was some blood evident there were no bodies,
which meant they'd been lucky so far. Second, there were a few
wraiths flying around, but they were hardly the only threat present.
They were outnumbered by gargoyles.
And third, the ubiquitous red-head was at the centre of
things once again.
Mars watched as several of the airborne gargoyles tried to
swarm the girl. She faded quickly back into the stairwell, forcing
the creatures to come at her from the front. One gargoyle, a huge
black-skinned specimen, wheeled in midair and tore one of the
circling wraiths in half with its huge talons. The remaining two
wraiths shrieked in anger, and the red-head took advantage of the
momentary diversion to turn and head down the stairs.
"Smart," V murmured. "Down on the platform, there's no
room for flying."
"Let's catch them in a crossfire before they notice us," Mars
replied. "Ready?" V nodded and broke to the right. Mars closed
in a little, sticking close to the wall. The remaining gargoyles were
facing off against the wraiths, enraged beyond reason. In a perfect
world, they could have just waited for the monsters to finish each
other off. But this wasn't a perfect world; the gargoyles
outnumbered the competition badly, and anyway, waiting only
increased the chances of that girl slipping away again.
However irresponsible V could be in her personal life, she
held up her end of a fight. Once in position, she signalled to Mars
with a small nod, and the two senshi attacked together. A series of
explosive fireballs intersected a storm of luminous hearts just where
the two groups of monsters were fighting, and the results were as
quick as they were deadly. Only two creatures escaped the initial
onslaught, and they were quickly mopped up by the two senshi.
Mars met her partner at the top of the stairs, and with hand
signals indicated that they should descend on opposite sides,
covering each other. V nodded, but before they could start down
an unearthly roar reverberated up from below, followed by the
sound of shouting. Trading glances, the two raced down the stairs,
only to stop short at the scene that greeted them.
A train had stopped partway into the long boarding
platform, and from the angle of the first car it appeared to have
derailed slightly. The reason it had stopped was crouched on the
tracks, baying angrily as it butted the lead car with its large,
reptilian head.
A salamander. Even as Mars watched, the huge creature
whipped its head back on its long neck. She knew it was preparing
to let loose with a blast of flame, and she could still see people
scrambling back towards the cars still within the tunnel. They
weren't moving fast enough, though; some of them were going to
be badly hurt, if not killed outright.
"Hey, ugly! Over here!" The shout was accompanied by a
large, sharp-edged chunk of concrete hurled with astounding
accuracy. It bounced off the tough hide of the salamander's snout
without causing any visible damage, but the creature's attention
was effectively diverted.
It was the red-head again. Of course. She was moving
along the platform in the opposite direction from the stalled train,
shouting and waving to draw the creature's attention. The
salamander wavered, as if uncertain what to do.
Well, whoever she really was, that girl had the right idea.
They couldn't let the salamander flame the train before it was
evacuated. Mars broke into a run, heading towards the edge of the
platform where the mysterious girl was standing.
"Hey!" the girl shouted again as the salamander began to
turn back to the train. Mars let loose with a bolt of fire which
seemed to splash harmlessly off the monster's hide.
"For the record," V gritted as she caught up to her partner,
"salamanders attack with fire, and they're pretty resistant to it."
"I noticed!" Mars shot back. The blast had gotten the
creature's attention again, however, and the beam of brilliant yellow
light that lanced into its hindquarters seemed to settle the matter. It
began to turn around, surprisingly quick and agile for its size, one
of its forearms snapping a pillar like it was made of balsa wood.
The red-head leapt down to the tracks and ran into the tunnel, with
Mars and V right behind.
"Can it get turned around?" Mars asked. V glanced back.
"Oh, yeah," she confirmed. "Limber fellow. I believe
they're good at fitting into small spaces, too, which means he'll be
joining us in here."
"What if he makes with the fire?" the red-head called back.
Mars looked at V, who shrugged.
"Great," Mars growled. "The train's safe, but we're going
to be toasted.
"Whoa!" The red-head's voice drifted back to them, and
within moments they had caught up to her and discovered the
problem for themselves. A gaping hole had been opened in the
floor of the tunnel, the metal rails twisted like putty where they
jutted jaggedly into empty space.
"At least we know where he came from," V said cheerfully.
"Now what?" All three turned at once to see the enraged
salamander wedging itself into the tunnel behind them. Its tiny eyes
seemed to glow a baleful red, and tiny flames curled up from its
mouth as it took a bead on them.
"Into the hole?" V asked.
"Into the hole," Mars confirmed. The red-headed girl
apparently concurred; she leapt into the darkness ahead of them.
Mars followed suit, and winced as flames rocketed through the
space where they'd been standing only moments before. Heat
rippled over them, stealing breath and prickling skin even as she fell
through the dark, hoping their landing wouldn't be difficult.
It wasn't. The fall was farther than she'd expected, but the
surface was even, and she caught a glimpse of it rushing up in time
to set herself, landing neatly and rolling away. The lighting down
here was much dimmer, but as her eyes adapted she could see they
were in another tunnel, somewhat smaller than the first.
The skitter of small rocks falling alerted her to the
salamander's presence at the top of the hole, and she retreated
down the tunnel behind V and the red-head.
"It's coming down," V pointed out helpfully. "What's the
plan?"
"No place to hide this time," the red-head said.
"Okay," Mars replied, stopping in the middle of the tunnel.
"That thing's hide is pretty tough. My fire is definitely not going to
hurt it."
"I can fire a Crescent Beam into its mouth when it tries to
flame us," V said. "One shot right through the roof of the mouth
and blammo! Done like dinner."
"Your beam is pretty narrow," Mars said, her pulse
quickening as the rain of debris began to intensify. "And I don't
think a salamander's brain is that big. If you miss, we're toast!"
"Ummm," the red-head said, pointing. The salamander's
head and neck were emerging from the hole, and as it spotted them
its sinuous bulk dropped out of the opening with a solid thud. The
creature fixed them with its cold reptilian gaze, making an ominous
growling noise deep in its throat. The wedge-shaped head reared
back, and flames began to lick around the edges of its mouth.
"Come on, open up," V murmured, extending her finger as
the salamander lumbered forward.
'The roof!" the red-head exclaimed. "If we concentrate our
fire, we can bring the roof down on that thing!"
"Tricky," Mars breathed. The salamander stopped, flames
intensifying. Mars swore the air in the tunnel was getting hotter.
"Mars?" V asked, holding her pose. There was no time to
argue the merits of the plan; it seemed a better bet than V's sniper
shot. And how tender was the mouth of something that breathed
fire, anyway?
"Do it!" Mars shouted. As the salamander brought its head
forward, the three girls unleashed their attacks at the roof above it.
There was a loud roar, and a wave of hot air hammered them as
rock and dust exploded everywhere. By unspoken accord all three
retreated, not wanting to be caught in the cave-in.
The noise went on for what seemed like a long time but
probably wasn't more than fifteen seconds before finally tapering
off. Mars waved at the heavy dust that hung in the air, coughing
and grimacing at the gritty taste in her mouth.
"V! You okay?"
"You bet," the blonde replied.
"Me too, thanks for asking," the redhead said wryly. Mars
stood with her back to the tunnel wall, making sure the mystery girl
couldn't get behind her without being obvious about it. When the
dust had cleared enough to see in the dim light, it became apparent
that there was no further danger from the salamander.
Unfortunately, the cave-in had completely blocked the
tunnel, and the roof around the blockage looked very unstable.
They would not be leaving the way they'd entered. They'd have to
walk to the next station.
For the moment, though, that was the least of her concerns.
She turned her gaze to the red-head, who was shaking her head
ruefully as she checked out the damage.
"Well," V said, her attention also fixed on the mystery girl.
"Here we all are."
"Yes," Mars agreed. "And I think it's about time we had
some answers."
***
Saekianna strode through the doors of her mansion, heels
clicking sharply on the polished marble floor. One of the household
staff waited, dressed in the severely cut, tight-bodiced black and
white uniform that managed to be alluring despite its plainness.
She, like all of the staff, was exquisitely lovely, her blue eyes
lowered demurely as she bowed deeply to the lady of the manor.
Her behaviour befitted that of a servant greeting her
employer; anyone entering would have found nothing out of the
ordinary about her. They certainly would not have guessed that
she, like all the other staff, were Maidens of the Rose, serving the
Sisterhood as was their calling.
"Nightmistress," the girl murmured in her pleasingly
modulated voice. "Mistress Mirra awaits you in your study."
"Have tea sent up, and prepare the Cage for my practice
session," Saekianna replied, handing the girl her leather driving
gloves.
"At once, Nightmistress," the girl replied smoothly, bowing
again and moving off with supple grace. Saekianna went directly to
her study, entering to find Mirra staring out the window.
"Nightmistress," the other woman greeted her with a bow.
"Mirra," Saekianna replied. She seated herself behind her
desk and motioned the other woman to sit as well.
Mirra was one of the strongest of the Sisters, and
Saekianna's right hand. Her dark hair was cut short and full to
frame her face, accentuating her strong bone structure and piercing
ice-blue eyes. She wore her usual enigmatic smile as she studied
Saekianna carefully.
"The transaction was completed without difficulty?"
Saekianna asked.
"Yes," Mirra replied. "The deal is done."
"Good." Saekianna waited as another Maiden entered the
room with a tray, moving unobtrusively to set it on the desk. She
poured two cups full of steaming tea, placing one in front of
Saekianna and giving the other to the smiling Mirra before bowing
and taking her leave. Mirra watched the gentle sway of the girl's
hips as she walked, only tearing her gaze away once the door had
been closed.
"The Maidens are all aflutter," she sighed, sipping her tea.
"They sense that something is in the air."
"Indeed?" Saekianna replied. "I am certain that our Sisters
can think of some outlet for that energy."
"They have been more than happy to do just that," Mirra
admitted.
"Something troubles you, Mirra?" Saekianna asked, noting
the other woman's posture and tone.
"As it happens, yes," Mirra replied, inclining her head.
"There is not much time left before Baniesti. Can we really afford
this distraction?"
"You have made your concerns on this point clear, Mirra,"
Saekianna replied coolly.
The other woman sat back, her icy blue gaze steady.
"May I speak freely?" she asked at last.
"Of course, Mirra," Saekianna replied. "You know I value
your counsel." Some of the stiffness went out of Mirra's slim
frame, and she smiled wryly.
"You've brought us this far, Saekianna," Mirra said at last,
her smile widening into one far more engaging than her usual
expression. "Why do we need these outsiders? Bringing them in
just seems like a risk. There's so much at stake."
"I am not bringing in outsiders," Saekianna replied, sipping
her tea. "If we use them, it will be as Thorns, nothing more."
"You are going to a lot of trouble to find them," Mirra
pressed. "The bounty hunter we're sure about, but this one ..."
"Mistress V is Sailor Venus," Saekianna murmured, a silky
smile playing at her lips. "After last night, I am certain."
"I see," Mirra replied. "But it will still take time to find her,
and more still to make her over into a Thorn that we can use. And
time is something we are in short supply of."
"I would very much like to use these girls come Baniesti,"
Saekianna said softly, pinning her lieutenant with her gaze. "The
irony of the situation appeals to me greatly, as does the prospect of
their ... indoctrination. However, that is not why I've been seeking
an opening into their circle."
"Then why?" Mirra asked, her brow creased.
"This Sailor Moon," Saekianna breathed, leaning back in
her chair. "Her name, her emblem, invoke the White Moon. I want
to know what relationship, if any, she has to the cursed White
Lady. If she is some sort of avatar of that pale bitch, we should
certainly deal with her before Baniesti, or we may find an
unexpected obstacle to our success."
"I have found nothing to link her to the temple," Mirra
pointed out. "And she hadn't even been sighted for over a month,
at least until yesterday."
"But as you pointed out, Mirra, there is so very much at
stake. I will not permit this girl and her sisters to stand in our way.
If she opposes us, then she will either submit or die. Either way, I
must know for certain if she is a threat. I cannot find her, but I
believe I will be able to find this Mistress V. She seemed very
protective of that club and its patrons last night."
"I hope you're right," Mirra said, frowning into her tea,
"because the other one, Jupiter, seems to have gone to ground.
There was some sort of incident last night, bad blood between her
and a group of weres over a capture. She'll be even harder to track
now."
"Have faith, Mirra. The Dark Lady herself smiles on us."
Saekianna removed a slip of paper from her tailored jacket, holding
it between two fingers. "Tell me, do you remember my old
partner?"
"Rei Darkeyes?" Mirra asked. "Of course. You two were
Fire and Ice, unstoppable. Like a force of nature."
"Yes," Saekianna mused softly, staring at the folded slip of
paper. "Yes, we were that. And will be again."
"You've seen her?" Mirra asked, surprised.
"Indeed. There's only one obstacle to her rejoining us, and
I intend to deal with that obstacle personally." Saekianna held out
the slip of paper. "Trace this license plate number, and find out
what you can about the owner of the motorcycle. I want a full
report by the time I finish my workout."
"No problem," Mirra replied, taking the paper and bowing.
After she was gone, Saekianna reclined a moment, a hungry smile
on her lips.
Usagi Tsukino, she thought. You are going to find out
what it means to stand in my way. I'll see you kneel before me, and
once you've pledged yourself to the Maidens of the Rose, there's
no way Rei will be bound by you.
She'll be free to join us again.
Saekianna pictured how the doe-eyed little blonde would
look in the black and white uniform of her house staff as she rose
and walked to the door, a warm tingle in her belly.
Everything was falling into place for her. Soon, she would
be in possession of everything she desired.
Everything.
***
And here I'd started off my day certain that I'd never find
these girls again. Just goes to show how often I'm right, I guess.
The one named Rei was staring at me suspiciously. I hadn't
seen her do anything during that first fight, but now I knew she
could throw fire around.
The other one was definitely the girl who'd been at their table in
the club. She was wearing that risque outfit again, all shiny leather
and tight lacings and bare skin. I didn't see how she could walk in
those boots, much less fight, but she'd done all right.
Of course, now that we were here, I had no idea what to
say.
"Well, here we all are," Mistress V said. Unlike her friend,
she was smiling at me while giving me the once over.
"Yes," Rei said coolly. "And I think it's time we had some
answers."
"Answers?" I echoed blankly. I hadn't known there were
questions.
"Yes," Rei said. "For starters, who are you and what do
you want with the senshi?"
"Um, Ranko. Ranko Saotome. And I don't want anything
with any senshi."
"Really?" Rei asked acidly. "So it's just coincidence that
we keep meeting, and every time we meet, wraiths show up?"
"Hold on," I protested. "The way I see it, every time I see
YOU things get weird. I never saw a wraith before I met you!"
She didn't seem impressed by that argument.
"What exactly are you up to?" Rei shot back. "Or do you
want me to believe it's just coincidence you keep showing up
wherever we go?"
"Um," I said. "Well, I did follow you and your friend Usagi
to that club last night, but that was only because ..."
"What?" the dark-haired girl blurted. She and Mistress V
were looking at me strangely, and I stopped, trying to think of what
I'd said.
"Um, I followed you," I repeated slowly. "But ..."
"My friend?" Rei asked slowly, her eyes locked on mine.
"What are you talking about?"
"The girl with the odango and the ponytails," I said,
wondering why she was acting so strange about something so
simple. "You called her Usagi when I ran into you on the sidewalk
..."
"You're thinking of someone else," Rei said firmly.
Mistress V was looking back and forth between us, her eyes
shadowed by the brim of her cap, and I couldn't help but think that
there was more to this than I understood.
"Right," I said with a placating gesture. "So I followed two
girls named Rei and Usagi, who are someone else entirely, to that
club, where they met with the girl in the kitty-cat outfit." I nodded
at Mistress V.
"Mars ..." Mistress V began.
"How?" Rei asked angrily, her hands clenched into fists.
"How did you know?" I took an instinctive step back. I know
temperamental women, and this one was definitely getting mad.
"How did I know what?" I asked, thoroughly confused.
"How did you know who we were?" she asked, glaring.
"Look," I said, beginning to get more than a little irritated
myself. "If you don't want people to recognize you, then wear a
bloody mask or something!"
"That's just the point," Mistress V said, cocking her head.
"People DON'T recognize us like this. It's a magic thing, a ..."
"Glamourie," Rei said flatly. "Part of the transformation
magic. But we look exactly the same to you, don't we?"
"Well, yeah," I said. "Except for the clothes, of course."
"Do you suppose that's why you had the vision?" Mistress
V asked her.
"Vision?" I broke in.
"Mars had a vision," the sultry blonde told me, "and you
were in it."
"Wait a minute," I said, holding up my hands. "A vision?
So that's why you freaked when you saw me? You didn't
recognize me?"
"I recognized you from my vision," Rei, or Mars, or
whatever she was calling herself, said. "Where else would I
recognize you from?"
"Well," I sighed. "I thought you might know someone ...
um, who looks just like me. That's all."
"You mean you've got a twin?" Mistress V asked. "Hey,
maybe SHE'S the one you saw in your vision, Mars!"
"A twin," Mars said flatly. "Convenient."
"I said maybe," I replied, stung a little by her tone. "That's
why I was following you, to find out for sure."
"You don't know if you have a twin?" Mars asked in
disbelief.
"It's a long story," I sighed. "So what did you see in this
vision?"
"I saw you bringing danger to the people around me," Mars
said, her eyes narrowed. "I saw a great shadow spreading,
covering everything. And you were at the centre of it."
"Look, I've got nothing against you or your friends," I said.
"I'm just passing through." The hair on the back of my neck
prickled painfully, though. A great shadow? There was a lot of
death and destruction in my wake; could that be what she'd seen?
Or could it be that all that darkness was still following me around,
waiting to spring up again?
"Well, I've got some old business to get out of the way
first," V said, walking towards me with a slow, sinuous gait. I
tensed, wondering if she was going to attack. I really didn't want
to fight these girls; nothing I'd seen indicated that they were the
bad guys. In fact, anyone who fought the monsters was okay in my
book.
She stopped directly in front of me and stared into my eyes
for a moment. Hers were blue and sparkled with an inner fire,
something playful but with a sharp edge. She smelled like girl and
leather, not at all a bad combination. In this form, I was shorter
than she was, so I had to look up slightly to meet her gaze, keeping
my face expressionless. This girl struck me as being unpredictable.
Still, there's unpredictable and then there's unpredictable;
when she slipped her arm around my waist, I was caught off-guard.
When she dipped me low and kissed me, off-guard got
upgraded to flabbergasted.
She was pretty strong, holding my weight easily in her arms.
Her lips were soft, but the kiss was anything but. Her mouth slid
over mine, eliciting wild spikes of pleasure in my chest as it created
a silken friction along the tender skin of my lips. As she began to
pull back, she caught my lower lip between hers and pulled gently,
parting with a gentle plosive sound as she righted me again, placing
me back on my feet.
"Nyahaaa," I mumbled. I think my eyes may have been a
little glazed, too. Her actions had just been so entirely unexpected,
my brain was having a little trouble catching up to events. Also, my
knees felt distinctly rubbery.
"Excuse me," Mars said wearily. "Don't you think we
should find out whether or not she's our enemy before you start
doing that?"
"Nope," V replied, still staring down into my eyes. "This
way, if she does turn out to be a bad guy, I still get to kiss her."
"Um," I said, testing out my synapses. A few of them
actually seemed to be firing, so I tried again. "Um. What ... why
did you just do that?"
"That," V said, trailing her gloved fingers along my cheek
lightly, "was me saying thank-you."
"Oh. For?"
"Last night at the club," the blonde bombshell replied with
a sultry smile. "You saved my ass, remember?"
"Ah. Well, uh ... you're welcome," I managed weakly.
"Can you just be serious for ONE minute, V?" Mars asked,
sounding distinctly irritated.
"I was being serious," V told her with a sniff. "I thought
she deserved a reward for saving my life. And note, Mars, that
saving my life tends to indicate a low probability that she wants me
dead."
"So you're going to totally ignore my vision, then?" Mars
fired back. V stepped away from me and went to face the other
girl.
"Well, it's not like you're infallible," V said slyly.
"Is this about Hotaru again?" Mars growled, back rigid with
suppressed anger. Still reeling from the unexpected kiss, I watched
them in amazement. They seemed determined to get on each
other's nerves; despite that, neither of them actually turned her
back on me.
Well, fine. I didn't totally trust them either.
But come on. A vision?
Hey, I was a girl! She'd kissed me like that when we were
both girls!
And what kind of vision, anyway?
"Uh, ladies?" I said weakly, tired of trying to marshal my
racing thoughts. They ignored me, bickering away.
"Ladies?" I repeated, louder this time. They stopped,
turning to stare at me together.
"Yes?" Mars asked tightly.
"The train is safe, the salamander's squished," I said, "but
what about us? What do we do now?"
"Ranko's right," V replied. "We should get out of here.
We can discuss what to do about this ... situation later."
"Fine," Mars grumbled. She pinned me with her deep violet
eyes. "But I'm keeping my eye on you, so don't try anything."
"Like what?" I asked defensively.
"Like blowing up the moon," V said with a secretive smile.
"Pardon?" I blinked.
"Never mind," Mars said with a put-upon sigh. "Let's just
get going, all right?"
***
Makoto felt a strange mixture of relief and apprehension as
she read the note Minako had left. The trip to pick up Ami had
only delayed the inevitable, but at least it gave her some time to try
and talk to Usagi.
She turned, watching as the lovely blonde walked slowly
across the floor to settle on one of the couches like a wind-blown
thistle. Makoto hated the sudden fragility in her friend, hated that
stuck-up snobby bitch for causing it.
And hated herself for not being able to fix it.
She'd heard enough of what had passed between Usagi and
the stranger to understand how grave the situation was. That
woman had claimed Rei was a priestess of Dasma's order. Not
only that, but Usagi, despite her weak protestations to the contrary,
seemed to believe her ... or at least, not totally disbelieve her.
That alone told Makoto there was more going on than met
the eye. Usagi would never believe that her Rei was a worshipper
of the Dark Lady, not without damned good reason. And Usagi'd
obviously known the woman in the Ferengetti, but how? How
would a girl like Usagi, nurtured by the White Sisters, know a
sultry priestess of the White Lady's opposite number?
She dithered a moment, watching Usagi stare vacantly into
space. Rei would be back soon, and it would probably be helpful if
Usagi was a little less out of it when that happened. Before she
could take more than two steps, however, the phone rang. Cursing
under her breath, she went to answer it, keeping one eye on Usagi.
"Yeah?" she barked.
"Makoto?"
"Ami? Hey, what's up? I just got back and found a note
saying that Minako and Rei are on their way to get you."
"They were supposed to be," Ami replied, her voice breathy
with concern. "But I called a half hour ago and they still haven't
shown up."
"What?" Makoto frowned. In that case, they should have
been at the train station already. "No sign of them?"
"None," Ami said. "I was getting a little worried so I
thought I'd call."
"Ami, can you grab a taxi here?" Makoto asked quietly,
eyeing Usagi. She could go pick Ami up herself, but that would
mean leaving Usagi alone.
Not an option.
Ami agreed readily, and Makoto gave her directions, then
hung up. Usagi hadn't moved at all during the entire conversation,
and Makoto sighed. As for Rei and Minako, this didn't have to be
a crisis. They might just be caught in traffic. If they made it to the
train station and Ami wasn't there, they'd no doubt call. At any
rate, there wasn't anything she could do but wait.
Or maybe there was something. Checking the fridge, she
found that Minako had gotten the groceries before heading off to
pick up Ami. She walked up behind Usagi and leaned over the
back of the couch, beaming.
"Well, we've got food," she announced. "How about some
brunch while we wait for the others to get back?"
"I'm not hungry," Usagi said wanly. Makoto winced.
Not hungry? Usagi?
This was going to be even worse than she'd thought.
***
Mars kept an eye on Ranko, trying to figure out exactly
what they were going to do.
It was bad enough that this girl knew who they really were.
The situation was exacerbated in her eyes, though, by the fact that
she refused to do anything hostile or provocative.
In fact, thus far she'd fought against the monsters at every
opportunity, not incidentally protecting innocent bystanders,
although whether by design Mars couldn't say.
It was maddening. Articulating the emotional impact, the
certainty of disaster, that had come across in her vision, was
extremely difficult at the best of times; the others just didn't
understand how horrifying the experience had been.
On the other hand, Mars didn't sense anything from the girl
that would account for what she'd seen. Oh, Ranko was definitely
unusual; strong and incredibly fast, a lethal fighter able to harness
her own chi as a weapon, if Mars judged her energy attacks
correctly.
And quite a looker. Her loose, boyish clothing tried
valiantly to disguise the curves of her petite frame, but wasn't quite
up to the task as her athletic stride pulled her pants tight against her
rounded buttocks with every step and her shirt outlined high firm
breasts as it was cinched tightly around a narrow waist. Her long,
thin flame-red braid snaked sinuously along her back as she moved,
and unruly bangs made a silken frame for high cheekbones and deep
blue eyes that showed the slightest hint of gray when the light
struck them just so.
It was the eyes that bothered her the most. In her vision,
they'd been dead orbs, windows on a soulless husk. But these eyes
were very much alive, full of vitality, strength ... and shadows,
lurking deep beneath the surface.
Mars didn't begrudge the girl her shadows; many people,
herself included, carried their own personal darkness around. But
what did it mean? Was Ranko really a harbinger of disaster? Could
the fate revealed in her vision be avoided if Ranko's eyes remained
alive with the glimmer of her soul?
Too many questions. And no answers.
"Man, we should have reached the next station by now," V
groused. That roused Mars from her reverie.
V had a point; they HAD been walking for quite a while.
"I don't think this is a regular tube tunnel," Mars said. "It
was quite a distance underneath the main tunnel, remember. It
must be some kind of maintenance tunnel."
"Whatever it is, it doesn't get used much," Ranko said,
crouching. "These rails are all pitted and rusty." V crouched
beside the girl, who promptly blushed a bright crimson that rivalled
her hair. Mars suppressed a sigh; it was hard to take a girl who
blushed so easily as a serious threat. And after all, it had just been
one kiss.
She knelt and saw that Ranko was correct about the rails,
though. Frowning, she stood again and moved over to the wall to
get a better look at the dim lights which provided them with their
illumination. What she found surprised her.
"Glowstones," she murmured.
"What?" V asked, joining her.
"These aren't electric lights, they're glowstones," Mars
said. "They used to use them a lot in the last century, before the
Sidhe Wars drove up the cost of such things."
"So?" V asked, frowning.
"So," Mars replied, taking in their surroundings with a
critical eye, "this is no maintenance tunnel. I think we may be in
part of the old tube system, a forgotten line."
"Forgotten?" Ranko asked. "What do you mean,
forgotten?"
"Saeni has been attacked many times in her history, and
rebuilt each time," Mars said absently. "The Drakennin Sidhe
pushed Queen Virla's forces all the way back to Saeni during the
last war, and the city was badly damaged."
"But she did spank their pointy-eared asses," V grinned.
"Yes, and levelled parts of the city in the process," Mars
mused, turning. "I've got no idea of which way we're going now
..."
"Well, if this was a tube tunnel, there still has to be a station
somewhere, right?" Ranko asked.
"Presumably," Mars murmured. "Hopefully it'll have easy
access to the surface, although that doesn't seem likely."
"Right. If people knew this tunnel was here, they'd have
scavenged all these pretty glowstones," V agreed. "Well, I guess
we'll just have to find a station and go from there."
They set off again, trudging through the abandoned tunnel.
All things considered, Mars thought the tunnel was in excellent
shape. She tried to recall some details about the underground
transit system back around Queen Virla's time, but couldn't
remember anything helpful. History spoke of furious battles and
heroism; it tended to neglect mundane details such as the municipal
transit system.
She did recall that monsters had been a problem even then,
and regular patrols had kept the tunnels clear of intrusion. She
didn't think they had to worry too much about that, though.
Or did they? After all, the salamander seemed to have
gotten into the current tube tunnel from this one ...
Not a comforting thought.
"Damn," V said suddenly.
"What's wrong?" Mars asked.
"Someone is still waiting for us at the surface line station,"
the blonde said sheepishly. Mars pinched the bridge of her nose
and nodded. She'd forgotten all about that.
"When we don't call, she'll phone the apartment again,"
Mars pointed out. "Nothing much we can do now anyway."
They continued on in silence for a time, their pace
discouraging idle chatter as they ate up distance, waiting for some
sign of possible egress. It was hard to say how much time had
passed since they'd first started out, but it had to have been at least
a couple of hours when Mars called a rest break.
"Man," V grumbled. "This train must have been the
express." She took off her hat and shook out her blonde mane,
combing her gloved fingers through it in a way that caused it to
cascade down her back in an eye-catching silken disarray. Mars
knew the girl well enough to know that she was putting on a show;
she'd certainly managed to catch Ranko's attention, although the
red-head was studiously pretending not to watch.
"Maybe we just ought to blast our way out," V sighed.
"Oh, marvellous idea," Mars agreed. "Except we have no
idea what's above us. We could drop a train on ourselves, for
instance. Or just crush ourselves under tons of rock."
"What do you think?" V asked Ranko.
"Um," the red-head hemmed, obviously surprised to have
been asked. "I think she's right. We shouldn't do anything that
extreme unless we have to."
"Fine," V said. "Be boring."
"Come on, let's go," Mars said wearily. "The sooner we
find an exit, the sooner we can get out of this bloody tunnel."
They set off again, Mars letting Ranko get a distance ahead
as she fell into step beside V.
"Okay," the senshi of fire said in a low voice. "Once we're
out of here, we still have a problem. What are we going to do
about her?"
"I have a plan," V replied gravely. "I'll take her home and
seduce her. Once she's thoroughly smitten with me, I'll instruct her
never to reveal our identities."
"Can't you be serious for once?" Mars hissed.
"Well, what do you want to do? Kill her?"
"Of course not!" Mars gritted. "But we can't ignore this
problem, V. It isn't going to go away by itself!"
"Listen," V said after a moment, her blue eyes following
Ranko's progress closely. "I know you'll take this as a shot, but
I'm not convinced that you're right about her. My instincts are
pretty good despite what you probably think, and I don't get any
sort of bad vibe from her at all."
Mars nodded glumly. She could hardly argue this point;
after all, nothing the girl had done had revealed any animosity
towards the senshi at all. The more Mars saw, the less inclined she
was to believe that the girl was concealing some sort of grudge
against them.
"I know how it sounds," the raven-tressed senshi sighed
after a moment. "But in my vision, she was different, not like this
at all."
"Different how?" V pressed. "Evil?"
"No, more like ... empty. Soulless, like a zombie. Her eyes
were just dead. It wasn't like she was calling the darkness out of
malice, but more like ..." Mars broke off, frustrated at her inability
to articulate the jumble of feelings her vision had thrust upon her.
"Like?"
"Like she was beyond caring," Mars finished. "Like nothing
mattered anymore. And there was a bigger shadow behind her, one
I couldn't see clearly. It might have been urging her on ... that part
I can't really explain. But I'm certain the danger is real."
"I'm not questioning that," V murmured quietly. "But does
Ranko really have that much power? She's a wicked fighter, but
what you're talking about goes way beyond that. And if something
or someone pushes her to the point you describe, maybe the only
way for us to prevent this disaster is to keep her safe."
"Maybe," Mars said slowly. "I don't know. But I suspect
we're going to have to keep her close until we figure this out."
"Music to my ears, babe," V grinned, her demeanor
switching from serious to devilish in the blink of an eye. "I think
our hot little tomboy is a trifle shy. And the shy ones are always
fun to seduce ..."
Mars sighed and shook her head. Sometimes she thought
V's outrageous antics were part of a facade, but if they were there
was no question that the sultry blonde enjoyed playing her part to
the hilt. And she really was quite a sensual and alluring girl; with a
little training, she'd have made a capable Sister.
"Hey!" Ranko's voice came back to them. "I see something
ahead!" The two senshi broke into a run, quickly catching up to
Ranko. Mars could see what had caught the girl's attention; there
appeared to be a darker spot along the right-hand wall.
Together, the three continued quickly along the tunnel, the
irregularity taking shape as an opening. They drew near to find a
platform at nearly head-height, and V whooped.
"Now we're talking!" she crowed. "Man, I want to get out
of here and get something to eat!"
Mars silently agreed; it must be well past lunchtime by now,
and they hadn't had any breakfast either. Ranko crouched slightly
and sprang up to the platform, V and Mars following suit.
It was quite a sight to behold. Dusty green and black tiles
disappeared into the shadowed recesses of the old platform, pillars
standing in orderly rows like forgotten soldiers. Some of the
glowstones around the platform must have been destroyed or taken;
heavy pools of darkness lay all about, giving the abandoned station
a vaguely desolate air.
"Wow," V said, her voice hushed. "Nobody's been here in
a very long time, that's for sure."
"Let's look around," Mars said, automatically lowering her
own voice in the funereal surroundings. "See if there's a way up."
Moving tentatively, they walked across the platform. The
heels of V's boots and Mars' pumps made hollow tick-tack noises
on the cold tile that echoed sharply in the darkness, but other than
that and the sound of her own breathing Mars couldn't hear
anything.
"Check this out," V breathed, pointing. Mars joined her
and looked at the plaque bolted to one of the pillars.
"Wyvern Keep Station," she read.
"Wyvern Keep?" V echoed. "Wasn't that one of those old
defence posts from the Sidhe Wars?"
"That's right," Mars said. "A series of Keeps connected by
a wall surrounded the city back then, forming a defensive perimeter.
None of them survived the war, though. This station must have
been near Wyvern Keep. During wartime, the military could have
used the line to bring supplies and men underground from the inner
city, I guess."
"Hey, take a look at this," Ranko called. The two senshi
walked over to a nearby pillar where the red-head stood staring at
something on the floor. Mars noticed a bare spot on the pillar
where something had been removed; from the shape of the lighter
patch and its position, she guessed it was one of the station's
nameplates.
"My, my," V breathed. "Someone made a little offering to
Olidia, goddess of luuuuuv."
"Is that what that is?" Ranko asked.
"Uh-huh," V replied with a knowing smile. "Olidia is
usually associated with Venus, you know, so I have a natural
affinity for her. I like to think of myself as an avatar of love."
"As opposed to a sex-crazed bimbo, you mean," Mars shot
back, earning a black look from V. Mars knelt to get a better look
at what had been laid at the base of the pillar.
It was an offering, all right. Olidia was associated with
romantic love the way Dasma was associated with lust and the
darker aspects of desire, and people often made offerings to one or
the other. This was obviously the work of someone seeking
Olidia's blessing.
Fortunately, Olidia (whom the Kalliestri actually called
Venus, a fact Mars forbore to mention to V) didn't require
expensive offerings, just heartfelt ones. The usual three roses were
present, and although they were badly desiccated Mars knew that
there would have been one red for passion, one yellow for
friendship, and one white for purity. They were bound with a silk
ribbon that they supplicant would have worn on their person while
in the presence of the target of their affections; if the tie had
belonged to said target the offering was supposedly that much more
likely to gain Olidia's approval.
Something personal belonging to the supplicant would be
under the flowers, sealing the pact. Many young lovers made such
offerings when trying to woo, but they usually did so at a temple.
Mars wondered why this person had come to such a strange place
to do so.
"Hey, what's this?" V muttered, reaching down. She
jostled the flowers lightly with the back of her hand, and the dried
stems rustled noisily.
"Leave that alone," Mars sighed, knowing that the blonde
would ignore her. V scooped something from the dusty floor,
standing smoothly and staring into her cupped palm.
"Well, well," she said with a crooked smile. "What do we
have here?" Puzzled by the glint in V's eye, Mars checked out
what the other senshi had found. When she realized what V had
cradled in her palm, a tiny shock of surprise jolted her.
The silver earrings were tarnished but still managed to
gleam weakly in the uncertain light, nestled snugly in a bed of
supple black leather. Ranko peered down at the small objects,
brow furrowed.
"Rose earrings?" she asked.
"Rose earrings," V confirmed, giving Mars a meaningful
glance.
"Oh, come on," Mars said. "It's just coincidence."
"Maybe," V smirked. "But can't you just see her doing
something like this? Under that tough-guy exterior, she's just such
a girl!"
"Uh, what are you two talking about?" Ranko asked.
"Nothing," Mars sighed. "It's not important."
"Huh. Well, I'll tell you what IS important," Ranko
continued, dismissing the matter of the earrings. "Someone got
down here to leave this junk behind. There's tracks in the dust if
you look close. And if they got down, we can get up."
The tracks in question were softened by a layer of dust;
clearly, they were at least several years old. Still, Ranko's
reasoning was sound. This could be just what they were looking
for.
The tracks meandered a little across the floor, leading away
from the edge of the platform. The three followed the tracks back,
soon spotting the bottom of a flight of stairs. Unfortunately, they
ascended only a short distance before being totally blocked by
rubble.
"Damn, a dead end," V growled.
"Yeah, but the tracks don't go that way," Ranko told her,
squinting at the floor. "We need more light."
V obliged by summoning her whip. Its warm, golden light
washed across the floor, and Mars could see that Ranko was
correct. The faint tracks veered off to the right. They followed the
trail left by the intruder towards a back wall, behind what might
have once been an information booth.
"There's only a couple of trails, one coming in and one
going back," V observed. "She wandered around a little back here,
but she obviously didn't spend too much time down here."
"I don't blame her," Ranko said dryly. "It's not all that
cheery, is it?"
They came to the point where all the tracks appeared to
converge, a steel hatch of some sort set in the grimy wall.
Something else caught Mars' attention though, a clear spot near the
hatch. V noticed it too, and moved so her whip illuminated it more
clearly.
"Well, well, well," V breathed. "Still think it's coincidence,
Mars?"
Mars shook her head. A design had been painted onto the
wall in deep red, a design familiar to young lovers everywhere. It
was a heart, and inside were two sets of initials joined with a plus
sign.
"M.K. plus Y.S.," V murmured, rubbing her lower lip with
her thumb thoughtfully. "Y.S.? Y ... Yoshi? Could it be ...?"
"Lost again," Ranko announced. "Did someone you know
do this?"
"Maybe," Mars admitted.
"That little dickens!" V said, admiration in her voice. "She
never said anything about ..."
"Later, V," Mars broke in. V blinked.
"Yeah, sure," she said, her eyes still a little distant. Mars
grabbed the handle set into the hatchway and turned. It took some
effort and the handle made an awful racket, but it did turn. A sharp
tug caused the hatch to swing outwards with a metallic shriek,
revealing a shaft dimly lit with more of the ubiquitous glowstones.
Metal rungs were set into the back wall of the shaft and extended
upwards; the rungs themselves were rusted but appeared to be
fairly secure.
"Okay, I guess we go up," she announced. "I'll go first."
She stepped into the shaft and gripped the rungs, testing their
stability before trusting her weight to them. They groaned slightly
but held, and slowly she started up.
There was a slight breeze in her face, a good sign. She
couldn't see light above them, though, which was not so good.
Perhaps she should make sure that there was actually a way out
before they all went to the trouble of climbing.
A quick glance below showed her that it was already too
late. V was on the ladder below her, and Ranko was beginning her
climb.
"Hey, Mars!" V called.
"What is it?"
"From here, I can see right up your skirt!" V said in her
most suggestive tone. "I don't mind telling you, voyeurism gets me
hot!"
"Everything gets you hot, nympho," Mars called back.
"Just climb, okay?"
"Hey Ranko, can you see up her skirt?" V continued gaily.
"I'm not looking!" Ranko shot back, sounding flustered.
Mars suppressed a sigh and continued to climb.
They appeared to be in some sort of old emergency access
shaft, or perhaps it had been for ventilation. One or two rungs
were missing along the way, but all in all the climb was not difficult.
Soon Mars reached another hatch, this one partially ajar. It
appeared to be jammed, and she had some trouble getting enough
leverage from her precarious position, but finally she managed to
force the twisted hatch open far enough to squeeze through. She
found herself in a small room with concrete walls along two sides.
The rest of the chamber was crumbled rock and debris, but there
was a ragged opening in the ceiling. V and Ranko joined her, and
one by one they leapt up through the hole.
"Where are we?" V asked, looking around. This new room
appeared to be of a slightly more modern design. There were
electric lights instead of glowstones, but they were all broken, and
V had to summon her whip again for light. They trudged through
the small room, which had been stripped of anything useful, and
walked through a doorway whose frame had been broken at some
point.
That put them in a series of bare concrete corridors, and
Mars led them along, looking for some clue as to the way out.
Around one corner they found a flight of cracked concrete stairs
that led up, and they took them.
Upstairs was a little different. There were signs of
habitation, although none recent. Mouldy mattresses lay strewn
about a large room, and empty tin cans were piled in one corner.
They passed through the room and down a hallway decorated with
intricate graffiti.
"Black Dragons Rule," V read. "Well, that cinches it."
"Cinches what?" Ranko asked. She'd been mostly quiet
sine the climb, and Mars wondered what would happen once they
reached the surface. She had no sense that Ranko meant to do
anything hostile, but she still hadn't decided what to do about the
girl.
"The Black Dragons were a gang," Mars said, a trifle
shortly. "One of our friends was a member." Ranko accepted that
silently and they moved on.
Soon Mars could see light ahead, and another set of stairs
led up. Almost unconsciously she picked up the pace, and moments
later they were standing outside of a half-collapsed building.
"Whoo," Ranko sighed, looking around. "Bad part of
town, huh?"
"You could say that," Mars sighed. "Of all the areas we
could have ended up in, this is probably the worst."
The signs of devastation were all around them; not a single
structure was undamaged, the streets were choked with rubble, and
nothing moved anywhere. Through a gap in the skyline, Mars
could glimpse the ruins of the Old City, and suppressed a shudder.
"What happened here?" Ranko asked, her braid tossing
lightly in the cool wind.
"This," V told her, "is the Zone. It's the area that lies
between the edge of the Triangle and the Old City. It used to be a
pretty nice part of town, but that was before the Long Dark."
"The long what?" Ranko asked. It took a moment for the
question to register, but when it did Mars turned to V. Their eyes
met, then both turned to Ranko with identical expressions of
disbelief.
"The Long Dark," Mars said slowly. "You're not trying to
tell us you've never heard of it, are you?"
"I'm not from around here," Ranko replied defensively.
"Really? And what planet ARE you from?" V asked.
"What's the big deal?" Ranko frowned, looking from one to
the other. "I just asked what it was, that's all."
"The big deal," Mars echoed softly. "About fourteen years
ago, the sun set on this city one pleasant spring evening. It didn't
rise again for thirteen days. And during that long night, the Clans
of Night unleashed their unholy alliance of vampires, necromancers
and other foul spawn on this city. They gorged themselves on the
blood of the innocent, they killed with impunity, and they declared
themselves the ruling gods of a new dark order. Saeni was to be
their citadel, from which they would spread their stain over the
entire world as it trembled at their feet. This city was pushed to the
brink of absolute subjugation, and only the bravery of a few and the
intervention of the gods at the last minute saved us from being
enslaved. That, my friend, is the big deal."
"You know," V said into the ensuing silence, "it was kind of
a hard event to have missed, no matter where you're from."
"Um," Ranko said weakly. "I guess it would be."
Mars turned away, searching for the best path back to an
inhabited area. She didn't know what Ranko was playing at by
pretending ignorance. But, a nagging little voice piped up, she
doesn't seem like she's lying, does she? And what would lying
about this gain her, anyway?
What indeed? Just another mystery surrounding the red-
headed girl, one of many. But it was just inconceivable to Mars
that anyone could be ignorant of that period which had become
known as the Long Dark, when the world trembled in the grip of
the darkest magics. Saeni had been at the epicentre of events, but
the repercussions had been felt around the world.
"I see towers over that way," Ranko said, shading her eyes
with her hand.
"That's the Old City," V sighed, rolling her eyes. "You
don't want to go there."
"Why not?"
"Because nobody who goes there ever comes back," V
explained. "Boy, you really are clueless. How long have you been
in Saeni?"
"Not long," Ranko grumbled. "And I wouldn't have come
here at all if I'd known the place was lousy with monsters and
sections no one ever comes back from and cranky sailor girls."
This last was delivered with a dark glance at Mars, who felt her
already short temper twang like a guitar string.
"Okay," V said, unobtrusively stepping between Mars and
Ranko, "on that inspirational note, let's get moving, shall we?"
Mars took a deep breath, slowly let it out, and nodded.
They started walking, Mars casting about for landmarks to
indicate exactly where they were. Destruction stretched all around,
naked steel beams thrusting from piles of rubble like skeletal
remains, some festooned with tatters of cable. The entire area
seemed to Mars like the decayed remains of a great beast, and she
tried not to let the permeating sense of desolation and despair get to
her.
That was difficult, though, considering the memories that
being here evoked in her, memories that rarely rested easily as it
was. They wove down the rubble-strewn street, coming to an
intersection which gave Mars a better view of the surrounding area.
There was a sudden sensation in her chest, like a chime being
struck, and the reverberations spread through her body, raising
bittersweet prickles along her skin.
"I know where we are," she said softly.
"You do?" Ranko asked. "How?"
"Because," Mars said, pointing without meeting anyone's
eyes, "I used to live down that way. That building over there was
the old Royal Stadium."
"Mars," V began, a gentle empathy underlying her tone.
Mars didn't acknowledge it; her defences had been badly shaken by
the unexpected sight of her old neighbourhood, and her sudden
vulnerability made her ... nervous.
"Come on," the raven-haired senshi said brusquely, leading
the way. "This will take us towards the Twin Towers drawbridge.
>From there we can probably find a working phone or something."
She marched off, leaving the other two to follow.
They walked in silence for a time. That silence was heavy, a
constant and nearly physical pressure against Mars' skin. She knew
V wanted to say something reassuring, but was probably
constrained by Ranko's presence; Ranko probably wanted to ask a
million questions but could tell just how unwelcome they would be.
All in all, it made things more than a little uncomfortable.
"So, Ranko," V said after a time, "what are your plans
now?"
"Plans?" Ranko repeated blankly.
"Yes," V said. "What are you going to do?"
"I, uh, don't really know," Ranko admitted.
"Well, you said you weren't from Saeni. What brought you
to the city in the first place?"
"Just wandering," Ranko replied evasively.
"Oh? Where are you staying?" V asked.
"Here and there," Ranko said. "You know, wherever. I
travel light, go from place to place."
"That sounds kind of exciting," V murmured, gazing at the
red-head from under the lowered brim of her cap.
"Not really," Ranko shrugged. "I mean, I've seen a lot of
places, done a lot of things, but it does start to get to you after a
while."
"Maybe you should go home for a while, then," V
suggested.
"That's ... not really possible," Ranko replied. Something in
the girl's tone caught Mars' attention, although when she glanced
over Ranko's expression was carefully neutral. There was a
shadow lurking in those blue eyes again, though, and for once Mars
didn't think of her vision. This shadow was a more familiar sort,
one that many inhabitants of this city harboured; it spoke of old
pain and loss.
"Look," V said then, pointing. Ahead, past the crumbling
ruin of an old stone building, rose the remains of the Two Towers.
They marked the edge of the White Orb River, beyond which lay
civilization, or what passed for civilization near the fringes of the
Triangle. They were nearly in the clear.
And Mars still had no idea how to handle the girl from her
vision. What on earth was she supposed to do about Ranko?
They quickened the pace a little, passing by the burned out
ruin of what had been, according to the still-intact sign, a post
office, then skirting a huge pile of debris.
Mars caught a sudden flash of motion and only had a
moment to react before something sprang from behind the pile,
rocketing past her. Instinctively, she and V moved so they were
back to back, Mars cursing herself for being so careless.
There were three of them; four, if you counted the one that
had hit Ranko and knocked her to the ground. That one was a
leopard, and it stood straddling the stunned girl, bared fangs
hovering near Ranko's vulnerable throat. The other three were
human, but Mars recognized one from the previous night's
encounter.
"Weres," she murmured.
"Very good, sailor girl," the blonde woman sneered, her
pale blonde braid swaying in the breeze. "You remember me, yes?"
"Yes," Mars replied darkly. "And when this is over, you'll
remember us, kitty-cat."
"Carefully," the blonde cautioned. "Or Mika will tear your
friend's throat out." The leopard made a low coughing noise in its
throat, and Mars saw Ranko start to stir.
"Yui, wasn't it?" V asked softly. "I thought you guys had a
beef with Jupiter."
"We do," Yui said shortly. "But Rin isn't handling things
well. He's soft on the amazon, because he wants her. But if I have
you two, then I can get Jupiter and present her to Gareth myself."
"Nice plan," Mars said, her voice a throaty growl. "But you
don't have us."
"I have her," Yui said smugly, pointing at the frozen Ranko.
"Either you surrender, or she dies. After all, I only need one of you
alive."
Mars tensed as Ranko's eyes focussed on the big cat
straddling her. The red-head's body went rigid, and a small,
strangled sound escaped from her clenched jaw.
"Well?" Yui demanded. "Do you give up? Or shall I let
Mika feed? He's very hungry, you know ..."
Yui's voice trailed off as a low, feline snarl rose into the air.
The leopard's tail had stopped lashing, and its ears lay back flat
against its head. Mars was certain that it was going to strike.
Then Ranko growled back.
The sound that came from the red-head's throat was
inhuman, a low, feline yowl of rage that made the tiny hairs on the
back of Mars' neck stand up painfully.
"What in the hells?" V breathed.
"I don't ..." Mars began.
Then everything happened at once.
End part four.