Hello, fellow FFMLers. I'm here once again with more of the new story.
Well, I got on a roll with chapter three; such a roll, in fact, that I ended
up having to split it into chapters three and four. So here they are, hot off
the presses. The story should really begin to gather momentum now ...
And previous chapters are available on my webpage:
http://www.akane.org/mark/shadowchronicles/
Last time: Hotaru fed on Setsuna, barely managing to stay in control of
herself. Later, Haruka confronted Hotaru over her careless actions.
Meanwhile, Ranko trailed Rei and Usagi to the club where Minako worked, where
she met a mysterious woman named Saekianna. Wraiths later attack the club,
prompting Minako to change into her Mistress V persona. Ranko saves V from a
wraith before disappearing.
Later, Rei meets up with Saekianna, with whom she shares a dark past. And
Usagi, recognizing Saekianna as the one who threw the black rose inside the
club, is consumed by curiosity about her identity, and stung by Rei's refusal
to discuss the matter.
At Usagi's urging, the three senshi go in search of Makoto who, as Jupiter,
is working as a bounty hunter. When they arrive at their destination, though,
they witness a fight in progress and a flash of lightning ...
-- Attached file included as plaintext by Listar --
-- File: clearday3r.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 Three: Warnings and Portents
She ignored the sudden lull in the normally steady buzz of
background conversation. The door had just opened, and this lot
couldn't pass up an opportunity to check out everyone coming in,
even it did just turn out to be another thirsty bounty hunter.
Weighing the shot glass in her hand, she stared for a
moment into the gleaming amber depths, wrestling with a sort of
wistful melancholy. The match had been going on for several
rounds now, and she figured to lose in a close decision. Well, no
law said she had to be moody and sober at the same time.
She tossed the drink back quickly, her long ponytail snaking
with the motion to flop against her back. Setting the empty shot
glass on the scarred surface of the bar, she sighed softly as liquid
fire bored its way into her belly.
When she picked up her beer, though, she caught a glimpse
of someone moving towards her. The reflection was distorted by
the curve of the glass, but it was enough for her to deduce who her
visitor was.
She could have just glanced up into the mirror that ran
behind the bar, but that wouldn't have seemed nearly as clever.
Cold beer quenched the whisky's fire, and she set the mug
down just as someone slid up to the bar beside her.
"Well," a soft voice murmured. "You really did it. I told
you not to, but you went and did it anyway." She debated keeping
her gaze on the bubbles rising through her beer, but decided that
he'd probably take that as a sign of weakness. And that would be a
mistake.
So instead, she glanced over at him disinterestedly.
Maintaining a facade of indifference was not easy,
considering the man's striking appearance. He was taller than her
by half a head, making him one of the few men who had to look
down to meet her eyes.
He was doing that now, staring at her with blazing green
eyes that smouldered with a vital inner fire.
"Oh, Rin," she said easily. "Fancy meeting you here. Why
don't I buy you a drink? I just cashed a big bounty, you know."
Something flared in those eyes, and for a moment Jupiter wondered
if she'd pushed him too far.
"Oi!" she called to the bartender, pointing at her empty shot
glass, then hooking her thumb at the man beside her. The eldest of
the brothers, called Senior appropriately enough, was tending bar
tonight, and he nodded, fingering the scar on his jaw as he drifted
down the bar. Jupiter wasn't fooled by his placid demeanor,
however; he'd been standing near where he kept his shotgun.
He hadn't lasted this long by not recognizing trouble.
"You really are something," Rin breathed, shaking his head
in admiration. Apparently, he'd decided not to be goaded.
Good for him.
"Ah, I bet you say that to all the girls," Jupiter replied with a
crooked grin. She watched the play of muscles under his tight
t-shirt as he moved, leaning on the bar and pinning her with that
feral gaze.
He knew the effect he had on women, the bastard. His hair
was a lustrous shade of something between honey blonde and red,
and hung in a straight glossy curtain down to his waist, framing the
sharp angles of his face. It was thick and heavy, almost like a
woman's, but despite that and his nearly pretty features, there was
nothing effeminate about Rin.
"Tell me something, Jupiter," Rin said, his voice soft and
intimate. "Why did you do it?"
"He was a bad boy," she answered, taking a sip of her beer.
"Bad enough to get a bounty posted on him. And I am a bounty
hunter, you know." He chuckled, the sound emanating from deep
in his throat. That sound washed over her, vibrating in her bones,
and she fought the urge to shiver.
"I told you that we would take care of it," Rin said, cocking
his head. Thick locks of that tawny mane slid over one eye, and
Jupiter had the sudden urge to reach out and brush it away, to see if
it was really as soft as it looked.
"No, you told me to back off," Jupiter pointed out. "There's a
big difference."
"Gareth wanted this handled internally."
"Well, if you guys had caught the jerk before I did, you
could have handled it any way you liked," Jupiter remarked. "What
could be fairer than that?" She picked up her shot glass, raising it
to her lips. Rin's hand shot out before she could complete the
motion, grasping her wrist lightly just above where her glove ended.
The contact of his flesh against hers was nearly electric, and hardly
unpleasant. He didn't squeeze, though, just stopped her arm for a
moment.
"I quite like your style, girl. But you've made Gareth
unhappy," he murmured intimately, leaning in close. She could
smell him, his scent hot and musky and much more pleasant than
the stale smoke and beer smell of the room. "You should have just
been reasonable."
"That's not one of my best things," she informed him with a
dark smile, gently disengaging her arm from his grip. "And tell me,
Rin, how would it look if I backed off on a lucrative job every time
somebody threatened me?"
"Probably as bad as we would look if we let people think
they could push us around," he replied, a tinge of regret in his
voice. The light cast the hollows of his throat and collarbone into
shadow, picking out his prominent cheekbones and making his hair
shimmer. Jupiter decided that she really resented him for being so
damned beautiful while he was subtly threatening her, on his way to
delivering what was sure to be a painful object lesson.
So she threw her drink in his face and sucker-punched him.
Makoto was a very strong girl; Jupiter was many times
stronger. Still, she didn't delude herself. She knew what Rin was,
and one punch, no matter how good, wasn't going to put him down
for long.
That hadn't been her intention, though. She'd just wanted
him out of the way while she dealt with the two he'd brought with
him, the two she'd spotted in the mirror edging casually closer to
her back.
One was male, one female. The man charged even as she
was turning, and she grinned with fierce joy as she summoned her
power, thrusting out her hand and unleashing a compact ball of
lightning. He was fast on his feet, but not fast enough; the swirling
ball caught him squarely, throwing him back the length of the bar
and propelling him through the boarded-up window at the front
with a crash.
Jupiter didn't pause to admire his neat trajectory, however,
slipping around the corner of the bar to protect her flank while
watching the woman. She had pale blonde hair worn in a braid and
grey eyes, and her tattered shorts and cut-off tank top left little to
the imagination.
The place was silent now, everybody watching the action.
Those who used weapons no doubt had them close at hand, but she
knew they wouldn't intervene. She was the new kid on the block,
and everybody would want to see if she could handle the heat.
She knew the rules. Growing up on the street, the rules had
been much the same, and you learned them fast, or you learned
them the hard way, but in the end you learned. If she was going to
be taken seriously, she needed to plant her feet and push back.
So she was pushing back. Hard.
The blonde paused, snarling, and Jupiter turned her body so
that she could watch her and Rin at the same time. The latter had
picked himself up off the floor, and was shaking his head almost
ruefully.
"Ah, I love a woman who fights dirty," he said, standing
totally at ease down along the other arm of the bar. She knew that
stance was deceptive, though; he could explode into action at any
time.
"You brought help to deal with me?" Jupiter replied
disdainfully. "I had no idea I was so fearsome."
"Gareth insisted," Rin shrugged, but Jupiter had the feeling
the gibe had stung.
The blonde was staring at her, lips peeled back from her
teeth, and Jupiter saw the woman's skin begin to ripple and twitch
strangely. Here it comes, she thought.
Her opponent didn't change all the way, though. Her nails
lengthened into claws, her face shifted into something beastlike, and
fur sprouted all over her body as her stance changed, painful
popping sounds accompanying the transformation.
Jupiter had seen lycanthropic transformations before,
though, and was not impressed. Instead of standing frozen by the
sight as a novice would have, she took the opportunity to press the
attack.
She cast a bolt of lightning from one hand as she sprang,
hardly noticing as patrons dove for the floor to avoid getting hit.
The cat-girl dodged the feint, just as Jupiter had hoped, moving to
her left with frightening speed.
But the changeling had obviously expected Jupiter to follow
up with another lightning attack, and was caught off-guard as the
tall senshi lunged in to attack in close quarters.
Any number of things could have gone wrong; the
changeling could have been a bit faster, Jupiter a bit slower, or Rin
could have chosen that moment to attack from behind. But
Jupiter's savage punch caught the werecat just under the breastbone
before she could dodge a second time, the blow concentrating not
only Jupiter's strength but also her momentum at the point of
contact. As the cat-girl doubled over, Jupiter caught her and
whirled, heaving her bodily at where in Rin had been standing
moments before.
He was still there, and as the girl's limp body flew at him he
merely leaned to the side, just far enough to avoid being hit. The
changeling struck the far wall heavily, shaking several pictures
loose with the force of the impact, then slid down to the floor
where she tried valiantly to stand. Rin straightened and gave
Jupiter a faint smile.
"So much for Gareth's judgement," he said with a soft
chuckle. "Now that the entertainment is over, perhaps we can
conclude our business."
"Why don't you conclude it outside?" Senior asked
pleasantly, his casual stance made much more noteworthy by the
presence of an ugly shogun propped against his shoulder. "Before
you wreck the place." Without taking his eyes from Jupiter, Rin
reached into the pocket of his coat and flung his arm out in the
bartender's direction. For a moment, it appeared as though Senior
was going to drop the gun into firing position, but he checked
himself partway as something hit the bar in front of him with a soft
thump, sliding a short distance before stopping. Jupiter watched
out of the corner of her eye as the startled bartender picked the
object up.
Cash. A great big wad of it, to be exact.
"I believe that will more than cover the damages," Rin said
softly, his green eyes fairly glowing with restrained power as they
bored straight into Jupiter.
"Don't like fighting in the rain, pretty boy?" Jupiter asked
snidely, watching the cat-girl struggle to stand behind Rin. No
problem, at least they were now both in front of her.
"Sweet Jupiter," he purred, his voice a feline growl from
low in his throat. "I just want plenty of witnesses for your ...
lesson."
"What lesson would that be?" she asked, shifting her stance
slightly. His smile widened, betraying an almost carnal hunger that
spread slowly to his blazing eyes. He matched her stance, the long
flat muscles of his chest rippling under the black shirt.
"First, I'm going to hand you an utter defeat," he rumbled,
his soft voice somehow carrying clearly over the intervening
distance. "And then, I'm going to take you over my knee and
spank you ... like the bad girl that you are."
"What?" she blurted, heat rushing to her face as his words
hit home. "You bastard! You'll regret it if you don't take me
seriously!" Tiny bolts of lightning flared around her fists as she
tensed, leaning forward. Damn it, she wouldn't be toyed with like
this. Who the hell did he think he was, anyway?
"Oh, I'm quite serious," he murmured, the power of his
aura washing over her in a wave of tingling heat. "You'll never
forget this lesson, little girl ..." She caught a flash of motion from
the corner of her eye, and at the same moment Rin's eyes narrowed
and shifted towards the door, his mouth tightening into a slight
frown.
The other changeling, the one she'd blasted through the
window, had recovered and was streaking across the floor towards
her. The female had managed to regain her feet as well, giving her
a third threat to contend with. She froze for just a moment, trying
to decide which to attack first.
The decision was taken out of her hands an instant later. A
streak of golden light snaked out from the direction of the door,
wrapping around the charging man's throat and resolving into a
chain of tiny glimmering hearts. The man, caught in mid-change,
was halted abruptly and let out a pained squawk as he was yanked
off his feet.
By the expression on Rin's face, it was hard to judge which
of them was more surprised by the three newcomers who stood in
the doorway.
The whip led back to the hand of a vision in black leather
who stood with her long, booted long legs apart as she kept a tight
grip on the snarling changeling.
"Bad kitty," she purred.
"Is this a private party, or can anyone play?" the raven-haired
beauty on her left asked, stepping forward with her violet eyes
focussed on Rin and the unsteady changeling behind him.
"Well, well," Rin breathed. "What have we here? Two
sailor girls and their keeper?"
"What we have," Sailor Moon said sternly, "is better odds
for our side."
"Maybe you and your friends should take a walk," Mars
added with a sultry smile, "before Mistress V here decides to keep
her new pet." The cat-boy twisted on the floor, trying to lunge at
V, but she snapped her wrist deftly and wrapped him in the coils of
her whip before her could advance very far. Hopelessly snared, he
collapsed heavily to the floor with a yowl.
Jupiter's shock at the sight of her three former comrades
began to fade, and she wasn't certain whether to be pleased or
upset with the sudden turn of events. This was her fight, after all;
then again, Rin hadn't drawn the line at fighting three-on-one, so
maybe it was fair to turn the tables on him.
"This isn't enough to cover levelling my whole bar," Senior
piped up, waving the wad of cash in the air. He tossed it to Rin,
who caught it without even looking. "Fun's over, folks. Anyone
still wants to fight, you do it outside."
"Well," Rin said, favouring Jupiter with another of his high-
voltage smiles. "I suppose we'll just have to conclude this another
time."
"What if I want to conclude it now?" Jupiter asked, eyes
narrowed. Her temper was still up, and although she hadn't wanted
to fight in the first place, now she was reluctant to leave things
unfinished.
"Jupiter," Sailor Moon said, stepping towards her. "We
really need to talk to you, right now." Jupiter shifted her gaze
between Rin and Sailor Moon, torn. But if it was important enough
for the others to be together and to have tracked her down here,
then she probably should at least listen.
And as for Rin, they could conclude their business at a later
date, on her terms this time.
Just the two of them.
"Fine," she spat. Rin inclined his head slightly and turned.
"Rin!" the blonde objected. She'd reverted to full human
form and took a step towards him, brow furrowed. "Gareth wanted
this taken care of tonight!"
"I'm in charge here, Yui," Rin said softly, stopping but not
bothering to turn as he spoke. "It's my decision."
"Gareth will be unhappy ..." she pressed, only to stop as Rin
finally turned to face her.
"Perhaps. But if you defy me, Yui," he said, his voice
deceptively soft, "then I will be very ... angry." His green eyes
locked with her gray ones, and Jupiter felt some phantom power
coiling in the air between the two as they engaged in a struggle of
wills.
It was a short contest, Yui averting her eyes first. Rin
smiled and turned, and Yui trailed docilely along behind him. Mars
watched them from one side, Sailor Moon from the other, with
Jupiter behind; for as much apprehension as Rin showed, though,
he might have been taking a sunny stroll in the park. He stopped
next to V, smiling at her pleasantly.
"I'll be needing him back," he said. V peered up from under
the brim of her hat, blue eyes sweeping brazenly up the long, lean
length of the man before she spoke.
"What's he worth to you?" she asked in a suggestive tone.
"V!" Mars snapped, and the blonde sighed.
"Oh, all right," she murmured. "But if he gets out of hand
once he's off the leash, the management is not responsible for his
eventual condition."
"If he gets out of hand," Rin said, pinning the helpless
changeling with a stare, "he will answer to me." The threat was
apparently a good one; when the whip vanished, the changeling
scrambled to his feet and reverted to human form, moving to stand
behind the others. He gave V a sullen stare, and in return she blew
him a kiss. Unconcerned, Rin walked to the door, pausing on the
threshold.
"Be seeing you, Jupiter," he called over his shoulder, dark
promise lurking in his eyes.
"I look forward to it," she told him.
And then he was gone.
***
If there's any kind of heaven anywhere in all the worlds,
they've got a twenty-four hour bathhouse.
It may not have looked like much; the tile was chipped in
places, the wooden benches worn, and one or two lights above the
main bath were burned out. But it was clean, and there was plenty
of hot water. After spending a couple of days cold, wet and
moderately miserable, a hot bath had pushed all my recent troubles
to a dark corner way at the back of my mind.
The tub I was in had room for ten or fifteen people easy, but I
had it to myself. For that matter, I had the entire place to myself as
far as I could tell. At this time of night, anyone looking for a bath
was probably ensconced in one of those places where a woman
wearing only soap suds washed your back with her body.
Well, that was fine by me; after paying the bored attendant
in coinage, I hadn't had to deal with any flack when I'd slipped into
the boy's side. Soon thereafter, I'd been a guy again for the first
time in days. It was funny, though, how being stuck as a girl for
days at a time didn't really bother me anymore. Maybe that was
because I'd seen what real horror was, and had gained a little
perspective.
I leaned back, hot water caressing my battered body, easing
the kinks and bruises. I'd had a pretty full day, I reflected as I
listened to the hollow plopping of water echoing against cool tile
somewhere off to the left. I couldn't help wondering about the girls
I'd met earlier, Rei and Usagi. The way they had reacted to me still
made me think that she must have known me, and the only way that
was likely was if there was a version of me living in this world.
I wasn't sure how I felt about that. After all, if I was here,
then what about the others? Maybe they were all here, living their
lives the way we had, or maybe they were totally different, with
different relationships.
Or maybe, even if they all existed here, they didn't know
each other at all.
You could go crazy from thinking about all this; trust me, I
know what I'm talking about. So I took a breath and dunked
myself, staying down for as long as I could before surfacing. I
sluiced the blissfully hot water from my face with one hand and
leaned back against the edge of the bath again.
I felt strange.
I don't mean the bath; that was great. No, it was something
else, something that had crept up on me throughout the crazy day
I'd just had. I sat back, sweat prickling at my hairline as I let
myself drift and tried to pin it down.
Sure, weird things had been happening all day long, but that
shouldn't have bothered me. Weird was par for the course in my
life, after all. But something still seemed off. I felt different, almost
sharper. It was as if ... as if I'd been in a daze for a while. As soon
as I had the thought, I knew that was part of it. I'd been
wandering, reacting to whatever I encountered for months now, but
today was the first time that I'd had to take a significant amount of
initiative in quite some time.
It felt good.
But then there was Saekianna. She'd been coming on to me
in that club, and doing a pretty good job of it too. That started me
thinking. How long had it been since I'd reacted to a woman that
way? She'd gotten to me, after all, left me flustered and confused.
Once upon a time that had been the story of my life, with women
throwing themselves at me from all sides on a daily basis.
Heh. Didn't that sound vain, though? And maybe I'd come
to take it a little for granted; it never hurt a guy's ego to have that
much attention, after all.
But in the time since I'd left that other Nerima behind and
started wandering, that part of me had been dormant, and I'd never
really consciously realized it. Where women and relationship
troubles had once been at the centre of my life, they'd now ceased
to be an issue at all. I hadn't stayed in any one place very long,
certainly not long enough to connect with anyone. Occasionally,
depending on local customs and mores, I might get members of
either sex paying attention to me in whichever body they preferred,
but I always just brushed it off reflexively.
But this woman had tweaked something deep down inside,
something that had been asleep for a long time. I'd actually reacted
to her as a beautiful, appealing woman.
I wasn't sure how to feel about that.
Just thinking about it was suddenly making me acutely
uncomfortable, so I dunked myself again and surfaced, shaking
water from my hair. It was just too quiet, that was the problem;
too much silence gave me too much time to think, to brood.
I wiped at my chest idly, fingers tracing the slightly raised
scar tissue there before bumping against the key that hung around
my neck. I grasped the small blue piece of crystal and lifted it out
of the water, staring at it speculatively.
As usual, it gave no clue to its secrets, just catching the light
and throwing it off as it spun at the end of the thin chain I wore it
on. It looked just the same as it had the first time I'd seen it.
Well, no; actually, the first time I'd seen it the thing had
been a lot bigger, throwing off black lightning while in the grasp of
a huge demon. But it looked as it had every time since then; a
piece of polished blue crystal, shaped vaguely like an actual key.
Its appearance gave no clue as to why it had suddenly
stopped working.
I let it dangle from the chain and concentrated, summoning
up my chi until the air around me glowed softly. I focussed on the
key, and it began to glow in harmony with my chi, shining with a
soft blue light that streamed out in every direction.
So far, so good.
Dowsing like this was the first trick I'd learned with this
mysterious artifact; next the key should have begun to spin in ever-
widening circles, until it finally came to point the way to the nearest
gate. But this time, like all the others since I'd arrived in this place,
it hung stubbornly motionless.
I'd known there were risks the first time I crossed between
worlds using it, but really I hadn't felt I had much to lose. And in
the beginning, it had been fine. But then, that one time, I opened a
gate and crossed the threshold between worlds, and there was a
flash of light behind my eyes. The next thing I remember was
waking up in a field with rain on my face.
That was two years ago.
In the beginning, I'd sought solace in constantly travelling
between worlds. Since becoming stuck here, I'd settled for
wandering from city to city, place to place. They say a shark will
die if it stops moving; maybe, for me, wandering was a little like
that.
But now even that wasn't enough. I was beginning to get
restless, yearning for something ... more.
Just what, though, I couldn't say.
With a sigh, I let my aura fade, and the key dimmed and
grew dark. I released it, letting it fall against my chest with a
hollow plop, and leaned back to stare at the tiled ceiling. I'd made
my bed, as it were, and so I'd have to lie in it. No regrets, right?
But where to start? How do you rebuild your life when every
single thing in it is gone beyond recovery?
Where the hell do you start?
I blinked, shaking my head. Water in my ears, maybe ... but
no. There it was again, a voice, soft, sing-song-y, like a child's.
But why would a kid be here at this time of night? It was after
midnight.
I listened with a frown to the lilting cadence, trying to hear
the words as they echoed off the tiles and floated randomly through
the empty bathhouse.
Geez, kid, I thought as the words drifted just beyond the
range of comprehension. Find a new tune already, would you? I
closed my eyes and drifted, and to my surprise the next verse of the
high, chanted refrain began to register.
"The Eye doesn't see,
The Eye doesn't know,
It was blinded a long time ago,"
Weird. Like a nursery rhyme, or something you'd hear in a
schoolyard ...
"But the Wardens still know,
And the Wardens still see,
And now there's one who's found a Key,"
I opened my eyes.
Key?
"But the Dark took his love,
And left him alone,
Lost and mournful and far from home."
"Hey," I said, my words falling woodenly into the eerily
deserted bathhouse. "Hey, kid." This isn't about you, the rational
part of my mind told me. It couldn't be. But my skin prickled with
an unearthly chill despite the bathwater.
Something was wrong.
"He took to the Paths,
And the Paths lead, they say,
To where the Truth is hidden away,"
"Hey!" I barked. I levered myself out of the bath, my bare
feet slapping wetly on the tile as I started across the floor. "Hey,
kid, come out here!"
"But the Truth, it has teeth,
It can kill with Its bite,
And it serves both the Darkness and the Light,"
"Kid!" That sweet, high voice seemed to reach right into
me, and the sensation was more than a little unnerving. Someone
who wasn't as tough as I was might even have been frightened.
I tried to follow the mocking voice, dashing around a row
of lockers, but the source remained just out of my sight, like it was
teasing me.
"But a heart that is torn
and unsure, they say,
Will lack the strength to guard the Way,"
I rushed around a corner and caught a flicker of movement.
Putting on a burst of speed, I raced towards the end of the lockers,
then glimpsed a swirl of fabric vanishing down at the end of the
next row, back the way I'd come.
"Two are the Lock,
And one has the Key,
To unlock the forces of destiny,
True of heart
The Warden must fight,
Or Dark shall reign in endless night."
I skidded around the corner, only catching a glimpse of her.
She was young, not more than five years old, ornate robes flowing
loosely around her as she leapt into the air. With unearthly grace,
she arced to land in the middle of the bath I'd recently vacated.
I stopped, astonished. One bare foot was extended below
her, and her toe touched the surface of the water and stayed there,
sending out perfect concentric ripples in every direction. She
balanced on top of the water for a long moment, turning her head
just enough so that one brilliant blue eye peered out from behind a
veil of golden hair.
Then, without seeming to move, she leapt from her impossible
perch on the water's surface, fading from view even as she rushed at
the wall. I watched, feeling a chill unrelated to the water drying on
my naked body. I had the feeling that I'd brushed something ... old,
powerful, nearly incomprehensible. The sensation was hard to
explain, but for long moments I just stood there, staring at the point
where the ethereal little girl had vanished. Finally something caught
my attention, and I looked down.
The key was glowing, pulsing in time with my heart.
It had never done that before.
And one last time, the sweet voice sang out softly from all
around me:
"True of heart
The Warden must fight,
Or Dark shall reign in endless night."
Then something eased in my chest, and the weight left the
air around me, and it was over. I watched the light fade from the
key, leaving it quiescent once more. For now.
Had I ever thought I understood the power behind this
thing? Did I really have any idea of the powers I was messing with?
I glanced up, but there was no sign of the girl now, not even the
sense of her presence. She might have been a hallucination, but for
the perfect ripples slowly fading on the surface of the water.
Either I had finally gone insane, or I had just brushed up
against something supernatural.
And despite everything that had happened to me in my life, this
experience had left me shaken.
***
Now this was much more to her liking.
The club was small and intimate, the sort of place that
catered to an exclusive clientele. Well, tonight the clientele was
very exclusive indeed; just one woman, in fact.
Wynneth Vesra de Morgana; vampiress, sorceress, and soon
to be goddess.
As befitted someone of her station, the staff were very
attentive. Lazily, she swept them with her gaze. Two of the
women knelt at her feet, clutching her flowing cloak as they gazed
up at her in rapt adoration. Two more reclined on the low couch,
one on each side of her, one's arms around her waist and the
other's around her neck as they cuddled close. The bartender
hovered nearby, waiting anxiously for her new mistress to make her
needs known.
Well, for the moment her needs were being well met. She
turned to the girl on her left, the one whose arms were twined
around her neck. The girl, all pale blonde hair and creamy skin,
lowered her eyes subserviently, bringing a smile to Wynneth's lips.
Ah yes, this was MUCH better than the Old City. In the days
before the Long Dark, this place had been one of many that secretly
catered to her kind. There no longer were such places, but a little
effort on her part had rendered this cozy little nook as hospitable as
it ever had been.
Wynneth leaned towards the girl, who blushed prettily as
she lifted her chin to willingly bare her throat. The tiny, perfect
fang marks there stood out starkly against the taut, fair skin. The
girl hadn't been so willing the first time, but all that had changed.
Wynneth now had everything well in hand.
She pressed her lips to the girl's throat, sensing the envy of
the others as she bit down and elicited a moan of pleasure from her
victim. Hot blood flooded into her mouth, and she had to force
herself to go slowly, to savour the feeding. So far, she'd only fed
enough to put everyone left alive fully under her control; now she
would slake her thirst, but not quickly. She had the entire night,
after all, and she intended to enjoy herself.
The girl pressed against her other side snuggled closer,
whimpering quietly for attention, and idly Wynneth sent a thick lock
of her long, midnight hair snaking up the girl's arm to tease the flesh
left naked by her low cut hostess's uniform. She was rewarded with
a sigh from her left, and more whimpers from her feet.
This was how it should be. The proper place of mortals
was, after all, at her feet, clamouring for her dark kisses. And after
her ascension, the entire world would be her plaything, its peoples
worshipping their new goddess, serving her.
Soon.
As she fed delicately on the pliant beauty, she felt the
hunger, the pleasure of feeding, swelling in her breast. Oddly,
though, it seemed to double, echoing faintly in her mind. She
paused a moment, ignoring the disappointed gasp from her victim
as she puzzled this odd sensation.
Ah. There. So that was it. So close to that other, the
hunger was resonating, thrumming along the dark bonds that linked
them. She pulled the blonde girl close again, drinking deeply, but
this time she consciously sent the pleasure of the act along with the
hunger, letting it build, drawing it out as only the most skilled of
amongst her kind could. This, too, would serve her purposes.
In the fullness of time.
Just more proof that even destiny itself bent to her will.
Everything was going just as she wished it; nothing could thwart
her. The city would be hers, and then the world, the heavens, and
beyond. She would drink from the gods when her reign rendered
them powerless, casting her shadow across all as her domain spread
to encompass all ...
Light flared in her mind, brighter than ever before, and she
gasped, pulling away from the girl instinctively. Before she could
recover, it flared again, an answering call, brighter and even more
painful. A scream caught in her throat as the two lights pulsed in
unison, and deep in her mind the voice screamed aloud, pain and
rage mingling.
Blind! it shrieked. Blind, as the Eye is blind! We do not
see! And it pains us, the light, it burns! It burns!
"It BURNS!" she screeched, thrusting the girl away with
one savage sweep of her arm. Wynneth staggered to her feet,
stumbling blindly across the room, clutching her head. That
accursed light was a starburst inside her mind, like the sun that
ruled the day and brought flaming death to vampires. Helplessly
she shrieked her agony and impotent fury to the ceiling, no longer
certain if the wailing in her head was her or the voice, or some
combination of the two.
Finally, the light began to fade, receding from the single
white-hot point into two separate glowing embers. As she snarled,
pulling her hands away from her face, a sound came to her; distant,
but clear, it was that of a voice, high and sweet like a child's. It
seemed to be singing some sort of rhyme, and as she swayed in
place she heard:
"But the Wardens still know,
And the Wardens still see,
And now there's one who's found a Key,"
The voice trailed off, laughter floating through her mind,
light and carefree, but somehow knowing.
It was mocking her. Mocking. Her.
"Who dares?" she whispered. "Who dares to mock me?
Who would challenge a dark goddess with fairy tales and frail
prophecy? Who ... DARES?" She had come to rest against the
bar, and with one hand she tore a section of it loose and hurled it
across the room, where it exploded into fragments against the far
wall. She whirled, her floor-length hair sweeping in a silken arc as
she moved. Face contorted in a rictus of rage, she sought the
source of her misery, but it was nowhere to be seen. Most of her
playthings were cowering fearfully in the face of her outburst. The
blonde, though, was crawling towards her on hands and knees, eyes
blank save for terrible craving.
Shoulders heaving with exertion, Wynneth watched the girl
crawl to her feet where she proceeded to rub her cheek against the
vampiress' thigh.
"Please, Mistress," the girl moaned. "Let me serve you.
Let me ..."
Wynneth reached down and twined her fingers in the girl's
hair, pulling her up until they were face to face. It must have hurt,
but the blonde only smiled with wanton pleasure as her drugged
blue eyes met Wynneth's gaze.
"Mistress," she whispered. "My Mistress ..."
Wynneth tossed the girl away as easily as a child might
throw a rag doll. The blonde flew across the room, colliding
heavily with the couch they'd so recently shared and taking it over
with her. There was a snap as she hit the floor, the familiar sound
of bones breaking, but Wynneth cared little.
She was done with these toys.
Raising one pale arm, she slashed a nail down, then flung
the arm out in two quick, vicious arcs. Droplets of blood spun
away, only to freeze in midair as she gathered her power and sent it
out in careless waves. Each droplet became a wraith, a pale and
imperfect reflection of herself; they nearly filled the space between
her and the door, their numbers were so great. The wraiths, struck
by the intensity of their mistress's fury, immediately prostrated
themselves before her.
Wise.
"The light of the Key has appeared in two places," Wynneth
said, her silky voice honed by anger to a cutting edge. "We will
seek out both. Kill all who would hinder you, but I want the bearer
of the Key alive; harm him and your torment will be eternal. Now
go!" She thrust her arms out, and the wraiths, numbering over
fifty, turned as one and flew threw the doors, pouring out in a wave
of alabaster skin and ebony hair.
She strode after them, fury still pounding through her.
Intolerable. This key bearer fancied himself a figure of legend,
someone to hamper her coming ascension? He would soon learn
the truth.
She had come this far, planned and schemed and
manipulated, and very soon all her work would come to fruition, all
the delicate threads woven into an inescapable web that would
snare all her enemies. And no one could stop the coming of the
dark now. No one.
Her last sight as she swept from the room was of the blonde
girl, dragging one twisted arm as she crawled on her belly, eyes
imploring.
"Mistress ... come back ..."
***
The room stretched away into misty distance, dwarfing
Hotaru as she sat crouched on the floor, listening to the storm rage
outside. She felt so good, yet she knew she'd done something
terribly wrong, terribly bad.
Maybe that was why she had the funny taste in her mouth?
She reached up with her small, child's hands and touched
her lips tentatively. The tips of her fingers came away red, with a
few strands of black hair stuck there.
No. Not hair. Fur.
The kitten. Her poppa had gotten it to keep her company,
and she'd been holding it when it had playfully scratched the back
of her hand. She remembered being almost mesmerized by the tiny
trickle of blood there, lifting her hand slowly to lick it away.
And it had burned, like fire but good, nice; nicer than
anything she'd ever tasted. She'd wanted more. And the kitten ...
It had struggled because she was holding it so tightly, but
she just wanted to smell it. It smelled warm, good, and ... and ...
She glanced up from her fingers. A small dark form lay
crumpled on the floor in front of her, unmoving.
"Buckles?" she whispered, her voice trembling. That
couldn't be Buckles, not that still, unmoving pile of matted fur. But
as the pleasant haze faded from her mind, she became more and
more convinced that she'd done something horrible, something she
didn't want to remember, something ...
"Hotaru?" Poppa. Poppa was coming; she could hear his
footfalls, heavy and foreboding, coming steadily closer.
Poppa mustn't see ... mustn't see ... what? What mustn't he
see?
And why was Buckles so still?
Hotaru reached out to
(move)
wake Buckles up before Poppa saw, but when she saw her
hand it was bigger, that of an adult, not a child.
"Hotaru?" Poppa's voice, filled with trepidation but not yet
fully comprehending, and she knew she couldn't let him see,
couldn't let him ...
"Hotaru." There it was, that razor's edge of madness she
would come to associate with her father. "What have you done?"
"I didn't mean to," she whispered, her voice no longer a
child's. The shadowy form of her father moved in front of her,
momentarily lit by a flash of lightning as it knelt by the pitifully
small form. A trembling hand reached out to the lifeless kitten, and
Hotaru knew that she had to tell him, had to make him understand
that it had been an accident. This time, if she could make him
understand, it might be different ...
"I didn't mean to," she repeated plaintively. "It ... it was an
accident, Poppa." He ignored her, treating her to his broad back as
he crouched over the damning evidence, and she felt the words
jumbling up inside her, rushing to get out before it was too late.
"Why?" he whispered, his voice raspy and faint.
"I don't know," she blurted, feeling tears welling. "It just
happened Poppa, but I didn't mean to I didn't mean for it to happen
I didn't I didn't please Poppa pleaaaaase ..."
He stood, grabbing her arm and pulling her along the floor
roughly. She wasn't a child now, but it was just the same as if she
had been; he pulled her easily, and she could only cry.
"Poppa I'm sorry I didn't mean it I'll be good I'll be good I
promise!" Something loomed up out of the mists; the basement
door.
"Tainted child," he moaned as he stumbled closer to his
goal. "Just like HER! But no one must know, no one ..."
"Poppa! Please, Poppa! I'm sorry, I didn't mean to,
please!"
He looked down at her, and she could see his face for the
first time. It was horribly swollen, the flesh darkened and livid, the
way it had been that horrible day when she'd found him hanging in
his study. Those bulging eyes fixed her with a terrifying gaze.
"Foul girl," he wheezed, his breath dank with decay, "go
into the dark where you belong!" He opened the door and threw
her into the waiting darkness, ignoring her screams ...
"POPPA! POPPA! NO! I DIDN'T MEAN IT POPPA
I'M SORRY POPPA! POPPA! POPPA!"
Her throat was raw with shrieking, and she flailed her arms,
tangled in something soft. She realized she was sitting up, tearing
at her bedclothes, and she gasped, trying to draw a breath into her
lungs, but the air seared her throat.
The dream again, she told herself numbly, just the dream,
just ...
No. Something was wrong. She stopped struggling a
moment as she tried to sort through the jumbled impressions, tried
to remember what was real and what only a phantom of sleep.
No. Not possible.
The hunger. She felt it, swelling within her, as strong as
ever. She could almost TASTE hot blood in her mouth, smell a
woman's perfume, and it was getting stronger, twisting and
building deliciously within her, demanding release, offering her
solace in its dark embrace.
Her fangs slid out to their full length, aching in her mouth,
aching with the need to plunge into firm flesh. But it couldn't be, it
just couldn't. She'd fed mere hours before, the hunger couldn't be
back so soon.
It couldn't be.
But it was.
With a bereft wail, Hotaru flung herself from the bed, falling
to the floor and becoming tangled in her own hair as she struggled
to gain her feet. She had no idea where she was running to; after
all, she couldn't escape herself, could she? Nonetheless, the need
to was very real, the need to run, to move to ...
To feed.
And there were three woman in the house with her. Asleep.
Vulnerable.
"No." The word came out faint and hoarse, barely a
whisper, as she made it to her feet, shoulders heaving with exertion.
She lost her bearings in the dark, colliding with a wall and leaning
heavily against it. The hunger swelled, and with it the sensation of
feeding, of hot lifeblood swirling over her tongue and down her
throat. It was real.
Her fangs ached, and she whimpered, clutching at the wall.
The need raced through her, making her senses sharpen and her
skin tingle as it became supersensitized. Her tenuous control began
to buckle as her own pulse pounded in her ears.
Then there was a soundless flash behind her eyes, and the
hunger was gone, just like that. It was as if it had never been,
leaving Hotaru spent and soaked with sweat, trembling. Her knees
gave way and she slid down the wall, ending up in a crumpled heap
on the floor.
She let her head fall against her chest, tangled hair
obscuring her vision as it fell about her like a shroud. Outside, the
rain seemed to be slackening, but inside Hotaru the storm still
raged.
(Foul girl, go in the dark where you BELONG!)
Hotaru wrapped her arms around her legs and bowed her
head, then she did something she hadn't allowed herself to do for
years.
She broke down and sobbed helplessly.
***
"Man," Minako groused, "some girls have all the luck."
"Luck?" Makoto asked incredulously. "You call that luck?"
"He was a stone fox, babe," Minako grinned. She eased her
car through a nearly non-existent gap in traffic and accelerated
quickly, ignoring the blaring horn from behind her. Owning a
sports car had definite advantages, especially considering her
driving habits.
Of course it also had disadvantages, like the nearly non-
existent back seat. Makoto had gotten the front, leaving Rei and
Usagi squeezed into the back. Normally, Minako suspected neither
would have minded, but they didn't speak to each other at all, not
even to bicker.
That was not normal.
It all went back to that woman, the haughty goddess in the
Ferengetti. Just what the deal was, Minako didn't know, but she'd
find out. Just as soon as she got Usagi alone.
In the meantime ...
"He may be good-looking," Makoto informed her, "but he's
trouble with a capital T."
"He a were like the others?"
"Uh-huh," Makoto confirmed. "A panther. There's a large
clan of were-cats that operate in the waterfront district, and he's the
right hand of their leader."
"What exactly did you do to make them angry, Makoto?"
Rei asked from the back.
"I bagged one of their members on a bounty," the tall girl
replied casually.
"A bounty for what?" Minako asked, cutting around a slow
moving truck sharply.
"This guy, the were, had a personal beef with another man
over a girl. Nothing unusual, right? So he goes to where the guy
works, in a tavern down by Memorial Square, and words are
exchanged. Still, happens all the time, you know? Boys will be
boys."
"But," Minako said wryly, knowing where this must be
headed.
"But," Makoto sighed. "Then they get to fighting, I mean
throwing punches. This idiot, Farner's his name, starts thrashing
his rival, weres being pretty strong even in human form. I don't
know if the other sap had any clue what he was up against, but
according to witnesses he finally pulled a knife, and Farner lost it,
shifted right there in a tavern full of people. He damn near killed
the other guy before running off."
"Yikes," Minako muttered.
"Made a big splash," Makoto nodded, leaning her long
frame back against the contoured seat and stretching her legs as
much as possible. "The tavern's owned by House Shinuichi, and
they posted the bounty themselves."
"Sure," Minako said. "Bad for business to have were-cats
running amok during the dinner rush. Bet they'll make a big deal of
his capture, too. But his people are upset now, because they didn't
want him caught."
"They're upset," Makoto told her, "because they wanted to be
the ones to catch him. That's why they tried to warn me off."
"They wanted the reward?" Usagi asked, sounding puzzled.
"No, Usagi," Makoto said gently. "They wanted to kill
him."
"What?" Usagi looked shocked.
"The changeling clans still aren't nearly the power they once
were in this city," Rei broke in. "They can't afford the kind of
attention a high profile attack like this will bring. The man who
was attacked, he'll almost certainly become a were himself."
"If he survives, yes," Makoto agreed. "Nobody's sure why,
but surviving a nearly fatal attack usually does pass on the Change."
"Yeah, not only does he tear up a tavern but he turns an
innocent guy into a were. No wonder his own kind are pissed at
him," Minako said ruefully. "I guess that's why you were able to
get him. He had no protection from his own kind. But is it really
smart to make enemies of this clan, Makoto?"
"Smart? Probably not," Makoto sighed, glancing sidelong
at her. "But I can't let myself be pushed around, or I may as well
pack up and leave the city right now. And this guy is better off in
jail, trust me. They'd have made an example of him that the other
weres wouldn't soon forget."
"And what will they do to you?" Rei asked.
"Rin wanted to take me down right in the bar and give me a
spanking," Makoto said darkly, "but that's just because he's such a
pervert. I'm sure his personal preference for my "lesson" would be
something similar to that, humiliating but non-fatal. Not that he's
going to get his way, of course."
"A bad boy," Minako purred, feeling a tingle in her belly. A
public spanking, huh? What an interesting fellow this Rin was.
"Will you be okay, Mako-chan?" Usagi asked.
"No sweat," Makoto assured the other girl, turning to meet
her eyes. "Having two identities comes in handy at times like these.
Most of the time he can't find me, anyway. And the rest ..."
"You could have been in trouble tonight if we hadn't showed,
though," Rei said, and Minako winced as Makoto's face darkened.
The tall girl was stubborn, and any suggestion that she was in over
her head was not going to be welcome.
"I would have been okay," she snorted dismissively. "I just
didn't want to bring the whole place down around us. Next time,
that pretty boy won't be so smug."
"Is this it?" Minako asked before Rei could start an
argument on the point.
"Yeah, turn down here," Makoto confirmed. Minako
followed the directions she'd been given, frowning as the street
wound through a section of large, darkened buildings. The area,
bordering a stretch of canal, seemed to be predominately old
industrial properties abandoned after the Long Dark.
There were some signs of life, though: a few small shops
and restaurants, a tavern, a twenty-four hour bathhouse.
"You live down here, Mako-chan?" Usagi asked
incredulously.
"Sure," Makoto replied. "The rent's cheap, and there's
plenty of privacy."
"It's not much to look at, though," Minako muttered.
"I've lived in plenty worse neighbourhoods," Makoto said,
staring out the window. There was a hint of something in her voice
when she said that, at once wistful and bitter and melancholy. If
they'd been alone Minako might have tried to follow up on it, but
as it was the mood wasn't right.
"Okay, that's it," Makoto said finally, pointing. Minako
pulled onto a stretch of pitted, cracked asphalt that ran alongside an
imposing concrete box of a building. The girls stared at their
destination, aghast.
It had clearly been a factory or warehouse at one time. The
walls were blank, broken only by a rusted door in the corner nearest
the street and a row of three larger, roll-up doors at the far end.
Minako drove to those at Makoto's behest, stopping in front of one
while the tall girl got out and unlocked it, rolling it up easily.
Minako eased her car inside and Makoto pulled the door closed
behind them.
Inside was a spacious, surprisingly clean area lit by rows of
high, flourescent fixtures. Minako reflected that this must have
been the loading dock at one time; there was a high shelf ahead of
them where the trucks would have backed up to unload. The only
way up to that level was a set of stairs that led to a heavy steel
door.
Besides her GX2100, there were two other vehicles in the
garage area; a red racing bike, and a buff-looking Griffon. The
Griffon was an older model, but appeared to be in perfect shape.
The lights gleamed off of the clear laquer that had been applied
over the midnight black paint job, and picked out sharp knives of
white from the chromed wheels. If her car was a thoroughbred, this
one was a mustang, all raw power and attitude.
And, even if it was sexist, something about that car just
screamed "guy" to her. She couldn't help wondering what the
owner was like.
"That's a mean machine," she said admiringly as she got out
of the car. Makoto walked up and grinned.
"I never figured you for a car buff, Minako," she said.
"Yeah, that's Yoshi's baby. It's even faster than it looks. Yoshi,
he's handy with machines."
"Oh," Minako murmured as Usagi and Rei pried themselves
from the backseat. "Good with his hands, then?"
"Trust you to find some sexual innuendo in that," Rei
grumbled, stretching the kinks out. Minako took a moment to
surreptitiously check out the other girl's butt as she bent over.
Yep. Still fabulous.
"I like to keep in practice," she told Rei, moving around to
open the trunk. She retrieved her carryall bag and followed the
others to the stairs, waiting while Makoto unlocked the imposing
door. A glance to the right showed that the loading dock itself only
extended into the building for a few feet before ending at a
cinderblock wall. The paint on it was fresh, leading Minako to
deduce that the wall was a recent addition.
She gawked at the thickness of the door as they passed
through, listening to the resonant thud it made as it swung shut
again.
"That's a serious door," she remarked. "I guess you don't
get many unannounced visitors."
"Nope," Makoto confirmed. "There's a buzzer system
connected to the only other external door, courtesy of Yoshi. But I
don't really have to worry about security here."
They walked down a long hallway. The floor was bare
concrete, but spotless. The walls here were obviously also new,
broken only by the occasional plain gray steel door. They walked
past three or four of those before they came to an open area, a sort
of foyer. Another wide hallway branched off to the left, and they
turned down it. There was a door just ahead on the right, another
further down on the left. Someone was coming out of the farther
door, turning to come towards them as they watched.
One glance told Minako that this must be the Griffon's
owner. He fit the image perfectly; snug jeans, low-heeled black
boots and a t-shirt that clung to the smooth curves of his muscles.
His unruly mane of blonde hair was tied back with a leather thong,
leaving long bangs to dangle enticingly in front of his face, but his
eyes were what caught her attention and held it. They were a pale
gray, exotic and altogether beautiful.
She wasn't certain, but she may have whimpered when he
flashed a smile.
"Hey, Makoto," he greeted, walking towards them with
long, easy strides.
"Yoshi," she hailed him. "Going out?"
"Got a line on some gear," he told her. His voice was
resonant, slightly husky, and Minako wondered how her name
would sound being whispered by that voice in the dark ...
"This time of night?" Makoto chided. He shrugged,
flashing that liquid-heat smile again.
"The man keeps strange hours," he said. "What can I do?"
"Uh-huh," Makoto said. "Hey, these are some friends of
mine: Usagi, Rei, and Minako." She pointed to each in turn.
"Charmed," he told them, sounding sincere. "Well, ladies,
nice meeting you but I've got to get rolling. Later."
With that he moved on by, leaving just the faint clean scent
of male, slightly musky, in his wake. Minako watched him go.
The view from behind was just as gorgeous as from the
front.
Usagi pressed up against her as she tried for a better view,
and the two sighed in unison as Yoshi turned the corner and
disappeared.
"Come on, ladies," Makoto chuckled. "The show's over."
She unlocked her door, and Minako reluctantly followed Usagi
inside.
"You should invite him over later, Makoto," she said. "You
know, for coffee or tea or raw animal sex or something." She
stopped dead as she crossed the threshold, joining the other two
girls in gazing around her in awe.
"Mako-chan," Usagi murmured. "This is ..."
"Incredible," Minako finished for her.
"From outside, you'd never guess it was like this," Rei
murmured, slipping her shoes off.
The place was huge, for starters. The ceilings were at least
two stories high, possibly a little more. Naked steel beams and bare
ducts were visible up there, running the width of the room.
Most of the area was completely open, with a large and
well-equipped kitchen at one end. There was a corner devoted to
exercise gear, including a heavy punching bag, speed bag and
practice dummy. Across the room from that was a cluster of
comfortable-looking furniture, two couches and three chairs
interspersed with some casually elegant floor lamps. A well-
equipped entertainment stand was present, and near the furniture a
solid brick fireplace dominated the wall.
And that was only part of the picture. A large loft had been
built in the rear half of the space, with stairs leading up. A skylight
was visible over it, rain sluicing across its surface. The area under
the loft had been closed in, a single door giving access to the space
underneath. Minako figured that the bathroom must be under
there, since she couldn't see one anywhere else.
The concrete floor had been covered with gleaming
hardwood that matched the pale wood panelling on the walls,
giving the room an even more open appearance. Minako shook her
head in wonder.
"Makoto, how in the world do you afford a place like this?"
she asked.
"You'd be surprised how reasonable the rent is," Makoto
replied. "A place this size in the palace district would cost a mint,
but in this neighbourhood it's a different story."
"Yeah, but still ..." Usagi said, gawking shamelessly. "This
is beautiful. And so big!"
"Is Yoshi your only neighbour?" Rei asked.
"For now," Makoto told her. "Work has started on a third
unit, but it isn't ready yet, so for now we have the building to
ourselves."
"Just you and Yoshi? You lucky girl," Minako sighed
enviously.
"Makoto," Rei said, her deep violet eyes grave. "Normally
I wouldn't pry like this, but given your current situation I think it's
called for."
"What are you talking about?" Makoto frowned.
"Are you aware," Rei asked, "that Yoshi is a were?"
"Oh, that," Makoto said, relaxing. "Yeah, he's not a cat
though. Wolf, and he doesn't have any pack or clan affiliations.
He's okay, I trust him."
"Wow," Minako said. "I guess that makes him a lone wolf,
huh?" She turned to Usagi. "Lone wolf, get it? Lone ... aw, come
on, that was pretty good!"
"But Rei," Makoto asked, "how did you know Yoshi was a
were?"
"His aura," Rei replied. "Weres have distinctive auras that
reveal them to someone with spiritual training like mine."
"But tell us, oh priestess," Minako said slyly, rankled by
Rei's superior tone, "if you're so sensitive, how is it you lived
under the same roof with a vampire for so long and never noticed?"
That shot hit home; Minako felt a warm glow of satisfaction
as Rei's eyes narrowed, that smug expression wiped away in an
instant.
"That's enough!" Makoto snapped before Rei could regain
her composure sufficiently to counterattack. "We're not having
THAT discussion again, ladies, not now. I want to hear about this
mysterious threat instead."
"Maybe we should try to find Ami first," Usagi said.
Minako noted with wry amusement the way Usagi moved so that
she was standing between her and Rei.
"You have any idea where she is?" Minako asked.
"Well, not exactly," Makoto replied. "I can get a message
to her, but I don't know how soon she'll get back to me."
"Will you try, Mako-chan? I'm worried about her," Usagi
implored, gazing hopefully at the taller girl. Minako knew that
Makoto wouldn't be able to deny that wide-eyed gaze.
"I'll go make the call," Makoto sighed. "Do you really
think that Ami's in any danger, though? I mean, this girl you
mentioned didn't show around here, and there's been no wraith
trouble either."
"I don't know, but I'll feel better once I know she's okay,"
Usagi said. Makoto nodded and bade them to look around,
disappearing upstairs. Rei moved off towards the fireplace,
pointedly ignoring the other two, and Usagi turned to Minako with
a stricken expression.
"Minako," she said softly.
"Oh, come on," Minako replied, feeling a twinge of guilt at
the distress in Usagi's big blue eyes. "She needs her chain yanked
every now and again, that's all." Usagi just nibbled her lower lip,
clasping her hands tightly in front of her chest, and Minako finally
held her hands up in defeat.
"Okay," she told her princess. "I'll lay off, I promise."
"Thank you, Minako," Usagi breathed gratefully, beaming.
Minako stepped closer and slipped her arm around Usagi's slim
waist.
"Come on, beautiful," she murmured. "Let's have a look
around." They went in the opposite direction from Rei, Minako
figuring the girl would need a little time to cool off before she'd be
civil again. Speaking of which ...
"So, princess, what happened between you and Rei?" she
asked. "Things got tense when that woman showed up earlier.
What gives?"
"Um, could we talk about that later?" Usagi asked, shooting
a surreptitious glance at Rei's back. Minako considered pressing,
but it seemed like Usagi wasn't willing to talk about it while Rei
was anywhere nearby. Well, fine. Minako would get it out of her
eventually.
She could be very persuasive when she set her mind to it.
***
The landscape twisted and turned, finally settling into a
stable setting of trees and grass. The Way wound into the distance,
and she could see that it plunged through a patch of writhing
Shadow, disappearing from her view.
She would have to keep an eye on that; it wasn't too close,
but Shadow could be unpredictable. That thought made her smile.
It was significant, she supposed, that she'd come to regard
anything in this place as predictable.
Her present surroundings were safe for the moment,
though, so she concentrated and sent out a call, focussing it so that
it wouldn't attract the wrong kind of attention. It wasn't long
before the reply came.
"Hi hiiiiiii!" a small, breathy voice announced. She smiled
as the tiny figure streaked through the trees, surrounded by a faint
nimbus of golden light.
"Hello, Willow," she said softly, holding out her hand. The
fairy landed on the outstretched palm with a flourish, her gossamer
wings fluttering to a stop.
"Ami looks pretty!" Willow announced. The girl glanced
down at herself to see that she was wearing a loose, flowing gown
of sky-blue, with matching slippers.
"Thank you, Willow. So do you," Ami replied. Willow
preened self-consciously at the compliment, tugging at her wild
tangle of spun-gold hair. She wore the briefest of garments today,
made from some fine material as green as the little fairy's vibrant
eyes.
"I brought you something," Ami said, opening her other
hand. Nestled in the palm was a small piece of foil, and Willow
squealed with delight, wasting no time in leaping nimbly to the
other hand and opening the foil.
"Chocolate!" she cried. "Thank you, Ami!" Willow licked
the chocolate once before closing the foil again and clasping it to
her chest.
"You're welcome," Ami smiled. "So, how are things,
Willow? Do you have anything for me today?" Willow frowned,
casting a sidelong glance at the roiling shadow.
"More shadows today," she announced primly, disapproval
in her tone. "Bad things all restless-like. Willow doesn't know
why."
"I see," Ami nodded. Things locally did indeed seem to be
unsettled, but there was no sign of danger. Ami wasn't terribly
worried; she was an old hand at this. "But nothing useful?"
"Willow saw something," the fairy said slowly. "Floating.
Willow thinks it was a spell, but it floated into Shadow. Willow
cannot follow there. Maybe it comes out again, maybe not."
"I don't want you following anything into Shadow,
Willow," Ami said sternly. "Remember?"
"Willow remembers," the fairy chirped. Ami didn't think
Willow would really be foolish enough to venture into Shadow, but
it never hurt to reinforce the message.
"Well, I have to go," she told Willow. "Things to do, you
know."
"So soon?" Willow pouted, disappointment clear in her
voice. "Willow wanted to show Ami something, something new.
Not even Queen knows what it is."
"Sounds interesting," Ami smiled. "Next time, okay?"
"`Kay," Willow agreed. "Bye-bye, Ami."
"Be good, Willow."
Willow took to the air and circled as Ami shut her eyes,
seeking the way back. She found her anchor and reached for it with
her mind, feeling her surroundings slip away as it became clearer
and clearer.
Then she opened her eyes again.
The dress was gone, replaced with shorts and a plain blue t-
shirt. She sighed and stretched, easing herself out of her cross-
legged posture and standing slowly. Brushing stray locks of hair
out of her eyes, she stepped out of the pattern and walked slowly
out of the room.
Gods, it was late. She caught sight of the clock near her
bed and groaned. Almost three in the morning already? She'd lost
track of the time again.
Outside, the rain fell heavily, although the nearly constant
lightning of the previous night had tailed off into the occasional
sullen flicker. Well, the rain didn't bother her; it was almost cozy,
falling asleep to the sound of rain falling.
And falling asleep was definitely what she planned to do.
As she passed her desk, though, a flashing light caught her
eye. A glance confirmed that a message had been left at one of her
secure drops, and was rated high priority. Sighing, she detoured to
the desk, sitting down and calling up the message.
The priority flag was explained when she saw who the
sender was. A momentary prickle of unease tickled her belly as she
recalled the last bit of information she'd passed on to Makoto, and
she hoped that the brash girl hadn't gotten in over her head.
She quickly forgot her concerns, though, when she read the
entire message. The others were all together? A giddy excitement
bubbled up inside her, and she reigned it in hastily. This certainly
was unexpected, but it wasn't necessarily good news. All the
message really told her was that Usagi, Minako and Rei were at
Makoto's place, and that she should get in contact as soon as
possible.
Ami glanced at the clock again. Too late to call now.
She'd have to wait for the morning.
Pushing back from her desk, she sat for a moment, just
staring into space. She'd tried not to think about the others since
leaving Hotaru's house, but knowing that they were all going to be
together again kindled undeniable feelings of anticipation in her.
She got up and killed the lights, then slid under her blankets
and curled up into a ball, thinking about the morning, how she'd get
to Makoto's place, what she'd wear, whether she should bring
anything.
Suddenly, she wasn't sleepy anymore.
***
They'd sat for a time, catching up on inconsequential things
while sipping a passably good wine that Makoto had had in her
fridge. The hour had started off late, however, and soon even
Usagi had to concede that Ami wouldn't be contacting them before
morning.
Makoto had offered to let them stay over, an offer which
was gratefully accepted. Rei had ended up on a spare futon near
Makoto's bed, while Minako and Usagi shared the fold out couch.
Minako had shed her cat-girl leotard, settling on a pair of
high-cut thong panties and a t-shirt, cropped just under the breasts
and bearing a blood-red Club Kiss logo, for sleeping. She'd found
another shirt for Usagi to sleep in, a loose t-shirt that fell to the
girl's thighs. She couldn't help but feel the princess looked
adorable in it.
One floor lamp remained lit, throwing a golden glow over
Usagi as she sat on the edge of their bed, untying her hair.
Mischievously, Minako crawled across the bed to a point behind the
other girl and buried her face in the cascade of blonde hair, rubbing
her nose gently against the back of Usagi's neck and inhaling
deeply.
"Hey," Usagi giggled. "What are you doing?"
"Just smelling you," Minako replied idly. "Sniffing beautiful
girls is a hobby of mine."
"Flirt," Usagi chided in a half-whisper.
"Guilty," Minako replied, pulling back reluctantly. "Come
on, let's go to bed." She grabbed her bag and moved so she could
set it on the floor. Usagi slipped under the covers, and when
Minako turned she worked her way on her knees to a point near
Usagi's head where she could reach the lamp. First though, she
yawned and arched her back into her best feline stretch, running her
hands lazily up her body and plunging her fingers into her hair,
pushing it up onto her head as she sighed throatily. The motion
made her brief t-shirt ride up, giving Usagi quite a view of taut belly
and full breasts.
Touchy-feely, AND an exhibitionist, Minako, thought. Man, I
rock!
"Minako," Usagi breathed.
"Mmmm?" Minako replied, glancing down without breaking
her pose.
"Don't be alarmed," Usagi said with a mischievous gleam in
her eye, "but I think there's every possibility that you might be a
shameless hussy."
"Yes," Minako conceded. "But at least I'm not going to be
sleeping with one." That made Usagi break out in girlish giggles as
Minako reached out one arm with exaggerated languidness to flick
off the lamp. The fold-out bed was quite wide, and Minako could
have lay down where she was, but instead she crawled slowly over
Usagi to the other side of the bed, making sure to paw her
thoroughly in the process. Usagi's giggles increased in volume,
interspersed with squeaks and squeals as Minako's limbs found the
occasional ticklish spot. Finally, Minako simply dropped herself
onto the other girl and slithered on her belly like a snake, sending
Usagi into helpless convulsions.
"Geez, what are you two doing down there?" Rei finally
called from the loft.
"Foreplay!" Minako called back cheerily, sending Usagi into
another fit of laughter. "Come on down, we'll have a threesome!"
"Go to sleep, nympho," Makoto's voice floated down.
Finally Minako rolled off of Usagi and slid under the warm, heavy
comforter. With a sigh, she burrowed into Usagi, slipping one arm
carelessly over the girl's stomach and nuzzling in so that her chin
was on Usagi's shoulder and Usagi's outflung arm was under her
head. With Usagi on her back and Minako on her stomach, the two
fit together nicely.
Minako breathed in the other girl's scent contentedly.
Artemis always said that she was just like a cat; she wasn't happy
unless she had a warm body to curl up to when she slept. Usagi's
warmth seeped into her, and the princess's breath tickled her cheek
as the last of her giggles died away.
"I really missed you, Minako," Usagi whispered. Minako
felt a pang of conscience, gazing into those crystal clear blue eyes.
"I missed you too," Minako breathed. "I'm sorry I didn't
get in touch after ... well, you know, after. I just wasn't too sure
how you were feeling about things, and I was a little shaken up
myself."
"Everyone was, I guess," Usagi said softly. "But Hotaru
was wrong, you know. We aren't tools or pawns for her to use
however she wants. We're more than a weapon she forged for
her use."
"`A weapon doesn't question the hand that wields it',"
Minako said, recalling that night. "But that's all we ever were to
her, isn't it?"
"I don't believe that," Usagi said, her eyes sombre now. "I
don't know why she said all those things, but over the last little
while I've had a chance to look back, and I can't believe she meant
what she said."
"I can't believe that she was a vampire," Minako snorted.
"I've seen her in the sun, and you have too," Usagi pointed
out. "She's eaten meals with us, gone into temples ... she can't be a
vampire, Minako, not really."
"Really?" Minako murmured, reaching with her free hand to
brush her fingers gently against the smooth skin at the base of
Usagi's throat. "The fang marks are completely gone, aren't they?"
"She tried to send me away before it happened," Usagi said
stubbornly. "Maybe she didn't want to hurt me. Maybe she was
really trying to protect me."
"That's my princess," Minako said with a fond smile.
"Always willing to believe the best of anyone."
"You didn't have to taunt Rei that way," Usagi added,
disapproval clouding her gaze. "She feels guilty about not sensing
the truth, you know."
"I bet she does," Minako said, unrepentant. "And she
should. Anyway, I think Rei needs to be reminded from time to
time that she puts her pantyhose on one leg at a time, just like the
rest of us."
"You know her temper. You could make her really mad."
"Oh, I hope so," Minako said with a salacious grin. "She
might get mad enough to punish me." She lowered her voice to a
husky purr, and added, "I bet Rei gives great domination." A cute
pink flush rose hotly to Usagi's cheeks, barely visible in the faint
light from the skylight.
"Minako!" Usagi hissed, delightfully scandalized.
"Honestly, the things you say!"
"Oh, come on," Minako teased. "You mean you've never
thought that?"
"Um," Usagi mumbled, squirming slightly under the other
girl's disconcertingly direct gaze. "But hey, didn't you say earlier
that you dreamed of Rei licking your boots?"
"Oh, for the right partner I'll get on the bottom," Minako
purred, allowing Usagi to dodge the question.
"You're teasing me," Usagi said, but her eyes reflected her
uncertainty. "You wouldn't just let Rei tie you up or something."
"Let her? No, of course not," Minako whispered, moving
her lips next to Usagi's ear. "She'd have to overpower me first.
Domination is a fine art, princess. Not everyone can do it."
Minako moved her hand, letting her fingers stroke Usagi's flat belly
lightly through the thin t-shirt, moving in slow, lazy circles.
"And speaking of Rei," Minako continued, "what's going
on between you two? What's the deal with that woman from
before?. You want to tell me about it?"
Usagi lay there quietly, but Minako could feel the tension in
the other girl's body where their bodies were pressed together.
"It's nothing," Usagi murmured at last. "It'll work itself out
soon enough. You know Rei's moods."
Minako did know Rei's moods, enough to know this was
something more. But if Usagi wasn't ready to talk about it, then
she could let it slide.
"Yeah, I'm sure you're right," Minako sighed. Usagi lay
silent for a time, then turned her head so that she was looking into
the other girl's eyes.
"Minako?"
"Mmmm?"
"What do you know about the gods?"
Minako blinked. It was fair to say that particular question
was far and away the last she'd expected to hear.
"The gods?" she repeated blankly. "What do you mean?"
"Well," Usagi began, obviously choosing her words
carefully, "like for instance, most people have a patron deity,
right?"
"Sure," Minako agreed, still unsure where they were going.
"At least one, although there are minor ones you might also make
the occasional offering to."
"Right," Usagi said. "Because which god you choose as
your patron can affect your life in a lot of different ways. Like, if
you worship Marbis you can only have one partner at a time, or if
you worship Diennas you can't serve under the command of a male
..."
"Is this about you and Mamoru?" Minako asked
suspiciously. "Are you two having some sort of conflict over your
patrons? Because followers of Alieva and Travos should get along
pretty well."
"Oh, no," Usagi said quickly. "I mean, well ... Mamo-chan
uses red roses, right? As Tuxedo Mask, I mean."
"Sure," Minako said, shrugging as much as she could given
her posture. "I guess he's favoured by Travos, since an enchanted
red rose is one of His symbols. Travos, if I remember, is mostly
associated with honour, courage, and all that good stuff."
"And the Sisters used to tell us stories of the Age of
Change, when champions of the gods fought against the Shadow
Kings," Usagi said softly. "Sometimes, those favoured by the
White Lady herself used an enchanted white rose to strike down
their enemies."
"And as Travos is represented by the Earth, and Alieva by
the Moon, they are nearly always associated with each other in the
old stories," Minako pointed out. "Face it, destiny isn't subtle."
"But what about a black rose?" Usagi pressed. "Do you
know who would use one of those?"
"Sure," Minako said, frowning slightly. "The favoured of
Dasma, the Dark Lady."
"The Sisters of Shadows," Usagi breathed, her eyes hooded.
"Right," Minako said. "Usagi ..."
"What do you know about them?" Usagi asked, surprising
Minako yet again.
"I'd think you'd have heard some stories about them,
having been raised by the White Sisters," Minako said slowly.
"Yes," Usagi said, squirming, "but when it came to matters
of their opposite numbers ... well, you know how strict and harsh
the Sisters of Light can be about that sort of thing. The stories they
told were pretty wild sometimes."
"Well, since Dasma was defeated and sealed away by Alieva,
worship of Her has mostly been suppressed, despite petitions to the
Council of Churches," Minako said. "But that just seems to attract
some people."
"But She was evil, right?" Usagi asked intently.
"Evil? No, not really," Minako said with a wry smile.
"Dark, yes. Her domain was the shadows, not just of the world but
of men's hearts. If Olidia represents romantic love, Dasma
represents the darker side of the equation; lust, seduction, hunger,
the balance of dominance and submission. Where the White Lady is
said to dispel shadows, Dasma embraces them."
"But," Usagi frowned, "isn't that pretty much a bad thing?"
"Oh, I don't know," Minako replied lazily, letting the circles
described by her fingers upon Usagi's belly gradually widen.
"There's supposed to be a balance of shadow and light in everyone,
isn't there?"
"I guess so," Usagi muttered. "But the Sisters of Shadows, they
were supposed to be able to ... control people, right?"
"Well, if you believe the stories, they could use dark arts
passed down from the Dark Lady herself to seduce and control
people for their own purposes," Minako admitted, feeling a warm
tingle in her belly at the memory of some of those stories. "Why,
got someone you want seduced? Point me at `em, sweetheart!"
"But if someone was being ... influenced that way, or had
been," Usagi went on, a strange look in her eye, "wouldn't
someone with the power of the White Moon be able to break that
hold?"
"Supposedly," Minako said, noting how Usagi was toying
with her pendant through her shirt, the one with Alieva's symbol on
it. "You should really talk to Rei about something like this, though.
She studied spiritualism, she probably knows more about conflict
between the earthly powers of the gods and all that."
"That's a good idea," Usagi breathed. "I'll have to do that,
soon."
"Princess," Minako said, more puzzled over their
conversation than anything. "What's this about, anyway? Why all
this concern over Dasma's Sisterhood? Do you think they're
involved in what's going on, I mean Rei's vision and all that?"
"Oh, no," Usagi replied. "It was just something I was
thinking about, that's all. Really." Minako doubted that; Usagi had
a particular gleam in her eye, the one she got when she was
planning something.
That look always presaged trouble. Minako resolved to
keep an eye on the other girl over the next couple of days. Usagi
yawned widely, then turned on her side just as Minako's fingers
were beginning to stray into intimate territory. Suppressing a smile,
Minako spooned up against the other girl's back.
"Tired, princess?"
"Mmm-hmm," Usagi replied. "It's been a long day."
"But a good one," Minako replied. After all, despite this
vague and nebulous threat that Rei kept raving about, they were
together again, and it felt good. Very good, in fact. When Ami
joined them, they would all be together for the first time since that
night when they'd discovered the truth about why Hotaru had
sought them out.
Minako very much doubted that there was anything the five
of them couldn't handle.
Warmed by that thought and by Usagi's nearness, she
drifted off to sleep.
***
The pre-dawn hour was cold and damp, but at least the rain
had finally stopped. Mamoru rose from a crouch, working his
shoulders to ease the tension, and looked around wearily.
He'd actually become accustomed to the sight of dead
bodies; even the sort of mutilation present here didn't shock him.
The smell, though, that was something you never got used to. It
had a way of reaching past professional detachment or black
humour and tweaking the animal part of the brain.
"Mamoru!" He turned and nodded, waiting for Yusaku to
pick his way across the rubble strewn room to where he was
standing. Uniform officers moved past the doorway, guarding
access to the scene. Not that there was much of a crowd, given the
deserted neighbourhood and the time of night; mostly the usual
suspects.
"Hey, partner," Yusaku said. "Quite a mess, huh? What in
the hells is this place, anyway?"
"According to records, it's listed as the Church of the
Sentinel," Mamoru said curtly. "And would this be a good time to
ask you where you've been?"
"The Royal Saeni Hospital," Yusaku replied. "Been a hell of a
night, let me tell you. Anyway, I got a call from the chief, asking
me to personally check something out while you were here.
Javour's balls, what did all this, anyway?"
"Wraiths, believe it or not," Mamoru sighed. "There were
one or two left when we got here, but most of them were gone.
But it doesn't make any sense."
"Oh, I'm afraid it just might make sense," Yusaku said
softly.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Mamoru demanded. He
hadn't gotten much sleep between worrying about Usagi and his
pager going off at an ungodly hour, and he was more than a tad
irritable.
"There was an incident in an uptown club tonight," Yusaku
murmured, glancing about surreptitiously to ensure that no one was
close enough to hear them. "A vamp attack."
"What?" Instantly, Mamoru's fatigue vanished in a rush of
adrenaline. "Our vamp?"
"Could be," Yusaku went on gravely. "She killed the three
customers outright, put the entire staff under her control before any
of them could run or call for help. Apparently, she was playing
with them when things went sour."
"She killed them all?" Mamoru asked, afraid of the answer.
Yusaku surprised him, though.
"Nope," the older man replied. "We've got purifications
underway on the survivors in the RSH's old secure ward, and a
couple of the girls could talk. Apparently, our vamp just suddenly
freaked, started screeching about the light of the key appearing or
some such thing. Tossed the one she'd been feeding on aside like a
rag doll, broke her arm in three places and a couple of ribs to boot.
Then, and this is the interesting part, she does some kind of blood
summoning. Guess what she calls up?"
"Wraiths," Mamoru breathed. "We've been having trouble
with them ever since ..."
"The airship crash," Yusaku finished for him. "And now
this. Coincidence? I think not."
"But why? Nobody's even heard of the Church of the
Sentinel. This place is built like a fortress, Yu, but they smashed
stone walls as thick as your head and killed everybody. We still
haven't got a complete body count, but ..."
"Detective!" They turned to see one of the ETF officers
standing in an inner doorway, the visor of her helmet up to reveal a
sweat streaked face. "You'd better come see this!"
They followed the officer through the doorway and down a
wide, rubble strewn hallway, turning at another empty doorway to
descend a flight of worn stone stairs. They went below ground
level, but despite the cool air Mamoru noticed the ETF officer was
still sweating.
"Find any more wraiths?" Yusaku asked. She shook her
head.
"No sir," she said. "But we were doing a sweep of the
basement when we found this guy. The sarge wants you to take a
look."
The stairwell emptied out into a large chamber. They were
far enough under the main building that the ceiling could be both
high and arched. The power was out, but powerful lamps lit up the
area with a harsh, merciless glare. They could see toppled
bookcases, some broken white stone that might once have been
statues, and, at the front of the chamber, an altar.
The altar was plenty big enough for the body that had been
left on it.
The ETF crew stood around, tension evident in their
stances, the way they held their weapons. Mamoru recognized the
sergeant, who had the dusky skin and dark, nearly purple hair of a
native of Vierna. He couldn't recall her name, though.
"Piakesti," Yusaku called out. "What've you got there?"
"See for yourself," the woman said sourly. They stepped up
to the altar, moving carefully.
The man had been old, but in good health. The white robes
he wore were similar to the ones found on the other bodies; at least,
on the more intact ones.
"Gods," Yusaku winced. Mamoru could only stare. The
man's limbs were askew, bent in ways that should have been
impossible. The bones had obviously been shattered; in places the
robes bulged where broken ends jutted through the skin. There
were bloodstains at those points, but they were small, and Mamoru
was very afraid he knew why.
"Yusaku," he said, pointing. Yusaku saw it immediately;
two neat puncture wounds on the man's neck.
"His face, though," Piakesti muttered from behind them.
"You see his face?"
Mamoru had to agree that his expression was nearly the
worst part. Despite what had been done to him, the man had died
in ecstasy, and Mamoru wondered if, should he lean over and stare
into those glassy eyes, he might see the image of terrible beauty still
lingering there like an echo.
"All right, nobody touches the body until Wasa gets here,"
Mamoru said firmly. "Are there any others like this, sergeant?"
"Not that we've found, and we've swept the whole place
now," she replied. "The others could have been the wraiths, from
the claw and tooth marks. This one's the only one that was done
like this."
Yusaku had wandered over to the wall and was staring up
at the image engraved upon it. Mamoru joined him.
"Church of the Sentinel," Yusaku muttered. "Who in the
hells is the Sentinel, anyway? I never heard any of our gods called
by that name."
"A foreign god, maybe?" Mamoru shrugged.
"Yeah, but the Council of Churches doesn't bar foreign
temples from their district," Yusaku frowned. "Why build a church
way out here in a nearly abandoned industrial area? And what in
Javour's name IS that thing?"
Mamoru shrugged. Something about the image carved onto
the wall above the altar made the small hairs on the back of his neck
prickle. It evoked an almost atavistic dread, and damned if he
could figure out why.
"Looks like a tower," he told Yusaku diffidently. "With a
huge eye on top of it."
"Worshipping a big eye," Yusaku grunted. "Now I've
heard everything."
"If this is our vamp, Yu, then this could be a break,"
Mamoru murmured. "There could be something about these
attacks that will give us an idea what she's after."
"Well, I don't know about the eyeball guys here," Yusaku
said diffidently, "but here's a bit of info. The club she hit tonight
used to be a secret vamp hangout, back in the day."
"Interesting," Mamoru breathed. "Maybe she hasn't been active
in Saeni since before the Long Dark. That could be something.
Anything else?"
"Well," Yusaku said, pulling out a black-covered notebook
and flipping open to a page bound by a rubber band. "We know
she's more than just a vamp, since she did that summoning. And
we got a general physical description. Very striking, as I recall.
Let's see ... pale complexion, dark eyes and straight dark hair down
to the floor ... and here's something distinctive. Our lady vamp can
use her hair to bind her victims. Now there's something you don't
see every day."
"No," Mamoru said, staring fixedly at the wall. "No, you
certainly don't."
Unfortunately, he had seen a vampire who matched that
description and used that very trick. He felt his stomach churn as
he considered the ramifications of this new information.
This had the potential to get incredibly ugly.
End part three