Time for the next chapter, now that the FFML is up and running again (well,
limping maybe). With a little luck, the readership won't have to wait so long
for chapter 8, already well underway. And thanks to Michael Chase for signing
on as pre-reader for the series.
Previous chapters can be found on my webpage at:
http://www.akane.org/mark/shadowchronicles/
And so on with the show ...
-- Attached file included as plaintext by Listar --
-- File: clearday7r.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 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 7:
"You want to run that by me again?" Minako asked,
dumbfounded. "You're the new owner?"
"Correct," Saekianna replied smoothly from behind her
large, glossy hardwood desk. Of Pon's cluttered old table, there
was no sign. Like Pon himself, it had disappeared literally
overnight. "I've been looking over my assets, and by all accounts
you are quite popular, both with the clientele and with the other
girls. I'm surprised to find that you've never gone for your
courtesan's licence."
"I don't test well," Minako said tightly, the shock beginning
to fade.
"Oh, I find that hard to believe," the platinum-maned beauty
murmured, giving Minako a slow, appreciative appraisal.
Up close, Saekianna was even more alluring than when
Minako had seen her the other night. Ordinarily, brazen flirtation
from such a seductive enchantress would have effortlessly beguiled
the blonde senshi. Dark erotic promise radiated from the woman,
her every slightest move a languorous ballet.
Now, however, all Minako felt was the dull anger beginning
to throb at her temples. First this woman had put that awful pain in
Usagi's eyes, and now she had the unmitigated gall to just buy up
Minako's workplace? And she was just going to sit there and come
on to Minako after all she'd done?
"We should discuss your financial compensation,"
Saekianna continued in that maddeningly husky voice. "I'm always
on the lookout for new talent."
"For the Sisterhood?" Minako asked archly.
"Such disapproval in your tone," Saekianna murmured in reply,
dark eyes sparkling. "Don't tell me you share your young friend's
prejudice against us."
"No, actually I don't," Minako said, trying not to lose her
temper. For all she knew, that was just what this bitch wanted.
"But if you think I'm going to work for you, you've got another
thing coming."
"And just why shouldn't you work for me?" Saekianna
asked, raising one slim eyebrow. "I assure you, the Sisterhood is
quite adept at managing such establishments."
"You hurt my friend," Minako gritted, fingers curling into
fists at her side.
"Your friend," Saekianna replied, evidently unimpressed by
Minako's anger, "challenged me over Rei. I am not the sort of
woman to let something like that pass unanswered."
"Maybe it's not for you to say, did you ever think of that? Why
are you so sure Rei would pick you over Usagi?" Minako asked.
"You have no idea what's between them."
"Are you quite serious?" the other woman asked, her
expression of cool amusement giving way to genuine surprise.
"You can't think that Rei would choose to stay with that meek little
blossom, girl! You're as bad as your friend. I'll bet that you didn't
even know what Rei was. None of you know her as I do. Rei
belongs with the Sisterhood. She belongs TO the Sisterhood."
"She's my friend," Minako said flatly. "And I don't give up
on my friends."
"Indeed?" That mocking half-smile had returned to
Saekianna's ruby lips as she leaned back in her high-backed leather
chair. "Yet if young Usagi was so wounded, then why was Rei
with me last night?"
Minako's eyes widened, and the other woman laughed, a
throaty sound that caressed the ear like velvet.
"Oh, yes," Saekianna mocked. "In fact, I'll bet you don't
even know where she is right now, do you?" Minako felt the blood
rush to her face as the accusation hit home, and the other woman's
dark eyes pinned her with a mesmerizing gaze.
"She's confused right now," Minako muttered, hating
herself for letting the other woman get under her skin. "That's all."
"She did not seem at all confused to me last night,"
Saekianna remarked. "And if she truly cared about any of you,
wouldn't she have come to you? Or at least called? But she hasn't,
has she? I'm sure you were a pleasant diversion for a while, but I
am back in her life now, and there won't be room for pretty little
playthings anymore."
"We'll see," Minako growled, hoping her words didn't
sound as lame as she thought. "We'll see who Rei picks."
"Yes," Saekianna murmured, pressing the tips of her fingers
together. "We will."
Minako hated the utter confidence in the other woman's
voice, hated herself for not having a devastating comeback, hated
Rei for putting them all in this position. She wanted to lash out, but
instinctively she knew that it would be a bad idea to give Saekianna
any excuse to take action against her. Barely holding her temper in
check, she whirled and stormed back to the door, jerking it open in
one savage motion.
"By the way," she snapped over her shoulder. "I quit!"
Then she slammed the door behind her.
***
Rei checked her reflection in the darkened shop window.
She was wearing a black dress that started at mid-chest and ended
high on the thigh. Narrow garters extended from under her skirt to
the tops of her stockings. Black ankle boots with slim heels graced
her feet, a wide collar secured with two narrow straps circled her
throat. Over it all she wore a long loose red coat slit high in the
back that swirled as she walked. Normally, she'd have worn her
black coat with this outfit, but she'd left it behind at Minako's.
Well, she'd just have to get another.
She walked down the street to the narrow entrance to Club
Kiss. She had no idea why Saekianna had insisted on meeting her
there, but she had an ominous sensation in the pit of her stomach.
Somehow, she didn't think mere nostalgia was the reason.
The club was open, although hardly busy this early. Rei
walked to the back, aware of the admiring looks she was getting
along the way. The bartender on duty was an attractive woman
with short red hair and dark skin. Rei sidled up to her and
mentioned Saekianna's name, thinking she would be directed to one
of the upstairs rooms. Instead, to her surprise, she was pointed
towards a door marked "Employees Only".
Strange. She passed through, aware of the bartender's gaze
on her back as she went. Through the door was a narrow hallway
which led back into the building. There was a door at the end that
repeated the theme of authorized personnel only, and one just
before it which appeared to be some kind of storage. Since it
seemed highly unlikely that Saekianna intended to meet her in a
storage room, Rei headed for the end door.
Just before she reached it, the door burst open, rebounding
off the wall forcefully and springing back at the girl storming
through. She angrily shoved the door back again, coming up short
as she looked up to find Rei in her path.
Minako. Of course, why not? The way her luck had been
running of late, it was bound to happen.
"Well," Minako said sourly, her face flushed. It was clear
she was in a foul temper. "Look who it is."
"I don't have time for this right now," Rei replied, hoping
she could slip by without causing a scene. Minako, predictably,
was having none of that.
"Make time!" the blonde spat, thrusting her arm out to
block the narrow hall. "You know what really pisses me off, Rei?
Let me tell you. What really pisses me off is that last night, while
Usagi was hurt and confused and worried about you and I was
wandering the bloody city trying to find you, YOU ... YOU were
playing bedroom games with that WOMAN!"
"Keep your voice down," Rei hissed.
"Oh, I don't think so, babe," Minako shot back. "I've been
sticking up for you, Rei. Telling people that things can't be as bad
as they look ..."
"Well, bully for you," Rei snapped, feeling guilty and
resenting Minako for that, even though she was hardly the one to
blame. "I never asked you to get involved in this, did I? Why don't
you just let it go for once?"
"Oh, I don't know," Minako growled. "How about because
your boss, the Right Honourable Queen of the Bitch People, just
bought this club?"
"What?" That caught Rei off guard.
"Oh yeah," Minako told her. "And she's been asking a lot
of questions about Mistress V, who just happens to show up here
quite often. Coincidence? I don't think so. What's going on, Rei?
Is the Sisterhood targeting senshi?"
That was a damned good question. It had occurred to Rei
the previous night that Saekianna would not ignore the senshi's
presence in Saeni if it threatened to interfere with her plans.
"Would you believe me if I said I didn't know?" Rei asked,
her thoughts spinning wildly.
"Gods, you make me mad sometimes!" Minako gritted,
pushing her face closer to Rei's. "Don't play these martyr games
with me, okay? Your past came back and bit you on the ass? Well,
I'm sorry! But I'm on your side, and so is Usagi. You could start
acting like it instead of treating us as the enemy!"
"That's not what I'm doing!" Rei replied, biting her words
off harshly.
"Then tell me what you are doing!" Minako said, some of
the tension going out of her shoulders. "Tell me, and let me help."
Rei was shaken by the realization that Minako was being
completely honest. She did want to help, no matter what. And that
was just what Rei wanted to avoid. It was bad enough that Rei's
past had wounded Usagi's heart, but the present was much more
dangerous. If the Sisterhood really was looking to take down the
senshi, then Rei had to keep the girls far away from Saekianna. The
further, the better.
And that meant far away from her.
"I don't want your help," Rei said flatly, shoving Minako's
arm out of the way. "Just stay away from me."
"Here now," a familiar voice said from behind Minako. "I
can't have such rowdiness in my new club, can I?" Saekianna was
standing in the doorway leading to the employee area, arms crossed
and a superior smile on her perfect face. Rei knew that the woman
would be enjoying this scene immensely. She also knew she had to
end this quickly, otherwise Saekianna might just find some reason
to take offense against Minako. If that happened, she would
certainly target the girl for her own brand of retribution. Saekianna
had always enjoyed getting back at others for any slight, real or
imagined.
"This girl was just leaving," Rei said, fixing her expression
into a cold mask. "She has no further business here."
"Is that so?" Minako asked, her voice curiously gentle as
she stared into Rei's eyes. "Can you really go to this woman after
what she did to Usagi?"
"Usagi? What are you talking about?" Rei's mask slipped for an
instant, and a spark bloomed in Minako's blue eyes.
"Oh, didn't you know? She's the one who told Usagi your
secret," Minako murmured. "Come on, Rei. Didn't you wonder
how she found out?"
Rei stood there, frozen, as Minako brushed by her
brusquely.
"Or maybe you didn't want to know," the blonde said as she
passed. Rei didn't reply. After all, Minako was right. Once the
shock had worn off, she should have asked herself the all-important
question: how had Usagi discovered the truth? Finding out so soon
after Saekianna's appearance could hardly be mere coincidence,
could it? Had she been willfully blind?
"If you reconsider your position, come and see me,"
Saekianna called sweetly. Minako's reply was profane and
biologically impossible, and Rei watched numbly as the blonde
stormed down the hallway and disappeared through the door at the
far end.
That was your chance, she told herself. Your chance to try
and go back, try and make this better. But even as she had the
thought, she dismissed it. Whatever happened from here on in, she
was going to make certain that her personal trash didn't stain any of
her former comrades.
Especially not Usagi.
"Ah, what a waste," Saekianna murmured. "Well, Rei,
come back to my office, won't you?" Silently, Rei followed the
other woman, holding herself in check until the office door was
closed.
"You told her about me." It wasn't a question, and
Saekianna didn't look surprised at all.
"Yes," the platinum-maned beauty admitted easily. "She
had some lovely young amazon on a motorcycle chase me down so
she could confront me over you. Really, the little mouse has gall,
I'll give her that."
"You had no right to interfere in my business that way,
Sass," Rei said, remaining by the door.
"I am the Nightmistress," Saekianna reminded her, the
playfulness going out of her tone. "Anything that concerns the
Sisterhood concerns me. Nobody, be she priestess or queen,
challenges me over one of my Sisters."
"I'm not a Sister anymore, remember?" Rei asked softly,
keeping her temper on a short leash.
"No one leaves the Sisterhood, Rei," Saekianna replied
sternly. "You know that. You got away from Griitna, and she
never managed to find you and bring you back. In truth, she ended
up spending more time trying to quell the unrest your accusations
caused than tracking you down. But that is all in the past."
"You're saying I have no choice here?" Rei's voice was
dangerous, and she no longer bothered to try and hide her anger.
"Rei, I know you," Saekianna sighed, leaning her hips back
against the edge of her desk. "Nothing makes you more stubborn
than when someone tries to force you into something, so just listen
to me. Why should I force you? This is what you wanted, what
WE wanted. We talked about this, the destiny we would fulfill one
day, and that day is finally here. Embrace it willingly."
"What are you talking about?" Rei asked, eyes narrowed.
"You keep going on about destiny, but you seem to be conveniently
forgetting that everything we believed was based on lies!"
"Not everything," Saekianna said with a secretive smile. "I
told you your vision was incomplete, didn't I? And I promised you
proof. Well, here it is." The woman traced a languid pattern in the
air, and the signet ring on her finger glowed with dark fire that
prickled at Rei's mystic senses. Something glimmered to life within
Saekianna's hand, something long and vaguely phallic, and Rei
frowned, confused. What did Saekianna expect to prove with ...
Saekianna smiled, holding her prize out for Rei to see. It
gleamed an oily black, the surface seeming to shift and slither,
almost as though it were alive.
Alive ... Rei tensed. The object was roughly cylindrical,
bulbous at one end and flared at the other, contoured along its
length almost like a handle. And there, near the flared end, was a
red circle with a black rose emblem within it. Even as she watched,
Saekianna waved her hand in a loose arc, and a thick black tendril
snaked from the flared end, extending into the air and twining like a
thing alive. Saekianna reached out her free hand and it came to her,
Rei's eyes widening as the other woman stroked the whip's length
like one would stroke a kitten.
"That can't be," Rei breathed. "It's impossible. She was
lost ..."
"Lost from the Dark Lady's own hand when she fell to that
White bitch," Saekianna murmured, her eyes following the whip as
it extended, coiling loosely around her body. "Legend had it that
she fell into Shadow, beyond Alieva's reach, or that she was sealed
with her mistress, or even that she was imprisoned within the White
Temple here in Saeni. But it turns out all those rumours were
wrong, Rei."
"Banri," Rei said, gaze locked on the legendary weapon.
"Dasma's whip. But how?"
"She was waiting for me within the heart of the Labyrinth,"
Saekianna told her. "Residing within the darkest shadows, waiting
for a true follower of her mistress."
"But my vision, I saw ... Sass, there was nothing there.
Nothing!"
"Can you ignore the evidence of your own senses?"
Saekianna asked haughtily. The gleaming length of the mystical
whip moved slowly through the air, making its serpentine way
towards Rei. She reached out and lightly touched the coil as it
snaked around her, gasping at the sensation of power that skittered
up her fingers and along her nerve endings.
Everything was the same as in the old stories. This had to
be Banri.
"And there was something else there, Rei," Saekianna told
her, eyes sparkling with delight at Rei's reaction. "Knowledge.
Power. The means to achieve what we always said we'd do."
Rei looked up from Banri, her eyes locking with the other
woman's. Finally, she understood what it must be that Saekianna
was talking about. It had been, of course, the dream of every Sister
for the past century, but none had ever come close to pulling it off.
Not until now.
"You think you can really do it," Rei whispered. "You
believe you can break the seal and release the Dark Lady."
"Believe it?" Saekianna asked with a glorious smile. "Rei, I
know it. The time has finally come. The Dark Lady will be free
once more!"
***
Makoto stretched, enjoying the sound and feel of her leather
riding gear. A nice ride was just what the doctor ordered, followed
by poking around in some of the seamier dives in the city. Maybe
somebody would be stupid enough to pick a fight with her and give
her an excuse to blow off even more steam.
She plunked her helmet down on the seat of her bike and
threw open the roll up door. It ratcheted up smoothly, and Makoto
paused to take a breath, then frowned as she caught sight of a dark
van with tinted windows sitting only a few feet away, a strange
woman leaning against the side. She began walking over towards
Makoto as soon as the door opened, moving with a fluid, sensual
gait that made the lanky senshi think of shifters.
Rin's werecats? But how would they have known where to
find her? Friends of Yoshi's, maybe?
"Makoto Kino?" the woman asked, a sly and somehow knowing
smile on her full lips. Her skin was dusky dark, her short hair even
darker, and something about her made Makoto's hackles rise.
"Yeah?" Makoto replied cautiously.
"Would you come with me, please?" The woman was dressed in
a conservative dark suit jacket and skirt, dark sunglasses hiding her
eyes. The outfit should have screamed cop, but something about
the woman just seemed smug, arrogant, just like ...
"Who are you?" Makoto asked tightly, although she was afraid
she knew.
"I represent someone who wants to meet with you," the woman
replied, placing one hand on her hip in an oddly graceful motion.
"For a little ... talk."
"Let me guess," Makoto said flatly. "Are her initials
Saekianna der Kae?" The woman just smiled, somehow radiating
superiority.
She was really beginning to get on Makoto's nerves.
"You must have really made an impression on her when you
met," the woman murmured, taking a step forward. "It really is an
honour to be invited for a private audience."
"I'll pass," Makoto replied, drawing herself to her full height and
glaring at the shorter woman. "Now why don't you take a hike?"
"Don't be like that," the woman pouted prettily. "Our
mistress has taken an interest in you and your little friend, and she
really isn't the type to take no for an answer."
Little friend? Usagi? Makoto felt her temper coming to a
boil, and she welcomed the sensation. The Sister watched her from
behind her sunglasses, that sly, self-satisfied smile never changing,
and Makoto noted the languid movement of her hands as they
began to rise.
"If you try any of that spooky Sisterhood black magic," the
tall senshi growled, "I'm going to have to kick your ass."
"Black magic?" the woman asked innocently. "Why,
whatever do you mean? Look, there's nothing up my sleeve." She
raised her left arm, and something shot out of the space between
her wrist and the edge of her sleeve in a blur of motion. Makoto
reacted instinctively, throwing herself to the side and rolling away,
scrambling to her feet and backing away quickly.
Her opponent had driven her away from the open door, and
now Makoto had no place to retreat. She watched, wary, as the
woman took a slow step towards her, then another.
"Oh, dear," the woman murmured. "I did have something
up my sleeve after all. Would you like to see it again?" She
gestured, and again something snaked out of her sleeve to twine
sinuously in the air before the woman. It looked like a long thin
ribbon of some silky material, glossy dark in the sunlight.
"A nice trick, don't you think?" the woman asked,
continuing her slow advance. "Now, where were we? Oh, yes.
My mistress commands your presence. Now, you can come
willingly or ... unwillingly. Personally, I'd love an excuse to subdue
you, my lovely amazon. So, what do you say?"
Makoto didn't know how much range the woman's lash
had, but she'd seen how fast it was. Still, she probably wouldn't be
expecting an attack. If Makoto could get away from the woman
for even a few moments, she might find someplace to transform.
Then the fight would take on a much different tenor.
"What do I say?" Makoto repeated. "I say ... THIS!"
Gathering herself, she used her long legs to launch an all-out attack,
twisting her body and coming in low in an attempt to throw the
other woman off-balance. Her opponent danced away from her
rush, though, moving with contemptuous ease, and before Makoto
could turn she felt something sleek and smooth slithering around
her neck. It pulled tight, cutting off her breath abruptly and pulling
her upright.
"Oh, my, you are a spirited one," the woman sneered,
turning the snared Makoto so that they were face to face. "You
probably think you won't tell us where to find your insipid little
friend, too. But you will. Our mistress will make you tell, and I'll
enjoy watching. What do you think of that?"
Makoto could barely breathe, clawing desperately at her
throat. The material felt like silk but its grip was like iron, and she
couldn't budge it. Black spots began to appear around the edges of
her vision, and she desperately forced one hand down to grope for
her henshin rod, but the smirking Sister sent a ripple through her
bespelled lash and caught Makoto's wrists easily.
"Oh, my," she purred. "What's wrong? Cat got your
tongue?"
I won't betray you, Usagi, Makoto thought as her struggles
began to fade. No matter what. I promise ...
There was a flash across her failing vision, and suddenly the
pressure around her wrists and throat eased and she was falling
back, sprawling across the cracked asphalt. Makoto gasped for air,
throwing the now inanimate scrap of silk away from her.
A gleam caught her eye, and she spotted a large, broad-
bladed knife sticking out of the wall of her building, still quivering
with the force of the throw. It looked familiar, and even before she
heard his voice she knew who had come to her rescue.
"I don't think you should be doing that," a curiously gentle
voice said, and Makoto turned her head to see him standing there,
dressed in blue jeans and a white t-shirt.
Yoshi.
"Well, well," the woman snarled. "What have we here, a
knight in shining armour? This doesn't concern you, boy. You
should leave while you have the chance."
"If it concerns her, it concerns me," Yoshi replied, his
stance loose and deceptively relaxed. Makoto wanted to warn him,
but as she got some of her wind back, she realized that the Sister's
attention was mostly focussed on him.
But it wouldn't be for long.
So she made her move, getting her feet under her and
launching herself forward for a second time. This time, though, she
caught the woman off-guard. The Sister tried to slip away from
Makoto's attack, but didn't quite manage the evasion. Makoto's
punch caught the edge of her opponent's jaw, snapping her head
back. Makoto spun and, although still winded from being choked,
she snapped a savagely powerful knee up into the woman's
stomach, causing her to double over sharply. The dark shades flew
off the woman's face, and Makoto hammered a hard punch down.
Her fist caught the woman flush against one high cheekbone,
throwing her to the ground where she rolled frantically, regaining
her feet and backing up much as Makoto had done earlier.
Yoshi circled towards her, both of them watching the Sister.
Her air of smug superiority was gone now, her face contorted with
rage.
"You okay?" Yoshi called to her.
"Yeah," Makoto gasped. "Thanks." Yoshi smiled, those
pale gray eyes lingering for a moment before flicking back to their
enemy.
"I was ... going to be nice to you," the Sister gasped, her
face already beginning to bruise. "But now, you're going to see
just how nasty I can be."
"Careful," Makoto told Yoshi. "She's one of the Dark
Lady's minions."
"Really?" Yoshi asked, his voice cool. "Lady, unless you
want to meet your goddess in person, I think you'd better just give
up."
"I think not," the Sister growled, her dark eyes shifting from
Yoshi to Makoto and back as they began to flank her. "Don't
underestimate us ..." In mid-sentence she attacked, flinging one
arm in a sharp arc toward Makoto.
"Look out!" Yoshi cried, and suddenly Makoto found
herself thrown to the side as the werewolf threw her out of the way.
She rolled across the pavement, grateful for the protection afforded
by the leather she wore. As it was, she picked up more bruises as
she skidded across the rough parking lot. When she tumbled to a
stop, she managed to rise to all fours, lifting her head to see Yoshi
standing where she'd been, a dazed expression on his face. Slowly
he reached up and pulled a black rose from the base of his throat
where it had lodged, stem first, and clumsily let it fall from a limp
hand.
"Yoshi?" she called. The Sister walked over to the stunned
man, a triumphant expression on her bruised face. Dread twisted in
Makoto's belly at the sight; Yoshi just stood there, making no
effort to stop the woman as she twined her hands around his neck
and drew herself close to him.
"Well, that wasn't what I had in mind," she said softly, her
eyes pinning Makoto with malicious glee. "But this will work out
well, I think. Yes, I'll just have your boyfriend bring you to heel
for me. Nobody can resist the enchantment of our Black Rose. He
will now obey me, do anything to please me. And I do mean
anything ..."
"No," Makoto breathed. "Yoshi? YOSHI?"
"Now, my dear," the Sister murmured, ignoring Makoto's
anguished cries, cradling Yoshi's face in her hands and turning it so
that his drugged, bespelled eyes met hers. "I want you to do
something for me. And you will, won't you? You're feeling warm
and good, aren't you? You want to please me. Say it. Tell your
girl how you only want to please me."
Makoto watched helplessly as Yoshi stared into the Sister's
eyes, enrapt. Impotent rage filled her at the thought of Yoshi
reduced to some kind of sex toy for one of those witches. Her
hands clenched in fury as she shook her hair out of her face, rising
to her knees.
"Tell her," the Sister urged, her eyes gleaming as they held
his, her lips moist, parted ever so slightly.
Yoshi screamed.
His hand arced up, fingers curled like claws, and the woman
staggered back. Makoto stared in shock at the sight of thin streams
of blood where the woman's jacket and blouse had been torn. The
Sister almost seemed unaware of her injuries, fixing her dark gaze
on Yoshi as the man curled slightly in on himself, as if in pain.
"Stop resisting!" she snapped, and Makoto sensed the
undercurrent of command in her voice. "Obey me, boy! You want
me. You need me. Obedience brings pleasure, resistence brings
pain. Obey." It seemed to Makoto that the Sister was trying to
compel Yoshi with her voice; maybe that was how it was supposed
to work, but a fleeting glimpse of his face told her that things
weren't going at all as the woman intended.
In an instant, Yoshi sprang at the woman, who seemed
unable to accept that he would not succumb to her control. He
bore her back, forcing her to the ground where he straddled her,
head bowed. His long hair hung down so that Makoto couldn't see
his face, but she knew something was terribly wrong. The Sister
knew it too; she reached up slowly, cupping his cheek and trying to
reassert control.
"It's all right," she crooned. "Your blood boils, doesn't it?
It boils for me. Everything will be all right. All you have to do is
obey ..."
Yoshi's shoulders hunched, and then he flung his arms
apart, cloth tearing noisily as he shredded the rest of the woman's
jacket and blouse. Makoto stood shakily, staring in disbelief as
Yoshi stared down at the woman's lacy bra ... or maybe he was
staring at the trickles of blood on her skin.
"Yoshi, stop it!" Makoto cried.
"Let me up," the Sister commanded, but her voice shook ever so
slightly as she spoke. Yoshi didn't reply, his shoulders heaving as
he stared at the trapped woman fixedly.
"Let me up!" the woman shouted, trying to push him away.
Yoshi responded by back-handing her casually across the face.
Makoto flinched at the sharp crack of flesh on flesh as the woman's
head snapped to the side with the force of Yoshi's shifter strength,
then lolled back. With a growl, Yoshi leaned down and sniffed the
juncture of the stunned woman's bared throat.
"Yoshi!" Makoto shouted. "Stop it! Yoshi, listen to me!
Get hold of yourself!" She noticed that his fingertips had
lengthened into claws, as if he was on the verge of transforming.
Even as she watched, they shrank back to shorter, blunter human
fingers, quivering where they hovered over the supine woman's
bare skin. Makoto moved closer, Yoshi's strange behaviour
beginning to sow seeds of prickly fear in her gut.
She hadn't been afraid of Yoshi since she'd gotten to know
him, so many years ago. She didn't want to be afraid of him now.
But the way he was staring at the helpless woman beneath him was
dangerous, predatory ... and profoundly disturbing.
"Yoshi." She pitched her voice low, striving to remain
calm. "Come on, Yoshi. She's no threat now." From this
distance, she could see the leather thong that tied Yoshi's blonde
hair back at the nape of his neck, could see the sweat beading on his
skin as he panted. The sound was not unlike that of an animal, and
Makoto hesitated. There was a part of the beast in every were,
Yoshi had told her once. She supposed that was true, but she'd
seen Yoshi change, and she'd never seen him lose all of himself.
But now, as he turned his eyes to her, some part of her
knew that it wasn't Yoshi looking at her, at least not the Yoshi she
knew. His gaze was at once feral and hungry, and something dark
fixed its attention on her with an intensity that was unsettling.
"Makoto," he breathed, a muscle in his cheek twitching
spasmodically. "You smell ... good."
Run, something told her. Yoshi wouldn't hurt you, but
that's not him. Run.
She ran.
Behind her came the sound of scrabbling as Yoshi
scrambled to his feet. Makoto concentrated on running, painfully
aware of just how isolated the building was. She could try for the
street, but traffic was light there, and all she could accomplish that
way was to endanger some innocent. No, she was better off
making for the rear of the building; hopefully she could lose Yoshi
for a few moments in the debris and junk back there. Long enough,
at least, to transform. She'd be stronger then, strong enough to
stop Yoshi without hurting him.
Before he hurt her.
She skidded slightly as she rounded the corner, painfully
aware of just how close the sounds of pursuit were. She didn't
dare risk looking back, though. Pouring on the speed, she sprinted
down the narrow alley at one end of her building, hemmed in by
rusty chain-link fence on one side and pitted concrete on the other.
Her long legs ate up the distance, and she burst out into the trash-
strewn lot behind the building in a blur of speed, henshin rod
already nestled in her palm. So close now; all she needed was
another ten seconds.
Then something hit her from behind and she went down,
rolling across the uneven ground. She caught a glimpse of Yoshi,
stumbling in her wake, and knew that he'd be on her before she
could gain her feet again. Her options had run out, and almost
before she had made the decision she'd triggered her
transformation, brilliant light surrounding her tumbling form.
When Yoshi pounced on her, Sailor Jupiter met his attack.
She caught his body in mid-air while still on her back, using his
momentum to heave him past. Nimbly she rolled once more and
leapt to her feet, only to find Yoshi ready for her. He charged
wildly, and Jupiter had to dodge his outstretched arms and dance to
the side. Growling with frustration, he spun again, only his
mindless frenzy giving Jupiter any kind of edge.
As he closed on her, she hit him hard on the shoulder,
throwing him off-balance.
"Yoshi!" she cried as he staggered back. "Yoshi, listen to
me! You have to stop!" She wasn't sure if the werewolf knew
what was going on, or if he even realized that Makoto and Jupiter
were the same person. All she knew was that she had to try to get
through to him.
Yoshi righted himself quickly, staring at her with fevered
eyes as a streamer of spit dribbled from one corner of his mouth.
With a savage leer, he came at her again and Jupiter felt her despair
grow. She hit him again, staggering him, but he recovered and
lunged at her, cloth tearing as part of her skirt was pulled away.
She knew she had to quit pulling her punches if she wanted to stop
him; shifters were very strong and resilient, even in their human
forms. Knowing, however, was one thing. Bringing herself to hurt
Yoshi was something else.
Jupiter tried to tag Yoshi a third time with a shot hard
enough to put him down where she might pin him, but he slipped
past the blow with uncanny grace and slammed his body into hers,
throwing them to the ground. He landed on top, his weight
pressing her down heavily and driving the breath from her lungs.
Momentarily stunned, Jupiter gasped for breath as Yoshi planted
his hands on her shoulders, those horribly hungry eyes boring into
her from only a few inches away. She could feel his body against
her, and it was clear that whatever else was going on in his head, he
was very aroused.
His breath whistled noisily as he lowered his head, sniffing her.
Jupiter's mouth was dry, and she steeled herself, avoiding sudden
moves.
"Yoshi," she whispered. "This isn't you. This isn't what
you're like. I know that. Come back, Yosh. Come back to me,
okay? Just come back."
His gaze didn't return to hers, instead slipping lower to the
swell of her breasts. His hands began to wander in the direction his
eyes had taken, his breath coming faster now, and ice began to flow
through Jupiter's veins.
He was really going to do it.
Jupiter head-butted him abruptly, getting her hands between
their bodies as Yoshi reared back with a roar of pain. Gritting her
teeth, she threw him to the side and rolled away, gaining her feet at
the same time he did.
Yoshi was enraged now, and she knew what she had to do.
Summoning her power, she drew lightning to her cupped palm, and
as Yoshi charged in heedlessly she threw it with a wordless cry.
The sparkling ball of lightning hit Yoshi dead-centre, hurling him
back into a pile of old wooden pallets. He crashed through the
rotted wood noisily, splinters cartwheeling through the air as more
debris collapsed in on him.
Jupiter held her breath, watching as the dust settled. He
was down; she'd done it. She only hoped he wasn't too ...
Yoshi threw the broken remnants of several pallets off of
him as he staggered to his feet, shaking his head and sending dust
flying in a dirty halo. Then he fixed his empty gray eyes on Jupiter
again ... and charged.
The second lightning ball caught him in almost the same
spot the first one had, and he spun head over heels as he was
thrown back, hitting the ground heavily. Jupiter's breath came in
ragged gasps as she watched his limp form carefully. Don't get up,
she thought. Don't. Please, Yoshi.
He got up.
She looked into those gray eyes again, so empty of everything
but formless hunger. That was not a look she associated with those
eyes, not an expression that should be there. Jupiter remembered
being a girl, hurt and dirty and huddled in the mud that day so long
ago. She remembered a boy with pale gray eyes chasing off her
attackers, and the look in those eyes when he'd reached his hand
down to her had been gentle, so gentle. It had been the first time
anyone had been gentle with her in a long time.
Hot tears prickled at her eyes as Yoshi came at her again,
tongue lolling out of his mouth like a mad dog's.
"Don't," she pleaded. "Please, Yoshi. I don't want to hurt
you." But he was still somewhere beyond her reach, and with a
howl he launched himself at her once more.
Jupiter dodged and hit him once, then again. And again.
Yoshi wouldn't stop, though, and managed to shred her fuku
between her breasts, drawing a thin line of blood. He was still
dangerous, refusing to stop, driven by whatever that Sisterhood
bitch had done to him.
For his own good, she had to stop him. For his own good.
When he reached for her again, she grabbed his wrist,
squeezing tightly as a tear slipped down her cheek.
"I'm sorry, Yosh," she whispered. And unleashed a torrent
of lightning into him. He spasmed and howled wildly, head thrown
back as the power slammed through his already battered body,
jerking him around like a puppet on broken strings.
Enough, Jupiter prayed. Let it be enough. She cut off the
power, poised to act if Yoshi somehow was still capable of fighting.
He wasn't. As soon as she ceased her assault, he collapsed,
eyes rolling back in his head. Jupiter caught him before he hit the
ground, lowering him tenderly. His clothes were badly torn from
the fight, his breathing was fast and shallow, and she looked down
at his battered form, her throat tight with anguish. A spot of
moisture appeared on his cheek as a tear fell from her eye, and she
wiped her gloved hand across her face angrily. This was no time to
get weepy. Yoshi was tough, he'd be okay. He had to be.
But the woman who'd done this to him, she was going to
pay, and pay dearly.
When Jupiter returned to the front of the building, though,
she was too late.
The Sister was gone.
***
Usagi paid the cabbie and watched as he pulled away from
the curb. Butterflies tickled the inside of her stomach, and she took
a deep breath to calm her anxiety. The others were going to be
very, very angry when they found out what she'd done.
Well, it wasn't like she'd lied to them. She really WAS
going to see Mamoru. First, though, she had to make a stop.
Cars were parked along the street, and Usagi scanned them
as she walked, wondering what she'd do if they weren't here. She
didn't want to go to the house, not yet. This had been her best
alternative, though, and if it didn't pan out she really wasn't sure
what to do next.
There. She stopped when she caught sight of it, a yellow
convertible parked just ahead, nose angled in to the curb. She
didn't know much about cars, but that was one of Haruka's. Even
though the day was clear, the top on the car was up. At this time of
year, after all, one couldn't be too careful about the weather.
A quick glance inside confirmed that the car was indeed
Haruka's. A tiny white bunny dangled from the rear-view mirror,
looking out of place in the gleaming, sharp-edged interior. That
little detail cheered her somehow; the sight of her little gift to the
older girl, emblazoned with the symbol for protection on its belly,
had remained even after all that had happened.
Drawing another deep breath, Usagi straightened and
started down the sidewalk again, her step firmer now. So much
was happening to her people, wounding their souls, driving them
apart, sowing seeds of discord and distrust. Having to watch that
made her feel like a dagger was being slowly driven through her
own heart. The pain was horrible. She thought of a pair of deep
violet eyes, and that bottomless pool of despair threatened to
drown her.
Rei. She wanted her Rei back, wanted that with a need so
intense it was nearly tangible. But it wouldn't be that simple.
Things had gotten complicated somehow. Maybe this was her
punishment for shirking her duty for so long. She had let herself be
lulled, sulking in the safety of Mamoru's apartment, instead of
trying to heal the rift that had split her senshi. Now the rift was
spreading, and the only way to heal it was to go back to the source.
She stopped in front of the caf�, staring up at the door. The
place didn't even have a name that she knew; the lettering on the
door just said "Caf�". It was a nice enough place, quiet and
intimate, not unlike countless other cafes in the area. But this one,
for some reason, drew Haruka and Michiru on a regular basis.
They would never tell her why, just smiling secretively whenever
she asked. That was all right, though. All that mattered now was
that they were here.
A waiter appeared as she stepped inside, but she told him
politely that she was meeting someone, and he just nodded. She
scanned the mostly empty room, spotting them easily in the far
corner. Their booth was partly obscured by a large fern-like plant,
allowing Usagi to get most of the way to them before being
spotted. Haruka was seated with her back to Usagi, but Michiru
glanced up and spotted her as she approached. Under other
circumstances, the shocked expression on the usually imperturbable
girl's face would have been funny. As it was, Haruka picked up on
Michiru's gaze immediately, turning in the booth with a grim look
on her face. Usagi's heart stuttered as that cold gaze sought her
out, but it was quickly replaced with recognition and astonishment.
"Usagi!"
"Um, hi," Usagi replied, stopping just behind the booth.
"I'm sorry to bother you guys, but, um, I was wondering if we
could ... talk." It sounded so lame, now that she said it out loud,
and she felt like a total ass. This wasn't going at all as she'd hoped.
"I think that would be a wonderful idea," Haruka said,
favouring Usagi with one of her patented lazy smiles. "Have a seat,
kitten." Usagi flushed. That had always been Haruka's pet name
for her, and the sound of it made her feel instantly better. Haruka
moved over, leaving room for Usagi, then waved the waiter over
and ordered a coffee with three creams and three sugars, just the
way Usagi liked it. Usagi sat, fidgeting nervously until the waiter
had deposited the coffee in front of her and departed.
"I must say, this is an unexpected surprise, albeit a pleasant
one," Michiru murmured, leaning forward to prop her chin on the
backs of her interlaced fingers.
"I know," Usagi replied, toying with her coffee cup. "I'm
sorry for just showing up ..."
"Don't be," Haruka said softly. "We've been wanting to
talk with you, too. About what happened. Hotaru thought it was
too soon, but I think she's wrong about that."
"You must have been wondering," Michiru said. "About
Hotaru. About how she could be a senshi, and walk around in
daylight, but still be ..."
"A vampire?" Usagi asked softly. "I don't really understand
it. The things she said that night, they weren't the truth, were they?
She didn't mean any of that?" Her tone was pleading despite her
resolution to be strong throughout this meeting.
"We'll tell you the story," Haruka said with a sad smile, her
chin resting against her fist. "You deserve to know the truth. You
probably deserved to know from the start, but Hotaru ... well, she
always said you'd never trust her if you knew."
"She was probably right," Michiru pointed out.
"I suppose," Haruka sighed. "It's been hard for her, kitten.
>From the beginning, her dark side caused people to treat her with
mistrust."
"So she was a vampire the whole time we knew her?" Usagi
asked.
"Not exactly," Haruka told her. "You see, kitten, Hotaru
isn't exactly a vampire. She was never bitten, never changed. Our
Hotaru is something unique. You could call her half vampire, half
human."
"Half vampire?" Usagi asked, watching Haruka closely to
see if the woman cracked a smile. She couldn't be serious, could
she? "Haruka, there's no such thing. You can't be half-vampire.
That's like being a little bit pregnant. Isn't it?"
"I don't blame you for being sceptical," Haruka said. Usagi
thought she detected approval in Haruka's voice when she said
that.
"Usagi, before the Long Dark there were a lot of vampires
in this city," Michiru murmured, sea-green eyes made opaque by
something, memory perhaps, or maybe some deep emotion that
lingered from those bygone days. "They were an accepted part of
the landscape, just like the shifter clans and the demi-humans.
Their power was kept in check by a couple of major factors, namely
the fact that they were always warring amongst themselves for
territory and power, and also the fact that the authorities could
destroy them on sight, just like any other monster or demon."
"What do you know about the Anliss Initiative?" Haruka
asked her, and Usagi sighed. A history lesson? This was almost
like being back in school with the White Sisters.
"It was named after a count named Anliss," Usagi began.
"Actually, he was a duke," Haruka told her, eyes sparkling
with mischief. Usagi had missed that sparkle. "But go on."
"Um, there was a case back then where a Tyrian slaver
argued in Royal Court that she should be able to keep her slaves at
her estate in the city because it was no different than demi-humans
and shifters. She said they weren't full citizens and didn't have the
same rights as other people under the law, so it was a double
standard. Or something like that."
"That was the gist of it, yes," Haruka nodded. "She lost her
case, but it brought to the forefront the issue of citizenship rights
for certain peoples. Even after slavery was abolished in the
kingdom, certain classes of people suffered because they didn't
have the protections accorded to full citizens. Mostly, attention
focussed on so-called demi-humans and shifters. They were often
exploited by the ruthless, forced to work in conditions little better
than actual slavery."
"People had tried to address the issue before, but without
much success," Michiru said, cradling her tea cup in her delicate
musician's hands. "Too many among the aristocracy had a vested
interest in cheap labour, or had a power base that didn't want the
status quo disturbed. But Tyria was beginning to press the Trade
Council for sanctions, claiming that they were being shut out of a
lucrative slave market."
"Just the accusation made the palace look bad," Haruka
continued. "And it wasn't totally without merit. Plus, some of the
affected groups, especially the shifters, had formed militant clans to
protect their people from those who preyed on them. Those clans
became a force in the Triangle, and things started to get ugly. So
the old queen took serious notice when Duke Anliss proposed an
initiative to extend citizenship rights within the kingdom."
"I remember all this from school," Usagi said, idly sipping at
her coffee. "But what does it have to do with Hotaru?"
"Patience, kitten," Haruka smiled. "We're getting there.
People were pretty polarized over the initiative, but the general
consensus was that it was high time something was done to address
the problem. Demi-humans were part human, after all, even if they
originally were made by the Genrous as slaves and warriors. And
shifters, some of them had been human before having the change
passed on to them, and the rest, well, their human forms weren't so
different from us, were they?"
"And by that logic, the vampires wanted fair consideration
as well," Michiru stated, her full lips drawing into a slight scowl.
"After all, they'd all been human once."
"There was fear about giving these groups rights, but talks
went on, meetings and committees and endless sessions of the
parliament. Vampire attacks dropped off as a sign of good faith,
the shifters clans kept a low profile, and demi-humans stopped their
work disruptions. It was starting to look like the Anliss Initiative
might actually accomplish something.
"Into this state of affairs, we now introduce the Tomoe
family."
Finally, Usagi thought eagerly.
"Yukari Tomoe was a beautiful woman by all accounts,
graceful and charming as well. She was married to a brilliant young
researcher, and maybe the fact that he spent so much time with his
work made her restless. At any rate, she became involved in the
Anliss Initiative, enthusiastically. She came to believe fervently that
the treatment of certain elements of our society as second-class
citizens, or worse, was horribly unjust." Haruka stopped, leaning
back to take a sip from her tea.
"So what happened?" Usagi asked, her hands clasped
tightly. She was enthralled in spite of herself.
"We can't be quite certain how it happened," Haruka
continued. "Maybe Yukari met the vampire who would destroy her
life at a rally or through the growing Anliss movement, or maybe
she was just targeted because of her beauty and innocence.
Whatever the case, all we can say for certain is that at some point in
that turbulent time, Yukari fell under the spell of a vampire. The
vampire seems to have toyed with her, feeding off of her but not
killing or even harming her significantly. That was hardly unusual
for a vampire, as they always loved playing with the minds and
hearts of mere mortals. But somewhere in the same time period,
Yukari Tomoe also managed to get pregnant."
"The vampire?" Usagi asked, aghast.
"Not possible," Michiru told her. "Vampires cannot sire
children. That is a fact."
"Then how?" Usagi muttered, puzzled.
"Do you know how vampires control people, Usagi?"
Haruka asked, her blue eyes completely serious. "Some people are
weak and can be controlled by their gaze. Others succumb to the
vampire's bite. But the surest way for them to exert control is to
make their victims drink the vampire's own tainted blood."
"Eww," Usagi shuddered.
"Yes," Haruka nodded. "It is like a drug to a human,
placing them under the vampire's control no matter how strong-
willed they may be. To make a person into one of their number,
more than a bite is needed. The vampire must drain their human
victim, usually over a period of time. Then, when they are weak
and near death, the vampire will force their victim to gorge
themselves on dark vampiric blood. The vampire's essence
overcomes the last remnants of humanity and the victim dies, to be
reborn as a vampire."
"It appears that the vampire who ensnared Yukari used her
blood to keep the woman under her control," Michiru murmured.
"Her?" Usagi asked.
"Patience," Haruka said again. "During those months,
Yukari met regularly with her vampiric lover, and was suckled on
tainted blood. Not enough to change her into a vampire, and she
would certainly have been firmly under the vampire's control within
days of the first taste. The only reason to have made her drink
for so long seems to be that the vampire discovered her
pregnancy."
"The baby," Usagi said, a terrible hollowness in her chest.
"Hotaru?"
"Yes," Haruka said softly. "And for months, perhaps for
the entire time, Yukari was being fed small amounts of a vampire's
blood, almost daily near the end."
"There have been recorded attacks on pregnant women
before," Michiru added, watching Usagi gravely. "But never
anything like this."
"It seems to have been a deliberate action, to see what
would happen," Haruka said. "Just the sort of cold-blooded act a
monster would commit."
"But didn't anyone notice?" Usagi cried.
"Her husband was wrapped up in his work, and at first he
didn't notice anything was amiss," Haruka replied, her eyes
darkening with unfocussed anger. "By the time he began to take an
interest in what was happening with his wife, it was probably
already too late. She had told her doctor that she was seeing a
specialist, but it turned out she didn't go near any doctor during her
pregnancy. Her obedience to her new mistress was absolute, no
matter the cost to her unborn child."
"And even when her husband began to get vaguely
concerned about his wife's strange comings and goings, he didn't
suspect the awful truth," Michiru sighed. "A lot was happening
then, with opposition to the Anliss Initiative causing a rift at court,
and the outbreak of hostilities along the border. He was working
on a magical research project for the crown, but finally he started to
turn his attention to his family."
The two women fell silent for a moment, and Usagi realized
that she was leaning forward, hands clenched tightly. She had
never suspected the truth could be anything like this.
"What happened next?" she asked finally, troubled by the
macabre story but needing to know all of the truth.
"Things came to a head one night, when a terrible storm
struck," Haruka said, picking up the thread of the story seamlessly.
"He returned home early to find the house dark. He was worried,
for the baby was due soon, and he thought perhaps that his wife had
needed to go to the hospital. He climbed the stairs to their room,
only to be brought up short near the top when he heard a sound. It
sounded like moans of passion, and he burst into the room only to
see a scene out of a nightmare. His wife was being clutched tightly
by a shadowy form with red eyes, and when he tried to rush
forward something dark, like a snake, grabbed him and threw him
back. When he got up, the shadow was gone, and his wife lay on
the bed, dark blood on her lips and a fresh bite mark on her throat."
"She had other bite marks, older ones, all over her body,"
Michiru said gently. "He finally knew the truth, but it was too late.
His wife was dying. The vampire had drained most of her blood,
and her heart was giving out."
"But she was also in labour," Haruka said. "And, just as she
died, her daughter was born."
"That's terrible," Usagi whispered, her hand over her
mouth. "That poor man."
"He staked his wife when she rose, then reported the attack
to the authorities after the fact," Haruka went on. "He never told
them, though, about what had been going on. And although the
attack on a pregnant woman was one of the events that brought
down the Anliss Initiative's support, the damage was done. The
vampires had finally managed to unite behind a common goal, and
that would eventually lead to the disaster that became known as the
Long Dark. And for the Tomoe family, too, it was far too late."
"So Hotaru ... she was born, but still a vampire?" Usagi
asked.
"We know some of these things from the journals her father
kept," Michiru said. "But there is a large gap after his wife's death.
As far as we can tell, although Hotaru was a very frail child, she
was fairly normal at first. Her father kept the secret of his wife's
liaisons with the unholy creature and hoped that his daughter had
escaped the taint. Sadly, that was not to be."
"Yes," Haruka nodded. "She grew, and the vampire did not
return to trouble them. He began to think the nightmare was over.
But, around the time she was three, things began to happen. He
found her with the family pet, a small cat, one stormy night. She
had bitten it and drained its blood."
Usagi felt herself go pale, and Haruka paused.
"Perhaps I should stop," the blonde said gently.
"No," Usagi replied, firming her resolve. "No, I want to
know all of it. Please."
"Very well. He locked her up, afraid that she had finally
become what he feared most, but the next morning she seemed
normal again, unharmed by the sunlight. It took a while, but
eventually something similar happened. By the time she was five,
she was feeding fairly regularly. Her father would buy animals for
her, so that she could feed when the hunger came upon her. The
whole time, he devoted his efforts to finding out how her existence
was possible, and how her curse might be cured."
"But he couldn't help her?" Usagi asked, feeling a pang of
sympathy in her heart. The two women exchanged glances.
"Usagi, there's one thing you have to understand," Michiru
said at last. "By that point, he was quite unstable. He seems to
have been plagued with guilt over not noticing what was happening
with his wife, guilt over not being able to save her. He really had
loved her, after all. And Hotaru was growing to be the spitting
image of her mother. She represented not only what he had lost,
but the thing that had taken it from him."
"As time went on, he slowly went mad," Haruka murmured
softly. "We don't know much about those last years, what it must
have been like for her growing up in that house with him. We do
know he rarely let her out, and the basement was arranged so that
she could be locked down there."
"Oh," Usagi gasped.
"His research, all his skills of which he'd been so proud, failed
him," Haruka went on. "When Hotaru was thirteen years old, he
killed himself on a night much like the one of her birth. She was the
one who found him."
"Terrible," Usagi said, her voice trembling. "That's so
terrible. Why did such a horrible thing have to happen?"
"I don't know, kitten," Haruka replied, covering Usagi's
hands with one of her own. Usagi like the feel of Haruka's hands;
they were warm and strong and always made her feel safe
somehow. "But soon after the Long Dark occurred, and his death
was attributed to that. She lived alone afterwards, always having to
keep her dark side under control. And nobody ever knew the truth,
until we came along."
"That's why she is how she is, princess," Michiru said,
leaning close. "Hotaru has had a hard life. I'm not certain even we
know exactly how hard, but she has prevailed, discovering her
identity as a senshi, seeking out the rest of us, and always fighting
the dark, both within and without."
"But that night," Usagi said slowly. "She said things,
horrible things. She said we were her pawns, that she could do
what she wanted with us ..."
"When the hunger overtakes her, her dark nature sometimes
runs wild," Haruka said, squeezing Usagi's hands. "She says awful
things, does things she wouldn't normally do. She was waiting for
Setsuna that night, but you showed up instead, and with the
darkness rising her deeply buried resentment against you came to
the surface."
"Resentment?" Usagi blurted. "Against me? I ... I never
knew Hotaru resented me!"
"It's Setsuna's theory," Michiru broke in, giving Haruka a
glare.
"It makes sense," Haruka retorted smoothly. "It's not so
much you, princess, as your mother."
"My mother? She never knew my mother."
"She means the queen," Michiru said. "Serenity."
"Yes," Haruka sighed. "You have memories of the Silver
Millennium, kitten. You remember her."
"Of course," Usagi said. "I don't remember everything
about our previous lives, but I remember her, and my senshi."
"And us?" Michiru asked.
"I recall that there were Outer Senshi," Usagi said slowly.
"But they weren't often at court. I might have met you once, I'm
not sure."
"Three times," Haruka said. "Only once that you'd
remember, though. But you wouldn't remember Hotaru, because
her you never met. She might have seen you from afar, but you
didn't come into contact."
"Why?" Usagi asked.
"Not even Setsuna is certain of the events that led up to
this," Michiru said, that distant look in her eyes again. "There are
some mysterious circumstances surrounding Hotaru's birth. At the
time, the queen was still in mourning for her husband, your father,
who had died soon after your birth."
"Wait," Usagi frowned. "Hotaru was born AFTER I was?"
"Yes, she was the youngest back then," Michiru told her.
"But, for some reason, when the new senshi of Saturn was about to
be born, the queen used her power to do something we still don't
understand. She released the mystic seal on the senshi's power."
"The what?"
"A senshi's power grows with them," Haruka stated. "It
matures and grows. Long-lived as we were, our powers could
eventually become very great indeed. But the queen used the
ginzoushou to release all the checks on the new senshi's power,
giving her access to a devastating amount, enough to smash an
entire planet ... at the cost of her own life."
"The legend of the Omega Soldier had become reality,"
Michiru added. "As a result, the girl was closely guarded, always
kept isolated from others. Nobody was certain how her power
might manifest itself, and it was considered far too dangerous to let
her act as a normal child."
"We met her only once after her birth, shortly before the
end," Haruka said. "She was a terribly serious girl, polite and well-
behaved."
"And lonely," Michiru added sadly.
"And lonely," Haruka agreed. "You could see it in her
eyes. She knew people were afraid of her, even though she was
sworn to use her power to protect the White Moon, not destroy it.
But she never complained, just bore the terrible responsibility in
silence."
"I never knew any of this," Usagi protested. "I mean ... I
don't think I did. I don't remember anything like this."
"It wasn't common knowledge," Haruka confirmed. "The
queen probably kept it from you."
"But she made Hotaru what she was," Usagi said, eyes
downcast. "And you think Hotaru hated her for it. And me."
"Setsuna thinks so," Haruka shrugged. "And I agree it
makes sense, but ... Usagi, Hotaru might resent what happened
back then, but she doesn't hate you. Having you under her roof
was a revelation, believe me. All you girls were so good for her.
Please don't think the things she said that night were her real
feelings. She suffered every time we sent you girls out alone, even
though she knew you had to learn to stand and fight on your own.
There were nights she paced the floor until I thought she'd wear a
trench in it, waiting for one of you to come in. Even when the rest
of us thought you five would never learn to become a team, would
never bond with each other the way you once had, she never lost
hope. I ask you to remember that, whatever happens."
"Thank you," Usagi breathed, tears shimmering in her eyes.
"Thank you for telling me all this, Haruka, Michiru. I'm so glad ...
glad to know the truth."
"Well, I'm glad you came to us," Haruka replied, that rakish
grin back full force. "I can only imagine what the others had to say
when you told them you wanted to talk to us." Usagi just sat still,
giving Haruka her most winning smile.
"Uh-oh," Haruka muttered.
"You didn't tell the other senshi?" Michiru asked wearily.
"What about Mamoru?" Haruka asked. Usagi smiled some
more, throwing in some bashful squirming for good measure.
"Did you at least tell Luna?" Michiru murmured. Usagi
made a show of placing her coffee mug in the exact geographical
centre of her saucer.
"I admire your spirit, princess," Haruka sighed, pinching the
bridge of her nose with thumb and forefinger. "But protecting you
has got to be a nerve-wracking task at the best of times. What
would you have done if we'd actually been under the control of a
hostile vampire?"
"The risk was mine to take," Usagi replied evenly, matching
Haruka's gaze. "I can't be put in a glass bubble and kept away
from the world, you know. I'm not a fairytale princess, made just
for swooning and marrying princes. I thought I proved that when I
fought Beryl."
Surprise bloomed in Haruka's eyes, and Usagi wondered if
she'd gone too far. Still, she couldn't back down. If she was going
to keep from falling apart over Rei's disappearance, she had to stay
strong.
"That was very well said," Michiru declared. "But you do owe
it to your senshi to trust them, don't you? Sneaking behind their
backs is unworthy of their devotion to you."
"I ... hadn't thought of it that way," Usagi mumbled, feeling
her cheeks grow warm.
"Still, I was very impressed, kitten," Haruka reassured her,
placing a hand on her shoulder. "And you are right, you have
earned respect for your abilities. Just don't forget to extend the
same respect to your girls."
"Indeed," Michiru told her. "How would you feel if Rei
went off on her own and got into trouble, and you weren't there to
help her?"
Usagi's stomach immediately twisted into a knot, and a chill
ran down her back.
"Usagi?" Haruka asked, concern clear in her voice.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing," Usagi assured the other girl quickly. "Um, I've got
to ... you know. I'll be right back, okay?" She managed to get up
without knocking anything over and rushed to the bathroom at the
back of the caf�. Once inside, she fell back against the door,
fighting the urge to break into tears.
Stop it! she berated herself. You can't go to pieces just
because someone mentions Rei! Usagi had succeeded in keeping
that particular problem under firm control until now, but somehow
Michiru's words had struck home.
Where are you, Rei? she wondered. Why haven't you come
back yet? That woman wasn't right about you, was she? She
couldn't have been, she just couldn't!
Rei ...
I miss you ...
***
Haruka watched Usagi go, mouth set in a slight scowl.
"She just needed to go very badly," Michiru said.
"You think?"
"No, not really. Rei?"
"It looks like," Haruka sighed. "I wonder what's going on
with our little sisters these days?"
"We should go slowly with this, Haruka," Michiru
cautioned. "There are still a lot of hurt feelings to deal with, and
Hotaru isn't in the best frame of mind right now either."
"Good point," Haruka conceded. "Still, optimism is a nice
change of pace."
"She really is something, isn't she?" Michiru said with a
slight smile.
"That she is," Haruka replied softly. "That's why we've got
to tell her the rest of the story. If the vampire we've heard about is
the one who killed Hotaru's mother, then she may have come back
to hunt down the child she helped create. We could all be in
danger."
"Should I go get her, do you think?" Michiru asked.
"Leave her," Haruka said, casting a knowing glance in the
direction Usagi had gone. "Sometimes, a girl just needs to
be alone."
***
Ami moved through the forest, watching as colourful birds
that would never be found in any mundane encyclopaedia took
flight in a noisy barrage. She stepped from the edge of the dense
growth onto a rippling plain of long grasses and wild flowers,
senses alert for anything unusual. It was light now, and she glanced
behind her to see her shadow lying along the ground. It was limned
with darkness, but filled with a strange glowing pattern that shifted
within the confines of her shadow as she moved. Although it was
only a visible fragment of her portal/anchor, the sight always
comforted her ... for if it was to be broken or lost, she would be
trapped here.
The wind blew gently, brushing her hair back out of her
face, and she breathed in the scents of the place, wondering if
Willow would show up this time, or if she'd have to go wandering.
"Ami! Hi-hiiiiiii!"
"Hello there, Willow," Ami smiled as the small fairy sailed
in on the wind, swooping in close to the grass only to loop up at the
last moment, landing on Ami's hand in a flourish. "How are you?"
"Fine," Willow chirped with broad smile, pirouetting
playfully in Ami's palm. "Why is Ami dressed like that?" Ami
glanced down, noting that her clothing had a distinctly martial air; a
fitted jacket with epaulets, tight-fitting breeches and high boots. It
wasn't armour, but it was far from a good sign. The recent turmoil
must have affected her more deeply then she'd thought. She
concentrated for a moment, nodding with satisfaction as her
clothing rippled and flowed like water, settling into the form of a
light sundress with a pattern of pale blue flowers.
"Better?" she asked the fairy.
"Uh-huh," Willow nodded. "Ami looks pretty both ways,
but Willow doesn't want Ami to fight."
"Why would I have to fight?" Ami asked, and Willow
scowled, scuffing her bare feet in Ami's palm. It actually tickled,
and Ami had to repress the urge to laugh out loud.
"Before, Willow told Ami about a new thing," Willow said
slowly, her long tangled mane of blonde hair dancing on the light
breeze. "Now there are other things, too. Dragon comes to see
them, and everyone is afraid."
Ami felt her skin prickle. Dragon? Dragon was, by all
accounts, not a force to be trifled with. She'd only seen the
creature once, and that had been in the darkness and from a
distance many years before, but the sensations that encounter had
evoked had never left her.
"Is Dragon near?" she asked the fairy nervously. Willow
shook her head emphatically, gold-blonde curls bouncing into her
face.
"Not now," Willow announced. "But Dragon is always
claiming new things. Dragon is mean, and greedy too!"
"Well then," Ami sighed. "That's all right. I don't want to
get near Dragon."
"Ami, come see!" Willow blurted, her mood shifting
capriciously. "Willow wants to show you new things!"
"All right," Ami murmured tolerantly. Willow giggled,
launching herself into the air and flying lazy loops around her friend
before darting off in a line parallel to the forest. Ami followed,
shaking her head. Willow was uncharacteristically bold for a fairy,
always wanting to explore and find new things. Most fairies
wouldn't have come anywhere near her, but Willow, well, Willow
was an explorer, adventurer and thrill-seeker all rolled into one.
That combination was also rare for a fairy, and Ami had wondered
at first if Willow was some kind of outcast. That turned out not to
be the case; she was just a little different. And Ami's initial worries
that Willow's adventurous nature would lead her to fall prey to one
of the many dangers of her home had proven unfounded as well.
Willow knew how to take care of herself.
Ami walked along behind the fairy, glancing at the Way
where it wound through the grass and into the forest. Nothing
travelled its broad flat surface today, and she didn't sense any sort
of disturbance which might prove dangerous. Still, a part of her
constantly monitored the background noise of the world around
her; she didn't want to be unprepared if something did come.
Willow soared ahead, and Ami frowned, calling the fairy
back. Effortlessly Willow floated back to her, borne aloft on her
gossamer wings.
"Are we going near the Abyss, Willow?" Ami asked.
"Yup!" Willow grinned. "Neat stuff came up! And
something so big even Dragon couldn't take it away! Come see!
Come!" Willow streaked off again, and Ami followed. She
supposed it would be all right, although the Abyss was far from her
favourite place. It could be a treasure trove of discoveries, since
odd things tended to surface from its depths, but that particular
feature also had been know to draw treasure seekers ... as well as
the predators that hunted them.
As Ami crested a gentle rise, though, those thoughts were
driven from her mind by the sight which greeted her. The land here
described a slight slope down to the sharp edge of the Abyss,
beyond which there seemed to be nothing at all. The sight of the
Abyss was awe-inspiring itself, but today Ami saw something even
more breathtaking.
Floating in space just beyond the end of the land was what
looked like a castle. It hung in the air, jagged rock extending below
to match the slim towering spires above. The whole thing was
surrounded by a high wall of dark, glossy stone or perhaps crystal.
Ami had never seen anything like it, certainly not here where
nothing man-made lasted for very long. She stared, enrapt,
wondering if there was a way in. But of course, there would have
to be, wouldn't there? And she would find it.
This was what she loved about this place; her heart was
racing, her blood hot in her veins and her body tingling with a
sensation that was nearly sexual. An artificial structure, here?
Where had it come from? The Abyss? Who had made it, and why?
What would she find inside?
"Ami, isn't it wonderful?" Willow said with barely
restrained glee. "Willow has never seen its like!"
"Neither have I," Ami breathed. There was something
about the castle; despite its size it seemed to soar, at once
impregnable and delicate, all dark gleaming spires and flowing lines.
"So beautiful," Willow sighed.
"Is it faerie-made, Willow?" Ami asked, her heart still
pounding as she took in the sight.
"No-no-no!" Willow asserted with a fierce shake of her
head. "Queen says no, too."
"Has anyone tried to get inside?"
"Not yet," Willow shrugged. "Willow goes close, but it
pushes away."
"How do you mean?" Ami asked, shifting her gaze finally to
Willow.
"It just ... pushes," Willow shrugged, obviously unable to
articulate any further. "It does not want visitors, Willow thinks."
"Too bad," Ami muttered under her breath. "It's going to
have some. Come on, Willow." Ami started down the grassy
slope, and Willow flew up and landed on her shoulder, riding along
happily. The pair had only gone about half way down, though,
when something caught Ami's eye. Frowning, she peered off into
the undergrowth that lay in an almost straight line, delineating the
border between grass and forest. There was an area of obvious
recent disturbance, marked by trees snapped like twigs and torn-up
earth. Something gleamed strangely behind it all, and Ami stopped.
Willow followed her gaze and tightened her grip on Ami's
shoulder.
"Ah!" the fairy exclaimed. "The shiny thing!"
"This is something else new?" Ami asked, although clearly it
was. This place had a way of swallowing up anything foreign or
alien in nature very quickly; whatever had crashed into the forest
could not have been there long.
"Yes, the shiny thing," Willow told Ami. "It floated up out
of the Abyss and whooooo, into the air and BAM! into the trees.
Willow has never seen such a shiny thing before."
Ami paused, torn. She wanted a closer look at the floating
castle, but the other object was between her and the edge of the
Abyss. From Willow's exuberant explanation, she gathered it had
bobbed up from the depths of the Abyss, although as far as she
knew it was unusual for anything to do so with enough speed to be
hurled so far inland.
Finally she shrugged, eliciting a squeak from Willow. She
might just as well take a look. The castle wasn't going anywhere.
Continuing on, she angled towards the line of trees, listening to the
rustle of grasses as she moved. The closer she came to the site of
the impact, the more curious she became. Something was indeed
embedded in the ground behind the shrouding forest, something
very strange. It took her a few moments to figure out what she was
looking at; the trees seemed to be distorted and inverted in an area
where the object should be. Finally, she stopped at the edge of the
forest, able to see clearly.
Although it was embedded in the earth, she could see
enough of the object to deduce that it seemed to be a large sphere.
The secret of the distortion quickly became apparent to her, as well.
The surface of the sphere was a mirror, reflecting back the area
around it. Ami had no idea what it could be, but she doubted it was
natural. Still, it was strange that the mirror was so perfect. The
chaotic forces of this plane hadn't begun to break the thing down at
all as far as she could tell.
She was about to step closer when Willow hopped from her
shoulder, landing sprawled on Ami's head. When Ami looked up in
surprise, she saw two large black crows perched on a nearby tree
branch. The two were eerily still, and almost seemed to be
watching what was going on below ... an impression Ami was not
prepared to completely discount.
"What are they?" Ami asked.
"Crows," Willow said off-handedly, but there was an
expression on the fairy's delicate features that hinted at something
held back; distaste, perhaps, mixed with wariness. Still, Willow
would tell her if there was any danger. Ami turned her attention
back to the sphere, easing closer. There was no sense of magic
about the thing, no noise or light or vibration that she could sense.
That thought triggered another, and she concentrated.
"Trouble, Ami?" Willow asked, tightening her grip on
Ami's hair. Ami started to shake her head, then stopped herself.
"No, Willow," she said softly. "I just want to have a closer
look." A quick glance revealed that her dress had been replaced
with her sailor fuku, and she smiled. It probably wasn't necessary
for her to manifest that particular uniform to use her senshi abilities
here, but the association was so strong that one seemed to
invariably follow the other.
The crows, apparently spooked by the sudden change,
squawked loudly, agitation clear in the way they spread their wings
and hopped about on the branch. Ami ignored them, though,
concentrating her attention on the sphere. She touched her earring
and brought her visor flickering into existence before her eyes, then
began scanning the surface of the object.
She could get readings on its shape and temperature, but
none of her scans penetrated the surface. Strange. Slowly, Ami
began circling the mysterious orb, stepping cautiously over
branches and uprooted bushes. Willow watched the proceedings,
quiet for once, perched securely on Ami's head.
When she reached the back half of the object, Ami found
the only break in the sphere's surface. There, set incongruously
into the side of the sphere, was a perfectly ordinary looking door,
the sort of door one might find on an older house. It had inset
panels and a brass-coloured knob, and appeared to be made of
painted wood, but Ami's scans could no more penetrate it than they
could the rest of the object.
Ami moved closer, watching for any reaction. The door
was tilted about fifteen degrees from perpendicular to the ground,
and Ami supposed she was just lucky it had ended up above ground
at all. Otherwise, she might never had found a way in.
Assuming, of course, that this really WAS a way in.
There was only one way to find out for sure. Taking a deep
breath, Ami reached out and grasped the door knob.
It turned.
Gently, she pulled the door open. From what she could see,
there should be plenty of room inside to move around. Indeed, the
door revealed a large room, dark and full of stale air. A quick scan
showed some faint heat sources, and Ami's heart began to race.
There appeared to be machinery in there, and some of it still had
power! What had she stumbled across?
Gingerly, she grasped the door frame and boosted herself up
so she could enter. Willow stirred uneasily, but stayed with her.
The light from the doorway was dim, but Ami used her visor to
amplify the available light so she could see.
This room took up most of the centre section of the sphere,
although Ami suspected there might be other rooms above and
below. That space could be taken up by machinery too, though.
This area looked like it might have suffered some damage; the wall
ahead of her was covered with control panels and screens, some
broken or twisted. There was a padded chair in front of the biggest
screen, and she figured it for some sort of control station.
"Ami," Willow whispered. "Is this a human thing?"
"I think so," Ami murmured. "It appears to be some kind of
machine."
"Ma-sheeens can't survive here," Willow protested. "Not
without the circle. Humans neither. But this feels old-old-old,
Ami. Like it was here for a long time."
Ami silently agreed. It did feel old, somehow. She eased
across the sloped deck, moving carefully. Pieces of metal were
scattered along the floor, and Ami wondered if all this damage had
been done when the thing had been thrown clear of the Abyss, or if
something else had done all this. She reached the chair, which was
covered with a fine layer of dust. Gently, she eased herself down
into it.
And nearly leapt back out when the lights came on.
Fortunately, her visor immediately compensated for the
additional light, keeping her from being temporarily blinded.
Willow squealed in alarm, promptly diving down the front of Ami's
fuku. Ami sat still, trying to rein in her thundering heart. All
right, she thought. There's still power, and sitting here triggered
the lights automatically. That's all.
She had a better view of what was around her now, and she
tried to take it all in. The large screen was cracked and dark, but a
smaller one to the side was flickering fitfully, and she swivelled the
chair to get a better look. The flickering went on for a few
moments, then the screen stabilized, and characters began
appearing there.
"Ami?" Willow's voice came, muffled. "Is it okay?"
"Yes," Ami said absently, hardly noticing as Willow popped
her head out of the front of her fuku. Words were appearing on the
screen now, and Ami was recording them through her visor. Better
yet, though, she could understand them. They appeared to be a
slight variant of Kendur, the language the Genrous had used. She
frowned, trying to make sense of what she was seeing.
FSC/165779 PATDES GAMMA1719 SERVICE
REGISTRY TD 155 JA SUBSECTOR GARRISON
Some way of identifying the particular unit, perhaps?
BEACON STATUS: EMERGENCY/DISTRESS
COMMAND SYSTEMS: FAIL
MAIN MONITOR: FAIL
TRANSIT SYSTEMS: FAIL
TRANSIT CORE: SECURED AS PER CRASH
PROTOCOLS
WARNING: UNABLE TO ENTER LOCAL SUBSPACE
Interesting. Very interesting. Apparently, this was a status
report for whoever found the thing. Things didn't look good, but
what was a transit core? Did that mean this sphere was a vehicle of
some sort?
And what exactly was local subspace?
"What is this thing?" she asked aloud. The screen flashed,
and she blinked.
MAIN MONITOR: FAIL
VOICE COMMAND INTERFACE LIMITED
Had it understood her? She cleared her throat.
"Who are you?" she asked.
PATDES GAMMA 1719 UNIT DESIGNATION
"GWEN"
"Gwen? Your name is Gwen? What happened here, can you
tell me?"
MAIN MONITOR: FAIL
EMERGENCY SYSTEMS ONLY
DAMAGE CONTROL UNAVAILABLE
FLIGHT RECORDER UNAVAILABLE
Flight recorder? She sat back, noticing that Willow was
watching the proceedings intently.
"Does it understand, Ami?" the fairy asked softly.
"Yes," Ami frowned. She'd been speaking her own
language, but the thing had responded, albeit in the same language
it had been using from the start. If it was some sort of control
computer, its systems seemed to have been crippled, either by
damage or loss of power. She wondered if there was any way to
access its main database and find out who had made it, and exactly
what it was.
She began to look around the room, shifting in the chair to
keep her balance. Perhaps she could find something, an obviously
damaged panel to fix or some sort of storage media.
She didn't find any of those, but she did see something that
she'd missed before, scrawled on the far wall. Her blood seemed to
thicken and cool as she stopped, staring at the huge ragged letters
on the wall.
WHEREFORE THE EYE?
IT DOESN'T KNOW
IT DOESN'T SEE
'WARE THE DARK OUTSIDE
SALVATION IN THE KEY
Under the cryptic scrawl was a simplistic, almost childish
picture of a tower or pole with a large representation of an eye atop
it. The eye was marred by a diagonal slash, and underneath the
drawing was more writing, this time in small, almost cramped
writing.
black omega
Those words were written at least a dozen times, the words
wandering down the wall in a drunken slant until they reached the
floor. Ami wasn't at all certain what had happened, but she had a
moment of terrible clarity: whoever had written the message and
drawn the picture had been completely mad.
Her visor revealed something else. The message had been
written in blood. Human blood. And judging from the decay at the
cellular level, even allowing for unknown environmental factors, it
had obviously been on that wall a very, very long time.
"The Eye," Willow said, her tiny voice hushed. At first Ami
was uncertain she'd heard the little fairy correctly.
"What did you say, Willow?" she asked.
"The Eye that sees, the Eye that knows," Willow said gravely.
"Maybe this is Its place, Its shrine. Willow and Ami should go from
here."
"You've heard about this Eye?" Ami breathed. In the
excitement of coming here, she'd forgotten to ask Willow about the
strange happenings in her world. The chance that she might find
out something from the fairy had seemed remote at best, but
apparently she'd been mistaken.
"Willow knows," the fairy whispered, her body stiff against
Ami's. "What Queen says. What Sidhe Lady says. What mad-mad
spirit girl says. Willow listens."
"Willow, this is important," Ami said, scarcely daring to
breathe. "Do you know what the Eye is? Is it a bad thing?"
Willow was silent for so long that Ami was about to repeat
the question. Finally, though, the fairy stirred.
"The Eye is not-us," Willow said.
"What does that mean? I don't understand, Willow," Ami
said. Willow turned her face up so she could look at Ami, and the
girl was struck by the sombre look in the normally vivacious fairy's
eyes.
"Not-us," Willow repeated. "Not-human. Not-faerie."
"Did the gods make it, then?"
"Not-gods. The ones who made the gods made the Eye, in
the beforetimes," Willow stated.
"Why? Why did they make it?" Ami pressed.
"To see," Willow said. "To know. But now it can't."
"Willow ..." Ami began, only to be distracted by a flashing
from her visor. Several energy spikes were occurring, and she
turned the chair to face the screen again.
THE EYE
read the screen.
THE EYE THE EYE IN ITS BLACK TOWER
THINKING THOUGHTS DREAMING DREAMS IT DOES NOT
SEE US BUT MAYBE IT KNOWS IT KNOWS WHAT IS
COMING DOES IT KNOW THE DARK WILL COME BACK
AND THIS TIME THIS TIME THIS
"Gwen?" Ami asked softly. She was beginning to get a
serious case of the willies, but she had to persist. Whatever was
happening, there might actually be answers here, something to help
her understand what was happening. "Gwen, can you hear me?"
TOMMY?
"I'm Ami," she said, ignoring Willow's squirming. "Who is
Tommy?"
GEHRINGER THOMAS J. PATROL OFFICER FIRST
CLASS SERIAL NUM
];..
SERIAL
TOMMY IS THAT YOU?
"Gwen?"
TOMMY? WHERE DID YOU GO? IT'S DARK AND I
CAN'T SEE AND IT'S DARK TOMMY
"Gwen? Can you tell me about the Eye?" Ami asked. The
screen flickered for a moment, and Ami frowned. Power was
fluctuating within the machines here, but the flow was irregular, like
a damaged heartbeat.
I DREAM ABOUT IT TOMMY. BAD DREAMS ALL
THE TIME NOW I KNOW NOW I HAVE SEEN I HAVE
KNOWN I HAVE I HAVE TOMMY WHERE DID YOU GO?
YOU PROMISED TO COME RIGHT BACK YOU PROMISED
TO COME BACK YOU PROMISED
"Gwen?"
SOMETHING'S COMING THE EYE REMEMBERS AND I
KNOW NOW AND ITS ALWAYS DARK AND TOMMY TOM
THOMAS J.
TOMMY
"Gwen? Can you ...?"
TOMMY I'M SCARED
Ami stared at the screen in disbelief. What kind of machine
was this? Was all this just the result of damaged circuits? This
machine couldn't actually be calling for a man who was probably
long dead, could it? It couldn't actually be suffering nightmares. It
couldn't actually be ... afraid.
Could it?
TOMMY I WANT TO GO I WANT TO GO HOME NOW
PLEASE?
Sorrow tightened Ami's chest, strange sorrow for a machine
lost in strange machine dreams, begging for release from its
suffering. She had to do something. But what? What could she
...?
"Ami," Willow said.
"Hush," Ami replied. "I have to think, Willow." It was
apparent she wouldn't get anything from the increasingly irrational
machine called Gwen, but if she could just find a link to its
information storage, some sort of library files.
"Ami and Willow have to go," Willow said, her voice oddly
tremulous.
"Willow," Ami frowned. Willow burst from the front of
Ami's fuku and hovered in front of Ami's face, her wings fluttering
rapidly.
"Please, Ami, please!" Willow cried. For a moment, Ami
was struck by the echo of Gwen's plea in Willow's voice. Then
something else caught her attention, and she turned toward the
door. A raucous cawing tore through the air, and as she watched
the two crows from earlier swooped past the opening, once, then
again.
And it was strangely dark out there.
"Willow?" The fairy was staring at something, and as Ami
turned she thought she caught a glimpse of a girl in flowing robes,
blonde hair falling past her shoulders, a strange pattern traced on
one cheek. But a moment later the form was gone, and Ami could
only blink in confusion.
"Willow? Was someone there?"
"Mad-mad spirit girl says ..." Willow trailed off, her
luminous green eyes widening with alarm. "Says Dragon is coming.
Ami, Dragon! Dragon!"
Damn. Ami bolted to her feet, stumbling across the sloping
deck. She wanted to stay and delve into this mystery, but not if it
meant tangling with Dragon.
At the threshold she hesitated. The sky was dark now, full
of roiling clouds lashed by sheets of lightning, and Ami flashed on a
memory that connected with a deep animal fear. This was
Dragon's work, all right.
Time to go.
"Willow, will you be all right?" she asked as she leapt to the
ground.
"Dragon doesn't chase little fairies that hide!" Willow
shouted over the rising wind. "But Dragon will kill Ami! Run,
Ami! Please!"
"Be careful, little Willow!" Ami called. Willow blew her a
kiss and darted off like a tiny rocket, leaving Ami alone in the
growing tempest. Drawing a breath, Ami concentrated, reaching
out to the portal and fixing it with her mind, drawing herself back,
back. The world around her began to blur and twist.
Then there was a flapping noise, and black feathers were
everywhere ...
***
The lights inside the room remained on, flickering
unsteadily. The chair that Ami had vacated rocked in a jerky
pendulum motion, slowly shuddering to a halt. The screen
flickered, gibberish characters filling it for a moment. Then it
cleared.
TOMMY? DON'T GO TOMMY DON'T GO AWAY
AGAIN AND LEAVE ME ALONE TOMMY TOMMY PLEASE
A rustle of robes filled the air, and a lithe young woman
with long blonde hair and a gleaming pattern of blue lines on one
cheek brushed her hand across the screen.
"You aren't alone any longer, little sister," the girl said with
a sad smile.
TOMMY?
"No. Not Tommy."
HELP ME PLEASE IT'S DARK AND I CAN'T I CAN'T
THE EYE IT'S THE EYE I FEEL IT PLEASE MAKE IT STOP
PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE
"It isn't a dream, little sister," the girl said, only now she
was younger, scarcely more than five or six. "You remember. It
isn't your fault. They made you, all of you, the only way they
could. They didn't understand what they'd found, so they copied
all of it. That's why there is a part of you that remembers."
There was silence for a time, then the screen flickered once
again.
i'm scared
"I know, little sister. But big sister is going to make it
better. I'll send you to see your Tommy, too. He's waiting in the
light. You'd like that, wouldn't you? To see him again in the
light?" The tall woman smiled gently, her slim fingers tracing the
dusty surface of the screen again and again.
you promise?
"I do," the teenaged girl said softly. She trailed her fingers
across the screen and the buckled panel beside it, and somewhere
below the floor something groaned, then whined, the tone dropping
steadily until it ran off into nothing. Where the girl's fingers
passed, everything began to still, to go quiet, and one by one the
lights went out.
"Sleep now, little sister," she crooned. "You won't be
alone any more." The lights dimmed, the screen the last source of
illumination in the room, and then it blinked, fluttered.
thank you big sister
The woman rested her palms against the wall on either side
of the screen, her head bowed forward. There was nothing else
here now, no light or sound, only the pale glow of the screen itself.
tommy? tom?
there you are! you had
me
worried you dummy
Then the screen flickered one last time, and went dark.
And the room was empty again.
***
Ami fell back against the floor, blinking. The transition had
been abrupt, and she was dizzy, disoriented. Also, there was a
strange flapping noise in her ears.
She opened her eyes, and for a moment she wasn't certain
what she was seeing. Something was floating in the air above her
face, something like a black feather.
A feather?
Ami sat up quickly, ignoring the spinning in her head as she
cast about for the source of the flapping. She found it quickly
enough; the two large black crows, hopping around the perimeter
of the circle, clearly as disoriented as she was. Panicked, she
scrambled to her feet. If she was quick, she could catch them
before they caused any damage.
Unfortunately, they were quicker. As she lunged, the two
crows took to the air, shakily at first, circling the room in search of
an exit. There were no windows in here; the only escape was
through the door, which was open. Ami edged that way, hoping
that the crows wouldn't notice what she was doing.
Once again, though, they proved faster than her. The two
black forms darted out the gap between the door and the frame,
and Ami set off in pursuit, trying to summon a blast of water until
she remembered that she was not transformed in this reality. She
fumbled for her henshin rod as she ran, her stomach doing flip-flops
as the birds shot down the long hall and soared up the stairwell
towards the third floor. By the time she reached the top of the
stairs, she was transformed. Sadly, that didn't matter. The window
at the top of the stairs was open, and the birds had escaped.
At least, she hoped they were just birds. Creatures from
Aethyr had a tendency to be more than they appeared, and she'd
never brought something alive back before. She wondered, for just
a moment, if any of the others had back then.
Well, there was nothing she could do about it now. Sighing
in frustration, she trudged back down the stairs, noting how dusty
everything up here was. Just days ago she'd resolved to clean that
upper floor, and had even opened that window to air the place out.
But that was going to have to take a back seat to the current
situation. To be safe, she should wait a while before returning to
Aethyr, but she had some references now that she could check on.
As she walked, Ami thought again about the haunting machine
called Gwen, and suppressed a shiver.
This whole thing was beginning to take on a very disturbing
air. She wondered if the others were finding things as strange as
she was.
***
Luna picked up the item she'd found hidden in the back of
Minako's closet, holding it gingerly. It dangled from her fingers, a
bewildering collection of slim straps and metal rings.
"Hey! What are you doing?" She turned to see Artemis
standing in the doorway, a slightly panicked look on his face.
"Honestly, Artemis. The way you let that girl carry on,"
Luna sniffed. "What sort of deranged sex-toy is this, anyway?"
"Uh, the usual sort," Artemis said quickly, moving to take it
away from her. "And I don't let her carry on, you know. That's
just how she is." Luna frowned as he stuffed the offending item
back into the box she'd taken it from. She knew Artemis, and he
was being ever-so-slightly furtive. And there was something
strange about that leather and ring thing, wasn't there? Luna was
no starry-eyed innocent; that thing had been made from some kind
of tough material, almost like canvas, and the rings had been
painted black, not gleaming silver like most bondage gear. In fact,
now that she thought about it, it had looked less like something
used for lascivious pursuits and more like some sort of climbing
harness.
But what would Minako be doing with something like that?
"Anyway, what are you doing poking around back here?"
Artemis asked fussily.
"I was just looking for some spare bedding," Luna informed
him, wondering why he was so flustered. "With so many of us
under one roof, we're going to need more. It looks like Minako is
behind on doing laundry, as well as house cleaning."
"Yeah, that's Mina," Artemis sighed. "She's not really the
domestic type."
Luna stood, gazing around the cluttered room. Minako's
stamp was on everything, from lacy underthings draped over a lamp
to photos of her and the other girls that were slipped into the frame
of her dressing table mirror. It came to her suddenly that she'd
actually missed Minako's foibles and idiosyncrasies; chief among
those being the girl's brash, flirtatious yet undeniable devotion to
Usagi.
That thought led to thoughts of Rei, and the situation that
they found themselves in, and she walked over to the window,
gazing out at the unfamiliar neighbourhood moodily.
"What are we going to do about that girl?" she murmured.
"Aw, Mina's not so hard to get along with," Artemis said.
"I meant this Ranko," Luna told him. "What if she really is
the Outsider, as Ami theorised?"
"I don't know if that's so or not," Artemis admitted. "But I
wouldn't have let Mina go out alone with Ranko if I thought the
girl was evil. You heard her story, Luna. Do you think Ranko
means any harm?"
"No," Luna sighed. "But with Hotaru, and then Rei ... I
think I'm just starting to second-guess myself."
"I understand. Believe me, I do. But Mina seems to have
taken a liking to Ranko, and she really is a pretty good judge of
character. Just don't tell her I said that, all right?"
"Deal," Luna said wryly. She sensed Artemis' presence
close behind her, then tensed as his arms encircled her shoulders.
"Hey, relax," he breathed in her ear. "Didn't you miss me at
all while we were separated?"
She took a breath, letting the tension drain from her body as
Artemis drew her gently back against him. His shoulders were
broad, his hips narrow, and his long hair smelled faintly of male
musk and shampoo, the way it always did.
"Yes," she said softly. "I have missed you, you randy old
tomcat. I had hoped things would get better on their own, and we
would reunite under better circumstances. I guess we all let things
go, waiting for someone else to make the first move."
"Well, I'm done waiting for someone else to make the first
move," Artemis rumbled, the pitch of his voice sending pleasurable
tingles down her back. "The girls are all out and we've got the
place to ourselves. I say we take advantage of the moment. Who
knows when we'll get another?"
Secretly, Luna agreed with him, but she feigned reluctance,
forcing Artemis to coax her. It was hardly a new game between
them, and soon she was nestled against his chest, chin tilted up as
she gazed into his eyes. They held the gaze for a deliberately long
moment before she finally gave in and rose on her tiptoes, pressing
her mouth against his. His eyes sparkled with mirth, then he kissed
her back and her eyes closed.
Whatever his faults, Artemis was a fantastic kisser, a trait
Luna had always found irresistible in a man. She wrapped her arms
around his neck, winding her fingers languorously in the straight
silken fall of his hair. She gloried in the purely physical sensations;
the hot, hungry press of his lips, the warm solidity of his chest, and
the sleek cool feel of his hair.
Yes, it HAD been a while.
Then the phone rang.
The noise was jarring, breaking the quiet intimacy that had
grown around them, and Artemis said a very bad word as he pulled
away.
"It's uncanny, isn't it?" Luna asked weakly.
"Damn right," Artemis growled. "Boy, this better be
good." She watched his back as he strode over to one of Minako's
nightstands, rooting through laundry and a pile of magazines for the
offending telephone. His warmth lingered teasingly where their
bodies had been pressed together, and Luna decided that if Artemis
got too distracted with the phone, she was going to have to take a
page from Minako's book and just hurl herself on him.
"Yeah?" Artemis asked curtly as he picked up the reciever,
cutting the noise off in mid-ring. "Oh, Makoto. Sorry, I just ...
what? No, none of the others are here. What? Damn."
Luna froze in place, the tiny hairs on the back of her neck
prickling. She couldn't see Artemis' face, but just his sudden
change of posture and the tone of his voice told her that something
was terribly wrong.
"Is he all right?" Artemis went on after a long pause. "Well,
that's good. No, I understand. You did what you had to. Do you
really think they ... all right, you've got a point. We'll grab some
stuff and get out of here now. I'll try and get the others. You can?
Right, good. Where? Yes, I know it. Okay, we'll try to round up
Usagi and Mina and meet you there. Yes, you too. Bye."
Luna stood, her hands clasped over her heart as she waited
for Artemis to tell her what was going on. She didn't have long to
wait.
"One of the Sisterhood showed up at Makoto's place," he
told her, mouth set in a grim line. "She tried to capture Makoto."
"Oh, no!" Luna cried. "What happened?"
"She's okay," Artemis said, coming over to place his hands
on her shoulders. "Her neighbour got in the way, and the Sister
tried to control him. Makoto said he went berserk after that, and
she had to transform to take him out. In the confusion, the Sister
got away."
"But he's all right?"
"Yes," Artemis told her. "Beat up, but she thinks he'll be
fine. Luna, Makoto thinks we should get out of here. If the
Sisterhood knows where she lives ..."
"You think Rei betrayed us?" Luna asked, and her heart
cried out, for her princess and for everything they'd had together.
"I didn't say that," Artemis replied gruffly, but he couldn't
meet her eyes. "All I know is we shouldn't be anywhere they might
find us. We have to get hold of Mina and Ami, Usagi too, and tell
them what's going on. Come on, let's get ready."
He started to walk away, and Luna stepped forward,
wrapping her arms around his slim waist. She pressed her face
against his shoulder and closed her eyes.
"In a moment," she whispered. "Okay? I just ... just need
one moment to help me go on."
"Sure," he murmured, his breath stirring her hair as he
kissed the crown of her head lightly. "In a moment."
He put his arms around her, and for that moment she could
believe that everything was all right. She grabbed on to that
feeling, memorizing everything about it so that she would be able to
call it up again to give her strength.
And when she finally did have to pull away, she suspected
Artemis had been doing the same thing.
***
Makoto sat and watched Yoshi's face as he slept. With his
unruly pale blonde hair curling around his high cheekbones, he
looked curiously boyish and vulnerable. She smiled fondly,
recalling all the trouble they'd gotten into over the years. Outside
of the senshi, Yoshi was the closest thing she had to family.
And she wasn't about to forgive the Sisterhood for what
they'd done to him.
He was stripped to the waist, and she could see the bruises
and cuts from their fight, standing out in stark contrast to his pale
skin. She'd tended to his wounds as best she could, and was only
waiting to see if he had snapped out of whatever had been done to
him. If not, she wasn't sure what she would do.
Something about what had happened had been nagging at
her, and as she stared at Yoshi it finally occurred to her just what
seemed out of place.
She hadn't transformed right away.
Her thought had been to get away from the woman first, in
order to preserve her secret; she'd only attempted to transform
when it had looked as if she would be choked into unconsciousness.
There was nothing unusual about her actions, at least under normal
conditions. But the situation was far from normal, wasn't it?
Her denouncement of Rei's betrayal had been the loudest.
After all, to Makoto betrayal was the worst sin anyone could
commit, and she'd been unforgiving and unyielding in her
conversations with Minako on the subject. Rei had betrayed them,
and that was that.
So why hadn't she transformed? If Rei had been spying, the
Sisterhood would have known her secret, and it wouldn't have
mattered, yet Makoto hadn't wanted to reveal herself. She thought
back to the confrontation, her brow furrowed. The Sister hadn't
acted like she'd known about Jupiter. In fact, if Makoto had been
willing to transform as soon as the Sister had made her move, the
fight would have been very brief.
Did she believe, deep inside, that Rei had remained true?
Gods knew she wanted that to be the case, but she was so afraid,
not for herself so much as Usagi. The cost of trusting the wrong
person was just so high, so terribly high ...
"Those must be some heavy thoughts," Yoshi mumbled,
startling her out of her reverie. He was staring at her, eyes only
half open.
"Yoshi," Makoto blurted. "Damn, you scared me! How do
you feel?"
"Like I just went several rounds with the Ogre King," he
muttered. His hands were over his head, and she winced as his
attempts to move them down yielded only a metallic clinking.
Yoshi frowned, craning his head until he could see the handcuffs
that held him to the bed.
"Sorry," Makoto said. "I wasn't sure you'd be ... you
know, in your right mind when you woke up."
"I understand," he said, his voice ominously quiet. She
moved forward, only to be stopped by the force of his gaze as it
shifted back to her. Something lurked deep in those pale gray eyes,
something dark and wounded. Makoto could feel it in that instant,
resonating in her heart.
"You did the right thing," he went on in a low voice. "I
would have hurt you, and ... worse."
"Stop it!" she cried, moving over to the bed. "It wasn't
your fault, Yoshi! That woman did something to you, that's all!"
"Fault wouldn't matter," Yoshi said heavily. "If I'd hurt
you like that, I never could have lived with myself."
Makoto leaned over his prone body, pulling the tiny key out
of her shirt pocket. She hated the self-loathing in Yoshi's voice,
and swore to herself as she unlocked the cuffs that the Sisterhood
would pay dearly for hurting him that way. It was time they learned
that toying with people carried a high price.
"Well, you didn't," she murmured softly as she unlocked the
cuffs. "Let's not talk about that, okay?" The cuffs opened, but he
didn't move right away. Makoto looked down, noticing that her
long auburn ponytail had slipped over her shoulder and was pooled
on his chest. There was something terribly intimate about the way
her hair looked against his bare skin, and she blushed in spite of
herself. As she started to pull back, though, Yoshi reached up and
caught her shoulders with his big, calloused hands.
"We do have to talk, though," he said, gray eyes seeking
green and holding them. "Don't we, Jupiter?"
She sighed, feeling a certain tension she hadn't even been
aware of flow from her body. So he did remember, after all. Well,
it was done now, and no use crying about it.
"I guess you're mad, huh?" she asked weakly. Strangely,
Yoshi smiled up at her.
"Everybody has secrets," he replied. "You are entitled to
yours, Makoto. And at least now I don't have to wonder why you
have handcuffs." She blinked, then blushed furiously.
"Doofus!" she snapped, pulling away. But there was a
loose, relieved feeling in her stomach; this was how it should be
between them. They'd been friends for a long time.
"Sorry," he said in that warm, husky voice as he pulled
himself up off the bed. He winced as he moved, but still managed
to sit up. "What you do in bed is none of my business."
"It could have been," she retorted. An awkward silence
followed that, and Makoto cursed herself. This was absolutely the
wrong time to bring that up, wasn't it?
"Maybe I regret missing that opportunity," Yoshi said,
staring up at her from under his rumpled blonde bangs. Makoto's
heart seemed to surge for a moment, but she resolved to keep her
demeanor calm.
"Yosh, now's not the time for this," she said. "That woman
was a member of Dasma's Sisterhood, and she got away. They
could send more of their bitch-godesses here. I'm getting out for a
while, and you should too."
He nodded, getting to his feet slowly and padding barefoot
across the floor to his dresser. Makoto tried not to feel
disappointed as he dug out a fresh shirt, easing it on over his
bruises and covering up his leanly muscled torso.
"So why are the Sisters of Shadows after you?" he asked.
"Or are they after Jupiter?"
"I'm not honesty sure," she replied. "But not many people
know about my other identity, so ..."
"Makoto," he said, walking over to her. "You're secret is
safe with me. You do know that, don't you?" His shirt was
unbuttoned, and she tried to ignore the supple play of muscles
under his skin as he moved.
"I know," she murmured. "Hells, you know most of my
secrets already, Yosh. What's one more?"
"Do you have someplace to go?" he asked, standing close
and looking down into her eyes. "Maybe with your friends from
the other day? I suppose they're also ..."
"Yoshi," she said sternly. "My secret I entrust to you, but
nobody else's. So don't speculate about that. Okay?"
"Okay," he agreed with a wry grin. "No speculating. Just
one more thing before you go."
"What?" she asked softly. She could smell Yoshi, could feel
his heat from this close, and she desperately reminded herself of her
vow. Hard as it had been after he'd turned her down that time, she
had vowed to keep her feelings for him under tight reign and remain
strictly friends. Anything else would risk the friendship she
treasured.
"I remember what you said to me, while I was out there,"
he said, his voice throaty and low. "You had such faith in me,
believed in me so much."
"Yoshi ..."
"But if that happens to me again, Makoto," he went on,
eyes darkening with intensity, "don't hesitate. I need to know
you'll do whatever it takes to stop me. Don't let me hurt a woman
that way, especially not you. Promise."
"Oh, Yoshi," she breathed. "Of course. But you wouldn't
do that, you aren't that type of guy."
"When I'm out of control like that, I'm not any sort of
guy," he told her. "I'm not the wolf, either. I'm just a beast that
will take what it wants, no matter what."
"Yosh, I'm glad you didn't rape that woman," Makoto said,
"but I'm also glad that spell blew up in her face. I hate that black-
magic mind control bullshit, and that's the truth. It's sneaky and ...
and dirty. Give me a clean fight any day."
"Squirt, you never change," Yoshi sighed as he shook his
head, eyes gleaming.
"I told you to stop calling me that," she sniffed, hitting him
lightly on the shoulder. "Look, I gotta go. Keep in touch, okay?"
"How will I reach you?"
"I'll be around the hunter hang-outs," she told him. "Look
for me there. I'll keep you informed about this thing." She turned
and walked over to the door, but he called her name as she opened
it.
"Be careful," he said, and for a second she saw the lanky
youth that used to chide her as she went out to steal food or look
for kicks or trouble.
"You too," she said with a tiny smile.
Then the door to his apartment closed, and Makoto's
thoughts turned to her enemies.
And her friends.
***
She stood at the edge of the room, fingering her plastic
purple visitor's badge nervously. There were desks and dividers
everywhere, and she was trying to recall how to get to the one she
wanted when she spotted a familiar face coming out of the corridor
to her left.
"Hey there, cutie," the man grinned.
"Yu!" Usagi replied. "Is Mamo-chan here? I want to see
him ..."
"Aw, and here I was hoping you'd come to see me," the
blonde detective said with a twinkle in his eye. Then he turned and
called down the hall behind him.
"Hey, Mamo-chan, pick up the pace!"
"What did you call me?" Mamoru asked, frowning at his
partner. He barely had time to see Usagi before she was throwing
herself at him, burying her face in the crook of his shoulder and
wrapping her arms around his lean waist. He smelled good, and felt
good too. She sighed happily as his hands came up flat against her
back.
"Usako," he murmured, surprise evident in his voice.
"What are you doing here?"
"I wanted to see you," she told him, reluctantly pulling her
face away from his body so she could look up into his eyes.
"I've been wanting to see you too," he said gently. "But
now's not the best time ..."
"Oh, go on, Chiba!" Yusaku said, not bothering to hide his
amusement. "It'll take them some time to get us into our next
meeting. Until then, I'll cover for you. Take her into the break
room, why don't you? Gods, it gets little enough use these days."
"Thanks, Yu," Usagi beamed.
"He could use a quickie, gorgeous," Yusaku told her
gravely. "He's been very tense, you know."
"Yu!" Usagi blurted, delightfully scandalized. Yusaku
reminded her somewhat of Minako, and she smiled as he gave them
a knowing wink and sauntered off across the busy squad room.
Mamoru guided her with his hand at the small of her back, leading
her into a room with three couches and a table and chairs along
with some vending machines.
"Coffee?" he asked as he shut the door. As soon as it was
closed, she leapt nimbly into his arms, pressing her mouth to his.
Mamoru was surprised, but almost immediately responded. The
kiss was sweet, and it went on for some time before he finally broke
it and set her gently on her feet.
"Wow," he breathed. "And here I was thinking you'd
forgotten all about me."
"Never," she told him. "I'm sorry I left so suddenly, but
things just started happening."
"I understand," he told her. "So you're back with your
senshi."
"Something is happening," she said, clasping her hands
behind her back and watching him. His tie was askew, and his shirt
had bunched around his gun; she found herself noticing every little
detail as he walked across the room to a vending machine and
popped some coins in.
"Usako, at this time of year a lot is happening. We've got
monsters in the sewers, in the streets, in graveyards and office
buildings and at least one hospital so far. We even had a
salamander in the subway, if you can believe that."
"I know. Minako and Rei crunched it," Usagi told him.
"Along with another girl."
"Huh. Figures," he said, offering her a coffee. "I hope
you're being careful."
"Mmm," she murmured. "But we didn't just get together
for the annual monster problems, Mamo-chan. Rei had a vision of
disaster, and that's led to some deeper problems."
"Swell," he sighed. "That's all the city needs. More
problems."
"I need to talk to you about Hotaru," she said, tensing as he
went dangerously still.
"I hope you aren't going to tell me you still want to talk to
her," Mamoru said, blue eyes narrowing. "Because before you do,
there's something I think you should know."
"The vampire that's been causing trouble isn't her, Mamo-
chan," Usagi said, gathering her courage. He stared at her,
emotions flashing across his face in quick succession as he
considered the import of her words.
"You didn't," he breathed at last.
"I went to Haruka and Michiru," she told him, lifting her
chin. "There were things I needed to know."
"Damn it, Usagi!" he snapped. "I can't believe you! That
was reckless, you know that? What were you thinking?"
"I needed to know the truth," she went on steadily. "And
now I do. Mamoru, Hotaru isn't responsible for what's been going
on ..."
"Usagi, they're using you! Can't you see that? They're just
using you to deflect suspicion! You can't trust them, not after what
happened!"
She walked across the floor to where he was standing,
setting her untouched coffee on the table. Gently, she framed
Mamoru's face in her hands, catching his gaze and holding it.
"Mamoru," she said, her voice low and even as she willed
him to listen. "My people are in danger, and I have to help them. I
have to do my duty. So I need you to at least listen to what I have
to say before you come to any conclusions. Will you do that? For
me?"
He stared back, and she could see the conflict raging inside
him. She was placing him in an awkward position, invoking her
duty as White Moon Princess against his as a police officer. He had
agreed to respect her power, after all, and now she was calling him
on that, even though his nature was to protect her from any threat.
"All right," he said at last, jaw set. "I'll listen."
"That's all I ask," she said softly, smiling.
And she started talking.
***
Rei brooded as the streetcar rattled along, chin propped in
her palm. Her impulsive call to Saekianna the previous night was
having unanticipated consequences, and she sensed the strands of
her past closing around her like a venomous spider's web, slowly
cutting off all avenues of escape.
Seeking comfort in her former partner had possessed a
certain appeal to her at the time, but she had forgotten some of the
lessons their tempestuous relationship had seared into her. For
instance, Saekianna hated to lose. At anything. She always took
even the slightest defeat personally. Also, she was unused to being
told "no".
Rei hadn't intended to broach the subject of her status as a
former Sister because, quite frankly, she didn't want to return to
that life. Things had changed over the last three years, SHE had
changed, and she couldn't simply step back into the skin of the girl
she'd been. If her life as a senshi was over, then she would have to
find a new path.
She should have known it would not be that easy.
Saekianna wanted her back in the fold, and Rei suspected it was
only their shared past that had prevented the new Nightmistress
from "insisting" that Rei return. Had Saekianna run across any
other girl who'd fled the Sisterhood's dark embrace, Rei had no
doubt the renegade would have been brought to heel immediately.
Rei could only wonder how long Saekianna's patience with her
would last.
But that wasn't the only problem facing her now. Recalling
the eldritch brush of Banri's mystic coils against her skin, she
shuddered in spite of herself. Saekianna claimed to have the power
to break the seal and release the Dark Lady, and Banri definitely
seemed to validate that claim.
But it didn't make any sense. If Banri, along with this other
item of power Saekianna claimed to have, had resided at the heart
of the labyrinth, then why hadn't Griitna claimed them? The
woman had possessed complete control of the labyrinth, of that Rei
was certain. Something just didn't add up here.
Supposing, however, that Saekianna could do as she
claimed. Just keeping the Nightmistress away from the senshi was
one thing, but what might a newly awakened Dasma do if she
learned that senshi of the White Moon Court had been reborn in the
here and now? Would she strike out at them? Command her loyal
Sisterhood to hunt them?
Rei closed her eyes, rubbing her thumb along the bridge of
her nose wearily. Behind her closed lids she could see Usagi's
shocked face, Makoto's blazing anger, Ami's total incomprehension
and Minako's puzzled hurt. How could she explain any of this to
them? And did they have any reason to believe her, the girl who'd
kept so much from them?
So what was she to do?
One thing seemed certain. She had turned out to be the
path that darkness could traverse, the path that could lead it directly
into the lives of her friends. Whatever the truth was, she couldn't
just walk away from the inconvenient reality of her tainted past, but
neither could she allow herself to be the instrument that brought
such darkness to the senshi.
So, until she knew what was happening, she had to hold
herself away from those girls, just as she had earlier with Minako.
Sailor Mars would cease to be, perhaps for good ... but in her
place, the woman they'd called Sister Darkeyes would use her
abilities and experience to try and unravel the twisted skeins of
treachery and deception.
And she'd have to manage it without losing herself, the Rei
that now was, into the Rei that had been.
Lost in her reverie, she failed to notice the commotion near
the front of the streetcar until it suddenly jerked to a halt. Cursing
under her breath, Rei clambered to her feet by grabbing one of the
poles lining the aisle. Her poor motorcycle was still awaiting the
final parts to put it back in working order. Foreign parts were a
pain to get, something she was reminded of every time she had to
fix the thing. Still, until the shipment came in she was subject to the
caprices of public transit, like sudden and inexplicable delays.
This, however, seemed to be shaping up to be something
more. As she neared the crowd at the front of the car, she glimpsed
motion ahead in the street. Cursing her self-indulgent brooding, she
concentrated for a moment, quickly confirming that supernatural
creatures were nearby.
Damn.
She shoved back through the muttering crowd, pushing her way
out the back doors and into the street. Traffic was at a standstill all
the way up to the next intersection, and she could see shapes
swooping through the air. Worse, she could hear the sounds of
metal crumpling and glass breaking.
And, faintly, the sound of screams.
Her first instinct was to act. There was no sign of the
police; even if their resources weren't stretched thin, it would take
them time to reach the scene through this rapidly worsening traffic.
Her fingers brushed her henshin rod, and she paused,
uncertain. The power was there, but how could she call upon it?
To fight in the colours of the White Moon when her soul was in
such turmoil would only call the darkness closer to her comrades.
She had made her decision, and she must abide by it.
But she wouldn't allow these foul things to have their way.
She had fought those who would prey on humans even as a Sister
of Shadows; wherever her heart lay, that power was still hers to
command without fear of tainting her princess' banner. Moving
quickly, she darted through the crowd, not worrying about being
seen. Nobody was watching her.
As she ran, Rei reached out, feeling the coils of mystic
power that lay around her just as she'd been taught so long ago.
The crowd seemed to part around her, allowing her to pass as they
fled en masse from what was starting to sound like a full-scale
street battle. By the time Rei reached the source of the trouble,
there was no one around her.
Scabrous creatures that resembled giant bloodshot eyeballs
were diving at stalled cars, tearing metal with their wickedly long
talons as they passed, sometimes even managing to overturn a
vehicle. Two cars were burning, and the few people still trying to
flee were clearly injured, one so badly that he was being practically
carried by two others.
For a moment, Rei was back there again, a little girl
clutching her mother's hand in the dark as the street around them
erupted in chaos. It was only a momentary flash of memory, but it
fed her simmering anger. Frustrations which hadn't been able to
find vent boiled and raged, and she welcomed the strength.
Rei stood with her legs apart, long coat flowing in the
breeze as she raised her hands slowly.
"By blood and by power," she intoned. "I summon thee.
Bound by my will, answer to my command and lend me your
strength ... Azakaru!"
Her shadow twitched where it lay against the smooth
pavement, swirling in an inky tide. Slowly, it began to shorten, and
Rei gasped as she felt it flow up her bare skin, setting her flesh
tingling with its eldritch power.
Within seconds, her shadow was gone, and she opened her
eyes, a feral smile gracing her full lips.
Showtime.
***
Minako fumed, leaning on the horn again.
"What in the hells is going on?" she groused. "This traffic is
horrible, even for this part of town!"
"Maybe we should try to go the other way," Ranko
suggested. Minako glared at the red-head, who just shrugged.
"Or not," Ranko muttered.
Minako leaned on the horn again, ignoring the glares she
was getting from people in the vehicles around her. Her run-in with
Saekianna had put her in a foul mood, and Rei's aloofness hadn't
helped matters. What could that girl be thinking? Protecting
Usagi, even if her methods were questionable, was one thing. But
running to the arms of that venomous witch? This was worse than
she'd dreamed. She was very much afraid that Rei was going to do
something irrevocable, led by her stubborn pride and unpredictable
temper.
That couldn't be allowed to happen. Unfortunately, Minako
was currently at a loss as to how to prevent it.
Unless ...
"Hey, did you see that?" Ranko asked, sitting up in her seat
so abruptly she nearly quivered.
"What?"
"Something flying up there," Ranko said, narrowing her
eyes.
"A police flyer, maybe," Minako shrugged. "This has been
an especially bad year for monster activity ..."
She was cut off by a distant dull whump.
"An explosion?" Ranko murmured.
"Yeah," Minako said, smiling thinly as she spotted a plume
of flame and dark smoke rising into the air somewhere ahead.
"Trouble."
And trouble was just what the doctor ordered. Minako
Aino was in the mood to blow off a little steam, and kicking some
monster ass was a great way to do that.
"Come on, Ranko," she grinned. "Let's dance!"
***
Saekianna slapped her leather driving gloves against her
thigh, the sharp snap making several Maidens in the foyer jump.
"How bad is it?" she asked Mirra curtly.
"Vi will recover," Mirra told her, falling into step a pace
behind as her Nightmistress passed.
"I am glad to hear that," Saekianna murmured. "However,
I am most certainly not happy about her failure. What happened?"
"She had the girl," Mirra said, her fine features set in a
carefully neutral mask, "when someone intervened. A man."
"And this man bested one of my Sisters? That, Mirra, is not
acceptable," Saekianna said, her tone edged with ice.
"She used a rose on him," Mirra replied. "However, she
failed to control him afterward."
"What?" Saekianna stopped in her tracks.
"There's more," Mirra told her. "Far from being rendered
docile and pliant, the boy went berserk and could not be controlled.
He seemed driven by wild lust, and beat her unconscious."
"And the Kino girl?"
"When Vi woke, the both were gone."
Saekianna cursed silently. This hadn't been what she'd
intended at all. How had a simple capture with the element of
surprise on their side turned out so badly?
"Tell me about the man," she demanded.
"The only significant factor Vi noticed was that he was a
were," Mirra remarked.
"That should have made little difference," Saekianna mused,
starting to walk again. "At times, a shifter's inner beast responds
even more strongly to our call than a normal person's."
"Baniesti is nearly upon us," Mirra suggested. "The lunar
cycle affects weres strangely sometimes."
"No," Saekianna said. "It must have been something else."
"I checked the enchantments on our roses," Mirra said, her
tone a trifle stiff. "They were perfect. It is taking time to grow the
new ones, but our existing supply shows no sign of neglect."
"It was not my intention to suggest any such thing,"
Saekianna replied, studying Mirra's face closely for the first time
since she'd entered the mansion. The woman's flawless skin was
even paler than usual, and her short hair looked somewhat
dishevelled, which was completely out of character for the normally
fastidious woman.
"I beg your pardon, Nightmistress," Mirra said smoothly.
"All right, out with it," Saekianna said sternly. "What is the
matter?"
"As your second, I must voice my concerns." Mirra's posture
was formal, her words carefully chosen. "I felt that efforts to find
members of the sailor senshi were risky, given our limited resources
this close to our goal, but at least they were justifiable. However,
your vendetta against this girl who challenged you over Sister Rei is
a luxury we cannot afford."
"Have a care, Mirra," Saekianna said, her voice deceptively
soft. Mirra shifted her gaze, no fear in her eyes.
"Our Dark Lady counsels us to follow her path, but did she
not also tell us that we must not be brought low by our desires?
We must rule them, and not be ruled BY them. We are so close to
what we have waited for, Nightmistress. I understand the need to
bring such a haughty little girl to heel. It must burn in your breast
like fire, knowing that she challenged you so. But can the girl not
wait? After we have succeeded, then surely the Dark Lady will
allow us to indulge our desires in an orgiastic celebration such as
this city has never seen ... but if we grow arrogant in our pride, then
we may lose our opportunity, as She lost Her freedom."
"I would never squander this chance, Sister," Saekianna
breathed, her voice low and dangerous.
"I do not accuse you," Mirra replied, bowing her head
respectfully. "But even our Dark Lady was lead astray by her
passions. I beg of you, Nightmistress, leave the girl for now. We
can ill afford the distraction."
A part of Saekianna knew that Mirra was right. It was
risky, what she was doing. But bold action had brought her this far,
and she hadn't risen to the highest position of the Sisterhood to
which she'd dedicated her life just to fall prey to timidity now. It
was within her grasp to have everything perfect for the Dark Lady's
ascension, almost as if it had been destined. She must prove herself
worthy of her Lady's favour.
She must. And she would.
"I must attend to Vi," she said coolly to Mirra. "Whatever
the reason for the shifter's resistence to our control, her failure
must not go unpunished."
"Then I shall check on the preparations for Baniesti,
Nightmistress," Mirra replied smoothly. She turned to go, and
Saekianna stopped her.
"Also ensure that there are at least four senior Sisters
available for tonight," she told Mirra.
"Of course, Nightmistress," Mirra replied, not mentioning
how that would interfere with the preparations.
Saekianna watched the other woman go, a smile twitching
at the corner of her ruby lips. Perhaps Mirra was chafing under the
constraints of being second in command. Well, if she wanted to
lead, she could certainly issue a challenge at any time.
Saekianna would meet it gladly.
Turning, she continued along the cool, elegant hall. Vi's
failure to acquire the Kino girl was troubling. Saekianna suspected
she knew the reason why the were had gone berserk; if she was
right, their target might have been badly hurt. Or worse. And if
Makoto Kino had somehow managed to escape the berserker's
clutches, she now knew that the Sisterhood was after her and her
friend.
A stronger Sister might have been able to tame the beast
regardless, but the strife which Griitna had triggered in an attempt
to retain control of the Sisterhood had cost them some of their most
experienced priestesses. Saekianna had to manage her remaining
resources wisely; in that at least, Mirra had been correct.
But this setback would not deter her. The Tsukino girl
would taste her wrath, and Rei would stand by her side when the
Dark Lady's long imprisonment ended.
After all, Saekianna der Kae was not a woman to settle for
second best.
***
I followed Minako, or Mistress V as I was supposed to call
her when she transformed, across the rooftops. She was fast and
nimble, not slowed down at all by her ridiculously high heels and
sex-kitten get-up. All things considered, she really was an unusual
girl. At the very least, though, I had to respect her abilities, even if
her personality was kind of weird.
In a flash of blonde hair and black leather she hurled herself
across the gap between buildings, and I followed, landing easily.
We were close now; I could hear screeching and smell smoke. V
dashed across to the far side of the roof and I followed, stopping at
the edge to survey the scene below.
Cars were scattered across the intersection, some flipped on
their sides or roofs, a couple on fire. That wasn't what caught my
attention, though. There were monsters flying around and
screeching like mad, and at their centre was a girl. As I watched,
she threw some sort of paper ward which knifed through the air like
a blade, burying itself in the bulbous eye of one of the creatures.
The thing screamed, its maw wide, then spiralled into the ground
where it twitched, smoking. The girl threw another ward, this one
with strange patterns on it. It stopped in the air, patterns forming a
shape much like a fanged mouth, and two other nightmares were
drawn into it like smoke, vanishing when the ward burst into flame.
"Wow," I said. "Not bad." I glanced at V, but her eyes
were fixed on the priestess doing battle. I wondered for a second if
she was going to make some sort of off-colour remark, but the hard
set of her mouth and the way her eyes were narrowed told me
quickly that this was one time her flirtatious nature was going to
take a back seat.
Frowning, I looked back down at the girl. By herself she
was managing to hold a swarm of the things at bay, slowly whittling
down their numbers. Her courage and skill aside, she seemed like
just the sort of girl V would openly admire. Even from here, I
could see that she moved with a kind of lazy animal grace. Her
long, flowing red coat revealed a sleek black dress and lots of bare
skin, and her long black hair rippled dramatically in the breeze.
The only thing that seemed unusual was that her skin was
covered with black tattoos in mysterious, spidery patterns. As she
turned, I could see that they even spread to her face, framing her
eyes and curving down her cheekbones to ...
Her face. It seemed familiar. In fact, now that I got a good
look, she seemed VERY familiar.
"Is that ... Rei?" I asked, confused. This didn't look like
any of the senshi attacks I'd seen her use before.
"What are you doing?" V whispered. It took me a moment
to realize that she was talking to Rei, not me. She seemed to be
angry, and I resigned myself to once again not having any idea what
was going on.
"Uh, are we going down?" I asked. In truth, Rei didn't
seem to need the help, but I felt the call to battle keenly and wanted
to mix it up. V just kept her gaze rivetted on the fight, her
expression strangely tight.
"Maybe she doesn't want our help," V murmured at last.
"Maybe that's the point here. Don't you think?"
"What are you talking about?" I asked, suddenly feeling
unreasonably irritated. "You're the one who keeps sticking up for
her. I mean, she could be in trouble if one of those things gets
through her defences. Is she your friend or not?"
I expected a sharp comeback to my little outburst, but V
just kept on staring down at the figure standing in a challenging
stance in the middle of the street.
"Well," the blonde said at last. "I guess that's the question,
isn't it? Shall we go ask her?"
I was about to agree when something caught my eye,
cruising through the air on the other side of the street. I blinked,
unwilling to believe my eyes at first.
"Hey!" I hissed, grabbing V's shoulder. "Is that what I
think it is?" Her gaze followed mine, and she stiffened.
"A wraith," she growled. "The same type as at the club."
"And as your friends fought the first time we met," I added.
"I guess this little fracas has attracted more attention." Even as I
said that, a second wraith appeared, then a third, their dark robes
and hair streaming out behind them as they sailed, silent and
sinister, above the melee.
Then, as one, the wraiths dove towards the unsuspecting
priestess.
And V sprang into action, all hesitation forgotten.
***
Rei rode the exquisite rush of her power, letting it guide her
as the foul things tried vainly to reach her and drag her down. They
couldn't, of course, and she laughed aloud, which only enraged
them all the more. They wanted nothing more than to strip her of
her pride and power and leave her broken body on the ground, and
their failure to even scratch her made them scream their impotent
fury to the uncaring winds.
It was unlike her fire, this dark power; in some ways it was
more subtle, yet more personal.
It also had its drawbacks.
Something stirred at the edge of her awareness and she
whirled, eyes widening at the sight of a wraith streaking directly at
her. Its eyes blazed with triumph as it stretched its arms wide,
razored talons gleaming, and Rei barely had time to curse her
overconfidence as she realized she wouldn't be able to defend in
time.
Then a beam of fiercely golden light lanced into the
creature's head, and it screamed as it tumbled through the air,
coming so close to Rei that its hair and robe actually brushed her
skin. It crashed to the ground heavily and slid into a burning car,
but Rei was already moving, casting about for the source of the
beam.
As if she wouldn't recognize that power signature in her
sleep.
V.
A vision in black leather bounded off of the awning on a nearby
building, arcing gracefully to the street. Rei caught a perfect
view of her as she landed, liquid gold hair streaming out behind her,
slim gloved arms extended out and back, knees bent as she hit the
pavement like a bolt from the heavens. No sooner had the girl
landed then she sprang into action, followed by a petite red-head in
loose fitting black clothing. But in that one frozen instant when Rei
had seen her, poised like some fey offspring of the gods of desire
and war, V's luminous blue eyes had sought her out, fixing her with
a gaze that was somehow a challenge.
Rei tried to ignore the conflicting emotions that V's
appearance stirred in her, instead searching for more of the wraiths.
She remembered them from their previous encounters; they had
been summoned by someone with strong Shadow magic, and thus
would be difficult for her to sense in the midst of these other
creatures. They could also prove somewhat resistant to her magic.
Still, she'd make do. She spotted two more, circling over
their downed sister. As one, they screeched and targeted her, and
she drew two more wards to her hand in preparation. A gleaming
whip rose from nowhere to snare one, though, dragging it down to
the street, and Rei glimpsed V's savage grin before turning her
attention back to the remaining wraith.
Her first ward was a Trap, and it tried to envelop the
creature upon contact. As she'd feared, though, it only slowed the
wraith. The inky tangles of power failed to contain the struggling
creature, which actually managed to phase through the darkness,
leaving it hanging in the air a short distance away.
It regarded her with its crimson eyes, and Rei suppressed a
shiver. Its female face was savagely beautiful when not contorted
into a rictus of rage, and its mesmerizing eyes held frightening
intelligence. Rei suspected that a Shadow sorceress must have
summoned the wraiths she'd recently encountered; no doubt they
were a distorted mirror of her own beauty, and she must indeed be
powerful to not only summon so many but also to grant them
anything beyond animal cunning.
The wraith's eyes bored into Rei's, and she could feel it
trying to beguile her with its power, to lull her into dropping her
guard so it could attack. This time she couldn't deny the chill that
spread through her. Never had she encountered a mere wraith that
could do that. Its mistress must be formidable indeed.
She shook off the attempt to cloud her thoughts
contemptuously, drawing herself up as she glared at the hovering
creature. It seemed surprised at the ease with which she broke its
hold, momentary consternation evident on its face. Then it did
something which disturbed Rei more than anything she'd witnessed
so far.
It smiled. And it spoke.
"Sister," it hissed, sibilant and somehow alluring.
"I think not," Rei replied, her voice low and venomous.
The wraith's smile widened, blood-red lips parting to reveal its
sharp ivory fangs.
"Our Mistress will want you," it whispered lazily. Then it
shot into the air like a rocket, arcing up and away before Rei could
attack.
"Hey! Pay attention, damn it!" Those words snapped her
attention back to her immediate surroundings, and she cursed
herself for being distracted. V had finished the other two wraiths,
and was sending a storm of blazing golden hearts knifing into a
cluster of flying eyeballs. They screeched and dropped from the
sky, fatally stricken. Off to one side Ranko leapt through the air,
executing a lethal aerial ballet that was beautiful yet deadly. The
red-head moved in a pattern that was incredibly complex, one that
she must only have been able to create moments before initiating it;
it carried her from one flying creature to the next, each on a
different path and moving at different speeds. And yet, Ranko not
only hit each flying nightmare, she did it without a single wasted
movement.
Rei had never seen anything quite like it; even Makoto,
whose physical attacks were more grounded in martial arts than
those of any of the other Inners, couldn't match the sheer artistry of
this attack.
It was too bad she couldn't take the time to watch more of
it. There were still stragglers, though, and instead of flying off to
kill again as would have been sensible they seemed intent on
attacking her in complete defiance of any sort of common sense.
Fine by her.
Dancing away from their extended talons, she unleashed the
other ward still in her hand, a Dispel. It hit one of the creatures as
it climbed away, tearing a shriek of pain from it as its own mystic
matrix was unravelled in seconds, causing it to vaporize. The
second wheeled around, and she concentrated, holding her hand out
with the palm up. The patterns there shifted and swirled, extending
up from her palm to form a blade of shadow. As the howling fiend
dove, Rei brought her arm up in a short arc, meeting it with her
power. A faint shock ran through her arm as the shadow blade
bisected the creature, sending it tumbling to the ground in two
pieces of nearly the same size..
Rei noted wryly that the thing smelled even worse dead than
it had alive. A quick glance around revealed that the sky was clear;
V had finished all those who had dared attack her, and Ranko was
rapidly mopping up the few flyers that had escaped V's wrath.
Speaking of which ...
Rei let the shadow pool back onto her palm, watching
impassively as V stalked towards her. This promised to be a
difficult conversation at best, and Rei tried to hold her temper in
check. Nothing would be gained by blowing up now.
V stopped an arm's length away, her eyes shadowed by the
brim of her black cap until she raised her chin, revealing blue eyes
made luminous by the heat of battle and an anger that churned just
beneath the surface.
"Doing your good deed for the day?" V asked, her voice
low and even.
"I've no love for darkling spawn. Or have you forgotten?"
Rei replied, glad that the tone of their meeting was adversarial right
from the get go. That would make it easier.
"I haven't forgotten," V said. "I haven't forgotten what
you are, or where your heart lies, although I'm starting to wonder if
you have."
"Don't start that again," Rei warned.
"Why? Why won't you listen to me? Rei, you have to
come back! The longer this goes on, the greater the damage
becomes!"
"Come back?" Rei echoed softly. She spread her arms,
letting her gaze linger deliberately on the black patterns visible
across her hands. "And what do you think our princess would say
when she saw this, hmmm? Would she rush to embrace me? Is
that what you think?"
"Why are you trying to drive us away?" V cried.
"Why do you want to be close to this?" Rei retorted,
thrusting her hands out viciously. "You're supposed to be
protecting her, not exposing her to such an insidious darkness!"
V stared at Rei's hands, then raised her eyes to hold Rei's
gaze.
"Usagi doesn't need to be protected from you," V said
gravely.
"You understand nothing," Rei spat. "I never expected
naivete from you, girl. I'm the one she needs to be protected from
the most, don't you see? She'd lower her defences around me and
let the dark slip in, almost unnoticed at first. That's how it
happens! You accept the first little bit, then a bit more, and soon
you wonder what the big deal was."
"You have such an idealistic view of her, Rei. That's your
biggest weakness, I think. She isn't fragile, and you aren't carrying
your personal darkness like some sort of virus!"
"There's no point in talking to you about this," Rei said
flatly. "You just refuse to listen. Can't you understand that I'm
trying to protect her?"
"Can't you understand that you don't need to protect her,
you need to trust her?" V replied, leaning forward with the urgency
of her words. "That's the way out of this, Rei. You have to
respect her strength, and you have to trust her, even if it scares you,
even if you think she might refuse to forgive you. Damn it, you
have to try!"
Rei was left speechless by V's words as they struck a weak
spot in her emotional armour. She felt her throat tightening, and
knew she had to leave before she weakened any further.
"I think you were right about why Saekianna's interested in
the club," she told V, hoping her inner turmoil was safely locked
behind the impassive mask of her face. "You need to stay away
from her, and you need to keep the others away from her as well.
That's all I have to say." She turned on her heel in a swirl of raven
hair and supple red leather, haunted by the bitter taste in her mouth.
This was the second time in a day she'd rebuffed Minako's attempts
at reconciliation, and she sensed there would not be a third try.
"Wait," V said, causing Rei to pause in spite of herself. V
walked around until she was standing in front of Rei again, and the
priestess steeled herself for an outburst, perhaps even a slap.
Instead, V reached up, grasping her cap's brim in her slim
gloved fingers and taking it off, shaking out her tousled blonde
mane. Then she leaned forward, one hand on Rei's shoulder, and
whispered something in Rei's ear. Rei stood stock still, eyes
widening as V's breath feathered lightly against her ear. After a
time, the blonde pulled back, having forgone her usual attempts at
copping a feel. Her blue eyes were uncharacteristically grave, and
Rei stared into them from only inches away.
"It's not the same," Rei said at last. "And anyway, that
changes nothing."
"I suppose not," V said softly. "But she won't like hearing
it. And I'll tell her, as soon as you come back."
"What's the point?" Rei asked, searching for something in
V's demeanour, something to tell her that this was just some
elaborate prank. She found nothing, however, save determination.
"I just thought you'd like to know you aren't the only one
with a less than pristine past," V replied evenly. Then she leaned in
again, this time pressing her mouth against Rei's. Rei nearly
responded to the kiss, but held herself back. Mostly, at any rate.
"And what was that for?" she asked when V broke the sweetly
intimate contact.
"That was because I miss you," V replied, that fey mischief
lurking in her blue eyes once again. "And this, this is so you'll think
of me." She took the cap and set it lightly on Rei's head, tugging it
into place fussily with the brim.
"I ... have to go," Rei muttered, finding that she could no longer
meet V's eyes.
"Figure this out, Rei," V replied, her voice barely a whisper.
"And don't take too long. Or I'm going to have to come get you
and drag you back."
"Stay away from the Sisterhood," Rei said, her voice husky
with sudden emotion. "I mean it."
"Stay safe," was V's reply. Rei shouldered past the blonde,
striding rapidly across the debris-strewn street. Out of the corner
of her eye she noticed Ranko talking to a tall, rawboned man, then
she was past them and into the shelter of a deserted side-street. As
she walked, she released her Shadow, and once again it flowed to
the ground, trailing after her.
Damn Minako. Damn her, anyway. How was Rei
supposed to protect Usagi from harm when Minako kept trying to
bring them back together? Couldn't that girl see what was best for
their princess? Why did she have to be so difficult?
As she walked, Rei gathered her loose flowing coat around
her, head bowed.
(Can't you understand that you don't need to protect her)
Slowly, almost reluctantly, she reached up to brush her
fingers lightly across the shiny brim of the cap Minako had given
her.
(you need to trust her?)
Rei felt a dull ache in her chest, and she thrust her hands
fiercely into her pockets. She was trying to do the right thing, the
right thing for everybody. Why in the hells did it have to be so
hard?
And why did it have to hurt?
***
Fighting the uglies improved my mood greatly. That feeling
was soured somewhat, though, when I saw V walking towards Rei.
There was a tension between the two that curdled the air. I really
didn't want to witness another emotional scene; it was very
awkward to see someone's raw psyche laid bare that way.
Especially when the people involved were virtual strangers.
At that moment, though, I caught sight of movement and
turned, almost hoping for a straggler to beat on. What I found was
a tall figure in a light beige poncho moving around the scattered
hulks of cars. As he drew closer, I could see that he was probably
in his mid-thirties, with short dark hair and a square chin. He was a
little taller than I would have been if I'd been in guy form, and
looked to be in pretty good shape.
The way he moved, though, was what told me that he was
dangerous. It wasn't obvious; he didn't strut or anything. But he
had the sort of aura that fighters get when they're completely
confident in their abilities. The wind blew his poncho around a bit,
enough at least to see that he was carrying some equipment
strapped to his body, including at least two handguns.
"Looks like I missed the excitement," he said to me with a
faint smile, his brown eyes squinting.
"Afraid so," I told him. He shrugged.
"Well, that's the way it goes," he said simply. "At least
there don't seem to have been any fatalities this time."
"This time?" I asked.
"This has been a bad year for attacks, the worst in a decade
I'd say," the man replied, his no-nonsense gaze sweeping the area.
"Twelve people dead so far, not to mention injuries and property
damage. Still, you three did good for yourselves today. An even
three way split, or are you going by body count?"
"Uh, what?" I blinked.
"The money, miss," the man said. "I was just curious, mind
you, but I saw the end of your scrap and I could verify seven of
your kills if you needed me to."
"Uh, what?" I asked again.
"For the bounty," he said. His manner was patient, giving
him the air of a man not easily ruffled.
"There's a bounty?" I inquired politely. That sort of made
sense, but the idea had never occurred to me.
"Oh yes," he told me. "The police can't keep up with things
as it is, you know. General bounty on monsters engaged in any
attack on persons or property runs at fifteen hundred crowns
apiece, and that's only if there isn't a higher bounty posted on the
specific nasty."
"You're kidding," I said.
"Oh, no," he told me. "Just the seven I saw you nail would
net you just over ten grand."
'Ten ...?" I was speechless. The change I'd taken from the
punks was close to running out, and this guy was tossing around
figures like that? Of course, I'd always gotten by in the past, but
never by much. I'd lived a pretty hand to mouth existence my
whole life. Ten thousand crowns was a small fortune.
"Of course, that's the award on a Class A license and I'd
have to guess you aren't a licensed bounty hunter," the man went
on, and I froze.
"Uh, licensed?"
"I thought so," he said with a knowing smile. "To claim any
SJA bounty, you have to be licensed with them. Rules, you know."
"Oh." Well, easy come, easy go, as they say.
"Don't look so downcast," he said easily. "It's not hard to
get licensed, although it does cost and you do have to pass a
rudimentary combat test to get a Class G license. The lower class
licenses don't pay out at as high a rate on standing bounties, but the
advantage is you can register under any name and remain fairly
anonymous."
"Really?" This was beginning to sound interesting.
"You should look into it if you're going to be risking your
neck stomping critters," the man said. "By the way, if you didn't
know about the bounty, just why were you out here?"
"I hate monsters," I said, surprised by the venom in my
voice. The man looked down at me for a moment, almost like he
was taking my measure, then he smiled that faint smile of his again.
"You'll do," he murmured. "You've got style, miss, and
heart. That counts for a lot. What's your name?"
"Ranko," I told him.
"They call me Birdy," he said. "Look me up if you're ever
down by the Hunter's Strip. I'll buy you a drink." With that he
turned and walked away with a casual wave. I watched him go,
then turned to find that Rei was gone and V was coming my way.
"Come on," she said. "Let's get out of here."
"Where did Rei go?" I asked.
"Hopefully, to find the answers she needs," V muttered.
"Huh?"
"Never mind," she sighed. "Let's get something to eat. I
don't know about you, but I'm starved."
***
Mamoru rubbed his hands over his cheeks, sighing deeply.
Usagi just waited, wondering what his response would be. She'd
told him everything, at least everything that Haruka and Michiru
had told her. She'd glossed over the events involving Ranko and
Rei.
"All right, I'll grant you it's at least plausible," he said at
last. "But I'm going have to check into the background behind all
this before I can even begin to accept it as fact."
"If the vampire causing problems is the one who created
Hotaru, then that might give you someplace to start," Usagi said
helpfully. She dearly wanted to give Mamoru something to work
with, something that would prove to him that Hotaru wasn't the
monster they'd all thought.
"I don't know," he sighed. "We think the vamp was responsible
for the airship crash a couple days ago, for instance, but we don't
know why. The head of the task force thought maybe she'd just
returned to the city. I didn't think it was likely then, but if Hotaru
really isn't the cause of all this then all bets are off." Usagi's blood
seemed to chill at his words. The airship crash? The one that
they'd linked to the strange events following Ranko across the
kingdom?
"Why ... would you think a vampire would cause an airship
crash?" Usagi asked, hoping she sounded casual. Acting wasn't
really her strong suit.
"We have reasons," Mamoru replied absently. "The vamp also
summoned wraiths when she attacked a club uptown, and we've
been seeing an abnormal amount of this particular type since the
crash. Including at the site of the church massacre."
"What?" Usagi blurted. Wraiths? Like the ones that had
attacked the bathhouse? Her thoughts began to whirl.
"Hey," Mamoru said with a frown. "Don't get the idea of
going after this vamp, Usako. I mean it. She took over a club full
of people, placing them under her control without breaking a sweat.
And she engineered the slaughter of a bunch of weird monks at
some fringe church, and who knows what else. She's very
dangerous."
"I wasn't thinking that," Usagi assured him quickly. "I was
just surprised, that's all. What's this about a church?"
"Something called the Church of the Sentinel," Mamoru
told her. "Nobody knows anything about it, really. Seems they
worshipped something they called the Eye. Anyway, she had her
wraiths kill them all, and we don't know why ... Usako? Are you
all right?"
Usagi felt faint. The Eye? Wraiths? The airship crash?
What WAS all this?
"I'm sorry," Mamoru murmured, his strong hands easing
her into a hard plastic chair. "I shouldn't be burdening you with all
this."
"No, it's okay," Usagi insisted. "I like hearing about your
work." They often discussed his cases; it was a habit from the time
when the Dark Kingdom had been engineering incidents in the city.
"This is too gruesome, though," he sighed. "Look, even if
Hotaru didn't mean to do what she did and say what she said, she
could still be dangerous if she loses control. Right?"
"I just want to make things right again," Usagi told him. "I
need to. You understand, don't you?"
"Promise me you won't go near her alone," he said sternly.
"Okay," Usagi said, because he needed to hear it and
because she very much intended to have all her senshi together
when she attempted to reconcile everything. "I promise."
"Good," he said. "Damn, here comes Yu. I guess we're
back into strategy sessions until we come up with some idea of
where to look for this creature."
"Sorry, cutie-pie," Yusaku said to her as he passed. "I need
him again."
"That's okay," Usagi told him. "Just take good care of him
for me, okay?"
"Hmmm," Yusaku said with an evil gleam in his eye. "I
could take VERY good care of him ..."
"We are supposed to be working," Mamoru told his partner.
"Is he always this upright?" Yusaku grumbled.
"Nope," Usagi told him with a wicked smile. "You just
need to get him in the mood."
"Usako!" Mamoru blurted. "Don't get him started!"
"Oh, pooh. You two guys go make the city safe, okay?
But be careful." She levelled a finger, first at Yusaku, then at
Mamoru.
"Yes, ma'am," Yusaku grinned.
"Call me later, okay?" Mamoru said softly. She touched his
arm lightly and nodded.
"I will," she promised as Yusaku walked away to give them
some privacy.
"And remember what I told you," he said, blue eyes boring
into her.
"I will," she sighed. "Trust me, Mamo-chan, I'll be in a lot
less danger than you. Promise you'll be careful."
"I'll try," he said.
"I love you," she said softly, smiling. Yusaku smirked from a
distance as Mamoru squirmed under his scrutiny.
"Love you too," Mamoru murmured, leaning close to kiss
her cheek. "Stay out of trouble, you."
"I will if you will," she said with a wink. He ushered her to
the door of the squad room, leaving her when she assured him she
could find the way out. She turned her visitor's badge in at the
counter, smiling at the heavyset desk sergeant and striding out the
front door into the warm sun.
There her smile faded, leaving a troubled expression in its wake.
It was troubling, the bits and pieces she'd gleaned from Mamoru's
idle words. Could the strange incidents that had dogged
Ranko really be connected to the vampire somehow? What might
this mean?
"Usagi!" She blinked, startled out of her reverie by the
shout. Her gaze raked the street in front of the station, spotting
Makoto straddling her motorcycle. The tall girl pulled her helmet
off and shook out her ponytail impatiently, and Usagi trotted over
to her.
"Mako-chan! You can't park here, you'll get a ticket," she
chided.
"Never mind that," Makoto said tightly. "Come on, we've
got to go. Get on."
"Why? What's happened?" Usagi asked, alarmed by
Makoto's tone.
"The Sisterhood tried to hit me at my place," Makoto
informed her. "I want to take you someplace safe."
"Oh, no," Usagi gasped, one hand fluttering to her mouth.
"You weren't hurt, were you?"
"No, I'm fine," Makoto told her, fierce gaze softening
somewhat. "My friend Yoshi got messed up, but he should be okay
too. I'm just worried that they'll try for you next."
"What about Ami and Minako? And Luna and Artemis?"
"I got hold of the cats, told them to get out and meet up
with us," Makoto told her, green eyes grave. "I've left a message
for Ami to get back to me, and Artemis was going to try and get
Minako on her phone. I'm sure they'll be fine, Usagi. Let's just
worry about getting you somewhere safe, okay?"
Numbly, Usagi put on the proffered helmet and climbed
onto the back of Makoto's motorcycle. How had the Sisterhood
found Makoto?
There was one way they might have, but she refused to
believe. Rei wouldn't, she just wouldn't. No matter what.
"Someplace safe," Usagi whispered. But with her senshi
divided, could her heart ever find sanctuary?
end part 7
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