A/N: This is a sequel to The Princess that Never Was. If you haven't read that story yet, then I highly recommend doing so before starting upon this one.
1 | At the Beginning of the Long Road
Saeko's weary sigh seemed to echo throughout the house, followed by a sharp bang as the handle of her rolling suitcase smacked against the floor. She barely seemed to notice the report or the haphazard placement of her luggage as she sought out a nearby chair. Upon finding a comfortable position, the woman tilted her head back and drifted her gaze toward the ceiling. It did not take long for her to slip into yet another spell of deep contemplation, one of several that had afflicted her that evening. That she had even managed to function long enough to pack the suitcase and haul it down the stairs was a minor miracle.
Does any of this matter anymore? Given what those monsters did to my daughter, I can't believe that Usagi is alive now. I mean, I want to think so, but…
Tears began to stream down her cheeks, but she knocked them away with a hand and forcefully shook her head.
No, I can't give up on her. Not yet. And, even if the worst happened and she truly is dead, I made a promise to her that I would follow through with the plan. That means getting to Kyoto and ensuring that her family is safe. Nothing will prevent me from fulfilling my promise to her.
Her newfound resolve was the fuel she used to push herself away from the chair and march up the stairs where a second suitcase awaited her. She had stuffed the first bag to the seams with clothing, far more than she would usually take for a business trip. Not even for a full vacation—something she had not enjoyed since entering medical school many years ago—would she have packed that much clothes. Yet, a similar fate awaited the second piece in the luggage set, one that was larger than the first. Both were necessary, as she did not intend to return from her journey west.
There, finished. She rested her hands on her hips as a frown marred her lips. Now, all I have to do is get this behemoth down the stairs.
Like its brethren, the small coasters at the bottom of the suitcase were of little use once she reached the steps. No amount of cursing her past buying decisions or wishing for larger wheels was going to help her, and she knew it. However, her mind did manage to construct a solution to her conundrum that was one part unorthodox and one part blatantly obvious.
Maybe I can just push this thing down the stairs. It's not like it'll matter much in the end anyway. Besides, it's just clothes and a few toiletries, so there's nothing to damage.
Normally she would not consider such logic sound, but the series of loud booms said otherwise. She could not help but smirk as she saw the suitcase lying upside down at the end of the stairs, propped up against its mate. However, she did not spend much time admiring her handiwork as she knew there was one more bag left to pack. Minutes later, she stood in the living room wearing the smaller shoulder bag that she had filled with important financial papers and other related items.
Well, packing's done. All that's left is loading all this stuff into the trunk. She winced the moment her gaze fell upon the two larger suitcases. I can see already that it's going to be a pain, but I don't have any time to waste grousing about it.
That did not stop her from groaning the moment she lifted the handle for the smaller of the two pieces of luggage. She took a deep breath and exhaled it at the same time she gave the heavy thing a hard yank, freeing it from its confines beneath the other bag. From there, it was a short walk through the dining room, out the back door, and to the garage. As she marched she weighed in her mind the advantages and disadvantages of loading the bags one at a time or waiting until both were near the car before exerting the energy to lift them into the trunk.
That was when metal and plastic slammed against wood, swiftly followed by a sharp gasp. Then, there were the quick patters of footsteps that shot toward the rear of the house.
Did I just hear what I think I heard?
Though it was not her initial intent, her question might as well have been a probe of her current sanity. She pulled back one of the curtains and peeked outside, but all she could see was the rear of a navy blue sedan. Of course, that alone would have been enough to pique her curiosity given the fact she owned no such vehicle. However, it was supplanted by the sounds that had sent her scurrying there in the first place. It was both familiar and completely unexpected, and from her current location it was somewhat difficult to perceive. At least, that was the case until the deep grumble from the strange car's engine ceased, and then the sounds became crystal clear. She recognized those mellifluous tones as easily as she could distinguish day from night, and yet she still thought she had lost her mind.
It can't be… I… I must be dreaming this.
Neither her age nor her exhaustion were impediments to her as she raced to the door and tugged on the handle to pull it open. Standing before her was ultimate confirmation of what she considered merely a presumption, and an outlandish one at that. Yet, she hesitated, unsure of whether her eyes were playing tricks on the rest of her conscious mind.
"A-Ami…?"
The subject of her tentative question did not waver when she ran up to the woman and tightly wrapped her arms around her.
"Mama!"
Tears immediately welled in Saeko's eyes and streamed down her cheeks as she bent down to embrace her daughter as securely as she could manage. Those were elated tears, an absolute contrast from her far more miserable weeping from the prior night and many other times that same day. The two hugged for almost a minute, neither one wanting to let go for fear that they might lose each other once again. It was only when Saeko noticed the other four people behind the blue-haired girl that she relented and slowly released her hold.
"It turned out she wasn't dead after all," Usagi cheerfully said as beaming smile overtook her lips.
"Usagi-san!" Saeko went to hug with equal fervor the girl whose life she feared was lost along with her daughter's. "How did you manage to escape? What happened to you? What happened to Ami? Who are these people?" The questions came in a rapid-fire manner. Ami turned a confused expression to Usagi as she had no idea why her mother would ask the girl such pointed and informed questions.
"It's a long story." The reply was one that applied both to Ami and her mother. "However, I promise I'll tell you everything as soon as we're inside."
The group slowly filtered into the house and gathered around the dining room table. Usagi and Ami sat down in the chairs with Luna calmly perched in the blonde's lap. Haruka, Michiru, and Kunzite preferred to stand near the back of the room despite the presence of more than enough seats for everyone to comfortably sit. They felt it improper to interfere with the joyful reunion of a parent with a child she believed was forever lost. Saeko took advantage of their reticence to move one of the chairs closer to her daughter so she could hold the girl's hand while Usagi spoke. It only made sense given her absence and presumed death that she would want tangible assurance of Ami's existence.
"I'm so happy to see you again," Saeko told her horribly perplexed Ami. "I truly thought you were dead. We all thought you were dead."
"Who do you mean by we?"
"Myself, Usagi-san, and her parents. Usagi-san told us everything about you being a Sailor Senshi and about her being Princess Serenity. She also told us everything about how the other girls abandoned her and attacked her. We all were convinced that Zoisite killed you last night. The thought that I may never be able to see you and hold you again absolutely devastated me."
The confession caused Ami's eyes to widen even further, this time in shock that her mother was aware of the whole dangerous mess she had to endure as a senshi. Her surprise soon transformed into profound melancholy. Kunzite also was startled by the mention of his former colleague by a person he otherwise thought was a mere civilian, but he managed to conceal his astonishment behind a stone-faced expression.
"I didn't know what was happening to me," Ami whispered. "It was very difficult for me to breathe or to see, let alone move. Before the moment I'm sure I lost consciousness, I thought about what you would be going through if I didn't find some way out. I wasn't afraid of dying, but I was absolutely scared of what would happen to you if I did die and you had no idea how or why."
"I don't know what I would have done in that circumstance. For that I'm eternally grateful for Usagi-san and her astounding wealth of compassion. If it weren't for her, I'm sure I'd be a lot worse off."
She then turned a small yet heartfelt smile to the pigtailed blonde that was answered by an equally warm grin. "I'm very glad you're okay as well. We were worried for you after your text message. I didn't know what they were going to do to you after capturing you. In my mind I assumed that they were going to kill you as soon as they found you. It was difficult thinking you were gone and everything we did wouldn't matter anymore, but I remembered what you told me to do and the promise I made to you and thus I continued with the plan."
"Plan?" Ami's puzzled gaze shifted between her mother and Usagi.
"We had a plan to move Usagi-san and her family out of Juuban after the Dark Kingdom attacked them."
"Wait… The Dark Kingdom attacked Usagi-chan's family?" Her shout of dismay woke Luna, who looked at her charge with a similar expression of horror on her face.
Usagi slowly nodded. "The Dark Kingdom knows everything about us. I don't know exactly why they attacked them, but I feel it was to send a message to me."
"The point of the attack was to weaken you and eliminate your will to continue fighting by taking away from you those you loved most," Kunzite said in a low baritone that revealed his utter remorse. "I'm very sorry for having ordered that attack against your parents." The explanation and apology earned him a questioning glare from the older brunette.
"Ah. That's Kunzite." Usagi's reply drew Saeko's attention away from the nervous man and back to her in the form of an alarmed stare. "It's okay. He's working with us now that I've finally purified him."
"And we're fellow senshi," Michiru followed with a brief yet welcoming wave of her hand. "I'm Kaiou Michiru, or Sailor Neptune, and my partner Tenou Haruka is Sailor Uranus." The sandy-haired blonde curtly nodded in salutation.
"So, Kunzite was the one who attacked your family?" Luna asked, an action that momentarily startled Saeko before she remembered that the cat could speak.
"I wasn't the one who carried out the attack," Kunzite said. "It was done by a being called Sazaratha."
"Who is she?" Usagi asked. Both Ami and her mother echoed their desire to know the same information by giving the general a pair of focused stares.
"She's one of the original servants of Queen Metalia and, as of now, Beryl's lone remaining general. The most important thing about her is that, unlike any of the original Shitennou or Beryl, she's not human. She has the ability to disguise herself as a human by taking the form of that person's body. Unfortunately that results in the death of the person whose figure she steals."
A stunned silence filled the room at the revelation that, despite the diligent work of the senshi, precious souls already had been lost in the conflict. They were fatalities that, until that moment, had gone unnoticed by anyone and, most likely, would remain mysteries to those who were not intimately involved in the war.
"So… that nurse who captured me… she's actually… actually…?" Usagi hesitantly turned a dismal glance toward her former adversary as she spoke.
"An innocent victim of Sazaratha. I'm sorry to say so."
"What else can this Sazaratha do?" Michiru asked more determinedly.
"Possess inanimate objects, and sometimes living creatures as well, and use them to attack unsuspecting targets," Kunzite replied. "Another of her skills is learning an opponent's attack and using it against them. A pertinent example is what happened to Sailor Venus when Sazaratha and I were ordered to capture the transformation brooch and the remaining guardian senshi. She used a modified version of Venus's 'Love me Chain' attack that used three chains instead of the usual single chain. However, she put so much dark energy into the attack that it almost killed the girl with a single hit."
"And that was the same attack she used against Zoisite, right?" Usagi asked, eliciting a curt nod from Kunzite in reply.
"What happened to Zoisite?" Ami was beyond confused, though it helped that everyone around her could plainly understand why.
"Sazaratha killed him before Usagi could purify him in the same way she healed me," Kunzite said. "I don't know why she did that, but I have a feeling that there's going to be some conflict within the Dark Kingdom between Sazaratha and Beryl. The two never fully trusted one another."
"But… that's a good thing, right?" Haruka asked, raising an eyebrow.
"I'm not entirely sure. Even if there's some friction between the two, they're still fighting for very similar goals," Kunzite responded. "That means they're still extremely dangerous, and we can't let up against them, especially with their new strategy."
"The youma army," Usagi said. Ami turned a curious gaze to the pigtailed blonde that prompted her to expound further. "Beryl is creating an army of thousands of youmas—"
"Fifteen hundred to be exact," Michiru nonchalantly interjected.
"Right. Fifteen hundred youmas to use for gathering energy," Usagi finished. "Many more than we've ever fought before."
"If there's any good news, it's that it will take a few months before most of the youmas are ready to be deployed." Kunzite's voice carried only the smallest hint of optimism.
Saeko shared the man's anxiety. "That means we have some time to… to… do something to prepare against the onslaught."
"But what do we do?" Ami asked.
"Unfortunately, I don't quite know the answer to that question," Kunzite said.
Michiru's eyes widened the instant the idea leaped into her mind. "Can't you teleport us back into the Dark Kingdom?"
The silver-haired man dejectedly shook his head. "That requires dark energy, which I no longer possess. Otherwise, that would have been my preferred choice of attack."
"Certainly, we can't take them on all at once, even with my added power," Usagi said with a similarly gloomy tone as she fell forward into a doleful slouch. "Maybe a few at a time, but if there's no way to stop the Dark Kingdom from creating and releasing more youmas, it'll ultimately be a lost cause."
"In any case, I think we can't spend too much time worrying about that. Not when we have a train to catch," Michiru said.
Usagi snapped upright as the turquoise-haired woman's comment reminded her why she was there in the first place. "You're right, Michiru-san. I'm sure that in a few months we can find some way to stop them. But right now I need something to wear besides this… awful thing." She frowned as she gazed at the morbid black robes she continued to wear.
"Your clothes should still be upstairs in your room," Saeko said. "I didn't know whether I should pack it or not. I didn't know if you would return…" By that time fresh tears welled at the base of her eyes and threatened to spill down her cheeks.
"I did return." Usagi's voice was as comforting as the warm gaze she pointed upward at the sullen woman. "Despite everything that happened to me, and what I almost did to myself, I did come back."
"I'm glad." Saeko leaned toward the blonde and pulled her into a tight hug. "I can't imagine what my life would be like without either you or Ami."
Usagi's face turned bright red upon hearing Saeko's adoring words. She turned to Ami, only to see the blue-haired girl smile at her while exhibiting an equally furious blush on her cheeks. The girl did not know just how close the relationship between her best friend and her mother had become over a remarkably short time until she witnessed that scene. However, the knowledge only seemed to make her feel happier as opposed to worried or, worse, jealous.
"Anyway, you need to hurry up and get some clothes packed," Saeko said more cheerfully as she gently pulled away from Usagi and turned to her daughter, enveloping her once again in a loving embrace. "And you need to get some clothes packed, too."
Ami emphatically nodded as both she and Usagi rose from their chairs and ran up the stairs, with Luna sprinting behind them. As the pair disappeared from view, Saeko slowly approached the two women and Kunzite.
"Thank you so much for helping to rescue Usagi-san and my daughter," she said to the pair of senshi. She then turned her eyes to Kunzite, who flinched at the sudden attention paid to him. "Even though you did so much to hurt the two of them, let alone many other people I deeply care about, your decision to help us now redeems you in my opinion."
"I sincerely apologize—" He was interrupted by the brunette's slowly shaking head.
"There's no need to apologize or feel badly about the things you did then. Given that Usagi-san purified you, it means it's highly unlikely that you were fully responsible for your evil mindset."
"Beryl, with the assistance of Metalia's energy, placed us under a spell that forced us to work for her," he said softly. "Otherwise, we Shitennou were extremely loyal to our prince and would not have obliged that woman, especially after she turned evil."
"Wait, so you're saying that Beryl wasn't evil beforehand?"
Kunzite shook his head in reply and opened his mouth to speak but was beaten to the punch by the two women standing beside him.
"She was supposed to be Endymion's wife and the Queen of Earth in the past life," Michiru coolly interjected. "They were engaged to be married before he called off the wedding."
"Apparently Endymion found Serenity more appealing than Beryl." A short huff punctuated Haruka's derision. "Not that I can blame him for that, but if he hadn't broken Beryl's heart then we wouldn't be in this mess."
"All of that, unfortunately, is true," Kunzite said. "That incident utterly depressed Beryl and weakened her, thus giving Metalia a perfect host through which she could enact her plan."
"And what plan was that?" Saeko asked.
"Conquering the Earth and making it part of her collection of dominated planets. Of course, that wasn't what Beryl intended. She wanted to enact revenge against the Silver Millennium and to regain Endymion's love, and she felt she needed Metalia's power to achieve both. If she had learned of Metalia's true intentions, I doubt she would have allowed the infernal being to control her as it currently does. By that same logic, she wouldn't have promoted Sazaratha to her position of power within the Dark Kingdom."
Michiru stared at Kunzite in wide-eyed disbelief. "So, what you're saying is Beryl doesn't want to destroy the planet?"
"That's correct. She wants to rule it with Endymion at her side. It's why she never allowed us to harm Mamoru in any way during our battles and would harshly reprimand us if we ever came close to injuring the man."
"If you knew about Metalia's true plans, then why didn't you warn Beryl about Sazaratha?" Haruka asked.
"She has a point," Michiru quickly added in the same skeptical manner. "If the Dark Kingdom succeeds in gathering enough energy to revive Metalia, and Sazaratha somehow overthrows Beryl, then the whole planet may be doomed."
"Sazaratha's promotion was more a dire act of necessity, given our shortage of leadership at the time." He exhaled a rueful sigh. "Furthermore, I didn't know just how much of a threat she was to the Dark Kingdom until today. Beryl thought she could command her respect and loyalty, and I thought I could contain her. I guess both of us were wrong."
"It's okay," Saeko said. "I'm sure all of us will find a way to defeat Sazaratha… and Beryl, especially now that we have Usagi-san back with us."
The general nodded. "If anything, it'll be her overwhelming power that will get us through this."
"So… just to change subjects," Haruka said rather abruptly, "I assume you're leaving for Kyoto as well, right?"
"Yes. I have to look over Usagi-san's parents while they remain in the hospital as well as find a place for us to live," Saeko replied. "The plan for the interim is for Usagi-san and her family to stay with her aunt, while Ami and I live with my parents. However, I don't want to be a burden on them for very long, and thus we need to have our own place."
"I see," Michiru said. She closed her eyes as she probed her mind for any answer to the question she asked herself. "No, I don't know anyone who lives in Kyoto or has an open house there."
"How were you going to get there?" Haruka asked.
"By train, obviously," Saeko replied with a brief chuckle. "How else would you travel to Kyoto? Driving is completely out of the question, especially at this time of evening."
Michiru turned a playful smirk to her red-faced and uncharacteristically demure lover. "Unless your name is Tenou Haruka."
"I figured it would be a good idea to have an automobile available there… for various reasons."
"That may be true, but the drive is way too long," Saeko said.
"And uncomfortable, especially in a car that small," Kunzite added, scowling slightly.
Haruka grumbled as she turned her gaze to the ground. "Okay, okay… I get it. It's no fun for you all. I can't help that I love to drive. So what?" She huffed as she snapped her head back up and glared at them while standing with arms akimbo. Her complaints merely elicited another round of friendly laughter.
"Anyway, it's definitely a good thing to have you all here, if only so that it's much easier to transport all of our bags to the station," Saeko said with a smile directed at the trio. "I was going to park nearby Tokyo Station as it would have been a pain to haul that much luggage, but with extra hands, we may be able to take the subway."
"I think it may be a good idea to drive part of the way there, if only to conceal the fact that Usagi is here and with you," Kunzite said. "There remains the possibility that they're looking for her, and it would be prudent to ensure that she's not detected."
"I could just use the disguise pen." Usagi had returned, and she no longer donned those awful drab black robes. In their place she wore a far more tolerable light-blue skirt and white blouse. "As long as it's not obvious that it's me, then it should buy us at least a little bit of time."
"That very well may work," Saeko said. "It would be similar to what happened yesterday morning, when that strange woman—who I'm now convinced was Sazaratha—completely failed to recognize you despite bowling you over."
Kunzite pointed his eyes at his feet as a rather sheepish expression befell him. "I remember that. She wasn't too happy with me after that incident, as she thought I led her astray or gave her bad information about Usagi's energy signature."
"Energy signature?" Ami asked as she reached the bottom of the stairs with a rolling suitcase that matched the one Usagi carried.
Kunzite looked up at the girl and nodded. "The prince, princess, senshi, and magic-wielding members of the Dark Kingdom all emit unique auras which allow anyone with sufficient power and skill to detect them without necessarily being able to see them. It enabled me, when I unfortunately worked with them, to penetrate disguises and locate the senshi from great distances or through walls and other obstacles. However, Usagi's energy signature had changed between the last time I encountered her as an adversary and when Sazaratha found her."
"I understand," Ami said before lowering her head in trepidation. "But then that means the disguise pen will not hide her aura, leaving her open to detection."
"That may be the case, but as Usagi hinted, they may ignore us if there's no immediate reason to suspect that she's there."
"How far from a person can you detect this aura?" Saeko asked.
"Typically it's no more than three meters for any of the senshi, although for Usagi I can feel her energy from ten meters away."
"How is that range affected by speed?"
"The detection range greatly decreases with speed, if only because the initial signal is so fleeting that it's difficult to determine if there was anything there at all." Though they were simple to answer, he found the stream of sudden questions perplexing. "Why do you ask?"
"I figure it may be necessary for us to drive after all." Her voice carried a small amount of disappointment. "If they happen to stumble upon us it would be easier for them to track us if we're moving slowly by walking than if we're driving."
"I agree," Michiru said, sharply nodding her head.
"Besides, if we manage to make it to the subway station undetected it's highly unlikely that Sazaratha would be there," Kunzite added with a tiny smirk on his lips. "She's the last member of the Dark Kingdom, besides Beryl, who could feel such auras. However, she absolutely hates being around large groups of people in enclosed spaces."
"In that case, I recommend that we start loading the cars, and quickly," Luna abruptly said, drawing everyone's stunned stare. "I sense we're not alone."
Usagi closed her eyes, dimly glowing pink as she slipped into deep concentration. Her involuntary nervous swallow was readily audible in the silence of the room. "I can feel negative energy close to here, but it's really faint."
"Is it Sazaratha?" Saeko asked. Her voice carried far more apprehension than the blonde's.
After a few more seconds the girl finally answered, preceding her words with a light sigh. "No. It doesn't feel anything like her."
"Aw, that sucks," Haruka said, shaking her head in mock disappointment. "I was really hoping for another opportunity to royally kick her ass."
Kunzite was not so flippant about the matter. "I would not be so enthusiastic about rushing into a conflict with that demon."
"Why not?" Michiru asked. Latent anger lingered in her tone. "We were clearly beating her before she ran away."
"There is a lot more you two have to learn about Sazaratha, but now is not the time for that. After all there is a youma out there that could ruin our plans if we're not careful."
"After everything we've gone through so far, you really think a measly youma can threaten us?"
He calmly shook his head. "Certainly not, so long as it doesn't realize the princess is here."
"Hey!" The fierce glower Usagi directed at Kunzite momentarily sent a shiver through the man. "It's not like I can't defeat a youma on my own."
"I don't doubt that one bit, Usagi. However, you fighting the youma might complicate your plans of escaping undetected, as it would present a glowing beacon to the Dark Kingdom that you're here right now."
Haruka punched her palm with her fist before turning a quick glance to her lover. "Hell, we'll do it, then. Besides, they should be rather surprised to see us again."
"But…" One corner of his lip slowly curled upward into a smirk as he realized the implications of her statement, even if she had not. "Hmm, I see what you mean."
The curious gaze Saeko turned to the two women had less to do with what Kunzite had suspected and more to do with the underlying mechanism behind it. "Wait. How is it possible that they don't know about you? I thought they knew about all of the senshi."
"It's because we only awakened as senshi earlier today," Michiru said. "We seemed to miss whatever event that allowed them to find out about the others."
Haruka was already at the rear door, brandishing her Lip Rod as she turned to the rest of the group. "Anyway, let's go kill this thing so we can get out of here."
"Be careful," Luna said, jumping up onto the nearby dinner table. "There are actually two youmas approaching us from opposite directions, as far as I can tell."
The feline's warning prompted not anxiety but a mischievous grin from Michiru as she retrieved her Lip Rod from her purse and headed for the other door. "Wow! It must be our lucky day. Isn't that right, Haruka-chan?"
"Absolutely." Haruka's smile nearly echoed her partner's, though it was slightly more feral. "It means I don't have to share."
The two women shared a chuckle as they departed the house in their separate directions. Ami and Usagi turned to one another and shrugged, each awash with confusion, although they were not alone in feeling that emotion. Saeko was the one who returned some semblance of organization to the group and set them in motion once again.
"Hmm… I guess we should start loading the cars while they're busy."
Kunzite recognized the consternation in the doctor's face as her gaze alternated between the two rolling suitcases. "I imagine they're rather heavy. I can take them for you if you'd like."
"Thanks, Kunzite-san." Her smile, though tiny and barely noticeable, was one of genuine gratitude. "You can put those in the trunk of my car. I figure the girls' luggage can fit in Tenou-san's car, once she returns." She then chuckled. "I only met her a few minutes ago, but I can already tell she wouldn't be the type who'd let anyone else touch her car, never mind potentially damage it."
The two walked out of the rear door, with Kunzite dragging the pair of rolling suitcases behind him. Given that her hands were free, she opened the door to the garage for him with one hand while pushing a button on her key fob with the other. Parked inside the impeccably clean space was her Mercedes E350 sedan with its trunk already slightly open. That much she anticipated, so it was clear that was not what caused her to freeze in place and stare blankly into space with widened eyes. She barely registered the fact that Kunzite had run into her, not expecting the woman to not progress further through the doorway.
"Is there something wrong?" he asked.
It took her a few moments to sense that someone had spoken, and even then she could only respond in a shaky whisper. "I swear I turned the lights off the last time I was in here."
Kunzite unceremoniously dropped the bags and pushed his way around the doctor, shielding her with his body. "I'm sure you did. We're not alone here." A sword materialized in his right hand. "Show yourself!"
Sure enough, his concern was validated by the presence of a young woman who swiftly stood from her low crouch on the other side of the car. The interloper initially stared back at him with a look of utter surprise, though it soon morphed, first to fright before finally settling on anger. That fury presented itself in her tense posture and warped visage as she finally addressed with a snarl the man standing in the way of her only avenue of escape.
"Our queen will not be happy to see that you've turned traitor. I'll make sure that she finds out. It'll be a miracle that you live for one more day after that, Lord Kunzite."
The man shook his head and smirked. "You really must be behind on current events to think she doesn't already know that. But, it doesn't matter anymore, not for you at least."
"That's what you think."
Saeko was not at all prepared for the appearance of the strange woman in her garage. Nor was she expecting to be blinded, thrown against a wall, or held by the throat by hands larger and stronger than any belonging to a mere human. Yet, all three happened within the span of a second. To say she was terrified was an exercise in understatement.
"Now, how about you drop your sword?" The metallic, silver-colored creature, only vaguely reminiscent of a human by then, tightened its grip of the doctor's neck in its right hand. Its left arm had morphed into a blade that it held firm against its victim's stomach. "I might just consider sparing poor Saeko's life if you do."
Despite the obvious danger, Kunzite's wicked grin only widened. "Certainly, but I can clearly see that you are unfamiliar with one of my favorite adages."
As a trained warrior, he could immediately tell that the youma had made several critical tactical errors. However, the worst of the lot was that it had severely underestimated its opponent's skills. Sure, he was an expert with a sword, but his battle with Usagi had demonstrated that he could fight just as well without one. He lifted the blade to shoulder length and pointed it away from Saeko and the youma. Then he let it go, just as the monster had commanded. Physics would have dictated that the sword would have struck the concrete floor in just over half of a second. It never made it that far. The resounding shriek of agony that echoed about the small room was proof.
"Saeko-san! What's wrong?" Usagi, already transformed as Sailor Moon by then, was the one who asked that question. She was joined by Sailor Mercury and Luna as the trio rushed into the garage just in time to see golden light flood the room.
Saeko looked to her left, where the youma had been, but saw absolutely nothing of the beast. Instead she saw her daughter and the young blonde standing just beyond the threshold, right at the location she swore she and the intruder had stood only moments ago.
"Mama! Are you okay?" Ami ran to her mother and held her around the waist with one arm while doing her best to check for any injuries with her other hand.
"I- I'm fine, I think." Her heavy breathing, on the verge of outright hyperventilation, belied her words, as did the fact that her entire body continued to tremble. "Though, on second thought, I might need to rest for a little while."
The distinct noise made by metal scraping against metal drew the group's attention to Kunzite. "There was a youma hiding in the garage, but I took care of it already."
"Really?" Surprise covered Usagi's face as soon as she noticed the pile of sand-colored dust near Saeko's feet. "How could you beat it so quickly?"
A sigh of frustration escaped his lips as he pointed at the pile of luggage that sat next to the door. "I'll tell you all about it after we get everything loaded into the trunk."
Haruka and Michiru returned to the house a few minutes later, bringing with them accounts of youma battles that were as effortless as Kunzite's. By then, enough time had elapsed for Saeko to regain her bearings. In fact, she behaved as though her life never was at risk of meeting a premature end, which by itself was a remarkable transformation.
"I think it may be better for Haruka and me to travel alone in our car, while the rest of you ride with Mizuno-sensei," Michiru offered. "We'll leave a few minutes before the rest of you."
"Well, if you do leave before us, we need some way to contact each other," Saeko said.
Michiru nodded and pulled her cell phone from her purse while Saeko did the same. "It's usually easier to call me since Haruka rarely answers the phone while driving, which is annoying but also a good thing at times." She passed a wry grin to the sandy-haired blonde, one that was answered by a nonchalant shrug.
The pair then exchanged phone numbers and saved them under aliases, an idea Usagi casually noted—with Kunzite's emphatic agreement—worked well for her in saving her family's life. In that way, if one or both phones were captured, the deception would help to prevent immediate detection of the relationship between Saeko and the outer senshi.
Saeko stood from her seat and started toward the back door. "Now that we have that done, we should hurry up and get out of here."
Haruka and Michiru placed the pair of rolling suitcases that belonged to Usagi and Ami into the trunk of their navy blue Lexus IS F. The latter had posited the logic that, if anything happened to the other group's car and yet they managed to survive and arrive at the subway, they would at least have clothing to wear in Kyoto. The remaining luggage was already stowed in Saeko's larger sedan, in which the other four humans and Luna would travel. Haruka's car pulled out of the driveway and into the street, headed toward Azabu-Juuban Station. It moved slower than she would have preferred as her partner instructed her to take a more deliberate pace. The car also turned in the direction opposite from that which would take them to the subway station. It was a diversionary move in case any more youmas decided to follow them.
"I think now is a good time for us to leave," Saeko said as she pushed the button on the car's instrument panel that resulted in a subsequent opening of the garage door.
The silver sedan backed out of the driveway and into the street. The driver turned one last wistful glance toward the stately house before directing the car down the street in the direction of the station. It was bittersweet as she knew it would have been the last time she would see the house for the foreseeable future. However, there were far more important things in her life than mere buildings. One of them sat beside her in the front passenger seat while the other slouched in the passenger-side rear seat. She didn't mind losing all of her worldly possessions and even more, so long as she could ensure the safety of her two most important people.