Dark Before Dawn
Always a Bridesmaid (Chapter Two)
In a cold hall, devoid of any source of natural light, except for an odd glow that came from the murky chandelier hanging from the rock ceiling, two men and one woman stood looking at a glass fixed to the wall.
The woman had once been very beautiful, but her features seemed frozen and petrified, her dark red hair had turned blood colored and hung limp down her back. Her eyes, once a vibrant blue, were almost black and shone in the faint light like sharp little diamonds.
The two men beside her were, in contrast, handsome beyond the pale of most of their species. The first, shorter, had curling blonde hair and light grey eyes, his features were so perfect that it was difficult to tell if he was male or female, he seemed almost like a Renaissance angel. The man beside him was taller than both his companions, his face was handsome, but in a rugged, virile way – though his features were too still. He had long black hair that fell over his pale forehead, and it was impossible to tell what color his eyes were, or had been, because of the large grey piece of cloth that covered them, tying behind his head.
"You are still bent on doing this, my lady?" he asked in a sombre, deep voice that echoed through the empty hall.
"Yes, of course." the woman answered, her voice was raw and pinched.
"The others have seen their targets, I want the two of you to look at yours. So watch carefully, Ganymede will describe your target for you, Orion."
Orion, the blind giant, nodded. Ganymede, the slender nymph-like man, watched the mirror closely.
"This is your target," the woman said to him, "she is called Sailor Jupiter."
He nodded, observing in the glass the sudden image of a tall, russet haired girl sitting at her school desk, swinging her feet and looking out the window.
"She doesn't look like much of a challenge," he observed, his beautiful voice was biting, "why can't Clitus or Cephalus do for her?"
"You're a fool if you think that," the woman barked, "she's the most powerful of them all. That's why I'm sending you."
Ganymede's perfect lip snarled at her tone but he remained silent.
"Now, this is Orion's target, and she is also a formidable opponent."
"I see a slight girl, pretty – if you like the china doll type – black hair, black – oh, no, purple eyes," Ganymede rambled on in a bored tone of voice, "sour expression, good figure – a little thin, but oh, well. She'll probably fill out later."
"Is that all?" Orion asked impassively.
"Yes," Ganymede answered, "Again, she doesn't look like much of a challenge."
"Looks, as you of all people should know," continued Orion, "can be and almost always are deceiving."
"Well, lucky you, then, that you don't have to put up with the deception," Ganymede taunted sourly and turned on his heel to disappear through the opposite wall.
Orion sighed and turned to look, sightlessly, at the woman.
"When are we to dispatch these girls, my lady?"
The woman smiled a very ugly smile.
"Tomorrow morning. After they are all safely here I will send Ganymede with the message to the princess. Once she hears my terms and accepts them, my revenge will finally be complete."
She uttered these words in a tone completely devoid of any passion or emotion, it was only a simple statement.
"You are determined to pursue this course?" Orion questioned again.
Her face grew angry.
"Yes, slave, I am. But why should you care?" she glanced at him suddenly, "You who have no feelings whats-so-ever, especially for me. Are you actually concerned for me?"
"No," Orion replied stoically, "but I don't have to care about you at all to see an error in judgment – you know this will accomplish nothing. It is a waste of time."
"Silence," she growled, her eyes glowing with a dull light, "do as you are told. I don't ask for your thoughts, and if you air them so freely again I will cut out your tongue to go with your eyes. Leave me, you have work to do tomorrow and you had best be prepared."
Orion bowed, and left the same way Ganymede had gone, through the wall.
The woman, left alone, looked for a long time at the images her mirror produced.
"Where's the bouquet?!" Usagi yelled frantically, digging through the boxes piled on the seats of the church.
"You don't need it, remember?" Mamoru said as he caught her arm, "This is the rehearsal, you won't need it until next week."
That was his biggest fear, that because they couldn't get the space any later than a week before the wedding, Usagi, who sometimes had the metal retention of a gnat, would forget everything she was supposed to do before next Saturday. (She'll probably forget it anyway) he mused, and pulled her up off the pew.
"Is everyone ready to start?" one of the attendants asked.
"Almost," Mamoru called, he turned to locate Sazume, who was standing by the doors to the inner sanctuary.
"Are the girls ready?" he asked.
Sazume, who'd been fiddling with a hand held game, looked up and shrugged. He turned over his shoulder to ask someone in the hall a question, then straightened in surprise.
"They aren't here." He called back.
Mamoru frowned.
"None of them?" he asked, "Not even Rei?"
Sazume shook his head, and Toshiro appeared from the opposite aisle, walking toward Sazume and Mamoru.
"Usa-chan, what time did you tell them?" Mamoru asked his fiance.
"I said '3:30'," she replied, her wide blue eyes focused earnestly on his face, "I swear I told them '3:30', and Rei said she'd be here at '3:00'. I thought maybe they were still getting ready or something."
"Well, it's 4:30 now," Mamoru said looking at his watch.
Toshiro flipped out his cell phone and dialed Minako's number. After a few moments he shut it.
"No answer." he said, "She probably doesn't have it with her."
"Ami's says 'no service'," Sazume puzzled, and tried the number again.
"I'm getting a bad feeling," Mamoru muttered, he went to retrieve his cell phone from his jacket and dialed Rei's number.
All he got was a message saying 'no service'.
"Kazuya, Junshi!" he yelled across the sanctuary, "Come here please!"
Immediately the men came quickly into the room.
"What's wrong?" Kazu asked.
"We can't find the girls, do you know where they might be?"
"Did you try -"
"We already called them and can't get through to them." Sazume offered, he was beginning to look worried.
"I'll call Mako," Kazuya replied and matched his actions to his words. After waiting a few seconds he closed the phone.
"No service." He said. Junshi looked preoccupied, staring at his phone.
"Oh, I'm such an idiot!" Usagi slapped her forehead, they all looked at her in surprise.
She pulled out her communicator and attempted to contact the Senshi. After a moment she put it away, her face was worried.
"They aren't responding," she said quietly, "they always respond, unless -"
"Excuse me," a mellifluous voice called from across the hall. They all turned as one to look at the speaker, an attendant they hadn't recognized before, amazingly good looking and debonair.
"Are you Tsukino Usagi?" he asked politely.
"Hai," Usagi answered promptly.
"I have a message for you," he said with a smile, "from, let me see," he closed his eyes for a moment as if trying to recall something, a rather strange smile on his face.
Toshiro frowned and edged closer to Mamoru and Usagi.
"Oh, that's right," his brilliant eyes flashed open, "Jupiter, Mercury, Venus and Mars. The people, not the planets," he added as they stared at him, dumbfounded.
"I wouldn't if I were you," he said in Toshiro's direction, "Not until you've heard what I have to say."
"Say it, then." Toshiro said calmly, and lowered his hand.
"Thank you. As the messenger of my mistress, Eos, I have come to tell you, princess, that unless you surrender your crystal, and your fiance willingly," he added, with a roving look at Mamoru, "my friends and I will kill a Senshi each day that you delay."
"You'll what?" Kazuya growled, taking a step forward.
"And that's really only," Ganymede tallied as he held up his fingers, "four days. So, do you have an answer now, or shall I tell my lady to wait until tomorrow?"
"I -" Usagi faltered. Suddenly she snapped.
"You creep!" she yelled, "Give me back my friends this minute or I'll dust you to-"
"Not so fast, little girl," Ganymede retreated into the air, transforming from his civilian clothes – all the guests and attendants ran screaming out of the room, leaving only Usagi, Mamoru and the Shitennou who simultaneously transformed.
"You will return the Senshi intact this minute!!" Kazuya yelled, powering up to attack Ganymede.
"You won't defeat me," Ganymede chortled, "but even if you did, if I don't return my lady will still have the Senshi executed, and she'll probably do worse to them if you kill me. She will get what she wants in the end."
"Stop it," Toshiro commanded the Shitennou, looking up he yelled; "What does your mistress want?"
Ganymede smirked.
"That's more reasonable. I'll tell you, if you like."
Toshiro signaled to Sazume behind his caped back. Sazume nodded fractionally, and unobtrusively pulled a small, hand held device the shape and size of a calculator.
"Be ready," Junshi warned Kazu under his breath.
"My mistress has one desire only," Ganymede began grandly, it was obvious that he enjoyed the sound of his own voice, "revenge."
"On whom?" Toshiro asked, "for what reason?"
"Oh, she has no reason, really," the enemy replied cheerfully, "she lost her reason a long time ago. She wants to destroy you, princess," he pointed to Sailor Moon as Mamoru stepped in further in front of her, "you are the last of your line."
"But I don't even know her!" Usagi exclaimed, "I don't understand, just give me back my friends."
This seemed to recall Ganymede to his purpose. With a flick of his hand he opened what looked like an odd worm-hole in the air beside him.
"Zume?" Toshiro muttered.
"Got it." Zume replied, snapping his computer shut.
"It's been nice chatting with you," Ganymede intoned, "But I have to go, remember, you have four days from tomorrow. Don't waste too much time!"
He leaped into the hole and dissappeared.
"Zume!" Toshiro commanded.
"Everyone, this is the place!" Zume yelled and tossed his computer to Junshi and Kazu who memorized the information on the screen, and passed it to Toshiro.
"Majesties," Toshiro addressed Mamoru and Usagi, "stay here, please, we will return in only a few minutes."
"But, wait- I should come with you!" Usagi declared.
Toshiro and the others were already disappearing, teleporting themselves to wherever Ganymede had disappeared to.
In a flash of light and petals they were gone.
"How could this happen?" Usagi wailed.
Mamoru, not yet in civilian guise, patted her shoulder.
"It's alright Sailor Moon, we'll get them back." A loud thud at the door of the church made him glance up at the aisle.
"I think we may have our own problems right now," he said in a strained voice.
There was a crash and Usagi screamed.
Waking from a horrible dream, Ami shook her head and tried to open her eyes, but realized they were already open. For a moment she considered whether or not she'd gone blind, when she realized that she could faintly see the outline of her hand in the oppressive gloom of her surroundings.
The last thing she remembered was going to sleep last night. Why had she awoken in a strange place?
She transformed at once and pulled down her visor, grabbing her computer she began to analyze her surroundings.
From the information she received she knew she wasn't anywhere on Earth, but in a strange -in-between place – caught, somehow, between the reality she knew, and something else.
She also realized that there was no way to get out of the holding room, if it could be called a room, that she was in.
She slumped to the floor, and not one to give into despair, she thought very hard.
(Obviously, this must have something to do with whatever it was Rei felt coming, are the others here?)
She pulled out her communicator and attempted to use it, but the device failed to receive an answering signal. She sighed in frustration.
(Wait), she puzzled, (I got in somehow, so there has to be a way out.) She stood up and, reaching out her hands she tried to find a wall. She walked for nearly thirty minutes in one direction and didn't encounter anything but space. By this time, panic was trying to overwhelm her but she kept calm.
(This can't be a real room), she reasoned, (therefore, it is unreal. And if it isn't real, then I am not really inside it.)
Instantly light flooded the darkness, so harshly that she thought she really would go blind, and stood blinking, unable to see anything.
"It worked," she said in surprise.
"Congratulations," said a nasal, unpleasant voice, and she felt a terrible pain in her side that knocked her into a very real wall.
She fell to the floor, having lost her breath from the blow, and tried to cover her face, blinking rapidly to regain her eye-sight.
"Who -" she gasped, "who are you?"
"My name is Cephelus, Sailor Mercury, and I'm here to make sure you don't leave this room alive." With that, the man, Cephelus, kicked her and sent her flying into the corner.
The blow, oddly, helped her vision to clear, and she saw that she was looking up at a handsome, tall red-haired man with melancholy green eyes who was walking deliberately toward her.
She sucked in some air and murmured her attack, the room was suddenly filled with bubbles and mist.
She rose as quietly as possible and edged her way along the wall, trying to find a door, she tasted something salty in her mouth and realized she was bleeding.
Suddenly, inches away from her head, a long, evil looking black spear embedded itself in the wall. She only just managed to hold back a scream.
She heard a low grunt.
"Commendable, Sailor Mercury, but that must have been close. I have very good aim."
With that she heard him grunt and she ducked to the ground as another black spear thunked into the wall where her head had been. She crawled on the ground, trying desperately to be silent as she heard the repeated thud of spears into the wall.
One of them fell on her and she was so startled by its unexpected coldness that she let out an involuntary gasp.
"Found you." Cephalus yelled and even as she rolled to the side she felt the freezing black spear pierce her shoulder. This time she couldn't hold back a cry of pain. She heard him sigh and begin walking toward her and, inspite of her pain, she grabbed the black spear made of ice out of her shoulder and propelled it with all her might in the direction of Cephalus' foot steps.
He yelped in pain, and she took the moment to fill the room with more mist, scrambling along the wall until she tumbled into the hallway. She could hear him running at her, yelling in rage, as she shut the heavy door. Then putting her hand up to the wood she began freezing the entire door shut. When she was finished there was nearly a foot of solid ice around the door and it's hinges. She could hear Cephalus pounding and screaming on the inside.
Though her shoulder was throbbing and bleeding profusely, she knew she was in do danger of bleeding to death and so she forced herself up and continued to roam the dark hallway, using her visor to give her a better idea of where she was going. She began her search for the other Senshi.
Rei had penetrated the darkness five seconds after waking up, but evading her guard was proving much more challenging.
Orion, blind though he was, somehow knew every move she made against him. With a bow in his hand aimed at her own the two stood in a draw, equally matched.
"I suggest we call a cease fire," he said in a bored tone of voice.
"Why are you here?" she asked, her own voice taught. They'd both managed to hit each other twice, and as a result Rei was limping and Orion's shoulder was bleeding.
"I'm here to make sure you do not leave unless my lady commands it," he replied matter-of-factly.
"Who is 'your lady'?"
"Eos, princess of the dawn."
"Never heard of her," Rei countered, "What does she want with me?"
"It's not you she wants," Orion said, calmly shifting his stance, "she wants your princess."
"Why?"
"Revenge."
"Who are you?" Rei suddenly asked, curiously.
"Orion, I'm her servant."
"You don't sound like you like her very much," she noted causticly.
"I don't," he answered simply.
"Then why are you doing what she wants?"
"Because I must."
"That's not an answer." Rei argued, but her attention wavered for a moment, and Orion released his arrow, spinning toward her head. She released her own firey arrow as she dived for the floor, and it caught in the wooden wall behind them – catching the wall on fire. Orion's arrow grazed her neck and left a slight scratch from her collar bone to her jaw.
She rolled quickly to the side, and, taking advantage of the smoke she threw herself at the man, attempting to kick him in the face. He caught her leg in one hand and threw her into the flaming wall behind him. The wall, weakened by the flames, collapsed onto both of them.
After a few minutes, Rei managed to pull herself out of the rubble and limped away from the inferno of the room, but the smoke was stinging her eyes and clouding her lungs.
On the verge of passing out she felt a cool hand on her shoulder and recoiled before realizing the pixie face with frightened eyes belonged to Ami.
"Sailor Mercury," she gasped, and fell to her knees. Ami knelt beside her and put one arm, her good shoulder, under Rei's, helping her to stand.
"Where are we?" Rei mumbled.
"I'm not sure, somewhere outside of Earth and possibly time itself," Mercury answered, as they limped together down the dark hall.
"How did we get here? Where are the others?"
"I'm trying to find them. According to my readings, Makoto should be just ahead. She probably needs our help."
"I'll say," Rei muttered, "If we run into any more of these guys I don't know if we'll make it out of here. But we have to get back, Ami. The guard told me that his mistress, Eos, is after Sailor Moon."
Ami nodded grimly and halted as they approached the next door.
"Don't worry, as soon as we are all gathered together we can teleport back to Earth."
"Then let's get going," Rei quipped, putting her hand to the door.
"Wait," Ami cautioned, and put one ear to the door.
She could hear the sounds of a monstrous struggle inside. Every once in a while, she heard the scuffling punctuated by a yell, it sounded like Makoto.
"Alright," she whispered, "on my count, one, two, three-"
She and Rei threw the door open, prepared to join Jupiter in an attack – but they halted when they saw that Jupiter was lying on the ground, thrashing and yelling, and that it appeared her captor, an impossibly beautiful youth, hadn't even touched her.
He whipped around in surprise but smiled when he saw them.
"Hello, little ones," he chirped, "You shouldn't be out of your cages. Let's do something about that."
"Mercury Bubbles!" Ami shouted and the room was instantly suffused in mist.
To her surprise a crack of energy exploded between her and Rei, knocking them apart. Ami prayed that Rei could defend herself for a little while unaided, and scrambled to the prone figure of Makoto.
She shook the other girl, but soon realized that Makoto was still trapped in the dark room of her mind.
Not knowing what else to do, she called suddenly, "Rei, come here!"
"A little busy!" Rei called back frantically. There was an explosion, a shriek and a chuckle. But to Ami's relief, Rei appeared, paler and panting heavily, sweat rolling down her face.
"What is it?" she whispered.
"Oh, Sailor Mars!" Ganymede sang, "Where are you?"
"I can't wake Makoto up, she doesn't know that it's a mind trap."
"Right," Rei grunted, she replaced Ami at Makoto's side and leaned down until her face hovered just above Makoto's.
"I think I can wake her," she hissed, "but you'll have to protect us while I do. Can you attack him, Ami?"
Ami shivered. They both knew very well that offensive skills were not her forte. But she straightened and nodded.
"Be careful," Rei whispered. Ami rolled to one side and was lost in the fog.
"Over here, you cretin!" Rei heard Ami yell, and winced as another blast of energy exploded to her right.
"Makoto," she whispered, willing her spirit to connect with the other girl's, "It's Rei, you have to wake up. It's not real, Makoto, it isn't real. Just open your eyes."
Makoto frowned but didn't wake up.
Rei heard Ami scream as another bolt of energy exploded.
"Makoto, please!"
She heard a rush of water and a small, muffled shriek from Ganymede. (Good for Ami) she thought.
"Makoto, wake up!" she commanded. Makoto almost seemed to stir.
"Got you, Mercury," Ganymede laughed, and this time she didn't hear anything after the explosion.
"Ami?" she called softly.
"Is that you, Sailor Mars? Sailor Mercury and I are through playing, so now it's your turn."
"Makoto, wake up, damn it!" Rei screamed as a bolt of energy shot over her head and exploded into the wall behind her. She was summarily shoved to the side and only had time to feel the hairs on her arms rise as a white hot bolt of electricity pierced the mist filled room and lit up the figure of Ganymede some five feet away. Rei stared horrified as the man wailed in anguish, his body glowing like a light house.
Finally the light went out, she heard a thud, and the mist began to clear.
"Where the hell are we?" Makoto grumbled, shaking her hands as though they stung.
"Remind me never to make you mad," Rei noted.
"Right," Makoto jumped to her feet and offered Rei a hand.
"Ami?" she asked. Suddenly the two of them sprinted to the other side of the room where Ami lay on the floor.
"Ami? Is she breathing?" Mako asked.
"Yes, but not very well. Can you lift her? We have to get out of here."
Makoto gingerly picked the smaller girl up and put her on her back. Ami's head rolled forward, and she didn't stir.
"We were following her computer to find you, but I have no idea how we'll find Mina now."
"I guess we'll just have to try every door in this god forsaken place."
They walked out the door of the room and into the gloom of the hall once more.
Kazuya materialized too close to a wall, and as a result he hit his nose when he took a step forward.
"Damn it!" he cried, "This is by far the worst day ever."
"A little less noise, please," Toshiro reminded him.
"Let's just find the bastards, kill them, grab the girls and get out of here." He hissed.
"That is the general plan," Toshiro agreed. Then he frowned.
"Sazume," he ordered, "get a reading on this place, what kind of life forms are close by?"
Sazume opened his computer, hit a few buttons then said:
"This is a launch pad, of sorts, for the people who live here. There are nine beings," he said, and looked up with a smile, the others broke into involuntary smiles as well.
"Nine's a big number, that's good. That means we have five we'll have to deal with."
"But," he said after a moment, "there is a down side."
All three looked at him inquiringly.
"We're trapped."
Mamoru was frantically attacking, with Usagi's scream still ringing in his ears.
"Sailor Moon, duck!" he yelled as the massive monster that Ganymede had left behind, a giant beast with no neck, a domed shaped head, small red eyes and two large horns growing out of it's skull flailed its gigantic, hairy arm at Usagi.
She was petrified looking at it, and so he had to nearly tear the tendons in his back trying to push her out of the way in time.
"Listen, Usa," he whispered huskily, "We have to defeat this thing fast or it's going to tear down the whole building."
She nodded and grabbed her sceptre.
"I'll distract it, you dust it, OK?" he asked.
"OK, let's go."
Mamoru burst out of the pew they'd hidden behind while Usagi crawled underneath them to get closer to the monster.
"Hey you!" he cried, jumping as the monster whirled itself around, knocking pews flying.
"That's right, I'm talking to you. No one should wreck an innocent girl's dreams, especially at her wedding – ah – rehearsal dinner," he faltered, grasping for something to say, "A wedding is every girl's dream and you don't have the right to ruin that special -" he ducked out of the way of the monster's swing, "day! Uh, Sailor Moon?!" He yelled as his attacks bounced off the monster's thick hide. It reached an arm across the room, hemming him into the corner.
"I got him!" She yelled the phrase and effectively bathed the monster in a wash of light from her scepter. When the light cleared, there was nothing left.
"Whew," Mamoru commented, "that was a close one." He walked over to Usagi who was staring at where the monster had stood a few moments ago.
"Are you alright?" he asked, trying to get a good look at her.
"Yes," she said in a small voice, and then she was in his arms crying.
"Don't worry," he said soothingly, "we'll find them."
"What will we do if they don't come back?" she sobbed, "What if they need us to help them? What if more monsters come back?"
"It's just you and me for now," he said with more conviction than he really felt.
"We're more than a match as long as we're together, don't worry."
Usagi sniffled but nodded.
"Let's go get some ice cream and then we'll try to figure it out, hm?" he suggested. He smiled to see her eyes brighten. Together they walked out of the ruined sanctuary hand in hand and headed to the nearest ice cream parlor.
"What do you mean we're trapped?" Kazuya asked angrily.
"We can't go back the way we came in," Sazume explained patiently, "this place does something to people, it traps them and holds them. I think it's the nature of whoever built it."
"Well, let's focus on finding the girls," Junshi commented, his fists clenching and unclenching, his face was very pale.
(If anything has happened to her), he thought, but didn't know how to continue that thought.
"Right, I think we should start by going in there," Sazume suggested, pointing at the large, rock building, almost like a temple, that lay a few yards away.
"I can't put a signal on the girls, but that's where all the life forms in this place are concentrated."
"Let's go, everyone be on your guard."
Toshiro led the way into the lonely temple, Sazume by his side, staring intently at the computer in his hand, while Junshi and Kazu followed close behind.
Somewhere in the castle walls, in a room with no doors, the woman with red hair, Eos, smiled to herself as she watched the four men in her mirror.
"We haven't tried that one yet," Makoto nodded toward the door to her left, her hands being occupied in keeping Ami on her back. The Senshi of Ice hadn't woken up yet, and Rei and Makoto were beginning to worry. They'd been searching for nearly half an hour, and they knew someone would find them soon if they didn't find Minako first.
"Wait," Rei paused by a door, listening carefully. She heard a soft moan.
"I think she's in there."
Makoto gently placed Ami against the wall, propping her up against the stone. Then she and Rei readied their strongest attacks. Rei counted to three then as one they burst through the door and released their attack simultaneously on the only person standing.
The man, young, white haired and handsome like the others, was caught completely by surprise. He turned from where he'd been staring at Minako, lying on a bed against the wall, to see the Senshi's double attack some flying at him and was effectively blasted into through the wall.
"Is he dead?" Makoto asked, panting from the exertion.
"I don't know," Rei answered, limping to Mina's side. She noticed, puzzled, that Mina had some sort of strange burns around her arms and neck, almost as though she'd been stung by an enormous jelly fish.
Thankfully Rei didn't have to attempt waking her up, she was already stirring. As she opened her blue eyes Rei saw something was wrong.
"I..I'm...on fire!" she wheezed, clutching at Rei's shoulder.
"No, it's alright, Mako!" Rei shouted, "I think she's got some kind of poison on her skin."
"That jerk!" Makoto growled, "Look at this," she pointed with the toe of her boot to a long, glowing whip that looked like a tentacle.
"We need some water or something to wash it off of her," Rei exclaimed, trying to get Mina to calm down.
"Don't look at me, that's Mercury's department."
"Well think of something," she snapped, "find some water."
Mako left the room but had no idea where to get water in the long dark hall. There was nothing that suggested the people who lived there even needed water. She huffed in frustration and knelt beside Ami, who was still unconscious.
She patted Ami's cheek.
"Wake up, come on, please, Ami," she said softly, then shook the girl.
Ami frowned and opened her eyes hazily.
She tried to talk but only a breath came out.
"Shh," Mako whispered, "Ami, don't waste your energy, we need you to help Mina, can you make some water when I ask you to?"
Ami shook her head as if to say she couldn't even lift her hands.
"Come on, Ami, you faced down that guy back there and we beat him because of you. You can do this."
Ami's face was growing paler, but she closed her eyes and nodded.
"That's a good girl," Mako lifted her and helped her into the room, as she listened to Mina screaming about being on fire.
Helping Ami kneel next to the bed where Rei was pinning the thrashing Mina down, Mako held Ami's hand out toward Mina and supported Ami in her position.
"Just a little water, Ami, alright."
Ami bit her lip, closed her eyes and her lips moved, though no sound came out.
A small stream of water trickled onto Mina and Rei, washing some of the poison away.
"That's great, Ami," Makoto encouraged her, "that's great, try it again."
Ami, her face as white as her fuku, moved her lips again.
This time a small deluge rained down on Rei and Mina, drenching them both. Ami immediately slumped over in a dead faint.
Mina stopped howling, the pain had subsided enough for her to be able to think rationally.
"Where are we?" she shivered, the cold water making her and Rei shake.
"We're not sure. We think we've been captured by a new enemy, a woman named Eos who's trying to do something to Usagi. We have to get out of here before our 'guards' catch up with us."
"You don't think they're dead?" Mako asked skeptically.
"No," Rei replied grimly, "I know they're not. I still sense them."
"Can you walk?" she asked Mina. Mina nodded and stood.
"Poor Ami," she murmured. Makoto grunted as they helped put Ami on her back once more.
"She's certainly done her share of the work today."
"How do we get out of here?"
"We can't teleport until Ami's gained her strength back," Rei commented wryly, "so until then -"
"I think we'll have to keep on the run, someone's coming."
They hurried out the hole they'd made in the wall and ran as fast as they could deeper into the heart of the temple, looking for somewhere to hide.
Eos turned reluctantly from her mirror to face four men standing in front of her.
"So you let the Senshi escape?" she asked quietly.
"My lady," began the red-headed man, "we underestimated them, but I don't think it will happen again."
"No, it will not," she answered, "I will see to their destruction personally."
"My lady," the white haired man interrupted, looking at Eos with worshipful eyes, "you mustn't. They might harm you -"
"Stop blathering, Clitus," she interjected sharply, "I've had enough. I'm sending you to greet our new guests, who, if they are ever allied with the Senshi, will over power us, I promise you. So do not fail me again. Understood?"
"My lady," Orion asked, "Are we to attack them head on or pick them off?"
"Do whatever you like, but I would suggest you do it together, they will not be easy prey. Keep them away from the Senshi until I can deal with them. Kill them if you want."
"My lady," Ganymede smiled, bowing.
They all exited except for the white haired man with the pale yellow eyes.
"My queen," he began.
"What is it now, Clitus. I saw you playing with the golden haired Senshi in your rooms. Do you want me to spare her as a present to you?"
A look of disgust crossed Clitus' vapidly beautiful face.
"Nothing can compare with your own beauty, my lady." he answered, "Please, do not attempt this battle by yourself. Allow me to prove my love for you by -"
"Clitus, you annoy me. Do as I have told you." She turned back to her mirror.
Clitus hung his head, his fists clenched.
"I will show you my true devotion to you, my lady," he vowed, "You will love me."
Eos said nothing, not even paying attention to him. She was too busy watching the Senshi in her mirror.
Clitus walked through the wall.
Mamoru and Usagi were having the argument of a life time.
No sooner had they arrived at the ice cream shop then another monster, something that looked like a cross between a Venus fly trap and a mastiff, had attacked them – scattering by standers and forcing them to transform again.
"I told you not to hit it there!" Usagi yelled in fury as the rose Mamoru had thrown rebounded off the monster's thick skin and scraped her leg.
"I'm doing my best, Sailor Moon," he retorted in frustration, trying to control his temper.
"Figure something out!" she shrieked, "Hurry!"
"It's not that easy!" He yelled, "Look out!" The flower-thing spat a steaming stream of yellow liquid at Usagi, who dodged just in time. The sidewalk where she'd been standing melted.
"It's got that kid!" Mamoru shouted, "Don't use your tiara, you might hit the kid!"
"What!" she ducked another spray, "Are you saying I'm a bad shot?"
"No! Just, think of something else."
"It's not that easy!" she retorted, rolling to the side.
Suddenly, she yelled, "Throw a rose at it!"
"That doesn't work, remember-"
"Just do it!" Usagi commanded imperiously.
"Fine," Mamoru sighed and complied, thinking that this was, without a doubt, the worst day of his life.
He threw the cane, predictably it hit the thing in the side and bounced off toward him, but as the monster was reacting to the blow, Usagi hit it with the light of her scepter and dusted it, leaving only the little boy in hysterics.
"Good job, Usa." Mamoru said.
Usagi glared at him.
"Don't sound so surprised." She muttered.
"I'm sorry, Usa," he said after a moment, "I shouldn't have yelled at you."
"Me too," she admitted, and snuffled slightly, "It hasn't been a very good day."
"I think," Mamoru said, "that we're just going to have to wait and trust that they'll all come back. In the mean time we have to do our best here."
Usagi nodded. "I know." She replied quietly.
He bent down and offered his hand.
"It's kind of exciting though, isn't it? Just you and me against the world?" He smiled.
Usagi rolled her eyes, but smiled back. "You're insane."
"But you're right." she added.
"So," Makoto sighed, leaning back against the stone wall of the tiny room they'd found to hide in.
"Do you think we'll ever get out of here?"
Rei didn't say anything, she was too busy settling Ami's head in her lap. Ami had lost her transformation some time since, but the rest continued to remain Senshi. As she sat, she gently smoothed Ami's hair and watched her face for any signs of pain or of the color that had yet to return to her chalky face.
"We have to get out," Mina stated, rubbing her arms. "We have to get back to Usagi. You know for a fact she isn't here?"
"I would have felt something," Rei replied quietly, "she's not here."
"We need to figure out who's behind this," Mako spoke up, "find out and then dust 'em."
"Eos, the princess of dawn," Mina murmured, "I have no idea who she is. I don't think she's related to Metallia, or Beyrl, the Black Moon family never mentioned her."
"We need Ami," Mako broke in, "Not just to teleport, but to tell us who this person is."
"I don't think we should leave," Rei said suddenly.
"What do you mean?" Mina asked, startled.
Rei spoke slowly, "I think if we go back, we'll just have to hunt Eos down while we're protecting Usagi. Maybe, since she's already here, we should take care of the threat now."
Mina and Mako were silent, and in the silence Ami stirred.
Her eyes fluttered open, she was still very pale, but she whispered, "Rei?"
"I'm here, Ami, we're all here." The other girls scooted closer to Rei and Ami.
"Hey there, Ames," Mina smiled, "You feeling alright?"
"Not really," Ami answered truthfully, but she was smiling weakly.
"What happened?" she asked.
"You saved Jupiter and me from Eos' servant, Ganymede, and you helped Mina get rid of the poison from that jerk's whip."
"Really?" Ami asked, her eyes wide.
They chuckled at her expression.
"Hey, I hate to do this to you Ames, but we're crunched for time, do you think you can figure out how we can get out of here?"
"Oh," Ami frowned, "I meant to tell you..." she sighed unhappily, "we can't get out of here."
"What do you mean, we can't get out?" Jupiter asked angrily.
"Well," Ami took in a deep breath, "there's a power here that allows things in but once they're in," she took another breath, "then they can't get out."
They were silent for a moment.
"Unless," Ami said suddenly, trying to sit up, "unless we can find the source of that power and destroy it. Then we could get out."
"That's brilliant, Ami!" Mina smiled, "Can you find the source?"
"I think I know what it might be," she admitted, "It's probably coming from the person who built this place."
"But, how could they still be alive?" Mako countered, "This looks like it's been around for eons."
"Exactly," Ami said, and shivered, "that's why I think this isn't a palace or a even a base. I think it's a prison."
"A...prison?"
They stared at one another in horror.
"You think someone built a prison and is still living in it?"
"I don't know," Ami sighed, and laid back in Rei's lap, her lips were pale around the edges.
"Rest for a little while." Rei urged her, sweeping the hair out of her face. Ami sighed.
"Well, this changes things," Mina said softly.
"We have no choice but to stay," she decided, "we'll find whoever is behind all this and we'll put a stop to it."
"Sounds great," Mako agreed, "And then we'll go home. I don't know about you, but I could really use a bubble bath and a plate of chocolate chip cookies."
Mina smiled, but her eyes looked troubled.
"I think..." she began, faltering, "I think we may need to consider the possibility that we might not get home."
"Oh," Mako slumped down.
"That's true," Rei agreed softly as she continued to smooth Ami's hair, "I don't see much hope for us without Usagi. We managed to evade Eos' servants but we didn't kill them, even with our most powerful attacks. Unless unbelievable luck is on our side, we're going to have to defeat all of them and something more powerful without Usagi. We've never done that before."
"We did once." Mina said.
"We defeated Beryl's generals by ourselves," she commented wryly.
"And we all died," Mako concluded.
"So what you're saying is that it's possible for us to win," Rei summed up, "but it isn't likely we'll survive."
"Exactly," Mina confirmed.
They were all silent for quite a while, lost in their own thoughts. No one thought of sleeping, there was only Ami's even breathing to distract them from the knowledge that they probably wouldn't make it out.
"Junshi..." Rei's tranquil voice broke the silence, both Mina and Mako glanced up, "Junshi...proposed to me."
"Rei, that's wonderful!" Mina cheered. To her surprise Rei began to cry.
"Oh, Rei," she said, putting her arm around the girl, "It's alright. What's the matter?"
"Mina," Mako rolled her eyes as she patted Rei's shoulder, "You just said you didn't think we we're going to make it out of here alive, what do you think is the matter?"
"Oh," Mina said.
"That's not it," Rei sniffed, "I didn't let him ask me, I told him no without even letting him ask me."
This was the closest to losing her self control that they had ever witnessed in Rei. She actually hiccuped.
"Why didn't I tell him...?" she cried.
"It's ok," Makoto soothed, "You were scared."
"I know," she growled at herself, "But it seems so stupid now. What was I afraid of?"
"It's a scary thing," Mina argued, "it's natural to feel nervous about something like that. I just wish," she sighed, "that I knew Toshi loved me like that."
"What do you mean?" Mako asked skeptically, "he adores you. In his eyes you can do no wrong. And he's the kind of guy to settle down – you should count your lucky stars."
"No," Mina shook her head, and a tear trickled down her cheek, "I'm too..too...blonde!" she wailed.
"What is this? Are we all PMSing or something?" Mako asked in exasperation.
"Rei, you are beating yourself up about nothing as usual," Mako declared, "Mina, you aren't making any sense...as usual."
"But you don't understand," Mina sobbed, "Toshi told me we should see other people, he practically broke up with me."
"Why would he do that?" Mako asked doubtfully.
"Because I'm too young for him...he deserves someone mature, like...like Setsuna-san," she continued to cry.
"That's stupid, Mina," Mako argued, "if he said anything like that he's probably just doing what he always does – he's making trouble for himself trying to protect you."
"You really think so?" Mina sniffed.
"Yeah," Mako replied tersely.
"No more crying, ok?" she continued, "If this is my last night or day or whatever it is, then it damn well better be happy!"
Mina burst into laughter at this, and even Rei chuckled.
"Don't worry Rei -chan," a soft voice spoke, and they looked down at Ami, who'd woken during their laughter.
"I think we all need to sleep," Mako announced, "I'll do first watch, since I'm the least wounded this time around."
They settled down and tried to sleep, but though their feelings were slightly relieved and they felt the comfort of each other's presence, their thoughts were dark as they waited for dawn.