Disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon or any of the characters within it. Those belong to Naoko Takeuchi. I do not make any money off of this whatsoever. I do however own any original characters within these stories.
Author's note: Hello everyone. Well, I said this would be the next thing I'd do after Tale of Karkinos chapter two, and here it is. Although I hate that it took me this long to get it together. I was delayed by class and by a series of absolutely terrible technical problems that resulted in a new computer and several resets. Don't worry, I didn't lose a thing. It was just a massive, stressful pain.
Again, I am so sorry it took so long. I hope you all enjoy it.
Chapter 4: Revelations
Please Luna, you have to come and get me, Artemis pleaded.
The two ex-advisors were engaged in another telepathic conversation. It had been a week since their first talk. Luna gave the psychic equivalent of a sigh. You keep saying that Artemis, but you don't actually tell me the precise circumstances of your problem. If you do I might be able to help you get out of there and come to me.
I… Artemis paused. Why can't you come to me instead? The response was weak. He was avoiding her question, though Luna had no idea why.
I told you before Artemis, the distance between our locations is significant. It would require the use of the Earthling's mass transit and a long distance walk, the latter of which I would have to start with. Since you are in the hub of mass transit, you are in a better position to make the journey than me. You can access guaranteed transport in my direction. And it would probably be easier for you to slip on board in a high population zone without trouble than it would be for me.
It was a perfectly logical argument; one Luna had worked out in the interval of their conversation. And besides, Luna had gotten used to the quiet of this place, and did not wish to move to such a loud and highly populated city. You tell me you're stuck. I could help you solve your problem, and I want to. But I cannot do that without information Artemis. You need to tell me what your situation is.
I'm trapped with a family of Earthlings!
Luna felt a slight ache in her skull. Why was he being so resistant? More specific than that Artemis.
I… Artemis paused, and an awkward mental silence fell between them. Alright, I'm… oh no, she's back again! I'll contact you later when I can.
Before Artemis broke off the whole connection, Luna picked up one last stray thought.
Oh no, not the tutu again!
Luna blinked. "Tutu?" What in the name of the Moon was Artemis in the middle of? Luna shook her head. She'd have to wait until another time. Perking up her ears, she listened for Ayako. She'd been busy sorting out deliveries and other chores.
Luna wandered out of the room, looking for Ayako. It wasn't long before she spotted her, just as she was answering the door.
"Hello, how can I—" said Ayako pleasantly before cutting herself off. A man was standing in the doorway. He was short, but heavyset, though most of it appeared to be muscle, with thick arms and a wide face, and short black hair and brown eyes. He was smirking at Ayako.
"Hey there babe. Did you miss me?"
And then Luna saw an odd change in Ayako. Her whole body stiffened, and her tone as she spoke her next words was harsher than Luna had ever heard before.
"What do you think you're doing here Kenta?"
The man shrugged. "I came back into town and thought I'd see how you were doing. I thought maybe I'd see if you wanted to have dinner together."
Ayako narrowed her eyes at him. "If you think I'm going to get back together with you then you're sadly mistaken. I told you I didn't want to see you again. Now get away from my house."
"Oh come on Ayako, it's been months. Don't tell me you're still upset." He leaned on the doorframe. "We used to have something didn't we? I loved you. I never stopped. And you said you loved me too."
"I thought I loved you, and I thought you loved me. But you didn't Kenta, not really. You just cared about yourself."
Kenta groaned. "You're really still on that, are you? Geez, when are you going to get over it? You always seemed to care more about that stupid thing more than me!"
Ayako free hand balled into a white-knuckled fist. "You know what Kenta? You're right. But that's because you never really cared about me. You never understood or thought of my feelings at all, did you?"
The young man's eyes just narrowed. "Of course I did babe. And I'll show you. Now come with me."
"No," replied Ayako firmly.
Kenta growled. "Okay, that's it. You're coming with me right now." He reached out and grabbed her hand tightly before pulling her towards him.
Luna took a step forward, but Ayako was faster. When she couldn't dig her feet in hard enough, she struck Kenta's hand with the broom handle. The young man gave a yelp, arm recoiling sharply.
"Geez Ayako. Knock it off!" he cried.
She knocked him away from the doorframe with her broom. "You should knock it off Kenta! Now you better listen to me this time. Go away, and don't come back. There's nothing here anymore. If you try this again, or if you even touch me again, I'll call the cops. Do you understand me? Now leave!"
Ayako shut the door in his face, ignoring any of his protests. Outside the young man could be heard screaming. "Ayako! Ayako open this stupid door!" The protests continued for a few minutes before being replaced by the sound of stomping feet.
Setting her broom down, Ayako turned around, away from the door. Seeing Luna entering the room, her angry expression softened.
"I hope you didn't see all of that." She walked over to Luna and scratched behind her ear. "Don't worry about him. He's old news. Now let's do something fun. I could use a little relaxation."
Ayako walked off toward her room, and Luna followed close behind.
"Eight, nine, ten…"
Ayako's room was filled with traces of steam. They had spent part of the evening watching a very entertaining show on TV before Ayako took to her room for a nice hot shower. Still wearing her bathrobe, she'd sat down at her vanity to brush out her hair. After the bibliophile had finished, she invited Luna to sit on her lap for her own round of brushing.
So here Luna was, sitting there as Ayako stroked her fur. And it felt absolutely divine. She found herself letting out several, perhaps undignified, mews of pleasure at the feel of the bristles going through her coat. When was the last time she let someone brush her fur? She certainly never let the servants at the palace do such a thing for her. The last time had to have been with her mother when Luna was still a kitten on Mau.
Luna found herself reflexively pulling closer to Ayako. The girl gave a chuckle as she dragged the brush from Luna's head to the tip of her tail. "I guess you really like being brushed huh? That's good. I've known several cats around here that absolutely hate it."
Quite the contrary, I could sit here like this all day.
But to Luna's eminent disappointment, Ayako eventually stopped brushing. "There, done." Setting down the brush on the vanity, she held Luna up by the arm pits. "You are one very pretty kitty Luna." Ayako then kissed Luna's forehead, an act that made Luna turn tomato red. "Mrs. Hamato may be right about you being fit for show. Well, if I knew what your breed was."
Keeping Luna in her arms, Ayako gave a sigh. "Listen Luna, about that man at the door earlier. That was my ex-boyfriend. He and I didn't break up on good terms. If you see him around, I want you to stay away from him, you understand? His temper seems to have only gotten worse."
Luna could already tell from Ayako's reaction earlier that the pair were most certainly on bad terms. She didn't need to be told twice to stay away from him, especially if he might be prone to more aggressive behavior. The faint worried edge in Ayako's voice only served to solidify Luna's belief that that was the case.
Ayako set herself down on her mattress, but not before putting Luna in her own makeshift bed. "Goodnight Luna."
As Luna drifted off, she made a mental note to look around tomorrow and see if Kenta was in the vicinity of the house. Even if she didn't seek him out, it was best to make sure that the man wouldn't try anything stupid or dangerous.
Those were her last thoughts before the world of dreams claimed her.
Ow!
Far away in Tokyo, Artemis too found himself being brushed by his new human acquaintance…
Ouch!
…With much different results.
The Mauian tomcat gritted his teeth as the brush went through his fur again. Emi was pressing so hard he could feel the bristles scraping his skin. If she kept this up his fur would turn pink from abrasions. Then again, she might like that. He suppressed another moan of pain.
"Isn't brushing fun Miruku?" declared the girl. She sat cross-legged on her bed with him in her lap, one arm wrapped around his torso to keep him from escaping. "I always love it when Mommy brushes my hair. She says it's a good way to relax. And you need to relax. You seem so antsy."
Gee, I wonder why…. Artemis grit his teeth as he felt those bristles scrape his skin again, holding back a foul Mauian expletive.
"I wish your fur was longer though. Ooh, maybe that groomer lady near here has something that will make it grow. Then I'd be able to put bows in!"
I'd jump out the window before I'd let you do that. I don't care if I'd break my legs doing it. Save me some dignity, will you?
"Or maybe she can give you tiger stripes. Ooh that would be so pretty!" Emi ran the brush through again, her imagination not slowing her down a bit. "I wish I was a tiger. But my sign is a rat. Or is it a pig? Well I don't want to be an icky rat or a fat piggy. I want to be a tiger!" Emi bounced a little on her bed, giving Artemis an uncomfortable jolt when her knee hit his stomach.
But before Emi could do anymore, there was a knock at the door. It opened to reveal Emi's mother, adorned in what was clearly an evening gown, and several pieces of glittering jewelry.
"Emi dear, your father and I are going out to our party now. You should be heading to bed."
"But Mommy, I was brushing Miruku!" protested the eight year old.
"It's late Emi. You can play with him more in the morning. You need to get to bed. Did you brush your teeth?"
"No Mommy."
"Then do it now and get to bed sweetheart. Margaret will be here if you need anything, okay?"
"Alright Mommy."
Emi left the room, shutting the door behind her, and leaving Artemis on the bed. But Artemis chose not to take the opportunity in front of him. He was still too sore from her attempts at brushing him and everything else she'd put him through today. Instead, he savored the softness of the bed and the peace and quiet he'd been given.
There will be more opportunities anyway, he reasoned. He rolled over and let the soft bedding soothe his back. He wished Emi would go out more like her parents did. If she did, he'd have more rest from her constant hyperactive torture, and a better chance of getting out of here.
Really, what was wrong with her? Why did she feel the need to stick around him so much?
It didn't take the subject of his thoughts long to come back, much to his disappointment. She climbed back onto the bed and drew her blankets back.
"Mommy and Daddy go to so many fancy parties," said Emi as she pulled her blankets up towards herself. She paused for a moment, before whispering, "I wish I got invited to parties. But nobody ever invites me."
Her head hit the mass of pillows and she pulled Artemis to her, as she usually did. And as usual, she fell unconscious in record time. But Artemis found sleep harder to come by.
The tone of Emi's voice, in those last few words, struck a chord in him. It sounded….well quite frankly it sounded out of place coming from the mouth of the normally excitable child.
Curiosity got the better of him. So he closed his eyes and focused, reaching out into Emi's sleeping mind for answers. He reached into the parts of the brain he knew controlled long-term memory. It was a simple enough process, just connect to the memory centers, pose mental questions, and receive answers. In a way, it was just like searching for files on a computer.
He felt Emi's grip on him tighten. Clearly he was disturbing the dream process. Luna wouldn't have that sort of problem, he mused. It was true of course. In their time as advisors, there had been a number of less than….honest sorts that had sought Her Majesty's audience, some of which stayed at the palace for a time.
One particular case came to mind, of a bold (or stupid, depending on how you looked at it) countess who had wanted to purchase a patch of crown-owned land near her disused summer home. Something in her demeanor seemed decidedly wrong. What the two advisors discovered was that she intended to mine it for rare alloys and sell them on the black market. And on top of that, she was in full knowledge of the fact that the mining would have caused the ground to collapse under a nearby village.
Luna always did the searching. She had a deft telepathic touch, while his own efforts were horribly ungraceful by comparison. Nevertheless, he found what he was looking for. At his question of friends, Emi's mind came up with….nothing.
He found the faces of school acquaintances, but no one that seemed truly friendly. Along with images came the emotional impressions. Rejection, irritation, hostility, mockery…
Emi groaned in her sleep. Artemis could hear her heart accelerate. When he picked up footsteps in the hallways outside the room, Artemis knew he had to break the connection.
The door creaked open to reveal Margaret. She was no doubt checking on the sleeping girl. As Margaret drew closer to the bed, Artemis pretended to be asleep. He felt something cold hit his ear as Margaret came around to his side.
"Emi, are you alright?" Margaret sounded worried, and Artemis opened one eye to see Margaret taking hold of the girl, and that Emi was crying.
"I…I had a bad dream," said the now half-awake child, giving a sniffle.
"There, there, it's alright. The dream is gone now. You're fine" whispered Margaret. It took a few minutes before Emi settled down and the housekeeper gently laid her back on the bed. All that time, Artemis lay there, barely moving.
As he settled into proper sleep, he felt an ache in his chest.
The next morning, Luna was left alone while Ayako was at work. The young woman had trusted Luna enough by now to leave her alone while she was at work.
Luna took the opportunity to check the house and make sure everything was secure. Walking up to the front door, she closed her eyes, and focused her senses, reaching out beyond the boundaries of the house. She could hear the thoughts of the people outside.
Slowly, Luna sifted through them. She recognized some of the neighbors now. She spread her search out farther, looking for Kenta.
Finally, she found a stray thought, and recognized his voice. There he was, standing across the street under a tree.
Stupid Ayako…she threw me out! I should teach her a lesson.
Luna's eyes went flat. Well, he was still an unpleasant sort. The rest of his thoughts veered into ideas for revenge ranging from petty to particularly mean spirited.
…And then they changed to plans to visit some sort of bar and a woman who, from the mental images that accompanied the thought, was quite poorly attired. The thoughts that followed were rather crass, and Luna shut them out immediately. How Ayako could have ever fallen for him was a mystery, and Luna thanked the great Lunar Goddess that Ayako had changed her mind.
Luna felt a vein begin to throb in her head. This man reminded her so much of the stereotypes that surrounded men on the Moon and Venus, stereotypes many other men had tried to fight against.
She remembered dear Artemis Antonius, and how polite and considerate he was. When he first introduced himself to Serenity, he spoke to her, Luna, and Artemis at length about the literacy gap between the genders, how 30% of boys across the kingdom were functionally illiterate, and the studies he brought to validate the number.
The difference between him and Kenta was practically a canyon.
Best to try and get him to go away on his own. So Luna reached into his brain and prodded his amygdala with a fear response. Nothing overpowering, but a subtle sense of unease about the house that would make him walk away and stay away, for a while at least.
Some individuals she knew on the Moon would have realized if or when Luna tried something like this. Generally if someone had a strong enough mind, or was a telepath themselves, they would be able to resist. Neptunians most certainly wouldn't fall for something like this very easily, even for someone with Luna's ESP skills.
But Kenta? Luna snorted. She hadn't been around him for very long, but from his general impression, she highly doubted he possessed the self-awareness or mental fortitude to even know he was being manipulated.
Luna's assessment turned out to be correct. Kenta's thoughts turned uncertain, and she sensed his presence moving away from the neighborhood, out of her range.
Good, that Neanderthal is gone. Now to make sure the house is secure.
She made a loop around the house. The alarm system seemed sufficient enough. It wasn't like the alarm systems back during the Silver Millennium, but it was perfectly effective for what it had to do. The door was solid as well, along with the lock.
She went through each room, bottom to top, checking every window. All of them had locks on them, and all of those were in good shape.
Everything seems secure. At least there's no particular opportunities for him to get in.
It was while Luna was on the second floor that she noticed the rope dangling from the ceiling. Hadn't Ayako mentioned something about an attic?
As unlikely as it was, the attic could still be a point of entry. So Luna hopped up on a file cabinet in the hallway and grabbed at the rope. A wooden folding ladder came down smoothly before touching the hallway floor.
Luna hopped up the stairs into the attic. Everything seemed especially dusty. Ayako must not have gone up here in quite some time.
The attic only had one window, situated across the room from the ladder. It was equally coated in dust, distorting the sunlight that came through it. Boxes of all sorts, and an old vanity desk, stood piled under and next to the window.
Luna moved across the filthy floor before hopping up on the vanity and moving to the windowsill. The lock was old, and simple in design. It didn't seem as solid as the other locks, and Luna wasn't sure if the house alarm was connected to it.
But then again, the lock wasn't flimsy looking, and it would certainly be difficult for Kenta to access this window in either the day or night time. It was at the front of the house, and he'd need a rather tall ladder. On top of that, the items pushed in front of the windowsill would make entry more difficult. Still, she should send a telepathic hint to Ayako to make sure the alarm was connected here.
Luna backed away, ready to move on from the attic, when her paw slipped on the dust and grime of the windowsill. Suddenly she found herself falling backwards right into a large cardboard box, dust kicking up in her wake.
She coughed. "Well, that wasn't one of my best landings." As she got back on her paws, she took a look at the contents that had cushioned her fall. The item she was laying on appeared, ironically enough, to be a small blue colored round bed with a cushion for a mattress. It was a thick cushion, but not too hard, and the entire bed was covered in a thin layer of dust.
She saw something that was small and tree shaped, with a platform on top and a tunnel leading up to it from the base. What it was for, she wasn't really sure. There was a plastic ball of some sort, multicolored and five inches across, that jingled when she pushed against it. It was less of a "ball" and more of a polyhedron. Some of the sides had mirrors, some had rubber pieces that looked fairly chewed, and still other sides were covered in soft material of some sort.
There were also several stuffed mice scattered throughout the box. As she stepped on some of them in order to look around, one of them squeaked. And a few others had the faint scent of something absolutely delightful. Finally, Luna spotted what appeared to be a small, cyan leather collar. She picked it up. The metal tag attached to it jangled. The characters engraved on the little silver tag read "Hana".
"What's this doing open?"
Luna turned her head. That was Ayako's voice. She must have forgotten something. Luna tried to leap out of the box, but failed on the first attempt. As she readied herself to try again, Ayako's face hovered over her.
The bibliophile looked at her in awkward silence, her eyes wide, but her actual gaze strangely far away. Luna gave a light mew to try and dissuade any reprimand. Ayako usually found that adorable. She knew it was rather pathetic. But it was better to play the part of the innocent cat. The collar was still hanging off one of her paws.
In a flash, Ayako pulled Luna free, hoisting her into the air by her armpits. "What do you think you're doing in there?!"
The sheer volume of the question made Luna wince. The young woman had never spoken to her like that before, nor had she looked at Luna so…coldly.
It came as another shock when Luna was practically thrown to the floor. Luna managed to make a proper landing to avoid true injury and turned back to stare at Ayako slack jawed.
"Don't you ever go in there again Luna. Do you understand me? Never." Ayako said icily, her entire form stiff. "That was very, very bad. And stay out of the attic. You should never be up here. Now get out."
Luna stood there, frozen, uncomprehending of this sharp change in demeanor. What in the world had gotten into her?
When she didn't move, Ayako's cool demeanor cracked, revealing pure rage, like burning lava breaking through to the surface. Ayako grabbed a nearby broom and swung it at her. "GET OUT!"
Dumbfounded, Luna barely dodged it before fleeing down the attic steps as fast as she could. As she bolted away, unsure what had come over the normally kind woman, she could hear the sounds of heavy sobbing behind her.