SMST: Journey into Mystery - By DSWynne

Disclaimer: None of the principle characters and situations belong to me.

Note: This is a multi-genre story.

Part 4

As the "new" bride enters the private room in the back of "Cafe Americana", Usagi wondered what Lady Arwen was up to. After all, the ancient mother of Ranma's previous incarnation, Prince Eldarion of the Kingdom of Gondor, was a very straight-forward individual.

'I hope I didn't do anything to offend my mother-in-law,' Usagi thought to herself. 'Heh. It's still hard to believe one of my dearest friends is connected to Ranma...'

When Usagi enters the room, she sees Arwen standing there.

"Arwen, you wanted to see me...?" Usagi asks.

"Yes," Arwen says. "May I have my sword?"

"Huh," Usagi says, as she produced "Hadhafang" out of thin air. In spite of being an ancient blade, Usagi has taken care of it in Arwen's stead.

"It looks like you will be returning to your mistress, old friend," Usagi says, as she twirls it around. She then flips the sword so that both the blade and the hilt were in her palms face up.

"I thank you for the opportunity to be Hadhafang's caretaker," Usagi says, as she bows slightly.

Arwen nods her head in reply, and takes up the sword.

"Ah, it does feel good to have it in my hands again..."

With a single twirl, Arwen hands back the sword to Usagi.

"The sword of my father, Lord Elrond, now belongs to you, Lady Usagi."

Usagi looks up.

"I do not understand..."

"You have proven yourself a worthy caretaker of the blade," Arwen says. "When I gave you this sword nearly 1000 of YOUR years ago, I did so to see if you were worthy. The fact that you have diligently take care of the blade has proven this to be the case. But more importantly, now that you have renewed your vows of marriage to my son Ranma, I can now officially pass on the my family's blade."

"Ohhhhh, I see."

"That is correct. Your home nation as a tradition of such things, so this is nothing out of the ordinary. So, my friend and daughter-in-law...accept this blade with the honor that you richly have earned."

Usagi takes the blade. No longer was she caretaker of Hadafang; no, she was now its companion.

"I shall continue to honor this blade as an extension of my body."

Arwen raises an eyebrow and grins a little bit.

"So...you're going to use it in an inappropriate way, are you?"

"Huh?"

"You did say that you'll use it as an extension of your body, correct?"

Usagi wasn't sure what Arwen was talking about, until it dawned on Usagi.

"Ha, ha...VERY funny, 'mother-in-law'," Usagi protested, but in a good natured setting. "Just because I am a passionate person, that does not mean I'm into weird things."

"..."

"Okay, that one time where I ended up getting Galadriel pregnant with Titiana was weird...even for me, but that encounter did enable my daughter to be the present ruler of Arcadia."

"True, true..."

"So, how is Titania and your little brother doing these days anyway? I was hoping that they would be here for the celebration..."

"She and Oberon are well, though the 'Autumn People' tend to cause problems still, but they were glad that you stopped the 'Unseelie Court' from completely destroying the Fae..."

Usagi sighs sadly, knowing that the head of the Unseelie Court (also known as the Sheeda), Empress Glorianna, the very person who destroyed Camelot more than once, was really the future version of her daughter Genko. As Glorianna, she would travel from the year 5 Billion CE with her Sheeda warriors to "harvest" Earth's past great civilizations; Camelot was one, Atlantis was another. This would inspire many of the legends of the Fae's darker natures. Glorianna would mostly use her acolyte "Queen Mab" to do her dirty business, who would use Morgana Le Fey to do HER business. And although Usagi fought all three women with her friends, she would never guess the truth of the matter until much later. It would be quite recent that Usagi would learn of Genko's dark future, when Glorianna, in the process of harvesting Earth's present civilization, was killed by the descendent of Aurakles (the world's first "superhero"). This descendent, the silver-skinned vixen known as "Bulleteer" (member of the unconventional group of heroes known as "The Seven Soldiers"), fulfilled her destiny by being "the spear that was not thrown". On one hand, it was in reference to the fact that it was through Aurakles' "loins" that he would kill Glorianna; on another, Bulleteer, ever the reluctant hero, had accidentally killed Glorianna while in the process of saving the life of another. Usagi blamed herself for not realizing the truth sooner about Genko's future. She was not sure if there was anything that could be done to prevent that future from happening, but she was certainly going to try.

"Yeah, we did," Usagi replied.

"Is there something the matter?" Arwen asked with concern.

Usagi looked at Arwen.

"It's nothing. But, nevertheless, I will make sure that I use this sword with pride...and with honor."

Arwen places a hand on Usagi's left shoulder.

"I know," Arwen smiles.

END FLASHBACK!

The vampire referred to as "Victor" merely smirks at this display.

"Your reputation as a 'Dracul' is well founded, Princess," Victor says in Russian, as he brushes his hand across the sheriff's desk. "Which begs the question: why are you HERE?"

Usagi steps forward, as she kicks the headless body to the side.

"Business, actually," Usagi replied likewise. "I didn't expect to see any of our 'kind' here."

"Vacation," Victor says. "After a while, one must shed the shackles of civilization."

"Not here, you won't," Usagi replied. "The hunt ends."

Victor smiles.

"Then I invoke 'Lilith's Mercy'."

Usagi, noticeably angry, growls.

"You would hide behind THAT?"

"Of course I would. Unlike you, I embrace my nature. And as a 'Dracul', you have no choice but to give me and my party sanctuary."

Usagi cursed herself for not remembering the rules of being a vampire. "Lilith's Mercy" (named after the lore that has said that Lilith the Dark Mother had given shelter to Caine, the Father of the Vampires) was a rule designed to force older vampires to protect younger ones, based upon the potency of one's blood. When Usagi became a vampire, she was forced to consume the blood of an elder vampire: Count Dracula's. However, Victor's bloodline was weaker than hers. And since both the Dracul and the Tzcimice honored Lilith's Mercy...

"Very well...I will honor your request. As long as you are here, I will not harm you and your sept."

Usagi turns to leave.

"But know this: the town is prepared, my husband is HERE, and I would not enter that jail cell if I were you."

And with that, Usagi fades into the darkness.

Victor looks at his ghoul, the Stranger. He then direct one of his children to enter the cell...

SKEEEE-!

POP!

A flash later, heated shrapnel spews all over the office space, killing the Stranger instantly. However, although the vampires were not killed by the shrapnel grenade, it did hurt.

"ARRRGH!" Victor yells, as phosphorus borrowed into his skin. "Damn it!"

"Victor, she has broken her word!" says a female vampire.

"No, she has not," Victor replied. "She had warned us not to enter, when she could have not said so..."

"So, what do we do now?"

Victor looks outside. He could smell the fear from the humans.

"We hunt, of course."

Tbc.