Harmony wasn't sure where she was when she opened her eyes. It was a small room, smaller than she'd ever seen, with one large bed in it. Her brother was still asleep next to her.

She sat up and groaned, putting her hands to her aching head and tried to remember how she got here. There was subtle movement in the corner of the room. She saw an older figure asleep in a chair with a thin blanket covering them.

"U-uncle Hirokazu?"

She covered her mouth with her hands when he stirred again but made no movement to wake. Harmony concentrated on her brother and his eyes snapped open. He sat up with a gasp.

"Shh!" She pointed to their sleeping uncle who was snoring. Nethanael's eyes wide when he saw.

"Why is he here?" There was fear to his voice. Their uncle was dangerous right now. Being so close to him was not a good thing.

There was a wordless agreement between the twins. Both stood and began to sneak out of the small room. Once outside they were able to look about. It was a small motel that looked to have been long abandoned.

"Didn't… didn't uncle Hirokazu used to tell us that he made his base at a motel in Japan?" Harmony moved away from the door when she heard the chair creak.

Nethanael nodded. He'd always thought it was daring, to hide in plain sight like that. He knew the tale well. Was this the same place? He ushered his sister into what looked to be the main building so they could gather their thoughts. They'd been in England at the circus, how had they made it to Japan?

Nethanael sat on the counter and looked over. There was an old ID card laying half-forgotten under register books. He pulled it out to read.

"Miyu."

Harmony looked over. It was the girl their cousin was named for. "She was pretty." Then she frowned.

"You shouldn't listen to what that guard said. He was nothing." Nethanael put his hands on her shoulders. "Tell father what happened. They will punish the offending guard, and you will feel relief. I know this hurts you, it spills into me."

She shoved her brother off of her and stood as tall as she could. "No! I'm gonna prove him wrong on my own! I'll be a better Sailor Guardian than mother!"

Nethanael hugged her when he felt her envy grow inside of him as well. It abated at the touch and she shrunk back down.

"We have to contact mother and father. They need to know we have found uncle Hirokazu."


Yukio put his fist through the door of the now-empty motel room. One of the newer soldiers stepped back in shock at the rage and power that the general held. Sailor Venus stopped him and pushed him back into line.

"He's gone, isn't he?"

"Little BASTARD! So close to rounding him up, and now he's gone!"

Venus sighed and shook her head. "Just like twenty years ago. He slips away. Spread out and look for him!"

The soldiers were eager to leave the general's vicinity. They scurried away the moment he gave the command. Yukio grabbed the offending door and ripped it off its hinges.

"We received that tip less than an hour ago, they said he slept!" He threw the door aside. "How could be gone by now?!"

"Bad timing, dear." Venus put her hand on his shoulder which prompted him to calm himself. "He must have woken and left. He can't have left Tokyo."

Yukio nodded at the assessment and knelt down to compose himself. It would not do to go about frightening people. "Did the children return?"

Venus nodded. "They attended some show and claim to have spent the night at a stronghold."

"Good. Hirokazu is active, I will not risk them to that monster." Yukio kicked the remains of the door as he walked on. For all they knew, he was acting under the orders of Chaos. "Have we investigated that circus act yet?"

Venus shook her head this time and followed him as he walked away from the crumbling building. "Not yet. Tickets are rather hard to retrieve. One must reserve theirs weeks in advance. They accept nothing to speed the process up. I've tried."

Yukio stopped as he processed her words, a faint smile forming for the first time since the ordeal began. Another moment later saw him laughing. "You-you tried? And they turned you away? H-have you grown old?"

Venus puffed up. "I am not old! I do NOT show my age! I'll have you know I am still considered young!"

"Y-you are ol-older than the q-q-queen!" He gasped for air at the thought. "If you are still 'young', why could you not obtain a ticket?"

She got angrier at him. "YOU AND I ARE THE SAME AGE!"

"You are twenty years my elder!"

Yukio backed away as fast as he could when his wife lashed out at him in effort to grab his long hair. His troubles forgotten, for the moment, he ran from her.

They did not get far before she grabbed him and punched him in the jaw. It did nothing to hurt him, of course, and he laughed.

The laughter was short-lived as he remembered what was going on. It died out and he turned back to the motel. If Hirokazu HAD been here, then maybe there was enough of himself left. He had come back to a place he cared for, after all.

"Have the door repaired, love. And see if we can go about having it cleaned."

"Yukio?"

"Hirokazu may still be himself, after all. Somewhere inside. I'd hate to see the one thing that may anchor him in such disrepair."


"Our plan is gonna work out! It's perfect!" one of the girls shouted. Another balanced her way across the tight-rope and smiled.

"And the Magician's gonna get placed, too, right?" She looked down to see the man in question sitting off in a darkened corner. "What kind of act can he do, anyway? HEY! Show us some magic!"

He turned his gaze to her and stared with glowing, red eyes for a long moment before pointing at her. Everyone stopped rehearsal to watch. Two long tendrils snapped up and raced towards her. They wrapped around her and lifted her up and let go.

"CERE CERE!"

There was a scream that cut across the tent, but a dark figure caught her before she could hit the ground. The shadow, shaped like a man, sat her on her feet and melted away. With that, the Magician returned his hand and went back to whatever it was he did.

Her sisters ran to her to make sure she was well, and PallaPalla looked back to him with a frown.

"You're not nice."

The Magician smiled at some long forgotten memory and settled back down. "You seem to believe I am here to entertain others, like you. We fight, and we will have what we desire. I am not a performer; I do not use paltry tricks. Learn that, or leave me be."


Harmony stalked through the corridors alone. Her brother was busy with something or other leaving her by herself as she paced back and forth. They'd found uncle Hirokazu, but he was gone by the time her parents got there to take him into custody. How? He was a deep sleeper, something his mother commented on many times. 'Even with the horror he's seen, he still sleeps like the dead.'

She paced back and forth past the same five doors several times, trying hard to figure out what had gone wrong. She wanted to help find Miyu! And she couldn't even TRY until her uncle was back in custody!

Harmony was so absorbed in her thoughts that she almost missed the sounds of people coming her way. She looked up to see Kunzite walking towards her. He was a guard of King Endymion, and was often on 'loan' to her family. He got along well with her lady mother.

"Oh, young Harmony, what are you doing here?" he wondered as he stopped. She had little to do with him, they rarely spoke. He was serious, and straight edged. He frightened her a bit.

She looked to the side. "I'm just… walking around."

He laughed. "With such a serious look on your pretty face?" When she hesitated, he knelt down. "What is troubling you?"

She shook her head and looked away again. She felt he would not understand.

"Ser Kunzite," a familiar voice said. Both turned to its source and Harmony saw Adonis there. He was a member of her house guard, brought by her mother. "The reports you requested." He held out a stack of papers. Harmony was holding her breath. Adonis straightened, shot a look in her direction, and left. She breathed once his footsteps were gone.

Kunzite made a noise and leafed through the pages. He went to stand but the young lady grabbed his cape. She wasn't aware she'd done it until he gave a gentle tug to free it. She felt ashamed of herself and looked away.

"I must meet with Nethen," she murmured. She tried to slink off but Kunzite put a hand on her shoulder.

"Princess, tell me what is happening. Something with your mother's guard?" She hesitated and he frowned. "I will summon him at once. This must be addressed."

"No! I-I mean, don't bother him, he- he must have something important to do." Harmony began chewing on her nails as she spoke. A wisp of cold ran up her chest and seized around her heart. She could taste energy in her mouth, it tasted like cold fire and hot wind. She pushed herself back from Kunzite and stumbled.

He reached his arm behind her and stopped her from hitting the floor. As he steadied her on her feet, he looked into her eyes. "No. Tell me what is wrong, or I will summon your father."

Her breathing quickened at the thought. A tiny ball of warmth began to spread downwards, she felt Nethen trying to calm her. He would arrive soon, he always did.

Kunzite frowned once more and stood straight. He turned and went to march off to the war room where the general no doubt was, but Harmony grabbed his cape.

"Adonis… spoke to me. Two years ago. The- the year he was guard at the winter solstice festival." She looked at the floor, at her distorted reflection in the polished tile. "I asked about him, because I had heard father say one must know their guards. He was… not kind."

Tears stung her eyes. "He criticized me. My dress, my hair, my demeanor… told me I looked like my father. As though I were a boy in a dress." She shuddered as she drew a deep breath. "And when I corrected him, that I was a princess, and everyone told me how beautiful I was, he… he sneered at me. And he said I would never be as powerful, or beautiful, as my mother."

'I told him,' she thought. 'I finally told someone.' Of course, Nethen didn't count. Their thoughts were almost always one, it was impossible to keep secrets from one another. Two people who shared the same mind.

"No. This is not right," Kunzite stated. "He is a guardian of your family, he has no right to make such remarks, even if they were true."

Harmony stared at the ground still, and grabbed at her dress, feeling the silk between her fingers.

"Come." He straightened himself and looked down at her. She looked up at him, confused. "I did not stutter, child. I said to 'come'."

He turned on his heel and made his way down the hall on his own. After a moment of hesitation, Harmony trailed after him. They passed the war room, and even avoided the residential hall entirely. Just as she managed to gather up enough courage to ask what was going on, they stopped outside of the training hall. Kunzite turned back to her, smiling.

"If Adonis wishes to criticize the family he is meant to guard, we shall see how he does so when you break his nose next time. You are a Sailor Guardian, and he must be reminded of that."


She didn't know where she was. She didn't know how long it had been. There was no beginning to this place and no end.

The monsters were there waiting for her, just beyond the light of the room which, slowly but surely, was shrinking. And as it shrunk, they crept closer.

The man would speak to her, but he was so far from her at first that she could not make out his words. Over the time, she could begin to understand him a little. Only a little. The light would be eaten up a little more, and the monsters came closer, he would speak and the cycle would continue.

She could not move for fear of what would happen. She was going to be swallowed by the monster.

'Be brave. I can help you.'

She wasn't brave, at all.

'Trust me.'

She didn't trust him.

'I will drive them back.'

No, he couldn't.

'And then… I will give you power.'


Sorry for the delay. I dislike author's notes, but I wanted to explain this absence. I've been a horrible bundle of nerves. I started a new job that was pretty high stress, and in February I got into a really horrible car crash, my nerves spiraled out of control and without going into a lot of detail, it cost me my job which made my anxiety EVEN WORSE.

So, I'll keep writing and update as much as I can while I'm being bounced around like a friggin' ball. Thank you for reading.