Even Flow

by Warriorsong

REVERSIONED. Parts 0 Preludes With Parts 2A, 2B, 3 and 4. Now includes stand alone fictions such as The Pain Of Doubt. A stranger from the future heralds the beginning of the end. Heavily character focused and intense action. Strictly MA15

4. Part 02B

EVEN FLOW

R E V E R S I O N E D

A BISHOJO SENSHI SAILOR MOON Fan Fiction

By Nicholas Clark (Warriorsong)

Comprising the original fan fictions Even Flow Chapter 10 - Interlude Minako, Chapter 11 - Interlude Mamoru, Chapter 12 - Soul Fire Burning, and Chapter 13 - Interlude Ami

2B. CHOICES, PROMISES, LIES

Chapter Ten

INTERLUDE MINAKO

"Drowning deep in my sea of lonely, broken your servant I am

It seems what's left of my human side is slowly changing, in me

Looking at my old reflection when suddenly it changes,

There is no turning back now, you've woken the demon in me"

Disturbed - "Down With The Sickness" - The Sickness

-------

I can see everything. I know that everything is happening outside me. But it just doesn't mean anything. Its kind of like one of those old black and white televisions, yet with colour and with the sound all funny, mumbled and blurry. It is all just extraneous to what I need to know and feel. Its warm here and nothing can hurt me. It's like being on the verge of waking. But not quite; everything here is a not quite in some way.

-------

Usagi couldn't bear to see her like this. Minako had always been a figure larger than life. From when she idolized her as Sailor V to when they became comrades as Sailor Senshi, and to when they became friends, sisters even, as just Minako and Usagi.

Whatever was happening in Minako's head stayed there. She had, after her breaking down two days ago in the park, receded into herself and become almost like a doll, beautiful and still.

It hurt Usagi. She should have seen this coming. She was her friend. She should have sensed this pain in Minako and helped to make it better.

That was past. What hurt now was that Usagi had no idea of how to help.

So, she sat with her, brushing her hair, talking and singing to her.

Minako's face stayed passive, her eyes blinking as rhythmically as the ticking of the clock on her nightstand, her body unmoving in her chair by the bed.

-------

She is here. My friend. She is this bright light in my eyes. I want to say hello, acknowledge I know she is here, but it doesn't mean anything. The sounds she makes, they make me feel nice.

-------

Setsuna was not happy. Things had not gone well. With the events of the past two days catching up to her like the first thunderheads of a torrential storm she fought down panic and fear.

The warning they had been sent had disappeared, secluding himself somewhere in the city. Shielding himself from her. Then Hotaru had been found, battered and beaten in an alleyway in one of the less reputable parts of town. Thankfully it was Haruka who had found her, tracing the signal from her communicator. Upon awaking, Hotaru had been in a rage. Only Setsuna nudging the child's mind to sleep had forestalled further disaster.

Then she had slept naturally. Her phenomenal powers healing her body while she was asleep, just as she could heal others.

And now this. Minako falling ill. Although, Setsuna believed the term ill, to be rather hollow. It was catatonia, plain and simple. Something, creeping and unnoticed by her friends had swallowed whatever part existed in the outside world, drawing it into a shell of melancholy.

No, Setsuna was definitely not happy.

-------

I feel warm. I don't know why I am here, or how I got here. The past is like a toy town with a blanket thrown over it. A blanket of mist. Sometimes I can see in the mist, but it scares me, so I don't. Why are the people in my eyes sad?

-------

Ami was devastated. All her training, schooling and studies had never prepared her for the fact that maybe, one day, it would be one of her closest friends in such a situation.

Nothing had prepared her for it. Yet she continued and carried on as she had always done.

Her palm-top computer beeped at her, its diagnostics complete. Whatever this piece of genius had done, Minako sat unfazed. Ami now had readouts of neuro-kinetic feedback, a cat scan and in general, a complete picture of what was happening in Minako's head, albeit in the form of numbers and equations.

Now to work out what it meant. In the quiet, away from Usagi's rhythmic humming and the empty stare of the doll she had once called her friend. In the quiet where she could cry if she had too and not feel guilty.

-------

The red one is here now. She is warm. She is angry too, although I don't know why. She is comforting; I think it is, but I can't really tell - so it doesn't bother me - the bright one. They seem to overlap, white and red. It is pretty. The red one is trying to make me pay attention to her, but I don't want too and it is too foggy in here. Fog like a warm shroud. Like a cocoon.

The red one must have gone away while I slept but now the blue one is here. I know I like her, but don't know how. She and the bright one talk and the bright one goes away. This makes me sad. Then I can't remember what sad is so it doesn't matter anymore. The blue one is talking to me. It is like a fresh breeze, chill yet refreshing. I might sleep some more.

-------

Rei had been to see Minako. It had angered her more than anything. Why had she not sensed it? What good was she and all her abilities if they failed to help those she loved.

So now, after barely acknowledging Ami and returning to the shrine, she sat before the Great Fire. Its imposing warmth was added to by the comforting presence of Yuuichirou and her Grandfather off to the side. They were concerned for her, Minako and their friends. This had been a hardship, unexpected.

The Great Fire loomed over Rei like a towering elemental, swaying in an unfelt breeze, the crackling of the coals a whisper, whispering the secrets of the universe.

But not knowing what to hear for, to listen too, the secrets fell on deaf ears.

-------

Zinging. It sounds and feels like the word. Orange is glowing over my eyes like a veil. My hair. I can she the bright one through the orange. The bright one is brushing my hair. My hair is a glowing thing like these visitors. This is something, something elusive... something that just is.

I can't remember who the bright one is. I love her, I do know that. I don't know why. She is warm like it is inside here.

-------

Michiru sat quietly, watching over the slumbering form of Hotaru. When Haruka had found her, the girl had been beaten soundly, ribs broken and her shoulder bent at an odd angle. Her body had been slumped below a depression in a solid brick wall. A cratered depression radiating out from a shape like the child she watched over.

Whatever had attacked her had been powerful and most assuredly could, without doubt, have killed her.

Therefore, in Michiru's mind, it was playing. But what was its game?

A shimmering, a visual hum and she was Sailor Neptune. Concentrating, the Deep Aqua Mirror appeared in her hands, its frame chill. Michiru brushed her fingers along the gilded frame, it warming to her familiar touch.

-------

Luna was agitated. She and Makoto had tried and tried to contact Artemis and Mamoru. No luck. The ryokan had not seen them since the afternoon of Minako's collapse and Mamoru was not answering the communicator that Ami had placed into his watch.

Makoto leaned against the bench top of her kitchen, a toothpick between her clenched teeth, it moving up and down as she played one end with her tongue. A habit she had picked up from Ken, no doubt.

Luna stood by the balcony window. This was beyond what she could deal with. She felt nothing but ineffectual and useless.

Makoto slammed her fist down on the bench top, frustration clearly written across her face. Pots rattled to a stand still as she stormed out the main door of her apartment.

Luna turned back to the window and the insubstantial reflection it gave of her. It clearly showed the tear she felt crawling down her cheek.

"Where are you Artemis?" she mumbled. Her humid breath fogged the glass, blocking out the outside world.

-------

Haruka changed gears and her yellow roadster surged ahead, passing the few cars that seemed to have bunched together on this deserted stretch of highway.

She was very very annoyed. At everything, the world, herself and her friends. They had tasted normal life to have it ripped from them by whatever crisis loomed on the horizon like a black sun. Minako was officially out for the count, Hotaru was incapacitated for at least a few more days, Usagi and the Inner's were all a mess and the King had disappeared with Artemis.

So, heading north she was trying to at least rectify one of the above. Find the king and the cat, and then return him, thus giving strength to Usagi, which would put some starch back into the Inner's.

The car beneath her surged and ate the miles up with a ferocity that matched that of its driver.

-------

As far as she could tell, it had been about five days or so since she had been thrown against that wall like a rag doll. It did not make her happy. Her shoulder was still tight, and her side ached slightly. Kicking and punching like a woman possessed, Hotaru worked her anger out on the large punching bag suspended from the ceiling of the gymnasium at the Outer's Mansion.

Haruka had returned that morning, early, before the sun. She must be angry. She had locked herself in her bedroom, apart from the one she shared with Michiru, and not come out since. Michiru was alone too, looking into the soul mirror on the terrace as she had for the last couple of days.

Hotaru knew it was dangerous, this anger boiling beneath the surface but she needed to vent it now or it would build. Aggravating her wounds and slowing her recovery was preferable to blowing a hole in the side of the world.

But, in the forefront of her mind was shame and feelings of inadequacy. She had walked right into the attack, she should have been prepared, seen it coming, struck first, something.

She was now positive she was unworthy of this mantle she bore, and thus, she punished herself by punishing this bag and her battered body, ruminating over the thoughts like chewing glass in her mouth.

-------

I don't know this one in my eyes. It's a he, I can tell, although I do not know how. He is a dark blue with a silver sheen. The colours are pretty and swirl a little bit.

He doesn't say anything, which is strange, he just looks at me through his eyes as I look at him through mine. He is studying me. It makes me feel strange, uncomfortable, yet warm as well. Why is he here, I don't know him, or at least I don't think I do. The fog is getting thicker.

He is looking at me still. I hear him say something; it's like a bubbling noise, a chuckle. Is he laughing at me? No he is helping me; I can feel it coming from him. He is laughing at something else.

He is leaving. I want to ask him to wait but he can't hear me. What does it matter anyway. I am warm here.

-------

Setsuna hung the telephone back on its receiver. She had just received a message from one of the building manager's that looked after one of the myriad of apartment complexes where she had safe house's located. This particular man managed the building that contained a very specific safehouse. The same safehouse where she had closeted Naydar upon his arrival in Japan.

He was just like his mother, believing he could deal with everything himself, headstrong and often foolhardy.

The manager had called to say a letter had arrived. The extra she paid as a bonus ensured that any mail arriving would immediately be brought to her attention.

The fact that Jack himself had placed it in the manager's hand both worried her and pleased her. Obviously he was at work on something, his mind singular and direct, and he didn't feel he could concentrate with her over his shoulder at every turn. Over his shoulder preventing him from doing something dumb.

-------

I can see lots of colours in my eyes. There is the bright one, the red one, and the light blue one. There are others too, that have come and gone and come back again, a sea green, one that is like the leaves, a yellow and a purple. They are all here.

They are moving apart. There are more people here to see me. One that is like black, but not black and another smaller but bright, a swirl of gold and dark grey.

The black but not black one is saying something to the small one. The small one talks back. The gold in the grey one flashes, and the black yet not has a new colour, a deep red, like blood.

It looks pretty, but the blood is scary.

It feels strange in my head, like it is too small now, crowded, like I am not alone anymore. It feels nice, loving; having company I can feel and have it mean something. But it goes again.

The grey one and the not quite black one are speaking to one another. These words are important, for some reason, to them and me, but I cannot make them out, I feel, sad, I think the word is; that they aren't in here with me anymore.

The bright one is moving forward now, her light shining, almost blinding me. Almost, but it doesn't matter. She is reaching for me. There is something else shining. It is beautiful, a feeling solidified, like love, happiness or joy. The small greyish one is on her shoulder whispering in her ear and the not quite black one is standing off to the side. The others colours, the blue, the red, the greens, the yellow, the purple, crowd in closer. They care for me; I can feel it, like in waves, washing me clean of pain. I feel like I want to wake up, but can't. Why can't I wake up? Help!

The white flashes and I shield my eyes, a spot of crimson blinking the only colour in a snowy world that disappears like a dream.

-------

Usagi placed her hand on Minako's shoulder. Minako had slumped after the Crystal had flared and now lay limp in her chair.

Ami stood from her crouch beside Minako's left arm, a smile slowly creeping across her face.

"She's asleep."

The tension flew from the room like an expelled breath as sighs of relief and the frustration of the past few days dispersed. Ribbons of colour and clouds of rainbow hues dissipated as the Senshi reversed their transformations.

Michiru leaned into Haruka's side as they both relaxed, the blonde stiffened slightly, as if shocked, her arm slowly, almost reluctantly, wrapping itself around her comrades shoulders.

Rei brushed her hand through her hair; her tired face lit up by something inside, her nights of long vigil in front of the Great Fire having taken their toll on her body psychically, emotionally and spiritually.

Ami sat on the edge of Minako's bed, her fingers flying over the keys of her computer like a whispered breeze, collating and re-collating the data on Minako from before and during her illness, as well as her bio-signs currently.

Makoto slumped against the wall behind her, stress melting away. When Minako woke up she would be hungry. Maybe she should nip home and throw something together.

Hotaru sat cross-legged on the floor, her body still sore from the injuries she had sustained and the brutal training she had put herself through.

Usagi still knelt before Minako, her head resting in Minako's lap, slow tears running down her smooth cheeks. She was tired but happy. She felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned to see Setsuna smiling down on her. She grinned back.

Setsuna turned and left the room. Now she only had the one obvious problem to deal with. Mamoru.

-------

Minako slept. Calm and content. And blissfully unaware of what had transpired.

Chapter Eleven

INTERLUDE MAMORU

"Well I don't know if I'm ready

To be the man I have to be

I'll take a breath, take her by my side

We stand in awe, we've created life"

Creed - "With Arms Wide Open" - Human Clay

-------

The wind blew across the field, the grass flattening itself against the ground. The man sat quietly, his legs folded, his hands on his knees. His eyes were closed and the flapping of this t-shirt against his chest and arms seemed not to disturb him. His mind was deep under, searching. Four shards of crystal lay before him.

The white cat that was near him lay in the sun, his eyes also closed. The sun warmed his fur and the wind cooled it, providing a counterbalance that left him comfortable and whimsical.

The yellow grass on this plateau was dry and crackled as the cat rolled over. It looked up to see the man staring at it.

"Having fun, Artemis?"

"Well, Mamoru I could ask you the same, considering you have been there for some two hours now."

Mamoru's eyes went distant.

"I was looking. You were right, out here, in the wild, away from the concrete, I can feel something, something deep and hidden."

"Your powers?"

"That's what I think," and with that the dark haired man closed his eyes again and slowed his breathing.

Artemis shrugged, stood and padded off into the grass, headed towards the woods.

The plateau they had found was high in the hills, yet not high enough to feel the deeper winter cold. While they had come prepared, they were city boys and not accustomed to roughing it. This was their second day on the land, so to speak. Mamoru had slept from their arrival at the ryokan to the next morning, whereupon they had set out, Artemis alternately conversing with the wildlife or riding on Mamoru's shoulders. They had came upon this field mid-afternoon and had made camp. A small two-man tent accommodated them both. This was the cat's destination. Having the tent in the shadows of the wood allowed shelter from the wind and wood for the fire.

Artemis was surprised about a few things. One was the fact that Mamoru still had the crystal shards. While the Senshi may have forgotten the shards, they could never forget their namesakes. Mamoru felt a bond to those crystals. He never said much, yet the cat believed that he felt some guilt over them. His old friends had been perverted and changed by the mad sorceress Beryl, yet he had survived and over time regained his memories. These shards were all he had left of his past apart from dull memories and sharp pain.

The second was that he took to meditation like it was second nature. They had all witnessed Rei before the Great Fire and had on occasions meditated themselves, yet Mamoru displayed a remarkable aptitude for it, his breath and heart rate slowing very quickly. What drove this, Artemis was unsure, was it his determination, the same determination that had brought them here, or a forgotten skill from the past.

Artemis entered the tent and lay down. It was mid-afternoon. If the past session was any indication, Mamoru would be busy for a while. Time for a catnap.

-------

Mamoru sat quietly. His buttocks were numb but he pushed the feeling aside. His knees were stiff and his feet were tingling, but he pushed that aside as well. He focused.

Into himself, down, pushing all aside until he was open and looking into himself, like into a window. It was foggy, dark, mist swirling around. Yet there shone a dull light, yellow, deep within the mist.

Outside himself, to the shards before him. Using them to ground and guide him. Relying on instinct and emotion rather than logic, he looked through the window.

Vaporous and insubstantial he melded with the mist and ventured towards the light.

-------

"Mr. Chiba?" the faint voice called.

It was dusk and the ryokan staff were cleaning the rooms. No answer and the door opened. The lanky figure stepped in, his glasses, big and round, reflected the illumination as he snapped on the light. His long hair limp against his face, as the teenager began to tidy the room, righting the coverlets on the bed, straightening the lamps and appliances, restocking the linen.

The boy stopped. Mr. Chiba had paid up for the week but had left for the hills with his cat early yesterday. On the bedside table sat a watch, thick black plastic with Velcro straps, with both analogue and digital readouts. As well as the standard buttons, two large buttons adorned both the top and bottom where the material strap joined the watch itself.

The boy knocked the watch off the bedside table.

"Opps," he said.

Slowly, methodically the boy raised his foot, placing one hand against the wall to steady himself and then lowered his head. The watch shattered as the boy's heel crashed into it, the cracking of floorboards underneath it sounding harsh and brutal in the otherwise silent room.

The figure still had its head lowered and slowly like an engine starting, a deep gravelly chuckle began to echo in the room. The figure raised its head, brushing the bangs out of its eyes. Red eyes. Evil eyes.

"Oh no," the figure said in mock concern, "whatever shall I do?"

-------

Artemis bolted upright. It was dark now; the night sounds of the forest were a haunting melody. Artemis shivered. It was cold and dark, but something 'else' had awoken him. Whatever the feeling was it had gone now. The cat poked his head out the tent flaps. No embers in the hearth.

Artemis was a cat, and cats sleep light. If Mamoru had returned he would have woken up.

Cursing under his breath, Artemis bounded out of the tent at a trot, headed towards a slightly darker shape in the gloom. The stars were hidden behind dark clouds, which scudded slowly across the sky. The moon sat low in the sky behind Artemis, obscured by the forest.

He stopped. Mamoru sat before him, pale and still. A fine dew had settled on his hair and shoulders. He was still in his trance.

Artemis sat on his hind legs, and tensed his muscles. No time to waste in calming himself, the cat bodily threw his psyche at the man before him, his crescent moon illuminating the area briefly like a swarm of fireflies.

-------

It was misty. Artemis stood and ran his hand threw his hair and close-cropped beard. He hadn't done the mental thing for a long time, and prayed he knew or remembered how. Chances were that Mamoru was lost in his own mind, like a self-imposed fugue and would need to be guided out. Trusting his feline judgement and common sense, Artemis took off at a sprint towards what he believed to be his friend's destination. A golden light.

-------

Mamoru was lost; the light seemed to be closer yet further away at the same time. The mist had revealed itself for what it was - memories, past events, thoughts, images, ideas and knowledge. It called to him and shunned him, beckoned and pushed him away.

Yet still he headed towards the light.

Closer it came, now a golden yellow, rich, like hokey pokey. And with that, a memory sideswiped him. He and Usagi, eating ice cream, a warm spring day in the park. Shaking it off and the pleasant warm feeling that came with it he continued on.

From behind the memory of a class he had taken some years ago, it came. The one memory he feared more than any other. His face reflected, a cruel sneer against a warm grin. That memory. That time when he had nearly lost his reason, his life, and his light. The compulsion was there too, to drown it out in amber, make it go away, the fear, the pain, in a drunken state of now and rapture.

A punch tight and fast, swung at the cruel apparition that openly mocked him with its cold eyes. The fist flew threw the jaw, dispersing it like thick smoke, a cold chuckle pervading the mist.

Mamoru was surprisingly calm. He looked down, his head bowed, taking breaths that were not breaths and composing himself. And below him, the ground was solid, yet he could see the crystals, a foot beneath, surrounding him. All four were rotating in a circle, like planetoids, satellites about him in the misty space he travelled.

Mamoru stood upright once more and pressed on, his destination once again his guiding light.

-------

Artemis was disconcerted. He wasn't tired, his astral form not bound by the physical, as he sprinted ahead. His mental defences were on high however; the figments and elements of Mamoru's mind leaping out at him as he aimed his run directly toward the light. To lower his defences would cause him to become lost and then eventually to cease to be as he become but a memory in his friend's mind.

Faster he ran, his discorporate legs pounding against the transparency that was this reality.

The light was brighter, shining, a beacon.

-------

Mamoru could see it closer now; he simply pushed through the memories like a rugby player. It was like the mist was refracting the light, his field of vision like gold weave, obscuring and thick looking, like cotton wool.

Yet it opened before him like a cloud, transparent and feathery.

His senses rocked. While the messages and memories assaulting him were subliminal, a ripple pounded into him, more real than anything in this shadow realm.

"Mamoru!"

The ground buckled and shook, his surreal footing lost.

"Mamoru!"

And sprawled in the nether, he could feel someone approaching. Someone he knew, someone not a memory. Risking his footing, he thrust his mind outward, calling.

"Artemis?"

Before him the cat appeared. Yet he was no cat. Artemis appeared before him, a luminescent man-shaped being, more felt and perceived than taken in through the eyes. He was well muscled, some six feet in height, close cropped hair and goatee beard, his hair as white as pure snow, eyes like the clearest blue spring water. Also he was naked. Glaringly obviously naked.

Mamoru was shocked, he felt normal here, the same as in the waking world, yet his friend had taken on a new form, brilliant and strong.

The man creature before Mamoru seemed to understand and the impression floated across the ether.

"It's merely a thought, an image given form in my mind and inhabited by my psyche."

Aware of how this was done, the ripples in the mist telling him, Mamoru replied.

"Why are you here?"

"You have been away for hours now. Your mind-body is in deep, you must return before you lose the connection to your physical self."

"But, it's so close, it's calling me."

"What?" asked Artemis, sure he knew the answer.

"The light."

And with that Mamoru turned and ran into the mist, it melding around his astral form like a liquid, swallowing him and pulling him in.

Artemis followed, resigned to bring his friend out no matter what.

-------

The sun rose over the eastern horizon, bathing the Pacific Ocean in a pink light and creeping through the forest. Slowly, like a liquid gold it bathed the land and seeped through the wood. The open tent was caught in the flow, the dew and condensation evaporating in the dawn light of what promised to be a glorious day. Combing through the grass like a brush, the light crashed upon the forms of a white cat, sitting still, and flowing over him to capture the dark haired man in its luminescence. They did not stir.

-------

Together the astral forms of Mamoru and Artemis waded through the thick mist, slow going in the fog of Mamoru's mind as they neared the seat of his consciousness and the beacon that guided them.

The two men strode through the mist, it parting around their waists, like the current of a river.

Time had no meaning here; minutes passing like hours and hours passing like seconds. Mamoru struggled, his mental form weak and waveringly insubstantial next to the transparent solidity of Artemis.

Yet the dark figure pushed on, his will strengthening the vapourish form he inhabited, drawing strength from the crystals that spun below his feet.

Parting before them, the veil opened, a golden crystal casting its light outward like a brilliant sun.

Both men halted, shocked into numbness by the radiant beauty of the stone.

"That's my Star Seed?" Mamoru said, confusion being conveyed to the act of vocalization, through the ether.

"Or Soul Stone, Pure Heart, or whatever. It's you, your essence, your soul, who you are." Artemis replied, his tone and the emotion behind it awestruck. How did he know this? He had never been so far into the core of another being. Let alone himself.

Mamoru took a slow step forward, staggering, intent on touching the solidified light of his spirit that lay before him, calling out.

Parting and swirling into a cone, the mist coalesced, the bright gold hue paling to a pristine white. And the white cone peeled away, revealing the figure of a young boy, blonde haired, blue eyed and clad in robes the tint of purest snow.

Mamoru stopped and stared at the figure, which was looking at him with a benevolent smile on its face.

"Helios," Mamoru said, recognizing the figure.

"Hello Endymion. I'm glad to see you."

"Why are you here, my friend? This isn't the dream realm."

Artemis thought to interject and explain it to Mamoru but he was silenced as the boy spoke.

"In truth, the realms of the dream world and astral plane are combined. When in trance the mind is unfettered by the body. In a dream state, the soul flies free, creating comfort for itself and resolving problems from the waking world. The act of being separate from the body allows entrance to my realm. But to answer your original question, I am here for a reason."

"What reason?" Mamoru was confused, fatigue clawing at him, attempting to draw him back to the physical.

"This," Helios replied, stepping aside and indicating the Star Seed. "The Golden Crystal of The Earth. You have overcome yourself, your doubts and fears and the pains of your heart. You have accepted your destiny, willingly and with all your being. And I am here to unlock it. It is now the time that I pass on my guardianship and give it to he who seeks it, his birthright."

Mamoru was confused. Helios had helped unlocked the powers of the Moon Senshi, bringing them to a new level of power, enhancing them. Why was he here now? And Mamoru now knew this crystal for what it was, the horn of the Pegasus, the centre of the Dead Moon Circus' quest on Earth. His legacy.

"Why did you appear now, why not before, when I needed help, when I was broken and in pain. Why not when you first appeared to my daughter?"

"It's a complicated situation. You were not prepared, unwilling, torn between what you wanted and what you thought you wanted. You were not complete. Acceptance was required. I can explain it but time is short."

Mamoru increased his focus, the crystals below him, blasting forth in their innate light, strengthening him.

"Explain. Please."

"In short; her majesty was in a similar situation. She could not accept her destiny, her path as ruler and leader. The power of the Silver Crystal of The Moon, slept in her, waiting. When confronted with the darkness of Beryl, and the pain of the losses she bore witness to, her mother was with her, and when she accepted who she was, the power of the stone awakened, bursting forth. Her heart is her strength."

"She had the Crystal all along?"

"Now you, your reasoning, by accepting, have come unto your birthright, your full powers, which you must learn to use in time. Take the crystal, embrace yourself." Helios said, completely ignoring Mamoru's question.

Artemis stood back, events assaulting him. Usagi had accepted the power with her heart, her love for her friends awakening the force within her. Mamoru had struggled with it, confused, his reason and logic struggling with something he could barely fathom. Opening himself, his acceptance finally reached, he was confronted with his true potential. At the core of it all, lay the acceptance of what they were, their belief and most of all, their true being revealed.

Mamoru stepped forward, his hand outstretched, reaching towards the crystal that beckoned him, that would make him whole, complete. It was what he was missing, the constant niggle, the piece of the jigsaw that had eluded him.

Helios looked at Artemis, thoughts entering the cat's head, explaining things, revealing the truth. Mamoru's pain of doubt, his foolish heart, his constant fear that maybe he was inadequate, that something was not right, had prevented this event. And up until this moment, this now, still would.

Mamoru's hand enclosed around the crystal, a sense of completion and revelation encompassing his being. With a pulse, the crystal spewed forth its brilliance, bathing the ether in golden light and washing away all senses and perception.

-------

As the midday sun cast its light upon the field of grass that lay high in the mountains, the figure of the man, legs crossed and hands open, fell back, sleep claiming his exhausted shell. The white cat beside him toppled from its sitting position, the crescent moon on its forehead flaring as it collapsed into the grass. And the grass, once asleep, now awoke, bursting forth in wildflowers.

-------

Artemis awoke. He stood and shook himself off. The light dew that covered him was chill in the night air. It was, judging by the moon, sometime before midnight. He walked over to Mamoru, stretching to clear the stiffness from his joints.

Mamoru lay where he had fallen, his breathing shallow and regular, and the expression on his face unreadable. Artemis placed his forehead against Mamoru's own. There was no fever and Mamoru's astral self had returned to his body.

Artemis grinned. So Helios had been waiting for this moment like he himself had. Waiting for Mamoru to accept who he was. And once that was accomplished, Helios could complete the task that had been placed before him centuries ago. He would use the Crystal as he saw fit to aid and guide until its rightful owner could take it upon himself.

Artemis turned and ran to the tent. He returned minutes later dragging a blanket in his teeth. Struggling with the thick material, he covered Mamoru and proceeded to clean the lint out of his mouth.

He curled up by Mamoru's side, partially under the blanket and lay down. Now he would just have to wait.

-------

Azel cursed on his throne. He could feel the ripple, spreading throughout the realities. How long had it taken to travel from the astral plane, through the realities and come to his awareness? Time meant nothing where the souls breathed. A power, bright and commanding, like a fire in the dark had been ignited. But where and by whom?

Summoning his power, he winked from existence.

-------

Mamoru awoke. His head felt leaden, yet he was refreshed. He questioned his surroundings before he realised he was still in the field. Throwing the blanket off him he sat, rubbing his eyes as he struggled to overcome the dregs of sleep. Opening his eyes he saw Artemis sitting before him, a smile on his face.

He wondered how the cat managed it, lacking the right muscles and all.

He stood, rolling his shoulders and stretching his arms to the sky.

The ground on either side of him burst open, spurs of rock jutting to the air to come to the height of his waist, wildflowers blooming with rapidity before his eyes.

Above him, in the sky, birds spiralled and behind Artemis, the many and myriad creatures of the field sat, their age old struggles and the game of hunter - prey forgotten in this one moment.

He looked to Artemis, and grinned half sheepishly, half bemused, at what he had just witnessed, yet saw that the cat's eyes were sparkling.

"Good morning your Majesty," the feline said.

Mamoru remembered what had happened as Artemis' greeting was repeated throughout the field and the air by a multitude of incomprehensible voices.

- The King has returned -

- The King has returned -

Mamoru smiled down at the cat, his friend, who sat before him.

"Let us go back to the inn, Artemis. I want to walk and feel the land under my bare feet."

Chapter Twelve

SOUL FIRE BURNING

"Don't look, don't look, the shadows breathe

Whispering me away from you

Don't wake at night to watch her sleep

You know what you will always see"

The Cure - "Burn" - The Crow OST Album

-------

Makoto stormed down the quiet hallways of the Hikawa Shrine. She turned and opened the rice paper screen, almost ripping it from its place on the wall.

Nine pairs of eyes turned in her direction. Minako stood up from the chair arm she was perched on and moved to a nearby closet and opened the door.

"Would you like to slam this Mako?" she asked the Senshi of Thunder.

"That's not funny," Makoto said glaring at her, but nonetheless came over to her and slammed the closet door. She rubbed her upper left arm.

No one else said a word. It was obvious that something was bothering Makoto and chances were strong that it was going to be the exact reason they were here. The room they were in served as a lounge in the Shrine, a large sliding panel revealing a well-manicured lawn and pond, fat carp swimming in its greenish waters. Luna sat on a cushion, her back to the pond, facing the sliding door that Makoto had just entered through, now looking rather worse for wear. A low table dominated the centre of the room, fresh-cut flowers sitting in a vase on the burnished veneer. On either side of the table sat a two-person couch and an armchair, pale cream in colour and very overstuffed. While the tensions between the Inner and Outer branches of the court were near non-existent, on occasions such as this, more often then not, the group would divide. On Luna's right were the Outer Senshi, Setsuna standing, leaning against the couch which held both Hotaru and Michiru. Hotaru sat straight up, her ribs still tender, while Michiru sat with her legs curled beneath her, the Deep Aqua Mirror in her lap. In the large chair, Haruka sat low, her long legs out before her crossed at the ankles. She had a dark look on her face. On the left of the black cat sat the Inner Senshi, Ami and Rei seated on the couch, Rei holding an ice pack to her face. Usagi sat curled in a ball on the armchair, Mina beside her on the arm, a hand resting upon Usagi's shoulder. Makoto walked to the back of the couch and stood behind it, her hands propped on the back as she leaned against it. She received a small static shock, and pulled her hand back, shrugging it off.

Luna coughed gently, gathering the attention of everybody present, then spoke.

"As you are aware, we are here to discuss recent events that have occurred. Primarily, the appearance of youma and the deliberate attacks on certain Senshi, and second, the prolonged absence of Mamoru and Artemis."

At that Usagi looked up, then slowly lowered her head again. Minako stroked her head while Luna continued.

"We know for a fact that this new enemy is powerful, fast and we can presume that he is working to a planned timetable of some description. The fact that he has attacked several of you and inflicted damage even while you had your guard up, suggests that he is holding back a percentage of his power and is not fully extending himself.

"He could have easily killed me while I was unconscious," Hotaru spoke with a straight face. She didn't like the fact she was helpless before this adversary, but that didn't stop the facts from being there, plain and simple.

Luna nodded at Hotaru and began again.

"While we have all heard what happened to Hotaru, a week ago, we haven't heard what happened to Michiru and Rei, and I am guessing by her late arrival, Makoto." It was agreed upon after Minako's recovery that she not be informed of her previous state of mind, for reasons of sparing her and maintaining a working team dynamic without the shadow of a further breakdown over their heads. It was argued as to whether this was the best course of action, yet Setsuna had vehemently insisted upon it.

Michiru straightened up and looked to each of the Senshi. Slowly she looked down to her mirror and moving forward placed it on the table.

"I was looking in the mirror about three days ago. Hotaru didn't get up until the next day and Haruka was out looking for Mamoru. I was trying to both help find Mamoru and see if I could learn anything about our enemy. I managed to get a flash of the wilderness while looking for Mamoru before I lost the connection."

Usagi smiled half heartily at this. At least now she had an idea, albeit slim, where he was.

"I started to search out the enemy and all I got was static." Michiru was struggling for words to describe things. The Deep Aqua Mirror and its workings were like second nature to her and visions and impressions from it couldn't really be explained in words. "Then the surface went black and the edge cold," she tentatively reached out to the mirror but drew her hand back. Haruka was looking at her with a bleak compassion in her eyes. She hadn't heard the story or seen the hidden toll it had taken on her partner. Something else rattled in Haruka's eyes and she blanched slightly, turning away.

"A face appeared, white skin, like bone with glowing red eyes and lank greasy black hair. It chuckled, yellow jagged teeth gleaming sickly in its grey saliva," she shuddered at the memory, "then he winked at me. He spoke then, his voice deep and gravelly, almost chilling me to the bone. He said that I really shouldn't be eavesdropping and then his arm, yellow claws on his fingers, leapt out of the mirror, straight at my throat. If I hadn't dropped it..." She trailed off.

Hotaru reached a hand out to her. Haruka's own hand moved slightly, twitching, but stayed in her lap.

There was silence as the story sunk in and each of the Senshi looked at Michiru. Rei stood and placed her icepack on the table, which Ami quickly swiped up. She walked to the bare expanse of floor between the furniture and the limp hanging rice panel and began to pace.

"I was out getting groceries yesterday afternoon," Rei jumped straight in without any preamble. She was annoyed at being hit by the bastard, but more so from the fact that she had failed to sense him. She had noted how Luna hadn't mentioned that. "I was about halfway back when everything seemed to get dull. Birds quiet, no traffic noise, very few people, I just assumed that it was a lull, considering the schools were still in. I was passing an alleyway when a fist came out and struck me. I fell down, and, I assume it was the same individual," Rei packed some real vehemence behind that word, "that struck me, came into my field of vision, smiling, and hit me again. I didn't even sense him, but I should have been on guard. The animals knew, but I didn't." Her voice dropped off towards the end of her sentence.

Ami stood up and walked over to Rei, handing her the semi melted ice pack and placing a hand on her shoulder. The injury had seemed minor but had swollen quite impressively overnight.

Rei fought down the urge to shrug it off and merely went back to the couch and sat down.

Makoto pushed herself off and stood, rubbing her arm again. She could feel her anger building. It was similar to what she guessed the others felt, outrage and shock that they had been unable to do anything. The hair on her arms was standing on end and she could hear crackling in her ears. She ignored it.

"Not much to tell really, I was on my way here and a felt a grip on my arm, like a vice. I was spun around and he stuck his face into mine. His breath stank. He asked me if I wanted to dance and then spun me around. I hit the wall and when I got up, he kicked me in the stomach and bowed at me, and when I had blinked the tears away he was gone."

Luna looked serious all through the retelling of their stories. The 'he' used obviously meant that the description given by Michiru suitably fitted the being responsible for the following attacks. She had a feeling that maybe Michiru, Rei and Makoto were deliberately targeted. Hotaru had sensed him, while Rei, a talented psychic had failed to detect him. That and the fact that Hotaru had come upon him feeding, for want of a better word, while the others had not. Maybe the young girl had forced this creature to out himself prematurely, to forge ahead with his schedule?

The fact that she could feel Makoto's raw energy spilling into the air was distracting but she tried to form the hypothesis into a sentence that would not offend her charges nor leave them in any doubt that they had been suckered.

She was about to say as such when she was interrupted. The voice was quiet and she was shocked to find it was Haruka speaking.

"I saw him too." Her voice stuttered slightly, admitting even an unintentional weakness was difficult. "I was out looking for Mamoru, probably just after Michiru had her 'visitation'. I was just driving when I turned and he was sitting beside me. He didn't do anything just..."

Michiru had moved to Haruka while she said this. She was unaware of this and was half concerned when Haruka had returned home and closeted herself in her room. But lost in her own thoughts it really hadn't seemed important. She shook the bizarre feeling off. Now that she knew why she hadn't seen her lover, she could do something about it. She sat on the arm of the chair and wrapped her arm around Haruka's slumped shoulders. The blonde went stock-still and Michiru removed her arms, looking hurt. Tension sat in the room like an unwanted guest as the Senshi looked at the pair.

Minako was about to ask the question that everyone wanted to voice, "just what," the tension being so evident, from both the statement made and Haruka's reaction to Michiru, but was silenced when Setsuna waggled a finger at her. The Senshi of Time had been silent the entire time, but had obviously been taking everything in.

A beep sounded, breaking the tension like a smashed window, Ami looked from the confusing pair to Makoto who had rolled her sleeve up, allowing the Senshi of Ice to scan her arm. Makoto's eyes still fixed on Uranus and Neptune. The computer, left to its own devices, had simply clarified Ami's original diagnosis.

"Well, it's a stress fracture," Ami coughed, unhappy about being the one to bring them out of a situation that clearly needed to be dealt with, "Not really serious with your healing, but you should ease up the use for a couple of days."

Setsuna was casting her eyes around the room. It was an uneasy feeling on the edge of awareness, familiar and yet not, following up the tension which had slowly flown out the window, gone, but not as far away as they would like.

"We may not have time," she stated simply.

Before anyone could respond the rice paper screen opened, the stress making it fall off what little hinge still held it up. The figure in the doorway grinned as he caught sight of the women before him, and his eyes flashed to the broken door. The cat on his shoulder did likewise.

"Knock, knock?" he said rather sheepishly, a blush creeping up his cheeks.

Usagi had looked at the door when she had heard it slide, a confused frown come smile turning into a wide grin as she saw whom their visitor was. She squealed in delight and leapt off the chair into his arms as he entered the room. Minako fell as the chair tumbled sideways, the uneven weight unbalancing her and her perch, while Artemis leapt from Mamoru's shoulder as Usagi flung herself at him.

The cat landed nimbly on all fours, which is more than can be said for Minako, landing on her bottom rather unceremoniously. Artemis grinned at her as she stood, rubbing her backside.

"Want me to rub it for you?" Haruka asked mumbling, obviously forcing the words between her conflicting emotions, the entrance of Mamoru and the tumbling of Minako having pushed the memory of her actions to the side. Best they forgot all about it. It was an effort, but she couldn't let them see her affected by the enemy. Angry once more, she sunk back into the chair.

Michiru would normally have slapped Haruka on the arm, her look saying 'behave yourself' rather loudly but she simply stood up and moved towards the pond looking out into it green depths.

No laughter from the Senshi either, but strangely the arrival of Endymion had loosened the last of the uncomfortable silence. The black cat was amazed; it seemed that now that Usagi and Mamoru were reunited, the overall mood had risen in comparison to Usagi's. Like the Senshi existed in a relative symbiosis to their Queen.

Setsuna looked from both Haruka to Michiru, her mind working ninety to the dozen. Something had just happened which she couldn't grasp but the dynamic imbalance had pretty much fucked the atmosphere completely. Looking closer and deeper, she barely managed to control a sharp intake of shocked breath. The plan now seemed clearer, but she would have to follow up on this later to avoid suspicion.

When she turned back to the rest of the group the mood had lifted and Luna had greeted Artemis, calling their meeting to order once again. The cat was coughing to get their attention.

Setsuna wondered why Luna bothered. Mamoru and Usagi were still locked in an embrace, their mouths searching, the outside world just a momentary distraction to their bliss.

Luna coughed again, finally breaking the two up. Usagi blushed while Mamoru grinned from ear to ear.

"Can we help you Luna?" he asked.

"Yes Mamoru," Luna replied, refusing to take the bait, "we were discussing our enemy, who you are unaware of, and were about to consider any possible courses of action."

"Oh, no, I am quite aware of our new hindrance. In fact he paid me a visit, technically."

Usagi's grip tightened as Mamoru said this, and he moved them to the armchair Mina had previously righted. She was glaring at it from her perch on the side of the sofa, so Mamoru sat, Usagi ferreting her way into his lap, her arms still locked around his neck.

"Artemis and I got back to the ryokan late last night and found our room in a shambles, scorch marks all over the place and the furniture shattered. We went immediately to the manager who apologized and reimbursed us the cost of accommodation. We went back to get our stuff and Artemis found my watch communicator. It was smashed and embedded in the cracked floor. It was in a depression shaped like a foot and above it was a handprint, like the 'stomper' had rested against the wall. The guy had flared his powers and totally wrecked the place. Obviously he wanted me out of contact, so Artemis and I came right back to Tokyo after that. When Usagi wasn't at home, I came straight here."

"That explains why we were unable to contact you," Minako stated, rather obsolete, in light of Mamoru's tale.

"So what do we do about it?" Haruka asked, her tone black and disinterested.

-------

Nothing had really been resolved, apart from Luna conveying her theory, in that they may all come into contact with the creature, and a discussion on the powers their enemy had actually exhibited. The gathering had broken up soon after. The Senshi had broken up into smaller groups, and dispersed to various parts of the temple grounds as was the norm.

Setsuna, Haruka, and Michiru stood talking near the steps down to street level; Hotaru was talking quietly to Ami, no doubt in a discussion about her injuries.

Setsuna turned to the pair beside her.

"Whatever problem you have, discuss it now and get it over with. Whatever childish conflict you have going on, now isn't the time for it. Babysitting you two as well as the Inner Senshi, is far more burden than I require at present. Deal with it and get on with finding out more about our enemy."

Setsuna's tone was chill. If she couldn't get these two rational, she would have to throw duty into their faces. If anything, time had shown that the pair could put duty above all else. Even their comrades, even each other. The Death Busters alone had proven that.

Forcibly but with a lingering cold, she softened her tone.

"I take it that you would like some time alone to discuss things?" The question wasn't really pointed or directed at any specific thing but the meaning was clear.

Haruka just turned away, so Michiru answered.

"Yes please, Setsuna. Could you possibly bring her back later?"

"I was considering giving you too the evening alone and taking Hotaru to one of the safe houses." The fact she a plan to follow through, and help was required, didn't need mentioning.

"That's even better." Michiru replied, her unspoken concern for her sullen partner obvious.

"No problem." Setsuna said simply, turning and walking away.

Michiru watched her go and spun around to face Haruka. The Senshi of Wind had only spoken briefly during the meeting and in clipped harsh sentences, aside of course from her forced innuendo. Michiru was scared. Whatever their enemy had said had obviously stung Haruka, which in itself was a rare feat. There was little that could faze Haruka. She wasn't sure she could deal with whatever it was, but for the sake of her love and as Setsuna had so bluntly made clear, duty; she would be there for her and not force the issue. Haruka would tell her when she was ready.

She placed her hand on Haruka's arm and ushered her towards the steps and down. Haruka, stiffened, made no comment and followed.

Setsuna watched all this from the position she had taken beside Ami and Hotaru, listening to the conversation before her but looking at the pair near the steps. She turned to the conversation as Ami announced that apart from some stiffness of movement, Hotaru was almost back on form.

Setsuna looked down at Hotaru whilst signalling Ami with her hand to remain.

"Hotaru, you and I shall be spending tonight at one of the safe houses," she believed the reasoning behind this obvious and Hotaru simply nodded.

Hotaru looked back at Setsuna.

"And now you want to talk to Ami without my listening so you want me to leave." Without waiting for a reply, Hotaru simply walked off to join the remaining Inner Senshi, who were seated beneath a tree across the courtyard.

"Perceptive isn't she?" Ami stated.

"Yes and getting a little too big for her britches."

"I wouldn't worry Setsuna," Ami replied, "she is put out at herself more than anything and it is just rubbing off on everybody else. She thinks she failed."

"That may be so, but letting her anger take over is asking for trouble. Besides I didn't know child psychology was a hobby of yours?"

Ami had no answer for that.

"Well," Ami said after what she hoped was an appropriate silence, "you wanted to speak to me about something?"

"Yes, Naydar in fact. He disappeared, as you are aware, after speaking with Rei and thanks to his less than socially acceptable behaviour, in regards to Minako, we were able to deal with that unfortunate situation." With that both glanced in Minako's direction. She was seated between Rei and Makoto with Hotaru before them. She didn't notice them looking.

"I was meaning to ask about that," Ami said turning to face Setsuna.

"His powers were unexpected. Originally his powers manifested a lot later than expected and seemed to be some sort of conglomeration of powers from both his parents. His powers usually expressed themselves in the form of gravity and pressure manipulation and the ability to sense energy fields."

"So he used this sense to find the anomaly in her brain?" Ami queried.

"The letter didn't say much, he just said that we should take a closer look at her brain. Apparently he had seen something similar before but didn't say when."

"I really want to speak to him about it," Ami mumbled half to herself, an inquisitive glint in her eye.

"Chances are its something you don't need to know. But if you see him, let me know, I want a word with him too. I'll talk to you later."

And with that Setsuna walked toward the small group near the entrance of the temple comprised of Mamoru, Usagi and both cats. She knew exactly where Jack was, she had merely decided to let him deal with whatever was bothering him. Approaching the group, she managed to catch the tail end of the conversation.

"We had no idea. Damn, is she okay?"

"She appears to be fine but we don't want to mention it to her in case of..."

"Enough said," Artemis interrupted, "I feel awful."

"Artemis, there is no use in beating yourself up over something you had no control over," Setsuna said, hoping to stop any bad feelings before they could take hold. "You and Mamoru weren't to know and besides, I believe that your excursion bore more fruit than expected."

Mamoru looked at her sidelong, questioning, but she didn't say anything else. Artemis looked guilty. Setsuna obviously knew, and she hadn't said anything. Both males decided to remain tight-lipped for the meantime.

Whatever tension had been mounting was broken as Yuuichirou came out of the temple and looked around. He trotted over to Ami and muttered something to her. She went pale and quickly turned and ran down the steps. This gained everyone's attention and they all moved over towards the front of the shrine, Rei in front and fuming.

"What did you say to her, idiot!"

"I just gave her a phone message."

"What! You upset her!"

"Hey, don't shoot me, I'm just the messenger. Urawa called when you were in your pow-wow, and asked that I give her a message."

Rei had her fists clenched at this stage, angry that he wasn't getting to the point. Setsuna, Usagi and Mamoru had come over and Mamoru placed a restraining hand on Rei's shoulder.

"What was the message, man?" Mamoru asked.

"Something about a call, bad news from Helvetica and her urgently needing to call them back."

"But from the look on her face, it's as if someone died," Makoto commented.

-------

Ami practically ran the whole way home. She had a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. If Luna was right, which was a fair assumption since Setsuna hadn't interjected, this could be the enemy making a play against her.

No one had mentioned it, neither Setsuna nor Luna but the pattern existed that they, he, the enemy seemed to follow. They had struck Rei through the lack of sense, her pride was her faith and abilities, Makoto through physical strength, Mina through her heart and obviously somehow had got to both Michiru and Haruka as well, possibly through their relationship with each other.

If she was correct, the enemy was making blatant attempts on the dominant attribute of the Senshi in order to weaken them. At least, the attributes that they were aware off.

It was only logical they strike at Ami through her academia.

Her mind reeled at this and she simply ran, faster and faster.

-------

Naydar lay back. His breath was ragged and broken as he struggled to get the air back into his lungs. For the past week he had been secluded in this warehouse in an abandoned industrial complex, training and attempting to ascertain what he could and couldn't do with his new body.

The Lady Hino had told him that he was out of synch. His physical body and astral body were a good fit but they didn't mesh quite well enough. That was not a bother in the grander scope. The problem was his lack of power. It was as he had suspected; this body just wasn't adapted to the forces he could control. The only way he was even able to access his powers was the fact his soul had firmly taken route.

Other things had come to his attention over the last week. His subspace pocket, or tesseract, was only available in a transformed state. In fact any manifestation of his powers required a transformation. Untransformed he retained the browny-blonde hair and speckled eyes he had had when Mercury had examined him. The two entities, or awareness' within him, each had control over a certain aspect, each having more recognisable traits and habits. He was in control all the time, things just happened differently when he was one or the other.

It nearly gave up figuring it out, but it came at him in his sleep. He was Naydar, he was Jack, yet he was both and none. It was this kind of existentialism that had given him no end of trouble when he was studying magic.

He was glad he had studied magic though. That had been what had helped him see what was wrong with the Lady Aino. That and the fact it was a demon stalwart, breaking the will of the victim before claiming their soul.

Missing his powers, it was almost like having a limb missing. He had seen Senshi use their powers on a global scale without breaking a sweat; in fact he had done it himself once and had nearly died because of it. Now he couldn't even knock over a bottle one hundred meters away.

So amid the melancholy and remembrances he had pushed his new body. And he had pushed it. He had focused his power, manipulated it and attempted every feat he had done before including meditation and prayer. And he had slept like the dead, his body leaden and exhausted.

But he had made some breakthroughs. He had become enraged when he couldn't blast some bottles with a small orb of concentrated gravity. In anger he had thrown an apple that was to be his mid-afternoon snack. The apple had sailed through the air, shattered the bottle into a fine glass dust and bit deep into the concrete floor before exploding in a cloud of pulp and juice.

After trying it again, this time with a fragment of the shattered concrete, he realized that by focusing for some time on an object he could increase its mass. After some thought and practice with more fragments, he relaxed his energy tap, showered, dressed and left for downtown.

Sometime later he returned, the credit card he had appropriated from Setsuna having seen some heavy use. Luckily she hadn't discontinued it. Jack threw the clothing onto his futon, a stretchy lycra t-shirt beside the long coat he had bought when he had first arrived, and emptied the remaining contents of the bag onto the table. He had paid three times the worth for the shiny blue-grey silver pistol. It was a big gun, he had no idea what it was called, but it was an impressive piece of hardware. Also in the bag was a box of bullets, some fifty odd and a black leather holster which sat around the back of the waist.

Transforming once again, a more or less constant state for him over the last few days, he began focusing his power like he had with the concrete fragments, a bullet now clenched in his fist. A repetitive and time consuming process. And utterly exhausting.

After some time he realized that this use of his power made him extraordinarily hungry. It was an understandable occurrence, the power he wielded being a type of bio-kinetic energy and thus needing more fuel for it to trigger the magical response, as it were. That coupled with the fact he was 'out of synch' he was running on empty, most fatty tissue on his otherwise bulky Senshi form having already turned to lean muscle.

He never really bothered with the mechanics behind it. Nor did he now. The focus was to be ready for whatever he had been sent here for.

Deep in his mind however, the thought nagged at him still. Exhaustion, excessive consumption of food and sleeping overlong. Would his powers burn this body out like a light bulb? And subconsciously it drove him on, to greater feats of training. He could not fail.

-------

"I sensed it as soon as you entered the room. In fact, I am quite surprised Usagi and Rei did not also"

Usagi, who had previously been wrapped around Mamoru, his arm over her shoulder, looked at Setsuna. "What?"

"Well, your Highness, it seems that your consort here is due for congratulations."

Both Luna and Usagi looked confused, while Artemis looked like he wanted to be elsewhere.

"Look harder, and not just with your eyes, Princess."

Both Usagi and Luna looked at Mamoru, who seemed uncomfortable with the attention and was scuffing his foot nonchalantly.

Luna gasped, followed by Usagi tilting her head and turning to Setsuna, a squint furrowing her brow, "Its different, there's something else there? It's warm." It was stated as a question, but it was better than nothing at all.

"Congratulations," Luna said grinning, an amazing feat considering the required facial muscles were missing.

Usagi still looked confused and Artemis seemed more relaxed, realizing Luna wasn't about to berate him for not telling her sooner. That was fine with him though, but he still wasn't going to start anything.

"Mamoru has come into his power," said Setsuna, "How is Helios by the way?"

"It is understandable that Usako failed to notice it, she has been concerned with the others and I kind of skipped out without telling her," Mamoru noted. He stopped "Hang on, how did you know that..." Mamoru trailed off. He often forgot that Setsuna had been around for longer than all of them, both metaphysically and temporally.

Setsuna took this in and nodded. Usagi also took something in, drawing back from Mamoru and eyeing him critically.

"I'm in shit aren't I?" he asked to nobody in particular, realising that bringing up his absence was a misstep he could have avoided.

-------

Hotaru stood by the main steps, looking out over the city below and above. So she had stumbled upon this enemy in the midst of his lunch and he had let her have it. If she had been careful and not rushed him like an amateur, taken the time at gauge him and his strengths, then maybe the idea to attack each Senshi separately might not have occurred to him or them.

Her ineptitude. Her fault.

-------

Makoto slammed the apartment door. While she had attempted to push the anger aside during and after the meeting, on the slow and painful walk home her irritation had flared.

She threw her lightweight coat off and over an armchair and pulled her hair tie roughly. She winced as it gave, pulling a few snarls as well as some loose and not so loose hairs from her scalp. She threw the offending tie across the room. It sailed lazily threw the air as she kicked off her shoes.

She stumbled over to the armchair and slumped into it, unshed tears in her eyes.

So it was just a stress fracture? Still hurt like the dickens. She knew something was wrong with it. It should have more or less been okay by now, what with her accelerated healing, but something about it was wrong! An itch at the back of her perceptions, knawing at her consciousness, attempting to make itself known.

Makoto shook the feeling off, breathing slow and deep, calming herself.

Cherry blossoms, ribbons of pine and green lightening and a rich evergreen scent sparkled and danced through the room as Makoto muttered her henshin phrase. Sailor Jupiter now sat in the armchair; the plush fibres sparked upright with the static.

Her breathing continued, undisturbed by the metamorphosis.

Focus, pushing her power inwards and along nerve fibres, through her arm. The increase in electrical impulses tickled, a powerful sensation of pins and needles. She pressed on as Ami had suggested, using her powers on herself, accelerating the flow and hopefully the healing.

-------

In a place where no one ventures, a realm of half-light and shadows, a spark flickers and bursts forth.

A naked flame, green and burning via some unseen fuel, pink sparks like blossoms floating on a spectral wind. To die.

-------

He lay prostrate on his chest. Whatever was before him was as nothing to all others. Nothing in the sense it consumed all and was alpha and omega. His eyes alone paid heed.

He raised himself onto his knees, his head and eyes still downcast. A sense of satisfaction came from the empty air; whatever wasn't there seemed pleased with the genuflection given.

Azel knelt, bowing before the space that wasn't.

"Yes, My Queen," his sephulric voice intoned, ringing throughout the dark labyrinthine chambers of the Dark Kingdom.

"Indeed, the steps suggested have been taken in order to compromise the integrity of the Senshi as a working dynamic. The one's deemed untouchable have been avoided as to eliminate any unfortunate incidents in the future."

The air shimmered briefly, disgruntled somewhat.

"Yes, My Queen. Those normals specified as untouchable are also being watched and guarded unfailingly, as per your instructions."

The air grunted its pleasure or the zephyrous equivalent.

The thing that wasn't waited, but as no more was forthcoming, it vanished. Its departure rang like a bell to Azel's senses as the awesome power departed.

He waited, still and unmoving for what seemed like minutes, his perceptions taunt and strained.

He stood slowly, his face contorted by a sneer. He turned and spat, curses streaming from his mouth like the grey saliva that was flecked from his teeth.

-------

Hino Rei stood solemnly before the doors to the room that housed the Great Fire. The aspirin, which she had taken after her friends had left, was barely having any effect on the headache that beat like a drum on her brain. This drumbeat played a dull background however to the beating of her heart and the rapid pace of her breath.

It was tempting for her to just turn around and walk away. It was Saturday so there must be some fortunes to be told, prayers to be said or possibly even leaves to be swept. Maybe she could even sleep off this migraine that seemed to get more persistent with each breath.

But it was quiet, and had been since the others had left. Yuuichirou and her grandfather were working quietly somewhere and she could hear the wings of her crows, Phobos and Deimos, beating the air with their black wings, as they lazily circled above the shrine.

She had stayed away. Upset at herself for failing to sense the evil of the youma assailant that had attacked her, Mako and Hotaru. This beast had also attacked Michiru and Haruka, and while not an assault in the physical, as much as she knew, they were all shaken.

She was afraid. Afraid that maybe she had failed and that she was as useless as her father had always said.

Why hadn't she sensed him, this youma? She hadn't and wouldn't put any more ice or a steak on the wound, not when Ami wasn't watching. Her fingers delicately circled the black eye. It was a badge, marking her folly and ineptitude.

She reached out her hand and slid the door, the soft scuffing of the runner familiar and soothing.

The Great Fire sat before her; the darkened room lit by its grand flames and by small candles at regular intervals, interspersed with sticks of incense. The scent trails of these rolled fragrances danced and disappeared into the shaded hollows of the ceiling and the darkened corners set aside for prayer.

Step by step, she came closer, the fire flickering gently.

Five metres away, it sprang up, the flames aware of her and welcoming her familiar presence.

Four metres and the fire sensed a wrongness.

Three metres, and the fire retaliated, bursting forth like a star consumed by a ravening phoenix.

-------

The green flame was joined by another. This flame was a fiery red, its smoke a dirt orange grey, cloying and suffocating.

The two flames were not alone. In a circle, roughly spaced, like some segments are missing, lurked two more flames. One a dusty orange, the colour of gold in its depths, dust motes cavorting unharmed through its diaphanous tongues of flame. The second, a black flame, its edges a violet colour. This flame is cold, its centre pure darkness, yet its gives off a comforting light.

The rainbow glows of unseen embers complete the eight-sided circle.

-------

The gears ground as Haruka seemingly punished the roadster for whatever had happened. Michiru sat quietly in the passenger seat, the only outward sign of her concern, her knuckles. They were clenched hard and white.

Haruka hadn't spoken yet but had immediately taken the driver's seat. She seemed intent on blowing her anger out. That, or killing herself in the process.

And the risks she had taken had been mind numbing in their outward stupidity or calculated skill. Haruka was the skill, but the abandon with which she accelerated and pulled through the traffic yelled at the stupidity. The fact she never drove like this with Michiru was also cause for concern. Even when she was angry at herself, she would never have risked the life of her lover.

Haruka's had been mumbling and finally now, some twenty minutes of white knuckled ride later they were audible.

"Mother fucking bastard," the expletive was punctuated with the squeal of tyres as Haruka spun out to take the corner.

Michiru raised an eyebrow. Any minute now, the boiling anger that Haruka was holding would flood over.

The car weaved in and out the other traffic, horn blasts and unfriendly gestures being thrown in Haruka's wake.

Haruka's face was in a tight scowl; her eyes intent on the road as the wind whipped her hair out behind her. The city was disappearing as they moved towards there home, the Outer's Mansion.

And then Haruka snapped, a wail escaping her mouth as she beat her hands against the dash and steering wheel, the acceleration giving out and the car spinning onto the gravel verge. Haruka continued to bang her hands against the dash, it denting at her strength. Michiru wanted to comfort her lover, but anger this torrential needed to run its course. Haruka bashed her head against the wheel and wrapped her arms around it as the tears poured from her eyes, soaking her shirt and her mournful wail piercing the air. Michiru put her hand on Haruka's shoulder and the Senshi of Wind pulled away, her tearstained face enough to shatter Michiru's heart.

Haruka tried to speak around her sobs, her voice hiccupping as she finally told her partner what had happened, "He called me a freak, a fucking lesbo dyke whore," her voice cracking as the tears increased their flow. "But he did it with the voices and faces of my parents, and my friends and with all the disgust and hatred in the world. And he did it with the Senshi's faces, your face and voice."

Michiru's face fell. Any blood she had in her face left it as the realization sunk in. The bastard had used Haruka's worst fear against her, that of losing Michiru. He had added the rest to punch her down further. Both women knew there would be narrow-minded individuals who wouldn't understand what they shared, but this was worse, using the face of the loved one to throw the only insult that could maim.

Michiru reached out again, her face stricken, trying to comfort Haruka. Haruka pulled away, pain and confusion on her face. Michiru sniffed, a large pearl tear falling down her cheek. She threw the car door open and ran.

-------

And they burst forth, two new flames, one yellow, one a rich aqua - turquoise. Both flames were in separate hearths, yet they reached to one another, the flames curling around one another, the flames turning a grey azure blue.

A harsh cackle of triumph echoed in this other place. Azel watched as the flames burnt, red, orange, yellow, greens and violet. The beginning of ice blue embers were glowing in an unoccupied fire pit.

Azel could not help but revel in his triumph. Where Beryl and Metallia had failed, he had succeeded. He had stepped beyond the limits of his kind and excelled and he now stood triumphant atop the Sailor Senshi. And the rich part was that they were unaware of his victory and any effort they made to thwart him would make his inevitable victory all the sweeter.

He looked to the flames, the circle of fire near completion. Mercury had yet to fall, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn had toppled. As had the Senshi of Neptune and Uranus.

He had particularly enjoyed that, plucking the worst fear from the mind of the Wind Senshi, and using it to break her. It was so wonderfully simple; she didn't care what anybody else believed but that one other person, the Ocean Senshi. Getting Uranus to question the feelings of Neptune for her was genius. In turn Neptune feared losing Uranus. Two birds with one stone, building up from simple insults them changing his face to finish with the face of her lover.

Azel felt something. Remorse? Guilt? Too much fucking television was what it was. His laughter peaked and slowed once more as he turned to his pride and joy, the last of the eight flames. He smiled at it.

The deep red maroon flame seemed angry with him and its burning tongues waved towards Azel, trying to lick him with its fire.

He spat at it.

Chapter Thirteen

INTERLUDE AMI

"Everything's so blurry, everyone's so faint

Everybody's empty and everything is so messed up

Preoccupied without you, cannot live at all

My whole world surrounds you"

Puddle Of Mudd - "Blurry" - Come Clean

-------

Ami sat quietly, her gaze turned out the small window next to here. The clouds, grey and like dirty cotton wool embraced the aircraft in a moist warmth. Her eyes did not see the monotonous billowing of the nimbus in the air currents although they were open to it. Instead her mind replayed the events which had lead her to her current situation.

-------

Burning in her brain, the message Yuuichirou had passed onto her pushed her on at a blistering pace, her legs pumping and her blood coursing through her veins like acid. Her mother was at work, was mostly at work, which left her and Urawa alone most of the time for study. He had been studying, today, when he would have been disturbed. All she knew was that something had happened to and in Helvetica, in regards to her, and if her fevered rationale could be trusted, the enemy had taken a stab at tormenting her. If she was correct and somehow this enemy dealt directly to the innermost fears, it was logical it strike at her through her learning.

Sliding she turned abruptly and bounded up the stairs as she entered the small suburban residence she shared with her mother and boyfriend. Her thoughts were running away from her, as she neared the answer she feared, remembering the reasons her mother had consented to allow Urawa to remain here and how her mother had complete trust in her.

Ami stopped as Urawa came down the stairs, pulling a shirt over his head. He had an annoying habit of leaving doors open while he was at home, saying he liked the air flow, which was how Ami knew he hadn't left for class, as she had ran right in.

Urawa looked at her surprised and began his descent once more, tucking his shirt in as he went.

"Ami, I thought that you would want to hear straight away, so I called - I hope I didn't interrupt anything." The concern in his voice was genuine and Ami leant over to catch her breath.

"No, we had just finished," she could worry about Jack and whatever was happening with him later, "what did they say?"

Urawa placed a hand on her shoulder and looked her in the face. "They just said for you to contact them immediately."

The way in which Urawa said this conveyed the overall tone. He had picked up on something and Ami knew what it was just from his body language.

"They're about to expel me aren't they?"

Urawa's face fell and he nodded. Ami sighed. There could be time for tears and sobs later, now she needed to act.

Urawa looked torn. Ami turned to face him, "Go to your class, I can deal with this."

Urawa still looked torn, today was a big presentation of some of his work and he couldn't really miss it, yet he didn't want to leave Ami alone.

"Go!" she yelled at him pointing towards the door. He leaned forward and kissed her on the cheek and whispered "Good luck" in her ear as he leaned down for his satchel. Walking towards the door he spun and continued backwards, oblivious to impediments. "I'll get the research notes from your tutors and I've already packed for you all your assignments and essays." And with that he turned and was out the door.

Ami frowned. Why would she need them to be packed?

-------

At thirty thousand feet it was obvious. She was on her way to Helvetica. A quick call to the institute had revealed she could not have spoken to Professor McCoy or even Doctor McTaggart, as both were dead, in fact, they had died on the same day as Usagi's party, their car careening off a cliff. So the conversation she had had, with however, had been false. And that so, all arrangements and conditions were made with nobody and thus were totally void.

So she was sitting on an airplane, bound for Helvetica and aiming to talk them out of expelling her. In any normal learning establishment she would be given leeway, but The Medical University Of Helvetica accepted only a certain amount of students per semester and failure to comply would not only lose your place in that semester but essentially forever. Marks regardless, absence without approved leave was not tolerated.

She could not abide that; it chilled her to the bone. Sure she could study elsewhere, but Urawa was studying there also and she couldn't abandon him. They were lucky their grades were good enough to be allowed the correspondence study they had been granted.

But she was lying to herself; she had to be the best. She struggled with the thought that she could be the best even without attending the Medical University of Helvetica, but her mind balked at it and she stewed over the possibilities, giving herself a stomach-ache.

She was lucky in one regard, her suitcase. Packed first by Urawa and repacked by herself, as quite frankly, he had an appalling notion of fashion, she had found that a flight was leaving in two hours. A crafty reshuffling of passengers with her computer, while morally objectionable, could be worried about later. She had reshuffled the flight passenger listing and placed those that she had moved into first class. She had then paid for her ticket online and with no one the wiser, all records totally legitimate. Her conscience wouldn't have allowed herself a free ride.

She had time to feel bad about her hacking and disruption of peoples lives now. So she did, and her stomach-ache worsened.

-------

In another place, devoid of light, except the ethereal flames of fires that burnt on nothing, a figure sat crossed legged, a water pistol in his hand, facing the slowly growing embers of an ice blue fire.

The maroon flame on his left would occasionally look at him and flicker out towards him. The water pistol was then used. While not a conventional flame, it obeyed the laws of flame, and thus abhorred water. They all did, which had proved beneficial as Azel sat within the circle, his mind reaching out and drawing in the soul energy the flames gave off at irregular intervals.

While youma were by nature a vampiric race, drawing off life force in order to grow more powerful, leaving the victim, intact but exhausted, Azel had learnt new skills. Skills that his race was never meant to know.

The blue embers seemed to flare up and down, as if the power sink they fed off was resisting.

Azel unfolded his legs and stood in a single movement, sinuous and fluid like he hadn't even exerted any energy. He twirled the pistol on his index finger and theatrically blew over the barrel.

"Time to push this one along."

Azel vanished from the dimension and with that one decision, set in motion his own downfall. The deep blood coloured flame had taken all this in and seemed to roll in waves as it burnt, almost like laughter.

-------

Ami had never been an advocate of air travel and combined with her anxiety, had become rather uncomfortable. After gaining some painkillers from the stewardess, she had forced herself to drift off into an uneasy sleep.

The dreams started off normal enough, classes. Well, normal for Ami. She was wearing clothes in the dream, so that was a good indication things would be alright. Her friends were all there talking in a group as she entered. Casting her glance over the lecture hall, she caught faces amongst the unidentifiable masses, faces from memory and nightmare. Nepherenia, Jadeite and random collections of enemies she and her friends had defeated. She shivered but knew they were just figments of her subconscious. The class began and Ami was called upon to read her paper aloud.

Said paper was thrust at her by the lecturer, Doctor McTaggart. This shocked her. Reason kicked in again and said that it was merely Ami dealing with the professor's untimely demise.

Standing at the podium, Ami began to read from the paper before her, knowing instinctually what it said. As she opened her mouth, her words fell forth in a stream unsupported by her brain. Prattle, childish anecdotes and quotes from children's literature flowed forth. Ami was horrified as she attempted to shut her mouth, her eyes welling with tears of panic as her mouth moved of its own volition. Raising her hands she dropped the paper and tried to force her mouth shut but it was locked open, the words flowing forth.

And then it hit her ears, the laughter, pure malicious cackling from every person in the crowd, from her enemies, from her friends and a look of disgust written across Urawa's face as he turned from her in scorn. The tears exploded, cascading down her cheeks as flesh began to fly, the nameless masses exploding, human appendages flying as the youma beneath shed their mortal guise.

Her body began to spin, the laughing faces and scathing remarks from friend and enemies assaulting her senses like sensory overload.

"Why don't you study Ami, you could at least be in elementary school by now rather than kindergarten!" That was Minako, her beautiful face twisted in a diabolical sneer.

"You'd think that even a dullard like you would get smarter in one thousand years time but there is always a exception isn't there? Thicko!" Zoicite, a voice from the past, both recent and deep.

"No way would I let you deliver my daughter!" Usagi screamed, Mamoru holding her shoulder with the annoying self righteous smirk plastered on his face.

And it continued, their hands and nails seeming to want to tear her apart, insults and fists flying as both Senshi and youma threw disparaging remarks into her teeth.

And the last, a mutter yet heard above all else and a mutter that shattered her resolve and ignited a chorus of jeers and catcalls.

"I'm too good for a dumb bitch like you." Urawa spoke and walked away.

Ami screamed, her reality falling away from her as the dream coalesced and merged into a muddy brown kaleidoscope.

The laughter stopped and when it filtered through to her mind that all was silence, Ami stopped her throat-scrapping scream and opened her eyes.

Before her stood Doctor McTaggart, her glasses perfectly straight on her nose and not a hair out of place, immaculate white lab coat making her seem like an vision, a signalled end to the nightmare.

"Ami, dear, ahm afraid to sae that ye have got a F," and with that a test paper was thrust into Ami's face. Ami feel backwards landing on her bottom and staring in abject horror as her teacher's face melted like wax, her eye's popping and hair falling out as worms burrowed through her skull. A wet splash sounded and Ami struggled to not look at the pile of entrails that had fallen from beneath the lab coat. The stench of death assaulted Ami's nostrils as she turned back to look at the greying flesh of the doctor's face.

The animated corpse chuckled, it jaw unhinging and falling to clatter on the ground, teeth shooting off to bounce in all directions. The test paper crumbled into ash and the outstretched hand flicked an accusatory finger to point at Ami, the nail dislodging in the abrupt motion and scoring a cut across Ami's cheek.

Ami backed away on all fours and the chuckling stopped as the sightless, jawless corpse grinned at her with a demonic approximation of satisfaction.

"F for fuck off!" It screamed as the pointing index finger was joined by the middle appendage and flicked upwards at her.

A fierce tempest exploded from behind the cadaver, its coat billowing before its rotted body shattered and its laughter and limbs floated away. Ami dodged the limbs and the wind increased its tempo, pushing her backward shoulders first. Back, her legs and arms stretched before her like she had been sucker punched in the midsection Ami flew through the lecture hall doors and into blackness.

-------

The quiet figure of the transformed Naydar / Jack Argusson entity was positioned in a tradition battle stance, his body signs slow as he fought to gain control of his body. He had harnessed but a small measure of his potential power and it scared him that he may be useless in the upcoming battle. And he knew it was coming. The entire incident with The Lady Aino reeked of the Fell Queen, and if he was any judge of character, a psycho hose beast like that was gonna start all kinds of trouble for sheer amusement.

Fell Queen? He shook the strange sounding words off. As quickly as they registered in his mind they vanished again. Panicking momentarily, but not knowing why, he calmed himself.

If he couldn't aid the Senshi as he should have - muttered swearing peppered the air - then he would at least help them out by leaking information, whether it be about their own powers or their enemies' likely strikes.

"That, Crius, is something I cannot allow."

"Hello Pluto," Naydar muttered, "and what thinks you can stop me from doing what I believe is best." He didn't even flinch as she had spoken but had still addressed her as fitting her current role.

"Because you haven't done anything I haven't allowed you to, that much I can see. Plus, your being here call's into question any events you partake in, thus creating a risk you will never be born."

"That I can deal with if I can avoid what I saw. Besides," his voice gaining a bitter edge, "we both know that this rebirth is a double edged sword."

"And what did you see? Us all dead and dying, bodies of men and women, raped and eaten on the battlefield by demons and nightmares? All hope for the future lost as everyone and everything we know lies destroyed and you having just disobeyed a direct order, from The Queen, no less, to be there? And yes I know."

"Then why ask, dammit!" His pose was broken now and he stood facing Setsuna, his arms were by his side, but his fists were clenched tight. "And do not dare to throw my participation into my face! If I hadn't been there, I wouldn't be here now and you would all be in a world of hurt! Besides being dead now or then don't mean jack!"

Setsuna studied him carefully. He seemed to have made his proposed alterations to his costume, a grey Lycra T-shirt underneath the white shirt and a holster belt of some description around his waist. A long coat, a deep black in colour lay over a nearby chair, a blue flash of cloth on the back and another from within a pocket. She had apologized for bringing him through, several times in fact, and it seemed now that he knew the consequences fully. Sadly, it couldn't, wouldn't be help.

"Nice threads."

This took him aback; he was expecting a threat of some variety or at least a withering retort. He got neither, merely a heartfelt look.

"I saw the aftermath Crius, I saw the carnage and the ruination. And Saturn survived, as did my counterpart. But casting a pebble into the timestream here could cause problems further along. I don't think I could contemplate a world without you and if your parents and sisters could choose they would not wish to be without you either. We will do this my way and we will do it right. We are safe so far as I do not feel the timeline bucking at its moorings. We can deal the hand we have been dealt now as all is in place. But I have to go now, however though; I shall be back soon. And that I am sorry, once more."

The portal appeared behind her, ripple sheen of purple and violet whites, and without breaking her gaze she stepped backwards, through and vanished.

Naydar fell to his knees, his limp hands knuckle down on the concrete. The fact she had used his royal title indicated it was an order, but her tone was so like the woman who had helped raise him, and teach him.

"Thank you Setsuna. Welcome back." Tears ran off his cheeks to lie in the dust before him. Maybe they had a chance and he could go home, however slim the possibility.

-------

Ami opened her eyes, hoping she would not regret it. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, the plane was still flying and there were no corpses yelling at her.

She breathed deep and sat herself upright, rubbing the sleep from her eyes with her fists. Pulling them away she couldn't help but stare at her right fist, as a line of blood ran across it. Placing the tips of her middle and index fingers against her cheek, they came away bloody.

She was still dreaming.

As if the realisation had ripped down the wall of illusion, the plane became a chaotic madhouse, passengers running up and down the aisle, some on fire, others fighting off other passengers that were attacking them.

Trying to remain calm, Ami slowly undid the seatbelt that seemed reluctant to let her go. Moving to the aisle and looking towards the cockpit, she saw nothing but mayhem, towards the tail the same. Attempting to bring the dreamscape back under her control, she turned and stumbled against a young man. He had long dark hair and glasses and looked as concerned as she. He grasped her shoulders, yet the contact was gentle.

"What's going on!" he yelled over the confusion.

"Its a dream!" screamed Ami, attempting to carry her voice over the throng.

A knowing grin slid across the young man's face and his grip tightened on Ami's shoulders, enough that she felt something scrape. The flesh tone of his face had run off like mascara and his glasses had cracked down the centre, gleaming red eyes revealed. The boy's teeth had become a sickly yellow, canine incisors for the most part, a rank stench riding his very breath, all upon a harlequin mask of white.

"Wrong!"

He began shaking her with such force that her head began to flail back and forth.

Ami screamed.

-------

Hotaru watched the outside world with cool detachment. For some reason she felt lethargic, tired. She had showered and dressed in fresh clothes and now stood in the wind, a mug of hot chocolate in her small hands. The night air was fresh but did little to invigorate her.

She still felt tired. But aside from that, she had questions. Searching for her own clothing she had stumbled into one of the bedrooms. One that looked recently used. Several towels lay on the floor and the bed was dishevelled. The curtains were closed, all light dim and stifled like the air. On top of that there was a scent, of stale sweat and musky fever.

More confusing was the fact that several items of clothing hung from the chair backs. A man's clothing.

Hotaru pondered this for sometime on the balcony. She had caught Setsuna mention something as she was drifting in and out of sleep in Haruka's lap on the evening of Usagi's birthday. It was a conversation she recognised, the serious, save the world type of thing that got her really serious and brooding, like when time was being played with. But if this he was a threat, why harbour him here? Why not dust him, as Usagi would put it?

Hotaru turned to enter the apartment and was greeted by Setsuna standing before her, in clothing similar to Hotaru's own, black jeans and thick sweater that matched her eyes.

"Hello little one."

Hotaru smiled and rushed into Setsuna's arms.

"So you knew?" Setsuna asked.

"How could I not, you're my big sister!"

A tear blossomed in the corner of Setsuna's eye but didn't move.

"Come, we must make ready." Reluctantly said, as much as it was.

-------

Ami sat bolt upright, startling the old woman next to her with her sudden movement. She rubbed her cheek and when no blood came away, she relaxed, resting down into her chair.

The intercom sounded, the pilot's voice vibrating through the cabin. "Good morning, please fasten your seatbelts as we will be landing in Helvetica momentarily. Please return service trays to the upright position and extinguish all cigarettes."

There was a pause, as the stewards looked about, confused. All domestic and international airline flights were now by law, smokefree.

The Captain's voice came over again, although slightly muffled, "Damnit Robert, I said put it out!" There was some muted scuffling and what sounded like a smack, followed by an insincere "Sorry, Darrell."

The captain coughed and removed his hand from the microphone. "We will be landing in five minutes time, enjoy your stay," and with that the intercom went dead.

Ami fastened her seatbelt and moved her tray up as she tidied herself for arrival. Whatever had just passed up front didn't put much confidence in her of the crew's abilities, In fact she pinched herself to check if she was still dreaming. Satisfied she was now fully awake she tried to mentally prepare herself for what was to come.. The old woman seated beside Ami watched the young woman out the corner of her eye, a red eye.

-------

Michiru walked slowly through the quiet mansion; Haruka closeted in her more often than not, unused bedroom, Hotaru with Setsuna.

The turquoise beauty was haggard, her beautiful face flushed and drawn; tear tracks making her seem years older.

She opened the large stainless steel refrigerator and grasped a bottle of water. Closing the door she jumped as the reflection in the metal startled her, clad in dark seifuku and unexpected.

"Setsuna, I didn't hear you come in."

"No, considering I didn't"

Oh this was great, thought Michiru, rolling her eyes. Double-talk at midnight after a trying day with a woman whose concept of time is not so much what time but when time.

Pluto rested the Time Staff against the counter and walked to Michiru. Taking the water Pluto moved it to the counter top and embraced the younger woman. With a single touch, tears that had been dry sprung forth anew.

Hotaru watched all this from the hallway, where Pluto had 'dropped her off', her eyes moist as she realised what was happening. Anger could wait, and thus not be wasted.

She turned and strode meaningfully, muttering alternate curse words and verbal exercises to focus her mind. A specifically punctuated sentence - "Saturn Crystal Power" - resulted in a flurry of shadow and stars and Sailor Saturn stood in midstride where Tomoe Hotaru had been seconds before.

-------

Haruka lay quiet, curled on the bed in a fetal position, her knees under her chin with the grey sweat-suit around her more like a blanket than an item of clothing. Her blue eyes were wide open, staring blankly at the wall, her back to the large ranch slider that dominated one side of the room. She could not fathom what had happened. She loved Michiru, that much at least she was sure of, with her she felt complete, a part of something better than she could ever hope to achieve alone.

Why was this persistent inclination pounding her, that it was wrong, that she was defunct, undeserving of any love whatsoever, male or female, friend or lover. In her drive to be accepted she had become anathema.

She squeezed her eyes shut. These thoughts weren't her own, she knew this yet she couldn't ignore them, and they were constantly there with each breath, there with each motion.

Ever since the incident in the car.

And when she hit that thought, the doubts began all over again.

The thoughts and endless cycle did stop however when the wall fell in, dust and plaster clouding the air.

Haruka stood, focusing her confusion into her anger at being disturbed and she stood on guard, ready to strike or berate any who dared interrupt her grief. It was a struggle to remain composed when the thoughts assaulted her anew.

The drama of the entrance was broken by a cough as the dust cleared and Saturn cleared her throat. She wasn't any taller on the top of the wall's remains but it did look impressive.

"Have you quite finished moping?"

Haruka flushed, and opened her mouth to speak, her face tight with rage, when the Silence Glaive materialized in Hotaru's hand and gleamed ominously in the moonlight creeping through the ranch slider.

"We don't have time for that shit now, we need to get going and put this behind us."

Haruka clicked onto the imperialistic tone and didn't like it. Yet she could now, the thoughts being less prominent, feel that they were not alone, the others most likely both Setsuna and Michiru. Michiru, her better half, the white to her black. She broke off that train of thought as the need to curl up got stronger.

Hotaru glared at Haruka, hoping that her forced bravado would topple the indomitable Uranus, and hopefully piss her off enough to put aside her doubts and whatever else had caused this, the influence of the enemy.

"Remind me to ground you later." Haruka muttered darkly, while contemplating whether spanking her would be misinterpreted by society.

-------

Ami walked slowly out of the Medical University of Helvetica, struggling with her emotions. The key was to maintain the facade of disappointment. Hide her true feelings. Whatever they had scanned in Minako had shown up on her.

-------

She had exited the plane and made her way to the nearest restroom as fast as possible. The plane had felt uncomfortable and she needed to be away from it. After tidying herself up, she transformed and leapt out of the skylight, leaping from rooftop to rooftop, the shadows of the ancient architecture and strategic landings amid cornices, hiding her from prying eyes.

Crouched atop the roof of one of the dormitories, her own in fact, near to the campus, Mercury recalled her transformation and entered the halls. Quiet haunted the halls, as it was the middle of the morning, class in session. Entering her room, it was precisely as she left it, no problems there. The dorm room was a simple affair, a bed, desk, beer fridge (minus the beer quotient) a few posters and an over filled bookshelf occupying a large portion of the wall that didn't have a window.

The mini computer was out of her tesseract pocket mere seconds after the door was firmly closed. Ami lay on the bed to compose her thoughts while her hardwired friend composed a complete bio scan on her down to a molecular level taking into account any nega-energy or the magical derivative that had been isolated in Minako.

Some five minutes later and a mental recitation of pieces of certain psychology texts, the Silver Millennium computer chirped its completion.

The realisation that had sunk in after Ami had departed the plane was confirmed. A similar anomaly existed in her also, and being the scientific, inquiring individual she was, she contacted the only person likely to know more about it than her. Setsuna. While the Senshi Of Time had seemed slightly miffed at being disturbed, she was very intrigued to learn what Ami had uncovered and as such had minutes later, ported into Ami's dormitory and sat quietly at the foot of the bed while Ami outlined what she had discovered.

Pluto had taken it all in and nodded at the appropriate points, before informing Ami she was already aware of it.

-------

"What!" Ami almost choked.

"As I said, after our initial success with Minako I was able to pinpoint the exact cause. It is a demonic energy technique, that much I know for certain. This technique brings the victims fears and paranoia to the surface, where in turn, they react to external stimuli that the demon or spell caster manipulates. The fear and increased responses to it feed a power sink from which the demon can draw soul energy, which is pure concentrated essence. Drawing this is more effective and sustaining than the simple life energy that youma draw and soul energy will not just exhaust the victim but eventually kill them. It also allows the demon to evolve into a stronger form."

Ami was, to put it mildly, flabbergasted.

Setsuna looked at her and continued. "It is as Naydar related, a fairly straight forward demon practice, breaking the soul, claiming it and then killing the victim."

"I don't believe in demons."

"Ami," Pluto said in a swift, understanding voice, "you are one of the most intelligent people I have ever known but you are remarkably narrow-minded. Demons are like youma, beings from another plane of existence, another universe living next door to ours, through the veil of life and death, being and not being."

Ami shuddered.

-------

And leaving the office this played through her head, the pain of failure on the surface of her mind as Setsuna had instructed, the satisfaction that she had both foiled the demon and retained her place at the university vying for equal place in her private heart.

Ami stopped and sat quietly on a nearby bench. Almost immediately, another person sat beside her, and Ami turned to look at Setsuna. On outward appearance the older woman looked hurt and worn, the brown leather jacket faded, her black jeans and green shirt wrinkled. Her hair was tied up in a loose ponytail and a sad smile was on her face.

Ami was inwardly puzzled, but played along. She turned to Setsuna and began to cry, leaning against her shoulder. Setsuna reached an arm around Ami and seconds later unbeknownst to most all, were gone.

The old woman feeding the pigeons on the far side of the square noticed, in fact, that was all she noticed, her eyes flashing a malevolent red before she too disappeared, her shawl falling to the bench.

A pigeon shat on it.

-------

DISCLAIMERS

Chapter Ten

Started April 2000. Finished April 2001. Compiled and Edited June 2002. By Nicholas Paul Clark (Warriorsong). Standard disclaimers apply. Sailor Moon and related characters were created by Naoko Takeuchi and are copyright Kodansha, Bandai, Mixx, Pioneer Entertainment and DIC. Down With The Sickness by Disturbed from the album The Sickness is copyright Giant Records and WB Music Corporation. If any of this information is incorrect or absent, I offer my most humble apologies. No copyright infringement is intended, this is merely a work of fan fiction. I am in no way affiliated to any of these organizations, companies or individuals. Thank you for reading.

Chapter Eleven

Started April 2000. Finished April 2001. Compiled and Edited June 2002. By Nicholas Paul Clark (Warriorsong). Standard disclaimers apply. Sailor Moon and related characters were created by Naoko Takeuchi and are copyright Kodansha, Bandai, Mixx, Pioneer Entertainment and DIC. With Arms Wide Open by Creed from the album Human Clay is copyright Wind Up Entertainment, Epic Records and Sony Music. If any of this information is incorrect or absent, I offer my most humble apologies. No copyright infringement is intended, this is merely a work of fan fiction. I am in no way affiliated to any of these organizations, companies or individuals. Thank you for reading.

Chapter Twelve

Started April 2000. Finished April 2001. Compiled and Edited June 2002. By Nicholas Paul Clark (Warriorsong). Standard disclaimers apply. Sailor Moon and related characters were created by Naoko Takeuchi and are copyright Kodansha, Bandai, Mixx, Pioneer Entertainment and DIC. Burn by The Cure is copyright Fiction Records and Warner Music. If any of this information is incorrect or absent, I offer my most humble apologies. No copyright infringement is intended, this is merely a work of fan fiction. I am in no way affiliated to any of these organizations, companies or individuals. Thank you for reading.

Chapter Thirteen

Started April 2000. Finished April 2001. Compiled and Edited June 2002. By Nicholas Paul Clark (Warriorsong). Standard disclaimers apply. Sailor Moon and related characters were created by Naoko Takeuchi and are copyright Kodansha, Bandai, Mixx, Pioneer Entertainment and DIC. Blurry by Puddle Of Mudd from the album Come Clean is copyright Interscope Records and UMG Recording. If any of this information is incorrect or absent, I offer my most humble apologies. No copyright infringement is intended, this is merely a work of fan fiction. I am in no way affiliated to any of these organizations, companies or individuals. Thank you for reading.