A/N: Thanks for the reviews so far. I'm a bit surprised that a lot of people are surprised about the appearance of Beryl. She plays a major part in the story, so yeah, I didn't just put her here as an ornament.

Btw, "Ashes and Secrets" might end in a few chapters. I'm thinking of making a follow-up story to this one, or at least write some companion pieces where the other senshi meet the other Shitennou. What do you guys think?

As always, thanks for reading. Reviews are always welcome.:)

RJRJRJ

"Fierra!"

"Artemis! You startled me!"

The white cat looked at the raven-haired girl with surprise in his eyes. "Surprise? I did not expect you to have such a human emotion, Fierra, especially not from a guardian."

Fierra heard the reprimand in his voice. "I am sorry, Artemis. I have not been able to meditate that much lately."

"Have you really not been meditating, or is there something bothering you?" Artemis's voice radiated concern, but there was something else there, something Fierra could not identify. "How goes your mission?" He asked, changing the topic, for which the girl was thankful.

"I believe that the source of energy is the Daryne chit."

"Then eliminate her."

"I would if I could, but I am not yet aware if she knows about this power or not," Fierra said, trying to hide her shock at the cold calculation in Artemis's voice.

"Mercy, from the lady of war? That's surprising," Artemis quipped.

"It's not mercy," Fierra said heatedly. "You know as well as I how these mortals are about magic. I need to be careful, otherwise, our kingdom might be put at risk."

"Is that all that concerns you?" Artemis asked, his tone probing.

"What is that supposed to mean, Artemis?" Fierra answered, anger in her voice. "Do you think I choose to stay on Earth for fun? Do you believe that I am not doing what I can in order to solve this problem? Then by all means, pull me out of this job and assign someone else!"

Artemis deflated at Fierra's anger. "That is not what I mean, Fierra." This time, his voice was conciliatory. "I am just concerned that your priorities may have changed."

"And what do you think I am prioritizing now?" Her voice, in contrast, was eerie in its coolness.

"The human."

"I know what my duties are, Artemis." Fierra's voice remained cold. "I have not forgotten my vow."

"Sometimes, I wonder if your vow was made earlier than it should."

"What do you mean?"

"You were practically a child when you made your vow to the princess, Fierra. A lot could have changed then."

A pause. "Even if things did change, it does not mean that my commitment has wavered. I know what my duties and responsibilities are. It was a… Pleasure talking to you, Artemis. I will talk to you soon."

RJRJRJRJ

"Rei, are you there?" Jonathan asked, knocking softly on her door. Ever since the ride, the young woman seemed to not avoid him as much as she did before, even though she took care not to spend some time alone with him. Even so, she seemed to have remarkable timing, as she was always around every time the Lady Beryl would come and visit. On one hand, Jonathan was pleased that he could see her again, but on the other, he found himself getting headaches from all the sniping the two women did. Initially, he felt flattered and hopeful because there seemed to be a touch of jealousy in Rei's voice. As the days passed, however, he was starting to become suspicious that there was more to it than that. Certainly, Rei always had an angry expression every time Lady Beryl tried to cozy it up with him, but there was something more there. Somehow, Jonathan could not believe that this was the typical cattiness of women that Nathaniel always talked about.

He was still standing in front of Rei's door when one of the maidservants passed by the door. "My lord, if you are looking for Miss Rei, I thought I saw her going to the archery range."

"Many thanks, madame," Jonathan said, bowing politely at the maidservant, who scurried along. The archery range? What would she be doing there? It is far from the stables. Even so, he made his way to the archery range in the off-chance of finding her there.

When he did find her, his breath was taken away with what he witnessed. He had spied her form quite a distance away. Seeing that she had a bow in her hands, he thought that she was just trying to play with the weapon, especially since the longbows were designed for strong warriors as bending the bow took a lot of effort in itself. He was surprised not only to see that she bent the bow effortlessly, she was able to hit the target quite easily.

Seeing the target, he was actually surprised to see that the red mark at the center was riddled with arrows.

"You did all that?" He choked out. Not even in Jonathan's wildest dreams could he hit all of his arrows at the target. None of his brothers-in-arms could. How could a slight girl do this?

Rei whirled around. "My lord! You startled me!"

"Didn't I tell you to get rid of that 'my lord' business?" Jonathan managed to tease, but he was still wide-eyed as his gaze alternated between the target and the bow in the dark-haired young woman's hands.

Rei followed his eyes and then blushed. "I am sorry for wasting the arrows, but your weapons master allowed me to practice. I can easily remove these arrows so that you can use these again."

My weapons master allowed her to use the archery field? Santiago wasn't the type of man who would easily let anyone use the kingdom's weapons, especially not young women. "To hell with the arrows. How did you manage to shoot in that way?" Jonathan exclaimed, his surprise preventing him from using polite speech. Rei made no reply and only turned away. "Rei, sorry. I keep forgetting about your lost memories."

Rei gave him a small smile. "Don't worry, milord. It didn't bother me. I suppose you don't want me to use the archery field anymore."

"Of course you can use it!" Jonathan answered immediately. He wasn't sure which surprised him even more, Rei's skill with the bow and arrow, or the fact that she was talking to him again as though he didn't have the plague. A sudden idea struck him. "How good are you with other weapons?"

"Mi- Jonathan?" Rei asked, in response to Jonathan's quirked eyebrows.

A grin appeared on his features. "Follow me." In so saying, he led her to the courtyard where his swordsmen were training.

"Swords, Jonathan?" It was Rei's turn to quirk an eyebrow at him. "Do you actually want to kill me?"

At this, Jonathan laughed. "I do admit I want to strangle you at times for being stubborn, but no, I have no intention of killing you. I was wondering if you wanted to spar with me."

A look of indecision flitted across Rei's face. "It wouldn't be proper…" she started, but Jonathan cut her off.

"Since when have you cared about propriety?" Jonathan teased. "Look, if you don't know how to use a sword, then that's fine, I can teach you. At least you get to learn something from this. However, if you actually know how to use a sword, holding one in your hands might just jog your memory, so you will also get something out of it."

"But what if…?"

"It will be fine," Jonathan coaxed. "Look, we'll be using wooden swords so no one gets hurt," he cajoled, handing one of these to her. "Unless you're scared," he added, smirking.

That did it. Rei snatched the wooden sword from his hand. "I am not scared of you, Jonathan Herid," she growled, taking a stance.

Jonathan saw her stance, and more questions erupted in his head. While he wasn't familiar with that specific stance, he knew an experienced sword wielder when he saw one. Without warning, he attacked, which Rei easily blocked. Yes, she definitely knew how to use the weapon.

"Let's make our sparring interesting, Rei," he said.

"I don't trust your smile," Rei growled, as she tried to slash him from the side.

"Come on, sparring's not that interesting without any bets," Jonathan teased, easily sidestepping her attack and counterattacking.

Rei blocked the stab. "Fine. What's the bet?"

"If I win, you will need to answer all of the questions that I ask."

Rei's pause nearly got her hit on the side if she did not dodge quickly. "And if I win?"

"If you win, then I will need to give you anything you ask for." Jonathan grinned then. "After all, I am a king, and kings can give a lot of things."

"Fine."

Jonathan did not expect the next minutes to be difficult. He figured he would ease up on the fighting and focused instead of blocking. He did not really want to beat Rei, only he wanted to get her to answer some things and he could not think of any other way for her to respond. What he didn't count on was the fact that Rei fought as she did. She expertly blocked every slice and thrust he threw at her, dodging and rolling when she can without care of ruining her dress. She gave as good as she got, and at times, Jonathan was hard-pressed to block to avoid having several bruises the next day. He may be stronger, but she was faster. He was not giving his best, certainly, but he had a sneaking suspicion that Rei was also not giving her all in the fight. Even so, the fight was good enough to draw the attention of some of his warriors who have been training.

"Come on, Jonathan," Rei mocked. "It's not too late for you to surrender. You wouldn't want your men to see their king falling to a girl, would you?"

"I already have fallen," Jonathan said honestly.

At this, Rei almost tripped, steadying herself. Her stagger was enough for him to mark her with his sword. "Cheater!" Rei said angrily.

"What? It's not like I'm lying," Jonathan said, grinning. He was surprised at how she was still able to talk even if they had been fighting for several minutes already, and even more so because she seemed genuinely angry and surprised at his statement.

Rei growled and unleashed a barrage of attacks, and her speed allowed her to get several hits on Jonathan. Instead of wincing in pain, the young man chuckled. "Are you the one who's trying to kill me now, Rei?"

"Jonathan? Fighting with a girl?"

"She's a beaut, too. No wonder he hasn't been attending the council meetings."

"Herid's going to lose to a girl!"

The new voices distracted Jonathan. As he was about to turn his head toward the voices, he felt a sharp whack on his head, and he was only able to see Rei's shocked face and the amused faces of Nathaniel, Zachary, and Kaelan before he fell unconscious.