AN: Time for the next chapter. I finally reached the double-digit chapters. Thanks again for your nice reviews. I am glad you still like the story. This time I might have some answers to some of your questions (at least I hope so), albeit not all. Enjoy.
Previously:
After attending an evening art exhibition organized by Michiru, Ami takes a rushed leave after a rather unfortunate encounter with her long lost father. Trying to vent of her frustration she decides to go for a swim, but unfortunately gets involved in a case of jewelry robbery. While trying to get the thugs arrested things turn for the worst. She loses her Henshin Stick and ends up severely hurt. Found by her friends, they try to heal her, with little success, instead they manage to accomplish a completely unexpected feat: splitting up Ami and her Mercurian Senshi guardian into two separate entities. Ami remains severely hurt and the Senshi have no choice, but to consult her mother for help, who is not very thrilled to find her daughter at death's doorstep, while learning for the first time that Ami has a secret life as a Senshi. Reluctantly, and only due to Mercury's rather rude intervention, she agrees to do the surgery meant to save her life, trying to take out the bullet she was struck with.
Their living room had never been that crowded. Personally, Haruka did always consider it as quite spacious, but right now with all the Senshi scattered on the couch, in armchairs and slouched on the floor she realized how small it truly was. It reminded her of the disastrous day, when they fought Galaxia`s minions in Usagi`s house. Together with the Starlights they demolished half of the house in order to defeat the enemy. They had laughed about it afterwards. Now, nobody was laughing. And she doubted anybody would ever laugh about it afterwards.
If there was an afterwards.
Only eerie silence filled the room. On every cemetery, the mood would be brighter. Haruka could not take it any longer. She had to do something no matter how meaningless it was. That was just her nature. Maybe she could go to the training room and run herself ragged or she could ask Makoto for a sparring match. It may be the middle of the night, but she had the irresistible urge to smash something. However, maybe it was not the best idea to use Makoto´s head as a punching bag. The thunder Senshi already appeared to be on the brink of exhaustion anyway. She already fought of the temptation of sleep tediously for the last ten minutes. The others seemed to fare only slightly better. All but Hotaru who had curled up in the second armchair and dozed off.
Haruka finally decided to take some action. She was tired of this game of sitting around and waiting. "Does anybody want some coffee?" Five hopeful pairs of eyes focused on her, answering her question without words.
Haruka simply nodded and left for the kitchen. Suddenly, Usagi rose as well and approached the secluded form of Mercury carefully. The Ice Senshi had retreated to the opposite side of the room staring out of the window into the dark. What she was seeing there, nobody knew, but none of them wanted to disturb her. In fact, they were glad, she kept her mouth shut for the time being. Her unmoving form of energy did not react to Usagi' approaching form. She did not even turn around. She was ignoring her on purpose, but the gentle blonde did not let it offend her. Quite the contrary. "I wanted to thank you." She said instead to the surprise of everyone. Since when was a thanks recommended for utterly rude and bitchy behavior?
"There is no need to thank me." Mercury answered coolly after a pregnant pause.
At least they agreed in one thing.
Usagi was still talking to her back. "Yes, there is. You got her to do it. You made her understand that she had to take action irrespective of the possible outcome. I might not approve your method of choice to achieve that goal, but it still worked. So, thank you." Usagi was truly honest. She meant what she said.
"If you insist. However, you should be aware that it might be a bit too early to thank me. She is far from being in the clear right now. Some reassuring words won´t change that." And there it was again. The low blow to everyone, who had dared to get his hopes up. Usagi studied her back thoroughly. This woman was an enigma to her. She was their ally, wasn´t she? Ami's guardian. So what was her objective? And why was she treating them with such rude indifference?
Still, despite her discouraging words Usagi would not lose hope. "She will make it. I am sure of it."
A disbelieving snort. "Such unwavering optimism. You should know better by now. The world does not conform to wishes. Such naivety can cost you dearly."
Usagi narrowed her eyes and steadied her posture. The following words were sharp like a steel blade. "This is not a wish. It's a fact. I have known Ami for a long time. And if I am sure of one thing than it is that she is not giving up."
Suddenly Mercury did something unexpected. She laughed. However, it was not a spiteful and mocking laugh. Actually, it sounded a tad bit sad and bitter. "It would be nice if just 'not giving up' was enough to ensure a favorable outcome for everything. Sometimes your will to achieve something can be as strong as a fortress and it's still not enough. And sometimes there just is no favorable outcome at all. I might have reassured Ami´s mother in there that she will live. However, that doesn´t mean, I consider this outcome most likely. I said it, because it was necessary. Exciting hope was the only motivation to get her moving. And when you stop moving, all is over, before you even get the slightest chance to change anything for the better."
"You didn't mean it?" Usagi asked shocked.
"I wish I did, but unfortunately the facts tell a different story."
"I do not believe in facts. I believe in my friends. Together even fate stands no chance against us." Usagi argued steadfastly still talking to Mercury's back.
"And that´s where you lie to yourself. You are just a dreamer. As long as your dream lasts, it's quite a nice way to see the world. Problem is, eventually your dream will perish. Then you are forced to wake up and come back to reality. And usually that´s quite an unpleasant and painful fall and the only thing left at the end, is the memory of what your dream has once been. Memories that will mock you and tear your heart apart and even those will fade into nothingness, once they face harsh reality for too long. Then you want to have them back only to realize, that they have been replaced by fake illusions anyway. You are a naive child. You have not even realized the danger in dreaming at all. Because thriving for something, that's impossible to obtain will destroy you at the end. You and everything that you left behind to achieve that dream. That´s why I prefer to be a realist from the beginning. There are just some things, which were never meant to be. The sooner you accept that the better for you."
"Yes, I might be a dreamer. But even if what you said is true and I will lose that dream eventually, then I can at least say, I dreamed it with all I had. If you do not dare to dream, then you lost your future, before it was even born. You need courage to dream. How else should those dreams become a reality?"
Mercury closed her eyes in resignation.
"And how do you want to decide which dreams are qualified to become reality and which are not?"
She smiled brightly. "That one is easy. My friends will tell me, when I am going nuts."
Mercury huffed weakly. It somehow sounded wounded. "You are a complicated one, are you not? You believe, trust and forgive so easily. And you do not consider the consequences in doing so. Some might not deserve this selfless dedication, some will use it to destroy you and for some it will be the reason why they destroy themselves."
Usagi gauged her carefully. What was she trying to say? She did not understand. Still, she was kind of hurt by her cruel statements, but she wouldn´t let it show. Reacting to it would only distract her from what she really wanted to say. So why did she have the feeling that Mercury was talking about something really important. That this was more a warning than a reprimand for once. What was this warning about? Did she know something she did not want to tell? Was there a reason not to trust her?
Usagi steeled herself. "I decide whom I trust and I am willing to shoulder the consequences."
"Can you? Do you even know what these consequences are? I doubt you can."
"I have done so before. I know I can't do everything alone, but I have help. My family. My friends. You."
"Me?" Mercury just snorted. "Why would you trust me? You don't even know me. And your friends made it quite clear, they don't. Maybe you should listen to them for once." Her tone held now no emotion at all. What was she suggesting here? Was this a test?
Usagi did not waver. "I believe you do deserve my dedication. You are Ami´s Senshi guardian after all. Ami fought at my side for years now and that means you did, too. Although I can´t remember it properly I am sure you did during the Silver Millennium as well. Isn´t that enough reason to trust you?" Usagi asked solemnly. Mercury did not move at all.
"There is quite a lot you cannot remember, I assure you. Some of it to your own good."
"Well, I never got the chance to talk to one of you lot so far. And I want to remember. All of it. But even if I do not, I still have my intuition. There is this lingering feeling I have. It´s almost like being really certain of something with actually not knowing as to why. And do you know what it tells me? It tells me that when I jumped off a cliff, you would dive into the abyss to catch me. If somebody tried to attack me, you would shield and defend me and if I stumbled to the ground, you would be there to help me up. Although your grumpy posture and your disgruntled behavior tells me differently, I just know that what I feel is true. I cannot explain it. It's just like a survival reflex such as not to breathe underwater or to recoil from the heat of fire. It's implanted in my very bones. Something I can follow blindly and without thinking and it feels right. Despite your best efforts to be as despicable as possible, all of my feelings actually tell me to trust you unconditionally. As did your actions today. No matter what you said or did, it was all directed towards one final goal: Saving Ami. So, even if you were my mortal enemy, although my whole being detests this mere thought, we have at least that in common. She means a lot to the both of us, does she not?"
Mercury finally turned around answering in a tone of barely composed indifference. "Which makes it even harder to be unable to help. I am supposed to be her guardian. However, the only thing I could do today was to watch how things enfolded to a complete disaster and even contribute to it." Her eyes looked so old right now as if a long forgotten pain did suddenly awake anew. As if Usagi hit something deeply hidden within her with her words.
Usagi eyed her with scrutiny. "Please, can you tell us what happened tonight?"
"No." she bluntly answered, her cold mask back in place. "However, I can show you."
Neptune stood in the middle of the room unsure of what was expected of her. Unsurprisingly, Mercury did not bother with unnecessary explanations. Actually, there had only been brisk orders. Transform. Summon your talisman and wait for further instructions. It reminded her a bit of her first violin teacher. He had been strict, straightforward and absolutely relentless. She had been intimidated by him. She had given him the nickname `drill sergeant'. Upon their first lesson, he had just handed her the instrument and requested her to play. Back then she hadn't even known how to hold it properly. She had merely been 8. And it didn't help much that it had been his prized violin had been worth several hundred thousand Yen. As expected, it ended in a disaster.
He had taught her until she was 18 and she began to love every single lesson with him. Then, he had to move back to Poland where his family was living. In their last year together she had asked him why he designed their first lesson with her like that. He laughed and had just answered. "You were afraid of the instrument. You looked at it, as if it might bite you or as if it you expected it to break any second. I wanted to show you, that you are the one controlling the violin and not the other way around. You are the one giving your music shape and life. Your mood and feelings define its tone. Beautiful music is born in the heart. You need the purest form of compassion to invoke compassion in the people, who listen to it and compassion has one true enemy: fear. You cannot be compassionate while being fearful. Second reason was, I wanted you to have a comparison of how much you improved over time. Your first time playing a violin should always be awful. Only then you can appreciate the art of mastering the instrument and you truly see what it can do in your experienced hands."
That was only one lesson he had taught her in life. He was a genius on the violin and she missed him dearly. And although her life has changed much since she awoke as a Senshi, his lessons have proofed to be helpful even now more than once. He has probably taught her more than her own parents ever did and only the smallest things brought up snippets of fond memories about him. To think that someone she thought to be utterly rude, spiteful and intimidating in the beginning grew to be one of her most cherished friends said enough about judging a book by its cover.
So right now while observing Mercury's transparent form bossing around the others, she was wondering if she was looking at another cover. Maybe. But what was behind that cover? For now, she would be careful to judge her. Though, so far her gut feeling told her, that Mercury was evasive, manipulative and guarded and that she wasn't completely honest with them. Her attitude seemed to be more faked than she would let on, since she was quite a good actor. Michiru had the distinct feeling, that her bitchy behavior was intentional to divert their attention away from the truly important things. From asking the right questions. She didn't like it one bit, but so far she could not be sure if it was out of ill will or for a different reason. Therefore, she would wait and observe carefully. And if by any chance she was not, who she pretended to be or meant any harm to them, then by god she would find a way to kick her transparent arse.
"You ready?" Mercury asked her briskly.
"Depends. Ready to do what? If you wanna have a refreshing bath, then I am more than ready for quite some time." she retorted cockily.
She might imagine it, but there seemed to be a slight tug upwards at the corner of Mercury's mouth. However, even if it had been there, it was gone immediately.
Instead, she just answered bluntly. "To use your talisman of course."
Neptune's brows furrowed in a skeptical way. "I don't see any illusions to shatter or truths that have to be revealed. Nor do I think that you want to hear some prophetic visions. That is what my talisman can do. In any other regards, I am afraid I will be of no help."
"That's what you know of the things your talisman can do. And even those things you only found out by accident and since then you haven't bothered to ask yourself how it works? What the mirror actually does? That's so typical for all of you. You just take it for granted, though it's not. The mirror was a precious gift, given to you because the need arose for you to have it, even if you were not ready for it. You are ignorant to its true power, because you never truly had to earn it."
"I died to get it. If that is not enough, what is?" Michiru answered slightly offended. Being on the receiving end of her smart-ass lecture without feeling like being trampled over thoroughly, proofed to be challenging.
Mercury raised a brow and her insulting glare could be summed up as 'ignorant fool' spelled out in capital letters. Michiru inhaled sharply. Just remember: the cover of a book, don't judge it, before you know its contents. She tried to calm herself. And don't let this god forsaken, rude and insensitive cover raise your hackles. Concentrate on what was said, not your rage. There was more to this topic. What did she mean with: she 'hadn't earned it'? She was on the verge of asking her directly when Mercury simply proceeded.
"The power of your talisman, the mirror of Lagesh, is to reveal."
This statement got Michiru sidetracked. "To reveal? What do you mean by that?"
"Just what I said. Revelation. Of any kind you can imagine. Your mirror can reveal the truth; it can reveal deceit and upcoming danger; it reveals reality when it was replaced by illusions. It can even reveal the future; these are the prophetic visions you mentioned and there is one more thing it can do, you haven't discovered yet by your clumsy attempts of trial and error. It can reveal the past as well, memories to be precise. Everything you used it for so far is a kind of a revelation. In the hands of somebody who mastered it, the mirror is a precious tool, which has to be handled carefully, but is of immense power. In the hands of a child like you, it can be quite dangerous to everyone, friends and foes alike."
"I am not a child." Michiru protested her mask of calm slightly cracking.
"To me you are."
And there was it again. The deadly silence.
"Please, can we come back to what we originally wanted to do?" Usagi's voice interrupted the oncoming argument with a calmness that Neptune was definitely lacking at the moment. There was a pregnant pause.
"We should." Neptune relented grudgingly, but it sounded more like a threat, which was without a doubt meant for Mercury.
"Fine." Mercury agreed without any undertone at all. "What I want you to do is, reveal my memories with the mirror."
"Why?"
"Obviously, because you can't reveal Ami's at the moment. And I was there with her." She answered impatiently.
"No, I mean, why is it important for you to show them to us?" Neptune clarified. There was something fishy with her request. She just knew it.
"You are the ones who requested to know what happened. She asked me to…" She pointed at Usagi nonchalantly.
"I know. But why show it to us, if you can just as well tell us what happened?" Neptune digged further. This time she would not let her weasel out of it with her vague answers and provocations. She wanted to get to the core of this matter.
A knowing grin suddenly spread over her face. "Two reasons, actually. Number one would be that you do not trust me. Except your naive princess maybe, but she trusts everyone."
"I wonder why that is." Minako mumbled sarcastically.
Mercury just continued ignoring her. "And Ami is not available at the moment to vouch for my good intentions. So it might be more convincing to you, that I am actually telling the truth, when you see it with your own eyes. The second reason is, that you must know what happened, even the details, in order to get her Henshin Stick back."
"What?" A chorus of unbelieving voices answered.
"I will explain as soon as you have seen the memories."
"What, if we do not wanna wait that long?" Haruka challenged her openly.
Mercury rolled her eyes. "Please…haven't we already been at that point? I thought we agreed not to waste time anymore."
"Maybe we should also agree on a 'explain things before you order us around'- rule." Rei stated seething.
"I think that's what I am doing right now." Her voice was dripping with impatience. "And if there wasn't so much explaining to begin with, it would certainly work. Now is not the time. First, the memories, then the explanations. Deal?" she asked to shorten the discussion to an absolute minimum. Still, it sounded as if it was their fault and not at all hers.
All of them grumbled incoherently, more or less vicious.
"I'll take that as a 'yes'. Now, let's get started." Before any further objections could be uttered, she stepped right next to Neptune and touched her back with one hand and with the other the mirror. Neptune flinched because she felt a slight electric jostle travelling up her spine.
"Come here, all of you." Mercury demanded as the mirror in Neptune's hand started to glow a soft aquamarine color, while Mercury's hand sunk right into it.
"Ahem, what are you doing?" Neptune asked alarmed. She felt the mirror pull at something, but it was not her causing it. The pull seemed to originate from her or maybe from the warm hand on her back and travelled right through her body until it reached the mirror.
"Relax, it is just absorbing the memories I am giving to it." It felt different than it used to be. Normally she just asked the mirror. Show me what is strange? Show me where the Holy Grail is? Show me what our enemies are up to? And the output had always been more than vague. Now she realized that she might not have asked the correct questions. Because she had asked questions, the mirror could not know the answers of. But right now the answers were in reach. In Mercury. And the mirror dragged them right out of her. And it had been also her who had asked the appropriate question that was reverberating through her whole body. 'Show me what happened with Ami to get her injured!' How did she know how to do it? The mirror was Neptune's talisman after all.
This time she could not resist voicing her thoughts. "How can you possibly know how to do this? How to use my talisman or control Mars' fire. These are not your powers."
"We spent a decent amount of time together back in my time, remember?"
No, she could not. And Mercury knew. This was just another of her vague answers to conceal a truth she did not want to talk about.
Neptune felt it, as the pull suddenly shifted a bit. Mercury immediately tensed up. "No more talking. I have to concentrate." However, Neptune had already felt it. The pull had tried to take something from the Ice Senshi, she did not want to give. And she had tried to block the transfer. But for some reason Neptune was sure, she did not succeed completely. Had it been because of Neptune's question distracting her? Or was it because Neptune herself asked the question? After all, shouldn't the owner of the talisman overrule any other requests? Probably. So the mirror was controlled by the questions the owner asked. Mercury had just bypassed her ownership by using her as a bridge to talk directly to the mirror. But there was probably also an influence of the things the donor was thinking. Her blunt request not to distract her during the process seemed to confirm that. Maybe Neptune could use that for her own agenda. If she asked further questions, Mercury's answers might leak through the mirror, whether she wanted to reveal said answers or not. However, right as Neptune wanted to test out that theory further, Mercury interrupted the connection.
"The transfer was successful." She simply stated. "Now all of you touch the mirror!"
A slight chaos erupted as all of them wanted to touch the mirror at the same time, but as soon as they managed Neptune felt the opposite reaction of the pull she experienced previously. Now, it was like an explosion pushing outwards to extend over the boundaries of the mirror. Everyone gasped as a kaleidoscope of flying colors bombarded their minds and Michiru got slightly sick. Then it abruptly stopped. She felt a cool breath. It was when she did she notice that the scenery of their living room was gone. It was replaced by a random street only dimly lit in the dark of the night. Neptune looked down on herself and gasped alarmed. She was transparent. In panic, she searched for Haruka and realized that she was in the same state, as were all the others.
"Watch!" The voice of Mercury seemed to carry a double echo. Neptune finally calmed down and focused on the scene ahead. There was someone there, who wasn't transparent. Her back was turned to them, but the blue shock of hair identified the person on the sidewalk immediately. Ami. And watching was what she did. She saw her jostle upon hearing the scream. How she gazed around the corner to discover the thugs and the girl. How she hid her bag. How she rummaged through the waste container and climbed the fire escape. She winced as the metal bar hit Ami's arm brutally, as she did every other time a brutal fist hit home. And she saw the desperate plea in Ami's eyes as her Henshin stick tumbled over the edge of the building. She witnessed with satisfaction, how the brute went down with a final kick into the stomach and she saw the self-disgust in Ami's eyes. Then the second guy fell from the staircase and Ami stared bewildered at her hands, as she did after wielding the metals bars like a martial art expert. When the baseball bat finally hit her head with a sickening thud and Ami fell like log, Michiru felt like vomiting. She could almost smell the blood and hear the shocked gasps of the others as the scenery faded into unknown darkness. When the light returned in splotches, the surroundings seemed to be lacking color and it never got completely sharp. The outlines were fuzzy and unsteady, flickering like a broken television set. And Michiru realized that this must be the way, Ami had seen everything with a head wound, that caused severe concussion. As that guy manhandled her roughly and almost backhanded her for her brave refusal to tell him anything, Michiru almost jumped at him in pure anger. An outraged shout escaped her lips before she remembered that this was not real. She wasn't the only one who reacted that way. Haruka's hands were clenched in fury and Rei seemed ready to strangle that bastard with her bare hands. Usagi was downright shocked and she could hear Makoto gnash her teeth in anger. Minako was just shouting insults, not caring the least, that he could not hear any of it. Their combined rage finally exploded into a full blown ruckus as the bullet hit her, while she was diving for cover. As the gun was pointed again at her head and the asshole of a shooter dumped her there for a slow death, Usagi was crying openly. Rei and Minako had lost their temper mumbling obscenities. Makoto was shaking while her muscles longed for a target to launch her frustration on. And then it was finally over. Again the world swirled. And then they were back. Usagi finally crumbled to the floor in a sobbing mess, the Inners trying to soothe her and themselves.
Michiru paid no attention to the others. She was sick. She tried to blame this effect on the mirror, but she knew she was lying to herself. What she had seen had affected her to the core. Then a pair of strong arms encircled her. She had never been as grateful for Haruka's presence. The racer did not seem as affected as the rest of them. But appearances are deceiving. Michiru knew her well enough to realize, that she was paler than usual and she could feel the slight tremble in her arms.
Mercury gave them only a brief moment to gather their composure again.
Her face was not showing any emotion at all. "I never said it was pleasant to watch."
"How can you be so cold? THIS is nothing to joke about. So just shut it!" Rei hissed menacingly.
"I am not cold. I have to be efficient. At least one of us has to see the big picture."
Michiru's brows furrowed skeptically. What 'big picture'?
However, Rei didn't notice anything in her fury. "Do you even have a heart? Something called compassion or only a shred of feeling for anybody?"
For once, the Ice Senshi looked slightly hurt. Her voice however betrayed nothing of it. "Maybe you should calm down before we proceed. This way you are of no use to anyone."
"It's not as if you would have any problem to do that. Must be nice to be an unfeeling ice block."
"Not everyone is reacting by throwing a full blown fit as you do. Which won't help the situation at all, I might remind you. It has already happened. Nothing can change that."
Rei was still steaming, but she kept any further resentment to herself. After all, she had to admit grudgingly that she was right, even if she would rather testify her undying love for Yuishiro than admitting that aloud. "So what does the almighty incarnation suggest doing instead?"
"Her Henshin stick. We have to get it back."
"It tumbled over the roof edge. Can't we find it at the bottom?" Minako mused.
Haruka shook her head. "Not with so much police around. They were investigating the crime scene. With our luck they have confiscated it as evidence."
"We cannot be sure about that."
"Yes, we can. Your Sailor Pluto was at the crime scene while you were rushing back to save Ami. And she could not find it. It must be with the police." Mercury's comment earned her quite some astonished glances.
"How would you know that?" Haruka asked suspiciously.
"You can ask her after the surgery. It's the truth." Mercury stated annoyed.
"That's not, what I was asking. I don't doubt that she was there. I wanna know how you would know, she was there. Setsuna definitely didn't tell you. She did not even tell us."
Mercury looked at her grudgingly and it was clear that they reached a point; she didn't want to indulge into further. "It's as I've said. That's all you have to know."
"If you think for only one second, that we will be satisfied with that answer, you are sorely mistaken." Haruka objected.
"It does not matter, so stop pondering over insignificant details. The only thing important is, that we get the Henshin stick back."
"For us your so- called details are not so insignificant. And why are you so focused on the Henshin stick?"
"Isn't that obvious? Because we need it to save Ami."
"That's what you wanna make us believe, but if that's the case then tell us how so."
"If she transforms the powers of Mercury will heal her."
"Then why can't you do it now, but with the Henshin stick it's suddenly possible? Explain it to us."
"That's how it works." Mercury answered with a final edge. Her refusal to provide further details only kindled the skeptical thoughts everyone had. She was clearly keeping secrets.
Suddenly Usagi gasped. "You lost all of your powers, didn't you? It was me. I separated the two of you with the powers of my Moon scepter, didn't I?"
"We already know that, Usagi. Otherwise she could help Ami." Rei argued impatiently.
"No. That's not what I meant. There was no split in the power of Mercury. The point is, that Ami already has all of your powers, hasn't she? You said so yourself. There should be no reason for her to need the Henshin stick to transform to use them to heal herself. Despite of it, Ami is not doing any better."
The others looked at her confused. "Usagi, what do you want to say?"
"The Henshin stick won't help Ami. According to Mercury's own words she already has the magical power to heal herself, but somehow it's not working. So if she dies, it will get lost, too. The power of Mercury, I mean. She can't let that happen. She wants back, what was hers."
There was a pregnant pause then Haruka pointed an accusing finger at Mercury. "So what Usagi is trying to say here is that your goal isn't to save Ami, but yourself and the power of Mercury."
"What!" The others chorused.
Mercury just grimaced. It was clear that she didn't expect someone to point that particular detail out, least of them Usagi. And if any of the others doubted the truth of her words, they only had to look at Mercury's sour expression to realize, that it was indeed at least partly true.
Still, Makoto didn't get how Usagi drew that conclusion to begin with. "Why do you think that, Usagi?"
"Isn't that obvious? Look at her. She is losing power constantly. I do not think she can exist for a prolonged time without the power of Mercury. Her appearance already got weaker over the last hours and it flickered the most when she helped Mars channel her powers. With Neptune it flickered as well, but you seemed stronger afterwards. You have drawn power from the mirror. That was the whole reason for suggesting to use it, wasn't it?"
"What?" Michiru was anything but delighted to be used as a battery.
Mercury scowled. The expression seemed strange on a face that resembled Ami's so much. "It wasn't the sole reason."
"You do not even deny it? I trusted your guidance, but you just used me for your own good." Michiru seemed genuinely hurt. Betrayal of trust was a sensitive topic to her, especially since she was guilty to the same crime to an even greater magnitude.
Mercury just folded her arms stubbornly. "You didn't even feel the loss of your powers. The amount I took was insignificant to you. And you got my memories in exchange."
Michiru just shook her head accusingly. "That's not the point here. I would have granted you my power freely. It's your lack of courtesy to ask for allowance and your manipulation, I have a problem with."
Mercury just huffed, but did not respond. For her the whole argument seemed pointless.
Usagi's gentle eyes fixed again on her. She was the only one that did not look genuinely pissed. "You did not ask, because you didn't want us to know that you are fading away or that it is you, who desperately needs the Henshin stick. And for some reason you could use Neptune's powers to strengthen yourself but not Mars." Mercury looked at her as if she wished; somebody would just shut her up from spilling the beans. And from the look on her face, she was seconds away from doing it herself.
"I will not comment on that." They had backed her into a corner and everyone knew it.
Rei huffed. "Oh, what a surprise... But you don't have to say anything at all. Most of your comments are anyway more lie than truth. I am tired of dissecting every word you utter for their hidden meaning. So whatever you might say, I would not buy it anyway. And I definitely don't trust you enough to do anything you say anymore."
A flicker of panic appeared on the Ice Senshi's face. "We do not have time for this."
Rei just folded her arms defiantly. "You might not have the time. We have all the time in the world to my knowledge. If you disagree, then maybe you should consider updating our status of knowledge. At least if you want to have our support. If you can do it alone as your power losing transparent bitchy self, however, be my guest and do it. There is the door." Some of the others nodded grudgingly.
"You are bluffing. I am Ami's Senshi guardian. You cannot stand by idly and watch me fade. You need me."
Rei smirked. "Oh, we will not watch you fade, but we will also not work together, because we will get back the Henshin stick ourselves without your input, you call so graciously 'help'. We do not need someone we can't trust in our team. And our uttermost priority is Ami, not you. So as soon as we have the Henshin stick back, you can vanish into its depth for all eternity for all I care."
"You will fail on your own."
"Will we? You seem adamant sure of it. Good, that I don't know what happens, if we fail. Though, I mean, Ami already has your powers und you can't help her anyway. Guess she doesn't have a need for you anymore. So to me it seems, as if you would be the sole looser in the case of failure. However, that is easy to prevent, isn't it? Tell us what you know and we work together. If not, then we go our separate ways. Reduced chances to succeed be damned. It's as easy as that."
The others murmured approvingly.
Mercury seemed to be put off by the support Rei was receiving. Even Usagi did not object although she looked genuinely sorry. "You do not understand. Failure is not an option. This does not only affect me."
"How can I understand anything, if you are not willing to spill the beans? We are not doing riddles here, anymore. Just tell us finally what's going on without leaving out the important details. I am fed up with all these secrets and half-truths. We all are."
There were no other words uttered. Rei knew the others backed her. And Mercury knew as well. They had cornered her with no way out. And if she truly was who she claimed to be, then she should know, this was the time to admit she had lost the game.
Finally, Mercury looked to the floor and for the first time she appeared openly vulnerable. Rei's conscience screamed bloody murder at her, because at that moment she looked so much like a disheartened Ami.
Then she began with her tale. "Queen Serenity has told you our story at least, the last part of it. How we died and how we ended up on earth. However, the Senshi were not reborn to this planet as own entities, but as souls attached to others, earthen souls. Your souls. You probably haven't realized that, yet, but this circumstance alone is more than abnormal. The problem thereby is that in one body only one soul can exist, not two. The stronger one would automatically overpower the weaker one and the loosing soul would be lost forever. If they were of equal strength, they would merge, which would result in a unique personality with traits of both of the original souls. Neither of this happened to any of you. You are still the human beings, you were born as, despite of your awakening as Senshi. Only sometimes in case you have to battle you employ the powers of the Senshi, that is your heritage and then you change back to your civilian self. However, even at those times you may have our powers, but you do not remember your previous lives nor do you harbor the same traits and characteristics of your previous Senshi self. You are still you. The human you in both forms. The reason as to why this is possible are the Henshin sticks. They were constructed to act as a linking adaptor between us. The Senshi souls are residing within them as a separate artificial vessel and when you transform a controlled amount of their powers is filtered through them so you can use it. However, the souls of your civilian and your Senshi- self stay mostly separate in this process. You could say we share at most 10 % of connection. Everything above that would be dangerous to cause one of the previous mentioned reactions: Overpowering or merging of the souls."
She paused.
"You overstepped the boundary, didn't you?" Usagi asked gently.
Mercury sighed. "Yes, I did. I thought I could control it and I had no choice. You have seen Ami losing her Henshin stick. Without it, she could not transform and I could not lend her my powers over our normal bond. In order to help, I had to establish a connection without the Henshin stick between us as a natural bridge and barrier. I knew it was dangerous, but I controlled it tightly and gave her only small bits of power. First for icing over the rail, then part of my sword fighting skills and at last I tried to stop the bullet with an ice shield. The last bit did not work. The power I could risk to transfer was not enough to stop the projectile. So I helped freezing over the wounds and heal whatever was possible, mostly the head wound, because it was at that time the most critical one. Without my intervention Ami would have been dead, when you arrived."
No one objected. They simply knew, it was the truth.
"Naturally, there was a drawback to my efforts. In order to do all these things, I allowed our souls a connection of almost 45%. I planned to withdraw immediately, as soon as her life was not in mortal danger any more. That's when you tried to heal her. I should have foreseen it. When the powers of the moon were thrown into our already unstable mixture, my already borderline control slipped and the balance collapsed completely. You have seen, what happened afterwards, her trashing around in this icy fit. It was the fight of our souls for dominance adding the Moon powers interference. At this stage, I would have overpowered her soul. This was the last thing I wanted to do. So, the only thing left in order to prevent that, was to separate our souls completely. If she had the Henshin stick, I could have retreated to my original vessel. Since she did not have it and with my weakened connection to it, which got only worse over the duration of the power struggle between us, I could not overcome the distance it was away. So, I separated from both of them: The Henshin Stick and Ami. The result you see now before you is a soul without being anchored to anything. A ghost you would call it. Your princess was right. This way I can't exist here for very long. If I do not reconnect to either Ami or the Henshin Stick within the next days, the soul of Sailor Mercury will vanish forever."
"So, … you are dying?" Usagi asked gently.
"Yes."
The silence seemed heavy after her revelation.
"And, that freezing fit of her …" Makoto started unsure how to phrase this without sounding like an insensitive ass.
"…was a one-time occurrence. It won't repeat. I lied about that. A hospital just would have been of no help for us."
"I guess Ami would beg to differ." Makoto grumbled.
"Listen, after the bullet is out her healing rate will probably exceed everything a normal human should have. My powers now reside within her. I left them at her disposal. She may not know how to use them, but before I was forced to part with her, I adjusted them to healing at full capability. How would you be able to explain that to a human doctor?"
"So your whole 'I am not sure she will make it' was an act, too? Why the heck would you fake that?"
Mercury shook her head. "No. Whether the healing is initiated or not, depends on whether she gets a grip on my powers. She needs to trigger the healing process in the right way. I might have given her the capability to heal, but I don't know if she will learn in time to use it without my guidance. So far, she hasn't. Otherwise, the wounds on her thigh and head would look way better by now."
"What if she doesn't learn it in time?" Minako asked. She already knew the answer to that question.
"Then she is gonna die. Without additional healing powers, her mother was right. She won't make it."
Minako inhaled sharply. "Can't you help her learn it?"
"No. That I am unable to help in this state was the truth. I can't even touch her. Any physical contact between us would induce my soul to take over hers. Then the Ami you know would vanish forever. The only way for me to help, is to reconnect with the Henshin Stick. If she then transforms, our connection will be as it was before and I will trigger the healing in her stead."
Silence.
"That wasn't so hard, was it?" Rei finally commented.
"What?" Seeing her confused strangely caused a strong feeling of morbid satisfaction.
"To tell us the truth for once. We would have been way quicker, if we left out the whole bickering."
Mercury just stared at her flabbergasted. "You bluffed."
"Of course, I did. I will not let Ami die nor you no matter how little I trust you. You are the Senshi of Mercury. And to save Ami I would even make a deal with the devil. We just had to make sure that you keep your end of the bargain and strive for the same thing we do."
The Mercurian Senshi closed her eyes in resignation.
"I want to save Ami. I really do. However, it's complicated. It's not that I want to lie to you, but there are some things I cannot reveal. It's too early for you to know. The operation mode of the Henshin Sticks was one of them." Mercury admitted.
"I guess the reason as to why you can use only my powers is another one?" Michiru asked probing further.
"Yes. And I will absolutely not comment on this topic." Then as an afterthought, she added in a try to soften the harsh statement. "I am sorry."
Michiru's eyes fixed on her. It was clear that she wanted to know. On the other hand, they already got more than they bargained for. So, she did the only logical thing in their current situation and put an end to it. At least a temporary one. "Then maybe, we should get back to the matter at hand: How do we retrieve Ami's Henshin stick out of police custody?"
AN: And the plot takes another turn. I hope you can still follow me. Next time, the Senshi will clash with the police, while at the same time Ami is still fighting for her life. Will she make it? Will they get the Henshin Stick back in time to save both Ami and Sailor Mercury? Sorry, but to find out you have to wait another month. As always, please review…