Chapter 11 – The After-Weirdness
Ami convinced Makoto to return to the Hikawa Jinja with her, saying, "I know that Minako will be there and Artemis, and Rei said she wasn't about to, and I quote, let any kami-cursed Terran traitor, unquote, keep her from her home. So she'll be there too. I'll call Usagi and we'll have ourselves the emergency meeting we didn't get to have this morning and were too tired to do last night. This is senshi business, after all."
Makoto, eager for anything to get her mind off her two-tone hair and her confused heart, agreed in a trice.
They slipped from the building while Chryso Beryl was busy berating an unfortunate freshman who'd had the bad luck to run afoul of her while she was brooding over Makoto's snide remarks. The sick look on the poor innocent girl's face made Makoto's stomach churn. She hated it when others had to deal with fallout over something she'd said or done. But it was too late now since Beryl, who'd been gunning for a target, any target, had gotten the girl in her sights.
Ami, correctly reading the guilty look on Makoto's face, grabbed her arm and dragged the taller woman off to catch a bus before she felt compelled to run to the rescue. There simply wasn't time enough and there were, unfortunately, more important issues.
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"Did you have the feeling we were being watched," Makoto hissed in Ami's ear as they made their way up the temple steps from the bus stop below. She rubbed absently at her hand. "Those businessmen were definitely checking you out, Ami-chan. And they weren't subtle about it."
"Not me," denied the petite woman, looking mightily embarrassed. "Maybe you…"
"Gods," Makoto exclaimed. "Don't say things like that today. If I wasn't convinced it was up, I'd think they were staring at my hair." She shot a quick sidelong glance at Ami. "It is still all up and no green showing, right?"
"Yes," sighed Ami. "It's fine."
"Thank Zeus," muttered the taller woman with feeling, drawing a strange look from Ami.
"What?" asked Makoto uneasily.
"It's just that I think that's the second time you've used an oath that I think is Silver Millennium, possibly Jovian in particular. I wonder if it's a side effect of the memories you mentioned returning."
When Makoto simply looked blank, Ami shook her head. Maybe she was reading too much into it. Two Zeus' from her friend's lips did not constitute a valid sample. Still…
At the top of the stairs they ran into Yuichiro, who was busily sweeping the courtyard and waved at him. "We're here to see Rei-chan, okay?"
To their complete astonishment, he dropped his willow broom on the flagstones and gawked at them, even going so far as to use both hands to push his overlong, sheepdog-like bangs out of the way when they impeded his view. Makoto's hand went immediately to her hair for a brief reassuring second before she began scratching at her hand. The itch was annoying, by Hera's hundred eyes.
"My god, you're both beautiful," blurted out the shaggy haired young man before he blushed red as a stoplight.
Ami and Makoto both blinked, staring at him wide-eyed. "Um…" Ami began. "Maybe you'd better lie down in the shade, Yuichiro-kun. I think you may have been in the sun too long."
The young man gazed on Ami as if she were a goddess from on high. "You're so kind to be so concerned…"
"I agree," muttered Makoto, glancing up at the rather cloudy sky and backing away from the man as though he were dangerous. Under her breath she added, "Or the drugs are finally kicking in."
"We'll just…let ourselves in. Come on, Ami-chan." She grabbed Ami's hand, jerking her away from the highly embarrassed young man, who nonetheless followed their every move until they disappeared from sight inside the temple.
"What was that all about?" she demanded as soon as they slid the door shut behind them.
"I haven't the foggiest," replied Ami, shaking her head as she removed her shoes, fumbling for a pair of slippers for indoor wear.
"Who's there?!" growled a familiar voice, followed by a golden head poking out from one of the doorways. "Oh…it's you two. Come in here, please. We have so got to talk."
"Okay, Minako-chan." Makoto, after likewise ridding herself of her shoes and exchanging them for a pair of house slippers, followed Ami into the room, glancing back over her shoulder for a moment before sliding the door shut. As she dropped onto a cushion on the floor, she shot a look at Rei, who looked tired and harassed and…
"Oh my gods!" Makoto yelped. "What happened to your hair, Rei-chan?"
The fire priestess winced, covering her head with a hand. Makoto had every reason to sound shocked for deep, rich wine-red highlights had threaded themselves through a long portion of her raven locks, making the mass gleam with subtle fire. Even Ami looked startled, muttering to herself under her breath.
Rei shot both women a peevish look. "I don't know what happened to my hair. It was normal when I woke up and then sometime today this started happening… it's been only a tiny sign of the weirdness that's been going on today."
"What weirdness?" demanded Makoto, looking first from Rei to Minako. "What on earth is going on? And what's with Yuichiro? He's acting bizarre."
"You noticed it too?" Rei asked sourly. "Because I thought it was just me being overly sensitive today. I mean, what is it? A full moon? I think every ecchi man on the planet visited this temple today. And Jiichan, who is usually a horrible fli…"
She broke guiltily off as the door slid open to reveal, fortunately, a gleaming white tom cat instead of a wizened old priest. Artemis slid the door panel closed behind him, then froze, staring fascinatedly at Ami and Makoto, his mouth wide open. "Wow!"
Pained blushes were exchanged as both girls looked helplessly at one another. What was going on? First those men, then Yuichiro, and now Artemis.
"Don't you start THAT again," snapped Minako crisply, snatching up Artemis by the scruff of his neck and giving the guardian a good shake, "or it will be stale kibble for you for a month. Baka. Rei was right. Every male on the planet, apparently regardless of species, really is losing his mind today. Or at least what brains they do possess have dropped south of their belts."
"I'm sorry," whined Artemis, not wanting Luna, who was due to arrive any time now, to see him being manhandled in such a fashion. "Put me down, Minako-chan. I promise I'll behave."
"You'd better," huffed the blonde, dropping her guardian unceremoniously. He slunk away from her, pointedly not looking at any of the girls, and Minako nodded in satisfaction.
"Don't mind him," she said to Ami and Makoto. "He'll get over it in time. I don't know what ails him, but he's acted like he just noticed for the first time we, and I include myself in this, were all female. It was weird…and kind of disturbing actually."
Makoto couldn't help nodding. "I know what you mean. My sensei was like that today." She shuddered. "I liked it better when all he saw was my cooking. Even if he did think my radish roses were lousy."
She shot a glance over at Rei. "I'm sorry I made such a fuss over your hair, but you see I kind of am in the same boat, except mine grew longer too." At Rei's and Minako's curious glances, Makoto undid her bun and showed them the end of her braid. "See…" Glancing down at it she groaned. "Augh…it's getting worse. Now even more of it's green. At least another 5 centimeters or so." She turned to Ami with an imploring look. "You have got to figure this out before it goes completely green."
"Cool hair color, Mako-chan," announced a voice from the door. Usagi, clutching Luna under one arm like a football, beamed serenely at her assembled senshi. "Like a wood sprite or something. And Rei-chan too. Why didn't you two tell me you were getting it done? I'd have gone too. Maybe pink highlights or tipping…"
"Twit!" Rei grumbled, tossing her hair impatiently. "I didn't do this deliberately."
"Me either," moaned Makoto, slumping. "It just happened. I feel like an escapee from a circus sideshow. If it doesn't stop then pretty soon I'll look like the bride of the Jolly Green Giant."
"But you look fabulous," protested Artemis, who ducked, scampering away as Minako hissed a scandalized, "Hentai! I warned you," and muttered something else evil under her breath. Makoto groaned, the itch in her hand going into overdrive.
"Sorry…I didn't mean anything by it," the male cat sniffed toward his mistress, though he kept a wary eye on Luna as well.
The feeling of freakishness was only exacerbated as Luna wiggled free from Usagi's grip to peer closely at each of the Inner Senshi in turns, taking special note of their hair and faces. "Stop it," Rei finally muttered, jerking back.
"I'm sorry," said the black feline. "It's just that I don't think Artemis is being a complete ecchi. There's definitely something different about you girls and it's not just your hair, Rei-chan and Mako-chan. I think Ami's seems a bit…bluer and Minako's perhaps more golden. But it's hard to be sure because it's not as wild a difference. Have you all been noticing other changes?"
The four girls frowned, debating whether to mention what they'd been noticing all day in front of Usagi. They had an unwritten but nonetheless generally applied rule that they tried to preserve their princess' innocence of the seamier side of life. Still, Luna had asked.
"Um," Rei said, "well, did you notice anything unusual in Yuichiro-kun's behavior today, Usagi-chan?"
"You mean more so than usual?" asked the girl, sitting down to the low table which had been the site of so many painful study sessions in their junior high days. "No. Not really."
Luna scowled. "I know what you're thinking, girls. But you may as well say it because we can see it in your faces that something is up. Usagi is your princess and she deserves to be informed of any…"
"Okay, okay," Ami cut in quietly, her face turning pink as she tried to find a tasteful way of putting it. "Males today, Yuichiro-kun included, have been acting a little, um…odd. Noticing us when they haven't done so before. It's been distinctly uncomfortable to put it mildly."
Rei and Makoto nodded vigorously. Minako simply glared at Artemis, who cringed.
Luna pursed her lips. "Interesting. And this is all new, you say…and for all four of you?" The small black feline paced around for a moment, mulling over the information. "Well," she finally said, dropping back on her haunches, "there's one reason I can think of for some of this happening, but it doesn't make sense under the circumstances."
"Well I'm up for any answer," Rei fussed, "no matter how unlikely, Luna. Talk."
The cat shot her a narrow-eyed look. "Since you asked so nicely…"
Rei flushed at the reprimand, looking reddish all over. Sometimes she tended to forget that the little Mau guardian had a streak of pride every bit as strong as her own. "Sorry, Luna," she muttered under her breath. "Please?"
"Oh alright," Luna finally gave in, setting aside her dented pride. "I vaguely recall that Princesses of the Silver Millennium were said to undergo a period of change after they met their soulmates. They were said to become more beautiful…more…their ideal selves, and this was naturally noticed by others. It was said to reflect their inner happiness or something like that, though," she frowned, her whiskers twitching, "there was no particular science that backed up that idea, at least not that I remember. Artemis?"
The white guardian cat risked a glance upward, but shook his head. He couldn't recall anything at all about such a change.
"You mean like that time when Usagi-chan's hair went silver and grew super long?" Makoto pounced on the idea. Abruptly she paled. "But…"
"Exactly," Luna added. "But none of you, that I am aware of, have met a soulmate, so it's meaningless."
"I'll say!" snorted Rei, bristling. "The only man I've met and spent any time with recently is that misbegotten Terran murderer reborn. And if he's my soulmate, then I'm a...a...Vermicious Knid,"she sputtered. Rei shot a flame-eyed glare at Minako, who held up her hands in mute apology.
"Maybe it's a side effect of Crystal Tokyo's time drawing closer," Usagi mused, drawing shocked looks from Rei and Ami and Luna.
"What? You think I can't have an occasionally decent idea. Future queens are supposed to be reasonably bright. If we're alive as far in the future as the time Chibi Usa-chan was from, it's pretty obvious that we're going to undergo some major changes."
Ami's brow furrowed as she considered the possibilities. "You know, we could be reverting."
"Reverting to what?" asked Makoto, looking confused and anxious as she twisted her hands together. She wasn't sure she liked the sound of that.
"To our Silver Millennium selves. Complete with more extensive magic. Though that would probably only make sense if all of us had our memories returned, and clearly Minako and I didn't," she commented, ignoring Makoto's protest that her Silver Millennium self wouldn't, simply couldn't have had green hair.
"It could, of course, be something else entirely. Exposure to something, possibly." She glanced at Makoto's hands. "When did you get that rash, Mako-chan?"
"Huh?" For the first time Makoto consciously noticed the red mark which was darkening on the pale skin of her fingers…or at least finger. Around it were livid white scratches from her nails. "I'm not sure. I guess it has been kind of itchy today. But it's probably just something I got into in cooking class. Some of the stuff we use in cleanup is a bit chemically harsh."
"Or it could have been something that either the Shitennou or that pink fellow you mentioned exposed you to." Mulling over that notion, Ami whipped out her computer and began typing so fast her fingers were a blur.
That idea added a whole new layer of horror to the mix and Makoto's thoughts went to the horror stories she heard in the news about germ warfare and terrorist activity like the whackos who put sarin in subway tunnels. "I don't want to think about that."
"We have to consider all possibilities, Mako-chan," Ami muttered, still typing. "But don't borrow trouble. I'll take a swab of that, if Rei-chan has a Q-tip, and analyze it when I do your hair. And your blood, because now I think it's definitely worth looking at. And you too, Rei-chan."
"But I don't have a rash."
"Yet," Makoto interjected, drawing a dirty look from Rei, though she didn't see it because she had her eyes closed, imagining the worst.
"Well don't scratch it anymore," Usagi insisted, leaning over to peer at Makoto's hand. "It'll get infected. Maybe Ami has something to fix it."
As she leaned over to poke at the rash, Ami grabbed Usagi's hand away before she returned to her computer. Makoto moaned mournfully. "If you all are going to treat me like I'm contagious…"
"I'm just acting with an overabundance of caution," protested the young blue-hair.
"Don't get overly dramatic, Mako-chan," Rei barked. "That's Minako's job and she won't thank you for butting in. Just use some calamine lotion or something until Ami figures everything out."
"I really think a cortisone based cream would be more efficacious." Ami, in med student mode, added in her two cents. "There are some decent over the counter brands. I'll ask mother which one she recommends most and call you, Mako-chan."
"You know," Usagi said excitedly. "It really only seems to be in one section. You weren't wearing any cheap jewelry, were you?"
A negative shake of Makoto's head had Usagi looking dispirited. "Rats. I thought I was onto something for a moment. Though I guess they usually say those cheap rings and stuff leave green marks on your skin, not red ones." She scratched at her head. "Ah well. That's why we have Ami-chan, future doctor extraordinaire around."
"Ahem." Minako cleared her throat. "Much as I of all people can sympathize with bad skin and hair days, if we can get past Makoto and Rei's physical crises, perhaps we could get down to the matter of what to do regarding the Shitennou. I'm sure that their reappearance had to be a shock to poor Mamoru-kun. After all, he didn't even remember he HAD Shitennou prior to this, let alone that they betrayed him and destroyed the Moon Kingdom."
She scowled for a moment, wishing with considerable might that she could remember instead of having to rely on what Rei and Makoto had imparted, then turned her intense azure gaze on Usagi. "Did he say what he was going to do?"
A lot of blond hair bounced as Usagi nodded. "He said he was going to do some computer searching and checking at the college to see what he could find out on the names that Rei-chan and Mako-chan gave us. Unfortunately we don't know what alias third one, Zoisite, is going by now, if any."
"I do wish that Sailor Pluto was here," fretted Luna, pacing. "She might be able to give us so much more insight."
"Not likely," snorted Rei. "She lives to be cryptic."
"Anyway," Makoto said with a shake of her head. "Isn't she off planning a bloody, key-related death for the scientific community who…um…demoted her planet? Or did I mis-hear her that one time when the wraith was at the observatory. Something about wiping certain astronomer folk from the timestream…"
"No, you're right. She did say that." The senshi leader turned from Makoto to Ami.
"I know you probably want to go to town finding out about everything, Ami-chan, but I say we let Mamoru-kun handle the Shitennou part, at least for the moment. You're more needed to research what's going on with Makoto and Rei's physical changes. Because if they were made sick by something during the attack, then it's probable that the enemy is going to try again."
Everyone nodded, apparently in general agreement that Minako's plan was best for the time being.
As she reminded them, "We have to keep Usagi-chan and Mamoru-kun protected from both parties until we know what they're up to. And Rei-chan," Minako added with a sympathetic smile, "you can keep trying with the sacred fire."
At Makoto's and Usagi's curious expressions, she elaborated. "Rei tried a fire reading. It booted her out, so to speak."
"Minako!" A disgruntled Rei crossed her arms over her chest and glared at the voluble blonde who merely smiled serenely.
"Well it did," she reminded the pouting fire priestess matter-of-factly.
In response, Minako got only an aggravated and inelegant snort, which had Ami, Makoto and Usagi giggling behind their hands. The tension in the room, which had been almost palpable, eased and Minako was grateful for it. Luna, in spite of her worries, smiled. It was good to see them joining together once again. They were all so good together, even when they bickered.
"Unless Rei-chan has an objection, I'll spend tomorrow here," Makoto graciously volunteered, eager to be anywhere but alone on campus. "Maybe Usagi should come here too. With everything she's taught us over the years, we can take over Rei-chan's regular temple duties so she can keep working with the fire." She cracked her knuckles, saying, "I'm sure Phobos and Deimos will give me plenty of warning if any of those…those…men decide to show up. But they'll be sorry for it if they do."
"See. You couldn't ask for better protection for your home and Ojiisan," Usagi piped up, beaming at her senshi. "Teamwork. That's what's going to get us through this."
The sliding door panel slid open and a remarkably spry for his age, very bald-headed old man in the robes of a priest popped in. Artemis and Luna immediately slumped to the floor, adopting as much as was possible the terminally bored, sleepy look of the average housecat. The old priest took one look around the room and, spying the newcomers of Makoto, Usagi and Ami, a gleeful leer split the old man's face, deepening the crepe-like layers of wrinkles there. He never even noticed Artemis clapping shut the lid to Mercury's computer and shoving it toward the blue-haired girl whose nimble fingers returned it to the magical hiding place from whence it came.
"Rei-chan, Rei-chan, Rei-chan," he reprimanded his granddaughter, sidling around the room for a better view of the assembled planetary beauties. "How could you not tell me your lovely young friends were here?"
"Yeah…teamwork. And a lot of aspirin and a side of saltpeter," mumbled Rei under her breath.
(Author's Notes: Mako's little mental grumble about Hera's Hundred Eyes is mythically based. In mythology the peacock was the bird of Hera, queen of the Gods. One myth told of Argus, Hera's hundred eyed giant whose job it was to spy on Zeus and discover his trysting places. When he discovered Zeus with Io (Jupiter's Io Castle anyone? ;), Zeus changed Io into a cow to escape Hera's wrath. Hera saw through the disguise and requested the cow as a gift. Zeus could not refuse her. Hera entrusted Argus to watch Io day and night so she could not be changed back to her true form. Zeus then sent Hermes, messenger of the gods and god of thieves and trickery, to recover Io. Knowing that he could not escape detection from Argus' 100 eyes, Hermes began to play sleepy tunes on his flute and one by one Argus' eyes closed and he fell asleep. Hermes then cut off his head. When Hera found Argus, she removed his one-hundred eyes and placed them on the tail of her favorite bird, the peacock. So it seems Mako's would be a particularly Jovian sort of oath.
Rei's crack about saltpeter is that it was believed to be a sort of anti-aphrodisiac. It dampened desire. Luckily for Rei's grandfather, and the rest of the guys too, it doesn't really work.)