so anyone wishing for an M rated moment, tough. BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA! yeah, me dork. Anyway, this chapter came out pretty well and I almost didn't post the last section until next time but i decided otherwise. So enjoy this chapter and remember to comment! I love comments. Beware: magical theory has reared it's head again.

35 – Searching the Realm

Iphanessa couldn't help but to chuckle in her throne. Oh how the mighty had fallen. Diamond smoldered in his seat just ten feet away, messy and more than a little frustrated. His carefully laid plans foiled by a spell he never heard of before. Who ever heard of magically appearing underwear? And right when she was ready too.

"Someone's a little… bent out of shape."

"Watch your words missy. I don't see your prince anywhere." Diamond's words made her bristle, but she couldn't deny what they meant. So far their plans hadn't quite worked out. "Once I find a way to remove that barrier, Serenity is mine. What plans have you for Endymion?"

The woman remained silent, wishing he would go back to his moon whore and let her figure out her next move in peace. Her youma didn't return. Neither did her dogs. Whoever or whatever that American was, she was more than capable of fighting off what she threw at her. Able to shake off the hypnosis when no one else could, killed all her creations, and, if she was right, managed to keep Endymion out of her hands, despite being investigated. Who was this girl and how did she manage to do all of this?

Worse yet, how did she see through her illusions? Iphanessa fingered her face slowly, remembering how easily Sayuri's physical identity was destroyed by that girl. How did she do that? No one, not Zoicite and not Beryl, could do such a thing. And while fighting several enemies at once…

One thing was certain: before she took out the senshi and reclaimed Endymion, she needed to rid the world of Glenn Marian. But how? "Retrieval will be simple once his harem is out of the way. Give me time to come up with a strategy to end them first, then my prince will be within our clutches.

"In the meantime," she smirked at him, "you better find a way of removing that magic underwear."

Diamond glared at her, knowing what she said was true, but he didn't like it anyway. Their carefully laid plans were unraveling slowly, and their only real success was in his bedroom, a limp doll waiting for his return. Well, even if she was wrapped up tight at the moment, there were other things he could do with her.

(+)

Mamoru stirred from his forced sleep when he heard someone groan in frustration. Female, but considering who he associated with on a regular basis, not that unusual. Voices then started debating, barely holding off from an argument.

"She has to be somewhere."

"I know," the groaner stated, groaning again. "But it's not making sense. She hasn't left Earth, I know that for a fact, but you guys know just as assuredly that she's not on Earth. How is she both?"

"Maybe you're wrong," a third voice started, annoyed for one reason or another. "Maybe she was taken off planet."

"My spell is planet bound," came an angry rebuttal. "She leaves the planet, I'll know. Usagi is on Earth."

Usagi? His mind became clearer by the second, the full weight of events becoming clearer as his consciousness took over.

"And yet she's not." A fourth voice. "My mirror does not lie. Usagi-chan is nowhere to be found."

Trouble. Usagi gone. Fake teacher took her. Iphanessa behind a lot of it. Have to find Usagi before Daimond did something to her.

"Maybe we missed something."

"You bet you have." Everyone turned to look at where Mamoru sat, waking up and stretching out of the recliner he was forced into sleeping in earlier. His arm still felt sore from the shot and now he had a crick in his neck. He looked evenly at the four sitting in a semicircle nearby. Neptune, Mars, Mercury, and Marian were looming over computers and mirrors, trying to make some headway on their search. Pluto and Saturn stood nearby looking into the Garnet Orb. Each were in uniform but Marian had changed into a dark brown and green outfit, with leather-esque armor over her torso and wrists. Knives poked out everywhere and her hair was tied back in a five strand braid. For once she looked like a thief as she said her family once were, but one that belonged in the 12th century of Europe.

Judging by the looks they were giving him, they hadn't found Usagi yet. "Still can't find her I take it?"

"More like trying to find a way to find her." Marian let out a long breath as Neptune explained.

"Every method we've used to try and find Usagi-chan has resulted in hazy images or nothing at all. Course we've limited our search to Earth –"

"She's here," the American insisted. "I don't know where, but she is on Earth." Running a hand over her hair, Marian tried to reason it out. "She's on Earth, yet not on Earth. That really doesn't make sense."

"It made less sense when Mamoru-sama disappeared," Saturn stated, coming over to look over Mercury's shoulder. Her computer was still doing a search, never ending. "It was like he fell off the Earth into oblivion, and yet we knew he was alive and well because the planet was still thriving."

"I wouldn't say I was thriving in that place." Mamoru forced his way out of the chair and to his feet. His head was a lot clearer than before, he couldn't deny that, but the sense of urgency to find his love did not disappear. He remembered his time in that grey castle all too well.

"That place…" A thought seemed to strike the stranger, getting her to look straight at him. "Mamoru, what was that place like? The place you were held in."

His eyes narrowed coldly on his protector while others looked at her as if she were insane. Why did she want to know more about that horrible place? He didn't want to remember everything that happened there and fought hard to not have nightmares about it as a child. Yet she hadn't steered him wrong before and had ensured he was safe the entire way through. "It was a cold heartless place, one –"

"No, I mean describe it physically. What did it look like? What were the sounds? The shadows and lights like? Food, air, the ground. What did it look like out the window?" Confusion ruled everyone's faces as she asked for a different description than what he gave before.

Slowly he started to answer, unsure how to respond. "It was grey. Grey and darkness. Even the torches' lights were grey. Outside was blackness. I… I can't remember if there was wind… or any sound."

"Grey like a cloud or grey like a black and white film?" That was an odd question.

"Like a film."

Something seemed to click in her mind, a puzzle piecing together. "Of course. Staring right in front of me the entire time."

"What was staring in front of you?" They watched her earnestly, hoping she put together where Usagi was but at the same time miffed she hadn't come up with this earlier, whatever her logic was.

"She's in the same place you were. In another realm." Marian started to pace around the room, hands running over her head as she stared off into nothing. Their confusion only grew. "It all fits. It's the perfect hiding place. They couldn't find you then any more than we can find Usagi now, so it has to be the same place you were held. A place where you haven't left Earth but at the same time isn't on Earth. An undetectable location."

"Explain what you mean by another realm." Mamoru knew this girl well enough to know when she was ready to start talking about magical theory again, and none of them had a background in it to know what she was talking about from vague descriptions.

So she looked at him and started to ramble on. "Realms are somewhat like realities, like those alternate universes that are so close together they're hard to decipher from one another, but are so radically different they are their own entity. Sometimes they even interact with each other. Limara and I were both accidentally sent to our Ether Realm when we first met and we were both dead and alive to people. We were alive, obviously," she explained, noting their confused faces, "and still on Earth, but no one could see or hear us, we weren't tangible to anything or anyone we knew, and we were stuck in a state we couldn't escape from on our own. If Davis didn't see us then, we'd still be considered dead. We were pretty much ghosts already."

"How does that matter here?" Pluto seemed to be the only one who wasn't startled by such an adventure. Marian was turned into a ghost?

"Because Usagi is in a place both on Earth and not on Earth. Realms both are and aren't on this world. They're out of phase with what we know and see, and depending on the realm, they may or may not be able to interact with our realm, the core realm." She looked down in thought, eyes moving rabidly. "Merlin was a jerk and a half, but he had some really good theories about realms and interactions between them, most proving to be accurate."

"Merlin?" Mars' question remained unanswered as Marian went on.

"The tricky part would be finding the gate to that realm. Breaches can only work for so long before they can no longer be repaired and the realm spills over into ours uncontrollably. There's no way Iphanessa and Diamond want that."

"What happens if it does?" Mercury tried to get an idea of what could happen while others worried it did already.

The stranger looked at her seriously. "The contents of the place will bleed in, the realm will become unstable, likely break apart, and all the power they had because of the realm will self-destruct within those who came from it. Think of it as a million suicide bombers unleashed on the world. Destroys self, takes a few others with them, lose what you wanted to protect anyway. It's one reason travel between realms is forbidden except through gates."

"It's another reason why travel between universes is forbidden," Pluto stated simply, reminding them of the law breaking before them. Marian wasn't supposed to be there. "You being here could destabilize both of them."

"Me being here for an extended period of time," she corrected. "I am not staying here a full year.

"But rules aside, Usagi has to be there. The realm you described sounded like a negative realm." She looked back to Mamoru, coming to a conclusion. "We just have to find the gate… and that was how you escaped."

"The gate?"

"The gate to the realm. It has to be near where I found you." She looked out the window and the setting sun. "The streets won't be quiet, but we don't have much of a choice. We'll have to backtrack your escape route from there. Do you feel up for a fight?"

Mamoru's eyes narrowed on her, determined. "From the second I saw that pervert."

"Alright. We should grab something to eat then meet up with the others." Marian looked over to Mercury and Pluto. "Can you contact them and get them to meet us at 17th and March? East side of the street?"

"We'll take care of it," Mercury assured her, opening up another window on her computer.

"Great. I'll throw together some –"

"Oh no you don't!" Neptune stepped between her and the kitchen, alarm in her eyes. "I am not letting you make a bigger mess in my kitchen. I'll make some onigiri and have them out in a few minutes. You just be prepared to explain everything to the others."

Some chuckles circled the room as the stranger looked away, chastised and sourly pouting. Mamoru came over to her, confused. "What was that about?"

Mars smirked, explaining before the perpetrator had a chance. "Glimare-san made a mess of the kitchen when she made the serum for you earlier. Michiru isn't happy about it."

"It really was an amazing sight," Mercury declared, not looking up from her computer. "She used magic to accelerate chemical reactions in champagne flutes and sake bottles. I have never seen someone mix the two before, and never seen a person's powers used in such a way. She mostly had Makoto and I crush, cut, and measure ingredients."

"I needed everything done quickly and effectively," Marian stated, sour still. "And it wasn't like I left anything potentially harmful over. All the extra stuff is from her own kitchen. I just didn't get a chance to clean up yet. I'm actually a really good cook."

"Be it as it may, you made a mess and she's still not happy about it." The girl looked away, actually ashamed of the statement. It wasn't a common sight and somehow they could all sense it. She rarely did anything she was sorry for.

"Marian," Mamoru cut in, saving her from the teasing of others (he had a feeling not all was well among them), "what happened after I passed out?"

"Mostly… Talking." From there, she told him of everything they discussed while he was unconscious. Thinking clearly, he let his emotions smolder under a much calmer façade as he listened to every word. No one could argue with what she said, keeping strictly with the facts. When she got to where the missing senshi couldn't stay still anymore and went out in a physical search of their princess, he couldn't but feel relieved someone was doing something out there. Everything was being done to find their princess, and yet he missed little. Everyone had the same thought: find Usagi. None of them would stop until she was home.

(+)

Uranus looked around the dark street, glaring at some teenagers and tweens out past dinner time. She did not like this, not one bit. Jupiter and Venus arrived a moment ago and now they were waiting on the last of their team to appear and tell them what was going on. Antsy and still upset about the upstart guardian directing their team, she silently counted to a hundred before taking off to go back to her search once again.

She got to thirty-four before the wind picked up, blurred, and revealed five senshi, one man, and one upstart kneeling on the ground. "Took you long enough."

"Glimare-san insisted we all have food before going into battle." Mercury joined her inner friends and gave them wrapped rice balls as Mars explained. Saturn was still eating one while the foreigner unwrapped one for herself, forcing another into Tuxedo Kamen's hands. He didn't look like he wanted to eat, but his self-appointed bodyguard was rather pushing about it, so he gave in. "She thinks she knows where Sailor Moon is."

"There is no thinking here," Marian piped in, looking over her shoulder at them. "I know she's there. It's the only thing that makes sense."

"And how much time do we have left again?" Uranus refused the onigiri offered to her, eyes only on the one who pushed into their circle. Know it all upstart. Just fell out of the sky and suddenly she had all the answers.

The girl stilled, looking at no one. The prince looked down on her, alarmed at the statement. He wasn't aware then. Marian coddled him too much. "Twenty-two hours and forty-eight minutes."

"Marian." The unspoken question got her to look up at the man.

"The spell was activated over an hour ago. We have twenty-two hours and forty-seven minutes left until Usagi will need serious help leaving that hypnosis. And therapy afterwards.

"We'll deal with that after we find her," she insisted, trying to cushion the blow for him. He seemed to turn to stone after hearing what she had to say. "Right now, you need to go back to that day, the day you ran into me, and think about how you got there." She looked around where they were standing then pulled him to a starting point. "This is where you ran into me. Now think back. Calmly."

Her tone and words made Uranus and the others watch his state, sending some guilt through her stomach. The man a few hours ago was erratic already, only made calm through a forced sleep. Her words just put him on edge. And he was being told to find a way back to the place he escaped from nearly a month ago.

A dark place he was tortured in, barely escaping.

Stiff, hiding as much emotion as possible, Tuxedo Kamen tried to take in several deep breaths and closed his eyes. When his shoulders were no longer so tense, he opened them and turned around. "That way. I don't know how much has changed, but I started in that direction."

"Start walking," Marian calmly told him, releasing his arm at last. "We're here with you now and we will get out of there together. Just lead us to where Usagi is."

Slowly he nodded, determination returning to him in spades. He took the lead, walking briskly but not too fast. He had to remember things several weeks old. This was not going to be easy.

When Uranus started walking with them, she felt a violent jerk of her collar, pulling her down to her assailant's level. Marian's fierce glare burned her very soul. "Watch what you say right now Tendou Haruka. When I ran into him here, his feet were bleeding near to the bone, scared nearly out of his mind. When he became an adult again, his back was covered in wounds that didn't have time to heal before being turned into a child. He's had nightmares about what happened to him there between his memories nearly every night. I have worked day and night to help him come back to you guys as an emotionally stable, competent and confident adult. Until he has overcome his trauma and is no longer easily shaken, I don't want to hear another negative or provoking word from you. Let him have a foundation and support again before you challenge him."

"You are not the boss of me." Her returning glare was just as fierce, but had no effect. The nerve of this girl.

"Then how come you can't move."

For whatever reason, Uranus' body became stiff as a statue. She tried to move, to shift, to do anything but breathe and look into Marian's face. How did she –

"Be a good soldier and follow orders. And until I am at least gone from your world, try to be considerate of others' needs." Marian released her hold on her collar and started walking away. Uranus still couldn't move an inch, terror starting to build in her. This power… this was how she was able to break the hypnosis on all of them. Her orders were power. She could order them to do whatever she wanted, whenever she wanted. Now she was being left behind.

"You can move now."

A wave of the girl's hand, back turned to the senshi, and Uranus felt her body becoming malleable again. Wary and distrusting, she took up the rear of the procession, ignoring the people occasionally stopping to point and talk about what they saw. The sooner that foreigner was gone, the better.

(+)

It was a tumbling maze backtracking hazy movements clouded by pain from a few weeks ago. You don't exactly look around you when you're running for your life. Doing that slows you down and trips you up, letting the people you're running from catch up. Trying to find your path back after that, especially when you tried to block out that place for a while.

Yet Tuxedo Kamen did everything in his power to find the route back, in order to find his heart again. Twice bold civilians walked up to them and took selfies, but then ran away screaming at something only they could see. He took one look at Marian who quickly put away her perception illusion spell cube away, silently asking her what she was doing. She shrugged. "They were annoying, and getting in the way. I just gave them motivation to leave."

"How?" Venus asked, curious as always. He blocked out her explaining the cube to them as they turned another corner into an ally way leading to an open lot. The ground was rough and uneven, with debris and junk everywhere. On the edge of the lot was a sign saying it was 'under construction' and 'private property'. On a stone wall nearby, the words "Welcome to Hell" were written in blood red paint. It did not look familiar.

Panicked, Tux looked around the lot, trying to find something he could recognize, or another path to take. Did he miss a turn? Go too far? Not even the size of his stride was the same so he couldn't be sure. He wasn't certain about a turn a couple streets back. Should they go back and try another direction?

"Tuxedo Kamen-sama?" He looked over to Mars, hiding his fears. "Is something wrong?"

"I… I don't know…" Closing his eyes, he tried to remember every detail of his flight once he could see the ground, but it really was a blur. "I thought I turned from in here, but… I don't see anything."

"That's because you don't know how to look." Marian stepped forward, looking in the general direction of the graffiti, her eyes golden. Pluto also stared in that direction, seeing something they didn't. "Good job Mamoru. You led us straight to the gate."

"What gate?" The senshi swarmed near them, trying to see wat they did. Where was it?

"Do you want the honor or should I?" The American and senshi of Time shared looks, knowing what to do.

"It's about time I made myself useful. Just be prepared to fight."

"Can we try talking to the gate guardian first?" Pluto didn't answer the question but raised her staff instead, shining the Garnet orb brightly for all of them to see. Within seconds a huge door appeared, set at an angle to the words and floating a foot in the air. The ornate carvings in the door almost made them forget it was completely black and grey. The fierce giant lion dog hanging over the top of it though did a great job reminding them it wasn't a normal door. "They aren't unreasonable you know. I know a few back home who are quite friendly."

"Who dares come knocking on the gate to the negative realm?"

The lion dog's voice resonated in their heads, surrounding their persons and threatening to tear them apart. Never had they heard such a voice, and it seemed impossible to proceed without addressing him. Failing to please him meant certain death.

Reasonable and friendly. Right…

A/N: Okay, straight from the top, I really don't think Haruka and Marian would get along, ever. I was going to have them fight before Mamochan woke up, but this worked out better. Marian isn't a very sensitive person overall, but she does understand trauma. I know I'm probably making Haruka OOC, so please don't hate the rest because I got her wrong. Or not. It's been a few years since I saw the anime. The trick Marian used on her to keep her still was the same one she used to break hypnosis and a few other things. She can order a body to do what she wants, if the person has a weaker will than her. Mare's really stubborn, but the limit comes into play later.

Now Mamoru's mostly back to normal, but not 100%. the chemical fix only does so much and really time and recovery is the only way to fix things. One reason Mare insisted on food was to make sure they were able to function and fight later. So they have found the gate adn it's guardian, despite the hazy memory. Now they have to deal with it.

Lastly the scene at the beginning. Yeah... there won't be a lot of parts from their side for a while, and not in details either. I'll let you use your imagination. Don't forget to comment and tell me your thoughts. i'll work on teh next chapter shortly.