Chapter 66

Ryo was pretty sure it was time for a new job.

He wandered the woods aimlessly, hardly paying attention to his surroundings. All he could think about was Ami. The fact that he was here, in these stupid woods, while she was a sitting duck with the other Senshi at Nasuti's. Rei had been viciously attacked. Ryo still felt shaken when he remembered the sound of her screaming, how terrified she had looked in the aftermath. It made him want to run back to Nasuti's from here, make sure the Senshi were ok.

And here he was. Wandering around hours away. For the sake of keeping up routines? He didn't really know anymore. What was the point of normal?

If he was bad, Ryo was sure Shin had had a stroke by now. Rei had refused to let Suiko miss any more classes, insisting that he keep his education on course. Ryo didn't know how Shin had managed it. He imagined Suiko must be on the verge of going nuts. He turned his wrist, checking his watch. Nearly time for the eleven a.m. call.

The only way the Troopers had given in was that the Senshi had promised to call every hour on the hour to confirm they were still ok. It was a crappy system if you asked Ryo, but then no one had wanted to keep bundled together at the house once it became clear that nothing was happening. Well. The Senshi hadn't wanted the Troopers to miss out on their daily lives. Ryo was pretty sure the Troopers didn't much care about that, but none of it mattered now.

He began making his way back to the ranger station, wanting to ensure that he'd be there on time to get Ami's call.

He was so busy feeling anxious about Ami he completely missed the threat right in front of his face.

Ryo had enough time to look up and feel shocked.

But that was about it.

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Ami's eyes felt like sandpaper, but she wasn't going to stop what she was doing. She hardly wanted to let herself blink. Beside her, Nasuti worked with quiet determination, eyes teary, but face a mask of stone. Discreetly, Ami wiped her own eyes with her wrist to clear them.

Minako paced in front of the desk, in full Venus regalia, gesturing emphatically as she divulged her complete stream of thought on Elysion, and what role it might play in their ability to take this enemy down. The Senshi of Venus' face was hard, and rage burned in the depths of her eyes. Beneath the anger, Ami could read the guilt and fear. She could see Venus questioning her ability to lead. Could see her friend blaming herself for not coming out with these thoughts sooner.

Ami wanted to interrupt her. To comfort her and remind her that she'd had no way of knowing their timeline would be moved upwards so rapidly. That they'd lose the Troopers in the blink of an eye. They'd all been so focused on the Senshi, it hadn't occurred to anyone, save Nasuti, that the Troopers themselves might be targeted.

And now they were missing.

Ami cleared her eyes again with her thumb and focused on translating Minako's ideas into actual data. The woman's instinct had merit, Ami thought. Minako had been on to something all along, but her view that she wasn't clever enough to compete with Touma or Ami or Nasuti had held her back. Ami got that, but she was going to have a long and serious talk with the girl when this was over.

About the fact that Minako had been Senshi the longest, and she might not have Ami's IQ, but she did have a head full of excellent battle strategy and finely honed instincts. She hadn't been able to articulate her suspicions cleanly, but that didn't matter to Ami. It was easy enough to distill Minako's loose grasp of the situation into cold hard facts they could work with.

At this point in time, based on the readings she'd started taking once Minako's ideas had begun to connect the dots, she was confident that the outer edges of Elysion might have been breached, but the core of it was still whole and intact.

And that was important, because it gave them a very very strategic foothold in this battle. One that might literally be in the heart of their enemy. Ami didn't care how tiny an edge that gave them. She was going to sharpen that edge until it became the blade that ripped this monster open from the inside out.

She wiped at her eyes again, but never lost focus with the computer screen.

"Then this….Elysion is what? The opposite of the Netherrealm?" Rajura said quietly to Rei. Mars tugged at the red skirt of her fuku in agitation and shoved the bangs from her face with a gloved hand as she tried to think.

"No. Not….not opposites. I mean, Elysion is the land of sweet dreams, so I guess you could say that it's the opposite in that it's a sanctuary for the spirits of those who are still living? But it's….it's tied to our own Earth. Tied to the planet's strength and health. Tied to all the people who live on it. I'm under the impression that the Netherrealm is an underworld of sorts? So…do the spirits of the dead dwell there?" she asked, her brow furrowing as she tried to understand the situation.

"The Netherrealm is a place for….restless spirits I guess. Not everyone ends up there, but a good many souls do. It is an Underworld of sorts. But not all of the Underworld for this realm, if that makes sense," Kayura replied. The Empress of the Netherrealm was sitting next to a silent and sullen Usagi. Ami wanted to cast a worried eye over the Moon Princess but couldn't spare the interruption of her thoughts.

She left the girl to Rei and Makoto. And apparently, Lady Kayura.

Rajura, standing with his arms crossed and his eye closed, made a thoughtful sound.

"And this Elysion exists….in a crystal? A crystal that carries a connection to and the power of your Earth? Should you have rebirthed that crystal here? It seems to me like you have handed your enemy the connection they needed from the very beginning. You have played right into their hands. Did you not think that perhaps a crystal with such a strong connection to your own realm would cause harm here?" he said, his tone stark and disapproving. Ami frowned, but still refused to interrupt herself.

"We didn't know the Golden Crystal was going to be carrying a corrupted Elysion inside it, ok? At the time, we didn't really know much of anything, and we didn't exactly have the time to figure things out. Maybe you're ok with a cut and run, maybe you think it's acceptable to just…..sacrifice innocent lives to meet your goals, but that is never acceptable for us," Makoto snarled at him from her lean against the wall opposite Rajura.

"And if you're going to stand around telling us how we should have done things, maybe we don't need you here. Because right now, the Troopers are missing. I'll think about all the wrong steps I took that might have led here later," she snapped, her green eyes electric with restless anger and anxiety. The air began to smell a bit like ozone, Jupiter's dark green fuku casting a tiny bit of glow.

Rajura raised a smug eyebrow at her. "I am merely attempting to unravel how you came to be in this position in the hopes that we can determine how to resolve the problem. It is of no concern to me why you made this decision, only that you have made a poor choice, and now the Troopers are suffering because of it. Indeed, everyone in this realm is now in great danger thanks to your rash decision," he sneered.

It wasn't Makoto that retaliated. It was Usagi. Before anyone knew what was happening, the angry snap of a hand meeting a cheek echoed in the room. The Moon Princess was glowing, pure white, the brilliant colors of her fuku invisible it was so bright. Her blue eyes were angry flames as she stared the Masho of Deception down at point-blank range.

"Don't you talk to them like that. Don't you ever talk to them like that. Like you know anything. It's so easy for you, isn't it? It's so easy when you don't care about hurting anyone else. You think you're better than us? Why? Because you don't care about saving lives? About protecting the innocent? It takes courage, and strength, and skill to protect others while you're trying to win a war. You want an alliance with the Troopers? Prove it. They're missing, and we need to find them. Hurting my Senshi isn't going to help anyone. And I've got news for you. The Troopers aren't going to be interested in an alliance with someone who uses the vulnerability of their supposed allies to tear them down," she snarled at him.

Eyes burning with rage, Rajura raised a hand, threateningly. Without any gesture or sound on Usagi's part, the light from the silver crystal flared for a moment, and when it cleared, Rajura was outside the doorway, embedded in the hallway wall.

The Moon Princess turned then, uncaring that all activity had stopped and all eyes were on her. Ami tried not to feel intimidated as the woman made purposeful strides for the desk. This was Usagi she reminded herself. The rest of her was trying very hard not to gush with pride over the backbone of steel the woman had just displayed. Usagi liked to think she wasn't anything special. But a Queen lived inside her heart, and moments like these made that hard to forget.

Kayura blinked at Rajura where he lay, but otherwise made no move to aid him. She turned instead to the Senshi.

"I don't appreciate you taking out my masho like that, but I'll concede he was out of line," she said in an even tone. Usagi tipped her chin up at the woman, her expression defiant.

"You wanted a partnership with the Troopers. I thought reaching out to you would be a good way towards building trust between you. You're powerful, and it seems to me like you really want to be allies. You also helped rescue us, and I'm grateful for that. But I have no problem doing this without you if I think you're going to cause harm or hold us back," she said confidently.

Kayura smiled at her then. A small smile, but it transformed her face. "I see the Queen in you. I agree it is in both our best interests to cooperate with each other, but I don't control every action the masho take. I can promise you we would not betray you or cause your downfall, and we would not risk the life and safety of the Troopers so callously. Rajura means to understand past mistakes in an attempt to avoid future ones," she replied. Usagi seemed satisfied with that, but Ami still felt hesitant.

Rajura and Kayura made her nervous, and rightly so. Though judging by the way Usagi had dropped a powerful man many times her size, and in full armor no less?

Apparently, she needn't have worried.

"Ami," Usagi said gently, "where are we?" Ami cast a quick glance at Minako. The Senshi of Venus was casting a smugly satisfied glance at Rajura's prone form in the hall. He seemed to be out cold. She turned at the sound of Usagi's voice, and gave the two of them a determined look.

"That's about the end of my thoughts to be honest. Look. I know running and jumping blindly into battle is stupid, but we don't have a lot of time or options right now. The boys have been missing since yesterday afternoon, and so far the enemy hasn't taken any other actions. Honestly, I fully expected them to at least taunt us with their hostages, but they haven't, so that has me even more worried," she replied.

Ami appreciated Minako's carefully worded description of recent events, but it was hard to be so objective about it in her mind. She knew Minako was doing her best not to be emotional about it to ensure that clear heads prevailed.

But it was so hard.

The Senshi had pushed the Troopers to pick up their normal routine after a week of nothing. It was maddening, but it made no sense to have everyone lingering at Nasuti's, letting life pass them by, when nothing was happening.

Getting them back to their daily routines had been a struggle. Everyone was having anxiety, and no one wanted to be separated. The compromise was that the Senshi would call on the hour, each hour, until they could all be reunited again. Ami had thought they were making the right decision sending the boys off. She kept thinking she was making the right decisions, and they kept blowing up in her face.

By the time the 11 am call had rolled around, not one of the Troopers had answered. Everything had gone downhill so quickly. Guilt assailed her. Ami was happy to leave the decision-making to the rest of the Senshi. She didn't really trust herself to do anything besides put together data right now. And she barely trusted herself to do that.

Ryo was missing.

Panic crept up her spine and Ami ruthlessly squashed it. Because if she really let herself think about the fact that the monster that had tormented them for so long now had Ryo? She might go mad.

It was Minako's bright instincts that were carrying them through this fight. Ami had abandoned her vibration theory. It certainly had application, but it was taking far too long to understand what those applications were.

Minako's strategy presented a much higher amount of risk for the Senshi, but Ami doubted any of them really cared at this point. A tiny voice inside of her told her succinctly that Ryo would not approve of this new attitude. It just made her feel more desperate to move forward. He could lecture her all he wanted once he was safe and sound enough to do it.

"—so Usagi and I will run diversion and Makoto will lead Ami and Rei and Kayura into the core? Artemis, how accessible is Elysion once we're inside this thing so to speak?" Ami made herself snap back into reality as she caught the tail end of Minako's statement.

"At this point, you're going to have to find Elysion using your heart crystals. I don't like this. It's far too risky. Tapping into the pure source of each of your Sailor Crystals makes you much too vulnerable to the enemy. You'd all be beacons of power too tempting to resist," the white cat said, anxiety riding his voice.

Rei shook her head, crossing her arms. "Once we find the Troopers, assuming that our hunch is right and they are in fact inside this thing, getting them all the way back out is going to be an exercise in futility. I think we can get inside this monster once. If we haul the Troopers out and leave, we won't get a second chance to blindside it. Minako is right to consider Elysion a safe point for us. We'll have to drag the Troopers back to Elysion to keep them as protected as we can, and use it as a launch point for the second phase," she said firmly. "I know we haven't proven it yet, but it's very likely that Elysion is inside the Golden Crystal and this thing is connected to the Golden Crystal as well. Elysion is our strongest bet. Besides. We don't know what state the Troopers might be in. We might have to destroy this monster – sooner rather than later – in order to rescue them."

The rest of the Senshi nodded their heads in agreement.

"Let me help." Nasuti's voice was quiet, but determined. "I know Lady Kayura is going to use the power of the shakujo from the inside – and I agree that it should be this realm's powers we use to destroy the monster's core. But let me help. The jewel of life should be there. Lady Kayura, I don't think it's advisable for the same person to use both the staff and the jewel at the same time," she said softly.

Ami tilted her head, considering. When the rest of their assembled group's expressions seemed to say no way in hell is a civilian going into this, Ami thought hard about it.

She thought hard about feeling so helpless and useless and insecure. She thought hard about how difficult it must be for Nasuti – losing dear friends but always taking a passive role.

She thought hard about what might be waiting for Nasuti anyways if they failed. None of the outcomes were good. But Ami believed strongly that Nasuti deserved to try. And everyone else was going to be too engaged to manage the Jewel of Life.

Hoping she wasn't making yet another mistake, Ami smiled wanly at Nasuti.

"I agree. The rest of us are going to be too tied up to manage the Jewel of Life. Nasuti is familiar with it at least. We know it's fully capable of protecting her. And if we're not successful on this mission, I doubt the Jewel of Life on its own, without any of the armors or any of the Senshi, is going to be enough to fight off something that all of us combined can't handle. I'd rather add its power to our own numbers now, and hit this thing with everything we have," she said softly.

Minako tilted her head thoughtfully, and then pinned Nasuti with a hard gaze. "You understand the risk? We'll do everything in our power to keep you safe, but we might not be able to," she said.

Nasuti met her gaze with a hard one of her own. "I know that. Please. I need to be part of this. The Troopers have sacrificed themselves so many times. I want to help them now, when they need it."

Minako nodded. The rest of the Senshi followed with varying degrees of reluctance. Kayura sighed, putting her fingertips to her forehead. "I don't approve of this, but the practicality of the plan has merit. The Jewel can be held by anyone, but it should certainly not be held by someone too distracted by battle or anything else," she admitted grudgingly.

Ami wanted to call her on the fact that she essentially didn't want to put a civilian in harm's way, maybe point out that despite the image she tried to put up, she did care about others, but decided now might not be the time.

To say nothing of the fact that Rajura seemed...annoyed that the rebirth of the golden crystal had put the Troopers in danger. He'd probably argue that the armors being in the wrong hands was at the heart of his motivation, but Ami found his irritation very illuminating and planned to stash it away for later.

"Ok. So this is our plan then. Phase 1: We're going to the Netherrealm just on the other side of Point D to get at this thing and hopefully get inside it wihout being detected using the new tracking device Ami and Nasuti built." Here Venus paused as Ami carefully set the device on the desk. She had decided against using the Mercury computer since the monster would very likely recognize the signature, and had overhauled her technology to disguise that. Hopefully temporarily. She nodded at Venus and the blonde returned the gesture, continuing.

"Once we've located the Troopers, assuming that they are, in fact, inside this thing, we're going to rescue them. Once we have them, we're going to use our Sailor Crystals to guide us to Elysion. We leave them in the safety, hopefully, of Elysion. Maybe Helios. If it turns out Elysion is completely corrupted, then we'll need to revert to Plan B." The blonde huffed out a breath here and Ami agreed with the sentiment. She was crossing all her fingers and toes that Helios had survived. It would be devastating to discover he'd been another life lost to this monster.

And nobody wanted to revert to Plan B. If Elysion was totally corrupted, and the Crystal had been totally corrupted, the logical solution was going to be to get rid of the crystal entirely. Which was bad news for Mamoru, who might currently be using it right now. But Ami held on to hope. If Elysion and the Golden Crystal were completely corrupted, she liked to think that Mamoru wouldn't have survived this long, or his reincarnated form would have been noticeably not right. Mamoru visibly showed any changes in the crystal in his health and life force, so a thorough and complete corruption would have theoretically had a visible impact on his entire existence. That it hadn't made them all hopeful.

"After the Troopers are in Elysion, we'll move on to Phase 2. Nasuti, Kayura, this is where you and the masho will come in. Makoto should be able to lead you close enough to the core for you to hopefully find it. Once there, you'll use the power of the ancient and the Jewel of Life to…..destroy whatever this thing is. However you have to do that." Venus' face suggested she didn't much care what they had to do to destroy it, and Ami was in full agreement there. Rei and Makoto didn't seem to have any qualms about it either.

"While you're doing that, Usagi and I will launch a distraction. It's pretty much a guarantee this thing still wants the Silver Crystal, so we're going to use that to our advantage and hold their attention. Once you begin the process of destruction from the inside, we can divert our focus to adding our strength from the outside. Any questions? Concerns? Last-minute problems?" the Senshi of Venus concluded, casting her gaze over each of them.

When the room remained silent, she nodded.

"Ok. We're committed. Everyone fuel up. Lady Kayura, we'll meet you here after you complete your own preparations? Say in an hour?" Kayura nodded, and just like that, they all moved, quickly and with focus, to make their preparations.

Ami turned and began loading data into the new tracker they'd created, syncing up the communicators that Luna and Artemis had somehow miraculously been able to recreate. She wiped at her eyes again discreetly, but promised herself she wouldn't be coming back here without Ryo.

There were no other alternatives.