I completely admit I am struggling with this bit. This story has been so long and I haven't really planned much more than a few chapters ahead at any point. So if this seems too long or too wordy or lame or boring, sorry about that. :( Hopefully, it's at least a little enjoyable. Thanks to VenusianAngel for your tireless and continued reviewing - reviews honestly keep me going, so thank you so MUCH.

Ok, Onward.

Chapter 67

Finding the Troopers was turning out to be a hell of a lot vaguer and more complicated than they'd anticipated. It had taken a combination of Ami's device, the Masho using their own armors to center in on the Troopers' armors – which, apparently, was difficult and not completely accurate since the Troopers' armor wasn't the same anymore – and, using the Silver Crystal to try and find pure hearts in what Makoto was coming to think of as the darkest of black and the vilest of evil.

But they had signals now. Faint, but there. They had actual physical locations, and that was more than she'd had of Touma than even an hour ago.

Ami had somehow managed to get mapped coordinates to Senshi communicators that Luna and Artemis had, quite literally and to the surprise of everyone, including themselves, produced out of thin air. It was a comfort, having her communicator on her again. It might not work, once she was inside that toxic miasma, but just having it somehow helped. Made her feel more secure.

Especially since they were all about to split up and head into certain doom. Not that she should probably be thinking about it like that. But honestly, that's sort of what they were doing, wasn't it? They had a plan, but the foundation of that plan was shaky at best. And her need to rescue Touma was at war with her need to keep Usagi safe, so she was willing to admit that she was a complete mess right now.

Not like her memories of her last trek in here were helping her out any.

Minako and Rei had both assumed the mantle of battle-hardened Senshi completely. Makoto wasn't sure how they did it. Not that she and Usagi and Ami weren't determined and ready, but it was pretty clear just from looking at Minako and Rei that there was no other option than to triumph.

And that was a comfort too. Makoto knew what she had to do. She'd put her big girl Senshi pants on and she was coming out of this with Touma and her Senshi or she wasn't coming out of it. But her emotions were still all over the place, and it wasn't helping.

Her communicator beeped and she blinked down at it. The screen had gone dark save for a tangle of intersecting lines that almost reminded her of the veins in a human body. Along one of the lines, a good distance from her current position, a small, deep blue dot blinked at her.

Touma. I'm coming, she thought. Hang on.

"I want to say one more time that I don't like this at all. But. Remember everyone – you might need your heart crystals to get through to the Troopers. You'll definitely need them to find Elysion. And you had all better come back from this, am I clear?" Artemis grumbled. They nodded at him, Minako smiling at him sweetly. She leaned down and kissed him between the ears before pulling him from her shoulders and setting him down as Usagi did the same with Luna.

They'd decided to split the Masho with the Senshi for this, and Makoto looked at Anubis with trepidation. The guy was huge and mean – he looked like he hadn't ever had a happy thought in his life. But he apparently used lightning, and was the Masho of Darkness, and Makoto supposed that you wanted a Masho of Darkness on your side when you were about to run around in the dark.

"Once the Troopers are in Elysion, we can see if we all end up meeting there. If not, each Senshi has an energy signature on everyone else's communicators. So long as the Masho are each with a Senshi, we should all be able to reconnect and get to the Phase Two rendezvous points," Ami instructed in a stern tone.

The Senshi nodded. The Masho looked bored. Makoto took the time to feel relief that at least Usagi and Nasuti had been paired with Kayura for the first part of the mission. She didn't trust any of them overly much, which made things feel so much worse right now, especially since they'd elected to try and enter this thing from the Netherrealm to give them a bit more of a stealth boost. But of all the remaining citizens of the Dynasty, Makoto trusted Kayura the most.

Still. Should they be sending their three powerhouses out alone together? Did that make them easy targets?

Makoto shoved the thought aside and tried her hardest to stop fretting like a mom. This was the plan, they'd accepted the risks, and they didn't have a lot of choice, so it was best to move forward without looking back.

"All right. Are we ready to move out?" Minako's voice was confident and sure. Makoto tried to absorb some of that into her own heart as she looked over them all for the last time.

Ami and Rajura had made sense. Illusion paired with Wisdom, which would hopefully keep them at an advantage when it came to keeping everyone else from getting lost or falling into traps – so long as their communicators worked.

Rei and Nazaa also made sense. Of any of the Senshi able to keep the crazy Masho of poison in line, Rei would probably have the least struggle. Honestly, the concern was probably more for Nazaa there, since Rei's temper was red hot right now and Nazaa liked to poke at things that shouldn't be poked. The Senshi of Mars already looked mean enough to bite the face off the first person who said a word to her.

And herself and Anubis, she also supposed, made a sort of sense. Light and Dark. Lightning with lightning. If Ami and Rajura failed to cut through any illusions, Anubis could hopefully keep them from being completely blind. Not that she was thrilled to be alone with him while searching for Touma in a Hellscape, but hey. A girl had to take what she could get.

Makoto admitted she was a little worried about Minako. Since their numbers didn't match up evenly, the Senshi of Venus had opted to go alone. No one really liked it, but what else were they going to do? Minako had been very firm that she wasn't worried about running this trip solo. Makoto supposed that the burning need to rescue Seiji and then get back to Usagi would probably drive Venus through anything and out the other side.

She wasn't the Leader of the Senshi for nothing, and the woman took her vows to the point of extremes at times.

Minako signaled them then, and just like that, they said their goodbyes.

And moved into the darkness.

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Something was missing. Something was wrong. Touma's hands, jammed into his pockets, balled into fists. Helplessness overwhelmed him as he stumbled across the landscape, the derelict city both familiar and so very strange. His heart hammered against his ribs, his body ached, his wounds pulled. Anxiety was a living thing inside of him as he tried to remember how in the hell he'd ended up here and the memories eluded him.

In fact, right around middle school, all of his memories began to get fuzzy. Everything from that point in his life to now was a vague collage of school and work with great big gaps of missing time. Missing life. And, he was almost sure of it – missing people. He felt so alone. So isolated. It ate at him slowly, hitting him in moments when he was already down. When he was struggling his hardest. But something inside of him knew - deep down, it knew - that he hadn't been alone always. He'd had...something that had kept this feeling at bay.

The idea that those sorts of memories had been taken away made him angry, but since he'd woken up in this godforsaken place, his emotions had pretty much been limited to rage and fear, and anything else that could be grouped into those categories.

Worse still, he had this awful feeling he was running out of time. The monsters kept finding him more frequently now – nightmarish demons he couldn't have imagined in his worst dreams – and fending them off was becoming more and more difficult. Admittedly, he could do very little, though he'd been as resourceful as he could.

But every time he fought until they managed to take him down into unconsciousness, and he woke aching and stiff, he could feel them circling more tightly around him, like vultures. Like sharks. Every time they came after him, he was that much weaker. That much more exhausted. He didn't even understand how he'd managed to have this much stamina to begin with.

His injuries were bad, but they should be much worse by rights. He shouldn't even be able to stand – it wasn't like he worked out. At least not that he could really remember. But he'd been surprised by his strength and endurance here.

But even still, those were starting to fail him.

Lightning flickered against the black clouds that hovered low over the city, the sight of it filling him with a tiny bit of warmth, like a much-needed breath of air. Like maybe…he wasn't so alone. Looking at it seemed to be the only relief he got here, and he had no idea why. It was just lightning. It wasn't like it was sentient. In fact, it was part of this landscape, so in theory, it was probably out to get him too.

The lightning flickered again, but this time, it burned a brilliant emerald green.

Touma paused, watching as it flashed again and again, as if the sky were agitated, the green deepening, as if the color were gaining strength and prominence. He was sure that had to mean something, but instead of filling him with dread, something inside of him, some very deep, dark part of his psyche sparked at the sight of it. Warmth cascaded through his system. His breaths began to come faster.

The emerald glow became constant then, strike after strike, as the branches of light began to coalesce together a small distance away.

Touma didn't question it. That deep down part of him was waking up now, pushing at him, telling him that he needed to get to where the lightning was gathering, that he needed to be there now. Hope began to burn, and even though it hurt to feel it, he embraced it, letting it push him past the pain and the exhaustion, letting him run with fleet footedness.

He could feel the darkness gathering behind him as he ran, and his heart pounded as the realization that whatever was happening right now might be his very last chance for salvation beat through his veins.

He sprinted.

Past pain. Past fear. His focus stayed on that emerald green glow, each step closer making the tiny light inside of him burn hotter, the glow brighter. Touma skidded around a corner, sliding in front of a building. He glanced up, noticing that the lightning seemed to gather here, striking repeatedly at a tiny bake shop tucked in between two decomposing sky scrapers.

Unlike everything else here, the shop windows glowed, warm and inviting. They were filled with pastries and cakes.

The place was obviously not part of the landscape. Touma bolted forward and gripped the door handle with two hands, throwing it open and leaping inside as the darkness closed in from behind. He hit the tiled floor hard and scrambled to get back on his feet, turning to his back to set eyes on his enemy.

Only to have the vision blocked by a woman, standing now between him and the door.

She was tall, he realized. Her long legs only accentuated by the very short emerald green and pleated skirt she wore. The bodice of her outfit was white, and she wore white gloves to match, trimmed in emerald green. The outfit was accentuated with pink bows that added a feminine touch. Her hair was long and waved, tied back into a ponytail.

And she was standing between him and Hell, fists clenched, body language combative. Touma looked around the shop now, wondering if he could find anything to use as a weapon. The only thing he could see were more cakes, more pastries. Charming decorative touches lent the space a sweet, innocent air, while the scent of roses and warm vanilla sugar seemed to surround him, filling him with a sense of safety and comfort.

Touma looked up, and caught his breath at the sight of a magnificent crystalline heart that seemed to take up the entire ceiling. It glowed fiercely with the same emerald green as the lightning. Around it, oak leaves seemed to grow and twine in an almost wreath-like pattern, while permanent, crystalline lightning curved and arched among the leaves.

It was mesmerizing. Watching the glowing light dance inside of it filled him with warmth and a sense of peace. Like his aches had eased. His fear put to rest. The world outside the shop rumbled, shaking them, and the woman in front of him gasped.

Touma snapped his head over to her, this strange Guardian of the Bake Shop. She seemed to be staring the darkness outside the door down, as if she might be daring it to try and come in. After a moment, however, she took a deep breath and turned, fixing him with an electric green gaze that seemed to vibrate into him and then through him, charging him with energy.

"We don't have long," she said, kneeling beside him. Her face crumpled with pain as she looked him over, those eyes filling with tears. "Oh, Touma," she whispered, reaching out to cup his cheek with a hand that seemed to surround him in a familiar floral scent.

He frowned, feeling lost. "How do you know who I am? Have we met?" he rasped, wondering if this might be some illusion, some terrible trick to get his guard down.

Deep pain lined her expression for a moment as those tears began to spill down her cheeks. It was gone nearly as quickly as it had appeared, before her face hardened, and she pulled her hand away, clenching it in a fist. The other hand was clutching at the brooch in the center of the pink bow on the front of her uniform.

"It's okay Makoto," she seemed to coach herself. "We don't know what happened. You found him, and the rest can be sorted out later."

Touma felt an incredibly strong urge to comfort her. To wrap her in a hug and reassure her. The need was so strong it made him feel uncomfortable. He frowned, but their conversation was cut short when another vibration rocked the shop so hard some of the display items in the window crashed to the ground.

The woman gasped, clutching at her brooch again, curling over it as if in agony while the heart crystal on the ceiling seemed to flash erratically, as if the wings of frightened birds beat desperately within its light. "We can't stay here. I can't hold this open for much longer. Touma, I know you don't remember me, but will you trust me?" she pleaded with him.

He only had to look at her face to make up his mind. She was the best thing that had happened to him since he'd landed here, and he couldn't feel any malice from her. Touma nodded at her, swallowing hard, unable to get words out.

She gave him a tear-filled smile and rose. Touma struggled to his feet beside her and took the hand she'd thrust in his direction without hesitation. She smiled sweetly, and closed her eyes, furrowing her brow as her free hand reached for the heart crystal.

The heart seemed to pulse with deeper frantic energy as the darkness pressed in around them. "Helios, please!" she called out, her face a mask of fear and desperation.

A corona of emerald lightning flared around the heart then, bathing them in an emerald green light so brilliant he had to close his eyes, and could still see its glow through his lids. Everything felt light for a moment, his aches fading, his body wrapped in incredible warmth, comfort folding around him like a quilt.

When the light faded, he allowed his eyes to flutter open.

They were still in the cake shop, but the view outside the windows was different. Instead of eternal blackness, there were trees. Garden paths. A stream. The land outside looked war-torn, but it was clear that the pall of darkness and decay hadn't touched this place. Thunder echoed across the sky but the clouds were white, not black.

The shop glowed softly, but he noticed the heart was no longer on the ceiling. Alarmed, he turned to ask the woman what had happened to it, only to find her cradling a much smaller heart in front of her chest. She was pale and sweaty, panting with effort, her face pained as if she might be suffering some malady Touma could only guess at.

As he watched, the crystal, still glowing brightly, merged itself into her chest. Immediately, her expression eased, though she still looked uncomfortable. She straightened after a moment and fixed him with a sunny smile that had an underlying edge to it that bothered him.

"Whew! That was close, huh? C'mon, let's get you to the temple," she said with false cheer. She opened the door and stepped outside, but Touma hesitated. He was almost….frightened to leave this place behind.

Something about it, about being wrapped inside of it, made him feel safe. Cared for. She turned in the doorway, her expression curious.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

Touma took her in again, now that he wasn't terrified of being overwhelmed by darkness. Something about her face…..the sight of it just….made him feel. He didn't understand, not really, what it meant. He wanted to wrap her in a hug and not let go.

But those thoughts didn't make sense, right? He didn't even know who she was. So Touma shrugged, rubbing his sore shoulder, and shuffled forward to follow her out of the door. They moved slowly across the landscape, and Touma couldn't help but notice that the woman seemed to be looking everywhere at once, clearly worried about an ambush as she hovered nearly on top of him.

Her bearing was regal, graceful – she carried herself like a warrior, and he couldn't help but wonder who she was and why she'd come for him. Clearly, she'd been waiting for him. She'd put herself between him and the darkness to ensure he was safe.

And for some reason, that bothered him. He didn't like the thought of her taking on anything in his stead. He should be the one protecting her.

Touma blinked at the direction his thoughts had taken and then frowned, feeling confused. It made sense, he thought, that he might not want her standing in front of him. He didn't want anyone taking on pain or anything else that was meant for him. Those burdens were his to bear.

Ok. It made sense now, right?

They climbed a set of marbles steps and into a temple that looked to be made completely from the same stone. Fancy, he thought, as he limped after her inside.

A form rushed at them suddenly, and he tensed, hands balling into fists even as he derided himself over the instinct. What was he going to do? Clearly, the woman in front of him seemed to have some sort of ability.

"Princess Jupiter, it is so good to see you," a warm male voice called.

Princess!? Touma thought. He'd been rescued by a Princess?!

"Helios!" she cried out, throwing her arms around a tall, slim man with white hair tousled around his face. And a horn growing out of his forehead for some reason. A sliver of jealousy slid through Touma at the sight of the embrace, and he frowned, squashing it ruthlessly. After all, why should he feel jealous?

"I'm so relieved to see you're here. We were so scared…" the woman trailed off, tears in her voice, and Touma's frown deepened. A tremble wove through her shoulders, and he once again had to fight the urge to comfort her.

Helios bobbed his head, his expression somber. "I have done everything I can to keep the heart of the dreaming protected. I'm pleased you were able to find me through your own sweet dream," the man murmured. "The strength of Jupiter is a welcome boost."

Jupiter nodded enthusiastically. "No kidding, me too! For a second there I was worried. I couldn't figure out how to actually get in," she agreed. Helios flushed, looking a bit guilty.

"I admit that was my fault. I wasn't sure – I was worried you might be a ruse to gain entry here, so I blocked your pure heart from entering fully. I am so very sorry, please forgive me. I wasn't expecting my visitor to be the Princess of Jupiter," he said in a low voice.

"Hey hey! None of that. I'm glad you're keeping this place safe. Listen, I don't have a lot of time right now so I have to keep this short. Can Touma stay here? He….was taken by the monster, and I think it messed with his head. His memories…" here her voice trailed off, and Touma could hear it break on the word memories. She paused, clearing her throat, and when she spoke again, her voice was strong.

"The other Senshi, they'll be coming here with more. We need to keep them safe while we destroy this thing."

Helios blinked at her.

"You're going after it?!" he asked, his voice both incredulous and full of trepidation. "And the Moon Princess?"

Touma frowned. Moon Princess? How many princesses were there?! Underneath the thought, lay another, darker thought. He had been right. Someone or something had tampered with his memories. The gaps in his recollection of his own life were actual gaps.

He studied Jupiter again carefully, trying in vain to spark some memory, some recognition. As he watched her converse with Helios, her expression disturbed as she wrung her hands with distress, he realized he felt deep and unending anger at the idea that something had stolen the memories he'd had of her. She clearly knew who he was. If the current conversation was any indicator, she'd cared about him enough to come find him at great personal risk.

She seemed to care about him an awful lot, in fact. Touma recalled the tears she'd shed when she'd realized that he didn't recognize her. The look of pain on her face. He'd half wondered if maybe she'd had the wrong guy, but Touma didn't know a lot of dudes with blue hair like his own named Touma, so there went that theory.

"Jupiter, I would strongly advise you to stay here. Please. It's safe here. Maybe we can figure out another strategy. At least wait for the others. This is far too risky. Losing the Senshi would be the final blow – for this realm and Elysion," Helios was pleading.

Jupiter smiled sadly, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"Helios," she said softly, "I'm sorry things have been so awful here. I know you've felt alone, that you've been struggling on your own. I'm so sorry that happened. But please. It's going to be ok now. Trust me, all right? Besides. If something happens to us, you'll still have the Samurai Troopers here. I'm sure if things go sideways, you'll all be able to figure it out."

The finality of her tone sent chills down his spine. Something inside of him – the same thing that urged him to hold her – the same thing that needed to comfort her, to reach out, reacted to that tone, filling his veins with ice.

Helios let out a heavy breath, and then nodded. "Yes. It will all be ok. I have faith in you, Jupiter. I have faith in the Senshi. If anything happens, I will hold Elysion for as long as I can."

Jupiter embraced him again, her eyes suspiciously glassy. "Thank you, Helios. Let's pray to all the gods we can that we meet again soon," she whispered, pulling from the embrace. Helios seemed reluctant to release her, returning her smile with a teary one of his own.

"Please, come back Jupiter," he said to her in a low, serious voice.

Touma felt that small part of him start to panic. She couldn't leave. Not that he was afraid to stay here alone. But she couldn't leave. He didn't want to let her out of his sight. He didn't know why, but the urge was almost crippling. It hurt. He didn't understand what was happening to him right now – why his core was twisting itself in knots.

Jupiter turned to him, approaching and putting a gentle hand on his shoulder. "Rest, ok Touma? You're safe here. We're going to take care of everything else," she told him, smiling at him sweetly. Touma put a hand over hers, squeezing.

"Wait. Where are you going? Just stay here, where it's safe," he said urgently, not understanding what was happening inside of him at the idea of her going back out into that…..darkness.

She smiled at him again, but this time, there was such deep, unending affection in the expression – a love as strong and enduring as the Earth's orbit around the sun – tinted with sorrow that made him want to weep. She tugged at his shoulder gently, and he went, unable to stop himself, drawn to her.

And then she wrapped him in a tender embrace.

It was everything, he realized. It was coming home. It was warmth and light. It was connection. It was an anchor. He wrapped his arms around her, and pulled her close, cradling her against him, tangling fingers in the silken, rose-scented strands of her hair, and sighed with the feeling of rightness that settled in his soul.

He might not remember her, but he understood, in that moment, his very being recognized her. She pulled away, pushing out of his arms far too soon, and then stood on tip toes, using her hands to balance herself on his shoulders, and stretched up to lay a gentle kiss on his forehead.

"I'll come back to you," she whispered.

Touma opened his mouth to reply – to plead with her to stay again, but as he watched, she smiled at him with a sad and terrible finality, and then faded from existence right in front of him. He gasped, staggering back, and looked frantically around the room. She was gone. How was she gone?!

His heart beat frantically in his chest, fluttering like moth wings against his breastbone.

She was gone. She couldn't be gone. Rage took him by surprise then. Rage that something had stolen memories of a person so precious – memories of someone who clearly loved him – someone that he might have even loved in return if the grief hammering at him now was any indication.

His knees went week as he swung between sorrow and anger, and Touma dropped to the floor suddenly, a puppet with no puppeteer. He didn't understand what had just happened. There was too much emotion to process right now, and exhaustion had begun to sink its claws into him again. The aches he'd felt earlier, before he'd been rescued, returned, reminding him of the injured state of his body, the bone-crushing tiredness that had hung around his shoulders.

Everything was suddenly overwhelming.

"Easy friend. Rest here. You're safe. Rest until Jupiter returns." He realized that he'd been lifted. Helios had seemed like a small, slight man, but he was carrying Touma now, leaving the great hall. Touma felt himself drifting, his consciousness splintered, awareness vague and unsettled.

Hadn't he been upset just now? What had him so worked up a moment ago?

Touma felt himself lowered into something that felt divinely soft, and he curled into it, letting his breath out with a sigh. This was what he'd needed. A bed. A place to rest. He needed to sleep. A hand rested gently on his head then.

"The sweetest of dreams to you, Tenku no Touma. May you wake rested, your soul refreshed." Helios' voice was a distant burr as Touma felt his consciousness pull away from his body.

Tenku? He thought idly. What's a Tenku?

And then he was gone.