Ah, here it is. Chapter two, finally. I think I forgot a disclaimer on the first part, so here it is. I don't own Sailor Moon, nor do I wish to. To be perfectly honest, I don't actually like Sailor Moon all that much. I just felt like torturing Mamoru a bit. The idea for this fic came and wouldn't let go o.O I don't own X, either, although I wouldn't mind owning that one. starry eyes Blood, gore, bishounen… what more could one ask for? ^.^
``Lithium``
The Senshi sat around in Makoto's house. They were ostensibly having a meeting to discuss the sources of power Setsuna had discovered, but in reality they were enjoying Makoto's cooking while trying to pry the reason for Usagi's moodiness out of her.
"Come on, Usagi, tell us. We're your friends, aren't we?" Minako flopped down next to the spot where Usagi was lying on the floor.
Usagi mumbled something vaguely and rolled over underneath the table.
"Have a cookie." Makoto waved one enticingly in front of her. A hand appeared and the cookie disappeared, but Usagi didn't come out.
"This is so unlike her. Normally she'd be whining to us incessantly by now." remarked Rei around a brownie.
"I heard that." came an indistinct voice from under the table.
"What /is/ it, Usagi? We may have a new enemy on the horizon, we don't need our leader moping around for no reason." Rei was annoyed.
"It's not for no reason."
"Oh really? Then what is it?"
"You're going to make fun of me."
"No, we won't. Really!" said Minako.
"Yeah, we're your friends. We wouldn't do that, if it's serious." said Makoto.
Just the eyes and odangos were visible as Usagi peered over the top of the table.
"It's Mamo-chan. He's been acting really weird lately. I'm worried about him! He hardly eats, and he's moody and distant, and he hasn't been getting enough sleep either!"
"Maybe he's just worried that he didn't do well on the exams…?" suggested Makoto. "I know I am… I can hardly sleep for thinking of the physics section. I think I bombed it…"
"Maybe." said Usagi. She didn't look any happier. "I wish he would /tell/ me! He's always like this, he never tells me what's wrong because he doesn't want to worry me!" That was it for Usagi. She burst into tears, as the rest winced and yet tried to look sympathetic.
"Come on, Usagi, it'll be all right. Think about something else." Minako patted her on the head.
"What about our possible new enemy?" said Rei.
"I've been researching the signatures, but I haven't come up with anything. It's just two sources of unfamiliar energy. I can't detect anything evil about them, but then I can't detect anything good either."
"The only thing I've gotten in any of my readings is wings, and a pair of violet eyes." sighed Rei.
"Really? Wings and eyes… weird. Could you make anything of them? Any connection, or feeling, or anything?"
"No…"
"Maybe we should stake out these two places. It shouldn't be too hard to transform into a student of that school on the Imonoyama grounds…" said Minako.
"What about City Hall?" asked Makoto.
"Oh, we'll figure something out."
**
"Usagi and her team are planning a stakeout of the Imonoyama grounds." said Setsuna. "To investigate those new energy signatures."
"Should we come along?" asked Michiru.
"I think they can handle it…. but I'm worried. I don't know what these new spots of energy could mean. They seem to be identical, just in different locations. And powerful, too. But…"
"There haven't been any recent attacks or suspicious developments." Haruka finished the thought.
"Exactly. I don't know what to make of it."
"Hmm. Maybe we should tag along after Usagi after all."
A sudden tremor nearly knocked them off their feet.
"An earthquake??"
**
Mamoru walked along the sidewalk, brooding. He felt bad for distancing Usagi; she was obviously worried about him, and his unhappiness was making her unhappy. Her unhappiness was not something he wanted, but he was unable to snap out of his mood. The dreams had been coming more often, and they were stronger each time. The violet eyes were clearer than ever, and for some reason he had also been seeing wings. A brief glimpse of angel wings of the purest white…. then dark bat-like wings as a seeming counterpart.
He was shaken from his reverie as the ground shuddered, nearly knocking him off his feet. He heard a rumbling to the side, and looked up to see the building next to him start to crumble.