Michiru sat on a stool beside the kitchen counter as she sipped her tea. She looked sadly at Hotaru, as she held a cup of tea that Setsuna made. She looked very pale, and hadn't said a word after she had come down from her room. She didn't say anything when Haruka had bandaged up her arm, or when Setsuna tried to cheer her up, and she had avoided eye contact with everyone. The only thing she looked at was the purple crystal that she held in her hand. Michiru looked closely at the crystal. Whenever Hotaru held it, it looked brighter, clearer. It reminder her of Setsuna's garnet orb, the red jewel at the end of her Time key. It was a talisman, same as her mirror or Haruka's sword.
"Hotaru… can I see your crystal?" Michiru asked. Hotaru snapped her head up at her words. She clearly was very protective of the fluorite rock, and for a minute she thought that Hotaru wouldn't give it to her, but she held it out to her anyway. Michiru reached across the counter for it, and as soon as she touched its surface, a sharp, hot pain rushed through her hand. She quickly snatched her hand away, and Hotaru, seeing this, pulled the rock away from her hand. Michiru shook her hand out, and a tingling feeling quickly spread throughout her fingertips.
"Are you okay?" Setsuna asked. "That's weird… my garnet orb does the same thing when someone else touches it…" Her voice trailed off, and she looked at the others.
"Same with my mirror." Michiru said, looking at Haruka. She still remembered when Haruka had tried to pick up her mirror for her.
"Yeah, I couldn't move my hand for a week." Haruka confirmed. "So does that mean that it's a… talisman?"
"I guess it is… I don't have any other explanations…" Setsuna replied, crossing her hands over one another.
Hotaru stared at the crystal, then quickly placed it on the counter, glad to be rid of it. The others noticed it, too.
"What's wrong? It's a good thing that you have a
talisman, if that's really what it is…"'Setsuna said. Hotaru's eyes quickly
flashed with fear, only to be replaced by sadness.
"Huh?" Haruka asked, not hearing her either.
"I don't…" Hotaru said again, but still too soft. She looked up at the others, who still didn't know what she had said.
"You don't what?"' Michiru said in a calm soothing voice.
"I SAID I DON'T WANT IT!!! Your talismans give you more
power! Why would I want one of my own?
"Hotaru… We had no idea that you felt like that…" Haruka began, until Hotaru turned away from her. Michiru was right behind her.
"We're sorry if we ever made you feel unwelcome…we never intended that. And you're just as important to us as anyone else. Sometimes even more."
"We'd go after you just as we would anyone else, even Usagi… wait, I can't believe I just said that…" Haruka said, a grin crossing her face.
"You… you mean that?" Hotaru said sceptically, still wondered if they had ulterior motives. She highly doubted that, but she still didn't want to get her hopes up.
"Of course." Setsuna replied. "We wouldn't have it any other way."
*****
Rei quickly dodged a kick aimed at her torso, and shot a
fist at Makoto's arm. The two had been half an hour early for the scout
meeting, so they had been sparring between one another. Makoto was the
stronger, and she was a little taller that Rei.
"'So how long do you think this is gonna last?" Artemis asked, as he lay lazily on Minako's lap, basking in the warm sun.
"I swear, that fur must be strictly ornamental, the way he sits in the sun all day…" Minako whispered to Usagi. Usagi agreed, as Luna rolled over in her lap.
"I know, Luna's the same way." She replied in hushed tones.
"Hey, we heard that!" Luna and Artemis said in unison.
"Anyway, it doesn't matter, they must be done now," Artemis said as he looked
over to the fighting duo. They had broken away from each other, and each bowed
to the other.
"Well, it's about time! We thought you'd never break it up!" Chibi-Usa said impatiently. She looked behind them as she saw a car pull up, and the outer senshi got out. "All right! Now that everyone's here, we can start!" They waited for the others to climb the steps to Rei's temple, and they headed inside.
"Have an eventful night?" Rei asked Haruka, and the older woman snickered.
"If only you knew…" Haruka said, and proceeded to tell them the events that happened as they walked inside.
She didn't get far, when Rei felt an evil shadow come over her, and a sharp pain stabbed into her stomach, forcing her to cry out and grab her stomach. She leaned against the wall for support, and slid down the surface to the ground. Makoto and Michiru grabbed hold of her and eased her to the ground.
"Rei, what's wrong?" Michiru asked as she held on to Rei. She continued to hug her stomach and cry out.
"The… it's evil… hurts…make it stop…" was all she managed to gasp out. Michiru turned to Haruka and the others for help, when she saw them trying to keep a very pale Hotaru upright. Hotaru seemed to have trouble breathing, and looked like she was trying very hand to refrain from screaming. She pulled away from Haruka and Ami who were holding her up and staggered over to Rei, clutching her chest. She fell to her knees beside Rei and placed a shaking hand on Rei's arm. Her hand began to glow with a white aura, and after a moment, Rei's pain seemed to dissipate. She slowly regained control and composure, and grasped Hotaru's hand, which was still trembling. After a moment, Hotaru stopped gasping for air and shaking. Rei looked straight into Hotaru's eyes, and in a flash, she witnessed all that had happened. "You saw it too?" Rei asked, and Hotaru looked into Rei's eyes, returning the gaze.
"It's coming… now…" she replied, and a large explosion shook the temple, knocking them to the floor. Before they could get up, a black hole formed from the floor and sucked them into oblivion.
*****
Mistress 9 stood in a black room, void of any
objects.
With a flash of colour, Hotaru appeared in the surface, with all the other scouts gathered together. "Perfect…" she said in a dangerously sweet voice. "I can kill 10 birds with one stone…" She raised her hand, and a black cloud of energy swirled menacingly around her fingertips. "Bring her to me…" she said malevolently, and the energy cloud disappeared through the surface.
After a moment, the cloud formed underneath the scouts as it knocked them to their feet. They all fell through the hole in the ground, several shrieks escaping before the hole closed up. "Yes… that's right… come to mamma." She said as a cold laughter pierced the air around her. "Now I just have to sit back and wait. Oh, this is too easy…"