Version 1.0 - 7th Aug 1998
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S.I.U. - The Sailor Investigation Unit
by DARK DAY FOR ANIME (Mark A Page)
Disclaimer - all characters pertaining to the series Bishoujo Senshi
Sailormoon and Silent Mobius are owned by Takeuchi Naoko, Kia
Asamiya, Michitaka Kikuchi, Bandai, Studio Tron, Kadokawa and
Kodansya. All other characters were thought up by me.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
"Leave." The flat, emotionless voice of the minor Senshi
struck Queen Serenity with the equivalent force of the spear staff
the girl held within her hands. It's vicious, barbed point aimed
directly at the Queen's heart....
With her dark hair and equally dark senshi fuku, her
silhouette bore a resemblance to an animated shadow. The only point
of reference that Serenity had, to ground some kind of intelligence
behind the figure, was the glimmer from the girl's eyes.... Eyes as
dead as her voice.
"This is MY palace, Iapetus. I go where I wish, and I wish to
consult with your sleeping mistress...." Serenity stood her ground,
despite her desire to flee from this place. She hated being here so
much, its darkness almost draining her of the light that bound her
being.
"Leave." The Senshi's voice did not change in tone or pitch.
She emerged from the semi-darkness of the entrance to Saturn's Rest,
quite determined to skewer her queen with her weapon, if Serenity so
much as dared to move another step forward.
"Iapetus...." Dione's voice emerged from the Rest. Iapetus
turned to the flamboyant figure, her dark, flared fuku complimented
by her weapons of choice, bladed fans, unsheathed either side of her
like wings. "Be a little more socially responsible with your
threats.... She is our Queen."
"She will leave. Nobody but we are allowed to enter the
chamber." Iapetus raised her staff, clanging the blunt end of the
metal rod on the ground, leaning her weight against it.
"But there are exceptions allowed." Dione smiled, her fans
clacking shut, then with a dramatic floursish, gestured with one of
them, pointing to the faint glimmer of energy, emanating from
Saturn. "But be warned, Queen Serenity. We shall, most certainly,
kill you if you are to approach Saturn any closer than the inner
circle of Pan."
"Or, at the very least, you'll have to deal with Titan."
Iapetus interjected.
"Then you'll never know what hit you." Dione chuckled as she
skipped across the entranceway in a strange little dance, her fans
slashing through the air in graceful yet incipiently lethal strokes.
"Be careful, Serenity-sama...." Mars, who was standing behind
Serenity with Mercury and Jupiter, placed a hand on Serenity's
shoulder. "Their threats are ALWAYS enacted upon."
"They have no souls of their own. They are insane." Jupiter
nodded, her arms crossed defensively.
"You are wrong." Serenity turned to them. "They are people,
like you and I. Regardless of what you might think of them, they
deserve the same love and concern that we share."
----o
"I came here on someone else's orders to kill you, Sailormars.
I never expected to come face to face with.... with HER." Miyuki
shivered with anticipation.
"With who?"
"Saturn.... I want out of here. I want away from her. It
doesn't matter.... Just keep HER away from me!"
"IAPETUS!" Everyone turned as the thin figure of the dark-
haired Sailorsenshi staggered forward, resting her weight on her
Glaive in one hand as she held the wound in her midriff with the
other. Miyuki's face became a mask of fear.... Not something she
had experienced, quite to this degree, at any stage of her life.
"Stop calling me that!" She stood, bringing Pagan with her.
"My name is Nakano Miyuki. I do not, will never, go by the name of
Iapetus...."
"Iapetus.... This is wrong.... This is not what you were
reborn for...." Hotaru reached Rei, who took her by the arm,
supporting her.
"Shutup! I have no idea what you're talking about...."
Miyuki threw Pagan aside, putting the gun to her temple. "I'm NOT
Iapetus.... Leave me ALONE! LEAVE MY MIND ALONE!"
There was a gunshot, and Saturn cried out in pain.
----o
Part Twentyeight
Offence and Defence
----o
Usagi made strange gurgling noises as her eyes spiralled, a
large ball of flesh, known only as Cthulu Kanzaki, staring down at
her with some surprise.
He had become pretty much used to frightening people in his
time. After all, you don't get to look like something out of an
apocalyptic nightmare and expect people to instantaneously fall in
love with you.
"Well, the very least you could have done was introduce
yourself before you tried to give the Princess a kiss...." Setsuna
chided Cthulu from the nearest wall, pressing herself as close to it
as possible, hoping he didn't take a shine to her, as well.
"Rmmmphuuu...." He gurgled, disappointed that someone like
the great Sailorpluto would treat him in much the same manner as
everyone else. "Mrrphuu mrrphuu...."
"Yes, I know NOW you don't have any hostile intentions...."
She croaked. "But it might have been nice for you to have conveyed
that message a little earlier.
"Mrrrphuuu..." Cthulu waggled an eyestalk in her direction
and lifted himself away from Usagi, trying not to drool over her
like the last time he gave her his patented smooch attack.
"I think I'm gonna throw uuuuup...." Usagi whined.
----o
Pain. The pain was momentary. And then there was nothing.
Kimi sat up from her futon, breathing rapidly. It felt like
her very soul had been ripped from her body.... Or, at least, a
portion of that soul....
She stared at the window of her bedroom. The clouds beyond
were tinged with the colour of blood. She shot to her feet and ran
to that window, staring out at the rain soaked rock garden.
"Miyuki...." She whispered, quivering, then turned from the
window and ran from the room....
----o
"It would appear our charge is somewhat concerned by
something." The woman's voice resonated from the darkness of the
guestroom, watching Kimi's figure dash across the courtyard. She
turned from the open window to her companion. "Unusual that she
should exhibit such an air of panic."
"Perhaps the many demons that torment her have upped the
ante." Her aquamarine-haired companion smiled as she rubbed her
hands together, looking up from the small table at which she was
knelt. "I don't think Midan-sama has manipulated her into this
crisis."
"Midan is a cruel bastard. It is most likely that her current
fears are the product of his systematic abuse." She ran a hand
through her short, light hair and sighed.
"I'd be careful where you level such accusations. We are
within his estate. There are ears within every wall."
"I sincerely doubt he would deny such an accusation." The
short-haired woman paced around the bare floor. "Kimi, regardless
of whether you like or dislike her, is one sick puppy, and having a
sicker father is not helping her, much."
"You seem to forget...." Aquamarine levelled her gaze. "It
was her who ordered us to...."
"I realise that, only too well, even if you could say that our
involvement was.... technical." Shorthair cracked her knuckles.
"Now we're expected to finish the job.... I'm getting to like this
whole plan less and less as things go along."
"We can't turn back, now. It is too late." Aquamarine stood.
"I think we should follow her, wherever she goes."
"Why? What point is there? She'll run off, kill some poor
suck who happens to stray into her path, then come crawling back
home, satiated."
"And we allow he to do this?" Aquamarine put her hands on her
hips. "Besides, A little birdie is telling me that there is trouble
brewing around her." She lifted a small mirror from behind her
back, staring into it with some intensity. "It flashed, if for but
a moment. Something I don't like."
"What?"
"Something to do with Saturn."
"What?"
Aquamarine put the mirror away, inside the jacket of her coat.
"You do not want to know. Madness only lies along that path of
thought...."
----o
The dark, painful sensation of the flesh of her own mind,
splattering across the flat surface of the Hikawa Shrine's
courtyard, was the first thing that Miyuki felt. Then her legs
started to give way underneath her, eventually falling to her knees.
Darkness descended upon the spirit that dwelled within. The
darkness of escape.... From what Saturn had been trying to do to
her... She didn't want to become infected with the emotionalism
and sense of duty that was imbued within that dark spirit....
"You're a fool, Iapetus." She could hear the voice in what
vestiges of her mind still existed as her gun clattered to the
ground, all motor control to her hands disappearing. "You can't
escape from what you were that easily. I won't let you."
"Go away.... I HATE you. You who abandoned me to the eternal
loneliness.... I HATE you...."
"I didn't abandon you."
"You obliterated the Kingdom."
"It was necessary."
"I survived, as did the others."
"That was your luck.... Your fortune...."
"We descended into madness. Minor Senshi without a purpose."
"You can have a purpose, once more."
"I don't want a purpose. I'd rather be dead than be fooled
into that kind of life, again."
"I won't let death be your means of escape."
"What can you do? Heal my mortal wound?"
"I am the Senshi of death. I shall not allow you to die, so
easily, Iapetus of the Loneliness...."
Miyuki pitched forward onto her face as Rei gripped the
screaming Hotaru. Mhaere moved forward to grab Miyuki before she
fell to the ground, whilst Kaji and Aoi made for Hotaru as she
slowly sank to her knees.
There was a flash of light.
----o
Usagi was given a helping hand to the nearby bed as both she
and Setsuna gave the gurgling Cthulu a wary glance.
"How did he get out?" Usagi pointed at him.
"Apparently he has the ability to gate himself about....
Something nobody else knew."
"So why did he follow me, here?"
"I think he likes you." Setsuna smiled, sweatdropping. "I
think he wants to help us get out of the Sacred House compound."
"How very.... nice...." Usagi swallowed. "It's nice to know
who your friends are...."
"Well...." Setsuna took a long breath. "You are the one who
tries to advocate looking past the exterior at the person within....
Although, I must say, you're going to have an awful time, trying to
exercise that philosophy, with this one."
"Pluto...." Usagi whispered. "If he... it... says he wants
to help us, why should we disbelieve him?"
"Why did you believe someone like Lysithea Caprice?" Setsuna
chided her. "If there was anyone on the face of the Earth I would
have liked you to avoid, it was he."
"I didn't trust him. But I wanted to save Mina-chan.... And
he said he would help me."
"That's what I mean. You walked right into his trap by using
your Sailor Teleport to get into the House Compound. Now he has
taken Carey West and has run off to... Kami knows where."
"Who is Carey West?" Usagi blinked. Setsuna sighed.
"Someone else I pray you never meet." She paused. "However,
my prayers are unlikely to come to fruition. We have to save her
before he kills her."
"What does he want to kill her, for?" Usagi stood from the
bed, clenching her fists, angrily.
"Because he thinks her powers could be used to drive a
ceremony that would open the doorway between our world and the
hellish otherworld of Nemesis...."
"NEMESIS?" Usagi croaked. "But.... Isn't that the world
Prince Demando and his minions came from?"
"The very name of Nemesis represents everything this world
is not. Both the Black Moon and this alternate realm live up to
that name. But no, they are not the same Nemesis."
"Mrrphhh..." Cthulu muttered, making Usagi and Setsuna jump
a little. They turned, looking at him questioningly. "Mrrphuu
mrrphhhuuu." He garbled. Usagi looked up at Setsuna.
"What did he say?"
"He said there are people approaching this room." Setsuna
nodded. Usagi bit her lip, looking from her senshi to Cthulu and
back.
"So.... Are you going to transport us out of here, or
something?" She looked up, hopefully, at Setsuna, but her senshi
shook her head.
"I'm sorry. I was lucky to get this far without the security
system going berzerk.... I think Carey set the system to watch out
for me before she was taken." Setsuna sighed. "That's what Cthulu
is here for." She turned to the ball of flesh, which chuckled to
itself.
"He... It... knows?" Usagi queried. "It knew that you
wouldn't be able to use your power?" Setsuna nodded.
Just then, the doors to the room were flung open. "See, I
told you she was here. You just wouldn't believe me. A PURE one."
The voice came from Naoko, who was standing in the middle of the
small group which included her father, Gen, and several other people
who bore the robes of senior members of the Sacred House. Naoko's
smile disappeared as soon as she saw Cthulu, sitting on one side of
her room. "What are YOU doing here?"
"My Kami...." Gen and another elder, Akizawa Jiro, brushed
past Naoko. staring at Usagi. It was Jiro who had spoken. "She
is... I can see it.... Blood, purer than I've ever seen from
someone in human form...."
Setsuna looked from the new arrivals to her Princess. "Ano...
What might they be talking about?"
Before Usagi could answer, Cthulu started to make a humming
noise, and all three of them vanished from the room. Naoko had
raced forward as soon as she heard the noise start. "Cthulu....
don't...." She reached the point where Cthulu had been sitting,
way too late, falling to her knees on the floor. "Damn you,
Cthulu... Why did you have to do this?" She gripped the carpet
with crooked fingers, angrily.
----o
"Gone...." Kaji stared at the spot where Miyuki had fallen.
Even the blood and tissue that had been sprayed across the ground
had vanished. He turned to Aoi, who, like everyone else, was
staring at the same vacant space. "Aoi.... Thank Kami... You're
okay...." He spun her around to face him, only them realising the
vacant stare that was one her face. "Aoi?"
"She...." Aoi mumbled, quietly, then spun her head around to
Saturn, who was now silent, being held by a concerned Mars. "She..
She did something... I don't know what it was... But she..."
"Ano.... Can someone get me some clothes. I'm freezing,
here." Pagan whinged, holding both his hands over his vital
statistics.
"Oh Kami... She's dying...." Mars cradled Saturn's head in
her arms. "Somebody, please.... Help her. She'll die if we don't
do something, soon."
"I really need some clothes, or else I'll die of the cold."
Pagan cleared his throat. Aoi turned to him with annoyance.
"All bloody right!" She stamped towards Mars and the injured
Saturn. "Kaji...." She looked back at her partner. "Call an
ambulance, immediately. Tell them we have a special patient for
them to deal with."
"Ano ne...." Kaji blinked, then sighed, picking his mobile
phone out of his jacket. Whilst he made the emergency call,
Yuuichirou, now stepping out of the shadow of Rei's Grandfather,
approached Aoi determinedly.
"Now just a minute, here.... What the hell is going on? Who
the hell are you people? What's happened to Rei-chan?" He demanded
of her, grabbing Aoi's arm tightly. The woman turned on him,
snapping her arm out of his grasp.
"Don't start demanding questions of me! I'm an officer of the
law, geddit? And I'd like just a few answers as to what has been
happening here, myself. Besides, you can find our dear buck-nekkid
friend over there some clothes. It shall, at the very least, keep
you occupied and out of my sight." She snarled at him. Yuuichirou
wasn't easily intimidated by her superior attitude.
"How dare you speak to me like that, cop or not...." He
began. He felt a hand on his shoulder and turned, coming face to
face with the attractive, red-headed caucasian who had fallen
through the wormhole with Aoi and Pagan. Mhaere shook her head,
a soft expression on her face.
"Don't bother arguing with her. You'll only lose, no matter
how hard you try...."
"It'll cost his life if he tries." Pagan had started to dance
across the ground, trying to keep warm. "Hurry up, will you? I can
feel portions of my body getting ready to freeze off."
"Oh fucking ALRIGHT!" Aoi spat. "I'll find some clothes for
you! That to your satisfaction?" She pounded across the ground,
grabbing Pagan by the arm, then spun to Mhaere and Yuuichirou. "You
two help the girl in red deal with the half-snuffed sailorsenshi.
Just don't do too much. They belong to ME! Understand? They're
MINE!" And with that, she dragged Pagan across the courtyard
towards the nearest building, watched by everyone, bemusedly. Kaji
broke the silence as he hung up his phone.
"Well, an ambulance should be here, pretty soon." he stepped
over to the side of Saturn, cringing at the sight of the wound in
Saturn's middle. He turned to Yuuichirou. "Have you got anything
like a bandage? To stop her bleeding...."
Yuuichirou nodded, mutely, and started to tear off fabric from
the sleeves of his acolyte's dress, in reasonably large strips. He
handed them to Kaji, who had managed to tear away Saturn's fuku from
the centre of the wound. He looked up at Mars, nervously. "Did you
know that girl? The one who shot your friend, here?"
"I... I've never seen her, before." Mars replied, looking
away. Luna, who had been watching over the unconscious Artemis
nearby, looked up at her.
"You said you were expecting there to be someone after you,
earlier.... Didn't you?"
"Kami.... The cat STILL speaks...." Kaji cleared his throat,
settling slightly. "Ah, yes... Well, is this true?" He studied
Mars, but the girl didn't answer. He Grandfather stepped up to her,
kneeling down beside her.
"Rei-chan...." He whispered, softly. She tried to shy away
from him, but he persisted. "Rei-chan, answer the policeman. Tell
us what has happened to you...."
"Ojiichan...." She croaked, swallowing. It was as if a
shadow had crossed her face. "I can't.... I can't say anything.
Leave me alone. You'll never understand."
"I am your Grandfather." The elderly man felt stung by her
words. "If you cannot trust me with your secrets, who can you
trust?"
"That bossy woman called Rei's friend, here, a
Sailorsenshi...." Yuuichirou started as Kaji took the torn strips
of material from him. "I take it this means you are ALSO a
Sailorsenshi, Rei-chan?"
"Don't...." Rei started. "Please. I can't talk to you now.
Please, Ojiichan, Yuu-chan... Please.... Leave me alone."
----o
"My God.... Don't they have any REAL clothing in here?"
Pagan rifled through the only wardrobe both he and Aoi had been able
to find. So far, they had succeeded in retrieving nothing but
religious garb. "I suppose it is going to have to do.... But I'm
going to feel a right idiot, wearing it." He pulled out one of the
priest robes, throwing the light material over his shoulders.
"Beats being naked."
Aoi eyed him as he tied the robe around his middle, difficult
since the arms of the item were extremely long and baggy. He looked
up at her, smiling. "Don't get any funny ideas."
"You really are an arrogant bastard, aren't you? What makes
you think there are any ideas running through my head?" She
snorted. "Besides, we only met this morning. I make it a rule
never to sleep with anyone the day I meet them."
"Well, it's almost midnight. You might get your opportunity,
soon." He stepped away from the wardrobe, staring at a large, body
length mirror that was sitting in the corner of the room, studying
his appearance.
"You flatter yourself, you know that?" Aoi huffed and turned
from him. He chuckled, shaking his head.
"Honestly.... You are SO uptight. What was with that scene
in the courtyard, and back in your house.... There was no need for
that. It's a wonder you have any friends, the way you treat
people." He stepped forward, tugging on the collar of the robe. "I
suppose I could get used to wearing this, for the time being. I
mean, it's not exactly fashionable, but it certainly has its good
points...." He waited for a response from Aoi. When there was none
forthcoming, he turned to her. She was standing in the doorway,
face turned away from him.
"I don't have many friends." She said, softly. "I find it
difficult to deal with people, and people find it difficult to deal
with me. I've come to accept that after a number of years." She
sighed. "So I always put my job ahead of my personal life. It made
seemed to make sense to me.... If you fail as a person, least you
could succeed as a kind of expert.... I was even granted a special
licence... They don't normally allow women to rise beyond very
simple police work in this country, let alone even carry a gun....
I was one of the very few to break that barrier.... I managed to
get THAT far in my career.... But I still ended up in the bloody
SIU..." She turned to him. "Why am I even telling you this? You
don't need to know about my problems or feelings. They don't
matter."
"On the contrary." Pagan said, softly. "I think they matter.
They matter a lot."
"Don't patronise me.... Ignore everything I said. I slip up,
every so often. Let out to others the kind of loser I really am."
Her tone had become bitter. "I chase Sailorsenshi for a living. Up
until today, I'd failed to catch even one. Now, I've got three live
ones and a dead one to my credit. I really should be happy....
It's all finally beginning to fall together...." She put a hand to
her mouth as she swallowed back a choked sob, then smiled at him.
"Yes. When I have them all, everything will be just fine. I'll be
out of the SIU and promoted into another position. It's so simple,
so easy..."
"Aoi...." Pagan whispered as she paused. She shook her head
and turned away once more.
"My mother was the same, you know.... She was an obsessive
woman, always throwing herself into whatever it was she'd chosen to
do with her life.... She was also addicted to more prescription
drugs than is possible to name, off the top of your head. I spent
my entire childhood having to look after this.... this woman... who
had never once shown me an ounce of affection..." She paused. "Who
spent all her time getting totally wasted, sometimes even overdosing
when things got really bad.... I had to act as her safety valve,
even after she was hospitalised.... Right up until the moment she
succeeded...."
Aoi sank down, sitting on her haunches, one hand up against
the wall. Pagan watched her as she clenched her other hand, blood
running as her fingernails dug into her palm.
"You see? You see this?" She turned to him, holding out her
wounded hand and showing the tears on her face. "I can't even cry
unless I'm in pain.... I don't FEEL anything. The only opportunity
I get to FEEL is when I'm angry. And you wonder why I make myself
angry, so often? It's like a drug.... I HAVE to feel angry. It
makes me feel a tremendous pleasure.... Not from the control it
gives me over others, but the enactment of EMOTION...." She
chuckled, bitterly.
"Do you think.... that gives you an excuse.... for the way you
behave?" Pagan asked, carefully.
"I don't know why I'm telling you this.... I just.... I
just.... Who the hell else can I tell, you know?"
Pagan stepped over to her and knelt down beside her, placing a
hand on her shoulder. "I really don't think telling me this will
help you salvage your reputation, any...."
"Oh, you...." Aoi lifted her unwounded hand to slap him, then
wrapped it around him and started to bawl. Pagan, surprised by this
sudden turn of events, didn't react for a good minute or so. Then,
for some reason unknown to him, he held onto her, trying to calm
her.
"Being a crybaby doesn't suit you at all, you know?" He
mumbled as she slowly settled. Then she pulled herself away from
him and stared into his face, feeling a tremendous sense of madness
overwhelm her.
She clamped her mouth over his, passionately, and was elated
to find him responding in kind....
END OF PART 28
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Next Chapters
S.I.U. - The Sailor Investigation Unit - "Psychosis Rift"
_________
/ @ \ DDFA (The Right Dishonourable Mark A Page)
/ / ^ ^ \ \ ayanami@internode.on.net
/\
\/ \/
\___________/
/_/ \_\ PU
--------------------------------------------------------------------
S.I.U. - The Sailor Investigation Unit
by DARK DAY FOR ANIME (Mark A Page)
Disclaimer - all characters pertaining to the series Bishoujo Senshi
Sailormoon and Silent Mobius are owned by Takeuchi Naoko, Kia
Asamiya, Michitaka Kikuchi, Bandai, Studio Tron, Kadokawa and
Kodansya. All other characters were thought up by me.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
"Leave." The flat, emotionless voice of the minor Senshi
struck Queen Serenity with the equivalent force of the spear staff
the girl held within her hands. It's vicious, barbed point aimed
directly at the Queen's heart....
With her dark hair and equally dark senshi fuku, her
silhouette bore a resemblance to an animated shadow. The only point
of reference that Serenity had, to ground some kind of intelligence
behind the figure, was the glimmer from the girl's eyes.... Eyes as
dead as her voice.
"This is MY palace, Iapetus. I go where I wish, and I wish to
consult with your sleeping mistress...." Serenity stood her ground,
despite her desire to flee from this place. She hated being here so
much, its darkness almost draining her of the light that bound her
being.
"Leave." The Senshi's voice did not change in tone or pitch.
She emerged from the semi-darkness of the entrance to Saturn's Rest,
quite determined to skewer her queen with her weapon, if Serenity so
much as dared to move another step forward.
"Iapetus...." Dione's voice emerged from the Rest. Iapetus
turned to the flamboyant figure, her dark, flared fuku complimented
by her weapons of choice, bladed fans, unsheathed either side of her
like wings. "Be a little more socially responsible with your
threats.... She is our Queen."
"She will leave. Nobody but we are allowed to enter the
chamber." Iapetus raised her staff, clanging the blunt end of the
metal rod on the ground, leaning her weight against it.
"But there are exceptions allowed." Dione smiled, her fans
clacking shut, then with a dramatic floursish, gestured with one of
them, pointing to the faint glimmer of energy, emanating from
Saturn. "But be warned, Queen Serenity. We shall, most certainly,
kill you if you are to approach Saturn any closer than the inner
circle of Pan."
"Or, at the very least, you'll have to deal with Titan."
Iapetus interjected.
"Then you'll never know what hit you." Dione chuckled as she
skipped across the entranceway in a strange little dance, her fans
slashing through the air in graceful yet incipiently lethal strokes.
"Be careful, Serenity-sama...." Mars, who was standing behind
Serenity with Mercury and Jupiter, placed a hand on Serenity's
shoulder. "Their threats are ALWAYS enacted upon."
"They have no souls of their own. They are insane." Jupiter
nodded, her arms crossed defensively.
"You are wrong." Serenity turned to them. "They are people,
like you and I. Regardless of what you might think of them, they
deserve the same love and concern that we share."
----o
"I came here on someone else's orders to kill you, Sailormars.
I never expected to come face to face with.... with HER." Miyuki
shivered with anticipation.
"With who?"
"Saturn.... I want out of here. I want away from her. It
doesn't matter.... Just keep HER away from me!"
"IAPETUS!" Everyone turned as the thin figure of the dark-
haired Sailorsenshi staggered forward, resting her weight on her
Glaive in one hand as she held the wound in her midriff with the
other. Miyuki's face became a mask of fear.... Not something she
had experienced, quite to this degree, at any stage of her life.
"Stop calling me that!" She stood, bringing Pagan with her.
"My name is Nakano Miyuki. I do not, will never, go by the name of
Iapetus...."
"Iapetus.... This is wrong.... This is not what you were
reborn for...." Hotaru reached Rei, who took her by the arm,
supporting her.
"Shutup! I have no idea what you're talking about...."
Miyuki threw Pagan aside, putting the gun to her temple. "I'm NOT
Iapetus.... Leave me ALONE! LEAVE MY MIND ALONE!"
There was a gunshot, and Saturn cried out in pain.
----o
Part Twentyeight
Offence and Defence
----o
Usagi made strange gurgling noises as her eyes spiralled, a
large ball of flesh, known only as Cthulu Kanzaki, staring down at
her with some surprise.
He had become pretty much used to frightening people in his
time. After all, you don't get to look like something out of an
apocalyptic nightmare and expect people to instantaneously fall in
love with you.
"Well, the very least you could have done was introduce
yourself before you tried to give the Princess a kiss...." Setsuna
chided Cthulu from the nearest wall, pressing herself as close to it
as possible, hoping he didn't take a shine to her, as well.
"Rmmmphuuu...." He gurgled, disappointed that someone like
the great Sailorpluto would treat him in much the same manner as
everyone else. "Mrrphuu mrrphuu...."
"Yes, I know NOW you don't have any hostile intentions...."
She croaked. "But it might have been nice for you to have conveyed
that message a little earlier.
"Mrrrphuuu..." Cthulu waggled an eyestalk in her direction
and lifted himself away from Usagi, trying not to drool over her
like the last time he gave her his patented smooch attack.
"I think I'm gonna throw uuuuup...." Usagi whined.
----o
Pain. The pain was momentary. And then there was nothing.
Kimi sat up from her futon, breathing rapidly. It felt like
her very soul had been ripped from her body.... Or, at least, a
portion of that soul....
She stared at the window of her bedroom. The clouds beyond
were tinged with the colour of blood. She shot to her feet and ran
to that window, staring out at the rain soaked rock garden.
"Miyuki...." She whispered, quivering, then turned from the
window and ran from the room....
----o
"It would appear our charge is somewhat concerned by
something." The woman's voice resonated from the darkness of the
guestroom, watching Kimi's figure dash across the courtyard. She
turned from the open window to her companion. "Unusual that she
should exhibit such an air of panic."
"Perhaps the many demons that torment her have upped the
ante." Her aquamarine-haired companion smiled as she rubbed her
hands together, looking up from the small table at which she was
knelt. "I don't think Midan-sama has manipulated her into this
crisis."
"Midan is a cruel bastard. It is most likely that her current
fears are the product of his systematic abuse." She ran a hand
through her short, light hair and sighed.
"I'd be careful where you level such accusations. We are
within his estate. There are ears within every wall."
"I sincerely doubt he would deny such an accusation." The
short-haired woman paced around the bare floor. "Kimi, regardless
of whether you like or dislike her, is one sick puppy, and having a
sicker father is not helping her, much."
"You seem to forget...." Aquamarine levelled her gaze. "It
was her who ordered us to...."
"I realise that, only too well, even if you could say that our
involvement was.... technical." Shorthair cracked her knuckles.
"Now we're expected to finish the job.... I'm getting to like this
whole plan less and less as things go along."
"We can't turn back, now. It is too late." Aquamarine stood.
"I think we should follow her, wherever she goes."
"Why? What point is there? She'll run off, kill some poor
suck who happens to stray into her path, then come crawling back
home, satiated."
"And we allow he to do this?" Aquamarine put her hands on her
hips. "Besides, A little birdie is telling me that there is trouble
brewing around her." She lifted a small mirror from behind her
back, staring into it with some intensity. "It flashed, if for but
a moment. Something I don't like."
"What?"
"Something to do with Saturn."
"What?"
Aquamarine put the mirror away, inside the jacket of her coat.
"You do not want to know. Madness only lies along that path of
thought...."
----o
The dark, painful sensation of the flesh of her own mind,
splattering across the flat surface of the Hikawa Shrine's
courtyard, was the first thing that Miyuki felt. Then her legs
started to give way underneath her, eventually falling to her knees.
Darkness descended upon the spirit that dwelled within. The
darkness of escape.... From what Saturn had been trying to do to
her... She didn't want to become infected with the emotionalism
and sense of duty that was imbued within that dark spirit....
"You're a fool, Iapetus." She could hear the voice in what
vestiges of her mind still existed as her gun clattered to the
ground, all motor control to her hands disappearing. "You can't
escape from what you were that easily. I won't let you."
"Go away.... I HATE you. You who abandoned me to the eternal
loneliness.... I HATE you...."
"I didn't abandon you."
"You obliterated the Kingdom."
"It was necessary."
"I survived, as did the others."
"That was your luck.... Your fortune...."
"We descended into madness. Minor Senshi without a purpose."
"You can have a purpose, once more."
"I don't want a purpose. I'd rather be dead than be fooled
into that kind of life, again."
"I won't let death be your means of escape."
"What can you do? Heal my mortal wound?"
"I am the Senshi of death. I shall not allow you to die, so
easily, Iapetus of the Loneliness...."
Miyuki pitched forward onto her face as Rei gripped the
screaming Hotaru. Mhaere moved forward to grab Miyuki before she
fell to the ground, whilst Kaji and Aoi made for Hotaru as she
slowly sank to her knees.
There was a flash of light.
----o
Usagi was given a helping hand to the nearby bed as both she
and Setsuna gave the gurgling Cthulu a wary glance.
"How did he get out?" Usagi pointed at him.
"Apparently he has the ability to gate himself about....
Something nobody else knew."
"So why did he follow me, here?"
"I think he likes you." Setsuna smiled, sweatdropping. "I
think he wants to help us get out of the Sacred House compound."
"How very.... nice...." Usagi swallowed. "It's nice to know
who your friends are...."
"Well...." Setsuna took a long breath. "You are the one who
tries to advocate looking past the exterior at the person within....
Although, I must say, you're going to have an awful time, trying to
exercise that philosophy, with this one."
"Pluto...." Usagi whispered. "If he... it... says he wants
to help us, why should we disbelieve him?"
"Why did you believe someone like Lysithea Caprice?" Setsuna
chided her. "If there was anyone on the face of the Earth I would
have liked you to avoid, it was he."
"I didn't trust him. But I wanted to save Mina-chan.... And
he said he would help me."
"That's what I mean. You walked right into his trap by using
your Sailor Teleport to get into the House Compound. Now he has
taken Carey West and has run off to... Kami knows where."
"Who is Carey West?" Usagi blinked. Setsuna sighed.
"Someone else I pray you never meet." She paused. "However,
my prayers are unlikely to come to fruition. We have to save her
before he kills her."
"What does he want to kill her, for?" Usagi stood from the
bed, clenching her fists, angrily.
"Because he thinks her powers could be used to drive a
ceremony that would open the doorway between our world and the
hellish otherworld of Nemesis...."
"NEMESIS?" Usagi croaked. "But.... Isn't that the world
Prince Demando and his minions came from?"
"The very name of Nemesis represents everything this world
is not. Both the Black Moon and this alternate realm live up to
that name. But no, they are not the same Nemesis."
"Mrrphhh..." Cthulu muttered, making Usagi and Setsuna jump
a little. They turned, looking at him questioningly. "Mrrphuu
mrrphhhuuu." He garbled. Usagi looked up at Setsuna.
"What did he say?"
"He said there are people approaching this room." Setsuna
nodded. Usagi bit her lip, looking from her senshi to Cthulu and
back.
"So.... Are you going to transport us out of here, or
something?" She looked up, hopefully, at Setsuna, but her senshi
shook her head.
"I'm sorry. I was lucky to get this far without the security
system going berzerk.... I think Carey set the system to watch out
for me before she was taken." Setsuna sighed. "That's what Cthulu
is here for." She turned to the ball of flesh, which chuckled to
itself.
"He... It... knows?" Usagi queried. "It knew that you
wouldn't be able to use your power?" Setsuna nodded.
Just then, the doors to the room were flung open. "See, I
told you she was here. You just wouldn't believe me. A PURE one."
The voice came from Naoko, who was standing in the middle of the
small group which included her father, Gen, and several other people
who bore the robes of senior members of the Sacred House. Naoko's
smile disappeared as soon as she saw Cthulu, sitting on one side of
her room. "What are YOU doing here?"
"My Kami...." Gen and another elder, Akizawa Jiro, brushed
past Naoko. staring at Usagi. It was Jiro who had spoken. "She
is... I can see it.... Blood, purer than I've ever seen from
someone in human form...."
Setsuna looked from the new arrivals to her Princess. "Ano...
What might they be talking about?"
Before Usagi could answer, Cthulu started to make a humming
noise, and all three of them vanished from the room. Naoko had
raced forward as soon as she heard the noise start. "Cthulu....
don't...." She reached the point where Cthulu had been sitting,
way too late, falling to her knees on the floor. "Damn you,
Cthulu... Why did you have to do this?" She gripped the carpet
with crooked fingers, angrily.
----o
"Gone...." Kaji stared at the spot where Miyuki had fallen.
Even the blood and tissue that had been sprayed across the ground
had vanished. He turned to Aoi, who, like everyone else, was
staring at the same vacant space. "Aoi.... Thank Kami... You're
okay...." He spun her around to face him, only them realising the
vacant stare that was one her face. "Aoi?"
"She...." Aoi mumbled, quietly, then spun her head around to
Saturn, who was now silent, being held by a concerned Mars. "She..
She did something... I don't know what it was... But she..."
"Ano.... Can someone get me some clothes. I'm freezing,
here." Pagan whinged, holding both his hands over his vital
statistics.
"Oh Kami... She's dying...." Mars cradled Saturn's head in
her arms. "Somebody, please.... Help her. She'll die if we don't
do something, soon."
"I really need some clothes, or else I'll die of the cold."
Pagan cleared his throat. Aoi turned to him with annoyance.
"All bloody right!" She stamped towards Mars and the injured
Saturn. "Kaji...." She looked back at her partner. "Call an
ambulance, immediately. Tell them we have a special patient for
them to deal with."
"Ano ne...." Kaji blinked, then sighed, picking his mobile
phone out of his jacket. Whilst he made the emergency call,
Yuuichirou, now stepping out of the shadow of Rei's Grandfather,
approached Aoi determinedly.
"Now just a minute, here.... What the hell is going on? Who
the hell are you people? What's happened to Rei-chan?" He demanded
of her, grabbing Aoi's arm tightly. The woman turned on him,
snapping her arm out of his grasp.
"Don't start demanding questions of me! I'm an officer of the
law, geddit? And I'd like just a few answers as to what has been
happening here, myself. Besides, you can find our dear buck-nekkid
friend over there some clothes. It shall, at the very least, keep
you occupied and out of my sight." She snarled at him. Yuuichirou
wasn't easily intimidated by her superior attitude.
"How dare you speak to me like that, cop or not...." He
began. He felt a hand on his shoulder and turned, coming face to
face with the attractive, red-headed caucasian who had fallen
through the wormhole with Aoi and Pagan. Mhaere shook her head,
a soft expression on her face.
"Don't bother arguing with her. You'll only lose, no matter
how hard you try...."
"It'll cost his life if he tries." Pagan had started to dance
across the ground, trying to keep warm. "Hurry up, will you? I can
feel portions of my body getting ready to freeze off."
"Oh fucking ALRIGHT!" Aoi spat. "I'll find some clothes for
you! That to your satisfaction?" She pounded across the ground,
grabbing Pagan by the arm, then spun to Mhaere and Yuuichirou. "You
two help the girl in red deal with the half-snuffed sailorsenshi.
Just don't do too much. They belong to ME! Understand? They're
MINE!" And with that, she dragged Pagan across the courtyard
towards the nearest building, watched by everyone, bemusedly. Kaji
broke the silence as he hung up his phone.
"Well, an ambulance should be here, pretty soon." he stepped
over to the side of Saturn, cringing at the sight of the wound in
Saturn's middle. He turned to Yuuichirou. "Have you got anything
like a bandage? To stop her bleeding...."
Yuuichirou nodded, mutely, and started to tear off fabric from
the sleeves of his acolyte's dress, in reasonably large strips. He
handed them to Kaji, who had managed to tear away Saturn's fuku from
the centre of the wound. He looked up at Mars, nervously. "Did you
know that girl? The one who shot your friend, here?"
"I... I've never seen her, before." Mars replied, looking
away. Luna, who had been watching over the unconscious Artemis
nearby, looked up at her.
"You said you were expecting there to be someone after you,
earlier.... Didn't you?"
"Kami.... The cat STILL speaks...." Kaji cleared his throat,
settling slightly. "Ah, yes... Well, is this true?" He studied
Mars, but the girl didn't answer. He Grandfather stepped up to her,
kneeling down beside her.
"Rei-chan...." He whispered, softly. She tried to shy away
from him, but he persisted. "Rei-chan, answer the policeman. Tell
us what has happened to you...."
"Ojiichan...." She croaked, swallowing. It was as if a
shadow had crossed her face. "I can't.... I can't say anything.
Leave me alone. You'll never understand."
"I am your Grandfather." The elderly man felt stung by her
words. "If you cannot trust me with your secrets, who can you
trust?"
"That bossy woman called Rei's friend, here, a
Sailorsenshi...." Yuuichirou started as Kaji took the torn strips
of material from him. "I take it this means you are ALSO a
Sailorsenshi, Rei-chan?"
"Don't...." Rei started. "Please. I can't talk to you now.
Please, Ojiichan, Yuu-chan... Please.... Leave me alone."
----o
"My God.... Don't they have any REAL clothing in here?"
Pagan rifled through the only wardrobe both he and Aoi had been able
to find. So far, they had succeeded in retrieving nothing but
religious garb. "I suppose it is going to have to do.... But I'm
going to feel a right idiot, wearing it." He pulled out one of the
priest robes, throwing the light material over his shoulders.
"Beats being naked."
Aoi eyed him as he tied the robe around his middle, difficult
since the arms of the item were extremely long and baggy. He looked
up at her, smiling. "Don't get any funny ideas."
"You really are an arrogant bastard, aren't you? What makes
you think there are any ideas running through my head?" She
snorted. "Besides, we only met this morning. I make it a rule
never to sleep with anyone the day I meet them."
"Well, it's almost midnight. You might get your opportunity,
soon." He stepped away from the wardrobe, staring at a large, body
length mirror that was sitting in the corner of the room, studying
his appearance.
"You flatter yourself, you know that?" Aoi huffed and turned
from him. He chuckled, shaking his head.
"Honestly.... You are SO uptight. What was with that scene
in the courtyard, and back in your house.... There was no need for
that. It's a wonder you have any friends, the way you treat
people." He stepped forward, tugging on the collar of the robe. "I
suppose I could get used to wearing this, for the time being. I
mean, it's not exactly fashionable, but it certainly has its good
points...." He waited for a response from Aoi. When there was none
forthcoming, he turned to her. She was standing in the doorway,
face turned away from him.
"I don't have many friends." She said, softly. "I find it
difficult to deal with people, and people find it difficult to deal
with me. I've come to accept that after a number of years." She
sighed. "So I always put my job ahead of my personal life. It made
seemed to make sense to me.... If you fail as a person, least you
could succeed as a kind of expert.... I was even granted a special
licence... They don't normally allow women to rise beyond very
simple police work in this country, let alone even carry a gun....
I was one of the very few to break that barrier.... I managed to
get THAT far in my career.... But I still ended up in the bloody
SIU..." She turned to him. "Why am I even telling you this? You
don't need to know about my problems or feelings. They don't
matter."
"On the contrary." Pagan said, softly. "I think they matter.
They matter a lot."
"Don't patronise me.... Ignore everything I said. I slip up,
every so often. Let out to others the kind of loser I really am."
Her tone had become bitter. "I chase Sailorsenshi for a living. Up
until today, I'd failed to catch even one. Now, I've got three live
ones and a dead one to my credit. I really should be happy....
It's all finally beginning to fall together...." She put a hand to
her mouth as she swallowed back a choked sob, then smiled at him.
"Yes. When I have them all, everything will be just fine. I'll be
out of the SIU and promoted into another position. It's so simple,
so easy..."
"Aoi...." Pagan whispered as she paused. She shook her head
and turned away once more.
"My mother was the same, you know.... She was an obsessive
woman, always throwing herself into whatever it was she'd chosen to
do with her life.... She was also addicted to more prescription
drugs than is possible to name, off the top of your head. I spent
my entire childhood having to look after this.... this woman... who
had never once shown me an ounce of affection..." She paused. "Who
spent all her time getting totally wasted, sometimes even overdosing
when things got really bad.... I had to act as her safety valve,
even after she was hospitalised.... Right up until the moment she
succeeded...."
Aoi sank down, sitting on her haunches, one hand up against
the wall. Pagan watched her as she clenched her other hand, blood
running as her fingernails dug into her palm.
"You see? You see this?" She turned to him, holding out her
wounded hand and showing the tears on her face. "I can't even cry
unless I'm in pain.... I don't FEEL anything. The only opportunity
I get to FEEL is when I'm angry. And you wonder why I make myself
angry, so often? It's like a drug.... I HAVE to feel angry. It
makes me feel a tremendous pleasure.... Not from the control it
gives me over others, but the enactment of EMOTION...." She
chuckled, bitterly.
"Do you think.... that gives you an excuse.... for the way you
behave?" Pagan asked, carefully.
"I don't know why I'm telling you this.... I just.... I
just.... Who the hell else can I tell, you know?"
Pagan stepped over to her and knelt down beside her, placing a
hand on her shoulder. "I really don't think telling me this will
help you salvage your reputation, any...."
"Oh, you...." Aoi lifted her unwounded hand to slap him, then
wrapped it around him and started to bawl. Pagan, surprised by this
sudden turn of events, didn't react for a good minute or so. Then,
for some reason unknown to him, he held onto her, trying to calm
her.
"Being a crybaby doesn't suit you at all, you know?" He
mumbled as she slowly settled. Then she pulled herself away from
him and stared into his face, feeling a tremendous sense of madness
overwhelm her.
She clamped her mouth over his, passionately, and was elated
to find him responding in kind....
END OF PART 28
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Next Chapters
S.I.U. - The Sailor Investigation Unit - "Psychosis Rift"
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