Eight
'There you are Luna dear, I didn't get a wink of sleep last night, kept having this awful dreams about the past, it was the strangest thing-' Artemis rambled from the outside of the Games Center.
'Shut up,' Luna got two words in. 'Minako has been attacked,' the black feline squeezed through the barred gates and pushed a discreet button with her paw. A cat-sized latch opened to the left of the main entrance, and the two cats filed through it.
'What?'
'Don't ask,' Luna closed her eyes, frustration welling inside her. She was used to having answers, and this time she had no idea what was going on. The storm had her suitably ruffled her as well.
'A new enemy?' Artemis' face was lowered.
'No you dolt, a friend attacked her, of course an enemy,' Luna snapped.
'Hey!' Artemis growled. 'Stop sinking in your claws and just tell me what happened!'
'I don't know,' Luna hurried to the command monitor and activated it. The screen hummed a moment, glowing white, then a map of Juuban appeared.
'Where is she now?' Artemis asked quickly.
'Usagi told her to go to Rei-chan's,' Luna tried to calm down. She studied the screen, and searched for the Princess of Venus' tracker.
'There,' she pointed to Rei's home. 'Rei and Minako are together. It seems Ami and Makoto,' Luna continued, noticing a small flashing blue and green dot, 'have also headed to Rei's.'
'But what's that?' Artemis asked, pawing the screen.
Behind the two moving girls were shadows of trackers, following their every step.
'They are being hunted,' Artemis exclaimed.
'Don't jump to conclusions,' Luna snapped. 'They are smart. They are joining the other Senshi. Together they are stronger.'
'But who would be stalking them?' Luna continued. 'They only way they'd show up on the tracker is if they were like the girls.'
'You mean…' Artemis crossed his cat-brows, 'they have stars?'
'Have stars,' Luna repeated. 'We all have stars, as you call them. Souls. But they would need to have important stars, just like our girls…'
'With connections to the old times then,' Artemis' eyes were glued to the screen. 'Maybe one of these new stars attacked Minako. I can't believe she couldn't overcome it,' Artemis shook his head. 'I should have been there,' he spat.
'And what, claw the enemy to death?' Luna scathed. 'Be realistic. We know at least that Minako, Ami and Makoto are seemingly being followed or tracked. I would say it is the same for Usagi and Rei as well.'
'What about me?' a voice came from the top of the stairs.
'Mamoru,' Luna turned to the handsome young man. 'Let's hope it doesn't effect you. How long have you been listening?'
'Long enough. Look, I can feel that something is awry here,' Mamoru descended the stairs quickly and took a seat near the computer monitor, showing that Ami and Makoto were still being tracked. 'I didn't get any sleep either. Why can't they feel it?'
'Maybe they can,' Luna muttered. 'Where is Usagi?' Luna questioned the screen.
Responding to the voice command, the monitor scrolled the streets of Juuban, and rested on a moving white dot.
'She's in a public area at least,' Mamoru sat back.
Luna gave Artemis a fed up look, and noticed that the white cat was deep in thought.
'What is it?' she asked him.
'Check Mamoru,' Artemis' eyes were still not focussing on anything. 'Is he being followed?'
The monitor scrolled to the Games Center, and registered Mamoru's, Luna's and Artemis' stars as flashing dots.
'There,' Artemis pawed a glowing brown dot on the screen. 'He has one too.'
'One what?'
'A stalker,' Artemis pronounced. 'What happened to you on the way over here? How do you know something's wrong?' he fired.
Mamoru scowled, not liking to be questioned in such a manner. 'Nothing has happened, apart from not being able to sleep. I am just getting the creeps. It relieves me to see that there is something following me. I thought I was becoming jumpy.'
'Becoming?' Luna huffed.
Artemis ignored her.
'Did you dream?' he asked quickly.
'I didn't sleep,' Mamoru held his hands out helplessly.
'Wait,' Artemis scurried closer to the Prince of Earth.
'What?' Mamoru frowned.
'Show me your hand,' Artemis commanded.
'Ok,' Mamoru held out his palms to the white cat, giving Luna a questioning glance.
'What is it, Artemis?'
'That mark, where did you get it?' Artemis pointed to a blister underneath Mamoru's index finger in the shape of a semi-circle.
'Oh, I…' Mamoru seemed a little embarrassed. 'I burned myself on my iron this morning.'
Luna huffed.
'No you didn't,' Artemis declared. 'That's not a burn, it's a mark,' he looked to Luna quickly.
'He's been marked?' Luna asked unbelievingly.
'We have to get to Rei's,' Artemis scurried off the desk and up the stairs.
'What do you mean, marked? By whom?' Mamoru thundered after the cat.
Luna sighed and hurried after the pair. She still didn't have a clue what the white cat knew, and wished he would just hurry up and tell them.
