Chapter 3
"I'm getting bad vibes," Rei said. "Something's not right."
Suddenly the air above them thickened and a ghostly figure appeared. Apparently female, she wore robes of bright colors – orange, yellow, red and white – and hovered in the air above them.
"Going somewhere?"
Static electricity filled the air, and the girls' hair floated eerily around them. Luna, fur flying, growled.
"Who are you and what do you want?" Minako held her transformation pen tightly in her pocketed hand. She moved closer to the others, forming a tight, shoulder-to-shoulder line.
"Who am I? I am Day Mare, minion of Queen Mab. Soon your whole world will bow to the Queen of Dreams. First, though, we sense you are in our way, and that simply will not do." She threw her arms out, and her gown billowed around her. "Day Mare, Captivation!"
Minako looked around. Waves of energy poured from the enemy's hands, yet Day Mare's attack seemed to do nothing. Suddenly Makoto crouched, and from her throat came a strange, frightening cry.
"Get down, Senshi!" she yelled. "They're all around us!"
Minako on Rei spun around, suddenly battle-ready, yet there was nothing to fight.
"Makoto?" Rei asked. "What do you see?"
What she saw was the power of all the evil they had ever faced arranged around them and ready to destroy them all. In her mind she knew they would make their stand here or die, and she for one would not go out softly.
"Jupiter Star Power – Make Up!" She began her transformation, and the others cried out in dismay.
"Not in front of the enemy!" Minako tried to stop her, but Makoto was unreachable.
"I call upon the power of Jupiter – " In full attack, Sailor Jupiter prepared to blast.
"Thunder – Crash!"
Her attack spun away from her, filling the air around them, then seemed to coalesce, and turned back on Jupiter.
"No!" yelled Minako and Rei. But they watched, helpless, as her attack returned home, and screaming, Jupiter fell.
Day Mare laughed giddily. "Oh, dear, I don't know what that was all about, but it's such fun to watch!"
"What did you do?" Minako cried as she knelt beside Makoto, who continued to thrash and moan as if she were fighting still. "Makoto? Mako-chan? Are you all right? Please, answer me!"
"I sent her a day mare! And that's where she will stay for awhile, so you might as well save your breath. Her energy will be good for the Queen as she prepares to make her way to you." Floating higher above them, she started to disappear. "Tell your friends I'll be back for the rest of you!"
~~~
By the time they made their way to the control center Jupiter had transformed back to Makoto, and her thrashing had stopped. She was, however, unresponsive.
"What happened?" Mamoru asked as he took the limp girl in his arms. He carried her in and put her down gently on the futon off the main room. She had some burns here and there on her face, arms and legs, but the worst damage seemed to be from the day mare itself. Using his psychometry, Mamoru healed the burns and other physical damage.
Listening as Minako and Rei filled them in, Ami and Usagi did what they could to make Makoto comfortable. Cool wet wash cloths and warm blankets were all they could manage here, though. Mamoru checked her again.
"Day Mare?" He shrugged. "Good name, since this all started with a dream…"
"It's worse than that, Mamoru," Rei started. Clearing her throat, she glanced at all of them. "I saw it in the fire. Something got out last night."
"Got out? What did you see, Rei?" asked Ami.
"I saw chaos and coldness, spreading from your neighborhood, Mamoru, and starting last night. The spirits can't pinpoint exactly when and where, but I'm afraid that when your dream touched you physically, that's when it got out."
Ami nodded. "Yes, well, your spirits can't be specific, but the computer can be. I'll show you what I found." She pointed to her laptop, and to the map of Tokyo there. "It's usually all blue, but you can clearly see the green and red streaks from this point," clicking on Mamoru's block, "and spreading towards the temple. Your fears have been realized, Mamoru. It's out."
Mamoru's face flushed. He sat down heavily on the chair next to Ami. "Oh, hell."
"This doesn't make sense! Why send dreams to you and attack us? Do they know who we are? I mean, no one knows our identities!" Rei paced angrily.
"But we do," Mamoru said. "In our dreams we're free to be ourselves. As Queen of Dreams, as Day Mare named her, she could have access to our innermost thoughts."
"I'm continuing my research on this Mab character," Ami said, "and Artemis is getting more information as well. We should be ready with a report soon. I wonder if there's a way to use to use her access to our subconscious to our benefit."
"Have you ever tried to control your dreams before?" Mamoru looked at her closely. "I have, for the last couple of nights, and it's not something I can so."
"But these aren't natural dreams, Mamoru. She is sending them to you. I wonder if there is some way that you can meet her before she gets in … or if you can change things once the dream starts …" Rei looked thoughtful. "I've heard about people doing that."
"How's Makoto?" Mamoru asked Usagi as she entered the room.
"She's sleeping quietly, but I'm afraid for her. What if she dreams some more, how can we keep her from transforming to Jupiter again? And her attack …" Usagi sighed. "We can't take her home like this! She'd be all alone."
"No, we have to stay together. Let's not forget what we're facing. This Day Mare isn't Queen Mab. The creature in my dreams is terrifying – you guys seem more puzzled than terrified."
"Oh, no," Minako looked at the other girls. "I can't speak for all of you, but I'm quite terrified, thank you. You should have seen Makoto, Mamoru. She was Sailor Jupiter, facing a danger that we couldn't see. She was protecting all of us from something awful. And look what happened to her. It could have been any of us, I think."
"I agree, Minako," Ami said. "I think we're all in a lot of danger. Think about our attacks. Rei, you could kill yourself with your fire."
"We all could," replied Rei. "In fact, Makoto can blow things up with her attack. I wonder why she's still alive?"
Mamoru looked at Artemis and Luna. "Any ideas?"
"Well," Artemis glanced at Luna. "I don't know, maybe she knew subconsciously that she couldn't go full bore?"
"That's right. It's a dream, after all. You can't die in your dream, or you really die." Luna looked puzzled. "She didn't destroy herself because she knew she might?"
Mamoru shrugged his shoulders, then stood up, rubbing the back of his neck. "Usagi you're awfully quiet. What are you thinking?"
Sadly she looked at her closest friends. "I thought we were done with all of this, you know? It just never stops. I'm glad I have all of you here for me; you're my salvation. But Makoto …"
"Right. So, what are we gong to do about tonight?" Rei asked. "Grandpa and Chad could watch Makoto; Grandpa knows a lot about healing herbs and stuff. As for the rest of us, Ami and Mamoru are alone. Usagi, you have your family, I have mine. You all could stay with me. I could find a place for you, too, Mamoru."
"I'll be fine," he curtly responded. Even after all they had been through, he and Usagi and the girls, Rei still made him nervous.
~~~
Mamoru walked Usagi home, Luna perched on her shoulder. Usagi smiled at him.
"Rei means well," she said. "She just doesn't stop and think before she speaks."
Mamoru blushed and looked down.
"Mamo-chan! Does she still make you uncomfortable? That was such a long time ago! She and Chad are a couple now, you know."
"I just can't believe that I ever spent time with her. And I teased you something awful! I don't like to think about that time … before I found my Moon Princess."
"We were young, and besides, we weren't supposed to now any better. I teased you, too, you know. We were attracted to each other, and we just didn't understand it. Like little kids punching the ones they like." Usagi giggled. "Remember how flighty I was? Gee, I couldn't walk and talk at the same time. No wonder you passed me up for Rei. She's so exotic and beautiful; I'm just me!"
Smiling appreciatively, Mamoru draped an arm over her shoulders. "You are wonderfully exotic and profoundly beautiful to me, and no one else can hold a candle to you!"
Now it was her turn to blush.
Seriously, Mamo-chan, you know you shouldn't be alone tonight, either."
"I know," he said, "but what can I do?"
"I wish …"
"You could …"
They both laughed.
"It would be nice if we could be together tonight," Usagi blurted.
"I was thinking the same thing," Mamoru said.
"Wait for me here."
~~~
The lake was calm and all around its shore children played. Laughter echoed through the trees as parents watched contentedly. The sun warmed the earth and life was good. Mamoru smiled and waited for Usagi.
"Ma~~~~mo~~~~ruuuuuu…"
The seductive voice curled about the scene, and as it advanced the day grew silent. Mamoru's smile slowly faded.
"Ma~~~~mo~~~~ruuuuuu…"
A mist rose from the suddenly chill lake and the sunlight dimmed.
"Ma~~~~mo~~~~ruuuuuu…"
A throaty chuckle followed the voice. Mamoru felt gooseflesh on his arms and legs. His throat was tight. He tried to look for Usagi – surely she was near, near enough for him to protect. But he suddenly found himself unable to move.
The mist coiled sinuously among the base of the trees, and a figure approached. A sense of evil proceeded it, washing over his heightened senses, and Mamoru knew he was seeing the next threat to the safety of his world.
"Usagi is mine!"
Sweating, Mamoru felt his heart pound and race, but he didn't wake up.
A cold hand clamped on his wrist and he was turned around.
"No, no, no, no …" he panted.
There was no face! The hood slipped down, but no face – oh, God, please let me wake up!
The throaty laugh wound through his head. "I will take her and let you watch me destroy her – then I will drain you dry!"
The seductive voice dropped to a whisper …
"NO!"
Mamoru sat up, his face in his hands, his heart thudding, sweat dripping from his tousled hair.
"Oh, boy, that was bad." He got up from the couch and padded to his bedroom door, opened it, and looked in.
Usagi slept soundly, with Luna curled at her feet. The cat looked up and blinked slowly, her large green eyes glowing.
"Are you all right, Mamoru?" she asked.
"I had another dream – the worst one yet," he answered. "I'm just checking …" he said as he gazed at Usagi.
Luna snorted. "She could sleep through anything. Do you want to talk?"
"No. It's late and I should try to sleep again."
But he knew he wouldn't. He quietly went to his kitchen to make tea.
Waiting for the water to boil, he gazed out at the sleeping city, and wished he, too, could sleep so peacefully.
The hand on his shoulder made him jump, and in one swift motion he whirled and ducked.
"Mamo-chan, it's me!" Usagi said breathlessly.
"Oh, I'm sorry!" He held out his arms to her, gathering her close. "You startled me."
"You had another dream?"
"Yes." He wouldn't tell her the details for a variety of reasons – mostly because it was too raw for him, and he didn't want to scare her.
"In fact," he said, "I think I'm afraid to sleep again."
The teakettle whistled and with practiced motions, Usagi made them both a cup. She handed him his tea and picked hers up.
"Then let's sit and talk."
The night was late or the day early, depending on your perspective. The last cup was empty and all safe topics had been discussed. They stood side by side looking out the window.
"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Usagi asked.
Gazing at her Mamoru smiled. "Yes."
She turned and caught his eye. "The city, silly!"
"I know. That too. Come sit with me."
They sat on the couch, Usagi resting her head on his chest, Mamoru's long legs stretched out in front of him.
He closed his eyes. This felt so good. Why couldn't they stay like this forever? His body relaxed and his mind slowed. Smiling, he fell asleep.
Usagi looked up at his face. "No more dreams, Mamo-chan. Sleep …"
~~~
Queen Mab glared at Day Mare.
"I have no patience with incompetence! What happened?"
"They surprised me!" In her mind's eye she saw their funny antics again, and she almost smiled. One look at the Queen, though, and she knew that would be a bad idea.
"No excuses! I wanted them all neutralized – you had a chance at three at one time and you only got one. There are still three of those silly Sailor Senshi running around protecting the Princess and the Prince. I can't proceed until they are all under my spell."
"I still have a few dreams up my sleeve, my Queen."
"Yes, well. These girls must be kept out of the way until I can capture them in my dream world." Queen Mab laughed. "With the Princess and the Prince unprotected, I will be free to destroy them both at my leisure."
Turning her baleful gaze on Day Mare, she ordered, "Get those girls taken care of!"
"Yes, my Queen."