Moon of Destiny

by Lord-Mandrake

Post Galaxia, The Senshi learn the history of the universe before the Moon Kingdom. Powerful enemies and Allies awaken, and destinies are fulfilled

5. New powers Ami's Obsession

Her own scream woke her up. Makoto leaned forward curling her arms around her bent knees and began to cry. The nightmare had been terrible. It was the worst kind, being a mixture of memory and imagination. In her dream she had once again been confronted by a Konjou with cobalt eyes, yet this time he hadn't stopped when she asked.

Somehow in the dream Konjou had taken on more aspects of the Primarch Niccolai. The odd language he spoke took on the sinister tones of Niccolai's magic. In the dream she had been powerless against him, he had held her with his magic and taken her. Worse, she hadn't been able to stop herself from responding. By the end of the violation the magical bonds had been unnecessary, she had been participating wholeheartedly. The shame and self loathing she felt now that she was awake was little different from what it would be, had the event of her dreams actually taken place.

Makoto knew Konjou would never do anything like that to her. His reaction to the boys that tried to hurt Hotaru proved that quite nicely. More importantly Konjou couldn't do that. Despite the terrifying dreams, Konjou had beautiful brown eyes. His eyes were not the cobalt colour of Niccolai's. He was not Niccolai.

Despite all her waking rationalizations, Makoto couldn't bring herself to look at the school day with anything other than dread. Konjou would be there and she didn't know if she could face him yet. That thought made her cry even harder.

********

Ami awoke ten minutes before her alarm as usual. After taking a quick look at the Mercury computer's log of nightly magical fluxuations, she headed to the bathroom. During her morning shower she pondered the readouts her computer had readied for her. Sometime during the night Niccolai had been active in the city, and Mordaki had been up to something fairly major. The other Senshi needed to know what was going on as soon as was practical, it was a good thing they all attended the same school now.

Ami thought further on the difficulties she was having on her other task, namely proving that Tenjin and Konjou were actually the Primarchs. She absolutely had to succeed, and fast. Makoto and Mina were becoming far to involved with them for comfort. She needed proof before either of the girls did something they would regret. The simplest way would be to gather a DNA sample from one of them, probably Konjou/Niccolai. He seemed far more relaxed than Tenjin/Mordaki, and the possible repercussions of her actions should they discover her and take exception to them, had her picking the lesser of two evils.

Just how she was going to get a piece of him was beyond her, but she would find a way. It was important enough to take some rather serious risks. She completed her morning necessities and dressed while still considering the problem. After deciding on a few likely possibilities she gathered her bag and began the short walk to school.

Mina made it to school half an hour early, singing no less. People that knew her made warding gestures, or wondered when the pod people were coming to get them. She felt like dancing. For some reason after only having slept for three hours she awoke fully rested, in fact she awoke energized. It was a strange yet wonderful feeling.

Of course she'd been bored out of her mind until she realized she still had homework that she could complete for once. Mina smiled when she thought of the likely expression on the Sensei's face when she handed it all in, on time for once. Grinning in anticipation of the day to come she took the stairs three at a time and slid into the nearly deserted classroom. Only Ami and the first period Sensei, Kibou-sensei were there. She dashed over to Ami and drew her into a laughing hug.

"Ohayo gozaimasu Ami-chan!" Mina chirped to the startled blue haired girl. Mina then proceeded to giggle. She took her seat and quickly got out her books. Ami knew the world was coming to an end at that point. Mina confirmed the start of Armageddon by actually studying the chapter they were to go over today.

Twenty minutes later the rest of the Inners, including Usagi entered the class as a group. Usagi looked a little ragged as usual in the mornings, but Makoto looked absolutely horrible. She appeared to have not slept well at all. She nervously looked around the classroom for something and then gave a sigh of obvious relief. Rei glanced worriedly at Makoto as they took their seats. Obviously Ami wasn't the only one to notice Makoto's actions.

The warning bell had rung and the Sensei stood in preparation for the beginning of class, when Konjou and Tenjin dashed in, muttering apologies for their near tardiness. They took their seats, and Mina immediately began to stare at Tenjin to the exclusion of everything else. She wore an expression even Ami couldn't mistake. She had seen Usagi look at Mamoru like that for two years. Ami cursed as the difficulty and importance of her self imposed mission more than tripled, Mina was obviously in love with Tenjin.

Strangely Makoto refused to meet Konjou's gaze. She kept her head down and muttered a polite good morning to him, in direct contrast to her exuberant greetings of him over the last two weeks. Ami quickly hoped that there had been a falling out between them. If she could convince Makoto of what Konjou was, she could help with Mina. The teacher interrupted her thoughts with a throat clearing sound designed to gather all of the student's attention.

"There is an announcement from the office I'm to read to you this morning." He began without preamble. "The students that were injured in an altercation in a bathroom here on Saturday apparently have passed away. According to the hospital, a freak electrical surge in their room arced through the heart monitors of two of them sometime around three A.M., and the resultant power outage in that section interrupted the life support system of the boy in critical care. Their memorial services will be held on Thursday." With that he began his lecture.

Truthfully there seemed to be little remorse for the deceased students. The truth of what had been interrupted in the bathroom had spread quickly around the school, and most believed that anything bad that happened to them was simply karma. Ami knew the truth. Konjou had decided to finish off what he started. The magical activity her computer had logged had happened at three oh four A.M., which quickly named him the culprit. Ami sighed in frustration, even if she showed the other Senshi her evidence that Niccolai caused the deaths of those boys, the others would simply cheer. Even Usagi had wanted to go to the hospital and take action against them.

The class wore on, and Ami still struggled with which idea to gather the needed sample to use. It was at exactly nine A.M. when something happened to take her mind off her planning.

A golden glow began to coalesce in the front of the class. The students began to scream and move away, fearing rightfully that this was some new monster. The light quickly solidified into an image of Mordaki. It was just slightly translucent, yet it appeared somewhat tangible. Its glowing Platinum eyes seemed to root the panicking students to the floor. In an echoing voice it spoke.

"Attention mortals. I have information important to your continued survival for you. My name is Mordaki, I am one of those responsible for your recent troubles. Our destruction of your nuclear power facilities had side effects we had not intended. We had little idea that their destruction would so cripple you. As your society depends so heavily on electricity for its survival we have begun a way to supply it to you. We will begin the construction of an energy plant to replace the dangerous pollution causing monstrosities we neutralized. Unfortunately its construction will take three weeks. During this time the site will be highly dangerous to mortals. Any mortal approaching with one and one half kilometres of the weather station at the peak of Fuji-san will be killed, no exceptions. This sending will appear to all groups of more than five people within five hundred kilometres of Fuji-san, and anyone at all within ten. Do not test us mortals, your current peace is only a side effect of the negotiation skills of the Sailor Senshi. If you seek to break our restrictions, or even attempt to spy on the construction, we will respond, severely. You have been warned." The image seemed to stare deep into everyone, then faded.

Ami looked around the room, only the other Senshi, and Konjou and Tenjin of course, hadn't fled the appearance of the image. Usagi looked irritated, Mina thoughtful, and Rei somewhat disturbed, but it was Makoto that worried Ami. Makoto simply looked terrified. Ami cast a look at the boys and noticed Konjou looked concernedly at Makoto. She found it disgusting that the Primarchs would play with the affections of young girls, and even lower that they would pretend concern for one of the 'mortals' they scorned. Ami vowed to make him pay for the emotional damage Makoto would take from finding out the truth.

As the Sensei announced a short break, more to calm his own shaking then for the students, Tenjin stood and moved toward the door. Mina quickly jumped up to follow him. He staggered slightly under the Usagi- like bullet glomp, and Ami noticed he was lightly sweating. Obviously sending his image to that many people at once had strained him. Ami took note of that information. It seemed the Primarchs had limits after all.

******** Mina laid her head in Tenjin's lap and ran her fingers over the bracelet he had given her. She gazed up into his eyes. He was watching her, running his fingers through her hair. They were breaking several school rules. She wasn't supposed to wear jewellery. They could try to make her take the bracelet off, about five minutes after she was dead. They weren't supposed to display affection physically like this. They were supposed to be eating lunch. Mina's untouched bento sat at her feet next to Tenjin's. She wasn't hungry. In fact she hadn't really been hungry since Saturday. Yesterday her parents had worried if she were sick, but the truth was, she had never felt so alive. As far as she was concerned she was living off her love of Tenjin, and it was more than enough for her.

She leaned up and kissed Tenjin lightly, then returned to her position on his lap. She wallowed in the feeling of his fingers brushing through her golden hair. She had yet to replace her hair ribbon. Her hair was still tied back with the leather shoelace he had given her. She grinned at the thought of her ribbon, it was still tied to his headboard. He had claimed it as his. He said he wanted something he could keep there to remind him of her all the time. The thought was so sweet she had gladly given it up, despite its sentimental value to her.

She could hear the other girls talking amongst themselves, but was content to remain where she was. Catching his eyes with hers she mouthed 'I love you' to him. He smiled gently at her. His fingers briefly stilled in her hair. He mouthed something to her she didn't understand, but she smiled anyway. Whether or not he said the words, Mina knew what he felt. It was obvious to the Senshi of Love.

Tenjin's heart constricted in pain despite the smile on his face when Mina mouthed her feelings to him. He felt like the worst kind of monster. He cared deeply for her, but he doubted she would appreciate that much when she learned who he was. He moved his fingers to lightly trace where he had seen her Venus symbol. Now that he knew what he was looking for it was easy to sense the magic in her aura. He mouthed that he loved her in aleph, before he even realised it. Her smile of acceptance proved the depth of her own feelings. She had known what he said without being able to speak the language.

Tenjin acted on impulse, and quickly whispered the spell necessary to break the Agony Binding he had placed on her. He had intended to release her from it Saturday night, but she had distracted him, literally before he got completely through the door. She shivered at the release of the magic within her and drew him closer. Though his outward expression showed none of his internal turmoil, Tenjin felt the bitter sting of futility, torn between the woman he loved, and his need to protect his home.

It was ridiculous she had gone over every millimetre of his desk, and not one skin cell. Not one stray hair, nothing. There was simply no way any normal human could leave no trace of their presence. Her hunger was beginning to affect her thinking, she mused. She already knew he wasn't a normal human. In fact she knew quite well that he wasn't human at all, in any sense of the word. Just as she had finally completed her sweep of his desk and bag, the warning bell rang informing the students that lunch was over. Ami's stomach complained loudly at its mistreatment. She had skipped breakfast planning, and had wasted her lunch period. Konjou had even more of her misery added to his debt.

******** Usagi giggled again. Ami looked so embarrassed. This was the third time her stomach had growled loud enough to be heard. The Sensei had even made a comment about it. Usagi giggled again as another loud growl caused Ami to snap the pencil in her hand in half in shame. While Ami dug into her bag for a replacement, the Sensei took the time to explain how healthy eating habits were essential to proper learning. Ami's face couldn't have become any redder without her passing out. For some strange reason Ami kept casting glares at Konjou. Usagi hoped she wasn't falling for him. She knew he was cute and nice, but he was Makoto's boyfriend. She would hate for Ami to make a fool of herself chasing after him.

She looked at Konjou out of the corner of her eyes. He was watching her carefully. She knew he had to be confused at her reactions, she would have been well beyond confused and deep into angry if she were in his position, Makoto thought. Every time looked at him she flinched, it had to hurt his feelings, but after last night she couldn't help it. Maybe she should tell him she needed some time to adjust to what happened. He was understanding, it might not hurt his feelings as bad as she was doing right now. The poor boy must think I hate him with the way I have been acting.

Makoto decided she had to talk to him. She needed the space to get over her fears, and she had to explain to him why she needed it. The idea of telling her about her nightmares depressed her. He wouldn't understand how they made her feel, but Makoto wasn't about to make the same mistake Mamoru had. He had broken Usagi's heart, and nearly lost her for good, all because he was too immature to talk to her about what was bothering him. Hopefully he had gotten over his stupidity, but she was the one with problems to deal with now. Makoto gathered her books and rushed out the door at the bell. P.E. class was next, at least there she wouldn't have to look at the hurt in Konjou's eyes.

The girl's P.E. Sensei had decided that today was an ideal day to begin a short volleyball unit. Mina was practically crowing with delight. Volleyball was her favourite sport she was on the school team, and was in fact its captain. Once the class had been broken into four teams the girls split up to their respective courts. Mina grinned at the opposition. Usagi and Rei were on the opposing team. Mina couldn't wait for the match to begin.

Usagi knew they stood little chance against Mina's team. Mina was a natural leader, and her own abilities on the court were excellent. Mai, a girl on her own team, made the first serve, it was quickly returned and the match was on. Rei set the ball up and Usagi leapt to deliver the spike. For several minutes the match was fierce. Usagi's team did much better than she had anticipated, though having several members of the schools team on hers helped tremendously.

Rei blocked another shot from the front line of Mina's team. She cursed silently at the indignity of ending up face first in the sand that blocking it had required. Usagi managed to return it, but Mina launched it back before anyone could return to position. Things were not going well for her team.

Usagi watched as Kana scored for her team, the score was currently eleven to eight, with the game point set at fifteen they needed to quickly mount a comeback. Mai set the ball and Rei drove it in a vicious spike right at Mina. Mina actually smirked as she got under it without diving, much to Rei's displeasure. Mina's block allowed one of her team mates to return the shot to a lightly defended position, and Rei was once again face first in the sand.

This was pathetic, Rei thought. The score had climbed to fourteen to ten, in Mina's teams favour. It looked to Rei that Victory was inevitable. The ball fired back and forth across the net, for several minutes it never touched the ground. Finally Senna fouled the ball out, allowing possession to pass to Mina's team.

Mina was ecstatic, she had recently served so she was near the centre of the front row. The serve sailed over the net to be returned by Usagi. It arced high coming quite close to the foul line, but just managed to stay inside. Cora made up for the bad serve she had made several rotations ago with a beautiful save. One the other team Senna was also made up for her earlier mistake with a ground eating return that just managed to make it over the net. The ball continued to volley back and forth. Rei's determination not to lose caused several shots that would have made Mina's team victorious to fail, causing them to have to fight ever harder for victory.

Rei launched the ball back over the net, it was popped high from the back line and the return went to the middle of Usagi's team's formation. In the rush to get the save Usagi tripped over Rei's feet causing the ball to just make it over the net. Mina leapt to the ball her waist coming in line with the top of the net. She drove her hand palm into the ball. She could feel it deform under her hit, her fist sunk a good ten centimetres into its surface. The ball rocketed forward clearing the edge of the net by scant millimetres. Mai dove for it, but no one could have returned that hit. The ball drove into the sand and a loud explosion rent the air as it popped under the force of its impact.

Everyone stopped and stared at the dead volleyball, and at Mina. Several girls backed away from her, their suspicions of pod people from this morning becoming more believable as the day went on. Usagi's jaw nearly touched the floor as she stared at her friend, who was herself staring at her hand in shock. The Sensei's whistle announced the end of the game and the Mina's team moved to wait for their next match, against the as of yet decided victor between Ami's and Makoto's teams.

Usagi moved over to Mina, her expression one of wonder, and trepidation. Rei followed closely in her wake, concentrating heavily on Mina. Though she was nowhere near her sacred fire, Rei still possessed her spiritual abilities. They were usually sufficient to detect evil, or spiritual disturbances, and what she was beginning to feel from Mina shocked her. Mina felt powerful to Rei, far more so than she should.

"Mina that was sugoi! How did you do that, I mean you jumped so high! Then you hit the ball and wham! It hit the ground and exploded!" Usagi's questions came at a blur to the still stunned Mina. She looked up at her friends her eyes filled with confusion and a bit of fear.

"I don't know Usagi, I mean One minute everything was normal, and then I just got so excited and you know the rush you get. Well I saw the ball and bam! I'm really clueless." She said still slightly distant sounding. "There is one thing though." she added.

"What?" Rei and Usagi added in unison.

"I don't feel tired at all, I feel like I haven't even been playing."

Rei and Usagi shared an incredulous look at that, they knew they were exhausted and a quick glance confirmed the rest of the players were as well. Yet as they looked at Mina, she was bouncing on her toes. She seemed peppy and ready for her next match. Ami needed to see this.

Her team lost, badly, yet Ami didn't care. She had devised a fool proof plan to gather a hair sample of Konjou's. She faked a minor injury right at the end of the match, and asked the Sensei for permission to go sit down. The Sensei had readily agreed, and after being reassured that the school nurse wasn't needed, Ami was free to enact her plan.

She quickly made her way inside. First she changed into her normal school fuku, in case she needed longer than expected to find which locker was his. She dashed into the boy's locker room and began her search. The smell was overpowering. The scent of males was completely different from that of females, and this room demonstrated that fact quickly. It took her five minutes to eliminate the first row of lockers as containing his. She knew beyond the shadow of a doubt she would long run out of time if she continued that method.

A new idea came to her. Somewhere in the Sensei's office was a list that would have the assigned locker numbers on it. It took her several minutes of trying to pick the lock to consider the possibility of just turning the handle. Feeling very foolish she began her search of the office. She finally located the locker assignments, written in the Sensei's gradebook. Curiosity had her quickly looking at the boys' grades. As she had expected, they had full marks, in fact they had bonus points. From her quick calculations they could probably skip the rest of the semester and still pass. Forcibly pulling herself away from further exploration, she moved to her prey.

His locker was on the row that faced the showers. A quick scan with her computer showed her the position of the notches within the tumblers. Opening the lock then took less than five seconds. She knew her time was short the class would be coming in very soon. She tore into the contents of the locker looking for a hairbrush, a razor, anything that may have picked up some kind of traces of him. The sound of voices entering the locker room froze her in her tracks.

Ami quickly shoved Konjou's stuff back into the locker and frantically looked for a way to escape. There were no other doors, there was no way out. Ami quickly came to a decision. She pulled open the door to the unused locker next to Konjou's and hid inside. She held as still as possible, breathing as lightly as she could and waited for the nightmare to end.

Konjou knew something was up the instant he entered the locker room. Despite the fact that there was no perfume smell, he knew that a female had been recently or was still in here. His sense of smell was many times better than any human's could hope to be. After a second he put a name to the scent, Ami. It seemed Tenjin was right, she did suspect something. With a mental nudge at him, Konjou told Tenjin what he knew. Tenjin closed his eyes, and Konjou felt a miniscule vibration in the air. Tenjin agreed with his opinion, Ami was still here.

When he arrived at his locker he nearly laughed out loud. She was trying very hard not to be noticed, and truthfully he doubted that had he been human, he would have noticed her, as it was he could smell her fear and excitement from ten metres away. He grinned to Tenjin and made a vague motion towards the locker where Ami hid. He grinned as a perfect plan to derail any more eavesdropping by her came to mind. He shifted slightly to cover nearly the entire field of view afforded by the vents of the locker, and began to disrobe.

"Hey Tenjin," he said with a grin.

"Yea Konjou?"

"You remember when we first transferred to here?"

"It was like less than a month ago, of course I remember, who do you think I am, Zy?"

Konjou laughed at that. "No, I was just thinking, if it weren't for the fact that Mako-chan came on so strong, I might have picked a different girl to try to shower my affections on."

"Oh, really?" Tenjin said sounding almost interested.

By this point Konjou was down to just his underwear. He pulled them off, his manhood dangling a few centimetres from Ami's nose, separated only by a thin aluminium door. He reached back over his head, stretching his arms and back. He stood on his toes, bringing her vision even further into alignment with parts of him she had never considered.

Ami's breathing became erratic. This was most definitely not a part of her plans. The locker was so small that the heated steam coming off the showers was making her claustrophobic. She fought hard against hyperventilation. Konjou moved to the shower a few feet from his locker, due to her inability to turn around, all she could do was watch as her carefully soaped himself down. Vaguely she could see Tenjin doing much the same thing, but her eyes were glued to Konjou. The water washed away the suds on his front side, and he turned around to rinse his hair and back. Her eyes locked onto his firm buttocks, she hardly blinked the entire time. She could feel a heat rising in her that had nothing to do with the mist.

Konjou was somewhat excited, he could smell her body reacting to his nakedness. He could just imagine all the hentai thoughts that had to be swirling in Ami's mind. Once he had finished rinsing off he carelessly grabbed a town and dried off on his way back to his locker.

"So," Tenjin asked when he returned a few seconds later. "Who would you have put the moves on. I know I would have gravitated towards Mina anyway, or possibly Rei." He added after only a second. From the view she received, Ami's opinion of Mina's fortitude rose dramatically, she was obviously tougher than she appeared.

"Oh it would have definitely been Ami. I mean can you imagine the hentai thoughts that just have to be boiling in that mind of hers. She's just way too quiet, and you know it's the quiet ones that are the most wild when they do unwind." A lecherous grin adorned his face as he went into further detail.

"I can just envision the kinky things Ami would do. First though I'd have to put her in the proper frame of mind." Konjou added.

"Oh do tell."

"Well, she's the kind of girl that I'd have to strip down completely naked, and slowly lick from head to toe. I mean getting in depth with the preliminaries. I'd need some massage oil, a few candles, and about two days worth of time, just to make damn good and certain she was one hundred percent primed to go."

"Sounds like you've given a bit of thought."

"Oh damn strait. By the time I was done with the tongue work, she'd be squirming like a lo-mein noodle. I'd have to keep a couple of gallons of water on hand just to keep her from dehydrating. Once she thought she was going to die from the licking, I'd move on to fingers and teeth. I figure, by the time she needed to be home, I'd have to pour her under the covers and have Mina call Ami's mom for her." He said with a positively evil grin. "You know, with the way Mako-chan's been acting, I think she might be wanting to break off the relationship. If that's the case, maybe I should see about getting to know Ami better. A lot better." With that he finished dressing and began to walk out of the room. When everyone else was gone he darted back to the locker Ami still hid in and knocked lightly. "The coast is clear." He said softly and left the room.

Ami slowly opened the locker and stepped out. Her outfit was damp from sweat and steam, her hair had curled from sweltering dampness of the locker room. Her legs were wobbly both from her enforced confinement and her own powerful arousal. She could easily smell her own musk over the scents of the locker room. Rage and embarrassment warred with her arousal for dominance. Konjou had known the entire time that she was there. He had openly and on purpose displayed himself and taunted her with his admittedly flattering and highly provocative statements. He was going to pay for this, big time.

She rushed to the girls' locker room and found it deserted as expected. She gathered her books and rushed toward the classroom. The tardy bell rang before she was even halfway there. For the first time in her entire high school career she was late to class. Her scream of frustration earned her further reprimand from her teacher when she finally did arrive.

"Wow," Usagi said to Rei and Makoto. "Ami's never been late to class before. I wonder if she's ok."

"She doesn't look ok." Makoto responded. "She looks pretty stressed out. I mean she's been preoccupied all day, but she looks rung out now. I wonder what happened."

"Well," Rei said primly. "She did injure herself during P.E., it could just be that."

"No way Rei, she only hurt her ankle, and she didn't think it was bad enough to go to the nurse about. No this is different."

"I'll ask her what's wrong." Usagi said. She inched her desk as close to Ami's as she could. It was amazing that the Sensei rarely noticed Usagi's talking during class, and even more so that he didn't notice her desk's migration. On the other hand, this was history class and the Sensei tended to fall asleep more often than the students. Once she was close enough to talk without being overheard Usagi began to interrogate Ami.

"Ami-chan, Ami-chan what's wrong? You look like something happened. Are you ok?" Ami hadn't moved, she hadn't answered. Usagi shook her shoulder lightly and continued. "Ami is there anything I can do to help?" she asked sincerely.

"There's nothing wrong." Ami replied in a tight voice.

"Ami." Usagi continued.

"Usagi, noting is wrong with me that you can fix, and I don't want to talk about it. I accidentally skipped breakfast. I missed lunch doing some really important research for our side project. I'm starving to death, I've lied to my Sensei, broken half the rules in the school and been taunted in a way I can barely comprehend, let alone explain." Her voice had risen to a near shout by this time. Usagi had inched back over the course of Ami's tirade until she was near to her assigned position. Ami rose to her feet and continued at nearly full volume. "I have never been more humiliated in my entire life that I was today. I've been frustrated in every sense of the word, and I know exactly whose fault it is. I can promise you Usagi, I will not simply sit back and tolerate being treated like that. Very simply I will have my revenge for it. This is war."

"That was an interesting diatribe Mizuno-san." The Sensei spoke up from the front of the room. All of the colour drained from Ami's face as it occurred to her what she had done. "I'm going to have to say something we Sensei have long had a betting pool on if it would ever happen. Mizuno- san you have detention." The majority of the class almost fainted in shock, several brought up the pod people again. Two enterprising students asked for permission to leave, under the pretext that since Mina and Ami had been taken over they didn't want to chance being next.

"You're in no danger." Konjou said with a smirk once the Sensei had turned down their request. "If they have been taken over by pod people they need to be close to get you, and lets face it, no woman, not even a pod person copy of a woman would get near you two hentai." The rest of the students broke into jeering laughter at the two, and class continued on as usual.

When the final bell rang, Mina bolted from her seat over to Tenjin, who had yet to even have the opportunity to move. She slid onto his lap ignoring the sputters of shock from the other students and pulled him into a kiss that made every male in the room jealous.

"I have something to do after school today Ten-chan." She said idly tracing circles on his chest with her index finger. "The girls want to get together to gossip, and I have a bit of shopping to do, so I might not make it over today." Her finger drew up his chest and neck to his chin, where she used it to lightly turn his head to lock eyes with him. "Can you forgive me for being such a bad girlfriend and not coming over to see you?"

"I guess I'll survive one day without you, but I don't have to like it do I?"

"I really hope you don't like it. I'd really hate for you to stop wanting me around or something."

"There's no chance of that happening. You do what you need to do, I'll be ok for today."

"Thank you Ten-chan." She whispered in his ear. The feeling of her hot breath sent a shiver down his spine. He pulled her into one last kiss before she got up and joined her friends, with a wave goodbye the girls walked out the door.

"You are so whipped, Tenjin." Oroka, one of the other boys in the class, said with a sneer.

"Oroka, do you have a girlfriend? Have you ever had a girlfriend? The answer to both of those questions is undoubtedly no, with that attitude anyway. And should you continue your stupidity you will likely never have a girlfriend, at least not one you don't inflate or pay by the hour." Tenjin said. The people still in the classroom burst into laughter and loud cheering at the insult.

"Oh and how do you pay Mina, by the week? She probably doesn't charge much, hell she chased after half the boys in the." Oroka's mouthing was cut off as Konjou grabbed him and held him several inches off the ground by his throat. Konjou's arm didn't even shake holding the slightly overweight boy in the air.

"I believe you owe Tenjin here, and Mina even more so, an apology." Konjou's voice was as warm as liquid helium. His expression begged Oroka to continue being mouthy.

"Oh do let him continue Konjou. I need to find out whether I'll need a body bag or a mop to deal with the cleanup." The other students had retreated to what they hoped was a safe distance. Tenjin had shifted into an aggressive posture. He positively radiated menace. "Now Oroka-dono," He said slipping into slightly archaic and highly formal speech. "It appears that you have slighted the honour of one that this one champions. This one formally requests your retraction and a formal apology to she who you have slighted for your atonement. Will you agree?"

Konjou dropped Oroka and moved to stand in the doorway. He didn't want the idiot to try to make a break for it and end up making Tenjin even angrier. Oroka stood, his legs shaking and one hand massaging his neck. He cast a hate filled glare at Tenjin and spat at him as he spoke.

"You wouldn't dare touch me Gogyou. My dad's on the school board, if you try anything he'll have you expelled faster than you can blink. Besides, I didn't do anything, you can't prove I said anything because the other guys all hate you, and would back me up." He had regained some of his bravado during his short speech, and now stood strait and proud. "We might even just take both of you down right now. You two have been acting all high and mighty ever since you got here and maybe its time we showed you we won't tolerate that kind of attitude. Right boys?" You could almost feel the silence that answered his question.

His quick look around the room showed that the other boys in no way wanted to be a part of this. They well remembered Saturday, and wanted nothing to do with anyone that could do that. Since his threat had included Konjou, they were shutting up and staying out of the way.

"Oroka-dono, is that your choice then. Do you choose to ignore this one's request?"

"I ain't doing nothing, you can just deal with it, there's no way I'm apologizing to that little whor." Oroka never got the chance to finish the insult. The sickening crunch of his sternum snapping under the force of Tenjin's fist was a very effective interruption. Before his feet even finished leaving the ground from the impact, a second hit, this one a circle kick caught him in the jaw. He started to fly towards the Sensei's desk, which had been abandoned by the Sensei before the bell had even finished ringing, but his movement was halted by another kick. For nearly five seconds Oroka never even got the chance to hit the ground. Konjou dived at Tenjin and pulled him away finally, and Oroka's broken body landed with a wet thump.

"Your apology is accepted Oroka-dono." Tenjin snarled as Konjou pulled him further away from the critically injured boy. "Dram'alle ste'ntok gend'rut fey!" Konjou paled, Tenjin was totally out of control. He had slipped into profanity, in aleph, in front of mortals. This was very bad. He knew he had to do something before Tenjin remembered he could use magic.

"~Mori, Mori!, Mori!~" Konjou shouted at him in aleph. A quick look outside confirmed his fears, The sky had already filled with massive storm clouds, and the wind threatened to rip trees from the ground. He had to talk Tenjin down now, or go head to head with him on Tenjin's territory. That was never a good idea. "~Mori, think about it, how would Mina react if she found out you ripped his arms off and beat him to death with them. That's right, she'd be pissed. She's one of the Senshi, Mori. Remember they protect all humanity, even worthless assholes like him. They made a deal with us remember, no killing the mortals unless there's no other choice, or in defence of those who can't defend themselves. If you try to tell Mina you had to kill this guy because he insulted her, and you don't think she can defend herself against a worthless piece of shit like him, she's gonna beat your ass. Remember the deal, she wouldn't want this.~" The winds began to die down outside. The clouds still remained, but between the diminished ferocity of the storm and the fact that Tenjin had made no further effort to finish Oroka off, Konjou relaxed his grip on him.

Tenjin grabbed his bag and headed towards the door. As he neared Oroka he reached downward faster than a striking snake, lifted the badly battered boy off the ground and pinned him to the wall.

"Listen carefully ste'ntok. You have been given a reprieve." His every word was sharply bitten off, and the aleph reference to the disease infested excrement caused by buggery of a corpse, indicated Tenjin's bout of temper though dimmed was still ready to flare should anyone do or say anything stupid. "I will finish this, make absolutely no mistake about it. I swear this to you. I will feed you feet first slowly into the Nexus, that way I can listen to the music of your screams for days. Within seconds you'll beg me for death. I might just make sure that you won't ever find that escape. Do you understand?" Oroka gargled something unintelligible through his broken jaw. Tenjin tossed him to the ground and continued out the door.

Konjou felt sick, the entire idea of sending a physical being into the crawling nothingness of the nexus was just wrong. The Nexus was difficult to explain, it was everywhere and nowhere. It existed outside the universe, yet intersected it everywhere. Tenjin had been the one to discover it. One of Tenjin's powers was the ability to open a doorway to anywhere. Early in the universe, Tenjin accidentally misjudged the energy needed to open one of his portals. Bad Things from the Nexus tore through the under strength walls and were released into this universe. It took weeks to round them up. Tenjin's portals appeared to penetrate the Nexus to circumvent every rule of magical transposition. They also risked releasing the Bad Things. In truth youma, damien, damodands, demodeds, and a few other of the nastier variety of supernatural creatures were very weak decedents of the true horrors of the Nexus. The Akulin were the worst, and consequently the masters. Fortunately accessing the Nexus was very difficult, unless you could create doorways like Tenjin, or were the absolute master of will magic.

Konjou willed a slow regeneration spell onto Oroka. Sure he was an asshole, but without magical aid he was a dead asshole, and then the girls would be pissed. The spell would take weeks to work itself out, and Oroka could still count on having some fairly nasty scars from this little demonstration, but it would be just enough to keep him alive, and make his doctors scratch their heads in amazement at his speedy recovery. Konjou exited the room and started to track Tenjin down, it probably wouldn't be a good idea to let him wander around alone in his current mood. Who knows what he might do if anyone else irritated him.

******** The girls rushed toward the Jinja. The storm had come literally out of nowhere a few minutes after they left the school, and they were now drenched and unhappy. Only Mina seemed unconcerned with the downpour, the smile she had worn since before they had left, was still plastered across her face. She was actually singing and skipping down the street, as opposed to the dark muttering of Ami, Rei and Makoto, or the babbling nervousness punctuated by terror filled yelps of Usagi.

Usagi hated storms, and she most especially hated thunderstorms. This storm could have been tailor made to scare her. For the first minute or so after the clouds rolled in, there was more lightning than rain. The girls had been forced to take shelter under the awning of a nearby shop, well except for Mina who continually left its safety to stand in the rain, her face tilted up with a smile.

When Makoto asked her what was up with her she replied. "I've never really noticed how beautiful a storm could be. I mean, doesn't the air being all charged with electricity make you just feel so alive?" Her response worried the other Senshi, but there was little they could do until they got to the Jinja.

When the girls arrived they found Haruka's car, and Mamoru's motorcycle parked out front. Ami felt immediate sympathy for Mamoru, having obviously been caught out on his bike in this strange storm. Ami had several things she needed to do, this storm practically screamed magical, and she desperately needed to scan Mina. She wished Artemis and Luna would return from central, it was becoming impossible for her to be both a Senshi and their advisor. She had never appreciated just how much they depended on the cats, until they weren't there to be depended upon.

The girls stepped into this Jinja, and were met by Mamoru and the Outers, who had towels ready for them. Ami gratefully began to dry herself off, and viciously suppressed the image of Konjou towelling himself that came to mind. It was much harder to suppress the vision of Konjou drying her off that quickly followed. Ami ignored her body's reaction to the erotic images and effect of her rubbing herself dry. She had work to do, and fantasizing about the enemy was counterproductive to say the least.

Rei suggested they move into the fire room, where they would dry off more quickly, and have complete privacy. They had hardly gotten the door closed when the meeting began. Setsuna took over before any of the standard girl talk began.

"We have several things need to discuss." She said without preamble. "It is my belief that your plan to buy us time to learn how to deal with our new enemies may backfire horribly, Usagi. I now have incontrovertible proof that they are in fact the Primarchs of legend."

"We knew that already." Rei interrupted.

"No, until now all we had, were suspicions. I now have proof." She said in an ominous voice. "The language that they were chanting in is called aleph. As Luna told you before, it was the language of the people before the rise of Atlantis and the Moon Kingdom. This," she said drawing a large book from a pack at her feet, "is one of the last tomes ever written in aleph. It is a dictionary of sorts, written a few years after the start of the Moon Kingdom. It was intended to be used as a teaching aid so that the language didn't die out. It failed miserably by the way." Setsuna took a breath and looked around the room, wishing she wasn't the one who had to tell them this.

"This book details several magics from time of the Ulterran. You might be wondering why a language textbook would have spells in it. The answer is very simple. Aleph is the language of magic. I do not pretend to know how our attacks function without the phrases being spoken in aleph. In any event, I was able to determine what some of their earlier statements in aleph had been, and it proves who they are."

"During the first time I encountered Mordaki, he erected a defensive barrier. That spell is actually spoken of in here. Only the Primarchs could have cast that spell. It calls on the power of the beings that created the universe to protect them from all harm, and they will not come to the aid of any one other than them. Other books I have located tell a mixed tale of the Primarchs. They supposedly sheltered the ancestors of the Moon Kingdom during a time of great need, yet the histories also indicate that they were responsible for the destruction of countless civilizations. Most of the destruction appears to be the result of Jander, but the histories report all of them having done both wonderful and terrible things over the eons."

"Um, not to but in on you here, Setsuna, but just how does all that prove they're the Primarchs, I mean it's possible that the words he said weren't the real spell right?" Haruka asked.

"No, that was most assuredly the Invulnerability Field but I have one other bit of evidence." Setsuna withdrew a small crystal from her bag. It was quite similar to quartz in appearance. It measured only about a dozen centimetres in length, and its base was completely flat and smooth.

"This is an image crystal, their making was lost sometime in the later years of the Moon Kingdom, as the only mage capable of it was killed before he passed on the knowledge. It shows a scene from the memory of its creator, and in this case it shows something called 'The Presentation'. You probably want to see this."

Setsuna sat the crystal on the floor and moved to sit down with the rest of the girls. After only a few moments the crystal began to hum slightly, and a soft silver glow wound its way up from its base to its point. Soon thereafter, an image of a beautiful reception style chamber emerged. There were many people in the three dimensional image that emerged. They all stood, obviously impatiently watching something.

"When are they supposed to arrive?" A voice said from nowhere.

"They said they would be here today, that's all. I do not think anyone wanted to try to demand any more precise information from them." Another responded.

"I wonder what their plans are, we are dying out. It is not even slow any longer. Five of the first generation died last week alone."

"I am unsure, but it appears they are going to do something rather significant, each one of them has the head of their favoured clan here. See, there is Earryn right over there, and over there, Lunari."

The image in the view slowly panned over to show something odd, A man that looked very much like Elios stood a little apart from the crowd. He was dressed in highly ornate golden armour. The sword at his side seemed to be anything but ornamental, as his hand stayed close to its hilt at all times. Even through the image he carried an air of readiness and menace.

The scene changed again and focused in on a stunningly beautiful woman. There was no question in their minds that this woman was in some way related to Usagi. The resemblance to their princess was uncanny.

"Kami-sama," the voice again spoke. "Lunari has to be the most beautiful woman in the universe."

"Yes, why do you think Konjou took her under his protection? The rumours have been flying for years that they are lovers."

"I somehow doubt that. She looks to innocent to be a concubine, especially one of his. I know he is not exactly rumoured to be what we would call moral, but that girl is less than twenty. I strongly doubt he would have touched her before she was completely mature."

"Well you do not really need to try to convince me. I happen to agree with you. Wow look at that, there is Kronos. It must be near time."

The view again changed to that of a stately looking man in dark robes. He was very tall, towering easily over everyone else. He had very long viridian hair. The Senshi looked quickly at Setsuna, and noted several similarities. The man identified as Kronos pushed through the crowd and called out in a loud voice.

"They come!" he yelled, and rapped the ground hard with the end of his staff. "They come!" Again he yelled. Lunari and Earryn came into view to stand next to Kronos. With them was another man. He had short violet hair and piercing emerald eyes. A murmur rose from within the crowd as a group of more than one hundred cats passed through them to array themselves around the four in the centre. Usagi noted that all the cats had a silver mark on their foreheads.

Silver, gold, black, red and green motes of light sparkled in the air in front of them. The lights grew brighter until with a brilliant flash five men stood in the centre of the crowd. Immediately the crowd moved back, making a circle more that twenty metres in which no one other than the chosen stood. Mordaki and Niccolai were instantly recognisable to the girls, and even Usagi could easily guess that the others were the remaining Primarchs.

Lor was the tallest yet thinnest of them. He had to have been more than two and a half metres in height, and looked to weigh less than one hundred kilos. His hair was a dark blond that hung in a long braid to his waist. He appeared somewhat preoccupied, as if he had other things on his mind.

Jander on the other had looked like a warrior. He stood slightly taller than Niccolai, and weighed at least as much. He was positively covered in muscles, which his open green tunic did nothing to hide. He stood arrogantly with his arms crossed, a smirk played on his lips.

The last wore long black robes that hid much of his form. A long crimson braid of hair trailed down his back from a classically beautiful yet cold face. His posture was difficult to explain, his stance seemed to indicate nothing of his emotions. Most of the Senshi shivered at the emotionless quality of his ebon eyes. He nodded to the others and stepped to the front of the little group. The chosen knelt before him, quickly the rest of the crowd mimicked their action.

"These are the last days of the Ulterran." His melodious voice carried easily over the hushed crowd. "You all have seen the decline of the birth of your people. Instead of your own kind, your children are different, weaker, mortal. This trend will not end. Soon your race will be nearly extinct, save for a bare handful that will undoubtedly forget their origins. We can not save you from this fate, but we can save the mortals. While you fade they will rise to power, but they will do it alone." He stepped back and pulled something from his robe. Once it was completely revealed Usagi gasped, the crystal was very similar to hers, only it was jet black. Seemingly carved from a piece of obsidian, Usagi knew the true form of the Nemesis crystal.

Lor continued the speech. "We will be leaving for a time, I for one do not wish to see the death of your race any more than you do. It pains us to know what we do, therefore we shall not stay. In our places we leave you a charge." "He withdrew a large red gem from within his robe, it was obviously the garnet orb. "The crystals that I and my fellows leave you will hold together what must be until we are needed again. I wish it were not so, but this will be the last time we meet. Kronos, rise and approach me."

Kronos shakily stood and walked towards Lor. His expression was much like one would expect a man going to his death would wear.

"Kronos, you know your offspring shall not carry your power, instead let them carry this, my orb. Within it are contained the energies to guide and monitor the flow of time. I charge you to safeguard this crystal, and time itself, from abuse. Do not seek to manipulate things yourself, only to prevent manipulation. I know the challenge this will present to you, but you must not fail."

"I will not, my liege. I will faithfully stand watch until your return."

"No, you will pass this duty on to your offspring, and they to theirs. Many generations will come and go before we return."

Lor stepped back and Mordaki moved into his place. He bore the staff he had summoned in their last fight. His face method of dress and even his movements were absolutely unmistakeable. He radiated confidence and power, the golden aura he wore in combat around them was highly in evidence, extending further than they had ever seen it.

"Earryn come forth." He commanded, his voice was again identical to the man they had fought. The Elios look-alike stood and came before Mordaki.

"Yes my lord Mori?"

"You the greatest of my servitors shall safeguard the crystal I have wrought." He said handing him the very familiar Golden Crystal. "Within it lies the powers of nature itself, your task is simple, never is it to fall within the hands of anyone not in your line. Nor must it ever be used. Its purpose is to maintain the balance of forces, not to abuse them. Take it to your home on my Isle of Solitude. I will sleep on the isle. Guard it well. Its shape changing powers may become necessary, if so they are yours." Mordaki patted him on the shoulder and spoke once again. "Feel free to expand the settlement on the isle, but allow the people to govern themselves. You are my hope for the future, your line will continue until far past the time of my awakening. I look forward to meeting the decedents of one of the greatest men I have had the pleasure of knowing." Mordaki stepped back and joined Lor, while Niccolai strode arrogantly into position, he held his long blue crystal staff in one hand and the Silver Imperium Crystal in the other.

"Lunari, come here dear." He said pleasantly. Usagi's ancestor stood and sauntered over to him, only to stop centimetres in front of him and impishly stick her tongue out at him. He chuckled at her antics and rubbed her head in a familiar manner. "When I made this I gave great consideration into whose hands I could pass it. This Crystal bears a tremendous responsibility. Its energies are that of the heart of magic. You know my abilities and responsibilities, this crystal mimics both." He handed the crystal over to the awed girl. "You must not fall into the temptation to abuse its power. Though it grants the gift of free will, if it were to be misused it could quite easily remove it. Seek not to control others, that is not its intent. Mordred refuses to tell me if your line will retain its power until I awake, but even should they not, they must keep the crystal safe. I will never be far from you, as long as the Mau are present." He said gesturing towards the odd cats. He drew her into a hug and whispered something, for some reason they could hear the whisper, though they were certain no one else there could have.

"You were always like a daughter to me, Lunari. I'm sorry that I have to leave you alone. Don't forget you promised to only marry your soulmate, whoever he is he's worth waiting for. Don't settle for anything less. I love you, daughter."

"I love you too, Neko-poppa." She said with tears in her eyes.

Niccolai moved next to Lor and Tenjin and watched calmly as Jander moved forward. He motioned forward with his hand and the unknown violet haired man approached. He bowed when he stood in front of Jander, and then stood with military strict posture. Jander smiled at his actions, obviously amused by the show of self control the violet haired man displayed.

"Corin, you have the worst duty I could imagine about to be forced upon you. I charge you, the strongest willed of my servants, to hold this monstrosity." He pulled a large spiky emerald from seemingly nowhere. "This crystal must not remain in any one person's possession for long. Its power is far too invasive for anyone but me to handle. You are to begin finding the most noble and strong willed people you can, you are charged to see that this crystal passes from hand to hand at least once a year, or the consequences will be dire, as the powers of corruption and chaos within it consume its possessor's body and soul and leave them a twisted mockery of what they once were. I shudder to imagine what would happen to their corrupted spirit after the crystal abandoned them then, for it would leave on its own seeking new prey. The balance of the universe depends on you not failing in this mission." He turned leaving Corin to stand there staring in horror at the thing he held.

"The powers of Entropy are too terrible for me to inflict on anyone." Mordred said from where he still stood holding his crystal. "Instead of seeking a guardian for my crystal, I shall hide it. Seek not this power, for it will easily consume you." Mordred chanted in aleph and used the crystal to draw glowing black marks in the air in front of him. Everything went dark for an instant and when the image returned the five Primarchs stood together, Mordred's crystal had disappeared.

"Goodbye, Nobles of the Ulterran, we will remember your people forever." Mordred said, and with that seemed to dissolve into mist.

"Goodbye young ones, you will be missed." Lor said and seemed to blur. He lost focus until he simply was gone.

"Farewell, you were fun while you lasted." Jander mocked. Yet there was sorrow in his eyes as he vanished.

"Guard the mortals like I asked Lunari. They are the future, and the only legacy the Ulterran will leave." He started to disappear and a large shadowy image of a cat radiated around him. Niccolai completed his vanishing act, leaving only the shadowy image of the cat. It yawned and faded out. Just as the last glimpse of it faded away Niccolai's voice seemed to fill the room.

"No matter how old you become Lunari, you will always be my little girl I'll remember the image of the twin tails of hair you used to wear forever. I love you." Tears filled the eyes of even the stoic Setsuna at the tearful farewell of Niccolai. His words also explained the origin of something Setsuna had always wondered about. Lunari's love of her 'father' had obviously caused her to once again adopt the hair style of her youth. The strange twin pony tails of the Moon Kingdom's princesses was finally understood.

"Once again I order my home to be one of peace. Let no one Ulterran or mortal break or corrupt that peace." A golden dot appeared in the air, and spiralled into a disk of light in which Mordaki stepped through.

The image winked out, and the Senshi shared a look. Those were without a doubt the people they had fought against. They had suspected that before, so why was Setsuna concerned about proving it now? Usagi decided to be the one to ask her.

"Setsuna, we already thought they were the Primarchs. So this doesn't really surprise me."

"Usagi, let me try to make you understand. They are the Primarchs. They made the Garnet Orb. They made the Time Gates. They made the Silver and Golden Crystals. They even made the planet you are standing on. I honestly do not believe there is any hope of victory against a force like that."

"There is a hope." The voice of Luna interrupted from the doorway. Both she and Artemis stood there. Their fur was matted with sweat and dust. Luna looked almost a kilo lighter than she had the last time anyone had seen her, and Artemis looked to be ready to collapse on his feet, but they both were smiling.

"There is a hope." She repeated. "We found everything we could about the Ulterran in Central's archives. Believe me it was well hidden. It seems that the Ulterran had a secret. Every Ulterran has an allergy to something. The Allergy depends on the family in which he or she belongs to, and how severely it affects them depended on their own personal power. The stronger they were, the more resistant they were to their allergy, but even the strongest would be rendered as weak as a 'degenerate' if they had even the smallest bit of it in their body." Luna finished triumphantly.

The Senshi looked at her, time passed without anyone responding. Two minutes later the Senshi still hadn't looked away or said anything.

"What?" Luna asked.

"So what is their allergy?" Haruka asked.

"I don't know." All of the Senshi save Setsuna face faulted at Luna's admission of ignorance.

"And just how does your lack of knowledge give us hope Luna?" Setsuna asked firmly.

"It proves they can be taken down to something you can manage." Artemis said. "Look, we can give you an example. Usagi, if you would please take your princess form?"

"Ok." Usagi withdrew the silver crystal and changed into Princess Serenity. "Now what?"

""Hang on, Serenity-hime, this might be somewhat unpleasant." With that Artemis jumped in the air and flipped backwards. A lump of some strange dark purple metal landed on the ground a few metres from Serenity. The Princess instantly went into a faint at the appearance of the rock. All the colour drained out of her face, and she began to retch weakly. Serenity was clearly dying from the proximity of the strange stone.

"Get that thing out of here!" Mina yelled, instantly taking on the attitude of group leader. Setsuna scooped up the offending stone and dropped it into the subspace pocket she kept her henshin stick in. Serenity immediately began to show improvement. All of the Senshi turned to glare at Artemis, who was in turn doing his utmost to blend in with the wall.

"Just what in the hell were you thinking Artemis." Mina began the verbal flagellation of the terrified cat.

"Central didn't say anything about it killing her. It said the royal family were weakened by thorium, not killed. Mina you have to believe me, I honestly didn't know." The cat begged her to understand. "You know I'd never do anything I thought would harm the Princess."

"Mina, minna he' right, Central only mentioned it weakening their powers, it didn't even hint towards the effect we just witnessed." Luna interjected. The girls looked somewhat mollified, but still not happy.

"That was a foolish thing to do, Artemis." Ami said. "You yourself said that the more powerful the Ulterran, the less the effect. According to Mordaki the further the Ulterran is from the first of their line, the weaker they are. Who knows how distant Usagi is."

Usagi shifted back into her normal form, and curled up on Mamoru's lap. Mamoru had yet to say anything about Artemis's actions, but the look he gave the cat told him this was far from over. Luna cleared her throat and continued the briefing.

"As we were saying, each Ulterran family apparently has a different allergy. So while thorium has a rather dramatic effect on Usagi, it would be completely ineffective against the Primarchs. Also fully three quarters of the known allergens were mineral based. If we had a piece of either of them it might be possible to test it against various substances to try to find their allergy." She finished

"I don't think there part of the same family." Hotaru said. "Mordaki said something about being the second born, but I got the feeling he didn't mean it in the same way."

"Let us assume they are of different families, does anyone have any idea how we could get a tissue sample?" Michiru asked very politely.

"I'm already working on that for a project of mine." Ami said. "I have some suspicions about them having an alternate identity, and if I'm correct I'll have my proof and tissue sample soon."

"Who do you think they are Ami?" Rei asked.

"I can't say just yet. I would really hate to accuse someone innocent of something like that."

The girls nodded in agreement and went back to their planning. Setsuna didn't like the look in Ami's eyes when she mentioned tissue sample, she looked almost violent. Setsuna watched her very carefully but saw no other evidence of hostility. More than an hour passed with little else getting accomplished. The girls agreed to begin practicing their combat abilities starting tomorrow afternoon. They couldn't practice their magical attacks without drawing unwanted attention, but their hand to hand combat, and escape and evade skills they could easily work on.

Mamoru kissed Usagi goodbye and headed off to his job. Michiru, Hotaru and Haruka waved and headed off to their house. Setsuna disappeared as usual leaving only the Inners at the shrine.

"Seems a little like old times when it's just us doesn't it?" Rei asked.

"Yea." Usagi said distractedly.

"What's wrong Usagi?" Rei questioned.

"I just want to know what they really want."

"Who?"

"The Primarchs. If they wanted to kill everyone they could have done it. They don't need energy. They don't care about the Crystal, and they haven't even mentioned heart crystals or star seeds. They don't seem to want anything, and they aren't attacking with any of their power. We've started every fight with them. Not once have we ever seen them hurt anyone. Except us when we attack them. Even then they healed any of us that got really hurt. Niccolai healed Setsuna, Mordaki healed Endymion and Venus. Just why are we fighting them?"

"Because they made a lot of people all over the world vanish. The power plants, the oil derricks, and the logging companies, all of those had people that are gone. There are thousands missing, not to mention all the people that are suffering from the lack of electricity or fuel oil. We don't know for sure if the loss of those things has killed anyone yet, but it's pretty likely that it has."

"Thank you Rei. Sometimes it's hard for me. I don't really want to fight anyone you know, but if we don't fight then the bad guys make everyone else suffer. I just wish we could make them find some other way to get whatever it is they want."

"They want to save the world." Mina said. "That's what they told us, and if you look at what they've done it's exactly what they're doing. They don't care about the people. They care about everything else. In a way they're a lot like us. They just want to protect something they care about, but what they want to protect is what the people we protect need to survive. It's really kind of sad. If the people of earth would just be more careful, less wasteful and destructive, then the Primarchs wouldn't be our enemies."

The girls pondered the unusually deep statement for several minutes. Privately they all agreed, well all save Ami agreed. Ami was well past rationality in dealing with those two. She needed to go home and come up with some better plans to get a tissue sample of Konjou, maybe she could slip and 'accidentally' stab him with a chop stick during lunch. That would be fun. err that would work. Ami made her excuses and left for home.

"Oh darn." Mina said.

"What's wrong Mina?" Makoto asked.

"Oh I'm late. I was supposed to go pick up some perfume I ordered from a shop over in Chiba-ku. My parents were going to take me, but they were going out tonight, so we would have had to leave early, now I have to take the train. Will you girls come with me, I really hate riding the subway alone."

"Sure!" Usagi answered. The rest of the girls agreed and headed off to the train station.

The Tokyo subway system was notorious for its overcrowding. With the loss of power it had gained an even seedier reputation. Many terrible things had happened in the darkened tunnels in the last several weeks. Police patrols had been supplemented by units of the JSDF, but they could hardly do more than slow the growth of the subterranean crime wave. The previous problems of women being subtlety felt up by hentai strangers, had worsened to the point that few women would ride any more. When four beautiful teenage girls got on at the Juuban south station the Hentai were so shocked they forgot to try anything.

"So where's the store you ordered the perfume from?" Usagi asked as the train started underway.

"Oh it's a few blocks from the Chiba west station. It's this exotic gaijin perfume shop, called Ai no Kaori. It's sugoi!"

"Hey I've heard of that place." Makoto said. "The lady there special makes all the perfumes for each customer. No two scents are the same. It's supposed to be really expensive. Where did you get the money for something like that?"

"I took some money from my modelling account." Mina said softly.

"Mina!" Rei said sharply. "You were supposed to save that for college, what are you thinking?"

"I'm thinking I won't live to see college anyway, so I might as well be happy for the time I have left. Besides, can you imagine the look on Tenjin's face when I'm done?"

"Done with what Mina?" Usagi asked.

"Oh, well I'm going to a spa on Friday. I'm getting the works done. Hair trim, manicure, pedicure, mud pack, everything. Saturday night when he sees me he'll be speechless, the new perfume is the icing on the cake." Rei was torn between shock at the fact that Mina got the idiom correct, and horror that Mina would spend all that money making herself look more beautiful than she already was, for Tenjin.

"I don't think Tenjin believes there's anything wrong with you Mina. You don't need to do all of that. It think he loves you just how you are." Usagi said. Makoto nodded in agreement.

"Yea, have you seen the way he looks when he sees you? He gets this lost look in his eyes, like he can't figure out how he lucked out and got a girl like you to love him. Every time you leave him he looks like a hurt kitten, all sad eyed and longing." Makoto added.

"I know, but I need to do this for me. I want him totally speechless, I want him crazy in love with me, and I can't do that unless I feel like I'm looking my absolute best. I have to do this minna."

"Ok Mina." Rei said. "I'm behind you all the way, but if he doesn't fall to his knees and worship you like a goddess after all this, I'm going to have to kill him."

"Thanks Rei." Mina beamed and pulled the girls into a large hug. While they were distracted, one of the hentai had finally managed to recover himself enough to pinch Usagi's butt. By the time she turned around there was no indication of who did it. The girls moved into the corner of the car pushing their way through and crowded together in defence. With Rei and Makoto in the front scowling darkly and looking menacing they completed their ride to Chiba-ku without further molestation.

"I can't believe somebody pinched my butt!" Usagi wailed as they got off the train. "I mean that is so icky! All the guys around me had to be like forty. That's like even more nasty than usual."

"Calm down odango." Rei said. Her words were calculated to take Usagi's mind off what happened and focus it on indignation at being insulted by her friend.

"I can't believe you're still calling me that!" Usagi wailed. Her diatribe on the injustices Rei committed against her, made her forget all about the hentai.

The shop was beautiful, and delicate. They spent very little time inside, visions of Usagi accidentally tripping and destroying several million yen worth of perfume from one of the gorgeous displays of crystalline vials, made certain they hurried their purchases along. The girls then returned to the subway for the trip back.

Makoto quickly pushed her way to a corner, the other girls following in her wake. Once she had secured their place she and Mina stood guard in front. Usagi tapped Mina and Makoto on the shoulder and smiled at them as they turned around.

"Thank you." She said, indicating them putting themselves in the way to protect her. They were always looking out for her at their own risk. Someday soon she would find a way to make it up to them, she vowed silently to herself.

Mina was turning back around when she felt someone reaching towards her. She quickly turned to confront the hentai when a bright golden flash of light erupted briefly around her. The hentai that had been reaching for her breast was thrown back by something. He slammed into the wall of the subway car, bending it horribly under the force of impact. Several others were injured by the man as he flew towards his meeting with the wall. The screams of terror and pain began a few seconds after the shock wore off. The car nearly cleared as everyone who was capable pushed through the doors to other cars, overcrowding be damned.

"Oh Kami-sama what happened?" Rei asked. She like everyone other than Usagi and the Hentai had missed the source of the flash of golden light. "Did you do something to him Makoto?"

"No, maybe we should see if he's ok?" she asked somewhat sarcastically.

The girls checked on everyone who was left in the car. There were several people unconscious, and one man had an obviously broken arm from where the flying hentai had struck him, but most seemed far more shocked than injured. The hentai on the other hand was in serious trouble.

"He needs medical attention fast." Rei noted dispassionately. She had been off to Mina's side and had seen the man reaching for her, he hadn't even been being subtle about it. She had been about to warn Mina, when he went flying. She really had no sympathy for him.

A few moments later two members of the subway security pushed their way into the car and took stock of the situation. It was obvious that whoever had attacked the man was far stronger than anyone still in the car. They radioed to have medical attention waiting at the next stop, and the girls exited the train one stop early.

The early departure added blocks to their walk, but gave them time to try to figure out what happened. Usagi was keeping silent about what she saw. It made no sense to her why Mina would suddenly have an aura like Mordaki's, especially since the glow appeared before she saw the hentai.

"So, what happened on the subway?" Makoto asked. "I know I didn't touch the guy, and I didn't see Mina get him. So who did?"

"There was a really bright golden flash." Mina said. "I couldn't see where it came from, but I saw the flash."

"Yea I noticed that too." Makoto agreed.

"And I did as well." Rei added.

"Well." Usagi said softly, "It kind of felt like Mordaki's magic aura."

"Are you sure of that Usagi." Rei asked.

"Not really, I don't know if any of you have ever actually been inside that glow." Mina, Makoto, and Rei all nodded that they had. "Well, his aura feels a lot like that light, it's kind of strange feeling to me. It sort of makes me dizzy, like I'm about to fall down, or maybe be sick from it." Makoto and Rei agreed with her, but Mina frowned.

"That's strange. I never felt like I was sick or anything. It made me feel sort of warm, like a blanket wrapped around me while sitting in front of a fire on a cold winter night. I agree with the dizziness, but it was more like the dizzy feeling of being too happy." Mina said softly. Makoto and Rei looked at Mina like she had lost her mind, while Usagi took on a haunted look in her eyes. Usagi had opened her mouth to say something about Mina's statement, when the screaming started up from just ahead of them.

A terrifying tearing sound spilt the air, easily overpowering even the multitude of screams. The girls wasted no time in ducking into a nearby alley and powering up to face this new menace. The monster was no more than a block away, and around one corner. The streams of people fleeing from the scene made locating it pathetically easy. What they saw when they found it made their blood run cold, and Usagi was nearly ill at this sight.

The monster stood just slightly taller than Usagi. It was entirely grey and had no determinant gender. Its face was dominated by two large totally crimson eyes. It had no nose and its mouth seemed more a line on its face than anything. The only clothing it wore on its almost completely featureless body was a long black cape, which moved in defiance of wind, gravity, and inertia. One of it's four fingered hands held a glowing black ball of energy while the other was drenched in blood from the young woman whose heart it had literally ripped out.

Makoto didn't hesitate in the slightest. She dashed forward and once she had a line of fire, unleashed her strongest magical attack. The creature seemed to slide out of the way. The attack went wide seriously damaging a ramen shop behind it. Rei and Usagi fired their attacks simultaneously, Usagi's the creature again dodged, but Rei's attack struck it head on. The creature hardly seemed to notice the attack, but instead moved toward Rei with obvious lethal intent.

Mina could see the creatures plan easily. Mars's attack was by far the quickest that had been used against it, it didn't appear to be able to get out of the way. The creature intended to disable or kill Rei now, and given the speed it had in hand to hand combat Mina didn't doubt its ability. She nodded at the other two Senshi and began her attack phrase. She could feel power she had never dreamed of before flooding her as the mystic energy gathered. The world seemed to slow down to her. Everything she saw appeared washed in an odd light. She spun around in the completion of her incantation and released the gathered energy with a blown kiss. It seemed to leave her hand in slow motion, when it was less than a foot from her the world returned to normal, sort of.

Mina flew back with the recoil of her attack. The enormous force she had released tossed her like a cork in a windstorm. She flew through the air only to have her trip interrupted by a car parked on the side of the street. The door caved in and every window exploded from the force of her impact. Mina fainted from the pain, lying across the front seats.

The comet like hearts streaked from Mina's outstretched hand, the screamed through the air faster than anything Usagi had ever seen. Mina's plight went unnoticed to her as she stood in awe of the results of the super powerful magic. The creature was caught totally unaware by Venus's attack. It struck it in the chest, where each heart exploded into small bursts of kinetic energy. The monster was torn apart by the force. Bits of it rained down on Mars who was so stunned by the speed and ferocity of the magic, and the deafening effects of the explosions, that she didn't even have a chance to close her mouth before monster gore sprayed her.

Makoto ran to Mina, she hadn't even taken notice of the effects of the attack once she saw her friend flying backwards. She carefully removed Mina from the shattered ruin that had once been an automobile. She didn't appear to have any broken bones, but Makoto had never wished more strongly for Ami to arrive than she did now.

"Sailor Moon!" she called. "Venus is down hard, she could really use some of your attention right about now." She lifted Mina and took her over to Moon.

Usagi wasted no time at all in applying her healing magic. Mina groaned in pain and curled tightly in Makoto's arms. Mina's Venus symbol began to burn on her forehead. Its cast a soft golden light over her, causing her fuku to melt away and reform into the toga style dress she had worn so long ago as the princess of the planet Venus. The other girls exchanged worried glances and quickly leapt to the rooftops and headed for the Outers house. Setsuna and the cats needed to see this.

The second Senshi meeting of the day was considerably smaller. Haruka, Michiru and Hotaru were out, and Setsuna saw no reason to call them back. Ami couldn't get away from her house due to her mother needing her, and Mamoru was at work. The cats arrived with Artemis beating Luna there by over five minutes. Though he cared for all of the Senshi, Artemis held a special place in his heart for Mina. He had been to one to find and train her. He felt highly responsible for anything and everything that happened to her, if she were in trouble, or in pain, he would gladly sacrifice his own life to help her.

"What happened to her, Usagi?" Artemis demanded before his feet had even finished touching the floor.

"We should wait for Luna to arrive." Setsuna said calmly.

"Is she ok?" Artemis asked desperately.

"She appears fine, though confused. She is cleaning up a bit and will be out when she is done."

"Ok, I'll wait then."

Luna finally arrived, and the scouts were treated to an odd scene, Artemis gave Luna a look they all recognised. Luna used it quite often on him. It was a 'we will talk about your tardiness when this is over' look. Luna appeared somewhat ashamed at the fact Artemis had arrived before her, and immediately tried to save face by taking charge.

"What has happened to Mina?" Luna began.

"Well," Usagi began. "We were walking back from the subway station when we heard screams, there was this really fast monster killing people. Oh it was horrible, it didn't seem to want anything from them, it just killed people. Why would it do that?" she began to wail. After a few moments she brought herself back under control and continued. "There were a bunch of dead people on the ground, the blood was everywhere. This monster had just murdered another woman when we arrived. It was very fast, almost as fast as Niccolai was when he turned into a cat creature." No one noticed Makoto shudder at Usagi's words.

"What did it look like Usagi?"

"It was a grey featureless thing with big red eyes and a long black cape." Makoto answered.

"Yugoloth!" Artemis hissed.

Setsuna stared at the cats in confusion at that reaction. Luna began growl deep in her throat, and Artemis appeared ready to go hunt for more of them himself. She had never heard of anything garnering this kind of reaction from the cats. Obviously there were things she needed to know.

"What do you know about them?" Setsuna asked.

"They destroyed the Mau." Luna said simply. Hatred seemed to roll off her in waves. "Artemis and I are almost the last of our kind. Our homeworld was far from here, in a different solar system in fact. When Artemis and I were kittens a terrible monster came from far away. He demanded that our elders give him something that they were guarding. They refused of course, and he left. He knew he alone couldn't fight against the magic our elders possessed. He returned a year later with a handful of those things. They are nothing but murders. In less than a month they killed all but a few of our people. We were desperate, there was no way to defeat them on our own, so our people called out to another culture, one that had in ancient times held a pact of mutual defence with ours."

"Queen Serenity's mother, also called Serenity answered our plea. She appeared before the demons with her Senshi. They did terrible battle, but the Senshi were unable to kill the Yugoloth. Serenity used the Crystal to banish them back to the darkness from which they came. Their summoner, the man who our elders had refused, attacked her while she was weakened from the sealing. The Senshi tore him apart. Serenity gathered the survivors of the devastation and offered them a home."

Artemis now picked up the story. He looked around the room and spoke. "The remaining adults knew our people could no longer survive without assistance. They bundled those of us that survived up and sent us away with Serenity. Where there were once billions of Mau, less than one thousand left with Serenity, and those that remained were either too old or to weak to survive the trip. Our world, once a paradise, had been reduced to a smoking ruin. Every Mau that survived made a vow of vengeance against the Yugoloth. Someday we will track them back to their home and do to them what they tried to do to us. Only we will finish the job." Artemis concluded. He still looked ready to kill.

Usagi once again continued her story. "The Yugoloth dodged Makoto's and my attacks, but Rei managed to get it with hers." The cats smiled at that. "But it didn't look very hurt. Mina started to do her love and beauty shock and she was moving really fast."

"What do you mean?" Setsuna asked.

"She looked like a video when you hit fast forward with it playing." Usagi responded. Setsuna nodded sagely. "Well she finished her attack like that and the hearts shot away really fast. She went backwards from it and slammed into a car."

"What happened to the Yugoloth?" Artemis demanded, Luna nodded in agreement with his question.

"It died. She kinda blew it apart." Rei said. He face still scrunched up at the memory of the taste of Yugoloth guts.

"That's impossible!" Luna shouted. "Queen Serenity's mother, with the full power of the silver crystal couldn't kill them."

"Well she did." Rei responded.

"She was hurt by the fall, and I asked Usagi to try to heal her." Makoto continued. "She didn't respond like normal. She sort of curled away from the magic, and her Venus symbol appeared, then her fuku turned into the dress she wore as Princess Venus during the Moon Kingdom." She finished.

"The answer is obvious." Setsuna said. "As you know, the Outers are more powerful than you. There are two reasons for this. One is simply that they have always been stronger. They are the first line of defence the Moon Kingdom had against an outside threat. The second is that they are older. As you finish maturing your powers will increase. There are likely times when your powers will be many times stronger than usual as your bodies adjust."

At that point Mina exited the bathroom, her dress had returned to her normal school fuku, and she looked none the worse for her little adventure. She smiled in greeting and looked somewhat shocked when both cats leapt up on to her shoulders and began to lick her cheeks.

"Oh Mina I always knew you were special!" Artemis said between that Mau version of kissing a human. "What you did today has guaranteed that every Mau in the universe will do anything within their power to help you." Luna nodded so hard Mina feared her head would fall off. The cats gently leapt off her shoulders and began to rub themselves against her legs.

Mina took a look around at the faces of her friends, and the strange actions of the cats, and proved to them all she was still the same Mina they knew and loved. Mina held her hand out in a V and said "It was a piece of fudge."

******** Ami lay back against the pillows. Their silk covered softness felt as if she were lying on a cloud. The tiny blue teddy she wore stopped even shorter than her Senshi fuku, its azure silk blended well with the royal blue sheets. He stood in the doorway to the bathroom, his towel loosely secured around his hips. She could easily envision what he looked like without its obstruction. He moved over to the bed and smiled down at her. He knelt and ran his hands from her feet to her hips. She made little sounds of enjoyment at his actions, encouraging him to be bolder with his hands.

She sat up and pulled away his towel. His manhood quickly firmed under her gaze. She reached up to touch it and he hissed with indrawn breath at her action. She smiled evilly and lowered her mouth to his manhood.

Ami awoke sweating, her heart was beating faster than it ever had before, and her eyes were filled with wildness. Very little of her emotional response was anger or disgust at the thought. Ami stood on unsteady legs and went to take a shower. Her alarm wouldn't ring for over two hours, but there was no way she would trust herself to go back to sleep after a dream like that. Besides, she really needed to change her underwear.

The next week at school was a nightmare for both Makoto and Ami. Neither of them could look at Konjou without remembering their dreams. Makoto found herself making excuses not to talk to him, or to visit his apartment when Mina when with Tenjin.

Ami on the other hand had failed in every attempt to gather a sample of Konjou's tissue. Her dreams had kept her from sleeping enough to come up with a decent plan, and when she did finally in desperation stab him with her chop stick. The stupid thing broke without even leaving a red mark on his skin. It just wasn't fair, Ami moped to herself. The Inner Senshi were all spending the night at Rei's tonight, well all except Mina, Ami mused. Ami knew she was far too late to save Mina from making any horrible mistakes with Mordaki. It was obvious even to her now that they were lovers. Ami only hoped that Mina would be upset enough to learn that he was Mordaki to be able to fight against him.

Ami had her own theories about Mina's new power, but there was almost no way to test them. What she really needed was a volunteer, someone who wouldn't mind being the other woman. Not only would it serve to drive a wedge between Mina and Mordaki, but it would also prove or disprove her theory about Mina.

Mina, Usagi and surprisingly Haruka had been shocked to find that none of the other boys would get within three metres voluntarily of either Konjou or Mordaki. Apparently a boy had been insulting Mina, and had provoked Mordaki's wrath. He was expected to recover completely, but the scarring would be atrocious. Haruka had taken Mordaki to task for using excessive force, then agreed with him that the boy had 'needed a beatdown more than almost anyone ever had' they had gone on to agree that the attempted rapists had deserved it more, and had gotten everything that had been coming to them.

The school day ended and Mina was waiting for them at the gates. Ami didn't know how she had managed to talk her parents into allowing her to skip school today, but her efforts at the spa had paid off. Mina looked far beyond beautiful. Ami wished she looked one tenth as good as Mina did normally, but she'd settle for one one hundredth of how Mina looked now. She was wearing the golden sundress and Platinum shoes Mordaki had given her. Her hair was tied back by a silver ribbon she had recently purchased to replace her 'missing' one. She wore her bracelet on her wrist. The suns rays sparkled off the stones in it, making her seem to shimmer in the light. Her makeup was perfect, very light and only accenting her own natural beauty. It took no imagination for Ami to picture people carving statues of her as the goddess of love. Ami took great pleasure in seeing Mordaki trip and fall as he watched Mina. Of course he wasn't the only one. One boy walked into the flag pole in the courtyard, and more than a few probably lost their girlfriends from the looks on their faces alone.

Mina sauntered towards the spellbound Tenjin. She barley managed to restrain a giggle at his awestruck expression. She stopped just outside of his reach and smiled at him beautifully. Her eyes twinkled with mischief as she batted her lashes at him.

"Hello stranger," she said, her voice seductive and mesmerizing. "You wouldn't happen to know where my boyfriend is would you?" she flirted playfully.

"No, but if he's stupid enough to let a girl like you out of his sight, you deserve better." He said breathlessly. "How about you dump him and come out with me?"

"I don't know, won't your girlfriend be mad at you?"

"For a vision of perfection you are, I'll take that risk. I was going to ask her to the theatre tonight, I have these tickets, but to tell you the truth, I'd rather ask you." He stepped forward and lightly took her hand. "Mina, would you do me the honour of accompanying me to the concert tonight? I've got it on the best authority that one of your favourite musicians will be performing there."

"Oh really?" she asked airily "And just who are you asking me to see perform?" she asked even though she knew quite well who it was.

"Only the greatest concert violinist in the world, Keiou Michiru, the tickets were a personal gift of hers to my cousin for a service he performed for her. It would be a terrible shame to allow them to go to waste."

"Oh I guess I'll accompany you, but If my boyfriend sees us I'll tell him you kidnapped me away from him and forced me to go on a date with you." She nearly giggled at their little game.

"If I have to kill him to keep you I will." He said softly. He raised her hand to his lips and lightly kissed her curled fingers. "Come with me my dear." He said and led her away.

"That had to be the most romantic thing I have ever seen." Usagi said with enormous tears in her eyes. "Minna why isn't Mamo-chan that romantic?"

"I have no idea," Makoto said. "But it looks like her visit to the spa did wonders for her. She looked perfect." Makoto cast a covert glance at Konjou, she knew what she had to do. She just couldn't keep avoiding him without a reason. It was time she told him she needed some space. "I'll meet up with you at the Jinja in a couple of hours Usagi-chan. I have something I need to do."

Makoto walked over to where Konjou stood shaking his head at the spectacle his oldest friend had made of himself. He noticed Makoto in front of him and smiled at her. He could tell something was wrong, she smelled worried, and sad.

"Konjou, I really need to talk to you." She said

"Ok, I'm listening Mako-chan, what do you want to talk about?"

"Not here." She said. "Lets go to your place, I need to talk to you in private."

Konjou wasn't foolish enough to believe that she wanted to come over for any reason other than to talk. She had none of her scent of arousal coming from her. In fact, the closer to the apartment they got, the greater the scent of dread she exuded. Makoto was clearly unhappy with whatever she had to tell him.

They entered the apartment and she stood rooted to the floor of the front room. Her nervousness had reached a plateau. She couldn't sit down, so she began to wander about the room, not really looking at anything in particular.

"Can I fix you something to drink Mako-chan?" He asked.

"Just a glass of water please." She replied.

Makoto noticed something new on the mantel, a pair of statuettes. She stepped closer to investigate and gasped aloud. The two statuettes were of Sailor Senshi. They were exquisitely well rendered. The first appeared to be made of sapphire, but Makoto believed it to be blue glass instead. It was of Sailor Mercury in the midst of casting her Aqua Rhapsody. The rendering was perfect. From the positioning of her fingers to the look of ecstasy on her face at the feeling of power rushing through her. Even a fool could see Ami when they looked at it. The other statuette was of her, facing forwards during the release of her Oak Evolution. It was made of something that seemed remarkable like emerald. It also was far too accurate. Whoever made them wasn't as hampered by their glamour as they should be.

"Do you like my statuettes, Mako-chan?" Konjou said as he returned. He handed her a glass of ice water, its coolness in her hand did much to clear her head.

"Yes. I was just wondering how whoever made them saw them that clearly. No one has ever really gotten a look at their faces. All the pictures I've ever seen were blurred."

"Ah yes, well its really kind of silly. You see I had this dream about my friends turning out to be the Senshi, and I made those statuettes from that. You make a beautiful Sailor Jupiter, Mako-chan." Makoto felt physically ill. Dreams, all of her troubles came down to dreams. His dreams saw more clearly than he could possibly see in the real world, while hers tormented her with things that were not, and could not be. He made a beautiful pair of statues to celebrate his, she was about to destroy her relationship with him from fear of hers.

"Konjou-san, I can't see you any more." She said softly. So softly he shouldn't have been able to hear it.

"What have I done wrong Mako-chan." He said to her.

"Its. It's not you, or anything you've done, it's me. Despite everything we've shared part of me can't accept what you mean to me."

"Did I push you into something and scare you Mako-chan?" He asked, hurt coming clearly into his voice.

"No, no not you, never you. I pushed me. Konjou, I love you. I know you don't love me in the same way, but I love you anyway. That's why I came on so strong to you. I just don't trust myself around you, and that hurts. Part of me blames you for my lack of control. I don't know how long it will take me to sort myself out, but I can't ask you to stay with me, when every time I pull away from my own fear, I see the hurt that I cause you. I just need some time to myself, and who knows, maybe someday when I get my head on straight, I'll throw myself on your mercy and beg you to take me back."

"Oh Mako-chan," he said and pulled her into a hug. Makoto's resolve not to cry lasted less than a second once she was in his arms. They stood that way for almost an hour, just holding one another as Makoto released the feelings that she had been bottling up for over a week. Finally Makoto raised her head and kissed him lightly on the lips. The action was totally unlike any kiss they had shared before. It was one of friendship.

She slipped from his arms and gave him one last look before she did the hardest thing she had ever asked herself to do. She left.

End Chapter 5