Chp 10 - The Blood of Angels

Heavy breathing. Who is breathing so noisily. Its me. I'm choking on air. Where am I? What is this place? Who are you?

"Here little one, drink this" said the old man with wrinkled skin across his forehead. He had hunched down and offered the ragged girl a bowl of water.

"This place...its familiar."

"Of course it is. You were born here."

"Yes, I remember. This is home" she said dizzily as she finished drinking the water which poured down her shirt more than it did down her throat. The room was spinning and made her feel like she was on a never ending roller coaster. She hated those. She looked around the sparsely furnished room. All she could remember was being attacked from behind and waking up here. A figure in the corner of the room caught her eye. A child wrapped in a blanket was huddled in the corner behind some sacks of grain. She made a move to get up and hissed as the pain shot through her. Her assailant had been strong and seemed to know that she favoured her left side. Unable to move, she motioned to the old man to bring the child closer. The wrinkled fool reminded her of her grandfather, the only difference being that this one seemed to be at her beck and call. He nodded and half-carried half dragged the dirty child up to her feet. The little girl looked at her with large teary eyes. They were a startling gray, not murky or clear but ethereal in appearance nonetheless. The child wore a look of detachment, almost aloofness to her surroundings.

"Little girl, what are you doing in this place? Did these people do something to you? You can tell me. I won't hurt you" said the dark haired woman smiling as she remembered being a child afraid of strangers once.

"You're the one" said the girl in a clear voice. Rei pulled back, startled. "The prophecy shall live. You're going to make it come true. I'm so happy" The girl's face lit up and she smiled. "I knew you'd come one day. I knew the legends were true. Even when no one believed, I trusted you"

"What are you saying?" asked Rei sharply.

"The one who will betray an entire world. The soul that has fallen from grace shall bring the end of eternity. The one whose hands shall be stained with the blood of angels."

"Look little girl you're not making any sense. Now you tell me what this is all about or I swear to God I'll give you a sound thrashing" snapped Rei, terrified yet angry. She had grabbed the girl's shoulders and had been shaking her. Suddenly, Rei's hands passed through something like sand. The girl disappeared all of a sudden leaving behind a heap of dust. Rei stooped lower and put her fingers into the small pile. She brought them to her nose and sniffed.

"Ashes" she whispered hoarsely before passing out. The old man turned around, hands shaking.

"The dead will live and the living shall die" he quoted. "Its becoming real, all of it"


Jupiter tapped her foot impatiently as she waited for the communication from Mercury to come through. All messages were being sent personally to avoid tampering of information. The attack against Jupiter had been nipped in the bud thanks to Mercury's sound wave that deafened all the youma's within striking range. Now they only had to secure the perimeter and the rest was up to the others. The wind picked up and a second later a figure stood in the docking area.

"Am..I mean Mercury" corrected Jupiter on noticing that she still had three officers accompanying her. "What are you doing here?"

"Delivering a message of course" smiled the blue haired woman while hugging the taller form that remained gaping at her. "Perhaps we should discuss it somewhere more appropriate"

"Of course. Lt. Plask please inform the registry that the messenger has arrived. Gyuon report to General Han, he needs as many people as he can bully for guard duty. Halia organize a search-and- destroy for any neighbouring enemy lookouts. Dismissed" commanded Jupiter as she led Mercury into her quarters and shut the door firmly behind them. She sat on her bed and looked up at Mercury, "Care to explain yourself?"

"Neptune was attacked. They succeeded in destroying them but Neptune's brother is nowhere to be found. Last known position was in the orbit of Uranus. He was manning the false signal that they sent out. Basically he was making sure the enemy got it. The station blew up shortly after Uranian army took control of the enemy troops. No one knows what happened to him. Michiru is devastated."

"This is horrible. However you could have told me this in a personal communication, you didn't have to come all the way here. I mean, with the baby and all"

"I missed you"

"Oh"

"You worry about the baby more than you do about me" said Mercury pouting slightly. Jupiter's eyes grew gentle and she looked at the other woman's slightly swollen belly.

"I do but so do you. I guess we're a couple of old fools"

"But its glorious to be a fool when I'm with you"

"Same here. I can be as much of an idiot I want and you let me off with only a night on the couch. Now, what are you here for besides proving the well-known fact that we're both fools?"

"Ah, the ever observant Makoto. Yes, I'm here to bully you into coming home. Don't give me any of the 'I have to guard the perimeter' nonsense. I've countered it already. Ojus, my resident genius and prodigy has made sure nothing can get past the perimeter without being blown to smithereens first. He's very good at what he does you know."

"Should I be jealous?" asked makoto smiling, knowing Mercury would have her way, as she always did.

"No, you should come home." whispered Mercury, reaching for the lights. A few seconds later the room was engulfed in darkness. Lt. Plask came by to announce that he had given the message to the registry but left as soon as he heard the sounds emanating from the room. It was going to be a long night for him.


Thessaly, Greece

"You let them get away!" yelled Sierra as she grabbed Medea's collar. The emblem of an angel sewn in pure white with blood-spotted feathers was still visible close to Sierra's hand as she yanked the other woman closer.

"I didn't let them get away. They got past my guard. I'm sorry" apologized Medea, a little angry at herself for slipping up.

"Don't give me that. You've been sabotaging this since the beginning. I was a fool to trust to"

"You trust me because you can trust no other" said Medea grimacing. She moved from Sierra's grasp and crossed to the other side of the room. "Its no big deal. Pluto and Venus can't harm us now. We have the trump card."

"Yes we do, don't we? It's good to have her back. It almost feels like the good old days"

"Yeah...almost" whispered Medea.


Crystal Tokyo

"Pluto! Venus! What happened to you?" exclaimed as she witnessed the beaten state of her senshi.

"Neo-Queen Serenity, there is no time to explain. We must leave for Tokyo immediately. You must see Sailor Moon. It is time that the young ones learn about the past" said Pluto wincing as she felt blood drip down her thigh. Venus stood leaning most of her weight on Pluto. They had escaped through her sheer genius. Who knew that red bow would come in handy to climb out of a place that dampened senshi power.

"No Pluto. I can't. I can't do that to Ma..I mean Rei. That's one thing I have kept from her for all these centuries. You cannot expect me to change my ways now."

"Please Your highness. Do not repeat you mother's mistakes" said Pluto as she looked up into Serenity's eyes in a silent plea.

"I don't know what the big secret is but a secret kept from the one you love can never be a good thing" encouraged Venus.

"Alright. Prepare the convoys. We leave in two days. Secure the perimeter. Put all detection systems online. Spread Pluto's resonance scan at maximum so that we can get back here in time if an enemy decides to invade. All army personnel are to remain on alert. The news of the senshi's departure is to be highly classified. The King shall be recalled from his mission on Earth to hold down the fort here." commanded Serenity slipping into the role that she had played for hundreds of years. As the court adjourned to fulfill her orders, she sat on her throne and looked at and the empty red chair on one side of the room. It's velvet seat still had an indent from the last three day conference that they had held in the room. She remembered Mars, her unwashed hair, her sleep-deprived eyes, her rumpled clothes, they excited her but at that time she chalked it down to her strung nerves. Now Queen Serenity was leaving Crystal Tokyo for the first time in the history of the Moon Kingdom and all to rescue a woman who now despised her. Endymion was right - she had no common sense.


Hino Rei's apartment

"Rei?" called Usagi as she opened the door to let the soaked woman inside. She wore a cloak Usagi did not remember seeing before but she forgot about that when she saw the other woman shaking. "Rei! you'll catch your death. Get out of those clothes this minute." The figure chuckled and replied in a husky voice that was unmistakably that of Rei

"I bet that's what you say to all the girls" she said grinning. Usagi turned beet red and looked away as Mars changed into Rei's night shirt.

"Aw, are you shy Usako? You've seen me more naked than this" said Mars wrapping her arms around Usagi's back and clasping her hands at the front. She kissed the blonde's neck and whispered into her ear, "I bet you want to see me naked right now"

"Rei" croaked Usagi unable to concentrate with Mars' hand caressing her hip. "Somethig...is...wrong" she breathed and Mars' hand moved higher along her side. Rei felt different somehow but it only excited Usagi more. "Its like...you've..." she groaned unable to continue any longer. She gave up and turned around trying to look into Rei's eyes to convey her love but Mars was already busy fumbling with Usagi's clothing.

Two Hours Later :

Usagi reached to shut the alarm clock and realized that it wasn't ringing. Right. It was Saturday. Unable to sleep she stretched and leaned over to plant a kiss on Rei's forehead. The other woman was sleeping on her side , legs entwined with Usagi's. As the blonde reached for her discarded shirt near Rei's arm she noticed something shining near the woman's neck. With an infinite curiosity to know everything about Rei she slipped the necklace out of the woman's neck and opened the locket. It contained a picture of a smiling Rei with the symbol of Mars glowing on her forehead. It would have been a heartwarming photograph but on seeing it Usagi dropped it to the floor. She untangled herself from Rei and looked at her with horror. Running to the bathroom she slammed the door behind her. After securing the latch she slumped down against the door and stared at the wall in shock.

"Its Mars. In the picture. She had wings. They were covered in blood. She was smiling. She looked happy. She looked mad. That's not Rei. Its Mars. Mars has killed people. That was blood. Not from youma. That was red blood. Human blood."

Before she could think of anything else she leaned against the toilet and threw up.


aaaaah wondering what the angel bit is arnt you...well u'll see.