10. The Sailor Senshi
A table went down with a loud crash, splinters of woods flew in the air while groans of pain and curses were filling in the room. Amidst all this chaos a young blonde woman wearing an orange and white sailor dress, sat like a serene oasis in the middle of the desert and enjoyed her lemon drink. Her blue eyes were watching the scene that was playing in front of her with some amusement. She did not move when a chair closely followed by a tankard flew at her. Both objects whizzed past her with barely an inch to spare and crashed against the floor behind her, followed by something in between a moan and a whimper.
Turning her head, the blonde looked over her shoulder at the huddled form that was hiding behind the bar. The owner of the Fine Crown was crouched in to a ball, with a mixture of fear and pain in his face. Neither woke any form of sympathy for her, his safety had been guaranteed and he was also to be compensated for all the damage done, not that he deserved the latter considering that his greed was what put him in this position to begin with.
The man moved slightly trying to crawl out through the backdoor, but the girl cleared her throat and stared pointedly at him and he obediently stilled. Satisfied that the man was not going to move, the girl turned her attention back to the tavern room and the fighting group.
There was a young woman with short blue hair dressed in a similar sailor suit, though hers was blue and white. The girl was of a shorter and slender built, with a youthful look on her face. Her delicate built was deceiving however as her assailant found out. The man, at least twice her built, tried to ram his fist into her but she quickly stepped to one side as she grabbed hold of his wrist and twisted it. Since he was already overbalanced, the girl quickly shifted her foot and swiped her assailant's feet from under him. The man went crashing down; bringing with him one of the two tables that were still left standing in the room.
Glad to see that her friend was doing fine on her own, the blonde turned her attention to another one of her friends. Dressed in a red and white sailor dress, her build was the same as the blonde except that she was as dark as the other was light. Her amethyst eyes were shining with an inner fire as she fought two brawny fighters. She moved with swiftness as she blocked their attacks and counterattacked. Where the blue-haired woman moved like a dancer, this girl moved with swift assuredness that looked both dangerous and beautiful at the same time.
There was however nothing graceful about the way the last woman in their party fought. While the other two fought at one side of the room, this one had the other half all to herself along with four attackers. Much taller than any of the other girls, she wore a green and white sailor suit and her dark curly hair in a long pony tail. Her green eyes flashed like lightning as she bashed at her opponents. Blood and teeth were flying as much as tankards and wood splinters where she fought.
Realizing that they were not going to stand a chance against her individually, the four attackers signaled between them to attack as one. The other two women who had just neutralized their opponents moved to their friends assistant but halted in their tracks when the blonde spoke up.
''No, let Jupiter handle it.''
The two gave her a startled look. ''But Venus there's four of them.'' The black haired girl pointed out.
''I'm well aware of that Mars. Why don't you and Mercury join me here for a drink while our comrade takes care of the thugs? '' Then in a lower voice, she added. ''Trust me I know what I'm doing.'' Her blue eyes were no longer amused but serious and cool as she watched Sailor Jupiter.
Recognizing their leader at work, the other two sailor senshi followed their orders and sat down on either side Venus.
The fight was a short and ugly one. Jupiter was strong, much stronger than the three of them, but even with her sailor powers enhanced, those thugs were all very strong men and despite being nearly six feet tall, they towered over her by nearly a full head. She had however one other thing in her favor and that was her speed. Moving with a lightning swiftness she used one attacker to feint off the blow of another while she moved in on the little openings that she saw with a hit and a kick. In the end though she got tired of all the playing around and yelled, ''Jupiter thunder crush!''
A big bolt of lightning struck in the middle the group of men sending them crashing in all four directions. When the light faded away from the room, the four thugs were lying unconscious on the floor.
''Well, how was that?'' Jupiter asked her friends as she dusted her gloved hands, ignoring the slight throbbing in her knuckles.
''Not bad. You could have made it in less time if you weren't playing with those last two.'' Venus accessed, tapping her fingers lightly against full lips.
''I know that you want to vent out some frustration, but was that last one really necessary?'' Mars asked and tapped lightly with her red shoes at the nearest limp form. The man was sporting a big bruise over nearly half of his face.
''You could have started a fire in this place.'' Mercury admonished lightly and tapped lightly against her mini computer, which she brought around everywhere, trying to scan for any damages.
''That's Mars' area not mine. Besides I'm far to skilled to let that happen.'' Jupiter said with a shrug.
''Still you shouldn't use your powers without necessity. Accidents can easily happen and there are too many innocent people around here.''
''Sound advice, Mercury and point taken.'' Trying to prevent an argument that might come up, Venus quickly changed the subject. ''Jupiter since this is your jurisdiction you handle the questioning.''
At the reasoning tone in Venus' voice, Jupiter quickly tapped down on the anger and annoyance that was building in her and turned back towards the room. She decided to head for the other half of the area where Mercury and Mars had been fighting in, knowing that the chances of finding someone still capable of giving answers would be there.
Her prey turned out to be the beefy bearded man that Mercury had neutralized last. The man was just slightly groggy and sporting a couple of bruises, nothing fancy as Mercury was a gentle soul who did not believe in hurting people unless it was absolutely essential.
After a few rude shakings the man opened his eyes and stared groggily up at a pair of stormy green eyes framed by a green mask.
''Alright scum. Where can I find Archer?'' The woman demanded.
The man stared up silently at her with a sneer on his face. The sneer was quickly wiped off his face when he got the air knocked out of his lungs.
''You had better give me more than the silent treatment or I will start to get nasty with you.'' The woman told him coldly.
When he still kept quiet she took hold of one hand and twisted. He cried out in pain and his eyes crossed over. From out of the corner of his eyes he saw one of the three other women shift her feet restlessly, he tried to catch her eye but his vision was blurred and he could only look in that general direction.
''Don't even try pleading for sympathy, pal. You're not getting any here. Right now you are my prisoner and you better start answering my question or I'm going to start breaking your fingers one by one and I can assure you I won't even care for finesse.'' The woman in front of him told him with a pleasant conversational voice.
When none of the other women moved or spoke to his aid, the man realized that help was not going to come from there. He tried for another tactic.
''You can't do this to me.'' The man wheezed out through clenched teeth. ''I am a citizen of Jupiter and the kingdom law says I have a right to trial.''
''Well aren't you just the lucky one then. I don't think we have been introduced yet. I'm Sailor Jupiter,'' the man's eyes widened slightly at that. ''And in case you don't know what that means let me inform you. I am the guardian of planet Jupiter and as such the only one who can outrank me here is the Princess of Jupiter. Since she is not around to tell me otherwise well that has just made me the judge, jury and executioner around here.''
At those last words any color that had been left on the man's face drained away and his eyes widened with a sickening horror. He had worked in this business long enough to read people's faces and he could see from the look in her eyes that she was dead serious about it. He was not going to get a fair trial at all. Damn it, this was not part of the deal! He had been told that even should the sailor senshi come after him they were nothing more than mere girls, too tender and softhearted to get tough on you.
''Look, lady. I'm just a messenger. There's no need for this. I'm sure we can work something out here.''
''Glad to see I didn't knock all of the common sense from your head.'' Jupiter murmured. ''Now where's Archer?''
''I don't know.''
Jupiter growled. The man quickly raised his hands in the air.
''I swear! I swear, I really don't know. But I'll tell you everything I do know and I'm sure you will be able to use it to track him down. Please, spare me.''
''Jupiter, it won't hurt to listen him out.'' A voice said from the back.
Seeing his chance, the man immediately jumped on it. He has regained enough of his vision back to locate the woman who spoke and turn to her. ''Yes, yes. I can help you'' The man spoke to the woman dressed in white and orange sailor dress, somehow sensing that she was the leader among them. He then tried to further push his luck ''But you have to promise that you'll let me go without putting me away.''
''Perhaps you do not comprehend the situation but we are the ones giving the shots around here. You aren't exactly in a position to demand anything.'' The woman told him dryly and leaning back on the bar.
''I'd rather be dead than be in prison, they say it's worse than hell. ''
''Spill out what you know then. We'll decide whether or not your information is worth your life.'' Jupiter told him curtly.
''Promise the charges will be dropped.''
''Fine, we'll ignore the little drug fest you had going on here when we came in, but now our patience is wearing thin and unless you start talking I'm going to turn Jupiter loose on you.''
With those words Jupiter tightened her grip on him. She was wearing a deadly look in her eyes and fearing for his life, the man spluttered out everything that he knew.
Archer was a man who was very suspicious of his surroundings and only two people knew where he was. One was Bear, a huge ugly looking mercenary with a violent streak, the other was Rogan, fair looking, with a very cruel streak especially when it came to hurting women. They were Archer's right and left hand men. The only time Archer would personally make an appearance was if the stakes were particularly high.
As it happened, he had accidentally listened in on a conversation between Rogan and Bear. Something big was being planned. One that would give them huge amount of money. He did not know what it was, only that it would happen in a few months and it was big enough that Archer was personally going to lead the raid.
''I don't know about Rogan, but Bear is very fond of drinking. You will be able to find him in the seediest places in the cities. He loves to fight in the Death Tournaments.''
''That's impossible. The Death Tournaments have been banned from this galaxy in over two hundred years.'' Mercury interrupted him.
''That's the official status. But word has it that it was started up again over fifty years ago by a ruler and has been live and kicking ever since.''
''Who runs the place?''
The man opened his mouth to reply. So far since they had started the interrogation he had been very helpful in giving his answers. No matter who phrased the question he quickly jumped to reply. But before he could reply to this one, Jupiter interrupted him. ''Never mind that. We'll deal with that market later on, right now we're after Archer.''
Mercury opened her mouth to say something but Mars put a hand on her arm and silently quieted her. Sensing an undercurrent the man quickly filed away this information to the back of his mind. He was sure he would be able to make use of it if he was captured again by his employers.
Clearing his throat he turned to Jupiter. She had released her hold on him but she still stood near him enough to roughen him up if he so much as dallied with his answers. ''I don't know much about the Death Tournaments, but my suggestion would for you to track down Bear. He is sure to lead you to Archer, Rogan is too slick. Bear is a bit arrogant and sometimes he blunders because he thinks himself invisible.'' The fact that it was Bear who had set him up for this fall was just a bonus for him. ''That is all I know. Can I go now?''
Jupiter studied him for a long while silently. Then she said, ''Venus?''
The woman in question shook her head indicating that she had no further questions. The man sighed in relief and prepared to leave but Jupiter took of his shoulder. ''Did we give you permission to leave?''
''But I have already answered all of your questions. You promised you'd let me go once I told you everything I knew.'' The man protested.
''We said you would not be charged with the smuggling of illegal drugs, but there is still the matter of aiding in the assassination of king Gregor and queen Magda that needs to be attended to.''
''I d.don't know what you're talking about. I had n...nothing to d...do with that!'' The man said but panic was showing in his face. Seeing that there was no mercy from the green soldier, the man turned to the others in the room and pleaded for their aid. ''You promised! You promised to release me. Are you going to go back on your word? You are the sailor senshi!'' The man shouted.
Mars and Venus looked at him with unreadable expressions, only Mercury had the grace to look away, but the man had already established that she was the weakest of the four and had the least power of saying. None spoke up to his aid.
From behind him, he heard Jupiter put on her link and ask for patrol to come. Panicked the man tried to run. Desperation lent him extra power, he managed to dislodge Jupiter but he was quickly ganged up by the other three and soon he was captured again.
Jupiter kept the struggling man on the floor. ''I can take care of things here. You guys can return, I'll join you later.'' She told her friends.
There was no protest from them.
Venus nodded her head. ''See you later then. Mars. Mercury.''
Turning without another word she left the shambles of once used to be known as a respectable tavern. Her two friends and fellow senshi flanked her on either side. They left through the back door and once Mercury had signaled that the coast was clear they quickly shimmered back to their ordinary selves.
Well, more or less ordinary selves. They looked the way they had before they had transformed and that meant Mina was wearing a short yellow dress cut off at the knees with high leather boots and a fine thick golden belt with a slim sword resting against her hips. The outfit was common for a woman of the upper class or a rich merchant's daughter. Ami on the other hand was dressed long gray dress of coarse material fit for a servant and Rei was in the green robe of a monk from Ceres.
Mina looked at her friends and they silently nodded their heads. Rei pulled up the hood of the robe to completely cover her face, with her hands hidden within the folds of her long sleeves and the loose fitting clothes, it was not easy to distinguish her sex. Without a word she stepped out to the busy street followed by Mina and with Amy taking up the rear.
With the harvest festival coming up soon the sight of a rich woman accompanied by a maid and a servant of Ceres, the Guardian Spirit of Growth was a common sight out in the city, the main reason they had chosen this disguise in the first place. People would assume that Mina was on a pilgrimage praying for a good harvest, like so many other young women.
After all, the identities of the sailor senshi were still a secret. As far as people knew, the princess of Jupiter and the ambassador of the Moon Kingdom were still in the palace preparing for the Harvest festivities. Officially Rei was still locked up in the seclusion of the Holy Shrine meditating while Ami was on a mission on Neptune with Helios.
Having walked over ten blocks and backtracked several times to make sure that they were not followed, they entered a small temple of Ceres. Hidden behind the screens of one of the three prayer rooms, Rei turned the hidden panel and opened up the door to a dark passage, silently they moved in. The moment Ami, the last of them was inside, the stone wall silently moved back into place.
There was a clicking sound as pieces of flint were knocked against each other and soon the fire that Mina had started up brightened the darkness. Lifting the torch with a grimace, Mina murmured. ''I wished they had some Lunar stones. The smell of this torch is going to linger in my hair.''
''Don't be stupid, torches don't smell that bad.'' Rei told her.
Mina sniffed. ''Easy for you to say, pyro. You spent all your days in front of that great fire of yours that the smell is permanently stuck in your hair. Your nose is probably too damaged for you to smell anything.''
''Well if you didn't spend all your money on those ridiculous things you call perfumes, maybe your nose wouldn't be so offended by ordinary smells like the rest of us mortals.'' Rei told her dryly.
''They are not ridiculous, I'll have you know that they are the made of the most exquisite flowers, the kind that my mother has in her garden.''
''Then why don't you just pluck hers and save yourself the money?''
''Because those have aesthetic value while the ones grown outside of -''
''How can the two of you be so lighthearted and joke around like this?'' Ami burst out interrupting Mina.
The three of them stopped and Mina and Rei looked at Ami with a startled look. The usual quiet Ami did not show a temper tantrum like this often.
''How can you act like nothing is wrong? Don't you realize what just happened?'' Ami demanded waving at the road behind them.
''Ami,'' Rei began gently seeing how upset her friend was. ''Mako was a bit hard but it was necessary.''
''No it wasn't. She was completely out of line back there. The methods she used.It was, well. cruel! That's not Mako at all!''
Rei sighed. ''Yes it was a bit harsh of her. But, Ames, you have to realize that when it comes to it, Mako, won't be her ordinary self for a long time, Archer, killed her parents. It has been three years, three long years without her having received any kind of justice, its only natural that she has a lot of pent up anger inside.''
''I know that, Rei. Mako was close to her parents and their death was a hard blow to her. But I never realized it would have changed her this much. She was a completely different person just then, I did not recognize her at all.'' Ami's eyes were large and worried, the aqua blueness shining with a slight fear.
Wanting to comfort her, Rei reached out an arm and put it around her friend's slender shoulders. ''We've all changed these past few years. Well, with the exception of Mina here. Nothing can change our leader's bubbling and cheerful attitude.'' Rei added with a slight smile towards their blond friend.
''Hey! I have changed. I'm a lot more serious now.'' At the look from the other two gave her, Mina pouted. ''Well slightly more.''
At that comment, Ami smiled and reached out her other arm to wrap around her friend. They did not say anything because words were not needed between them. They shared a bond that was much deeper; a bond that had been forged throughout their years of friendship. Instead they only shared a smile.
The mood was much lighter after that, but the gloom was not totally gone. They had all touched upon a subject that they all had avoided speaking of since the sailor senshis had been reunited.
Mina did not say it out aloud because she did not want to worry the others. She feared however that if Mako's change was not temporary it would most definitely become a problem and avoiding it like they had today would not make matters go away.
Today had been their first mission as a whole group ever since Queen Selenity disbanded the four of them three years ago. Part of Mina's job today was to evaluate her comrades to see how fit they were in fighting as well as cooperation. She was happy to see that despite the years, her friends were as fit as ever, actually they were better than ever. Their fighting skills had honed out and where they before had acted on as much skills as instincts they now had the ability to act by using their knowledge as well. What made Mina even happier was the fact that they were able to cooperate so well without even communicating with each other. When the fighting had started at the tavern, without being told, the three girls had immediately divided the fighters off between them, balancing each other's skills off.
From what she had seen today, Mina did not fear any problems in their future fights with enemies. The years have given them the knowledge of their strengths and weaknesses. Now all that was left was to see whether or not their friendship was still as strong, considering their changes.
Rei was right, Mako was not been the only one that has changed during the three years, they all had though Mako's change did seem more obvious. Today she fought recklessly and a slight hardness that had not been there in the gentle tomboy they had grown to love. It was as if she was trying to inflict some of the pain that she was feeling onto her opponents. Mina only hoped that given time and once Archer was captured and sentenced, the old Mako would return. All they could do at the moment was show some understanding and support as her friend.
It was also obvious that while being under Helios' tutelage sharpened Ami's analytical mind and made her a very skillful healer, the lack of social life had turned the already quiet and withdrawn girl to become even more of a loner. While a lot more quieter than she used to be Ami was also more subject to tantrums, as Mina noticed earlier. Mina knew that she would have to work on loosening Ami up a bit. Maybe once they get back to the Moon, she could introduce some guys to Ami, she already had a few in mind that might suit her shy friend quite nicely. Actually, Mina imagined she would enjoy setting the whole project up and putting it in motion. She could enlist the aid of Rei and Mako as well and it would be just like the old times, except that now they would be spying on Ami instead of Mako and it would be with glee instead of envy.
Rei was going to be a problem however, Mina was sure about that. She never found out what the incident was about a month after her friend had arrived back home. Whatever it was, Rei refused to talk about it, but for Mina to be able to have felt it all the way back at the Moon, she knew that the experience must have been traumatic. Though Rei appeared to be her old normal self although now she seemed to be more in control of her clairvoyant abilities. There was also a shadow in her eyes; a look of sadness that appeared in those violet depths whenever she thought nobody was looking. Maybe Mina could ask her aunt about that when they got back.
The celebrations for the queen's thirty fifth birthday was coming up in a few months and there were a lot of preparations that needed to be made before then. The presence of all four of them were required, there was plenty of time to set the things in motion. Plus they needed to find out about what Archer was after. Mina suspected that it had a lot to do with the ball that would be held at the Silver Palace. It was the only huge enough affair that time, that would catch the attention of a man like Archer; all of the royalties of the solar system would be there: even Earth.
Mina wondered if her wayward cousin would make an appearance. Surely enough time had passed to make her want to come home?
Well she would find out soon enough. In a month the rulers of Earth were having their thirtieth anniversary and Mina would attend as the ambassador of Moon. It would be a great opportunity for her to find out just how her cousin was doing and whether or not she had in the three years, changed like the rest of them.
A table went down with a loud crash, splinters of woods flew in the air while groans of pain and curses were filling in the room. Amidst all this chaos a young blonde woman wearing an orange and white sailor dress, sat like a serene oasis in the middle of the desert and enjoyed her lemon drink. Her blue eyes were watching the scene that was playing in front of her with some amusement. She did not move when a chair closely followed by a tankard flew at her. Both objects whizzed past her with barely an inch to spare and crashed against the floor behind her, followed by something in between a moan and a whimper.
Turning her head, the blonde looked over her shoulder at the huddled form that was hiding behind the bar. The owner of the Fine Crown was crouched in to a ball, with a mixture of fear and pain in his face. Neither woke any form of sympathy for her, his safety had been guaranteed and he was also to be compensated for all the damage done, not that he deserved the latter considering that his greed was what put him in this position to begin with.
The man moved slightly trying to crawl out through the backdoor, but the girl cleared her throat and stared pointedly at him and he obediently stilled. Satisfied that the man was not going to move, the girl turned her attention back to the tavern room and the fighting group.
There was a young woman with short blue hair dressed in a similar sailor suit, though hers was blue and white. The girl was of a shorter and slender built, with a youthful look on her face. Her delicate built was deceiving however as her assailant found out. The man, at least twice her built, tried to ram his fist into her but she quickly stepped to one side as she grabbed hold of his wrist and twisted it. Since he was already overbalanced, the girl quickly shifted her foot and swiped her assailant's feet from under him. The man went crashing down; bringing with him one of the two tables that were still left standing in the room.
Glad to see that her friend was doing fine on her own, the blonde turned her attention to another one of her friends. Dressed in a red and white sailor dress, her build was the same as the blonde except that she was as dark as the other was light. Her amethyst eyes were shining with an inner fire as she fought two brawny fighters. She moved with swiftness as she blocked their attacks and counterattacked. Where the blue-haired woman moved like a dancer, this girl moved with swift assuredness that looked both dangerous and beautiful at the same time.
There was however nothing graceful about the way the last woman in their party fought. While the other two fought at one side of the room, this one had the other half all to herself along with four attackers. Much taller than any of the other girls, she wore a green and white sailor suit and her dark curly hair in a long pony tail. Her green eyes flashed like lightning as she bashed at her opponents. Blood and teeth were flying as much as tankards and wood splinters where she fought.
Realizing that they were not going to stand a chance against her individually, the four attackers signaled between them to attack as one. The other two women who had just neutralized their opponents moved to their friends assistant but halted in their tracks when the blonde spoke up.
''No, let Jupiter handle it.''
The two gave her a startled look. ''But Venus there's four of them.'' The black haired girl pointed out.
''I'm well aware of that Mars. Why don't you and Mercury join me here for a drink while our comrade takes care of the thugs? '' Then in a lower voice, she added. ''Trust me I know what I'm doing.'' Her blue eyes were no longer amused but serious and cool as she watched Sailor Jupiter.
Recognizing their leader at work, the other two sailor senshi followed their orders and sat down on either side Venus.
The fight was a short and ugly one. Jupiter was strong, much stronger than the three of them, but even with her sailor powers enhanced, those thugs were all very strong men and despite being nearly six feet tall, they towered over her by nearly a full head. She had however one other thing in her favor and that was her speed. Moving with a lightning swiftness she used one attacker to feint off the blow of another while she moved in on the little openings that she saw with a hit and a kick. In the end though she got tired of all the playing around and yelled, ''Jupiter thunder crush!''
A big bolt of lightning struck in the middle the group of men sending them crashing in all four directions. When the light faded away from the room, the four thugs were lying unconscious on the floor.
''Well, how was that?'' Jupiter asked her friends as she dusted her gloved hands, ignoring the slight throbbing in her knuckles.
''Not bad. You could have made it in less time if you weren't playing with those last two.'' Venus accessed, tapping her fingers lightly against full lips.
''I know that you want to vent out some frustration, but was that last one really necessary?'' Mars asked and tapped lightly with her red shoes at the nearest limp form. The man was sporting a big bruise over nearly half of his face.
''You could have started a fire in this place.'' Mercury admonished lightly and tapped lightly against her mini computer, which she brought around everywhere, trying to scan for any damages.
''That's Mars' area not mine. Besides I'm far to skilled to let that happen.'' Jupiter said with a shrug.
''Still you shouldn't use your powers without necessity. Accidents can easily happen and there are too many innocent people around here.''
''Sound advice, Mercury and point taken.'' Trying to prevent an argument that might come up, Venus quickly changed the subject. ''Jupiter since this is your jurisdiction you handle the questioning.''
At the reasoning tone in Venus' voice, Jupiter quickly tapped down on the anger and annoyance that was building in her and turned back towards the room. She decided to head for the other half of the area where Mercury and Mars had been fighting in, knowing that the chances of finding someone still capable of giving answers would be there.
Her prey turned out to be the beefy bearded man that Mercury had neutralized last. The man was just slightly groggy and sporting a couple of bruises, nothing fancy as Mercury was a gentle soul who did not believe in hurting people unless it was absolutely essential.
After a few rude shakings the man opened his eyes and stared groggily up at a pair of stormy green eyes framed by a green mask.
''Alright scum. Where can I find Archer?'' The woman demanded.
The man stared up silently at her with a sneer on his face. The sneer was quickly wiped off his face when he got the air knocked out of his lungs.
''You had better give me more than the silent treatment or I will start to get nasty with you.'' The woman told him coldly.
When he still kept quiet she took hold of one hand and twisted. He cried out in pain and his eyes crossed over. From out of the corner of his eyes he saw one of the three other women shift her feet restlessly, he tried to catch her eye but his vision was blurred and he could only look in that general direction.
''Don't even try pleading for sympathy, pal. You're not getting any here. Right now you are my prisoner and you better start answering my question or I'm going to start breaking your fingers one by one and I can assure you I won't even care for finesse.'' The woman in front of him told him with a pleasant conversational voice.
When none of the other women moved or spoke to his aid, the man realized that help was not going to come from there. He tried for another tactic.
''You can't do this to me.'' The man wheezed out through clenched teeth. ''I am a citizen of Jupiter and the kingdom law says I have a right to trial.''
''Well aren't you just the lucky one then. I don't think we have been introduced yet. I'm Sailor Jupiter,'' the man's eyes widened slightly at that. ''And in case you don't know what that means let me inform you. I am the guardian of planet Jupiter and as such the only one who can outrank me here is the Princess of Jupiter. Since she is not around to tell me otherwise well that has just made me the judge, jury and executioner around here.''
At those last words any color that had been left on the man's face drained away and his eyes widened with a sickening horror. He had worked in this business long enough to read people's faces and he could see from the look in her eyes that she was dead serious about it. He was not going to get a fair trial at all. Damn it, this was not part of the deal! He had been told that even should the sailor senshi come after him they were nothing more than mere girls, too tender and softhearted to get tough on you.
''Look, lady. I'm just a messenger. There's no need for this. I'm sure we can work something out here.''
''Glad to see I didn't knock all of the common sense from your head.'' Jupiter murmured. ''Now where's Archer?''
''I don't know.''
Jupiter growled. The man quickly raised his hands in the air.
''I swear! I swear, I really don't know. But I'll tell you everything I do know and I'm sure you will be able to use it to track him down. Please, spare me.''
''Jupiter, it won't hurt to listen him out.'' A voice said from the back.
Seeing his chance, the man immediately jumped on it. He has regained enough of his vision back to locate the woman who spoke and turn to her. ''Yes, yes. I can help you'' The man spoke to the woman dressed in white and orange sailor dress, somehow sensing that she was the leader among them. He then tried to further push his luck ''But you have to promise that you'll let me go without putting me away.''
''Perhaps you do not comprehend the situation but we are the ones giving the shots around here. You aren't exactly in a position to demand anything.'' The woman told him dryly and leaning back on the bar.
''I'd rather be dead than be in prison, they say it's worse than hell. ''
''Spill out what you know then. We'll decide whether or not your information is worth your life.'' Jupiter told him curtly.
''Promise the charges will be dropped.''
''Fine, we'll ignore the little drug fest you had going on here when we came in, but now our patience is wearing thin and unless you start talking I'm going to turn Jupiter loose on you.''
With those words Jupiter tightened her grip on him. She was wearing a deadly look in her eyes and fearing for his life, the man spluttered out everything that he knew.
Archer was a man who was very suspicious of his surroundings and only two people knew where he was. One was Bear, a huge ugly looking mercenary with a violent streak, the other was Rogan, fair looking, with a very cruel streak especially when it came to hurting women. They were Archer's right and left hand men. The only time Archer would personally make an appearance was if the stakes were particularly high.
As it happened, he had accidentally listened in on a conversation between Rogan and Bear. Something big was being planned. One that would give them huge amount of money. He did not know what it was, only that it would happen in a few months and it was big enough that Archer was personally going to lead the raid.
''I don't know about Rogan, but Bear is very fond of drinking. You will be able to find him in the seediest places in the cities. He loves to fight in the Death Tournaments.''
''That's impossible. The Death Tournaments have been banned from this galaxy in over two hundred years.'' Mercury interrupted him.
''That's the official status. But word has it that it was started up again over fifty years ago by a ruler and has been live and kicking ever since.''
''Who runs the place?''
The man opened his mouth to reply. So far since they had started the interrogation he had been very helpful in giving his answers. No matter who phrased the question he quickly jumped to reply. But before he could reply to this one, Jupiter interrupted him. ''Never mind that. We'll deal with that market later on, right now we're after Archer.''
Mercury opened her mouth to say something but Mars put a hand on her arm and silently quieted her. Sensing an undercurrent the man quickly filed away this information to the back of his mind. He was sure he would be able to make use of it if he was captured again by his employers.
Clearing his throat he turned to Jupiter. She had released her hold on him but she still stood near him enough to roughen him up if he so much as dallied with his answers. ''I don't know much about the Death Tournaments, but my suggestion would for you to track down Bear. He is sure to lead you to Archer, Rogan is too slick. Bear is a bit arrogant and sometimes he blunders because he thinks himself invisible.'' The fact that it was Bear who had set him up for this fall was just a bonus for him. ''That is all I know. Can I go now?''
Jupiter studied him for a long while silently. Then she said, ''Venus?''
The woman in question shook her head indicating that she had no further questions. The man sighed in relief and prepared to leave but Jupiter took of his shoulder. ''Did we give you permission to leave?''
''But I have already answered all of your questions. You promised you'd let me go once I told you everything I knew.'' The man protested.
''We said you would not be charged with the smuggling of illegal drugs, but there is still the matter of aiding in the assassination of king Gregor and queen Magda that needs to be attended to.''
''I d.don't know what you're talking about. I had n...nothing to d...do with that!'' The man said but panic was showing in his face. Seeing that there was no mercy from the green soldier, the man turned to the others in the room and pleaded for their aid. ''You promised! You promised to release me. Are you going to go back on your word? You are the sailor senshi!'' The man shouted.
Mars and Venus looked at him with unreadable expressions, only Mercury had the grace to look away, but the man had already established that she was the weakest of the four and had the least power of saying. None spoke up to his aid.
From behind him, he heard Jupiter put on her link and ask for patrol to come. Panicked the man tried to run. Desperation lent him extra power, he managed to dislodge Jupiter but he was quickly ganged up by the other three and soon he was captured again.
Jupiter kept the struggling man on the floor. ''I can take care of things here. You guys can return, I'll join you later.'' She told her friends.
There was no protest from them.
Venus nodded her head. ''See you later then. Mars. Mercury.''
Turning without another word she left the shambles of once used to be known as a respectable tavern. Her two friends and fellow senshi flanked her on either side. They left through the back door and once Mercury had signaled that the coast was clear they quickly shimmered back to their ordinary selves.
Well, more or less ordinary selves. They looked the way they had before they had transformed and that meant Mina was wearing a short yellow dress cut off at the knees with high leather boots and a fine thick golden belt with a slim sword resting against her hips. The outfit was common for a woman of the upper class or a rich merchant's daughter. Ami on the other hand was dressed long gray dress of coarse material fit for a servant and Rei was in the green robe of a monk from Ceres.
Mina looked at her friends and they silently nodded their heads. Rei pulled up the hood of the robe to completely cover her face, with her hands hidden within the folds of her long sleeves and the loose fitting clothes, it was not easy to distinguish her sex. Without a word she stepped out to the busy street followed by Mina and with Amy taking up the rear.
With the harvest festival coming up soon the sight of a rich woman accompanied by a maid and a servant of Ceres, the Guardian Spirit of Growth was a common sight out in the city, the main reason they had chosen this disguise in the first place. People would assume that Mina was on a pilgrimage praying for a good harvest, like so many other young women.
After all, the identities of the sailor senshi were still a secret. As far as people knew, the princess of Jupiter and the ambassador of the Moon Kingdom were still in the palace preparing for the Harvest festivities. Officially Rei was still locked up in the seclusion of the Holy Shrine meditating while Ami was on a mission on Neptune with Helios.
Having walked over ten blocks and backtracked several times to make sure that they were not followed, they entered a small temple of Ceres. Hidden behind the screens of one of the three prayer rooms, Rei turned the hidden panel and opened up the door to a dark passage, silently they moved in. The moment Ami, the last of them was inside, the stone wall silently moved back into place.
There was a clicking sound as pieces of flint were knocked against each other and soon the fire that Mina had started up brightened the darkness. Lifting the torch with a grimace, Mina murmured. ''I wished they had some Lunar stones. The smell of this torch is going to linger in my hair.''
''Don't be stupid, torches don't smell that bad.'' Rei told her.
Mina sniffed. ''Easy for you to say, pyro. You spent all your days in front of that great fire of yours that the smell is permanently stuck in your hair. Your nose is probably too damaged for you to smell anything.''
''Well if you didn't spend all your money on those ridiculous things you call perfumes, maybe your nose wouldn't be so offended by ordinary smells like the rest of us mortals.'' Rei told her dryly.
''They are not ridiculous, I'll have you know that they are the made of the most exquisite flowers, the kind that my mother has in her garden.''
''Then why don't you just pluck hers and save yourself the money?''
''Because those have aesthetic value while the ones grown outside of -''
''How can the two of you be so lighthearted and joke around like this?'' Ami burst out interrupting Mina.
The three of them stopped and Mina and Rei looked at Ami with a startled look. The usual quiet Ami did not show a temper tantrum like this often.
''How can you act like nothing is wrong? Don't you realize what just happened?'' Ami demanded waving at the road behind them.
''Ami,'' Rei began gently seeing how upset her friend was. ''Mako was a bit hard but it was necessary.''
''No it wasn't. She was completely out of line back there. The methods she used.It was, well. cruel! That's not Mako at all!''
Rei sighed. ''Yes it was a bit harsh of her. But, Ames, you have to realize that when it comes to it, Mako, won't be her ordinary self for a long time, Archer, killed her parents. It has been three years, three long years without her having received any kind of justice, its only natural that she has a lot of pent up anger inside.''
''I know that, Rei. Mako was close to her parents and their death was a hard blow to her. But I never realized it would have changed her this much. She was a completely different person just then, I did not recognize her at all.'' Ami's eyes were large and worried, the aqua blueness shining with a slight fear.
Wanting to comfort her, Rei reached out an arm and put it around her friend's slender shoulders. ''We've all changed these past few years. Well, with the exception of Mina here. Nothing can change our leader's bubbling and cheerful attitude.'' Rei added with a slight smile towards their blond friend.
''Hey! I have changed. I'm a lot more serious now.'' At the look from the other two gave her, Mina pouted. ''Well slightly more.''
At that comment, Ami smiled and reached out her other arm to wrap around her friend. They did not say anything because words were not needed between them. They shared a bond that was much deeper; a bond that had been forged throughout their years of friendship. Instead they only shared a smile.
The mood was much lighter after that, but the gloom was not totally gone. They had all touched upon a subject that they all had avoided speaking of since the sailor senshis had been reunited.
Mina did not say it out aloud because she did not want to worry the others. She feared however that if Mako's change was not temporary it would most definitely become a problem and avoiding it like they had today would not make matters go away.
Today had been their first mission as a whole group ever since Queen Selenity disbanded the four of them three years ago. Part of Mina's job today was to evaluate her comrades to see how fit they were in fighting as well as cooperation. She was happy to see that despite the years, her friends were as fit as ever, actually they were better than ever. Their fighting skills had honed out and where they before had acted on as much skills as instincts they now had the ability to act by using their knowledge as well. What made Mina even happier was the fact that they were able to cooperate so well without even communicating with each other. When the fighting had started at the tavern, without being told, the three girls had immediately divided the fighters off between them, balancing each other's skills off.
From what she had seen today, Mina did not fear any problems in their future fights with enemies. The years have given them the knowledge of their strengths and weaknesses. Now all that was left was to see whether or not their friendship was still as strong, considering their changes.
Rei was right, Mako was not been the only one that has changed during the three years, they all had though Mako's change did seem more obvious. Today she fought recklessly and a slight hardness that had not been there in the gentle tomboy they had grown to love. It was as if she was trying to inflict some of the pain that she was feeling onto her opponents. Mina only hoped that given time and once Archer was captured and sentenced, the old Mako would return. All they could do at the moment was show some understanding and support as her friend.
It was also obvious that while being under Helios' tutelage sharpened Ami's analytical mind and made her a very skillful healer, the lack of social life had turned the already quiet and withdrawn girl to become even more of a loner. While a lot more quieter than she used to be Ami was also more subject to tantrums, as Mina noticed earlier. Mina knew that she would have to work on loosening Ami up a bit. Maybe once they get back to the Moon, she could introduce some guys to Ami, she already had a few in mind that might suit her shy friend quite nicely. Actually, Mina imagined she would enjoy setting the whole project up and putting it in motion. She could enlist the aid of Rei and Mako as well and it would be just like the old times, except that now they would be spying on Ami instead of Mako and it would be with glee instead of envy.
Rei was going to be a problem however, Mina was sure about that. She never found out what the incident was about a month after her friend had arrived back home. Whatever it was, Rei refused to talk about it, but for Mina to be able to have felt it all the way back at the Moon, she knew that the experience must have been traumatic. Though Rei appeared to be her old normal self although now she seemed to be more in control of her clairvoyant abilities. There was also a shadow in her eyes; a look of sadness that appeared in those violet depths whenever she thought nobody was looking. Maybe Mina could ask her aunt about that when they got back.
The celebrations for the queen's thirty fifth birthday was coming up in a few months and there were a lot of preparations that needed to be made before then. The presence of all four of them were required, there was plenty of time to set the things in motion. Plus they needed to find out about what Archer was after. Mina suspected that it had a lot to do with the ball that would be held at the Silver Palace. It was the only huge enough affair that time, that would catch the attention of a man like Archer; all of the royalties of the solar system would be there: even Earth.
Mina wondered if her wayward cousin would make an appearance. Surely enough time had passed to make her want to come home?
Well she would find out soon enough. In a month the rulers of Earth were having their thirtieth anniversary and Mina would attend as the ambassador of Moon. It would be a great opportunity for her to find out just how her cousin was doing and whether or not she had in the three years, changed like the rest of them.
