Quetan lounged in a non-corporeal way in his non-corporeal study. If he'd
had a spinney chair, he'd probably have been spinning in it for the last
half-hour. He felt decidedly unmotivated. Maybe he just needed a walk. A
corporeal one.
Quetan smiled. Maybe he should lounge more often. It gave him such good ideas.
*
The Sailor Scouts and Tuxedo Mask came out of a training session, the third that week. It had gone well enough, though some felt it could have been longer.
"I just don't see what the point of stopping is," Sailor Jupiter said. "We can go longer; we might as well do it. It builds endurance."
"And it's not like we have anything better to do," Sailor Mars added.
"Maybe you don't," Queen Serenity said, putting her hair back to rights. "Some of us are running a kingdom, in case you've forgotten."
"Oh yeah, I did forget. I forgot Serena does work now," Sailor Mars snapped. Serena's eyes flashed. "Listen Raye, if you've got a problem - "
"Hey, whoa, hey." Sailor Venus interposed herself between the two who were just inches apart, ready to go at it. "We're all tired, we're all edgy. We just need a break. Come on Raye." She pushed Raye and Lita out the door.
Serena pointedly had her back to the door as they left. "Can you believe she said that?" Serena said, whipping around to face her husband after the door had closed. "I can't believe she said that!"
"Come along Your Highnesses," Sailor mercury said, cutting off Darien's reply. "I think we all need some relaxing down time. Maybe a bath, Your Highness?"
The Queen's reply was lost as the door closed behind her. That left Luna, Artemis, Diana, and Sailor Earth. Rini shook her head to hide her surprise. I haven't seen them fight like that since, well, since never, at least from my mother's end of things.
"I apologize for that," Luna said, seeing her expression. "That's not typical behavior for either of them."
"Yeah, you'd think not having an attack in a week and a half would make everyone more relaxed, not more edgy," Artemis said.
"Maybe he's gone away," Diana suggested.
Rini sniffed. "Not likely. He's probably reorganizing himself. We've fought to a stalemate each time for the last two and a half months. Time for a different strategy."
"For us too, I think," Luna agreed. "Constant training with no plan isn't helping anyone."
"Sure would help if we knew what he was after," Artemis said. He flopped down and rolled onto his back.
Luna presented her best kitty frown. "He's difficult to predict. A typical Negeverse resident would have immediately announced what he wanted, usually the Silver Crystal, and then promptly set about stealing energy from the populace. Quetan has done neither."
King Endymion reentered the room. "Oh," he said to Sailor Earth. "You're still here."
"We were just having an abbreviated after-training meeting, Your Highness," Luna informed him. "How is the Queen?"
Endymion sat down next to Sailor Earth. "She's calmed down now somewhat." He shook his head. "I've never seen her so agitated. I'm going to talk to Sailor Mars later. She was way out of line.
"I agree." Luna flicked her tail. "We can't have such distractions during a crisis."
"So what did I miss?" Endymion asked.
"Just speculating about Quetan," Rini said. Nothing too specific."
"I always find it interesting that Quetan takes off every time our Mystery Rose-Thrower shows up to save you," Endymion said with a cocked eyebrow.
At least he doesn't make inspirational speeches, Rini thought. Not that I can say that. "Yes, interesting."
"Any thoughts?" She wasn't getting off that easy.
"What's to think? He shows up, throws a rose, and Quetan takes off, and he's gone." It's either damned attractive, or damned annoying. "I think it's time for me to go," and she stood up and headed for the door.
"Ah-ahh!" Rini dropped to her knees.
"Sailor Earth!" Endymion wrapped a comforting arm around her shoulders. "What happened?"
"I..." She tried to stand, winced, and fell again. "Uhn."
"Diana, run and get Amy," Luna said, even as Diana was already out the cat door.
Rini shook her head, trying to shrug off her pounding head, the stomachache, and her father all at the same time. She pulled herself up by the door handle. "The park..." she whispered. Rini stumbled out into the hall and started sprinting.
"Wait!" Endymion transformed and ran after her. "Have everyone follow us out to the park!" he called over his shoulder to Luna.
*
Rini ran through the city all the way to the park. She stopped to catch her breath and get her bearings. She didn't know what was wrong, just that it was in the park and that it hurt a lot.
She came to the edge of a small field that lay before a strip of trees. The narrow strip, some thirty feet wide, stretched the length of the river on either side.
Close to the tree line, Rini saw Quetan and her Mysterious Rose-Thrower. He seemed to be holding his own, but Quetan was no slacker in his attacks either.
"Earth, Lightning, Strike!" Rini spouted off a quick attack. Quetan blocked it just in time, but it gave Rini's Rose-Thrower the distraction he needed to back off and collect himself.
"Sailor Earth, this way!"
Rini dodged another of Quetan's attacks and chased her Rose-Thrower into the woods.
He grabbed her hand, "This way." They zigzagged through trees, narrowly avoiding Quetan's bolts. It had started to drizzle lightly.
Quetan bared down on them as they ran upstream. He let lose several bolts, herding them back out of the woods. As they turned, he grinned to himself and sent one large bolt. One tree down.
Rini screamed as she skidded in the mud and her Rose-Thrower hauled her out of the way of the tree. They landed with a splash in a small mud puddle.
"Maybe the woods wasn't such a great idea," he admitted. "Let's go."
Quetan spotted them trying to make a break for it and grinned again. "A second tree, a third tree, oops, that one hit the riverbed."
The blast to the riverbed exploded and rumbled the ground, tossing Rini and her Rose-Thrower into the muddy grass several meters from each other. Rini glanced up and saw her Rose-Thrower slowly getting up as well. She also saw Quetan about to send off a few more bolts. Rini rolled up and launched her own hasty attack. It missed.
Rini's Rose-Thrower had just noticed the incoming attack when Rini bowled him over. They rolled out of the way just as Quetan's attack put a fiery hole where they'd been. They continued to roll as the edges of their clothes became lightly browned.
Later Rini vaguely recall hearing the rest of the Scouts finally showing up, starting to attack, and seeing Quetan's signature flash-of-light departure out of the corner of her eye.
But now, Rini's eyes and mind were fixed on the man who lay underneath her. They were caked in mud from head to toe. She stared at his muddy face as he stared back at hers. She could feel his heavy breathing, in sync with her own. There was something...
There was something washing the mud away. She squinted at him through the water in her eyes. "Ra - " She noticed something hitting her in the head and she looked up. "Rain?"
She rolled off him and stood up to survey the damage in the park. The drizzle from before had become an all-out downpour, filling the holes in the ground from Quetan's blasts with murky water. Rini picked her way across the field to the woods. Several trees were down, a few by the roots. Topsoil was washing away. Lower lip trembling, Rini stepped into what was left of the clearing by the river. Holes everywhere, a tree lay across the water, half the bank had washed away, it was such a mess. Quetan's blast had displaced several rocks, including –
"No!" Rini screeched and angrily chucked several handfuls of mud across the river at nothing in particular.
Exhausted, she flopped to the ground. The one rock, the one shaped like a ramp and sticking perfectly out of the water, was now broken and mostly submerged. "Damn it, it isn't fair," she whispered.
Rini felt a hand on her shoulder. She stood up and he pulled her close.
"I'm sorry," he whispered, and she cried.
Quetan smiled. Maybe he should lounge more often. It gave him such good ideas.
*
The Sailor Scouts and Tuxedo Mask came out of a training session, the third that week. It had gone well enough, though some felt it could have been longer.
"I just don't see what the point of stopping is," Sailor Jupiter said. "We can go longer; we might as well do it. It builds endurance."
"And it's not like we have anything better to do," Sailor Mars added.
"Maybe you don't," Queen Serenity said, putting her hair back to rights. "Some of us are running a kingdom, in case you've forgotten."
"Oh yeah, I did forget. I forgot Serena does work now," Sailor Mars snapped. Serena's eyes flashed. "Listen Raye, if you've got a problem - "
"Hey, whoa, hey." Sailor Venus interposed herself between the two who were just inches apart, ready to go at it. "We're all tired, we're all edgy. We just need a break. Come on Raye." She pushed Raye and Lita out the door.
Serena pointedly had her back to the door as they left. "Can you believe she said that?" Serena said, whipping around to face her husband after the door had closed. "I can't believe she said that!"
"Come along Your Highnesses," Sailor mercury said, cutting off Darien's reply. "I think we all need some relaxing down time. Maybe a bath, Your Highness?"
The Queen's reply was lost as the door closed behind her. That left Luna, Artemis, Diana, and Sailor Earth. Rini shook her head to hide her surprise. I haven't seen them fight like that since, well, since never, at least from my mother's end of things.
"I apologize for that," Luna said, seeing her expression. "That's not typical behavior for either of them."
"Yeah, you'd think not having an attack in a week and a half would make everyone more relaxed, not more edgy," Artemis said.
"Maybe he's gone away," Diana suggested.
Rini sniffed. "Not likely. He's probably reorganizing himself. We've fought to a stalemate each time for the last two and a half months. Time for a different strategy."
"For us too, I think," Luna agreed. "Constant training with no plan isn't helping anyone."
"Sure would help if we knew what he was after," Artemis said. He flopped down and rolled onto his back.
Luna presented her best kitty frown. "He's difficult to predict. A typical Negeverse resident would have immediately announced what he wanted, usually the Silver Crystal, and then promptly set about stealing energy from the populace. Quetan has done neither."
King Endymion reentered the room. "Oh," he said to Sailor Earth. "You're still here."
"We were just having an abbreviated after-training meeting, Your Highness," Luna informed him. "How is the Queen?"
Endymion sat down next to Sailor Earth. "She's calmed down now somewhat." He shook his head. "I've never seen her so agitated. I'm going to talk to Sailor Mars later. She was way out of line.
"I agree." Luna flicked her tail. "We can't have such distractions during a crisis."
"So what did I miss?" Endymion asked.
"Just speculating about Quetan," Rini said. Nothing too specific."
"I always find it interesting that Quetan takes off every time our Mystery Rose-Thrower shows up to save you," Endymion said with a cocked eyebrow.
At least he doesn't make inspirational speeches, Rini thought. Not that I can say that. "Yes, interesting."
"Any thoughts?" She wasn't getting off that easy.
"What's to think? He shows up, throws a rose, and Quetan takes off, and he's gone." It's either damned attractive, or damned annoying. "I think it's time for me to go," and she stood up and headed for the door.
"Ah-ahh!" Rini dropped to her knees.
"Sailor Earth!" Endymion wrapped a comforting arm around her shoulders. "What happened?"
"I..." She tried to stand, winced, and fell again. "Uhn."
"Diana, run and get Amy," Luna said, even as Diana was already out the cat door.
Rini shook her head, trying to shrug off her pounding head, the stomachache, and her father all at the same time. She pulled herself up by the door handle. "The park..." she whispered. Rini stumbled out into the hall and started sprinting.
"Wait!" Endymion transformed and ran after her. "Have everyone follow us out to the park!" he called over his shoulder to Luna.
*
Rini ran through the city all the way to the park. She stopped to catch her breath and get her bearings. She didn't know what was wrong, just that it was in the park and that it hurt a lot.
She came to the edge of a small field that lay before a strip of trees. The narrow strip, some thirty feet wide, stretched the length of the river on either side.
Close to the tree line, Rini saw Quetan and her Mysterious Rose-Thrower. He seemed to be holding his own, but Quetan was no slacker in his attacks either.
"Earth, Lightning, Strike!" Rini spouted off a quick attack. Quetan blocked it just in time, but it gave Rini's Rose-Thrower the distraction he needed to back off and collect himself.
"Sailor Earth, this way!"
Rini dodged another of Quetan's attacks and chased her Rose-Thrower into the woods.
He grabbed her hand, "This way." They zigzagged through trees, narrowly avoiding Quetan's bolts. It had started to drizzle lightly.
Quetan bared down on them as they ran upstream. He let lose several bolts, herding them back out of the woods. As they turned, he grinned to himself and sent one large bolt. One tree down.
Rini screamed as she skidded in the mud and her Rose-Thrower hauled her out of the way of the tree. They landed with a splash in a small mud puddle.
"Maybe the woods wasn't such a great idea," he admitted. "Let's go."
Quetan spotted them trying to make a break for it and grinned again. "A second tree, a third tree, oops, that one hit the riverbed."
The blast to the riverbed exploded and rumbled the ground, tossing Rini and her Rose-Thrower into the muddy grass several meters from each other. Rini glanced up and saw her Rose-Thrower slowly getting up as well. She also saw Quetan about to send off a few more bolts. Rini rolled up and launched her own hasty attack. It missed.
Rini's Rose-Thrower had just noticed the incoming attack when Rini bowled him over. They rolled out of the way just as Quetan's attack put a fiery hole where they'd been. They continued to roll as the edges of their clothes became lightly browned.
Later Rini vaguely recall hearing the rest of the Scouts finally showing up, starting to attack, and seeing Quetan's signature flash-of-light departure out of the corner of her eye.
But now, Rini's eyes and mind were fixed on the man who lay underneath her. They were caked in mud from head to toe. She stared at his muddy face as he stared back at hers. She could feel his heavy breathing, in sync with her own. There was something...
There was something washing the mud away. She squinted at him through the water in her eyes. "Ra - " She noticed something hitting her in the head and she looked up. "Rain?"
She rolled off him and stood up to survey the damage in the park. The drizzle from before had become an all-out downpour, filling the holes in the ground from Quetan's blasts with murky water. Rini picked her way across the field to the woods. Several trees were down, a few by the roots. Topsoil was washing away. Lower lip trembling, Rini stepped into what was left of the clearing by the river. Holes everywhere, a tree lay across the water, half the bank had washed away, it was such a mess. Quetan's blast had displaced several rocks, including –
"No!" Rini screeched and angrily chucked several handfuls of mud across the river at nothing in particular.
Exhausted, she flopped to the ground. The one rock, the one shaped like a ramp and sticking perfectly out of the water, was now broken and mostly submerged. "Damn it, it isn't fair," she whispered.
Rini felt a hand on her shoulder. She stood up and he pulled her close.
"I'm sorry," he whispered, and she cried.
