Author's Notes: Okay, Here I am again. Still, I hope somebody out there's still reading this story. Anyway, Here's the next chapter. Enjoy.

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Chapter 24: Questions Answered...

~Rooftop~

"So." Toramaru says, without turning around, "What is it you wish to speak to me about?"

"... your memories of the past are alot better than our's." Rei says, "I wanna know... Who was I?"

"Can you not just forget the past?" questions Toramaru.

"Please Shawn!" Rei responds, "I-I need to know what I am, what I'm responsible for. And... What I might be capable of."

"I see. Well then." Toramaru says, turning to the two girls, "I shall tell you..." he holds out his right arm and the Tiger Gauntlet materializes. He then transforms: leathery bat-like wings erupt from his back, his size increases(2-4 inches in height and arm, leg, and chest muscles are larger), shoulders broaden, black body-armor appears, and his head changes in appearance to a tiger-like look(looks something like my namesake(Armor King) in Tekken, 'cept has wings and only one gauntlet). He roars then transforms his head back to normal, "After I test the Ifrit Gauntlets, and your ability to wield them!!"

He dashes at Rei, swinging a right punch which not only Rei dodges, but that Serena also has to avoid. The punch hits the concrete, putting a hole in it and tearing up the area surrouding his fist. Diablos(his demon-name) pulls his hand back out of the concrete and runs in Rei's direction again, unleashing a flurry of attacks, punches and kicks... all of which Rei evades, except the final right punch which knocks her back against a rooftop cooling-unit.

"Rei!" Serena calls worriedly.

Rei moves to one side as Diablos' right foot kicks through the cooling-unit where she was. Diablos pulls his foot out of the unit, "You are avoiding me." he says, then places his foot down, "Are you unwilling to fight me?" he can't see Rei, and neither can Serena.

"I don't wanna fight a friend!" Rei's voice says from wherever she is, "I just asked you a question."

"To which, if you wish to know the answer..." Diablos says, looking around, "You must fight me."

"... alright." Rei's voice says, a bit reluctantly, "Hya!"

Diablos turns and meets Mars' approaching right gauntleted fist with his own, resulting in an explosive collision of fiery energies. Serena can only look on as neither gains an advantage. (Rei transformed silently, just before attempting her attack on Diablos).

"No good, Rei!" Diablos states, "You are holding back!" "You must use all of your power to defeat your enemy!!"

"But..." Mars says, "You're not a real enemy."

"I see..." Diablos says, closing his eyes and moving his fist to the left. He steps in the same direction as he moved his fist and allows Mars' own momentum to cause her to fall forward. As she does, he lifts his arms and thrusts his right elbow into her back, knocking her onto the concrete. As she rolls onto her back, the tip of Ka'en's blade is held to her throat.

"Let us just say... for now, I am." he says, pulling his sword back, gripping the handle with his left hand, "If you are unwilling to use all of your power then, you will never defeat Hariel. And, Thus... you may as well DIE HERE!!" he thrusts his sword at Mars' neck.

"Shawn! Please don't!" Serena pleads, as Diablos' sword draws closer to Mars, "No!" "REEEIII!!" she screams.

Mars quickly uses her right hand, pressing her palm against the flat side of the sword, to push the blade to her left. She as well moves her head to the right, allowing the blade to be thrust into the concrete beside her head, and reaches up with her left hand. She grasps Diablos' left forearm and brings up her legs, wrapping them around his arm. Mars uses her legs to force him onto the ground, on his back, then she hits him in the face with a right backhand. Mars releases Diablos' arm and backrolls onto her hands, pushing off in a half-backflip-like manuever and lands on her feet. Diablos spins slightly, placing his feet toward Mars, and pulls his legs up then flips up to his feet.

"You want me to use my power? Fine!" Mars says, "Mars Celestial Fire, Surround!"

Several fiery rings fly from Mars' hands and toward Diablos, however, using his ninja speed agility and reflexes, he evades each and every one of them... a couple barely graze him. He lands with his left toward Mars, his right knee on the ground.

Diablos looks up at Mars, grins and says, "Better. Try this!" he draws his right arm up and extends two blades from the gauntlet. He swings his arm forward, scraping the concrete with the blades slowly and charging them with energy, "Tiger Claws Energy Blades!"

Upon completing his motion, almost identical to an uppercut motion, the energy is released in two blade-like waves which fly toward the ravenhaired girl. Mars nimbly evades the quickly-advancing waves of energy. She looks back to where Diablos is standing and brings her hands up infront of her, all of her fingers except index interlocked. A small spark of fire ignites at the tips of her index fingers, which are touching together.

"Mars Fire Ignite!!"

A large fireball erupts from Mars' fingertips and advances toward Diablos. As the fireball nears Diablos, he abruptly spreads his wings and, with a single flap, flies up out of its path. Mars and Serena look up at the half-demon who, using slow and powerful flaps, is staying aloft in the air.

"Still, You refuse to fight me to the fullest extent of your powers..." Diablos says, folding his arms, "Where is it?" he questions, "Where is the power that killed Behemoth?" "And, Why do you even refuse to use your full power as Sailor Mars?" he reangles his body toward Mars and, with a powerful flap, dives in her direction.

Mars puts up her arms in a defensive posture as Diablos nears her, however, he disappears. He reappears behind her, still angled toward her, and springs off a cooling-unit, striking her back with a left shoulder-tackle. The attack knocks Rei several meters and facedown onto the concrete, her senshi uniform changing back to her normal clothes.

"Rei!" Serena calls, as she runs over to the priestess and kneels down beside her.

"Will you never learn?" Diablos asks, landing, "That is the same mistake you made whilst you fought Catsy!" he rests his wings behind him, "Very well, I have seen enough." he says, "You will not fight, because of the dream."

"Huh!?" Rei responds, surprised that he knows, as she gets up with a little help from Serena.

"That dream is a manifestation of the guilt you still harbor, even though you know not why..." Diablos says, "I shall, thus, tell you why. As well, I shall reveal the reason for those scars, which appear at times and then vanish as if they were never there." he detransforms back to Toramaru and walks back to the edge of the roof, his back to the two girls.

"As you know, the senshi have lived two lives." Toramaru begins, "However, The two of you, like myself, have lived three." "Over four thousand years ago... there was a demon, born from the flames of a supernova and possessing the embodiment of the fire-devil Ifrit's spirit, the Ifrit Gauntlets. She was Veran, the heir to the throne of Oblivion. Her only equal was an angel named Serenity, from whom the Serenity-bloodline of the moon derived their name, who was as well one of the most powerful angels of Providence." he continues, "The two crossed swords many times during the war between Oblivion and Providence, which still rages... However, They would eventually fall in love... such love was deemed forbidden by the elders of both races, as well as the Counsel of Eternals, which govern all living things as well as write and re-write fate as they see fit."

"Are you saying...?" Rei questions, her eyes widening. Serena's eyes also widen.

"Yes. The two of you were... Veran and Serenity, who's love defied the fate written by the Counsel of Eternals as well as their rule over the Universe." Toramaru replies, "You see... Most all beings believe in fate of some sort, and that it is inescapeable. So, Not only did love between a demon and an angel threaten a possible end to the war that the Eternals so enjoyed watching but, by defying the Eternals' 'fate', they may have prompted others to realize they too could forge their own futures."

"So what?" Rei says, unconcerned, "That doesn't answer the important part of my question!"

"Of course... You wish to know the reason for the dream, and the scars. What Veran was responsible for." Toramaru responds, breathing out a puff of air, "Very well, though you will not like what you hear." he looks up at the sky, then out across the city rooftops, "First of all, The dream is not a dream, it is a memory belonging to Veran. I, myself, witnessed the scene... Veran standing there surrounded by corpses litting the ground, her face hands and blade stained with blood, and a blazing fire around the entire area." Rei listens, shocked, as he explains in detail the dream that has scared her so much, "She then, went on to eliminate the entire race which inhabited that planet..."

"!?" Rei gasps in shock.

"As for the scars, they were Veran's punishment by the demons for being in love with an angel." Toramaru says.

"A-are you saying, I'm responsible for the... the extinction of an entire planet!?" questions Rei, almost scared now.

Toramaru shakes his head, "No, Veran was." he says, "She... no longer exists. However, You do still possess most of her power, albeit innate. Should you have tapped into that power here, I would have fallen."

"It's hard to imagine such power existing in me." Rei says, looking at her hands which are trembling slightly.

"Wow!" Serena exclaims, "With that kinda power, we'll beat Hariel for sure!"

"No!"

"Why not, Rei?" asks Serena, a bit confused.

"Didn't you hear him, Serena?" Rei replies, "That power destroyed life on an entire planet! It's an evil power that kills! And... I never wanna use it!!"

"Yeah but, That was a long time ago." Serena says, "You can't blame yourself for what Veran did. You--"

"No!!"

"Listen to her, Rei. Power is neither evil nor good yet, it can be used for either." Toramaru inserts, "You must release the guilt you harbor from Veran's past. Or, It will surely kill you both."

Having had most of her questions answered, Rei starts to leave with Serena but, Rei stops and asks, "Are you the 'assassin' we heard about on the news?"

"Indeed."

"But why!?" Rei responds, angrily, "I should've--"

"No. Though I know you would have preferred avenging yourself, I must take responsibility... It was my fault."

"How d'you figure 'that'?" questions Rei, aggitated.

"They were my students and, if I had been here, what transpired would never have taken place." Toramaru replies, raising his right hand to look at it, "Besides, Your hands are as yet not stained with human blood as mine are. As long as your hands remain clean, your heart remains pure. True power lies within the heart, remember that."

~Makoto's House~

Everyone's gathered in the guest-room and Chrystya is now sitting infront of a computer(amazing that she can use a computer, even blind, huh?). "Okay." Chrystya says, hitting several keys, "Here's the layout of the device. It basically works like a miniature black-hole generator, ripping a hole in the space-time continua and creating a wormhole which can then be connected to any area via another key-sequence." the others are completely confused, "So--"

"Chrystya." Ami interrupts, "Honey, You're starting to sound like a computer."

"Oh." Chrystya responds, then giggles slightly, "Sorry bout that." "Anyway," she continues, "This is what I was saying......"

~Rooftop~

"By the way." Serena says, "Why haven't you ever told us your last name?"

"To do so would reveal the identity of my sect." Toramaru replies, "And, I can not do that."

"Doesn't really matter, anyway." Rei says, almost absently, "'I' already know." "... Gouma Toramaru!"

"How did you discover?" Toramaru asks, "The shuriken, correct?"

Rei nods, "Yep."

"Your grandfather taught you well." Toramaru says, breathing out a puff of air, "You are correct. I am the last surviving member of the Gouma Shinobi-ryu."

"Gouma shinobi-ryu?" Rei responds, "So, You 'are' the legendary assassin!"

"A legend, am I?" Toramaru says, "Heh! A legend is just that, a legend. It is a story... someone tells it, someone else remembers, everybody passes it on. A story that shall one day be forgotten, however, 'heroes' are never forgotten. A legend does not make a hero, which is what the two of you, and the other senshi, are."

"What'ever' that means!" Rei says, confused, "Well, we gotta get goin. See ya tomorrow, then." Toramaru nods.

~Makoto's House/Next Day~

"Hey Ami." Mako says, knocking on the guest-room door, "You ready? The others are probably waitin already."

"Okay Mako." Ami responds, "Be out in a few minutes."

Makoto walks away from the guest-room, "I wonder how those two made love last night, if Chrystya's blind?" she wonders out loud, though not very loud.

"Through touch, and memories." she hears Shinya's voice say.

Makoto looks to see Shinya standing in the doorway of the bedroom she's been in, bracing on her left hand against the side of the doorway. Mako walks over to her and says, "You shouldn't be outta bed!"

"Bah!" Shinya responds, waving her right hand once, "You worry too much. Anyway, Take this with ya." she pulls out and pitches Mako a small sphere.

Makoto catches it and looks at it, "Your jewel? Why?" she asks, shifting her gaze back to the other girl.

"That ain't just a jewel, it's a 'spirit'." Shinya explains, "It holds the secret of the Celestial Senshi."

"'Spirit'? 'Secret'?" Mako questions, confused, "What's it do?"

"It's what allows the Celestial Senshi to transform into our Astral Armor." Shinya replies, "Each one possesses the soul of an ancient mystical beast. In this case, a Minotaur."

"I shouldn't take this!"

"Trust me, You may need it. Besides, I'm sure Chrystya'll probably send her's with Ami." "I figure you guys're gonna need all the power you'n get."

"But--"

"No buts." Shinya interrupts, "Think of it this way: Since I can't go with you, if you use that, my spirit will be."

Mako nods finally.

~Guest Room~

Just after Makoto left... Ami's finished dressing and looks down at the sleeping Chrystya. She smiles and walks to the door. Before she opens it, though...

"Ami." she hears Chrystya say and turns to see Chrystya sitting up in the bed, her head tilted downward, "What is it?" asks Ami.

"I want you to take this with you." Chrystya replies, holding out her open right hand.

Ami walks over to the bed, and Chrystya's outstretched hand, "But, This is--"

Chrystya explains to her about the 'spirits' like Shinya did to Makoto, except that the spirit of an ice-sprite inhabits her jewel. Then, She says, "If you need my help, just use that and I'll be with you... even if only in spirit."

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To Be Continued...

Ramblings: Well, What do you all think? Hope someone out there's still interested in this fic. I also hope you all could follow the whole space-time continua, wormhole, blackhole talk. And, in case you're wondering... Veran is Raven, respelled. And, I think Serenity is self-explanatory. Anyway, There are still several chapters left. So, Tune in next chapter, okay.