Author's Note:

This is a sequel to Angelic Embrace. I thought about doing it, but I didn't until someone told me they thought a sequel was possible. You will really want to read the first one to find out what's going on.

As we all know the names of the Senshi, there's no need to go there, except to say that I use the Japanese names.

For a review, I'll list the names of the Shitennou:

Keagan Kris MacNeal (Kunzite)

Nick Michael Canter (Nephrite)

Jace Daniel Taencer (Jadeite)

Zale James Indiano (Zoisite)

You can contact me at Guardian4@cox.net.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Last Journey

Chapter 11: Cover of Darkness

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Deep in the darkness of her fears, she worried. It ate away at her until she could barely sleep at night. Nothing could console her; nothing could make the anxiety go away. Down in her heart, she knew what it was that she feared the most:

Serenity and Endymion.

As little time as she had known the man, she knew that Endymion was as dear to her as Serenity. And she feared them leaving her the most. What would happen if they were somehow gone, taken from her? Taken from Chibiusa? Even though she was the godmother, how could she explain to the child that her failure had resulted in the loss of her parents? What would Serenity's parents say to her when, after all she had done to bring their daughter back, she lost her permanently without a single hope of seeing her again?

Makoto rang the doorbell to the Tsukino home, waiting for Serenity's parents to answer. Serenity's father had become much the same to her over the past year and a half and it was very hard to reconcile the thought of him turning from her because she failed.

"Makoto, dear. What are you doing here?"

She looked up at Ikuko's surprised face and asked somberly, "May I come in. I need to talk to you all."

Alerted by her grim tone, the older woman allowed her to pass and quickly gathered up her family. "What is it, Makoto?" prompted her husband, Kenji.

"We've been trying to keep this under wraps, but you deserve to know. Lately there has been some disturbing news concerning Crystal Tokyo and Serenity and Endymion. There have been two assassination attempts when we were at the World Council. We've dealt with the assassins and their…guild," she assured their worried looks, "but what has us even more worried is that now we are on their council. Apparently it was not on our own merits that got us on there." She related what they had learned and Setsuna's thoughts.

"So, I wanted to let you know where Crystal Tokyo is standing and what threatens it to fall."

There was silence settling around her as her voice faded away into a memory. Ikuko's eyes were filling up with tears at the thought of losing her daughter, like Makoto knew it would happen. Shingo was almost desperate in his appearance, trying to figure out a way to help. Kenji…Kenji's eyes stared straight into hers.

"But as long as you're there, nothing can happen to our daughter, can it?"

She hesitated every so slightly. "As long as we don't fail…no, nothing can happen to your daughter."

"And if you fail?"

"Then you have my permission to take your shotgun and shoot me."

The three of them blinked at the deadly serious tone she used. "Why would we shoot you?" asked Ikuko faintly.

Her frustration boiled up to the top and she yelled, "Because if Serenity and Endymion die, then I don't wanna live! If they die, then I have nothing to live for. I lost them before I even knew I had them…and that was painful enough! I don't want to lose them, knowing I had them."

"You're not going to fail, Makoto-san," Shingo told her sincerely. "I know you'll protect my sister and her husband and that nothing bad will happen while you're there."

"How do you know? What do you know? I failed in the past, I failed in the present…How do you know I won't fail in the future?"

"Because I trust you."

The Soldier of Protection couldn't find anything to say after that.

~~~~~~~~~~

"Mako-chan, where are you? We got a lead."

Her ears immediately picked up on Haruka's voice and she snatched out her communicator turned cellphone while maneuvering her car amidst heavy traffic. "What lead?"

"Where are you?"

"On the freeway, heading back toward you. I visited Usagi's parents and let them know what was going on. What lead?"

"Rei got a line in the fire about a major conflict coming up concerning this white-haired gentleman," And the tall woman's voice filled with scorn on the last word. "Apparently according to her prediction and Michiru's mirror, he's going to meet with the US President tomorrow afternoon, in a surprise visit. Minako's plan is for the Outers to be there with Setsuna, so she can see if this is Demando, of the Dark Moon. But it's basically a given that this man is supernatural and has otherworldly powers like us, so even if he isn't, our work isn't finished quite yet."

"Only the Outers? Why only you?"

"Because Keagan and Minako aren't going to take any chances and we all agree that while we could be there, something could happen here. It is the same reason that the Outers stayed in Crystal Tokyo while you and the Shitennou went to that World Council thing."

"Fine," she snapped and honked angrily as someone cut her off. "I'll be at the palace in five."

"Makoto," she said severely over the phone, "be careful on that expressway. Even I don't take chances there."

She only hung up the phone without answering and concentrated on speeding her way back to the Crystal Palace and her friends.

~~~~~~~~~

"I sincerely hope you're right about this."

"She is," Uranus answered the influential ruler, somewhat crossly. "Pluto has seen what he is and what he is capable of. And Mars is never wrong when it comes to being a Senshi, and even less wrong when it comes to her Sacred Fire."

"Some time in the afternoon? Its noon now…"

"Just because it is noon here and now, in your country, does not mean that it is noon where he is or where we are," Saturn told him in her quiet voice. "Time is relative to where and who you are, right Pluto?"

The Time Guardian nodded her head absently, obviously concentrating on some thought bouncing around in her head.

Suddenly her partner's head snapped up from her mirror and she whispered, "He's coming."

The four of them melded into the shadows and waited until the man showed himself.

When he did, he warped into the room and forced the air to mold around his appearance. He was relatively good-looking, but the horrible mockery of a smug smirk on his face made it hard to like him at first glance. His hair was, indeed, of the purest white and her hands ached in sympathy at the thought of whoever washed that immaculate white suit. Hanging from his earlobes were a pair of sleek, silver earrings. Emblazoned on his brow was an upturned, black crescent moon.

"Have we succeeded in getting Crystal Tokyo into a world power yet?" he asked in a low but dangerous purr.

The US President wiped his brow and put on an excellent act of being surprised at his sudden and unannounced presence. "They are on the World Council, as you specified, but…a world power? They made it perfectly clear that they did not want a seat as a world power, though when it comes to offensive weapons, they do rate."

"Well, since you have succeeded in getting them a world seat, I will not be forced to murder another batch of your men that are little threat or protection against me. But you will make them a world power."

"I can't."

He suddenly frowned. "You can't what?"

"I can't make them into a world power. That isn't in my power to do. That depends solely on their own country and what that country's rulers wish for it."

Placing his hands on the dark mahogany desk, he leaned forward into the President's face. By this time, he was sweating bullets and was obviously in fear for his life.

"You make them into a world power. I don't care how you do it, as long as you do it."

"I told you I can't."

"Them I'm afraid that you will find another group of the men that swore to protect you murdered at your feet."

"No…"

"You can do nothing to stop me."

"He can't, but we can," Uranus snapped as the four of them showed themselves.

The man whirled around and stared at them, his eyes widening with something akin to horror. "What…what are you doing here?"

"Mars caught a whiff of your foul stench and that it would be here," Neptune answered smugly, "and we just hurried over to see you."

"What is your purpose in having Crystal Tokyo as a world power?" Saturn asked him calmly. She shifted the hand that held her Silence Glaive slightly, drawing the man's attention to it.

"That's for me to know and you to always wonder about." And with that closing statement, he had faded away into nothing.

"Is that him, Pluto?" the Soldier of the Heavens questioned.

"Yes, that is Demando of the Black Moon."

"What do we do about finding out what he plans to do?" Her partner linked her arm with hers as she spoke and they prepared to teleport away.

"I think it is an achievement that we know that it is him at all, at this point," Pluto gently reprimanded.

"Wait! What are you doing? Where are you going? He's going to kill more people!"

They turned to the nearly hysteric man behind the desk. "Don't worry," Pluto told him, "he won't be coming back here."

"Why not?"

"Since he knows that we know that he has been coming here. It would be an easy thing for us to just watch and wait until he shows himself and we attack him. No, he is not so stupid as all that, though I wish to the heaven's that he was."

"Why?"

"Because that means we have a very long battle ahead of us.

~~~~~~~~~

End of Chapter 11

We're getting somewhere now! I think that around Chapter 17, I'm predicting (though I could be wrong), the story will be wrapped up.