Chapter 5
Luna raced after Artemis through the twisted London streets.
The building that Artemis finally stopped in front of was typical for London, aged brick and faded paint giving an impression of both great age and dignity. The two cats slipped quietly around to the back where a rickety metal fire escape clung to the side of the building.
"The third floor there was where she used to live." Artemis said pointing out the right window to Luna with his nose.
Luna gave a quick nod and the two ran up the fire escape to the window.
"Locked. Now what?" Artemis asked after a few futile efforts to get the window open. Unfortunately, paws and claws some times weren't the most useful of things.
"Well, we could see if the landlord's office is open." Luna said.
"Sure. I hope we can find something here. I know it was a long shot but I still would hate going home with nothing." Artemis said with a small sigh as he jumped down from the offending window.
Downstairs the pair actually got a break. The landlord had left his door unlocked when he left to go home and the two cats were able to open it and slip in unnoticed with minimal amounts of effort. The office was neatly organized, a toolbox sitting unobtrusively in one corner and a large metal desk dominating the center of the room. A couple of similar metal file cabinets flanked the desk on either side.
Luna started with the desk, looking for any clues as to Venus' whereabouts, while Artemis, once again forced to tackle the difficult task of opening something without the aid of opposable thumbs, took on the file cabinets. Luna had been digging through the papers on the desk for a few minutes when a sudden crash caused her to spin around in fright, heart racing.
There, sitting and staring stupidly at the file drawer that had landed next to him, was Artemis. He had been trying to get open the top drawer of the cabinet and had misjudged the force needed to push it open, accidentally sending both himself and the drawer crashing to the ground.
"Artemis! Are you okay?" Luna asked anxiously.
"Umm..yea. I guess so." Artemis finally said, frowning at the mess around him.
"Good." Luna managed to choke out before keeling over in a fit or laughter.
He looked up at her pathetically, a single tardy piece of paperwork finally floating leisurely down to land on the top of his head, causing Luna to laugh even harder. Artemis merely gave a long-suffering sigh and shook the paper off.
"Have you found anything yet?" He asked, trying to regain some measure of dignity.
Luna, after a few attempts to stop laughing, finally gave up and just shook her head. The white cat finally decided that ignoring his hysterical partner was probably the best course of action and started pushing through the pile of papers on the floor. When the landlord returned the next day they wanted to be as far away from this mess as possible.
Luna had finally managed to stop laughing and from her vantage on the top of the desk, she glanced down at the pile of paper Artemis was rooting through.
"Artemis!" she suddenly yelled excitedly and jumped down from her perch. Landing next to the white cat, she pushed him out of the way so she could pull out a half covered paper that he had been standing on.
The paper turned out to be a magazine page with several models showing off some clothing companies fall line. What had caught the black cat's attention were the words scribbled across it.
'To my fav landlord, Mina'
And sure enough, one of the girls on the page was Mina, dressed in a red shirt, golden skirt and a long gray coat. This was the first solid evidence that they had gotten that proved Mina had been in England. The magazine photo was only a little less than a year old though according to the date printed on the top of the page.
They had come to London because that was the last place anyone had know Mina had lived before she had joined the scouts. They had searched Tokyo specifically, and Japan in general for all of the girls with no luck. That was why the Artemis had volunteered to try London. And now they knew that they were on the right track.
Luna looked up from the paper at Artemis and found herself suddenly nose to nose with the white cat.
"Luna, what would I do without you?" he said and gave her a quick lick on the cheek before going back to rummaging though the stack of papers, "Wonder if there is anything else in here?"
Luna blushed. Again. And cursed Serena and Rei. Again. Those two hadn't been reunited for more than a day before they had begun causing headaches for Luna. Alternately yelling at each other and conspiring together, the two had gotten it into their heads that Luna and Artemis should be more than friends and had been taking every opportunity they could get to tell her so. And the fact that Artemis had been left completely exempt from the teasing only made it worse. Even casual things that had never mattered before were setting her off. And Artemis was completely clueless though she could tell he was starting to pick up on the new tension in her. They had been friends too long for him not to notice but he had yet to say anything about it.
Honestly, there were days that Luna couldn't remember why she had wanted the other scouts awakened. And it would only get worse with each one brought back.
After a few minutes more of searching they found the file for when Mina was a tenant. There was a forwarding address for mail but she had moved out over two years ago. Neither wanted to get their hopes up. They didn't have much to go off of from the autographed picture, but it was a clue as to what Mina was doing these days.
* * * * *
That night the two cats were bedding down on the roof of an older building in a quiet part of town.
"Luna?" Artemis asked, turning to look at his companion, her black fur causing her to almost disappear into the night.
"Hmm?"
"Do you think...Well, you are Serena's guardian and..."
"Artemis?" Luna asked, moving closer to her oldest friend, "What's the matter?"
"Do you think I failed her?"
"Serena?" Luna asked in surprise, "Absolutely not!"
"No, not Serena. Mina. I was her guardian. Her mentor. And I just let her disappear on me."
"Oh Artemis, don't you start too. None of this anyone fault. No one is to blame." Luna said, leaning against him, offering comfort as they had done a million times before.
"Luna, she was my charge and I abandoned her instead of doing my duty. She is the leader of Serena's guards, leader of the scouts. She was...is the princess of Venus. How do I explain to her...how to I ask her to understand...?"
"Artemis, shh. We all had our duty. Our main duty was to protect the princess and that is what we did. Venus would have been the first to tell you to stay with Serena."
"What if I didn't stay because of Serena?" he asked quietly.
"What? What else was there to stay for?" Luna asked, bewildered.
Artemis sighed. "Nothing Luna. Nothing."
* * * * *
The next morning saw a pair of cats, one black and one white, racing across the London rooftops.
"How much farther?" Luna asked as they ran. She really didn't care but she wanted to break the awkward silence that had appeared between them since the previous night. She was worried about Artemis. Something was going on inside of him and he wasn't sharing it with her. He had admitted that he was feeling guilty about Mina but that wasn't all of it. He was still holding something back. And it hurt that he didn't feel he could confide in her.
* * * * *
"Artemis?"
The white cat suddenly shook himself away from his thoughts and realized that Luna was asking him something.
"Sorry Luna, what was that?" He asked, trying to appear normal.
"How much farther?"
"Oh, not much. Though this is a really nice part of town. I wonder if this is the right address. Most people couldn't afford to live around here."
He checked his bearings before allowing his thoughts to once again consume him. He knew that he had almost done the unthinkable last night. And he had added to Luna's worries. She already was stressed over Serena and finding the scouts and fighting this new enemy that seemed to keep popping in and out of the shadows and know he had gone an added to it my admitting to the fact that he was feeling guilty about not being with Venus. Instead he had decided to stay with the Princess...and Luna.
He knew that they were just friends but sometimes he would find himself wondering if they could have been more. Before, when they had been fighting the Negaverse, there had been another cat. Watching Hercules and Luna had actually made him ill and had been what had first made him realize that Luna was more than just a friend. She was his partner. And he loved her. It had taken him a long time to realize that and an even longer time to admit it to himself.
God! How could he have done this? It hadn't been as bad before Darien arrived. But now Serena and Darien, so obviously in love with each other, were alternately making him want to claw them and trade places with them. And last night he had almost admitted to it. And if one thing was guaranteed to ruin a wonderful friendship it was some idiot babbling about love.
He shook himself out of his thoughts in time to realize that they had arrived. The house that they stopped in front of was a huge thing proudly showing off its Victorian architecture to all its neighbors.
"Mina lived here?" Luna asked in surprise, coming up alongside of him.
"And might still. That is, if the address is where she moved to and not just some friend of hers that she was staying with or something." Artemis said, looking at the house.
He approached the window cautiously and jumped on the sill. Inside was a mess. It looked as though a tornado had gone through this classy home, leaving clothes, books and who knows what else in it's path. Or more likely, her path. Artemis definitely recognized the mess. And while he forced himself to realize that many people were possible of leaving behind them such a disaster area, Mina was still the original tornado.
But they still had to make it inside to make sure.
"Artemis?" Luan asked from the ground.
He grinned down at her, "I think we may be on the right track.
* * * * *
Meanwhile, a man with fiery red hair paced back and forth in an enormous cavern. Once there would have been hundreds of others milling around as well but they had been destroyed. Only the strongest had survived that final attack, and many of the survivors had died afterwards from their wounds.
Suddenly a monster, a half tiger, half woman creature appeared in front of him.
"Back already?" The man asked in surprise.
"The scouts do not protect lands outside of their territory. There are no threats in the new hunting grounds, as you predicted." The woman said, her slitted eyes following the man's pacing.
"Good. And our energy reservoirs?"
"It is almost full."
"Perfect. Those two think that they are so smart, but I am the only one able to collect the energy we need. And with it, I'll be able to dictate how it gets used. No more waiting." The man said, a triumphant smile crossing his lips.
* * * * *
Quick note: I saw once an author reply to her reviewers and since I've recently decided I love you all, I thought I'd try it too. Here we go...
venus smurf ~ You are too cool. My ego and I thank you. I just wish I could update more regularly like you do. And if I bring in the generals, they'rr be on the good side...I think..maybe...probably...
MarsMoonStar ~ hee hee, thank you
AngelsExist ~ I agree. Poor Luna. The kitties need help.
Vilranda ~ Thanks. I promise to write more. Just as soon as ppl stop giving me homework...grr.
Adyen ~ you're holding out on me?!? awww. hee hee
Skysong ~ yea, if I put the outer scouts in, they'll just sorta appear. And I am working on a way to bring Uranus and Neptune in. I just hope it works.
SlvrDrgn ~ lol. Hope you enjoy the further torture of Luna and Artemis.
S. L. Butterworth ~ hope you like this, even though there's no actual scouts in it yet. Ah well...
hmmm... Well, guess that's it for me. I'm going to go start the next chapter. ; )
Luna raced after Artemis through the twisted London streets.
The building that Artemis finally stopped in front of was typical for London, aged brick and faded paint giving an impression of both great age and dignity. The two cats slipped quietly around to the back where a rickety metal fire escape clung to the side of the building.
"The third floor there was where she used to live." Artemis said pointing out the right window to Luna with his nose.
Luna gave a quick nod and the two ran up the fire escape to the window.
"Locked. Now what?" Artemis asked after a few futile efforts to get the window open. Unfortunately, paws and claws some times weren't the most useful of things.
"Well, we could see if the landlord's office is open." Luna said.
"Sure. I hope we can find something here. I know it was a long shot but I still would hate going home with nothing." Artemis said with a small sigh as he jumped down from the offending window.
Downstairs the pair actually got a break. The landlord had left his door unlocked when he left to go home and the two cats were able to open it and slip in unnoticed with minimal amounts of effort. The office was neatly organized, a toolbox sitting unobtrusively in one corner and a large metal desk dominating the center of the room. A couple of similar metal file cabinets flanked the desk on either side.
Luna started with the desk, looking for any clues as to Venus' whereabouts, while Artemis, once again forced to tackle the difficult task of opening something without the aid of opposable thumbs, took on the file cabinets. Luna had been digging through the papers on the desk for a few minutes when a sudden crash caused her to spin around in fright, heart racing.
There, sitting and staring stupidly at the file drawer that had landed next to him, was Artemis. He had been trying to get open the top drawer of the cabinet and had misjudged the force needed to push it open, accidentally sending both himself and the drawer crashing to the ground.
"Artemis! Are you okay?" Luna asked anxiously.
"Umm..yea. I guess so." Artemis finally said, frowning at the mess around him.
"Good." Luna managed to choke out before keeling over in a fit or laughter.
He looked up at her pathetically, a single tardy piece of paperwork finally floating leisurely down to land on the top of his head, causing Luna to laugh even harder. Artemis merely gave a long-suffering sigh and shook the paper off.
"Have you found anything yet?" He asked, trying to regain some measure of dignity.
Luna, after a few attempts to stop laughing, finally gave up and just shook her head. The white cat finally decided that ignoring his hysterical partner was probably the best course of action and started pushing through the pile of papers on the floor. When the landlord returned the next day they wanted to be as far away from this mess as possible.
Luna had finally managed to stop laughing and from her vantage on the top of the desk, she glanced down at the pile of paper Artemis was rooting through.
"Artemis!" she suddenly yelled excitedly and jumped down from her perch. Landing next to the white cat, she pushed him out of the way so she could pull out a half covered paper that he had been standing on.
The paper turned out to be a magazine page with several models showing off some clothing companies fall line. What had caught the black cat's attention were the words scribbled across it.
'To my fav landlord, Mina'
And sure enough, one of the girls on the page was Mina, dressed in a red shirt, golden skirt and a long gray coat. This was the first solid evidence that they had gotten that proved Mina had been in England. The magazine photo was only a little less than a year old though according to the date printed on the top of the page.
They had come to London because that was the last place anyone had know Mina had lived before she had joined the scouts. They had searched Tokyo specifically, and Japan in general for all of the girls with no luck. That was why the Artemis had volunteered to try London. And now they knew that they were on the right track.
Luna looked up from the paper at Artemis and found herself suddenly nose to nose with the white cat.
"Luna, what would I do without you?" he said and gave her a quick lick on the cheek before going back to rummaging though the stack of papers, "Wonder if there is anything else in here?"
Luna blushed. Again. And cursed Serena and Rei. Again. Those two hadn't been reunited for more than a day before they had begun causing headaches for Luna. Alternately yelling at each other and conspiring together, the two had gotten it into their heads that Luna and Artemis should be more than friends and had been taking every opportunity they could get to tell her so. And the fact that Artemis had been left completely exempt from the teasing only made it worse. Even casual things that had never mattered before were setting her off. And Artemis was completely clueless though she could tell he was starting to pick up on the new tension in her. They had been friends too long for him not to notice but he had yet to say anything about it.
Honestly, there were days that Luna couldn't remember why she had wanted the other scouts awakened. And it would only get worse with each one brought back.
After a few minutes more of searching they found the file for when Mina was a tenant. There was a forwarding address for mail but she had moved out over two years ago. Neither wanted to get their hopes up. They didn't have much to go off of from the autographed picture, but it was a clue as to what Mina was doing these days.
* * * * *
That night the two cats were bedding down on the roof of an older building in a quiet part of town.
"Luna?" Artemis asked, turning to look at his companion, her black fur causing her to almost disappear into the night.
"Hmm?"
"Do you think...Well, you are Serena's guardian and..."
"Artemis?" Luna asked, moving closer to her oldest friend, "What's the matter?"
"Do you think I failed her?"
"Serena?" Luna asked in surprise, "Absolutely not!"
"No, not Serena. Mina. I was her guardian. Her mentor. And I just let her disappear on me."
"Oh Artemis, don't you start too. None of this anyone fault. No one is to blame." Luna said, leaning against him, offering comfort as they had done a million times before.
"Luna, she was my charge and I abandoned her instead of doing my duty. She is the leader of Serena's guards, leader of the scouts. She was...is the princess of Venus. How do I explain to her...how to I ask her to understand...?"
"Artemis, shh. We all had our duty. Our main duty was to protect the princess and that is what we did. Venus would have been the first to tell you to stay with Serena."
"What if I didn't stay because of Serena?" he asked quietly.
"What? What else was there to stay for?" Luna asked, bewildered.
Artemis sighed. "Nothing Luna. Nothing."
* * * * *
The next morning saw a pair of cats, one black and one white, racing across the London rooftops.
"How much farther?" Luna asked as they ran. She really didn't care but she wanted to break the awkward silence that had appeared between them since the previous night. She was worried about Artemis. Something was going on inside of him and he wasn't sharing it with her. He had admitted that he was feeling guilty about Mina but that wasn't all of it. He was still holding something back. And it hurt that he didn't feel he could confide in her.
* * * * *
"Artemis?"
The white cat suddenly shook himself away from his thoughts and realized that Luna was asking him something.
"Sorry Luna, what was that?" He asked, trying to appear normal.
"How much farther?"
"Oh, not much. Though this is a really nice part of town. I wonder if this is the right address. Most people couldn't afford to live around here."
He checked his bearings before allowing his thoughts to once again consume him. He knew that he had almost done the unthinkable last night. And he had added to Luna's worries. She already was stressed over Serena and finding the scouts and fighting this new enemy that seemed to keep popping in and out of the shadows and know he had gone an added to it my admitting to the fact that he was feeling guilty about not being with Venus. Instead he had decided to stay with the Princess...and Luna.
He knew that they were just friends but sometimes he would find himself wondering if they could have been more. Before, when they had been fighting the Negaverse, there had been another cat. Watching Hercules and Luna had actually made him ill and had been what had first made him realize that Luna was more than just a friend. She was his partner. And he loved her. It had taken him a long time to realize that and an even longer time to admit it to himself.
God! How could he have done this? It hadn't been as bad before Darien arrived. But now Serena and Darien, so obviously in love with each other, were alternately making him want to claw them and trade places with them. And last night he had almost admitted to it. And if one thing was guaranteed to ruin a wonderful friendship it was some idiot babbling about love.
He shook himself out of his thoughts in time to realize that they had arrived. The house that they stopped in front of was a huge thing proudly showing off its Victorian architecture to all its neighbors.
"Mina lived here?" Luna asked in surprise, coming up alongside of him.
"And might still. That is, if the address is where she moved to and not just some friend of hers that she was staying with or something." Artemis said, looking at the house.
He approached the window cautiously and jumped on the sill. Inside was a mess. It looked as though a tornado had gone through this classy home, leaving clothes, books and who knows what else in it's path. Or more likely, her path. Artemis definitely recognized the mess. And while he forced himself to realize that many people were possible of leaving behind them such a disaster area, Mina was still the original tornado.
But they still had to make it inside to make sure.
"Artemis?" Luan asked from the ground.
He grinned down at her, "I think we may be on the right track.
* * * * *
Meanwhile, a man with fiery red hair paced back and forth in an enormous cavern. Once there would have been hundreds of others milling around as well but they had been destroyed. Only the strongest had survived that final attack, and many of the survivors had died afterwards from their wounds.
Suddenly a monster, a half tiger, half woman creature appeared in front of him.
"Back already?" The man asked in surprise.
"The scouts do not protect lands outside of their territory. There are no threats in the new hunting grounds, as you predicted." The woman said, her slitted eyes following the man's pacing.
"Good. And our energy reservoirs?"
"It is almost full."
"Perfect. Those two think that they are so smart, but I am the only one able to collect the energy we need. And with it, I'll be able to dictate how it gets used. No more waiting." The man said, a triumphant smile crossing his lips.
* * * * *
Quick note: I saw once an author reply to her reviewers and since I've recently decided I love you all, I thought I'd try it too. Here we go...
venus smurf ~ You are too cool. My ego and I thank you. I just wish I could update more regularly like you do. And if I bring in the generals, they'rr be on the good side...I think..maybe...probably...
MarsMoonStar ~ hee hee, thank you
AngelsExist ~ I agree. Poor Luna. The kitties need help.
Vilranda ~ Thanks. I promise to write more. Just as soon as ppl stop giving me homework...grr.
Adyen ~ you're holding out on me?!? awww. hee hee
Skysong ~ yea, if I put the outer scouts in, they'll just sorta appear. And I am working on a way to bring Uranus and Neptune in. I just hope it works.
SlvrDrgn ~ lol. Hope you enjoy the further torture of Luna and Artemis.
S. L. Butterworth ~ hope you like this, even though there's no actual scouts in it yet. Ah well...
hmmm... Well, guess that's it for me. I'm going to go start the next chapter. ; )