It was at breakfast that Rei felt something was wrong. She stood so quickly that her chair fell backward, clattering into the middle of Lord Jadeite's joke.

Rei didn't care. Her dark eyes were wide and unfocused, and there was a heavy, foreboding pressure sitting on her chest. She turned and flew toward Senshi Hall, hoping her premonition was nothing more than a lack of sleep, but knowing it wasn't.
She didn't even notice the small group following her.

Minako got dressed before there was even a ray of light in her window that morning, doing her routine stretches. It was in the middle of these that there was a knock on her door. Minako was a bit surprised, since no one else was usually up so early, but, curious, she let the man in.

"Artemis, what's wrong?" she frowned, watching him sit carefully on the edge of the bed, looking as if he'd hop back up and start pacing at any moment.
He winced at the floor and Minako had the vague fear that he was going to cry. "I don't know what's wrong with me, Mina-chan," he whispered hoarsely. "I know something is, but . . . I don't know what to do about it."
Minako stood silently, listening to him with concern and a bit of fear. She didn't know what he was talking about, and hated the idea of her beloved guardian having problems.
"I loved your mother, Mina-chan, I did, and I don't know what's happening to me. I've never had such a tough time remembering her before. It's like, lately, something's bringing her so close to the surface of my memory . . . all the time . . ." he trailed off and Minako brought a hand to her mouth, sinking beside him and putting an arm around his shoulders.
"I didn't know," she whispered, letting him hold her back and cry into her chest. She felt so . . . helpless. Artemis had raised her, and was practically like her own father. It was disorienting having him break down like this – and very scary.
After a minute or two, Minako was surprised to feel his grip on her change to something more intimate. He kissed her neck and murmured, "My Queen."
"Artemis," Minako pushed at him gently, more than a little disturbed, "it's me, not mom."
"My Queen," he repeated, eyes glazed and . . . off. He reached for her, but she pushed him back a little more.
"Artemis," she said firmly, beginning to get very frightened. "It's me, Minako."
"Sh," he said, ignoring her. He had her by the shoulders and Minako began to cry, talking to him, telling him she wasn't her mother.

It was not long later and Minako was curled on the edge of her bed, clutching the post and crying. There was blood on the blanket, but it wasn't hers. She had had to knock Artemis out to stop him, and there was a nasty gash on his head that she had, to the best of her ability, bandaged. She looked at him, her eyes red and puffy, and made a very important decision.

When Rei got to Minako's room, followed by a small assembly that set off the alarms in every room they passed, she threw open the door and found Artemis sprawled on the bed, a pillow under his head and makeshift bandage around a long, nasty gash at his hairline.

"Artemis," she shook him, dark hair falling on either side of the unconscious man. "Artemis!" she cried, becoming frantic. The pit in her stomach widened as she looked wildly around the room, not seeing Minako anywhere. "Goddess," she sobbed, clutching Artemis' shirt in her pale, slender fingers.
"Rei," Makoto reached her, gripping the girl's shoulders, "let go of him, sweetie."
Rei realized that her fingers were turning white from the hard grip, and slowly released Artemis' shirt. Ami moved to look at his wound as Makoto urged the dark-haired girl toward the foot of the bed.
"Rei, what's wrong, where's Mina-chan?"
Rei had covered her face with her hands and was rocking back and forth, crying, hair swaying with her body. "Oh Goddess – oh Selene!" Her voice was raw and broken, jagged with horror.
Kunzite stared, a deep knife of terror cutting through his gut. "What happened?" he whispered. Kunzite was a man of calm and knowledge – renowned for keeping his head in emergencies and accused of inhumanity because of his natural propensity for cold calculation – and he had never been so frightened.
"Step aside," someone said quietly, and the group parted to let the Queen through. She touched Rei's shoulder and embraced the girl, softly ordering everyone out but Luna, who was fussing worriedly over Artemis' prone form. She held Rei for a long time, discreetly touching the Silver Imperium Crystal to heal Artemis' wound. Finally, she pulled away from the dark-haired princess. Rei looked a mess, hair sticking in damp clumps to her face, eyes red and puffy, lips trembling, and cheeks blotched. "Where's Minako, dear?" the Queen asked.
"Gone," Rei moaned.
"Where?"
"I don't know. Just gone. Run away because of that . . . that . . ." she couldn't find a word bad enough, so settled on sending Artemis a scalding glare.
"What happened? Do you know?"
"He . . ." she grimaced, turning her face away, "tried to force her."
"No!" Luna cried, angry. "He wouldn't have done that, your majesty!" She was defensive, protective, angry, but there was a tremor of plea in her voice and gaze. She held to Artemis' senseless hand with tenacious faith.
The Queen only sat beside Rei, absently stroking the girl's hair, and thought. Finally, she roused herself to a decision. "Let's wait until he awakens, and hear the whole story."
"Yes."