The dark flowing curtains that surrounded their world were barely enough to prevent the argument between two women angry when they both had a fiery temper. It had been approximately three hours since the last attempt and one of the women was becoming very impatient.
"I thought I told you to make it quick, now look what you got us into! The mistress will not only have your head for this, but mine as well!" The one with dark green hair flowing past her shoulders shouted loudly at the woman, who appeared more like a teenager, with pink hair tied back in a ponytail.
The pink haired girl crossed her arms and gave her companion a dirty look. "I don't take orders from you, you know. I only take them from the mistress."
"Is that so? Well, it happens to be that my orders came from her you numbskull! And you could of at least have tried to put some effort into your mission. I think all of these free minds and souls has softened you a bit, Insecurity." A sly look appeared on the woman's face.
"Show's what you know Jealously," replied Insecurity. "That demon was one of my middle class servants. He actually could do things, unlike a certain someone's servants... but I wouldn't know who..."
Anger and hate covered Jealously's face. "Oh really? Well-"
"That's enough you two!" A man who appeared to be about the age of twenty-five with dark blue hair revealed himself from behind the dark curtains. "You can hear you're babbling all the way over in the Atarin system!" Just by the look on his face it was obvious that he was extremely disgruntled.
"Who asked you, Guilt?" snapped Jealously, looking away from Insecurity for the first time in their argument. She absolutely despised being interrupted in mid-sentence.
Guilt showed little sign of being hurt by the sharpness of the woman's voice; over the centuries he'd gotten used to it, like the rest of crew. "No one asked me, but I hear the mistress isn't pleased with the noise either. So if I were you two, I'd shut the hell up and get working on a new plan. You're wasting valuable time which could be used to devise another plot." Turning specifically to Insecurity he added, "Speaking of plans though... Insecurity, the mistress would like to have a word with you."
A lump the size of a grapefruit felt like it was trying to make its way down her throat. The last time Insecurity had been sent to the mistress was a few hundred years ago when invading a small planet in the Shinkari system, and the only reason that was for was because the mistress thought the planet might be to her liking. "R-right now?" she stammered.
"No, after lunch," he answered sarcastically. "Of course right now! And if you know what's good for you, you best head over now Insecurity, before her mood becomes foul again."
"Of course." Insecurity collected herself and disappeared with a step backwards. A wave of the deep violet curtains covered her leave.
Crossing her legs, Jealously sat mid-air as if she was sitting in an ordinary love seat. The room was silent for some time; neither Guilt nor Jealously spoke or glanced at each other. Figuring that he would have to eventually end the awkward silence, Guilt left the room with a wave of his hand, which passed over the dark curtains and disguised his leave. "Serves her right." Now that Guilt was gone, she was free to voice her thoughts, and so she did.
"I mean, who the hell does she think she is? 'I only take orders from the mistress'..." she added mockingly. "Humph, I hope she doesn't come back, then I wouldn't have to even think about dealing with her."
"Your completely right you know," a male voice said.
Thinking that perhaps one of her servants had come to put her in a better mood, she nodded in agreement. "Well, at least someone agrees with me around here. Now, fetch me something to eat will you?" Jealously waved her hand in as if handing out orders.
A tall man with jet-black hair and red highlights emerged from the curtains. His face was hard, but handsome, however, once Jealously noticed him, she immediately dropped to her knees, head on the floor in a deep bow. "I am not one of your servants Jealously."
"Forgive me, sir... I did not know it was you..." she continued stammering, all confidence in her voice that was there mere seconds before had disappeared as if it had evaporated into the air. She kept her eyes low to the floor, however she was tempted to chance a look at his face.
"Stop your grovelling, it's disgusting."
"Yes, of course sir," she replied quickly, rising quickly to her feet, but still averting her eyes from his.
A sigh came from the man. "And stop calling me that, I have a name you know."
"Of course, Pain."
Pain smiled, but it looked more mischievous than anything pleasant. "In the mean time, perhaps it would be wise if you concentrate your efforts on the war at hand, rather than your petty arguments with Insecurity." Keeping the playful smile on his face, he turned from the quivering girl who had once stood with confidence and left her to mingle with her own thoughts. Now this is what I call a fun day...
The throne room was much different than any of the other rooms that surrounded the area. The flowing curtains were still present, but there was much more of an open space, the curtains seemingly acting like walls to the room. Near the back of the room where the walls became narrow stood a large chair draped in the wall-like fabric. It would have reached the ceiling, if one could tell there was such thing in this place for all was black excluding the curtains. Placed deliberately, the curtains shielded a person's eyes from the person sitting high up on the chair. Backed in shadows, the figure loomed, waiting for her servant to come to her call.
Soon enough, Insecurity with her bright pink hair entered the room the same way she had left the other. She looked out of place in the dark, ominous room, usually much more cheerful and bright than her other companions and the mistress she followed. Insecurity attempted to hold herself as confidently as possible given her current situation. Walking slowly, yet with precision, she approached the throne waiting for the command to stop.
"That's far enough." The voice was deep, but undoubtedly female and had a distinct sense of anger to it.
Insecurity stopped in her tracks and kneeled as was custom and appropriate. Staying on one knee, she addressed the woman in the chair. "Mistress, you have called for me."
"Naturally, otherwise you would not be here." The voice paused for a few seconds as if considering how to approach the matter at hand. "Do you know why you are here, Insecurity?"
"Yes, mistress."
"Tell me."
"I have failed to dispatch the appropriate demon and thus have failed in the task given to me." Her gaze remained to the floor. Insecurity had only once looked upon the face of her mistress, but it was at a cost. She had not slept for days afterwards nor could eat. The gaze from her eyes had hit her harder than she could have imagined.
"You're wrong."
"But ho-" Insecurity stopped herself before going any further. She had to keep her mouth in check otherwise it would cost her something she preferred to keep. "I apologize mistress. May I ask then what it is I have done wrong?"
The voice did not speak again for what seemed like several minutes. "No. But you have not failed in your duties. Continue on with your task, any further orders will come from Pain. Is that clear?"
"Yes, mistress." Getting up from her kneeling position and bowing, Insecurity left the chamber; off to think about what she had done to be so fortunate.
Meanwhile, Fear was left to debate the problem at hand on her own. On normal circumstances she would have asked Pain to join her, being her eyes and ears in the ranks of her army. Yet, this instance was different, this instance was before any of her current members had joined the Organization of Despair, this was much before their time and more towards the beginning of hers.
How had that pesky brat escaped her in the first place, she wondered. That was another matter entirely. And as much as she would have liked to punish someone for what had happened, it was her fault and Fear was not about to show her army that she had a weakness of any sort. She had hoped that it would be another century or two before she was reincarnated, but her spirit was much to proud to sit around waiting for the right moment to strike.
Minor details had approached her all day, coming from Pain and her other minions, but their matters were all trivial compared to the problem of SailorStarGazer. There were plans to be made and people to deal with, immediately. For the meantime, she would keep the issue of the Star senshi to herself, addressing it when need be. And hopefully, that moment wouldn't arise.
The back alleyways of Tokyo were typically deserted during the depths of night save for the stray cats and the rodents they so gleefully hunted. However, tonight was an unusual night and one of the dark corners was preoccupied. As Sailorshootingstar approached her newfound 'leader' she noted the odd glow emanating from her feet, but then quickly realized it was a sign of weakness and looked her head on. The pale face was not what she had expected, but the dark brown eyes had a sharpness to them that suggested they had seen many a fierce battle.
Shootingstar replayed the message she had received the other day back in her mind. "Sailorshootingstar, as leader of the Star senshi, I require your presence... it is in your best interest to attend." She was more intrigued by the fact that the person standing in front of her knew about the identity she had kept from the Sol senshi for over four years that the fact that this meeting was going to do her a favour.
"Sailorshootingstar." It was indefinitely a statement; no sense of a question was in the speaker's voice.
She nodded in response, but asked a question of her own. "And who would you be?"
"SailorStarGazer, but there are more pressing matters at hand." Shifting only her gaze, she continued. "Solarflare, it is unnecessary for you to remain hidden."
Instinctively tightening the grip on her staff, she turned to her right to see another senshi emerge, this one with a whip tightly wound in her right hand.
How could there be other senshi in Tokyo without her knowing? She had known about most of the Sol senshi before they knew their own hidden identities.
"Do not look so surprised Shootingstar, there are more senshi living in Tokyo than just you and the Sol." SailorStarGazer stepped further out of her corner to approach the two senshi before her. "I take it that neither of you know about each other, but I presume that at one time or another you have remembered or have been told about the Legend, have you not?" Her voice remained authoritative.
Shootingstar and Solarflare nodded in response, the latter commenting. "Then we are supposed to believe that you are our leader?" Her gaze hardened.
"If you did not believe who I was you would not be here, would you?" The two remained silent, although Solarflare's gaze lessened.
"Good. Now leave you're differences behind and remind yourselves of your duties tonight. I will inform you on what information I have gathered, but first there are some rules that we all, myself included, are to be subjected to, understand?" Not bothering to wait for a response, she continued. "All that is said and discussed here is not to be presented to the Sol senshi under any circumstances. Contact with them in human form is perfectly fine, actually I encourage it. As the other senshi gather, they will make contact with their counterparts and obtain information about them as you will. I am assuming that you already know who they are. But, keep all senshi contact with them minimal. Is that clear?"
"Crystal," replied Solarflare sarcastically, her arms now crossed and her whip lowly freely to the ground, appearing to have a life of its own.
"Then I'll start. As you may have guessed from my appearance, unlike both of you, I am not from Japan, I came overseas from Canada. My human name is irrelevant at the moment. As you may or may not have noticed, there have been erratic energy signals showing up around the city. However, these readings are not just in Tokyo, they have been appearing all around the world. These are not just energy signals though, they are minions of-"
"The Organization of Despair." Shootingstar had interrupted, sick of the growing tension in the air around her.
"Yes." Although not shown in her face, StarGazer's voice held a hint of irritation. The silence held for a few more seconds before Shootingstar spoke again.
"Wait a minute, doesn't that mean...?"
"Yes it does. And we will deal with that when the time arrives."
"So, that's why you don't want the Sol involved with us then, isn't it?" Solarflare's voice was solemn.
"That's correct."
"When will the others be arriving?"
"As soon as they possibly can. They have matters to attend to before them come though. I believe Comet is arriving within a fortnight. I will contact you then to arrange another meeting."
Solarflare posed a questionable looked. "And how are you going to manage that? I don't hand my phone number over to just anyone you know."
Shooting a dark gaze to Solarflare, StarGazer replied. "Through your henshin devices. However, I need to activate the communication systems myself. You both then need to revert to your human state."
Both Solarflare and Shootingstar took a step back, the latter voicing her opinion on the matter. "In front of both of you? I'd rather keep my identity a secret thank you very much." Grabbing her staff more defensively, she took another step backwards.
StarGazer sighed, which to Shootingstar seemed out of her character. "We will eventually know each other's identities. Besides, I already know yours, or have you forgot?"
Solarflare let down her guard and stepped forward. "If you indeed are who I think you are, doing this will cause neither of us harm." Closing her eyes, she let her whip wrap itself around her. In seconds there was a bright flash of red and gold light, leaving behind Taiyou Hinojounestu.
Seeing Solarflare revert back to her human form persuaded Shootingstar enough to do so herself. "Fine, but as long as no one else finds out." She closed her eyes and grabbed her staff at the top, just before the pitch-fork-like blade. With a flash of green light, she reverted back to her human form, Sakai Hoshii.
"Good, now give me you henshin devices." Both of them stepped forward willingly and handed over a red pen and a silver spoon. StarGazer brought them close to the double star adorned on the top of her staff. A small flash of white light appeared and disappeared in seconds. "Done. Simply press on your sign to talk. But, I'm afraid in activating the communication system we have let out a surge of energy. We should depart before the Sol or the Organization detects the energy and comes looking for us." She returned the items back to their rightful owner. "Until next time."
With a swirl of her staff, SailorStarGazer had disappeared into the night leaving behind Sakai and Taiyo to deal with themselves.