Later that day, Amara & Hotaru were riding around downtown Tokyo. "I still say that can't be right," Hotaru said to Amara, holding on tightly. Amara said nothing; she was too busy thinking about Kurama. 'Souichi… He had a strange aura… It was… sort of cold… I wonder, is he the one? The real ruler & heir to the throne of Mercury? Nah, that can't be it. There's no way a guy can be a ruler of one of the planets!! Is there?' she thought long & hard about proof that he wasn't Mercury's true future ruler. Hotaru sensed that something was on Amara's mind, so she let her think all she wanted.
A few minutes later, they pulled up to their favorite restaurant, Paradise Cafe. Amara & Hotaru both got off, took off their helmets (Amara's was navy & Hotaru's was purple), then walked inside, where they sat down in their usual seat. A waiter with long, blue hair & eyes came up to them & smiled. "Amara!! Hotaru!! The usual, I presume?" he asked cheerfully. Amara turned to him & smiled back. "Yes, Semreh," she replied. He nodded, still smiling at her, then walked off to get their food. Hotaru giggled, making Amara suspicious of what was going on through the firefly's head. "What is it?" she asked wearily. Hotaru grinned & answered, "I think Semreh loves you." Amara shook her head, smiling at the firefly that was her adopted daughter, before stating, "You read too many of Amy's romance novels, Firefly." Hotaru laughed at this statement.
Just then, the door of the restaurant opened, & in came five young men. The first had short hair like Amara's, except it was brown instead of sand, & his eyes were yellow. The second was an ugly guy who had orange hair & brown eyes that were like dots in his head as far as Amara & Hotaru could tell. The third caused Amara's eyes to widen. 'Souichi?!?! So these guys must be his friends. Why's he here?' she pondered as she watched him walk in. The fourth made Amara & Hotaru slap their hands over their mouths to keep themselves from cracking up at the sight of him: The guy had black hair that stuck up like a flame & eyes that were brown. What made the two force themselves to keep from laughing was that the guy was very short, probably a head or two shorter than Hotaru. The fifth & final guy had black hair that had been slicked back & brown eyes that were scanning the entire room as if he were trying to find something that interested him.
Amara noticed that they were looking for a seat, so she shrugged, then stood & called, "Souichi!! You & your friends can sit over here with us!!" Kurama turned at the sound of his human name, & his eyes widened when he saw who had called to him. "Amara?!?! What are you doing here?!?!" he exclaimed in shock. She laughed. "This is my favorite restaurant!!! I just finished a meeting with my friends, so I brought my adopted daughter with me since she loves this place, too," she explained. After Amara finished speaking, Hotaru stood & bowed traditionally. When she stood up straight again, she smiled at them & said, "I'm her adopted daughter. Name's Hotaru Tomoe, but now I have to be called Hotaru Tenou, which is pretty cool, too, but I still prefer Tomoe over Tenou." Hotaru sat back down.
Kurama smiled at Amara, walked over, & took a seat beside her. Kuwabara took the seat beside Hotaru, grinning. Amara glared at him, then watched as Yusuke took the seat beside Kuwabara, also grinning. Hiei then sat beside Kurama, while Koenma took the last seat. Amara continued glaring at Kuwabara, who was snickering at Kurama. Amara's glare hardened, but she couldn't reach across the table. Hotaru saw the look in her adoptive father's eyes, got the message, turned around, & punched Kuwabara right in the face. Amara snickered, then cracked up when she saw that the firefly had caused Kuwabara's nose to bleed, having been hit so hard. She told Hotaru, "Firefly, you've been around Lita & me way too long if you can hit that hard!!!!" Hotaru laughed, too.
Moments later, Semreh came walking up to their table with Amara & Hotaru's usual order. After he set it down, he caught sight of Kurama, & Hotaru saw him tense up. She could feel that anger was surging up from his heart, & she knew that she'd been right about him loving Amara. However, Amara & Kurama were busy talking. Hiei thought, 'I wonder if I should tell these two that his name's really Kurama, not Souichi…' Suddenly, he sensed great anger, so he turned. Semreh was watching Kurama & Amara talk, hate clearly visible in his eyes. He felt that someone else could sense it, too. He turned in the direction his senses were pointing him to, & saw Hotaru looking up at Semreh also. She then noticed that Hiei was looking at her, so she hitched a smile onto her face. Then she saw Yusuke looking at her, his eyes holding a curious look. She realized he could sense that she had sensed Semreh's hatred, as could Hiei.
She looked at her tea, sadness entering her heart. It was because looking into Semreh's eyes reminded her of the pain she had once felt back in the days of the Silver Millenium; she'd been in love, but her beloved's parents betrothed him to another. The rage in Semreh's eyes was the exact same as her own after hearing his parents' decision. At this memory, Hotaru placed her face in her hands, leaped up from her seat, then bolted out the door, crying. Amara watched her run, then sighed & held up three fingers. "Three, two, one," she said exasperatedly, then pointed at the door. Instantly, the sound of a motorcycle engine was heard, then roared off into the distance. She sighed again.
"Forgive Hotaru. Something must've reminded her about her past, &, well, she doesn't like being reminded of the past, so she does that. Of course, sometimes it's my car," she added. The others stared at her in shock. "She… can drive… a motorcycle… & a car?!?!" Koenma asked, therefore voicing the question on everyone's minds. Amara sighed a third time. "Yes, I taught her, so she always does something like that when she gets upset. Poor Firefly, always crying because of painful memories that she wishes she could eliminate…"
"Ahem!! Amara, here's your ticket," Semreh interrupted, handing her a piece of paper. In the process, he knocked over Amara's soup, which was still hot, & it landed in Kurama's lap. "Aaaaggghhh!!!!!" he cried, leaping up. Yusuke panicked, so he threw water on Kurama in hopes that would stop the burning. Koenma checked on Kurama, as did the others, while Amara stood & walked outside to wait for Hotaru, all the while Semreh watched Kurama chase Yusuke around the store with satisfaction at Kurama's embarrassment.
When the five guys walked out of the restaurant, Kurama let out a yell of surprise, causing the others to look at him, & Amara to come running. "Souichi!!! Is something wrong?!?!" she asked worriedly, then stopped. Everyone looked at Kurama in shock; what had once been water on him was now ice! He looked at them with shocked eyes, then asked, "What's going on?! Why am I becoming frozen like this?!" Amara stared at him because now what Amy had said made sense. "I tried contacting Mercury, but it wouldn't give me any power at all. It's almost as if I were only a temporary host of Mercury's Ice of Knowledge. & now, the real heir to throne of Mercury has received their power, or is coming close to achieving their power." 'That means he's…!!!' She realized what that meant. Then, she stopped & shook her head, thinking, 'No way, I can't be sure about that until an enemy comes along that's strong enough to bring that part of him out.' Just then, the temperature quickly dropped. 'What the…?!?' Yusuke thought.
Out of nowhere, a man appeared perched on top of the nearest lamppost. They realized that he looked like Kurama, but his hair was blue instead of red, & his eyes were also blue instead of green. They also noticed that the lamppost the man was on was covered in ice. He grinned, then raised his right hand above his head. Instantly, aquamarine-colored ice formed in his palm, then he thrust his arm forward at them, yelling, "Shine Blast!" The five guys shielded their faces with their arms. Amara used her speed as a Uranusian & dodged the attack. She then charged at the man & cried, "Eat this, you jerk!!!" Navy-colored energy surrounded her right fist, & she hurled it at the man, yelling, "Space Shaking!" He vanished from his perch.
When Amara landed, she landed on a patch of ice & nearly toppled over. But suddenly, an arm swung out of nowhere & grabbed her waist. "Amara, my love," a voice whispered into her ear. She turned & saw it was the man, & he was smirking. "Join me… I can protect you better than Kurama could ever protect you…" Her eyes widened. "Who's Kurama?" she questioned. "Oh yes, I forgot… You call him Souichi… My fault…" he hissed. At this, Amara cried, "Let me go, you freak!!!!" With that, she broke free of his grip, then swung around & punched him full in the face. He stumbled back, holding his face, which the others could see blood dripping from in between his fingers.
"Amara!!!" four voices cried. Amara turned just as Michelle, Lita, & Hotaru rushed past her. Amy stopped once she reached Amara & exclaimed, "Amara!! Are you hurt?! Hotaru contacted us through telepathy to say that you were in trouble, so we met up with her, then hurried over here as quickly as we could!!" Amara grinned at her blue-haired friend. "It's alright, Amy. I'm fine," she assured her. She glared at the man. "Can't say the same for him, though!!!" Lita, Amara, Michelle, & Hotaru all nodded simultaneously, then charged at the same time, crying out their attacks. "Oak Crash!" "Space Shaking!" "Submarine Submerge!" "Silence Wall!" Their attacks merged into one, then hit the man. He stumbled back, then glared at them all before hissing, "My name is Hermes, & don't any of you forget it. In fact, I'll make sure you don't!!" With that, Hermes raised his hands & cried, "Shine Blast!" Hermes threw his attack… right at Kurama!
Amara gasped. "Souichi!! Move!!!" she cried out to him, outstretching her right hand to him. Kurama pulled out his Rose Whip, then lashed at the aquamarine-colored ice. Its direction changed, then it hurled towards Amara. She stepped back, unsure of what to do. Kurama saw this, then instinctively ran at her. He jumped between Amara & the ice, then held his Rose Whip high above his head. Suddenly, he & his whip began glowing blue. The Rose Whip then morphed into a whip made of blue ice. Kurama swung the whip back, then lashed at the ice with it & cried, "Aqua Blast!" Blue ice shot from his whip & collided with the aquamarine ice, sending it flying backwards, away from Kurama & Amara. Hermes glared at Kurama before stating, "The prince of Mercury is awake again." At this, Amara fainted. Hermes then teleported away before Kurama's attack hit him, so it struck & froze a lamppost.
Kurama stood in stunned silence, then turned to the others & asked, "How did that happen?" Amy rushed up to him, smiling. "So you're the true heir to the throne & power of Mercury!!" He stared at her like she was crazy, so Michelle stepped forward to explain. "That's Amy Anderson, the former Sailor Mercury. I said 'former' because she lost her power. She figured that it was because she was a temporary host of Mercury's power. After Amara & Hotaru left the house, Amy said that she'd been having dreams of a man with long red hair & bright green eyes for the past week. Apparently, it all points to one thing: Mercury's future ruler was never a princess; it was a prince. You are that prince: The prince that controls the Ice of Knowledge." Now it was Kurama's turn to faint. When he did so, everyone just stood there for a moment, then Kuwabara picked up Kurama, while Lita picked up Amara. Meanwhile, Amara was remembering a part of her life in the Silver Millenium that she'd forgotten.
"Mercury! Mercury!!" Princess Uranus called, walking down a hall in the Space Palace of Uranus. She then walked outside & sat down in the rose garden. "Where'd he get to?" she fumed, tending to some white roses. "Right next to you," a voice beside her said, making her jump. Uranus whirled around & came face-to-face with…
"What the heck?!" Amara yelled, sitting upright, panting & sweating. "Amara? You alright?" Lita called through the door. Amara looked around herself; she was in her room, laying in her bed. She turned to the closed door & called back, "Yeah, I'm fine, Lita." "Okay. If you say so," Lita called, then walked off down the hallway. Amara put her right hand to her forehead, then ran her fingers through her hair, thinking, 'There was no way in the nine planets of this galaxy that could've been possible… Prince Mercury… Souichi is Prince Mercury? That can't be…' She slid off her bed, then walked to her door & opened it. She walked down the hallway, then headed down the stairway.
"Hey, Hotaru. How's everything going with you?" Amara asked her black-haired friend. Hotaru looked up from her book on Greek mythology & smiled at her tall companion. "It's all cool here," she replied. "That boy, Souichi, he's the true ruler of Mercury. I felt ice & knowledge radiating from him. There's no denying that he's Prince Mercury, Amara." Amara sighed. "I… I just had a dream of him. I saw him in a rose garden. He looked so happy to see me," she added thoughtfully. Hotaru snapped her book shut & declared, "That settles it. We've got to protect him & his friends from now on."
A few minutes later, they pulled up to their favorite restaurant, Paradise Cafe. Amara & Hotaru both got off, took off their helmets (Amara's was navy & Hotaru's was purple), then walked inside, where they sat down in their usual seat. A waiter with long, blue hair & eyes came up to them & smiled. "Amara!! Hotaru!! The usual, I presume?" he asked cheerfully. Amara turned to him & smiled back. "Yes, Semreh," she replied. He nodded, still smiling at her, then walked off to get their food. Hotaru giggled, making Amara suspicious of what was going on through the firefly's head. "What is it?" she asked wearily. Hotaru grinned & answered, "I think Semreh loves you." Amara shook her head, smiling at the firefly that was her adopted daughter, before stating, "You read too many of Amy's romance novels, Firefly." Hotaru laughed at this statement.
Just then, the door of the restaurant opened, & in came five young men. The first had short hair like Amara's, except it was brown instead of sand, & his eyes were yellow. The second was an ugly guy who had orange hair & brown eyes that were like dots in his head as far as Amara & Hotaru could tell. The third caused Amara's eyes to widen. 'Souichi?!?! So these guys must be his friends. Why's he here?' she pondered as she watched him walk in. The fourth made Amara & Hotaru slap their hands over their mouths to keep themselves from cracking up at the sight of him: The guy had black hair that stuck up like a flame & eyes that were brown. What made the two force themselves to keep from laughing was that the guy was very short, probably a head or two shorter than Hotaru. The fifth & final guy had black hair that had been slicked back & brown eyes that were scanning the entire room as if he were trying to find something that interested him.
Amara noticed that they were looking for a seat, so she shrugged, then stood & called, "Souichi!! You & your friends can sit over here with us!!" Kurama turned at the sound of his human name, & his eyes widened when he saw who had called to him. "Amara?!?! What are you doing here?!?!" he exclaimed in shock. She laughed. "This is my favorite restaurant!!! I just finished a meeting with my friends, so I brought my adopted daughter with me since she loves this place, too," she explained. After Amara finished speaking, Hotaru stood & bowed traditionally. When she stood up straight again, she smiled at them & said, "I'm her adopted daughter. Name's Hotaru Tomoe, but now I have to be called Hotaru Tenou, which is pretty cool, too, but I still prefer Tomoe over Tenou." Hotaru sat back down.
Kurama smiled at Amara, walked over, & took a seat beside her. Kuwabara took the seat beside Hotaru, grinning. Amara glared at him, then watched as Yusuke took the seat beside Kuwabara, also grinning. Hiei then sat beside Kurama, while Koenma took the last seat. Amara continued glaring at Kuwabara, who was snickering at Kurama. Amara's glare hardened, but she couldn't reach across the table. Hotaru saw the look in her adoptive father's eyes, got the message, turned around, & punched Kuwabara right in the face. Amara snickered, then cracked up when she saw that the firefly had caused Kuwabara's nose to bleed, having been hit so hard. She told Hotaru, "Firefly, you've been around Lita & me way too long if you can hit that hard!!!!" Hotaru laughed, too.
Moments later, Semreh came walking up to their table with Amara & Hotaru's usual order. After he set it down, he caught sight of Kurama, & Hotaru saw him tense up. She could feel that anger was surging up from his heart, & she knew that she'd been right about him loving Amara. However, Amara & Kurama were busy talking. Hiei thought, 'I wonder if I should tell these two that his name's really Kurama, not Souichi…' Suddenly, he sensed great anger, so he turned. Semreh was watching Kurama & Amara talk, hate clearly visible in his eyes. He felt that someone else could sense it, too. He turned in the direction his senses were pointing him to, & saw Hotaru looking up at Semreh also. She then noticed that Hiei was looking at her, so she hitched a smile onto her face. Then she saw Yusuke looking at her, his eyes holding a curious look. She realized he could sense that she had sensed Semreh's hatred, as could Hiei.
She looked at her tea, sadness entering her heart. It was because looking into Semreh's eyes reminded her of the pain she had once felt back in the days of the Silver Millenium; she'd been in love, but her beloved's parents betrothed him to another. The rage in Semreh's eyes was the exact same as her own after hearing his parents' decision. At this memory, Hotaru placed her face in her hands, leaped up from her seat, then bolted out the door, crying. Amara watched her run, then sighed & held up three fingers. "Three, two, one," she said exasperatedly, then pointed at the door. Instantly, the sound of a motorcycle engine was heard, then roared off into the distance. She sighed again.
"Forgive Hotaru. Something must've reminded her about her past, &, well, she doesn't like being reminded of the past, so she does that. Of course, sometimes it's my car," she added. The others stared at her in shock. "She… can drive… a motorcycle… & a car?!?!" Koenma asked, therefore voicing the question on everyone's minds. Amara sighed a third time. "Yes, I taught her, so she always does something like that when she gets upset. Poor Firefly, always crying because of painful memories that she wishes she could eliminate…"
"Ahem!! Amara, here's your ticket," Semreh interrupted, handing her a piece of paper. In the process, he knocked over Amara's soup, which was still hot, & it landed in Kurama's lap. "Aaaaggghhh!!!!!" he cried, leaping up. Yusuke panicked, so he threw water on Kurama in hopes that would stop the burning. Koenma checked on Kurama, as did the others, while Amara stood & walked outside to wait for Hotaru, all the while Semreh watched Kurama chase Yusuke around the store with satisfaction at Kurama's embarrassment.
When the five guys walked out of the restaurant, Kurama let out a yell of surprise, causing the others to look at him, & Amara to come running. "Souichi!!! Is something wrong?!?!" she asked worriedly, then stopped. Everyone looked at Kurama in shock; what had once been water on him was now ice! He looked at them with shocked eyes, then asked, "What's going on?! Why am I becoming frozen like this?!" Amara stared at him because now what Amy had said made sense. "I tried contacting Mercury, but it wouldn't give me any power at all. It's almost as if I were only a temporary host of Mercury's Ice of Knowledge. & now, the real heir to throne of Mercury has received their power, or is coming close to achieving their power." 'That means he's…!!!' She realized what that meant. Then, she stopped & shook her head, thinking, 'No way, I can't be sure about that until an enemy comes along that's strong enough to bring that part of him out.' Just then, the temperature quickly dropped. 'What the…?!?' Yusuke thought.
Out of nowhere, a man appeared perched on top of the nearest lamppost. They realized that he looked like Kurama, but his hair was blue instead of red, & his eyes were also blue instead of green. They also noticed that the lamppost the man was on was covered in ice. He grinned, then raised his right hand above his head. Instantly, aquamarine-colored ice formed in his palm, then he thrust his arm forward at them, yelling, "Shine Blast!" The five guys shielded their faces with their arms. Amara used her speed as a Uranusian & dodged the attack. She then charged at the man & cried, "Eat this, you jerk!!!" Navy-colored energy surrounded her right fist, & she hurled it at the man, yelling, "Space Shaking!" He vanished from his perch.
When Amara landed, she landed on a patch of ice & nearly toppled over. But suddenly, an arm swung out of nowhere & grabbed her waist. "Amara, my love," a voice whispered into her ear. She turned & saw it was the man, & he was smirking. "Join me… I can protect you better than Kurama could ever protect you…" Her eyes widened. "Who's Kurama?" she questioned. "Oh yes, I forgot… You call him Souichi… My fault…" he hissed. At this, Amara cried, "Let me go, you freak!!!!" With that, she broke free of his grip, then swung around & punched him full in the face. He stumbled back, holding his face, which the others could see blood dripping from in between his fingers.
"Amara!!!" four voices cried. Amara turned just as Michelle, Lita, & Hotaru rushed past her. Amy stopped once she reached Amara & exclaimed, "Amara!! Are you hurt?! Hotaru contacted us through telepathy to say that you were in trouble, so we met up with her, then hurried over here as quickly as we could!!" Amara grinned at her blue-haired friend. "It's alright, Amy. I'm fine," she assured her. She glared at the man. "Can't say the same for him, though!!!" Lita, Amara, Michelle, & Hotaru all nodded simultaneously, then charged at the same time, crying out their attacks. "Oak Crash!" "Space Shaking!" "Submarine Submerge!" "Silence Wall!" Their attacks merged into one, then hit the man. He stumbled back, then glared at them all before hissing, "My name is Hermes, & don't any of you forget it. In fact, I'll make sure you don't!!" With that, Hermes raised his hands & cried, "Shine Blast!" Hermes threw his attack… right at Kurama!
Amara gasped. "Souichi!! Move!!!" she cried out to him, outstretching her right hand to him. Kurama pulled out his Rose Whip, then lashed at the aquamarine-colored ice. Its direction changed, then it hurled towards Amara. She stepped back, unsure of what to do. Kurama saw this, then instinctively ran at her. He jumped between Amara & the ice, then held his Rose Whip high above his head. Suddenly, he & his whip began glowing blue. The Rose Whip then morphed into a whip made of blue ice. Kurama swung the whip back, then lashed at the ice with it & cried, "Aqua Blast!" Blue ice shot from his whip & collided with the aquamarine ice, sending it flying backwards, away from Kurama & Amara. Hermes glared at Kurama before stating, "The prince of Mercury is awake again." At this, Amara fainted. Hermes then teleported away before Kurama's attack hit him, so it struck & froze a lamppost.
Kurama stood in stunned silence, then turned to the others & asked, "How did that happen?" Amy rushed up to him, smiling. "So you're the true heir to the throne & power of Mercury!!" He stared at her like she was crazy, so Michelle stepped forward to explain. "That's Amy Anderson, the former Sailor Mercury. I said 'former' because she lost her power. She figured that it was because she was a temporary host of Mercury's power. After Amara & Hotaru left the house, Amy said that she'd been having dreams of a man with long red hair & bright green eyes for the past week. Apparently, it all points to one thing: Mercury's future ruler was never a princess; it was a prince. You are that prince: The prince that controls the Ice of Knowledge." Now it was Kurama's turn to faint. When he did so, everyone just stood there for a moment, then Kuwabara picked up Kurama, while Lita picked up Amara. Meanwhile, Amara was remembering a part of her life in the Silver Millenium that she'd forgotten.
"Mercury! Mercury!!" Princess Uranus called, walking down a hall in the Space Palace of Uranus. She then walked outside & sat down in the rose garden. "Where'd he get to?" she fumed, tending to some white roses. "Right next to you," a voice beside her said, making her jump. Uranus whirled around & came face-to-face with…
"What the heck?!" Amara yelled, sitting upright, panting & sweating. "Amara? You alright?" Lita called through the door. Amara looked around herself; she was in her room, laying in her bed. She turned to the closed door & called back, "Yeah, I'm fine, Lita." "Okay. If you say so," Lita called, then walked off down the hallway. Amara put her right hand to her forehead, then ran her fingers through her hair, thinking, 'There was no way in the nine planets of this galaxy that could've been possible… Prince Mercury… Souichi is Prince Mercury? That can't be…' She slid off her bed, then walked to her door & opened it. She walked down the hallway, then headed down the stairway.
"Hey, Hotaru. How's everything going with you?" Amara asked her black-haired friend. Hotaru looked up from her book on Greek mythology & smiled at her tall companion. "It's all cool here," she replied. "That boy, Souichi, he's the true ruler of Mercury. I felt ice & knowledge radiating from him. There's no denying that he's Prince Mercury, Amara." Amara sighed. "I… I just had a dream of him. I saw him in a rose garden. He looked so happy to see me," she added thoughtfully. Hotaru snapped her book shut & declared, "That settles it. We've got to protect him & his friends from now on."