III
The Black Sun Dynasty
He kept his head lowered, as if looking up at her would be sinful. She sat upon her throne, her hands moving about her blowing crystal ball. Her face softened as she looked upon him, her soulless yellow eyes gleaming with affection.
"Who are you?" she asked him, her usually cold and cruel voice a little warmer for him.
"A loyal servant of the Negaverse, my queen." He replied.
"And does the earth woman mean anything to you?"
"Nothing in the least" he replied, doing his best to mask his own confusion. "I serve only you, my queen, in all things." She smiled, her fanged teeth protruding over her lips.
And now there was another presence, standing alongside him, towering, cloaked in black. A pale hand with fingernails like claws clapped onto his shoulder. He raised his eyes to it…
Mamoru shot up in bed with a thrashing jolt. He sat in the darkness, panting as the cool night air prickled his sweat soaked skin. He took a moment to gather his senses, and then reached for the switch of his reading lamp.
The light flicked on, flooding the room with illumination, and revealing the figure standing at the foot of his bed. Mamoru was silent for a moment, until the yellow eyes opened. Then he screamed.
Mamoru writhed on his bed, tangling himself in the sheets. He took a few moments then, of total silence, to be sure that this time he was really awake. He rolled onto his side and started to raise his arm, but then lowered it back down to the mattress, afraid to turn on the light; afraid of just what it might reveal.
He shivered, in spite of the warmth of the night, and remained, unmoving. He passed the remainder of the night this way, breathing in the darkness, only moving when the sun had chased away all the shadows. It was a long night.
"And when I got home, Rini was just safe and sound, taking a bath." Usagi said, her face still drawn in consternation.
"And Haruka said Hotaru was asleep in bed." Minako sighed, leaning her forehead on her hand. "And that when she woke up, she had no idea what had been going on."
"Did you tell Rini?" Rei asked carefully.
"Are you kidding?" Usagi said, a bit more forcefully than she intended to. "The less she knows about it, the better!"
"Are you sure about that?" Rei replied. "If she is turning into Wicked Lady again…"
"No way!" Usagi said, even louder, causing a few heads to turn. She lowered her head and her voice with embarrassment, "Mom and dad said she didn't leave the house once the whole night."
"Is it possible that they turned into them again and back before anyone noticed they were gone?" Makato suggested, playing with her milk shake.
"It seems unlikely…" Ami added in. "If Hotaru had turned into Mistress 9 again, Setsuna surely would have known. Besides, they were after us and Haruka and Michiru, if Hotaru had turned into her again, why would she leave Setsuna there, undisturbed, instead of attacking her?"
"And that's not all…" Usagi said, gathering everyone's attention. She glanced around, as if she were about to give out state secrets, and then whispered, "Did anyone else notice those things on their heads?"
"What things?" Makato said, tilting her head.
"You know, how Wicked Lady had that crescent moon, and Mistress 9 had a star on their foreheads?" Usagi said. "This time they didn't have them."
"You're right, I noticed that too!" Rei said, whispering as well. "They both had a black circle, with a little dot in the center."
"But what does that mean?" Minako asked.
"The sun…" said, all heads turning to face her. "It's the zodiac symbol for the sun."
"And?" Usagi said after a long silence.
"And that's it." Ami sighed, "I don't know what that means. I guess we'll just have to find out in time." She was met with a chorus of groans, and she hesitated a moment before saying "And there's something else…" All heads rose a little, interest perking. "Mistress 9 addressed us as Sailor Senshi…but she never saw our true identities before….so how did she know who we are?" She raised her eyes, and saw the weight of the notion gathering on everyone's minds. "And if they do know who we are, what's to keep them from attacking us again when we are at home, or with our families?" There was a long, painful silence as they all digested such an idea.
"Heads up, Naru's coming!" Minako suddenly said, causing everyone to jump in their seats. They all scrambled to look casual as Naru came up alongside their table.
"Hey guys, long time no see!" she said cheerfully. Her brightness gloomed a little when she saw just how serious the rest of them seemed to be. "Am I interrupting something?"
"No, of course not!" Usagi said, pushing her face up into a warm smile.
"Pull up a seat." Makato said, pushing a chair out from the table with her foot.
"Thanks." Naru replied with a smile. She placed her hand on the back of the chair, started to lower herself into it, when her head rose. She paused, her gaze going straight out the window. Her eyes narrowed, as if in thought…
"Hey, something wrong?" Minako said. Then Naru's eyes widened and a piercing scream rose from her. She took a few steps back, her feet becoming tangled with the legs of the chair, knocking both herself and the chair over onto the floor.
"Whoa!" Usagi shrieked, and immediately went on her knees to help her oldest friend.
"You okay?" Ami asked, just as shocked as the rest of them.
"What happened?" Rei said, taking Naru's hand and patting it gently.
"N-nothing…" she replied, desperately, "I just thought I saw something…"
Everyone threw her a questioning stare, and then turned their heads to look out the window that Naru had just moments ago shrunk back from. All that met their gaze was the busy streets.
"That was very unwise!" Wicked Lady sneered at their new companion. She crossed her arms in annoyance, scowling fiercely at him.
"I just wanted to see her." He said, ignoring her anger.
"What you want is of no importance." Mistress 9 scolded. "Do you want him to punish us again?" Wicked Lady shuddered at this, the very thought chilling her.
"No, of course not!" he said, jolting up straight, the thought of punishment startling him as well. "I serve the Black Sun Dynasty…"
"In all things." Wicked Lady finished for him. "See that you remember it. Remember what he said: if one of us fails, we all fail. And he will punish us as a whole." They were interrupted when Mistress 9 gave a small gasp, they both spun on their heels to face the dark shape coming toward them. "M-my lord…" Wicked Lady began, but found her words stuck in her throat as it passed by them.
It sat down on the throne, and then held its long arms out. The glowing ball materialized, and slowly the image of the huddled girls helping Naru up from the floor appeared within it. And once again, the fanged smile spread as a mind beyond wickedness continued to scheme.
