Chapter 10

He stood silently, feeling the wind lash at his face. The faint hints of rain earlier in the evening had been replaced with a dark, dense cloud cover that touched the tips of the highest buildings in Tokyo. Street lights and city signs had sprung to life in the past half hour, struggling to gain purchase against the oppressive cloud layer above.

But those imposing stratus formations absorbed the brilliant beams like giant gray sponges, reflecting none of their warmth onto the city below. There was an almost operatic element to the scene, a gothic elegance to the soaring peaks of the city beset by clouds. A fierce gale whipped through his clothes, blowing the cape out behind him.

His mind was more alive than it had ever been. Artemis's training exercises had developed his already formidable magical instincts. He did not have the power to read minds, but he could already feel those below him, sense their presence amidst the garbled mesh of the psychic realm.

It was fascinating. He could sense intents, feelings of others. His mind marveled at the knowledge at his disposal and he immersed himself into it. Tokyo had a frantic energy to it, nervousness, whispered elation, ruthlessness, and cynicism all swirling into that great morass of humanity.

He shivered, though he was not cold.

Artemis noticed the unconscious reaction and spoke softly. "Retainer, is anything the matter?"

"No, Artemis. Just thinking about some things," Kevin not quite lied. "A lot has happened in the past few weeks. I'm still struggling to adjust."

He smiled quickly and changed the subject. "So, Artemis, does Minako have anything to do with the Moon Kingdom? After all, you have attached yourself to her."

The cat chuckled. "No, no, she's just a nice young lady who found me one day while I was searching for the senshi. She seemed to like me quite a bit, so I decided to stay there for the past couple of years. I am glad that you two are becoming friends. Minako-chan is really a wonderful girl."

"I know. She's a really fun person."

Artemis stirred uncomfortably. "Though I am quite worried for her grades. She's going into the honors program at her high school and I'm not sure that she'll be ready for it."

"I wouldn't worry about it. She's very intelligent. Whatever she puts her mind towards, she'll get."

The cat laughed again. "I am not sure about the intelligence, but I agree with her need for focus. I hope that cram school can help her a little bit with all her subjects."

Kevin shrugged. "Cram school, from what I understand, is not really an efficient method of teaching subjects. Hell, I could probably teach her better than they could."

"Would you? I'm sure that she would appreciate it."

The man shifted uncomfotably. "I'm not sure. I don't know her that well. It would be...you know...kind of weird."

Not to be disuaded, "Well, Minako attends Glory cram school. I hear that Glory has a couple of positions open for college aged students. How about you try there? I'd really appreciate it if you could help her. She needs your help."

"I don't know, Artemis." Kevin scratched his head. "I do need some disposable income though."

"Hey, it all works out!" The cat beamed up at him. "Thanks!"

"Umm...no problem?" Kevin looked a little confused again, but this time shrugged it off. It was a simple challenge for him to deal with. He smiled again, before lapsing into an uncomfortably moody silence.

Artemis cocked his head slightly and spoke softly. "Retainer, are you sure that everything is alright?"

"Of course, why would anything be wrong?"

The cat examined the young man with a careful eye. Kevin was an intelligent kid, a quick study with good tactical and strategic instincts. As he had in the Silver Millennium, the Retainer applied himself readily to the task of understanding all the secrets of his dirty trade.

That made him dangerous and useful in all the usual ways. Artemis had to remind himself that this was not a malleable thirteen year old for him to awe with the prospect of becoming a princess. He had detected a little skepticism early on and had moved appropriately to quell it. Artemis had originally planned to introduce Kevin's powers as he had Minako's, by giving him the words and phrases to say aloud. Instead, Artemis forced Kevin to reach inside himself and draw the magic from within. Placing the proof of powers into Kevin's own hands had forestalled most of the awkward questions that might have resulted.

And for all his formidable intelligence, Kevin was a terrible liar. When he refused to meet your eyes, shuffled his feet uncomfortably, and changed the subject, it was clear that there was more to be said than the young man was willing to reveal.

"Retainer, I agree. It has been a hard few weeks for you. I know I've fed a lot of information to you. If you have any questions, please tell me. I want to help you adjust to this situation as quickly and as easily as possible. I'm here as a resource, your resource."

Kevin nodded uneasily. "And I thank you for that Artemis, but really I'm quite alright."

"But you have concerns." Said almost harshly, it was not a question.

The young man winced, as if caught in a lie. "They're unimportant."

The cat's voice modulated slightly, softly pleading with Kevin. "They're important. I would not have invested the defense of the Moon Princess into you, if I didn't trust you to have legitimate concerns. You must talk about them, if we are to come to an understanding."

Kevin nodded, still clearly ill at ease. "It's just that I'm not really used to the power that I've been granted. It seems a little arbitrary. I mean, why me?"

Artemis sighed. "It is not for us to question what destiny path has in store. It will show us the way eventually."

The man shook his head. "Artemis, you didn't even answer my question. These tremendous powers come with tremendous responsibilities. For a ruler as enlightened as Queen Serenity, it seems awfully irresponsible to safeguard these powers with only our words of honor that we won't misuse them."

"You may not talk of Queen Serenity in such a way! She may be gone from this plane of existence, but I will not tolerate slander of her good name. She is still your sovereign and you must cherish her memory!"

Kevin winced. "Sorry. I didn't mean any disrespect. But it seems a little dangerous to be giving powers away to people who might or might not do the right things with them. In the absence of evil, what good does power do?"

"Evil is still present in this world, in case you forgot. And for your concerns, I think that as long as Serenity's morals guide those she endowed, there is nothing to fear."

Kevin persisted softly. "But what if they don't? What if the siren song of power is too great to resist? What if what they say is true and power does corrupt?"

Stubbornly, "Never has happened. Magic is too noble an art for such crassness."

Kevin paused for a moment. "But didn't it? Magical power in the hands of the morally bankrupt....and you get Beryl."

Artemis, tiring of the argument, fixed Kevin with a steely stare. "That is none of our concern. Beryl is irrelevant! All that we need to know is that our guiding principles are those of Queen Serenity herself. It is not our place to question them. It is simply our duty to obey her final orders and protect the Moon Princess with whatever resources available. Let destiny decide the rest." He glowered suddenly. "If you feel you're not up to that task, then we can terminate this association right now and stop wasting everyone's time."

Kevin bit off another comment and shook his head. "No, no you're right. I'm sorry. I'm just really confused about his entire thing."

The cat responded gruffly. "As I said before, that's natural. But there are some questions that are best left unanswered. We are in the middle of a war, Kevin. Perhaps some other time, when peace is here to stay, we can talk about the moral application of magical power. But we can't afford to discuss it right now. We just have to trust that Serenity gave us adequate guidance and leave it at that

"Now be silent. We're on patrol and must be ready for any danger."

Kevin nodded and silently moved to the edge of the roof. He gazed silently at the still busy streets below, marveling at how in control of his senses he was. Everything seemed a little sharper, a little clearer than before. The sounds of traffic and idle chatter sounded crisp in his ears, able to differentiate between each word easily. Even his eyesight, which had worsened in recent years, seemed to improve while he was transformed. Stronger, smarter, faster.

He was still himself, but better, more perfect than before. It was an exhilarating feeling that he didn't want to let go of.

And that frightened him deeply. Not that he relished his imperfections, but Kevin wondered if he could truly go back to what he was before. Would it even be possible to accept imperfection again?

It was that dangerous mental trap which Artemis seemed to be blind to, electing to wrap his words in declarations of destiny.

Kevin didn't even believe in fate, preferring the bull-headed arrogance of self-determined destiny. To him, fate was a concept for those who sought to dodge responsibility for their actions, good or bad.

But he had enough respect for Artemis to keep quiet about such things until later. Kevin's eyes narrowed. 'Be that as it may, I am responsible for my own path. I can't afford to be complacent about it.'