PREY OF THE QUEEN SPIDER
Chapter 5: "The Call To Arms"
A Sailor Moon fanfic
By Bill K.
Yawning, Usagi made her way at a slower than usual pace from her apartment building. It was earlier than she usually left for art school and the early morning hours as usual took their toll on her. She'd almost overslept because Mamoru wasn't there to wake her up with a loving kiss on the lips and a gentle rub of her shoulders - - and other parts - - because he was still in Nagasaki. And today was more important than usual that she get up, because she'd wanted to stop by Hikawa Shrine and check in on Rei's grandfather before school. Fortunately Luna had managed to get her up.
"She didn't have to use her claws, though," muttered Usagi. The woman absently rubbed her bottom.
The memory of her promise to Rei to look in on her grandfather prompted more speed from the young blonde. She'd left early enough to get there, visit Grandpa and still get to school on time, but the sooner she got there, the more time she'd have to spend with the old priest. Knowing him, if he was sick, a visit from a young woman might be just the thing for him.
As she walked, though, Usagi couldn't put the nameless feeling of unease out of her head. It had first come to her the previous night and no matter what she did, Usagi couldn't expel it. A call to her husband had ascertained that he was fine and only succeeded in giving him the impression that she was even more immature than she actually was. While he'd been kind about it, Usagi still felt embarrassed.
And she still felt uneasy.
"I hope it's not Grandpa," Usagi whispered to herself. "Rei would just die if something happened to him."
Eventually she reached the steps of Hikawa Shrine. Giving them a dismal look, for the gods hadn't answered her fervent prayers and reduced their height, Usagi began climbing them, satchel in one hand and art board in the other. At the top of the stairs, Yuuichiro swept the stone paths and wondered how many more days he'd have to endure until his beloved Hino-sama would return.
An inhuman gasp made him look up.
"Tsukino-san!" he gasped, seeing the frazzled woman teetering at the top step. He ran over. "I-I mean Chiba-san! Are you hurt! Did something attack you?"
"S-Steps!" Usagi gasped out, flushed and panting.
"Would you like some water?"
Usagi nodded, violently sucking in air.
Moments later she was sitting on a stone bench sipping water. Yuuichiro looked on, expecting her to have a heart attack at any moment.
"Are you all right now?" he inquired.
"Yeah," panted Usagi, her hand on her chest. "Boy I'm out of shape! I'm sorry if I scared you."
"It's all right," Yuuichiro replied, still a little spooked. "I live to serve. Um, what brings you here? Rei-san isn't back from university yet."
"I know. She asked me to peek in on Grandpa. How's he doing?"
Yuuichiro looked down with brow furrowed and immediately Usagi grew concerned.
"He's slowed down," Yuuichiro admitted. "The past month has been a series of trials for him. There are days when he's nearly his old self. Then there are days when his energy seems to go. Some of those days he doesn't even get out of bed." Yuuichiro took a haunted breath. "Chiba-san, I didn't think anything could defeat the Master. I-I thought he was invincible. But he walks more slowly now. His hand shakes when he lifts a pot of water."
"I hope he hasn't got that Y2K bug Ami was telling me about last week," Usagi said.
"Um," Yuuichiro said, because he didn't know how else to respond.
"Has he been to a doctor?" Usagi asked.
"Two weeks ago. The doctor says it's circulation problems. His arteries are hardening and narrowing. The doctor gave him pills. Sometimes he takes them. Sometimes I have to remind him." Yuuichiro smiled. "That's when he yells at me and I know my old master is still in there."
"Does Rei know?"
"He hasn't told her," Yuuichiro related, "and he ordered me not to. He said she'd find out soon enough when she visits between quarters. Oh, the walls are going to rattle then."
"Is it all right if I visit him?" Usagi asked. Yuuichiro looked up at her.
"Yes, Chiba-san," he nodded. "I think he'd like that."
Grandpa was laying in bed. He felt too alert to sleep, but too drained to get up. His head propped up, he rested a book on his chest and read. A timid knock came on the door.
"Yuuichiro, I've told you and told you that you don't have to knock!" growled the old priest. "Bonehead."
The door slid open and Usagi peeked in.
"Oh, Chiba-san! Well this is a pleasant surprise! I can't think of the last time I had a pretty woman in my bedroom - - which is as depressing a thought as I can think of. Come in, come in!"
"Grandpa, you don't have to be formal with me," clucked Usagi. "I've told you and told you it's Usagi." She sat down near his futon. "How are you feeling?"
"Yuuichiro blabbed, didn't he?" Grandpa scowled. "Well, it's my own fault, I guess. I told him not to tell Rei, but I didn't say anything about anyone else." He wagged a shaky finger at the woman. "Now don't you tell Rei anything! Not until after her finals are done! She's got enough to worry about. And we both know that if she finds out, she'll come tearing down here and miss her finals and all the hard work she put in this quarter will be for nothing. She can find out next week. I'm not going anywhere that quickly."
"All right," Usagi replied, but she clearly wasn't happy about it. "Now how are you doing?"
"I have good days and bad," he shrugged. "I need to get out of this bed, though, and tend to my garden. Yuuichiro doesn't know the first thing about gardening. Beats me why I put up with him sometimes."
"Maybe you'd feel better if you took your pills," offered Usagi.
Grandpa sighed. "Usagi," he said, a bittersweet smile on his face, "I'm coming to the end of my journey. Some young doctor and his pills aren't going to change that. Besides, they irritate my stomach. Is that a price worth paying for a couple of extra months?" He could see tears welling up in Usagi's eyes and patted her hand. "The journey ends for all of us. I know that. When you get to be my age, it's a truth you can't escape. I don't welcome it. I'll miss a lot of things, most of all seeing pretty young things like you. But it's coming. Whether it's next week or next year, my journey's going to end and there's nothing I can do to stop it. So I accept it."
"But what about Rei?" Usagi whimpered. "How is she going to go on without you?"
"I wonder that myself sometimes," Grandpa murmured. "For all the growing she's done, there's still a lot of that little six year old girl in her that had to stand there and watch her mother die." His emotions momentarily got the better of him. "That look in her eyes that night still haunts me. I don't want to be the cause of her getting that look again." He sighed. "But I can't avoid it. And she's got to learn to deal with it, because she's going to have to deal with it again and again in her life."
The old priest reached out and squeezed Usagi's hand.
"I'm just glad that the gods were merciful and blessed Rei with you," he said. "You're the best thing that ever happened to her, Usagi. You don't know how much of a difference you've made in her life. You couldn't know. The only thing that allows me to face my end with some peace is knowing that you'll be there for Rei. I don't want to think where she'd be if she hadn't met you."
"Thank you, Grandpa," Usagi sobbed happily.
"And Usagi," he continued. "I know Rei is studying the priesthood because she thinks she's obligated to. I happen to think she'd make an excellent priest. Her spiritual side is very strong." He sighed. "But I know she has another side to her, a side that yearns to be more modern. She's chosen to ignore that side and that's her choice. It's her life. But someday, after I'm gone and can't tell her myself, if she reaches a point in her life when she's only a priest because it's her obligation and not her choice, tell her I said it was OK for her to do something else. I only want her to be happy."
Robbed of her voice, Usagi nodded.
Sensing the overwrought emotions of the moment, the old priest's mouth turned up and his dim eyes twinkled with mischief.
"So how about a kiss, honey?" he leered.
"Grandpa!" gasped Usagi.
"Not even for old times sake?" he chuckled.
Usagi gave him a cynical smirk. Then she leaned over and kissed him on the forehead.
"Oh well," he chuckled. "Half a loaf's better than none"
At that moment, miles away, the monk Kakusui paused at the door to Makoto's room in the temple. He had been up since five trying to go through his usual routine in pursuit of spiritual enlightenment. However his concentration had not been at its best throughout the morning, no matter what he did. His thoughts kept returning to Makoto and whether she had returned.
After not finding her at the clinic the previous evening, his first thought was to look for her. However, he resisted the impulse. Makoto was an adult and could choose her own path. He might not agree with the actions she might take, but unless she sought out his advice he would keep it to himself. He knew that the woman possessed a strong sense of right and wrong and would be compelled to seek out those who she felt had done wrong. It was not up to him to tell her not to do so. He had no hold over her.
The night, though, had been restless and the morning distracted. Softly he rapped on the door.
"Kino-san?" he called out in as soft a tone as he could manage and still be heard.
There was no answer.
"Kino-san, are you awake?" he persisted. "Kino-san?"
Now the concern for her gripped him like a pair of pliers around his throat. He knocked again, more insistently this time. There was still no answer.
"Kino-san, please answer," he called out.
There was no response. A decision was made.
"If I enter and find you in a compromising state," Kakusui grimaced as he thought, "I beg you, please understand!"
The door opened freely, as there were no locks on the temple doors. Kakusui looked around the room. Her futon wasn't slept in and still possessed the obsessively immaculate creases in the sheets from when Makoto had made it. There was no evidence that Makoto had been in the room at any time during the night, possibly not since five the previous afternoon.
He had always been taught not to interfere in the lives of others, to flow as the water in the face of life choices he didn't agree with. But he had also always been taught to offer aid to anyone who might need it, whether asked or not. That life choice extended to the most casual acquaintance or the most total stranger. Makoto was much more to him than that, so there wasn't even a second thought.
Kakusui headed down the towering steps of the temple at a consistent, rapid pace. The police needed to be involved, at once, and since there were no phones in the temple, he would have to run to the prefecture's constabulary and inform them in person. His sandals hit the bottom step and the monk pivoted north. It was only three miles - - hardly a distance worth considering in any event and insignificant in light of the friendship he had with Makoto.
And as he ran, Kakusui prayed that he hadn't acted too late.
Struggling with her satchel, her utensil case, her drawing board and a small sack of food she was planning to prepare for the evening meal, Usagi exited the elevator and headed for her apartment. Though the apartment they lived in didn't have the spaciousness or the upscale comfort of either her parents' home or Mamoru's former apartment, it never seemed dim or tiny when they were together in it. It seemed - - intimate.
Without him, though, it was just cramped.
"I hope it's after six," Usagi thought as she fumbled for her keys with hands full of everything. "Mamo-chan will be out of his study group and I can call him." She struggled to aim the key into the lock with her hand weighted down with parcels. "Now remember, you can only talk to him for twenty minutes. Mamo-chan needs his study time."
The woman stopped and sighed.
"Two weeks is such a long time!" Usagi thought.
The key turned in the lock and the door opened. Usagi shuffled over the threshold and set her board and utensil case down by her art table, then uttered a sigh of relief. To her surprise, Luna came bounding up.
"Thank goodness you're home, Usagi!" Luna blurted out. The cat seemed frantic. "You need to call that monk, Kakusui, immediately!"
"What's wrong?" Usagi asked.
"He called here earlier from a police station. Apparently Makoto is - - is missing!"
"Missing?" Usagi gasped.
"He said he thinks she went into some woods near the temple about five last evening," Luna explained. "He wasn't very clear why. But she hasn't returned."
Instantly the satchel and the bag of food dropped to the floor. Usagi turned violently and scampered to the front door. She stopped only long enough to search through her purse.
"Where are you going?" Luna demanded.
"To the temple!" Usagi responded. "Mako-chan's in trouble! That's what I've been feeling all day and all last night! It has to be! Mako-chan's in trouble and I have to find her!"
"Usagi, don't go charging in by yourself! Call the others!"
"Luna, there isn't time! Minako is in Hokkido, and-and Rei's at the university! And Ami's all the way in England! They'd never get here in time! Mako-chan may not have the time to wait for them!" Usagi grew visibly sad. "Besides, they have their own lives now."
Once again purpose seized the woman. She frantically fumbled with the door knob and finally succeeded in pulling the door open.
"I'll find her, Luna! I promise!"
And Usagi slammed the door behind her, leaving behind a small black cat with a very pained, worried expression.
At the train station, Usagi put the credit card back in her purse and clutched her ticket. She'd been reluctant to use the credit card. Mamoru didn't like using them. Her father had set up the account, but Mamoru demanded they only use it in an emergency. She still cringed at the memory of the huge fight they had because Mamoru hadn't considered buying a new pair of fashion boots an emergency. This was the first time she'd used it since that night.
"This has to count as an emergency, Mamo-chan," Usagi whispered to herself as she walked to the platform. "Mako-chan's in trouble and I have to get to her."
Moments dragged on as Usagi waited on the platform and fidgeted. With every passing second, her imagination conjured up some new and horrible fate that her friend was suffering. It continued unabated as Usagi glanced at the clock again and again and waited and worried.
"Oh, where is that train!" Usagi murmured in frustration. "Please don't let me be too late! Oh please be all right, Mako-chan!"
"Hey, Dumpling!" Usagi heard Haruka say, although it couldn't possibly be Haruka. "Going our way?"
The woman turned and to her surprise saw not only Haruka standing there in jeans and a sponsor's windbreaker, but Michiru on her left in a yellow sundress, and Setsuna to her right and just behind her in a less than flattering grey suit jacket and skirt. For a moment, Usagi couldn't believe her eyes.
"What are you three doing here?" Usagi gasped, relief flooding into her stricken soul.
"Luna called Setsuna," Michiru explained with that gentle, controlled manner that always made her seem so superior in a crisis. "She said Makoto may be in trouble."
"And we have come to offer our assistance," Setsuna added deferentially, "My Princess."
For a moment, Usagi seemed stunned. Then her face melted into intense gratitude. She ran up, flung her arms around Haruka's neck and hugged the woman.
"Why does she always hug you first?" Michiru asked with a wry smile and an arched eyebrow.
"Can I help it if women find me attractive?" smirked Haruka. Usagi's arms let go at light speed.
"Now stop that!" Usagi barked, stomping her foot.
"Forgive them their risque humor, My Princess," Setsuna told her. "We are committed to your mission and pledge to act under your command."
"Thank you," Usagi smiled. "Four of us can be four times the help for Mako-chan." The woman glanced at the clock again. "If only that train would get here!"
"My car's in the parking lot," offered Haruka. "I can drive us there."
"But you only have a two-seat sports car," Setsuna pointed out.
Haruka shrugged. "Dumpling can sit in my lap," she smirked.
Usagi blushed. Michiru's eyes narrowed. Outwardly she seemed calm, but Haruka suddenly jumped as if pinched.
"I shall purchase our tickets," Setsuna said, glancing at her friends with mild reproach. "Perhaps by the time I return the train will have arrived."
Once Setsuna was gone, Haruka and Michiru glanced back at Usagi. They saw a woman consumed with worry and perhaps just a smidgen of guilt. Michiru reached out and grasped Usagi's shoulder.
"Makoto knows how to handle herself in a fight," Michiru told her. "If she has run into trouble, she's an experienced enough warrior to know how to survive until we arrive. We will get there in time."
"Oh, I hope so," Usagi murmured. Her hands were at her chin and she nervously chewed on a thumb.
Continued in Chapter 6