Chapter Four

"Prince Endymion..." a voice called, softly, to a slumbering mind.

"Who is it? Tai itsukun? Is it you that calls me?" Endymion questioned, a bit bewildered when four men appeared before him; their eyes distinctly worried.

"We are the four gods of the Shi Jin Ten Chi Sho. I am known as Genbu, and these behind me, are Suzaku, Seiryu, and Byakko. We need your help, Prince Endymion, as never before."

"Why? Didn't Tai-itsukun give me the task of finding just the Suzakusichisei?" Endymion asked, as confusion and concern warred for supremacy within him. Genbu nodded.

"She did, indeed. But now, things have gotten much worse." Genbu murmured.

"What do you mean?" Endymion again asked, his voice dropping to a whisper.

"Our new enemies have gotten a lot stronger since she last spoke to you, Prince. And you now need all twenty-eight seishi to fight against them." Byakko stated, speaking up for the first time in Endymion's presence.

"But where should I start? And what could possibly awaken them? Both of the previous mikos are dead; one was murdered, and the other has already passed away from old age." Endymion murmured, worriedly.

"Tai-itsukun has taken care of that much, Earth Prince, have no fear. And you now carry with you the signs of all four gods. Take care, and guide them well. We are counting on you." Genbu said, as he placed a clawed hand on the Earth Prince's armored shoulder, before slowly disappearing into the shadows of the young man's mind.

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Mamoru bolted upright in his bed, his body soaked in a cold sweat. At first, disorientation was the strongest feeling within him; his heart was pounding fiercely in his chest as he glanced around the room. It took him those few moments to remember that he and the mixed group of senshi and reborn seishi (and the two mikos) had stopped for the night in Morioka, and would continue on their way in the morning.

"You all right, Mamoru-san?" Nuriko's voice asked, startling Mamoru a little bit.

"I'm okay." Mamoru replied, a bit shakily, yet sensed that the seishi could tell that he was lying.

"You're as pale as a ghost. What did you dream about that scared you this badly?" Nuriko asked, as he propped himself up on his elbows and gazed seriously at him (he was camped out on the floor beside one of the beds, since Hotohori was sleeping in one, Mamoru had the middle one, and Chichiri had the last. Everybody else got the floor, and the girls were in the room next door).

"Nuriko...I'm not exactly sure how to explain it, but I think the stakes have gotten a lot higher since last night." Mamoru murmured.

"How so, Mamoru-kun?" Hotohori asked, also having been awakened by Mamoru's unease.

"While I was sleeping, Genbu, Byakko, Suzaku and even Seiryu came to me. They told me that the enemy has gotten stronger than the seven of you could handle alone, and that the awakening of all of the seishi is now essential." Mamoru replied, as disgruntled looks appeared on the two seishis' faces.

"You mean...you have to awaken even the Seiryusichisei?" Nuriko asked. This got a grim nod from Mamoru as a response.

"In other words, we're going to need the full might of the heavens, along with the Sailor Senshi, in this fight...Especially since it concerns both worlds." Mamoru murmured, as he propped his arms on his folded knees, and placed his chin on top of them; his deep blue eyes full of foreboding.

"Reason enough to be concerned, no da." Chichiri said, as he also sat up and gazed thoughtfully at the Earth Prince.

"But, who is to say if the Seiryusichisei will even agree to help us? Or the seishi of Genbu or Byakko, for that matter?" Hotohori questioned.

"I don't know. Judging from what Miaka, Tamahome, Keisuke, Yui, and Tetsuya were willing to tell me in the beginning, each and every one of the Seiryusichisei had suffered some deep emotional wounds of some kind...And, deep down, I think it would be kinder to allow them to remain unawakened." Mamoru said, his gaze deeply troubled by the weight their mission had taken on in just that one night. Nuriko gave him a soft, kind smile; how much this young man reminded him of how Hotohori had been, in their former world!

"You are a good, stalwart young man, Mamoru. Konankoku could have done with more like you...But I will say this; avoiding this issue will only make things harder on all of us, in the long run. Who is to say that the Seiryu seishi won't be dragged into this conflict, anyway? This new enemy, whomever or whatever he may be, might start attacking them...and, without their powers, they will be vulnerable." Hotohori said, quietly appealing to the royal he knew sat before him. Mamoru sighed, then gave the former emperor a wry look.

"If I am allowed to do so, after all of this is over, I will make you one of my advisors, Hotohori." Mamoru murmured, getting a pleased smile from Hotohori as a response.

"Nothing would please me more." Hotohori responded, as they all watched the sunrise from where they sat; each of their thoughts heading in the same direction...Where was this new path taking them?

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Mamoru and Tamahome both flinched when Usagi and Miaka started a tug-of-war over some of the breakfast food in the food court later that same morning.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say this was an episode of Slayers!" Mamoru thought, as he gave both girls a chagrined look, then stood and walked over to the main desk.

"See what you did, Usagi? You chased Mamoru away from the table with your disgusting table manners AGAIN!" Rei snarled, getting a yowl from Usagi in response to that jab.

"I did not!" Usagi snapped, noticing when Mamoru unfolded a map and started asking the man there some questions.

"I think he's trying to figure out where the Okuda house is from here." Keisuke murmured, when he'd also noticed what his friend was doing, and Usagi's confusion over it.

"But why would he need to know? It's not like there's anything there, anymore. There's probably just an old, empty, run-down house...if there's even that. It's been over eighty years, after all." Tetsuya mused, as Mamoru returned to the table; his eyes, they noticed, having a hint of unease in them as he approached.

"What's up, Mamo?" Keisuke asked, as his classmate sat down with a weary sigh.

"The house still exists, in case you're wondering...But obviously not for much longer. It's scheduled to be demolished in a few days." Mamoru said, as he glanced at the map he still had in hand with grave certainty.

"So? Why do you even want to go there?" Tetsuya questioned, as all of those involved leaned forward; wanting to know more. Mamoru looked each of them in the eye, and sighed again.

"That house is where everything began...Where the Genbu no Miko had lived...and was eventually murdered...The reason I have for going there is to see if I can't find any clues to the whereabouts of the reborn Genbusichisei...and their miko." Mamoru quietly said, getting disbelieving looks from all of those gathered there.

"Does Tai-itsukun want you to do this? Seek out all twenty-eight seishi, and the two remaining mikos?" Tamahome asked, getting a nod from Mamoru in response.

"And that includes the Seiryusichisei as well...I can see why you're so uneasy, Mamoru-sempai." Yui said, knowing full well what kind of turmoil the man was going through.

"So, what do we do now? How are we going to find and awaken all of the seishi? We only have the phoenix amulets...and those probably won't work on the seishi of Genbu, Byakko, and Seiryu." Rei stated, having calmed down quite a bit in the few moments since the conversation had begun. Without saying a word, Mamoru reached into his knapsack, and pulled something out. To the group's shock, three more satchels full of amulets emerged; and each had their respective god and color designated to them.

"Genbu had told me that Tai-itsukun had taken care of that, and I didn't doubt it...But finding these made it seem even more real." Mamoru stated, then added, "I don't know where this is taking us...and I can only hope we'll all come out of this alive."

"Don't worry, Mamo-chan. We will. Right minna?" Usagi asked, as she turned to all of those who sat there.

"You bet!" the inner Senshi shouted.

"I certainly don't want to die again!" Hotohori stated, smiling when Nuriko agreed wholeheartedly with him.

"Me neither, Hotohori!" Nuriko said.

"No da!" Chichiri added, getting some much-needed smiles and laughter from the group.

"Then what're we waitin' for? Let's go out there and find those seishi!" Keisuke encouraged, eager to get back on the road, and continue the search. As they paid their bills and prepared to leave, Mamoru could only wonder now just how much his and Usagi's future was going to be change by all of this...And how much of it would be for the better...

Author's Note!

I realize that this was not a very exciting chapter, but I am trying to get back into writing in this again. (And, since Genbu Kaiden had just been released, I would have been remiss to ignore the Genbu seishi, ne?) More adventure to come in future chapters, so please, bear with me!

Gemini14