Introduction: I know, I know. It's been ages since I've uploaded anything here on this site. For the last few months I've been dealing with some pretty nasty writer's block, and things have been pretty demanding at my job on top of it all too. Well, I'm finally back with another story for my current Sailor Moon project, The Old Gods Saga. This story serves to complete the first phase of the project, the Shitennou Cycle, and covers the relationship between Ami/Sailor Mercury and Zoisite.
In truth, this story was the absolute hardest in the cycle to write for some reason. Work on it would end up stopping dead for months at a time. After month of perseverance though this story is finally about ready to start going online. I deeply apologize for the wait. Before we get into it though, I'd like to make the following acknowledgements.
I'd like to thank my beta reader, masterray5 for his help with this story so far. I know he's been going through some stuff in his own life lately too, but I'm very glad he's been able to assist me again.
Credit also has to go to Bethany89 for Zoisite's given civilian name in this story. I sort of borrowed it from her wonderful story, A Scout's Wanderings.
Disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon, nor do I own the works of H.P. Lovecraft.
Chapter 1: Miskatonic University
It was just before noon as Ami Mizuno headed for the main administration building of Miskatonic University in Arkham, Massachusetts. As Ami headed down the sidewalk, she couldn't help but take in how majestic the campus was. All of the old brick buildings making up the college caused Ami to almost feel as though she had stepped back through time to what America had been like in the early 1900s. The only thing which broke the spell was the presents of all the students walking around in modern dress. Ami was certain nobody from the early 1900s would have spiked green hair or be wearing a black t-shirt with the sleeves torn off to display the snake tattoos decorating their arms, which was how one male student who had just passed her was dressed. Even so, Ami could see herself pursuing her medical studies at a college like this one.
In a few moments Ami had arrived at the office of the university's current dean, Professor Morris Hargrove. Once the blunette had announced herself to the secretary, she was quickly shown into the dean's office. Standing behind the desk was a man in his early fifties with greying hair and a thick grey beard. The man was only slightly overweight, and was wearing a tweed jacket with brown leather patches on the elbows, black slacks with a white shirt, and a red bowtie. He had on a pair of wireframe glasses in front of his watery blue eyes.
"Ah! You must be Ms. Mizuno," the man spoke as he went over to greet Ami. "I'm Professor Hargrove. I'm delighted to finally meet you."
"Likewise," Ami responded as the dean shook her hand.
In another few moments Ami was sitting in the chair in front of Professor Hargrove's desk. The dean meanwhile had of course gone to sit in the large brown leather chair behind the desk.
Professor Hargrove tented his hands. "Well Ms. Mizuno, I should start by saying that I'm very pleased you're considering our university for your medical studies."
Ami nodded. "I haven't made any final decisions yet of course, but I am well aware of its fine reputation. In fact this was one of the top five schools my mother recommended I look into."
"I'm actually an old acquaintance of your mother you know, which is probably why she recommended our school. Anyway, I have done a little checking on you as well Ms. Mizuno, and given your academic history combined with your family background, I believe you would be a fine fit for Miskatonic."
"There is one little thing about your school which did give me pause though. It's not a deal breaker of course, but I've read online that Miskatonic has a prominent reputation with certain occult groups."
Professor Hargrove leaned back in his chair and sighed. "Yes, I was wondering if you might bring that up. In fact I'm a little glad you did because you were bound to make the discovery sooner or later, and was hoping we could get such a small yet awkward matter out of the way immediately. The reason Miskatonic has such an unfortunate reputation among those occult groups is mainly due to the books we keep in our library's restricted section; the most infamous of these being a book called the Necronomicon. I don't suppose you've heard of it."
Ami shook her head. "Just what sort of book is it?"
"It's best not to talk about it. I've never read any of it myself, but many of those who have over the years have often been left at least a little disturbed by it's contents. Anyway, from what I've heard, I believe that everything written in the Necronomicon is pure nonsense. Unfortunately many of those occult groups believe this dark book speaks the truth. In any case, I wouldn't worry much about what you read online about what's been said of the Necronomicon; much of those who make a big deal of such nonsense are simply superstitious conspiracy theorists with far too much time on their hands."
"That's pretty much what I had assumed, but I wanted to be sure."
Professor Hargrove nodded. "Well then, how about I go ahead and give you a tour of the campus to give you a better idea of what our school is like."
Thus, Ami followed the dean out of his office and went back to the ground floor of the administration building. They ended up going through a different hallway to get out from the one Ami had used to get in. The left-hand wall of this hallway was covered in photographs.
"I thought a good way to start our tour would be to show you our little Wall of Fame," Professor Hargrove spoke as he turned to face the wall of pictures. "These are some of the most famous people ever to attend our university. Though, unfortunately some of them are more infamous than famous." The dean then pointed at an old sepia-colored photo that happened to be directly in front of Ami. "Take this fellow for example, Dr. Herbert West."
The photo in question was of a young-looking man with neatly cut blonde hair. Ami couldn't help but notice how handsome this Dr. West was; yet at the same time there was something about his eyes that seemed very cold.
"Dr. West made something of a reputation for himself during the conflict we know today as World War I," Professor Hargrove continued. "He was a fine surgeon, which is why he earned a spot here on this wall. Unfortunately Dr. West was also known for diving into a rather unsavory field of medical study. He was trying to create a serum that could reanimate the dead."
"You know, a friend of mine back in Japan actually mentioned something about this doctor," Ami recalled. "But of course I didn't think much of it."
Professor Hargrove smiled and nodded. "It goes without saying that Dr. West's efforts to create a reanimation serum never succeeded. Though there was a written manuscript from a friend and colleague of West's claiming he had succeeded, at least partly. It should be noted of course that West's friend was not known to be a very unstable individual later in life. It is odd though how Dr. West one day mysteriously disappeared under circumstances which matched the details of his friend's manuscript, but I'm sure it's no more than an odd coincidence.
"Anyway Ms. Mizuno, you might be interested to know that one of your own countrymen made our little wall of fame. Unfortunately he turned out to be one of our more infamous students. His picture is down at the end near the door."
Ami followed Professor Hargrove down to the end of the hallway, where he pointed out the picture in question. The blunette couldn't help but let out a small gasp when she saw the photo. It was the color picture of a man with sickly pale skin and neatly cropped white hair. He was wearing a white lab coat and a pair of glasses with round frames. The lens over the right eye was a strange eyepiece showing a strange eye-like symbol with a star in the center.
"This is Professor Souichi Tomoe," Professor Hargrove continued, though Ami already knew the man's name. "I actually knew him at least a little bit. He was a brilliant man, but unfortunately more than a little eccentric. He became obsessed with trying to evolve the human race into a sort of 'super life form' as he called it. From what I could tell, his obsession with this area of study became even worse after the tragic accident that killed his wife and injured his daughter. We'd take Professor Tomoe's picture down from this wall were it not for the fact he donated a substantial amount of money to the university before his mysterious disappearance some years ago."
"I…I actually know about Professor Tomoe," Ami admitted. "His daughter's a friend of mine."
"Really? This is a small world! Well, let's be off. There's still so much more for you to see here."
As Ami followed Professor Hargrove out of the building, she couldn't help but think how Miskatonic University would probably not be a good fit for her after all. She didn't like the idea of attending the same college as one of the leaders of her old enemies, the Death Busters.
Ami followed Professor Hargove towards the tall clock tower standing in the very center of the campus. As they came near the square in front of the clock tower, Ami noticed a man dressed totally in black standing in the middle of the square in the process of giving some sort of speech. He had on a black hat, underneath from which grew long wavy brown hair. As they got closer, Ami noticed the wildness in the man's pale green eyes. She also noticed he was wearing a white collar, indicating he was some sort of priest of the Christian faith, though the old book this preacher had clutched in his hand did not look like a bible; the color of the book's cover was green and it had a symbol on the front resembling an octopus.
"…The time of this world's purification will soon be upon us, my friends!" the preacher declared as he went on with his street corner sermon. "I have seen it in the dreams He has shown me! The stars are now right, and very soon His city will rise from the ocean and He will come to our cities and begin His cleansing! The corruption and decay of this sinful modern world will soon be at an end, my friends! And I ask you now what you will do when He rises? Will you be running in fear only to be snuffed out like the rest of the decaying masses, or will you join with His armies and help with the purification of the world?"
As the preacher continued his ravings, Ami noticed that most of the students passing by seemed to be ignoring him completely. One or two people did stop for a few moments to listen to him, but they soon moved on when they realized he was talking nonsense.
"Right now you're listening to the daily sermon of Reverend Jim Aquarius," Professor Hargrove informed Ami. "That's not his real name of course. The police did a background check on him for us and discovered that he's actually named James Walden. He's in fact trying to revive an old religious order known as the Esoteric Order of Dagon, which once existed and thrived in an abandoned town not far from Arkham called Innsmouth. Anyway, Reverend Jim is a strange man, but he's perfectly harmless."
"…His arrival is nigh, my friends!" Reverend Jim continued. "So I ask you all now for your sake to abandon this decadent lifestyle and become His knights, lest ye all be crushed by His might and be cleansed along with the rest of the world!"
"I think we should be moving on, don't you?" Professor Hargrove suggested to Ami.
Ami nodded and began following the dean from the square. They had only gotten a few feet away though when Ami bumped into a male student who was passing by, causing him to drop some of his books. Ami quickly stopped to help the young man pick up his things when she noticed what he looked like. The young man had long wavy blonde hair tied back in a ponytail and striking emerald eyes. He was very handsome, yet also had a certain feminine quality to his features.
The reason Ami was so startled by this young man's appearance was because he was a dead ringer for another of her former enemies, Zoisite of the Shitennou, one of the four generals of the Dark Kingdom. Ami soon realized though that the young man before her couldn't possibly be Zoisite, as he had been long dead. Seeing someone who looked like Zoisite was still disconcerting though, especially after just seeing that picture of Professor Tomoe on the university's Wall of Fame.
"I'm terribly sorry," the Zoisite lookalike told Ami. "I should've looked where I was going."
"No-no, it's quite alright," Ami responded. "I was the one who wasn't paying attention."
The young man smiled. "I'm Satoru Petrov."
The blunette smiled back. "Ami Mizuno."
"Are you a new student here?"
"No, but I'm thinking of attending. Professor Hargrove is giving me a tour of the campus right now. I'm actually going to be staying in this town for a few days though."
"Well then, I hope I'll see you around."
Professor Hargrove cleared his throat to get their attention. "Ms. Mizuno, I believe we were still in the middle of a tour?"
"Oh! Yes, of course," Ami responded.
With that, Ami followed after Professor Hargrove while Satoru went off in the opposite direction.
Over the course of the next hour and a half, Professor Hargrove gave Ami a thorough tour of the campus, with the main focus being on the facilities used by the university's medical school division. When the tour ended, Professor Hargrove took Ami back to his office, where he gave her some pamphlets about the university. Ami felt certain the pamphlets contained information that Ami already knew, but she took them anyway because she felt it would've been rude to decline them. After receiving the dean's handouts, Ami assured him she would use the next week in Arkham to consider attending the university and left the office. As she headed back to the hall containing the university's Wall of Fame and thought about all she'd seen on the tour, Ami had to admit that Miskatonic had a fine medical school perhaps on par with the likes of Harvard. Even so, the fact that Professor Tomoe once attended the school still gave her pause.
When Ami finally reached the Wall of Fame, she saw a young-looking man seeming to stare at the picture of Dr. Herbert West that had been pointed out to her earlier. The man was extremely pale and wore a slightly wrinkled brown suit that looked like it was in style back in the 1920s, complete with a noticeably crooked black tie. He was tall with neatly cut blonde hair, and was quite slim and stood with a slight stoop. The man had a very studious pair of blue eyes, and though he was by no means homely gave off an aura of awkwardness rather than attractiveness. As she watched him, Ami couldn't help but think about how the man might be handsome if he were given a makeover like the kind a nerdy-looking female protagonist of a cheesy rom-com might get.
Letting her curiosity get the better of her, Ami approached the man. "Um, excuse me." The blonde nearly flinched when she spoke and examined her with those studious eyes of is as though she were some interesting form of insect. "I couldn't help but notice you looking at that picture of Dr. West. Was he a relative of yours or something?"
"…Hardly," the blonde answered as he turned his attention back to the picture. "But I have read about him and his rather…colorful experiments."
Ami looked at the picture and nodded. "I'll admit he's kind of an interesting figure from what little I've heard of him."
"He was a pathetic amateur at best. From what I've read, he never even came close to the true secret of resurrection."
Ami looked at the man with a raised eyebrow. "Pardon?"
The blonde shook his head and smiled. "Never mind. Just thinking out loud. You must forgive me, I've never been skilled at social interaction."
Ami chuckled. "That's something I've had problems with in the past as well. I'm Ami Mizuno. And you?"
"…Joseph Curwen," the man answered. "It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Ms. Mizuno. I don't believe I've ever noticed you on this campus before, though I must confess I've never paid much attention to the people around me since becoming a student here."
"I'm actually not a student. I'm only visiting for a few weeks because I'm thinking of attending the university's medical program eventually. If you don't mind me asking, what are you studying here?"
"I am…also majoring in the sciences. More specifically my focus is in the area of chemistry."
"There you are, Joe!" a voice interrupted.
Ami and Curwen both looked to see a young woman walking up to them. She had fare skin, dark-brown eyes, and long silky black hair. Her outfit consisted of a short-sleeved white polo shirt with a short flannel skirt, knee-high black socks, and white shoes.
"I've been looking all over for you," the young woman continued as she came up.
"Forgive me, Ms. Covington but I felt I needed a break to stretch my legs," Curwen responded.
The dark-haired girl put her hands on her hips. "We have an important project we need to get done, you know."
"I have not forgotten my obligation to you, but I am not a machine. I cannot perform my tasks endlessly without rest."
"Um, perhaps I should be going," Ami interrupted.
The dark-haired girl finally noticed Ami's presence. "Oh! Sorry, I didn't mean to drive you off. I'm Joe's…friend, Irene Covington."
"Ami Mizuno," the blunette responded.
"You know I'm a little surprised to find Joe here talking with someone, especially a girl. He's not exactly a social butterfly."
"Mr. Curwen and I merely met by chance," Ami explained. "We were just talking about school history."
"Is that so?" Irene replied with a smirk. "Well I do hope you could hear what he was saying. Very often when he suddenly finds himself alone with a pretty girl, he usually ends up mumbling every other word."
Curwen cleared his throat. "I believe we have taken up quite enough of Ms. Mizuno's time."
"I suppose you're right," Irene agreed. "By the way, Ami was it? Are you a new student here?"
"As I just told Mr. Curwen, I'm only visiting the college for the week to decide if I want to take the medical course here."
"Well, if you do decide to enroll, you might be interested in joining a little group Joe and I are a part of. It's called the Knights of Dagon. We're a group of concerned students looking to find a way to improve this crazy world we're living in. You're welcome to sit in on one of our meetings while you're here."
"I'll consider it. Anyway, I really should be going. It was nice meeting you, Mr. Curwen."
"A pleasure to meet you as well, Ms. Mizuno," Curwen responded.
In moments, Ami had left the administration building and was heading for the front gate of the campus. She decided she'd spend some time at her hotel for a few hours before going on a walk through Arkham. As Ami walked, she couldn't help but think about her encounter with Curwen and Irene. She found she didn't care much for Irene, but Curwen on the other hand was rather interesting. There was something about Curwen though that Ami couldn't help but find to be a little bit odd, but she couldn't put her finger on what it was.
Dusk was starting to set in as Ami walked the old brick streets of Arkham. She had been so engrossed in her sightseeing during the last few hours she had lost all track of time. Of course it had turned out Arkham had many interesting things to see. The town gave off the same historic aura the Miskatonic campus had, making Ami feel almost as though she had stepped back into America's past. Some of the locations which Ami visited dated all the way back to the 1700s, to the time when the country was still very young and had only just gained its independence from England.
"Hello again," a familiar voice spoke. Ami turned around to see the Zoisite lookalike, Satoru Petrov approaching her. "I was hoping I'd run into you."
"Um, hello," Ami responded. She didn't feel comfortable being around Satoru due to his resemblance to her dead enemy, but now that he had shown off she thought it was proper to be polite. "What brings you all the way out here, Mr. Petrov?"
"I'm just on my way home. And you?"
"I was doing some sightseeing. Right now though I'm on my way back to the hotel I'm staying at."
"I could walk you back if you like. I'll grant that Arkham isn't known as a hotbed of criminal activity, but at this time of night most of the lowlifes tend to come out of the woodwork."
"Thanks for the offer, but I'll be alright on my own."
Satoru sighed and rubbed the back of his head. "Look Ms. Mizuno, there's actually something I feel I should talk to you about."
Before Satoru could say what was on his mind, the two of them suddenly heard a loud rumbling coming from underground. Suddenly a manhole cover in the middle of the street burst off, and stretching through the hole was a sort of semi-transparent bluish-grey blob. Both Ami and Satoru immediately covered their noses to try and block the noxious smell the thing was giving off. In moments the blob had made it all the way out of the manhole and took on a spherical shape, revealing that it was about the size of a bus. As Ami tried to figure out what she was looking at, she saw what appeared to be eyeballs forming inside the blob in random places.
A few of the eyeballs dissolved back into the blob almost as soon as they appeared, only for new eyeballs to form and take their place. The eyes were all searching in random directions until they finally spotted Ami and Satoru. At that point the front of the entity extended forward and solid green scales formed on its exterior. In moments the creature had formed what appeared to be the mouth and snout of an alligator, complete with sharp yellow fangs. Only seconds after the thing's mouth had formed, ten long orange tentacles like those of a squid suddenly grew from the sides of its body.
The creature opened its new mouth and let out the cry of a single sound. "TEKELI-LI!"
Ami quickly realized that whatever the monster was, it was about to attack. Unfortunately she couldn't transform with Satoru standing right there, but with the way things were going it was starting to seem like she had no choice.
"Transform, Sailor Mercury," Satoru spoke. Ami was quite shocked by what he had just told her. "We don't have any time for you to hesitate."
Ami turned to Satoru. "How…how do you know who I am?"
"Because you already know who I am," Satoru responded as he put a clenched fist over his chest.
In an instant Satoru was enveloped in a pillar of emerald light, which faded seconds later to reveal him in a new form. A green cape with a white underside now hung from his back, and he had on a black uniform shirt underneath a piece of emerald armor over his chest. Green gloves covered his hands, and he had on long black pants with knee-high armored boots made of the same metal as the armor covering his chest. Hanging from the wide golden belt around his waist was a large sword with an ornate green handle and black sheath.
Ami quickly realized what Satoru had been trying to tell him. "You…you're Zoisite, aren't you?"
Zoisite nodded. "It's best that you focus your attention on the monster before us. Now transform before it attacks!"
Reluctantly, Ami placed a hand over her chest. "Mercury Crystal Power MAKE-UP!"
With those words, a pillar of water shot up from the ground enveloped Ami and shot into the air. The water subsided a few seconds later to reveal Ami as Sailor Mercury. As soon as Mercury finished transforming, an ornate silver lyre appeared in her hand.
Mercury strummed the strings of the lyre. "Mercury Aqua Rhapsody!"
Several streams of water shot from the lyre shot towards the immense shape-shifting entity as it continued to form new eyes within itself. The attack did minimal damage though, and only caused the creature to let out another of its shrill flute-like cries. The creature then began to glide towards them with unexpected speed, snapping its jaws at them as it approached as though it were the main character in the Pac-Man game.
Zoisite drew his sword and held it out horizontally with the flat side facing out like a shield. "Geoforce Barrier!"
Suddenly a large transparent dome made of several hexagonal segments formed around Zoisite and Mercury. The creature's nose slammed right into the dome and did no damage. It then extended its tentacles and began slamming them into the dome in an attempt to break it open. The dome seemed to be incredibly solid though.
Mercury turned to Zoisite. "Talk! What is this thing?"
"It'd take too long to explain exactly what this creature is," Zoisite responded. "I can tell you though is that it's called a shoggoth, and I can assure you I have nothing to do with it."
"And you expect me to simply believe that?"
"Why would it be attacking both of us if I were the one controlling it? We are on the same side, Sailor Mercury! Now I suggest you use your portable computer system to analyze this thing so we can find a way to beat it."
Mercury realized Zoisite had a point about how the shoggoth, as he called it, seemed to be coming after them both. She at last turned her full attention to the creature and touched her left earing, causing her special visor to appear. The computerized visor began an in-depth scan of the shoggoth through Zoisite's barrier.
"The creature seems to be in a state of genetic flux," Mercury reported. "It's as though its DNA is continuously reforming itself, which would explain how it's able to change shape and manifest different organs."
"Any idea how to beat it?" Zoisite asked.
"Give me a minute. This shoggoth or whatever you call it is proving to be a hard creature to analyze."
The shoggoth opened its mouth again and hacked out a large glob of green liquid. The glob struck the barrier and steam began to rise from it on the outside.
"Looks like it's manifested some sort of organ that allows it to spit acid," Zoisite observed. "It shouldn't be able to get through the barrier, but I can't keep it up for too long."
"It's a long shot, but we might be able to destroy it with an intense burst of electricity," Mercury reported. "It's unfortunate we don't have Mako here to help."
"We don't need her. I should be able to use an attack with enough of the electricity we need, but I'll have to drop the barrier to do it. When I lower the barrier on the count of three, fall back. The shoggoth will likely come at us as soon as it's down."
Zoisite counted to three, and the moment he spoke the final number the barrier vanished. In that second, both Mercury and Zoisite jumped back the moment the shoggoth swung its tentacles towards them.
As he landed, Zosite swung his sword through the air. "Star Crystal Cage!"
Six small green lights flew from Zoisite's sword and changed into small four-pointed crystals that flew through the air and surrounded the shoggoth.
Zoisite again held his sword horizontally with the flat side facing out. "Discharge!"
The spinning crystals were soon connected together by bolts of yellow-green electricity. All six crystals then fired even more intense bolts of lightning at the shoggoth, zapping it with what seemed like a million volts. The creature let out another of its shrill cries as it was electrocuted. Eventually the attack stopped and smoke was rising from the shoggoth's body. In another few moments the shoggoth turned totally black, and soon the creature crumbled into a pile of ash.
Zoisite breathed a sigh of relief as he sheathed his sword. "That was just a little too close for comfort. It looks like you were right about the electricity though." He then finally noticed Mercury had taken another fighting stance against him and sighed. "I told you Sailor Mercury, I'm not your enemy."
"Do you honestly think I would trust you so easily?" Mercury responded. "More importantly though, how are you even alive?"
"I brought him back," a voice interrupted.
Mercury looked and saw walking towards her a very petit young woman who stood at about four foot, seven. She had bright pink hair cut neatly above her shoulders and a pair of large thick glasses with round frames covering her eyes. Her outfit consisted of a yellow sweater with sleeves which were just a little too long for her arms, a black skirt that ended just past her knees, white knee-high socks, and a pair of blue shoes.
"It's a pleasure to finally meet you, Sailor Mercury," the pinkette spoke with a serious expression. "I'm Erica Larsen, or at least that's the name I've assumed for this mission on your planet. And I am for the time being Zoisite's superior officer."
"You brought him back from the dead?" Mercury asked. "How?"
"Through a sort of mystical art my comrades and I have at our disposal," Erica answered as she adjusted her glasses. "As I'm sure you recall, Zoisite and his three comrades were reduced to a set of four crystals when they were killed during your conflict with the organization known as the Dark Kingdom. Those crystals were in fact fossilized star seeds, which could be revived using the power my comrades and I possess."
"But the crystals you're talking about were in Mamoru's possession. How did you get them?"
Erica cleared her throat. "That…that's not important. What is important is Zoisite has been revived as the man he was before your Queen Beryl found and corrupted him again during this lifetime. He is once again Satoru Petrov, the reincarnation of one of King Endymion's four knights, and a defender of the Earth."
"And I'm supposed to simply believe what you're saying is true."
"You're skepticism is natural, but I assure you Sailor Mercury that I am speaking the truth. Also, if it will make you feel better, I am for the time being keeping Zoisite on a tight leash."
With those words, Erica walked up to Zoisite and grabbed his right forearm; lifting it up to display a thin silver bracelet that was fastened around his wrist. The bracelet was decorated with symbols that looked like Nordic runes.
"This bracelet allows me to punish Zoisite if he steps out of line," Erica revealed. "As a last resort, I can even use it to kill Zoisite and reduce him back to the fossilized star seed he was when I obtained him. Of course at this point I highly doubt I'll need to take such a measure. He's been behaving himself quite well."
"My only interest is finishing this mission I'm on so I can go back to what's left of my old life and carry on protecting Prince Endymion," Zoisite interjected.
"The bracelet will be removed once Zoisite's mission is complete," Erica continued.
"And just what is this mission of yours?" Mercury asked. "Who are you anyway, Ms. Larsen?"
"I'm afraid I can't tell you anything about my identity just yet for security reasons. I can assure you though that we're on the same side. Zoisite and I are currently trying to eliminate the group that released the creature you and he just fought. I'm sorry to say though that what you killed was not the only shoggoth in existence. There are many more, but fortunately they're all dormant. A few of them are even on the verge of death in fact. This is the first time our current enemy has managed to revive them though."
"And just who is this enemy?"
"They're a group which worships an unspeakable entity far worse than the enemies you and your fellow Sailor Guardians have faced in the past. This group is trying to revive the shoggoths to serve as this entity's army. Tonight was their first successful attempt at reviving a shoggoth. Thankfully they're still unable to control the horrid abominations."
"We could really use your help with stopping this group, Mercury," Zoisite told her.
"I won't deny these shoggoths as you call them are definitely dangerous, but I don't think I can work with you," Mercury told them. "My problem is I simply can't trust either of you."
"I'm not the same man I was when I worked for Queen Beryl! Surly you can see that."
"You do seem different Zoisite, but how can I be sure you aren't putting on an act of some sort? Besides, even if you really have changed, I don't trust your new master."
"The term, master is a bit of an exaggeration," Erica told her as she adjusted her glasses again. "I understand though if it will take time for you to trust us. Such a reaction is natural. For now, we'll take our leave and let you think things over. You'll be seeing us again real soon though."
Erica then snapped her fingers and she and Zoisite vanished with a flash of silvery light. Mercury changed back to her civilian identity and resumed her walk back to the hotel. As Ami walked, she thought hard about whether or not she could believe what Zoisite and Erica had told her, and if Zoisite had really changed. The only thing Ami was certain about though was the fact there was a great evil lurking in Arkham, and like it or not, she was probably going to have to be the one to stop it.
Author's Note: This is the first story in this series that's drawn directly from Lovecraft's major work. You'd think that'd make this story a little easier to write, but in fact it's made it a little more challenging for whatever reason. The hardest part was figuring out how to portray the shoggoth Mercury and Zoisite fought. Fortunately I had a manga version of Lovecraft's At the Mountains of Madness to draw from.
Please review and let me know what you think.