Author's Note: Sorry I'm a little late getting this chapter up. My day job has really been doing a number on me lately.

Disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon, nor do I own the works of H.P. Lovecraft.

Chapter 6: Up from the Deep

"You're…in love with Sailor Mercury?" Erica asked.

Satoru nodded. "Just before you came in I recovered more memories from my previous life. It seems I developed some pretty strong feelings for Ami back then…and I'm certain those feelings are still alive."

Erica was quiet for a moment but then smiled. "Well this is fantastic!"

"It is?" Satoru asked with a raised eyebrow. "You're not being sarcastic right now, are you?"

"Of course not! This is just the sort of outcome I was hoping for. My mistress was indeed right in choosing to resurrect you."

"What do you mean?"

Erica came over and sat on the edge of the coffee table in front of the couch Satoru was sitting on. "Mr. Petrov…Satoru. I think it's time you learned the full truth behind why you and your three comrades were brought back to help with the missions of my team and I. You see just as your Prince Endymion and Princess Serenity were destined for each other, you and your fellow Shitennou were destined to be with the four Sailor Guardians chosen as Princess Serenity's protectors. Think of it as a sort of cosmic symmetry. Unfortunately, Queen Beryl disrupted that destiny, so my mistress, Lady Freyja chose to bring you and your comrades back in the hopes of putting destiny back on track and restoring true balance to this solar system."

Satoru sighed. "It's very kind of your leader to do such a thing, but in my case it was pointless. I'm sure Ami couldn't possibly have any feelings for me, especially given our most recent past."

Erica shoved her index finger into the center of his forehead. "Don't sell yourself short, mister. I'm positive that deep down, Sailor Mercury has strong feelings for you as well. True, you becoming a minion of darkness and trying to kill her likely didn't help your relationship much, but I'm going to do everything in my power to help you win her back!"

"And just how do you plan to go about this?"

Erica got up from the table and began to pace the room. "I've actually been giving this matter a lot of thought. Given your situation I think the best way to go might be the secret admirer approach."

"Secret admirer?"

"You start by leaving her little gifts. Flowers, chocolate, things like that. Meanwhile, you keep getting closer and closer to Ms. Ami. Then when the time comes and she sees you as the great guy you truly are, you reveal your identity as the admirer."

"Well…I suppose it's worth a try. There's one thing though. What if I screw things up by giving Ami a type of flower she's allergic to?"

"Hmm…you have a point there. Probably best to avoid giving her flowers of any kind. The same goes for perfume and boxes of chocolate, as a lot of those chocolates have nuts in them. Just stick with unsigned love letters. There's no possible way anything could go wrong with those."

The next morning Erica and Satoru implemented the pinkette's secret admirer plan. During the previous night after they had gotten back from Innsmouth, Satoru had stayed up late to write a love letter confessing his true feelings for Ami. The next day, when the two were certain Ami had gone to visit Miskatonic, Erica and Satoru went to the hotel the blue-haired genius was staying at and taped the letter to the door of her room. At the moment, Erica and Satoru were at their apartment, watching footage of Ami's hotel room door on the screen of Erica's computer. The pink-haired girl had placed a sophisticated surveillance device in the hall outside of Ami's room during her last visit, mainly to make sure nothing bad happened to the blunette.

"How sure are you about this plan?" Satoru asked Erica.

"Just relax Satoru. Nothing could possibly go wrong with this," Erica assured him. "Look! Here she comes."

The screen showed Ami walking up to her door. She stopped when she noticed the pink envelope taped to her door. Ami removed the envelope and read the words Satoru had written on the front, "To My One True Love". In seconds Ami's face turned bright red, and suddenly her body broke out in hives. Satoru and Erica were left dumbstruck as they watched Ami frantically scratch herself.

"What the…what did you put on that envelope?" Erica asked. "Did you spray it with perfume? I told you perfume was a bad idea!"

"I didn't spray it with anything!" Satoru answered. "It's just an ordinary envelope! I can't understand why this is happening!"

"Well something's causing this reaction! She wouldn't just…" Erica stopped when she saw someone new appear on the screen. "Oh! Oh…this can't be good."

Satoru looked and saw none other than Charles Dexter Ward had arrived on the scene. The duo watched as Ward picked up the offending letter and helped Ami into her hotel room.

"Now what?" Satoru asked.

"Don't worry. My little camera allows us to see and hear everything going on inside the room," Erica revealed. "Give me just a moment to switch the settings."

"Well hurry up! I don't like the idea of Ami being alone in a room with that man!"

Ward had quickly gotten Ami over to a nearby couch to lie down and got her a bottle of water from the hotel room's mini-fridge. After a few tense moments, Ami's rash was starting to clear a little.

"Are you feeling any better?" Ward asked.

Ami nodded as she sat up slowly. "It's starting to clear. Thanks."

Ward let out a sigh of relief. "I was certain I would have to fetch a doctor. It's a good thing I decided to come by with those research notes you wanted to see. What on earth happened to you though?"

"It was…I guess you can only call it an allergic reaction. It happens whenever I get a love letter, not that I get those often."

Ward raised an eyebrow. "An allergic reaction to a simple love letter?"

Ami nodded. "It's really psychosomatic. My body has a violent physical reaction whenever I get a love letter. Part of it is because I just get so embarrassed when I receive one, especially since I can't comprehend why anyone would find me remotely special."

"I beg to differ. You are an extraordinary woman Ami. I'm surprised you don't have a legion of suitors competing for your hand."

"That's sweet of you to say, Charles. But I'm no great beauty."

Ward got down on one knee before her. "On the contrary. You are the most extraordinary woman I have ever known. If it is any consolation though, I do understand how you feel. As you can see, I am no Adonis. During my life a few young woman would make their affection for me known, but I would always recoil from their advances, not because I found them unattractive but because I couldn't comprehend how they could find me even remotely appealing. I suppose I reacted in much the same way you did when you found that letter."

Ami nodded. "I guess you and I are two of a kind."

Ward smiled and took Ami's hand. "I think you and I might in fact be kindred spirits."

Erica stared at the screen of her computer in total disbelief. "Wow! Wow, this…this went wrong in so many ways."

Suddenly Erica heard a loud thumping noise inside the apartment. She turned her head and found Satoru banging his head against the wall.

"THAT'S NOT HELPING!" Erica shouted.

"What do you expect me to do?" Satoru responded. "All we did is drive Ami into the arms of another man!"

Erica sighed. "Okay. I'll admit it looks bad, but we're not finished yet. My guess is Ms. Ami only sees Curwen or Ward or…whatever his name is, as nothing more than a friend. This means you still have a chance."

"But didn't you see how friendly they were with each other? She called him Charles! Plus Ward is clearly attracted to Ami."

"You're right. Like I said, this looks pretty bad. But banging your head against the wall and wallowing in despair isn't going to solve anything. You still have a shot at winning her over. We just need a new approach…preferably something that won't trigger a psychosomatic rash strong enough to send Ms. Ami to the E.R."

Evening came again, and Ami returned with Ward to the ruins of Innsmouth. Before the two could retreat to Ward's lab to resume their covert project to sabotage the Knights, they were required to attend another meeting of the group in the old Order of Dagon Hall. Though Reverend Jim was present, Irene was the one leading the meeting, asking the various project heads for progress reports. Ward presented a false progress report saying his attempts to get the shoggoths to reproduce was still at a dead end. Ami couldn't help but be impressed with the persona Ward used to give his report, a persona that she deduced was an imitation of the late Joseph Curwen.

The upside to the meeting was it allowed Ami to learn more about the other operations being conducted by the Knights of Dagon. For instance, she learned Satoru and Erica were on the team trying to create a device to allow them to direct the shoggoths to perform more along with their desired goals. It seemed all the Knights were capable of at the moment was getting the shoggoths to come out of their normally dormant state and go on a frenzied rampage. In this endeavor too, the Knights had also been hitting something of a dead end. Ami had to think this was because of Satoru and Erica's efforts, which made her trust the two just a little more.

Eventually Irene called the meeting to an end. As she did though, Irene announced that she and certain members of her sorority would be unavailable for the next few hours. According to Irene, they were going to be conducting an important meeting with a very valuable group of allies to the Knights, and were not to be disturbed. Thus the meeting was adjourned and every member of the Knights present went off to resume their work. As she went with Ward to his lab though, Ami couldn't help but wonder about the identities of these allies Irene had spoken of.

A few hours later Ami was walking the underground tunnels beneath Innsmouth on her way to the chambers the Knights had been using as a supply room. Ward told Ami they were going to need more of a certain chemical for their next experiment to make a proper shoggoth toxin. At the moment, Ami was reading the paper Ward had written to guide her to the storage room. Ami was so busy reading the directions she didn't notice Satoru was walking towards her until she bumped right into him.

"Sorry!" Ami told him. "I should've been paying closer attention."

"It's quite all right," Satoru assured her. "In fact literally running into you like this saves me some trouble. I was just heading for your lab to come get you."

"For what?"

"Ms. Erica wanted me to learn who Irene and her sorority sisters were meeting up with. I thought you should be in on it."

"That does seem like a good idea. But do you know where this meeting is being held?"

Satoru nodded. "I overheard it from Reverend Jim when he was talking to Irene. The meeting's taking place in a large cave connected to the tunnels and leads out to the sea. My guess is it was used by smugglers to bring in contraband during the night back in the days when this was just an ordinary seaport."

"So these allies are coming in by boat?"

"Only one way to find out."

Thus Ami followed Satoru along the tunnels to this cave he had spoken of. The trek turned out to be a long one, as the cave was essentially across town from where Ward's lab was located. During most of the walk, a heavy silence hung between the two.

At last Satoru cleared his throat and broke the silence. "So…you and Ward seem close."

"We work well together," Ami responded. "In fact the two of us are alike in some ways."

"Kindred spirits?"

Ami was a little startled by how Satoru had used the same words Ward had used with her earlier. "I'm not sure I'd go that far. I do already think of Charles as a good friend though."

Satoru's expression darkened. "So if this mission goes on for a while, do you think you and he might…start dating or something?"

Ami was stunned by this suggestion and turned to face him. "Why are you suddenly asking about this?"

"I…I just don't want you going out with the wrong type of guy, that's all. For one thing, Ward isn't exactly a normal human being."

"Charles and I are colleagues, nothing more! And whom I date is none of your business! Now let's go! We don't want to miss that meeting!"

Ami turned on her heel and stormed off in the direction of the cave. Satoru let out a heavy sigh as he followed, kicking himself mentally for what an idiot he had just been.

In another few moments the two of them came near the cave's entrance. As they got closer, they soon heard the sound of loud moaning coming from the cave, the moans of several women in the middle of having sex. The moment Ami and Satoru heard this they have a very bad feeling about what they were about to walk in on. In another few moments they reached the cave's entrance. Hesitantly the two of them peeked into the cave, and what they saw shocked them.

Irene and her fellow sorority sisters were all naked and bent over wooden tables, and bluish-grey humanoid creatures resembling a combination of fish and frog were plowing them from behind. The sex appeared to be consensual, though Ami couldn't comprehend how any woman could be willing to mate with such unsavory-looking creatures. Ami couldn't help but notice how Irene in particular had a goofy smile on her face, and how her eyes seemed to roll to the back of her head as the creature she was having intercourse with rammed into her.

Ami put a hand over her mouth. "My god! What are those things, and what are they doing to Irene and the others?"

"I don't know what they are, but I think what they're doing is pretty clear," Satoru asked, his face going pale. "It…appears to be consensual though."

"You mean…you mean Irene and the others are actually letting those things have their way with them?" Ami shook her head. "No! That can't be!"

Satoru put a hand on Ami's shoulder. "I think we've seen more than enough here. Let's go."

Ami nodded in agreement and the two of them quickly but quietly fled from the cave entrance. As they left though, they soon heard the sound of a loud croaking noise from the cave, followed by a certain dripping sound neither of them wanted to think about.

After they got back to the main tunnels, Ami and Satoru parted ways so they could return to their respective project departments. They had both been gone too long as it was and wanted to avoid arousing suspicion. Before leaving though, Satoru assured Ami he would inform Erica about what they had just witnessed. Afterwards, Ami eventually found the storage room she had originally gone off to look for and retrieved the chemicals Ward had requested. When Ami finally returned to the lab, she said nothing to Ward about the things she had seen and instead made up an excuse for her late return by saying she had trouble locating the storage room; it wasn't because she didn't trust Ward with the secret, she simply just didn't want to think at all about such an unspeakable orgy.

The hour had grown quite late, and unfortunately the new chemical compound Ward and Ami had experimented with turned out to be an utter failure. As the two got ready to leave for the night, the door to their lab opened and Irene walked in. Ami couldn't help but notice how the dark-haired girl seemed to be walking a little funny, and shuddered a bit when she thought of the reason why.

"I'd like to have a word with you, Ami," Irene told the blunette.

"About what?" Ami responded.

"I caught you watching as I my sorority sisters were having our 'meeting' with our allies. Did you enjoy the show?"

Ami's face turned bright red. "I…I didn't mean to see anything. Honest! I got lost looking for the storage room, and…"

Irene held up a hand to cut her off. "Hey, I'm not mad. I just came to make sure you kept your mouth shut about what you saw. Some of our members haven't yet been cleared to learn the identities of our allies from the deep."

"Just what is it that Ms. Mizuno walked in on?" Ward interrupted.

"She only walked in on my sisters and I doing our best to satisfy some of the Deep Ones."

"Who…what are these Deep Ones?" Ami asked.

"A race older than humans that has lived in the oceans since the world was young. They are also followers of Cthulhu and have been waiting eons to serve as part of His army. In short, we're on the same side."

"Is that why you and your friends were prostituting yourselves to them?"

Irene shrugged. "A lot of them like getting it on with humans. In fact interbreeding with the human race was kind of a regular thing with them. The resulting offspring from such unions start out as human and eventually become like the Deep Ones later in life. Ninety percent of the people who had lived in Innsmouth were at least part Deep One."

"So that's why the people of Innsmouth were locked away," Ami realized. "Because they had taken on the traits of these Deep ones."

"Gold star! Unfortunately the Deep Ones have fallen on hard times these past few years. Once upon a time they were practically immortal, but over the years pollution to the oceans have caused many of them to develop illnesses and become sterile."

"So…the Deep Ones you and your friends were with…"

"Were firing blanks. But the poor darlings still go through a mating cycle, and as a result the males are in desperate need of satisfaction."

"And you're just okay with letting them use you like this?"

"I'll admit they're not much to look at, but they are hung like you wouldn't believe."

"There's another reason why you're telling Ms. Mizuno all this, isn't there?" Ward interrupted.

Irene smirked. "Tell me something Ami… you're a virgin, right?"

Ami's face once again turned a bright shade of red. "I don't see how that's any of your business!"

"Well you see part of the project I'm on is helping the Deep Once continue to reproduce. There are still a few fertile males left in their population, and I've recently discovered they can only successfully inseminate virgin women. So I was hoping you might be willing to offer your services for this part of the cause."

Ami staggered back a couple of steps. "You…you want me to let one of those creatures impregnate me?"

"It's a great honor, Ami. You'd be one of the mothers of the race to inherit this planet once Great Cthulhu finishes his cleansing. I'll let you think it over for a few days."

With those words, Irene left the room. As soon as she was gone, Ami suddenly felt her legs start to buckle. Ward hurried over and caught the blunette before she fell. In another few moments the blonde had helped her over to a chair.

"Are you okay?" Ward asked.

"I think so," Ami answered, holding her stomach. The idea of procreating with one of those fish-frog things made her want to vomit. "Irene was definitely asking too much of me though. For one thing, this is not a point in my life where I want to become a parent. And as for those…those creatures…"

Ward nodded. "I completely understand your revulsion. I've seen the Deep Ones myself. Ms. Covington and Reverend Aquarius introduced me to a delegation of their kind not long after they had brought me back from the dead."

"I suppose they might not be so bad if they didn't worship an entity planning to destroy the world, but the idea of letting myself be breeding stock for them…"

"You needn't say anything more Ami. Now that we've come to this juncture though, I think it might be time to abandon our current endeavors and attempt a far more drastic solution."

"What do you mean?"

"It's taking us far too long to determine a proper toxin to eradicate the shoggoths, and time is running out. If we are to prevent the unthinkable from happening, I believe there is only one option left to us. We must invoke the power of Yog-Sothoth."

Author's Note: I've obviously been drawing heavily from the Ami's First Love story from the original Sailor Moon manga for this story. The first half of this chapter where Satoru tries out Erica's secret admirer plan practically wrote itself.

I'd also like to take a moment to once again thank my beta reader, masterray5. He really helped me out with the second half of this chapter, which I was more than a little concerned about.

Please review and let me know what you think.