Author's Note: Before we get into this next chapter, I'd like to wish everyone a Happy New Year. I'm quite pleased to be able to bring you all this newest chapter on New Year's Day.

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

Chapter 8: Healer's Scepter

After falling unconscious at the end of their encounter with the Deep Ones, the minds of both Mercury and Zoisite once again went back to the days of their past lives during Silver Millennium. At this time during their past lives, strange humanoid monsters had started appearing in various places on Earth. Venus and Kunzite were the first to encounter the creatures, and their battle with the beasts revealed the creatures were in fact humans transformed into monsters by some unknown form of dark magic. Kunzite and Venus decided their two teams should work together to unravel the mystery behind the emergence of these monsters, and thus both Mercury and Zoisite ended up with the task of trying to uncover the cause of these transformations. The two of them had come up with a couple of promising theories, but in the end, they still needed to go out in the field to gather some actual data.

As it turned out, there had only been sightings of a single creature in Zoisite's territory, which was not surprising since the area was only sparsely populated with only a few small villages. Much of Zoisite's territory covered what was back then a snowy wasteland. Even so, it was a lead Zoisite and Mercury could follow, so they went out to the area where much of the sightings had taken place. Their search took them to a tiny village at the base of a mountain, where they heard stories of a savage creature that'd come out and kill anyone foolish enough to leave the village at night. The duo also heard talk of a hermit who lived a way up the mountain and would come down every week to trade furs until the time when the creature sightings had begun. Many of the villagers assumed the creature had killed the old hermit, but of course, Mercury and Zoisite knew of a far more likely explanation behind the hermit's disappearance.

Once Zoisite and Mercury learned where the hermit's home was located, the two of them set up the mountain to investigate. The sun was already setting as they began their trek, which meant night would soon be upon them, meaning an increased chance of encountering their quarry.

"Are you doing okay?" Zoisite asked Mercury. "I can't imagine this cold can be very tolerable for you given the design of your uniform."

"I'm quite alright," Mercury assured him. "Though you can't see it, my body is producing a thin aura of energy that's insulating me from the cold. Are you doing okay though? I can't imagine your uniform could be providing you with much protection in this climate."

Zoisite chuckled. "Mine is made from a special mystical fabric that blocks out cold. Though thin, it's just as good as any coat of furs."

Mercury shook her head. "You humans never cease to amaze me. Anyway, we should be more focused on finding our target."

"Agreed. I suggest we try and capture the creature if we can rather than kill it. Studying a live specimen might go a long way to helping us discover the cause of these mutations."

"Not to mention a cure. Still, taking the creature alive might prove easier said than done. I do agree with you though. Given how these creatures revert to their human forms when killed, there's likely little important data to be gained from examining a dead one."

"Some of Kunzite's men brought back the corpse of one of the slain monsters for an autopsy, which I supervised. They didn't find anything remarkable. Perhaps you could take a second look at their findings later. With your people's advanced knowledge, you might find something we missed."

Mercury nodded. "I'll make a point to do so at the first opportunity."

"I'm sure it'd be a fascinating experience for you, given your recent interest in human anatomy."

Mercury flinched. "How…how did you know I was researching that subject?"

Zoisite raised an eyebrow. "When I've seen you in our palace library, you've been researching texts on human anatomy."

"Um…yes, well I thought I should learn all there is to know about you humans since I've been spending so much time among you," Mercury responded, her face red. She couldn't admit the reason she had been studying human anatomy was so she could find out if humans and members of her race were sexually compatible. She quickly cleared her throat. "So, any suggestions as to how we're going to capture our target?"

"I do have one or two ideas, but let's focus on finding the thing first."

About three more hours passed before Mercury and Zoisite came near the home of the hermit, and if their theory was right, the lair of the creature. By this time night had firmly fallen over the land. The light of the moon above reflected off the snow on the ground and bathed their surroundings in an ethereal glow. Eventually, Mercury and Zoisite came in sight of a roughly built and disheveled-looking cabin made of dark-grey logs. A large humanoid creature was sitting atop a large rock in front of the cabin and eating the remains of what appeared to be a deer; much of the poor animal's bones were in a pile on the ground in front of the beast.

The creature's body was covered mostly in long matted grey fur, with only its chest, face and ears exposed. The exposed skin of the creature was pine-green, and it had yellow eyes and pointed ears. Despite the presence of fur all over the creature's body, there was no question it was one of the transformed human monsters the other Sailor Guardians and Shitennou had been dealing with.

"Not quite what I was expecting," Zoisite whispered as he and Mercury watched the thing continue its meal. "This creature appears to be some sort of mutation."

Mercury nodded. "The fur could simply be an evolutionary adaptation to this area's cold climate, though there's no way to tell without further study. So, just what is your plan to capture it?"

"For now just stay back and be ready to assist me if things go wrong. I'm probably only going to get one shot at this."

After drawing his sword, Zoisite emerged from behind the old tree he and Mercury had been using as cover and started to walk slowly and quietly towards the creature. At the moment the creature was still occupied with its meal, but Zoisite knew it would see him the instant it looked up from the piece of meat it was munching on. He only needed to get a few steps closer though for his plan to work. The seconds ticked by slowly as Zoisite advanced, and with each step he took he prayed to the gods the creature would not look up. He needed the thing to be totally oblivious.

In another few tense moments, Zoisite had closed the distance between him and the creature by half, just close enough for his plan to work. In one swift motion, Zoisite kneeled down and stabbed the blade of his sword into the cold ground. The action had caught the creature's attention, but by the time the beast took its eyes off its meal, it was too late. Bolts of emerald lightning shot from the blade of Zoisite's sword and struck the ground around the creature. In a matter of seconds, the creature was enclosed inside a large transparent green dome made of hexagonal segments.

The beast had soon rushed over to the edge of the dome and began pounding on its surface with both fists, roaring in rage over getting caught. By this time Zoisite could see the creature's full height of about eight feet. He soon realized if he had gotten into an actual battle with the beast, it probably wouldn't have gone well.

Mercury rushed over to Zoisite's side. "You imprisoned it using one of your Geoforce Barriers. Brilliant!"

"Thanks," Zoisite responded. "Of course now I need to figure out how we're going to transport this brute."

"I can handle that. I'll contact Venus and have her bring some equipment to teleport our specimen to another location. The only problem is I don't know where we'll be teleporting it to. We need some sort of enclosure where we can study it safely."

"The Earth Palace has a dungeon we should be able to use. I don't like the idea of keeping such a beast in close proximity to the prince, but we should be able to keep it safely contained down there."

Mercury brought a hand to her chin in thought. "We might be able to make some enhancements to your dungeon to make certain the creature doesn't escape. We'll also need to set up space down there to use as a laboratory. Do you think…?"

Before Mercury could finish her question, the fists of the creature suddenly burst through Zoisite's dome, shattering the wall of light like glass. As soon as the section the creature punched through broke, the rest of the barrier vanished into thin air. The beast roared at Mercury and Zoisite, paralyzing them both momentarily with fear and surprise. The creature used that moment to its advantage and rushed towards Mercury. In a matter of seconds, the beast towered over Mercury and raised the claws of its right hand to attack.

Just as the creature thrust its hand down to strike, Zoisite pushed Mercury out of the way. The beast impaled Zoisite through the chest as Mercury hit the snow-covered ground. Mercury looked up just in time to see the beast pull his claws from Zoisite's chest. The creature turned its attention back to Mercury and slowly started to advance on her. Not missing a beat, Mercury quickly jumped back to her feet and hit the creature with a Shine Snow Illusion attack. A blast of ice and snow struck the creature and he was frozen solid in a matter of seconds. The moment Mercury breathed a sigh of relief through the creature broke free of the ice with another loud roar.

Mercury felt for sure she was finished, but before the creature could pounce on her a bolt of emerald lightning burst through its chest in the area where its heart was. The blunette watched almost in a daze as the beast fell to the ground dead. In another few seconds, the beast had reverted to its original human form. The beast had been a man in his mid-fifties, incredibly tall and well-muscled. Meanwhile, Mercury looked and saw Zoisite lying on the ground with his sword pointed at the spot where the creature had been standing seconds before; the blue-haired Sailor Guardian realized the attack which slew the beast must have come from him.

Mercury immediately rushed over to Zoisite's side. She kneeled down to get a closer look at his injuries. The wounds from the creature's claws were deep and had penetrated Zoisite's organs. There was also blood dripping from the corners of his mouth.

Zoisite looked up at Mercury and gave her a smile. "Guess…my plan…wasn't as good as I thought. Sorry."

Mercury shook her head as tears came to her eyes. "It wasn't your fault. We simply underestimated the creature's strength."

"Still…I shouldn't have allowed…you to fall in such danger. Please…forgive…"

Before Zoisite could finish his sentence he fell unconscious. Mercury knew his death was imminent, but she simply couldn't allow such a thing to happen. The advanced technology of the Moon Kingdom could save his life but there was no way to get him all the way to the Moon Palace in time. Plus Mercury knew she'd catch hell from Venus and from the Queen for taking an earthling into the palace. She realized there was only one solution, but it was a drastic one.

Upon finishing the academic studies that were part of her Sailor Guardian training, Mercury had received a special relic of her people, a scepter that could be used to heal any injuries of another. There were only two problems. For one thing, she had never used the scepter before. The other was the scepter drew from the user's life force in order to work, and she wasn't sure she could use the scepter's power without killing herself in the process. Even so, Mercury knew she couldn't allow Zoisite to die.

Getting to her feet, Mercury held out her right hand and a silver and gold wand resembling a Caduceus appeared with a flash of blue light. After raising the wand, a stream of blue light flowed from the gem atop the scepter and into Zoisite. Right away Mercury could feel she was getting weak, yet at the same time, she could see Zoisite's injuries were healing. The blood that had been coming from the corners of his mouth had vanished. After another few moments, Zoisite's eyes snapped open and he gasped for air.

With Zoisite conscious again, Mercury cut the flow of power from her scepter and lowered it. She smiled down at Zoisite and was about to say something, but before she could get out any words her world went dark.

Mercury awoke to the feeling of a heavy blanket over her and the sight of an unfamiliar ceiling above her. It took her a few moments to register the fact she was in the old hermit's cabin. Suddenly she remembered Zoisite getting wounded and jolted up in the bed. She found Zoisite sitting in the middle of the cabin tending to a metal pot over a fire.

Zoisite noticed Mercury had woken up and smiled. "You're finally up. I was starting to worry a little."

Mercury held the side of her head as she recalled what had happened. "How long was I out?"

"Only a couple of hours, but you just passing out like that had me concerned. Just what happened to you exactly?"

"The instrument I used to heal you was powered by my life force. I'm glad all that happened was I passed out."

A look of shock formed on Zoisite's face. "You mean…you could've died?"

Mercury nodded. "I would've done it again though. Your death would've been totally unacceptable."

"I'm…I'm touched you were willing to throw your life away to save mine, though I wouldn't have liked it at all if you had died."

"Well, the important thing is we both survived."

"True. Of course, our mission ended up being a failure. We're still no closer to finding the cause behind these creatures. In the end, we risked our lives for nothing."

"Perhaps not. If we still have the hermit's body, I might be able to find some useful data from it. Maybe a blood analysis might yield some clues. Besides, it's very possible we'll be able to catch another live specimen in the future."

Zoisite nodded. "True. In the meantime, we can plan for a better capture operation. Later I'll talk to Kunzite about setting up the dungeon in the palace to use as a research facility."

"It would also be a good idea to bring some of the others in on this. Tonight's events proved capturing one of these beasts will probably require a group effort. I'll discuss the matter with Venus later."

"Well, for now, I'm preparing what should be a passable dinner. We'll eat, and then if you're up for it we can make the journey back."

"Actually, I was planning to teleport straight back to the Moon Palace once we were done here," Mercury revealed as she came over to the fire. "But dinner sounds like a good idea. I could probably use the nutrition after the strain I put my body through."

Zoisite took a ladle and began to scoop the contents of the pot over the fire (apparently some sort of stew) into a bowel. "This probably won't taste the best, but it should fill you up."

Mercury took the bowel Zoisite handed her and looked thoughtfully at the fire for a moment. "I was planning to give you something at the end of this mission, and…well, now seems as good a time as any."

Zoisite watched as Mercury set her bowel down and held out her hand to him. A flash of blue light appeared in her open palm and turned into a small silver disk-shaped object with a round blue gemstone in the center. The symbol for Mercury's home planet adorned the side of the object.

Zoisite took the object and examined it in his hand. "What is this?"

"A private communication device you can use to contact me," Mercury explained. "I can use it to contact you as well. I'd like for us to be able to keep in regular touch."

"Because of the situation we're in with those creatures."

"Yes, and…for other reasons," Mercury confirmed as she looked down and blushed.

Zoisite smiled and put the device in his pocket. "Thanks. I'll use this to call you later as soon as I get back to the palace and report to Kunzite."

Mercury looked back up at him and smiled. "I look forward to it."

"Oh! Um, before I forget, I have something for you as well," Zoisite revealed as he began to rummage around in his pockets.

A few seconds later Zoisite had pulled out a small box covered in red velvet and handed it to Mercury. Mercury opened the box and saw a little gold frog-shaped pendant with sapphires for eyes connected to a thin gold chain. From the length of the chain, Mercury realized the item was a bracelet.

"Some time ago while traveling for a mission, I discovered a little tree frog I thought you might find fascinating," Zoisite explained. "Several times I had gone back to try and find the frog to present to you as a present, but the little creature has eluded me. So instead I had the finest artisan I knew and had him craft you this."

Mercury's face again turned bright red. She knew of the frog Zoisite had spoken of, for she had watched him looking at it one night during her secret studies of him. The blunette had no idea at the time he had been examining the creature because of her though. Mercury found she was very moved by this gift.

After quickly regaining her composure, Mercury shut the box. "Thank you. I'll treasure this."

Zoisite smiled and nodded. "Shall we be off then?"

Mercury rose to her feet. "Let's go."

Ami awoke to discover she was back in her hotel room, lying on the bed as Erica ran some sort of small silver scanning device over her. She turned her head to the left and saw that both Satoru and Ward were also present. It took a few moments for Ami to recall exactly what happened.

"Satoru, are you okay?" Ami asked as she attempted to sit up.

"Don't try and move right now," Erica ordered as she pushed Ami back down onto the bed with a surprising amount of strength. "Satoru's doing a lot better than you. You should be fine, but your body's been through quite a shock. You'll need to rest for at least a few hours."

"What exactly happened to her?" Ward asked.

"She used a sacred scepter of her people to heal me," Satoru explained. "It draws power from her own life force to work. Ami used it on me once before, long ago." He then rubbed the back of his head. "You know…I can't believe I had forgotten about that."

"I had forgotten about it too," Ami admitted.

"You know, I could've easily revived Satoru using my own abilities," Erica revealed as she pocketed her scanner. "But the two of you awakening more of your shared past life memories is a huge plus, so I guess this actually worked out for the better."

"You will forgive me Ms. Erica if I don't share your enthusiasm," Ward interjected. "The fact remains that Ami's life was in danger. Haven't any of you wondered why those Deep Ones came after her and Petrov in the first place?"

"He has a point," Erica admitted. "The fact that the Deep Ones came after the two of you is troubling. This could mean the Knights of Dagon have figured out our true intentions."

"I don't think so," Ami told them as she finally sat back up. "Those Deep Ones were after me specifically. My guess is the Knights decided to try and give me to the Deep Ones to use as breeding stock."

Upon hearing this, Erica shuddered. "Okay, well that's even worse. We need to stop playing around and eliminate the Knights soon."

"Unfortunately we still don't have a good way to eradicate the shoggoths they have," Satoru pointed out. "And now we have the Deep Ones to worry about."

"We already have the ultimate solution within our grasp," Ward told them. "According to that infernal twenty-first-century contraption down in my lab, the translation of the spell to call forth Yog-Sothoth's power is now fifty-two percent complete. By tomorrow we should have all we need to eliminate the Knights of Dagon and their allies once and for all."

"Not a chance Ward!" Erica told him. "The situation may be bad, but we're not so desperate that we need to call forth the powers of that harbinger of chaos."

"It is the only solution, and one I shall use whether I have help from the three of you or not."

With those words, Ward stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind him.

Erica let out an exasperated sigh and turned to Ami. "He's your friend, you know. Can't you talk some sense into him?"

Ami shook her head. "I know him well enough now to at least tell when his mind is set on something. There's no talking Charles out of his plan. Besides, I still think it may be our only solution unless you have some better ideas."

"Well…give me a little time."

"Time is something we may not have much of," Satoru pointed out. "I'm sure that because of our battle, the leadership of the Knights will soon realize who Ami and I really are. They'll come after Ami again soon, and with much more force. In our next confrontation, we may not be able to stop them."

Reverend Jim was sitting quietly in a leather armchair in his office when Irene suddenly burst into the room. The preacher of Cthulhu immediately realized Irene had something troubling to tell him.

Reverend Jim calmly put his book on his lap and gave Irene his full attention. "Don't be shy, child. Clearly, you have something urgent to talk about, so speak."

"The mission to capture Ami failed," Irene revealed. "All but one of the Deep Ones who went to bring her in was killed."

A look of utter shock formed on Reverend Jim's face. "How is this possible?"

"Apparently both Ami and Satoru Petrov have powers of some kind. I did a little checking online based on the descriptions the survivor from the capture team gave me. I found nothing on Petrov, but Ami seems to be a member of some all-girl superhero team in Japan. Most of the information I read about this group is pretty much rumor, but clearly, they exist."

Reverend Jim brought his fingers to his chin in thought. "Well, this certainly puts an interesting new face on things."

"We have to kill them both now!" Irene declared. "Before either of them can cause us too many problems."

"…Young Satoru has to go, yes. But Ami can still be used. As always, Great Cthulhu was right. The children she'd produce with one of the Deep Ones would become a new royal line to rule Earth." Reverend Jim got up from his chair. "We'll try capturing her again. This time I'll come personally to lead the flock in this task."

"I like your enthusiasm, but I don't think Ami is going to be too willing to help us."

Reverend Jim smirked. "She may not be willing, but in the end, we must all play the roles He has assigned to us. Great Cthulhu has given Ami hers. One way or another, she will become the mother of the next great race to rule Earth."

Author's Note: I want to once again thank masterray5 for his work as my beta reader for this tale. He sort of reminded me of a little detail I had almost forgotten to work into these later past life flashbacks. I've since gone back and added the detail in question to the final scene of the flashback.

Please review and let me know what you think.