You are the essence of Mars…
Wisps of smoke curled around the meditating Shrine Maiden's head. She had long since abandoned her chanting and mudra. Her midnight violet eyes remained transfixed on the flames and the visions they entrusted to her. Unmoving and unblinking, Rei hungrily absorbed every whisper and flickering image.
Kaiou Michiru's ageless face, partially concealed by the mirror.
A shadowy figure wielding an onyx glaive; her voice an echo from the cavernous depths of despair.
Eight pillars stretching infinitely into the starless heavens, each a phosphorescent beam radiating a different color: cerulean, orange, vermilion, viridian, violet, gold, aquamarine, and burgundy.
Rei recognized the mysterious cavern immediately. She focused on the scene in her mind's eye, comparing it to what Takashi's memories revealed. The aquamarine pillar. It came to life, as the flames were showing her, with a mere touch from The Augur's hand…
The wafting scent of vanilla and aster flowers brought an abrupt end to Rei's meditation. The Shrine Maiden dropped her hands into the red folds of her hakama before turning her attention to her visitor.
Minako returned to the impeccably groomed and adorned idol Rei remembered. Her hair shone like golden streams of sunlight, partially constrained by a red bow. She wore a flattering white sundress with yellow flowers scattered throughout the print. The sleeves were nothing more than lace straps. A white leather belt kept the fabric nestled tight against her waist before billowing out to tickle her knees. Lazily hanging just below the belt was the beaded chain Minako used as a weapon.
Blush crept up Rei's neck as she recalled how easily Sailor V entangled her with the whip during her first assassination attempt. The blonde bombshell was easy to underestimate; a mistake Rei vowed never to make again.
"Earth to Rei!" A hand waved across her field of vision. "Aren't you gonna come eat with me?"
Rei shook her head, trying to shake the layer of smoke from her senses. With a soft grunt she stood and took a seat across from Minako at the table. Makoto was cooking again, as made evident by two picturesque bowls of ramen and a platter of fresh fruit holding enough for a dozen people.
"You've been at it for three hours," Minako started with an abnormally cautious stare. "I went to my place, got my things, made some calls, sparred with Mako-chan, watched her make this late lunch, and you're still meditating. I came to check on you a couple of times, but you were so deep in concentration I didn't want to disturb you."
Rei blanched. So enthralled was she by the flames' dance, she hadn't heard or sensed Minako before now. Not exactly behavior to brag about. She couldn't afford to be distracted to the point of ignoring her heightened senses, even if it was Minako.
Artemis leapt into Rei's lap. She sat back enough to allow his small head to emerge above the table.
"Security let you walk in without a word?" Rei changed the subject.
"Pretty much, yeah. They acted like nothing was out of the ordinary. I assume our favorite templar had something to do with that."
Rei absently nodded while staring into her bowl. She consumed her hot meal, feeling the broth and pork belly inside of her mouth, but not tasting it.
"Oh and check this out." Minako slid her cell phone, protected by an expensive-looking pink case encrusted with opals and diamonds, across the table.
Rei picked up the device, finding herself staring at an article that looked more like a conspiracy theory opinion piece than reputable news. There was a picture of Takashi taken at a charity event over a month ago.
"I had dozens of emails from my PR team linking these kinds of articles, begging me for a statement. Eventually they gave up and released one without me."
Rei frowned. The barrage of email and text notifications were distracting. She dismissed the alerts and focused on the content of the article. The paragraph detailed Hino's most recent public appearance, his erratic behavior displaying a jarring juxtaposition from his generally formal and professional demeanor. The media were scrounging for links to his personality change and sudden disappearance: drug abuse, mental health, or perhaps a scorned lover or unsavory business transaction?
Just as Rei was about to ask what any of this had to do with Sailor V, she scrolled further down and was met with a flattering image of Minako performing on stage. She wore her sparkling mask, a matching bodice with transparent yellow nylons, and of course that beaded whip around her waist.
Rei skimmed the even more ludicrous theories regarding the "coincidental" timing of her injury and subsequent vanishing act. Sailor V's public relations team's vague response that she was recuperating and had absolutely no association with the deceased politician was made to sound laughable by the article's author.
Needless to say, the conspiracy mongers did not accept their excuses.
Seeing enough, Rei returned Minako's phone and shook her head. Catching Minako's startling blue eyes, Rei noticed an unusual dim about them. There were too many variables, too much going on; guessing what was on Minako's mind was risky, but Rei took a stab. "You're thinking about what will happen to your career after this."
Minako twirled noodles around her chopsticks with a sigh. "The templars control all of my assets. They write all of my songs, create my schedule, determine who I interview with and what questions I'm asked. Even when I'm not on the stage, I'm performing. I don't know what to do. They'll cut me off once Michiru gives the word. And after being their puppet for almost two years, I don't know how I feel about being an idol anymore."
"If things don't go well tonight, it won't matter," Rei answered. She knew it wasn't the considerate, thoughtful response Minako was looking for, but with the looming image of the shadowy reaper with the glaive ever present in the back of her mind, optimism was a luxury she couldn't afford.
If this figure filled her with such dread, why were the flames encouraging her to go?
"So… did you see anything?" In the flames?" Minako tentatively asked.
Rei returned her attention to the ramen beneath her. Notes of salty broth wafted into her nose. Despite the delectable aroma and taste, she wasn't hungry. Looming threat and uncertainty, coupled with the unsettling visions from the fire, made concentrating on food impossible. Knowing she needed her strength, and not wanting to listen to a lecture from Minako, Rei resumed eating.
While chewing on a soft boiled egg, Rei considered Minako's disposition. When the popstar first came to the shrine, Rei disclosed her fire reading ability. The unusual, supernatural power frightened shrine visitors. Those who believed her, anyway. Rei expected a horrified or skeptical reaction from the popstar. Minako, however, barely reacted.
Now, there was no doubt in Rei's mind that Mina believed in her ability.
"I saw a room. Eight pillars. Kaiou Michiru. She took my father there."
Minako tilted her head. "Does this have anything to do with what the Animus showed you?"
Her question was posed innocently enough, but Rei felt an accusatory twinge. After Setsuna released her from the Animus, she bolted for her meditation room without so much as a word.
"It has everything to do with that."
Minako idly twirled her wooden spoon around the perimeter of her bowl. "Ah huh. You gonna give me more details, or am I gonna have to annoy them out of you?"
And Minako called her the impatient one. "Michiru showed him apocalyptic visions in her mirror, warning him of an impending Second Catastrophe. She claimed it could be avoided, provided he follow her exact orders."
"Which were?"
Rei shook her head. "Michiru claims she needs our bloodline. I can't tell if she was wrong, or if she tricked him, but she brought him to the cavern with the pillars and changed her story. In the beginning she made it seem like she needed both him and I, but now that isn't the case. Only one, and she said he had yet to prove himself worthy of Serenity's guard. Do you know what that means?"
Minako pursed her glossy lips before shaking her head. "No, sorry. That name doesn't ring a bell. But that reminds me…"
As if to keep her in suspense, Minako loudly slurped about half of the noodles from her bowl before continuing. "Michiru called me to her office before I went on tour. When I got there, she and Takashi were arguing about something." Minako tapped her fingers against the table. "He said something about a broken promise, and she said she doesn't make promises, and that plans had changed. I bet she was playing him like a violin from the start."
"Probably." Rei sighed. "The flames, they… There was no warning. No feeling of dread. If anything, I get the impression they want us to abide by Michiru's plan."
Minako picked up a strawberry and nibbled its tip. Her eyes were pensive and distant, but her full lips curling into a mischievous smirk had Rei thinking she was being intentionally distracting. It was too difficult to tell with Minako, a woman who was the very essence of seduction.
"We have to go," Minako stated with an authoritative tone Rei had never heard before. "I'm not clairvoyant like you and Michiru, but I think everything that's happened since before you and I were born has been leading to tonight. Something bigger than, but including, the two of us, is coming to a head."
"Agreed." Rei forced the last drop of broth down her throat. "Did you say you already sparred with Makoto?"
"Yeah." Minako twirled the loose end of her whip. The uncertain shroud concealing her eyes lifted, revealing the playful glint Rei used to loathe. "Mako-chan is impatiently waiting for you to eat and get your ass out there."
Again with the nickname. "Mako-chan?"
Rei thought her question was posed neutrally enough, but Minako took the opportunity to goad her. "What? Are you jealous? Should I have a pet name for you? How about Rei-chan? No, that's kinda blah."
"My name is fine," Rei grumbled, wishing she hadn't made the mistake of addressing it in the first place.
"Oh, I know! Rei-ko." Wearing a self-satisfied smirk, Minako reached across the table and poked the tip of Rei's nose with her chopsticks.
The assassin rolled her eyes with a defeated sigh. Rei wasn't about to admit that the name did things to her heartbeat; but she also wasn't foolish enough to think Minako couldn't tell. "You can call me whatever you want."
"Rei-ko it is." Minako sat back in her chair, nibbling on the end of her chopsticks. The mischief fled her eyes, replaced by a pensive, far off stare that didn't make Rei feel any more relaxed. "You know, when I watched you meditating by the fire, I realized there's so much about you I still don't know. There's an entirely different side to you I've barely seen."
Rei shrugged. "I'm an open book."
"Yeah? Tell me something about you that I don't know."
Rei kept no details from Minako purposefully. There were things neglected by omission, and not having the quality time together to learn the miniscule details that come with time.
"You already know me better than anyone else," Rei began. She recalled every note she sent Sailor V back when they were "pen pals" exchanging letters, which on Rei's behalf, were one-word answers to Minako's invasive questions.
There was, however, one thing Rei realized she had yet to divulge. It was trivial, but after dying and resurrecting, nearly everything about mortality felt trivial.
Besides, anything that could be used as teasing fodder would tickle Minako's fancy.
"Follow me." Artemis hopped from her lap and followed as Rei crossed her meditation room. She heard Minako's chair sliding against the floor, followed by the soft pattering of her sock-clad feet. Rei opened the sliding door into her private bathroom. The door located in the right wall opened into Rei's bedroom.
Artemis made himself comfortable on the bed without delay. He curled himself into a ball, his white fur a stark contrast from the scarlet and violet bedding. Minako entered and stood beside Rei. A playful smile decorated her lips.
"Wait. Don't tell me." Mina tapped two fingertips against her smile as she studied Rei's bedroom. She began a slow, methodical walk around the bedroom perimeter, taking in every minute detail from the stationary on Rei's desk to the types of incense she kept. In terms of material belongings, the Shrine Maiden had little to speak of. She simply found no need to collect worthless material belongings. Nor did she have much time for hobbies. Between her assassin and Shrine Maiden duties, she was left with scarce leisure time.
To anyone who caught a glimpse of her personal space, her one weakness should be painfully obvious.
Minako sat on the bed. Smooth legs crossed at the ankles as she lay back against the pillow. Her golden hair splayed across the dark bedding. She reached to the pillow beside her and plucked the lone stuffed animal from it. The idol cuddled it against her chest. The smile she wore since they entered the bedroom grew.
"So… I'm seeing a pattern."
"Are you?" Rei arched an eyebrow and crossed her arms.
Minako held up the stuffed animal and wobbled its head back and forth. "Does this little guy have a name?"
"Spots. I named him when I was five." Rei was quick to defend herself, though Minako hadn't so much as giggled.
The blonde turned the stuffed animal's face towards her. "So, Spots. Tell me all about the things Rei does in her bedroom when no one else is around."
"Mina," Rei scolded. She sat on the foot of the bed, next to Mina's outstretched legs. "Anyway. Now you know my favorite animal."
"Panda bears. I'm surprised. I didn't think you liked cute things." Minako returned Spots to the pillow beside her. "The panda-shaped erasers on your pencils are a nice touch."
"Thanks," Rei wryly commented with a sideways smirk. At least Minako was kind enough not to mention the panda design on her lampshade. "I've collected panda things ever since I got Spots. He was a Christmas gift from one of my fellow assassins in the Sisterhood. She died in the line of duty years ago."
Minako patted the empty space on the bed beside her. The assassin hesitated, but could not find it inside of her to neglect the kind gesture. She crawled over Minako's legs and laid down beside her. Familiar fingers entwined in hers. Minako's head rest on her shoulder. Floral and vanilla accents both relaxed and excited Rei's senses. She raised a hand to stroke the streams of sunlight cascading around Minako's face. Her hair was unbelievable soft; but it's supernatural glow was what made it irresistible to Rei.
After long minutes of restful silence, Rei cleared her throat. "We should go."
"I guess." Mina sighed but didn't move. "Mako-chan will be upset if we don't show."
"I need a new blade. I gave mine to you, and I want you to keep it."
"I take it hidden blades don't go on trees, huh?"
Minako's half-hearted jest gave Rei an idea. She sat up and cast an expectant glance that made Minako's eyes widen in surprise. Rei crawled over the bed and pulled Mina to her feet. Unexpected excitement filled her. The blatantly obvious idea had alluded her until now. She felt foolish, but also eager to share their hidden treasure trove with Minako, and to give the templar what she deserved before marching into battle alongside the assassins.
"Whoa, slow down tiger!" Minako wobbled and laughed.
Rei kept Minako's hand tightly grasped in her own while leading her from the bedroom. "There's something I need to show you."