We both descended the stairs to the sitting room. Holmes stopped short before opening the door, putting a finger to his lips. Opening the door quietly, we both entered.

I immediately noticed Lady Neptune's shoes and Miss Moon's boots strewn on the floor, one pair neatly set aside, the other tossed about nonchalantly. Lady Neptune was stretched elegantly on the sofa, a blanket tucked under her chin as she lay. Miss Moon was curled up on the floor under a coverlet, a cushion from the sofa covered by her long blond hair. Her knees were pulled upwards, and she breathed softly through her mouth as she slept. There was a third blanket near Holmes' wicker chair, and I smiled.

"Mrs Hudson's patience knows no limits," I remarked.

Holmes nodded. "Yes, she provided them at a quarter past midnight. One thing more, Doctor. Observe the carpet. Anything else you can gleam from this sleepy sight?"

I continued to observe closely. Footmarks were on the carpet, deeply indented and belonging to a woman. I realized they were heeled shoes that paced back and forth, then leading to the dining table, where Miss Mars sat. Her head was resting on her forearms as she slept, the red shoes still upon her feet. It was clear to me that Mars had been marching up and down the sitting room directly in front of Holmes' chair as he rested through the night, only approaching the dining table to briefly close her eyes. Only then did Morpheus overtake her in sleep, possibly mere minutes before dawn.

"She was watching over you," I concluded, looking at Holmes. "Protecting you."

Holmes smiled briefly in agreement. "A worthy sentry," he whispered. He made his way quietly to where his blanket was on the floor, picked it up, and approached Miss Mars. Placing the blanket with care about her shoulders, Holmes only flinched a bit when Miss Mars stirred in sleep. He then glanced over at me, motioning towards his bedroom door.

Holmes knocked twice.

"Come in," was the weak response. Miss Mercury was awake, but still not fully recovered. Holmes and I entered. We both saw the girl sitting upright in Holmes' bed, holding the collar of his nightshirt close to her body. I cocked my head in sympathy as I quietly closed the door behind me, and Holmes approached her.

"Your friends are still abed," he said gently. "Are you well enough to speak to us?"

The girl merely nodded. Holmes pulled up two chairs, but before he could begin his consultation, I spoke up.

"One moment," said I. "Before anything else, I insist on an examination to see your progress. Can you indulge me, my dear?"

My soft bedside manner pleased Miss Mercury, and annoyed Holmes, who stood up abruptly and turned his back to us for privacy. I found myself thoroughly surprised at the state of the girl, for while she whimpered in discomfort, she was in no serious pain. Her wounds of last night looked as if they had been healing for over a fortnight, for they were now mere purple abrasions instead of horrid crimson. The dressing took little time, and as I finished, I asked my patient one more question.

"Miss Mercury, when your fellow Guardians came to our aid, Sailor Moon said something very odd. Queer, even. She said it was unforgivable to attack those within a fictional London. What did she mean?"

Holmes turned around fast in alarm. Miss Mercury appeared uneasy, then sighed.

"I suggest you sit, Mr. Holmes. This will not be easy for me to explain."

Holmes did so and looked at the girl earnestly. "Miss Mercury, it is vital that you tell us all, no matter how unbelievable it may seem to our ears. State the truth, now."

This firm order made Mercury's face harden with resolve. She composed herself and began, without preamble, into her story.

"As you know, we are the Sailor Guardians. We've faced many threats, and together we have protected the peace. There is a reason why you've never read reports of our exploits, nor seen any sign of our existence until we revealed ourselves to you. It is because we are not supposed to exist in the flesh in your reality. Just as you cannot live within ours."

"What in heaven's name..?!" I cried, my brain in a whirl.

"Hold, Watson," Holmes responded. He placed a calming hand on my shoulder, and turned back to the girl.

"If that is so, how came Sailor Neptune to know of my reputation, or of my very life? Surely you and the other Guardians are not omniscient!"

"Not so, Mr. Holmes," Mercury said calmly. "She and the rest of us knew of your name, your reputation, and of your great powers, through the books. Books written by…"

Holmes gasped with realization. "Written by another man! Oh, good Heavens!"

I turned to face my friend in awe. "Holmes?"

"It is really so difficult to imagine? Even the philosophers of centuries past have wondered if the mind of man is just a figment of something greater! Indeed, perhaps it was the gods themselves that tore the fabric of thoughts to make realities combine, like the storms part the skies…"

"Cut out the poetry, Holmes," I grimaced. He paid me no heed and continued.

"Ah! The storms, of course! The bizarre weather patterns! You recall reading about them, Watson?"

I stared in confusion, and Holmes sprang from his chair. "Oh, come now my boy, I know my usual habit is to glance over the agony columns and the crime reports, but surely you must believe even I noticed something strange in the weather section of the papers, eh? You share of my love of the unusual. And what could be more uncommon than red and blue thunderbolts? The lightning storms, my dear Watson! That was it!"

He turned, eyes blazing towards the Sailor Guardian. "That was you, was it not?"

Miss Mercury gave a weak smile, weary from my friend's fiery address. "I can only account for it so."

I rubbed my temples in agitation and groaned. "Very well, I see it's useless to dwell on the improbability of it. My very existence is a fiction in your world, Miss Mercury, and I suppose, as a writer myself, I should find it quite funny!"

I began to laugh with the shock of the idea, and with a supreme effort, shook myself back in control.

"Forgive me," said I, coughing to regain my senses.

"Are you sure you're alright?" Both Miss Mercury and Holmes gazed at me with concern, and I waved them both into ease. Holmes turned back to the girl after resuming his seat next to me.

"Continuing with the view that our existences have somehow crossed paths like river currents," said Holmes, "what can you tell us of this threat we both face? These witches and daimon creatures? They target me for my heart? My flesh, or affections?"

"Yes, yes," I added. "And I remember something more. This Professor Souchi Tomoe. Who the devil is he?"

Holmes gave a sardonic smirk. "The devil's agents can be flesh and blood. Well?"

Miss Mercury closed her eyes. "Well, first things first, Mr. Holmes. I must apologize on behalf of Sailor Moon. She may have said the daimons are after your heart, but that wasn't entirely accurate. Truthfully, it's much more serious. What the enemy wants…"she lowered her voice,"..what they want is your soul."

"Hiswhat?" I cried.

The hair stood on my neck, and my jaw dropped. Holmes glowered at me for silence. He then continued in a detached and nearly cold-blooded voice.

"Pray, be precise as to details. Who is our enemy? And why are they after my immortal soul?"

"Our enemy is known as the Death Busters. Among them are the Witches Five, a league of sorceresses who can command the daimon monsters to attack innocents."

"Hum! A curious sobriquet," Holmes remarked. "There are four other witches?"

"Yes," Mercury nodded. "But it seems only Mimete was sent out on this particular mission. Sailor Moon was able to defeat one of the other witches, leaving only three."

"And this Professor Tomoe? He leads this organization, these (ahem) Death Busters?" Holmes struggled not to smile at the sheer absurdity of this story. Mercury noticed this and raised her voice.

"The Death Busters's mission is to capture human souls, and for a time, we were able to beat them back. Now it seems, they are after one soul in particular, and having not found it among the humans in our world, they found a way into yours!"

I gaped in horror at the girl's sudden passion. Holmes muttered an apology.

"Please, please calm yourself. Now, Miss Mercury, if I may continue, may I ask exactly how this mission is to be completed? How can mortal beings remove a soul?

Has this Tomoe discovered a way to scientifically measure such a thing, and control it to his whim?"

"Preposterous!" I cried. "How, Mercury?"

Miss Mercury shook her head. "It is true, Doctor. The actual scientific principles are abstract and complicated, but the Death Busters have created a process where it is possible to fully extract all the elements that make up the human spirit, give them form, and force it out of the body."

Holmes leaned closer. "You have seen this?"

Miss Mercury suddenly shrank back and her breath hitched . "Seen….and experienced."

I rose quickly from my chair to fetch a glass of water from Holmes' dressing table. As I handed Mercury the drink, I saw Holmes pat her hand.

"That must have been horrible."

Miss Mercury nodded, her lips shaking. "The pain was like nothing I've known. Sailor Moon managed to save me, but if my soul remained separate from my body for long, I would have died on the spot."

I reached and touched her shoulder. "Easy, now," I whispered. "Have your water to renew your strength."

"Thank you," she said. After drinking the water, she calmed down and gazed back at Holmes firmly.

"Our mission as Guardians is to protect innocents from evil," she stated with fervour. "This threat is one we must thwart, no matter the danger, because they want nothing less than complete destruction."

"Of you and your friends?"

"Of everything."

Holmes and I stared at each other, baffled. Holmes took the water glass from her, and asked,"What is it?"

"The Death Busters want one human soul, the purest and strongest in existence, to awaken the Messiah of Silence."

Holmes lowered his voice. "Messiah?"

I swallowed hard. "Is that some kind of…Anti-Christ?"

Miss Mercury looked at us gravely. "She might as well be."

I shivered, and Holmes let out an uneasy breath as the terrible account came to its tragic summit. Miss Mercury told us, in no uncertain terms, that the utter gravity of the situation was beyond anything we could imagine.

"They want silence," she said.

"Once the Messiah of Silence has the innocent soul, she will twist it into a terrible weapon, for it is the soul itself that is immortal, invincible, and all powerful. And such power wielded by evil can bring only calamity at an unbelievable scale. Men, women, and children of all countries will be killed instantly. All animals will fall, and their blood will thoroughly soak the land and even the sea down to its floors. Even plants and the smallest life down to the microbe will vanish. Any potential for new organisms will be crushed under their heel, making new life impossible. The entire Earth will be destroyed. It will become a planet of cold, silence and death, and will remain that way for all time."

I felt a crushing sense of dread overwhelm me. Sherlock Holmes remarked once that the imagination adds to the detective's skills, but it can also be the breeding ground of horror. Indeed, it took a tremendous effort to keep my fantasies at bay while Miss Mercury described the vision of death and futility. Such unspeakable horrors would come to pass if we failed, and I felt Holmes hand steal into mine in silent reassurance. It was clammy and gripped me tighter as he finally spoke.

"Miss Mercury, thank you for being so candid." Holmes' face was pale, but his voice was steady. "However, one fact still remains unclear. If a human soul is indeed the catalyst to bring about this apocalypse, why mine? Why should these creatures dare to take something, which compared to the overall vast unknown forces in the universe, is but a mere temporary speck?"

Miss Mercury gave a small smile. "You never did give yourself enough credit, Mr. Holmes."

"Naturally," he replied. "I take no credit for my cases. I have created my own profession to put my singular powers to use, for it is the use of those abilities that give me the greatest pleasure and highest reward in life."

Miss Mercury leaned forward. "But isn't that the point?" said she. "You love art for its own sake, and you have brought detection as near an exact science as anyone ever has, or ever will!"

Holmes' mouth twitched. "My child, you flatter me."

"It's not flattery; it's fact." Miss Mercury stated. "You are the only unofficial consulting detective in this world, and, despite being the figment of a Scotsman's imagination in our reality, you are an ideal of justice that is unparalleled."

The girl's eyes narrowed in confidence as she continued.

"That ideal has become a man before my eyes. And being a man, being flawed and capable of man-made error does not lessen your passion for the work. You have been beaten four times, Mr Holmes; three times by men, and once by a woman. Even so, you don't give up.

You stretch the boundaries of legality for the sake of a higher justice to bring the wicked into the light. You let a repentant jewel thief walk free on Christmas Eve to save him from a jail-bird's life, and let the Prime Minister's secretary's traitorous wife save face to avoid a war. You even outsmarted death itself at the Reichenbach Falls, all for your single-minded mission to fight crime, and to perfect the art of detection for the modern age.

You may believe your entire life revolves around escaping the commonplaces of existence, and using the pretty problems of London's criminal underworld to do so. But this is the truth, sir."

Holmes and I gazed at the young girl as she quietly concluded her case. I was barely able to breathe as her pronouncement was made with the utmost certainty.

"Lost causes will always have hope, the wretched will always have forgiveness, and justice will always be found within the soul of Sherlock Holmes, no matter what reality we find him," she said.

"And we will protect you, no matter what it takes."

I felt my heart warm with such words. These young women, scarcely children, had love and wisdom beyond their years, and valor to match the Knights Templar. The fact that Miss Mercury could give such an eloquent, praising speech so dispassionately must have unnerved Holmes, for he sat silent for several moments. Holmes was a man who valued facts over feelings and cold reason above unbridled passions. Yet there was an indescribable look on my dear friends face, as if the facts stated about himself were completely beyond him.

Was it confusion in his features? Pleasure or trepidation? Fear or gratified trust? I may never know the answer.

But I can say with reasonable confidence that Miss Mercury's profound statement made the softer feelings move Holmes more that I had ever seen. His eyes glistened in the lamplight, his brow curled and his lips were slightly parted with uneven breaths. This girl had touched his heart!

"Thank you," he said, his voice thick with emotion. Holmes shut his eyes tightly, and, giving a sudden start, wiped the crimson flush from his cheeks. Rising from the bedside, he stepped towards the door.

"Just one more question, Sailor Mercury," he said, the coldness returning to his demeanor. "My friend has recently come into possession of a very unusual item."

"Ah!" I fumbled about my pockets and pulled out the strange pen. Handing it to Miss Mercury, she stared at it curiously. She held it to the light, then tugged absentmindedly at her ear. A bright light appeared about her eyes, and and as it faded, Mercury was wearing tinged glasses.

"What the devil?" I started. Holmes stood at the foot of the bed, his face like flint. Miss Mercury continued to examine the pen, and finally, removed the spectacles. They vanished like snow from her fingers, and I sighed in exasperation.

"I don't think I can handle more illusions from this range."

Holmes smiled as Mercury handed the pen back to him with a satisfied look.

"I have no idea how you got this, Doctor Watson," she said, turning to me. "But there is little doubt. That pen is made of mystical Silver Crystal."

I stared. "Crystal?"

Holmes raised his brows. "Mystical?"

I shook my head, unable to comprehend what I had heard. "Wait, Miss Mercury. Are you saying this pen has…m-m-.." I flushed at my inability to speak, and Holmes approached.

"It's alright, Watson," Holmes said gently. "You can say the word without going mad."

I took a deep breath and tried again, feeling even more uneasy as Miss Mercury touched my arm in an attempt to give strength.

"Are you saying," I repeated slowly," that this pen has magical properties?"

Miss Mercury nodded with a smile. "Magical…and miraculous."

"Miraculous?" I felt my bones sink with utter incredulity. I sat in a silent, dazed stupor as Holmes came closer and pressed his lips to my ear.

"Lucky man," he whispered.

"I'm unworthy of it," I bemoaned. Holmes' smile broadened and we both looked at Miss Mercury as she continued.

"Yet it is very odd that you should be given such a tool, Doctor," said she. "The Silver Crystal is a very rare gem, and I believe the only people who are pure of heart can wield its mystical power. At this point, those people are those descended directly from the royal bloodline of the Moon Kingdom."

Holmes paused. "The Moon Kingd-of course." He cut himself short and shot his eyes upward at the ceiling, as if stating an obvious conclusion. Holmes threw his hands up in a bemused shrug and paced about the room in vexation, and I found myself chuckling once again. I smiled at Miss Mercury as she patted my arm.

"Well, you can feel good about one thing, Doctor Watson," said she, her eyes twinkling with merriment. "This case will fit your romantic style of writing to a tee!"

"Yes, indeed," I replied, laughing. "Although Holmes prefers me to stick to facts and not colour my statements too deeply to distract from them, I fear it may be impossible in this instance. Right, old man?"

I glanced about the room to realize Holmes had stopped pacing about and was standing above us. He had an inscrutable purpose showing on his face, and his eyes were firm and bright like two shining stars. Holmes waved in my direction.

"Watson, come!"

I glanced briefly at Miss Mercury as I stood to leave, and the girl gave me an excited smile. I sensed a great wave of confidence emanating from Sherlock Holmes as he swept outside in a grand manner, and I gave Miss Mercury a knowing wink as I left the bedroom.

Holmes pulled me swiftly into the foyer.

"You have a solution!" I exclaimed.

"I have a theory," said he.

"But you're confident, surely!" I continued. "You've figured it out, Holmes! You know how to defeat these…"

"Not I, my dear fellow. You."

My face fell. "Me?" I replied timidly.

"Of course!" Holmes grasped my arms firmly. "You recall the strategy laid down during our investigations at Baskerville Hall?"

"The Grimpen Mire horror?" I wondered aloud. "Yes, of course. Are you suggesting using a similar plan here? Decoys and such?"

"And more, my friend. Trust me!"

Holmes shivered with anticipation, for the game was afoot at last. And he had a virtual army at his disposal with both offensive and defensive capabilities. Magic and miracles indeed! I stood at attention and nodded.

"I will go when you like, where you like, my dear Holmes. Just give the order."

"Excellent!" Holmes proclaimed. "With the help of the god of justice and the passionate energy of our young friends, you, John Watson, with your panache for the written word, will be our saving grace."