Disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon (or The King in Yellow).

Chapter 6: The Mad Playwright

It was just after 6:00 AM as Minako finished getting dressed to go to the studio. The reason she was up so early was because she had had another dream during the night where she was back at that masquerade ball of the dead. It was just the same as all the previous dreams. As always it started with her finding herself in the middle of the ballroom and trying to get out, only for the doors to be locked. This time she had tried to transform into Sailor Venus to escape but found that she had been powerless.

After Minako's failed transformation attempt in the dream came another encounter with One-Eyed Pete, and then the door for Pete's mysterious king had opened, which caused her to wake up. Minako was getting very tired of having this recurring nightmare night after night, and she was now starting to think that there was something very wrong with her. Not only that, the spot on her arm where that strange yellow burn mark was had been aching for the past few days. The mark was definitely not a normal burn, and it didn't look like it was going to fade anytime soon. Minako had found herself repeatedly wishing that Ami were there to take a look at the mark, because if there were anyone who could figure out what it was and how to get rid of it, it would have to be the smartest member of the Sailor Guardians and one of Japan's top young medical students.

As Minako made her way to her hotel room's small kitchen for a quick breakfast, Artemis entered the room. "Mina, are you heading out to the studio already? I didn't think they needed you until about 8:00 to film the next scene."

"They don't, but I figured since I couldn't sleep in, I could go for a long walk before heading out."

"You're still having trouble sleeping? Just what's happening with you Mina? You know you can tell me anything, right?"

Minako sighed, realizing that Artemis was not going to let this go. "I keep having the same dream. I end up at this creepy masquerade ball full of dead people, where I meet this guy who calls himself One-Eyed Pete. He's dead just like everyone else there, and he keeps calling me Cassilda."

"As in the name of your character in the movie?" Artemis asked with a raised eyebrow.

Minako nodded. "Pete first introduced himself as some sort of envoy for the King in Yellow. Usually in the dreams after I meet Pete, a door in the room opens and his king starts to come in. That's when I usually wake up, but at the end of each dream I get closer to seeing what the guy looks like."

"And you've been having these dreams almost since the start of the film?"

"Pretty much. At first I brushed the dreams off as the movie being too much on my mind. I mean it is a pretty strange movie. But now… I'm worried it might be something more."

"Hilda warned us from the start that this movie was part of the current enemy's plot. These dreams could be its way of attacking you."

"Well it's not going to stop me. If the only way to end these dreams is to beat this enemy, then that's all the more reason to keep fighting and take it down as soon as possible."

"Are these dreams the only thing that's been happening to you lately?"

Minako touched her aching arm for a moment and contemplated telling Artemis about the burn mark, but in the end decided not to. There was nothing Artemis could do about it, and she didn't want him worrying more than he already was.

"Yep. That's all that's been happening," Minako lied, putting on a big smile. "Well, I should get going. I'll see you later Art."

With that, Minako left the kitchen with the PB&J sandwich she had made in her hand. A bit later as Minako opened the door out of the room, she glanced down and noticed a small white envelope with her name on it on the floor. Minako picked the envelope up and opened it. Inside were two items. The first was a simple note that she immediately read.

'Remember your destiny. I'll be seeing you again soon.'

The note was unsigned, and there was no return address on the envelope so there was no way of telling whom it was from. Minako look at the second item that was in the envelope, which caused a chill to go down her spine. The item was a simple playing card, the Ace of Hearts. This was the card drawn in the final love fortune given to Minako by her old enemy, Phantom Ace. But Phantom Ace was long dead, and there was no one besides Minako and Artemis who knew about the love fortune. So who could've left the note?

Disturbed by the note and the card, Minako quickly stuffed both into her bag and tried to pretend that neither existed. As she left to go on her walk though, the blond couldn't help but look over her shoulder to see if anyone was watching her.

Filming for the next few scenes was already well underway. Minako was glad that only one of the scenes she was in that day was being done with Keisuke. It had been two days since they had fully recovered the missing memories of their past lives regarding their relationship, and their little fight outside the trailer, and things were still incredibly awkward between them. Thankfully Keisuke had been keeping as much distance from her as possible. Though he clearly didn't like that Minako had rejected him yet again, it seemed as though he had accepted her decision.

At that moment, Minako was sitting on the sidelines to watch the filming of Keisuke's next scene. He was performing the scene in question with a bald man in his late fifties with an iron-grey beard and blue-grey eyes. His costume consisted of a gold crown, a long-sleeved grey shirt, long black pants and a red cape with white fur lining the edges. This man was a veteran actor known as Sir Ian Cumberland. Minako had heard that Sir Ian had starred in a few movies about the legendary King Arthur done decades ago, but was mainly known for his performances on the small stage in many of Shakespeare's most well-known plays. In this movie, Sir Ian was playing King Ursa, the father of Minako's character, Cassilda.

"Alright. One more time from the top," Mason told the two actors from his director's chair. "Mr. Tenju, I like the passion I'm getting from you. But you Sir Ian, I'm afraid I could be getting just a little more emotion from you. You seem just a little too cold and indifferent."

"Understood, Mr. Director," Sir Ian responded with a sigh as he sat back down in the throne that was on the set. "This had better be the last bloody take though, because it is well past lunch and I am famished."

"One more and we should have it. Now, action!"

Keisuke walked up to the throne and kneeled before Sir Ian. "Your Majesty, it is urgent that I speak with you."

"I know already why you come before me, Altair," Sir Ian responded. "You've come to beg me to stop my daughter's marriage to the King in Yellow."

"Surely you can't be so callous as to sell your only daughter off to such an inhuman monster."

"Believe me Altair… there is nothing easy for me about this decision." There was a look of sadness on Sir Ian's face as he rose from his chair. "You forget that Cassilda is my child, the most precious thing I have in this life. But I have to think of the greater good. If I were to deny the marriage, then it would mean war with Carcosa, and that it a war we simply cannot win. The soldiers are not men but devils! They could easily slaughter us all and leave this kingdom as nothing more than a burning ruin."

"But that's all the more reason why you cannot allow the marriage!" Keisuke declared as he rose to his feet. "You said so yourself. The people of Carcosa are inhuman devils, and you would give your own daughter to the king of those things?"

"Better to sacrifice on life than lives of thousands, because that's what we would be sacrificing if I were to deny the marriage. Our course has been set Altair, and nothing can be done about it."

"I cannot believe that such a great and noble ruler such as you could be so weak-willed as to bow to the will of another king!"

"The crown I wear upon this head is a heavy one, as are the crowns of all kings except for perhaps the one worn by Carcosa's. I must always think of the good of my people above my own wishes."

"Then to be king is to be slave."

"Perhaps. And perhaps that the King of Carcosa is truly the king of kings, for no other king has greater power than He. Go now, Altair. Your pleas for my daughter fall on only deaf ears."

Keisuke opened his mouth to say something more, but after a moment finally turned on his heel and stormed out of the throne room.

"Cut and print!" Mason commanded as he rose from his chair. "That will do it for now. We'll break for lunch and start the next scene when we come back."

Keisuke headed back through the throne room door and headed off set. As he did, he ended up going up to Minako's chair, which caused him to freeze.

Minako rose from her chair and smiled. "Um, you did good work there."

"Thank you," Keisuke responded.

"Just the two people I was hoping to run into together," a voice spoke. The two looked and saw Sir Ian standing before them. "Well, now that our brutal taskmaster of a director is done with us for the moment, I was hoping you two would join me for lunch."

"Sounds okay to me," Minako agreed. "How 'bout it Keisuke?"

"Um, sure. It would be an honor."

Moments later, the three of them were all sitting together at a small table that had been set up under a large tent behind the studio lot. It was a small private table that had been set up well away from the long picnic tables meant for the other actors and members of the crew.

"I confess the reason I asked you two to dine with me today is because there's something I've been curious about," Sir Ian began. "I've seen footage of your previous performances together and I've been wondering, are the two of you dating in real life?"

Both Minako and Keisuke visibly blushed at this claim. Though Keisuke did a good job mostly of keeping his usual look of calm.

"Um, we're actually just really old friends," Minako told Sir Ian with a large smile.

"That's right. We… go back a long way," Keisuke added. Minako glanced at Keisuke and couldn't help but notice the hurt that seemed to be in his eyes.

"Ah. Well, you can't blame me for my assumption," Sir Ian told them. "Such a thing is not uncommon between leading actors in such roles, you know. Please forgive me for being so presumptuous."

"Don't worry about it," Minako told him. "So Sir Ian, what do you think of this movie we've been doing."

"It is interesting, but quite honestly I had my reservations about performing in it when I was offered the role. After all, it is based loosely on a play with an unsavory reputation that I know all too well."

"You mean the play called The King in Yellow?" Keisuke asked. "The director did mention something about it to us when we first came here. He said that the play is said to drive those who simply read it insane."

"All too true, I'm afraid. Or it causes them to simply vanish from the face of the earth. I know quite a bit about The King in Yellow is because it was written by a distant ancestor of mine, Peter Cromwell."

A chill ran down Minako's spine upon hearing that name, because she had heard it before in her dreams. "Um… would this ancestor of yours have gone by a nickname, like One-Eyed Pete?"

Sir Ian gave her a look of surprise. "Why yes! He gained that name after a fight in a pub that claimed one of his eyes. Peter was a bit of a rough you see, and rather disturbed. But then most creative geniuses are known to be a bit eccentric, but my ancestor was said to be always on the brink of madness. He was an excellent painter and a skilled musician, though his works were rather disturbing. Practically all of old Peter's musical compositions have been lost, and most of his paintings were burned because the public found them blasphemous yet strangely beautiful. Only a few of those paintings still exist, locked away in the private collections of wealthy individuals with strange and decadent tastes.

"But of course The King in Yellow was old One-Eyed Pete's most infamous creation. The stories say that after he finished writing it, he shot himself in the head with a pistol… yet he did not die. Or at least that's what some people believed. There was one witness, his maid, who had seen Pete shoot himself in his empty eye socket. But when they authorities came, his body was missing. Of course this was all hundred of years ago, so the old fellow can't possibly be alive today." Suddenly Sir Ian's phone began to ring, and he scowled a bit when he looked at the Caller ID. "Oh, this is my agent. He's probably calling to tell me about yet another part that I didn't get. If you'll both excuse me."

As Sir Ian left to take his phone call, Keisuke turned to Minako and saw a look of utter terror frozen on her face. He was surprised that Sir Ian's story could have so visibly disturbed her.

"Minako, are you okay?" Keisuke asked. When she didn't respond, he put a hand on her shoulder, causing her to let out a startled gasp. "What's wrong?"

"Uh… I'm fine. I just… excuse me," Minako spoke before quickly rising from her chair.

Keisuke watched with concern as Minako dashed off, wondering what about that story had frightened so much. Unbeknownst to him, Artemis had been sitting a few feet away from the table silently since Sir Ian's story about One-Eyed Pete began, and he knew exactly why Minako had been so unsettled.

Artemis had gone back to the hotel and immediately fired up Minako's laptop to do some research on Peter Cromwell. Everything the feline found on the mad playwright lined up with Sir Ian's story. The part of the story that troubled Artemis the most though was one that said One-Eyed Pete didn't die when he shot himself. Artemis knew that such thing could easily be possible, and the fact that Minako had been encountering the playwright in her dreams seemed to confirm that Pete still walked the earth.

"Find something good, mouse breath?" a familiar voice asked. Artemis turned his head back to see Hilda with her hand on her hip.

"What're you doing here, and how did you even get in?" Artemis demanded to know.

"B&E's a simple matter for me. As for why I'm here, I saw you leaving the studio lot in a hurry and got curious. So what'd you find out?"

"Earlier, Mina heard a story about the man who wrote the play that the movie is loosely based on."

"You mean the King in Yellow? What'd you find out about its author?"

"He was a mad genius called One-Eyed Pete. They say that after he finished writing the play, he shot himself in the head but didn't die. And this morning, Mina told me that Pete's been appearing in a recurring nightmare she'd been having."

At this, Hilda sighed. "Dammit. So the King's already gotten his hooks in her. Well, at least we've identified his herald. Of course I suspected it might've been the author of that damn play. He's probably the one behind the script for this movie too."

"It's about time you came clean Hilda. Just who is this enemy that we're up against?"

"Now that it's gotten this far, I can tell you this much. Our enemy is the King in Yellow."

"You mean the play?"

"I mean the creature that the play is about. Its real name is Hastur, and it's an entity so powerful that it's worshipped as a god by some of the most depraved people in the galaxy."

"And you think this Hastur is doing something to Mina?"

Hilda nodded. "If she's having dreams about Hastur's herald, this One-Eyed Pete, then she's dangerously close to falling under its influence."

"Then we have to do something!"

"Relax mouth breath. There's still a chance to save her. But whether or not we can depends a lot on the guy I have working for me right now."

The sun was already starting to set as Minako finally left the studio lot. Rather than going straight back to her hotel, the blonde had decided to do some walking around the city. Minako really needed to calm down and clear her head. She had been on edge ever since learning that One-Eyed Pete was more than just some figment of her own imagination that had been visiting her each night in her dreams. The fact that Pete had actually existed, and the possibility that he may not had actually died when he shot himself in the face, troubled Minako a great deal.

On top of that, Minako was also still greatly bothered by the little note and card that had been left on her doorstep that morning. No matter how she tried, she just could not forget about them. Every time she had opened that bag during the course of the day she would see the card and note again, reminding her of that great enemy from her past that had broken her heart. What disturbed her about the card though was that there was nobody who knew of its significance besides her and Artemis, except for Phantom Ace, but he was long dead. Minako was so wrapped in trying to figure out who could've sent the note and the card at that moment that she was totally unaware that someone was following her.

"Well 'ello there, li'l lady," a voice spoke. Minako turned around to see a short and somewhat portly man in his late forties with very short black hair, wearing a black leather jacket with a grease-stained grey shirt and tattered jeans. Walking a step behind him was a taller man in his mid-thirties with wild brown hair and crooked teeth wearing a similar outfit. "Kinda late to be out 'ere on your own, ain't it?"

"I'm just passing though," Minako told the men. "Now if you don't mind, I'd like to be alone."

"Hey now! Ain't no need to be so cold, missy," the portly man told Minako as he approached. "My name's Spike, and this 'ere's me mate, Nigel. As it so happens, you've just wandered into our gang's territory. And as such, I felt it my civic duty to give you a grand tour."

"Thanks, but I can find my way around just fine."

As Minako tried to leave, she saw three other hooligans dressed like Spike and Nigel advancing on her. Before she knew it, the five of them had managed to corner her against the wall of a building.

"Now, now. I told ya there ain't no need to be so cold an' rush off," Spike told her as he and his goons advanced on her. "It'd be an honor to show you around. And I know me mates and I can show you a real good time, ain't that right boys?"

Nigel and the other three hooligans laugh in agreement as the closed ranks around the blonde. Terror began to rise up within Minako, but more than that she was cursing herself for falling into such an easily avoidable trap.

"Leave her alone, you scum!" a familiar voice ordered. Spike and his gang looked to see Keisuke standing a few feet away with his arms crossed.

"Oi! This ain't none of your business, pretty boy! So slag off!" Spike ordered.

"Do not make me repeat myself," Keisuke told him as he took a fighting stance.

"Alright gents, time to teach this bloke some manner!" Spike commanded.

On cue, one of the hooligans charged straight at Keisuke with a knife. Keisuke easily sidestepped the attack and struck him with a well-placed chop to the back of the neck, knocking him out cold. Before the hooligan hit the ground, a second came at him from the side and swung at him with his own knife. Keisuke easily dodged each swing and finally struck him with a kick to the stomach. With the wind knocked out of him, the second hooligan fell to the ground.

The third hooligan meanwhile had circled around to come at Keisuke from behind. As soon as the punk came in striking range though, Keisuke swiftly turned around and delivered a hard kick to his crotch. The hooligan dropped his weapon and covered the area of impact with both hands, giving Keisuke an opening to deliver a powerful uppercut to his jaw and knock him out. With their little army taken out, Spike and Nigel ran away from the scene like frightened Chihuahuas scarred off by a hissing cat.

Keisuke then rushed over and grabbed Minako by the hand. "Come on!"

Keisuke had begun to lead Minako off in the direction of the hotel. After they had gotten a few blocks away though, Minako finally pulled her hand free.

"Thank you, but I can get there on my own," Minako spoke with irritation in her voice as she rubbed her hand. "Have you been following me ever since I left the studio?"

"I was worried about you," Keisuke told her.

"Well I don't need you to act as my bodyguard against the local punks. I could've taken out those guys just as easily myself."

"Of that I have no doubt, but I wasn't following you because I was worried you'd be molested by some gang. I was concerned because you haven't been yourself today, especially not since we heard the story about that mad playwright from Sir Ian. And after what just happened, I'm now more concerned than ever. Ordinarily you would never have let yourself be cornered like that so easily."

"I'm just having an off day, alright? Now leave me the hell alone and mind your own damn business!"

With that, Minako stormed off towards the hotel. Keisuke remained standing where he was for a few moments and sighed. It seems that in trying to protect the woman he realized he truly loved, he may have made things worse between them.

It was very late at night as Mason and Lyle stood together in One-Eyed Pete's decaying candlelit study. The undead playwright had asked them both to come and report on the progress of the movie. Mason had just finished informing him that the very last scene of the existing script had finally been completed.

"Very good, Mr. Hughes," Pete praised as he tossed a set of bound papers onto his desk. "Here are the remaining scenes of the script. "You are to begin filming the day after tomorrow. By then, the cast for our final scenes will have begun to assemble."

"If you don't mind me asking Maestro, how do you plan to get rid of Tenju?" Lyle asked as Mason thumbed through the new script pages.

"To take care of that task, I decided the most elegant way was to introduce a new character. I took the liberty of casting this character myself. His Majesty used his power to bring the actor to us this morning, and he's since sent his own personal greeting to our Cassilda."

"And just who is this new talent of yours?"

"That would be me," a voice spoke from the doorway. Lyle and Mason turned around, and walking into the candlelight of the room was a young-looking man with very fair skin and white hair. He was dressed in a black leather jacket with a white shirt, a pair of blue jeans and white sneakers. "Pleasure to meet you both. My name's Ace Saijyo."

"Mr. Saijyo has prior acting experience," Pete revealed. "Some years ago in Japan, he starred in a television show as a dashing hero known as Phantom Ace. He also has powers that rival those of our Mr. Tenju, or rather General Kunzite as he was once known."

"With all due respect Maestro, I'm now far more powerful Kunzite. Not only has His Majesty granted me even greater strength; Kunzite has since grown much weaker than he once was. Removing him from the picture should be no problem."

"I understand that you also had romantic feelings for our Cassilda. I trust those feelings will not get in the way of your performance."

"Not to worry," Ace declared as he pulled out a deck of playing cards from his pocket, shuffled them and drew the Ace of Hearts. "I long ago accepted that Venus would never be mine. But if I can't have her, I'm going to see to it that no one else can either. No on that is, except for the King."

Author's Note: I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter, especially the little twist at the end. Incidentally, Keisuke's fight against that gang of hooligans was originally going to be another monster battle, but I felt that such a battle would've been unnecessary. I hope it was an enjoyable scene nonetheless though.

Please review and let me know what you think.