Episode Three

Meeting

The snow danced in front of the Crown Fruit Parlor that afternoon. Serena stepped inside of the warm building and shivered as she shook the snow off herself. She slipped out of her large, puffy pink coat and hung it up on the coat rack. She rubbed her hands together for warmth then looked around.

"Over here!"

It was Mina. She and Lita were sitting in the corner booth at the back of the restaurant. Serena headed over to them and slid into the booth next to Mina. "Where is everyone?"

"Ami went to the restroom, but Raye isn't here yet."

"That's strange," Serena said.

Lita nodded in response. "She's probably just running late."

Shortly, Ami came out of the restroom to join them. She took the seat next to Lita. "Where's Raye?"

Mina shrugged. "None of us know."

Ami shrugged back.

The four of them sat their quietly for a few moments. It had been many months since the four of them had been together. As always, they remained best friends, but over the years, their lives had taken separate courses. Here or there in the streets of Tokyo, one of them might run into another one of them, but for the most part, they did not see each other. The four of them had found activities and obligations that filled the empty space that their duty as Sailor Scouts once held.

"So how is Marco?" Serena asked, turning to Mina.

"Marco?" Mina looked confused.

"Yeah, Marco, you know, your boyfriend."

Mina pondered for a moment. "That Italian guy?"

"Puerto Rican," Ami inserted.

"Puerto Rican! Italian! Whatever!" Mina waved her hand. "I almost forgot about him." She laughed. "Didn't I tell you? I've got my eye on someone else."

"He dumped you." Lita crossed her arms.

"Yeah, but that's not the point. I've got my eye on a base player…" She trailed off smiling. She then turned to Lita. "We can't all be like you!" She teased. "How long have you and Eiji have been dating now?"

"Almost two years."

Serena grinned. "You know what that means!"

"What?"

Serena started humming the wedding march.

"Oh, stop!" Lita flushed a dark red color. "I don't want to even think about that right now."

"Why not?" Mina and Serena asked.

"I've got enough to do with school and work…" Lita sighed. "I have no time for a wedding right now."

"We'll help you plan it!" Serena said. "I know where to get great flowers, and the store across the street has great dresses. Mina 's band can play at your reception…"

"That's right, we can!"

Conversation ceased as the raven-haired woman came into the parlor shaking the snow off her shoulders. She looked around for a moment then spotted her friends. She walked over to them and greeted them with a quick nod. She sat down next to Serena on the edge of the booth. "Sorry I'm late. The bus was running late today."

"That's alright," Lita nodded. "You're here now."

"Do you want to order anything?" Serena asked.

Raye shook her head.

"I think I'm going to get a snack," Serena said. "Three fries, two cheeseburgers, and a slice of pizza. No, actually I think a chicken sandwich sounds good…"

"Anyway," Mina rolled her eyes, turning away from Serena. The Princess of the Moon didn't notice since she was carefully scanning the sections on the menu. "We should get down to business. We've got to figure out who that crazy lady was, and what she wants."

"And we also need to know who that man was," Lita looked to Raye. "Has he spoken anything to you since he's been at your house, Raye?"

Raye stopped, pondering for a moment. His words echoed through her mind, "I'm going to kill you." Those words sent shivers up her spine. "No, nothing," She lied. "He's gone."

"He's gone!" The four other girls exclaimed.

Raye nodded. "I went to check on him, and he was gone. There were footprints in the snow. I assume that he ran away."

Lita sighed. "This isn't good."

"What's the problem?" Serena asked, looking around for the waitress.

"He might be after one of us," Ami said. "Revenge."

Lita nodded.

Raye's heart skipped a beat.

"You said he was wounded badly, Ami. What makes you think he's got the strength to come after one of us?" Serena asked.

"He did escape, didn't he?" Mina said. "Perhaps he went back to his master?"

"If I were him, I wouldn't go back to someone like her." Lita crossed her arms over her chest. "She obviously doesn't care about her warriors."

"Who is she?" Mina asked, troubled. "What does she want from us?"

Ami dug into her purse and grabbed her super computer. She laid it on the table and opened it up. "I captured some of the video of the battle. I went over to Darien and Serena's apartment and showed it to Luna and Artemis."

"And?" Lita asked.

"Nothing," Ami sighed, typing on the keypad. "They do not recognize the woman or the man. All I know is that we're dealing with a force more powerful than we ever could have imagined."

"What do you mean?" Serena asked.

Ami turned her computer around, showing everyone the battle footage. The computer showed the power levels and energy surrounding each person. "They are stronger than we are."

"What do we do?" Lita asked.

"I don't know." Ami shut the computer. "I must consult more with Luna and Artemis to discover the meaning of this situation."

"I will read the fire," Raye spoke up.

Ami nodded. "Yes, we need every resource we've got."

"Agreed." Mina leaned back in her seat.

"Oh, waitress!" Serena called out impatiently.

Her forehead glistened as the heat of the roaring fire warmed her skin. She sat kneeling before the sacred fire, looking for answers. The world became silent to her as her breathing slowed down. She was one with the fire. All that captured her senses was the power of the fire: its warmth surrounded her like a blanket, the flames danced in the reflection of her violet eyes, the cackle of the burning filled her ears, and the smell of burning wood filled her nostrils. The fire was all she knew in that moment. Through the flames, images began to appear. At first the images were difficult to see, but as time went on, the images began to focus. She was drawn into the vision. The sky was dark, and the land was quiet. She looked down to her feet—the land was stained in blood. She looked back up to the night sky. The earth, glowing brightly in the sky, sat beautifully within the night. Her eyes reverted down to the surface of the land. Thousands upon thousands of warriors and soldiers lay dead across the surface of the Moon. She turned around, looking behind her. Heavy darkness, as high as she could see, approached suddenly. She started to run, seeing the darkness engulf everything behind her. She ran, but it was to no avail. She was covered in darkness. Everything went black. She could see nothing, not even her hand in front of her face. Within the darkness, the cry of what sounded like a child began to echo throughout the darkness. Shortly after it started, it began to fade away.

She returned to reality, gasping. Her heart pounded wildly within her chest. Her hands went to the ground as she tried to catch her breath. The mysterious visions flashed through her memory as she stared at the wooden floor boards of the fire room.

"Miss Raye? Are you alright?"

Raye sat up on her knees and turned around. Standing in the doorway was a young girl dressed in a miko uniform. Raye wiped the sweat off her forehead. "Oh, sorry, Yuka, I'm fine."

"Are you sure?" The young girl looked frightened.

"Yes, yes, I'm fine." Raye stood up. "I was just meditating. That's all."

"Isn't meditation supposed to make you calmer?" Yuka asked.

Raye pointed to the door. "Go polish the haiden hall bells then meet me in the tea room."

"Yes, Miss Raye." Yuka walked out of the room.

Raye crossed her arms and watched the girl leave.

During the winter, the girl named Yuka only trained one day a week. Today was Wednesday and faithful to her training as a miko, the young girl was at the Hikawa Shrine to train that day. The girl was thirteen years old, but she had been training with the High Priestess of the shrine since she was eight years old. The young girl sat kneeling before the tea table. She looked across the table, seeing the High Priestess sip on a cup of tea. The mysterious woman only smiled as the girl looked at her.

The girl cocked her head to the side for a moment. As the High Priestess quietly sipped on her tea, she appeared to be caught up in her own thoughts. The girl took this opportunity to stare at her master. The High Priestess was so mysterious—an enigma. So many questions surrounded the woman that it fascinated the young girl. Most people felt that way about Raye Hino, but they usually responded to it in fear. Yuka on the other hand was captivated by the aura and presence of her master. Despite all this though, Yuka often worried about her master. The older woman always seemed sad. Her parents said it was because the High Priestess was eccentric and mentally unstable, but Yuka didn't believe that was the answer; however, she did not know what the correct answer was.

The clock in the tea room struck five. Raye glanced up at the clock then sighed, taking another sip of her tea. "I suppose you may head home for the night."

"Thank you!" Yuka exclaimed, popping up from her kneeling position. She painfully walked towards the door and grabbed her backpack. "My legs are killing me."

"Then perhaps we need to practice more?" Raye said.

Yuka sighed. "Oh, come on! I've been working on my sitting and kneeling at home!"

Raye sighed, slightly smiling. "Obviously not enough."

"Oh, please don't make me do this next week!"

Raye shook her head with a small smile. "We'll see."

After Yuka quickly took off, Raye stepped out of the tea room and onto the deck of the temple. She walked up and down the wooden deck that wrapped around the temple buildings, thinking about the images that appeared to her through the sacred fire. They didn't make much sense. She tried piecing the answers together through her memory, and the only battle she could remember on the Moon was when Queen Beryl attacked from the Earth. While treading the floorboards, she stopped and looked out into the courtyard. It was silent. The skies were grey and soon it began to snow. She looked out into the stillness. There was nothing out there, but she knew she was not alone.