"Minako-chan! You are so strange sometimes, making such serious faces for no apparent reason," teased a petite brunette as she playfully nudged her blonde roommate.

Minako momentarily blinked in confusion before hastily covering her expression with a sheepish grin.

"Old habits die hard," she said with a laugh.

"I'll say," her new friend remarked, linking arms with her roommate and dragging her across the hall. "Now let's get going before the lines in the cafeteria get long, I'm starving!"

As the chipper collegiate tugged, the blonde drudgingly followed, her eyes again burdened with a mysterious weight. As peers passed she would quickly paste on a bright smile that would only fade as soon as they were out of sight.

"Would you look at that?" Her friend cried out. "Free waffles!"

She went to again tug her blonde companion's arm but could not manage to move her. Curiously she peered back, Minako's eyes directed elsewhere.

"Minako-chan?"

Frozen, the girl did not respond, her brow scrunched with anxiety, as she seemed to catch sight of something unsettling.

"Minako-chan?" She repeated, this time waving a hand in front of her friend's face.

"You go on ahead Misa," she finally let out. "I've just remembered that I was supposed to do something."

Before Misa could make any protests, Minako had already jutted through the crowd. Throwing her hands up in defeat, the petite brunette could only frown.

"Another secret assignment for a nearly nonexistent roommate," she mumbled to herself as she watched the traveling blonde strands disappear behind a door. This was beginning to be a routine for the pair and Misa was certain it had absolutely nothing to do with school.

"Dr. Mizuno?"

A well-kept blunette quickly popped up, her big blue eyes blinking sweetly behind her spectacles.

"Yes?" She answered as she discretely straightened herself up from her hunched over position from the file cabinet.

A smiling brunette was standing determinedly at the door of her classroom, cobalt blue eyes friendly whilst he gave a slight bow.

"I'm Agent Sandrock," he said flashing his fake badge just long enough to avoid being too suspicious. "I've come to ask a few questions."

"Oh," she muttered, taking a seat at her desk. "Is it about one of my students?"

The brunette shook his head in disconfirmation.

"No, not at all," he said, earning a look of relief from the young doctor.

"That's comforting," she noted, eyes following him slowly as he found his way to an empty seat. She couldn't exactly place why, but she was beginning to grow anxious.

"I'm certain it is," he said with a nod. He situated himself comfortably before exhaling and pulling a manila folder from the inside of his trench coat. The doctor's attentive eyes were instantaneously glued to the object, her body stiffening as soon as she caught sight of one of the pictures.

"You went to school here, didn't you?" He questioned to which she nodded in affirmation. "Did you happen to know any of these girls?"

She gulped, the action thankfully going unnoticed by him. For a moment she contemplated her response until she finally answered.

"I knew of them," she stated. "They were here around the same time that I was. Usagi Tsukino and Minako Aino, right?"

"Correct," Agent Sandrock replied. "Would you be able to tell me anything about them? Anything…strange?"

Ami's heart jolted unexpectedly, the image of Minako plaguing her mind especially after their most recent encounter of perplexing circumstances. With a gulp she shook her head, her eyes far from revealing truth.

"No," she spoke smoothly. "I can't say that I've really interacted with them enough to notice anything strange. From what I could see, they were typical high school teenagers, crazed by hormones and worshippers of retail therapy."

"I see," Agent Sandrock replied with a frown. He ruffled his hair for a moment before sighing and decided on pulling out the third picture.

Feeling as though he ran into another dead end, he asked if she could identify her, a cool answer spawning quickly.

"Rei Hino," she responded. "She was a priestess in training at the temple a few blocks from here. I believe her grandfather is still there."

"In body perhaps," Agent Sandrock muttered, rubbing his head as he recounted that encounter. "Now, apart from what you've already shared, is there anything else you can tell me about her."

Ami stared at him and shook her head, no. He groaned, heaving himself up from his seat and nodding in her direction.

"Well then I guess my work here is done. If you find anything, please give me a call," he said handing her a card.

"Of course," she curtly responded watching him until he was out of sight.

As soon as he was gone, she let a deep exhale escape, her hand reaching for a bottle of water that soothingly coursed through her scratching throat. She rubbed her head carefully and reluctantly continued to glance into an unopened pocket of her bag that she carried everywhere. The feeling of discomfort would not leave her, as the fact that the recently dismissed man had inquired about not only Minako but Usagi and Rei as well seemed to resonate in her chest. There was a distinct connection amongst the three that she knew perfectly. And if she wasn't careful, it might be revealed that she too shared in that secret tie. With a despairing sigh, she reached for the long sealed pocket and found the long unseen watch shining in her token colors.

She flipped it open and called for an old comrade who in result would not respond.

Rei released a long-withheld sigh as she hovered over the break room counter, running a hand through her hair methodically as she tried to sooth her frustration. Though the fire had revealed to her a scene of alarming proportions, she was unfortunate to learn that it would reveal nothing more. When she learned of her own princess' disappearance her heart wrenched in panic, running hastily to the fire for answers. However, as she would repeatedly beg for insight and knowledge, the fire would never support Luna and Artemis' worry for their missing royal pair. Thus, here began the overwhelming frustration that Rei had pent up inside as she too was unable to sense the danger circling around her missing friends.

As she heard the door to the break room open, she smoothly pulled herself from her distressed position placing an idle hand on the refrigerator and opening. A chill pushed through her spine and immediately she knew who it was that had entered.

"Has your team found any success in the investigation?" She asked dryly, grabbing a cold bottle of water in the process. She glanced over her shoulder to spot the stoic brunette at the coffee machine, his Prussian blue eyes indifferent as he took up the task of refilling the coffee.

"If we had, I wouldn't be in here," he replied coldly.

Rei scoffed, taking a much-needed gulp of her water before sitting at the table with her processed lunch. Food choices weren't plenty in these headquarters so lunch never was enjoyable. Why, she often found herself envious of the carefully wrapped parcel of food she had often seen in the arms of Wufei Chang when he arrived in the mornings. If only she were able to make friends then perhaps she would have something to look forward to in this straining mission.

"I suppose you wouldn't," she responded bitterly, reluctantly tearing open today's bland selection.

She was well aware of the suspicion they harbored for her, but she would not let herself be bothered by their distracting qualms since she had much more pressing issues on her mind. As she felt their eyes burn holes through the back of her skull she would often turn cold, wondering constantly why they would waste their time with insecurities in their staff when Relena Peacecraft was amiss and still far from being found. She supposed it was because they had no hope in finding who had taken her and perhaps Rei was more at ease because she had seen first-hand how she was kidnapped. So, while they had absolutely no clue where to begin their search, she was more than able to find a starting point. As she mindlessly poked at her food, she pondered once more whether she should reveal to them her secret but immediately she refused. Quite frankly, she was not ready to reveal something so personal and aside from that, she had the sneaking suspicion that matters would only worsen should she choose to unveil a world just under their nose that they probably never thought existed.

Surprise flashed in her eyes as she saw him take a seat across from her. A clean mug of coffee in one hand and a matching bland selection of lunch in the other were seen as he soundlessly unfolded a file and skimmed its content. Unfazed, she brought her amethyst gaze back to her own food. Usually he and his friends would always eat at their desks but it wasn't unheard of for a person to change their habits every now and then.

"And what of you," she heard him question awkwardly as his monotonous tone slightly faltered. It was clear he was forcing conversation. "Have you found any substantial leads?"

Rei shrugged, coolly blowing on her food before taking a bite.

"You said it yourself, Mr. Yuy," she started with a smirk, "If I had then I wouldn't be in here."

"Hn," was all she heard, papers rustling softly in the background. "And your feline friends?"

Rei's hand was stopped in mid-venture towards her mouth; unnerve rippling through her as she found herself gritting her teeth. It was true, they never said aloud how they suspected her of foul-play but the idea that one of them would comment with so much assumption on a topic they knew very little about proved to be off-putting.

"Feline friends?" She mimicked with rising irritation. She couldn't even feel the words leave, a deep exhale expounding in attempts to sooth an already prickling ego. "Harboring some irrelevant mistrust, I see."

"Irrelevant?" Heero raised a brow, putting a complete stop to his mindless file skimming as he gave a cold glare which Rei unflinchingly matched. "Those cats –"

"Penetrated the Preventer's corps defenses and managed to blow up a large portion of their headquarters," she interrupted dryly, "Spare me the details."

"And yet you don't seem to think much of it," he gruffly observed.

She shrugged, knowingly disturbing him by her lax mannerisms on the subject.

"Why fret over a topic that dims in comparison to the fact that the Sanq Kingdom's princess is still unaccounted for and rapidly losing leads in her case?" She shot him a heartless glare, her limbs now aching for her to leave.

"Who's to say they themselves aren't a lead."

Perturbed amethyst eyes locked with his unmoving Prussian blue gaze, the stare down only adding more tension to an already terse conversation.

"So, those responsible casually waltzing into your headquarters just to be caught is a normal occurrence?" She queried with a scoff, "It hardly seems logical."

"It's just as logical as the idea of talking cats with human intellectual levels and extensive knowledge of explosives, I'd say," he remarked coldly.

"Tch," she scoffed in irritation, standing from her seat in detestation. "It's clear this conversation will go nowhere. You're completely bent on worthless conspiracy theories and my patience for it is nearly spent. So before this turns into something more unfavorable," she stated, "I'll just take my leave. Enjoy your lunch, Mr. Yuy."

She was almost out the door before she caught the frigidly loaded question he had managed to sear out of his suspicious throat as she paused a moment to consider it.

"Are you really so ill informed that you have absolutely no idea what might be going on here?"

Guilt was hard to negate as she momentarily sympathized for the ignorant group of Preventer's corps investigators and Heero specifically. He seemed like the type that couldn't sleep when caught amidst a situation that could not be rationally explained. Just by looking at him she could see he was having trouble adjusting to the fact that they were lost and desperately drowning in a place where she had much more experience than they could comprehend at the moment. Still, exposure was not ideal and she and Haruka had already formulated a plan to recover not only the Sanq Kingdom's missing princess but theirs as well. Though these men and women of the "normal" world would ultimately remain ignorant to a universe of supernatural proportions, they would eventually be soothed by the return of their princess. This alone was the thought that helped ease Rei's resolve as she solemnly replied.

"I'm just as lost as the rest of you."

It hurt to lie but she knew it had to be done. She left quickly, the cold air drafting in as Heero remained seated in the discomforting confines of a pale gray walled room, his knuckles pale as his hand gripped chokingly around his coffee mug.

Duo sighed, leaning back in his chair as he propped his legs on a coffee table. After his brief meeting with Dr. Mizuno he decided to stop once more in the principal's office, mulling around casually as he tried to sweet-talk the secretary for some more information like old school files and what not. He was successful, to say the least, but these files were fairly useless as they only gave him information about student grades and kept a detention log. Within the log he confirmed that Usagi Tsukino and Minako Aino were certifiably inept at making it to school on time as they were frequently punished for tardiness. Besides that, their grades were hardly even enviable. Thus, it was hard for him to believe that these two could be involved in a larger kept secret concerning the cats.

Still, he was not convinced enough to ditch this investigation as his stubborn nature reigned in to force his focus on other possibilities. Now, Ami Mizuno, on the other hand, was virtually the perfect student. She was never late, never missed a day of school, never missed a point on an exam, and the list of nevers continued further. Yet, Duo had a sneaking suspicion that he was overlooking something. Perhaps it was because she appeared so flawlessly clean and he could never believe that a person could be so…well, perfect. After all, from experience he knew that sometimes the nice ones were the people with the most shocking traits. Take for example Quatre. He was a sweet guy, the sweetest, in Duo's opinion, but the angelic blond was one of the most feared pilots in history…He scoffed.

With a long sigh, Duo dragged his feet from atop the coffee table and lazily pulled out his laptop. As he mindlessly scrolled through links, meandered through websites, he found himself again staring blankly at the homepage of the infamous high school Usagi Tsukino had attended. Agitated and to the brink with frustration, he nearly pushed his laptop off the edge of the coffee table, barely able to resist the urge as he huffed a click onto the school mission statement. Like a large billboard ad, Ami Mizuno's photograph popped up in a bright frame, an equally long description written below her portrait. Bored, he skimmed through her profile, reading about her research efforts, extensive credentials, community service, and so on and so on. He exhaled again, rubbing his head as he noticed the description extended for pages. This Dr. Mizuno certainly was no slacker. In a less than interested manner, he pressed his finger on the down scroll, words racing past his eyes as he droned for the finish line.

A slight tremor rippled through his brain when he glimpsed a particularly important sequence of characters, his finger ripping from the down scroll and carefully moving the document upward. He leant forward with anticipation, cobalt blue eyes nearly kissing the screen. His heart skipped a beat when he found the words he had been searching for, breath holding as he read Ami Mizuno's biography.

"Dr. Mizuno has single-handedly doubled the amount of school sponsors within her tenure here by aiding a wide-range of successful businesses in research and science. Some even offer summer internships where our students gain first-hand experience in different fields of study. Just last summer, three students were granted an internship under the prestigious Rei Hino to join her in her excavation of ancient Egyptian tombs…" Duo grinned.

"So, Dr. Mizuno," he smiled, "Looks like you've doused in some pretty convincing lies. I wonder what else you could be hiding…"

Excited and far from a depressed state, he found himself springing from the couch with his coat in hand. Ami's lie seemed to fuel a new burst of energy in Duo as he grabbed his keys and rushed out the door. People only lied when they had something to hide and he couldn't wait to see just what this blue-haired doctor was trying to protect.

Haruka sighed as soon as she closed the door, pulling out pictures which she tossed onto her bed. It was tediously difficult to get these copies but luckily her charm proved rather useful as she found photos in the hands of a bashful researcher whom she had distracted with charisma whilst she took pictures with a nifty camera Luna had produced. That cat had devices for days and Haruka wondered how exactly she inherited such things…

Alas, Luna and Artemis were quick to pounce to the photos, pawing gently as they hungrily skimmed the inscriptions. Waiting expectantly, she pulled up a chair and hunched over patiently with her elbows resting loosely on her thighs. Rei couldn't pick up any readings or find answers, so like in the old days, they found themselves turning to the feline pair wiser than any living creature Haruka had ever met.

Haruka's navy blues looked up with anticipation when she noticed Luna's body stiffen. Even Artemis perked up, his white fur standing in anxiety.

"What is it Luna?" He asked cautiously, padding softly until he was right beside her.

Still silent, Luna took a step back, gulping frigidly as her mind seemed to find a matching recollection to these foreign symbols.

"Luna," Haruka called impatiently, finding her legs pushing her up from her seat.

Luna's large eyes shot towards her, a dryness overtaking her throat as if mentioning this realization would be a devastating turn.

"I've seen these before," she trailed reluctantly, Artemis' eyes curious as he waited for more.

"You have," Haruka sounded relieved, "What are they?"

Luna gulped, her head lowering in disdain.

"Ancient hieroglyphs from Elysion."

Hey! Long time no see! ^^;

Special thanks to those that reviewed (sunshinebymoonlight, ShiTsukisama, TopazDragon, Makoto A. Yakushi, Anonymous 25, oombala, agoraphobia, Sakura Lisel, Alycee Lanet, Lita of Jupiter, and Cleverbast!). I am so glad you all like this so far and hopefully its still okay! And of course, sorry for my lack of drive to continue. I'll try to work on that.

I honestly thought I may never be able to return to this but then somehow I managed to make this (I mean the last update for this was 11/17/2010 and now its 3/5/2012 yikes!). I hate abandoned stories so I am attempting not to abandon this one and some others. So far my goal is a monthly update for any unfinished story so we'll see how that goes. Besides I hear when you set a goal you're more likely to produce something or something like that...who knows.

Anyhow, sorry its short but I hope it is a bit interesting. Let me know what you think, feel free to ask questions and I'll do my best to keep going.

Thank you for the reviews and more importantly thank you for reading!

JPandS