Disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon nor Dresden Files. If I did, Moon would not be so useless, and fans would burn me at the stake for destroying Harry's awesomeness

The Senshi Files: Silver Warden
File 03: Cat's Paw
By Irritus185/Raithe

Eventually, Makoto calmed down enough to stop herself from sobbing, and I calmed down enough to stop myself from storming out and setting everything that I came across ablaze.

Makoto hiccupped as I rubbed her back, her face still buried in my chest. "You feeling better, kiddo?" I asked gently.

Makoto raised her head and wiped a sleeve across her nose. She snorted noisily. "Yeah, I'm better. Thanks, papa."

I grimaced slightly at the snot she had smeared on both of our clothes, but as any parent can tell you, it was a small price to pay. "No problem. You feel good enough to start planning a counterattack?"

Her eyes glimmered with renewed fire. "You better believe it. I do listen to you, after all."

"And the first rule is...?"

Makoto raised a finger and put on an imitation of my lecturing voice. "Always go in with a plan prepared, even if the enemy manages to ruin it in the end." She then copied my smarmy grin. "And if that happens, set them on fire and run away."

"Because they'll be too busy putting themselves out to focus on you." I tousled her hair. "Good girl. You don't fall asleep during my lessons after all!" Makoto stuck her tongue out, and I responded with a flick to her forehead. She pouted cutely. "So, what's our first avenue of attack? Didn't the faerie cat give you some kind of focus device?"

"Oh, right!"

Makoto dug her into her bag and pulled out an item wrapped in a handkerchief. She handled it gingerly as she laid it on the floor and carefully undid the bundle, making sure not to touch the contents. Smart girl. She knew enough to try and keep as little contact with the item as possible. When she finally finished unwrapping it, one of my eyebrows slowly arched up at the sight, and I looked up at her.

"Is that...?"

She sighed. "I know. I had the exact same reaction."

It looked like something you'd buy a young girl from a big-box store, the kind that came as part of a pretty-pretty princess set. The item was a gold and green pen with a small marble-like orb at the top, a ring encircling it. I could make out the astrological symbol for Jupiter inscribed into the orb.

"Huh, first time I've seen the fey go for something so girly-looking. Usually they're more into practical or gothic than Disney."

"Please don't remind me, papa." She fidgeted, pulling at the legs of her tracksuit. "If you think that's bad, you're going to hate the battle outfit the thing puts on me."

"Oh please, it can't be that-"

"I look like the slutty Halloween version of a ballerina."

I think I blanked out for a bit, because one moment I was listening to words that would not dare to exit my precious daughter's mouth, and the next I was watching Makoto put out a small fire that had mysteriously appeared, localized on the spot the pen was lying. Surprisingly, the pen was completely unharmed without even a scorch mark to show for the abuse, while Makoto's handkerchief had been vaporized into ash and dust.

Makoto sighed as she put down the cup of water she'd just extinguished the spontaneous combustion with. "I told you you'd hate it."

"Kiddo, sweetie, you are not to go within five feet of that thing until I find a way to melt it into slag."

"Yes, papa."

I was just worried that the artifact would have negative effects on my darling daughter's mental and physical health, that's all. I was in no way concerned with the idea that it had been crafted by a relative of Bob's as a way to put young girls in compromising outfits.

Note to self: check with Bob to see if he had something to do with this when I got home. The Box of Shame might have to be put to use again.

Shoving that future plan of action to the back of my mind, I shifted my focus directly onto the pen. Whatever it was, it was obviously made of stern stuff since it hadn't even been scratched from the mysterious fire. That wasn't surprising, though; most magical artifacts were hard to harm if not nigh-unbreakable. It kind of defeated the purpose of investing tons of time and energy into an object if the result broke at the first sign of resistance.

Focus items were the most common - things like my staff and blasting rod, and Makoto's stun batons. They were objects that could be used to enhance the natural spellcasting abilities of a magic user. Others, like my force rings or Makoto's lightning batteries, were enchanted items used for the storage of magic or spells that could be used on the fly and then recharged over time.

And then there were the big boys – objects of power, magical items that did it all. Those were the most powerful, but also the most dangerous, for obvious reasons.

I had to do some testing to see exactly what this pen did. From what Makoto told me, it seemed to be a sort of storage space for the magical battle armor that enhanced her powers. So what did that make it - an enchanted item? Object of power? Something else altogether?

I drew in on myself, pulling myself deeper into my mind to ignore the physical world as I reached out with my magical senses. It was risky, sure, touching an unknown and clearly powerful magical item that had been procured from a Nevernever being, but we had to figure the thing out, and there was no way I was going to let Makoto do it.

Immediately, I could feel the pen brimming with magical power. It was clearly a strong focal point for whatever fount of energy it drew from. I slowly inched closer, trying to discover more about it. Strong, and somewhat similar to Makoto's power; that was worrisome. I reached closer and touched it with a tendril of my senses.

I snapped back to reality and found myself on my back, Makoto crawling over to me in concern. She shook my shoulders roughly, trying to get my attention.

"Papa! Are you ok?" Her voice was tense, sounding like it was about to break at any moment.

"I'm...I'm fine, Sparky." I put a hand to my head and rubbed at my temple slightly. "It just surprised me, is all."

Makoto heaved a great sigh, all of the tension escaping from her body. "What happened? One second you were all still, doing your magic senses thingy, and the next you jumped backwards and fell over."

"Like I said, I was surprised." My eyes shifted over to look at the pen. "I don't think your little friend there liked me messing with it."

Makoto's eyes widened. "You mean… you mean it's alive?"

"Well, not exactly alive," I said. "But it definitely has some form of awareness. The second I touched it, it felt like someone had slapped my hand, like I was some naughty kid trying to filch some cookies before dinner."

She was silent for a few moments. Then she started to shake, and small giggles came out. I frowned. "What?"

"Heheheh, papa was bad, so you're getting put to bed early," she teased. She poked me in the forehead with enough force to tilt me backwards.

I rolled my eyes. "Alright, alright, enough joking around." Makoto swallowed her laughter, but her body still shook every once in a while with suppressed mirth. "New new rule - neither of us are to touch that thing except with a five-foot pole."

"Like your staff?"

"That'll work."

She laughed again. I gave a few chuckles myself, but my feelings on the matter were even more concerned than before. It was bad enough that the thing had some connection to my daughter, but knowing that it had a will of its own? That was troublesome. It wasn't exactly sentient, and it seemed like it only reacted to signs of intrusion, but nothing good ever came of objects that could think for themselves - even on as rudimentary a level as this one did.

Which meant that I had to do further investigation of the artifact, even if there was a pretty big risk in it. If it meant that Makoto would be safer, then there really wasn't any other choice.

I calmed myself, steeling my resolve for what I had to do next. With all the trepidation and reluctance that it deserved, I opened my third eye and Saw.

The Sight was something close to that of a wizard's soulgaze – a visual representation of something not normally observable. In this case, the Sight allowed a magic user to see the true nature of a person, place or thing with the purest of clarity. The upside was that it stripped away any illusions, falsehoods or lies; the downside was that you never forgot what you saw, a permanent searing of the image directly onto your brain.

And some things you could witness with the Sight were not at all pleasant. It wasn't uncommon for someone to go mad after Seeing something the mortal mind just couldn't comprehend. Lovecraft could only wish he knew what those dark things that crawl looked like.

What I Saw wasn't nearly as maddening or malevolent as that, but it was almost as grand in magnitude. Whatever the pen was, it was definitely somewhat aware, and it had a clear connection to Makoto, symbolized by the thin red string that linked it to a place right around where her heart was. The entity, being, whatever you wanted to call it, was massive, dwarfing anything else I could immediately recall other than the appearance of the sidhe queens to the Sight. But it was also benign, and quite possibly beholden to Makoto. It was a guardian force, watching over my daughter with all the care and obedience of a well-trained guard dog.

Strangely enough, a sense of déjà vu rushed through me, but for the life of me I couldn't place where the feeling of familiarity originated from. All I knew was that, while whatever power had taken ahold of my daughter was indeed immense in strength, it wasn't actually attempting to consume or corrupt her.

Still, that didn't mean I could relax just yet – just because something didn't have ill will of its own didn't mean that it couldn't be used for evil. Not to mention that there was an entire branch of magic – thaumaturgy – which worked by exploiting links just like the one my daughter now had with the pen.

And, of course, there was still the matter of just what Luna was, and why she was gathering young girls to fight some sort of war for her.

I had questions for that devil cat…

I forced my third eye closed, and the more defined vision of the world slipped back into its normal one. Makoto looked at me carefully, obviously cautious about throwing me off balance. She knew what the Sight could do, and she was always careful whenever I had just entered or exited it.

"So?" she prompted. "What did you see?"

"Well, whatever it is, it's definitely got ahold of you," I said. Makoto paled at the implications, and I headed off her impending breakdown by giving her a minor noogie. As she scowled, I said, "I don't think we have to worry too much at this point though. The pen, whatever it is, doesn't seem to be doing much more than hook itself to you. I can't see any real changes to your body, mind, or soul, magical or otherwise."

"Well, that's good then, isn't it? As long as it isn't poisoning me or taking over my mind or anything like that, I should be fine, right?"

"For the moment. But I don't like the idea of something I don't know the first thing about getting its claws into my little girl." And I had a pretty good understanding of things invading another person's soul.

"Daddy…" my daughter whined, her voice that perfectly annoying pitch only a teenaged girl could hit.

"Yeah, yeah," I waved her off. She pursed her lips, and my mouth curled up the tiniest bit. "In any case, we have to learn more about what this thing is, and what's happening to you. And the best way to do that is to get back into contact with that furry recruiter of yours and get her to answer some very vital questions."

"I guess it shouldn't be too hard," Makoto said. "She and Usagi seemed pretty eager to explain things to me when it first happened, but I was still too frazzled to listen to them, and then there was the whole 'explaining things to the cops' thing and we just sorta lost the chance to go any further."

"Well, do you think there's a chance you could get them over here anytime soon? The faster we can understand the situation, the faster I can get you out of it."

"No problem. Usagi gave me her number in case I needed to contact her."

"Then let's start with that," I said. "Invite her over in the next couple of days, tomorrow preferably, and we can get this whole debacle behind us."

Makoto nodded, and the two of us delved into the planning of what we were going to do next. It wasn't going to be pretty or precise or even all that impressive, but we had to make do with what was available to us, and we had both dealt with enough Nevernever creatures to know exactly how to handle them.

Because, fey or not, there was more than one way to skin a cat.

I anxiously paced the room, turning around every time I hit the wall and walking back the other way. I had done it so many times that I knew exactly how many steps it took to cross the room, forwards and backwards.

It was ten. Papa could probably cut that number in half.

But that wasn't the point; the point was that I was nervously waiting for Usagi and Luna to arrive so that we could discuss 'senshi business'. I was lucky enough to get Usagi on the phone the night before and convince her to come over Sunday morning. Papa had said that the sooner, the better, but I didn't think I was ready to put together an act of subterfuge so early in the morning, let alone with so little time to prepare.

Still, what was done was done, and the plan was all set. Luckily, papa had all the ingredients we needed for our hastily put-together trap, and all I needed to do to spring it was inject a little energy. But, ugh…even though I knew papa was nearby in case everything fell apart, I was still worried that I'd screw everything up.

Not that I was worried about Usagi overwhelming me; the kind-hearted ditz probably couldn't harm a fly without crying about it. The same could not be said for that faerie cat. Considering the fey had completely different moral values which were essentially alien to humans, I wasn't sure how she'd react to my act of defiance.

Hopefully, she wouldn't transform into some hulking rage monster that we needed to put down.

A knock at the door interrupted my whirling thoughts. I bit my lip hard enough to almost draw blood, squared my shoulders, and prepared myself for what I had to do. Walking up to the door with an outward calm I didn't really feel, I opened it and smiled at my guests.

"Hi, Usagi, Luna, glad you could make it!"

"Hi, Mako!" Usagi said. "We're so glad you invited us. Me and Luna have so much to tell you! Ohmigosh, it's gonna be so fun!"

Luna looked down from her perch on Usagi's shoulder. "Indeed, there is much we have to discuss. But before we do anything, are you certain that no one else is here? Your father is away? It would be quite unfortunate to have an outsider find out about what we're doing."

I resisted from grinding my teeth at the pompous pussy cat. Oh, she'd get hers soon enough. "Yeah, no worries. Papa's out visiting some coworkers of his."

"He knows people in Japan?" Usagi asked.

"He works for an international firm," I said. "They're located all over the world. In fact, that's what I'm doing here in the first place. He had some business that needed attending and figured it'd be good for me to visit my old homeland."

"Wow, your father sounds really cool!" Usagi paused for a second. "But wait, I thought your dad was some sorta private eye?"

"Oh, he is," I said smoothly. "But that's more of a side-job for him. The firm he works for doesn't exactly pay well, so he gets most of his living expenses through his detective gig."

"Oh, that's neat."

Natural twenty on a Bluff check. Oh yeah.

"Well, come on in. I made cookies if you're hungry. Watch your step, though, a light blew out and it's a bit dar-"

"Cookies?"

I blinked at the suddenly Usagi-less space in front of me. Looking inside, I saw her already sitting down and stuffing her face with the baked goods I'd prepared ahead of time. She glanced up at me, three cookies hanging from her lips.

"These er weally good, Mako!" she said, the cookies muffling her.

I sighed and shook my head. Closing the door, I took my seat across from her. Usagi passed a cookie to Luna, who took it with a small sound of appreciation. If it weren't for the fact that I knew just how tricky and manipulative the fey were, I would've thought the way she and Usagi interacted cute.

Usagi inhaled several more cookies before finally realizing she was a guest in someone else's home. She laughed awkwardly at my wry look before slowing down. "Er, sorry about that. They were just so yummy I couldn't help myself!"

"Yes, they were quite exquisite," Luna added.

"Don't worry about it," I said. "I've been around you eating enough to know what I'm getting into. Just learn to breathe between bites next time, k?"

"Eheheh, sorry."

"Really, Usagi, you must learn to be more graceful," Luna said with a long-suffering air.

"Luna…" Usagi whined. Luna sighed and shook her head, putting a paw to her face. Usagi gave another small whining sound and then perked up. "Oh, before I forget, I managed to set up a study session with Ami and Rei tomorrow. You're welcome to join if you want."

"Really, that quick?" I said, impressed that it had been done so quickly. "Thanks, that'd be a real help."

"No problem!" Usagi beamed.

Luna coughed. When she found both of our attention on her, she nodded. "Now that we have the pleasantries over, perhaps it's time to get down to what we came here to do. It's time I explain to you about your fate and what we must do to defeat the Dark Kingdom, our mortal enemies."

'Dark Kingdom'? They seriously named their so-called enemies the Dark Kingdom? Ugh, it was like dealing with fourth-graders.

I nodded. "Alright, that sounds good. Oh, but before that! Here Luna, take a seat. It can't be easy lounging on Usagi all day." I gestured at the floor pillow next to me.

"Well thank you very kindly, Makoto," Luna said. She bounded down from Usagi's shoulder and padded over to the pillow.

I held my breath and sneakily took a grasp on the pillow's corner. This was it. I could only hope that between the pillow partially covering it and the dimness of the room, Luna wouldn't be able to see what had been drawn on the floor.

Luna started to hop onto the center of the pillow, and that's when I made my move. I yanked the pillow aside, revealing the full magic circle designed for binding supernatural creatures papa and I had prepared the night before. The instant she touched down inside the circle, I flooded the runes with my will and the trap snapped shut.

"Hey, what was that for?" Luna asked in irritation. She looked down and patted at the circle. "And what's with this weird drawing? Is this some kind of joke?"

I grinned in triumph. "Let's see you get out of that!" I crowed.

Luna tilted her head and walked out of the circle, breaking apart the mystical bindings like they were made of tissue paper.

My jaw dropped. But…but that was impossible! She shouldn't have been able to do that! The fey were nothing but collections of ectoplasm when in the real world, held together by pure force of will. They didn't have anything physical to cancel out the spiritual structure of magic, so there was no way Luna should have been able to waltz out of the circle like it was a walk in the park. Unless…

"You're…you're not a fey!"

Usagi and Luna looked at each other then back at me in confusion. That only confused me even more. Usagi not knowing what a fey was made sense, since Luna probably lied to her about everything, but there was no way a talking cat didn't know about the fey. And why did she seem to not recognize what a magic circle was, either?

"What are you talking about, Mako?" Usagi asked curiously.

"You're not a fey!" I repeated. "What are you? You're not from the Nevernever, that's for sure. If you were, there's no way you could've just walked out of that binding circle."

"Binding circle? What are you talking about?" Luna asked.

"Stow it, demon cat," I interrupted, venom seeping into my words. "Let me ask again, what are you? Were-cat? Bakeneko? What?"

"I always assumed she was an alien," Usagi said absently, putting a finger to her chin.

"This isn't time for jokes, Usagi!" I barked. "This is serious!"

Usagi flinched away from me. Luna bristled, her tail rising up. "Now that is enough! Honestly, I don't have the slightest clue what you're going on about, but this is not the time to make baseless accusations. We need to discuss ways to prevent the Dark Kingdom from winning, and you yelling and spouting random nonsense is not helping!

"You're right. So why don't you explain to me just what this whole 'soldier of love and justice' shtick is about. I'm dying to know."

Luna and Usagi froze at the masculine voice coming from behind them. Slowly, they turned around and saw papa standing behind them in all his awesome glory, his legs widened in a battle stance and his staff planted solidly on the floor.

"Papa!" I said in relief.

"Hey, kiddo," he waved. "Thought it was time I stepped in. Plus, it was getting kinda cramped camping out on the toilet.

"I could imagine," I grinned. With his absurdly long limbs, I found the image of papa sitting on the john all tangled in his own elbows and knees absolutely hilarious.

"Mako!" Usagi gasped, her voice sounding shocked and betrayed. "You told your dad?"

"Of course I did!" I said. "What, did you just expect me to just go along with your little demon cat's spiel about fighting against the forces of evil? I'm not that stupid." I lifted my nose up. "Plus, papa's been doing that for way longer, and he's tons better at it."

"Ohmigosh, you mean your dad really is a wizard? Ohmigosh, ohmigosh, that is so awesome!"

"Usagi!" Luna yowled, having finally gotten ahold of herself. "This is neither the time nor the place. Control yourself!" As Usagi calmed herself down, Luna turned towards me, pure vitriol in her voice and eyes. "And you. How could you reveal us to outsiders? This breach could bring about the end of us!"

"Hey, don't talk to my daughter that way!" Papa growled.

"You keep out of this!" Luna snapped back. "I'll find a way to deal with this and then I'll have to teach Jupiter what it means to keep a secret."

"Luna!" Usagi gasped. "We don't talk about friends that way!"

"Usagi, you don't understand!" Luna hurriedly said. "We can't have people who aren't part of the Silver Millennium know about what's going on. The Dark Kingdom might use them to get at your secret identities! What about your family?"

"But I'm pretty sure Naru knows, and-"

"And she was kidnapped because of it! Listen, Usagi, it is imperative that…"

As fascinating and revealing as their conversation was, I was more focused on papa, and how he'd gone ramrod stiff the second Luna mentioned she was going to 'teach' me. Sweat trickled down my spine as the temperature in the room raised a couple degrees, and papa's face was absolutely blank.

I knew that face. That was the face he made before things went 'boom.'

"Did you just threaten my daughter?" he asked, his voice barely above a whisper. When the others failed to respond, he raised his voice to a little under a shout. "I said – did you just threaten my daughter?"

Luna and Usagi turned to face him, Luna's mouth opening to say something but halting instantly upon seeing my dad's face.

"Because, if you did." Papa leaned down and extended a hand. A ball of flames blossomed in his hand like the world's deadliest flower. "I have no problem burning you to a crisp."

Usagi yelped and fell backwards, knocking over the bowl of cookies and scattering them. Luna backflipped in the same direction. "How could he be using magic?" the cat screamed. "There's no way modern humans can-" She paused and her pupils shrunk to pinpricks. "Usagi! He must be aligned with the Dark Kingdom! You have to transform into Sailor Moon!"

"Got it!" Usagi reached into her pocket and pull out a huge, gaudy-looking brooch. "Moon Prism Pow-eek!"

The instant she started chanting whatever incantation activated the brooch, I leapt across the room and tackled her to the floor. She gave a squeal of pain as I knocked the obvious focus item out of her hand and locked her arms behind her back, putting just enough force to keep her from breaking free without hurting her more than I had to.

"Mako," she gasped, tears appearing in her eyes. "Why are you doing this?"

"Sorry, Usagi," I murmured gently. "But this is for your own good."

"Jupiter, what are you doing?" Luna yelled. "I can't believe the Dark Kingdom's corruption has spread even into our ranks! I must warn the others!"

"Oh no you don't!" Papa shouted. He shot his staff out and aimed it at Luna like a cannon. "Ventas servitas!"

Wind whipped around the room from papa's all-purpose grabby/pushy wind spell. Luna gave a feline yowl as she was lifted from her feet and yanked towards him. Papa grabbed her by the scruff of her neck and raised her up to eye-level.

"Now, what say you and I have a little chat?"

Luna looked him straight in the eyes. "I'll never tell you anything, Dark King-"

And then something happened that I don't think any of us expected – a soul gaze.

Both papa and Luna froze as the mystical stripping away of their barriers suddenly commenced and just as quickly ended. Papa dropped Luna like she was an active grenade, and Luna hit the ground shaking like a leaf.

Papa put a hand to his face and dragged it down. "Oh good lord, you actually believe you're doing the right thing, don't you?"

Luna's reaction to the event was much less collected. "What the hell was that, what the hell was that, what in the blasted new moon was that?" she shrieked. "What did you do to me? What was that monster I saw?"

"Probably the super-werewolf. Or maybe it was the zombie t-rex," papa replied dryly.

"Luna!" Usagi cried. She struggled against my hold but withered when I added a little pressure. "What did you do to her?"

"Something that shouldn't be possible," I muttered. "Papa? What just happened?"

"Take it easy, kiddo," he said. "Everything's going to be alright. Don't worry." He glanced at Luna, who was still shuddering, though not to the extent she was a few seconds ago. "Oi, moon cat, you feeling better? Take it easy, and the worst of it should pass."

Luna shivered once more. She nervously licked her paw and rubbed it over her head, an action that seemed out of place despite her feline form. "Yes, yes, I understand. I…I am feeling a bit shaken, but… but… yes."

Papa jerked his head at me. "You can let go of your friend now, kiddo. I don't think she'll be any trouble."

I frowned but listened, letting go of Usagi. Immediately she jumped up and scooped Luna up, cradling her like an infant. Luna nuzzled her, tears in her eyes. Usagi questioned her frantically, and Luna responded gently, giving words of reassurance. The cat turned around in Usagi's arms and faced papa.

"You… you won't hurt the girls… will you?" she asked, her voice soft, but laced with a hint of steel.

"You should know by now that I wouldn't," papa said tiredly, rubbing the back of his head. I moved over and sat beside him. He looped an arm around my shoulder and pulled me close. "Just as I know that you wouldn't intentionally bring my daughter to harm for selfish reasons."

"Of course I wouldn't!" she said firmly. "Why would you possibly think that?"

"Most beings I've met that say they're going to 'teach' someone with that tone of voice aren't the nicest of people."

"You thought… I would never harm the senshi! They are my responsibility!" she responded, more than a hint of offense in her tone.

"So what exactly did you mean by 'teaching', then? What, were you going to give her a lecture on not giving up inside info to the enemy?"

I think that was the first time I'd ever seen a cat blush. Luna went silent. Usagi pursed her lips.

"Luna's lectures are the worst!" she whined. "She makes you sit in seiza position and then talks at you for hours! One time she lectured me for three hours straight because of my eating habits. I was so hungry by the end of it."

With that complete non-sequitur, the tension in the room fell flat on its face. Both Luna and papa gave twin sighs of exasperation, and I face-palmed. Leave it to Usagi to take a tense and (potentially literally) explosive situation and completely pull the rug out from underneath it.

Luna was the first to recover, presumably used to it. She coughed awkwardly and slithered out of Usagi's grasp, landing in front of her and planting her rear on the floor. I could tell she was trying to gather her wits back up, but the after-effects of the soul gaze were still messing with her brains something fierce. Papa's mind wasn't a very nice place to be, and I'm sure it'd only gotten scarier since I'd last seen it.

Fighting against the forces of evil and world-destroying monsters tends to have an effect on people.

"Anyway…" Luna coughed again into her curled paw. "I now see you aren't a threat, at least to me or the senshi. I don't know how I know that, though. Would you kindly mind explaining this to me?"

Papa cracked his neck and folded his legs Indian-style. "What you were just part of is what we magic users call a 'soul gaze'. Basically, you just got a first-class look into my very being, and I got to look into yours. A sort of 'you show me yours, I'll show you mine' type of thing." He tapped the side of his head. "As an added bonus, you'll never forget what you saw. Congrats, the story of my life is now a permanent resident in your head. Enjoy the reruns."

"I, I see," Luna said carefully. She blinked. "Wait, you saw mine as well? Does that mean…"

"You're pretty naïve, aren't you, furball?" Papa asked sardonically.

"Furball?" Luna replied, her hackles rising.

"You saw what kinds of creatures go bump in the night from my side of things. You really think teenage girls have the firepower to stand up against that level of strength?" Papa shook his head, chuckling harshly. "If you do, then you're even stupider than I first thought."

"The Dark Kingdom might be powerful, but-"

"I'm not talking about your little faction war or whatever it is you've got going," papa interrupted. "I'm talking about the normal supernatural baddies that walk the street like it's their territory. They're scary enough as it is." His grip around me tightened. "And you wanted to try to get my daughter to fight your battles when she'd be gathering the attention of every hungry opportunist out there in the process?"

"It is her destiny. Sailor Jupiter has the responsibility to make sure the Dark Kingdom does not rise up and rule for a second time."

"Screw her destiny. She's my daughter." He leaned forward. "Like I said, if you even try to put her in danger, I won't hesitate to bring you down."

Luna's eyes narrowed. "…I've seen you, Mr. Dresden. I've seen what you are and what you've done. Maybe you won't hurt the ones I've sworn to protect, but that doesn't mean I trust you. You're ruthless and dangerous, and don't think that I'll take my eyes off you for one second."

"Hey!" I said, not able to take my papa's slandering anymore. I didn't care who this little furry jerk thought she was or how important she might be, nobody said those kinds of things about my papa. "Papa's one of the good guys! If it wasn't for him, hundreds, thousands- no, millions would've died! He's saved more lives than I can count, and I'm not gonna let some freak cat degrade him like that."

"Luna's not a freak!" Usagi cried, finding it her time to enter the fray. "Sure, she might be annoying at times, and she's always bossing me around, but if it weren't for her, I wouldn't have a clue what I was doing. If not for her, the Dark Kingdom would have sucked the life energy out of a ton of people by now!"

"Usagi…" I mumbled, slightly taken aback by how vehemently she supported Luna. It was almost saddening how taken in she was.

Clapping broke me from my stalled thoughts. Papa stretched out his hands before flicking me and Usagi on the forehead. "Yes, yes," he said in exasperation, ignoring our cries of indignation. "We're all very annoyed with each other, that much is obvious. But besides all that, there's still something I want to know." He jabbed a finger at Luna. "Who are you, and why are you gathering girls to fight your battles for you?"

Luna frowned. She glanced between me and papa, obviously trying to put together a new speech to dazzle her way into our good graces. But I'd had enough of the runaround. Papa hadn't lit the cat on fire yet, so that was a good sign she wasn't innately evil, but I did not enjoy having my life and path chosen for me without any say in the matter. Fighting for justice is one thing, but fighting for some ambiguous group that claimed to be on the side of good without giving me any proof just did not work for me.

Even if the practical side of me hated what I was getting into, having witnessed its fair share of terrors thanks to the supernatural side of reality, the romantic part really wanted to know just what was going on. And with papa by my side, I was going to find out!

"Look, Luna," I said, catching her off guard. "You already told me the whole spiel about how I'm the solider of lightning or wood or whatever it was. But I want to know what it means; just what makes me so important, and why do I have to fight some Saturday morning cartoon reject?"

Luna looked at me for a second, made a decision, and sighed. "Very well," she said reluctantly. "To put it simply, you are the reincarnation of a select breed of galactic fighter. Millennia ago, a great evil wiped out all life in this solar system, and in her last moments, our leader used her powers to not only seal away that evil, but also have the few that were with her transcend the cycle of death and rebirth and be reborn today. However, that same evil has finally broken the seal and is gathering its forces to finish what it started all those ages ago. That evil is the Dark Kingdom, led by Queen Beryl and the maleficent entity known as Metalia, which granted Beryl her immense powers."

Papa was silent, but only for a bit. "So...what you're saying is that some crazy person made a pact with an ultra-demon and destroyed the entire galaxy - which apparently was some kind of super-advanced civilization - that person is now back with the mother of all vengeance streaks, and the only ones that can stop them are girls who are barely out of puberty and have to take orders from a cat?"

Luna curled her lips. "A bit crude, but that is the general gist."

Papa looked at me. I looked at him. As one, we turned to Luna with a simultaneous, "Bullshit."

"I am telling the truth!" she said heatedly.

"You sure as hell believe you do, which concerns me greatly. But tell me, furball, what exactly can..." He looked up to the left and silently counted off his fingers. "Five teenage girls, maybe, do against something that's a literal galaxy buster? Yoda would flee from that firepower, and he's the most badass green muppet alive."

Usagi gasped. "How did you know there were others?"

"Usagi!" Luna chided, clearly annoyed that Usagi had verified papa's assumption.

"I know my basic astronomy," papa said flatly. He counted off on his fingers again. "You already called little miss dumplings here Moon and my daughter Jupiter. That leaves at least Mercury, Venus, Mars, maybe Earth if Moon doesn't just override it, and that doesn't even bring into account the other four planets... that is, if Pluto even still counts as a planet."

I don't know why, but papa shivered at that moment. He looked around curiously but then shook his head and went back to business. No idea what that was about, but I had the distinct feeling he thought he'd inadvertently ticked someone off.

"So, you probably have about three more because odds are the others activated before my kiddo, 'cause life likes to be neat and clichéd like that. Five girls. Against an ancient evil." He slapped his hands on his knees. "This isn't a superhero movie; the good guys don't just win because they're good. The thing is... bad guys cheat."

Of course, papa didn't mention that he cheated too since he was practical, but I thought it'd best not to say anything that would undermine his stand. The grownups were talking now.

"Speaking of which, where does our precious little bundle of whacko, Zoe, fit into this? When he popped up, he mentioned your group by name. I'm guessing he works for big, bad, and ugly?"

"Ah, Zoicite?" Luna confirmed. "Yes, he's a general in Queen Beryl's army. Extremely loyal. He's the one that's trying to collect the rainbow crystals. The rainbow crystals are, well..." She trailed off, looking like she felt she'd said too much already. "Let's just say it'd be very bad for them to fall into the Dark Kingdom's hands, and leave it at that."

"Mystical artifacts. Genocidal dudes. Bad stuff will happen, got it." Papa glanced at me and set his jaw. "Tell me, is ol' Zoe human?"

Why would papa ask tha- oh. Oh dear. Papa was serious.

"Human? Him?" Luna scoffed. "Queen Beryl and her thuggish brutes are no more human than wild beasts. Why, even the thought that they'd be-"

"I'm serious," papa said. "Is he, or is he not, human?" His eyes were stony and flat, brooking no argument.

Luna took a step back from his expression before calming herself. She took a deep breath. "No," she said. "Zoicite and the others stopped being human the moment they accepted Metalia's powers. Any shred of humanity they once had has been completely wiped out, consumed by that monster's dark energy." She pawed at the floor. "Is that acceptable?"

"Awesome," papa said. He tapped his chin. "Now, that just leaves on the table what, exactly, you are."

"Me?" Luna pointed at herself. She lifted her chin and preened proudly. "I am Ambassador Luna Felina, royal advisor to her majesty Queen Serenity, ruler of the Silver Millennium. As of this moment, I am also the caretaker and teacher to the awakened Sailor Senshi, elite combat unit of the galaxy."

"So, you're the one that's running this shindig?" he asked.

"That is correct," she stated primly.

"Well, congrats then, furball," papa said brightly. "You are being honorably discharged, and I'm taking over."

"W-what?" she sputtered.

"You heard me," papa repeated in the tone you speak to a misbehaving child with. "You're no longer in charge. I am."

"How dare you?" Luna hissed. "If you think that some no-name ruffian can just waltz in and-"

"This 'no-name ruffian' has kicked the asses of more wannabe godlings than he'd care to count, and has prevented the end of the world as we know it more than once, which is one time too many." He pointed his finger at Luna, like he was going to stab her with it. "You, on the other hand, are a glorified babysitter and probably have absolutely no combat experience, which makes you the least qualified battle commander in existence." Papa jerked a thumb at me. "Heck, Makoto has fought off waves of baddies since she was nine, which makes her more qualified than you. Not-" He gave me the stink-eye, and I smiled nervously in response. "That that means she can go off fighting evil like a vigilante."

"I'm smarter than that, papa," I said.

"I know you are, kiddo," he smirked. His mouth formed back into a neutral line as he focused back on the other two. "Still, that means that I'm the best chance to deal with your little Dark Kingdom problem. And the first order of business is to declare that Sailor Moon and her buddies are to not make any more appearances."

"What? But that's not fair!" Usagi cried. "You can't just tell us to stop! The senshi are warriors of love and justice! We're the ones that keep Tokyo safe at night from the Dark Kingdom!"

"And I, and others like me, are the ones that keeps it safe from the other 99% of the monsters that like to prey on the weak." He frowned. "Face it, kid, you're out of your league."

"You don't understand," Usagi said. "The senshi are necessary. Without us, who knows how many bad things the Dark Kingdom will do. Without us, they'll take over the city and then the world!"

"And I'm telling you that your little extracurricular activities are over. You are not fighting baddies, ever again." Papa's eye twitched.

"You can't tell me what to do," Usagi pouted, puffing her cheeks out. "Luna told me to lead the Sailor Senshi to victory and that's what I'm gonna do!"

"No, you're not," he growled.

"Yes, I am!"

"Usagi, calm down," I said, holding my hands up in a placating fashion. "Papa's only trying to do what's best. Trust me on this, he knows what he's talking about."

"No, Mako! He doesn't! He doesn't know at all! We're the only ones who can fight against the youma. We're the only ones who can stop Beryl and Metalia. We're the only ones who-"

"I forbid you from fighting!" Papa shouted, climbing to his feet.

I slowly started backing away, feeling the torrent of raw emotion and magic swirling through him. He was at the breaking point, and I did not feel like taking the brunt of it because Usagi didn't know to keep her fool mouth shut.

Usagi jumped to her feet as well. "I'm gonna!

"I! For-bid! It!"

With that declaration, the tightly woven knot of magic papa had been keeping locked up exploded outward. Usagi and Luna let out shrieks of fright and surprise as the lightbulbs in the room shattered and sparks scattered from the resulting metaphysical shockwave. Outside, I could make out car alarms blaring into the afternoon air as their systems fried themselves from the inside out.

Papa panted as an aura of frustration and anger rolled off of him. Luna and Usagi were cowering on the floor, clutching at each other with whimpers and tears. They were clearly terrified at papa's unintentional display of power. Even I was a bit nervous at the pure emotion in his shout and release, and I knew that papa would never harm a hair on any of our heads.

Papa took a deep breath, held it in for a moment, and then let out a deep, resigned sigh. He fell back to the floor. He put a hand to face and rubbed at his brow. "Look," he said, his tone heavy. "You're still children. You have no idea what you're getting into. Maybe when you're older and more experienced you'll get it, but right now you're a liability to yourself and others. As of right now, you and the other senshi are grounded. You are not to go demon hunting. You are not to go looking for clues. You are not to go challenge the embodiment of evil to a duel. If any of those come up, you will run away as fast as you can and contact me. Is that understood?"

Usagi nodded shakily and hiccupped. He sighed again. "Good. Now, go home. And if I see you on the streets doing anything other than whatever it is teenage girls do, we'll have words, got it?"

Usagi wordlessly nodded again and stood up, holding Luna to her chest. She looked in my direction, gave a weak, "See ya, Mako," and quietly left the apartment.

Papa sat where he was, not saying a word. I frowned. I had some idea of what he was thinking. He hated scaring children and he hated scaring women - Usagi was both. Still, what he'd done was necessary, if a bit over the top. Usagi didn't seem to understand the heap of trouble she was in. Maybe Luna was right and the senshi were needed to fight the Dark Kingdom, but there were people who did that kind of stuff for a living, and they were much better at it than magical cosplayers.

One of those people was morosely sitting in front of me. I screwed up my mouth, thinking. Getting up, I walked over to the icebox and pulled out a can of coke. I walked back over to papa, put the can in front of his face, and popped it. He jolted when the carbonation took him right in the nose. I giggled at his dopey look before turning around and scootching into his lap. He instinctively rearranged his legs to give me a more comfortable position, and then took the can from my hands and took a long sip.

I waited before speaking. "Feel better?"

"Yeah," he said. He took another sip and wrapped an arm around my waist. "Thanks, kiddo."

"No problem, papa." We sat there a while, just enjoying the other's company. I twisted in his grasp to look up at him. "Hey, papa?"

"Hmm?" he mumbled.

"What are we going to do now?"

"I don't know, kiddo. It's a lot to take in, and that's only what the furball decided to share with us."

"So you believe what she said?"

"She wasn't lying, that's for sure. All that crazy sci-fi/fantasy junk? She believed every word of it."

The way he stressed 'believed' made me pause. Belief was key in using magic. If you didn't believe in what you were doing, it didn't work. To have a strong sense of self was vital. If Luna really did think the world was going to be eaten by some evil baddie, we couldn't just disregard it.

"And...?" I prodded.

He tilted his head. "And what?"

"And what are you going to do about it?" I repeated.

He rolled his eyes. "Well, first I'm going to go digging for info. Without something more concrete to work off of, this whole thing is gonna get real old, real fast."

"And where are you going to find that?"

He smirked and knocked the can against my temple. "Let's just say I've got a warden that I've got some choice questions for."

I shivered at the teeth in that smile. Oh man, that warden was in for the roasting of his life.

It sucked that I couldn't witness it. I'm sure it was gonna be wicked.

For the second time in three days, I found myself in front of the inn-turned-White Council-safehouse where the Japanese regional warden resided. Honestly, I was not expecting to have to meet with Warden Arashimaru so soon, especially as we'd left each other on pretty good terms.

Then again, I also didn't expect there to be children running around in mini-skirts fighting against supernatural creatures and being led around by a talking cat.

Life was just unpredictable like that.

I'd been unable to meet Arashimaru the same day as Luna's and Usagi's visit, since he was out patrolling the area. Apparently there was some sort of magical drug trade that'd been garnering his attention. I internally grated at the idea; here there was something he should have been dealing with immediately, and instead he was chasing after other random leads.

I'd managed to get Tamako, though, and she took my message that I'd be over on Monday. Luckily, I didn't have to leave Makoto home alone, as she was over at the study session with Usagi and her friends.

I had completely forgotten that she had the whole week off thanks to a week-long Japanese school-holiday.

Stupid Japan and their different school schedule.

I was glad that Makoto could spend her free time possibly making new friends, but I was also somewhat worried that it wasn't such a smart idea, since Usagi's friends may very well be the other senshi. However, Makoto convinced me that she wouldn't be in any danger. I reluctantly agreed; I knew Luna wasn't going to cause any harm to my daughter, and I doubted the other senshi had the nerve to outright attack Makoto. Still, it didn't mean I couldn't worry.

I guess I'd just have to take out my frustrations on the semi-deserving Arashimaru.

I rapped harshly on the door. Barely a second passed before it opened, revealing Tamako with her normal, stoic expression. She granted me a small nod.

"Sir Dresden, it's a pleasure to see you again," she said. "I expect you're here to meet with Sir Arashimaru."

I couldn't bring myself to give her a smile in return. My temper was still running too hot. Instead, I gave a curt nod. "Yeah, he's here, right? I have some things to discuss with him."

She must've noticed my change in demeanor, because her eyes narrowed the tiniest bit. Still, she granted me entrance and led me to straight to Arashimaru's room. Bowing slightly, she gestured at the door. "Please, Sir Arashimaru is waiting for you inside." With that, she glided away, her slippered feet making no noise on the wooden floor.

I knocked on the door. From inside, I heard a voice telling me to come in. With permission granted, I opened the door, swept in, and witnessed the controlled chaos that was Arashimaru's lab.

It looked less like the traditional wizard's lab - with mystical items, grimoires, random objects, and magic circles - and more like the inside of a mad scientist's laboratory. Multiple beakers, Bunsen burners, measuring devices, and the like were scattered around the room with no apparent organization to them. There were several maps pinned up on the wall, some of the city and others of the surrounding country, but there were also a fair amount of hand-drawn weather maps, detailing the current patterns in the same areas.

I could make out a few devices designed to gauge weather, including an old mercury barometer, weather vane, and wind speed indicator – the latter of which was whirling away despite the fact that it was indoors. There was a tower of notebooks next to them, full to bursting with loose papers shoved haphazardly between the pages. Beside those were a few textbooks focused on meteorology.

Arashimaru was in the center of the room, focused intently on a small glass bottle the size of two fists put together. Inside, I could make out a foggy mist with small arcs of electricity racing back and forth. Before I could inspect it more, Arashimaru turned around, and a large smile crossed his face.

He raised a hand in greeting, the other lifting the pair of goggles from his eyes and settling them on his forehead. "Ah, Warden Dresden, to what do I owe a second visit from you? I thought everything was in order when you left Saturday."

I could've eased in. I could've explained my frustrations. I could've been diplomatic.

I've never been good at any of those.

"What the hell are you doing?!" I yelled.

The grin dropped off his face. "Pardon?"

"What the hell are you doing? Are you even aware of what's going on?"

He pursed his lips. "Warden Dresden, if you do not explain what you are accusing me of, I can't very well defend or explain myself with any form of adequacy," he responded, with that calm, placating tone of voice that only ever seems to piss people off more.

I growled. "I'm talking about the girls that are playing superhero in your jurisdiction."

A light went on in his eyes. "Ah." He removed his goggles from his head completely and gently placed them on the table next to the lightning jar. "I see. That's what you meant."

"Yeah, that's what I meant," I said. "What are you thinking, letting children fight when it should be your responsibility, or, heck, anyone else's? They can't be any older than middle school!"

"I would stop them if I could, Dresden," he said politely. "But it's a bit more complicated than that."

"Complicated?" I scoffed. "How could it be complicated? Find them, stop them, do something about the so-called monsters they fight. There, done! How hard could that be?"

"It's hard because I have yet to actually witness them fighting, or even meet them."

I stopped short at that. "What?"

"These so-called 'Sailor Senshi'?" he said. "They're almost like ghosts when it comes to their fights. I'm never able to find them before they finish fighting, and my attempts to track them down afterward have all failed miserably. I'm barely able to get a scent on their general area before they completely vanish from radar. The only reason I'm even aware of them is from the massive collateral damage they leave from their battles and second-hand knowledge from eye-witnesses. Speaking of which..."

He walked over to a table positioned next to the wall and scrounged around before pulling out a small magazine. He flipped it to a page in the middle before handing it to me. "Did you know that they're a bit of a sensation in this city?"

I glanced at the magazine and my eyes nearly fell out of their sockets. There, in full HD and color, were three girls in the gaudiest and girliest outfits, posing in front of a creature much like the one I had incinerated a couple days ago. A couple more photos showed them fighting what the article dubbed a 'youma', shooting off blasts of fire and blankets of mist.

'The warriors of love and justice, the Sailor Senshi!' 'Proud defenders of Azabu-Juuban!' 'Protectors of the weak, our lovable heroes!'

I looked up at Arashimaru. "You're kidding me."

He arched an eyebrow. "I only wish." He took the magazine back. "As you can tell, they're obviously well-known in this area. Not only that, but they have a bit of a following."

"So how could you not find them?" I asked, my tone harsh. "Their faces are in clear view of the camera! It shouldn't take much for anyone with half a brain and a little time to find them, or hell, recognize them on the street."

"That's mainly due to the glamour on them."

I paused. "…Glamour?"

Glamours. Basically, they were illusions, typically with a mental component as well. A good glamour could make you look like someone else. A really good glamour could make you look like someone's closest loved one, and they'd never notice the difference.

"Yes, and a rather potent one, in fact." He frowned and looked at the pictures. "Despite having their pictures plastered across every magazine and newspaper in the prefecture, and presumably even the internet, no one has been able to recognize them even though they make absolutely no effort to hide their identities. Whatever spell they're using, it's a powerful one. Because of that, I've made no progress in tracking them, through magical or mundane means."

I took a closer look, and saw for myself what he meant. One of the pictures gave me a good look at Sailor Moon's face, and even I would have called myself crazy to think that it was my daughter's new friend. "Well, have you've been able to find out anything about them?" I pressed.

"Some," he admitted. "As you can see, there's a total of three in the city right now - Sailor Moon, Sailor Mercury, and Sailor Mars. Moon seems to be the leader, as she tends to be the one to take these so-called 'youma' down." A small smile slipped out. "Also, I have news that there's another of these senshi out in England, going by the name of Sailor V. Apparently, she's been at it for a couple years now."

"England?" I said surprised. "How the heck is there a rogue spell-caster literally running around in the White Council's backyard?" The White Council's HQ was located near England, so to have someone blatantly fighting monsters in broad view of the not-clued-in public was more than just a slap in the face; it was a slap in the face with an iron gauntlet.

"They're having the same problems I am – a glamour prevents people from recognizing her, and all attempts at tracking fall flat. Luckily, they've managed to find counter-measures to lessen the impact of a young girl blasting baddies."

"Oh, and what's that?" I asked snarkily.

"They're touting her as a magical idol," he chuckled.

My mind's needle skipped a groove. "Wha?"

"The regional warden managed to get help from a local producer and had them publicize this Sailor V as a 'magical girl' performer, holding public performances of her stopping some evil syndicate. Every time she shows up and gets into a fight, they clean up by pretending they were shooting a live scene. The public loves it; if she ever stops fighting, she'd be a shoe-in in the entertainment industry. I've already set up similar arrangements over here with a friend."

Grinding the transmission, I attempted to get my thoughts back on track. Stay focused, Harry. It didn't matter how stupid or inane the situation was becoming; I had to get my displeasure across to this guy. I gritted me teeth, refusing to back down. I wasn't going to take these excuses. There was no reason that Arashimaru could just allow Usagi and the others to fight without exploiting any way possible to stop them.

It went double if this kind of thing had been going on for two whole years in London and several months here in Japan.

"What about the White Council, then?" I said, my tone getting heated once more. "I'm pretty sure they wouldn't just allow children to flaunt their powers in front of the vanilla mortals. Didn't you ask them for help in the matter?"

"I did, in fact," he said. "When I spoke to them, they told me to 'handle it myself.'"

Figures. Magical government or not, the White Council was still a bureaucracy, and that meant being no help at all while still demanding that its minions drop everything if needed.

Arashimaru gave me a wry look. "In case you might have forgotten, we are currently at war with the Red Court. Apparently a bunch of teenagers fighting random monsters is a lower priority than making sure the Reds don't wipe us out."

I winced at that. Though not really my fault, I was partially responsible for prematurely kicking off a skirmish between the White Council and Red Court vampires when I incinerated an entire mansion of them during my early years in Chicago. The Reds had been planning to wage a war against the White Council for a long time; I just sorta accelerated the process.

Even so, the war was not going well. We had lost a lot of good comrades because of it, and promoted a lot of greenhorns to fill in the gaps left behind by the older ones' deaths. Heck, if it wasn't for the war, there was no way I'd be a warden right now, given all the red in my ledger.

I sighed mentally. There really was no reason for me to be so aggressive towards Arashimaru. It was obvious he'd been doing all he could, and me barging in and accusing him of failing at his job wasn't helping him in the least. I had forced my morals and ideals on the man, and that was wrong.

I relaxed my shoulders and scratched the back of my neck. "Sorry, Arashimaru, I didn't mean to be so rough. It just really bothered me that there are children fighting out there when there could be more experienced people doing it for them."

Arashimaru smiled gently. "Don't worry about, Dresden. I can understand your feelings on the matter. I don't relish the idea of young people fighting when they do not have to, either. That belief has only become stronger with all the good friends I have met and lost in the past few years."

"Yeah," I said. "Sorry anyway."

"Once again, pay it no heed. However, if you're feeling that apologetic, maybe you can help me on something."

"Hmm? What is it?"

"Well, since you seem so adamant about stopping these girls, do you have any information you can share? Anything would be helpful, and the more I know, the easier it'll be to find these kids and get them to stop."

I hesitated. My daughter was involved, now, and I didn't want Usagi or the other two resident senshi to get in trouble with the White Council, not if I could stop them without outing them. Even if they weren't technically breaking any of the seven laws, they were still skirting pretty close to the unofficial ones. Using magic in a public venue was firmly looked down upon, and the constant collateral damage they were causing (as mentioned by Arashimaru and several points in the magazine article) did not endear them to normal mortal officials. I had enough trouble back in Chicago with all the random fires I started in the line of duty, and I had Murphy on my side. Their hearts may have been in the right place, but these girls were delinquents at best in the eyes of both the police and the Council.

Also, as much as I didn't want to think on it, this was extremely similar to the start of darkness for most warlocks. Most warlocks were just ignorant kids who didn't have anyone to explain their powers to them, used them in the wrong way once to break a law, and then fell ass over teakettle down the slippery slope. With how reckless the girls were, it was only a matter of time before an innocent bystander got caught in the crossfire.

Even worse than that, Luna would definitely be put to the blade should she be discovered. Most supernatural creatures weren't heavily hunted down, because it was simply in their nature to act the way they did; they didn't have free will the way humans or other creatures with souls did. Luna, while not human, most certainly had a soul considering the soul gaze I'd shared with her.

She knew what was she was doing, and she believed it was the right thing to do.

Those two things combined were the road paved with good intentions that led to hell. I'm sure the council would make an exception and use the silver sword on her, human or not.

Cautiously, I gave a censored version of the events that'd happened Saturday afternoon. I mentioned Zoicite attacking the young man, how I'd chased him down, and the demon he'd sicced on me. I didn't mention Luna, that my daughter had helped the man who'd been turned into a youma, or that she'd transformed into another senshi.

Arashimaru seemed particularly interested in the crystals Zoicite had attacked the man for, and the fact that he appeared to be an enemy of the senshi. I theorized that the crystals must be part of some ritual, which probably wasn't too far from the truth given what little Luna had told me about them.

"Zoicite seems like my best bet for finding out more about these senshi and the animosity between the two groups," I said. "So I figured I'd try to follow up on the matter, see if I can stop him from trying it again."

"There's no need for that," Arashimaru said politely. "I thank you for the offer of assistance, but this is my appointed territory, and I only find it appropriate to take care of the matter myself."

"Are you sure?" I prodded. "Because, really, I have no problem staying to help out. I have to make sure my daughter doesn't run into this whacko again." For multiple reasons.

He shook his head. "No, I have to respectfully decline. There's no need for you to stay any longer than you'd originally planned. You have your own region to look after, after all. I assure you, your daughter will be safe here. On my word."

"If you're sure..." I trailed off.

"Dresden," he said firmly, locking eyes with me. I glanced down before the pulling of the soul gaze started. Yikes. "I'm sure."

"Fine, if you say so." I looked around the room aimlessly. "I suppose if that's all that can be done, I'll be going."

"I'll have Tamako escort you to the entrance," he said. "Goodbye, Warden Dresden."

I exited the room and was shortly brought to the front door by Tamako. She wished me goodbye, and I left.

From the curt way Arashimaru had ended the conversation, I had the feeling that he knew I hadn't told him everything. I wasn't exactly the best liar, something that's gotten me in trouble more than a few times, and it was an unfortunate trait I'd transferred over to Makoto. Hopefully he wouldn't feel the need to interrogate her, though I didn't see him as the type of person who would.

I sighed deeply and made my way out of the front yard and back to the apartment. Hopefully this whole excursion wouldn't come back to bite me in the ass later on.

Lord knows it wouldn't be the first time.

Still, I think it was time to do some more experimentation on that pen of Makoto's. I had the feeling that it would reveal more about the situation than Luna's lackluster lecture.

Even if it did feel like I was staring into the face of madness.

A/N (Irritus): Next chapter over! Ohmygosh, look! They settled their differences by talking! No one died! No one exploded! No one got a tiara lodged up their nose! Yay! Also, wow, I've got a lot of bloodthirsty reviewers. Fun times for you guys, huh? In any case, we've finally got Harry/Makoto finding out more about just what they've gotten into, and also some potential plot holes have been filled from the mixture of these two series. Huzzah! Till next time, people.

Also, the fuku must go, by order of papa Harry. With fire, if possible.

A/N (Raithe): Alternative titles for this chapter:

-Of 'Demon' Cats and Angry Dresdens

-The Chapter with All the Dialogue

-Dude, Where's My Clichéd Crossover Fight Scene?

Yeah, when a plotline requires two good people to assume that the other is evil, the whole 'Soul Gaze' thing is kind of a deal-breaker.

This was originally going to be two scenes longer (With even more dialogue!), but Irritus apparently thought that 40 pages was too long and wanted to keep the chapters at a 'reasonable length' or something, so they've been moved into the next one.