Rio arrived home at about the same time as Mizuki and Mariko had caught up with Akemi. Like the other three girls she was hot, tired, and somewhat exasperated. She recognized the importance of what she had felt during the attack earlier that day and was (in her mind) justifiably angry that her mother hadn't shared her suspicions with Usagi and the other adult Guardians. She felt that she understood why Rei had kept quiet, and maybe it had been wrong of her to spill the beans, but she was more than ever convinced that keeping secrets, how ever temporary, was not the way for all of them to relate to each other.
She found her mother in the heart of the shrine, her mind far away in the flames of a fire reading. She hung back, not wanting to interrupt what could be the most important fire reading she had even seen. Normally she would have turned her back on the room, eager to escape the creeping feeling that worked its way up her spine and across her skin whenever she came too close to the flames. That day she stayed, catching a sort of backwash of what her mother was sensing. The longer it went on the colder she felt, despite the heat in the room.
Finally there was a deep sigh and Rei slumped before the fire, shoulders bent and head bowed. Rio stepped forward and laid a hand on one of her mother's shoulders, lightly, just to make her presence felt.
Rei lifted her head. "Did you feel it?" she asked, not looking at her daughter.
There was no point in pretending not to understand. "Yes," Rio replied, her voice soft. It was an acknowledgment not only of the presence of Chaos earlier that day, but of what had been seen in the flames. She shivered, chilled beyond bearing on the inside.
Rei saw the shiver and smiled slightly. "I agree," she said, rising slowly to her feet. She stumbled on unsteady legs; Rio caught her arm and steadied her. They looked in each other's eyes, sharing the concern and fear.
"What do we do?" Rio asked, desperately hoping that her mother would have a solution to all the problems.
"We get to Usagi and tell her what we know."
Usagi was worried. Beyond worried, in fact. Events were moving faster than she had expected, and she felt out of her depth in a way she hadn't experienced in decades. Too many things were still clouded; too many possibilities still unclear. And at a moment when she most needed to be thinking clearly she found herself unable to do so. It was all just a jumble in her mind, no disparate facts at all.
Seiya's whereabouts where still unknown, but that wasn't what was bothering her the most. Usagi knew her son; he'd come home as soon as he worked through whatever was bothering him. And after the afternoon they had all had there was likely to be a lot of things bothering him.
The front door opened and Usagi rose to her feet. "Seiya?" she called.
"Sorry, hate to disappoint you."
Usagi all but ran to the door and threw herself into her husband's arms. Mamoru was surprised, and full of questions, but he recognized her need to be comforted, for however brief a moment. He held her, resting his cheek against the top of her head, until he felt her take a deep breath and release it with a heartfelt sigh. Then he released her and took a step back to meet her gaze.
"What happened?" he asked.
Usagi made a sound suspiciously like a snort. "What didn't happen?" she replied, grinning. "On the plus side Mariko transformed and gained her powers. As Sailor Mercury, oddly enough."
Mamoru's eyes widened at that piece of news, but he saved those questions. "And on the negative side?"
Usagi shook her head. "I'm not really sure, except Chibiusa is pretty well spaced out, Seiya has disappeared, and Rei knows something but hasn't told the rest of us." She led the way towards the stairs at the rear of the hall. "Helios seems to have disappeared as well, but Chibiusa assured me he's with Seiya. Trying to get me to stop worrying, I suppose. How she knows that, though, is beyond me."
Mamoru smiled. "Not hard to guess, I think. Sailor Guardian of Earth, Guardian Priest of the Earth Kingdom. . . There has to be a connection in there somewhere."
Usagi shot him an unpleasant look. "I hope that's meant to cheer me up, because it's definitely not working as humor." She sighed. "Maybe you can talk to Chibiusa, because she's not sharing anything with me right now."
"Sharing anything about what? You still haven't told me what happened today." So Usagi told him everything of any importance that had happened that afternoon, including her argument with Minako and the surprise that Mariko and Akemi were apparently each the opposite of what was expected of them as Guardians. He was puzzled by her description of the attack at Hikawa Shrine; the pattern didn't seem to fit with everything they knew.
"So will you talk to her? You may be able to get through in a way I can't, now that the Earth Kingdom connection has been strengthened." Usagi shrugged and blinked back tears. "I feel so helpless," she whispered. "I've always been her guide, but now. . ."
Mamoru took hold of her shoulders and gave her a slight shake. "You're still her guide," he reminded her, his voice forceful. "That will never change, no matter what happens between Chibiusa and I." He took a deep breath. "But right now you need to focus on Seiya; you're the best person to help him. You know, because of that Moon Kingdom thing," he concluded with a smile, relieved to see Usagi smile in return.
"So what you're telling me is I should just try to stay calm and wait for him to come home?"
"Pretty much so, yes." He have her a brief kiss and moved past her to climb the stairs. "I'll see what I can do with Chibiusa."
At the base of the smaller staircase that led to his daughter's room Mamoru stopped and knocked on the wall. "Chibiusa?" he called.
In a few seconds she appeared, looking down at him with a pale face and wide eyes. "Dad!" She quickly descended the steps, grabbed his hand and pulled him up with her. Once in the room she sat on her bed, leaving him the desk chair. There was no sign that she had recently been, in Usagi's words, pretty well spaced out. She looked frightened, yes, but determined.
"Did Mom tell you what happened today?" she asked.
Mamoru nodded. "She did. A lot of surprises and shocks to absorb," he went on, coming as close as he dared to hinting that she might have had trouble dealing with things.
Chibiusa waved it off. "Yeah, well, I've got it all absorbed now, thanks." She looked at him, mouth twisted in a wry smile. "Mom told you that I kind of checked out, didn't she?" When he nodded she grinned. "I suppose I did, for a bit. But I've got a handle on things now."
"Including the Mercury/Jupiter swap?" he asked. "That certainly has taken me by surprise."
"We kind of expected it," Chibiusa said, flushing slightly and rubbing her nose. "Rio more or less theorized that that would be the case." She glanced at her father, noting the shock on his face. "Guess we neglected to tell you about that," she commented. He acknowledged that with a rueful grin.
"And now everyone is convinced that Akemi is the most vulnerable, because she hasn't yet transformed."
"But you don't agree," Mamoru said, watching her face closely. "Why not?"
Chibiusa wrapped her arms around herself, as if she were cold. "Akemi is vulnerable, but not the most. She will awaken and transform, and probably sooner rather than later. And as soon as she does she'll have access to her powers, and be able to defend herself."
Mamoru saw where she was going. "But your brother won't, will he?" he asked quietly, feeling his heart clench.
She shook her head and blinked back tears. "He transformed, but other than that one time he's never shown any sign of powers. And that one time was totally involuntary." She took a deep breath. "He's in the most danger right now."
"Why haven't you told your mother this? She thinks everything is fine because you told her that Helios was with Seiya!"
"So long as Helios is with him everything is fine," Chibiusa insisted. "He'll not let any harm come to a member of the Earth Kingdom family." She stopped speaking as she became aware of raised voices downstairs. She stood and when to the head of the stairs. "What's going on?"
They both listened, unable to make out any words or recognize any voices. The front door slammed and more voices were added to the mix. No one sounded angry but the urgency was unmistakable. Then they both heard clear as anything "We have to find him!"
"Mariko!" Chibiusa gasped and started down the steps with her father on her heels. They arrived to find the living room crowded with people and everyone continuing to speak louder, struggling to be heard. Rei seemed to be the only person not shouting; indeed she wasn't speaking at all, but her face was abnormally pale and her lips were compressed in a tight line. Mamoru knew that look; an extended fire reading was always exhausting for her, but when she saw something that effected people she cared about it was that much worse. It was time to end this unproductive discussion. He put two fingers in his mouth and let out a piercing whistle.
Silence descended, and all eyes turned to him. Rei had a tiny smile playing around her lips; he answered it with a grin of his own. Usagi opened her mouth to speak but he held up a hand to forestall her words. "I think what Rei has to say may be the most important thing," he said. "And of most immediate need."
Rei acknowledged that with a nod. "Mamoru is correct; this is important. But quickly told." She paused for a moment to gather her thoughts. "There was a presence in the wind we experienced this afternoon. It felt familiar; a lot like the auras of the Animamates and Galaxia. There was also an intelligence, and it was looking for something."
"Or someone," Mariko put in. "That's why we have to find Seiya, and fast." She looked at Akemi, the plea clear in her eyes.
Akemi got the message, and took up the story. "When we were attacked at the shrine this afternoon I felt that same presence, but it wasn't interested in me. It definitely took a closer – look, for lack of a better word – at Seiya."
"But it grabbed Mariko last," Usagi said, looking confused. "And that was when everything froze."
"To buy itself time," Rio answered the unspoken question. "If you think about it none of us truly knows how much time passed. I know it didn't feel like long, but we can't know for sure. It could have been an hour."
"OK, I can accept that," Usagi replied before turning back to Rei. "So is this the point where you tell us what you saw in the fire reading?"
"It is," Rei confirmed with an emphatic nod. "Although you probably have a pretty good idea what I'm going to say, all things considered."
Usagi looked unhappy, her eyes enormous in her pale face. "That was Chaos this afternoon. He freed himself from Henderson, for whatever reason, and is now directly coming after us." She took a deep breath. "More specifically he's coming after my son."
Mamoru started to speak, desperate to deny that fact, but remembered Chibiusa's words to him not many moments ago. He's in the most danger right now. It was true, and undeniable. That Seiya was powerful no one would deny, but there was too much still unknown. A son of the Moon Kingdom had never happened before. They couldn't even take an educated guess as to what form his powers would take.
"So -" His voice caught and he cleared his throat. "So what do we do now?"
"One thing is we don't panic," a new voice interjected.
Everyone turned to face the newcomer except Usagi. Mamoru was watching her and he noticed the perceptible stiffening of her entire body, the tightening of the muscles across her shoulders and up her neck. Even if he hadn't recognized the voice he would have known who it was based on his wife's body language. There was only one person in all the world that could elicit that reaction: Luna.
Chibiusa had also made note of her mother's reaction and remembered Usagi's reluctance to tell Luna anything of what was happening. Although she understood the reasoning she didn't agree with it, so she tuned to Luna and spoke. "Nobody's panicking. Yet." She looked at everyone else in the room, her mother last. "But I think it's important we find Seiya and learn whatever he knows."
Usagi jerked her head in a small nod, which Chibiusa took to mean agreement with that plan. "Mariko, why don't you go out to look for him," she said with a nod toward her friend. "You know that park where he goes to think. And take Akemi and Mizuki with you."
The three girls made their way to the door, and after a brief glance at all of the tense adults in the room Rio followed them, a move that earned her a smile of thanks from her mother. The conversation that was coming was likely to get somewhat ugly, and the girls' positions as Guardians were still too untested to subject them to it.
Once the front door closed behind the four of them Luna turned to Usagi, outrage radiating from every inch of her. "What is all of this about?" she asked, her voice rising with her emotions. "And what do you think you son has to do with? You know he won't be taking part in any battle; he has no powers." She paused for breath before getting to the real issue, at least in her mind "And why hasn't anyone told me what's going on?!"
"His name is Seiya," Usagi put in, her voice soft despite the anger visible in every line of her body. "And the reason no one told you about it is because you would consider it 'nonsense'. But it's past time for you to face the fact that a prince of the Moon Kingdom was born. Not only was he born, but he's the heir and new Guardian of the Moon."
Luna blanched and her jaw dropped. Then the color rushed back to her face with a fresh burst of anger. She drew breath to speak but was forestalled by the arrival of Artemis, who laid his hands on her shoulders and shook his head when she turned to face him.
"I told you what was going to happen," he said with a hint of a smile. "But as usual you preferred to think you, and only you, were in the right. We – all of us – have wasted valuable time in not being aligned on this issue. That stops now."
"It's true, Luna," Chibiusa added. "Seiya has the Silver Crystal, and he transformed with it. Just once, but the fact is undeniable. I saw it. And -" She reached into her pocket and withdrew her own transformation brooch, holding it so that Luna could clearly see the symbol of Earth etched on its surface.
Luna looked as if she still wanted to argue; her face was pinched and a frown created a furrow between her eyebrows. Mamoru felt his own anger start to swell, but he controlled the urge to verbally lash out at her. Artemis had been right; too much time had already been wasted in concealing things and not talking. Giving free rein to emotions would be useless and counter-productive.
"We all know that we're not going to agree on every point," Mamoru said, looking directly at Luna. "But the facts are the facts, and all the arguing isn't going to change that."
"Perhaps if I knew all of the facts I'd agree," Luna replied, still looking slightly mutinous.
Usagi looked like she wanted to spill everything in the rudest, most excoriating language she could use, but she stepped back when Rei laid a hand on her arm. They exchanged a meaningful look before Rei launched into a concise recital of what had happened, and what they knew, to that point. Luna's eyes were the size of dinner plates by the time she was done.
"And you all think that the target of this afternoon's attack at the shrine was Seiya?" she asked, looking incredulous despite her obvious surprise.
"It makes the most sense," Artemis answered her. "Even without having transformed at the time Akemi and Mariko were known quantities; who they are and what powers they'd have. Seiya is the wild card in the whole situation."
Usagi covered her face with her hands. "That makes me feel so much better," she said, her voice muffled.
"We need something more solid, though," Luna said, moving to the living room where she had room to pace. "I agree that this is the most likely scenario, but the bottom line is it's still just speculation."
Mamoru spoke for the first time since coming downstairs. "Luna's right. We need to know for sure. Not just the question of who was the target today; we need to know what Seiya's powers might be." He looked at his daughter. "Any ideas?"
Chibiusa shook her head. "No. I wish to God I did."
"We need to force this," Usagi said, sounding frightened but determined. "Stress Seiya, and the Silver Crystal, until something happens. Anything."
"That may not be the best idea," Chibiusa put in. "But since we don't have much choice we need to do it in a situation that we can control." She smiled. "Luckily I know just the person to help with that."