Author's notes:

Hello again! This chapter I am playing with and crossing over some themes from both the anime and the manga—I won't give anything away here, but wanted to point it out for those who have read the manga. Additionally, this chapter does touch on some family history of the Starlights that has been (for the most part) manufactured by me.

Also—yes, I am aware that Ikuko has met Seiya and the other Starlights before, however I didn't get the impression she knew who they were, so I've basically side-stepped this fact.

Like always, make sure to check out the important notes from the Prologue if you haven't already. Enjoy!

Music rec – The Story by LeAnn Rimes

Chapter Twelve

"Your voice is the one place where your two halves meet, Seiya," he recalled his father saying to him. "Find that place, and you will be free."

For so long, he hadn't understood what those words meant, until the day that he sang from his soul, rather than from his throat.

The sound was mythical and foreign, yet beautiful in its rich dual tone. It was an expression of his pain, the anguish of his loss, his adoration for his world, and the future he longed to protect. It was all of him, meeting midway, and it felt perfect.

The vibrating timbre had calmed every nerve, and as he laid on the warm rock beneath the lapping flames of his star, he had let go. In that moment—the few, scarce moments before they left their desolate home in chase of their princess—he released his song to the sky, and it was then that he knew: he was destined for something more.

It was well into the early hours of Sunday morning, but that didn't stop the group of excited teenage girls from making a racket outside the Tsukino household.

Usagi fumbled around in her purse for her keys, cursing the darkness of the night as she tried lamely to insert them into the lock. "Couldn't have even left a light on for us, thanks Mama…"

Behind her, Minako was bopping away to a whispered hum of one of the Three Lights' songs, and within seconds, Makoto and Rini were both following suit. The whisper crescendoed into a chant, and then to an eruption of giggles as they danced in tandem in the garden bed. Usagi glared at them, still hunched over the door lock. "Would you shut up? You're going to wake everyone up…"

Rei huffed alongside her and snatched the keys from her hand, unlocking the door instantly. "With all your clunking about, I'm sure everyone's already awake, Usagi!"

Usagi pouted at her as the raven-haired senshi barged inside. "Hey, I was trying…"

"Just ignore her, Usa," Minako said quietly as they crept up the stairs to Usagi's bedroom. "She gets grumpy when she's tired."

"And when she hasn't seen Yuuichirou for a couple of days," Makoto added, ducking under Rei's hand as she swiped at her playfully. "Hey!"

"I'm not grumpy, thank you," Rei snapped. "Just need some beauty sleep, that's all…"

Rini flung open Usagi's door and threw herself onto the bed with a contented sigh. "That," she said, propping up on her elbows, eyes alight, "was amazing."

Minako leapt onto the mattress alongside her, starry-eyed. "Aren't they just incredible?"

Usagi set about helping her friends blow up a couple of inflatable mattresses and unrolling sleeping bags until her floor could no longer be seen. "They sure are," she agreed with a smile. She felt like her core was aflame, buzzing with the energy that had coursed through her from the moment she had heard Seiya's voice fall from his lips.

"More than incredible," Rini said as she rolled onto her back. "There's something…magical about their sound, don't you think? And their new song—the one Seiya wrote, it was just…" She gazed up at the ceiling, her ruby eyes hazy and distracted. "I've never heard something so beautiful."

Makoto tossed a stuffed toy at the pink-haired adolescent. "Sounds like someone has a crush."

"Ew," Rini replied, scrunching her nose. "No, way." She hesitated, before adding with a blush: "Besides, there's someone else…"

Minako giggled and reached over to tickle Rini's exposed stomach. "We all know who that is…"

"Do not!"

Usagi shook her head at the two girls. She looked over to Ami, who had changed into her pyjamas and settled down to rest. "You okay, Ami?" She asked. "You've been really quiet all night…"

"Yeah, didn't you enjoy the concert?" Rei added, frowning at her.

"Sorry? Oh, no, I adored it," Ami replied with a tight smile. "I just have a lot on my mind, with the unpredictability of our enemy, and what happened the other day at school…"

Usagi's stomach churned with a familiar sense of dread, one that she was trying so hard to bury when she was just trying to be her regular, civilian self. It was something she had been good at in years gone by, but now, it seemed far more difficult than ever before.

"Don't worry, Ami," Minako said. "We have a plan now—with all of your analysis, plus Taiki's help, we should be able to ambush the enemy and take them down!"

"That's right—no more waiting on them to attack," Makoto agreed with a nod. "With the outer senshi and the Starlights, we'll be ready, and we'll take care of it."

Ami didn't look convinced. "I was wrong before," she said. "We've come up with this elaborate plan, but it really isn't based on any solid evidence—"

"It's the best shot we have, Ami," Rei said resolutely. "We haveto know if this is the evil force that changes everything, and we simply can't risk Usagi or Rini's lives."

The twist in Usagi's stomach only amplified as she recalled the feeling of Seiya's cobalt eyes boring into her as Setsuna cryptically told them: 'we will demand what it is that we need to know'.

"I understand that, Rei," Ami pressed, "but we all saw the glow that shone through Usagi's chest when her crystal absorbed just a touch of Seiya's new power—if her crystal is so sensitive to strong energy, we have no idea how it might react if she were to—"

"That's why she won't be there—much to Haruka's annoyance, Seiya will be protecting her," Makoto cut in. She gave the concerned guardian a smile. "We know what he can do, and with Mamoru gone, he's our best option to look out for Usagi and Rini while we get the job done."

"Speaking of Mamoru," Minako said tentatively, as Usagi busied herself to avoid getting involved in the conversation, "Seiya didn't seem to take the news of his studies very well…"

Rei hummed in agreement. "Makes sense, given…well, you know…" She paused. "What Usagi didn't get…"

Usagi felt Rini's staring at her back expectantly—yet another story she was yet to tell her. She drew in a deep breath, talking down into her sock drawer. "He was just worried, that's all—"

"Chibi Chibi?"

The bedroom door squeaked open and a weary Chibi Chibi poked her head inside, one of Shingo's old toys dangling from her arms. Usagi sighed at the sleepy girl. "Chibi Chibi, I'm sorry—did we wake you up?"

The little girl nodded. "Wake, wake," she said.

"It's okay, I'll take her," Rini said suddenly, scooting off Usagi's bed. "I need to get to bed anyway, I'm exhausted."

Usagi watched as she scooped up the child, surprised that the usually persistent teenager was abandoning the opportunity to find out more about what had gone on in the time she was home in the thirtieth century. "Okay, then," Usagi responded. "Goodnight."

There was a chorus of goodnights and Rini quietly closed the door behind her, leaving the five girls alone. "Usagi, I have to know," Rei said after a moment, "why haven't you told the Seiya and the other Starlights about Rini?"

Usagi sat heavily into the pillows on her bed. She chewed her lip. "Because I did 'get it'," she replied finally. "And I don't want to hurt Seiya. Not again."

"But it's your destiny," Rei replied, the words slicing at her icily. "Sooner or later, he's going to find out."

"It's not fair to keep it from him, or the others," Ami said gently.

"I'm sure he'll understand," Makoto added with a smile.

Minako, who was lying alongside her with arms tucked under her head, glanced over at her, a strange expression on her features. "When you feel the time is right, you should tell him, Usa," she said.

"I will," Usagi promised. She drew a curled fist to her sternum and felt the gentle hum of energy, waiting for her. With every moment spent near Seiya, she could feel the remnants of her buried feelings boiling up to the surface—feelings she hadn't made sense of, not entirely.

The room felt thick with silent tension, and as Rei opened her mouth to speak—to ask a question she simply didn't want to answer—Usagi cut her off. "This plan Haruka has come up with," she began—it was the truth, after all, "I'm overruling it."

"What do you mean 'overruling it'?" Makoto asked.

"Ami is right—none of this is based on anything certain," Usagi said. She looked around at her friends. "But what we do know is that it comes after me when I'm unprotected."

Rei shook her head vehemently. "No, Usagi, we're not going to—"

"You can either come with me, or I'm going alone," Usagi told her firmly. "If it's the heir it wants, it's the heir it'll get."

That night, Usagi dreamt of Seiya, and her beautiful cobalt power.

She dreamt of lying on the damp, lush grass outside the crystalline palace that pointed high into the sunny sky, just as she had time and time before. She dreamt of feeling sheer helplessness, loneliness and suffocation. She dreamt of feeling guilty, for feeling so empty, when she should have felt so full.

"I am not."

But then the creeping lattice of Seiya's vivid power suddenly spread from her own heart's crystal, bleeding stunningly through her chest and coursing down every limb. It enveloped her, scorching her with a warmth that their sun simply could not bring. She dreamt that she was glowing with irrevocable strength.

She dreamt that when she opened her eyes to gaze at the web that laced her body, Seiya was right there, hovering over her once again with dark eyes and reddened skies.

"Beautiful, Odango," she said, so close.

She dreamt that Seiya wove her fingers between her own alongside her head, bracketed in a seamless connection, and pressed her lips to the tender skin beneath her ear. She dreamt of her husky voice whispering something to her, but what it was, she simply couldn't remember.

Rain pattered softly against Seiya's umbrella as he stood outside Usagi's house, waiting for her to come to her balcony after he had clinked a pebble against her window. "Sleepy Odango-head, it's almost eleven in the morning…"

"You might have to try again, if you're trying to wake her," a voice spoke from the front door.

He took a few sideward steps and his face reddened as a purple-haired woman came into view in the entryway—presumably Usagi's mother. "I'm sorry, Mrs Tsukino—I was just—"

"I know what you were doing," she said, a chuckle in her voice. She gave him a smile. "And given it's nearly the midday on a Sunday, I'll forgive you."

"Oh, thank you," he said with a sheepish grin. He studied her, taken aback by how very alike the beautiful woman was to Usagi—kind, round eyes, and a gentle smile. "I'm—"

"Seiya, yes, I know," she said, and when he looked at her in surprise, she added: "Usagi has a poster of your band on her wall in her bedroom."

He smirked at the thought. "Does she now?"

"Chibi?"

A whirlwind of pink curls snuck out of the front door and came racing toward him, splashing through puddles and launching herself at him. He bent to catch her just in time, shaking his head with a laugh. "Hello again, Chibi Chibi."

The toddler giggled and bounced in his arms, gazing up at him with a smile that made his heart skip. When he looked back to the entry, Usagi's mother was staring at the two of them, a curious expression on her face. "It looks like you've already met Chibi Chibi," she said. "You're welcome to come inside and wait while I wake Usagi, if you would like."

"That's okay, Mama, I'm awake now."

Seiya looked up to Usagi's balcony, where she was stretching her arms out long with a yawn, her pigtails askew and her voice croaky with sleep. He trailed his eyes over her briefly, a flush of heat washing over him as he took in the petite bed shorts and t-shirt that graced her figure beneath her open robe—a far cry from the baggy pyjamas he had seen her in nearly two years beforehand.

"It's about time, Usagi—after all of your friends left you just headed straight back to bed," Mrs Tsukino huffed, shaking her head at the girl, who was rubbing her eyes blearily. Mrs Tsukino sighed and held a hand out toward Chibi. "Come on, Chibi, time to go back inside."

The little girl pouted, letting go out Seiya's ponytail and shuffling out of Seiya's embrace to dash back inside. "Good girl," Mrs Tsukino said. She turned to Seiya. "It was lovely to see you, Seiya, but next time, come to the door."

"Will do," he said as she headed back inside. He returned his attention to the underdressed blonde standing out in the rain. "Are you just going to stand there? It is raining, Odango."

"Yes, I know," she said, glaring at him as she moved back toward the door. "And now thanks to you, I'm all wet."

He grinned devilishly. "I get that a lot."

She looked at him with wide eyes. "Seiya!" She shook her head. "You really are a perv…"

He laughed and shrugged lightly. "You said it, not me."

"I'll be down in a minute, let me just get dressed," she replied, sliding the door shut behind her. Suddenly her head reappeared. "And no peeking!"

"Yeah, yeah," he said, averting his gaze down to the footpath. Odango clearly didn't understand—she was the lovely, mysterious princess he'd fallen for before, but with the recently developed allure of a woman. Suddenly looking away was far harder than it had ever been before.

He respected her wishes, he really did, but he did spy the shadow of her tiny waist and curved hips through her curtains as he glanced back up. Just for a second.

After a few moments, the front door opened and Usagi looked around sullenly. "Mama, where's the umbrella?" She whined, and received no response. "I'll bet that brat Rini took it…"

"Don't worry about it, Odango," Seiya called. "You can share mine."

Usagi raced across the front yard and nearly crashed into him, ducking under the umbrella and out of the rain. He stabilised her with one hand as she fumbled on the slippery sidewalk, chuckling at her clumsiness. They were almost chest-to-chest, and Seiya smirked at the blush that crept onto Usagi's cheeks. "Always eager to get close to me, huh, Odango?"

She scoffed and took a small step back as they began to walk together, her cheeks crimson. "What are you doing here, anyway?"

"Oh, that's a bit cold, Odango," he replied. "Can't I come see my favourite moon princess just because I want to?"

She visibly relaxed as they wandered down the street leisurely. "Of course you can," she replied. "Your concert was fantastic, by the way." She hesitated before adding: "Different, but great all the same."

He narrowed his eyes at her. "What do you mean different?"

She shrugged, hopping over a puddle and shooting him a look. "'It's a bit hot up here'?" She cocked a brow at him. "They say sex sells, Seiya, but I don't know…I think I preferred the more innocent image…"

"That's pretty presumptuous, Odango," he laughed. "Are you intimidated by our newly found image, or are you just jealous?"

"Neither," she tutted. "Everyone seemed to love your new song, though."

"Did you?"

She met his eye with a smile. "I loved it," she told him. "I've never heard you sound like that before."

It was his turn to feel the blood rush to his cheeks, and he scowled as Usagi giggled at him. "Oh look—mister modest is blushing…"

"Shut up, Odango."

They continued on down the footpath, and as a cool breeze blew their way, Usagi wrapped her slender arms around her torso. Seiya couldn't help it—he inched closer to the girl, hoping he could shield her. As the rain grew torrential, he gripped her wrist and quickly led her across the busy road, bustling with tooting traffic and mad pedestrians. His eye darted about for some semblance of cover, and he tugged her over to a large tunnel in the children's playground at the nearby park. By the time they clambered inside, they were soaked and gasping with laughter. Seiya wrapped his arms around his knees and shook the water from his hair, watching Usagi ring the droplets from her pigtails across from him. Her cheeks were flushed with colour and her clothing sodden through, but she looked happy, nonetheless.

"What?"

He shook his head with a smile. "Nothing."

There was a beat, a moment between them, where they both stared at one another, a thick, heavy silence setting in—one that was laced with tension and unspoken words. Thunder suddenly rumbled above them and Usagi looked away, glancing outside to watch the lightning crack through the greyed sky.

What are you thinking, Odango?

"Seiya?"

"Hm?"

She met his gaze. "The other day, at the senshi meeting, you said your new power had only just begun, right before you came to Earth," she said. "What brought it on?"

The memory raced through his mind—at the ends of Kinmoku's forsaken desert, sensing everything she felt, and simply letting go. The feeling of inconceivable, undeniable strength. "After Galaxia destroyed my Star Yell, Kakyuu taught me how to use my powers without it—how to channel all of my energy toward," he told her. "One day I felt this…" He paused, contemplating his words. "I felt this intense surge of emotion, and it just came out of me…like it had been caged up inside."

Usagi's cerulean eyes were wide with intrigue. "And nothing like that has ever happened before?"

"Nope," he said, running his fingers through his damp hair until it stood on end. "And I've definitely never had any powers in my male form, that's for sure."

A few moments went by before Usagi spoke again. "Can I ask…" She started, her expression almost shy. She hesitated before continuing. "Have you and the other Starlights always been able to change your gender?"

He shook his head, giving her a smile—there was nothing uncomfortable about it, not in his mind. He was proud to tell her of his heritage. "It came on at puberty—it's a genetic gift that was passed on from our fathers," he explained. "Three brothers—well, three sisters—who chose to live their civilian lives as men, to protect their identities." He looked over at her. "They were the senshi who guarded the Kinmokian kingdom before us."

"Wow," she said in awe. "And that gift is unique to your family?"

"Yes—it's considered an evolution, or a mutation, of our species," he replied, and grinned when she looked at him oddly. "You forget, Odango—we may look human, but we are not."

"So you are aliens," she teased.

He chuckled at her silliness. "I guess so," he said. "Our star system is different from yours—a habitable planet, Kinmoku, is at the centre, surrounded by three burning suns, all that once held life, thousands of years ago." The image of the leaping red flames of his star came to mind, warming him and reminding him of his father. "Our fathers each ruled a star, and they are now considered our own."

"Like the planets the Sailor scouts here represent," Usagi said, nodding slowly. "Hold on—they each ruled a star, thousands of years ago? How old are you, exactly?"

He counted on his fingers theatrically. "Let's see," he said. "Five hundred and sixty one years old."

Usagi looked at him in complete shock. "You're not!"

"I am!" He said in mock defence, knowing full well that he was stretching the truth somewhat. He had to admit—it was fun.

Usagi rolled her eyes. "You sure don't act like you're five hundred years old!" she told him. "I don't believe you…"

"It's true," he told her, and when she quirked a brow at him, he relented. "Fine. I'm five hundred and sixty one years old in Kinmokian years."

"Which means…?"

He smirked. "Still just seventeen, as far as you're concerned."

"That's what I thought—there's no way that maturity level could pass for being over five hundred years old," she replied. "If you were really that old there's no way you'd play silly pranks on pretty girls and be scared of creepy monsters at amusements parks…"

"Oi!" He scolded, feigning hurt. "I'll have you know that I'm very mature. And I wasn't scared."

"Oh, so it was all for show then, was it?" She said playfully. "You were just trying to get close to me..."

He didn't even flinch as he told her: "Of course."

Usagi laughed and shook her head, but he didn't miss the rosy hue that stained her cheek in the half-light. After a moment, she spoke again softly. "So then, tell me about your mother—what's she like?"

The question caught him off-guard, and a whisper of fuschia hair and sweet olive stole his breath away. He looked down at his hands, suddenly suffocated. "My mother," He started, and then trailed off, looking away. "She…"

Usagi didn't miss the change in his demeanour. "I shouldn't have asked," she said quickly, clasping a hand over his. "You don't have to talk about any of this, I shouldn't have—"

"It's okay," he said honestly, the searing heat between their fingertips racing up to his clenching heart. "My mother was wonderful, just like my father was, too."

Usagi's eyes went glassy. "I'm sorry, Seiya."

"Don't be," he told her, his voice tight. "I get to see my father in my cousins every day, and my mother in our princess." He smiled. "You could say I'm the odd one, out of the three of us—my father fell for the Kinmokian queen's younger sister, my mother, and Kakyuu and I were born only a few months apart."

"So, Princess Kakyuu is also your cousin, but on your mother's side?" Usagi clarified, visibly putting the pieces together.

He laughed at her befuddled expression. "That's right."

"That's incredible," she said breathlessly. "Confusing, but incredible!"

"That's enough about me," he said, cocking his head to look at her closely. "Why don't you tell me about you, princess?"

Usagi rolled her eyes and slouched heavily. She cleared her throat before announcing: "I am the reincarnation of Princess Serenity of the Moon Kingdom, from the Silver Millennium."

"Reincarnation?" Seiya repeated, thinking back to everything Taiki had told him about his research into the Moon lineage: that Usagi formed part of the Moon bloodline, from generations past—at least, that was what they had come to assume. "So you were reborn with the Silver Crystal, and granted the powers of Princess Serenity?"

She nodded. "Once Luna found me, and I became Sailor Moon, I began to remember bits and pieces from my past—about Mamoru, and the other scouts…"

"You're all reincarnations, living in the twentieth century on Earth?" He asked.

"Yes."

"And when you awoke as Sailor Moon—as the Moon princess—those memories started coming back to you?"

Her brow furrowed. "Well, yes, though a lot of our past was shown to us, through the spirit of my mother, Queen Serenity."

"Right," he said, processing what she had told him. Rebirths, conjured pasts—what did this mean for her, now, in the present? He shook his head. "And let me guess: you and Mamoru were destined to be."

Usagi narrowed her eyes at him. "Seiya, you don't have any right to—"

"I'm sorry," he cut in, although he didn't really mean it. "I just don't understand…that world, that princess—it was another life." He locked eyes with her, imploring her to listen. "It doesn't have to define who you are now."

She stared back at him, lips parted and eyes wide—he could tell no one had ever uttered those words to her. After a moment, she tore her gaze away, saying nothing, but saying so much, all at once.

He was back in his home, his dreamy paradise, but it felt like an inescapable prison.

"Helios?"

He could hear her lovely voice calling him with a soft urgency that carried on the warm breeze, as though it were many, many miles away. He could see her flowing pink pigtails and the outline of her petite figure, silhouetted amongst the willows. He could feel her dainty fingers, slipping between his own as he reached out to connect with her; to be with her.

But every time he drew closer, she just drifted further away.

He walked the water's edge, listening for her once more, but only the gentle sounds of the waterfall and the chatter of wildlife graced his ears. The rock beneath his feet held a fresh layer of moss, and wildflowers dotted the scenery in brilliant colour, vibrant against the crystalline water.

Everything in this place was all too perfect; too vivid. Dreamlike.

"Helios…"

She appeared beyond the misty mountains, in the sunbeams illuminating his nirvana. For the first time in Elysian, his heart began to pound and his resilience began to shake, as he ran toward her and she slowly faded away.

"Don't go," he found himself saying, an echo in his hollow land. "Don't go."

He reached the stone pillars of the palace that once was; a symbol of the city he had guarded a lifetime ago. As he stood upon the cool marble, a familiar silence settled in—one that could be rapidly replaced by the whispers of dreams, if he wished to listen.

He did not.

"My maiden," he murmured. "Where are you?"

Pain struck him, the gem on his forehead scorching him blindingly, and he fell to his knees, gripping his head in his hands. He could feel hot blood trickle down his nose, and he gasped from the burn that shook him to his core. As the pain subsided, he opened his eyes, a weight suddenly present in his hands.

No.

His golden horn lay between his trembling fingers, glowing and smeared with blood. He stared as it turned to dust, and the world around him began to crumble, one perfect piece at a time.

"Helios?"

The boy woke with a start, thrashing about amongst the sheets with a gasp. Setsuna rescinded the hand she had used to gently shake him from his nightmare, watching his wild amber eyes scan his environment for danger. "It's alright," she said softly. "You're safe."

His breathing began to normalise and his shoulders sagged with exhaustion. Setsuna perched herself on the end of his bed, and in the darkness of the bedroom, with no moonlight to illuminate the space, she could just see the ethereal glow of his pale complexion. "You were having a nightmare," she told him. "You seemed distressed—I felt it best I wake you…"

"Thank you, for your concern," he replied slowly. He frowned, as though he were trying to recall the dream. "Dreaming is…new to me." He drew his fingertips across the red gemstone on his forehead lightly and winced. "It's something I have never experienced before in my lifetime."

Setsuna sat forward tentatively to study his face. "How intriguing," she said curiously. "Is the stone causing you pain?"

"Yes," he said, and his frown deepened. "In my dream, I was in Elysian, and I was trying to find Rini, but suddenly I was overcome by this pain—"

Suddenly his eyes widened and his hands flew to the top of his head, and Setsuna's breath caught as she followed the source of his panic. The magnificent golden horn that usually sat amongst his silvery hair—the lovely, guarded essence of Earth and all of its dreams—had vanished.

Garnet eyes met amber, as they spoke in unison. "Endymion."

Mamoru considered himself a fairly intellectual man, a logical man. Someone who wasted little time considering possibilities and what ifs—instead directing his attention to what was known, and what was sure. He had never given much thought to unanswerable questions, like: how will I one day die?

That being said, he never for a moment imagined it would happen so innocuously, in a bustling subway so far from home.

The excruciating pain felt like razor-sharp spikes had burst out of his heart, piercing his lungs and spearing his flesh. His vision blackened, his stomach turning, and he felt himself fall gracelessly to the cold concrete. He began an internal goodbye, waiting on the warm blood he was sure would pool beneath his body, but nothing came.

"Sir? Sir?"

"Someone call an ambulance!"

"Can you hear me, sir?"

He couldn't move, couldn't speak. The pointed edges hacked at him—his spine, his organs, his soul—as though his own heart were trying to burst from his ribcage.

He remembered little of the ambulance ride, and even less of his admission to the local hospital. The last thing he recalled, before waking up to stark white ceilings and the beep of his own heartbeat, was an electric current jolting through his chest, reviving him from his last moments on the brink.

Now though—suddenly, so suddenly—he felt incredible. Like brand new.

"Hello?" He spoke into the empty room, shuffling up the hospital bed and wincing as the intravenous cannula bent at his elbow. In one swift tug, he ripped the drip from his arm and swung his legs over the edge of the bed. It was still light outside, but the sun was setting—it hadn't been long since he'd been admitted, he was certain. He watched the quiet hall, and reached for the clipboard at the end of his bed.

Unknown male. Sudden cardiac arrest. Resuscitated via defibrillation. Critical but stable condition.

He frowned down at the notes. This couldn't be—he didn't feel like he had just gone into cardiac arrest, and he certainly felt anything but critical. In fact, his world seemed sharper, and he felt stronger—more alive than ever before.

His reached for his clothes that had been folded on a nearby chair and quickly pulled them on. Right now, the hospital was no place for him—this wasn't a problem they could cure.

If it was a problem at all.

Rini wasn't going to lie—she was bored.

Despite usually being studious and eager to learn, she found herself distracted from her homework as she stared absently down at the mathematical formulas scrawled across her notepad. The melody of the Three Lights' new track echoed in her head, Seiya's edgy voice looping over and over, and she couldn't stop thinking about the way his performance had set adrenaline rushing through her system. He was captivating and magnetic, and the thump of the beat felt like it had reset her heartbeat.

There was that, and then there was the small titbit she had overheard as she slunk back past Usagi's bedroom door the night before.

"If it's the heir it wants, it's the heir it'll get."

She hadn't heard much, but she had heard enough—enough to know that Usagi was planning on putting herself in danger and rely solely on the strength of the inner guardians to protect her, just so she could confront the entity that was tormenting their world.

Rini thought it was stupid and brave and brilliant—which was exactly why she had decided that she would be the heir their enemy so desperately wanted. She would draw it out before Usagi had the chance and demand to know of its origins and its intentions with the future queen of Crystal Tokyo.

I will be courageous, she thought to herself—a mantra that felt more natural than ever before, laced with perhaps a hint of danger and dare, I have faith in my power.

She glanced up at Usagi,who was sitting across from her at the coffee table where they were sprawled doing their homework, inspecting her unfocused gaze suspiciously. It had been almost an hour since the blonde had spoken, let alone written down any notes or turned the page of her textbook. "Something on your mind, Usa?"

Usagi jumped, her elbow sliding out from where it had been supporting her chin as she rested it in her hand lazily. "Sorry?"

"Hmm," Rini hummed, folding her arms over her chest. She was well ahead on her studies, so she could afford a few extra minutes to torment her. "You seem awfully distracted, Odango-head…"

Usagi scowled at her and straightened up from her hunched position. "Give it a rest with that, will you..."

"Doesn't seem to bother you when Seiya calls you that," Rini replied with a grin. She paused, thinking over her next question closely. "Usagi…why didn't you tell him Mamo was away?"

The question may have held a playful tone, but Rini needed to know. Each time she observed the two senshi interacting, she grew more uneasy, and her gut knotted with something she couldn't quite identify. Usagi was different around Seiya, and Rini couldn't understand why she kept so much from him. If they truly were friends, what need was there to hide?

Usagi's face had gone blank. "Uh," she stuttered, and quickly composed herself with a huff. "Well, I didn't need the Starlights thinking I needed a man to come rescue me—any man, for that matter."

Rini quirked a brow at her. "As much as it pains me to say it, I think we all know you're capable of saving yourself," she said, and then smirked. "When it suits you."

"Whatdoes that mean—"

"But," she continued, "I don't think that's really why you didn't tell him."

Usagi blinked at her. "You don't?"

"Nope," Rini replied. "You're hiding something."

"I'm not."

"Are too!"

"I'm not!"

Rini growled, folding her arms across her chest. "Usagi, you don't want the Starlights knowing who I really am, and you didn't tell them that Mamoru was away—"

"I'm just not ready to explain all of that to them yet, Rini!" Usagi snapped quickly. She immediately looked apologetic and sighed. "It's just…hard, that's all."

Rini looked at her strangely. "What's hard about it?" She asked. "You should be proud of who you're going to become, and what it means for all of us."

"I know," Usagi said weakly, and for the first time, Rini glimpsed a shadow of sadness cross her face. The expression nearly stole her breath away, and her stomach only twisted further when Usagi repeated in an absent murmur: "I'm just not ready to explain all of that to him, not yet."

To him? "Usagi, you have to tell me…Seiya, does he—"

A sharp, urgent knock at their front door halted her in her tracks, and the two girls looked at one another warily. Barely a moment went by and the knocking continued, louder than before. Usagi scrambled to her feet to answer it, Rini close behind.

"Setsuna, Helios—what are you doing here—"

Rini screeched in behind Usagi to peer at their unexpected visitors, and instantly her breath caught. "Helios," she gasped, "your golden horn…"

He smiled at her gently. "Please don't worry, Rini."

"May we come in?" Setsuna said. "It's urgent."

Usagi led Setsuna in and Rini grasped Helios' warm hands, clenching them tightly in her own. She could feel the burn of tears at the back of her throat. "What happened?" She managed. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," he said quietly. "And we're not sure, but we are concerned for Mamoru's wellbeing."

"Mamo?" Usagi asked, sounding alarmed. "But Rini and I spoke to him just last night—he was fine…"

Setsuna looked distressed. "During the night, Helios had a nightmare, and when he woke, the Golden Crystal was gone," she told them. "I tried to contact Mamoru an hour ago, but I couldn't reach him—"

Usagi dashed to the phone in the entry, dialling quickly.

Rini shook her head in confusion. "I don't understand—what does this mean, Puu?" Setsuna hovered at Usagi's side while she waited on an answer, staring into space absently. Rini began to feel ill. "Puu?"

"While it may not be his starseed as it is Usagi's, the Golden Crystal is connected to Mamoru's life force, Rini," Helios said when Setsuna didn't respond. "We are concerned that something may have happened to him."

A cold sweat broke on the back of her neck as she began to panic, but something managed to ground her. "But I'm okay," she said. "If something had happened, wouldn't I have faded away?"

"Mamo?" Usagi said suddenly. "You're there—he's there—what happened? You had us so worried—"

Usagi prodded at the buttons on the phone and hung up the receiver, and suddenly Mamoru's voice sounded through the handset clearly on speaker. "I'm fine," he said. "How did you even know—?"

"Mamoru," Helios said, breaking away from Rini's grip to approach the phone. "I have lost possession of the Golden Crystal—are you alright?"

"Helios?" Mamoru said, sounding surprised. "I'm fine—I wasn't, but I am now—"

"What do you mean you weren't?" Usagi demanded, her face blotchy and red with emotion. "What happened?"

"I just discharged myself from hospital," he told them calmly. "I went into cardiac arrest and they had to revive me."

"You what?"

"Cardiac arrest?"

"I'm fine, really," he insisted. "Better than fine, actually—I feel…strong. Stronger than I have in a long time."

Rini inched over to the handset, speaking in a small voice. "You're not just saying that to make us feel better, are you, Mamo?"

"I'm not, Rini, I promise," he told her gently.

"How could you just let yourself out of the hospital?" Usagi burst, tossing her hands in the air. "When you were so sick, why would you do that—"

"Usako, there was nothing the doctors could do for me there," he replied. "I don't know that what they believe happened to me is entirely accurate."

Helios looked over at Setsuna and they exchanged an odd look. "Perhaps the crystal…?"

"No," Setsuna said, shaking her head. Her long fingers flew to her temple and she frowned deeply. "My memories of Crystal Tokyo are growing dimmer and dimmer by the day, but I do recall that the Golden Crystal was affixed to Endymion's staff upon his ascension to the throne—by you, Helios."

"Setsuna, you're there, too?" Mamoru asked.

"I'm here, Mamoru," Setsuna replied softly.

Mamoru sighed. "I don't know what more to tell you—I felt an intense pain in my chest and everything went black—the next thing I know, I wake in the hospital, feeling unlike I've ever felt before."

Rini looked over at Usagi, who had leant up against the wall alongside the phone. Her face had gone white, eyes trained on the carpet. "What does this mean?" She asked, her voice tumbling from her lips in a broken whisper.

The question Rini heard instead was: how rapidly is our future approaching?

She's afraid, Rini thought suddenly, remembering the sadness that had flickered in Usagi's blue eyes moments earlier, and she has no choice.

Setsuna shook her head. "I'm sorry," she said. "But I just don't know."