Except for the bandaging of her left cheek, shaved hair behind her left ear and that bandaging, Rei looked fine. Caught in a death of slumber, but fine. Mamoru was beside himself; both Ami and Rei had returned, somehow, from the place to which they had been spirited away.
'She is still comatose,' Ami said, eyes on her dear friend who lay restfully upon a medical cot.
'I don't understand very much, Ami-san,' Mamoru said, eyes on the woman who was once just a sweet adolescent. The chill of the warehouse made him wonder if Rei was safe in this makeshift headquarters.
'What don't you comprehend? I have explained everything that is pertinent,' Ami said, apparently as comfortable in her strange fatigues as her Sailor fuku. 'And please, Mamoru…just call me Ami.'
It all raced through his head like the endless torrent of an angry river. Another Earth. Maybe the future. Usagi lost, Makoto engaged and…Mamoru's lips pulled tight, his shoulders knitted and aching with stress.
'I believe you when you say…it is possible to bring her back,' Mamoru said, and Ami nodded minimally. His eyes searched her face and body language: so much of the timidity that characterized her was gone. 'I had always hoped to see you with more self assurance and confidence, but you are angry as well.'
'At myself,' Ami said, a frown marring the gentleness of her young face. 'I believe you understand. This was not a foe we were prepare to meet.'
'I'm sympathetic to your plight,' said a female voice of recent familiarity. Nasura Iridian parted the curtains and entered their space. 'Forgive my interruption. I have excellent hearing.'
Mamoru turned and regarded the short woman in her nondescript grey long sleeved blouse and matching formal pants. Slightly wavy hair was pinned back over brown eyes and a large, thick lipped mouth. The off white curtain floated shut behind her.
'I cannot argue the point,' Ami said. Mamoru supposed that she sounded disgruntled.
'Annoyed? Good,' Nasura said, and Mamoru puzzled at the broad grin.
'Annoyed would be putting it mildly; your senshi are powerful, and even effective,' Ami said. Nasura's smile faded.
'And what don't you approve of?' Nasura asked, sidestepping both Ami's discontent and her physical self to sit on the stool beside the metal beamed cot.
'Does it matter? Tokyo is protected, is it not?' Ami said, waving a hand at the outside world from which they were sheltered. Nasura placed a hand on Rei's forehead and closed her eyes. She did not seem to hear Ami, but after a few moments, said:
'No more than Rei is conscious, I regret to say.' Nasura looked up at Mamoru, and asked, 'Do you have qualms about my team?'
Mamoru glanced at Ami, who looked vexed as if Nasura had personally assaulted her. He said, 'No. I have seen nothing but honourable behaviour no less clumsy than Usagi in her first days as Sailor Moon.'
'A fair assessment. I had hoped never to press the girls into service,' Nasura said and sighed. 'They aren't…equipped with the eternal power of the Moon Kingdom and its domains.'
Sirens howled in the distance, an ever recurring reminder of the changes in Tokyo. It was this sound that brought Mamoru's mind to the larger question.
'People are falling asleep and not waking, Nasura-san. I have not been able to chase down the cause,' Mamoru said. 'I'm not skilled in the same manner as the senshi. Do you know anything about our enemy?'
Nasura rose and said, 'You two must be famished. Let's let Rei rest. We will eat and I will answer all of your questions.'
Mamoru once again looked at Ami, who said, 'In lieu of Usagi, you are in charge, Mamoru.'
'Lead on, then,' Mamoru told Nasura. As they silently traversed corridors to what served as a kitchen, Mamoru recalled that Nasura mentioned the building had previously been owned by distributors of pharmaceuticals. Everything was clean, tidy, and certainly well maintained. Also, minimal.
Hallways were wide enough for two people; storage lockers were close to working areas. It looked to Mamoru that the tenants had left things largely unchanged during their residence, but there were some indications of use: Unpainted sections of wall, multiple layers of different paint. Quite orderly.
The kitchen, likewise, was white walled and organized with many cabinets. He noticed several clever places to store unused countertop appliances. Nasura took their requests, assembled everything needed for tea and began preparations for lunch. The offerings were slim; a dozen varieties of instant noodles and packaged seafood munchies.
'Japanese isn't your first language,' Ami said, the observance drawing out her softer, analytical attitude.
'My third,' Nasura replied after a sip of pekoe.
'Virtually no accent,' Ami said.
'That's what living here for ten years will do,' Nasura said, sipping at a flavour Mamoru had never seen before: Tomato Mint. It's rich, burgundy-crimson colour caught his eye. It was beautiful.
'Nasura, tell us about the enemy,' Mamoru said, distracting himself back to the serious matter at hand.
'I appreciate your single mindedness, Mamoru-san. We can be blunt,' Nasura said with a hint of a smile. The kettle beeped and clicked as it shut off. 'Oh! Excuse me while I prepare our meals. Was it shrimp, Ami?'
'Beef, please,' Ami said and Mamoru gazed at her in surprise. She stared back and said, 'I won't justify my choices, not to anyone.'
Mamoru was flummoxed, and couldn't think how to answer Nasura's request for a flavour, so he said, 'Anything, please.'
Mamoru couldn't look away from Ami. Eventually she stared back, eyebrows slanted crossly. She said, 'I have been gone for six years, Mamoru. We've both changed.'
'But shrimp is your favourite,' Mamoru said and then lowered his long fingered hand from his mouth.
'It is not a luxury I deserve,' Ami said, contrite. 'Usagi is not yet home.'
'Of course you are right,' Mamoru said in concession. The discomfort persisted until Nasura presented their steaming styrofoam cups with chopsticks.
'Itadakimasu,' Nasura said, head briefly bowed. Conversation did not disrupt their meal. It was Nasura's house rule. Mamoru grew curious about Dakota Jones and Jake Vanadyl, but decided to not pry into their situation. The Asian style bowl was a touch sweet for his liking, so he added a dash of soy sauce. When the repast was consumed, he fixed his attention on Nasura. Ami followed suit.
'I should be gushing to be working with you both,' Nasura said, 'but I've always known the arrangement would not be for our benefit, but rather for Japan.'
Was she dodging the question? Mamoru decided that patience was more useful than anger.
'You've been patient. Thank you. The truth is that without Rei's condition, we wouldn't know anything about the enemy,' Nasura admitted, finally. 'The psychic landscape is complex and highly subjective. You have to know the person to interpret the images you perceive.'
'You don't know much more than us,' Ami said brusquely.
'Facts are facts,' Nasura agreed and sighed. 'I do know that Rei is busy, maybe fighting, but I believe her heart, thoughts and mind are somewhere else.'
'And how can we help her?' Mamoru inquired.
'We can't, but that's not what we should be asking,' Ami asserted. 'I've gotten reports back that everyone who falls sleep doesn't wake up, sequentially. In twenty four hours the entire country will be in the same condition as Rei.'
'Shouldn't ya end a story on that cliff hanger?' suggested Jake as he sauntered into the room. He took stock of the stock they had consumed and said, 'Oh how novel! I'd surely love some of that beef stuff.'
'Help yourself,' Nasura said affably. Jake walked over to a cupboard, then stared dumbfounded at its contents. Dakota joined them, waved, and then thumbed Jake.
'Oh child. You poor lost thing,' Dakota said in a consoling tone as she neared him. 'Y'want Sister Jones to teach ya how it all works?'
'I make noodles from scratch,' he said defensively. 'No one ever showed me how this is done.'
'Uh huh, no one ever me neither, honey, but I paid attention,' Dakota smiled, indulging herself the mother at Jake's expense. Mamoru turned his attention toward the doors to the kitchen as they swung open again, admitting two young women.
The first was just over five feet tall, red haired in pigtails. She wore a cat suit of crimson with white plates of armor over her chest, shoulders, arms and shins. The second was five foot ten inches, turquoise haired in a bob, wearing a suit of copper-brown like her companion. The first girl made eye contact with Mamoru and stopped dead in her tracks.
'Chiba Mamoru-san!' Ayani blurted, face colouring made bright shades of red. She bowed deeply and Mamoru noticed the damage to her armour and body.
'Ehhh?' said Masurani, confused. 'That's him? He's a skinny bloke, isn't he!'
'Skinny? Bloke?' Mamoru said in puzzlement, scratching his head.
'Masurani you idiot, show some respect,' Ayani demanded, 'that's Tuxedo Mask!'
'I expected no less of you both,' Nasura said, and then rose to her feet. She beckoned them toward an empty couch. 'Come sit. You look exhausted.'
Dakota and Jake bickered lovingly; they looked to have been a couple for a long time, but Mamoru didn't see the usual indicators of betrothal. Ayani and Masurani, meanwhile, were quite uncomfortable, even when Nasura provided them with canteens of water. Ayani sipped at hers while Masurani gulped with vigour, much in the manner of Makoto.
'You're the team strong arm, I see,' Mamoru said, and Masurani nodded.
'Yes, but we're underpowered, or outmatched, or…' she scratched her head, 'just can't be everywhere at once.'
'It's always a problem,' Ayani said in agreement, eyes on her silver booted feet. She shifted and grimaced when Nasura leaned in to apply salve on the wound beneath her breastplate.
'Keep the conversation short, Sol, I want you to go have a shower and clean these wounds,' Nasura advised. 'Won't do to have you on the field with infections wearing you down.'
'Yes, Mama, but there's important things we learned today.'
'Oh?' Ami said as if charging into battle. Ayani and Masurani stared at her boldness, agape, and Ami leaned back, hand over her mouth. 'Sorry. Please, speak.'
Ayani looked at Masurani, who shrugged, and then she said, 'We though everyone was affected by her curse, but that's not true. I think…well…it's speculation, really…but I've seen enough to assemble a hypothesis…'
The entire room was riveted, even Dakota and Jake had stopped flirting.
'Ah…' Ayani said, looking around and turning red. She ran her fingers absent-mindedly along the bandage on her ribcage, raised her eyes and then spoke: 'I'll just say it: She is targeting people who are non-essential. People she can easily lull into her control.'
'Yeah, and there's more!' Masurani added excitedly.
'That's mannerless, Masu-chan,' Ayani chided her friend. 'But she's correct. Tokyo has been isolated from the rest of Japan. There is no contact with the outside.'
'Outside of what?' Nasura asked, sitting on a chair across from her. 'And you said "she". Who have you discovered?'
'Oh…' Ayani began, eyes shimmering with remembrance, glassy on the surface. 'A beautiful woman, alabaster skin, crystalline hair and a gaze that sees into eternity. I can't believe she's here to hurt us.'
Nasura's lipped pulled tight, and she looked to Masurani. 'Have you seen her as well, Titan?'
'That I have, and she's like a living painting. Too right, I don't think…how do I put it,' Masurani said, eyes scanning upward for answer. 'Ah! Yes, like pets. No one has been hurt, and…'
'Na-ah!' Dakota said to counter. 'Plenty been hurt, Masurani! Those grey slip creatures, aren't they hers?'
'I have seen that she commands them,' Ayani conceded. 'But they never attack anyone. Isn't that right?'
'I gotta give ya that. Looks ta be any harm is collateral,' Dakota said thoughtfully. 'But what about the sleeping?'
'I didn't say she's isn't trying to get something,' Ayani said.
'This is terribly puzzling,' Mamoru said and Ami nodded with her gaze on him.
'We need more information, and I need to bring Usagi back,' Ami said, three pondering fingers on her face. 'Nasura, can you scout this Crystal woman—'
'Princess,' Ayani asserted. Ami studied her face. She didn't detect any subversive intent or manipulation, and she knew that Nasura was alert to such.
'We will know for certain when we talk to her. Mamoru, I ask if you will lead the gir—'
'Neo Senshi,' Nasura interjected.
Ami's brows danced in frustration and she said, 'Fine, yes. Lead them to learn more.'
'And you will find a way to bring Usagi back?' Mamoru said, leaning forward.
'I will not rest until I have accomplished that goal.'
