Hello, all.  Well, I think I can declare my slump officially over, since I'm
releasing chapter two of this story less than six months after chapter one. 
^_^  There's still a lot of backstory to be explored, and most of that won't
begin happening until chapter three.  You must have a chapter two before a
chapter three, however, so here it is.  Warnings for alternate universe
storylines, dark and lime elements are in effect.

	Previous parts of this story, as well as the rest of the Shadow Chronicles
continuity, can be found at my new webpage:
http://www.akane.org/mark/shadowchronicles/  Thanks go to Krista Perry for the
new page, as well as pre-reading duties and fanart and generally just being
totally swell.  My old page is still up for the moment, but isn't being
updated any longer.

	Without further ado, here's the story.  

	Enjoy.


Mark

-- Attached file included as plaintext by Listar --
-- File: clearday2r.txt

     This story is a work of fanfiction.  As such, it owes a great
debt to the creators of the characters used herein: Rumiko
Takahashi, creator of Ranma, and Naoko Takeuchi, creator of
Sailor Moon.  

     This story is contains scenes of a dark nature and Lime
rated material, and thus may not be suited for younger readers. 
Reader discretion is advised.




On a Clear Day You Can See Forever

Chapter Two: Rainy Days


     Setsuna stood absolutely still.
     "Come now, Setsuna," Hotaru purred, running one long nail
over her full lower lip.  "You came here to ... help me, didn't you? 
Don't be shy.  After all, you never have been before." 
     "Hotaru, listen to me," Setsuna began, keeping her expression
neutral..  Hotaru's face seemed different; it was subtle, just a shift of
expression, a lazy curl of the lips, a languid lidding of the eyes, but
something cruel and hungry lurked behind those delicate features
now, something that exerted a terrible yet compelling allure. 
Hotaru took a step closer, as if daring Setsuna to give ground.
     "I am listening to you," Hotaru whispered.  "I can hear your
heart beating ... faster now, but is that fear or desire?  And I can
smell you, the perfume of your hair and skin, and under it all the
sweet scent of blood ..."  A thick tendril of hair snaked out,
Medusa-like, and wrapped itself around Setsuna's wrist, holding
but not really binding.  Not yet.  Hotaru took another step, her
smile widening as she came to stand directly in front of the emerald-
haired woman, close enough to touch.
     "I want to taste you," she whispered, trailing her fingers
lightly over the side of Setsuna's neck.  Hotaru's eyes were dreamy
as Setsuna met them, forcing her own expression to remain cool.
     "Like you did with Usagi?" she asked, ice in her voice.  Hotaru
froze, her pupils contracting abruptly as Setsuna's words hit her like
a bucket of cold water.  Hotaru's hand, which had slid lightly down
to Setsuna's shoulder, tightened abruptly into a fist.  The next
moment Hotaru was shoving her away so quickly that Setsuna
barely had time to react.  There was incredible strength behind that
push, and Setsuna collided with the low-slung couch before
tumbling to the floor heavily.  
     Well, at least it worked, she thought ruefully as she levered
herself up.  She was unhurt, but one of her shoes had lost a heel,
and she slipped them both off before rising and tugging her
conservative skirt back into place.  Hotaru was standing as she had
been when Setsuna had arrived, staring out into the now rain-lashed
darkness.  Her slim arms were wrapped tightly around her body,
though, and her long hair streamed and rippled with agitation.
     "Get out," she said flatly as Setsuna rose.  "I changed my
mind.  I don't want you in here anymore."  Setsuna padded toward
the girl, the floor cool against her bare feet.
     "I said get out!" Hotaru snapped without turning around,
her voice raw.  Setsuna stopped but didn't retreat.
     "I can't do that," she said softly.  Hotaru chuckled, but her
voice quavered ever-so-slightly.
     "Oh, do you really desire my dark kisses so much?" she asked
maliciously.  Setsuna had to force herself not to react.
     "It's the hunger that makes you act this way, Hotaru," she
said instead.  "It eats at your control.  I've told you before, the
longer you put off feeding, the worse it gets.  You're too far gone
to go drink a little from some besotted swain in a dark club now. 
You'll have to drink from me.  I know you hate it, but drinking will
make the hunger go away and restore your control."  A shudder
went through Hotaru's slim frame, and she nodded slightly.
     "I know," she whispered.  "But I'm afraid ..."  Setsuna
stepped closer, and even though Hotaru couldn't see her she
stiffened, as if painfully aware of Setsuna's proximity.  Which, in
fact, she probably was.
     "You won't hurt me," Setsuna said softly.  "We've done
this before, remember?  Come on, take my hand."  She reached out,
and for a long moment Hotaru didn't react.  An errant gust of wind
slammed, rain-laden, into the side of the house, and Setsuna
twitched.  She'd rarely seen the girl this bad, but she didn't want to
show her apprehension.  It was important that Hotaru feel
Setsuna's confidence in her, even if that confidence was in truth
strained.
     Finally, Hotaru reached back blindly.  Setsuna grasped the
girl's cool hand and tugged with gentle but insistent force until
Hotaru turned.  The hunger was gone from her eyes, banished by
shame, but Setsuna knew it could return without warning.  It was
best to be about this quickly.  If the hunger returned now, she might
not be able to bring Hotaru back to her senses before she did
something ... regrettable.
     Silently, she guided Hotaru over to the couch, sitting with
careless grace and pulling the girl after her.  Hotaru slid down
beside her, and Setsuna saw her glance almost shyly from under
lowered lashes.  Hotaru's gaze lingered on Setsuna's neck, and a
tingle skittered down the emerald-haired woman's spine with
ticklish spider feet.  
     Setsuna fancied she saw a flash of disappointment in
Hotaru's dark eyes as she released the other girl's hand and
unbuttoned the sleeve of her blouse, rolling it back to expose her
wrist instead.
     "Here," she said softly.  "Drink."  Hotaru took the proffered
arm gingerly, the tip of her tongue darting out to wet her lips.
     "Shouldn't we wait ..." she began tentatively, her gaze locked on
the olive-skinned wrist.
     "There's no time," Setsuna murmured.  She could see the
hunger trying to re-assert itself, and knew that waiting might prove
disastrous.  "Go on, it will be all right."  Hotaru nodded quickly,
bending over Setsuna's wrist.  Her face was obscured as that long,
midnight hair flowed down like a curtain of silk, brushing against
Setsuna's bare arm and coiling in a deliberately teasing manner. 
Setsuna felt the soft brush of parted lips against her wrist, just over
the pulse, and then ...
     She gasped, unable to stop herself.  Twin points of molten
ecstasy lanced into her flesh, and white-hot pleasure coiled up her
arm and into her chest as Hotaru gently sucked.  Her body began to
lean towards the other girl as if drawn by a terrible yet irresistible
magnetism, her breath catching in her throat.  The delicious
sensations pulsed in time with Hotaru's feeding, and Setsuna fought
the urge to cry out.  Her skin was supersensitized, the slight friction
of her clothing or the sensual caress of Hotaru's hair sending spikes
of heat into her core, causing the tension there to coil all the more
tightly.
     It was at moments like this that she could understand what
must have driven them, the lost souls who'd surrendered
themselves to the rapture of a vampiric kiss back when the Clans of
Night had been a force in the city.  For the sake of this decadent
bliss, they had sold out their people, their city, and their very souls,
submitting to the dark siren call ...
     Which was why Hotaru's careless sneer had offended her
so.  It's not like YOU'RE addicted, a little voice insisted petulantly. 
This is for her.  It's her fault, if she wasn't so stubborn it wouldn't
have come to this ...
     Setsuna's eyelids flickered.  She was slumped against Hotaru,
the lush perfume of the girl's hair filling her head with every breath. 
Setsuna's heart was racing, her pulse pounding in her ears, and she
tried to focus through the wonderful sensations that were having
their way with her body.
     "Hotaru," she mumbled.  The girl didn't reply, and Setsuna
swallowed, tried to raise her hand.  Her arm was heavy, so very
heavy, but she managed to place her free hand against Hotaru's
head and push weakly.
     "Hotaru," she gasped.  "That's enough.  Hotaru ..."  The girl
hesitated for what seemed an eternity, finally pulling her mouth
away from Setsuna's leaden arm with a moist sound.  Setsuna fell
back against the couch, her breathing rapid and her pulse
thrumming through her entire body.  Her boiling blood began to
cool, but slowly, so slowly, as she lat limp and sated in the
aftermath, barely able to think through a warm haze.
     "Setsuna?"  Hotaru's voice.  Setsuna managed to open her eyes
after a brief struggle to find the girl bending over her, concern
stamped on those delicate features.  Of that demanding hunger,
there was now no sign.  "Setsuna, are you all right?"
     "Yes," she mumbled drowsily.  "Just a little dizzy."
     "It's my fault," Hotaru breathed.  "I took too much.  I'm
sorry, Setsuna, I got ... carried away.  Are you sure ...?"
     "It'll be all right," Setsuna said, giving the worried girl a
comforting smile.  Hotaru grasped her gently by the shoulders and
lowered her to the couch, so that she was lying on her back.
     "Lie still," she instructed firmly.  "I'm going to make you
something to drink, something to restore your strength.  Don't
move, all right?"
     Little chance of that, Setsuna thought ruefully as Hotaru
hurried from the room.  She lay there, feeling the tightly coiled
tension in the pit of her belly slowly, oh-so-slowly beginning to
dissolve.  For just a moment, she wondered what it would be like to
give into that feeling completely, to let Hotaru's hunger carry them
both away.  But she banished the thought as soon as it had formed.
     Some thoughts were too dangerous to be permitted, even in
the sanctity of her own mind.

***

     The music was heavy on thumping beat and light on
anything else, but at least it wasn't loud.  Not yet, anyway; Rei saw
that there was a dance floor and bet herself that within an hour the
music would be cranked for an appreciative crowd.
     The club itself was not bad, all things considered.  The bar ran
along one wall, lined by high-backed stools.  The main sitting area
was laid out in clusters of cozy booths, so that patrons had a
measure of privacy while still being able to check out the action. 
The dance floor, overseen by a stage and several platforms for club
dancers, occupied the side of the room opposite the bar.
     There was a rather large young man, possessed of a bulky
physique that stretched his thin t-shirt to its limits, off to one side of
where the short entryway opened up into the club.  He gazed at
them impassively through his dark sunglasses, which Rei thought
made him look like an idiot, then glanced away.  Paying customers
weren't his concern, obviously, just troublemakers.
     They walked in, Rei scanning the room.  There was a pretty
good crowd already, and she didn't see any familiar faces.
     "Hi!" a cheerful voice intruded.  "Would you guys like a
table?"  The voice was coming from one of the hostesses, a petite
girl with shoulder length blonde hair and a perky smile.  She was
dressed as most of the female staff were, in a sexy, revealing bunny
costume that left her shoulders and arms bare, and her legs as well
except for black fishnet hose.  A collar and bow-tie adorned her
neck, with similar cuffs at her wrists and, of course, bunny ears and
a tail.
     "Sure," Usagi said before Rei could speak up.  The perky
bunny girl smiled and spun, leaving Usagi and Rei to follow her
pert, swaying tail.
     "Hey!" Rei hissed.  "We're not staying, you know!  We're
just here to tell her about the vision, and the red-head.  That's it!"
     "Aw, c'mon, Rei," Usagi chided.  "This place looks fun!"
     "Fun," Rei muttered under her breath as they walked, glancing
about surreptitiously.  There was plenty of action already around
the bar, and the tables were almost half full, all with healthy,
beautiful young men and women looking for a partner ... or two or
three, or whatever was going.  She was certain Usagi had little if
any idea just what sorts of diversions were popular among such a
crowd, and she was determined that was how things should remain.
     They were seated in a plush, high-backed booth big enough
for two, and their guide bent over, giving them a view of her not-
inconsiderable cleavage.
     "How's this?" she asked.  
     "It's nice," Usagi commented with considerable enthusiasm. 
The bunny girl winked at her.
     "They may seem small, but they're big enough for three at
least, if you're all friendly.  I can send somebody over to
demonstrate if you'd like ..."  She trailed off suggestively, and Rei
jumped in.
     "We were actually looking for a girl we think works here. 
Her name's Minako Aino."  The blonde pouted.
     "Aw, she gets all the prettiest customers asking for her," she
said coquettishly.
     "Then she's here?" Usagi asked, her face lighting up.  The
bunny girl, obviously mistaking the source of Usagi's delight,
nodded and winked again. 
     "I'll see if she's free," she said, "although she is pretty
popular.  If you want to hold her attention for any length of time, it
helps to be ... generous, you know?"  She sauntered off, leaving
Usagi looking puzzled.
     "What did she ..." she began.
     "Never mind," Rei said firmly.  Usagi craned her neck,
staring openly at the crowd, who ranged from fairly conservative to
outrageous in dress and demeanor.
     "Hey, what's upstairs?" she wondered aloud.
     "Storerooms," Rei lied promptly, following Usagi's gaze
towards the back where wide, red-carpeted stairs climbed out of
sight.  Usagi sat back and sighed, snuggling into her plush seat.
     "It'll be nice to see Minako again," she murmured.  "I hope
she's been doing okay."
     "No worries," Rei said flatly.  "That one always lands on
her feet."  Her gaze wandered around the club, cataloguing the
goings-on automatically.  Here a busty bunny girl was pouring
drinks for two laughing men, there a crowd of preening young girls
competed for the attention of the bartender, who played them all
expertly as he worked.  All sorts of people, all sorts of games. 
Strutting peacocks on the make milled around by the bar, seeing
and being seen, a constantly shifting kaleidoscope of revealing
clothing and taut flesh.  Rei didn't actually mind that much;
people-watching could be fun, under regular circumstances.
     But these were anything but.  That red-head, the girl from
her vision, she hadn't expected to see her so soon.  And what was
she after, anyway?  They could all be in danger, yet maddeningly
Rei knew almost nothing about the nature of the threat.
     It would have helped if Usagi wasn't actually ENJOYING
herself.  Even after seeing the girl, Rei wasn't certain Usagi
appreciated just how serious things were.  Or maybe, in typical
Usagi fashion, she just believed that things were going to work out. 
Rei glanced at her friend, who was swaying gently to the insistent
beat of the music as she gawked shamelessly, and hoped for her
sake that she was right.  Then she glanced back across the room
and caught sight of someone making their way slowly through the
throng.
     "Oh, dear," she said dryly.  "Someone's set a tigress loose
amongst the bunnies."  Usagi looked puzzled until Rei motioned
with her head.
     She was dressed differently from the other girls.  Her
leotard left legs and shoulders bare, but instead of being one colour
it was done in bright orange with narrow black tiger stripes, that
colour scheme being matched on her thigh-high boots and
shoulder-length gloves.  A slim striped collar with a round bell on it
adorned her throat, somehow managing to look sexy instead of
silly.  Small triangular cat ears protruded through the top of her
lush, hip-length blonde mane, which swayed in time with her
sinuous gait as she strutted along, stopping to smile or greet people
several times.  As one waitress passed close to her, the blonde's
hand strayed low, and the girl jumped abruptly, turning to glare. 
Her outrage seemed mostly feigned to Rei, though, and the blonde
just touched two fingers to her lips and blew the girl a careless kiss.
     "That's her!" Usagi blurted.
     "Yes, that's her, all right," Rei agreed glumly as Usagi
began waving.  And she hasn't changed a bit, she added silently. 
Minako caught sight of Usagi's beckoning gesture and came closer,
slowing only as she caught sight of the person doing the waving.
     "Usagi!" she exclaimed.  Usagi jumped to her feet.
     "Minako!  Wow, you look so sexy!"  Minako's shock
faded, and she stepped closer to the other girl.
     "Of course," she said with an insouciant wink, "I always look
good.  You haven't forgotten that already, have you?"  She
wrapped her arms around Usagi, and the other girl hugged back
enthusiastically.  Rei watched as Minako's gloved hand began to
stray lower, and noisily cleared her throat.  Minako seemed to
notice her for the first time.
     "Oh," she said, "and you're here."
     "Nice to see you, too," Rei replied sourly.  Usagi finally
extricated herself from Minako's embrace and sat, Minako
squeezing in beside her.  The booth, cozy for two, was rather
intimate with three people in it.  One of the bunny girls appeared as
if by magic, and Minako gave her a slow smile.
     "A bottle of champagne for my friends," she said sleekly. 
The girl rushed off to comply, and Rei scowled.
     "And just what is the going rate for champagne here,
anyway?" she inquired archly.  Minako favoured her with a smile.
     "It's not the bubbly that's so expensive," she pointed out. 
"You pay for the company that helps you drink it.  But don't
worry, Rei, this one's on the house."
     "Yay!" Usagi squealed.  Minako turned to her, the smile
warming.
     "Anything for a princess," she said.  Usagi squirmed and
glanced at the table.
     "Princess of nothing," she said ruefully.  It may have been
intended to be a careless remark, but it came out rather heavily. 
Rei remembered just who it was who'd said that, and apparently
Minako did too.  Her blue eyes narrowed, and some of the ease
went out of her face.
     "Has Herself been bothering you?" she asked, a trifle
sharply.  Usagi flushed.
     "Oh, no, nothing like that!" she laughed, waving her hands. 
"I haven't seen Hotaru, or any of the others, since we left!"
     "Of course not," Minako said, relaxing a little.  "If they
make trouble for you, Detective Tux-boy makes plenty of trouble
for them, right?"
     "That works both ways," Rei reminded her darkly.  "They
know about him, too.  He's got as much to lose as they do."
     "Well, then it's a stalemate," Minako shrugged.  "Everybody
leaves everyone else alone, and there's no problem."  The waitress
returned with a tray, setting three fluted glasses and an ice bucket in
the table with a flourish.  Minako thanked her warmly, and poured
three glasses half-full with practised ease.
     "Yum!" Usagi said.  "Thanks, Minako!"
     "We didn't come her for this, Usagi," Rei reminded her friend,
ignoring her own glass.  "Remember?"
     "What's the matter?" Minako asked.  "Too good to have a
drink with me, Lady Rei?"  Her tone remained light, but there was a
hard edge to her gaze, and Rei felt her own hackles rising slightly in
response.
     "Come on, Rei," Usagi pleaded.  "Don't fight.  We can have
a drink, now that we're here."
     "Yeah," Minako agreed.  "Loosen up.  Having a little fun
isn't a crime, you know."  She propped one elbow on the table and
cocked her hand gracefully, resting her chin on her wrist and gazing
up at Usagi with an expression that had probably emptied hundreds
of wallets at this very table.
     "So, Usagi," she murmured.  "How's life with that hunk of
man, huh?"
     "Mamo-chan's been great," Usagi gushed as Rei sighed and
took a drink.  The champagne was passable, but certainly not
anything special.
     "And how's life under the covers?" Minako asked, eyes
sparkling with mischief.  Usagi blushed fiercely.
     "Minako!" she blurted, hiding behind her glass.
     "Oh, come on," Minako crooned.  "You can tell me." 
Usagi took a drink, her eyes averted.
     "Who says we're even ... doing anything?" she mumbled. 
     "If you're not, it's a waste of a great opportunity," Minako
chided, wagging her finger in admonishment.  Usagi squirmed.
     "I ... we ... that is ..."
     "If you're shy, I can give you some pointers," Minako
purred.  "I know a few tricks that would have him eating out of the
palm of your hand, sweetheart."  Usagi glanced up at the other girl
from under lowered lashes.
     "That's not ... um, like what?" Usagi asked cautiously.
     "Usagi!" Rei snapped.
     "What is so important that we can't have a little girl talk,
huh?"   Minako asked, shifting her gaze to Rei with no small
measure of irritation. 
     "Minako," Usagi said before Rei could reply, "Rei had a
vision.  About us."  Minako raised her eyebrows.
     "Really?" she asked languidly.  "Let me guess.  We were all
naked and covered with oil, locked in a carnal embrace on scented
silk sheets?"
     "In your dreams," Rei growled.  Minako smiled at her playfully.
     "As a matter of fact, yes," she replied.  "Although you were
on the bottom, tied up and kissing my boots ..."
     "Minako, you're so terrible!" Usagi exclaimed in a
delightedly scandalized tone.  "And still such a tease!"
     "It's only teasing," Minako told her with a lascivious smile,
"if I don't intend to follow through."
     "The vision," Rei said, trying to hold her temper in check,
"was of danger.  I think it may threaten all of us who were once
members of the White Moon Court."
     "What kind of danger?" Minako asked, sipping her
champagne.  
     "I don't know, specifically," Rei admitted with a scowl.  "But ..."
     "There was a girl in Rei's vision," Usagi broke in.  "And
today, we actually saw her." 
     "A girl?" Minako asked, cocking her head and making a
thoughtful sound.  "Was she pretty?"
     "Well, actually, yes ..." Usagi began.
     "The point is, she's related to whatever's going on," Rei
growled.  "We ran into her today, but lost her when a wraith
attacked."  Minako nodded.
     "Well, describe her to me, so I'll know if she shows up," she
said.
     "Um, let's see," Usagi muttered, frowning in thought.  "She
had red hair, worn in a braid, blue eyes ..."
     "Was she built?" Minako asked impishly.
     "Well, actually, yes ..." Usagi said again.  Rei slapped her
palm against the table.
     "This isn't a dating service, you idiot!" she snapped, her
patience exhausted.  "We're trying to warn you about danger!"
     "Well, pardon me," Minako sniffed, tossing her hair over her
shoulder and taking a sip of champagne.  "But have you looked
around you lately?  This city is full of danger, Rei!  It might help if
you could be a little more specific!"
     "I knew this would be a waste of time," Rei said flatly, placing
her hands flat against the table and starting to stand.
     "Guys, come on!" Usagi said, her mouth set in a stubborn
line.  "We shouldn't be fighting amongst ourselves.  We should
stick together in the face of danger, just like old times.  Okay?"  Rei
was tempted to say something sarcastic about old times, but Usagi
took her hand and Minako's, and brought them together in front of
her.
     "Please?" she added, her eyes wide and brimming with
innocence.  Minako sighed deeply, and Rei nodded, albeit
reluctantly.  For Usagi's sake, she'd try to get along.  Usagi smiled
beatifically.
     "Great!" Usagi beamed.  "Now, Rei, you start from the
beginning ..."

***

     The big bruiser inside the door moved over in front of me
before I took three steps inside.  I suppose, in his professional
opinion, a slightly bedraggled red-head in damp boy's clothing
didn't exactly scream high-class customer.  Imagine that.  Anyway,
with his bulk blocking my way, I had no choice but to stop.
     Well, actually, I did have another choice; I could have
executed any of a number of disabling attacks.  That option
wouldn't do wonders for my plan of keeping a low profile, though. 
I opted to try the cute, winsome look.
     "Hi," I said, trying to sound breathless in the presence of
such a big, tough man.  He gazed down at me expressionlessly
through dark glasses.  
     I hate people who wear sunglasses indoors.
     "I think maybe you made a wrong turn somewhere," he
rumbled, crossing his arms over his chest.  I assume he was trying
to appear intimidating, but all I could think was that his stance was
all wrong, and one good shot would send him on his ass.  Or his
face; same difference.
     "Oh, no," I said, making my eyes as wide and innocent as I
could.  "I'm looking for someone."  
     "Oh yeah?" he asked, managing not to sound very
interested.  I nodded.
     "I'm supposed to be meeting her here, so I was hoping I could
just go look for her," I said, my voice so sweet it made me want to
retch.  I didn't want to drag this out; if we started attracting
attention, those girls might spot me.
     "I don't think so," Mr. Muscle said flatly, starting to move
towards me.
     "Ah, there you are," a husky voice interrupted.  "You're late. 
And you know how I hate to be kept waiting."  The bouncer and I
both turned to the woman who had spoken, and I doubt I was any
less surprised than he was.
     The speaker turned her dark eyes on the bouncer, lush lips
curling into a distracted frown.
     "I trust there isn't a problem?" she asked in a tone that
suggested there had damned well better not be one.  He seemed
taken aback.  This woman was everything I was not.  Her high
cheekbones and slightly tilted eyes lent her a cool hauteur, and
everything from the way she wore her expensive looking clothes to
the way she held herself suggested a woman accustomed to getting
what she wanted.  
     She looked very much at home here. 
     "This girl is with you?" the bouncer asked, unable to keep
incredulity out of his voice.  The woman turned her full attention on
him, a palpable chill emanating from her as she skewered him with
eyes dark as a starless night.
     "You find that strange?" she asked, and I nearly flinched. 
Her voice was so coldly controlled that it cut, and the unfortunate
bouncer was taking the brunt of it.
     "Of course not," he mumbled, holding his hands out in a
placating gesture.  "I just wasn't expecting ..."
     "I wasn't aware I was expected to inform the help of the
details of my social life," she continued icily.  "Didn't my friend just
tell you she was meeting me here?"
     "Well, she ... I mean ..."  He stumbled to a stop, glancing
over at me.  I flashed him a winning smile, enjoying the sudden
turnabout.  He sure as hell wasn't getting any help from me.
     "I'm terribly sorry," he finished lamely.  She lifted her chin,
a tiny gesture that conveyed with devastating effect just how
inadequate she found his words.
     "I rather think you should be apologizing to my friend," she
said, her gaze narrowing slightly.  He nodded, tiny beads of sweat
breaking out at his hairline.
     "Of course," he said quickly, then turned to me and stammered
an apology.  I studied my fingernails closely.
     "Well, just as long as it doesn't happen again," I sniffed.
     "We have wasted enough time here," the alluring beauty said to
me, dismissing the sweating bouncer with a glance.  "Come."  With
one last glance at the thoroughly discomfited hulk, she took my
hand in hers.  Her slim fingers were cool and strong, long nails
tracing lightly over my skin as she pulled me along with her.  I
walked in the wake of her perfume, which was subtle but heady, a
faint spicy musk that suited her perfectly.
     There was something about this woman, a dark mystique
that swirled around her like a cloak of barely restrained sensuality. 
Enraptured, I followed her as if it were only natural.  It was only
when we stopped by the bar that I realized with a start that she was
still holding my hand.
     "Um, thanks," I said with a rueful grin.  She smiled back at
me, and just that easily I felt a rush of heat across my chest.  Her
gaze, her smile, the way she tilted her head and narrowed her eyes
just slightly; it was like she could intoxicate every sense with just
the force of her personality.  The feeling was unsettling, but
pleasant at the same time.
     "Not at all," she replied.  "This place is overrun with the
usual assortment of pretty playthings and poseurs.  You look like
someone ... interesting."  Then she raised my hand, still held lightly
in her own, and before I realized what she was doing she kissed the
back of it.
     I'd seen this sort of thing in movies, but nobody had ever
done it to me.  Her lips brushed against the skin just below my
knuckles and lingered there, parting slightly and almost seeming to
cling, before pulling slowly away.  A hot tingle shot up my arm and
into my chest, causing my heart to race insanely as my mouth went
dry.  The whole thing should have seemed faintly ridiculous, but she
pulled it off with such casual flair that it seemed like an entirely
natural way to greet a complete stranger.
     Her deep, dark eyes never left mine the entire time.
     "Saekianna der Kae," she murmured, and it took me a
moment to realize that she was offering her name.
     "Ranko.  Uh, Saotome," I replied through a sandpapery
mouth, my throat clicking as I swallowed.  She released my hand,
her fingers trailing over mine as she did so.
     "Charmed," she said, and seemed to mean it.  She turned
slightly and snapped her fingers, summoning a bartender.  That
imperious gesture also seemed to fit her.
     While she was murmuring her order to the besotted
bartender, I surreptitiously looked her over.  Her thick white hair
was parted in the middle, neatly framing her face as it curved down
sleekly to her collarbone on either side.  In the back her hair hung in
thick, soft waves, tapering to a point just below her knees.
     Her outfit consisted of black pants and a brief shimmery top that
hugged her full curves but revealed plenty of taut flesh both from
the tops of her breasts to her throat and from the bottom of her ribs
to her slim silver belt.  Over that she wore a loose jacket of some
silky white material that flowed down to mid-thigh.  Her long
earrings and the bracelet on one wrist were silver, as was the slim
ring on her left hand.      
     No doubt about it, she was a stunningly beautiful woman.   
     "So," she said with a slow smile, "what brings you here,
Ranko?"  I blinked.
     Damn!  I'd been so ... distracted, I'd actually forgotten why
I'd come here in the first place!  
     "Oh, I was, um, looking for someone," I said, trying to hide
my embarrassment as the bartender returned with two delicate wine
glasses.
     "That's hardly uncommon in this neighbourhood," Saekianna
pointed out, handing me a glass.  Our fingers brushed as I took it,
and I felt myself blush.  
     What the hell's the matter with you? I wondered.  You're
acting like some idiotic schoolboy!  I ducked my head, avoiding her
disconcertingly direct gaze as I tried to control the weird trembling
sensation in my chest.
     It had been quite some time since a woman had given me
this sort of trouble.
     I glanced around, trying to appear casual as I searched for
some sign of the girls I'd been following. 
     "I meant someone specific," I muttered, cradling the drink
in my hand absently.
     "Ah," she replied.  "And is this meeting business or ...
pleasure?"  She managed to make the mere word itself sound
wanton and wild.
     "Sort of business," I admitted, taking a small drink.  It
would have been rude not to, after all.  The wine was dark and
sweet, its taste lingering on my tongue.  I knew nothing about wine,
but I was willing to bet that this particular vintage was a high
quality one, and probably expensive. 
     "Well, then.  Perhaps when you've completed this ..."  Her
voice trailed off abruptly, and if I hadn't been looking at her in that
moment I might have missed it.  Her eyes had swept across the
room as she'd turned to retrieve her glass from the bar, and as I
watched she froze, her eyes widening slightly, nostrils flaring with a
sharp intake of breath.
     A moment later it was as if nothing had happened, and she
continued talking smoothly, but I knew what I'd seen.  I glanced in
the direction she'd been looking to see what had startled her that
way.
     And felt my stomach drop through the floor.
     The shifting crowd had parted, and there across the floor I
could see three women at a small booth, heads together as they
conversed.  Two of them I recognized as the two I'd followed here.
     Could Saekianna actually know one of those girls?  I tried
to act casual and wondered if that would be a stroke of good luck
or bad.  Definitely bad, if she decided to call them over.  But her
reaction had been strange, not like someone seeing a friend
unexpectedly....
     "... place I know," Saekianna was saying.  I started,
realizing I hadn't been listening at all.
     "Um," I improvised.  Those bottomless eyes had me in their
sights, missing nothing.
     "You weren't listening," she said, cocking her head.  "Did
you see the people you were expecting?" 
     "No," I lied, trying to look at her and watch those girls at
the same time.  "I mean ... say, are you all right?"  
     Her eyes had become almost unfocussed for a moment, and
her stance had changed subtly.  That languid grace was gone; there
was a readiness now that tickled my own combat-honed instincts.
     "Something's wrong," she breathed, rubbing her ring idly
with her thumb.  I glanced around quickly.  Nothing seemed out of
order, but ...
     That girl, the one named Rei.  She was sitting up straight in
the booth now, a frown on her face.  She wasn't looking at us, but
something had definitely caught her attention.
     "Ranko," Saekianna said, her voice low and urgent.  "Time
to leave here.  And avoid deep shadows."  I opened my mouth to
ask her what was going on.
     And nearby, somebody screamed.
     It was just turning into that kind of a day.

***

     It tickled at the edge of her spiritual sense, faint but
insistent, and growing stronger.
     "Rei?" Usagi asked as she broke off in mid-sentence. 
"What is it?"
     "I'm not sure," she said softly, trying to pin down the
sensation.  It was maddeningly elusive, but familiar too.  Almost
like ...
     "Damn," she breathed.  "We've got to find someplace to
change, now!"  Before they could move, though, a scream tore
through the club, shattering the pleasant atmosphere in an instant. 
An unearthly shriek followed, and tables were overturned as a
general panic quickly ensued.  People started running in every
direction at once as the three girls bolted to their feet.
     "What the hell's going on?" Minako demanded, trying to see
through the sudden crush.
     "Wraiths," Rei said shortly.  And even as they watched, a
sleek form emerged from the gloom of one intimate corner,
arrowing at the startled doorman with a gleeful shriek.  He
stumbled back under the force of its charge and was lost to view.
     "This way, come on!" Minako cried, pushing forward into the
panicked crowd.  Rei and Usagi tried to stay close behind her, but
the crowd surged and they were quickly separated.  Rei reached out
to grab Usagi's hand, but the blonde turned her head and ducked
away at the last minute.  Digging in her heels, Rei pushed through
the press into a clear area and quickly saw why Usagi had stopped. 
One of the waitresses had fallen and was cowering on the floor as a
wraith advanced on her, hunger gleaming in its fiery red eyes. 
Usagi grabbed the terrified girl and tried to pull her up, but Rei
could see that she wouldn't be in time.
     "Usagi, look out!" she cried, hand plunging into her pocket
in search of her henshin rod.  She'd transform right here without a
thought if it meant saving Usagi, but as her fingers groped
frantically, finally closing around the cool cylinder, she realized
even that might not be enough to save her princess.  Time seemed
to slow down for her, the moments drawn out as in a nightmare:
Usagi was pulling at the unresponsive girl, trying to drag her back
as the wraith lunged forward, glittering black talons gleaming
wickedly at the ends of extended fingers.  Rei got a grip on her
henshin rod and felt the power of her transformation surging, ready
to be released. 
     Then the wraith stumbled back, shock and confusion
warring on its face.  Rei saw it claw feebly at its chest and she ran
the rest of the way to Usagi's side, but when she arrived what she
saw hit her like a sledgehammer of ice, freezing her heart and
making her knees want to buckle.
     "Tuxedo Ma ..." Usagi blurted happily, breaking off in mid-
word as her eyes widened with shock.  The wraith collapsed to the
floor, fatally stricken by the enchanted rose protruding from its
chest.
     The petals of the rose were black as night.
     Numbly, Rei cast her gaze back to where the rose must have
been thrown from, and there she was, arm still outstretched, eyes
narrowed.  Her gaze met Rei's and it was as if that allowed a bolt of
wild heat to arc between them, lingering in the air like a summer
storm.  Those eyes danced with dark humour, and the platinum-
haired woman flashed a sultry smile that crossed not just the room,
but years as well.  For a moment, Rei could actually smell smoke,
hear steel ringing shrilly and voices
     (How about a kiss for luck, Sister Dark?)
     raised in impotent anger all around her.
     Then she snapped back to the present as the woman
vanished into the crowd like a phantom.  A thrill of adrenaline shot
from the pit of her belly up through her throat, and she tried to
shake it off, turning to Usagi.
     Those blue eyes were staring at the spot where their
benefactor had vanished, and when they shifted to meet her own
eyes it was all Rei could do not to flinch.
     "Rei," she said, sounding bereft and confused.  "Did you see
...?"
     "Not now," Rei snapped, hauling the whimpering waitress
to her feet.  They were still in the clear for the moment, but that
wouldn't last long.  She could hear the wraiths shrill cries nearby,
raised in anger.  They needed to find someplace private to
transform so they could deal with this threat quickly.
     "This way!" someone hollered.  Rei saw the bouncer, shirt
torn away from one shoulder and blood streaming from deep
lacerations in his flesh.  He'd lost his shades somewhere, and his
eyes were wild.  He scooped the nearly catatonic waitress up with
his good arm and pointed towards the back stairs.
     "Let's get out of here," he panted, "while they're still busy
with her!"
     Her?  As they ran, Rei looked over her shoulder.  The far
doorway was choked with people, but despite the abundance of
prey there the wraiths were swarming around the bar.  She caught a
flash of red, then a dazzling lance of blue light smashed through
three wraiths at once, reducing them to dust.  That gave her a clear
glimpse of the focus of the wraith's anger, and she grabbed Usagi's
shoulder.
     "Usagi!" she hissed.  "That's ..."
     "It's her!" Usagi gasped.
     Indeed it was.  The red-headed girl from earlier was here,
once again in the middle of things.  
     The fight in the street had been impressive enough, but this
battle had gone to a higher level.  The girl slid, tumbled, and danced
through the swarming wraiths, unleashing attack after attack while
avoiding being hit herself.  It was almost mesmerizing, the delicate
but deadly ballet she executed with her lethal foes.  Every move
flowed into the next without hesitation, the momentum from a
punch being used to carry her just beyond the reach of a slash from
the side, then grabbing that outstretched arm and flinging the
off-balance wraith into another, ducking under the tangle to slam a
third back into a post.
     Several of the creatures ducked in and out of shadow, trying
to catch the girl unawares, but she somehow managed to stay one
step ahead of them.  That couldn't last, Rei thought grimly; one
misstep and they would have her.  But the wraiths seemed to be
concentrating on the girl now, determined to eradicate the only
active threat before feasting.
     They were nearly to the stairs now, and Rei began casting
about for a nice dark corner to duck into.  First they'd take care of
the wraiths, then finally she'd be able to put some pressing
questions to the mysterious red-head ... always assuming the girl
managed to live that long, of course.
     Just as they were about to reach the carpeted stairs, however,
the thinning crowd there was parted by a blur that bounded down
past them and out into the now virtually deserted club.  Rei had the
impression of black leather and blonde hair rushing by her, and as
she reached the bottom of the stairs she saw the remaining
bunny-girl waitresses gazing past her in rapt adoration.
     "It's her!" one of them cried, halting her panicked flight.  "She
came!"
     "Mistress V!" another one shouted, jumping up and down. 
"All right!"
     Rei froze.  Mistress ... V?  No.  No way.
     She turned, torn between the need to find cover and the
urge to see what was going on.  Usagi stopped beside her, a
stunned expression on her face.
     Mistress V stood in the middle of the floor, head down. 
Her outfit, what there was of it, consisted of softly gleaming black
leather, from her thigh-hugging stiletto-heeled boots to her shoulder
length gloves.  Her lush curves were barely contained by a matching
bodysuit that was cut high over the thighs and low in the middle,
plunging below her navel and leaving basically two narrowing strips
of leather to contain her from the waist up to where they fastened
onto her studded leather collar, just below the sliver tether ring. 
The narrow wedge of creamy flesh visible from narrow belly-button
to slim collarbone was cris-crossed by tight lacings.
     Topping it off was a black officer's cap with a death's head
insignia just above the shiny brim.  A mane of blonde hair spilled
out from under this cap to flow past the goddess's shapely hips.
     Mistress V paused a moment, as if aware that all remaining
eyes were suddenly locked on her, then she reached up with one
gloved forefinger and pushed the brim of her cap back to reveal
blazing blue eyes, narrowed with righteous anger. 
     "This is a haven of pleasure," she murmured into the shocked
silence, her voice a throaty purr.  "But for you foul spawn, it's
about to become a nightmare of pain ..."
     "That's not ..." Usagi whispered, her voice a mixture of
awe-struck and appalled.
     "Afraid it is," Rei groaned.
     As several of the waitresses huddling in the uncertain shelter
of the stairway sighed ecstatically, Mistress V approached the
milling wraiths.  A few of them had backed away from the red-
headed dervish to assess this new threat, and two flew at her
together, talons extended.  The blonde smiled, a lazy, arrogant
curve of her lips, and extended her forefinger again, this time
pointing it at the oncoming wraiths.  A beam of brilliant golden
light lanced out, catching the first one squarely and reducing it to
dust before it could scream.  The second veered off, but fared no
better than its partner.
     The others were in disarray now, unable to decide which
threat was greater.  The red-head took advantage of the sudden
confusion to take out two wraiths in quick succession, and when a
handful of them tried to swarm Mistress V, she blew a kiss that
turned into a storm of golden hearts, decimating the attackers
easily.
     There were only a few wraiths left now, the momentum of their
surprise attack broken, and the far door was finally clear of
panicked clubgoers.  Rei lurked at the bottom of the stairs and
watched the remaining wraiths succumb to the ferocious attacks of
the two girls or flee into the shadows.  It looked as though she and
Usagi wouldn't need to transform after all.
     The red-head somersaulted over the bar, which had
sustained some pretty serious damage, along with the lights above
it, and moved out onto the floor, casting about for stragglers.  She
hadn't seen Rei yet, and the fiery senshi wondered what would
happen when she did.  Mistress V, meanwhile, began striding across
the debris-littered floor, pausing to blow a kiss to her adoring fans.
     She never saw the enraged wraith that arrowed out of the gloom
behind her.
     "Look out!" Usagi shouted, and Rei felt her throat tighten. 
The blonde started to turn, but she'd been caught off-guard.  The
wraith screeched triumphantly as it flew at the girl's vulnerable
back.
     Later, Rei would run things over in her mind again and
again, hardly able to believe that anyone could move so fast.  The
red-head was nearly a blur, crossing the floor before V could turn
and managing to knock her aside just in time.  Unfortunately, that
left her in the wraith's path, and although she managed to avoid its
talons she didn't have time to dodge the creature itself, and the two
collided heavily.  Entangled, they continued on across the floor, but
just when Rei was certain they would crash into the far wall they
disappeared into the deep shadow like swimmers diving into a
pond.
     When they didn't reappear after several seconds, some of
the waitresses rushed out into the club proper.  Mistress V had
regained her feet and was staring at the spot where the two had
vanished, eyes narrowed thoughtfully.  She had a smile, though, for
the girls who clustered around her.
     "Come on, now, darlings," she murmured as they peppered
her with questions.  "It might not be safe here.  Go upstairs, all
right?  I need to make sure there aren't any more of these things
around."  As she said that, her gaze slid past Rei and she gestured
almost imperceptibly with her head.  Rei got the message and
turned to Usagi.
     "Come on," she whispered.  Usagi looked at her.
     "Where?" she asked.
     "Outside," Rei replied tersely.  "I'm not losing that girl
again."

***

     It was wild.  One minute I was rushing at a wall, courtesy of
a severely unhappy wraith, and the next everything went black.  I
held on for dear life, not wanting to find out what would happen to
me if I dropped off inside of the shadows.
     Then there was light again, and I could see.
     I could see, for instance, that we were outside.  And rocketing
high up into the air.  And that my ride was glaring at me from
inches away, looking very pissed off.  Its red lips parted and I had a
much closer look than I wanted at its fangs.
     I didn't know if it was going to bite or let loose with one of
those shattering screams, and hanging around to find out seemed
like a very bad idea.  I caught a quick upside-down glimpse of what
looked like a canal underneath us, and hoped that the heavy rains
had raised the water level high enough for what I had in mind.
     Releasing my grip, I brought my knees up to my chest and
planted my feet in the wraith's chest, pushing away with a violent
double kick.  The wraith was driven back, and I summoned up my
chi, firing a blast straight up before it could recover.  
     I didn't have time to admire my handiwork, though.  I
twisted in the air, hoping I hadn't misjudged my trajectory.
     I hadn't.  That was the good news.
     The bad news was that I was pretty high up, and the black
water looked to be plenty turbulent as I fell towards it.
     I braced for impact and hoped for the best.  
     Hey, the way I looked at it I was due for a little good luck.

***

     They met V on the street outside the club, and from the
look on her face the news wasn't good.
     "Did you find her?" Mars asked.  
     "Not exactly," the sultry blonde said, tugging lightly at the
brim of her cap.  "Some bystanders saw them flying through the air
over that way, then the girl jumped or was pushed.  Either way, she
fell from a fair ways up.  She got the wraith as she was falling,
though."
     "We'd better go have a look," Mars said, eyeing the sky.  It
looked like the storm had resumed over part of the city already, and
was sweeping towards them.  Together, the three set off in the
direction where the girl and the wraith had last been seen.
     "I hope she's all right," V murmured as they trotted down
the street. 
     "I'm not sure I do," Mars replied, giving the blonde a
sidelong glance.  
     "What are you talking about, Mars?" V shot back.
     "Didn't you recognize her from our description?" Sailor
Moon asked.  "She's the one we saw earlier, the girl from Rei's
vision!"
     "Her?" V asked in disbelief.  "The great and mysterious moon-
detonating threat?  Come on, guys.  There's no way that girl is out
to get us.  I mean, she saved my ass back there!"
     "Speaking of your ass ..." Mars muttered darkly.
     "Spectacular, isn't it?" V grinned.  Mars glanced down at
the other girl's posterior, tight round cheeks framed by high-cut
leather.
     "It would be exceedingly easy to judge," the dark-haired senshi
remarked, "since we can see practically all of it."
     "What happened to your sailor fuku, anyway?" Sailor Moon
asked.
     "Yes," Mars said.  "Do tell us, won't you ... Mistress V?"
     "Oh, Artemis did it," V said airily.
     "Artemis?" the other two blurted in unison.
     "He says there are actually four costume templates in these
henshin rods," V smirked.  "The fuku is only one, so I had him
make me up some extras.  After everything that happened, I wanted
to get away from the sailor image, you know, establish a new
identity for myself.  It helps strike fear into the hearts of evildoers."
     "If I were to guess just what feeling that outfit strikes into
the hearts of evildoers," Mars said dryly, "fear wouldn't be my first
pick."
     "Anyway," V said, dismissing the snide remark with a sniff,
"I look fabulous in it, and that's what counts."  Judging by the
looks they received from the crowd as they slipped past and turned
down a side street, that fact was not in dispute.
     "Somewhere around here, I guess," V said, slowing to a
walk.  "I don't see any crowds of gawkers, so we can probably
assume she didn't go splat."
     "Is that a canal?" Sailor Moon asked.  "Maybe she fell in
there."
     "Be careful," Mars said as the other girl started forward. 
"She might be anywhere around here."
     "What is it exactly about this girl, anyway?" V demanded as
they moved towards the rusted chain link fence that lined the canal. 
"I mean, she was fighting against the wraiths, right?"
     "They do seem to show up wherever she does, though,"
Mars pointed out.  "And as for exactly what she's after, I was
hoping to ask her in person."
     A quick look into the canal made that prospect seem
unlikely, however.  The torrential rains of the previous days had
swollen the drainage canal, with runoff churning its way through
the concrete channel on its way to the bay.  If the girl had fallen in
there, she was long gone, and quite possibly injured or even dead.
     Mars didn't think that was the case, though.  It didn't feel
right somehow.
     "Look," V said at last.  "There's no sign of her anywhere,
and the rain is going to start any minute.  Let's head back and think
about what we're going to do next, okay?"  
     Mars considered arguing the point, but another glance over
her shoulder convinced her that there would be little point.  Much
as she hated to admit it, V was right.  There was no sign of the girl
here, and she had no idea of where to look.  There were literally
hundreds of places nearby where she could have gone to ground if
she'd survived the fall.
     As they started back, though, Mars turned the events of the
day over in her mind.  The girl from her vision had found them, not
once but twice, and both times wraiths had shown up as well. 
Whatever the truth was, whatever the mysterious girl's true
intentions, Mars didn't think they had to worry about finding her.
     If the girl was still alive, it seemed likely that they'd be
seeing her again.

***

     Haruka stretched as she shucked her outerwear, hanging her
coat in the closet.  It had been a long day, and mostly a fruitless
one.  They hadn't found anything that seemed even remotely useful;
of course, that could easily be explained by the fact that they really
didn't know what they were looking for, and likely wouldn't until
they found it.
     Michiru was walking ahead of her, and Haruka took a
moment to admire the elegant girl's legs as they rustled the long,
flowing skirt she wore.  There were moments when she would just
catch a glimpse of Michiru and think, just out of the blue, "That girl
loves me."  The feeling she got at moments like that was
indescribable; it dwarfed everything.
     Like now.
     Michiru glanced back and caught her staring.  A sly smile
crept stealthily to the green-haired girl's lips, transforming her cool,
beautiful visage with that playful expression so few people were
privileged to see. 
     "Is there something on my backside?" she asked archly.
     "Not yet," Haruka said with a lopsided grin.  "I was just
thinking what would look good there."
     "Oh?" Michiru said, eyes dancing with mischief.  "And what
did you conclude?  Silk?  Leather?  Spandex?"
     "Actually, I was thinking my hand would look perfect."
     "My," Michiru said softly.  "Do I look like that sort of girl
to you?"
     "Not at all," Haruka replied.  "But past experience has
shown me that, given the proper stimuli, you can be convinced to
abandon your facade of refined elegance for a cloak of
devastatingly uninhibited sensuality."
     "Oh dear," Michiru murmured.  "My secret is out.  But
what stimuli could possibly provoke such a reaction in such a
proper lady as myself?"
     "Past experience," Haruka said softly, "suggests that a good
place to start is with my hand on your ... backside."
     "Backside," Michiru whispered as the taller girl came to stand
behind her, close enough to touch but not bridging the distance
quite yet.  "And here I thought you were going to grope my ass."
     "Michiru," Haruka said, unable to keep the smile off her
face.  "I do believe that there are people who will go to their graves
utterly convinced that you would never utter such a vulgar term as
`ass'."
     "Oh, I know quite a few words of similar vintage," her
partner replied.  Haruka was close enough to feel the heat of
Michiru's body, and to smell the perfume of her hair.  She longed to
run her fingers through those soft waves, but held back.  Soon ...
     "Do you indeed?" Haruka asked instead.  "And how would
I go about hearing these words?"
     "First," Michiru breathed, her eyes lidded, "you would need
to convince me to abandon my facade of refined elegance."
     Haruka made a rumbling noise deep in her throat, her mouth
near Michiru's ear.  The smaller girl shuddered lightly, the corners
of her mouth turned up ever so slightly.
     "Are you certain that simply tearing your clothes off with
my teeth wouldn't suffice?" Haruka breathed.
     "Well," Michiru whispered back.  "There's only one way to
find out for certain ..."
     The sound of a closing door broke the spell rudely.  The
two moved apart, listening as footsteps approached.
     "Hotarus interruptus," Michiru sighed under her breath. 
Haruka was tempted to snicker at the irritation in her partner's
voice, but that temptation vanished as Hotaru appeared in the
hallway.  
     Hotaru froze as she turned and saw them standing there,
and Haruka fancied she saw guilt flash through those eyes briefly. 
The expression was gone as quickly as it had appeared, though,
replaced by Hotaru's usual aloof expression.
     "You're back," Hotaru said unnecessarily.  Haruka stared at
the other girl, taking in the floor length black hair and the steaming
mug in a glance.
     "Setsuna?" she asked.  Hotaru nodded stiffly.
     "She'd in my study," she replied.  Michiru stepped forward
and took the mug before Hotaru could object, then disappeared
down the hall, leaving Hotaru and Haruka alone.  Haruka just
stared at Hotaru for a time, until the silence became heavy,
awkward. 
     "You shouldn't have done it," the tall blonde said at last, striving
to keep her anger under control.  "Not without us here."  Hotaru
turned and began walking towards her study, and Haruka fell in
beside her. 
     "I thought I could hold out longer," Hotaru said softly.  "I
didn't intend to ... to feed tonight.  But the storm ..."  
     She broke off, stealing a glance at Haruka.  The lanky
blonde didn't know what Hotaru was looking for in her face, but
she kept her expression stony, and the other girl finally looked
away.
     "Nights like this, it's harder," Hotaru continued at last.  "The
dark, the fury of the storm, they call to me.  The hunger worsened
suddenly ..."
     "If you'd lost control, there would have been nobody here
to stop you," Haruka said, her voice harsh.  She was angry with
Hotaru, but her anger was also directed at herself.  She should have
seen this coming, but Hotaru had seemed so much in control just
that morning.  Had she become that good at hiding the hunger,
even from them?
     "I wouldn't hurt Setsuna," Hotaru said tersely, avoiding
Haruka's gaze.
     "The hunger makes you do things you normally wouldn't
do, remember?" Haruka shot back.  
     "I'm hardly likely to forget, since everyone seems so intent
on reminding me!" Hotaru snapped, eyes narrowed.  "But if
anything should happen, you and Michiru would be there to take
care of matters, wouldn't you?"
     "That's right," Haruka said evenly, grasping the other girl's
arm and turning her abruptly.  "That was the deal.  We can't afford
to have the power of Saturn in the hands of a rogue vampire."
     "Well, sorry to disappoint you," Hotaru hissed, "but you
don't get to kill me today!"  With that she yanked her arm free and
spun on her heel, long cloak of hair rippling with the motion. 
Haruka watched her stalk furiously down the hallway, resisting the
urge to go after her.  It was obvious that Hotaru was in no mood to
talk about this; that last remark had revealed an uncharacteristic
flash of temper mixed with self-pity.  Nothing would be gained by
pushing now; it would be best to wait until she cooled off a bit.  
     Or a lot.
     Instead, Haruka continued on to the study to find Setsuna sitting
on one of the couches, sipping her tea as Michiru stood quietly 
nearby.  The olive-skinned woman didn't appear to be any the
worse for wear, but there was a look in her eyes that Haruka didn't
like at all.  She glanced at Michiru and got a small head-shake in
response.  Somehow, she knew that gesture meant "not now, we'll
have that discussion with her later".  
     It wasn't at all odd to her that Michiru could communicate
so much to her with just a gesture; it always seemed strange to her
that other people couldn't do the same.
     Her temper wouldn't help things now, so she took it firmly
in hand as she closed the door and leaned against it, crossing her
arms.  
     "You," she sighed.  "Her I can understand, but you ... you really
should have known better."  
     "She was too far gone," Setsuna replied, staring distantly at a
point somewhere on the far wall.  "I had to act quickly." 
     "Damn it, Setsuna," Haruka said, scowling.  "If she was so
far gone, that's all the more reason not to let her feed on you with
no supervision!"
     "Haruka," Setsuna said, raising her gaze until their eyes
met.  "I had no choice.  What if she'd given in to it, gone running
off somewhere?  If she were to attack a normal person in that state,
she could very well kill them.  And if that happened, I'm afraid that
we'd lose her forever."  
     Haruka pinched the bridge of her nose and fought the urge
to shout.  Setsuna had a point, after all.  But still ...
     "She never used to have to feed this often," the tall blonde
said darkly.  "Is she getting worse?" 
     "It's not a disease, Haruka," Setsuna said with a wan smile. 
"There are a number of different factors that affect her hunger,
some that we know of and others that remain a mystery.  Hotaru is
unique, after all.  I've never heard of a similar case anywhere."
     "So we really don't know what to expect," Michiru broke in.
     "I know one thing," Setsuna replied, leaning her head back
and stretching languorously.  "We are the only family she has.  We
have to support her, help her walk this tightrope."
     "We will, Setsuna.  You know we will," Haruka said, walking
over to the couch and crouching down.  "But we all agreed to this. 
If she should ever turn, we would have to stop her."
     "You mean kill her," Setsuna said bleakly.
     "Quite likely," Haruka agreed softly.  "In the end, she's our
responsibility.  We're the only ones who would have a chance of
stopping her.  It's harsh, but it is the only way."
     "And how do you think she feels, knowing that we're ready
to kill her if she slips up?" Setsuna asked, opening her eyes and
meeting Haruka's gaze once more. 
     "Look, I know it's hard for her," Haruka said.  "But she carries
this with her every day, and she has to learn how to keep it leashed. 
We're here to help her with that, first and foremost.  I would hope
she knows she can count on us."  
     "And if she fails?" Setsuna prodded.  Haruka stood up and
walked over to the balcony doors, staring out into the falling rain.
     "Setsuna," she murmured, "believe me when I tell you that I
hope it never comes to that.  I don't want to have to make that
choice."
     But she would.  Because, if the need arose, there was only
one choice to make.
     And only they could make it.

***

          The wide sidewalk was protected by a glass roof, which
was fortunate considering the rain had returned with a vengeance. 
Water sluiced off the angled glass, creating pretty swirling patterns
that provided a distorting filter through which to view the street
lights and neon signs.  Usagi thought it an oddly beautiful sight.
     She'd phoned Mamoru's place, but he hadn't been back
from work yet.  That was hardly unusual, and Luna could pass her
message on, but she had wanted to hear his voice.
     "All right, I'm covered," Minako said cheerily, returning
from the phone kiosk.
     "What did your boss say?" Rei asked.  
     "Nobody got killed," she replied, giving a jaunty thumbs up. 
"He's just steamed because quote those two crazy bitches wrecked
the place unquote.  I mean, that's gratitude for you, right?"
     "I think we should try to find Mako-chan and Ami," Usagi
said, tugging at the hem of her coat.  "Trouble already found us,
after all.  I won't feel right until we've warned them too."
     "That's fine, Usagi," Rei replied patiently.  "But the problem is
we don't know where to look."
     "Actually, I have a vague idea of where Makoto is," Minako
broke in.  "She's been operating down near the waterfront a lot
lately, from what I hear."
     "The waterfront?" Usagi asked.  "What's she doing down
there?"
     Would you believe, bounty hunting?" Minako asked with a
wry smile.  
     "What?" Usagi blurted.  "Bounty hunting?"
     "Yeah," Minako shrugged.  "There's a lot of crime in the
Triangle, and not enough police, you know.  You can make pretty
good money hunting bounties."
     "It's getting late, though," Rei said, staring up at the rain
spattered glass.  "Maybe we should wait until tomorrow."
     "But she could be in danger!" Usagi objected, twining her
fingers nervously.  "We should at least try!"  When Rei had shown
up at her door, Usagi had been ecstatic at the chance to track down
her friends.  After all that had happened, though, she was beginning
to seriously worry.  What if Makoto or Ami got hurt before they
could be found?
     "It's no big deal, Rei," Minako said airily.  "We can take my
car.  There are a few places I have in mind that we can check before
it gets too late."  
     "Come on, Rei!" Usagi pleaded, gazing at her hopefully. 
Rei scowled, but Usagi could tell she was going to give in.  
     "All right," Rei sighed at last.  "I suppose it couldn't hurt to at
least have a look."
     "Yay!" Usagi grinned.  "What are we waiting for?"
     "Come on," Minako said, motioning them to follow.  "My
car's near the club.  I can stop and get my stuff, too."  They set off
along the sheltered sidewalk, which was fairly crowded.  Even on a
stormy night, things were just getting into full swing in this
neighbourhood.  Usagi eyed some of the storefronts as they walked,
astounded by the sheer variety of wares being offered.  There were
windows full of lingerie, for example, next to displays of glossy
leather and shiny steel.  Lacy dresses competed with skintight
catsuits, and signs offered services ranging from suggestive to spicy
to lurid, all without the slightest hint of shame. 
     The covered sidewalk ran to the corner opposite Club
Kiss's entrance and turned down an adjacent street.  As they
approached the corner, Minako whistled appreciatively.
     "Would you look at that?" she murmured.  "A Ferengetti
Shadow.  Don't see many of those around."  Usagi followed her
friend's gaze, and deduced that she was talking about the red car
parked at the curb in front of the club.  It had a low slung, almost
predatory profile, and although Usagi didn't know anything about
cars, it certainly did LOOK expensive.
     They approached the corner and turned, and as they did the
car started up with a low, throaty thrum, it's recessed headlights
deploying and flaring to life.  Usagi watched as it pulled away from
the curb and roared towards the street they'd turned on to.  The
three girls stopped as the car drove past them about twenty feet,
then pulled over to the curb on their side of the road. 
     "If that's your red-head," Minako said with a small smile,
"she's got excellent taste in cars."  Usagi fingered her brooch,
noticing that both Rei and Minako had one hand out of sight.
     The gull-wing door swung up and a pair of long legs
emerged from the car, followed by a lush female form that seemed
to flow almost bonelessly to the sidewalk.  Usagi felt a chill prickle
the skin at the nape of her neck, and she glanced quickly at Rei. 
The raven-haired girl's face gave little away, but her eyes were
narrowed and her lips compressed into a narrow line.
     "Hello," Minako breathed.  "Who do we have here?"  
     Usagi was wondering much the same thing.  She'd seen this
woman inside the club; in fact, she was certain that the platinum-
maned beauty was the one who'd thrown that black rose.
     For just a moment back there, she'd wondered if Rei knew her. 
But that thought had quickly passed; why would Rei know such a
woman?  But now ...
     The woman strode under the sheltering overhang and just
stood there, arms crossed under her breasts, watching them
indifferently.  Rei stepped forward, but when Usagi made to follow
she turned and held her hand up.
     "No," she said curtly.  "I need to talk to her alone."  Usagi
blinked.  There was something unsettling in Rei's demeanor all of a
sudden, something she didn't like at all.
     "But ..." she began.
     "I said no."  Rei didn't raise her voice, but her words
seemed to slash across Usagi like a shard of ice.  She stepped back
instinctively, bumping into Minako in the process.
     Rei had never spoken to her that way before.  Never.
     "Hey, ease up," Minako protested, reaching out to steady
Usagi. 
     "You two just wait here," Rei said, her tone brooking no
argument.  "I'll be right back."  With that she turned and marched
down the street to where the other woman waited patiently.
     "Geez," Minako grumbled, "what in the hells was that all
about?"
     "She was in the club," Usagi said in a small voice, wrapping
her arms around herself and watching Rei's back as she walked
away.  The rest of it pressed against her lips, wanting to be told, but
she held it back, not even sure why.
     Rei does know her, she thought, the words nearly
accusatory.  Why?  How?  Who is she?
     But if Usagi didn't know WHO she was, it seemed obvious
WHAT she was.
     A rose with petals black as night ...
     Rei, she thought dolefully.  What's going on?

***

     Rei's heart was pounding as she stopped only a few feet
away, but she was certain her inner turmoil didn't show.  
     "Well, here we are," she said softly.  The woman across
from her smiled, that same smile she'd shown back at the club.  It
was an expression that Rei associated instantly with this woman,
triggering memories the way a familiar scent or a half-heard snatch
of music sometimes will; viscerally, at a level below consciousness
where rational thoughts were rare and raw emotion reigned
supreme.
     "Hello, Rei," Saekianna said, her voice soft.
     "Hello, Sass," Rei replied, bittersweet reminiscence welling in
her chest.  
     "Nobody's called me that in quite a while," Saekianna
murmured, her eyes sparkling darkly.
     "I guess not," Rei said with a half-smile, "since I was the only
one who ever called you that."
     "You were the only one who was allowed to call me that,"
Saekianna pointed out.  The two stood there for a moment, just
looking at each other.  The space between them was only a matter
of feet, but Rei sensed an unseen chasm separating them from each
other, one that must be negotiated carefully.  That thought made
her sad, somehow.  
     "Thank you," Rei said at last.  "For in the club."  
     "Ah, yes," Saekianna murmured, glancing over Rei's
shoulder.  "The delicate little blossom.  Yours, I presume?"
     "It's not like that," Rei replied, and the other woman raised
one slim eyebrow.
     "If you say so," Saekianna replied, her tone making it clear
that she didn't believe a word.  "But your taste is still exquisite."
     "Your timing as well," Rei admitted.  The sensations that
Saekianna's mere presence evoked were powerful and not a little
unsettling, and it was all Rei could do to keep her expression
neutral.  It had always been thus between them, a private game of
sorts, this jousting of words and expressions and body language,
each always trying to provoke the other into unguarded reaction
first.
     But this time, Saekianna was to be the winner.  As Rei
swept the other woman with her gaze, she caught sight of
something that made her breath catch almost painfully.  Saekianna's
lips curved once more into that familiar half-smile.
     "That ring," Rei breathed.  The other woman held her hand
up languidly, watching the light gleam softly off the silver ring with
the black rose etched into it.  
     "Ah, yes," Saekianna murmured.  "Many things have
changed since you left, Rei.  Griitna is no longer Nightmistress. 
She lost everything, you see."
     "Playing the game," Rei said, bitterness tinging her soft
words.
     "In a way, you were right about her," Saekianna said gently, still
staring into the ring's depths.  "She manipulated the game for her
own purposes, betrayed our calling.  She didn't believe, you see. 
That was her downfall.  And now, the rules have changed."
     "It's still a game," Rei said with a soft snort.  
     "No," Saekianna replied, her dark eyes shifting from the
ring to Rei.  "It's no mere game, and it never really was.  Griitna
perverted it for her own gain, but she's paid for her transgressions. 
In full."
     "Sass, do you really believe that the Dark Lady has a hand
in all this?" Rei asked, regarding the other woman critically.  
     "I know it," Saekianna replied, her eyes sparkling, barely
hinting at the passions that Rei knew lurked deep within.  "I believe
that our meeting like this was Her will.  The Labyrinth holds no
more mysteries for me, Rei.  I ventured to its very heart, and
plumbed the secrets there.  There is so much more to this than we
knew."
     "I saw the truth, Sass," Rei said, her voice low and even. 
Nothing would be gained by letting her temper flare now.  "I told
you, it was never anything more than a game.  Never.  She lied to
us all along."
     "I know you believe that.  You lost faith, but I cannot blame
you, Rei.  You saw the flaws, the lies, the wormy corruption behind
Griitna's lovely face before any of us.  But that was where the
corruption lay, not in the Sisterhood itself.  She twisted the truth,
but even she could not destroy it.  And now the truth is in my
hands."
     Saekianna's triumph smouldered in her eyes, and Rei
wanted to believe.  She wanted that as badly as she'd ever wanted
anything in her life.  But she knew that there had been no truth at
the heart of Griitna's games.  The last vision she'd had as a Sister
had shaken the very foundations of her life, had shown her the
strings that the puppet mistress pulled to make them dance.  But
she hadn't been able to convince any of the others, not then and,
apparently, not now.
     "The truth," Rei echoed softly.
     "The path to unlock our greatest desires," Saekianna
breathed, "lies before us now.  Just as I always knew it would." 
The alluring beauty moved closer, her perfume enfolding Rei in a
delicate embrace, and the dark-haired girl fought the urge to give in
to a delicious shudder.  So many memories ...
     "What do you want, Sass?" she asked, but of course she knew. 
She just had to hear it.
     "Come with me," Saekianna breathed.  "Right now.  Bring
those two.  We'll induct them as Maidens, teach them the pleasures
of that calling, and afterwards I'll tell you all of it.  It will be just
like old times."
     "Sass," Rei sighed, real regret in her voice, "I just can't do
that."  Saekianna's eyes flicked over Rei's shoulder to where the
two blondes stood, conversing quietly near the corner.
     "It's not like you to not share, Rei," she chided, but a small
furrow had appeared between her slim brows.
     "I'm ... involved in something right now," Rei replied.  "I
have obligations."
     "And what of your obligations to the Sisterhood?"
Saekianna asked, her voice deceptively soft but laced with disbelief. 
"What of your obligations to ... me?"  And there it was, out in the
open at last.  Rei fought the urge to raise her voice, conscious of
their audience.
     "You could have come with me, back then," Rei pointed
out, surprised at the intensity of bitterness in her belly.  "I gave you
the chance, but you chose to stay."
     "I had to," the other woman murmured, her voice urgent,
intense.  "Can you still not understand that?  I never wanted you
to leave in the first place, not when destiny had placed the key to
our greatest desires so close."
     "Your greatest desire," Rei said flatly.
     "You can't fool me, Rei," Saekianna replied.  "In your
heart, you want this as much as I."
     "We were meant for more than chasing phantoms of dreams,
Sass.  And that's what you're still doing."
     "No," Saekianna replied firmly.  "It's more than that now.  I
can do it, Rei, but not alone.  I have some of the others with me,
but with you by my side, victory would be assured.  You can't tell
me that the prospect doesn't call to your heart?"  Saekianna moved
even closer, so that the two were nearly touching, and Rei felt the
urge to reach out, to bridge the distance between them; not only the
inches that separated them physically, but the years as well.   
     And she could do it, with one simple motion.  Something
held her back, though; she couldn't dismiss everything that had
happened, couldn't allow herself to forget why she'd left.
     And, of course, there was Usagi.
     "You could always tempt me, Sass," Rei said finally, a gently
aching lump at the back of her throat.  "That hasn't changed.  But I
can't come with you, not now.  When things have quieted down,
when the crisis is over, then we can talk about this, and you can try
to convince me that it was all more than some fever dream of a
power-hungry Nightmistress."  Saekianna's lovely eyes narrowed,
and she chuckled softly.
     "You're as stubborn as ever, Rei," she murmured.  "That
hasn't changed.  But neither have I.  I hate losing, and I won't play
second fiddle to a meek little flower like that."  She inclined her
head slightly in Usagi's direction, and Rei felt her temper flaring
again.
     "Sass," she began, warning tone clear.
     "Go, then," Saekianna whispered, taking Rei's hand in her
own and raising it to her lips.  "Go, and think of me through the
long hours of the night, until dawn finds you sleepless and wound
tight with need for my voice, my scent, my touch.  I know the fires
that run hot in your blood, Sister Dark.  They will never be sated by
the likes of her, no matter what hold she has on your heart.  You
don't belong with her.  You will always be wild and dark."  So
saying, the platinum-haired goddess kissed the back of Rei's hand, a
soft, lingering press of full, soft lips against hot flesh.
     That brought back memories, of their first meeting.
     And of their last.
     As she lowered Rei's hand, Saekianna slipped something round
and cool into it, her gaze holding Rei's a moment more.
     "I deserve a chance to change your mind, Rei," she said, her
voice throbbing with husky compulsion, caressing like the aural
equivalent of fine silk.  "When you need to unleash your true spirit,
call me.  I'll be waiting."
     She gave Rei's hand a last squeeze, then turned and strode
gracefully to the waiting car.  Slipping smoothly behind the wheel,
she pulled the door closed and gunned the engine.  The sleek
machine rocketed away from the curve, going much too fast for
conditions as it roared down the rain-slicked street and cornered
neatly, all that raw power somehow remaining tightly leashed.
     Much like its driver.
     Rei stared at the point where the car had disappeared from
view, then looked down at the cool dark crystal disc that the other
woman had given her.  The streetlights traced the pattern of the
black rose that had been etched into its surface, seemingly
swallowed by the crystal itself.  Rei pocketed it absently, then took
a deep breath and let it out slowly.
     And turned, walking slowly back towards Usagi and
Minako.

***

     Well, there was no longer any question.  Today officially
sucked.
     Besides being wet, tired, hungry, and depressed, I had
tangled with wraiths, run into some strange sailor girls who seemed
to know me (and, let's not forget, not LIKE me) and, to top it all
off, been dropped into a white water ride.  And when I managed to
drag myself, half-drowned, up onto the edge of a drainage pipe and
climb out of the water, what happens?
     I get held up.  I get held up by a gang of teenaged
delinquents.
     Welcome to my life.
     "Hey, she's not bad," one of the guys said appreciatively. 
There were five of them, all carrying weapons ranging from knives
to chains to one big guy who was carrying a huge, double-bitted
axe.  Impressive weapon, but a little conspicuous for strolling
around the streets.
     "Having a little late-night swim, babe?" the one closest to
me asked with a sneer.  He was tall and lean, wearing his jacket
open with nothing underneath except pale skin and a few ugly
scars.  I just stared at him as the others circled around, hooting and
making disgusting animal sounds.
     "Hey, girl," my new friend said.  "I'm talking to you."
     "What do you want?" I asked.  Gosh, my voice was calm. 
Incredible, the way I was managing to hide my raw terror.  The
punk must have thought so, too, because he frowned, hesitating a
moment.
     "Well, first," he continued, his sneer reasserting itself, "you
give us all your money."  
     "Money?" I asked wryly.  "Let me get this straight.  You think I
loaded my pockets with money and jumped into the canal.  That
about right?"  The punk stopped cold, confusion and rage warring
on a face that girls probably went bananas for, all heavy lips and
brooding eyes.  Oh yeah, this guy thought he was something.  Well,
I thought he was something, too.  I thought he was the last straw in
a long, frustrating day.
     "She's a mouthy one, huh, Gil?" the big guy with the axe
chuckled.  Gil apparently agreed.
     "Shut up and listen, bitch," he snarled at me.  "Me and my
gang own this part of town.  You gotta pay a toll, see?  You do us
all real good, and we won't cut you up.  In fact, we'll be real nice
to you.  Get it?"  He emphasized his point by gesturing with the
razor-sharp stiletto in his left hand.
     Oh, yeah.  I got it, all right.
     "I'm goin' first," another one said, circling around in front
of me.  He was bald and bulky and had rings in his nose and
eyebrows, and he eyed me the way a starving man looks at a beef
bowl.
     "You ain't going first," Gil snarled.  "I'm the leader, I'm
first."  Then he turned to me, an ugly light in his muddy brown
eyes.
     "Whip those puppies out, bitch," he grinned.  "I wanna
chew on `em a little first."  The others closed in from behind me,
waiting for me to try and run.
     As if.
     I was hardly in top form, but whatever kind of trouble these
guys were, they weren't a pissed off master of the Anything Goes
school of martial arts, much less one who'd just had an extremely
bad day.
     I, on the other hand, was.
     Even on my worst day I wasn't about to lose to a bunch of
amateur small-timers like this. 
     It took a little longer than it should have, but the final score was:
Saotome 5, Small Time Hoods 0.
     "Gack!" Gil explained.  I twisted his arm a little harder,
edging my unwilling friend towards the edge of the canal which had
recently hosted his four friends.
     "Gil ... can I call you Gil?" I asked.  He gritted his teeth
until I applied a little more pressure, then nodded frantically.
     "Great!" I enthused.  "Gil, let me be frank.  You're a
scumbag."
     "Kiss my ass," Gil snarled.  Gil was, apparently, a slow
learner.  I twisted harder.  Gil yelped.
     "A total scumbag," I clarified.  "I bet you robbed a lot of
people tonight, didn't you?"  He chuckled, trying to sound
arrogant.  That's a hard trick to pull off, though, when a girl half
your size has just dumped your badass gang into the canal and has
you trapped in a painful arm hold.
     "Damn right," he hissed.  "We took down a bunch of guys
over by the strip."
     "So where's the money?" I asked.  
     "Huh?"
     "The money, Gil.  Is that it?"  I tapped a bulge in his jacket
pocket with my free hand and was rewarded with a metallic
jingling.  Gil started to squirm, and I applied more pressure.  Much
more and something was going to break.  Gil got the message,
though, and settled down.  I reached into his pocket and pulled out
a rough sack chock full of coins, hefting it critically.
     "Gil," I said, "there's a lot of cash here, but all in coins.  A more
suspicious person than me might think that you guys didn't actually
rob anyone, you know?  Such a person might think you'd been
involved in something strictly small-time, like ripping off vending
machines ..."
     "Hey, shut up!" he spat.  I shook my head.
     "Gil," I said sadly, "you aren't even a very good scumbag,
you know that?"  I released his arm abruptly and he stumbled away,
turning to stand at the very brink of the canal with his back to the
water.  He rubbed his arm, glaring at me.
     "That's my money, bitch," he snarled sullenly.  I beamed at 
him.
     "Not any more," I pointed out.  "I just robbed you.  Don't
you love the irony?"  Gil muttered something that indicated to me
that no, as it happened he wasn't a particularly big fan of irony.  I
balanced the bulging sack in one hand and looked at the thoroughly
disgruntled punk.
     "Oh, just one more thing, Gil," I said sweetly.  He looked at
me, instantly suspicious.
     "What?" he asked.  
     "I hate being called bitch," I told him, and danced forward
to kick his sorry self into the canal.
     "Oh, hey," I shouted as he surfaced and started thrashing
angrily in the current.  "I forgot to ask; can you swim?"  His reply
was just appalling, not to mention anatomically impossible.  
     There were a couple of places where the canal wall was
damaged and he might climb out; failing that, he'd have to wait until
it emptied into the bay and swim to shore.  At any rate, he wouldn't
be troubling any innocent vending machines for a while.
     Upon sober reflection, while the day had been by no means
stellar, I had gotten to trash several demons and work out my
remaining frustrations on some loud-mouthed street trash.  All
things considered, things actually could have been worse.  
     I turned and walked across the saturated ground, my
footsteps squishing noisily as I went.  The bag turned out to contain
mostly one and two crown coins, which meant that there was
probably enough there to keep me going for a few days, easy.
     I felt a momentary pang of conscience at the prospect of
keeping the money, but it had trouble making itself heard over the
complaints from my empty stomach and the sudden vision of a hot
bath.  
     I headed for the nearby street, figuring it would lead me to
someplace warm and dry.  One problem had been solved, but there
was still the matter of those girls I'd been following.  Who were
they, and why had they reacted to me the way they had?  
     There was no way I'd find them now, though.  Not unless
they, for some reason, suddenly decided they had to visit the
waterfront district.
     And how likely was that?

***

     The storm had returned, but fitfully, the occasional flicker of
lightning throwing the shadows that lay across the gauzy curtains
into stark relief.  Haruka eased herself onto the bed, pulling the
covers up over her legs, and looked down at Michiru's prone form.
     Growing up, Haruka had always slept naked if it was warm
enough.  It was Michiru who had started her dressing to come to
bed; not in the delicate flowing nothings that the smaller girl
favoured, of course, but Haruka had become accustomed to
wearing pajamas.  Although of a masculine cut, these were made of
expensive silk that caressed the skin with decadent abandon,
carelessly evoking the most delicious sensations.
     The younger Haruka had believed it foolish to get dressed just
to get into bed.  That, however, was before Michiru, before she'd
been taught to value mystery, subtlety, the pleasures of all the
senses and the gratification of taking one's time, delaying the
inevitable.  Seduction, done properly, required mystery, tension, a
slow, teasing dance of need and desire, lingering over the inevitable
in order to savour it more fully.
     And Michiru always enjoyed undressing her again.
     Gazing down at her love, though, Haruka sensed that the earlier
mood had slipped away.  She slid down beside the green-haired girl,
propping her head on one hand, extending the other to twine her
fingers unerringly with Michiru's under the covers.
     "Thinking about Hotaru, or Setsuna?" Haruka asked.  Michiru
smiled at her.
     "Both," she admitted.  "But at the moment, Setsuna."
     "You stopped me before," Haruka sighed.  "Which was
probably a good idea, since she wouldn't have been in the proper
state of mind to discuss this.  But we are going to have to discuss
it."
     "I know," Michiru replied, squeezing Haruka's hand lightly
and drawing it to the heated flesh between her breasts.  "And it's
going to be hard, but we have to make her see what effect Hotaru is
having on her.  Her judgement has become suspect."
     "Saying that to a control freak like Setsuna will be like
waving a red flag in front of a bull," Haruka said ruefully. 
"Especially since she volunteered in the first place because she
would be the least affected."
     "Her words," Michiru murmured.  "Maybe it was a mistake
to allow it to happen at all."
     "At the time, circumstances didn't give us much of a choice. 
Setsuna had one good point tonight, though; if Hotaru were ever to
kill someone, we'd almost certainly lose her forever.  And I don't
want that to happen."
     "Neither do I," Michiru sighed.  "I take it your talk with her
didn't go well?"
     "That's putting it mildly.  We should try again in the morning,
when she's feeling better," Haruka said, gazing into the depths of
her lover's eyes.  That sight could captivate her for hours; she never
grew tired of it. 
     "If Hotaru is beginning to gain power over Setsuna, we will
have a sticky problem to deal with," Michiru pressed.
     "If," Haruka repeated.  "How could she not?  The lessons of
the Long Dark remain, for those who would only look."
     "But Hotaru isn't a vampire," Michiru objected.  "At least
not fully."
     "Half vampire?" Haruka snorted lightly.  "That's like being
half pregnant, isn't it?"
     "But it's true," Michiru said sombrely.  "She walks in the
daylight, and most of the time she's in control of herself.  When the
hunger is upon her she gains some vampiric abilities, but she
doesn't seem to keep them once she's fed.  I've never seen her
mesmerize with her gaze, or compel someone she's fed from when
she's herself."
     "Yes, but we don't know that she can't do those things,"
Haruka sighed.  "Only that she hasn't.  Maybe, when she's in
control, she just doesn't want to.  The fact remains that Setsuna has
to stop letting Hotaru feed from her.  We just can't risk it anymore. 
And we need a better system of monitoring Hotaru's appetites than
waiting for her to tell us they've returned."
     "I'm open to suggestions," Michiru replied, her long lashes
brushing against the flawless pale skin of her cheek as she closed
her eyes.  "We just seem to keep going around and around on this
issue, every time it happens, without solving anything."
     "It's worse now," Haruka breathed.  "That incident with
Usagi and the others was bad enough, but now Hotaru's really
worried about the Outsider.  I think she senses that trouble is near. 
This is no time for us to be doubting each other."
     Michiru snuggled closer, and Haruka released her hand,
slinging her arm around the other girl's waist and drawing her
close.  Michiru fit against her like she belonged there, and Haruka
shivered at the intoxicating sensation of the smaller woman's breath
against her throat.
     "Doubting," Michiru whispered.  "And yet look at her. 
She's almost always together, in control, despite the burdens she
carries.  When I think of how it must have been for her in that
house all those years, her father slowly going mad ... she's an
incredibly strong girl.  I just wish that we could do more for her."
     "We would," Haruka reminded her, "if she'd only let us. 
But for now, we can only help her prepare for the Outsider, and
pull her back from the edge if she gets too close.  And be her
friends, as much as she'll allow."
     Michiru lay in her arms for a time, her breathing soft and
regular, and Haruka wondered if the girl had drifted off.  Just as she
was beginning to doze herself, though, Michiru stirred once more.
     "We can't let Hotaru lose her way, Haruka," she whispered. 
"We can't let that happen."
     "We won't," Haruka promised, kissing the top of the other
woman's head lightly.  "Now go to sleep."
     Michiru made a throaty, contented sound and nuzzled into
the crook of Haruka's shoulder, leaving the taller girl to stare out
into the darkness.
     The need to protect Hotaru from the darkness was a very
real one.  But this was one struggle that would not be won with the
raw power that they commanded as senshi.  For this, they needed
strong hearts and unshakeable faith.
     Not for the first time, Haruka wished that she could turn
back time.  She wished that Usagi was still here to cast her own
special light into the shadows of Hotaru's soul.
     But, through cruel circumstance, Hotaru had managed to
drive away the one person who might have saved her.

***
     
     Hotaru huddled in the dark, her only company the sonorous
thrum of steady rain.  Her knees were drawn up to her chest, her
cheek resting against them as she stared moodily at nothing.
     Her hair hung around her like a shroud, pooling on the dark
sheets of the bed in a silken tumble.  Absently, she picked up a
handful of the thick locks and let them slip slowly from her fingers,
like sand on the beach.  She'd have to cut it again, but the morning
would be soon enough.  She just didn't feel up to it now. 
     The dark's siren song was muted now that she'd fed, but it
wasn't completely gone.  If she listened carefully she could always
hear it, even if only faintly, beckoning to her like a lover, promising
sweet abandon in its embrace.  How wonderful, to give in
completely to dark desire just once ...
     Her arms tightened around her legs, and she shifted
position, feeling the cool silk of her nightgown brush across her
thigh.  Haruka, Michiru, and Setsuna; they were the closest thing
she had to friends in the world, but they still didn't understand her,
certainly not as well as they believed.  
     I know you hate it, Setsuna had said to her earlier.  They all
believed that; Hotaru denied the hunger as long as possible because
she hated feeding.  But that wasn't true, not at all.
     She put it off because, once she started to feed, it was so hard to
resist.  Drinking blood, as it turned out, was an incredibly sensual
experience, and it made her feel so powerful, so aroused, so
GOOD.
     She didn't want it to be like that; she wished it was loathsome
and repellent, that it made her feel as dirty and ashamed while she
was doing it as it did afterwards.  Perhaps then, she would be able
to face it more easily.  
     But no matter what promises she made in the precincts of
her heart, no matter how fervently she swore to resist, the hunger
always conquered her.  Always.  
     There was no feeling like it.  Earlier, she had been almost
drunk merely on the hot, delicate scent of Setsuna's blood.  The
two women had been partners in a strange and beautiful dance of
predator and prey, and even though Setsuna was her friend Hotaru
had enjoyed playing with her.  And when she'd finally fed, a small,
insidious part of her had been disappointed at Setsuna's
cooperation, desiring to take her forcefully, make her submit.
     And there had been a moment, lost in the sweetness of
feeding, carried on the tide of hot life's blood, when Setsuna had
tried to push her away, but couldn't.  In that split second Hotaru
had experienced a flash of pleasure so intense it was almost painful. 
The woman was hers, she'd realized with a savage thrill, all of her;
her blood, her life, her very soul.
     That sudden realization had shocked her back to awareness
for a moment, just long enough to pull back, but in that moment the
spell was broken, the hunger sated ... but not totally satisfied, no,
never that.
     She'd been stung by Haruka's anger, her guilt causing her
to lash out at the other woman.  Because Haruka had been
absolutely right; she never should have fed without the others there. 
That was far too dangerous, a fact she knew better than anyone. 
She'd been on the verge of doing something 
     (Hotaru?)
     terrible, something
     (I didn't mean to I didn't)
     irrevocable.
     Thunder boomed somewhere far off, and she shuddered
lightly.  The others thought she held herself aloof from them out of
some natural reticence.  How could they know the truth?  How
could they know about a girl who'd learned the hard way to keep
others at a safe distance?  It wasn't that she didn't want the
closeness that others had; she did.  Some days, she ached for it with
an intensity that was nearly agony.
     But she couldn't risk it.  In the end, the simple sad truth was
that she couldn't trust herself not to hurt someone, even someone
she loved.  Because, at the end of the day, getting close to Hotaru
Tomoe could cost you dearly. 
     So she hid herself away.
     Watching Usagi had been a revelation.  The girl possessed
an utterly disarming openness, a genuine warmth that had drawn
everyone to her.  Hotaru had found herself basking in the glow of
that warmth, envying Usagi even as she resented her.
     Maybe that was why things had ended as they did.  Or
maybe it was because, in the end, Hotaru couldn't look at Usagi
without seeing the face of Serenity, the woman who'd created her.
     The woman she hated.
     But what did it matter now?  She'd ruined everything, that
was all that really mattered.  If the Outsider was finally coming,
they would have to fight without the power of the Inner Senshi and
their princess.  All because of her.
     Just more proof that her father had been right, after all.
     She ruined everything she touched.
     She sat there for a long time in the dark, but she didn't have to
keep her vigil alone.
     Her personal demons kept her company.

***

     He should have known.
     It had been too good to last, hadn't it?  For a while, it had
been as if none of it had ever happened.  His apartment had become
a sanctuary of sorts, where Usagi could recover from the shock of
Hotaru's betrayal, sheltered from the world.
     But that cozy peace had been transitory, and at some level
he'd known it.  Recently she'd begun to show signs of restlessness,
mentioning her senshi more often, wondering aloud where they
were, if they were all right.  And while he'd hoped that her concern
would pass and she would be content leaving that part of her life
behind, he had suspected it was only a matter of time before things
came to a head.
     He hadn't expected it to be like this, however.
     "So she went out with Rei this morning," he repeated, arms
crossed as he stared impassively at the small black cat perched on
the back of his couch.  "And you just let her go?"
     "Why would I stop her?" Luna asked, sounding irritated.  "I
know you don't like the girls ..."
     "I don't like what they represent," Mamoru interrupted
firmly.
     "... but Rei would never allow anything to happen to
Usagi," Luna continued.  "Even you must admit that."
     "She's dragged Usako back into this Sailor Moon business,"
Mamoru scowled.  "That's not what I call protecting your friends." 
A quick check of the police report from the scene of the wraith
attack had revealed to him that Sailors Moon and Mars had indeed
been present, along with an unidentified girl.
     "Usagi is Sailor Moon," Luna said, her tail twitching. 
"What Hotaru did doesn't change that."
     "So what do they want with her now?" he asked, trying to
keep a lid on his anger.  "What are they involving her in?  That last
battle with Beryl nearly killed her, you know."  He stalked into the
kitchen and yanked open the refrigerator, pulling out a bottle of
beer and twisting the cap off easily.
     "Mamoru," Luna said, padding into the kitchen behind him. 
"Usagi is not a child.  She chose to go.  You must respect that."
     He stared out the window, slugging back a cold mouthful of
beer.  
     "There's something wrong, Luna," he muttered at last. 
"Something bad has come to our city, and I just feel like now is the
worst possible time for her to be out there, putting herself in harm's
way.  I'm worried about her.  I just wish I knew where she was,
what she was up to.  You're certain she didn't say anything when
she called?"
     "No," Luna replied.  "Just that she was busy and probably
wouldn't make it back tonight.  She sounded fine, though."
     "Fine," he echoed.  "If she was here, where I could protect
her, then she'd be fine."
     "I did hear Minako's voice in the background.  If there's
one thing those girls could agree on, it was protecting Usagi."
     "Like they protected her from Hotaru?" Mamoru asked
bitterly.
     "That's not fair!" Luna protested, shocked.  "Nobody knew
..."
     "Forget it, Luna," he sighed darkly, pushing away from the
window and walking into the living room again.
     It was bad enough that she'd gone and put herself in a
situation where he couldn't protect her.  What was worse, though,
was the nagging thought that wouldn't leave him alone.
     Do they mean more to you than I do?  
     He sat on the couch and took another drink from the bottle,
staring into space.  He didn't know how much of it was his misty
recollections of a princess in a long ago kingdom, and how much
was the girl he'd come to know now, but somewhere along the line
she'd come to mean a hell of a lot to him.  And he thought he'd
become important to her as well.
     But now, even after everything that had happened, she went
running off with THEM at the first sign of trouble, without even
telling him about it in person.  All right, she was free to do what she
wanted; he'd told her enough times that she could stay with him
free of obligations.  But ...
     But he was afraid.  That was the bottom line, wasn't it? 
He'd never allowed himself to become this close to anyone before,
and now for the first time he had something to lose.  What if those
girls really did mean more to her than he did?  What if his
reluctance to look into their whereabouts for her had been
interpreted (correctly) as disapproval of her friends?  They'd been a
very close group back in the old days, and despite all the changes
perhaps that bond still lingered.
     Face it, Chiba, he told himself.  If they're not going to stay
out of her life, then you may just have to swallow your pride and
learn to share her.
     Because if you force her to chose, you may not like the
result. 

***

     The silence in the car was awkward and uncomfortable, and
Rei knew that she was to blame.  Her curt refusal to reveal who
Saekianna was or what they had talked about had put a damper on
things pretty quickly.  Usagi in particular kept giving her small, hurt
glances when she thought Rei wasn't looking.
     Sorry, princess, Rei thought glumly.  I guess I'm destined to
be a disappointment to you.  Better that, though, then letting you
get hurt by the fallout of my past.
     The unexpected encounter had left Rei with a lot of questions. 
Why was Saekianna here in Saeni?  Why had she been at the club? 
And what had happened after Rei's departure from the temple? 
Could Saekianna really have found some shard of truth buried
within the Nightmistress's web of deception?
     There was only one way to answer all those questions,
though.  She reached into her pocket and ran her thumb over the
cool crystal disc, lightly tracing the imprint of the rose emblem
there.  One call, and she could be meeting with Saekianna again,
just like that. 
     But would she be able to resist the lure of the past?
     "Well, this is it," Minako announced with forced cheer.  The
grim concrete building across the street seemed to ignore the rain,
disdaining it even as the rest of the neighbourhood huddled against
the cold and wet.  It was brightly lit, shallow steps leading up to a
wall of glass.  Long counters were visible inside, lit by harsh
flourescent lights as a few bored attendants in blue uniforms sipped
coffee and chatted soundlessly.
     "Minako," Rei said sourly.  "Are you telling me that you
just want to walk in there and ask them if they know where Makoto
is?"
     "What is that?" Usagi asked from the cramped backseat.
     "It's the regional branch of the Supplementary Justice
Agency," Minako told her.  "They handle everything having to do
with bounties.  And no, smart ass, I'm not going in there," she
sniffed to Rei.  "In the first place, Makoto isn't a bounty hunter,
Jupiter is.  And secondly, those guys wouldn't tell us squat even if
they knew what she was up to.  No, we're going in THERE."  She
pointed to another building just down the street.  In contrast to the
SJA building, this place looked like it had just rolled out of bed
after a night of heavy drinking.  One of the windows facing the
street had been hastily boarded over, and the other housed a neon
beer sign that flickered uncertainly.  Rain sluiced off the battered
awning over the doorway, spattering heavily against the sidewalk.
     "And what might that place be?" Rei asked, although she
was very afraid that she knew the answer.
     "Bounty hunters need some place to hang out, drink, and
tell outrageous lies," Minako said smugly.  "That place is always
full of them.  If she isn't there, someone might know how we can
find her."
     "Great."  Rei wasn't at all looking forward to trying to pry
information out of a bunch of drunk, horny bounty hunters.  This
day was turning into a real trial, and only the fact that both the
mysterious red-head and several bloodthirsty wraiths had shown up
twice already kept her from putting her foot down.
     "What are we waiting for?" Usagi asked.  "Let's go!"
     "Hold it," Rei said, still staring at the dingy bar.  "Like
Minako said, we're looking for Jupiter, not Makoto.  I don't think
we should go in like this.  If word gets around that someone was
trying to hook up with her, it would be better if that someone was a
bunch of fellow sailor girls."
     "I can't believe I'm about to say this," Minako remarked,
"but good thinking, Rei."  Rei's temper, never stellar at the best of
times, had been badly frayed by the day's events.  She turned to
unleash a blistering verbal barrage on the brazen blonde.
     A crash from across the street caught her before she could
get started.
     "Did you guys see that?" Usagi blurted.  Rei frowned.  A
body had been hurled through the boarded up window, sending
shards of wood into the street.  It landed heavily and lay still on the
sidewalk.
     "Whoa," Minako grinned.  "They started the party early,
huh?"
     "Guys, I think I saw a flash of lightning," Usagi said
urgently.
     "This is no time for your silly phobias," Rei snapped.
     "No!" Usagi shot back.  "I mean from INSIDE the bar!" 
The three girls looked at each other, all sharing the same thought.
     A moment later, the car was empty.



end part 2


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