Here we go again, despite uncertain conversion, etc. Getting there,
slowly. (There are 15 chapters in all.) Still anxious to know what
people think and all, particularly anyone who doesn't like it. All is
still available at http://bloodgod.res.cmu.edu/smgray/index.html, as
usual in a bunch of formats.
A random note: I'm sending these with hard line breaks, but somehow
getting them back without. What's the deal?
My contact info:
khaine@mindless.com
AIM: khaine1310
ICQ: 53426521
Feel free to contact me anyhow.
All the usual caveats apply. As usual, [] is character thought and **
is emphasis.
Chapter Five
In which Resh reveals his opening gambit, Jahara shows them how
it's done, and Mamoru puts in a belated appearance.
Hotaru led the way back to the house. She took her time; Jahara
didn't seem to mind, and his power wrapped around them like a blanket,
shutting out the bitter chill of the wind. A few pedestrians threw them
funny looks--she giggled a bit as she realized how they must look
together, since the Unforgiven topped her by three feet or so.
He glanced down at the sound, and she shook her head. "Just
thinking."
"I see."
The silence that followed seemed a bit more uncomfortable for that
tiny bit of conversation. Hotaru sought for something to fill it.
"Do you mind if I ask you something?"
He shrugged.
"Why do you hate Resh so much?" [It can't be just because he's a
vampire. Jahara already said he doesn't care about this place...why
would he even have *come* here?]
The Unforgiven paused long enough that she was afraid he wouldn't
answer. A moment before she muttered an apology, he shook his head.
"I have a...daughter, I guess you'd call her."
Hotaru blinked. "A daughter?"
"Her name is Naria. I don't keep in touch with her; she wouldn't
want me to, but we run into each other every so often."
"Is she with her mother, then?" That sort of made sense, she
figured. Jahara did not exactly seem like much of a father figure.
"Her mother died quite a while ago."
"Oh." Hotaru paused a moment. "I'm sorry."
He shrugged. "She was human. That's the way of humans. And she
lived to be..." He thought for a moment. "A bit more than two
hundred."
She looked up at him. "So...how old is Naria?"
"I don't really know. A hundred and seventy or so. She has our
blood, so it's difficult to tell."
[And how old does that make *you*?] She didn't ask, and Jahara
continued with his story.
"No, Naria is on her own. She is perfectly competent to be so,
although sometimes she is a bit rash."
"And Resh..."
"He found her, somewhere. I don't know exactly what happened
between them; presumably they fought. She was near death when I got to
her."
His tone was flat, cold. Hotaru could only nod sympathetically.
"It has been a year since then. It's taken me that long to corner
him, finally. And now he has nowhere left to run."
"Is Naria going to be okay?"
Jahara looked surprised. "Oh, yes. She has my blood, after all.
We are difficult to damage permanently."
Another, slightly longer pause. Hotaru stole a glance at Jahara;
he was staring off into space, expression clouded.
"Now I have a question."
She started slightly, surprised. "Go ahead."
"You are a...guardian."
Hotaru nodded. "We call ourselves Senshi."
"Senshi." He mouthed the unfamiliar word. "And how do
you...like...your function?"
"Function?"
"To keep this place safe. This world, whatever you want to call
it. It is your function."
"I suppose." [It's an odd way of putting it, though.]
"And..."
"Do I *like* it?" He nodded, and she thought for a moment.
"I...don't think so. When I change, things are different. I'm
different, too, I can feel it. But..." Hotaru sighed. "I don't know.
It's terrifying, a lot of the time. I'm scared for my friends, for all
the other people. I'm afraid of dying. But it has to be done, right?
If we don't fight, we *all* die, or worse." [And my only other choice
was destroying the world, so...]
"So?"
"What do you mean, so?"
Jahara sighed, clasping his hands behind his back as he strode up
the road. "I was presented with a choice. Just once." He shook his
head. "Never mind. It'll never happen to you."
Hotaru looked up at him and decided not to press the issue. The
Unforgiven's expression was distant, preoccupied. She shook her head
and looked back to the road.
Which had suddenly become occupied.
There were three of them, high school age boys in ripped leather
and jeans, sporting nearly identical sneers and bad haircuts. Their
leader, the one in the center, stepped forward a bit with his two
henchmen flanking him. He grinned.
[Something's wrong. ]Hotaru felt it almost immediately. It wasn't
a bad part of town, and random punks accosting strangers was not exactly
a normal event. Much less strangers with Jahara's size and build. But
there was something else, too.
[It feels *wrong*. Those people are there, but they feel...not
there. And...blood]? Hotaru glanced up at Jahara again. The
broad-shouldered Unforgiven matched the leader's stare with his
green-on-green eyes, disconcerting enough in normal circumstances. The
punk didn't seem to notice; after sizing Jahara up, he turned his gaze
to Hotaru.
"So you're it, huh?" He shrugged. "Cute. Didn't know the boss
liked them this young."
"W...What?" She was more shocked then afraid. There was something
pathetic about their posturing.
"You're coming with me for a little ride, girlie. Play real nice
and maybe we can have some fun on the way, okay?" His eyes flickered to
Jahara. "And tell your boyfriend that unless he wants his head broken,
he'll stay out of this. We're not going to hurt her."
One of the cohorts sniggered. "Much."
Hotaru slipped the transformation pen out of her pocket. Before
she could move, though, Jahara held out a hand.
"Since I suspect Hotaru would rather not submit to that kind of
indignity, your chances of leaving with her are close to zero. I
suggest you go home and tell whoever sent you to leave her alone."
The leader riled. "Listen, dude. You think you're all big and
bad, but we ain't exactly what we seem here. Stay out of this before
you get hurt."
"Jahara, I can deal--"
He cut her off. "They're vampires, Hotaru."
The punks grinned, this time showing fangs. [So that's what I was
feeling...]
Jahara continued. "Resh's little friends, of course. Apparently
he hasn't bothered informing them of the stakes in this game."
"Stakes?" The vampire snorted. "Right. You die first. C'mon,
guys."
Hotaru took a step backwards as Jahara widened his stance and
spread his hands. "Can you fight them?"
He smiled. "I can fight anything. But since time is an issue
here, let's make this quick."
The vampires apparently agreed with him. The leader lunged, hands
extending for the Unforgiven's throat, with his two allies not far
behind.
And then...
Hotaru watched wide-eyed, one of the few people to see Jahara fight
and live to tell about it.
Or, rather, *not* to see him fight. That was the whole point; the
Unforgiven moved so fast it almost went beyond speed. He passed from
position to position as though things like inertia and momentum were
merely options, waiting until the instant before the vampire's hands
closed around his throat before attacking. Then he just *moved*, going
right from his ready position to the end of his attack; he stood behind
the leader with his hand extended sideways, palm first, into one of the
other two vampires' skulls. The luckless thrall was picked up by the
impact and tossed down the road; before he'd landed, and well before the
other two could do more then blink, he moved, twisting between them and
almost absent-mindedly striking another creature's throat with the edge
of his palm. The vampire's head sheered clean off, spinning skywards;
where blood would have rocketed from a living creature's carotid
arteries, the thing's neck pumped a thick black liquid.
The leader stumbled forward, bereft of his target. As he turned to
face the Unforgiven, the bodies of his two compatriots hit the ground,
and his expression went slack.
"What...*are*...you?"
Jahara shrugged. "Your boss didn't bother to tell you. Why should
I?"
"You..."
That was as far as he got. The Unforgiven extended a hand, palm
first, and the beam of green plasma caught the vampire in the chest.
Hotaru blinked as his form glowed white-hot for a moment, imprinting the
image on her retina. Then he was gone, and not even dust remained.
Jahara lowered his hand and glanced at her.
"You are unharmed?"
Hotaru nodded, still a bit stunned; she slipped her pen back into
her pocket. "That was..."
"Please." He held up a hand. "Our time is short, and we should be
on our way."
They started down the street again, Hotaru carefully avoiding the
dark spreading bloodstains. She shook her head as they passed the
vampire's head, his expression locked in a rather ludicrous rictus of
surprise.
"How did you do that?"
He shrugged. "It is my function; the basis of who I am."
"What are you?"
Jahara smiled grimly. "Unforgiven."
It was a little mall, as such things went in Tokyo. Three stories
high, built around a central light-well that ended at the bottom in a
garden of fake or dying plants. Despite the lateness of the hour, there
were people wandering through it, window-shopping teenagers or
middle-aged men headed for the bars. Resh looked in through the
skylight at them in much the same way a small boy looks at the intricate
works of an ant colony.
He was dressed for the weather, though he barely felt the chill of
the wind; a long gray coat layered over his respectable blacks. His
entourage waited a few steps behind him, a dozen young men and women
still in street clothes or school uniforms.
The tall, dark-haired girl was leaning on his shoulder, licking her
lips as she stared down into the brightly lit space below.
"And they're all for us?"
Resh nodded. "Iylitrio's guys are going to keep things nice and
quiet." [And assuming those three assholes went and got themselves
killed properly, keeping Jahara from feeling a damn thing.] Relying on
the Yakuza boss' pet mages to keep the Unforgiven out of the picture was
the riskiest part of the operation, but Iylitrio seemed trustworthy
enough. [Not that he wouldn't throw me to the dogs if it would benefit
him. I have to be careful not to give him too much, after tonight.
Maybe keep something back, so he won't cut me loose after he has what he
wants.]
"Resh..." The girl--Resh vaguely recalled her name as
Mizuki--pulled close and rubbed against him. "We're hungry."
"I know." He returned his attention to the window. "It's time."
"Afterwards..."
The vampire smiled, one long fang visible through his quirked lip.
"Business first."
[And here we go. It's been too long since I got to really cut
loose.]
Resh raised his hands and concentrated.
[That feels *good*.]
Mizuki took a cautious step back as power started to boil out of
him, dark coils of energy spiraling inward to a point just above the
glass. They swirled faster and faster, the wind whipping round in
sympathy; he let the power build to just the fever pitch he wanted, then
dropped to one knee and slammed his palm against the roof. The pent up
dark energy punched through the sky-light like the finger of God,
reducing the stairways that crossed the central space to bits of molten
metal and punching into the garden below. Dirt fountained skyward as
Resh took a quick step forward and jumped through the space where the
glass had been, absorbing the sixty foot crawl with a crouch. His black
cloak billowed around him most satisfactorily. He'd stood up before
most of the humans had had time to even scream.
[There. Any guardian in Tokyo worth his salt should have felt
*that*. Now all I have to do is wait.]
The other vampires quickly followed, jumping after their master and
landing around him. Resh raised his hands again and spoke in a voice
that bellowed throughout the shopping center.
"Ladies and gentlemen!" All eyes turned to him, people pausing in
the act of screaming or fainting or running for the exit. Resh smiled
again. "Welcome to the end of the world!"
A security guard on the second floor raised his gun, hands shaking,
as he shouted into his radio. The vampire flicked a finger almost
absent-mindedly and a whip of dark energy slashed through him; he
toppled off the edge of the balcony with a gurgling cry, flesh reduced
to dust before he hit the floor.
"Number one. Any other takers?"
A woman on the edge of the crowd made a run for the main doors when
the force of the vampire's gaze caught her in the back, lifting her
completely off her feet and slamming her against the stone wall hard
enough to crunch. Resh turned to survey the rest of the crowd as she
slid bonelessly to the ground.
"Number two! Very good! Anyone else?"
Those people who were left, perhaps thirty in all, stood still as
statues. Somewhere in back, a small child began to cry and was
hurriedly quieted by its parent. Resh looked downcast.
"No-one. What a bunch of spineless maggots. Ah well." The
vampire gave them his best showman's grin. "Ladies and gentlemen, you
are *all* going to die. But fear not. After all, it's for a good
cause."
Resh kept his mad grin as his servants moved through the crowd,
savoring the screams.
Shard had made it halfway down the street when Rei blew past him,
still in her miko outfit and running for all she was worth.
"Rei! I--" His voice trailed off as she ran by without even
glancing at him. The bounty hunter shook his head, dejectedly.
"Where the hell is she going in the middle of the night, anyway..."
He walked after her, slowly, until the answer tiptoed up to his
consciousness and made itself known.
"Oh, *shit*."
Shard broke into a run.
It was only a few minutes later that Rei, red-faced and puffing,
stumbled into the courtyard onto which the main doors of the shopping
mall opened. The pulse of dark power still lingered in her mind, the
bitter medicine aftertaste that refused to wash away. She could feel it
inside, not flaring now but quiescent, grumbling dark threats towards
the sky.
"Rei." She'd walked most of the way across the courtyard without
realizing it; a touch on her shoulder made her spin before she
recognized Makoto's voice.
"Mako." She shook her head. "Don't surprise me like that."
"Sorry." The taller girl hesitated a second. "You planning on
going in all by yourself or something?"
"What? No. I was just...it felt..."
"I know." Makoto's voice was grim. "This is not going to be
pretty, is it?"
Before Rei could answer, Minako and Usagi came around the corner.
The blondes looked white-faced. [I guess it even disturbs those two. A
scary thought.] Rei shook her head.
"Where's Ami and Luna?"
"Together. I just talked to her." Minako picked Artemis off of
her shoulder, where he'd apparently hitched a ride, and placed him on
the ground. "She should be here shortly, but..."
"We can't wait." Rei turned back to the mall. There wasn't much
to be seen through the front doors, but the power still spluttered and
sparked inside. "Anyone have any idea what's in there?"
Three girls and a cat shook their heads.
"We'll just be careful, then. Ready?"
Four nods.
"Mars Crystal Power..."
"Venus Crystal Power..."
"Jupiter Crystal Power..."
"Moon Crystal Power..."
Swirling light came, concentrated, and went.
"...make *up*!"
Resh raised his head, licking the blood from his lips.
"They're here."
Rei poked her head cautiously around the directory where the four
of them had hidden.
[Count them]. Months of going after the Yakuza had drilled it in
to her. [One in the middle, with the...people. ] She shied away from
looking at it. [One next to him. That girl alongside. So three. Is
that it?] The power washed over everything like a bath of bitter acid,
deadening her senses. [We'll have to go for it.]
"Okay." She kept her voice low. "One guy in the middle, with a
crowd of hostages. Looks like he's..." Rei paused a moment.
"...drinking their blood."
Usagi's eyes went wide. "*Vampire!*"
"Shhhh!" After Sailor Moon had quieted, she shook her head. "It
could be, but let's not leap to conclusions. He looks like some street
punk to me. Maybe he's just a psycho."
Makoto shot her a glance. [Psychos don't put out power like that,
I don't give a fuck *how* crazy they are.] Jupiter nodded, as though
her thoughts were running along the same lines.
"Makoto, you take the girl on the left. Minako, you go for the
henchman. I'll hit the big guy, and Usagi, you run and get the people
to head for the door. He probably won't stay down in one hit, so we
have to get the civilians out of the way. Got it?"
Another round of nods. Rei crouched at the edge of the directory
sign, waiting for just a moment.
"Go!"
Usagi looked as though she was about to protest, but scrambled
forward anyway as three attacks volleyed over her head.
"Flame Sniper!"
"Love and Beauty Shock!"
"Oak Evolution!"
Ami arrived in the courtyard with Luna hot on her heels. She could
feel the other Senshi's attacks, as well as the tainted power inside the
mall; she was brought up short from immediately transforming by the
presence of another man near the entrance.
He turned at her approach, looked her over, and apparently reached
a decision. "Get out of here, quickly."
It had been long enough since the last battle that she'd forgotten
that everyone did not automatically assume her presence was justified in
a supernatural war zone. [Although I'm not sure exactly what authority
this guy is claiming.] He wasn't particularly official-looking, dressed
in a dark coat over street clothes and a pair of dark green glasses.
Something about his attitude suggested that he wasn't merely stopping
by.
"My friends are in there." Ami took a step forward, and the man
moved to block her.
"You'll be killed."
"I'll be fine. Just move!"
He opened his mouth to argue, the shook his head, as though a
thought had struck him. She pressed past him, and he let her go. Just
in front of the big glass doors, she looked backwards; the man had gone.
"I wonder..." Ami shook her head. "Now is not that time. Eridu!
Are you around?"
There was a moment of silence, then the dull roar of another
explosion from inside. [Typical. When you really need them...] Ami
sighed and reached for the transformation artifact.
"Mercury Crystal Power, make up!"
The leader, a short, weasely guy in jeans and a ripped jacket, was
too close to the one of the women in the crowd for Rei to target him
directly. She aimed over his head, close enough to singe but not to
burn, and sprinted out into the central atrium for a better angle. To
her right, Makoto had no such problem; a web of lightning engulfed the
young woman who'd been lounging against one of the store fronts, sending
her flopping to the ground wreathed in sparks. The leader's henchman, a
tall bulky type who had been keeping a careful eye on the crowd, failed
to see the glittering sphere of Venus' attack before it blasted into the
ground in front of him, tossing him back into the remains of one of the
planters.
[Two down, one to go, nobody's gotten killed yet. This is going
well.] Rei rounded a display case full of cheap watchbands and Pikachu
keyrings and sighted on the leader. The crowd wasn't reacting well to
the supernatural onslaught; most of the twenty or so people had hit the
floor and stayed there, despite Usagi's efforts to get them to move. As
a result, Sailor Moon was stuck right in the open. The leader of the
assailants dropped the woman he'd been holding and stepped towards her,
while the big goon on the right was struggling to his feet.
"Jupiter, you hit the big guy! Venus, help her with the people!"
Rei focused her thoughts and shouted towards the leader. "Hey, ugly!"
His head snapped around just in time to get a flame blast to the
face. Not at full strength--[he could still be human, so we can't just
fry him]--but enough to hurt. He screamed in rage and pain, flailing
about wildly; this was enough to encourage the members of the crowd
closest to him that sticking around might not be a good plan. Bit by
bit, they started to get to hands and knees and scramble towards the
door.
"Oak Evolution!"
Jupiter was having a bit worse time of it. The large henchman had
ducked into one of the shops, and her burst had shattered glass and sent
bits of burning khakis in all directions but apparently not found its
target. Another web of electricity floated in through the broken
windows, almost gently, and burst with a soundless spark. Like Rei,
Makoto was keeping her attacks well short of killing force.
[It seems to be working.] The leader was stumbling around,
off-balance and blinded, and Jupiter was keeping the other two busy.
Usagi was helping the leaders in the crowd reach the door, while Venus
took care of the stragglers. The one woman still lay limp in the midst
of the destruction, though, and Rei started making her way forward.
Another blast of fire seared the air just to the left of her opponent,
driving him sideways and to his knees. Rei reached the woman's side
before he could recover, relieved to find her breathing easily; she
started to pull the unconscious victim to her feet and drape her over
her shoulder.
The feeling of power was still there. In fact, Rei realized as she
struggled to her feet, it hadn't changed a bit during the whole fight.
[This is too easy.] But the civilians were getting away, the whole
packed mob of them heading for Usagi and the front door...
She felt the woman in her arms stir, suddenly, her arm brushing
against the exposed skin of Rei's shoulder. Bitter-cold, instead of
blood heat. Realization hit, and she opened her mouth to scream a
warning.
"Usagi! It's a--"
That was all she got out before the erstwhile victim locked hands
around her throat, nearly lifting her feet off the ground with inhuman
strength. Rei scrabbled desperately at them as fingernails lengthened
into claws, drawing tiny pinpricks of blood from her skin. Her breath
came in a strangled gasp.
"Oak Evolution!"
Then the world exploded in pain as crackling electricity arced over
the pair of them. Dimly, Rei realized it wasn't that bad--the lowest
power Jupiter could reasonably throw. That didn't stop her from
twitching like a landed fish, pulling in a huge gasp of air as her
assailant released her grip and turned to confront this new threat.
Even as she hit the floor, still feeling the sparks pop around her, Rei
smiled grimly.
[Not very bright, are they?] Her attack came out as a wheeze.
"Flame...sniper..."
No half-power this time. The column of fire punched the vampire up
into the bottom of the second level catwalk. By the time her body hit
the ground, it was already disintegrating into dark motes of ash. Rei
stumbled to her feet and managed a shaky nod to Makoto.
"Thanks." She took another deep breath and looked around.
"Where's--"
"Shine Aqua Illusion!"
The fifth Senshi's arrival was apparently just in time. Minako, at
the front of the crowd, had retreated towards Jupiter, but Usagi had
been trapped at the other end of the corridor, near the doors. The
crowd of 'victims', now sporting claws and two-inch fangs, had been
about to overwhelm her in a single rush when a wall of water had come
crashing through the doors and washed them back. Usagi looked around,
dazed, until Minako shouted.
"Sailor Moon, now!"
The vampires were still disoriented, spread over the floor of the
corridor on the slick flagstones. The brighter ones scrambled forward
as Usagi raised her wand.
"Starlight Honeymoon Therapy Kiss!"
The rays of light it threw were almost too bright to look at,
chunks of the sun detached and elongated into a burst of radiance that
swept across the crowd. The first ray touched one of the men in front,
a middle-aged salaryman type, and he loosed an inhuman shriek and blew
into dust and ashes. Tracking sideways, the beams blasted another
vampire against the wall before he collapsed into a black smudge,
another was blown into smoke, and another...
The rays hesitated, faltered, ceased. Usagi went to her knees,
staring wide-eyed at the destruction. The ten or so remaining vampires
were still, perhaps amazed at their continued survival.
Ami ducked in through the doorway, closest to Sailor Moon's side.
Rei could see Usagi shaking her head, frantically.
"What happened?" Rei looked around uneasily. The vampires were
beginning to regain their senses, and there were still quite a number of
them. "Usagi!"
"I...I can't..."
"They're--"
"They're just people!" She stared down at her wand. "It should
set them free, not...not kill them..."
Rei's breath caught in sudden recognition. [If these aren't youma,
she's right...]
"That would be because they're already dead." The new voice was
overhead, on the second story catwalk. It had the tone of command to
it, as if the sound itself could ooze an oily sheen. The speaker,
dressed all in black, was leaning on the railing of the balcony like a
medieval lord overseeing his workers. He smiled, a death's head grin
that revealed a pair of fangs like twin needles, and behind his eyes
something flared red.
[That's him.] The dark power she'd felt, still felt, flowed from
that man like blood from a wound. Just looking at him was almost
painful. [He's the leader here, he has to be.]
Sailor Moon sighted down the length of her wand. "Let them go.
Now."
Minako had regained her feet and moved over to Makoto and Rei, on
the other side of the vampires, while Sailor Mercury stayed over by
Usagi. Rei was forcing herself to stare the vampire down, not to give
in to the temptation to look away, to not confront...
"My name, little girls, is Resh. And you're coming with me,
alive"--he nodded at the vampires below--"or otherwise, as necessary."
"Let them *go*!"
"Even if I could, they'd just crumble like the others. Those
people are gone." He waved a hand negligently. "And don't point that
toy at me unless you're prepared to use it."
"I'm warning you!" Usagi's hand was shaking. Rei tensed. [Here
it comes...]
"*Drop it*." Resh's voice cracked like a whip, and Rei felt the
power flare. Sailor Moon's hand opened reflexively and her wand
skittered across the tiles. The vampire's smile widened. "Good. Now,
the rest of you are going to behave. If there's one thing I know about
guardians, it's that they're so tiresomely dedicated to each other. And
we wouldn't want any harm to come to this one, would we?" He gestured
impatiently. "Take her."
A pair of lesser vampires stepped forward. Rei caught Makoto's eye
and nodded, ever so slightly, saw Minako tense.
"Flame Sniper!"
"Oak Evolution!"
"Love and Beauty Shock!"
The bolt of fire caught the left-hand creature in the small of its
back, send it through the heavy glass of one of the doors, while the
right-hand thing turned and snarled just before the electric pulse
blasted it into oblivion. Minako's attack flashed towards Resh himself,
while Ami dived across the floor after Sailor Moon's weapon.
"Idiots." Resh raised a hand, and dark power pulsed outward in a
wave. The energy ball of Venus' attack was snuffed out like a candle in
a sudden gale, streaming to a line and vanishing in a puff of steam.
Black lightning crawled across the tiles, creeping from side to side
before suddenly focusing on where the wand lay. Ami grabbed for it and
missed, yelping a bit as power caressed her arm and tossed her
backwards. Usagi rose from her stupor, backing away, but the lightning
suddenly pounced, wrapping around her in a coruscating wave. She
screamed.
"Oak Evolution!"
"Flame Sniper!"
Jupiter's attack didn't do any better then Venus' had, the web of
electricity wrapping around Resh in a spectacular display of sparks to
no apparent effect. Seeing this, Rei shifted her aim, and the plasma
bolt cut into the balcony under him. Stone and metal vaporized under
the heat, and the whole structure groaned and *shifted*, sending the
vampire staggering sideways.
"Mercury, get Sailor Moon out of here!" Before Resh could recover,
Mars sent another blast into the supporting structure of the balcony.
Makoto added her own firepower, and with a shriek of twisted metal it
all started to topple inward. With a muffled curse the vampire sprang
from his perch to land heavily in the center of the rubble from the
shattered skylight; another wave of vampires, this time mostly street
punks and schoolgirls, came boiling out of the second story shops to
follow their master.
Resh hit the ground and sprang up like a jack-in-the-box, facing
down the three Senshi. Rei kept her voice to a whisper.
"Concentrate on the little ones and staying out of the way. Give
Mercury a chance to get Sailor Moon ready for another shot."
Makoto and Minako nodded. Resh put his head on one side.
"Plotting something?" He waved a hand airily. "Kill them all
except for the fire-thrower."
The lead vampire tensed, pounced, and was met in mid-air by a line
of beautifully controlled plasma; he was dust before he hit the ground.
Then the rest of them moved as one, and Rei was backing away. The
things were [fast], with claws like razors; she zapped another pair
before having to dive aside and roll out of the way, feeling a glancing
glow draw blood from her side. Out of the corner of her eye, she could
see Minako and Makoto doing the same, backed against a wall with a
half-dozen piles of grey ash around them.
[They're fast, but we can beat them.] Another burst of flame
caught a vampire that had been about to skewer her, and she danced
backwards as its partner lunged. Resh watched the battle, mocking grin
slowly draining from his face; it was only a few moments longer before
the only other creature remaining was the girl clinging to his arm.
He shook his head. "Honestly." Resh detached his single remaining
follower and shook out his hands, walking forward. "If I have to do it
myself..."
The three Senshi circled him cautiously; the vampire barely glanced
at them.
[Enough of these games.] "Flame Sniper!"
Resh moved like a cat, twisting sideways to let the bolt sail
harmlessly over his head. Minako opened her mouth and pointed, but the
vampire was a split-second ahead, turning the twist into roundhouse kick
that picked Venus up and sent her sprawling against the wall. Makoto
backed away, hurriedly, and to give her time Rei fired another bolt into
Resh's back; it seemed to do little more then annoy him, however. The
vampire turned and punched her, almost casually, and she felt the wind
go out of her as she toppled to the floor. He straightened up, ignoring
another burst of electricity that expended itself uselessly against his
side.
"See? Is that so hard? You'd think I..."
"Starlight..."
The vampire's reaction time was top-notch. As soon as Usagi's
voice rang out again he had his hand extended, black lightning
slithering across the broken tiles of the floor and homing in on its
target. Ami stood in front of Sailor Moon, blocking for a moment the
path of the vampire's attack; not for long enough. Resh laughed as his
power sent the two of them into the doors, raising both hands over his
head for another shot.
Rei smiled, tightly. She knew what would happen long before the
zip-crack of the single rose slashed through the air and the vampire
cursed and clutched his hands.
Tuxedo Kamen, dramatically silhouetted against the moonlight from
one of the upper windows, posed for a moment before beginning his
speech.
"Villain, how dare you--"
Makoto cut him off. "Sailor Moon!"
Usagi raised the wand again and shouted the whole phrase in one
breath. "Starlight Honeymoon Therapy Kiss!"
The first beams stabbed out, and Resh threw up his arms again, dark
power shielding him from the assault. With each hit, though, the
vampire was driven further and further back. Black energy crackled and
spat as the shield waned.
[We got him!]
Rei's jubilation was not completely unfounded, but before his
defenses fell apart completely Resh crouched and jumped, sailing upward
beyond any reasonable rule of physics to land on the third floor
balcony. Sailor Moon shifted her aim upwards, but the beams stabbed out
far too late; the vampire was already gone, another jump propelling him
through the broken skylight and out into the night.
In the pause that followed, the only sound was Tuxedo Kamen's
footfalls as he jumped lightly to the floor and hurried to Usagi's side.
Rei pulled herself to her feet, painfully.
Makoto was helping a somewhat dazed Minako stand. "What the hell
was that?"
Rei shook her head. "I don't know. Those guys..." A brief
flicker of movement caught her eye; someone running for the back exit.
A girl--[that vampire!] A new adrenaline rush spurred tired muscles
into furious pursuit.
"Mars!"
"I'll be back, hang on!" The metal security door banged open just
ahead of her, and Rei followed the creature into the night.
Chapter Six
In which Rei and Shard have it out, Hotaru passes along a
warning, and Ami shows off her skillz.
Rei pounded along the darkened street, silently cursing with every
breath whichever retarded deity had designed the Senshi uniform to
include high heels. The vampire had gotten ahead of her and, as the
lights of the mall faded into the general half-lit background, chasing
the thing down suddenly didn't seem like such a hot idea.
She shook her head. [I've got to catch it. We need one of them
alive]--however that state applied to vampires--[to find out what this
Resh character is up to. Now think. Where did she go?]
The creature's trail had led her down a dead-end street, the locked
and grated door of a department store barring any exit from the other
end. That left the alleys down each side. [Great. Dark, narrow, and
perfect for her to hide in until she rips out my throat. Okay, Rei,
let's take this real slow.]
The first alley was on the right. She edged towards it, as quietly
as she could manage, and held her power at the ready as she peered
around the corner.
[Nothing.] A few trash bags piled at the end, against a dumpster.
Nowhere big enough for a vampire to hide. [Next.]
The next two revealed the same, and Rei turned to the alleys on the
left-hand side of the street. As she approached the first, though, she
paused to look around.
[Did I actually just hear a footstep? Or is that just the acute
fear kicking in?] She grimaced. [Come *on*. You took out two or three
of them back at the store. This is just one more, and a cowardly one at
that. It's just another youma, or something like one. Get a grip.]
She peered around the corner, hand shaking only a little as thrill of
the fight started to wear off. [Yeah, right. So, nothing in here, that
leaves...]
Two eyes opened, fields of brilliant red against the darkness.
"Fla--"
"*Stop*." The vampire was as good as Resh had been. The command
lacked the authority the master vampire had given it, but it shared the
same not-quite-speech quality, as though it was not even an order but a
sort of prediction of how the future would be. Rei was caught
off-balance, staggering against the alley wall as the muscle in her
throat clenched and refused to let her speak.
"Good. Now stay put." The girl unfolded herself from the shadow
of the alley, voice twanging like a whip over the Senshi's tired nerves.
She was tall and slender, with a school uniform that had obviously been
tailored to cling more than it really should have. Rei stared at her,
unable to even twitch, willing suddenly frozen muscles to blast her, or
turn and run. [Something...]
The other girl smiled. "I figured one of you would come after me.
Resh will be *so* pleased when I bring him a little treat." She ran a
perfect red tongue over fangs like needles. "Although quite frankly,
I'm considering tasting you myself..."
Rei concentrated, trying to move. It worked, at least a little;
the effect of the command was wearing off. She sagged against the
brickwork as the vampire stepped forward.
"Master won't mind if I have a little, will he? Just a little
bite..." One of her hands brushed Rei's hair away from her neck,
gently. The Senshi shivered. "It only hurts at first. And then"--her
eyes ran over Rei's body--"we can have some fun..."
The thing leaned forward. Rei twitched her arm, took a deep
breath. [Almost there. I let her bite me, then while she's...busy,
grab her by the throat and melt her head.] The vampire's tongue flicked
across her bare skin. [Why does this not strike me as a good plan?]
She waited for the pain.
The clap of a single gunshot startled her out of a momentary
reverie. The force of the impact threw the vampire backwards into the
alley, black liquid splashing everywhere as the bullet splattered the
walls with fragments of skull. The girl kicked a few times and was
still; Rei sank down against the stone as Shard loomed out of the
darkness.
"Do you," she said as soon as she regained control of her
breathing, "do you *ever* consider the possibility that you might
*miss*?" The vampire's head had been a couple of inches from her own.
The bounty hunter shrugged. "Not really. Are you all right?"
"Y...yeah." She stood up, still shaking a bit. [Holy *shit*.
That was...not good.] "What are you doing here?"
"I came to..." He stopped, uncharacteristically, and shook his
head. "I came to help."
"Well, you're a bit late. Resh already headed for the hills, and
unless Ami and Makoto track him somehow we won't find him. We'll have
to wait until he tries again..."
"They were after you, Rei."
"If he continues--" She cut off. "They were what?"
"Resh doesn't care about the people in the mall. It was a trap,
for you guardians."
She shrugged. "That makes sense. I didn't think he had much of
plan, just busting in and--"
"Rei!"
"What?"
"Are you not listening to me? He was coming after *you*."
"I heard you the first time! It was a trap, and we beat them. So
a pretty poor trap, all things considered. And next time--"
"There is not going to *be* a next time. Not for you. Don't you
get it? These guys are not going to screw around any more. Resh is
nasty and now you've injured his pride. 'Next time' he won't worry so
much about taking you alive and you won't get a half a step."
"I think we pretty much proved that we can handle him, okay? Give
me some credit. I've stayed alive this far."
"How many times do I have to tell you that these guys are
different. Iylitrio's promised you to someone and he's sent the
vampires to make good on that."
"Iylitrio?"
"Resh's boss, at least for the moment."
"I've heard of him." Iylitrio was a name that had come up now and
then, among the crime-lords. A sort of shadow among the shadows. The
Yakuza soldier types she'd occasionally hung out with to gather
information derided him, mocked him as weak. He controlled no vast
armies of goons, bribed no officials, ruled no territory. But he was
there as a presence nonetheless, and underneath the mocking was the fear
of the unknown. "Why is he sending vampires after us?"
"I don't *know*. He's done some sort of deal, sold you all to
someone."
"Who?"
Shard shook his head angrily. "I don't know that either. But it
doesn't matter! Either way, they want you dead or alive, and sooner or
later they're going to get through. You got lucky tonight, but now for
Resh it'll be a matter of honor. As though he had any."
She looked at him carefully. "What, exactly, are you suggesting I
do?"
"Isn't it obvious?"
There was a moment's pause before she spoke.
"You want to go after them." It wasn't a question. Shard nodded,
slowly, as though he hadn't really thought through the implications of
his own plan.
"Yes."
"Go after Iylitrio."
"Yes."
"Guns blazing?"
"That was the general idea, yes."
"You're insane."
"You don't think we could do it?"
"I don't care if we *could* do it. Someone is trying to kill me,
and your solution is to go and kill a bunch of them? You just don't
seem to get it, Shard! I can't do that."
"If you don't, you're going to die." He hesitated. "Or worse."
"So you say."
"I *know*, Rei. Is your little happy world worth dying for?"
"Fuck you." Rei turned on her heel, started out of the alleyway.
"Fuck you and fuck Resh. I'm not playing these games."
The click of the safety on an automatic pistol behind her head
focuses her thoughts beautifully.
"Shard?"
"Rei..."
"How do you know so much about Iylitrio?" She knew the answer
before he spoke, cursed herself for not having asked the question
earlier.
"He's my boss too. Nominally."
"So all that about going after him..."
"I was serious. I still am. But if I don't deal with this one way
or another, he'll come after me." The bounty hunter paused. "It's you
or him, Rei. Don't make it be you." There was a trace of something in
his voice; what, she wasn't sure. "Please."
Rei let out a deep breath. "So how much am I worth?"
"Twenty million alive, half that in pieces."
"That's a lot of money."
"A lot."
She turned around, slowly, to stare into the weapon's single
metallic eye. Shard had his glasses on again, expression hidden by
smoked glass. "But you'd give that up to go after him?"
He nodded, slowly, as though expecting a trick.
"Why?"
It seemed to catch him by surprise. "Why?"
"Yeah."
"I mean..." He hesitated. "You...I met you the first time in
Kyara's hotel, and you just...sort of..."
"Shard..."
"I've never met someone who affected me like that. Women come and
go, but I feel something...I don't know..."
"Shard."
"Let me finish." The aim of the pistol didn't shift, even a bit.
"What I'm saying is..." He stopped, swallowed. "I think I'm...I
think..."
"Shard!"
"What?"
"Vampire."
The girl had climbed back to her feet, half her head still gone,
the interior of her skull glistening wetly. Her single eye glowed a
malevolent red, but she moved as though her body was no longer under
complete control, stumbling forward with claws outstretched. The bounty
hunter stepped adroitly out of the way of her strike and Rei raised a
hand.
"Flame Sniper!"
The creature collapsed into a pile of gray ash. Rei moved to turn
back to Shard, then felt the cold, metallic pressure against the side of
her head.
"Ten million yen is a lot of money, Rei. You or him. Which is it
going to be?"
"I'm not going to kill people for you."
"That makes it you. I'm sorry."
Her breath caught. "I'm leaving, Shard. Please don't let me see
you again."
She turned away with an effort of will, nerves in the side of her
head screaming, expecting at any moment a thudding impact and darkness.
As she walked the tickle moved down her back to the base of her spine.
[He's not going to shoot, he's not going to shoot, he's *not* going
to shoot. Keep walking, Rei. Come on.]
She turned the corner and walked up the street a ways before
glancing back. The bounty hunter was nowhere to be seen. Rei let out
the breath she'd been holding and sank to her knees, feeling the chill
of the night air.
[What the hell do I do now?] She felt exhausted, as though all her
energy had seeped away at once. [What the hell do I do...]
[...did he say he was in love with me?]
"IYLITRIO!"
The big double doors blew back on their hinges so hard they slammed
against the walls. Resh marched in, his power covering him like a
cloak, fangs bared and eyes an angry red.
Seiron barred his path, his hand dropping to the katana sheathed at
his side. His voice remained calm in the face of the angry vampire.
"Master Iylitrio does not wish to be disturbed."
"Well, I'm disturbing him. Get out of the way, *human*." Subtle
harmonics rang together in Resh's voice to produce a tone that would
have driven a normal man to his knees. Seiron remained impassive.
"I don't think that will be possible, master Resh. Please leave
and await a better time."
"I--"
The crime-lord's voice came from inside the chamber. "It's all
right, Seiron. Let him in."
"As you wish, my lord."
The vampire stalked forward as the black-clad servant stepped
aside, somehow surprised by the lack of resistance. Iylitrio rested his
bulk in his massive chair, as usual, the folds of his skin almost hiding
his eyes in shadow. Resh wondered briefly if he ever left this room.
"Your mission, did it meet with success?"
"No!" The vampire was in a rage, looking around for something to
hit. "You didn't tell me--"
"There was some outside interference?"
"No..."
"Then what?"
"You said they were guardians. But that girl..." His eyes
narrowed. "There's power there. I can see why you want her. But you
should have warned me."
"Warned you?"
"You didn't tell me they had magic of that caliber!"
"You didn't ask." He settled in his chair a bit. "I merely
assumed that the *great* Alexander Resh could handle a gang of locals."
Tiny, piggy eyes focused on the vampire, and the boss' mouth quirked in
a faint grin. "Was I wrong?"
"No." The vampire shook his head, suddenly aware of the dangerous
turn the conversation had taken. "No, don't worry on that score. No
matter how powerful they are, guardians rarely have more then one trick.
They should not be too difficult to handle."
"Good." He sighed. "Let me know when you're ready to try again."
"I'll need some more support from you."
"In what way?"
"Cannon fodder. The guardians will go through fresh vampires like
they weren't even there, and I assume we don't have time to train some
competent ones. I need something to keep them busy."
Iylitrio nodded. "As you wish. You will be provided for."
Resh turned. "Two nights time, then. Have your men be ready."
"I will."
The vampire turned back to the door, unable to help the feeling
that he had somehow lost in that whole exchange. Iylitrio's voice
stopped him at the threshold. "Resh?"
"What?"
"What happened to the man I sent with you? Shard."
He shrugged. "How should I know? His disappeared before the
fight. Probably chickened out."
"I see."
Ami opened the door to her apartment and wearily made her way to
the bedroom, too tired to even bother checking for mysterious visitors.
"Eridu? You here?"
There was no answer. She let the transformation fade with a brief
effort of will, Sailor Mercury slipping away and being replaced by Ami
Mizuno. [I probably should have done that earlier, in case someone saw
me coming up here.] She shook her head. [Screw it.] Her street
clothes, despite having been sent to never-never land before the fight,
somehow contrived to be covered in sweat. Ami flopped down and lay on
the bed, spreading her arms wide and staring at the ceiling.
[Now *that* was fun. ]She winced at a tremor in the muscles of one
shoulder. [Ouch.] The vampire's black lightning hadn't hit her
full-on, just caressed her arm, and it still hurt when she moved.
[Usagi must be in agony.] Minako and Mamoru had helped her from the
scene, and Makoto had gone to find Rei.
Ami flexed her right hand with an effort, feeling bolts of pain up
and down her arm. It probably wouldn't be permanent; the debilitating
effects of magic tended to be short-lived. [Still, I'll take a look
with the computer later. Best to be safe. Bath first, though.]
The little apartment had a private bath, thankfully, but Ami paused
a moment before closing the door behind her. [I don't *think* he's
around.] The air lacked the greasy, metallic feel that Eridu seemed to
evoke. It was hard to be sure, though. She shook her head and spoke
aloud.
"If you sneak up on me while I'm in the bath, I swear..."
There was no answer, not that she'd really expected any. Ami
started the bath running and stripped as the steam began to pervade the
room, leaving her clothes in a sweat-stained pile on the floor. After a
quick rinse, she stepped gingerly in, wincing a bit at the heat and
sending a wave of water across the bathroom tiles.
"Ahhhh." Knotted muscles in her right arm began to unkink, and Ami
gratefully sank into the tub until her head was barely above the
waterline. She closed her eyes, lost in thought.
[What the hell was that, today? Vampires?] To her knowledge the
Senshi had never encountered such a creature before, though Luna had
mentioned them once or twice, off-handedly. The cat had made them out
as more of a nuisance then anything else, something to be exterminated
in the same way one would wipe out a colony of cockroaches. [This Resh
is no cockroach.] Even in the warm water, she shivered. The values her
computer had recorded had been a bit frightening. The vampire could eat
the average youma for lunch. [Hell, he could probably take on most of
those Dark Kingdom guys without breaking a sweat.]
[I wonder if there's an easy way to kill a vampire?] Popular
fiction seemed to think so. [Crosses are probably just Christian
propaganda. What else? Sunlight, wooden stakes, that sort of thing I
suppose. If we had one to experiment on we might be able to figure
something out. Magic seems to work pretty well, though.] Whatever dark
sorcery Resh wielded, Sailor Moon's attack had proved a match for it, at
least in a head on fight. [But he's tricky, that one. That was a
decent trap we walked into. Have to be more careful.]
Ami leaned back as she mused, soaking her hair and making her spine
crack most satisfactorily. Mere exhaustion had turned to genuine
sleepiness. [It's only what, four in the morning? I guess I'll miss
morning classes tomorrow. Again. Ah well. I'll meet up with
Rudich-sensei in the afternoon and show him those new code breakers.
For now sleep is definitely a priority.]
It might have been a moment later, or an hour; Ami wasn't sure if
she'd actually nodded off or just closed her eyes a bit. Either way,
she was forcibly returned to consciousness by the pinging of the
computer in the next room.
She squeezed her eyes shut. [Oh, go *away*.] The pings meant
something had come in flagged as urgent, using one of her personal
codes. She had not been as careful with those codes as she probably
should have, though, which meant that there was about an even chance the
mail was from some classmate desperately needing debugging assistance as
anything else. [It could be from Luna, though. Something could have
gone wrong.] Ami sighed, stood up and reached for a towel.
Seconds later, all thoughts of exhaustion were gone as she stared
at the screen, unheeding of the water dripping onto the floor.
[What the *hell*?]
The message was from no-one she recognized. A quick check revealed
its source as a local backbone node, but she was unable to trace it
further, as though the e-mail had just materialized while in transit.
[Some hacker trick. But how did they get my codes? Break them
somehow? That shouldn't be possible...]
"Let's see what this is. But carefully..." She muttered to
herself as she clicked away, opening the message in a top security
quarantine section. Not that a virus would have a prayer of getting
through her layered security, but one did not keep a good system secure
by letting things slide.
The message was nothing but text and a huge block of raw data. She
shook her head as the security program finished its analysis. [No
labels. Not formatted. No header that matches anything I've ever heard
of. Is it just random? Some kind of memory dump?] Frowning, she
opened the text and read it aloud, half to herself.
"Miss Mizuno--" [Great.] "It's about time we got started. The
data accompanying this message is encrypted text. I need a clean copy;
I trust your skills are up to the task. It may require a good bit of
computing power. Please respond if there is any additional hardware you
need."
No identification of the sender, but she could guess well enough.
"Eridu. I was in the bath, damn it." Ami shook her head, irritated.
[If there's any additional hardware I need. Right.] She considered
ignoring that part of the message, since it impugned the 1337ness of her
b0x, but on further reflection changed her mind. [Hey, hardware is
hardware.] She drafted a quick reply, asking for a pair of the new
hardcore crypto machines she'd had her eye on, and sent it winging off
into the aether. Though without a valid reply address, it shouldn't
have been able to reach anything. [He'll get it, I'm sure. I think I'm
getting the hang of how Eridu operates.]
A few clicks scanned the datafile again, matching it against known
encryption schemes. After a few moments the program came back negative;
unable to find the telltale signs of any known form of encryption.
[Either its something new that I haven't heard of, or someone is being
clever.] Only marginally aware that she was still dressed only in a
towel, sleep completely pushed from her mind, Ami leaned back in the
seat and cracked her knuckles. [Bring it on.]
Hotaru felt on the point of laughter.
The situation was, not to put too fine a point on it, bizarre. She
had to keep stifling a laugh, until they finally stood at the door and
she couldn't help giggling.
Jahara regarded her with a quizzical expression.
"I'm sorry." She shook her head. "I just feel like I'm bringing
you home to meet my parents."
The Unforgiven nodded, as though not quite sure of the meaning.
"Never mind." Hotaru opened the door, quietly. "Setsuna might
still be asleep. Try and keep quiet."
For all his bulk, Jahara moved in near-silence. Only the creaking
of the boards in the front hall betrayed them.
"Hotaru?" There was a light on in the kitchen, she saw with
relief. Setsuna's voice sounded worried. "Is that you?"
"It's me."
They'd stopped in the hall, unsure of how to continue. She could
hear Setsuna push her chair back from the table.
"Where were you? I was worried--" She clicked the hall lights on
before Hotaru could speak, and the tableau held for just a moment.
"You." Setsuna froze in the doorway, staring at Jahara.
The Unforgiven smiled, just slightly, and fixed her with his
green-on-green stare. Setsuna backed away.
"Hotaru, get away from him. Now."
"Setsuna, I don't--"
"Now!" She turned back to Jahara. "You must leave this world at
once. None of your destruction will be allowed here."
Jahara shrugged. "I have a task to complete."
"If you don't leave, we'll have to force you."
"You're welcome to try." Hotaru could feel power flare in Jahara,
the air suddenly thick with the tang of burning metal. She stepped
between the pair of them, frantically.
"What are you *doing*?"
"Get out of the way, Hotaru." Setsuna flashed into Sailor Pluto in
a wash of purple flames.
"I suggest you move, Hotaru."
"No!" She turned to face down Pluto. "Not until you tell me
what's going on here!"
"Hotaru--"
"You're perfectly safe, guardian." Jahara's smile widened, just a
bit. "Until you attack me. So take your time."
Setsuna gritted her teeth. "He's an Unforgiven, Hotaru. You don't
know what they're like--"
"That's right." Jahara's smile vanished. "We destroy worlds on a
whim, don't we, guardian? Along with any number of other atrocities.
Get out of the way, little one. If she's important to you, I'll try to
keep her vaguely in one piece." He fixed Sailor Pluto with a gaze.
"Shall we?"
"Hotaru, get out of here. Find Usagi and the others, tell them--"
"No." She took a deep breath. "Stop this, all right? Setsuna, I
don't care what you think Jahara is, he hasn't done anything. Jahara,
please don't hurt anyone..."
The Unforgiven shrugged. "She's right, though. I've lost count of
the number of people who's blood is on my hands. If this guardian wants
to attempt vengeance, who am I to stand in her way?"
"Not vengeance. Justice."
Hotaru took a step back toward the Unforgiven.
"What are you doing? Hotaru!"
"I'm waiting for you to stop. Jahara won't hurt us. I just
brought him to talk to you."
"But--"
"Stop!"
There was a long pause. Setsuna lowered her hand and let her
transformation fade away. Her glare remained fixed on Jahara.
"What do you want with us?"
He shrugged. "She's the one who wanted to talk to you. I just
wanted to borrow her for a while."
Hotaru waved her arms before Setsuna could reply. "Wait. Just
wait a minute!"
"What?"
She glanced back at the Unforgiven, then over to Setsuna. "Can I
talk to you? Alone?"
"Certainly, but I don't think..."
"You don't mind, do you?"
Jahara shrugged again, but this time with a more preoccupied air.
It was difficult to tell, with his pupil-less eyes, but he seemed to be
staring into the distance. Hotaru watched him a moment, curiously, then
escorted Setsuna into the kitchen.
"Now that we've gotten you away from him, let's get out of here,
Hotaru. If we can find Haruka and Michiru, we might have a chance of--"
"Would you stop that already? What do you have against him,
anyway?"
"Hotaru." Setsuna knelt, placing her face on a level with the
girl's. "He's Unforgiven. You don't know what that means."
"And you do?"
The older woman looked uncomfortable. "Not really. Only as much
as it affects my function as Sailor Pluto. But that's enough. They're
[dangerous]."
"Setsuna, it's not like I haven't been in danger before--"
"Not like that. They're not..." She waved a hand vaguely, trying
to think of the right word. "...not bound by the same rules as everyone
else."
"Rules?"
"Physics. Fate. They walk the world lightly, and it in turn has
only the loosest grip on them. Just by being here, your friend Jahara
has probably disturbed things that were centuries in the making."
"He says there's a threat to the world."
"If there is we'll deal with it. You have to convince him to
leave."
"But he's *right*, Setsuna! I can feel it...there's something out
there..." Hotaru closed her eyes for a moment, questing for the
fleeting sensation she'd felt, just for a moment, on waking. It wasn't
there. Instead there was something else, a feeling of closeness, as
though her head had been wrapped in cotton wool. It was uncomfortable;
more then that. Strangely horrible.
"Setsuna..." Hotaru opened her eyes, but the feeling did not
recede. If anything, now that she'd noticed it, the wool got tighter,
as though a vise were pressing on her head at the ears. Her eyes
throbbed, vision blurred and darkening at the edges.
"Hotaru?"
"...I can't...feel..."
Hotaru sank to her knees, gripping her head as pain spiked all the
way down the back of her neck. The vise had changed to a pair of
hammers, slamming into her head with an almost audible crunch. Her
breath came in short, wet gasps.
"Hotaru!" Another purple flash told her, distantly, that Setsuna
had transformed back into Pluto. "What's happening?"
[I'm dying.] She realized it in a sudden flash of clarity; then
all thought was obliterated in a wash of pain. Something--it was a
tangible *thing*, somehow--clamped down around her, squeezing, crushing.
Her vision blacked out entirely, until Hotaru was just floating alone in
darkness with the pain. She wasn't sure whether or not she'd managed a
scream. The feeling of Setsuna's hands on her shoulders was distant,
unreal. Pluto's voice faded in and out.
"...what are...to her..."
Then another touch on her head, firm and definite.
The pain stopped as though someone had thrown a switch, leaving
only the throbbing memory of its passage. For some time, Hotaru
remained curled into a ball, cringing as each beat of her heart sent
pain surging through seared passages. The thing, whatever it was, was
still there around her, being held at bay by some other force.
It seemed like hours before she dared open her eyes. Light, harsh
and hostile, flooded in; she became aware of a conversation going on
around her.
"...did you call it?"
"A spell." Jahara, speaking quickly and efficiently. "A binding
spell, one of some skill."
"Did you...break it?"
"No. The spell was aimed at me, but somehow she also triggered the
effect." His voice was grim. "Given that it was designed to hold an
Unforgiven, it's not surprising that it had this effect on her."
"So what have you done?"
"Extended my personal protection to include her. The magic does no
more than inconvenience me."
Setsuna's voice sounded closer when she spoke again. "Will she be
all right?"
The Unforgiven paused. "I do not know."
She could feel Pluto's touch on her cheek. "Hotaru..."
"It depends on how far the spell had progressed." Jahara
continued. "She may just be unconscious."
"Or?"
He sighed. "Or it may have crushed her mind before I got to her."
Hotaru wanted to sit up, to talk to them. [I'm okay!] The memory
of pain had faded to a dull background, but she could still barely move,
curled into a tight ball on her own kitchen floor. [I'm okay, aren't
I?] She tried again and managed a gasping breath.
Setsuna knelt, instantly. "Hotaru? Are you..."
She opened her mouth with an effort. "I'm...here..."
"Can you hear me?"
The girl nodded, weakly, and made an effort to uncurl herself.
With Pluto's help, she eventually managed to reach a sitting position,
shaking her head and wincing at the spikes of pain behind her eyes.
"I'm okay..." She waved Setsuna's hand away. "Really. It just
still hurts a bit..."
Jahara knelt, though he still had to look down at her. "I'm glad
you were not destroyed. But you must listen to me very carefully."
She nodded again, and for once Setsuna was quiet.
"Only my power keeps you safe. Whatever you did triggered a second
focus for a binding spell that was targeted at me. So do not stray from
my side until we have put a stop to this."
"What kind of binding?" Pluto was looking around, anxiously. "And
who?"
"The binding appears to have been intended to blind, not directly
attack. As for who, there is an easy way to find that out." Jahara
extended a hand to one side, palm outward, and Hotaru felt power build.
She leaned forward and wrapped her arms around his just in time.
"What?"
"You have to..." She stopped for a moment and took a deep breath;
the sudden movement had left her dizzy. "Have to go outside. You can't
just blast through walls..."
The Unforgiven's expression suggested that that particular
restriction had never occurred to him, but he nodded nonetheless.
Django Wexler (khaine)
khaine@mindless.com
"Every normal man must be tempted at times to spit on his hands, hoist
the
black flag, and begin slitting throats."
H. L. Mencken
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