[FFML] [fanfic][Sailormoon] Moonshadow 14 (draft)

[The Eternal Lost Lurker]

And continuing....

(The majority of this chapter has been written for about 8 months. I just 
wasn't quite happy with it, but now I realize it's about as ready as it's 
ever going to be. It also has no title yet.)

C&C welcome. Arrogance and presumption NOT welcome. :P

=============================================

The raven-haired girl surveyed the assortment of odd characters who stood 
around her. She frowned thoughtfully. "Mina-san," she said, nodding to the 
Senshi in the orange-skirted fuku. She turned to the white-haired man who 
had just jumped down from the temple roof. Her brow furrowed, and her lips 
thinned. "The person who left his calling card on my barrier." She glanced 
next at the wounded panther, shuddering slightly. "A demon--likely the very 
one whose presence I have felt repeatedly in recent weeks." Lastly, she 
turned to the one who had Awakened her, whose fuku was stained with dust and 
blood. "You...I have never met before. And yet, there is a familiarity about 
you."

"Rei?" Venus suggested hesitantly. "Um...look, this can all be explained, 
really, but...maybe we should all go inside, where we won't draw any more 
attention? And, um, probably change back to normal." So having said, she 
reversed her own transformation, shifting from Venus to Aino Minako in a 
soft flash of golden light.

"Good call, Venus," the ponytailed Senshi echoed. A brilliant silver glow 
surrounded her, then ebbed; she was replaced with an almond-skinned, 
brown-haired girl in a normal seifuku.

Mars frowned, then nodded. In a flash of fire, the Shinto miko, Hino Rei, 
returned. Glancing around and scowling at the damage to the temple grounds, 
she gestured to the open shoji.

"Perhaps you should phone your respective families before you begin," she 
suggested. "I suspect this is likely to be a very long evening."

"You mean it wasn't already?" Mina quipped. Rei shot her a cross glance, 
then snorted and walked inside. The others exchanged amused and/or nervous 
glances, then followed...

=-------------=



Studio ELL Presents

MOONSHADOW

Adapted from "Bishoujo Senshi Sailormoon" by Takeuchi Naoko.

14: Untitled

=-------------=

"And that is the situation," Artemis finished, sitting back and sipping his 
tea.

Rei contemplated him silently for a long moment. "It would be futile to 
attempt to dismiss this as a dream, a delusion, or an elaborate hoax, I 
suppose," she finally said.

"I'm afraid so, Hino-san," Usagi said gently.

The miko nodded. "One question." She turned to Mina. "Did you know, on the 
day you befriended me, that I was one of these Senshi?"

"Didn't have a clue," the blond replied. "Tonight took me completely by 
surprise." She paused, then fidgeted. "Rei...I'm sorry about your birds. I 
know...they were special to you."

Rei bowed her head. "They are a part of me now," she replied. "I can take 
solace in that. And..." She paused, then set her mouth in a determined line. 
"In their act of sacrifice, they have given me strength, both physical and 
spiritual. I will not allow their sacrifice to be for naught."

"Yeah, having a flying Senshi should come in handy," Usagi said. "I mean, 
we're bound to run into an enemy sooner or later that--" She trailed off. 
"Gomen."

Rei smiled. "You have a practical mind, Tsukino-hime. I respect that. In any 
event, it falls within the bounds of my duty to cleanse impurity and evil 
spirits wherever I might find them. So I accept this new aspect of myself as 
an extension of that which I have already sworn my life to." She stood and 
bowed formally to Usagi. "I am at your disposal, Tsukino-hime."

Usagi stood and returned the bow. "You honour me, Hino-san. And there is no 
need for the formality, really."

"Nonsense, Tsukino-hime. I will defer to your station, as duty demands." She 
seated herself again, then fixed an unreadable stare on Luna. The youma had 
returned to her housecat form, and was spread out on a white towel on the 
floor. The towel was heavily stained with inky black blood, and Luna was 
occupied with cleaning her wounds. "Artemis-san," Rei began, "one detail you 
omitted from your summary: why is a demon--of the exact same type I was 
accosted by--linked to your aura? Not that I am ungrateful for Luna's 
assistance earlier," she added, but she could not suppress a slight grimace 
of distaste, "but this one aspect does not make sense."

Luna glanced up. "I'm bound by powerful ancient magic," she answered before 
Artemis could begin. "If you know your lore, I'm under a blood magic seal 
and a True Name geas."

The priestess frowned. "I am unfamiliar with arcana that are not strictly 
Shinto, but I believe--"

"Did you ever see _Spirited Away_?" Artemis interrupted.

"--ah. Yes, of course, I see."

Mina blinked. "I don't. What--"

"Luna can't say her own real name anymore," Usagi said. Her eyes were fixed 
on Artemis' face, and her mouth was set in a disapproving line. "She can't 
say *his* real name either. That's how he controls her. Isn't it?"

"In part."

Mina looked even more confused. "I still don't get it."

"Naming magic is extraordinarily powerful," Rei said. "It is, in fact, the 
very basis of much of Shinto, most especially the inscription of protective 
ofuda." She frowned. "If Artemis-san has stolen this demon's Name from her, 
and cursed her to be unable to speak *his* Name, then her body and soul are 
at his disposal."

Mina blinked, then stared at the mage. "Is...is that true?"

"Essentially," Artemis admitted. At her horrified look, he added, 
"Mina...you have to understand. I was the only one left alive. I knew what 
had to be done, but I couldn't do it alone." He paused, frowning, an old 
pain in his eyes. "I was fleeing the Palace. It was burning to the ground. 
Her Majesty had already sacrificed herself. Everyone was dead, and almost 
all the youma had been sealed away. Only a few youma escaped Queen 
Serenity's final spell, and they were dying rapidly, or attempting to kill 
me and...well, obviously not succeeding.

"By the time I realised I was truly the only survivor, there was one youma 
left. Just one. I very nearly destroyed her. But I realised that the 
creature was of a respectable level of intelligence. I realised that if I 
could control her, I would have the ally I would need.

"Yes, I admit it, with no remorse. I enslaved another being to my will, and 
it is an enslavement that must not end. Luna herself knows precisely what 
would happen if the geas were ever to fail."

The youma growled softly. "I would have to be destroyed, immediately, lest I 
kill humans. Which I would, without hesitation--it is my nature."

"To live a slave or to die a monster. Fate has been rather cruel to you, 
even for a demon," Rei commented.

Luna shrugged, wincing slightly as the motion stretched one of her wounds. 
"I told Serenity once, and I will say it again: I'm not so adverse to 
slavery that I prefer death. The geas is admittedly incredibly 
infuriating--Master's refusal to speak my True Name in private even moreso."

"The mere utterance of your Name is a risk," Artemis said. "I have marked 
you as Luna, and so marked you shall remain."

The youma sighed. "Yes, Master."

Artemis stood. "Well, it's time I was off. Mina, you probably want to stay 
here tonight--you know your mum won't mind, and it's not safe to be out and 
about just now. Mars, it was a pleasure meeting you. Your Highness," he 
finished, with a bow to Usagi. Then, in a burst of white light, he vanished.

"Dickless bastard," Luna spat. She stretched, grimacing. "I'm leaving as 
well. I'll see you all later."

"Wait, Luna...you're hurt," Usagi began, extending a hand to the youma.

"Yes, and I'm not going to heal properly if I stay here," the cat replied. 
"I'm a creature of darkness, this is a place of light. Not exactly healthy 
for me." With that, she passed under the quilt skirting the kotatsu. When 
the girls looked under the table, there was no sign of her.

"This...has been one hell of a weird night," Mina pronounced. The others 
nodded.

=-------------=

After calling home and checking in with her mom, Usagi tried to call Makoto. 
After two rings, her call went to voice mail. She left a brief message, then 
disconnected and dialed Ami's cell. After six rings with no answer, she put 
her phone away with a sigh.

"I wonder what they're up to tonight," she mused aloud to nobody in 
particular.

=-------------=

"You want some too, huh?"

"Insolent little bitch!"

"Oh, you're so fucked now it's not even funny..."

"Mako-chan? Could you come upstairs for a minute?"

"Not right now, Motoki--"

"It's urgent."

The tall girl sighed, and stepped away from the arcade machine and the 
obnoxious neckbeard she had been soundly beating. "Haaaaai..."

After the two had disappeared into the upstairs office, the neckbeard nodded 
to two boys dressed like rejects from a visual-kei band, who nodded to two 
unassuming-looking office ladies...who pulled identical Sten machine guns 
from their handbags.

This was really far too easy.

=-------------=

Ami adjusted her glasses, which flared with reflected light. "I know who the 
killer is."

She was right. As usual.

This was really far too easy.

=-------------=

"I can't get over this, cartoons in the middle of the night," Mina 
commented, kicking her bare feet in the air idly. "And who came up with this 
lame romance plot? Yech."

Rei laughed softly. "I suppose the concept of ren-ai does seem a little 
strange," she said. "Then again, much of our popular culture is rather 
strange, by my estimation."

The blond snorted. "I'll say. I've seen some of those girls dressed up in 
the maid costumes. That's just *weird*." She frowned. "I guess I'm a fine 
one to talk about weird costumes, though, huh?"

"I have wondered," Rei admitted, "about the design of those Senshi 
uniforms."

"They *are* a bit pervy, aren't they?" Mina replied, laughing. "But nobody 
knows it's us when we're like that, so I don't worry about it." She paused, 
then sighed. "Rei, I'm sorry you had to get dragged into all this. I really 
am."

The miko shook her head slightly. "It is the will of the kami," she said. 
"This is the path they have set before me, and I will walk it. I do not 
argue the designs of fate simply because they are inconvenient."

Mina raised an eyebrow. "You know, all night you've been sounding like 
something out of one of my mum's Kurosawa flicks. It's weirding me out a 
little."

Rei sighed. "My apologies."

"No, it's okay, I just...I'm used to you being ultra-reserved, but now you 
talk like a samurai movie half the time..."

The raven-haired girl smiled. "I have had a *very* traditional upbringing, 
Mina-san. I was raised to respect and honour the old traditions, and I do so 
by my own choice. I do not reject the modern world, as some do, but I 
believe in the ways of my ancestors *very* strongly."

Mina nodded. "That's cool."

They watched the television in silence for a time before Rei spoke again. 
"Mina-san...how well do you know Artemis-san? Truly? I sense a connection 
between you two, but..."

Mina grimaced. "Ah, that's...oh boy."

"Are you lovers?"

"NO!" Mina cried, face flushing. "I mean...well, not...yeah, we've been 
dating for a long time, but we haven't done anything like *that*..."

"I see."

Mina frowned. "You don't approve? My dating an older man?" After a moment, 
she winced and amended, "I mean, older as if he was really how old he looks, 
not...you know."

"It is not my place to approve or disapprove," Rei said mildly. "I simply do 
not wish to see you hurt. I have come to care for you as a friend...and at 
the risk of being excessively forthright, I do not trust this person."

Mina sighed. "There's a lot of that going around..."

=-------------=

"Kino-san?" Silence greeted Haruna-sensei's query. She frowned. "Kino-san?" 
After a moment, she shook her head and made a mark on her roll. "That's two 
days in a row...I'd better talk to the principal. Kodama-san?"

Usagi ignored the teacher as she continued to call roll. *Kino-san isn't 
here? I wonder what...*

"I'm starting to think Umino-kun might be right," Naru muttered.

"Eh?"

"Ah! Nothing, it's..." the redhead trailed off. Then, she sighed. 
"Usagi-chan..." Looking up at her friend, pain in her eyes, she said softly, 
"Umino-kun found out some...*things*...about Kino-san..."

=-------------=

Everything was dark. She was blindfolded.

"Okay, what the fuck's goin' on here?" she demanded angrily.

Something struck her sharply across the face. "Shut up, bitch!"

She knew that voice. "Okuda-san? What the--"

Her captor slapped her again. "I said shut up!"

"STOP HITTING HER, DAMMIT! I told you we'll refund--"

Makoto heard a truly sickening sound, followed by a tortured scream.

A rough hand seized her chin. "Now, you still owe me two hours. With 
interest. And my nakama are VERY interested..."

=-------------=

Usagi wrung her handkerchief over the washbasin with more force than was 
strictly necessary. *Naru-chan, how could you say those things...*

She stood, idly wringing her handkerchief in long-dry hands, lost in 
thought. Her reverie was broken by a cool voice.

"I believe it is dry now, Tsukino-san."

Usagi blinked, then glanced to her right. Mizuno Ami was washing her hands. 
"Ami-san! I didn't notice you," she said. She folded her handkerchief, 
glancing around as she did so. Seeing nobody else was in the restroom, she 
added in a low voice, "Venus and Mars are both Awakened now."

Ami nodded curtly. "That is good news."

Usagi paused. "Mina--I mean, Venus--says she ran into that tuxedo-kamen 
thief the night she became Sailor V. She doesn't know what he stole or if he 
got away with it, though."

Ami dried her hands. "Where did she encounter him?"

The long-haired girl blinked. "I forgot to ask. It was kind of a weird 
night."

"If you learn where and when she encountered him, you can determine which, 
if any, of the gems on your list he attempted to steal. Then, we can rule 
out at least one possible false lead." She folded her own handkerchief and 
pocketed it. "Good day, Tsukino-san."

=-------------=

"Jadeite."

Beryl scowled at the blond Shitennou as he appeared.

"Acting on your counsel--yours and Nephrite's--I permitted you to engage the 
Senshi in combat. I am less than pleased with the results." She drummed her 
long, lacquered nails on the armrest of her throne. "Our enemies grow in 
number, and you, the noble sword of the Shitennou, retreated with no 
apparent attempt at direct combat."

Jadeite's jaw tightened, but he bowed in deference. "I beg your forgiveness, 
Queen Beryl-sama. The circumstances of the current situation are vastly 
different from what had been expected, and forced a withdrawal to 
re-evaluate our strategy."

"Explain."

Jadeite straightened, and folded his hands behind his back. "By our count, 
there are presently five active Senshi. Additionally, one of our own 
shadowbrood, thought perished in the Fall, is apparently now allied with the 
Senshi...and Duke Artemis is with them."

Beryl's eyebrows rose almost to her hairline. "Artemis lives?!"

"There is no mistake," Jadeite replied, frowning severely. "I had believed 
that monster dead and buried in the dust of the Moon. Nevertheless, he is 
alive, now, in the human city of Tokyo."

Beryl spat a particularly filthy oath. "That would explain..." She trailed 
off, eyes closed. "This is truly disturbing."

"I am afraid there is one other note of importance."

"Oh?"

"One of the Senshi...is of the Moon."

"That is not possible," Beryl replied dismissively. "The Moon can bear no 
Senshi, for its mana is..." She trailed off, and her eyes widened. "No."

Jadeite was silent for a moment, pensive; he seemed to debate whether or not 
to add to his report. At length, he drew a deep breath, and added, "Queen 
Beryl-sama...the Senshi of the Moon, by the reckoning of myself and my 
brethren, is most likely Princess Serenity herself."

A wave of black rage flooded the throne room, buffeting the Shitennou. 
Beryl's eyes burned with violet-black flames.

"The surge of power the Princess invoked on the night of your 
sister's...*incursion*," Jadeite continued, "was undoubtedly generated by 
her transformation into a Senshi."

"So that is why we have not caught sight of that little *bitch* since the 
night she awakened," Beryl hissed, eyes closed. "She's been under our nose 
the entire time, masquerading as this...Moon Senshi."

"Hai," Jadeite nodded. "And the very fact of her transformation into a 
Senshi, as you well know, means--"

"She either *has* the Ginzuishou, or it has been destroyed and the Moon's 
mana bound to the little slut's soul in its stead."

"As you can well see, Your Majesty, the situation is...extraordinarily 
unfavourable to our cause."

The other three Shitennou appeared suddenly in the throne room, pressing 
their gloved fists to their chests in salute.

"Concern thyself not, Thy Grace," Kunzite said. "Allow us to deal with the 
matter of Serenity and the Senshi. Allow us to deal with the matter of Duke 
Artemis. These concerns need not be thine. Apply the full force of thine 
will and strength to the matter of restoring the Master, and entrust these 
mundane matters to the Shitennou."

Beryl's cold rage continued to wash over them. "You have the *audacity*," 
she hissed, "to presume to issue an order to *ME*?!"

"I presume no such thing," Kunzite replied, bowing. "I am merely concerned. 
Thou shouldest not exert needless stress upon thineself, Thy Grace, for 
without thee, all shall be for naught."

Beryl penetrated him with a cold, black stare for a long moment. Then, her 
rage abated, and she favoured the Shitennou with a cruel smile. "Your wisdom 
and tact serve you well, Kunzite. So be it then. I entrust the matter of 
preparing the human world for our return to the four of you. Do as you see 
fit...but do not fail me. Do not fail our Master. You know the price for 
failure."

The Shitennou saluted and vanished.

[You are ridiculoussss....usssselessssss...pointlessssss....and they know 
it...they mock you...]

Beryl screamed.

=-------------=

to be continued

=-------------=



================================
The Eternal Lost Lurker
www.lurkerdrome.com