[FFML] [Fanfic][Ranma/SM] On A Clear Day You Can See Forever Chapter 22

[Mark MacKinnon]

    Well, I had promised to have this chapter out by Saturday night, but 
real life events conspired against me, something I'm sure everyone out 
there is familiar with.  Just a couple notes before we get down to it.  
I had hoped to have this chapter end a little further along, but my 
self-imposed deadline put the kibosh on that.  Still, even if chapter 22 
is shorter than I'd wanted, it's still 125 pages in Wordperfect, so it's 
not exactly small.  I had thought to get this one out faster because I 
had so much of it already done, accomplished during my great writing 
surge of early 2008.  Unfortunately, going back over the pages I'd 
cranked out during my spurt of productivity, I realised that much of it 
was, well, pretty lacklustre.  It's always daunting, realising that 
you've got 50 or 60 pages of material that don't really make the grade.  
Doing extensive re-writes on that much of a chapter is a major 
undertaking, not to mention time consuming.  And I didn't want to do it, 
I really didn't.  I wanted to push ahead with chapter 23.
    But you know how this ends.  I gritted my teeth and I went back and 
I worked on the weak parts.  Not only because I'm a perfectionist, but 
because everytime you guys tell me how much you appreciate the work that 
goes into this story, it shows me that all the time spent on this is not 
in vain.  And trust me, these last two chapters have sucked up a lot of 
time that could have been spent on other endeavors.
    Hopefully, you'll judge the result worth it.  So, without further 
ado, here it is.

    Enjoy.

Mark



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



On A Clear Day You Can See Forever


Chapter 22: The Dark




     The crazy laughing guy's sign seemed to sum the situation up
nicely.  He was wearing a sandwich board style sign, something I don't
think I'd ever seen outside of a movie.
     THE GODS HAVE FORSAKEN US! the front declared in big,
sloppy red letters.  The back, though, the back really cut to the crux of
things.
     THE END, it declared in that same crazy, all-caps red paint, IS
NIGH.
     Yeah.  No freaking kidding.
     "Hey, buddy!" I shouted.  "You may wanna not stand there!"
     "These are the end times!" Crazy Laughing Guy informed me
with the sort of dangerous good cheer that only really crazy people seem
able to carry off.
     "Seriously!" I shot back as I tried to watch the looney and the
monster at the same time.  "How do you feel about the other side of the
street?  The end could be nigh over there ..."
     Crazy Laughing Guy brayed as though that was the funniest
thing he had heard in his many, apparently very colourful, years.  The
beast took that as a signal that now would be a good time to charge, and
once again I found myself staring down the maw of an enraged creature
bigger than a city bus.
     This was one of the new ones, the critters that nobody had seen
until our very recent problems.  The locals had quickly learned that the
scales on these things didn't just shimmer with a faint rainbow effect; they
were also nearly impervious to magickal attack.
     Fortunately, I had also quickly learned that they afforded no
particular protection against chi attacks.  Score one for the martial 
artists
of the world, boo-ya.  I felt my chi swirl and pool, gathering it as the
long-necked wonder bore down on me with the sort of single-mindedness
that I'd come to associate with these things.  They were ugly and hard to
kill, but man, when they got you in their sights they damn well stayed
focussed.
     It was less than twenty feet away when I unloaded my chi attack,
hitting the thing square on with everything I had.  Its alarmed screech
was music to my ears as my blast hammered it, stopping it dead in its
tracks for a moment before throwing it back the way it had come.  Its
bulk actually rolled several times before coming to rest in an untidy heap
in the middle of the roadway, and after a few seconds I was sure it wasn't
getting back up.
     I'd become something of an expert in the past few days.
     "Nice shooting," came a voice from behind and above.  I glanced
back, brushing dark strands of hair out of my face.
     "Thanks, V.  How'd you do?"
     "Kicked ass," she told me, leaping off the traffic light and landing
neatly beside me.  "As usual.  Have you seen ... hey, nice sign!"
     "Death comes for all.  ALL!" Crazy Laughing Guy informed her
from his garbage-strewn doorway.  Then he started cackling again.
     "Crazy Laughing Guy, V.  V, Crazy Laughing Guy."
     "Nice to meet you," V said politely.  He found that positively
hilarious.  That was Crazy Laughing Guy for you, he always found the
humour in any situation.  At least, he had in the three minutes or so that
we'd been acquainted.
     "Show her the other side!" I called, then turned to V.  "You'll
love this."
     "Despair, fools!  All is lost!" CLG announced, turning
obediently.  V read the back of the sign and started to laugh.  CLG joined
in, delighted to find a kindred spirit.
     "Oh, man," V gasped, wiping at her eyes.  "I've never seen an
actual "The end is nigh"sign before!"
     "He was probably saving it for a special occasion," I told her.
     "Well, he found one.  This is about as nigh as it gets.  Come on, let's
make like a baby and head out."
     Running across the broken pavement, she jumped back up to the
dead traffic signal, then hopped up to a nearby roof and jumped the gap
to the next building, racing up a rickety old fire-escape.
     "Take care, Crazy," I said.  After all we'd been through, I figured
we were on a first name basis.
     "She is coming!  Coming for us ALL!  ALLLLLLL!"
     Yeah?  Well, she sure was taking her damned time.  Two quick
jumps and I was springing up the fire escape towards the higher rooftop.
It had seen better days, but it held my weight, though not without
complaint.  At the top I saw V standing at the far edge, the reddish light
of the moon catching glossy highlights in her black leather.  I joined her
at the edge and together we stared out into the night.
     Plumes of smoke rose in several locations, marking the worst of
the current fighting.  I could see that big tower, the Royal Financial
Centre, off in the distance, looking like a fighter with all his teeth
knocked out.  After the police and military had finished their assault,
every damned window in the place had been smashed.  Still, they'd held
off the swarm of monsters long enough to evacuate all the survivors from
the roof, and that had been no small feat.
     Sirens floated through the air some distance away, gunshots
rattled hollowly from another direction.  Three police fliers streaked
through the sky near where the palace had once stood, chasing something
big, and I saw streaks of light as they opened fire.  North of us, something
was on fire, and nobody seemed to be having any luck putting it out.  The
water lines might be cut; city services were hit and miss in some areas.
Somewhere off to our left, a high pitched whine fell in pitch and volume,
ending in a dull whump, and a small fireball illuminated a bit of the
skyline for a few seconds.
     "Welcome to the apocalypse," V sighed.  "You must be at least
THIS tall to get on this ride."  She held her hand over her head and
grinned.  It made me want to smile back, so I did.  There was little
enough to smile about right now, after all.  A man had to take what he
could get.
     "City's had better days, huh?"
     "Three days and no sunrise," V said softly.
     "Three days," I murmured.  "And no vampire.  Where the hell is
she?  She got her damned ceremony, she got her new Dark.  You'd have
thought she'd be dancing in the damned streets."
     "Especially with AsterGate sealed," V agreed glumly.  "'The
Gods Have Forsaken Us', indeed.  Either they're hiding, or Wynneth's
little spell closed that particular door from our side and threw away the
key."
     "Either way, we're on our own.  Got it.  She did say she was the
new boss goddess, didn't she?"
     "If she wants to be worshipped, she's going to want to put in an
appearance," V snorted.  "Maybe do something about the monster
problem.  Things get much worse, she won't have a city to rule over!"
     Yeah.  The vamp and her absence wasn't exactly a new topic of
discussion.  Consensus was that something was occupying all her time
right now, whether it was recovering from the spell or just arranging even
more wonderful surprises for us.  Either way, the new crop of monsters
were bad, but they were likely the calm before the storm.
     The vamp would show herself.  She hadn't done all this just to
hide away in some hole.  All the scheming, the manipulation, and the
killing, it had all been for this.  Now night owned the city, and she ruled
the night.  So why no wraiths, no demands, no attacks?
     I wanted to know.  I needed to.  That witch wasn't finished with
us, that much was sure.  Good enough.  I wasn't done with her, either.
She wanted the key; she'd come after me, sooner or later.  And when she
did, I'd have my shot at her.
     She had a lot to answer for.
     "Almost that time," I told V.  "Think she'll show today?"
     "I don't know," V confessed.  "Something had to have happened
to her.  I just hope she's okay."
     "You really think this Peorth has answers, huh?"
     "She has more answers than we have, Ranma.  And that's
something."
     "Good point."
     "Come on.  Time's wasting."
     "Race you," I taunted.  That grin returned, her eyes sparkling
even in this corrupt light.
     "Double or nothing?"
     "You cheated last time," I objected.
     "So?  Cheat better."
     "Go!" I shouted, launching myself off the roof.
     V threw herself after me, laughing.
     Laughing in the face of the nightmare.

***

     Don't get separated, Mars thought blackly.  Stay together.  That
was all I asked.  Honestly, that girl is more trouble than a whole
truckload of monkeys.
     She leapt the blackened spot where her fireball had nearly
incinerated the most troublesome of the attacking horde, scanning the
darkened street as she ran.  Everyone had fled the scene as soon as the
trouble had started.  Well, everyone sane; she and the princess had waded
into the fray before the shambling yirdaks could turn the locals into their
own personal buffet.  Mars wasn't certain where she'd ever gotten the
idea that yirdaks were solitary creatures, but obviously she'd been sorely
mistaken.
     This had seemed like a good idea to her earlier.  The prospect of
more fighting meant less time to brood over the deaths of the entire
Sisterhood, the images of familiar faces twisted into death masks of pain
and terror.  Taking out her frustrations on a gang of marauding monsters
was just what the doctor ordered.
     Losing someone else?  That didn't bear thinking about.
     A flare of silver-white light threw back the shadows of a narrow
laneway off to her left, and the constriction in her chest eased quickly.
There you are, you little lunatic!
     Her footfalls were a staccato rhythm as she raced across the now
deserted roadway, hair streaming out behind her like a cloak.  Just as she
reached the alley, a hulking, shaggy form flew tumbling from its mouth,
hitting the ground with a loose thud and sliding bonelessly into a light
pole.  Mars simply dodged the unfortunate creature and flung herself
heedlessly down the narrow lane to the small courtyard at its end.
     Moon was there, her back literally to a wall, a young girl cradled
in the crook of one arm.  Two of the huge, hairy yirdaks had her hemmed
in, yellow eyes gleaming as they tried to split her concentration long
enough to pull the girl out of her grasp.  First the child, then the 
princess;
the appetites of the yirdak for human flesh were legendary.  Moon,
though, was having none of it.  She swung her sceptre like a sword,
catching one of the beasts in the side of the head, then poking the second
in the eye.  Mars didn't have a clear shot, not with the creatures and the
girls so close and moving.  As she prepared to throw herself into the fray,
though, a warning resounded inside her head.
     Rei-sama, above you!
     She dropped and rolled as craggy gray talons raked the spot
where she'd been standing.  The dark shaped bayed its anger, and Mars
rolled onto her back, heart hammering at her chest.  The thing brushed
aside the two crows that flew at its face, hurling itself at her in a 
rush of
claws and wings and baleful red eyes.  She met its rush with a lance of
flame flung from her outstretched hand, and the thing's shrieks shaded
from anger to surprise and then, gratifyingly, pain.  Wind rushed down
over her, and the flying nightmare was rising into the dark, in search of
less intransigent prey.
     Gorgeous light flared, pushing the crimson glow from the
courtyard as it filled every nook and cranny with its pure radiance.  Mars
pulled herself from the cold asphalt to see the princess standing there like
a young avenging goddess, limned by the blazing light, her sceptre held
high over her head.  The beasts had been decimated by the ferocity of
Moon's power and lay at her feet, and with the young girl still cradled in
her arm, the scene would have made a perfect statue for a temple to the
Goddess of the White Moon.  Mars realised that she was both staring and
breathless, and shook herself from her reverie as the light faded, sullen
crimson creeping back in its wake.
     "Are you all right?" Moon called.
     "Fine," Mars assured her.
     "That was awesome, Princess!" Deimos beamed.
     "Who is your new friend?" Phobos asked, circling as Mars
moved to Moon's side.
     "I didn't catch her name," the princess admitted, beaming down
at the girl, who couldn't have been more than five or six.  Mars felt a
twinge in her chest at that thought.  She hadn't been much older than that
during the first Dark.  A girl this age wouldn't be out here alone, not
unless something very bad had happened to her family.  "But she was
very brave.  She didn't cry at all."
     Indeed, the girl was quiet, solemn even.  Her twin pigtails were a
dark colour somewhere between pink and red, and she had eyes that had
seen far too much for a girl of her age.
     "Too many tears have already been shed," the girl informed
them, her voice high and clear.  "Such sorrow as has been visited upon us
would drown the world in them."
     "Um, sure," Moon said, puzzled.  Before Mars could reflect on
the peculiarly articulate pronouncement, Deimos squawked in alarm as
something knifed down through the shadows to land soundlessly behind
her.  She spun, her hand outstretched, but the little girl called out 
for her
to stop, and she found herself obeying instinctively.  The dark form rose
from its crouch, and Mars could make out a lithe, female silhouette.
Then the woman stepped forward, and the senshi took in the faint scale
design on the skintight catsuit as dark as her hair, the blue-gray skin, and
amber eyes with cat's pupils.
     "Banri?"
     "Girlsss of Paal Lunae," Banri hissed softly.  "At lassst, we have
found you."
     We?
     Mars turned in time to see the young girl's form shimmer with
quicksilver light, and Moon stepped back as that light moved, growing
tall and slender.  The light quickly faded, revealing a woman, long-
limbed and possessed of delicate strength, her fine features regal beneath
a tiny black moon that graced her forehead, lustrous hair a rare shade of
deep reddish-cerise-violet.  Mars had only seen her once before, but there
was no mistaking her.
     Dasma.

***

     "Piece of what?" I asked as we lounged against the edge of the
waist-high railing that encircled the fountain.  V rolled her eyes, the 
lights
catching oily-looking highlights along the brim of her cap.
     "Not Piece Fountain, idiot.  Peace Fountain.  As in not war but
Peace Fountain."
     "Ah.  That makes more sense.  So, why here?"
     "Don't know.  Just before we jumped into the sinkhole, Peorth
said that we should meet up here at noon if we got separated.  And she
didn't show up the first day, so ..."
     "So you keep coming here at noon, hoping she'll make it."
     "Ranma, I told you.  She knows things.  Things about the key.
Don't pretend that you're all cool, bub.  You want to meet her even more
than I do."
     I had nothing to say to that, because V was right.  The prospect of
answers about the mysterious little chunk of crystal that had become such
a constant in my life was tantalising, sure.  I kept telling myself that 
this
was likely to be nothing, but really, if I was honest with myself, all I was
doing was trying to head off disappointment.  This Peorth just sounded
too good to be true.  Hell, maybe she was.  But here we were, waiting to
see if she'd put in an appearance. 
     Despite the current situation, a fair number of people were
milling around the square.  If I hadn't known that it was noon, I'd have
thought that this was an ordinary night in the city.  Life goes on, I
suppose, even when a crazy vampire turns out the sun and monsters run
amuck in the city.  Hell, most of the people were dressed ... well, let me
put it this way.  V's outfit did not look a bit out of place.  She had
modified her Mistress V costume to look a little more "modest", which to
Minako apparently meant adding a short, tight skirt and a jacket cropped
so short it was basically sleeves and a couple inches of glossy leather.  It
barely reached the edge of her rib cage, and no way could she close that
sucker.  Not that she would, of course.
     "So, how long do we wait?" I asked, watching the water in the
fountain spray giddily upwards, then start to dance with smaller jets.
     "I've been waiting until half past," V shrugged, turning her back
to the fountain to rest her butt against the railing.  She put her palms
against the cool stone, her left hand perilously close to where my crossed
arms lay.  I pretended not to notice, though I don't suppose she was
fooled.  There hadn't been much time over the last few days to think
about personal issues, but even in the quiet moments I couldn't seem to
make any headway on the issue of Minako Aino.  I would go from the
talk I'd had with Rei to thoughts of how stupid it was to even be thinking
about this in the middle of such a crisis to thoughts of what if, to 
crushing
guilt, and back to the start.
     Damn, I wished the bloody vampire would just show up.  I suck
at relationship stuff. 
     "Um," I said.  "Hey.  I was thinking ..."  That was as far as I got
before V pushed off the rail and grabbed my arm, spinning me around
and practically falling into my arms, planting kiss right on my mouth.  If
that wide railing hadn't been there, I'd have probably toppled backwards
into the fountain. 
     I guess she'd had enough of my indecision.
     She broke the kiss, clutching me tightly around the waist, and
hissed, "Don't look."
     "At you?" I asked, breathless and confused.
     "At them!  Take off my hat."
     "Huh?"
     "My hat!" she whispered fiercely.  "Take it off!"
     Okay, I was definitely missing something.  I reached up and
plucked her hat off, unleashing a cascade of blonde hair that she
immediately tossed , causing it to slither enticingly over my arms as it
fell, unbound, to her knees.
     "A secret benefit of the full goddess mane," she muttered.  "Maybe
it'll cover enough so that I can change ... damn!  They can see us from
there!"  I started to turn my head and she leaned in, reaching up with one
slender hand to catch my braid.  "I said don't look!"
     "What the hell is going on?" I whispered back.  "Who am I not
looking at?"
     I got my answer a second later.
     "You!  Step away from the boy, in the name of the Shining
Crusade!"
     Ah, swell.  Her again.  I peered around V, only to have my fears
confirmed.
     The Vestra Carlina Val Cassanda.  And friends.

***

     Mars fought the urge to gape at their surroundings.  One moment
they were standing in an alleyway, the next they were in the midst of
luxuriant opulence.  The heels of her pumps sank into the deep carpet
which flowed over the floor, up two shallow steps, and away to a wall of
glass high above the city.  The furnishings were ultramodern, sleek and
spotless, and the huge room was decorated with art that appeared, to her
eye, both authentic and valuable.
     All of it paled, of course, next to the woman who stood staring
into the princess's eyes.
     "So strong," Dasma murmured, her voice a deep, smoky purr.
"So valiant.  And lovely.  Ah, daughter of my blood, you are all that I
had hoped."  Her slender hands cupped Moon's face tenderly, fingers
stroking lightly over high cheekbones to the princess's brow, then down
the line of her nose and lightly over her lips, as though seeking tactile
confirmation of an ephemeral sight.
     "You're free," Moon breathed, her gaze locked with that of the
goddess.  "But ... but how?  The ceremony, it was a fake!"
     "Ceremony," Dasma mused.  "Yes, it seems we have much to
speak of.  But hold a moment.  I have been neglecting your noble
senshi."  She turned, and Mars felt a delicious warming just under her
skin as the goddess's gaze fell on her.  An intoxicating aura enveloped
her, subtle heat and perfume, and Mars understood in that moment that
all the Sisterhood's efforts to beguile and entice were pale imitations of
their Dark Lady's natural allure.  There was so much that they had
forgotten in her absence.
     "Come closer, my dear," Dasma said, her low, throaty voice
insinuating itself into Mars' ears.  Mars obeyed, breathless with
anticipation.  She and Saekianna had whiled away countless hours
speculating about their patron goddess and what she would be like when
they, bold and clever, accomplished what no other had and freed her.  In
person, she was everything Mars had dreamed she would be, and more.
She could drown happily in those eyes, drown forever.
     One delicate hand cupped her cheek in a familiar gesture, and
Mars, trained in the arts of intimate seduction, was nearly undone by that
simple touch.  Supple heat flooded through her, washing away all
remnants of anxiety from the fight in the alley as she breathed in the
goddess's perfume, musky-sweet, delicate and subtle.
     Then Dasma's hand broke contact with her skin, and Mars found
herself almost disoriented by the sudden lack of contact.  If this was what
the other orders were able to have, even if only occasionally, then Alieva
had hurt the Sisterhood far more than any of them had appreciated by
taking their Dark Lady from them.
     "House Mars, by your colours," Dasma murmured, smiling at the
stunned senshi.  "Of course.  Always by her side.  And these tiny dolls?"
     "Phobos, Dark Lady," Mars murmured, tilting her head.  "And
Deimos.  Guardians of House Mars."
     "Exquisite.  But here, there is more to you, lovely senshi of fire ...
ah, how utterly perfect.  You've taken the Oath of the Rose.  One of
mine."
     "Yes, Dark Lady," Mars said, her mouth suddenly dry.  One of
hers.  Except she'd left the Sisterhood, and for the first time she 
faced the
real prospect of having to explain that decision to the goddess she'd
sworn to serve.  That was not likely going to go well.
     "Come, sit," Dasma said, sweeping the two senshi up with an
expansive gesture and herding them over to a low couch.  Mars eased
herself down onto the buttery leather, excitement and dread duking it out
for supremacy as she tried to decide how to broach the subject of her
failings.  There was fleeing the Sisterhood, of course, but also the matter
of not preventing the deaths of every Sister in the Order. 
     A long, low padded bench was in front of the couch, and Mars
was certain it hadn't been there only moments before.  Dasma lowered
herself onto it gracefully, reclining on the gently undulating seat and
regarding the pair with avid interest.  Banri appeared at her side, kneeling
while presenting a tray with three heavy, narrow fluted crystal glasses.
Dasma plucked one easily from the tray, then waited while Mars and the
princess followed suit.
     "A toast," the goddess said, raising her glass.  "To new
beginnings."
     They followed suit, and drank.  Whatever was in the glass was
certainly suitable for a goddess's lips, Mars thought as gentle sweetness
insinuated itself into her mouth, seducing her tongue and coiling into her
belly with a heat that made her shudder.  Judging by the expression on
Moon's face, her experience was at least as pleasurable.  Mars held the
glass up so that the twins could sip from it, and she felt their reaction
through their shared link.
     "Wow," the princess gasped at last.
     "I have heard something of the events that have transpired while I
have been sealed away," Dasma said, acknowledging Moon's
compliment by inclining her head slightly.  "Banri told me of your
appearance in the Osiren, and of the deceit that clouded the eyes of my
Sisters.  I would prefer to speak of happier matters, but by the expression
on lovely Mars' face, I fear you have grim news."
     "Dark Lady," Mars began, setting aside the glass in her hand.
"I'm sorry.  I ... I don't know where to begin."
     "Banri said the Sisterhood did not trust you."
     "I ..."  Mars took a deep breath.  The truth.  It had to be.  Hiding
it would only make things worse.  Light flared as she reversed her
transformation, a deep violet top that left her midriff bare and sleek pants
replacing her fuku.  "My name is Rei Hino.  I was known as Rei
Darkeyes in the Sisterhood."
     "That appellation speaks well of their regard for you, Sister."
     "It did, Dark Lady.  But things changed during the reign of the
Nightmistress Griitna Valpini."
     "Indeed," Dasma said, her expression presaging a storm of anger.
"Banri told me of a Nightmistress who betrayed her oath.  I take it she is
the one to whom you refer?"
     "Yes.  She fooled us all, used the labyrinth at Caostye to first
become Nightmistress, then to manipulate us into serving the interests of
others for personal gain."
     The air in the posh penthouse seemed to thicken, and a low
charge prickled the skin.  Moon took Rei's hand, and Rei clung to that
contact as she pressed on.
     "I learned the truth," Rei went on, heart thudding heavily in her
chest.  "I tried to rally the others, but they would not believe.  Not even
my closest confidante.  In the end, I was forced to flee the Sisterhood
before the traitor could kill me."
     Dasma rose easily from the sumptuous divan, her exotic hair
rippling as though in a strong breeze.
     "Where is this woman now?" she asked, and although her voice
was soft, Rei felt fear in the pit of her stomach.
     "Dead, Dark Lady.  The seeds of doubt I planted eventually took
root, and my former friend, Saekianna, defeated Griitna and became
Nightmistress."
     "Indeed."  Some of the menace ebbed from the air, gauzy
material swirling as Dasma crossed her arms.  "It is fortunate for this
Griitna that she is dead, Rei Darkeyes.  She dared to pervert my order,
something that should have been inconceivable to any Sister.  I would
have enjoyed making an example of her."
     "Saekianna was faithful, Dark Lady, but even defeating Griitna
did not remove the shadow from the Sisterhood.  As Nightmistress, she
gained access to the heart of the labyrinth, where she found artifacts of
power that could be used to free you from bondage.  And she found
Banri."
     "Fake," Banri hissed.
     "Yes," Dasma agreed, her patrician features clouded.
"Obviously.  Tell me more, Rei Darkeyes.  Tell me all of it."
     "We now know that a vampiress was responsible for planting the
fakes, Dark Lady.  For all I know, she may have been responsible for
Griitna's betrayal as well.  Certainly she wanted the Sisterhood to believe
that the ceremony they performed on Baniesti would free you.  The fake
Banri was certainly a powerful artifact, and so they believed.  Dark
Lady, Saekianna was no traitor.  She ..."
     "She was Nightmistress," Dasma said sternly.  "And she was
mislead.  But you were not."
     "I knew the truth," Rei replied with a nod.  "We were reunited in
this city less than a week ago, and I tried to make her believe me, but ...
she was determined to destroy the senshi. She saw us as a threat to your
unsealing for some reason, the vampire's doing maybe.  And when I was
revealed to be one of their number, I lost any chance of convincing her.
I'm sorry, Dark Lady.  I failed them.  And you."
     "No!" Moon cried, fairly leaping to her feet.  "It wasn't Rei's
fault, Dasma!  I was the one who promised to save them!"
     "Rei-sama tried!" Phobos added from Rei's left shoulder.
     "They would have killed her!" Deimos spat.  "They ..."
     "Peace!" Dasma commanded, raising one slender hand.  "All of
you, be at peace."  She reached that hand down and gently pulled Rei to
her feet.  "Your eyes tell me that your tale has a dark end, Sister.  Tell
me now.  Tell me of the fate of my order."
     Rei nodded, steeling herself.  "We believed we had stopped the
Sisterhood from performing the ceremony.  We were certain we'd saved
them.  But it had all been a feint, a diversion.  The true ceremony was
being performed in Alieva's abandoned temple near the border of the Old
City.  By the time we fought our way through ... the vampire's circle
snared them, fed on their souls.  We tried to break it, but it ate magicks,
chi, everything we threw at it.  We ... Dark Lady, I'm so sorry.  She killed
them all."
     There was a beat, two, then Dasma threw her head back and
screamed.  Rei and Moon clutched their ears as the razored shards of a
goddess's rage arced outwards, shattering every window in the place and
sending shards of glass spinning out into the darkness.  Rei felt the shriek
in her bones, in the soft places of her body.  Afraid, she moved to block
the princess's body with her own.
     "Abomination," Dasma growled into the silence that followed.
"Undead leech.  She DARES?  I will pull her withered, dead heart from
her chest and crush it with my own bare HANDS for this!"
     Moon clung to Rei's arm while the twins hid under the cloak of
her hair.  Rei tried to calm her pulse and breathing as she watched the
goddess's rage dissipate.  At least it wasn't directed at her.  Not yet,
anyway.
     "I promise you, Dark Lady," she said, holding her head high,
"that I will find this creature and end her.  For them."
     "Bold words," Dasma said, her deep crimson eyes flashing as she
met Rei's gaze.  "You seek redemption for your failure?"
     "I do, Dark Lady."  Rei's blood slammed through her veins, but
she didn't drop her gaze. 
     "That is well.  It is hard to say whose failure is greater, yours for
seeing the truth but not stopping this, or my Nightmistress, for being
blinded by this undead creature ..."
     "Gods, Dee.  What are you doing?"
     Rei spun around at the sound of a man's voice.  He was standing
behind them, and she had no idea where he'd come from.
     Dee?
     "We have been speaking of many things," Dasma replied, some
of the tension seeping from the room.  "This vampire you spoke of, Gar,
has proven more troublesome than I had imagined.  She has preyed upon
my Sisterhood."
     Gar was a tall man, broad through the shoulders, the sort of man
that got long, lingering glances from women as he passed.  He wore an
easy, roguish charm like a pair of worn jeans, but Rei suspected there
was more to him, and not just because he could get away with calling the
Dark Lady Dee.  No, there was a sense of carefully restrained power
around him, which only served to enhance his charisma.  Noticing her
regard, he grinned at her, a lopsided, self-deprecating expression that no
doubt set people at ease instinctively.
     "Before the bad news, why don't you introduce us?" he asked,
crossing to stand before the two senshi.  "The uniform I recognise, of
course.  The one and only Sailor Moon, I'm guessing?"
     That's me," Moon confirmed, flushing with pleasure as he took
her hand and raised it to his lips, kissing the gloved knuckles gently while
holding her gaze with his own.
     "Yes, definitely your kin, Dee," he rumbled, his voice pitched
low.  "You two could be twins.  And this is, I'm guessing, one of your
Sisters?"  He turned his tawny eyes to Rei, giving her a gently flirtatious
once-over.
     "That, and the princess's fellow senshi," Dasma told him, and
Rei kept her expression neutral.  She wasn't in a position to criticise a
goddess, but she certainly hadn't intended to reveal that fact.
     "Rei Darkeyes," she said softly as he kissed her hand.
     "Plus Phobos and Deimos, her guardians," Dasma added.
Phobos bowed while Deimos let loose with a low whistle.
     "Boy, you're a long drink of water, huh?" the brash girl grinned.
     "And fair of face," Phobos added.  Gar inclined his head to
acknowledge the compliment, then used his index finger to raise two
small hands in turn, bestowing light kisses on them as well.  And
endearing himself to Rei in the process.
     "Garven d'Or," he told them.  "Pleased to meet you."
     Silence.
     "Garven d'Or?" the princess gaped.  "THE Garven d'Or?"
     "Oh, no," he grinned.  "Just a Garven d'Or.  You'd be surprised
at how common a name it is."
     "Gar," Dasma sighed.
     "Oh, all right," he said, waving his hand negligently.  "Yes, I'm
the same guy."
     "But ... but you fought the Genrous!"
     "I beat the Genrous," he corrected her, eyes twinkling.
     "With help," Dasma pointed out.
     "But you're not a god," Rei frowned.  "Are you a demigod?"
     "Sort of," he confirmed. 
     "Gar is my half-brother," Dasma told them, regarding the man
with a mixture of exasperation and affection. 
     "That isn't in the old stories," Rei said.  "You were supposed to
be some sort of barbarian king."
     "Yeah," Gar sighed with a wistful smile.  "Barbarian king is a
great gig.  Those were simpler times, Sister Darkeyes, let me tell you."
     "Rei."
     "Gar.  Your Barbarian Majesty is so formal, after all."
     "As modest as ever," Dasma sighed, but her half-brother's antics
seemed to have eased her heart.
     "That's gratitude," Gar complained.  "I practically carried you
back here, woman."
     "Who carried who?" Banri sniffed, crossing her arms and looking
a the ceiling.
     "Wait," Moon said, looking from one to the other.  "You broke
the seal?  You rescued her?"
     "Sort of," Gar said, running his hands through his longish hair,
the light catching dark red-gold highlights.  Gar caught her watching and
winked.  Rei smiled back.  As someone accomplished at drawing
attention, she could certainly appreciate someone else's skills in that
regard.  "I was more in the right place at the right time."
     "He broke into Osiren Black," Dasma told them.  "And before he
fainted ..."
     "Dee!  Passed out, please."
     "Before he succumbed to his injuries," Dasma went on, arching
one elegant eyebrow, "he placed a piece of ancient technology on the
crystal casket holding me.  Banri kept him close, and when Baniesti
came, a wave of energy came with it, rippling through the planes.  That
energy interacted with the converter, and my prison was punched through
the fabric of space, away from the Osiren."
     "Far away," Gar winced.  "It took us damned near three days to
return here.  By which time, whatever had caused the disturbance was
long gone."
     "The vamp's spell," Rei mused.  "I wonder?  It was powerful,
and it occurred at the height of the conjunction.  But that would mean ...
it would mean that the ceremony actually did end up freeing the Dark
Lady!"
     "Inadvertently, yeah," Gar said.
     "So their deaths weren't for nothing," Moon said.  "I'm glad."
     "Deaths?"  Gar looked surprised at that.
     "This undead bitch used my order, Gar.  She led them to their deaths.
I want her."
     "Look, Dee, we've been trying to find her since the airship crash.
And we've tried everything, magick or mundane.  So far, she's a freaking
ghost."
     "She'll wish she was," Dasma said grimly, "when I find her.
Which I will.  AsterGate is closed, but if she believed that she would be
safe, she will soon find out differently."
     "I haven't been able to find out anything about what happened
after Baniesti," Gar told them as Dasma stood there, eyes closed, hands
held out from her body.  "What's our vamp been up to for the last three
days?"
     "Nothing," Rei told him, eyeing the motionless goddess nervously.
This was all happening so fast. 
     "Pardon?"
     "She hasn't put in an appearance.  No wraiths, no vamp, nothing.
She told us at the ceremony that she was our new dark goddess, and that
we'd all worship her, but since then she's disappeared completely."
     "Do you think it might have destroyed her?" Moon asked.  "The
ceremony?"
     "I doubt we'd be that lucky, darlin'," Gar shot back. 
     "But you knew the ceremony was coming," Rei said slowly.
"You knew to be in the Osiren with this converter ..."
     "I knew the signs to look for," he told her, his expression turning
grave for the first time.  "My mother ... our mother, Dee's and mine, had
... well, a sort of a vision a very long time ago.  I didn't know it would
involve the Dark, or this vampire.  I just knew that something very bad
was coming, and that I had an opportunity to affect the eventual
outcome."
     "So you have no insight into the vampire, Gar?"
     "We should talk more," he told her.  "If we compare notes ..."
     "Damn!"  They jumped at that, all but Banri, as Dasma's eyes
snapped open.  The tiny black crescent moon on her forehead seemed to
shimmer as she stormed across the room, eyes brimming with the
precursors of a storm.
     "No luck?" Gar asked.
     "Necromantic energies are all over the city.  It's as though Saeni
were saturated by vampiric power.  I can't locate the creature this way."
     "We'll get her, Dee.  She can't hide forever."
     "No, Gar.  She cannot.  And when I find her, she will pay dearly
for setting my priestesses against each other.  She will suffer for their
deaths, this I swear."  Rei suppressed a shiver at the leashed venom in the
goddess's voice.  It appeared that Wynneth might very well have bitten
off more than she could chew.
    "Dark Lady," she said, drawing the goddess's attention once
more.  "There are other things you should know."
     "Indeed," Dasma murmured.  "There is great disarray in the
world, greater than you know.  There are matters to which I must attend,
and soon.  Gar, the Queen?"
     "Working my way up to that," he told her, grimacing.  "I don't
imagine it'll go especially well, but I need to get up to speed on just
what's been going on."
     "Let me know what you discover."
     "You sure you don't want me to go with you?"
     "Gar, he will be difficult enough as it is.  Your presence will
achieve nothing positive."
     "Well, you got me there."  He walked up the shallow stairs, a
breeze ruffling his hair kittenishly, and he glanced towards the glassless
windows.  "Just try not to wreck the place, okay?  I gotta live here, you
know."
     Dasma waved her hand, and glimmering lines filled the space
between the narrow window frames.  Glass twirled and glittered as it
spun up from below, filling the window like a film played backwards.
Gar grinned.
     "Thanks, Dee.  Ladies, nice to meet you.  I expect we'll be
meeting again before this is all over."
     Rei wondered if he would vanish before their eyes, but the man
chose to rather anticlimactically walk over to the door and leave in a
completely mundane matter.
     "This is your brother's place?" Moon asked when he was gone.
"It's so nice!"
     "Indeed," Dasma told her.  "Our temples keep quarters for us
when we visit, but mine seems to have been misplaced.  And I can guess
who is to blame for that."
     "The White Order took advantage of your absence," Rei
admitted, face warm.  "I'm sorry that we greeted your return so poorly.
This ... isn't how I imagined things turning out."  She stopped,
overwhelmed for a moment by the image of the fallen Sisters.  Mirra,
Meredith, the twins Jacyinthe and Jackinda, Miaka, Ora ... once they'd
all shared the same dream, to free the Dark Lady and become a respected
order once more. 
     "You grieve for them."  The goddess's expression had softened as
she watched Rei's face.
     "Yes," Rei said softly.  "It isn't right, Lady Dasma.  All they
wanted was to have this moment, to be in your presence again.  It was so
close, but they were lost before they could meet you."  Then she
straightened up, recalling what she'd tried to say earlier.  "They are gone,
and we have been unable to locate the Maidens.  But you ..."
     "The Maidens yet live?"  Dasma's eyes widened at that, and a
subtle current arced trough the room.
     "We believe so," Rei told her.  "The problem is that this vampire
took the Nightmistress with her, possibly alive.  The Sisterhood's secrets
will not be safe, so the Maidens will be in hiding.  We have no idea
where to begin looking."
     "But, um, can't you just tell where they are?" Moon asked.  "I
mean, don't you just, you know, KNOW?"
     "Child, are you asking me if I am omniscient?"
     Moon smiled sweetly, sidling up next to Rei.  "Am I asking ...?"
she began in a loud whisper.
     "Yes," Rei sighed.
     "Yes!" the princess announced brightly.
     "We are powerful indeed, but there are limits to even our power,"
Dasma told her with a tolerant smile.  "Not to mention, unrestrained use
of said power in the mortal realm is dangerous.  There can be disastrous
consequences."  She paused for a long moment, shook her head.  "It
would appear that they have taken measures to keep from being found.  I
could break through the veil, but there is a quicker way.  Rei, your
hand."
     Rei reached out as Dasma pulled her legs up, sitting cross-legged
in mid-air.  She took Rei's hand in her own, pricking the index finger
lightly with one long nail as glimmering lines of dark energy began to
swirl into existence around her.  A single drop of blood welled up, fell,
only to freeze inside the rapidly coalescing pattern.
     "You have touched the Black Rose," Dasma said.  "In the most
intimate way.  This should suffice ... ah!"
     Rei watched, astounded, as a complex circle spun into being
around the floating goddess, her blood drop twisting into a shimmering
red triangle.  The small red pointer flowed through the intricate
complexity of the circle, and Rei could only stare in awe.  Dasma had
formed a major magickal working out of nothing and was manipulating
it even as they watched.  She had never witnessed anything this complex;
it was akin to Ami conjuring a diving circle out of thin air while walking
down the street.
     The triangle spun, shedding strange runes that rose through the
air, shading from red to black.  They hung in front of Dasma's face for a
moment, and the goddess smiled as her crimson eyes flicked over them.
     "Yes," she said.
     The pattern exploded outwards, and Rei shielded her eyes
instinctively.  She felt a momentary sense of vertigo, then she was aware
of several things at once.  First, they were now in a large room containing
a scattering of boxes and crates, as well as maybe twenty women.
Second, the women were the missing Maidens.
     And third, they all seemed to be pointing weapons at her.

***

     "Uh, hey," I said slowly.  "Hey, there."  The area around us had
emptied out quickly, and I found myself staring down over a dozen men
and women in robes and gleaming white armour.  They were spread out
in a semi-circle, and if those staves they had aimed at us were anything
like the ones we'd seen in the tunnels, we'd be caught in a wicked
crossfire if we so much as sneezed.
     "Leave him out of it, Carlina," V said, slowly disengaging from
me and turning to face the assembled ranks of Alieva's faithful.  "He's
just a guy I picked up for fun, that's all."
     I opened my mouth, closed it quickly.  Of course, I'd been a girl
the entire time Carlina had been with us in the tunnels.  She had no way
of knowing I was one of the group who'd been holding her.
     "Move away from him."  The Vestra was cloaked in icy hauteur,
and I could only hope that she wouldn't just start shooting out of spite.
She'd been pretty pissed about things the last time we'd met.
     "Okay, okay.  Geez, relax."  V stepped away from me while I
stood there, helpless.  It was probably better to pretend I didn't know
what was going on, but if things got bad, no way was I leaving without
her.
     "So," Carlina sneered.  "We meet again, V.  It is V, isn't it?"
     "Look, Carlina ..."
     "Vestra to you, girl."
     "Girl?  You're hardly older than me, VESTRA."
     "Silence!  You are coming with us."
     "Oh, come on!  You saw us in the tunnels.  We were trying to
stop the Sisterhood!"
     "You," Carlina said, her words frosted with glacial frost, "were
in the company of one of the most cunning and dangerous agents of the
Sisterhood.  At best she has poisoned your soul with her sweet whispers,
at worst?  At worst you are her pawn.  Either way, you are not to be
trusted."
     "You're crazy!"
     "Which would explain," Carlina went on, raising her chin to give
V a superior glare, "why you are here to meet their agent."
     Silence.  I couldn't see V's face, but I suspected she was as
confused as I was.  The only person we knew who'd ever been a Sister
was Rei, and we weren't meeting her here.  Hell, we were here to meet ...
     Oh, no.
     "I don't know what you're talking about."
     "Come, now," Carlina prodded.  "She was captured within the
precincts of our temple as Baniesti approached, and while we haven't
been able to determine exactly what manner of creature she is ..."
     "Peorth?" V blurted, aghast.  "You've got Peorth?  You're
making a mistake, damn it!  She has nothing to do with ..."
     The glimmering light hit her from the side, a gold and white glow
wrapping itself around her body as she stepped forward.  V cried out and
fell to her knees, snared in the capture ward.  The look on my face must
have showed exactly what I was thinking, because four big guys in
gleaming armour stepped forward, two from each side, staves aimed
squarely at me.  I froze, but my temper didn't.
     "Let her go," I said to Carlina, my hands held carefully at my
sides.  The staff wielders were too far back, and they were backed up by
even more of their number, plus what appeared to be spell-casters.
     And I was still going to strangle Carlina if she didn't stop this.
     "Do not trouble yourself for her, boy," Carlina said, already
dismissing me as a threat.  "She would not give you a second thought
were your circumstances reversed.  Find another minx to take to your
bed, this woman is now in the custody of the Shining Crusade.  Now
go, and consider yourself lucky that you escaped her taint."
     I nodded to show that I'd given her words the sober consideration
they deserved.
     "Wrong answer," I said.  I threw V's hat, still in my right hand,
directly at her.  It was far from a lethal weapon, but they didn't know
that, and it bought me the half-second I needed to charge the staffmen on
my left.  These guys had thought I was just some guy off the street; I
aimed to show them just how wrong they were.  The taller of the two
tried to get his staff pointed at me, but I grabbed it with my right hand
and spun, using my left arm to break it free from his grip.  I kept
spinning, bringing the staff around with wicked force and catching the
poor sap on the side of the head, sending him flying as I used the staff to
engage the second target.  I was close enough that the staffmen on the far
side couldn't open up on me without risking hitting their own guy, but I
had to be careful.  If I took him down too quickly, I'd be open to attack.
I had to move him closer to the others.
     The initial surprise of my attack had passed, though, and the
Inquisitors were spreading out quickly.  They were experienced at
fighting as a group, apparently.  Well, hell.  I stopped skirmishing with
the second staffman, catching him square across the chest and throwing
him into one of the female spellcasters.  Then I moved, a blur of motion,
evading streaks of light that exploded against the ground as I speared
another staffman in the gut, using the solid staff in my hands to pitchfork
him up and over my head.
     "That will do!"  Damn.  I turned, on guard, only to find that
Carlina had apparently used her magick to pull V to her as I'd been
fighting.  She was holding the weakly struggling senshi against her, a
small but wickedly sharp blade at V's throat.  "Throw down your
weapon."
     A stand-off.  With a hostage.  I wondered how Carlina would
react if she knew that the Black Rose had done the exact same thing with
one of the White Order's priestesses not so long ago.  And that hadn't
worked out very well for me, either.
     Damn it.
     "If you hurt her," I said, tossing the staff aside, "I will make you
pay."
     "It appears that you are involved in this as well," Carlina said,
giving me a thin smile.  "Bind him."
     I braced myself for the impact of one of those capture wards,
glaring at Carlina as though to burn a hole through her head with me
eyes.  If I could dodge it at just the right moment, I could ...
     "All right, everybody freeze!"
     Huh?
     The plaza had cleared out very quickly when the trouble had
started, but suddenly we weren't alone.  A tall man wearing dark pants
and a matching jacket was striding across the smooth stone mosaic that
surrounded the fountain, something at his belt glittering in the lights.  A
badge?
     Yeah.  And I recognised the nice policeman, too.
     Mamoru.
     "You there!  Drop the knife!"
     "Officer, I am Vestra Carlina Val Cassanda of the White Order
..."
     "And I'm a police officer, and I said drop the damned knife.
Now!"  Carlina did not look happy at that.
     "Now, see here," she began haughtily.  Mamoru stopped, pulled back
his jacket to reveal his gun.  It was a very nasty looking weapon, and
while he didn't draw it from its holster, I sensed that he had her undivided
attention.
     "I will not ask again, Vestra.  The knife.  NOW."
     Slowly, she lowered the blade from V's throat, and I could finally
breathe easy.
     "What is your name?" Carlina demanded coldly.
     "That's DC Chiba," a voice came from behind me.  "And I'm DS
Otohari, Saeni Metro Operations Group, Fifty-five Division.  Are you in
the habit of ignoring orders from the police, Vestra?"
     He walked past me, and I saw a lean, angular face, glasses, and a
blonde ponytail.  It was him, the cop from the river.  What the hell?  Why
was he here with Mamoru?
     "We are engaged in temple operations, Detective Sergeant,"
Carlina informed him.  None of her people had relinquished their
weapons, and I wondered how this was going to go down.  "We of the
Shining Crusade are always pleased to work in conjunction with local
law enforcement."
     "Well, that's right nice of you," Otohari said with a charming
smile.  "Isn't that right nice of them, Chiba?"
     "It would be," Mamoru said, "if they were working in
conjunction with us.  But I don't recall anyone issuing warrants for the
apprehension of the sailor senshi."
     "This woman is a dangerous agent of the Dark Lady's Sisterhood,"
Carlina stated, clearly not pleased by Mamoru's attitude.
     "It's not currently a crime to be affiliated with the Dark Lady, is
it, Chiba?"
     "No, Sarge," Mamoru said, his cold blue eyes fixed on Carlina.
"I'm pretty sure we can't arrest folks for that.  Even if there was some
proof of the allegation, which I haven't seen."
     "This woman is in league with the people who attacked our
temple," Carlina gritted.  "And brought great harm to the White Order.  I
am empowered by the Lady Lumine herself to bring those people to
justice.  If you have a quarrel with my methods, I suggest you ask your
superiors to take it up with her."
     "Not this time, Vestra," Mamoru said.  I noticed movement out
of the corner of my eye.  The other Inquisitors were moving ever so
slightly to flank the two cops.  Oh, boy.  This had the potential to get
ugly.  How far was Carlina going to push this?
     "Must I remind you, Detective, that we have been given broad latitude
to act by the Council of Temples?" Carlina announced, her voice
dropping to sub-zero temperatures.  For a young woman she certainly
wielded authority well.  "With full approval of the palace.  You may feel
free to take this matter up with the appropriate authorities at those 
levels,
gentlemen.  I am certain that your superiors would be pleased to hear of
your efforts to impede my apprehension of such a dangerous individual.
Especially given the current climate, and all the obvious dangers facing
this city."
     Ouch.  First, she deliberately neglects any mention of their ranks,
then she threatens them with reprisals from higher ups, and finishes by
suggesting that they are neglecting their duties.  I wouldn't have been
happy in their place.  Yusaku Otohari struck me as a fairly laid-back
guy, but I was pretty sure Mamoru was going to burst a blood vessel.
     "Now, you'll have to excuse us," Carlina concluded.
     "I'm pretty sure that I don't," Mamoru said, moving to block her
path.
     "You," Carlina said into the ensuing silence, "are making a very
large mistake, Mister Chiba."
     "Detective Constable," he corrected her with a mirthless smile.
"First Class."
     "Get used to Mister," she suggested coldly.  The others were moving
closer to her now, and I knew that if we didn't do something fast, this was
going to reach the point where blood would have to be spilled.  And I
couldn't be sure that Mamoru would do that.  He was a cop, after all.  He
had rules to follow.
     Me, not so much.
     "The Inquisition," I said loudly, "is not taking V."
     "Inquisition?"  Otohari sounded very intrigued by that.  Maybe
he hadn't known.
     "What a ridiculous thing to say," Carlina scoffed, but the look
she gave me would have dropped a lesser man in his tracks.  "There is no
such branch of the White Order."
     "I was with a bunch of Sailor Senshi the other day, and these
Inquisitors assaulted them," I went on.  "They even broke into a house on
Regal Heights.  Um, 11479.  I bet they didn't have a warrant for that,
either."
     "Well, well," Mamoru said, as if he hadn't been one of the people
to break into said house first.  Carlina's peaches and cream complexion
had gone white with suppressed rage.  I was willing to bet she was
wondering how I knew all this.  Well, let her wonder.
     "This is utter nonsense!" Carlina blurted.
     "If you want to arrest us, go ahead," I continued, walking slowly
towards the Vestra.  "I'm happy to cooperate with the police.  But I'm
not going to let this bunch of zealots kidnap V."  Everybody was
watching me as I moved with careful deliberation to stand in front of
Carlina.  Her eyes were blazing with anger, but she didn't raise the knife
again, and I didn't intend to give her a reason to.
     "Give her to me," I said softly.  My jaw was tight, but I resisted the
urge to yell.  Restraint wasn't my best thing, but Mamoru and his partner
were putting it on the line here, and I was willing to try it their way.
     "Take her," Carlina hissed, her voice too low for the others to
hear.  "We still have your spy, something you could never prove to
anyone.  If you want her, you'll have to come to us.  If this goes official,
she will simply vanish."
     Crap.  Well, one thing at a time.  She released V and I reached
out, not at all pleased by the dazed look in the blonde's eyes.  At the last
minute I moved my hand to grab her shoulders; back in the tunnels, Mars
had advised against touching the ward that had snared Mercury.  Well,
no problem.  Summoning up my chi, I slashed downward with my hand
in one smooth motion.  I'd moved so quickly that the ward had flared and
fallen away before the Vestra and her people had time to react.  I liked
the dumbstruck look in Carlina's eyes as she watched the damaged ward
fall to the ground.  I got the distinct impression that she hadn't thought I
could break it.
     Wordlessly I scooped V up into my arms and carried her over to
Mamoru.  Carlina snapped an order, and her people moved to collect the
guys I'd cold-cocked.  Carlina gave me a cold stare.  I took it, sharpened
it up, and sent it right back.
     "I intend to take this matter to the highest levels," she informed
Detective Sergeant Otohari grimly.  "Were I you, I would keep those two
in custody.  If they cannot be found when the Lady Lumine finishes her
complaint to Her Majesty, you two will be fortunate if you are merely
fired."
     "I'll take it under advisement," Otohari assured her with bland
good humour.  "You folks have a nice day now."
     I stood there as the Inquisitors formed up and moved off, the
outer rank turning to keep their eyes on us as though we might attack at
any moment.  Hell, maybe they thought we would.
     I was seriously tempted.
     "Yu," Mamoru said in a low, terse voice.  "We shouldn't just let
them go."
     "Easy, partner."
     "They have no right to act above the law!"
     "No, they don't.  But we've both seen temple power override right in
the past."  Otohari pulled his glasses off and wiped the lenses with a
small, soft cloth produced from his overcoat pocket.  He smiled at me,
put them back on.  "And she wasn't wrong, that snippy little Vestra. The
palace has indulged the temples in their pursuit of revenge ... I mean,
justice, against their rivals far more often than either of us would 
like.  A
lot of important people have turned a blind eye to a lot of goings on in
return for cooperation from the temple hierarchy.  That's politics.  And
now more than ever, we need everybody on side.  Just between us, I
assume that the Vestra didn't make up this link between the young lady
and the Sisterhood?"  This last was directed at me.
     "There was a misunderstanding," I admitted.  "Her people
jumped to conclusions and attacked the senshi.  Which is funny, since the
Sisterhood did the same thing, assuming the senshi were working with
the White Order."
     "Nice," Otohari sighed.  V stirred, snuggling deeper into my
arms, her head pillowed on my shoulder.  The scent of her was very
distracting, and I fought to concentrate on what Otohari was saying.
"Look, if there's even a little truth to the rumours of what happened at
the White Order's temple the other night, then this isn't over.  The Lady
Lumine will go straight to the Queen herself and ask that you be turned
over to them for questioning."
     "We can't let that happen," Mamoru said.  "You heard what he
said.  Inquisitors."  He walked over and picked V's cap up off the
ground, dusted it off, and gave it to me.  I nodded my thanks.
     "Yeah," Otohari said slowly.  "I heard.  In which case, you
should watch your back, young man.  Accommodating the temples is one
thing, but this black bag stuff is something else entirely.  Nobody's ever
been able to prove that the temples have enforcement arms that operate in
what could at best be described as gray areas."
     "But you believe," I said.
     "We've seen enough to worry," Mamoru told me.  "Ask any cop.
Nobody talks about it officially, but the whispers are there."
     "The temples are as bad as the freaking gangs, I swear," Otohari
sighed.  "But they keep it in the family, so to speak.  And too many
people in the city are members of various temples.  People like crown
attorneys, judges, ministers of the Crown."
     "Are you going to arrest us, then?" I asked. 
     "No," Otohari said with a grin.  "I know that your lovely friend
has an ace up her sleeve.  She personally saved Her Majesty's life."
     I knew, because I'd been there.  I couldn't tell him that, though.
     "Modesty forbids me from talking about it," V mumbled into my
shoulder.
     "So I feel certain that Her Majesty will approach the White
Order's accusations with the appropriate skepticism."
     "It could get rough for you two, though," she said, peering out
from under tousled blonde tresses.
     "We can handle it," Mamoru assured her.
     "But it would be good if we could contact you," Otohari added.
"Our boss is sure to want a statement to cover her ass."
     "Why, Detective Sergeant," V said coquettishly.  "Are you
asking me for my phone number?"
     "What lady wouldn't want a brave, handsome policeman at her
beck and call?" her shot back with a crooked grin.  I felt my face heat up
as jealousy pricked my ego.  The two of them were flirting like I wasn't
even here. 
     "Well, I do like a man with a ponytail," she murmured.  Then I
felt her tugging on my braid.  "But Ranma's is longer," she purred, and I
flushed for an entirely different reason.
     "Hey!" I protested.
     "Size isn't everything," Otohari laughed, not stung at all by her
teasing.
     "Yu, really, now's not the time," Mamoru sighed.
     "You boys need us, leave a message at Club Kiss," V said, still
smiling impishly.  "I'll get it.  And I'll make sure MY boss lets yours
know how you saved our asses."
     "Appreciate it," Otohari said.  He moved to join Mamoru, and
V's expression turned sombre. 
     "One more thing, guys.  Because I know you're going to catch
some heat over this no matter what."  The two men paused expectantly.
"The Sisterhood is dead."
     "What?"  Otohari looked genuinely shocked.  Mamoru, of
course, was not, so it was probably lucky his partner was looking at us
and not him. 
     "It happened the night of the storm," V said.  "A trap, laid by the
vampire.  I have no proof to offer you, except my word.  The senshi saw
it happen, but we couldn't stop it.  That little tidbit ought to brighten up
the Vestra's day."
     "Damn," Otohari said, shaking his head wearily.  "Okay, thanks.
That might come in useful.  Any info on the vamp herself?"
     "No," V lied.  Yeah, nothing we could share, anyway.  "Beyond the
obvious.  We've been trying to find her, but no luck."
     "You two stay out of trouble," Mamoru said.  "Going home
might be a good idea."  I met his gaze and nodded.  That sounded good to
me.
     They walked us out of the plaza, watchful for anyone the Inquisition
might have left behind, but we spotted no one.  We parted ways, and I
found a nice dark alleyway to fade into.
     "Can you walk?" I asked V.
     "Well, I don't want to, if that answers your question," she said,
arms twined around my neck.  "I'm comfortable here."
     "Mercury recovered quicker," I pointed out.  V pouted, stuck her
tongue out, and leapt neatly from my arms to land on the wet, cracked
pavement.  I tossed her cap over, and she put it on.
     "You know, there is evidence of what happened the other night,"
I told her.
     "Yeah, but I wasn't going to tell him that we buried the dead
Sisters in the Zone," V replied.  "Let the dead rest in peace, not get dug
up by some Inquisition zealot."
     "That Vestra chick is beginning to become a problem," I
growled.  "Did you hear what she said to me?"
             "Uh-huh.  She's got Peorth, and she practically gave you an
engraved invitation to come take her back.  That's the only reason they
let this go so easy."
     "Easy?"
     "Relatively easy," V shrugged.  "If we break into the temple to
get Peorth back, then they've got us dead to rights, and out of sight of the
law to boot.  Um, we are breaking in to rescue Peorth, right?"    
     I thought about the possibility of answers, tucked away in that
temple, just waiting.  Sure it was a trap.  I'm no dummy.  But the vamp
was still out there, and if I ever wanted to risk using the technique that
had beaten Arj and Fenrir, I was going to need to know more about the
key.
     "You're damned right we are," I said.
     "Ooo, it gives me a tingle when you talk tough," V sighed.  "We
should let the others know what's going on.  But we've got a stop to
make first."

***

     "What is the meaning of this?"  Rei held very still as Yurina
pushed her way to the forefront of the group, ornate fan clutched in one
hand.  Her gaze took in Moon and then Rei, and her perfect pale skin
went dead-white.  "You.  Why have you come here?  Revenge?"
     "Yurina," Rei said gently.  "We brought someone who wants to
meet you."
     Yurina's dark eyes flicked over the princess, widened as Dasma
moved from the back of their little group.  Her full lips parted, trembled.
     "What is this?" she whispered as a ripple spread through the
assembled Maidens.  "What ... the vampire?  Treachery!  Gods DAMN
you!"
     "No!" Rei cried as Yurina snapped her fan open, eyes
shimmering with unshed tears.  "Yurina, listen ..."
     But the Black Rose was beyond listening.  As far as she was
concerned, the ceremony had been a fake, and so there was no way that
Dasma could be standing before them.  Thus, this must be a trick
engineered by Wynneth.  Understandable, in Rei's opinion, but Yurina
was about to do something very bad.
     She struck at the Dark Lady.
     Or she tried.  Dasma didn't seem to move, but suddenly Yurina's
hand was empty.  She stared at it as if not quite able to process what had
just happened, and Dasma stepped forward, closing the distance between
them.
     "Black Rose," she said, her voice low and intimate.  "I am no
phantom, come to torment you.  I am your Dark Lady, and I demand
your service."  She reached out, cupped the petite beauty's cheek, drew
her close.  The goddess's other hand came up to slip easily inside
Yurina's low-cut dress, and Rei knew it was resting on the Black Rose
tattoo there. 
     The others were frozen, as much by Dasma's powerful aura as by
their desire to believe, Rei thought.  Dasma's scent seemed to turn the
stark room's air into something more than the mundane, creating a
precious vapour that could sustain a person in a state of ecstasy, without
such frivolities as food or drink.  Yurina herself seemed dangerously
close to swooning, and Rei knew how difficult it was to render Yurina so
utterly defenceless.
     "Know me," Dasma breathed.  "In your heart, my Black Rose.
Lies and deceit have preyed upon your soul, but I know you have not
forgotten the truth.  Believe."  Dasma bent down, gently grazing
Yurina's mouth with her own, and the Black Rose sagged against her,
undone by just that fleeting kiss, the flickering fluorescent lights 
catching
gorgeous points of glimmering darkness in her intricate swirl of hair and
combs.
     "Yurina!" one of the Maidens called out.  Rei held her hand up,
although she saw she needn't have bothered.  None of the girls were
pointing weapons any longer.  They were still confused, and more than a
little frightened.  Because they wanted to believe.  They did.  But they'd
believed before, and the results had been disastrous.
     Dasma waited patiently until Yurina could stand on her own.  The
Black Rose drew in a shuddering breath, another.
     "Dark Lady," she breathed.
     And fell to her knees.
     The effect was immediate.  The others collapsed like a supple
wave of perfumed silk and long limbs and hair, bowing before their
goddess.
     "Maidens of the Rose," Dasma intoned, surveying the kneeling
girls.  "I know that you have suffered much in my absence, but your
suffering is now at an end.  Rise, that I may see you."
     They obeyed, and Rei saw that the girls were still in shock.  It
must seem like a dream to them.  Gods knew, she was still having trouble
believing it.
     "Dark Lady," Yurina murmured, all sophisticated grace once
more.  "I beg your forgiveness for not knowing you on sight.  I am
Yurina Delacatta, Black Rose of your Order.  I am shamed by the
displeasing surroundings you must endure, and I am ready to accept the
brunt of your displeasure."
     "That would be the duty of the Nightmistress, Yurina," Dasma said,
although without rancour.  "Was it not she who led the order to this
state?"
     "Dark Lady!" one of the Maidens cried out, falling once more to
her knees in a cloud of raven curls.  Bella, Rei thought.  Be careful, you
little fool.  This isn't like provoking one of the Sisters into dishing 
out a
little discipline.  "Please, the one who stands beside you is a traitor 
to the
Sisterhood!  You must not believe what she tells you!"
     "Be still, child," Dasma said, and immediately Yurina moved to draw
the goddess's attention to her.
     "Forgive Bella, Dark Lady, for her impertinence.  She only wished to
serve you faithfully."
     "I am aware of Sister Darkeyes' failures," Dasma informed them.
"She has not sought to hide them from me.  Her faith was true, but she
lacked the strength to sway her Sisters.  And I know that your
Nightmistress possessed the strength to lead, but was lead astray by our
enemy, unable to see the truth.  Sister has fought Sister, and strife has
torn apart my Order."
     The Maidens stood, hands clasped, more than one trembling
under the gaze of their goddess.  The time of reckoning had arrived for
them, and they knew it.  Dasma looked to each in turn, as though
measuring them.  Or judging them.
     "However," she said at last, her voice low, a sensual treat, "the
greatest failing was mine."
     "Dark Lady!" Yurina gasped, appearing truly distraught.  "No!
We were the ones ..."
     "Be still, my Rose," Dasma said, and although her tone was
gentle, Yurina obeyed without question.  "More than a century," the
goddess went on after a moment, sighing the words as the room seemed
to quiver like a soap bubble.  "Such a sort time to one such as I, but to
you, so very long.  On that day I fell to my sister and was sealed, and so
you were without my guidance when you needed it the most.  I cannot
judge you harshly without also judging myself, my Maidens.  For why do
I wear this emblem?"  She touched the crescent moon on her forehead
lightly with the tip of one finger.  "Why am I proud to be Fallen?"
     She stood there, her warmth pervading the space, making it seem
as opulent as Gar's penthouse had been.  Rei found herself hanging on
the cadences of Dasma's voice, every subtle rhythm resonating in her
body pleasurably. 
     "Because," she said, her soft voice carrying effortlessly.
"Because in return for your devotion, we are obligated to guide and
protect our followers.  Our duty demands this.  But our cousins forgot the
ancient covenant between us.  They judged themselves above it.  We who
rebelled against this injustice, we have never forgotten.  Even in cold,
crystal sleep, I never forgot you.  You are mine, and my enemies will pay
dearly for what they have done to you."
     More than one of the Maidens was weeping openly.  Rei
understood well; she had dreamed of this day, after all.  This was what
Saekianna and the others had put everything on the line for.  And they'd
come so close, so very close.
     "How may we serve, Dark Lady?" Yurina asked.  Her fingers
curled, trying to stroke her missing fan, and suddenly it was back in her
hand.  Yurina blinked, but otherwise showed no surprise.  She had
regained her famous composure.
     "For the moment, dear Yurina, I wish only to ensure your safety
while I investigate the forces that have beset this city more thoroughly.
Moon?"
     The princess had been watching the proceedings quietly, no doubt
feeling like an intruder.  Rei watched her come forward, the twins
amusement resonating through their link as they watched the Maidens
take in the resemblance between their goddess and the girl they'd
believed to be their enemy.
     "Maidens, this is my Deitra, daughter of my blood.  You know
her as Sailor Moon."
     The expressions on the faces of the assembled Maidens told the
story.  Shock, of course, but also a dawning horror.  They had tried to
subvert the senshi at times, and to destroy them the night of Baniesti.
And not only was the leader of the senshi not the enemy, she was blood
kin to their Dark Lady.
     "Um, hi," the princess said, waving.
     "Mistress Moon," Yurina said, bowing deeply.  "In our ignorance,
we have brought harm to you and yours.  I beg your forgiveness in the
name of the Maidens of the Rose."
     "Oh," Moon said, fidgeting slightly and shooting Rei a fleeting
glance.  "I mean, of course.  I'm sorry that we couldn't stop the
ceremony and save the others."
     "I saw," Yurina said, meeting Moon's gaze gravely.  "After the
ceremony, I tried to make my way back.  I saw you lay them to rest.
You honoured our dead, despite all we had done.  You are truly our
Dark Lady's Deitra, and we owe you a debt of gratitude."
     "As do I," Dasma said, reaching up to touch Moon's cheek.
"Thank you, Princess."
     "We all did it," Moon said, flushing.  "Together."
     "You protected my fallen Sisters," Dasma said.  "Now, I ask that
you help protect my Maidens.  Use your power to keep them safe from
the darkness that hungers for them."
     "Of course," the princess said, smiling.  "I'll be glad to."
     Oh, Usagi, Rei thought.  Jumping in with both feet again.
     "Splendid.  It will set my heart at ease, knowing that they are safe
in my absence."
     "Dark Lady, forgive my presumption, but must you leave us?"
Yurina asked, the tension in her hands where they gripped her fan the
only outward sign of her distress.  "So soon?"
     "Catastrophe lurks all around us, my Rose.  I must know more if
I am to find this vampire and end her and her foul works.  Until I can
return, be assured that you will be safe with my Deitra and your new
Nightmistress."
     It took a few seconds for that last remark to sink in, and Rei
blinked as she realised that all eyes were on her.
     "Nightmistress?" she echoed, a vertiginous wave sweeping over
her.
     "You are the only remaining Sister, Rei Darkeyes," Dasma said,
cocking her head and sending ripples through her exotic hair.  "And you
told me you wished to redeem your failure."
     "I ... I do, Dark Lady."
     "Then you may begin by seeing to what remains of my Order.  Take
them from this dismal place.  Shepherd and protect them.  Fulfill
the duties of my Nightmistress, Rei Darkeyes.  I give these girls into your
care.  I will return as soon as I am able."
     She turned and walked past Yurina, touching her lightly.  Then
she moved through the Maidens, touching each of them in turn.  "Be not
afraid, my Maidens.  You are not alone any longer."
     They smiled, gasped, shivered.  Each of them was affected deeply
by a simple touch as their goddess walked among them, blessing them
with her presence.
     Then she reached the back of the room, and turned, meeting Rei's
eyes.
     And was gone.
     There was a moment of silence as the room seemed to sigh,
weighed down by the absence of the goddess.  Then Yurina turned to Rei.
     "Nightmistress," she said, bowing gracefully.  "What is your will?"
     "Yes, Nightmistress," Moon echoed, a slight scowl tugging at her lips.
"What now?"
     A very good question.  Rei took a deep breath, felt Phobos and
Deimos stir on her shoulders.
     "Do you have transport available for everyone, Yurina?" she asked.
     "We do, Nightmistress."
     "Good.  Gather whatever belongings you managed to collect and get
ready to move everybody to more suitable surroundings.  Let me know as
soon as you are ready."
     Yurina nodded and walked to the assembled Maidens, her body
swaying seductively.  The girls, who seemed as stunned by the sudden
turn of events as their new Nightmistress, gathered quickly around her to
receive their instructions.
     "What is going on?" Moon hissed in her ear as the girls moved
around the room, packing with quiet efficiency.  There were more than a
few surreptitious glances fired their way, but Rei pretended not to notice.
Oh, this was going to be tricky.
     "Our Rei-sama just got promoted," Deimos offered cheerfully.
     "Usagi," Rei whispered.  "Please.  What am I supposed to do, say
no?"
     "Well, no, I suppose not.  But ..."
     "I owe them this much," Rei told her.  "At least.  And you already
promised to help protect them as the Dark Lady's Deitra."
     "Well, I guess so, yeah.  But what ... I mean, Nightmistress?  You?"
Clearly, the princess wasn't thrilled at Rei becoming an active Sister once
more.  Rei was more than a little worried about what would happen if the
Dark Lady decided to declare war on the White Order, something that
she was certain hadn't even occurred to Moon when she'd agreed to help.
But one thing at a time.
     "They need me, Usagi.  If the vamp finds them, they won't stand
a chance."
     "I know, you're right.  Okay, so, where are we taking them?"
     "Someplace safe, where I can keep an eye on them."
     "Gar's penthouse?"
     "Not big enough for, what, twenty-four girls?  Anyway, we don't
know where it is."
     "Well, anyplace Saekianna knew, Wynneth might know," Moon
said.  "So where do you ..."  She trailed, her eyes going wide as she
realised where the discussion was leading.
     "Usagi, there's only one place I can take them."
     "Oh, Rei.  Ami will have an EPISODE!"
     Yes, Rei thought glumly.  She probably will.
     How do I get myself into these things?

***

     "Hey."
     "Hey," Ami answered, peering over the tops of her wire-framed
glasses.  Luna lay curled in her lap, and Ami paused in her lazy
scratching of the black cat's ears as she turned to see Makoto standing in
the doorway.  "How did it go?"
     "Not great," Makoto sighed, tugging down the zipper on her
leather jumpsuit as she strode across the room and plunked her riding
gloves down on the desk, pausing to give Luna a welcoming chin scratch.
     "Yoshi's still not talking?"
     "Oh, he's talking," Makoto growled.  Ami could see the
frustration roiling in the tall girl's green eyes like thunderheads.  
"Mostly
to tell me to stay away."
     "I'm sorry," Ami sighed.  "I know that must be hard for you.
But maybe he's right.  Not only is the moon full, but it's Nemesis.  The
effect on shifters has been pretty unpredictable, at least according to the
reports I've been able to get."
     "I know," Makoto said, tossing her ponytail back with a sharp,
frustrated gesture.  "I know, I do.  You're right.  He's right.  But right
doesn't make it easier, you know?  I want to help him, Ami.  Damn it,
he's all alone!  At least the other shifters have packs to support them,
leaders to keep order.  That damned moon is riding him, and what if he
loses control?"
     "That's what he's afraid of," Ami reminded her gently.
     "I'm not.  I'm not afraid, because I know he wouldn't hurt me.  I
trust him, and he should trust me."
     "He trusts you.  More than anybody.  Just give him time."
     "Time," Makoto sighed.  "Who knows how much time we have?
This thing could last months this time.  Or longer.  So, any good news?"
     "I'm afraid not," Ami said glumly.  "My information network
has been somewhat compromised by the persistent jamming effect.  Only
certain telecommunications circuits are still active, and traffic over those
is at a crawl for the most part.  But what I have been able to find out 
isn't
especially promising."
     "Still no sign of her?"
     "None.  Which, in itself, is odd."
     "Tell me about it," Makoto grumbled, hooking a spare chair with
her foot and pulling it close so that she could drop her lanky frame 
into it.
"I kind of expected her to have started building a throne of skulls or
something on the ruins of the palace by now.  And a temple where we
could all go to worship her.  Wynneth went to a lot of trouble to bring the
Dark.  Now she can walk around whenever she wants to, so where the
hells is she?"
     "Perhaps executing that spell took all her strength," Ami
hazarded.  "But I am quite certain she'll turn up."
     "You find out anything about her?"
     "I believe so," Ami said, plucking off her glasses and nibbling
absently on the earpiece.  "Look at this."
     "What is all that?" Makoto asked, leaning in to peer at the
glowing screen of Ami's computer.
     "Well, that is poetry.  Ancient verse, dating back to the Carna
Blae."  Makoto looked at her blankly.  "That's the period in history
between the fall of the White Moon Court and the rise of the Genrous,"
Ami clarified.
     "Oh.  Sure."
     "It was a time characterised by warring states which emerged in
the wake of the fall of the Gaian Royal House to feast on the corpse of
civilisation.  Those states slowly descended into depravity and chaos, and
not much is really known of the period.  Few records survived, and
historians are far more interested in the Genrous than the world that
spawned them."
     "Don't take this wrong, Ami, but ancient history isn't really my
thing," Makoto said wryly.  "I don't really see where this is going."
     "I found some references in the few existing histories, like this one,
about a military outpost.  It was found abandoned, apparently, not long
after the fall.  What was left of the central authority sent more guards to
hold it, but they also vanished.  The entire area was sealed off, and
declared off-limits.  No further attempts were made to man the outpost."
     "Those were wild times, right?" Makoto shrugged.
     "Yes, but what's interesting is the outpost's location.  It was 
apparently
built on the ruins of the spaceport at Carnica.  And this Wynneth would
have had to reach Gaia from the moon somehow ..."
     "Huh.  Hardly proof, though."
     "We're not going to find documents saying 'Wynneth was here',
Makoto," Ami pointed out.  "This is as much an art as a science,
searching through histories and legends this old.  For instance, these
passages you were asking about are from two old poems written during
the Carna Blae.  The first is about a travelling bard that finds a town
under a strange spell.  The people, let's see here, the translation goes,
"sleepwalking through the hours of day, craving night as a sot craves the
bottle."  The tale tells how almost all the townspeople are under this
spell, with more falling to it every night.  The bard meets the daughter of
the mayor who tells him that this all started with the arrival of a strange
woman, um, "fair of skin with tresses of night, her eyes the promise of
unearthly delights."
     "At least that one rhymes."
     "Oh, quiet.  They all rhyme in the original.  Anyway, the
beautiful maiden begs our hero for help releasing the town from this
woman's spell.  He agrees, but then the mayor and his men storm in and
lock up our hero.  It's dark by the time he breaks out of his cell, and he
creeps around the town, trying to find the maiden.  He finds her in her
chambers, but he's too late.  The Lady of the Storm is there already."
     "That's the pale brunette?"
     "That's how she's referred to in the poem, yes.  He speaks of his
terror watching the maiden swoon in this woman's embrace, how her hair
is like a nest of serpents, her eyes glow with unholy light in the shadows,
and her kiss draws blood and puts the maiden under her spell.  He tries to
stop this tryst of depravity, but the woman, though slender and slight, is
inhumanly strong.  He escapes into the forest and returns days later with
the local lord and his men, but they find the town deserted, no sign of any
of the townspeople.  According to the poem, the town was abandoned and
shunned by all from that day forward."
     "Spooky," Makoto shrugged.  "But hardly proof."
     "No," Ami agreed.  "But there are similarities to our Carnica outpost
report.  And they refer to her as the Lady of the Storm."
     "She arrived during a storm, I guess.  Sense of the dramatic."
     "Maybe.  But in the old tongue, Wynneth translates to 'bringer of
storms'."
     "Huh."
     "Exactly.  The other poem is supposedly a tale related to a man in
a tavern by a decrepit old drunk.  He was once a man of means, and
brought a traveller into his home out of charity when she fell ill on the
road near his estate."
     "Let me guess."
     "Yes, the physical description fits.  At first his daughter is
delighted by the lady's company, but slowly his maids begin to fall ill,
lethargic during the day and evidencing strange behaviour.  Eventually
his daughter becomes affected as well, and he begins to suspect the
alluring beauty he has brought into his home."
     "Likes the ladies, doesn't she?"
     "Apparently.  There's the marks on the neck and ... other places,
the rising from the graves, and the beauty, wicked and debased, gloating
as she takes them man's daughter and turns her against her own father.
The poem ends with the man telling how he was allowed to flee to live
out his days suffering with the knowledge that he could do nothing to
stop her."
     "The Lady of the Storm?"
     "Her name, apparently, was Morgana."
     "Okay, I get it.  She shows up in early vampire stories."
     "Not just that," Ami said, shifting in her seat.
     "You'll love this part," Luna sighed, flicking one ear.
     "These are the earliest references I could find anywhere to
vampires or vampiric lore.  I'm almost certain that there were never any
stories of vampires during the Silver Millennium, and Setsuna backed me
up on that."
     "So she's an ancient vampire," Makoto said.  "She was telling
the truth."
     "Not just that, Makoto.  Wynneth may very well be the FIRST
vampire.  The mother of them all."
     "Holy shit," Makoto whispered as the implications sunk in.  "But
... wait.  Vampires can make other vampires.  If she was first, who made
her?"
     "I don't know.  But if she really has been around since the fall of
the White Moon, then she is far older than any vampire was ever thought
to be.  She may have powers that none of the others ever had.  There are
references throughout history that may be her, mostly folk tales and the
like.  But even when powerful clans of vampires rose to prominence, her
name never comes up.  The oldest, most powerful vampire known was
Demetias, who was thought to be nearly three thousand years old,
although that was never authenticated.  He led the vampire clans up to
the period of the Long Dark.  We know Wynneth was around then, she
attacked Hotaru's mother.  Did the others know who she was, or was she
running things from behind the scenes?"
     "I'm betting she let the others do all the dirty work," Makoto
sighed.  "That seems like her style.  Haruka and Michiru say that
Hotaru's been going squirrelly since she found out about Wynneth
claiming to be her mother.  She's got them out all the time, trying to find
the witch."
     "Everybody is trying to find her," Ami pointed out.  "And that's
one thing that puzzles me.  Wynneth skilfully manipulated the Sisterhood
into performing that ceremony for her, but she's still just one vampire, no
matter how old she is.  If she had an army of undead at her beck and call,
I'd have expected to see them by now.  She talked about being our new
dark goddess, so why haven't we seen her?  The new monsters are a
bigger problem than she is."
     "Careful what you wish for," Makoto grumbled.
     "It just doesn't make any sense.  What's she up to?"
     "Maybe you're right, she has to recover from the spell.  Or maybe
things didn't go the way they were supposed to.  Who knows?"
     Ami felt Luna tense in her lap, and the cat's ears pricked up
suddenly.
     "It's Usagi," she announced, jumping down from Ami's lap and
racing out the door.
     "Suppose we should go tell her the good news?" Ami asked.
     "You go," Makoto said, standing and extending into a luxuriant
stretch.  "I'm going to get changed."
     Makoto headed to her room as Ami went downstairs to find the
others.  The past few days had been hectic, but Wynneth's absence had
gone from puzzling to worrisome in Ami's eyes.  It had taken a great deal
of planning to bring about this new Dark.  If Wynneth really had
survived for millennia, then she was patient beyond anything they had
ever encountered short of a goddess.  And she had no doubt learned much
from the failures of the Long Dark.  They needed to stay on their guard.
     Ami swept down the long spiral stairs, heading towards the
entryway once she reached the bottom.  Even preoccupied as she was,
something didn't seem right.  It sounded like there were a lot of people
coming in.  Even if Ranma and V came back at the same time, it
wouldn't make this sort of commotion.
     "Usagi?  Rei?"
     "Ami."  Rei came through the door, and right away Ami sensed
that something was amiss.
     "Rei?  What's going on?  Who's with you?"
     Rei walked over to her and gently placed her hands on Ami's
shoulders, blocking her from going into the entryway.
     "Ami, I need you to just stay calm and keep an open mind," Rei
began.
     "It has been my experience that conversations that begin that way
go downhill really fast," Ami replied.  Now she was beginning to worry.
"Rei ..."
     "Ami, do you trust me?"
     Ami stared into those gorgeous violet eyes and started nibbling
her lower lip thoughtfully.  Events had drawn her and Rei closer than
they had ever been, and Ami knew she could trust Rei.  But for Rei to
actually ask that question, this had to be really serious.
     "Of course," she said.  "Do you trust me?"
     "I do.  And I'm about to ask you for a really huge favour."
     "Rei.  Tell me who's in the foyer."
     Rei sighed.  "Come on," she said.  "I'll introduce you."
     "Oh, look!" a voice came from beyond the arched doorway.  "A
kitty-cat!  Oh, aren't you adorable!"
     "No, he's not!" came Luna's arch reply.  "Artemis!  Get down!"
     Rei grimaced.  "That didn't take long," she muttered, leading
Ami to the foyer.  Ami stopped in the doorway, momentarily struck
speechless by the sight which greeted her.  Who were all these girls?
Why ...?
     Wait.  She recognised that one.
     Lily.
     "Ami," Usagi said.  "We ..."
     Ami grabbed Usagi with one hand, Rei with the other, and pulled
them both around the corner.  Pushing them away from the doorway, she
grabbed her henshin rod and triggered her transformation.  Keeping an
eye on the doorway, she summoned her scanner and pressed the handheld
unit up against Usagi's forehead.
     "Um, Ames?  Honey?  What's up?"
     "Checking for drugs and toxins," she said tersely.
     "We haven't been drugged," Rei sighed.  "Or brainwashed.
Look ..."
     Mercury pulled the unit from Usagi and switched it to Rei.  Both
checked out okay.
     "Ami," Rei murmured.  "They don't have anywhere else to go.
Please."
     "Wait.  You want to keep those girls here?" Mercury asked.  "After
everything that happened?  After everything they did?"
     "It's kinda complicated," Usagi told her.  "Dasma asked us to
look after them for her."
     "Dasma."
     "Yup."
     "Asked you."  Mercury stuck the scanner back on Usagi's
forehead.
     "Don't bother," Rei sighed.  "I'm sure her brainwaves barely
register."  Usagi stuck her tongue out, and Mercury shook her head.
     "Okay, am I the only one who thinks this is crazy?"
     "No," Rei admitted.  "Look, Ami, I wouldn't ask if there was
another option, but any safe houses they had were compromised when
Wynneth took Sass.  It'll only be for a little while.  Dasma knows what
happened and she is going to be hunting Wynneth.  Once the crisis is past
we can find other quarters for them."
     Mercury stared at Rei, then Usagi.  This was the last thing she
had expected to have to deal with, but both of her friends seemed totally
sincere.  She took a deep breath, let it out slowly.
     "Dasma," she said, transforming back in a blaze of light.
     "Freed by Garven d'Or," Usagi said helpfully.  "Kind of.  It's a
long story."
     "Which we'll tell you," Rei added.  "But first, I was hoping we
could put these girls in one of the unused wings, get them settled and out
of the way before the others come back ..."
     "Makoto," Ami blurted, eyes wide.
     "Her especially," Rei nodded.  "I don't ..."
     "No, she's here," Ami said.  "Upstairs."
     "She must have parked around back," Usagi groaned, slapping her
forehead.  "Damn.  Okay, Rei, you take care of this.  I'll go talk to her."
     "Maybe I should do it," Rei said.  "This is my responsibility."
     "Yeah, I think maybe I'll do it," Usagi said firmly.  "Just do
something about them, okay?"  She spun and raced for the stairs, leaving
Ami and Rei alone.
     "I'm sorry Ami.  If I could have called ahead ..."
     "Rei, I do trust you.  Okay?  This isn't about trusting you, it's
about trusting them."  Ami kept her voice low, aware that there was a
conversation taking place in the foyer, but that at least there wasn't any
shouting yet.
     "They'll do what I tell them, Ami.  I'll keep them in line."
     "Why would they listen to you?  Because you were right about
the ceremony?"
     Rei toyed with her hair, fidgeting as she shot a quick look towards
the doorway.  "Actually, the Dark Lady made me the new
Nightmistress."
     "She.  You.  Did.  What?  Holy hells, woman!"
     "There's a whole story ..."
     "I'll just bet."  Ami shook her head.  "Okay.  At least for tonight.
But we're going to have to sit down, all of us.  Rei, have you thought
about how Makoto's going to take this?  Having Lily here?"
     "Believe me, I have.  But first things first, okay?"  Rei moved
closer, cupping Ami's face lightly.  "Thank you, Ami.  I mean it."
     "Don't thank me yet," Ami sighed, pulling away.  "We might all
end up regretting this."
     She brushed by Rei and walked back out into the foyer.  Luna
and Artemis had returned to human form, and Luna had planted herself
firmly between the pale-haired man and the crowd of lovely Maidens.
     "We're not shifters," she said coldly.  "Not that it's any of your
business."
     "Luna," Ami said, "could you do me a favour and go up to my
room?  There's a ring of keys in the nightstand and I'm going to need
them."
     "Gladly."  Sniffing haughtily, she grabbed Artemis by the arm
and towed him away.
     "You must be our hostess," someone said, and Ami turned to see
Lily bowing to her.  Or Yurina.  Whatever her name was.  "On behalf of
the Maidens of the Rose, I offer you our gratitude."
     "You should be grateful to Rei," Ami shot back.  "I'm only doing
this because she asked me to."
     "I understand your anger," Yurina murmured, inclining her head
while snapping open a dark, lacquered fan and fluttering it languorously.
     "Do you?" Ami asked tightly.  "You attacked us repeatedly and
without provocation, attacked Makoto at her home, Minako at her job,
unleashed a succubus on our princess and her boyfriend.  You've brought
a lot of misery to me and my friends, so excuse me if I have trouble
welcoming you with open arms."
     "We have all suffered from this vampire's schemes, Lady Ami,"
Yurina said, her tone soft.  The girls who stood behind her looked tense,
tired, and even scared.  Ami knew they'd been through a lot, and she felt
a twinge of sympathy, but the fact remained that she resented their
presence in her home.
     "Makoto suffered from your actions long before that."  Yurina
froze, and Ami saw that her words had hit home.  Strangely, that
revelation gave her no satisfaction.  "She's my friend, and you hurt her."
     "I am sorry.  If I could change what happened, I would."
Yurina's gaze was sombre.  If Ami had sensed any attempt to charm her
or manipulate her feelings, she'd have kicked the lot of them out right
then and there.  It seemed as though Yurina was being sincere, however,
and although that was of little comfort at this late date, it was at least
something.
     "I believe you," Ami said at last.  Rei, she noted, was remaining
silent.  "This vampire used you, I know that.  If you're going to be
staying here I expect you to use all your resources to help us fight her."
     "Yes," Yurina breathed, and there was fire in her dark eyes.
"Anything you require.  Believe me, Lady Ami, we desire nothing more
than the death of this creature.  Once we locate her, our Dark Lady will
make her pay."
     "All right."  Luna had returned, and Ami took the keys from her.
"You can stay in the east wing.  It's been unused for a while, so it won't
be too welcoming."
     "That won't be a problem," Rei assured her.  "The Maidens are
used to operating as domestic staff."
     Maids, Ami thought.  Of course.  Minako would love this.
     "Great.  Everybody follow me."
     And I hope, she thought grimly, that I'm not making a huge
mistake.

***
     "Mako-chan!"
     Makoto grinned as Usagi ran up to her, throwing her arms around
the taller girl's shoulders.
     "Welcome home, Princess.  How did things go?"
     "Oh, you know," Usagi told her.  "Fighting monsters.  Been
there, done that."
     "Uh-huh."
     "You?"
     "The same.  Plus stubborn werewolf problems.  Did you talk to
Ami about the vamp?"
     "Not yet."  Usagi rubbed her palm lightly over Makoto's
shoulder.  "How's the arm?"
     "I told you, it's one hundred percent.  See?"  Makoto caught
Usagi around the waist and easily hoisted the girl into the air, evoking a
fit of giggles from the blonde senshi.
     "Okay, okay, I get it!  Put me down!"  Makoto set her lightly on
her feet, and Usagi sighed. 
     "All right, Usagi, let's have it."
     "What?"  Instantly, Usagi's eyes went wide and innocent, and
Makoto gave her a crooked smile.
     "Don't give me those eyes, girl.  What's up?  You're jittery as
Ami after a pot of coffee."
     "Huh.  Guess I can't fool you," Usagi said with exaggerated
casualness.  "You're a sharp one, Mako-chan.  I was a fool to even ..."
     "Usagi."
     "Um, yeah."  Usagi reached out and slipped her arms around
Makoto's waist.  Since the taller girl was wearing a cropped t-shirt,
Usagi's arms ended up resting warmly against bare skin.  "Listen, I have
some news."
     Uh-oh. 
     "What's wrong?"  Makoto tensed, and Usagi squeezed her
gently.
     "Nothing!  Well ... actually, it's kind of complicated.  Mako-
chan, you know I love you, right?  And I'd never want to do anything
that would cause you pain."
     "Okay, now I'm really worried.  Spill it, Usagi.  What's going
on?"  Makoto grabbed the lithe girl by the shoulders and pushed her
away gently, holding her gaze as she willed her princess to come clean.
"What did you do?"
     "It's not what I did, exact ... well, I did do part of it, actually 
..."
     "Usagi Tsukino!  Talk!"
     "We met Dasma."
     Makoto tried to process that.  "Huh?" she managed at last.
     "Me and Rei."
     "Dasma."
     "Uh-huh."
     "The actual Dasma."
     "And Banri.  She was there, too.  And Garven d'Or."
     "Usagi," Makoto said gently, "have you been drinking those little
bottles of chocolate liqueur again?"
     "No," Usagi sighed, as though she dearly wished she had been.
"No, this is really real, Mako-chan.  Garven d'Or went to Osiren Black
and used some weird thing to free Dasma when the vamp's spell went off.
She's free."
     "Holy shit.  I mean ... this is good news, isn't it?"  Makoto stared
at Usagi, who seemed to be choosing her words carefully.  "Usagi?
Okay, seriously, tell me what you did."
     "Oh, relax.  I didn't do anything stup ... well, craz ... okay, here's
the thing.  Remember when I promised Banri I'd help protect the
Sisterhood?"
     "Yes, I remember it vividly," Makoto muttered.  "And?"
     "Well, she remembered, too.  And Dasma, well, she's pleased as
punch to meet me.  We're related and all ..."
     "Didn't forget that, either.  But Usagi, the Sisterhood is gone."
     "Right.  But there are still a few members of Dasma's Order that
survived."
     Makoto stared at her for a moment, taking in Usagi's too-bright
smile as the implication sank in.
     "The Maidens," she said slowly.  "Dasma wants you to protect
them."
     "Uh-huh."
     "Well, if she's free, why doesn't she do it?  I mean, she's their
goddess, after all!"
     "She's trying to figure out what's going on with Wynneth and
everything.  So she's gone ... well, somewhere.  I'm not sure where.  But
she named me as her Deitra, so I'm officially part of the family, I guess."
     Makoto opened her mouth.  Paused.  Closed it.  Opened it again.
Nope, still nothing.  Her mental wheels spun for a few moments, looking
for traction.
     "But what does that mean, exactly?" Makoto asked, enunciating
each word deliberately.  "I mean, we knew you were her direct
descendant.  But acknowledging it like that, does that make you part of
her Order or something?"
     "Huh.  I never thought about that.  It was all a little quick."
     "Don't you think we SHOULD be thinking about this?"
     "Yeah, well, there are other things that, um ..."  Usagi's smile had
become so fixed and wide that it began to appear distinctly grimace-like.
     "There's more?" Makoto blurted.
     A little," Usagi confirmed, smiling sweetly.  "Okay, I want you
to promise to stay calm, okay?"
     "I started out calm.  I'm getting less calm as this conversation
goes on.  So tell me, already."
     "'Kay.  So Dasma wants us to protect the Maidens for her while she's
gone, which means looking after them, making sure they're safe from the
vamp, that kind of thing."
     "So we have to go looking for them?"
     "Kindasorta no.  See, we already found them.  And they're
downstairs."
     Makoto felt her pulse in her temples, and as she breathed in her
whole body shuddered.  She let her breath out slowly, aware of Usagi's
eyes on her.
     "Lily's with them."
     "Yurina.  But yes, she is.  Mako-chan, I know how unfair it is to
ask this, but I made a promise.  I have to protect them from the vampire.
But you're my friend, and I love you, and I don't want to hurt you.
Please, Mako-chan, tell me what I can do.  Please?"
     Makoto looked into those clear, sky-blue eyes and knew that
Usagi wasn't trying to charm her into accepting her decision.  That
wasn't Usagi's way, not with something this serious.  No, Usagi just
wanted to know how she could make this right for everybody.  She
couldn't, of course, not even Usagi could do that.  But she was going to
try.
     And Makoto loved her for that.  In fact, loving Usagi meant
accepting that she'd always try to save people, even if they didn't deserve
it. 
     "I want to see her."
     "Her?"  Usagi blinked rapidly, trying to process Makoto's words.
"You mean ... YURINA?  Oh, Mako-chan, I don't ..."
     "Usagi."  Makoto took the girl by the shoulders, held her as the
torrent of words quickly trailed off.  "Do you trust me?"
     "Wh ... of course I do," Usagi protested.  "Mako-chan ..."
     "I won't hurt her.  Okay?  I swear.  I know you made a promise, and
I'm not going to make you betray it."  Makoto squeezed those slender
shoulders, willing her princess to understand, to believe.  "But I'm not
going to hide from her, either.  I deserve a chance to look that woman in
the eye."
     "Okay," Usagi said.  She was studying Makoto's face, no doubt
looking for that famous temper, but all she found was determination.
"Okay, I get it.  Come on, let's get this over with."
     Usagi led her downstairs and into the main hall.  The double
doors that led into one of the unused wings were standing open, and from
the sound of voices, the people they were looking for were in there.
Makoto strode across the tiled floor, only to be brought up short when
Artemis appeared in the doorway.
     "Oh!  Makoto!  Hey!"  He grinned, obviously trying to think of a
way to prevent her from going inside, and she sighed.
     "I know they're in there, Artemis.  It's okay."
     "Okay?" he repeated, smile evaporating.  "I'm trying to think of
some way that this ends up okay, and I'm coming up blank."
     "Artemis, relax," Usagi said.  "She promised."
     "Well, all right."  Reluctantly, he stood aside, and Makoto
pushed through the doors.  Now that the moment was at hand she waited
for the white hot flash of anger, for the same heat that had risen so
dramatically when she'd first seen Lily in the alley.  But it didn't come,
and somehow she wasn't surprised.  She'd been over this again and again
since that moment, both in her own mind and with her friends.
     Now?  Now it just felt strangely ... inevitable.  As though she'd
known this moment would arrive, and had grown weary waiting for it..
     There were girls bustling around the hall in here, opening doors
and carrying bundles of cloth, probably drop cloths from the furniture.
The first one saw her and stopped, pale blue eyes flicking from Makoto
to Usagi.
     "Mistress Usagi?" she asked, her voice high and sweet.
     "We're looking for Yurina and Rei," Usagi told her.
     "They're in the lounge at the end of the hall, second floor," the girl
replied politely.  She glanced at Makoto again as the pair moved on, and
she was hardly the only one.  Makoto wondered if these girls knew who
she was, of her shared history with their Black Rose.  They already
looked nervous.  It was hard to tell if her presence was increasing the
tense mood or not. 
     Well, tough for them.
     She found them right where the Maiden had said they'd be.  Rei
and Ami stood together, Ami with her arms crossed, not looking happy as
Rei spoke to her in low tones.  Yurina was close by, giving orders to one
of her girls.
     Yurina.  She'd always be Lily to Makoto.  She wore a black
dress, low-cut and slinky, and her long hair was bound into intricate
swirls of pure glossy black, held by delicate jewelled combs.  Makoto
could almost see the girl she'd befriended, wearing third-hand clothes and
washing dishes in companionable squalor.
     Yeah.  It was still her.  It would always be her.  She crossed the 
room,
pulse speeding up a bit, her eyes fixed on her target.  Dimly, she was
aware of Ami's reaction, of Rei turning, but that didn't really matter.
Even as Usagi moved to intercept Rei, Makoto had only one thing on her
mind.
     Lily.
     The girl Lily was talking to glanced up to see Makoto
approaching, and her reaction made the Black Rose turn.
     To find Makoto standing over her.
     Makoto wasn't sure if all activity in the room stopped, or she just
stopped hearing it.  Either way, the two of them might as well have been
alone here, just the two of them.  Lily's expression, in the unguarded
moment before a placid mask slammed over it, told Makoto everything
she needed to know.
     Yoshi had been right.
     "Well," Makoto said softly.  "This is awkward."
     "Makoto."  The girl started to raise her fan, but stopped halfway.
Probably, Makoto reflected, because her hand was shaking, ever so
slightly.  Those full breasts rose as Lily took a deep breath, and those
perfect red lips parted.  "I ..."
     "I'm tired," Makoto said, her voice still soft as she stared down at
the face she'd once dreamed of turning to a bloody pulp with her bare
fists.
     "What?"  Shock had robbed the girl of her sensual grace, and
Makoto was glad.
     "I'm tired," Makoto repeated, skin prickling at her proximity to
the other girl.  "I'm tired of carrying my hatred of you around.  It's
gotten heavy over the years, Lily.  Really damned heavy."
     "My name ..." the petite beauty began hesitantly.
     "Save it."  Yurina's mouth shut quickly.  "You know, I talked to
Yoshi after that little incident in the alley.  About you.  Just like old
times, Lily.  And do you know what he told me?"
     "I can imagine."  Her voice was low, tight.  The room was
definitely silent now, everybody watching the drama unfold. Well, let
them.
     "Oh, I doubt that very much.  He told me to put my hate down, Lily.
Yoshi told me to just put it down and let it go."
     Makoto smiled mirthlessly as Yurina's dark eyes went wide.
     "Oh, yeah," she breathed.  "See, Yoshi's learned a lot about
revenge over the years.  Me, too.  Those guys who did the deed, they're
dead.  All of them.  Between us, we did for the lot, Lily.  That's a lot of
fucking revenge.  But those kids are still dead."
     Makoto paused.  She had all the time in the world, and she
wanted to make sure she got this right.  She wasn't as articulate as Ami
or Rei, and she wanted Lily to get the full effect of what she was saying,
so she took a breath, marshalling her thoughts.  Lily stood, frozen, and it
was somehow gratifying.  Lily'd been a girl who'd always known what to
say in any situation.
     But, apparently, not this one.
     "He saw the look in your eyes, Lily.  In that alley.  Yoshi, he told
me you looked guilty.  He figures that if you can feel that, then maybe
you've been paying for what you did."
     "I never intended for anyone to get hurt."  Yurina's voice was
small but steady, and she didn't look away.  Makoto gave her points for
that.
     "I guess I believe that, Lily, because otherwise we wouldn't be
having this conversation.  But you betrayed my trust, and that you
intended from the beginning.  That's on you, Lily.  No one else.  That
was you then, and it's you now.  Sending people to my home, drugging
Minako at her club and Setsuna in Shadow.  That's the kind of person
you are."
     Yurina's bare shoulders betrayed her tension, fan clutched in both
hands.  "I had my reasons for what I did," the girl said tightly.
     "I don't care about your reasons," Makoto said curtly.  "These
are my friends, Lily, and you are only in this house because my princess
promised to protect you.  And she keeps her promises.  If you betray her
trust, I will make you regret it."
     "I understand."
     "Excellent.  Then stay out of my way, and everything will be
fine."
     Makoto turned.  The others were watching her with varying
expressions.  Usagi seemed relieved that things hadn't gotten ugly.  Rei?
Well, her expression was hard to read.  Makoto hoped she wasn't going
to get pissy about this.  The last thing she wanted was to start feuding
with Rei again.
     "Yurina," Rei said.  "Take the girls and see to those rooms.  I
want them spotless and ready within an hour, and I want a complete
inventory of what you managed to bring with you."
     "Of course, Nightmistress."  Makoto turned, but Yurina was
already leaving, gently shooing the few Maidens in the room ahead of
her.  Makoto turned back, giving Rei a quizzical stare, running over what
she'd just heard.  No, that couldn't be right.
     "What did she just call you?" Makoto asked at last.
     "Dasma made her the new Nightmistress," Usagi said with a
weak smile.  "I didn't want to overload you with stuff all at once ..."
     "Right," Makoto said, pinching the bridge of her nose.  "Does
anyone know what an embolism feels like?  Because I think I'm having
one right now."
     "Makoto."  Rei was standing there, and Makoto was suddenly
just weary.
     "I don't want to hear it.  Okay?  I just don't."
     "I know," Rei said.  "But I'm sorry for putting you in this
position.  If there was another way, believe me, I'd take it.  And I know
you had a right to say what you did to Yurina ..."
     "But?" Makoto asked.
     "They aren't monsters, Makoto.  Three days ago, they watched
their friends, lovers, comrades killed in front of their eyes.  And they
know that they played a part in that."
     "So they feel my pain, huh?"
     "I think Yoshi was right about her," Rei said, stepping in close
and peering up into Makoto's eyes.  "I think it does prey on her, what
happened.  I know that's not much, but it's something.  She's suffering
like you were, Makoto.  She was manipulated, and it cost her."
     "I didn't ask for that, Rei.  I don't take any pleasure in it."
     "I know," Rei breathed.  "Because that's not you."  She took
Makoto's hand, and Makoto let her.  "I don't expect you to forgive her,
or even feel for her.  All I ask is that you remember that these girls 
are all
suffering something you remember well.  Give them some space."
     "Not a problem," Makoto muttered.  "Look, Rei, don't take this the
wrong way, but this whole thing is just wonky.  We should be hunting
this vamp, not babysitting Dasma's lot.  Couldn't you just tell her you
didn't want to be Nightmistress?"
     "Oh, Mako-chan, I don't think that would have been a good
idea," Usagi winced.  "Her temper is, well, kind of like yours."
     "It's not an easy thing to say no to a goddess," Rei added, raking
her hair back with her fingers.  "Believe it or not, this is the best I 
could
hope for."
     "The best?"
     "I abandoned the Dark Lady's service, remember.  She's giving me a
chance to redeem myself here.  As a goddess, she isn't exactly required to
grant me due process.  I pledged myself to her service, then I left it.  She
could pass whatever judgement she pleased."
     A chill skittered across the back of Makoto's neck at that.  "I hadn't
thought of that."
    "Well, get used to thinking of things like that," Rei told her.
"Because, for better or worse, we've gotten ourselves involved in the
affairs of a goddess.  From here on in, all bets are off."

***

     Coming home to find seven strange cars parked outside generated
some speculation on Minako's part.  Me, I was still preoccupied with
thoughts of Peorth and the answers she held.  I needed a plan, and so far I
didn't have one.  Well, not much of one.  Full frontal assault wasn't so
much a plan, more of a tactic.
     "New cars for everybody," Minako mused as we went inside.
"Part of an incentive program.  Kill a vamp, win a car.  Those are some
pretty posh rides."
     "Maybe they're Haruka's," I muttered.
     "Girl does like her cars," Minako admitted.  "But even she can't
drive seven at once.  Where is everybody?  Honey, I'm home!"
     I noticed absently that the big double doors at the far side of the
foyer were open.  I guessed they went to a part of the house that had been
closed off; the place was bloody huge, and even the one wing we used
was too big for us. 
     "I guess they're in there," I said.
     "Wonder what's up?"  Minako headed over, and I trailed along.
We stepped through the doors, and I nearly ran into Minako when she
stopped sort.  I opened my mouth to ask what was wrong, then noticed
what she was looking at.
     Girls.  Strange girls, bustling around the hallway and generating
a low buzz of excitement.
     "Are we in the wrong semi-abandoned mansion in the middle of
nowhere?" I asked.
     "No," Minako replied.  "We're not.  So who are they?"
     A girl came out of the room closest to us and hesitated, then
bowed in our direction.
     "Welcome home," she said.  She was carrying a plastic pail of
water and wearing a maid outfit that looked like something Minako
would have come up with, a little black number trimmed with white that
straddled the line between severe and sultry.  And I hadn't even known
there was a line between those two things.
     That wasn't what caught my attention, though.  She was very
pretty, with gray eyes and long hair, blonde on top but black underneath,
creating an interesting effect at the ends.  Narrow waisted and long
limbed, she moved like a dancer.  I watched the light glint off a tiny stud
in her pert nose and wondered why she looked so familiar.
     "Who the hells are you?" Minako asked as I suddenly realised
where I'd seen the girl before.
     "Hey," I said.  "Didn't you try to kill me a few nights ago?"
     "I don't believe so," the girl replied with a pretty frown. 
     "What?" Minako asked.  "Ranma, what are you ...?"
     "Danni?  What are you doing?"  Another girl joined us, dressed
in a similar outfit.  She was shorter than Danni, but definitely 
bustier, and
her long mane of dark curls cascaded wildly around her slender form.
Danni hadn't been in the tunnels, but Curls had.  "Oh.  More friends of
Mistress Usagi's?"
     "You," Minako gaped.  "I know you.  You're a Maiden."
     "We all are," Danni confirmed cheerfully.
     "You were in the tunnels," Curls said to me, her pouty lips
pursed in thought.  "Sister Meredith and Sister Jacyinthe showed us."
     "Wait," Minako said loudly.  "Just wait.  What in the hells are
you doing here?"
     "Ah, Minako Aino.  And friend."  That voice I knew.
     "Yurina," I said.  The Black Rose walked up to us as if she had
every right to be here, bowing politely.  Minako looked from one girl to
the next, confusion rapidly shading towards anger.
     "Correct, young man.  You seem confused by our presence here.
I take it you have not yet spoken with Mistress Usagi."
     "Mistress Usagi?" Minako asked.  "Since when is she Mistress Usagi
to you?"
     "Since our Dark Lady has acknowledged her as her Deitra," Yurina
informed us.
     "Who what huh?" Minako blurted.
     "Wait," I said.  "Dark Lady?  Acknowledge?  But the ceremony was
fake!"
     "And what do you know of that matter?" Yurina asked me, not
exactly coldly, but with a precise formality that managed to communicate
displeasure without being offensive.
     "I was there," I frowned.  Man, I'd had her in my arms.  How
could ...?
     Oh.  Right.
     "Hang on," I said, taking the pail from Danni and checking the
water.  Cold.  I splashed myself, water and magick rippling across my
skin.
     "You," Yurina breathed.
     "Oh!" Danni exclaimed.  "Now I know who you are!"
     "Hold it," Minako said.
     "As do I," Yurina said, her entire demeanour changing subtly. 
     "I said HOLD IT."  Minako held her hand up, shaking her head.
"This is crazy.  Why are you here?"
     "I brought them."  We turned to find Rei standing behind us,
hands on her hips as she regarded the scene.
     "You brought them," Minako repeated slowly.
     "It's a long story," Rei said with the air of someone who'd had to
say the exact same thing several times in a short span of time.
     "I bet."
     "You," Yurina said softly.  "She said something about a disguise
spell in the tunnels, but I hadn't imagined it would be so utterly perfect."
     "It wasn't a disguise," I sighed.  "I can change from boy to girl."
     "Really?" Curls asked, her eyes lighting up
     "You are the one called Ranko, yes?" Yurina prompted.
     "It's Ranma, actually," I told her.
     "Ranma."  She was standing very close, and she didn't have to
tilt her head back to look into my eyes now.  "You ran the gauntlet at the
island, but even though we used lethal force, you did not kill any of my
Maidens."
     "She was almost gentle," Danni said with a slow smile.  "I barely
had a bruise when I woke up."
     "And you saved my life," Yurina went on, long sooty lashes
lowering alluringly.  "When we gave you no reason to show mercy.
Such speed.  And daring."
     "Not fast enough," I said, my throat tightening at the memory.
"That girl, the one you tried to save.  Sarah.  I'm sorry I wasn't fast
enough to save her, too."
     Yurina paused, her demeanour shifting again, that supple
flirtatiousness becoming frank appraisal.
     "You are, aren't you?" she breathed.  "Despite everything we put
you through, you grieve for her loss."
     "I've lost enough people to monsters in my life," I told her stiffly.
"She didn't deserve that."
     "You are a rare spirit, Ranma, rare indeed.  And you have earned
the gratitude of the Maidens.  And my personal gratitude, as well."  Her
lips parted slightly and she held my gaze, but I flushed like she'd touched
me.  It wasn't magick, at least I didn't think so, but she'd managed to
make her meaning very, very clear with just her intonation and subtle
body language.
     "I'm certain Ranma appreciates the sentiment, Yurina," Rei said.
"But I need him and Minako now, and you girls have work to do."
     "Of course, Nightmistress," Yurina said smoothly, holding my
gaze a few moments more.  "Come Danni, Bella.  Let us show our
hostess our skills."
     With one last knee-weakening smile, she turned and led the other
two away.  I was fairly sure that I was sweating, and was momentarily
grateful for the water on my skin.  I turned, only to be brought up short
by Minako's glare.
     "Looks like you made a new friend," she said archly.