Secrets
Chapter 4 - Night Stalkers

    "A fine dinner," Thetan said, placing his chopsticks down on his bowl.
    "Are you sure you won't have some more?" Jeneth asked encouragingly.
    "No, thank you."
    "I'll wager it's more than he usually eats in a week, up in his temple," K'Theelm said. They all laughed.
    Jeneth stood up. "I'll put away what needs to be refrigerated. I think K'Theelm is eager to show you the results of his work."
    "And I'm eager to see it."
    Jeneth smiled and carefully picked the big tray containing the remains of their dinner up off the dining room table.
    "Don't bother with the rest, I'll clean it up later," K'Theelm said as he and Thetan also got up.
    "Thanks. If you'll excuse me I'll be out on the balcony. It should be a lovely sunset tonight, no offense intended but I'd much rather watch that than look over your shoulder at your infernal machines," Jeneth said, placing the tray on the kitchen counter.
    "Well, it won't be anything you haven't already seen," K'Theelm replied. He led Thetan to his room.
    "So you two have reviewed the results already?" Thetan asked.
    "Yes, earlier today." K'Theelm entered his room and switched on the ceiling light. Thetan followed him in. In sharp contrast to the rest of the apartment he shared with Jeneth, K'Theelm's own room was what could politely be described as busy. One wall was floor to ceiling shelves overflowing with books and stacked magazines. Another wall was dominated by a huge bulletin board on which had been pinned various overlapping newspaper clippings, scrawled notes, software reference cards and the like. Against a third wall was a functional wide steel desk, with a smaller set of shelves resting on it. Only the sliding closet door and the wall around the window was relatively clear. To his credit, K'Theelm left enough of the bamboo mat floor free of cardboard boxes full of Heaven knows what that it was not awkward to move about. There was probably even ample room for him to lay out his futon each night. Thetan knew K'Theelm well enough to be sure that there really was a precise order behind what looked like utter chaos.
    K'Theelm sat down in one of the little office chairs, and invited Thetan to sit in the other. Thetan carefully lowered his bulk onto the fragile looking thing, hoping he wouldn't damage the tatami mats underneath. He was even heavier than his size would suggest, his muscle and bone built up by means both physical and otherwise.
    The screen of the computer monitor sitting on the desk was displaying pictures of two planets, slowly rotating. One was Earth, the other their own home planet. Thetan had seen this before, understood that it was called a Screen Saver, though what exactly it was saving K'Theelm had never made clear.
    "I see you've dispensed with the typewriter," Thetan noted.
    "Keyboard," K'Theelm corrected him. "Since Jeneth says she's afraid to touch the computer, I'm the only one using it."
    From underneath the desk K'Theelm pulled out the thing which had made the keyboard superfluous. It was a metal band with a hinge that let it split apart. K'Theelm closed the band around his left wrist and locked it in place. A wire trailed from the band down below the desk. On a previous occasion K'Theelm had showed Thetan what the wire led to, a tangled mass of wires and circuit boards that acted as what K'Theelm called an interface between his symbiont and the personal computer that stood upright on the floor under the desk. Somehow, it read electromagnetic signals that K'Theelm's symbiont sent pulsing through his body, and translated it into commands that could control the Earth computer. It had taken him months to perfect.
    The screen saver image on the screen dissolved, to be replaced by what K'Theelm referred to as a desktop. The image was divided into rectangular sections, each containing rows of tiny symbols. Each symbol had a name attached in small text, designating its function. As Thetan watched, the image of a little arrow moved around the screen, no doubt controlled by signals K'Theelm was sending through his symbiont. One of the symbols suddenly flickered and expanded to fill the screen.
    "My symbiont did most of the analysis," K'Theelm explained as he worked. "I'm simply using a graphics program to display the results that I transferred to the Earth computer." The mostly blank screen was suddenly filled by what Thetan recognized as a map of the grounds around the temple which had been destroyed. As K'Theelm spoke, the little arrow, what Thetan had heard him refer to as a cursor, moved around the map, indicating particular places. "Over here, there was a definite signature of spatial distortion, quite recent. Also over here."
    "Teleportation?"
    "Almost certainly. It's small enough that it would have to be at most two or three man sized beings. Certainly not a warp capable vehicle. That means one or more beings with teleportation as a natural or induced ability."
    "Interesting ..." Thetan said, prompting his friend to shift his gaze from the screen and look at him. "The police investigators were telling us to keep an eye out for two perpetrators, who they described as a young man of medium build and a short, slim young woman. Supposedly this was based on an eyewitness at another incident, just a glimpse of them at a distance."
    "Two people would fit what evidence I found. Perhaps one to teleport them in, and the other to attack the temple."
    "You think the attack on the temple was also by a person with some natural power?"
    "Yes. Look here." K'Theelm shifted his attention back to the screen. "A very powerful psionic attack was directed against the lifeforce that was suspended in and around the temple building. It was directed from a single point, right here. The destruction of the building and grounds was simply a side effect of extracting that lifeforce."
    "Would it really cause that much physical damage, just extracting the lifeforce from its resting place?"
    "The lifeforce was strengthened and secured over a period of centuries. As to why this happens at certain holy sites ... that question is outside my domain. At any rate, it was extracted in a matter of minutes. One would not expect it to go gently."
    Thetan thought about that for a moment. "Just how powerful would these creatures have to be, to do this?"
    "Personal teleportation, pulling deep-seated life energy out of an ancient holy place? They would have to be immensely powerful, at least close to what one would expect of an Avatar."
    Thetan raised an eyebrow. K'Theelm shook his head. "I don't know if it could be one of the local Avatars. We know virtually nothing about them, other than my own idle speculation."
    Thetan knew what K'Theelm was referring to, his speculation that the legendary Sailor Senshi were in fact the Avatars. "I find it inconceivable that an Avatar would do such a thing," Thetan said gravely.
    "Unless they had been corrupted by Galaxia."
    "We have always assumed that the local Avatars defeated her. Perhaps one or more of them was corrupted by her first, and is still at large."
    "That's as good an explanation as any. Even if we knew whether it was true, it wouldn't tell us anything useful about these creatures."
    Thetan smiled. "Quite right." K'Theelm had no use for data that didn't tell him something practical. Which was what made him a natural Engineer. "Do you think it would be worth examining some of the other sites?"
    "Probably not. This site was the freshest, and by now the residual energy even there will be fading away. As for physical evidence, we probably couldn't find anything the local police forces have not."
    Which was precious little, Thetan thought. "Then for now it looks like we've learned everything we can. Thank you K'Theelm, this was excellent work."
    K'Theelm nodded. Thetan could see the unspoken question in his expression. *What now?* Thetan wished he had an answer. No point dwelling on that now. "Perhaps we could go rejoin Jeneth."
    "You go ahead, I want to finish up one or two things here and go clean up in the other room. I'll join you later."
    "Very well. See you soon." Thetan got up and went out to the living room whose sliding glass doors led out to the balcony. He could see Jeneth seated in one of the chairs around the little round table there, facing away from him, watching the sunset. Thetan stood there for a moment and let his mind drift. K'Theelm and Jeneth had shared this apartment since he had joined his temple five years ago. He had taken this as a sign that they were growing closer. But as it had turned out, their closeness seemed to be like that of siblings, and would almost certainly remain that way. Thetan felt some regret over that. His own vows, both those of his original order and of his new adopted one, precluded his taking a mate, so he had always thought his two friends would make what seemed to be the only reasonable choice. Taking a mate from among the Earthlings would involve the awkward matter of revealing their true origins ... and of course, their true forms. So far, neither of them was showing any inclination of treading that path.
    Thetan slid open the door, stepped out onto the balcony and closed it shut behind him. Jeneth turned her head and greeted him with a warm smile. "That didn't take much time."
    "As always, our Engineer does an outstanding job of distilling the facts to the bare essentials."
    "Well, you still missed the sunset."
    Indeed, there was just a tiny, red sliver of the sun still visible at the horizon. It would probably be gone in less than a minute. Thetan sat down across the table from Jeneth, in another chair that faced the magnificent view of the city presented by the high balcony. The delicate black steel railing did little to obscure the view. Lights were starting to become visible down below as twilight slowly descended. Thetan noticed what Jeneth was holding. "Are you still examining that?"
    "Not really." She turned it about in her hands. It was the head of a small obsidian statue, one of those which had been destroyed with the temple. A jagged edge marked where the neck had sheared off, and chips were taken out of it all over. It was barely recognizable. "I was just thinking about what happened there, somehow it seemed natural to have this with me."
    "K'Theelm told me what he found," Thetan said.
    Jeneth didn't need any further prompting. "I'm afraid I can't add much. I saw the same thing that you did. The life energy held in that holy place has been taken away or destroyed. The only thing I could see more clearly than you was the pain, the agony of the lifeforce being uprooted like that. Of course a pool of energy like that has no mind of its own, but still ... " she shook her head. "Whatever did that, must have been capable of feeling the effects of what it was doing. It would have felt just like killing something by inches, like slowly crushing its soul. And yet they did it."
    "And may very well do it again."
    "K'Theelm told me how powerful these beings must be."
    Thetan could hear the hints of anxiety in Jeneth's voice. "Jeneth, I have no intention of putting you in danger."
    Jeneth shook her head. "You mistake me, Thetan. Yes, I am frightened at the thought of facing these beings. They may even be some of Galaxia's twisted Avatars, the same ones that destroyed our world. But if you feel it is our duty to confront them, I will follow you without hesitation."
    Thetan had mixed feelings at hearing this. "Jeneth, it pains me that I must ask this of you, and of K'Theelm. We had told ourselves that we are done with the Avatar Wars. But I don't know what else to do. The Earthmen seem to be out of their element. They can't even seem to grasp that they are dealing with beings who can warp reality with their minds. It's like they simply cannot accept the idea. We may be all there is to stop them."
    "We hardly know more than the Earthmen do," Jeneth reminded him. "We have no idea why they are doing these things."
    "I don't think these are acts of simple malevolence or hatred. These attacks have been carefully planned to be quick and efficient, avoiding contact with the local inhabitants. There is purpose behind this, of that much I am sure."
    "Perhaps it is time we once again consider trying to contact the local Avatars," Jeneth said hesitantly.
    Thetan had expected her to suggest that. "Yes, we know that at least one of them must yet live." The power that had drawn them to this world still lit up this city like a beacon, as strong as ever. The elusive Avatar to whom they and everyone else on this world owed their lives. It could be none other.
    Thetan felt a sudden unease. His eyes shifted this way and that. It felt something like his Warrior's sixth sense, warning him of a threat. But this was something different. More like hearing a distant scream.
    His eyes met Jeneth's. She nodded in understanding. They were both feeling it. Jeneth stood up, and walked over to the railing, resting her hands on it. She looked out over the city, its buildings now dark shadows under the dim twilight. "I've felt something like this before," she said softly, still scanning the horizon. "On at least two of the nights where holy sites were ravaged."
    "You never told me this," Thetan said, standing and going to join her.
    "I wasn't sure. This one is stronger ... no, nearer." She turned to face him. "Thetan, I think another holy place is coming under attack right now. Nearby." She pointed to the northwest. "Somewhere out there."
    Thetan made his decision on the spot. He turned, took two long strides to the door and slid it open. K'Theelm was in the kitchen, putting things away. "K'Theelm, Jeneth has detected another attack. I want you to take me there."
    K'Theelm froze in surprise for just a heartbeat. Then he just nodded, put down what he was holding and walked into the living room. Thetan moved for the door, but K'Theelm waved him back to the balcony. "It's quicker to fly straight out."
    "We risk-"
    "Too dark, nobody will see."
    He was probably right, if they went out cloaked then in this light they would be essentially invisible. K'Theelm dropped his glamour, reverting to his true appearance as he shunted power to his symbiont in preparation for flight. Thetan did likewise, preparing himself for battle. Even when alone, they tended to keep their glamours activated. It was a good habit to maintain.
    When Thetan stepped out onto the balcony, he noticed that Jeneth had dropped her glamour as well. "Jeneth-"
    "I can pinpoint the spot more closely as we approach."
    "I can-"
    "Not as well as I can."
    She seemed prepared to stand her ground, and he didn't have time to argue. Besides, she was right. "K'Theelm, take us north west."
    "Yes, sir." As K'Theelm's symbiont enveloped the three of them in a shimmering sphere of energy, Thetan mused how long it had been since K'Theelm had addressed him formally like this. Not since the day of Galaxia's defeat, probably. Faced with a coming confrontation, they had quickly slipped back into old habits.
    The feeling of weightlessness came, and they slowly rose up and over the balcony railing. They picked up speed rapidly as they flew out across the city. Thetan fought a slight feeling of vertigo. *Out of practice. I've gotten soft.* But he could see and feel his battle aura come into being, rising to the level of a slow burn. Yes, old habits died hard. And K'Theelm must have been keeping himself prepared as well, he was giving them a fast, smooth ride.
    "Left by one point of the compass," Jeneth said. K'Theelm complied without responding. Thetan glanced at the healer. K'Theelm's barrier protected them from most of the effect of their passage through the air, but even so they were buffeted by a fairly stiff breeze. Like all of them, the healer tended to go more or less horizontal when in flight, to minimize resistance to the breeze that set her long hair streaming behind her. It also made it easier for her to scan the ground below them.
    She pointed down. "Over there, the slight rise to the left of the apartment tower."
    "Got it," K'Theelm responded. He took them down, vectoring straight in on the temple that Thetan could also see now. It was quite dark, but not enough that Thetan could not still make it out quite well. It was a small Buddhist temple sitting on the top of a low hill, surrounded by trees.
    "Spirits ... !" Jeneth breathed.
    The temple building looked like it was being demolished. Tiles were being ripped off the roof, and pieces of the sliding panels around its perimeter, the white rice paper in the panes long since shredded, were breaking away. The pieces were being whipped around the building along with dust and gravel from the surrounding grounds, as if it were trapped in an immense cyclone. It seemed like there should have been more noise, but there was just a gentle whisper of wind, a low rumble and muted sounds of breaking timbers.
    But this was probably not what Jeneth had reacted to. Thetan felt it now too, as if the Earth itself were screaming in agony.
    Thetan was the first to spot them. "I see two people on the grounds, just in front of the temple building."
    "I see them," K'Theelm acknowledged.
    Thetan debated dropping Jeneth off first. But unless they took her further away, she was probably safest near him anyway. "Bring us down ten meters behind them, then withdraw the cloak. Have your shield at the ready. Everybody stay close."
    "Understood," they both said. K'Theelm sent them plummeting straight down now, giving them just enough time to get their feet under them. It didn't look like he was giving himself enough room to slow them down. Thetan's stomach did a flip as they were brought to an abrupt halt just a couple of meters above the ground.
    To K'Theelm's credit, he did not falter in his task of lowering them to the ground, even when the building exploded.
    It didn't exactly explode, it was more like every piece of wood, every tile, every stone in the foundation suddenly broke into pieces. Again, there was not nearly as much noise as there should have been. Instead, there was suddenly a flash of light. Or rather countless lights. A swarm of multi-coloured motes of light shot up out of the collapsing building. They swirled about madly like a swarm of angry bees, but quickly their motion became calmer. They drifted down, coming together into a tighter formation.
    The screaming in Thetan's head had suddenly stopped. That silence was more stunning than the relative silence with which the building fell down into a cloud of dust.
    Thetan was momentarily startled to have ground under his feet and a returning sensation of weight, so intent had he been on the horrible spectacle before him. He recovered in a heartbeat, directing his attention at the two people before him. As the energy sphere around them withdrew, his vision of them became even clearer. They matched the description he had heard from one of the other sites, a man of medium height and build, and a short, slim young woman. They were dressed in the casual denim slacks and T-shirts so popular among young people here. They looked just like any of the thousands of young couples who might have been walking about the city enjoying the summer evening.
    Except that this petite young woman was calmly gathering the life force of the destroyed temple in between her outstretched hands.
    Thetan strode forward and was about to shout a challenge when the young man abruptly spun about and dropped into a crouch. Thetan wondered what had warned the man, his steps had been careful, noiseless ones. He got his first good look at the man. He was a slim, well muscled young Asian man. His unruly mop of hair seemed lighter than it should have been. His handsome face showed alarm, but no sign of panic. The alarm was quickly giving way to wonder and bewilderment. Without their glamours, Thetan and his two friends were clearly not human, even to a casual glance.
    His companion also turned around now. She gasped at sight of the newcomers. The bright kaleidoscope of light held between her hands wavered slightly, but she held it in place. Thetan only spared her a quick glance. She looked even younger than he had supposed. She just stared at him with wide eyed shock.
    So they were apparently unused to seeing extraterrestrials. Whatever powers they had, they were undoubtedly Earthlings, they would be confused by the appearance of these alien beings. Well and good, time to press his advantage. The young man was probably the greatest threat, if for no other reason than that his hands were free. Thetan decided to address himself to that one. He stood in place and fixed the man with an icy stare. "I am Thetan of the Warrior Caste. I have witnessed your crime. You have defiled a holy place. You will answer for that in due course. Right now, you will return the life energy of this temple to its rightful place."
    The young man gave no answer, just stared at him. His eyes shifted, he looked distracted. No doubt also sizing up Thetan's companions, who would look equally strange to him.
    Thetan was about to repeat his demand when his sixth sense tickled. He spun around to shout a warning, but it was too late. Another man had already grabbed K'Theelm's neck from behind. The Engineer convulsed, his eyes glazed over and he started to fall. Jeneth shrieked and sidestepped away. She would have sensed the psionic attack just as Thetan now did. Thetan's battle aura flashed and crackled as he prepared to blast the attacker.
    Acting on pure instinct, Thetan spun around and threw up a psionic shield just on time to deflect the orange-red tongue of flame that the first man had thrown at him. It splashed against the barrier, sent him staggering back. *Strong. Won't be able to deflect many of those.* He could only spare his companions a quick glance. The attacker was nowhere in sight. Couldn't have moved that fast, must have teleported or cloaked. Jeneth was already kneeling over the comatose K'Theelm, examining him. She should have been watching out for the other attacker. There wasn't exactly time to suggest that right now.
    The next attack was two fireballs in quick succession. Thetan's shield held. He was gathering his ki for a counterattack when the man spread out his arms and suddenly he and his companion disappeared behind a wall of flame. Thetan kept his place in front of his companions, kept his shield at the ready. It could be an illusion through which a new attack would come. He reached out with his sixth sense, trying to locate the other attacker. Nothing. He was debating shooting a force blast through the flame barrier, blind. If those people had any sense they would have shifted position by now, but ...
    The barrier abruptly disappeared. There was nothing on the other side but the collapsed temple. They were gone.
    Thetan turned back to his companions. Jeneth had put K'Theelm on his back. She was kneeling over his head, his face cradled in her hands. His eyes were closed now, and Thetan could see him breathing. "How is he?"
    "Just unconscious. It was a powerful psionic attack. His symbiont protected him, there won't be any permanent damage. But he won't wake up for hours." Her words were clinical, but she couldn't hide the distress in her voice. She was hunched over K'Theelm, Thetan couldn't see her face. It sounded like she was probably crying. He could hardly blame her, K'Theelm was like a brother to her and he could have been killed. They all could have. Thetan cursed himself. He had *known* there could easily be a third enemy, but he had dropped them down here like some over anxious greenhorn.
    There would be plenty of time for self recrimination later. "Can he be moved?"
    "Yes."
    "The local authorities could be here any minute, we should move him out of here."
    "I saw a side entrance to the grounds on the way down, perhaps we should use that."
    Well, at least somebody was doing a good job of looking ahead, Thetan thought bitterly. He bent down, and easily picked K'Theelm up in his arms. Jeneth led him down a path through the line of trees to where she thought there was a gate. It was locked. Thetan put K'Theelm down long enough to force the lock, then carried him out onto the street beyond.
    By the time they found a little park a couple of blocks away, they heard sirens approaching the temple behind them. Somebody had taken note of the fireworks.
    Thetan set K'Theelm down on the ground under a tree in a dark section of the park. "How are we to get him home?" Jeneth asked, sitting down beside him.
    Thetan considered this. "Jeneth, I understand you have some minimal rapport with his symbiont, do you think you could coax it into activating his glamour?"
    "Yes, I think so."
    "Then I can go call a taxi cab. We'll explain to the driver that our friend has overindulged in drink, and we are taking him home." And if he didn't believe that, Thetan could easily make him believe it.
    Jeneth laid her hands over K'Theelm's head again. It was several minutes before the glamour reasserted itself, making him look human again. His human guise appeared to be sleeping peacefully.
    "Are you okay?" Thetan asked, noting that Jeneth was shaking slightly.
    "Yes. It was difficult, the symbiont is still agitated from the attack."
    "Then I'll let you rest for a few minutes. I saw a phone box a block back, we can take him back there."
    "That reminds me." Jeneth reached into a back pocket of K'Theelm's trousers and drew out a wallet. Thetan frowned, wondering what she was up to. That is, until she found and removed a telephone card. "It's a good thing he always carries this." She looked at him, and her smile faded. "Thetan, is something wrong?"
    "Not really, I was just thinking how much better a job of planning ahead you've been doing. Tonight I've behaved no better than a reckless child."
    Jeneth shook her head. "Thetan, you know that's not true. We saw an opportunity to oppose a force of chaos, and we took the risk. Nothing more."
    "But the risk was not mine alone."
    "K'Theelm and I took the same oaths."
    True enough. Each caste had its own set of oaths, its own set of obligations which was pressed upon anyone who chose to enter. But the one oath they all had in common was to fight the forces of chaos, whatever form they may take.
    "Well, if we're going to uphold our oath, no more halfway measures," Thetan said. "From here on, we are fully dedicating ourselves to hunting down these criminals. We'll show them as little mercy as they showed us."
    A little later, Jeneth suggested they start moving. Thetan carried K'Theelm over to the phone box, and Jeneth made the call. As it turned out, the cab driver didn't really care why a monk and a pretty American woman were carrying some drunk skinny guy around late at night. It's a strange world, shit happens.

    *****

    Usagi looked up from her reading assignment. It sounded like Mamoru had made some sound. He had stopped typing on his laptop. His expression was odd. "Mamo-chan, is something wrong?"
    He looked at her and shook his head. "No, I just had this odd feeling for a moment. Like something was wrong. Anyway, it's gone." He shrugged. "Maybe somebody was talking about me."
    "You're supposed to sneeze when that happens," Usagi quipped.
    Mamoru smiled. "Okay then, maybe my subconscious is trying to remind me of something I've forgotten."
    "Well, you did forget to get me my ice cream at the store today."
    "I'm afraid not. We agreed, one bucket per week. Not my fault you ate it all in two days."
    "Oh well, it was worth a try." Usagi closed the book she was reading, rolled onto her back and stretched out cat-like on the carpet, uttering a low sigh. "Oh, my brain hurts, it just can't hold any more."
    "Well, you've been at it for three hours, I'm impressed. I had that reading assignment too, It's pretty tough."
    "Does that mean you won't scold me if I take a break?"
    "Well ... I could probably do with a break too, so why not."
    Usagi smiled sweetly. "Why thank you, Senpai." Mamoru chuckled at the running joke. Usagi was taking many of the same liberal arts courses Mamoru had when he was in university, so inevitably he ended up giving her help and advice, just like any good upperclassman would.
    Usagi crawled over to where Mamoru was sitting cross-legged in front of the coffee table. She gave him a kiss and snuggled up next to him, peering down at his laptop. "So what'cha doing?"
    "I'm starting to type up my new article, the one on recent terrorist acts in Japan."
    "I thought you didn't want to do that one."
    "Well, they really want it so the money's good. I've managed to convince them I should change the slant a bit, talk more about incidents further in the past. It means more research work, but I think it'll be worth it."
    Usagi remembered him talking about this before. He felt uncomfortable writing on that subject, it seemed too much like jumping on the millennial doom bandwagon. "Well, try not to make it a doom and gloom piece, okay? There's too much of that."
    "Couldn't agree more." Mamoru touched a key to save his file, then folded the laptop screen down. He leaned back against the couch behind him, and Usagi settled into a more comfortable position next to him. He wrapped his arm around her and she sighed contentedly. Yes, she really had needed this break. She closed her eyes and just let the music wash over her for a few moments. Some time after she had moved in they had settled on the subsets of each other's CD collections that was acceptable to both. Her techno pop and his classics had mostly been pushed aside in favour of her new age and his jazz. It was one of the former playing right now.
    "Is this calendar what I think it is?" Usagi heard Mamoru ask. She opened her eyes to see him fingering a calendar that was lying on the coffee table.
    "Yep. I was looking at it today, I think I've settled on a date."
    "Again?"
    She poked him and he grunted. "Smart aleck. Open it up to October."
    He slid the calendar closer, turned over a couple of pages, then picked it up and held it for them both to see. "Hmmm ... on a hunch, I'd guess it's the day where you've drawn the little rabbit head and the top hat inside the pink heart shape."
    "Mmm Hmmm. You like it?"
    "What, the day or the drawing? Ouch! Sorry. Sure, the day is fine. It's the one that Rei suggested in the first place, after all that research you had her do."
    "Well it's important. We're going to be married for at least a thousand years, we want to start it off on a lucky day."
    "I'm all for that. Just make sure you keep this calendar around."
    "Why?"
    "So that I don't forget our thousandth anniversary."
    Usagi put on her best femme fatale look. "Mamo-chan, I am running out of spots to hit that don't hurt very much."
    Mamoru drew her closer and kissed her warmly on the forehead. He drew back and looked at her, more serious now. "So you've really decided?"
    Usagi smiled and nodded. "Yes, I'd like it to be that day."
    "Really and truly?"
    "Really and truly."
    "Really and truly and really and truly?"
    "Really and truly and really and truly."
    "Really and truly and-"
    "Mamo-chan!" She did manage to find one more spot that wouldn't really hurt ... much. They ended their fit of laughing with a long kiss.
    Mamoru pulled away slightly and took Usagi's hand. "Okay, I guess that's settled. I'll call Rei's grandfather in the morning, so he can free up all those other days at the shrine we had reserved. We'll have crossed the Rubicon then, so there'll be no getting out of it."
    "Crossed the what?"
    A minute into Mamoru's lesson on Roman history, Usagi regretted asking. "Okay, so it's the point of no return, right?"
    "Uh-huh."
    "Then I guess we'd better start getting visas and stuff for our honeymoon."
    "Well, before I call tomorrow we should decide at least one other thing."
    "What's that?"
    "Maid of honer."
    Usagi's feeling of elation at having finally announced her decision went down just a notch. In a way, this other decision had been even harder. Of course it was a no brainer figuring out who her bridesmaids would be. But to choose one among them for the position of honer ... that had been agonizing.
    "Actually, I've decided that already. I'm going to ask Rei-chan."
    Mamoru smiled. "Naturally."
    "What do you mean naturally? It was a hard decision for me!"
    "I know, Usako," Mamoru said, reaching out and gently stroking her hair. "I know it was hard. But really, your choice was inevitable."
    Usagi's indignation melted away. But she felt uneasy, they were heading into an area where they needed to tread lightly. "Why do you say that?" she asked hesitantly, trying to sound neutral.
    "Because she's in love with you."
    Usagi just stared at Mamoru. She wasn't sure what answer she was expecting, but it wasn't that. Before she could decide how to respond, Mamoru's expression relaxed. "Anyway, your decision makes mine easier. I've decided to ask Yuichirou to be the best man."
    Usagi was taken by surprise again. Thoughts of Mamoru's previous statement faded away. "Really? I thought for sure you would ask Motoki."
    "It was a tough choice for me too. I've known Motoki longer, and I probably know him better."
    "Then why?" Usagi knew that Mamoru and Yuichirou had come to know each other better over the past few years. They did all sorts of things together, had even gone on a couple of long cycling tours in the country together. But still, they weren't exactly best friends.
    "I'm pretty sure he knows about us."
    His meaning took a moment to sink in. "You mean ... do you think Rei told him?"
    "I'm not sure. He's sort of dropped hints, like there's this thing we have an understanding about, but we don't talk about it. I'm certain he at least knows about Rei being Sailor Mars, even if she hasn't told him outright."
    Usagi nodded. "I've suspected that he might. I know I should have asked Rei by now. I mean, if there's somebody else who knows our secret, we should all know about it, right? I just ..."
    "What?" Mamoru asked encouragingly.
    Usagi sighed. "I guess I was afraid of giving Rei an excuse for ending her relationship with Yuichirou."
    "Security risk?"
    "Yeah. I want nothing more than to say 'tell him', and I would if I was sure she really would do it. It would be the best thing for them, no more secrets. I mean look at Ami and Ryou. Knowing about her didn't drive him away, it brought them closer. But Rei is so stubborn, she might just do the opposite and send him away. She's so much into that stoic self- sacrifice thing. Sometimes it gets me mad."
    "Looks that way."
    Usagi blinked, realizing she had gone off on a tangent. She smiled sheepishly. "Sorry." She gave him a little peck on the cheek. "We were talking about our wedding."
    "Oh yeah, I forgot." Usagi had run out of places that wouldn't hurt much. She got a satisfying noise out of him. "That was harsh. Anyway, I sort of like the idea of having a best man who at least kind of knows who we are. It'll make it seem just a little more like a royal wedding."
    "In that case, I approve. Anything else we need to decide on tonight?"
    "Nothing in particular, why?"
    "Making all these important decisions is hard work. I'd like to do something easier right now."
    "Like what?"
    Usagi grinned. She reached over and took the little package from the table, the one she had picked up from the photo shop today. "Like deciding which of these pictures from our trip I'll be putting in our album."
    They spent a little while going through the pictures. They were mostly group shots, but Usagi had managed to get a few good candid shots. What she lacked in skill with the camera she more than made up for in good timing, she seemed to have a knack for catching people in embarrassing moments.
    The one of Setsuna had them both rolling on the floor.
    Mamoru wiped a tear from his eye, his laughing fit done with. "Heh ... whoa ... okay, how did she get so sopping wet?"
    Usagi pulled herself up against the couch, also still breathing heavily. "Well ... you see ... she didn't seem to quite understand what a dolphin show entailed. She sat in the first row."
    "So you just let her do that."
    "Hey, I was there with her, I got just as wet."
    "I'll bet you weren't in a straw hat and sarong, though."
    Usagi grinned. "Nope, I was in my swimsuit, and the camera was in a waterproof fanny pack."
    "You're evil."
    "But it was for the sake of a great shot. I take my art seriously."
    "Yeah. Can you imagine what she'd pay for the negatives?"
    Usagi sniffed. "And you say I'm evil."
    "You know, Usako, I'd be careful about pulling this sort of thing on a woman who can change the course of history any time she wants to."
    "Oh, she was a good sport about it."
    "I don't know, she looks about ready to kill somebody there."
    "A few seconds later she was laughing as hard as everybody else. Anyway, that one is definitely going into the album."
    "I wondered why this table was suddenly looking so cluttered." Mamoru reached over and picked up the big photo album. "You were planning to update the album."
    "I've already been rearranging the pictures a bit."
    "Oh?" Mamoru put the album on his lap, and let it fall back to lean against the coffee table, angling it for them both to see. He flipped open to the first page. "Well, it already looks different."
    "You know what this is, right?"
    "Hmmm, let's see ..." On the left was a blown up shot of Mamoru in the green jacket and black turtleneck he usually wore around the time they first met. On the right were four regular sized pictures, one each of Ami, Rei, Makoto and Minako. They all appeared to be from their junior high days.
    "Oh, I get it. That's the first picture you ever took of me."
    "Bingo. And those are the first pictures I ever took of Ami, Rei, Mako-chan and Minako."
    "Well, I know the story behind mine, you caught me unawares in front of the Crown arcade ... "
    "You wouldn't exactly have posed for me back then."
    "... but what about these ones?"
    Usagi pointed at the one where Ami was about to take a bite out of a hamburger. "That was a couple of days after I found out Ami was Sailor Mercury. I was so happy to find another Sailor Senshi, I really wanted to celebrate. So I took her on the Usagi special Tokyo shop-'til-you-drop tour. I knew how smart she was, I was kind of afraid she'd be stuck up and everything. But she was so sweet, she didn't even make fun of me buying only manga at the bookstore. I think Luna was pretty relieved to find her, she got along with Ami a lot better than she got along with me. I know it was mostly my fault, I feel kind of bad about it now."
    "You really were a terror then."
    "Hey, I can still be a terror when I want to be."
    "Tell me about it."
    Usagi decided to let that one slide. She pointed to a picture of Rei in her shrine maiden robes, holding the broom with which she waged her never ending battle against the leaves of Hikawa shrine. "This one was just a day before I found out that Rei was Sailor Mars."
    "Before? I thought you two had just met then, why do you have a picture of her?"
    "Well ..." Usagi could feel herself blushing. She looked down, started playing nervously with the end of one of her long pigtails that lay spilled all over the carpet. "Back then I sort of had a crush on her."
    "Now that I find hard to believe."
    "Why is that so hard to believe?" Usagi shot back. She knew she was overreacting, he really wasn't teasing her.
    "Usako, remember, I was *there* when she awoke as Sailor Mars. You two were like oil and water right from day one."
    "Well, yeah, we would fight a lot back then. But I still thought she was the most beautiful girl I'd ever seen. I still think so. I mean, now she's even more gorgeous. I guess that was why I always felt so jealous whenever she got within a mile of you."
    Mamoru nodded. "I understand, Usako."
    Usagi felt suddenly apprehensive at hearing his serious tone. "You do?"
    "Of course." Mamoru took both her hands in his own, looked intently into her eyes. "You were afraid I would take her away from you. I understand that now."
    It took a moment for the penny to drop. Usagi narrowed her eyes. "Mamo-chan, do you enjoy having me hit you?" He just grinned. "I'll take that as a yes ..." She folded her arms, turned away from him and stuck her nose up. "Which means I won't."
    "You won't?"
    "Nope." She turned back to face him. "I'll just tickle you to death." She pounced. Pinned between the sofa and the table, with the big album still sitting on his lap, he had nowhere to manoeuvre. She knew from long experience exactly where to hit.
    She stopped once he started begging for mercy. "You had enough now?"
    Mamoru just grinned and nodded, still panting.
    "Let that be a lesson to you. There are some things you just don't joke about."
    "Sorry." He was still smiling, but he sounded like he meant it. He brought the album back down off the table, where he had somehow managed to slide it while under attack. "So why don't we continue our trip down memory lane."
    Usagi took note of how Mamoru had managed to deftly change the subject again. She felt more than a little grateful. She slid next to him again, and he wrapped an arm around her. She pointed to a picture of Makoto smiling uncomfortably at the camera, and holding onto a tray on which was an exquisite cake. "That's from the first time Mako-chan invited me over to her apartment. It was a few days after we'd found out she was Sailor Jupiter. She said she'd make anything I wanted for dinner, but somehow all I could think of was cake. She made a nice dinner too, but she really went all out with the cake. I thought it was so pretty, I just had to take a picture. I wanted to take some more of her to commemorate the event. But she was a bit camera shy, so I ended up just taking a couple of pictures of her place with plants everywhere. I was really surprised. I mean, everybody had her pegged as this tomboy troublemaker. I knew the troublemaker part must be a lie, I could see how nice she really was. But then I went to her place and she had this kitchen with professional stuff right out of a TV cooking show, and all these beautiful plants, even orchids and things."
    "And her restaurant looks even greener," Mamoru said.
    "Boy, you got that right!" Usagi would swear she had spent half her parents' money just filling the place with plants. "Ami tells me she's going to be getting even more with all this money she's making. Honestly, her waiters will be spending half their time watering plants! Ami even suggested she design some sort of automated watering system for the place, can you believe that?"
    "I'll bet that got thumbs down."
    "You'd better believe it." Usagi closed her eyes, raised an index finger and recited. "'Watering plants is an act of love. You can't deny them love any more than you can deny them water,' to paraphrase."
    Mamoru chuckled. "Good impression, you're getting better."
    "Thanks. I do a passable Ami too."
    "Your Minako is still the best."
    Usagi wrinkled her nose. "Well, that's no effort at all."
    Mamoru pointed at the picture of Minako in her school uniform, mugging for the camera and flashing her trademark V for victory sign. "And that's one girl who's not camera shy."
    "I don't think I've ever gotten a candid shot of her, I swear she can smell a camera a mile away. This one was at least a couple of weeks after we'd met her, maybe longer. I guess around that time, I wasn't much into taking pictures."
    "That's understandable," Mamoru said gently.
    Usagi smiled, wanting to show him it wasn't a problem talking about it. "We actually did have a sort of party for her just a couple of days after we wasted the Starlight Tower. To welcome the newest Sailor Senshi and all. I was still upset over your having been captured by Beryl, but I more or less forced myself to go. I actually managed to have a good time, it really made me feel better. Now I wish I did have a picture from that party."
    "I had thought she was the one you had a crush on."
    "It was more like hero worship. I mean, when I found out she had really been Sailor V, I just flipped out. Having her with us, I thought now we can do anything. I think that's what kept me going, all that time when Beryl had you. And she was just so nice to me too, doing everything she could to cheer me up. Here we had just met, and she was already treating me like her oldest and dearest friend." She sniffed. "Aw jeez, there I go again." She reached up and wiped a tear away.
    Mamoru put the album up on the table. He leaned over and gave her a kiss. "Why don't we put your new pictures in there some other time?"
    She smiled at him. "Sure." She felt silly, getting worked up like this. She had actually wanted to show him the next page, where she had arranged her earliest pictures of Haruka, Michiru, Setsuna and Hotaru. But maybe this wasn't the time.
    Mamoru gently stroked her cheek. "You okay now?"
    "Uh huh. You know what I was thinking?"
    "Tell me."
    "None of them ever asked to be Senshi, maybe Pluto didn't either. But they've all given up so much of their lives for me, even died for me. I've always wished I could give something back to them. Now I finally feel like I have given something back."
    Mamoru frowned, looking puzzled. "Finally?"
    "This world that I've helped to protect, that we've all helped to protect, is finally letting them find some happiness. It's letting them all follow their dreams. It seems odd to say, but when Makoto's restaurant suddenly became a big success, I just thought that's the reason for everything we've gone through."
    "It's not odd at all, Usako." He moved his hand down to her neck and shoulder, caressing, almost massaging. It felt good. "You're right, that is the reason for everything we've endured. So that we can pursue our dreams, at least for a little while."
    *At least for a little while.* It seemed that sort of caveat was being added to everything lately. But Mamoru was kissing her again, and she just lost herself in the moment.
    He leaned back and smiled. "You about ready for bed?"
    "Mmm Hmmm. Bed sounds like a fine idea."

    *****

    "Akechi, you'll wear a hole in our carpet," Shoji said. "Why don't you sit down and finish your drink?"
    Akechi complied, sitting on the edge of the couch, barely making contact with it. He grabbed the gin and tonic Shoji had made him and tossed back what was left of it.
    "Didn't mean that literally."
    "Dammit, they were fucking *aliens*," Akechi spat, mostly to himself, not looking at Shoji.
    "Yeah, I saw."
    "Why are fucking aliens suddenly after us?"
    "We've been over this, Akechi. I haven't got a clue."
    They sat in silence while Akechi fumed. He'd practically been bouncing off the walls since they 'ported back to the apartment Shoji shared with Yui. As for Yui, she had stayed in the living room just long enough to squeeze the Soul Icon into the crystal that now stood on the mantlepiece, glowing brightly. Then she had gone to take a bath to calm herself down. Shoji had some idea what would calm Akechi down, he was just waiting for the right time to suggest it.
    "I still don't like keeping this from the Matriarch," Akechi said, glaring at him. "She may know something about them, something that would help us."
    "And what would the Matriarch know about aliens? She's not a goddess or anything, Akechi. We tell her, she'll probably just get nervous and shut us down."
    "Yeah? Well right now that sounds like a *damned* good idea to me!" Akechi said, punctuating his outburst with a finger thrust at Shoji.
    Shoji debated offering another drink, decided against it. That would just make him more argumentative. "Okay, let's review." He stood up from the oversized armchair that he and Yui could squeeze into when they wanted. He paced as he talked, thinking that might mitigate Akechi's desire to do the same. "We've got three aliens. One of them knows how to cloak and how to levitate. You saw hints of it before they landed, would have seen it earlier if you knew what to look for. So their cloak's not that good, certainly not as good as yours."
    "Mine's not a cloak, technically speaking."
    Good, he was thinking technical now. "Granted. It still works better than theirs, you got the drop on them no problem."
    "For what good it did."
    "Okay, that's the next point. At least two of them have shields. And not very good ones either."
    "Good enough. I gave that guy everything I had, his brain should have been blood porridge."
    "For all we know, it was. Just because you didn't see blood gushing out of every orifice doesn't mean he survived. We may have dropped one of them already."
    "And how many more will come next time? Maybe they were just playing for time until more of their friends could arrive. What he said suggested they're part of some big organization, a caste or something."
    "Yeah, and maybe they've got a star fleet parked behind the moon. Whatever. The solution is simple. From now on you stick close to us. Any nasties show up, Yui drops the Soul Icon and we 'port out."
    "Can she do that? Just stop cold?"
    "She's gotten a lot better control over it now. Better at masking it too. I bet next time, they won't even see it happening, whoever in hell they are."
    "Well, they sure saw it this time. Maybe they've got a surveillance network or something."
    "Could just as easily be a halfways decent sensitive. Maybe that wimpy broad is their eyes and ears. We take her out, they're deaf and dumb. Anyway, all in all they're not so shit hot. If what we saw is the best they have to offer, they're little more than a nuisance."
    "How many more of these things do you figure we need to get?"
    Shoji shrugged. "We'll just get one at a time. We go to the cave, Yui sees what she can see. She thinks we need another, we get another. We'll sit tight for at least a week, regardless. Sound good?"
    After a moment, Akechi nodded. He looked a bit calmer now. Maybe time to suggest something that he will like. Shoji walked over and sat down beside him. "You know what I think you need right now?"
    "What?"
    Shoji clapped a hand on his shoulder. "I think you need to go out on a hunt."
    The wild look flashed in Akechi's eyes. Shoji felt him shiver. Yes, it looked as if he liked that idea. He smiled. "You want me to get Yui to 'port you somewhere?"
    "No." He stood up. "Think I'll just head straight out. Could probably do with a walk afterwards."
    "That's the spirit." Shoji walked him to the door. Akechi's apartment was just a couple of kilometres away from here, after he was done with his business he could walk there easily. Would probably do him some good, work off the nervous tension.
    "Oh, and Akechi?"
    Akechi rose from doing up his shoes. "Yeah?"
    "As usual, take a bit of a walk *before*, too."
    "I know. See you later."
    Shoji winked. "Have a good one."
    He sighed and walked back to the living room. Akechi was getting a bit lazy, some of his victims where being found just a little too close to here. Ancients read the newspapers too, one of them might put two and two together. That would be all they needed. But Akechi's survival instinct was good, and discretion was his middle name. He would probably be okay.
    He plopped back down in his big easy chair and took another good gulp from his own drink. "Lord, what a day." This was the first chance he'd had to sit down and think since they 'ported back here.
    It had been damned close. He had gotten a good look at the big guy's aura. He was no spring chicken, that's for sure. If he'd decided to just cut loose instead of stop to challenge them, they would have been toast. And he was good. Knew how to use his powers. Had brought up that shield in nothing flat. In a straight out fight, Shoji had no doubt that guy would give him a run for his money. The other ones hadn't even gotten a chance to strike back, no telling what they were capable of.
    And like Akechi had repeatedly reminded him, they were *aliens*.
    Well, as long as they were careful and on their guard, worst case would be they might have to 'port out of a place and leave the Soul Icon behind. It would still be okay.
    Shoji heard the door to the bathroom open. He got up and met Yui just as she was entering the living room. She had on a fluffy bathrobe and slippers, and a towel around her hair. She smiled as he approached. But he could see that she was still a bit upset. He bent down and gave her a kiss. **Hi sweetie. Feeling better now?**
    **I guess so. Did Akechi leave?**
    **Yeah. Wanted to go hunting.**
    **Oh.**
    **Let's relax for today. We can wait until tomorrow to take the Soul Icon over to the cave.** He led her over to the big easy chair. Instead of squeezing in beside him, she sat up on his lap, wrapped her arms around his neck and rested her head against his.
    **Senpai, I was really scared.**
    **That was sort of a surprise, wasn't it?** He pulled her closer.
**You did a really good job. Got us out of there in nothing flat.**
    **Why were aliens trying to protect a temple?**
    **Who knows. Maybe they're Galactic Patrol, Esper division or something.**
    **Do you think they'll try and hunt us down?**
    **Can't. We got away clean, they haven't a clue where we are.**
    She was silent for a moment. **I hope we don't need to do this again.**
    **If we do, there are precautions we can take, to make sure we're not caught by surprise again. We can talk about that later.**
    **They're not just animals. They're like us.**
    **Maybe, maybe not. Just because they've got a bag of tricks doesn't make them like us. They didn't even try to use telepathy. They could be using spells or just some weird alien technology.**
    She moved away just enough to be able to look at him. **But they're strong. I don't want to do this again with just the three of us. I think we need help.**
    **Yui, we talked about this. If we tell the Matriarch we ran into some opposition, she'll probably tell us to cease and desist. And if we told her we'd met aliens, she'll probably insist on a mindscan to corroborate the story. That's the last thing we need.**
    **I didn't mean to tell grandma Himiko. I can talk to one of my friends.**
    **Who did you have in mind?**
    **Hitomi.**
    After taking a moment to mentally kick himself, Shoji grinned from ear to ear. **Now why didn't I think of that?**

    *****

    Minako flipped through the script until she got to her part. Typically, they had let her pick it up just a day before they were supposed to do the taping. It was just another cameo role, so there wasn't much to memorize. Still, it was annoying. She would definitely have a talk with her manager in the morning.
    It was getting darker now, so she reached over and flipped on the lamp on the bedside table. She fluffed up the big pillow she had been leaning against and got herself comfortable. For some reason she suddenly noticed the familiar bedspread. She smiled. She was probably a bit old to have a bed with a bunch of little pink hearts all over it. But they had done a photo session of her in here about a year back, and the fans had eaten it up. Even had a set of pyjamas made up that matched the bedspread. The same set she was wearing now. She looked at it and sighed. Just too adorable for words. "Yep, that's me alright."
    She picked up the script and started reading through it. She had just read through the whole thing for the third time when a white cat jumped in through the open window. "Hey, Artemis."
    "Hey, Minako." He jumped up onto the bed. "Another cameo appearance?"
    "Sunset Dreams."
    "Hey, I've even heard of it."
    "Smart aleck." It was a television drama of rural life thirty years ago. Nostalgic shows had become very popular in the past couple of years. "I would ask you to help me practice the part, but I need another female for the scene."
    "Luna's out hunting."
    Minako's eyes narrowed. "Have you two been fighting again?"
    "Nothing like that. We're a good team, but solitary hunting has its appeal too. Anyway, she prefers birds and I prefer mice, so sometimes we have to just agree to disagree."
    "Oh, ick."
    "Hey, we're predators. Deal with it." They both smiled at the running joke. Luna had moved in with them at about the same time that Usagi moved in with Mamoru. Since then, the two of them had been getting in touch with their inner felines, as it were. Minako almost never had to feed them anything. Which was just as well, since she was away often as not. Her mother hadn't been happy about the second cat, but since they had proved to be very little trouble, it was more or less working out.
    "So then what have you been up to?"
    "Just snoozing. I got woken up by something weird. Did you hear those two crows that just flew overhead?"
    "Boy, did I ever. They sounded ticked."
    "That they were. The weird part was, they were squawking about an earthquake at their temple."
    *At a temple?* Minako put down her script. "Artemis, I didn't feel any tremor."
    "Neither did ..." his voice trailed off.
    "You know which temple?"
    He named it. Minako threw off her covers, sent Artemis jumping. "Minako, wha-"
    "Hop on, we're going."
    Artemis didn't even hesitate. He was on her shoulder a second before she hopped onto the window sill. She leaped straight out, transformation wand in hand. She didn't even have to speak the words, a trick they had all learned from Pluto. By the power of her will, she transformed to Sailor Venus in midair. She rebounded off the brick fence below, and went bounding across the rooftops.
    When she started running lightly over a fence that bordered a commuter train line, Artemis, who was no longer having the wind knocked out of him by her prodigious leaps, shouted in her ear. "This isn't the quickest way."
    "It is if we hitch a ride."
    "You're not-" He was cut off by the whistle of the train that was coming up behind them. Venus had heard it as they approached the line, which had given her the idea. As it sped past them she leapt. It was still accelerating, going at only about half its top speed. So when she grabbed onto a handhold at the side of the roof it didn't quite feel like her arm had been pulled off.
    The train continued to accelerate. She turned to Artemis and grinned. "This train stops right by that temple. We'll be there in just a couple of minutes."
    Artemis just panted for a while. He looked kind of ill. "Venus, I am getting too old for this."
    "Oh, go ahead and tell me you don't love this."
    The look on his face softened. He smiled in a way she hadn't seen before. "Hey partner, you okay?" It was supposed to sound glib, but she found the question was genuine.
    "Minako, I haven't felt this alive in years."
    Minako's smile faded. "Artemis ..."
    "It's been a while since it was just you and me on the prowl." He winked. He too had tried to sound glib, but that same look was on his face, an odd mix of intensity and contentment. The look that said everything was right with the world.
    It was something they had never talked about, except as a casual joke. When Artemis had awakened her to her role as Sailor Venus, as far as they knew it had just been the two of them against the Dark Kingdom. Out of necessity, Artemis had thrown himself into the thick of the battles, as a vital extra set of eyes and ears, as an advisor, as a diversion, and sometimes even as a combatant. When she had linked up with the other Senshi, that had abruptly changed. The five Senshi could support and watch out for each other, for the most part Luna and Artemis never had to engage the enemy themselves.
    Somehow, it had never occurred to Minako that he might miss it.
    After a moment, she flashed him a wolf grin and winked back. "Yeah, it has been a long time. Too long." She reached over with her free hand and gave the fur on his head a good ruffle. Not that it did anything, the wind of their quick passage through the city was already tossing their hair all over the place.
    Artemis took a tighter grip, his claws digging into the fabric of her uniform. "So why exactly are we here, anyway?"
    "On a hunch. I figure whatever demolished those other shrines and temples we've been hearing about is doing the same to this one right now."
    "You figure we should call the others?"
    "It would be all over by the time they got here. Besides, it's just a hunch, I may be barking up a tree with no partridge in it."
    "Well, whatever the case, there's a slight flaw in your plan."
    "Flaw?"
    "This is an express train. It won't be stopping at the station you want, it goes right through."
    "That's no problem. We'll just jump off."
    "At a hundred kilometres per hour?"
    "Don't worry, just leave it to me. I'll improvise something."
    "I was afraid you'd say that."
    "Oops, looks like we're here."
    "Oh my Go-"
    Venus selected her target and leaped. In midair she conjured the Venus Love Me Chain. She took a millisecond to thank Pluto for teaching her to do this silently, it allowed her to do a really quick speed draw. And brother, she needed that right now. The chain caught the end of the streetlight post and they went sailing around it. They started executing a lovely spiral all around the post as Venus let out more of the chain and gravity angled it down. Suddenly some ancient American cartoon popped into Minako's head, and she felt compelled to sing out "Spiderman, Spiderman, Does whatever a spider can ..."
    "Minako are you cra-"
    The rest of Artemis' sentence came out as a grunt as Minako hit the ground running, letting her chain dissolve into the air. She was even running in the right direction. She grinned. *Sometimes I scare myself.* "Whoa, what a rush. You still with me partner?"
    "'A piece of him.'"
    "Huh?"
    "Nothing."
    "Heads up, we're almost there."
    Minako recognized the place, she had been here once before. It was on a lot barely big enough to contain the temple building and a small open plaza in front of it. She could see the high brick wall that enclosed the lot. It was hard to tell running at full speed with a gale force wind blowing by but she thought she heard something like a muffled explosion ahead.
    Suddenly a blizzard of colourful fireflies burst out from behind the wall, up into the twilight sky.
    "What the hell is that?" Artemis asked.
    "Let's go find out." A few more seconds and the wall was right before them. Not wanting to jump in blind, Venus decided to leap up onto the wall first.
    She took one look down into the temple grounds and thought *This must be the place.*
    To her right there was a roiling cloud of dust where the temple building used to be. The swarm of lights that had surged up into the air was now rapidly drifting down. It gathered into a smaller, tighter swarm as it approached the ground.
    It drifted straight down into the arms of a young girl standing in the middle of the plaza. Somehow, Venus understood that the girl had just stolen something vital and sacred as a human soul.
    There was a red-haired man standing beside her. Except for the fact that they had somehow just demolished a building from where they stood, the two of them looked quite normal.
    There was a ghost standing a few meters from them, to the left. Or what certainly looked like a ghost. It was a slim young woman with very pale skin and white hair, wearing a flowing white dress. There was a white dove perched on each of her shoulders. Only her tinted glasses spoiled the effect. She appeared to be casually watching the other two.
    Venus had seen enough. "Artemis, eyes open," she said softly.
    "Got it." He leaped off her shoulder and ran a couple of meters down the top of the wall.
    With her eyes and ears in place, Venus was ready. She leaped off the wall and landed in the plaza just a few meters from the couple who were standing together. "Hold it right there!" They started at the sound of her voice. The young girl holding the portable light show between her hands took a step back. She looked frightened. The man stepped in front of her, dropped down to a crouch, watching her warily. Venus spared just a quick glance at the ghost lady. She regarded Venus with mild surprise. Her doves appeared a bit agitated now, but she just stood in place.
    "I am Sailor Venus," she announced. "You just destroyed a holy place for the last time. Whatever you just took from it, you'll put it back right now if you want to live."
    They just stood there. Maybe a demonstration was required. A Crescent Beam past his left ear, perhaps?
    "Behind you!"
    Venus was in the air before Artemis even finished shouting. Her leap took her right back onto the wall. Almost. She staggered for a moment, regained her balance. There was a man standing right where she had been.
*Where the hell did he come from?* She locked eyes with the man ... and a shiver went down her spine. She had seen that look in other eyes. The eyes of demons consumed with a madness that could only be quenched with blood.
    As if on some signal, the man backed away from her, towards the other two. The ghost lady was also converging on the couple. Still, none of them had said anything. The girl holding their prize certainly wasn't moving to comply with Venus' demand.
    "I warned you," she said in a clear voice. She brought one arm up and the Venus Love Me Chain once again spiralled around her. She sent it coiling at the man with the wild eyes. Him in particular she wanted to take out of action right now.
    A fireball cut through her chain, incinerating it.
    Venus threw up her arms in front of her. Running into the chain had dispersed the fireball, nothing but a hot wind blew by her. The red-haired man had another fireball held at the ready in one hand, but made no move to use it. She was gearing up to retaliate with the Love And Beauty Shock, when movement caught her eyes slightly to the left. The Ghost Lady's doves had left her and were flying straight at Venus.
    Except, they were no longer doves.
    As they flew at her they grew and transformed. They shrieked hideously, displaying rows of teeth along their grotesquely oversized beaks. Their eyes glowed red and their feet were growing into great shining claws. Their wingspan was now that of a large hawk, and still growing.
    "They're temple guardians!" Artemis shouted.
    *Temple guardians?* It was the term Artemis used to describe guardian spirits that would watch over holy places in animal form. Like Rei's two crows, Phobos and Deimos.
    Venus didn't have time to think. She conjured another Love Me Chain and sent it whipping out at the creatures. It connected with both of them, knocking them to the side. They shrieked in agony. They barely cleared the wall, but they did not go down. Far from it, they were already wheeling about to come in for another pass. No choice, she had to end this now. "Love and Beauty Shock!" She whipped her arm around behind her, casting the shimmering golden ball of energy out at them. Something made her deflect it at the last moment so that it only dealt them a glancing blow. But it was enough. They were knocked high in the air, straight over her head and back onto the temple grounds. They fell to the ground, limp as rag dolls.
    The grounds were deserted.
    "They all teleported out," Artemis explained.
    "Damn." She leaped down to where the two creatures had landed. Before her very eyes, they were shrinking, turning back into doves. They looked much the worse for wear. Artemis came padding along beside her. "What was that stuff about temple guardians?" She asked.
    "These two called out just before they started to transform. I recognized the voices."
    "You *recognized* them?"
    "Sure. I'm on a first name basis with most of the temple guardians in Tokyo, I'll have you know."
    "Great. So what were they saying?"
    "'Kill.'"
    Venus sighed. "Great company you keep."
    "They weren't under their own control. That woman all in white must have done something to them."
    "Well, they look to be in pretty rough shape. Damn, I should have called for backup after all. Mars or Saturn might be able to do something for them. Maybe I can still-"
    "Venus, to your left."
    Venus spun about, her power at the ready but held in check. There had been urgency in Artemis' tone, but no alarm. Potential threat, not immediate.
    Venus' first thought was to wonder how these three people had just appeared out of thin air. Her second thought was to wonder what planet they were from.
    The big man had slate grey skin with a pronounced sheen. He looked like a statue. It was his eyes she noticed right away, inky pools with no whites at all. There was nothing else she could put her finger on right now, but his face was somehow ... wrong. Her gut told her she was not looking at one of her own species. Incongruously, he was dressed as a buddhist monk.
    He raised his hand and spoke with a voice that was soft but deep and powerful. "No harm intended, warrior. We saw enough to know you were trying to defend this holy place."
    Venus relaxed from her combat stance ... a little bit. "And you are ... ?"
    "Thetan of the Warrior Caste." He bowed deeply.
    The other man took a step forward. His skin and eyes were the same as the first man's, but that was where the similarity ended. He was almost as tall as the first, but thin, almost looking emaciated. Instead of being bald, he had blue-black wiry hair, cut very short. Venus wondered if he was suffering from some disease. What she could see of his skin - his face and hands - was covered with what looked like thick dark red blood vessels, almost like he had an incredible case of varicose veins. It was hard to tell since she was seeing him face on, but he looked to be hunchbacked. He wore a very ordinary sports jacket, shirt and slacks.
    "K'Theelm of the Engineer Caste." He bowed low.
    The woman stepped forward. Shorter, grey skin a bit lighter, same bottomless dark eyes. Her face was lovely, but like the others inhuman in a way she couldn't quite articulate. What Venus noticed right away was her hair, a shocking cascade of impossibly bright scarlet that spilled around her shoulders like a lava flow. She was in a pleated skirt and white blouse that just looked too ordinary for her.
    "Jeneth of the Healer Caste." She bowed.
    *Okaaay ...* Their tone was polite and formal. Venus decided to keep things at that level for now, so as best to keep her guard up without giving offense. She relaxed more from her combat stance, stood up to her full height. "Under the protection of Venus, planet of beauty, I am the Sailor Senshi, Sailor Venus."
    They all looked a bit startled by her self introduction. The big man, who Venus had already pegged as their leader, looked to each side of him, exchanging a glance with one then the other of his companions.
    As one, they all went down on one knee and bowed their heads.
    "We greet you, Avatar," Thetan said gravely. "We thank the Avatars for their role in defeating Galaxia and her forces of chaos. By your efforts, we have been able to life peacefully within your realm. We are deeply grateful."
    Venus was quite taken aback by this performance. She was a bit disoriented, trying to assess the implications of what he was saying. "You're ... welcome." They did not move. "Uh ... you can, you know, get up. We really don't stand on ceremony."
    They stood up. There was what Venus would describe as awe in their alien faces, as if they were in the presence of a Goddess. Venus had mixed feelings about that. Jeneth took a step forward, and with what looked like great effort met her eyes. "Avatar, by your leave-"
    "You can just call me Venus," she said, trying to show a friendly smile. This formality was getting on her nerves already.
    "Ahem."
    Venus turned to look at Artemis. He appeared a bit annoyed. "Oh, sorry. Everyone, this is my friend and advisor, Artemis."
    He smiled at the woman. "I'm very pleased to meet you."
    Jeneth took a moment to realize that her jaw had practically dislocated itself open. No talking cats where she came from, it would seem. But her look of shock quickly dissolved, to be replaced with one of delight and wonder. "Likewise I am very pleased to meet you, Artemis."
    Venus smiled down at her partner. *You old smoothie.*
    Jeneth turned her attention back to Venus. "Venus, if you will permit, I believe I can help these two stricken guardian spirits."
    Venus cursed herself, she had forgotten about that altogether. Too many things happening at once. Jeneth had said she was from the Healer Caste, whatever that meant. There didn't seem to be much choice. "Okay, go ahead." She took a step back and Jeneth approached closer, went to kneel down before the two doves. The two men stood where they were, as if giving their companion space for her work. Venus crouched down a couple of meters away, not wanting to interfere but curious to see what Jeneth would do. The woman laid one delicate grey-skinned black-nailed hand lightly over each dove's still form and closed her eyes. Suddenly a delicate blue glow like a penumbra was dancing around the two birds. Venus had seen something like this before, when Hotaru would use her own healing power to treat a cut or scrape on one of the Senshi after a training session. She had felt that healing touch more than once herself, warm and soothing like no balm or medicine could ever be.
    After a minute or so, the glow subsided and Jeneth withdrew her hands. She took in a deep breath and let it out slowly, her body visibly relaxing. She opened her eyes and smiled at Venus. "They will live."
    Venus let out a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness, I thought I'd killed them."
    "We were able to witness the end of your battle. I saw how you deflected your attack at the last moment, that is no doubt what saved them."
    "It was Artemis who warned me what they really were." She stood up and looked down at the cat, suddenly remembering something. "But I thought you said those two crows we heard were this temple's guardians."
    "They are. These two are a long ways from home. That girl in white must have found them there, then put them under her spell or whatever it was."
    "It will likely be a couple of days before they can fly home," Jeneth said. "They need no further treatment, but they need food and rest."
    "Not a problem," Artemis said. "Birds at temples have no problem getting fed, and guardians look after each other, regardless of species. The crows will probably be back soon, they'll watch over these two." The doves were already beginning to stir, showing signs of life.
    Venus looked around the temple grounds. No other sign of life. But that could change quickly. "We should probably get out of here, the fireworks are likely to attract attention."
    The big man took a couple of steps closer. "Your pardon, Venus, but is it your intention to avoid the local authorities?"
    Venus sighed. "I take it you're not from around here."
    "We are from a different world, yes."
    Well, that settled that part. Venus could save the million other questions for later. "Well, just take my word for it, we don't want to have to explain to people just what happened here." Venus grinned. "Not that I know much about it myself, I was hoping you might be able to tell me more at some point."
    "Very little, I'm afraid," Thetan said, bowing as if in apology.
    "I can take us all from here unseen," K'Theelm said, stepping up beside his companion.
    Venus frowned. "Excuse me?"
    "Well ..." K'Theelm seemed to be at a loss for words. "Perhaps I could quickly demonstrate." There was a shimmer around him, and suddenly he just wasn't there. All she could see was a sort of ripple in the air, like a heat shimmer. It rose into the air. Had she not already been looking right at it, she was sure she would have missed it. Suddenly K'Theelm was floating a couple of meters above the ground. "I can carry us all within this cloak if you wish."
    Venus thought about this for a second. Her instincts were telling her to trust these people. And their actions so far had done nothing to contradict her feelings. She had her own ways of making a discrete exit, but this looked even better. And she didn't want to risk losing contact with these three, something told her that she really needed to talk with them. She made her decision. "Okay, what do I do?"
    K'Theelm floated back down to the ground. "Just stand beside me. When you tell me you are ready, you will feel a sensation of falling and we will rise into the air. Nothing more."
    Sounded simple enough. "Artemis." The white cat leaped up onto her shoulder, and she walked up next to K'Theelm. "Ready when you are."
    The other two joined them. The air around them shimmered, and as K'Theelm had warned Venus felt a moment of vertigo as the ground dropped from under her feet. It was very similar to what she felt during a teleport with the other Sailor Senshi. They rose a few meters into the air. "Is there a particular place you wish us to take you?" K'Theelm asked.
    "Uh ..." Venus was having trouble keeping her feet under her, her body seemed to want to go horizontal. It was distracting.
    "Venus, allow me." Jeneth extended her hand. Venus took it. With her other hand, Jeneth took Venus very lightly by the waist and slowly got her back into position.
    Venus felt compelled to wrap her other arm around Jeneth's shoulder, she was still a bit uncomfortable with this levitation business. She hoped she wasn't being too familiar with the strange woman. But the healer just smiled and held onto her. "Thanks," Venus said to her. "We should go somewhere we can talk in private."
    "Our apartment is about four kilometres away," Jeneth said. Venus' uncertainty about flying such a distance must have shown on her face. "It will only take a few minutes, and it's quite safe. K'Theelm took us safely all the way from our own planet."
    "You flew to Earth like *this*?"
    Jeneth seemed puzzled by the question. "How else?"
    "You don't have a spaceship or something?"
    "No, I'm afraid not."
    "We had to leave our planet in a hurry," K'Theelm explained. "There was no time to acquire more comfortable transportation." He sounded like he was apologizing.
    This was fascinating, but Venus wanted to get ground back under her feet as soon as possible. "That sounds fine."
    By the time they arrived at their destination, Venus had changed her mind about levitation. She decided it's the only way to fly. Before they sat down to talk, she extracted a promise from K'Theelm to fly her up over Tokyo Tower sometime.

    *****

    Agent Smith walked up to the big set of ornate dark wooden double doors and waited. Just as the sweep second hand on his watch approached twelve, he knocked lightly three times. The Director always demanded punctuality, and always got it.
    "Come in," a barely audible voice said from the other side of the thick doors. Smith opened one of the doors, stepped through, and closed it behind him. He turned to face into the room and stood at parade rest. The room was quite dark, lit only by a desk lamp and two lights on the walls that looked like they had started their lives as gas lamps. The room was full of dark mahogany furniture, shelves full of old books and red leather high back chairs. But for the electric lights, it may not have changed much in a hundred years or more.
    The man behind the great mahogany desk smiled and nodded. "Agent Smith."
    "Director."
    "Please, have a seat."
    "Thank you, sir." He walked over and sat in the chair closest to the Director's desk.
    The Director closed the file he had been reading from and placed it on top of another file, the only two items marring the bare surface of his massive desk. He laid his reading glasses on the desk and leaned back in his own old leather chair. Smith had not seen the Director in almost a year, having just returned to New York from a long assignment in England. He seemed to be wearing the same suit he had been a year ago. Probably the same one he wore twenty years ago. The cut of the suit could have been from a hundred years ago. The Director only ever changed things that needed changing. "Have you read the report from the Tokyo office that I had sent to your desk?"
    "Yes sir." As always, the Director didn't waste time on small talk.
    "Could you find any fault with their analysis?"
    "No sir. Agent Takada is reluctant to draw conclusions from these events. Quite properly, I believe. The only thing that is certain is that the various incidents in question are related."
    "You think Agent Takada qualified to make that judgement?"
    "Yes sir. I learned a fair amount from him even five years ago, when I was studying in Japan. He is eminently qualified to perform such analysis."
    The Director took just a moment to digest that, his face expressionless. "The day before yesterday, I received a telephone call from Agent Takada. It seems that since he sent that report, two more incidents have occurred. Two more temples in the Tokyo area have been destroyed under similar circumstances."
    "I see."
    "He now believes this matter merits our full attention, and has requested assistance. I have no reason not to agree with his assessment. Therefore, I am sending you to Japan. You will be leaving in the morning."
    "I understand." The Director didn't need to explain why he had been chosen. He had been in Japan for three years, both studying under members of older branches of the Order, and helping Takada in setting up the Tokyo office of the Hidden branch. He was the natural choice.
    "Before you leave, I have some background material for you to review." The Director pushed the two file folders closer to Smith. "The first is regarding a family of paranormals who live mostly on one of northern islands of Japan. Though he is reluctant to draw conclusions, as you say, Takada suspects their involvement. The second is a newer file, probably one you haven't seen yet. Takada submitted most of the material about three years ago. It's regarding some local urban legend, a group of vigilantes that we have very little solid information on. Takada said he cannot connect them to these incidents, but he did suggest anyone I send to him review the file. I've only glanced over it myself. Apparently it's a group of young women who show up in navy cadet uniforms or some such thing. Anyway, it's all in the file."
    The Director leaned forward against his desk. His poker face came off, his look of concern was plain. "I've got a bad feeling about this one, Smith. I don't like what's happening over there, and I want it stopped. I've already told Tanaka that I am authorizing the two of you to take whatever direct action is required to stop whoever is doing this. If we can't come to an understanding with them, that includes deadly force. And whatever backup you may need."
    The Director letting his guard down indicated to Smith that he was free to be candid. "I am puzzled about one thing, sir. These are hardly the most serious incidents to occur in Tokyo in recent years. Why the sudden concern?"
    "Like I said, I've got a bad feeling. Other reasons too. The older branches are in a frenzy over this. As you can imagine, they're rather sensitive about desecration of holy sites. I want the Hidden branch to be seen as taking direct action, it might calm them down a bit. The powers that be in Tokyo are pretty upset as well, I don't want them doing anything stupid."
    "I'll be using the usual cover?"
    "Naturally. Agent Takada will give you the details when you get there. I've also arranged to have your weapons shipped over, they should arrive no more than a day later than you do. It would take longer, but I can also have one of our new toys sent over if you think you'll need it."
    "I'd just as soon hold off on that, at least until I've had a look around there." Smith gestured at the file folders. "Any directives regarding contact with these groups?"
    "It seems Takada has had some contact with both of them, so ask his advice. Otherwise, your discretion. Any developments, let me know in no more than one day."
    "Understood."
    "Any other questions?"
    "No, sir."
    The director stood, indicating the meeting was over. Smith did likewise. In unison, the two men put their clenched right hands over their hearts and recited the pledge that all members of the Order had made in a hundred different languages since its beginnings, lost in the mists of time.
    "That life shall never perish."

End Chapter 4