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 13: Misdirection and Misfortune
 
 
 

     "That," Minako stated, throwing her arms out and spinning
lazily, "was absolutely, positively, just what the doctor ordered."
She had a warm glow on from the wine, and her body felt relaxed
from the bath and pampered by the sensation of her sheer silk robe
against bare skin.  The robe was black and glossy, held closed at the
waist with a narrow matching sash, and between the wedge of bare
flesh at her cleavage and the hem which hung high on her creamy
thighs, it appeared to show more then it concealed.
     Which was, as always, the point.
     She'd managed to talk Rei into wearing a robe as well, silk
like hers but white where Minako's was black.  It contrasted
beautifully with Rei's sable hair, and the way the light turned to
liquid as it slid over both the silk and that mane made Minako want
to touch, to luxuriate in the incomparable feel of that softness as it
flowed through her fingers.
     She suspected Ami would disapprove, however, and since
they were currently in Ami's room she supposed it wouldn't hurt to
deny herself.
     Denying one's desires wasn't always bad; waiting could make
the prize all the sweeter.
     "All these machines," Makoto grumbled, pacing the room
like a caged tigress.  "They bug me.  I mean, I've never had a way
with these things, you know?"
     "Yes, we remember," Rei said dryly, causing Minako to
laugh aloud as she recalled some of Makoto's more memorable
attempts to coax information from computers.  The tall girl
scowled, but far from being intimidated, Minako was struck by how
beautiful Makoto was.  Even if she had refused Minako's offer of a
slinky robe for her own thong panties and cropped t-shirt, the sheer
physicality of her presence was a testament to why two beautiful,
powerful, wilful shifters would be fighting over her.
     "They can be useful," Ami muttered absently as she worked
at one of the stations, tilting her head to look over her glasses.  The
studious girl claimed that the glasses helped when her eyes were
weary from too much reading.  Minako wondered about that.  Ami
liked to fiddle with them; they seemed more of a crutch than
anything else.  She'd worn them much more often in the beginning,
when they were all strangers.
     Of course, they looked good on her, too, but knowing Ami,
she didn't even realize that.  Minako watched Ami take her glasses
off and slip the end of one earpiece lightly between her teeth, her
blue eyes fixed raptly on the pale glow of the computer screen.
Ami was clad in a worn and very comfy-looking terrycloth
bathrobe; if Minako wanted to roll around kittenishly on Rei, she
wanted to grab Ami and cuddle her.
     "Still sifting through your info searches?" Minako asked, moving
so she could look over Ami's shoulder.
     "Mmm-hmmm," Ami breathed, staring at the screen.  "I'm still
trying to get more details on any of a number of things, such as the
Church of the Sentinel, the Eye, and the incidents that are linked to
the airship crash.  I'm looking for patterns, clues, anything that
might be of use to us.  This is the last one for now, I'll just ..."
     "Oooo!  Let me, let me!" Minako blurted, leaning over
Ami's shoulder to grab the mouse, taking pains to ensure her
breasts pressed against the other girl's back in the most alluring
manner possible as she did so.  Before Ami could object, Minako
manoeuvred the pointer over the submit button and clicked it.
     "Submit," she murmured silkily.  Then she clicked again.
"Submit."  Click.  Click.  Click.  "Submit, submit, submit!"
     "Wha ... hey, cut it out!" Ami cried, grabbing at the mouse.
Minako continued to click, smirking evilly as Ami finally wrested
the mouse away.
     "Sorry, love," she purred.  "Your computer has now
submitted to yours truly."
     Ami snorted delicately, her cheeks flushed a bright pink as she
cradled the mouse against her chest.  "That's what you think,
Minako.  No way are you dominant enough to make my computer
submit."
     It was something just so un-Ami that Minako was literally
struck speechless, able only to gape at the girl as Makoto burst out
laughing.  Even Rei chuckled.
     "Minako," the dark-haired girl murmured with quiet amusement,
"stop molesting Ami's computer, would you?"  Minako caught
something in Rei's gaze as those dark violet eyes glanced at Ami,
something that flickered and then was gone, something she hadn't
quite been able to read.  She glanced back at the defiant Ami, still
unable to fashion any sort of rejoinder.
     "Huh," was all she managed.  "It really always is the quiet
ones."
     "She got you good," Makoto grinned, wiping tears from her
eyes as she leaned against the wall and crossed her arms.  "Oh, if
you could have seen your face ..."
     "Ami, have you begun looking into breaking the seal on
Dasma?" Rei asked.  Makoto's laughter trailed off, and Minako
suppressed a sigh.  The night had been so nice and relaxing so far,
but apparently it was back to business.
     "I've begun searches for information linked to that as well," Ami
told her, swivelling her chair as Rei perched on the edge of Ami's
bed,  sweeping her hair out like a heavy cloak.  Minako eyed the
way the hem of Rei's robe rode up her thighs as she sat and debated
trying to steer the conversation back to lighter topics.  But no; Rei
was right.  As senshi, they needed to talk about this, and probably
without Usagi present.
     "I hope you're being careful," Makoto frowned, grabbing
the twin to Ami's chair from the far table and pulling it close before
sitting.  "I mean, couldn't something like that attract attention?"
     "Absolutely," Ami told her.  "And yes, I am being careful.
I've tried to flag anything that deals with conflict between gods and
also ancient magicks for starters.  But it's entirely possible that,
even if I were able to state my intentions outright, such information
doesn't exist anywhere."
     "It's a long shot, all right," Rei nodded.  "But what is
wrought can be undone, as a rule."
     "This was wrought by a goddess," Minako told her.
     "And maybe it shouldn't be undone," Makoto added, her
green eyes clouded with a hint of storminess.  Things were still
tense enough between Rei and Makoto without throwing the Dark
Lady Herself into the mix.  This had the potential to get ugly, and
that was the last thing that Minako wanted.  Time for a little charm.
     She'd been wandering the room idly, and sidled up behind
Makoto's chair.  Slipping her arms around the auburn-haired girl's
neck, she rested her chin on the top of Makoto's head lightly.
"Let's back up a minute," Minako murmured, making herself
comfortable.  "Why do you think our princess is so worked up
about this thing?"
     "Yeah, she does seem to be showing even less forethought
than usual," Makoto grumbled, reaching up to hang one hand idly
from Minako's wrist.
     "What do you think, Ami?" Rei asked.
     "I would have to say that this relates to the Silver
Millennium," Ami said.  "For starters."  She was toying with her
glasses again, a sure sign that her metal gears were revving up.
     "Because there's so much we don't know about that time?"
Minako asked.
     "Partly," Ami acknowledged.  "And partly it's Usagi herself.
Family is very important to her, something we can all appreciate
since she considers us as family.  But she has had bonds of family
brutally severed not once, but twice.  Her father died before she
was born back in the White Moon Court, remember."
     "He did?" Makoto asked.  "I don't recall ..."
     "I do," Rei said quietly.  "Nobody spoke much of him,
either.  I remember that Queen Serenity grieved for a very long
time, and that she would never discuss him with her daughter.  That
was one of the only areas where they ever clashed."
     "That's right," Minako said, Rei's words triggering a
memory as was often the case with events from their previous life.
"Usagi was starved for any details about her father, anything at all.
But her mother simply wouldn't speak of him, not to anyone."
     "Yes," Ami said.  "And then Usagi lost her mother as well.
And in this world, she lost her family at a young age, something we
can all relate to.  That makes her feel lost sometimes, ungrounded,
adrift.  She's asked me in the past to trace her ancestry, you know."
     "No, I didn't," Rei said softly.
     "Me neither," Minako said.  She didn't know why that
revelation surprised her, but it did.  "You mean here, or back then?"
     "Both," Ami said with a sad smile.  "I did what I could, but
that wasn't much."
     "What a sec," Makoto interrupted.  "Are you saying that
Usagi wants to trace her family tree, and that's why she wants to
release Spasma?"
     "Now THAT's blasphemous," Rei told Minako.
     "Ah."
     "It's not that simple," Ami shrugged.  "But I think a part of
it could be her desire to have a living link to her past.  Until the end,
the White Moon Court that we lived in was a peaceful place, and
most people lived as if it had always been that way.  There was a
lot, though, that we didn't know about our idyllic world.  A lot that
we still don't know."
     "For instance?" Minako asked.
     "Well, it has become apparent to us from Banri that the White
Moon was founded by rebel gods," Ami said, stopping to gnaw
lightly on the earpiece of her glasses.  "Back by our time, though,
little was widely known of the distant past.  We certainly never
suspected such a thing.  Nor did we know that White Moon was
not always the serene and peaceful kingdom we grew up in."
     "Wait a minute," Makoto frowned.  "I don't remember
anything about that, either."
     "Got me, too," Minako admitted.
     "I learned of the history of House Mars, as eldest daughter,"
Rei said, tilting her head thoughtfully.  "There was political intrigue,
of course, but nothing approaching outright unrest in those histories
that I recall."
     "There was a section of the Royal Libraries that was off-
limits to all but a select few," Ami said, and Minako noted the slight
pink flush of the girl's cheeks, tried to recall just how much wine
Ami'd had.  "I already had access to certain areas that most people
did not, so I sneaked in on one or two occasions and availed myself
of histories and books that were hidden away in a secret reading
room.  I found it by chance one day while looking for information
on the early history of my House."
     "Damn, Ami," Minako said wryly.  "Sneaking into a library?
To study?  Even when you're bad, you're so square!"
     "These books contained what I believe to be the only written
records of the early days of the White Moon," Ami protested, and
Minako thought the girl's offended hauteur was adorable, although
she refrained from saying so aloud.  "I never came across any
mention of the rebel gods, but there was a lot there that had faded
into obscurity by our time."
     "Like?" Minako asked.  She was intrigued by the way Ami
seemed to be enjoying herself.  Normally, Ami wasn't the slightest
bit cagey about sharing information, but it was apparent that the girl
was drawing them along in a very deliberate fashion.
     "Well," Ami said slowly, shifting in her chair to get
comfortable.  "For instance, they revealed the origin of the White
Moon Senshi."
     "Cool," Makoto beamed.  "That must have been quite
something, to see how senshi like us first came together to protect
the princess."
     "Technically, the Outers answered directly to the Queen,"
Rei pointed out.  "Their duties traditionally involved the defence of
the Court from external threats."
     "Those weren't their original duties, though," Ami said with
a smile that Minako could only describe as secretive.  "Nor were
ours to protect the princess."
     Minako could not take it any longer.  She stood up from
behind Makoto and stalked over to where Ami sat.  Up close, she
could see that Ami was indeed feeling the effects of the wine she'd
had.  Maybe that explained her sudden playfulness; at any rate,
Minako knew when someone wanted to be coaxed.
     "Come on, sweetheart," she cajoled, putting her hands on
the arms of Ami's chair and rocking it gently back and forth as she
leaned down and gazed soulfully into Ami's eyes.  "Spill.  What's
the big secret?"
     "Maybe I shouldn't," Ami murmured with a sidelong
glance.  "After all, it's kind of shocking ..."
     "Ca-maaaaaaawn," Minako pleaded, practically straddling
the chair as she stared down at Ami.  "That's not fair.  And I'm not
gonna leave you alone until you tell me.  Hey, are you naked under
that robe?"
     She knew damned well what Ami had on under the robe,
but her inquiry, coupled with a sudden propensity by her hands to
wander, apparently convinced Ami that she'd had enough fun.
     "All right," Ami said with reluctance that seemed entirely
feigned to Minako.  "Well, the truth is, during the period just before
the rise of the White Moon Court, the ten Great Houses were
fighting each other constantly for control of the world."
     "Wait," Makoto frowned.  "Nine Great Houses, Ami."
     "Ten," Ami corrected her primly, but her eyes gleamed
with the pleasure of knowing things no one else knew.  "At the
point near where the histories started, House Gaia had risen to a
position of dominance.  It had come into possession of dark
magicks and powerful weapons and threatened to conquer all of
the other Houses."
     "House Gaia?  There was a House Gaia?  I don't remember
any reference to them," Rei said, her attention rivetted on Ami.
     "Same here," Minako said.  "Does that mean there was a
Sailor Gaia?"
     "There weren't technically any Sailor Senshi at that point,"
Ami told her, apparently unfazed by the interruptions.  "Anyway,
the head of House Gaia played her opponents against each other as
her own political and military power grew.  In the end, though,
House Luna rose above the others and defeated House Gaia,
through means fair or foul, I suppose.  The writings were unclear
on particulars of the battles that led to Gaia's downfall."
     "If Dasma founded House Luna," Makoto murmured, "then I
would suspect treachery and dark doings."
     "Actually, she is supposed to have followed the darker paths
in order to fight the Genrous," Rei pointed out.  "And, amongst the
Dark Gods, she hardly has a monopoly on treachery and
manipulation.  They were a pretty scheming lot, at least if the tales
are true.  The dark and wild ways were embraced by all.  She'd
hardly have stood out as anyone particularly twisted."
     "At any rate, whether her House used treachery or simply good
tactics, they were triumphant," Ami acknowledged.  "It seems likely
that the strongest of the rebel gods would have been responsible for
the Great Houses, which eventually became the Houses we were
familiar with, so as their descendants the heads of the Houses
would have been formidable opponents indeed."
     "What's this got to do with the senshi, though?" Makoto
asked.
     "I bet the head of House Luna called the senshi together to
beat the enemy!" Minako crowed, doing a subtle dance over Ami's
chair.
     "Actually, House Luna gained supreme power by
swallowing what remained of the defeated House Gaia," Ami said,
giving Minako a brilliant smile.  "Afterwards, the head of the House
declared herself Queen of White Moon and informed the remaining
Houses that they would be required to send their eldest daughters
to Court, to ensure an end to the unrest and to contribute to the
peace of the newly established kingdom.  Such was her new power
that they had no choice but to obey."
     "Hostages?" Rei breathed.
     "Indeed," Ami said, inclining her head.  "Important hostages,
since succession within the Houses always followed the female side.
The Queen kept four of the girls for herself, giving responsibility for
the other four to her eldest daughter.  Initially, the girls were
required to please the Queen and the Princess, playing instruments
or reading to them, or performing other ... tasks."
     "A harem," Minako said in disbelief.  "We were originally a
cross between servant girls, harem slaves and entertainers?"
     "That's incredible," Rei said softly.
     "Come on, Ami.  You're pulling our legs, right?"  Makoto
was leaning forward, incredulity plain on her face.
     "I don't think she is," Minako said after examining Ami's
expression closely.
     "I wouldn't make something like this up," Ami told them, face
flushed and eyes sparkling.  "There were veiled references as to
how control was exercised over the girls, indicating that the early
Queens might have been more like Dasma than we care to think.
Eventually, though, the Houses began to recover their power, and
the Crown was forced to negotiate better conditions for the
hostages they took from each House.  It wasn't until the war against
the Dragon Kingdom that those girls were allowed to serve the
kingdom with the power of their Houses, though, under the direct
command of the Queen.  That paved the way for the formation of
the Sailor Senshi."
     "And you think this is the sort of thing that Usagi wants to
know about?" Makoto asked, leaning forward and propping her
elbows on her knees.
     "She'd love hearing about the old days," Rei sighed in
response.  "You know she would.  But she's not going to risk
breaking the seal on Dasma just to hear stories from the dawn of
the moon's civilization.  Since breaking away from Hotaru and the
others, and especially in light of recent events, she has become very
cognizant of her role as our princess.  As such, she wants to forge
an alliance, to protect all of us from the Sisterhood.  A very royal
thing to do, no?"
     "Yeah," Minako conceded, slipping away from Ami.  "If it
works.  Even if we break the seal, though, who knows what would
happen if we brought Dasma here?"
     "Past precedent would tend to favour a troublesome
outcome," Ami informed them.  "In short, the gods have been
staying out of mortal affairs for most of the last century, save for
the odd crisis like the Long Dark.  It isn't like in the old days, when
they would come down and lead their mortal armies against each
other, or show up at festivals in disguise and wreck entire towns in
drunken revelry ..."
     "Yes, how have we gotten along without them?" Makoto
asked dryly.
     "I'm just saying that gods have traditionally had their own way
of doing things, and even if Usagi was able to forge an alliance with
Dasma, the results might be a little more than we bargained for,"
Ami protested, waving her glasses around a trifle sloppily.
     "Of all the goddesses she could have been descended from, why
Spasma?" Makoto groused.  "Why the Goddess of Slinking Around
Like A Cat In Heat?  I mean, if Minako was descended from her,
I'd understand, but Usagi?"
     "Am I supposed to take offense?" Minako purred, sliding
her hands up over her head and striking a provocative pose.
     "Makoto, there is a lot we don't understand about the gods and
their relationships to us, and each other," Ami lectured, ignoring
Minako and twirling her glasses idly before going back to chewing
ever-so-gently on that earpiece.  "The sexual aspect of Dasma is
certainly what she has come to represent to us, but I suspect that
there is more to her than that.  And as a goddess, she possesses
power, power which is strong in her descendants."
     "That's true," Rei broke in.  "Worship of the gods by
mortals has always tended to simplify their characteristics, making
them somewhat easier to relate to.  Most of the Sisterhood's
teachings focussed on the Dark Lady's different carnal aspects, but
from time to time I came across references that suggested there
were depths we scarcely suspected."
     "Rei," Minako murmured, strutting over to the bed and
draping herself languidly over the raven-maned beauty, "I've been
thinking.  How could Dasma found one of the Great Houses?
When you mentioned her history last night, didn't you say that by
the time the Genrous rose she was a patron of courtesans and
dancers, fairly obscure at that?"
     "It's nice to know that you pay attention," Rei said softly,
glancing at Minako from under lowered lashes as the blonde ran her
fingers through Rei's soft sable locks.  "Especially when there are
so many distractions at hand."  Minako sighed happily as Rei's hand
strayed along her bare thigh, creating an electric sensation of nails
on skin.
     "Ladies," Makoto interrupted.  "Could you turn the heat
down a little?"
     "You could join us," Minako offered, twining her arms
around Rei's neck and resting her cheek against the other girl's,
favouring Makoto with a smouldering, sultry stare.  "The bed's
plenty big enough for three ... or four."
     Ami hiccupped, managing to make that small sound seem
both scandalised and vaguely alarmed.  Makoto merely laughed.
     "Wasn't there a point in all this somewhere?" the tall girl
asked.  Minako glanced down at the front of Rei's robe, getting
pinched for her trouble.
     "That wasn't what she meant," Rei chided her.  Minako
noticed, though, that Rei was doing little to discourage her
flirtations, which was both unusual and intriguing.  "And to answer
your question, Minako, yes, that is what I said.  However, going
back to those unplumbed depths I mentioned, there is a story which
you might find interesting, especially in light of what we learned
today.  It relates to a very interesting scroll in the possession of an
obscure scholar I once seduced."
     "Business," Minako inquired throatily, "or pleasure?"
     "The former," Rei sighed.  "I was taught many ways to
pleasure a man, but I've rarely enjoyed their company in the
bedroom."
     "More for me," Makoto grinned.  For her part, Ami seemed
characteristically uncomfortable around frank discussions of
anything sexual.  Ah, well.  One day, Minako was definitely going
to unleash that girl's wild side.
     "The scroll?" Ami muttered, clearing her throat.  "What did
it say?"
     "I don't know," Rei admitted, stroking her fingers through
Minako's hair absently as the blonde nuzzled her throat.  "Kristoff
was a specialist in ancient languages, and it was apparently written
in some extremely obscure old tongue dating to before the rise of
the White Moon, older even than Old Gaian.  He loved to talk
about his work, though."
     "Boring pillowtalk?" Minako asked sympathetically.
     "As a general rule," Rei replied ruefully.  "One night he
mentioned something that genuinely caught my interest, however,
a passage in a scroll he'd been commissioned to work on involving
the fall of Nemesis.  The passage he'd been translating dealt with
the conflict between the factions of gods."
     "That is fascinating," Ami breathed, leaning forward in her
chair, eyes alight.  "Very little is known of that period in history.
Most of what we hear is myth, legend.  If that scroll was genuine
then its historical value would be immeasurable!"
     Minako was personally of the opinion that the curve of
Rei's neck and the scent of her hair was far more interesting than
some mouldy old scroll, but she had asked the question, after all, so
she contented herself with nudging Rei's earlobe playfully with her
nose as the sultry beauty related her story.
     "Much is said of that time, little is actually known," Rei
acknowledged.  "But this one passage dealt specifically with
Coronn, who held title of Warmaster.  Under Him in the Great
Pantheon were three subordinates: the Reaper, the Venger, and the
Huntress.  They wielded the power of war and conflict in His name,
and were greatly feared by the other gods.  It was such dark power
that led the Elders to dismantle the old power structure when
Nemesis fell and was banished to Shadow."
     "Uh-huh.  I don't see what this has to do with what we
were talking about," Makoto shrugged, doing interesting things to
her unencumbered breasts in the process.
     "The gods in question were identified in the writings not only
by title, but also by name," Rei told them.  Ami looked as close to
sexually aroused as Minako had ever seen her.
     "Names?" Ami asked, her lips moist and slightly parted.
     "Oh, yes," Rei told her, drawing the moment out teasingly.
"And Coronn's Huntress was named Dasma."
     "Get out!" Makoto blurted.  "She was a war goddess?"
     "If we are to believe this scroll was authentic, then yes," Rei
said.
     "How does one go from war goddess to patron of
courtesans?" Minako murmured, her breath stirring the hair by
Rei's ear.
     "I have no idea," Rei admitted.  "However, it would make
sense that a war goddess could found a powerful House.  By our
time, the gods had long since receded from the affairs of the White
Moon, remember, and we never suspected that they were our
ancestors.  Perhaps they decided that their direct interference was
doing more harm than good, leading to the same problems which
had ravaged Nemesis.  Maybe, with Her descendants finally ruling a
peaceful kingdom and the other gods having found other matters to
occupy their interests, Dasma decided to retire and make love, not
war."
     "But She didn't resurrect her Huntress persona when the
Genrous showed up," Minako pointed out.
     "One goddess could not have defeated the Genrous.  Her chosen
methods were actually surprisingly effective," Rei noted.  "At any
rate, much of this is speculation, writings from a long ago age by
someone who might have possessed their own agenda.  And that's
if the scroll was genuine.  Kristoff never did reveal who it was that
commissioned him to work on it ..."
     "The other names," Ami breathed.  "What were they?  Do
you remember?"
     Minako felt Rei tense slightly, then let her breath out.
     "Keep in mind that this information was never, to the best of my
knowledge, authenticated," Rei told Ami.  "In fact, Kristoff had
an unfortunate and very fatal accident less than a month after I
completed my assignment with him, and a fire ravaged his
workshop.  Not the Sisterhood's doing, I assure you," she added
hastily as Makoto's eyes narrowed.  "My assignment had nothing to
do with the scroll in question, it was just something he told me
about in an effort to impress me.  However, if the scroll still exists,
I suspect it is safely ensconced in some temple's strongest vault."
     "Whoo," Minako crooned.  "Hot stuff.  Spill, girlfriend.
Who were the guilty parties?"
     "According to this scroll," Rei said after a momentary
hesitation, "Coronn's Huntress, wreathed in fierce beauty, was
named Dasma the Wild.  His Venger, the sword that was never
defeated, was named Travos."
     "Travos?  Travos, patron of Gaia, red-rose Travos?"
Minako actually pulled away from Rei, astonished.
     "The very same," Rei said softly.  "And the last, His Reaper,
the silent spectre of death which haunted battlefields, the one whose
cloaked figure evoked terror in the hearts of the most hardened
soldier, was named Alieva the Serpent."
     Silence.
     "Oh, man," Makoto breathed.  "Oh, BABY.  You just can't
expect me to believe that Alieva the White, the Lightbringer, started
her career as a goddess as a harbinger of death."
     "No wonder the poor bastard ended up dead," Minako said,
shaking her head in disbelief.  "Did he have any idea how dangerous
this thing was?"
     "Not really," Rei sighed.  "He was a real academic,
engrossed in unravelling the puzzles placed before him.  I think the
political and religious ramifications were matters he considered trite
and mundane, beneath the importance of his work.  When he spoke
to me of these things it was with a very real sense of excitement at
uncovering secrets that had lain buried for a very long time."
     "Those three," Ami muttered, her gaze distant and
unfocussed.  "Travos, Dasma, and Alieva.  They always seem to be
appearing together in some way throughout history.  If it were true,
it would explain a lot.  The feud between Dasma and Alieva, for
instance."
     "Why?  This would make them war goddess buddies," Makoto
shrugged.
     "Yes, but when Nemesis fell, the Elders stripped the younger
gods of their titles and demanded that they renounce certain
allegiances before they would be allowed into Nikhien," Rei
mused.  "If what Banri told us is true, then Alieva and Travos
complied, while Dasma did not.  She probably felt betrayed by their
actions."
     Minako thought Rei looked sexy when deep in thought.  Of
course, she thought Rei looked sexy doing just about anything, so
that was hardly surprising.  "I take it the temples would not be
happy if something like this was brought to light?" the blonde
asked.
     "Hardly," Ami muttered, twirling her glasses around and
around.  "Things would definitely get ugly."
     "Gods reinvent themselves?" Makoto said ruefully.  "Who
knew?  I wonder if they have to, like, apply for positions or
something?  You know, fill out a form, first, second, and third
choices?  God of love, war, or textiles?"
     "Minako Aino, Goddess of Black Leather and Stilettos,"
Minako announced, standing and striking a pose.
     "Now that I can see," Makoto said with an emphatic nod.
"You've got my vote."
     "At any rate, without the actual scroll, nobody would dare
challenge accepted history," Rei told them.  "Even with it, there
would be a firestorm of accusations and denouncements.  But you
can see the sort of thing we'd be getting into here.  Gods don't like
mortals poking around in their business.  Hells, for all I know, the
gods heard about this and offed poor Kristoff themselves."
     "So, can we convince Usagi to let this go?" Makoto asked.
The girls all looked at each other, sighing in unison.
     "Well, look at the bright side," Minako said.  "We have no
idea how to spring Dasma, so it won't be an immediate concern."
     "No," Rei said quietly.  "But the Sisterhood still is."
     "Yeah," Minako nodded.  "What we need, girls, is a plan."

***

     Usagi had been drowsing, surrounded by wonderful
warmth.  She opened her eyes and nuzzled into the soft dark hair
behind Mamoru's ear like a kitten, purring low in her throat.
     "That's a happy sound," Mamoru's voice observed wryly.
     "I'm a happy girl," she replied, wriggling as he moved his
arm to bring her body even closer to his.  "Couldn't you tell?"
     "It's not like you made a secret of it."
     "It's dark in here.  When did that happen?"
     "Well, it's night," he informed her.  "As a trained
investigator, I can tell you that it gets dark at night."
     "Is it really that late?  I sort of lost track of the time."
     "I'd be insulted," he said huskily, "if you hadn't."
Moonlight cast a soft silver glow into the room, allowing Usagi to
just make out Mamoru's face.  She reached up to trace the lines of
his cheekbones with her fingertips, memorizing the landscape of
those features through touch.
     "I guess the others have probably turned in," she sighed.  "I
was hoping to talk with them a little.  Well, I guess tomorrow will
have to be soon enough."
     "Usako."  His voice was sombre all of a sudden, and she
knew instinctively what was coming.  "You know this doesn't
change things, don't you?  You can't eliminate all the tension
between people just by sleeping with them.  I'm still not happy
about all the secrets, especially regarding Rei.  And I'm not thrilled
about your girls and the way they carry on.  You can throw this
Ranma guy onto the list, too."
     "All we need is a chance," Usagi murmured, sighing happily
as Mamoru stroked her hair with one hand.  "I love you and I love
them, and we can work everything out if we just give each other
some room.  And some trust."
     "I hope you're right," he rumbled, shifting his position a
little.  "I do trust you, Usako, but things are getting so crazy.  Rei
was a Sister, Dasma is your ancestor, Hotaru's a half-vampire and
Ami runs around in Aethyr.  And that's just for starters.  It's like
storm clouds are gathering, and all I can do is sit and watch them
come."
     "You take too much on yourself, Mamo-chan," she chided
gently.  "When a storm comes, you can worry all you like, but that
won't stop it from coming.  We're boarding up the windows and
stocking emergency supplies, and when things get rough we'll all be
looking out for one another.  That's how we get through rough
times."
     "You," he said softly, turning his head to look at her in the
soft light.  "You, Usagi Tsukino, are the only woman I've ever
known who could say something like that and make me believe it."
     "It's a gift," she giggled, gratified by the smile that spread
across his face.  He had such a sexy smile; it was a shame he didn't
show it more often.
     Of course, she knew one way to make him smile.  Slowly,
she let her free hand drift down his chest and across the ridges of
muscle that defined the plain of his flat stomach.  And then past,
and down.  A sharp intake of breath told her that she had his
attention.
     "Again?" he asked in disbelief.
     "I hope you aren't going to tell me that you aren't ... up for
it?"  Mischief shaded her words, and his embrace tightened, taking
her breath away.
     "Not a chance," he assured her as he leaned close.  "After
all, the night is young."
     "And you can still rise to the challenge?" she teased.  "Even
after the first two times?"
     "Try me," he suggested huskily.
     So she did.
     And it was true.  Good things really did come in threes.

***

     Minako felt a delicious little tingle in the pit of her belly.
She was sitting on the edge of Rei's bed, kicking her feet idly as she
watched the priestess move around the room.  Their discussion in
Ami's room had not yielded a practical plan of action, and they had
dispersed for the night.  Usagi and Mamoru had yet to come up for
air, and Phobos and Deimos had flown off somewhere together.
Ranma had turned in, and a glance outside had shown her two cats,
one white and one black, scampering across the unruly grounds.
Minako suspected that there was going to be some untamed animal
loving tonight.
     Hopefully, some of it would be in this very room.
     "So, Rei," she murmured, watching the way the short hem
of Rei's silk robe slithered over her taut thighs as she moved.  "You
never told me how your meditation went."
     "I'm still working on it," Rei admitted.  "Sorting through
the impressions takes time.  I will say this, however.  I am certain at
this point that Ranma is not acting with any evil intent."
     "Ha!"
     "I am also certain," Rei went on blithely, "that he, or she,
will be sought as a conduit for dark forces.  How, exactly, I cannot
yet say.  Dangerous forces swirl around that one.  We can't grow
complacent, Minako."
     "You know we can't stay here indefinitely, either," Minako
murmured.  "Baniesti is nearly here.  We need to stop whatever's
happening."
     "I know.  Believe me, I know.  But we can't do any good
by blundering around blindly."
     "I suppose you're right," Minako admitted.  "Well, it is
getting late, isn't it?  I suppose things might seem clearer after a
good night's sleep."
     "They might," Rei conceded.  "But you aren't going to be
sleeping for a while, I suspect."
     "Why, Miss Hino, whatever do you mean?" Minako asked
coquettishly, hiding her arousal as Rei crossed the room towards
her.
     "I mean," Rei breathed, standing before her like desire given
form, "that we have unfinished business to attend to."
     "Indeed?" Minako said throatily as Rei slid onto the bed.
"I'm certain I don't know what you are talking about."
     "Oh, I believe you do," Rei whispered, reaching out to
grasp the loose end of the black silk sash cinched at Minako's
waist.  Slowly Rei tugged on it, pulling it loose and drawing it into
her hands.  Minako's robe slid open, unrestrained, as the blonde sat
still, her eyes smouldering with long denied passions.  The delicious
dance of flirtation between the two girls was about to come to its
long-awaited fruition, and she did not feel any need to hurry the
moment.  She wished to savour it for as long as possible.
     "What are you going to do," Minako whispered back, "with
that?"
     Rei smiled, and that wicked curve of ruby lips left Minako
weak.  Rei leaned forward, looping one end of the sash around
Minako's wrist.  Then she slowly wrapped the cool silk around the
other wrist, languorously bringing them together, staring into
Minako's eyes all the while.
     Gently, Rei urged the blonde back, and Minako let herself
sprawl slowly onto the bed.  Rei leaned against her supine body,
pressing the bound wrists up over Minako's head and making them
fast to the headboard.
     "You're not resisting," Rei whispered.
     "Would it do any good?" Minako whispered back, heart
thudding in her throat.
     "No," Rei told her, surveying her captive with sultry
satisfaction.  "None at all."  Rei reached down, tracing her
fingertips along the open front of Minako's black robe.  Those
talented fingers slid, feather-light, over flushed skin, pausing to
apply pressure in odd spots along the blonde's ribs and waist.  Rei
tossed her hair back and moved to straddle the bound girl lightly.
The priestess clasped her hands together, fingers intertwined in a
complex manner as she began to chant under her breath.
     Minako watched with lidded eyes, her breath coming more
quickly.  Whatever Rei had been doing with her hands, it had fired
Minako's blood.  It appeared that she was going to get to
experience some of Rei's more exotic talents first hand.
     Rei turned her hands, extended index fingers pointing down.
As her chant reached a low crescendo, she thrust downward,
striking Minako in a point midway between the bottom of the
breastbone and the navel.  Minako gasped aloud, writhing on the
bed as the fire in her blood burned hotter.
     "Rei," she breathed.  "That feels ... mmmm! ... incredible!
What is it?"
     "It's a technique called the Siquiein," Rei told her, gazing
down at the girl, violet eyes glinting.  "It does two things to the
subject.  First, it heightens sensation, causing even the slightest
touch to become exquisitely arousing."
     Rei demonstrated by leaning forward, letting her hair
cascade down to slide across the taut plain of Minako's belly.  The
blonde cried out at the sensation, tossing her head as sweet
passionate flames curled and licked through her body.
     "And ... the second?" she gasped when she could speak.
     "Ah," Rei told her with a wicked smile.  "The second effect
is to prevent the subject from achieving ... release."
     It took a moment for Rei's words to register, as even the
feel of the cool sheets against her skin as she squirmed made
Minako crazy.  Finally, though, she managed to focus on the sable-
maned beauty who sat astride her.
     "What?" Minako asked breathily.  "What do you mean?"
     "The Siquiein," Rei murmured, "was a technique used for
punishment.  It is extremely effective, you see, because it allows the
user to bring all of her sensual arts to bear on the subject while
denying her any satisfaction.  If used improperly, it can eventually
drive a woman to the brink of madness."
     Minako tensed, her heels digging into the firm mattress.  Rei
apparently was no amateur when it came to knotwork; the silk that
had been wound around her wrists was tight.  She could not slip
out of the snare.
     "You can't be serious," Minako blurted.  Rei reached down,
trailing her fingernails along the edge of Minako's neck and down
the slope of her shoulders.  Minako bit her lip to keep from crying
out; she couldn't just keep feeling such pleasure indefinitely.  That
simply wasn't possible.
     Rei bent at the waist, her hair falling around them like a
scented sable curtain as she brought her face close to the helpless
blonde's.  "You toyed with my henshin rod," the haughty
seductress murmured.  "You must have known there would be ...
consequences."
     "You're still mad about that?" Minako asked meekly as
those light-devouring violet eyes drank her in.
     "If I was mad," Rei whispered, the feel of her breath against
Minako's skin excruciatingly delightful, "you would be the first to
know.  You've gotten into my good books, my love, but I am not a
woman to let such a slight go.  And such a submissive outfit, too."
     "I'm really sorry," Minako murmured contritely.  Her breath
burned in her chest, and Rei moved languidly so that her heavy
silken mane would continue to slither teasingly over bare skin,
eliciting will-sapping waves of pleasure.
     "No, you're not," Rei breathed.  "Not yet.  You, my
Minako, have two choices.  You can ask to be let up, in which case
I will set you free."
     "You will?" Minako asked huskily, doubt in her eyes.
     "Indeed," Rei replied, moving so that her mouth hovered
only a hair's breadth over the other girl's before pulling away again
before Minako could close the gap between them.  "But there is no
place in my bed for a girl who cannot take her just punishment.  On
the other hand, if you can endure the Siquiein for longer than any
other I've subjected to it, then I will allow you to court my favour."
     "You," Minako gasped as one long nail traced the outline of
her ear, "are an incredible bitch."
     "Yes," Rei crooned, pleased.  "So tell me, kitten.  What will
it be?
     Rei let her gaze linger lovingly on Minako's bound form,
but the blonde knew there was no doubt in the sultry priestess's
mind what her response would be.  Minako had wanted to evoke
Rei's temper when she'd played her little prank, after all, and she
had, even more so than she'd planned since the others had
witnessed her handiwork as well.  She would take her punishment.
     "Huh-how long?" Minako mumbled as Rei slowly ground
her hips in a lazy motion.
     "Something on your mind, Minako?" Rei whispered.
     "How long duh-do ... ohh! ... do I have tuh-to ... last?"
     "Ah, Minako," Rei murmured huskily.  "That would be
telling."
     "Bitch."
     "And quite an accomplished one," Rei replied, her voice
sliding inside Minako's ears like a lover's caress.  "Does that mean
you do not accept my terms?"
     "I never back down," Minako returned with as much
defiance as she could muster.  The fierce light that response kindled
in Rei's eyes made her body go weak.
     "That's what I wanted to hear," the priestess breathed.
     "Do your worst," Minako taunted, steeling herself.  She
would be worthy of Rei's passions, no matter what.
     "Ah, Minako.  You are a delight," Rei smirked, drawing her
fingers along the underside of the girl's breasts until a groan
escaped Minako's clamped lips.  "But there is one thing about me
that you must learn if there is to be anything between us."
     Rei moved with the carnal grace of a she-devil, arranging
herself carefully on top of the helpless blonde and staring into her
eyes from only inches away.
     "You must learn," Rei breathed, her lush full lips forming
each word with exquisite care, "that I am not a woman to be trifled
with."
     Then Rei pulled something from under her pillow and
dangled it in front of Minako teasingly.
     "A gag?" Minako gasped, rivulets of sweat running down her
cheeks.
     "Indeed," Rei told her.  "If anyone else in this house is to
get any sleep tonight, I believe we will be needing it.  And sooner
rather than later."
     And she smiled that bitch-goddess smile.
 
***

     Setsuna liked Darkrise.  The club had excellent music, not
the loud mindless beat thumping noise that polluted popular dance
clubs, but a mixture of mesmerizing undertones and pulse-stirring
beats that sensually insinuated themselves into the body, moving it
like some succubus puppeteer.  It also had a good crowd, sexy and
sophisticated but not stuffy, good lighting, a nice dance floor, and
booths that were cozy and private while still providing a
commanding view of the action.
     They also made an excellent Black Starburst, and she was
not surprised to see one waiting for her when she arrived at Haruka
and Michiru's table.
     "Glad you could make it," Michiru smiled.  The light picked
out spots of glitter on her slinky black dress as she moved, brushing
her hair back from her face.  Haruka had one arm slung over
Michiru's bare shoulders, her suit jacket off and her white shirt
undone far enough that Setsuna could see the tops of her breasts.
     "We saw you come in," Haruka added as Setsuna hung her
trenchcoat at the end of the high-backed booth and slid in beside
Michiru, claiming the drink.  "That's why I love this table.  You can
see everything."
     "I see something I like," Michiru added, giving Setsuna a
long, lingering look.  "That's new, isn't it?"
     "Yes," Setsuna admitted.  Her outfit was soft supple leather, a
deep green that was nearly black, like her hair.  The skirt was short,
the sleeves long, and the collar open as she had tugged the zipper
dangerously low.  It was tight in all the right places, and it looked
fantastic on her.  She'd added a bracelet and some earrings as well
as her favourite choker to spice things up a little more, along with
some new pumps with high-heels and ankle straps.  With all that
had been going on of late, she'd figured to indulge herself a bit.
That was the wonderful thing about going out as Sailor Pluto; she
could dress up as much as she liked beforehand, so that when her
night was over she could simply transform back and hit a club.  It
beat having to go home and change.
     "So, was your night as frustrating as ours?" Haruka asked
wryly.  Setsuna took a long pull at her drink, giving out a long sigh
as the liquor seared its way into her belly where it flared sweetly.
     "I'll tell you this, Haruka.  The palace has two days, maybe
three, before they'll have to go public with this vamp situation.
Word is already spreading through the city's underbelly, and
although it is still more rumour than anything, it won't take long for
this thing to blow wide open."
     "I concur," Michiru murmured, sipping at a tall, slim glass
of something golden.  Queensyn, most likely.  One of Michiru's
favourites, and from the loose way her gaze roamed the room, not
her first.  "That won't make our job any easier."
     "It's not like we're having any luck as it is," Haruka sighed.
"We have searched out every old haunt, if you'll pardon the
expression, that was frequented by vampires back in the day.
We've tracked down every half-baked lead, every place and person
that had any association at all with vampires.  This witch just seems
to have vanished."
     "I wish I could believe she was gone," Setsuna sighed,
taking another drink and settling back against the padded booth.
     "Our lives are never that simple," Michiru replied.
     "I know.  But I feel a little guilty, sitting here while that
thing is still out there somewhere."
     A slim hand slid under her hair and began gently kneading
the back of her neck, and Setsuna groaned appreciatively.  "Don't
feel guilty," Michiru told her softly.  "We need to blow off steam
from time to time, Setsuna.  We're only human, and we can't afford
to get burned out and make foolish mistakes."
     "You're right," Setsuna breathed, eyes closing as some of
the tension leached from her body.  "I wish I could make Hotaru
see that."
     "I wish we could, too," Haruka's voice came from off to
her right.  "She's been working harder than any of us.  I know this
is personal for her, but she's been through so much lately.  She
needs to take a step back, get some perspective."
     "Easy for us to say," Setsuna murmured.  "That vamp not
only violated her mother, she very deliberately corrupted an unborn
baby with her darkness.  Hotaru went through her own personal
hell because of some vampiress's whim.  I suspect perspective is
hard to come by."
     "Gah!" Michiru blurted.  "Enough!"  She tossed back the
rest of her drink with uncharacteristic directness, then seized
Setsuna's hand firmly.  "Enough talk about work!  I came here to
relax, and I want to dance.  Setsuna, let's go."
     "What?  I'm not finished my drink," Setsuna protested.
"Haruka, you go."
     "Her mind's made up," Haruka shot back, blue eyes
sparkling.
     "Damn straight," Michiru nodded.  "Come on, Su.  You can't
wear an outfit like that and not show it off.  That's
practically criminal.  And you haven't danced with me for ages.  So
let's go."
     Setsuna sighed and gave in, allowing herself to be pulled to
the dance floor.  Michiru whirled and gave her a sultry smile, then
raised her arms over her head and began to gyrate sinuously to the
music.  Setsuna followed suit, letting the bewitching girl draw her
into a private world of sybaritic pleasures where the two of them
danced with sensual abandon.  Setsuna lost herself in the music and
gave herself totally to the experience of just moving.  It felt good to
stop thinking for a while and just be.  Michiru, like some fey music
elemental, flirted with the music and with her, moving in and out,
tossing her hair, blowing soft kisses and twirling lazily in a way
which should not have been possible for any creature with a
skeleton.
     There were many other dancers, but the two women had
eyes only for each other, each feeding off the other, moving close
and flowing through the sinuous undertones, matching each other's
moves, hands flowing through the air over arms and hips and hair
without ever quite touching.  It was flirtation, teasing sensual fun,
and Setsuna let herself go with it for the first time in far too long.
Michiru was very good at this game, first turning up the heat, then
drawing away with an arch, challenging stare, then spinning around
and slowly slithering back in.
     Gods, it was fun.
     She lost track of how long they'd been out there when the
stretch of faster songs finally ended, a slower tempo number
swelling into the warm, smoky air.  Setsuna blinked and stopped,
plunging her fingers into her hair and flipping it back.  She turned to
step off the dance floor as couples began to get closer, only to find
Michiru's arms twining around her neck.
     "Uh-uh," the smaller woman said, giving Setsuna a hungry
look.  "We're not done, my Su.  You owe me a few slow dances,
too."
     "I never disappoint a lady," Setsuna replied with a wry smile,
slipping her arms around Michiru's slender waist.  "I suppose you
want to lead?"  Michiru rose up on her tip-toes and placed her lips
next to Setsuna's ear.
     "Oh, I don't mind being led ... on the dance floor," she
whispered, her voice a silky purr.
     "Nice to know," Setsuna murmured, starting to dance.
Michiru nestled her head in the crook of Setsuna's shoulder
contentedly as they moved, and Setsuna had to admit it was a very
comfortable feeling.  Michiru moved with an easy, effortless grace;
when it came to dance partners, Michiru had no equal in Setsuna's
experience.  She moved like there was music in her blood.
     Setsuna wondered if she made love the same way.  There
was no doubt in her mind that Michiru wanted her thoughts to take
a sexual track tonight, but what harm was there?  The woman was
an accomplished and exquisitely sophisticated flirt, after all.
Setsuna had endured clumsy and even offensive overtures from
suitors of both sexes in the past; she fully intended to enjoy the
attentions of an expert as the tensions of the day receded.
     "I love your hair," Michiru murmured, her fingers luxuriating
in the heavy silken fall of green-black tresses languidly.  The smaller
girl twined a thick skein around her fingers and drew it to her face
so she could breath in the fragrance, eyes lidded with pleasure.  "I
remember that women at Court, our Court, tended to favour hair
that was long, usually below their knees.  The Queen's touched the
floor when unbound.  I'm glad that style is making a comeback in
the here and now.  There's nothing as sensual against your bare
skin, is there?"
     "Haruka will be jealous," Setsuna whispered into the sweet
tension that coiled in the sliver of space between them.  "All this
talk of long hair.  How is she to compete?"
     "She had hers long when I met her," Michiru replied lazily.
"Not nearly as long as yours, just to the small of her back.  It
never suited her, though.  She'd grown it to please someone else."
     "That doesn't sound like our Haruka."
     "No, it doesn't, does it?  The way she is now is so ... her.
Don't you think?"
     "Michiru, I honestly can't imagine the two of you other than
as I know you.  I missed you even when I didn't know what I was
missing."
     The two girls swayed to the music for a moment, Michiru's
gaze locking with Setsuna's across mere inches of space.
     "I'm glad you came tonight," Michiru said at last, leaning
her head back on Setsuna's shoulder.  The girl's hot breath sent
tingles along the taut flesh of Setsuna's throat as she spoke.  "It
seems like forever since we've spent time together without some
crisis being the centre of attention."
     "Things have been tense since the girls left," Setsuna replied
as they drifted on the strains of music.  "Our little sisters.  I miss
them."
     "So do I.  I don't think I realized just how much until Usagi
paid us her little impromptu visit.  I'm glad that they're together,
though.  Loneliness can eat at you like winter cold, settling into
your bones until you start to feel like it was always there, like it
belongs at your side.  I remember that loneliness."
     Setsuna felt Michiru's lithe body tremble slightly in her arms
and pulled back enough so that she could look down into the girl's
eyes.  "We're talking about when you first awakened?"
     "Even before that," Michiru replied, and her eyes seemed to
be seeing something very far off in that moment.  "My family was
wealthy, but always distant.  I was raised by tutors and servants,
you know."  Setsuna hadn't known; Michiru rarely spoke of her
childhood, save perhaps to Haruka.  "And when I awoke to my
senshi side, I knew only that there didn't seem to be anyone else
like me, no one from before.  Until I met Haruka, I believed I might
be the only senshi in this time.  I never realized how much I needed
what the rest of you offer.  It's something I can barely articulate,
but together we are much more than we are apart."
     "We're talking about Hotaru now, right?"
     "As perceptive as she is sultry," Michiru purred, nuzzling
Setsuna's earlobe.  "Yes, that's where this is leading.  Do you recall
when we met her back in the White Moon Court?"
     Oh, yes," Setsuna said, unconsciously tightening her grip on
her dance partner.  "She was a mere child, but she had the saddest
eyes I'd ever seen.  She was so alone, so isolated."
     "Yes.  And she still is.  If she would only come out with us
one night, play and laugh and know what it is to be with her friends,
even just for a little while.  Because we are her friends, Setsuna.
We are senshi, yes, but even senshi need something more than cold
duty."
     "I don't disagree," Setsuna sighed.
     "Have you tried talking to her?  You understand loneliness
almost as well as she does.  I think she might listen to you."
     Setsuna caught Michiru's glance and felt warmth blossom
inside her at the look in those sea-green eyes.  Michiru did
understand her burden, even though Setsuna never spoke of it.
Yes, Setsuna thought, it is good to have friends.  Very good.
     "I've tried, Michiru, but that woman guards herself so
closely.  She wants to let us in, I truly believe that.  But she spent
all of her first life being shunned and isolated, and thanks to this
vampire she's had to endure tragedy and isolation in this life as
well.  It isn't easy for her."
     "We need to get the girls back," Michiru declared.  "Even
Hotaru wasn't immune to their loopy charms.  Do you remember
the time Minako tried to seduce her?"
     "I remember the time Minako tried to seduce you," Setsuna
shot back.  "And I remember the look on her face when you told
her she was out of her league.  Gods, that was priceless!"
     "And when Makoto tried to use the computer that time?"
     Setsuna laughed aloud.  "Or when Usagi and Minako made
cupcakes?"
     "Hotaru very nearly had them summarily executed when she
saw the kitchen," Michiru snickered.  "Ah, gods, Su, we used to
laugh.  Our lives will never be easy, or simple, but we used to enjoy
the good times.  We need that again.  I fear that dark times are
coming, and our strength will come from our bond with each other.
Somehow, we need to make Hotaru understand that."
     "You and Haruka are scheming to get Usagi together with
Hotaru, hmmm?"
     "Perceptive and sultry," Michiru murmured again.  "How is
it you're still single?"
     "Impossibly high standards," Setsuna said primly, guiding
the smaller woman around the dance floor.  "And I'm high-
maintenance."
     "I can live with that," Michiru said with a wicked smile,
seizing Setsuna's hand as the song ended.  "Come on, let's go find
Haruka before she gets into trouble.  She's a rare talent for it, does
my Haruka."
     "Shouldn't we be getting back?" Setsuna asked.
     "The world can take care of itself for a few hours, darling
Su," Michiru replied.  "And us, we have to enjoy what little time we
have to the fullest.  Are you game?"
     Setsuna met the smaller girl's challenging gaze and
understood why Haruka was so beguiled.  Beneath her sleek,
sophisticated exterior, Michiru was a virtual dynamo, trouble in a
twelve-hundred crown dress.  That kind of trouble was not for the
faint of heart, but well worth the risk for the bold.  Or the incredibly
lucky.
     "Impress me," Setsuna replied.
     And the band played on while the world took care of itself.
     If only for a little while.

***

     The house was full of rooms, and the rooms were full of
shadows.
     Like the house's owner.
     Hotaru prowled those shadowy rooms, driven again by
some unnameable need.  The shadows called to her, beckoned and
teased as they slid around her like phantom lovers, silent sirens of
darkness.
     This restlessness that plagued her nights was something
new.  The hunger drove her, but she knew what it wanted.  This
was different.  Her skin felt too tight on her body as darkness
seeped from its daytime hiding places and filled the world.  She
ached to move, to prowl, to run with the shadows and bay with
wild pleasure.
     It should have troubled her more than it did.
     Her perambulations carried her aimlessly through the house,
and along the way she discarded her blouse when it became simply
too confining.  Her skirt went next, and by the time she reached the
kitchen she was walking barefoot, clad only in matching bra and
panties of deep lavender silk and lace.  There was a climate
controlled wine room off the main kitchen, and Hotaru strode in
when the urge for a drink struck her.  The cool air raised gooseflesh
on her bare skin, but she ignored it, searching impatiently until she
found a bottle of Dortessin Red.  A good vintage, too, she thought
as she carried it into the kitchen.
     Several utensils were tossed about before she found a
corkscrew, and she watched with fascination as the deep red wine
flowed freely into the glass snifter she'd grabbed from the
cupboard.  She took a long drink, sighing aloud as the wine
scratched an itch nothing else had been able to touch.  She refilled
the glass and wandered out into the dining room.
     The place was too quiet, too empty.  She should have
accepted the invitation by the others to join them for a drink.  As
usual, though, she'd held herself back, aloof from the throbbing
underbelly of the night.
     "It's hot in here," she muttered to no one in particular.
     It was hot.  And quiet, too quiet.  She had an expensive
sound system, didn't she?  Time to give it a workout.  She made
her way to the luxurious sitting room and ran her index finger idly
along the crystal cases until she found something suitably raunchy.
Not one of hers, certainly not Michiru's.  Something one of the
girls had left behind?
     Well, no matter.  She inserted it in the player and cranked
up the volume until she could feel the throbbing pulse of the bass in
her belly.  She closed her eyes and swayed, taking another drink.
Yes, she should have gone out.
     No.  Shouldn't.  Feeling a little too edgy these nights, even
if the hunger isn't back.  It's her fault.  That vampire bitch.  She's
making me feel trapped.  She's the one who should feel trapped,
she's the one.  Not me.  Not me, trapped in this house, in my own
skin, trapped, constrained, held back, confined ...
     "Gonna howl," she whispered, voice lost in the thunder of
the music.  "Find her, kill her, then I'm gonna HOOOOOWL ..."
     And she danced in the dark, alone.

***

     That's right, my sweet, she whispered as she watched her
daughter from the shadows.  Crave it.  Ache to spill my blood, to
rend my flesh.  Your true nature cannot be denied.
     In the end, I'll show you that you are your mother's
daughter ...

***

     I slipped into the hall, senses alert.  Gloom shrouded
everything, but I could see well enough to slip along the hallway.
Still, I didn't see Phobos and Deimos until I was right on top of
them.
     "Hey," I whispered, heart racing.  "You guys scared me."
     "Sorry," Deimos replied lazily.  She was sitting on the wide
windowsill at the end of the hall, reclining against the glass with
Phobos sitting in front of her.  She had her arms around the other
girl, who even in the dim light seemed a bit flushed.
     "What brings you out so late?" Phobos asked, and her voice
was husky, her eyes strangely heavy.
     "Uh, didn't you guys hear that?" I asked.  "It sounded like
someone crying out ..."
     "Oh, we certainly did," Deimos replied.  "But if you were
planning on joining them, forget it.  Tonight, Minako is the sole
focus of Rei-sama's attention.  She won't want any distractions."
     "Minako's stamina is impressive," Phobos murmured
lightly.  "Rei-sama is well pleased."
     I finally realized what they were talking about and felt heat
rush to my face.  So that muffled, indistinct cry hadn't been a cry of
alarm, but one of ...
     Why was I surprised?
     "If you wanted to bed one of them," Deimos called as I
started back down the hallway, "you should have made your move
earlier."
     "Better luck tomorrow," Phobos added.  I didn't bother to
reply.
     Luna had come looking for Artemis earlier, and they had
definitely been flirting.  Usagi and Mamoru were apparently in her
room.  For all I knew, Ami and Makoto were together too.
     I felt incredibly uncomfortable.  Even though none of what
was going on actually had anything to do with me, somehow I felt
awkward, clumsy, like I was in the way.
     I didn't like the feeling, not at all.  But I certainly couldn't
do anything about it.  After all, it wasn't my fault that people here
jumped into bed together at the drop of a hat.
     So I went back to bed, put my pillow over my ears, and
tried to sleep.

***

     The sky had brightened to a pale gray when Rei woke.  She
lay still for a time, luxuriating in the warmth of the bed and of the
girl next to her.  Minako slept soundly, no doubt exhausted by her
punishment.
     By the time Rei had finally deigned to end the girl's sweet
torment, Minako had been pleading for release.  Afterwards Rei had
wiped the sweat from the blonde's brow, untying her and using her
arts to soothe stressed muscles.  Minako had fallen asleep in her
arms, sated beyond anything she had ever experienced.
     The girl scarcely seemed to have stirred in the night, and Rei
brushed her lips fondly across the sleeping girl's forehead before
rising to perform her meditations.
     Phobos and Deimos joined her; she did not know where the
two had spent the night, but they slipped easily in through the
window and knelt silently beside her as she went through her
routine.  Neither of them disturbed her until she was finished.
     "Rei-sama," Deimos murmured with a sly glance at the bed,
"did you have fun last night?"
     "You know I did," Rei replied, shaking her hair out and
standing naked in the dawning day.  "You were in contact almost
the entire time."
     "Poor Minako didn't get to show off any of her skills,"
Phobos said sweetly.  "She must be terribly vexed, proud as she is
of her beauty."
     "She works harder when she's vexed," Rei smiled.  The
twins launched themselves into the air, landing lightly on Rei's
shoulders.  "Next time she'll have a chance to impress me."
     Rei went to the spartan night table and sat, picking up her
brush and brushing out her hair with long, slow strokes.  Phobos
and Deimos fluttered about, content to touch her body and her
thoughts from time to time as she worked.  When her mane
gleamed darkly in the light, she rose again and strode sensuously
over to the bed.
     "Rise and shine," she said sweetly.  Minako groaned, rolling
over and pulling the blankets up over her head.
     "Witch," the blonde mumbled drowsily.  "Succubus.  Go
'way."
     "You need to keep your strength up," Rei admonished her,
pulling the blankets back to Minako's vocal displeasure.  "If you're
going to be courting my favour."
     "That mean I won?" Minako asked, opening one eye and
rolling it to peer blearily up at the sleek priestess.
     "Ah, yes, you did fall asleep before I got a chance to tell you.
Well, you only made the top ten, but I was sufficiently impressed
that I've decided you deserve a chance."
     "You," Minako moaned, "are an evil woman.  If I could
move, I'd throw you down and show you some of my own talents."
     "Promises, promises.  Come, let's get dressed and get some
breakfast into you."  Rei held out her hand, and after a dark, one-
eyed glare, Minako sighed and reached up to take it, allowing
herself to be pulled to a sitting position.
     "Mean," Minako whispered.  "Cruel.  Heartless."
     "You wouldn't worship me otherwise," Rei replied huskily,
giving the blonde a sultry stare as the twins looked on with delight.
     "Not gonna worship you," Minako said petulantly.  "Gonna
punish you.  Real bad."
     "If you're going to be convincing," Rei said, her voice low
and silky, "it would help if you could stand."
     "Help me?" Minako murmured, looking up at Rei from
under lowered lashes.  Rei wrapped her arms around the girl and
helped her stand.  She was certain that Minako was exaggerating
her infirmity, but she was willing to play the game.  Sure enough,
Minako managed to get her hands into quite a few sensitive spots in
the process of standing.
     "You already brushed your hair," Minako whispered,
leaning heavily against Rei.  "Mine's all tangled from writhing and
tossing, and my arms are tired.  Will you do mine too?"
     "I should have woken you," Rei replied, tugging sharply at
one tangle, "and made you brush mine."
     "I said I was sooooory," Minako crooned, giving Rei her
best puppy-dog eyes.
     "Well, I suppose we can't have you looking bedraggled
after spending the night in my bed.  Especially when I'm looking so
good.  But you should have a shower first.  You worked up quite a
sweat last night."
     "Cat burglars don't sweat," Minako told her haughtily.
"They glow."
     "How very droll," Rei said archly.  "Why don't you go rinse
all that glow off?"
     Minako grumbled, fishing around for her robe which lay in a
crumpled heap, minus its sash, beside the bed.  "You could at least
join me," the blonde cajoled as she slipped into her robe.
     "And I would, if we had the time," Rei sighed, her fingers
tracing lightly along the line of Minako's jaw.  "But time grows
short, and there is much to do."
     "Duty calls," Minako muttered.
     "It does indeed," Rei told her, swatting the recalcitrant girl
lightly on the butt.  "Now go."
     Minako trooped off to one of the upstairs bathrooms,
leaving Rei to get cleaned up and dressed.
     "I will need the two of you today," she told the twins as she
performed her ablutions in the small bathroom adjacent to her
room.
     "We know," Deimos replied.  "We've sensed some of what
you intend.  We will do anything we can to help, Rei-sama."
     "You can count on us," Phobos added.  Rei looked at the
two girls, perched easily on the edge of the sink, and smiled.
     "I know I can," she said softly.  "Come, let's see if the
others are up yet."
     "You know, Makoto still seems unhappy with you, Rei-
sama," Deimos noted as they went back to the bedroom.  "Perhaps
she needs a taste of what you gave Minako last night?"
     "Little one, Minako's tastes are varied and quite wild," Rei
said wryly.  "Domination in the bedroom is a game she is quite
willing to play, whether she be on the giving or receiving end.
Makoto is quite a different story.  She would not react well to such
treatment by me."
     "Hmmph.  What a pity," Phobos sniffed.  "She doesn't
know what she's missing."
     "Nevertheless, Makoto's protective nature has been
provoked, at least as far as she's concerned," Rei told them.  "What
she needs is space, and I'm going to give it to her."
     "What about the princess?" Deimos inquired.  "And
Mamoru?  What are you going to do about that situation?"
     "Honestly, Deimos, I don't know.  All of this will take time,
and right now our focus must be the Sisterhood and this vampire.
Personal matters will need to take a back seat.  Come."
     Dressed in low-slung pants and a white shirt, Rei went
down to the kitchen.  Makoto and Ami were already there, Minako
showing up on Rei's heels.
     "Any sign of life from our princess?" Rei asked.
     "She was getting into the bathroom just as I left," Minako
told her.  "She'll be down shortly."
     "And it's not even noon," Makoto noted.  "Who knew that
sex was the way to get her out of bed at a decent hour?"
     "Makoto!" Ami blurted, scandalised.
     "Luna and Artemis?" Rei asked.
     "Watching Ranma do his morning katas.  Just, you know,
keeping an eye on him," Makoto said casually.  Rei noticed the tall
girl flicking a quick glance at Minako as she spoke, as if wondering
if the blonde would take offence.  If she did, she hid it well.
     "So," Minako said.  "What about breakfast, Makoto?  I'm
starved!"
     "Yes, I suppose our princess will be, too," Makoto sighed.
     "Hey, everybody," Usagi beamed, bouncing into the room
and fairly radiating joy.  "Isn't it a glorious morning?"
     She swept through the room, stopping to kiss Rei, then
Minako.  She blew kissed to the twins, hugged Ami, and wrapped
her arms around Makoto's neck, bussing the girl firmly on the
cheek.
     "Breakfast?" the blonde asked.
     "I'm taking requests," Makoto grinned in reply.
     "Usako," Mamoru said by way of greeting as he strode into the
room.
     "You have to go?" she replied.
     "Yes, the page earlier was from Yu.  He needs me."  Mamoru
leaned down and kissed her on the mouth, a lingering kiss that got
Usagi's full attention.  Still, Rei couldn't help wondering if she was
being sent a message.  She wouldn't put that past Mamoru; he had
never been hesitant about his dislike of her.
     This had the potential to get unpleasant, indeed.  Only
Usagi's presence in the entire mess gave her hope that things could
possibly be worked out.
     Rei noticed there was something wrong with his shirt; it seemed
to be missing quite a few buttons, and from the way Minako was
smirking she'd noticed as well.  Rei had experienced Usagi's
impulsive nature first hand, but the mental image of their princess
ripping stoic Mamoru's shirt off made her want to smile.
     "Be careful, okay?" she whispered when he'd finished.
     "You, too.  And call me if anything breaks," he said, pinning
her with his gaze.
     "Promise," she murmured, eyes wide and innocent.
     "Ladies," he said with a cool nod to the girls, then strode out of
the room.
     "I hope he's got a spare shirt in the car," Minako giggled.
     "You little vixen," Rei added with a sly stare at Usagi.
     "He does, and I am," Usagi announced shamelessly.
     "He so wants me," Minako sniffed.
     "That could be the way to get him to warm up to you
guys," Usagi agreed.
     "Say, Rei," Minako said slyly.  "You're the one who knows all
about pleasuring men.  The three of you in one bed would ease
tensions a whole lot."
     "Minako, even you aren't naive enough to believe that sex
makes things simpler," Rei sighed.
     "If not simpler, at least more fun," Minako pointed out.
"And if you were all sated all the time, there'd be lots less tension."
     "So," Usagi interrupted, throwing her arms around
Minako's shoulders and hugging her fiercely.  "Did I mention your
plan worked out perfectly?"
     "Of course," Minako said with a total lack of modesty.  "So,
tell."
     "How was your night?" Usagi replied, staring deeply into
Minako's eyes before turning to Rei with a thoughtful expression.
     "You first."
     "Breakfast first," Makoto announced.
     "Indeed," Rei murmured.  "Breakfast.  And then, ladies, I'm
afraid we have more serious issues to discuss."

***

     Mamoru knew he was in trouble as soon as he saw Yusaku.
Yu was wearing THAT smile, the guileless, aw-shucks, I'm just
here to help smile that he used to slide through barrages of
bureaucratic nonsense and middle-management doublespeak.  His
eyes fairly sparkled behind the lenses of his glasses as he cocked his
head, giving every appearance of being absolutely captivated by
what was being said to him
     Mamoru's day didn't get any better when he saw just who it
was Yu was humouring.  Inspector Kentaro Hongo was one of the
sub-commanders of the task force hunting the vamp, a slick, flashy
man with movie-star looks and a shrewd ability to navigate the
political intrigues of the police force.  Mamoru had disliked him on
sight, and had since not had cause to rethink his initial evaluation.
     "Chiba!" the inspector barked, catching sight of him.  "How
nice of you to join us, at long last!  What in the hells is the matter
with you?"
     "Problem, Inspector?" Mamoru asked calmly.  Calm was
good; losing his temper with a weasel like this would buy him more
trouble than he needed.  Especially now.
     "Problem?  I've been looking for you since last night, and
every time I ask your partner where you are, he says you're in the
damned crapper!"
     Yu's smile widened, and Mamoru fought the urge to just
start shooting.
     "I had some bad fish, sir," he said blithely.
     "Oh, you think you're funny, Chiba?" Hongo sneered.  "I've
got everyone from Her Majesty on down climbing onto my back
wanting results on this thing, and what do I get?  Comedians!  If
you don't watch your step, Detective Constable, you're going to
find your ass tossed off this task force so fast it'll make your head
spin!"
     Hongo stood with his finger extended and his eyes
narrowed dramatically, and all Mamoru could think was that the
man was waiting for the camera to dolly in for his close up.
Everyone was a potential audience for Kentaro Hongo; the man had
clearly missed his calling.
     "Did I hear you right?" a voice asked from behind them.
Mamoru turned to find a harried looking woman with short brown
hair and creases around her implacable gray eyes fixing her stare on
Inspector Hongo.  "You're kicking my guys loose?  Because I'm
up to my ass in monsters, Kenny, and I could use the manpower."
     Kenny.  Mamoru suppressed a smirk.  As divisional
commander, Kaede Amagi had earned the respect of the men and
women who served under her, and while the head of the task force
could give her orders, woe betide any of his underlings who tried
that.  Hongo's boyish good looks twisted into a scowl as his cheeks
reddened.
     "Forget that," he snapped.  "Commander Fuyuri wants
this taken care of, and I've assigned the task to these men.  I
assume they are capab ..."
     "Why don't you boys take care of that?" Amagi said idly,
gesturing at the folder in Yu's hand as she walked past, totally
ignoring Hongo.  Mamoru and Yu fell into step neatly.
     "You got it, Chief," Yu said, chipper and eager.
     "We're on it," Mamoru added.  He glanced back to see
Inspector Hongo fiddling self-consciously with his cufflinks, trying
hard not to look like he'd just been dismissed in the middle of his
tirade as several uniforms and clerical workers nearby looked on
with undisguised glee.
     "Oh, that was beautiful," Yu murmured as they turned a
corner and headed towards the elevators.  "Chief, why don't you
marry me?"
     "I've already got a wife and two husbands, Yusaku.
There's only so much raw joy one woman can take.  Now you boys
go and do the task force's moronic grunt work instead of helping
clear our backlog, and I'll go scream at Highview some more over
how understaffed I am."
     "Hang in there, Chief," Mamoru said sympathetically.
     "Just catch this bitch, boys, and stake her before she turns
this city into her own private level of hell, okay?"
     "We aim to please," Yusaku said cheerily.  She nodded and
started to walk away, then paused.
     "Oh, and Yusaku?"
     "Yeah, Chief?"
     "The crapper?  For eighteen hours?  That's pretty lame,
boyo.  I expect better from you."
     "That's because I save my best bullshit for you, chief."
     "Keep him out of trouble, okay?" she said to Mamoru,
sounding weary.  Then she was gone down the corridor leading to
her office, and Mamoru followed Yu to the elevator.
     "She looks tired," Mamoru said.
     "I believe it.  You, on the other hand, look great.
Somebody got some last night."
     "Sorry you took heat, Yu.  I didn't think Hongo'd come
looking for us personally."
     "No sweat," Yu replied, and something in his tone, or his
eyes, made Mamoru stop.
     "What?"
     "Wait," Yu replied evenly.  "Until we're in the car."
     "Yu ..."
     "Trust me, partner.  It'll keep."
     Mamoru frowned, but held his curiosity as they boarded the
crowded elevator and headed for the main vehicle garage.  It was
busy, as it almost always was, and Mamoru was disheartened by the
amount of damage he saw on marked units coming in for shift
change.  Things were getting worse out there, and as the central
division for the sector, they were seeing the worst of it.
     He followed Yu to their unit and climbed into the passenger
seat, settling in and waiting.  Yu didn't start the car, merely sitting
behind the wheel and holding the folder in his hand out to Mamoru,
who took it and flipped it open.
     And froze.
     "Yeah," Yu said glumly.  "That's what I said.  I kept hoping
Hongo would run out of steam without mentioning her name.  I
didn't want you to get caught by surprise."
     "I don't get it," Mamoru muttered, leafing through the file.
"Why ... what ...?"
     "Well, here's the problem," Yu said, rubbing his hands
together briskly.  "First, Cyrie der Kae died violently of blood loss.
Now granted, her blood all flowed out because she was mutilated
by a maniac, but still, official cause of death was blood loss, so she
was in the task force's database of recent cases.  Then someone
went looking into her case in the last forty-eight hours and tripped
an alarm somewhere in the system."
     "Ah, shit.  Sorry, Yu."
     "Yeah, well, so I'm not quite as smart as I think I am," Yu
shrugged.  "At least they didn't trace it back to us.  But it was
enough to get someone's attention.  Hells, they're grasping at
straws, partner.  It doesn't take much to get the hounds on the
scent.  So, as a matter of routine, they wanted to talk to the
daughter, who moved into her mother's mansion a couple of
months back.  Only, get this, the daughter's cleared out, servants
and all, and is nowhere to be found.  Not normally that suspicious,
but added to the unauthorized recent access of this file?  Did I
mention they're grasping at straws?  So, we managed to get this
thing on someone's radar, and now we've gotta go oversee the
exhumation of this Tyrian noblewoman and escort her body back to
the morgue so old Wasa can poke at her earthly remains and tell us
there's no evidence of a vampire."
     "Did I mention I was sorry?" Mamoru asked weakly.
     "Forget it, partner.  I'm pretty sure a woman was involved,
which is the best reason any guy has for getting in hot water."
     Mamoru thought.  "Say, Cyrie der Kae was Tyrian
nobility, right?  Any chance her people will object to the
exhumation?  You know, on religious grounds, or matters of
diplomacy, or just to be a pain in the ass?"
     "Don't get your hopes up, Mamoru.  They wouldn't even
send someone to take her body back to Tyria.  I heard a rumour she
was on the Domina's shit list, and that's why she graced our fine
city with her presence in the first place.  No, we can't depend on the
Tyrians to be their usual uncooperative selves, champ.  We actually
have to do this."
     "We don't have to watch the autopsy."
     "Would you rather go talk to Hongo again?
     "Point.  When do they start the exhumation?"
     "When we get there."
     "What, they afraid she'll get up and walk away?  She's been
dead for months.  And it's the middle of the day.  No vamp action
now."
     "Rules is rules.  Anyway, I bet Kenny didn't want us to miss a
minute of quality police work.  I think he likes you, Mamoru."
     "Oh, just drive, would you?"

***

     "Well, I'm insulted," Michiru was saying as Setsuna walked
into the kitchen.
     "About what?" Setsuna asked.
     "Good morning," Michiru replied, looking her usual cool
and sophisticated self as she cradled a mug of steaming tea in her
slim hands.  "Did you sleep well?"
     "Thank you, yes," Setsuna said, crossing to the counter
where Haruka was already pouring her some coffee.  The only trace
of the previous night's untamed passions was the flicker of heat in
Michiru's eye as she watched Setsuna move.  The sun was up, after
all; it was time for business, not pleasure.
     Pity.
     "Michiru was just complaining about Hotaru," Haruka
informed her. "We found an empty wine bottle near the pool, and
one of her blouses thrown aside in the upstairs hallway."
     "If she was in the mood to cut loose, she might have just
joined us," Michiru sniffed.  "I mean, really."
     "That doesn't sound like Hotaru," Setsuna frowned, adding
a splash of honey to her coffee and crossing the room to sit at the
table with Michiru.
     "She's been acting a little twitchy lately," Haruka pointed
out.  "The other night, Michiru and I were checking up on her and
found her having a nightmare.  She was wearing the most exquisite
lingerie, and had her hair slicked back.  Almost like a woman who
was expecting company in bed."
     "Odd," Setsuna murmured, fiddling with her coffee mug,
the one with the picture of timepieces all over it.  "Still, Hotaru is a
woman.  Because of the hunger, or more precisely her fear of it, she
has trouble finding an outlet for her sensual side.  And she does
have an intensely sensual side, that I think we can agree on.
Perhaps she was just venting a little."
     "I wish she'd find a better way to do it," Haruka
complained.  "Wandering the house at night, alone?  That's such a
lonesome way to answer the cries of her heart."
     "We've discussed this before," Michiru sighed, sipping her
tea elegantly.  "Hotaru has to be willing to open up to us.  The
issue simply cannot be forced."
     "On a more immediate note, what do we have scheduled for
today?" Setsuna asked as the coffee slowly seeped into her
bloodstream, washing away the vestiges of the late night.
     "A few sites we wanted to investigate," Haruka shrugged.
"Long shots, really."
     "We will chase every long shot until we run this bitch to
ground," Hotaru announced, breezing into the kitchen briskly.  She
was impeccably groomed, as always, her blouse a deep, shimmering
purple, her long black skirt slit high up one side.
     "No argument here," Setsuna said.  "But thus far we
haven't found a single lead that's been any good at all."
     "That's because we've been looking in the wrong places,"
Hotaru told her, pouring coffee into a plain white porcelain mug
and drinking it black.  "This isn't just any vampire, it's the vampire
responsible for my mother's murder."
     "We believe," Michiru added softly.  Hotaru glanced at her.
     "I feel certain that she is the one," the violet-eyed woman said
firmly.  "And so we must ask ourselves, where would she go?
Where would this creature hide from the ruthless light of day?"
     "We've been running through all the old known hideouts,"
Haruka pointed out.  "The police have a great deal more in the way
of manpower, though, and they have beaten us to many of the
sites."
     "Regardless, this vampiress has not survived by being
stupid," Setsuna added.  "She will not prove so easy to find."
     "I take it none of your usual sources have been able to provide
any insight?" Michiru inquired.
     "None," Hotaru stated.  "However, I've been thinking.
This creature is not only ruthless and cruel, she likes to play.  She
toyed with my mother under the very eyes of the law.  I believe she
possesses a twisted sense of humour, indeed a need to revel in her
supposed superiority.  We must use that against her."
     "I don't follow," Haruka frowned.
     "I believe she will choose to lair in places that possess meaning
for her and also for those she destroyed so ruthlessly.  My father's
house has been abandoned for years," Hotaru said, her deep violet
eyes gleaming as she looked to each of them in turn.  "We'll start
there."
     "She wouldn't," Setsuna breathed, but even as she said the
words she knew that such a creature might very well glory in such
irony.
     "Oh, I wouldn't be too sure," Hotaru said with grim
humour.  "The police are looking for an unknown vampire, ladies.
We are looking for a specific one.  We have to try to think as she
would think.  We must get inside her head and anticipate her
moves.  That is how we will find her."
     Hotaru stood abruptly, pushing her chair back as she gazed
down at Setsuna and Michiru.
     "We are going to find her," she said, "and we are going to
kill her.  One way or another.  We leave in five minutes."
     With that, she turned on her heel and marched out of the
kitchen, leaving silence in her wake.
     "Wow," Haruka said at last.
     "Do you think she could be right?" Setsuna asked.  "About
this vamp playing with all of us?"
     "I don't know," Michiru confessed, brow furrowed as her
gaze lingered on the doorway through which Hotaru had vanished.
"But I will tell you this.  I am not at all happy about Hotaru trying
to get into the head of a true vampire.  No, not happy at all."
     Setsuna had no reply to that.  She shared Michiru's
misgivings, after all.  But they were no closer to finding this
creature than they had been when they'd started.  Where was she,
and what was she doing when the sun fell?
     And could they find her before she spread her taint through
their city?

***

     "A pine box?" Mamoru asked in disbelief as the back-hoe raised
the coffin from the freshly dug earth.  Two men in mud-spattered
coveralls grabbed the swinging coffin as it cleared the edges of the
hole and shouted instructions as they guided it to a clear spot on the
ground.
     "And a pauper's cemetery," Yu sighed.  "I'm telling you, the
woman had no friends."
     "She was a noble," Mamoru frowned.  "Wasn't there money
left from her estate?"
     "I checked that," Yu told him, casting a wary eye at the
clouds which were scudding in over the pale blue ceiling of sky.
"Damn.  Gonna rain again, I think.  Anyway, the daughter
inherited."
     "She couldn't give her mother a better send-off?"
     "According to the file, Saekianna der Kae ordered the
cheapest possible interment, no service, nothing.  She didn't even
show."
     "Cold," Mamoru muttered, watching the workers wrestle
the stained pine box into the back of the waiting truck.  The driver
oversaw the loading, securing the box before walking over to them.
     "Okay, guys," the driver said.  "Ready to go."
     "We'll follow you back," Yu told him.  "You know how to
get to the loading dock by the morgue?"
     "I've made more than a few deliveries to old Wasa," the
driver grinned, shrugging his beefy shoulders within his battered
leather jacket.  "But you guys have been keeping us hopping this
last week.  Real strange goings-on, you know?"  The man's face
was open, eager for information.
     "Sorry," Mamoru told the man.  "They don't tell us
anything, just give us our orders."
     "Yeah, but police escort for a corpse?"
     "Preserving the chain of evidence," Yu said primly.
     "Huh.  That mean you guys want to open the box before we
go?"
     "No bloody way," Mamoru said flatly.  "Homicides are bad
enough.  She's been in the ground, what, six months?"
     "Yeah," the driver nodded.  "About that.  Just asking, guys.
Okay, let's get this done.  Your bosses have more work for us
today, I've gotta be at a graveyard out Newpeak way next, and
time's a-wastin', you know?."
     The driver ambled back to his truck, stopping to check the
rear doors before climbing in.  Mamoru and Yu returned to their
unit, and when the nondescript truck pulled out onto the narrow
lane that led to the main gates, they fell in behind.
     "This is how rumours start," Mamoru sighed.
     "The task force has been as circumspect as possible,
Mamoru, but rumours are already flying," Yu told him.
     "Are we even doing any good?  This witch may have
decided to stir us up like a kid with a hornet's nest, you know.
Even now she could be watching from a safe distance, laughing at
us."
     "Maybe."  Yu kept his eyes on the road.
     "But you don't think so."
     "I told you, Mamoru.  Something bad is coming.  I wish to
all the gods that we had seen the last of this vamp, but I just feel it
in my gut.  She's not done with us, my son.  Not yet."

***

     Wynneth stirred, eyes fluttering open.  She'd haunted her
daughter's dreams all night, steering them as subtly as possible so
that she might glimpse the faces of the hated senshi of the White
Moon.  Each night it became easier, Hotaru's defences slipping as
the dark tidal pull of vampiric blood increased in strength.
     And now the sun was high, dangerous to her still, it's
throbbing presence nagging at her awareness as it always did.  But
the hated sun was not what had awakened her.  Something had
stirred, one thread of her web of deceit and treachery which had
been spun and left in place.  But which one?  Sitting up and
throwing the dark silk sheets back, she rose from her bed, sending
wraiths scuttling from the shadows to attend her.  Soon she would
have delicious human servants, and a family of her own kind.  Soon
she would be a goddess ...
     But now, she had to focus.  She closed her eyes and reached
out, tracing the lines of her magick to discover the source of the
disturbance.
     There.  How strange.  Her little insurance policy, the one
she had nearly forgotten about.  It seemed unlikely at this point that
she would need it, but that thought was shouldered rudely aside by
concern.  Why had that thread been disturbed?
     "Go," she snapped, and one of her wraiths responded by sinking
into the pools of shadow that cloaked the chamber.  She paced the
bedchamber, hair flowing like a cloak of shadow as she awaited
word from her minions.  After all her planning, could she be undone
by something as simple as this?  If the Sisterhood suspected they
were being manipulated, her entire scheme could be in jeopardy.
     She stopped still as a statue, closing her eyes and looking
through the eyes of her loyal wraith as it flew over the graveyard.
It took only moments for Wynneth to see the open grave.
     She shrieked with rage, and her wraiths cowered, falling to
their knees as she stalked through the opulent bedchamber, cloaked
in beauty and fury.  How?  How had this happened?  And why now,
when she was so close?
     "Find her!" she screeched, her voice rising in the still, dead
air.  The remaining wraiths promptly vanished into the shadows,
leaving their mistress quivering with frustration, her hair snaking
restlessly around her body.  It took her long moments to get her
temper back under control, and when she did she attempted to trace
the thread of magick to her pawn.
     (Too clever,) her inner voice chided.  (Too clever by half ...)
     "Shut up," she hissed, throwing her head back.
     There.  Moving.  Wynneth sent the command with savage
glee, and her wraiths answered, soaring through Shadow and sky to
close in on those who had taken their mistress's property.  She
looked through their eyes, riding the wave of disorientation as she
switched from one to another.  Wynneth wanted to see who had
done this, who had dared to interfere with her plans.
     Whoever it was, they would pay dearly.
     There.  A truck, black and nondescript.  That was where she
was.  Her wraiths moved in closer, tried to see more.  Soon she
could see that there was a man driving the truck, a mere human
man with not even the faintest glimmering of magicks about him.
Not the Sisterhood?  Unless they'd hired the man ... but no, if they
suspected something they'd have handled this themselves.  So who
...?
     (You saw something,) her inner voice said flatly.  (Look again.
You saw something.)
     "Stop bothering me," Wynneth muttered petulantly.
Whoever this man was, he would not survive.  Her wraiths would
tear him from his stupid machine and feast on him, punish him for
disturbing their mistress.  Or better, they would bring him back to
her.  She would show the trembling peasant what it meant to
inconvenience a goddess ...
     (That face.  THAT FACE.)
     She blinked.  What was this nonsense?  What face?
Nevertheless, she flipped through the images that her wraiths were
seeing, stopping when a pang of recognition struck her.  There, in
the car behind that truck.  She did know him, not the driver but the
other, a lovely man with the shock of dark hair and cool blue eyes.
But from where?
     Then she had it.  Her darling daughter's dreams, dreams of
girls she'd betrayed, and an angry young man who'd accused her.
A policeman, boyfriend of the hated fairytale princess, a man who'd
once been a prince.
     A policeman.
     Wynneth felt her long nails digging into her palms, scented
her own blood as it seeped from the cuts.  A quick look told her
that the truck was indeed heading towards a large, heavily fortified
police building, was in fact very nearly there.  And once there, the
princess's consort would cast his eyes upon a sight he was not
meant to see.  And he would tell his princess.  That could threaten
her plans as certainly as if the Sisterhood had discovered her
involvement.  If those girls could link her to the Sisterhood, they
might figure out what was happening.  They might manage to
interfere.
     And that would not do.
     "Destroy them," she whispered, reaching out to her wraiths.
     Only to find her command blocked.
     (No.)
     "They must be destroyed!" she shrieked.  "I will not allow
anything to threaten all I have worked for!"
     (Then think.  How much do they know?  If your wraiths
swoop down, there will be a connection between you and the der
Kae woman.)
     "Her body will be destroyed!  No one will ..."
     (There will be a link.  The police linked you and your wraiths
to the club, your little indiscretion.  And the church.  And he talks
to his princess.  The link will be there, and so the risk of
interference increases.  We cannot afford that.)
     "They are nearly at the police station!" Wynneth wailed,
frustrated.  "I will miss my chance!"
     (No.  Think.  You have the means to wreak havoc upon
them, to kill many.  And if any who might see the body were to die
in the chaos, if a few corpses were to vanish, there would be no
reason to suspect you.  Would there?)
     Wynneth cocked her head, anger ebbing as it often did at
times like this.  The voice was almost mesmerizing, her own inner
self revealing valuable truths before she could act rashly and
destroy that which she had waited so long to accomplish.
     "But the wraiths," she pouted.  "They will know ..."
     (Not your lovelies.  Bring the wrath upon them.  Show them
fear.)
     Wynneth felt her gaze drawn to the corner, where her
plunder from the previous day lay nestled in a bed of dark velvet,
glittering softly in the dim light.  A dim figure huddled next to it,
trembling even in sleep.  Wynneth's tiny fangs showed as she smiled
widely, then laughed aloud.
     "Show them fear," she said softly.  "Yes.  Oh, yes.  They
will learn fear.  Let my ascension be heralded by blood and death
and fear, and let those who would dare defy me pay the price."
     Her laughter cut through the silence like rusty metal, and
she summoned more wraiths to do her bidding.

***

     "Sick.  Can you believe it?" Wasa complained as the driver
wrestled his cargo onto the waiting gurney.  "And them being
young men, too, and healthy.  Malingering, that's what I say.
Bloody malingering."
     "Sign here, would you?" the driver said, cheerfully ignoring
Wasa's tirade.  Mamoru figured that the guy must have to deal with
Wasa regularly, and had simply learned to ride out the old man's
constant litany.
     Wasa complied, still complaining about his young assistants,
and the driver ambled back to his truck.  Wasa turned to Yu and
Mamoru.
     "Both of them, calling in sick," he went on sourly.  "Hung
over, that's what.  Hung over from too much good living.  I hate a
man what can't handle his spirits, you know?  Drink all you like,
but don't neglect your duties."
     "Why don't we push this?" Yu asked blithely.
     "Thought you'd never offer, my lad," Wasa grinned.
Grinning didn't improve his looks any; he was of old Reinan stock,
like Yu, but unlike the handsome detective he looked like a gnarled
old dwarf.  His balding head only came up to Mamoru's collarbone,
and his nose looked to have been broken at least one more time
than it had been set.  Sprigs of gray hair sprouted from his huge
ears and the knuckles of his big, square hands.  But Wasa's watery
blue eyes sparkled with mischief, and he was rarely fooled.  And
never twice.
     Also, he shared the odd streak of black humour that seemed
to follow those who dealt with death for a living.  Everything could
become routine, even death in all its most violent guises.  There
was little Wasa hadn't seen at least once during his tenure with the
department, and this didn't promise to hold any surprises.  Mamoru
wished he could tell the old man that this was a waste of time, but
he couldn't.  Not without revealing that he and Yu had violated
procedure pretty badly.
     So he took one end of the gurney, and Yu took the other,
and they followed Wasa down the hallway to where the ugly pale
green tiles started.  Wasa country, Yu called it.
     "Police escort, eh, Wasa?" Yu said cheerily.  "What do you
figure?"
     "The old rules," Wasa shrugged.  "There's a lot of old
Division V folk on the task force, you know.  And you're too
young to remember, but back in the day those suspected of being
vamp victims had to be exhumed as close to midday as possible and
escorted back to a secure facility before the casket was even
opened."
     "Casket?" Yu sniffed.  "It's a bloody box, Wasa."
     "Eeh," Wasa shrugged.  "Same difference."
     "Yeah, but Wasa, worst case scenario, if she was just bitten,
there's no problem," Mamoru pointed out.  "If the vamp made her
drink and turned her, she'll be long gone.  What's the longest they
stay in the coffin before turning?"
     "Longest I ever heard was three days, my son," Wasa
grunted, hunting through the pockets of a battered tweed jacket
that was nearly as ugly as he was.  "The longer the vamp has been
at them, the quicker they rise.  Bloody vampires.  Kids these days,
they think vampires are romantic figures, eh?  You believe that, my
boys?  The forbidden allure of the demon lover.  What a lot of
bollocks.  Hungry, soulless predators, that's all that lot ever was.
We should have hunted them down right from word go."
     "No argument here," Yu said as they swung around a
corner.
     "They showed their true colours in the end, but by the gods
they took a lot of people with 'em.  I don't know what to hope for
here.  If she was bit, does that help you at all?"
     "Don't see how," Mamoru shrugged.  "Anyway, they gave
us her file when we drove out.  Bad one, Wasa.  Got butchered in
her own house.  I don't figure there's much chance you'll find
anything.  They're grasping at straws."
     "Police work, blue eyes," Wasa admonished.  "The wheels
of justice, they do grind slowly, but exceedingly fine.  One of these
routine assignments is going to pop something open, you wait.
Yusaku here's infected you with his need for a high-profile bust, is
that it?"
     "He's keen to meet Her Majesty," Mamoru told the old man
soberly.  "Maybe get a medal."
     "Laugh all you like," Yu sniffed.  "When I'm famous and
living in Highview, I'll have little use for the likes of you two."
     "Shocking," Wasa chuckled.  "You're a slut for fame,
Yusaku.  What would your dear departed mother say?"
     "Her?  She wanted me to be a poet."
     "Oh, gods," Mamoru moaned.  "Don't start, Yu.  Say,
Wasa, what do the rules say about the autopsy?  We don't have to
watch, do we?"
     "You've a strong stomach, bucko.  But this one will be
messy, no doubt.  In the ground six months, more or less ... let me
see her file, would you, lad?"
     Wasa flipped through, brightening immediately.  "I
remember her," he grinned.  "Seems she was a right looker, she
was.  Before the deranged bastard got to her, anyway.  Pity.  There
were servants, too, as I recall.  A mess, the lot."
     "Servants were cremated, so no problems there," Yu told
him.  "Here, get the door, would you?"
     "Yes, yes," Wasa muttered.  Mamoru noticed that, when Yu
spent time around Wasa, he developed a slight sing-songy accent in
response to the man's cadences, a vestige of his days in the old
homeland.
     "In here, lads," Wasa huffed.  They trooped into a sparkling
clean room full of stainless steel surfaces and smelling of antiseptic
and harsh cleaners.  Mamoru always fancied he could smell
something darker underneath that detergent, but considering how
fussy Wasa was about his morgue, it must have been his
imagination.
     "On the table?" Yu asked.
     "We'll open the box there," Wasa grunted, hunting around.
"Then we'll move her.  Here."  He handed them a small, squat
bottle, and Yu unscrewed the cap.  Mamoru recognized the smell of
Merton's nasal paste right away; it was wonderful stuff for clearing
the sinuses during cold and flu season.  Its strong smell was also
useful for blunting other, less savoury olfactory experiences.  Yu
finished and handed the bottle to Mamoru, who took a glob of the
medicinal-smelling whitish paste on one finger and smeared it under
and around both nostrils.
     "Smell's not too bad from here," Wasa said, standing over
the box.  "We might get lucky.  Here, put these on."
     "Doubt it," Yu sighed, taking the latex gloves and slipping
them on.  "That old municipal cemetery's on some pretty low land,
and the rains have been bad this year.  Look at how the wood's
rotting under there.  We'll be lucky the damned thing doesn't come
apart on us, cost the city another box, make my damned taxes go
up again.  Well, let's get on with it."
     "Here," Wasa said, holding out a well-used crow bar.
When Yu raised an eyebrow, Wasa shrugged.  "No morgue should
be without one."
     "We good to go?" Yu asked, wielding the crowbar like a
sword.
     "This room is approved for such examinations," Wasa told
him. "Once closed, the door completes the wards.  If a vamp did
rise in here, it could be easily contained.  Now stop stalling."
     "Fine," Yu sighed, digging the edge of the crowbar into the
wood.  The soft wood parted easily under the