The Taxman Cometh!
Fear and Frolics in the City of Knowledge.
"Why couldn't we buy a horse or something?" Minako moaned as six
pairs of feet - one pair of which were hers - trudged on, just as
they had done for the last six hours.
"Because we don't have the money," Ami replied, "there were no
horses for sale, and you are the only one of us that can ride."
Makoto nodded. Unlike the four other girls she was enjoying the
light endurance challenge of the walk. "It'll give you good legs,"
she added to Ami's reply.
"There's nothing wrong with my legs except that they aaache,"
Minako whined, but she trudged on regardless.
Next to her Rei's demonette, Desir, lit the tips of her own
fingers before examining them, as if they were fingernails. "You
seemed energetic enough yesterday. Where's all that pep gone?"
"Pep?" Minako echoed. 'What is she, an old man?'
Rei studied her unpleasant demonic resident for a moment. "Why
are you walking with us anyway? Your type doesn't exactly need
exercise."
Desir just shrugged. "You want me back in your head?"
"No!" Rei blurted back. "No, just as long as no-one sees you."
The sextet were well into day two of their three day hike to the
City of Knowledge, so called because of the Great Northern Library
that sat at its north wall. The place was - in reality - just a large
town, but that one dominating structure gave it sufficient prestige
to be named a city.
Of course the first time Rei had made the journey she had rushed
to get there so she could find out more about the demonette she had
unleashed. At the rate they were going now it would end up taking at
least one day more than she had taken first time around.
Thankfully the business of the rent they owed the Baron had been
settled with very little hassle. Ami had already made the necessary
arrangements to send word that she would pay by unconventional means,
and when the official men in immaculate kimonos had arrived, with
armed 'samurai' soldiers no less, the basic schematics and chemical
formulae she had produced had been more than enough to satisfy them.
It was all very basic, nothing that would revolutionise the country
or start a war, but whoever owned them would eventually make more
than enough profit to cover what she and the others owed.
Haruka however had certain objections to the whole idea. Setsuna
had long since instilled in her the need for care when it came to
influencing the course of history, and even in this new world that
concern weighed on her mind. Should things end up being altered too
greatly the repercussions could be devastating. But, despite those
concerns, she had swallowed her objections. What choice did she have?
Ami had put a lot of work into the deal, and the only alternative was
imprisonment at the very least.
Ami was not one of the younger girls that Haruka had ever really
spent time with. Back when they all did spend time with each other
that is. Minako, Makoto and Usagi had always been more fun, if only
because they had reacted to her teasing that much more - but every
once in a while Ami would surprise her. Looking back on it, the night
before last had been one of those surprises. It was because of that
that she had kept her mind to herself, and trusted in Ami's wisdom
over her own. Doing so felt wrong when she had learned to trust her
own intuition so heavily, but then again that intuition had been
proven fallible more than once.
So, once Haruka had worked up the nerve, she had caught Ami's
attention and they had dropped back from the others as they all
walked onwards. If nothing else, she wanted Ami to share that wisdom
of hers, if only to put her own mind at ease that the knowledge she
had sold would lead to nothing of any significance in the grand
scheme of things.
While Minako was more concerned with her aching feet, and Desir
seemed content to be manifest for once and to flick fire at passing
insects, Rei - now blissfully free from Desir's voice inside her head
- and Makoto had noticed the pair behind them. Ami was not one for
long conversations. Not unless they concerned work, or an academic
fascination of hers that usually left the rest of them lost in less
than a minute.
"I think you're right Mako-chan," Rei said. "Haruka-san is
loosening up. That is the longest conversation she's had with any of
us for months."
"Yep," Makoto replied, smiling. "Ami-chan was right, we just need
to be understanding. At least Ami-chan has something to talk about
with her."
Rei nodded. "Actually, I think she's more on the outers' level
than we are. They can talk about more things than idol singers and
cute boys. I don't even know what Haruka-san likes doing."
"Well, racing and tinkering with her car and her bike," Makoto
mused, trying to list what she knew of Haruka and finding herself
coming up short as well. "Oh, she looks like she's enjoying it when
she plays the piano."
"Where are we going to find a motorbike or a piano Mako-chan?"
Rei asked with rhetorical sarcasm. "She can't do any of that here,
they haven't even been invented yet. Listen to them, they're talking
about what this world can and can't do yet, and how we're going to
affect it."
Makoto thought about that. "We aren't that immature, right? I
mean, we could talk about that stuff too. It's just we have different
things we're better at. None of us has ever had much in common -
besides being the sailor senshi anyway."
Rei blinked in surprise. That was ridiculous. They were... They
had...
"You're right. Wow. I never actually thought about it before."
Makoto gave a wan smile. "Living alone can give you too much time
to think sometimes."
Rei suddenly felt a little concerned. Only Minako and Usagi had a
full family, but had they been neglecting the only one of them who
had lived alone back home?
"Mako-chan, you know you can always come to the shrine to talk or
if you get lonely, right?" Then she realised where they were. "Well,
you could have done, but any of us would listen if you want to talk."
Makoto laughed, "Come on Rei-chan, I'm fine. Besides, sometimes
Ami-chan and me would get together if her Mum was working and I was
bored. She thinks too much too, so we would keep each other company."
"Hey," Minako interrupted, "what're you all talking about without
me? All these fields are boring, and Desir's gone off to find
something to eat so I can't watch her fry dragonflies."
"That she-devil is a menace," Rei grumbled to herself.
"Should we find her?" Makoto asked. "If she eats by burning
things she could end up torching all these crops."
Rei shook her head. "No, when I re-affirmed the pact I made sure
she had to put out her food once she's done. If she doesn't want me
to kill it for her then I'm not going to complain. She probably found
a dead tree to incinerate somewhere if she just wants a snack."
"So come on guys," Minako wheedled with a smile on her face,
"What's the gossip?"
"Just that none of us really have anything in common," Rei
replied.
"Sure we do," Minako countered, "umm... we all like ice cream!"
Rei and Makoto both sighed.
***
In the end the City of Knowledge was a hard place to miss. The
top tower of the library could be seen from miles away, dwarfing the
rest of the shops and homes. With so many people making pilgrimages
to study there the girls found no lack of places to stay, but Rei was
more than happy to make her own recommendation: the rooms in the
library itself. There weren't many and they were furnished for monks
rather than common people - anyone of higher status would have
refused them point blank, they were so sparse - but Rei assured her
friends that a couple of them would suit their needs.
In the end Minako bunked with Rei while the other three shared
the second room. Having Desir to-ing and fro-ing in and out of her
was tiring enough, but during their trip Rei seemed to have had a
hard time sleeping. As such Ami had been volunteered to share the
same room since she was well known from their past sleepovers as a
sound sleeper, but for some reason Rei had asked for Minako instead.
None of the others had the heart to disappoint the happy blonde by
objecting.
However, they barely had time to drop their bags and pick which
of the ready-prepared futons they wanted before Ami fell victim to
her base instincts and dragged everyone down into the vast, book-
filled halls to study. She was in her element as she scanned the
shelves, picking out handfuls of leather-bound tomes to add to the
piles already taking shape on their study table. The others just
watched in gob-smacked awe, happy to sit down after their three and a
half day hike, but yearning for a hot bath and an afternoon in bed.
"Maybe this wasn't such a good idea," Makoto said with a half
hearted smile. "I don't think we'll ever get her to leave!"
"Be nice," Minako said from where she had flopped over the table.
"If she's studying then we don't have to."
"Not this time Minako-chan," Ami said from behind the blonde
before depositing her last armful of books in front of them. "We
stopped for lunch early so that we could start looking for a way home
as soon as we got here. Or did you just say that so you would eat
earlier?"
"Of course I did," Minako admitted honestly, "we were all
starving!"
Ami just sighed and sat down with them. "I should have known, but
I'm not going to let you off that easily. I've even picked out the
most likely books in this alcove so that you didn't have to, so let's
get to it everyone."
She was rewarded with a trio of 'yes's, all reluctant but obeying
their long time study boss. Ami could only hope that Haruka was doing
the work she promised on the upper floors, but after their talks on
the way there she had little concern that the older girl would shirk
her responsibilities in helping them get home. That end seemed to be
the source of most of Haruka's feelings now, and for all her
outwardly laid back attitude Ami could tell that Haruka would take
this responsibility seriously.
She had also promised Ami that she would share any findings in
those more occult related books, as well as what ideas about getting
home she had gleaned from her time in the warlock cabal. The rest of
them would search among more traditional books of magic, philosophy
and legend. What they lacked in wisdom to guide them was made up by
Desir's seeming endless knowledge as related by Rei. In fact the
priestess soon asked her spiritual hitch-hiker whether she could just
tell them how to get back, but unfortunately that was something even
the demonette didn't know.
'We just get called up, it's not like we can control where we
go,' she said inside Rei's head. 'Even if I wanted to go back I
wouldn't know how. Either the pact is annulled and I get dragged back,
I get banished and shoved back, or you die a horrible screaming death
and, guess what, I'm hurtling home again.'
'So... you really need me,' Rei realised. 'Not just for a host,
but to stay out of hell. You don't want to go back do you?'
Desir's essence glared as only an internal demonic essence can.
'I just need you alive. More than that...'
Rei decided to let the matter drop after that unspoken threat.
Those conversations never ended well, and she was worried enough as
it was. The most disturbing thing was that as soon as she changed the
topic Desir would act as if nothing had happened, back to her
condescending cute act as she gave her commentary on the falsities of
the stories and theories the girls read out.
"Oh, how about this one," Minako added to their list, "The four
Fairy Queens..."
Rei had to sigh as Desir started to laugh. "I don't think so
Minako-chan."
'Oh that's too sweet, kiddies,' Desir opined, 'but no, you're not
going to find fairies here. Your world must be a real killer if you
believe that.'
"Hey, we don't know," Rei rebutted out loud before remembering
herself. 'The closest we get to demons are space aliens.'
'Space aliens?' Desir asked, a little surprised. 'Well, I've
gotta give you people some credit if you've made contact outside your
planet. This world doesn't even know what a galaxy is, not that it
makes much difference. Discovering practical space travel is just
nature's way of telling you that you won't last much longer.'
Rei frowned. 'That's one lie I can see right through. And how
would you know anyway?"
'Well,' Desir replied, happy to prove her point, 'take this Moon
Kingdom of yours. It reaches out into the solar system, flourishes
for a bit, then crumples like a kicked dandelion because it ventured
somewhere it didn't belong. I've seen your thoughts about the future
too; your Crystal Tokyo can only happen once the slate has been wiped
clean. That won't happen by itself, will it my naive little friend?
Either you go out and bring something back, or something finds you
from out there. Assuming you get back that is.'
'Shut up,' Rei replied, not wanting to think about it any more.
"Minako-chan, trust me, put that book down. It won't help."
Minako sighed and laid the book of fairy legends on top of the
pile of dead ends. "They were good stories at least. It would have
been nice to meet some fairies."
"You know," Makoto said, letting her book drop from in front of
her nose, "I'd expected a library run by priests to have someone to
ask about this kind of thing. I thought priests would all be casting
spells and fighting evil, not looking after books."
"You've been reading too many of my manga haven't you?" Rei said,
looking up from her own tome. "This isn't Louie the Rune Soldier or
the Lodoss War. The priests here are just like back home, only with
longer beards."
"But surely they would be wanting to use magic to help people,"
Makoto countered. "I mean, you're a priestess and you can see visions
in your fire."
Rei shook her head. "I'm not psychic because I work... worked at
grandpa's shrine. If anything it's the other way around - I was a
much better shrine maiden because I could see those visions in the
flame. I thought more people would be using magic too, especially
since you all made so much progress in only a month, but evidently
not."
"We didn't really make much progress," Ami chipped in. "We are
just naturally talented at the basics of our disciplines, or that's
the way it seems. Minako-chan has broadened her skill, but says she
lacks a lot of the power a stage magician has, and Mako-chan and
myself have some power but very few ways to use it."
'It's easy to see which one of you got blessed with the brains,'
Desir quipped, but Rei ignored her.
Minako nodded, laying her head on her folded arms. "My tutor
thought I was crazy to want to learn magic, because it doesn't lead
anywhere. You have to be really seriously good to be a professional,
and he said it would take even the best student years to get that
far."
"But with the nomads over half of them used magic," Makoto said,
more than a little confused. Her experiences now seemed to be
drifting even further from the world the others had explored. "It was
routine to them."
"What did they do with it?" Minako asked, as if she already knew
the answer.
Makoto thought for a moment. "They made the leather for this
outfit cure faster, nurtured their fruit trees... made it rain. Just
little things, but..."
"That's what I mean," Minako interrupted. "It's only useful for
little things, but it's really tiring isn't it? It sounds like they
used their magic to give nature a helping hand, but they could have
waited for nature to do it itself and saved their energy. I guess to
them it's worth the effort, but for most people it's not. Magic can't
really do anything worthwhile, and what it can do would probably
happen anyway or would be easier to do yourself."
"The farmer I borrowed the book on levitation from," Ami added,
"he said he wanted to learn it so that he wouldn't have to carry his
heavy sacks of grain anymore. The problem was that once he was
skilled enough it was even harder to levitate them than it was to
carry them himself. Now he just uses the basic principle of the magic
to make the sacks lighter and he says it is easier, but he doesn't
know if that was worth spending his free time studying for half a
year."
Minako nodded. "That's it. I don't think it's that people can't,
it's that learning magic is a waste of time for most of them."
A crestfallen Makoto nodded. It seemed such a limp reason, but
she supposed it did make sense. She had thought this world was a much
more mystical and meaningful place because magic seemed in such
abundance, but in the end it was just the realm of the obsessive
practitioners and of those needing a small helping hand in their
everyday lives. "What about soldiers?" she asked. "It would be useful
for them, right? We all talked about how useful our magic would be in
a fight."
"True," Rei replied, "but we haven't had to fight any, so we
don't know." She paused for a moment. "Desir says that most don't
unless they've been specially trained, and bandits probably won't
because they have no-one to teach them. The one that tried to rob me
didn't know any, or he would have tried to use some to get away, I
think. Maybe real soldiers trust their weapons and skills."
"Also," Ami put in, "they do dress like samurai. If they don't
use magic they may have some sort of code of honour that precludes
using the arcane. The two I saw with the tax collector didn't seem to
have rank-specific weapons like the old samurai from home, but they
may pride themselves on their martial focus in the same way. Perhaps
the ones who focus on the arcane do the same, but the other way
around."
She sighed and turned her eyes back to her book. "Anyway, this is
all speculation. Is there anything to say that the Wells of Souls
myths have any truth to them?"
'Sure' Desir replied, 'You can travel to another world by jumping
down certain wells. The drop kills you, your soul leaves your body,
then goes to the next world!'
Rei sighed and relayed the information, but chose to use her own
words.
***
By the time they finished for the evening even Ami was both
physically and mentally exhausted, and the opportunity for a hot bath
after three days on the road was one that none of them passed up. Rei
and Minako said their farewells for the night and left for their room
while Ami and Makoto met Haruka in their own.
The light was already fading fast as Makoto, blushing furiously,
slipped naked into the small metal tub that had been left for them.
Despite her flush however she was too tired to let the lack of
privacy in the small shared room bother her too much. She just tried
to think of it like the time she had been to the public baths back
home because her apartment's water pipes had burst.
'Besides,' she thought as she let the hot water sooth her tired
muscles, 'it's just Ami-chan and Haruka-san. It's not like it means
anything.' Apart from the faint blush over Ami's own cheeks there
wasn't anything to say otherwise, and they all knew Ami was far more
reserved than the rest of them about such things.
Although the tub was far too small for her Makoto managed to
relax back in it, her shoulders and knees sticking out of the water.
She had never had a western style bath before, but that seemed to be
the norm here. With the nomads she had been left to wash herself as
she saw fit, but it felt strange not to wash herself off before
getting into the tub. It didn't feel as unhygienic as she thought it
would have, and while less refreshing there was a strangely luxurious
side to it, even though her feet and shoulders were cramped against
the metal.
She sighed as she let her head drop back over the edge of the tub,
tuning her attention back into Ami and Haruka as they spoke, lying on
their futons. "Ami-chan, admit it," she said. "It was a bust. This is
going to be like looking for a needle in a haystack."
Ami looked over to her, a little crestfallen. "I knew it wouldn't
be easy," she admitted, "but we have at least eliminated a lot of the
more mainstream myths. It would have been too much to ask to find our
way home in the first afternoon."
Makoto nodded from her bath by the window. "So how long are we
going to do this? We could be here for years and not find anything."
Ami just stared at the floor. "What else can we do? Desir is the
only other lead we have, and she says she doesn't know where to
start."
Haruka frowned at that and rolled over onto her front, looking
over at the younger pair. "And you believe it?"
Ami gave a wan smile. "Do we have any other choice?"
Makoto agreed. "Rei-chan doesn't trust her, but she does at least
believe what Desir tells her. She knows her better than any of us, so
that's good enough for me."
Haruka just huffed and crossed her arms under herself. "Don't
rely on her too much. I'd trust your guesses before that demon's
'wisdom'."
Ami rolled onto her side to face the older girl. "So what did you
find Haruka-san?" she asked, neatly changing the subject. "You still
haven't told us what it was you thought you could find."
"The cabal was always focused on looking into a person to find
meaning," Haruka replied, "not out into the world around them. I
thought that maybe there was a biological or spiritual answer. We
were sent to this world by a single person's magic, not by a folk
tale or a freak rift in space. Maybe, if you can't find any magic for
dimensional travel, we can send ourselves back because of what we are
and where we are from."
Haruka turned, leaning on one arm as the other lay across her
waist. Ami was intrigued by the idea and Makoto realised that it made
good sense if Haruka really understood how it might work. "The west
tower is where they keep books about the warlock 'Art', and the
heavier spiritual reading." Then she gave an apologetic half-smile.
"But it's hard going. There's not much indication which books might
have relevant work, so I don't know where to start other than
scanning through as many as I can on internal power and tangible
spiritual belonging or origin.
"So far I haven't found anything," she finished. "At least not
that has any practical use. There's a lot of good theory, but no ways
of using it."
"Well," Ami said after a while, "it is a good avenue to look at.
I'll ask Desir, but I think the folk tales and legends might be a
waste of time altogether after the ones we've read. I'll try and
think of some ways to narrow down our search for tomorrow."
"Ami-chan," Makoto chided, "you're as tired as the rest of us."
She stood up in the water and gave a quick stretch before reaching
for a towel and wrapping it around herself. "Take your bath and get a
good night's sleep. We can worry about that when we're all together
and thinking straight."
Ami smiled, looking over to her friend as she rolled onto her
back. "Thanks Mako-chan, but I'm okay just now." She sighed. "Haruka-
san, you can have the next bath. I ache too much to get up!"
Haruka chuckled and slowly got to her feet, working the crick out
of her shoulder from where she had been lying. "If you say so Ami-
chan. Thanks."
Ami couldn't help but sigh as she watched the other two standing
in the red grow of the sunset that seeped in through the thick, dusty
window, both only half clothed as one dressed and the other disrobed.
Haruka and Makoto looked over to her and she averted her eyes.
Haruka smiled and continued to shed her clothing, a little more
slowly now, while Makoto giggled at Ami's embarrassment. "What are
you sighing about Ami-chan?" she asked as she pulled her loose, baggy
sleepwear over her bra.
"I was just thinking it's a good thing I don't get jealous," Ami
replied, a little amused at their slight misinterpretation, "because
seeing you two like that can make a girl feel very plain."
Makoto blinked in surprise. 'Me... make her feel plain?' she
boggled. "Ami-chan, you're the one who got the love letters in her
locker door, remember?"
That caught Ami off guard, and she blushed scarlet at the
memories.
Haruka smiled as she sank into the hot water she had poured for
herself. Even cramped into the tub she could still look smugly rakish.
"Even I remember that," she added.
"H-hey, that's not fair," Ami tried to counter through her
flaming cheeks, but the other two were already laughing at the
adorable sight that was a flustered Ami.
Still, Ami's remarks had not been completely turned back on their
owner. Makoto couldn't help but feel happy hearing that someone saw
her as attractive, rather than as an oversized tomboy or a feminine
wannabe, and the fact that Ami was her closest friend made the
compliment even warmer.
As self-deprecating as it had been Haruka also smiled at the
compliment Ami had given her. Ami was a hard girl to tease. The words
had come from the wrong person, but Haruka was not going to let
herself feel guilty just for enjoying a compliment. That night she
dreamed of Michiru - and this time it did not end as a nightmare.
***
The Great Northern Library was one of those buildings that had
started out a lot smaller, and had been added to over the years to
become the architectural wonder it was. Unfortunately that meant that
not all the space was as well used as it could have been, un-needed
walls and alcoves now running through the place. Most were filled
with the ever growing collection of books, but what had been the old
priests' quarters was now just a large annex at the side. It was
empty for most of the time, but every morning and evening the monks,
priests and library guests would fill the small hall and line the low
tables for breakfast and dinner.
The meals were spare at best, porridge flavoured with a little
jam or fruit this particular morning, but it was substantial enough
to last until midday. Haruka and Makoto ate with relish even though
it was a plain meal by both their standards, but after a good night
in a proper futon they were all in much better spirits. Ami only
picked at her food, but that was because she had brought a book to
the table. After seeing some of the monks doing the same she decided
to bear the occasional stares for being impolite and indulge herself
in some more light study.
"Ahhh," Makoto sighed once she had finished her food. "You know,
this place isn't too bad. Free meals, a proper roof and somewhere to
train. The nomads were great, but those caravans were really draughty.
Actually it kind of reminds me of when I was doing my martial arts
training, only with books."
Ami looked up over her book curiously. "Somewhere to train?"
Makoto nodded. "Yeah, there's this kind of track-way around the
library and some old roped up stumps at the back. While you were book
hunting before breakfast I went for a quick work out."
Haruka smirked. "I thought you'd have had enough with all this
hiking."
Makoto smiled and shrugged. "Like I said, it reminded me of my
training lessons. Once I get used to the exercise again I really
enjoy it. Aside from when we were being Senshi I didn't really do so
much, except jogging. Since we can't transform any more it seemed
like a good time to get back into the swing of it."
Haruka nodded in agreement. "That's not a bad idea. Next time
wake me up, I'll train with you."
Makoto gave her a thoughtful look. "We haven't sparred in a while
have we?"
Haruka suddenly stumbled. She had almost forgotten the reason she
had felt so awkward around them all. Had Ami really allayed her
worries so much before they had set off for this place? "Well, only
if you want me to, you know?"
"No, no, I'd like that," Makoto replied, dispelling Haruka's
worry. "You never did teach me that backwards trip move."
Ami smiled behind her book, glad that her intuition and advice
had been proved right. Haruka was her own worst enemy sometimes, but
they would help her leave all that behind.
It was then that Minako and Rei finally arrived. The annex had
only a few diners left and Rei gave them all a tired wave before
going up to get some food for Minako and herself.
"Geez, Minako-chan," Makoto exclaimed, "you two look wiped out!"
"Minako-chan," Ami scolded once Rei was out of earshot, "we told
you to let Rei-chan get some sleep. She has enough to tire her out
as it is!"
Minako just sat down, the dark rings evident around her eyes, and
gave Ami a weak, apologetic smile. "Sorry, but I think Rei-chan was
keeping us up more than I was!"
***
The rest of the day unfolded much as the previous afternoon had.
Haruka spent her time scouring the west tower for anything that might
be even remotely useful among the obtuse and elliptical texts while
Ami rounded up the tomes for the rest of them to read. This time Rei
was left to her own devices, since she and Desir could scan the
shelves and dismiss each legend as they came to it, while the other
three read up on all the magic books they could regarding travel and
spatial manipulation.
By sunset a very annoyed and bleary eyed Haruka had once again
come up empty handed, while the others had only found one potentially
useful piece of magical theory. However, since the amount of power
needed to even test it was far beyond lethal for the caster, Ami just
memorised it and had them move on. Even if she could somehow re-work
the spell to cross dimensions instead of just inverted space, none of
them had the first clue how to begin manipulating those kinds of
powers.
Assuming it was a parallel dimension that they were in. The
Mercury Computer had said it was a high probability given the many
underlying similarities between their own world and this one, but it
was far from certain.
That night they all went to bed less than optimistic, but if
nothing else it would just drive them to look harder the following
day.
"Minako-chan? Are you asleep?"
The tired blonde sighed and opened her eyes. "Nope, but the
others will kill me if we don't get some soon Rei-chan."
There was a pause in the darkened room. The pair could barely
make each other out in the darkness, but even Rei's silhouette looked
troubled. "... Do you think they won? Back home without us."
That was a new one, and Minako found herself once again wide
awake. Usually the pair of them would just chat inanely about
anything and everything - Rei, Usagi and Minako were like that - but
it wasn't often that they had serious talks like this without the
others there.
"Of course!" Minako replied, as if it were obvious. "I bet they
kicked that harpy's butt back into the hill-zone stage!"
"I'm not even going to ask," Rei muttered to herself. "But,
really, you think Usagi-chan, Michiru-san and Setsuna-san won? That
winged witch took out five of us before we knew what was happening.
Maybe they're all in some other world too, or maybe they weren't
powerful enough to stop her without us."
"Sailor Moon could handle her," Minako replied honestly. "When it
comes to the lunch she's the power and we're the support. Damned good
support since she only gets serious when we're all going to die. But
still, I'm sure they're all fine."
Rei nodded to herself. "I think you mean 'comes to the crunch',
and I guess you're right. I just hope Usagi-chan's okay without us.
You know what she's like."
"Mamoru-san is a good guy," Minako replied. "He'll look after her.
Now get some sleep or I'll get yelled at again."
"But Minako-chan..."
"Sleep!"
When Rei remained silent Minako nodded to herself and shut her
eyes, determined to catch a few winks before another boring day. Of
course, now that she really wanted to sleep she couldn't do anything
but stare at the insides of her eyelids. There wasn't much worse in
Minako's book than sitting around - or indeed lying around - and
having to do nothing but be silent. She was about to start counting
sheep to see if it really worked when she heard a light sniffle come
from the other futon.
"Rei-chan?"
The only response was a small sob and Minako quickly got out of
her futon and crawled over to her friend. "Rei-chan, are you crying?"
Rei didn't reply, lying curled up away from Minako, but Minako
wasn't about to let her deal with this on her own, whatever it was.
"Rei-chan, what's wrong?" she asked, sitting her friend up and
forcing Rei to look at her through the darkness.
"I... I can't go to sleep Mina-chan," Rei wept. "I'm so scared!"
"Scared? Of what?" Minako asked, incredulous. "The dark?"
"Of *her*," Rei replied angrily. "That... demon woman!"
Minako just blinked, worried but with no idea what to do or say
about that. "Why? What's she doing to you?"
"Nothing, that's the point!" Rei sobbed back. "You don't have to
hear her Mina-chan. You don't have to hear her say what she'll do to
your friends when you're asleep, or how she'll 'help you' with the
people you come across, or the cruel things she promises to do as if
she thought they would make you happy."
Minako suddenly felt very afraid for her. "But you said she
couldn't hurt anyone, right? It's in your pact, right?"
"She's smarter than me Mina-chan," Rei replied through her tears.
"Every time I think I've got one up on her she turns it around. I
don't know what she could do to you all if I fall asleep. What if she
decides to interpret the pact differently one day? What if she forces
you to use that spell Ami found to send me home!? I don't want this
any more. I want her to go away, but she's always here. She can hear
everything I do Mina-chan, she knows we're talking about her! She's
just sitting inside my head like a scientist looking at their pet
mouse!"
Minako's face firmed and she hugged Rei, letting her cry onto her
shoulder. "You can punish her though, right? You're the master,
that's how it's supposed to work with these things. You hurt her when
you forced her out to show her to us. Just do it again."
"I can't," Rei rasped into Minako's night dress. "I'm too tired.
I can't control her any more. I can't even meditate enough to block
her out now."
"Then get her to promise to behave for one night," Minako
suggested. "In return you promise not to punish her tomorrow. I'll
stay up and make sure she keeps her word, and you sleep. Tomorrow you
force her out, and we'll deal with her."
"You can't!" Rei exclaimed, pulling back and staring desperately
into Minako's eyes. "Y-you aren't even senshi any more. She could..."
Then Rei shuddered and let out a gasp before falling limp in
Minako's arms. "Rei-chan! Rei-chan!"
"Oh, don't worry," Desir said from behind Rei, her hair lighting
up the room in its flickering orange glow. "I think I just exhausted
her once and for all."
"You..." Minako growled.
"Now now," Desir said, "I just appeared to agree with you.
There's no way she'd fall asleep otherwise. She's got a great little
tornado of worry going around in that glossy head of hers. Serves her
right."
"How dare..!" Minako bit out before being interrupted again.
"I'll leave off for tonight. No tricks, no nightmares, no dead
priests, so get some sleep yourself. In return she doesn't do
*anything* to me until you and I have a little chat. Bring the others
if you want, but leave Rei out of it."
Then Rei moaned in her sleep and Desir was gone, the light of her
flaming hair fading as it burnt away into nothingness.
Minako frowned to herself, but stroked Rei's hair comfortingly as
the girl slept in her arms. "And people say *I* don't let them get a
word in edgeways."
***
Desir smiled as she strolled into the topmost room of the highest
tower the Great Northern Library had. "You brought the whole gang,"
she gushed, eyeing the suspicious quartet. "I'm touched!"
"I told them what you've been doing Desir," Minako said, trying
to sound threatening but not sure if she really wanted to succeed.
"Good," Desir said, walking past them and popping herself down on
the edge of the piled reading table. "My host is still asleep, so
let's have ourselves a natter."
'There she goes again,' thought Minako, unable to help thinking
that the demonette sounded like the old biddy that lived at the end
of her road back home.
"So talk," Haruka said, not concealing her contempt for a second.
"Why do all that to her?" Makoto added. "She can't have done
anything to deserve it. She's not that kind of person."
Desir sighed. "Spoilsport. Suffice to say that as fun as it is
stringing out her sanity, I'd be happy to compromise." Her face
turned hard. "Getting punished by your host is more than a slap on
the wrist, and Rei is very liberal with her beatings."
"Mako-chan's right," Ami said, "Rei-chan wouldn't do that..."
"Not if she knew quite how harsh she was being," Desir agreed. "I
may have no compunction about frying the odd pleb, but Rei is a
humanitarian. Unfortunately what she feels from me is nothing
compared to what I feel when she squashes me up in the corner of her
mind - as if I'd actually try anything in public."
Suddenly the demonette smiled. "So, a compromise. She and I give
each other some room. She managed it in the beginning, she can do so
again."
"I don't buy it," Haruka put in. "You already have your freedom
since you've been keeping her exhausted - you told Minako-chan as
much - and like you said, you aren't a humanitarian. You and Rei-san
say we couldn't touch you if we forced the issue and, if we did, that
would probably be enough to annul the pact considering that we are
bound to be in it, correct?"
"Mmm-hmm," Desir nodded, "non-aggression agreements go two ways.
I can't touch you, you can't try to banish me. Anything less than
that and I'd probably enjoy the fight!"
"So, why this?" Haruka finished, intentionally feeding Desir's
ego. "Unless we really try to get rid of you, you hold all the
cards."
Desir smiled. "I wouldn't go that far my androgynous friend-to-be.
Still, let's just say I do. Who cares? I'm sure we can be of more use
to each other than this, and I'll look forward to whatever messes you
girls get yourselves into. How does that tickle you?"
The four girls looked at each other for a moment before Ami spoke.
"I'd like it in writing if you don't mind, as part of your pact with
Rei-chan. And she watches us do it."
Desir looked non-plussed at that. "Oh please. I'll lose all my
work on her!"
The girls glared at her. "That's the point," Makoto deadpanned.
"We'll get Rei-chan to understand what you mean since you so
obviously can't. Rei-chan gets to see that she doesn't have to be
scared for us any more. I'd say that's fair."
"Fine! Done." Desir huffed. "It's a good thing I like you lot,"
she said before evaporating back into Rei's sleeping mind.
"I think I see what you mean Haruka-san," Makoto growled.
"Mako-chan," Minako piped up, "I thought about something last
night. And don't make that face, I'm serious," she added when Makoto
rolled her eyes.
"All right, all right," Makoto placated. "What's up?"
Minako's features turned thoughtful. "Well, even once we've got
this fixed, Desir isn't going to let up on talking all the time. Rei-
chan said she never shut up even before she started getting really
mean. If she's having trouble blocking her out, and if meditating
helps her do that, couldn't you give her some more pointers?"
"Me?" Makoto asked, very confused. "I just did some of that
'empty body, empty mind' stuff for my martial arts, back when I was
training properly. I've seen Rei-chan meditate and she's a lot deeper
than that."
"Yeah," Minako continued, "but she's focusing on something, isn't
she? She's in the fire zone or something, and you just fill yourself
up with nothing. Maybe if she tried your way instead it might work
better. Or maybe mix the two and get the best of both zones!"
Makoto gave a weak smile. "I don't think it really works like
that Minako-chan, but I suppose I could try. Who knows?"
"Heh, so blondes do have the occasional brainwave after all,"
Haruka quipped.
"Haruka-sannn," Minako whined, "that's mean! And you're blonde
too!"
'Here it comes,' Ami thought to herself with a smile as she left
them and started to sort the books she had collected.
"You're just cute when you're cross Mina-chan," Haruka added with
a grin before sloping off to do her own research, leaving Minako to
blush cutely and the other two to laugh.
***
"So," Makoto asked as she and Rei sat at their table, the only
two people left in the dining hall, "how are you feeling?"
"Better. Especially after a night's sleep," Rei said, stirring
the remains of her gruel around in her bowl. "I can't believe I made
a fuss the way I did actually. I feel kind of silly."
"Like the others said, we can't blame you for it," Makoto replied.
"We didn't realise how much trouble that thing was causing."
Rei looked up and sighed. "She can hear you, you know."
"So? After this morning she knows what we think about her. So are
you feeling up to it?"
Rei had to think about that. Re-learning her focus wasn't
something she was too eager to get back to. The new pact that she,
Ami and Haruka had worked out with Desir had set her at ease, at
least more so than she had been in a long while. She felt that was
enough to get on with. Now that Desir was bound not to do anything
without her permission, not even manifesting, she felt safe not
having to keep the demonette under pressure any more. It was a little
too intimate for her liking, having that creature roaming free and
seemingly unrestricted inside her mind, but it was in the contract
that she couldn't come out, so she just tried to get used to it.
She still didn't believe what the others told her about the
effects her mental punishments had on Desir, but that was in the
contract too. She only used it when she would use physical violence
on a human who had done the same thing. And not the kind of play-
fights she would have with Usagi and Minako either. That was already
proving difficult. The instinct to slap Desir down for what she said
was strong, and she knew that practicing to block out that stream of
one-sided conversation would just bate the demonette even more.
"It's either that or we get to join the others in their book
hunting," Makoto prodded with a hopeful look in her eyes.
Rei sighed again. "Alright. But it'll be weird without my fire in
front of me."
Makoto smiled, both glad she had accepted and with an edge of the
crafty 'we got out of studying' smile on her face. "That's the
point."
Ten minutes later they were both settled in that tall, empty
tower. Makoto had cleared away the furniture so the pair of them
could sit on the floor, cross legged in meditation. The stairway door
was locked too, and with good reason.
"Alright girls," Desir said as she appeared, a feral grin on her
face, "prepare to steam!"
They knew that the meditation in itself would be useless. Rei had
already learned that, and she had trances that a meteor shower
couldn't interrupt. She had to find an empty trance that couldn't be
worn down. A peaceful bubble of a place, unlike the roaring focus she
found in her sacred fire.
"Okay Rei-chan," Makoto said, "just relax, close your eyes and
let everything in your mind go. If you have to concentrate on
anything, just focus on my voice."
"Are you trying to help me meditate or hypnotise me?" Rei asked
from her loose lotus position.
Makoto smiled to herself. "I suppose you could think of it like
that. I always did."
"You are feeling sleepy," Desir said from the side, wiggling her
fingers at the pair. "Veeerrry sleeeepy."
"Only my voice," Makoto continued. "Think of Desir like Usagi-
chan when we all try to study at your shrine."
Rei flushed a little. "Mako-chan, that isn't a helpful
comparison!"
"When I snap my fingers," Desir continued in the background, "you
will awake, find those little tongs Ami has in her travelling bag,
and slowly pull each other's fingernails out, one by one."
"Ewww!!" Makoto exclaimed, falling out of her meditation pose and
looking at the demonette in disgust. "That's revolting! You have a
really nasty mind!"
"She's not usually so graphic unless she's making a threat," Rei
said, "but you can see what I mean."
Desir just collapsed with laughter at the look on Makoto's face,
and the two girls started again from the beginning. This time however,
now that Makoto knew a little about who and what they were up against,
Desir's gross out tactics failed to work, no matter how repugnant the
imagery she tried to create for them. Of course she didn't want to
use the truly nastiest ideas she could have come up with, this was
just for fun, but she took it as a challenge to find a new technique
each time.
Rei and Makoto only lasted forty five minutes before Desir's
history of the Emperor's rise to power drove them both to start
hurling books at the amused demonette, but by lunch the had got it up
to an hour and a half. By that time both Desir and their hunger had
got the best of them, and they left to eat with the others and spend
the rest of the day hitting the books with Ami and Minako.
Curiously neither pair could tell who looked like they had worked
the hardest. As for Desir, she knew she was fighting a losing battle
with this little meditation game, but she would enjoy it while it
lasted. By nightfall she was pleased to see Rei snapping at Minako
for grilling her on what she and Makoto had done all morning, rather
than letting them both get some sleep. In the time she had known Rei
the only other person the raven haired girl had ever really got angry
at was Desir herself, aside from her initial shock over Haruka's
choice of allies. It was fun to see this new side of her, just like
all the images she saw in the girl's memory.
***
Rei and Makoto made steady progress as the week wore on, both
learning and re-learning how to stay calm and focused as Desir took
her verbal pot-shots at them both. As soon as one started to fold
under the annoying, abusive or grotesque onslaught the other would
support her, and it was slowly becoming instinct rather than each
other's reassurances that kept their mental defences up.
"Of course," Rei said as they went about the small city that
Friday lunch time, "just staying focused is one thing. Getting stuff
done with all that racket is quite another."
"Come on Rei-chan," Makoto reassured her. "She's not going to
beat us!"
"Yep! Do your best guys!" Minako chipped in, proud of her
friend's resolve against the tyrant demonette.
In fact Desir was curiously quiet as they all stopped at their
usual bakery for lunch, but no amount of mental prodding from Rei
would get her to talk about it. Instead the shrine maiden just
enjoyed the brief peace inside her head as Ami broke the latest news
to them all.
"We shouldn't start to worry yet," the young genius said, "but we
are rapidly running out of money."
"What?" Minako asked, worried for both her cleanliness and her
stomach. "You said we had enough when we left that town. I bought my
nightie because you said we could afford it!"
"We could," Ami replied. "And we have another week in our rooms
here, but after that..." She turned a little pensive.
"So," Makoto put in, "we need to get some jobs."
Ami nodded. "I'm sure there are plenty we could enquire about
around here, and all of us have worthwhile skills we could offer."
"But if we spend all day working we can't be looking for our way
out of here," Haruka added, obviously concerned about that.
"That's the problem," Ami agreed, "and as Minako-chan can attest,
the average person does not get paid much more than they need to live
on. Unless we can all find very well paid part time jobs we won't be
able to make this work, especially with Mako-chan and Rei-chan taking
so much time out to practice keeping Desir under control."
"Ami-chan, we really need to do this," Makoto said, trying to be
understanding without giving ground to her friend. "That demon has
taken it as a challenge to try and talk Rei-chan into the ground."
Rei would have agreed, but Desir had finally caught her attention
and she looked off down the street. "Guys, I think we might have
bigger problems than that."
They all turned to see one of the priests outside the library
pointing to them all, and the two men he was talking with soon
started to head their way. The fact that anyone would be looking for
them at all was a worry, but they were dressed in samurai armour and
each had a large sword at his hip.
"Those are the same kind of soldiers that were with the rent
collector," Ami said quietly.
"What are we gonna do?" Minako asked anxiously.
Ami just put a smile on over her own unease. "Let's see what they
want. The ones before were perfectly polite."
The samurai-esque soldiers seemed a little surprised to see their
targets come to greet them. "You are the party of one Miss Mizuno?"
"I'm Mizuno A... I mean I'm Ami Mizuno," Ami spoke up, carefully
practicing the unusual dialect Seiji people used. Unlike Minako and
Makoto she hadn't dealt with people all that much, even now she had
been living there over a month. "How can I help you?"
"Then please come with us," the other solider said in a very
official tone. "We have been tasked with bringing you before his
lordship Comte Damyo, on the matter of your outstanding dues."
"Hey Ami-chan," Makoto whispered with a grin, "he said your dues
were great! Nice work."
"I don't think he meant outstanding that way Mako-chan," Ami
replied, more than a little worried. "What outstanding dues would
they be sirs?" Ami asked the armoured men. "I was told that my
payment for the house we stayed at was considered fair, if not more
so."
The second soldier shook his head. "Miss, the dues on workable
lands come to six Crown, as of the first day of this month. The
collector had not yet been appraised of this change as it affected
your payment until after he had passed the town of Karata, and you
had fled by the time he returned."
"What," Minako exclaimed, "you mean we owe you *more* for staying
in that rickety old shack?!"
Haruka narrowed her eyes and glared at the soldier. "Bad practice
to send out the taxman without knowing what the taxes are."
"Sir," the first soldier said in warning, not realising Haruka
was female under her masculine garb, "this was an error and we are
asking you to come with us so that we can correct it."
"Go where?" Ami asked. "The papers I gave should still cover the
extra half Crown if their plans are used well."
"That is not for us to say Miss. Comte Damyo himself must decide
since this is a special case, and he has asked that you be brought
before him."
Inside her head Desir whispered to Rei. 'He means the lowland
capital, Lillium. It's four days ride away at best, on the other side
of the lowlands.'
"You mean take us to Lillium?" Rei asked the guards once Desir
had finished. "We can't go there, we have rooms paid for and need to
study at the library!"
The second soldier glared. "We will be forced to arrest you if
you choose not to abide by the laws. You are only given leave to come
freely because this was an oversight on our part."
"You can't arrest us!" Makoto exclaimed. "We haven't done
anything wrong yet!"
"What do you mean yet?!" Minako put in.
Haruka tensed up as one soldier moved his hand to the sword at
his side. "This isn't going well," she said to the others.
Rei nodded. "I read that legally they can kill us if we resist
arrest."
"And we can't do anything in a cell, waiting for this lord to
milk Ami-chan dry of our technology," Haruka added.
The soldier frowned as they muttered to each other and drew his
sword. The small crowd that had gathered around them stepped back,
just in case. "Sir, girls, come with us now. I will not ask again."
Ami's instinct was to go with them, but she also knew that this
display couldn't just be over such a small amount of money. For their
month at that place, the extra would only be the cost of a few nights
in a reasonable inn. Whoever this lord was wanted them for his own
purposes, and probably for the reason Haruka guessed. What else could
he know about them?
"I can just about pay the dues in coin sirs," she said firmly,
"but I will not be harassed for such a small amount. I do not want
any trouble, but either take what we owe now or let us come to your
lord in our own time."
The soldiers were not used to anyone telling them what they could
or could not do, let alone a girl that was barely an adult. "You have
a mouth girl," one of them said as he reached out to grab her wrist.
"Minako-chan, stall them!" Haruka yelled before she herself
grabbed Ami and Rei's wrists and hauled them back into a run. Makoto
followed hot on their heels a second later, leaving Minako to give
the soldiers a worried smile as her friends abandoned her.
"Heh heh," she said, trying to think fast before she realised
what she was supposed to do.
"Venus Honey FLASH!" she cried, thrusting her arms out towards
the two men, and with a surge of desperate inspiration a flash of
bright white light burst from her fingertips. The soldiers staggered,
clutching at their eyes - as did half the crowd around them - blinded
by the intense flare. Although she had shut her eyes even Minako saw
the world in a murky silhouette for a short while as she ran after
her friends.
Eventually the five fleeing girls stopped just outside the small
city, having vaulted the simple fences that surrounded it and made
their way up the hill behind the library. Ami and Rei were both a
little out of breath, and when Minako joined them she fell flat onto
the grass, frowning petulantly up at them all. "Next time you want to
do something like that, tell me first!"
Below them the ruckus continued as people ran to get out of the
way. They could just hear as one of the soldiers called out, and was
answered by another call near the north west entrance post.
"Oh hell," Makoto cursed. "They've got friends."
Haruka let out a heavy breath and quickly took charge. "Ami-chan,
Rei-san, you two stay back by the tree," she said, pointing to the
old willow a little further up. "Minako-chan, you cover them."
"How?!" Minako exclaimed. "We aren't Senshi any more, remember?
And even if I could fight them, I don't have my swords and I'm
already exhausted after running all that way!"
"I thought you were into sports?" Makoto said, with a dry smile.
"I guess volleyball didn't do enough for your legs after all!"
"What was that Venus Honey Flash?" Minako replied, annoyed.
"Those aren't that easy you know."
"You named your spells already?" Rei asked, a little amused
despite their predicament.
"Just keep them busy," Haruka said, "Mako-chan and I will take
them on from the front."
"But you're not armed either," Minako replied.
Makoto smiled and made a fist, showing off her subtle but well
toned bicep. "Don't worry, this amazon girl is good for something.
I'll just think of them as bullies with really big flick-knives! Plus
we've got our magic."
"So have I," Ami said from behind them, putting her bag down. "If
you two could stay back with us at first, I'll try something too,
then you can go in."
Haruka nodded, pleasantly surprised that the shy blue haired girl
had something up her sleeve. "You've got it. Rei-san, if you or your
pet demon have any tricks, feel free to help out."
Rei cringed as Desir shouted something inside her head. "Haruka-
san, please, demonette not demon."
"Sorry," she said with an apologetic smile. "Okay girls, get
ready, because I don't think they'll worry about taking prisoners.
This is going to be rough."
"You know, we could just run," Minako said, worried for her
friends and for the people that, as Senshi, she was supposed to lead.
"Run where?" Makoto asked. "It's open country, and we'd have to
go back for our stuff anyway. At least if we make a stand we have
time to pack and make a proper escape once it's over."
Minako sighed as she watched six small figures climb over the
fence and start up the hill towards them. "I just don't want anyone
to get hurt," she said. "We may have magic, but we can't just take a
hit and keep going like we could back home against all those
monsters."
Makoto nodded, realising exactly what Minako meant. "Then we'll
just have to try not to get hit."
By the old tree Ami was already preparing herself as the two
soldiers in front made their way up the hill, followed by their
backup. She knelt down by her bag and closed her eyes, and a tense
expression crossed her face as she dredged up memories she had long
since buried. Her parents' divorce, the constant name calling at
school, forever being picked upon instead of congratulated when she
was good at something.
In a flash she looked up to the approaching men and her eyes,
usually so wise and calm, were filled with a savage fury. Then,
feeling the unnatural hum powering through her nerves, she let that
fury loose. The first soldier never knew what hit him as the
telekinetic impact smashed him off his feet and right into his
companion, the pair of them tumbling to the ground like rag dolls hit
by a battering ram.
"...wow," Makoto said under her breath before looking back to her
best friend, while the others looked on, gob smacked.
Ami had not lowered her guard though and when the second soldier
stirred she reached into her bag. Makoto watched as Ami brought out a
little wind up device and a large metal egg, put the two together,
and pulled back a little hook on the device. With a whirr of
clockwork the contraption flew into life and, as whirling flint
struck steel, the box let out a stream of sparks just long enough to
set fire to the twist of paper that sprouted from the top of the egg.
"Ami-chan, is that what I think it..."
Ami didn't respond, still lost in her own memories, and she
tossed the egg into the air before letting out another powerful smack,
sending it flying. It bounced just past the staggering soldier before
the fuse burned its way down into the metal oval. The explosion was
not a huge one, but in a burst of fire and smoke it knocked the man
back onto the grass and into unconsciousness, leaving just the smell
of fireworks and singed armour.
The others all looked stunned as they watched the smoke float
away in the breeze. "Ami-chan!" Rei said, deeply worried. Her first
stay at the library had given her many insights into the world they
now lived in, both good and bad. "You've been making explosives?
Using gunpowder as a weapon has been outlawed for over a century here.
It's... dishonourable, even criminals won't use it!"
Kneeling by the tree Ami just sighed as she pressed down her
memories once again, her eyes a little moist. "Maybe," Ami replied,
"but we need every advantage we can get. I don't have any other way
to fight."
"Girls," Haruka put in, spotting the other four soldiers fast
approaching through the clearing smoke, "less talk, more fighting!"
She dashed forward and the first soldier only just had time to
draw his sword before Haruka shot out her right fist, jabbing the
man's nose hard and making him see stars. As Makoto and Minako joined
the fight Haruka followed up, taking advantage of the opening she had
created to land a powerful right hook just inside the man's samurai
helmet, spinning him around and letting her turn the overextended
punch into a spinning heel to the back of his legs.
Steadying herself, she grabbed the man as he tried to get up,
vaulting over his kneeling body as he swung at her legs with his
sword. She grabbed the base of his helmet and tore it off his head
before punching down as he turned to glare up at her. The second her
skin met his, time slowed to a crawl and Haruka's consciousness
reached down her arm. It flowed out into the soldier's body, swirling
around his skull and seeping into the grey, sparking matter that
controlled his every move. She was vaguely aware of her fist forcing
the man's head back by millimetres, and the slow whistle as a stone
passed by her own head, flying through treacle towards the man that
advanced on her. Then she found something that would work as she
scoured the man's brain, and she gave it a push, letting off a pulse
of power inside his skull.
However, she barely noticed the man that now groaned and twitched
at her feet as she let go of the arcane power, and found herself back
inside her own mind with a jolt. For all her talk, Haruka had never
actually done anything while exploring another body before, and the
short disorientation had become a racking nausea this time. Her
vision swam as she tried to ready herself for the soldier she knew
was advancing on her, and as she looked his way her head throbbed and
her knees buckled.
Off to her side Makoto was faring better as she bobbed past
another sword swipe, the blade missing her by inches but allowing her
another swift kick to the man's stomach, goading him on. She knew
that anger could be a useful tool, but not in a real fight. The
obvious swing he made was just what she was expecting and she grabbed
the arm as it came for her, slid her body in towards his and pulled
hard. The soldier flew over her shoulder, his sword burying itself in
the ground before he hit the grass, staring in astonishment as Makoto
grinned down at him. She raised her foot and planted it firmly in his
face, and a small spark of electricity leapt from her heel just as it
connected. She knew that it wouldn't put him out for long, but it
would be just enough.
Quickly scanning the shallow slope she saw Minako running rings
around the last soldier, filling his vision with smoke, light and
reflections. Haruka however needed help as she knelt before her
assailant. He kicked her hard in the stomach and the boyish young
woman vomited as her nausea overcame her. Makoto doubted she could
charge him without taking the risk of getting skewered. She already
had a couple of painful cuts from some close calls. Instead she
reached out into the air and searched for the magical vibration that
she knew so well. It was familiar and comforting as the slight breeze
wrapped around her fingers, and the slow build of static around her
made her smile even as she felt her energy being sapped. It took no
more than a second for the vibrations to grow and focus in front of
her hands, the null buffer of breeze before her fingers protecting
her, ready for the inevitable release.
"Supreme thunder," she said under her breath, and in an instant
she let the power free from her focus. The whitely blue arc cracked
from her fingers and out into the air before reaching around to the
conductor it sought. The instant of electrical charge hit the soldier
square and blew him off his feet, scorching their soles as it went to
ground.
Back by the tree Minako was tiring fast as she manifested her own
inspiration to keep her own swordsman at bay. She didn't have to wait
long for help though. Now that Haruka no longer needed help Rei's
next rock, plucked from the base of the tree she hid behind, hit
Minako's target instead. It was just enough of a distraction for
Minako to land a well placed kick to the man's leather codpiece, and
Makoto finished him off which a quick one-two, both palms letting off
sparks as they struck his chin.
Minako and Makoto made sure all the soldiers would be out cold
long enough to let them make their escape back to the city and Rei
and Ami were just about to head to Haruka's side. Then suddenly Ami
let out a yelp as she felt a large hand on her arm, and a dagger
appeared at her throat.
"Don't move girls," the last soldier said as he appeared from
where he had circled around behind the hill. "Leave your man, I think
he'll live. You have a lot of gall, but try any tricks and I'll slit
her throat. After this I would bet a month's wage that Comte Damyo
would be glad to have trouble like you dealt with."
He flashed Makoto a look. "Strike me with lightning, and you
strike her too."
Wiping her mouth and trying to swallow the terrible nausea Haruka
looked up to see him. He couldn't have seen her use the 'Art' if he
was behind the hill, so she probably still had that secret for now,
and even those that did may only have seen it as a finishing punch
with everything that was going on. The purplish wisps her power left
in the air were easy to miss. Rei had kept Desir hidden as well, so
that was another secret in their favour.
Still, despite that, it didn't alter the fact that none of them
could do anything without risking Ami's life. She doubted this
soldier was bluffing with his allies littering the hillside.
"Alright," she said with resignation, the others already having
dropped their arms. "We surrender."
***
At the base of the hill the crowd was already gathered and still
growing. Nobody had heard an explosion such as that for many years.
Nor had they seen anyone brave or foolish enough to stand up to a
soldier in just as long - especially of that age, and with only one
man among them. Women of such power and audacity were the thing of
tales from the birth of Seiji itself, and already whispers of the
Seraphi rippled through the throng, even as the defeated girls were
taken away.
The cloaked man who had first uttered that likeness under his
breath was gone long before guards arrived to take the girls, but no-
one noticed. Just like the brightly coloured leathers he wore beneath
his coarse cloak, he came and went unseen, a seed of rumour planted
thanks to the good fortune that the fight had happened at all.
***
To Be Continued...
***
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