Story: Power Transcendent (chapter 16)

Authors: EvilFairy

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Chapter 16

Power Transcendent

Sailormoon fanfiction by Jessica


-------------------
Chapter 16

The snow that began falling the night of Minako and Ami's first date did
not stop falling until late the next morning, resulting in a thick white
blanket over the city of Tokyo. The day after that was Monday and when
school let out Minako and Ami ended up at Ami's apartment to study.
Given that Dr. Mizuno was at the hospital and would remain there until
late evening, relatively little studying was actually taking place.

Ami way laying on her back in bed, and Minako was laying crosswise, her
head resting on her love's stomach and her hand in Ami's. Ami sighed
deeply. "We should really study...exams are in just a couple of weeks."

Minako had her eyes closed. She turned her head and burrowed a bit into
Ami's belly, prompting a little tickled squeak from the blue-haired
girl. "It's too cold to study." She said, her voice muffled in Ami's
shirt. Ami giggled and placed her free hand between Minako's face and
her person.

"Stop that, it tickles. And we decided it was too cold to study outside,
not at all."

Minako looked up at Ami with an impish expression. "Well, could we
decide that it's too cold too study at all?"

Ami smiled faintly. "Okay...but the next thing on the list is talking
about telling the others about us."

With a groan, Minako turned to stare at the ceiling again. "Ami, have
mercy! Couldn't we just make out for a while?" Ami slowly turned pink.

"Mina-chan!" She exclaimed, her tone exasperated. The corners of her
mouth kept twitching upward, however. "We did that when we got home.
Don't you ever get enough?"

"Of you?" Minako shifted quickly until she was lying on her side next to
Ami. She poked the other girl's cheek. "Of course not, bite your
tongue." With a wicked little smile she leaned in and brushed her lips
against Ami's. "Or should I?" Ami's resistance abruptly crumbled, and
there was no further talking for several minutes.

Finally Ami took hold of Minako's shoulders and pushed her gently away.
She smiled at her and shook her head. "Mina-chan...we really have to do
something, okay?"

Minako sighed deeply. "Okay Ami." Ami's smile got a bit wider and she
leaned in to give Minako a quick peck on the lips.

"Thank you." They pulled themselves into a sitting position, smoothing
out their hair and straightening their clothing. Ami leaned over the
side of the bed to get her bookbag.

With another, smaller sigh, Minako did the same. She was beginning to
get the feeling that Ami, in her new role as girlfriend, was going to
make Minako a better student and a more efficient person in
general...whether or not Minako wanted to change.

"I wonder what the others are up to, anyway?" Minako murmured as she
cracked open her math book.

"The sooner we tell them about us, the sooner we'll be able to hang out
more often." Ami pointed out. Minako sighed and Ami smiled. "I know,
it's huge. But we really need to do it...this won't be a secret for
long, and wouldn't you rather tell them than have them find out for
themselves?"

"You're always so logical." Minako made a little face, then smiled a
little. "But you're right. We'll tell them...soon."

"How soon?" Ami persisted.

"This week, okay?" Minako replied, fighting to keep a hint of irritation
out of her voice. Telling the other senshi was important, but what was
the rush? Couldn't they just let things be for now?

"Okay." Ami said, smiling brightly. She opened her math book and began
looking through it, her eyes flickering over the pages and her brow
furrowed in the cutely thoughtful expression that Minako had always been
fond of. Minako smiled back, and it felt as if something that had tensed
inside her suddenly relaxed. How could she ever have been irritated at
this girl?

Minako reached out and lightly brushed her fingers against Ami's cheek.
Ami blinked, then smiled and softly pressed her cheek into Minako's
caress. "Mina-chan." She murmured, leaning forward and giving Minako a
small, gentle kiss. Her lips moved closer to Minako's ear, and she began
to whisper. "What's your math homework?" Ami sat back and began to laugh
softly. Minako made a sour face and then began to laugh as well. The
blonde senshi had never found homework as small an inconvenience as it
seemed right now.

-------------------

Rei rang the bell to the Outer Senshi's front door and waited, trying
not to fidget too much. Haruka and Michiru often liked to spend a little
time with one or another of the Inner Senshi, just to keep things close,
and this time the invitation had fallen to the Senshi of Fire.

After a moment, Michiru opened the door. "Rei-chan." She said warmly.
"Please, come in."

"Thanks Michiru-chan." Rei stepped through the door, mentally cursing
her luck. She hated being alone with Michiru. Well, she didn't HATE it,
obviously...she just never had any idea how to act.

Michiru smiled apologetically. "I'm afraid it's just going to be the two
of us today. Haruka said to say she was sorry, but Setsuna just had to
get out of the house."

-Oh, perfect.- Rei groaned in her thoughts. But she forced a smile and a
nod. "Is she alright?"

"She is, for the most part." Michiru led Rei into the small dining room
next to the kitchen and saw her seated, then retreated into the kitchen.
"She's...fraying." She said, raising her voice slightly to be heard
through the open doorway. She returned in a moment, carrying a silver
tray of small cakes and an elegant teapot. "You'd never know it to look
at her, but she's getting more and more frustrated at her lack of
knowledge about our enemy. It's never happened to her before, and she's
feeling very lost right now."

"Oh..." Rei picked up a cake and nibbled the corner. She noticed Michiru
smiling at her out of the corner of her eye and developed a sudden
interest on a random point of the wall across the room.

"How do you feel, Rei-chan?" The question took the dark-haired miko by
surprise. She choked a bit on the cake she was eating and took a big
gulp of tea to wash it down. The tea, unfortunately, was extremely hot
and scalded Rei's mouth badly. She jumped up, clutching her mouth and
forcing Michiru to make a grab for the tray to keep it from falling
over.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" Rei exclaimed, blushing furiously. It took a
moment to realize that Michiru was laughing softly, hiding her mouth in
her hand. Rei looked down, her blush becoming even fiercer as she wished
the floor would open up and swallow her on the spot.

Michiru smiled and stood as well. "No, I'm sorry Rei-chan. I shouldn't
have laughed...but the look on your face..." She chuckled again and Rei
felt herself smile a little. Michiru pushed the sugar towards Rei.
"Here, sprinkle a little of that on your tongue, it should make the burn
feel
better. I'll get you some nice cold milk." She left, gently brushing
Rei's shoulder comfortingly as she did, and making Rei's whole arm feel
as if it were tingling.

Sprinkling sugar on her tongue did seem to soothe the burn, and the milk
that Michiru brought out helped as well. Michiru kept looking at her
expectantly, forcing Rei to put down the cup. "Sorry, what was the
question again?"

Michiru smiled a bit. "I was just wondering how you were feeling...about
not being able to see anything about our enemies as well. I know it's
hard on Setsuna, but it can't be easy for you, either."

-Way to go, spaz.- Rei mentally berated herself. "Oh, I see..." She
considered the question for a moment, then shrugged. "It makes me
nervous, but I think it's way worse for Setsuna. We talked once about
the different ways we see the future. I just get vague visions and
symbolic images in the fire, and it takes a lot of effort to get those.
It's a lot more complete for Setsuna, and it must be a lot more
disorienting for it to fail so completely."

"That's true, I suppose." Michiru said thoughtfully. "I admit, seeing
how Setsuna has been affected by this has made me worried about you, as
well. Particularly after you exhausted yourself a couple of weeks ago."

The warm flush that had spread through Rei at hearing that Michiru had
worried about her was replaced with a hot flash of true embarrassment.
"Oh...you heard about that."

Michiru nodded. "Of course...you know things don't stay secret in our
little society." She smiled. "Besides, I could have seen it coming. When
you are challenged, you throw yourself into it with no hesitation. It's
a very courageous quality."

Rei felt herself blushing again at this compliment, and wished she could
stop before Michiru noticed. She could think of nothing to respond with,
and there was a long pause that Rei felt was growing deeper and deeper
by the second. Fortunately, the doorbell rang at that moment, making
both of them glance towards the front door.

"I'll get it!" Hotaru called from upstairs, and soon she could be heard
descending the stairwell quickly and opening the door. "Chibi-Usa!"

"Hi Hotaru-chan!"

The two girls entered the dining room, and Hotaru paused in the doorway,
looking at bit surprised to see Michiru and Rei sitting there. Michiru
closed her eyes and took a long sip of tea, not turning to look at her
adoptive daughter. Rei suddenly felt like the temperature of the room
had dropped dramatically. Chibi-Usa must have felt it as well, because
the small pink-haired girl hovered nervously just outside the room.

Hotaru smiled very slightly. "Hi Rei-chan." She said, moving towards the
kitchen. Rei smiled and nodded. Michiru didn't so much as twitch. Chibi-
Usa and Rei shared the strained smile of someone who didn't quite get
the situation, and Hotaru emerged again a moment later with two drinks
and some snacks.

"We'll be in my room." She said shortly, and Michiru gave an almost
imperceptible nod. The two young girls departed, and the icy aura slowly
fled the room.

"Sorry." Michiru finally said apologetically, setting her cup down with
a rather embarrassed smile.

"What was that all about?" Rei asked, softly.

"Oh...Hotaru and I aren't on speaking terms at the moment, I'm afraid."
Michiru replied ruefully. "I was very unhappy with Usagi when she
brought Hotaru to the last battle, after we had all decided to try to
keep her out of danger. Hotaru leaped to her defense, and before we knew
it we were screaming at each other. Hotaru thinks I'm being too
protective and getting in the way of her duties as a Sailor Senshi. But
she IS still young, and I don't see any reason to put her at risk while
Muon seems to have his sights set on her."

Rei thought that Hotaru actually had a point, but she was wise enough to
keep that to herself. "So..." She finally said, after wracking her brain
for a topic. "What do you know about Minako and Ami?"

Michiru smiled mysteriously. "I know about many things." She said,
taking a sip of tea. "But much of what I know, I was told in
confidence." Rei's face, which had suddenly become hopeful with the
promise of new gossip, fell again. "But," Michiru continued, "I can
always help you speculate, even if I can't say anything definite." Rei's
face slowly turned into a grin, and she leaned forward across the table,
eager to wrangle whatever information she could from the Senshi of the
Sea.

-------------------

"I don't know about this, Haruka." Setsuna said as she tied the belt
around her gi.

"Come on, you wanted to get out of the house, right? And you needed to
let off some steam. This will be perfect." Haruka replied, already
standing on the mat, holding two staves. Setsuna bowed and joined her,
taking one of the weapons. They bowed to each other and began some light
sparring.

Haruka was a skilled and talented fighter, well trained and with
excellent reflexes. Nevertheless, centuries of experience with her
weapon had made Setsuna a staff fighter like no other. In less than half
a minute Haruka found her staff whipped out of her hands, and the butt
of Setsuna's resting against her throat. "Okay, maybe you need a little
more of a challenge." Haruka said, swallowing. Setsuna gave her a small,
genuine smile, and the short-haired senshi took that to be a good sign.

This had been Haruka's idea, of course. Setsuna had seemed utterly
content to simply sit in the passenger's seat and look out at the
snowbound city, but Haruka had determined that the Guardian of Time
needed a serious shot of adrenaline to work off some of her stress, so
she'd driven to her favorite dojo.

Haruka set the staves back on the rack where they had come from, and she
and Setsuna squared off, barehanded this time. As this fight lasted
beyond the first engagement, their differences in style became apparent.
Haruka had an incredible amount of inborn talent, and fought with
passionate precision. Setsuna, on the other hand, was not the natural
fighter that Haruka was, but had the benefit of centuries of experience
and a keenly analytical mind. As they traded blows, Haruka could see the
mind at work behind Setsuna's eyes, analyzing Haruka's moves and
responding with the bare minimum of movement required.

-Still have time to think, huh?- Haruka said to herself. -Well, we'll
see about that!- She pressed forward suddenly, her arms and legs
blurring as they sped through the air. Setsuna's eyes widened at the
sudden assault, and she had to jump back to give herself time to
recover. Her movements became more fluid, and Haruka nodded to herself
in satisfaction as Setsuna loosened up.

They fought at top speed for several more minutes, until they finally
separated, panting and sweating. Haruka leaned forward, placing her
hands on her knees, and smiled up at Setsuna, who had done the same.
"How do you feel?"

"Better." Setsuna replied with a smile. "I do feel better. Thank you
Haruka, this was a good idea."

"Sure." Haruka straightened and ran her fingers through her hair. "I
know this has gotta be hard for you Setsuna. I can't even imagine what
it must be like. But I'm glad I can help you work out the stress."

"Again, thank you." Setsuna stood up. "It's a little like being blind.
No...that's not quite right. I guess it's like what amnesia must feel
like."

"Amnesia?"

Setsuna nodded. "My seeing through time, it's like remembering things,
even things that haven't happened yet. But with these enemies, I feel
like I'm seeing things I should remember, but have no memory of. It's
quite disconcerting."

"I'll bet. Don't worry though." Haruka said with a confident smile.
"We'll beat them."

"I have no doubts." Setsuna replied. A sound made them both pause. In
the next room over, they heard the cry of a familiar voice. Curious,
they both went to check it out.

Makoto was there, also in a gi, and going to town on a hanging bag. Her
face was set in an angry look, and her feet and fists lashed out at the
poor object unmercifully. A final, massive hook kick made the bag detach
from the hanging chain and sail several feet across the room, leaving
Makoto standing alone, fists clenched and shoulders heaving with
exertion. Setsuna gave a polite cough, and Makoto spun around sharply.

"Haruka-kun? Setsuna-chan?" She said, relaxing a little. "Um...hi." She
glanced around the room, her eyes falling on the much abused punching
bag. "I was just...training."

"So I see." Setsuna replied with an enigmatic smile.

"You okay Mako-chan?" Haruka inquired, raising an eyebrow.

"I'm fine." The brunette almost snapped. She took a deep breath and
wiped the sweat from her brow. "I'm fine." She repeated, mostly to
herself. She looked over at the other women again. "So what brings you
out here? Weren't you supposed to be with Rei today?"

"Oh, Setsuna needed to get out of the house, so I'm afraid I left
Michiru to go it alone." Haruka said, clapping Setsuna lightly on the
shoulder.

Makoto blinked. "What about Hotaru?" Haruka and Setsuna shared a look.

"That's another reason we were so eager to get out of the house." Haruka
finally said. "They're having a bit of a fight at the moment, and it's a
tense, quiet and cold place to be right now."

"They're too alike for their own good sometimes." Setsuna observed.

"Agreed." Haruka smiled, looking over at Makoto again. "So, you sure
you're okay?"

"Yeah...I just needed to let off a little steam too, I guess." Makoto
replied, rubbing the back of her head in an embarrassed gesture. "I
guess I should fix it."

"Here, let me help you." Haruka started forward, but Makoto had already
picked up the heavy, sand-filled bag. Once again, the Senshi of the Wind
was surprised at Makoto's sheer physical strength. Haruka held the hook
steady while Makoto hung it back into place. There was an impressive
dent in the bag where Makoto's last kick had caught it. "Nice." Haruka
observed. "We should have another match one of these days."

"Think you can still keep up?" Makoto replied with a brash grin.

"I guess we'll just have to see." Haruka replied with a smile. "At any
rate, I think Setsuna and I were going to get something to eat before we
braved returning home again, right?" She glanced at Setsuna, who nodded.
"Want to come?"

Makoto closed her eyes and took another deep breath, letting it out
slowly. As the breath left her, she seemed to lose a good deal of
tension, enough that when she opened her eyes and smiled, it was
genuine.
"Sure."

Makoto and Haruka left the training room, headed for the lockers.
Setsuna let them pass and then fell in behind them, looking at Makoto
with a faint, thoughtful smile.

-------------------

Muon stood in front of the large, violet cylinder, watching the writhing
creature trapped inside. He made some subtle adjustments to the blue
symbols circling the thing, the magical sigils that directed his
creation's development. The thing in the tube began moving even more
violently, a sign that its agony had increased to a dangerous level.
With a quick gesture, Muon shifted the symbols again and the creature
quieted.

Most of the blue-haired sorcerer's attention was split between this and
his constant studies of the Sailor Senshi. He was more interested in the
Senshi, and his eagerness to see his creation finished had momentarily
overcome his patience. He had no compunction about causing the thing
pain...the process of its development was agonizing no matter how he
carried it out. But it would do him no good, and prove somewhat
irritating, if he allowed it to die of shock before it could be used.

Given the incredible amounts of pain it was feeling, Muon idly wondered
what shape its mind would be in when it was finally ready to be
released. He would have to take steps to make sure it did not attack
prematurely.

Muon suddenly became aware of Gylax's presence behind him and to his
left. The daeva had made herself useful in a thousand little ways Muon
had never considered, and one of her better qualities was keeping her
presence utterly unnoticeable.

"If your tasks are complete, I have nothing more for you to do at the
moment." Muon said. "Remain here for a time and observe. If anything
seems to be going wrong, tell me at once. I will be going over my
information on the Sailor Senshi again."

"Yes Muon." Gylax said. There seemed to be a certain hesitancy about
her.

"Is there anything else?"

"No, Muon. It's just that I..." Gylax stopped talking. Muon turned to
the daeva, noticing her nervous posture.

"You are still concerned that I have not shared all my information about
the Senshi with Hadron."

"Y-yes...I apologize."

"Hm. Hadron and I have an understanding, as you know. I aid his efforts,
and he aids my studies. Neither is beholden to the other. I keep this
information secret because it suits me to do so. If Hadron was to
discover my suspicions, that these Sailor Senshi are indeed the ancient
guardians of the Moon Kingdom reborn, it would likely make him all the
more focused on their destruction. As they still require much more study
on my part, I would find that inconvenient."

"Of course, Muon." Gylax agreed quickly. "But isn't Lord Hadron focused
on that anyway? I mean, they are the only ones standing in the way of
his conquest of this world."

Muon gave the silver daeva a long look. "Hadron's efforts towards this
world are not based on conquest." He finally said. "There will be no
further attempts to activate World Anchors on the Earth." He began to
walk into the shadows of his lair.

"But..." Gylax's voice made him pause. "If Hadron doesn't want to
conquer this world, what does he want?"

"His ambition necessitates the expedited completion of my studies, that
is all you need know." With that, he was gone. Feeling an inexplicable
chill, Gylax turned to the tube, watching the helpless creature within
writhe and struggle against its invisible bonds.

-------------------

The sun was setting as Minako left Ami's aparment building, and where
its light made its way through the looming Tokyo skyline it painted the
snow gold and pink. She walked down the crowded sidewalk, singing to
herself with a smile on her face. As she turned a corner, the street
cleared out, and she thought she heard a voice calling her name. She
turned back and saw two odangos popping up and down in the press of
humanity. With a grin, Minako leaned against a wall and waited.

A minute or so later Usagi left the crowd and skidded to a halt in front
of Minako. "Hi Minako-chan!" She chirped.

"Hi Usagi-chan." Minako replied. "How's it going?"

"Great! I just got back from Mamoru's apartment, and I'm going to pick
up Chibi-Usa now. What are you up to?"

Minako smiled and shrugged. "Just heading home."

"Oh yeah?" Usagi said, coyly. She held her hands behind her back and
leaned forward with a huge grin. Minako blinked and took a step back.
"What were you up to? On a *date* maybe?"

Minako blinked again, blushing. "Um..."

Usagi jumped up and down gleefully. "I knew it! I knew it! That's why
you and Ami have been so weird lately!"

Minako looked wildly from side to side, hoping an escape would suddenly
present itself. "I don't know what you're talking about...we just...I
mean we're only...um..."

Usagi giggled. "I knew it!" She suddenly began pouting. "But I'm kinda
surprised you didn't tell the rest of us yet. I know you and Ami are
like best friends now, but I don't know why you'd keep it a secret from
the rest of us for so long...unless..." She paused thoughtfully. Minako,
who had been about to breathe a sigh of relief, froze again.

"You're dating two guys at once again, aren't you?" Usagi exclaimed,
pointing accusingly at the other girl. Minako stared at her for a second
and then began to laugh, a laugh only slightly tinged with hysteria.
Fortunately, Usagi didn't seem to notice.

"Oh Usagi-chan!" Minako laughed, clapping Usagi on the back so hard the
pig-tailed girl stumbled forward a couple of steps. They began walking
down the sidewalk, in the general direction of their destinations. "I
promise, I learned my lesson the last time. I'm not dating two guys
again."

Usagi rubbed her back painfully. "Um...okay. But am I right? Is that why
you and Ami have been acting so funny?"

"Yeah...that's it." Minako said, smiling.

"So? Can you tell me who it is?"

Minako grinned a bit. The adrenaline rush of thinking she'd been busted
had gone a bit to her head. "You know Usagi-chan, if you try to peek in
the cookie jar, you'll always end up getting bit."

Usagi blinked. "I don't think I've ever heard that before."

"It doesn't matter." Minako replied, smiling and shaking her head.
"Look...I'll tell you soon, okay?"

"Okay...but I'm still a little confused. I mean, you've never had a
problem talking about any of your other dates."

Minako shrugged, avoiding Usagi's eyes. "It's...different this time."

"It is serious?"

"Yeah..." Minako looked up at the sky. "Yeah, I think it is this time."

Usagi offered a small, bright smile. "You know that whoever you're going
out with, if you really like him that much, we'll support you, right?"

"I know that." Minako said softly. "That's not it."

"Well, hurry up then!" Usagi said. "I know how hard it is to keep
something like that bottled up. Every time I think about Mamo-chan I
just want to shout our love from the highest mountains!" Usagi swooned a
bit, and Minako chuckled despite herself.

A moment later Usagi had to turn off onto another street. "Well, I'll
see you later Minako-chan!" She said, waving.

"Bye Usagi-chan." Minako smiled.

Minako's steps were slow on the way home. Usagi had inadvertently given
her a lot to think about. "So, she wants to shout it from the mountains,
huh?" She murmured to herself. "I guess Ami probably feels the same way.
Do I?" She had to be honest with herself and say no.

Actually, Minako would be just as happy if she and Ami could keep their
relationship a secret forever. Far from wanting to tell *everybody*, she
was terrified of letting *anybody* find out. It was, frankly, bad enough
having Haruka and Michiru in on the whole thing.

She arrived at her house, the windows all dark and the driveway empty.
Mother was out again, so no surprises there. Her hand rested on the
round stone gatepost at the entrance to the yard and she closed her eyes.
"So maybe I don't want everyone to know." She said softly. "But I still
love her. I do."

She had wanted that to sound defiant. Why did it sound so much like she
was trying to convince herself?

-------------------
AUTHOR'S NOTES: Well, this was a chapter as much for me as it is for all
of you. After taking such a long pause in the story, I needed to do this
chapter to make sure my thoughts were all in place for the rest of the
story. Still, I hope you found it entertaining enough. ^_^

The characters of Sailormoon are not mine, but the bad guys are. Maybe
someday I'll use them to conquer Sailormoon, but not yet. Until then,
I'm making no money from them.

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