o n c e i n a b l u e m o o n

-Episode 13-

    Darkness. Trish fell through nothingness, a gentle wind pushing strands of her hair into her face. As she came closer to her destination, she could decipher noises, meaningless voices. A buzzing cloud of phantom bees surrounded her, touched her skin, melding with it so that Trish felt as if a low electrical current were flowing through her body.

    The voices solidified, formed pictures in her mind. A piece of wood, a dozen eggs, something cold was being pressed into her forehead, fingers…

    “She has a pulse.”

    “Where’s Usagi? Where is she?”

    “Trish? Can you hear me?”

    Someone was shaking her shoulders. The piece of coldness fell from her forehead and Trish opened her eyes. A blue-haired girl met her gaze and smiled reassuringly.

    “She’s awake!”

    Trish shivered and wondered why she was on her back on the grass…in her backyard? She choked as a whirl of memories caught up to her and sat up, feeling whatever blood had been returning to her face drain out again.

    “Oh God, oh God!” she cried, clutching at the grass with her fists. Panic filled her veins. “They have Usagi! We have to do something!”

    Trish tried to get to her feet but was forced back down by a dozen gloved hands. Her skin tingled all over and she shook uncontrollably. She looked up into the eyes of Mars, which were filled with a mix of anger and pity. Jupiter crouched down next to her and reapplied the cold press.

    “What happened, Trish?” asked Jupiter calmly, although her features easily gave away her alarm.

    Trish swallowed and closed her eyes to stop the ground from spinning. “They came. They came and took her. I tried to fight them off and I would have gotten away with her, but one just appeared in front of me and then everything went black.” She opened her eyes again and tried to blink away the tears. “How long have I been out?”

    “We just got here,” said Mercury as she scanned the yard with her blue goggles. She gave a small cry and walked off towards the empty frame of the sliding glass door.

    “It’s okay, Trish,” said Venus soothingly, rubbing her on the back and looking anything but okay herself. “It’s not your fault. You did what you could and we just didn’t get there fast enough.”

    Mercury returned with a rather large piece of the kitchen table. Trish found herself vaguely wondering how she was going to explain the damage to her host mother, then she noticed that something had been carved into the wood. Mercury handed it to Jupiter, whose eyebrows steadily grew closer and closer together as she read it.

    “What is that?” asked Mars. Trish realized that Mars had been staring intently at her.

    “A note,” said Jupiter. “They want the Pyramid in return for Usagi by Friday.”

    The senshi traded worried glances. And then, one by one, they looked at Trish. She knew what they wanted before Mars could open her mouth. Trish turned her gaze upon the ground before her.

    “I’ll talk to the others,” she finally said. Trish sighed and looked back up. “I promise, though, we’ll get her back.” She slowly got to her feet, Mercury grabbing one of her arms as she threatened to fall over. “We’ll get her back.”

    “Come on, Trish,” said Mercury soothingly, leading her towards the house. “You should lie down.”

    “We can’t do anything more tonight,” said Venus, helping support Trish.

    Mars and Jupiter followed silently as the other two led Trish off to bed. Trish felt rather weak as she slid underneath the covers and welcomed the darkness that spread out before her when the senshi closed the door. She fell asleep almost immediately.

    Trish awoke to screams early the next morning. Startled, she leapt out of bed and rushed to the kitchen, where the cry had emanated from. There stood her host mother, completed stunned, amidst the wreckage of her kitchen. Somehow, in the daylight, it looked even worse than before. The counters were scorched, the table missing, shattered pieces of wood littered the ground, mingling with glass and ceramics.

    “When-? How-? What-?” stammered her host mother, leaning weakly against the counter as she surveyed the damage.

    Trish, clueless as to any way to explain it, played dumb and hid her scratches and bruises with a long sweater when the police came by a half hour later. She excused herself for school after establishing with them all that she had slept through whatever calamity had befallen the house.

    She went through school on autopilot, unable to properly think about the night before nor concentrate on the work set out in front of her. Her mind continually returned to Usagi’s blonde head as it hit the ground and the nightmarish eyes of the broadsword carrying shadow, Bello. It had all been her fault. If only she had transformed sooner, if only she had rushed Usagi out as soon as she heard the glass break, if only she had continued straight when blinded, if only she had gone through the front of the house, if only…

    When the final bell rang, Trish realized that she could not return home. It was too late to face the night before head on and she doubted that all of the debris had been cleaned up. Instead, she shouldered her backpack and headed down the street in the opposite direction. By then, she felt oddly emotionally devoid.

    She did not realize she was heading for the park until she stood in front of it, gazing blankly at the trees. Trish heard a yell, someone calling her name, but ignored it and continued on into the park. She was not sure if she could stand talking to anyone. The patter of feet behind her grew in volume until she was practically bowled over by an overly enthusiastic Kari. Her face fell, however, as she saw Trish’s carefully blank features.

    “What’s wrong?” asked Kari worriedly. “Did something happen?”

    Trish did not hear her at first and when she finally processed the words, she took more than a few moments to respond. “They came last night,” she said at last, looking into Kari’s eyes. “They took Usagi.”

    Kari stared at her in disbelief, falling into step as the blonde continued walking down the path. “They want the Pyramid, don’t they?”

    “Yeah.”

    “Well, we’ll have to give it to them, then.”

    Trish shook her head. “But we can’t. We can’t just give them the most powerful object we have.”

    “It’s only rivaled by the Princess’ Silver Crystal,” said Kari in a deeper voice.

    “And they have the Princess.”

    They lapsed back into silence. Birds chirped merrily overhead and the sunlight slanted through the brilliant green leaves without a care in the world. Children laughed and played in the field nearby as their parents chattered amongst themselves. A pair of joggers passed them.

    “The Pyramid can only exist as long as all of us exist,” said Kari suddenly. “Right?”

    Trish blinked in surprise and stared at Kari. “I guess. They made a point not to kill me last night.”

    Kari merely nodded, losing herself in thought again. Trish realized that she needed to talk to someone who knew what they were doing. Her cell phone was halfway out of her back before she realized she was going to call Victoria.

    And it was halfway to her ear before she saw the prominent red hair bobbing in the crowd ahead of them. Trish gave an involuntary cry of joy and started forward at a trot before remembering that Kari was with her. Kari followed, though, and they caught up to Victoria in a matter of seconds; the redhead was walking slowly with her head down.

    “Oh, hi Trish,” she said vacantly.

    “Victoria,” breathed Trish, “they have Usagi.”

    She jerked her head up and stared at Trish, eyes wide. Without a word, she gave Trish a hug.

    “What’re we going to do?” asked Trish when Victoria let her go.

    “Fight them,” said Victoria without hesitation. They began walking again.

    “What about the Pyramid – ?” began Kari.

    “We can’t give it to them.”

    “But they’ll hurt Usagi otherwise!” cried Kari.

    “If it comes to that, then it’ll come to that,” said Victoria. “But we cannot give them the Pyramid.” She fixed Kari with a stare, halting her in the middle of opening her mouth to protest.

    “She’s the Princess, Victoria,” said Trish, not sure if she was hearing the redhead right. “We can’t just let her die!”

    “We won’t,” said Victoria, shaking her head. “But if it comes down to it, the Princess will be reborn; the rest of the world won’t.”

    “The other senshi are going to kill us,” said Kari.

    “That’s their problem. We, on the other hand, have to protect the Pyramid at all costs. They should have been protecting their Princess. She’s not our responsibility.”

    “How do we know they want to destroy the world, anyway?” asked Kari.

    “Why else would they want the Pyramid? To grow daisies?” said Victoria irritably. “Don’t you remember, Kairos? That’s what they wanted it for before!”

    Both Kari and Trish blinked.

    “Before?” they asked simultaneously.

    Victoria shook her head. “Yes, before. In our past life. I’m starting to remember more and more every day. Kaisha was there as well, along with a man named Enshoku and the Shadows. They tried to destroy the Moon and Earth Kingdoms then, by stealing the Pyramid and summoning Demenos – ”

    “ – the destroyer of worlds,” finished Kari, staring at Victoria. “But they didn’t; we stopped them. We sealed away Demenos in a comet that only passes Earth every thousand years and Kaisha and Enshoku disappeared. The Shadows fled.”

    “And we faded from the minds of the people we saved,” said Victoria. “Now Kaisha’s reappeared and I suppose the Shadows have been waiting all this time. That’s why we can’t give them the Pyramid. That’s why the Princess is immaterial. Do you remember, Trish? Do you remember how close it was?” She grabbed Trish’s arm. “We died last time,” she whispered.

    “But this time is different,” protested Trish. “This time we have the Sol Senshi.”

    “They were there then,” said Victoria, letting go of her arm. “But the Pyramid was our responsibility and we lost it. We can’t lose it this time. Even if the Princess dies.”

    Kari choked. “So you’re afraid of dying, then? We’ll be reborn too, you know. If we have to die to save this place, then we will.” Her voice abruptly deepened again into the voice that Trish was beginning to associate with Kairos. “It’s part of our destiny, Ypsos. We appear for the disaster and then we disappear. We’re not meant to hang around. We can give them the Pyramid, get the Princess to safety, and then fight them. That’s what we are here for, Ypsos; so they won’t have to give their lives.”

    Victoria looked at her. “You don’t remember, do you? You don’t remember the chaos and pain, the hundreds of bodies littering the ground before we could finally defeat them? I’m not going to do that again. We’re supposed to learn from our mistakes, not repeat them.”

    “But I do remember,” said Kari softly.

    “Stop arguing,” cut in Trish, feeling her cheeks redden as the two stared at her. “We don’t need to decide this now. We won’t have to decide this unless it comes to that.”

    She closed her eyes and let the sun beat upon her upturned face, feeling even more uneasy than she had before talking to Victoria. Somehow, the redhead’s conviction to let the Princess die was unexpected and unsettling. She realized she had simply wanted someone to say that it was okay to give the Shadows the Pyramid and that they would get Usagi back safe and sound. Hearing Kari and Victoria argue like that was disconcerting.

    “We have until tomorrow, right?” asked Kari after a few minutes of silence.

    “To save the Princess? Yeah,” said Trish.

    “Did they specify a meeting place?”

    Trish shook her head. “They said they would contact me.”

    “Then tonight we will all meet at Trish’s house,” said Kari with conviction. “All of us, including Mikos.” She shifted her bag and nodded at Trish and Victoria. “I have to go. I’ll see you then.”

    Kari turned around and left in the opposite direction, her head down and her shoulders bunched as if she was thinking deeply. Trish and Victoria looked at each other.

    “Will you come with me to go find Brekke?” asked Trish.

    Victoria merely nodded and the two made their way towards where Brekke’s residence lay. They walked in comfortable silence, each musing over their own thoughts, until fifteen minutes later they were at the foot of the stairs. They paused for a moment and then as one went up the steps. Trish rang the doorbell.

    A man in his fifties with graying hair opened the door and bid them take a seat while he went and retrieved Brekke from her room. He returned with his daughter behind him, who abruptly froze in her tracks when she saw the other girls there.

    “Oh yeah, the um, the history project,” she stuttered and turned to her dad. “I need to go and work on a project for school, dad. I probably won’t be back until late so don’t wait up for me.” Brekke gave her dad a kiss on the cheek and then, with Trish and Victoria in tow, left the apartment.

    As soon as the door clicked shut, Brekke rounded on them. “What happened?”

    Trish surprised herself by immediately explaining what had transpired the night before, in detail. She told Brekke and Victoria everything from the first breaking of glass she heard to her host mother having a fit the next morning as the three of them walked down the street to her house. As she spoke, more and more weight seemed to leave her chest until she was sniffling uncontrollably but feeling undeniably better.

    Victoria fished a tissue out of her bag and handed it to Trish, who blew her nose with it. They had reached Trish’s neighborhood by the time she finished the account and wiped her eyes on her sleeve.

    “We can’t give them the Pyramid,” said Brekke after a few moments of silence.

    “That’s what I said,” agreed Victoria.

    Trish just shook her head silently and unlocked the door to the house. Amai was not yet home, so the house was empty. Trish led Victoria and Brekke into the kitchen, which showed little evidence from the night before; the glass had been swept away and a tarp was now covering the sliding door, while the table had been replaced by a coffee table from one of the back rooms.

    “Anything to drink?” asked Trish as she tried to ignore the dents in the wall by the doorway.

    “No, no thank you,” said Victoria, somewhat stilted.

    Trish glanced towards her to see that both of them were staring around at the room in disbelief. She smiled grimly as she filled a glass with water for herself; her story was slowly becoming real for them.

    “Wow,” said Brekke as if on cue. “You weren’t shitting us.”

    “Brekke,” hissed Victoria.

    Shaking her head, Trish turned back around to face them. “No, I wasn’t.” She tried hard not to keep staring at the remaining damage, a sick feeling welling up in her gut.

    “What did you tell your host mother?” asked Victoria worriedly, her gaze finally resting on Trish after surveying the room several times.

    Trish shrugged. “I just said I’d been sleeping.”

    Brekke barked out a laugh. “That’s the best excuse I’ve heard yet.”

    Victoria leaned against the counter and bit her lip in thought. “We should probably put together a plan of action while we still can.”

    “I’m still for teleporting there and beating their heads in,” said Brekke darkly.

    “Yeah, well, we can’t teleport,” said Victoria without glancing her way.

    “Who says we can’t?” snapped Brekke.

    “I do.”

    “Why not?”

    “We don’t know anything –”

    “Screw it!” interrupted Brekke. “You know what, Vic? We’re never going to freaking know anything until we get there! I say we teleport know and take them by surprise while we still can.”

    “Brekke – ”

    “No!” Brekke glared at Victoria. “Don’t! You know I’m right. You – ”

    Victoria stepped lightly up to her and clamped a hand over her mouth, the other hand firmly gripping her shoulder. “Brekke, listen to me. That’s what they want. They want the Pyramid and going directly there would be handing it over to them. We cannot, absolutely cannot, do that.”

    She took her hand away from Brekke’s mouth and watched apprehensively as the other girl bit her bottom lip. Trish watched the exchange, shocked into silence. Brekke had not even tried to push Victoria away…

    Brekke shook her head violently as Victoria stepped away. “But what the hell else are we going to do?”

    “If it comes to it,” said Victoria slowly, “…nothing.”

    “But we can’t do nothing!” cried Trish, causing both heads to swivel towards her. She faltered momentarily in their stark stares, but quickly pulled a deep, steadying breath. “You don’t know Usagi like I do. She’s the only one who’s really ever been nice to me. If…if you don’t want to go save her, I can understand that. They need all of us for the Pyramid, don’t they? Then I…I can go alone. It’s my fault they have her, anyway.”

    “Hah, like we’d let you go alone,” said Brekke, rolling her eyes. “You’d get yourself killed, Trish.”

    “Maybe,” said Trish softly, letting her gaze slide down to the floor. She brushed a strand of hair our of her eyes. “Maybe I would be. But at least I would’ve tried to save her.”

    She felt someone place a hand on her shoulder and looked up into Victoria’s eyes. “Trish, don’t be rash. It wasn’t your fault. Usagi came here on her own and you tried your best.”

    “It is my fault,” said Trish. “And even if you don’t think so, if she gets hurt I could never forgive myself. They would never forgive me.”

    “Is that what this is about?” asked Brekke heatedly. “Them? Did they threaten you, Trish? Did – ”

    “No!” said Trish. “They didn’t threaten me. They would never do that.”

    Victoria sighed audibly and wandered over to the table. “We’re going to have to deal with them as well.”

    All three girls turned towards the kitchen doorway as they heard a door opening in the hallway followed by “I’m home!”

    “That’s just Amai,” said Trish, hurrying to greet her host mother.

    Introductions went around as Amai and Trish returned to the kitchen, Amai with two bags of groceries balanced in her arms. They helped her unload the bags and put the groceries away while Amai chattered about the weather and the insurance company. She then made them a pot of tea and the four sat around the coffee table and exchanged small talk. Trish began to fear that Amai would never leave the room when finally the doorbell rang.

    “I’ll get it,” said Trish without looking back as she darted for the front hallway. She opened the door before remembering to check the peephole first, which resulted in an abrupt half-slamming of the door in Kari’s face.

    “I’m sorry!” apologized Trish profusely, letting Kari inside before trying to close the door again. “I didn’t mean to do that…”

    “It’s okay,” said Kari, smiling reassuringly. “I get that a lot.” She winked, then glanced down the hallway behind Trish. “Are they here yet?”

    Trish nodded and led her into the kitchen. Amai stood up and bowed when they entered. Trish quickly introduced them while Amai hurried to find a clean teacup for Kari.

    “Well, hello,” said Brekke darkly as Kari took a seat with them.

    “Good evening,” returned Kari levelly.

    “Evening?” echoed Trish. She glanced towards the clock. “Oh, wow, it’s already past seven.”

    Amai took the cue to yawn and stretch. “Well, I’d better clean up and get myself showered, then!” She said cheerily, gathering the dishes.

    Moments after she had left the kitchen, the four girls continued to sit in tense silence. At last Kari gave a soft sigh and stood up.

    “I’m sorry,” she said sadly. “I’ll just go.”

    “Why?” asked Victoria.

    “Because she knows she’s an idiot,” said Brekke heatedly.

    “Brekke, just shut up,” snapped Victoria. “Really, Kari, just ignore her. She does that to everyone. You’re one of us now, even if you do mess up now and then. We all do. Besides, you’re Kairos. We need Kairos.”

    “No we freaking don’t,” growled Brekke. “We don’t freaking need a Kairos if she’s that incompetent!”

    Kari stared at the tile floor, a wet shine tracing the contour of her cheek. “I…I am incompetent,” she whispered quietly. “And if you don’t need me, then I will go. I’m…sorry.”

    “Kari,” said Trish while she walked towards the door.

    “I’m sorry,” said Kari again, quickening her step and disappearing into the front hallway.

    Trish glanced back towards the other two and was surprised to see Victoria seething in anger. She stood up silently from the table and stalked after Kari. Trish followed without looking at Brekke. They arrived in the hallway in time to see Kari open the door and abruptly halt.

    “Good evening,” came a deep voice from the other side of the door. Victoria and Trish crept forward, trying to peer around Kari for a glimpse at the man.

    “Good…good evening,” stuttered Kari. “I’m sorry, I don’t live here. Should I get the head of the house?”

    “If you would…”

    Kari turned then and revealed the man standing at the door. Her eyes widened as she caught sight of Trish and Victoria already in the hallway, but Trish hardly noticed as she stared at the man. He had bright, reddish-orange hair that seemed to have been gelled into small spikes, dark orange eyes, and pale skin. He wore a dark grey turtle neck and khaki pants, but somehow seemed out of place. The man looked oddly familiar to Trish.

    “Ah, I see that she is here,” he said, his eyes scanning Trish as hers had scanned him. He smiled and a chill ran up her spine. “Allow me to introduce myself, Trish; I am Enshoku.”

    Trish felt a hand on her shoulder tighten and looked over to see Victoria staring wide-eyed at the man. His grin only widened.

    “I see your friend remembers me,” he said, stepping inside and pushing past Kari.

    “We will fight you,” said Victoria, her voice trembling uncharacteristically.

    “I would hope so,” said Enshoku, leering. “Just not yet, Ypsos.” Victoria cringed. “I have only come to deliver a message.”

    “So deliver your message and go,” growled Victoria, her hand tightening further on Trish’s shoulder.

    “Fine.” He bowed mockingly. “Come to the park at midnight with the Pyramid and we shall make the exchange then. Any later and we’ll give you her corpse.”

    “Big words,” said Victoria. She pointed at the door, her eyes sparking with anger. “Now go.”

    “Later,” said Enshoku, waving as he walked out the door and disappeared into the darkness.

    “The park,” whispered Kari, her eyes wide and gleaming with moisture.

    “Yeah,” said Victoria. She checked her watch. “We’ve got four hours to think up a plan. Wait,” she raised her voice as Kari stepped outside, “where are you going?”

    Kari paused, bit her lower lip, and glanced back at Victoria. “Away. You don’t need me. I’m incompetent,” she said bitterly. “Farewell.”

    Like Enshoku, she disappeared into the darkness outside. Trish and Victoria exchanged glances.

    “What was that about?” asked Brekke, leaning in from the kitchen doorway. “The little wretch is finally leaving us alone?”

    Victoria glared at her. “I have half a mind to slap you right now.”

    “As do I,” said Trish, receiving surprised looks from both Victoria and Brekke.

    “You made her cry, you bastard.” Victoria pushed her way past Brekke and into the kitchen.

    “If she’s going to be that weak, she deserves it,” said Brekke, but with not nearly as much conviction as she had had earlier. She crossed her arms. “We don’t need a crybaby on the team.”

    “Usagi does well enough on theirs,” said Trish.

    “Yeah, well – ” began Brekke, only to be interrupted by a shouted greeting from the hallway.

    All three girls turned as one towards the kitchen doorway as the four remaining Sol Senshi walked into view. Rei’s eyes hardened as she caught sight of Brekke, but none of the others seemed to mind too much. They converged on Trish.

    “Who didn’t shut the front door?” grumbled Brekke underneath her breath.

    “Are you alright, Trish?” asked Ami, arriving next to the blonde first.

    “Yeah.”

    “Did you tell them what happened?” asked Makoto with Luna in her arms.

    “Yes, she did,” said Victoria, stepping forward.

    “And we’re not giving them the Pyramid,” put in Brekke, not noticing the glare that Victoria shot her.

    “What?” cried Minako, jostling the white cat, Artemis, in her arms.

    “I thought so,” said Rei angrily. She crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes. “Which is why we came. Usagi is our Princess and we have to protect her. At all costs. Even if that means fighting you.”

    “Rei…” said Ami, reaching out a hand to comfort her.

    “Fight us?” echoed Trish blankly, not sure if she was hearing Rei right.

    “We have to get our Princess back,” said Makoto resolutely.

    “And we have to protect the Pyramid,” said Victoria, shaking her head. “I don’t think you understand the consequences of giving them the Pyramid.”

    “Of course we do,” said Minako matter-of-factly. “They get a lot of power. So what? We’ll have the Princess. We can still defeat them.”

    Victoria continued to shake her head. “No.”

    “Where’s the other one?” asked Rei, glancing around the room. “Aren’t there four of you?”

    Victoria shot a glare at Brekke as Trish explained. “She just left. After Enshoku was here.”

    “Enshoku?” repeated Minako, tilting her head to one side.

    But Luna’s ears perked up. “You mean Kaisha’s follower?”

    “Orange hair, orange eyes? Yeah,” said Trish.

    “What’d he say?”

    Trish ignored the glare Victoria was now shooting her way. “That we have four hours to hand over the Pyramid.”

    “And then Kari left?” pressed Luna.

    Victoria and Trish exchanged a glance. “Yeah…”

    The cat seemed worried. “That’s not good.”

    “Why?” asked Brekke curiously.

    “I just have a bad feeling about that,” said Luna just as something rammed into the remaining piece of the sliding glass door.

    “What was that?” asked Makoto as they all moved forward.

    Trish peered into the darkness and caught a flash of white flying by. “Ora!” she cried and rushed towards the door to pull back the tarp on the other half. A pale ball of feathers whirled into the room.

    Ora was shrieking wildly, something Trish had never seen before. He did not land anywhere but circled the group several times before shooting down the hallway towards the front door and then returning to continue yelling at them.

    “Crazy bird,” Trish heard Brekke mumble as they watched his antics.

    “What does he want?” wondered Ami.

    “Something’s wrong,” said Trish. “I think he wants us to follow him.”

    “Then let’s go,” said Makoto, making her way to the front door.

    The others followed. Ora was hovering much like a hummingbird in front of the door and shot outside as soon as Trish opened it. At first they followed at a brisk walk, then a trot, then a full out run as Ora kept flitting further and further ahead. Trish checked her watch as they ran; it was just past nine o’clock. In the darkness outside she was unsure of where they were headed until she spotted the edge of the park up ahead.

    “We’re headed into the park!” cried out Makoto in between breaths.

    “Why is Ora taking us there?” asked Minako, lagging behind.

    Something clicked inside Trish’s head as they ran. The Pyramid can only exist as long as all of us exist, she thought. That’s why they didn’t kill me last night. And now Kari’s disappeared and Ora’s in hysterics and he’s leading us into the Park, which is where we’re supposed to meet Enshoku…but…but…Kari isn’t that stupid, is she? To take on Enshoku by herself? Is she trying to prove to Brekke that she’s just as good as the rest of us?

    Trish bit her lip as her feet took her deeper into the park. She glanced at Victoria who also seemed to be deeply lost in thought.

    Either Enshoku will capture her and use her as ransom like Usagi, or...Trish’s eyes widened of their own accord. Or is she trying to get him to kill her?

    Her stride lengthened at the same time Victoria’s did. Their gazes met and Trish realized that the redhead had come to the same conclusion as she had. There was yelling audible off in the distance now, and a flash of lavender light filtered through the trees.

    Rei halted the group as Ora buzzed around her head. “We need to transform.”

    They nodded as one, including Brekke, and pulled out their various henshin objects from their pockets.

    “Mars star power…!”

    “Platos star power…!”

    “Mercury star power…!”

    “Mikos star power…!”

    “Jupiter star power…!”

    “Ypsos star power…!”

    “Venus star power…!”

    As one, they yelled, “…make up!”

    Trish let the warm power embrace her and in only a few moments the assembled senshi team was off and running again, towards the center of the Park. They emerged on the edge of the small field and halted as Sailor Kairos was hefting her staff into the air. Ora disappeared in a flurry of sparks.

    “Aura ora…!” she cried as the glass orb on the end of her staff glowed a brilliant purple. She crouched down, then launched herself forward in a sprint towards Enshoku, who was standing near the middle of the field, looking mildly amused. She jumped into the air a few feet from him and brought her staff down. “…whack!”

    The attack did not connect, though, and bounced off an invisible shield which sent her flying into a tree. She fell to the ground but immediately got back to her feet, a strong determination on her face.

    “This is futile, girl,” said Enshoku as he inspected his nails. He seemed to have not noticed the senshi watching from the cover of the trees. “What do you wish to accomplish this way? Aside from wearing yourself out?”

    Kairos’ shoulders slouched and she hung her head. “I know. It’s impossible to defeat you.”

    “Oh?” The man’s eyebrows raised in surprise.

    “So instead,” she said, holding his gaze with her own imperceptible eyes. “Instead, take me, in place of Usagi. Let Usagi go. I don’t have the Pyramid but they will be more likely to give it to you if you have me instead of Usagi. Who is she to them? Perhaps a friend, but otherwise of little importance.”

    “What the fuck does she think she’s doing?” hissed Mikos.

    “Apparently she’s of importance to you,” said Enshoku, however not dismissively. He took a step towards her. “Why’re you doing this? What’s in it for you?”

    “I know they would never come for Usagi,” she said softly. “But I care about her. So let her go and take me.”

    “Hmm.” Enshoku tapped his chin for a moment, and then shrugged. “Alright.”

    He snapped and black shadow ribbons sprang up from the ground around Kairos’ feet. She gasped in surprise as they tangled themselves around her, ensnaring her completely. At the same time a pale bubble began to form behind Enshoku, drifting slowly to the ground as it became more substantial. Platos heard Mars gasp from behind her; Usagi’s odangos could be discerned. The bubble popped and Usagi fell the remaining foot to the ground, where she lay unconscious, but seemingly unhurt.

    “Usagi!” cried Mars softly. Jupiter restrained her from rushing forward.

    “Why are you restraining me?” asked Kairos with visible annoyance as she struggled against the ribbons. “I will go peacefully.”

    “I can’t have you trying to harm yourself,” said Enshoku. He smiled as Kairos’ eyes widened. “Oh, you don’t think I’m stupid, do you?”

    “Let her go!” cried Venus, rushing out into the field, closely followed by the other senshi.

    “I see we have an audience,” said Enshoku lightly. He snapped his fingers and ribbons from Kairos’ encasement flew to his hand. “Too bad the show is already over.”

    “Kairos,” said Ypsos. “Why?”

    Kairos bit her bottom lip, an immense sadness filling her features as her eyes flicked briefly towards Mikos. The other senshi had encircled Enshoku and Kairos but Enshoku only laughed as brown, leathery wings sprouted from his shoulders.

    “You have until midnight,” he said, springing into the air and jerking Kairos up with him with such a force that her staff fell from her hand and hit the ground below. Something else fell out as well, but it was too small to discern. “Later.”

    “Wait! Kairos!” cried Ypsos, but the man and the senshi had already disappeared into the night sky.

    The Sol Senshi paid little attention to the three Dimension Senshi, crowding around Usagi and helping her wake up. Platos walked slowly towards where Kairos’ staff had landed and picked it up. It was surprisingly light. Ypsos picked up something a few feet away and drew a sharp intake of breath.

    “What?” asked Mikos, walking towards the red senshi.

    Ypsos held the bottle up for the other two to see, her eyes spilling over with tears. “Sleeping pills,” she said softly.

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