Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ Conflict and Courage ❯ The Face of Evil ( Chapter 7 )

An Unaccepted Love

by Damien Frost

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I don't own nothin' at all. Oh wait, double negatives are a bad thing…

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Chapter Seven: The Face of Evil

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"All right, here we go," Minako stated, steeling herself for the verbal assault she knew she was about to receive. "Approximately one hour ago, the princess was captured. The only thing we know about the assailants is they know more about us than we do them, and they are quite competent mages."

Minako paused to let her words sink in, and to gauge everyone's reactions. Ami and Makoto, having already known simply looked pained with guilt. Hotaru's face was the picture of calm, but her eyes blazed with unexpressed anger. Setsuna looked slightly surprised, which caused a small surge of panic to well up inside of her. She quickly squashed in, though. `Now is not the time to let panic rule,' she thought as she let out a deep breath to calm herself. She looked to Mamoru, whose face had gone white as a sheet at the news.

Haruka stood and pointed an accusing finger at Minako. "You let someone take her!" she screamed as Michiru pulled on her arm, trying to calm the tall blonde.

The leader of the Senshi set a gaze that could level a mountain upon the irate Senshi of the wind. "Yes. I simply walked up to them and said `Here is the most important thing in the world. Please, take her,'" she retorted, her voice dripping with sarcasm. She stopped herself from continuing and held her hand up to forestall the response she knew was coming. "I'm sorry. That was uncalled for," she apologized. "Before anymore questions are asked, let me tell you what happened."

~

Rei had been kneeling next to the bed Usagi was laying on for about an hour. She had been trying to will her to wake. So far she had been unsuccessful.

"I wonder if the others know she's gone?" she wondered aloud.

"Well, I was with Minako, so I'm pretty sure they figured it out," a voice remarked calmly from the bed.

Rei's head snapped to the princess. "You're awake!" she cried, trying to reach out for the blonde, only to be immediately rebuffed by the magical barrier that had been sat up around her.

"Rei-chan!" Usagi cried as the miko crumpled to the ground. She attempted to reach out for her only to be stopped by the barrier as well.

"So, awake at last, are we?" came a rumbling voice from the door.

Usagi attempted to look regal while sitting on the large bed. "Hai. I assume you must be our host?" she asked calmly.

Kilag smiled at her attempt to gain some control over the situation. "That I am. I believe we met briefly in the park."

Usagi cocked her head slightly as she thought. "Of course. Kilag, correct?"

Rei looked at Usagi in confusion. She had never seen the princess act so, well, royal. While she had noticed Usagi maturing over the years, she never realized just how much she had become like the woman from the future.

"Looking for this?" Kilag smirked as he held up her brooch. Rei's head snapped back to Usagi to see her holding her hand over her chest, where the crystal usually resided.

At her nod, he barked out a short, rough laugh. "What do you think I am, stupid? I know the power this crystal contains within it. The ginzuishou, it's a remarkable piece of work," he told them, sounding as if he were a teacher giving a lecture on something he was passionate about. "Unlimited potential for power, but it takes so much out of its user. It feeds on the soul of its user, the purer the soul, the more powerful the magic."

"How do you know of it?" Usagi asked him timidly.

"It is in some books that have been passed down over the years. Very old books, some over a thousand years old," he smiled enigmatically.

"Is that why you captured Rei and myself? To get the crystal?" Usagi whispered, her head down and her eyes closed.

"No." Both Rei and Usagi looked startled. "As I said before, it is an instrument of great power to those of pure souls. To those such as myself, whose souls are tainted, it is nothing more than a mere trinket, a pretty diamond. I could not even tap a small amount of energy from it without it killing me. No," he chuckled, "the ginzuishou is not the reason you were taken, though it does take a very big obstacle out of our way."

Rei glared at him, trying to melt him from the sheer ferocity of her gaze. "Our?"

Kilag looked at the raven-haired girl still sitting on the ground. "Yes, Telanis, Keiko and I. Why?"

Rei snorted skeptically. "You can't honestly think I believe there aren't more of you."

A large smile grew on the large man's face. It unnerved Rei to no end. "Oh yes of course, I forgot our newest addition.

"Hino Rei."

~

"So we have no idea who they are, what they wanted beside Usagi, and no clue where they are?" Haruka looked around the room for confirmation to each of her questions. Receiving a nod from everyone in the room save Minako and Setsuna, she sat back in her chair, closed her eyes and let out a breath slowly to cool her anger. "So what do we do?"

Minako, who had been standing in the middle of the room during the telling of her tale, and Haruka's subsequent questions, turned for the kitchen and motioned for Makoto to follow her.

"Just what the hell do you think you are doing?" Haruka growled.

Minako turned back to the racer. "Making tea," she said simply.

That did it. Haruka stood and was at Minako so fast the rest of the room didn't have time to react. But, Minako knew it was coming, so she steeled herself, and stood nose to nose with the strongest senshi. "Uranus, I suggest you calm down. Being emotional will not get us anywhere. We need clear heads and good ideas. Starting a fight over tea is not going to do anything. I am going to make tea because doing so relaxes me. It helps me think. If you cannot control your temper, I suggest you leave and come back after you've let off some steam," she said sternly. Haruka's anger quelled as she saw the steel in the eyes of her leader.

"I'm sorry, Venus-san," she said softly as she returned to her seat next to Michiru.

As she looked around the room, she could tell everyone was on edge and more than a little shocked at Minako's sudden change in behavior, save Artemis and Setsuna. She turned to the kitchen and spoke to the girl waiting in there. "Mako-chan, would you please go ahead and start the tea?" receiving a nod from the girl she returned her attention to the room. "Setsuna-san, Artemis-san. May I speak with you alone please."

She didn't wait for an answer, because it was not a question. She walked to Makoto's room and waited until they joined her to close the door.

"What's going on Minako?" Artemis asked, sensing his charge was under strain from more than just Usagi's abduction. Minako waved him off and instead turned to Setsuna.

"Pluto, I need you to tell me anything you know, the safety of Time be damned. Our princess' life is in danger and we need to find her."

Setsuna's stoic face didn't budge an inch at the command. "I apologize, Venus-san, but I cannot."

Minako stood to face the enigmatic senshi. "Can't? Why not?" she demanded evenly.

Setsuna looked away, ashamed to admit the truth. Minako took the hint though, and voiced what the elder Senshi would not.

"You don't know," she said simply, a hint of shock in her voice.

She recovered quickly though, and pulled Setsuna in a tight hug, aware the ageless Senshi of Time had begun to cry. This scared Minako more than she cared for. `She feels as helpless as the rest of us,' she thought sadly. `Probably more so, because she feels she should have seen this coming.'

She pulled back from her and looked into crimson eyes. "Here's what I need you to do. Go back to the Gates and scan for anything. A feeling that feels wrong, or one that feels a little too right. He seemed very adept at magic, so he might also me a time mage. We don't know anything about our enemies, and you are going to be our best source of information, short of sitting down and having a chat with them," both women smiled softly at the slight. "Don't worry, Setsuna-san. We'll come out of this all right." She stepped back and looked at Setsuna. "Go."

Pluto needed no more prompting, and her staff appeared. A moment later, she was gone.

"Mina-chan?" Artemis ventured after a long moment of silence.

"I'm seeing her again, Artemis-san," she sighed heavily. "She's been in my dreams every night for the past week."

"Annabelle."

"Hai. She's haunting me Artemis. Why won't she just go away?" Minako choked back a sob.

"There's not much we can do except hope the dreams go away. I'll be here to talk to if you feel the need, okay?" he said as he nuzzled up against her, trying to comfort her and was rewarded with a scratch behind the ears.

"Thanks, Artemis-san. Let's get back out there and figure out a plan of attack," she said as she picked him up and walked back into the living room.

~

She was in an empty room that seemed as if was used for sparring.

Kilag stood in front of her arms crossed over his broad chest. "I will teach you how to utilize your powers, and in return, you will work for me."

"And if I refuse?" she asked calmly.

Kilag sighed and motioned at the camera in the room. Telanis entered a few moments later with Usagi in tow.

Kilag raised his hand and Usagi let out a heart-wrenching scream. Rei tried to move toward her, but found her feet were rooted to the ground. She was helpless to watch as her princess convulsed on the ground and let out the occasional sob.

"That will happen. Now, let's begin." Rei looked at her feet and nodded. At her confirmation, Kilag waved Telanis out of the room. Usagi was taken with her.

Kilag had her cast several of her attacks on him. When she had gone through them all twice, he stopped her.

"I think your Fire Soul and Flame Sniper are going to be the best for what we are going to do. We'll start with the Fire Soul.

"Think of what your energy feels like when you are thinking about casting it, when you are preparing to cast it, and when you finally do cast it. Slow down everything in your mind and feel it."

Rei sat for several minutes, eyes closed, concentrating on the feel of her inner fire. When she felt she had it, she opened her eyes and looked at her unwelcome instructor. "Got it."

"All right. Now cast it at me without naming the attack."

Rei went through the short motion for the attack and let it fly, surprising both herself and Kilag at her ability to do it on the first try.

"Well, this is going to go better than I could have hoped for," he smiled. "That is the basics of it. Because you already know several spells, work on those. When you have mastered your attacks, we will work on new spells. As I always say, though, the best way to learn is trial by fire."

~

Minako had been trying to come up with anything to use in their search for Usagi, but had come up short at every turn. She had all but given up on anything when Ami let out a short yelp. She turned to see her typing away furiously on her computer. "Ami, what is it?"

Ami paused and looked up. "I have a signal from the princess' communicator."

Immediately everyone was in motion. "Where is she?" Minako and Haruka demanded simultaneously.

"She's in a small residential sector, about a mile north of here. There are several people in the area, so we need to be careful when we approach them."

Minako walked over to the door and opened it, issuing orders as she walked out the door. "Haruka-san, take Hotaru-chan and go ahead. You can get there the fastest on your bike. I need you to recon the place and tell me if you can sense any foul play other than what we are expecting. I need you guys to be my eyes and ears in advance," she finished as she stepped into the parking garage.

"Got it." Haruka and Hotaru immediately transformed and jumped on the Kawasaki.

Minako turned to the others as the Saturn and Uranus sped off. "Ami, when we get there you stay back and record everything you can about these guys. You are not to participate in this battle except in dire circumstance."

"Understood."

"Mako-chan, Michiru-san, and Mamoru-san are with me. Let's roll people."

~

"I can't believe you're making me do this," she growled under her breath.

"Oh, we're not making you do anything, hon. Just remember your girlfriend. If you don't do this, she dies," she sneered back.

"Stop being a bitch, Telanis. We need her focused here, and you're not helping anything," Kilag reprimanded. "Now, Rei-chan. Just put what she said out of your mind. As long as you play your part, nothing will happen to the bunny."

Rei's head looked at the ground as she tried to gain the courage. `This is for her,' she repeated like a mantra. She looked up at a soft squealing sound. `That's Haruka-san. The others will be here in a few minutes.'

She looked down at her clothes. She was wearing a windbreaker with the hood drawn, so no one could see her face, and a pair of simple blue jeans. `I hope I can get through this without them knowing who I am.'

"Kilag! Don't move unless you want to be fried," a voice rang from above them.

`Mina-chan.' She quickly scanned the area and picked out every spot her fellow senshi were hiding. `I wonder if they would even consider me a Sailor Senshi after this,' she thought sadly.

"We aren't going anywhere yet, Aino-san. I have a little present for you," he nudged Rei in the back.

Rei pulled her and Usagi's communicators out of her pocket and threw them on the ground several feet in front of her.

She heard a slight gasp from her right. `What the hell is he doing here?' she thought bitterly before reigning in her anger. `They still love each other, that's what he's doing here.'

"So you got Mars as well? At least I know where she is now," Minako's voice broke through her depressing thoughts. "And aren't you going to introduce me to your friends? I'm pretty sure you already know our names, so it's only fair."

She heard Kilag chuckle behind her, but she remained motionless, eyes now glued to the ground in front of her. "Of course, of course. Where are my manners? This lovely, if not overly obnoxious woman is Telanis, an adept sorceress under my tutelage. And this," he paused to add an air of drama to the scene. "Well, let's see if you can figure that one out for yourself. This is her first fight, so I ask you go slightly easy on her, I would like to she what she learns from it."

"Cut the bullshit. Where is she and what do you want from us to get her back?"

`Mako-chan,' Rei smiled. `Ever impatient.'

"Kino-san, come now. No need to be rude. As of now, I only want one thing: unfettered access to the Gates of Time. But," he held up a hand to forestall any responses, "I know that this is impossible while Pluto is still breathing, and I'm not stupid enough to think you would exchange one hostage for another. So, for now, I think I would just like you all dead."

Any further discussion was brought to and abrupt halt as a ball of yellow energy raced along the ground toward the trio, a primal scream of rage accompanying it. Rei was immediately in action, her survival instincts kicking in. She leapt over the attack from Uranus as rolled into a crouch, letting loose several weak shots of flame from her hand. The trees they had been using as cover burned to ashes in a matter of moments.

As she stood, a strong gust of wind caught her hood and whipped it off her head. She walked back to Kilag and stood by his side, feeling hollow.

"So, who wants to face fire brat first, hmmm?" Telanis called out the challenge so everyone present could hear.

~

A/N

All right. There are some parts of this chapter I'm none to happy with, but I just felt like I needed to get it out. Maube I revise it once I'm done with the story, but hey, who knows?

Things are getting hairy for our little miko, and the first big fight scene is right around the corner!! Yay!

Anyways once again and forever more:

THANK YOU FOR READING!!!!

-Damien