Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ Echoes Of A Distant Demon ❯ Chapter One ( Chapter 1 )

[ P - Pre-Teen ]

Echoes Of A Distant Demon
By: Sailor Doc

Series: PGSM
Pairing: Rei & Minako
Description: The return of a deadly menace brings the miko and the idol
singer into contact once again.


Chapter One

It was dark in the great room. The only source of light the flickering
flames of the fire, burning in it's brazier at the center of the room.
Shadows danced and played along the walls in strange and oddly mesmerizing
patterns, and it would have been easy to see how this could all be
perceived as eerie or even scary to the uninitiated. The lone, dark haired
girl at the center of the room though, was no stranger here. To the
contrary, she found she was often more relaxed and at ease here than at any
other place she could think of.

A miko at this shrine, with a growing recognition for her gifted readings
of the fire, Hino Rei, at age 20, had become a great asset to the temple.
Over the course of just a few years, her fame had spread, to a modest
degree, and it was not entirely unknown for people to fly into town just to
petition the somewhat reclusive shrine maiden to consult the flames on
their behalf. Rei often found this presumptive and a bit annoying, but it
was a tremendous draw and thus a benefit to the temple, so she fulfilled
her duties, albeit reluctantly.

In an odd twist of fate, her reluctant, almost cold treatment of those
visitors only drew more in. Stories of the haunty, yet beautiful young
miko with the uncanny ability to see the future fed the imaginations of the
public, some even bold enough to stake out the shrine, just to get a
glimpse of her as she swept the walkway, fed her crows, or ministered to
the shrine's children.

Rei had eventually learned to take it all in stride. She had grown to love
her position at the shrine, and had found great comfort in helping those
that came there in need of something they just couldn't seem to find any
place else. She enjoyed the children in her group, and she had found a
great deal of pleasure in, of all things, archery. She knew it was all
about centering herself, and concentrating on a single point, a single
goal. Secretly though, and for reasons she didn't totally understand, it
made her feel closer to her other self.

The now dormant Sailormars.

Realizing belatedly that her concentration was now totally shot, Rei sighed
and allowed her mind to drift a little.

It had been almost two years since Usagi's wedding. Though they had all
drifted off in different directions, they had still managed to keep tabs on
each other, occasionally calling to check up on one another. Usagi, of
course, was the main one to pick up the phone and call. Having everyone
back in Tokyo for the first time in years helped a good deal too. Even Rei
could be enticed to come out from time to time for lunch, or a girl's night
out of dinner and a movie or concert.

Rei grinned into the fire, its light picking up the glints of amusement in
her dark eyes. 'All work and no play made for really mean and grumpy
mikos, after all,' she thought. 'Can't let that happen, right?'

They usually got together at least twice a month, and it was fun to let her
hair down, so to speak, with her closest friends. 'If only...'

But no. Rei blocked that thought. She wouldn't go there.

For awhile, just after Usagi and Mamoru's wedding, they had all lost
contact again. Only Usagi and Makoto had still been around, Usagi learning
how to be a wife, and Makoto finishing up her studies and establishing her
own floral business. She had been refining her gifts with the fire kami in
a distant shrine in the north. Ami was back at medical school in The
States, and Minako was...well Minako was always busy. Most of the news
they got of her was not through the tabloids, which they all knew could not
be trusted, but via Luna, through Artemis, who tried his best to keep them
up-to-date on their jet-setting leader. Six months later, they had all
gotten together again for Makoto's wedding to Motoki. They had been able
to pull that one off without all the theatrics of the earlier one, and Rei
couldn't help but grin as she remembered how the groom had cried more tears
of happiness than the Bride! Usagi had been pretty teary eyed too, but Ami
had chalked that all up to 'baby hormones', as both she and Minako had
picked on Usagi mercilessly about the speed with which she had been able to
conceive. Snorting softly, she remember how both she and Minako had
refused to catch the bouquet, swatting it back and forth between them, as
Ami just watched in confusion, until Naru had finally stepped in and
snagged in out of midair.

Rei sighed. Minako had looked absolutely stunning, in a tea length dress,
that...

'No.' Rei stopped herself again. 'I said I wasn't going there, and I
meant it.' Grimly, she clamped down on her thoughts once again.

Ami had, once more, gone back to The States to complete her studies. And
complete them, she did. In record time. Her mother had been astonished.
Her fellow senshi, however, had not. They knew she was still Mercury, even
if it was at a different level now. Some things, after all, are eternal.

Then there was Minako. With a tight rein on her emotions, Rei opened that
door just a little.

Unlike so many young idols who flash brilliantly across the human stage,
only to flame out early and disappear all together, Minako had continued to
ride the top of the pop charts. Her popularity had tripled, and she seemed
more visible than ever, her work with charities doing nothing to diminish
her brilliance. She was loved world-wide, and was more often than not,
found on any and all 'most beautiful' lists in print on any given day.

She was Venus after all.

Rei sighed heavily and glowered a bit at the brazier.

"'Nuff said," she mumbled aloud to the shadows in the room.

Raising her eyes back to the comfort of her flames, Rei settled in to 'see
what she could see' today. Though most of her visions did not affect those
closest to her, it had been known to happen.

Though far away, back after Makoto's wedding in that secluded, northern
shrine, she had known the instant Chibiusa was born. She had at once sent
flowers to Usagi, and a soft, plush, white pegasus to the baby. To Mamoru
she had sent congratulations, and a small bottle of sake with a note that
read, "Trust me. You'll need this," much to the amusement of Ami, Makoto
and Motoki, who were visiting the new parents at the time.

Not all of her visions were happy ones though, she reminded herself.

She had known the moment Ami had lost her first patient. Through the
fire's haze, she could see her friend talking with kindness and compassion
to the grieving family, offering what solace she could before turning to
walk with quiet dignity to her office, where she shut the door, walked to
her desk and in solitude, finally allowed herself to fall to pieces. Rei
could actually feel her pain, and by the time the young doctor had arrived
home to her small apartment, the miko was waiting for her by the front
door. As Ami had looked up into those deep, brown eyes, she had seen an
understanding in their intensity that had pulled her wounded soul in like a
magnet. Without a word, she had moved forward into Rei's waiting embrace,
and for the first time in hours, found peace.

She didn't always need the fire's reflection to see what was already
happening.

She had known the instant Makoto had been hit by a car. She had been
sweeping in the courtyard of the shrine when the vision had come to her out
of nowhere, with an intensity that had brought her to her knees. Makoto
was close. Very close. Rei had risen quickly and raced down the steps and
out into the street. Allowing her instinct to guide her, she had been at
Makoto's side even before an ambulance had arrived on the scene. Keeping
her friend calm with gentle hands and firm resolve, she had stayed with
Makoto all the way to the hospital, and then held Motoki's hand as they
waited for her to come out of surgery. "She's strong, Motoki," Rei had
reminded her friend's husband. "That's a vital part of what makes her who
she is. You must believe that!"

Motoki had looked at her, tears streaming down his cheeks, his eyes begging
her to give him hope.

"Remember who she was, Motoki" Rei had reminded him. "I know you saw her
back then, right? Saw who she really was?" At his nod she had continued.
"She is Jupiter! She is the embodiment of strength and courage! That
still dwells within her, so you must believe! Believe in her! Believe!"

She had stayed with him the whole evening and into the night, and together
they had cried tears of joy when Ami had finally been able to come and tell
them that Mako-chan would be okay.

Even with Minako. She knew. But knowing just seemed to bring confusion
and frustration, because there was so much she didn't know and
because...well, just because it was Minako.

She had known when Minako had won the most prestigious award for young
actors in the country. Even before the tabloids had spread it all over the
airways and the print media, she had known. She had felt the idol's joy,
her utter elation at receiving the honor. As much as she had wanted to
forget about it and just let it go, she hadn't been able to. She had sent
her a note of congratulations and a couple of long stemmed roses, neither
expecting or receiving a reply from the busy young woman who haunted her
visions on a daily basis. On a nightly basis too, if she were honest, but
mercifully she seemed unable to recall most of her dreams. Only vague
shadows remained of those, leaving her without any feelings. Just a
strange and unexplained regret, a loneliness she knew would never leave.

With another a heavy sigh, the young priestess settled once again before
her fire, and started the process of centering herself on its sacred
flame. Humbly, she beseeched the fire kami to show her that which she must
know. That which had been strangely troubling her heart for the last
several days. Experience had taught her that she could not rush this
process. When the time was right, the answers she sought would be revealed
to her, and not a moment before. And so she waited.

Gazing intently into the blaze, Rei was totally unaware of the small beads
of sweat that began to form on her brow and back. She could see a figure.
It appeared to be Minako. Her image flickered and flashed with the flames
that seemed to bathe her in a warm, comfortable light. The image seemed
rather benign, but Rei could sense a presence. Squinting into the fire,
Rei was totally unaware that the beads of sweat had now started to pour
down her back and face.

'What is it? What is this feeling?'

Rei could sense danger, but the flames showed her no such thing. Minako
appeared to be fine, even more beautiful than the last time Rei had seen
her, she thought with an unconscious stab of pain.

Unknowingly, she flexed her hands into fists, then out again as she took a
deep breath and forced herself to relax.

"Kami. Please! Show me what is wrong!"


Centering her energies on the image, Rei focused once again on Minako's
image. As she watched, a dark, malformed figure appeared directly behind
the performer.

"Youma," Rei whispered

Completely oblivious to its presence, Minako continued to sing her heart
out, pouring all she could into her delivery, and appearing to be having
the time of her life. Behind her, the apparition seemed to be growing as it
danced behind her, mocking her moves like a malevolent shadow.

"Venus!"

Soon, it towered over her, topping her height at least twice. At last, she
seemed to sense something, as she turned and looked up in horror at the
ugly blackness looming over her.

"VENUS!"

Minako screamed, and with a triumphant chortle of glee, the hideous
presence seemed to dive directly into the startled idol singer's head,
vanishing inside as if rooted there. Then, there was silence.

Minako stood for a moment, as if stunned. Then, she closed her eyes, a
look of intense pain flashing over her delicate features, and slowly
collapsed, crumbling to the ground like a broken doll. In the blink of an
eye, she turned to dust, and before Rei's startled gaze, was blown away in
a rogue breeze, leaving not even the slightest particle behind to show it's
passing.

"MI-NA-KO!" Rei screamed...

...and snapped out of her trance. Drenched in sweat, and breathing as if
she had just run a marathon, she sat trembling before the flickering warmth
of the first, and oldest friend she had ever had.

"Kamisama," she whispered, her voice rough and course. A cold shiver of dread
shook her dampened form, and she drew her robes closer against the sudden
chill. "Her brain tumor. It's come back."



END PART ONE ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~