This chapter is Rated G. ====================== The Legend of Serenity ====================== by: Spatula Gurl -- Chapter Six; PART 2 "Gomenne, Artemis!" Artemis tried to glare at Minako. But the effect was ruined with all the choking and coughing sounds he was making. So Minako bended down and started pounding on his back to help, but what she got in return for her effort was a snarl from the ungrateful recepient--"You may want to stop now before I completely throw-up my breakfast with your inhuman pounding." Minako did stop the action that was bothering him so much, and frowned as she gave him a long-suffering look. "You should be flattered that I was excited to have found you." Artemis snorted at that. "You were probably just impatient to have your hands on the money--ow!!" He rubbed the back of his head where she just whacked him. "That hurts!" he complained. "Serves you right." "What did you do with the money you had earlier, anyway?" She flushed crimson as she snapped at him, "Not important! It wasn't much to begin with, anyway." And before the damned man could come up with a reply, she turned her back on him, her eyes searching the crowd. They finally lit up on the tall, silver-haired general who have just found her as well. And not quite looking very happy as he walked in long, purposeful strides to reach her. Wincing, she turned her back again to face Artemis, and told him, "General Kunzite's coming. Save the scoldings for later, okay?" The silver-haired general finally came, undoubtedly frowning darkly. Artemis' mouth snapped shut, and found himself reddening before the general's commanding presence. He could not help but wonder if he had seen the spectacle of his choking due to Minako's exuberant greeting. But the thought was completely forgotten as he saw the expression on the general's face--he followed the dark look which lead to Minako and realized it looked like the general had other things in mind... She did it again, running off like that. Kunzite was beginning to think she was doing it apurpose just to spite him. But now was not the time nor place to make a 'discussion' of it. He gave her a look nonetheless, unmistakable in its meaning, and it made her widen her eyes at him innocently as if to say "What did I do?". He turned his attention to the man beside her. Artemis straightened up and gathered his wits as he made a slight, formal bow. "I am quite sorry that we haven't the chance to meet under better circumstances, General Kunzite. Nevertheless, it is very much an honor to have made your acquaintance." He gestured to himself with his hand, as he then continued, "Imperial Court A--" "Ah yes, he is quite eager to be presented at Silverwood's royal court," Minako interrupted loudly, forcing a smile on her lips. She then tilted her head to the side, looking at Artemis, raising her eyebrows and widening her eyes ever so slightly, conveying a hidden message. Both men returned her look with a puzzled one, not quite understanding. When Artemis started to speak again, "But--" To hell with subtlety. The smile was gone, her irritation quite evident as she interrupted him through gritted teeth, "I thought perhaps that you would rather have this matter settled in a less public place. Surely, the CROWDS in this streets are making you uncomfortable. Too many people, everybody knowing everybody else's business...doesn't so good, does it?" Artemis still looked confused, but fortunately, Kunzite was much quicker in catching on. A few people were already staring at them curiously, seeing two lords and a lady talking on the town sidewalk. He cleared his throat, and spoke for the first time since he caught up with Minako. "Pleased to meet you as well," he said, nodding once in acknowledgment. "It is best we hurry then. We have much to discuss about this important visit of yours." Artemis, who was the recipient of Minako's glares as she dragged him along, decided it was best to keep his mouth shut. For now. "What were you thinking, dimwit?!" Kunzite heard Minako snarl to her companion, Artemis. "I've already said I'm sorry, I completely forgot!" "You can't keep a secret to save your soul!" Kunzite decided he had enough of their squabbling. In a low, no-nonsense voice, he told them, "If you're not careful, both of you will be slipping something out sooner or later. You wouldn't like the castlefolk gossiping about our affairs." At that, the two effectively silenced. Kunzite continued to lead the way to the drawing room. When they finally reached it, all three stepped inside and found that the rest of the generals, as well as Ami, Rei and Makoto were already there. And the room, Minako observed, looked quite busy. Everyone was talking at the same time, and most of them--Mako-chan, Nephrite, Jadeite, Zoicite--were talking in very loud voices, determined on overpowering each other's volumes. Moving in with a sheepish smile, and cringing at the deafening noises, Minako asked, "A-no, are we late?" Everyone stopped in mid-action as they realized who just came in. Kunzite stepped in place beside the blonde-girl, took one look, and said in a deceptively mild voice, "I trust you all had some work done ahead of us, since we came in later than expected." The three men could only look at him with blank expressions. The Lady Ami was blushing profusely, a telltale sign of what they had accomplished so far. The Lady Makoto was stammering something incoherrent, an explanation of some sort. And Lady Rei, just stood there, staring at them, her mouth hanging slightly open when she was about to say something to her companions inside the room, before the newcomers stepped inside. "We, ah..." Zoicite cleared his throat before he continued, "We were getting to that," he finished, shoving his hands in his pockets. One brow shot upward. Kunzite said nothing, as he walked away from his position on the doorway, with Minako, revealing one more man behind him. Makoto's eyes widened as she they fell upon the dearly familiar form of Artemis. She ran forward to meet him, as the rest of the women behind her cried delightedly in chrous, "Artemis!" After much explanation and introductions that followed, the group went back to working, along with Artemis, who was helping with the research. He was there to deliver money as well as helpful information (which he and Luna acquired) the women would need, but he was also to stay awhile to help them sort out arrangements and help them out with everything else until his return to the Lunarian Kindgdom. His stay, if short, would have at least been truly useful. Much of these reasons were related to their companions, the generals, but not all. They still had to be cautious, after all, and now was not the right time to discern whether they were involved in the situation as much as they are, but the women already suspected as much. Then again, it could just be plain coincidence, something much more believable under the circumstances. So, the group which now consisted of nine persons, including the platinum-haired newcomer, was now working inside the drawing room. Work, meaning planning on the next destination as well as sorting out related information about the nijizuishou, branching out to more than a couple of topics and issues. Put two and two together, and they just might find a clue to solving the mysterious disappearance of Endymion; and for the ladies, Serenity. This was no easy task; the women, who were apparently working alongside the generals, had much information to keep to themselves. Most of their knowledge couldn't be shared without having to explain the rest, which was supposed to be kept secret. Some of these involved the generals themselves, and of course, this too, had to be kept from them... "This is boring," Minako whispered to Artemis. "Do I have to get stuck with the research, too? I'd rather be working on something else." "Stop your whining," Artemis admonished in a voice not higher than a whisper. "Tonight--" "Yes, yes, I know. Come to our room by ten o'clock this eve." "Our?" "Yes, well, Mako-chan's and mine. We figured this sleeping arrangements would be better under the circumstances. We would've opted for a single room, if that were possible. But they gave us two rooms; one for me and Mako-chan, then another for Ami-chan and Rei-chan. It was the best we could do, otherwise they would've given us each separate rooms." Artemis pondered on this thoughtfully for a moment, before saying, "Well, where is it? You have to show me where it is, so I can sneak up there by myself. Otherwise, the maids will be having something new to gossip about." At the latter, he rolled his eyes heavenward, as if exasperated. "I'll show you after lunch. Make sure no one sees you, alright? I get enough suspicion from General Kunzite as it is." "Really?" Artemis asked, genuinely surprised. No one had mentioned anything about suspicions from their party, but the women hadn't had time to explain their current situation with him in private, either. But now, acutely aware that the person in discussion was in the same room, he dismissed further thoughts about it, deciding to reserve it for later. "What about the nijizuishou?" "It's with Rei-chan. Don't worry, we'll all be there." An hour past lunch, Makoto decided to take a leisurely stroll once again in the rose garden where she had been earlier. She wanted to have a clear mind before going back to work. A few of them decided to take a short break themselves, promising to return to the drawing room a half hour later. Minako and Artemis headed to the library, followed by Zoicite and Ami moments later. She wandered listlessly in the rose garden, the beautiful scenery doing little to lighten her somber mood. All that note taking, map tracing and sketching must've gotten into the wrong side of her system. She drew a deep breath. So maybe today was just not her day. She's certainly had worse. But that didn't explain her mood. For some reason, she was feeling rather irritable, and for a while now, she'd given up on having any other thoughts as to what brought it about. She was feeling fine, until later that morning, when she was strolling about in this very garden. Perhaps that was it. Being here had brought memories of her Lunarian home. And she didn't like feeling even a tinge of homesickness, because it was all too depressing. She frowned at that. It made little sense that her irritable mood was brought forth by depression. Well whatever it was, Makoto decided for the last time to avoid dwelling on it. It was adding up to her irritation, almost like her verbal skirmishes with Nephrite. She frowned again as the particular general entered her thoughts. He was a confusing man, and now she didn't quite know what to think of him. Most of the time, he was plain frustrating. But there were other times that...she shook her head. Once, and only once, in the garden. He pricked off her anger easily enough, but then even she was aware that that wasn't much of a task. She had a quick temper, and perhaps that was why he was purposely singling her out for his barbs. It was infuriating that he would find anything amusing at her expense, so who could blame her when she stalked off? Besides, she wasn't much good at exchanging epithets. And of course, when she thought she had had enough, she decided to stomp off instead of letting her temper fully fly off the handle--she wasn't that annoyed yet. She thought she handled that quite nicely--until she fell flat on her face. Just the memory of it was heating her face up again. And the untimely appearance of that girl, Glynis, only made matters worse. Who did she think she was, anyway? An obnoxious young girl, to be sure, and she was...clinging, for crying out loud. She should have had fun, seeing her with him like that, and for once, she had seen not a trace of that smug look the general was so fond of wearing. But the girl had gotten on her nerves. And she was angry enough to be of the opinion that both deserved each other's company. When Makoto reached the end of the clearing and found herself in the area of the beautiful marbled fountain she had been to earlier in the morning, she was surprised to see that she was not alone. A little girl, with a lovely head of pale blonde curls, was sitting by the side of the fountain. On her head was a wreath of beautiful lilies, and she had one of the same flower in her hand. She was playing with it, dipping and tracing it along the surface of the water. Makoto recognized the little girl as Akira, the younger sister of Prince Saitou. When she stepped out of the clearing, the little girl heard her footsteps and turned around to see who it was. A look of surprise was apparent in her features as she took in the form of the tall, chestnut-haired woman who was approaching her. She straightened up quickly, slightly jarring the wreath of lilies on her hair as she did so. Makoto smiled at the little girl. Having reached her in a couple of steps, she kneeled down beside her. "I didn't know you were in here. Earlier, I was looking all over the place for you." The little girl, wide-eyed by now, was still silent. Makoto sighed. Then smiling again, she asked her, "You're Princess Akira, aren't you?" The child nodded. "Well, I am Lady Kino, but you can just call me Makoto. I was hoping we'd get to know each other better." She turned her face towards the foutain, as she remarked, "Everything here is so beautiful. It's a place anyone would want to live in forever." Akira was now looking at the lady with much interest and less unease. But still she remained silent. When Makoto turned to her, she looked at the wreath of lilies in her hair and gave her another warm smile. Reaching out, she fixed the wreath from its lopsided state, and remarked, "These are very beautiful, too. Where did you get them?" "From the garden below the Silver Tower," Akira blurted out shyly. She looked up to the woman, and hesitantly returned the smile. "Do you think you can show me where it is, and maybe help me make a wreath of my own?" When the little girl nodded, Makoto's smile brightened. "I was looking for you because I thought maybe you could give me a small tour around the castle grounds. Then, shall we go? I still have time before I return back to the others." She held out her hand as she stood up. When Akira shyly took hold of it Makoto knew she just made herself a new friend. She had already forgotten her earlier state of irritation, and was already feeling quite wonderful indeed. "Elements!" The word came out whispered from the blue-haired genius, as the idea suddenly struck her. She immediately sat up, her mind whirling with questions and answers, oblivious that she now had the attention of her three companions. It took her awhile to notice that all of them were staring at her with odd expressions on their faces. She blushed as she explained hastily, "It might have something to do with elements." "Interesting concept," Zoicite finally said slowly after a moment of silence, and turned to look at her thoughtfully. "How did you come up with that idea?" "Ancient sorcery involved fusion of pure ether with the most basic of elements to seal a certain amount of energy, retaining that energy in its balanced state, and can therefore be solidified in jeweled form. This is a common enough process, but only few can be counted on to create an effective sealant, such as high level magic-users." Puzzled, Minako cut in. "I don't get it. How does this help us know where the rest of the nijizuishou are located?" "Perhaps knowing the nijizuishou's consistency can help us know where to look for them," Zoicite said. "Did I guess right?" Ami nodded. "The fusion can usually be accomplished with basic elements as its primary medium. They exist on a certain elemental field, and react as naturally as the element they are infused with. By pinpointing the existing elemental fields, our search would be narrowed down." Ami paused only for a moment to draw breath, then continued, "But the best part is, an elemental medium can even be used to draw out another medium. I'm not sure if it draws out an opposite or like substance, as I am not familiar with the particulars, and I've never done it before. But it's not really a problem, because that can easily be found out." She smiled brightly as she finished her explanation, but was surprised as she met Artemis' slightly blank look. "Uh, Artemis? You haven't spoken at all." At Ami's questioning look, Artemis laughed sheepishly. "You, ah, lost me somewhere after the fusion part. But never mind," he said, with an apologetic smile. "You said something about narrowing down the search?" "Yes, well, if the rest of the nijizuishou were undisturbed from their original locations, we can narrow down on the places to look for them because they must be in an elemental field." "So, you're saying this 'mission' is as good as done?" Artemis asked hopefully. The blue-haired genius' lips curled into a rueful smile as she shook her head slowly. "This is only assuming that the nijizuishous were created through elemental fusion. And remember, we've never done it ourselves before. This is just one of the many possible ways to look for the rest of the crystals." "Yes," Zoicite agreed. "It's a long shot, but it's worth a try. You did say this elemental fusion process was commonly used among wielders of high-level magic, didn't you?" "Pretty much, whenever the needs arise." "There's only one thing that bothers me. If the nijizuishous are seven in number, as you all say, then they don't match the number of basic elements, which is four. That being fire, water, wind and earth. You don't suppose the elemental fusion could produce double crystals on the same element, do you?" A noticeable silence fell upon the three persons before him. When Ami finally spoke up, it was to reply vaguely with, "It is...uh, possible, but unlikely." She wasn't even looking at him when she said that, but was looking at Minako with an odd expression, an undiscernable mixture of knowing calm and secretive alarm. She then said, "There may be a couple of books in here that might be of some help. Minako-chan, can you please help me look?" The two females stood up and made their way to the shelves at the back. When they were alone and hidden from view as well as hearing, Minako murmured, "Seven in all. Maybe you're right." Ami nodded. "Perhaps." "Basic Gaian elements only counts four. It annoys me that they leave off my favorite element." "They don't consider 'love' an element. Only Lunarian magic-users consider it one." "Do you think 'light' and 'dark' were used as well? They're the only ones left of the seven elements." "It's highly possible," Ami said with a little nod. "But isn't that quite difficult to pull off?" "If there's one person in this universe who can do it, Queen Serenity can." Minako smiled. "There was never any doubt," she said. Then, "How did you know all about those fusion stuff, anyway?" Ami's expression turned sheepish. "It's not the usual lesson we take as the senshi, but it was mentioned in the last introductory Zefirian Arts class. Don't you remember?" Minako grinned in reply. "No, I don't." Her tone implied a hanging "of course". The other laughed, and then sighed. "It wasn't a very significant bit, so I don't blame you for not recalling. But I had an interesting discussion with Saioh-sensei about it, and had done some reading that--" Minako groaned as she brought up a hand to stop Ami. "Don't tell me, I already know." Ami gave a little laugh before shaking her head and then saying, "These are ancient Science scrolls. What about over there?" "These are fiction stuff," Minako answered. "Mostly books." "I'll go ahead and look at the shelves on the west wing, and if I don't see anything, I just might look through these stuff," Ami said, pointing to the shelf before her. "Go ahead. I'll just browse through this side." "Just call me if you find something, alright?" "Alright," Minako replied, as she watched Ami head towards the west wing. Now turning to the shelves of books that towered over her, she gave a little sigh. How was she going to find anything in here? Thick and uniformed volumes of books filled each shelf, neatly arranged and looked as if they haven't been touched for a long time. 'As if anyone would really bother,' Minako thought to herself, 'Unless of course, they had someone like Ami-chan in the castle.' She slid her index finger across the rows of books, and grimaced at the amount of dust that was collected underneath the tip. 'Yuck,' she thought, rubbing the dirt away with her thumb. Her eyes quickly scanned through the book titles as she went past the base shelves. How many books could there be in one category? Eyes of sky blue followed the full length of the shelves. Obviously about a thousand. With a dejected sigh, she slowed down her pace so she could scan through the titles more clearly. She should be looking through a more specific title. What should it be? Under Supernatural perhaps? Sorcery Arts? There shouldn't be too many books of those kinds. People of Earth really didn't venture much into the arts of magic until a couple of decades ago. At least not blatantly so; back then the concept was too unfathomable for the most of them to accept. Perhaps circumstances had forced them into believing. But still they knew so little. Anything beyond the knowledge of supernatural existence was undoubtedly unbreached by most of their simple minds. Which is the way it should be. Of course, it would have been better if they knew nothing at all; the Lunarians and Gaians going on their own merry ways. The Lunarians keeping faithful watch of the beautiful blue planet, and the Gaians blissfully unaware of the effects of evil sorcery and other life forms on the universe. Of course, the latter part only applied to Endymion's court, since they should be the only ones who knew of their existence, the only ones who ever made contact with any of them... Minako stifled a yawn. She didn't like the idea of sucking up all the dust in the shelves. She tried rubbing the exhaustion in her eyes and willed herself to finish her task. As her eyes went past through another shelf, something caught her eye. She did a double take. Something shiny was stacked behind the the loose line of books. She took a closer look and saw that it was something golden. She reached for it behind the books and dusted it as she held it between both of her hands. It was a book, thinner than most, but seemed to be just average among the fiction ones. It was hardbound, the edges wrapped in golden paper. A small, yellow ribbon hung from its spine, and was tied to a beautiful gold pendant which, despite its thinness, had such intricate designs. It looked liked it was to be used as a page marker. The title, embossed from its original brown covering, was written in silver ink. "The Falling of a Goddess," Minako read, the alluring title piquing her curiousity. Unlike the thick and seemingly virginal books that occupied the other shelves, it was less dusty. The only clue that gave away the book's standing of time was its faint musty scent, which she got a whiff of as she opened it slowly to the very first leaf. Something was scribbled in black ink, but Minako could not make anything out except for a few characters here and there and the date which was inscribed on the upper right corner of the page: December 23, XA0000. "Almost 30 years ago...?" Minako murmured. The book was older than herself. She couldn't help but wonder who its original owner was. She read the third leaf (which was preceeded by a blank one), containing descriptions of each main character. The book was apparently a historical romance story about a geiko who fell in love with the son of a rich family, and got herself caught in a feud between clans. "Minako?" At the sound of Ami's voice, Minako's thoughts were pulled back to reality. She quickly closed the book that she was holding, and stacked it between the other ones in the shelf. Meanwhile, a sneeze echoed throughout the hall. "Have you found anything?" Ami asked as she appeared into view, rubbing her nose. Apparently, she had sniffed up some dust. Minako laughed, before giving a negative shake of the head. "I haven't had any luck. How about you?" "Maybe," Ami answered. She sneezed again before saying, "I'm going to go back and scan through them more thoroughly. Unless you want me to help you find something or wait for you?" "It's okay, you go on ahead." "Alright." Ami turned to leave, but not before asking, "What about that other book you were reading a while ago?" "Book? Oh, that one. It was just a fiction book that caught my eye." "Oh, okay." The blue-haired genius gave a little smile and waved as she went on her way. Minako was about to do the same, but then, she caught herself looking at the book one more time... She never was the romance-novel type. She wasn't the book reader, period. With a sigh, she shrugged and reached for it anyway, then tucked it under her arm as she headed towards the shelves she hadn't looked through yet. She was still a romantic, after all. * * * "Is there something wrong, Nephrite-sama?" The person, whom the question was asked of, turned his gaze fully at the beautiful young girl sitting across him. He sighed inaudibly, before answering her question with just the slightest tinge of exasperation. "No, nothing is wrong. I'm just a bit... drained out." Glynis lowered her cup, and frowned worriedly. "You do look a bit tired. Perhaps it's too stuffy in here for you. Would you like to come with me for a walk in the gardens?" "Thank you, but I'd rather not," he replied with a stiff smile. "I've had enough garden-strolling to last me a lifetime." She stopped abruptly and turned to look at him. Conciously brushing away her bangs, she told him casually, "As I recall, you were in one of the gardens yourself this morning. Weren't you?" "Yes." She cleared her throat, then lowered her gaze before continuing carefully. "You were with...what was her name again?" "You mean Lady Kino?" "Yes, that's right." She brought up her eyes again to meet directly with his. "I have never met her before." A short pause. "Who is she, by the way?" Just then, one of the servants came in and made her presence known. After bowing respectfully before the two of them, she turned again to Lady Glynis, saying, "M'lady, His Majesty, Prince Saitou wishes to speak with you in his study." Glynis frowned at the interloper, not appreciating the interruption. "Right now?" "Yes, m'lady." Still frowning, and wondering what it was the Prince wanted to speak to her with, she gathered her skirts and stood up. "Will you excuse me for a moment, Nephrite-sama? I--" "Don't worry about it," Nephrite cut in. "I was about to return to the others, anyway. There is still much work to do." Silence. Then, she nodded numbly in reply. Just before exiting through the door, she paused briefly, and turned imploring eyes hesitantly towards him. She looked as if she wanted to ask him something, but she turned away again, sighing softly. Nephrite's gaze followed Glynis until the door closed behind her. He stared at the closed door for awhile, not saying anything, not leaving the room to join the others as he said he would. Then, he finally stood up, and walked towards the window. His face did not show any outward reaction, but he was thinking deeply to himself... Zoicite was whistling to himself, the merry sound filling the narrow expanse of the hallway. Work in the library was starting to give him neck and back strains, and he was only too glad to have switched with Jadeite as he and Ami took their break. To his dismay, though, the lady excused herself to her chamber, deciding to sleep the afternoon away. As he strolled further along, he saw Glynis on her way out. He paused momentarily, smiling good-naturedly at the girl as he asked her, "Have you seen Nephrite?" The girl looked up, appearing a bit startled by his presence. Then, returning with a smile half-faltering, she answered, "He's inside." With a nod, she excused herself and exited swiftly just as Zoicite opened the door from which she came out of. He entered the room and found the said general, with his back to him, staring quietly outside the elegantly framed glass. It didn't matter much to him back then. He had always dismissed Glynis' undivided attentions as childish infatuation, a major case of hero worship. But hell, the girl was already turning sixteen...hasn't she outgrown her old feelings? Obviously not. The door creaked open. Nephrite quickly turned around to see who it was, only to find Zoicite stolling across the room towards him. "So this is where you've been all afternoon?" Zoicite asked, frowning. When Nephrite did not reply, Zoicite remarked dryly, "If there's anything worse than a whining woman, it's a sulking male." Barely had he finished when Nephrite glowered at him and snapped, "I am not sulking." "Then what are you, giving me the silent treatment?" "Spare me the humor, Zoicite. I'm not really in the mood right now." Zoicite merely shrugged, used to his friend's blunt way with words and mercuric moods. And if there was anyone who was the least affected with his friend's sharp tongue, it was he (which was quite an accomplishment, to say in the least). Seating himself as Nephrite turned his back on him, he replied "Well, aren't we the jovial fellow! What's wrong this time?" Nephrite did not answer, but the blonde already had a good guess. Smirking, he said, "Well, you've got to admit she has gotten older this time. Prettier, too. So why don't you reconsider?" "You like that idea so much, then why don't you go on and have her?" Nephrite exploded. The blonde cocked a single brow at that outburst, realizing for once, that his friend was really not up for some ribbing ("--of course, we'll conveniently forget his own sardonic self"). If he wasn't in such a good mood himself... Trying hard not to smile, he remarked lightly, "Well, why don't you tell her about what you...err, feel?" Then frowning slightly, he added, "But at least TRY do it gently, for Kami-sama's sake. Glynis is such a gentle girl, you'll probably break--no, POUND her little heart into pieces and then some." Nephrite growled angrily. "What the hell do you think?!" "Well, since you asked for it, I think you'll have her in tears in no time at all, if you do insist on doing it your way." Another glower. "Do you mean to say--" "Let me put it this way, my friend," Zoicite interrupted with a wide grin, his light green eyes sparkling with humour. "'Beat it' is probably the most compassionate phrase you can think of." Shaking his head as he chuckled, he added, "Face it, Nephrite. You've got the amazing sensitivity of a rock." Nephrite scowled darkly. * * * Dinner that night was as eventful as a turtle race. With an exeption to the wild, disarrayed entrance of Prince Yokio, the younger brother of Saitou who came barging in the dining hall, looking like the messy seven-year old boy that he was, the evening was quite dull. Prince Saitou was unable to join them during that time, and the rest of the party was exhausted from whatever activity they have done that day. Artemis found himself sitting between the stoical creatures Nephrite and Kunzite, much to his unease. And, Lady Glynis Rydelle was of course, present at the table beside Nephrite--all in all topping the dull, silent evening with an air of awkwardness. She seemed particularly interested in knowing about the four women--Ami, Rei, Makoto and Minako--but could not get any better answers than their politely evasive ones. When at last, Minako decided to excuse herself, with the promise to call it a night, everyone else seemed to follow suit and left the dining hall. The clock continued to tick by. Nine thirty. Kunzite sipped absently from his wine glass, allowing the sweet, liquid taste to warm his mouth for a few moments before gulping it down. He was tired, yes, but for some reason, he wasn't feeling drowsy at all. So he decided to go out in the balcony and have a few drinks to soothe his worn-out nerves. The night breeze was calming, and so was gazing up at the velvety sky. "Brooding, Kunzite?" Jadeite was walking towards the silver-haired general, another bottle of champagne in one hand and a wine glass in the other. He stopped beside him, his eyes looking heavenward as if to share the view. They shared a few more moments of companionable silence, drinking. Jadeite was lost in his own thoughts. He had been so all throughout dinner that eve, especially when Glynis started asking questions about the women. He couldn't help but ponder on the many other questions that Glynis' wonderings brought... Kunzite was thinking of no particular thing, until his gaze incidentally drifted upward to one of the many windows in the chambers of the palace. He could see that there was a faint yellow light aglow from inside the room, illuminating in stark contrast a lone sillhouette. He stared, having recognized almost instantly who it was. Even from the outside, there was no mistaking whom that slender and petite form belonged to, especially that long mane being freed from what was apprently a ribbon. He knew instinctively that it could be no one else but her, having known exactly where her room was. Jadeite followed his gaze. Vaguely noticing that his companion's eyes stopped intently on something, he trailed his look to that of the northeast window. He took another sip of champagne. "You're wondering about her," Jadeite said quietly, breaking the silence. Kunzite turned his head slightly to glance at him. "What?" "I know," he replied. "I've been thinking, too. Don't you feel strange that we're working with women we barely even know?" Kunzite, not dropping his gaze from upward, said, "Yes, I know what you mean. And sometimes, I ask myself if I had acted impulsively in agreeing with this arrangement." Jadeite nodded. "They do seem harmless enough. But I feel that they're hiding something. What do you think about dinner?" "Souffle was good." Jadeite blinked, sidetracked by the sudden uncharacteristic shot of his friend at humour. He smiled, before continuing, "No, I meant when Glynis started asking questions. It's understandable that we keep it to ourselves, where they are from, but don't you ever wonder who they really are?" "Of course I do," came the reply. "There are a lot of things we don't know or understand about them." "Like how they appear to be mysteriously knowledgeable of what's going on. Or the way they act. You know they're not like the regular court ladies we're used to." "Or why they agreed to work with us in the first place. We find Mamoru in return, but what does this mission gain them?" Jadeite's expression turned thoughtful. "And who was that Artemis guy? He looks like he came out of nowhere. Why didn't they tell us about him before?" "I believe Lady Aino mentioned him before in passing. But it was tossed so casually, I barely remembered it..." Right at that moment, a white-clad figure from inside the hall caught Kunzite's attention, and his words trailed off in wonder. "Who was that?" Jadeite turned around to see what his friend was looking at. The person swept past the hall and climbed up the eastern stairway, but not before he got a look at who it was. "Well, speak of the devil. That was Artemis." Kunzite frowned. "What is he doing at this hour? I thought he had already retired to his quarters." Jadeite sighed. "See what I mean? These people are creeping us out night and day. But don't worry about him, Kunzite," he said. "He's probably just returning to his right room now. Which reminds me. What time is it, anyway?" Both men turned to look at the grandfather clock standing inside the hall. "Ten o'clock," Kunzite answered, as he finished off his fifth glass. "I guess we should be calling it a night, too. Much more work to do tomorrow..." At that exact moment, a silver-haired Mau, dressed in white, came creeping quietly inside one of the guest chambers in the east wing. Both generals left before they could see the northeastern window they had just been looking at earlier alight fully. ===================================================================== This story was written by Spatula Gurl. All comments and suggestions should be sent to ucchan@gurlmail.com. Naoko Takeuchi owns Bishoujo Senshi Sailormoon and its characters. I am not making any profit from this fanfic. AUTHOR'S NOTES: --------------- WARNING: THIS IS STILL A VERY ROUGH DRAFT. Finally! You're probably wondering what took so long? Well, I had no internet connection for the whole month of June. Seriously. ^^; I know, I'm always so late with the chapters; I'm not always in a writing mood. Gomme! Also, Gurlmail had updated its service--and as it is with updating email services, old mails get lost, practically never to return. ;_; So, anyone who e-mailed me between the dates May 30 to June 30, I'm really very sorry, but I never read your letters! I'm still hoping that Gurlmail didn't lose it after all, but I sincerely doubt it. A big "HI" to Mn, Meg, Polgara and Lacey! Sorry for the long wait...Chapter 6A & 6B are for all of you! My favorite is actually Chapter 6a, but I don't like this second part much at all. ;_; I'm trying to revv up with the character development (while slowing down at the plot development), but it didn't turn out well on this part (actually, I'm focusing more on Mako-Neph and Minako-Kunz for now. I have a separate schedule for Rei-Jed. ^_- I'm still not definite about Ami-Zoi, though). I had to insert a lot of background information and plot details on this chapter to give out a clue on what the senshi and generals are doing, and why. But we're still a long way from the middle of the story. @_@ As for the people who've given me their comments, thank you so much! I'm sorry, I just can't help my tardiness! ;_; But while you're waiting for the next parts to come out, I'm recommending three of my most favorite fanfictions for you to read: 1.) The Beast [by Ninx] -- SM fic You can find this at A Sailormoon Romance and at Generals' Love. http://www.moonromance.com http://members.xoom.com/_XMCM/GeneralsLove 2.) Of Love and Honor [by Tin Mandigma ]-- Rurouni Kenshin fic DEFINITELY MY FAVE OF ALL TIME. A Misao-Aoshi fic you can find at: http://members.dencity.com/Tin/fanfics/rk/olh.html 3.) Masquerade [by Shawny Wong] -- Yuu Yuu Hakusho fic One of my new favorites. A cute Kurama and Botan story you can find at: http://geocities.com/yyh_k_b/ Btw, for those who were asking, I've now opened up my newest site. It's located at http://www.chocobuckle.com. But I haven't been updating it yet, and it may take a while. I'm waiting for a good break to finish it up.