(Story picks up where it left off with Setsuna at
the front door of the unmarked house. Usagi and Hotaru are sleeping,
and the others(Rei, Mako, and Ami) just walked in. Chibiusa is at
the corner of the street, looking out at the oncoming sports car.)
"Where is Usagi, Setsuna?" Mako pushed her way into
the house, and saw Usagi and Hotaru on the bed in the other room.
Setsuna, on the other hand, was reluctant to answer anything as yet.
She didn't want to let on that her mission had gone sour. Not that
they even knew about her mission in the first place.
Rei and Ami followed Mako inside and noticed that Mina
was lying on the floor behind the chair. She was out cold. Ami shook
Mina lightly, and then a little stronger, but was surprised by Mina's
somewhat late reaction to Setsuna's blow from before.
"Are you OK, Mina?" Ami asked, concerned genuinely.
"No, I'm not," she said confidently, staring at Setsuna.
"Why did you knock me out?"
"I had to for your safety."
"Safety from what? It was just you and Usagi. .speaking
of Usagi, where is she?" Minako-chan said, looking around.
"She's over here, Mina, " called out Makoto. "She's
OK, just sleeping , that's all."
The open door presented Michiru and Haruka, and directly
behind them, Chibiusa. Haruka looked around, seeing all the fallen
and sleeping people.
"What's been going on, Setsuna?" Haruka asked, arching
her eyebrow in question.
Setsuna sighed at all the questions. She couldn't take
it anymore. Her burden was just too great for even HER to handle.
Everyone stopped at the sound of her sigh.
"What is it?" Michiru asked, gently touching Setsuna's
hand.
"Come, I will explain everything when Hotaru and Usagi
are safely at home," said Setsuna softly.
Rei smiled to herself. Finally, some answers to this
madness that's been going on. .
Haruka drove Usagi and Hotaru back to Michiru’s house,
and left a message on the table saying that the rest of them had gone
to the cafe. While Haruka was away, Setsuna took the rest of them
to the restaurant down the street.
"Enough stalling, Setsuna. Lay it all out for us to
understand," Makoto insisted, after she ordered a slice of cherry
pie.
Setsuna sipped on her tea, which by now was almost
finished. She was extremely nervous in explaining this delicate situation
to the others.
"All right Makoto, I'll tell you. All of you," she began,
setting down her cup.
Her eyes seemed to wander off into the sky, remembering
a time not so long ago. . .
"In the future, there is a galaxy far away from ours,
where a clan of shadow warriors live. They've been a peaceful group
for centuries, serving the Queen loyally as soldiers, until one rebel
warrior broke away. He was the strongest of them all, and was capable
of unspeakable things."
The others listened attentively to Setsuna's story.
"One day, he approached me at the Gates of Time, requesting passage
to another era, and I refused him. I had to fight him, and I lost.
He was just too powerful. And so, he escaped without being caught
by me."
Setsuna shook her head at the predicament. What was
she going to do now? The crystals. .
"There's no way to catch him, Setsuna?" Ami ventured.
She paused, then answered carefully. "There is a way.
I've been collecting some stones, the ancient blood stones. Legend
says that by bringing all seven together, they will form a Golden
Prism, which will project a golden beam at him and suck him inside."
Michiru looked at Setsuna strangely. "Why didn't you
tell us before? You know we could have helped you."
"I had it under control, for a while. .now it's just
out of hand," she whispered, mostly to herself. She ran her fingers
through her hair, trying to relax herself. "I have 4 of them already,
but they've taken me nearly a century just to get those four. What
could you have possible done, Michiru?"
Everyone sighed and sat back in their chairs except
Ami. Ami put her finger to her temple, thinking hard on a solution.
"Setsuna? How can we find him? And what did Usagi have
to do with it?" she asked the nagging questions on her mind.
"The demon possesses one with a strong will as a challenge
to himself. Once their will has been overcome, their life-force crystal
is risen. Fortunately, I freed Usagi before her will had totally disappeared,"
Setsuna began. "In every person, the center of us, our life-force
is in the true form of a stone, which matured enough, will ripen and
turn into a crystal. There are only seven of these special crystals
in the entire universe. I have four of them, that THING has two, and
only one remains."
Rei sat up and looked Setsuna in the eye. "Who carries
the seventh stone?"
"I have a hunch, but I'm not sure--"
"WHO?!" Rei pounded on the table, grasping the attention
of the patrons around them. "Who?" she repeated in a quieter voice.
"Mamoru Chiba. My dear King Endymion."
Gasps of shock fell from each person's lips with the
realization that this demon could possibly jeopardize everything they've
ever worked for in the past. What will they do??
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