Sailor Moon: Darkness Within


Chapter 1:
Darkness

A bright flash of light lit an abandoned alley, occupied only by a few garbage cans, a stray cat or two, and now the body of a young boy. He appeared only to be in his mid-teens, with raven black hair, and what one would suppose to be nearly black eyes that would melt most girls' knees. Or rather, they had been. Now they stared up at the sky, completely blank and devoid of life. There was no injury on him that anyone could see, and he was breathing, but that was the only sign of life to him.

Forest green eyes stared at the boy for a moment, and if one looked closely, one might think that regret had flashed in them. An errant breeze blew a few strands of ebony hair into a pale face that contained those forest green eyes, and was quickly pushed behind an ear with a white gloved hand. Green eyes closed in a quick prayer for the boy's soul, before black boots laced in gold turned and walked away, leaving the boy to be found by whoever happened to wander by. She couldn't risk detection, not yet.

"In other news," came the warm voice of the handsome news anchorman on the television, who's gray eyes and graying hair gave him an air of maturity, with a touch of mischief, "police are concerned about the recent increase in violent crimes. Crimes such as arson, assault, and murder have been on the rise since last month, and the authorities have no clues as to why. Citizens are urged to stay indoors during the night, and to avoid parking lots, alleys, or any other unpopulated area during the day or night for their protection. Anyone who sees a crime in action is urged to notify police immediately, and to stay out of the way."

The television suddenly blinked out, the picture suddenly nothing more than a black screen. Dark, nearly black eyes stared at the screen in concern, even though it was shut off, and black hair fell into her face as she rested her chin on her hand. Was this another enemy? She certainly hoped it wasn't. She, and the other scouts, had spent most of junior high and high school fighting enemies that threatened the Earth, and now that things were peaceful, she wanted them to stay that way. It was about time they got a shot at a peaceful, normal life.

"Hey, Rei," the woman heard her name called from across her little table. She had almost forgotten that her friends were in the room with her - Ami, Usagi, and Minako were all sitting around her little table on the floor, in front of her bed, and Makoto was sitting on her bed. All of them had books and notebooks in front of them. The one who had spoken was Usagi, the blond haired girl with her hair done up in buns on her head and kind blue eyes. "Do you think it's another enemy?"

"I don't know." she said honestly, "I really hope not."

"The last thing we need before college entrance exams is another enemy to distract us from our studies." Ami said. She had always been the one to push studying, and not without good cause.

"At the very least, it's worth investigating." A little white cat said, a gold crescent mark on it's forehead. That one was Artemis, Minako's cat.

"Good idea, Artemis." Luna said. Luna was Usagi's little black cat, who had the same crescent mark on her forehead. "We'll go check it out. You girls have enough on your plate right now with studying, so you stay here."

The two little cats ran out of the room before any argument could be made. Well, it DID make sense, in a way. A cat was less likely to be found out or attacked than a human, and they really had a lot of studying to do. Especially Usagi. Irritation flared in Rei's head, but she squashed it ruthlessly. Now was not the time to get irritated over something so petty as two cats running off to investigate something.

"Usagi, have you gotten any problems done yet?" she said, and very nearly winced at the irritation in her voice.

"Ah, well...." the blond said, rubbing the back of her head sheepishly. "There is the problem of this character being in love with this one, but I don't know how they're going to work it out."

Rei looked over at Usagi's books. To her horror, Usagi had slipped some of her own mangas in with her school books, and had been reading that instead of studying. She picked up the manga, shutting it in the process, and tossed it on her bed.

"Usagi! This is not the time to be goofing off! Entrance exams are coming up soon, and if you're not prepared you're going to fail!"

"Rei is being mean to me!" Usagi whined as she half hid behind Minako, who sat to Rei's right.

Before Rei or anyone could do anything else - be it arguing or convincing Usagi she needed to study - a bell tolled nearby. That was the shrine bell, often rung for prayers. It also signaled that someone might buy a charm, or need assistance with something. Being a miko, Rei stood and made her way outside to see what the person might need.

Outside was the scene of a nightmare. Someone had been thrown into the shrine itself, explaining why the bells rang. The wood of the shrine was splintered around a young man with dark brown hair and eyes, who for all intents and purposes seemed merely average. However, his eyes were full of hate and malice, and Rei sensed a dark aura around the boy.

In front of him was, what Rei assumed, the person that threw him into the shrine. This boy was a year older, and a little taller, than the other. His fiery red hair almost glowed in the sunlight, and emerald green eyes glared with the same hate and malice as the other boy. By their uniforms, Rei could tell they were from the same school. Both had that dark aura about them.

"Hey, what are you guys doing?" she shouted at them angrily. "This is a shrine! If you have an argument, take it somewhere else!"

Neither said anything. Instead, the taller boy lunged at her, taking her by surprise. Before she knew what was going on, Rei was pinned against a tree by the taller boy, her head reeling from the impact. A fist struck her face before her head could clear, sending it reeling once more. For a moment, Rei could swear some of that tainted aura had seeped into her. It felt like a slick of rancid oil on water, washing over her own soul. All she was aware of was her friends in the background, trying to pull him off of her. Usagi seemed to be fighting the hardest to pull him away, but he was too strong for her.

Finally, Makoto had managed to step in and grab the boy's arm that was about to strike her again. She was big enough and strong enough to stop the blow, but she seemed to be straining. A moment before it seemed she would lose her grip, she flung the boy over her shoulder and onto the cement pathway behind her.

"Rei!" Usagi wailed, holding her up by an arm wrapped around her shoulder, "Rei, are you okay? What's going on?"

Before Rei could answer, the shorter boy was suddenly there. In short order he had Makoto on the ground unconscious with a blow to the back of her head, as well as Minako and Ami, and was coming fast at Usagi. Rei just barely managed to cover her friend with her own body before the boy could send a powerful roundhouse kick into her ribs. She thought she heard one shatter.

"Asteroid belt!"

An unfamiliar voice broke through her thoughts on her own pain, and a sudden wall of light seemed to dart between them and the boy. For some reason, the boy didn't stop attacking - he seemed to think he could kick or punch his way through the wall of light, though each impact was like a feather impacting a brick wall. Rei and Usagi looked in the direction where the voice had come from.

Behind them, the red-headed boy was unconscious on the ground, and a woman stood over him, her raven black hair pulled back into a complex braid, and sad, forest green eyes glared at the other boy who was still fighting. What surprised them most was that this woman was a sailor senshi - her skirt, and shoulder flap were both golden, but her bow, underskirt, the stripes on her shoulder flap and laced boots were dead black. Her tiara was golden, with a golden crescent moon and star on it, with the same mark on her black choker and the gem that rested on the knot of her bow. The bow in back was black, as were the filmy black shoulder pads and the bands at the top of her elbow-length gloves. In one hand she held a long staff - a few inches taller than the new scout - with a crescent moon lantern dangling from the top. The strangest part was this scout seemed to have the same dark aura as the two boys, but it was warring with, and being suppressed by, a bright, pure aura.

The new scout said nothing. She did not announce herself or explain herself as Usagi or any of the other scouts did. Instead, she stuck her staff out in front of her, low to the ground, and began to spin. The lantern on the end of the staff glowed, leaving a streak of light as it dangled from the end in her twirling motion. Three times she spun around in a circle, and each pass brought the staff higher, until it was above the scout's head, glowing bright, pure white.

"Gates of Heaven!"

Suddenly, nearly the entire shrine was shining bright white in decorated circles from the ground beneath them. It felt...pure. Clean. Peaceful. It felt like nothing in the world could ever go wrong, and with it Rei could feel the tainted aura of the two boys dissolving into nothing, as well as the taint that had seeped into her. The one left standing dropped to the ground in a heap when the glowing finally stopped. As the woman turned to leave, Usagi spoke.

"Wait! Who are you?"

Green eyes seemed to pierce their souls for a moment as she stared at them, and Rei noticed something else in those grim, green eyes. Sadness. It was such an intense sadness that Rei wanted to cry herself.

"I am who I am." was all she said before she turned and finally left.

The groans of her friends finally seemed to bring Usagi out of her daze. She was the only one who had been unharmed. Rei was glad for that.



"Who was that?" Usagi said, for perhaps the hundredth time since the strange new scout appeared. She and Rei were the only two conscious to see her, and what she had done.

"I'd like to know as well." Ami said. Aside from a bump on her head, she, Minako, and Makoto were all okay. It was Rei who took the real beating. "Whatever she did, she left those boys in a vegetable state. The hospital said they would never come out of it."

"But she's a scout like us. Why would she do something like that?" Usagi said, concern full in her voice. She just could not understand why a sailor senshi, sworn to protect the people of Earth, would harm them.

"I don't know." Rei said. Or rather, mumbled. Her face was a mass of bruises from the beating she took, and each breath brought a pained look in her miko friend's eyes. Three of her ribs had been broken from that kick. "Whoever she is, I don't think we can trust her. She had an aura similar to the two that attacked us."

"Does anyone have a clue as to why they attacked anyway?" Makoto said, still holding an ice pack to the back of her head. "I don't think any of us know who they were, let alone did anything that deserved THAT."

"Maybe it's connected to the recent crime spree." Minako said.

"Rei," Usagi said, "what kind of aura did you see in them? You mentioned that new scout had an aura like theirs."

"I said it was 'similar to'. It wasn't exactly like theirs. Their auras were black, full of hate and malice. Her's had that aura, too, but it seemed to be held back by a pure, white aura. Guys, don't go near anyone like those guys. It's dangerous."

Usagi thought Rei was holding something back, but she couldn't say what, and given her friend's condition, it wasn't wise to ask. She would tell them later, if she was up to it.

Sailor Moon: Darkness Within


Chapter 2:
The New Girl

"Everyone, we have a new student today." The teacher said to her class.

Next to her was the new student, with forest green eyes and ebony hair pulled back into an intricate braid. She did not wear the uniform for the Juban High School because, as it turned out, they did not have any her size. She was taller than any other female student in the school, just a few centimeters shy of one hundred eighty-three centimeters, though fit for her height. For a moment, Ami spared a thought for her friend Makoto, who still could not find a uniform that fit her for the very same reason. This girl even appeared to be taller than Makoto.

"I am Tabibito, Outai. Please, treat me kindly." The girl said.

Something was off about this girl, though. She was not ugly - far from it; she was really rather pretty, though not so much or so graceful as Michiru and Haruka. She was very tall, but that wasn't it either. Perhaps it was because the girl did not smile. Really, it looked like smiling was beyond her capabilities. Ami felt sorry for the girl. What she must have gone through, to be so sad, to have so much pain in her eyes, she didn't want to imagine. She herself had been that way once before, or close enough to it, before she met Usagi.

The new girl took a seat next to Ami, her focus on the chalkboard in front of the classroom, where the teacher was already writing down the day's assignments. Something about that girl made Ami feel uneasy. The way she held herself...It was almost like she was a born fighter with a violent nature. Well, one should never judge a book by it's cover. She was probably used to having to stick up for herself against those that would tease her about her height. She knew first hand just how mean kids could be.



Ami didn't know if it was because she had spent the day sitting next to someone who made her uneasy, or if she was just growing impatient lately, but for some reason the day seemed to stretch on forever. It was none too soon before the final bell rang, announcing the end of the school day. As she gathered her things and exchanged her school slippers for her outdoor shoes, she reminded herself to look for Usagi and Makoto so they could go to the shrine for study group together. Usagi was perpetually late, and she meant to see her on time today. Especially with all the attacks lately. Besides, it was safer to travel in a group.

It didn't really take long for Ami to find Usagi. She was standing outside her classroom once again, being punished. It was a toss up between punishment for tardiness or for sleeping in class. Or perhaps another bad grade.

"Usagi, again?" was all she said.

"That teacher is really mean!" Usagi wailed, "It's not my fault English puts me to sleep!"

So, it had been sleeping in class after all.

"Let's go, Usagi. Makoto is probably waiting for us."

As she turned to leave with Usagi in tote, Ami noticed the new girl leaving their classroom. Her face remained neutral, but in her green eyes Ami saw anger and frustration. The girl reached behind her, as if to scratch her back, but instead pulled off a note that must have been stuck between her shoulders. With a look of disgust, she crumpled it into a ball and tossed it into a nearby trash bin.

"Hey, that girl is really tall." Ami heard Usagi saying. "She's taller than Mako-chan."

It happened to be just her luck that Outai, the new girl, passed by them as Usagi opened her big mouth. To Ami's surprise, she said nothing, and her expression did not change. Perhaps she was used to people commenting on how tall she was.

"Usagi, I don't think that was very considerate. She's new here."

"Oh, so that's the new girl? Let's go say hi, Ami."

"I don't think-"

Ami was cut off as Usagi ran down the hall after the girl. With a sigh of exasperation, she followed her rather outgoing friend, fully expecting the new girl to be angry. What she did not expect was to see Usagi brushed off.

"Hey, I'm sorry for what I said back there." Ami heard Usagi saying. "I didn't mean to hurt your feelings."

There was no anger in her face or her eyes. There was no relief, either. There was nothing but grim neutrality on her face, and sadness mingled with determination in her eyes. Outai looked at Usagi carefully, but said nothing.

"So, what's your name?"

Again the girl said nothing.

"Hey, I'm talking to you?"

The new girl moved so suddenly that Ami thought for sure she was going to hurt Usagi. She was too far away to do anything to help her bun-headed friend, but reached out as if to protect her anyway.

However, the movement did not stop on Usagi. Rather, the girl pulled Usagi off to the side just in time for a student from the neighboring class room to come lunging out into the hall. Really, the way the girl pulled Usagi to safety almost resembled a dance, a graceful twirling of Usagi so that she was out of the way. The student fell to the floor from his own momentum - Ami saw that the boy had medium brown hair and gray eyes - but quickly got back up, once again lunging for Usagi.

This time Ami WAS close enough to do something. She pushed her friend out of the way of the attack, just as a stone-fisted punch collided with her shoulder. With the strike, she could feel something seeping into her soul, something dark and putrid, like a slick of rancid oil on water. It made her want to vomit. Biting back a yelp of pain, Ami stood in front of Usagi, protecting her. For some reason, the new girl was no where to be seen.

If she could transform, she might be able to protect Usagi. However, there were still too many students in the building - some of which had come out to see what the commotion was all about - and she couldn't risk any of them seeing her transform. As the boy lunged again, she threw Usagi and herself into a nearby classroom, which she discovered was thankfully empty. Pulling what looked like a sword without the blade, she began her transformation. Usagi seemed to take the hint and did the same.

"Mercury Crystal Power, Make up!"

"Moon Eternal Power, Make up!"

In moments, water swirled around the blue haired genius of Juban High School, soon becoming ribbons that wrapped around her body, fading into her senshi uniform of white and blue. Usagi's transformation was a bit longer, and included a cloud of feathers swirling around her as piece by piece she transformed into Eternal Sailor Moon.

Their transformations had not come a moment too soon. No sooner were they done transforming than the crazed student broke into the classroom, gray eyes full of hatred and malice. Something about all of it seemed off. Those eyes...aside from the darkness she saw in them, there was something else. Something was missing from those eyes. This student was dangerous, and she had to get Usagi away.

"Bubble Spray!"

Firing off a thick spray of bubbles that burst into a thick fog that filled the room, Ami was able to make a cover for her and her friend. The problem was getting this student away from the others so they would not be hurt, all the while not hurting that student. There HAD to be a way to get through to him. Thinking quickly, she opened a nearby window.

"Sailor Moon!"

Taking the hint, her friend jumped out of the window, which was on the ground level of the school anyway. She followed behind, and was surprised when the crazed student followed soon after. She hadn't thought he'd be able to see through that fog.

'Hate. Kill.'

The thought came out of no where, taking Sailor Mercury completely by surprise. She had NEVER had thoughts like that before. It almost sounded like another voice, one that was not her own, and for some reason it was accompanied by such anger and hatred that, for a moment, she was afraid she would lose herself in the torrent. However, as quickly as it came, it passed as though it had never been. In the moment it took for the thought to come and go, for Ami to hold firmly to herself, the boy lunged at her.

"Moon Halo!"

A ring of light appeared out of nowhere, wrapping around the assailant's arms, pinning them to his side. No, it wasn't just one ring, but three - one around the shoulders, one around the waist, and one around the legs, binding him so he could not move. In spite of the rings of light, though, the boy still growled and gnashed his teeth, seeming little more than a mad dog.

Ami and Usagi - Sailor Mercury and Sailor Moon - looked in the direction of the voice that had cast that binding spell, and saw a sailor scout, all in gold and black, holding a long staff mere centimeters taller than she was, with a crescent moon lantern dangling from one end. She was approaching them from a dark corner of the school building, walking as if nothing at all were going on. However, her eyes belied her relaxed demeanor, full of grim determination.

"Who are you?" Sailor Mercury couldn't help but ask. Was she friend, or foe?

Forest green eyes met blue eyes, fierce and piercing, as though the new scout was gazing at her very soul. Intense sadness flashed in those determined eyes, enough to make Sailor Mercury want to cry. The scout all in black and gold raised her staff, the crescent moon lantern now glowing, so that it was parallel to the ground in front of her. She suddenly spun, the lantern leaving a streak of light behind as she made one complete turn.

"Moon Halo!"

The one ring suddenly became three, binding Sailor Mercury in the same fashion as the boy.

"Why did you do that?!" Sailor Moon demanded of the new scout. "She didn't do anything!"

"Your friend is tainted." the new scout said, as though it had been obvious from the start. It made sense, though. First was that feeling of something staining her soul, then that sudden, dangerous thought only a moment ago.

"Liar! Sailor Mercury is one of the purest people I know!"

"Even the pure can be tainted."

The new scout raised her staff again, this time low to the ground, and began to spin. The crescent moon lantern dangled from one end, glowing, leaving streaks of light behind it as she began to spin. However, just as she completed one turn and went into the next, Sailor Moon jumped on her, taking her staff in hand, trying to take it away.

"Stop it! I won't let you hurt my friend!"

The new scout glared at Sailor Moon with eyes like daggers.

"Would you prefer I let your friend become little more than a beast like that boy? Would you prefer I leave her to the taint until it eats her soul away, until there is nothing left to be saved?"

"What?!"

The news took them both by surprise. Neither had known what was going on with that student, or what had happened a few days ago at Rei's with the two boys that attacked them, and suddenly this person had an explanation. A taint on her soul? She had dealt with negative energy, energy being stolen, energy being turned black, hearts being stolen, and even dreams being molested, but never once had she dealt with anything of the soul. The soul was dangerous territory for toying around with. It was the soul that gave life.

In her moment of surprise, Sailor Moon loosened her grip on the girl's staff. She took that opportunity to push Sailor Moon away and begin spinning again, raising the staff higher with each pass. As the staff came above her head, she stopped spinning - a total of three passes - and the lantern on her staff seemed to explode light.

"Gates of Heaven!"

Light beneath them in a pattern like a decorated circle with symbols Sailor Mercury recognized as alchemy symbols, used in the days before chemistry, when 'scientists' believed they could change one thing to another, exploded beneath them. A feeling of peace washed over her, like nothing could ever go wrong. This light in her soul seemed to dissolve the putridness she had felt ooze into her earlier until it was as though it had never happened. She hadn't realized how tense she had become under that taint until her shoulders relaxed when it disappeared.

"Sailor Mercury!"

Sailor Moon rushed to her friend, concerned for her safety. She had seen the two boys from a few days ago get purified in this same manner. She had seen how there was nothing left of them but two empty shells, alive, but devoid of a soul.

"I'm okay, Sailor Moon." she said, reassuring her friend.

Suddenly the rings binding her disappeared. Sailor Mercury stood and brushed herself off. As the woman turned to leave, Sailor Moon forestalled her.

"Wait! At least tell us who you are."

"I am who I am."

"Wait!" this time it was Sailor Mercury's turn to forestall the new scout, "What is this taint you were talking about?"

This time the new scout did stop.

"You are scouts, just like me. You deserve some knowledge, so you don't stab yourself in the foot on accident. The taint is a type of evil that invades the mind and devours the soul. Worse, it is contagious. If you are touched by someone who is tainted, you will become tainted as well. Get as far away from anyone who is tainted as you can, if you value your sanity."

"Why must you hurt those who are tainted?" Sailor Moon cried after the woman.

An odd thing happened then. Anguish flashed in her green eyes, and this time it was not quickly replaced by grim determination or anger. It seemed almost like regret.

"Just keep your distance." was all she said before she left, not leaving either of them time to respond.



Moments later, Ami and Usagi found the new girl unconscious on the floor of another classroom devoid of students. Usagi had been the one to come back to reality and remember that the girl had disappeared first, and had been concerned for her safety. It shouldn't have been surprising, really - no matter how ditzy she was, Usagi cared about everyone. Perhaps she would be good for Outai, who didn't seem to have any friends.

It didn't take much to wake the girl - just some gentle shaking, and forest green eyes stared up at them as though wakened from a short rest. The girl tensed when Usagi threw her arms around her, grateful that she was okay, but managed to politely pull Usagi off of her before standing silently.

"Hey," Usagi said as the girl was about to leave, "thank you for saving me, and I'm sorry you got hurt because of me. You and Ami both."

"Why are you so determined to talk to me?"

The question took them both off balance. Was she offended? She didn't seem to be. Still, what kind of question was that.

"Well, why not?" Ah, Usagi. Always blunt as a spoon and as honest as babe.

"You're not threatened by me?"

"Should I be?"

"Most others are. You're an odd one."

"I'm Tsukino, Usagi, and my friend is Mizuno, Ami, the school genius. What's your name?"

"Tabibito, Outai. Miss Mizuno, please continue to take care of your friend. She's an odd one." And with that, she turned and walked away.

Sailor Moon: Darkness Within


Chapter 3:
A New Scout

School had been dismissed for the day, and Outai was on her way home. As usual, she was deep in thought, green eyes glazed as though she were walking merely out of habit, like a robot. Her mind swirled with uneasy and terrifying thoughts, most centering around the incidents of late. People were going crazy, pure and simple, and randomly attacking each other. Some people died from it, and some were left as empty shells - alive in body, but with no soul to really tell that they had ever been alive. It was very disturbing news, and once again she found herself trying to puzzle it out, perhaps even find a way to stop it.

"You know," a warm, husky voice suddenly broke through her thoughts, "it wouldn't hurt to smile once in a while. You'd blend in better."

Outai looked down at the little black cat that had been following her. It had been waiting for her at the gate when she got out of school, and never left her side. Aside from the crescent moon and star on it's forehead, it looked like a normal cat, black with blue eyes.

"Perhaps, but a forced smile stands out just as much as a neutral face." she said coolly.

"If that's your 'neutral', I don't want to see your 'scary'. You looked like you were about to thrash someone."

"Cats don't talk. Remember that." She said curtly.

Immediately, she wanted the words back. Mooney was her friend and guardian, and had been very faithful in his duty. He didn't deserve that. Still, it was too late to back down, and she supposed she'd been prickly lately. With everything that was going on, who could blame her? Fortunately, she knew Mooney wouldn't take it too harshly. He was too laid back for that, so she kept quiet and was grateful when he was quiet as well.

Just as Outai began to slip back into her thoughts once more, delicate notes reached her ears. The soft whine of a violin seemed to call to her, and she could no more stop herself from following it than she could move a mountain with a teaspoon. The music seemed to come from a public auditorium, which at the moment was abandoned, save for the lone musician, whoever they were.

As she approached the stage, she found the source of the music - a lovely young woman playing the violin, with wavy blue hair and blue eyes, wearing a rather becoming yellow spring dress. Outai took a seat a few rows from the stage, next to the aisle, setting her bag in the seat next to her. Mooney jumped into her lap as soon as she was seated and curled up into a ball purring.

Outai didn't really mind. True, he wasn't a normal cat, but he looked it so well that she often forgot that he was special. He began to purr like a normal cat, too, as she stroked his soft ebony fur while letting the soft classical music wash over her. It really was very relaxing - one of many reasons she like classical music and violins. She didn't get much chance to relax, especially as of late, and doing so every once in a while was good for her. She was supposed to go home and study, but right now she didn't mind sitting and listening.

Before she knew it, the song was over, and Outai realized the violinist was staring at her. Another woman had apparently joined her, sitting in the front row, with short blond hair. She could only see the back of the other woman's head, at least for a moment before she turned to see who the violinist was staring at. Realizing eyes were on her, Outai stood, letting Mooney jump out of her lap, and took her bag.

"Please, excuse me. I don't mean to interrupt." she said politely.

"It's all right." The violinist said as she descended from the stage. There seemed to be a mischievous light in her eyes that Outai wasn't sure if she liked or not. The other woman seemed to not know what to do or think of her. That was fine.

"You play beautifully. That was Tchaikovsky's violin concerto number seven, wasn't it? In allegro?"

"So, you're a music fan."

"I am. That particular concerto happens to be one of my favorites."

All she had was the faint sound of someone wailing apologies in the distance as warning. A blond blur flashed by them, golden pig tails trailing from buns atop the person's head flying behind them. Outai took the violinist by the hand and pulled her off to the side in one smooth motion. It was almost like a dance move, really, but it was necessary. If she hadn't pulled the young woman aside, she would have been knocked down by the blond blur.

"Please, excuse me." she said, letting go of the violinist. "It would be a shame to see you injured from someone else's carelessness. I will be on my way now. Thank you for allowing me to listen."

"Hey, wait." said the blond woman, who Outai noticed had blue eyes as well, and was wearing a pants suit for some reason. "What's your name?"

"I am called Tabibito, Outai. What is yours?"

"I'm Tenoh, Haruka," the blond woman said, before indicating to the violinist for introduction, "and this is Kaioh, Michiru."

"It is nice to meet you, Outai." Michiru said, "Thank you."

"It is nice to meet you both." Outai said with a polite bow. "But I'm afraid I must be on my way. It seems someone needs a lesson on caution."

"That would be Usagi." Haruka said, a sigh of exasperation thick in her voice. "She's a real flake, but has a heart of pure gold. It looks like she's off to her friend Rei's again. You'll find her at the Shikawa shrine."

"Thank you." Outai said with a final bow, before leaving.



"Why did you tell her so much?" Michiru asked as she watched the girl with ebony hair back in an intricate braid, and soul-tearingly sad green eyes walked away. Something was not right about that girl. Something was terribly wrong, and she doubted it had to do with the fact that she didn't seem to know how to smile.

"Usagi needs someone to lecture her on caution, even if she won't listen." Haruka explained. "Are you jealous?"

"Maybe just a bit." Michiru said, a tease in response to a tease. Her partner was just like that, and she found it endearing in her. However, seriousness washed over her. "Best to stay away from that girl, though. Something feels very wrong about her."

Surprisingly, Haruka nodded in agreement. Maybe she had felt it, too.

"Agreed."



hate. Kill. DESTROY.

Outai rubbed her temple, purely out of habit. The voice that beckoned to her, pleading for her to kill and destroy everything around her, had been persistent as of late. It was really rather annoying, and she wished she could shut it up, though she knew she could not. Not yet anyway. It didn't really hurt her, not physically, but her hand acted on it's own, as if she could rub the thought away.

"You okay?" came that warm, husky voice again.

"I'm fine. It's just a little headache." she lied. She knew Mooney knew what it was, that it was not a headache. But it was better than saying out loud what it really was.

"Perhaps you should go home and rest. You haven't been getting enough rest lately."

"Yes, mother. In a moment, mother. First I'm going to give that girl a lecture, though."

Outai gave a sigh. Again she had said something hurtful to her friend. She really did not like what she was becoming, and that voice in her head was making it worse.

"I'm sorry, Mooney. You didn't deserve that."

"Got that right. Seriously, you need to take care of yourself. You won't win any battles if you don't, and frankly you're becoming a real grouch."

"I will rest when we get home. I promise."

The last was said as they approached a tall flight of concrete steps. To the side was a sign announcing it as the Shikawa shrine. Outai didn't look forward to climbing all those steps, but it was necessary. With a regretful sigh, she began to climb. As she reached the top, though, she walked into yet another battle scene.

This time there was a group of five - three young men and two young women, all from the same school apparently. One young woman and one young man had dark brown hair, while the rest had jet black hair. All seemed to be occupied with fighting each other, and those that were not were fighting against the blond blur from earlier and four others that seemed to be her friends. Outai recalled some of them - the blond blur was, of course, Usagi, and the one with the blue hair was Ami Mizuno; she had saved their bacon three days ago when a student went crazy and attacked them. She recognized the shrine maiden from nearly a week before that, though it seemed some of her injuries had not healed yet. There was another blond young lady, and a tall brunette, who seemed to be doing the majority of the fighting. Strangely, the brunette with the pony tail, the shrine maiden, the blond with the red ribbon in her hair, and Ami all seemed to surround Usagi, as if to protect her. How strange that was.

Outai ducked into a small patch of trees before she could be seen by anyone, her right hand in the pocket of her uniform skirt, where she kept her transformation pen. The shaft of it was jet black, and the top was gold, a golden spiral galaxy surrounding a glittering white star burst. She could tell the star burst by touch, as her thumb traced over it carefully before she raised it into the air above her head.

"Andromeda Galaxy Power, Make Up!"

A flash of light surrounded her, and soon brilliant white ribbons wrapped around her arms, legs, and torso, flashing into a snow white bodice with a golden skirt and black under skirt, and a golden shoulder flap with black pinstripes, black ribbons, and a golden crescent moon and star nestled on the knot of the bow on her chest. Ribbons on her feet became jet black, lace-up boots that reached her calves, and ribbons on her arms became snow white gloves with black rings at the top. The transformation pen was held in her hands, glowing, at chest level, until it elongated, stretching into a glowing white staff that seemed to solidify into a jet black staff with a crescent moon lantern dangling at the end, held at an angle across her body. Strangely, the voice was gone when she was in this form.

Outai - now Sailor Andromeda - made her way back to the battle scene. A few things had changed - the girls from earlier who had been defending Usagi were gone, replaced by five scouts like herself; one in red, one in green, one in yellow, and Sailor Moon and Mercury that she recognized from a few days ago - but the others were still fighting each other, as well as the other Sailor scouts. The Sailor scouts themselves were not doing so well, either.

Five crazy people against five scouts, and the scouts were losing. It was embarrassing, really. They were doing no better than the five girls from earlier, and one of the scouts seemed to have some nasty injuries. That was the one in red. A small connection clicked in her head, but she shook it away quickly. Four of the scouts were still surrounding Sailor moon, though, which made that connection click again, and once again she stamped it out.

As Outai stepped closer to the fight, she noticed two cats looking at her strangely. One was jet black with a crescent moon on it's forehead, the other pure white with the same mark. She ignored them, though she was glad that the crazy people didn't seem interested in them.

She raised her staff, about to cast a spell, but the crazed girl with brown hair leaped at her. She stepped out of the way gracefully, sending the girl flying past her with her own momentum, and spun the staff around like a quarter staff, striking the girl on the back of the head. She went down like a wet rag. A young man with black hair lunged at her as well, but she spun her staff and cracked him on the side of the head, causing him to go limp as well.

She was wasting her time. She HATED wasting her time. She should just cast the spell and be done with it - these poorly trained scouts would thank her for it later, when she got rid of the taint that had seeped into them as well. Still, she hesitated.

As well as being able to sense the taint in others, Outai could also sense how long they had been with the taint. The longer someone was with the taint, the less likely they would recover from being purified. Even those who had not been with it long after it overcame them often did not recover completely. Some seemed to be changed, some had holes in their memories. Some were little more than drooling babes, mentally. She didn't like what the taint did to the people, nor did she like what purifying them did, but purification was better than leaving them with the taint. The longer they were with the taint, the more of the person's soul it consumed, and the more people it could be spread to.

In that moment of hesitation, a flaxen haired scout dressed in yellow cast a spell of her own.

"Venus Love-me Chain!"

A chain of golden hearts flashed by her head, though she did not even flinch. By the time she had come back from her moment of hesitation, she had felt the taint behind her, but had no time to react. She chided herself for her own carelessness, but stepped out of the way as the golden scout yanked on the chain that now bound a young man with black hair who seemed to be foaming at the mouth, thrashing like a mad dog.

This time another scout - the one in green - started to cast her own spell, but half way through Sailor Moon stopped her.

"Wait, Jupiter! These are people! You'll kill them with that!"

Jupiter, the one in green, hesitated. This time, Outai did not. She raised her staff in front of her, parallel to the ground, and began to spin. With each pass, the lantern at the end left a streak of light in it's wake, each streak at an angle as she raised the staff with each pass. Three passes, and it was above her head.

"Gates of Heaven!"

Light exploded from the lantern on her staff, and a glowing white pattern covered the ground beneath them, resembling a complex alchemy circle she had seen in a book once, but with a few minor differences. The symbol on the ground flashed bright white, washing away the taint that she felt in them. It was comforting, that pure white light that washed away the evil.

Those that had been tainted, overcome by evil and attack others, fell limp on the ground. Two would not recover, and would be only empty shells with no souls. Of the other three, the brunette girl would be little more than a zombie, the brunette boy would have holes in his memory to make Swiss cheese jealous, and the girl with the jet black hair would have a different personality all together. She said a silent prayer for their souls, all five of them, before turning to leave.

"Wait!" one of the scouts said behind her. It was the blond girl in yellow. "What did you do to them?"

"I purified them." she said simply, "Would you prefer I had left them to attack you and taint you as they were tainted?"

"Will they be okay?" Sailor Moon asked, concern heavy in those warm, blue eyes.

Outai turned back towards them. She knew her own green eyes were full of a sadness that drove people away, but for some reason she could not look away from those kind, blue eyes. She tried to make her voice cold and dispassionate, but she wasn't sure how well it worked. These were five more to add to her mental list that burned her soul.

"One will have holes in his memory, and another will be a different person. Another will be little more than a child, mentally. The other two will not recover."

"How could you do that to them?!" The red one said. She seemed to be a fiery person.

"It is either purify them, or kill them. Either way, they must not remain tainted, or they will spread the taint. Stay away from anyone who is tainted, or you will be tainted as well, and I cannot guarantee how whole you will be before I can purify you.

You are all Sailor scouts, just like me, so I will educate you: The taint is a contagion of evil. It eats away at the soul until there is nothing left. The longer a person is with the taint, the less their soul is whole by the time I reach them. If you value your souls, you will stay away from them at all cost." Outai explained.

"Who are you?" Sailor Moon asked.

For some reason, Outai found herself unable to answer as she had before. Something about those kind blue eyes demanded the truth from her, and she couldn't just brush it off. This girl was different from the others - her uniform was in different colors, sure, and she had wings where the others were wingless, but the difference was not cosmetic. Sailor Moon was the strongest of them, and the purest. She would be overcome by the taint quickly, if she became tainted.

"I am Sailor Andromeda. Everyone, take care of Sailor Moon. Keep her safe. If she becomes tainted, the world will be doomed for sure."

Again, she was wasting her time. Why did she even bother explaining this to them? Knowing anything, they'd try to track down the tainted and only get themselves tainted in the process. All they needed to know was to stay well away from them. Well, done was done, and there was no undoing it. She turned to leave, not even listening to the arguments that followed her.



Outai heaved a sigh of relief as she reached her apartment. She had transformed back into her normal self after hiding in some bushes earlier, but with that the voice had returned as well, and this time it really was beginning to make her head hurt. She locked her door behind her and dropped her bag on the floor next to her shoes before she padded into her bedroom and collapsed on her bed. For some reason, she'd been exhausted as of late, and today was no exception. She didn't wake up until late in the evening, with a cold cloth over her eyes and a bowl of soup on the table next to her bed, already cold, and Mooney on her lap, snoozing.

Sailor Moon: Darkness Within


Chapter 4:
Old Acquaintances

Makoto stood waiting outside her friend's classroom. It seemed that, once again, Usagi had earned herself a detention, and since getting that warning from that strange new senshi, she was more than reluctant to let Usagi be alone. What if one of the students in the detention with her - assuming there were any - were tainted? What if one of them were overcome by it and attacked her like she had been attacked two weeks ago with Ami? She wasn't going to let that happen. Not to their princess.

With a sigh of exasperation - wondering who was tainted all the time was tiring, and stressful - she crossed her arms behind her head and leaned against the wall as she waited. Brown bangs invaded her sight for a moment, before a puff from her mouth sent them scurrying out of the way. She was due for another trim, though that thought passed as quickly as it came.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, the door opened next to her, and a rather dejected looking blond with buns trailing golden tails on her head.

"Hey, it's about time, Usagi. You're going to be late for study group."

"Hey, Mako-chan!" Usagi seemed to cheer up almost immediately, though behind those blue eyes she could see that her friend still was irritated as they walked down the hall. "Mako-chan, have you seen the new girl around? She saved me and Ami from getting hurt last week, and I haven't had a chance to thank her yet."

Makoto had indeed seen the girl, but every time she went near, she got this eerie feeling, like something wasn't right. She was glad that she wasn't the only tall girl in school with a bad reputation - warranted or not - but those green eyes seemed to hold more sadness than was humanly possible. She had seen them somewhere, but she couldn't quite place it.

"I have, but I don't think it's safe to be around her."

"Why not?" Usagi said, almost defensively. She always was the one to adopt friends from the loneliest students. She herself was one of them.

"Something gives me a bad feeling about her, and you know how I am about that."

"Come on, Mako. It's probably just her reputation. The poor girl looks so lonely! And she still deserves thanks."

Well, that much was true. She should probably thank the girl herself, but she didn't like it. Something wasn't right about her.

"All right..." Makoto said, finally caving in to the unspoken demand by Usagi. She knew that look in her friend's eyes. She wouldn't give up no matter what, with that look. "But at least take me with you. Better make that me and Rei at least. It wouldn't hurt to have Ami and Minako, too."

"Jeez, ever since that warning you guys have been keeping me boxed in!"

"We just don't want you to end up like those poor saps that end up they way they end up. You're too important for that, miss-Neo-Queen-Serenity-in-training."

Suddenly, Makoto heard a rather loud argument from Usagi's poor, deprived stomach. It wasn't surprising - Usagi was late every day like clock work, and almost every day, in her rush to get to school, she forgot lunch. Makoto had taken to packing an extra lunch every day, just in case, and almost every day she was glad that she did. Before her friend could say a word, she pulled an extra bento box from her bag and handed it to Usagi, who took to it with enthusiasm.

By this time, the teenage duo was a couple of blocks down the street from the school, heading towards the Shikawa shrine. Strangely, ahead she saw a young woman with raven black hair, held back into an intricate braid with a black ribbon. Only one person she knew of wore their hair like that, and just as she thought, the girl wore the same uniform as them. Makoto would have kept silent about it - Usagi seemed to busy eating on the way to notice, and she didn't want Usagi around this girl - but it seemed that Usagi was paying more attention than she had thought.

"Hey! Outai!" Usagi called out and ran off before Makoto could catch her. With no other choice, she followed her friend.

Outai hadn't seemed to notice them at first. It took Usagi calling her name three times before she realized what was going on, and even then Usagi was close enough to tug on her braid, if she wanted. The girl looked at them, not quite a glare, but definitely not a smile either.

"Can I help you with something?" the girl said, her voice not exactly friendly, but not challenging either. And of course there was that uneasy feeling Makoto got from her.

"I didn't have a chance to thank you yet." Usagi said, "You kept me and Ami from getting hurt last week. Thank you!"

An odd look came across the girl's face. It was mostly surprise, but there was something else Makoto couldn't quite pin down.

"You...are welcome."

"This is my friend, Mako-chan. She's the worlds best cook! We're going over to my friend Rei's to study. Do you want to come with us?"

This time the look was pure shock, though well hidden. It shouldn't be surprising, that shock in her eyes, considering she never talked to anyone and no one went near her. Makoto almost felt pity for the girl - she had been in the girl's shoes before meeting Usagi, and if anyone could befriend her, it would be Usagi. Still, there was that feeling...

"Your offer is kind, but..."

Before the girl could finish, Usagi took her by the arm and began to drag her towards the shrine. In her stupor, the girl did not fight it.

However, they no sooner went three blocks, when Outai suddenly wrenched her arm free of Usagi's grasp and shoved her aside. Before Makoto could jump to her friend's defense, the girl rounded on her with a spinning kick that nearly connected with her head. Fortunately, she had managed to dodge the kick, and was about to counter when she noticed a young woman in the same uniform as her, sprawled on the ground as though she had lost balance and fallen. She was quickly back on her feet, and Makoto suddenly realized that the girl who had fallen made her feel uneasy, more so than Outai did. The girl turned, and lunged for her again.

This time Makoto didn't dodge. Or rather, she did, but not completely. As the girl's clawed hand flew past her face by a few centimeters, she caught the girl's wrist and threw her over her shoulder. She landed on her back, but didn't stay down for long. The worst part was, when Makoto had taken her wrist, she had felt something dark and foul, like putrid oil oozing into her very soul. It was very discomforting. She had to get out of sight so she could transform.

As if reading her thoughts, she felt someone push her aside, just as the girl was lunging at her again, and she went flying into some bushes that were nearby. She looked up in time to see Outai standing, staring at her as if to make sure she was okay, then running off, though to where Makoto couldn't say. Still, she was grateful, in a way.

"Jupiter Crystal Power, Make Up!"

What looked like a pink hilt and hand guard was in her hand, above her head. A green ball bearing a laurel crown and the astrological symbol for her guardian planet seemed to plant itself where the blade would be, the symbol spinning. Lightning rained down around her, surrounding her, until at last it disappeared, leaving her in a white bodice with a green skirt, short boots, and shoulder flaps, and pink ribbons with a green crystal on the knot of the bow on her chest, as well as a golden tiara with a green gem in the middle, nestled on her forehead.

Makoto - now Sailor Jupiter - ran back out into the fray, where she found Eternal Sailor Moon barely dodging the girl's attacks. And, she realized, there was a boy with her, wearing a uniform from another school. The two seemed to be stuck between attacking Usagi and each other. Both mad as loons.

Sailor Jupiter began spinning, hands above her head. It was a risk, especially so close to Usagi, but stopping them from touching her friend was worth the risk. If she had to wager, she would wager she was tainted already, given that slick of rancid oil on her soul, now accompanied by a quiet voice that seemed to try to convince her to start killing, maiming, destroying.

"Oak Evolution!"

What looked like razor sharp leaves fanned out around her, cutting up the two attackers. Thankfully, they had been in the way enough to protect Usagi from her attack, though they would be needing lots of stitches, if they ever recovered.

"Jupiter, stop! They're humans!"

Sailor Jupiter looked at her friend with frustration. What were they to do, if they couldn't even fight back? They couldn't keep depending on the new senshi to save their bacon. What if they were attacked, and the new scout couldn't get there in time? What were they supposed to do?

As if called by some greater power, a bright light exploded from the ground around them, shaped like an ancient alchemy symbol.

"Gates of Heaven!"

The already bright light seemed to increase a hundred fold, and somehow it washed away that rancid oil feeling, washed away that wicked voice in her head. The light washed it all away, leaving only a feeling of...peace. She liked the feeling, but not the woman it came from. The new scout gave her the heeby jeebies.

As the light died down, she realized the two assailants were on the ground, out like a light.

"Sailor Andromeda!" Eternal Sailor Moon exclaimed.

The new scout turned to leave before anything could be said, but Sailor Jupiter caught her up.

"Wait! We can't keep relying on you to be where we need you to be. What can we do to stop these people?"

The new scout turned to look at them, almost questioning whether she should answer or not.

"I said it before, the best thing to do is just run. You do not have the power that is needed to purify them, and murdering them would stain your souls beyond repair, making you victim to the taint more easily. You would hate yourself for it, anyway." she replied, the last said with such despair in her eyes that Jupiter nearly wept.

"Then how do we contact you?" Eternal Sailor Moon said. It was an intelligent question, for once.

The new scout seemed to take some time to consider. Usagi really did have a good point - if they were to run, then someone was still needed to purify them or they would hurt someone else. But she didn't seem comfortable with people contacting her at random. She likely didn't want to reveal who she really was, and that was understandable.

Suddenly, the new scout lowered her staff, pointing it at Usagi. Jupiter was ready to defend her right then and there, but she did not move.

"You...I can sense it in you. The power you have isn't to hurt, but to protect. Your purity protects you, but it can also make you vulnerable. Your power could heal them, if it were stronger. But I would not suggest it. The burden of healing is a heavy one, and I doubt you could shoulder the weight." the staff suddenly shifted, now pointing at Jupiter. "You. Your power is to protect this one. Your power is to harm your enemy, not to heal like she can. You can end their madness with death, but that is a burden you cannot carry either. I have seen others like you, as well. They hold the same power, but it is not enough.

Those that are tainted and overcome...they are becoming intelligent. They are starting to fight together. That's never happened before. But if they can fight together, so can you, all of you. That power together makes a wave that I can sense."

Before they could say or do anything else, Sailor Andromeda walked away, leaving them both bewildered.



"Usagi, you're late again!" Rei practically screamed. Rei always screamed at her. She was so mean! But she was also her closest friend, in spite of all their fighting.

"Hey, for once it wasn't her fault," Makoto said. "At least, not all of it."

"Yeah!" Usagi piped in, "I had detention again, and on the way here we were attacked."

"So it WAS your fault after all!" Rei said, this time very nearly condescending.

"Was not!"

"Was too!"

"Was not!" Usagi said, sticking her tongue out, and soon matched by Rei.

Abruptly, something came to mind, and Usagi sucked her tongue back in. After the fight, she had realized that Outai wasn't around, and had gone off to find her. She hadn't been far - she was on the ground in an alley, and had apparently been knocked out cold. A little shaking had her awake and insisting that she was fine, that she could walk, and would be on her way home. Only, the shrine was closer, and she still wanted to make friends with the poor girl.

"Everyone," she said, stepping aside so they could all see the girl behind her, raven hair in an intricate braid with a black ribbon, and beautiful emerald green eyes so full of sadness that they made Usagi want to cry. "this is Tabibito, Outai. She saved my butt last week, and again today."

"Hello." the girl said meekly, giving a respectful bow to everyone. "Please do not mind me. I would be on my way home now, but Miss Tsukino insisted that I come with her."

Usagi expected her friends to be friendly - they were all friendly people - and they were, but she didn't expect the expressions she saw on their faces. Rei was the worst of them, very nearly glaring, but they all looked...uncomfortable. She didn't understand it. The girl was nice enough, though quiet and sad, so why was there nearly hostility on their faces. Still, they all greeted her respectfully, each giving their thanks for protecting her.

"Geez, guys!" she said, once the girl left, insisting that she had to get home, "What was with that?! You guys were so mean to her, and she doesn't have any friends to talk to like I do! Can't you see she just needs a friend? She didn't even do anything to you!"

"Usagi," Rei started, "I don't like the feeling I get from that girl. I can't put my finger on it, but it's not a good feeling, and I don't think it's safe to be around her."

"You're such worry warts! If she was going to do anything, she would have by now."

"Usagi," this time it was Minako, golden locks tied back in a red bow, "this isn't the first time you've tried to befriend someone that was dangerous, or had another agenda. It's not the first time you've made a dangerous decision, and we want to keep you safe."

"Yeah, but all those times it came out all right. You sound like Haruka!"

"Usagi," it was Ami's turn this time, "we are your friends, and aside from being sworn to protect our princess, we want to protect our friend. I don't like the feeling I got from her either."

"For all you know, maybe having a friend will change that. She just needs a friend!"

"Then let someone else be her friend." Makoto said.

"No one else seems willing to go near her, not even you guys."

"Don't you think that's for a reason?" Rei said, her fiery temper long since showing. "They can probably sense it, too."

This time Usagi just huffed. They didn't seem to understand, no matter how many ways she put it. She got that same feeling from the girl, but she thought it was caused by whatever was making her so sad - likely loneliness. Her friends should know that feeling - before she met them, apparently no one wanted anything to do with them, either - yet they seemed to forget. She could understand them wanting to protect her, as she wanted to protect them, but they had no right to say who she could and could not be friends with.



Luna and Artemis walked away from the scouts once the arguing began. It was tiring to listen to, and they had better things to do than to listen to them bicker. Luna could understand both sides of the argument, but she didn't want to hear it.

As she and Artemis walked along, a black cat caught her eye. It had a golden crescent moon and star on it's forehead, and seemed to be walking along as if it owned the place. As far as she knew, only Artemis, Diana, and herself had any kind of mark on the head, and none with a star. Not only that, but she was the only black cat she knew with a mark. Something about that cat's eyes, though, struck a chord in her memory.

"Moonstar?!"

The cat turned to face them, bewilderment in it's face and blue eyes, which soon turned to recognition, and a warm smile.

"Hey, Luna! It's been forever! Artemis, how are you doing? It's been too long."

"If you're here, then Aurora..." Luna began, but couldn't bring herself to finish.

"She's alright. I was just out looking for her - she should have been home from school by now."

"I'm surprised you two survived." Artemis said, though not as friendly as Moonstar sounded. He always had been leery of Moonstar, probably thinking him a rival. Well, it was not unjustly earned - Moonstar had flirted with her a few times in the Moon Kingdom, but she had never given it any consideration. "Did anyone else survive?"

"Nah," Moonstar said, and sadness flashed in his friendly feline eyes. "Aurora and I are the only ones left."

"What about..." Luna began, but Moonstar cut her off. It wasn't something that was discussed much between them.

"It's safe. Aurora has it now. She's getting pretty good with it."

"So, she has practice?" Artemis said.

"Yeah, she kind of has to. Hey, I have to get going now if I'm going to find her. She could be on her way home already. It's good seeing you guys! We can catch up later."

Before they could say anything, the black cat ran off.

Sailor Moon: Darkness Within


Chapter 5:
Chibi Moon in Trouble

A little girl ran down the hall, terrified. Pink hair done up in buns that resembled rabbit ears with tails bobbed with each step, and red eyes were wide with horror. What had happened to her friends? Why were they all fighting each other? She had seen the like once before, and had hoped never to see it again. Yet here it was, happening all over again, and this time she didn't have Sailor Moon to protect her.

The little girl - by the name of Tsukino, Usagi; also known as 'Chibiusa' - darted into an abandoned classroom and closed the door behind her quickly. Moments later someone ran past, leaving a mere shadow on the door window, an inhuman growl coming from their throat. Chibiusa ducked behind a standing anatomical figure of the human body, and recalled how the day had gone, trying to figure out what had gone wrong and why.

It had started out normal: she had come back to the twentieth century for more training with Sailor Moon a few weeks ago, and this morning had come to school, like any other little girl that looked the age she appeared to be. Though she was much older than any normal person, she looked like she was a first grade student, and thus attended as one. She had friends in this school, Momo being one of her greatest friends since Hotaru had disappeared again.

The school day went like any other - she came to school on time, unlike Usagi, who was always late; and she had been paying attention in class as the teacher was going about the math lesson. In the middle of the lesson, she heard a commotion from the class next door, but had ignored it. Pretty soon it got so loud that the teacher had to leave the classroom to see what was going on.

When the teacher didn't return, some of the students went to check on the teacher, frightened. What could be taking the teacher so long? What was going on? Only one student returned, and that student was...different. In appearances they were the same, but there was such rage and hatred in their eyes, on their face, that Chibiusa had ducked under her desk, and none too soon.

The student that came in attacked another student, who hit their head so hard that they did not wake up. There was a pool of blood on the floor where the head had split open. Then everything went into chaos.

After that, all she remembered was running, watching as students who fled in terror suddenly turned and attacked other students. She had seen one teacher on the floor, bleeding and unconscious, and would have helped, but another mad student was nearby and chased her away. Another teacher had been mad and tried to attack her.

All this running had tired Chibiusa out, and frankly it was making her angry. Why it should make her angry, she couldn't understand, but she was. Raising her transformed locket into the air, she declared the words that would transform her into Sailor Chibi Moon.

"Moon Crisis Power Make Up!"

Pink light and hearts surrounded her. Without Sailor Moon, it wasn't the same, but it would have to do. And without the help of Pegasus, her bell was useless, so she would have to go back to her Pink Sugar stick. Then again, she didn't want to hurt her friends, so perhaps it wasn't all bad. Either way, the hearts surrounded her until her blue uniform became a snug white bodice with a pink shoulder flap and white and pink skirt, with pink boots, and a red gem with a white thing on top of it covering her buns. The pink ribbon on the back of her skirt was long.

The next order of business was, of course, to call for help. She couldn't handle this on her own, and she knew it. She was going to need Sailor Moon and her friends to help, only she wasn't sure they could do anything either. They were all human, not monsters like what had sometimes happened before, and some of the Sailor Scout's attacks could kill them. Sailor Moon could heal them, though, she was sure of it.

Fortunately, Luna P followed her everywhere, and now was the time she took it in hand and pushed the button that was supposed to be the nose of the floating, cat-head shaped ball. Oddly, it looked kind of like Luna.

"Everyone, I need help. The kids here have all gone crazy and I'm stuck!" she told the ball, who's yellow eyes had become a screen to show her friends.

"We'll be there in a bit." came Usagi's voice, though a bit distorted, over the speaker that was hidden in the mouth of the cat's face.

All she had to do now was wait. Wait, and hope that none of the students found her. She wasn't sure what she could do without hurting them, but she would try. Cautiously, she stepped out of the classroom and into the hallway.

Sailor Chibi Moon had just made it out the front door of the school, into what she knew was a war zone, but it was the only way out. Sure enough, no fewer than five students saw her, and came running at her.

They were too close for her to run anywhere, and somehow a few had sneaked behind her to block the doorway. She took her stick in hand, but she knew she didn't have time to do anything, even if it would work, and it only worked about half the time, and always moments late when it did.

Suddenly, someone was holding her close and running. Sailor Chibi Moon was in shock. One moment she was being attacked, and the next someone was holding her and running. Who was it? For a moment she thought of her dear friend from the future, Sailor Pluto, guardian of Time.

Though Sailor Chibi Moon could not see where they were going - her face had been pressed to the person's shoulder protectively - they soon came to a stop, and the person set her down in what she realized was a storage closet with brooms and mops in the corner.

"Puu!" Chibiusa said as she looked up. It was not Sailor Pluto.

The woman that stood before her had raven black hair, held back in an intricate braid held with a black ribbon. She wore a sailor uniform with a gold skirt and cape, a black under skirt and boots and ribbon, and a golden crescent moon and star on the knot of her bow. Her tiara had a crescent moon and star on it, too, and she held a long staff like Sailor Pluto did, but it was just a staff with a crescent moon lantern on it, not shaped like a key with a garnet at the top.

"Who are you?" she asked the new Sailor Scout.

"Stay here, little one. Don't move." she said as she began to close the door. There was something near panic in her voice, but by the look of her, Sailor Chibi Moon would not have called it panic. Grim resolve was more like it.

"I can fight too!" she said defiantly, pushing her way out of the closet before the door could be shut.

The woman looked at her with green eyes that looked so sad, so full of pain, that Sailor Chibi Moon wanted to cry. Behind it, though, behind all of that pain and sadness, burried so deep that she was surprised she saw it at all, was something else. It was...kindness. And the look on her face very nearly looked like concern. The woman knelt down to eye level with her, now speaking as an adult to an adult, rather than an adult to a child as she had a moment before.

"I know. But in this fight, they play dirty. If they touch you, you could become like them. The last thing we want is for them to touch someone as strong as you, little one, because then you would be on their side."

"Then I won't let them touch me." she said stubbornly.

Suddenly, she heard coherent voices calling for her from outside.

"Chibi Moon!"

"Chibi!"

The desperation in that voice made it Usagi. As annoying as she was, she was very protective of Chibiusa, and really did seem to care.

"Those must be your friends." the new scout said as she stood up. "It would be too bad if you couldn't make it to them safely. Will you accept my help?"

Chibiusa merely nodded and ran off, back towards the entrance to the school. By the time they made it out, though, the new scout had to knock down two teachers, and Chibiusa had stopped counting after ten students went down to her lightning fast staff.

Outside, Sailor Moon was waiting, with the other inner scouts. She had no idea where Uranus, Neptune and Pluto were, but she wished they were here, too. Unfortunately, the scouts were all surrounded by crazed students.

"Everyone!" she called out to them, drawing the eye of half the students fighting out in the yard, each trying to kill each other, "Don't let them touch you, or you'll be like them too!"

Suddenly, three students lunged at her, but were quickly knocked down by the new scout, who seemed to be looking at her, then at Sailor Moon, and back again. She seemed to be considering something deeply. Still, the students did not stop. More lunged at her, but instead of knocking them down, the new scout began to spin.

As the new scout began to spin, the lantern on her staff glowed, leaving streaks of light as it went around her, gradually raising. When it was above her head - she counted three passes, and three streaks - the streaks came together in a glowing dome.

"Galactic Halo!"

The dome surrounded her, and a similar surrounded the scouts, seemingly made of light. Students bounced off it like rubber balls as they tried to attack.

"You are Sailor Chibi Moon, correct?" the woman said, in a completely conversational tone. Chibiusa nodded. "I am Sailor Andromeda. None of your friends have the power to fight without killing, except you and Sailor Moon. Sailor Moon's power is insufficient, as is yours. But..."

Sailor Andromeda hesitated. She shook her head, as though arguing with herself inside, before continuing.

"If you see something like this again, you run away as fast as you can. Don't call your friends, either, even if you're stuck, because they cannot do anything about it, and having Sailor Moon tainted like them would mean the end of the world. Same goes for you, for that matter. If you get into trouble, you call me. You have the power to call me without a device."

For some reason, at the last, she placed a finger where she knew her own crescent symbol appeared on her forehead whenever she got really upset or frightened and cried. It had marked her out when the Dark Moon Kingdom came to the past to hunt her down, and she had cursed that mark then, but it seemed it would be useful now.

"Stay close to Sailor Moon. Protect her, and yourself. Most of all, stay away from the tainted."

Something washed over Sailor Andromeda as she spoke, a grim determination she had only seen when Sailor Moon was fighting an enemy she was sure she could not win against. Only, she seemed sure she would win, but with dire consequences. Without word or preamble, she began to spin again, her staff glowing.

"Gates of Heaven!"

The ground beneath them began to glow in a pattern Chibi Moon did not recognize. It was a circle, with different symbols on it she had never seen before, and it seemed to explode with light once summoned. The light seemed to penetrate her, penetrate everything, washing away an oily filth she had not noticed on herself before the spell was cast. What it left behind was a sense of peace and warmth, like everything would be okay. The anger she felt at having to run away was washed away as well.

As the light died down, students and teachers alike fell in unconscious heaps. Were they still alive? what had happened to them? Chibi Moon didn't understand it, and feared for their lives. Suddenly, she realized the domes were gone.

"What did you do to my friends?!" she nearly screamed at the new scout. Strangely, she seemed to have a sad smile on her face, and it looked like she hadn't smiled in her entire life before then, like she didn't know how.

"They are okay," she said, and seemed a bit surprised. "They will all recover. Two or three of the students and one teacher will have some behavioral changes, but they will otherwise be the same. I was not too late."

"Sailor Moon," Chibiusa said, calmer now that her friends would be okay, though still frightened for the rest, "there's some that are injured in there."

The new scout was silent again, and again her eyes were distant, as though arguing with herself again. Was she still sane? Something felt...not right about her. She felt like those students that had attacked her. Finally, she nodded, this time addressing the other scouts.

"If they are alive, I can heal them. It'll be a big spell, but..."

"Are you sure they are okay?" Sailor Mercury interjected, "The others that you 'healed' like that, they all became vegetables, or were so badly changed that no one knew them any more and were very nearly vegetables themselves."

"All but three will be as though nothing happened. Those three will have minor changes about them, but they retain their intelligence. I guess the best thing about children is how pure and resilient they are. The purest hearts are overcome the fastest, but have the highest chance of recovery, if I can reach them in time. And children bounce back so easily, it should be no surprise that they will be just fine. They probably won't even remember what happened. If you will all bring the injured to me, I have another spell to cast."

There were six of them - seven, counting Chibi Moon, but she lacked the physical strength to drag anyone anywhere - the Sailor Scouts, and Tuxedo Mask, who she had not noticed until a moment ago, but had helped in searching for bodies. Chibi Moon stayed with the new scout, though, wondering what was going on in her head, what had just happened.

"Why did they all go crazy like that?" she asked.

"Sailor Moon can tell you. I've explained it to them already." she said, as though trying to make up for all the talking she did earlier. Apparently, she was not used to talking so much, and was making up for all she did say.

"Are you good, or bad?"

"I guess that is a matter of opinion." she replied, short again.

"Why did you call me 'little one'? I'm not little!"

The woman's gaze startled her. The pain was still there, the sadness in full force, but the concern was there again, and what looked like puzzlement.

"I...don't know. You look so little, but you're so grown up inside. What shall I call you, then?"

"You can call me Small Lady." Chibi Moon wasn't about to give her real name to this woman, not yet. She had better training than that.

The new scout merely nodded.

"Very well. You did well, Small Lady."

Chibiusa beamed under the complement, though she couldn't explain why. This wasn't her mother, or even a friend, though much like her mother she wanted to befriend this person. Her eyes were so sad...What had happened to her to make her eyes so sad, and so full of pain?

Moments later, the scouts returned, three of them carrying small bodies. Tuxedo Mask was carrying one of the teachers on his back. Before she could say anything else, they were laid on the ground carefully, some still bleeding. Sailor Andromeda raised her staff in the air, the lantern glowing again.

"Moon Light!"

The lantern on her staff exploded with light, and before her eyes the injuries on the students and teacher faded into nothing, as though they had never happened. Some remained unconscious, but one or two began to wake up.

"What happened to the others?" Chibi Moon asked. She had seen more than that get injured, and the student who was in her class that got injured was not among those brought out.

The sadness in Usagi's eyes, and the shake of her head, avoiding Chibi Moon's gaze, should have been a clue, but she was in shock. What happened to the others?

"I'm sorry, Chibi Moon." Sailor Venus said, kneeling and placing a hand on her shoulder. Her eyes were just as sad. "They didn't make it. Their injuries were too great, and we didn't get to them on time."

"But that's impossible!" she said, and she felt tears welling in her eyes. "They were hurt, but they can't be-! They can't-!" she couldn't finish the sentence.

Strangely, the new scout bent down and gave her a hug. It seemed the sadness in her eyes overwhelmed all else, even the kindness, and this time she did cry. Tears spilled down her face and onto the new scout's uniform, but she could not stop them, and she could not stop the wails of pain that escaped her throat, either. She felt the woman pick her up, as she would a child she was trying to comfort, and wanted to push her away - it was her fault! She should have gotten here sooner! - but she could not even do that, and was soon transferred into another person's arms. By the smell and the feel of the fabric on her skin, she would say Usagi, though she would have preferred Tuxedo Mask.

"I am sorry." Sailor Andromeda said, and she seemed to address everyone, "I should have been here sooner. I am glad the rest of them are okay, but those who didn't make it are sins added to the long list I already have. It is the price I must pay for what I do."

"Is that why you won't let us help?" Sailor Chibi Moon heard Sailor Moon asking.

"It is a price too great for anyone. You don't have the power to do what I do, so you are useless to me."

The last sounded hard, but somehow forced, like she was trying to push them away. Why would she do that? Things went silent after that, and when she finally calmed down, Chibiusa found the woman gone. Everyone later explained that she had left, and in a way she was glad. That woman had a wrong feel about her, and some of her friends had died because she was too late.



Walking back into her apartment, Outai shut the door behind her, heaving a heavy sigh, and locked it. She leaned her back against the door, suddenly feeling weak, but willed herself to walk over to the couch. She very nearly fell onto the couch as it was, before laying down on the cushions.

"You sure seem to be talking a lot." a rough, but playful voice suddenly said. "Normally you wouldn't have explained so much."

A small black cat jumped up on her stomach, a golden crescent moon and star on his forehead. It was Moonstar, whom she called Mooney. He was her guardian, and her only friend.

"I don't know why I did that. I should have kept my mouth shut."

"Hey, why don't you let them help you? Individually they don't have the power, but together they are stronger than you. They can help."

"I can't ask them to pay that kind of price. The little one, Chibi Moon, she cried because her friends died. Because I got there too late. And her friends eyes...It was my fault and they knew it. I failed and they knew it."

"You saved everyone else, Outai. You can't always save them. People are going to die no matter how hard you try, but you keep on trying to save more lives than those that are lost in your absence. Take care of the living. It's the only thing you can do. Anyway, you can't be everywhere at once, so let them help. You could save more lives like that."

"I still cannot ask it. Sailor Moon and Sailor Chibi Moon are so pure...purer than I've ever seen in a person. I can't risk them being tainted, or we all die, and asking them to pay the price that I pay would destroy them. Their own kindness would destroy them, because they wouldn't be able to kill someone where it's necessary."

"Neither can you. That's why you heal them, when you know they will only be a vegetable after that. It's pretty cruel, really, to them and their families."

"I know. I know they are better off dead when I can only leave them a vegetable, but I cannot bring myself to kill them."

All this talk was giving her a throbbing headache. She wasn't used to talking so much, though she vaguely recalled being rather friendly and outgoing before she met Mooney and found out she was Sailor Andromeda. It was more of a memory of a memory, though, vague and foggy as though it had been a dream. The voice of the taint that stained her soul screamed in her head again, but this time she couldn't push it aside. It was probably the headache. She began to rub her temples.

"Another headache?" Mooney asked, his blue eyes full of concern.

"Yeah."

"Holy can fix those headaches."

"I'd rather take pain killers for it. Holy is a nuisance."

"Says the pot to the kettle." Mooney muttered, and she glared at him. "You must have pushed yourself too hard today. What did you do?"

"It was a grade school, and everyone was tainted, so Gates of Heaven was bigger. I also had to put up some barriers around those useless scouts, and then used Moon Light on those who were injured and survived."

"You know this is what happens when you push yourself that hard. I'm surprised you made it home. Look, I'm worried about you, Aurora," she glared at him for the useless name, but he continued before she could call him down for it, "you need some friends, and Usagi is trying. Let her be your friend."

"I'd rather not. She's about as pure as Sailor Moon, and though I don't spread the taint myself, I do attract it. Besides, I can tell her friends all hate me, or at the very least don't want me around, so why bother?"

"For your morale. You won't survive like this. You won't even be able to do what you really need to do in the end like this."

"I can't even do what I need to do now. I don't have the power for it. I'm fighting a futile battle, but giving up is worse than fighting and killing."

"Let those other scouts help you, then. Together, you can do it."

And it was back to this again. Let them help you. Make friends. He was beginning to sound like a broken record, and it was annoying. Worse, her head was hurting more. It was making her sick to her stomach, and any little sound or bit of light was making it worse. The voice was screaming, too. She sat up, then stood, and though she tried to be slow about it, she grew very dizzy from it. The room spun, and darkness closed in before she could catch herself.

Sailor Moon: Darkness Within


Chapter 6:
Minako Tainted!

hate. Kill. DESTROY.

Minako rubbed her temples surreptitiously. It didn't hurt so much as it felt...weird. In fact, she had felt strangely since yesterday, when a cute boy she met tapped her on the shoulder. For some reason, when he did that, she felt this rancid slick of something putrid sliding off of him and into her, staining her soul. It made her nauseated just thinking about it.

She had been told by her friends what the taint was like, and told by Sailor Andromeda what it did and to avoid it, but this had been an accident. He hadn't looked crazy. He looked normal, and gave a normal smile to her when she let him borrow a pencil, which he never returned. But that rancid feeling...

She knew she should do something about it. Usagi could probably purify her, but she wasn't sure if she had the power. Andromeda could for sure, but she didn't want to risk becoming a vegetable. Sure, she had been told that was from the taint staying too long before being purified, but she still thought it was the purifying itself that did that, and she didn't want that. So, she kept quiet, pretending all was normal. She didn't want to worry her friends, anyway.

"Are you okay, Minako?" Usagi said, and irritation flashed through her.

That was something new, too. Sure, Usagi could be annoying sometimes, but it seemed that today EVERYTHING was irritating. The sun was bright in the sky, and that irritated her. The school bell irritated her. Her class mates irritated her. EVERYTHING irritated her, and right now hearing Usagi's voice, the concern in it, made her angry. However, she had long since learned how to wear a good mask.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm just having a little trouble with this problem."

Minako looked around her. Once again, they were in Rei's bedroom, studying. Rei was improving, though her ribs were still sore - they would be for a while. Everyone looked at her strangely, or at least that was how it seemed to her. Why were they looking at her like that? What were they thinking about her? Were they thinking she had lost her mind? Did they know she was tainted?

Even worse, in the corner all by herself, was Outai, a new girl from Usagi's school. Or usually she was. Today she wasn't with the study group, and apparently hadn't been at school, either. She wasn't very social - she had hardly said five words to any of them, let alone at one time. Usagi insisted on dragging her over, even though everyone disliked the girl, including herself.

She had a strange feeling about her, that something wasn't right, and her eyes looked so sad it made her want to cry. Still, Usagi ignored their warnings, arguing that she needed a friend, which she supposed was true.

Every time Usagi dragged her over, though, she spent the entire time by herself, not saying anything to anyone. She was not as smart as Ami, but was close, and when Ami was too busy helping someone, she might speak up to point out a simple thing someone else had missed in a problem that would solve the whole problem. That was as much as she participated, before going back to her own studies quietly. She was completely useless, Minako thought, and rude. She was always glaring at the lot of them, especially Usagi.

Something must have shown on her face, because the worry on her friend's faces grew, and Usagi reached out, as if to put a hand on her shoulder.

"Minako, are you sure--?" Usagi said, and she lost it.

"Of course I'm sure!" she shouted at her friend, standing so suddenly that it upset the table she had been sitting under, tossing books and papers on the floor. "Why do you insist on asking? You're so annoying, Usagi!"

This time Rei and Makoto were glaring at her, and Ami and Usagi just looked confused. Usagi more hurt than confused.

"We all know she's annoying," Rei said, barely containing her own anger. Rei had always been fiery. "But that's no reason to be rude to her! She was just worried about you!"

"Yeah, Mina!" Makoto followed up, "What's gotten into you? You're not normally like this!"

"Shut up!" she exploded, "Shut up, all of you! I've seen you glaring at me! You probably only tolerate me because I'm Sai..." she paused for a moment. In spite of her rage, she knew enough not to announce to Outai that she was Sailor Venus. "..ving some cake for a later study time! I bet you'd all jump me if my back was turned!"

Now her friends looked hurt. How DARE they look hurt?! They had no right! It was their fault! Suddenly, the world went red with rage, then black.



Setsuna, Haruka, Michiru, and Hotaru had been walking together towards the Shikawa shrine. They were going to meet up with Usagi and her friends, to discuss this new problem. They had enjoyed their two years of peace, and now this new problem annoyed them, as well as worrying them.

From what she had heard from Small Lady, there was a new scout on top of all this, one who healed those who suddenly went mad and attacked people randomly, but it left them in a vegetative state, or left them completely different people. It seemed that the inner scouts had more encounters with this mysterious new scout, as well as what they called the 'tainted', than they had, and had more information on it. At least they took the time to explain to the outer senshi what this Sailor Andromeda said.

They were a few blocks away from the shrine yet, but suddenly a burst of energy lit up the afternoon sky. What seemed like a solid beam of light, leaving everything around it dim by comparison, pointed directly to the shrine. Setsuna knew that signal, and suspected that Hotaru did as well. She wasn't sure about Haruka or Michiru, though. Small Lady had learned to control that before they had shown up.

"Small Lady is in trouble!" she said, taking her transformation pen from the pocket of her pale pink coat, part of a business suit that had a matching skirt. She knew her dark eyes were grim. She HATED for Small Lady to come to any sort of trouble. Apparently, the others knew what that meant, because theirs were out just as quickly as hers.

"Pluto Planet Power Make Up!"

"Uranus Planet Power Make Up!"

"Neptune Planet Power Make Up!"

"Saturn Planet Power Make Up!"

Each of the outer senshi transformed, Setsuna herself surrounded by a circle of light that later became her own uniform, with a dark skirt and bows and shoulder flap, and a garnet stone on the knot of her bow, as well as red earrings and her garnet rod - a long rod with projections that resembled that of a skeleton key at the bottom, and her own garnet talisman at the top. Uranus was in dark blue and yellow, Neptune in dark blue and medium blue, and Saturn in purple and dark blue, with a wicked looking glaive in her hands.

The four of them ran the remainder of the distance to the shrine. They had expected maybe monsters, or maybe even some of these 'tainted' they were told about. What they didn't expect was Minako strangling Usagi, for reasons completely beyond them. Small Lady was in the corner, crying and begging Minako to stop, but Minako paid about as much attention as she did to a fly a mile away.

"Minako! What is the meaning of this!" she said, and put a hand on the girl's shoulder to pull her off.

Setsuna couldn't say exactly what it was she felt, but whatever it was, it was twisted and evil, a slick of rancid oil staining her soul. It made her feel sick. Still, she did not stop. However, trying to pull Minako off of Usagi was like trying to push a mountain a mile. She wouldn't budge, and Usagi's lips were starting to turn blue.

Minako finally seemed to realize that someone was touching her, because she flung Setsuna aside so forcefully that she hit the wall. How had Minako gained so much strength? What in the name of Father Time was going on?

Before Setsuna could stand, she realized that Michiru and Haruka were both trying to pull Minako off of Usagi. It took a few moments, but finally Haruka managed to twist Minako's arm behind her back and pull her away, with her free arm around the girl's neck.

"Minako..." Usagi rasped, a bruise forming around her neck where Minako's hands had been. "Minako...is...tainted."

Anything else she had tried to say was engulfed in a coughing fit, and the rest of the inner senshi were surrounding her protectively. Before anyone could say or do anything else, though, a bright light that looked like an alchemy circle she had seen in a book once - with some minor differences - suddenly appeared on the floor beneath all of them, and a strange voice she had never heard before, so full of pain that she very nearly winced, spoke.

"Gates of Heaven!"

The pattern of light exploded, filling everything in it full of light, and peace. That rancid oil feeling she had seemed to be washed away, like a flood washing away a loose branch, leaving behind calming and relief. She hadn't realized how tense she had been until her shoulders loosened at the feeling of that filth being washed away. When she looked up, Minako was unconscious on the floor.

Setsuna turned, and she wasn't alone. Everyone, even Haruka and Hotaru, was looking in the same direction, the direction the voice had come from. What she saw was a sailor scout in gold and black - gold shoulder flap and skirt, black boots, underskirt and bows, and a gold crescent moon and star on the knot of her bow, as well as her tiara - with jet black hair tied with a black ribbon in an intricate braid, holding a tall staff with what looked like a crescent moon lantern. Her snowy gloves had black rings at the top, and her shoulder pads were filmy and black. Her green eyes were so full of pain and sadness, that she very nearly cried. By her side was a small black cat, with the same crescent moon and star on it's forehead. Oddly, it looked a little like Luna.

"Who are you, and what did you do to Minako?" she demanded.

"I am Sailor Andromeda. The girl's name is Minako? She will recover completely, but she will have a few holes in her memory, small and few, but don't be surprised if she doesn't recall something she should. That will be the only difference."

"Why should we trust you?" Uranus asked. She was probably the least trusting of all of them, though for this scout, Setsuna couldn't blame her. Something seemed...off about this new scout. She had almost the same feeling that Minako did a moment ago, but perhaps more controlled.

"Because I'm the only hope this world has of surviving. No, not just me. You four are senshi, too. You fight to defend, too. I'll tell you the same thing I told the other senshi I've seen - stay out of this fight. If you find someone who is tainted, run the other way. If they touch you, you will be tainted too, and senshi cannot afford to become tainted. The world cannot afford it."

"We can fight it." Saturn said, grim determination all over her face.

"No, you cannot. Those tainted are not monsters. They are not lost, not completely. They are human, no matter what they are doing. Can you bring yourself to kill them, when purifying them might save them?"

Heavy silence followed. If these 'tainted' were not monsters, if they were still humans, if healing them could save them...For once, Setsuna felt useless. She hated that feeling. And she also knew how the inner senshi felt when the Death Busters were stealing pure hearts, and she, Haruka, and Michiru forbade them from helping with the hunt.

"Mina..." Usagi said, breaking the silence. Her voice was still hoarse, and probably would be for a while, but at least she had stopped coughing. Setsuna turned to see what was going on this time, and found Usagi shaking her blond friend. "Wake up, Mina!"

When Setsuna turned to face the new scout, she was gone.



Blue eyes peered open, though they seemed heavy. Funny, she didn't remember falling asleep. Why had she fallen asleep, anyway? The last thing she remembered was studying with her friends. Why would she fall asleep during study group? Rei would have a fit!

Minako opened her eyes, and above her was Usagi's face, blue eyes full of tears - some shed, some not yet fallen - and for some reason there was a bruise around her neck. Where had that come from? It was too large for a bite mark, and frankly it looked like the imprint of hands. When she found out who had touched Usagi like that, she was going to shed blood.

"I'm so glad!" Usagi said, her voice strangely hoarse, as she threw her arms around Minako, still weeping.

"What's going on, you guys? Usagi, what happened to your neck?!"

Everyone looked at her strangely, like they had never seen her before. Rei looked angry, Ami concerned, and Makoto just plain confused. What had she missed?

"Someone attacked me," she could hear Usagi's voice, though barely, from her shoulder, where Usagi was still crying, "someone tainted."

"Where was I during all of this?" Minako asked. She didn't remember any of that.

"You were...asleep." Usagi rasped, "She knocked you out. It's okay, though. Chibiusa freaked, and that brought in Setsuna, Haruka, Michiru, and Hotaru. They pulled her off me, and Andromeda showed up and purified her."

For that matter, Chibiusa was nowhere in sight. She had probably gone off to talk to Hotaru, since Hotaru had been her closest friend, before she disappeared again. She had a bad habit of doing that, though she was really a good girl.

"Are you okay, Usagi? You probably shouldn't go to school looking like that. In fact, your parents are going to freak as it is. You should really be in the hospital."

"I'm okay. My throat just hurts a little."

Why did Rei, Makoto, and Ami look like they were about to cry, too? Well, maybe it was because Usagi had been strangled. She would cry at that, too, and frankly the thought of it brought tears to her eyes. But there was something behind their eyes, too, like there was something missing in Usagi's story that they didn't want to tell. Well, that was fine. She wouldn't push it.



Outai arrived back in her apartment, though by the time she had reached the steps leading up to it she was barely able to walk, let alone keep from falling down the stairs on her way up. Her head throbbed like mad, and frankly she wasn't supposed to be out of bed. However, that beacon of light had lured her out of her sick bed, and she knew it was that Sailor Chibi Moon she had met the other day, the one she had told to signal her if someone tainted showed up. She hadn't seen the girl when she arrived, but there were so many crowded into that little room that she was likely hiding behind one of them.

That brought up another thought: how many senshi were there? So far, she had counted ten, including the four new senshi, but not including herself. Well, that was a thought for another time. Right now, she was far too exhausted, her head pounded enough to make a drummer jealous, and the room was spinning so badly that she could hardly stand. She also suddenly realized that Mooney was standing in front of her, his pretty blue eyes full of concern.

He was in his human form, which he used so rarely that she often forgot he wasn't just a normal cat. In his human form, he had glossy black hair that was often messy, beautiful blue eyes, and quite a handsome face, or so she thought. He wore a baggy white t-shirt, and baggy blue jeans as usual, silky black ears stuck up from his hair and were now twitching, as well as a silky black tail behind him that was lashing. He wasn't smiling, and that was rare for him.

"What are you doing out of bed?" he said, his rough, normally playful voice now full of concern, and a hint of anger.

"You saw the beacon as well as I did." she said, leaning against the door for balance, though she tried to make it look like she was leaning only because she wanted to, and not because she would otherwise fall down. "If I hadn't gone, Usagi would have been dead by Minako's hand."

"I thought you didn't like any of them." he said, and this time she could tell he was trying to tease her. He couldn't stay mad long - he was too playful for that.

"I don't. But I'd rather not see someone die, much less by the hand of their own friend. I'm going to get dinner started."

"No, you're going back to bed." he said, and she glared at him, but he didn't move, and the hallway was too narrow for her to go around him.

"Move, Mooney."

"If you can make it to the kitchen without falling down - which I doubt you can do right now - then you can make dinner." he said, finally stepping out of the way.

Outai stepped forward...and promptly found herself on the floor. She didn't remember falling. At least the floor was nice and cool on her face. Before she could stand up, though, Mooney had her in his arms, carrying her like a weak kitten. She wasn't sure she was much stronger than that, though she still protested. He paid as much attention to her protests as he did to the fact that he was breathing, which is to say, not at all. In short order he had her tucked in bed up to her chin, a cold cloth on her forehead, and a bowl of soup on her night stand that she wasn't sure her stomach could handle at the moment, though he did watch her to make sure she ate it.

Sailor Moon: Darkness Within


Chapter 7:
Uranus Gone Wild!

hate. Kill. DESTROY.

Haruka rubbed her temples subconsciously, though her head did not hurt. It was that damned voice in her head. It had never been there before, then suddenly started up that morning, out of no where. She attributed the thoughts to her recent agitation with Usagi, though Usagi never seemed to run out of ways to agitate her. She was always getting into trouble, and making friends with trouble makers.

Her most recent trouble with the girl, though, was how she seemed to once again ignore all warnings from her friends - including her closest friends, who never seemed to have a problem with her making friends, until now - about her attempt at a friendship with a girl from school. They had said how uneasy they felt around the girl, though the girl had done nothing to earn it. Haruka had met this girl, and felt uneasy around her as well, though there should be no reason why. She was polite, quick on her feet, and ready to defend even a stranger.

Part of her said that no one that good-seeming could be trusted - they were up to something, or after something. However, there was also Usagi, who made friends with anyone, was horrible with cooking and school work, a general klutz, but with such a good heart she had been attacked for it multiple times. There was a possibility this girl was like that as well, though far from social. She seemed very shy, really.

"Does your head hurt?" a voice said, breaking through her thoughts.

Haruka looked up to see Michiru standing over her, but bent down so their eyes were level. Her wavy blue hair glistened in the sunlight, and her blue eyes peered into Haruka's own blue eyes with concern. She couldn't help but smile at her beautiful partner.

"Not really. Hey, are you done practicing? I could go for some lunch."

Michiru straightened, still looking at her, and a flash of irritation - teetering on outright anger - bubbled up. She said she was okay, so why was Michiru looking at her like that? Quickly, she stamped out the irritation. Michiru worried because she cared, though she sometimes had an odd way of showing it - not that she minded. She showed it plenty well at home. Haruka stood to lead the way back to her car.

The ride to the Tsukino residence - Haruka planned to have a long talk with Usagi over lunch - was quiet between them. She could tell by Michiru's face that she was still concerned, and a bit angry now. Irritation flashed again, and this time she had a harder time pushing it away. However, the wind through her hair as they drove away from the auditorium where Michiru had been practicing soothed her. It always did, which was why she left the top down on her convertible. She loved the feeling of the wind, and in a way, envied it, so free and fast. She envied the birds that rode the winds as well.

Finally, after what seemed an eternity of silence, Haruka pulled up next to the curb parallel to a gate that she knew led to the front door of the Tsukino residence. Getting out, she held the door open for Michiru, who scooted across the driver seat and got out of the car. It wasn't very lady like, but it was safer than having her exit through the passenger side, which was facing the street.

"Haruka, are you feeling alright?" she said, her eyes so full of concern that she suddenly wanted to throttle her partner - that thought she throttled instead. "You've been pretty snappy lately."

"I'm alright." she said, and was surprised at how cold and rough it sounded. She would have the words back, if she could, but it was already too late. Michiru looked hurt. "I'm sorry. I swear, Usagi is going to make me worry clear to my grave, and the way she's going now, that's not too far off."

"She IS a handful." Michiru said, but the concern never left her eyes.

Opening the wrought-iron gate, she and Michiru made their way down a short path straight to the front door. The flowers along the front and sides of the house were in full bloom, and perfuming the air nicely. It was a bit relaxing, really. Not for the first time, Haruka wondered what kind of job her father had, to be able to afford such a large house while his wife was a stay-at-home mother to three children. And not for the first time, she threw the thought aside. It was none of her business.

Upon ringing the doorbell, she could hear Usagi faintly calling out that she was on her way. Moments later, it was Usagi - still in her dark blue school uniform, her blond hair only slightly disarrayed - who opened the door, stunned surprise written all over her face. She never was good at masking her emotions.

"Haruka, Michiru, what are you doing here?" she said.

"We came to take you to lunch." Michiru said, looking like her usual self, though her eyes still looked a bit concerned. "Do you have time?"

The announcement seemed to knock Usagi out of her stupor and cheer her up immediately. Food usually did, for that matter.

"Of course!" she said excitedly, before turning towards the interior of her house. "Moooooooooom, I'm going out with Haruka and Michiru! I'll be back later!"

Haruka could hear Mrs. Tsukino's protests as Usagi ran out the door, nearly slamming it behind her. Knowing anything, Usagi was supposed to be doing her homework, or chores. She didn't envy what Usagi would go through when she returned home, later.

"Come on, guys, let's go!" she said excitedly as she ran for Haruka's car. Michiru looked at her, and she looked at Michiru, and they both shrugged. Usagi was Usagi.

It wasn't until everyone had buckled up and Haruka had started down the road, that Haruka spoke.

"Usagi, you understand why we say what we do, don't you? About this girl Outai?"

"You, too?!" Usagi said, clearly exasperated. Apparently her friends talked to her a lot about this subject. "Look, I know everyone is uneasy about her, but she really just needs some friends. I'm sure she won't be so creepy once she has friends to cheer her up."

"What Haruka is trying to say," Michiru said, "is that we are trying to protect you. You are the future Neo Queen Serenity, and we have to make sure you live long enough to see that day. We don't know this girl well - though we met her once - and we don't know if she means any harm or not. We'd rather not find out."

"Get real," Usagi said, trying to sound easy, but failing, "if she was going to hurt anyone, she would have by now. People only think that because of a rumor, and rumors aren't always true."

"Well, buns-head shows sense for once." Haruka said, teasingly. Usagi could be rather foolish sometimes, but at least she was a good friend. Perhaps too good. "Just don't go near Outai until we've had more time to investigate her."

From her rear-view mirror, Haruka could see Usagi sit back in her seat, pouting. She really was pretty cute when she pouted, though right now it was just annoying. Couldn't she see they were only trying to protect her? Rage flashed through Haruka, nearly blinding. That little ingrate had the nerve to be upset that they were trying to protect her!

Realizing what was going on, Haruka pulled over. Something wasn't right. Sure, Usagi had done this more than once before, and it was annoying, but no reason for rage. She had only been that angry with her once, and that was when she had handed the Holy Grail over to Mistress Nine. That had been a far more dire situation than just discussing her poor choice in friends - aside from the senshi, that is.

"What's up, Haruka?" Usagi said.

Haruka looked around for an excuse. She had pulled over next to a public park, and those sometimes had watering fountains. It was as good a place as any to pull over and calm herself.

"Need to get some water. I'm dying of thirst here."

Usagi just nodded, but Michiru seemed to be watching her carefully as she exited the car and made her way down one of the winding paths, pleasantly shaded with various trees - mostly sakura and apple trees, though there were a few oak trees as well. The voice was back, and screaming, and she needed something peaceful to cool herself with.

Haruka had hoped Michiru and Usagi would stay in the car - her excuse only left moments, which wouldn't be enough for her, but it would have to do - however, she was surprised when someone took her by the arm. For a moment, she tensed, thinking to throw her possible attacker. However, when she turned around, she found Michiru holding her arm, her eyes hard, yet filled with concern. She tossed the plan to attack whoever might be attacking her, though rage filled her again.

"What's going on, Haruka? Usagi can make anyone angry, but not as angry as I saw you just now."

Rage flared in her, hot enough to burn the sun, hot enough to make the world go blank around her.



Usagi rested her chin on her hand. Harkua had gone off to get some water, and Michiru had gone off with her. Likely, she just wanted a moment alone with her lover, and Usagi was willing to give it. However, after a few moments, impatience overruled understanding. A few moments was fine, whether for kissing or for water, but this was rediculous! If they were going to take her to lunch, they should hurry up and do so!

Finally, tired of waiting, Usagi got out of Haruka's car and made her way down the path she had seen Haruka and Michiru take. Hopefully, they weren't too far off. She didn't want to spend all day looking for them.

Fortunately, she didn't have to look long. After a few minutes down the path, she heard voices, one distinctly Haruka's. Finally, she had found them! She was going to give them an earful, for leaving her like that. It was just plain rude!

As she neared the place where she heard her friends, Usagi stopped dead in her tracks. Before her, several trees were either split, missing limbs, or just plain were no longer there. It looked like a battlefield full of fallen limbs, trees that had fallen, and ragged stumps where some trees had been only moments before. It was fortunate that none were burning, but it still meant something was terribly wrong. Usagi sprinted ahead, following the path of destruction.

Suddenly, she dodged behind a tree. A ball of pure energy flew by where her head had been only a moment ago, and if she hadn't known better, she would have thought it had been from Haruka, in her Sailor Uranus form. To be safe, though, she pulled her broach from her pocket.

"Moon Eternal, Make Up!"

A flurry of feathers and ribbons spun around her, finally forming her senshi uniform consisting of a white bodice, yellow, red, and blue skirts; puffy pink shoulder pads with a blue cape pinstriped in white,white boots with a red band, red ribbons in back, and fluffy white wings.

Sailor Moon peeked around the tree she was hiding behind to see who had attacked her just now. She was sure it was one of the crazies that seemed to be sprouting up like mushrooms after rain, but she had not expected to see Haruka - now Sailor Uranus - attacking Michiru. In fact, at that moment, Sailor Uranus raised her hand in the air, wrist pointing up and fingers down, as if drawing up energy from the ground. With her hand came a glowing yellow sphere, circled by a ring of energy.

"World-!"

"Sailor Uranus, stop!" Sailor Moon called out, and she really did stop. At least for a moment.

Sailor Uranus looked at her for a moment, and in that moment Usagi could almost swear her heart had stopped in fear. Her friend's eyes were so full of hate, so full of murder, she couldn't help but recall her recent incident with Minako. At least Minako hadn't transformed.

"-Shaking!"

Usagi ducked behind the nearest tree, and not a moment too soon. A ball of energy flew by where her chest had been only a heartbeat before. Of Michiru, there was no sign. She hoped Michiru was okay.

"Deep Submerge!"

The sudden sound of Michiru's voice snapped Sailor Moon out of her stupor. She peeked around the tree just in time to see a ball of blue, liquid light fly right by Sailor Uranus as she jumped out of the way.

"Sailor Neptune, stop! You guys shouldn't be fighting!"

Regardless of the danger, Sailor Moon darted out from behind the tree she had been hiding behind once more, and this time didn't stop. She planted herself between her friends - both now transformed, including Michiru - with her arms spread out to her sides, almost as if making herself a wall between them.

"Sailor Moon," she heard Sailor Neptune say as she stepped out from behind a nearby tree, "step out of the way. Haruka...no, Sailor Uranus, has been tainted."

"We can still save her, though!" Sailor Moon argued.

A sudden, sharp pain filled her gut, and the next thing she knew, Sailor Moon was staring up at the sky. When had she fallen? Why did her stomach and ribs hurt so much? What had happened? Sitting up, she found her answer.

Above her, Sailor Uranus was standing over her, a jewel encrusted hilt in her hand. The scabbard - equally as encrusted in jewels - had been discarded somewhere, and the shining blade, curved and short, was pointed at her forehead, freezing her in fear. Sailor Uranus raised her curved blade.

"Space Sword Chaos Wind!"

Sailor Moon squeezed her eyes shut, expecting a painful, though quick death. At that close range, there was no way for her to dodge, even if she could move, which at the moment she could not. There was also no chance of Haruka missing, either.

However, after a moment, nothing came, though she knew the spell had been cast. She peeked open one eye, and was met with white. Glancing up, she saw it was the white bodice of a Sailor uniform, with a black bow and a gold crystal in the middle, shaped like a crescent moon and star. Above that, looking down at her, were emerald green eyes, full of sadness, and now pain.

"Are you okay?" Sailor Andromeda asked, her voice belying no pain.

Sailor Moon nodded slowly, numbly. Where she expected death at the hands of a friend - albeit a tainted friend - she found salvation through someone who was cold at best. However, before she could do anything more, Sailor Andromeda stood and turned to face Sailor Uranus. Usagi could see a long gash across her back, and it was bleeding badly. However, the new Sailor Scout showed no sign of pain or injury. Instead, she rose her staff in just enough time to meet Sailor Uranus' Space Sword. Briefly, she wondered where Sailor Neptune was. Briefly, because she glanced over to see Sailor Neptune tied up with rings of light as Ami had been tied up in when they first met Sailo Andromeda. Was she tainted, too?

Sailor Moon didn't really have time for thought. Haruka was fast, and she knew it. No matter how Sailor Andromeda tried, she was still on the defensive, and couldn't hold it long, the way Haruka was going. She had to do something, so she did the only thing she could think of that could stop Haruka without hurting her. She drew out the Silver Moon Crystal from her locket, holding it between her hands. She raised the glowing crystal above her head, aimed at Haruka, who was still battling Sailor Andromeda furiously with her Space Sword.

"Silver Moon Crystal Eternal Power!"

White light washed over everything, blinding and pure. She could feel it's healing power, though before it had been used to fight Chaos. She hoped it was enough.

When the light finally died down, though, Haruka was still and staring at her, her eyes still full of murder and hatred. She realized in horror that her spell had failed. NOTHING had ever been so powerful as to fail that kind of spell, whether for attacking or healing. She dropped to her knees in stunned realization, and the crystal went back into her locket. If she couldn't do anything, not even as Eternal Sailor Moon...

Sailor Andromeda answered the problem for her. While Harkua - Sailor Uranus - seemed to be stunned, if not healed, she had taken a moment to cast a spell herself.

"Galactic Halo!"

A dome of light sprung up around Sailor Uranus. Sailor Moon had thought it was to keep things out, for protection, but it seemed to be keeping Sailor Uranus in. She was kicking it and trying to slice it open with her Space Sword, but it seemed to have no effect at all. However, Sailor Andromeda did not stop there. Once again, she stuck her staff out in front of her, low to the ground, and spun three times, bringing the staff up as she did so.

"Gates of Heaven!"

A ring of light that was now becoming quite familiar to her appeared on the ground under all of them there, glowing white, with various symbols over it. For the second time, Usagi felt both relief and dread in this spell, more so than for anyone else it had been cast on. Relief, because her friend would be healed. Dread, because she wasn't sure how whole her friend would be after this. As both relief and dread washed over her, the ring of light exploded, washing everything away with a feeling of peace, like everything was going to be okay, though it lasted only a moment for her.

As the light died down, she saw Haruka on the ground, unconscious. She was still in her Sailor Uranus form, but she could see her friend's back rising and falling with each breath. She was alive, but how much so? Fortunately, Sailor Andromeda seemed to read her thoughts.

"She will recover, though she will have a few holes in her memory. It shouldn't be too noticeable, though."

"What did you do to Sailor Uranus?" Usagi heard Sailor Neptune demanding, though she was still bound.

"I cleansed her of the taint. It was that, or kill her, and there's enough of her soul left that that particular 'mercy' isn't needed. Any change that comes of this is from the taint that ate away at her soul, not the cleansing I performed. Any way, there won't be much change in her."

As Sailor Andromeda turned to leave, Usagi couldn't help but think about the wound on her back. She was going to need that treated, though she was still too stunned to think of going after her to treat it. Not that she knew much about first aid, anyway.



Outai finally made it back to her apartment, and it was an effort not to hunch her back in pain. Doing so only made the blazing fire that was her back hurt more as her school uniform pressed against the wound. That Sailor scout, Uranus, was fast. The wound on her back wasn't the only one she had from that blazing sword, just the largest and the deepest. There was a slice across her ribs, though that one was fairly shallow - had she been a hair slower in dodging that one, she would have come home in two pieces, and surely dead. The rest were minor cuts on her arms and legs.

She was glad none had nicked her face, and not for something as silly as vanity. Those other Sailor scouts looked to be her age, and if any attended her school and saw her with a mark similar to what she obtained as Sailor Andromeda, they would know who, and what, she was. She couldn't risk that.

"Hey, are you home, Outai?" a sudden, playful voice broke through her thoughts. The voice was grim right now, though. "I smell blood. Did you actually get injured?"

A little black cat with a golden crescent moon and star on it's forehead rounded the corner and into the corridor where she removed her shoes and dropped her school back. She knew Mooney would be angry once he saw the wound on her back - by all reason she should have gone to the hospital and gotten it stitched up, but explaining that would be difficult - and at the moment she didn't care. She just wanted to clean up and go to bed. Fighting Sailor Uranus had been tiring, and she had already been tired before that from recovery from a bad cold. Mooney looked startled at first, then worried, and quickly transformed into his human form, though that wasn't complete, with his black ears and tail still showing.

"What the hell happened? You look like you were pulled through a patch of blackberries backwards!"

"Close enough." she said, trying to sound wry, like making a joke. "I came across a Sailor scout who had been tainted, and unfortunately she is both fast and powerful, and can fight with a sword."

Mooney just heaved a worried sigh, and scratched his head.

"Looks like I'll have to babysit you on these outings as a Sailor senshi." he said, and she couldn't tell if he was joking or not.

Joking or not, though, she didn't want to pursue this conversation. She wanted a bath, and sleep, and she wasn't going to let Mooney get in her way. She pushed past him, but didn't go far before Mooney really did stop her.

"What the hell?! Outai, why aren't you in the hospital?! I see that blood soaked through the back of your shirt - you can't hide that from me! Geez, it's no wonder I smelled blood. You're soaked in it! You're going to the hospital, and I mean right now."

"And what do you propose I tell them?"

"Tell them you came across a crazy person with a knife and had to fight your way out. Any more, it's believable, and they wouldn't question anything further than that. Look, if you don't get that patched up, it's going to get infected, and you'll get sick again. You can't fight when you're sick, much less heal. How many people do you think died while you had that cold because you wouldn't take care of yourself?"

"Right. Attacked by a person with a knife, cut across the back, but no hole in the shirt for proof. Someone is bound to notice that."

Mooney heaved another sigh, this one exasperated and put-upon. She knew he had a right to be angry, but she was also right. What if someone noticed that her clothing was all whole, though soaked in blood? That was bound to raise more than just a few eye brows.

Outai expected more argument, but instead Mooney walked off, towards the restroom. He returned a moment later with a box with a handle on it, which he was holding. She knew the contents of that box well enough to tell what was where in it while blindfolded. She ought to, with all the times she had been injured in the past, usually from training or carelessness against someone who was tainted and armed. Worse, Mooney knew it better than she did, and his face was red at the moment. She could only guess it was embarrassment.

"Take your shirt off so I can stitch you up."

Outai gave her own exasperated sigh.

Sailor Moon: Darkness Within


Chapter 8:
What is Holy?

"Look at the nasty wound on her back." she heard a girl nearby saying. She didn't look to see who it was.

"I wonder where she got that." another said.

"She probably got in another fight."

"Scary..."

"Better stay away from her. She might attack us next."

Ami glanced towards the source of these nasty rumors. Behind her, Outai was just slipping on her gym uniform shirt, but had not pulled it down enough to hide the long slash along her back, clumsily stitched together by a hand not used to sewing or first aid. That much she could tell, because her mother was a doctor, and she herself wanted to be a great doctor like her mother.

Ami felt bad for this girl, uneasy as she was around her. She had come into this school with rumors of her fighting - though that was never substantiated - and that had only been enhanced when she had fought that student off who had gone crazy and attacked her and Usagi. She was grateful to the girl for that, but she still felt uneasy around her.

she wanted to talk to this girl - strange, considering how uneasy she felt - and at least offer to do something about that wound, but there was no time. They had to go right into class or they would be late.



Later that day, after school, Usagi, Rei, Ami, Minako, and Makoto were walking down the street, towards Ami's apartment. They had been studying a lot lately at the shrine, and many times crazy people attacked them there, or were attacked. It was time to switch places to study. Perhaps if they moved around, they weren't as likely to be attacked.

Usagi had taken up the task to find Outai after school, to drag her along to the study group, but today had been unable to find her. Frankly, she worried about the girl. She had heard the rumors surrounding the girl, and they had only increased when she fought off that student that had attacked her and Ami a couple of weeks ago. She always looked so sad and lonely, like she was in pain, and with how the other students treated her, she couldn't blame the girl.

Her own friends warned her not to get close, but they couldn't see what she saw. If anything, they seemed uneasy around her, though she couldn't explain why. Sure, something did seem a bit off about her, but she thought that was because she had no friends and a bad reputation. She was otherwise a nice girl - she didn't like coming to study group for some reason, but once she was there she was eager to help others, and was very polite to everyone. She even seemed to be fond of Chibiusa for some reason, or any child for that matter.

Finally, as they were walking down the street, she caught sight of raven hair pulled back into a complex braid. Though it blended in, she was sure that, if she caught up to this person, she would find a black ribbon tied into a bow on that braid.

"Outai!" she called out to the girl, but she didn't respond. Maybe she didn't hear?

Usagi ran up to the girl, smacking her hard on the back. It was not an unfriendly gesture - she was like that with her friends - and the girl didn't wince or say anything about it.

"Hey, Outai, how are ya?"

"I am well," she said, but there was the slightest edge to her voice, one that Usagi couldn't put her finger on. "And you?"

"I'm great! Hey, we're going to Ami's to study. Why don't you come with us?"

"I'm sorry, but I have a lot of chores to do at home. I thank you for the offer, but perhaps another time."

"Aw, come on! You say that every time!"

"Usagi, why are you so persistent about me coming to this study group?" the girl said, and if she didn't know better, Usagi could have sworn there was anger in her eyes, if not in her facial expression. That was as bland as ever. "It is obvious to me that you are the only one who wants me there."

"Don't worry about my friends, they're just a bit paranoid. Besides, it's obvious to me that you need a friend." If anything, that just made things worse.

"So it's a charity case? I don't need or want any charity. I do well enough on my own, thank you."

"Well, it's not just that. You're almost as smart as Ami, and you help us out, too. Besides, you're a nice girl, really. Beneath that tough shell of yours, I can tell you really just want a friend, even though you say you don't."

The girl blinked, and Usagi could swear she was stunned this time. She had always been good at reading people, seeing behind the mask that they wore, and it usually shocked people. But this girl seemed completely unflapable, until a few moments ago.

"You are...not as dim as you look, I think." she said vaguely. "Such strange masks we all wear."

The last part had confused her, but she pushed it aside. No one was wearing any masks, and she sounded like she was quoting something, though it was likely something big, with a lot of words and no pictures. Not exactly the type of thing she could read.

However, what shocked her was that Outai turned from where she had been headed, and walked back towards her friends. Willingly! Maybe she was finally making an impression on this girl.



It took some time to get to Ami's condo that she shared with her mother, but she was glad when they did arrive. Ami was the first in, of course, since she had the key, but everyone followed behind quickly, chatting amiably. Well, except Outai. She was pretty quiet.

Outai had been second to last, with Usagi behind her, and it gave Usagi the opportunity to notice something strange. Though her uniform was dark like theirs, showing next to nothing when it came to stains and dirt, there was a...wetness on the back of her uniform shirt. It was a sunny day, with no rain, and no one had splashed her with anything while they were walking, so it should not have been there. Her shirt had been dry when she caught up to her earlier, too, so why was it wet?

"Hey, Outai," she said as Ami closed the door behind them, "what happened to your shirt? It's all wet in back."

The others looked at her closely, but Outai seemed to ignore it. She didn't answer her question, either, though.

"I don't think that was there, earlier." Ami said, examining her back as she knelt to remove her shoes. She had a stiff spine all day, and wouldn't bend to even change her shoes. That struck her as odd.

"It's nothing." Outai said, but Usagi didn't believe it.

Fortunately, neither did Ami. Being the person she was, wanting to be a doctor, Ami took a peek at the skin under her shirt. Her back was purely crimson with blood, and it had begun to stain the waist band of her uniform skirt.

"Outai, what happened to your back?!" she exclaimed.

Ami gave her an exasperated look. Something told her Ami knew what it was, but didn't want to say it. Neither did Outai.

"It's nothing." she repeated, and shrugged as if nothing were there.

"No you don't!" Rei said, surprising everyone, including herself. She must have seen the blood, too. "If it's bleeding that bad, it's obviously not nothing! You've got Ami and Usagi all worried about you, so don't just brush them off like that!"

Outai looked at them for a moment, and seemed to nod in acquiescence, though barely visible at that. She did not fight as Ami lifted the back of her shirt all the way to examine her back, where Usagi saw a long slash across her back. Something about that wound tickled her memory, but it was gone before she could take hold of it.

"It looks like one of the sutures has broken." Ami said. "I can't put in a new one. We'll have to take you to my mother's hospital to have it fixed."

"Thank you, Ami," Outai said, "but it's okay. I'm sure a simple butterfly will suffice."

"It will, for a time, but it won't hold long enough for that part of the wound to heal. It's right in the middle of the deepest part of this cut, and the wound itself is broken open. How did you get this, anyway?"

"One of the crazies took me by surprise." Outai said with a shrug, "They had a knife, and if they hadn't tripped at the last second it would have been in my back, rather than across it."

"How did you get away?" Makoto asked the girl.

"I ran. Staying to fight someone who is insane and armed isn't very smart, especially when the only weapon I had at the time was my book bag and a pair of shoes."

"Usagi!" Rei said, turning on her, "We all saw you slap her back earlier. I bet you're the reason it broke open like that!"

"Wha- HEY, I DIDN'T EVEN KNOW SHE WAS HURT!" she yelled back. Sometimes Rei could be so annoying.

"So what?!" Rei yelled at her again, "You shouldn't be slapping people on the back like that anyway, injured or not!"

"Please stop." Outai's soft voice broke through their argument. Odd, how such a quiet voice would calm them down a bit, and even dampen Rei's quicksilver temper. "I realize you two are close, but I am sure that loud noises are not appreciated by Ami's neighbors. It is bad for your ears, anyway."

Everyone stood staring at her, silently. Outai barely said two words to anyone, unless she was helping them work out a problem with their school work. Even that was minimal. She certainly never broke into any arguments, and she and Rei had plenty of them in front of her. Rather, she just ignored it, like everyone else tried to do.

Outai seemed to realize every eye was on her, and why. She flushed a bit - not something Usagi had ever seen her do before, and turned to face the wall, ripping the shirt from Ami's hands.

"I thank you for your concern." she said with a stiff backed bow to Ami. "Perhaps I will take you up on that offer for your mother's hospital. If you are anything like her, then I am sure she is a very good doctor indeed."

Outai turned to leave, but Ami caught her up instead. For some reason, she was blushing, too. Well, Ami usually was pretty shy about being complimented.

"We'll come with you." she said, and seemed a bit surprised. Usagi couldn't say why. "You probably don't know the way, and you might be attacked again."

Outai blinked again, surprised. She must be in a lot of pain, if she was surprised twice in one day, on top of being angry and blushing. The girl was usually unflappable. Today was different.

"Thank you, but I am sure I can find it. You all have quite a bit of studying to do, anyway, and I would not like to impede on that." she said politely, wearing serene indifference once again like a tightly wrapped cloak.

"Studying can wait." Usagi was surprised to hear Minako say - well, perhaps not so much that Minako was putting off studying; she was as bad as herself on that, but because Minako seemed to be as intent as everyone else in keeping distance between her and Outai, and yet everyone now seemed intent on helping this girl as well. Minako stood, and she took one arm while Rei took the other, blue eyes meeting dark eyes in grim determination, blond hair swaying with black as they nodded at each other. "That wound on your back cannot. Let's go, Ami."

Outai didn't struggle as they dragged her out of the condo, but she did have a very put-upon look on her face. Well, she supposed it was her own fault for being careless, and for refusing aid at first. At least her friends had decided not to be hostile towards her, and were actually helping her out. Maybe they were beginning to warm up to her. They certainly would not have tried to help her, much less be so adamant about it, if they hadn't.

As they made their way towards the hospital where Ami's mother worked, Rei and Minako had let go of Outai's arms. It was obvious she wasn't going to break away or anything like that, and frankly she walked with them as if it really was of her own free will. Maybe it really was now. Her back HAD to be throbbing now, so perhaps she really did see the need to get it fixed professionally. Besides, she was horrible at sewing and even she could tell the stitching across that long slash on her back looked clumsy.

Suddenly, however, Usagi felt something ram into her, pushing her away from the others and into an area full of trees and bushes. Branches slapped and scraped her back, and she fell hard on the ground. Looking up, Outai was hunched over, her back towards Usagi, and looming above her was an older man, dark of skin and hair, with malevolence oozing from his very being. Usagi knew him for one of the crazies, and unfortunately he looked like the type to lift weights a lot - his shoulders were wide, and every inch of him was bulging with muscles, only emphasized by a snug fitting tank top and snug fitting pants.

A wave of fear washed over her. There was no way she could fight someone so huge, and with Outai there she couldn't transform. Her friends were gone, too, but she pushed that thought away. The important thing right now was getting to safety so she wouldn't be crushed by this hulk. Outai looked over her shoulder, though didn't necessarily turn to face her. Doing so might be dangerous.

"Usagi, run!" she said fiercely, and in her emerald eyes Usagi could see grim determination.

Numbly, she got to her feet. She didn't want to leave Outai to fight this giant, but she couldn't help her, either. She was determined to keep Usagi safe, for some reason, and she wouldn't let anything get in the way of that. Secretly, she admired that - Outai was much like Rei, in that instance. A thought came to drag her away, but Usagi didn't think she would be able to. She couldn't really do anything as Sailor Moon, but she could try. She dashed behind some tall bushes, pulling a broach out of her pocket.

"Moon Eternal Make Up!"

Feathers flew around her in a frenzy, each forming part of her senshi uniform. Moments later, feathers had been replaced by a white bodice with pink shoulder pads, wings surrounding her broach on her chest, a blue shoulder flap, yellow, red, and blue skirts, a long red ribbon in back, white boots with a red band, and white, feathery wings on her back. Strangely, when she returned to where Outai had been, she found Sailor Andromeda fighting that hulk instead.

"Where's Outai?" were the first words out of her mouth.

"I don't know who she is," the senshi said, strain thick in her voice as she used her staff to fight back this huge, muscly hulk, "but there was a girl here a moment ago. She ran off, I think to get help."

Well, that satisfied Usagi. As long as she was safe, it was fine. Now the question was, what to do about this creep. Her question seemed to be answered when she heard a familiar voice, not hers or that of Sailor Andromeda.

"Dead Scream."

Usagi thought for sure Sailor Pluto was there to save the day, though she hoped the strong spell wouldn't kill the man fighting Sailor Andromeda. However, the huge ball of purple energy passed the giant, and came straight towards her. She just barely jumped out of the way.

"Hey, what are you doing, Pluto?"

Peering around Andromeda - who somehow got the hulk flat on his back - she saw Sailor Pluto, standing with her key-shaped staff ready to attack. Something wasn't right, though. Her eyes were full of hatred and murder. Usagi was sure Setsuna meant to kill her as Sailor Pluto. Andromeda seemed to be grinding her teeth in frustration. Strangely, Usagi could see a red stain on the back of her uniform, a stain that once again tickled her memory, and once again it fled before she could take hold of it.

"Sailor Senshi cannot afford to let themselves get tainted. The world cannot afford it." Andromeda said, raising her staff for a spell, but Pluto was quick to delay her.

Staff met staff in a metallic clash as Pluto pushed and attacked while Outai defended. Suddenly, the hulk was forgotten as Usagi watched in horror while once again senshi fought senshi. It wasn't right! They shouldn't be fighting! But that look in Setsuna's eyes...Usagi realized that Setsuna had been tainted, turned into one of those crazies as Haruka had been the day before.

"Love-me chain!"

Usagi's spirits picked up at the sound of Minako's - no, Sailor Venus' - voice. A golden chain of hearts wrapped around Sailor Pluto from shoulders to knees, holding her in place. Sailor Moon looked up to see all of her friends surrounding them, all of them ready with their own spells to attack with. They looked battered - Rei had a black eye, Ami had scratches along her left arm as though she had slid across pavement on it, Makoto looked like she was having trouble catching her breath, and Minako was covered in scratches - but Usagi was glad they were okay.

Andromeda wasted no time. Holding her staff out, she began to spin, and not a moment too soon. Sailor Pluto broke the chain of hearts just as the glowing staff came above Andromeda's head.

"Gates of Heaven!"

Usagi no longer noticed the pattern of light on the ground - she had seen it so many times now that she hardly even bothered to look - and hardly noticed the flash of light that came after, washing over everything with a sense of peace and well being. What she did notice was that it covered a larger area than usual this time, and she realized that her friends must have been fighting as well. So, there had been more than just the hulk and Sailor Pluto this time. What would have happened if Andromeda had not been here?

Sailor Pluto dropped to the ground like a rag doll. After a moment, she realized that Sailor Neptune had been with her, and was also unconscious. Had she been tainted, too? Her friends gathered in close to her, to make sure she hadn't been hurt. In spite of their own hurts, they worried about their princess. She had to tell them more than a dozen times that she was unharmed, and even that didn't seem to suffice them.

Finally, everyone realized that Sailor Andromeda was still there, gazing at the unconscious forms of Sailor Pluto and Sailor Neptune. Rather, her eyes were on them, but her mind seemed light years away. She shook her head a bit, as though arguing with herself, and she was grumbling to herself. Usagi couldn't help but question the senshi's sanity.

"No!" she said suddenly, still trying to stare through the ground, "I can't ask that of them! I won't! I won't let you! Leave me alone!"

Sailor Moon stared at the sailor scout, wondering if she was tainted now, too, if she would have to fight her now. If so, very likely the world was doomed. She had heard her say earlier that a sailor scout could not afford to be tainted, that the world could not afford it, yet if she became tainted, the world was done for. So far, she was the only one who could heal the taint. Even she herself could not do that, and it made her feel ashamed and weak. She had ALWAYS been the one to heal the enemy, to bring them back to themselves.

Suddenly, Sailor Andromeda was screaming. Whether from rage or pain, Sailor Moon could not make out, but she was glowing brightly enough that everyone had to shade their eyes. She seemed to explode with light, and when it dimmed enough for them to see, she had changed.

Sailor Andromeda was no longer a sailor senshi any more. Now she looked...well, like an angel. Her uniform had changed into a long, flowing white gown that left her shoulders bare, a crescent moon and star nestled between her bosom. A breeze she did not feel made layers of silky white material flow around her, and her golden tiara had been replaced with a golden moon and star on her forehead. Feathery white wings, twice as long as she was tall, stretched out from her back, and she seemed to be floating above the ground. That part was impossible, though. It had to be.

"Sailor Senshi," she said as she seemed to glide towards them, her voice mingled with another voice they had not heard before. The pain in her eyes now seemed to radiate peace and joy. "Guardians of this planet. You've done well this far. Sailor Andromeda fights alone, and she alone has the power to fight these tainted humans. She does her best to push everyone away, to keep them safe. As she is now, though, she cannot defeat this calamity from the sky. Though I have sealed away the taint in her so it cannot effect her, nor can it spread, I fear that I cannot save her from herself. I ask for your help, because she will not. I ask, because she cannot defeat this evil come to Earth. It is stronger than it was when it destroyed her home so many years ago, and I fear that, even should she unlock my power completely against this evil, it will not be enough."

"Who are you?" Usagi could hear Sailor Mars - Rei - asking.

"I am Holy, the deity her parents worshiped, along with everyone else on her home world. When she cleanses the tainted, she uses my power."

"So you're the one hurting all of these people?!" Makoto said, rage and disgust in her voice.

Outai - or rather, Holy using her body, as it seemed - shook her head.

"I deeply regret that I could not save those souls who were tainted so long that the taint destroyed them. Sailor Andromeda regrets it as well, deeply. However, what was done to those who are tainted was done by the taint alone. The effects you've seen from their purification come from the rapid degeneration of their soul. The longer they are with the taint, the less of them there is to save, because the taint eats it away until nothing is left. Some are overcome faster than others by the taint, and those who are overcome faster have a higher chance of survival for their soul. Those who are overcome faster are those who are pure of heart and soul. Their soul is not used to the evil that taints it, and are overcome. However, their own purity slows the degeneration of the soul, if that helps you any."

"Why should we trust you?" Sailor Venus said.

"I am afraid I cannot answer that. Anything I say will look like an excuse, and you wouldn't be wrong to think it. But know this: None of you have the power to do what needs to be done, not as you are now. Not even Sailor Moon can heal the tainted, and I believe she has tried. I felt her power yesturday, when she tried to purify Sailor Uranus. It is pure, and strong, but not strong enough. Even if you give your power to her, it will not be enough in the end, when what must be done to save the Earth will be done. Open yourselves to my power, and I will help you."

Her friends all seemed to look at each other. By the determination in their eyes, and the stubborn set to their mouth, Usagi was afraid they would refuse. Well, with how grim things were, she couldn't really blame them. Their powers could do nothing but hurt, and her own was too weak to do anything. Though later she would talk to Andromeda about her world, where she came from, what it was like, and how it was destroyed. And how the evil that destoryed it came here. However, at the last moment, they all seemed to nod towards each other. That was all they needed. They didn't need words, like most other people did. It was almost like telepathy between them, herself included. She could tell what they were thinking without them saying a word. In a strange way, that was comforting.

"What do we do?" Sailor Mercury said, and Sailor Andromeda's face seemed to relax.

"Lend me your power, and I will return it to you."

Another pause between them, as if they were unsure of what they were doing. It did not last long, though.

"Mercury Crystal Power!"

"Mars Crystal Power!"

"Jupiter Crystal Power!"

"Venus Crystal Power!"

"Moon Eternal Power!"

Joy and power filled her to bursting, and from the corner of her eye Usagi could see the same in everyone else. Mercury was glowing blue, Mars red, Jupiter green, and Venus yellow. She knew she herself was glowing pink, as their powers made themselves evident. Strangely, the glowing seemed to melt in with the others. Usually, when they did this, the glow around them was separate from everyone else, each person glowing in their own color. But this time they seemed to mix as a stream of light and power flowed into Holy, using Andromeda's body. The pure white light about her seemed to intensify.

Suddenly, the transformation pens for her friends - including that of Sailor Pluto and Sailor Neptune - floated in the air before her. The pens seemed to dissolve away, and for a moment she feared they had been tricked. However, for each one that dissolved away, it was replaced with a heart shaped broach flanked by feathery white wings, much like her own broach. Each was in the respective color of it's owner, each with it's respective planetary sign. Her own broach remained unchanged, but she felt a new power inside her, mingling with a power that she knew, the power of the Silver Moon Crystal.

As each pen was changed for a broach, the owner of that pen - now broach - was washed in pure, white light. As the light dimmed, each senshi had changed. While her friends lacked the wings she had, they all wore white boots with their own color at the band. Each had an underskirt and puffy shoulder pads in a color lighter than their skirt and shoulder pad, with a star resting on the knot of their bows also in their color, and a colored band at the wrist. The bows in back were thinner and longer, too, much in imitation of her own changed uniform. Her friends all began to look over their shoulder, pluck at her skirts, lift up a foot to examine her new boot, each examining their changed uniforms.

"We're just like..." Sailor Jupiter said.

"Sailor Moon..." Sailor Mars finished for her.

Even unconscious, Sailor Moon could see that, behind Sailor Andromeda as Holy, Sailor Pluto and Sailor Neptune were now awake and standing, each examining their own changes. she was glad they were okay. Suddenly, Sailor Andromeda began shaking her head furiously, holding it in her hands as her clothing seemed to...flicker was the only way she could put it. One moment she was Andromeda, the next she was Holy.

"NO!" she said, her voice now contending with that ethereal voice that had echoed it before. "I won't let you do this! Not to them! I won't let you make them pay that price!"

The transformation that had overtaken her seemed to shatter, light and dress breaking into a thousand pieces before dimming to nothing, leaving only Sailor Andromeda behind. Emerald green eyes now filled with pain and sorrow and anger replaced those of joy and peace. She was back to herself, Holy gone in a flash.

"Whatever Holy told you, ignore it. I've told you before, and I'll tell you again," she said, her voice thick with anger, "stay out of this fight. If you see someone tainted, you run the other direction. Sailor Senshi cannot afford to be tainted, the world cannot afford it, and you are not strong enough to fight it, even as you are now. Better for you all just to avoid everything until it's all gone." She didn't wait for a reply. Instead, Sailor Andromeda turned on her heels and stalked away. If she had been a cat, her tail would be lashing right now. The last thing Usagi saw of her as she walked away was the red stain on her back. A thought nibbled at her mind, and for the third time that day it was gone before she could catch it.



"Outai..." a voice came weakly in the distance.

She was surrounded by fog, thick and lifeless and cold. She could have touched her nose without ever seeing her hand, yet she could hear that voice, distant and panicked.

"Outai, wake up..."

Her body felt heavy, her muscles like pudding. It didn't want to move, but something told her she must. She took a step through that thick fog, one foot after another, cold mist dampening her skin and hair. Each step seemed like lifting a mountain, but she made each step deliberately.

"Come on, Outai..."

The voice seemed to be growing louder, if barely. Gloomy mist darkened, becoming pitch black after only a few steps. She doubted she even had a body now, but she knew she was moving. No air moved around her, and she could not feel her body any more, but she knew she was moving.

Suddenly, there was a light in the distance, and she was coming closer to it. It grew bigger and bigger as she drew nearer to it, expanding and growing brighter, until it was blinding.

Outai opened her eyes, staring up at bright blue eyes full of concern, blond hair in pig tails tickling her ears. For a moment, she didn't know where she was or what was going on. However, she soon realized she was on her back, and it wasn't just Usagi looking over her, though she was closer than the others. They were all staring down at her, dark eyes and light alike, all full of concern mingled with confusion and unease.

"Thank goodness you're okay!" Usagi said, and concern was thick in her voice. "You wouldn't wake up, so we were scared you..." she seemed unable to finish the sentence.

"I'm okay." she lied, sitting up. A wave of dizziness hit her, and nausea, but she ignored it. If she gave in to weakness now, Usagi really would worry, and she was afraid her friends might very well carry her to the hospital.

"We saw you push Usagi into some bushes," Ami said, "Just before a crazy person could bash her head in, but we lost track of you after that. What happened?"

Outai took a moment to think of the answer. The truth was, she didn't remember much. Oh, she remembered fighting against this huge hulk of a man and knocking him down, and she remembered fighting another sailor senshi. She even remembered purifying all of them. After that, though, she drew a blank. She had a vague memory of changes in the sailor senshi that were there, and being angry about it, but she knew nothing more than that.

"I don't know." she said, and this wasn't a lie or an omission. Well, not mostly. "After Usagi ran off, I slipped around that guy and ran, but something threw me off the path and hit me on the head."

Muscles that felt like week old gelatin groaned as she stood, stumbling on the way. She put a hand to her head as though it hurt, or as though she were dizzy, and that wasn't a lie, either. Her head was spinning, and it was an effort just to stand up. She must have used too much energy in that spell, but she knew it wasn't big enough to cause this sort of weakness. Just what had happened? Her back, unfortunately, was now on fire. Whatever she did, it must have ripped open a few more stitches.

Usagi and her friends reached out a hand to her, as if to try and stabilize her, but she straightened herself, forcing herself to look stronger than she really was.

"Thank you, but I can walk. A good night's sleep and I'll be right as rain in spring. Are any of you injured?"

"You can hardly stand, and you as US how we are?" Rei said, but there was no fire in her eyes or her voice. It was more concern than anything. And it was followed by an exasperated sigh. "You're as bad as Usagi!"

"We're fine." Minako said, looking exasperated herself, though not at Outai. It seemed more aimed at Rei. "We ran to get help when we saw you push Usagi out of the way. Thank you, by the way, for saving her. It's becoming a habit, I think."

Outai could feel her face warming. That was the second time today! What was happening to her cool exterior, the one she kept up to keep people away?

"T-thank you." she stuttered. She stuttered! "I-it was nothing. You'd have done the same for her, I think."

"I think we should get moving." Ami said, "She needs a doctor."

the others agreed easily enough to that. Outai tried to protest, but it was like protesting to a brick wall. No one would hear anything of her arguments that she just needed some rest and would be fine after that. With a sigh, she resigned to her 'escort' to the hospital where Ami's mother worked.

Sailor Moon: Darkness Within


Chapter 9:
The Price of Healing

Ami made her final farewells to some of her classmates before stepping out of her classroom. In the past they wouldn't' have even known she existed, nor she them, in some ways. However, her time as Usagi's friend and fellow senshi changed that. Or perhaps it was her graduation into high school. Either way, some very positive changes had been made, and she credited that to Usagi's heart of pure gold.

Making her way down the hall, she noticed something odd. Rather than making her way home, as Outai usually did after school, trying to avoid Usagi, she was standing outside the classroom door. She was lounging against the wall by the door, looking completely at her ease with her hands behind her head and her back against the wall, but Ami felt that she was more of a drawn bowstring, if anything. She looked relaxed, but something about the girl made even that look like she was ready to loose the arrow.

Why was she waiting outside Usagi's classroom? Usually she went out of her way to keep from being seen by Usagi, or by the rest of her friends at that. Maybe she had a message?

"Hello, Outai." she said as she approached the girl.

Outai turned to look at her, and she saw something...different about the girl. Oh, her eyes were sad as always, but that grim resolve she had seen in the girl was...less. It wasn't gone, but it was different, in a way.

"Hello, Ami."

"Are you waiting for Usagi?"

"I am. Yourself?"

"I am too. If you don't mind me asking, why? You usually try to avoid us. If anything, you look uncomfortable being around us."

"I think that's fair, since you all seem to be uncomfortable around me." she said frankly. She hesitated a moment, and a look of regret flashed in her eyes. "Please, forgive me for being rude. I should not have said that."

"I...forgive you. But you didn't answer my question."

"I guess..." the girl hesitated. Perhaps she didn't know the reason? "I find you guys...different from everyone else. I want to see what makes you so different, why you would reach out to someone like me. Especially someone like Usagi. She's a real puzzle, that one."

"She is." Ami agreed, and a warm smile spread on her face as she remembered when she first met Usagi herself. She had been shy then, and perhaps still was, but was more open than she had been. "Usagi is a crybaby, is poor at school, and can be rather selfish sometimes. But when it comes down to it, she would sacrifice herself for anyone, not just her friends, to help them."

Outai gave her a strange, sidelong look. It wasn't a stern look at all, as though to promise reprimand later. It was more of a considering look. After a moment, she nodded in agreement, or what she took as agreement.

"I wonder what makes her do a thing like that." she mused quietly, almost as if to herself.

"She's a true friend, to everyone. That's the only thing that I can think of."

"Well, if a genius like you can only think of that, then it must be that."

"Why is it so strange to you?" Ami asked. She wanted to ask the girl why she seemed so cold to everyone, so distant, but she was afraid it would be too rude.

"I...don't know."

"Haven't you ever had a friend like that."

Outai went quiet, her emerald eyes distant, as if considering, or trying to remember something. She didn't answer.

After several moments, the door to Usagi's classroom slid open, and a rather dejected looking Usagi entered the hallway with her bag slung over one shoulder. Her blue eyes looked agitated.

"Geez! That teacher is so mean! It's not my fault some kid went crazy and chased me halfway to school and made me late!" she whined. "Hi, Ami!"

After a moment, Usagi realized Outai was waiting for her as well, and a look of confusion drowned out the agitation in her eyes and on her face.

"Outai-chan, you waited for me too?"

"Who was it that attacked you?" Outai said, rather than answering Usagi's question. The same had entered Ami's mind, but she had said it first. That look of grim determination, laced with anger, was in her eyes, though her face was cool serenity.

"Just some grade school kid. I outran him, though."

"Did he touch you at all? Even just a brush with his fingers?"

"Nope! He couldn't get close enough!" Usagi said cheerfully. She really was a good runner, after having to run to school to make it on time.

Outai's face seemed to relax, though it was relaxed already, or so she had thought. Her shoulders had relaxed, and Ami was sure they had not been tensed in the first place, or had not noticed that they were.

"I'm glad. With so many crazy people running around, letting one touch you could end up being fatal." she said, and she really did sound relieved.

"Outai," Ami said, "why are you so interested?"

Outai's cheeks flushed pink, almost as if she were embarrassed, but she kept her face smooth, not betraying anything else.

"I just don't want anyone getting hurt. That's all." Not even her voice betrayed anything, and for all her tone she could have been discussing a new pair of shoes.

Ami didn't say anything. She was sure the girl was hiding something, but she couldn't say what, and she didn't think it was wise to start prying now. The girl had just started coming out of her little box. Prying now would put her back in it more firmly than ever.

"Ami, where is everyone else?" Usagi asked.

"They're all waiting at Makoto's. She left early to get snacks ready for study group tonight."

As they made their way out of the school building - after changing into their outdoor shoes, anyway - Ami and Usagi chatted amiably, while Outai followed in silent contemplation. Perhaps it was too soon to expect too much from the girl, but at least she had made a start. Though the girl made Ami uneasy - and everyone else, save Usagi - she was secretly glad to see it. She knew Outai's position of having no friends, of everyone avoiding her, of her being shy, and she wouldn't wish that on anyone.



Later that evening, after study group had finished, it was Minako that walked Usagi home with Makoto, Ami, and Rei. Outai had left group early, though she never really said why, though she did seem a bit more willing to chat. Minako found this amazing, considering the girl was almost stoic towards everyone. It was a good change, though.

However early the girl left, though, the rest had stayed to study more and chat. At least having that time without her around gave them time to discuss recent events as sailor soldiers. Having a new transformation helped, but so far all they found was that the new transformations gave them more strength, not necessarily a skill to heal the tainted souls that came their way. It was annoying, because their new skills could kill the people who were tainted, but at the same time it was nice to know they were catching up to Usagi, somewhat.

As they walked along, Minako suddenly found herself staring at the sky. Her head hurt, and she could feel the cool cement beneath her. She didn't recall falling, or even tripping. Someone had to have pushed her. Pushing herself up, though, she found Rei on the ground next to her, a young man with brown hair and green eyes on top of her. His hands were around her throat, and she was making strange gagging noises.

Before she could do anything, Makoto had taken the young man by the wrist and flung him over her shoulder a short distance away. He fell flat on his back, but was up on his feet in moments.

Makoto being the martial artist, she left her friend to deal with the crazy person as she checked on Rei. Her fried was conscious, but her breathing was raspy. She helped Rei into a sitting position, though.

"Rei?! Are you okay?" She could hear Usagi asking.

"I'm fine." she rasped.

Before Minako realized it, Rei was on her feet, her locket in her hand. She could also see Makoto, Ami, and Usagi with their lockets. Nodding her head to them - she was still amazed at how friends like them could read each others minds so well - she took her locket from her pocket and followed suit.

"Venus Eternal Make Up!"

As stars and feathers swirled around her, she could hear her friends doing the same, could see them transforming before her eyes.

"Jupiter Eternal Make Up!"

"Mercury Eternal Make up!"

"Mars Eternal Make Up!"

"Moon Eternal Make Up!"

In moments, lights of gold, blue, green, red, and pink died down as each transformation finished. It still amazed her to see the new transformation, so like Usagi's in some ways, so unlike hers in others. For example, only Usagi had wings and three skirts in different colors. Everyone else had two skirts, one a lighter shade of the other.

Suddenly, Minako realized that the boy that had attacked them was gone somehow. Or perhaps he was hiding. Just as suddenly, a fiery sensation slashed across her back. She shrieked with the sudden pain. Next to her, Rei was holding an arrow of fire in her hand, aimed at her. Her dark eyes were full of hate and murder.

"Sailor Mars," Usagi cried out to her friend, "stop! What are you doing?"

Sailor Mars didn't seem to notice Usagi at all. Her arrow was aimed at Minako, taut and ready to loose. Why she wasn't loosing, Minako couldn't guess, but she took that moment of hesitation to stop her friend before she could kill anyone.

"Venus love-me chain!"

A chain of golden hearts wrapped her friend from shoulders to knees, making her loose the arrow of flame. It shot past Minako's head, singing a few hairs next to her face, and struck a nearby tree, setting it aflame.

"Mercury Aqua Rhapsody!"

A wave of water hit the flaming tree, putting it out before it could be damaged much more by the flames. Minako was glad for Ami's quick thinking, but something more disturbed her, besides the fact that her friend had just tried to kill her. Something seemed to ooze through the chain in her hands, oozing into her soul, like a slick of rancid oil. It made her want to vomit from the putridness, and because she knew what it was.

Minako was in shock. She had caught tainted people with her chain before, and never before did it seem to ooze into her from the chain connected to the person. Not only that, but the taint seemed stronger now, more putrid than before. Already, she could hear a voice in her mind, begging her to hurt, kill, maim, destroy. She resisted it the best she could, but she didn't know how long she could hold out.

"Sailor Moon, Mars and I are tainted. Call for Andromeda!"

The thought of having her friends kill them had crossed her mind, but she knew Usagi wouldn't go for that. She herself couldn't make that decision, either. However, Usagi nodded.

"Everyone, lend me your strength!"

"Venus Eternal Power!" she said, summoning up the needed strength, every ounce she could muster, toward Sailor Moon.

"Mercury Eternal Power!"

"Jupiter Eternal Power!"

Minako thought it would stop at that, but something took her by surprise. The look in Sailor Mars' eyes flashed from hatred and murder, to anger and fear, and back again. It was almost like Rei was fighting to take control of herself over this taint, and even the taint flowing in from her chain seemed to ripple back and forth in strength.

"Mars...Eterna...Power..." her friend muttered, just before the fear and anger was washed away completely by the taint.

Fortunately, it had been enough. Red light glowed around her friend, as she knew she herself was surrounded by a golden glow. Sailor Mercury was in a blue glow, and Jupiter in green. The light from each of them seemed to flow into Sailor Moon, coming together in a rainbow of light and power.

However, just as their power was coming together, the young man from earlier leaped out of hiding - apparently he had been hiding behind a nearby tree - and crashed into Sailor Mercury, sending her sprawling to the ground. She didn't give up her light, though. As the boy began growling, punching her face, the blue glow around her continued without faltering.

"Mercury!" Usagi cried out, but Jupiter forestalled her.

"Hurry up, Sailor Moon! We can't afford to have you wait!"

"Jupiter..."

"Just do it, Sailor Moon!" Minako added, now struggling with the chain holding Mars. She was fighting her bonds, and she was very strong all of the sudden. "I can't hold her back much longer!"

Concern filled Sailor Moon's blue eyes. She obviously didn't want to do whatever she had been thinking to do - it was obviously more than just calling for Sailor Andromeda with a show of power; Venus could tell that much from her friend's expression - but soon grim determination replaced concern. Suddenly a long white staff appeared before her, a red and gold locket near the top with wings on it, and above that enough room for one hand to grip the rod. at the top was a red bowl lidded in gold, with a smaller red bowl upside-down on top, winged with gold arches and a red gem on the top. Along the shaft were smaller red gems, and the staff itself was taller than her friend by several centimeters.

"Silver Moon Crystal Power kiss!"

Light exploded from the top of her Eternal Tiare, washing them in a pure light. It felt almost like that of Sailor Andromeda's Gates of Heaven attack, full of peace and joy. It wasn't as powerful, but somehow, as feathers flew around them, it seemed to wash away the taint that had come a hair's breadth of taking her over. Moreover, it seemed to do the same for Sailor Mars, and the boy who had been previously beating Sailor Mercury without mercy. Both the boy and Mars collapsed to the ground, and she released her chain, suddenly feeling weary and weak.

"You fool!" a voice broke through their collective thoughts. She knew already it was Sailor Andromeda. "I told you to stay out of this fight! Sailor soldiers cannot afford to be tainted! The world cannot afford it!"

Looking up, Minako saw Sailor Andromeda a short distance behind Sailor Moon. Her face was a thunderhead, and her eyes could have made the sun look cold by comparison.

"We didn't see you here to heal the tainted." Jupiter said angrily and defensively. "Where were you when this kid tried to strangle Sailor Mars and beat the crap out of Sailor Mercury?"

Minako wondered the same, but she didn't say it. Mostly because Makoto said it before she could. How DARE this scout call her friend a fool, when she hadn't even been around! Worse, she didn't even deign to answer!

"And what do you think you could do? None of you are strong enough! It took all of you together to give her the power to do what she did. What if one or two of you are missing when she thinks she has to heal someone? It won't be enough! Leave this battle to me, and if you see someone tainted, run the other direction. You fools don't even know what you are up against or what you're doing!"

"Is he okay?" Sailor Moon suddenly asked. Venus could see that her friend was concerned for the boy. She had seen Andromeda heal people, and knew that sometimes they didn't wake up, or if they did, they were little more than dolls. "Is the boy okay? And Mars? Is she okay?"

Emerald fury met azure worry, and though the fury did not decrease any, her tone did become a bit more mild. Just a bit.

"Mars will be fine, though she might have a problem with headaches for a while. The boy was tainted too long. He'll be nothing but a vegetable." she said, and suddenly sorrow seemed to compete with rage in her eyes. "This is why I told you not to interfere! The price you pay for healing the tainted is a high one, and you are too soft-hearted to handle it! Do you really think you can live with the guild of knowing that you left someone as a vegetable? Could you live with yourself if you had to kill someone? THAT is the price you pay, because sometimes killing the person becomes necessary, to save your own life, or to pay a mercy to them and their family."

Shock filled Sailor Moon's eyes, and her knees buckled beneath her, unable to bear her weight.

"Keep her - and yourselves! - away from the tainted, or it will be me that you fight, not them, and you are not strong enough, not even together, to take me. I will do whatever it takes to rid the world of this taint, even if I have to kill one of you to do it."

Minako thought the sailor soldier was giving an empty threat, but by the look in her eyes, she knew it was no threat. Fear surged through her, as she knew it surged through her friends, at the sheer certainty of her threat. Had they really done the right thing?

Before anyone could comment, before anyone could argue, Sailor Andromeda turned and left them to their shock.



Outai slammed the door behind her as she made her way back into her apartment. She had felt a surge of power earlier, and knew it had been those weak senshi calling for her. What she had not expected was to see them in a different transformation, nor had she expected Sailor Moon to actually heal one of the tainted. Worse, because she was so new to it, her touch at healing the taint, dispersing it, was about as gentle as a tornado. The boy might have been a bit more coherent if she had been more gentle with her healing, but instead she ripped away what little was left of him. She had not told Sailor Moon that because she had enough shock knowing she left the boy as a vegetable. She should have told her, if for no other reason than to keep her from trying to heal anyone else. the girl was too kind for her own good, too pure. She could not bear the weight of healing the tainted. It was too much of a blow to her, mind and soul.

"Testy, testy." she could hear Mooney say as he came around the corner in the form of a little black cat with a golden moon and star on his forehead. "What's got you in a tizzy?"

"What did Holy do when it took me over?" she snapped at her friend. She didn't like doing that, but she was too full of rage to even moderate her tone. "What kind of power did it give them?"

"Hell if I know. Why do you ask?"

"Damn that Sailor Moon and her meddling friends!" she said, slamming a fist against the door at her back. "I've warned her - warned them all! - time and time again, and they don't listen to a word I say! They can't handle the cost to themselves of doing what I do."

"Why are you so adamant about doing this yourself?" he said, sitting back on his haunches and looking up at her. There was no anger in his eyes or his voice, which surprised her. She was being very rude, and she knew it, but she was too angry to do anything else. "You know you are not strong enough to do it yourself. Why not let them help?"

Something about his words seemed to calm her a bit. Just enough to moderate her tone and think a bit. She knew she needed the help, but she couldn't accept it. She didn't want anyone to go through what she went through when healing the tainted. She gave a long sigh at that thought. It wasn't just her own power that wasn't strong enough. She herself, as a person, was not strong enough.

"I can't ask them to pay that price, Mooney. I can see in their eyes the kindness and concern they have for everyone. With Sailor Moon it's magnified a hundred times. They are too kind to do what needs to be done. It will crush them to do it, and the world cannot afford that. Worse, they could decide to leave them tainted to extend their lives, and that surely means destruction."

"It is a great price to pay," he acquiesced, "but paying it alone makes it even greater. She has friends that help and support her. You do, too, but you don't even realize it."

"You are my friend, Mooney. The only one I need."

"What about Usagi and the others? I know you don't want to admit it, but you have some respect for them. Since she's been dragging you off to those study groups you're always at, you've changed. You don't seem so ready to give up and die, not as much as you did before anyway. You almost seem a bit happier, too. Can you really say you don't need them?"

Thinking about it, Ami's words earlier came to mind. She had thought the only friend she had was Mooney, and she couldn't stop thinking of him as a cat, though he was part human. He was mostly in his cat for anyway, so it was not easy to remember he was part human, but the fact that he talked to her should have helped. She knew he was a good friend, but somehow she didn't think she could confide everything in him. She knew he would keep it secret if she wanted and not press it, but something told her not to confide her deepest thoughts to him, though she confided everything else to him.

Did she have a friend who would sacrifice themselves for her? Thinking about it, she knew Mooney would, and that was comforting in a way, though she didn't want him to do that. But what about Usagi and the others? Something about them told her they would do the same, even though they were uncomfortable with her. Why? Why would they do that? Why would Mooney do that? She wasn't worth that much effort, so why?

"Mooney, if I were in danger of being overcome by the taint, what would you do?"

"I'd do whatever I can to stop that from happening. You know that, so why are you asking?"

"And if I were overcome? Would you kill me?"

"If I did that, the world would be doomed."

"The world would be doomed if it overcame me. Could you put a stop to that, even if it means the world would be doomed anyway, if for no other reason that to give everyone a little more time before they die? Could you do it?"

Mooney seemed to hesitate. She could see worry in his blue eyes, possibly considering where this line of questioning was coming from.

"Outai, Holy has that taint sealed away tighter than anything I know. It won't overcome you, so why are you asking?"

"Just answer me. Please."

"I...don't think I can. I know it's selfish, but I couldn't kill you."

"Why not?"

"You're my friend, and you're the only one I have left."

For some reason that made his cheeks color, though she couldn't say why. It didn't seem conspicuous to her.

"We are each all that each other has." she said, trying to ease him.

"No, Outai," he said sadly, his black ears drooping, "you have those others now, from school. You're not planning to hurt yourself, are you?"

"No. I was just curious. Mooney, why would you put so much effort to saving me when I cannot be saved? Why do you worry so much about someone like me?"

"'Someone like you'? Don't say that! I told you, you're all I have left. You're my friend, so of course I'd do whatever I can for you!"

"I suspect Usagi might say the same thing, from what I've heard of her from Ami today." she said thoughtfully. "I don't understand it, though. Why would someone sacrifice themselves for someone else, even if they don't know them?"

"Because they care." Mooney said.

Outai didn't realize she had spoken her thoughts until Mooney had responded to her question. It wasn't as though she thought no one should sacrifice themselves for someone else, that everyone should only care for themselves. She thought it honorable - if not exactly smart - to do so, but at the same time she couldn't understand the reasoning behind it. She could remember being like that herself, but somehow she couldn't remember why.

"They...care." she repeated, still deep in thought. "But why would they care so much for someone they don't know?"

"Because they are human, too. It's called compassion, and it seems to me Usagi and her friends have it in spades. C'mon, Outai, you used to be like this Usagi, if better at school than her. Why can't you remember that? What's going on in your head?"

"I...don't know. I'm tired. I'm going to go rest."

As she went to her room to lay down, she left Mooney staring at her back.

Sailor Moon: Darkness Within


Chapter 10:
The Ultimate Price

The next day at school, Outai could hardly focus on class. Her mind was full of thoughts and ponderings, wondering where the source of the taint was so that she could destroy it - that was always on her mind - and wondering a few other things, too. The conversation with Mooney the night before had been disturbing, to say the least. She had never seen him flustered like he was the night before, nor had she seen him so sad or concerned. And he seemed a touch...jealous? Why would he be jealous? For that matter, why wasn't he going out and making friends, even though he bugged her to do the same? She made a mental note to talk to him about that when she got home.

Besides Mooney and the taint, Outai still hadn't figured out Why Usagi and her friends would care so much about people they don't know. People you don't know can't be trusted, and even them at least half the people you DO know can't be trusted either. Not for a while, at least, and even then it was iffy. She made another mental note to check with Usagi on that later.

"Outai!" a rather exasperated voice broke through her thoughts.

Glancing up from her brown study, green eyes locked on frustrated brown as the teacher attempted to stare her down. Well, maybe not stare her down, but he definitely was not happy. She blinked, trying to remember what he had been saying, but unfortunately drew a blank.

"I'm sorry, sir. Could you please repeat that?" she said, trying for meekness.

The classroom stared at her. She had never been one to daydream in class, and because of her reputation - earned or not - everyone was waiting to see her called down for something. That was why she was usually very careful at school - she wouldn't give them the satisfaction. However, she had slipped. Perhaps Usagi's dream land fantasies was catching and making her soft. She needed to re-train herself to be hard again, to not make mistakes.

"Please read the next page out loud." he said, consternation clear on his finely wrinkled face, matching perfectly the white wings in his dark hair.

Standing, Outai began to read from the page she had left off on in her English book. Fortunately for her, she kept two pages ahead of the class. English really was one of her better subjects, and this time staying two pages ahead had saved her. She was right where she needed to be. At least it would cover for how long her mind had drifted. Mechanically, she spoke the written words out loud, pronouncing everything correctly, as though she had lived in America for a time. Well, actually, she had.

"Thank you, Outai," the teacher said when she finished, "you may sit down. I will see you after class, though."

Outai heard snickers from some of her class mates at that, and caught one boy next to her nudging a friend next to him in the ribs with his elbow. Yes, it seemed everyone was happy to see her called down for something. Everyone but Ami, it seemed. She looked...perplexed. Why would she look like that? What was she thinking? What was she questioning? As she sat down, she ignored the stares and the snickers, schooling herself to make it look like she was staying after by her own choice, not because she had been called down for daydreaming.



After more thinking - daydreaming, as some would call it, and she was lucky she hadn't been called on again by that teacher the rest of the day - the bell finally rang, signalling the end of class. It was the last class of the day, so everyone packed to go home. Except for her and Ami. She had her reasons, but why would Ami stay behind? Wasn't she supposed to go with Usagi? Well, that was something to puzzle out later.

Once the classroom was emptied, the teacher approached her at her desk. She had not moved, and instead made to work on some of her homework while waiting. She was fairly sure the teacher, at least, did not care about the rumors about her. She still did not look forward to the lecture she was going to get, though.

"You were distracted today." the teacher said. She didn't know why he was pointing out the obvious. "You aren't normally like that. Are things okay at home?"

Outai blinked at the teacher. No one really cared what her home life was like, because of those rumors. Everyone was either too frightened, or just frankly didn't care. She could understand him asking, as his job as a teacher, to make sure she was okay, but it still surprised her.

"Things are well." she lied. She didn't like lying, but it was better than telling the truth. She wasn't going to reveal herself just because someone was concerned, even if it was a false concern.

"I've heard the rumors students have spread about you from the day you came here. I don't know what reason you had for transfering here, but so far the only violence I've heard from you that could be substantiated was that one student you knocked out, and that was self-defense. You could have handled that better, but then again that student was dangerous to everyone. I guess you could say I'm on the fence about it. Anyway, my point is that students can be cruel, but don't let it get to you. You have bigger things to worry about, like paying attention in class." "Thank you, sir," she said politely, though frankly she didn't really need this lecture. She got it from Mooney enough as it was, though she would never tell anyone that her cat talked to her. That might cause more problems than what it was worth. "I will try to remember that in the future."

"It might help if you made some friends here. Students would see better things in you, and it could do you some good as well."

"I do have friends." She said, though she wasn't sure if she saw them as friends or not.

"You mean miss Mizuno? I thought so." he said when she nodded her head, "Well, you can't do much better than that. I hear she has some pretty incredible friends, too. Maybe they can help you. But I still don't want to catch you daydreaming in my class again. Understood?"

"Yes, sir. May I be excused now, please?"

"You may."

"Thank you, sir."

As she stood, she saw that Ami was waiting by the door for her, an almost sympathetic look on her face. Why would she sympathize? Well, she didn't know much about the genius girl's past, but she thought they might have some similarities between them. That's the only thing she could think of. Still, it made her curious, and she had to investigate it as they made their way down the hall to wait for Usagi.

"Ami, why did you wait for me?" she asked curiously.

"Because you are our friend." she said simply, and a warm smile spread across her face. She really had a nice smile, one that could make almost anyone trust her just with that smile.

"Oh? Is it because Usagi kept dragging me to study group?"

"Well, I guess that's how it started. But you, as a person, are a good friend. You like to help others, even though you try to hide it. If that weren't the case, you wouldn't have opted to help Rei and Makoto while I was busy with Usagi and Minako, and you intentionally put things in the simplest way possible so that Usagi and Minako could understand what you were saying as well. You didn't have to, but you did. Outai, why are you so cold to people?"

Outai stared at the blue haired girl. She was a good friend? She doubted that. She just did what had to be done, that's all. However, she did pose a good question. Why was she so cold?

"People cannot be trusted." she said simply, "It's better to push them away, for their own safety, than to get close and have them hurt you, or you them. I tried that with you guys, but for some reason you just push back. Why do you want me to be your friend so adamantly?"

"That's mostly because of Usagi. She tries to make friends with everyone. Before I met her, I was the lonesome book worm in the class, too busy with studying and cram school to make friends. I was even teased for it. Then Usagi came along one day, took my book, and told me that too much studying wasn't good for me. I guess I was a little annoyed by that, but I'm glad she did. She's a good friend, who loves everyone. But even with that, I guess a bit of her has rubbed off on all of us. Even though you make us uneasy sometimes," that made her blush for some reason. Perhaps she hadn't meant to say that? "we all see that, deep down, you're really a kind person. And you are lonely."

"As I told Usagi, I don't need pity, or want it. But...hm...I don't know. I need to think some more." she said, and for some reason she could feel her own face coloring. "I'll meet up with you guys later. I need to get something from home."

The last had been a lie, but it was needed. She had to get away from their sweet fantasies about people and friendships so she could think straight. She could feel herself, her will, weakening when she was around them. When they were around, part of her wanted to have friends, to be a normal person and laugh with people. Part of her wanted to smile and be warm and friendly towards others. But she knew those were just sugar-sweet fantasies.

The reality was that she never could. She had to keep herself strong to fight the taint. She couldn't afford friends, now. Not when it meant they were in danger just from being around her. The taint in her own soul - sealed so it could not spread or overwhelm her - attracted others that were tainted, and anyone around her would be hurt easily. Especially because she couldn't transform in front of anyone. She couldn't risk it. More than that, though, was the knowledge that, once the taint was purified for good, the process of doing so would purify her own taint, and leave her as a lifeless shell. For all intents and purposes, though her body would live for a short while after, she herself would be dead, and there was no way to get around it or avoid it. So any friends she had would be hurt soon anyway, whether from the tainted, or from the purification of the taint. She wouldn't do that to anyone, knowingly.

Before she could make it home, though, a scream caught her ear, snapping her out of her thoughts. She could feel the taint nearby, and knew right away what the scream had been. Someone had been attacked. Without another thought she pulled her transformation pen from her pocket and ran into a nearby alley that was devoid of human life.

"Andromeda Power Make Up!"

White light flashed around her, black ribbons wrapping around her torso, her hands, her feet, flashing suddenly into her scout uniform of black and gold. The pen in her hand seemed to glow white and stretch until it was several inches taller than she was, held diagonally across her body as the crescent moon lantern at the end of it dangled freely.

Sailor Andromeda ran towards where she heard the scream come from, following the direction of the taint. The only benefit she saw in being tainted and sealed was that she could use her own taint to find someone else who was tainted. As she drew closer, the taint in her own soul seemed to throb, pulsing in time to the taint from the person she drew nearer to. It was uncommonly strong, and there seemed to be far more than just one person tainted.

As she rounded a corner, she saw Sailor Moon and the other Sailor Soldiers surrounded by a group of those who were tainted. There were at least twenty of them, some that would be vegetables from purification, and others who would have Swiss cheese for memory. One of them was odd, though. The taint in them was particularly strong, and nothing of that person remained. Another vegetable-to-be. She could see the others giving their power to Sailor Moon, and Sailor Moon raising her locket above her head - the temptation to end her meddling by simply stealing that locket was a great one, but she didn't have time to do that - but she would not let Sailor Moon get ahead of her.

Outai stretched out her own staff in front of her, low to the ground, and began to spin. She could see the lantern on the end of her staff glowing, leaving streaks of light in it's wake as she spun, forming almost a cage of light around her as she brought the staff above her head.

"Gates of Heaven!"

Just as it seemed Sailor Moon would cast her own magic, a disc of light glowed brightly beneath the lot of them, and Sailor Moon left her words unspoken. The now familiar pattern of light below them exploded, washing away the taint from everything in that circle, including two of the senshi who had been tainted. However, the spell had been larger than normal, to cover that great an area, and she now felt tired from it.

Tired or not, her anger at the meddling senshi exploded in her as she approached them. She didn't even notice that all but one of the tainted had fallen, and the one standing was still as strong as it had been before her spell.

"You are bound and determined to ruin things, aren't you?" she said calmly enough, though her voice could have frozen the sun. "You really want to pay that price to your soul that badly, don't you? You think you can handle it, don't you?"

Suddenly, she was aware of the still standing tainted person, a young woman with long dark hair and blue eyes. She was quite lovely, really, but her soul was now gone, consumed by the taint. More than that, aside from the strength of the taint - which surprised her; a spell that large should have purified anything and everything - something else was different. The taint wasn't just strong, it was almost like this girl was a vessel for it now. She could feel the pure emptiness in the girl's soul, slowly being filled by the taint, the consciousness of it, and as it filled her, it began to take control. She couldn't let that happen.

Heaviness and sadness filled her as she raised a hand towards the girl, a ball of light forming at her palm. It would be a mercy to the girl's family, or so she told herself. Even if purification had worked, she would have only been a vegetable, never truly alive. Furthermore, because it was more than that, this girl could very well become the vessel of the taint, allowing it to spread more freely, to do what it wishes and destroy everything. She HAD to think of this girl as the taint born in a human shell. She could not afford to think of it as a human, or she knew she wouldn't be able to do what had to be done.

"Do you really think you can pay this price? What you've seen so far, what you've done, is a tear drop beside an ocean. Watch and learn the full price you must pay."

Strangely, tears began to well up in her own eyes. Why would she be crying? This girl was no longer human. It was the taint using a human shell. For a moment, though, she couldn't bring herself to say those fatal words. For a moment, she hesitated.

"Andromeda, don't!" she could hear Sailor Moon begging her, "She's human!"

"No," she said in little more than a whisper. She knew the truth of the matter, even if Sailor Moon and her friends did not. "she is not. She is a vessel, now, and the vessel must not live."

Already she could feel something tearing inside her, ripping in two like canvas. She didn't want to do it! Holy, but she didn't want to! Still, it had to be done, and she would not let them pay this price. She was the only one strong enough, the only one who had bloodied her own hands enough to do this. They were not strong enough to so it anyway, because of their own fairy tale convictions.

"Sunlight!"

A beam of light shot from the ball in her palm, raised and facing the girl. The beam of light shot through the girl's head between the eyes for a quick, and fairly painless death. The taint was washed away in the beam of light. It could not take over a dead body. And that was when she felt something inside her shatter into a million pieces.

"Wh-what..." she could hear Sailor Moon muttering in astonished horror, "what have you done?! You killed her! She was human and you killed her!"

Sailor Andromeda whipped around, full of emptiness and fury. She wasn't even aware of the tears streaming down her face.

"That is the price you pay for fighting this war." she said calmly, coldly, "Do you really think you can pay that price? To kill someone because they have become a vessel for the taint? Because it is more merciful to kill them than to let their family worry over them for the rest of their lives because they will never wake up, never be truly alive again, to have them live on life support alone? That's what fighting this war with the taint means. It means purifying it, and it means that people will die, because if they don't, the whole world dies."

She didn't give them time to argue. She spun around and stalked away, leaving them in a stunned silence.



Mooney had just returned from visiting Artemis and Luna. They had joined in the search for the origin of the taint, saying that the other Sailor Soldiers had joined in the fight with Sailor Andromeda. He didn't like asking that of them, but he knew Outai needed help. She couldn't do it by herself, no matter how much she wanted to. So far, they had come up with a few suspicions of where it could be, but nothing definitive. Nothing that was even enough to constitute investigation.

As he approached the building that he and Outai lived in, he noticed it had grown dark. She would be home now, and he hoped she had made dinner. He was starving! Making his way up the stairs to the front door of the apartment, he kept his nose sharp for the smells of cooking. What he smelled, though, was blood.

Mooney ran, following the smell, hoping it wouldn't come from their apartment. He had been worried about Outai for a long time now, and it had only increased since their conversation the night before. She had been such a happy person before she met him, before he gave her his memories of what happened to their home world. After that she had gone downhill fast, becoming someone he didn't know - antisocial, depressed, and angry didn't even begin to cover it. She blamed herself for the destruction of their home, even though she knew she couldn't have done anything anyway. She had been too young. If anything, the blame was his own, though he knew he couldn't do anything either. He couldn't even touch Holy, let alone be it's vessel, as she was.

With how depressed she had been, he had always worried that she might try to hurt herself - self infliction was often found in those who were depressed, sometimes as a release, sometimes for other reasons - or perhaps even try to kill herself from the guilt. He knew it was foolish - she knew better than that; she knew that if she died, the whole world died, and she was bound and determined to prevent that, no matter what it cost her personally - but he couldn't help it. He had grown to love her as he stayed as her guardian and pet cat, and that made him worry about her that much more.

Mooney stopped dead in his tracks in front of a tall metal door. This was their apartment, and the scent of blood was coming from that door, which was closed. In his cat form he couldn't open that door - he didn't have a grip with furry paws, nor did he have thumbs or the height to reach it - but in his human form he did. He looked every which way to make sure no one was looking, before turning into his human form, stretching and contorting from a little black cat into a handsome young man with black hair, blue eyes, and black cat ears and a tail. Somehow - he wasn't sure how - whenever he became human, he wore a white t-shirt and blue jeans that were a few sizes too big on him. If it weren't for the belt he wore, his pants would fall to his ankles, and often the collar of his shirt showed some of his chest, making him look like a child in adult's clothing.

Right now he didn't care how he looked. He turned the door knob, and was relieved to find it unlocked. Relieved, because he didn't want to waste the time kicking the door in. He ran into the apartment, searching every room - it wasn't a long search; the apartment was small, and had only one bedroom - relieved and worried when she couldn't be found. The bathroom was the last room to be checked.

Mooney threw the bathroom door open, blushing a little at the fact that he might be walking in on Outai on the toilet. For all he knew - now that he stopped to think about it - she could be on her cycle. However, this was not the case.

On the tile floor he found Outai laying in a pool of blood, naked save for a pair of white panties and a white bra. Her skin was covered in marks and cuts, spelling out 'Murderer' on every visible inch of her body that she could see or reach, minus her face. Her back, of course did not say 'Murderer' on it, but it was covered in deep wounds, some criscrossing the still healing scar on her back.

Mooney panicked. She had never self inflicted before - she found it pointless - but this was too much. She had bled a lot, and looked pale. Not noticing her naked form - well, almost naked - he first checked for a pulse. It was weak and thready, but it was there. His first thought was to call for an ambulance, but he wasn't sure he could answer the questions that came with that. Why HAD she chosen to carve 'Murderer' on herself over and over again? The only thing that came to mind was something he didn't want to think about - that she had killed someone. It would explain her behavior, but it still wasn't something he wanted to think about. So, instead of calling an ambulance, he quickly began to clean and dress each wound, though most had already stopped bleeding. He was REALLY going to chew her out later for this.

Sailor Moon: Darkness Within


Chapter 11:
A Lesson in History

The final bell shook Usagi from her dark thoughts so suddenly that she jumped, and very nearly squeaked. A bare fingernail of control had kept her from doing that, especially since it might mean a lecture from the teacher after class. She didn't want another one of those. For that matter, it almost seemed like the teacher singled her out, though she knew for a fact that wasn't the case. It just felt like it some times.

What she had been thinking about was the events of a week ago, when Sailor Andromeda killed that tainted girl. She couldn't get the senshi's face out of her head, when she spun around, anger in her eyes, and the most intense pain she had ever seen before. Tears had been streaming down her face, and she didn't even notice it. The fact was, she hadn't wanted to do what she did, but for some reason she felt that she had to. Even worse, her quiet words before killing that poor girl rang through her mind.

"No," she had said in little more than a whisper. She knew the truth of the matter, even if Sailor Moon and her friends did not. "she is not. She is a vessel, now, and the vessel must not live."

The question in her mind was, a vessel for what? What was so bad about being a vessel that it meant she had to be killed? And why hadn't Andromeda's spell purified the taint in her? Was it getting stronger somehow?

Worry for the new senshi, on top of worry over the tainted souls that roamed and killed, kept her mind busy all day. She hadn't even had time to daydream of Mamoru, her beloved Mamoru. That in itself was a big thing.

Wrapped in her thoughts that she had somehow drifted into again, she mechanically made the motions of packing up her bag and leaving the classroom. She had hardly even noticed when Makoto and Ami called out her name as she passed them by.

"Oh, Ami, Mako-chan. Was Outai in class today?" she said. On top of her concerns for the senshi and for the tainted, she hadn't seen Outai in school for over a week now. She was worried about her friend, worried that she was not well.

"Yes," Ami said, but her eyes looked so sad, so confused - more confusion than sadness - that Usagi wanted to ask her what was wrong. However, Ami beat her to it. "She was in class today. Usagi, I don't think you want to see her right now."

"Why not? You guys just warmed up to her. Don't tell me you're going back now!"

"It's not like that, Usagi." Makoto said, and she realized her friend looked the same as Ami at the moment. "We're worried, too. But...something is different about her."

"Is she still sick?"

"No." Ami said, her blue-eyed gaze turning serious, "Not physically, anyway. Her eyes, though...Usagi, when I saw her today, it wasn't just sadness in her eyes. It was like looking at the eyes of death."

The last had been said with a shudder. The thought of it alone made her shudder, too. What had happened to her to make such a change? If anything, this made her worry more. Something terrible must have happened to make her eyes like that, where before they were just starting to lose some of their sadness.

"Let's go see her and cheer her up, then." Usagi said, putting on her best and most convincing smile, making her voice light. If they showed up with frowns on their faces, Outai would never cheer up!

Convincing her friends to catch up to Outai had been easy enough - Makoto and Ami were worried from seeing her, and as soon as they caught up to Minako and Rei and told them what was going on, they agreed that Outai needed some friends right now.

As they walked down the street, hoping to catch up to Outai - after picking up Chibiusa from her grade school - Usagi heard the sound of an engine revving behind them. She looked back to see Haruka, Michiru, and Setsuna in Haruka's yellow sport car. Haruka, of course, was in the drivers seat wearing a yellow pants suit with a blue shirt and a cross around her neck, while Michiru sat in the front passenger seat in a pretty blue spring dress printed with flowers. Setsuna sat in the back, her long, dark hair down, except for a bun at the top of her head, dressed in a lavender business suit with a narrow skirt.

"Usagi, care for a ride? It'll be kind of tight, but we can get everyone to fit." Haruka said, a friendly smile on her face.

"Hey, have you guys seen Outai?" she asked instead of answering, "We're trying to catch up to her."

Haruka and Michiru exchanged worried glances, and Setsuna seemed to be looking at them as if she had never seen them before. What was with those glances? Of course. They still felt uneasy about her. They didn't know her like she and her friends did.

"Usagi," Setsuna said, being the more sensible of the three, "is it wise to hang around that girl so much? The last I checked, she didn't seem to like you trying to force her to be friends."

"It's not like that, guys!" she wailed, "Outai is a good girl. She's really kind, even if she tries to hide it by pushing people away. Something isn't right, though, and we're worried. She was gone from school for a WEEK! Ami and Mako-chan say there's something wrong still."

"She gives off the same feeling as those tainted do." Haruka said. She had never been very good at putting things gently. "Maybe she is tainted, too."

"Then we must heal her." Usagi said. "Before it can do anything to her."

"Well," Michiru said, a mischievous sparkle in her eye. However, that sparkle always seemed to be there, "if anything it will mean one less tainted person to worry about. Hop in, girls. We'll find her."

Haruka almost glared at Michiru. Well, more than just almost. It was a look that promised retribution later - she had never liked anyone saying who could or could not enter her vehicle besides herself - but she didn't say anything.

Sure enough, there wasn't room for everyone to sit, at least not with a seat belt. Chibiusa ended up sitting on Setsuna's lap, sharing her seat belt, while Usagi sat in the middle, sharing a belt with Ami. Minako sat on the other side, behind Michiru, while Rei and Makoto sat on the trunk with the top lowered on the car itself.

Usagi had tried giving directions to Outai's apartment - they had been past it once, when she had decided to walk Usagi home since her apartment was on the way there - but after two wrong turns, Rei ended up giving the directions instead. It wasn't until they were nearly to the complex Outai lived in before they saw her walking down the street.

The first thing Usagi noticed was that she was wearing her winter uniform, with the long sleeved shirt, and a slightly longer skirt, when the rest were wearing their summer uniforms now that the weather was getting warm. She thought that odd, and on top of that she wore long stockings that covered her above the knees, or so she suspected. She could not see anything of her legs or arms. Why would she dress so warmly? Was she feeling cold? Did she have a fever?

"Hey, Outai!" Usagi called out, but Outai did not even acknowledge hearing her.

Haruka pulled up a distance ahead of Outai, and Usagi hopped out of the car as quickly as she could, considering she had to wait for Setsuna and Chibiusa to move, or for Minako and Ami. Once she was out of the car, though, she made a bee line for her raven haired, emerald eyed friend.

"Outai-"

Usagi cut her own words off short. She hadn't really believed Ami when she said she had seen death in Outai's eyes, but now she saw it for true. It was as though her emerald eyes were the eyes of death, or as though she had given up on life. Nothing in them even said she knew that she was being spoken to. That is, not until Usagi gave her shoulders a gentle shake. She must have been deep in thought, though when snapped out of it, her eyes didn't change.

"Outai, are you okay?" Usagi asked.

"Why do you ask?"

"You were out of school for a week, and when you came back, Ami and Mako-chan said you looked...different. Outai, why do you look so sad? What's wrong?"

"Nothing is wrong. I am fine."

"Then why are you wearing your winter uniform when it's near summer?" Michiru asked, and for the first time Usagi realized her friends were all behind her.

"And why are you wearing gloves?" Chibiusa added in. When mentioned, Usagi saw that she did, indeed, have gloves on her hands, pitch black, and made of cotton.

"Because I choose to." she said simply. "If you'll excuse me, I need to get home."

"You know," Usagi could hear Haruka saying, and she sound agitated. Haruka agitated was kind of scary. "You're being rather rude. Your friends went out of their way to make sure you're okay, and all you can do is be cold to them? Did you grow up in a barn?"

"If I did, my nose would be in a pile of hay right now. I've already told them I don't want pity. If they know what is good for them, they will stay away from me. You, too, for that matter." she said coolly.

"Hey, what's gotten into you?" Rei said, and she sounded angry. For that matter, Rei angry was pretty scary too. "Usagi has been worried sick about you. We all have! What's with that attitude?"

"I never asked you to be worried about me." Outai said coolly, her eyes never changing. Why wouldn't they change? She didn't even sound angry. "What you do is up to you, and what I do is up to me."

Suddenly, Usagi realized there was someone behind Outai, a knife in their hand. It was a young man with blond hair and blue eyes, really rather handsome, but his eyes were full of malice. Before she could cry out and warn Outai, though, the girl suddenly thrust her elbow back just as the boy behind her raised the knife to stab her. Or rather, try to stab her. The elbow in his gut knocked the wind out of him, stunning him just enough to make him drop the knife. The next thing she knew, he was on the ground off to the side where he had been thrown, and Outai was coming after her, next.

Everything happened so quickly that Usagi didn't have time to react, nor did her friends. She could only wait for the pain of impact, her eyes squeezed shut so she wouldn't have to see her friend hitting her. However, the pain and impact did not come. Instead, she heard a grunt behind her, and suddenly she was being pulled off to the side, spun into the arms of Minako, who managed to catch her. Just as she was pulled aside, Outai was right where she had been, a sharp knee driven into the solar plexus of a young girl no older than ten with a baseball bat in her hand, several nails driven through it.

This was no place to fight. She and her friends had to transform, to purify those Outai had fought off. However, upon looking around, she saw something terrible. At least fifty tainted surrounded the whole group of her friends, Haruka, Michiru, Setsuna, and Chibiusa included. There was no escaping the circle of mad men and women that surrounded them, oddly seeming to await orders, though barely. They seemed impatient to rip apart whatever they could, and it seemed they were waiting on something, or someone.

Suddenly, a Sailor soldier stepped out from the encircling crowd. All in shades of purple and white, with short black hair and a long staff with a wicked sword blade at the end, Eternal Sailor Saturn, her new transformation granted by Holy when the others had received theirs, though she had not been there at the time, broke through the crowd, her Glaive in hand.



Outai had been fighting off tainted men and women, when suddenly they seemed to jump back, forming a circle with quite a few other tainted. She had felt them drawing near, but her attempts to push the others away, to make them run, had failed. Usagi and her friends were just too stubborn for their own good, and now they were stuck with her. Worse, in this situation, she couldn't transform. She couldn't let them know she was Sailor Andromeda. She couldn't let them see her newly gained scars.

Just as she was beginning to wonder why they had pulled back, why they were waiting - a tainted person never waited. They only killed and destroyed - a young woman stepped out of the crowd. She wore purples and white, dressed as a Sailor Senshi, with a wicked looking glaive in her hands. The worst part was this senshi was tainted, and a vessel for the darkness within her soul. Strangely, though, her soul was intact, almost as though separated, locked away for safety. Maybe she wouldn't have to kill this senshi, but only if she acted fast and transformed, which she could not do.

"Moon Eternal Make Up!"

Usagi's voice broke through her thoughts, and she stared wide-eyed as light and feathers seemed to engulf the blond girl with the buns in her hair, turning her into none other than Sailor Moon.

"Mars Eternal Make up!"

"Mercury Eternal Make up!"

"Jupiter Eternal Make up!"

"Venus Eternal Make up!"

"Pluto Eternal Make up!"

"Uranus Eternal Make up!"

"Neptune Eternal Make up!"

"Mini Moon Eternal Make Up!"

Unable to speak, unable to move in her shock, Outai watched as the others transformed as well, surrounded in light and feathers, though in different colors, and she could swear some of the light, some of the transformation, was based around various elements, save for the two Sailor Moons. How could they be Sailor soldiers? Well, in some ways it made sense. They had the same sugar sweet ideals that could never be real.

When they finished transforming, Outai continued staring for a moment, before the tainted soldier broke through her thoughts.

"Sailor Moon," she said, "do you know who you are protecting? You are protecting a coward, and a murderer. Isn't that right, Aurora? Oh, that's right. You go by Outai now, don't you?"

Usagi's blue eyes turned on her, full of fear and worry. Well, there was work to be done, and now she didn't have to worry about being found out. This tainted soldier knew who she was, though by the sound of her voice - she could hear another voice echoed with the girl's natural voice, a voice full of malice and hatred, murder and destruction beyond anything she had seen or heard before - the taint had made her it's vessel, and was now using her body to talk. It was no longer the soldier talking, but the taint. With a resigned sigh, she pulled her transformation pen from her pocket.

"Andromeda Galaxy Power, Make Up!"

Though at the moment she could not see their faces, not with the light around her and the black ribbons wrapping around her, she knew they were gawking at her much the same way as she had at them during their transformations. As the pen stretched into her Moon Staff, she wasted no time. She quickly made three turns, bringing her staff up into the air.

"Galactic Halo!"

A dome of light surrounded them, protecting them from the tainted, should they suddenly decide to attack. However, the soldier with the wicked looking glave somehow stepped through. She should not have been able to do that, and it left Outai in shock.

"Oh? It seems Holy gave you some power." the vessel of the darkness within said.

"Sailor Moon," she said, very much regretting what she was going to say, "I...don't have the power for this. I don't think I can heal so many at once, and this one in particular...She's a vessel now. It's not her speaking, but the taint, using her body. I can...sense her power, in a way. She's very dangerous."

"She's the senshi of Silence." Sailor Uranus said behind her, "She has the power to destroy a planet."

Outai almost whimpered. It wasn't the power she feared - though it was far too dangerous to leave any senshi tainted, this one worst of all because of what she could do - it was what she might have to do. She was so strong with the taint that she knew she couldn't heal it, and leaving her like that was too dangerous. She might have to kill again, and she might not survive that blow. Better to kill the vessel, than to have the vessel destroy the world though. But if there was another way...

"Sailor soldiers, you know what we face here. I cannot heal the taint in this one, and not healing it means it could make her destroy this world. She is the vessel now, nothing but a shell being used by the darkness within her. Sailor Moon won't be able to heal her either. Please...forgive me..."

Her arm suddenly felt like lead. She didn't want to raise it. She didn't want to kill again. But to save the world, she might have to. Standing with her side facing the tainted soldier, she managed to raise her arm, holding a ball of light in her palm. And suddenly Sailor Moon was in front of her, her arms raised to the sides as though to protect the senshi behind her. Didn't she know that was a good way to get killed?

"Stop, Andromeda! She's one of us!"

"Sailor Moon, she is a vessel of the taint. Do you know what this means? I thought I had said it already. The sailor soldier you know in that young woman is no more. What you see is her body, possessed by the taint, being used by the taint, and that includes her power. The taint wants nothing more than to destroy everything in the universe, and it will use her power to do it. Step aside, or we will all die."

"I can't let you." she said, and for a wonder, it wasn't fear in her eyes, but sorrow. "Those marks on your arms and legs, you did them, didn't you? Because you felt guilty about last time. You did something very wrong, but you feel so guilty about it that you hurt yourself. You couldn't survive that again."

"And if I don't, the whole world will die. Better me than everyone."

"There must be another way! She can be healed. Hotaru - Sailor Saturn - must still be in there somewhere."

"How do you know?" Outai said, shocked. Could this girl feel the taint in others as well? Could she feel the tainted soldier's soul, partitioned off and locked away untouched?

"Sailor Saturn has been possessed before, by another entity. Maybe this time it is the same."

"It is, but neither of us have the power to heal her."

"That's right," Sailor Saturn said. "You're all too weak to take me. I thought you had noticed this by now. I was going to kill you all right away, but first I want to tell you a story. It's a story about our dear Outai - or perhaps I should say Sailor Andromeda.

Let's see, how do these things begin again? Oh, yes. Once upon a time, there was a world filled with peace and happiness, a world filled with beings who could manipulate the elements, the energies, even the psyches to their will. But because of a power they all worshiped, the power of Holy, their own powers were never used for ill. It was sickening, really.

The high priest and high priestess - the two strongest in the land, closest to this Holy power, most able to weild it - bore a child who surpassed even them in only her first year of life. Holy had said she would be born to save the world from destruction, and she was.

However, one day I came to that planet. Anyone who got near me felt my touch and was filled with blissfull insanity. In the last moments before destruction, she and her guardian ran, seeking safety while the rest of her world died.

But this little priestess - or as her guardian calls her, the little princess - was touched by my blissful taint. She never knew it until her guardian finally met up with her, giving her the Holy crystal from her planet, along with his memories of what had happened to their home. It was the Holy crystal that sealed away the taint inside her so it could not spread or take her over. Sealed away, but never healed. I wonder why that is? Maybe the taint is too strong in her, too."

Outai could feel everyone's eyes on her. So. It knew her history better than she did. So. It knew the prophecy. It stood to reason it would know of her own taint, sealed away inside her. What was it trying to do, aside from trying to turn everyone against her?

"Andromeda...this isn't true, is it?" she could hear Usagi asking.

"It is." she said with a simple nod of her head. "Except that the taint inside me is sealed, not healed, because if it had been healed, then I would be nothing more than a vegetable. Worse, I'd be the vessel instead of this other senshi."

"And that taint on her soul is what drew me here." the tainted senshi said. "It's been a beacon in the night for me. You've done well guiding me, Sailor Andromeda."

She...brought it here? Sure, she knew it drew other tainted towards her, but...she had lead it to Earth? That was something else to add to her list of sins. That list was getting pretty damn long now. No matter that she was less than a year old when she came here. No matter she was too young to train or know what was going on. It was still her fault that her home world died, and her fault that the taint had come here to Earth.

"Sailor Moon," she said quietly, "if you really insist on saving her, lend me your powers. It might be enough. Please."

For some reason, the girl did not argue. Instead, she nodded her head, her face full of grim determination now, as she took up her locket.

"Silver Moon Crystal Eternal Power!"

White light exploded from the locket, full of purity and power. She drank it all in, focusing it with her own power into her staff. Strangely, more than just the lantern glowed this time. The whole staff seemed to quiver with the power as she brought it out in front of her and began to spin. As she did so, the whole staff left a whide streak of light in it's wake. More surprising was that the light, instead of forming a bubble of light around her, almost like her dome shield, molded to her body, and began changing. Instead of her senshi uniform, she was now dressed in light that faded now into a shimmering gown of white silk, without sleeves. The bust was bunched together in the middle with a crescent moon and star between her bosoms, and the full skirts reached the ground and trailed behind some. White gloves came to her elbows, and, oddly, a pair of silky white wings sprouted from her back. What was this?

"Gates of Heaven!"

Light exploded around them, brighter than ever before, covering a larger area than ever before. Sure, the pattern was the same, but even she noticed that it was far larger, far more powerful than ever. Was this Sailor Moon's power? And without the aide of her friends at that!

Outai had been worried it might not have been enough, but when the crowd of tainted collapsed - Sailor Saturn with them - she heaved a sigh of relief, and very near a wimper. She did not have to kill anyone today. As the new found power left her, her white gown dimming back into her senshi uniform, she sank to her knees, both from relief and exhaustion. That was a lot of power to hold and use.

"You BROUGHT it here?!" an angry voice came from behind. Suddenly she saw herself flanked by Sailors Neptune and Uranus.

"I don't think she did it consciously." Sailor Mercury spoke up. "But we do need the full story, Andromeda."

"I'll tell it." came a warm, husky voice.

Suddenly a little black cat with a golden moon and star on it's forehead was walking down the street. It's bright blue eyes seemed sad for some reason. She would ask Mooney later why he was so sad. For now, the cat rested on it's haunches in the middle of the gathering of Sailor senshi.

"Please, don't blame Andromeda. When the taint came, when it destroyed our planet and tainted the little princess, she was less than a year old. She wasn't old enough to know what was going on, much less old enough to train her. In spite of that, though, she blames herself for the death of her parents, of our world."

"That's no excuse for her!" Mars said, clearly enraged. "She killed someone! She's been rude to us this whole time! I can't believe she made us like her!"

"That has explanation, too." Mooney said, "She was trying to push you all away so you wouldn't fight this war. She's paid a heavy price for every person she's healed, and she doesn't want you guys paying that price. I've seen it bring her down.

You wouldn't believe it, but aside from being better at school, Outai used to be like Usagi, cheerful and outgoing. She changed when I came and showed her my memories, telling her what happened. She has changed even more since then, every time she's healed someone and they were nothing but a vegetable for it.

Yes, she did kill someone. There's no justifying it, and there's no covering it up. However, she really did have no other choice. That person had become a vessel, something for the taint to use as a body, because it has no body of it's own. Had she left that girl alive, she would have done far more damage, spread the taint far faster and more powerfully, than anything else you've ever dealt with. It would have meant the destruction of Earth, and she has sworn to protect this planet, no matter what the cost to herself is.

There's something else I think you all should know. I know she doesn't want me to tell you this, but we don't have any other choice. She needs your help. The taint is getting stronger, and it's getting so even her power isn't enough to heal it. Please, will you help her?"

"Mooney," she said coldly, enraged at his speech, though she did little to stop it. "that's quite enough. I don't want their help. I can do it myself."

"No, Outai, you can't. You won't ask, so I'm asking for you, and this time you're going to take it, damn you!"

Outai glared at her guardian cat. He never spoke to her like this before, never showed so much open outrage. He was far too laid back for any of that. Unfortunately, she didn't really have any say in the matter, now that Mooney had taken over. Besides, her power was no longer enough, and she was forced to admit, however reluctantly, that she really did need their help. She didn't have to like it, though.

"I think that is up to them." she said, nodding towards Sailor Moon and her friends, not willing just yet to admit she had lost. Besides, it really was their decision now, not hers.

"Why should we help a murderer?" she could hear Makoto saying. "A rude one at that!"

"Because the fate of the planet depends on her power, and her power isn't enough. She will need your power to do what needs to be done: to get rid of the taint once and for all." Mooney said.

"Mooney," Usagi said, "you showed her your memories, right? Will you show us?"

Mooney hesitated. He never said it, and never really showed it, but she could tell he regretted showing her his memories, because of what it had done. Well, she still felt guilt for the destruction of their home, but that was not his fault. She deserved to know, especially if she was going to wield the power of Holy. She had told him as much before, but she supposed he was being stubborn about it. Just like she was, she thought to herself ironically.

"It's okay," she told her little feline friend, "they didn't go what we went through, but they've had their own experiences to strengthen them. They can handle it. You won't hurt them with it."

Strangely, he seemed to nod. It wasn't the nod that told her she was right, but more like he had been waiting for her permission and was thanking her for it. Why would he need her permission?

"You all might want to sit down." she said, and it wasn't so that they could be closer to eye-level with Mooney. That wasn't even needed. It was better to sit down, than to fall down.

Sailor Moon, Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune, oddly, all sat. The rest remained standing, prepared for the worst. She supposed they didn't trust her, and she was fine with that. If they didn't trust her, they couldn't get close to her, and if they didn't get close, they couldn't get hurt. Well, not much anyway.

Seeing that no one else was going to follow her advice, Mooney's blue eyes began glowing. Suddenly, the world around them seemed to...fade. Sounds became dimmer, colors faded away like a shirt too many times washed with bleach. Even smells faded away. As the world faded, a new world seemed to take it's place at the same time.

They were surrounded by a grassy meadow, dotted with wildflowers of various shapes, colors and sizes. The air smelled fresh and sweet, a pleasant change from the smell of cars and people. The sky was blue and clear, the air pleasantly warm. A soft breeze brushed through their hair, whispering in their ears softly. This was one part of the memory she enjoyed the most. It was peaceful, quiet, happy, beautiful.

In the center of this meadow was a huge stone platform, protected from the elements by a stone ceiling supported by stone columns carved in vines and flowers. Under this roof were rows of wooden benches, covered in colorful cushions embroidered in flowers and vines, birds and fish and animals. In the very center of this place was a stone pillar that came about chest high on some of the senshi, and on top of that was a glowing white crystal. A sense of peace and warmth emanated from this crystal, filling them. She could see some of them beginning to smile, though whether from the beauty or from the crystal she could not say.

Today those benches were filled with people of all sizes, skin tones, and hair colors. They were all humanoid, or almost. Some had the ears of a cat or a dog, and some had vaguely serpentine or bird-like features, but some humans were like that, too. Each and every person was facing the center of this covered area, facing the glowing stone. In front of it, though, were a man and woman standing face to face, both smiling. Both had raven black hair, both were dressed in blue and white robes, though the woman had brilliant blue eyes and the man had emerald green eyes. Somehow, all knew that, by those robes, they were not only high priest and priestess for the Ice nation, but over all priests and priestesses. Somehow they knew these were the strongest in the world, the most able to tap into the power of Holy.

The man and woman were speaking to each other, but it was in a language none of them recognized. When they were done, they embraced each other in a long and loving kiss, and the crowd around them cheered. It must have been a wedding ceremony.

The scene flashed, and though not much changed - there were a few wispy clouds in the sky, and the day was warmer now - they could tell some time had passed. The man and woman looked a little older now - only by a year or two, really - and the woman was holding a babe in her arms, with beautiful black hair and emerald green eyes, wrapped in a soft blue blanket. A young man approached them, his hair black as well, and his eyes as blue as the sky above them, wearing a black breast plate with lines of silver curling like vines all over it. He had black ears and a black tail like a cat, and a golden knot dangled across his chest, and beneath the breast plate was a deep blue coat and pants that seemed to set off his eyes. He wore a sword at his side as though he could use it, but he really did not seem ready to use it. He did not like the idea of it.

As the young man approached - smiling from ear to ear - he spoke with the woman for a moment, before presenting a small stuffed cat, black with golden eyes, to the babe, who cooed in delight at the gift, greedily taking it into her little arms and holding it close. The mother, father, and young man laughed in delight, before the young man spoke to the father of the child. It seemed he was making a report.

The scene flashed again.

The child had grown some, and was now resting in a pack on her mother's back as her mother prayed to the glowing crystal. It seemed a daily ritual for the woman. Suddenly, the ground shook beneath them, and a flash of light blinded them. A grim expression they had never expected to see in such a happy world filled their faces. They knew what had come, and the surprise in their eyes said it had come unexpectedly.

Another flash.

Chaos surrounded them. People were attacking people, some with the murderous rage of the tainted in their eyes, some trying to defend themselves. A young man with fiery red hair and blue-gray eyes fell to a young woman with flaxen hair holding a sword that she had made spring up out of the ground. A young woman with medium brown hair and eyes fell in flames shot from the hand of a young man with hair so fair it was nearly white, and eyes that were nearly red. In the middle of it all was the young man from earlier, with black cat ears and a cat's tail, still in his breast plate. He was using his sword to defend himself against a woman with sun-golden hair and azure eyes. She was a beautiful young woman, a rose ready to bloom in a moment. Somehow they knew this young woman was the young man's lover, and fiance. Her eyes were full of hatred and murder now, and she fought with her own sword, pulled from the ground as well.

The young man brought his sword up and across, trying to push her back, trying not to kill her, and in that instant a moment of sanity washed over her. In that moment she ceased movement and stepped forward. His sword separated her head from her shoulders. A look of horror came over the young man as he dropped to his knees, catching her falling body, holding it close to his own. After a moment, the most heart wrenching wail escaped his throat.

Another flash.

The woman from earlier was running, trying to escape her husband. With her was the young man, anguish fresh in his eyes, and grim determination. He held the glowing crystal in his hands as though holding a raw egg, trying to keep it from breaking. The aura of darkness and hate warred with the woman's own pure aura, fighting for control as she held her baby close, who was now screaming and crying with fear. They came to a building, and the senshi followed as they ran inside, running down faintly glowing hallways lit by seemingly nothing, through corridors, and finally into a room full of bullet-shaped pods. The young man jumped into one, tears streaming down his face now as he turned to face the woman from his pod. The door closed in front of him, sealing him off from the woman. At the same time, the woman placed her babe in another pod, and that's when the darkness took over.

As the door to the babe's pod slowly closed, she attacked the pod, beating it with her fists as a guttural growl escaped her throat. She was no longer even human. She tried to pry the door open with her fingers, not even registering that a certain button had to be pushed, not even intelligent of that fact. However, as the beating with her fists continued, whether by a final moment of sanity or by sheer luck, her fist came down on a button on a nearby control panel. Fire shot out of the bottom of the bullet shaped pods, fire and smoke that spread out, catching the woman on fire. She didn't even seem to care. She continued to beat on the pods as they began to lift from the ground, sending them through the open ceiling.

Another flash.

The pod had crashed some place, sending a jolt through the young man, still clutching the glowing crystal. He pressed a few buttons on a pad in front of him, and they could see a three dimensional image of a planet, their planet, with writing they could not read next to it. A voice came from the pod, speaking to the young man in that language they could not understand, and suddenly the young man looked frightened. He beat at the pod, trying to get out, but was not able to. Finally, he took his sword and pried the door open in just enough time to see someone walk away from the babe's pod, carrying the babe away.

Another flash.

The babe had grown into a young girl of maybe ten. Her black hair had grown long enough to wear in a long, complex braid with bright green clips in it that matched her emerald e yes. She was on her way to school, talking to two other girls her age, one with brown hair and blue eyes, the other with black hair and brown eyes. They were laughing as they walked, happy to be alive, but the girl with the emerald eyes had an aura of darkness warring with light. They knew, somehow, that the little girl had been given that glowing crystal, and it now rested inside her body, sealing away the darkness her true birth mother had given her before their world was destroyed.

Flash.

The girl was in junior high, now. She was talking with her friends, when she saw a young woman walking down the street, her sholders slumped and dejected. She ran up to the young woman.

"Hey, what's wrong?" she asked.

"Why do you care? No one else does. You don't even know me."

"Well, we can fix that! Come on, I got my allowance today, and I'll treat you to ice cream."

Flash.

A small black cat with a crescent moon and star on it's forehead approached the young woman - now in her second year of high school - and it knew who, and what, she was. It's little blue eyes glowed, and after what seemed like an eternity, she looked down at the little black cat, her emerald eyes filled with horror. She slumped to her knees and screamed at the top of her lungs, covering her own ears. She knew what she was now, but she didn't want to believe it.

Flash.

A bright flash of light lit an abandoned alley, occupied only by a few garbage cans, a stray cat or two, and now the body of a young boy. He appeared only to be in his mid-teens, with raven black hair, and what one would suppose to be nearly black eyes that would melt most girls' knees. Or rather, they had been. Now they stared up at the sky, completely blank and devoid of life. There was no injury on him that anyone could see, and he was breathing, but that was the only sign of life to him.

Forest green eyes stared at the boy for a moment, and if one looked closely, one might think that regret had flashed in them. An errant breeze blew a few strands of ebony hair into a pale face that contained those forest green eyes, and was quickly pushed behind an ear with a white gloved hand. Green eyes closed in a quick prayer for the boy's soul, before black boots laced in gold turned and walked away, leaving the boy to be found by whoever happened to wander by. She couldn't risk detection, not yet.



The slide show of memories finally came to an end, and the Sailor senshi all stared at Andromeda, who was now staring at the ground. Of all those memories, she hated everything after that earthquake and explosion of light. Everything, except the memories of her child hood. She vaguely remembered being a happy child.

"You know," she could hear Haruka saying, "she's not much different than we were, Neptune. Her resolve is the same."

"Yes, so we can't blame her now, can we? That would make us hypocrites." she heard from Michiru.

"Outai..." Usagi said, and she could hear the pain and compassion in her voice. It made her want to cry. She hated that.

"You're still blaming yourself?" she heard from Rei, who sounded quite angry now, "For THAT?! You KNOW you didn't have any control over that! You know you couldn't do anything, so stop blaming yourself. You're a Sailor soldier, whether we like it or not, and soldiers are made of tougher stuff than that."

"Yeah!" Makoto agreed, "We all have the same goal - to protect this planet and our princess, and we all know that none of us can go it alone. We need help from everyone, so get over yourself!"

"We don't like what you did," Ami said, sounding much more composed than the others, if a touch breathless, "but you are still a Sailor soldier, just like us. Killing yourself won't bring back the one you killed, nor will it bring back those lost to the taint. Let us help."

She couldn't believe what she was hearing. A moment ago they were ready to condemn her, and just from seeing Mooney's memories they were now ready to help her. What kind of people were they?

"Mooney, I think they know what you are, now. You don't have to hide in front of them." she said.

Nodding in agreement, Mooney began to...grow. His small black form stretched and grew into the form of the young man from the memories, with black hair and blue eyes, cats ears and a cats tail, wearing a white t-shirt and jeans that were several sizes too big for him. Strangely, he was barefoot.

"Outai, if I EVER catch you hurting yourself again, I'll kick your Chibi!" he said angrily.

"You'll have to wait in line for that, cat." Haruka said with a smirk.

Strangely, Setsuna, Sailor Pluto, walked up to her and crouched down so that she was eye level with Outai. Her dark eyes peered into her own emerald green eyes, as if staring directly into her soul.

"The past cannot be undone, I know this far better than anyone, as the senshi of Time. You cannot undo what has been done, but you can keep it from happening again. Focusing on the past is a waste of time and energy, so use that time and energy to focus on the future."

Outai blinked in surprise. Well, what she said did make sense, but she still couldn't get rid of her guilt.

"You cannot make amends, dwelling in the past," Setsuna continued, before she could say anything, "so stay in the present and make amends here and now. You cannot do that, dead."

Outai surprised herself by nodding slowly. She knew all of this, deep down inside she knew it, but she couldn't bring herself to accept it. She couldn't bring herself to stop feeling guilty, because she thought that, if she did, her parents, Mooney's lover, their whole world's death would be in vain. Some how, for some reason, she thought that keeping that guilt keen might absolve her, but all it had done was bring her down. She really hadn't had any say in the matter, just like her own birth. She couldn't have done anything, so maybe she really wasn't to blame.

"Th-thank...you..." she said quietly. "Maybe...you are right."

"Of course I am. I am the senshi of Time."

"Besides that," she heard Minako saying, "it's pretty stupid to blame yourself for something you had no control over. It's like blaming yourself for being born to a prostitute or something."

"Boy, am I an idiot." she said with a wry, mirthless chuckle.

"Yes, you are," Mooney said, but a grin was spreading across his face. "But you're MY idiot."

"No," Usagi said, and Outai suddenly found herself being hugged by this blond haired crybaby of a...friend, "she's OUR idiot."

Sailor Moon: Darkness Within


Chapter 12:
Tuxedo Mask In Trouble!

"She wasn't in school today, either." Mamoru could hear Usagi saying. Once again, the topic was Outai. "I hope she's okay."

"It's probably nothing." he said, and took a moment to steal a glance of his blond haired, blue eyed beauty of a girlfriend. As ditzy as she was, as much of a crybaby as she was, she had grown, and he loved her deeply.

A soft breeze tussled his ebony hair a bit as blue eyes studied blue eyes. He could feel a warm smile stretching across his face, almost as if to spite the pain he had been feeling in his chest almost constantly for weeks now. It wasn't enough to stop him from anything, yet, but he knew something seriously wrong was going on with the Earth. However, he had not confided this to his Usako just yet. He did not want to worry her. She had enough concerns with just Outai as it was, and that wasn't even touching the subject of this taint she kept talking about. Maybe it was the taint that was causing this pain.

"I don't know," she said, worry marring her face, like that of a little cherub, at least to him. "The last time she was out of school, she was gone for a week, and came back dressed for winter. We didn't find out until later that she was hiding...scratches...all over her body."

"Scratches? Was she attacked?"

"Only by herself."

"Well, maybe we should go check on her, then. I'll go with you."

The real reason behind wanting to see this girl was to tell her off for worrying his Usako so much, though he supposed she had good reasons. Usako had told him everything, from her not quite earned status as a bully, to her being Sailor Andromeda, to her home that had been destroyed, even to her doing everything to push them away so they would not have to pay the price that she did. She sounded like a kind enough person, but a little too full of herself.

"Thank you, Mamo-chan!" she said happily as she gave his arm a big hug.

Dates like this alone with his Usako were rare, and usually spent shopping or watching a movie, but occasionally it was spent sitting on a park bench and chatting, just for the presence of each other. Today was one of those times, and it irked him a little that they would have to cut it short to check on a girl who couldn't get over her past, but only a bit, and that was easily squashed. He stood up, letting Usagi cling to his arm like a lamprey.

"You'll have to lead the way. I don't know where she lives."



As it turned out, Outai's apartment was not far from Usagi's house. It was a tall building, with what looked like a hundred apartments in it. It was not a shabby place, either, though the apartments looked like they might be a little small. Well, not much room was needed for just a girl and her cat. He wondered briefly about her parents, but put the thought aside. It was none of his business.

It was Usagi who knocked on the door, but there was no answer, not at first. It took a few moments, but he could hear a scratching at the door, as though her cat wanted out. He wondered if the cat was allowed outside - he wasn't sure if it was strictly an indoor cat, or if it could go outdoors safely, or as safely as anyone could be, with this taint floating around.

"Mooney, it's me, Usagi."

Another moment of silence, before the door peeked open just enough to reveal one azure eye and a tuft of black hair. The door closed again, and he could hear something metallic sliding against something else, followed by a metallic click. The door opened wide, and he saw someone about Usagi's age, far too pretty for his own good, or so Mamoru thought. His hair was black and his eyes azure blue, but he wore a white t-shirt and blue jeans that were several sizes too big, and the ears and tail of a cat. Perhaps he was into cosplay.

"Who's this?" the boy said, not unkindly. His voice was rough, in a way, almost hoarse, but it was playful, like a kitten.

"This is Mamoru, my Mamo-chan." Usagi said. "It's okay, he knows about Outai. He won't tell anyone."

Mamoru thought the boy glared for a moment, before opening the door wider to invite them in.

"Come on in. I'll make some tea."

Usagi was the first one in, followed by Mamoru. Shoes were removed at the door, and he took a moment to notice that one pair of slippers were by the door, as well as a pair of hiking boots, but the shoes she would normally be wearing for school - much like Usako's school shoes - were not there. As they made their way into the living room, he was surprised to see that there was a separate bedroom and bathroom. Perhaps the apartment was bigger than he thought it would be, though still small. He took a seat next to Usako on the couch.

A few minutes later, the boy - Mooney, he thought he heard Usagi call him - returned with a wooden tray with a small tea pot and three tea cups all in thin white porcelain and set it on the table just in front of the couch. After pouring and serving the tea, he himself took the love seat adjacent to the couch.

"I don't think we've been properly introduced." the boy said, "My real name is Moonstar, though Outai calls me Mooney. Her real name is Aurora, just so you know. She abandoned that name when I found her and told her what she is. The little fool said it suited her better. She should know by now she's not alone any more..." Mooney was obviously upset at something the girl had done, and Mamoru felt a little sorry for him. He could tell the boy loved Outai - that much was as plain as day, to him; it was a guy thing he supposed - but he doubted the feelings were returned.

"Well, anyway, it is nice to meet you, Mamoru. Usagi told me a bit about you yesterday. Well, to be honest, she almost couldn't stop talking about you. So, what brings you two here today?"

"Is Outai okay?" Usagi said. Worry was still clear in her blue eyes.

"I hope so. She didn't come home last night. I thought she might have stayed the night with one of your friends. I hoped she had."

Mamoru and Usagi exchanged glances. He had thought as much as well, because her shoes were missing. So why wasn't she at school today?

"Usako says she wasn't at school today." he said grimly. "She's afraid for her safety."

Alarm flashed bright in Mooney's eyes, as well as fear, but that's the only sign he saw that either existed in the boy. His face did not change.

"She's not the only one to worry." the boy said softly, setting his tea cup down on the wooden tray and standing. "When I get my hands on her, I'll give her a lesson she won't forget any time soon on worrying people."

"I hope you don't plan on hitting her." Mamoru said gruffly. He did NOT like people who abused women. Mooney just looked at him as though looking at an alien.

"What?! No! I would never hurt her. But I AM going to give her an earful."

"Well, you'll have to wait in line. I think there's a few others who would like to do the same." Mamoru said.

"Well, I call dibsies, then." Mooney said, making his way to the front door. "Please excuse me, though. I'm going to go look for her."

"Wait up!" Usagi said, standing quickly. He was not far behind her, "We'll help you look."

"Thanks." the boy said, a grateful smile spreading on his face. "I appreciate it. As I say, the more, the merrier!"



The sky was growing dark as Mamoru continued walking down streets and alleys, parks and parking lots and buildings, calling out Outai's name. It had been agreed to search from three different directions, each person making small circles, spreading outward from the apartment complex. To save a little time, Usagi had used her communication watch to contact each of the other soldiers and ask if they had seen her at all that day. None had, so at least he knew where not to look.

Still, the search had gone on most of the afternoon, and it was getting well into the evening. The sky above was black, dotted with a few vague stars as it faded gently to a deep navy blue. As it reached the horizon, the sky faded to shades of purple, red, fiery orange, and bright yellow, where the sun was just disappearing below the trees and buildings. It was a sunset he would have liked to watch with Usako, not looking for an emotional, self-inflicting friend with problems.

Suddenly, he heard a cry in the distance. Thinking his Usako might be in trouble again, he changed into Tuxedo Mask. Unlike the senshi, who took time to change, there was no changing. One moment he was Mamoru Chiba, black hair, blue eyes, blue slacks and a yellow button up t-shirt, the next he was Tuxedo mask, in a black tuxedo with a snowy shirt, black cape lined in red, black top hat, white face mask, white gloves, a stick that could extend, and a plethora of red roses that he could summon out of no where and strike with deadly accuracy. He didn't know what kind of red rose they were, just that they had to be as strong as steel, for some of the strikes he made.

The cry he heard was only a block away, but it wasn't that that he followed. He followed a brilliant white light he saw in the distance, just a few blocks away. That could be Sailor Moon, or it could be one of the other senshi, though that was not as likely.

As he ran down the street, a sudden, intense pain clutched his heart. It was as though someone had gripped it in their hand and gave it a fierce squeeze. He stumbled for a moment, clutching at his heart, hoping to make the pain stop. After moments - small moments, but what felt like an eternity - the pain was gone as quicly as it had come. Or as gone as it could be. The usual pain was still there, but not enough to stop him. He stood, and continued down the abandoned street.

As he drew nearer to what looked like an empty parking lot, inhabited by a garbage dumpster and nothing else, he saw a dome of light surrounding someone he couldn't quite make out. Surrounding that small dome - certainly it was not big enough for him to stand in, and perhaps not even Usako could stand in it - that seemed to pulse with light, growing bright, growing dim, as though fighting to stay in existence, was a mob of people, screaming, clawing and beating at the dome and at each other.

There were more people than he could throw roses at for the moment, and even if he did, he knew they would turn on him. He could feel something from them, a wrongness, something vile that made his chest hurt more, though he tried his best to ignore it. It was like trying to ignore a rabid lion on the loose. To avoid their attention, at least for a moment, he made his way up to the top of a low building, probably the building that the parking lot went to. It looked to be a small grocery store.

Below, he could just see inside the dome of light. Inside was a girl with black hair in a complex braid, tied with a black ribbon. Surprisingly, she wore a white bodice with black shoulder pads and ribbons and underskirt and boots, with a golden skirt, shoulder flap, and crescent moon and star both on her choker and on the ribbon on her chest. In her hand was a long staff with a crescent moon lantern on the end, which she was leaning on heavily. He recognized her as the senshi that had healed the primary school Chibiusa attended. Her knees suddenly slumped beneath her, and she slid down the staff to the ground, holding the staff upright as though it meant her life. Perhaps it did, because the lantern was still glowing, pulsing in time to the pulsing of the dome.

This must be Sailor Andromeda, and she looked not only tired, but beaten. New wounds crossed old on her arms, shoulders and back, wounds that looked like they had come from claws. Bruises dotted her like the vague stars dotted the sky, some as long as his hand and narrow, as though she had been beaten with a pipe. Her cheek was swollen, and she had a slash along her scalp some place that dribbled blood down her face. She was a train wreck, and that dome was about to come down any moment now. Why hadn't she healed these people, as Sailor Moon said she could?

Not thinking twice, he pulled a handful of roses from no where - or he thought it was no where; he didn't know where they came from, but they were an extremely useful tool, if a romantic one - and threw them at the mob trying to break down the dome of light. As usual, each one hit it's mark, planted between the right shoulder blade and the spine, though not deep enough to hit a lung. He didn't want to kill them. Still, it was enough.

Those in the crowd turned to face whoever had thrown roses at them, but they didn't see anyone. It was time for his speech.

"Twenty on one is hardly a fair fight. Gentlemen ought to know not to hurt a maiden." he said. None of them seemed to understand what he was saying. Or, if they did, they didn't care.

Listening or not, those that faced him had somehow got the attention of the others who had been beating at that dome of light. Well, at least it wasn't Usagi in that mess, though he thought she might be needed in this, if Sailor Andromeda had not, or could not, heal them.

Fortunately, his plan had worked, or what plan it could be called - he still had yet to come up with a way to fight so many until help could arrive, if it did. Unlike the others, he had no way of contacting them - and the crowd of what he assumed were tainted men and women came at him. Most tried to scale the building, with no luck, but some had found the exterior fire escape he had used to get on top of the building. He thought he could take them, if they came one at a time.

The first one made it to the top of the building and rushed him. He was near the edge, so he couldn't very well jump aside - if he did, they just might fall over it to their death - but he did manage to beat one across the temple, sending it to the ground in a crumpled heap. It hadn't been enough to kill, but he didn't envy the headache they would wake up with.

A second one rushed at him, stepping over the first, with a bat in hand, swung at his head. He deflected the blow with his stick, but had not been prepared for the fist that followed. It connected with his cheek, sending him stumbling to the side, away from the edge of the roof, and he could feel something wicked, like a rancid slick of oil on water, seeping into his soul. The pain in his chest flared, and he fought it down ruthlessly. He managed to dodge another blow at the last second that had thrown the person off balance enough for him to kick them in the gut, then beat them over the head with his stick, knocking them out. The worst part was, the kick alone sent more of that vileness seeping into his soul, and the person hadn't even registered the pain or the loss of breath. It had been trying to kick a stone.

In the moment it took to knock the second one down, a third had managed to get close enough to put their hands around his throat. Being behind him, he couldn't reach them well enough to get them away - they seemed to hold him at arms length. As silver and black began to rim his vision, a sure sign that the loss of air was causing him to lose consciousness, he heard a weak and tired voice.

"Star...Children..."

Mamoru could see a rain of spheres of light exploding from some place, each sphere hitting a tainted person, sending them sprawling. One had fallen from the fire escape - he could hear their body hit the ground, without so much as a scream of terror along the way - and the one choking him suddenly fell back. None of the tainted that had been hit registered the pain, though. They had merely been knocked aside, but it was enough. The taint that had oozed into him from the person choking him made him want to vomit.

Already, rage began to take him over, and he could hear a voice whispering, soft and seductive, but growing louder, more impatient for him to kill, maim, and destroy. He fought it as hard as he could, but with how hard he had to fight the pain in his chest, stronger with every moment with the taint, he wasn't sure how long he could last. He only hoped Usako could get here in time. Strange, how he had to rely on his Usako to save him, when it was always the other way around. Darkness enveloped him.



Star Children had pushed several of the tainted off balance, sending one to their death - another to add to her list of sins, which was quite long now - and she said a quick prayer for their soul, though she could tell it had been consumed completely by the taint. Even if they hadn't fallen, they would have become a vegetable, if she had the energy to heal them. As it was, she was drained, and would change back into Outai any moment now.

Her body ached from head to toe, every inch of her burning with pain in different injuries. She was fairly sure she had bruised a few bones, and one toe was broken. However, as much as she wanted to rest, as much as she just wanted to go to sleep and not wake up for ten hours or more, she had no choice. The tainted had stopped their move to the ceiling, and had started coming after her again. Worse, the man in the black tuxedo, white mask, and red lined cape was with them, snarling, bearing a black stick with a white tip. She had seen him before, when she had healed that school full of tainted children, one of her biggest victories, as well as one of her biggest losses. She had never had so many die before she could arrive before that day, and though she had healed everyone, and had been there fast enough to prevent anyone from beeing too far changed, she still counted those killed by the tainted as a loss against her personally.

It took quite a bit of effort, and quite a bit of leaning on her staff, but she managed to pull herself upright. However, the barrier around her was gone - it had taken the last of her energy just to cast Star Children, to saved the masked man who had come to her aid - she had seen him being strangled from behind, and Sunlight would have been too big of a spell for her to cast - fighting all night the night before, as well as all day had drained her completely. She hardly had the energy to stand, to stay awake. She knew she couldn't fight like this, but she had to, because she had no other choice. She could not afford to fall here. The world could not afford it.

Suddenly, a ball of fire whizzed by her head. She could feel the heat of the blaze as it passed her by and hit the closest tainted person to her, lighting them into a walking flame. She watched in horror as they slowly burned to death, not even screaming, not even aware they were burning. She looked behind her, and emerald green eyes met azure blue. Azure blue, that was really pissed off. It was kind of scary, really.

"There you are!" Mooney said as he approached her. Strangely, instead of the too-big shirt and pants he always wore, he was wearing a black breastplate with silver vines and a silver moon and star in the middle of his chest, covering a deep blue cat, as well as polished black boots that came to his knees, covering deep blue pants. A sword was tied at his hip. "I've been worried sick about you! What the hell have you been doing? You look like you've been pulled through a blackberry bramble!"

She didn't explain. She didn't have time to explain. Suddenly, one of the tainted had decided to rush Mooney, but she wasn't going to let them touch him. She wouldn't let them taint him, especially when she couldn't afford the energy to heal him. Even if she had tried, she would not have been able to, so instead she knocked them down with her staff. They did not stay down long, but it was enough to snap her fried - who looked incredibly handsome in that outfit, she was embarrassed to admit to herself - out of his reverie of anger.

Mooney began to draw his sword, but in the same motion that had taken one of the tainted down, she pushed it back into it's sheath with her staff.

"Let's not kill any more people. I already have too big a bill to pay to the butcher."

Mooney paused for a moment, his face and eyes unreadable. At the moment it seemed a tainted person could take him down before she could knock them down, he extended his foot in a powerful side kick that sent them stumbling back several feet. And that's when she realized they were surrounded.

"Dead Scream!"

"World Shaking!"

"Deep Submerge!"

Out of nowhere, she heard three voices, and out of no where three balls of energy appeared, knocking more of the tainted back. Some were down on the ground, and getting back on their feet quickly. They were burned and haggard, but none even registered that they were hurt.

"Love me Chain!"

A golden chain of hearts wrapped around one that had come up behind her without her noticing, wrapping them from shoulders to knees, and suddenly they were yanked backwards.

"Mercury Aqua Rhapsody!"

Streams of water pushed more of the tainted away, as well as soaking them from head to toe.

Outai and Mooney both looked behind them, and Mooney sighed with relief to see all of the other Sailor senshi behind them, waiting and ready to attack, if needed.

"Everyone..." she said weakly, but she could hardly say that. Holy, but she wanted to sleep!

"Andromeda," Sailor Moon said as they all approached her, "when we didn't see you at school, we came to visit, but you weren't home. Everyone was worried. Where were you?"

"No time." she said, trying to make herself sound stronger than she knew she was. "They all have to be healed. A man in a tuxedo came to help me, but he's been tainted, and is running with them, now."

Sailor Moon's eyes seem to open as wide as they could go, and she could see horror in her eyes. Horror, and disbelief.

"He can't..." she said quietly, "Tuxedo Mask can't be...You must be mistaken!"

As if to prove Outai's point, the man in the tuxedo - apparently named Tuxedo Mask - lunged at Sailor Moon, and it was all Andromeda could do to push her out of the way. Well, perhaps it was not that hard; all she had to do was fall on the girl and knock her down before Tuxedo Mask could reach her. It was not a moment too soon.

Tuxedo Mask flew past them, but quickly turned and lunged again, this time with his stick raised to attack. Mooney caught the stick with his sword - he could draw faster than she could see it, if it came down to it - and pushed it aside.

"Mooney, don't hurt him!" she said, but Mooney already seemed to know. She could see him making the extra effort to make non-lethal blows.

"Andromeda, why haven't you healed them?" Sailor Moon said, standing. She herself didn't even try to stand. She knew her knees would not hold her weight.

"I..." she hesitated. She didn't want to admit she had over exerted herself. "I can't...I don't have the energy. I'm surprised I haven't changed back yet."

"If we combined our strength," Sailor Mercury said, "could Sailor Moon handle them?"

"Yes," she said reluctantly. She didn't want them to be the ones to heal these people. None of them would recover, "they are weak enough. At least right now. Two of them are nearly to the point of being a vessel, though, so if you don't hurry then you won't be able to heal them."

Sailor Moon merely nodded, and the others looked directly at her. Outai was fairly sure that wasn't needed for what they were going to do, but they did it anyway.

"Mercury Eternal Power!"

"Mars Eternal Power!"

"Jupiter Eternal Power!"

"Venus Eternal Power!"

"Chibi Moon eternal Power!"

"Uranus Eternal Power!"

"Neptune Eternal Power!"

"Pluto Eternal Power!"

"Saturn Eternal Power!"

As each senshi said those magical words, each began to glow in a different color. Mars glowed red, Jupiter green, Venus gold, and Mercury blue. Chibi Moon glowed pink, Neptune teal, Uranus gold, Pluto deep purple, and Saturn pale purple. Each senshi's glow began to meld together into sailor moon, and a glowing stone in her locket came out into her hands. She raised it above her head, and Outai could feel it's power, much like her own, full of warmth and peace.

"Silver Moon Crystal Power!"

Brilliant bright white light exploded from the gem, washing the entire area in it's light, washing away the taint she could feel on all of the other tainted that still lived, including the two who were nearly vessels. Tuxedo Mask, as well as all the others, dropped to the ground unconscious, baring only a few scratches from Mooney's sword that she knew wouldn't even need stitches. Mooney, though, bore quite a few bruises. Fighting non-lethally with a sword was much more difficult than fighting with fists and feet, but had allowed him to deflect that stick more often than not.

Mooney heaved a sigh of relief as the light dimmed to nothing, and Sailor Moon collapsed on the ground next to her. Concerned for their friend, the rest of the senshi surrounded her.

"I'm okay, everyone," Sailor Moon said, "I'm just tired. Andromeda is worse off than I am."

Everyone stared at her, now. With the scars beneath still raw and healing, it was difficult to tell what wounds were new and what were not, save for the ones still bleeding. Some looked at her as though chiding her for hurting herself, but all in all there was some degree of concern in their eyes. Why? Why would they worry about someone who was cold to them, tried to push them away, and had murdered people?

"I'm alright." she lied, "Just tired as well, and planning to sleep for the next twenty-eight hours straight."

"Where were you?" Sailor Mercury said, looking nearly as concerned as Sailor Moon. Oddly, Tuxedo Mask was awake and with them now. "We were all worried."

"Especially me." Mooney said, standing over her with hands on his hips. He was definitely not happy. "Why didn't you come home last night?"

"I was jumped on my way home. I've been fighting constantly since."

That was the truth, completely. On her way home, after healing Sailor Saturn with help from Sailor Moon, she had been jumped by a rather large group of the tainted. What they fought just now was the last of them. Oddly, the tainted didn't even seem to register the need for food or sleep.

"Why didn't you call for help?" Sailor Mars said.

"I didn't have a means to do so. Nor did I have the time, and it took all I had just to stay alive. I did run from them, but they are growing faster, as well as stronger. I couldn't find anywhere safe to hide. The taint inside me draws them to me, so it was easy for them to find me."

"That's why you tried to push them away." Sailor Saturn said, kneeling in front of her. Her dark eyes seemed to carry a great weight, one that Outai could sympathize with. "Aside from not wanting everyone tainted, aside from not wanting them to have to go through the pain of having to kill someone, or heal someone who would only be a vegetable afterward, you didn't want them hurt by the tainted that follow you because of your own sealed taint."

Outai looked at this senshi. She was so young - barely into her final year of middle school, or perhaps her first year of high school - but her eyes held the weight of knowledge, almost like death waiting. Outai knew she had the power of death, as a senshi, but she hadn't realized she had the power of wisdom, too. Slowly, she nodded her head.

"I guess this means we'll have to stop being lazy." Sailor Neptune said.

"Save that for the bedroom." Sailor Uranus said, shooting a glance at Neptune that Outai could swear were bedroom eyes. So. It was like that between them. Well, she couldn't judge them for it, and wouldn't if she could.

"I think they mean that we'll have to keep our eyes open and sharp, or we'll be overrun by tainted." Jupiter said, and for some reason they all seemed to be blushing. Even Sailor Pluto. "We're not going to leave you to do this alone, Andromeda, and that's that."

Outai sighed in resignation and slumped her shoulders. There was no way she was going to keep them at a safe distance, now, no matter how hard she tried.

"Alright. But please, don't make Small Lady over there do what we have to do. She is strong, I know," she said, to prevent an argument from the little one, who seemed to be glaring at her now, "but she is too young, too pure, to do what needs to be done. Sailor Moon has already started her own butchers bill, and that will cost her in the long run, but Small Lady shouldn't start up her own just yet."

"I'm not going to just sit aside and be useless!" Sailor Chibimoon said, her red eyes afire with fury .

"I never said you would be. Your help would be greatly appreciated, Small Lady. But please, only as a means to support Sailor Moon and the other sailor soldiers. You mustn't ever take a life, or heal someone that will only be a vegetable when you do. For the sake of everyone, you must stay pure and whole."

The girl crossed her arms across her chest, pouting in a rather cute way, but she acquiesced.

"Well, now that that is FINALLY settled," Mooney said as he knelt down in front of her, his back to her, "and I say 'it's about friggin' time!'," he added in a low voice, meant for her ears only. She knew he was talking about her acceptance of their help. "Andromeda needs sleep, badly. And if she budges for anything more than food or the bathroom for said twenty-eight hours, I'll tie her down and make sure she gets some sleep. I've learned about herbs in my time here, and I know just the concoction to knock you out, so don't even try it."

"I don't plan to." she said honestly. "I don't think I could even move that much."



It had taken the help of Sailor Jupiter and Sailor Uranus to push Outai up enough on his back for him to carry her piggy-back style, but he somehow managed to get home with her on his back. He knew she was too weak to even stand when Sailor Moon stood and she did not, just after Tuxedo Mask had tried to attack them, and knew he would have to be the one to carry her. She was kind of heavy, being a dead weight, or nearly so, but he hadn't minded. It was his own penance for not even thinking that she didn't know those girls well enough to spend the night with them, for not even thinking that things might not be okay until Usagi had come and asked about her.

The fact was, he should have gone home with her, to make sure she was safe, but he had not. He had gone home before her to get dinner ready - it was his turn last night to cook - when he should have stayed by her side. He was supposed to protect her, not just because her mother's final, coherent words were orders for him to protect her, but because he wanted to. He tried to give her the space he knew she needed, the space she wanted, and in doing so he gave her so much space that she got into trouble with it. He would just have to stick to her like glue from now on, no matter what she said. He wasn't going to let this happen again.

He could feel a warm breath on the back of his neck, and he blushed, and nearly jumped, before he realized that Outai had fallen asleep on his back. His nerves settled after a few moments, but the blush didn't go away until he somehow managed to get the door open to the apartment and got her into bed, still in her school uniform.

Sailor Moon: Darkness Within


Chapter 13:
For Love and Justice

Aurora...

A soft voice filled her ears, and very nearly her head. However, the fog around her was so dense that she could not see the finger she had pressed to her nose, so of course she could not see who had addressed her. Especially with such a useless name.

Aurora...

The voice called her abandoned name - abandoned when she flew to safety while her home was destroyed - as the cold, gray fog swirled around her. She knew her legs were moving, but to where she could not say. Aside from that knowledge that her legs were moving, there was no other sign that she was moving at all.

Aurora...

The voice was louder now, more persistent, and twinged with worry and fear. Fear and worry of what, she did not know, and was afraid to find out. The cold fog seemed to seep into her bones, making her shiver with the cold. Who was calling her, and why? Why were they afraid and worried?

Aurora please...

Please what? Suddenly, the voice sounded vaguely familiar, but she could not put her finger on who it was, or match a face to the voice, let alone a name. Her thoughts seemed to be as foggy as the cold, gray fog around her.

Suddenly the fog grew dimmer, darker. It was gradual and slow, so slow that she almost hadn't noticed. Finally, everything went black. If there was a color darker than that, this was it. The blackness almost seemed...heavy.

Aurora, please... the voice called again through the blackness. Wake up!

As if answering it's summons, a light shone, dimly at first, but growing and filling with color and sound. It was as though the fog had lead to a tunnel, which lead to what she now saw before her: a field of grass and flowers, rimmed with trees. A brook babbled over stones not too far away, and the air smelled crisp and sweet from the flowers growing up through the grass. Strangely, she could not recognize any of those flowers, nor any of the birds she could see soaring about freely, without a care in the world. Some had colors and patters she had never seen before. The sky was clear and blue, bright with the sun just over the tree tops, the air cool but not unpleasantly so, and crisp as if the sun had just risen, not quite evaporating the dew on the grass and flowers. Above all that, though, most prominent in her eyes, was Mooney, decked in dark blue pants and coat covered by a black and silver breastplate with the crescent moon and star that she now knew stood for her home world, and black boots, freshly polished, that came above the knees. He wore no cape, and the only other armor he wore were shoulder guards that were barely visible. She had only thought her thoughts were foggy before. Strangely, his normally happy, strong blue eyes now seemed sad, and if she wasn't mistaken, he had bags under his eyes, as though he hadn't slept well.

"Mooney, where are we?" she asked, and as she continued looking around, she noticed she was wearing a white, silk gown that lacked sleeves of any sort and bunched between her breasts, held by a crescent moon and star. The cloth that was bunched stretched horizontally across her bosom, while the rest fell smoothly from that, flaring at the hips so that the gown seemed to flow around her gracefully. White gloves came to her elbows, completely unmarred, and she could feel soft slippers on her feet.

"Aurora, you have too much to do," he said rather than answering her question, "and you have friends that are worried sick about you. Shouldn't you stop worrying them by being so reckless?"

"Have I done something reckless?" she said, for the moment not even recalling that this was not her home, that her world had been destroyed and she lived on Earth. She didn't even recall being Sailor Andromeda, for some reason. "You don't look well, my friend. Have you been sleeping properly?"

Strangely, a wan, sad smile dimpled his cheeks, and though his blue eyes were still worried and afraid, a light seemed to shine in them, one she had never seen before and couldn't put her finger on. His voice sounded familiar, too. Maybe he had been the one calling her. Suddenly her thoughts were MUCH more foggy, and most definitely NOT with confusion.

"That's just like you," he said almost fondly, "to care about everyone else, while forgetting about yourself. You're like Usagi in that respect."

Usagi? Who was...suddenly it came to her that she knew who Usagi was. Vaguely.

"You're not making much sense, my friend." she said, her voice concerned and warning.

"I suppose not..." he said quietly, "Aurora, it's time to wake up. You've slept long enough."

"What do you mean? I'm wide..." she didn't get to finish. Suddenly a light flashed across Mooney, growing and expanding until white light filled her vision.



Mooney's eyes stopped glowing. Among his various talents that he had been born with, being the child of the Elemental nation - a nation on their world known for having talent with every magic in the world, but mastery over none of it - telepathy and illusions were among them, and both came handy in times like this. Not that he had ever had to do this before, though.

It had taken more time than he had thought it would, and more effort, but he had managed to coax Outai's mind to wake up. He had known since finding her three days ago that she was exhausted beyond reason and would sleep longer than anyone else might, but he had not expected her to sleep for three days straight, and when she did, he suspected something was wrong in her mind. A quick check had shown him that her body and mind were in such shock that her mind refused to let her wake up. Had he waited as long as her mind wanted to rest, she would have died.

Outai's eyes began to peer open slowly, a hand coming up to shield her green eyes from the light of the room, still too bright for eyes that had been closed for three days. He could hear sighs of relief from the girls behind him, who had come to see if she was okay.

Seeing Usagi at the front door when he answered the knock was not surprising - she was a kind person, always concerned about everyone else, especially her friends - but what was surprising was that the four others who seemed to hang around with Usagi the most were there, too, as well as a little one with pink hair, who they introduced to him as Chibiusa. He recalled Outai mentioning a little girl with pink hair that she had saved at a primary school, who had asked her to call her 'Small Lady' and hated her for not being able to save three of her school mates and a teacher, though she had saved everyone else. She had also mentioned that a little girl of the same description was often with Usagi and her friends. Perhaps she was the same little girl. Perhaps that little girl had time to think, and realized that Outai had done her best. That brought up concerns of it's own, until they said that she was Sailor Chibi Moon, and already knew Outai was Sailor Andromeda.

It took a few moments for her eyes to adjust, but when they did, Outai sat up in bed, throwing back the covers that had been tucked around her up to her chin, revealing that she was still in her school uniform, which was now badly wrinkled and in need of cleaning and ironing.



"Hm?" she said groggily, rubbing her eyes, "Mooney, everyone, what are you doing here?"

"You were asleep for three days." he explained, "They were worried, and so was I. Ami managed to keep fluids and some form of nutrition in you while you slept, but it was like your mind had completely shut down."

"I've been asleep for three days?" she said, shock tinging her voice, though it didn't quite seem to dawn on her the full force of what he was saying, like her mind was being slow. Well, she DID just wake up, and never had been a morning person. Suddenly, her eyes bulged. "What about the tainted?!"

The girls all looked at each other - or at least, Mooney thought they did. He knew the news, and knew they did, but he could almost feel their reluctance - but were silent for a moment.

"Usagi managed to heal the rest that had been chasing you." Minako said, finally, "Tuxedo Mask is fine."

"There's something you're not telling me." Outai said, far too calmly. "What is it?"

"Two of them died." Rei said, after a moment of hesitation. "They fell from the building Tuxedo Mask had been on."

"I know that." Outai said levelly. "But there's something else. Three days without purifying anyone and the population of tainted could expand ten fold easily. Unless you guys have been keeping that from happening, I'd say it's already happened."

"Are you sure you're not as smart as Ami?" he said lightly, jokingly, trying to bring up the mood. It was already too dark, and he was too cheerful to be depressed. Usually. Outai just gave him a level stare.

"Not really tenfold," Ami corrected her, "but closer to about seven point three eight times as many. We tried to keep some of that back, but it seems their growing stronger, and smarter. Luna and Artemis are still looking for clues that could lead to wherever this taint is coming from."

Outai sighed and swung her legs off the bed, beginning to stand.

"I knew you wouldn't be able to do anything. You can only heal by combining your powers, and you're not always together all the time. I'll have to see what I can do about reducing that number. At least it will buy us a little time."

"Oh, no you don't!" he said, pushing down on her shoulders until she sat on her bed. "You're not all better yet, and if you go out there right now you'll likely get yourself killed. Too much is riding on you for me, as your guardian, to allow that. You're going to stay here, eat some food and get some rest until you're better, and after that you're not going anywhere without a guard."

"I can take care of myself." she said levelly, and with a little heat, "I don't need someone to hold my hand while I cross the street."

"Listen, Outai," he said, and not without a little heat of his own. She had worried him to death, especially within the last three weeks - he still wasn't sure if the cutting had been a form of self-punishment or an actual attempt at suicide - and she hadn't even realized it, much less apologized. "You managed to fight a full twenty-four hours against a horde that would have killed any normal person in less than three minutes. But you may not be so lucky next time. We already discussed this between ourselves, and Usagi and her friends agree that you need a guard just as much as Usagi does, because both of you will be needed to stop this. A couple of them have even volunteered to be your guards. What they call the 'Outer Senshi' - Neptune, Uranus, Pluto, and Saturn - will be switching between guarding you and Usagi. Neptune and Uranus are not so happy with you, and don't trust you, so they won't be part of your guard, but Saturn, Pluto, Mercury and Venus will be. And you have no say in the matter!"

Outai glared at him, and if he hadn't known better, he would have said she was sulky. Maybe she was. After all, he had discussed something behind her back and without her consent on something she did not want in the first place. Well, it was for her own good, and as much as it galled him that he had to rely on someone else to help protect HIS ward, the person HE had sworn to protect and loved enough to give his life for, he knew it was needed. He just wished he could make her see sense. The world DID need her or it would die. But more than that, he needed her, or he would die inside. A sudden complaint from her stomach disturbed the silence.

"I'll get you something to eat." he said solemnly, turning to leave the room.

"I'll come, too." He could hear Makoto saying in unison with Rei. Those two distrusted her the most out of the 'Inner Senshi', so it surprised him to say the least. He did not stop, though.

Mooney made his way out of Outai's room and through the small living room that joined it. It really was a nice apartment, larger than most students her age lived in. Her human parents had been wealthy, and provided for her well, even while they were away on business, which was always. He walked into the small kitchen and began pulling out a sauce pot, a knife, and some meat and vegetables for a soup. He was sure her stomach was fine - no strain had been placed there - but it was a reflex for someone who was sick, and though she was not physically sick, she was still exhausted and her mind still seemed a bit foggy.

Suddenly, he could feel himself being shouldered aside by the tallest of the group, about Outai's height, or almost. He knew it was Makoto, who enjoyed cooking and was really very good about it. At the moment, she seemed almost jealous of her skill to keep her friends fed well, and began cutting up meat and vegetables in his place.

"You love her, don't you." Rei said, standing off to the side. She knew better than to get into Makoto's way.

Mooney felt his eyes widen in shock before he could stop himself, but he was quick to smooth his features. However, he was afraid it was too late, even though neither was looking at him.

"What makes you think that?" he said, trying to sound casual.

"We can tell by the way you look at her." Makoto said, and for all her appearance, her attention was on chopping vegetables.

"Besides," Rei said, "I don't think you've slept the entire time she's been asleep, and every time we see you around her, you look like a school boy trying to avoid his crush."

Mooney flushed at that, though he tried not to. He did NOT look like a blushing school boy!

"I'm her guardian," he said instead, "I'm supposed to protect her and take care of her. I swore to her mother that I would. It's my duty to protect her."

"Protecting her doesn't entail going calf-eyed around her." Rei said flatly. VERY flatly. "No one said it was wrong for a guardian to fall for their ward. Remember, Mooney, we're soldiers of love as well as justice. We see these things all the time."

Mooney opened his mouth to speak, but closed it again. Well, they had him neatly cornered like a mouse, and he hadn't even seen it coming. He really must be tired, not to have seen that. He was usually sharper than that. A yawn suddenly cracked his jaw, as if to emphasize how tired he was. He really had NOT slept while Outai was asleep, afraid he might miss her waking up, afraid she might be afraid when she woke up, or confused, or something. His muscles suddenly felt like water.

"You go lie down." Makoto said, very pointedly, "Let us take care of Outai."

"Thank you for the offer," Mooney said flatly. He could be flat, too, when he wanted, "but I don't think I want to wake up to a shouting match or anything like that. Not that I don't trust you two, but you two seem the most set against her, aside from Haruka and Michiru."

"We don't like what she did," Makoto explained as she began dumping some of the ingredients into the sauce pot that would take the longest to cook, "but she is still our friend, even if she does make us uneasy. We know she is tainted, but we've seen what she's like, taint aside. And Usagi seems to like her as well, and is as protective of her as we are of Usagi. I don't think Usagi would thank us if we hurt her or let anything bad happen. She seems like a nice enough girl, but she needs to get over herself."

Mooney made his way back into the living room, which was connected to the kitchen as well as the bedroom. Really, the bedroom was on one side, and the kitchen on the other, so he was between them and Outai, and would be able to hear if anything went wrong. Besides, maybe it wouldn't hurt to sit down for a bit. Reclining on the couch, he amended that to reclining for a bit as another yawn cracked his jaw.

"She's like Haruka, or even you, Rei, in that manner." he said, followed by another yawn. "It's a front she's using, to keep you at arms length, to protect you. She'd do the same to me, if she could afford it."

"I don't think that's true." Rei said, taking a seat on the love seat next to the couch. "When she woke up, I saw something. It flashed and was gone, but it was there. Don't give up hope, Mooney. I think she likes you, too. I also think she's incredibly dense, and hasn't realized how you feel about her."

The last had been said with an air of exasperation, much as he had heard the raven haired shrine maiden use when describing her blond, odango-headed friend, Usagi. He supposed she was right at that. If Outai had noticed, she would have kicked him out. Or at the very least, moved into an apartment with two bedrooms. As it was, when he was in his cat form, she didn't seem to realize he was more than a cat. She was a smart person, but he had seen guys flirt with her and she had never even noticed. Maybe she really was that dense. Maybe she really was more like Usagi than he thought.

"Heh, like two peas in a pod." he said sleepily. His eyes felt heavy and grainy, but he refused to let them close for more than a blink. "She really is like Usagi."

"I guess that's why part of us likes her." Makoto said wryly, "She's so like our princess, even if she is gloomy all of the time and trying to push us away, that we can't help but like her a little bit, in spite of what she has said and done."

Mooney opened his eyes. He hadn't thought he had closed them, hadn't realized it, but when he opened them, Makoto was standing over him, hands on her hips, green eyes blazing, or nearly so. She seemed to hold a ladle in her hand as though it were a scepter.

"You rest." she said firmly, though with little heat, "We'll take care of Outai."

Mooney couldn't help but chuckle to himself. So, he had misjudged them after all. Well, in a way he was glad. At least now he knew she was safe in their hands. He had been doubtful at first. It seemed Outai would be eating well tonight - cooking had never been his strong point, though what he made was still edible, and he had heard from Outai how incredible Makoto's cooking was. He'd like to try some himself, if he could sometime.

"Yes, mother." he said jokingly, and got a small smile - if twinged with anger - for his pains. She had a nice smile, but it could be dangerous when she wanted it to be, and right now was one of those times. He closed his eyes, and before he knew it, he was asleep.



Once Mooney left the room, Chibiusa climbed up on the bed and sat where he had been sitting. It was still warm. He must have been sitting there for a while. Guilt tugged at her heart, as well as shame and anger - she still was a bit angry with this woman, if for nothing else than she had been rude to her future mama. Pride mixed in with that made her not want to say what needed to be said, but she would be an adult about it, as she should be, even though her body was that of a child, still.

"I'm sorry I shouted at you." she said calmly, proud of how adult she sounded. "You really tried your best to save everyone. It wasn't your fault that some of them...could not be saved." Strangely, the woman gave her a small smile.

"'Small Lady' suits you." she said warmly, though her eyes seemed sadder than she had last seen them, a feat she had not thought possible, "Your body is small, but inside you are far more grown than you look. I am sorry I could not make it in time to save them. I forgive you - your words were deserved - but will you forgive me?"

"I already did. Usagi told me everything. Thank you for saving Tuxedo Mask."

"It's my job." she said, and seemed to shrug it off. That angered her a bit, but she shrugged that off. "I am glad I could save him, though. He is...different from everyone else, isn't he?"

Chibiusa could see out of the corner of her eye as Ami, Minako, and Usagi nodded in agreement. Usagi especially looked worried, and relieved at the same time.

"He's the prince of the Earth." Usagi said, and none of that usual childish tone was in her voice. She was in full bloom as a woman, an adult, something she herself hoped to emulate some day. "His body is attuned to the Earth. If something happens to the Earth, it hurts him."

"He's ill, isn't he? Badly." the woman said, and regret only added to the sadness in those green eyes. "You are worried about him."

"I am. He is my prince." Usagi said, the concern in her eyes that much greater for being reminded. "And Mooney is yours."

The woman's head whipped around to stare at Usagi and her friends. Strangely, her cheeks turned bright red, and her eyes were as wide as saucers, full of surprise on top of anxiety, guilt, and the usual mourning sadness that made her want to cry.

"Wh-what?! Why would you say that?! He's my guardian, not my prince! I don't have a prince!"

Really, this girl was as dense as Usagi. Even Chibiusa had noticed how Mooney looked at her, and had seen how she looked at him when she woke up, and she was just a kid. She still didn't know as much about love as Usagi did, but she knew far more than most kids her age, after hiding Helios in her dreams what seemed like forever ago. Briefly, she wondered how he was doing with this taint going around.

"No one ever said it was wrong to fall for your guardian." Chibiusa said flatly. The blasted woman stared at her in surprise.

"Who ever said I fell for him? He's my guardian!"

"Yes, so we heard." Minako said, and if anything she sounded amused.

"Outai, have you considered what you're doing to him?" Usagi said. At least she was taking this seriously. "He loves you, you know." That made Outai blush even more.

"He-he's like a brother to me." she said sullenly.

"We saw how you looked at him when you woke up," Minako said teasingly. Well, she WAS the soldier of love, after all. "and when he was fighting Tuxedo Mask in that armor of his. He's more than a brother to you."

"Okay, I like him." she finally admitted, her face growing redder. If she kept that up, her face would boil right off. "But what good will it do? I have to get rid of ALL of the taint. I can't afford to set myself aside from that final purification. If I do that, it could spread all over again, and then where would we be? It wouldn't ever last, anyway."

"You're not planning to survive this fight, are you?" Ami said, and it was less of a question than it was a statement, one that shocked both her and Usagi. "You plan on dying in the fight. Tell me, what good would it do the world if you died in the fight, quite possibly before defeating this taint?"

Outai grimaced. Apparently she had not meant for that to come out.

"I plan to defeat the taint wholly and completely. Do not mistake me on that." she said solemnly, "But in order to make sure it is gone completely, I must purify myself, and I've had the taint longer than anyone on the planet. You've seen what it does to people, over time. I'm sure you're smart enough to know what that means."

"So you're just going to give up and die?!" Chibiusa said angrily, "Worse, you'll turn into a vegetable like those others you've healed and pitied their families for! What do you think that will do to Mooney? And what about us? We were all worried sick about you while you slept for three days, worried when you disappeared four days ago, worried when you didn't come to school for a week before that, and came back covered in scratches! Did you even give a thought to what would happen to us?"

Chibiusa was surprised to feel tears streaming down her cheeks, and she supposed they were from anger. This dimwit really was as bad as Usagi, in some ways, and she wasn't meaning the part about her being dense.

"It's the only way." the woman said glumly. "I've tried thinking of other ways, but if I leave even the smallest part of the taint, even in myself, it could come back, and I won't risk it. There's no way around it. I know now what it will do to all of you, and I apologize in advance, but please try to understand."

"I won't understand!" she shouted at the woman, hopping off of the bed to stand in front of her. "There's always another way, you just have to think of it! How many more people are you going to hurt with your stupidity!"

Suddenly, Rei stepped into the room, Makoto behind her with a tray in her hands. The tray held a steaming bowl of soup and some rice, or that's what it smelled like, and as usual for Makoto, it smelled amazing. However, she was in no mood to be thinking about food. She ran out of the room, slamming the door behind her, and into the living room, where she curled up on a shorter version of the couch that she saw Mooney was asleep on. He looked so cute and peaceful, sleeping on his side on the couch, covered by a spare blanket. She regretted slamming the door, but was glad she had not awakened him. Right now, she just wanted her mama and papa.



Makoto grimaced at the sound of the door slamming, but by the soft snores Mooney had been giving when she walked through the living room, he likely had not heard it. A good thing, too. The air in the room was thick with tension. She could almost feel it sparking around her.

"Where's Mooney?" Ami asked.

"He's sleeping on the couch." Rei answered for her as she sat the tray on Outai's lap. Oddly, the girl was flushed as red as a tomato, but her face was as grim as the Reaper himself. "Did you talk to her?"

"We did." Minako said. "And we know what the trouble is now, besides Outai being too dense for her own good. You might want to sit down."

She and Rei took a seat on the floor and listened quietly as Minako recounted what had been said since they had left to make some food for Outai, who sat quietly, eating, pretending that none of them were there. She was very good at that, it seemed, and it infuriated her. Her fury only grew with what she heard.

"Forget what we thought about her being as bad as Usagi," Rei said, her quicksilver temper in full swing, and not without good reason, "She's worse! At least Usagi tries to find a way where no one will get hurt!"

"You all think it's so easy, don't you?" the girl said quietly. Makoto glared at her. "You think I haven't tried to find a way to fix things without becoming a vegetable? You really think I WANT to be like that?"

"Your recklessness and actions lately don't give us any reason to think otherwise." she said sharply. It wasn't undeserved. "It seems to me like you've got a death wish."

"Maybe so." she said quietly, almost too quietly to be heard. "It may very well come to that," she said, a little louder this time, as if to override what she had just said, "but believe me, I have tried. My soul is essentially gone, consumed by the taint. All that is keeping me as me right now is Holy sealing away the taint. When it is gone, anything that is me will be gone, too, and we cannot risk keeping the taint inside me. If you have any other ideas, I'd love to hear it."

The worst part was, she was right. ALL of the taint had to be eradicated, or it could come back. Even if it was sealed up in her so it would not spread, there was nothing saying that seal would last forever. And because she had had it in her for so long, if that seal broke, she could succumb and destroy the world in mere moments. None of them could let that happen. Being friends with this girl was like being friends with a rabid dog - you loved it, but you never knew when it might attack. Part of her felt disgusted for even thinking that.

"I have my own plan." Outai said at last, "But we have to find the source, first. When we do, we'll have to get to the heart of it, and that will mean fighting tainted, lots of them, and all of them stronger than what we've seen before. The taint seems to have it's own intelligence, and will know to protect itself. I hope that everyone will survive it, but know now that following me into that mess will mean some of you may die, and I will need each and every one of you, in order to cleanse the taint."

"What do you need us to do?" Usagi said, showing her rare brave side. She could be a coward other times, but when it came to important things, like saving the world, she had enough courage to shame a lion.

"Every one of the senshi will have to give you all of their energy." Outai said solemnly, "Every single drop. You will have to add your own to the mix, but I want you to keep some back for yourself, just in case of emergency. Not a lot, but enough to stay alive and do what is necessary afterward. The rest - including that of everyone else - you should channel to me. I will add my own power, and I hope it will be enough."

"And if it isn't?" Ami said uneasily. Makoto was sure they were all uneasy about that possibility.

"If not...I will make sure to destroy every last bit of the taint, before destroying my own. If I fail..." Outai hesitated. Whatever it was had to be truly horrible if she could not tell them. "If I fail, I will ask you all to kill me quickly, before I can spread the taint to you. If you don't, if you hesitate, you will be tainted and overcome faster than you can think, and the world will be doomed. And please, don't tell Mooney any of this. He worries enough as it is. I don't want him to spend the rest of the time we have before finding the source worrying himself to death over me."

"We won't let that happen." Rei said, standing and approaching Outai. Knowing Rei, she wasn't talking about Mooney. "You're asking us to kill one of our own. We won't do that. We'll find another way."

"Then find it fast, because if we wait much longer, our greatest efforts won't even dent it, and the world will die. Unless you can do as I have asked, it may die anyway, no matter how we try. Best you keep that in mind. Better me than the world."

"Stop acting like such a martyr!" Makoto snapped at the girl. "We'll find a way! Now shut up and eat your soup!"

"Yes, mother." Outai said with a put-upon sigh.

Sailor Moon: Darkness Within


Chapter 14:
The Final Battle

A knock came at the door, and she heard the door open. The air suddenly felt tense, like a fight about to happen, but Hotaru had to ignore it for the moment. She was busy with her homework, and if Michiru mama saw her slacking before it was done, she might experience some unpleasantness. The woman would be a good mother if she had a child of her own, but she was a bit overbearing on homework and bed times. Or rather, it just seemed that way. She was about to set her mind back on her math homework, when Setsuna mama peeked around her door.

"We have a visitor, Hotaru." she said calmly, but Hotaru could hear something of an edge in her voice. She was wary of the visitor. Standing, Hotaru followed Setsuna mama out to the living room of their home.

In the living room Hotaru saw Michiru mama and Haruka papa sitting next to each other on the love seat, glaring daggers at Outai, who she now knew was Sailor Andromeda. None of them trusted this girl, even though her intention seemed to be to protect everyone. She had come from outside the solar system, and the outer senshi all had a difficult time trusting anything that got past them. Well, there was good reason for that. The Death Busters had come from outside the solar system, as well as Nemesis and Galaxia, and all of them had tried to destroy everything. In spite of all that, though, Hotaru was wary of outsiders, but also more open minded about them. This particular outsider had a burden all her own, and it wasn't that different from Hotaru's burden, as Sailor Saturn, senshi of silence, and it could be said she was the senshi of Death and Rebirth, given the power she had to destroy a whole planet. Haruka and Michiru had been willing to kill her because of that power, because of Mistress Nine.

"What brings you here?" she could hear Michiru mama asking of Outai.

"I have a request of all of you. I know I have no right to ask anything of you, but unfortunately it is something needful, and only you four can provide it. The others lack the strong will and devotion to duty that you have." she said calmly, sipping at some tea that obviously Setsuna had served. Michiru mama and Haruka papa would never serve tea to someone like her.

Hotaru found a spot open on the love seat next to Haruka papa just big enough for her to sit on. She could have sat on the couch next to Outai - that would not have bothered her - but she wanted to watch the woman's reactions as she spoke.

"What is it you want to ask?" Setsuna mama said, her voice still wary.

"I hope it is nothing that will endanger our princess or our world." Haruka papa said.

"I think you should know well enough by now that, if I had any intention of that, I would have done so by now. My efforts to push them away are because I wish to protect them from what I am." Outai said. Hotaru had not thought she could see any more sadness in the girl's eyes, but they did seem to grow more sad at the last. In a way, she understood this woman's plight, even if none of the others did. "As you know, the taint is growing rapidly now. More people are being tainted than we can keep up with, and now the majority of them are becoming vessels. We have to stop this taint or it will destroy us no matter what we do. Doing so, however, will mean killing people to reach it, because healing them would leave them an empty shell anyway. Once healed, there will be a lot of vegetables lying around anyway. I've seen your devotion to your duty, to protect Usagi and this planet, and I know you have the determination to do what needs to be done, no matter what the cost."

"A whole lot of flattery," Michiru mama said cautiously, "but no explanation."

"I am getting there." Outai said patiently, taking another sip of tea. Obviously, she did not want to say what needed to be said, whatever it was. "I plan to heal all of the taint, including what is inside me. Doing so will leave me a vegetable as well, so mine will have to go last, or I won't be able to do what needs to be done. The reason it has not taken me over like everyone else is because I am protected by Holy. It has sealed the taint away inside me, so it will not spread or take me over."

"If it is protecting you," Hotaru asked, "why doesn't it heal you?"

"Because I will be a vegetable if it does." came her answer, "And utterly useless in what needs to be done. Worse, I may end up as a vessel anyway, for the taint. I'm a vessel for Holy, and I don't like it, but it's better than being a vessel for the taint. At least I know Holy won't use me to destroy people. What I'm trying to get at here is that there is always the possibility of failure. If we fail, if I fail, if Holy...Well, in any case, if the taint isn't completely eradicated, there is a chance it will use me. If that happens, I ask that you kill me quickly, before it can spread to anyone. Me being tainted is bad enough, with the power I have, but even one more person than that being tainted - especially for a sailor soldier - means the destruction of the world, slowly and painfully." Outai's eyes had grown increasingly hard, and increasingly sad as she spoke, as though seeing her own death. Then again, she may very well be seeing just that. "Aside from myself, the most dangerous to be tainted are Sailor Saturn and Sailor Moon, because of the power they wield. I won't let that happen, not if I can help it. Even if it means my death. I ask this of you four, because I know your determination to protect everyone, even if someone has to die. The others cannot - or will not - kill anyone, much less someone they consider a friend, and if things go badly, it will mean the end of the world, in the most literal sense."

Hotaru stood from the love seat, stood in front of Outai, forcing her to meet her eyes with sheer will, dark eyes meeting emerald eyes, each holding a similar burden.

"If the taint takes you, I will personally heal it with death." she said, her own voice hard, but there was no helping that. This woman looked ready to lay down and die, and that was NOT an attitude a senshi should ever have. "However, you must work to see that I don't have to do that."

Strangely, relief flashed in the girl's eyes. Maybe she really did have a death wish. Relief, mixed with a hard...well, it was almost like irritation, but not quite. She couldn't tell what it was.

"Have no worry for that. In spite of my most recent actions, I would like to have friends without having to worry about their safety because of me. I will work my hardest to make sure the taint does not take me, that I cleanse it completely, but know right now that if we are successful, I will be as good as dead anyway. I've known this for a long time now, and I've accepted it. It's worth the price, if I can keep this world alive."

Haruka papa and Michiru mama looked at each other. Perhaps they were looking at a senshi was dangerous, but determined to do the very same thing they were determined to do. Perhaps they were still suspicious of her, but she could see a mutual respect for this girl now. They had seen the same determination and honesty that she had. There was no falsehood with her anymore, and she was determined to save this world, knowing that doing so meant she would die, or be as good as dead. Hotaru knew that burden all too well, and knew why the girl's eyes seemed so sad now, aside from leaving so many as empty shells, and aside from killing three people now. She knew she was going to die, and she accepted it. She wasn't going to run away from it. Strangely, a small smile graced her face, and Hotaru realized she looked pretty with a smile, even a sad one like hers always seemed to be, though this one seemed more full of relief.

"I really am relieved to hear it, though." she said, and her voice showed just how relieved she was. Hotaru hadn't realized how tense Outai had been until she saw that relief. She had obviously been worried about what their response would be. "I tried asking the others, and they refuse. I don't know why they do it, but they see me as a friend, and they're not willing to kill anyone, much less a friend, even if it means the destruction of the world. They are weak, but I think we all know the price of having the strength and determination that we have. I would not ask them to gain that, not again anyway. Usagi and Small Lady are so pure...They must stay that way."

Hotaru smiled at the last part. Chibiusa really was pure and strong, in he own way. And she was a lot like Usagi in her own way as well. She knew Chibiusa looked up to Usagi, though she wouldn't admit it out loud.

"What is your plan?" Hotaru was surprised to hear Setsuna mama ask after a moment of uneasy silence. Things were always uneasy around Outai, because of her taint.

"The taint will have an advance guard, so to speak. It will surround itself with the tainted, likely most of them being vessels so it can do what it wants. It will probably try to split us all up or taint us, or both. We'll all have to go in together and make sure no one gets separated, or they could be turned against us, and with about as much effort as it takes to fall out of bed. We have two guardians that can help in the fight, so I suggest they cut a path clear for us. Mooney is up to the task for that - he has had the training and experience, and isn't as reluctant to kill as some of us are - and I'm fairly sure Tuxedo Mask will do whatever it takes to protect Sailor Moon, so that shouldn't be a problem.

The problem will be that we must conserve as much energy as possible, for when we reach the core, the heart of the taint. Every ounce of energy will have to go into purification, and even that might fail, especially if we use all of our energy fighting the tainted. The best I can offer to prevent this is making a shield around all of us, but maintaining it as we run and moving it with us takes a deal of energy from me. Not only that, but there will be a lot of the tainted there, wherever 'there' happens to be - right now I have heard that Luna and Artemis are still out searching for clues. That many against two men fighting for eleven women...That's not good odds, but right now it's all I've come up with.

Once we reach the core, all of the inners and outers will have to give their energy - every last bit of it - to Sailor Moon. Sailor Chibi Moon won't be able to handle that much power yet, so she'll have to chip in her own." A grimace crossed her face at that. She didn't want a child to risk her life. "That energy, combined with Sailor Moon's and Sailor Chibi Moon's, will be passed to me, where I'll cast the spell to purify, using Holy. If all goes well, it should be enough."

"Even the best laid plans only work until the first sword strikes." Hotaru said. This was going to be the biggest, most difficult battle of their lives.

Outai nodded sagely. She knew already that plans often failed, so one must have a back up. However, she offered no back up. Maybe she didn't have one? Maybe, in her own way, she was asking for them to have one? Suddenly, a knock came at the door, followed by another. It sounded almost panicked.

Since she was already standing, Setsuna mama opened the door to reveal a young man with black hair, blue eyes, and black cat ears with a black cat tail. He wore a loose white t-shirt and loose blue jeans, and panic was clear on his face. Panic, and anger, but not hatred. He wasn't tainted.

"Hey, have you guys seen Outai?" he said, his rough, and usually playful voice now full of anger and fear.

Blue eyes peered around, and he saw her immediately. Before Setsuna could move aside or close the door, he slid his way through the door, ignoring her glare, and planted himself in front of Outai, fists on hips. For some reason, she looked uneasy now, almost afraid. Was she afraid he would hurt her?

"Here you are! I was worried sick! You left without your guard again, Outai. You know you agreed to having one, but you still find ways to sneak around without it. Knock it off!"

Defensive and righteous anger flashed in Outai's eyes now, though she still seemed wary around this young man, whoever he was.

"I can look out for myself, Mooney. I don't need anyone to hold my hand while I cross the street."

"We've had this argument before. It's getting more dangerous now by far. You need to have a guard, in case you get ambushed again."

"Well, I wasn't ambushed on my way here. I was careful. I do know the meaning of caution, even if you don't think I do. Now, if you'll excuse me, Mooney, we are in someone elses home, and this is neither the time nor the place for an argument."

Shock entered the young man's face. He seemed to have forgotten they were not at home. Hotaru thought it was kind of funny, since it really looked like a lover's spat. She had seen something similar between Haruka papa and Michiru mama. They looked amused as well. The boy flushed red and grinned sheepishly.

"Ah, forgive me!" he said, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. "I forgot where I was."

"So we see." Michiru mama said, and Hotaru could hear the effort she was making not to laugh.

"So, you're Mooney." Haruka papa said, and though her laughter was more under control, merriment and amusement still flashed in her eyes. "You should take better care of this kitten. She's pretty reckless."

Outai seemed to be shooting warning glances at Haruka papa and Michiru mama, as if to warn them not to tell him of their promise. She obviously didn't want him to know, and she could see why. Mooney did not seem to see it. He just sighed resignedly, and almost looked like he was pouting.

"Boy, I know it. Oh, I nearly forgot! Luna and Artemis are back with Usagi and Minako. They found it."

There was no need to say what 'it' was. Frankly, she was surprised they found it so quickly, when they didn't have any clues at all. Everyone else looked surprised too. Surprised, and suddenly serious.



Outai ran along side everyone else, with all of the outer and inner senshi making a ring around Usagi, Chibiusa, and herself. They had tried to take Haruka's car, but there were too many of them to ride, and traffic had been blocked up with several accidents. Whereas the last few days everyone had been indoors, it seemed like suddenly every person in Tokyo was not only outdoors, but panicked or tainted, or both. They had to push through crowds of people with Mooney leading the way to the Tokyo tower, the epicenter of the taint. As they ran, Outai couldn't help but recall what had happened.

She and Mooney had returned to Usagi's house with Michiru, Haruka, Hotaru, and Setsuna in tow, all of them meeting up in her bedroom, which made things rather cramped. They listened in silence as Luna and Artemis gave their reports while Ami treated their wounds. They had stumbled on it by accident, really, being attacked by a group of the tainted, and barely making it away with their lives. They had felt the taint strongly around the Tokyo Tower, stronger than anywhere else. Unfortunately, once she discussed her plan with them, and in spite of the fact that it most likely would fail anyway, no one was able to come up with a back up.

They had all been willing to wait a few days to plan, but as they began thinking, an explosion outside rocked the house. Or rather, it sounded like an explosion. Looking out the front door revealed a bad accident, two cars collided together, with the owners of the cars attacking each other. She had felt the taint on both, and it only got worse from there. All of the sudden, it seemed like the entire city had gone mad.

Outai shook herself from her dark thoughts, concentrating on the path ahead, cleared by Mooney and Mamoru, both in their own uniforms, dark breastplates in differing patterns of silver, Mamoru in a black suit beneath the breastplate and Mooney in blue. Mamoru had a cape where Mooney did not, but both had swords, and both were making use of them, if only to push people out of the way. Mooney had to cut a few down - he could feel the taint on them, too, and Outai knew that those he cut down were vessels, or near enough that killing them was a mercy to their family.

As they neared the tallest tower in Tokyo, striped in red and white, resembling the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France in some ways, she could feel the taint intensifying. It made her want to bathe, and each step closer made it worse. However, suddenly the path ahead was clear for what looked like half a mile, with Mooney and Prince Endymion - Mamoru - doing nothing. However, in front of them a wall of humanity writhed, all of them tainted so deeply that none would wake up when healed. Something held them back, and she didn't know what it was. Maybe the taint held them back as it's advance guard, as she had predicted. Everyone stopped about ten meters short of this wall, far enough away that they would have time to react if one or all of them suddenly decided to attack.

Whereas they had not transformed before arriving to keep from raising attention towards them - they had passed people who were not tainted, just panicked and trying to escape - they had no such compunctions now. Aside from their group, not a single person nearby was untainted.

"Mars Eternal Power Make Up!"

"Mercury Eternal Power Make Up!"

"Jupiter Eternal Power Make Up!"

"Venus Eternal Power Make Up!"

"Saturn Eternal Power Make Up!"

"Pluto Eternal Power Make Up!"

"Neptune Eternal Power Make Up!"

"Uranus Eternal Power Make Up!"

"Mini Moon Eternal Power Make Up!"

"Moon Eternal Power Make Up!"

"Andromeda Galaxy Power Make Up!"

Lights and feathers surrounded all of the senshi save Andromeda, the only one without an eternal transformation, a fact that had never bothered her. In spite of the other eternals, her power was still greater than theirs, and that was what mattered. When the lights finally died down and the feathers disappeared as though they had never existed, what remained was not eleven women, but eleven senshi, ready to fight to defend the planet, no matter what the cost. Everyone looked at each other, nodding, as if to confirm their determination to fight. Strangely, that's when Mooney approached, breaking through the ring of inner and outer senshi. What he did next completely took Andromeda by surprise.

Mooney bent down, his face so close to hers that all she could see were his blue eyes, his beautiful blue eyes. His lips met hers, and not in just a brief touching, there for a quick moment and gone. No, it was much deeper than that, and though they had told her before that he loved her, she hadn't believed it until their lips met. She could see it in his eyes, too. He would give his life for her, and consider it a small price. Worse, his hand was at the back of her head, smoothing her hair pulled back into it's usual intricate braid so she couldn't pull back. Strangely, she didn't want to pull back. His lips were soft and sweet, and suddenly she found herself kissing him back, another thing that surprised her.

By the time he finally pulled away, her cheeks felt like they were on fire, and she was out of breath, leaning on his chest as he held her so tightly that she very nearly could not breathe.

"I love you, if you hadn't guessed that by now." he said softly in her ear. "I go wherever you go, in life or in death."

Suddenly, he pulled away, breaking back through that ring of senshi once more so he could be ready to clear the way. Andromeda suddenly realized they were all staring at her.

"Wh-what?" she said, more breathlessly than she would have liked, "You've never seen someone kissed before?"

"Speaking of which..." came a voice from ahead of them. She hadn't realized that Endymion had followed suit, breaking into that ring of women and scooping up Sailor Moon into his harms as their lips met as well.

"Make it back alive, Usako." he said fondly, before rejoining Mooney, who was flush faced, but strangely looking like the cat that ate the canary. Or perhaps like a young boy who had just received his first kiss from a girl he had a huge crush on.

"Wh-what?" Usagi said, now just as flush faced as she felt, "You never saw anyone kissed before?"

Andromeda could have laughed, if she didn't know the gravity of the situation. It was the very thing she had just said, and she realized now that she had been staring, just like everyone else.

"Let's go." she said gravely, "We've wasted enough time."

Forward they plunged into the writhing mass of tainted humans, humans that would never survive healing. Andromeda felt a guilt deeper than when she had made her first kill. One person was bad enough, but this many would rip her to pieces, if it had not already. However, there was a thing that needed doing, and no matter what the cost to herself, she would do it.

Though Mooney and Endymion worked to clear the path ahead, it seemed to melt back together, blocking the way and keeping their own advance guard separated from them. However, she knew neither were weak and could handle their own, even though Sailor Moon raised her own protest as they were separated away from them.

"Mamo-chan!" she exclaimed as the crowd of tainted seemed to surge around him and Mooney.

"He's fine!" Andromeda told her as they ran through the crowd, the way being cleared by Sailor Saturn and Sailor Pluto, who proceeded to cut and smash people out of their way with their own long staffs, Saturn's topped with a wicked looking blade. "Mooney has his back."

In spite of her own words - not only about Mooney's strength, but about their need to conserve energy - she raised her hand with a glowing ball at the palm, the palm facing outward.

"Star Children!"

It was a small spell, but even pennies added up over time, so she would have to be careful. Smaller balls of light flooded from the one in her hand, taking down several that were around the two men, though not killing them. It would never be powerful enough to kill, though anyone hit by it would be hospitalized for a while, at the worst.

Suddenly, Andromeda heard a yelp of both surprise and pain behind her. She turned to see Mars and Uranus knocked down by a group of tainted, and carefully separated from the group as more flooded into the gap. Neptune and Jupiter fought to close that gap with their fists, knocking down the tainted that tried to break through while everyone scooted closer together. It was obvious everyone wanted to save the two, but they knew they couldn't afford the time and energy it would take.

"Mars! Uranus!"

"Uranus is hardly weak," Neptune said, sending a tainted young man sprawling on his back with a kick to his jaw. It seemed to have knocked him out. "We have to keep going!"

Sailor Moon seemed reluctant, and Andromeda had to take her by the arm and pull her forward, in spite of her protests of how she couldn't leave her friends, how everyone was needed. She knew better than anyone that everyone was needed, and she knew that her friends would not want them to come back and try to save them, not when it risked everything. The girl wasn't very good at thinking clearly. Suddenly, Saturn and Pluto went down.

"Hotaru!" she could hear Chibiusa cry out as she knocked down a young woman who had come for her throat while Venus and Jupiter worked to close the gap.

"She'll be fine." Outai assured the girl. She knew they were close friends. "She's probably the last person in the world you need to worry about right now."

Still, the child seemed reluctant to leave her friend, and why not? Putting herself in their shoes, she would probably do the same. Still, right now they couldn't afford anythign but to move ahead. The others would have to catch up, if they survived. In the end, she had to pick the child up and hold her to keep her from going after her friend as they ran ahead.

After a moment, Jupiter and Venus were somehow pared away from their dwindling group, leaving them with Neptune and Mercury for their guard. Being the only one to be able to find their way to the core, Mercury was not allowed to join the fight until they reached the core, and currently she had a blue visor across her eyes, which flashed with patterns she could not recognize. One hand was holding a blue compact, and the other was typing in it furiously. It must have been a small computer. Even running did not interrupt that steady, quick tapping of fingers on keys.

As they ran, a grown man with a full beard - he could have been a hobo, for all of his grimy looks - somehow was able to separate Neptune and Mercury from the rest of them, leaving them with no guard as a ring of tainted surrounded the two. That made Sailor Moon and Sailor Mini Moon protest even louder, to the point that she had to put up with Chibi Moon beating on her with fists as she carried the girl and dragged Sailor Moon by the arm. She was their only guard now, and she would NOT let them be touched by the tainted. She would NOT let them ruin everything to save their friends.

"They'll have to catch up." she said, forcing as much confidence in her voice as she could. She did not add that they would catch up if they survived. That would make things worse. "Have some confidence in them. They know what they are doing. If you go back for them now, everything will be in vain. Everything."

"But we need them!" Sailor Moon protested, "I need them!"

Suddenly they broke through the crowd of tainted men and women and even children. Looking behind them they saw a milling mass, not willing to go beyond an invisible, yet clearly drawn line, not even to get to them. In front of them was an elevator, the door barred with wood and a message pinned to it saying it was out of order. They had told her about the previous trouble with the Tokyo tower, and apparently, that elevator had never been fixed or changed. It had seemed fitting, really, for the taint to take up residence in a place that had previously held evil.

"I know that better than even you." she said quietly, dangerously,"But they are stronger than you take them for. Just have some confidence in them, the way they put their confidence in you. It's a fair trade, don't you think? Right now the only chance we have is to go forward. They won't forgive us for coming back for them, not when doing so could mean that the taint wins."

Finally, the girls seemed to see sense. They didn't like it - she could feel Sailor Moon's glare on her back - but they knew she was right. They didn't have to like it, so long as they didn't risk everything in their foolishness. Without giving them a word edgewise, she stepped into the elevator, ducking under the boards that crisscrossed the door, Sailor Mini Moon in her arms still. Sailor Moon was not far behind. She pushed a button that seemed to be for the lowest level, and the elevator seemed to lower them.

As they waited for the elevator to take them where they needed to go, she set Mini Moon on her feet and stared her in the eye, remaining at eye level with her. What she had to say was for both of them, but this child needed eye contact.

"I know you want to fight, to save your friends, but you two are the most important part of this. If you go out there, you will be tainted, and because of your intense purity you will be overcome faster than anyone could do anything. Either of you being tainted means the end of the world, because you hold that much power, because the taint will not hesitate to use that power for it's own end. That is why you are not allowed to fight this battle. Your power will be needed in a little bit, and it must remain pure. Too much rests on this fact for you to even consider anything else. You don't have to like it, but right now there is no other choice. Now, can you be an adult and do the right thing?"

She knew such a question could be offensive, but right now she also needed a little tough love, something to challenge her pride and make her angry enough to do what needed doing, even if she didn't want to do it normally.

"Of course I can!" the child protested, "I'm a lot more mature than Usagi. You should be telling her, not me!"

"Good. We will need that determination."

The elevator lurched to a stop just then, and the door opened. What she saw made her want to vomit. Beyond the doors to the elevator was blackness, nothing but blackness. It wasn't the blackness of a moonless night, either. It was a heavy, rancid darkness that made her want to bathe. Were it not for her own protection, she would have felt it seeping into her. She knew they were in the heart of darkness itself.

Andromeda had no worry for either of the Moons or the other senshi. Before leaving for the tower, Holy had taken her over and had blessed them in it's own way, giving them the protection she now had. Or rather, they told her Holy had done that. She didn't remember any of it. Still, she was glad when she could feel the resistance against the taint that was around them. It was like the taint was trying to push into them, to devour their souls, but their souls were fighting back. No, it was as if there were an invisible barrier around them, stopping the taint. They stepped out of the elevator and into the darkness, holding hands to keep from loosing each other - the blackness seemed to devour all light, so that none of them could see anything.

"So what do we do now?" she could hear Sailor Moon saying, "We can't do anything without our friends here. I hope they're okay. I hope Mamo-chan is okay."

"Friends?" a sickly voice seemed to fill their heads, crackling like a snake over dry leaves. "Oh, you must mean these pests."

A dark sort of light, black as night yet providing a strange, heavy illumination, allowing them to see, bloomed in front of them. What they saw was horrifying. Each of the senshi that had been separated, plus Endymion and Mooney, were being restrained by one of the tainted, each with a blade of some sort to their throats. The tainted holding Endymion and Mooney were using their own swords to hold them, and each of them looked battered, cut, and bruised. She could feel her teeth grinding at that, anger welling up inside her.

"Release them." she demanded.

"They resist my beautiful taint." it said, as if not even hearing her. "I can feel a power around them, just like your power, Aurora. You're the only one ever to escape me, but you are too weak. You cannot fight me.

Alone, each of these pests are too weak. But together...well, together they are too weak anyway, but why give you that chance? Hm, shall I crush them here and now for you to watch?"

"Don't listen!" Mooney said thickly, one eye swollen shut and the other eye blazing with righteous anger. "You ARE strong enough, together, or it wouldn't be holding them."

Again the voice didn't seem to hear.

"Now these sweet little things," it said, and a tendril of darkness seemed to caress the faces of both Moons, before quickly wrapping around them. Both screamed in surprise. "My, they have a nice power! I think I'd like to use it. But they resist me, too, and they might actually scratch me. Perhaps I shall do away with them, first."

That seemed to ignite everyone's fury, including her own. She hadn't thought she was particularly attached to them, but the thought of their lights being snuffed out like a guttering candle, of watching them crushed, never again to be dopey or ditzy, or to reach out to those without friends made her furious. She could feel something washing over her, trying to stamp out that fury, but failing. It felt pure, somehow, and peaceful and righteous. She let the light she felt inside wash over her, but somehow it could not take her over completely.

Light suddenly blazed around her, washing away the darkness. She knew, somehow, it should be brighter, but what was there was enough to make the tainted - whose eyes were now black with the taint, not a single bit of white left in them, and very sensitive to light - cringe away from the light. She could feel silk brushing her legs, holding her torso. She didn't even look down to see what changes had been made, because she knew what they were, somehow. She was in a gown of snowy white silk, bunched over her bosom and held with a crescent moon and star in gold. She could feel wings on her back, feathery and white, and she realized she was floating above the ground.

The tainted that cringed away had given just enough room for everyone else to pull away, some adding in a kick or a punch for good measure as they were released. Mooney and Endymion managed to get their swords back as well, but they looked weary and beaten, if no less determined to protect everyone. The senshi gathered in a circle around her and the twin Moons, their backs facing them, each holding their hands to complete a ring around them. They knew what to do, and did not wait to do it.

"Mercury Eternal Power!"

"Mars Eternal Power!"

"Jupiter Eternal Power!"

"Venus Eternal Power!"

"Pluto Eternal Power!"

"Saturn Eternal Power!"

"Neptune Eternal Power!"

"Uranus Eternal Power!"

Each of the senshi's uniforms began to glow white, each with their own symbol, in their own color, on their forehead. The light seemed to gather into Sailor Moon, who had somehow changed from her Sailor uniform into a flowing white gown with golden circles across the bosom and puffy white sleeves. She held a silver crystal between her hands, though her hands did not touch it, and she held the crystal upraised towards Outai. Chibi Moon was in a similar dress, with a similar crystal held a similar way.

"Moon Crystal Power!" the little girl with the pink hair declared, and Outai could feel the power of the two crystals combining. It was more immense than she could have ever imagined.

"Silver Moon Crystal Power!"

All of that energy combined, the love and determination and righteous anger mingled in it from everyone filled her, suffused her, until she was sure it would was her away. She suddenly realized she held a glowing white crystal in her own hands above her head, and like the Moons, her hands were not touching that glowing crystal, brighter than the other two crystals, each of which were blinding already. Silently, she made her own prayer into her own glowing crystal, which she could tell now had been hiding in her own heart. She could feel the taint inside her surging, pulsing in time with the heart of the taint, trying to take her over. She prayed that Holy would save them all, would not drain them to the point of death. It did not seem to listen. It knew the importance of what she had to do.

"Starlight!"

White light and purity exploded from the crystal, using every drop of energy to wash over the taint. It was the largest spell she had ever cast, and somehow she knew the light was not confined to this room, that somehow it covered the whole world. She began to strain with the effort of this spell as the spell fought to wash over and purify the taint. She could feel the taint fighting back.

Though only moments had passed, it felt like an eternity. She could see the glowing senshi below dropping like flies, spent completely. The power in her crystal began to ebb, but she had no choice but to push forward. She used every drop, somehow creating a buffer for the two Moons - she wished she could have done so for the others, or at least for Saturn, who had promised to kill her if she failed and became tainted - but she could not spare any more for anything. Already her mind and body felt the strain of the spell. Already she could feel the taint inside her surging stronger. Suddenly, the crystal in her hands shattered into a fine mist of glowing shards. She didn't have any time to feel shocked or horrified as the taint inside surged, blacking everything out.



Sailor Moon could have screamed when she saw the crystal in Andromeda's hands shatter, much as her own had done on more than one occasion. At least she hadn't been tainted. At least she had survived.

Suddenly, the now tainted, angelic form of Andromeda came after her. The staff that had been in her hands and dropped to the floor when she transformed into her glowing, angelic form had become a sword somehow, and she could tell the woman meant to use it on her and Chibiusa. She could not let that happen, but at the same time she could not do anything. Holding the Silver Moon Crystal as she was was the only thing keeping that darkness back. Andromeda had managed to heal the most part of it, but she could feel it coming from Andromeda now, and she knew she couldn't stop. She was barely aware that her friends were unconscious. At least, she hoped they were unconscious, and not dead. Something inside told her they had given everything, though, including their lives. Tears of sadness and horror streamed down her cheeks.

"Outai, stop!" she cried out, but the woman didn't stop. She didn't even flinch. Sailor Moon - no, princess Serenity, now - braced herself for death.

When she was sure she should be feeling the bite of a blade through her neck or shoulder, and nothing came, she peeked her eyes open. Strangely, her first concern was for Chibiusa, who was still holding her crystal, though she looked exhausted as she felt. Her little red eyes, though, told her not to stop, that she wasn't going to stop either. Her second concern was why she wasn't dead.

Princess Serenity looked up and saw why immediately. Mooney was meeting Outai - she supposed her name was really Aurora, but she couldn't stop thinking of the girl as Outai - sword for sword. It wasn't right! They shouldn't be fighting! She knew the taint had taken over Outai now, that it wasn't really Outai fighting, but there had to be something of her left in that glowing body. There had to, or she wouldn't still be in her angelic form. She wanted to cry out, to bring Outai back to herself, but she knew that wouldn't happen. The same had happened to Sailor Galaxia, being used by Chaos to fight, and she knew talking wouldn't bring her back. Something else had to. She had enough left that she could purify Outai - though taken over, her own taint was now weak. Before she could purify her, however, she screamed in horror and sadness.

Outai had not been fast enough to fend off Mooney, whose cheeks were stained with tears, and who's blue eyes - though one was swollen shut - were rimmed with red but set with determination. His sword penetrated her chest, coming out the other side. Outai's eyes widened in disbelief, but soon glazed over with death. As she began to fall, Mooney caught her in his arms, holding her close, crying. Tears streamed down her own cheeks, and she could see Chibiusa crying as well as Mooney pulled the sword from her chest and kept her held close with one arm. The other arm held his sword, pointed at Outai's back. She knew what he was going to do, and was powerless to stop him as the sword went through Outai's back and into his own chest, even through his breast and back plates, until it came out of his back. Both slumped to the side, lifeless.

Bring them back, she prayed into the crystal in her hands. Bring them back, please. We just want a normal life. Please, give me back my friends, let us live a normal life. Doing so might cost her her life, but if it meant her friends lived, she was fine with it. She could see the same in Chibiusa's eyes as they held their crystals together.

"Moon Crystal Power!" they said in unison, and a brilliant white light flashed around them, washing away the last little bits of the taint that were left in the world at the cost of the last of their energies.

Sailor Moon: Darkness Within


Chapter 15:
Epilogue

A woman with long, dark green hair and dark eyes wearing a pink skirt suit walked down the street with a frail looking girl with short black hair and dark eyes, wearing a short black dress. The frail looking girl looked lonely, but she knew she was not alone. She had friends, even though her close friend had gone away for a while. The proof of that was the woman she was with, who was taking her shopping. They smiled warmly at each other, much like sisters, or a mother to a daughter as they walked down the street, a smile saying that they shared a secret.

Two women sat on the hood of a yellow sport car, one with wavy blue hair and eyes, the other with short, sandy blond hair and blue eyes. The woman with the sandy hair looked more like a man than a woman in some ways, while the woman with the blue hair was obviously feminine, wearing a smart looking blue dress suited for the early summer. They gazed out across the sandy beach, across the blue waves that lapped upon the shore as the sun lowered towards the horizon. Then the looked at each other, a glimmer of a smile in their eyes to match the secretive smiles on their faces. They, too, shared a secret. In fact, they shared many.

A young woman with long brown hair pulled back into a ponytail and green eyes, taller than most young women her age pulled a pan of cookies from a small oven afforded for her baking club. Her uniform sleeves were short, being late spring and bordering on summer, and she smiled in satisfaction at the cookies on the pan, and blushed at the praises from her fellow students.

A melodious voice echoed in the room, belonging to a young woman with blond hair pulled back into a half-ponytail tied with a bright red ribbon who had blue eyes and danced as she sang the words that appeared on the screen, holding a microphone not too far from her mouth. As the song came to an end, a score flashed on the screen and the girl jumped up and down, squealing with delight. She had gotten a perfect score.

Blue eyes gazed at the text book on her desk, short blue hair brushed back neatly away from her face kept from interfering with her studying. A student approached her with a question concerning a problem she had a hard time understanding, and the girl smiled as she guided the girl through the problem, step by step. The girl smiled her thanks, finally understanding, and went back to her own studies.

A raven haired miko with dark eyes, dressed in a white blouse that folded on itself and wide red trousers that looked more like a skirt offered up prayers to the dead just before handing mourning families charms and turning to other families to pray with them. A lot of people had been effected by the calamity, and they all came to her shrine to pray for the souls of their lost loved ones. Sadness shone in her eyes for a moment, outshone by a beautiful smile. What had happened was a trajedy, but at least they were alive, and they had won.



"Usagi!" a cheerful voice came from behind, "Wait up! We'll go together."

The owner of the voice was a girl of seventeen, with raven black hair pulled back into an intricate braid tied with a black ribbon, and emerald green eyes. Months before she had been completely different, depressed, with rumors of violence that left her with no friends. It was difficult to imagine that this cheerful, seemingly normal girl had been that way, yet her body was still covered in the scars left not only from the battles she had been in, but from her own 'punishment' she had enforced on herself, when she had taken her first life. The burden of what she was, what she had been - Sailor Andromeda, priestess and princess of a dead planet, vessel for Holy, and the only chance at salvation from an evil that had killed her home world in the Andromeda galaxy and threatened Earth - had been too great.

The person she spoke to, a blond haired girl with buns on her head, sincere blue eyes, and a friendly nature whose only wish was to protect Earth and her friends, turned and smiled, waving to her friend.

"Hurry up, Outai! We'll get there before you!"

Outai, the girl with raven hair, ran to catch up to her friend. Over the month since she woke up, she found out that she had no memory whatsoever of the last six months. A little black cat with a crescent moon and star on it's forehead revealed itself to her, speaking to her, telling her what happened, but did not show her it's memories again, nor did it reveal it's human form. Not right away, anyway. She had been sad at hearing it, yet that depression was gone. She was back to how she had been before meeting that cat for the first time six months ago, before a spirit bound in crystal had made her it's vessel. Her friends had all been relieved to see her so...normal. Especially Usagi, the girl with the blond hair in buns on her head.

"Hey, how are things with you and Mooney?" Usagi asked, and Outai flushed.

"Pretty good. I admit, it was surprising when he approached me as a cat and talked to me, and more surprising when he turned into a human right in front of me, but he told me he wanted to be honest with me from the beginning. He said he didn't want to hide anything, even if it was something sad, and he said that if I needed a shoulder to cry on, his was always available. I don't remember anything still, and he refuses to show me his memories like he says he can, and that's kind of annoying, but maybe he has a good reason."

Usagi's smile faltered for a moment. She had been one of the most worried people about Outai, aside from Mooney. Especially when she kept her new name, rather than going back to being Aurora.

"He does." Usagi reassured the girl. Suddenly, a sly and devilish grin spread across her face. "So, have you guys done anything?"

"Anything?" Outai said, flushing more, "Anything, like what?"

"You know...Anything."

"Well, he asked me out on a date this evening. He says he wants to take things slowly and get to know me, though I'm pretty sure he knows me already. He seems nice enough, though we do live together, and getting to know him better might be nice."

"You didn't do anything too suspicious, did you?" Usagi said, her devilish grin widening, and it seemed Outai suddenly knew what she meant.

"WHAT?! How could you think...?! Why would we...? I don't even know him that well!" she spluttered, her face red enough to nearly catch fire. "No, we have not done anything like that! Sheesh, sometimes you can be a real pervert, Usagi!"

Usagi only laughed at her friend. Seeing her flustered like this was apparently funny to her, and she needed a reason to laugh, since she and Chibiusa - a little girl with pink hair done up in rabbit's ears, her daughter from the future - had been the only survivors of the cataclysm that nearly destroyed the world, and even they had died in the effort to finish off the taint and bring back their friends. Everyone, even Usagi and Chibiusa, had been revived with their memories, except Outai, who remembered nothing, and had been surprised to learn when she woke up that she had transferred schools and changed her name, even though she didn't remember. Maybe that was why she kept the name - everyone knew her by that name, and using two names was confusing at best. However, in private, her friends used her real name, Aurora.

As for Tokyo itself, after the fall of the cataclysm, hundreds had been found as vegetables. Hundreds of families mourned the loss of their loved ones, and hospitals overflowed with those to be put on life support. Even entire families - mothers, fathers, aunts, uncles, grandparents, children, and cousins alike - were left as vegetables. Those who could not afford the health care, died. Those who could afford it, but had no room in the hospital, also died. Eventually, even those in the hospital died once their families realized they were never going to wake up.

It was the biggest health concern Tokyo had ever seen. At first they thought it was an epidemic, but no one else fell ill, and the only other option was the strange increase in violent crimes over the last few months. That never had been explained, because there was no explanation for it. Only the eleven women with incredible power and their guardians - cat and human alike - knew what had happened. It was a time of mourning for Tokyo, but those eleven women were just glad to be alive, to have each other alive, and their families relatively unharmed. After all, not everyone who had been tainted died. Some had come out of it alive, though their condition ranged from being as though nothing had happened, to being nothing more than a child relearning about the world and never able to grow beyond the point of needing diapers changed. It was a heavy price to pay in human lives and souls, but in the bigger picture of things it seems small. Worlds had died because of this evil taint that twisted the mind and consumed the soul, and here, on a small blue planet in orbit around a dwarf - or near dwarf - star, it had ended at the hands of eleven women with a power unseen anywhere else in the universe.

I regretted leaving Aurora like that, in the battle against that evil, my dearest vessel. I still regret leaving her to be tainted and killed, but I had no choice. The power had been too great, and at the same time too little. I had to be released from that crystal to purify it, and even my power, combined with the power of those eleven women, had not quite been enough. Sailor Moon and Sailor Chibi Moon had to do the rest, and they had died in the attempt. Sailor Moon will never know that I had heard her wish, put into the Silver Moon Crystal, that her power had not been enough to grant that wish. She will never know that the last of my power went into that crystal to grant her wish. She will never know that I was the one who erased Aurora's memory, so she could be happy. I may have held back the taint for her, but I had also caused her problems. If she had not met Moonstar, her brave guardian, she would never have known about her past, would never have grown depressed, a depression that fed her taint. But if she had never met him, the taint would have taken her over and used her to destroy the world.

The last thing I could do for her was to remove those sad memories so that she could cope. Mooney reminded her, but without those memories she will never truly remember, and that is for the best, for her sake. I wish I could remain her guardian spirit, but I have no power left, not even enough for her to become Sailor Andromeda again. The others will have to do without her help if something comes up again. But perhaps that is for the best, too. She lacks the training and experience that they have, what makes them so strong, and she might not survive if something else comes up.

Who am I, you ask? I am Holy.





Images flashed through her mind, sleeping as she was. Horrible images, images of insanity. People attacked each other senselessly, killing each other, maiming, destroying. She changed from a simple school girl into a soldier all in gold and black and white, fighting along side ten others like her, one of which - all in pink - was no older than ten, if that. Some of the people they fought recovered, but most did not. Most were only empty shells. Some even died, and by her hand. After the first person she killed, she cut herself all over, branding herself a murderer, in spite of the others like her that she had fought to save.

Before her, a wall of humanity surged, snarling, growling, human only in body. Their souls were gone, and somehow she knew it. She didn't know how she knew, but only that she did. She was surrounded by the others like her, and strangely Mooney was there, fighting to cut a path clear for them. However, he and another man had been cut off from the group, fighting to stay alive. Soon, the others like her had been pared away as well, usually in groups of two, until it was just her and two others, each with buns on their head, one blond, one pink haired. They fought a difficult battle somewhere she did not quite recognize, and in the end she had changed once more, into a gown of white silk and wings, glowing with a holy aura. The two with her had changed as well, and the three of them together each had a crystal held up above them, the two channeling energy into her. A light burst from her crystal until the crystal itself shattered.

Aurora - once known as Outai - awoke with a start. She was breathing hard, and cold sweat ran down her back, and as well it should. She'd been having nightmares like that for about a week now, and every time it came to that crystal shattering in her hands, she woke up suddenly, breathing as hard as if she had run a marathon. What she woke up to, however, was different.

Floating in the air in front of her face - well, more at chest level, really - was a ball of pure white light. Somehow, she felt peaceful with this ball of light, like everything was going to be okay. Somehow, she knew this light. And suddenly, she knew that her nightmares had not been just nightmares. Suddenly, she remembered everything. Or almost everything. Whatever happened after that crystal shattered was still in darkness.

"I see..." she said slowly, "You're back."

The light did not speak, at least not out loud. She could not hear it with her ears, but she could hear it clearly, softly in her head.

"You missed me, huh? Well, I guess I missed you too, in spite of all the trouble you gave me. You did keep me from doing stupid things, after all...Welcome back."

Cupping the ball of light between her hands, she pulled it close, as if to give it a hug. Surprisingly, the ball of light seemed to sink into her chest right where her heart was. As soon as it did, she began to change.



Mooney had only been half awake on the couch, still in his cat form, when he heard Aurora wake up. He could hear her gasping for breath, as though she had just woken up from a nightmare. That had been happening too often of late, and it worried him. Could she be remembering? In spite of the fact that he had told her what happened, he hoped she did not. If she remembered on her own, she might become depressed again, and dangerous with herself.

Suddenly, though, he heard her speaking, but he knew no one was there. Or rather, there should not be. Just the thought that someone would sneak into her room put him on high alert, and immediately he was in his human form, wearing his armor and sword, just in case. He would not let anyone harm Aurora, even if it meant storming into her room in the middle of the night, which he did promptly.

Throwing open her bedroom door, though, brought to his blue eyes something he had not expected to see. Ribbons of white surrounded and wrapped Aurora's body. White ribbons, not black, as they had been. They flashed into her senshi uniform, and a long staff appeared between her hands. Strangely, her uniform was different now. Oh, sure, it was still gold, black and white, but now the shoulder pads looked like bubbles around her arms, rather than filmy triangles jutting from her shoulders. Her black ribbon in back was thinner and longer now as well. She was an eternal senshi now, just like the others.

"Aurora..." he said quietly, stunned.

Emerald green eyes peered into his through the darkness of her room, eased only by the light of the moon outside. He could not quite make out her expression, but enough light glistened off her eyes that he could see sadness in them, bone deep, but strangely under control. To be safe, though, he wrapped her in his arms, holding her tightly.

"You remember?" he asked, and it wasn't quite a question. He could feel her nodding her head against his chest. "Don't worry about the past. Just take care of the here and now. If you need to cry, then cry, because bottling it up will make things worse. There's no more danger, now. You and Sailor Moon and Sailor Chibi Moon fixed it. You don't have to fight any more."

Suddenly, Aurora was squeezing him as tightly as he was squeezing her in his arms. It was difficult to tell because of the breastplate, but he could tell it was fierce. It was kind of nice, really. He couldn't stop a small smile sliding across his face.

"I know." she said into his chest, calm, peaceful, strong. "Thank you, my friend."

"It's back, isn't it?" again, not quite a question.

"It is." she said, and for some reason he couldn't really figure out, she sounded happy. "It's back, and I don't have to fight any more. I can be normal again."