The theatre was a pleasant place to be in. Sitting in the seats, you could sometimes feel exposed, yet cozy at the same time. About an hour after Meian’s director’s class was over with, she stayed there to catch up on some work. Her eyes strained through her reading glasses as she wrote down her notes, periodically looking to the stage to see how it would look there compared to her notes. The set was all up by the set designer and crew, so it was a perfect opportunity to take some quiet time to get the work done now instead of later at crunch time, when everything got busy in preparation for the production.

The doors open at the opposite end of the theatre, and Ronin strides in, a little put off, his arms above his head and hands clasped behind his head. He nears Meian and tries to say something, but she raises her left hand to quiet him as she finishes a thought in her head. She nods her head as she finishes the sentence, and looked to Ronin after.

“Meian, I’ve been waiting outside for thirty minutes, can we go already?” Ronin whined, inwardly kind of relived that she wasn‘t in any kind of trouble. He has some ‘personal’ videos to attend to at home, and his legs were starting to twitch.

“I’m almost done, Ronin, calm down. I’m in no rush anyways. Zen had to work again tonight, so I have nowhere to be but home.” Meian reasoned, as she made some bullet points in her book while she was at it.

Ronin suppressed the urge to tell her what he thought of her boyfriend, and complained further.

“Can we just go already?” Ronin repeated, but Meian seemed to have little interest in what Ronin had to complain about.

“Uh Ronin, can you go up on the stage and just stand at the left there?” Meian pointed out with her pen to the right side of the stage, where there were a small set of stairs connecting to it, beyond the orchestra pit. He took off his jacket and did so, with a slight jogging pace, and finally arrived to this place, crossing his arms as he stood. “Now… move a little to the right.” Meian instructed, Ronin obeyed.

“Now just stay there.” Meian said, as she looked like she was going to instruct him to go somewhere else, but didn’t. “Now…. Cluck like a chicken.”

“Fuck you.”



Meian finished her notes about fifteen minutes later, using Ronin to enact the entrances and exits of the actors, so she could finish them even more rapidly. As they were walking out, Ronin had to ask;

“So what’s the name of this play anyways?”

“It’s ‘Dark Fascination‘.” Meian stated plainly. Ronin laughed at it.

“Hehe. I think I ordered that movie online once.”



In the darkness and the void of space, in the outer rims of this solar system, a structure was being attacked by a particularly brutal army. The structure had a central crystal pillar, and as crystals of that form go, had a large point at the bottom, whereas at the top, had two or three points. The outer structure began on a straight angle at the bottom, and swirled up towards the top, where it looped into itself, with one large and very wide loop near the middle, and another at the top where it was about half the width of the one below.

Said army was parked on the middle spiral, since it was the straightest angle to stand on, and easy to get footing with. The army consisted almost entirely of the monsters looked very much like the one who morphed from the café waitress in front of the eyes of the senshi not long ago. The beasts snarled and limped as they tried to break through the outer walls of the structure, while they spoke in a barely identifiable tongue as they tried different things to try and break through, with direction from a slightly larger version of the army trying to lead them.

It wasn’t long until they brought an explosive device, and set it up to explode, but as it did so, it took out one or two of their own numbers, but not one of them seemed to have any feelings towards the ones who fell.



After yet another explosion, Pluto braced herself up on the wall to prevent from falling. The outer walls of Charon’s castle were built tough, but even as Castles go, it had it’s limits, and that’s what bothered the time senshi. She was reading a particularly old book, it’s pages worn and stained with time. The library she was in most likely spanned a whole floor in the middle of Charon’s castle, having being existed, let’s just say, for a very long time.

The army‘s efforts to break down the outer walls subsided a little, and Sailor Pluto placed the book very carefully back onto the shelf as she searched for another. She paused though, and thought;

< Something is disturbing the air. Present, future…. Or both. I remember when I first felt this entity. However this is no mere embodiment of Chaos. But this is entirely different. Something… larger. I need more time here, I need to think of something. >

She knelt down to the very bottom shelf of the bookcase she was in front of now, and quickly searched over the spines to get to one that was near the middle. She pulled it out and placed it on the rug floor, trying to get through the pages quickly, but at the same time, not to damage the relic. The book was also printed in a very old language, from a few solar systems away from Earth’s, and it would take a while to translate fully. She picked it up and placed it on one of the long tables which were placed every so often in the pattern of the bookshelves, and had a better look at it in the lamplight. She could only make out random words, like ‘Garden’, ‘Wrath’, ‘Ancient’, and ‘Beast’.

What she realised though, is that this book was only a preface to a larger series, which were buried within the archives of the library.

Sailor Pluto gets frustrated, and tried to think of something else. What distressed her was the constant feeling of being trapped, and also the fact that her castle could disappear at any moment from the army above her. She has not slept in several weeks - at least not very well - and was starting to feel the effects of it on her body.

“I need to hurry. Time does not stop, even for me.” Sailor Pluto mused softly, to only herself.



Ronin trembled in his bed, having come down with the flu a couple of days earlier. Meian was over there nearly every day now to take care of him, since he didn’t have any of his guy friends who were really that willing to give up their days to take care of him, so Meian had pity towards her friend.

So there she was, having to sit with him so he wouldn’t freak out like a baby, wiping his face with a small damp cloth, and a thermometer in his mouth, despite the threats by Meian to put it somewhere else if he didn’t cooperate. Meian took the thermometer out of his mouth to see if he had improved, and he has. It was only a few degrees less than what he had yesterday, so it meant that he was starting to fight if off.

Since Ronin had drifted off to sleep again, she took this opportunity to go use his bathroom, using disinfectant, and taking off and taking off the mask that she was using to make sure that she didn‘t get sick herself. She thought back to yesterday, when she had seriously considered taking him to the emergency room because of the flu’s severity.

Meian went back to the living room, and came up behind the couch, where Zen sat, having been the one to drive her there quickly after she was called over by Ronin the day before. He had been reading an article at this time, so when Meian wrapped her arms around his shoulders to show him a bit of affection, he didn’t really return any of them. Meian, feeling a little devastated right now, went to the kitchen to make herself some soup, and sat at the kitchen table, away from Zen, and ate it in silence.

Letting her soup settle for a little bit, she went back into Ronin’s room to check on him, and to make sure he didn’t fall out or anything, and still felt shot down by Zen earlier. She placed her surgical mask on again, and stepped in.

Meian sat down on the edge of his bed, and refreshed the damp cloth on his forehead, and covered him back up with his blankets, because at some point, he kicked them off slightly, probably because of a dream or… something. Meian was about to leave again when Ronin uses a hand to pull her back down by her wrist.

“What’s wrong? Ronin, do you need something?” Meian asked quietly, through her mask, as loud sounds probably hurt his ears at this point.

< Hmm… He even smells nice when he’s as sick as a dog…. > Meian mused suddenly. Which even caught her by surprise.

“Meian, I don’t have much longer.” Ronin slurred his words through his flu-induced haze.

“Ronin, don’t be stupid, you’re going to be fine.” Meian immediately tried to assure him, but he wouldn’t really have much of that.

“I’m serious. Meian, please don’t go out with that wanker of yours, Zen. He’s no good for you and… he makes you cry. If you want me to, please, let me be your boyfriend…. I’ll treat you right…“ Ronin stammered through his words, almost kind of serious for the situation he’s in.

Meian was a little stunned at those words. She didn’t have much time to ponder the significance of his words, if any, because right after, he braced himself on his elbow, and used the other hand to pull down her surgical mask, breaking any barrier she had of keeping herself free of his germs. He then brought that hand to the back of her neck and pulled her close to him and clumsily kissed her, taking his time, flu or not.

Meian stayed with him until he fell asleep again, and quickly made an exit to the bathroom to wash up again, already feared that his germs already entered her system, so it may already be too late to keep herself from getting whatever Ronin has. After she finished, she went back to the living room, and kind of dreaded it from Zen’s rejection earlier. Meian fed the pets then, all that time thinking about what just happened, and eventually rationalized that it was because of the flu, and that he really didn’t mean what he said.

But still. She was confused, and found herself aflutter. Technical or not, that was her first kiss. She always thought that it would be a little different, somehow.

Of course, Zen wasn’t really paying much attention to her anyways, and never noticed this change, and kept reading his magazine.



A few days later, at the Hikawa Jinja, Rei quietly meditated in the fire reading room, however she looked paler, and was sweating being so close to the fire, which was unusual for her since she did this so often. Truth be told, she had caught the flu that has been going around, and suffered now because she wasn’t diligent about keeping herself away from the germs.

The good thing was that Yuuichirou was there to take care of her, and also her grandfather, when not trying to grope the schoolgirls who visited the shrine. Or at least get a good look of his own.

So here Rei was, trying to meditate, even though she has had countless lectures not to, and to get to bed so she could fight off the flu.

Truth be told, she never heard those lectures. Her caretakers merely took her silence as stubbornness, and hadn’t considered anything like what has happened to her. Another truth about this moment was that Rei was trapped, and in her own vision. Considering the state she was in physically, it didn’t help matters out at all.

And she couldn’t find a way out.

Her vision depicted in short, the destruction of the Galaxy Cauldron - the garden of creation. Her fellow senshi were witness to it, and were all around her. As soon as she could get a handle on the situation, and take in all the details, she saw a black shadow rushing towards it, and crashed into the entrance, the bodies of her fellow senshi being torn apart like they were nothing. Then the vision of that event repeated over and over in her mind.

But it was one thing that stood out through all these repeats of the vision in her mind. She saw in the grouping of senshi that there were two new ones she didn’t recognise, one of which had a strange marking she hadn’t seen before, and also has a strange omen of warning. Through all of the rotations of visions, this figure starts to become part of the light, and parts of her features could be seen. This senshi had ribbons sprouting from her chest and wrapped around her; the top two going around her shoulders, and the bottom around her chest, and nothing else, spare a sailor collar, which gave away her identity at least as a sailor senshi. The figure raised a hand to Rei as she neared, and reached out to her, but as she got to the distance where she could actually touch Rei, the vision ended, and Rei lost consciousness and collapsed in the fire reading room.



The ringing of the phone brought her out of a very restless sleep, the shrill tone of it tearing it’s way through her head, and honestly, making her want to throw up a few times. She looked at the clock and noted that it was a good way into the afternoon now, and wondered who would call her right now.

She shakily got to her legs, which were even now threatening to send her to the ground again, and got up to answer the phone, a shawl around her shoulders to keep her warm.

“Hello?” she slurred out.

“Meian? Why weren’t you at school today, I was worried!” Usagi asked, her chipper voice was just as bad as the actual ringing of the phone.

Meian, only able to mutter out a few words that even she didn‘t understand, fainted and collapsed on the floor, still with the phone in hand, with Usagi calling through the receiver.



Meian didn’t know how long she was out, actually. To her, immediately after she lost consciousness, she felt the sensation of being lifted and carried out of the living room, where she was on the floor, and being placed back into her bed, and gently covered up. She first saw Usagi kneel next to her, and placing the nurse’s cap onto her head and getting a thermometer out, along with several other medical equipment and placing it on the side table, beside her.

“Usagi?”

“Take it easy. I’ll be right back.” Usagi said through her own surgical mask, as she tapped Meian on the shoulder as she got up, got a bowl from the kitchen and filled it with cool water.

What Meian didn’t see through her flu induced haze was that someone else was in the room, also wearing a mask, but didn’t say anything. As Usagi came back into the room as the man knelt down with her next to Meian’s bed, as she had a small cloth from the bathroom and knelt beside her new friend again.

Usagi handed the cool compress to the one beside her, and she held the person’s wrist as they placed it on her forehead, and she smelled something.

“Ronin?”

“Hey sicko,” Ronin said, obviously because she was sick. “We’re the ones taking care of you now.”

“Usagi…” Meian started. “Why are you…”

“I’m a good nurse, Meian, trust me! Besides, I would take any chance to fly under Mamoru’s radar for a little while. By the way… why were you alone when you were sick?”

“My sister is working long hours this week, and spends the rest of her time with her boyfriend.” Meian said slowly, taking frequent breaks to make sure she was saying the right words, and to catch her breath. She was also half distracted because nearly every muscle in her body was aching.

“What about Zen?” Usagi asked, knowing that the boyfriend should take care of his sick girlfriend.

“Work too.” Meian stated, unknown to her that this statement wanted Ronin to punch through the wall. He resisted the urge to tell her what he thought again, but then thought this clearly wasn’t the time.

“I’m sorry, Meian. We’ll be here and take care of you then, okay? So don’t worry, you’ll be better in no time!” Usagi stated confidently, as she looked for her thermometer. “Which one is the thermometer again?”

< Good thing I’m here. > Ronin thought, jokingly.



A week later, all full recoveries aside on all three parts, Ami and Usagi were talking outside after school after the last class was finished. It was nice and peaceful here when all the students were here. They were together at one of the side exits, as Ami was standing, leaning against the door, and Usagi was sitting on the first step in front of her.

“Usagi, I can’t shelter you anymore.” Ami said finally, after having a lengthy conversation with her for about thirty minutes on this subject.

“You told me, but…. I don’t know if I can make the same grades without your help.” Usagi complained, stunned, shocked, and disappointed.

“You will, but… not the same ones as long as you work as hard. I just encouraged you to work harder, I know it’s within your capabilities, Usagi.” Ami encouraged, not knowing if it made a difference right now.

Feeling discouraged for the most part, Usagi cried a little, but not the full wailing that Ami had been bracing for, and expecting from the girl. She went down to sit next to the girl, and patted her on the shoulder.



Rei made sure that after she recovered from the flu to have a semi-senshi-meeting at the Hikawa Jinja to tell everyone what she had seen, and also to get different viewpoints as to what it might mean. Usagi, Mamoru (as the two kept their distance somewhat during the meeting), along with Hotaru, Haruka and Michiru, as the rest of their group was busy at the moment. They were gathered in the sitting room of the temple, with a few couches and a television, and some sat while others stood

“You were in those visions for quite a while, Rei. I was starting to get worried.” Usagi said, then continuing “How long were you out of it?”

“I was told three days, by Yuuichirou. It didn’t seem that long at all.” Rei said, remembering the vision, of which she had just described to those who were there at the moment. “I haven’t meditated since because Yuuichirou has been trying to take care of me.”

“It should give us something to think about.” Michiru started, and continued in a more hushed voice. “It also gives us even more reasons not to trust Miss Yoki.”

“The black mass. It was so much like Yoki’s. There’s something she’s not telling us, but I don’t want to come off as being over suspicious.” Rei confessed.

“I can be suspicious for you, Rei. It’s not that hard to be in this situation.” Haruka stated, going over different situations of what exactly Yoki could be at the moment.

“It’ll be okay, Haruka.” Usagi didn’t say much during this meeting, but she spoke up to comfort her fellow senshi.

“I hope so, Usagi. But…. The aura of dark mass in the vision. I’ll know it when I see it, and I’ll be able to sense it as well. The creature with constellations in it’s body.” Rei reflected, hugging the pillow on her stomach.

“Constellations in it’s body?” Hotaru asked.

“Kind of. When it moved, it already had stars in it’s body. Like he swallowed them.”

* * *

Chapter Twelve