The next afternoon, Meian arrived for her training session, since yesterday was her day off, courtesy of her trainer. Meian and Aniki were kneeling in front of the other, as they started each day, about a metre and a half away. Aniki held two hand-forged, metal swords in each of his hands, and tossed one to her, which she was able to catch before it knocked her in the chest. These were slightly longer than the wooden swords, and were considerably heavier, crafted almost in the same fashion as the healing relic which Aniki gave to her on her birthday.

“Aniki, I need to tell you about something.” Meian began.

“Make it quick.” he grunted, obviously not too interested in what she had to say.

“I know it’s hard to believe, but…. I haven’t slept in more than two weeks.” At this point, Meian had Aniki’s attention. “And… I’m starting to see things. I’m shaky all the time, and I feel weak.”

“Your body is getting used to the training. It will strengthen up. That could also be the reason you could be deprived of sleep, and I can tell you are fatigued. Are you sure the visions didn’t happen before the lack of sleep?” Aniki asked.

“After I started missing the sleep is when all of the other things happened, so I’m sure.” Meian informed. < Every time I close my eyes, I see the Kindred. Please help me, Aniki. >

“If you want to heal yourself to make up for the natural healing of the body during R.E.M. sleep, then teach yourself to use the relic I gave you. Tell no one you are lacking in sleep - it will pass. Now let’s begin.” Aniki said as he got up, and began the training with her. Meian was reluctant however, she expected a little more than a ‘buck up, you wuss’ from Aniki.

< This is necessary. No other child of Saeryn has been strong enough for what you will do. > Aniki thought.




“Hey Takeji, what’s up?”

“Very little. Why?”

“I have a job for you.”

“What’s it this time, Ronin?”

“I need you to do an installation. I need about five surveillance cameras to install today.”

“Ronin, you’re not planning anything… perverted… are you?”

“NO. No, no, no. I’m worried that friend of mine is in trouble, and I want to keep an eye on her.”

“If you say so, not like it‘s been any of my business before.”

“That‘s right.”

“We can talk about the price later on. I trust you to pay later. I’ll prepare the five cameras.”

“Two I think should go outside, and three on the inside. I’ll show you where I want them placed.”

“Are you sure about this, Ronin? You’ve never done spying before.”

“I’m sure. I’m going to do what I can to protect her if that bastard of a boyfriend isn’t. I’ll meet you there at your place at one o’clock, then I can direct you to her place.”

“I’ll be here. You have a key?”

“I got one from her super. I thought of everything. Neither one of them will be there right now.”

“See you at one.”

“Yeah, see ya.”




Aniki and Meian were on another one of their training sessions, and Meian had been more distracted than ever. Aniki repeatedly landed hits to mainly her arms and legs, and tried to get her to focus, but probably only got her to experience more pain than usual.

“Wake up, Meian!” Aniki yelled. He stopped for a moment, and began another defense exercise. His whole style seemed to resemble a blend of Earth-based arts, mixed together beautifully when not on its receiving end. It was probably something he developed himself over the years. “This should be simple!”

Meian straightened out, and continued to try and land a hit to Aniki, but didn’t do too well with it. Never mind the shadows that appeared in the corners of her eyes in the most inappropriate times, she faltered in several occasions. She pushed her emotions down and tried her best, but Aniki still beat her down with his abilities which were even now, far superior.

< Aniki just wants to abuse me… That’s all he does, and it‘s all that he came here to do. Maybe being a senshi isn’t worth all this. None of the other senshi really trust me, my boyfriend is unavailable in so many ways… not like he used to. He won’t even say or show that he loves me… Just get through this, and you‘ll be able to see him… > Meian thought as she noticed the ending of the routine.

With a last blow to her side, Aniki ended the training session and sent her home.



20 minutes afterwards, Meian arrived at Zen’s apartment door, and straightened herself out. She was ecstatic at this point, since she wanted to see him all day, and had agreed to meet there to spend some time.

She knocked on the door, and smiled widely when he opened it. However, he seemed less than happy to see Meian.

“Zen, what’s wrong?” Meian asked, concerned, and tried to walk by him to get into the apartment, but Zen stopped her with a rough hand to the shoulder. She gave him a questioned look, since he hadn‘t really acted this way towards her before.

“I’m done with you.” Zen said plainly.

“What?” Meian really couldn’t believe how cold he sounded to her.

“You’ve been spending time with that Ronin friend of yours. I can see right through you. You’re a goddamned cheater, Meian, and get the fuck away from here.” Zen mumbled out, and almost closed the door, but Meian used her own strength to stop him. Something he wasn’t prepared for either.

“What’s really going on, Zen? You know that I’ve never lied to you about those things.” Meian pleaded, not really getting her head around the breaking up part of a relationship at the moment.

“Fine, you wanna know the truth?” Zen said as he threw the door all the way open, and took a small step towards her, getting closer and closer to her face. “You’re a fucking block of ice. You NEVER give me any action, and you’re a fucking prude, ESPECIALLY in front of my friends. The only reason I wanted you was for you to eventually be my little fuck buddy, and maybe one day, videotape it. That’s why I’m done with you. Now go away.”

He said nothing else as he slammed the door right in Meian’s face, which left her in the deathly silence of his apartment hallway. Meian could only look at the wood grain of his door for a few moments before she walked blankly down the hallway, and to the elevator until….



There was another knock on a completely different door, and someone opened the door to reveal Meian, looking absolutely wrecked. Her hair was windblown, her mascara had run down her bottom eyelids, and her eyes were puffy and red.

“Meian, what happened?” Ronin asked. “You look like hell.”

Meian wasn’t near tears at this point, but now she felt like it. She actually kept her emotions down for the most part, and just avoided his eyes. Exhaustion was going to hit her like a tonne of bricks soon if she didn’t sit down.

“Zen, he… “ Meian suppressed a sob and continued, her voice much more quiet. “He wanted to… he said… I was a block of ice, and… that he only wanted me to be his… fuck buddy….”

“He what?” Ronin asked quietly, matching Meian’s own hushed voice, and leaned in to her and held her elbows, so he could actually hear her words. The two words ‘fuck buddy’ in particular just increased his internal rage gauge a couple of notches.

“He only wanted to exploit me….That’s the only reason he wanted me as a girlfriend. If I ever really was his girlfriend…. I really liked him, Ronin, how could he say such things…” Meian whimpered, as she felt her legs start to give out, as she had walked the long distance to get to Ronin’s apartment building, which was quite a distance. “Ronin, how could he…”

Meian’s legs then finally gave out on her, but fortunately, she had been half-supported by Ronin in the last few moments anyways. Ronin prevented her from falling to the floor, and pulled her into a hug.

After a few seconds, Meian hadn’t pummelled him to the ground, so she must’ve accepted the hug, and returned it. Ronin could already feel her tears soaking through the t-shirt that he had on.

The two stayed there for a long time, and Ronin was the first to pull away.

“Come on, Meian. I still have those bad American movies for another day.” Ronin offered, which gained a nod in response from Meian.

< I guess jokes are out of the question. > Ronin thought.

Ronin brought Meian in from the hallway and set her down on the couch and started to fetch things for her, including the remote control for the rather large television he had, a blanket, some tea, and other random items she asked or didn’t ask for. She sat on the leather couch and tried to relax, knowing that Ronin could never attack her like that. She knew she was safe with him.

Ronin however, was beyond enraged, and was now beyond a simple severe beating. He already had plans in his head of how he was going to completely ruin Zen’s life; credit rating, police records, blacklist him from employment - he was going to fuck his life up worse than he just fucked up Meian’s. He was going to make that bastard pay, and pay huge. He had the very good fortune of being born with the last names of Ishikawa Almeida. They hadn’t failed him in the past, and he was going to pull in some serious favours from his friends in very high places.




In the morning, Aniki and Lady Saeryn once again took a meeting with each other. The two decided to meet in an inconspicuous area, and both were wearing casual clothing instead of those which they wore normally. Aniki waited on a double-sided park bench, with one leg crossed over the other at the ankle, and leaned back with one arm across the very top of it. Lady Saeryn sat behind him on the other side a few minutes later, looking and acting like a regular person for once. It was surprising how both of them fit in, actually - Aniki held a double-mocha-latte-espresso-extra-grande-supreme coffee in his right hand, and sipped it occasionally.

If he kept up drinking these, he might have his own problem with sleep as Meian does.

“You said there was a problem.” Aniki said as he looked straight ahead, never once craned his head behind him to see Lady Saeryn.

“Their two starseeds are moving closer to each other again. Their bond is strengthening, Brother, and I have a horrible feeling about it.” Lady Saeryn said, ignoring the nausea in the pit of her stomach.

“I agree.”

“Saeryn’s little princess has her weaknesses. In all, she isn’t that hard to manipulate, as you know by now. Leave this part to me.” Lady Saeryn said, her mind went over several hundred ways as to go about it, but knew that she wouldn’t have much time to actually put them into effect to obtain her goal.

“Drive a wedge between the two. Maybe then I would get an honest night of training out of that shell she was sealed into.” Aniki said, as he took another sip, letting the caffeine-laced beverage fly swiftly through his system. “We need to do this very carefully, although quickly, you understand? If we make a small error, then their bond will be unbreakable. We need to separate them, and if we’re lucky, it will be permanent.”




In an effort to cheer Meian up after the words Zen threw at her the day before, Ronin invited she and ‘anyone else she feels like taking’ to a hip new dance club which had just opened up the week before. It already had the reputation of being very exclusive, and only the ‘cool of cool’ were among the attendees.

Meian only initially invited Sahkyo, but she then mentioned it to Minako, and it snowballed from there. Sooner rather than later, all the others in the inner senshi group plus Yuuichirou decided to take advantage of the offer to go. Ronin was surprised to see that so many had decided to join in on the fun when he drove up near the entrance, but it was all for fun, and shrugged it off - he did offer, in any case. In all, Usagi, Mamoru, Ami, Rei, Yuuichirou, Minako, Makoto, Sahkyo, Meian, and Ronin went as a group to paint the town red.

Ronin took the lead as they walked through the front door - along with a sufficient tip for the bouncer - and took the group to one of the long tables lining the walls outside of the dance floor. It was tastefully designed, definitely modern, with light and dark colours equally shown. The tables weren’t that big, probably for four people each, with booth seating all along the walls, and chairs taking up the rest of the seating arrangements. Glowing lights and artificial smoke poured out from the dance floor into the tabled areas, with a few in the corners having private curtains that could slide over when the party got a little too suggestive or needed a visual barrier. In the main dance area, there were several raised platforms in two levels, apart from the much bigger main dancing area; the first level was two feet above the dance floor and generally took the shape of a curved rectangle, and the second level were placed at the ends and the middle of first level sections, two and even three feet above those below.

The group set their coats down as they admired the setting, but it wasn’t long until two very flamboyant cross dressing men approached Ronin, and slung their arms around his shoulders. Maybe there was a side of Ronin that we didn’t know before?

“Ronin, darling, we haven’t seen you in days!” One of the cross dressers said. She - or he - was dressed mainly in purple and white, and wore very skillfully placed makeup.

“Who’s the girl, is this your new fling?” The other said as he sized up Usagi, who by chance happened to stand next to him when the two walked up to him. She wore the blue version of the outfit of which his or her friend wore. “She’s kinda tiny.”

“Whoa, hey, she’s not my girlfriend, ladies. Although, I’m still free to look.” Ronin skillfully turned the conversation’s topic from his girlfriend into something he was more skilled with - flirting. Although we would hope that he wouldn’t flirt too much.

“You tease! So are you going to join us today with your friends?” the first one asked again.

“And aren’t you going to introduce us?” the second one added.

“Duh! Where are my manners, ladies?” Ronin said with mock sincerity. At least he was putting on a show for the duo. “Everyone, this is Velvet and Sparkle. Velvet, Sparkle, this is Meian, Usagi, Mamoru, Rei, Yuuichorou- “

“Yuuichirou.” the temple hand corrected.

“Yeah, sorry. As I was saying; Rei, and Makoto.” Ronin said as he looked to his acquaintances.

“Wait a minute, we‘re missing bodies, just where is Sahkyo and Minako?” Usagi asked, and counted the amount of people in their group.

“Good question, I haven’t seen them since we got in here. Do you think they’re lost?” Rei asked.

“They’ll find their own fun, even if they’re not lost together. Besides, if we hang around here long enough, and in one place, they’ll find us eventually.” Makoto said as they all heard two voices from a few tables away, muffled by the heavy bass beat of the techno music. It was also hard to see anyone else from the dim lighting, spotlights of many colours, and from the crowd around them.

Soon though, the source of the voices were able to reach them, and it was actually Sahkyo and Minako, with tonnes of differently coloured glow sticks attacked to every part of themselves; fingers, places on their clothing, hooked around the ears, on their purses, everywhere, and the rest which couldn’t be attached were held in their hands.

“Hey everyone, look what we found!” Minako yelled out and waved the sticks about, then activated another one by bending it in the middle which snapped an inner tube within the larger one. She tossed it over to Usagi, who fumbled to catch it. “Aren’t they neat?”

“Yeah!” Usagi said, but truth be told, she had already experienced the marvel that was glow sticks before. And it amazed her every time.

“Well, come on Mamoru, us men will get the drinks for all the lovely ladies. Sahkyo, you’re of age, but do you want alcohol or just a soda?” Ronin asked the older woman, who certainly wasn’t acting her age right now.

“Nah, someone has to be the designated driver!” Sahkyo said over the noise.

It didn’t take nearly as long as anyone thought for Mamoru to return with an armful of sodas and beers for the two men, and set them down on the one table that they all claimed. Velvet and Sparkle were still there, and were speaking to random members of the group until they got to Meian, who felt out of place in such a trendy room. After Mamoru set the beverages down, Usagi put an arm around his waist.

“Mamoru, where’s Ronin?” she asked, seeing the club hopper nowhere in sight.

“He went to go talk to the DJ.” Mamoru said as he looked at Meian.

Meian however, took a sip of her drink as she spoke to Sparkle. She was clearly not used to men in drag, as she hadn’t been around one who did it before.

“So how do you know Ronin?” Sparkle asked, seated next to Meian on the booth seats which lined the walls.

“Well we’ve known each other for a while - a good couple of years at least. He’s always been there for me.” Meian recollected, and set her drink back on the table.

“Oh, so you’re that old friend he mentioned sometimes.” he remarked in a very feminine way. This made Meian wonder.

“Good mentions, I hope.” Meian joked.

“Very good. He usually doesn’t have any other female friends besides the pairing for the night, you know what I mean?” he implied, meaning that Ronin would have frequent one night stands. “Don’t let yourself become part of that group, honey.”

Ronin fought his way through the crowds and back to the table, and approached Meian and Sparkle right after he finished his sentence. From the looks on their faces, he wondered who or what they were talking about.

The DJ announced a slower song then ‘for fun‘ or so he said, and the music which played before it blended into a slower one, with the tempo and the lights following suit.

“Well Meian, will you join me on the dance floor?” Ronin asked and held out one hand to her.

Meian was a little hesitant, but it didn’t take her long to accept his hand for the dance, and he pulled her to her feet and let go, and walked ahead of her to the main dancing area and claimed a spot on the second level risers. Meian climbed onto the riser, and was a little nervous with the notion of a dance with the opposite sex - even if he was a long time friend. Still… she knew she could trust him enough not to betray her, as he had proved in several times in the past. Meian finally got used to dancing with Ronin, and relaxed enough to enjoy the slow dance while it lasted.

Mamoru and Usagi also joined the two on the dance floor, however it took a little bit of convincing on Yuuichirou’s part to get Rei to dance with him. After a few minutes of relentless asking on his part, Rei just shrugged, smiled, and joined him. It took no time at all for all three of the couples to make it to the dance floor and spend some separate time.

“You know…” Ronin whispered into the shorter woman’s ear as the song continued. “… When I said ‘bring a few friends’, I really meant just you.”

“You did? Why?” Meian asked, raising her head to look at him.

“You deserve a night out, just the two of us. I want to erase what Zen said and did to you.” he said in a low voice. “Maybe next time it can be just us. Okay?”

“Deal.” Meian responded, her head lowering to his shoulder again. She was comforted by these facts, and that he was wearing the same cologne as he did when she was sick -- or any other time for that matter. Meian was always the one to be attracted by pleasant or distinctly familiar - even when some of them …. weren‘t too pleasant at times.

However, she was brought out of her thoughts when a faster song started to pick up, and she dislodged herself from the slow-dance position as they danced apart for the rest of the songs. Ami, Minako, and all the rest joined the dancing from then on, and they spread out the glow sticks that they got between one another, and either used them as they danced as a cool effect or clipped them onto their clothing.

When not dancing, Ronin made rounds to speak to all the others in the group, and got small details of who they were and random facts as well. He did however keep his eye on Meian every now and then. He knew what kind of guys were at these clubs, which was one of the reasons he just wanted her to meet him there, and not the massive group who came instead.

The whole group stayed in the club until the wee hours of the morning, and all except Meian would have to sleep in for Sunday to make it up.




Since she didn’t have a hangover to sleep off, Sahkyo was directed by her boss at the newspaper to cover a small story that she would receive some bonus time for upon the next pay check. Sahkyo had to cover the filming of a new children’s movie, which revolved around a singing kangaroo with a parrot friend. She heard it through the grapevine that Hotaru had a liking for this character, and Sahkyo brought her along. Besides, it was Sunday, and Hotaru had finished her homework, and was given permission to go by Michiru.

One of the scenes were filmed in the local park, the Shizen Koen, and the two were given a ‘behind-the-scenes’ look so Sahkyo could give out a few details as she saw fit to be printed in the paper for Monday. They had to stay quiet, and were hushed for even whispering something to each other. But in the end, it was a very exciting experience for the both of them.



As Sahkyo drove herself and Hotaru back home, the younger of the two decided to get a little curious. At the very least, to cut this silence in the car, as it almost made her restless.

“Miss Sahkyo, on that night that the Saeryn guy came over, and Yoki left, you said to me a little about how you and Meian knew each other a really long time ago. Can you tell me more about that?” Hotaru asked.

“Of course Hotaru, but why do you ask?” Sahkyo asked herself, wondering about the sudden questions.

“Just a little curious, that’s all. You don’t have to if you don’t want to.” Hotaru said, uncomfortable now for asking.

“No, it’s okay Hotaru.” Sahkyo said, and turned the corner before she continued. She still had to make sure that she drove to the correct side of the street. “I first came to Japan when I was in my teens, since my father was in the Navy. We were stationed on Hokkaido for a while, so we settled in Kitami. Dad decided that I needed to broaden my horizons, I guess because I was a little lazy at the time, and suggested I volunteer somewhere.

“So, that brought me to the dojo, which didn’t get maintained as much as it could, so I volunteered my help to Masachika sensei, and he agreed. That’s where I met Meian for her hour-long or so lessons every couple of days. She seemed a little distant, so I would just talk to her, and eventually we became friends over the months that I was there. However….

“Unfortunately, after about a year or so, Dad was directed to go to South Korea as part of his duty, and we had to leave again. I made sure to get Meian’s phone number and mailing address to keep in contact with her, but when I unpacked in the new house, I couldn’t find the paper anywhere. Because of that, I couldn’t contact her to tell her that I was okay, or anything. I think she always resented me for that, and I hurt her, but I admit it - I was a child back then.”

“That’s a sad story. But you’re making up for it, right?” Hotaru asked.

“Hehe. I’m trying, kiddo.” Sahkyo said as she pulled up to an apartment building’s front entrance, and a puzzled look crossed Hotaru’s face.

“This isn’t my apartment building, Miss Sahkyo.” Hotaru mentioned as Sahkyo took off her seat belt.

“I know, this is Ronin’s apartment. I need to drop off something for him.” she said as she leaned into the back seat to grab one of her bags which was resting behind her on the floor. For the brief look that she got at them, Hotaru noticed that they were a bunch of brochures with various pictures on them; gemstones, small jewelry chains, and a few with just a plain colour background.

Sahkyo ran them in to hand them over to the doorman, and came back quickly and strapped herself into the driver’s seat. They were off on the road again, and soon they were in the neighbourhood where Hotaru’s apartment was, and could see it now as they went up a hill.

“Sahkyo, is that Meian over there at that bus stop?” Hotaru pointed out, as she sat up more straight in the passenger seat.

“Yeah, it is. Let’s see if she wants us to drive her instead.” Sahkyo said as she drove up and lowered the window. Meian was nothing short of surprised. “Hey there, stranger! Do you want a drive, Meian?”

“Thanks, Sahkyo!” Meian gratefully got up from the bench and got into the back seat of the car. Meian sighed, and hugged her purse as she leaned against the window and watched the buildings go by.

It was once again silent as something nagged at Hotaru in the back of her mind. It was the fact that Haruka never trusted either of them, and told her dozens of times at this point that she should never trust them. From Hotaru’s perspective though, so far they’ve been trying their best.

Sahkyo however worried at Meian’s physical state. Every time she saw her, she looked worse and worse for the wear, if you looked really closely. Meian trembled for short periods of time, the bags under her eyes are deepening, she’s taking less care with her hair and clothing, and all of these things and more made Sahkyo more and more nervous.

Sahkyo looked at Meian with one of the rear-view mirrors, and noticed that Meian sometimes squinted at things from outside the street, sometimes jerking her whole body to see them, as if they suddenly appeared there out of nowhere.

“Hotaru, did you see that?” Meian said, using a finger to point to basically nothing unusual as she looked out to the sidewalk as Sahkyo stopped the car at a red light. Hotaru also turned to look, but obviously wasn’t seeing what Meian was.

“Where?” she asked. “I don’t see anything unusual.”

“It’s right there! It’s plain to see!” Meian said as they started to move again, and drove by the imaginary object. “Damnit.”

For moment after agonizing moment, the car was silent, and all that was heard was the tires rolling on the pavement below, and the random sounds of the street around them. Neither person in the front would say anything, and all Meian did was look out the window next to her, her hand on the window, as her eyes wildly darted from one place to another, as she continued to see what she thought she saw. She continued to proclaim that she saw dark figure after figure, even ones that looked straight at her, but Hotaru and Sahkyo were so uncomfortable that they didn’t know exactly what to say. Neither were doctors - at least Sahkyo wasn’t - but Hotaru knew that to see objects or figures were one of the many effects of one who was sleep deprived. To see these shadows at such a time of day and at such a vivid state, this would have been going on for quite a while.

Suddenly, someone darted in front of the car, and Sahkyo had to do some crazy driving moves to get out of the way in time. When the car finally stopped, all three got out to see the woman they just swerved out of the way for seemed enraged about something. She tore off some of her fake fingernails as she screamed at the top of her lungs. Those screams became much more loud and intense as she mutated into a Kindred monster right before their eyes.

The crowd around them ran in all directions, most assuredly heard of these happenings before. The Kindred continued to morph, and what was very distinct about this one was that it had huge hands and long, very sharp, sword-like nails. This made the most sense since the woman seemed to have a fondness for fake nails right before she transformed.

The three girls took cover around the corner of a building as the Kindred monster ripped out the guardrail right from the pavement from the side of the street. It then swung it around itself to attack random people as they tried to flee, catching a few people in the chest, legs, and even head. The small group of three then henshined in space between the two buildings.

“I’ll distract him while you two go up behind it and attack. Okay?” Sailor Syrin said as she gave the other two no chance to respond as she jumped out, and drew it away from where she was previously.

The Kindred still held the guard rail in its hand, so it threw it towards her, and Sailor Syrin was barely able to dodge it. The Kindred roared as it prepared to use its hands and nails to attack. It took a few swipes at the newest senshi as Sailor Saturn and Sailor Arcas charged their attacks, but the Kindred was too quick for Sailor Syrin. As Sailor Syrin turned her back to dodge one of its attacks, the Kindred slashed at the senshi before it, and left three large gashes on her lower back, starting right below the hem of her sailor collar, and ended and tore through the fabric which attached her skirt to her.

The Kindred was about to slash at her again as Sailor Syrin fell to her knees, but Sailor Saturn ducked underneath the Kindred’s arms to aid the other senshi. Sailor Arcas had already summoned the blades used in one of her attacks; Saturn got Sailor Syrin out of the way before the blade needles would hurt her too. Sailor Saturn summoned her Silence Wall, and was able to protect both of the senshi behind the barrier.

As soon as the last blade fell, Sailor Arcas, darted out and summoned the blades which she used on her hands, and attacked the Kindred as long as she could.

Sailor Saturn released the barrier she held, and tended to Sailor Syrin, placing her Glaive upon the concrete ground with a clank sound.

“Sailor Syrin, are you okay? Please let me have a look at the gashes.” she asked, and Sailor Syrin leaned on her side, but then got up immediately to her knees, then stood up straight. “Sailor Syrin no! You need to stay down!”

Sailor Syrin did so as Sailor Saturn picked up her Glaive and attacked the Kindred with it, along with Sailor Arcas a minute or two before she tired out. Sailor Saturn herself wouldn’t last forever against the Kindred, and Sailor Syrin knew that.

“I am not weak. I’ll show you, Aniki, I’m not some weakling you can toss around…” She muttered as she got up and was careful not to lean against the side of the building so that she would agitate the gashes further. Adrenaline started to coarse through her body and her breath increased, as something inside herself snapped, which gave her that extra energy suddenly.

By this point, continuous blades in their many forms from both Sailor Saturn and Sailor Arcas had disabled both of the Kindred’s arms, both of them severed almost in half, hanging limp from its body. The Kindred charged at the two senshi with its body, and Sailor Saturn used the Silence Wall to once again protect herself and the senshi next to her. Sailor Syrin returned to the main battle area and concentrated as much as she could on her element, and felt a moment where it had been the most stabilized in a long time. Sailor Syrin then sent her ‘Saeryn Souls Release’ attack towards the Kindred, which had a decent amount of power to it, more than she ever had used before. As the spheres of energy imploded into the Kindred, Sailor Arcas jumped above it and grabbed the creature’s neck, and used both of the blades on her hands to slash at the monster’s throat, just below the shackle, and stabbed it in the back of the chest a few times for good measure as she returned to Sailor Saturn’s side.

The Kindred fell limp to the ground and started to disintegrate, which then let out a foul odour and bubbled as it dissolved.

The three dehensined, and Meian slumped over, but winced as she pulled on the broken skin on her back, but the action actually ripped open her skin more, and the bleeding increased.

“Meian, let us take a look at it.“ Sahkyo asked, and as she got a nod from Meian, she pulled up her shirt half way to see the gashes which were there. Sahkyo got a handkerchief from her pocket and placed it on her back to hopefully stop the bleeding for it being such a thin material.

“Look Meian, since my place is closer, we’ll bandage you up there.” Hotaru said as she placed a hand on her shoulder. “The place is usually empty, if that makes you feel better.”

“I’ll take her home right after.” Sahkyo said before they all got into the car, and it was a very quick ten minute drive to Hotaru’s apartment building.



Once there, they placed Meian in the kitchen, one of the chairs, and Meian tried to lean against the table as best as she could as she held an item to her chest. Sahkyo and Hotaru went off to the bathroom down the hallway to search it for any kind of first aid kit.

“Work, damnit.” Meian mumbled, as she looked to what was in her hand. She opened her fingers which had been holding onto the Relic which Aniki gave her those weeks ago on her birthday. She begged in her mind for it to work, but it refused to activate and heal her wounds. Meian even shook it a few times, but she couldn’t think of a thing that would work.

Sahkyo and Hotaru returned to the main area with a few things to bandage up the wounds on Meian’s back.

“Alright Meian, we’re here. What’s that you have there?” Sahkyo cheerfully said as she saw the item which Meian held.

“It’s a healing item Aniki gave me, but it won’t work…”

“Maybe you squeezed it too hard.” Hotaru offered that option, but it didn’t seem likely. This item had probably been in more battles than Aniki himself has been in.

The item showed no activity as Hotaru practiced for her future career as a nurse and bandaged up Meian’s back. It was only about ten minutes until Meian was back in the car, and was driven home by Sahkyo. However just before Sahkyo said that they were at the building, Meian could feel a tingling at her feet, which crawled up her legs a touch before her concentration on the item was broken.

“Sahkyo, I think I felt some energy from the item….” Meian said, shocked, as she looked at the tiny item.

“Well, you should just lie down on your bed once you get inside your apartment, and just relax. Maybe if you meditate, it’ll work. I don’t know.” Sahkyo suggested.

< Saeryn… > A voice whispered to Meian through her ear. She turned only her head as she looked wildly to outside of the car, in the direction from where she heard it. Meian then shook her head clear of the cobwebs, and rubbed her eyes with the heels of her hands.

“I won’t sleep, that’s for sure…” Meian muttered, and nodded to her friend in thanks.




Sahkyo was busy at work on Tuesday when she got a phone call on one of her outside lines. Now this wasn’t anything unusual, but when she lifted the phone;

“Sahkyo Woods.” she said into the receiver.

“Sahkyo? This is Ronin. I’ve decided to commission something from you.” he said as he sounded thoughtful. He was probably looking at those brochures that she dropped off for him the other day.

“That’s great! So you saw something on the catalogues that you liked?” Sahkyo asked, getting out a pad of paper and a pen to write down anything she needed to remember.

“Yeah. On the third page of the Gemstone brochure, number 0Y1Z dash B. But with this one, I want you to use a real opal instead of… whatever the hell that is.” he recited.

“That’ll up the price, depending on what quality and type you want me to get.” Sahkyo pointed out.

“Almeida Family? Trust me, money isn’t an issue. It’s a gift for Meian, and I just want to do what I can to make her feel better.” Ronin confessed.

“That’ll take a while, Ronin. She’s not in the best of conditions right now. I think the best thing would be just to be there for her.” Sahkyo suggested, since she knew a lot more about women than Ronin did, obviously.

“I’m trying, I’m trying. Oh, by the way, you do know that this order takes top priority over your other projects.” Ronin said, more like a direct order than a request.

“It does?”

“That’s right. For what I’ll be paying you to make it, it damn well should be.” Ronin said, as Sahkyo could tell that he was saying it while doing some sort of smirk.

“Don’t sass me, boy. It should be done soon.” Sahkyo said, also smiling. Ronin chuckled on the other side of the line.

“See ya.”




Aniki and Lady Saeryn once again met in the park as they did a while before - same location, same bench, same cup of coffee in Aniki’s hand. Lady Saeryn sat down and sighed.

“What can I do for you?” she asked, and yawned.

“Release the magical blocker on the kid. She’s had enough.” Aniki said, more like an order than a request.

“I’ll think about it.” she said, and smiled. Of course Aniki couldn’t see the smile, but he could probably hear it.

“Do it soon. If not, there will be consequences for you.” Aniki threatened.

“Alright, Aniki. That’s what Meian calls you, right?” Lady Saeryn said, but he didn’t exactly know how to respond to her. He didn’t know her point in saying it. He just got up and walked away from her, and never responded to her.




It was in the middle of the day, around the same time of Lady Saeryn and Aniki’s meeting, where at one of Tokyo’s Zoos, screams rose into the air. However these screams didn’t belong to an amorous Monkey, but the screams of humans, filled with terror.

It was Sailor Nzeano. She raged through the Zoo grounds and tossed her staff about the structures like the staff weighed nothing at all. She jumped from the tops of the cages to the trees, or anywhere else she could find, picked up her staff again randomly and swung it towards another area mid-flight.

She was on another blood rampage.

Sailor Nzeano picked this location in particular because as she traveled to get here, she sensed a few other senshi nearby, and was able to reason it out in her brain that if she were to cause a ruckus, then the senshi would come. They would help her, she knew it. So as she continued to lose more and more control of her actions from her continuous attacks, and hoped to whichever god or gods were looking down on her to guide her wrath away from any creature, human or otherwise.

It was about fifteen minutes until a small group of senshi could show up from where they were - Sailor Moon, Sailor Mercury, Sailor Mars, and Sailor Syrin. It was only four senshi, but Sailor Nzeano had to get their attention somehow, since she had always seemed to miss them on previous blood rages. The enraged senshi stood between two cages, in a concrete paved area, with rows of habitats behind both groups of senshi.

“Is that Sailor Nzeano?” Sailor Mercury asked as she got out her computer, and it revealed that it was a senshi from an area outside of the Milky Way galaxy, and couldn’t get a thorough reading on her.

Sailor Nzeano neared the other senshi, and raised her cast iron staff above her head, and slammed it into the ground. The staff released the top row of spikes, but instead of the spikes going into herself like they were supposed to, she found that she no longer even had control of her weapon as one of them embedded themselves into Sailor Mercury’s neck. Sailor Mercury grabbed at her neck and cried out, collapsed to the ground as she convulsed and thrashed about, and had to be held down by Sailor Moon and Sailor Syrin.

“Mars Flame Sniper!” Sailor Mars called out, and sent one or two arrows towards Sailor Nzeano to distract her. The third arrow hit her square in the stomach, and singed her repeatedly blood-stained fuku.

“That‘s the way, Sailor Mars!” Sailor Moon encouraged.

Sailor Nzeano retaliated against the fire senshi, but left her staff behind, being that it was still stuck in the ground, and pretty well, too. Sailor Nzeano wasn’t the most skilled of fighters, but she was sure the most desperate.

It was a clear few minutes before Sailor Nzeano tired out, and collapsed to the ground with an exhausted thud.

“Sailor Saeryn…” Sailor Nzeano spoke in surprisingly a clear, yet soft tone. “I can’t see…. Is Sailor Saeryn there?”

“Sailor Syrin.” she said, as she let go of Sailor Mercury’s body, as it began to calm down, similar to Sailor Nzeano in that very moment, her body almost mimicking hers as if she had gone through a blood rage herself. Sailor Syrin got up and started to walk very cautiously towards the charcoal-coloured senshi.

“Thank the gods…” she whispered, almost crying. “Please… Saeryn-Urai took no pity upon me… please, you must help me.”

“What is it?” Sailor Syrin asked before she knelt down beside the tortured senshi.

“Sailor Syrin, be careful. You don’t know what she’s going to do.” Sailor Moon warned, as Sailor Mars made sure that Sailor Mercury was okay. Sailor Mars pulled out the spikes from her neck as the senshi of ice calmed down, then finally stilled, her breathing steady. The spikes left puncture wounds, and didn’t tear much at the surrounding tissue.

“Sailor Syrin please… you must kill me.” Sailor Nzeano asked as she grabbed Sailor Syrin’s hand.

“What? No way. Sailor Moon can heal you.” Sailor Syrin tried to convince the senshi before her, but it was no use.

“There’s no healing me, Saeryn. You have to. Please, it must be you.” Sailor Nzeano begged as she could feel the same feeling as she did before when the rage began to crawl out of her heart and would take over her body in a matter of minutes. “I can’t take it anymore. I know our two gods don‘t get along, but I know that you haven‘t been corrupted by the others of your clan yet. My blood is poisoned, and I am in constant pain.

“I will beg if I must…“ Sailor Nzeano rolled over to her stomach and struggled to her hands and knees. She then turned to face Sailor Syrin, and crossed her arms, her elbows on the ground, and leaned down to the ground as far as she could in this situation. This position was horribly uncomfortable, but she had to make it clear through the customs of her own world - the ones she could remember - that Sailor Syrin had to do this for her.

Aniki appeared from just beyond the area, and appeared on the opposite side of the grounds to that of the senshi. He was holding a dagger in his hand, and twirled it around his fingers once or twice.

The dagger was straight, and was made of bone and two different kinds of metal. The blade was double edged, and had a few symbols carved into it near the hilt. Separating the hilt and the blade was about an inch of another type of metal besides the blade, which had some designs etched into it. The hilt was made of the cream-coloured bone, and the darker metal spiraled into it, with the bone rising up to where it was on the handle. At the opposite end to the blade, was a simple metal cap, with similar designs of before.

He was obviously seen by Sailor Syrin, as he tossed the blade to her, and since she had some practice in catching random objects from him, didn’t have a problem doing so now.

“Stick it into her chest, then her neck. That is, if you can take a life.” Aniki said before he crossed his arms, wanting to see the show before him.

“No, I couldn‘t!” Sailor Syrin said, placing the dagger down beside her, almost as if holding it made her a murderer automatically.

“It’s your duty, and your privilege to end the life of a rivaled senshi to our clan.” Aniki chimed in. “You have ended the life of an animal who had gone lame. This is the same thing.”

Sailor Nzeano winced at the notion that she was being compared to a dog, but that was the way that she knew how the people of the Saeryn clan thought. Truth be told, she kind of looked like one the way she was knelt in front of Sailor Syrin.

“Please. This is why I came to you.” Sailor Nzeano then said. “It is more cruel and evil to let me live.”

Sailor Syrin had an inward battle then. The two sides whether to kill her or try to heal her had equal pros and cons, but what was more important was whether or not she could live with herself. After a few moments, she leaned down and grabbed the blade, and placed it into her lap, and looked at it. She felt the weight in her hand, the feeling of the hilt. Even the designs carefully crafted onto it.

< May God forgive me after what I’m going to do. > Sailor Syrin thought.

Sailor Syrin slowly raised the dagger above her head with both hands, and hesitated before she moved the blade down barely an inch when a voice sounded from behind her, which broke the movement of the dagger.

“STOP!” Sailor Moon cried. She was about to make a run towards the two senshi on the ground, but she was held back by a hand connected to her own.

“Sailor Moon… this is what Sailor Nzeano wants….” Sailor Mars whispered solemnly.

Sailor Syrin had watched this entire display by one she had admired so, and made eye contact with the Sol senshi leader. She looked to her with apologetic eyes as she mouthed the words ‘I’m sorry’.

No sooner had Sailor Syrin looked back to the senshi before her, the dagger was back up into the air with both her hands, above her head. After a second, Sailor Syrin swiftly brought it down into the back of the senshi before her as close to the heart as she could, with Sailor Nzeano barely letting out a whimper at the sudden new pain entering her body. It wasn’t that much of a surprise compared to the constant pain that she had to endure in the first place. Her skin which had turned dark from disease over the years twitched at the sensation before Sailor Syrin pulled it out again. Her blood poured out and around her, the blood usually which stained her fuku was from others, but it was now covered with blood that was her own. Sailor Nzeano fell to her back, the blood seeped out from behind her.

Sailor Syrin paused as she looked to what she had done. The blood of another now covered the blade, and as well as her hands. It was a horrible feeling as the blood crawled over her skin.

“You can’t stop now, Saeryn. Finish her off.” Aniki said, as Daedalion arrived, and landed on one of the outside habitats of the animals. He shook out his wings, scratched himself somewhere on his torso with his beak, and watched the scene unfold.

Sailor Syrin quickly stabbed the throat of Sailor Nzeano, which ended the task that she asked her to perform. The pain became too much for Sailor Nzeano’s body to handle, and it gave up with the blade now in the throat. Sailor Syrin took it out as the fuku of the senshi in front of her started to morph, and as she started to disappear, finally changed back into what she must have worn just before she turned into her senshi form. It looked like a peasant’s outfit, with a long dress and blouse, with a vest of heavy fabric. Her skin was no longer black, but a pure white, with a slight indigo tinge to it, indicating that she was definitely not human.

The nameless girl once called Sailor Nzeano soon disappeared, and soon all that was left was her starseed where her chest once was.

Sailor Moon walked over to where she was situated next to Sailor Mercury who was no longer in danger, and picked up Nzeano’s starseed. It had a swirl of both her senshi fuku colours, only lighter, with a darker green added with the swirl. It seemed that the power that she had to possess not only poisoned her body, but her starseed along with it. To think of what Sailor Nzeano must have gone through was more than Sailor Moon wanted to ponder at the moment.

The only evidence of Sailor Nzeano’s existence was the blood which had escaped her body; both on the ground and on Sailor Syrin’s dagger and hands. Aniki had already disappeared, as he had seen all he wanted to at this point.

“What exactly happened to her?” Sailor Mars asked, thinking on the things that Sailor Nzeano had said about her situation.

“It must have been horrible.” Sailor Moon said as she held her starseed. She also wondered why it wasn’t already on it’s way back to the Cauldron. < Maybe… >

“I think I can fill you in on this.” Daedalion said from the small distance between himself and the senshi. He glided down from the hutch and landed in front of Sailor Mercury. “And if it’s the fact that I can talk, you can forget it.”

They were shocked that he was so blunt, but it shouldn’t surprise them at all that another animal was talking.

“So go ahead.” Sailor Mars said, kind of offended that he would talk to them so rudely.

“From what I’ve heard from both Sailor Arcas and Sailor Nzeano in her lucid states, is that Sailor Nzeano used to be a light of healing and compassion in her home planet. Actually, similar to you Sailor Moon, but nowhere near as powerful. She belonged to a team, but wasn’t the leader of it. When her powers awakened, she was separated from her group, and had no one to guide her; no guardian, no senshi companion. She had no one.

“From this lack of guidance, her element inverted on her, and poisoned then took over her body. Her blood became her torturer, and her muscles betrayed her. She had no control over what she did, especially here on Earth. The only way to relieve the pain was to release the energy in her body, and the only method of doing that was to use her attacks. I was with her when she asked Lady Saeryn to kill her, and she refused to do it. I pitied her then, too.”

“Wow…” Sailor Moon said, looking down to Sailor Syrin, who was still knelt on the ground, confused as to what to do about the dagger. “That’s so sad…”

“Come on. We need to get out of here before the police arrive.” Ami said right after she dehensined. Sailor Syrin got up and followed Ami’s example, and just held the dagger limply at her side, still covered with the drying blood of the former senshi.

As the group left the Zoo, all now in civilian form, Meian placed the dagger into an empty pocket of her jacket, and shoved her hands into her sleeves to hide the blood caked onto them. She was still bewildered that she had the ability and willingness to kill another living creature, let alone that it was a fellow senshi, and in fact couldn‘t wait to run into the nearest bathroom and scrub her skin raw. Meian was sure that she could live with herself, because after all, Sailor Nzeano WAS in horrible pain…

Instead, was disgusted with herself.



Chapter Seventeen