Chapter 6: Of Questions, Plans, and Plots

It was eight a.m. on the second day of the third week, and 
three people sat at a counter in an arcade in deep discussion.  
They barely acknowledged the blond man who served them soda, 
tea, and coffee.  Instead these three people seemed to be going 
over something in detail, at times their voices rising and falling.

"So, tell me again what these girls who mentioned your brother 
looked like."

"May, we have been through this!" Terry exclaimed, a little 
frustrated.

"Yeah, lady," added Yusuke, "what the hell else do you want from 
us?!"

May sighed.  "The reason I'm pushing you is because of your 
talents.  You," she said turning to Terry, "have a quick mind.  Well
sometimes, at least.  And you have the potential to be very observant.  
You," she continued, turning to Yusuke, "have an amazing memory 
when it comes to things that have annoyed you.  And you seemed 
pretty annoyed about being run over.  I'm hoping between the two 
of you I can get that little bit of information that could mean 
everything."  She sighed.  "Come on, guys.  Humor me just a bit.  
Tell me again about these girls you met yesterday."

"Okay, okay," Terry relented before he started.  "They obviously 
came in together.  The one who didn't run over Yusuke had dark hair.  
It was so black it almost looked purple.  She answered to  
Rei-chan.  My guess is that she's religious like you."

That startled May slightly. "What do you mean, like me?" she
asked

"It was something in the way she carried herself, kind of like 
you do.  Like part of you is on another plane.  It's like she went 
through some kind of religious training or is at least very 
dedicated to her beliefs.  You're like that.  At moments it is like 
you're in conversation with another power in another place. Oh, 
slaggit, I know I'm not making sense-"

"Yes, you are," May interrupted.  "And that was useful.  Really."  
May smiled, "so what about the woman who ran Yusuke down?"

"She caused future boy here to lose it!  I mean, first he was
talking, then he stopped.  Suddenly, he just looked at the
girl funny and even backed up!" Yusuke jumped in.  "Wimp,"
the hothead sneered at the end.

Terry was prepared to fire back some snarky comment at Yusuke
when he noticed the worry  on May's face.  "Did you recognize 
the girl?" May asked quietly.

"I'm not sure that recognized is the right word," the teen said 
after he stopped to think.  "It was like what I felt when I saw
the brunette earlier, except not nearly as comfortable."

"What's that supposed to mean?"  Yusuke groused.

"Let's leave meaning aside for the moment," May said quickly,
hoping to head off another argument between the brothers.  "Now, 
what did this girl look like?"

"Blonde," Terry began, "Short.  Blue eyes.  A very strange hairstyle.
It's like she had two mini balls or meatballs or something, with 
some hair streaming out behind each meatball."

"She also had a problem with gravity." Yusuke added.

"A problem with gravity?" May asked, with eyebrow raised.

"Yeah, it was almost like she wasn't a native.  If I was in my 
dimension I'd bet she was a demon from the demon world."

"A demon?" May repeated in a slightly disbelieving tone.

"Yeah.  Around her I got this feeling that something was really 
out of place.  That somehow what we saw was a cover for something 
else." 

"Calling her a demon is pushing it, Yusuke," Terry said.  "And I 
wouldn't say she had a problem with gravity so much as she seemed 
the be pre-disposed to running down dark-haired men.  The fact that 
she took out Yusuke and not me was due solely to the fact that the 
twip here was closer to the door."

"Hey!"

"Boys!"  May raised her voice and then lowered it.  She took 
deep breath and tried to relax, so that she could calm the boys 
down.  "Look, we have a good beginning.  After the engagement party 
we go looking for these girls, alright?  We'll find your brother
and tell him the truth.  We'll get him back."  May finished.  

As the trio turned their attention back to their drinks, May began
to try to piece together the information she rung out of Terry
and Yusuke. In the end it kept coming back to Terry's reactions.
He's noticed Reika first, the woman May was sure was a reincarnated
Daniella.  Terry also reacted to this blonde, but almost as if she
was a threat! 'Something tells me they ran into the Empress' 
daughter,' May finally concluded ot herself.  'And where she is in 
her perfect world, our kidnapped prince can't be far away.  I'll 
get Endy back from you; just watch me.'


*****

Panting as she ran, Usagi said, "I can't believe I'm late."

"And you were getting so much better about this," said a voice 
from the ground.

"Luna, don't harass me about this now!  Rei-chan called this 
meeting, and she is so going to kill me for showing up late.  
Why do we need to have this meeting anyway?  There hasn't been
an emeny in months.  What could possibly be wrong?"

"Usagi, Rei said this was important.  It must be to call a 
meeting so suddenly,"  Luna said as they neared the temple steps.

Not bothering to reply, Usagi dashed up the stairs.  "I'm sorry 
I'm late-" she began, but she stopped when she saw who was in 
the room.

That Rei, Ami, Makoto, and Minako were there wasn't surprising.  
What shocked her was seeing Haruka and Michiru in one corner, 
Hotaru present, and..."Mamo-chan?  What are you doing here? 
What's going on?"

"He's here because I called the meeting and he's central to the 
discussion," Setsuna said as she entered the room.

"This is serious, isn't it?" Usagi asked as she sat next to Mamoru.

"Yes," Setsuna said.  "The timeline is in danger and we all need to 
work together to save it."  She sighed, 'This has to work,' she 
thought to herself, 'I have got to get them, all of them, to attack 
first and ask questions later.'

"It appears that someone is manipulating time to suit their 
purposes.  How they have power over time, I don't know.  What 
I do know is that it appears that Mamoru is a target."

The room erupted with shouts and questions.  Usagi clutched 
Mamoru, who looked surprized at the pronouncement, "I'm the 
target?  Not Usako?"

"Yes," Setsuna answered.  "This person thinks to gain power by 
destroying Crystal Toyko and all the moon kingdom stood for.  
I'm not sure how powerful this person is - so far they have 
been subtle.  Anyone that shows inordinate interest in Mamoru, 
especially if they seem foreign or strange should be treated 
with caution."

"Like those guys we met yesterday?"  Usagi asked, turning to Rei.

"What guys?" Haruka and Mamoru asked together.

"When we stopped into the arcade to talk to Motoki about the 
engagement party, we met these two guys-"

"Meaning Usagi ran over one of them," Rei interrupted

Usagi gave her friend a dirty look, but continued, "who seemed 
interested in meeting you," she finished, turning to Mamoru.

"Actually," Rei clarified, "they weren't interested in much else 
besides screaming at Usagi until she pointed out how much one of 
them looked like Mamoru."

'No!' Pluto thought, 'It is worse than I thought.  They are here 
already.'  "Did he actually look like Mamoru?" Setsuna asked, 
instead of letting her panic show.

"Both of them did, a little.  But the older of the two, they 
could have easily have been brothers."  Rei said and Usagi 
nodded.

"What is it, Setsuna?" Michiru asked, noticing the look on 
Setsuna's face.

"I have reason to think these people are dangerous.  I think Mamoru
should be placed under guard, at least until I can nail down who is
behind this and where they are."

With that conversation turned to ways of discreetly keeping an 
eye on Mamoru and ways of finding this enemy.  Setsuna used this 
moment to perpare to leave, but she was stopped by a voice 
calling, "Setsuna-san?"

"Yes, Mamoru?" she said as she turned.

The young man seemed to be unable to speak at first.  Then he 
asked, "What was the relationship between the Moon kingdom and 
Earth during the Silver Millenium?"

That question caused Setsuna's eyes to widen and her mind to worry, 
"What prompted that question?"

Mamoru ran his hand through his hair, "I've had a dream off 
and on for the past two weeks.  It actually seems like a memory.  
In the dream there seemed to be some tension between the Earth 
and Moon," Mamoru explained, wincing slightly at the massive 
understatement that was.  After a brief pause, he continued, 
"In the dream I call this woman that I can't really see, 'Mother'.  
What do you know about my Silver Millenium family?  What happened 
around the time I became engaged to Princess Serenity?  I remember 
so little and some of what I've been told and 'remember' doesn't 
seem right.  What-"

Setsuna held up her hand.  'How do I get out of this?' she asked 
herself.  What she said was, "I understand that you are confused.  
And I promise that as a group we can talk about the Silver Millenium 
at some point, but your safety is the most important thing at the 
moment."

"You don't think this is important?" Mamoru asked.  "You said that 
the person wants to destroy Crystal Toyko and everything that the 
Moon Kingdom stands for.  If it is a bitter noble of Earth from the 
Silver Millennium, wouldn't it be useful to know more about my past?"

"Not in this case.  Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to get back to 
the gate."  Setsuna said, as she turned and began to walk away.  As 
she left she heard Usagi say, "They aren't getting him!  We'll fight 
and we'll win."

Setsuna smiled.  'Mission accomplished.  I won't let the Earth family
reunite.  The Earth prince is what my princess wants.  This is her 
world.  They won't win.'

- to be continued -