Sailor Moon V * The Dark Adventures of the Sailor Scouts Episode Ten * "Kingdom of the Moon" Ami blinked and looked around, slowing her pace as something suddenly seemed to be dangerously amiss. A dark chill ran down her spine as a feeling of dread filled her, warning her that she was in danger. "Hey, you alright?" Leda asked, turning slightly to give her an odd look. "Something's wrong," Ami said quietly, looking around again. "This.... this shouldn't be here. We shouldn't be here." "Bah," the brunette said with a dismissive wave of her hand. "I think you've just had too much to drink tonight. C'mon, we just follow this road until we hit the bazaar, then it's a straight-shot west to the Palace." "Leda...." Ami persisted in a shaky voice. "This is all wrong. Can't you feel it?" "The only thing I feel is my bladder starting to wake up," Leda grumbled as she continued to walk, forcing Ami to either keep up or be left behind. "I really don't know what you're getting all hyper about." Ami almost whimpered as the chill in her veins deepened. The feeling of dread was almost suffocatingly heavy, and Leda's obliviousness to things only made it worse. Couldn't she feel it? Didn't she know that everything looked so dark and foreboding? That something awful was about to...? Her vision promptly shattered into sparks, like shards of glass blown out from a window by an explosion. The pain registered a microsecond later, the back of her neck feeling like it had been snapped by a blow to the base of her skull. The ground leapt out from under her feet to rush up to meet her, and she was saved from a broken nose only by the fact that her forearm got in the way and absorbed the brunt of the impact. The icy slush in her veins became solid ice as she was roughly picked up and slung over someone's shoulder, the roaring buzz in her ears not able to completely muffle the sharp yelp of protest as Leda was also struck from behind and likewise carried off. She knew what was going to happen to them, even as they were carried into a dark alley and unceremoniously dumped on the rough ground. She tried to scream as she felt hands clawing at her clothes, ripping buttons and yanking hard on seams. Her voice failed to respond, however, and it was only a matter of seconds before she was almost completely naked. She felt a pair of hands grasp her wrists and hold her down while someone else grabbed her ankles, forcing her legs apart to expose her. The terror was unlike anything she had ever felt before, knowing what was about to be done to her and being unable to do anything about it. Whispered voices echoed around her in a mad cacophony, and out of the corner of her eye she could see that Leda was being subjected to the same horrific treatment. How can this be happening? she thought as she tried to struggle. Why am I here? This is all wrong, how did I end up here? When? Why is it all so dark like this? Where am I? She blinked and looked up, her eyes widening as she saw her captor unzip the front of his pants to release a massive erection, aiming it directly at her exposed sheath. She could hear Leda's screams next to her, calling out her name and begging her to do something. But what truly terrified her was the sight of Alex standing at the edge of the alley, looking at her with seething hatred as she pressed one hand to the side of her neck, a torrent of blood flowing around her fingers as she tried to seal the twin puncture wounds. "Vampire," she whispered, her voice distorted by the light froth of blood spilling from her lips. Her other hand reached up to her shoulder, withdrawing her saber from the invisible sheath. But that was a secondary concern, as the man holding her legs grinned as he yanked her closer, spreading her legs even wider as he got ready to rape her with his enormous member.... ....and the world suddenly exploded into focus around her as a hard slap across her cheek jolted her out of the depths of the nightmare. "AMI!" the voice yelling in her ear said yet again. "Wake up, damn it!" "What?" Ami tried to say, gasping hard as both her lungs and her throat promptly protested with a searing wave of pain. It felt like she hadn't taken a breath of air in an hour, and her mouth was dry enough to make her wonder if someone had shoved a roll of paper towels down her throat to try to keep her quiet while she was busy screaming in her sleep. "Ami?" the voice said in a far more gentle tone, causing her to blink as she recognized Leda's voice. "Are you awake yet?" "Leda?" Ami said slowly as she blinked hard, finally realizing that it had only been a horrific dream and that she hadn't been half a second away from being raped. The sudden drain of tension and adrenaline left her body feeling deathly cold inside, producing a series of hard and uncontrollable shivers. "Hey, easy," Leda said soothingly as she draped the sheets around Ami's quivering body and drew her into a very tight hug. "It was just a nightmare, Ami, just take it easy. I'm right here, okay? Everything's fine now...." She had no idea how long it was before she could stop shivering, the dark images replaying themselves over and over in her mind. She knew it wasn't just a dream she had seen, but something far more sinister. Leda's presence didn't help very much, reminding her of the brunette's unfortunate role in the scene. "It wasn't a dream," Ami finally managed to say after she was quite sure the muscles in her upper body had finished trembling. Her stomach and legs were another matter entirely, but she could deal with those later. "What?" Leda said, lifting her head from Ami's shoulder. "Run that past me again, Ami. What do you mean, it wasn't a dream?" "It.... it wasn't really a dream," Ami whispered as she closed her eyes and briefly shuddered again. "It was a memory, memories twisted into an even worse nightmare. And they weren't even my memories...." "Slow down," the brunette protested quietly, reaching up to gently massage Ami's neck and back. "You're not making any sense. Just take it easy and relax, okay? I'm right here, and I'm not going anywhere." "What I.... what I saw.... wasn't a dream," Ami explained very softly as she drew her knees up to her chest and hugged her legs tightly. "They were memories from the past, viewed in a dream. Alex's memories." Leda paused as a faint chill flowed through her. "Alex's memories?" she echoed quietly. "Yes," Ami said softly. "When I took her blood earlier, she.... she had a flashback to the incident in the Moon Kingdom where she.... she was...." "I get it now," Leda said quietly, gently squeezing Ami's shoulder as her own stomach suddenly did a back-flip. "So in other words, you dreamed what she apparently dreams on a regular basis?" "Oh, god, Leda...." Ami whispered as the full-body shivers returned with a vengeance, chilling her inside yet again and bringing tears to her eyes. She closed her eyes as she was wrapped in a fierce hug, unable to get the mental images out of her mind. "If this is what she remembers when she sleeps, time and time again.... I don't know how she's still sane...." "Ami, sweetie, it's okay," Leda said quietly in her ear, trying to fight off her own impulse to shiver. She had snapped Ami out of nightmares before, but this was by far the most distraught she had seen her over anything. "Just take it easy, alright? It was just a dream, trust me...." "It wasn't a dream," Ami countered in a soft whisper. "It was simply too real to be a dream. I could feel the cold air on my skin, I could feel their hands on me, holding me down, I could hear.... oh god, Leda, I could hear your screams.... and then he pulled me close and was about to...." "Ami!" Leda snapped, shaking her shoulders gently but firmly. "Stop it! It's just a dream, let it go. It's just a dream because it never happened to you, remember? Just breathe slow and deep, try to calm down. We both know you tend to sleep poorly whenever you take someone's blood, so just calm down." "Leda...." "Listen," the brunette said very gently. "I know you can taste an awful lot when you sample someone's blood, but just take it easy. Do you really think you can delve into someone's darkest memories like that? I think it's just a coincidence, your subconscious having a bad day and working overtime." Ami blinked and looked up at her. "What? Leda.... I thought we already established that I can do that," she said in a subdued tone. "Remember how I called you Thunderheart that one night?" Leda froze for an instant before she closed her eyes, trying not to show any visible reaction as the nickname flayed her heart open like one would peel a potato. "I.... had forgotten about that," she said in a hollow tone. "Leda, I'm sorry!" Ami blurted out in horror. "I didn't mean to...!" "Ami," Leda said very quietly as she reached up to very lightly press her fingertips against the softness of Ami's lips. "Just relax. I know you didn't mean anything by it, so don't worry about it." She studied the look on her face for several moments before sighing quietly and leaning forward. Ami barely had time to blink in surprise before she felt the fingertips on her lips move, being replaced by a pair of lips in a decidedly warm kiss. It felt oddly comforting in a way, and she found herself yielding to it just slightly. She blinked again when Leda pulled away with a gentle sigh, not entirely sure what to make of the gesture. Leda looked at her for several seconds before shaking her head and laying back down on the bed. "I'll never forget her, or what she meant to me," she explained in a soft tone. "And yes, it still hurts when I think of how she was taken from me. But I also have you now, Ami. Maybe not in the way that I'm used to having someone special in my life, but you're very much in my heart nonetheless, and that helps with the pain. I just wish you'd let me return the favor, to find a way to ease your pain in life." Ami blinked hard, trying to figure out which summer sky this snowball had come flying out of to nail her in the back of the head. "Who says you don't?" she said, pausing to blink again at the realization of just how true it was. It would have been a lie for her to think of Leda as simply a friend, but she certainly didn't think they qualified as lovers or even romantic interests. At least, not from her side of the equation. A faint smile passed across Leda's face for a few moments. "You rarely say anything to that effect," she pointed out. "Or if you do, you do it when I'm distracted or something. Bah," she grunted as she rubbed her face with both hands. "I guess my point is that it's some unholy hour in the morning, and if you're finished having your nightmare I think we should go back to bed and try to get some sleep." Ami paused as her surroundings registered on her mind once again. They were in one of the guest bedrooms in Susan's keep, having little recourse than to share the admittedly massive bed. The sheets had to be shared as well, but they were large enough to allow some room between them. She had a nightgown on, but Leda was completely naked and had told her point-blank earlier that she had been sleeping in the nude for years and had no intention of changing her sleeping habits for anyone. "Ami?" Leda's soft voice cut through her train of thought. "I know I've said this several times before and all, but I really hate it when you get that look on your face...." Ami blinked and sighed. "Sorry, I was just thinking," she murmured. She paused as Leda flexed her abdomen hard, bringing her up into a sitting position and causing the sheets to tumble into a pile around her waist. She blinked again as the brunette leaned forward to stare into her eyes, their noses only separated by a few inches. "What?" she ventured carefully, unsure of what was going through the other woman's mind at the moment. "Mind if I try to give you something else to think about while lulling you back to the comforts of sleep?" Leda asked calmly. Ami paused as a faint shiver ran down her spine that had little to do with the nightmares that had wracked her barely ten minutes ago. "I'm not sure, that sounds an awful lot like seduction," she replied in a flat tone. Leda shrugged casually in dismissal. "I can do that too, if you want, but I didn't think it was something you would want to enjoy at the moment. Hold still," she added as she reached down and started to hike Ami's nightgown up to her chest. She paused after a few seconds and looked up, sighing quietly at the look in her steel-blue eyes. "You want to cooperate here or what?" she prodded. Ami stared hard at her for several moments before slowly raising her arms up over her head, allowing Leda to draw the nightgown off completely to leave her clad only in her panties. She then waited in edgy silence as Leda ran her fingertips through Ami's short blue hair before smiling and gently pulling her down on the pillow next to her. She paused as Leda carefully tucked the sheets around them before rolling over on her side so that they faced one another. She then felt Leda's arms slide around her waist, pulling them tightly against one another and resting Ami's head against her shoulder. "I'm right here, Ami," Leda whispered very quietly as she began to slowly and methodically massage the tension out of Ami's neck and back muscles. The embrace was more than a little intimate, but she figured that it wouldn't be much of a problem as long as she didn't do anything without advanced warning. "Just relax, okay? Nothing's going to happen to either of us as long as we have each other. I'll protect your dreams if you'll protect mine." "Hmm?" Ami murmured in slight confusion as she closed her eyes. Leda's experience in massage was already starting to have an effect, making her more keenly aware of her body's desire to withdraw into sleep once again. The soft warmth of their bodies pressed against one another was perfectly trapped by cocoon of sheets, slowly driving out the lingering chills that she could still feel in her blood from the effects of the nightmare. She heard a soft buzzing noise in her ear as Leda said something else to her, but her mind was already in the process of switching off. She was right, it was still either dangerously late in the evening or entirely too early in the morning for her to be awake. She knew that she would have to talk to Alex about it in the morning, as she had to find out for sure just how much she had accidentally gleaned from her blood.... and just how deep Alex's pain was. She couldn't help but smile as a curious warmth started to flow across her ear and down to her neck. It felt good, whatever it was. Almost as good as the pair of warm hands touching and rubbing her bare back. Leda really did have a nice touch. Of course, she mentally added through the growing veil of mental fog, so did Tolaris, and he could also make her skin tingle with his electrical powers, but.... he wasn't here at the moment, was he? He'll be back soon enough, either on his own or after she went back into the Negaverse to find him, but until then.... Mmmm, that was warm, whatever it was. She would ask in the morning as well. Once it.... got.... here.... Leda chuckled very quietly to herself as Ami's breathing changed pitch in a very subtle way and evened out. "Works every time," she murmured to herself as she continued to gently massage Ami's back before she herself drifted back off to re-enter the subconscious world of dreams. * * * * Darian grunted quietly before his eyelids finally parted, allowing the room to come into bleary focus. He closed his eyes for a few moments before opening them once again, able to focus better this time. He knew that it was far from time to get up, and in fact he had every intention of going back to sleep in extremely short order, but first he wanted to figure out just what in the name of all that was holy he had gotten himself into. He glanced down and grunted very softly again as he noticed the profusion of gray ribbons draped across his chest. It took him a moment to remember what they were, and more importantly, who they belonged to. While there wasn't a light source in the room that he could locate, there was still a sort of dim haze in the air that allowed him to discern one object from the next. Serena was sleeping quite peacefully next to him, her forehead marked by the gold sigil of the Royal House of the Moon. Both the sigil and her denizen wings were oddly quiescent, only the faintest hint of a glow visible in either. He blinked as he realized that he could see distinct points of color flowing through her wings at a very slow pace, pinpoints of light that were maybe a fraction of a lumen brighter than their surroundings. He cast a quick glance at the small table in the far corner of the room. He could make out the darkened outline of the shard of dimensional crystal Mina had forged for Serena earlier, taken off and gently tossed across the room once she decided it might be easier to sleep with her wings 'turned off.' That had, of course, rendered her voice all but useless as well, but by that time nothing more needed to be said.... He closed his eyes and sighed as he thought about what he had done. She was no longer a virgin anymore, and part of him dreaded what she might have to say about it in the morning. It would have been an outright lie for him to say that he hadn't enjoyed it, and he was fairly sure that she had found it to be to her liking as well, but there was still a seed of doubt that simply would not go away no matter how hard he thought about it. He sighed again as random memories began to resurface, not just of Serena but of his previous experiences with the joys of making love. His first kiss, the first time he had intimately touched his first serious girlfriend, how one simple touch evolved into so much, looking into her eyes as he slipped inside her and into a whole new world.... The faint lines on his face deepened as the random scatterings of his memories progressed, Rebecca's face and body becoming that of Queen Beryl's, remembering being under her influence and how he had rediscovered the intense pleasure of love-making in her bed, how the feeling was vastly improved when you didn't need to worry about condoms or contraceptives since you were from two separate species.... His expression darkened considerably as the memories continued to replay themselves in his mind's-eye, unable to stop them or think of something else. Almost every night after that had been spent in Beryl's bed, euphoric with exhaustion after losing himself within her depths, flooding her womb with his seed until she had declined him one night because she was feeling ill, only to find out days later that her light nausea was not a virus but a message.... A light touch on his cheek came dangerously close to shocking his bladder into activity. He twitched as if jolted by electricity and turned his whole body to one side, relaxing as soon as he recognized the source of the highly unexpected disturbance. "I'm sorry," he whispered as the pair of gold-irised eyes widened dangerously at his reaction. "You just surprised the hell out of me, that's all." "Sorry," Serena whispered very faintly, her voice rasping in her throat. A soft smile crossed his face as he leaned over to kiss her, savoring the naturally sweet taste of her lips. He wasn't sure if it was related to the recent awakening of her denizen blood or if he had simply been too dense to notice it before, but the taste was definitely something to enjoy. And if it could only be obtained by kissing her.... well, he could always get something for his lips later if he made them raw from constant kissing. A deep tingle ran through his blood as Serena responded, pressing herself closer to him and making a very soft noise deep in her throat. Her motions reminded him that they were both naked as well as suggesting that she was still more than willing to pick up where they had left off earlier. He chuckled very softly and dipped his head down to kiss her throat. "I take it I woke you up somehow?" he murmured to her as he leaned back to look into her eyes. He found the gold irises to be interesting to look at, but he had decided earlier that if given a choice he would take her original blue eyes over her current ones. She wrinkled her nose for a moment, making a slight face that could have been taken several different ways. She wasn't sure what had woken her up, but it wasn't anything that she could immediately point out. While she was keenly aware of a slight tenderness in a few places, she doubted it was what had drawn her out of the Dreamworld and back into semi-consciousness. She sighed in dismissal and cuddled up next to him, extremely content with both his presence next to her and the still-fresh memories of how he had made love to her. The pain hadn't been nearly as bad as she had feared, and just like Mina had promised her it had left for the most part in very short order. She figured that the lingering soreness would persist for a day or two, also as Mina had warned, but that once she was completely healed.... Their eyes met for several long moments, a faint blush spreading across her cheeks at the mental image forming in her mind. He seemed to pause for a moment before raising an eyebrow, acutely aware that she was thinking something and not entirely sure he wanted to know what. She just shook her head slightly and leaned forward to kiss him again. If he didn't know, she thought with a small smile, he would find out soon enough.... Darian felt his soul sigh quietly at the look in her eyes before he felt her lips on his once again. I am in so much trouble now, he thought as his body started to react. Don't get me wrong, I love her deeply, and if spending the rest of my life with her is going to be torture, please get the chains out now.... but at the same time.... do I want to go through with this again? Can I go through it again? He absently ran his fingers through her unbound hair as she sighed and curled up against him, the beginnings of what might have been a yawn stirring deep inside her chest. It was only a matter of moments before he felt the change in her breathing, settling into a perfectly even rhythm as she drifted back off to sleep in his arms. I had a child once, he thought into the silent darkness of the room. I willingly slept with Beryl and she conceived. She.... we.... we were going to be parents, to have a daughter who would rule the world one day. Then she was gone as soon as she came. Now I'm in bed with another woman with denizen blood in her body, a woman who means far more to me than Beryl could ever possibly have. A woman who will also one day bear a daughter who will rule a world, a woman who wants me to be the father of her child. How can I not say yes to something like that.... but.... He sighed and closed his eyes as the darkness wrapped itself around his soul once again. I lost one child already, taken by death before she could even have a taste of life. Dare I try to have another, carried by a woman who seems to be a magnet for violence and death, who is indeed herself marked for death by the same world that gave her life? Can I really risk going through this all again, becoming a father only to lose it all in one fateful instant? Or worse.... have her taken from me by another world? The doubts swirled around his mind like a cloud as he tried to find some semblance of comfort in his sleep. Neither the troubled prince from Earth nor the sleeping princess born from two worlds were aware of the faint red sigil that continued to glow on his forehead, flickering very gently like the embers in the ashes of a fireplace long after the blaze had burnt itself out.... * * * * "Attention on deck!" someone called out sharply, causing the flight bridge to snap to rigid attention as a single unit. "As you were," Nop'tera said very quietly as she gingerly made her way across the metal deck. It was obvious that she was in a great deal of pain, something which few could honestly recall seeing her in. They all knew that her regeneration usually worked at a rapid pace, and for her to still be like this meant that something significant was wrong. She paused to lean on the back of the command chair, glancing behind her to make sure that both Freya and the medical IV were still with her. The clear plastic bag was filled with a pale green solution that slowly dripped into her veins, helping numb the worst of the pain and try to aid her body's natural rate of healing. An exam showed that her internal injuries wouldn't be fatal unless another sharp crystal object was introduced to her chest cavity, but it would still take a great deal of time to heal due to the light acid used in the life-saving surgery. "Status report," she said, mentally sighing at how weak her voice sounded. That she even had enough lung power to use her voice was a testament to her inner strength, but her chief medical officer had made it quite clear that rank would be pulled if she didn't take it as easy as possible. "Ma'am," Sor'en said as calmly as possible, trying not to worry about her mother's condition. "The V'ral is currently cloaked with both mains and the deck rotors idled. The gravity shields are at maximum and the sails have been deployed to keep us balanced as quietly as possible. Helm has been released for station-keeping with a minimum altitute requirement of forty angels, no specific course currently set. There is moderate shock damage throughout the ship, but the radiation shields are holding. We are currently unable to signal the rest of the fleet and are awaiting further instructions." "Excellent," Nop'tera breathed as she slumped against the chair, more out of relief than a need for support. "You have done well, all of you. General Rune tried her best to destroy us, and you can see that it has failed due to your heroic efforts. I am truly proud to count myself as one of your number." "General Nop'tera...." the helmsman said in a concerned tone. She waved a hand in dismissal and stood up straight. "You need not fear for my health, I've only been scratched by Rune's weapon. It will take far more than a simple stab wound to consign me to the grave, I assure you," she added with a faint twinkle in her featureless yellow eyes. "A scratch on your lungs, perhaps," Ar'kanis rumbled quietly from the back edge of the deck. "We are grateful to know you still live, my general, and while we know your recovery is assured.... I respectfully suggest that you do not press the issue for the time being." Nop'tera couldn't help the soft chuckle that fell from her lips. "Indeed I shall not, General," she said with amusement. "Helm, what is our current heading with respect to the north magnetic pole?" The helmsman turned around to consult his instruments. "Ma'am, the V'ral is adrift on an east-north-east jet stream with no fixed bearing at the moment. The northern magnetic pole is an estimated seventy-four degrees off the port bow, range estimated at four-four-zero thousand ke'shels." "Very well," Nop'tera replied after a moment of thought. "Helm, chart a course to the center of the northern magnetic polar region. You are not to use any of the engines except to maintain altitude above thirty angels. If we're running quiet at the moment, I see no reason to change that. There is no rush to reach our destination, as I intend to wait and see what Rune's next move will be. The only requirements are that we remain stealthed and fly as high as the winds permit. Communications." "Ma'am!" the communications officer said crisply. "Keep an ear out for the rest of the fleet," the vampire instructed. "I doubt they will try to contact us directly or on an active channel, but they may get creative on me and try to ascertain our condition without giving either us or themselves away. Also monitor the oceans as well in case the sub-surface groups try to assist in the effort." "Understood, ma'am." "Brigadier Sor'en, I've got a change in plans for you," Nop'tera said to her daughter. "Order your squadrons to land somewhere in the open, preferably away from any runways or other military installations. They are to go dormant until we can recover them later. I fear that attempting to recover them now will only complicate things." "I will see to it, ma'am," Sor'en replied with only the slightest hint of dismay to her voice. Nop'tera smiled gently at her disappointment. "Take it easy, Sor'en, we will recover your fighters in due time. As with Ar'kanis' tank divisions, it is best to leave them where they are rather than risk losing everything trying to get them back. But we will try soon, that I promise you. For now, we must make sure that the V'ral is completely and entirely operational before making our next move." There was a hollow grunt from within the depths of Ar'kanis' helmet as he shifted his weight slightly. "And what is our next move?" he inquired. "Are you familiar with the Earth game of strategy called chess?" Nop'tera asked as she turned around and slowly made her way over to the lift in the back of the bridge. Freya remained right behind her elbow the entire time, casting a slightly startled glance at Ar'kanis. "Only in passing," Ar'kanis rumbled quietly. "It is surprisingly intricate," the wounded general explained. "There are several kinds of pieces on the board, each with different capabilities. For the moment, General Ar'kanis, we are going to wait until we can see the board a little more clearly and determine which pieces are where.... and who the real players on the field are. After that is sorted out, then we will see who gets to make the next move. You have the bridge, Ar'kanis. Carry on," she said as she and Freya got into the lift, vanishing from sight as the doors closed. "I tried playing chess with Freya once," Sor'en muttered quietly. "Took two hours to explain the rules to my satisfaction, and fifteen minutes for her to kick my ptanka clear across the board." A soft rumble of sepulchral laughter echoed around the bridge. "And did you learn anything from that experience, aside from humility?" Ar'kanis asked with genuine curiosity. "Yes," Sor'en growled quietly. "I learned that the only thing worse than waiting for something to happen is waiting for your enemy to quit playing with you and put an end to things. We can probably kill Rune right now if we just opened up with the mains and cratered the castle...." "Patience, Sor'en," Ar'kanis mused. "After having talked with Admiral Si'ren before Rune's insane strike on the airfield, I'm starting to wonder if there is far more to this than a simple rivalry. There may indeed be more to this than meets the eye, and so it might be best if we were to wait for the time being to see which hands are pulling on what strings." "More waiting," the young brigadier fumed in frustration. "I don't like it either, Brigadier, but we both have our orders," the armored general reminded her gently. "I suggest you start looking for a place to land your squadron while they still have the fuel to cooperate." "Yes, sir," Sor'en replied sullenly. She knew that there was no danger of the fighters crashing from a loss of fuel, as they would automatically enter a landing cycle and park themselves on the nearest level surface if they reached a critical point. Of course, it was preferable that a more conventional site was picked ahead of time, as there had been more than one instance of such an automated emergency landing made on a populated sports field or other similar civilian venue, much to the chagrin of the general civilian population. "Helm," Ar'kanis called out. "Estimated time to our destination?" The helmsman paused and lifted his head up from his console, casting a dubious look over his shoulder. "Due respect, sir? I have no idea, we'll just have to see which way the wind blows and how strongly." A deep grunt echoed within Ar'kanis' helmet. "Very well, just do your best. I will be down in Medical for a few minutes, Brigadier Sor'en has the bridge until I return," he informed them as he strode towards the lift. "I have the bridge, aye, sir," Sor'en said. She waited until the doors closed behind him before sighing heavily and looking up at the ceiling. "This is going to be a very long day," she muttered. "Better a long day than a final day," someone suggested. Sor'en blinked in surprise before shrugging her shoulders. "True. Oh, well, let's get this over with," she grumbled as she crossed the bridge to sit in front of one of the auxiliary terminals. "I just hope we don't end up with grass in the air intakes like we did the last time we had to land in an open field." "Better some grass than a bird," someone else suggested with a faint grin. Sor'en paused to cast a sidelong glance over her shoulder. "Keep it up and I'll send you outside to scrub the flight deck with a toothbrush," she grumbled as she called up the remote controls for her fighter squadron and started to look for a place to set them down. She sighed softly as a scan of the local terrain showed nothing but grassy fields for miles around. Yeah, she thought with another soft grunt, this is definitely going to be a very, very long day.... * * * * Alex sighed heavily to herself and cracked one eye open, trying to decide if she should kill her lover or simply leave her broken and bleeding in a dark corner of the room. What she wanted to say was, I love you dearly, but what the hell do you want at this hour? Her vocal chords, however, had other ideas. "Gwa humphn neh?" she said aloud in an extremely fuzzy voice. Michelle smiled warmly as she leaned over to kiss her again, taking her time enjoying the softness of her lips. Her other hand came up to gently trace the slight contours of Alex's chest, able to feel the softness of her petite breasts. While there wasn't a whole lot to see in terms of feminine curves, she knew that her nipples were still every bit as sensitive as her own.... There was a soft grunt as Alex edged her head back a few inches. "Mich?" she said quietly in a voice that was only marginally more awake, "Do you have any idea what time it is?" "Time to get up," Michelle purred softly in reply before leaning forward again to nuzzle the blonde's lips. Alex had to suppress a groan of resignation. In all the times they spent the night together, Michelle had somehow never failed to wake up 'on time,' whatever that might have been. It was an uncanny knack that bordered on the supernatural, and had more than once made Alex wonder just how in the hell she did it. That question was almost always put out of her mind moments later, however, as Michelle more often than not tended to wake up in a playful mood and usually shared her good spirits in a most tantalizing fashion.... "Do I have to?" Alex grumbled as she pressed her head back against the pillow and closed her eyes. The electric sensation of Michelle's lips on her nude body that followed her question produced a slight disconnect in her mind from one moment to the next, jolting her into a fully-awake state that left her more than a little disoriented as to what had just happened. "Mmm?" Michelle purred quietly, leaning back to study her. Alex blinked for several moments before shaking her head to herself, one hand coming up to run through the short shock of blonde hair to check for any nocturnal tangles. "Nevermind, hon, I give up," she muttered with a yawn. "So what time is it, anyway?" Michelle shrugged. "I don't know, really," she admitted. "It should be close to breakfast, however, so we should be getting up soon anyway." "Thanks, babe," Alex sighed. "I really didn't want to enjoy that nice, peaceful dream I was having anyway." Michelle paused and regarded her carefully, not entirely sure how much of it was sarcasm. She knew that Alex tended to be a little touchy very early in the morning, but that she was fine once she fully woke up. "Anything I should know about it?" she ventured. There was a slight pause as the blonde tried to recall anything about the fragments of the dream that were already fading from her mind like so much sand slipping through an open hand. "Nah," she finally said with a gentle shake of her head. "Hell, I forgot what it was already. At least it wasn't another nightmare," she said with genuine gratitude. "I'm sorry," Michelle murmured as she leaned over, brushing her lips over Alex's collarbone. "Come on, we should have plenty of time for a morning soak in the hot tub before breakfast is ready." "Aha!" Alex chuckled quietly, startling Michelle. "See, I knew there was a reason for this. Mich, honey, if you wanted to go play in the water, you could have just left me asleep to frolick in the tub by yourself...." A faint wry look crossed Michelle's face as she tossed the sheets aside and started to climb out of bed. "There's a difference between taking a bath and relaxing in a hot tub," she said as she stood up and stretched, making sure to lean back in a provocative fashion to get Alex's attention. Alex raised an eyebrow as she gazed at her lover. "Okay, babe, what's the difference? A bar of soap?" she suggested. Michelle stopped stretching and leaned across the bed to kiss her again. "I can take a bath by myself," she said softly. "But it's hard for me to relax without you, my love. Come soak in the tub with me, please?" "What am I going to do with you?" Alex sighed as she tossed the rest of the sheets aside to stand up. She paused to stretch for a moment, making a slight face as she felt no less than four kinks in various joints. This is what I get for not practicing for a few days, she thought to herself as she started to work the kink out of her sword arm. Might have to set something up outside in that foggy crap to use as practice.... She paused in mid-motion and closed her eyes as she felt Michelle's light touch on her back and arm. It never ceased to amaze her just how something as simple as her touch could make her feel so incredibly warm and pliant on the inside. The feeling grew stronger as she felt Michelle's nude body press up against her, the hardened points of her nipples rubbing against her back in a deliberate fashion. "Mmm," Alex purred deep in her throat as Michelle's hands came up to cup her petite breasts, very slowly rolling the blonde's nipples around in circles in her palms. "So much for an early soak in the hot tub, I take it?" Michelle giggled very quietly and lightly nipped the nape of her lover's neck. "We can soak together and still cuddle," she whispered. Alex tried not to roll her eyes. "I swear, I'll never figure out what it is with you and water," she teased as she reached up to rub her hands against Michelle's. "Seventeen years together and you still don't know?" Michelle mocked in a soft tone, an impish smile crossing her face. She pressed herself even harder against Alex, moving one leg suggestively and intimately tickling the blonde with her supersoft pubic hair. "Bah," Alex grunted very softly. "I just know that once you pass away, I'm not going to bother having you put in a coffin or anything. Maybe in a kiddie pool, perhaps...." "Alex!" Michelle gasped in partial shock. "Could have you cremated and put into one of those water-ornaments Susan gave us a few years ago," Alex continued causally. "You know, the ones you shake and it looks like it's snowing? Just think, you'd always be on my desk, and you'd always be surrounded by water...." "ALEX!!" Michelle gasped again, a fierce blush springing to her cheeks. Alex chuckled quietly and turned to kiss her slightly-mortified lover. "Just teasing, hon, you know I'd never do anything like that to you," she said with a soft smile. "Sometimes I wonder," Michelle muttered, giving her a slightly unamused look and still blushing hard. "Seventeen years and you still don't know?" Alex teased her, flashing her a wicked smile. Michelle just looked at her and sighed heavily, the edges of her mouth curling downward in a slight pout. "Just tell me what you did with the bath robes from yesterday," she grumbled in resignation. "Huh?" Alex said, pausing slightly. "Last I remember, we left them in a pile on the grass outside when we were getting our gowns made." "Oh," Michelle replied with a nonplussed look. "That's right...." "Just grab a towel, love," Alex said with a shake of her head. "We can grab more of that Ether fog from the window by the tub to make more robes, it shouldn't be that hard." Michelle nodded in understanding as she went over to the far side of the room to quickly sort through the small wardrobe. "Here we go," she said as she came back with two large white towels. She passed one to Alex and wrapped the other one around her body, neatly tucking it in beneath her armpit. "Thanks," Alex replied as she wrapped the towel around her waist, leaving her breasts exposed. She looked up and paused at the dubious look she got in response. "What?" "Nothing," Michelle said with a soft sigh and a shake of her head. "What?" Alex demanded. "You shouldn't be walking around like that," Michelle said in a somewhat plaintive voice. The blonde just rolled her eyes at the ceiling. "Who's going to see what little I have, babe? Darian? Please, he's already seen it all, so it's not a big deal. And none of the others will so much as blink should they be up at this hour. C'mon, Mich, you worry too much sometimes," she chided her gently as she headed for the door. They strode out into the corridor, noticing that Susan had kept her word and returned the corkscrew-elevator to the living room level. The room was just as they had left it yesterday, with all the furniture pushed against the far wall to make room for the massive hot tub that dominated the center of the floor. An odd and sticky residue framed the corner where a spider-like hammock still hung, the remains of the sound-proof barrier from yesterday. The metal defibrillator that saved Serena's life was still all but forgotten in the other empty corner next to the small mattress, while Mina's new synthesizer took up the remaining space against the back wall. "Ick," Michelle shivered as she passed her hand through the water in the fiberglass basin. "It's cold." "So turn the heater on," Alex suggested as she came up next to her and searched around for the controls. "Hmm, let's see what we've got here. Oh, good, Mina was smart enough to label the damn things. Okay, main pump reads off, want to turn that on...." Both girls jumped slightly as there was a heavy clicking sound, followed by an extremely low-pitched hum of water being pumped into a small chamber, filtered of impurities, and forcefully ejected out of dozens of small jets. "Well, that's a start," Alex said as she examined the rest of the pump controls. "Okay, help me out, babe, I see two temperature readings here." Michelle reached out and tapped a short fingernail against the display. "Desired temperature and actual temperature," she explained calmly. "This one is set at one hundred degrees Fahrenheit, which is what we want it at, but the current reading says seventy-one degrees. Ooo, wait, see how it's starting to go up?" "Ah, I see," Alex replied with a bob of her head. "Looks like it'll take a few to warm up. Now might be a good time to go see if we can go make the bath robes and all." She suddenly blinked as she felt a slight tug on the towel around her waist, her eyebrows arching up slightly at the gentle rush of air that caressed her when the towel hit the floor. "Maybe," Michelle purred very softly as she leaned forward to brush her lips across Alex's shoulder, her hands coming up to lightly caress her stomach and hips. "Or maybe we can see if we can warm the water up a little faster," she suggested in a softer tone as she shifted to one side and bent down to take a slightly hardened nipple into her mouth. A soft sigh escaped Alex's lips as she grabbed the side of the hot tub with one hand, the other coming up to gently run her fingers through Michelle's aquamarine hair. She knew that now was probably not the most ideal time to be yielding to one of her lover's early morning moods, but it was hard to argue when a pair of soft and incredibly warm lips was on your body in a place that was extremely sensitive to the touch. She blinked as she caught motion out of the corner of her eye, lifting her head up to look just as Michelle's tongue started to work a most delightful brand of magic on her nerves. It took her an extra moment to fully focus on Leda's figure paused in the doorway, her green eyes widening slightly with the realization that she was interrupting something. Alex blinked hard and made a subtle gesture with her free hand at Leda before gently tapping Michelle on the shoulder. "Mich, honey," she said in a low tone, not bothering to conceal the husky edge to her voice. "Now might not be a good time for that, I think I just heard a door open in the hallway." Michelle's head immediately perked up, causing Leda to blink and silently disappear back down the hallway. She cast a reflexive glance over her shoulder before looking back up at Alex, giving her a slightly uncertain look. Alex sighed and bent down to kiss her deeply for several moments. "You know I love you, hon," she murmured. "And we can pick this up again later on today, but now might not be the.... Oh, hi, Leda," she said loudly as she cast an obvious glance over Michelle's shoulder. "Hey," Leda said as she came back around the corner, pretending as if she had just arrived. "Someone read my mind about a morning soak, or is it just one of those obvious things?" "You got a better idea on how to wake up in the morning?" Alex said, only half-kidding as she winked at Michelle. She glanced down at the temperature reading and decided to risk it, throwing one leg over the edge of the tub to test the waters. Leda just shrugged as she drew closer, absently loosening the sash on her white bath robe. "Hey, I'm just saying. Morning, Michelle." "Good morning," Michelle replied demurely, a faint blush still evident on her cheeks. "Woooooooo," Alex shivered as she climbed into the tub and sank down into the water. "Still not overly warm yet, but it's not too bad if you camp out in front of one of the vents." Leda snorted in amusement as she drew off her robe and tossed it against the wall to fall into a heap on the floor. "Bah, that's what wakes you up. The hot water part is just an added bonus. Whoa, hello!" she yelped as she put her legs in the water. "Good morning," Alex said dryly. "Well, it was up until a few seconds ago," Leda sighed as she eased into the lukewarm water. "You do have the heat turned on, right?" "Trust me, babe," the blonde replied with a faint smirk. "Mich, honey, you going to stand there looking pretty all day, or are you coming in?" Michelle paused and raised an eyebrow. "I'll wait for it to warm up past ninety degrees first. I like water, but I don't care for cold water too much." "Speaking of which...." Leda said slowly before turning around and leaning out over the edge of the tub. "Hey, Ami!" she called down the hall. "Might want to put it in gear while it's still cool!" Both Alex and Michelle winced slightly at the sudden change in volume. "Damn, hon, you want to tone it down a notch? It's Mich's fault I'm up this early, but you can at least let everyone else try to enjoy their sleep." Leda grunted softly as she turned back around and sank down until she was up to her chin in the water. "Please," she muttered. "Serena sleeps like the dead, so she won't be up until well after breakfast, and Mina will do her lazy bed slug impression until someone tempts her with food. Darian might be dense for a guy, but he's not stupid, so he won't dare disturb Serena, so that just leaves Rei. And I'm sure after the day we all had yesterday, Rei will try to use whatever extra rest she can find." "Good morning, Ami," Michelle said as Ami came around the corner wearing a white bath robe. She paused as she noticed Ami's expression and gave her a concerned look. "Are you alright?" she ventured carefully. "It was a rough night," Leda spoke up as Ami remained oddly silent, her expression visibly downcast and weary. "Just leave her alone. C'mon, Ami, the water's fine. A touch cool at the moment, but that's your style anyway." "Thank you," Ami said very quietly as she slipped out of the robe and got into the hot tub, not looking at any of the occupants. Alex raised an eyebrow as she studied the blue-haired girl. "So what's the problem, babe?" she asked in a guarded tone. "You look like you spent the night drinking or something." Ami sighed softly and remained silent for several moments before finally lifting her head to look at the blonde. "I need to talk to you," she said in a very quiet voice. Alex exchanged concerned glances with Michelle before looking back at Ami. "I didn't do it, babe, honest," she said warily, absently moving aside to make room for Michelle. She could feel a definite warmth in the water now and could even make out tiny wisps of steam coming from the far end of the hot tub, but something about Ami's demeanor was chilling her on the inside. Ami opened her mouth to say something and suddenly paused, turning around to stare at the gap between the corner of the room and the edge of the silk screen partition that had been put in place yesterday. She sank lower into the water as both Darian and Serena poked their heads out from around the corner, blinking in surprise to find the hot tub populated this early in the morning. "Whoops," Darian said very quietly, holding the towel around his waist a little tighter. "We'll come back later." "Morning, your Highness," Alex called out to them. "Both of you can come on in, the water just started to warm up." Serena paused to exchange glances with Darian before she moved forward, wearing only a towel very loosely wrapped around her that left her incandescent wings floating free. "Good morning, everyone," she said quietly, unwrapping the pair of wings that were coiled around Darian's free arm. "Morning, your Highness," Michelle replied with a slight bow of her head, still holding the towel firmly around her body. "I'll see you girls at breakfast," Darian said with a casual wave of his free hand before turning around. Alex sighed and crossed her arms. "Darian, you wuss, get back in here," she growled. "What part of 'you both can come on in' didn't register?" Darian paused and glanced over his shoulder. "You're kidding, right?" Alex sighed even heavier and looked up at the ceiling. "Why me?" she said to herself before looking back at him. "Look, D, this isn't a very difficult concept to grasp. This is a huge tub of warm water, there's room enough for everybody. Yes, we're all naked. It's a soak in a hot tub, last I checked you aren't supposed to wear clothes in a pool of water. You have a concern with that, you can go frolick over there by your lonesome," she said, waving her hand at the far end of the pool. "We all know you're a decent gentleman, D, so unless you have bad intentions this morning, we trust you enough to behave and not do something that would get you seriously injured in another setting." "We?" Leda muttered very softly, drawing a sharp look from the blonde. "Hey, if you have an objection, speak up," Alex prodded her. Leda paused for several moments, glancing over at Darian before looking around the rest of the group to gauge their reactions. She automatically wrote off Serena, knowing that she of all of them wouldn't object to being able to cuddle up to Darian in the hot tub. Michelle was blushing fairly hard as she fidgeted with her towel, but she otherwise didn't appear to be uncomfortable with the idea. Ami was looking down at the water with a haunted expression, a sight that deeply worried the brunette. She knew that Ami normally would have voiced a very strong objection by now, but in her current depressive state didn't appear to care either way. Leda cast a quick glance back at Darian before shaking her head to herself in resignation. "Hell with it," she muttered to Alex. "I'm not going to toss him out of the tub if nobody else seems to mind." "Good, so it's settled," Alex said firmly before she gestured to Serena. "Come on over here, starlight, and we'll give you a hand with that." Darian paused for several moments as Serena set the towel aside to climb into the hot tub. Both Leda and Ami turned their backs to him as they edged to one side to make room for Serena, while Alex stood up to offer her arm to Serena for balance. Sighing quietly, he quickly made up his mind and averted his eyes from Alex's curves, moving over to the far side of the tub. He paused for a brief moment to glance over his shoulder to make sure nobody was actively watching him before he yanked the towel off of his waist and climbed into the water as quickly as he could. Everyone paused as a startled yelp seemed to echo across the room. The girls all exchanged glances before turning to look over their shoulders in unison, giving Darian an array of concerned glances. "Step on something?" Leda called out to him, giving him a moderately curious look at the slightly pale expression on his face. "The water was cold," he said in a subdued voice. "Ah," the brunette replied knowingly while trying not to think too hard about it. "Give it a few, the water will warm up soon enough." She blinked as there was a decidedly unusual multi-harmonic squeal from Serena as her wings came into contact with the water. "You okay?" she asked as she whirled around to give the winged princess a startled look. "Brrrrrrr," Serena muttered quietly, her triple vocal chords making the rolling sound decidedly musical. "Yeah, that about sums it up," Alex sighed as she stretched. She cast a glance over her shoulder at Michelle and frowned. "You coming in or what?" she prodded gently. Michelle visibly hesitated, giving Darian an uncertain look. She blinked as he snorted quietly to himself and turned around, resting his arms on the back edge of the hot tub and laying his head down. She cast a quick glance at the rest of the group before she blushed and took off her towel, carefully climbing into the hot tub and sinking down until just her head was above the slightly steaming waterline. "Sleep well, Serena?" Leda asked as she stretched her legs out. Serena blushed unexpectedly and looked down at the surface of the water, one hand absently coming up to toy with the shard of crystal hanging from her neck on a fine silver chain. "Actually, yes," she said in her new triple-tone voice. "I had to take the crystal off to make it easier to sleep since my wings were driving me crazy, but after that...." she said, her voice trailing off and ending with a shrug of dismissal. Leda chuckled quietly. "You'll be alright." "Let's hope so," Alex added as she casually squeezed Michelle's leg. "So what did you want to talk to me about, Ami?" she prompted in a careful tone, giving Ami a cautious look. Ami blinked and looked up, giving her a confused look before suddenly seeming to remember and withdrawing once again. She sighed heavily and looked back down at the water, bringing one hand up to tap her fingertips against the surface of the water to create tiny ripples. "I was woken up by a nightmare last night," she said quietly before she glanced up at the suddenly leery blonde Viking. "I'm fairly sure it was yours." "What?" Alex said slowly as the rest of the group paused in mid-motion to look at her. "I probably picked it up from you when I took your blood yesterday," Ami explained quietly, her expression still visibly haunted. "I've had bad dreams before, but nothing like this. It was.... almost too real to be a dream. More like a dark memory in the form of a dream." "Wonderful," Alex sighed glumly, ignoring the gentle embrace Michelle was trying to draw her into. "Ami, listen. If you can flush that out of your mind or something, I suggest you do it and quickly. Bad enough I have to deal with it, but you don't need to suffer as well." "Alex, I'm deeply worried about your state of mind now," Ami persisted in a gentle but urgent tone. "Hey, easy," Leda said gently as she reached out to take hold of Ami's wrist. She blinked as she saw a pair of wings coil around Ami's other wrist and cast a glance at Serena, nodding in acceptance at the look on her face. "What do you want, Ami?" Alex said in a deeply bitter tone, taking them all by surprise. "I was raped, okay? Nothing's ever going to change that, and short of blowing a hole in my skull I'll never be able forget it either. Yeah, the nightmares are probably going to send me to an early grave, but what the hell am I supposed to do about them?" "There has to be something," Ami pressed on. "Look," Alex sighed quietly, absently rubbing the trembling hand that was tightly wrapped around her waist. "I'm fine, okay? If I wake up, I just roll over and go back to sleep. That usually works. I don't think about it all the time, I'm not curled up in some dark corner each night whimpering in fear that the dreams will return. I don't have that every night, you know, just now and then. I'm used to it, pathetic as that sounds, but I'm fine. Honest. Anyone know where we left the soap from yesterday?" Everyone blinked at the blatant attempt at changing the conversation, exchanging concerned glances before looking around for the bars of soap from the previous bath experience. "Hey, there's one," Leda said, pointing to the green oval of soap perched on the edge of the hot tub behind Serena. "Good, might as well put it to use," Alex said in a neutral tone as she extracted herself from Michelle's protective embrace and edged behind Serena to retrieve the bar of mint-scented soap. She picked it up and dunked it in the water before pausing and looking up at the corridor. "Morning, sunshine," she called out. "Well...." Mina said in a slightly sleepy voice as she surveyed the room. "I think we have the morning part going, but the sunshine just isn't happening very well. You girls are up early," she pointed out. "Your point?" Leda said archly as she glanced around, trying to locate the other bar of soap. "That you rarely see Serena out of bed at this hour?" Mina countered with an amused wink at Serena. She paused as a realization hit her and she cast a startled glance at the other end of the hot tub. "Umm...." she said, lowering her voice to a very quiet whisper, "What's he doing in here?" she asked with a gesture of her chin towards Darian's back. "Soaking, same as the rest of us," Alex said tartly. "Don't like it, come back on your own time." "Okay...." Mina said very slowly. She blinked hard as Rei calmly walked past her and drew her robe off, casually handing it to the blonde before she sat down on the edge of the hot tub to soak her ankles while she pinned her waist-length hair up in a tight bun. Mina cast a slightly irritated look at the priestess as she tossed the robe into the pile against the wall. "Morning," Leda said to Rei as she scooted over a few feet. "Morning," Rei replied very softly as she continued to fuss with her hair, completely naked save for the silver brooch of the Imperium Silver Crystal that hung around her neck. She cast a neutral glance at Darian's back for several seconds before she slowly eased into the water up to her neck, apparently not concerned about the Crystal's exposure to the heated water. Mina glanced at Darian's back and sighed softly before shrugging off her robe and quickly climbing into the water. "Hey, Serena, how you doing this morning?" she asked in a cheerful but quiet tone as she moved past the winged blonde. Serena smiled and let her wings float freely on the surface of the water. "Doing a lot better than yesterday," she replied. "Great," Mina chuckled. She cast another quick glance over her shoulder at the opposite end of the hot tub before sly asking, "So how was he?" "What?" Serena said, pausing in mid-motion and giving her a startled look. "You know what I'm talking about," Mina said coyly. "We're not stupid, you know. Well, not most of us, at least," she added, casting a playful look at Leda. "Go screw yourself," Leda growled in reply. She paused for a moment and shook her head. "On second thought, don't, you'll probably enjoy it...." she said, actively ignoring the pointed look she was getting from Ami. "Hmm, interesting choice of words...." Mina said languidly. Whatever else she had to say was cut off as Leda grabbed her shoulder and promptly shoved her underwater. A profusion of bubbles immediately rose to the surface as Mina thrashed around wildly, caught off-guard by the somewhat unfriendly gesture. "Hey, hey, hey, watch the legs," Alex said sourly as she jumped back to avoid getting involved in the melee. "Come over here, your Highness, so I can start scrubbing your back and all. Any luck on that other bar of soap?" "Darian might have it," Leda grunted as she was kicked in the shin. Ami sighed and rubbed her eyes. "Just let her go," she said quietly. The brunette shrugged with indifference and backed off, resulting in a truly massive eruption of water half a second later as Mina surged to her feet. She immediately spat out a mouthful of water and greedily sucked in a fresh lungful of air, giving Leda a decidedly unamused look. "PLEAGH!" Mina gasped as she coughed for a few moments. "What the hell, you wake up on the wrong side of the cage again?" she demanded as she sank back down into the water, mindful of both her nudity and Darian's presence at the far end of the hot tub. "Settle down," Alex sighed, passing the bar of soap to Michelle before soaping up Serena's arms. "If you have a question to ask, just come out and ask it already. Damn," she fumed quietly to herself. "Darian!" Leda called out, causing Darian's head to lift up from his arms and cock at a slight angle. "You see a bar of soap around there?" All motion came to an absolute halt as Darian rose up and leaned over the edge of the fiberglass tub, presenting them with an almost complete view of his backside. He settled back into the water a moment later and tossed the small heart-shaped bar over his shoulder to land with a small splash on their side of the hot tub. "Thanks, D," Alex replied, seemingly unfazed by the image. She scooped up the rose-scented soap and held it out to the rest of the group. "Okay, who's first? Mich and I can finish with the princess while the rest of you girls sort it out.... what, why are you all looking at me like that?" "Hang on," Leda growled quietly. "I'm trying to reset my brain." "Now what?" Alex inquired in a guarded tone. Leda gave her an odd look before gesturing to Darian's back. "You have to ask?" she said incredulously. Alex blinked in surprise before her expression twisted into one of severe disbelief and contempt. "What the hell is with you today? Okay, so we got to see Darian's butt. Big deal, we all have one of those. Yeesh, grow up," she fumed as she tossed the soap at the startled brunette. Leda caught the soap by pure reflex before it could slam into her chin, pausing for several seconds before exchanging bewildered looks with the rest of the group. Mina looked back at her and shrugged helplessly while Rei's face remained utterly devoid of expression. "Okay...." Leda said slowly before she gestured to Ami. "Ami, want to go first?" Darian remained perfectly motionless as he listened to the idle chatter start back up at the far end of the hot tub, the girls starting in on another round of their usual social banter and antics. He didn't think that he would have had to stretch that far to reach the soap or he wouldn't have bothered to try. You win some, you lose some, he thought to himself as he closed his eyes and went back to trying to relax. He was positioned in front of a pair of heated water jets, one directing a stream of water at his chest and the other down lower to a sensitive area. The warmth of the currents helped calm his nerves, not to mention helping him forget the earlier icy shock of hopping into the tub without taking the time to get acclimated to the room-temperature water. That had been more embarrassing than painful, but as any guy would say, any situation that results in shrinkage is never a fun one to be in. So much for discretion, he thought darkly as he heard Mina make another coy inquiry about what Serena thought of last night. The sudden silence that followed told him that the others had finally caught on to what she was asking, and the sudden lowering of voice tones told him all he needed to know. Just what I need, he sighed. Okay, so Leda basically asked me point-blank to make love to her, and of course both Rei and Susan knew what was going to happen in advance, but still.... He half-listened to the muted conversation in the background, trying to visualize what was happening without turning around. Alex and Michelle would be soaping up Serena, probably taking their time when it came to her wings. He could easily picture Leda rubbing Ami's back with the soap he had just tossed in their direction, and he could imagine Mina coming over to help while Rei just sat and floated in isolation for awhile. He sighed softly as he thought of Rei, knowing that the priestess had an incredible amount on her mind as of late. She probably wouldn't come within arm's-reach of anyone unless she had to, remaining just outside their range while trying to turn her mind inward to search for the answers to the countless questions besieging her spirit. So close to her friends, but yet so far from them at the same time.... An unexpected surge of water brought him out of his idle musing, listening carefully to determine what was going on. He heard the nearly silent sound of a towel being used, followed by decidedly wet foosteps on the bare floor that didn't sound like they travelled very far. Sounds like someone got out to grab a handful of Ether, he thought. Makes sense, grab a third bar of soap and maybe another bottle of shampoo to make it easier on everyone. In that case, she should be getting back in the tub right about.... now. His timing was off by five or six seconds, but the expected surge of water being displaced by a heavy object told him that he probably had been right in his guess. A slight chill ran down his spine as the conversation abruptly died down to a single voice. He couldn't tell if it was Alex or Leda, as it was too soft to truly make out, but it seemed a question was being asked that made the others stop and think about something. Even when whispered, it was hard to mistake Rei's voice for anyone else's. The soft reply was brief, but it was enough to produce a heavy silence for a number of seconds. A sigh of resignation finally reached his ears, followed by a muted grumble from Alex before she asked Mina a question. Why do I have a bad feeling about this? he thought to himself as he heard a series of gentle sloshing noises, slowly getting louder as the source of the disturbance approached him. The water level bobbed around him in an odd rhythm for several seconds before calming down as the movement-induced waves bounced off the edges of the tub and headed back away from him. He decided not to react when he felt a hand lightly touch his back for a number of seconds before sliding down along his spine to the water level. A series of handfuls of water were gently splashed and rubbed across his back before there was a pause and a slightly liquid sound reached his ears. He had just figured out what it was when he felt the hands return, gently spreading a layer of soap lather across the expanse of his back. He sighed very softly and held perfectly still as he allowed his visitor to wash his back, his head still in his arms and leaning on the edge of the hot tub. He held his breath for a moment as he heard a second series of sloshing noises, followed by another disturbance of the water level as someone else came over to his side of the oversized tub. He opened his eyes as there was a bit of a pause before he felt a pair of hands on each elbow, gently tugging on him and drawing him back away from the wall. Blinking in slight confusion, he cast a glance to his left to see Alex's face looking back at him with a neutral expression. Turning his attention in the other direction, he wasn't surprised in the least to see Rei standing next to him as well, the tips of her fingers still coated with the slightly pink soap lather. "Mind if we give you a hand, your Highness?" Alex asked quietly. Darian blinked in surprise before shrugging with indifference. "If you want to," he replied. "I didn't want to ruin anything, so I was just going to soak here for a few before breakfast." "Bah, don't worry about it," the blonde replied with a dismissive wave of her hand, creating a slight wave in the water. "I keep trying to tell them that this isn't anything new, but they're still getting their panties in a wad over it. You want to toss that soap over this way, hon?" she said to Rei. Rei glanced at Darian for a moment before she picked up the floating bar of red soap and wordlessly passed it to Alex. She then dipped just the tips of her fingers in the water and edged back behind him, her hands coming up to resume a series of gentle scrubbing motions up and down the length of his back. A soft grunt rose up from Alex's throat as she dunked the soap and started to work up a decent lather, producing a slight but noticeable waft of Damask rose scent. "Not in a talkative mood this morning, I see," she groused mostly to herself before she reached out and started to soap up Darian's arm. Darian sighed and held still while they worked him over. "Did that plant extract do anything for you last night, Rei?" he asked quietly, referring to the sleeping aid Susan had provided for them after dinner. "I'm not sure," Rei replied in a faintly raspy voice. "I fell asleep right away, but then the Imperium Silver Crystal woke me up in the middle of the night. I have no idea how long it took for me to shut it up and try to go back to sleep." Both Darian and Alex paused to exchange discreet glances. "Do we want to ask why it woke you up, hon?" Alex ventured in a slightly guarded tone. "Oops," Darian said in a very quiet voice, drawing an odd look from the blonde. "Rei, if it's what I think it was, I'm deeply sorry." "Don't worry about it," the priestess replied in a hollow tone. "I know how much you care about one another, and part of me is glad the two of you finally worked things out." There was a heavy sigh from Alex as she scooped up a handful of water and idly poured it across Darian's chest. "Alright, what the hell happened?" "I think you know what happened," Darian said quietly. "The Crystal reacted when Serena's soul reacted," Rei added calmly. "I don't think that was her soul that was reacting," Darian pointed out. "Oh, my god...." Alex whispered, flinching as she finally realized what they were talking about. "You mean when Darian made love to the princess.... the Imperium Silver Crystal started screaming as well?" Rei and Darian exchanged glances before they both turned a deep shade of crimson and looked away. "It wasn't a scream," Rei muttered as she resumed her task. "More like.... a series of whispers, the voices of all the personalities that comprise the collective consciousness. And yes, I knew exactly when it started and when it stopped," she sighed. "Rei?" Darian said very quietly. "I am so sorry. If I had any idea that the Crystal would have reacted like that, I probably would have waited until it was back in Serena's hands." "Don't worry about it," Rei repeated softly. "I was assured that it only reacts like that for the first time. Take her all you want, it won't ever try to tell me about it again." "Rei!" Alex said, stunned at the flatness of the statement. "Jealous?" Darian inquired calmly. Rei paused and glanced back up at him, ignoring the way Alex's jaw sagged open at the question. "You have to ask?" she replied in a neutral tone. "Well, I didn't want to make any assumptions here," he said with a slight shrug. "I'm not trying to be mean or cruel, Rei, honest. I'm just trying to figure out how exactly I'm supposed to deal with you now." There was a hollow snort from Rei as she scooped up some water and poured it across his arm. "I'm not sure you ever really knew how to before," she muttered darkly as she rinsed some of the soap suds away. Darian paused only long enough to cast a look over his shoulder at Alex to indicate she should remain silent before he reached out to Rei, grasping her wrist very gently. "Look, I really don't want us to start fighting or have any bad feelings between us," he said in a soft tone. Rei sighed quietly and closed her eyes. "Honestly, Darian? I'm not sure it can be helped at this point. I tell you that I love you, and I not only get rejected several times, but I'm later forced to basically listen to an audience all talking at once while you take Serena's virginity. I know it's not either your fault or Serena's, but it hurts like hell nonetheless." "So what am I supposed to do, Rei?" Darian replied quietly. "You are and will always be a great personal friend in my book, more so than everyone except Serena because of what you and I shared together when we were dating. If you can come up with something that will ease your pain that won't result in pain being inflicted on anyone else, name it and I'll see what I can do." A truly derisive snort rose up from Rei's chest as she leaned forward to grab the floating bar of soap. "You can do me, that might help," she said in a tone as dry as any desert. Darian blinked hard before he sighed. "You're not finished with your period yet, are you? That was crass and crude, both of which are not like you at all," he pointed out in a flat tone. "Hon, are you drunk or something?" Alex demanded. "Sleeping next to Mina give you a contact-high from whatever drugs she's usually on?" Darian blinked hard as Rei's head snapped up to give him a truly evil glare, her eyes seeming to burn with an inner fire that bordered on rage. "My period stopped yesterday," she said in a glacial tone, her hand tightening around the bar of soap hard enough to deform it. "Thank you for asking. Funny you should mention being crass and crude." "So how are the cramps that seem to be kinking your mood?" Darian asked calmly, giving her a level look. Rei's eyes narrowed dangerouly at him. "Still with me," she said flatly. "They should be leaving in a day or two. Abdominal muscles are a bit tense at the moment, but a decent heating pad and a nice massage has been known to do wonders for them." "And of course rubbing them from the inside will work a lot better than trying to rub them from the outside, right?" he asked with a faint sneer. "GODDAMMIT, DARIAN!!" Alex exploded, slamming her hand against the surface of the water and creating a small geyser. "What the hell is with the two of you today? Or do you both want to start a war up in here?" "I'm trying to decide if one has already been started," Darian muttered, never taking his eyes off of Rei's darkened expression. He reached out and ran his fingertips along the side of her face, causing her to blink in surprise. "Or is this merely a result of a bad night's sleep and a rattled cage from an unexpected reaction from intimate exposure to the Imperium Silver Crystal?" he asked in a far softer and gentler tone. "I could feel it, Darian," Rei whispered as a single tear suddenly slid down her cheek. "It's like how you feel things in a dream. I felt it from her perspective, how you entered her, the pain of being stretched too far and being torn, then being filled like I've never been filled before, over and over and over again until my senses shattered like glass. You simply can't imagine how badly I wanted you at that moment, how I would have literally done anything to feel that for myself, to feel you inside me instead of feeling you inside her in a mere dream...." Darian said nothing as he moved forward, just enough to put his arm around her shoulder and draw her into a loose but comforting hug. He blinked when she promptly latched onto him like a drowning person would hold onto a flotation ring, burying her head into the crook of his shoulder and pressing herself hard against him. The silent sobs followed a moment later, drawing a soft sigh of resignation from him. He was somewhat surprised when he felt Alex's hands on his back, picking up where Rei had left off and remaining uncharacteristically silent. He cast a quick glance over his shoulder, getting a helpless shrug in response when she finally looked up to make eye-contact with him. Not sure what else to do, he remained motionless as Alex continued to wash his back and sides even as Rei's tears dripped down the front of his chest. "Rei?" he said softly once Rei's breathing had calmed down. "There's not a lot I can do for you in that regard. I'm sorry that's the way it has to be, but I really don't have much control over it." "I know," Rei whispered very quietly in response. She tensed slightly as she felt a something brush across her back, causing her muscles to twitch in a tickle reflex. Frowning slightly, she lifted her head up to give Darian a questioning look before glancing over her shoulder. Serena gave her a gentle look as she scooped up a handful of water and poured it across the priestess' back. The two girls looked at one another in silence for several moments before they both blinked in unison, each feeling a gentle surge of energy on the inside that caused the golden crescent mark of the Moon to glow on their foreheads. As before, the sigils seemed to dim and brighten in turns, one becoming stronger before fading and allowing the other to glow prominently. Both Serena and Rei blinked again as Darian sighed and reached beneath the waterline, his hand gently brushing against Rei's breast as he carefully took hold of the stylized brooch that hung around her neck. He brought it to the surface and carefully shook the water free from it, making sure not to tug on the chain. "You could help, you know," he said quietly to the glittering gem imbedded within the brooch. "I would imagine it would if it could," a voice spoke up quietly from the edge of the silk screen partition, causing heads to whip around in surprise. Susan was leaning heavily on her staff with a weary expression on her normally youthful face. "However, I'm not sure there has ever been an instance where the power of the Crystal has been divided like this between a Crown Princess and a Regent," she continued. "Sue, are you alright?" Alex spoke up in a concerned tone. "Not to sound rude or anything, but you really don't look too good...." "It was a rough night," Susan allowed with a slight shrug of her shoulder. "I had forgotten what some brands of champange did to my demonic side, but you need not concern yourself for my well-being. Perhaps I should be asking the rest of you how you are feeling this morning," she observed, giving the scene in the hot tub a somewhat disturbed look. Rei and Serena exchanged glances for a moment before Rei sighed and looked away, her expression slipping into a mask of unreadable emotion. Serena cast a quick glance at Darian before blushing slightly, several of her wings coming forward to wrap around both him and Rei as she picked up the forgotten bar of Damask rose soap. She quickly worked up a decent lather and started to gently scrub Rei's back, drawing a surprised look from her. Darian sighed and looked down at the faintly glowing gemstone nestled in the brooch in his hand. "Let's just say that this thing is full of surprises," he said ruefully before looking back up at Susan. "And you could have warned a few of us about just how sensitive it is to emotional states," he added with a faint edge to his tone. Susan tilted her head at a slight angle as she puzzled over his meaning. Her gaze suddenly seemed to alternate between Serena, Rei, and Darian before her eyes went wide and her complexion turned pale, a look of horror briefly crossing her face before she could get her emotions back under control. "Had I remembered about.... that, your Highness," she said very slowly, "I assure you that I would have ensured that the Crystal would have been placed in Serena's care for the night. Your Excellency, I sincerely apologize for my negligence," she said as she gave Rei a deeply humbled look. "Don't worry about it," Rei replied softly. "As I told Darian, I've been given assurances by the Crystal that it won't happen again." "That what won't happen again?" Serena asked quietly, pausing her gentle scrubbing of Rei's back. It only faintly bothered her that Rei's arm was still around Darian's waist, as she knew that Darian was hers now and that she could afford to overlook minor things that could easily be discounted as things that friends do. Of course, she never thought that she'd be soaking in a hot tub with her best friends, all naked and soaping each other up in Darian's presence no less, but Darian's speech yesterday about how they were all beyond being friends or family had a very solid ring of truth to it.... She tightened her wings' grasp on Darian's arm and tugged ever so gently, trying to draw his attention over to her. She blinked as Rei untangled herself from both Darian and her wings before turning to face her, a slightly haunted look forming in her bottomless black eyes. "I know Darian made love to you last night," Rei said very quietly. "The Crystal reacted quite strongly to it, and it shared your perspective of it with me. I saw it through your eyes and felt it all just as you felt it." Serena's golden eyes promptly became as wide as dinner plates, her jaw falling open in shock and her wings twitching randomly as if she were being electrocuted. The sporadic motion ceased a moment later as her wings seemed to wilt, slowly drifting downward to float on the surface of the water like a bed of glowing seaweed. "Oh, my god...." Serena whispered, her triple-tone voice sounding oddly flat and muted. "Rei.... are you alright? That didn't hurt you, did it?" Rei blinked hard at the seemingly genuine concern, not sure what to make of it. "Not really," she said after a few moments of surprised silence. "It was.... actually pretty good," she stammered, her cheeks suddenly exploding into a violent crimson blush. "As far as losing your virginity goes," she added with distinct irony, looking away from everyone as her blush seemed to defy physics by both darkening and brightening at the same time. "Well...." Darian said slowly, his own cheeks tinted pink again. "What can I say? It's not every night you get to please two women at the same time like that...." he said, trying to inject a note of humor into the situation. It became obvious that he had chosen his words rather poorly when a pair of hands suddenly clamped around the back of his neck with the strength of steel and promptly yanked downward, plunging him beneath the surface of the water with no warning whatsoever. "I take it back," Alex said acidly as she continued to submerge Darian's head underwater. "Apparently he's just another male chauvinstic pig like the rest of his species. I can't believe he just said that...." Susan just sighed quietly. "Alexis Ten'ou, will you kindly cease and desist before you end up drowning the Crown Prince?" she said in a weary voice. "What's that, you say something?" Alex said loudly at the water as a very large bubble came up to the surface. "Talk louder, D, I can't hear you." Rei sighed quietly and cast a faintly rueful glance at Serena. "I think he said he's enjoying the view from down there," she suggested archly. Alex blinked hard and glanced down at the water, suddenly realizing just how close she was to him and where his head was in relation to the rest of her body. Muttering something toxic beneath her breath, she let go of his head and backed off, giving him room to resurface. Much to everyone's surprise, Darian remained underwater for a few more seconds before his head slowly broke the surface. He turned to one side to spit out a mouthful of water before brushing his hair out of his eyes, not seeming to be in any great hurry. He finally finished finger-combing his hair back before he took a deep breath and sighed. "Okay, so I deserved that one," he said in a calm voice. "Didn't mean to trivialize the importance of this unexpected event, ladies." Rei cast a sidelong glance over her shoulder at the far end of the giant hot tub. The rest of the girls seemed to be content with minding their own business as much as possible while taking their time getting clean. That was fine with her, as it meant she only had to deal with four people at the moment instead of eight. "It was interesting," she said slowly and quietly to Serena, ignoring the others for the moment. "Am I jealous of you for being able to have him? Of course I am, I wanted him for months, and I just wish Chad could have been half as gentle with me as it seemed Darian was with you. If this is the only way I'll be able to have such memories of his touch.... well, it certainly is a lot better than nothing. I'm not going to fight you for him, Serena," she said as she stood up, her breasts rising out of the water as the waterline came to a rest a few inches above her navel. "Rei...." Serena said quietly, one wing arching up to try to wrap around her wrist. Rei brushed off the touch and turned to Darian, reaching out to take the brooch back from him and letting it dangle back down in her cleavage. She saw his gaze briefly flick downward to glance at her breasts, sending the faintest of tinges through her blood and causing her nipples to start to harden. "You and I have already talked," she said quietly to him. "So I really don't think anything more needs to be said between us." "If you insist," Darian replied, just as quietly. Rei looked at him for several moments before she glanced over to Alex. A sudden thought popped into her mind and she refocused back on Darian, one dark eyebrow arching up at him. "On second thought, perhaps there is...." she said very softly before leaning forward to whisper something in his ear. Darian blinked hard as she leaned back to study him, giving her a deeply unsettled look. "I will.... take that into consideration," he said in a very subdued tone. "Not that I'm going to consider much, mind you, but...." Both Alex and Serena blinked hard as Rei leaned forward at the waist to give him a soft kiss, effectively silencing him. "Like it matters to me at this point in time," she replied with a faint edge before she turned around to look at Susan. "Chancellor, can you find a towel for me, please?" she said as she started to get out of the water. "Of course, your Excellency," Susan said demurely as she moved to grab the nearest available towel and white robe. She waited until Rei was fully out of the hot tub before she began to towel her dry, both women seeming to ignore the collection of looks from the rest of the group. Darian blinked as Rei turned around to look at him, letting Susan dry her back while giving him a full-frontal display of her nude body. Sighing with resignation, he turned around and focused his attention on Serena, not in the least bit surprised to see a deeply upset and confused look on her face. "Don't ask," he said softly to her, pre-empting the question that was on the tip of her tongue. "I'll tell you about it later once I have it all sorted out and the headache taken care of, I promise." "Tell me about it," Alex grumbled from behind him as she furiously rubbed her sinuses. "I barely know a third of this story, and it's giving me a royal headache. No pun intended, your Highness," she added in an abashed tone. "Hey, Darian?" Leda's voice called out from the other side of the pool. "Do us a favor and study the wallpaper or something for a few? A couple of us are getting out." Darian nodded in understanding and stood up, the water coming up to his hips as he moved over to the spot he had occupied by himself before both Rei and Alex swam over to visit. He rested his arms on the edge of the tub and settled into place, a feeling of mild bliss flowing through him as he felt the gentle jet of warm water against his groin again. Even with a significant tension headache, he thought, few things can relax you faster than the feeling of warmth on the old fire engine.... He sighed quietly as he felt Serena press up against him, her arms sliding around his waist and several wings coiling around him both above and below the waterline. He reached underwater to rub his fingertips along the back of her hand in a slow and gentle rhythm. "You alright, my love?" he said quietly. "I'm confused by all this," she admitted, her voice seeming to resonate as she whispered in his ear. "I mean, I know Rei wants.... wants to make love to you, but.... I'm really worried about her. She's been acting odd for the past few days, and I think she's hiding something." "What do you mean?" he asked as a faint chill ran down his spine. He blinked and closed his eyes as he felt her lips roam across the side of his neck for a few moments, her hands gently rubbing the abdominal muscles beneath her fingertips. "I don't know," Serena admitted after a few seconds of silence. "If I had to guess.... I'd say something is hurting her. Physically," she added. "I keep getting the impression that she's in pain of some sort, and that's what's making her so.... irritable." He laughed very quietly. "Rei is like Leda in that regard, they're both easily irritated by something," he said in an amused tone. Serena giggled quietly before she ran the tip of her tongue behind his ear in a slow motion. "I mean worse than usual," she amended, her hands creeping downward until they encountered the leading edge of his pubic hair. She gently twirled her finger around to create a coil of hair and idly toyed with it, carefully listening to his breathing to see if she could detect any changes in his mood. "Hey, now," he protested very softly. "You really don't want me getting excited right now, especially with other people about." She giggled again and hummed very softly in his ear, her triple-harmonic voice producing a rather pleasing sound that sent shivers racing up and down his spine. "They already know we made love last night," she said softly, her wings gently squeezing him where they were wrapped around his arms and legs. "They don't need to be shown what it was like, which is what is going to happen if you don't quit that," he replied with audible amusement. "Mmmmmm," Serena purred very softly. She continued to toy with the coil of pubic hair before letting go and bring her hands up to rub across his chest. "If I get to make love to you again, my prince, I don't think I'd care who is around to see us," she whispered in a husky tone. "Great," he grunted in reply. "I'll have to ask Susan about finding a decent video camera, then." He paused as he noticed that she had suddenly quit breathing for a moment before he chuckled quietly. "I'm teasing, love." She let her breath out in a sigh and grumbled something to herself, her cheeks tinted pink at having her bluff called so easily. She paused as she felt another grumble in her abdomen, this one having very little to do with her desire to make love to him again. "That time of morning again?" Darian spoke up, having felt the rumbling of her stomach against his backside. "Yeah," she sighed as she let go of him and stepped back, uncoiling and trailing her wings behind her in the process. "Must be nice, having a stomach clock like that," he teased, casting an amused glance over his shoulder. He blinked hard as he could see Leda trying to towel Ami dry in the background and quickly averted his gaze before any pertinent details could register on his mind. "Leave me alone," Serena grumbled as she poked him in the back before she stood up. She paused and looked over her shoulder at her wings, studying them for several moments before carefully trying to shimmy the water from them. "Goddamn it!" Alex growled as she was splashed with droplets of water just moments after having dried herself off. "Serena, sweetheart, you know I love you, babe, but couldn't you have done that before I dried myself off?" "I'm sorry," Serena apologized with a blush as she waded over to the edge of the hot tub and climbed out, still gently shaking the water off the glowing ribbons that were her denizen wings. "Here, I've got a towel for you," Mina offered as she came forward with a towel in hand. She paused as she realized that simply wrapping the long-haired blonde in the towel wouldn't work because of her wings. "Okay, let's think about this one for a moment. Susan, you have wings, how do you usually deal with them getting in the way after a bath or the like?" Susan paused for a moment before resuming her gentle motions along Rei's legs. "To be perfectly honest, Mina, I usually absorb my wings before trying to get dressed," she said in a faintly apologetic tone. "That's not saying much," Alex muttered as she finished drying herself off for a second time and began to help dry Serena's arms, not bothering to find a second towel or a spare robe for herself. "Whoops," Mina sighed quietly. "Okay, back to Plan B. Anyone see where I left that cordless...? Nevermind," she added as she heard the sound of the hair-dryer starting up behind her. She cast a quick glance at Darian to make sure his back was still turned to the group before she looked over her shoulder to see who had her hair-dryer. "Three minutes," Leda promised as she quickly passed the business end of the device back and forth over Ami's blue hair. "Okay, I can deal with that," Mina replied with a quick bob of her head. She cast another glance over her shoulder at Darian's back before turning to Susan. "Susan, just how stable are clothes made from Ether? I know we used them to make gowns and all last night, but what about wearing that stuff on a constant basis?" A faint smile crossed Susan's lips, the first sign of positive emotion she had shown in a number of hours. "The Ether will destabilize on its own in a period of time dependent on its volume and density. However, it will certainly hold together for a few days if shaped into casual clothing. You need not be concerned about any such dissolution accidents for the present," she explained as she finished drying Rei off and headed towards the open window. Half of the group watched as she picked up the small garden hose that was hanging just inside the window. She carefully spooled a length of hose into the room and carried the nozzle end back over to where Rei was standing. "Rei, would you please focus your mind on what you would like to wear today?" Susan asked gently as she aimed the nozzle in Rei's direction. She waited until Rei nodded in reply before she squeezed the handle, spraying a light layer of the fog-like Ether over the priestess' nude body. Nobody was surprised in the least when the fog promptly congealed into the dark red pleated skirt and white ceremonial robes that Rei usually wore around her grandfather's temple. Rei carefully patted herself down to make sure it was all in place before she reached up to unbind her hair, fluffing it out and letting it spill down her back in a glossy black cascade. "Yeah, that'll work," Alex observed as she resumed drying off Serena. "Mina?" Susan said, gesturing with the nozzle in the blonde's direction. Mina cast a final glance over her shoulder at Darian's back before she slipped off the white bath robe and nodded. She waited until her body was completely engulfed in the Ether before she concentrated, willing the fog to form into a comfortable pair of sweatpants and a cute pink T-shirt that had a message scrawled in a fancy blue script over her chest. A pair of ankle-high pink socks formed on her feet, each with a small red poof on the back seam. "Not even going to ask," Leda said with a shake of her head as she cast a quick glance at what was written on the shirt. "Huh?" Alex said as she paused. She squinted to make out the words from halfway across the room. "I'm sexy? No duh!" she read aloud, adding a snort of contempt at the end. "Yeah, real cute, hon." Mina giggled and winked at her. "Well, it was either that, or 'Objects beneath this shirt are larger than they appear,'" she said with an impish grin. "So much for truth in advertising," Leda grumbled quietly before she ran her fingertips through Ami's hair and shut the hair-dryer off. "Okay, Ami, I think you're pretty much finished now." Leda stepped back as the slow-moving stream of Ether emerged from the end of the nozzle and drifted over to where Ami was. The brunette watched in mild curiosity as the fog swirled around Ami for several seconds before finally coalescing into a dark blue blouse and skirt, both dotted with tiny adornments in the shape of miniature snowflakes. A pair of dark blue nylon stockings formed along her slender legs, also dotted with tiny white speckles. "Going for the wintered-over look again, babe?" Alex spoke up as Ami ran her fingertips through her medium-blue hair and gave Leda a grateful look. Ami paused for a moment before she glanced down and shrugged absently. "I happen to like snow and winter," she said in a neutral tone. "Trust us, babe, we know," Alex said with a faint smirk. She blinked and looked over Ami's shoulder before sighing quietly. "Mich, honey, c'mon. We know you just love water and all, but it's time to quit playing in the tub. It will still be there later in the evening for an after-dinner soak, I promise." "Alright," Michelle sighed quietly as she rose up out of the water. She paused to let it cascade off of her body before starting to climb out, abruptly freezing in mid-motion before casting a horrified glance at the end of the hot tub. She breathed a silent sigh of relief as she realized that Darian wasn't looking at her and quickly climbed out, grabbing the nearest towel she could reach and wrapping it around herself. "Alex?" Susan prompted, aiming the Ether hose in her direction. "Give me a moment, your Highness," Alex said to Serena as she took a step back, making sure Susan had a clear line of sight and couldn't accidentally hit any of Serena's ribbon-like wings. The fog seemed to shape itself the moment it hit her body, forming into a pair of gray sweatpants with a matching tank top that left her both barefoot and showing an impresive amount of muscle on both arms. "Thanks, Sue," she said as she moved back over next to Serena to resume helping her finish drying off. "So what's for breakfast?" Mina inquired idly, impatiently toying with a lock of her hair as she waited for Leda to finish blow-drying her own hair. "I'm thinking," Leda replied as she fluffed out her hair. "I don't recall seeing any cereal in the cabinet earlier, but I really wasn't paying too close attention at the time." "Leda?" Darian spoke up. "You got a moment?" Leda paused and turned off the hair-dryer, giving his back a surprised look. "Sure, hang on a sec," she said as she gestured to Mina with the dryer. "Trade you, this for that," she offered, pointing to the white robe on the ground next to her feet. "Deal," Mina said as she scooped up the robe and tossed it over to the brunette. Leda caught it with her free hand and gently chucked the hair-dryer over to the waiting blonde, already putting the robe on before it landed in Mina's waiting hands. "Leda, perhaps...." Susan started to say, holding up the Ether hose for emphasis. "It can wait," Leda interrupted her as she padded over to where Darian was and squatted down, making sure to keep the robe neatly tucked in front of her. "So what's on your mind?" she asked quietly. She blinked and cocked her head to one side as he rose up out of the water just enough to whisper in her ear, seemingly unaware of the slightly wide-eyed looks his movements drew from the rest of the group who could see his backside again. "Well," Mina muttered quietly to Ami and Michelle as she turned away with a fierce blush on her cheeks. "At least he keeps himself in shape...." "Yeah, we can probably do that," Leda replied as Darian sank back down into the water. "Might have to ask Susan to make a quick trip to Earth to raid the cooking cabinets, but that shouldn't be any trouble at all." "Thank you," Darian replied with a nod of his head. "Heh," Leda chuckled as she stood up. "Don't worry, Darian, I've got your back on this one," she added with a wink and a knowing smile. She moved away from him and made sure he had returned his focus away from the group before she removed the robe and cast it aside. "Okay, Sue, let's see what I can find in the closet today," she said, holding her arms away from her body. "Let's hope it's better than some of the things I've seen hanging in your closet," Mina muttered as Susan sprayed Leda with a thin layer of Ether. Leda cast a guarded look over at the blonde as the fog formed into a pale green dress with short sleeves. "Mina, I know you're not talking trash about my wardrobe, as I've seen you come out of the mall carrying stuff you couldn't pay me to wear," she growled as a pair of soft green socks formed on her feet. "Like what?" Mina challenged. "That purple dress with the green glitter on the shoulders, for one," Leda promptly replied. "You know, sleeves out to here, but with the hem this high up?" she said, making a gesture that was barely below her groin. Mina sighed and looked up at the ceiling. "That wasn't for me, you goof, that was for a friend. Honestly, you know I have better fashion sense than that. The only reason I even got it was because she wanted it and I was able to get it at an eighty-percent discount that day. Rei, what are you doing?" "Move," Rei said as she grabbed the end of the silk screen partition and started to drag it around, pivoting it at the other end to rotate it ninety degrees to form a barrier that divided the room in two. "Hey, careful," Alex protested as both she and Serena edged out of the way. "What are you trying to do with that, anyway?" Rei set the partition back down and glanced over at her. "Giving Darian some privacy to get out and dry off," she said tartly. "Or do you think he's going to just climb out on his own with all of us standing around here?" "Well, she has a point," Mina observed lightly with a shrug before she thumbed the switch on the hair-dryer and started directing the heated air back and forth over her waist-length blonde hair. "Umm.... thank you," Darian said hesitantly, not sure if he could look over his shoulder yet to see what was going on. "Michelle, why don't you finish drying off over there?" Mina suggested with a wave of her free arm. "That way, Darian can sneak out of the tub over on that side without having to worry about any bad angles." Darian paused and counted to twenty before risking a quick glance over his shoulder. He breathed a silent sigh of relief as he saw only the broad expanse of the silk-screen partition and a couple of very indistinct shadows cast on it. Standing up, he shook the worst of the water off of himself and climbed out of the hot tub, looking around for a towel or a robe he could use. "Umm," he started to say. "Catch," Leda said, moments before a towel came sailing over the top of the partition. "Thanks," Darian said as he caught it. He had to stretch to grab it, causing him to momentarily lose his balance and windmill his free arm for an instant. He glanced up at the partition with a faint blush, grateful for the fact that nobody saw the rather ungraceful movement. "Hold still, Serena," Mina said as she turned the hair-dryer on maximum and began to play it back and forth along her wings. "Ooo!" Serena yelped, arching her back in a reflex. She sighed blissfully a moment later and began to coo very quietly to herself, obviously savoring the warmth of the air current flowing over the surface of her wings. "That good, eh, your Highness?" Alex observed with a faint grin. "Very much so," Serena purred quietly. "Michelle, are you ready?" Susan inquired as she pointed the hose over at her. She received a nod in reply and squeezed the handle, directing a small jet of Ether over in her direction. She nodded in approval as the fog formed into a casual aquamarine blouse and skirt with matching stockings. "Thank you," Michelle said with a grateful smile. "Looks good, love," Alex said. "Now, that just leaves our little glowing firefly here...." "Hey, I've got an idea," Mina said coyly as she moved over next to Serena and started whispering into her ear. It took several seconds to explain it all, accompanied by a few hand gestures that raised several eyebrows among the rest of the group. The end result was a rather delicate blush on Serena's cheeks and a protracted stretch of silence before she nodded in understanding. "You don't have to if you don't want to," Mina reminded her. "It's just an idea, nothing more." "I know," Serena replied, her blush darkening a shade as she cast a quick glance at the partition. "But I don't think anyone will mind...." "Oh, lord," Leda said in a guarded tone. "When blondes conspire...." "Excuse me," Alex huffed. "I must admit to feeling a modest degree of trepidation at the moment myself," Susan spoke up in a slightly dry tone. "Do I want to ask?" Darian's voice drifted over the partition. "You'll find out soon enough," Mina called back with an impish grin before she turned to Serena. "Whenever you're ready, girl." "Your Highness?" Susan prompted gently, raising the Ether hose a fraction of an inch to indicate she was ready. The blush on Serena's cheeks darkened another shade as she glanced to her sides to make sure nobody was too close to her. Taking a deep breath, she flicked her wings completely behind her and nodded to Susan, focusing her mind on the image that Mina had concocted for her. She had a few cosmetic changes in mind, but the end result would still essentially be the same. Everyone waited with a slight degree of tension and anticipation as the Ether swirled around the winged princess, everyone but Mina wondering what the final form would be. The fog finally congealed and solidified after what felt like a minor eternity, causing the entire group to blink hard in unison. The Ether around her legs had formed into a pair of light pink and almost perfectly transparent pantaloons from her hips to her ankles, puffed out just slightly at the joints. A shoulder harness of sorts formed around her upper body, encasing her arms from her wrists up to her shoulders in another puffy cocoon of light pink and extremely see-through fabric. Both sets of material were slit lengthwise and ran the entire length of her arms and legs, leaving narrow but discernable gaps between the edges of the cuts. Two bands of sheer fabric coiled around her waist and rose up to cross over her breasts, one band pale pink and the other a very light shade of yellow. The dual layer of fabric created a slight distortion effect, but did little to prevent the pale circles of her areolae from being seen through the material. "Serena!!" Ami gasped in shock, her eyes widening significantly. "Very interesting, your Highness," Susan said, tilting her head slightly. "Hot damn," Alex whistled softly, her eyebrows arched clear up to her hairline. "All you'd need is a veil and you'd look like.... mmphgh?" she said as a hand clamped around her mouth. "Don't spoil the surprise," Mina said quietly, giving her a wink. She looked back at Serena and shook her head in awe, knowing that was what she had in mind but not realizing that Serena looked *that* good in the sheer harem outfit. The spectral nature of her wings only added to the sense of unearthly beauty, suggesting that she could offer more than just forbidden delights. "Well, that was unexpected," Leda commented, openly studying Serena's blushing figure. "Tell you what, Serena.... if that doesn't draw a reaction, I honestly don't know what will. Speaking of which.... you dry yet, Darian?" "Maybe," Darian's voice came back in a distinctively guarded tone. "What a wuss," Alex grumbled quietly to herself as she walked over to Susan and grabbed the hose from her. "C'mon, D, quit playing with yourself and just hold still," she said as she walked around the edge of the partition. "Hey, hey, HEY!!" Darian protested sharply before there was a soft whoosh of Ether being dispensed from the nozzle. The rest of the group traded weary looks of resignation before seeming to collectively sigh in unison. "Men," Alex grumbled as she came back around the partition and handed the hose back to Susan. "Can't do a damn thing by themselves anymore." Heads turned as a slightly flushed Darian came around the silk-screen barrier, wearing a casual T-shirt and comfortable jeans with the towel draped over one shoulder. He briefly scanned the room and came to a dead halt the instant his eyes landed on Serena, his irises widening dangerously. "Yeah, that's what we said," Leda said with a faint smirk. "Serena?" Darian said very slowly. Serena giggled quietly and shivered her wings for a few seconds. "Well, it seemed like a good idea," she murmured as a delicate blush quickly spread across her cheeks. Darian glanced up and down at her barely-covered body for several seconds before looking over at the rest of the group in stunned disbelief, seeming to be at a loss for words. "Don't look at me," Leda said with a helpless shrug. "I know I wouldn't look that good wearing something like that. Hell, I don't think anyone else would be able to achieve the same effect," she added, casting a quick glance around the room. "Rei might," Darian said quietly, causing the priestess to blink hard in surprise. "But be that as it may.... Serena.... all I can say is you're simply beautiful," he said, shaking his head slightly as he tried to throw off the mind-numbing effects of her stunning and unearthly beauty. "Thank you," Serena said softly as she drew close to him, leaning up to kiss him as her wings enveloped him in a gentle embrace. "Breathe," Mina said quietly as she poked Ami in the shoulder, almost causing her to hit the ceiling. "Take it easy, girl, there's nothing wrong with teasing the hell out of your boyfriend like that." Ami blinked hard and gave her a decidedly unsettled look. "Late at night when you're getting ready for bed and it's just the two of you alone, maybe," Ami countered very quietly. "But not surrounded in public by your friends." Mina sighed and ran a hand through her hair. "We need to loosen you up a little," the blonde grumbled softly. "I think she looks incredibly beautiful," Michelle spoke up as she watched Darian and Serena continue to kiss. "I mean, I personally would have suggested a darker shade of fabric so it wasn't so easy to see through it, and I don't think anyone would consider wearing that in public, but if all you're doing is spending the day lounging around in the bathhouse or the royal suites, I don't see much of a problem with it." Darian smiled warmly as the kiss was finally broken for air. "I figured I would take a shot at making breakfast this morning. With Leda's help, of course, just so I don't burn anything, but I thought I'd try to come up with something special for you," he said softly. "Darian, I'd love that," Serena whispered with a soft smile of her own. "Thank you." He chuckled quietly and kissed her hand. "Maybe you should wait and see what I come up with first," he teased dryly. "I know how to cook for myself, but I'll be the first to admit that my standards are fairly typical for a guy who usually only cooks for himself." "That's what I'm here for," Leda spoke up as she grabbed his sleeve and tugged gently. "Like I said, I've got your back. Now let's get going, I think I can hear her stomach rumbling from here." "Leda!" Serena gasped, giving her a decidedly amused look. "C'mon, kids, go cook," Alex said, making a shooing motion towards the kitchen. "I don't care if you can hear her stomach or not, I know I'm starting to get hungry. Besides, we need to figure out what we're going to do today. Oh, good morning," she added as she saw motion coming down the hallway. "Fair morning, child," Master Healer Maq'i said as she slowly entered the room wearing one of the soft white bath robes. "I trust the rest of you slept well last night?" There was a sudden silence as awkward glances were exchanged between the rest of the group before Leda chuckled quietly. "You probably don't want to ask that question, as you're liable to get six different answers. We're all fine, Maq'i, honest. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go make sure Darian doesn't have a blonde moment in the kitchen this morning...." "Excuse me," Mina interrupted in a faintly edged tone. "That reminds me," Susan spoke up as Darian and Leda headed into the kitchen to start breakfast. "I was able to dislodge the worst of the bread dough from the water pipes, but the smell will take a considerable amount of time to fully dissapate. The shower is now available for personal use, but I do not recommend attempting to do so for a number of hours." "Thanks, Sue," Alex said with a faint blush on her cheeks, glancing over at Mina to see an identical blush on her fellow blonde's face. "Excuse me, dear child, but why are you.... dressed like that?" Maq'i asked Serena in a slightly cautious tone as she gently took hold of her wrist. A pale white glow infused itself into Serena's skin beneath the Healer's hand as she used her healing powers to briefly examine Serena's overall health. The blush on Serena's cheeks immediately darkened by several shades as she held still, allowing the denizen physician to examine her. "Well.... it was Mina's idea...." she hedged. "Oh, come on, Serena," Mina replied with a patient sigh. "Yeah, okay, so I thought that since Darian was supposed to be Arabic that you'd make a cute couple if you were all dressed up as a harem girl. You're the one who made the conscious decision to shape the Ether like that, so don't try to pin the blame on me." "Interesting," Maq'i said very quietly before she looked up at Serena. "Your Highness, would you mind if I conducted a more in-depth examination for a few minutes? Nothing is wrong, dear child, I assure you," she added. Serena paused for a moment before nodding her assent. "Sure." "If I may, Master Healer?" Susan spoke up carefully. "Perhaps you should examine the Princess over there where the screen can offer some privacy," she said, gesturing with the Ether hose to the partition. "At the same time, you should be able to be dressed in something more comfortable than a simple robe. Ami, would you be kind enough to assist her and show her how the Ether works?" she said, turning to the blue-haired girl and offering her the garden hose. Ami blinked in surprise and cast a quick glance at Maq'i, getting a soft chuckle and a nod in response. "I know you are the equivalent of a medical student, child, I don't mind your presence as an observer," the elderly woman said in a gentle voice. "And I don't believe your princess does either." "Of course not," Serena replied with a smile. "Okay, Sue, question for you," Alex said as the three women went around the edge of the partition with the Ether hose in tow. "What exactly are we supposed to do today? I mean, I know Serena's here to rest and heal and the like.... not that she seems injured or anything, but still...." Susan absently picked her staff up from where it had been leaning against the edge of the partition, startling the rest of the group who hadn't been aware of its presence. "Well," the succcubus said slowly, obviously thinking as she rested most of her weight against the staff. "I intended to spend at least part of the day telling Serena about what I knew of how she came to be. Depending on how often I am interrupted or breaks need to be taken, it should take the better part of the day. As for what lies after that.... well, I am quite open to suggestion at this point." "Practice," Alex said instantly as she started flexing arms. "I woke up with a few kinks in my sword arm, and I know it's been a few days since I had a serious chance to sit down and get in a decent workout." "Uh-oh," Mina said very quietly to Rei. "The vibe sensor is starting to peg in the red zone all of a sudden...." "That might actually be a good idea, Alex," Susan said with a slow nod of understanding. "In fact, given the rather elastic and mutable nature of this demiplane, it should be a very simple matter to construct a suitably dynamic training environment." Rei and Mina exchanged slightly worried glances, knowing what Luna tended to put them through as training when she felt that they weren't keeping the proverbial edge honed just right. The realization that Susan had probably been the black cat's instructor hit them both at the same instant, producing almost simultaneous heavy sighs of resignation. "Cool," Alex said with a smug grin. "I've been meaning to find a good excuse to toss Leda around for a few. At least this way it'll stay friendly for the most part." "Or so you hope," Rei muttered beneath her breath, drawing knowing looks from both Mina and Michelle. "Just remember," Mina spoke up in a faintly edged tone of warning, "What comes around, goes around. Usually with compounded interest," she added. "Heh," the blonde Viking chuckled as she flexed her sword arm, making the muscles bulge impressively. "Don't worry, honey, I'll go easy on you." "What flavor should we make the mattress?" Mina countered with a sly look. "I figured you'll be ending up face-down on it quite often, so I want to make it as comfortable for you as possible...." "Mina!" Ami's voice could be heard on the other side of the partition, followed by a hearty laugh from Alex. "I like that one, hon," Alex chuckled. Rei and Michelle exchanged weary looks before shaking their heads to themselves. They all blinked at the soft whooshing sound of Ether being dispensed before Ami came out from behind the partition, carefully coiling the hose up into a loop as she went. Maq'i and Serena stepped out a few moments later, both looking slightly embarrassed for some reason. Maq'i was wearing a variation of the simple white robe she had worn last night, a sawtooth pattern of red triangles lining the cuffs and edges of her sleeves and hem. A hood was neatly folded at the base of her neck, also decorated by the sawtooth pattern around the edges. "I thought so!" Mina suddenly exploded without warning, jabbing a finger forward to point at Maq'i and startling Michelle hard enough to elicit a very sharp whimper from her. "White Mage!" "Wait, what?" Alex demanded, lowering her hand from the hilt of her Soul Saber where she had grabbed it entirely by reflex. "Is something wrong?" Maq'i asked in a very cautious tone. "All last night, something about the design of your robe was bugging the hell out of me," Mina babbled at a rapid pace. "I finally realized what it was just now. That design is the same pattern used by the White Mage class in the Final Fantasy series of console games!" "Huh?" Serena gasped, turning to look closely at Maq'i's robe. Her eyes went wide a moment later as hit her. "Wow, you're right!" "Perhaps you should slow down and explain it a little further," Susan suggested carefully. "What exactly are you talking about?" Mina took a deep breath and rubbed her temples, visibly trying to keep her temper under control. "Okay, there is a series of console games for various platforms called the Final Fantasy series, put out by a company that is partly based in Japan and partly based in America. In the games, which up until yesterday I believed were purely fictional, there usually exists some type of magic-using character who specializes in healing magic, the White Mage. And in a few of them, including in the original Final Fantasy, the robes worn by the White Mage looked exactly, and I mean *EXACTLY* like that," she said, pointing a finger at Maq'i's red-on-white robes. "Coincidence?" Susan inquired in a perfectly neutral tone. Mina shot her a dark look. "I might believe once is a pure coincidence. Okay, so the red triangle thing is a simple enough pattern, let's chalk it up as just sheer luck. You weren't with us when we ran into the chocobo, so I'd like to hear your explanation for that one. Twice? Again, maybe. Okay, then what about the lightsaber?" she added as she dug around inside her Lunar Space pocket to bring out the hilt of her borrowed plasma sword. "This a coincidence too? Sorry, demon, where I come from, it's three strikes and you're out, and this White Mage thing is most definitely the third one across the plate in my book," she finished flatly. Susan paused to digest that and regarded Maq'i carefully. "Very well. Just for the sake of argument, let us presume that you are correct and that there is a direct correlation between those events. Extrapolate for me the significance of the correlation," she instructed. "It means the Negaverse has been tampering with our world," Mina growled. She paused for a moment and cast a neutral look at Maq'i. "Don't take any of this personally, Master Healer, I know you have nothing to do with this. I'm just going to vent in general terms for a few, that's all." "I understand, child," Maq'i replied with a nod. "I must admit that I am not entirely comfortable with the notion of any cultural interference, should that be proven to be the case." "Continue, please," Susan said gently to Mina. "I think this one is pretty obvious, you know," Mina sighed and she looked up at the ceiling. "If we start finding all sorts of instances in our world of things and events and the like that just *happen* to be found in the Negaverse in some way, shape, or form, wouldn't that mean that our culture as a whole has been toyed with? Used as some grand xeno-social experiment? We already know they've been trying to blend in for a number of years now. At least two, since that's when I first ran into those bastards back in England," she added with a sour huff. "Artemis and I never figured out just how long they had been there before they started causing trouble." "In Liverpool, I presume?" Susan inquired in a neutral tone, drawing a decidedly sharp look from Mina. "Yeah, something like that," the blonde said very slowly in an extremely suspicious tone. "You know, something tells me that you know far more about this one than you've let on as of late, especially for someone who supposedly just got into town a few days ago and didn't know who Sailor V was until I said something to you about it. I don't suppose you have anything to add about what went down in jolly old England, hmm?" Susan shook her head sadly. "I only know what you've told me, Mina, and from reading a newspaper article dating back to roughly the same time period." "Right...." Mina said slowly, casting an unfriendly look over her shoulder as Ami nudged her in the shoulder. "What?" "You're overlooking one possible explanation," Ami said, seeming to choose her words with care. "In all instances, these events have ocurred within the entertainment industry. While it may be possible that the concepts and ideas are of denizen origin, it could be a denizen agent simply looking for a way to blend in and earn money working as a creative designer. That in of itself wouldn't necessarily mean that an effort has been made to tamper with our way of life or otherwise unduly influence it." "That's still a cross-culture contamination," Mina growled. "With what social impact?" Ami persisted, causing Mina to pause for a moment to think carefully. "That which is fantasy can be disregarded as just that, fantasy. I find it rather disturbing myself to think about it, but I'm not about to start second-guessing everything about our world just yet." "You also have to keep in mind one thing," Rei spoke up calmly. "Not all cross-culture contact is bad. I believe Serena is a perfect case-in-point," she said, turning to look at the blonde girl with glowing ribbon-like wings. "Ooooh," Mina said quietly, wincing as she remembered her comment about contamination. "Yeah, good point. Serena, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to try to suggest anything bad...." Serena sighed very quietly and looked down at her hands, studying the highly refractive properties of her diamond-like fingernails. "Even after hearing about it from my parents, I never truly thought of myself as having denizen blood. At least, not until yesterday," she added in a soft whisper. Everyone looked up as there was a very faint whispering sound, blinking hard as a canopy of darkness unfurled behind Susan. Her wings took shape an instant later, fluttering slightly before folding neatly against her back. The damage from the encounter with the succubus two days ago seemed to have healed completely without any trace of scars or other marks. "If anyone understands the implications of having mixed blood, it is I," Susan said very softly, deliberately flexing her wings. "You must not ever consider yourself to be a result of 'cross-cultural contamination,' as Mina so tactlessly phrased it," she said, causing the blonde to cringe again. "What you are is the loving union of two worlds, given life by two people who loved each other very much. That the union turned out to be fruitful was very much a surprise, granted, but that did nothing to lessen the desire for your birth or reduce the love your mother had for you. My mother was just as surprised by her pregnancy, but I have never doubted for an instant that I was welcome in her life and the reality of her world. And so it must be the same with you, your Highness. Your body is both human and denizen, but your heart will always remain what you will it to be, and only you can ever change that." Serena blinked and looked down at her nails for a moment before she lifted her head back up with a soft smile. "Thank you, Chancellor," she said as she moved forward to hug her, gently wrapping her angelic wings around Susan's demonic wings in an unconscious gesture. Susan seemed to return the gesture in kind, her wings arching forward to carefully surround Serena in a leathery shroud that couldn't conceal the glow of her wings. Rei and Mina exchanged glances before the blonde shrugged. "I'd love to have a picture of this," she murmured very quietly. "An angel hugging a demon. That'd give the Archbishop of Canterbury a Maalox moment to remember...." "Mina," Ami sighed quietly, gently poking her in the back in the general area where her kidneys were. She blinked as her vampiric hearing picked up a very distinctive rumbling sound, causing her to blink at the volume. "Hey, Darian?" Alex called out over her shoulder as a very embarrassed Serena pulled aw