A Lord of the Night
    by Defender Capricorn

For disclaimer, see Part 1: The Darkness Descends
Rating: PG-13 for strong violence.

Part 2: An Ancient Love

                "To take the just punishment
                of crime, it is said that all
                you need is a heart, a love,
                and a way to part the two."
                                -written in 3rd century AD
                                        author unknown

        The ground was covered in a soft, clouded mist. It was cool.
Not too cold, not too hot. Just... so no one would notice the temp-
erature. The air had no smell. It tasted like nothing.
        But clouds covered the ground, and a fog consistently kept most
things hidden.
        No one had lived here. No one had even traveled her for more
a year, and before that, it had been centuries. More than that -
millenium upon millenium. Eons, even.
        But one lived here, gaurding the Gates of Time. By herself, in the
vast entrance to the gates. To occupy her time, she traveled through
time, always going into the past, to further her studies.
        She rose her staff above her head. 11th century Rome. Her name
was Alissia. She was a traveler. Resting in 4th century Rome. The
end of her staff went into a keyhole, and the massive doors opened. An
unseen breeze blew back her black upon black hair. Lights with a bluish
glow light the clouded place, and fog drifted overthe side.
        She had done this hundreds of times before; she would do it a
hundred times more. Taking a deep breath, she stepped through the door
and-

        "Whoa, Signorina?! Where did you come from?"
        She looked around herself, and smiled slightly. Right in front
of her were the doors to 4th century Rome.
        Peering up at the man on horseback, she gave a weak laugh. "I
fell out of a tree, Signore. Though I can't imagine how... there are
no trees about! Well, I have no idea how I got here."
        "Strega," the man growled, the Italian word for witch.
        He rode on, and she tightened her grasp on her staff. 'My name
is Alissia,' she reminded herself. 'Remember that.'
        The day wasvery warm. She wore brown, woolen dress that framed
her upper body and hung loosely to the ground below. Her cape was brown
and heavy, but she was sure that was the onky thing that would keep her
warm. Her staff was not a key anymore, nor did it have a granet orb on
the top. It was just a long piece of carved wood. A walking stick.
        She passed the gates and found herself in a huge plazza. Men
and merchants stood beside carts or outside their shops offering their
goods to passerbyers. Alissia looked up and saw an inn. She would have
to stay at one, though a cheap one.
        Slipping into an alleyway, she shuffled around her clothes,
chastised herself for not remembering a bag of coins. Well, she had
done this before. She would half to steal; though she didn't like doing
it, she had become quite a good pickpocket.
        Walking out casually, she wondered over to the market. Women
were out viewing vegatables half rotten and fruits that almost made
Alissia lose her breakfast. She'd eaten breakfast? Oh well, she
supposed she had. Strange things happen when you time travel.
        She strolled up to a woman who had her coin purse hanging out
so obviously, she was sure anyone could steal it from her without her
even knowing.
        Alissia pulled out a short dagger and stopped right in front of
the stand. Eyeing the vegatables, she sliced the blade through the rope
and grabbed the purse in her hand.
        She grinned at the man selling the vegatables, and walked away,
hiding the purse in her cape, which she discovered had pockets for
such things as purses and daggers.
        Walking through the market, she stole about three other purses,
enough for two days at a cheap inn plus food. That was all she needed
for now, and so made her way out of the market. Hurrying her way out
of the market, she didn't see the man standing in her way.
        The man didn't see her either, and was just hurrying into the
market for something. They crashed, falling to the ground, Alissia's
coins spilling out everywhere.
        The people around them merely looked down, then walked on their
way as if this sort thing happened everyday.
        'And it probably does,' Alissia thought bitterly.
        "Mi scusi, Signorina. I truly am sorry,' he said hastily,
helping her pick up her coins and retrieving her staff.
        "No no, Signore. It was truly my fault," she argued.
        He stopped and looked at her, and they shared a glance, then
both started laughing together. "I truly am sorry, Signorina," he
persisted.
        "Si, my Lord. So am I." She had been so busy trying to find her
coins that she didn't remember that she was supposed to call him 'my
Lord'.
        Alissia studied him from the corner of her eye, trying to look
like she wasn't.
        He was very tall, six feet, she guessed. At this time period,
six feet was practicly a giant! He had black hair like her own, dark
brown eyes and an extremely handsome face.
        He, at the same time, studied her. She was beautiful, with
black hair much like his own. She was a good five feet six, by his
estimation. That was tall. Very tall, much like himself. Her hair
was long, kept back in a braid that went past her waist. She had a very
nice figure, and a waist small enough that he would have been able
to encircle his hands around it. Oh, how he would love to find out. The
only strange thing about her was her brown eyes seemed to have red
specks in them. No, more than just specks. Slashes of red.
        Grabbing her arm to help her up, he said, "My name is Santino.
I owe you a favor. Perhaps you would like to stay with me? I know it
is unheard of, but I feel absolutely horrid about this."
        "My Lord," she began. "It really is alright. I should have been
looking. I am Alissia. No no, I don't need to stay with you, I have a
room at an inn. But thank you for the offer."
        He blinked. "Which inn? I really must do something to apologize
for this."
        Alissia smiled. "Well, no inn as of yet. I just arrived, but I
shall find one. Perhaps you could lead me to an inexpensive inn for
me to stay in?"
        "Inexpenxive? Any inexpensive inn could have you sleeping in a
loft just as quickly as they would have a nice bed for any with a
considerable amount of money. Here, let me lead you to a good one. I
have money, I can pay well for you if you don't have enough."
        Alissia nodded her thanks and followed after Santino through
the crowd.

        After being settled in her room, Alissia wondered down into the
common room, where Santino had a table set aside for them.
        Santino had known the innkeeper. It was an inn where the richer
people went. Alissia had not even enough money to pay for a servant's
room, so Santino had graciously payed enough for a three day stay and
gave her enough money for the meals, as well. Santino had told her he
came down here sometimes so he could gamble and enjoy the wine.
        Alissia walked over to the tabled and sat, arranging her
skirts. She smiled at Santino, and he signaled for two cups of wine.
        "So," he said, leaning foward. "You must tell me about your-
self, Signorina."
        Alissia shrugged and shifted uneasily. "What is there to tell,
my Lord? I'm a traveler. I go from place to place, visiting each and
every place I can. It's dangorous for me, though. Well, me being a
woman and by myself, you must understand."
        Santino nodded. "Of course. But... where were you born?"
        Alissia lurched forward. She had no idea what cities were still
in existance in Rome! "Ah- Stresa, my Lord," she said weakly.
        Santino frowned. "Stresa? I've never heard of that place."
        'Good job,' she told herself. 'Now you've just said a city in
Italy that hasn't even been thought of building yet.'
        "Well, it's a small village. In the middle of nowhere. That's
why I wanted to travel, my Lord. Because Stresa is so small, and I
didn't want to stay in a small village forever."
        He nodded knowingly, though confusion still wore on his face.
        'Great. He probably knows of every village, town, clan and
city from Rome to God knows where, and you just named a city that
hasn't even been built yet.'
        They spent the rest of the rest of the day talking together,
walking together through the city. He explained to her what Rome was
like. How it was surely the grandest city of them all. He had told her
he was 23 years old, which was seven years older than what she had
told him.
        In 20th century Tokyo, she was 22. In 11th century Rome, she
was 16.

        That evening, he led her back to the inn and ordered supper for
the two of them. They laughed together, and she watched him win every
game he gambled in. Well, almost every game. She liked him. Liked him
very much. And she had a feeling he liked her, too.
        When the night was not so young anymore, she found herself
almost sad when he went, but he promised to see her the next day. He
parted her with a slight kiss on her cheek.

                *               *               *

        Rei twisted and turned in her bed. She couldn't get the image
of that man out of her head. He haunted her for some reason. Haunted
her so her sleep was constantly inturrupted by nightmares. He scared
her, but everytime she saw him in her dreams, she got flutters in her
stomach and her heart would begin thumping.
        Then she felt a hand on her forehead. Realized it just outside
of her sleep.
        "Leave me alone, Grandpa," she murmered, and rolled over in her
sleep.
        The hand touched her again, and peeled back the blankets from
her slender body. She shivered, and the hand trailed down her neck to
her shoulders. Only a white, linin shift covered her. It was easily
seen through, and cold.
        Two hands touched her now, embraced her. Her eyes fluttered
open and she gasped.
        "Get away from me! Whoever you are, get away!" her voice
whispered, just a dry rasp.
        "Oh, Rei. You don't want me to. I know you're afraid, but
you're excited, too. Tell me the truth, Rei," he whispered in her ear,
brushing her black hair with his long, tapering fingers. His voice
had an Italian accent.
        "Who are you?" she asked, her voice sqeaking.
        "You know. That man in your dreams. The one that comes to hold
you and kiss you and love you in your sleep. The one that... gives you
your every desire."
        Rei sucked in a breath. No one knew of her fantasies. As far as
everyone else knew, she hated men. Not even her grandfather knew about
her fantasies.
        He kissed the top of her head as she snuggled into his arms.
For some reason, his skin felt cold. His lips traveled down. Onto her
forehead, her eyelids, her cheeks. They brushed her lips, but she clung
to them. His lips tasted so sweet.
        His arms tightened till he hurt her, but she had the faint idea
he was not using even a tenth of his strength.
        "What's your name?" Rei persisted, breaking the kiss that had
charmed her.
        "You know what it is. So you tell me."
        Rei frowned, then guessed, "Santino?"
        He smiled down at her. "Yes Rei. And I love you, to the depths
of my soul."
        His lips moved to her neck, and she felt a sharp prick as he
kissed her. She inwtined her fingers in his raven black hair. His hair
was even blacker than her own. Or so she thought.
        He lifted his head, and released her. "I must go, Rei. The
grows short." Turning his back, he suddenly disappeared.
        Rei was barely aware of the sky turning from black to the darkest
charcoal grey, then lighter and lighter. All she could think about was
him. And the flutters in her stomach, the thumping of her heart.
        After a bit the turned her head, and felt a small ache on her
neck. Reaching up, her fingers encountered two small holes that were
bleeding.
        'How did I get those?' she wondered, and got up to find a
bandaid.

                *               *               *

        Alissia was dressed in much better clothes than what she had
been wearing before. And she was on the arm of a man. A man named
Santino.
        She felt safe near him. She felt warm near him. She realized
she was in love with him. She was going to ruin his life by doing this.
She had to go back to the 20th century soon. She *had* to.
        The sun was low on the horizon. This was her last day. She
tried to tell him that she needed to go tomarrow, that she wouldn't
be able to stay any longer.
        But he had smiled at her and brushed her cheek with his
finger.
        "I know, my beautiful Signorina. You're a traveler. And I
would go with you if I could. But I will see you again. I know I
will."
        Alissia had sighed. 'If only,' she had thought. 'If only.'
        They sat on a grassy hill to watch the sunset. Alissia laid
her head on his shoulder. His long black hair crisped under her head,
and she sighed. "I love you, Signore," she whispered.
        Lifting her chin with his finger, he smiled. "I love you too,
Alissia. I will be very sad when you go. Perhaps I can persuade you to
stay?"
        She shook her head. "Oh, my Lord! All I want is to stay on
your arm forever. To do as you say forever. Believe me, my Lord. If I
had the choice, I would stay devoted and would obey you for the rest
of time."
        "But you have no choice."
        It was only half question, but Alissia answered by shaking her
head anyway. "I am afraid I will never see you again."
        "Tsk, tsk. Don't say that, my Love. I will find a way.
Somehow."
        Alissia tried convincing him, all the way through the sunset.
All the way back to the inn. All the way up to her room. Until they
stood in her doorway; she was trying to say goodbye, he was trying to
say hello.
        Finally, he gave up. "As stubborn as I am," he said softly in
her ear, "I must belive you now. You are probably betrothed or married
or one of those."
        "No," she said. "I am going to a place where you will never
go. No matter where you travel, no matter how long you live, not even
if you see every little grain of earth on this planet, you will never
find me. Not where I am going."
        "Are you going to die? Are you going to heaven? Or are you an
angel sent down from God Almighty. You must be my gaurdian angel."
        "No, my Lord! Stop trying to find where I am going. You will
never see me again. It hurts me as much as it does you, but we must
say goodbye forever!" Tears welled up in her eyes, and just before
she slammed the door shut, one streaked her cheek. Then, the door
blocked Santino's hurt face from her stinging eyes.
        She tried to move away from the door, but after about five
minutes, she threw it back open and ran into the common room. Staring
around wildly, searching for the tall, black haired man, she stalked
up to the inn keeper and grabbed his shirt.
        "Where is he? Where did he go?!" she demanded, ignoring the
astonished stares from the men around her.
        "Answer me, Signore. Where is Santino?!" Her eyes were red and
puffy, and tears wet the table beneath her.
        "Let go of me, Signorina, and I just may tell you," he
growled.
        She released him, and he answered in an annoyed tone that he
had stomped out of the inn with the look of a man who had had his
heart broken in two, then had it hammered and cut into small pieces.
        Alissia stared at him wide-eyed, then slowly trudged up to her
room. Once inside, she threw herself onto the bed and wailed until she
cried herself to sleep.

        She heard the door open as she was slowly coming out of her
exausted sleep. "Go away," she whispered, and buried her head in her
arms. "I don't want any food."
        "I'm not hear to give you any food," the person's voice said
quietly, walking over to the bedside and sitting down. "I'm only here
to say I'm sorry, Alissia. I should have realized the truth you were
telling. I'm such a fool, Alissia. I really am." His fingers began to
stroke her black hair, which she had taken out of her braid. It was
wavy, now. And it felt so good to have his fingers stroking her hair.
"I came to say that, and goodbye, Alissia. Teamo (te YA mo)." He
stood, and she heard his heavy footfalls on the floor.
        "No, wait Santino!" she cried, and ran into his arms. "You are
no fool, Santino. Teamo. Teamo." She covered his face with kisses,
leading him to her bed. "Stay with me tonight, Santino. Let us have
tonight."
        Then, it was his turn to cover her with kisses.
        'Funny,' she thought. 'Who could ever imagine I would fall in love
with someone born almost 1700 years before me? But I really shall
never love another.'

                *               *               *

        "Are you guys sure you want to do this? And at *night*?"
Mamoru asked, hoping they would back out. This was scary, going after
a girl who had disappeared. For all they knew, they could all walk
into the hands of terrorists or mobsters or... something worse. Or
something much worse.
        The series of curt nods answered him, and he sighed and turned
to Ami.
        "Well, here we go, ready or not."
        Ami nodded, and opened her computer. Within seconds they had
the beeping on her screen. "Okay, the closer we get, the louder the
beeping will become. Got it?"
        The others shrugged and nodded, and they started. At first it
was stop at a street corner, decide which direction sounded louder,
then turn that way. Soon, though, they began to recognize a pattern,
as if Naru had been going to a friend's house, then turned and went to
the store, then to a another friend's house, then changed her mind and
went to a gas station.
        A few hours later of wondering through the streets, they came
to a deserted street that had a series of shadow. Mamoru realized with
a start that this was the street in his dream. Remembering that dream
made his chest ache.
        The group of six turned down an alleyway, and the beeping was
extremely loud here. They traveled to the back, and saw some black
garbage bags covering the ground.
        "Well," Ami announced, "if she's anywhere, she's down there,
but I don't why the signal is so faint. And it's getting fainter by
the second. Should we look?"
        Mamoru nodded, and Usagi moved into his arms. A black turtle
neck covered the bite marks from his neck. He eyed Rei's neck, and
noticed a small velvet band, used like a choker, around her neck. She
had *never* worn chokers before. Why now?
        Makoto glanced at Mamoru nervously, then reluctantly moved the
garbage bags. Only the street lights from the entrance to the alleyway
lit up the back end just enough.
        At last only the top layer of garbage bags remained. Makoto
took a deep breath, and heaved the last four out of the way.
        Suddenly, as everyone saw what lay underneath, a wave of
nausea washed over Mamoru. Usagi turned her face into Mamoru's chest,
and he felt her shake silently with tears.
        Makoto ran to the side of the alleyway and lost her dinner.
Rei, in wide eyed horror, stared at the hole. The only thing that kept
Minako from screaming was the ugent yet tremebling hand clasped over
her mouth as Ami stepped away from it.
        Within the hole lay Naru's body. It was already rotting,
though not enough for anyone to smell unless they were as close as
the six teens were just then. The eyes were open and glazed over.
Surprisingly, there was no look of fear in them. Her arms were splayed
to one side, her neck looked broken and there were two prinpricks in
the side. Her tank top was torn open, and there was a gaping hole
between her breasts. Her heart lay beside her, and her mouth was open
slightly. She looked... at peace, somehow.
        "God, how could anyone *do* that?" Rei wondered aloud, and
looked up at the sky above them. Her hand strayed to the velvet cord
around her neck. Makoto looked once more in the hole, turned, and
managed to spit up a little more of her dinner.
        Usagi was close to hysterics, now. Mamoru wanted to do the
same thing Makoto had just done - now thrice.
        "Come on," he whispered to Usagi. "Let's go." He turned and
led Usagi out of the alleyway. Rei, Minako and Ami followed. Makoto
hesitated to vomit up once more, then ran after them.
        They all walked together in a solomn silence.

                *               *               *

        Alissia opened her eyes, and saw sunlight through a window.
Santino's arm was around her waist, and she had her head on his chest.
She shifted, and Santino's dark brown eyes fluttered open. He looked
down at her, and grinned.
        "Good morning, belle."
        She sat up, and reached down to wipe a piece of long hair from
Santino's face. "Good morning, my Lord," she answered, and stood up.
"I must go today. In fact, as soon as I can. You have taught me much
about your time."
        "My time?" he asked, sitting up on his elbows. He watched her
graceful movements as she slipped her dress over her head and threw
him his own clothes. "What do you mean 'my time'?"
        "Oh, never mind. I speak in riddles sometimes. Shall we eat
together? After that, I really must go."
        "Of course." He threw back the covers and dressed himself.
"It's a shame you aren't able to stay longer. Perhaps we'll meet
again, no matter *what* you say."
        Gathering her things, Alissia smiled and nodded. 'If he wants
to think that way, then let him.' "Perhaps."
        Santino buckled his sword and draped his cape over one arm. He
held out his other arm for her, and she took it.
        They walked into the common room and ordered breakfast. As
they were eating, they kept leaning across the table and kissing
eachother. The innkeeper watched with a knowing gleam in his eye and
a silly grin on his face.
        When they were done, he led her out of Rome and to a secluded
place. She had requested such.
        "I never show this to anyone," she said. "If I did, I would be
known as a Strega."
        "Why?" he inquired.
        She shrugged. "You'll see. I have to go now."
        He stepped forward and hugged and kissed her. The kiss lasted so
long, and lingered for even longer after.
        "I don't care if you really are a Strega," he told her.
"Teamo, and I will find a way to see you again. That, I swear."
        Throwing up her arm, she shouted, "Pluto star power make up!"
        In a series of swirls, she ended wearing her Sailor Scout
uniform and holding her staff.
        She laughed at his confounded face, and said, "This is one
reason. Here is the next. Door of Time, appear to me now!"
        Suddenly, behind her, massive doors appeared. Inserting her
staff into a keyhole, she said, "Goodbye, my love. This is why you'll
never see me again. I'm going to the future, my love. To where I
belong. 1700 years from now. I'll never forget you."
        And before he could say or do anything that would make it
harder for her, she disappeared inside the entry, with the doors
swinging shut behind her.

        Standing in that familiar, lonely, clouded place, she sat and
cried into her hands.
        "How could I have done that?" she wailed. "How?! Oh God, why
was I so stupid? Why?!!?!!"
        She was sure she would always keep her promise. She would
never fall in love again. And she would never forget him.