"Betweem the Darkness and the Light" Written by: DQBunny Edited by: Meara Chapter 1 Tsukino Usagi slowly walked down the street, staring at the envelope she held. She nearly walked into several dozen people, a couple of lampposts, and nearly got run over by three cars and a bus. Still, her mind was preoccupied with the letter she held in her hand. As she approached her destination, her hands began to shake violently. She approached a high-rise apartment building and entered it, her attention still focused on the letter. Five floors and a couple of near accidents later, Usagi approached an apartment which had the name Chiba Mamoru written on the nameplate outside it. She reached out and opened the door without bothering to knock and stepped inside. She absently kicked her shoes off and they landed near a small table which held a vase of roses on it. She walked into the living room and sank down on the couch next to her boyfriend, who had been watching her with amusement dancing in his dark blue eyes. He had first noticed her when he had been sitting outside on the balcony studying. It was easy to see her golden odango coming from a distance, especially when she seemed to nearly be causing an accident with every step. "Konnichiwa, Usako," Mamoru said, cheerfully. Usagi kept staring at the letter. Suddenly, she thrust it into his face. "Here, Mamo-chan, you open it!" The look in his eyes was teasing, but gently chiding her at the same time. "You have saved this planet countless times and you?re afraid of a simple letter?" "Hai!" Mamoru sighed. "Usako..." "Okay, okay," Usagi flipped the letter over and started to undo the flap just as the phone rang. Mamoru reached over and grabbed his portable phone off the stand next to the sofa and pressed the ON button. "Moshi moshi, Chiba desu," he said. "I DID IT! I DID IT! I DID IT!" Aino Minako?s excited voice came screaming over the line. Mamoru held the phone out at arm?s length to prevent his eardrums from being destroyed by the excited Senshi of Love. He silently handed the phone over to Usagi, not needing to tell her who was on the other end. "It's for you," he commented, dryly. "You got in?" Usagi cried just as excitedly into the phone. "Hai! I?m finally going to school with you!" As Minako chattered on, Usagi?s face fell. Mamoru gazed at her quizzically, noticing her sudden soberness. Usually, Usagi was even more excited than her friends when they received good news. But, he knew why she was so worried...and it all had to do with the letter she held in her hand. The high school examination had taken place just after the battle with Pharoah 90. It had left everyone, especially Usagi, exhausted. The night before the examination, Mamoru had just gone to bed when he heard someone knocking at the door. He opened it to find a sobbing Usagi, exhausted and upset that she wasn?t going to do well on the exam. They had talked about the teasing the senshi had given her over her inability to concentrate on her studies, even his own stern lectures about studying to her. It wasn?t until that night that Mamoru fully understood how much everyone?s criticism had hurt Usagi. "For once in my life, I just want everyone to be proud of me, Mamo-chan," she cried. He held her for about fifteen minutes, then they stayed up until 4 in the morning doing some final cramming for the test. He had never seen Usagi concentrate so hard in all the time he had known her as she did that night. Exhausted, they fell asleep on the sofa and woke up three hours later. When she came back to his apartment after the test, she collasped on his bed and fallen asleep. She had not spoken a word about the exam since. In the short months since then, they had fought the Dead Moon Circus and had gotten caught up in saving Elysion from them. But now, if he was guessing right, the letter which Usagi was so reluctant to open would tell them if she was accepted into Jyuban High School, which started in just a few weeks. Silently, Usagi hung up the phone and stared dismally at the letter. She did not have a good feeling about the letter. After the battle with Pharoah 90, she pushed herself harder than she could have imagined. Still, nothing could quite makeup years of avoiding her studies. Tears welled up in her eyes and she closed them. Why couldn?t I be like Ami-chan, Usagi thought. Even Minako-chan is further along than I am. She felt a warm hand close over hers briefly, then take the letter from her. Usagi kept her eyes shut while she heard the letter being opened and the paper being withdrawn from it. After a moment, a pair of warm lips brushed hers briefly. She opened her eyes to find the paper being held up to her eye level. There was no avoiding reading the three sentences before her. Which read that she had been accepted to Jyuban High School. Usagi screamed and grabbed the letter out of Mamoru?s hands. She read it three times before throwing herself into his arms, knocking him onto his back, and raining his face with kisses. "I did it! I did it!" she cried happily. Mamoru smiled broadly, Usagi?s infectious energy quickly spreading into him. He managed to cup the back of her head and bring her lips to his in a longer kiss of celebration. ***** "Rei-chan!" Kino Makoto pushed open the rice paper door which led into the shrine. She held her own acceptance letter to Jyuban High School in her hand. Since Minako appeared to be going off the deep end according to Artemis, Ami was at another cram school, and Usagi was over at Mamoru?s, there was no one else for her to share the good news with. She glanced around the foyer while slipping on the guest slippers left by the door. Rei must be medidtating, she thought. Makoto walked down the hall and noticed that the door to the fire room was open. She peeked her head in to see if Rei was busy, and gasped when she saw the raven- haired priestess slumped against the wall. Makoto dropped her letter and ran to Rei, kneeling down by her side when she reached her. "Rei-chan?" Makoto gently shook the young woman and inspected her head, noticing a bump forming on the side of her head. She frowned and pushed up the sleeve of the long-sleeved emerald blouse she wore. She turned on her communicator. "Ami-chan!" she said, trying to disguise the panic she felt. Makoto's instincts warned her that Rei must had suffered a concussion or worse. After a moment, Ami?s voice came back over the communicator. "Mako-chan, what?s wrong?" "I came to the shrine to talk to Rei and found her unconscious by the fire. There?s a lump forming on the side of her head and I can?t rouse her." "I?m on my way," Ami?s calm voice helped Makoto to keep from panicing. "Is there something unusual going on there?" "Not that I noticed," Makoto scanned the room. "But, I don?t think this was an accident either. It looks like Rei- chan was thrown against the wall." Ami was silent for a moment. "I want my mother to take a look at her," she said. "Call an ambulance and have her taken to Azabu Medical Center. I?ll meet you over there instead." "Hai," Makoto said, turning off the communicator. She stood up and quickly ran out of the room. ***** As he lost himself in the eternal bliss known as being with Usako, Mamoru winced as stabbing pains sliced through his forehead. He ignored the pain and kept kissing his girlfriend, eventually maneuvering them so she was under him and he was kissing her neck. Her hands ran over his shoulders, then curled into his hair, encouraging him to explore even further. But, the pain returned, even sharper this time. He tore his lips away from hers, panting. Usagi?s eyes drifted open, thinking at first that it was an expression of passion that he wore. Suddenly, desire fled as she realized Mamoru was in pain. "Mamo-chan, what?s wrong?" she asked, concern in her voice. He rolled off her onto the floor, cradling his head in his hands. Usagi immediately sprang up, not noticing her disheveled clothing. She knelt down by his side and felt his forehead. She jerked her hand away when she noticed his forehead burned with fever. Restlessly, he tossed on the ground, running into the sofa on one side and the coffee table on the other. "Mamo-chan, daijobu?" Usagi?s voice rose with panic. She gasped as slowly he faded from sight. Mamoru could not hear Usagi?s cries. He could no longer see her. Instead, he found himself standing in the dream world known as Elysion. He looked around to see that instead of the bright, flower-filled land that he had seen after Nelehenia?s defeat, it now looked in much worse condition than when Elios had been captured. He glanced down at himself to see he was still dressed in his normal clothes, but seemed to be physically no longer in his apartment. A strangled cry sounded and his head snapped up. A moment later, he ran down the dirt path he landed on, heading toward the temple where Elios worshipped. "Elios!" He cried out as he ran. "Elios!" He eventually reached the temple and took the steps two at a time. Mamoru ran through the open arches that led to the area where the Golden Crystal was now being housed. He skidded to a stop and surveyed the area. The Golden Crystal still shone brightly on its pedestal. However, Elios lay in a crumpled heap by the pedestal. Mamoru ran to his side and knelt down by him, his doctor's instincts taking over. He felt for a pulse, then to see if he had a concussion. Elios? eyes drifted open and he managed a weak smile. "My prince," he managed to say. "What?s going on?" Mamoru asked. "I...I?m not sure," Mamoru helped Elios to stand as the priest spoke. "I was at my prayers one moment, then this blackness has started to overtake Elysion the next." Both men looked out the open arches to where they could see outside. It now seemed like dusk had settled over the land, but it was an ominious feeling. Although he did not know much still about the land which his ancestors had come from, Mamoru knew that Elysion did not experience days and nights. That the land of dreams was now in this state meant that there was trouble coming. "You must go back," Elios suddenly instructed. Mamoru glanced at the priest to see his expression become guarded. "What?s going on?" he asked again. "I can?t tell you," Elios spoke. "I just hope to the Gods that this isn?t true." The priest closed his eyes in pain. "I can?t bear it if it is." "What isn?t true? You have to tell me!" Mamoru said, taking Elios by the shoulders. "Sailor Moon and the other senshi can help you." "Maybe I don?t want their help this time," Elios broke free from the hold and took a couple steps back. He closed his eyes and held his hands out toward Mamoru. Before he could protest, he stood in the middle of his living room once again, before a paniking Usagi. "Minako-chan...," Usagi was saying into her communicator. She glanced up and jumped back. "Mamo-chan! He?s back, Minako-chan!" she quickly cut Minako off and threw her arms around Mamoru?s waist. "What happened, Mamo-chan?" Mamoru absently ran his hand through Usagi?s hair, still trying to comprehend what had happened himself. He gazed down into her blue eyes, drew in a breath, and told her what had happened in Elysion. ***** Rei slowly blinked her eyes open. Everything was out of focus, but she could see two fuzzy shapes standing by her bed. One was tall with auburn hair and the other was of average height with blue hair. She managed a smile as the fuzzy shapes focused into Makoto and Ami. She glanced around and saw she was in a hospital room. "What happened, Rei-chan?" Ami asked, softly. She gave Makoto a warning look, the taller girl looking ready to pound someone?s face in. Rei closed her eyes for a moment, the last few moments before she had been knocked unconscious crystal clear in her mind. She reopened them, focusing her gaze on her friends. "I received a vision of a black pegasus in the fire. Suddenly, a strange energy blast knocked me back into the wall and that?s the last thing I remember." "A black pegasus?" Makoto questioned. "There?s no such thing!" "The flames don?t lie," Rei muttered. "Still..." Ami pulled her minicomputer out and started keying in information. "There?s always opposites, Mako-chan," she said as she typed. "There?s black and white, light and dark, you name it, there?s an opposite for it. All of the enemies we have been fighting are the opposite of what we stand for." Ami gave the girls a smile. "For every action, there is an equal but opposite reaction. A quote from Issac Newton." "So, this is another enemy coming?" Makoto asked. "Possibly." "A black pegasus would mean that this enemy would be targetting Elysion," Rei said. She threw back the covers and swung her feet to the floor. Ami looked up and snapped her computer shut. "Rei-chan, you need to rest." "I?ll be fine. We need to call a senshi meeting right away and tell Usagi and Minako what?s going on. Besides, Luna and Artemis may know what the signifigance of a black pegasus could mean," Rei said, getting to her feet. She stumbled and Makoto caught her. Ami firmly shook her head and pointed back to the hospital bed. "Bed. Now, Rei-chan." "Iie, I?ll rest at the shrine," Rei shrugged off Makoto?s help and slowly stumbled to the door and out of the room. ***** Luna gazed at the assembled group in Rei?s bedroom. Rei laid on her bed with Ami standing beside it to check on her. Usagi, Mamoru, Minako, and Makoto were gathered around the table beside the bed. Artemis sat by her side. The only ones missing from the group were Chibi-Usa and Diana. Luna frowned. Usually, the youngest senshi had been attached to the others like glue. It was unlike her to miss a senshi meeting. But, she did not have the time to ponder over that at the moment. Rei?s and Mamoru?s combined information had given the guardian much to think about. Beside her, Artemis was silent as well as both of them reflected over their memories of the Moon Kingdom. Neither of them remembered any mention of a black pegasus. "It seems that the information we need is something unknown to the Moon Kingdom," Artemis finally spoke up. "But, it seems that it?s knowledge contained in the histories of the Earth Kingdom," Luna added. "That would fall into Elios? range." "But, Elios doesn?t seem to want to tell us what?s going on," Minako commented. "Maybe Chibi-Usa-chan can talk to him," Rei suggested. "She and Elios seemed to have a thing going. Perhaps she can get out of him what Mamoru-san wasn?t able to?" "That?s wrong," Usagi spoke up. "I can?t ask her to do that." "But, we have to do something!" Makoto spoke up. "Elysion is in trouble! We can?t just sit by and allow something bad to happen to it again. It?s hardly recovered from the Dead Moon attacks." "I know what is going on." A soft-spoken voice sounded from the doorway to Rei?s room. Everyone?s attention shifted to Sailor Pluto, who stood with Hotaru next to her. Everyone gasped. "Hotaru-chan!" All of the girls cried at once. The younger girl remained silent, but nodded to them. The inner senshi simply stared at her in shock. The last time they had seen Hotaru had been as a baby after Usagi had carried her out of Pharoah 90. Now, she seemed to be just a few years younger than Chibi-Usa. But, the aura around her gave the impression of someone much older than she should be. "What?s going on, Setsuna-san?" Mamoru asked. Setsuna stepped into the room. Her gaze shifted from senshi to senshi, finally landing on Usagi. She frowned. "She needs your help, but she is grieving too much to realize this. She is in a desperate situation, and only with your help we can rescue both of them." "She?" Usagi asked. "Who?s she?" Hotaru reached for Setsuna?s hand and squeezed it. The elder senshi gazed down at her for a moment before refocusing her attention back on Usagi. "Kaioh Michiru...Sailor Neptune...has been kidnapped. With her kidnapping, the lives of everyone in this universe is at stake," Setsuna said. "And you?re the only one who can save them," Hotaru?s soft voice spoke up. But, Hotaru?s statement was not directed at Tsukino Usagi, holder of the ginzuishou, Sailor Moon, and the reincarnated Moon Princess. Instead, it was directed at Chiba Mamoru.