Chapter 90

"Eudial," Professor Tomoe hissed.

"Yes professor," Eudial said.

"I believe that we have been going about things the wrong way," Tomoe said.

"What do you mean Professor," Eudial said.

"You of course have met Sailor Neptune and Sailor Uranus. Correct."

"Yes Professor."

"They're after the hearts too..and you see..that they once saved my life because the only way they can get to the hearts is for us to draw them out," Tomoe said.

"Ironic isn't it?" Tomoe said.

"Yes, but they are increasingly getting on my nerves, because it seems that whenever I manage to back those other scouts into a corner, Neptune and Uranus are there to interfere, not because they care in the least about those other scouts, but because they want the heart. Furthermore, they are the only other group that truly understands the power of the talismans. If we eliminate Neptune and Uranus, the other scouts might even find a talisman and not realize it, leaving it open to us."

"Yes Professor...do you have a plan?" Eudial asked.

"Oh I have a plan. Let us sing the plan song!" Tomoe said.

"There is no plan song Professor."

"Then we shall not sing the plan song today," Tomoe said. "But I shall write one for tomorrow."

"Uh...yes professor."

"Anyway..here's the deal..." Tomoe muttered.

Haruka Tenno was sleeping in the window sill of her apartment as the sun slowly rose and covered her with sunlight. She awoke slowly.

"Ehh...too early for a sunrise," She muttered.

"Haruka you know that it's actually quite late with the fall and all," Michiru Kaioh said emerging from the bathroom with a towel wrapped around her.

"I know.." Haruka muttered.

"I don't know why you sleep in the window anyway...we have two bedrooms," Michiru said.

"Habit I guess," Haruka said.

Michiru walked into her room and started dressing. Sure they were both girls, but each liked their privacy.

"You know Haruka..I can feel the waters slowly rippling," Michiru said.

"I know," Haruka said.

"I wish we could find these talismans soon, I fear that every day we fail, the forces of evil get closer," Michiru said.

"We just have to keep trying," Haruka said. "Destiny will lead us to them in time. It has too."

"I think you're right," Michiru said emerging from her room.

"You should really get ready Haruka? We don't want to be late for school," Michiru said.

"School. Here we are with the weight of the world on our soldiers, and we're still going to school," Haruka said.

"The crisis won't last forever Haruka. And when it's over, we'll have the rest of our lives to deal with," Michiru said.

Haruka smiled.

"Yes, I guess we will," she said. "I'll be ready in a few minutes."

Ten minutes later they were walking through the early morning light towards Juuban High School.

"Michiru..I had another of those dreams last night," Haruka said.

"Not another," Michiru said. "What did this one say?"

"They've been getting gradually clearer as the weeks have passed. The talisman holders will die when the time arrives. I know that." Haruka said. "But somehow..I guess the death is not as final as it seems."

"Death..is merely an ending to one form of existence," Michiru said.

"I don't know what it means...but...that's what I've understood. Still the dream doesn't let me see who the talisman holders are, or anyone else involved," Haruka said.

"Hmm..so we're still proceeding on the course we've been on," Michiru said.

"Yes. Of course...we still have to deal with those annoying Sailor Scouts and their lackeys."

"Why do you see them so hostilely Haruka?" Michiru asked.

"Because they are so amateurish. They have no concept for the stakes involved."

"Maybe if we told them they would understand," Michiru said.

"No, we've discussed this. If we told them, they would just become more involved. They consider themselves to be the protectors of this planet. If we told them how a force capable of destroying Earth was on it's way here...they would try to stop it. Right now they are content to return the hearts to the people. That is how we will have to keep it. That's meddlesome enough."

"You're right of course..but what if they did find a talisman?" Michiru said.

"If they find one, we will have to take it from them..it is that simple."

"By any means?"

"Yes...even they're lives are not worth more than the population of the planet. That is why they should stay out of this. We can handle it. But instead they endanger themselves and the mission by their persistent interference," Haruka said.

"They're just trying to do their jobs," Michiru said.

"That they might be doing, but it doesn't matter. Nothing can stand in our way of getting the three talismans, or Pharoh 90 will arrive on Earth and the messiah will be his to control," Haruka said.

"I know Haruka, I know, it's just some times I worry that to save humanity we will lose our own humanity."

"That may be the price we have to pay," Haruka said solemnly.

As Haruka and Michiru walked in the door to Miss Haruna's class they were a bit surprised to see a large tower being built on a desk. The two recognized that the tower was part of a game of balance, where to build on the top of the tower, it was necessary to remove a block from the bottom of the tower. Apparently though the participants had put three or four of the games together to make a very large tower. The two stopped just inside the doorway to watch the spectacle.

"What an odd situation," Haruka said.

"To each his own," Michiru said.

"Okay, my turn," Mike said. The tower was being built on Patterson's desk much to his annoyance. Patterson was leaning in the corner where the wall of windows and the back of the room met with a look of annoyance on his face. The rest of the Scouts stood in a circle around the table.

"Here we go," Mike said and moved to a block.

"Don't blow it," Mina said.

"That'll make it fall for sure," Lita said and as expected received no laughs.

"Yeah..don't trip," Raye said.

"Is that the best way to do it?" Serena asked.

"You must take into account the balance concerns," Amy said.

"Yeah...do you have enough leverage?" Greg asked.

"Miss it..miss it," Rick said.

"Go ahead..pull the block," Steve said.

"Could you guys talk a little more? It's not loud enough in here," Mike said sarcastically.

"Okay," the rest said and started up with a nonsensical conversation.

"Try the block below it," Patterson whispered in Mike's ear.

Mike did and pulled the block free. The tower stood.

"Hey all right," Mike said and gave Patterson a thumbs up. Patterson made a very discrete thumbs up in reply. Mike then placed the block at the top of the tower.

"Okay...my turn," Rick said. "I will rely on my martial arts skills to do this flawlessly."

"TIMMBERRR!" Steve shouted.

"Yeah, this things going down faster than one of Steve's rockets," Mike said.

"Hey," Steve said still not immune to the criticism.

Rick reached and quickly pulled out a block.

"Hah!" he said. And placed the block at the top of the tower.

"My turn," Steve said.

"One mistake and this things going down to look like Starlight Towers when they're done with it," Lita said.

"Any building that can't handle a pitched energy battle isn't really built to last," Raye said.

"Absolutely," Mina said.

"Actually the structural design architecture was a bit unstable to begin with," Amy said.

"What are you girls talking about?" Steve asked.

Rick whispered something in his ear.

"Oh yeah," Steve said and pulled out a block. The tower stood. "Yes!" he said and placed the block at the top of the tower.

"What is that?" they all heard a voice say. They turned to see Miss Haruna standing there.

"Early aren't you Miss H?" Serena asked.

"Well..yes...but do you normally build towers when I'm not in the room?" Haruna asked.

"Not really Miss H. We normally stick to aqueducts and septic systems," Mike said.

"Dirty job, but someone's got to do it," Steve said.

At that point the tower collapsed for no apparent reason.

"That was odd," Greg said. Patterson opened up his right wrist revealing a brick in it.

Greg grinned.

With the excitement over and the guys scurrying to pick up their game, Haruka and Michiru moved to sit down.

"You don't know what a joy it is to have two maturer students in my class," Haruna said to them. "I mean..you'd hardly believe that the four smartest students were in this class from the way most of them act."

"I didn't know the four smartest were here," Haruka said.

"Oh..you didn't...well...Amy there's the top student in the country pretty much, but she usually doesn't say much in my class for some reason. Then there's Greg, who doesn't say much either. You've got Melvin there..who's just weird. And then there's Patterson, who used to be insane, and frankly if you ask me, he still is...but anyway..hopefully you two can break into the rankings. You deserve to be at the top," Haruna said. "And you'd get extra credit if you could somehow get Mike, Rick, and Steve transferred out of here."

Michiru and Haruka grinned.

"We're flattered, but we wouldn't have the least idea how to get rid of those three," Michiru said.

"Yes..I guess that's someone else's job," Haruka said.

"Yeah...mine," Haruna muttered. "Anyway..keep it up."

"We try," Haruka said.

That afternoon.

"You know sometimes Haruka, I wish we enjoyed life as much as those kids in our class do," Michiru said looking out the window of their apartment.

"What do you mean? We have our fun," Haruka said.

"Yes, but they don't have any concerns, they don't have to worry about the world..."

"That is true. It probably explains they're optimism and overall happiness. The only time I saw them all truly sad was when the blue haired girl.."

"Amy.."

"Right Amy. When she was out for that time. Otherwise..I guess it would be nice to still be a teenager with only teenage concerns to worry about."

"They're all so innocent Haruka."

"Yes, they are. And they should enjoy it while it lasts," Michiru said.

The two stopped.

"The waters have become much more restless," Michiru said.

"Yes, we don't have much time," Haruka said.

The two pulled out their power sticks.

"Neptune Planet Power!" Michiru shouted.

"Uranus Planet Power!" Haruka shouted and their two transformations began. Michiru became Sailor Neptune as Haruka became Sailor Uranus.

"We must move quickly..keep an eye out for those scouts..they cannot interfere again," Uranus said.

"Of course not," Michiru said.

"Come on! Be reasonable!" the daimon shouted as she ran down the street in pursuit of a teenage boy dressed in a volleyball uniform.

"You'll have to catch me you fiend!" the boy shouted.

"Well obviously," the creature shouted and shot a yellow volleyball net out of it's head. It wrapped around the boy and pinned him to the ground.

"I decided I would use my powers along a theme," the creature said.

"Good for you," the boy shouted and tried to get free.

Uranus and Neptune landed on a rooftop nearby.

"No other scouts as far as I can see," Neptune said looking around.

"Then we'll handle it once the heart is drawn out," Uranus said.

"Oh..will you?" a husky voice said. The two scouts whirled around to see a small group of daimons standing there. All resembling the ones they had already faced.

"A trap?" Neptune said.

"You bet," One of the daimons said.

"Should we fight them?" Neptune asked.

"Our concern is the heart," Uranus said.

"Too bad you won't get it!" came a voice behind them. They both turned instinctively. A yellow volleyball net slammed into them wrapping them together and pushed them to the ground.

To their surprise, the other daimons disappeared. Leaving only the original one.

"Neat trick huh?" the daimon said. "Come on up Eudial!" It shouted. The door to the roof opened and Eudial walked out.

"Well...look at this," Eudial said. "For being our main competition you two really blew it didn't you? Anyway, given the amount of energy it took to recreate physical forms of those daimons I'll make sure to give you plenty of pain before you die."

"Eudial, you're just supposed to kill them," the Daimon said.

"Don't you have a heart to get?" Eudial muttered.

"Uh..right of course.." The daimon said.

"Now.." Eudial said and gathered a ball of energy in her hand. She threw it at the pair. The two rolled out of the way causing the ball to slam into the roof and blow a massive hole in it and several floors below.

"Dang it!" Eudial shouted.

A rose slammed into the ground in front of her.

"Huh.." Eudial said and was hit from behind by someone. She fell right into the hole and let out a screech. The two outer scouts looked to see Sailor Moon standing there.

"I don't know whether I should free you two or not," Sailor Moon said.

"Who are you kidding?" Uranus said and the net fell away around them. Uranus was holding some sort of sharp crystal. "I'm always prepared for that."

"Well..cape boy..you want a piece of me," the daimon on the ground was saying. He was holding the crystal heart, and Tuxedo Mask was staring at him with his staff ready.

"If you'll excuse me," Sailor Moon said.

"Stay our of this," Sailor Uranus said blocking her way.

"I can just jump over you," Sailor Moon said.

"And I'll just jump up and stop you," Uranus said. "Neptune take care of the..."

She was interrupted as the roof exploded under them and they tumbled downward.

"What the.." Tuxedo Mask said. A net flew at him. Tuxedo Mask swung it aside with his staff and hit the daimon upside the head.

"Ouch!" the creature said and staggered back. Tuxedo Mask grabbed the heart out of the creatures hand and kicked the creature in the head. He then stuck the heart back in the volleyball player's body.

"Sailor Moon! Are you all right!" he shouted.

"Ahhh!" Sailor Moon shouted as she flew through a bottom floor window.

"I'll take that as a.." Tuxedo Mask said and stopped abruptly as the daimon leapt at him. He ducked under it and the daimon went flying into the front of the building.

"Sailor Moon?" Tuxedo Mask said crouching over her.

"I'm just a little bruised. You get the heart?" Sailor Moon asked.

"Yes."

"I'm tempted to let Uranus and Neptune face Eudial and that Daimon alone..like they've done to us so many times..but...well..that's just not the way we are is it?" Sailor Moon said.

"No," Tuxedo Mask said.

"I'm not done yet!" the daimon shouted and charged at the two. Sailor Moon still holding her moon sword swung upward and hit the daimon dead on. It smashed into the two of them and pushed them back, but the sword stayed embedded in the creature and it blew apart around them.

"Not bad.." Sailor Moon said.

The entire building collapsed in front of them.

"Uh oh," Sailor Moon said. They were surprised when Sailor Neptune and Sailor Uranus landed in front of them.

"You put the heart back didn't you!" Uranus shouted.

"You got a problem with that?" Tuxedo Mask said.

"Yes..stay out of our business! The world is at stake and you're not helping!" Uranus said.

"Please...we have our mission, and you're preventing us from fulfilling it," Neptune said.

"Eudial escaped, but that doesn't matter..they didn't win today," Uranus said. "I warn you..putting the hearts inside someone without proper examination is risking the lives of everyone here. Do not do it again!"

The two then jumped off.

"What did she mean?" Sailor Moon said.

"I don't know..but considering we saved the butts, I would have thought they'd be more gracious," Tuxedo Mask said.

"You'd think so..." Sailor Moon said dejectedly. "Here they are two fellow Sailor Scouts and they want nothing to do with us."

"You're not doing anything wrong," Tuxedo Mask said.

"Sometimes I wonder. I just get this feeling that I'm out of the loop somehow. You know what I mean..what aren't they telling us?"

"No idea..but they seem to feel strongly about it."

"Maybe we should try and find out."

"How?"

"I have no idea..but I think we have to know."

The volleyball player started to stir.

"Hey...you're that Sailor Moon chick aren't you?" he said.

"Sailor Moon chick?" Sailor Moon asked.

"Sorry...I've just heard so much about you," the boy said.

"Oh you have," Sailor Moon said happily. "Like what?"

"I'm tired.." the boy said and feel asleep.

"Typical," Sailor Moon said. "So TYPICAL!"

"Calm down," Tuxedo Mask said.

"That could have been a talisman today," Haruka starring out the window.

"It probably wasn't," Michiru said.

"How do you know?"

"I don't know..but it seems to me that destiny drove us to this quest, it brought us together, and it's brought us to each battle, it should also bring us to the talismans," Michiru said.

"Unless those foolish scouts are somehow altering destiny. Destiny used to affect us alone, but with their interference...anything could happen. Destiny must affect them too."

"Maybe...but won't the talisman bearing hearts be different from the others?"

"Yes..but we don't know how different. That's why we need to check each one."

"Are you sure we wouldn't be able to tell from afar. Maybe just the fact that a heart and not a talisman comes out disproves it."

"It's more complex then that I think. My dreams have mentioned it. When we gaze into the heart's center we will know it's true form."

"Then I'm wrong."

"No Michiru...it's always true that if you gaze into the center of one's hearts you know it's true form. But that is not possible for anyone."

"I don't understand Haruka?"

"My dreams tell me that, by they are leading me away from the obvious mistake I could make. We can't check a real hearts center. A pure heart is different."

"Now I'm confused."

"Haruka...we need to check each heart..but somehow..I don't think we've found any talismans either..."

"Well that's good. We should rest."

"Yes...we should. It bothers me that Tomoe set a trap though. If he's targeting us directly now..we'll have to be even more careful," Haruka said and her eyes narrowed.

CHAPTER 66 CHAPTER 67 CHAPTER 68 CHAPTER 69 CHAPTER 70  CHAPTER 71 

CHAPTER 72 CHAPTER 73 CHAPTER 74 CHAPTER 75  CHAPTER 76 CHAPTER 77

 CHAPTER 78 CHAPTER 79 CHAPTER 80  CHAPTER 81  CHAPTER 82 CHAPTER 83

CHAPTER 84 CHAPTER 85  CHAPTER 86 CHAPTER 87 CHAPTER 88 CHAPTER 89

 CHAPTER 90 CHAPTER 91 CHAPTER 92 CHAPTER 93 CHAPTER 94 CHAPTER 95

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