Well, here is part of my newest story revolving around Sailor Mars. This one 
starts pretty much where "Quest of the Silver Imperium Crystal" ended, so the 
order goes as so: 
Mars Fire Ignite
Quest for the Silver Imperium Crystal
A Rei of Hope 
Also, if you are wondering where this fits in in the Sailor Moon timeline, 
don't. It doesn't fit anywhere in that universe. The Inner Scouts are around 17 
years old right now, some two to three years after "Mars Fire Ignite". 
I feel that I should thank Jeanette Cheuk for helping me hammer out the general 
plot line and stuff for this one. Writer's block and school are two of the 
damnedest irritants known to Man, I think. In addition, she's been nice enough 
to point out all my heinous grammatical errors (hey! we engineers aren't 
supposed to know English!). 
Disclaimer-wise, Sailor Moon and her friends are the property of Naoko Takeuchi, 
and they're copyrighted by her, and to a lesser extent, DiC. Most of the other 
things spawned from my own imagination, so I'd like credit for such. Enjoy! 
Comments, criticisms, compliments to meech@mindspring.com 
---------------------
A Rei of Hope
Prologue
by Soumitra Choudhury
---------------------
In the sulfurous cave, deep under the dormant mountain Fuji, a small, but 
hideous creature slipped into view. Surveying the craggy chamber, riddled as it 
was with bubbling pits of odious fire and brimstone, the imp breathed deeply, 
reveling in the delightful fragrance that reminded it so much of Dis, its planar 
home. It chittered in mournful distress. 
Bruul wanted to feel needed again. Bruul ached to serve a worthy master, someone 
who could deliver sweet , charming, little children to Bruul. Bruul loved to 
hear the little children scream, their pitiful wails only adding to Bruul's 
enjoyment . Bruul would nibble away at their tender ears, suck out their tender 
eyes, and chew through their tender bellies. Without a master's guiding hand, 
this was all too difficult for Bruul to do on it's own, even if it could turn 
invisible at will. 
Three years it searched, and finally, it had found what it was looking for. 
Following the distinct emanations that faintly exuded from one of the pools, 
Bruul dove into the sulfurous pit, basking in the radiant heat for a moment. 
Returning to the task at hand, Bruul dove deeper and deeper, following the scent 
like a monstrous bloodhound. The poisonous liquid it swam through hindered it 
not, for Hell was made of such burning pits, and it had spent many years in just 
such pools in leisure. 
There. 
The scent of Bruul's goal reached a sharp piquant note that made Bruul giddy 
with desire. The imp reached out with its gangly, clawed fingers and felt it. 
Smooth. 
So smooth. 
Like porcelain. 
Grasping it with grubby hands, Bruul shot back up, its leather wings spread out 
for maximum support.. In a geyser of putrid, yellow fluid, Bruul emerged from 
the pool and landed neatly upon the ground. 
Twitching its simian ears back and forth, its eye sockets drooling viscous blood 
down its face, Bruul licked its lips at the sight of its master. 
A pristine, faceless mask of ivory porcelain, featureless except for the cut 
holes for the eyes. 
In those dark sockets, two violet gems shifted and stirred, flaring and flashing 
with a fierce inner glow. 
"Yes, Master. Bruul do very good, Master," the imp squealed happily. "Master 
give Bruul little eats? Nice Master give Bruul nice eats, yes?" 
"Master, Bruul do whatever Master wants Bruul do. Bruul just wants nice eats, 
with tender ears and tender eyes and tender tummies. 
Bruul spread his wings, and disappeared as the mask sent its instructions to the 
imp's twisted mind. 
*****
A few hours later, Cole Gishumi screamed silently for his soul. ***** 
"So, Ami, what do you think?" 
"Wow, Rei! That's fascinating! It doesn't hurt?" 
"No. It feels a bit strange, kind of like having a cool shell on your skin." 
"And it's completely impregnable?" The smaller girl pulled out her mini-computer 
and ran a few scans. 
"Well, that's what I need you to test for me. I bashed myself a few times with 
my broom and didn't feel anything, but I don't think that's any assurance that I 
can run in front of bullets and stuff." 
Ami giggled quietly. "You bashed yourself with a broom? I bet Usagi would have 
enjoyed doing that for you." 
"Very droll, Ami," Rei grunted back, standing perfectly still while the scanning 
process began. 
A week had trundled past since their return from Toril to retrieve the Silver 
Imperium Crystal. Life had essentially returned to normal from then on, though 
Haruka had voiced some outrage that it had taken a month for them to make it 
back. It didn't matter that Ami tried to explain how the distance traveled had 
been more time consuming than expected. Surprisingly, Setsuna had merely nodded 
and given Ami a tender hug. 
Rei had jumped to the phone when she had gotten her first free moment, hoping to 
do something with Cole, her boyfriend, but William had told her that Cole was 
out of town for a while and that he would leave a message for him to call her 
back. 
Rei had thought nothing of it. 
Finding some time on her hands, she wanted to get a few of the more interesting 
objects in her "collection" figured out before school started up in a month. 
Like the magical bow that could shoot flaming arrows that she obtained on Toril, 
she hoped there would be something else that could aid them in their 
never-ending struggle with evil. 
After a week, she had managed to break the secrets of one of her toys, a silver 
chrome marble. She had immediately called Ami to share the discovery. 
As the scans continued, Ami gave Rei the once-over. "So, let me understand this. 
All you do is activate the marble, and it, eh, magically covers your entire body 
in this... armor?" Rei nodded. "How did you activate it?" 
Because the silver skin covered up her facial features, Ami missed the 
contemplative frown that passed through the sorceress' countenance. "Actually, 
that's something else I need to test. I think it requires a charge of energy to 
activate. I pricked it with a bit of my magic, and poof! Second skin, one much 
more durable than my normal one." 
Ami pursed her lips. "That's really very remarkable, Rei. You know, you remind 
me of that villain in 'Terminator 2'. Kind of like liquid metal that takes on 
human form, but retains the metallic color. How are you breathing? You don't 
have a nose or mouth with the... the... well, whatever it is, you don't have any 
breathing orifices." 
"I don't know. I'm not having any problems breathing," Rei replied, shrugging. 
Her robe ruffled smoothly over her metallic skin, a sound Ami found strangely 
mesmerizing. The robe itself hadn't been covered, though. For that matter, 
nothing that Rei was wearing had been covered with the liquid metal. 
Interesting. 
Also interesting to note was that the armor covered up Rei' true eyes with eyes 
of its own, glowing solidly of molten gold. 
Ami's computer bleeped, announcing to them it had finished its scan. "Hmm, let's 
see here. Durability equivalent to 97.9% titanium. The molecular arrangement is 
matrixed across your body to provide maximum distribution of impacts. 52.3% 
conductivity. 95.8% corrosive resistance. 98.4% thermal resistance. 99.9% 
photo-reflective. My god, Rei! Do you realize what we have here?" 
"Judging from your enthusiasm, something rather useful," Rei answered, cocking 
her head for Ami to translate. 
"Well, this armor is pretty much invulnerable to physical blows, fire, acid, and 
lasers. It's not completely resistant to electricity, but it could feasibly 
reduce a voltage shock by half." 
Rei's golden eyes frowned thoughtfully. "That makes this impervious to two and a 
half Scouts, three if you count Tuxedo Mask. Good thing we got this before the 
Grell could have figured this out." Ami nodded in agreement. 
Suddenly, the silver skin began to flow off Rei in metallic pools, congealing 
into a pool at her feet before shrinking into a marble-sized ball. Rei bent 
over, picked it up and held it out for Ami to see. "This is what it looks like 
when it's just sitting around. Unimposing, huh?" 
"How did it come off?" 
"I told it mentally to go away." Rei slipped the marble in her pocket. "Now, as 
I recall, you came over for a reason. Let's get out of here, brew some tea, and 
you can tell me what's on your mind." 
*****
Unbeknownst to the rest of the neighborhood, an invisible sphere settled about 
the whole of Cherry Hill, temple and its grounds included. 
*****
"What the Hell?!" Rei exclaimed, pausing in mid step. Consequently, Ami walked 
into her before stopping. 
"What? What's wrong?" 
Rei held her hand up to indicate quiet, and glanced about angrily for a few 
moments. "Something is not right. Bad vibes." 
Ami lifted an eyebrow. "Here at your temple?" 
Rei nodded, then headed for the front door, her friend close behind. Outside, 
they paused, scanning the grounds. 
Nothing. Everything looked as it should, yet the sorceress could feel... 
something. "Ami, can you scan for anything abnormal in the vicinity?" 
"That's really not going to be necessary, Lady Rei, Lady Ami." A tall figure of 
darkness broke away from the shadows at the base of the steps. The Grell's mask 
gleamed in the sunlight. 
A soft gasp escaped Ami's lips, but Rei growled low and harsh. "I thought I felt 
your vile presence," she hissed menacingly. 
"That's hardly the greeting I sought, Lady Rei, but no matter. I know you're 
glad to see me." The voice held its ghastly crypt-like whisper, reverberating 
from somewhere deep and cold. 
"I'm as glad to see you as I would be gouging out my eyes and filling them with 
maggots." 
The Grell shrugged. "To each their own pleasure." 
Rei glanced around again, suddenly feeling the quietness of the realm, the 
unnatural still that had settled over the grounds. No birds twittering, no 
crickets chirping, no wind whistling. "Why have you returned? Not learn your 
lesson well enough the last time?" Rei sneered, all the while her mind whirling 
to discover what advantage the evil being hoped to find here. 
Ami backed up a step, and reached for her communicator, pressing the all-alert 
button to notify the others of their problem. Her answer, while noisy and 
counterproductive, came as relatively no surprise in the way of electronic 
static. 
"I'd prefer to handle my business without external interference, Lady Rei," came 
the Grell's sibilant whisper. "You cannot call your friends. I am rather 
disappointed that the Sailor Mercury is here at all." 
Stunned silence filled with rapidly beating hearts. "How... how do you know that 
I'm Mercury?" Ami asked with a tinge of fear in her trembling voice. 
The Grell stepped on the first stair, and then another, completely at ease with 
volume of power that could rain down upon him in any second. "Ah, my dear, that 
would be telling my secrets." 
Rei had had enough. She raised both of her fists, side by side, towards the 
antagonist, and muttered angrily, "They will die with you." She demanded a blast 
of concussive force to smash her enemy to the ground. 
Of course, nothing happened. 
Chuckling softly to himself, the Grell continued up, no hint of hurry in his 
steps. A tiny flicker of his arms released a pair of wakazashis into his hands 
from the innards of his cloak. "Do you begin to understand? Three years you left 
me to rot in the belly of the Earth. Three years I have planned my revenge, 
healing myself from the Spirit Wrack. Three years!" He threw one of the short 
swords with surprising speed. Twirling end of end, it nicked Ami across side of 
her neck, and imbedded itself in a wooden stud on the temple doors. The cut 
elicit a small cry of pain from the blue-haired girl, who clapped a hand over 
the wound. With her other hand, she reached back to pull her transformation pen 
out of its pocket dimension. 
Once again nothing happened. Something prevented her access into it. 
"We are enclosed, ladies, within a dampening field. No magic can be actively 
used. No signals can be maintained. No telephone calls, TV, radio. Just the 
thing I needed three years ago, but alas for hindsight." He tossed the other 
sword, which caught Ami across the other side of her neck, instigating another 
squeal. "That includes access to your little pocket dimensions." 
More than a little worried, Rei huddled over Ami. "Run," she whispered into 
Ami's ear. "Get the others." 
Ami threw an alarmed look at the priestess, but Rei smiled. "I'll be right 
behind you. Back door." 
Just as the Grell pulled out a pair of shuriken from within his outfit, the 
girls turned back to the temple and ran inside, sprinting through the main room. 
As they leaped through the far door that led deeper into the shrine, Rei heard 
the dull thwack of shurikens catching the wooden support inches from her back. 
She ran faster. 
"WHERE ARE YOU RUNNING, LADY REI?! AREN'T YOU CURIOUS ABOUT WHOSE BODY I HAVE??" 

The girls ignored him, huffing through the hallway, knowing that their death was 
only a step behind. Ami turned a corner and saw their escape ahead. Rei thought, 
grinning to herself. Another shuriken barely missed her left ear. 
Ami burst through the back door and immediately headed for the street, all the 
time punching the all-alert button on the communicator. Two steps behind, Rei 
turned to follow. 
The back door slammed open behind her. "Why do you run away, Lady Rei?! Who will 
save Cole?" 
Rei's leg muscles locked in place, sliding her to a halt, even as Ami continued 
on. Icy cold swarmed down her spine, blood drained out of her face. Her mind 
replayed the last statement several thousand times in a few seconds. 
Who will save Cole? 
Who will save Cole? 
WHO WILL SAVE COLE? 
"Yes, my dear," whispered the Grell from directly behind, "I have hit an 
interesting nerve." 
She whirled on him, fury playing in her eyes. "What have you done with him?!" 
Rei screamed into the mask, balling her fists. 
Purple gemstones settled on her. He reached with one hand to his other wrist and 
clicked a switch on a bracelet. Immediately, Rei felt the dampening field 
disappear, and her magic surged within her. 
Yelling incoherently, she reached up her fists, which glowed luminous green. A 
surging blast of magical force erupted from her fists, slamming into the Grell 
with a clap of thunder, and smashing him into the side of the temple. 
It took the Grell long moments to scrape himself off the temple walls, but he 
did at last, grunting and groaning in pain. "I... suggest... you don't... try 
that... again," he gasped out, a minutiae of amusement creeping into his pained 
voice. 
Rei held her force blast in check. "Tell me where Cole is," she replied flatly. 
"He's right in front of you." 
*****
The moment the dampening field collapsed, Ami stopped, notified the others of 
the danger, and pulled out her transformation pen. 
"Mercury Crystal Power!" 
The rippling water of magic took hold of her once again, cocooning her in the 
protective aura of Mercury. Once again, she was Sailor Mercury. 
From back at the temple, a heart-wrenching cry of despair ripped through the 
air, bringing tears to Mercury's eyes as she sprinted back. She could just make 
out Rei on her knees, the Grell towering before her. 
"Mercury-" 
Rei's head snapped up and around at the pronouncement of the attack. 
"Aqua-" 
The Grell crossed his arms, awaiting the attack with nonchalance. 
"Rhapsody!" 
Streaking crystalline bolts pierced through the air, racing purposefully for the 
Grell's tainted heart. 
Inches from their target, the watery bolts sizzled and evaporated on a shielding 
barrier of flames. 
As Mercury watched in utter shock, Rei dropped her hands, releasing the barrier 
to dissipate away. There was a haunted look in her eyes. 
"Rei! What are you doing?!" the Scout yelled, cautiously approaching them. She 
kept a wary eye on the Grell. 
"She has just found out how I know all about the Scouts, Lady Mercury, and she's 
in pain. She doesn't know what to do now. Her enemy stands before her with the 
strongest shield surrounding him, and she has no idea how to get past it... at 
least without multiplying her pain." The Grell dropped into a fighting stance. 
"I, on the other hand, am not hindered by such ridiculous emotions. Love means 
nothing to me." Arcs of violet energy gathered in those gemlike eyes. "I value 
strength, guile, and chaos!" Twin beams raced out of the mask, hissing for 
Sailor Mercury's blood. Instead, they exploded harmlessly into the ground as the 
target leaped into the air, flipped a couple times, and landed lightly several 
feet to the left. 
The Grell did not let up, however. Several more beams shot forth, keeping the 
agile Mercury on her toes. Interspersed through the beam attacks, the Grell 
released carefully thrown shurikens, knowing that she could not dodge ALL of his 
attacks. 
Sure enough, more than one of the throwing stars cut through Mercury's defenses, 
shredding through her fuku and flesh alike. Gritting her teeth against the sting 
of her wounds, the Scout tried once again. 
"Shining Aqua Illusion!" 
She released the fountain blast from her outstretched hands, hoping Rei would 
snap out of her present insanity. 
No such luck. 
A transparent red bubble surrounded the Grell, absorbing Mercury's strike. It 
did not, however, disappear when the Grell tried to move away. In fact, it kept 
him enclosed. 
Rei stumbled to her feet, then rocked back when the Grell blasted the shielding 
bubble. The barrier held. "Release me!" he screamed, pounding the shield with 
his magical bolts. "Release me, or I will torture your precious Cole!" Another 
barrage of explosions within the bubble caused Rei to stumble to her knees, 
clutching at her head. 
Unhindered by the numerous superficial wounds the marred her body, Mercury 
rushed to the sorceress' side. "Rei! What's going on? Why are you helping him?" 
Rei mumbled something, then whimpered at the Grell's continued attacks upon her 
shield. Mercury leaned in closer. 
"It's Cole. The Grell is Cole." 
Pity flooded Mercury's heart, and she took Rei into her arms. "Oh Rei. I'm so 
sorry." Another convulsion shook the sorceress as the Grell forced an even 
stronger blast into the shield, which had begun to crack. Seeing this, Mercury 
made a decision. 
Lucky for her and Rei, her Scout form added strength to an otherwise weak young 
girl. Quite easily, she cradled her friend into her arms, and ran away. Another 
severe blast elicited a whimper from the dark-haired priestess, this one 
bordering on complete mental and physical exhaustion. "Hang on, Rei. The others 
will get here soon," Mercury whispered as she sprinted around the corner of the 
block. The few people who happened to be out on the street pointed and exclaimed 
in surprise. 
A rolling clap of thunder shattered the peace of the neighborhood from the 
direction of the temple, just as Rei grabbed her own head and shrilled out a cry 
of agony. 
Up ahead, Sailor Jupiter, Venus and Moon sprinted up to them from down the 
street. "Rei! Mercury! What's happened to her? Is she all right? Rei!" Sailor 
Moon cried, distraught over the condition of her friend. 
"There isn't time to explain right now," Mercury said back, handing Rei over to 
Moon. "The Grell is behind us, and I think he just broke free from Rei's magic." 
She glanced around, noticing the people gawking at them. "And we definitely 
cannot make a stand right here. There are too many innocent bystanders." 
Before anyone could answer, though, the small window shop directly beside them 
exploded in a fiery blossom of lavender and sunlight orange, throwing them to 
the ground and caking them with a layer of dust and debris. 
Choking and coughing, Sailor Jupiter rose to her feet, wiping dirt from her 
eyes. "I'm getting just a bit tired of being tossed around by youmas, dragons, 
sorceresses, and everything else," she murmured disgustedly. 
From a block down, the Grell hissed back, "I didn't come here to toss you 
around, Lady Jupiter, but I do have a bone to pick with you for the death of 
Droc'uh in that shopping mall three years ago. If you would be so kind as to 
stand still for a moment?" Twin globs of plasma collected about the Grell's 
hands, tiny wisps of violet lightning crackling over their surfaces. 
"Scatter!" screamed Jupiter, then she leaped back, narrowly missing the twin 
strikes as they detonated in the asphalt where she had stood. 
"Tsk, tsk. That's hardly what I mean when I say 'stand still', Lady Jupiter." 
Another pair of plasma blasts materialized. 
From across the street, where she had landed after Jupiter's warning, Venus 
groaned. "An absolutely hideous sense of humor," she mumbled to herself, 
crouched low and raising a finger. 
"Venus Love and Beauty Shock!" 
"No!" 
A fiercely glowing golden heart left Venus' kiss, shooting forward with the 
destructive force of love behind it. Several feet from the Grell, however, it 
met resistance in the form of an whirling void. The void swallowed the heart, 
and collapsed shut. Hundreds of feet in the air, the void opened again, 
releasing the glowing heart, which promptly exploded in a burst of light. 
"Rei, stop that! What do you think your doing?!" screamed Sailor Moon, staring 
at Rei , aghast. The latter had woven the void spell in order to protect the 
Grell. 
Struggling mightily to keep tears from her eyes, Rei whispered, "It's Cole. It's 
Cole. My Cole." She spoke too softly for anyone to hear, but the mental anguish 
written on her face gave Sailor Moon a reason to pause in her beratement. 
Meanwhile, the Grell was picking up speed as he discovered more and more 
weaknesses in the Scouts' attack style. Inevitably, they would split up and 
attempt to hit him from many sides. It was a sound strategy against one 
opponent. 
The cloaked villain leaped straight into the air, wrapping his cape about him as 
an old women would to ward off a chill. Within the cloth, sickeningly liquid 
sounds burbled out, combining with odd, moving bulges that sought to escape from 
the cloak. 
"What's going on?" wondered Jupiter, crossing her arms to ready her next attack. 

In a roaring scream of fury, five misshapen beasts tore from the Grell's body, 
swathed in dark, fluttering shadows. The creatures landed with uncanny cat-like 
grace, pacing about in a circle around the Grell, who landed just as nimbly 
within their midst. 
The beasts, about the size and shape of large mastiffs, growled gutturally at 
the Scouts, silently padding towards a separate target. Eyes of violet glittered 
like the gems in the Grell's mask, shining with a cold sparkle. One of them 
shrieked a challenge at Sailor Venus, exposing three rows of teeth, all glowing 
with the same sparkling material as their eyes. 
"A long time I have waited, Lady Rei. A long time indeed to exact my revenge." 
The Grell flipped back a flap of his cloak, allowing his arms room to draw forth 
the twin wakazashis once again. "First, I took your boy toy. Now, I'll take you 
friends. In the end, I will leave you with nothing!" 
Rei glanced up, tears coursing down her face. Still upon her knees, all she 
could do was stare blankly at an approaching beast. Dejected and heartbroken, 
Rei was losing her focus as a Sailor Scout. All she could think about was Cole's 
dead form animated by the Grell's mask. 
Sailor Moon stood up and faced the approaching monsters, careful to keep herself 
between them and Rei. She drew forth her scepter, brandishing it like a sword. 
"Rei, get up now! We need you!" 
One of them tamped down to the ground, then shot forward, Claws and fangs of 
gemstone reaching for the Scout of Thunder and Lightning. At the last moment, 
Jupiter twirled around, launching a roundhouse kick that connected solidly with 
the malicious being's jaw. With a piteous yelp of pain, it flipped and twirled 
in the air until it managed to land ten feet away with a sickening thud. 
Instantly, it was back on its feet, growling in anger. 
"You're an ugly bastard," she murmured under her breath, then inhaled deeply. 
Reaching deep within her reservoir of power, Jupiter pointed at the rushing 
beast. Wisps and tendrils of electricity coruscated up her outstretched arm, 
gathering at the tip of her finger before slashing out at the target. 
A quick sidestep moved the creature out of harm's way, but Jupiter followed it 
with her lightning, creating a deadly wave of destruction upon the paved street. 
The monster's agility was phenomenal as it leapt and jumped from the street to 
the side of a building to a lamp post to a mail box, with a trailing arc of 
electricity only inches away. 
Venus ran to a nearby couple and shoved them through the entrance of a shop. 
"Get out of here through the back!" she screamed to them. Out of the corner of 
her eye she saw a creature leap for her. Venus dove back out into the street, 
rolled with the impact, and came up in a crouch, both index fingers ablaze with 
golden light. Two chains of interlocking hearts flailed at the beast, though 
only one managed to wrap about a hind leg. Grumbling in irritation, it pulled 
and tugged at the chain, but Venus held on, struggling mightily with the 
creature's strength. "Mercury! Blast it! I can't hold it for long!" 
Unfortunately, Mercury had her own problems to worry about. One of the beasts 
stalked in close, eyeing her with a demonic fury. She backed away, carefully 
gauging the creature's movements, hoping she could land a hit by taking into 
account their superb agility and strength. Like Venus, she raised both of her 
hands. 
From her left hand, a freezing spray of frost spewed forth, a shot that was 
clumsy in targeting. The creature easily dodged the spray by leaning to its 
right. 
Smiling grimly, Mercury immediately launched three spears of ice with her right 
hand. Unable to dodge in midair, the demon mastiff yelped piteously as the 
spears pierced it, one through the throat, one through an eye, and the last 
through its exposed side. It dropped heavily to the ground, groaned once, and 
fell motionless. The light from the gemstone eyes faded away. 
Wiping a bead of sweat from her brow, Mercury turned to Venus' quarry, but 
stopped when she saw Sailor Moon's predicament. 
Two of the creatures were attempting to flank the princess, who was standing in 
front of a dejected and crumpled Rei. Their brave blonde leader was trying her 
best to remain calm and composed, but she wasn't doing too well. 
Just as Mercury was about to lend her aid, however, a flurry of roses stabbed 
through one of them, sending it into hideous convulsions. At the same time, 
Tuxedo Mask leaped off the short building he had thrown his weapons from and 
landed softly before Sailor Moon. "Hello, Darling. Miss me?" he joked back to 
her, smiling slightly. 
She grinned stupidly back. " Your timing is impeccable, muffin." 
Mercury turned to help Venus, who was having more than her fair share of trouble 
vanquishing her foe. As the monster pulled and bit at the magical chain of 
hearts, Venus hissed out a most indelicate expletive. "How the hell am I 
supposed to DO this in these damn sandals?!" she growled to no one in 
particular. Mercury chuckled silently as she raised her hands for their killing 
blows. 
*****
Too many images sloshed and churned within her mind. Too much pain racked her 
weakening emotional barriers. 
Too much of Cole's spirit roared his guilt upon her. 
CRASH! 
Rei blinked. Twice. She found it odd that she had just been thrown against a 
brick wall. She found it odd that she had gone THROUGH two feet of it. She found 
it odd that she didn't hurt... too much... and she found it odd that her skin 
glinted a metallic silver. 
When she raised her head and saw the Grell hovering before her, Rei knew that 
nothing was really odd. 
It was her life. 
"Impressive, Lady Rei. You've been playing with MY toys." The Grell grabbed her 
again, and threw her towards the other wall of the abandoned alleyway. An 
instinctive thought halted her flight and floated her gently to the ground. 
The Grell drew his swords languidly, mocking the sorceress with the slowness of 
his action. He held them loosely, playfully twirling one in a masterful display 
of weapon prowess. "You are alone now, Lady Rei. What will you do without your 
friends to aid you? You cannot harm me. You cannot let your friends harm me. I 
have the power to destroy all of you. Tell me, what do you plan to do?" His 
voice dripped with amused condescension, a dagger that slashed and gouged at 
Rei's heart. 
Once again, she dropped to her knees, but this time she clasped her hands 
together and gazed up at her tormentor in pleading anguish. "Please, Grell. 
Please release Cole from your bond. I'm begging you." 
The Grell stepped back, suspicious of a trick, but Rei's fearful eyes told all. 
This was no trick. 
The Grell threw back his masked head, and lost himself in uproarious laughter. 
For long minutes, his hideous laugh echoed through the alleyway, surrounding Rei 
in a cocoon of scorn and mockery. "You want me to give up the greatest advantage 
I can have against you?" he asked rhetorically when his mirth died down. "Are 
you mad? You are WEAK!" 
A vortex of memories slipped through Rei's anguished mind. Memories of a time 
when she hovered shamefully in a misty realm of sorrow, tortured by images of 
her friends being hurt, swam into view. It was a time when a part of her soul 
fought a brief victory, winning control of her being. The fragment of her soul 
had said the same thing. 
*****
"Release me!" 
"Not on your life!" 
"It's your life too!" 
"Well, I like it the way it is!" 
"You can't keep me here forever! The mask is gone, and I will be free again. You 
know I am the stronger of the two of us!" 
"Really? Is that why you can't seem to burst free of a prison that has no walls, 
no barriers, no obstacles? Is it because you are stronger that you float 
aimlessly in your own mind, locked away by your own will?" 
Silence. 
The Dark Rei smirked to herself. "Of course not. It's not because you are 
stronger. It's because you're WEAKER. You can't bear to come back now. I've done 
too much. You're ashamed. You're afraid they don't like me anymore, and thus, 
they don't like you anymore." 
Silence, and then... a quiet sob. 
*****
And then... 
The dark murky mists of one memory dissolved away to the simple grey of another. 

The flames were right in front of her, beckoning her to step through, to merge 
with a realm that would return her to her parents, to peace, to happiness with 
no responsibilities. She was ready to die. 
Except for one thing... 
"How dare you!" shouted a firm voice behind her, stopping her in her tracks. 
Usagi? 
"You have sworn to protect me, the Princess of the Moon Kingdom. You have sworn 
fealty to me!" a commanding Sailor Moon shouted. 
*****
The vortex surrounded her again, sucking her back to reality, voices melding 
together as they echoed away from her. 
Usagi and Rei's voice merged as they boomed one last statement: 
Protect the Princess. Nothing else matters. 
*****
Rei crossed her arms and blocked the twin blades just in time, the metal of the 
swords screeching loudly along the metal armored skin she had donned. Still, 
being on her knees, the strike pushed her back at the Grell's incredible 
strength, forcing her back against the alley wall. 
She could not weep anymore. Too much had happened in too short a time. Her grasp 
on reality was twisting and turning too much, her emotions jumbling into complex 
knots. Mercy for her feelings was no where in sight. 
With a thought, Rei's liquid armor flowed back into the marble in her pocket, 
and she stood up wearily. "You're only partially right, Grell." Her eyes were 
blank and emotionless. "I am weak. I am weak and tired. I've always prided 
myself on my will and my control, but in the end, I have none." 
"But," she continued, "you are wrong about you possessing the greatest advantage 
against me." Her pupils faded to ivory white, and her hair began to flutter in 
an unfelt breeze. 
The Grell stepped back again. "You would destroy Cole?" he asked incredulously. 
A flicker of sorrow passed her face, but it drowned away in a mask of cold 
indifference. She pulled out a red transformation pen and held it high, and then 
whispered a short phrase. 
"Mars Crystal Power." 
When her fiery transformation ended, the Grell was nowhere to be seen. 
*****
Jupiter was getting more and more frustrated. The damn monster was considerably 
more agile than she was used to, thus, she had only managed to land a few nicks. 
On the other hand, she was tearing up the surroundings quite well. 
"All right, you piece of-" She stopped in mid curse, blinking twice. 
The creature had simply vanished. 
All through the battleground, the creatures, both alive and dead, vanished in a 
puff of smoke. 
"Heh? What's going on?" Sailor Moon asked from behind Tuxedo Mask's cape. "Where 
did they go?" 
"More importantly, where has the Grell gone?" Mask wondered aloud, looking over 
the aftermath. 
Sailor Mercury glanced around. "Actually, more important than that: Where is 
Rei?" 
"She was right behind- Hey! Where did she go?" Sailor Moon cried, looking about 
frantically. 
Sailor Jupiter pulled out her communicator. "Rei, come in. Can you hear me?" 
A moment of static, and then, "Yeah, I'm here." The voice coming through had the 
tone of a piece of cardboard. 
"Are you all right?" 
Pause. "Sure, I suppose so," came the deadpan reply. 
Tuxedo Mask shoved his face into the communicators field of view. "Is the Grell 
with you? Have you seen him?" His questions came out a bit frantically. 
Another pause, then a forlorn sigh. "No, Mamoru. He's not here. He got away." 
"What?! You let him get away?!" 
Rei turned her com-link off, so the others did not hear her response. 
"Yes, I guess I did." 
*****
Usagi strolled into her house, made an immediate beeline for the kitchen, and 
thrust her head into the refrigerator. "Hmmm, fruit, veggies, potato salad, iced 
tea. Maybe the freezer. Good thing no one's home. Mom's forever griping about 
ruining my-" She closed the door, then screamed and fell back when she saw 
someone standing behind the refrigerator door. It took her a moment to realize 
she knew the person. 
"Usagi, for God's sake, it's only me," Rei grumbled, exasperated. She held out a 
hand to help Usagi up. 
"Rei! I could have had a heart attack! Do you know how much you scared me, 
sneaking up... Rei, are you okay?" Only then did she notice Rei's bloodshot eyes 
and pale, almost white, skin. 
Sighing wearily, the sorceress went over to the kitchen table and sat down in a 
chair. "No, Usagi, as a matter of fact, I'm not okay." She rested her chin in 
the cup of her hands. "I need to ask you a favor." 
Concern wormed its way into Usagi's mind, quickly negating the urge to search 
for some ice cream. The blonde sat down next to Rei. The latter's dead and tired 
tone scared Usagi more than Rei's appearance. "Sure, Rei. Anything you need." 
"I need to go away for a while." 
A long silence issued thereafter as the two friends gazed at one another, trying 
to determine what the other was thinking. 
"The others won't be too happy about this, you know," Usagi murmured after some 
time. "They're going to feel like you're abandoning them." 
Rei seemed unconcerned. "Usagi, it's been five months since we returned from 
Toril. Nothing has happened in all that time." 
"The Grell isn't exactly 'nothing'." 
"The Grell isn't in Tokyo anymore." 
Usagi looked startled. "How do you know?" 
Rei favored her with a faint smile. "I don't have all my powers for nothing, 
Meatball Head. I know the feel of the Grell's magic. He's not in the city 
anymore." 
"Do you know where he went?" 
"It doesn't matter," the dark-haired girl replied, shrugging. "I think I 
understand him a bit. I think he's arrogant and power-hungry. I beat him once, 
so he tried to get back at me by gaining an advantage in stealing Cole." She 
paused here, long enough to gain control of her welling emotions again. 
Outwardly, Usagi saw her blink back tears. 
"He was wrong, though, Usagi," Rei continued, her voice hardening into cold 
steel. "There can only be one advantage he can ever gain, and that is you. 
Everyone else doesn't matter." 
Now it was Usagi's turn to shed her tears, her lips trembling. "Oh Rei. I'm so 
sorry. Surely-" 
Rei held a finger to her lips, a gentle smile on her face. "No, Princess. I can 
help people to a lesser extent, as long as it doesn't endanger your life. I 
can't save Cole's life. I know this now. The Grell was hoping I would try, 
perhaps betraying you in the process." 
Rei's smile disappeared. "He came so close..." 
Usagi clutched Rei hand in her own two. "Rei, I don't understand. Why are you 
leaving? What if the Grell comes back and attacks us? What if we need you?" 
"The Grell isn't interested in you. He wants me. He's afraid of me, so he's 
going to try to get rid of me. I don't think he'll bother you while I'm gone." 
"But you just said-" 
Rei frowned. "The Imperium Crystal will protect you more ably than I can. 
Besides, he would have to lure you out in the open, in which case you would have 
the other Scouts, and Tuxedo Mask to help you. No, he may be arrogant, but he's 
not a fool. Without an army behind him, he can't defeat you." 
"I still don't understand why you have to leave," the blonde moaned, shaking her 
head in confusion. 
"I can't quite explain it myself, Usagi. When I realized I was coming close to 
falling into his trap, I lost sight of myself, of what it all means. Before, 
when I was just plain old Sailor Mars, and we were fighting the Negaverse, it 
was simple to tell myself that all I had to do was protect you, no matter the 
cost. With relatively few powers, it was pretty concrete." 
"Now, I have my legacy to worry about, and it's not that easy anymore. Don't 
take this the wrong way, Princess, but you're too pure and innocent to know the 
lure of power. I'm not. I have stains on my soul that I have to live with 
everyday that threaten to steal my will away." 
"We all have problems, Rei," Usagi said quietly. 
"But we all don't have damning magic that may shatter the Earth!" Rei flared 
back angrily before she could gain control. "I'm lost, and until I find myself, 
I not going to be any good to anyone." 
The princess let this sink in, searching Rei's eyes. All they foretold was 
despair, misery and confusion. She looked tired and wrung-out. She desperately 
needed a vacation, even if this was the first attack in nearly five months. 
"How long have you felt like this?" Usagi asked. 
Rei shrugged. "Ever since I got my magic, I guess. I don't know where I belong, 
or even if I belong. I know you guys are my friends, and I love you all for it, 
but every now and then, I feel alienated and alone. It's not your fault. That's 
just how I feel." 
Usagi chuckled nervously. "Setsuna and Haruka don't help matters either, do 
they?" 
Rei smiled at her friend's effort at humor. Another simple, comfortable silence 
bathed over them for a few minutes. 
"So, where will you go?" the blonde asked softly. 
"I'm not sure. The United States seems the most likely choice. Maybe even 
England. Minako is forever ranting and raving about England." 
"And you don't know when you'll be back?" 
Rei shook her head. "Whenever I'm ready." 
Usagi seemed to accept that. "What about Grandpa?" 
"Actually, that's the easiest part. I've been dropping hints for a while now 
that I want to travel a little bit. I think he knows I have money now, but he's 
been nice enough not to ask. I suppose he trusts me." 
Usagi stood up suddenly, and forced a cheerful smile onto her face, even though 
her eyes shimmered with unshed tears. "Well then, I'll tell the others so you 
don't have to worry about it. I'll make sure they understand." 
Rei stood up slowly and wrapped Usagi in a long and sisterly hug. "Thank you, 
Princess." 
"I'll miss you," came the mumbled reply from her shoulder. 
Rei felt a lump in her throat. "I'll miss you, too." 
They released each other, and Usagi watched the twinkle of tiny motes surround 
her friend before they burst into showering light. 
When she could see again, Rei was gone.