Rising Darkness

By Sillabub

Chapter Eight – Relic

“ . . . the rest of us are going to keep fighting everything that comes our way and keep 
hoping that one day our efforts will pay off and we WILL have peace, even if it doesn’t 
last forever.” -Tenou Haruka

*****

“Mamo-chan! Mamo-chan!” shrieked Sailor Moon hysterically as the senshi ran toward the 
bridge. She was going out of her mind in worry; so many things were going on around her 
but she was only aware that Mamoru was hurt, she wasn’t there with him, and no matter 
how fast she ran it would never be fast enough. What was the purpose of those damned wings 
if she couldn’t use them to fly?

“We’re almost there,” panted Jupiter, running alongside Sailor Moon.

They could see the bridge clearly now; a huge hole was blown clean through the middle, 
traffic had stopped completely, and several wrecked cars were strewn about as if there 
had been quite a few large collisions. The sight of the wreckage did nothing to ease 
Usagi’s mind.

“Mamo-chan!” she screamed again.

“Calm down, will you?” said Healer crossly as they ran. “Shouting won’t help him!”
Ignoring her, Usagi looked desperately at the ground to where Luna and Diana were running. 

“Luna, where is he?” she asked, almost madly. “Where’s Mamo-chan?”

“Just ahead,” panted Luna. “Artemis is with him.”

Brushing tears from her eyes, Sailor Moon nodded and pushed on.

After a moment more of running, they spotted Tuxedo Kamen crumpled at the base of the 
beginning of the bridge, the shadows making him difficult to spot. If it hadn’t been for 
the whiteness of Artemis’s fur standing out, they may have missed him altogether.

“Mamo-chan!” screamed Sailor Moon as they approached. She collapsed beside Tuxedo Kamen, 
reaching toward his ashen, blood-smeared face. He was so still, and blood was steadily 
streaming from the wounds in his stomach. “Mamo-chan!”

“Don’t touch the body,” said Uranus sharply, crouching down beside her. “Wait for Saturn.”

“‘The body’?” shrieked Sailor Moon hysterically, turning her narrow, tear-filled eyes on 
the tall soldier. “Don’t call him that! He’s my HUSBAND!”

Uranus looked somewhat stunned, then turned uncomfortably away to look around at the others. 
“Where’s Saturn?”

“Here,” panted Sailor Saturn, quite out of breath and pale as she jogged up to them.

“Calm down, Sailor Moon,” said Venus gently, putting a reassuring hand on the sobbing 
woman’s back. “Saturn’s here.”

Sailor Moon’s sobs ceased as Saturn dropped to her knees beside Tuxedo Kamen, but she 
continued to cry silently and refused to take her eyes from her husband’s pale, still face. 
Saturn’s small gloved hands glowed above the wounds in Tuxedo Kamen’s stomach as slowly the 
blood flow stopped and the wounds began to heal. It only took a moment for his wounds to 
finish mending, but it felt like an eternity for Usagi. She found herself holding her breath 
as he regained the color in his face and, tremulously, his eyelashes fluttered.

Sailor Moon let out a sob of relief. “Mamo-chan!”

Glazed blue eyes slid open, and Tuxedo Kamen winced at the sunlight streaming into them. 
“What?” he muttered, struggling to sit upright.

His efforts proved to be in vain as he suddenly found himself knocked onto his back; 
Sailor Moon had tackled him, bawling into his shoulder as she clutched his shirt, and 
Chibi Moon, he noted in mild surprise, was hugging onto one of his arms. Now was not the 
time to ask about her presence, but he couldn’t help looking somewhat dazed as he peered down 
at the two petite soldiers clutching him. After a moment he turned to smile at Saturn.

“Thank you,” he said quietly, noting her exhausted appearance and the beads of sweat on her 
brow. She merely nodded at him as Pluto and Uranus gently helped her to her feet.

The relief of reaching Tuxedo Kamen in time was felt throughout the group, and smiles were 
spreading over the faces of the senshi as they clustered around him. It took a huge effort to 
stand up, not because he had been so badly injured but because he was supporting the weight of 
both Sailor Moon and Sailor Chibi Moon, who were still clinging to him, but Tuxedo Kamen managed 
to get to his feet. When he stood up and looked toward the destruction on the bridge, however, 
the mood changed. The senshi turned quiet and began to stare as well at the wreckage, their 
expressions grim and somber as if they were taking in the sight for the first time, and the 
magnitude of what had happened seemed to hit all of them at once.

“God . . .” breathed Chibi Moon, her scarlet eyes huge. “This is horrible.”

“What happened?” asked Fighter quietly, her dark eyes flitting from the bridge to Tuxedo Kamen 
and back again.

Tuxedo Kamen opened his mouth to reply, but Sailor Moon spoke first, her voice very weak.

“Hecate did this.”

Her husband looked at her pale, anxious face, paused for a moment, and gave a small, hesitant nod 
that flooded Sailor Moon’s small body with dread.

Hotaru shook her head, looking confused. “It makes no sense,” she said softly. “Why would she do 
this?”

“Are you sure you didn’t piss that woman off in a past life, Sailor Moon?” asked Healer. 

Sailor Moon didn’t respond; she was suddenly seized by an incredible feeling of fatigue, 
weakness, and nausea and swayed on the spot. If Tuxedo Kamen hadn’t been there beside her, 
she would have fallen to the ground. He grabbed her gently by the shoulders as she wavered, and he 
allowed her tiny body to slump against his own stronger one.

“You okay?” he asked in concern.

She nodded weakly, holding her stomach. Chibi Moon and Pluto started forward at the sight of her 
clutching her lower abdomen, but Sailor Moon sent a glance in their direction to let them know she 
was okay. The gesture didn’t go unnoticed by the others.

“Is your stomach okay, Sailor Moon?” asked Neptune worriedly. “You look ill.”

“She probably just needs food,” said Chibi Moon quickly. “It’s been a while since she’s eaten anything.” 

Tuxedo Kamen nodded and nudged Sailor Moon gently. “Can you stand?” he asked quietly, and when she 
nodded he pulled her into a standing position which, to her relief, she managed to maintain. “Let’s get 
you some food, okay?”

She nodded. “Thank you,” she said softly.

They made to leave, but the sound of sirens alerted the group of senshi that police vehicles were 
approaching the scene. Jupiter and Mars hesitated as they noticed a news van closely following the 
police cars, and they exchanged vengeful glances. It seemed, based on the angry gleam in their eyes, 
that the two soldiers were thinking the exact same thing.

“You guys go ahead, Mars and I are going to stay behind,” said Jupiter casually to the others, confirming 
their suspicions. “We’ll meet back up at the shrine.”

Mercury raised her eyebrows. “Don’t bully them,” she said sternly. “It will only create more problems.”

“We won’t,” said Mars, violet eyes sparking in a way that contradicted her claim. “We just have to straighten 
out a few things.”

The others looked skeptical but Jupiter made a shooing gesture, looking over her shoulder at the police 
officers who were in the process of getting out of their vehicles. “Go on, go on, we’ll handle this,” she 
said hurriedly.

Obediently, the group made to leave. Shaking his head, Artemis muttered, “Some letter to the editor.”

As the group of senshi left the scene and Mars and Jupiter approached the police officers and news people, 
there was a small sense of comfort in the fact that although the situation had grown even more ominous with 
the new attack, at least there was certain to be a retraction in the next day’s paper.

*****

It took nearly an hour for Rei and Makoto to meet back up with the group, but when they arrived at the Hikawa 
Jinja it was obvious that the silence looming through the shrine had remained unbroken for almost as long as 
they had been absent. Quietly as though not to disturb the stillness of the shrine they reported that they had 
“gently explained” the situation to the police officers and that they had “reasonably persuaded” the reporters 
to write any future articles about the senshi from a different angle -- and to print a retraction. Although 
no one said it directly, everyone was pretty sure that there was more to the story; no doubt Rei and Makoto 
were intentionally leaving out details that the others would object to, such as how exactly they had “explained” 
and “persuaded” the police and reporters to change their minds.

As soon as they had explained everything that had happened, however, the silence that had lingered in the 
Hikawa Jinja was restored. The senshi were quite still, occasionally shifting or whispering to one another 
or glancing nervously at Usagi, who had remained silent for a very long time. She sat tensely in a chair 
beside Ami, fists clenched over her knees as she thought of Mamoru who, despite Usagi’s protests that he had 
been injured quite seriously and should rest, had gone back to the hospital to help the injured and to make 
an attempt to explain what had caused him to leave earlier with no explanation.

It startled everyone that Usagi was the one who decided to break the silence. 

“This is never going to end, is it?” she asked softly.

The other senshi, unsure of what they could say that would actually be honest and not cause Usagi to 
collapse into tears, did not respond.

Usagi didn’t look at any of them, instead staring at the door as she said, “It’s really never . . . We’re 
going to be fighting forever, aren’t we? Our whole lives, even as we get older and have children . . .”

She stopped, looking both nervous and distraught, and as Chibi-Usa caught Setsuna’s eye Usagi turned to look at 
the others, trying to seem as if she hadn’t said too much.

“You’ve seen what the future’s like,” said Michiru gently. “We’re in this for the long run, all of us.”

Usagi turned imploring eyes upon Setsuna, speaking to everyone but addressing her as she said, “But why can’t we 
change the future? We’re fighting so we can have peace, but if this never changes then in the end we’re never 
going to have it.”

“All evil can’t be eradicated, no matter how hard one tries,” said Setsuna quietly. “There will always be some 
Chaos out there.”

“Besides, Usagi-chan,” said Makoto, trying to smile in a reassuring way, “we’ve always known . . .”

“No, we haven’t!” cried Usagi, cutting Makoto off and causing the others to stare at her in surprise. “This isn’t 
something we signed up for or wanted! Not any one of you want to fight forever, you can’t!”

“As long as there’s evil out there, we have to,” said Hotaru softly.

“So it doesn’t matter what we want?” asked Usagi shrilly.

“Do you WANT innocent people to die?” Haruka asked, staring at Usagi. “Do you WANT for the world to be 
destroyed or for the galaxy to fall under control of a maniac? If that’s so then quit, don’t fight 
anymore. But the rest of us are going to keep fighting everything that comes our way and keep hoping 
that one day our efforts will pay off and we WILL have peace, even if it doesn’t last forever.”

Usagi stared at Haruka for a moment, her eyes wide and glassy as if her mind wasn’t able to process what 
she was hearing. And perhaps that was true, for instead of responding she abruptly stood to her feet and 
let out a large, shaky sigh.

“I’m going to the hospital to wait for Mamo-chan,” she said, not looking at any of them. “He shouldn’t be 
too much longer. I just really . . . need to be with him right now.”

No one said anything to make her stay, so Usagi managed a smile, grabbed her coat, and walked out of the 
shrine.

After a moment, Chibi-Usa turned to Haruka. “Haruka-san, wasn’t that a little harsh?” she said.

Haruka looked at the child, frowning. “You think so?”

“You made her cry,” pointed out Chibi-Usa. “Not that that’s hard to do, but shouldn’t we be encouraging her 
right now? She’s going through a lot.”

“A lot?” asked Haruka flatly. “An evil lunatic with malicious intentions is attacking her and the people 
around her . . . Yup, she’s never had to deal with THAT before.”

Chibi-Usa opened her mouth as if to say something else, but Setsuna caught her eye and sent her a warning 
glance. Thinking better of it, Chibi-Usa sat back and crossed her arms. “I still think it was harsh.”

“It was a little cruel, Haruka-san,” admitted Luna from her spot on Ami’s lap.

“Well, I think it was necessary,” commented Yaten.

Haruka blinked at him. “You do?”

Yaten shrugged. “Well, Usagi-chan can’t give up now, and sugar coating what she needs to hear won’t give 
her much of a desire to keep fighting.”

There was a long moment of silence in the shrine as the other senshi thought about the situation in which 
they found themselves. No one spoke, save for Seiya, who whispered something into Kakyuu’s ear and Minako, 
who after staring down at her clasped hands for a long moment said, “Despite everything, I still can’t deny 
that Usagi had a good point.” 

For some reason her words made Yaten stare at her for a long time, looking troubled, but he said nothing. 
Silence resumed, and it seemed clear that no one was going to say anything to contradict Minako.

*****

Princess Serenity let out a loud, happy laugh.

At seven years old, she knew she was too old to be running around the courtyards in her gown, especially for 
such a silly reason as chasing after a ball, but she couldn’t contain the joyful laughter that was bubbling 
over inside of her. Skipping her lessons for the day had been a better idea than she had originally thought, 
and while at one point she had worried about what would happen when her tutor or her mother inevitably caught 
her she had disregarded those worries in favor of much more enjoyable pursuits.

The Princess kicked the ball, hard, and she watched in satisfaction as it sailed through the air before she 
gathered her skirts in both hands and ran as fast as she could after it. Serenity ran toward the large, 
ornate fountain at the edge of the courtyard where the ball had landed, but upon drawing near the fountain 
she stopped.

For reasons unknown to the Princess, Queen Serenity had expressly forbidden Princess Serenity from ever 
going near the fountain, but now that she was near it the Princess wondered why. It was large, round, and 
carved of the finest marble, and the water flowing through it was clear and pristine. Even though the Princess 
couldn’t swim yet, she saw no reason why she shouldn’t be able to at least get near enough to the fountain to 
retrieve her ball.

So she did, but upon moving forward and retrieving the plaything, she found an intense curiosity take hold of 
her. Small brow furrowing, Serenity anxiously peered at the fountain and after a moment decided that surely 
it wouldn’t harm her to look at the water.

Curiosity defeated her conscience, and Serenity found herself edging near the rim of the fountain and peering 
skeptically inside. It looked completely harmless and quite normal. Maybe her mother was simply concerned with 
Serenity’s inability to swim, but then again, it didn’t look very deep. 

As Serenity stood there, holding her ball and peering at the water, she found herself being reminded forcefully 
of the fact that the fountain was forbidden, and she had already done wrong by skipping her lessons for the day. 
She began to feel guilty doing two wrong things at once and, reluctantly, she decided to leave. But as she did, 
something strange happened.

Suddenly Serenity at once felt incredibly peaceful. She stared down into the calm water, her large eyes 
slightly glazed as she reached a hand toward the surface. Something was drawing her inexplicably to the water; 
she wanted nothing more than to jump in the fountain, to submerge herself in the cool liquid, to disappear 
beneath its reflective surface. As the child stared, transfixed, she came forward and, barely aware of her 
actions, she dropped her ball, climbed over the marble rim of the fountain, and slowly slid into the water. The 
water was cool and soothing, lapping peacefully at her waist as Serenity stood in it, her gown flowing around her 
as if one with the water. 

She expected to feel satisfied when she came in contact with the water, but merely standing in it was not enough. 
Something inside of her was telling the Princess to go deeper, to forget the rest of the world and submerge 
herself completely in the water.

Princess Serenity obeyed the strange impulse and, bending her knees, slowly sank into the water.

The water was at her shoulders.

It wasn’t enough.

The water was at her chin.

Something told her to go deeper.

Serenity shut her unfocussed, glazed eyes as she sank entirely into the water, feeling peace at last as she did so. 
Water was all around her, and there was something very satisfying about it.

A few seconds later, however, when she tried to breathe and was unable to, the water was suddenly not as peaceful 
as it had seemed. Serenity gasped, inhaling water, and began to struggle to free herself from her aquatic prison. 
Her gown, heavy with water, hindered her movements, but it wasn’t only that; it felt as if some invisible current 
was drawing her to the floor of the fountain.

Serenity looked about wildly, unable to see anything, and her lungs ached unbearably. Her heart was beating in 
her ears, and she knew it would only be a matter of moments before she was dead.

Unconsciousness was settling in her brain when strong, slender hands gripped her by the shoulders, pulled, and 
with much effort dragged her from the fountain. Everything was foggy and confused, and the Princess was dimply 
aware of the fact that she was out of the water and was being moved gently to the ground. 

And then Serenity was suddenly awake, as if something that had been suffocating her had been removed, and 
she coughed up water as a slim arm helped her sit up. After several minutes of gasping, coughing, and crying 
in fear, the Princess found herself being hugged tightly by her mother.

“Serenity,” said the Queen, sounding more worried than the Princess had ever heard her sound. “Oh, my Princess, 
thank God . . .”

Coughing, Serenity peered through red eyes up at her mother, who was pale and whose eyes were swimming with 
relieved tears. The Princess at once felt incredibly guilty.

“Mama,” she gasped, “Mama, I’m sorry.” She buried her face in her mother’s chest, noticing that Queen Serenity’s
heart was beating almost as quickly as her own. “I’m so sorry.”

The Queen took her daughter by the shoulders and stared down into her small, scared face, looking both severe 
and frightened. “Princess Serenity, why were you in the fountain? You KNOW it’s forbidden.”

“I know, Mama, I know!” cried Serenity. “I’m sorry, I couldn’t help it!”

For some reason Queen Serenity grew even paler at those words as she said very quietly, “You couldn’t help it?”

Princess Serenity shook her head vigorously, wet curls slapping her cheeks as she did so. “Something happened, 
Mama,” she said quickly, pausing only to cough again. “I was chasing my ball and ran by the fountain, but when 
I got close to it the fountain made me get in!”

“The . . . the fountain did?” asked the Queen, her voice quieter than ever.

Serenity nodded. “It was like something was making me get in the fountain, like I had no control over what I 
was doing at all.” She paused, looking away in shame. “It felt nice. I couldn’t think of anything but the 
fountain and the water, and all I wanted to do was go deeper and deeper into the water until I disappeared.”

Queen Serenity looked scared, but said nothing. Instead she gazed at the fountain which was flowing as calmly 
and innocently as ever.

Princess Serenity swallowed hard. “I didn’t really WANT to disappear,” she said, as if reassuring her mother. 
“I didn’t want to get in the water at all. But it happened, and I don’t know why.”

The Queen remained silent, still staring at the fountain. Her face had changed from frightened to expressionless, 
but when she spoke her voice was full of emotion.

“Even now, dear friend, you try to attack me?” she said quietly.

Serenity blinked. “Mama? Who are you talking to?”

Queen Serenity shook her head. “No one, dear.” She turned to look at her daughter very seriously, and Princess 
Serenity stared up at her as she said gravely, “My Princess, you must never go near this fountain again.”

The Princess nodded vigorously, having learned her lesson. “I won’t, Mama.”

Queen Serenity nodded and rose to her feet, holding Princess Serenity’s hand and helping the child stand to 
her feet. While wobbly, the Princess managed to walk alongside her mother as they made their way, silently, 
back to the palace. Queen Serenity didn’t say another word, and although the Princess had many questions about 
what had happened and why the fountain remained in the courtyard if it was so dangerous, she respected the 
silence and said nothing.

“Usako? Usako?”

Someone was shaking her awake. Usagi opened her eyes sleepily, looking around the hospital waiting room.

Mamoru was looking gently down at her, smiling in a way that made it seem like he was both surprised and 
pleased to see her. “You fell asleep,” he said fondly. “Have you been waiting for me all this time?”

Usagi looked up at the clock, noticing she had been asleep for almost three hours. Looking sheepish, she 
smiled up at her husband and rose weakly to her feet. “I had to be as near as I could,” she said softly, 
looking up at him.

Mamoru wrapped a long arm around her shoulders and squeezed her against him. “Well, you’re lucky I saw you, 
otherwise you may have been left to sleep here all night,” he joked.

Usagi pouted. “You would have worried about me if you went home and I wasn’t there,” she said pointedly.

He sighed heavily, smiling but looking very tired. “I know, I know,” he said. Mamoru grinned down at her and 
jerked his head toward the exit. “You ready to go?”

Usagi nodded. “Mm-hmm. I’m sleepy.”

Mamoru sighed. “Me too,” and he truly sounded it.

A twinge of guilt struck Usagi, and she looked worriedly up at him as they walked toward the exit. “How were 
your patients?” she asked softly. “Were there a lot of injuries?”

He didn’t respond for a few seconds, looking quite hesitant. “Twenty-three people were injured,” he said. 
“But almost all of them have already been treated and sent home.”

“What about the rest?” asked Usagi, eyes wide.

Mamoru held the door open for her as they walked out into the cold December air, looking both uncomfortable 
and grave. “Two people are in critical condition,” he reported quietly. “But we think they’ll recover.”

Usagi’s brow furrowed as she continued looking up at her husband, searching his face for an answer to the 
question she was most worried about. When she found none, she decided to ask.

“How many people died?”

Mamoru stared straight ahead and didn’t respond for several moments.

“Seven.”

Not another word was said, but Usagi kept one hand pressed over her stomach and cried silent tears all the 
way home.

*****

“Yaten-san!”

Yaten stopped where he had been walking alone down the sidewalk to look over his shoulder, surprised that a 
male voice would be calling out to him since Seiya had gone back to the apartment with Kakyuu and Taiki had 
disappeared somewhere with Ami. To his surprise, Artemis was padding swiftly toward him, white tail waving, 
and Yaten’s lips curved into a small smile as he crouched down to greet the feline. 

“Hey, Artemis.”

“Hi,” Artemis replied, peering up at Yaten in an uncertain kind of way that reminded Yaten of the time 
Luna had developed a crush on him. 

As friendly as he could, Yaten smiled and said, “Have you been following me?”

Twitching his nose, the small cat looked away and frowned down at his own paws. Yaten frowned in concern.

“Is something wrong?” he asked softly.

Artemis sighed, raising his head to stare up at the young man. “Actually,” he admitted rather awkwardly, 
“it’s kind of about Mina.”

Soft green eyes widened, and Yaten leaned forward attentively. If anyone knew what was wrong with Minako, 
Artemis did. “What’s up?” he asked quietly, his warm breath creating a small cloud of mist as it hit the cold air.

Artemis looked away. “She . . .  she’s going through a hard time right now,” he replied softly. Yaten 
shifted from his crouching position in front of the cat, staring at Artemis uncertainly.

“Like what?”

“She’s hiding something from everyone,” said Artemis. “She has been for a years, but it’s finally starting 
to eat away at her.”

Yaten’s eyes widened. “She’s hiding something?” he echoed in a whisper. Artemis nodded, and a clouded 
expression crossed Yaten’s face. “What is it?” he asked quietly, brushing silvery bangs from his eyes.

Artemis opened his mouth to reply, then decided against it and closed it abruptly. “It’s not my place to 
say it, Yaten-san,” he said seriously, twitching his tail. “Mina’s the only one who can tell you.”

“So . . .” Yaten started, the cold air and a sudden uneasiness he could not explain making his throat 
constrict, “. . . do you want me to talk to her or something?”

The cat sighed, his small, white head dropping and his ears drooping sadly. “We’ve all tried,” he replied 
softly, staring almost guiltily at the ground. “We’ve all tried to talk to her, but no one can reach her. 
She’s just been so . . . distant. Especially since you’ve been back.”

Yaten turned to him, brow furrowed. “Artemis . . .”

Shaking his head, the feline looked up at Yaten. “Listen, I don’t care what it takes, I just want her to 
be happy again,” he said quietly. “She tries to pretend to be happy, she really does . . . but her 
happiness is so fake. We can all tell something’s wrong, and only Ami-chan and I know what it is . . . 
but she won’t open up to us and talk about it . . . Maybe if you tried . . .” He stopped, his voice 
trailing off. 

Yaten looked baffled. “If you know what’s wrong, then why do I have to . . .”

“Yaten-san,” Artemis said quietly, peering solemnly up at the Light. “Listen to me. I can’t tell you 
what’s wrong with her. I can only tell you that I know you can help Mina overcome this if you talk to 
her and try to understand her.”

“But still, I . . .” Yaten interjected incredulously.

“Yaten-san, we need your help,” Artemis continued firmly. “I know you care about Mina as much as the 
rest of us, maybe even more . . . All I want you to do is talk to her.”

“But . . . but . . . why me?” Yaten sputtered in bewilderment.

A strange look entered the cat’s eyes as he stared up at the Light. “Again, Yaten-san, it’s not my place 
to say it,” he said.

Yaten tensed, sensing an unspoken accusation in Artemis’ words. His brow furrowed and a haunted look 
entered his eyes, but then he shook his head, dismissing any stray thoughts. “Okay, okay,” he muttered, 
running a hand through his hair.

A hopeful look lit up Artemis’ eyes. “You mean you’ll help?”

The Light frowned. “Of course, I will,” he said. “Don’t worry, Artemis. I’ll talk to her and do what 
I can to help.”

Artemis smiled, looking relieved. “I knew you would. Thanks a lot, Yaten-san.”

“No problem,” shrugged the Light, turning to look out at the city. 

Artemis followed his gaze, also staring out at the quiet, deserted city that was so different from the 
loud, bustling one it had been a short time ago. It almost seemed as if after the attacks that had 
happened over the past few days, the entire city of Tokyo had become some sort of uninhabited ghost 
town. A cold wind swirled about Yaten and Artemis, clutching at them, chilling their very bones. The 
silence was unbearable, and, shivering, Yaten gulped.

“It’s getting colder,” he said softly.

Artemis nodded, his eyes clouded. “I wonder what’s going to happen.”

Pale green eyes slowly scanned the quiet city, and Yaten shivered.

*****

End Chapter Eight