"Ami!"
Rei bolted upright in her bed, the images from her dream raising her worries to outright fear. Looking out the window, she noticed the sun was just rising. I have to get Usagi over here, she thought.
"Why are you calling me so early, Rei? There's no school today," yawned Usagi into her phone. Her eyes widened in shock at what she heard next. "Really? I-I'll be over as soon as I can!"
The three of them (including Luna) sat by the Sacred Flame a short time later, as Rei sought to establish contact like she had felt from her dreams. At first, there was only the flicker of the Flame's attempt to find something, then a curled up body appeared, one that the both of them recognized.
It was Sailor Mercury as she was in the Senshi outfit, though darkness seemed to be seeping into it. Then...
Rei and Usagi gasped as a pair of red snake-eyes appeared behind the form. "I'd wondered when you two would try to find my new... protege. Don't worry, she's unharmed." The form of Sailor Mercury began to uncurl as the outfit continued to darken. "Eventually, you'll face your opponents' leader, a greedy little piece of work named Beryl. Defeat her, and I'll be happy to let you have your teammate back."
By now the darkness had covered her entire outfit, and seemed to be turning into some sort of metal armor. "The longer you take, however, the more that living here will cause... changes." With that, Mercury's eyes opened, displaying glowing red eyes, before the whole image faded out to resume the appearance of normal flames.
Rei and Usagi stared at each other, at a loss for words. It was Luna who spoke up. "We need to find the other senshi, and fast!"
Horninculus directed his thoughts to Keeper Mercury. I accept your offer, he thought, at which point a link established, not only to the Dungeon Heart, but directly to the Keeper. In the process, the ice prison fell apart, the shreds of magic entering him, apparently to await some future use.
Watching the process from the outside, Ami's eyebrows rose at the process. To her, the shape of the magic seemed to bear some similarities to Tuxedo Mask's outfit before drawing toward the demon's outfit and disappearing. In addition, a male symbol appeared on his forehead, flared briefly in dark blue, and vanished.
"Hmmm... That wasn't quite the usual bond, but I suppose you're not the usual type of Keeper, either. Now, let's see about getting this place more properly focussed." Horny blinked as he noticed an imp climbing out of the pool, followed by another. These looked more like the standard imps, but there were still differences.
The outfits were almost as simple as the usual version, but included shoulder guards. Their bodies were also red and more muscular than Mercury's, but didn't quite appear as focussed. They looked about before heading to an area to carve new rooms.
"I guess our next step from here depends on whether we hit the surface or the nearest portal first, huh?" Ami commented.
(Posted Sun, 30 Jan 2011 00:40)
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