` If That's What It Takes `

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The night outside was still cool, even for a native of the cold and frigid Nemesis. As he walked away from the mansion, Saffir carefully tightened his dark coat about him, his black work folder tucked protectively underneath one arm. He couldn't understand why he felt so cold; he had never felt quite this way back on Nemesis --

"I won't think about it," he murmured quietly, vehemently. "I don't know what Demando-oniisan is doing, or why he sent me here, to the twentieth century -- but I don't need to know! I don't WANT to know! He's my brother, and I trust him!"

His empty words echoed hollowly down the abandoned street; not even Saffir believed these weakened statements. Bowing his head, shoulders sagging, he furiously dashed away the threat of tears, muttering wrathfully, "I trusted him..."

Finally convinced that he could walk on without stumbling into a wall -- or over his own two feet -- Saffir raised his head and began to meander aimlessly down the silent street. It wasn't really all that far to the hotel from Tomoe-kyouju's residence, and he was in no hurry to get "home," either. It struck him then that perhaps it was high time that he got himself a genuine home -- Rudra knew he had the money -- but he had never really thought about it. Truthfully, Saffir wasn't one for these little details; it was something Demando had always concerned himself with. Demando had been meticulous in that way. Often, he would do things himself just to made sure they were done right.

Demando, the eternal perfectionist.

Saffir was furious with himself for allowing this train of thought to come so far. When he had asked to be moved away from his view of the jakozuishou construct in downtown Tokyo, he had also sworn to himself that it was the last time he would think about his elder brother. There was nothing he could do to change the situation he was in, not if it had truly been Demando who had sent him here. Going against Demando's orders was like rubbing Rudra's fur up the wrong way; it was ludicrous as well as suicidal.

Just the thought of the cat made Saffir's eyes water; for not the first time in his life, he cursed his Rudra-be-damned allergy to cat fur. It only ever arose with cats, too. No other animal could garner such a violent reaction; and it was just Fate's lovely joke that the Prime Minister of Nemesis had to be, of all things, a cat.

Saffir shook his head, trying to banish all thoughts of Nemesis as he continued down the street. However, banished thoughts have a custom of finding their way back into one's head, and very quickly, at that.

He stood outside the hotel building for several minutes before turning and striding away in the opposite direction. Even though the threat of rain was still imminent, Saffir didn't care. In fact, when the rain began to fall, he felt almost -- relieved.

He paused in mid-stride, allowing the cool rain to fall over him in welcome sheets. It was odd; there was no wind to whip the rain about, it was merely falling vertically. Feeling oddly calmed by the rain, Saffir inclined his face towards the heavens and closed his dusky blue eyes. It was almost as if that cool rain were washing away the pain, confusion and absurdity of these past two weeks -- and the pain, it was so great...

Saffir liked this rain. It masked his tears; it was as if he could hide his broken heart behind a mask of raindrops. He could smile while he cried, and no-one would know the difference, because the rain was the same, cold and bitter.

Anger filled his heart; he ducked his head and shielded his folder from the rain. Even though he had left Nemesis, even though he was far gone from the powers of the jakozuishou, he still had his own inbred magics. They were nowhere near as potent or powerful as Demando's, but they did the job well enough when he could actually control them.

It was now that he purposely tried to sense the presence of an aura once darkened with the powers of the jakozuishou. It was easy enough to find; there were only five humans in the vicinity of Tokyo who had ever been corrupted by the Wiseman's favourite toy, and he himself was one of them. The other four were gathered together, which made him a little apprehensive. Back on Nemesis, the four sisters together had been just like putting a cat among the pigeons and hoping they'd call a truce.

With barely another thought, Saffir more or less lurched off in the direction of the auras. He could have teleported if he had really wanted to, but such expenditures of energy generally didn't do much for him. That was the other reason Saffir didn't use magic; it drained him much more than he cared to admit.

However, at the moment, that wasn't the reason he decided to walk. He wanted to stay outside, in this chill rain -- because it numbed him, made him feel deliciously cold and unfeeling.

It made the pain go away.

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Serpentine had not been expecting Demando to return so soon; he was understandably startled when, upon walking into the westernmost library, he found Demando seated at one of the long oak tables. He paused for a moment, undecided about his course of action. The Prince hadn't looked up from the glittering array of objects on the table; he didn't appear to have even heard the interruption. For a moment, he considered simply backing out and leaving the Prince alone. Now, this wasn't because Serpentine was a coward, far from it. It was just that he knew to avoid annoying Demando re'Adamant at this point in time was quite a good career move. Not to mention it saved on life insurance policies.

He was surreptitiously inching his way back out the door when Demando looked up. Serpentine stiffened; he soon relaxed. Even though Demando was staring at him unblinkingly, he did not appear angry.

"Prince Demando-sama," he finally blurted out, when it appeared the shiro no oji would say nothing. "I hadn't expected you back for a few more days --"

Demando laced his long fingered hands together, smiling tiredly. "Well, neither did I, actually. However, Sailor Pluto seemed dead-set on me letting sleeping dogs lie for a while longer."

Serpentine was not a master at picking up subtle hints, but even he knew that the twinge in Demando's voice was one of warning. He was not to ask what these "sleeping dogs" were.

Instead, he moved closer to Demando, finally seating himself across from this ruler of Nemesis. He glanced down and let out a whistle. "Are these yours?"

It was a stupid question, he knew that. If Demando wanted something, he basically just took it. It was one of his greatest strengths; paradoxically, it was one of his greatest flaws. Serpentine was well aware that Demando was owner of this vast collection of clear, perfect crystal that refracted the light much as a diamond would. Internal, cold fire.

"Yes -- they are mine," he said, and sighed. Serpentine noticed that he held one in his hand, almost shielding it. Though he wondered what it was, he placed his attention on what lay before him, spread across the shiny surface of the table.

Animals. It seemed to Serpentine that the entire mammalian contingent of the animal kingdom -- with several birds and fish included -- lay across the table, captured so neatly in crystalline form. There were hundreds of the things, all so tiny and so perfect in their form. Serpentine took the nearest objet d'art with his fingers, then carefully holding it in the palm of his hand. It was a tiny little earthen cat, by the look of it. Whatever it was, it was a member of the larger cat species, perhaps a panther, or a lynx, or-

He hadn't realised he had spoken aloud until Demando said quietly, "Cheetah."

Serpentine started, the little figure almost falling out of his palm. "What?"

"That's a cheetah," repeated Demando patiently, reaching over to take the feline from Serpentine's unresisting hand. The Prince then placed it lovingly back with its fellows, still holding the other creature hidden in the palm of his hand.

Serpentine watched him in silence. The Prince was carefully arranging the animals into groups, it seemed. It was then that the purple-haired lord realised there were not only animals, there were trees, bushes, rocks, even a construction that looked like a tiny oasis. Further down the end of the table was a collection of underwater constructs, watery-looking formations with tiny sea creatures attached to them in ways that appeared so natural.

Demando was placing a playful Hectors dolphin near one of these when Serpentine dared to speak again. "Do you mind if I ask what you're doing?"

"No, you may ask."

He paused, a little surprised that Demando had replied so easily, so genteel in the face of a question that usually would have angered him. Finally, he just said it. "What are you doing?"

"It's none of your business."

Serpentine would have laughed, had the expression on Demando's face not been so adamantly serious. It seemed so absurd, his reply, but he looked like he meant every word. He lowered his eyes back to the animals, reaching out with a long finger to gently stroke the back of a roaring lion. "Demando-sama, what is all this?"

"The Garden," he said, almost tonelessly. "This is the Garden. It is where I go when I need some -- yes. It is where I go when I need some peace, some tranquillity."

"Oh," said Serpentine, suddenly feeling a little embarrassed as he began to stand. "I should go, leave you with-"

Demando waved his hand, indicating he should sit. Serpentine noted with some gratification that the movement did not seem to disturb his sensitive side, as it had done before. "You don't have to go. You can look at the Garden if you want."

Staring at the pieces, Serpentine was struck by how they reminded him of something else. "These look they were made by the same hand who crafted Saff- I mean, the person who created your brother's beloved crystal chess set."

"Oh, they were," Demando said, pausing over his thoughts as his hand tightened about the figure concealed in his palm. "Saffir's beautiful crystal chess set, so entirely different from my ebony and ivory pieces -- yes, they were made by the same person."

Serpentine's brow furrowed. "But I thought your brother had made his chess-"

Demando stood up so quickly that his chair clattered to the floor behind him, abandoned. His eyes held a faraway look, so distant they were almost as empty as the Nemesian daytime sky. "The same person," he muttered, and he shook his head, as if it pained him. One hand stole to his side to touch the wound there; he winced slightly. He then slammed whatever it was he had been holding back on the table, before storming from the room without a further word to the stunned Lord Marshal.

Serpentine was so stunned that he did not move at first; it wasn't until the double doors slammed angrily shut that he was startled of his confused reverie. He turned about to look at the doors that seemed to frown back at him, reflecting his Prince's black mood. Indeed, when Demando was angry, this entire building seemed to know, and it knew how to reflect this negative emotion back on them. Conversely, it could reflect the Prince's lighter moods, his happy and contented mind.

Somehow, Serpentine doubted if Demando would ever be truly happy again. No matter what else happened in his life, no matter who else came into his life and entered that closed heart, there would always be a yearning space in Demando, left by the form of his blue-haired little brother. Serpentine had no genuine, physical evidence with which to back this up from Demando himself -- but then there was the way Saffir had looked so adoringly at Demando. Oh, the way that Saffir had loved his brother was obvious, and there was no way that a love that deep, that a love that pure, would never be unreturned.

The flash of broken crystal caught Serpentine's eyes as he turned away from the grimness of the slammed doors. Lying precariously near the corner of the table were two new figures, the crystalline figures that Demando had concealed in his hand. One lay on its face, the other lay beside it in two broken pieces, snapped cleanly through the middle.

Serpentine reluctantly flipped the first figure up the right way, though he knew who it was. It was Demando himself; his cold features captured so perfectly in the appropriate medium. Cold crystal; cold fire. It was Demando re'Adamant in his element.

But the broken figure -- Serpentine couldn't actually bring himself to touch it. In two pieces, like a broken heart, lay the figure of Saffir re'Adamant, so tiny, yet so perfect in its formation. It was then Serpentine realised what a prodigal talent the mathematician had been, in his crystalmancy. He had long known that Saffir had been able to shape crystal with an ease and artistic grace most people could hope to attain after a good degree of practice. But these animals -- these figures -- they illustrated a remarkable talent. Saffir's tiny figure was so much like the Blue Prince that it was actually horrifying to see it so cleanly snapped in two.

He stood up from kneeling by the table, and quickly left the room. Somehow, that incredible crystal garden, the reflected light flickering like winking eyes, seemed to mock the flesh and blood humans. But no, Serpentine realised, it wasn't him that they were mocking.

No, it was Prince Demando re'Adamant that that honour was reserved for.

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Beruche finished throwing her repertoire of pillows at her sister and turned back to the board, purposely blocking out the loud cry of playful anger from Cooan's general direction. She should have known better; Cooan was hardly one to sit down and take pillows in the face without retaliation.

Beruche shrieked in frustration as one pillow fell directly on the black and white board, scattering the playing pieces from here to kingdom come. "COOAN!" she thundered, leaping to her feet. "By God, I swear that this is the very last time you wreck my game!"

She suddenly discovered that she was talking to thin air; Cooan had vacated the living room, apparently because she had predicted Beruche's reaction. The white-haired woman sighed angrily, flicking her long braid over her shoulder. "That tears it, Cooan! I'll clean up my game AFTER I throw your lipstick collection out the window!"

She took off through the door, into the kitchen. It wasn't a good move. She promptly crashed into Petz, who was carrying a tray of coffee and the like. There was a crash, assorted shrieks, and then Calaveras stormed in, surveying the two on the floor angrily. "Look, would you three keep it down? I am TRYING to have a telephone conversation in the next room, and you're making it sound as if I live in the monkey house at the zoo!"

"Well, with Beruche living here, it's partly true," remarked Cooan, sticking her head out the kitchen door. "Isn't that right, Petz-oneesama?"

The green-haired woman merely rolled her eyes, continuing to survey the mess on the floor. "You know, coffee is hell to get out of the carpet. Whose turn is it THIS time?"

"Not mine!" Calaveras instantly piped up. "I've got to go back to the phone -- I left the poor guy on hold. I had to tell him that the neighbours were killing each other, to compensate for all the screaming and yelling."

She gave Beruche a pointed look; the blue-eyed woman looked annoyed. "Well, excuse me. I couldn't concentrate on my chess game with Cooan watching Austin Powers at full blast," she snapped back.

Cooan instantly rose to the challenge. "Oh, come on! If you want to play chess in peace and quiet, why don't you go play it in the hallway?"

Petz was beginning to look frustrated; this kind of encounter happened at least once a week. The arguing was never malicious, it was always innocent enough. It was just that she thought after a certain period of time, they would stop arguing like a bunch of seagulls.

So much for time's influence.

Calaveras was by now trying to subdue both of the younger Ayakashi sisters; it was painfully obvious she wasn't doing it to save her poor oneesan's sanity. "Would you two just SHUT UP?!"

"What, you want to get back to your beloved on the phone, eh?" asked Cooan craftily, giving her a leering look. "You know, I've always wondered what you two talk about for hours on end --"

"Just because YOU can't get a boyfriend," snorted Calaveras. "You know, you three are a little pathetic, there's been not one date between the three of you yet...."

Petz rolled her eyes. "So you keep telling us. Actually, for that remark, I think YOU should have the honour of cleaning up this little mess."

Calaveras's brown eyes widened, looking annoyed. "What?! It was the children who did it!"

It was at that moment the lightening flickered across the sky, soon followed by a crash of thunder. Only Petz did not react to it; she was used to such things after having that dark thunder of hers for so many years. However, the other reacted with a variety of shrieks; it had been unexpected, you had to give them that. "Calaveras?"

The woman snorted, looking peeved. "Fine. First though, I'm going to go tell-"

She was interrupted by a loud knocking on the door. Cooan and Beruche instantly turned, looking somewhat excited by the prospect of a visitor. It amused Petz to see her sisters act so childish sometimes, but she was concerned. It was after eleven at night; who did they know that would be out at this time? Even though Usagi and the girls often found themselves out late at night, that was usually on Senshi matters, not social calls. Besides, she knew that Usagi-chan hated thunder.

Tightening her robe about her, she sighed and turned to the younger two. "Would one of you answer that? I'm going to go to bed -- I was going to have a cup of coffee first, but --" Beruche managed to look chastised at the realisation she had ruined Petz's little evening coffee break. "My head is aching, and I think I just want to go and lie down...."

"Sure, oneesama!" piped up Cooan, straightening her loose sweater. She slipped her slippers back onto her feet, smoothing the blue jeans in the same motion. "If they want to talk to you, we'll tell them where to stick it, eh Beruche?"

The silver blonde hid a smile, also making sure her short pleated skirt and white shirt looked fairly respectable. "Yeah, that's us, Cooan. The youngest Ayakashi sisters, rude and impolite to a fold. Come on, I want to see who it is."

As the two more or less scampered off, Petz gave Calaveras a tired, apologetic look. "Gomen nasai, for leaving you to clean up this little mess, but -- I can't say that I trust Cooan or Beruche to cleaning, not after the bleach incident."

Calaveras winced, but she was smiling. She at least looked respectable, still dressed in her pinstriped shift dress. Petz was in her robe after her long bath, her damp hair falling down around her shoulders in a shapeless mess. "It's okay, oneesama. You go get some sleep."

"Uh -- I don't think so," whispered a voice from the doorway into the hall that lead to the front door of the apartment.

Petz frowned at Cooan, looking more than a little irritated. "I don't care who it is, Cooan. It's late. Tell them to come back tomorrow morning, when I've rejoined the land of the living."

Cooan hurriedly shook her head, her hands holding onto the doorframe so tightly her knuckles went white. Her face was the same pale shade; it was then that a genuine sliver of fear began to grow in Petz's heart. "Who is it?" she asked quietly, her hand stealing to her throat to twine fingers in the silver chain that she found there.

Cooan had to swallow before she spoke. "I think it'd be better if you come and see for yourself."

The walk to the front door seemed to happen in slow motion. Petz remembered later how Calaveras had wrapped her hand reassuringly about hers, giving her a loving, though tense, smile. Having her sister at her side had helped her get to that door; from the expression captured on Cooan's pretty face, she knew that this person was different from an ordinary visitor. Not many people could get that kind of reaction out of Cooan.

At first, she couldn't see the visitor. Beruche was standing in the doorway, and the taller figure was ducked somewhat, obscuring his face. Even in the dim lighting, however, she recognised that hair. When she flicked the hall light on, her suspicion was confirmed.

She released Calaveras's hand, pushing all three of her sisters aside somewhat roughly to peer closely at the face that was partly hidden from hers. Petz then took a shaking breath, letting it out slowly and carefully. Trying to mask her fear -- but also trying to hide the deep feelings she still felt for him -- Petz spoke carefully.

"Prince Saffir-sama -- what brings you here?"

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Artemis sighed, looking annoyed. "Mina, let's go home already! I doubt you're going to find anything of interest out here."

Ami nodded, trying to stifle a yawn. "Not only are we going to get pneumonia out here, I have a test tomorrow that I should really be studying for."

Minako shook her blonde head, looking down the street for the ten billionth time. "Okay, Ami-chan, I'm sorry it had to be you I disturbed, but one, you live the closest, and two, you're the only one with a kick-ass little super-computer."

Ami acquired a sweatdrop; Artemis merely looked frustrated. Even after all this time, he was not used to Minako's whims. He always tried to go along with them, but he constantly had the feeling that that was a less than brilliant idea.

The blue-haired genius looked down at the computer, still trying to hide that recurring yawn. She was shielding the little computer carefully from the pounding rain, but she still had the impression that it was not going to like the water vapour in the air. "From what I can see, someone matching Prince Demando's energy signature was here, along with another person of remarkable power. However, I can't pinpoint this woman's aura, even though my computer seems to find it somewhat familiar..."

"I wonder what he was doing here," mused Minako. "You know, Ami-chan, I'm really worried. There's something very -- odd about that man, isn't there?"

Ami looked up, her brow furrowed. "What do you mean?"

Minako shrugged, but her eyes were troubled. It was quite a change to see Minako honestly worried about something other than becoming a famous movie star or something. "He's supposed to be the ruler of Nemesis, isn't he? And he rules Nemesis in the thirtieth century -- so what business does he have being back here?"

Ami shook her head, putting the computer away. "Minako-chan, I wouldn't get so worked up about it. It really isn't our concern; what matters to us now are those odd Senshi, those daimons, and these so-called talismans they both seem to want."

The blonde nodded, but Ami could see she was unconvinced. She got verbal confirmation a second later when Minako remarked "But what about this person he mentioned? The one he said he knew here?"

Ami sighed. "Look, we have nothing to do with this. I think it is more Sailor Pluto's problem than ours, because his messing in the timestream falls under her list of responsibilities. In the meantime -- let's just leave it, okay?"

Minako frowned slightly, but nodded. However -- in some deep part of her, she resolved to find out what Demando was doing. After all, if he hurt Usagi and Mamoru's relationship in some way -- she wouldn't forgive him. She was, after all, the consummate ai no senshi.