Okay, good, kind and merciful folks -- this story deserves a notes section for several reasons. Mostly it's because even though I call this a "Black Moon" fic, it actually runs through the continuum of part of the SMS series, i.e. this includes such infamous characters as Professor Tomoe, Kaolinite, Eudial and Mimete -- now, it doesn't matter if you don't know anything about them, because they're supposed to be supporting characters. It is supposed to be a Demando/Saffir fic (big surprise), but I thought I would mention that the others can and will show up at will --

Note - during part one, Demando will make a reference to Esmeraude. To cut a long story short, that means that she's dead, okay?

Some notes on that -- I will make references to actual episodes, and what happened in them, but only as far as I need to. I also have some terms in the stories that you may have not seen before, so here's a few I've used thus far (or plan to use, anyway!).

• "Daijoobu yo! " - it's okay!
• "Kyouju" - Professor
• "-kun" - honorific used from a superior to someone lower in the company hierarchy
• "chotto" - hey! (in the context I use it, anyway)
• "chotto matte" - wait a minute!
• "obaasan" - grandmother/old lady
• "-sempai" - honorific used from a junior to a superior
• "daimon" - the term used for the monsters of the SMS series
• "pure no kokoro" - pure heart
• "keisho" - crystal (used in reference to the pure crystal hearts)
• "aishiteru" - I love you, typically used only when you really mean it
• "mugen gakuen" - the school Haruka, Michiru and Hotaru attend, translated it means "infinity academy"
• "chinmoku no messiah" - messiah of silence, the one the Deathbusters are looking for to control the holy grail for them
• "seihai" - the holy grail or sacred cup

And finally, I have only seen half the S series, so my assumption that Mugen Gakuen has attached research facilities is that -- an assumption. It's based on my understanding of the manga, so....

Anyway, any further questions (take your time), direct them to me at luna_dreamscape@hotmail.com. I'd be happy to hear from you, you just might confuse me even more than you are ...

Ja ne!

~ Celeste Goodchild, March 1999

To Prologue