It was a rather pretty violet themed flash that had Asclepius appear in the center of the courtyard and place Mercury down against one of the buildings. He was waiting for Venus or Mars or ANYONE to respond but no one was. What was he going to do about this?
He'd already done all he could with his magic back on the rocks on the beach.
Sailor Mercury was drapped in his ornate, purple and white trimmed robe act as a blanket- while Asclepius himelf was left in some medevil looking garb with a light metal purple chest plate. He also had his staff of course.
He placed his hand to Mercury's forehead again. "You're improving. I've called for Mars and Venus on the Virtue channels but they haven't responded yet. I'll try a more direct method in a minute- though I only know Venus's number. If you feel feint I need to know." he says.
"Hotori-san is on his way, too." he says softly.
Hotori-san is even more than on his way. Hotori-san is in /full blinding prince with ruffles/ mode so he can launch across rooftops. Hotori-san makes it there right after Asclepius says that.
Asclepius might not even recognize him - but unless he's the King of Evil, Platinum Royale isn't a hostile. He lands down right near Asclepius - since he's in a full Character Transformation, Kiseki is nowhere to be seen. "Asclepius." he says, rather hurridly. "Where is she. Do we need to get her to Iris - or to Mitakihara General?" he asks.
Minako Aino/Sailor Venus is also on the way! Albeit with a less exciting entrance than usual - no jumping around and no shouts of greeting. She just sort of strolls up from an unexpected angle and eventually is noticed.
"How is she? Is she ok? I'm guessing that talking means she's ok !" she notes, taking a knee to concernedly push and prod at Mercury's face in ways that are mostly 'doctory'.
"Can you guys give more details than 'ice cube'?"
Sailor Mars isn't here. Which would be odd to those who know that she lives here. Or maybe a little less-than-odd to those who know what she does at night.
She does moonlight as a defender of justice, after all. She was in the middle of fighting a statue youma when her phone rang, and she didn't get a chance to answer until after the battle had ended.
Turns out paper really does beat rock. Ofuda paper, anyways.
Mars appears on the rooftop of the shrine, looking over the edge to see Mercury, Asclepius, Venus and Platinum Royale. Another quick hop lands her close to the others.
"Okay. What happened?"
Sailor Moon is mentally kicking herself, not even letting her cry (though she really wants to and her eyes are stingy).
First she chased off Ayana, and now she finds out her best friend is probably DYING A HORRIBLE DEATH right now when she was supposed to be at the dance, meet her there, and did Usagi notice, NO. She didn't.
She is, without a doubt, the worst person on the planet.
Just before the shrine, maybe a block away, she and Tuxedo Kamen pause so he can dehenshin.
Normally, the act of carrying him in a few jumps bridal style would have her in peels of giggles. Instead, she only offers him a thin lipped smile as they're landing on the Temple grounds.
As she sets him down, Ami-chan is hurt and groggy and she clenches his tuxedo jacket and maybe whimpers a bit, but nope she's not letting herself.
(She also doesn't let herself pounce Mercury in hugs, because the most horrible people ever don't get to!)
This is one of the times that dehenshining from a tuxedo to a tuxedo doesn't actually make Mamoru internally cackle with delicious hipster irony, too. As Moon sets him down and grips his jacket, he shakes his head. "She's awake, she'll be all right, it's going to be okay," he whispers to her as they approach. He smiles tightly at the others there, glancing up at Mars against the moon then back down-- and he comes to crouch next to Ami. "We're here, let me check you out, okay? What did happen?"
And then there it is when he takes his gloves off and reaches to touch her forehead, exactly what Ami wanted to study in the first place: that warm glow, golden, full of energy and peace, questing for any remaining injuries.
Time and warmth have done much to take the edge off of Mercury's self-inflicted injuries. "I'm okay," she says, only a little weakened yet for the experience. As her friends rapidly close ranks, she smiles a little, happy to see them despite all. "I didn't think I was going to be, for a bit there, but ... I'm okay," she admits, and indeed Mamoru will sense this about her with his own power, as well. If only now were an appropriate time to record what he was doing to her.
But where to even begin? Oh, there's something important, "Asclepius, to go back to the harbor and see if there is a grief seed trapped in the iceberg." Iceberg!? In Central Harbor?! "Hurry. It may already be gone, but we need to know, and quickly. You'll ... it's magical. You should be able to sense it if you get near enough. Take Venus with you if you aren't sure you can find it alone."
Then, she turns at last to explain things to her friends. But oh it is still such a complicated story. Where should she even begin? "Tonight, I was lured into a trap by a Puella Magi trying to kill me. And not on her own recognizance." There, that should suffice. At least it gives them room to ask questions while she tries to order her thoughts.
Asclepius frowns and raises that staff again and lets it glow with purple energy, before sending more of that purple flavored healing magic into Mercury. Really, he just wants her to be okay- and he has no idea what was happening. He frowns at Mercury as she talks. "Grief Seed. Alright. No. I know where that was. This'll take a second." he says. He turns to Mars- Mars is not someone's he's met in any capacity yet. He bows. "My name is Asclepius. I will be back in a moment. I apologize."
He frowns lightly before he dissapears into a purple flash of teleportation. There's a few moments. He's returns- in a similar quick flash- it's not blinding. It wasn't very far away- just up the road. He saw the shrine from where they ended up.
"I'm sorry, it's gone." he says softly. "And theres no sign of that girl." he says. "-and that sensation of something in the area is gone, too. It's clear as far as I can tell."
He let's Mercury handle 'what happened'.
Platinum Royale is all business. He knows not to stand in the way of the healers - but Mercury seems ready to talk, at least.
"Mercury-san. What do you mean by not on her own recognizance. Was she forced to trap you, somehow? Puella Magi... I don't think we've heard real reports of them trying to attack other kinds of magical girls. Is it possible she mistook you for a Puella yourself?" he asks.
His questioning may be a bit direct, but his tone is caring. He's also checking the skies a bit, on guard. This was, after all, an attack as much as a youma.
Minako Aino/Sailor Venus throws up some finger guns. "I already checked her out," she chirps after Tuxedo Mask, with a super-flashy wink.
"But right. That's all I need to know. Puella Magi killers," she concludes, eyes narrowed and fingers flexing into little solid balls, not waiting to hear any more. "You don't need me here. I'll search the old fashioned way. I'm off."
And she is! Jumping away.
(She also leaves her phone on. Because that probably isn't all she needs to know.)
Mars ponders that name. Asclepius? Oh right, the guy Mercury told her about.
"Hi, Asclepius-san. My name is Sailor Mars."
The Grief Seed. She knows what those are, from what Mamoru has told her. It's apparently gone? The other Puella Magi took it.
"Why would a Puella Magi attack you, Mercury-chan? I don't think any of us have been particularly mean to them..."
Platinum says his piece, and she adds, "I don't know, Sailor Senshi are pretty distinct from Puella, but maybe."
Venus jumps away, and Mars looks up. Bye, V-chan!
Asclepius returns and gets a moment to look at Mars and closes his eyes a moment before he looks down to Mercury. He looks over to Platinum and then back to Chiba. "I can't confirm who this girl was. She had a number of small black things with her. She seemed to be wanting to pick one out in a hurry while Mercury was in the water. I arrived. I pushed the girl off her footing for a moment- and used the moment to get Mercury to safety. I stablized her- she asked me to take her here. That's all I know. I was on....."
"I was on my way to pick her up to take her to the dance tonight." he says. "They must had attacked her while she was waiting for me. I was running late. The dry cleaners screwed up and gave me the wrong suit." he admits sheepishly.
"Oh--darn. I left my keys in the car." he bites his lip.
He hunches down and frowns. "I'm sorry I was late. If I was there sooner...."
Sailor Moon is just happy Mercury's very much Not Dead or Dying like her imagination said.
And Mamoru's all healy hands and Snake Staff's there, so she sort of scoots next to Mercury and sneak-takes her hand. And pets it. Because Ami-chan will be okay.
"No, this was different," Mercury shakes her head at Tadase and Mars both. "She knew who I was; she targetted me specifically. Or maybe she just targetted me because I responded to the witch." Finally warming, she removes the pink jacket from her shoulders and offers it back to Asclepius.
"I was taken by surprise when she wanted to kill me," Mercury explains. "She was controlling the witch, somehow; it was so far out of what I've come to understand of the Puella Magi that I was taken completely off guard." She's repeating herself. Probably not entirely okay, yet. But getting there
"So while I tried to find a way out of the labyrinth to call help," Mercury continues, cluthcing to Sailor Moon's hand like it is the most precious thing in her world, "I managed to keep her talking. She was upset that I didn't just attack her straight back; almost as if she wanted me to kill her instead. But she said she was sent to kill me, and later she said 'You don't know what she might do if I fail. I know it sucks, but it's you or me.'"
Ami shivers a little at the memory of her fight. "I couldn't beat her. Not when she had a powerful witch at her command. I couldn't beat her, so I did the only thing I could think of, and froze myself and the witch, hoping it would destroy the labyrinth and free me long enough to call for help." Apparently it worked. The story told, Sailor Mercury allows herself to lean a little against Sailor Moon, clinging to the warmth of her friend as she waits for the innevitable barrage of questions.
Oh! Ami-chan's cuddling! Sailor Moon feels less like a despicable human being.
She wraps an arm around Mercury's shoulder, snuggling her close and trying to fight away the chill.
And, the adrenaline rush over, she is lulled and focuses on sharing her body heat.
And, since she's less despicable now, offers Mamo-chan a tired but far less thin lipped smile.
And it's sleep time.
Snore.
"...controlling the witch?" Mamoru asks incredulously. Not like he doesn't believe Ami's telling the truth, but like he doesn't believe how this could possibly be the case. She does qualify it, which lends credence, but still--
He sits back on his heels, listening, frowning. "Okay. I don't suppose your computer was recording...?" he asks hopefully, but not too hopefully, because it's doubtful she had time to set it going while, you know, fighting for her life. "If not, I'll ask you more about it when you're feeling better. If you've got a description of the girl herself, though, I can get that to V for you."
He glances at Tadase, eyebrows up. "I don't think there are any Puellae in Virtue, are there? I'll tag the ones I know, though, let them know to be on the lookout. They aren't--"
We may never find out what they aren't, because Sailor Moon just snored, for real. He looks up at Mars like 'really?' then glances to Asclepius. "Really, you don't need to keep pouring energy in, everything else she's going to have to sleep off."
"There's no way you would've known," says Sailor Mars. "At least you showed up when you did. There's not telling what would've happened if you didn't take her out of there."
She's worried about Ami, too, but she's playing the 'reassuring, you did the right thing' role this time.
Then Sailor Moon falls asleep. Oh god. Well Mercury seems to be doing alright again, though a deeper scan might be called for.
"Mamoru-san, will you help me take Moon-chan home after this?"
Since you need a bodyguard anyways. Prince.
To Mercury, she adds, "So it sounds like someone's forcing her to do this. Did she mention anything else about that?"
Platinum Royale looks over to Asclepius. Here, his tone is firm, commanding. It's probably more Kiseki than usual. "Listen, Ascelpius. Don't beat yourself up over being late. If you hadn't been strong enough to help at all, that would be worrying. I'm sure we can help her. Mercury-chan is strong. We have you, and Tuxedo Kamen." he adds.
"You did well, and you shouldn't beat yourself up over it."
Mercury smiles at Mamoru's thoughtfulness. "I got every second of it," she promises him quietly cognizant of the sleeping bunny, "and I've already taken stills of the Witch's face. Once I'm not a pillow, I will edit it down to what's important and distribute it to Virtue." She is much too tired to scold Asclepius for his worries, right now. She'll let Tadase handle that.
Asclepius gets his robe back. He puts it back on and proceeds to look like an 'awesome wizard' again as he described it the other day. He peeks down at Sailor Moon. He blinks once. "Is she okay, too?" he asks to Mamoru. Can his staff cure drunkness?
Probably not.
He nods to Platinum Royale and Sailor Mars. "I did my best within my abilities. I think I just scared the bejebuss out of the girl. She wasn't expecting me." he says. "-and I did something with my staff I don't quite understand- but. Yeah."
"I don't think there was any monsters when I arrived. I'm glad you're okay Mercury. Oh. Right...." he turns to Mars. "Get my phone number from China-san, Venus or Mercury. If you need me. Call. Text. I'll do my best. I heal, and I can teleport you around- though not far distances." he says softly. "I would also like to talk to you all eventually. I don't understand much of anything, but I'm learning." he smiles softly.
"Thanks to Hotori-san and some others I've spoken to." he says. He smiles down at Mercury. "Rest well when you do, Mercury-chan. Stay out of freezers~" he says before he turns to the others, takes a soft bow to allow quick questions- and then he poofs into a purple-teleport.
An eyebrow -- just one -- goes up at the small French king, and Mamoru looks up to Mars again. "Sure. My car's actually back at Infinity, but we can go get it unless you want to carry her, in which case I can stick around here until you get back," he tells her. Then he grins at Mercury. "Well done. Don't feel bad: sounds like a witch that size would've been more than two people could've handled anyway, and you got lots of data on it." His expression sobers, though. "Even aside from the girl controlling it, though, there haven't been a lot of witches around, and none that powerful in quite some time. There's going to be a lot to figure out."
His hand rests briefly on Mercury's glove, and then he hauls himself to his feet and looks affectionately at Sailor Moon for a second. "She's fine," he tells Asclepius, "just maybe a little bit drunk." Then he lifts his hands, eyes wide, and backs away from Mars. "Not my fault!"
"Mercury mentioned you," says Mars to Asclepius. "Take care of yourself." He's long gone. She turns to Mamoru, saying, "I can carry her just fine, but I'm not driving your car."
Then she hears that Usagi was drunk and Mamoru is denying responsibility?! He should be better behaved, considering his station!
Wait... what station? That was like... a super-long time ago.
"It better not be your fault!" scolds Mars. "Ugh, forget it. If we bring home a drunk Moon-chan and her family sees that a boy was there..."
Mars is considering several possibilities and almost none of them are proper. Maybe they can just sneak her in through a window.
"She can stay with me," Mercury offers quietly, still careful of waking up Moon. "I think I could use a friend when I wake up in the morning anyways, and I've got some of her clothes at my place. But ... Mars, can you carry her to my house? I'm exhausted."
Platinum Royale nods. "I'm going with you. If someone's attacking us, it's better to travel in groups, especially with Mercury-san wounded." he adds. He pulls out his Virtue Phone. He's tapping away at it rapidly. "Somebody will make an excuse for my presence elsewhere."
Moreover, he was much LESS responsible a super-long time ago, but we won't get into that, either. --yeah. Mamoru dusts the grass off his trousers, then nods to Mercury. "Let's start getting you two mobile, then," he suggests lightly, bending down to pick up Sailor Moon carefully.
He glances at Rei, though, and gives her a subtle tilt of his head toward the shrine itself before his gaze flickers to Platinum Royale and back.
Mars sees the gesture, looks over there, pauses.
Actually that's a good idea.
"..uh... yeah. Let's... go, sure."
Mamoru seems perfectly capable of carrying Sailor Moon. There's probably also a spare room for Mamoru if he wants to stay, but oh god if grandpa found out...
She'll just yell at him over that like she yells at him over something like every morning. Probably not as big a deal as she first thought.
Finally, Mamoru -- still holding Moon -- glances at Tadase and says politely, "Actually, I think we've got it, if you're okay getting back to elsewhere. I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name?"
Plaintum Royale blinks. "Oh... I'm Platinum Royale." he says, after a pause. Then he walks over and leans in.
"I forgot you wouldn't recognize me now, Chiba-Sempai." he whispers to Mamoru. Then, before Mamoru can react, Platinum Royale points at his phone as if to signal 'just call' and LAUNCHES into the sky. It is a cure-scale leap.
Minako Aino might have been out all night, but except for looking a little worn down, she's positively cheerful. A regular ball of energy and excitement. However she gets to Rei is unimportant - all that matters is she's hear to help. "I wonder which ones were 'strange' and which ones weren't," she says, mentally adding herself in to the 'awesome friends' category.
Either way, Rei-cheering is important. In a voice just loud enough to carry throughout the shrine, she speaks up: "Pssht, don't worry about it, Rei-chan. I take weird people and boys to shrines all the time," she says, double-thumbs up.
"You're a big girl now, it's the 90s, you're a cool Verone chick who DESERVES boys. I wish people talked about me as much as they do you. Your friends are high class, rich, popular people, not weird at all. Also, I'm a movie star."
She's really supportive.