A/N – Complete and total overhaul of Immortal: Reborn In Blood.

"You wanna know what Zeus said to Narcissus?

You'd better watch yourself."

The music in the club was pounding, a fast and low baseline with that thudding that you can feel inside you. A circular, sunken dance floor took up the middle of the club surrounded by three venomous neon-green lit rings, each one step higher than the previous ring. Low, circular tables and black leather padded lounge chairs were situated along these rings, with the stage facing the rest of the club; the exit off to the stage's far right. The air was lightly hazy from cigarette and cigar smoke. People crowded tight and packed on the dance floor as they moved to the dark whispers and angry electric guitar riffs coming from the speakers. The bartenders were busy filling drinks at the long bar, tossing bottles up and twirling them around in displays of skilled dexterity. Waitresses dressed in tight, black leather dresses with dark green highlights moved fluidly amongst the crowd to the customers that were situated at tables along the three rings around the dance floor, as well as booths that lined the walls beyond that. The stage curtain was closed, as I remembered there weren't any special events or acts planned for tonight. A hostess walked to me then, offering to take my coat. I smiled sensually, feeling the heat and pounding music mix with the delicious rush and near countless thudding pulses of the hearts in the club and obliged. I was glad I had somewhat dressed up tonight, perhaps this time around I might find myself a nice piece of young, sexy vitality to keep for a while. Handing her my heavy leather coat she gave me a ticket in return, telling me to redeem it at the door to get it back. I leaned in and breathed a desire-laced 'thank you' in her ear, caressing her neck lightly with my lips even as my hand stroked her arm. I winked as I pulled away, smiling at the blush that rewarded my flirting. I moved inward, deeper into the club, the little toying with her arousing the beast within.

Blood Moon Rising

By: LowFlyer1080

Chapter One

My smile grew a little wider, my eyes dancing this way and that, sliding slowly and sensually over the many women in the club as I ignored the stares of the men. The bloodlust within me swelled and grew, setting my body on fire from the inside out, burning away and settling in my lower abdomen. After so many centuries on this earth, it was no longer the swelling of a tidal wave, nor was it the rumbling of an earthquake. No, I had become too refined for those petty displays of power. I was too far in control of the hunger for it to rage through me like a stampeding herd of elephants, completely uncontrolled like most fledglings. My bloodlust was more like a massive, sleek, and agile panther. Uncurling and slowly standing up, stretching forward with her paws and lightly clawing the ground as her muscles rippled dangerously but beautifully beneath the surface. Eyes opened, glowing a supernatural icy blue. She purred within me and I could feel her. Though physically impossible, she was most definitely smiling and I couldn't help but smile as well, an elongated fang peeking out from my lips.

It was time to hunt.

As I walked slowly through the over-packed club, I felt and let a little of the bloodlust seep into my movements. My walk becoming slightly more exaggerated, my hips swaying just a little bit more than usual, my arms twisting ever so subtlety, my hands trailing over my sides, all this as I moved in absolute synchronization to the hard metal music and dirty dancing bass pounding through the club. I had chosen a shimmering, slinky, low cut dress that stopped at mid thigh, the color somewhat of an enigma; a cross between a midnight-deep blood red and pale silverlight grey. I had infused it with a little bit of the remaining remnants of a Lilium chronohyperius flower. To human eyes, it didn't appear any different, but to any vampire or werewolf, or the proper camera lenses, the very slight and almost imperceptible radiance of ultraviolet could be seen, rippling through the dress like waves in a still pond. The color was the one side effect of making it as tough as the ablative-reactive armor on an M1 Abrams main battle tank. Now very few people left on this planet would have had access to the chronohyperius, and fewer still would be in possession of a living specimen, and only an idiot would have wasted the flower on something so clearly not meant for battle as my dress. I was fortunate enough to have several not only living, but growing flowers, so the bloom wasn't wasted.

I could feel the eyes roaming my body, barely covered in my dress and adorned with palladium jewelry embedded with aquamarine and moonstone gems. I didn't care though. It was a nice reminder of the frailty of the human species in that while I would never age beyond my 22 year old looks, they would wither away to dust. I glanced up and for the first time in at least a century, caught myself surprised. The ceiling of the place was one gigantic mirror, purposely cracked and spider-webbed out from the center of the dance floor. It created a slight sensation of vertigo and made the lasers and lights of the club bounce and glint in erratic ways. Throughout all of this, was when my senses flared, becoming sharper than a razor's edge. A single heartbeat sounded with crystalline ringing clarity in the white noise of gyrating bodies, loud conversations, and throbbing music. My inner predator stretched her feline body again, urging me on to seek out the one who possessed such a beautiful pulse. She didn't need to tell me twice, my cobalt blue eyes, rare for a vampire, slowly scanning the room and seeking the owner of such a…deliciously soft pulse.

As she finally pinpointed the source of the beat, two things simultaneously occurred.

The first was a very much expected rush of bloodlust that tore through her body. The fire inside her exploded in a molten fury of lust and desire, racing up and down her entire body and throbbing with a desperate ache low in her belly. Her hands tingled, itching to run themselves through the shoulder length aqua hair and all over the woman and map every curve, every contour, every line, dip, and vein of her body. Her lips ached to kiss and nip every inch of that supine form, to trace their way from those delicious lips down that elegant neck, over her well-endowed chest, descending along what was sure to be a very taut and smooth belly, to kiss her deeply at her most vulnerable spot. Her arms and legs strained to not move her straight over there immediately and pull her close to drink her sweet, red life force that she could practically feel rushing through her veins.

The second was an immediate and totally unexpected surge of protection and fear. She felt the prickling sensation at the base of her skull, her vampiric senses informing her of the two men currently conversing with the beauty. Their backs were turned toward her, but she recognized them instantly, and immediately cloaked herself from their senses. One of them turned and glanced over his shoulder. His eyes pierced right through where Usagi stood and the prickling feeling intensified. He was reaching out with his powers, attempting to find what he knew was there. It was a weak attempt and easily deflected by her much stronger powers. She sidestepped to her right with fluidic movement and made her way around to their flank. She could see the side of the second man's face now as well. Inwardly she let loose a curse even as her panther growled cruelly inside her mind, her eyes immediately beginning to sweep the club. The growl grew as she sensed two more here as well, over near several fledgling vampires looking to score easy meals and completely oblivious to their soon-to-be-short immortal life.

'Paladins…just great. Suppose I can expect a visit from the council soon. And that woman has no clue who she's talking to. Ruthless bastards from the Vatican always know how to ruin a good time…'

She extended her senses out further and further, her eyes beginning to glow a dim, icy blue. More and more 'pings' were popping up, like blips on radar, of both vampire and Vatican paladins. The latter were in much, much fewer numbers than the former: hundreds of vampires within a five mile radius, and only a few handfuls of paladins here and there, excluding her from the mix. Her eyes returned to normal as she withdrew her senses, but kept her cloaking powers up, staying hidden from the undead detection senses all the lapdogs of the Vatican had. Moving forward toward the woman, she let slip some of her abilities, exuding an enthralling aura so slight it was only able to be registered on an unconscious level. To anyone not an ancient or a Vatican elite templar, they would never realize why they found her so attractive. Not like she had to try all that hard to be attractive. Men drooled as she passed, and women that weren't jealous of their men drooling usually were looking too.

Her body was sleek and athletic. Curves and smooth slopes perfectly proportioned by the vampiric curse, long blonde hair braided from the roots to the tips was coiled up slightly, with the remainder swinging freely behind her back, coming down to her waist. Her chronohyperius-reinforced dress shimmered in the club's lights. Small crescent moon dangling earrings made of palladium glinted in the lasers of the club while a delicate pendant of a planet, also made of palladium but colored with aquamarine and turquoise jewels, hung from a whisper-thin double chain on her neck. She put on her most seductive smile, her cobalt eyes focused solely on the woman, her mind focused on everything else. She was noticed finally by her prey, the woman's face taking on a look of surprise. The two men turned and, upon seeing Usagi, mirrored the woman's response. Coming up to a stop between the men, and directly in front of the woman she exuded confidence, her voice easily heard over the thudding bass line of the music.

"I couldn't help but notice you across the club, babe. I thought we were meeting out front? I've been looking all over for you." She said with a smile, 'C'mon, play along…'

The two men looked at each other before glancing back at the woman, who much to Usagi's relief had quickly masked her surprise.

"I'm sorry! I thought when you meant meet you at the club you were already inside."

"Oh no problem, hon. You're fine." Usagi replied, slinking her powers into her words and urging one of the men to speak. 'So blind…so stupid…so easily manipulated.'

"Michiru-san, you didn't tell us you were meeting your friend here. Aren't you going to introduce us?"

'Michiru huh? What a beautiful name.'

"It's okay, she has a few rare moments of forgetfulness. My name is Usagi." She replied for the aqua-haired beauty.

"I'm Furutaka, my friend here is Hatsuharu."

"Pleasure to meet you both, but Michiru-koi here promised me dancing tonight and she has a lot to make up for, making a lady wait outside alone with a bunch of strangers." Usagi purposely dropped the suffix, even as she extended her hand.

"Sorry gentlemen, but what Usa-chan wants, Usa-chan gets." She accepted the offered hand, despite the protests of the men and was easily led out into the throng of gyrating people.

The crowd seemed to open up before them where the blonde walked, and seal up instantly behind her. Michiru was thankful for the rescue as the conversation with those two guys had been heading in a rather odd direction, a glance back over her shoulder showed that it might take more than the crowd to lose these two. Seriously, men just didn't know when to give up. Her attention turned forward to the woman leading her effortlessly through the crowd, said attention lingering on her shapely ass and curvaceous hips. The woman was way beyond a bombshell, she was more like the core of the Sun. As they stopped and the woman turned around and firmly but gently tugged her intimately close, their fronts pressing up against each other and thighs finding their ways between legs, she got a good look at the woman. And boy did she like what she saw. She felt an arm slide smoothly behind her and a hand settle at her lower back, pressing her gently forward and keeping her in snug contact with the woman. For a split second she thought she caught a flash of icy blue light from her eyes, but dismissed it as a result of the lights in the club.

Usagi on the other hand was, for the first time in well over a few centuries struggling to keep her beast contained. Her powers strained and prowled at her control, slipping past ever so slightly with a brush here, a grind there, a wandering hand, a travelling eye, all of these not gone unnoticed by her quarry of whom did not seem bothered in the slightest. She was determined to snare this particular catch without the use of her thrall. Though she did let slip a little of her energy, throwing a false signal for the two Vatican flunkies to get them out of the club. She didn't want any interruptions tonight getting in the way of her prize. She watched as the woman's eyes roamed her body as they danced and felt her muscles in her abdomen clench and unclench, rippling with arousal. She freely allowed her desire to show on her face and her lust to shine in her eyes as she ran a hand through aquamarine tresses that were cool and silky to the touch.

"Thanks for the save back there, Usagi-san."

"Always on the lookout for a damsel in distress, Michiru-san." She replied back, a little of her beast getting past, "Though I much preferred the Usa-chan."

Michiru gasped a little and bit her lower lip as Usagi's hands found her hips and guided her firmly, but suddenly, downward onto her thigh and grinding her oh-so-deliciously. Not one to be outdone, she leaned in close and ran her tongue very lightly up Usagi's neck, whispering in her ear.

"And I was quite turned on by your little display of dominance back there when you called me Michiru-koi."

The aqua-haired girl grinned when she felt the blonde shudder, and gasped again as those arms wrapped possessively around her and pulled her tighter against a very feminine form. She brought her own hands up to cup the back of Usagi's head, feeling the weight of the tight blonde braid heavy in her palm.

"Do you regularly visit Mirrors' Edge?" She whispered, sounding slightly out of breath and getting a grin to form on Usagi's face.

"No, not really. First night here in a while actually. Though I must say I'm glad I came. Not often I'm the knight in shining armor."

"Are you saying you're usually the one getting rescued?"

Usagi pulled back and gave the woman a look, earning an immediate laugh even as she replied.

"Me getting rescued? How cute. And whom might the person be to rescue me? Some man in a tuxedo, wearing a top hat while holding a rose? I highly doubt that."

"Are you implying you're a fighter?"

"No, just implying I'm no one's victim. I can handle myself, so yes I suppose you could call me a fighter…of sorts." Usagi replied back, shifting them around so that she was now behind Michiru, pulling her very possessively against her front and grinding her hips against the aqua-haired woman, "I'm a much better lover though, my dear."

"A little cocky aren't we?" Michiru sucked in a breath as Usagi's hands drifted up, ever so slightly grazing the bottoms of her breasts before sliding back down over her belly.

"No, just confident."

Michiru hummed a reply. They continued to dance out on the packed floor. One song became two, and two became three. Soon the songs seemed to blend together as they twisted and weaved together, bodies pressed tight as their arms and legs intertwined. Breath was exhaled or inhaled sharply by one or the other in response to new sensations and new movements, each bolder than the last. The more they danced, the more people seemed to move further away from them to give them more room to move. Before Usagi realized it, they were the center of the attention as the DJ began to mix in faster and slower songs at varying degrees in an attempt to see how far he could push them to go, the crowd cheering and whistling as their moves grew more and more bold. This had the unfortunate side-effect of distracting her further and her cloak slipped for just a few brief seconds before she realized her lapse and doubled down on her concentration, slamming the psychic shield back up and into place. Unknown to her, it wasn't quite quick enough.

The songs finally came to an end, the DJ announcing a slight break before the final stretch of the night. This left a very sweat-covered and panting Michiru held close to an equally sweaty Usagi who, even with her vampiric stamina was breathing deeper than normal. Usagi looked at Michiru again, smiling that same sensual smile, before taking her hand and leading her through the crowd and to the bar. Motioning to one of the bartenders, she ordered a pair of Ice Nines with lemon. Handing one to Michiru, she drank her own rather quickly, feeling the cold of the liquid mix with the burn of the alcohol. Michiru also downed hers in record time.

"So, my Michiru-koi, want to take this party somewhere more private where we can get to know each other beyond just the dance floor?" Usagi's hand stroked the smooth skin of Michiru's forearm.

"Mmmm. Not so fast, Usa-chan." Michiru teased. "I'm not that easy you know. But I will tell you that you *are* doing everything right." Michiru brought her hand up to cup the blonde's cheek.

'If I wasn't so damned determined to do this the old fashioned way, I'd just put her under my thrall. Hmmmmmm…it *has* been a while since I've had something to chase…'

Just then the lights in the club came up, signaling closing time.

Usagi flashed a smile, "Alright, can I at least offer to walk you home?"

Michiru smiled back, "You can wait for me while I call a cab if that will suffice?"

Without missing a beat, Usagi took her hand and led her to the coat check. They got their jackets and walked out the door to the edge of the sidewalk. Usagi flagged down a taxi for the aqua-haired girl. Turning to her she brushed a few locks of that aqua hair from her face, tucking them behind her ear and trailing her fingertips down Michiru's cheek.

"When can I see you next?"

"How about tomorrow? I have class at the University of Tokyo tomorrow morning, but I have all afternoon free. My class ends at two." Michiru handed Usagi a folded napkin, "Here's my number. Give me a call, Usa-chan." She giggled.

Usagi smiled, gently pulling her closer before pressing a kiss to her neck. No one saw her eyes glow a dull icy blue. Covering her movement, she kissed up Michiru's neck and over her cheek, ending with a peck on the lips.

"As you wish, Michiru-koi." She teased back.

Michiru smiled and got in the waiting taxi. Usagi shut the door for her and patted the car on the rooftop twice, letting the driver know he was good to go. They drove off and Usagi waved them good bye, staying by the curb until the taxi rounded a corner and was out of sight. Her inner beast growled its disapproval. She clamped firmly down on it. There would be time for that later. 'After all, any vampire who's got half a brain will know not to touch her. My mark is plainly visible to any vampire or other non-human and to mess with her will mean risking my wrath.' She bit her own lip, feeling her still-pulsing arousal, drawing a little blood. Smiling a little, she licked her lip, a little of it dripping down the side of her chin. It wasn't ever advised to drink one's own blood as it didn't replenish or sate the thirst at all, but she had made sure to stay away from the…less healthy humans. Drug addicts, alcoholics, people with chronic ailments that required medications. These all had an effect on the blood that ran through them and changed how the blood tasted. Her own blood was as pure as she had managed to keep it. Her targets were usually the younger people, those she could seduce and take back home. Biting someone and feeding while in the throes of passion made it that much easier to make them forget what had happened. Add in a few drops of her own blood to heal the wound and they were never any the wiser. Centuries of walking the earth had not changed the way she had always been, always watching out for the weak and the innocent and trying to do her best to care for others. She took only what she needed, and always made sure she had her "food" eat a breakfast in the morning of high-protein, her specialty being Western-style steak and eggs. Though this calm and caring nature did in no way shape or form change the beast inside her, and there were times when she would freely let it loose.

She turned and walked off down the street, deciding to cut through an alley way to the other side of the block. Her hackles rose as her instincts warned her of danger. She keenly heard the footsteps of two people trailing right behind her into the alley, and they weren't much trying to be subtle about it. And it appeared that her lapse in cloaking had not gone unnoticed back in the club. Her vampiric senses were telling her these were the same two paladins that had been talking to Michiru in the club. It appeared that her beast would get to play after all. She stopped abruptly and turned to face the men.

"I know who you are, and it is no use trying to hide it." She cooed softly.

"Then we will spare you the pleasantries." One of the men, Hatsuharu, replied, "Stay where you are and we will make sure this as painless and as quick as possible for you."

As they reached inside their coats, Usagi spoke.

"Then I'll spare you my own pleasantries. Leave, now, while you are still able to for you both have no idea who you're dealing with. Otherwise I will make sure it as painful and as slow as possible for you. I'm afraid I haven't drank in a while and you two interrupted me back in the club."

"Don't worry. The woman will be dealt with after you are gone."

"And since when does the Vatican sanction killing innocents?"

"None of your business you foul creature! Enough talking!" Furutaka yelled.

Usagi tilted her head slightly, and merely smiled an innocent smile. The light caught her face then, and that was when the men saw the small dribble of something black flowing from near the corner of her mouth, running part way down to her chin. She would be damned if she allowed these two flunkies lay so much as a hair on her Michiru-koi. Reaching inside her, she embraced the bloodlust and let the beast's power begin to fill her.

"I agree. Enough talking."

They drew their silenced sub machine guns, a pair of Heckler & Koch MP7s, and aimed them at Usagi. Opening fire on her, the silenced guns sounded like the idling of a sports bike. No shell casings hit the ground, being caught up in special bags attached to the ejection ports. Not that it mattered, for Usagi had already let loose a fraction of her power. Shadows swirled around them, raven-black and feather-like, consuming the silver bullets and blocking the view of the outside world from the three of them as the sounds of millions of flapping birds' wings drowned out any other noise. She normally didn't indulge in killing, as it was a waste and it drew attention not to mention that she much preferred to stay out of the conflict, but she made an exception for those who threatened what was hers. And these two were most definitely threatening what was now hers. The last thing they saw were twin orbs shining with a brilliant blue-white light, and a murderous smile with sharp, gleaming white fangs.

Meanwhile, Michiru had made it back to her apartment complex safely. Making her way in the front lobby, she boarded the elevator, taking it up to the third floor. She walked down the hallway and unlocked her door, stepping inside and pausing only long enough to shut the door and latch all the locks. Slipping off her high heels, she picked them up and made her way into the Western-style apartment she called home. She stopped in the living room, looking at the elongated rectangular box lying on her coffee table. It had arrived this morning with no return address, no postage, and no notice of any origins. The morning watchman at the front desk had mentioned the mail carrier had dropped it off. She had asked who had left it, but the guard didn't know, jokingly asking if perhaps the violinist had picked up a secret admirer on her last concert stop, over in Kyoto. She had politely declined any notion of that happening, and indeed had no clue if that was what it actually would turn out to be. Her fans had a habit of sending her gifts in the mail, despite her keeping her address a secret and only using a postal office drop box. Shaking her head, she turned, stripping off her clothing as she walked, she made her way down the short hallway away from the package and into her bedroom, tossing her dress and high heels onto the bed as she passed by on a path into the bathroom. She stopped and stood in front of the vanity. Looking at herself in the mirror she saw the faint pinkish mark on her neck. She smiled before stepping out of her soaked panties.

"What the hell was I thinking? A gorgeous woman like that throws herself my way and all I can say is 'You can wait for me while I call a cab.'? Oh, Michiru-baka. You are *definitely* out of practice." She sighed, huffing a short, self-depreciating laugh as she turned to her whirlpool bath tub.

Turning the water on she moved back to the vanity, taking off her earrings and necklace as she did so, placing them in their boxes before closing them securely and setting them off to the side of the countertop. Opening the medicine cabinet she took out numerous bottles of pills. Checking each label, she gathered three of them, and placed the rest back in the cabinet. Setting out the correct dosage for each prescription, she reached to fill her cup with water before being wracked with a coughing fit. After a minute or two she managed to calm herself. Pulling her hand away from her mouth she saw a few tiny flakes of red. Frowning, she grabbed her medications and downed them in one go. Washing her hands she turned to climb into the tub, pausing only long enough to turn on the jets.

She sighed sadly, "Who would want someone who was sick anyway?"

Laying her head back on a folded towel she had placed there that morning, she let the water and the jets ease away the pain that was beginning to surface in her joints from the vigorous dancing.

"That box will just have to wait until tomorrow." She said to herself as she felt her medication begin to kick in, "Too tired right now." She muttered.

She set an alarm on her cell phone before leaning back into the jets. She dozed off sleepily, allowing the water jets to work her muscles into loosening up.

Back out in the dark of the living room and completely unknown to Michiru, the box on the coffee table began to glow with a faint turquoise light. The box opened up and the light flooded the room for a few moments. A couple of sharp twangs and a crack sounded muffled in the room before the light receded back into the box as it closed. Over in the corner near its storage stand, Michiru's priceless, one-of-a-kind Stradivarius violin, the Marine Cathédrale, lay on the floor with its strings snapped and the neck of the instrument broken down the center line from the peg-box straight through the bridge to the chin rest. The box on the table sat unmoving, the light having faded. Now written on the top part of the box where the return address should have been were two words written in flowing, ancient Calligraphic script. The glow of the full moon streamed into the living room through the patio doors that led out to the balcony, the clouds having finally parted enough to let the light through to the Earth below. The silvery light caught the surface of the box, and a shimmering, ultraviolet symbol of two fish showed on the center faintly before fading away to nothingness, leaving only the ink and words remaining.

Usagi made her way into the large lobby of the Shinjuku Celestial Tower, a ritzy, high priced, high-rise apartment complex and also the tallest building in central Shinjuku district. Waving to the night watchmen she walked toward the elevator. Boarding the car she turned around as the doors closed, a satisfied smile on her face. Keying in a code on the floor selection panel, the elevator accelerated upward toward the penthouse on the roof, 93 stories up, the highest in the district. As the elevator dinged its arrival and the doors opened up, Usagi stepped out into the small, glass enclosed hallway, walking toward the door to her penthouse. She swiped a card over the lock and it beeped, granting her access. Stepping forward, her senses instantly flared. Her muscles tensed up, her eyes glowing a faint blue in the semi-darkness pierced only by the lights of the city out and around them. A dark, silhouetted figure stood in front of the wall-length crystal windows facing southeast toward Tokyo bay, the neon lights from Chiyoda, Minato, Chuo, and Koto districts casting a rainbow of faint but ethereal light past her.

Usagi took in the person, before relaxing and continuing her walk to the bar.

"I assume you've a good reason for breaking into my home, my dear?" She asked nonchalantly as she pulled out various bottles of whiskey and pouring one shot from each of the four bottles into a tumbler, "Drink?"

"No thank you." The woman replied in a serene voice as she turned, "Even though it seems you already have tonight."

Tall, with midnight forest green hair done up in a single bun on her head, and flowing freely down her back to stop well below her ass, the beauty stood calmly in front of her. Usagi couldn't help but take in the very formal wear. A shimmering white, single shoulder strap dress clung to every curve of her form, flowing down smoothly, a heart-shaped keyhole cut over her midriff showed off her belly button and its piercing. It continued down before flaring loosely out over her hips and trailing to the floor, a single slit splitting the dress from its hem clear up her leg to the top of her left hip. Strapped, white high-heels adorned her feet and adding to her height, the straps of which coiling and crisscrossing up her calves, stopping half-way to her knees. Golden hoop earrings and a whisper-thin gold chain necklace finished the look. Usagi gazed at the woman, taking in every millimeter of the darker skinned beauty in white before her. She could feel the arousal begin to burn within her once again, and that's when she noticed it.

The woman's dress was shimmering with ultraviolet light, moving in ripples up and down her body.

"I've had several drinks tonight, sweetheart. I'm having a nightcap too." Usagi said as she grabbed a fifth unlabeled bottle and poured some of the crystal clear liquid into a shot glass.

The woman raised an elegant eyebrow slightly, a knowing smile gracing her lips.

"I wasn't referring to Mirrors' Edge, nor your Horsemen and Hell you're drinking now. We both know as to what, or should I say as to whom, I was referring, Tsukino Usagi."

Usagi stared neutrally back at the woman before downing the tumbler of whiskeys and chasing it with the shot of moonshine. Heat filled her belly from the alcohol and spread its fire through her body. She walked out from behind the bar in purposeful strides, slightly exaggerating the sway of her hips as her eyes locked with and fixated on the intruder's own. Reaching her and exuding as subtly as possible her powers she let her thrall begin to emanate from her being. The woman stood there complacently, watching Usagi's every move. The blonde trailed her hands slowly up and down bare arms before moving one up to gently cup a cheek, the other snaking its way behind the woman in white's back. Pulling her gently to herself, Usagi tilted her head up, using her hand to guide the other woman's own head down. Just before their lips managed to touch, Usagi paused.

"Your thrall won't work on me, Usagi-san. Besides, I'm here on official business." She whispered.

"Pity. I was so looking forward to it too, but I'm a patient woman. I can wait." Usagi whispered back.

The stranger leaned in, closing the distance and locking lips with the vampire, her arms winding their way around Usagi's waist and holding her snugly to her body. Usagi eagerly responded, kissing with passion and fervor, but also with innocence and grace, much to the surprise of the emerald-haired woman. The kiss lasted for a few moments before both of them pulled back.

"Business first, Usagi-san. Pleasure after."

"I do so hope that's a promise. I'm all wound up from my night out and I'm afraid my latest quarry got away." Usagi replied, beginning to kiss over an elegant jaw line and moving slowly down her neck, nipping at her pulse point.

"That's rare for you, my sweet. She must be pretty special for you to have not put her under your spell." The woman sighed, her arms tightening, hands roaming over a supine back.

"Think I'll get this one the old-fashioned way. There's something…rare and special about her." Usagi continued, sucking lightly on the other woman's neck, her fangs scraping gently against skin.

The woman pulled back then, stepping gently away and moving back to the window. Usagi howled inside her mind at the tease, but immediately frowned at the change in demeanor.

"What is it, Setsuna? You and the council know by now that I am neutral and will not get involved in whatever the latest rubbish is that is being stirred up."

Setsuna stood there for a while, looking out over the city, before she turned her head to look back over her shoulder at the blonde-haired vampire.

"What do you know about Project Stargazer?"

Those seven words instantly put a dampener on the vampire's libido. Her frown increased, her eyes beginning to turn from their normal cobalt blue into a bright blood red.

"Depends on who is asking." She responded carefully.

There was no response for a while and that began to bother Usagi. She moved back to the bar, grabbing a wine bottle from the rack on the wall and a pair of crystal glasses. She easily popped the cork and poured them each some. She finally looked back up to see that Setsuna had turned fully around and was facing her. If the other woman noticed Usagi's eyes, she either didn't comment or chose to ignore it. Tilting her head slightly to the side, Usagi asked again, the frown still upon her face.

"What's wrong?"

If the previous seven words that Setsuna spoke put a dampener on her sex drive, the next four she spoke were like a blast of ice water.

"The Pisces is missing."

"You wanna know what Zeus said to Narcissus?

You'd better watch yourself.

You'd better watch yourself."

End

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Sailor Moon or Deep Six by Marilyn Manson.