For the first time in the lengthy amount of years since Crystal Tokyo was established, the city was attacked by a monster. Multiple ones to be exact. The news reports caught glimpses of their sudden appearances and subsequent rampages, only for them to disappear into thin air. It baffled the police for weeks as they tried to find the monsters before they showed up again somewhere else. It was always the same seven monsters too, and their rate of appearance only increased as time went on.  

When the videos of the attacks finally reached the palace, the Queen, the King, and their Sailor Guardians quickly recognized the Seven Great Youma, and began their search to find the cause of these incidents.

---

Ryo woke up outside of his apartment complex, his entire body sore. He groaned and struggled to his feet, using the nearby wall for support. It had happened again... What was he doing before he blacked out? Right, he was coming home from work, but that must have been hours ago judging by the low hanging sun in the sky. 

Ryo had a job as an engineer, and he frequently moved from place to place in Japan to supervise different projects. His psychic abilities gave him an edge in predicting problems before they happened, allowing them to be fixed before they grew dangerous. He'd been in the company for so many years that he couldn't really remember anymore. After Neo-Queen Serenity took her throne, everyone lived so long that it seemed that time didn't pass as fast, and it all blended together. He himself had looked the same for at least 300 years, like he was permanently 25. Out of curiosity, Ryo calculated that he was actually aging even slower than most people, and he suspected that his reincarnated soul had something to do with it. At first, it seemed like a nice perk, but now, his youma side was becoming a curse again. 

"It's getting worse..." he said to himself after stumbling into his home. He had transformed again, and this time for longer. How many more times could his body handle this before it gave up? The television on the wall showed a recent news report, a video clip of a lizard-like beast with knives for hands tearing apart a market place, and he looked away. After that dream- no, that premonition, of Bunbo killing him, he didn't want to see it anymore. He needed to do something about this before it was too late. But what?

Ryo's eyes fell on a picture of Ami, an older one from when they were in high school. The senshi could help him, right? If they cured him and the other crystal carriers long ago, they could surely do it again. Ami had said that he could change the future, so they could all be saved if he acted fast enough. Unable to wait until the next morning, Ryo ignored how unsteady he felt and went out the door again, intent on paying a visit to the distant Crystal Palace. He hadn't seen her in person in what felt like forever, but Sailor Mercury would still remember him, right?

Ami had slept little since the outbreak of the monster attacks had gained her attention. It had only been a few days, but she knew she should have not even waited that long to go straight to the source. She had been trying to figure out what was causing the Youmas to be awakened once more, but had not been able to deduce anything. Not without a test subject, anyway. She hated her brain for using that term—they were people after all, and not just people, but people they knew. There was Rei’s grandfather, Motoki’s girlfriend, and… of course… Ryo Urawa.

Rei had gone straight to the shrine the moment she knew. But of course, she didn’t discover anything there that could help her. Her grandfather was completely unaware about the transformations, didn’t remember a thing. He even shooed his granddaughter back to the palace, thinking she was there on false pretenses to check up on him unnecessarily. A fight had broken out before Grandpa finally admitted he’d been losing hours that he couldn’t account for, but he just blamed it on being old. Old people forget things, Rei, he’d insisted, to which Rei yelled at him some more.

He wouldn’t let Ami check him out. At least, not unless it meant ‘check him out’; his quote.

They were hesitant to go find Reika because she and Motoki were no longer in Tokyo. It would take too much time. So they’d been trying to track down the others and locate the nearest rainbow crystal carrier. Unfortunately, most of them were also out of the city.

Ami had managed to track down Urawa, too. (After all these years, she still couldn’t get used to calling him by his first name, not even in her mind.) He was working as an engineer and had been difficult to track down because he’d been moving about so much. This afternoon, she finally found the apartment he was currently staying at in Crystal Tokyo.

And she was psyching herself up to make the trip there the next morning when a palace guard came into her lab with a message. “There is someone by the name of Ryo Urawa looking for you,” the guard informed her.

Ami stood up so fast from her chair she nearly toppled it. “What? Where?”

“He’s waiting in the entrance hall.”

Ami was surprised, though she didn’t know why. Based on past experiences, he always was one step ahead of her. He had his visions, and even before he was taken by Endymion—who was working for the Dark Kingdom at the time—he knew it was coming and told her about it. But that had been over the phone. Now he was actually here?

Things must be more serious than she’d realized. Ami thanked the guard, and immediately made her way toward the entrance hall. She was still in her lab coat and normal clothes, though that was probably just as well. It would be odd for her to show up as Sailor Mercury, even if he already knew…

Ami knew he knew, had known from that very first time she’d saved his life, but she liked to pretend to keep up the pretense of not knowing who Sailor Mercury was anyway. But now that he’d come here, it seemed silly to do it. Who had he asked for at the gates, she wondered, Ami Mizuno or Sailor Mercury?

Unfortunately the guard had already left, and so she was only able to make her best guess.

She only hoped Ami Mizuno would be enough.

The entrance hall was empty that early evening. Everyone was probably getting ready for dinner. Ami paused by the doorway, patting her short hair self-consciously. This was silly. He was an old friend—albeit one she hadn’t seen for hundreds of years—oh god, it seemed so awful when she put a number on it—and there was no reason to be nervous, right?

This was the same old Urawa, surely. At least, his figure, with his back to her, looked just the same. Older and taller than the last time she’d seen him, but not by much.

She wondered if she would ever get used to being immortal.

Ami cleared her throat and stepped into the room. “Um… Urawa-kun?”

Her words felt clumsy and awkward, and she mentally cringed. Maybe she should’ve told the others he was here and greeted him together.

It was the wait that would kill him, Ryo decided as he stood in the entrance hall. It was a miracle he hadn't blacked out again on the way here, and now he was afraid he'd do it inside the palace before he could tell anyone any information. He tried not to let it show though, or the guards might not let him see Ami if they thought he was dangerous. Ryo was still surprised that he had been let in at all, just by requesting to see Sailor Mercury. He must have looked pretty desperate then. He turned around at the sound of his name, recognizing the voice immediately.

"Ami-san..." She hadn't changed very much either, though he already knew that from seeing her indirectly on the television or in newspapers. She had matured slightly more than their last meeting, but there was something about her eyes that gave away how much she had seen and done since then. He was a little shocked that she still called him the same thing after all these years, but then again, old habits died hard. He took a step towards her, hesitant to get to close too fast. Doubts flooded his head.

He should have cleaned himself up more before he walked over here, he still probably looked terrible from dragging himself home. Ryo had started getting concerned question over his worn appearance for a couple of weeks now, and he had been going with the excuse of being sick with something. He certainly looked the part, with his paler skin and the dark circles he was getting under his eyes from waking up in the middle of the night. 

"I....I thought you'd might want to see me after what's been going on lately. I've had a vision."

When he turned around, Ami almost gasped out loud. Ryo looked terrible. Dark circles under his eyes, pale skin… he didn’t just look sick, he looked as if the life was visibly drained out of him. She hadn’t noticed any of these things in Rei’s grandfather when they came to the shrine, but then again that was a while ago. Was this happening to all of them or just Ryo?

“Ryo!” His name escaped her lips spontaneously, but Ami didn’t have time to be embarrassed. “You don’t look well. Please, sit down,” she took his arm and led him to a nearby chair before sitting next to him. Seeing him like this pained her. She really had no idea how bad things really were, did she? Ami had never felt like such a fool and a failure. Why hadn’t she moved faster on this? This was a serious issue. People were getting hurt. Not just the civilians, but the rainbow crystal carriers too, evidently.

“I’m so sorry. I was just coming to see you. I planned to go tomorrow first thing in the morning. I didn’t know things are this bad… tell me what’s going on, please. What did you see?”

Ryo allowed Ami to drag him to a chair, not that he could have resisted very well if he didn't want to sit. Ami got rather forceful when it came to people's heath, and it was nice to see that this hadn't changed. He was surprised to hear that she had planned to visit him the next day, which meant she knew where he lived. It wasn't a difficult fact to figure out for her, but it was an interesting thought. When he sat down, he had to concentrate to not drift off to sleep from how tired he was, but he could rest later. This needed to be said now.

"...I've been losing hours of time that I can't remember for about a month now," Ryo admitted. Once he started talking, the words spilled out of his mouth. "I finally realized what was happening when I saw Bunbo on the news after I took a trip to the same store the attack took place at. At first, I just woke up with a headache, but over the last two weeks, I've started to feel worse after each transformation. And each time I black out seems to last longer than the day before. At this rate, I might not wake up at all at some point." He tried to keep the terror out of his voice. What if they couldn't help him, and he was doomed to be torn apart by his own alternate persona?

"My vision was of Bunbo turning on and killing me," Ryo continued, staring at the ground. He wasn't sure he wanted to see the expression on Ami's face right now. "I'm not sure if it was supposed to be literal or metaphorical, but either way, I have a feeling it means I eventually die. And if the same thing is happening to the others, they'll die from this too."

“A month?” Ami’s face paled. It had taken a while for the monster attacks to appear in the news and then to catch their attention, and all that time Ryo had been suffering on his own? With each word that came out of his mouth, she became more and more terrified. Not wake up at all?

Ami’s hand flew to her mouth as he described his vision; of him killing himself, essentially. Her mind couldn’t help but flash back to the other vision he’d once had about his youma self; only that time he was killing her. But the thought boosted her confidence at the same time as it instilled a terrible concern.

“The youma is you, so it must be metaphorical. It’s trying to tell you that your youma side is killing you. But we won’t let that happen, will we?” Her voice turned from trembling to determined. “Remember how we stopped you killing me? We can always change our future. We’re in charge of our own destinies. And I promise you, Urawa-kun…” She looked into his eyes with utter sincerity and confidence. “We will change this one too. We will stop you from dying. Nobody is going to die. Not on my watch, at least.”

Despite her bold words, Ami could feel the weight that was suddenly burdening her small shoulders. They had to save everyone—all the rainbow crystal carriers. Rei would want to know that the same fate awaited her grandfather. Had she had her own vision about it? At any rate, a lot of lives were at risk, and not only did they need to gather all seven civilians, they also needed to figure out a way to fix this.

“Alright, do you think you can make it to my lab? I will need to run some tests to figure out what’s wrong exactly.”

Ryo stared at Ami in amazement as she promised she wouldn't let him, or any of the others die. He hadn't realized how hopeless he had become over the last few days, after seeing his own death play out yet again, but now he was starting to believe that they really could change fate once more. He remembered the first time he had transformed, and Sailor Mercury's words had allowed him to take control of his body for a brief minute. That had to mean something. Ami was so sure of herself that she had to be right. And what did Ryo have to lose at this point?

"I can try..." Ryo said. He was a little unsteady, but he got to his feet again. As they walked deeper into the palace on the way to the lab, Ryo lagging slightly behind Ami, his chest started hurting. At first, it was only sore, but it flared into a near excruciating pain two seconds later. He stumbled and fell onto one knee, breathing heavily as one hand clutched at the front of his shirt. It was around the spot where his crystal had been removed years before. He would have passed out right then if he wasn't expecting it by now, but Ryo wanted to try resisting it this time. He needed to warn her.

"It's...it's happening again..!" he said through gritted teeth. He collapsed on his side, and a dark energy cloaked his prone form, wrapping around him like a tornado.

Ami helped support Ryo’s body as they walked slowly to the lab. Already, her mind was whirling with the test she had to perform to figure out what was wrong. She was so lost in thought that she didn’t immediately notice that he was lagging behind. The sound of him falling finally made her turn, and she immediately ran to his side. “Are you okay?” she asked, terrified. Something about the way he was clutching his chest was so familiar. It was exactly the way he’d looked centuries ago when Zoisite first pulled the rainbow crystal out of him.

He only had time to say a quick warning before it happened. “Ryo!” Ami yelled as he fell unconscious, but when the dark energy enveloped him, she backed a little. Was this happening right now? In the middle of the palace? A lot of people could get hurt. Ryo could get hurt.

She didn’t know how to stop it, but she knew what she must do. “Mercury Crystal Power, Make Up!” she called, transforming in a blink of an eye. Whatever awaited her behind that smoke, she knew that she would be more prepared for it in this form.

The smoky energy expanded and grew taller, and a pair of glowing red eyes appeared as a much larger shape solidified. The darkness dissipated, revealing the Youma in Ryo's place. 

"Bunbo!" He roared. The armored  lizard beast loomed over the senshi standing before him, studying Mercury. His hands turned into his signature Swiss army knives and circle tool, and he slowly walked towards her, his blade scraping against the crystal walls and making a horrible screeching noise. But as he raised his arm to attack, a golden chain wound around it and held it in place. 

"Venus Love Me Chain!" Sailor Venus pulled hard, and Bunbo's arm was yanked backwards, throwing him off balance. He fell to one knee, and turned to face the newcomer.  

"Mercury, are you okay?" she asked, keeping an eye on the youma. He growled and fired a few pieces of sharp metal out of his mouth, forcing Venus to let go of the chain and jump away.

Mercury already knew what she would face, and yet it surprised her anyway. The figure was so familiar—one that once haunted her nightmares. Going up against it the first time had been hard enough. It always felt so personal somehow, and knowing who was really behind the Youma mask never made it easier. She stepped back as the monster advanced with its deadly arms, grimacing as it scratched the crystal walls. She was contemplating what to do when a familiar chain wrapped itself around the limb.

“Venus!” she exclaimed when Bunbo fell to one knee. “Where did you come from?”

She gasped as the Youma turned its attacks toward her friend, but thankfully Venus was, as always, quick. “I’m fine! But try not to hurt him! He was Urawa-kun just moments ago!”

She thought quickly, then, approaching the Youma carefully, she looked at its eyes pleadingly. “Urawa-kun! Ryo! It’s me, Ami! I know you’re in there! Try to fight this and regain yourself!”

She knew it was risky, but she had to try it first. Hurting him had to be the last resort.

Venus tensed when Mercury approached Bunbo, but didn't stop her. She trusted her firend's judgeent, but youma were unpredictable at times. It might have been Ryo at one point, but that didn't mean she was going to put all her trust in him to not accidentally hurt Mercury. The youma paused at Mercury's request, looking at her again, but more intently this time. He slowly stood up, not breaking eye contact with her at any point. And then he growled, shook his head, and pointed his blade at her to fire at point blank range.

"Mercury, watch out!" Venus yelled, unable to get there in time to stop it.

When the youma actually paused, seeming to listen to her for a moment, Mercury felt her hope rising. It seemed to be looking at her intently. Could he recognize her? She waited for him to show any recognition, but then something changed within him again. Regaining his aggressiveness, he stared directly at her and pointed his deadly blade toward her. The look on his face was clear; it was an intent to kill.

“Sabão Spray Freezing!”

She acted instinctively, freezing the blade mid-flight and, along with it, the youma as well. Her panicked gaze found Venus.

“The ice is not going to last forever. What do we do? We can’t kill him.” She felt desperate, until she remembered what had healed him the first time. “Serenity! We need to find Neo Queen Serenity and have the Silver Crystal purify him once more!”

Venus breathed a sight of relief as Mercury froze the attack before she was pierced.

"Just keep him frozen until I come back with her!" she said before disappearing down the hall. A few minutes later, Neo Queen Serenity turned the corner, and just as Bunbo was breaking out of his icy prison, summoned the Silver Crystal. She directed the burst of power at the monster, and he stilled as the energy covered him like a wave. Bunbo's arms were slowly forced into the air as his control lessened. 

"Refresh!" In a flash of light, Ryo collapsed to the ground again, no longer a youma but looking even rougher than before. He still hadn't woken up, but he was definitely breathing. Serenity let the crystal disappear again, a troubled expression on her face. 

"I tried my best to purify him again, but....I have a feeling it didn't work as well as it did the first time," she said. "I assume Ryo came here to ask for help?"

Every second that Venus was gone felt like an hour. Mercury kept waiting for the ice to crack, for the youma to come back to life, but he never did. At least, not until Neo Queen Serenity appeared. She used the Silver Crystal, and Mercury shielded her eyes from its brightness. The crystal’s power was enough to stop him on his tracks, and then, after a tense moment, returned him to his human self.

Her relief was short-lived when she realized that he looked worse than before. He was unconscious, too. She knelt beside him to check his vitals. He was breathing regularly, though she didn’t like how pale he looked.

“Yes,” she answered Serenity’s question, looking back up at her friends. “All the rainbow crystal carriers have been slipping back into their other forms. Apparently they have no memory of it when it happens. And Urawa-kun said…” She swallowed, trying hard to force the words out. “He said he had a vision of himself being killed by his Youma side. I think all these transformations are killing him a little bit more each time. We have to get him to my lab so I can figure out how to fix this. Venus, can you help me carry him there?”

The Queen's eyes widened as Mercury explained what was going on. "Then this problem just became even more urgent to solve. I'll try to find the other carriers and bring them back here. I'm sure once we explain what's going on, they'll come willingly... At least in the palace they can be cared for and kept from hurting anyone until we figure this out." With that, she left the hallway to tell the other senshi the change in plans.

"Yeah, sure..." Venus got one of Ryo's arms around her shoulder and pulled him to his feet, supporting most of his dead weight. "I wish we knew this was happening sooner..." she said, as they moved Ryo back to the lab.

---

Ryo woke up slowly, on his back in a brightly lit place. His eyes adjusted, and he realized that he was in a high tech laboratory, laying on an examination table. What had happened again? The memories of just before he passed out rushed back, and he turned panicked.

"Ami!" Did he warn Ami in time? Had he hurt her? The room looked to be in one piece, so he must have been moved here after he turned back...

Ami, back in her lab coat, had run the majority of the tests she could think of. All of them were telling her the same thing; the effects of the Silver Crystal’s healing had worn off in time. Since the rainbow crystals had been extracted, nothing was keeping the youma side sealed anymore. They would need a new magical seal. And she was currently combing through Crystal Tokyo’s massive database of magical objects and artefacts to figure out a potential replacement.

She’d buried her head in her hands in exhaustion when Ryo’s call startled her. She looked up and turned, jumping to her feet. “You’re awake! It’s alright, everything’s okay.” She checked his vitals; they were stable… for now. He looked worse for wear, though, and she knew his condition would continue to deteriorate.

“You kind of transformed back there… But Serenity fixed you. You fell unconscious after turning back so we brought you here to my lab.”

Ami sat down on a chair beside the table and grasped his hand. “I’m afraid the Silver Crystal can no longer keep your youma side down permanently. We’re going to have to look for an alternative solution. But I’m looking right now, and we’ll find it. I’m sure of it.”

She managed a smile that she hoped looked encouraging. “How are you feeling?”

Ryo breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that Ami  was alright. If he had let his youma side injure her, he'd never forgive himself. Ami took his hand, and he relaxed a little more. He was afraid that she might have given up on him after seeing how bad his condition was, but she was still determined to find a solution. But if the Silver Crystal was no longer effective on him, what could they possibly find to replace his seal? What other magical items existed that could help?

"Mostly sore, but this isn't as painful as I expected it to be..." Ryo said. He moved to sit up, and winced when he went to quickly and his muscles protested. Maybe the Silver Crystal made him change back faster than normal, so he wasn't as badly affected, but there were still consequences from changing forms so rapidly. 

"I know I'm more of a liability right now, but....can I help you search for an answer to this?" he asked. "I don't think I can sit by and let you do all the research when I could be doing something too." If he wanted to help the others being affected by this, then he should at least try to assist Ami. Looking up information was the only thing he could do in his condition anyway.

“You should probably take it easy for a while,” Ami said gently. “Every time you change, it takes a toll on your body. You need to rest.”

When he asked if he could help, Ami smiled and nodded. “Of course. There’s not much to do for the moment anyway… you could look into those books there,” she pointed at a pile of books nearby, each of them encyclopedias on magical items. There weren’t many printed materials anymore in this day and age, but a select few still existed, and Ami was grateful for those. She liked the feeling of being able to hold something solid in front of her. Books had always felt dependable, and they were even more so when she could touch them.

“I’m currently running a search in our database, too. It’s come up with a few possibilities so far, but not a lot are very helpful. Some are unproven myths, some light years away, some destroyed or lost…” Ami sighed. “But I’m looking into something in Elysion; I think I may be getting somewhere.”

She’d heard Helios talk about a mystical jewel that could seal darkness once, though she didn’t remember the details of it. Currently the computer was digging for information about it, and when one of her friends returned, she planned to ask them to find Helios so he could tell them more about the jewel.

Ryo moved slower this time, reaching for one of the old books. As long as he was careful, he shouldn't hurt himself. As he looked at the cover in front of him, he realized exactly how old the book was. He had no idea books this old still existed in this age. It was a wonder it was still in a single piece. 

The cover had an image of a beautiful lake in the middle of a forest printed on it, along with a winged unicorn. Tales of Elysion looked like a promising start. Ryo skimmed the book, and stopped when he saw the word crystal. 

The Golden Crystal's chamber is guarded by another powerful stone, called the Golden Celestite. The gem is placed in the door to the chamber, and any evil that strikes it is absorbed and neutralized.If a demon ever tried to touch or destroy it, it would instantly be consumed by the Celestite and made harmless.


Could this be it? This stone sounded like something that could help. Excited that he might have found something useful, he kept the page open and turned to Ami. "Have you ever heard of something called the Golden Celestite?" he asked. "This books says that it's in a place called Elysion."

Ami turned to Ryo and looked at the page he’d pointed out. “The Golden Celestite? That sounds familiar.” She read the page and felt hope building within her. “This might be it. This might be what I’m looking for.” She turned to the database and paused the general search. She then started another one with the jewel’s name as the specific keywords.

The holographic display in front of them was immediately filled with information. There was an image of the jewel at the top, shining bright and rotating slightly. “The Golden Celestite of Elysion,” Ami read the description. “Created by the protectors of the dreams realm, this powerful jewel is located in the door to the sacred chamber where the Golden Crystal is located. Any being of darkness will immediately be absorbed by its light. It’s one of the protection measures to keep the Golden Crystal from being corrupted or stolen by evil. Effective against demons, but not humans with impure intentions. That might explain why Nehelenia wasn’t affected by it. She wasn’t a demon or anything; deep down she was still human. But the youma inside you… that’s an actual creature of darkness. It might just work.”

Ami called for Chibiusa through the palace’s communication network.

“Yes, Ami-chan?” came Chibiusa’s voice through the speaker.

“Chibiusa-chan, where is Helios right now?”

“He returned to Elysion two days ago. Why?”

Ami sighed. “We could use his help. I guess we’ll have to come to him anyway. Thank you, Chibiusa-chan.”

“Wait, Ami-chan! Do you need me to come?”

“Chibiusa-chan, don’t you have important ambassadors to entertain tomorrow?” Ami said in a half chiding, half teasing tone.

Chibiusa’s pout could be heard through the phone. “Mama can do it. All these ruling stuff are so boring! Those people put me to sleep every time.”

“You’re going to be queen soon. I won’t pull you from your duty. It’s alright; we can manage on our own. I know the way there.”

“Alriiiight,” Chibiusa relented.

Ami smiled and ended the connection. She looked at Ryo. “Guess I’ll have to go to Elysion to get this jewel for you. I wonder if it’s okay to remove it from the there… The Golden Crystal is with the king now, so it’s not really necessary anymore…”

Elysion? There was a huge difference between reading about a mythical place and going to it, yet Ami talked about visiting as if she were going to the supermarket to pick up food. But then again, if Sailor Senshi and monsters existed, then why couldn't Elysion? It certainly wouldn't surprise him. But wait...Ami was going alone? That didn't seem safe.

"You're going to leave?" Ryo asked, looking alarmed. "I mean, it could be dangerous going alone... Would it be okay if I went with you?" he asked. "Then we could test the stone right there." He had no idea why he was trying to protect Ami, she was far stronger than he would ever be. But he really didn't want to make her go off by herself just for his sake.

“Well, of course I am,” Ami blinked, not understanding Ryo’s confusion. Who else was going to get the jewel? She could take her friends, she supposed, though most of them seemed busy at the moment… but even if she went alone, she didn’t expect there to be trouble.

“You want to come?” Now it was her turn to be surprised. “Are you sure? I mean… with your condition…” She bit her lip. It was true that if he came she didn’t have to make the round trip before they could cure him, and with time running out as it was, they probably should take him to save time. She couldn’t confidently say he could wait here and still make it until she came back. Which was worrisome.

“Elysion isn’t really a dangerous place; it’s a place of dreams. Really peaceful. Though I suppose it’s probably better getting you there as fast as possible…”

Ryo let go of the breath he had been holding. Her logic for his accompaniment made far more sense than his, but he was just happy to go with Mercury at all. And her point about his limited time to work with was starting to  make him nervous. Just how long would he have lasted while she was gone? Another few days? No, going to Elysion would be better than the suspense of waiting here alone. 

"Thank you, I'll try not to be more of a burden than I already am..." he said with a shy smile. 

---

Since Helios was already gone, Mercury had to go to King Endymion to get access to Elysion. But without the priest to personally guide them, the two would have to start at the edge of the Golden Kingdom's grounds and work their way towards the center temple. The trip would not take longer than a day or so if they didn't stall anywhere. 

After Ryo cleaned himself up and changed clothes, as he hadn't had time to even get out of his work uniform before he came to the palace, the King teleported them to Elysion. Unlike the time Queen Nehelenia had corrupted it, the holy grounds were peaceful now, with a myriad of flowers, trees, and grass flourishing in the slight golden glow of the area. In between the two and the Golden Celestite was a thick forest they needed to navigate.

Ami had decided to transform into Sailor Mercury for ease in their travel. Should they come across anything that required magical assistance—though she didn’t foresee any trouble coming from Elysion—it would be faster to deal with this way. Plus all she needed to summon her visor was a quick touch of her earring. And, well the reason she didn’t want to admit was… should Ryo revert to his youma self again, she would be more capable of handling him as Mercury.

She hoped that didn’t happen during the one day trek they had to make to the center of Elysion. She had powers to subdue him, but without the Silver Crystal, she couldn’t turn him back into his human form. She’d have to wait it out until the transformation reverted on its own.

To be quite honest, she was rather worried. But she believed she would be able to deal with any problem. She was the senshi of knowledge, right? She was good at problem solving.

As they walked through the forest, Mercury decided to make conversation and use this opportunity to catch up. “So… Ryo… how have you been?” she asked, knowing that she should have asked this a long time ago. They shouldn’t have had to be thrown into a crisis for her to reach out to him. Guilt welled up in her chest as she wondered how to explain the long stretch of absence in communication. It felt odd to be talking about trivial things when she was in sailor senshi mode. “I looked up your job when I was trying to locate you. Seems like you move around a lot. Do you like what you’re doing?”

This Elysion place was beautiful, Ryo thought as they walked. Just being there gave him a sense of calm, and he momentarily forgot his aches. Maybe the environment would keep his inner youma at bay for a little longer. Ryo made sure to walk next to Sailor Mercury though, just in case. He didn't want to be behind her and potentially catch her off guard if he did transform.

He looked back at Mercury whee she asked him a question about how he'd been. He had just assumed that she'd been busy with more important issues over those years. He didn't expect her to keep up with him at all.

"Well, Japan needed engineers more than ever after everything fell apart and Neo Queen Serenity took over," Ryo said, rubbing the back of his head. He had good enough grades to get into a respected engineering school, and quickly got a job just before the world wide disaster struck. After that, he moved up in the company after his work in finding flaws in the repaired systems was noticed.

"My psychic abilities tell me about possible accidents in the power plants before they happen, so I can find the problem ahead of time. I'm more useful supervising than anywhere else." He smiled at the thought. He did genuinely enjoy using his power to directly save people instead of just cheating on tests and winning lotteries.

 "And what have you been doing, if I'm allowed to ask?" Senshi work was most likely supposed to stay secret, right?

Mercury smiled at the thought that Ryo was using his powers to help people. Of course he would. She had always figured he’d be one of those people when he could easily abuse what he knew. She let out a small laugh at his question. “Of course you’re allowed. It’s not really a secret, especially from my friends.” The senshi being prominent figures had actually saved them a lot of trouble when it comes to secrecy—it allowed them to protect the world better instead of from within the shadows. But of course, being out in the open also put a bigger target on their backs. Thankfully, the palace was a really powerful stronghold.

“The world is mostly at peace these days, so we don’t do too much fighting anymore. Usually there are only minor threats, and we’re training the next generation of senshi to take our place as the main protectors of the city. That’s Princess Lady Serenity, the new Sailor Moon, and the Sailor Quartet.” She wondered how much Ryo kept up with all this. “As for me, I mostly dedicate my time in research and medical. I’m trying to eradicate most of the world’s deadliest diseases as well as help the advance of technology.”

She thought about how little her life had changed in hundreds of years. “So have you ever... I don't know... think about... settling down with someone?” she asked, feeling a bit embarrassed about the personal question.

Ryo had seen the young princess on television, and it wasn't strange for the new Sailor Moon and her Sailor Quartet to show up in papers and on the news, especially in Crystal Tokyo. And it didn't surprise him that Ami was still working in medicine and science. With unlimited time to research, she could probably accomplish far more than the average team of professionals. Her next question threw him off though.

"Er, settle down?" As in, get together with someone else and start a family? To be truthful, the idea wasn't foreign to him. With his engineer's salary, Ryo could easily support another person and potential children, but it wasn't like he had a time limit in terms of his age to get married. And he had yet to meet a person that would understand and accept him completely, psychic abilities and monster soul and all. Except for Ami... He blushed at the momentary thought of he and Ami getting together. Sure, they had gone out a few times years ago, when they were much younger, but this was now. She was probably busy with her work and had moved on from him, so he might as well let that dream go. "No, I don't have any plans in that regard..."

Mercury was surprised to hear that he didn’t even have any plans to settle down. But then again, neither did she. It was odd, but even after hundreds of years, she never really felt alone or pressured into finding someone. Love had always taken a backseat in her priorities, and that hadn’t changed in centuries. She just always figured that wasn’t something that she needed in her life. And she hadn’t been lonely… not really.

“I get that,” she said after a moment. “I mean… I don’t feel that urge either. I wondered if that was weird. Not that all the other senshi have found someone or anything. Some of them did, some still don’t. But me… I just hardly ever think about it.”

It sounded strange when she put it into words. Weren’t humans supposed to want to mate, create a family and all that? Then again, her background was kind of different than an ordinary human’s.

“Maybe I just haven’t found the right person,” she said with a smile. “But I figured someone would have seen your worth and snapped you up.”

So Ami wasn't really seeking a partner. It seemed that neither of them were much into dating, though it was nice to know that Ami was able to choose at all. For all Ryo knew, senshi could have had rules and regulations about that, though denying love was pretty far out of character for Neo Queen Serenity to do. Especially if she still was similar to the Usagi he knew from before, the one who tried to pair him up with his crush.

She thought she hadn't found the right person yet? Ryo thought that she would have attracted at least a few interested people by this point, or maybe she just didn't realize? She had far too many good qualities about her to have no admirers, yet none had caught her eye. He wasn't sure how to react to her next comment, rubbing his arm and looking away with a shy smile. Ami thought he had worth?

"Ah, not really. I think I'm pretty average..." He didn't think he'd ever been that desirable in his life, not in dating terms anyway. "But... you shouldn't worry about it. I think if you ever wanted to find someone, you wouldn't have a hard time," Ryo said. He wasn't trying to imply anything about them either. He was genuinely sure that Ami would never be alone if she didn't want to be.