Part 3

Midnight blue pumps clicked on the cold, ice-blue marble steps as a woman made her way to the underground chamber of her castle. Her thin frame was draped in an ankle-length, form-fitting, velvet gown, the color matching her pumps. Her silvery-white hair hung uniformly down her back, picking up the cold grey of her determined eyes. Her pale skin seemed almost translucent in the dim light of the chamber, contrasting even more with the blue of her gown and seeming to pull tautly around the already sharp features of her face.

At the far end of the chamber two columns of pure ice stood -- each with a figure frozen into them. The woman stopped before them and stared. "Thallo," she breathed softly as she looked at the column on her left, "always young, always full of life." A young girl stared back at her. "Everyone always likes your youth. Your sparkling green hair the color of new grass; large blue eyes the color of a spring sky; pink flesh of a newborn babe ...." She trailed off and looked to the column on the right. "And Auxo," she chuckled ruefully, "on that fine line between staying a child and burgeoning into womanhood. Your full figure; waves of chestnut locks flowing around your coppery skin; eyes that flit between brown and green ..." she sighed softly and continued, "is it any wonder Auxo, and my dear Thallo, that I am always overlooked? Always dreaded? I am quickly wished away so that you, Thallo, may appear. And Auxo, you are always wished to remain, and I am held at bay by the prayers of foolish mortals. But no more. For I am the only Horae now. You will both be held in icy casings as this world succumbs to Winter." The woman began to laugh wildly, staring at the silent, fixed pleas of her sisters. "Only I, Carpo, remain." Her laugh echoed throughout the icy chamber.

"You are such a baka, Usagi!" Rei stormed towards Usagi, holding a broom that only moments before had been used for sweeping, but now seemed poised to be used as a weapon by the fiery-tempered, young priestess.

Usagi's face crumpled into her usual wail of tears. "WHAT! What did I do?" Usagi looked to her friends gathered around her, her blonde locks of hair flipping back and forth.

Rei stopped, heaving a huge sigh, her face frowning as she muttered something under her breath. Both Makoto and Ami shook their heads at the ensuing scene, while Minako attempted to hold in a giggle.

Rei shot a glare to Minako, took a deep breath and let it out slowly, the frown still apparent on her face. "Usagi," she paused somewhat calmly and then continued, "so, what you're saying is that Mamoru's been hanging out with this girl named Em, and you don't think anything suspicious is going on?"

Usagi blinked. "Suspicious? I ... don't understand."

Rei grunted softly. "You say when he speaks of her, it sounds like he really likes her?"

A huge smile crossed Usagi's face. "Yeah, she must be very nice!"

Rei let off a small scream and began, once more, to advance towards Usagi.

Minako started to laugh and hopped in front of Usagi, cutting Rei off from Usagi. She then patted Rei's head and turned to Usagi. "What she means, my dear, is that, don't you think that this Em chick is getting a little too chummy with your Mamo-chan? That, perhaps, possibly, something more than friendship could be brewing between them?" She paused as she noticed Usagi's blank stare and then continued, "something ... romantic?"

Usagi's eyes went round, and then she began laughing. "Is that what has you worried, Rei-chan?" She continued laughing as she held up her left hand, a small ring sparkling in the afternoon sunlight. "Mamo-chan is very loyal to me. He would never cheat on me."

Rei pursed her lips and arched an eyebrow. "Yeah, but what about her? You don't know her or her intentions."

Makoto began to nod, finally chiming in to the conversation. "Rei's right, Usagi. Mamoru's a young, handsome guy. Any girl, whatever he may think, probably has him in her scope."

Ami slowly slid her book down, where she was half-reading and half-listening to the conversation, to speak up softly. "I don't know about relationships all that much, and what Rei and Makoto are saying may be true, but I don't think Mamoru's likely to become 'scoped'. Besides, he's coming home in a few of months, and then you won't have anything to worry about." The quiet, genius girl smiled softly at her pig-tailed friend.

Usagi shot a triumphant grin to Rei and a wink to Makoto. "See!"

Makoto chuckled softly, and Rei acceded with a roll of her eyes and a shrug, and then all the girls fell into a pile of laughter.

Suddenly a chill wind swept past the girls, tugging at their sweaters and coats causing their laughter to die. Rei stood up and looked towards the spring sky still cloaked in winter. "Why hasn't Spring come yet? It should have come weeks ago." Her arms wrapped themselves around her body. "I'm starting to get a bad feeling."

The girls all cast glances around, and Usagi finally spoke up, as leader. "Perhaps you should do a fire reading, Rei-chan?"

With a silent nod, Rei led the way into the temple, followed by her friends.

"What did you say?" Em frowned.

Mamoru cringed slightly. "I'm sorry. I probably shouldn't have said anything, since it's not exactly a natural hair color, and I'm sure you've gotten a lot of comments on it. It's not my business, I'm sorry."

Em took a few deep breaths as she shook her head and just stared at him. Her mouth opened and closed a few times. She then swallowed and whispered, "No one ... no one's ever ... except ... Mom ... and ... and ...." She trailed off, just shaking her head, then let her fingers wrap around her locket. She stared down at it, then at him, and then, grabbing her backpack, took off running under the winter-cold shower that should have been spring.