The evening’s patrol had been slightly rougher than usual. Even though she’d succeeded in dusting the youma she’d encountered, Sailor Tempesti hadn’t escaped quite unscathed from her battle with the unfortunate trio. A series of scrapes ran along her left tricep from a particularly unceremonious landing courtesy of a vine-like tentacle dragging her across the ground and she knew that there would be quite a few nasty bruises come morning. As for the civilians she’d been trying to protect, they were naturally quite a bit unsettled but unharmed outside of the loss of energy. Even if she couldn’t completely replenish what they’d lost, she could give them a little boost to get them home where they could hopefully recuperate a bit more quickly than they would have if she hadn’t been there.

With a soft sigh the senshi used her mirror to redirect what light she could onto the raw patch on her arm, the sting evaporating as the skin’s redness faded into a glossy pink. It would still need time to heal completely, but at least it probably wouldn’t scar up. At least there were no more Chaos energy signatures. None that she could sense, anyway. It seemed unlikely that there was no way for someone to block detection of their aura, but for now she thought she could let her guard down for a few minutes. Just enough time to finish cleaning herself up before making the trip home. Maybe she could even get in some agility practice while she was at it. No point in wasting the walk, after all.

Quickly passing a facial wipe across the worst of the smudges on her face, Tempesti sent her supplies back into her subspace and sprang onto the nearest rooftop. With surprising swiftness, a chill mist flooded the ground below her, its fingers creeping upward toward her perch. As it closed in the world fell silent, the soft nighttime sounds swallowed by the mass of grey, and despite the protection her fuku offered she felt its cold seep into her bones. Whatever its source might be, this fog didn’t feel like Chaos. The strange energy with which the city vibrated during the time surrounding holidays seemed like the most likely culprit. She reassured herself with the knowledge that despite how frightening or unsettling those things might be, none of them had actually done her any lasting harm.

A sharp intake of breath at her back sent waves of cold fear shuddering through her body, soft footfalls on the asphalt. Whirling to face the newcomer she found herself confronted by the silent emptiness of the rooftop behind her. Eyes wide, she scanned the black expanse for a sign of anyone else, the silver curtain of mist obscuring anything that might be on the ground and reducing the streetlights to feeble, distant pinpricks. Whatever strangeness had taken an interest in her didn’t need to delay her too much. She had no intention of guiding it to her home, but that didn’t mean that she had to stay here and play its games.

Hoping that another leap might put some distance between her and her unwanted companion, Tempesti dropped to a fire escape below before vaulting over the edge and into the dense velvet of the fog. In its embrace it seemed that even the sound of her own breath was lost to her before echoing back, impossibly amplified and alien, mingled with the dull, steady sound of the unseen visitor. Unconsciously, she quickened her pace, all too aware as her pursuer adjusted their own gait to match her speed.

“Storm-Swift Flight!”

The harpies tore silently through the fog, lifting her boots from the ground and giving her the extra momentum she needed to clear a nearby building. Thudding footfalls drew closer, accompanied by a strange, warbling buzz punctuated occasionally by sharp squeals not unlike that of screeching microphone feedback that pierced her skull. The edges of her vision danced with pareidolic images her mind pulled from shapes in the fog and then as quickly as it had appeared the mist receded, leaving behind the quiet sounds of an evening in the city.