Sailor Mercury's Arc

Chapter 5 of 6

Mercury left the obelisk behind and crossed the palace grounds to a building only she used — a quiet hall of polished tables and glass instruments, where she tested loyalty the way others tested poisons. She locked the door. She needed a second turned senshi. The wrong choice would crack Weldon's trust before it set. She lit her comparison chart. Faces bloomed across it, each one ringed by glowing power readings and small private notes. Venus near the top. Luna Starcrest beside her. Pluto further down, harder to read. Mercury tapped Venus's panel and watched the loyalty bar climb past safe. Too bonded to the Queen. Too loud. Venus would speak before Mercury could finish a sentence. She slid the panel aside and pulled Luna Starcrest's profile to the center. The readings were different. Discipline high. Devotion fixed on a single promise, not a throne. Mercury read the notes she had gathered for months — the ring, the contingencies, the cold preparation under the warmth. Luna did not love the Queen. Luna loved someone the Queen could not protect. A knock. Weldon stepped in without waiting, still glowing faintly at the chest. "You picked one," he said. Not a question. Mercury did not turn. "Luna Starcrest." He looked at the chart. "Not Venus." "Venus would run to the Queen," Mercury said. "Luna will listen first." Weldon was quiet a moment. "Good. I couldn't have carried Venus." That honesty caught her. She turned to him. "You trust this choice?" "I trust that you showed me the chart," he said. "You didn't have to." Mercury held his eyes. The leash at her throat felt heavier. She had let him see the work. He had not flinched. The trust held. She closed the chart. Luna's face stayed burned in her mind. "Then we move on her next," Mercury said. Weldon nodded once and left. Mercury stood alone in the hall. The second name was chosen. The bargain with Weldon was, for now, intact — and the next door was already open.