July 7, 2010
Well, here it is. The sequel I swore I'd never write, but my daughter has hounded me about for years. :) So, I REALLY hope you enjoy it. I have one more chapter written and will get it published as soon as it's polished in a day or two, then I have to go and write my chapters for my real book. So, be patient, and I will be back on this very soon. Maybe a month or so. I truly hope it doesn't take me 8 years to write this like it did with the last one, but it may take time becuase I do have a real life and I really want to do this right for you, my readers-who I love dearly and would never have finished the first book without. Some of you have made my life better by your gloiwing comments, compliments, and encouragement. This sequel is my thank you.
Be forewarned, this story is not a pretty one. Even in the beginning. There will be callenges, there will be brutal combat, there will be death, but there will also be the romance that is all important in Sailor Moon. Following along my original story, I have stayed true to the names I used in my first Book and they are still Sailor Scouts, not Senshi- They started Memories 1 as Scouts and so they will remain in Book 2. Tons of characters, dialogue, action and angst. :) This will be somewhere between 15-20 chapters, so epic in proportion like Book 1. I am among the group of writers who are unable to write short no matter how hard I may try. :)
BTW, if you have just come across this story as a first time reader of my works, I would highly suggest you go to my first story: Memories of Past and Present (Book 1), or you may find yourself completely lost when you read this one. I had new characters and an entirrly new storyline (beginning with the Serena/Darien breakup) in my first book.
All C &C's go to:
First, insert standard character/story disclaimers here- Disclaimers: Everybody knows I don't own any of the characters on Sailor Moon. They belong to Naoko Takeuchi, DIC, Pioneer, ADV, Toei Animation and whoever else has rights to them. The other characters are mine! This story line is also mine. If you choose to use my characters or story, please let me know.
Take care and PLEASE let me know your thoughts. Hugs to all.
Memories of Past and Present: Book 2
By, Laurel Anne
A Prologue: The Past
1267 Anno Domini
She pumped her arms faster and faster, concentrating on moving her feet forward as fast as she could. Though nothing, not even speed, would help her, because they were right behind her. The dogs she could easily take care of, but she did not want to kill the life in the creatures. Nor did she want to kill the humans. They just did not understand. She was no witch, she was just left behind.
She had tried to fit in. She had tried to be a part of this world. But it was impossible, regardless of where she would hide among the mortals. She remembered too much: friends, family, many worlds at peace. All were forgotten. All had forgotten her. Even her family did not remember her. And when she was not aging as those around her, and people started noticing, she fled, this time to Japan, almost to the end of the common world. It was a long journey for a woman alone in these dark times, and she had to use many different talents in her travels. Carefully, quietly, or so she thought. She was wrong.
She leaned against a tree, her breath coming hard, her chest aching. The dogs were louder now, and she could hear the yells of the men and the horses. She heard the clank of the steel carried by the riders. This would be her final night; she could run no more. She would die as a hunted witch because of her talents.
Magic they called it. Heretic they called her. Profane, against the laws of the new one God. She did not have magic in the true sense; these hunters did not remember the use of real magic talent, of real power. All those who had that amazing strength were killed in the invasion, and the humans left behind had their memories altered and talents erased through an even stronger power.
She was not the only one, she knew. Far more of those like her had been executed in the aftermath. They were hunted, just as she herself was being hunted. But she would fight this time, and they would know from her death where to come for revenge, for she hated now. Hated the mortals, hated that some were left with the memories and knowledge of what was, hated that so many had been massacred. She had decided.
The place where she ends will be the beginning of it all.
She moved from the tree and crossed a small stream, swelling it with her mind as she passed beyond it; its churning waters giving her the small time she needed to prepare. Her manipulation of the elements—for use in feeding her family before the change came—was her only true talent, and it was a small talent, indeed, in comparison to past splendor. But even her small abilities would seem like a Demon's work or even the work of the Devil himself when she went into battle.
Standing in the center of a small grove of trees, she waited. The first through the brush was the dogs and she could hear them as they came closer and closer. Scores of them came near, and since they were the easiest to kill, she destroyed them by expending the least amount of energy. She opened her hands and spread her fingers wide. And with every quick breath she drew in, she closed her fingers in a fist, sucking the life from each and every animal until there was no more howling, no more barking. The men would come next, and she would murder them one by one by fire, earth, and water…
Closing her eyes, she silently commanded the gurgling stream water. As men crossed on foot and horses, the waters surged vicious and deep, drowning the ones on foot, causing the horses to panic and throw the riders. The river swallowed those men as well.
The woman was tired now, panting from the exertion of using two simple elements, but she could hear the screams, the terror, the anguish and it gave her a surge of strength. She knew she could not win, there were far too many of them; she could feel them coming and coming and coming—after her, but she would not stop.
As the survivors struggled through the waters and attempted to stand on firm ground, she softened the soil beneath their feet, and it turned to liquid, sucking them down into a vortex of earth.
Those who managed to avoid death by water or earth, approached the grove cautiously, staying together, waiting until their numbers could swell before attempting to capture her. She knew they saw the dead animals, and she knew that they wondered if they would meet that fate as well. But, she had more pain-filled plans for these would-be murders than the swift, painless death she dealt those mindless beasts.
This was it, she knew. Once she used the fire, she would be completely bereft of energy, and they would come for her. She held the water and earth for moments longer, because as soon as she let them loose, more men would rush the grove.
With a sigh, she released the other elements and waited for a brief moment as the men gathered faster and faster in the small area. She closed her eyes again and raised her arms in arcs above head. Fire split from the torches some of the men carried. The fire quickly came alive, drawing itself into a huge wall. She threw her arms forward, propelling the fire forward with her last strength, falling to the ground with the force she expelled.
Her eyes glowed with satisfaction as the men turned to run, but the fire swallowed them and their screams, incinerating them, leaving nothing but ashes in its wake. As fast as it was there, the fire was gone; and she sighed, too exhausted to rise, too exhausted to continue, her power was never meant to be used in this fashion.
The men shoved her face into the ground as they bound her hands behind her, and she made not a sound, in her mind she made her final preparations. They heckled and jabbed her; they spat on her and called her witch. When the men moved from her, she struggled to her feet.
When the first stone struck her back, she stumbled. When the next stone slammed into her head, she staggered. Then another rock and another, more and more came, large and small, rough and smooth. Each stone left its mark on her physical body, and still she stood—battered and beaten—but proud.
The silver-haired leader—the one who ordered her hunted—stripped her and hung her by her hands over a fire pyre.
"See the Demon as it dies," he said.
And she wanted to kill with him every fiber of her being, but even this close her power failed her, and her eyes narrowed as she stared at him… until more stones came, harder now, until she sagged. But, she did not cry out.
She watched through blackened and swollen, slitted eyes as the man brought a flaming torch near her. She tried to focus on burning him, but he just gave her a knowing smile and dropped the torch onto the wood at her feet. Only then, when the flames crawled along her body, scalding and scorching her, did she scream in agony. The torture brought realization, and her prayers would be answered.
She would have her revenge, and the Royal Family would pay.
