AN: I know it is customary to have a brief introduction, although I
personally prefer for a story to speak for itself so I'll toss up a few
brief words and the authors comments for following chapters will be at the
end. This story takes place after the fall of Crystal Tokyo. (Which lasted
itself about a thousand years.) The p.o.v. character is Neflyte and picks
up right after the attack in the park. Is anyone confused yet? It all
gets explained in, chapter three, I believe. My interpretations of the
characters may be harsher then in the show. And I'm not out to
intentionally bash any one character, all of them have their fair share of
mental problems here or I dropped the ball and the character got ignored.
Managing ten main characters is a juggling act I've never tried before so
someone may get shoved aside. When it comes to names I do use both
Japanese and North American versions they are used to help distinguish the
three different periods involved. The Silver Millennium uses the Japanese
versions and the modern day Sailor Moon gets the North American ones. The
current setting for my story gets original names. Now I have only seen the
North American version and what little I know of the others is from reading
other fan-fic myself so I tried not to depend on that for a strong source
of information. I tried to stick as close as could to the original
storyline and you can assume things happened like in the show unless I say
otherwise. Things may be changed for one of two reasons 1) I couldn't
remember, so I made it up and I apologize for my faulty memory or 2) It
interfered with the story I was writing so I changed it, for which I claim
artistic license. As for claiming artistic license, I claim nothing of the
Sailor Moon characters, just my twisted plot, as someone else created them.
I had initially written this story under another pen name but decided to
post it here on ffnet in hopes of some feedback. Please review, I love
reviews.
:.
The Pheonix Rises
Created by Naoko Takeuchi
Written by Oniko
Chapter One
He lay dying at her feet. Soft motes of multi-colored light still sparkled around his torn and battered body and reflected in a spreading pool of his blood. He lay still and silent except for a soft rasping breath that slipped through his lips. She knelt down next to him, warm blood seeping through her cloak and dress, and lay a sword between them.
"Neflyte. I can help you." She called to him. She brushed his hair out of his face and leaned over him, concerned. Could he even hear her? She let her fingers trail down and caress his cheek. There was a flicker of a closed eye-lid but then nothing. More urgently, "Neflyte."
He stirred, his eyes flickered open but they stared forward seeing something other then the trees overhead. He attempted to speak, to call out a name but only a moan escaped his lips.
"Neflyte, look at me." she commanded. He turned to the sound of her voice but took several long moments before truly seeing her. When he did question and worry filled his eyes.
"You are safe." She assured him. He closed his eyes again and fought the pain back. When he opened his eyes a few moments later they were clearer then before, his control was impressive. "Who are you?" he asked, then "I am dying."
"Yes, but you may live." She said ignoring his question.
"Why?" he whispered. "Why help me?"
"You've no time to learn that tale. Would you rather live or die?" She said. He closed his eyes as a wave of pain broke through his barrier, when again he had control he whispered. "What price will you demand of me?"
"Clever, Neflyte. But you have no time. We shall discuss payment later, once you are better." She paused and studied him intensely, then repeated. "Would you live or die?"
"Live, I would live." She picked up the Sword and lay it with the hilt on his chest, then placed his right hand over the worn leather.
"This artifact has the power to heal you, if you know the correct phrase." He sat up slightly wincing at the pain the movement caused him and stared into the pale crystal in the pommel of the Sword.
"What are the words?" he asked.
"I don't know."
"Then how can I use it?"
"You need to figure that out."
"If I fail?"
"Then you die." She got up and walked away, leaving him with the Sword. With her words still echoing in his ears, Neflyte stared into the small crystal set in the pommel of the Sword. It glowed with a pale white fire from deep within. He traced the edges of the facets lightly with his fingers. His blood darkened the crystal but the flame within burned even brighter. Words formed in his mind, a pale fire that burned the pain away. He closed his hand over the hilt, tore his eyes away from the crystal, and whispered to himself.
"What if it doesn't work?" But her voice echoed back at him, then you die. "I die anyway, but can I pay her price if I live?
"Healing Flames . . . Cleanse!" He screamed as white fire consumed him, burning away everything that he was, burning him to ash. Then, as the Phoenix rises from the flames, so too, was he resurrected. Memories flooded into him of a kingdom lost long ago, and a war, and failure. And always, wherever his dreams of memory took him he was haunted by emerald green eyes.
He awoke slowly. Shaking the dreams off was difficult but he eventually awoke to find himself in a large room without any knowledge of how he came to be here. The low ceiling and smoky fire gave the place a heavy confining feel. There were other people in the room as well; most of them were, like he was, lying on a simple pallet on the floor. There was one young woman who was moving around, tending to those on the pallets. She was slender and her blue hair was cropped short. Memories tugged at him, he should know her but the answers eluded him. She gently administering to each of the broken bodies that she passed, eventually she made her way over to him.
"Watch my finger." she said and began moving it back and forth in front of him. He ignored her moving hands and studied her face. Why does she seem so familiar?
"Who are you?" he asked.
"Amis, and you?"
"I am Neflyte." Neflyte replied. "Where is this place?"
"This is my home," she said. "I take care of the sick and the wounded. Any who come in peace are welcome." She recited it like an old worn phrase useless, meaningless but still said.
"How did I come here?" he asked.
"You don't remember?" He shook his head "I found you lying on my doorstep. There was nothing apparently wrong with you but you wouldn't awaken for days. What happened?"
"I don't know . . . I was in a park . . . "
"Well you obviously weren't on this moon." She snorted "Did someone hate you enough to just drop you in this hell?"
"Moon? Last I knew I was on earth," he said.
"You traveled a long way to lay on my doorstep. You're on
Io."
A moment of confusion, and a vague sense that he knew that name, when older memories trickled to the surface. Io was one of Jupiter's moons, an extremely dangerous place to be. There had been rumors of an ancient artifact was buried here somewhere, it was full of magic and hate. He flinched away from those thoughts. If even some of those rumors were true he had leave this place soon. He had no wish to return to the negaverse now that he was finally free of it.
"How could you have gotten here?" She asked
He thought for a moment, trying to come up with some explanation. "I was attacked in a park. I was dying."
"Who attacked you?" She asked.
"Four of Zoicite's minions."
"Zoicite? A strange name." She said. He studied her unreadable face carefully before replying evasively "A strange man."
She frowned at him then prompted, "You were dying."
"Yes. I could feel my life flowing out of me when magic twisted the air. There was this woman who said she could heal me . . ." The words that he didn't say tore at his throat. How he was prepared to rest at peace knowing that Molly was safe with her friend Sailor Moon, Serena. But he didn't say them fearing that he might have said too much already.
"Who was she? What did she look like?"
"She didn't give me her name. She was dressed in a cloak and I couldn't see much of her. She said that she had an artifact that she could use to heal me. It was a sword; I needed to have a phrase to channel the power for healing. She wouldn't tell it to me, I had to figure it out on my own."
"How did you learn the phrase?" she prompted him again as he paused, curiosity alight in her face.
"The sword told me . . .as I held it the words formed in my mind."
"Where is the sword now? I would give anything to be able to study it." She added the last with a wistful tone in her voice. And for the first time since awakening he realized that he did not have the sword. His eyes grew wide with panic.
"It wasn't found with me?' Amis shook her head. "Then that woman must have taken it back." He felt a pang of loss. The sword was meant to be his he was sure of it. Amis patted his hand reassuringly.
"I'm sure it's safe. Strong artifacts like that usually have some kind of safeguard. But you need to get some rest. Magical healing gives you a false burst of energy, if you don't rest it can be fatal." He nodded and lay down without complaint; he could feel an underlying exhaustion tugging him down.
It had seemed only a few moments before he awoke, the hall was dark with the fires banked low. As Neflyte sat up and looked around he heard a soft voice calling to him from outside. He recognized the voice of the mysterious woman who gave him the sword. He couldn't help but wonder if she had come to claim his debt. Slowly he rose from the pallet, his legs felt stiff and sore from laying down too long. Outside the air was cool and refreshing but it had a strange metallic tang that tickled the back of his throat. The entrance to Amis' home lay hidden behind a tangle of vines that bore blood red berries the size of his thumb. In fact most of the plants seemed to be bearing some type of fruit or berries but the entire garden looked like it had grown wild there, the work of a very skilled gardener. As he came around full circle she stood there by the doorway. She wore a black cloak and the hood was up shading her eyes from the pale golden light that shone down from Jupiter.
"Who are you?" He asked her.
"I have a quest for you." She said as if he hadn't spoken.
"Is that what you claim for my debt?" he asked.
"Perhaps." her lips curved into a small enigmatic smile "If you survive." She faded slowly away before she vanished completely she threw something to the ground. Slowly, so slowly he was not sure at first of what he saw, the vines began to twist and writhe. The red berries shifted and blurred and were instead tiny maws that stretched open to show needle like teeth. He was entranced by the twisting vines until a sharp pain in his leg jerked him back to awareness. A small thin vine had imbedded its teeth into his calf. He jerked back his leg and the vine snapped, leaving the head in his leg. Looking up there were a dozen more vines snaking through the grass towards him. He backed up away from them and slammed into a wall. Looking behind him there was nothing there, yet he leaned against a wall as solid as stone. He looked up just in time to avoid a thicker vine that streaked out through the air. The vines began to swarm around him and biting when they could and held on. He kept on moving and flaying his arms to tear them away. Suddenly the sword was in his hands, he almost dropped it in shock, but long years of training took over his body's reaction and the sword spun in graceful arcs. With each swing a number of vines were sliced through and none got past his steel barrier. Within moments the barrage of vines had lessened. With that respite, he had time to study the creature. The core of the vine plant was pulsating with a sickly green light and new vines were beginning to streak outwards towards him. He felt an odd sensation that he was outside of his body and was watching as another controlled it. He could feel the energy being collected and channeled through the crystal and down into the tempered blade. When the crystal blazed with white fire his body pointed the Sword at the vine's core and shouted the trigger phrase
"Healing Fires Cleanse!" Pale light flowed from the sword-tip like water and where it touched the vines they turned to fine gray ash and scattered in the light breeze. The light blazed up, temporarily blinding him. When his sight returned the vines were once again normal and his body once again his own. The Sword faded from his hands.
"Very good, Neflyte." she spoke from behind him, he spun to face her. "You're better then I thought."
"Why did you attack me?" He asked in a tightly controlled voice.
"I did not," a sly smile touched her lips. "I merely test to prepare you for what is to come."
"And what is that?"
"First, you must find the Sailor Scouts, the last descendants of the Royal families live here. You need to find them and bring them to their powers. The Scouts are needed once again." She turned to go, but paused and tossed a bundle down to his feet. "By the by, you'll need these."
Slowly he bent down and picked up the leather wrapped bundle. Unwrapping the bundle he found four carved wands, each with the astrological symbol for the inner planets. For a moment he toyed with the idea of wrapping them back up in the leather and leaving them on Amis' doorstep. The woman saved his life yes, then she nearly killed him. Surely she didn't expect him to go on some mad quest after that stunt. But a debt is a debt and she said this quest would free him of it.
Neflyte carefully examined the four wands. The four planets represented were Mercury, Venus, Mars, and Jupiter. Jupiter . . . newly awakened memories swarmed up demanding his attention. A woman with laughing green eyes and soft mahogany hair. He closed his eyes, lost in the painful memories. They had been planning their wedding before the Negaverse came and ripped their lives asunder. Maybe, if he could find her this madwoman's quest would be worth it.
As he held them the wands faded and disappeared from his hands. Panicking he clutched at them, they grew solid again. "Interesting." He muttered. He remembered that the Scouts didn't always carry their wands with them yet they were always there when needed. Cautiously he let the wands go and they faded away. He reached out and summoned one of the wands with his mind. Mercury's wand fell into his hand. Perhaps the sward had a similar spell worked on it. He concentrated on the Sword. The Sword appeared suddenly and he had to shift his posture and grip so that it would not fall to the ground. In doing so the carving of Mercury's symbol touched the crystal in the hilt of the sword and two beams of light shot out and twined around each other. Within the twisting light a tiny illusion appeared of a young woman. Gradually the imaged sharpened into Sailor Mercury standing poised for battle, then the clothing on the figure blurred and changed into a long robe and the figure was no longer Sailor Mercury but Amis. As he stared stunned at the tiny figure the Sword, wand and illusion all faded away.
He started back for the building, staggering slightly from the pain. Now that adrenaline from the fight wore off tiny wounds were sending streaks of pain along his arms and leg. When he got back inside Amis was standing in the middle of the room looking worriedly at his empty pallet. She quickly turned when she heard him shut the door.
"Neflyte? Why did you leave? You could have . . .oh, my!" She hurried over to him and helped him onto a pallet. "You should have stayed here, it's dangerous out there." She continued lecturing him on the dangers of the local fauna, neglecting to mention the dangers the flora provided, as she bound up his leg. He let her fuss over him without complaint as he decided how he was going to broach the subject of Sailor Mercury to her. If he could convince her to becoming sailor mercury then he would be that much closer to finishing this insane quest, and finding his love. Then with a last admonishment she told him to get some sleep and stood to leave.
"Amis, can we talk . . .yes I will get some sleep but I wanted to ask you a few questions about this place." She reluctantly agreed, "How did you get here?" He asked.
"That is a dangerous question to ask around here."
"But not to you." He observed. "If it was then you wouldn't be running a hospital for people sent here to die."
She looked around at the sleeping forms. "I hate this place. I hate every last person who comes in here bleeding and I hate myself for helping them."
"Why?" He asked so softly that is was almost a whisper.
"I never wanted to be a healer, but that's what is expected. When I was first banished here I thought I would finally be free of their expectations but no. They shadow me forever I can see it in the eyes of everyone in this hall." Amis looked up suddenly startled that she spoken so much. "Who are you? Who are you that I feel I should trust you so?"
He didn't know what to say, what could he? That they used to be best friends, centuries ago, before he killed her. Instead he ignored her question and pulled out the sword. "You said that you wanted to look at this?"
"Where was it?" she asked leaning over to look at it, but not touching it.
"You were right, it can protect itself." She put out one hand and ran it over the blade finger a half-inch from the steel but not touching it. "Do you know what it is?"
"No, I've never heard of it. These feel like healing spells." She said again passing her hand over the sword. "Odd to put healing spells in a weapon. And a sword, that is so archaic."
"I though only an ancient artifact could have held the power I felt."
She nodded, passing her hands over it a third time. "I wasn't trained as a mage but I can do a few things. This thing is full of contradictions old, old as the stars and new. Very strong, power beyond imagining but fragile. As if it could just . . . shatter."
"That doesn't help. If anything it just raises more questions." He sighed and let the sword fade away.
Amis sat back on her heels and looked at him "You are just full of surprises. What other secrets are you hiding?"
"But I'm not the only one hiding secrets, an I?" He asked pulling out the Mercury transformation wand "Sailor Mercury."
"Where did you get that?" She asked, "It's a very convincing fake, and done in poor humor."
"I don't believe it's a fake. My mysterious benefactor gave them to me, with a charge. To find the last of the Royal Lines."
"It must the a fake. It has to be." She said, "It has to be." "You tell me." He said. "What can you sense?"
Hesitantly she ran her hand over the wand as she had over the sword, with touching it. "Ice, cold. Dear gods, it is real." She drew back.
"Then take it, become who you where meant to be." He urged.
"No, Neflyte. I cannot be Sailor Mercury. She died a long time ago."
"But you are of the Royal Family aren't you?" He pressed "The ability is in all of your family, not just the firstborn. You are the Lady Mercury and Sailor Mercury."
"Why are you doing this? She sobbed. "Why? Why resurrect the past? It's dead."
"By all rights I should be dead, twice over, but I'm not." He said. "And the past never stays dead. You of all people should know that."
She nodded her head, eyes staring fixedly at the blue wand. Slowly she raised a shaking hand and took it from him. She hesitantly raised it above her head, and as she spoke, her voice became stronger as the power infused her.
"Mercury Power!" Blue light enveloped her body, once it faded she stood as Sailor Mercury in her full battle uniform. She stared at her gloved hands in amazement. Then she curled her arms around herself, falling to her knees. She huddled on the floor, tears streaming down her face.
"Damn you." She whispered. "Damn you to hell."
:.
The Pheonix Rises
Created by Naoko Takeuchi
Written by Oniko
Chapter One
He lay dying at her feet. Soft motes of multi-colored light still sparkled around his torn and battered body and reflected in a spreading pool of his blood. He lay still and silent except for a soft rasping breath that slipped through his lips. She knelt down next to him, warm blood seeping through her cloak and dress, and lay a sword between them.
"Neflyte. I can help you." She called to him. She brushed his hair out of his face and leaned over him, concerned. Could he even hear her? She let her fingers trail down and caress his cheek. There was a flicker of a closed eye-lid but then nothing. More urgently, "Neflyte."
He stirred, his eyes flickered open but they stared forward seeing something other then the trees overhead. He attempted to speak, to call out a name but only a moan escaped his lips.
"Neflyte, look at me." she commanded. He turned to the sound of her voice but took several long moments before truly seeing her. When he did question and worry filled his eyes.
"You are safe." She assured him. He closed his eyes again and fought the pain back. When he opened his eyes a few moments later they were clearer then before, his control was impressive. "Who are you?" he asked, then "I am dying."
"Yes, but you may live." She said ignoring his question.
"Why?" he whispered. "Why help me?"
"You've no time to learn that tale. Would you rather live or die?" She said. He closed his eyes as a wave of pain broke through his barrier, when again he had control he whispered. "What price will you demand of me?"
"Clever, Neflyte. But you have no time. We shall discuss payment later, once you are better." She paused and studied him intensely, then repeated. "Would you live or die?"
"Live, I would live." She picked up the Sword and lay it with the hilt on his chest, then placed his right hand over the worn leather.
"This artifact has the power to heal you, if you know the correct phrase." He sat up slightly wincing at the pain the movement caused him and stared into the pale crystal in the pommel of the Sword.
"What are the words?" he asked.
"I don't know."
"Then how can I use it?"
"You need to figure that out."
"If I fail?"
"Then you die." She got up and walked away, leaving him with the Sword. With her words still echoing in his ears, Neflyte stared into the small crystal set in the pommel of the Sword. It glowed with a pale white fire from deep within. He traced the edges of the facets lightly with his fingers. His blood darkened the crystal but the flame within burned even brighter. Words formed in his mind, a pale fire that burned the pain away. He closed his hand over the hilt, tore his eyes away from the crystal, and whispered to himself.
"What if it doesn't work?" But her voice echoed back at him, then you die. "I die anyway, but can I pay her price if I live?
"Healing Flames . . . Cleanse!" He screamed as white fire consumed him, burning away everything that he was, burning him to ash. Then, as the Phoenix rises from the flames, so too, was he resurrected. Memories flooded into him of a kingdom lost long ago, and a war, and failure. And always, wherever his dreams of memory took him he was haunted by emerald green eyes.
He awoke slowly. Shaking the dreams off was difficult but he eventually awoke to find himself in a large room without any knowledge of how he came to be here. The low ceiling and smoky fire gave the place a heavy confining feel. There were other people in the room as well; most of them were, like he was, lying on a simple pallet on the floor. There was one young woman who was moving around, tending to those on the pallets. She was slender and her blue hair was cropped short. Memories tugged at him, he should know her but the answers eluded him. She gently administering to each of the broken bodies that she passed, eventually she made her way over to him.
"Watch my finger." she said and began moving it back and forth in front of him. He ignored her moving hands and studied her face. Why does she seem so familiar?
"Who are you?" he asked.
"Amis, and you?"
"I am Neflyte." Neflyte replied. "Where is this place?"
"This is my home," she said. "I take care of the sick and the wounded. Any who come in peace are welcome." She recited it like an old worn phrase useless, meaningless but still said.
"How did I come here?" he asked.
"You don't remember?" He shook his head "I found you lying on my doorstep. There was nothing apparently wrong with you but you wouldn't awaken for days. What happened?"
"I don't know . . . I was in a park . . . "
"Well you obviously weren't on this moon." She snorted "Did someone hate you enough to just drop you in this hell?"
"Moon? Last I knew I was on earth," he said.
"You traveled a long way to lay on my doorstep. You're on
Io."
A moment of confusion, and a vague sense that he knew that name, when older memories trickled to the surface. Io was one of Jupiter's moons, an extremely dangerous place to be. There had been rumors of an ancient artifact was buried here somewhere, it was full of magic and hate. He flinched away from those thoughts. If even some of those rumors were true he had leave this place soon. He had no wish to return to the negaverse now that he was finally free of it.
"How could you have gotten here?" She asked
He thought for a moment, trying to come up with some explanation. "I was attacked in a park. I was dying."
"Who attacked you?" She asked.
"Four of Zoicite's minions."
"Zoicite? A strange name." She said. He studied her unreadable face carefully before replying evasively "A strange man."
She frowned at him then prompted, "You were dying."
"Yes. I could feel my life flowing out of me when magic twisted the air. There was this woman who said she could heal me . . ." The words that he didn't say tore at his throat. How he was prepared to rest at peace knowing that Molly was safe with her friend Sailor Moon, Serena. But he didn't say them fearing that he might have said too much already.
"Who was she? What did she look like?"
"She didn't give me her name. She was dressed in a cloak and I couldn't see much of her. She said that she had an artifact that she could use to heal me. It was a sword; I needed to have a phrase to channel the power for healing. She wouldn't tell it to me, I had to figure it out on my own."
"How did you learn the phrase?" she prompted him again as he paused, curiosity alight in her face.
"The sword told me . . .as I held it the words formed in my mind."
"Where is the sword now? I would give anything to be able to study it." She added the last with a wistful tone in her voice. And for the first time since awakening he realized that he did not have the sword. His eyes grew wide with panic.
"It wasn't found with me?' Amis shook her head. "Then that woman must have taken it back." He felt a pang of loss. The sword was meant to be his he was sure of it. Amis patted his hand reassuringly.
"I'm sure it's safe. Strong artifacts like that usually have some kind of safeguard. But you need to get some rest. Magical healing gives you a false burst of energy, if you don't rest it can be fatal." He nodded and lay down without complaint; he could feel an underlying exhaustion tugging him down.
It had seemed only a few moments before he awoke, the hall was dark with the fires banked low. As Neflyte sat up and looked around he heard a soft voice calling to him from outside. He recognized the voice of the mysterious woman who gave him the sword. He couldn't help but wonder if she had come to claim his debt. Slowly he rose from the pallet, his legs felt stiff and sore from laying down too long. Outside the air was cool and refreshing but it had a strange metallic tang that tickled the back of his throat. The entrance to Amis' home lay hidden behind a tangle of vines that bore blood red berries the size of his thumb. In fact most of the plants seemed to be bearing some type of fruit or berries but the entire garden looked like it had grown wild there, the work of a very skilled gardener. As he came around full circle she stood there by the doorway. She wore a black cloak and the hood was up shading her eyes from the pale golden light that shone down from Jupiter.
"Who are you?" He asked her.
"I have a quest for you." She said as if he hadn't spoken.
"Is that what you claim for my debt?" he asked.
"Perhaps." her lips curved into a small enigmatic smile "If you survive." She faded slowly away before she vanished completely she threw something to the ground. Slowly, so slowly he was not sure at first of what he saw, the vines began to twist and writhe. The red berries shifted and blurred and were instead tiny maws that stretched open to show needle like teeth. He was entranced by the twisting vines until a sharp pain in his leg jerked him back to awareness. A small thin vine had imbedded its teeth into his calf. He jerked back his leg and the vine snapped, leaving the head in his leg. Looking up there were a dozen more vines snaking through the grass towards him. He backed up away from them and slammed into a wall. Looking behind him there was nothing there, yet he leaned against a wall as solid as stone. He looked up just in time to avoid a thicker vine that streaked out through the air. The vines began to swarm around him and biting when they could and held on. He kept on moving and flaying his arms to tear them away. Suddenly the sword was in his hands, he almost dropped it in shock, but long years of training took over his body's reaction and the sword spun in graceful arcs. With each swing a number of vines were sliced through and none got past his steel barrier. Within moments the barrage of vines had lessened. With that respite, he had time to study the creature. The core of the vine plant was pulsating with a sickly green light and new vines were beginning to streak outwards towards him. He felt an odd sensation that he was outside of his body and was watching as another controlled it. He could feel the energy being collected and channeled through the crystal and down into the tempered blade. When the crystal blazed with white fire his body pointed the Sword at the vine's core and shouted the trigger phrase
"Healing Fires Cleanse!" Pale light flowed from the sword-tip like water and where it touched the vines they turned to fine gray ash and scattered in the light breeze. The light blazed up, temporarily blinding him. When his sight returned the vines were once again normal and his body once again his own. The Sword faded from his hands.
"Very good, Neflyte." she spoke from behind him, he spun to face her. "You're better then I thought."
"Why did you attack me?" He asked in a tightly controlled voice.
"I did not," a sly smile touched her lips. "I merely test to prepare you for what is to come."
"And what is that?"
"First, you must find the Sailor Scouts, the last descendants of the Royal families live here. You need to find them and bring them to their powers. The Scouts are needed once again." She turned to go, but paused and tossed a bundle down to his feet. "By the by, you'll need these."
Slowly he bent down and picked up the leather wrapped bundle. Unwrapping the bundle he found four carved wands, each with the astrological symbol for the inner planets. For a moment he toyed with the idea of wrapping them back up in the leather and leaving them on Amis' doorstep. The woman saved his life yes, then she nearly killed him. Surely she didn't expect him to go on some mad quest after that stunt. But a debt is a debt and she said this quest would free him of it.
Neflyte carefully examined the four wands. The four planets represented were Mercury, Venus, Mars, and Jupiter. Jupiter . . . newly awakened memories swarmed up demanding his attention. A woman with laughing green eyes and soft mahogany hair. He closed his eyes, lost in the painful memories. They had been planning their wedding before the Negaverse came and ripped their lives asunder. Maybe, if he could find her this madwoman's quest would be worth it.
As he held them the wands faded and disappeared from his hands. Panicking he clutched at them, they grew solid again. "Interesting." He muttered. He remembered that the Scouts didn't always carry their wands with them yet they were always there when needed. Cautiously he let the wands go and they faded away. He reached out and summoned one of the wands with his mind. Mercury's wand fell into his hand. Perhaps the sward had a similar spell worked on it. He concentrated on the Sword. The Sword appeared suddenly and he had to shift his posture and grip so that it would not fall to the ground. In doing so the carving of Mercury's symbol touched the crystal in the hilt of the sword and two beams of light shot out and twined around each other. Within the twisting light a tiny illusion appeared of a young woman. Gradually the imaged sharpened into Sailor Mercury standing poised for battle, then the clothing on the figure blurred and changed into a long robe and the figure was no longer Sailor Mercury but Amis. As he stared stunned at the tiny figure the Sword, wand and illusion all faded away.
He started back for the building, staggering slightly from the pain. Now that adrenaline from the fight wore off tiny wounds were sending streaks of pain along his arms and leg. When he got back inside Amis was standing in the middle of the room looking worriedly at his empty pallet. She quickly turned when she heard him shut the door.
"Neflyte? Why did you leave? You could have . . .oh, my!" She hurried over to him and helped him onto a pallet. "You should have stayed here, it's dangerous out there." She continued lecturing him on the dangers of the local fauna, neglecting to mention the dangers the flora provided, as she bound up his leg. He let her fuss over him without complaint as he decided how he was going to broach the subject of Sailor Mercury to her. If he could convince her to becoming sailor mercury then he would be that much closer to finishing this insane quest, and finding his love. Then with a last admonishment she told him to get some sleep and stood to leave.
"Amis, can we talk . . .yes I will get some sleep but I wanted to ask you a few questions about this place." She reluctantly agreed, "How did you get here?" He asked.
"That is a dangerous question to ask around here."
"But not to you." He observed. "If it was then you wouldn't be running a hospital for people sent here to die."
She looked around at the sleeping forms. "I hate this place. I hate every last person who comes in here bleeding and I hate myself for helping them."
"Why?" He asked so softly that is was almost a whisper.
"I never wanted to be a healer, but that's what is expected. When I was first banished here I thought I would finally be free of their expectations but no. They shadow me forever I can see it in the eyes of everyone in this hall." Amis looked up suddenly startled that she spoken so much. "Who are you? Who are you that I feel I should trust you so?"
He didn't know what to say, what could he? That they used to be best friends, centuries ago, before he killed her. Instead he ignored her question and pulled out the sword. "You said that you wanted to look at this?"
"Where was it?" she asked leaning over to look at it, but not touching it.
"You were right, it can protect itself." She put out one hand and ran it over the blade finger a half-inch from the steel but not touching it. "Do you know what it is?"
"No, I've never heard of it. These feel like healing spells." She said again passing her hand over the sword. "Odd to put healing spells in a weapon. And a sword, that is so archaic."
"I though only an ancient artifact could have held the power I felt."
She nodded, passing her hands over it a third time. "I wasn't trained as a mage but I can do a few things. This thing is full of contradictions old, old as the stars and new. Very strong, power beyond imagining but fragile. As if it could just . . . shatter."
"That doesn't help. If anything it just raises more questions." He sighed and let the sword fade away.
Amis sat back on her heels and looked at him "You are just full of surprises. What other secrets are you hiding?"
"But I'm not the only one hiding secrets, an I?" He asked pulling out the Mercury transformation wand "Sailor Mercury."
"Where did you get that?" She asked, "It's a very convincing fake, and done in poor humor."
"I don't believe it's a fake. My mysterious benefactor gave them to me, with a charge. To find the last of the Royal Lines."
"It must the a fake. It has to be." She said, "It has to be." "You tell me." He said. "What can you sense?"
Hesitantly she ran her hand over the wand as she had over the sword, with touching it. "Ice, cold. Dear gods, it is real." She drew back.
"Then take it, become who you where meant to be." He urged.
"No, Neflyte. I cannot be Sailor Mercury. She died a long time ago."
"But you are of the Royal Family aren't you?" He pressed "The ability is in all of your family, not just the firstborn. You are the Lady Mercury and Sailor Mercury."
"Why are you doing this? She sobbed. "Why? Why resurrect the past? It's dead."
"By all rights I should be dead, twice over, but I'm not." He said. "And the past never stays dead. You of all people should know that."
She nodded her head, eyes staring fixedly at the blue wand. Slowly she raised a shaking hand and took it from him. She hesitantly raised it above her head, and as she spoke, her voice became stronger as the power infused her.
"Mercury Power!" Blue light enveloped her body, once it faded she stood as Sailor Mercury in her full battle uniform. She stared at her gloved hands in amazement. Then she curled her arms around herself, falling to her knees. She huddled on the floor, tears streaming down her face.
"Damn you." She whispered. "Damn you to hell."