Sailor Moon: Incantation
01 – Traveller in Time
Books were scattered all across the center table of Ami's bedroom. Empty cups of coffee were carefully placed to the side of the table as to not get in the way of the two youngsters studying. The girl crammed content non-stop while the boy who was also studying in her room seemed to be making a summary of the topics he had studied earlier. It was late in the night, but the couple wouldn't stop until they finished all the work they had to do.
After a few more minutes the boy stood up, stretching his arms in a lazy manner, making a faint satisfied noise. The girl smiled while she watched him lie down next to her, and gently cuddled his hair. "Maybe we should stop for today, Andrus!" Ami spoke softly, seeing a smirk growing on the boy's face.
"I'm actually already done with my report." That information really caught her by surprise as she thought it would take much more effort for him to finish it. "I was just going over the topics that gave me a hard time earlier..." He sighed. "...but I'm really, really bored!"
She closed the book she was reading, lying next to the boy. "I'm really proud of you!" She blushed as his arms entranced her. The physical contact between the two had become more normal since they started dating. "I'm sure you'll ace tomorrow's test!"
"The only thing more certain than that is death, Ami-chan! Don't worry!"
"Way to ruin the mood, fireball!"
"I'm sorry!" He laughed, leaning his head on hers. The closeness between the two was something anew to Ami, but she couldn't deny her enjoyment out of it. "Would it make it better if I recognized that none of this would be possible without my beautiful girlfriend who took her precious time to teach me all I needed for tomorrow's test?"
"It helps!" She spoke in a blissful tone that she failed to hide. It still amused her to no end whenever he called her that way. "Oh god!" She took a peek at the clock by her bedside, realizing that it was way over midnight. "It's so late! We must have lost track of time!"
"Y...Yeah!" Flustered, the boy blushed while talking. "That can be the only explanation! I surely didn't stall so we could spend a little more time together!"
"How could I have fallen for such a silly boy?" Ami smiled, standing up.
"I don't tend to question, as you might come to your senses and ditch me!" He stood next to her, holding her close to him. There was a moment of silence, denoting his hesitation. "I...I'd like to spend the night with you!" She stared at him in disbelief, her face blushed in a violent red, in a tone very similar to the one on her boyfriend's complexion. It was clear that he didn't mean that he only wanted to sleep in her company. "But only if you're ready!" He added in a flustered haste, making sure there would be no other interpretation. They had been dating for almost two months and loved one another immensely. She thought about it herself as their relationship developed, but his words still managed to get her by surprise. Maybe she should have expected that from him, but she was still often caught off-guard by the forwardness of her boyfriend. A cold sweat went across her forehead, unnoticed by the young man. She sighed, knowing that the longer she took to answer him, the worse it would seem.
"And what do we tell my mother in the morning?" She got a hold of herself, softly laughing at the light dismay on the boy's face. "We'll spend three whole days together in this long weekend, Andrus! Don't worry!" She pulled him closer, kissing the boy who could only smile.
"You're right!" He held her hands close to his chest. She could feel his heartbeats and they were as fast as hers. "You're always right!" She would think about him later that night, she would feel proud of herself for handling that situation in what it appeared to be the best way. They were both new and had little experience in that kind of relationship, so it was a steep learning process for the two of them, but it seemed they were making the most out of it.
They kissed once more and the boy left for the kendo dojo he called his home. Ami watched the boy through her bedroom window, and they would wave at each other once more. A purple light appeared briefly in the sky, startling the girl. It somehow felt familiar for Ami. A second light followed right after and the blue haired girl felt a dreadfulness lurking about. She reached for her cellphone, trying to call her boyfriend, and a muffled heavy metal tune rang right next to her. "Typical..." She snapped her tongue as she thought about how careless Andrus could be while picking his phone from under her pillow. She hoped her instincts were wrong, sleeping an uneasy night.
The next evening, Ami would go to the Juuban High School where the recovery exams would be held. She didn't need to go through an exam, as she always had perfect scores, but Andrus, Usagi, and Minako would have to take the test before they could travel, and Ami was there to cheer for them. She waited outside for a while until she noticed someone else approaching, someone she hadn't seen in a long time.
"Chibiusa!" The blue soldier said with a smile across her features. The pink haired girl with a hairstyle that reminded of Usagi greeted Ami with a tight hug. Ami thought about that once lonely child that came from the future to save her family and became really attached to her and the other girls. It had been a while since her last visit, and now Ami remembered about the flash of light she saw the other night. "So yesterday it was you, after all!"
"Yes!" The girl spoke with a large grin. "I really missed you, Ami-chan!"
"And what do we owe the honor of your visit?" Ami asked, crouching as to speak on the same level as Chibiusa. The blue haired girl never knew, but that always made the child feel respected.
"Oh, I found an old diary a few days ago." She reminisced about the dull days she was having in the Crystal Palace, her home in the future. She was eager for a new adventure, or even any mere reason to return to the past and see her friends. Going through some boxes she found that pink covered notebook. "It had a lot of pages torn apart and even burned down, but from the pages I could savage I read about a trip you'll be going this weekend, and Usagi said it was one of the best holidays you girls ever had!" The small girl frowned as if she was being left behind. "So I came to be a part of it!"
Ami covered her mouth and laughed discretely. Chibiusa always displayed the same tenacity that was very common to Usagi. They were mother and daughter, after all. "I'm impressed you could figure out Usagi's handwriting, and even more impressed you managed to pinpoint the trip to this very day!"
"I'm full of resources, Ami-chan!" They both laughed. "And you and Rei helped me a lot to figure it out! Well, future you and future Rei, I mean!" Chibiusa gazed upon the school, wondering for a few seconds why would Ami be expecting outside, figuring it out after a little while. "Usagi had to take a recover exam again, huh?"
"Minako-chan had to as well, and..." When Ami was about to conclude, Usagi and Minako appeared by the front door of the building with defeated looks on their faces. Chibiusa was about to tease them but halted when they saw Andrus right behind them. She froze immediately, which went unnoticed by the other girls.
"Piece of cake, Ami-chan!" He bragged while showing the 78 marked next to his name. "You really helped me a lot the other night...and who is this?" Andrus crouched right next to the pink haired girl hiding behind Ami.
"That's Chibiusa!" Usagi said, unable to understand the shyness her future daughter seemed to display. "My...little sister." Usagi didn't know if she should tell Andrus about their future adventures, even though he already knew about their identities as Sailor Soldiers.
"Hello, Chibiusa-chan! My name is Andrus Homura!" He smiled, extending his hand in her direction. Chibiusa stared at him for a long time, bowing down her head and shaking hands with the boy.
"N...Nice to meet you!"
"So, you seem to be friends with the lovely Ami-chan!" He tried to be friendly, thinking that it could make her feel more comfortable. "Any friend of hers is also a friend of mine!"
"Usagi!" Chibiusa rose her head to the blonde, with a determined look on her face. "I want to go on this trip with you!" Those words caught Minako, Usagi, and Andrus by surprise.
"What?!" Usagi spoke, shocked. "This is no trip for little kids! Only us young adults can go! After all, this is the perfect chance for romance!" Ami and Andrus exchanged flustered stares with those words, laughing as a way to try to hide their embarrassment. "Mamo-chan and I have been waiting for this trip for a really long time!"
"First of all," Chibiusa spoke in a demeaning tone. "You are far from being a young adult, farther yet from being an adult at all. Second, you can't leave me behind for three whole days, can you? I can easily convince mom Ikuko to make you take me with you, but I'd prefer we could solve this right away so I can go home and pack my things!"
Andrus laughed out loud, covering his stomach. "Well, it seems your little sister is the one who'll deal the cards, Usagi!" He placed his hand on Chibiusa's shoulder, with a large grin on his face. "I say we take her with us!"
"I agree!" Ami put her hand on the little girl's other shoulder. "You'll always be welcome to come with us, Chibiusa!"
"Ami-chan, you traitor!" Usagi revolted, intending to storm off. Andrus stood up and reached for his friend.
"Come on, Usagi!" He said. "Don't be like that!" It felt hopeless, as she appeared to be very angry. At that point, Andrus had mastered a technique to calm down his friend with the odango shaped hair. "How about I get us some ice cream and cakes so we can celebrate our victory on the tests, and tomorrow we'll go to the beach! It will be awesome!"
"Why should I listen to you?" Usagi said, still annoyed. "You are the one who stole Ami-chan from us and made us study without almost none of her help! Minako and I barely made it!"
They watched the girl sobbing, something they have gotten used to until she looked at Andrus. She seemed a little upset, to which he had a plan. "Anything you want." He added. "And all you can eat! I'll handle the check!"
"Andrus..." Usagi bowed down her head as if she was offended. She stood in front of him and held his hands. Her gleaming eyes and trembling lips showed that his strategy worked. "You are a good friend!" She picked her phone and started calling Makoto and Rei, so they all could celebrate.
"Are you sure about this?" A concerned Ami reached for her boyfriend. "She will test the boundaries of 'all you can eat'." The boy laughed, picking Chibiusa up and carrying her on his shoulders, much to the surprise of the little girl.
"It will all be fine! Won't it, Chibiusa?"
She smiled, raising a fist. "It sure will now that I'm here!" They both laughed, leading the group to the coffee shop. Ami wondered why Chibiusa was so shy around Andrus since she never seemed one to be unsociable, and how he was able to break her shyness so quickly. Her mind ran through a lot of alternatives, none particularly good.
Taking a final look back at the school, Ami saw a female student staring at them. Her eyes blazed in an intimidating fashion, making the blue haired girl halt and stare back. She could hear an unknown voice in her mind. The words forming slowly. "He is not what he seems to be." Ami's body trembled uncontrolled in fear.
Ami turned around, meaning to catch up with her friends, and now the girl was right in front of her. Pitch black short hair and pitch black eyes, and a sullen expression upon her face. "He is dangerous!" The girl now spoke clearly.
"Who are you?" Ami cried. "Are you talking about Andrus?"
"He is not what he seems to be!" The voice echoed in her mind for a while, until she felt a hand on her shoulder. It was like snapping out of a dream. She looked at Andrus, both startled for different reasons.
"Are you okay, honey?" He asked with clear concern in his eyes. She felt peaceful for a while, as her mind drew a blank. She kissed his cheek, walking beside them.
"Yes! It's nothing, Andrus!" She sighed. "Come on, you'll have a lot of ice creams and cakes to buy today!" He laughed, wondering if his wage as a part-time teacher at the dojo would be enough for that evening. The group walked away, completely ignoring the black-haired woman standing atop of the school building.
"You shouldn't make contact, Atropos." Another girl, this time a blonde one with her hair tied in a ponytail, appeared next to the dark-haired maiden. "We'll deal with the demon when the time is due, don't worry."
"I hope so, Annis," Atropos said. "I really hope so!"
"Do you think we'll have trouble finding the Sailor Soldiers?" Annis watched those girls walk away with a delightful smile across her features.
"We'll soon find out." The serious woman spoke in an ominous voice, Annis wondered if her companion was feeling any concern for those girls. The naivety of the younger woman amused the blonde more than the terror she intended to inflict on the people from Juuban.
"I think I'm going to explode!" Usagi sobbed lying down on her bed. She rolled to each side of her bed as she was very uncomfortable. "Chibiusa, call Ami! Get help!"
"Serves you right for eating that much at once!" The small child packed her bag for the trip, not giving too much attention to the blonde girl. She picked up the old diary she found in the future and scanned Usagi's room for a moment wondering where its present relative would be hidden. She sighed, giving up on going through all that trouble, the parts that interested her were unwritten as of yet, after all.
"Chibiusa." Usagi rolled closer to her future daughter. She had a calm look in her eyes, as she ignored the stomach aches. "Did you really come back in time just to go on this trip with us?" Usagi and Chibiusa discussed that a lot on the way home. Usagi wasn't at all mad for Chibiusa going through her future diary but still wasn't convinced Chibiusa would temper the timeline just to go on a trip.
"The future is boring, Usagi!" Chibiusa lied back, reclining on the bed. "I didn't get to fight Galaxia with you, and it seems some other things have changed since my last time here!"
"Yeah, we actually went through a little trouble a few months ago..." Usagi remembered the terrible battle against the Dream Reapers. "It was around the same time Andrus had transferred to Juuban."
"So that's why he wasn't around the two other times I was in the past."
"Why the sudden interest, Chibiusa?" Usagi had a malicious smile on her face, and the teasing tone of voice provoked the small girl. "You do know he is Ami-chan's boyfriend, right?"
"Of course I know!" Chibiusa blushed with the insinuations. For a moment Usagi felt like the girl was hiding something. It was a mere second of that mature look that Chibiusa was known to hold on occasion before she would go back to responding Usagi at the same level. "Unlike Mamoru, that red-haired boy seems to have some notion of good taste! Ami-chan is quite the catch!"
"You brat!" Usagi's lack of energy due to so much eating restrained her reactions to merely verbal. "Well, she really is, isn't she?" Usagi watched Chibiusa standing up after finishing packing her things and walking to the bedroom door. "Hey, where are you going?"
"I'm going to visit Mamoru! He probably doesn't know yet that I'm back!" Before leaving the room, Chibiusa stuck out her tongue at Usagi. "And don't you dare follow me!"
Usagi meant to protest, but she remembered Mamoru probably wasn't home as he had to work until later that evening so he could travel with them. She just smiled and laid back in her bed, dreaming about their impending trip.
Chibiusa walked alone to the Juuban High School. It was deserted at that time of the evening. She transformed into Sailor Chibi Moon and entered the building.
"I know you are here! Show yourself!" Two shadowy figures appeared at the end of the hallway. Two girls dressed in battle suits derived from the Sailor Senshi outfit stood tall; the first one wore an all-black outfit with silver frills matching her dark short hair, the blonde used a white suit with a longer skirt.
"That was faster than I would've expected." Atropos, the one in dark suit said. "How could a Sailor Soldier know about our existence even before we had made it known?"
"I have my resources!" Chibi Moon spoke in a defiant voice. "What are your plans? Why are you attacking the Sailor Soldiers?"
"Your existence puts ours in danger, Sailor Moon!" Atropos spoke in a serious voice.
"I'm not Sailor Moon!" Chibiusa protested, drawing her attack rod. Tensions were getting higher, and the two parties knew the battle would be inevitable.
"You can't lie to me." The woman raised her hand, pointing her finger at Chibiusa. The air around all of them got heavier, their bodies felt like weighing a ton. As she felt their decrepit powers, Chibiusa never felt so scared in all her life. "Your energy is unmistakable!"
"I think she's telling the truth!" Annis said, albeit confused. "Sailor Moon should be taller!"
"Oh, is that so?" Atropos spoke still unsure. "We should get rid of her anyway, shouldn't we?"
"I'm right here, you know?" Chibiusa pouted her lips, drawing a complex move as to release energy from her rod. "Pink Sugar Heart Ache!" It was a variation of her original attack. Once a mere nuisance, it was now as powerful as her fellow Sailor Soldiers' attacks. The two women dodged with no difficulties, with the blonde one shooting small beams from her fingers, hitting the walls and ceiling of the hallway.
"Wow! You have a really lousy aim, don't you?" Chibi Moon teased, preparing her next move. She was startled when the walls came closing in on her, and the ceiling fell right on her head. The two older fighters saw the girl getting crushed from all directions, as Annis laughed proudly.
"I wasn't aiming at you, little one!" She clapped the dust off her hands, rejoicing with the results of the battle. "One Sailor Soldier down, time to collect the spoils!"
"Annis! Watch out!" Atropos yelled as she saw faint pink lights bleeding through the small crevices on the crushing walls and ceiling. A tremendous beam hit the woman, throwing her to the other end of the hallway.
"Just" Sailor Chibi Moon panted, with her rod in her trembling hands. "Just who are you?" She had gathered all her energies to form a barrier and protect her from that unusual attack. Those two women seemed unlike any other enemy they had ever faced.
"You won't last much longer, I might as well tell you." Atropos sighed, appearing bored with the situation. "We are the Incantation Soldiers!" She spoke with hands in her waist, without losing her confident posture. "Witches, if it's any easier for you to understand. I'm Atropos, the witch responsible for life and time. And she is Black Annis, responsible for matter."
"Why are you hunting Sailor Soldiers?"
"I already told you: your existence puts our very own in danger!"
"I don't understand!"
"Enough talk!" Annis rose between the two arguing soldiers, enraged by the surprise attack Chibi Moon managed to hit her with. "Have at you!" With a sleight of hand, the remains of the walls and ceiling were turned into boulders. Chibiusa was able to dodge them, even though she was having less space to move with each attack. She eventually found herself in a dead end, having no room to maneuver with her back against the front door, which was also blocked by the reminiscent rocks. Annis smiled, controlling one final boulder to end that duel. A bright light shone behind them, invading the hallway as it lit the doors. They could see a silhouette growing near, which interrupted the blond witch.
"We'll end this some other time, little one!" Annis laughed, leaving her companion desolated. Atropos stared at the door for a long time before following Annis in their retreat, and Chibiusa could notice the conflict in the witch's eyes. Upon their leaving, the hallway turned back to its original state, unblocking the main doors.
Chibiusa stared at the silhouette approaching when it finally reached for the door. She held her breath as if it would do anything to prevent the person from opening the door. Much to her surprise, the figure halted and another appeared by the side. She took it as a chance to run and escape using one of the side entrances of the school.
The pink haired girl crossed over the patio to the main entrance seeing at first a cruiser-type motorcycle that flashed its beams against the school's doors. A feminine figure stood next to the bike with her arms crossed at chest height while the other figure, one sporting a biker's jacket and helmet, investigated the school. They were very familiar to the girl and she wondered if the two could be Haruka and Michiru, two of the most powerful Sailor Soldiers. It would explain why the witches fled. Something about their postures and figures wasn't right, though. When the biker removed the helmet and the red hair was revealed, Chibiusa took another look at the jacket, bugging her eyes as she now recognized it.
"Are you really going to ignore me, Andrus?" Ami asked as she stood next to the bike.
"No, of course not!" The boy halted, turning back to his girlfriend. "I just wanted to see what was that noise! You did hear it as well, didn't you?" Ami puffed, discontent. They have been arguing for at least twenty minutes since he appeared in front of her building in that black and red motorcycle.
"Yes, I heard it..." She nodded, vexed, walking beside him so the two would open the doors and check the hallways. "I also think I saw some lights after the noise, but we were still too far to be sure."
"It looks normal, right?"
"Right!" She sighed. She had already given up on the discussion. It had been her first real argument with Andrus since they started dating, and she didn't actually know how to go about it.
"About the bike" His words caught her by surprise. She could have sworn that he was avoiding the topic. "I just bought it because it was really cheap, and in very good condition."
"It's not the money, Andrus!" She pleaded. "You're not old enough to have a license to ride that kind of bike!"
"It's not the license that will ride the bike, Ami-chan!" He laughed as he tried to calm the soldier of wisdom.
"Can you really afford to get in this much trouble?" Those words stung. Ami felt embarrassed for saying them out loud. Andrus fought hard to dissociate from his Yankee history, and it never crossed his mind that the bike, at that moment, could get him into the same problems of the past. Ami hated being the person who made him realize that.
"Look" He sighed, hesitant. "In a month I'll be eighteen, so I'll get my provisional license in no time." She still had a troubled look on her face, which did not go unnoticed by the boy. "Until then I won't ride the bike. Is that better?"
"I don't want you to do something just because I'm complaining about it. It makes me feel like I'm bursting your bubble!"
"Stop fighting, you two!" The screeching girl startled the couple. Chibiusa stepped into the light the bike provided, with an angered look on her face.
"Chibiusa, what are you doing here?" Ami asked, astonished.
"I..." She paused as she stared at both of them. She jumped into the scene by impulse as she couldn't stand the sight of the two fighting. "I was going to Mamoru's house!"
"He lives a little far from here, doesn't he?" Andrus pondered, with his hand in his chin. She couldn't reveal about the witches, and how she knew they were going attack the school. Due to the battered condition of the diary, it wasn't possible to identify who was originally attacked by the witches at that day, but Chibiusa knew it would surely get in the way of the trip, so she tried to solve this without the others' knowledge. Their stares burned inside the girl's heart as if they could read it without any effort.
"I...I got lost, okay?" She lied, answering in a flustered manner. "It has been a while since I have been there!" Chibiusa pouted, crossing her arms. "Anyway, you two have to get along!"
Andrus knelt in front of her, with a sympathetic smile. "Sometimes we have to argue so we can understand one another, Chibiusa-chan!" He turned to Ami. "I understand Ami's worries now that we debated. And I actually agree with her!" The blue haired girl smiled. "I'm not doing what she wants me to do, you see? I'm doing something that I see as right because she showed me a point of view that I haven't considered before!"
"Really?" Chibiusa relaxed as she saw Ami's expression. "But you two seemed so angry with the other mere minutes ago!"
"Going against the person you love the most is a very difficult thing to do, Chibiusa!" The boy spoke as he stood up. "It can make you frustrated or scared with the reaction, and that can be confused with anger!"
"So you two really love each other?" Andrus was amused with the girl's questions. It felt like she was deeply concerned for a family member, and it made him happy that the little girl had such genuine feelings for Ami.
"I love Ami-chan a lot!" He said in a mouthful. He loved the discomposed look in his girlfriend's face whenever he'd say anything along those lines.
Ami smiled, still a little embarrassed. She was about to respond to his declaration but was interrupted by Chibiusa. "So that means that you two will get married!" The couple was caught completely off-guard. The child wasn't asking. There was an authority on her voice, and an incisive gaze upon her face.
"I..." Andrus meant to answer, even though he was quite surprised by the question, and Ami knew that he had complete resolve about answering. Ami, on the other hand, didn't have the courage to listen to what he had to say, muffling his voice as she covered his mouth with her hands.
"You don't have to answer that!" She said, thankful for staying behind him so he wasn't able to see how red her face was. "Chibiusa, I think we are still too young to discuss this subject!" She had an embarrassed smile crossing her features but her tone of voice was gentle as usual. "And don't you think you are too young to think about those things?"
The child sighed clearly frustrated. She stared angered at the couple before she stormed off. Andrus meant to chase her, but his girlfriend held him with a soft touch on his shoulder. "I'll go after her!" Ami said, clearly concerned about the girl. "I have an idea of where she might have gone. You go home and think about a nice name for your bike, Andrus."
He nodded with a faint smile as he saw the blue soldier leaving. Ami probably wouldn't realize how much of her fraternal love for Chibiusa could be seen in her face, but that was something that Andrus really admired about her. She turned over his direction once more. "And when you get your license, I'd really like to go on a road trip with you!" The feeble smile upon his face grew as he heard those words.
"Go find the small lady, Ami-chan!" He stuck out his thumb in a positive gesture, seeing his girlfriend dashing away to find the child. "I'll call you later!"
He stared at the deserted High School building, surprised with a cold wind that blew on that warm summer night. A familiar feeling went across Andrus' spine, as he felt like he was being watched.
Next: Shadows of Grief