Gathering
Author's Notes: Hey everyone! Welcome back to my readers who've followed over from The Memory Keeper, the companion to this series. Why yes, this is a series. Or rather a trilogy, if I have it planned out right. Knowing me, it might change a bit on the way. Anyways, this can be a stand-alone series but it's supposed to follow after TMK so if you haven't read it, read it? Anyways, I hope you lot enjoy this first chapter. Please, send me a review if you have the time when you finish reading—I adore getting them and they literally make me squee and giggle when I see I have one. No joke there.
DISCLAIMER: I don't own Bishojo Senshi Sailor Moon. The concept belongs to Naoko Takeuchi. The characters in this story, however, are my creations and mine alone. Take them and I will be very unhappy.
Chapter One: It Begins
Every night it was the same dream she moved through, as if in a haze. She stood in the gardens, looking up at the moon, the beautiful, pale orb that hung low in the sky during that midsummer night. She wanted to reach out her slender hand, to grasp it within her palm and to hold the beautiful orb, to light up the night with glorious, pale moon beams. Yet her fingers could not touch the object as she let her hand fall slowly to her side, a sigh escaping her lips. She could hear music playing softly in the background, laughter muted by the glass windows along the sides of the great castle. This was home for her, a place she felt most at ease and relaxed. She swayed to the music, dancing with an invisible partner beneath the stars, laughing to herself, holding on half of an imaginary conversation.
His hand upon her shoulder stopped her dancing, bringing her to a halt. She wanted to turn, to see his face, yet as she turned, the world fell to pieces. The images blurred—hate, anger, greed, and darkness, such endless darkness surrounded her until she could no longer breathe.
Help me! She wanted to scream out but her throat was closed up, her lips making no sound as she sank deeper and deeper into the pit that closed in around her.
Beep! Beep! Beep!
Grumbling from the bed, tangled up in her covers, Saioji Emi glanced blearily at the alarm clock next to her bed as it continued to wake her with the harsh, electronic beeping sound. 7:23 AM; she was used to waking up early and, while this was far from early, she still felt the need to slam her hand down onto the snooze button in an attempt to get some more sleep before she actually had to get up and go off to school.
"Emi!" From downstairs, her mother called up to her daughter. "Emi, get up or you're going to be late for the bus!" Then, after a moment, "You wouldn't want to keep Kohaku-san waiting long, would you?" This seemed motivation enough to get out of bed and, with one last groan, the eighteen year old managed to roll out from her tangled sheets, blinking when she flipped the switch on for light in the room. Her mind was still fuzzily trying to piece together bits of the dream she'd been having but, just as she seemed to have a grasp on what she'd seen in sleep, it vanished like a puff of smoke. Well, it didn't really matter much, did it? Dreams were just funny little things that didn't have much meaning, unless you believed in that sort of think like her best friend Mameratsu Akiko did.
Grabbing a brush from her dresser, Emi paused, gazing critically at her reflection. To be honest, she had never thought of herself as anything more than ordinary. An oval shaped face, dark blue eyes, and long, thick black hair that rarely behaved under the influence of her brush. This seemed especially true this morning as she winced, trying to get through a few particularly hard tangles that didn't want to go away. It took a bit of time and patience before she had managed to get her hair smooth and brushed through. Clipping back her bangs, she gave herself a satisfied look over before she grabbed her uniform out of her closet.
"Be sure you bring an umbrella and a coat with you today," Her mother insisted as Emi came clambering down the stairs, book bag in hand as she swept through the kitchen in search of something quick to grab before she had to go. "The weather man keeps saying there's a front coming in. They're predicting snow!"
"Snow? In April?" Emi looked out the window, an incredulous look upon her face as she grabbed an apple from the bowl on the counter. It looked nice out, hardly something that she'd guess to be the weather before some sort of storm. "Are they sure they've got that right? It looks nice outside."
"Apparently they think they're right, but I guess we won't know until it hits," Emi's mother gave a sigh. "I'd rather have you be safe than sorry." Emi made a face but she complied, grabbing a light coat and an umbrella before slipping into her shoes.
"Be sure to give your dad a call and let him know if you'll be going over or not later!" her mother reminded her. Emi groaned inwardly. Right, she still had to give her father a call so he could make reservations for dinner with Emi and his new girlfriend. It wasn't something Emi was particularly looking forward to, to be honest, but she had promised she'd do it eventually before school had ended; she was running out of time to make good on her word, even though she was dreading the whole meeting anyways.
"I will!" Emi had nothing more to say on the matter as she shut the door behind her, hopping down the steps, a grin spreading across her features when she saw Suzuki Kohaku coming up to her walk. "Hey stranger," She called out, hurrying forward, hugging him and pressing a light kiss to his lips.
"Hey yourself," He grinned, running a hand through his dark brown locks. "Did you manage to get through all the problems on the worksheet?" He asked as he slid his hand into hers as they slowly made their way down the street to the bus stop. "I had some trouble with problems eight and seventeen." Emi laughed in response, shaking her head.
"You dork, you know I'm no good at the Algebra!" It was comfortable, walking hand in hand with her boyfriend. Kohaku and Emi had been friends since they were little, bonding over a mutual like of the outdoors and a not-so-secret obsession with comic books that had spawned when they were in the third grade. Really, he was the person Emi should have been dating and everyone knew it. They fell in synch with one another so well and, while Emi had her doubts, she knew better than to second guess herself. If it felt right, it was right and she didn't need to come up with reasons not to be there, holding hands with the boy she had fallen head over heels for.
Life was blessedly ordinary to Emi. She had a nice group of friends, a boyfriend, very little drama among her peers and family (though she had to admit she hated when her parents fought, which happened quite often when the two of them were in the same room together) and, all together, was happy
enough to go by in life. Chattering away with Kohaku and Akiko when the two of them reached the bus stop, she chanced a glance behind her just before the bus had pulled up to their stop. A blur of brown fur caught her attention as she shifted her gaze, watching a brown tabby hurrying off behind a garbage can just up the next street. Emi frowned, stepping towards it, curious, catching gleaming brown eyes at her from behind the can.
"Emi, come on!" Akiko was calling. Shaking her head, Emi turned around, hopping onto the bus. She looked out the window as they pulled away from the stop but the cat was gone by then.
--
The storm clouds were brewing in the air by mid-day, coming from out of nowhere. Heads turned to the skies as the first snowflakes began to fall, flurries at first that turned into great, big flakes that began to cover the ground with a dusting and then a few inches of snow. Children raced from school, laughing and running about in the snow, making snowballs to throw at their classmates and friends before they had to head off to their homes only to be shepherded indoors by mothers and fathers who cast uncertain eyes to the skies, wondering if this was going to be a normal occurrence now. The weather was supposed to be nice, not like this.
We're coming. Oh, Master, we're here and we shall do as you bid! The voices on the wind were barely heard, barely seen but one pair of ears picked up on the voices. Hiding behind a recycling bin, the brown tabby poked his head out from behind it, gazing up and down the street before making a dash across the snowy street, shaking his paws frantically to get rid of the snow once he'd found a patch behind a turned over yard sign that was snow free. Oh, he did not like getting wet and, while rain was worse, snow was still liquid enough to make him an unhappy cat. The voices didn't do any good for his mood either as he heard them, the whispers straining against the wind around him.
There was hope yet though; he'd seen her. She had changed since he had last seen her, but he was certain that he had found her. After all his searching, he had managed to find the first when the evils first made contact. The snow wasn't supposed to be here, everyone seemed to know that, but there was something far more sinister about the drifts that had already begun to form. It was a cloaking mechanism for them, hiding the creatures and settling them in upon the ground when no one would be looking for them. It wasn't right and Apollo had to figure out how to get back to the girl he'd seen this morning. It was essential that he got to her before anything happened. The tension was rising in the air as his fur stood on end; the creatures were waiting, but for what? Orders to go on or for the right person to come along so they could begin?
So he sat behind the sign, waiting before the same bus stop from that morning, hoping she'd come by soon enough. It was getting cold and, even with his thick fur, he could feel the chill. It did not make Apollo feel any more comfortable being out there.
You must find them, Apollo. Pluto had spoken to him, waking his memories not long ago. He closed his eyes, sighing as the memory played in his head, her voice floating through his mind. The Earth needs protection; the Moon cannot do it any longer and it's up to those who were destined to be silent watchers to stand proud again. Life wasn't supposed to change like this, Apollo knew it, but the hands of fate were tricky. His own memories were fuzzy, unreadable for the time. It would get easier though, he thought, hoping that his prediction would be correct.
Across the street, a bus came to a halt. Calling out farewell to her friends, he saw the same girl and made a point of trailing behind her.
--
It had been an easier day, Emi would grant it that. Not that it had been a fun day though, considering she had nearly failed her Algebra quiz that afternoon and now had to show her mother her failing grade in that class. Well, she thought as she crossed her arms over her chest (grateful that she had worn a coat that day), she could always show the grades to her dad, who had always been far more lenient with them. But that was going about and playing both parents against one another and, while the prospect of not getting berated for the grade, it would be far more peaceful to get it over with rather than have a fight extending across weeks or months between the two feuding adults.
Emi dragged her feet as she walked home, kicking snow up in front of her as she kept up her pace. It was chance that made her turn around, something tingling at the back of her neck as she whirled around. She caught the tail end (literally, the tail) of a cat, the same brown fur triggering her memories of this morning. "You again?" She questioned as she backtracked, crouching down by the fence the animal had vanished into. "Come here, kitty, I'm not gonna hurt you." But the animal seemed to be gone and, frowning, Emi stood up to her full height, shaking her head, muttering under her breath, lancing across the street at a yard that was probably home to children, for there were already a few snowmen built along the snowy lawn. She smiled, tilting her head at them, but the smile was gone in an instant when one of the arms moved. "What?" Emi whispered. She must be seeing things—the last time she checked, snowmen did not move!
Not just one, though, but all three of the snowmen on the yard had begun to move, shifting their arms, dragging their bodies across the snow covered world, coming towards…well, her! Everything in her head was screaming for Emi to make a run for it, to dash away and hope she was as fast as she thought she was (which, in this case, would be to be the faster runner) but her feet remained frozen to the spot. One of them held her in its gaze and Emi thought, at the back of her head, how tired she was feeling. Something wasn't right and they kept getting closer and closer to her.
The weight on her shoulder didn't register right away until she felt claws digging through her coat. She gave a yelp, turning, wincing as the claws dug in deeper. A brown tabby had perched itself upon her shoulder, a frantic look on its face. "Well, are you going to just stand there and let them steal your energy or are you going to run?!" It exclaimed, almost exasperated but, at the same time, there was worry tinted in its voice. Emi didn't need to be told twice as she finally found herself slipping away from the hold. Her feet moved and she sped down the street in the opposite direction of it.
The chase was on.
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Author's Note: Well, there we go for the first chapter! Leave me a review and stay tuned for the next installment!
