Love Me or Forget Me
By Kukaburry
Sailor Moon Disclaimer
Chapter 7- A Taste of Destiny
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"Darien, where are we?" An utterly terrified Serena asked, de-transforming from lack of energy. Darien, who had been slammed to ground pretty hard, took a moment to orient himself. When he raised his head from the ground and took a good look around, he couldn't help but gasp.
They were smack-dab in the middle of the densest and most angry forest he had ever laid eyes on. He gaped at the enormity of the trees that suffocated the light. Only tiny shafts of light broke through the thick barrier, offering only a glimpse of their surroundings. Another odd trait about this area was the constant warm breeze. The tops of the trees stood perfectly still while around the trunks, the wind rarely stopped. It was very unnatural and the tingling sensation Serena had felt earlier, refused to be forgotten.
"I think this is what Sailor Mars was talking about! She said there were thousands of acres of gardens where Queen Trike was living. This looks like thousands of acres to me." Serena shared with Darien, offering only a small bit of information about where they were. "This can't be on Earth. I have never seen trees so tall! I've never seen orange vines like these growing on their trunks. I..I have also never seen a bird with four legs either." When Serena heard this, she spun around, looking in the direction he was looking.
There, standing shyly at the base of the nearest tree was a most curious animal. It seemed to be the cross of a sparrow and a puppy. It had four short, stubby legs and a long fanned tail. It also had two wings attached at its middle and a furry head that ended with a sharp beak. They were so entranced by its ludicrous appearance that they nearly had a heart attack when they heard it speak. "You appeared out of thin air. Are you both sorcerers?"
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"Try her again! That meatball-head must be napping again." Rei's agitated voice gnawed away at Amy's patience to the point where she felt very near to snapping. "She's not answering her communicator Rei, stop taking your anger out on me. Serena obviously doesn't have it with her."
"Whenever she does answer it, she's going to get such a telling-off, she'll never forget her communicator again." Everyone raised their eyebrows in Rei's direction. Even though Rei's threat was legitimate, they knew that Serena's meatball-brained ways were not easily changed. Their thoughts were suddenly changed when a harassed looking Luna ran into the temple, her eyes wide with worry. "Oh no! She's not here either! Where could she be?"
"Hey! Maybe she's still at the Arcade with Darien!" Mina chimed, eyes dancing with the thought of Serena and Darien doing more than just 'studying'. "That's a good point Mina. We should go check it out and pound meatball-head to a pulp for being so ditzy." Rei had a hungry look in her eyes, she'd like nothing better than to kick Serena around.
They reached the arcade quickly from Rei's temple and hurried inside, craning their necks for a glimpse of a blonde-headed meatball-brain. "Hi Andrew sweetie, have you seen a blonde meatball-head today by any chance?" Mina cooed, looking into Andrew's eyes enticingly. "Nope," he began to drool under Mina's charm, "Darien was here for a while waiting for her to show up. He thought something might be up with that detention officer of hers so he went looking for her at her school. I don't know if he found her or not, they definitely didn't come back in here."
"I know where they are!" Mina jumped up, raising her fist in the air. "Where Mina? Where are they?" The girls asked in unison. "They went to Darien's apartment! They confessed their un-dying love for each other and wanted to make out!"
The silence that met these words was so thick that it seemed sliceable with a knife. Every one of the scouts fell to the ground laughing hysterically; Andrew along with them. They clutched their sides and howled until they could scarcely breathe. Mina just stood with her hands on her hips and a grimace on her mouth. "What's so funny? It's possible," this caused a new wave of laughter and after several minutes, they rose from the floor, breathing heavily, attempting to catch their breath.
"Let's just go to the school first Mina. We'll check jail right afterwards…it's a more likely place to find them." Amy said, giggling once again. They left the arcade single-file, leaving Mina behind to say- kiss – her goodbyes to Andrew. 'I just know there's something between Serena and Darien. Why else would they bug each other so much?' She followed in her friend's footsteps towards Crossroads High School.
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"Did..did you just talk?" Serena inquired the little animal, squatting before it timidly. "It would seem thus since you seem to have heard the words coming from my mouth. Now are you both sorcerers?" The creature spoke in a very deep and very masculine voice.
"No we're not sorcerers! We don't even know any magic. We have no idea how we got here." Serena started becoming hysterical, tears slowly cascading down her face, "We don't mean you any harm little fellow. We just want to go home!" She took a deep shuddering breath and calmed her self down. She looked at the bird curiously and said, "How is it that you can talk?" Serena blurted out this question before she could control her thoughts and snapped her mouth shut.
"I used to be a citizen of a fine civilization here on the moon." The little sparrow-dog answered dryly, not looking the least bit insulted. Both Darien and Serena shot dumbfounded looks at each other, "We're on the moon? How is that possible? I thought there was no air on the moon," Darien questioned skeptically.
"Only beings from Earth would be so naïve to the ways of our kind. I guess I should tell you the story." He heaved a deep sigh and began, "We used to have a fair and just ruler named Queen Selenity. Her parents created a giant civilization here on the moon, trying to build friendships with other planets. They used some sort of magic that enables everyone within the civilization to breathe. This was a fantastic place, full of life and love. Then, there was Trike, who was jealous of Selenity's justness and gathered some followers and overcame our civilization, killing Queen Selenity. I don't know what happened to her daughter, Serenity, but I'm guessing she died along with her mother." A tear escaped the little sparrow's eyes. "That girl was the purest female I had ever set eyes on."
"Anyways, to keep any of us from interfering with her evil plans, she thought it would be funny to put spells on the people of the city and turn us into mangled animals with immortality. So here I am today, still a sparrow-dog, without a companion in the world." He ended with a pitiful whimper and ruffled his feathers.
Serena felt her heart go out to the poor creature and decided to pat his head. "I'm so sorry…um…do you have a name?"
"Yes, my name is Tybald. Roger Tybald." The little creature bowed on its front paws and Serena couldn't help but giggle. "My name is Serena and this," she turned her head towards Darien, "Is my friend Darien. We were brought here by one of Trike's evil henchmen."
The poor creature nodded his head solemnly. "Yes, I figured as much, since you seemed completely disoriented when I first came upon you two." Serena suddenly felt a burning sensation rise from the pit of her heart. "Tybald, I am going to make you a promise right here and now. I am going to help you by defeating Queen Trike and her minions. You have my word that I will try my hardest to free you." Darien grabbed Serena's arm and yanked her backwards towards him.
"What are you doing?" He seethed, "We don't even know if she's still here. How do we know she's not on Earth right now, taking it over?" Tybald cocked his head to the side and answered for Serena, "Because young sir, she was barred from ever returning to Earth by the force of a powerful curse." Seeing Darien's narrowed eyes, he furthered with, "News travels fast here. Many of the animals closer to the palace can hear her tantrums easily." Tybald seemed to smirk, if he had had a mouth.
"Who placed the curse?" Serena wondered aloud, not really expecting an answer. "The king of Earth, sir Raborteer. He is a most vicious ruler to his people, but has one of the most powerful armies in the history of that planet from what I understand."
Serena was impressed with how informed this little animal was, and decided to press her luck with one more question, "How is it, that Darien and I ended up here then? On the Earth we belong to, there is no King. Just many different rulers for all of the countries."
Tybald pondered this question and opened his beak to speak in a confident tone, "Maybe you were destined to belong to this universe. Maybe destiny chose a different path from the one you were leading previously." These words had a deep impact on both Darien and Serena, who looked into each others eyes expectantly but discovered the same confused stare looking back at them.
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The front doors of the school were unlocked and the ominously lit hallways looked deserted. "Let's hurry girls, this place is giving me the creeps." Lita said in a very uncharacteristically nervous voice.
They reached the detention room quickly, and realized that the door was already unlocked for them. "I'm getting a high negative energy rating guys." Amy quavered as she scanned her computer. "Let's transform, just to be on the safe side." They all nodded and took their compacts out. Seconds later, Sailor Mercury, Sailor Venus, Sailor Jupiter and Sailor Mars were poised and ready.
They entered the unlocked classroom and met an eyeful of destruction. "What happened in here? It looks like a hurricane came through here." Mina said, looking around in awe. "Yep, meatball-head was here. No one else can begin to clean a room and end up destroying it better than our Serena." Rei joked, causing everyone to smile, but the smiles never reached their eyes. "Looks like we've missed her." With that, they turned to leave but found a very unpleasant face blocking their way.
"Leaving so soon scouts? We've barely begun!" Solander's mocking voice coaxed viciously. "What have you done with Sailor Moon you scumbag?" Rei lunged forward, stopping barely inches from his appalling features. "She and her little boyfriend Tuxedo Mask have been…lets say…finished?" He cackled mirthlessly, yet he didn't show true confidence in his laugh.
"I don't believe you scar face. I think you know exactly where they are, and I think you're going to tell us or else face the consequences bust….ugh." Rei was slammed against the wall by a powerful punch from Solander. "Oh, I'll take you to your precious little friend; after my mistress gets done with you!"
Amy, Rei, Lita and Mina were suddenly sucked from their feet and sent spinning through a portal. They had no idea what they were heading towards, but it couldn't be anything good.
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"Can you lead us to Queen Trike's castle Tybald?" Serena asked hopefully, pleading him with her eyes to take them to her castle. "I most certainly know where to go, but I can only take you a certain distance, I'm afraid. Some territories of this disgusting forest have been taken over by many of the larger animals, and they don't like little creatures like me entering their domain."
"We need all the help we can get, even if it's only a few miles head start. We're grateful for all of it." Serena soothed. Tybald smiled genuinely at her and stretched his legs, "Well, we'd better start off now! It's a long journey, and you don't want to be caught in this part of the woods at night." Serena was about to ask why not, but kept her mouth shut and followed Tybald's retreating back into the darker reaches of the mangled jungle.
When they were far enough out of earshot of Tybald, Darien leaned towards Serena and whispered in her ear, "How do you know we can trust him? It's a talking animal for crying out loud. How do we know it's telling the truth?"
Serena gave him a stern yet thoughtful look, "We don't, we just have to trust the stars and destiny to guide us to our destination." Without another look at Darien, Serena trudged forward, step by step, towards her destiny and hopefully towards the lair of Trike.
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Hey there guys! I'm sorry this took longer than usual to write, my poor guinea pig died this morning and it is New Years Eve as well. I hope you enjoyed this section! Happy New Year! R&R. –Kukaburry!
