Disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon or her characters, and have no right to it except as a long time fan.
Unexpected Restart
Chapter Nine: Neflite Secured
As Darien drove away from Serena's neighborhood on his way home his mind was full of his princess as it usually was these days.
He thought her gymnastics class had gone well. Sitting on the sidelines watching as he was he had been able to see her and the other students moving around, but of course he was focusing on his princess and the way she moved on the different structures. That day she had worked on the balance beam and the uneven bars.
She had looked so good standing on the high beam, stretching her body in various ways, trying out spins and flips. There had been some falls but nothing major as she had gotten very good with her balance.
And the uneven bars. Seeing her body swinging and circling on the bars in the air, stretched all the way out as she moved around each bar, her legs and arms fully on display even covered as they were. Even her hair moving attracted his eye; though she didn't have it completely lose in the twin streams as was her want.
Although he found it amusing that even then the instructors and other students found it amazing that with the way she tied it back it still didn't get in her way. His princess was used to dealing with her hair when it was completely loose at its full length, so it must be very easy for her with it tied up as she had it.
He'd noticed though that since starting the class she had yet to really work on the floor dance. He thought she would do really well on that one since she could jump high with being a scout. Add in the springiness of the floor and she could do a lot of flips.
Maybe she's worried about the dancing part or is just really focused on the things that will help her as a scout. He considered thoughtfully. That was the point in taking the class after all. I'll have to find out, and if I'm right I'm going to have to remind her to have fun with the class as well. He told himself, but before his thoughts could continue he suddenly sensed her transform.
His eyes widened in surprise since he knew she was still at home. In fact, he was so surprised that he nearly slammed on the brakes in the middle of the street; there hadn't even been time for her to leave her house yet!
His heart raced. Was there an attack near her house or had the Negaverse somehow found out her identity? They'd been very careful with how they had rescued Jedite, so that couldn't be how, and he was positive that they had completely removed the evil taint in him so he couldn't have done it.
Darien quickly pulled over, thankful that it was a quiet street, and parked before getting out. He quickly locked up his car and put his keys in his pocket as he ran for a more secluded spot to transform. Once he found it he transformed into Tuxedo Mask, and began to race back toward his princess' house.
He ran through the streets before leaping to a rooftop. Then he continued on, carefully and stealthily, leaping and running across rooftops, so the residents wouldn't hear him running across their roofs and no one would look up out their windows to see him.
Just as suddenly as he sensed her transform he abruptly sensed that she wasn't transformed anymore, but his senses were still leading him to her house so he continued in that direction.
Darien stopped two houses away from hers and saw that all was quiet. There was no attack, no one screaming or running, no damage anywhere.
He looked to her house and saw the lights on and everything looking fine, but he needed to be sure. He knew she wouldn't just transform for nothing. She only transformed for training and dealing with attacks.
She wasn't training at this time of night. He knew that for sure. She would have told him if she had planned a night time session, and there was no fight going on but he still needed to be sure. He needed to know that his princess was safe; especially in her own home.
He jumped off the roof he had been perched on and moved to a spot where he couldn't be seen before he released his transformation. Then he walked along the sidewalk toward her house. Once he reached the front door he rang the doorbell and anxiously waited.
The door opened moments later to reveal his princess looking perfectly fine.
Serena stepped forward and immediately wrapped her arms around his neck in a close hug.
"I had to tell my mom my secret." She whispered in his ear, and his eyes widened slightly as he wrapped his arms around her. "The talk my mom wanted to have was about her concern over my change in behavior and personality, my seriousness with my after school classes, and coming home injured."
"She was also concerned about you as well. She thought you were older than you are, and that you were likely the one giving me the injuries." She added.
Darien gasped at her words; surprised and outraged. He would never hurt his princess, but he supposed he could understand where her mother was coming from with her concern.
All she had known was that her daughter had suddenly changed, and was spending time around a guy that looked older, and was coming home occasionally with various levels of injuries.
"We're talking in my parent's bedroom so Luna won't know what's going on. I even used my crystal to prevent any sound from leaving the room, so I'll lead you up there." Serena said, still whispering.
Darien nodded silently as she stepped back, and he stepped inside the house and closed the door. Then he followed her up the stairs, neither speaking to keep Luna from coming to investigate, and down the short hallway to a closed door. She opened the door and they both stepped inside before she closed the door behind them.
"Good evening." Darien said calmly to Mrs. Tsukino, and then sat in the chair that Serena brought over from the side of the room.
"This is Darien." Serena said, gesturing to her prince, after she returned to her seat next to her mother. "Like I said earlier he's also Tuxedo Mask and my Prince Endymion." She added before she looked to Darien. "This is my mom; Ikuko Tsukino."
"Hello." Ikuko said as she looked at him. Seeing him up close and in person still didn't change the fact that he looked older.
"Hi." He said quietly with a nod, and she wondered if that was the tone he always spoke in or if he was nervous.
"So as I said before, he comes when I transform, and obviously here he is." Serena said.
"Can I see you as Tuxedo Mask?" Ikuko asked Darien. "Just to cement the truth in my mind."
"No problem." Darien said before he stood up and moved a few steps away from the chair and transformed. He was instantly surrounded in red light, and when it cleared he stood as the masked man.
Ikuko blinked in amazement as she stared at the masked man now standing in front of her. If she didn't already know who he was she would never have known. He looked older, intimidating, and mysterious.
She took in the full black tuxedo, the crisp looking white shirt and vest, white gloves and mask framing his eyes, the dramatic black and red cape, and top hat. He wore shiny black dress shoes, and even had a handkerchief in the breast pocket of his jacket.
"Oh my." She said as she continued to stare at him. She then looked to her daughter and saw her staring at him with a small smile on her face. "You're really this prince my daughter mentioned?" She questioned as she looked back to him.
Darien didn't speak; he simply began to glow with a golden light that hid his entire body. When the light cleared he stood in his royal form.
Ikuko blinked her eyes wide as she took in this warrior looking prince in his silver armor and navy blue uniform; knee high armored black boots and dangerous looking sword. She noticed that he still wore the black and red cape, and that it added to his look.
Despite looking like a fierce warrior he still looked royal. Not just with how he was dressed but with how he held himself; the way he stood, his head held high, and his calm confident expression.
She blinked and looked to her daughter but she was already getting up and stepping toward him. She watched her daughter hug him, clearly unconcerned with his armor or sword, and he wrapped his arms around her without hesitation and rubbed up and down her back.
She continued to watch as her daughter turned around in the circle of his arms to face her, a content look on her face, and he continued to hold her tightly yet gently as he leaned down and kissed her cheek.
They aren't even concerned about being hugged up right in front of me. There's not even the slightest worry about me being Serena's mother. She thought as she looked at them. Was it just because she now knew the truth or because of something else?
"You look very close." Ikuko commented. "Why are you so close already? You can't have been dating very long."
"I told you we remembered our past, and are together in this life as well." Serena said. "It isn't just memories we remember; the feelings and emotions we experienced were remembered and felt as well."
"I don't know exactly how much you've been told about our past, but back then relationships between the Earth and Moon were forbidden. So obviously we had to keep our relationship a secret." Darien added. "A few people close to us knew, but the people of our planets didn't. We didn't want to cause any type of unrest on our planets or war between our planets."
"Yes. There was no open courtship and planet wide celebration that we were engaged as it would have been had we been courting and engaged to one of our own planet or even to one from one of the other planets in the solar system." Serena said, and Darien nodded in agreement.
"Now that we've been born on the same planet and are free to express our affection openly without worry we aren't going to hold back. There's no need to pretend to be nothing more than friends, no need to be subtle, and no need to sneak around. We are free to be a regular couple." He said.
"At least as regular as we can be with our secret lives." Serena added with a smile.
Ikuko was surprised and sad at what she was hearing. She had no idea when Serena first mentioned being romantically involved with a prince in the past that it would be a forbidden love affair.
She wondered why relationships between the two planets was forbidden, but didn't think she should ask. She didn't want to bring up bad or painful memories.
"I understand." She said, and watched as they returned to their seats; Darien returning to his normal clothes in a brief golden flash.
"There's something I was wondering." Ikuko said, and Serena nodded slightly for her to continue. "Why do you, as the Moon Princess, need protecting?" She asked, and listened to her daughter sigh lightly.
"The royalty of the Moon wield and protect an extremely powerful object called the silver crystal. There are many power-mad beings out there, usually with evil intentions, that want it." Serena explained. "That would be very bad considering what the crystal can do, so I protect the crystal and the Scouts protect me."
"You actually have the crystal?" Ikuko asked as her eyes widened.
"Yes." Serena said as she nodded.
Ikuko watched as her daughter gestured with her hand and out of nowhere fell a pink wand with a gold crescent moon on top with a sparkling silver crystal attached to the inside of the crescent.
She could hardly believe what she was seeing. Her daughter was in possession of a powerful crystal that could probably, more than likely, do things she could only imagine; and probably things she couldn't imagine as well.
"Well. I don't know what to say. None of this is certainly what I thought I would hear when I asked to speak to you." Ikuko said, feeling overwhelmed.
"You're actually a warrior." She said as she looked to Serena. "And so are you." She added as she looked to Darien. They both nodded, and she ran a hand through her hair as she wondered if there was anything she wanted to ask.
"What about that message in the sky from a few days ago?" Ikuko asked. "That man that demanded the Sailor Scouts go to the airport; who was he, and what happened with him and that situation? Did you go?" She asked her daughter.
"I did go; along with Amy and Raye, and Darien came separately from us but he was there as well." Serena answered, but hesitated before she looked to Darien and tilted her head slightly in question.
"We should tell her because I might need Julius to take you home for me at some point." Darien answered, having understood what she wasn't saying.
Serena nodded, understanding that he didn't want any problems if Jedite escorted her home and her mom recognized him from the message in the sky. That made her wonder anew about her dad, and what he had seen of the message, and what he might have noticed about her.
She held in a sigh and looked to her mom, seeing the slight concern on her face at their exchange.
"His name is Jedite and he was part of our enemy; the Negaverse." Serena said. "Before I continue I want you to know that what you're about to hear is also something Luna and the girls don't know. This is strictly knowledge only me and Darien know." She added seriously.
Ikuko nodded as she looked back and forth between them, wondering what new secret she was about to learn, and why it was being kept from the others.
"Jedite is actually one of Darien's Guardian Generals." Serena revealed. Ikuko gasped in shock, and Serena nodded. "His Generals are like my Scouts; they were charged with his protection. Unfortunately they were brainwashed, both in the past and again in the present, to believe they were part of the Negaverse." She explained.
"Serena had the idea to free them from the Negaverse so I can have my guardians back since she thought it was only fair to have mine since she was getting hers." Darien continued. "The night Jedite made his demand was the first chance we had to attempt to free him without the Negaverse or the Scouts knowing."
"We fought him while the girls were busy dealing with his distraction, and we managed to capture him and Darien immediately took him to his apartment." Serena said.
"After Serena joined me we put our powers together and broke the connection Jedite had to one of the leaders of the Negaverse, and removed the evil taint from his body." He explained. "Then I unlocked his memories of the past, and that was that. Jedite woke soon after, and after some talking he resumed his role as one of my generals."
"Oh my! This is unexpected." Ikuko said. Her daughter's boyfriend had generals like she had scouts to protect him, and her daughter had wanted him to have them back. She had wanted them to be equals.
"How were you able to unlock his memories?" She asked Darien.
"Like Serena I have my own powerful crystal; my golden crystal." He revealed.
Ikuko gasped and then her eyes widened as she watched a golden crystal the same size as her daughter's appear, hovering over the palm of his hand, sparkling prettily.
"We used our crystals to free Jedite completely from the evil influence of the Negaverse and unlock his memories; something we intend to repeat with my other generals as soon as the opportunity comes." He explained.
Ikuko nodded and watched as he put his crystal away, presumably back where it came from.
"How many generals do you have?" She asked.
"I have four generals." He answered, and she nodded.
"Why do you call him Julius and Jedite?" She asked the couple.
"His name in the past was Jedite, but the name he was given by his parents in the present is Julius." Darien said.
"We all decided to use our present names when in public and around those who don't know the truth, and our past names when we're in private and around those who do know the truth." Serena added.
"Ah." Ikuko said in understanding. "Luna also doesn't know about the generals." She said as she looked at them.
"She does not." Serena confirmed. "She doesn't remember there was an Earth Prince, and definitely doesn't know anything about his generals."
"Should she see Jedite she would know he had worked for the Negaverse, and instantly think anyone with him was part of the enemy." She continued. "Who knew what she would think if she saw me with him. She'd probably think I was changing sides and couldn't be trusted; definitely couldn't be trusted with the protection of the Moon Princess."
"Couldn't this all be solved by just telling the cat?" Ikuko asked as she shook her head.
"It could, but I'm not ready yet; because of the reasons I told you earlier, and especially with Luna's behavior." Serena said. "I'm also realizing that Luna doesn't trust my instincts. She told me to use my instincts during my first fight, but Luna doesn't seem to want to believe what I say when it contradicts what she herself says and thinks." She explained.
"I understand." Ikuko said as she nodded.
Darien remained silent on the subject. He still thought if Luna's behavior continued she should be removed from influencing Serena's Scouts. This wasn't the past; Luna didn't have to remain her advisor. In fact, she wasn't her advisor. She had been an advisor to the Queen, not his princess.
Serena sighed. "Does dad really not have any concerns? He didn't notice any of the things you did?" She asked.
"He didn't. As far as I know he hasn't noticed anything or if he did then he doesn't think anything of it." Ikuko said. "I think he hasn't noticed because he only really sees you for short periods before and after work. He doesn't have the chance to really notice."
"I haven't said anything to him about my concerns, because I wanted to talk to you first. I wanted to hear your explanations without his instant reactions clouding everything." She explained.
Serena nodded. She was unsure if she wanted her father to know, but the same issue with her mom recognizing Jedite applied to him.
"Did he see the message in the sky?" She asked.
"He did." Ikuko answered.
"You don't want to tell your father." Darien said as he watched her.
"I don't. At least not anytime soon. Maybe months down the line, but not right now." Serena said. "He won't react calmly like mom has. He would, as mom said, react instantly, and I don't need that right now. It would certainly alert Luna to what's going on, and I definitely don't want that." She explained.
Both Darien and Ikuko nodded in understanding.
"Well, I don't have anything else to say or ask right now about everything I've learned. Maybe after I've had time to think about it." Ikuko said. "One thing I can say right now is that although I worry for your safety I'm proud of you." She said to her daughter.
"You're helping people and growing more mature by the day. I can't wait to see where it leads you in the future." She added. Of course she has the maturity, memories, and feelings of a princess; likely an older princess at that.
"Thank you." Serena said as she hugged her mom. She had made the right decision in telling her mother the truth, and her mother had done as she thought she would; she had been able to handle the truth.
"Well, it won't take me long to prepare dinner. Will you stay and eat with us?" Ikuko asked Darien. "I want to get to know you. At least who you are in this life considering Luna's in the house." She added.
Serena smiled in appreciation that her mother remembered that.
"I would love to learn about who you were in the past when we can be assured of privacy, because from the way you two speak I get the impression that those lives intermingle more then I currently understand." Ikuko said. "The same goes for you." She added as she looked to her daughter, and both Serena and Darien nodded.
"I would love to stay for dinner." Darien said.
~~uUuUu~~
Friday morning found Luna sitting out on the railing of her charges bedroom balcony not long after she had left for school. She sighed as she idly looked at the view of the houses around her.
It had been a few long and exciting months since she had first found Serena and awakened her as the scout of the Moon. She thought they had made good time with finding two more scouts. Amy as the scout of Mercury, and Raye as the scout of Mars.
Both girls were doing well as far as she understood. She had to go off of what they said since she had not been to a fight beyond Serena's first fight. She had seen the beginnings of Amy's first fight, but she hadn't actually been inside the building to see the majority of it. And of course Raye's first fight had taken place in another dimension, so she hadn't seen that one either.
Still, the reports of each fight let her know that all three girls were doing well as scouts. The training they were doing was apparently working well in their favor, and they were working well together.
They were even doing well in school and in their studies, which was a good thing since they needed to be intelligent and make good decisions in their protection of the Moon Princess.
The only thing she could complain about in regards to their companionship together was that they weren't spending as much time together as she would have liked.
Although Serena is clearly spending every moment she can with her boyfriend. Luna thought in aggravation.
She had noticed the young man's arrival last evening, and him and Serena walking into Serena's parent's room and closing the door. She had wondered why they had gone in there and tried to find out, but couldn't hear anything through the door.
She had searched around the house but didn't see Mrs. Tsukino anywhere, and wondered if she had even been in the house. And if that meant Serena and Darien were alone in that room.
What were they doing in there, and alone at that? Is that why they didn't come to Serena's room? Because Serena knew I was there, and they wouldn't be alone? She wondered before she shook her head.
That was completely irresponsible of her. To be in a room alone with a boy, and in her parents' house, in her parents' bedroom no less. She thought before she sighed.
Luna didn't know what the girl had been thinking, but decided to move her thoughts away from her for the moment.
She instead considered the fact that they had learned a nice amount of information about their enemy. The Negaverse. Jedite was a general working in the Negaverse, and according to what he said he was under the command of a Queen Beryl.
Luna assumed she was the leader of the Negaverse; if there was another person or being above the woman they had yet to learn it. They also knew that the Negaverse or at least the general Jedite was collecting human energy on Queen Beryl's behalf. Why they needed energy or what they planned to do with it they had also yet to find out.
The general Jedite had been defeated, but already there had been an attack so someone else had obviously taken his place on the quest to collect energy.
Then there was Tuxedo Mask. The mystery man that arrived at every fight, and assisted the Scouts in defeating the monsters.
They had no idea who he was, where he was from, or what his motives were. All they knew was that he had mentioned the silver crystal and he never stayed after the monsters were defeated.
Serena claimed he wasn't an enemy and that he could have been in the past, but she just wasn't sure of that at all. In fact, she just didn't believe that. If he had been in the past why would he act so mysterious?
The girls identities were a secret when they were fighting, but they weren't mysterious about it. They weren't sneaking into fights and disappearing after it was over. His behavior was suspicious plain and simple, and that made him an enemy. She didn't understand why Serena couldn't see that.
She just didn't understand Serena sometimes. The girl had pointed out that she didn't really remember anyone from the past or what they looked like, but Luna had instincts and they were telling her that he was an enemy not to be trusted.
Luna shook her head; putting those thoughts away for the moment. The information they had so far and the incidents that had been happening with Serena had her thinking about all the girls and their duty.
I think it's time the girls had a leader; especially a leader among their peers. She thought. There are enough of them, and it will help the girls learn how to listen and follow orders for when the Princess is found. It will also be good if the leader is in place when the next scout is found.
Luna shifted in her seated position slightly and decided to go through the qualities and characters of each girl to help her choose. She would start first with Serena, then Raye, and lastly Amy.
Serena was a good student, smart, calm, and friendly. She was good at talking to people and understanding them, and took her duties as a scout seriously. She was even taking classes after school to help toward that, which she thoroughly approved of.
However, she didn't like that Serena challenged her knowledge and didn't take her at her word. She felt the only one who had the authority to overrule her and make decisions for the Scouts was their Princess.
She was there to guide and advise them, and Serena acted like she knew better than her and didn't need any guidance or advice. That was not a good quality to have in a leader. A good leader needed to know how to follow and accept guidance and help.
Then there was Raye. She was a quiet, calm, and unflappable young woman. She was slow to trust, but once you had it she was loyal. She was also smart and spiritual, and also took her duties as a scout seriously.
She had seemed like somewhat of a loner from what Luna saw before the fire scout was awakened, and she wondered if that would eventually cause problems among the team. That was something that would be disastrous. They couldn't have a scout going rogue; especially once the Princess was found.
Finally there was Amy. She was quiet, a bit shy, but friendly and very intelligent. She was also dependable and a good listener. Just like Raye and Serena she took her duties as a scout seriously. She was always asking questions and making connections, and storing information into her minicomputer.
Although she was friendly it seemed the only friends she had were Raye and Serena. She supposed that lead back into her shy nature, and thought that could be taken care of with time and more socializing.
She's someone the girls will listen to because of her intelligence, and she would make good, smart, decisions and not be unwilling to listen to advice. She thought conclusively before she began to review her thoughts on the girls.
I believe I might be ready to make my decision, but I'll spend some time with Raye and Amy separately before I announce anything. She decided. She wanted to get to know the two girls better, and seeing them in their own homes was the best way in her opinion.
Luna looked back to the closed balcony doors and leapt over to the tree in the front yard and made her way down to the ground. Once there she calmly walked away, and began to make her way to Amy and Serena's school to meet Amy there.
~~uUuUu~~
That afternoon Serena walked toward the park where she usually met up with Darien for their workout and training.
She was of course happy to be seeing him, but she would be even more so since they would get to spend time together without any obligations that day. Since early that morning she had been informed by a phone call before she left for school that their martial arts classes were canceled that day and would be back in session on Monday.
She was sure Darien had received the same call, so now they just had to figure out what to do once their training was finished. Or with it being a Friday if they wanted to continue their training in a more secluded area, and work more extensively on their physical fighting and techniques.
Serena walked into the park and in no time at all spotted her prince and Jedite sitting in the grass stretching and talking.
"Darien; Julius!" She called, making sure to use Jedite's present name, and waved as she held the strap of her duffle bag.
The two young men looked over and waved at her, and she put her bag next to Darien's and jogged over to join them in the grass.
"Hey." She said in greeting. "How are you guys?" She asked as she began to stretch.
"I'm good." Darien answered.
"I'm fine, but still adjusting." Jedite said, and she nodded.
"What's giving you the toughest time?" Serena asked.
"The double life." He said. "What's it like living a sort of double life since I'm in the process of starting to do just that?" He asked, remembering that in the past being a general was his life, and now it was like a secret side thing.
"For me it's a strange balance. It's like I'm living my normal everyday fourteen year old life, and at the same time I feel like I'm this older warrior princess. Except that only the two of you know about the extent of that warrior princess life." She explained.
"Being with Darien only helps to bring out that warrior princess more. He understands me, and makes me feel older and more mature." She added.
"I'm the same way in a sense. I go to school with others my age, have a job, and a girlfriend. Then on the other side I'm a warrior prince, fighting alongside my princess, working to save my generals, and spend as much time with my princess as possible." Darien said as he looked to Jedite.
"She understands where I'm coming from and where I want to go, and that makes all the difference in how I'm able to handle living both sides of this life." He finished.
Jedite nodded his understanding and was quiet as he thought over their words. He thought he needed to get his regular normal life together, so his secret life could be balanced out.
That means I need to decide if I'm going to go to school or get a job since I now have a past history and all the papers to prove it. He thought.
Of coursethat also meant he had to get his secret life settled. He was once again a guardian general to his prince and could protect him, but there was a problem that he had noticed after hearing about the last fight Endymion and his princess participated in.
"You two don't want the Scouts and Luna knowing about me and the others yet, so how am I supposed to help you fight without being recognized?" He asked. "Everyone has seen me thanks to that illusion I put over the city, and even if that wasn't the case Mars, Raye, saw me at her temple and will surely recognize me."
Serena and Darien looked at each other. Serena had honestly thought he wouldn't even be out fighting with them until all the generals had been freed, and Darien had simply not considered the issue at all beyond keeping his generals presence a secret until all of them were free.
Serena looked to Jedite and then back to Darien, and shrugged slightly as if to say 'he's your general; it's your choice'.
"There should be a sort of glamor built into the transformation so you can't be recognized just as we aren't recognized when we transform, but I would prefer that you not participate in any of the fights until the others are free." Darien said as he looked to Jedite.
"Your presence, and sticking close to me, will only create a situation that Serena can't explain to the others. She'll obviously trust you and welcome your aid, and that will have Luna and the others looking at her differently and questioning her." He explained. "She doesn't need that with Luna already believing I'm another enemy they need to be careful of."
Jedite grimaced and nodded. What his prince was saying made sense. He wanted to be out there with Endymion, fighting by his side, and protecting him as he was supposed to. Fighting alongside Serenity and the Scouts he was going to be working with in the long run, but he understood that his presence would cause problems at this point.
They had already said that no one knew that Serenity was the Moon Princess they were looking for, and that they didn't even know about Endymion; he wasn't even on their radar as someone to look for. They needed to keep things quiet and simple until the time was right.
"I understand. I'll just train and prepare myself for when it's time for me to join the fighting." He said.
"Thanks for understanding." Serena said.
"No problem." Jedite said with a smile.
"Alright. Let's get started." Darien announced, and they all got up and began to jog around the wide area. Jedite having been told of their routine by Darien before Serena had arrived.
After a lap their jog shifted into a run and they each circled the area as many times as they were comfortable with before they slowed into a final jogging lap and stopped. They each stretched out their legs when they were finished, and once they were all done they began to take turns sparing with each other.
First it was Serena and Darien as they were used to, then after resting and stretching a bit Darien and Jedite took their turn together. When they finished and Jedite had rested he and Serena took their turn at sparing against each other.
Serena was pleased to learn that Jedite was much more challenging to fight now that he remembered who he truly was, and as a result she was learning new techniques and ways to maneuver around.
When they were all rested from their individual fights they grabbed their bags and headed to the more secluded area that Darien and Serena were used to, and placed their bags off to the side next to a tree.
They each transformed; one surrounded in pink light, the other in red, and the last in blue until they stood as Sailor Moon, Tuxedo Mask, and General Jedite.
"Have you tried to use your powers yet?" Serena asked Jedite as she looked to him.
"No. This will be the first time." Jedite said, and she nodded.
"I'm curious about what you can do since I never knew in the past." She said.
Jedite grinned, his gray eyes bright, and rubbed his hands together in excitement.
"Keep it light since we want to keep a low profile, and not draw attention to ourselves." Darien added quickly.
Jedite sighed in disappointment at having to limit himself, but nodded anyway since he did understand. He decided to start simple with his barriers. He narrowed his eyes slightly and instantly a transparent red lavender tinted barrier sprang up around him.
Serena hummed and poked it with a gloved finger, and felt the resistance that was as strong as the invisible one she had run into the night he was freed.
"How strong is it?" She asked as she looked to him, and watched him smirk.
"Let's find out." He said.
Serena smiled and pulled her tiara off, and charged it up as she backed away; seeing Darien shake his head lightly as he stepped away from Jedite.
She threw her tiara at him, and it flew straight and true toward his chest but slammed into his barrier instead. It bounced off and she quickly guided it around toward his back and it bounced off the barrier there as well.
"Can you make it invisible?" She asked, summoning her tiara back to her as she walked toward him. She remembered that was how it had been when he was fighting against them.
He nodded and instantly it went from its red lavender color to invisible as if it was no longer there. She stopped next to him and poked toward him, and once again felt the resistance of the barrier.
"Can you make it larger or smaller?" She asked.
"I suppose it's possible but I don't remember trying that in the past. I guess it's something I'm going to have to work on." Jedite said, and she nodded.
"Can you put it over other people or is it a personal barrier only?" Serena inquired.
"It's only a personal barrier." He said. "We can all make them, but if I recall correctly only Malachite could make protective barriers for others." He added, and she hummed thoughtfully.
"That's something to remember." She said, before she stepped back to give him room for whatever else he was going to do next.
Jedite lifted his arms and focused until a strong breeze began to ruffle his pale blonde hair and cape before it began to move around his body. He narrowed his eyes slightly and transparent red lavender wind began to swirl around his arms and hands. He then shifted his focus and the wind shifted until mini tornados of the same color spun just above his palms.
"Wow." Serena said as she watched.
"And yes I can take away the color so it can't be seen right away." Jedite confirmed before she could ask.
"Cool!" She said as she grinned, imagining how his ability to control wind could mix with Amy and Raye's abilities with fire and water.
She watched as he pointed one of his hands toward a tree off to the side and suddenly a subtle whirlwind was cycling around the tree, ruffling its leaves and branches. She could tell he was only doing it lightly and could make it more forceful, and she thought that particular move would work well with Raye's fire.
Julius stopped the whirlwind and then gathered a sphere of air into his hand and launched it at the same tree, and they all watched as it slammed into the trunk with a light thud.
"I can make the impact harder, but I don't want to damage the tree." He said, and Serena and Darien nodded.
He then waved his hand at the ground and they watched as the ground and grass was cut up by red lavender tinted blades of wind the size of basketballs.
"That's it. Anything else I can do is too big and noticeable for the area." He said as he released the wind.
"Think of more smaller ones; use your imagination. The wind is your companion; yours to control." Darien said, and Jedite nodded thoughtfully.
"I want you to practice moving through tree tops as if you're avoiding attacks." He continued as he looked to Serena. "It will help with your balance, dodging, and the very real possibility of having to do that very act in the future should there be an attack in a wooded area." He explained.
Serena nodded as she looked to the trees, and looked back to him as he spoke again.
"I'm going to practice with my sword. It's something I haven't touched in this life yet, and I want to get back into the habit." He said.
"I should do that as well." Jedite said. I wonder if I can add my wind power to my sword, so I can use them both at the same time. He thought.
"Alright then. I'll see you guys later." Serena said before she dashed off and jumped up into the branches of a tree at the edge of the clearing, and moved further into the trees and out of their sight.
Jedite moved to the side, away from the trees that Serena had disappeared into so he wouldn't risk hurting her with his wind attacks, and once again silently called on the wind to come to him.
Darien watched his general for a moment before he moved to the center of the clearing and summoned the sword he always carried with his royal uniform. He sighed lightly as he felt its heavy yet familiar weight in his hands.
He brought his free hand up and grasped the hilt beneath his other hand and lifted his sword so it pointed straight up toward the sky. Then he took a single step forward and swung his sword to his left as if he was blocking an attack as he began to go through his sword techniques.
~~uUuUu~~
Serena sat clothed in her stretchy white quarter sleeve tank top and black legging pants stretching on the ground off to the side of the uneven bars waiting for her turn on the structure.
The weekend and the first day of the week had passed quietly and without anything eventful happening. The only thing of real note that had taken place was Luna's disappearance from the house on Friday.
She hadn't even had a chance to really start questioning why she wasn't around when Saturday morning training came around, and Amy was informing her that Luna was at her place and had decided she was going to spend some time with her.
They had all thought that was strange since Luna hadn't done it before then, but didn't see anything wrong with it.
Although Serena asked Amy to make sure that she was able to have an animal in her building and wouldn't get in trouble. Thankfully Amy could have pets she just had never had the time or attention to take care of one.
Serena had also warned Raye that she was probably next with what Luna had said about wanting to spend time with Amy. Raye had grimaced but nodded and said it was highly likely.
But now she was in the middle of her gymnastics class, Darien off to the side of the room watching as he usually did, and was having fun; something that her prince had reminded her to do with the classes she was taking.
She had already worked on the balance beam when the class first started, and had tumbled and bounced around on the dance floor. Darien had been right when he said she would be good at the floor dance. After her run on the floor he had told her she looked elegant and graceful and of course confident in her movements.
She had liked that. She had based a lot of her movements on dancing she had done in the past, and she had been pleased with how it turned out. Now that she wasn't so focused on her jumps and landings her movements flowed so much better, so much easier.
Serena stood up and shook her body a little and moved back and forth on her feet to keep herself stretched and warmed up and ready to go.
She looked over to where Darien was and saw him looking at her already. She smiled and waved and watched him wave back before she looked back over to the uneven bars just in time to see the girl on it finish.
She grabbed some chalk and dusted her hands, and looked up as the instructor waved her forward then stepped up in front of the lowest bar.
Serena took a breath and then leapt up and grabbed on to the bar. Once she was sure of her grip she began to swing herself back and forth to gain some speed and momentum before she lifted herself up until her stomach touched the bar, then swung herself back down under and over the top of the bar, her body stretched and her legs pressed together as she had been instructed to do.
She bent her legs at her waist and put the bottom of her feet on the bar as she swung back under it and stood on the bar briefly before she pushed off and grabbed on to the higher bar.
She swung fully up and over it and twisted on her next rotation so she was facing the opposite direction before she twisted back to the direction she started in. Then she took a breath as her body swung up and she released the bar and tried a flip and a half twist, which she thankfully succeeded at, before she grabbed on to the bar and swung back down the way she came.
Then she released the bar again and did a fully stretched backflip and grabbed onto the lower bar and swung down and around it before she twisted to face the direction she had just come and swung back down before she reached the halfway point.
Her body rotated and as she reached the top she released the bar and lifted and stretched her legs into the splits as she went over the bar, her legs a few inches from touching the bar, and grabbed back onto it, then swung down and released it again as she swung up and reached for the high bar.
Just as Serena latched on to the high bar she heard her communicator going off. Her eyes widened and she knew she had to abort the rest of what she had planned to do and finish quickly.
She lifted herself up until her stomach touched the bar and then let herself swing back down and around, then twisted herself as she rotated over the bar, and finally swung herself around the bar three times to gain momentum before she released the bar then did a tucked spinning flip and touched down on her feet.
She stumbled as she landed but was unconcerned as she hurriedly moved off to the side and out of the way of the next girl's way and toward Darien.
"My communicator is going off." Serena said as she dropped next to him and quickly began to pull on her socks and shoes.
Darien's eyes widened and he grabbed both their bags and got to his feet. When she finished putting on her shoes he grasped her hand and helped her up, and they hurried from the large room and out of the building altogether.
They jogged a block away from the gym, and Serena pulled out her communicator as she stopped and squatted down while Darien stood in front of her blocking her from view.
"Serena here." Darien heard Serena answer her communicator, and he glanced down to his hand at his own communicator, and wondered which fight this was going to be and if Neflite would be there.
~~uUu~~
Amy and Raye met up after school to hangout and study together. It was a nice day so Amy suggested they go to the park and find a spot there.
Raye had agreed so Amy led her to her favorite park, and they sat in the grass near the shade of a tree and pulled out their study materials. They talked about this and that as Amy studied and Raye got started on her homework.
"So how's living with Luna going?" Raye asked. She wanted to get an idea of what she was going to face. She already knew the grief Serena was or had gone through. Finding out Amy's experience so far would be a help.
"It's...interesting." Amy answered. "She watches me a lot; watches me study and do my homework, as I talk to my mom, and probably when I'm asleep as well."
"She's also been asking me questions. How I like being a scout, what I think of the teams overall dynamic, what I think of our progress with the Negaverse, and our progress on finding more scouts." She continued.
"She's also asked me about how I'm doing in school, how I interact with my fellow classmates, and if I have anyone I'm friendly with that isn't Serena." She finished.
Raye frowned slightly. At first it sounded like Luna just wanted to know what Amy thought of being a scout, but with those other questions she sounded nosy. What did it matter how she talked to people at school and if she had friends? That had nothing to do with her scout life.
"That doesn't sound so bad, but I don't like that Luna is trying to concern herself with your life outside of being a scout. I wonder if Luna will complain or try to make you change if she doesn't like it." She said.
"Luna hasn't really said anything after I answer, so I don't know if she doesn't like what she hears." Amy said. "Considering the problem she has with Serena spending time with her boyfriend do you think Luna doesn't want us having friends besides each other?" She asked.
"I'm not sure, but I don't think so." Raye said. "You and Serena are good friends with one of your classmates, and Serena hasn't mentioned her complaining about her hanging out with that girl."
"Although that could be because she's focused on the fact that she has a boyfriend." She added.
Before Amy could reply they heard girls screaming and they looked over to see a couple of girls running from what looked like squirrels as an older man yelled at them.
"That's the park caretaker." Amy said. "I've never seen him angry before; especially not at some teenage girls."
"What about those squirrels?" Raye pointed out. "That's not normal behavior for those animals."
Amy gasped suddenly. "Look at him!" She said.
Raye looked up from the animals back to the old man to see him glowing with a dark light before it centered around his hat, and some kind of black red energy started to come out of it as the man collapsed to the ground.
When it solidified it turned out to be a monster. It had a female figure with light purple tinted skin, small dark brown roots for feet, long bushy dark green hair, white markings on its face, and large pointed ears.
It had on a thick blue necklace, a shiny bronze tinted halter armor top and light green skin tight leggings that stretched from beneath the armored halter down to its ankles with green leaves around its wrists and ankles.
The two girls stared in shock at what they were seeing before they scrambled to put their things away and find somewhere to transform.
They ran and saw a large bulldozer and figured that was big enough to conceal them, so they hurried behind it and made sure no one else was around before they pulled out their transformation pens.
"Mars Power." Raye said firmly.
"Mercury Power." Amy said quickly.
They were immediately surrounded in a blue and red swirling light, and when it cleared they stood as the Scouts they were.
Sailor Mars immediately pulled out her communicator and pressed the button to contact their absent fellow scout while Mercury kept watch to see what the monster was doing. She looked around the vehicle they were hiding behind with Mercury, and saw the monster walking casually along the grass.
It was taking Serena some time to answer, but she wasn't worried since she knew she was in one of her after school classes and would need time to get away.
"Serena here." She heard her finally answer.
"There's a monster that's just taken an old man's energy just like with what happened with the girl at the tennis court." Mars reported.
"It's sending out animals to attack anyone left in the park." Sailor Mercury called lightly.
"Did you hear that?" Mars asked.
"Yes." She heard Serena say calmly. "Where exactly are you?" She asked.
"We're in a quiet fairly large park that isn't too far from the arcade. It has demolition trucks and equipment here." Mars said.
"Okay. I'm on my way; Serena out." She heard her say, and put her communicator away.
"Are you ready?" She asked Mercury.
Mercury nodded and they hurried out from behind the vehicle and toward the monster.
Mars Fire Ignite. Mars thought as she launched a ball of fire at the monster as they ran, catching the monsters attention.
The monster dodged out of the way, the fireball sailing harmlessly by it, and brought up its hands. Large pink flowers bloomed, replacing its hands, and a ball of green vines shot out toward each of them; opening suddenly to reveal themselves as nets.
Both scouts quickly dodged, thankful that dodging was something they had recently practiced during training.
Shine Snow Illusion. Mercury said in her mind, and shot a stream of snow toward the monster.
Mars lifted her hands to attack as well, but was suddenly swarmed by butterflies. She made a surprised sound and waved her arms around as she tried to move away from them, but they just continued to follow her.
The monster spun away from the snow attack, and shot another net toward Mercury who sidestepped the vines and activated her goggles to try and find the weakest spot to hit the creature.
As the balls of nets shot toward her she continued to dodge, and searched the monsters figure for a weakness but she wasn't really seeing one. So she decided to focus on the flower hands, so it couldn't shoot out nets anymore.
Shine Snow Illusion. She said in her mind, and once again snow came shooting out of her hands toward one of the monsters hands.
Mars waved her hands this way and that way trying to get the butterflies away from her, but no matter how long or hard she waved her arms and hands they continued to fly at her.
She hated to use her fire since she knew they were being controlled, but she didn't have a choice if she wanted them to stop so she could focus back on the monster since Mercury was dealing with it alone.
She used her Mars Fire Ignite attack repeatedly, and burned bunches of the butterflies at a time until they were finally all gone.
Mars breathed a weary sigh and looked at the burnt remains of the once beautiful butterflies and frowned.
This monster needs to be stopped before more animals are hurt and killed. She thought before she lifted her hands, her fire bow appearing. Mars Flame Sniper. She said internally as she fired off her arrow.
The fiery arrow cut through the air toward the monster, and she ran forward and to the side so the monster would have to split its attention between her and Mercury.
The monster dodged out of the way of the snow, spinning away, but suddenly cried out in pain as something hot slammed into its side. It looked down and saw the remains of fire flickering over its armored halter top. It lifted its head and saw the other scout had gotten rid of the butterflies and was back in the fight.
It shot a net at the red scout before it turned its head toward the blue scout, and tilted its head forward and shot its hair, which turned into tentacle vines, at her.
Mercury quickly skipped back, her eyes widening as she watched the formerly bushy hair suddenly morph and stretch into vines that rapidly snaked toward her, growing increasingly longer.
She lifted her hands and opened her mouth to fire off her snow attack, but blinked in surprise as a glowing white disk flew through the air and watched as the tentacle vines dropped to the ground.
Sailor Moon ran forward and caught her tiara as it returned to her.
"Are you okay?" She asked Mercury as she came to a stop near her, and watched her nod.
Mars was able to see Sailor Moon arrive and intercept the attack headed for Mercury, and was just about to dodge the attack headed her way when a rose pierced the ball and exploded in a shower of tiny pieces of vines.
She blinked and looked to her right as Tuxedo Mask landed on the ground near her.
"You good?" He asked.
"Yeah. Thanks." She said.
He nodded and they both ran over to join Mercury and Moon. The Scouts and Tuxedo Mask then stood, spaced to give each other room, facing off against the monster as it glared at them.
Suddenly scores of birds were flying over the trees, squirrels by the dozens were scrambling along the ground, and balls of vines were all coming at them. They all quickly moved back and scattered to deal with whatever came in their direction.
Sailor Moon immediately took off her tiara and charged it, dodging the vine ball that had obviously been meant for her, as she saw a majority of the squirrels coming in her direction.
Moon Tiara Stardust. She thought as she launched her tiara.
It sailed through the air over the squirrels sprinkling glittery dust. She guided it back and forth over the little animals as they slowed until they stopped completely and started to scatter in fright.
She caught her tiara as it came back to her, and then turned her attention to the birds. There were a lot of them, but she had to stop them so they could focus on defeating the monster.
Please help me to stop these birds; aid me in freeing them from the monsters dark control. She called to her silver crystal.
Moon felt her crystal pulse warmly inside her and her tiara suddenly began to glow a bright white, to the point where it looked like the power was bleeding off it. Instinctively understanding what to do she threw her tiara hard and high into the sky before she knelt on the ground and closed her eyes.
As soon as she did it was as if she had a birds eye view from her tiara, and she mentally guided it through the air, over the birds and around in wide circles as it rained down what looked like glowing raindrops instead of glittering dust.
Mars quickly stepped back and brought her hands up, her fiery bow appearing in an instant, and launched her Mars Flame Sniper attack at the ball before firing another fire arrow at the monster.
The ball exploded, raining pieces of burning vines to the ground, and the arrow headed toward the monster was unfortunately intercepted by one of the birds.
Shine Snow Illusion. Mercury thought instantly as she brought her hands up, and aimed a stream of snow at the ball. It froze and dropped to the ground, and then she reluctantly froze the birds that were diving toward her.
They froze instantly and dropped to the ground like rocks then, after making sure no more birds were diving at her, she turned her snow attack toward the monster and fired.
Tuxedo Mask threw a rose at the vine ball headed for him and then threw a hand full more toward the monster hoping to distract it, and watched as its hair turned to vines and moved through the air snake-like to deflect the roses.
Still, it was enough to distract the monster, especially as Mercury and Mars also attacked it, so he took advantage and rushed toward Sailor Moon who was kneeling on the ground with her eyes closed. She was vulnerable and he didn't like it one bit.
As he ran he looked around and noticed the squirrels were all gone and the birds were slowly flying away and not at any of them. He looked up and saw white lights sparkling in the sky, and knew that was the reason why his warrior princess was vulnerable.
He stopped in front of her before turning to face away from her and pulled out a hand full of roses and launched them at the monster, providing distraction as it dodged Mercury and Mars' attacks.
Once Sailor Moon was sure all the birds were gone and no longer under the monsters control she summoned her tiara back to her and thanked her crystal, feeling the warm pulse of acknowledgement as she opened her eyes and began to stand up.
The first thing she saw was Tuxedo Mask's cape, and then she blinked and caught her tiara as it sailed in a curve through the air toward her.
"Thanks for the protection and the cover." She said softly.
"No problem." He said.
"We have to get rid of this monster before it takes control of any more animals." She said as she moved around to his side. "Trying to free them from its control is too dangerous with there being so many at once."
"True." Tuxedo Mask agreed.
"I'm going in to help." Sailor Moon said before she ran forward.
She took off her tiara, quickly charged it, and launched it at the monster as she ran toward it. The monster dodged it, and irritatingly dodged Mercury and Mars' attacks as well.
The monster growled as it dodged this way and that way as fire and snow came at it. When it couldn't dodge it used its hair to flick the attacks off course. It tried to fire its nets at them, but they were running around like rats; seemingly keeping on the move as they attacked so they wouldn't get hit by its attacks.
The monster glared in frustration; the animals it had been controlling were somehow removed from its control, so it didn't even have that to help in taking down these annoying girls.
As Tuxedo Mask watched the fight waiting for a chance to attack without hitting one of the scouts he looked around to make sure no one was coming back to the area to see what was going on and end up getting themselves hurt.
And his eyes widened as he spotted Neflite standing off, further back in the trees, watching from a distance. His hair was brown, stretching halfway down his back, and just as thick and wavy as he remembered, and he wore a dark gray suit with what looked like a light yellow or tan shirt.
He narrowed his eyes as Neflite turned and began to walk away. He took off, dashing away from the fight and into the trees in Neflite's direction to see where he was going.
He followed subtly to make sure he wasn't noticed, and stopped in the trees as he saw him walking among the cars until he got to a red sports car. He opened the door, got in, and began to drive off.
Tuxedo quickly knelt down on the ground and placed his hands in the grass, and closed his eyes as he used his power to see through the Earth. He locked onto Neflite's car and focused as he tracked him through the streets to see where he would go next.
The Sailor Scouts subtly began to circle around the monster as they moved closer and closer to it.
Mercury sent her Shine Snow Illusion attack at the monsters legs and feet, hoping to keep it from moving and dodging their attacks.
Mars used her Mars Fire Ignite attack to throw fireballs at the monster to keep it from noticing what Mercury was trying to do. She aimed for its flower hands hoping to stop it from shooting those vine balls at them as well as distract it.
Thankfully it worked. Mercury's attack froze the monster from the legs down, and even though Mars missed the flower hands she still got a fireball in one of its arms and shoulders.
Sailor Moon with her tiara already in hand, and charged, threw it as soon as Mars' fireballs hit the monster. It sailed through the air toward the monster, and it tried to use its tentacle hair to knock it away, but she guided it around the snake-like appendages and right into the monsters chest.
It screamed in pain and clawed at its chest before it slowly stopped moving, and its screaming tapered off and it began to lose its color until it was ashy gray.
"We need to get out of the area before people begin to come back." Sailor Moon said as soon as the monster crumbled to nothing. "Before you leave the area check on the victim." She added as she looked to Mercury.
The girls nodded and all three of them split up and ran in different directions.
~~uUu~~
Sailor Moon had spotted Tuxedo Mask dash off just before they began to finish off the monster, so she was running in his direction to catch up with him and see what had caught his attention.
A few long moments later she spotted him kneeling on the ground with his hands flat in the grass and his eyes closed. She slowed to a stop near him and walked the rest of the way and stopped at his side as she looked around, deciding in an instant to stand guard as she waited for him to finish.
The minutes passed slowly as she looked around before glancing down to his still form and back to the area around them. No one was around or coming in the direction, which she was grateful for since she didn't want to have to run someone off; especially not a civilian just moving through the park.
A few more minutes passed after nearly half an hour before he finally stood up and looked to her.
"I saw Neflite and followed him here to what appeared to be his car." Tuxedo Mask revealed. "I didn't want to follow him on foot so I decided to use my power to follow him and see where he went. He drove out to what looked like an old abandoned mansion in the middle of some woods."
Sailor Moon gasped as her eyes widened.
"Are we going to go get him?" She asked.
"Yes. I don't want us waiting for him to show himself at a fight before we can rescue him." He answered, and she nodded.
"I'm ready; lead the way." She said, and he nodded and turned and began to run.
They ran through the city, Tuxedo leading her through quiet streets and up to rooftops, and over multiple rooftops as they avoided the main busy streets on their way to the woods in question.
A half an hour passed before they reached the thick woods and began to weave their way through the tall trees deeper into the tall forest on their hunt for the currently dark general.
They followed the road and eventually moved away from it and followed along a side road until they spotted the old mansion. It was dark colored and at least three stories tall but possibly four in total, and parked out front was a red sports car.
"Is that his car?" Sailor Moon asked quietly.
"Yes." Tuxedo Mask answered as he nodded slightly.
They looked back to the mansion, their hearts racing as they realized they were about to free another of his generals, but they were hesitant to go inside.
"What if he knows we're trying to get inside, to breach his base of operations?" She asked.
"What if he's not alone or not even in there anymore? Obviously being part of the Negaverse means that car isn't his main mode of travel." He added before he knelt down.
"I'm going to check to make sure he's still here, and alone inside that mansion." He said.
Within moments his hands were pressed down in the grass onto the ground, and images of people, buildings, and places flashed through his mind before he focused on his present location.
From there he concentrated on seeing inside the mansion, and instantly saw empty rooms and finally into what appeared to be a high ceiling chapel room where Neflite stood alone.
"He's there and alone." He said as he released his connection. "The mansion is empty of furniture of any kind. He clearly isn't living there, so it really is only his base of operations."
Sailor Moon sighed as she looked back to the mansion.
"We're going to have to go in. The only other thing I can think of is to make some kind of commotion to bring him out here." She said as she looked to him, and he nodded.
"But there's no guarantee that he'll actually come outside." He said, and she nodded. "I can guide us through the mansion to Neflite's location, but we need to pick an entrance." He said, and she looked to the large house.
"Did you happen to see any open windows?" She asked.
"Unfortunately not. We're going to have to either pry one open or use one of the doors." He said.
"We should use the door furthest away from the room he's in." She suggested.
"Okay." He agreed.
With their decision made Tuxedo carefully lead them around the house to the back toward the back door. Once they reached it he took a breath and cautiously turned the handle. He didn't expect it to be locked and it wasn't, so he slowly eased the door open not wanting it to squeak.
They held their breath as they waited for something to happen, to let them know they had been detected, but thankfully nothing happened.
They went inside, closing the door behind them, and they moved around carefully as they made their way cautiously through the hallways and stairs until they reached the chapel room Neflite was in. The doors were wide open and they peeked in to see him standing with his back to them his head tilted back as he looked up through one of the large windows.
Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask nodded to each other before they silently stepped into the room and stood next to each other as they stared at the man's back.
"Neflite." Tuxedo said calmly, and the man spun around in surprise.
Sailor Moon hid her relief that they hadn't been detected in any way, and looked at him now that she had a clear view.
He was wearing the same dark gray uniform that Jedite had worn, but with yellow accents instead of red, epaulettes on his shoulders, and knee high black boots. But the look in his eyes let her know that he was firmly in the grip of the Negaverse.
Neflite's surprise was complete as he stared at the pair that stood across the room from him. He had not heard them or sensed their presence in the house until the man spoke, but then he had not expected to be confronted here since it was abandoned. It was why he had chosen the place to operate.
Then he frowned as he realized the masked man knew his name. How did he know? How had he been found for that matter? He glared at them, already knowing he wouldn't get any answers. He would not go down like Jedite. He was nobody's fool!
"Why are you here? Where are the other Sailor Scouts?" Neflite asked angrily.
But neither Tuxedo Mask nor Sailor Moon replied. There was no need for words. They knew what they were there for, and words wouldn't do any good against him.
"So what, are you here to assassinate me? I won't be as easy to kill as Jedite was!" Neflite said, and with that said he immediately shot a white energy ball out of his hand at first the masked man and then the scout.
Tuxedo Mask and Sailor Moon dodged to the side, away from each other, and avoided the energy balls. He pulled out a hand full of roses and threw them at Neflite who responded by clasping his hands together, and multiple blasts of white energy shot out toward them.
Sailor Moon took off her tiara as she dodged the energy balls headed her way and charged it up, not even sure she was going to use it directly on Neflite since she didn't want to seriously hurt him.
She wished she had something other than her tiara to use, because unlike with Jedite this wasn't a physical fight since Neflite didn't seem to want them to get close enough for such an action.
Tuxedo moved back as his roses and the energy balls that intercepted them exploded then he moved forward, but had to move back again and dodge just as quickly because Neflite sent more energy balls at him.
Clearly he didn't want them getting closer to him, as if that was going to stop them. It wouldn't. He was determined to get Neflite and free him from the Negaverse and Beryl's evil grip that day.
He took out another hand full of roses, irritated that he didn't have anything else to use. He could use his golden crystal, wouldn't mind using it, but he didn't want to on the off chance Neflite got away. If he did manage that he wouldn't be able to report that he had such power at his disposal.
Neflite kept the energy balls flying wanting to keep them at a distance. He could fight physically but he didn't want to chance them pulling out some attack that would surprise him so he couldn't react quick enough.
They were already doing a good job avoiding his energy balls, but it couldn't last. They couldn't avoid them indefinitely.
Moon frowned at all the energy balls and threw her tiara into the air and guided it around, slicing through them and causing them to dissipate. She decided she would take care of the energy balls, so hopefully Tuxedo could focus on getting closer to Neflite and engage him in a physical fight.
From there if he can weaken him or just distract him enough I can catch him in my boomerang. Or maybe simply get close to him where he can't see and put him to sleep then. She thought as she glanced to the guys.
Tuxedo threw his roses at Neflite as he dodged energy balls and slowly moved closer to him, trusting his princess to stop the attacking balls from somehow circling back to him. Neflite dodged the roses but Tuxedo saw that as a positive since he had just been standing there before, allowing his energy balls to stop the roses.
Neflite growled lightly as he dodged the flowers. It seemed the masked man was no longer worried about his energy balls; he was only dodging them when he first shot them, and was leaving them for Sailor Moon to deal with once they passed him by. And she seemed to be getting better at dissipating them as time passed and able to get to more of them.
In addition to that he was now having to dodge the flowers instead of letting his energy balls slam into them, because Sailor Moon was taking out his energy balls before they could hit the roses.
He decided to try and cast an illusion to distort the area and disorient them, but before he could do it the masked man finally made it to him and threw a punch that he had to quickly block.
Sailor Moon seeing that her prince had managed to engage Neflite in a physical fight set her tiara to idly circling above them, ready to react to the first hint of an energy attack. She was also ready to transform it into her boomerang, and set it to trap Neflite so she could put him to sleep.
Tuxedo swung his leg around and kicked Neflite in his side after the man had blocked his punch, then moved his head to the side to avoid a punch to his face, and kneed him in his stomach.
Neflite groaned in pain but elbowed him hard in the chest, obviously trying to gain some room, but Tuxedo stayed on him and backhanded him across the face sending his head to the side and his hair flying.
Neflite turned his body with his head and swung his leg around to try and trip up the masked man, but he jumped over it and swung a back kick at him that he just barely dodged.
Sailor Moon took the opportunity, with the space that was just made between the two guys, to bring her tiara, instantly turned boomerang, down toward Neflite.
She ran forward as her boomerang enlarged and slipped over Neflite's surprised head and further down to his arms, her eyes glowing white as the power of her silver crystal surged up inside her. As the band tightened around him, containing him, her hands began to glow as white as her eyes.
Neflite's eyes widened at the sight of her glowing eyes and hands.
"What the hell?!" He said in shock as he automatically tried to step back. He was quickly prevented as the masked man grabbed his lower arm and stood behind him, and took a hold of his other lower arm as well.
Sailor Moon stopped in front of Neflite and raised her hands and gently put them to the sides of his head. She quickly focused on wanting him to sleep, to sleep until she woke him up, before he decided to try and kick her away. He struggled but the white light still sank easily into his skin, and his eyes closed and he began to collapse.
Tuxedo held him up and Moon released her power and retrieved her tiara from around him before Tuxedo lifted him into his arms.
"Directly back to your apartment?" She said questioningly.
"Yes. I don't want to stick around the mansion in case someone from the Negaverse decides to unexpectedly visit the general." He answered, and she nodded and stepped back.
Both of them gathered their powers and focused on a location inside his apartment before he disappeared in a brief golden flash and she in a brief white flash.
~~uUuUu~~
Tuxedo Mask appeared in his quiet living room in front of his balcony window with his heavy passenger in his arms, and had enough time to blink before he watched Sailor Moon appear in a brief flash of white light.
He blinked again and quickly began to move away from the window doors since his curtains weren't closed, and walked down the short hallway and into the guest bedroom since he had left the protection he put up around the room from when Jedite had been rescued.
He placed Neflite on the bed, arranging him so he was comfortable, and then released his transformation leaving him in his workout clothes from earlier. He looked over across the bed and saw his princess, who had followed him, release her transformation as well leaving her in her stretchy form fitting gymnastics clothes.
They both summoned their crystals, his hovering above his hand and hers attached to the crescent wand in her hand, and nodded to each other that they were ready. They closed their eyes before white and gold light filled the room as they began the process of freeing Neflite from the evil grip of the Negaverse.
Once again Darien targeted the evil taint in the general's body. He visualized it in his mind, once again recalling the look and feel of the dark energy that had been used on his own body before he'd been brought to that time, and guided his power to remove it and heal Neflite's body.
He moved his power over and through each limb of his body, careful not to miss an inch and potentially leave behind any taint that could get another foothold into the man.
Just as she did last time Serena focused on the connection between Neflite and Beryl. She inspected the dark chain her crystal projected in her mind, seeing that just as it was with Jedite the chain was wrapped around his whole body but centered around his head.
She took a slight breath and guided her power toward the chain, cutting here and there, until it began to fall away, and then bathed each piece with her power until it was purified and faded until it disappeared into nothing.
Within minutes Darien sensed his princess' power join his in removing the evil taint and healing Neflite speeding up the process.
As they had noticed with Jedite the taint was strong around Neflite's mind indicating that he had highly likely been brainwashed. Together their power flooded Neflite's body, moving through and working in sync to remove all traces of the evil taint.
Minutes maybe hours passed; they were unaware either way, so completely focused on their self-appointed task as they were. Finally they were seeing a clean purified body, free of any trace of the dark evil taint that had practically dominated his being.
With that done Serena gently removed her power from the mix, and Darien focused all his attention on unlocking his general's memories of the past.
He concentrated on needing Neflite to remember the past, to recall who he truly was, to remember his fellow generals. He needed the man to remember that he was his prince, who Serenity was, and just how important she was to his prince.
With his mind focused on what he needed to happen his crystal began to work, the golden power flowing and swirling around the general's mind as it searched for and freed up the long suppressed memories its holder wanted to surface.
Serena opened her eyes as she finished pulling back her power and stepped back. She crossed her arm over her chest and grasped her upper arm, her other hand still holding her crescent moon wand, as she watched her prince work.
Golden light glowed from his and Neflite's body, though the light was darker around the general's head, but she focused on the man that was hers. He was so handsome, his workout clothes not at all taking away from his attraction, and using his power as he was just reminded her all over again how powerful he was.
They trained and worked hard, but their true power couldn't be seen when they fought against the monsters. So it was nice to see his power on display, and be in the presence of its warm light.
Perhaps we should do something about that. I would certainly like some kind of power that doesn't involve using my tiara or wand as a conduit. She thought as she watched Darien. My prince probably doesn't like that all he has to rely on is his roses either.
Beyond being handsome and powerful, her prince was so focused. Of course he needed to be, but it was just another characteristic of his that she loved. She especially loved it when he focused so intensely on her, which now that she was thinking about it was often.
He always listened to what she had to say and respected her thoughts and opinions, and he spent as much time with her as possible. He was always watching her, and touching her in some way; especially since their last date when they had shared their first intimacy in this life.
That was something she had been thinking about a lot. The feel of his hands on her, and the weight of his body on her even if it was only partial, and especially the pleasure.
Serena sighed lightly. He was the best and she was so glad that they had been given this second chance. She just knew that things would be very different if they had still been in their previous timeline.
Darien would have likely been dead or like his generals; brainwashed to believe he was part of the Negaverse. Even if he had lived and been able to be freed, there would have been no freeing his generals. It would have been too late for at least two of them.
Then there would have been the issue of Raye's feelings for Darien. That likely wouldn't have simply disappeared just because he was revealed to be Tuxedo Mask and the Earth Prince whom had been romantically involved with Serena in the past.
Raye likely would have justified it as being something that happened in the past. The present was a different matter, and he could choose someone else. She would have thought of her as a rival even if she was the princess she was supposed to protect.
Serena also doubted very much that she would have told her mother about her secret life or the truth of her identity.
And Molly wouldn't have been around. She would have continued to fade into the background as Serena continued to put distance between them.
That's another second chance that can happen. Molly and Neflite. Helping them meet, and seeing if the connection is there without the obstacles in their way. She thought.
Serena watched as the gold light was drawn away from Neflite and her prince open his eyes. They were a beautiful solid gold that faded away as he pulled his power back inside himself.
"Are you all done?" She asked, just to be sure.
"Yes." Darien said with a nod as he put his crystal away, and she nodded.
"I want to tell Molly my secret; I want to tell her everything; including about the time travel." Serena said.
"Why?" He asked as he walked around the bed toward her.
"I don't like how our friendship pretty much ended the first time around, because of my secret life and pressure from Luna and the girls. Molly's my best friend, well my best girl friend since you're my best friend, and I want it to remain that way." She explained.
"I also want Molly to be happy. I don't know if you remember but Molly fell in love with Neflite, and it appeared like he did the same before his death." She added.
"I remember you telling me when you first came back and we had that long conversation. I remember you mentioning that Neflite gave his life to protect her." Darien said.
He knew all about taking hits for and giving his life to protect the one he loved, so he knew his general had definitely fallen in love with the red head.
"I'll help you do the explaining if you want." He said, and she nodded gratefully.
"I would like that." Serena said.
Darien then lifted his hand and pressed the blue gem on his communicator to contact Jedite.
"Jedite here your highness." He heard him answer immediately.
"We have Neflite in my apartment." He informed him. "He's free from the Negaverse and will be waking up soon."
"I'll be right up." Jedite said.
"Alright." Darien said before he pressed the gem again to end the connection. He stroked his princess' arm briefly before he left the room to go let Jedite in.
Serena looked away from the empty doorway and to Neflite as she lifted and aimed her wand at the unconscious man.
She focused her mind on waking him up from the sleep she had put him in, and within moments a white light shot out of her crystal like a beam and gently hit his head for a few moments before it stopped.
Darkness and silence was the first thing that greeted him. Why was it dark? Where was he? Why was he there? Who was he? What was his name?!
He was confused and panicked, but took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down. Nothing was going to get done or learned if he couldn't think straight.
Taking that breath let him know he wasn't in any pain and he could feel his entire body so he wasn't paralyzed. Another moment of thought and he understood it was dark because his eyes were closed. He wasn't ready to open them yet, so he continued with his thoughts.
He had no answers to his questions, so he needed to try and recall what he had been doing before he ended up wherever he currently was what with his eyes being closed. As soon as the thought drifted through his mind the memory came to him instantly as if it had just been waiting for him to do just that.
He stood in a large religious looking room, a chapel, that was empty and had seen better days. A masked man with black hair and deep blue eyes speaking to him, accompanied by a young woman in a sailor suit with long golden blonde hair up in a unique style. Sailor Moon.
A fight began with the pair avoiding and countering every attack he threw at them, and lead into a physical fight with the masked man. Then he found himself trapped in some kind of glowing circle that Sailor Moon used.
Then she came at him with eyes and hands glowing white, and touched his head making everything go dark. And that was it. Now he was here, wherever here was, and he still didn't know who he was or what in the world his name was?!
Before his thoughts could continue down that depressing route more memories suddenly began to come to his mind; faster and faster, but completely understandable.
Living in a dark society, working for a dark queen, dealing with creatures, and competing against three other men dressed in the same uniform he wore. All for the sake of world domination.
Being told one of the three men was dead and he was now in charge, and eventually sending out creatures to gather energy for the Queen who commanded him. Watching a fight between the creature he sent out and fighters working to stop his creature. Three young women in sailor suits and a masked man.
Sailor Moon, Sailor Mars, Sailor Mercury, Queen Beryl, Jedite, Malachite, and Zoycite. The names flowed through his mind, whispered alongside the memories, which seemed to trigger a whole new set of memories.
A large palace, his own suite of rooms, and hours and hours of training and talking with three men wearing the same thing he was. Training with a man with black hair and deep blue eyes dressed in a uniform and armor, pledging to protect and serve his prince and future king, and watching from a subtle distance as the black haired man sat on a bench with a woman wearing a white dress with incredibly long hair up in a unique style.
More scenes played through his mind, one after the other in rapid succession yet completely understandable, bringing with them words, phrases, sounds, feelings, and emotions. The more he saw the more he remembered, and the more he remembered the more he began to understand.
He was Neflite, guardian general to Prince Endymion, one of four men charged with his protection, and he had unfortunately betrayed him.
Neflite grimaced slightly as he realized he had betrayed his prince not only in the past, but also in the present before he had even met him again.
He finally opened his dark blue eyes and blinked the blurriness away before he began to look around what he was quickly realizing was a bedroom.
There was a guy standing on one side of the bed he was apparently lying on looking out the window, and on the other side of the bed leaning against a wall talking quietly was a young man and woman.
He blinked and realized he recognized all of them. The guy at the window was Jedite, his fellow guardian general, which was surprising since he had believed he was dead; killed by the Sailor Scouts and the masked man.
Then his common sense kicked in and he realized since he obviously hadn't been killed then he shouldn't be surprised that Jedite hadn't either.
The pair leaning against the wall was his prince, Endymion, and the Moon Princess Serenity. He also recognized them as Sailor Moon and the masked man he had fought against.
Neflite frowned as he realized he had been fighting his prince in an effort to kill him. Why hadn't he remembered? Why didn't he recognize him in that chapel?!
"You're awake." He heard a masculine voice say, and he looked over and saw Jedite moving toward the bed he was lying on. He turned to the pair and saw them move away from the wall and step toward him as well.
"Yes." Neflite replied as he sat up.
"How are you feeling?" Serena asked.
"Slightly disoriented, tired, and a bit confused." Neflite answered. Likely because it was sinking in that she was a sailor scout when she certainly hadn't been one in the past.
"Give it time; it should all clear up soon enough." Darien said.
"How am I here? How is he here?" Neflite asked as he gestured toward Jedite.
"We freed you both of course." Serena answered.
"I spotted you watching the fight and decided to follow you when you left." Darien elaborated. "I tracked you from the fight scene to that old mansion, and we obviously confronted you. It was the first chance we had to free you, and we didn't want to wait for another." He said, and Neflite nodded, thinking that made sense.
"Thank you. It's been a long time since my mind felt clear." He said.
"You're welcome." Darien said while Serena simply smiled.
"You're freeing us all." Neflite said in a questioning tone after looking around.
"Yes. My princess wanted me to have my Guardian Generals back and I agreed with that, so that's what we're doing in between fighting monsters and awakening her Scouts." Darien said, and watched as he looked over to Serena.
"What's that all about? You being a scout?" Neflite asked. "I don't remember you being a scout in the past."
"Luna, a feline advisor of my mothers, started looking for the Scouts. She found me first and I can only guess that she must have sensed the power inside me to think I was a scout since that hasn't happened with the others." Serena said. "Still, I had no problem with it since I wanted to be a scout."
"Why?" He asked.
"To be able to relate to my Scouts and my prince." She answered. "On top of that I wanted my Scouts to fight and behave a certain way, and I could only assure that if I took charge of them myself."
"None of them, the Scouts nor Luna, are aware that she's the Moon Princess." Darien added seriously, and Neflite's eyes widened.
"What? Why?" He asked in shock.
"Because I don't want them to know." Serena said simply. "I want them to get to know me, like me, and respect me for who I am now, and not simply accept me because I'm the princess they're supposed to protect."
"That's understandable." Neflite said as he nodded.
"Along with not knowing her true identity they have no idea about Endymion." Jedite added.
Neflite's eyes widened again, and he looked to each of them to see if he was serious. All three of them nodded.
"They're going off what the cat's telling them, and apparently she doesn't even remember that there was a prince of the Earth. Let alone that the two royals are connected." Darien explained, and Serena nodded.
"At present Luna is intent on thinking of his masked persona as another enemy despite my reasonable arguments to the contrary, which is another reason why I'm keeping silent about my true identity." She added.
Neflite was surprised, and all he could do was shake his head in disbelief. He very much doubted Endymion was doing anything that could get him labeled as an enemy; especially one on par with the Negaverse.
"We know what happened to Jedite in the past and in the present to make him end up with the Negaverse; so how did it happen with you?" Darien asked him, deciding to change the subject.
Neflite sighed.
"In the past I took to following the sorceress, Beryl apparently, around when I wasn't chaperoning the two of you" He said as he looked to Serena and Darien. "when I noticed her interest in Endymion, and realized she would always end up in the royal wing."
"She obviously had no business being there, let alone lurking around Endymion's rooms, and after running her off one too many times I went to Malachite to inform him and see what we could do about it." He explained.
"I was in his room and, after I informed him about her and what she was doing, the next thing I know I was thinking the people of the Moon were the enemy of the Earth. That Endymion had already been corrupted by their princess and was under their control, and that we needed to stop the Moon before they could take control of the Earth." Neflite said with a grimace.
"In the present I was taken from my family when I was seventeen." He continued. "I came home to find my parents and my little sister dead, but before I could even react monsters started coming out of every room at me."
"I tried to fight them off but there were too many and I was eventually knocked out from behind. When I woke up there was no thought of my family or where I was; I just thought I was where I belonged and doing what I had been raised to do." He explained as he shook his head slightly.
"I was clearly brainwashed in both times, but I don't know how it happened." Neflite finished.
Darien nodded silently, figuring he knew how; just like he had with Jedite. It was likely the same method that had been attempted with him before he had been brought to that time.
"The same thing happened to me." Jedite said, and briefly explained to Neflite what he had told Endymion and Serenity when he had first been freed.
"I'm sorry that happened to you." Serena said to Neflite compassionately.
He and the others didn't deserve that, but clearly they got too close to discovering Beryl's truth and had their minds manipulated to keep from raising the alarm. She thought sadly. Although, she couldn't help wondering who had been brainwashed first; Malachite or Zoycite. She had a feeling it was Malachite.
"I'm sorry too. I wish I had been able to prevent it or avoid it altogether." Neflite said before he looked around at all of them.
"Beryl told me that Jedite had been killed by the Sailor Scouts, but thought the masked man had more to do with it than the Scouts." He informed them. "I was ordered to take over Jedite's duties, which was to gather human energy."
"Then either Zoycite or Malachite will be taking your place." Jedite said, and Neflite nodded in agreement.
"What's your present name?" Darien asked.
"Maxwell." Neflite answered promptly, remembering it instantly, and Darien nodded.
"We all go by our present name when out in public or around people who don't know the truth about us, but we're fine answering to and using our past names with each other." He explained.
"My name's Julius." Jedite said.
"I'm Serena." The secret princess of the Moon said.
"I'm Darien." The secret prince of the Earth said.
Neflite nodded, committing the names to memory.
"Okay; what now?" He asked.
Darien gestured with his hand and suddenly a silver ring and a red bracelet appeared in his hand before he held them out to Neflite.
"Do you still want to be one of my generals?" He asked.
"Of course." Neflite said as he nodded.
"Then these are for you." Darien said. "The ring is a communicator and the bracelet is for transforming; to bring out the general in you that Beryl's evil taint never touched in the past or present."
Neflite took the items and looked them over curiously as he listened to his prince explain how they worked. He took in the dark silver of the ring and the gems, already guessing that each color represented one of his fellow generals and prince since both Endymion and Jedite had a ring on, before he slipped it onto his left middle finger.
He then looked to the masculine looking bracelet. It was dark red braided leather, in a triple wrap braid, with a silver earth symbol- a circle with a cross inside, secured in the middle of the center braid.
He liked the look of it and immediately slipped it over his hand and onto his right wrist, and watched as it shifted until it fit securely around his wrist.
"Alright. Let's try this out." Neflite said with a nod.
He shifted, tossing his legs over the side of the bed toward Jedite, and got to his feet. He lifted his wrist slightly, looking at the bracelet, and focused on who he was in the past. On wanting to be that man again; on once again being a guardian general to his prince so he could protect him and prove that he was worthy of this second chance.
The earth symbol on the bracelet almost immediately began to glow, and seconds later he was surrounded in red light that swirled around his body until he had to close his eyes at the brightness.
Jedite, Darien, and Serena did the same, and when the light cleared they opened their eyes to look at Neflite and saw that he was dressed differently than he had been moments before.
He now wore a light red long sleeve top with dark turquoise lining that was cinched at the waist with a thin black leather belt, white pants, and tall black armored boots with an added front length to protect his knees.
In addition to that a white cape with a red inner lining hung from his shoulders secured by gray and turquoise fastenings, and a dark brown leather crisscross sword belt hung around his lower waist and hips securely holding a sword resting in its black sheath on his left side.
Neflite looked himself over, seeing that his communication ring was still visible on his finger, and could hardly understand how he was feeling. He was pleased and honored to be back in the uniform he had worn for most of his life in the past, but he was also ashamed of what had happened to him and felt as if he wasn't worthy of it.
I'll just have to work hard to make myself feel worthy right alongside proving that I am. He thought firmly before he looked to Jedite and then his prince and back to Jedite.
Jedite nodded with a smile and moved back out of the way, and Neflite stepped pass him and around the side of the bed before he knelt on the floor in front of his prince and placed his arm across his chest.
"I Neflite, present day Maxwell, Knight of intelligence and comfort, swear on my honor to once again serve and protect you and those you hold dear to the best of my ability and with my life." He said, the words coming to him instantly, instinctively, as he looked up to his prince.
Darien smiled gently, his eyes flashing with satisfaction as they instantly began to glow gold, and knelt down and placed his hand on top of the one on Neflite's chest.
"I accept and welcome you." He said.
As the words left his mouth his hand began to glow gold. The light immediately spread from his hand to Neflite's before sinking into his skin. He knew, just like with Jedite, that his crystal was once again assuring that his general could never again be influenced as he had been.
Darien stood back up, his power returning back inside him, and smiled as he returned to Serena's side. Serena returned his smile, happy that another of his generals was truly back on his side.
Two down, two to go. She thought quietly.
Neflite stood and decided to try his powers to make sure they still worked. He lifted a hand and watched as a deep jade green glow appeared before a red hibiscus flower grew in the palm of his hand.
He nodded in satisfaction before he released his power, the flower remaining, and released his transformation; frowning as he returned to the uniform he wore in the Negaverse. He needed to find something else to wear since he couldn't go around in the uniform he wore as a general like he had in the past.
"Is there anything else I need to know?" He asked as he sat on the end of the bed, pushing his hair back over his shoulder.
"Yes." Darien said. "We're currently in my apartment, but I've rented out two more in the building for all of you. Jedite is living in one now, and you can either live with him or take the empty one. Beyond that I'll be paying for the apartments and everything else you need until you all are up on your feet."
"We'll also be providing you with a past and history, so you'll be able to work and go to school or whatever else you want to do now that you're free." Serena said, and watched him nod.
"Thank you." Neflite said to both of them.
All three then joined Neflite, Maxwell, on the bed and began to inform him of what had been happening starting when Luna first came across Serena and told her she was Sailor Moon, to each proceeding scout and how they were awakened, and to their duty of finding the remaining Scouts; that they were to awaken them and find the Moon Princess and protect her.
Then they explained Darien becoming Tuxedo Mask and Serena ditching Luna after the first fight and helping him remember who he truly was. How Jedite's rescue had gone, and how they were keeping both his and Jedite's as well as the other general's rescue and presence a secret until the time was right.
"You can be seen with us while around the girls, but unfortunately Jedite can't since they would recognize him because of his previous actions." Serena said, and Neflite nodded.
"So we won't be going out to fight with you." He said as he looked to the couple.
"No." Jedite confirmed. "I was unhappy about that as well, but they explained how it would make things difficult for Serenity."
"We mentioned before that Jedite would be recognized, but in addition to that you guys would be gravitating around me which would make you be seen as enemy's right alongside me." Darien elaborated.
"That might make the girls question Serena since she's gotten them to see me as someone who could have been in the past with them. We don't want them to start listening to Luna and thinking of me as an enemy." He explained.
"And therefore seeing us as enemies as well." Neflite said as he nodded.
"Exactly." Serena said as she nodded seriously.
They then explained their training schedules. How Serena and Darien trained after school every weekday, with Jedite now joining them, and had martial arts, and gymnastics in her case, classes after that. And how on weekend mornings Serena trained with her Scouts, and they, like her, trained on their own during the week after school.
From there they went into the fact that Serena had recently informed her mother about her secret life, which included all of them and who exactly they were.
~~uUuUu~~
Queen Beryl sat in her throne-like chair glaring at nothing. It had been a day since her connection to Neflite had been cut; since he had been killed.
There were hardly words to describe how furious she had been when she first felt the connection abruptly disappear. She'd instantly shot to her feet and killed at least a dozen of her minions that had been in the room with her.
How could he have been taken down so quickly? It had only been his second attempt to gather energy from her understanding.
Now, even though she'd given herself time to calm down, she was still angry. She was especially upset that she had now lost two of her generals. Both of them had failed her in the end, and that was unacceptable.
Still, it appears the Sailor Scouts are stronger than I thought if they can defeat my generals. She thought reluctantly.
But she didn't understand that. How could they have defeated them? They were only little girls. Perhaps that masked man was giving them more aid then she thought. Perhaps he was the one killing off her generals.
I'll have to warn my remaining generals to be careful as well as to not fail me. She thought firmly with a slight nod to herself.
Zoycite! Attend me! She called, ready to get back to gaining energy. She watched him teleport in a moment later, and bow before straightening and looking to her.
"You called my Queen." Zoycite said as he crossed his arms over his chest.
"Neflite is dead; killed by the Sailor Scouts. His death means I am down two of my generals." Beryl informed him.
"I want you to continue their work in gathering energy, and for you and Malachite to begin searching for the rainbow crystals so we can find the silver crystal." She ordered firmly. "If the Scouts are that powerful I'm going to need the power of the silver crystal to defeat them."
"If that leads you to find the Moon Princess then capture her as well." She added.
"It will be done as you say my Queen, and I will inform Malachite of your orders." Zoycite said.
"Do not fail me as your fellow generals have. I will not tolerate failure, so you had better do better than your comrades did." Beryl said coldly, and Zoycite nodded seriously.
"Watch out for the masked man." She added. "I suspect he has more to do with Jedite and Neflite's death than the Scouts do."
"Yes my Queen. I will not fail you. I will do better than them, and keep my eye on the masked man; and hopefully bring back crucial information about him." Zoycite said.
"See that you do." Beryl said seriously.
~~uUuUu~~
A few days had passed since Neflite had been freed and it was now Saturday afternoon. Serena had trained hard with Amy and Raye, wanting a new attack, following up on her previous thoughts about hers and Darien's true power not being on display when they fought monsters.
That morning she had finally produced a new attack that didn't rely on her tiara with the help of her crystal.
The attack was called Cosmic Starlight Illusion. White light with a blue tint would gather in her hands, and launch out as dozens of marble sized energy stars that exploded against the target from various directions.
She'd experimented after first producing the attack and found she could focus the attack into a beam of blue white energy stars to hit the target straight on.
Serena was very pleased with her new attack, but now training was done for the day and it was time to focus her mind on her friend. She and Molly had made plans to meet up that day and hangout, so she was currently on her way to her house to pick her up.
As she walked down the sidewalk she couldn't help wondering how the day would go. She would be telling Molly the complete truth about her later in the day after they got in a decent amount of hanging out.
She had meant it when she thought how much she had missed Molly when she first arrived back in that time. She hadn't liked that she had to cut down on seeing her so much that their friendship of years had pretty much ended the first time around.
It really had never sat well with her when she had pulled away from Molly and hadn't been able to even give her an explanation of why their friendship was seemingly ending for no reason at all. Molly had been her best friend before Luna had come along and changed her life, and that shouldn't have changed because of her secret life.
Still, she understood why it had happened. She was immature, naive, and let Luna act as a parent that she needed to listen to. On top of that she had let Amy and Raye pressure her into pulling away from Molly; which was sadly helped along when Molly started getting hurt in encounters with monsters.
This time was definitely different. She had kept her friendship with Molly and had even strengthened it. Now it was time she trust Molly with her secret, so their friendship could be stronger and the best it could be.
Especially now that Neflite was free of the Negaverse. She hoped their second chance was better than their first.
It had been a few hours since Serena had picked her up, and Molly could easily say she was having a good time. They had gone to see a movie, shopped a bit, and talked and ate.
Now they were headed to Serena's boyfriends place because she said she had something she wanted to talk to her about.
Apparently Serena wanted privacy, but she didn't understand why it had to be at his apartment. Couldn't it be at either of their places or just a nearby park? No one would hear them there.
Molly didn't know, but it had her curious. What could she possibly want to talk about that needed such secrecy?
Now they were walking down a sidewalk almost surrounded by tall buildings with ten floors or more, and she couldn't help wondering if Serena's boyfriend lived in one of those buildings.
A few minutes later she got her answer when Serena moved off to the side and pulled open one of the glass doors to a building. They walked through the spacious lobby and Serena pressed the button for the elevator which opened immediately. Inside they went and Molly watched her press the button for one of the top floors.
Quiet moments passed and the doors soon dinged open and they stepped out into a quiet hallway. They walked along silently, passing the occasional door with a number above the peephole, until they stopped in front of one and her best friend was knocking on the door.
The door opened a few moments later to the sight of Serena's tall boyfriend, Darien, who smiled the instant his eyes landed on her friend.
"Hi. Come on in you two." He said, and they did just that, removing their shoes once they were inside, then began to move further into the apartment.
Molly blushed and looked away as she saw them kissing, and continued on toward what was obviously the living room on her own; feeling like she was intruding on their private moment.
"How was work?" Serena asked.
"It was okay, but I was distracted by what we're about to do." Darien said, and she nodded as they turned toward the living room and looked at Molly. "Are you ready?" He asked.
"I am." She answered firmly.
Darien nodded and they walked into the living room, Serena grabbing Molly's hand and sitting on the couch with her, as Darien sat in one of the side chairs.
"Do you remember the day you were attacked in your mother's jewelry store?" Serena asked her as she squeezed her hand lightly.
Molly nodded. Although she was confused about why that was brought up. She couldn't think of anything about that day that would require it being mentioned.
Except that's the day Serena decided to do better in her studies all around, but that definitely can't be why she's bringing that day up. She thought.
Still, she remembered it and how she at first thought it was a dream, likely just her mind trying to cope, but soon after accepted that it had really happened. She'd been attacked by some kind of monster woman, and been saved by Sailor Moon.
"I was there, in the store that evening. I was the one that saved you." Serena said as she looked at her friend.
Molly blinked and frowned slightly. What? She thought before her eyes widened in understanding.
"Are you saying you're Sailor Moon?" She asked.
"Yes. I became a scout only minutes before you were attacked." Serena answered seriously. "I was approached by a talking black cat and told that I was the scout of the Moon, and basically that it was my duty to fight the monsters popping up around the city."
"Not only that but it was also my job to find and protect the Moon Princess, a royal woman who was heiress to the throne of the Moon in the far far past, and that I needed to find and awaken the other Sailor Scouts so they can help me fight and find the princess." She explained.
Molly looked from her to Darien and back again.
"You're serious." She said.
"Completely serious." Serena said. "When I told Luna, the talking black cat, to prove what she was saying was true she produced a golden brooch, so I'll do the same for you."
Molly watched as Serena gestured in the air in front of her with her hand, and gasped as a golden brooch appeared in her hand. Serena held it out to her and nodded for her to take it, so she cupped her hands around it and picked it up into her palms.
It was the same round brooch she had been seeing on her school uniform top for months now. As she took in the large crescent moon on its face and various colored gems she couldn't help thinking that it was heavier then she expected it to be.
Molly looked to Serena who was watching her silently then looked to Darien to see he didn't look at all surprised.
"You already knew." She said and watched him nod.
"I became Tuxedo Mask because Serena became Sailor Moon. Although at the time I didn't know that." Darien said, and Molly blinked and frowned in confusion.
"I was unaware that I was the masked man." He added.
"I recognized him and after the fight was over I followed him when he left and helped him remember who he truly was." Serena said.
"How did you recognize him? Did you recognize him as Darien?" Molly asked.
"Yes, but only because I also recognized him as my prince." She answered.
"What?!" Molly said in surprise and confusion.
"Before Luna showed up I already knew I was the Moon Princess Luna was telling me that I was supposed to protect, and that there had never been a Sailor Moon in the past. There had only been the Scouts of Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, and Venus that were Guardian Scouts meant to protect the princess." Serena explained.
"Because I remembered my past, remembered who I was, I was able to recognize that the masked man calling himself Tuxedo Mask was the prince of the Earth; the man I had loved in the past." She said.
Molly blinked her eyes wide in surprise as she looked back and forth between Serena and Darien, gradually understanding what she was being told.
"Luna approached you and told you that you were Sailor Moon and that you had to fight monsters, find the other scouts, and find and protect this Moon Princess, but before Luna showed up you'd already remembered that you were the Moon Princess, and that was how you were able to recognize Tuxedo Mask as the Earth Prince; because you remembered your past." She summarized.
"Yes. You have it exactly." Serena confirmed.
"She helped you remember your past and that you were Darien." Molly said as she looked to Darien.
"Yes." Darien agreed. "Before that I was just this guy in a tuxedo wearing a mask with the instinct to keep Sailor Moon safe; nothing more. It was like I was a blank slate beyond that."
"Wow." Molly said as she looked between Serena and Darien. Then she looked down to the brooch in her hands and handed it back to Serena. "There are two more scouts right? Mercury and Mars?" She asked.
"Yes. Mercury is Amy, and Mars is Raye." Serena said.
"So how did Luna react to learning you were the princess she said needed finding?" Molly asked.
"She doesn't know, and neither do Amy and Raye." She said. "I don't want them knowing until I'm ready to tell them."
"Why?" Molly asked.
"Because I want them to get to know me and respect me as just Serena and not the princess they're supposed to protect. I also want my Scouts to behave and fight a certain way and that could only happen if I took charge of them." She explained.
"Beyond that Luna's being a bit of a pain; not trusting my instincts and being unhappy about me spending time with Darien. Things she likely wouldn't have a problem with if she knew I was the princess." Serena said.
"But because she doesn't know you're getting true authentic reactions." Molly said, and Serena smiled.
"Exactly." She said. "Reactions I won't forget when my true identity is revealed."
"I understand." Molly said. "So when did you remember your past?" She asked.
"This is where things get a bit more complicated." Serena said as she looked away.
"Why?" Molly asked as she frowned.
Serena sighed heavily and tried to figure out how to say what she wanted to say.
"The same day I became Sailor Moon, that morning, I woke up confused, alarmed, and panicked because things in my room were in different places then they were when I went to sleep. I wasn't even wearing the same pajamas." She finally said as she looked back to Molly.
"Beyond that I was missing something that was very important to me, that I had with me when I went to sleep, and immediately started looking for it. In the process I came across some class notes, and realized they were months old." She continued.
"Once I checked the calendar I realized the notes were for the day before, and I understood fairly quickly that I was somehow in the past; the recent past since only a few months had passed." She explained.
"A few months in the past." Molly said as she frowned. "Are you saying you traveled through time?" She asked.
"Yes." Serena said seriously. "That's how I knew I was the Moon Princess. I had already lived through months of being a scout, being aided by Tuxedo Mask, discovering each scout, and only days before I came back to this time learned that I was the princess we all had been searching for."
"And the same time I learned I was the Moon Princess I also learned that Darien was Tuxedo Mask and the Earth Prince." She added.
Molly blinked her eyes wide in shock as she stared at Serena then looked to Darien.
"Did you already know this or are you time traveling too?" She asked.
"I did know and I am time traveling as well, but I didn't arrive until a few months after her." Darien said.
"This is unbelievable, and a lot to take in." She said as she stared at them in shock. "You guys are actually serious. You're really these super heroes."
Darien got up and walked over to his balcony and closed the curtains as Serena got up and held her brooch in her hands.
"Moon Prism Power." She said, and was instantly surrounded in warm pink light.
Molly squinted her eyes at the bright light before closing them altogether. When the light stopped she opened her eyes to see her friend completely transformed. She now stood as a sailor scout; the same scout she had seen the night she was attacked in her mother's jewelry store.
Then she blinked in surprise as her eyes shifted to the side to see that Darien was no longer there. In his place was a masked man wearing a full tuxedo and a long cape.
"Okay; I'm a believer." Molly said. "Although, can you prove that you're past royalty?" She asked after a moment.
Without a word being spoken by either of them Serena began to glow white and Darien began to glow gold. Within moments the light covered them completely and disappeared leaving them looking different yet again.
Her friend wore a beautiful white dress with her hair the same as she had always worn it and a golden crescent moon in the middle of her forehead. Darien now wore a navy blue uniform with silver armor, black armored knee high boots, the same black and red cape, and a sword on his hip.
"Okay. You're definitely who you say you are." Molly said; then she watched them glow and return to wearing the casual clothes they had started with before they resumed their seats.
"How can you prove you guys are from the future?" She asked.
"Well, I can't use what's happened already as proof since it's already happened, so I'm not sure what I can say." Serena said thoughtfully.
"What about a future situation? Something that will happen that you know will happen." Darien suggested, and Serena hummed thoughtfully as she leaned back on the couch.
"Some time in the next few days or weeks a girl with a reputation for fighting will transfer to our school." She said slowly as she remembered the details.
"She'll be tall, with brown hair that she'll wear in a high ponytail, and wear a white and light brown uniform from her old school because they won't have her size in our uniform. Her name is Lita Kino, she's our age, and she's Sailor Jupiter." She explained.
"Really?" Molly asked as her eyes widened.
"Yes." Serena said as she nodded. "Her arrival is actually one of the next events we're waiting for to continue toward our goals, so that's something you can keep your eyes open for." She added and Molly nodded.
"I definitely will." She said. "What are your goals if you don't mind telling me?" She asked.
Serena looked to Darien and he nodded.
"Well, I'm working toward gathering all my Scouts and having them trained up to be the best they can be, and cementing our teamwork and connection to each other." She said.
"I'm working toward freeing all my Generals, training with them, and regaining our connection with each other." Darien said.
"Generals?" Molly questioned.
"Just like Serena has her Guardian Scouts I have my Guardian Generals. Four guys charged with my protection. Unfortunately they've been brainwashed by our enemy in this life hence needing to free them." He explained. "So far two have been freed, and we have two more to go."
"I understand. I'm sorry your generals have been brainwashed." She said.
"I'm sorry too, but I'm glad for the chance to have them in my life again since the first time around they were just enemies." He said. "We remembered our past too late for it to be of use in freeing them, and I know at least one of them had died by that point."
"Oh!" Molly said in surprise. It was very surprising that his generals had been enemies and had likely been killed last time or in the case of the others been eliminated by their own leader.
"Neither Luna, nor the scouts, nor the generals know about the time travel and we have no plans to ever tell them. It's our personal secret." Serena added seriously.
"Then why tell me? Why tell me any of this?" She asked. "Not that I don't appreciate it since it actually answers some questions I've had about things that have happened around you."
"The first time around I allowed myself to be pressured into distancing myself from you so much that our friendship had all but ended, and I wasn't even able to explain why without telling you the secret." Serena said.
"I imagine it looked like I was abandoning you more and more with each new girl I became friends with." She said as she shook her head.
"This time I decided I was keeping your friendship no matter what, so I'm telling you all this because I want our friendship to be the best it could be, and not be ruined because of my secret life." She explained.
"I also wanted a friend with a different perspective; an unbiased point of view of what's happening around us. You're my best girl friend and I want to be able to be myself with you; my complete self with you." She finished.
Molly's eyes teared up and she wrapped her arms around Serena in a hug.
"Thank you." She whispered in her ear as she felt her returning her hug. "I appreciate that you included me when you made friends with Amy, and didn't pull away from me even when Raye came along." She said.
"I'm glad. I made sure to include you, and hoped that including you would make it so I didn't hear anything about distancing myself from you from Luna and the girls." Serena said.
"Thank you." Molly said again, but before anything else could be said there was a knock on the door.
Serena looked to Darien as she pulled away from Molly.
"Are you expecting anyone?" She asked curiously.
"No." Darien said as he got up and went to the door. He unlocked it and opened it, and found Neflite there.
Perfect timing. He thought as he looked at his general.
~~uUu~~
"Welcome. Come on in." Darien said.
"Thanks." Neflite said.
"What are you doing here?" Darien asked as he closed the door.
"I just wanted to visit and hangout if you're available." He said.
"I am. Although, Serena's here along with her friend, and we just finished telling her our secret." Darien revealed, and the general blinked in surprise.
"Why was she told?" Neflite asked.
"Besides the fact that she's her best girl friend, and doesn't want the secret to ruin their friendship, Serena wants to be able to talk to someone that's not a part of our secret life and not influenced by it." He answered.
"That's understandable." Neflite said, nodding as they walked toward the living room.
"Look who's here." Darien announced as they reached the young women.
"Hi." Serena said as she waved, and Neflite waved back with a light smile.
"Molly, this is one of my generals, the most recent to be freed. This is Maxwell, but his past name was Neflite." Darien said. "We refer to each other by our past names when we're just with each other or around people who know our secret."
"Neflite, this is Molly, my princess' best girl friend." He continued, and watched her look at Neflite.
"Hi." Molly said softly even as she stared at him. He was so cute; the cutest guy she had ever seen.
He was so very tall with his long wavy brown hair and gorgeous blue eyes. He looked older as well. She didn't know if he was like Darien and just looked older than he was or if he actually was older, but either way she liked the way he looked all around.
"Hello." Neflite said as he looked at her, his eyes flashing all over her, taking in every detail he possibly could. He looked at her short wavy reddish brown hair, her soft blue eyes, and her short delicate figure.
In that moment he was outrageously glad that she knew their secret, so he could speak to her without having to lie to her. They'd said all of one word to each other each, and he was already fascinated with her.
Neflite recalled that he had been interested in Sailor Jupiter in the past, but nothing had ever happened between them. She had been fierce, strong, and at the same time delicate. He had liked each aspect and the combination of them in her, but that was then and this was now.
This was his new life, his second chance, and just because his prince was once again with Princess Serenity it didn't mean he had to be interested in his past romantic interest as well.
Of course their situation was different. Endymion and Serenity had been in love and in an actual relationship, so it was understanding that they wanted to be together again.
Molly was already interesting to him and he wanted to get to know her, and it certainly helped that he could be himself since she knew about their secret life.
Serena looked to Darien and smiled, easily seeing the attraction between Molly and Neflite. Darien silently moved around the couch and sat down next to Serena and wrapped his arm around her shoulders as she leaned against him.
"Have a seat." Darien said to his general.
Neflite blinked, coming to his senses and sat in the side chair that Darien had been in since it was the closest to the pretty redhead.
"So what were you all talking about, besides telling Molly here about our secret?" He asked.
"I just finished explaining to Molly why I was telling her our secret." Serena answered before she looked to Molly. "Do you have any questions?" She asked her.
Molly pulled her eyes away from Maxwell or Neflite, and looked to the couple sitting on the couch with her before she looked back to him.
"Which name do you prefer?" She asked him.
"I like them both fine, but I need to get used to hearing my present name again so you can call me Maxwell." Neflite said. "It will probably be easier on you to use one name anyway."
"Okay." Molly said. "Although, I don't mind using both names at the appropriate time." She added shyly, and watched him nod.
"Whatever you're comfortable with." He said with a smile.
"Do you guys remember your past names?" She asked as she looked to the couple, and watched them both nod.
"I'm Serenity." Serena said.
"I'm Endymion." Darien said.
Molly nodded, thinking those were interesting names, and considered what she could ask. She had to make sure it had nothing to do with the time travel since Maxwell didn't know, but then she glanced back to him and got an idea.
"So who's the other general that's been freed?" She asked.
"Jedite was before me. His present name is Julius." Neflite answered.
"What about the other two generals? What are their names?" Molly asked.
"Malachite and Zoycite." Neflite answered. "I can't wait for them to be free. I hope it happens soon."
"I can't wait to meet them, and see you all together." She said kindly.
"I can't wait to see that sight as well." Serena said.
"So what about those attacking monsters? Where are they coming from?" Molly asked.
From there they all took turns explaining all about the Negaverse and what their goal was in regards to collecting human energy in order to awaken their leader Metalia, and rule over the planet before expanding to the universe.
~~uUuUu~~
Zoycite sighed as he stood in his quarters thinking about his fellow generals. There were only two of them left; him and Malachite. Jedite and Neflite were dead. According to his Queen they were killed by the Sailor Scouts or more likely the masked man who was aiding them.
He had to admit that he found it hard to believe that the three girls could take down two men. Maybe their powers were stronger than he was aware of or maybe the masked man was doing all the heavy work.
Then again I don't know what the masked man is capable of either. He thought with a sigh.
Still, his Queen believed the fighters working against them were more powerful than she thought. So much so that she wanted to find the legendary silver crystal to have more power to fight them.
That task went to Malachite since he had done as he was told and relayed his Queen's orders to him, and his task was to gather energy, and further, to get rid of the fighters opposing them.
And, of course, do it without getting killed. He thought.
Zoycite had said he would do better than his fellow generals and he would. He wouldn't end up like them. He would be smart about his approach and plan better, but he needed more information to do that.
So I'll send out a minion to draw out the Scouts and the masked man, so I can see how they fight and work together. He decided. And, of course, gather energy while I'm at it. He thought as he nodded to himself.
"Yasha! Come to me!" He called.
Within moments a being teleported into his room and stood before him. She was a beautiful woman with long straight black hair, wearing a kabuki mask, yellow hakama, blue tucked kimono, and a white haori.
Beautiful as she may appear he wasn't at all fazed by it; especially since he was aware of what she really looked like.
"Go and gather energy." Zoycite commanded firmly. "Your companions before you failed, and I expect you not to end up like them."
"I will not fail you." She said with a bow before she teleported away to get started.
~~uUuUu~~
Darien walked down the sidewalk after parking his car early Saturday afternoon. He had been let out of work early and decided to visit Andrew at work since he knew Serena would be busy training and then spending time with her friends for a while.
He wondered idly what Jedite and Neflite were doing with themselves. It had been nearly two weeks since Neflite, Maxwell, had been rescued and they were now living in their own apartments.
Just as Serena had suggested there had been apartments available in his building. They were on different floors, but that was fine and probably for the best. They should be close considering their situation, but still have some space so they didn't get on each other's nerves.
He was certainly glad to have his apartment back to himself, so he and Serena could have complete privacy when they wanted it and not have to stay in his room.
When Zoycite and Malachite were free they could choose who they wanted to share the apartments with since each had two bedrooms just like his.
It was outrageously expensive to be paying for three apartments in his building, but soon all the guys would be there and settled and able to pay for their own apartment.
Darien reached the glass doors of the arcade and stepped inside as they opened, and instantly saw his longtime friend behind the counter.
"Andrew!" He called, and watched as he looked up and smiled.
"Hey." Andrew said. "What are you doing here?" He asked as he reached the counter. "I haven't seen you in ages."
"I got off work early, and wanted to see how you were doing." Darien said.
"Well I'm fine; going to school and work." He said. "What about you?" He asked.
"I'm doing good; doing the same as you." He answered. "Going to school and working, and I'm also taking some martial arts classes during the week in the afternoons."
"What classes are you taking?" Andrew asked.
"Karate and taekwondo. They're fun and I'm learning a lot." He said.
"Wow. Why did you decide to take the classes since I haven't known you to have an interest in martial arts?" He asked.
"I wanted to learn to defend myself as well as keep in shape." Darien replied.
Andrew nodded and they both looked over as the doors to the arcade slid open, and watched as two girls walked in.
~~uUu~~
Amy and Raye walked down the sidewalk toward the arcade where they and Serena had all agreed to meet up so they could hangout. They had come across each other a block back after going home to cleanup and change after their training session.
They were talking about their training, and how they thought it had gone and if there was anything they had thought about doing while they were separated.
"I haven't thought of anything, but I'm glad we were able to practice navigating through my fog." Amy said. "I don't want us to have the issues we had before with not being able to see the enemy."
"I agree." Raye said. "It'll still be hard, but now that we've practiced and figured out what works for us we should be okay." She said and Amy nodded in agreement.
"I also haven't thought of anything we should work on either." She added as they reached the arcade.
They stepped pass the glass doors as they slid open and saw that the place was mostly empty with just a few pairs of people here and there. Then their attention was grabbed by the two guys at the counter since they were the closest and had looked their way as they entered.
One stood behind it with blonde hair, green eyes, wearing a blue short sleeve button up shirt, and an apron over his shirt and presumably the top of his pants. The other stood in front of the counter between two stools. He had black hair, blue eyes, wore a long sleeve black shirt with the sleeves rolled up just below his elbows, and blue jeans.
Oh wow. Mr. black hair is cute. Raye thought, blinking as they moved further into the building and away from the doors.
"The guy with black hair is cute." She said quietly. "Do you think I should try and talk to him?" She asked.
"I don't know." Amy said as they went and sat in one of the booths next to the windows. "He looks older than us. He might not acknowledge you."
Just then they saw Serena walking by and she waved at them through the window before she continued toward the doors. As she entered they watched her pause in clear surprise as she spotted the guys.
"Darien!" They listened to her call out happily, and watched as she hurried toward them.
She was instantly swept up into a tight hug by the black haired guy and lifted off her feet before he kissed her.
"It's a good thing you didn't have a chance to go talk to him." Amy said as they watched. "From what we're seeing it's highly likely he's the boyfriend Serena's mentioned."
All the cute ones are taken. Raye thought as she sighed.
"Oh well." She said. "There's no guarantee that I would have liked him had he been available."
~~uUu~~
"What are you doing here?" Serena asked as their kiss ended.
"I got off work early and thought I'd see how Andrew was doing." Darien said as he placed her back on her feet.
Serena looked to Andrew, remembering that he was right there with them as well.
"Hi." She said.
"Hi back at you." Andrew said. "I didn't know you two were dating; I didn't even know you two knew each other."
"We met months ago and started dating quickly." Darien said, and she nodded.
"We spend time together every day but away from the arcade because of the classes we take after we get out of school." Serena said.
"The martial arts classes; she's taking them too." Darien explained.
"I am, and I'm taking another class as well." She admitted. "It's something we decided to do not long after we first started dating."
"That's surprising." Andrew said. "It sounds like you guys really hit it off right after meeting."
"That's it exactly, and I couldn't be happier." Darien said. He smiled down at her and she smiled in return and hugged him.
Actually I could be happier. I'll be really happy once it's known who we truly are to each other and no longer have to keep it secret, and definitely when I hear her tell me she loves me for the first time in this present time. He thought.
"You two are cute." Andrew said with a smile before he glanced behind them. "I have to go take care of some customers." He said.
They nodded and watched him walk away before Serena looked over to Amy and Raye.
"Since we're all here you can finally 'meet' the girls." She suggested as she looked back to Darien.
Darien nodded, having noticed them when they first arrived but ignored them since he technically didn't know them, and besides that he was busy with visiting his friend.
"Sure. The opportunity is here, so we might as well use it instead of putting it off." He said.
Serena nodded and they released their hold on each other only to link their hands and begin walking toward the girls.
"Amy, Raye, this is Darien; the boyfriend I told you about." Serena said as they stopped in front of their booth. "Darien, these are my good friends I told you about; Raye and Amy." She said.
Amy and Raye smiled in greeting and waved, and Darien silently waved back at them.
"Do you guys want hangout together?" Serena asked as she looked from Darien to the girls and back.
"I don't mind." Darien said, and Amy and Raye agreed. "I'll go tell Andrew." He told Serena and she nodded.
As he walked away they arranged themselves in the booth, Amy and Raye on one side and Serena on the other with the space next to her open for Darien. When he returned he slid into the seat next to her and they all began to discuss what they should do.
The girls hadn't made any plans other than to meet at the arcade and decide what to do from there, and Darien said he had just planned to visit with Andrew for a bit and then likely go home so he had nothing planned.
So after a few suggestions here and there they eventually decided to just spend time at the arcade. From there they relaxed, ordered some food and drinks, and began to talk; giving Darien, Amy, and Raye a chance to get to know each other.
Amy thought Darien was nice and polite, and clearly very interested in Serena. He had his arm around her shoulders and would kiss her forehead or the side of her head occasionally. Serena seemed to glow with happiness in his presence, smiling more then she had ever seen her do. She was leaning against his side and would occasionally reach up and caress his face.
Amy would blush every time she saw the gestures they gave each other, feeling like she was witnessing something private.
Raye was watching the couple in muted awe. She knew that they were dating since Serena regularly mentioned her boyfriend, but she was clearly seeing that they cared for each other greatly.
I wonder if they're in love. She thought curiously. They had been boyfriend and girlfriend since before Serena met Amy, only a few months, and she wondered if it was possible for them to fall in love in such a short time.
The little gestures they did toward each other; a kiss here and a caress there, made them look so cute and very much taken with each other. They had only been hanging out a short time and already she thought they were inspiring. She wanted what they had and wondered if she would ever find someone to look at her the way he looked at Serena.
Darien for his part could see the differences in the girls, and thought they were much better than before.
Amy was more friendly and relaxed instead of standoffish and hesitant. Raye was friendly, polite, but keeping her distance; at least in comparison to what he had been used to the first time around.
If she found him attractive then she was keeping it to herself. It was looking like being introduced as Serena's boyfriend instead of just as some guy she knew made all the difference.
Serena was just happy to be spending time with all three of them together without any problems. Amy was fine with Darien, and Raye didn't seem to be fawning over him or showing any signs of attraction. The only thing that would make this better was if Lita and Mina were there, and all the guys, and everyone knew who everyone was and there was no more need to hide.
Someday it'll happen; perhaps weeks or a month or two down the line, but it will happen in the near future and I can't wait. She thought determinedly.
As she was listening to Serena and Raye talk Amy suddenly heard her minicomputer beeping in her subspace pocket. She blinked in surprise and immediately glanced to Darien wondering how they were going to get away from him to go take care of whatever this was.
She excused herself and quickly walked to the restroom. Once inside with the door closed she pulled out her computer, opened it, and clicked around to see what was happening and where. Quickly she learned that this time a monster was attacking at a kabuki theater.
Amy clicked at the keypad a little more and read the location before she snapped her computer closed and put it away. She opened the door and stepped out just in time to see Serena headed her way.
"Is everything okay?" She asked.
"There's a monster attack." Amy said.
Serena nodded; she had figured that might be the case when she got up suddenly.
"I'll fake being sick and need you guys to see me home so you can have something to tell Darien." Amy said, and she nodded.
"Go stand by the entrance doors and start looking sick. I'll send Raye to you and give Darien our excuse." Serena said.
Amy nodded and they made their way back to the main area of the arcade, and Amy went to stand near the doors while Serena headed back toward their booth.
"Amy's feeling sick, and wants to head home before she gets worse." Serena said once she arrived at the booth. "I've agreed that we should see her home just in case she gets worse before she gets home. You two should head that way, and I'll catch up real quick. I just want to say bye to Darien." She explained, and Raye nodded and got up.
"It was nice to meet you. I'm sorry we're running out like this." She said to Darien.
"It's okay. I appreciate that you all want to take care of your friend." Darien said.
Raye nodded, gave a smile, and walked off toward the front of the arcade. Serena watched her for a few moments before she looked back to him.
"There's an attack. I didn't ask Amy where; I just plan on following her." She said quietly, and he nodded.
"I'll say my goodbyes to Andrew, then go move my car so Andrew can't see it and grow suspicious, then I'll follow my senses to you and the fight." Darien said, and she nodded.
"Alright." She said as he got to his feet then she wrapped her arms around his neck. "I'll take any excuse to kiss you." She said lightly.
Darien laughed and gave her kiss worthy of a goodbye to any onlooker before they separated and began to head toward the front of the arcade.
"I'll see you later." Serena said before she hurried out through the sliding glass doors, and in the direction her friends had walked in.
