DISCLAIMER: Ojamajo Doremi © Toei Animation, 1999-2004. Sailor Moon © Toei Animation, 1992-1997. I don't get any commercial benefit from this fic.
Celine and the Rose Crystals
.
Chapter 24 – Momoko's Blank Hope
Normal POV
On Thursday, at night…
As Kotake kept thinking about his conversation with Onpu on call a few minutes ago, when he met his girlfriend in his dream at that night, he didn't waste any time to ask, "Doremi, do you know if… I mean… Have Charmillion ever did something to… Dark Celine?"
"Fortunately, he still doesn't have chance to do anything bad with her (with me?), as Dark Celine was so busy persuading you and the others in these days, but… I'm just afraid if someday, he could have chance to…"
"I'll protect you from him, even though it's Dark Celine who becomes his target now, because… her body is also yours, and… if Charmillion did something bad to it, that means… you also would be broken," the dark blue haired boy cut what the redhead said, "and I don't want to see it. That's why, I'll go there to bring you back here as soon as possible, so that Charmillion doesn't have chance to do anything bad with you."
"With her? How about Dark Celine?"
"Whoever it is, it refers to the one who waits for me – or Anthony – there, right when Charmillion wants to do it," replied Kotake, "but honestly, I specifically just want to save you."
Doremi smiled, "Thank you so much, Kotake."
"Hey, don't mention it. You're my girlfriend, my fiancee, so it's my duty to save you whenever you need it," Kotake smiled back, "However, this Saturday, I'll save you there."
"So, you really want to save me that fast, huh?" Doremi stated. The redhead in a white gown said, "You know, it will be a week right after Piceshia took my Rose Crystal away from me, and… it also means that… it will be a week after I… became so jealous with… Usagi-chan…"
Doremi sighed, "Now I know that my jealousy towards Usagi-chan appeared because of Piceshia, but still… I feel guilty with her."
"Then, how if we go to her house right after I save you from that dark castle?" Kotake suggested, "Moreover, Mamoru is still there with Tsukino and her friends until Sunday. You can apologize to them both, Doremi."
"You're right," she smiled, but this time, it was a weak smile, "If only all of those problems didn't happen last Saturday… we should be…"
"Hey, don't think about it too much," Kotake stroked her ruby red long hair, "The most important thing for now is my mission to save you, because I really want to meet you directly, not just in a dream like this."
"To be honest, I also want to meet you directly. I also… want to meet the others and talk with them about anything again, as usual," her magenta eyes started becoming wet, "I want to be free, and the most important thing is that… I want to apologize to Usagi-chan, because… I really became such a bad friend for her…"
The redhead then threw herself in Kotake's embrace while she started to cry, "How can Piceshia influence me to hate her like that? I really feel guilty with her."
"Doremi, don't cry," Kotake kept stroking his girlfriend's hair while hugged her, "I promise, right after I pick you up from that stupid castle, I'll bring you there, so that you can apologize to her."
Kotake broke his hug and swept Doremi's tears with both of his hands, "You just need to calm down and wait for me, okay? Two days later, I'll bring you home."
"Kotake…"
"Now, I just want to see you smile, to encourage me so that I can successfully collect all of those fragments for you, to save you," Kotake demanded, "because for me, your smile is really priceless."
"Really?" finally, Doremi could smile cheerfully, which Kotake responded with a nod. She said, "Okay, I'll smile for you, Kotake."
They looked at each other and smiled, kept silence for a few minutes until Kotake asked, "By the way, how about your tap? Is it really broken like our guess – me, Dodo and Senoo?"
"Well…" she sighed, "All of you are right. It was broken right when Dark Celine appeared that night…"
Doremi looked up to the sky, "I wonder, when my Rose Crystal is back into me later, will I get a new tap that can I use to help you escape from Charmillion and Piceshia? You know, after you fuse the regenerated mind shield with my Rose Crystal, we still should find a way to escape from them there. Well, I know that we can use our Rose Crystals like what we did before, but… I don't think it'll work well again, as we just had to face Charmillion in that time and now… we should face him and Piceshia."
"Well, if that's the case, then…" Kotake hardly thought, "Can we escape from that dark castle by using the portal which Dark Celine use to come to persuade me and the others?"
"Ah, I know about those portals, so maybe, it'll be a good idea," Doremi replied, "Let's just hope that I'll still remember about those portals when you come there."
"Wait a minute. You said 'those portals'?" asked Kotake, didn't understand, "Alright, don't say that Charmillion allows Dark Celine to use his portal in his room and…"
"No, not his portal," Doremi shook of her head, "Charmillion allows Dark Celine to use Rophelia's portal, which is in her room, as that room is empty now."
"Oh, okay. So, after your Rose Crystal successfully fly back into you, I'll follow its direction to your room there, and then we can escape from there," concluded Kotake, "Simple as that."
"Then, if we can't use that portal, we can dash away to Rophelia's room and use her portal!" Doremi continued. She sighed in relief, "Finally, we have a strategy to escape from there, Kotake."
They smiled at each other again, and that was when the dream ended, right in the morning.
.O.
When he walked to school with Dodo and the others, Kotake told them about his conversation with Doremi in his newest dream last night and also, about the sixth fragments which he and Dodo got yesterday. Onpu then reported to them about her appointment with Dark Celine in Misora Park.
"Then, probably Dark Celine will come and persuade me and Hana-chan later…" stated Momoko, "but don't worry, girls, I won't ever go there with her."
"Me too," Hana-chan agreed, "All of us will always be here."
"By the way, Kotake-kun…" Usagi slowly asked, "So, Doremi-chan said that she felt guilty after… all of those incidents last Saturday? And… she didn't blame me anymore?"
"Yeah, she felt guilty with you, and that's why, I promised with her to bring her to meet you, after I can save her from Charmillion's dark castle, so that she can apologize to you."
"Well, actually… I also have my own fault, so… maybe we can apologize at each other when we meet someday…" the blonde haired girl sighed, "However, I unintentionally hugged you in that day and… that was because of my careless."
"You both are similar in that thing," Kotake gazed at her, "Careless is just like your trademark."
Usagi giggled while scratched her head, "Maybe you're right, Kotake-kun."
"However, I'm so happy now, that you and your friends finally can go to school with us again," Kotake concluded, "At least, I also can talk about my dream with you all."
"Honestly, we still wanted to go to school with you all, even since last Monday, but… Usagi-chan said to us that it was better if we… didn't go to school with you all, as she blamed herself for what happened with Doremi-chan last Saturday," Ami explained, "Even so, we also wanted to know about the regenerated mind shield and its progress, so… now we decided to go to school with you all again."
"Don't worry. The fragments will be complete tomorrow, so we'll definitely meet Doremi-chan soon," replied Aiko, "If only Kotake can quickly save her from the Rose Crystal Catcher's castle, maybe we can meet her tomorrow, at night."
"Hey, what happened with your tone, Senoo," Kotake noticed the way Aiko said her last statement, "You said it as if you're still not sure if I can save her before midnight tomorrow."
"Oh, I trust you. It's just that… are you sure, you don't want to do something with Doremi-chan before you bring her to meet us? Like, you know…"
"Of course I don't want to do something like what you say, Senoo, because I'm not a boy like that."
"Really? Kotake, don't you want to be like some of your friends in the soccer club who already done it?"
"Of course, I don't want to be like that, Senoo."
"Hmm? Are you sure?" asked Aiko sarcastically, "but how about your…"
"Don't worry. I'm tame," Kotake rolled his eyeballs, "and for your information, Senoo, I fully respect girls, so I won't ever do that with any girls around me, and I'll do it only after I get married someday, and I just want to do it with my wife, whom…"
"Whom you hope is Doremi-chan, right?" teased Aiko.
"Shut up!"
The others laughed while they looked at Kotake's expression after Aiko teased him, and the dark blue haired boy just could sigh to see them. They finally kept talking and laughing until they arrived at school.
Meanwhile, at the Rose Crystal Catcher's castle, in Charmillion's room, he and Piceshia were talking about Dark Celine, and also, Kotake and the others, as they still couldn't take their Rose Crystals away from them.
"So, that young witch also have a Rose Crystal inside her…" stated Charmillion while he talked about Hana-chan with Piceshia, "I really don't know about it before, that actually, there are seven Rose Crystals out there, and we just can manage to get one Rose Crystal?"
"Well, that's right," replied Piceshia, "She was also Celine's friend in the past, but… Celine said to me that her memories about that girl was so blurry. Even so, I noticed that she almost said her name, and… it contains… 'Angel'."
"What?"
"I say the truth, Charmillion," said the pixie looked-alike demon who then remembered about something, "By the way, can I still call you with your name here? Even though Celine isn't here now?"
"Go ahead. I don't care about it anymore."
"Thank you," Piceshia giggled, but then she changed her expression. She said in a serious tone, "and speaking of Celine's Rose Crystal, I think I should report it to you that… I still can't use its power until now, Charmillion."
"So, what do you think about it? Do you have a theory about how it can happen?"
"Well, I recalled that Auntie Rope had ever took that Rose Crystal away from Celine, but then Anthony could take it back into Celine. Even so, Auntie Rope could use some of its power back then, even though she just could held that crystal in a short time, and based on that situation, I have a theory which maybe can solve our problem."
"What is it, Piceshia?"
"As Anthony was the one who could take the Rose Crystal back into Celine, it caused the crystal to form power protection inside it, and if we really want to use its power, we should destroy the power protection," Piceshia explained her theory, "I hate to said this but… maybe you're the one who can destroy the power protection in Celine's Rose Crystal."
"Really? How can?"
"Uh, you just need to have fun with her. You know… kiss her passionately, drag her onto your bed and…"
"Okay, sounds exciting," Charmillion smirked, "I'll do it with pleasure."
"What are you talking about here?" asked Dark Celine who poked her head into the room's door, "Is it something serious?"
"Not really. It's just that… Charmillion wants to have a child with you."
"Piceshia!" Charmillion protested.
"Ah, Charmillion, I think we can talk about your wish later. I want to do something important today," said the redhead, "I should meet Mindy and persuade her."
"Alright then, good luck!" Piceshia smiled to her, "I'll follow you there whenever you have a problem, so don't worry, okay?"
Dark Celine nodded, "I know you're my good friend."
"Of course, Celine, of course."
Momoko's POV
Friday, after school…
I immediately went home to my house, but on the way, I met Dark Celine, right when I thought about Doremi.
"Thinking about me?" she asked. It sounded like Doremi, but I felt something different from her which made me so sure that it wasn't her. Dark Celine was a different person.
"I'm sorry, but I don't think about you now," I said in English, "I just think about my blank hope, about my best friend who maybe would be lost forever in the darkness."
"Momo-chan, don't say something like that. I'm here, in front of you," she said, "I'm not lost in the darkness. I'm just living there in peace. Charmillion loves me and Piceshia becomes my best friend now, because I know that they're care with me."
"No, my best friend won't ever say that in front of me," I replied, "She'll say that she likes to walk to school under the sunlight in the morning with us, and she'll be so happy to be with us, her real best friends."
I looked into Dark Celine's eyes before continued, "I also know that she and Kotake-kun are loving at each other, so she definitely isn't you, and I don't want to follow you ever."
"Momo-chan, you too?"
"Of course, I'll do the same things with the others," I quickly grabbed my Senshi Tap and shown it to her, "Just give up or I'll give you some lights."
"Then, would you mind to give those lights to me?" replied Piceshia who suddenly came out of nowhere, "Blonde girl?"
"Oh, I'll give it to you both," I quickly transformed and attacked them, "Supreme Lightning Bullet!"
I kept fighting with them both, until suddenly, when Piceshia almost attacked me with her double bubbles just like what she did with Doremi before, Dark Celine prevented her to attack me. She shouted, "No, Piceshia, No!"
"Celine, why do you prevent me to attack her? She's our enemy."
"I know, but she's also my friend, and I come here just to persuade her and force her with my own power, so don't disturb me, okay?"
"Alright, I get it," said Piceshia, annoyed, "I just want to do some exercise now, so even though you want to handle her alone, I feel like I want to have some martial arts with someone…"
"Then, try us!" shouted Aiko who came with Hazuki and Onpu. Three of them then attacked the pixie looked-alike demon at the same time.
"Starry Heart Ribbon!"
"Aqua Needle Rain!"
"Exotic Fire Beams!"
Meanwhile, I also attacked Dark Celine and her pair of black mambas, and not so long after that, they escaped from us.