By Yohann DeSabrais
a.k.a. Technuma Saturn
In the early days of television, many were the writers whose noble
attempts at instilling human values in their viewers through the
open use of moral dilemmas and social issues who were hideously
crushed under the boots of heavy censorship.
One of these playwriters, Rod Serling, was repeatedly censored and
he eventually gave up writing dramatic material to place all his
creative energies in a new science fiction/fantasy series he called
"The Twilight Zone".
"I`m not going to tackle social issues anymore." he said in an
interview.
Few people realized it, but his Twilight Zone tackled even more
social issues than his other shows ever did. Racism, political
fanatism, greed and hate, the list goes on. By labeling it as
fiction, no one saw the difference, especially not the network
censors. His legacy lives on in many of today`s television shows
that go beyond simple entertainment and try hard every day to
make us think about what we consider to be right and moral.
This chapter of my Cycle of Life is the first one in which I
purposefully try to get you to rethink about aspects of modern life
that we try not to think about, either by ignorance, lack of
information or discomfort with the issue.
This is a DARK story, one wich tackles a few subjects we have to
face if we want this world to be a better one.
* * *
CYCLES OF LIFE: EPISODE SIX
IGNORANCE IS BLISS
Speeding down the boulevard, a bright red motorcycle carried its
two passengers along the busy streets, piercing through traffic
like a hot knife through butter. Dressed all in black, the pilot
looked like a shadow, unlike his charming girlfriend whose two
blonde ponytails stuck out from under a pink helmet to match her
more colorful clothes.
Mamoru was bringing Usagi back from their date and stopped his
bike two blocks away from her house. Usagi took off her pink helmet
decorated with a cute bunny and Mamoru removed his as well.
"So, how long do you think it will take before you can formally
introduce me to your parents as your boyfriend?" he asked.
"My mom knows already and she`s OK with it. Truth is she likes you
almost as much as me! The problem is my dad, he still thinks I
should go out with someone like Umino... I think he hasn`t
realized yet Umino`s in love with Naru." she said.
"Someday he`ll accept me, I hope. Until then I`m happy to be with
you, period." he said, kissing her too fast to allow her a chance to
respond. Usagi quickly forgot what she wanted to say and lost
herself in the moment, putting her arms around his waist and
enjoying the contact of his body against hers.
Across the street, Makoto and Minako were observing the two
lovebirds.
"Wow, how long can they keep it up before they have to go back up
for air?" asked Makoto.
"I don`t know, but Mamoru should be careful; Usagi could inhale
his lungs by accident." commented Minako.
Mamoru then put his helmet back on and drove off into the night,
Usagi staring as if he were still visible in the distance. The
girls went up to Usagi, hungry for details of her date.
"Hey, were you spying on me again?!?" she complained.
"We don`t have boyfriends so we gotta live vicariously through
somebody else, don`t we Minako?" said Makoto.
"Right! So tell us more about this movie you went to see, assuming
you actually LOOKED at the screen once in a while." added Minako.
Usagi blushed at this last comment.
"It`s not enough that I get the third degree from mom and Luna, I
also have to get it from you two as well?!" she complained.
"You got that right, now start talking, girl!" urged Minako.
* * *
Mamoru felt great that night. Ever since the wiseman had been
destroyed, he had no more nightmares telling him Usagi would die.
No more visions saying he had to stay away. He was free to be in
love with her, to tell her how he felt.
His date with her that evening had been particularly wonderful.
"I`ll have to see that movie again if I ever want to know what
happens in it." he thought, remembering how Usagi`s blue eyes held
his attention throughout the entire projection.
Rather than go home directly, he decided to take a more scenic
route where he could take his time and gaze at the moon a little.
It would be full moon again in a few days and the night was already
very bright, even where there were no streetlights- just how he
liked it.
After an hour of going through endless detours, he finally felt it
was time to go home and sleep. Lost in his daydreams, he didn`t
notice the scrap metal pieces lying on the street; a car had dropped
these as its muffler broke down an hour earlier. The sharpest piece
punctured his front tire, sending his motorcycle into an out of
control sideway slide. Mamoru was projected forward, sliding on the
pavement over some thirty feet and hitting his head on a telephone
pole where he stopped.
The horrible pain in his head kept him from realizing that he just
had an accident and that the cracking sound he heard as he hit the
ground came from his broken left arm; he was unable to form coherent
thoughts. He tried to get back up but blacked out rapidly. A hundred
feet away, his motorcycle had finally stopped sliding forward, its
rear wheel still spinning full speed and gradually slowing down.
Five minutes later, a cab driver found him and called an ambulance
over his radio transmitter.
* * *
Usagi, wearing her moons-and-bunnies pyjamas, hopped in bed and
grabbed hold of Luna in what could only be described as a
pro-wrestling level bear hug.
"He loves me, Luna, he really loves me!!!" she said, ecstatic.
"Hmmmmpfff! Hmmmmpffff!" replied Luna, wich could be vaguely
translated as "Please let go of me, I`m choking here."
"I think I`ll be dreaming of my prince again tonight..." said Usagi,
her eyes sparkling with love.
"Just as long as you don`t confuse him with me in that dream of
yours like you did last night!" said Luna, worried about what Usagi
might do in her sleep.
"I already said I`m sorry, Luna, is it my fault if Mamoru is such a
good kisser even in my dreams?"
They both went to sleep, unaware that at the same moment Mamoru was
in an emergency room fighting for his life.
* * *
"Okay people, we have a crash victim here, motorbike accident,
multiple fractures to the left arm and bruised ribs but that`s
nothing compared to his concussion; we don`t want an hematoma to
form so we`ll have to act quick!" yelled the doctor who received
Mamoru at the hospital. "What`s his name?"
"We don`t know yet, he didn`t have any ID papers on him." said the
police officer who came along on the ambulance. "Let`s hope someone
will miss him and come looking- the news report on the accident
should help us find his family."
"Yeah, let`s hope so. We need to know his name."
A young girl walked in the emergency room at that moment, trying
to find her doctor who was supposed to work the late shift. His
training in psychology was crucial for assisting the loved ones of
accident victims who often suffer from traumatic shocks.
She was very cute with her short brown hair and hazel eyes; she
could have been very popular with the boys if she wasn`t so unsure
of herself. Her jogging outfit and wristbands could have struck the
staff as odd clothing to wear so late in the evening but they were
all too busy saving Mamoru`s life to even notice. She went straight
to the receptionist and shyly waited until the receptionist noticed
her before talking.
"Excuse me, Yoshiko, have you seen doctor Hollander around? He said
he`d be here tonight if I needed to talk with him." she said in a
hushed tone.
"No, Laurella, he had his shift changed at the last minute, I`m
sorry. He said you could see him tomorrow morning if you needed to."
said the receptionist.
Laurella looked at the doctors rushing around the handsome young man
lying on the stretcher; he might die tonight and there was nothing
he could do to change that, no one had asked his opinion. She
realized that unlike her, he never had the chance to decide wether
he wanted to live or not. Life is precious, she knew that now.
She left the emergency room and went back to the eastern wing of the
hospital, the psychological treatment ward, where she was treated
for her recurring nightmares... primarily. Laurella dreaded sleep,
loathing it with a passion as it always brought those horrible
visions in her head.
* * *
The moon princess and Endymion were dancing happily in the ballroom
of the moon palace; they were the center of attention as usual even
though they only had eyes for each other. The beautiful music guided
their slow movements as they gazed deep into each other`s soul.
Queen Serenity watched over the reception with great joy for her
daughter was very much in love. She had a good feeling about the
prince of earth and knew that the two of them could never be torn
apart, not by time, distance, evil or death.
The moon princess suddenly started to shake as someone held her by
the shoulders, saying "Wake up, Usagi!". The visions of white marble
floors and walls, the music and the reception vanished into the
dream realm where they came from, leaving the woken Usagi face to
face with her mother Ikuko.
"Hmmmm... am I late for school again?" she asked.
"No, it`s still pretty late."
"Why did you wake me up, then?" Usagi asked, suspicious of her
mother`s concerned expression.
"It`s Mamoru, he`s... had an accident."
Usagi felt her heart stop for a second.
"What kind of accident?!?"
"I just saw it on the news, his motorcycle rolled over some sharp
metal and he blew a tire. You told me he doesn`t have any family and
the police couldn`t identify him, I think you should go there right
away. You`re the closest friend he has." her mom explained.
"Does dad know?" asked Usagi.
"Yes, I had to tell him. He doesn`t like it very much, but this is a
rather exceptional situation, so he`s trying his best to accept it.
Get dressed, I`ll drive you over to the hospital."
"Thanks, mom." said Usagi who got nervous, fearing the worst for
her boyfriend.
* * *
Usagi felt horrible seeing Mamoru unconscious, his left arm in a cast
and his head wrapped in thick bandages. An IV line fed him the
nutrients he needed to stay alive- the worst had passed, the doctor
said.
"We didn`t find any hematomas or brain swelling, he`ll be all right.
He was lucky to be wearing a helmet at the time of the accident,
otherwise he`d be dead for sure." said the doctor. "He`s out of the
woods... physically."
"What do you mean?" asked Usagi.
"You must understand, miss Tsukino, that your boyfriend suffered a
massive head trauma. Often in these cases, the victim experiences
partial or total memory loss."
"Amnesia?"
"Yes. He might wake up missing only his memory of the accident or
possibly a lot more. What I`d like you to remember is that whatever
happens, don`t rush him with information that might be a shock to
him. If he DOES have amnesia, dramatic revelations could be
devastating." the doctor carefully explained. "When he wakes up,
we`ll call on doctor Hollander to visit him; he`s our resident
expert on mental trauma."
"If he does have amnesia, how long will he take to recover?" asked
Usagi.
"Hard to say. Could take an hour, a day, a month, a year or he may
never recover at all." he answered. He then left Usagi alone with
Mamoru.
In the corridor, Usagi heard her mother talking with the doctor
about the extent of Mamoru`s injuries. She also heard her father
arriving; from the sound of his voice, he was not pleased by his
daughter`s relationship with this man that was "too old for her".
She took Mamoru`s hands in hers.
"Come back to me, my prince..." she whispered softly.
His eyelids started to flutter, then opened. He had a look on his
face that reflected of his pain and confusion.
"What... hapened?" he asked with difficulty.
"You were in an accident; you broke your arm and bruised a few ribs
in addition to that big bump on your head, but you`ll be fine. The
doctor says you don`t have any hemorrages inside that thick skull
of yours." she said with a big smile of relief.
He looked at Usagi, searching hard to remember where he saw this
girl before.
"Do I know you?" he asked.
"What? You don`t... remember me, Mamoru?"
"Is that my name? I can`t seem to recall anything... just a vague
impression of speed and pain... nothing more."
Usagi was crushed. She wanted to tell him that she loved him with
all her heart, that he loved her too but the doctor had forbidden
this kind of revelation. She had to bite her lip to stop herself
from saying "I love you".
"Oh... well... I hope you remember soon." she said.
"Are you one of my friends or something?" he asked, curious.
"Yes... something like that." she said before leaving the hospital
room. Outside, her father was waiting for her. He didn`t lose a
second to scold his daughter.
"Listen to me, young lady! What were you thinking riding on a
motorcycle with that guy? You could have been killed if he had that
accident while you were with him! I`m starting to understand now
why you`ve been so erratic recently, sneaking out of the house so
late, failing all your exams; it`s HIM, isn`t it?" he said angrily.
"No, it`s not his fault!" Usagi said. She wanted to say she was
really Sailor Moon and that she was fighting evil at night, but
how could he understand that?
"Your mother and I have been thinking; we don`t want you to see
him anymore."
"WHAT? He needs me! He just had a big accident and lost all his
memory!"
"Then he won`t miss you. Come with us, young girl; we`re going
home."
Usagi followed her parents home, still under the shock of Mamoru`s
amnesia and the interdiction placed on her ever seeing him again.
* * *
That night, Usagi dreamed of Tuxedo Kamen again. It was not a dream
of music and dancing, however.
He was standing just out of reach of Usagi in a wall of mist, a rose
in his hand and a tear rolling down his cheek.
"Forgive me, my love it is here that we must take our separate ways."
he said.
He threw the rose to Usagi who caught it in her trembling hands.
While she was looking at the rose, Tuxedo Kamen disappeared in a
shroud of deep fog. The rose immediately died in her clutched hands,
leaving nothing but a few withered stray petals and the dead stem.
"No, don`t leave me! I love you!!!" she cried out in vain.
Usagi woke up in tears. She had slept very little that night and she
wouldn`t sleep again until morning came, unable to think of anything
else than of losing the only man she loved.
Luna tried to comfort her the best she could, to no avail.
* * *
In the morning, the sad Usagi went to school on her parents` order.
"It`ll make you think of something else." they said.
Unfortunately, it wasn`t that easy. Mamoru had left an imprint in
Usagi`s heart so deep that it couldn`t be rubbed out just like that.
"Usagi, what`s the matter? You`re even more spaced-out than usual."
said miss Haruna.
She began explaining about her boyfriend, his accident and subsequent
amnesia and how he lost his memory of her. She broke down in tears in
the middle of the story, bringing tears to all her classmates and her
teacher as well.
"Look, Usagi, I wouldn`t normally do this, but... maybe you should go
back home for today. You need to sort out your feelings. I`ll give
your work assignment to Naru so she can drop it by later, OK?" she
said with the compassion no one suspected a high school teacher
could have.
"Thank you." she said between two tears.
* * *
"The only thing I can remember clearly is waking up in this room
with a blonde girl by my side. Who was she, by the way? She didn`t
tell me her name." said Mamoru.
"Her name is Tsukino Usagi, she identified you for us since you
didn`t carry any identifications on you at the time of the
accident." said the doctor Samuel Hollander.
"This is weird. I can`t remember who I am, I`just a blank slate."
"That`s why I`m here. Since you can move around, now, we`ll transfer
you to the eastern wing of the hospital where I`ll treat you and
hopefully restore your memory."
* * *
Usagi entered her desert house; she was rarely there at all during
school hours so the house seemed almost alien by its silence. She
didn`t want to listen to this silence by herself, but all her
friends were in class right now and couldn`t come until much later.
She sat down at the kitchen table thinking over what the doctor had
said: HE MAY NEVER RECOVER AT ALL. Usagi felt a powerful clawed hand
grip her heart and crush it as she imagined a life without her
prince, her hero, her Mamoru. She cried for a long time, wishing
she could somehow forget about him and move on; this proved
impossible for every fibre of her being told her she loved him.
How could she ever live with the memories of their love while Mamoru
would not even know about their past relationship? Why was she
always the one cursed with the memory of their love? Three times
already she`d lost him, when he was brainwashed by Beryl, separated
from his memories after Beryl was destroyed and tricked into
believing he`d be the cause of her death.
She couldn`t take it anymore. She just wanted to forget it all and
comfort herself in a warm blanket of blissful ignorance. Maybe there
was a way to do it, she thought.
Usagi walked over to her parents` liquor cabinet and stared at the
many bottles containing various liquids of strange colours and names.
Her mom had always warned her about the dangers of drinking and she
always listened carefully; this time, however, her sorrow was too
great to handle.
"So, Usagi, what`s your poison?" she asked herself, seeking to
relieve some of the guilt she felt.
She picked up a bottle of american whisky, her hand shaking
nervously. She went to her room and sat down on her bed after
checking if Luna was still out on her meeting with Artemis.
Her first glass was a strange experience; the taste wasn`t very good
but not quite repulsive either, inviting in a cyanide sort of way.
She felt the liquid go straight down to her empty stomach and
burped instantly.
"No wonder people say you should never drink on an empty stomach;
too bad I`m not hungry." she thought.
The second glass was much easier to drink, going down more gently.
The following few glasses even began to taste good, even though her
head was spinning a little.
"This is not working." she sadly thought. "I`m still thinking of
him..."
As the glasses went down, she sunk deeper and deeper into both
intoxication and depression.
* * *
Hidden from public view in his private mansion, professor Tomoe
worked very hard on completing his latest plan to find the pure
hearts that held the three talismans that would release the holy
grail. He knew they were out there somewhere but couldn`t quite
figure out who had a heart pure enough to hold one. He did have
an idea, though, and was making the final touches on a daemon egg
to put his latest plan into action. All that remained was to inform
his leader of his intentions.
By a stange coincidence, she called him at the same time; her
silhouette appeared on the viewscreen and her voice resounded
through the perfect sound transmitters Tomoe had created
especially for his communication equipment.
"Professor, Eudial informs me that you have a new idea on how
to find the talismans." she said.
"Yes, that`s correct. Consider this blackboard of mine..." said
Tomoe as he pointed to a board covered with calculations, drawings
and half-complete plans written all over it. He had obviously used
a lot of time and chalk on that one. "Now imagine this is a heart
clogged up with a lifetime`s worth of memories, good and bad. Not
a pretty sight, is it?"
"Make your point, professor." she replied in a dry tone of voice.
"Let me clean it up a little, now..." he told, erasing the writings
and then wiping the board with a wet sponge. "With the memories
gone, the heart is cleansed... purified."
"So you`re suggesting we hunt for an amnesiac?" said the silhouette
on the screen.
"Exactly. My daemon egg is ready and so is Eudial. All I need is
your authorisation to proceed."
"Eudial has failed us a few times already, but I don`t think we have
much choice for now.... very well, send her off along with the egg.
just remember that our time grows shorter every day."
The screen went blank.
"Off you go, now, find me someone who doesn`t remember his own
name!" said the professor to the egg who floated out of the mansion.
It traveled unnoticed for a while until it entered the eastern wing
of the same hospital where Mamoru had been admitted the day before.
It went into the office of doctor Hollander and found a life size
plastic replica of a human skeleton; the egg imbedded itself inside
the cranial cavity and waited for a victim to walk by.
* * *
"Good thing we were there to pick up Usagi`s work, that way she
won`t miss out on any of the cool math problems we got today!" said
Umino to Naru as they approached Usagi`s home.
"If only Usagi had your enthusiasm for school, she`d have much better
grades." commented Naru. "Her parents aren`t home yet, they`re
probably busy somewhere. Let`s go in!"
The opened the unlocked door and noticed the whole place was silent.
The television wasn`t turned on in the living room, so Usagi wasn`t
there, they figured.
"She could be sleeping, she loves that as much as eating... well
maybe not THAT much." said Umino.
"Let`s go check her room; if she slept a little today, it would help
her feel better. I don`t think she slept much last night., with the
accident and all." whispered Naru to keep the noise down.
They were shocked to find Usagi completely drunk, in a half
conscious state akin to coma. She had an almost empty bottle of
whisky on her nightstand and was lying face down on her bed, moaning
and crying in her hands.
"He doesn`t... love me... anymore." she mumbled.
"Usagi, have you been DRINKING?" Naru asked, knowing the answer
already.
"Yeah... but it doesn`t work. I can still remember Tuxedo K... woops!
I`m not supposed to say that Mamoru is really Tuxedo Kamen! Big
secret, very hush hush. If Beryl found out, she`d... she`d still be
dead, wouldn`t she?" rambled Usagi.
"That`s just the alcohol talking." whispered Umino in Naru`s ear.
"Tell me about it." she whispered back. "How much have you had,
Usagi?" she then asked.
"Dunno. Lost count after (burp) four or five." said Usagi as she
lifted seven fingers wich she changed to five and to nine in a rapid
succession.
Umino remembered a book he read on the effects of alcohol and tried
to figure how much it would take to be dangerous to a girl like Usagi
who never had more than a small glass of wine. He did not like the
answer he came up with.
"Usagi, how many times have you thrown up so far?" he asked.
"None. Never throw up, you know... `ts genetic, I think." she
answered.
"Naru, throwing up is the body`s way of rejecting large amounts of
dangerous substances we swallow; if Usagi doesn`t relieve herself
of some of that alcohol soon, she`ll digest it all- that much
could actually KILL her." he told Naru discreetly.
"Go call an ambulance, I`ll stay here with her."
"Oh, Naru, I`m so tired... go beddy-bye now..." said Usagi, grossly
mispronouncing even the simplest of words as she slowly closed
her eyes.
"NO, USAGI! You have to STAY AWAKE!"
"Naru, I feel so baaaaaad! Please don`t let me die..." she whined.
"Help is on the way, you won`t die. I promise."
* * *
The small audience composed of patients from the eastern wing of the
largest Tokyo hospital applauded loudly as Michiru finished her
musical recital. Every week she would stop by and give a small
performance to an audience that needed all the cheering up it could
get.
Haruka, who was sitting in the last row, walked up to Michiru and
smiled.
"A moving performance, as always." she commented.
"Thank you. I`ve always felt that hospital patients are the most
receptive to music; maybe it`s their close contact with their own
mortality that opens up their soul to the beauty of sounds." said
Michiru.
"I believe I may have found our enemy`s next target right here in
this room." said Haruka, pointing to Mamoru who was talking with
Laurella.
"Why is he here?" asked Michiru, recognizing Usagi`s boyfriend.
"He lost his memory in an accident. He`s changed because of that,
he`s much more innocent, trusting... he is pure."
"I hope he`s not one of the talisman carriers. It would be a real
shame to sacrifice him, he`s so cute!" commented Michiru.
"Cuter than me?!?" asked Haruka with a smidgen of jealousy in her
voice.
"Of course not." replied Michiru, a seductive smile on her lips as
she looked Haruka straight in the eyes.
Over the intercom, a message echoed throughout the hospital as the
services of an experienced psychologist would be required for a
newly admitted patient: "Doctor Hollander at the emergency room
doctor Hollander!"
* * *
Samuel Hollander was shocked to see that his patient`s girlfriend
was taking his amnesia so bad; only a day had gone by and she was
already deep in depression, trying to drink herself out of her
sorrow.
"This can`t be the first time these two have serious trouble in
their relatonship." he thought, as Usagi was being dragged to have
her stomach pumped from the excessive amounts of liquor she so
irreverantly drank earlier.
"Your parents know you`re here, Usagi, they`ll arrive shortly."
said Umino who had taken care of warning everyone involved. He
once had a big crush on Usagi and now that he was a close friend
of hers, he wanted to help her as much as he could.
"I don`t care if they ground me `till I`m old enough to be the
ruler of Crystal Tokyo, it doesn`t matter now that he doesn`t
remember who I am..." whined Usagi, starting to cry again.
"Being drunk sure gave a kick to her imagination." thought Naru.
* * *
At the same moment her parents were ready to leave their house for
the hospital, Minako arrived there with Artemis and Luna. She tried
to convince them to let her come along as Usagi would surely need
her friends very much.
They reluctantly accepted.
* * *
Later that evening in her hospital room, Usagi slept off the
remaining alcohol in her system. Minako and the cats were watching
over her sleep, wondering how much pain she must have felt to go
that far.
"She`s always been a flake, but she was smart enough to stay off
alcohol before. I`m very disappointed in her." commented Luna.
"Cut her some slack, Luna, it`s never been easy for her. I can`t
begin to imagine the number of times she found and lost again the
man she loves; take it from me, losing someone you love can leave
deep scars that can bleed even years later." said Minako.
"I think it`s a sad day for her. It doesn`t matter what punishment
her parents give her tomorrow for doing this, it won`t match what
she`ll do to herself when she comes to. The guilt will follow her a
long time." added Artemis.
A knock at the door instantly commanded silence from the cats. If
anyone had heard their conversation, Minako was ready to pretend
having talked to herself. It was an all-purpose explanation she
had used a hundred times over at home when her parents heard her
talk with Artemis.
"Who is it?" she asked.
"An old friend." said a familiar voice. Laurella opened the door
and Minako immediately recognized her.
"Laurella?!? I thought you were still in Canada with your parents!"
she said, bewildered.
"And I thought you were still in England. Sometimes the world can be
a strange place... I saw you enter Usagi`s room, so I decided to
come and talk with you a while."
"You know Usagi?"
"I met Mamoru in the eastern wing, he told me about her... what
little he knew anyway. He doesn`t remember anything since the
accident, you know... Doc Hollander told me she was his girlfriend,
but I`d say they were much closer than that.... soul mates,
probably."
"You`re seeing a psychologist, Laurella? Nightmares again?"
"They`ve been getting worse every year. I keep having the same dream
every night, too... I`m in a beautiful victorian style reception on
the moon, you were there too and we were both sailor scouts...the
reception was going well, the guests were talking with ambassadors
from various kingdoms. At that point, Sailor Mars hands me a message
from Kitechnum Jendra saying that he`s waiting for me in the
library..." explained Laurella.
"Who`s this Kitechnum?" asked Minako.
The cats listened very carefully to the description of the dream, as
it ressembled the memories one would have of the moon kingdom had she
lived there in a previous life.
"My secret lover- I meet him there five minutes later; he`s really
handsome with his green guardian uniform. He says that it was a
really good idea I had to meet him there, but it wasn`t mine. Then,
it happens- Sailor Mars uses her powers to drain our essence, saying
she needs our powers to fulfill her duty, that we don`t deserve such
power. Countless voices scream as an entire planet is destroyed
and... we both die. It`s really horrible to feel so many people die,
even if it`s only a bad dream..." said Laurella.
"Why would Sailor Mars do such a thing?" asked Minako.
"That`s the strange part- in my dream, Sailor Mars has short
burning red hair. I`ve seen the sailor scouts in action a few months
ago and Sailor Mars has long jet black hair. She doesn`t look a
thing like the girl who kills me in my dream. Usagi, however, bears
an uncanny ressemblance to the moon princess, even though the
princess was a few years younger."
Usagi woke up with a terrible headache.
"Truth be told, I came here because doctor Hollander asked me to
talk with Usagi; she`s going through something I experienced before
and maybe I can help. It`s just a coincidence that you happened to
be there." said Laurella.
"Who are you and why are you speaking so loud?" asked Usagi. "Oh,
hello, Minako. I see you brought Luna..." she said, feeling
tremendous guilt at the sight of the black cat.
"My name is Laurella Hammerson. I know you`re feeling a lot of pain
right now, Usagi, but what you`re doing is wrong and can only lead
you further down into darkness."
"What do you know about my feelings?!? You didn`t lose your
boyfriend to amnesia like I did! This is the fourth time I lose him,
I can`t take much more of this!!!" Usagi said with anger, tears
rolling down her cheeks at the same time.
"I`ve been down that road, you know. You`re feeling a lot of pain.
Mine is to be constantly haunted by nightmares, terrible, awful
dreams that deprive me of any peace of mind. Much like you, I
searched desperately for inner peace I simply couldn`t find. You`ve
tried escaping from the pain with liquor and it`ll never work:
alcohol, drugs, I tried them all, often in combinations. It only
delays the inevitable, until your suffering catches up with you and
pins you down helpless. "
Minako listened to every word; she hadn`t seen her friend in over two
years and didn`t know she had been through so much since. Laurella
rarely opened herself up like this, but something about usagi
compelled her to confess even her greatest mistake, the one that she
never dared admitting, not even to herself. Maybe talking of her own
greatest error would avoid Usagi the mistake of commiting it herself.
"When your suffering does catch up and corners you against the wall,
you start to panic, thinking nothing or no one can ever help you
break free. At that point, you would do anything to make the pain
stop once and for all... ANYTHING." explained Laurella. She then
removed her wristbands, revealing the reason why she never took them
off in public: her wrists were scarred from terrible self-inflicted
slash marks. "I chose razor blades. If my mother hadn`t found me in
time, I wouldn`t be here to talk you out of repeating my own
mistakes."
Usagi and Minako were horrified; the cats could barely hold their
mouths shut from the sight of the scars.
"I`d never take it that far!" said Usagi with tears in her eyes.
"I didn`t think I would either, until it seemed like the only way
out. That`s why I have to remain here for now, the doctors thought
it best until they`re sure I`ve truly beaten my addictions and
gotten over my suicidal feelings." explained Laurella as she put
her wristbands back on. "These look weird if I don`t dress like I`m
into sports, you know."
"I`m just so sad he doesn`t remember me..." said Usagi.
"Don`t let despair eat you up, Usagi; you`re a wonderful girl, he
fell in love with you once and he`ll fall for you again. You should
trust his heart." said Minako who finally brought an ever so small
smile on her friend`s face. It wasn`t much but it was a start.
* * *
Mamoru nocked at the door of doctor Hollander`s office, right on
time for his daily appointment. The doctor opened the door with a
smile.
"Hello, Mamoru, how are you feeling today?" he asked.
"Better. I don`t feel any pain in my chest and the ringing in my
skull is gone. All I have left now is this cast on my arm."
"And your memory? Did anything come back so far?"
"Not really, just vague impressions of knowing things that won`t
return to me."
"Impressions are good, work on these, try to follow them to your
past; they`re usually good clues. I have an idea, why don`t we go
for a walk in the courtyard instead of staying locked up in here?"
"Sounds nice, let`s go."
As the doctor closed the office door behind them, neither men noticed
the skeleton model`s eyes lighting up; it had felt it`s target`s
presence and analysed its orders: find and capture.
Animated with unnatural life, the skeleton loosened itself from the
metal frame holding it in place and walked to the door, rearranging
its bones as it moved and sprouting several new ones as well; it now
truly looked like a daemon. Its eyes flashed with an evil red glow-
the target was NOT to escape.
It sent a signal to Eudial that the hunt was on.
* * *
On their way out, Mamoru and his doctor went by Usagi`s room where
she was being scolded by her parents for getting herself drunk. He
felt remorse for what he felt he was responsible for, somehow.
"That girl, Usagi..." he said. "...she was more to me than just a
friend, wasn`t she?"
"Yes, that`s true. She was crushed by your condition."
"If only I remembered anything at all, if I had a sign that I`ll
find myself again..." thought Mamoru. He then saw a bouquet of red
roses left on a cart in the corridor.
"Do you think I`d look good in a tuxedo?" he spontaneously asked.
"Yes, why?"
"I don`t know, just a thought."
* * *
The monstrous daemon advanced relentlessly in pursuit of his amnesia
victim, its every step accompanied by a sickening movement in the
skeletal structure that looked like ripples in a puddle after a rock
was thrown in. People screamed as they witnessed the demonic
creature and ran out of its way.
Usagi and her parents had the misfortune of coming out of her room
at the same moment the daemon was walking by.
* * *
A speeding red car came to a brutal stop in front of the hospital;
Eudial stepped out of her vehicule armed with her fire buster. She
was ready to steal Mamoru`s heart crystal.
"Come to me, sweetheart!" she whispered, rushing in the building as
more people were running out, scared away by the daemon. She came
face to face with Hollander and Mamoru; she recognized her target
from the visual data sent by the daemon earlier.
"Remember me, darling? Of course you don`t!" she said, laughing.
He barely had time to react before she shot him in the chest,
popping out his radiant heart crystal. She picket it up and Mamoru
fell unconscious.
"I don`t know what you did but I won`t let you attack my patients!"
screamed the doctor who attacked Eudial with his fists.
Eudial easily shoved him aside; a man in his fifties doesn`t really
stand a chance against one of the witches 5, does he? The deep
submerge attack hitting her in the back, however, was much more
successful in that regard, knocking her off her feet and sending
the crystal flying in the air. Sailor Uranus caught it in mid-flight.
"It`s not a talisman." she said, returning it to Mamoru.
"Our search goes on, then." said Sailor Neptune.
Seeing herself defeated once more and outnumbered as well, Eudial
decided she should adopt a more sensible strategy: flee like an
extra in a Godzilla movie, wich she did remarkably well. Uranus and
Neptune left the hospital too, leaving the matter of the daemon in
the capable hands of the sailor scouts.
* * *
"WHHAAAAAAA!" screamed Ikuko and Usagi as sharp plastic projectiles
flew all around.
"VENUS CRESCENT BEAM SMASH!" screamed Sailor Venus, sending a thin
beam of golden light to the monstrous beast. It slipped in-between
two ribs, failing to do any damage at all.
"I hate it when that happens..." she commented as the daemon
charged in the manner of a bull. The beast hit Sailor Venus hard
and smashed her on the wall, knocking her lights out for a while.
The daemon realized that Eudial was no longer there wich meant that
she either succeeded or failed in the mission; whatever the outcome,
the daemon`s orders were clear: stay behind and do a lot of damage
to cover Eudial`s escape.
Usagi wanted very much to transform into Sailor Moon and trash
this plastic freak job, but in her drunken stupor she had left her
transformation locket on her nightstand back home. The daemon
turned around and saw Laurella trying to hide in a corner behind a
desk; he walked up to her and grabbed her neck with its bony
fingers, squeezing hard to crush the life out of the young girl.
Luna, from her standpoint, was the only one to see shining on her
forehead the alchemical symbol of the dead planet Jendra as a
reaction to her peril: a circle joined to a symbol ressembling the
greek letter PSI.
"Of course! She`s Sailor Jendra, reincarnated after her death! I
remember now, she was killed by the original Sailor Mars like Rei
explained us, that`s why she has those nightmares; they`re really
memories of her previous life on the moon kingdom." thought the
black cat.
Unwilling to let a teenage girl get hurt by a monster, Usagi`s dad
jumped it from behind, forcing it to let go of its grip on Laurella.
The daemon turned its attention to him, however, and this was not
good.
Taking advantage of the distraction, Luna ran to Laurella.
"Quick, come with me, I have something for you!" said Luna.
"You can talk, kitty?"
"No time to explain, come!"
* * *
Mamoru ran down the corridor against the human flow that desperately
sought to escape the rampaging monster; he heard Usagi screaming and
wanted to save her even if that meant risking his own life in the
process. It was the right thing to do, he didn`t know why it felt
so familiar, though.
* * *
Luna jumped and somersaulted in the air, magically forming a silver
transformation pen marked with the symbol of Jendra.
"You see, Laurella, you`re a sailor scout too, just like Minako
is Sailor Venus! You`re Sailor Jendra and your friends need you
now!" said Luna.
Laurella picked it up and looked at it.
"What do I do with it?"
"Just like in your dreams- they`re memories of your past life, so
you should know what to do next, don`t you."
"I sure do... JENDRA STAR POWER... MAKEUP! "
Bright streaks of colored light surged out of the pen and surrounded
Laurella, replacing her jogging outfit with the white and silver
uniform of Sailor Jendra.
A millenium after her brutal murder at the hands of Celeste, Sailor
Jendra was back.
* * *
Removing a couple of its extra ribs, the plastic aberration made a
strong shackle that effectively neutralized Tsukino Kenji. With the
man out of the way, the monster moved on towards Usagi and her
mother who held each other real tight. Usagi refused outright to
abandon her mother who was paralyzed by fear.
Mamoru arrived and saw the monster who was about to strike with its
claws; without thinking, he picked up a rose from the bouquet on the
cart next to him and threw it with all his strenght. The rose struck
the beast and lodged itself in its eyesocket, stopping it
temporarily. This delay bought the women enough time to help Mamoru
free Kenji from his plastic shackle and get out of reach of the
plastic creature.
A young woman proudly wearing the colours of planet Jendra arrived
and stared at her first challenge: destroying the daemon that would
kill her friends if it wasn`t stopped.
"JENDRA CHROMATIC BLAST!" screamed Sailor Jendra, shooting an
intense beam of multicolored light from her hands; the beam hit the
creature right in the chest, melting many plastic components that
kept it going.
"Now for the final blow... JENDRA PRISMATIC SEVEN SLASHER!!!" she
yelled. Seven rings of all the rainbow colours spun around her hands;
she swung them all one by one in direction of the wounded monster,
turning them in sharper-than-knives boomerangs. The indigo, violet,
blue and green sliced off its hands and arms. The yellow and orange
sliced open the skull, leaving the daemon egg helpless to the final
red boomerang that split it in two right down the middle. The
infernal creation died instantly, its plastic components melting
slowly on the floor.
"Who... are you?" asked Usagi.
"I am Sailor Jendra, I fight for love and life." she said. She then
picked up the unconscious Sailor Venus in her arms and left in a
hurry.
Kenji went to his wife and daughter, hugging them both.
"I was so afraid I`d lose you both to that creature..." he said. He
looked at Mamoru, grateful for his intervention. "I`m sorry I
misjudged you, my daughter cares for you very much and now I know
why. You could have stayed away from that thing, yet you came back
to help us. Usagi, you can see him again if you want to, I won`t
stand in your way."
"Thanks, dad." she said. Usagi then went to Mamoru and looked at
him with her bright blue eyes. "Even if you don`t remember me,
I`ll stand by you."
"That`s sweet of you, meatball head." he said with a smile.
"Fighting that thing unlocked part of my memory."
"Am I in there?" she asked.
"Yes you are, my princess." he whispered, kissing her afterwards.
* * *
The following day, at the Cherry Hill temple, Makoto, Rei and Ami
were very happy to see that Usagi had gone through her ordeal and
came out stronger. Minako arrived at the temple a little later than
Usagi because she made a detour to bring someone else to the
meeting...
"Who is this, Minako?" asked Rei.
"This is my old friend Laurella." said Minako.
"It turns out she`s one of you." said Luna.
"Yes, I was Sailor Jendra in my past life." she said.
Rei remembered Technuma Saturn`s story and realized that it was
indeed possible for Sailor Jendra to have reincarnated as well.
"Wow, a sixth scout on the team! Glad to have you with us!" said
Rei.
"It`s good to be here with you again- my memories of the past
remain with me, but they`re not nightmares anymore. My nightmare is
over at last. Usagi, I have something for you..." said Laurella as
she pulled up the sleeves of her sweater and removed her wristbands
which she gave to Usagi. The scouts felt uneasy at the sight of the
nasty scars on her wrists. "I`ve decided not to run from my past
anymore. I`ll acknowledge it even if it hurts a bit at first.
Ignorance may be bliss, but knowledge is power, especially knowledge
about yourself."
"Well said!" said Usagi.
"That's rich, coming from a gril who flunks most of her tests..."
added Rei on a sarcastic tone.
"Hey, that was a cheap shot!" protested Usagi.
With Rei and Usagi arguing again, the other scouts knew that all
would turn out fine for Sailor Moon after all. Her tragic episode
was finally over.
The End
a.k.a. Technuma Saturn
In the early days of television, many were the writers whose noble
attempts at instilling human values in their viewers through the
open use of moral dilemmas and social issues who were hideously
crushed under the boots of heavy censorship.
One of these playwriters, Rod Serling, was repeatedly censored and
he eventually gave up writing dramatic material to place all his
creative energies in a new science fiction/fantasy series he called
"The Twilight Zone".
"I`m not going to tackle social issues anymore." he said in an
interview.
Few people realized it, but his Twilight Zone tackled even more
social issues than his other shows ever did. Racism, political
fanatism, greed and hate, the list goes on. By labeling it as
fiction, no one saw the difference, especially not the network
censors. His legacy lives on in many of today`s television shows
that go beyond simple entertainment and try hard every day to
make us think about what we consider to be right and moral.
This chapter of my Cycle of Life is the first one in which I
purposefully try to get you to rethink about aspects of modern life
that we try not to think about, either by ignorance, lack of
information or discomfort with the issue.
This is a DARK story, one wich tackles a few subjects we have to
face if we want this world to be a better one.
* * *
CYCLES OF LIFE: EPISODE SIX
IGNORANCE IS BLISS
Speeding down the boulevard, a bright red motorcycle carried its
two passengers along the busy streets, piercing through traffic
like a hot knife through butter. Dressed all in black, the pilot
looked like a shadow, unlike his charming girlfriend whose two
blonde ponytails stuck out from under a pink helmet to match her
more colorful clothes.
Mamoru was bringing Usagi back from their date and stopped his
bike two blocks away from her house. Usagi took off her pink helmet
decorated with a cute bunny and Mamoru removed his as well.
"So, how long do you think it will take before you can formally
introduce me to your parents as your boyfriend?" he asked.
"My mom knows already and she`s OK with it. Truth is she likes you
almost as much as me! The problem is my dad, he still thinks I
should go out with someone like Umino... I think he hasn`t
realized yet Umino`s in love with Naru." she said.
"Someday he`ll accept me, I hope. Until then I`m happy to be with
you, period." he said, kissing her too fast to allow her a chance to
respond. Usagi quickly forgot what she wanted to say and lost
herself in the moment, putting her arms around his waist and
enjoying the contact of his body against hers.
Across the street, Makoto and Minako were observing the two
lovebirds.
"Wow, how long can they keep it up before they have to go back up
for air?" asked Makoto.
"I don`t know, but Mamoru should be careful; Usagi could inhale
his lungs by accident." commented Minako.
Mamoru then put his helmet back on and drove off into the night,
Usagi staring as if he were still visible in the distance. The
girls went up to Usagi, hungry for details of her date.
"Hey, were you spying on me again?!?" she complained.
"We don`t have boyfriends so we gotta live vicariously through
somebody else, don`t we Minako?" said Makoto.
"Right! So tell us more about this movie you went to see, assuming
you actually LOOKED at the screen once in a while." added Minako.
Usagi blushed at this last comment.
"It`s not enough that I get the third degree from mom and Luna, I
also have to get it from you two as well?!" she complained.
"You got that right, now start talking, girl!" urged Minako.
* * *
Mamoru felt great that night. Ever since the wiseman had been
destroyed, he had no more nightmares telling him Usagi would die.
No more visions saying he had to stay away. He was free to be in
love with her, to tell her how he felt.
His date with her that evening had been particularly wonderful.
"I`ll have to see that movie again if I ever want to know what
happens in it." he thought, remembering how Usagi`s blue eyes held
his attention throughout the entire projection.
Rather than go home directly, he decided to take a more scenic
route where he could take his time and gaze at the moon a little.
It would be full moon again in a few days and the night was already
very bright, even where there were no streetlights- just how he
liked it.
After an hour of going through endless detours, he finally felt it
was time to go home and sleep. Lost in his daydreams, he didn`t
notice the scrap metal pieces lying on the street; a car had dropped
these as its muffler broke down an hour earlier. The sharpest piece
punctured his front tire, sending his motorcycle into an out of
control sideway slide. Mamoru was projected forward, sliding on the
pavement over some thirty feet and hitting his head on a telephone
pole where he stopped.
The horrible pain in his head kept him from realizing that he just
had an accident and that the cracking sound he heard as he hit the
ground came from his broken left arm; he was unable to form coherent
thoughts. He tried to get back up but blacked out rapidly. A hundred
feet away, his motorcycle had finally stopped sliding forward, its
rear wheel still spinning full speed and gradually slowing down.
Five minutes later, a cab driver found him and called an ambulance
over his radio transmitter.
* * *
Usagi, wearing her moons-and-bunnies pyjamas, hopped in bed and
grabbed hold of Luna in what could only be described as a
pro-wrestling level bear hug.
"He loves me, Luna, he really loves me!!!" she said, ecstatic.
"Hmmmmpfff! Hmmmmpffff!" replied Luna, wich could be vaguely
translated as "Please let go of me, I`m choking here."
"I think I`ll be dreaming of my prince again tonight..." said Usagi,
her eyes sparkling with love.
"Just as long as you don`t confuse him with me in that dream of
yours like you did last night!" said Luna, worried about what Usagi
might do in her sleep.
"I already said I`m sorry, Luna, is it my fault if Mamoru is such a
good kisser even in my dreams?"
They both went to sleep, unaware that at the same moment Mamoru was
in an emergency room fighting for his life.
* * *
"Okay people, we have a crash victim here, motorbike accident,
multiple fractures to the left arm and bruised ribs but that`s
nothing compared to his concussion; we don`t want an hematoma to
form so we`ll have to act quick!" yelled the doctor who received
Mamoru at the hospital. "What`s his name?"
"We don`t know yet, he didn`t have any ID papers on him." said the
police officer who came along on the ambulance. "Let`s hope someone
will miss him and come looking- the news report on the accident
should help us find his family."
"Yeah, let`s hope so. We need to know his name."
A young girl walked in the emergency room at that moment, trying
to find her doctor who was supposed to work the late shift. His
training in psychology was crucial for assisting the loved ones of
accident victims who often suffer from traumatic shocks.
She was very cute with her short brown hair and hazel eyes; she
could have been very popular with the boys if she wasn`t so unsure
of herself. Her jogging outfit and wristbands could have struck the
staff as odd clothing to wear so late in the evening but they were
all too busy saving Mamoru`s life to even notice. She went straight
to the receptionist and shyly waited until the receptionist noticed
her before talking.
"Excuse me, Yoshiko, have you seen doctor Hollander around? He said
he`d be here tonight if I needed to talk with him." she said in a
hushed tone.
"No, Laurella, he had his shift changed at the last minute, I`m
sorry. He said you could see him tomorrow morning if you needed to."
said the receptionist.
Laurella looked at the doctors rushing around the handsome young man
lying on the stretcher; he might die tonight and there was nothing
he could do to change that, no one had asked his opinion. She
realized that unlike her, he never had the chance to decide wether
he wanted to live or not. Life is precious, she knew that now.
She left the emergency room and went back to the eastern wing of the
hospital, the psychological treatment ward, where she was treated
for her recurring nightmares... primarily. Laurella dreaded sleep,
loathing it with a passion as it always brought those horrible
visions in her head.
* * *
The moon princess and Endymion were dancing happily in the ballroom
of the moon palace; they were the center of attention as usual even
though they only had eyes for each other. The beautiful music guided
their slow movements as they gazed deep into each other`s soul.
Queen Serenity watched over the reception with great joy for her
daughter was very much in love. She had a good feeling about the
prince of earth and knew that the two of them could never be torn
apart, not by time, distance, evil or death.
The moon princess suddenly started to shake as someone held her by
the shoulders, saying "Wake up, Usagi!". The visions of white marble
floors and walls, the music and the reception vanished into the
dream realm where they came from, leaving the woken Usagi face to
face with her mother Ikuko.
"Hmmmm... am I late for school again?" she asked.
"No, it`s still pretty late."
"Why did you wake me up, then?" Usagi asked, suspicious of her
mother`s concerned expression.
"It`s Mamoru, he`s... had an accident."
Usagi felt her heart stop for a second.
"What kind of accident?!?"
"I just saw it on the news, his motorcycle rolled over some sharp
metal and he blew a tire. You told me he doesn`t have any family and
the police couldn`t identify him, I think you should go there right
away. You`re the closest friend he has." her mom explained.
"Does dad know?" asked Usagi.
"Yes, I had to tell him. He doesn`t like it very much, but this is a
rather exceptional situation, so he`s trying his best to accept it.
Get dressed, I`ll drive you over to the hospital."
"Thanks, mom." said Usagi who got nervous, fearing the worst for
her boyfriend.
* * *
Usagi felt horrible seeing Mamoru unconscious, his left arm in a cast
and his head wrapped in thick bandages. An IV line fed him the
nutrients he needed to stay alive- the worst had passed, the doctor
said.
"We didn`t find any hematomas or brain swelling, he`ll be all right.
He was lucky to be wearing a helmet at the time of the accident,
otherwise he`d be dead for sure." said the doctor. "He`s out of the
woods... physically."
"What do you mean?" asked Usagi.
"You must understand, miss Tsukino, that your boyfriend suffered a
massive head trauma. Often in these cases, the victim experiences
partial or total memory loss."
"Amnesia?"
"Yes. He might wake up missing only his memory of the accident or
possibly a lot more. What I`d like you to remember is that whatever
happens, don`t rush him with information that might be a shock to
him. If he DOES have amnesia, dramatic revelations could be
devastating." the doctor carefully explained. "When he wakes up,
we`ll call on doctor Hollander to visit him; he`s our resident
expert on mental trauma."
"If he does have amnesia, how long will he take to recover?" asked
Usagi.
"Hard to say. Could take an hour, a day, a month, a year or he may
never recover at all." he answered. He then left Usagi alone with
Mamoru.
In the corridor, Usagi heard her mother talking with the doctor
about the extent of Mamoru`s injuries. She also heard her father
arriving; from the sound of his voice, he was not pleased by his
daughter`s relationship with this man that was "too old for her".
She took Mamoru`s hands in hers.
"Come back to me, my prince..." she whispered softly.
His eyelids started to flutter, then opened. He had a look on his
face that reflected of his pain and confusion.
"What... hapened?" he asked with difficulty.
"You were in an accident; you broke your arm and bruised a few ribs
in addition to that big bump on your head, but you`ll be fine. The
doctor says you don`t have any hemorrages inside that thick skull
of yours." she said with a big smile of relief.
He looked at Usagi, searching hard to remember where he saw this
girl before.
"Do I know you?" he asked.
"What? You don`t... remember me, Mamoru?"
"Is that my name? I can`t seem to recall anything... just a vague
impression of speed and pain... nothing more."
Usagi was crushed. She wanted to tell him that she loved him with
all her heart, that he loved her too but the doctor had forbidden
this kind of revelation. She had to bite her lip to stop herself
from saying "I love you".
"Oh... well... I hope you remember soon." she said.
"Are you one of my friends or something?" he asked, curious.
"Yes... something like that." she said before leaving the hospital
room. Outside, her father was waiting for her. He didn`t lose a
second to scold his daughter.
"Listen to me, young lady! What were you thinking riding on a
motorcycle with that guy? You could have been killed if he had that
accident while you were with him! I`m starting to understand now
why you`ve been so erratic recently, sneaking out of the house so
late, failing all your exams; it`s HIM, isn`t it?" he said angrily.
"No, it`s not his fault!" Usagi said. She wanted to say she was
really Sailor Moon and that she was fighting evil at night, but
how could he understand that?
"Your mother and I have been thinking; we don`t want you to see
him anymore."
"WHAT? He needs me! He just had a big accident and lost all his
memory!"
"Then he won`t miss you. Come with us, young girl; we`re going
home."
Usagi followed her parents home, still under the shock of Mamoru`s
amnesia and the interdiction placed on her ever seeing him again.
* * *
That night, Usagi dreamed of Tuxedo Kamen again. It was not a dream
of music and dancing, however.
He was standing just out of reach of Usagi in a wall of mist, a rose
in his hand and a tear rolling down his cheek.
"Forgive me, my love it is here that we must take our separate ways."
he said.
He threw the rose to Usagi who caught it in her trembling hands.
While she was looking at the rose, Tuxedo Kamen disappeared in a
shroud of deep fog. The rose immediately died in her clutched hands,
leaving nothing but a few withered stray petals and the dead stem.
"No, don`t leave me! I love you!!!" she cried out in vain.
Usagi woke up in tears. She had slept very little that night and she
wouldn`t sleep again until morning came, unable to think of anything
else than of losing the only man she loved.
Luna tried to comfort her the best she could, to no avail.
* * *
In the morning, the sad Usagi went to school on her parents` order.
"It`ll make you think of something else." they said.
Unfortunately, it wasn`t that easy. Mamoru had left an imprint in
Usagi`s heart so deep that it couldn`t be rubbed out just like that.
"Usagi, what`s the matter? You`re even more spaced-out than usual."
said miss Haruna.
She began explaining about her boyfriend, his accident and subsequent
amnesia and how he lost his memory of her. She broke down in tears in
the middle of the story, bringing tears to all her classmates and her
teacher as well.
"Look, Usagi, I wouldn`t normally do this, but... maybe you should go
back home for today. You need to sort out your feelings. I`ll give
your work assignment to Naru so she can drop it by later, OK?" she
said with the compassion no one suspected a high school teacher
could have.
"Thank you." she said between two tears.
* * *
"The only thing I can remember clearly is waking up in this room
with a blonde girl by my side. Who was she, by the way? She didn`t
tell me her name." said Mamoru.
"Her name is Tsukino Usagi, she identified you for us since you
didn`t carry any identifications on you at the time of the
accident." said the doctor Samuel Hollander.
"This is weird. I can`t remember who I am, I`just a blank slate."
"That`s why I`m here. Since you can move around, now, we`ll transfer
you to the eastern wing of the hospital where I`ll treat you and
hopefully restore your memory."
* * *
Usagi entered her desert house; she was rarely there at all during
school hours so the house seemed almost alien by its silence. She
didn`t want to listen to this silence by herself, but all her
friends were in class right now and couldn`t come until much later.
She sat down at the kitchen table thinking over what the doctor had
said: HE MAY NEVER RECOVER AT ALL. Usagi felt a powerful clawed hand
grip her heart and crush it as she imagined a life without her
prince, her hero, her Mamoru. She cried for a long time, wishing
she could somehow forget about him and move on; this proved
impossible for every fibre of her being told her she loved him.
How could she ever live with the memories of their love while Mamoru
would not even know about their past relationship? Why was she
always the one cursed with the memory of their love? Three times
already she`d lost him, when he was brainwashed by Beryl, separated
from his memories after Beryl was destroyed and tricked into
believing he`d be the cause of her death.
She couldn`t take it anymore. She just wanted to forget it all and
comfort herself in a warm blanket of blissful ignorance. Maybe there
was a way to do it, she thought.
Usagi walked over to her parents` liquor cabinet and stared at the
many bottles containing various liquids of strange colours and names.
Her mom had always warned her about the dangers of drinking and she
always listened carefully; this time, however, her sorrow was too
great to handle.
"So, Usagi, what`s your poison?" she asked herself, seeking to
relieve some of the guilt she felt.
She picked up a bottle of american whisky, her hand shaking
nervously. She went to her room and sat down on her bed after
checking if Luna was still out on her meeting with Artemis.
Her first glass was a strange experience; the taste wasn`t very good
but not quite repulsive either, inviting in a cyanide sort of way.
She felt the liquid go straight down to her empty stomach and
burped instantly.
"No wonder people say you should never drink on an empty stomach;
too bad I`m not hungry." she thought.
The second glass was much easier to drink, going down more gently.
The following few glasses even began to taste good, even though her
head was spinning a little.
"This is not working." she sadly thought. "I`m still thinking of
him..."
As the glasses went down, she sunk deeper and deeper into both
intoxication and depression.
* * *
Hidden from public view in his private mansion, professor Tomoe
worked very hard on completing his latest plan to find the pure
hearts that held the three talismans that would release the holy
grail. He knew they were out there somewhere but couldn`t quite
figure out who had a heart pure enough to hold one. He did have
an idea, though, and was making the final touches on a daemon egg
to put his latest plan into action. All that remained was to inform
his leader of his intentions.
By a stange coincidence, she called him at the same time; her
silhouette appeared on the viewscreen and her voice resounded
through the perfect sound transmitters Tomoe had created
especially for his communication equipment.
"Professor, Eudial informs me that you have a new idea on how
to find the talismans." she said.
"Yes, that`s correct. Consider this blackboard of mine..." said
Tomoe as he pointed to a board covered with calculations, drawings
and half-complete plans written all over it. He had obviously used
a lot of time and chalk on that one. "Now imagine this is a heart
clogged up with a lifetime`s worth of memories, good and bad. Not
a pretty sight, is it?"
"Make your point, professor." she replied in a dry tone of voice.
"Let me clean it up a little, now..." he told, erasing the writings
and then wiping the board with a wet sponge. "With the memories
gone, the heart is cleansed... purified."
"So you`re suggesting we hunt for an amnesiac?" said the silhouette
on the screen.
"Exactly. My daemon egg is ready and so is Eudial. All I need is
your authorisation to proceed."
"Eudial has failed us a few times already, but I don`t think we have
much choice for now.... very well, send her off along with the egg.
just remember that our time grows shorter every day."
The screen went blank.
"Off you go, now, find me someone who doesn`t remember his own
name!" said the professor to the egg who floated out of the mansion.
It traveled unnoticed for a while until it entered the eastern wing
of the same hospital where Mamoru had been admitted the day before.
It went into the office of doctor Hollander and found a life size
plastic replica of a human skeleton; the egg imbedded itself inside
the cranial cavity and waited for a victim to walk by.
* * *
"Good thing we were there to pick up Usagi`s work, that way she
won`t miss out on any of the cool math problems we got today!" said
Umino to Naru as they approached Usagi`s home.
"If only Usagi had your enthusiasm for school, she`d have much better
grades." commented Naru. "Her parents aren`t home yet, they`re
probably busy somewhere. Let`s go in!"
The opened the unlocked door and noticed the whole place was silent.
The television wasn`t turned on in the living room, so Usagi wasn`t
there, they figured.
"She could be sleeping, she loves that as much as eating... well
maybe not THAT much." said Umino.
"Let`s go check her room; if she slept a little today, it would help
her feel better. I don`t think she slept much last night., with the
accident and all." whispered Naru to keep the noise down.
They were shocked to find Usagi completely drunk, in a half
conscious state akin to coma. She had an almost empty bottle of
whisky on her nightstand and was lying face down on her bed, moaning
and crying in her hands.
"He doesn`t... love me... anymore." she mumbled.
"Usagi, have you been DRINKING?" Naru asked, knowing the answer
already.
"Yeah... but it doesn`t work. I can still remember Tuxedo K... woops!
I`m not supposed to say that Mamoru is really Tuxedo Kamen! Big
secret, very hush hush. If Beryl found out, she`d... she`d still be
dead, wouldn`t she?" rambled Usagi.
"That`s just the alcohol talking." whispered Umino in Naru`s ear.
"Tell me about it." she whispered back. "How much have you had,
Usagi?" she then asked.
"Dunno. Lost count after (burp) four or five." said Usagi as she
lifted seven fingers wich she changed to five and to nine in a rapid
succession.
Umino remembered a book he read on the effects of alcohol and tried
to figure how much it would take to be dangerous to a girl like Usagi
who never had more than a small glass of wine. He did not like the
answer he came up with.
"Usagi, how many times have you thrown up so far?" he asked.
"None. Never throw up, you know... `ts genetic, I think." she
answered.
"Naru, throwing up is the body`s way of rejecting large amounts of
dangerous substances we swallow; if Usagi doesn`t relieve herself
of some of that alcohol soon, she`ll digest it all- that much
could actually KILL her." he told Naru discreetly.
"Go call an ambulance, I`ll stay here with her."
"Oh, Naru, I`m so tired... go beddy-bye now..." said Usagi, grossly
mispronouncing even the simplest of words as she slowly closed
her eyes.
"NO, USAGI! You have to STAY AWAKE!"
"Naru, I feel so baaaaaad! Please don`t let me die..." she whined.
"Help is on the way, you won`t die. I promise."
* * *
The small audience composed of patients from the eastern wing of the
largest Tokyo hospital applauded loudly as Michiru finished her
musical recital. Every week she would stop by and give a small
performance to an audience that needed all the cheering up it could
get.
Haruka, who was sitting in the last row, walked up to Michiru and
smiled.
"A moving performance, as always." she commented.
"Thank you. I`ve always felt that hospital patients are the most
receptive to music; maybe it`s their close contact with their own
mortality that opens up their soul to the beauty of sounds." said
Michiru.
"I believe I may have found our enemy`s next target right here in
this room." said Haruka, pointing to Mamoru who was talking with
Laurella.
"Why is he here?" asked Michiru, recognizing Usagi`s boyfriend.
"He lost his memory in an accident. He`s changed because of that,
he`s much more innocent, trusting... he is pure."
"I hope he`s not one of the talisman carriers. It would be a real
shame to sacrifice him, he`s so cute!" commented Michiru.
"Cuter than me?!?" asked Haruka with a smidgen of jealousy in her
voice.
"Of course not." replied Michiru, a seductive smile on her lips as
she looked Haruka straight in the eyes.
Over the intercom, a message echoed throughout the hospital as the
services of an experienced psychologist would be required for a
newly admitted patient: "Doctor Hollander at the emergency room
doctor Hollander!"
* * *
Samuel Hollander was shocked to see that his patient`s girlfriend
was taking his amnesia so bad; only a day had gone by and she was
already deep in depression, trying to drink herself out of her
sorrow.
"This can`t be the first time these two have serious trouble in
their relatonship." he thought, as Usagi was being dragged to have
her stomach pumped from the excessive amounts of liquor she so
irreverantly drank earlier.
"Your parents know you`re here, Usagi, they`ll arrive shortly."
said Umino who had taken care of warning everyone involved. He
once had a big crush on Usagi and now that he was a close friend
of hers, he wanted to help her as much as he could.
"I don`t care if they ground me `till I`m old enough to be the
ruler of Crystal Tokyo, it doesn`t matter now that he doesn`t
remember who I am..." whined Usagi, starting to cry again.
"Being drunk sure gave a kick to her imagination." thought Naru.
* * *
At the same moment her parents were ready to leave their house for
the hospital, Minako arrived there with Artemis and Luna. She tried
to convince them to let her come along as Usagi would surely need
her friends very much.
They reluctantly accepted.
* * *
Later that evening in her hospital room, Usagi slept off the
remaining alcohol in her system. Minako and the cats were watching
over her sleep, wondering how much pain she must have felt to go
that far.
"She`s always been a flake, but she was smart enough to stay off
alcohol before. I`m very disappointed in her." commented Luna.
"Cut her some slack, Luna, it`s never been easy for her. I can`t
begin to imagine the number of times she found and lost again the
man she loves; take it from me, losing someone you love can leave
deep scars that can bleed even years later." said Minako.
"I think it`s a sad day for her. It doesn`t matter what punishment
her parents give her tomorrow for doing this, it won`t match what
she`ll do to herself when she comes to. The guilt will follow her a
long time." added Artemis.
A knock at the door instantly commanded silence from the cats. If
anyone had heard their conversation, Minako was ready to pretend
having talked to herself. It was an all-purpose explanation she
had used a hundred times over at home when her parents heard her
talk with Artemis.
"Who is it?" she asked.
"An old friend." said a familiar voice. Laurella opened the door
and Minako immediately recognized her.
"Laurella?!? I thought you were still in Canada with your parents!"
she said, bewildered.
"And I thought you were still in England. Sometimes the world can be
a strange place... I saw you enter Usagi`s room, so I decided to
come and talk with you a while."
"You know Usagi?"
"I met Mamoru in the eastern wing, he told me about her... what
little he knew anyway. He doesn`t remember anything since the
accident, you know... Doc Hollander told me she was his girlfriend,
but I`d say they were much closer than that.... soul mates,
probably."
"You`re seeing a psychologist, Laurella? Nightmares again?"
"They`ve been getting worse every year. I keep having the same dream
every night, too... I`m in a beautiful victorian style reception on
the moon, you were there too and we were both sailor scouts...the
reception was going well, the guests were talking with ambassadors
from various kingdoms. At that point, Sailor Mars hands me a message
from Kitechnum Jendra saying that he`s waiting for me in the
library..." explained Laurella.
"Who`s this Kitechnum?" asked Minako.
The cats listened very carefully to the description of the dream, as
it ressembled the memories one would have of the moon kingdom had she
lived there in a previous life.
"My secret lover- I meet him there five minutes later; he`s really
handsome with his green guardian uniform. He says that it was a
really good idea I had to meet him there, but it wasn`t mine. Then,
it happens- Sailor Mars uses her powers to drain our essence, saying
she needs our powers to fulfill her duty, that we don`t deserve such
power. Countless voices scream as an entire planet is destroyed
and... we both die. It`s really horrible to feel so many people die,
even if it`s only a bad dream..." said Laurella.
"Why would Sailor Mars do such a thing?" asked Minako.
"That`s the strange part- in my dream, Sailor Mars has short
burning red hair. I`ve seen the sailor scouts in action a few months
ago and Sailor Mars has long jet black hair. She doesn`t look a
thing like the girl who kills me in my dream. Usagi, however, bears
an uncanny ressemblance to the moon princess, even though the
princess was a few years younger."
Usagi woke up with a terrible headache.
"Truth be told, I came here because doctor Hollander asked me to
talk with Usagi; she`s going through something I experienced before
and maybe I can help. It`s just a coincidence that you happened to
be there." said Laurella.
"Who are you and why are you speaking so loud?" asked Usagi. "Oh,
hello, Minako. I see you brought Luna..." she said, feeling
tremendous guilt at the sight of the black cat.
"My name is Laurella Hammerson. I know you`re feeling a lot of pain
right now, Usagi, but what you`re doing is wrong and can only lead
you further down into darkness."
"What do you know about my feelings?!? You didn`t lose your
boyfriend to amnesia like I did! This is the fourth time I lose him,
I can`t take much more of this!!!" Usagi said with anger, tears
rolling down her cheeks at the same time.
"I`ve been down that road, you know. You`re feeling a lot of pain.
Mine is to be constantly haunted by nightmares, terrible, awful
dreams that deprive me of any peace of mind. Much like you, I
searched desperately for inner peace I simply couldn`t find. You`ve
tried escaping from the pain with liquor and it`ll never work:
alcohol, drugs, I tried them all, often in combinations. It only
delays the inevitable, until your suffering catches up with you and
pins you down helpless. "
Minako listened to every word; she hadn`t seen her friend in over two
years and didn`t know she had been through so much since. Laurella
rarely opened herself up like this, but something about usagi
compelled her to confess even her greatest mistake, the one that she
never dared admitting, not even to herself. Maybe talking of her own
greatest error would avoid Usagi the mistake of commiting it herself.
"When your suffering does catch up and corners you against the wall,
you start to panic, thinking nothing or no one can ever help you
break free. At that point, you would do anything to make the pain
stop once and for all... ANYTHING." explained Laurella. She then
removed her wristbands, revealing the reason why she never took them
off in public: her wrists were scarred from terrible self-inflicted
slash marks. "I chose razor blades. If my mother hadn`t found me in
time, I wouldn`t be here to talk you out of repeating my own
mistakes."
Usagi and Minako were horrified; the cats could barely hold their
mouths shut from the sight of the scars.
"I`d never take it that far!" said Usagi with tears in her eyes.
"I didn`t think I would either, until it seemed like the only way
out. That`s why I have to remain here for now, the doctors thought
it best until they`re sure I`ve truly beaten my addictions and
gotten over my suicidal feelings." explained Laurella as she put
her wristbands back on. "These look weird if I don`t dress like I`m
into sports, you know."
"I`m just so sad he doesn`t remember me..." said Usagi.
"Don`t let despair eat you up, Usagi; you`re a wonderful girl, he
fell in love with you once and he`ll fall for you again. You should
trust his heart." said Minako who finally brought an ever so small
smile on her friend`s face. It wasn`t much but it was a start.
* * *
Mamoru nocked at the door of doctor Hollander`s office, right on
time for his daily appointment. The doctor opened the door with a
smile.
"Hello, Mamoru, how are you feeling today?" he asked.
"Better. I don`t feel any pain in my chest and the ringing in my
skull is gone. All I have left now is this cast on my arm."
"And your memory? Did anything come back so far?"
"Not really, just vague impressions of knowing things that won`t
return to me."
"Impressions are good, work on these, try to follow them to your
past; they`re usually good clues. I have an idea, why don`t we go
for a walk in the courtyard instead of staying locked up in here?"
"Sounds nice, let`s go."
As the doctor closed the office door behind them, neither men noticed
the skeleton model`s eyes lighting up; it had felt it`s target`s
presence and analysed its orders: find and capture.
Animated with unnatural life, the skeleton loosened itself from the
metal frame holding it in place and walked to the door, rearranging
its bones as it moved and sprouting several new ones as well; it now
truly looked like a daemon. Its eyes flashed with an evil red glow-
the target was NOT to escape.
It sent a signal to Eudial that the hunt was on.
* * *
On their way out, Mamoru and his doctor went by Usagi`s room where
she was being scolded by her parents for getting herself drunk. He
felt remorse for what he felt he was responsible for, somehow.
"That girl, Usagi..." he said. "...she was more to me than just a
friend, wasn`t she?"
"Yes, that`s true. She was crushed by your condition."
"If only I remembered anything at all, if I had a sign that I`ll
find myself again..." thought Mamoru. He then saw a bouquet of red
roses left on a cart in the corridor.
"Do you think I`d look good in a tuxedo?" he spontaneously asked.
"Yes, why?"
"I don`t know, just a thought."
* * *
The monstrous daemon advanced relentlessly in pursuit of his amnesia
victim, its every step accompanied by a sickening movement in the
skeletal structure that looked like ripples in a puddle after a rock
was thrown in. People screamed as they witnessed the demonic
creature and ran out of its way.
Usagi and her parents had the misfortune of coming out of her room
at the same moment the daemon was walking by.
* * *
A speeding red car came to a brutal stop in front of the hospital;
Eudial stepped out of her vehicule armed with her fire buster. She
was ready to steal Mamoru`s heart crystal.
"Come to me, sweetheart!" she whispered, rushing in the building as
more people were running out, scared away by the daemon. She came
face to face with Hollander and Mamoru; she recognized her target
from the visual data sent by the daemon earlier.
"Remember me, darling? Of course you don`t!" she said, laughing.
He barely had time to react before she shot him in the chest,
popping out his radiant heart crystal. She picket it up and Mamoru
fell unconscious.
"I don`t know what you did but I won`t let you attack my patients!"
screamed the doctor who attacked Eudial with his fists.
Eudial easily shoved him aside; a man in his fifties doesn`t really
stand a chance against one of the witches 5, does he? The deep
submerge attack hitting her in the back, however, was much more
successful in that regard, knocking her off her feet and sending
the crystal flying in the air. Sailor Uranus caught it in mid-flight.
"It`s not a talisman." she said, returning it to Mamoru.
"Our search goes on, then." said Sailor Neptune.
Seeing herself defeated once more and outnumbered as well, Eudial
decided she should adopt a more sensible strategy: flee like an
extra in a Godzilla movie, wich she did remarkably well. Uranus and
Neptune left the hospital too, leaving the matter of the daemon in
the capable hands of the sailor scouts.
* * *
"WHHAAAAAAA!" screamed Ikuko and Usagi as sharp plastic projectiles
flew all around.
"VENUS CRESCENT BEAM SMASH!" screamed Sailor Venus, sending a thin
beam of golden light to the monstrous beast. It slipped in-between
two ribs, failing to do any damage at all.
"I hate it when that happens..." she commented as the daemon
charged in the manner of a bull. The beast hit Sailor Venus hard
and smashed her on the wall, knocking her lights out for a while.
The daemon realized that Eudial was no longer there wich meant that
she either succeeded or failed in the mission; whatever the outcome,
the daemon`s orders were clear: stay behind and do a lot of damage
to cover Eudial`s escape.
Usagi wanted very much to transform into Sailor Moon and trash
this plastic freak job, but in her drunken stupor she had left her
transformation locket on her nightstand back home. The daemon
turned around and saw Laurella trying to hide in a corner behind a
desk; he walked up to her and grabbed her neck with its bony
fingers, squeezing hard to crush the life out of the young girl.
Luna, from her standpoint, was the only one to see shining on her
forehead the alchemical symbol of the dead planet Jendra as a
reaction to her peril: a circle joined to a symbol ressembling the
greek letter PSI.
"Of course! She`s Sailor Jendra, reincarnated after her death! I
remember now, she was killed by the original Sailor Mars like Rei
explained us, that`s why she has those nightmares; they`re really
memories of her previous life on the moon kingdom." thought the
black cat.
Unwilling to let a teenage girl get hurt by a monster, Usagi`s dad
jumped it from behind, forcing it to let go of its grip on Laurella.
The daemon turned its attention to him, however, and this was not
good.
Taking advantage of the distraction, Luna ran to Laurella.
"Quick, come with me, I have something for you!" said Luna.
"You can talk, kitty?"
"No time to explain, come!"
* * *
Mamoru ran down the corridor against the human flow that desperately
sought to escape the rampaging monster; he heard Usagi screaming and
wanted to save her even if that meant risking his own life in the
process. It was the right thing to do, he didn`t know why it felt
so familiar, though.
* * *
Luna jumped and somersaulted in the air, magically forming a silver
transformation pen marked with the symbol of Jendra.
"You see, Laurella, you`re a sailor scout too, just like Minako
is Sailor Venus! You`re Sailor Jendra and your friends need you
now!" said Luna.
Laurella picked it up and looked at it.
"What do I do with it?"
"Just like in your dreams- they`re memories of your past life, so
you should know what to do next, don`t you."
"I sure do... JENDRA STAR POWER... MAKEUP! "
Bright streaks of colored light surged out of the pen and surrounded
Laurella, replacing her jogging outfit with the white and silver
uniform of Sailor Jendra.
A millenium after her brutal murder at the hands of Celeste, Sailor
Jendra was back.
* * *
Removing a couple of its extra ribs, the plastic aberration made a
strong shackle that effectively neutralized Tsukino Kenji. With the
man out of the way, the monster moved on towards Usagi and her
mother who held each other real tight. Usagi refused outright to
abandon her mother who was paralyzed by fear.
Mamoru arrived and saw the monster who was about to strike with its
claws; without thinking, he picked up a rose from the bouquet on the
cart next to him and threw it with all his strenght. The rose struck
the beast and lodged itself in its eyesocket, stopping it
temporarily. This delay bought the women enough time to help Mamoru
free Kenji from his plastic shackle and get out of reach of the
plastic creature.
A young woman proudly wearing the colours of planet Jendra arrived
and stared at her first challenge: destroying the daemon that would
kill her friends if it wasn`t stopped.
"JENDRA CHROMATIC BLAST!" screamed Sailor Jendra, shooting an
intense beam of multicolored light from her hands; the beam hit the
creature right in the chest, melting many plastic components that
kept it going.
"Now for the final blow... JENDRA PRISMATIC SEVEN SLASHER!!!" she
yelled. Seven rings of all the rainbow colours spun around her hands;
she swung them all one by one in direction of the wounded monster,
turning them in sharper-than-knives boomerangs. The indigo, violet,
blue and green sliced off its hands and arms. The yellow and orange
sliced open the skull, leaving the daemon egg helpless to the final
red boomerang that split it in two right down the middle. The
infernal creation died instantly, its plastic components melting
slowly on the floor.
"Who... are you?" asked Usagi.
"I am Sailor Jendra, I fight for love and life." she said. She then
picked up the unconscious Sailor Venus in her arms and left in a
hurry.
Kenji went to his wife and daughter, hugging them both.
"I was so afraid I`d lose you both to that creature..." he said. He
looked at Mamoru, grateful for his intervention. "I`m sorry I
misjudged you, my daughter cares for you very much and now I know
why. You could have stayed away from that thing, yet you came back
to help us. Usagi, you can see him again if you want to, I won`t
stand in your way."
"Thanks, dad." she said. Usagi then went to Mamoru and looked at
him with her bright blue eyes. "Even if you don`t remember me,
I`ll stand by you."
"That`s sweet of you, meatball head." he said with a smile.
"Fighting that thing unlocked part of my memory."
"Am I in there?" she asked.
"Yes you are, my princess." he whispered, kissing her afterwards.
* * *
The following day, at the Cherry Hill temple, Makoto, Rei and Ami
were very happy to see that Usagi had gone through her ordeal and
came out stronger. Minako arrived at the temple a little later than
Usagi because she made a detour to bring someone else to the
meeting...
"Who is this, Minako?" asked Rei.
"This is my old friend Laurella." said Minako.
"It turns out she`s one of you." said Luna.
"Yes, I was Sailor Jendra in my past life." she said.
Rei remembered Technuma Saturn`s story and realized that it was
indeed possible for Sailor Jendra to have reincarnated as well.
"Wow, a sixth scout on the team! Glad to have you with us!" said
Rei.
"It`s good to be here with you again- my memories of the past
remain with me, but they`re not nightmares anymore. My nightmare is
over at last. Usagi, I have something for you..." said Laurella as
she pulled up the sleeves of her sweater and removed her wristbands
which she gave to Usagi. The scouts felt uneasy at the sight of the
nasty scars on her wrists. "I`ve decided not to run from my past
anymore. I`ll acknowledge it even if it hurts a bit at first.
Ignorance may be bliss, but knowledge is power, especially knowledge
about yourself."
"Well said!" said Usagi.
"That's rich, coming from a gril who flunks most of her tests..."
added Rei on a sarcastic tone.
"Hey, that was a cheap shot!" protested Usagi.
With Rei and Usagi arguing again, the other scouts knew that all
would turn out fine for Sailor Moon after all. Her tragic episode
was finally over.
The End