By Yohann DeSabrais
a.k.a. Technuma Saturn
CYCLES OF LIFE: EPISODE 9
SILVER SECRETS
In a golden age of peace and prosperity, the moon kingdom had become
an utopia of happiness and prosperity. Free of any danger, Queen
Serenity had created a civilisation based on knowledge and culture
unlike any that had ever existed. It was a model of perfection to
all of its allies, an ideal that could be attained as it was living
proof that such perfection was possible.
Young princess Usagi joined her mother in the royal gardens, a sad
look on her face. Serenity wondered what fate would await her
daughter in the coming years. She was only five years old, but her
life had already been shaped by the events following her birth.
"Mommy, I saw him again in my dreams last night." she said.
"Of course, my darling. His body may have passed away but his spirit
lives on in the new crystal he has forged." said Serenity, showing
her daughter a beautiful silver crystal.
"Mommy, please tell me the poem again." asked Usagi.
"You love to hear it, don`t you?" asked Serenity. The cute princess
nodded with enthusiasm, her frown gone from her face.
In an age of peace,
one must pay the price
to see it live on
make a great sacrifice.
For those you love,
give them hope to live.
Grant them a chance,
surrender your life.
Two hearts together,
beating forever-
survival of a soul
in the heart of Technazul.
At the sound of these words, the silver crystal glowed gently from
within to little Usagi`s amazement. Serenity smiled; she loved
seeing her daughter`s expression when she looked at the radiant
crystal.
"When can never thank you enough for what you did for us, dear
friend." she said, looking at the crystal.
A young girl approached them and gave a gracious salute to her
queen. She wore the white and silver uniform of Sailor Jendra.
Although she was undergoing the strict tutelage that would make
her a fearsome warrior, she couldn`t have been older than fifteen
years old. Laurella was the youngest of the scouts, the other ones
being at least twenty-five. Hesitant in taking a student, her mentor
Kitechnum Jendra had taken almost a decade longer than his brethren
in choosing an extraordinary young girl whom he would train.
"Greetings, my queen" said Laurella.
"Greetings, Laurella." replied the queen. "How goes your training
with Kitechnum?"
"Very good, I finally mastered the chromatic blast. Tomorrow, I`ll
start learning something called the seven slasher." said the scout
in training.
"Usagi was waiting for you. She loves to go skating, don`t you
darling?" asked Serenity.
"Yes, mommy!" said the joyous princess.
Usagi left with Laurella for the skating rink where the princess
showed great talent. She didn`t need anyone to help her skate; all
she really required was someone to tie her laces. Even if she could
do so herself, her mother would never let her go anywhere without
the protection from one of the sailor scouts. Usagi was really crazy
about them and wanted to be a scout herself when she grew up.
"I`ll be Sailor Moon!" she said to everyone. This always made people
smile.
In the meantime, she spent a lot of time playing and skating with all
of the scouts, except Sailor Mars. For some reason, Usagi had the
creeps about Celeste. Besides, the fire-haired girl considered this
a waste of time and would rather spend her spare hours in training to
become a more powerful scout.
The queen held the crystal close to her heart and repeated the last
verse of the poem, feeling love radiating from the crystal into her
being.
Two hearts together,
beating forever-
survival of a soul
in the heart of Technazul.
Laurella woke up with the rising sun, thinking over this dream she
just had. Often enough, her dreams were just repetitions of previous
dreams she already had. This one, however, was something new which
could help unlock the mysteries of the sailor scouts` past lives.
She`d have to discuss this one with the others, especially Usagi
and Luna.
* * *
Speaking of Usagi, she woke up as well... a little later than her
friends. Arising from her dreams, she smiled. For the past few days,
she and the other scouts had been remembering their days on the moon
kingdom the same way Laurella had all her life. Their nocturnal
visions were now bringing them rememberance of the long gone past.
"Hmmm... Luna, our lives on the moon kingdom were really beautiful."
she said to the waking black cat.
"Yes, they were." replied Luna, yawning.
Without warning, her little brother Shingo opened her door and
screamed.
"Wake up, ditz-brain, you`re gonna be late for school again!"
Usagi panicked for a second before realizing school had been over
for almost a week now.
"School`s out, you little weasel!" she replied, obviously annoyed.
"Oh, yeah, I forgot!" he said, laughing as he ran away fast enough
to avoid the pillow aimed at
his head.
"I can`t believe that little plague carrying vermin! Can`t he find
someone else to pester?" Usagi asked rethorically. Luna didn`t care
to answer that one.
"Say, Usagi, aren`t the other girls waiting for you to go shopping
today?" she asked.
"Hey, that`s right, I almost forgot." she said. She looked at the
clock and freaked. "NINE FOURTY FIVE?!? I`m so late, they`re going
to skin me alive!" she screamed, grabbing her clothes and breakfast
faster than the speed of sound.
Some things NEVER change, thought Luna.
* * *
With Makoto distracting Usagi by keeping her busy in the changing
room, Rei quickly went over the latest details of Usagi`s surprise
party for the benefit of Minako, Ami and Laurella.
"Makoto`s got the munchies angle covored- she`ll be preparing Usagi`s
favorite meal: food!" she explained.
"I`m not really sure what to give her; I haven`t known her as long
as you girls have." said Laurella.
"Don`t worry, we`ll help you out. She`s not hard to shop for." said
Ami.
Their secret conference was brutally interrupted by Makoto`s angry
wails with Usagi`s laughter in the background.
"The man who came up with *one size fits all* should be publicly
executed!" yelled Makoto.
"We`ll continue this later when we can distract the birthday girl
again." concluded Rei.
The unbelievably tall girl blasted out of the changing room holding
a bathing suit much too small for her, regardless of what the label
said. It doesn`t matter how much stretchable spandex is, every
fabric has its limits. Usagi followed, incapable of controlling her
laughter.
* * *
In another part of the same shopping mall, inside a video rental
store, Shingo was carefully going through the *american imports*
section, trying to find something interesting to watch.
"Let`s see..." he thought, "seen this... seen this... seen this
four times... hated that one... hey, this is new!"
He picked up a cassette of a show called "Aeon Flux". Sounds
promising, he thought. He took it to the register and showed his
membership card.
Two rows across, a pair of strange customers was pretending to
search for an action movie, but they were really observing Usagi`s
kid brother. They were a man and a woman dressed in clothes that
looked like an odd mix of american detective movies and futuristic
japanese anime. Both had long blond hair; the man kept his in a
simple ponytail while the woman wore it in an elaborate asian
braid. They seemed totally out of place.
They saw Shingo leave the store with his rented tape and left as
well to go drink a milkshake at a nearby snack bar from wich they
could keep most of the mall under surveillance. After fifteen
minutes of silence, the man spoke first.
"The ressemblance is too great to be a simple coincidence, it must
be him." he said.
"I felt the flux in him... weak, tired, but growing stronger as
time passes." she added.
"So what are we to do about him?" he asked.
"Nothing for now. She told us that what is meant to be always is,
to trust and believe in destiny." she said.
"Why does she always have to be so cryptic?"
"Beats me. If we knew why, she wouldn`t need to be, now, would
she?"
The woman`s explanation, though twisted in logic, made some kind of
sense to the man.
"I guess so. Being the first one of us to be created certainly made
a difference. To be honest, she always freaked me out." the man
admitted while her companion finished her drink.
"This is really good." she said. "I`m going to enjoy our stay with
the humans."
"Don`t enjoy yourself too much, we`re leaving once this assignment
is over." he concluded.
They left.
* * *
"Nothing like a nice pitstop in the park to refuel, don`t you think?"
asked Usagi between two bites of Makoto`s delicious cake.
"Yeah, it reminds me of those outings we made when we protected the
princess on the moon. We tagged along everywhere to protect her, but
there wasn`t anything to protect her from!" said Makoto.
"It`s nice to recover our memories like this, isn`t it?" asked
Minako.
"Yeah, especially with Luna going senile and all." added Usagi.
"Cut it with the senility jokes! It`s not my fault if my memories of
the moon kingdom are full of holes!" protested Luna. "A thousand
years stuck in a prototype cryopod will do that to you."
"Speaking of the moon kingdom, Luna, there`s something I wanted to
ask you. What do you know about the silver crystal? Where does it
come from?" asked Laurella.
"All I can remember is that it belonged to Queen Serenity who used
it to forge the moon kingdom into the peaceful utopia we remember
in our dreams." Luna replied.
"My dream last night hinted that there might be more to the crystal
than we thought. Does the name *heart of Technazul* ring a bell to
anyone?" Laurella asked.
This name intrigued the scouts who found that this name did sound
vaguely familiar. Laurella asked Usagi to show her the silver
crystal, that she wanted to demonstrate something weird. Usagi
opened her brooch, revealing the sparkling crystal. Laurella
proceeded to recite the last verse of the poem, the only one she
remembered from her dream.
Two hearts together,
beating forever-
survival of a soul
in the heart of Technazul
The crystal glowed at the sound of these words, just as it did in
the dream, to everyone`s amazement.
"Young princess Usagi made the same face in my dream when she looked
at the glowing crystal." said Laurella, smiling. This was very much
like that scene she remembered the previous night. "Queen Serenity
also mentionned someone making a new crystal to replace the original
one."
At that moment, dark clouds began blocking out the sun. Within
minutes, the entire sky was dark grey, thunder rolling in the
distance. Usagi freaked at the sound.
"Do you mind if we continue this later and go home instead?" she
asked, trembling at the idea of a thunderstorm.
"If our picnic is over, I`ll skip ahead and start get ready for my
date tonight." said Makoto as she picked out the blanket and dishes
strewn all over.
"Who`s the guy?" quickly asked Minako.
"One of the cooks at Cassidy`s restaurant; he looks just like my
ex-boyfriend" she said as she dashed away with the scared Usagi in
close pursuit.
"Wow, that`s a real coincidence!" said Laurella who got strange looks
from the other girls. "What?" she asked, wondering if she said
something wrong.
"I`ll explain you later." whispered Minako.
"Well, let`s not hang around until the rain catches us off guard!"
said Rei.
* * *
A few minutes ago atop one of downtown`s many skyscrappers, a
strange visitor from another dimension had materialized. He very
much enjoyed his view of the huge city.
This sort of thing happened so often in Tokyo that it hardly seemed
strange at all anymore. Yet another dark warrior intending on finding
the scouts had entered the city.
The storm clouds in the sky were not some random occurance; Jormunder
was widely known among the inhabitants of the tenth sphere as
Stormrider, and attracting storm clouds was a special talent of his.
That`s just the way he liked it.
Now for the final touch- thunder and lightning! From a sheath on
his back he pulled a skillfuly crafted two-handed sword. He looked
for a while at his most prized possession, the legendary Storm
Seeker. He smiled and brandished the sword in the air.
"Now, my seeker, fetch me a storm!!!" he screamed.
In response to his command, heavy rain began pouring down as
lightning tore the sky. Huge bolts of lightning struck the Storm
Seeker, increasing the power of Jormunder in the process. Japan
hadn`t seen such a strong storm in years.
Sparkles of pleasure tingled in his spine as the gusts of wind blew
through the skies and rain soaked his medieval looking clothes. The
raging elements fed his ever growing power and he loved it.
* * *
Rei and Laurella barely had the time to find shelter in a small
restaurant before the rain shut them in. They didn`t have any
umbrellas or raincoats, so they decided to go over the guest list
while they waited for the storm to calm down.
"Usagi must be terrified, she hates lightning." said Rei.
"Let`s hope it won`t be raining during her party." said Laurella.
"Okay, now, let`s see who else we`d like to invite..."
After an hour, Umino walked by the restaurant in the pouring rain
without anything to keep himself dry. His clothes were dripping wet
but he didn`t seem to care. Since Naru`s death, he hadn`t been the
same. Rei ran after him in the rain. She wanted to make sure he`d
get home soon and got himself dry so he didn`t catch a cold.
"Umino! Where are you going?" she asked.
"Don`t know. Somewhere I guess." he said coldly, clearly he didn`t
care.
"Umino, you shouldn`t stay alone like this. I know you miss her
terribly, but... she`s gone. She wouldn`t want you to be so sad!"
she told him.
Only thirty seconds had passed since she left the restaurant and
already she was drenched as he was.
"Right now, all I really want is to be alone." he said and walked
away.
Rei stood there and watched him disappear into the pouring rain
until Laurella came to get her back inside. She felt sorry for him.
"I wish he could meet someone nice to brighten his life again." Rei
said.
"He`s a sweet guy, he will." said Laurella.
* * *
Alone in her room with Luna, Usagi stared at the silver empirium
crystal inside her brooch. She felt like she was missing something
important.
"We`re having the worst thunderstorm in ages and you`re practically
not scared. There must be something special about the crystal,
that`s for sure." said Luna.
"Yes, I can feel it. Plus, this name, heart of Technazul, it fits
the crystal really well, I don`t know why." said Usagi.
"The memories from your dreams should help you figure it out
eventually."
"Yeah, you`re right." said Usagi. Lightning crashed once again and
Usagi felt her stomach twist in fear as it did. So much for that
new courage the crystal brought her.
* * *
Makoto left the movie theatre early, more depressed than ever about
her love life. Her date turned out to be another insensitive jerk
who was more interested in her body than her personality. She gave
him a free sample consisting of her right fist on his jaw.
"How do they do it? Finding nice guys... geez, Usagi and Rei don`t
know how good they have it." she complained.
She opened the umbrella she brought along with her and went home.
If only destiny would place a great guy on her way...
* * *
Stormrider let the power of the raging thunderstorm fill his entire
being. He was now ready to accomplish his mission, all he needed
was to attract the attention of the sailor scouts. He did it the
only way he knew how: destroying everything in sight. He rose Storm
Seeker in the air, turning himself into a living lightning rod. The
raw energy he stole from the sky charged up in his body; he
redirected it all around, damaging buildings and igniting parked
cars.
"Shouldn`t take too long now." he thought.
Shaping the winds in a small vortex around him, Jormunder hovered
in the air. He descended to street level where he continued his
thundrous rampage.
* * *
On her way to see Ami at her house, Minako met Umino by chance.
She rushed to cover him under her umbrella, although this proved
useless considering he was already wet to the bone.
"Umino, I haven`t seen you smile in a long time." she said, hoping
to see this situation change.
"I don`t feel like it anymore, now that she`s gone. Do you know how
it feels to lose the one person you love?" he asked.
"Yes, I do. The pain is overwhelming at first, but I learned that
you can`t let it rule your life "
Minako felt her right hand hurt a bit. This was one of those times
when she almost expected her scars to open up and bleed again like
the day she lost Jedite. She still believed herself partly
responsible for his death; during Jedite`s last battle against the
scouts, it was her love-me chain that prevented him from deflecting
the combined attacks of the scouts. If only she had recognized him
in time...
Umino seemed lost in that pain right now. It was all that occupied
his mind and nothing else could compare to the memory of his darling
Naru. Minako placed her hand on his shoulder, in an attempt to tell
him she understood his pain.
"Nothing is more tragic than losing a loved one. I understand you,
as hard as it seems to believe..." she said.
"That`s sweet of you, trying to cheer me up. You`re a really good
friend." answered Umino.
He gently removed her hand from his shoulder and went on his way.
"Please don`t cry for me, I`m already dead." he whispered so that
she wouldn`t hear.
* * *
The striking thunder crashing from the sky didn`t scare Makoto at
all. Unlike Usagi, she was a child of Jupiter, born of lightning. A
simple storm had no effect on her, if only to annoy her from the
water seeping inside her shoes.
The flying man shooting lightning bolts from his sword she saw going
down the street, however, was another barrel of monkeys.
Her love life would have to wait. A good fight would be welcome right
about then, Sailor Jupiter was always too busy fighting evil to
realize how lonely she felt in her everyday life. She didn`t want to
face such an unknown enemy by herself, though, especially one with
an entire storm at his command, so she called in her friends.
Fast and swift, they were there; Moon, Jupiter, Mars, Jendra, Venus
and Mercury. Jormunder held in the air, showing open contempt to the
law of gravity.
"About time you showed up, you almost made me wait. I have a message
for you all." he said.
"You did all this to... deliver a message?" asked Sailor Moon.
With his one free hand, Stormrider pulled a small crystal ball from
his vest pocket. A light beam emerged from it to form the larger
than life image of a woman unlike any the scouts had ever seen.
She was quite obviously a demon of some sort with squallid skin and
blood red eyes, small fangs gracing a wicked smile on her delicate
mouth. Her long hair had the same charred black color as her
leathery wings. Demon wings usually gave the impression that they
had been dipped in tar, but hers did not. All over her muscled body,
covering the most vital areas, were patches of an armored second
skin wich protected her as well as rendering clothes unnecessary.
Her clawed hands were just as delicately crafted as her well
sculpted feet wich looked nothing like those of other demons;
those usually looked like they were the third segment of her legs,
with the ankles acting as a second knee, but not so with this
female demon. She also had talons on her heels, completing
remarkably this twistedly attractive picture.
This demonic temptress held herself with style and distinction,
assuming an attitude that was very sexy, in an unholy sort of way.
If the catholic church ever attempted to personify sin as a
physical being, she would be it.
Then she spoke, her voice reverberating in head throbbing echoes
that were simply impossible to ignore, misunderstand or tune out.
"Let it be known to all on this day that Lady Daemonfang, ruler of
the tenth sphere, daughter of the fallen Lord Vennomklaw, wife and
widow of Ronmar the dread lord of darkness and first knightmare of
the spheres, claims for herself by law of Changraloor the right of
first vengence against those who destroyed her husband. I claim
their blood mine to spill, their bones mine to break, their skin
mine to tear, their lives mine to end and their souls mine to crush.
So Lady Daemonfang declares it, so be it known. " she declared in
the traditionnal fashion to the very last inflection.
Having declared her intentions of vengence and rightfully reserved
the honor to herself, the she-demon`s image disappeared.
"So my mistress says, so she will do in a week from now." said
Jormunder. In a flash of light, he vanished.
The rain and thunder stopped the instant Stormrider was gone. The
sailor scouts looked at each other in silence, unsure of what to
say. Usagi found the words to say it best:
"This is not good, is it?"
The clouds cleared up in a few minutes. Those in the sky, anyway.
* * *
Usagi settled in bed tired from the day, both physically and
mentally. Yet another demonic fiend had sworn her death today. She
hugged Luna and fell asleep, wondering if she`d ever get to live a
normal life with Mamoru, or if she`d even live old enough to get
married with him.
The hardships of reality faded and left their place to the unreal
wonders of dreams. Again that night, she saw the beautiful moon
palace from the priviliged view of the royal bedroom`s balcony. She
realized this was a dream and was hoping to get the answers she
sought. Usagi needed to talk to a very special woman; her mother in
her past life, Queen Serenity. Surely enough, she came to her once
again with that serene smile on her lips that never seemed to fade
away.
"Hello my daughter, I feel you full of questions as always." she
said in her soothing voice.
"Yes, the first one is about the silver empirium crystal. Where does
it come from?" Usagi asked, showing her mother the sparkling crystal.
"There is much you don`t know about the crystal, most of which you
learned in the moon kingdom when you came of age but forgot after
Beryl`s attack took you away from me a thousand years ago. It is
now time that you learn once again the truth about the crystals,
the comet and Technazul Terra."
"CRYSTALS? Plural, as in more than one?"
"Let me start at the beginning... you already know that the Technum
guardians trained the sailor scouts as the defenders of the moon
kingdom and, to a greater extent, the entire silver millenium.
Their creator, the Prime, was an ally of ours and his ambassador
was the guardian of the earth, Technazul Terra. He became a close
friend of the moon and helped me shape the kingdom into the paradise
you see in your dreams by combining his Technum powers with my
silver empirium crystal."
"So why don`t I ever see him in my dreams like the other guardians?
I see them often in my dreams, training the other scouts. Did he
train me as Sailor Moon?" wondered Usagi.
"You can never see him in your memories of the moon kingdom for a
simple reason: while you were still a newborn, a huge comet menaced
the moon of total destruction. I tried to use the silver crystal,
but the strain of so many centuries of constant use had made it
brittle and weak... it shattered, leaving the moon defenseless.
Unwilling to see us die, he risked everything by concentrating his
entire essence on the comet, smashing it to dust and sparing the
moon kingdom. His body passed away, unable to sustain its own life.
His spirit, however, returned to me and crystallized into a new
silver empirium crystal, the heart of Technazul, wich you keep in
your brooch every day, my daughter."
"It was courageous to surrender his life, but... why did he do it?
Don`t the guardians consider this interference with the natural
order of the solar system or something?"
"He had a good reason to do so. You see, We had known each other for
over four centuries already. As the years went by, our alliance
became stronger; trust grew into friendship and friendship bloomed
into love. From this love was born a beautiful little blonde girl,
the most wonderful child in the world. Your father refused to see
your future destroyed, my dear Usagi."
"My father is the Technum guardian of earth..." said Usagi to
herself, hardly believing it.
"Yes, and his spirit his alive in the silver crystal, protecting
you by allowing you to transform into Sailor Moon. When you grew
up on the moon kingdom, he came in your dreams to teach you to be
this warrior you had dreamed of becoming as a child."
"Then why did he stop visiting my dreams?" asked Usagi.
"Preserving the souls of the children of the moon a thousand years
ago has taken much of his strength, but fear not. As you continue
your crusade against all evil, he will progressively grow strong
again until he can visit your dreams, one day..."
The poem made sense now, and sounded beautiful to her ears. She
recited it along with Serenity, the crystal glowing stronger than
ever before, showing Technazul`s love for his wife and daughter.
Serenity kissed Usagi on her forehead and reassured her.
"Remember that destiny is watching us always, nothing happens in
vain and true love can never be broken. Your friend Umino will not
suffer in vain." she said.
"What do you mean?" asked Usagi.
"You`ll see."
The moon palace vanished and the dream fluttered away into the night
like a butterfly.
* * *
EPILOGUE...
In the darkness of the night, a bright red spot twinkled in the
bathroom of a luxurious house, giving away a lonely young girl
taking a hot bath with the only light provided by the waning moon.
Blue smoke rings drifted above Laurella`s head, mixing slowly with
the steam from the hot bath. Her parents disapproved of her smoking
in general and in the bath in particular, but right now she didn`t
give a damn, really.
For the first time since her haunting nightmares stopped, she didn`t
care to sleep. She knew all too well she`d probably dream about him
again. In her former life, she was in love with the guardian who
trained her as a scout, Kitechnum Jendra. As far as she knew, she
still was. Laurella didn`t feel like reminiscing of her former life
in her sleep; she did enough of that when she was awake.
She had hoped that he might have reincarnated like princess Usagi
and prince Endymion did, that they could be reunited again. When
the scouts fought the triad, her hopes came true. The Technum blast
that broke Vortika`s spell was his, she was sure. She felt this
very same energy during her scout training. It was HIM, no doubt
about it.
Laurella had kept the secret so far, but she`d have to tell the
scouts at some point: Kitechnum Jendra was alive and watching over
the scouts.
The End
a.k.a. Technuma Saturn
CYCLES OF LIFE: EPISODE 9
SILVER SECRETS
In a golden age of peace and prosperity, the moon kingdom had become
an utopia of happiness and prosperity. Free of any danger, Queen
Serenity had created a civilisation based on knowledge and culture
unlike any that had ever existed. It was a model of perfection to
all of its allies, an ideal that could be attained as it was living
proof that such perfection was possible.
Young princess Usagi joined her mother in the royal gardens, a sad
look on her face. Serenity wondered what fate would await her
daughter in the coming years. She was only five years old, but her
life had already been shaped by the events following her birth.
"Mommy, I saw him again in my dreams last night." she said.
"Of course, my darling. His body may have passed away but his spirit
lives on in the new crystal he has forged." said Serenity, showing
her daughter a beautiful silver crystal.
"Mommy, please tell me the poem again." asked Usagi.
"You love to hear it, don`t you?" asked Serenity. The cute princess
nodded with enthusiasm, her frown gone from her face.
In an age of peace,
one must pay the price
to see it live on
make a great sacrifice.
For those you love,
give them hope to live.
Grant them a chance,
surrender your life.
Two hearts together,
beating forever-
survival of a soul
in the heart of Technazul.
At the sound of these words, the silver crystal glowed gently from
within to little Usagi`s amazement. Serenity smiled; she loved
seeing her daughter`s expression when she looked at the radiant
crystal.
"When can never thank you enough for what you did for us, dear
friend." she said, looking at the crystal.
A young girl approached them and gave a gracious salute to her
queen. She wore the white and silver uniform of Sailor Jendra.
Although she was undergoing the strict tutelage that would make
her a fearsome warrior, she couldn`t have been older than fifteen
years old. Laurella was the youngest of the scouts, the other ones
being at least twenty-five. Hesitant in taking a student, her mentor
Kitechnum Jendra had taken almost a decade longer than his brethren
in choosing an extraordinary young girl whom he would train.
"Greetings, my queen" said Laurella.
"Greetings, Laurella." replied the queen. "How goes your training
with Kitechnum?"
"Very good, I finally mastered the chromatic blast. Tomorrow, I`ll
start learning something called the seven slasher." said the scout
in training.
"Usagi was waiting for you. She loves to go skating, don`t you
darling?" asked Serenity.
"Yes, mommy!" said the joyous princess.
Usagi left with Laurella for the skating rink where the princess
showed great talent. She didn`t need anyone to help her skate; all
she really required was someone to tie her laces. Even if she could
do so herself, her mother would never let her go anywhere without
the protection from one of the sailor scouts. Usagi was really crazy
about them and wanted to be a scout herself when she grew up.
"I`ll be Sailor Moon!" she said to everyone. This always made people
smile.
In the meantime, she spent a lot of time playing and skating with all
of the scouts, except Sailor Mars. For some reason, Usagi had the
creeps about Celeste. Besides, the fire-haired girl considered this
a waste of time and would rather spend her spare hours in training to
become a more powerful scout.
The queen held the crystal close to her heart and repeated the last
verse of the poem, feeling love radiating from the crystal into her
being.
Two hearts together,
beating forever-
survival of a soul
in the heart of Technazul.
Laurella woke up with the rising sun, thinking over this dream she
just had. Often enough, her dreams were just repetitions of previous
dreams she already had. This one, however, was something new which
could help unlock the mysteries of the sailor scouts` past lives.
She`d have to discuss this one with the others, especially Usagi
and Luna.
* * *
Speaking of Usagi, she woke up as well... a little later than her
friends. Arising from her dreams, she smiled. For the past few days,
she and the other scouts had been remembering their days on the moon
kingdom the same way Laurella had all her life. Their nocturnal
visions were now bringing them rememberance of the long gone past.
"Hmmm... Luna, our lives on the moon kingdom were really beautiful."
she said to the waking black cat.
"Yes, they were." replied Luna, yawning.
Without warning, her little brother Shingo opened her door and
screamed.
"Wake up, ditz-brain, you`re gonna be late for school again!"
Usagi panicked for a second before realizing school had been over
for almost a week now.
"School`s out, you little weasel!" she replied, obviously annoyed.
"Oh, yeah, I forgot!" he said, laughing as he ran away fast enough
to avoid the pillow aimed at
his head.
"I can`t believe that little plague carrying vermin! Can`t he find
someone else to pester?" Usagi asked rethorically. Luna didn`t care
to answer that one.
"Say, Usagi, aren`t the other girls waiting for you to go shopping
today?" she asked.
"Hey, that`s right, I almost forgot." she said. She looked at the
clock and freaked. "NINE FOURTY FIVE?!? I`m so late, they`re going
to skin me alive!" she screamed, grabbing her clothes and breakfast
faster than the speed of sound.
Some things NEVER change, thought Luna.
* * *
With Makoto distracting Usagi by keeping her busy in the changing
room, Rei quickly went over the latest details of Usagi`s surprise
party for the benefit of Minako, Ami and Laurella.
"Makoto`s got the munchies angle covored- she`ll be preparing Usagi`s
favorite meal: food!" she explained.
"I`m not really sure what to give her; I haven`t known her as long
as you girls have." said Laurella.
"Don`t worry, we`ll help you out. She`s not hard to shop for." said
Ami.
Their secret conference was brutally interrupted by Makoto`s angry
wails with Usagi`s laughter in the background.
"The man who came up with *one size fits all* should be publicly
executed!" yelled Makoto.
"We`ll continue this later when we can distract the birthday girl
again." concluded Rei.
The unbelievably tall girl blasted out of the changing room holding
a bathing suit much too small for her, regardless of what the label
said. It doesn`t matter how much stretchable spandex is, every
fabric has its limits. Usagi followed, incapable of controlling her
laughter.
* * *
In another part of the same shopping mall, inside a video rental
store, Shingo was carefully going through the *american imports*
section, trying to find something interesting to watch.
"Let`s see..." he thought, "seen this... seen this... seen this
four times... hated that one... hey, this is new!"
He picked up a cassette of a show called "Aeon Flux". Sounds
promising, he thought. He took it to the register and showed his
membership card.
Two rows across, a pair of strange customers was pretending to
search for an action movie, but they were really observing Usagi`s
kid brother. They were a man and a woman dressed in clothes that
looked like an odd mix of american detective movies and futuristic
japanese anime. Both had long blond hair; the man kept his in a
simple ponytail while the woman wore it in an elaborate asian
braid. They seemed totally out of place.
They saw Shingo leave the store with his rented tape and left as
well to go drink a milkshake at a nearby snack bar from wich they
could keep most of the mall under surveillance. After fifteen
minutes of silence, the man spoke first.
"The ressemblance is too great to be a simple coincidence, it must
be him." he said.
"I felt the flux in him... weak, tired, but growing stronger as
time passes." she added.
"So what are we to do about him?" he asked.
"Nothing for now. She told us that what is meant to be always is,
to trust and believe in destiny." she said.
"Why does she always have to be so cryptic?"
"Beats me. If we knew why, she wouldn`t need to be, now, would
she?"
The woman`s explanation, though twisted in logic, made some kind of
sense to the man.
"I guess so. Being the first one of us to be created certainly made
a difference. To be honest, she always freaked me out." the man
admitted while her companion finished her drink.
"This is really good." she said. "I`m going to enjoy our stay with
the humans."
"Don`t enjoy yourself too much, we`re leaving once this assignment
is over." he concluded.
They left.
* * *
"Nothing like a nice pitstop in the park to refuel, don`t you think?"
asked Usagi between two bites of Makoto`s delicious cake.
"Yeah, it reminds me of those outings we made when we protected the
princess on the moon. We tagged along everywhere to protect her, but
there wasn`t anything to protect her from!" said Makoto.
"It`s nice to recover our memories like this, isn`t it?" asked
Minako.
"Yeah, especially with Luna going senile and all." added Usagi.
"Cut it with the senility jokes! It`s not my fault if my memories of
the moon kingdom are full of holes!" protested Luna. "A thousand
years stuck in a prototype cryopod will do that to you."
"Speaking of the moon kingdom, Luna, there`s something I wanted to
ask you. What do you know about the silver crystal? Where does it
come from?" asked Laurella.
"All I can remember is that it belonged to Queen Serenity who used
it to forge the moon kingdom into the peaceful utopia we remember
in our dreams." Luna replied.
"My dream last night hinted that there might be more to the crystal
than we thought. Does the name *heart of Technazul* ring a bell to
anyone?" Laurella asked.
This name intrigued the scouts who found that this name did sound
vaguely familiar. Laurella asked Usagi to show her the silver
crystal, that she wanted to demonstrate something weird. Usagi
opened her brooch, revealing the sparkling crystal. Laurella
proceeded to recite the last verse of the poem, the only one she
remembered from her dream.
Two hearts together,
beating forever-
survival of a soul
in the heart of Technazul
The crystal glowed at the sound of these words, just as it did in
the dream, to everyone`s amazement.
"Young princess Usagi made the same face in my dream when she looked
at the glowing crystal." said Laurella, smiling. This was very much
like that scene she remembered the previous night. "Queen Serenity
also mentionned someone making a new crystal to replace the original
one."
At that moment, dark clouds began blocking out the sun. Within
minutes, the entire sky was dark grey, thunder rolling in the
distance. Usagi freaked at the sound.
"Do you mind if we continue this later and go home instead?" she
asked, trembling at the idea of a thunderstorm.
"If our picnic is over, I`ll skip ahead and start get ready for my
date tonight." said Makoto as she picked out the blanket and dishes
strewn all over.
"Who`s the guy?" quickly asked Minako.
"One of the cooks at Cassidy`s restaurant; he looks just like my
ex-boyfriend" she said as she dashed away with the scared Usagi in
close pursuit.
"Wow, that`s a real coincidence!" said Laurella who got strange looks
from the other girls. "What?" she asked, wondering if she said
something wrong.
"I`ll explain you later." whispered Minako.
"Well, let`s not hang around until the rain catches us off guard!"
said Rei.
* * *
A few minutes ago atop one of downtown`s many skyscrappers, a
strange visitor from another dimension had materialized. He very
much enjoyed his view of the huge city.
This sort of thing happened so often in Tokyo that it hardly seemed
strange at all anymore. Yet another dark warrior intending on finding
the scouts had entered the city.
The storm clouds in the sky were not some random occurance; Jormunder
was widely known among the inhabitants of the tenth sphere as
Stormrider, and attracting storm clouds was a special talent of his.
That`s just the way he liked it.
Now for the final touch- thunder and lightning! From a sheath on
his back he pulled a skillfuly crafted two-handed sword. He looked
for a while at his most prized possession, the legendary Storm
Seeker. He smiled and brandished the sword in the air.
"Now, my seeker, fetch me a storm!!!" he screamed.
In response to his command, heavy rain began pouring down as
lightning tore the sky. Huge bolts of lightning struck the Storm
Seeker, increasing the power of Jormunder in the process. Japan
hadn`t seen such a strong storm in years.
Sparkles of pleasure tingled in his spine as the gusts of wind blew
through the skies and rain soaked his medieval looking clothes. The
raging elements fed his ever growing power and he loved it.
* * *
Rei and Laurella barely had the time to find shelter in a small
restaurant before the rain shut them in. They didn`t have any
umbrellas or raincoats, so they decided to go over the guest list
while they waited for the storm to calm down.
"Usagi must be terrified, she hates lightning." said Rei.
"Let`s hope it won`t be raining during her party." said Laurella.
"Okay, now, let`s see who else we`d like to invite..."
After an hour, Umino walked by the restaurant in the pouring rain
without anything to keep himself dry. His clothes were dripping wet
but he didn`t seem to care. Since Naru`s death, he hadn`t been the
same. Rei ran after him in the rain. She wanted to make sure he`d
get home soon and got himself dry so he didn`t catch a cold.
"Umino! Where are you going?" she asked.
"Don`t know. Somewhere I guess." he said coldly, clearly he didn`t
care.
"Umino, you shouldn`t stay alone like this. I know you miss her
terribly, but... she`s gone. She wouldn`t want you to be so sad!"
she told him.
Only thirty seconds had passed since she left the restaurant and
already she was drenched as he was.
"Right now, all I really want is to be alone." he said and walked
away.
Rei stood there and watched him disappear into the pouring rain
until Laurella came to get her back inside. She felt sorry for him.
"I wish he could meet someone nice to brighten his life again." Rei
said.
"He`s a sweet guy, he will." said Laurella.
* * *
Alone in her room with Luna, Usagi stared at the silver empirium
crystal inside her brooch. She felt like she was missing something
important.
"We`re having the worst thunderstorm in ages and you`re practically
not scared. There must be something special about the crystal,
that`s for sure." said Luna.
"Yes, I can feel it. Plus, this name, heart of Technazul, it fits
the crystal really well, I don`t know why." said Usagi.
"The memories from your dreams should help you figure it out
eventually."
"Yeah, you`re right." said Usagi. Lightning crashed once again and
Usagi felt her stomach twist in fear as it did. So much for that
new courage the crystal brought her.
* * *
Makoto left the movie theatre early, more depressed than ever about
her love life. Her date turned out to be another insensitive jerk
who was more interested in her body than her personality. She gave
him a free sample consisting of her right fist on his jaw.
"How do they do it? Finding nice guys... geez, Usagi and Rei don`t
know how good they have it." she complained.
She opened the umbrella she brought along with her and went home.
If only destiny would place a great guy on her way...
* * *
Stormrider let the power of the raging thunderstorm fill his entire
being. He was now ready to accomplish his mission, all he needed
was to attract the attention of the sailor scouts. He did it the
only way he knew how: destroying everything in sight. He rose Storm
Seeker in the air, turning himself into a living lightning rod. The
raw energy he stole from the sky charged up in his body; he
redirected it all around, damaging buildings and igniting parked
cars.
"Shouldn`t take too long now." he thought.
Shaping the winds in a small vortex around him, Jormunder hovered
in the air. He descended to street level where he continued his
thundrous rampage.
* * *
On her way to see Ami at her house, Minako met Umino by chance.
She rushed to cover him under her umbrella, although this proved
useless considering he was already wet to the bone.
"Umino, I haven`t seen you smile in a long time." she said, hoping
to see this situation change.
"I don`t feel like it anymore, now that she`s gone. Do you know how
it feels to lose the one person you love?" he asked.
"Yes, I do. The pain is overwhelming at first, but I learned that
you can`t let it rule your life "
Minako felt her right hand hurt a bit. This was one of those times
when she almost expected her scars to open up and bleed again like
the day she lost Jedite. She still believed herself partly
responsible for his death; during Jedite`s last battle against the
scouts, it was her love-me chain that prevented him from deflecting
the combined attacks of the scouts. If only she had recognized him
in time...
Umino seemed lost in that pain right now. It was all that occupied
his mind and nothing else could compare to the memory of his darling
Naru. Minako placed her hand on his shoulder, in an attempt to tell
him she understood his pain.
"Nothing is more tragic than losing a loved one. I understand you,
as hard as it seems to believe..." she said.
"That`s sweet of you, trying to cheer me up. You`re a really good
friend." answered Umino.
He gently removed her hand from his shoulder and went on his way.
"Please don`t cry for me, I`m already dead." he whispered so that
she wouldn`t hear.
* * *
The striking thunder crashing from the sky didn`t scare Makoto at
all. Unlike Usagi, she was a child of Jupiter, born of lightning. A
simple storm had no effect on her, if only to annoy her from the
water seeping inside her shoes.
The flying man shooting lightning bolts from his sword she saw going
down the street, however, was another barrel of monkeys.
Her love life would have to wait. A good fight would be welcome right
about then, Sailor Jupiter was always too busy fighting evil to
realize how lonely she felt in her everyday life. She didn`t want to
face such an unknown enemy by herself, though, especially one with
an entire storm at his command, so she called in her friends.
Fast and swift, they were there; Moon, Jupiter, Mars, Jendra, Venus
and Mercury. Jormunder held in the air, showing open contempt to the
law of gravity.
"About time you showed up, you almost made me wait. I have a message
for you all." he said.
"You did all this to... deliver a message?" asked Sailor Moon.
With his one free hand, Stormrider pulled a small crystal ball from
his vest pocket. A light beam emerged from it to form the larger
than life image of a woman unlike any the scouts had ever seen.
She was quite obviously a demon of some sort with squallid skin and
blood red eyes, small fangs gracing a wicked smile on her delicate
mouth. Her long hair had the same charred black color as her
leathery wings. Demon wings usually gave the impression that they
had been dipped in tar, but hers did not. All over her muscled body,
covering the most vital areas, were patches of an armored second
skin wich protected her as well as rendering clothes unnecessary.
Her clawed hands were just as delicately crafted as her well
sculpted feet wich looked nothing like those of other demons;
those usually looked like they were the third segment of her legs,
with the ankles acting as a second knee, but not so with this
female demon. She also had talons on her heels, completing
remarkably this twistedly attractive picture.
This demonic temptress held herself with style and distinction,
assuming an attitude that was very sexy, in an unholy sort of way.
If the catholic church ever attempted to personify sin as a
physical being, she would be it.
Then she spoke, her voice reverberating in head throbbing echoes
that were simply impossible to ignore, misunderstand or tune out.
"Let it be known to all on this day that Lady Daemonfang, ruler of
the tenth sphere, daughter of the fallen Lord Vennomklaw, wife and
widow of Ronmar the dread lord of darkness and first knightmare of
the spheres, claims for herself by law of Changraloor the right of
first vengence against those who destroyed her husband. I claim
their blood mine to spill, their bones mine to break, their skin
mine to tear, their lives mine to end and their souls mine to crush.
So Lady Daemonfang declares it, so be it known. " she declared in
the traditionnal fashion to the very last inflection.
Having declared her intentions of vengence and rightfully reserved
the honor to herself, the she-demon`s image disappeared.
"So my mistress says, so she will do in a week from now." said
Jormunder. In a flash of light, he vanished.
The rain and thunder stopped the instant Stormrider was gone. The
sailor scouts looked at each other in silence, unsure of what to
say. Usagi found the words to say it best:
"This is not good, is it?"
The clouds cleared up in a few minutes. Those in the sky, anyway.
* * *
Usagi settled in bed tired from the day, both physically and
mentally. Yet another demonic fiend had sworn her death today. She
hugged Luna and fell asleep, wondering if she`d ever get to live a
normal life with Mamoru, or if she`d even live old enough to get
married with him.
The hardships of reality faded and left their place to the unreal
wonders of dreams. Again that night, she saw the beautiful moon
palace from the priviliged view of the royal bedroom`s balcony. She
realized this was a dream and was hoping to get the answers she
sought. Usagi needed to talk to a very special woman; her mother in
her past life, Queen Serenity. Surely enough, she came to her once
again with that serene smile on her lips that never seemed to fade
away.
"Hello my daughter, I feel you full of questions as always." she
said in her soothing voice.
"Yes, the first one is about the silver empirium crystal. Where does
it come from?" Usagi asked, showing her mother the sparkling crystal.
"There is much you don`t know about the crystal, most of which you
learned in the moon kingdom when you came of age but forgot after
Beryl`s attack took you away from me a thousand years ago. It is
now time that you learn once again the truth about the crystals,
the comet and Technazul Terra."
"CRYSTALS? Plural, as in more than one?"
"Let me start at the beginning... you already know that the Technum
guardians trained the sailor scouts as the defenders of the moon
kingdom and, to a greater extent, the entire silver millenium.
Their creator, the Prime, was an ally of ours and his ambassador
was the guardian of the earth, Technazul Terra. He became a close
friend of the moon and helped me shape the kingdom into the paradise
you see in your dreams by combining his Technum powers with my
silver empirium crystal."
"So why don`t I ever see him in my dreams like the other guardians?
I see them often in my dreams, training the other scouts. Did he
train me as Sailor Moon?" wondered Usagi.
"You can never see him in your memories of the moon kingdom for a
simple reason: while you were still a newborn, a huge comet menaced
the moon of total destruction. I tried to use the silver crystal,
but the strain of so many centuries of constant use had made it
brittle and weak... it shattered, leaving the moon defenseless.
Unwilling to see us die, he risked everything by concentrating his
entire essence on the comet, smashing it to dust and sparing the
moon kingdom. His body passed away, unable to sustain its own life.
His spirit, however, returned to me and crystallized into a new
silver empirium crystal, the heart of Technazul, wich you keep in
your brooch every day, my daughter."
"It was courageous to surrender his life, but... why did he do it?
Don`t the guardians consider this interference with the natural
order of the solar system or something?"
"He had a good reason to do so. You see, We had known each other for
over four centuries already. As the years went by, our alliance
became stronger; trust grew into friendship and friendship bloomed
into love. From this love was born a beautiful little blonde girl,
the most wonderful child in the world. Your father refused to see
your future destroyed, my dear Usagi."
"My father is the Technum guardian of earth..." said Usagi to
herself, hardly believing it.
"Yes, and his spirit his alive in the silver crystal, protecting
you by allowing you to transform into Sailor Moon. When you grew
up on the moon kingdom, he came in your dreams to teach you to be
this warrior you had dreamed of becoming as a child."
"Then why did he stop visiting my dreams?" asked Usagi.
"Preserving the souls of the children of the moon a thousand years
ago has taken much of his strength, but fear not. As you continue
your crusade against all evil, he will progressively grow strong
again until he can visit your dreams, one day..."
The poem made sense now, and sounded beautiful to her ears. She
recited it along with Serenity, the crystal glowing stronger than
ever before, showing Technazul`s love for his wife and daughter.
Serenity kissed Usagi on her forehead and reassured her.
"Remember that destiny is watching us always, nothing happens in
vain and true love can never be broken. Your friend Umino will not
suffer in vain." she said.
"What do you mean?" asked Usagi.
"You`ll see."
The moon palace vanished and the dream fluttered away into the night
like a butterfly.
* * *
EPILOGUE...
In the darkness of the night, a bright red spot twinkled in the
bathroom of a luxurious house, giving away a lonely young girl
taking a hot bath with the only light provided by the waning moon.
Blue smoke rings drifted above Laurella`s head, mixing slowly with
the steam from the hot bath. Her parents disapproved of her smoking
in general and in the bath in particular, but right now she didn`t
give a damn, really.
For the first time since her haunting nightmares stopped, she didn`t
care to sleep. She knew all too well she`d probably dream about him
again. In her former life, she was in love with the guardian who
trained her as a scout, Kitechnum Jendra. As far as she knew, she
still was. Laurella didn`t feel like reminiscing of her former life
in her sleep; she did enough of that when she was awake.
She had hoped that he might have reincarnated like princess Usagi
and prince Endymion did, that they could be reunited again. When
the scouts fought the triad, her hopes came true. The Technum blast
that broke Vortika`s spell was his, she was sure. She felt this
very same energy during her scout training. It was HIM, no doubt
about it.
Laurella had kept the secret so far, but she`d have to tell the
scouts at some point: Kitechnum Jendra was alive and watching over
the scouts.
The End