A Double Edged Sword Part 6
Remember Me
By
Sailor Janus
As the three elder outer sailor senshi drove quickly to the hospital for the meeting, Usagi, Minako, Makoto, and Hotaru successfully convinced Ami to skip the rest of school with them and were now running as fast as the could on foot. Luckily, Mamoru spotted them on his way to work
"What's wrong? Shouldn't you girls be in school?" he asked with a look of concern in his blue eyes.
Minako winced and bent over, trying to catch her breath. Ami did the same as Hotaru leaned against Makoto, trying to regain her composure as she heavily panted. "Hos…pit…al."
The brunette nodded and took a few breaths before she gasped, "Going…. to…. Hospital."
"Take….. us?" Usagi asked, also out of breath, stumbling over to the car, doing her best exhausted puppy dog eyes.
Mamoru's face tensed as he looked at the five girls. "Alright. Climb in."
The girls happily obliged and quickly jumped into the sports car. Usagi sat in the front seat as the other four crammed into the back. Ami explained to Mamoru the strange situations concerning Deidera and why they needed to go to the hospital. It wasn't until long that they arrived at their destination.
*~*~*~*
Rei was already in the waiting room awaiting everyone's arrival. The outers were the next of the group to enter the building. They glanced at her and nodded their heads then chose a place to either sit or stand.
Finally the rest of girls and Mamoru arrived, Usagi was clutching to him as the other girls walked on ahead. Everyone was completely silent. They really had no idea what to say. They did not understand what was going on and wished they did. Here was a new sailor senshi whom had some awful rumors spread about her past whether they were true or not was still unknown. Strangely she then went from being perfectly normal to having extreme mood swings ending with what appeared to be mass hysteria.
"Something just doesn't add up," Rei said, breaking the silence.
"What?" Minako asked, relieved that someone was finally talking. She smiled lightly and took a seat near the magazine rack.
"What happened to Deidera. When we met her that day when she became Sailor Janus, she appeared normal. Now this? It doesn't make sense!"
The green haired woman thought about the Silver Millennium for a moment. Although it was difficult to try to recall what Janus was like then, which accounts for her present self she didn't remember her as being crazy.
Hotaru just sat against the wall biting her lip. 'Why is it whenever I can make a friend something always goes wrong?!' Chibi Usa was still in her own time in Crystal Tokyo where she was now learning to act like a princess and future queen. Her training was now over and once again, Hotaru found herself lacking a best friend. It wasn't that she couldn't live without a friend but that she was alone so much that she always wanted someone her own age that she could relate to. Sometimes it was hard being the youngest of the group.
Just then a nurse with her dark hair swept up into a neat bun walked up to the group. "Are you friends of Miss Doubre's?"
The senshi stared at her in confusion and blinked wondering if she got the wrong people.
The nurse then realized that they didn't understand her so she said the full name this time. "Miss Deidera Doubre, I mean."
Um, yes we are." Usagi answered as the other nodded their heads in agreement.
I guess I mispronounced the name. Please follow me."
*~*~*~*
Deidera was found in the psychiatric ward. No matter what the doctors did for her, she seemed to stay in constant pain. Even when she received the highest recommended dosage of morphine, she continued thrash about, her teeth clenched and her face tense, as if she were enduring a never-ending nightmare.
"Since she has no immediate family here, we decided maybe friends visiting her might help. She has suffered from Psychiatric Trauma. We do not know the reason why though and find it rather unusual." The doctor explained as he glanced sadly at the girl in the hospital bed. "There isn't much else we can do. I'll leave you now." And with that he turned to leave as Ami approached him and softly spoke to the tall graying man. He only said a few words and then left.
The others looked down at Deidera as she convulsed with pain. The inner senshi and Hotaru feeling sorrowful to the girl and the outers feeling guilty for everything they had said.
"My mother does not seem to know what is wrong with her either. She finds it very odd." Ami said as she glanced at Deidera who seemed to oddly be calming down.
"I wish we knew why she was acting the way she was. She was really mean!" Minako said as she recalled all the cruel things the new girl had said to her as Makoto, Ami, and Hotaru nodded in agreement. "Think that this might have caused her sudden mood swings?"
"I suppose it is possible. She didn't strike me as an evil person." Hotaru softly said.
"But how are we going to help her if we don't even know what is wrong with her?" Michiru asked slightly frustrated.
"Besides that, What if she really is evil?" Haruka brought up stubbornly.
"Haruka! Deidera is-" Rei began to say before she was interrupted.
"Neither evil nor good." Hotaru said quietly as the other looked at her with amazement.
"What do you mean, Hotaru?" Setsuna asked.
"Deidera is the two-faced scout correct? Could this title be the representation of the fact that she possesses every opposite there is? Night, day, fire, water, light, dark."
"Good and Evil." Michiru finished. "It makes sense. She is not really two-faced but two-sided."
"You two are absolutely right."
Everyone quickly turned around only to find a shimmering image of Sailor Janus standing near the front wall. She had a sad smile on her face and appeared quite melancholy.
"Janus, but how can that be? I mean you are Deidera, aren't you?" Usagi asked looking very shocked and confused as she stared at the image of the girl who was lying in the bed.
"Yes, Princess, I am Deidera. I can only stay for a short time to explain exactly who I am and what is happening," the burgundy haired Sailor Senshi said as she carefully choose the words to explain the situation. "I may represent the two sides of everything, but actually I myself, am neutral. I keep everything in harmony and without me everything would fall to pieces. For there to be light there needs to be dark. For there to be good, there needs to be evil. I am the one who keeps it all in balance. What is happening right now is the two sides are fighting to control Deidera which is driving her mad."
"Didn't this ever happen in the Silver Millennium though?" Makoto asked with thought.
"No, this is the first time she has ever experienced this. When one side is in control, she does not remember any part of it. She only remembers her true self. The neutral side to her."
"So that's why she didn't remember being at Rei's and her promises," the senshi of Jupiter nodded, understanding things a little more clearly.
"And why she didn't remember all those awful things she said." Minako agreed.
"Right. Unfortunately she is missing two pieces to herself that keeps the sides in harmony. One silver and one gold chain bracelet. Both of which resemble beautifully woven pieces of rope. She will not remember these items though but probably feels like a part of her is missing. You must bring the bracelets to her as soon as you can. Your new enemy is trying to take control of her by weakening one of her strongest elements, her mind. Please hurry, before it's too late," the image of Sailor Janus said before she faded away. "You are her only hope and once she has access to her bracelets, she will become strong once more."
"But wait! Where can we find the bracelets?" Usagi cried out as the two-sided senshi's image slowly dissipated.
"You'll know in due time."
The sailor senshi continued to stare at the place where Sailor Janus' image once stood, as if mesmerized. Suddenly, Deidera began to tense up once again as she began moaning in pain, snapping the girls out of their trance.
"We must hurry. I fear there may not be much time left," Setsuna urgently said as the others nodded in agreement.
"But where can we find the bracelets? She didn't tell us where they are at!" Minako reminded them.
"Maybe I can do a fire reading and that will tell us," Rei suggested.
The others agreed as they walked out of Deidera's room, knowing there was nothing more they could do for the poor girl until they found the two bracelets.
"Do you think someone should keep watch of her?" Michiru thoughtfully asked as they entered the waiting room.
"I suppose so, but-" Ami began to say as a nurse approached, interrupting the blue-haired girl.
"Visiting hours are now over," she forcefully said. "I should not have let all of you in there to begin with but the doctor said there should be no harm in it since her ailment has not changed. Please leave now."
"Thank you," the girls and young man murmured as they quietly walked out of the hospital.
"She was rather rude," Makoto said as she crossed her arms.
The nurse stood there and watched them leave then smirked. 'Finally we can begin Phase 3 of the plan.'
"Have they left?" a deep voice said from behind the woman.
She smiled as she nodded, "Yes Lord Cacus, she is all yours now."
*~*~*~*
Deidera opened her eyes and felt very lightheaded as she glanced around her small hospital room wondering where the pain had gone, before a sudden jolt hit her sending her screaming. The intense dull pain continued to pound through her head as tears fell from her eyes. 'Why won't this pain stop? What is happening to me? Please, just make it go away! '
Suddenly she felt a hand gently stroking her forehead and her face. Wearily she glanced up only to find a man with silver and gold hair. "Who.... are you?"
Smiling the man said, "Just call me a friend." He let his hand rest on her head as he continued to speak. "I can take the pain away if you'd like, Deidera. I will if you want me to. After all, we are old acquaintances."
Before she was able to ask him how they knew each other, realization hit as another part of her took over. "You!" she cried out as she tried to back away. "I remember you! You were the reason I trusted that woman in the first place and let her through my gate! I trusted you and you betrayed me! You vile creature!"
Laughing sinisterly he stood up and did a mock bow. "Lord Cacus, at your presence, dear Deidera. Or should I call you Princess Janus?"
"How did you know who I was?" she asked through clenched teeth as she tried to control herself from attacking him.
"Simple. I've been tracking you ever since I had discovered that you were reborn in this world. Now, I can very easily make all the pain go away if you just do me one favor. Tell me the identities of the others."
"What do you mean?" Janus asked in mock innocence.
"Don't play dumb with me! The other sailor senshi. You are my key of ridding the planet of them. Now you have two choices, either you join me in destroying them or you can simply tell me and the rest will be history."
"And what if I refuse?" she said with a smirk on her face.
"Oh that's quite simple," Lord Cacus answered as he snapped his fingers. Suddenly a huge rush of pain swelled into Deidera's head as she screamed out in pure agony. "I'll make the torture continue worse than ever either killing you in the process or simply driving you insane whichever happens first. Think about it." With a flash, the evil man disappeared.
Deidera groaned as she blinked again. 'Was it only a dream? But it seemed so strangely vivid.'
Just then, the girl's train of thought was broken as a nurse entered the room. In a rather too cheerful voice she said, "Hello Deidera! I have something that will make you feel all better," the nurse said as she took the teen's arm and applied alcohol to it.
Then with a smile she sweetly said, "This shouldn't hurt too much." Quickly she took out a needle and pierced Deidera's skin injecting a strange greenish liquid as Deidera gaped at the combination of sudden pain and in shock at the green colored liquid that just entered her body.
The nurse then pressed a cotton ball to the new wound and then a Band-Aid to hold it in place.
Strangely, Deidera began to feel dazed and started to call out to the nurse when suddenly the room felt like it was spinning and everything went blurry before finally black.
*~*~*~*
Lord Cacus sat staring at the Nerva crystal ball, from which he used to basically keep an eye on Janus once he had gained access to a lock of hair granted by Hypnosia. He seemed almost infatuated by the girl.
Just then Chamelia walked into the room. "Good news, my Lord! The Dark Light serum has been injected into the girl," the dark haired woman gleefully said.
"Wonderful! Soon I can destroy those miserable sailor senshi and finally complete what I have been plotting for the last decade! Everything is falling into place perfectly and once my special key is under my control, there will be no stopping me!" The man fiendishly cackled as his minion smiled with victory in completing the task.
*~*~*~*