Chapter Six
Ima=Mercury Atile=Jupiter Aneresa=Moon Eire=Mars Animi=Venus
On another morning, day seven of their displaced adventure, only Aneresa awoke to still being Aneresa. As for Atile, Eire, Animi, and even Ima, living in America had just been a dream, or maybe a conversation they'd once shared. It was certainly no reality. Their old names were forgotten as well. The amnesia didn't stop at them either, somehow Luna and Artemis also had no recollection of anything out of the norm happening. That is, if one considers fighting monsters with power from planets normal.
Aneresa was at a loss as to what to do. She may have remembered her past life, but she also knew the one she was in now. Unlike the others, she had managed to separate the two. Rini was still concerned about Aneresa. She wasn't the cheerful, although occasionally flaky, person Serena was. Aneresa had tried to make the girls remember. It isolated her from them. The part of her that she now recognized as being the Serena, worried that it was a reoccurrence of the time when Darien had lost all his memory of her and their battles together, not to mention their love. It was hard for her to think about him. Although she missed him, only in part of course, she still avoided his calls and didn't answer his letters. He would be studying aboard for another two weeks.
Amy, Rei, Lita, Mina, Rini, Luna, and Artemis sat met at the temple. The topic was Serena. They were worried that something was wrong with her. She seemed to be delirious; constantly talking about a life that they knew didn't exist. Rini mentioned the dreams she knew Aneresa had. That sent Rei off into another fire reading.
"Maybe it's some trick of the enemy's," Luna suggested as usual, "We need to keep a special watch over her. We've had trouble with dreams before." They all remembered what Darien's dreaming had done to Serena and had to agree.
"We just need to cheer her up, you know, go to the mall and stuff like that," Mina said.
"I could make all her favorite food," Lita put in helpfully.
"And I could help her with her homework!" Amy said enthusiastically. The others looked at her like she'd suggested they try to resurrect the Moon Kingdom. "Never mind."
"I'll try not to bug her so much," Rini offered reluctantly. They decided it couldn't hurt to try.
Aneresa sat at her desk and tried to draw. She had been better at it before coming here, which wasn't saying much. In order to rouse the memories of her friends, she had decided to try the "old tell their life stories in pictures" bit. Sighing at her poor workmanship, but not having any other ideas, Aneresa finished her last sketch and went to the temple where she knew they were meeting to talk about her.
On the way, she met Rini. The pink haired munchkin smiled at her sweetly. Aneresa looked around for the hidden camera.
"Hi Serena, how are you today," She asked formally and in such a way Aneresa knew instantly that the other girls had convinced Rini she was losing her mind or something, "Do you need any help?"
Aneresa sighed inwardly, but put on a good, flake smile. Hey, if the world thinks you're nuts, play it up for all it's worth. Or at least she would have, if she hadn't been so depressed. It was as if her capacity for blissful feelings had disappeared. Aneresa had always been a cheerful, energetic person, almost as much as Serena was. The Serena part of her tried to convince her that this was an important thing to note. Unfortunately, the Aneresa side was stronger still and couldn't understand the significance.
"No, thanks. I was just looking for the girls," She said.
"They just left the temple," Rini answered helpfully. Aneresa nodded and said she would see Rini later. She walked away and felt depression eating into her. A garbage can rested on one side of the sidewalk. She threw the drawings in without a second thought. A week of sleeping fitfully from the nightmares had left her incredibly tired. Aneresa was now too afraid to go to sleep. She wandered till the day grew dark, but couldn't think of sleep or returning to that home which was and wasn't hers. Again, Serena tried to get her attention, to no avail.
It was as dark as any city could get by the night she came to the Tsukino house. With resolution, she went to Serena's room and got the money Serena had been saving for video games or college, which ever happened to sound more lucrative on the day she would graduate. Luna had been out looking for her earlier. The others had taken shifts throughout the night to give each other time to rest up. They had covered for her with Serena's parents. Of course, Aneresa didn't know any of that. As she was packing clothes, Luna, who had been sleeping on the bed, woke up. Without thinking, Aneresa scooped up the cat before she could ask any questions, or call the others, and shoved her into the closet. Aneresa picked up her suitcase silently and left the room.
In two hours, she had reached the airport and boarded a plane. One thought was prevalent in Aneresa's mind, go to America and somehow things would magically be fixed. If this Tokyo and her Rock Island, Illinois existed in the same world, then she could have both lives at once, and not have to sacrifice one for the other. Serena didn't protest either. Darien was studying in America. She only glanced out the window once, saying a small farewell in case things didn't work out.
Next time: Aneresa looks for work, Serena looks for Darien. Stay tuned for chapter seven,
"Split Personalities."