Rise of the Sacred Moon
Rise of the Sacred Moon
by Ratha

Part Four: Secrets Revealed

Darien faced Tora with a serious expression. "We're all here, Tora. Now spill it. Why has Incubus returned?"

Tora sighed wearily and sat in the empty chair, Mysto letting out an indignant mew as he tried to keep his balance on her shoulder. "Don't get mad at me for what I'm about to tell you, but it is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth...

"Back during the Silver Millennium, not long before the Negaverse attacked, the Moon Kingdom and the Earth Kingdom were at peace. King Darius, Endymion's father, and King Lupus, Serenity's father, were close friends since they'd been boys. King Lupus was the last of an ancient race called Changelings, otherwise known as werebeasts-"

"Say what?!" Rei interrupted. "You mean he was a werewolf?!"

Tora nodded. "Yes, Rei. But their evil reputation was spawned by jealousy and an evil which you know as Queen Beryl. The Changelings had always been associated with the Moon Kingdom. They were Silver Millennium's most powerful allies, next to Earth. But for some reason, they began dying off. As I said before, Lupus was the last full-blooded Changeling, who had been betrothed to the future Queen Serenity. After their daughter reached the age of fourteen, and a few weeks before the Negaverse attacked, King Lupus vanished. The greatest military mind in the whole of Silver Millennium was missing. You can imagine the panic that caused. Lupus was the one who designed the planets' defense systems. And not long after Lupus vanished, so did Endymion's four Generals." Tora looked meaningfully at the four silent Generals. "When the Negaverse attacked, the four Generals were leading Beryl's forces. And standing by her side was...was Lord Incubus, formerly known as the Moon King, Lupus. Beryl had captured him and the four Generals to destroy Silver Millennium."

The Sailor Senshi gasped in shock at Tora's announcement.

"Where do you fit in, Tora?" Artemis asked in the silence.

Tora smiled faintly, if a little sadly. "I could only watch helplessly with my mentor as my family and closest friends were...slaughtered by the 'Traitor' and the Negaverse," she said softly. "You see, I'm-"

She was interrupted by an earsplitting klaxon. Immediately Tora's face paled.

"He's here," she whispered in terror.

***
The Senshi raced outside and scanned the area, Mysto following and transforming into his lion form. Tora was silent, scanning the skies. Suddenly she let out a startled shout and dove at Bunny, knocking the girl out of the way as a dark energy blast crashed into the ground where the Moon Princess had been standing. Everyone looked up at the attacker.

A tall man hovered in the air above them with his arms crossed, cold gray eyes glinting from behind short black hair. He wore the Negaverse's gray uniform with lavender lining, and on his right hand was a gold ring with a pink coral rosebud on it. A cruel smirk made his otherwise handsome face frightening. "So, Lord Incubus was correct in assuming the Moonlings would be here!" he laughed, his voice a low tenor.

Tora snarled a curse at him. "Onyx, you turncoat! How dare you attack Princess Serenity!" At her side, Raion let out a short roar.

Onyx snorted derisively. "Really, Andrea! I'd expect better language from a Sacred!"

Tora faltered briefly, then her face hardened and she muttered something under her breath that sounded like "Sorry, Woody" and fired a startlingly powerful blast at the laughing man.

Onyx let out a curse and vanished before he was hit.

Tora stood silently, her face still hard with anger as the others stared at her.

"Tora, why'd he call you Andrea?" Mina asked. "And why'd he call you a Sacred?"

Tora smiled mirthlessly. "Perhaps I can finally tell all of you without any more interruptions" She ran a hand through her long red hair and sighed. "My real name is Andrea. Andrea Freeman. Tora is just my nickname. I was there during Silver Millennium and I knew all of you well. You see, I really am Sailor Nebula, leader of the legendary Sacred Sailor Senshi and younger sister of Sailor Pluto."

They all gaped at her in shock, except Raion and Darien.

Then Luna found her tongue. "The Sacreds? Where are the other two?"

Andrea shrugged. "I have no idea. I thought I'd found one when I saw Bunny, but I was proved wrong when I saw her response to the scenario I gave her on-stage." She turned to the confused girls. "The Sacred Sailor Senshi were three special, very powerful warriors, the strongest in all of this universe and the next. I, as Sailor Nebula, controlled the awesome powers of creation and took my protection from the Dark Nebula, the Gateway to other universes. I was the Guardian, just like Pluto was the Guardian of the Time Gate. The other two Sacreds were Sailor Night and Sailor Silver Moon. Silver Moon was the most powerful because she was part Lunarian and part Changeling, just like her twin sister, Princess Serenity."

Bunny fell over in shock while the others face vaulted. "Twin sister?!"

Andrea nodded. "The third Sacred, Sailor Night, was Prince Endymion's younger sister. And Onyx...well, let's say he and Jupiter go back a long time. He was one of the four Generals who was captured by Beryl."

"What?" Lita yelped. "If that's the case, then who...?" She looked at Nathan in confusion.

Nathan's cheeks reddened slightly and he looked at the ground nervously.

Andrea laughed. "Lita, I'd like you to meet your older brother, Nephrite!"

Several jaws dropped in shock.

"And that's not the worst of it! Mina, you have an older brother, too! Kunzite!"

Mina squeaked, blushing slightly, and looked at the equally shocked Kenneth.

Darien shook his head. "Andy, you still love to stir up trouble."

Andrea grinned and flashed a peace sign. "Of course! The better to annoy you, Endy!" Then she became serious. "We have to find Silver Moon and Night. Without them, there's no hope of defeating the real Lord Incubus."

***
Rei frowned at Andrea as the woman wrote excuses for the girls' missing school. "You were the one who tampered with the sacred fire, weren't you?"

"Guilty as charged," Andrea said, not looking up. "How else was I to warn you? You wouldn't've trusted a total stranger who claimed to be a Sailor Senshi. Part of my power also deals with fire." She looked up at the priestess with a smile. "You, of course, have the patented right to fire. I just got the leftover power."

Rei smiled faintly. "You mentioned something earlier about Onyx being one of the four captured Earth Generals. Could you explain that a bit more?"

Andrea sighed heavily. "You would ask me that. The four Generals were Jadeite, Zoisite, Onyx, and Jasper. Kunzite and Nephrite were 'Moonlings' like the rest of us, but they served Endymion in exchange for the Earth Princess' being a senshi. That's all I remember." A sad, distant look came to her eyes. "So many sad memories, but none of the more important happy ones. Queen Serenity promised all of the senshi we'd be reborn, but I almost wish I hadn't been. It's so hard to keep your hopes up when you have no happy memories to help you."

"You make do with what you've got. You mentioned something about a real Lord Incubus. Isn't King Lupus Lord Incubus?"

Andrea sighed again. "I'll explain later. First we have to find Sailors Silver Moon and Night and avoid Jasper and Onyx."

"Hey, Andy?" Mina peered around the doorway. "I was wondering if I could borrow Kenneth for a while."

Andrea arched an eyebrow at the blonde-haired girl. "Oh? What for?"

Mina grinned sheepishly and put a hand behind her head. "Well, you said he was my older brother, and I don't know him that well except when he was under Beryl's spell, and I wanted to get to know him better. You know, replace some of the bad memories with new happy ones."

Andrea nodded in understanding. "And where will you go?"

"Hey, I'm twenty years old!" Kenneth protested from behind Mina. "I can take care of myself!"

"That's what you said before you got shot in the leg, KENNETH. Remember that? In Germany?"

Kenneth grimaced. "Do I ever."

"Shot?" Mina and Rei chorused in shock.

Kenneth grinned sheepishly and put a hand behind his head. "Uh-yeah. Nate and I kinda pissed off the border patrol guards. We'd had a little too much to drink at the local tavern."

Andrea snorted. "A little? That's an understatement. Well, just take the cell phone with you, Ken. And please try to stay out of trouble this time. I can't be bailing you out of jail all the time for 'harmless pranks'."

"Gotcha. I won't bother trying to argue with you. Come on, Mina."

Andrea smiled faintly as she watched them leave. "I'm glad someone in this loony group is trying to make the best of things."

"Ami and Zachary were in the den playing chess," Rei said. "So, how will we find Sailor Silver Moon and Sailor Night?"

"How should I know? I'm not Queen Serenity. Raion claims he's working on it, but I'm not holding my breath."

Rei frowned. "You're bitter about something. I can sense it in your aura."

"No kidding. And no, I don't want to talk about it. Here." Andrea handed Rei a cameo pin with Sailor Mars about to fire her Mars Flame Sniper carved onto it. "That was yours on the Moon Kingdom. It was hand-made just for you by someone very close to you."

Rei looked at the pin curiously, a vague memory just out of reach in the back of her mind. She turned the pin over and gasped softly at the name carved onto the back, the name of the artist. "Jadeite?" she whispered in shock.

Andrea didn't respond, an ancient sadness in her eyes as she fingered a diamond and sapphire ring. "Could-could I have a moment alone, please, Rei?" she asked softly, bowing her head.

Rei blinked in surprise. "Sure, T-Andrea. But, are you sure you're going to be okay?"

"I'll be fine. Just-just please leave me alone."

"Okay." Rei left Andrea's office, glancing over her shoulder worriedly at the older woman. She abruptly ran into someone and let out a startled squeak.

"Easy, Ms. Hino! It's just me."

Rei looked up to see Nathan. "Nathan, something's bothering Andrea," she blurted out, not knowing why she was telling him.

Nathan looked at the doorway in concern. "And she wouldn't say what it was?"

"No. She seemed really sad about something."

The former Negaverse General nodded absently and walked into Andrea's office, closing the door behind him. Moments later, the rumble of his voice was heard, followed by Andrea's. Rei listened for a while, unable to make out what they were saying. Finally she shrugged and walked away down the hall.

***
"Come on, Tora. Why won't you tell me what's wrong?" Nathan put a hand on Andrea's shoulder and crouched down to look up at her face. "You used to confide in me all the time. Why are you stopping now?"

Andrea winced at his use of her nickname. "It's not that simple, Nate," she said softly. "With the reappearance of Incubus, everything has become so complicated it's not funny. I wish it could all be simple again like it was before." She looked away from him.

"Hey." He gently took her chin and turned her face toward his. "Nothing is ever simple, Tora. Things were never simple before. Why are you lying to yourself like this? You have friends who are worried about you. When are you going to get that through your head that you're not alone anymore?"

She opened her mouth to respond, but he put a finger to her lips to silence her.

"No, listen. I know I don't have all of my memories of Silver Millennium back, but I do have some of the more important ones back. Such as when you got this." He touched the ring on her finger and smiled slightly at her.

She stared at him in disbelief. "You do?" she whispered hoarsely.

He smiled at her. "Of course," he replied softly. He looked at her a moment, then leaned forward and kissed her.
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I'm stopping this chapter here. I'm thinking of doing a lemon scene or two later in the story. Tell me if you want lemon scenes, minna! Ja ne! ;-)