Story of the Future
Episode Four
"Two months later..."
Darien looked up and saw an adorable face coming towards him. He grinned and began running towards her. She giggled.
He hadn't seen her in two weeks. She had gone off to a training school, one that would help her in the future. He had missed her though. Even though she was a year older, he loved being around her.
"Darien! I missed you." she said, hugging him tightly.
He smiled back. "I missed you, too. You were gone so long."
She smiled and her face glowed. "But I'm back now."
Darien sighed. He loved her smile, it brightened his day. Her eyes sparkled as she hugged him again.
"Darien...Darien...remember." a voice said in his head.
He jumped. He was in his bed. He looked around. It was his room. Serena snuggled next to him. He inhaled the scent of her hair. What a great dream. He loved dreaming of his past on Earth during the Silver Millennium. And of Serena.
[[But that wasn't Serena]] he instantly thought. Serena had golden hair, and she had never visited Earth. No...it was...someone else. [[Who?]] he asked himself.
"Darien," Serena murmured next to him.
Darien looked down at his wife. "Yes?" he asked, keeping his voice neutral.
"You're holding too tightly." Instantly, Darien released her and kissed her head. She sighed and rolled over and her belly. Though she was only four months along, her stomach had more roundness. Their daughter was growing beautifully.
"I love you." he said as he rolled over and forgot about the dream.
***
Lita laughed at Ariana's dry comments to another bar patron. She was growing attached to the sarcastic bar matron, the one she had seen every night for a month straight. After hearing of her husband and child, she needed comfort. So she had drifted from bar to bar, and settled at Tokyo Palace.
"Leave it to the movies." Ariana pushed a drunken guy away and headed towards Lita. "Hey, Lita. What can I get you tonight?" she asked her.
Over the past two months, Ariana and Lita had become acquaintances, talking about the weather and the latest news.
"Oh, I think a scotch will do. Followed by a Jack Daniels." Lita said casually. She had grown acquired to several liquors since she made herself known at the bar. Ariana nodded and went to fetch the drinks.
Lita hated being alone. So to help her get over the loss of both Andrew and her unborn child, she drank herself into a stupor late at nights, and slept the hangover away during the day. It helped keep her mind off her problems, but it also kept her mind off several important duties.
Lita was living off the royal treasury. Sure, they had enough to keep Lita at bars until she was far into the next millennium, but they would want to know where the money was going. And she had skipped three scouts meetings. She hadn't talked to them in months. She didn't care.
Amy left messages on her machine constantly, reminding her of meetings. Lita just skipped over them, not wanting to be reminded of responsibilities.
Ariana put Lita's drinks down. "There you are. Did you see the news? It appears Queen Serenity and King Endymion are expecting an heir to the throne."
Lita looked up. [[Serena and Darien were expecting?? Already? Why, they'd only been married...]] Lita had lost track of the months and realized it was very possible. "Wow!" was all she could get out.
"Yeah. They are certain it's a girl. Intend to name her Serenity." Ariana said as she wiped the counter.
[[Rini.]] Lita thought. She made a mental note to call them and get the details. She gulped down her drinks. "Ariana, give me another. Make it a double." she said, slightly slurring.
***
"Two months! And you haven't built anything that has enough power!" the Emperor screeched.
Sorcia wrung her hands. "Well, nothing with that amount, no. But not to worry, no new soldier yet. The king and queen are expecting a daughter. Sailor Venus is visiting her home planet. Sailor Mercury is still working happily, we haven't found her weak spot yet. Sailor Jupiter seems to have dropped off the face of the Earth. Sailor Mars has been staying at home everyday."
"I DON'T CARE ABOUT THOSE SIMPLE LIVES! I WANT A WEAPON!" the Emperor shouted in disgust.
"Sir." a male voice said. "I believe I know how to secure the erratic pulses of power emanating from the Neo-Moon."
The Emperor looked up and saw Rilian standing there with a triumphant face. "Rilian. How?"
"Your highness, I have already made plans to secure the source. At your command, it is done." he said, smirking at a shocked Sorcia.
"Do it. Dismissed." he commanded.
Rilian and Sorcia both exited. "Not bad, Rilian." Sorcia said sarcastically.
"If you had thought to get power from other sources other than the Imperium, the Emperor would have commended you."
Rilian just smiled and walked off. "Do some studying, Sorcia. It's a big universe out there."
Meanwhile, the Emperor glared at his computer. [[A new soldier. To defeat the Imperium.]] he thought. There had to be something he could do besides hack into chatrooms for the Sailor Scouts.
***
"Raye...do you feel it?" Scott asked.
Raye nodded. "Yes. It's happening. I can sense it."
Scott and Raye had been sitting by the fire when instantly Raye had tensed up. Scott, accustomed to the sensations of the Imperium of Darkness, knew she had just had a psychic vision.
"We still have a few more months. They don't have enough energy." Scott said.
Raye scanned her mind. The Imperium was doing something and it was very big. This attack could mean the end. She knew something dreadful was going to happen. "I see...death." she whispered to Scott.
Scott took his bride in his arms. "You see change, dearest. Not death, transition."
Raye concentrated on the flames before her. She mentally let them engulf her body, surround her soul. They entered her spirit, piercing her heart. "No, they say death." she gasped as the flame made a picture. A picture of a blast...and a small girl. No...she was being protected by a shadow. An unknown protector.
Suddenly, the flames returned to the fire. Raye looked at Scott. "Death, they say death." she repeated, more sure then ever.
Scott held her tightly. He didn't want to say it, but he saw death too.
"Don't worry, nothing can happen to us. Remember? It's our destiny to rule Mars." Scott said.
Raye looked at him. "Destiny has different ways of revealing itself." she said.
***
Lita closed her eyes. Oh, man, what a hangover! She locked all darkness out of her room and crawled into bed. By then, her stomach lurched and she quickly made her way to the bathroom. For fifteen minutes, she rode the porcelain bus. Finally she slept on the cool tile of the bathroom floor.
That's where Amy found her. "Oh, Lita!" she gasped as she saw her snoozing. She flushed the contents down the toilet and quickly transformed to Sailor Mercury. [[I'll get a lot more done this way.]] she thought as she picked up a snoozing Lita easily and laid her down on the bed. Then she took note of the liquor bottle around the room. She detransformed.
"Well, I better get started." she said to herself and began cleaning up the apartment.
Lita woke up about two hours later. She looked around her room and almost screamed! It was clean. She also smelled food cooking in the kitchen. She pulled on a pair of sweatpants and went out to see who her trespasser was.
"Amy!" Lita said in surprise.
Amy smiled at her friend. "Glad to see you're up. I made you some lunch, but I guess since it's 4:00, you could call it an early dinner."
Lita smiled and thanked her friend. She noticed the apartment was spotless. "Did you clean up too?" she asked her, amazed.
Amy nodded and handed her a plate containing her famous lasagna. "Eat it all." Amy said. "'No matter how sick you are."
Lita set her plate on the table. "I'm not that sick..." she began.
"I noticed vomit in the toilet and liquor bottles around the bed. You were sick alright. Hangover?"
Amy sat across from Lita. "Yeah." Lita said and dove into her plate. It had been weeks since she had a good meal.
"Tell me Lita, since when do you drink?" Amy asked.
Lita glanced up. "Oh...I started drinking a while ago."
"Since Andrew left?" Amy asked.
Lita's head popped up and she saw Amy staring at her. "How...how'd you know about that?"
Amy shook her head. "Lita, where do you think Andrew went?"
Lita felt her cheeks grow hot. "I...don't know."
"Then night he left, he came to Greg asking for a place to stay. He's been staying in our house for the past two months." Amy said. "Now, I love Andrew and all, but me and Greg are still newlyweds. We would like some privacy from time to time."
Lita stood up. "You took him in?!" she shouted.
Amy nodded. "I figured you two would work it out sooner or later. But I didn't think it would this later. He knows about the baby."
Lita had to sit down. Andrew had known all the time. And he had never come to her, never once had he called. She felt her heart break all over again.
"So he never once tried to...call?" she asked in a soft voice.
Amy looked at her friend and saw the pain in her eyes. "Oh, Lita. He loves you so much, but something is holding him back from talking to you."
A tear trickled down her face. "Amy, I feel so alone. Why doesn't he come home?"
Amy couldn't answer the question. All she knew was that it was destiny for Andrew and Lita to be together and they would, eventually.
***
Ariana wiped off the bar counter and looked at Lita. She looked even more down now than she had when she first came in. "Lita?" she asked her.
Lita looked up. "Uh, I know that we don't know each other very well, but is something wrong?"
"Oh...it's just my life. It's always been screwy. Heartbreak and all." Lita said, trying to trivialize her pain.
"Wanna talk about it? After all, I'm a bartender. It's part of my job." Ariana said, leaning on the bar.
For a strange reason, Lita trusted Ariana, and told her everything that had happened, leaving out the part about her being queen of Jupiter. Ariana absorbed it all and listened patiently. Finally, she handed Lita a handkerchief.
"You know, I feel as if I know you. And I have this strange feeling that everything's going to be okay." Ariana said. She poured Lita some coffee.
Lita looked up at the sympathetic bartender. "Ariana...where are you from?"
"Oh, I came to Crystal Tokyo about the same time you came here. I used to work in a pizza place in New York City. You know, the United States. I was born in Japan though. I move to the US a couple years ago to attend school. After I was fired from the pizza place, I moved back here and got this job." Ariana said.
"Why were you fired?" Lita asked.
Ariana smiled a little. "Fraternizing with customers. A couple was eating dinner, and apparently the woman thought her husband was leering at me. She got mad and stormed out, telling the guy she was pregnant. He wasn't expecting it and fainted." She giggled, then continued, "So I woke him up. My boss saw it as grounds to fire me."
Lita smiled. "Sorry."
Ariana shrugged and got a beer for another couple. "I don't know why I came back here. Something was just telling me I guess."
"I could use a shot of whiskey." Lita said. Ariana grinned and got her one. Then, they both started talking about the latest gossip.
Episode Four
"Two months later..."
Darien looked up and saw an adorable face coming towards him. He grinned and began running towards her. She giggled.
He hadn't seen her in two weeks. She had gone off to a training school, one that would help her in the future. He had missed her though. Even though she was a year older, he loved being around her.
"Darien! I missed you." she said, hugging him tightly.
He smiled back. "I missed you, too. You were gone so long."
She smiled and her face glowed. "But I'm back now."
Darien sighed. He loved her smile, it brightened his day. Her eyes sparkled as she hugged him again.
"Darien...Darien...remember." a voice said in his head.
He jumped. He was in his bed. He looked around. It was his room. Serena snuggled next to him. He inhaled the scent of her hair. What a great dream. He loved dreaming of his past on Earth during the Silver Millennium. And of Serena.
[[But that wasn't Serena]] he instantly thought. Serena had golden hair, and she had never visited Earth. No...it was...someone else. [[Who?]] he asked himself.
"Darien," Serena murmured next to him.
Darien looked down at his wife. "Yes?" he asked, keeping his voice neutral.
"You're holding too tightly." Instantly, Darien released her and kissed her head. She sighed and rolled over and her belly. Though she was only four months along, her stomach had more roundness. Their daughter was growing beautifully.
"I love you." he said as he rolled over and forgot about the dream.
***
Lita laughed at Ariana's dry comments to another bar patron. She was growing attached to the sarcastic bar matron, the one she had seen every night for a month straight. After hearing of her husband and child, she needed comfort. So she had drifted from bar to bar, and settled at Tokyo Palace.
"Leave it to the movies." Ariana pushed a drunken guy away and headed towards Lita. "Hey, Lita. What can I get you tonight?" she asked her.
Over the past two months, Ariana and Lita had become acquaintances, talking about the weather and the latest news.
"Oh, I think a scotch will do. Followed by a Jack Daniels." Lita said casually. She had grown acquired to several liquors since she made herself known at the bar. Ariana nodded and went to fetch the drinks.
Lita hated being alone. So to help her get over the loss of both Andrew and her unborn child, she drank herself into a stupor late at nights, and slept the hangover away during the day. It helped keep her mind off her problems, but it also kept her mind off several important duties.
Lita was living off the royal treasury. Sure, they had enough to keep Lita at bars until she was far into the next millennium, but they would want to know where the money was going. And she had skipped three scouts meetings. She hadn't talked to them in months. She didn't care.
Amy left messages on her machine constantly, reminding her of meetings. Lita just skipped over them, not wanting to be reminded of responsibilities.
Ariana put Lita's drinks down. "There you are. Did you see the news? It appears Queen Serenity and King Endymion are expecting an heir to the throne."
Lita looked up. [[Serena and Darien were expecting?? Already? Why, they'd only been married...]] Lita had lost track of the months and realized it was very possible. "Wow!" was all she could get out.
"Yeah. They are certain it's a girl. Intend to name her Serenity." Ariana said as she wiped the counter.
[[Rini.]] Lita thought. She made a mental note to call them and get the details. She gulped down her drinks. "Ariana, give me another. Make it a double." she said, slightly slurring.
***
"Two months! And you haven't built anything that has enough power!" the Emperor screeched.
Sorcia wrung her hands. "Well, nothing with that amount, no. But not to worry, no new soldier yet. The king and queen are expecting a daughter. Sailor Venus is visiting her home planet. Sailor Mercury is still working happily, we haven't found her weak spot yet. Sailor Jupiter seems to have dropped off the face of the Earth. Sailor Mars has been staying at home everyday."
"I DON'T CARE ABOUT THOSE SIMPLE LIVES! I WANT A WEAPON!" the Emperor shouted in disgust.
"Sir." a male voice said. "I believe I know how to secure the erratic pulses of power emanating from the Neo-Moon."
The Emperor looked up and saw Rilian standing there with a triumphant face. "Rilian. How?"
"Your highness, I have already made plans to secure the source. At your command, it is done." he said, smirking at a shocked Sorcia.
"Do it. Dismissed." he commanded.
Rilian and Sorcia both exited. "Not bad, Rilian." Sorcia said sarcastically.
"If you had thought to get power from other sources other than the Imperium, the Emperor would have commended you."
Rilian just smiled and walked off. "Do some studying, Sorcia. It's a big universe out there."
Meanwhile, the Emperor glared at his computer. [[A new soldier. To defeat the Imperium.]] he thought. There had to be something he could do besides hack into chatrooms for the Sailor Scouts.
***
"Raye...do you feel it?" Scott asked.
Raye nodded. "Yes. It's happening. I can sense it."
Scott and Raye had been sitting by the fire when instantly Raye had tensed up. Scott, accustomed to the sensations of the Imperium of Darkness, knew she had just had a psychic vision.
"We still have a few more months. They don't have enough energy." Scott said.
Raye scanned her mind. The Imperium was doing something and it was very big. This attack could mean the end. She knew something dreadful was going to happen. "I see...death." she whispered to Scott.
Scott took his bride in his arms. "You see change, dearest. Not death, transition."
Raye concentrated on the flames before her. She mentally let them engulf her body, surround her soul. They entered her spirit, piercing her heart. "No, they say death." she gasped as the flame made a picture. A picture of a blast...and a small girl. No...she was being protected by a shadow. An unknown protector.
Suddenly, the flames returned to the fire. Raye looked at Scott. "Death, they say death." she repeated, more sure then ever.
Scott held her tightly. He didn't want to say it, but he saw death too.
"Don't worry, nothing can happen to us. Remember? It's our destiny to rule Mars." Scott said.
Raye looked at him. "Destiny has different ways of revealing itself." she said.
***
Lita closed her eyes. Oh, man, what a hangover! She locked all darkness out of her room and crawled into bed. By then, her stomach lurched and she quickly made her way to the bathroom. For fifteen minutes, she rode the porcelain bus. Finally she slept on the cool tile of the bathroom floor.
That's where Amy found her. "Oh, Lita!" she gasped as she saw her snoozing. She flushed the contents down the toilet and quickly transformed to Sailor Mercury. [[I'll get a lot more done this way.]] she thought as she picked up a snoozing Lita easily and laid her down on the bed. Then she took note of the liquor bottle around the room. She detransformed.
"Well, I better get started." she said to herself and began cleaning up the apartment.
Lita woke up about two hours later. She looked around her room and almost screamed! It was clean. She also smelled food cooking in the kitchen. She pulled on a pair of sweatpants and went out to see who her trespasser was.
"Amy!" Lita said in surprise.
Amy smiled at her friend. "Glad to see you're up. I made you some lunch, but I guess since it's 4:00, you could call it an early dinner."
Lita smiled and thanked her friend. She noticed the apartment was spotless. "Did you clean up too?" she asked her, amazed.
Amy nodded and handed her a plate containing her famous lasagna. "Eat it all." Amy said. "'No matter how sick you are."
Lita set her plate on the table. "I'm not that sick..." she began.
"I noticed vomit in the toilet and liquor bottles around the bed. You were sick alright. Hangover?"
Amy sat across from Lita. "Yeah." Lita said and dove into her plate. It had been weeks since she had a good meal.
"Tell me Lita, since when do you drink?" Amy asked.
Lita glanced up. "Oh...I started drinking a while ago."
"Since Andrew left?" Amy asked.
Lita's head popped up and she saw Amy staring at her. "How...how'd you know about that?"
Amy shook her head. "Lita, where do you think Andrew went?"
Lita felt her cheeks grow hot. "I...don't know."
"Then night he left, he came to Greg asking for a place to stay. He's been staying in our house for the past two months." Amy said. "Now, I love Andrew and all, but me and Greg are still newlyweds. We would like some privacy from time to time."
Lita stood up. "You took him in?!" she shouted.
Amy nodded. "I figured you two would work it out sooner or later. But I didn't think it would this later. He knows about the baby."
Lita had to sit down. Andrew had known all the time. And he had never come to her, never once had he called. She felt her heart break all over again.
"So he never once tried to...call?" she asked in a soft voice.
Amy looked at her friend and saw the pain in her eyes. "Oh, Lita. He loves you so much, but something is holding him back from talking to you."
A tear trickled down her face. "Amy, I feel so alone. Why doesn't he come home?"
Amy couldn't answer the question. All she knew was that it was destiny for Andrew and Lita to be together and they would, eventually.
***
Ariana wiped off the bar counter and looked at Lita. She looked even more down now than she had when she first came in. "Lita?" she asked her.
Lita looked up. "Uh, I know that we don't know each other very well, but is something wrong?"
"Oh...it's just my life. It's always been screwy. Heartbreak and all." Lita said, trying to trivialize her pain.
"Wanna talk about it? After all, I'm a bartender. It's part of my job." Ariana said, leaning on the bar.
For a strange reason, Lita trusted Ariana, and told her everything that had happened, leaving out the part about her being queen of Jupiter. Ariana absorbed it all and listened patiently. Finally, she handed Lita a handkerchief.
"You know, I feel as if I know you. And I have this strange feeling that everything's going to be okay." Ariana said. She poured Lita some coffee.
Lita looked up at the sympathetic bartender. "Ariana...where are you from?"
"Oh, I came to Crystal Tokyo about the same time you came here. I used to work in a pizza place in New York City. You know, the United States. I was born in Japan though. I move to the US a couple years ago to attend school. After I was fired from the pizza place, I moved back here and got this job." Ariana said.
"Why were you fired?" Lita asked.
Ariana smiled a little. "Fraternizing with customers. A couple was eating dinner, and apparently the woman thought her husband was leering at me. She got mad and stormed out, telling the guy she was pregnant. He wasn't expecting it and fainted." She giggled, then continued, "So I woke him up. My boss saw it as grounds to fire me."
Lita smiled. "Sorry."
Ariana shrugged and got a beer for another couple. "I don't know why I came back here. Something was just telling me I guess."
"I could use a shot of whiskey." Lita said. Ariana grinned and got her one. Then, they both started talking about the latest gossip.