Chapter 5: Intruder



Night fell upon the city of Crystal Tokyo, like a gentle black curtain draping itself over each building and locale. Once more, as they had for aeons, the stars one by one came out, speckling the sky with their distant light, and the moon, brightest object in the firmament, cast it's mysterious and magical glow across the planet earth, bathing the city in perfect moonlight.

At the palace, dinner was served up like a banquet. The Sailors, royals, and Evan also, but not as much, indulged in conversation before desert, and slowly Evan began to feel more comfortable and at home amongst his newfound friends. But nothing truly substantial occurred, and the dinner with without incident and also without any new events in regard to the mysterious young boy (that is, save Evan's first introduction to the palace desert favorite, strawberry swirl cheesecake, which quickly became both his first and favorite desert). He made certain to act like a perfect gentleman, as Dr. Matthews had instructed him, and even declined the offer of a second piece of the surprisingly good cheesecake towards that end of the dinner.

Now, he stood on the balcony of his room, looking up into the depths of the stars. The warm night winds caught his short white cape and it wafted like a leaf on a tree behind him. His mind was, once more, on the great questions of his existence,... but even though he stared up at the stars for hours, no answers came. If the stars held the answers, then tonight they had either forgotten him or were shunning him. Beginning to feel the weariness of the day, he retired to the bedroom and tried to get some sleep.

However, his dreams soon took on a strange twist...

The world around him was dark and phantom-like, with sheer rock cliffs and mountain-like eruptions of terrain half hidden behind the layer of thick fog. The ground below his feet was made of a strange black dirt, as if it had never known the growth of any plant or seen any form of nutrients. A strange... black wind blew in the forefront of his mind, although the fog remained totally still. Yet he could feel it whipping at his clothes, and gusting against his skin and hair. What was this place, and this nightmare wind?

Suddenly, he heard a deep, strong voice say his name, and spun to locate the source. In the distance, the silhouette of a dark figure stood upon a high rock precipice, holding a large scythe in one hand. The figure was tall and muscular, and bore a long cape that whipped about behind him, as if he too could feel the strange shadow wind; same with his long hair, that likewise showed the galeforce effects of the wind in it's violent flailing. Evan suddenly was aware of two other figures, standing at the base of the rock eruption, both wearing long robe-like clothing and both silhouetted as shadows against the fog. Neither seemed to wield a weapon, not as the scythe wielder did with his out in the open, and strangely both these persons seemed unaffected, untouched by the dark breeze as if it had no right to exist in the same sphere as they.

Who are you?-the question echoed from Evan's mind, but there was no reply. Suddenly, above the scythe wielder, four columns of fog, like as if tinted with light from within, rose from the far distant horizon behind the rock sheers. One had a light aqua blue color, another a blazing inferno red, still another a brilliant, searing electric white, and the last one a dark, phantom purple. For a split second, Evan thought he could discern human forms within the radiant glows.

Suddenly, another voice called out his name, and he spun back in the direction he'd first been looking. A massive shadow, like a hovering black cloud, filled the sky in that direction, and standing nearby was yet another shadow form, this one indistinct and hard to make out. There seemed to be two composite shadows in this silhouette, yet only one form. Who are you?!- yet again he asked the question, feeling a deep sense of dread from this new phantom. Suddenly, it was as if lightning struck, evaporating the black ghosts and searing his vision. For several long moments he stood there, hands shielding his eyes, and then slowly, dreading what he might see, he opened his eyes to see the next wraith.

But unlike the others, this wraith had a face, and a name Evan knew. The figure stood there directly in front of him, with all signs of rock outcropping in the distance totally gone so that the horizon line fused with the distant fog. His long black cape whipped about, not as with the phantom wind, which Evan even now still felt, but directly opposite, as if this dark warrior was a force unto himself. Deep green eyes pierced into Evan's mind, the black-clad warrior as if probing Evan's deepest thoughts with that intensely powerful and intensely intimate, knowing, searching gaze. Neon blue hair fanned in accord with the cape, and the sheer neutrality, like the immovable character of stone in the warrior's face, seemed all the more to place him beyond the realm of this bleak dimension of fog.

It was as if looking into a mirror... but was the dark phantom truly himself? There was something vastly different about this person,... both he and Evan the same on the outside, but incredibly different inside, and somehow Evan was able to discern that difference as if a visible characteristic. It was difficult to grasp, though Evan stared at the warrior for a long moment, in total stunned silence.

Who are you?- was Evan's inquiry as those green eyes continued to hold their gaze directly on him.

"Who are you?" The question, like an echo, returned to his ear, only coming not as an echo but as the words of the identical warrior. A long pause ensued, where Evan took a step backwards with uncertainty. Then the figure, his expression unmoving, slowly raised his right arm and pointed with one finger at Evan. "Who are you?"

The threatening posture of the figure shocked Evan, and for a moment he made up his mind to run as fast as he could away from this horror. But his legs refused to move, and Evan could only stand there in breathless silence as sparks of electricity began to course through the wraith's entire outstretched arm. In a barely witnessed moment of time, a blazing flash filled Evan's vision and he felt the ground under his feet vanish. The next moment he felt himself falling through empty space. Stars flew by as streaks of brilliant white-blue light as he plummeted towards an unseen abyss. Suddenly, amongst the stars were phantoms,... dozens of them! And somewhere in the back of his mind, he could feel a familiarity, an understanding of each one that he could not explain. The wraith, the scythe wielder, the double-phantom, all wove themselves in a complex pattern of shadows, hovering first to his left, then directly, in front of him, then darting behind him, eluding him, denying Evan a glimpse of their true forms. They spun and circled, twirled themselves around him as no less than ghosts come to haunt. Then a number of strange shadows arrived and joined in, some in robes of darkness, some warriors with weapons, some completely indiscernible as to what they were, some with a strange solidity and familiarity that chilled him to the core. Further he fell into the darkness, the ghosts demon-like encircling him, evading him, taunting him. The stars were all but hidden from his view by their dark forms.

Then suddenly, the stars were gone, replaced by a terrifying, blinding, consuming darkness. He could feel that the phantoms were gone... but another terrorizing presence pervaded his mind. In the distance, he heard insidious laughter in a deep voice, echoing to him across the distance. The thought hardly occurred to Evan that he had stopped falling when suddenly the most nerve-shattering feeling hit his mind: it was like being torn apart from the inside out and suffocating at the same time. The crystal clear knowledge came to his mind that something... inside of him... was killing him! Evan screamed into the silence as he felt claw-like hands rip apart his chest from within. The laughter was closer now, and the godless, merciless presence invaded his mind as the destroyer ripped apart his flesh and bone- - -

- - -And with a gasp he bolted up in bed, clutching immediately for his chest. Sweat poured from his brow, the sheets and pillow damp with perspiration, not to mention his bedclothes, and he fought to breathe in a regular, steady pattern. His mind was so frozen by what it had just witnessed that it was several moments before he was able to realize it had been a dream, and only then did his mind register his present locale. Evan quickly wiped the sweat off his forehead, looking nervously around the room lest another phantom erupt out from the darkness to terrorize him. His breathing calmed and his heartbeat slowed, and at length he got up out of bed, throwing off the sheets, and went into the bathroom and splash his face with cold water.

He turned on the light and immediately reached to the sink, turning the knob on the faucet and letting the crisp, cold, refreshing, nerve-calming liquid flow onto his cupped hands. He sighed deeply, and immersed his face in a rush of water, then reached for a towel and dried it off. He then procured one of the bathroom cups that were in the cabinet behind the mirror and filled it with water from the faucet, taking several calming swallows before putting the cup back empty and turning off the faucet. At least now his nerves were calmer, somewhat. He closed his eyes for a moment, and he could see in his mind's eye still the horrific nightmare images. Opening them, his heart jumped for a moment looking at his reflection in the mirror, and remembering the wraith, that identical phantasm that had twice echoed the question 'who are you'. He took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down, then for a long moment starred directly into the mirror as if half expecting it to transform into some unearthly demon. But no such metamorphosis came, and at length he turned off the bathroom light and went back into the bedroom.

But he'd been looking for apparitions in the wrong place. No sooner had he gotten halfway to the bed, than a sound behind him sent a chill up his spine and caused him to instantly spin around to identify the source.

A silhouetted figure stood behind the curtains of the balcony, apparently female by form. Her left hand quickly pushed aside the transparent silver curtains and she stepped into the darkened room, her form all but swallowed up by the shadows. Evan froze where he stood, not daring to move, even as he heard high-heeled footsteps approaching him. But when the footsteps got to within a few feet of him, his survival instincts kicked in, dispelling the fear-paralysis, and in a perhaps simplistic and child-like defense, he quickly reached to shut the door. However, a firm hand stopped the motion of the door halfway.

"Wait."

The voice was feminine, with a slightly brassy tone. Evan felt a knot in his throat form as a moment of silence passed, in which he heard neither voice nor footsteps, nor was the door pushed any further open by the hand that kept it from closing. Fear gripped his mind, and for a moment he silently begged and pleaded with whatever powers ruled the cosmos that he was still having a nightmare and would wake up before the worst could come. But no such mercy was to be given; this was real. His hands trembled as he hoped beyond hope that this intruder was one of the Sailors or, at the least, not set on the scent of blood.

"I'm not your enemy." The voice finally added. "I'm here to get you out of here, while there's still time. If you let me help you, I promise that I can explain who you are and help you remember all your lost memories."

"... Who are you?" Evan's voice trembled, an irremovable feeling of dread forming a weight in his chest.

The figure gently pushed the door open further, revealing her form. She wore an outfit strangely similar to the Sailors, but with several differences. Though Evan couldn't make out the dual-color hues that defined the outfit, like it did for all the Sailors he'd met, he could see that the entire fabric that was white on the Sailor Scout's outfits was black on this person's design. Like with Sailor Mercury and Sailor Pluto, she had long boots that extended up to her knees, although in this darkness Evan would have been hard pressed to guess the color. He could make out some kind of a headpiece, perhaps a tiara, but it seemed different than what the Sailor Scouts wore. Long black gloves reached all the way to her elbows, and Evan could make out some kind of complex design in gold glittering all along the elongated gloves, prominent even in the dark light.

"For now,... call me Marissa." The Sailor look-alike stated. She looked over at the light switches on the wall nearby, and added. "If you want, you can turn on the lights, but just this room and not too bright."

Evan hesitated, then released his grip on the door and went to turn on the lights, making certain not to turn his back to this mysterious personage. For her part, she walked over and sat down on the edge of the bed, facing Evan. Evan slowly turned the dimmer, causing a gentle radiance to illuminate the room.

He could now see his visitor much better thanks to the lighting. Her black Sailor outfit had deep, ice-blue bows and ribbons, and fire-red skirt and *shoulder fold. Her tiara, a far cry from those Evan had seen the Sailor Scouts wearing, was made of some shiny dark-gray metal and was more like a ring around her forehead, with a strange black four pointed star-like gem in the center, prominently larger but not by much more-so than the surface of the tiara. She had strange light purple eyes, eyes that seemed strangely out of place and almost ethereal, and short red hair somewhat like Uranus', but this girl's, for she didn't seem to have reached an age beyond the later teenage years; her hair hung down quite a bit more, and she had it combed to her left side to create a somewhat imbalanced look. Her long boots were black with aforementioned high heels and moderate golden scroll-work and trim, which Evan hadn't noticed before. The long black and gold gloves were much more lavish, with ribbon-like designs of gold fabric trailing above the velvet black cloth from the tips of her fingers, intertwining each other along her arm in vastly complex array, and the gold strands looping into closure barely an inch short of the glove's end. The most luxuriant rulers of all time would hardly have worn such gloves, yet necromancers and experts of the arcane of ages past might well have wanted for such an adornment. Her face was thin and pleasant, yet her features had a cold yet intense intelligence to them that Evan could hardly ignore. He noticed she carried no weapon, despite being dressed like as if she were some arcane Sailor Soldier of a darker lineage. Evan hoped that wasn't the case, but the visible facts suggested otherwise.

"What do you want with me?" Evan asked, making sure he was within quick reach of the door. If 'Marissa' turned out not to be as harmless as she wanted Evan to believe, he would have to run for his life and hope somehow to locate a guard before she could catch up.

"I know who you are." She stated, her voice retaining a rather professional, down-to-business tone for the moment. "You are the traveler, the one the ancient prophesies called the Shadow Knight. You're in danger here; Neo Queen Serenity is a deceiver who knows your power and wishes only to use it for her own ends."

"What do you mean??" Evan questioned, not wanting to believe a word of what Marissa had just said.

"I know you don't want to believe me. Neo Queen Serenity has been kind to you, but it's all a facade. She wants you to make you believe she's your friend so then she can harness your powers for herself. If you come with me, I can show you your true powers, and your true purpose."

"W-why should I trust you over her? And how do you know so much, about my powers, and my purpose?"

She stood up and walked over to Evan, stopping a few feet away. Evan nearly recoiled, but kept himself from backing away from her.

"We've been waiting for you, for a long time now. Once we get out of here, I'll take you to the others, but I cannot tell you anything more here. Too dangerous; Neo Queen Serenity may already be listening in on our conversation. We have to go, now, before she gets the chance to prevent our escape."

Evan hesitated for a long moment, during which Marissa eyed him with a look of stern urgency. Was she right? Was Neo Queen Serenity really only interested in acquiring his powers, like sapping a fruit of all it's juice and then throwing away the rind? Needless to say, he found it hard to believe,... but if Marissa was telling the truth? This conflict of interests struck him deep; until now he'd had no reason to distrust anyone, due in no small part to his amnesia. Was Neo Queen Serenity really a bad person? He found that concept difficult to swallow, but not having any memory of any 'bad people', he didn't hardly consider himself and form of expert, much less knew what to look for to distinguish 'bad people' from 'good people'. The concept was there, he knew what bad and good were, but...

"You haven't given me a reason to trust you. How do I know what you're saying is true?" Evan challenged. He sighed and shook his head, his gaze cast downward. "How do I know I can trust anyone? I don't even know if I can trust myself."

He looked up and she was still starring straight at him, but her expression was changed somewhat, from a steadfast urgency to a compassionate sympathy.

"I understand. You've been through a lot. Maybe now isn't the best time to be pushing you into your destiny. I'm sorry if I came on too strong,... but I want you to know you have a friend in me. If you ever want to talk..." She held out her hand and a strange, flat, hexagonal black crystal materialized. She quickly walked over to the dresser and pulled out the top drawer, which was conveniently empty, and placed the crystal inside, then turned back to Evan. "All you have to do is touch the crystal, and I'll be here that night, on my honor. It's too risky to come here during the day, so I'll only be able to come at night. OK?"

Evan nodded, and Marissa gently closed the drawer. She then turned and left the bedroom, stopping briefly in the main room and looking back at Evan.

"I recommend you find out for yourself if Neo Queen Serenity is worthy of your trust. When you're ready to blow this joint, just signal me with the crystal, and I'll get you out of here." She paused for a minute. "Sorry if I scared you, coming in through the balcony and all. Get some sleep,... and don't tell anyone I was here, or about the crystal. You promise?"

Once more Evan hesitated, then nodded. She nodded back, then pushed aside the curtains, walked out onto the balcony, and seemed to vanish from sight. Evan quickly rushed to the balcony, parting the curtains, and searched the visible area to try and see where she'd gone. Not a trace.