Chapter Nine: Long Held Secrets
Cassandra sighed to herself. She really hated Mondays. This one promised to be worse than usual. She had gotten very little sleep since Wednesday. She hadn't been able to sleep after her date on Thursday night; she had talked all night to Zoë on Friday night. The impromptu Scout meeting Saturday hadn't ended until almost one am when Mina and Lita had finally left. She had been forced by a sadistic mother to get up at eight on Sunday morning in order to have a 'family day' that hadn't ended until 11 p.m. To top it all off, she had gotten up at 4 that morning to deal with a problem in her information network. All in all, she was about ready to sleep while standing and Patricia Haruna's lecture on the Neolithic era was not helping. Despite her best efforts, her eyes slid inexorably closed.
"Miss Whitmore!" the irate teacher shouted.
"What?" Cassie's head popped up and scanned the room, her hand automatically closing over the transformation pen that instinct had caused her to summon from her sub-space pocket. "Oh, yes Miss Haruna?"
"Do you think that you know enough about this topic to ignore my lecture?" Haruna practically had steam shooting out of her ears.
"No ma'am. I wasn't ignoring you." Cassie replied, her irritation at herself seeping into her voice. The teacher, who was already upset, misinterpreted it.
"Really? It looked like you were sleeping to me. How could you have possibly have heard a word I said?"
Cassie's temper flared, "Would you like proof, ma'am?" She stood up and looked the woman right in the eye. The students stared at Cassie like she had grown an extra head or something. Chris took one look at his sister and proceeded to try to sink directly into the floor.
"The term Neolithic is from the Greek, meaning 'new stone'…" Cassie began. She recited Miss Haruna's lecture back to her word for word. The woman's jaw dropped.
"That's sufficient Cassie. Please take your seat." Haruna gathered her scattered train of thought and proceeded with the lecture.
'Yep', Cassie thought, 'this is going to be a great day.'
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"Cassandra!"
Molly's Bronx accent cut through the fog in Cassie's mind. She turned from where she was leaning against her locker in the girls' locker room. "Yes Molly?"
"How did you do that?" the auburn-haired girl asked as she was changing into her gym uniform.
"Do what?" Cassie asked.
"How did you know Miss H's lecture like that?" Serena added from across the aisle.
Cassie sighed. She should have known that the incident would come back to haunt her. "I have an eclectic memory when I need it."
"A what?" Serena and Molly both had no idea what she had said.
"She means that she has a perfect memory," Amy explained.
"Ohhh!" And the light came on.
"I just turned on an, an internal tape recorder and recorded the lecture so that I wouldn't have to pay attention to it right then," Cassie added.
"Where can I get one of those? Imagine the great beauty sleep I've been missing!" Serena exclaimed.
Cassie laughed. "It's not something you can just go out and buy, Serena. Besides, like everything else, it has its price. You could say that it just comes with the territory." Cassie leaned over and tapped Serena's communicator watch significantly. Serena nodded slowly as she realized what Cassie was hinting at.
Molly watched the exchange in silence. She was really beginning to hate the secrets that Serena seemed to share with everyone except her. Her mouth tightened in anger for a moment before she shook it off. "Where is Coach Canton? I haven't see her all day."
"I heard that she went to a funeral or something," a girl called from down the row of lockers.
"Yeah," another girl said, "Coach Lou is going to take over for our class."
A great groan went up around the locker room. Coach Lou was the boys' gym teacher and the football coach. He cared for nothing but what he referred to as the Big Three: football, basketball, and baseball. He had a huge beer belly, a tendency to cuss like a sailor, and had an unlit cigar perpetually clamped between his teeth in blatant disregard for the school's no tobacco rule.
Cassie banged her head against a locker. "What else can go wrong today?" she asked an unsympathetic ceiling.
"Get your asses out here ladies!" a gruff baritone shouted from the locker room door. The girls filed into the gym like prisoners on their way to their own hanging.
"Okay ladies," Coach Lou said around his cigar, "Today you are going to do… gymnastics." Several girls fainted from surprise. He snorted at the reaction. "I am too busy whipping those punks," he jerked a thumb at the boys waiting on the other side of the gym, "into athletes to instruct you girls. I am leaving Heather in charge. She'll teach you to do tumbling or some such thing." The coach sauntered over to the guys. "Okay you no good pups! Out to the field! It's time for some drilling!"
"Like okay! I'm going start you on something simple. Everyone do a cartwheel!" Heather said in a too bright, bubbly voice. She had several of her airhead friends along with her. "Come on everyone! One at a time on the mat!"
Cassie rubbed her aching eyes. 'Heather, why did it have to be Heather?' Heather Bryson was one of those types of people that Cassie couldn't stand. She thought that being a senior made her a god. She was… perky. She got her kicks out of making fun of anyone who wasn't popular or rich or basically anyone not in her clique. She was the essential stuck-up, high school was the high point of her life, fluff-headed, bleach blonde cheerleader. A thud startled Cassie out of her sleep-deprived wanderings.
"Serena! That is your name, isn't it?" Heather simpered. "Get up and try again! It's really very simple. Watch me!" The cheerleader did a quick cartwheel. Serena got up, trying to be a good sport. She attempted another cartwheel, but her long pigtail wrapped itself around a leg and down she went again.
Cassie sat down and put her head in her hands. "This is turning into the Monday From Hell and it's only second period."
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Later that day at Lunch
The gang was eating lunch out in the courtyard, like they did on every nice day. Amy was eating and reading. Lita was in a deep conversation with Molly, Mina, and Zoë about some boy. Christopher was pretending to ignore them, but was really listening carefully. Serena was inhaling her food at a tremendous rate. Cassie was trying to take a quick nap in hopes that she could get through the rest of the day.
"Hey Cassie! Are you going to eat that cupcake?"
Cassie didn't even raise her head from the picnic table. She shoved her whole lunch over towards Serena. "Here, Highness. Help yourself."
Serena restrained herself with difficulty. "You sure Cassie? You haven't eaten anything."
Cassie raised her head to look at the blonde seated across from her. "I'm quite sure Princess." She put the lunch into Serena's waiting hands.
"Some princess. She's more peasant than royal, wouldn't you say Heather?" A girl's voice spoke, just loud enough for the jeer to float over from 'in' clique's nearby table.
"Yeah," Heather sneered, "The only thing royal about her is that she's a royal klutz." Her group of flunkies laughed obediently.
Serena's face crumbled as the cruel laughter lashed at her. Lita surged to her feet intent on quieting the obnoxious senior; only Amy and Cassie's firm grip on her arms stopped her from charging.
"You shouldn't say things like that Heather. It's way too mean!" Molly exclaimed.
"You shouldn't say anything at all until you loose that horrible accent! Where did you get it? Steal it from a New York taxi driver?" Heather smiled viciously as Molly turned beet-red with embarrassment and fury. Lita growled and tried to jerk free of her restraints.
"Back off Heather!" Christopher stepped out from his place at the table, purposely putting himself between Heather and Lita. Mina wordlessly joined him. She, too, didn't want Lita to get in trouble for smashing in the snob's perfectly made-up face.
"Christopher," the sugar in Heather's voice could cause cavities, "Why don't you come over here? You don't belong with those outcasts."
Chris put an arm around Mina's shoulders. "My friends are better people than you'll ever be."
Heather bristled. "Your friends are losers! They aren't fit to carry my bags."
"Losers?" Cassie didn't raise her voice, but every conversation in the courtyard died instantly. At the edge of hearing, a menacing, cold melody snaked its way through the crowd, chilling everyone into immobility.
"Yes! Losers!" Heather felt uneasy at all of the sudden attention. She hadn't meant to cause this big a scene, but she couldn't back away from the challenge in Cassie's eyes.
"Perhaps you would care to elaborate?" Heather stared down at the seated girl, her mouth opening and closing. Cassandra released Lita's arm and calmly crossed her legs. She leaned back against the tabletop and folded her hands in her lap. "That is a nice mimicry of a tuna, but would you please enlighten me as to why we are 'losers'?" She waited with exaggerated patience for Heather to respond.
"Well? Well, take Serena for example," Heather finally stuttered, "She eats like a pig!" Heather's cronies all nodded in agreement until a fierce look from Lita stilled them.
"Serena has a high metabolic rate which requires a high caloric intake. She has been blessed with the ability to eat what ever she wants without gaining any weight, unlike you," Cassie smiled coldly, "Those are diet pills that you take everyday before lunch, aren't they Miss Bryson? Or are they something a little less…legal? I've heard that many illegal drugs make good appetite suppressants." Heather turned several shades of red while sputtering in rage. Cassie cocked her head to the side and said, "What are you trying to say Miss Bryson?" Heather stomped off with her entourage following behind like bewildered ducklings.
The rest of the students went back to their meals, most pleased with Heather's embarrassment. Some of them were uneasy; they could sense the edge of the power swirling through the school but had no idea what it was. Soon afterward the bell ending lunch rang. Everyone got up and headed back to their classes.
"How did you know that Heather takes pills?" Lita asked as she threw away the remains of her meal.
"I didn't," Cassie yawned mightily, "She just seemed the type."
"Never play poker with my sister. She can bluff with the best of them," Chris grinned and took Mina's arm. "Escort you to your next class, my lady?"
"Yes please," Mina giggled. Everyone began going his or her separate ways. Molly and Cassie walked together down the hall towards their lockers.
"I wish Melvin had been here to see Heather that mad. She has tormented him for years," Molly said softly.
"Are you and Melvin an item?" Cassie asked.
"Not any more. We dated for a while, but we are really just good friends. He's more like a brother to me than anything." Molly sighed, "He deserves someone that really loves him." They walked in silence for a while. "Cassandra, why did you call Serena 'princess' and 'highness'? You don't normally do that."
"A slip of a lip can sink a ship." Cassie muttered.
"What?"
"Nothing Molly," Cassie racked her tired mind to come up with a way out of this mess. "Serena has the heart of a princess, that's all."
"Oh," Molly stopped to wait for Cassie to get her books from her locker. "You know, I've often thought that myself." Cassie looked at her sharply. "Ever since eighth grade, I've been sure that there is something more to Serena than meets the eye." Molly laughed, "I bet that sounds corny, huh?"
"Not in the least," Cassie smiled at the auburn haired girl, "See you later!" The two split up to go to their afternoon classes. Cassandra made a mental note to talk to Serena about Molly. She was more convinced than ever that the girl was a Silver Millennium survivor.
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The Monday From Hell was finally almost over. School let out and Cassie said a silent prayer of thanks as she shoved her books into her backpack. She headed out the front doors on her way to go straight to bed, do not pass Go, do not collect $200. She stumbled down the front stairs, focused only on putting one foot in front of the other in the general direction of home. The exhausted girl almost ran right into Serena and Molly before she saw them. One sophomore grabbed each arm and managed to keep Cassie on her feet as she came to a ragged halt.
"I thought Serena was the only one able to sleepwalk in broad daylight around here," Molly said slyly.
Serena rolled her eyes at her best friend before asking, "Cassie, would you like us to walk you home?"
"I thought that you had detention Serena," Cassie temporized as she rubbed sleepy eyes.
"I did, but Miss H has a hot date tonight. She let me go with a warning."
"In that case, I would be honored if you walked me home. That way I might actually get there."
The three girls headed off toward the Whitmore house. Molly said, "I've been meaning to ask. Why are you so wasted Cassandra?"
"I just haven't had much sleep lately."
"Well, it's a good thing that you're not like Serena. She wouldn't have been awake at all today."
"Hey!" Serena mock-growled, "Some friend you are! You sound like Heather!"
"That's a major league insult Serena!" Molly stuck her nose in the air; "I'm much better at insulting you than Heather!" The two friends traded insults good-naturedly as they kept Cassie headed toward home.
As they passed by the entrance to the football stadium, someone, several someones, started screaming inside. Cassie stopped dead in her tracks and dragged Serena to a halt. She looked up at the heavens and said, "Will this day never end? I just want to go to sleep!"
"What is it Cassie?" Serena asked.
"What do you think it is? Come on we've got to check this out." Cassie started toward the open gates leading into the home-side bleachers.
"Oh! Right!" Serena started after her. When she realized that Molly was following her, she stopped so suddenly that the girl ran right into her and they both went tumbling. As they untangled themselves, Cassie waited impatiently a few yards away.
"Molly," Serena began, "why don't you…"
"No way Serena! You're not running off without me this time!" Molly said as the anger she had felt earlier return a hundred-fold. She climbed to feet and placed her hands on her hips in a defiant stance. She stared hard down at Serena who was still sitting on the ground. "I've been you're friend since we were little kids and I'm tired of getting shoved off onto the sidelines!"
"Molly…" Serena whined as she rubbed the back of her head. A new burst of screams interrupted her.
"We don't have time for this!" Cassie shouted back at the pair. "Just come on Serena! Molly is trustworthy. Besides, she'll be safer with us than running around by herself if this is another attack." Cassie took off running for tunnel that led under the home bleachers onto the field beyond. Molly followed after her before Serena could climb back to her feet.
"But Cassie! Molly wait up!" the former princess and future queen wailed as she ran after her friends into the dark tunnel.
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Serena started to scream when something grabbed her in the concrete tunnel. A hard hand covered her mouth before she could do more than draw a deep breath. A voice whispered in her ear, "Quiet. Every sound we make carries into the stadium." The hand removed itself from her face.
"Cassie!" Serena hissed, "You scared me out of ten years of my life!" Her eyes adjusted slowly to the dim light. Molly and Cassie were standing near her, shadows only identifiable by their shape and size.
"What now Cassie?" Molly whispered.
"Just follow me. And walk softly," Cassie answered as she dropped her backpack to the ground. She started slowly down the tunnel under the massive concrete bleachers. She made no more sound than a cat would. Molly and Serena were less successful at being silent, but they were trying.
The three girls stopped just inside the field end of the tunnel. Cassie motioned for the two younger girls to remain where they were and slunk up to where she could see the field. She returned with a stony look on her face.
"It's a Negaverse attack alright. One youma and what looks like a general of some type have the band and the cheerleaders trapped. They're sucking them dry." Cassie reported grimly.
"The Negaverse?" Molly squeaked, "What are we going to do?"
Cassie smiled slightly and met Serena's eyes, "As much as I would like to Heather to have a personal run-in with a particularly nasty Nega-monster, we can't let the rest of those kids be attacked. We'll have to stop them."
"How?" Molly asked, "We're not the Sailor Scouts or anything!"
"Actually…" Serena said as she touched her locket, "We are." She nodded to Cassie.
Cassie pulled out her transformation pen and held it up above her head, "Athena Star Power!"
"Moon Cosmic Power!" Molly stared at them amazed and slightly appalled that she hadn't realized sooner who Sailor Moon really was.
Sailor Athena pulled her sword and her compact communicator out of her sub-space pocket. "Molly, make your way up to the announcer's booth once we have their attention." She tossed the compact to the stunned girl. "This is a communicator. Use it to call in the other Scouts. Direct them in the best way to get the drop on the Nega-trash out there. You should be able to see everything from the booth." Molly nodded, not trusting her ability to say anything coherent. "If the Scouts give you any trouble, just tell them that you are also from the Silver Millennium. That should at least get them to get over here."
Sailor Moon and Sailor Athena slipped down to make their grand entrance well away from the tunnel's mouth where Molly was waiting for an opportunity to sneak up to the announcer's booth above her.
"Stop right there Nega-creeps! The band and the cheerleaders keep spirits up even if we are loosing the game! I won't allow you to mess with School Spirit! I am Sailor Moon! I right wrongs and triumph over evil, and that means you slime-miesters!" Sailor Moon posed dramatically on the home-side bench.
"And I'm Sailor Athena! I am not in a good mood, therefore, you are in deep trouble!" Athena pointed her sword right at the general's throat.
"Oh, I'm really intimidated," The general laughed coldly from where he floated above the tangle of fallen bands-people and instruments. He had dark brown hair and eyes and wore a uniform of an icy light blue trimmed with black. "Since we are introducing ourselves, I am General Hermes and this is the youma Mudpie. Mudpie, attack!"
The youma looked like a giant toddler, who would have been almost cute if it wasn't made of mud and had empty black holes where it's eyes should have been. It shambled forward, yanked up a section of the carefully tended football field sod and quickly made patted together a ball of mud from the earth underneath. It flung the mud at the two Sailor Scouts as it yelled "Mud Pie" in a dreadful imitation of a child's voice. The Scouts dodged at the last minute. The mud hit the bench they had been standing on and caused it to burst into flames.
"Oh great! Mud pie a flammbe!" Athena snapped, "We've got to get that thing away from the band. They could get cooked alive!"
"Right!" Sailor Moon shouted. The two Scouts worked on luring the lumbering youma down the field. General Hermes seemed to be content to just watch from his floating vantagepoint.
Molly finally made her way into the announcer's booth high up on the home side of the stadium. "Man!" she said to herself, "Maintenance is going to be pissed when they see the mess that thing is making of the field." She sat down in the announcer's chair. "Now how does this thing work…" She fumbled with the catch to Athena's communicator compact. It finally sprang open. She stared at her reflection in the mirror for a second before taking a deep breath and pressing the button labeled a heart with little antennae on top and a cross attached at the bottom. Amy's face appeared in the mirror.
"Cassie, what… Molly! What are you doing with Cassie's communicator?!" Amy's jaw went slack in amazement.
"You're a Sailor Scout? Of course you are," Molly shook her head; "There is no time for explanations. Cassandra gave me this and told me to call in the other Sailor Scouts. There is a youma attacking the band in the football stadium." The auburn-haired girl surveyed the fight below her. "If you come in from the visitor side at the north end of the stadium, you can get behind the youma and the general."
"There's a general too?" Amy snapped her jaw closed. "I'll be there as soon as I can. Mercury out."
Molly sighed in relief, "One down." She pressed the next button, the one labeled with an upside down heart with an arrow coming out of it.
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"You know," Sailor Moon panted, "This 'distract the monster' business is getting old!"
"You're telling me!" Athena knelt on the sideline, leaning heavily on her sword. "When are the others going to get here so we can finish this?"
"Mercury Bubbles Blast!" The shrouding fog announced the arrival of Sailor Mercury. She and the other members of the Inner Guard ran over to Athena and Sailor Moon.
"Well, that answers that question," Athena said wryly.
"Why did you tell Molly about us?" Mars demanded as soon as she was in speaking distance.
"Nice of you to finally show up," Sailor Moon said, sarcasm dripping from her voice.
"What's the story with the youma?" Jupiter asked quickly, before Mars could blow up.
"It's slow, rather stupid, and flings burning mud pies," Athena shoved herself to her feet using the sword as a prop.
"Mercury?" Venus asked.
Mercury whipped out her computer and quickly scanned the monster. "If we hit it first with fire and then freeze it, it should be weakened enough for Sailor Moon to finish it off."
The fog dissipated as Mercury finished speaking.
"Alright Mars! Light that Nega-slime up!" Venus commanded.
The raven haired Scout nodded sharply, ready to rid herself of some of her anger by frying something. "Mars Fire Ignite!" The mud-toddler stopped moving as the fire swept over its body. The mud hardened in the searing heat.
"Mercury Ice Bubbles Freeze!" Thousands of cracks appeared over the youma's body as it tried to cope with sudden extreme temperature change.
"Now Sailor Moon!" the Scouts chorused.
"Moon Spiral Heart Attack!" The monster turned to dust as the huge pink heart hit it.
The sound of one person clapping very slowly echoed through the now silent stadium. "Very impressive ladies. Maybe you'll be worthy opponents after all," General Hermes said from high above.
"Come down here and I'll show you impressive!" Jupiter shook her fist at the floating man.
"Maybe another time. Goodbye for now." Hermes bowed and then disappeared in a cloud of tiny ice crystals.
"Who was that?" Venus asked.
"General Hermes," Sailor Moon answered.
Molly came out to the group of Scouts on the football field. "Now that the fight is over, could someone please fill me in?" The Scouts looked back and forth at each other, all at a loss for words.
Finally Athena said, "Let's get off of the field before the band and the cheerleaders wake up." She hefted her weapon. "I don't want to be tempted to use this on Heather." She slid her sword back into her sub-space pocket as she led the way back to the tunnel under the home stands. The others followed silently.
Once in the tunnel, Cassandra de-transformed and headed over to her discarded backpack. Perseus sat near it; he had arrived in time to see the end of the fight. The others soon followed suit and turned back into their civilian forms. Everyone stood around, shuffling their feet, unsure of what to say to Molly or each other. Cassie finally heaved a sigh of pure frustration and swept up Perseus. She shoved the cat into Molly's arms. "Here, Percy can explain anything you want. I'm going home to bed." She snatched up her backpack, turned on her heel and left.
"How can a cat tell me anything?" Molly asked. Her bewildered expression broke the tension and everyone laughed.
"Come on Moll!" Serena said as she put an arm around her friend's shoulder, "Let's go to Raye's and pig out on the chocolate cupcakes she's got hidden in her room. This is going to be a long story!"
"Meatball Head! How did you know about my chocolate stash?!" The outraged priestess followed her Princess out of the stadium fuming all of the way.
Next time on Sailor Moon: Serenity's Court
The new enemy now has a face: General Hermes. Molly has finally discovered Serena's secret, but how will she figure in the Sailor Team? Find out more in: Who is This Hermes?
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