Path Not Taken
Chapter 2
By
Devon Masterson
AN: I've had a lot of trouble with this story lately so I could really use some useful comments.
Reiko's eyes scanned the area to see if anyone was around. She and Pan were staying at the capsule corp building then heading out in the morning with Trunks. Once she saw no one she pulled out the only thing she had to remember about her past, her broach. She called the crystal to her hand and put the small crystal in the broach. She was curious to see if she could manifest her powers the same way she did in her world. "Moon cosmic power," she called out and nothing happened. She sighed when all of a sudden she was engulfed in a light.
She floated in a void of nothingness and debris in her pure form. "Hello?" she called into the nothingness. In response to her voice, the debris parted and she saw a small planet. She landed softly on the planet and looked around.
"I started to think I'd never actually see you," a voice replied in surprise.
Reiko turned around and saw a tall regal woman standing before her. "Mama?"
The kind woman smiled. "Yes and no. I am the Serenity of this dimension. I never had a daughter. I died before I was able to."
"How did I get here? Why am I here?" Reiko asked.
"Destiny," Serenity replied. "Your destiny was always to bring about the Moon Kingdom, just not the way you planned."
"But…"
Serenity put her finger to Reiko's lips to silence her. "You are in this sub-dimension because you tried to use the crystal's power. Your powers work differently here. There is no more Sailor Moon, just… Reiko. You have to start your training. You have to learn to use your powers and become a strong queen in this dimension. Things are going to be quite rougher here and you would need to harness more of your physical abilities, but I know you can do it. I've spoken with King Kai and he has assured me that you're in good hands, but first you need to find your sword to wield your power properly."
Reiko nodded and Serenity smiled in pride.
"You will make a good queen and you will learn the many secrets of the crystal. I have faith in you and I am proud to call you my daughter."
Reiko smiled and reached to hug Serenity. Serenity held her for a few moments then pulled away. She kissed Reiko on the forehead. "Now everyone will know you're my daughter. Good luck," she whispered as a bright light surrounded them.
"Reiko, are you okay?" Trunks asked as he shook her.
Reiko opened her eyes and saw that it was morning. She had been outside all night. A fine coat of dew covered her face making it shiny. "I'm fine," she answered. She wiped her face. "I must have fallen asleep. I had a dream about my mother."
Trunks touched her forehead. "When did that show up?"
"What?" Reiko asked.
"You have a crescent moon on your head."
"Really?" she asked. "That usually doesn't show up unless…"
"Now everyone will know you are my daughter."
"Unless what?" he asked as she trailed.
"Nothing," she replied as she stood. "I'm going to get Pan, take a shower then we can go." Reiko walked inside the capsule corp complex.
Trunks stared after and sighed. He reached into his pocket to pull out his capsule container. He pressed the top down and threw the capsule. A popping sound escaped as a hover car decompressed from the capsule. He leaned against the car and thought about the situation he had gotten himself into now. He was about to embark on a wild quest with the one of the most beautiful women on the planet and Pan to find a sword that they had no clue where it was. The only thing they had to go on was the cave where he found the crystal ten years ago. "This is looking pretty hopeless," he commented to himself.
"You don't have to take me if you don't want to," Reiko said breaking into his thoughts. "Just tell me where it is and I'll be on my way."
"That's not what I mean," he replied quickly. How did she sneak up on him? "I was just trying to think of where the sword could be." He ran his hands through his lavender hair nervously and smiled. She looked nice in her jean shorts and pink top.
Reiko blushed as she noticed him looking at her. "We'll be able to leave as soon as Pan finishes talking to Videl."
Trunks nodded. "I packed the car last night so we wouldn't have to worry about it in the morning. We will be fine in the car until we get to the mountains then we're going to have to fly. There's a lot of terrain and we…"
"Fly?" she asked. "I don't know if I'll…"
"Don't worry. I'll teach you when we get to mountains. There's a lake near the base and I thought we camp there and then start in the morning."
Reiko hugged herself and nodded. She wanted to start a new life and no here was her chance. "No need to chicken out. That's what she would have done. I'm different."
"I'm ready," Pan yelled as she ran up to the two. She jumped up and down. "Let's go."
&&&
"What a beautiful lake," Reiko sighed as she stepped out of the car. She carried Pan asleep in her arms as she moved closer to inspect her surroundings.
"This is where we'll be camping tonight," Trunks replied as he opened a small box. His fingers ran over several capsule before he found the one he wanted. He depressed the top then threw it away from them. A small boom sounded and small dome-like house appeared as the smoke settled.
Reiko tried to keep her mouth from hanging open, every time she saw him or someone do that it she was amazed. There was a lot about this world that she still had to learn about, but first things first. "I'm going to put her down then we can get started."
Trunks nodded as he watched her leave. It was hard to believe that he was going to get spend some time alone with a beautiful woman that did not know who he was, well close enough Pan was around. It was refreshing to meet someone who was not trying to feed his ego constantly; it was already big enough as it was. He had to get to know her better.
"I'm ready," Reiko replied as she close the door behind her.
"In order to fly you have to be able to focus the energy around you, like this," he said as a white aura surrounded him and he floated upward. "It's easy."
Reiko nodded then squeezed her eyes shut as she concentrated. Nothing happened. "This is hard," she sighed a few moments later.
Trunks looked smug as he settled to the ground lowly. "Perhaps, I should have tried something easier to make sure you could even focus your energy."
Ocean eyes narrowed in annoyance and frustration. "I can do this," she replied sternly as she started to glow in a soft white light. A smiled crossed her features at surprised look on his face as she shot into the air.
"Not bad," Trunks said from above her. "You're pretty fast, but not as fast as me."
"I could catch you," Reiko replied.
"How much do you want to bet?" he asked.
"I…I don't have any money," she answered.
"Doesn't matter," he replied. "I'll catch you instead. If I do, you tell me about your past. If I don't then I'll tell you something you want to know."
"Deal," Reiko smiled then laughed. "You're it." She took off in the western direction. The environment whizzed around her and she smiled at the fact that she mastered flying this way. It much different than using her heavenly wings. This was she could actually feel the wind in her air; it was quite invigorating.
After about ten minutes, Reiko turned her head back. She stopped and looked around. "I must have been going too fast, what if he's lost looking for me." She started back in the direction that she came from. For a moment time stopped as she felt something inside of her flutter. She turned her head as a blur of lavender pinned her causing her to hurtle towards the ground. She nearly screamed out when she felt herself slowing down until she settled onto ground safely and softly. "What were you thinking?" she asked angrily as she tried to hit the handsome man staring down at her amused.
He caught her flying fists and held them above her head. "That you were easy to catch," he replied falling into her eyes.
Reiko flushed as she realized the position they were in and the way he stared at her. She cleared her throat. "Could you let me up please?"
Trunks flushed lightly and quickly got up. "Sorry if I scared you," he said lowly as he sat beside her. He was tipping his hand a little earlier than he would like. She was going to think he was idiot if he kept it up. He coughed. "So what's your story?"
"I come from alternate world," she answered.
He had heard from his mother about the various worlds lying in different times and dimensions. She even told him about the time an alternate him came to visit them and help them defeat the androids terrorizing the planet. "Did something happen to your world that made you came here?" he asked
"Not to my world, just to me," she answered as she fiddled with a blond lock out of her single ponytail. "My friend invented this teleportation device and I…well she told me not to mess with it because she was still working on it, but I was curious so I…I tried to send something through the machine and it blew up. When I came to, there were two of me."
"That is unreal," Trunks commented lowly. Even though he knew it to be true, he could not imagine there being more of him in another dimensions, much less in the same reality.
Reiko nodded. "It was. We were exactly the same up until the explosion. Ami checked us out. At first I thought it was cool, it would be like having a sister, but then we started having problems. We were both the same person and eventually one of us would have to go and find another identity, but neither one of us was willing to sacrifice the other. We both knew we could not live like this, no matter how hard we tried, only one of us was the real Serena.
"Ami repaired the machine and was going to use it to put us back together, but I didn't want either one of us to die so I used it to come here just before destroying it. I ended up appearing in the mid-air over a lake somewhere. Next thing I knew I was in bed at Gohan and Videl's house."
"Reiko…" Trunks's sentence trail
Reiko jumped up. "Thank you for the flying lesson," she said before bowing then ran off. "I'm going to take a nap."
Trunks watched her go inside the house then looked towards the lake. He would do everything he could to help her find her place here. Now he only had to figure out how.
©2002 Devon Masterson
I don't own anything in here except the plot;p I'm just having fun here folks.
