Prelude to a Dream
Chapter One
A very tired senshi of Jupiter collapsed on a couch. It was only 1:00 in the afternoon and already she was growing bored. The house was spotless and her friends were all busy.
"Next time remind me to bake an extra batch of cookies so Usagi can stay longer...I wonder if Ami's cousin is cute. Well, I shouldn't call her again. The line will probably still be busy. Everybody seems to have something to do but me."
Makoto trained her emerald eyes on the coffee table It was a little messy. A magaizine was turned in the opposite direction from the rest of the stack and if she squinted, she could just make out the beginnings of a dust ball. Being the perfectionist that she was (not to mention as bored as she was) the tall girl dusted the table and picked up the magazine, placing it at the top of the orderly pile of magazines.
She stood back and examined her handiwork. It was perfect...or was almost perfect. The magazine was slightly skewed. To Makoto, it was an eye sore. She glared at the magazine, for refusing to fit into the rest of her near apartment. As she exchanged looks with the inanimate object, something on the front cover caught her eye. Curiously, she picked it up.
There was a color picture of two young kids glaring at each other from across a 3D playing field. The heading read: "Duel Monster Convention 2004. Trade. Buy. Battle. Come meet Seto Kaiba, Pegasus, Hiiro Matsuya, and other dueling legends. Enter to win a week of lessons with the duel legend of your choice for you and four other friends. Join us this Saturday from 1- 5pm at the Juuban Convention Center. It's fun for the whole family."
"Well, since I have nothing else to do this today, or any other day, it could be fun. I just wish the others weren't so busy. Maybe Chibi-Usa could come with me...I'll call Usagi's house right now!"
She picked up the phone and dialed Usagi's number. "Moshi Moshi," Mrs. Tsukino answered.
"Gomen nasai, Tsukino-san, but are Usagi or Chibi-Usa there?"
"No, they went out with Mamoru after their trip to the dentist."
"Where'd they go?" Makoto asked. She was slightly suspicious because it was rare for all three to go out willingly together. For a future daughter, Chib-Usa just didn't get along with her mother.
"Oh, they went to the Duel Monster Convention. I think they will be home around 6. Would you like me to leave a message for them?"
"No...it's okay. Sorry for bothering you."
"Don't worry, Makoto-chan. You're practically one of the family. I must get going though, I am baking some cookies. That recipe you gave me was a hit! Goodbye then, Makoto-chan."
Makoto put the phone down and thought for a moment. 'I guess Mamoru felt bad for taking Usagi to the dentist...no, probably not. Usagi and Chibi-Usa probably begged him to take them. This will be fun. Maybe I can enter the contest...nah...now where did I put my deck?'
An hour later Makoto was ready to go. She was fully dressed, casually in jeans and a T-shirt. It didn't take her long to find her deck since her apartment was so neat. The deck felt strange in her hand though. She wasn't used to fighting with cards; she had never even used them. Usagi took them all to a game store and pressured them to pick a deck. Makoto stuck to her element so her deck was filled with dragon, earth, or female type cards. Her favorite card was Princess of Tsurugi. It was a strong warrior girl and reminded Makoto a lot of herself.
She placed the crisp new deck in her small purse, along with pocket money and her keys.
"Now then, let's go!"
She arrived at the convention center at 2:30. The place was already packed, much to her dismay. It would be impossible to find her three friends. She stood at the entrance, hoping to catch a glimpse of her friends through the crowd.
"Pssst!" someone whispered. Makoto spun around to find the source of the voice. There was nobody behind her. "Psssst!" repeated the voice in an effort to get her attention.
This time she knew that she wasn't hearing things. She even found the source of the voice, a woman standing at the street corner, motioning to follow. Makoto wasn't naive or a fool, but she still followed the woman. With luck the woman was secretly a youma. The Senshi of Jupiter was anxious to fight.
Makoto stepped into the dark ally. The woman was seated at a small table; another chair was across from her.
"Sit down," the woman said. As if in a trance, Makoto did it. Something about the veiled woman was compelling and mysterious. The woman wore a scarlet sari, complete with veils and sequins. Her olive complexion looked very comfortable in the red silk. Makoto estimated her to be under thirty, but an exact age escaped her. The veil and shadows concealed much of the detail.
She eventually managed to recover her wits. "Why did you bring me here?"
The woman laughed. "I did not bring you here. I called for someone else and you came. You are perfect though," the woman said. Makoto was confused.
"What are you talking about? Who are you?"
"Oh, I guess I should tell you, it's not important though. I am called Kyra. You can call me a gypsy...it's the closest you hu...people can come to my title." Makoto began to grow angry with the vague woman but reminded herself that she came out of her own free will...she thought so at least.
"What do you want? Tell me or I'll leave right now."
Kyra's gray eyes focused on Makoto. She pulled a wooden box from behind her back and placed it on the table. "What would you give to have the items in this box? You're curious, I can feel it...would you give your most precious possession to have it? The items in this box could be anything from treasure to...a penny...to a slug."
"Why a slug?" Makoto asked.
"You hu...you girls ask too many questions."
Makoto eyed the box with much interest. Something in it was compelling her much like the gypsy woman did. She had the sudden desire to touch the box but Kyra's quick hand stopped her from completing the motion.
"No touching. I will trade you this box for the most valued item you have with you."
It was as if some spell was controlling her. Makoto eagerly emptied her purse on the table. All she had was a twenty-dollar bill, some change, her key ring, a locket, gum, lint and her small deck of dueling cards. Makoto looked at Kyra closely. She ignored the money but stared intently at the locket.
"Give me what I want girl," she ordered.
'Why is she looking at the locket? Oh no...she wants it! No. It's one of the few memories I have left of my parents. No, I can't let her have it."
Makoto picked up they money and handed it to the gypsy woman. Kyra looked at it disdainfully and didn't take it.
"Do you really think I'm that stupid? You don't care for this money. No, I see you looking at the locket."
Makoto went slack jawed in surprise. The 'gypsy' picked up the locket and opened it. It was a picture of a four year old Makoto laughing happily and holding the hands of a gentle looking man and woman. They were her parents and the photo was taken on the last birthday she had, before the plane crash. The locket disappeared as if by magic.
The senshi was shocked. "How-how did..."
Kyra smiled. "How did I know? You can call it a lucky guess. Now I believe the deal was I get the locket and you get the box. Remember, all things come at a price, princess"
Makoto took the box in trembling hands, not even aware that she had just been called a princess. She didn't dare open it yet. Instead, she pocketed her trinkets. A mysterious wind blew and Makoto's cards went with it. She had no choice but to chase after them. Usagi would kill her if she found that she had lost them.
Once she was sure that she had all of the cards, she returned to the alley. It was empty and the mysterious Kyra was gone along with her locket. There was no trace that a trade had just taken place.
"Mother...Father...forgive me." A single tear trailed down Makoto's face as she returned to the convention, her head downcast in shame. She walked until she bumped into something solid. Looking up, she saw the familiar face of Mamoru. Beside him were Chibi-Usa and Usagi.
"Mako-chan, funny bumping into you here. I didn't know you were into Duel Monsters," he said. But Makoto didn't respond, she just her attention was still at the alley across the street.
"What's wrong Mako-chan? It looks like you've just seen a ghost," Chibi-Usa asked, concerned.
Makoto blinked and gave her friends her full attention. "I'm fine. I guess I just spaced out for a second."
"Come on lets go in! I wanna go battle somebody and I'm hungry!" Usagi said. She dragged Makoto in but Chibi-Usa, though enthusiastic, stayed back with her future father.
Makoto and Usagi entered the revolving doors. Usagi was out of breath. "After all we've been through, she still gets tired. Usagi, our hime," Mamoru muttered from Makoto's side.
The inside of the convention center was large. There were hundreds of booths set up with people, battling, trading and buying cards. At the far end was a huge stage and next to it was one of the new 3d battling arenas. Usagi clung to Mamoru and Chibi-Usa squeezed in the middle, not one to be ignored.
Makoto hung back as they began to walk to one of the trading booths. One stall caught her eye. It was the place to sign up for the contest. She maneuvered her way through the crowd and filled out the entry card. The sign said five people would win...there were hundreds of people entering the contest so the chances of her winning were slim to nil. But you never knew...
She found Usagi at one of the regular gaming tables. She was playing against a ten-year-old and was loosing badly. Chibi-Usa got tired of cheering for her so decided to play against a girl her age. Mamoru was falling asleep in the seat by Usagi.
Makoto thought the better of joining them and took a seat in an empty stall nearby. She had the wooden box on her lap and was gathering the courage to open it. 'I wonder if it's a youma...the woman was awfully creepy...what if its money? I can buy anything I want. But it's only as big as a shoebox. What can it hold? There's only one way to find out...'
The wooden lid was heavier then it looked. She pried it off eventually and what she saw caused her to frown. Makoto had expected some sort of magic display or at the least something mildly dangerous. She looked in dismay at the contents of the box. There were five silver jeweled rings in the box as well as what seemed to be five Duel Cards. The first card had the name "Megami no Jupiter-sei" at the top right hand corner. It had the silhouette of a woman surrounded by swirling leaves and electricity. Makoto could have sworn that the outline looked like her. What really caught her eye was the attack and defense points. It had question marks by it and no number. Other then that the card was blank. There was no monster description or anything that would make the card seem remotely normal.
'I got ripped off! This card is a fake,' she moaned. She decided to look at the rest of the cards before releasing her anger.
The second card was called Megami no Venus-sei. It had the silhouette of a woman surrounded by hearts. That was when it began to feel creepy. The outline looked disturbingly like Minako. The attack and defense were just like the first card's and was basically blank.
The third was called Megami no Mars-sei. It had a silhouette that looked a lot like Rei. Roaring flames surrounded the figure and the content was the same as the other two cards.
The fourth one was called Megami no Mercury-sei. Surrounded by bubbles, the figure was unmistakably Ami. The last one was called Megami no Saturn-sei and was surrounded by darkness. It had to have been Hotaru.
With trembling hands she put the cards back in the case and the rings in her pocket. "It has to be a coincidence...or a joke...they can't know about the Sailor Senshi...I can't even use the cards! They're worthless..." she cried.
Makoto felt somebody tap her back. She spun around and was immediately in a fighting stance. In front of her were four people, three guys and a girl.
Yugi, Joey, Tea and Tristan stood there. They were fellow sophomores at Juuban and as obsessed as Usagi about Duel Monsters, though the difference was that they actually knew what they were doing.
"Hi, Mako-chan," Tea greeted. Makoto smiled as she pocketed the cards. It would be her day if somebody connected the cards to the Sailor Senshi.
"Hey guys," she said once more her cheerful self.
"Makoto, what are you doing here? I never knew you dueled," Tristan said.
"Huh? Me? Oh I don't really duel. I have cards but only because ondago atama made me buy them. You know Usagi right? She's here with her boyfriend and her ," Makoto amended.
"What's that behind you?" Yugi asked. Makoto feigned confusion. "Those cards in the box behind you," Joey said.
"Huh that box? Um...those aren't real cards they're...promotional...yeah promotional," Makoto said and cringed at her obvious lie. She looked over and gasped. Joey had the box and was showing his friends the five cards. Yugi looked over at Makoto suspiciously as his millennium puzzle tingled. It reacted to the cards.
Makoto snatched the cards away from Joey and stuffed them in her purse. "Sorry but that's kind of personal," Makoto said.
"Yeah, Joey. That was rude," Tea said. Joey blushed.
"Where did you get those cards?" Yugi asked.
"Those cards...um...you know what, I think I hear Chibi-Usa calling me. Gomen nasai but I've got to go...nice seeing you all again. Good luck if you decide to battle or something." Makoto backed away slowly and cursed herself for not being a decent liar.
She walked away with Tea, Tristan, Joey and Yugi staring off after her. Yugi looked over to the table and picked up the wooden box. The lid had a millennium symbol engraved on it...
Author's Notes [7.18.04]
I left it at a cliff hanger, aren't I evil? Ok, so the story is already completed, you still have to wait while clicking the next chapter. ; Oh wait, I didn't edit that one yet. You'll just have to sit tight for a day or two.