Chapter Three: Appearances
Haruka sat back after Rei and Usagi had finished explaining what they had seen.
"So, these two soldiers are what you're so worried about, Luna? What do they have that we don't? Haruka asked, not totally seeing the point.
"Power, Haruka-san. Power that is beyond what we, as Serenity's protectors, can understand. You see, not only were these two men soldiers of Silver Millennium, but they were also related by blood to Queen Serenity." Luna said, as the whole room went silent.
"How were they related to the queen, Luna?" Minako asked, when she had gotten over her shock enough to speak.
"They were the disinherited brothers of Princess Serenity." Luna said, grimly. Again there was shocked silence, but this time Hotaru broke it.
"Luna-chan, are these two brothers out for revenge?" Hotaru asked, her purple eyes cautious, but not afraid.
"No. They never found out that their mother was Queen Serenity, nor did they ever need to know. They were happy enough with their lives as soldiers protecting the kingdom from minor threats." Luna said, as she remembered the good-natured soldiers that had guarded the gate until their abrupt dismissal by Queen Serenity.
"What do you think, Setsuna-san? Would those two do any harm if they remembered the past?" Usagi asked, speaking up for the first time since she'd told them of her dream.
"I cannot say, exactly. But I do not feel that they would bear any ill will towards us, at any rate. They might feel a little resentment for Queen Serenity for their banishment, but that's just about it." Setsuna replied.
"But that is enough for darker forces to corrupt their hearts. I say we find them before something else does. If we don't, we'll be placing ourselves at the mercy of two beings who could probably be even more powerful than Galaxia herself." Mamoru murmured, from his seat at the end of the table. All of the senshi gaped at him in surprise. Unruffled, Mamoru took this as a cue to continue.
"You know what I say to be true. In the time before the fall of Silver Millennium, I had four allies who were sworn to my side by blood and blade. Unfortunately, they were swayed into darkness by Beryl and Mettalia and helped in the destruction of the Moon Kingdom. And we also saw the effects of evil bending the human heart when we fought against the Dark Moon Family and Death Phantom. Even though the Outer Senshi did not join us until late, they have certainly seen their share of tragic events wrought by this sort of thing. Does anyone really want to see this cycle continue?" Mamoru asked, calmly. All of the senshi looked at one another and shifted uncomfortably in their seats. Mamoru's speech had gone deep and struck at the very questions and fears they had buried in their hearts.
"The Prince speaks the truth; and it is a truth that is not easy to bear. Even though the power the brothers have is fearsome, we must not let that power fall into the wrong hands." Michiru said, speaking up for the first time since the meeting began. Then all attention turned to Luna and Artemis. Both cats looked crestfallen at the resolve they saw in the eyes of their human charges.
"How do we go about finding them?" Usagi asked, quietly.
"Even though I feel this is a mistake, I will tell you." Luna said, reluctantly. As the group gathered around them, the two cats began telling them of how they could find the brothers, wherever they were on earth.
Hours later, all of the senshi were ready to put the plan into action. Even Tuxedo Kamen stood ready.
"Form a circle and join hands. This will be the first time in centuries this has ever been attempted. Remember to focus your energies on Tuxedo Kamen, since he's the compass that will point you in the right direction. His ties to the Earth will help you locate the brothers. Be careful, wherever you end up, and good luck." Luna said, as she watched the team do as they had been told.
"You ready, Tuxedo Kamen-sama?" Mercury asked, shyly.
"About as ready as I am going to get, Mercury. There's going to be a lot of energy running through me when we leave from here. I only hope I can handle it." Tuxedo Kamen replied, not hiding his nervousness, yet not giving in to it, either.
"Don't worry, Tuxedo Kamen-sama! It's not like there's going to be evil energy flowing into you! You'll be fine!" Jupiter said, enthusiastically, with her usual gung-ho attitude.
"Thanks for the vote of confidence, Jupiter." Tuxedo Kamen said, relaxing a little before Uranus piped up.
"Or you could overload and send us careening into nothingness." Uranus said, sarcastically. Tuxedo Kamen gave her an icy look.
"And thanks for that, Uranus." Tuxedo Kamen muttered, as he grasped Sailor Moon's and Sailor Saturn's hands. There were a few snickers from Uranus and Neptune, but then all went silent, as they concentrated their powers on the lone male in their midst. Luna watched in agonizing silence as a look of discomfort, then pain, crossed Tuxedo Kamen's features.
"How much will he be able to take?" Luna wondered, flinching when a brilliant flash came from the group, then the group itself disappeared, leaving a patch of broken up concrete as a clue that they had even been there to begin with.
"Good luck, minna." Artemis murmured, looking up at the darkening sky and watching as the stars started appearing.
The vortex was a swirl of bright colors that flowed past the travelers. Sailor Moon gasped when she felt Tuxedo Kamen's grasp tighten, and chanced a look at him and saw the pained expression on his handsome face.
"Hang on for a little bit longer, Mamo-chan." Sailor Moon thought, as she squeezed his hand in reassurance. Whether he felt it or not, Tuxedo Kamen gave no sign, but his brightly glowing body pulsated strongly when they had reached a point in the vortex where the brothers were the closest. Abruptly, the short journey ended, and the senshi and kamen materialized in another city. When the power levels had gone back to normal, they broke contact. The moment they did, though, Tuxedo Kamen fell to one knee, shuddering in pain.
"Tuxedo Kamen!" Mars and Moon yelped, as they all gathered worriedly around him.
"D-don't worry about me………….find the brothers…….." Tuxedo Kamen muttered, through wheezing breaths and clenched teeth.
"We can't leave you here alone." Sailor Moon argued, very concerned with her lover's well-being.
"I'll stay here with him, Sailor Moon. You're needed to locate the brothers." Saturn said, with maturity beyond her years. Reluctantly, Sailor Moon looked at Tuxedo Kamen, got a nod from him, then left with the rest of the senshi.
"Are you all right, Tuxedo Kamen-sama?" Saturn asked, as the kamen sat back and leaned against a tree trunk.
"The pain is ebbing, but Uranus doesn't realize how close her prediction came to coming true……………" Tuxedo Kamen said, quietly, as a cool breeze blew past.
"But you got us here. That's all that really matters." Saturn said, encouragingly.
"That's true, but I don't think I could do it again. The pain was almost too much." Tuxedo Kamen murmured, as he relaxed and allowed himself to drift into light slumber.
"Don't worry, I don't think you'll need to." Saturn whispered, as she stood guard over the sleeping Earth Prince, unaware that something had noticed their presences and was now watching them closely.
Sailor Moon looked back, worry compelling her to turn back.
"It'll be all right. Saturn won't let anything bad happen to him." Mars said, reassuringly.
"I know. It's just strange that he isn't just behind or just in front of us." Sailor Moon admitted, as they continued on. They had separated into pairs so they could cover more ground, while Sailor Pluto kept an eye out for anything unusual. People on the streets would look up and point in wonder as the senshi passed by on the rooftops.
"I wonder where we are?" Venus muttered, as she looked down on some of the people, smiling when she heard some children let out yells of wonder and surprise.
"I think we're in America, in one of the smaller towns." Mercury said, as she glanced around at the small town shops.
"If that's so, then it should be easy to find the brothers!" Venus said, with new confidence.
"Don't be too sure of that. It may be that we look the same as we did one thousand years ago, but it may not be the case with the brothers. They could look completely different now." Mercury said, sensibly, as they moved on, leaving a crowd of awestruck onlookers behind. Before they had gone too far, shooting began on one of the streets. Startled, both girls turned to look back at what was going on. They were stunned when they didn't see people running in terror from the gunshots, but instead saw them walk casually to their front porches to watch the action. Within moments, men in grey and blue woolen uniforms fought their way up the street, and, as the senshi watched, some even fell to the ground as though dead.
"What's goin' on here?!" Venus asked, afraid and more than a little confused.
"It's a re-enactment! These are American Civil War re-enactors! I wonder if the brothers are among them?" Mercury shouted, over the din of the rifles and shouts of the men. Cautiously, both girls descended from their rooftop perch onto the sidewalk where the fighting had already passed. They then ducked into an alleyway and de-transformed into their schoolgirl outfits. When they emerged again, some of the re-enactors were sitting up and talking to the townsfolk. Ami's eyes were then drawn to one young man, who now sat on the 'curb' of the street with a glass of lemonade in hand. She could see that he was very handsome, despite the dirt smudged on his hands, face and uniform. He had dark, sapphire blue eyes and curly, cornsilk blond hair, and Ami was more than a little surprised when he looked up and grinned at her.
"Hello there." The man said, his tone and manner friendly.
"H-hello." Ami said, shyly, ignoring Minako when she gave her a look of annoyance.
"I didn't see you two when the battle started. Did you just arrive?" the man asked, as a woman brought out two more glasses of lemonade for Minako and Ami.
"You could say that. What's your name?" Minako asked, as she took a sip of the cool drink.
"My name is Rishar McDoyle. Strange name, I know, but my parents came from both Scotland and the Middle East. But please, don't tell anyone, or they'll 'flip out' so to speak." The man said, with a good-natured smile.
"We won't tell. I'm Aino Minako, and this is Mizuno Ami. We came here searching for someone." Minako said.
"Well, it seems you've found someone. You two are from Japan, aren't you? I don't suppose you guys have heard about re-enacting, have you?" Rishar asked, after he'd taken off his kepi and allowed his long hair to escape from under it.
"You'd be surprised." Ami said, then asked, "How long have you been in this hobby, Rishar-san?"
"Not long, actually. In fact, I have just turned sixteen, believe it or not. So I am just old enough to carry a rifle. This was my second battle re-enactment." Rishar said, his eyes still glistening with the excitement of the event.
"Rishar! And you accuse me of talking up the ladies! Sheesh!" a man said, as he jogged up to the trio. Rishar blushed, then gave the other man a look that could not be read.
"Saki! Where have you been?" Rishar asked, arching an eyebrow when the other man laughed.
"I got a little bit farther than you did before I ran out of cartridges. This event more than makes up for the lousy time we had at Enview. So, little brother, would you mind introducing me to these two beautiful ladies?" Saki asked, with a charming smile. Rishar rolled his eyes.
"This is Minako Aino and the shy one is Ami Mizuno." Rishar said, as the two girls both blushed.
"Pleasure to meet you both. I have often worried whether or not Rishar would open up and talk to some ladies. He's the shy one in our family." Saki said, laughing when Rishar took a swing at him with his rifle.
"Minako-chan! Ami-chan!" a loud, female voice shouted, as a group of worried girls dashed up the street towards them.
"Usagi-chan! Minna!" Minako said, startled.
"We've been looking everywhere for you! We couldn't find you when the shooting started!" Makoto said, then looked at the two rough and tumble young men, who stood by, smiling and chuckling.
"Who're these guys?" Haruka asked, suspiciously.
"This is Saki and Rishar McDoyle. They're re-enactors." Minako said, as both men bowed politely.
"And they may be more than that." Michiru thought, as she watched the girls begin talking to the two young men at once, all of them asking questions.
"Ladies, are you free for the evening?" Saki asked, as he looked at the group.
"That depends. What is going on this evening?" Haruka asked, a bit miffed that he'd figured out her secret.
"There's going to be a dance this evening, and I was wondering if any of you would be interested." Saki said, his eyes drawn especially to Makoto.
"Erm………uh……..but I'm not a very good dancer." Makoto stammered, embarrassed.
"Don't worry, neither is he." Rishar said, jokingly, getting a dirty look from his brother while he was at it.
"I'll have to see if my fiancé is up to it. He's been feeling ill since we arrived here." Usagi said, getting sympathetic looks from both men when she said that.
"Well, I hope he feels better. Anyhow, is anyone interested?" Rishar asked.
"I am." Ami murmured, shyly.
"I'm game, just don't sue me if I step on your feet." Makoto said, eager for a new experience.
"But where will we get some dresses? We don't have any time period clothing to wear." Ami said, in dismay.
"Don't worry, I'm sure there's someone in our unit who will be willing to loan you some dresses. C'mon. I think I know of who can." Saki said, as he ushered for the two girls to follow him. Hesitantly, Ami and Makoto followed after the two brothers, leaving Usagi and the rest standing in the street.
"Well? What do you think, kitten? Are they the ones?" Haruka asked.
"They could be. But I need more time to see if they are or not." Usagi said, seriously, watching as her friends disappeared into the crowd.
Author's Note!
I know, I know, shameless re-enacting plug! But I couldn't think of anything better than this scenario for the senshi to meet the brothers. I hope this was a good chapter, all in all.
Gemini
