Chapter 17

"So what do we do?" Meilin asked.

"We tell what we know," Yukito answered. "What else are we supposed to do-get killed?"

"I do not know," Meilin replied. "If I did we would not be having this conversation, now would we?"

"No need to get upset and sarcastic," Yukito said. "It's not like we have all that many options in the first place. We need to get more information, but we could be dead by the time that happens."

"Or, we could just tell what we heard, and what was said, but then we do not know if anyone would believe us. This is giving me a headache. I cannot take much more of this."

"And there is always the last choice," Yukito said, "say nothing and see what happens then."

"Why don't you just do what you were going to do in the first place?" Phoebus asked. He and Phoebe were sitting on the floor, listening to the conversation going on. Until now, neither one of them had put in any kind of opinion.

Meilin looked at Sailor Dark Moon, "What do you think you are doing? Look what you have done to Yukito. Mother will hear about this and she will not be happy."

"Listen to me my dear niece, you will not utter a single word about this to your mother or it will be worse next time!" Dark Moon yelled at Meilin.

"How dare you?" Meilin asked appalled. "You need me and my bother a lot more than you know. You shall never rule over the Moon Kingdom or any kingdom for that matter if anything ever happens to us by your hands. Mother and Father will make sure of that, personally."

"What?" Yukito asked in a daze. He finally started to gain consciousness. He looked around confused about where he was until he realized what had happened. Then he jolted up.

"What the hell were you thinking? I could have been seriously hurt."

"Shut up!" Dark Moon yelled. "I do not need this from either of you. Just be known, when I become queen you two shall be dealt with."

"What are you thinking?" Meilin asked. "With the way everything is going, that could drive anyone off the deep end. By the way, Nanashi nearly killed Yukito, and practically threatened us with death if we got in her way."

"Maybe it would be best just to tell her." Phoebe said. "It would cause you not to have that many headaches anymore. Whatever you choose, choose quickly before your time is up. I have a feeling that the final battle is soon. Like they say, bad things come in threes."

"But how do you know that the next battle is necessarily a bad one?" Yukito asked. "Maybe it will be a good one. Maybe this will be the one to end all this, and let us go home."

"It just feels like the next battle will be big," Phoebe replied. "I can tell you one thing, the next battle will be tough and long. This is what all those years of training have been for. I just hope you two can make it through it, especially you, Meilin. You have been low on energy lately, and this next battle will need a lot of stamina, which I do not believe you have accomplished yet in your training."

"I'll be fine," Meilin said with a weak smile, but not with as much confidence as usual. "It would be nice to get this over with, though, to go home to Mother and Father would be great. Then, I also want to stay here because this is where Mother and Father are actually together."

"Decisions, decisions," Yukito muttered. "For one thing, we both know sooner or later we will have to return home and to training. The only real decision is what should we do in our present situation. We have Rini on our backs, along with Nanashi, and are trying to decide if we should tell Mother what we know."

"Whatever you decide we will stick by it," Phoebus commented. "I just hope you think this out clearly. People will be hurt no matter what you choose. I just hope it won't be long term, like death. I wonder how Pluto would handle something like this?"

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Amara and Michelle sat in a cafe. They were quietly sipping their coffee. Both of them knew what was going on, but didn't know if they should help. Michelle traced the tip of her cup with her finger.

"There is something going on," Michelle said. "We could help them out."

"Maybe it is time we went back," Amara reasoned. "They could need our help. It feels as if we are needed much more now than before. But, then again, that was only our mission to begin with."

"I thought we gave that up when we left."

"It's our destiny to go back. Maybe we will just do it before we thought. We knew we would have to return when Serena finally became queen, anyway."

"Maybe it's time we all went back," A husky voice said from behind them.

"Long time no see, Trista," Amara greeted.

"Hello, Pluto," Michelle greeted, also.

"It is time we went back," Trista said sitting down next to Michelle.

"I have a feeling you know what's going on," Amara replied.

"Of course, it's not easy to keep anything hidden from the Keeper of Time," Michelle mused.

"As you know," Trista began, "I am the Sailor Senshi of Time. I see the past, present, and future, and the threat that the Scouts are facing is from each one. I don't think you remember much of anything from the Moon Kingdom, but there are Scouts that have made themselves know-aggressively. They have persisted to cause trouble for the Sailor Scouts."

"What do you mean by that?" Amara asked.

"Well, from the past, came two immensely, powerful Scouts that go by the names of Sailor Neo and Sailor Dark Moon. They were genetically engineered to become the strongest Sailor Scouts of our entire galaxy. One of them was found to be evil and was sent to the Dark Moon, a cold planet just beyond Pluto, while the other became heir to the Moon Kingdom. This is only the beginning, so I think you should brace yourself now for some of the things I'm about to tell you."

"Who are they now, and what are they after?" Michelle asked.

"India Present-Second Princess of the Moon Kingdom- who is also Sailor Neo. She is also the first love of Prince Endymion, or Darien, of Earth. She has came and claimed her love, that was taken by Princess Serenity, and obviously that is a serious problem."

"It seems like just a bit of sibling rivalry to me," Amara said.

"It's more than that. This affects us greatly, because the relationship between them can make Serena do something no one would be proud of soon! Also, because Darien is such a great fighter it tips the scale of their power even more against ours. India will inherit the throne in the event of Serena's death, causing her to become queen."

"So this is about succession to the throne?" Michelle asked.

"It's a little bit more complicated than that-just let me finish. Nanashi Black-the Child Queen of Dark Moon-that goes by Sailor Dark Moon is a mean, spiteful person bent on revenge on the Moon Kingdom. She lives to wipe out all the Scouts and claim the kingdom as hers. Her plan is to kill India when she becomes queen, preying on her weakness after the long fight. Nanashi has hated the Moon Kingdom every since she was sent to the Dark Moon. She finally decided to strike back when India went into exile and talked to no one. Nanashi was the top soldier of Queen Beryl working only in the background. She planned to overthrow Beryl once she destroyed the Moon Kingdom.

"India is naive and vulnerable-giving Nanashi the upper hand, in the situation that has been caused by India's return. She has mixed feelings, and is seen as the weak point in Nanashi's plans. You see, India grew up with Serena and feels horrible about betraying her and the Scouts, even though Serena did the same thing to her in the Moon Kingdom. Our only chance to win this fight is to convert India to our side."

"It seems like we might have to go back to fighting after all," Amara thought aloud.

"The peacefulness was nice while it lasted," Michelle commented.

"I guess you can never outrun your destiny," Amara replied.

"You can't outrun it, but it can be changed," Trista interrupted.

"So, these two Scouts, along with Darien, are the past and present threats," Michelle replied, "but what are the future threats?"

"Their names are Meilin and Yukito Present," Trista answered.

"Let me guess, with the way this story has been going, they could only be India's and Endymion's children from the future," Amara guessed.

"Yes. They are twins that have come from Crystal Tokyo to help with the fight. Meilin is my apprentice, and she and Yukito train with me everyday. They have the power of Outer Scouts, which is not unusual since their parents are the two best warriors in the Kingdom. Even with their incredible strength, it will not be much help seeing that Meilin is quite weak from the amount of energy it takes to manipulate time."

"This is all quite interesting and surprising," Amara said. "I just can't imagine how Serena feels. This must be awful for her."

"But think about how India felt when Serena did it to her," Michelle replied. "She went into isolation over it. It just sounds like an eye for an eye. The way India sounds, though, it seems like she wouldn't do something like that."

"The question is will you help us out in this time of trouble?" Trista asked scared that the answer might be no and doom them forever.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

"What happened to you, Rei?" Ami asked bandaging Rei's arms.

"It seemed so real," Rei whispered. Rei was lying in her bed. The other Scouts had found her lying on the floor unconscious and bleeding. She was badly bruised and cut. "I mean, it was real. Just look at my arms and legs. I'm cut and bruised everywhere."

"Maybe she was attacked or ambushed by surprised," Mina said, letting her imagination run wild.

"I bet it was that evil India," Serena said angrily.

"I bet it was Yukito and Meilin," Rini said in a huff.

"You all need to stop jumping to conclusions," Lita said. "How could she have been attacked anyway without anyone knowing? Also, the room was still in good shape."

Mina started to talk without thinking, "Maybe they cleaned up or-"

"Let's just stop right there," Ami said almost laughing at Mina, Serena, and Rini. Then she became serious again. "I agree with Lita. Just listen to Rei. It seems like she had a premonition, a vision, and it was more real than she could handle."

"How can a premonition leave scratches and bruises?" Mina asked.

"Yeah," Serena agreed, "maybe some of us are just too friendly with the enemy to admit the truth. They attacked Rei and left her there like she was nothing."

"Is that true?" Rini asked wide eyed.

"No, it's not," Lita answered, appalled at what Serena was even suggesting.

"In some cases, it's just where the mind believes it so much it feels the pain, like in dreams," Ami began. "Then, other times, the seer may inflict the damage on themselves without knowing it. I can't tell for sure if either of these happened to Rei, but she wasn't attacked for the last time."

"Is she going to be okay?" Serena and Rini asked in unison.

"Of course. She is just a little stunned now, and the cuts and bruises are not deep or life threatening. She should be fine in a day."

"That is if we even still have a day," Lita implied.

"Don't say stuff like that, you'll scare Rini," Serena said looking a little afraid herself, but quickly gaining her composure. "Anyway, I am determined to beat those two impostor Scouts."

"Serena, you know there's only one impostor really," Lita said.

"Not to me, there isn't," Serena replied.

"Me, either," Rini said.

"I just hope you two know what you're doing," Ami said. "Whatever Rei saw must have been about the battle. And I don't think it's anything good at all. That means now, more than ever, we need India to be on our side."

"The question is, will you two accept it when the time comes and help?" Lita asked.