Rated PG-13

Disclaimers: Sailor Moon and everything affiliated with her are the property

of Naoko Takeuchi, Toei Animation, Kodansha, and DiC.  They are not mine, I

am only borrowing them for a little while.  Any other characters are mine. 

If anyone wishes to use them, please notify me first.

Just a bit of clarification: 

            the * * signify a person's thoughts

            the ***** before a section signify either a memory or a shift into

the mindscape or dreamscape (don't worry, this will make sense eventually, I

hope). 

Please email me with your questions, comments, and/or criticisms at

jnkryo@yahoo.com.  Heck, flame me if you want to.  I'd like any

feedback I can get.  Enjoy the story!

Daughters of Destiny

Part 7

by: Johnny Ng

            Rhea was just settling in for a good night's sleep when she suddenly

felt a tingling all over her body.  It soon went away, and she shrugged and

though nothing more of it.  Unknown to her, Trent had just opened the mana

well at Devil's Tower under the watchful gaze of the three Outer Scouts and

the magical level all over the world had risen.

            The next morning, Rhea met with the others at Raye's shrine again.

            "Grandpa and Chad aren't up yet," the priestess informed the group,

"so are we all ready?"

            Everyone nodded and Luna suggested that they all transform.  Once

that was done, Sailor Venus took her pendant and gave it to Sailor Mercury. 

The blue scout placed the necklace on her minicomputer's scanner.  After a

couple of minutes, Mercury removed it and gave it back to Venus.  She ran her

preset program and her computer displayed the results.

            Mercury gasped.  "These coordinates are in England!"

            "England?" Sailor Moon asked.

            "According to my computer, that's where he is."

            "Maybe he escaped," Venus suggested hopefully.

            "Should we check it out?" Tuxedo Mask asked.

            Sailor Mercury thought it over.  "I suppose it wouldn't hurt.  We

could do a Sailor Teleport over there and see if Trent is there or not."

            "Then let's go!" Jupiter said.

            The Scouts all joined hands in a circle and Tuxedo Mask stood in the

middle with Rhea.  The Scouts began to glow as they powered up.  Once they

were at their peak, Luna and Artemis yelled out, "Sailor Teleport!" and the

group vanished.

            Sailor Venus blinked.  The sudden twilight of England was a big

change from the morning sunlight in Japan.  *Is it evening of the same day or

is it yesterday...or maybe tomorrow?  I hate time zones!*  She took a deep

breath and exhaled loudly.  "Ah, it's good to be back!"

            "What do you mean?" Rhea asked.

            Jupiter smiled.  "Mina used to live in England before she moved to

Japan, and when she was here she went by the name of Sailor V."

            Rhea goggled and turned to Venus.  "You were Sailor V?!"

            The blond scout shrugged and smiled.  "It gave me something to do

while I was here."

            Mercury had her computer open and was scanning the area around them. 

It beeped and she waved everyone over.  "According to my scans, Trent is just

a couple of hundred yards west of here."  She pointed.  "Just over that

ridge."  Everyone quickly ran to the ridge and peered down.

            "Hey!  Isn't that Stonehenge?" Sailor Mars exclaimed.

            "Yeah, it is," Tux answered, "But who's that?"

            Tuxedo Mask was referring to a man dressed in a sort of black uniform

with a black cape on.  Around him were the bodies of several people,

obviously tourists.

            Sailor Moon looked at Mercury who reported that the victims were all

just unconscious.

            "Is Trent one of them?" Venus asked.

            "No, but my computer says that he's close by."

            "Ok," Mars said, "so what do we do about that guy?"  The figure in

black had just stepped into the inner circle of stones.

            Jupiter grunted.  "I don't know about you, but I think I'll just go

down there and have a little chat with our friend about what he did to all

these people."  She started walking down the ridge and everyone else shrugged

and followed her.

            "If he's done anything to hurt Trent..." Venus left the threat

hanging in the air.

            The group of heroes moved stealthily though the underbrush and

managed to sneak up to the standing stones.  The black-clad figure stood in

front of the stone altar in the middle of the circle with his back to them

and was chanting softly.

            Sailor Moon took a breath and stepped into the circular clearing. 

"Hold it right there!  Who are you and what have you done to all these

people?"

            "They were in my way.  I just made them all take a nap," the man said

without turning around.  "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have things to do."  He

quickly etched a series of symbols into the altar and stepped back.

            Nothing happened at first, but then Rhea felt something.  It was

similar to the tingling she felt last night...except it felt about a hundred

times more powerful, and painful.  At first, it was as though a thousand

needles were working their way into her skin.  Then the needles turned into

daggers.

            Sailor Venus saw Rhea scream and fall to the ground.  "Rhea!  What

are you doing to her?!"

            "She should not have felt anything, unless she was..."  He turned

around, his cape whipping around him.  "...a mage."

            Venus was about to unleash her attack on the stranger when she caught

sight of his face.  The words fell from her lips.  "Tr-Trent?"

            Everyone gasped and Rhea struggled to open her eyes.

            Trent looked confused.  "How do you know my name?" he demanded.  "Who

are you?"

            Sailor Venus looked stricken.  "It's me, Mina.  What did Bane do to

you?"

            "What do you know of Master Bane?"  When he saw that she wouldn't say

anything, he teleported right in front of her.  He grabbed Sailor Venus by

her collar.  "Answer me!" he yelled raising his hand.

            The orange scout stared into the enraged mage's eyes, her own eyes

mirroring the shock and fright she was currently feeling.  Venus opened her

mouth, but a fist suddenly sailed by her ear and smashed into Trent's face. 

The mage reeled back and fell on the damp grass.

            "Are you ok?" Sailor Jupiter asked flexing her fingers.  "I'm sorry I

had to do that, Mina, but he was about to hit you.  I hope I didn't hurt him

too much."

            Sailor Venus was too shocked to respond.  She just sank down to her

knees and looked at the groaning form of Trent.

            Trent was not feeling well.  He didn't like getting beat up,

especially by a girl.  His nose felt broken and there was blood streaming

from it.  He momentarily debated using his magic to defeat these nuisances,

but his master had told him to be discreet.  Besides, he had completed this

portion of his mission.  There only remained one more well to open.

            The injured mage stood up.  "I would love to stay to deal with all of

you, but duty calls."  He grabbed his cape, threw it around him, and

vanished.

            Sailor Venus detransformed and Mina collapsed to the ground and

cried.

            Sailor Moon didn't know what to do.  She wanted to go to Mina, but

Rhea was still writhing in pain on the ground. 

            Sailor Mars saw the dilemma and knelt beside the apprentice mage. 

"Go to Mina; me, Mercury, and Jupiter will take care of Rhea."

            Sailor Moon looked at her three friends gratefully and ran to the

distraught girl.  She drew her into a tight and reassuring hug.  "Mina, it's

all right.  At least we now know that Trent is alive.  We'll get him back,

Mina.  We'll get him back."

            "B-but he didn't recognize me.  I-I've lost him."

            Tuxedo Mask had made his way over to them by now and spoke up. 

"Don't be ridiculous, Mina.  Bane just brainwashed him, that's all.  Believe

me, I know about brainwashing.  We'll just get Sailor Moon to heal him and

everything will be all right."

            Mina's sobs lessened.  "I guess so.  I'm sorry for falling apart like

that; it's just when Trent grabbed me, his eyes were so full of anger..."

            Sailor Moon put her hand comfortingly on Mina's shoulder.  "We

understand.  I'd react the same way if Darien did that to me.  In fact," she

looked over at her boyfriend, "I have."

            Jupiter walked over to them.  "Rhea's feeling better now.  Mercury

just ran a quick scan of her and says that she just went into a sort of

'magical overload', but she's through the worst of it, though.  Mercury also

said that the tourists are waking up."

            Tuxedo Mask nodded.  "Which means we'd better make ourselves scarce."

            Sailor Moon looked at Mina.  "We'll need you to teleport, but if you

don't feel up to it..."

            Mina took out her wand and transformed.  "Don't worry, I'm feeling a

lot better now.  Thanks, Serena."

            A short distance away, on the same ridge that the Scouts were on

earlier in fact, Trent reappeared.  He had managed to staunch the blood from

his nose but it still hurt like the blazes.  He now crouched low and spied on

his adversaries.  *I can't believe I let my guard down like that!  How could

I allow myself to be distracted?  I should have struck down that girl when I

had the chance.* 

            Even though he thought this, Trent knew deep down that for some

reason, he would not--could not--have hit the girl.  *She called out my

name...she knew me.  Her eyes said it as well.  But how?*

            He watched his adversaries gather together and teleport away.  He

sighed and signaled the _Wrath_ to tell them that he needed an emergency

teleport directly to the Medical Bay.  He touched his nose gingerly and

winced.  *I had better get Jana to fix this...but knowing her temper, this

broken nose is going to be the least of my worries.*

            Rhea was lying on Raye's bed while Amy stood next to her with her

computer out.  The apprentice mage was enduring a thorough medical scan, even

though she protested that she felt perfectly fine.

            "You didn't seem fine a little while ago," Raye retorted.  "When

Trent did whatever he did, you looked like you were going to die.  What was

he doing anyway?"

            "Just give me a moment to finish this examination and I'll tell you,"

Amy said.  After a few seconds, she told Rhea that she was in perfect health,

but her magical levels were slightly elevated.  "In a way that relates to my

findings."  She punched up a graph on her computer and showed it to the

others.  "I've been monitoring the level of magical radiation on this planet

ever since our fight with Beryl.  When we defeated her, a large amount of the

Earth's magical energy was released.  The level has more or less remained

constant since then.  However, last night I was alerted to a sharp increase

in magic level."  Amy touched a button and the graph spiked.  "During our

confrontation with Trent, my computer detected another spike at about the

same time that Rhea collapsed."

            Rhea thought for a moment.  "Amy, can you tell me at what time you

detected the first spike?"  The blue-haired girl told her that it was late

last night at around 11 o'clock.  Rhea nodded.  "I thought so, I felt a

slight surge of power at about the same time, along with an annoying tingling

feeling.  In fact, what I experienced today was sort of like that earlier

tingling, except it felt a whole lot worse."

            "It may be because you were closer to whatever Trent was doing, when

he released all that magical energy," Darien commented.  "Just what did he do

anyway, Amy?"

            The genius girl sighed.  "As near as I can tell, Trent's attempting

to open up the Earth's mana wells.  There's no other way the magical level

can increase so dramatically.  But why he's doing it, I have no idea."

            "Could it be some scheme of Bane's?" Lita asked.

            "It could be," Rhea said.  "When he captured me, Bane told me how he

was always trying to find more magical power."  A worried look crossed her

face.  "If Bane is trying to open the mana wells and then drain them of their

energy, then we have a big problem.  According to my spellbook, Trent wrote

that if any planet's magical resources were drained then that planet would be

destroyed!" 

            She dug out her palmtop and turned it on.  "There's a list of mana

wells and smaller mana pockets here that Trent had compiled.  According to

this, there are two wells, one at Stonehenge, England, and another at Devil's

Tower in the midwestern United States."

            "Well, that's it then," Lita said.  "Trent already opened the one at

Stonehenge and it would make sense that he opened the one at Devil's Tower,

too.  That must have been the tingling feeling you felt.  It was weak because

it was half a world away."

            Serena looked up.  "If it was in the United States, do you think that

Haruka and Michiru noticed it?"

            "I don't think so," Mina answered.  "I don't think those two were

going to the American midwest.  Besides, if they had seen something, they

would have contacted us."

            Lita grumbled.  "Don't be too sure about that, those two sometimes

have their own agenda."

            Rhea suddenly recalled something.  "Amy, would opening up these two

wells allow Bane to drain all the Earth's magic?"

            "I don't think so.  According to my projections, at the rate the

magic level is rising, it would indicate that only about half the world's

magical energy would be released.  For all of it to be released, there would

have to be at least a third mana well."

            "So where is it?" Serena asked.

            "At the church," Rhea and Mina both said at once.  The blond smiled

and continued.  "Trent told us that he found a large mana well under it."

            Rhea nodded.  "That's right, and that means we have to protect it."

            Mina looked worried.  "Do you think Trent will try and open the mana

well at the church?"

            "I don't know, but we can't take the chance that he won't.  I'll set

up a couple of wards around it.  They won't stop Trent or anybody else who's

powerful enough and determined enough to get in, but at least they'll give us

a warning if anyone tries."

            Trent touched his nose again and found that it was still a little

sore, but at least it was healed.  The tongue-lashing he had expected from

Jana didn't happen though.  She just patched him up and said that Bane was

waiting to talk with him.

            He walked slowly to his master's quarters.  The mage knew that he

didn't mess up too badly in his mission.  *I did open up two of the wells. 

It was just bad luck that I ran into those girls.*  He entered the quarters

and immediately sat down.

            Bane had his back turned to Trent.  "You have done well, mage, but I

hear you had some trouble at the second well site."

            "I ran into a little interference from a bunch girls but they didn't

stop me from opening the mana well, Master."

            "Describe them to me, my servant."

            Trent shifted in his seat.  "Well, most of the girls were dressed in

colorful uniforms and short skirts, though there was one man there who was

dressed in a tuxedo, and I sensed that they all had limited magical power. 

There was also one girl there who could have been a mage."

            "Really?  What did she look like?"

            "She looked younger than the others and had dark hair and brown eyes,

and her name was Rhea."

            Bane pondered this information for a while.  *Well, well, it seems as

though the apprentice might have stumbled onto our little plan.*  "I know of

who you speak, but she is not a mage.  She is but an apprentice.  However,

her teacher is a strong magic user.  Perhaps you should take a rest for the

remainder of the mission.  I wouldn't like you meeting up with her teacher, the

results might be disastrous."

            "Are you saying that I'm off the mission, Master?"

            "Yes, I will send another to finish the task.  Take this time to be

with your wife and heal your wounds."

            Trent smirked.  "That might not be possible, Master.  Right now, Jana

is not happy with me.  If I meet with her, I might have some more wounds to

heal."

            The girls and Darien all regrouped at Serena's house.  Ikuko served

them all lemonade and cookies and everyone started in on them.  "By the way,

where's Trent?" she asked off-handedly.

            Serena nearly choked on her cookie while Rhea bowed her head and

tears appeared in Mina's eyes.  Everyone else just looked uncomfortable.

            "Did I say something wrong?" Ikuko asked.

            Serena took a drink of lemonade.  "It's nothing, mom," Serena gasped. 

"Trent's just not feeling well today."

            "Oh, I sure hope that his flu isn't getting worse.  I'll be upstairs

if you need me, dear.  Have fun you guys!"

            When Serena's mom left, everyone heaved a sigh of relief.

            "That was close," Lita said. "It's a good thing that Trent's folks

are still out of town, so we don't have to explain his absence to them."

            Darien spoke up, "Speaking of Trent, what are we going to do about

him?"

            "I think we should use the pendant again," Mina volunteered.  "It

worked before."

            Serena listened to Mina's proposal and was worried about the

desperate look in the blond's eyes.  After Mina handed her pendant over to

Amy, Serena walked over to Mina and tapped her lightly.

            Mina jumped slightly and saw that Serena wanted to speak with her

privately.  She got up and walked with her to the kitchen.  "What is it,

Serena?"

            Serena grimaced.  There was no way that she could put this lightly. 

"I don't think you should come with us when we go to deal with Trent."

            Mina was shocked.  "Why not?"

            "It's just that you seem to get distracted when you faced him

earlier.  You froze when he grabbed you and you could have been hurt if Lita

hadn't come to help."  Serena sighed.  "I'm just worried about you.  I don't

want to see you get hurt."

            Mina tried to form an argument against that, but Serena just looked

at her with those large blue eyes that were so full of love and worry.  She

knew that she couldn't go against the wishes of her Princess.  "Alright,

Serena," Mina said resignedly.  "If that's what you want, I'll stay out of

it."

            Serena smiled and hugged her tightly.  They walked back to the living

room together and saw that Amy was holding Mina's pendant in one hand and her

computer in the other, and was frowning.

            Serena asked, "Is there something wrong, Amy?"

            "I can't seem to establish a link with Trent anymore," she replied,

"It's this rise in the ambient magical level that's the cause of it.  It's

disrupting the pendant's powers."

            "So we can't use it anymore?"

            Amy shook her head.  "I'm afraid not."

            "I wouldn't worry too much about that," Raye commented.  "Well know

where the third mana well is.  I guess we just wait until he shows up."

            Trent slept alone in his bed, or at least he tried to sleep.  Jana

was working late in the Med Bay, so he couldn't talk to her.  In fact, he

couldn't talk to anyone.  It seemed as though no one in the crew wanted

anything to do with him.  So Trent was left by himself to ponder his

thoughts, and right now he was thinking about his encounter with the Sailor

Scouts.  More precisely, he was thinking about his encounter with Mina.

            "How did she know me?" he asked frustratedly to the walls around him. 

As was their wont, the walls remained silent.  He finally got out of bed and

walked over to the computer terminal in his room.  *Maybe I can find

something on her in my personal records.  If anything, maybe a look at my

past life could help me regain some of my memory.*

            He typed in his password and tried to access his background files,

but found that they were restricted.  *That's strange.*  He tried a different

approach, but met the same results.  *Why am I locked out of my own records?*

            Trent yawned, the glare of the screen and the small print making him

sleepy.  He headed back to bed and fell into a deep and dream-filled sleep.

            Dr. Jana Kavor was not working in the Medical Bay.  She had informed

Bane that the tests on Trent's tissue samples were complete and had been

summoned to the _Wrath's_ conference room.  There, she met with her master

and Captain Raze.

            "What have you discovered, doctor?" Bane inquired.

            Jana touched a wall display and a series of charts and diagrams

appeared.  "According to the tests, the magical aura of Trent's tissue sample

matched that of the sample you gave me, Master.  It is safe to say that he is

of the same family, if not the direct descendant, of Aiden."

            Raze blanched.  "Aiden!  It cannot be.  He and his family, his whole

planet even, was destroyed by..."

            "By me, Captain," Bane said, his voice resonating deeply.  "They were

destroyed by me.  It would seem that I did not do as thorough a job as I

thought.  The sorcerer rose from his seat and walked to the window.  "Leave

me, I must ponder this development."

            The two underlings bowed and exited the room.

            Bane didn't even look at them leave, he was too absorbed in his own

thoughts.  *A descendant of Aiden!  Could it be that the prophecy is finally

about to come true?*

End Part 7