Darien reached a hand out towards the girl's face, but he stopped when the little puppy awoke. The little puppy stared at Darien's hand and then at Darien. Darien smiled gently, and the puppy hopped out of the girl's lap.
"Well, what's your name?" asked Darien. He reaches a hand as if to check for a collar.
"Fido," answered the dog confidently before Darien could even touch the puppy.
"You talked?"
"Yes, I talked. I always talk to communicate - just like Luna and Artemis - your majesty Prince Darien." The little dog bowed. It rose and directed his attention to the girl sleeping. "The girl here is your sister, Princess Katherine."
"My sister?" asked Darien.
"She can probably explain it all better than me when she wakes up again," answered Fido. He wagged his tail and seemed to smile.
"Well, I guess you stay in the spare room," sighed Darien. "You will explain all of this tomorrow?"
"Of course," said the little dog. Darien opened the door to his apartment and led the little dog into the apartment. He then picked up the bag and staff and placed it inside the apartment. He came back and knelt down to pick up the girl. He gently carried her inside the apartment and placed her on a bed.
"My sister, eh?" thought Darien. "I thought I didn't have a sister. Oh well, I guess I do now. Hopefully she'll be able to explain all of this when she wakes up." He reached a hand out over her head and patted it gently. Then, the strange sensation went through him again. Suddenly, some scenes ran through his mind:
A little boy and a little girl both with black hair and blue eyes are running through a meadow. A little puppy runs ahead of them barking away towards a woman. The woman wore an elegant white dress and an elaborate crown.
"Darien. Katherine, come please. It's time for lunch," called the woman gently. The little boy and girl catch up with the puppy, and the girl picks up the puppy. The two children run to the woman.
"Mommy, Fido found a butterfly and chased it around," exclaimed the little boy.
"Then, he found a white bird and chased that instead," said the little girl. The woman simply smiled.
"Come you two. Let's go home," said the woman.
Then the scene changed to a beautiful garden filled with roses.
A young man and a young woman walked through the garden. The young woman had a strong resemblance to the girl he had found sitting in his hallway. The young man looked a lot like himself. The young woman picked a beautiful white rose and held it gently between her two hands.
"Katherine, I still have to teach you how to throw roses," said the young man.
"Why? I enjoy them just the way they are," replied the young woman.
"But, you need something else beside your natural powers."
"True, but then why are we having the ceremony in two days? Mother said it was something about my powers."
"Of course, but if I ever get separated from you, I will know who you are by how you throw the rose."
"Darien, Serena should mean more to you than a simple sister."
"You are my only sister. You may turn out to be my only living relative later in life," explained the young man. "Here. It's really quite easy."
The flashbacks ended, and Darien stood with his head placed on the girl's head. He looked at the sleeping girl confusedly. A strange white energy flowed from the girl's hands towards Darien's hand. He backed his hand away from the girl's head, and the white energy disappeared.
"What was that?" he thought. "Were those images real? Could this girl really be my sister? What was that white energy?" The questions could not seem to stop running through his mind, but he forced himself to stop. He pulled a blanket over the girl. He left the room and found the little dog curled up a heater vent. "Well, what harm could they possibly do while I'm gone." He left the apartment and locked the door.
***
Chaotica laughed a little as she looked as herself. She touched the mirror and fingered the outline of her face in the reflection. She smiled and brought her hand to her hair. She untied one of the loops and combed it out with her hands. Smiling she pulled it back up into a loop and fixed the two loops so they were even.
"I am alive and more powerful than ever," spoke Chaotica to herself. "I am pretty much Chaos, but I don't look like him. This is so wonderful. I can be a human once again!" She heard a faint knock on the door. "Who is it?" she hissed.
"The Elemental Scouts," answered a calm voice.
"Come in," Chaotica said. Four female warriors walked into the dark room lit only by a small lamp. They wore black sailor suits with colored decorations and knee high black boots. They stood calmly in the room in a row together, and then one of the members stepped forward.
"Greetings master," spoke the young woman.
"It is nice to see you as well. I am Chaotica - Queen Chaotica. I am the same as Chaos, and Chaos is the same as me. What are your names?" demanded Chaotica of the four warriors.
The same young woman stepped up as she moved some red hair from her face and spoke again: "I am Sailor Fire, the leader of the Elemental Scouts. I am also the eldest, and my weapon is the Fire Sword." Her deep brown eyes calmly stared straight into Chaotica's.
A shorter girl with very short blue hair and bright blue eyes and carrying a spear then stepped up. "I am Sailor Water, the strategist of the Elemental Scouts. I rely on my mind and my Water Spear to aid me in battle."
"I am Sailor Lightning," said another girl. "I am the second strongest in this group. I use the Lightning Sniper to fight with." She confidently walked forward exposing a very tall girl with black hair down to her shoulders and beautiful green eyes.
A more timid girl then walked up while she said, "I am Sailor Wind, the youngest here. My weapon is the Wind Whip." She ran a hand through her wavy blond hair and blinked her hazel colored eyes.
"Very well then, Elemental Scouts. I suppose you would like to start as soon as possible. You are more than welcome to start today if you wish," explained Chaotica as she sat down in a large chair.
"What do you wish us to do?" asked Sailor Fire.
"Go to Earth. No, go to Tokyo on the earth. Give yourselves Earth names, and live with these people. It will make blending in and hiding from any enemy easy. Sailor Moon is really not a threat to you, and the Sailor Scouts are nothing compared to any of you. I want you to get me the eight crystals of earth," answered Chaotica.
"Eight crystals of earth? Where do we find them?" inquired Sailor Fire.
"I actually do not know. You must find them yourself," replied Chaotica. "Now, I will give you whatever you need in order to finish the job, but you must stick to your job. You may go."
"Thank you Chaotica," spoke the four scouts as they left the room. Chaotica stood up again and walked around her room. She approached her mirror again and gazed into it. There was no one there, but in the reflection, something was behind her.
***
Fido stirred a little and suddenly awoke. He quickly skipped over to the room where Katherine lay asleep and hopped onto the bed. He lay his head next to Katherine's hands and started to lick them. Katherine moved her hand and opened her eyes.
"Oh, it was only you, Fido," said Katherine. She petted her little puppy gently. She looked around herself and noticed she was not in a familiar place.
"Don't worry Katherine. This is where Prince Darien lives. He found us in the hallway where you fell asleep," said Fido happily. "Now, you have your brother." Katherine smiled and nodded at her little dog. She continued to pet the little puppy, and then the two heard a door open and close. Footsteps wandered through the apartment, and Katherine heard some water running from the kitchen.
Katherine slowly got out of the bed and stood up. She adjusted her clothes and knelt down near her bag to pull out slippers to wear. She pulled out a pair of white house shoes and slipped her feet into them. She slowly nudged the door of the room open, and the door squeaked a little.
Darien looked towards Katherine as she stepped out of the room. He had brought home some red and white roses and had put them into a nice glass vase. Katherine walked over to the roses and reached a hand out towards a white rose. She stopped herself from completing the action and brought her hands down behind her back. Darien smiled.
"It's okay. You can take one, but they're much prettier when they've bloomed. I couldn't find any that were open tonight," said Darien. "I thought you might like them. I'm very fond of roses, especially the red ones, but I got white ones just in case."
"Thank you," whispered Katherine as she reached a hand towards a white rose bud. "They'll be beautiful when they bloom. I know it." She gently held the white rose bud between her two hands. The same white energy flowed from her hands into the rose bud, and the rose suddenly bloomed.
"That same white energy...the way she holds the white rose budjust like the images I saw when I touched her head," thought Darien as he saw the rose bud bloom. "Could the dog be telling the truth?"
"See, it's a beautiful rose. The petals are perfectly placed. It just needed a bit of coaxing for it to bloom," commented Katherine as she gently put the rose back in the vase. "They're just the roses we used to have when we were younger." Images of the garden flew through Darien's mind.
"You're the same girl in my faint memory," mumbled Darien.
"You don't remember me?" asked Katherine. "Not even your own sister?"
"No, I don't. Most of my memory has been lost over the years. When I brought you in earlier, I touched your head, and these images came to me. One was two small children, a woman and a dog running through a field. The other was two young people talking in a garden with roses," answered Darien.
"Do you know who those people were?"
"In the second scene, the young man looked just like me, and the young woman looked kind of like you. She even held a rose the same way you do."
"Then, it is time for you to know the truth. You have long awaited these memories, and now, you are ready," said Katherine as she headed back to her room. Darien followed closely behind her.
"What do you mean?" he asked as Katherine picked up an unusual staff.
"Your memory has not exactly been lost. Your memories were left behind with me. I am the only one who has the power to truly recover all your memories. You only know the part concerning Serena," explained Katherine. She held her staff toward Darien. "This is the White Pearl Staff - the center of all the power of Earth. On my fourteenth birthday, I was given this power to protect the Earth from all evil. It also carries your memories from the past that have not been recovered yet. You must vaguely remember your past so you will know that what I will show you is the truth. Do you understand?"
"Yes, but will this bring back all my memories?"
"Most of them. It will bring back what is truly important. The memories you valued over one thousand years ago during the Silver Millennium." Katherine let go of the staff, and Darien jumped to make sure it would not fall. The White Pearl Staff simply floated in the middle of the room and released beams of white light.
"Come. We shall go to your past," said Katherine as she held out a hand towards Darien. Darien took her hand, and the two disappeared into the light and seemingly into the staff itself.
©2001 Hotarubi Yasuragi
