Forgotten Times, Forgotten Realms

Book One

Chapter Three

Melissa Charles was a roughly 23-year-old chestnut-haired American country singer from the

American state of West Virginia. She was about 5'7" and 145 pounds, with a bit of an athletic build for

herself. Her large eyes were the color of coal, and they were round and deep-set into her face. Her

hair was currently in a ponytail secured with a single light green and royal blue hairbow much like the

one that Mina was now wearing in the nightclub "Silver Hawk's Place", in fact. Currently, Melissa

Charles was wearing a mostly royal blue sweater over a pair of black denim jeans and silver-trimmed

mostly navy blue cowboy boots. The boots had silver trim along all its edges, silver hearts with wings

on its sides, and its heels were two inches high, at the very most. Her sweater had the words "West

Virginia" in gold on its front, as well. On the third finger of her right hand, she wore a simple white

spherical pearl, a simple square emerald, and a simple moderately dark blue pentagonal sapphire in a

three-stone circular setting. The emerald was in the middle of a line on the ring, and it was the largest of

the three gems on it. In fact, the emerald had the pearl and the sapphire actually on top of it, in two

appropriately-shaped and appropriately-sized troughs meant to hold those other two stones in them.

The ring was her engagement ring, as a matter of fact.

She began to sing in the nightclub for her current audience, once she was sufficiently ready to

do so here. She sang for a while here, starting with a song that she'd learned from her mother as a

young child. She started with a song called, "Come From The Heart", which had come from another

American country music singer's "Willow In The Wind" 1989 album. That singer's name had been

Kathy Mattea. And she was most likely now long dead, for the obvious reasons. The song had been

the first song on that album, in fact.

The song went as follows:

Verse One

My daddy told me when I was a young girl,

A lesson he learned, it was a long time ago,

If you want to have someone to hold onto,

You're gonna have to learn to let go.

Chorus

You got to sing like you don't need the money,

Love like you'll never get hurt.

You got to dance like nobody's watching.

It's gotta come from the heart if you want it to work.

Verse Two

Now here is the one thing I keep forgettin',

When everything is falling apart.

In life as in love, you know I need to remember

There's such a thing as trying too hard.

(Repeat Chorus twice)

You got to sing sometimes like you don't need the money,

Love like you'll never get hurt.

You got to dance, dance, dance like nobody's watchin'.

It's gotta come from the heart if you want it to work.

After she finished that song, she then sang a few more songs by various musical artists from the

late 20th and early 21st Centuries AD. And she did this just before she began singing a song that

reminded Serena and several others who were currently around her of the long-ago-ended Silver

Millennium. It had come to her mind not very long at all after she'd first met up with Susan a while

before, in fact.

She'd actually met up with Susan while Susan was working in her own dress shop elsewhere in

Crystal Tokyo. She'd come into Susan's dress shop to look for new outfits that she could wear during

performances in the local area, and had encountered Susan near one of the dress racks there. They'd

begun to become close friends to each other ever since then, in fact. They didn't yet know how close

they would eventually become in their lives. But they still hoped that they'd be really good friends for a

very long time, just the same, in their lives.

She had written this song all by herself, when the inclination had struck her to do so here, in

fact. The song that she'd written not too long after that encounter went like this:

Verse One

The Guardian of Time

Is the watcher of forgotten times

And forgotten realms

In many Universes.

Verse Two

Love almost never visits her

As she stands guard near

The Gates of Time,

And only every once in a while.

Chorus One

She has seen many Empires

And many Kingdoms

In many Universes fall from

Ages long ago and from ages yet to come.

Verse Three

She was young,

When her time to watch

The Gates of Time came to her,

And she often watched friends fall in battle.

Verse Four

She fought hard as well,

Against all who would seek

To ruin her own society's Kingdom,

But like her friends, she too fell in battle.

Verse Five

She fell on the silvery satellite

Of this very world, under the blade

Of soldiers belonging to dark forces,

From untold negative dimensions in the Universe.

Verse Six

She fell in battle

Near several of her closest friends,

Namely, Neptune, Uranus,

And Saturn, in actual reality.

Verse Seven

But the Queen of the White Moon

Saved her and her friends

For another time by using her last powers

And strengths to send them there.

Verse Eight

Susan fell asleep on the White Moon,

But awoke after a time on the Blue Earth,

To live in peace once again,

As she'd done during the time of the White Moon's Kingdom.

Chorus Two

She was of another world

In the Blue Earth's solar system,

In actual reality,

But she still found herself there after

The White Moon Queen's

Sacrifice of her Kingdom and Life.

Verse Nine

From the black world of Pluto

To the blue world of Earth she'd come,

By the way of the White Moon

In the Milky Way Galaxy's Sol solar system, in fact.

Verse Ten

When she awoke to her once and future fate again,

She resumed her watching of the Gates of Time,

Just as soon as she could then do so in her life,

And she now watches the Gates of Time, whenever possible, in it.

Chorus Three

She is always quite watchful

For any potential threats to her people,

From any number of possible pasts,

Presents, or futures, in any number of Universes.

Verse Eleven

For if she isn't,

Then her people's society could fall again,

As it has done at least once before

In the pasts of any number of Universes.

Verse Twelve

Such a thing she never wants to see ever happen

Again, for she's a woman loving

Her people in this Universe, very much,

Even if she is not actually ruling over any or all of them, in her life.

When she finished singing that last verse, the song ended just a few seconds or so later. The

whole song had taken her about seven minutes to sing, more or less, in fact.

Eventually, her set of songs ended, and she then began to leave the stage with her band's

members, of course. But just as she was about to complete doing so, a vortex of some yet-unknown

sort appeared above her head, and it was quite dark. At the same time, Susan's watch communicator

chirped, and Susan answered it, almost immediately.

Susan withdrew as quickly and as quietly into a more secluded part of the nightclub, yet still in

sight of the developing vortex, to answer that page she was now receiving. She said, "Susan here. This

had better be good, Debbie and Tracy."

One voice said, "We have just detected a good-sized number of distress calls from another

Universe, and they are requesting assistance from anyone who might possibly be able to provide it

sufficiently well. These distress calls are coming from worlds belonging to a society called 'The Cosmic

Imperium', and they are currently at war with countless other societies in that Universe. It seems that

the forces of Evil in that Universe are almost about to finish conquering and/or destroying it. And they

seem to be the last recognizable enough opponents of the forces of Evil in their own Universe. Their

Universe seems to be a mirror of our own somehow. They don't know exactly how much longer they

might last in this war. Their surviving population is now heading just as quickly and just as safely as it

can toward the innermost worlds of their central capital solar system. But it's yet unknown if they'll be

able to do so well enough, before it's too late. We estimate that their Cosmic Imperium may fall within

three or four Earth months, at the very latest. And most likely no later than six to eight Earth weeks, if

what we can tell of them is sufficiently accurate here, Susan."

"I'll let the others know as soon as I can. Meanwhile, it looks like trouble might now be

developing in and around this Crystal Tokyo-area nightclub. If you need help until we get there, then

summon the Star Scouts, if you both can possibly do so at all."

"Understood. Good luck, then, Susan. Contact us again, if and when you can. Sailors

Cometa and Trammeyna out."

Susan then closed her communicator again, almost immediately. After she did so, she then

found the rest of her friends, who were now trying to keep Melissa Charles and others from being

sucked into the vortex above their head or heads. Raye and Lita were especially trying to keep them

from being sucked into it. For they didn't really know what was actually on the other side of it, for the

obvious enough reasons.

They felt, though, that whatever might be on the other side of it wasn't very good, quite

naturally enough. So they and other members of their group did what they could to keep Melissa and

others from being sucked into it, just the same.

As they were trying to do that, they found themselves and others suddenly transforming

unconsciously into one of each of their various Sailor Scout states of being. Or at least several of them

did so here, in fact. Others elsewhere in the nightclub were most likely blinded at least temporarily, if

not permanently, by several multi-colored cylinders of light. These so-described cylinders of light

unexpectedly appeared around several of the women as they suddenly began transforming

unintentionally, just as they were now doing here.

(Author's note: Readers, you might want to think of the Scouts' Eternal uniforms, or potential

Eternal uniforms, so that you'll understand what I'm talking about here and now. Especially for Serena

Moon Shields, and her highest-known Sailor Scout state of being. If you happen to see Crystal Sailor

'so-and-so', while they're in such a Sailor Scout state of being, then you should think of how they might

possibly look in an Eternal-style Sailor Scout uniform, unless otherwise stated.)

Amy became Crystal Sailor Mercury. Mina became Crystal Sailor Venus. Serena became

Crystal Sailor Moon. Luna became Crystal Sailor Luna. Molly became Crystal Sailor Terra. Raye

became Crystal Sailor Mars. Lita became Crystal Sailor Jupiter. Hannah became Crystal Sailor

Saturn. Alexis became Crystal Sailor Uranus. Michelle became Crystal Sailor Neptune. And Susan

became Crystal Sailor Pluto. All became what they now became without even saying their usual

transformations for those Sailor Scout states of being for themselves, in fact.

Pluto said, or shouted, just as soon as she could do so here, over an increasingly loud roar from

the nearby vortex, "Crystal Sailor Moon, Cometa and Trammeyna have detected several distress calls

from another Universe, and its Cosmic Imperium there. It seems that this Cosmic Imperium may not

last very much longer, in fact, if what they've been able to find out is accurate enough. And this vortex

seems to be of a kind that is of a rather negative nature. We have to keep out of it, if at all possible!"

Crystal Sailor Moon nodded at her briefly, as she tried to help Raye and Lita, at least, keep

Melissa from getting sucked into the aforementioned vortex. Other Scouts tried to do the same for

other people who were elsewhere near enough to the vortex, of course. Pluto, for instance, with the

help of Saturn, at least, tried to keep Carlos from being sucked into it as well, in fact. And fortunately

for him, they were successful enough here in their attempt to do so.

Eventually, the vortex winked out of apparent existence, almost as suddenly as it'd appeared.

Fortunately enough, for all concerned, nobody had actually been sucked into it at all here. But that had

only just barely been prevented, due to the presence of at least a few Scouts. The next time, people

might not be so lucky here in this particular Crystal Tokyo-area nightclub. For the vortex had actually

been quite strong in its nature. Just not strong enough to suck anyone in it sufficiently well, though. Or

at least not yet, anyway.

Mercury then checked her hand computer briefly, after having briefly scanned the vortex with it

during at least the past few minutes or so. And she soon said, "That was a rather strong vortex. I don't

know if we'll be able to keep from being sucked into the next one that might appear around at least this

part of Earth, people."

Pluto asked, just to confirm her earlier suspicion that it'd been a vortex of a sufficiently negative

nature, "Mercury, were you able to detect whether it was actually a vortex of a sufficiently negative

nature or not?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact, it was one. I suspect someone in another Universe is testing out

things somewhere that they hope might work well for them in the future. I don't know exactly what it

might be, and where it might be, if such a thing currently exists in any of the Infinite Universes. But if

that vortex is any indication, whoever or whatever created it could be very dangerous indeed. I

recommend that we raise our security level at least three levels from what it's now at here, Crystal

Sailor Moon, just as soon as we possibly can. For we might very well need to do that, in order to

better protect our people if and when another one of those kinds of vortexes shows up anywhere

sufficiently close to here, I think."

"That might mean that we'd have to raise them higher than we usually have for a maximum

security level, Mercury," said Crystal Sailor Moon.

"If that's so here, then so be it. I really don't think that you want another repeat of what

happened for us back during the Silver Millennium, Moon."

"No, I don't. For it'd probably mean at least my death, if not anyone else's as well, Mercury."

"I do believe that you might be right about that, Moon."

"Mother did that for us once. I've promised myself that such a thing will never happen again in

this Universe, or at least this part of it, if it can possibly be avoided at all, Mercury. No matter what the

cost might be, no such thing will ever happen again in this solar system, at least, if it can possibly be

avoided at all. We won't lose our society again like we did about two millennia ago, if I have anything

to say or do about it, in fact. As sure as I'm Neo-Queen Serenity, it'll never happen again, if it can

possibly be avoided at all. Once is, and was, quite enough, at least as far as I'm concerned. Even if it

was to actually save us all, it is, and was, quite enough, at least as far as I'm concerned here in this solar

system, galaxy, and Universe of ours. If we must fall, we must all fall together, if at all possible."

The Scouts didn't yet know what to expect in the future, of course. But they were now quite

aware that they'd been quite lucky to avoid being sucked into the vortex they'd just found themselves

sufficiently near here, in fact. Eventually, when everything was sufficiently calm in and around the

nightclub, they dropped out of each of their respective and current Sailor Scout states of being, just as

they'd found themselves in them. One moment, they were in each of them. And the next, they were

each out of them.

And a little later, Melissa saw Susan again here. She then asked, "What in the blazes just

happened here, Susan?"

"Trouble, I fear, Melissa. Big trouble, from the looks of it, in fact. You should probably come

with us for a while, since you obviously know that we're Sailor Scouts now, if you didn't already know

it, Melissa. Bring your people along too, if you want. It seems that we might have seen them before as

well, believe it or not, somewhere else in this world, and elsewhere in the past. Where are you all

staying in the area?"

"We're staying at the 'Moonlight Hotel', just a few blocks north of the Crystal Palace here in

Crystal Tokyo, in fact, Susan."

"Anyone else with you as part of your touring party?"

"My road crew, and my various business-related people, of course, Susan."

"Do any of them know you well enough yet in your life, most likely?"

"I don't think most of my business-related people, if not all of them, know me well enough in

my life. For my record label only assigned them to me and my career not more than a few months ago.

The same thing is true, I think, of most, if not all, of my road crew. Not counting my band, of course.

I've known my band's members, at least for the most part, anyway, for about five or ten years, I

believe, since I was going to school with them back in West Virginia."

"I see. Can you be at the Crystal Palace, then, with your bandmates by midnight local time?

Say that Susan Meyers asked you to come there. I'll let the necessary palace guards know that they

should expect you then, if at all possible, if you can come by then."

"Just the seven of us?"

"Yes, if you can get away from your other people well enough, I think that would be best here,

Melissa. Do you think that all seven of you can do so easily enough and safely enough, somehow?"

"I really don't know. I'd hope so, of course. For I'd really like to be able to see my beloved

Emmett again in the near future, if at all possible. We're quite in love with each other, in fact, and we're

hoping to get married to each other sometime in the next six months to a year or so, Susan."

"Agreed. I don't think they'll wait more than fifteen minutes after that time, though, if you're

delayed at all, even if I've told them to expect you and six others at the same time, Melissa."

"Well, I suppose that we all have things to do right now, of course."

"Of course, Melissa. Take care until we meet again, then, if at all possible. See you later, I

hope," said Susan, rather quietly indeed, in fact. And then Susan left the nightclub again to attend to

other things that she now had to attend to here. Carlos saw Melissa out in very short order. And then

he closed the nightclub for the rest of the night, not too long after then, as well, so that he could go to his

own respective home elsewhere in the Crystal Tokyo area of Japan.

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

This chapter is meant to explain more about Melissa Charles and how she fits into this story,

readers. She will probably end up being at least a minor character in it, if not a major one. She and her

bandmates could prove to be Scouts as well, or they could not. Only time will tell if and when that'll

actually be the case, of course. And if you'd like me to write more about her in this story, you should

tell me, so that I know what you'd all like to see more of in this story. Take care, God bless, and all

that here, God willing, of course. Don't be all that surprised, however, to see me have at least five

chapters to this story up by the end of the month, readers. I expect that the enemies will have much, if

not all, the time in Chapter Four, in fact. As before, I await to see what you all have to say about this

first story of mine on fanfiction.net, quite naturally enough. Until later, then, this is "The Universal

Storyteller" signing off here. Over and out, till later, then.