So here we are at number five, have fun with it. Reviewer types, thanks and reader types enjoy.
A Moonlight Legend
by Atchika
Chapter Five
Destiny's Call
Darien stared at the box for a long time, but nothing else happened. He sighed and reached for his philosophy book. Might as well get some homework done. As he leaned back he glanced up at his reflection in the window. He froze for a moment and stared at his reflection then got up and looked at the book's reflection more closely.
Setting the book aside he pulled on his jacket shoved the box and his book into an old book bag and headed out the door. Without even a clear idea of where he needed to go he headed in the direction of the rising moon. Maybe fate would work for him and not against him for a change. His thoughts wandered through the past few months. So much had happened. Things had been so calm. Sometimes he wondered if he would have been better off without all his past memories. The string that tied him to his past was getting thicker and threatened to choke the life right out of him. Sailor Moon had promised Rini that she and the Sailor Scouts would protect her and help her find her mother. Something else had happened at the construction sight. Serena had learned something about Rini and was even more protective of her than ever. The one who called himself Rubeus had said Sailor Moon didn't exist in the future, but how far in the future were we talking here. He couldn't even talk to her about it. The whole mess was starting to get real frustrating. He thought he could handle all the stress but since his break up with Serena and the appearance of that one eyed guy, things had gotten way weird.
Then there was Rini. She was a puzzle all wrapped up in a cute face and pink hair. The attachment he felt to her was stronger than he was prepared for and even more difficult to explain. He was sure the images he saw when he was with her were her memories of Crystal Tokyo. That could only mean he was somehow connected to her and Crystal Tokyo. The really eerie thing was how much stronger that familiar feeling took over when he, Rini and Serena were all together. It was as if he were reliving the past. It just didn't make any sense.
Stopping in front of a run-down looking hotel he looked up. The sky was clear and the air was warm. Glancing back toward the hotel he thought he saw someone watching him from a second story window. He stared back and the figure moved away from the window. He hadn't been able to see the face but was suddenly sure he knew whom he'd find inside. Stepping up to the registration desk Darien questioned the woman there. She looked at him suspiciously when he mentioned the white eye, but told him the man he was looking for was in room 211. Darien climbed the two flights of stairs with mixed emotions. Walking slowly down the hall he read the room numbers. Exactly what did he think he would find out from the old guy? He stopped in front of 211. Taking a deep breath he reached up to knock on the door but he hesitated. His apprehension builds until he decides he's being foolish. Turning to leave his pack bumps the door that squeaks in protest and knocks it open slightly. Turning back he is more than all little suspicious. Granted the place was old but he didn't think it was this run down. He pushed the door open a little more. "Hello?" No response. He pushed a little more. The door is almost half way open now and he could see part of the bedroom area. "Hello? Mr. Neirad?" Still no response, he pushed it open the rest of the way. Looking at the seemingly empty room Darien senses an odd presence, a dangerous one. As he steps into the room to investigate and a voice at other end of the hall calls out "Darien wait! Don't go in--" the voice fades and Darien looks back only to realize he's not in the hotel anymore.
He turns sees only flowers and small plants and realizes he's back in the garden. "Not again," he groans. This time he felt different, almost as if he'd been energized. Thinking back to his last unplanned visit he makes his way through the garden to the stand of translucent roses. He sets his pack down and kneels to look at them more closely. When he brought his hand nearer they sparked and flashed. Unsure he tries to pick one. It resists his pull but breaks away with a little extra pressure. He marvels again at its beauty. Standing he holds it out at arm's length and opens his hand. It hangs there glittering in the sunlight. Clearing his head he concentrates. He feels the energy as it passes through him. When he opens his eyes again he briefly sees Neirad sitting on the bed in the hotel room, then it dissolves and he's back in the garden. He tried again. The same flicker but still no change in his surroundings. Again. Flicker. This was definitely not accomplishing what he wanted. It did feel different this time, but whenever he opened his eyes he found himself in the garden.
"Hello Darien." a familiar sounding voice from behind him says. Startled Darien spun around and sighs, the being or whatever it was that claimed to be his dead mother stood calmly off to one side of him. Still in the same odd clothes it had appeared in before.
"If you don't mind me asking, how do you do that??!!" he shouted
"Do what?" she asks not a bit flustered.
"Sneak up like that, you trying to give me a heart attack or something?!"
"Darien, I'm a ghost remember. I didn't mean to alarm you. I came to warn you. It's dangerous to use the energy in the flowers when you're here physically." She could tell he wasn't listening. He had already looked away; back toward the flower he'd left hanging. Someone had been in that room. Darien thought. How could he have been so stupid?
(Darien?)
"Not now..." he said absently.
(Darien?)
"Did you say something?" he asked not looking back.
"No. But Darien this isn't safe" He turned toward her then and gave her a perplexed look.
"Dangerous? This is what you told me to do in the first place and it's not working this time" he said pointing to the flower up in frustration. She examined it more closely and could see that it was already duller and losing its store energy too quickly. That worried her more than a little.
"Darien, you're here in person, physically, not just in a dream," she said quickly, "If you try to draw energy from the rose again I am not sure what will happen."
"You mean I'm stuck here?" he sighed.
"Until..." she said forcefully, "we can find a different way out...Yes"
(Darien...can you hear me at all?)
There it was again, he knew that voice. It had haunted him for months "Of course I can hear you." he responded
(Thank goodness, Darien listen to me, you're caught in a temporal rift. You have............use................box....)
"I'll have to what???...Neirad? You're breaking up," Temporal rift? A chill ran down his spine.
"Darien, who are you talking to?" The spirit asked with a note of genuine concern "You don't hear that do you?" She shook her head. Now her concern was written clearly across her features. "Well I guess I'm just talking to myself then, I guess..." He turned away and brought his attention back to the flower still floating a few feet away. He pooled all his thoughts and concentrated on being in the doorway of the hotel room.
When his eyes opened the spirit noticed they had a very faraway look to them. "Darien can you hear me?" she asked. She moved in front of him and waved a hand in front of his face, just a blank stare. "Oh Endymion, where have you gone?" She brings a hand up and lightly touches his face, (Darien don't...) momentarily startled she pulls her hand back. Slowly and ever so cautiously she touches his face again (…don't do anything, I'll try to get to you...Can you hear me?)
Don't do anything she looked again at the rose still suspended a few feet away. It wasn't looking good. She guided Darien over to a nearby bench and sat him down. She sat on the bench next to him and put her arms around him. Looking at Darien again she is frightened by the blankness of the look in his eyes.
"Darien." he just stared at the ground. "Darien..." She turns him around to face her. "Endymion." she says sternly. He brought his head up but still wasn't answering. She felt herself start to lose cohesion. She pulled herself back together. Something was very wrong. Abruptly the rose energy depleted drops to the ground, flat and lifeless it begins to rapidly disintegrate into a small pile of dust. She looks at the quickly dissipating rose to the rose bushes. A leaf falls, then another and another. The feeling of extreme danger alarmed her further. She could feel herself fading again. Deciding on a plan of action and before she can fade completely she consolidates her essence and floats to the bushes and settles over them. The bushes brighten considerably then stabilize.. Darien lost in a trance is left alone with his memories.
Noimydne Neirad approached the room cautiously. Looking through the still open door he can still see the faint glimmer of the Rift. So they've found me again he thought. Edging his way past it he sits slowly on the bed. He watches the rift for a moment Darien seems to appear for a fraction of a second then disappears again. One more complication, he thought, "Time is what I need and time is what I'm running out of," he mutters to himself. Closing his eyes he lies back on the bed and concentrates. He reaches out with his senses and examines the rift carefully.
"Rini wake up I need you!" Rini woke with a start. Who had called her? She reached over to get closer to Serena, but Serena was gone. Looking around she noticed Luna was missing too. As she got carefully out of bed, her Luna ball floated up to greet her. She absently pulled it closer to her as she headed downstairs. Walking softly she heard voices in the kitchen.