How do you like things so far? You see that I have Diamond sending Darien his dreams, but what do you think will happen next? How will Darien make Serena doubt her feelings for him and what other abilities does the High Princess hold? And what about Artemis, will he choose to stay in human form, and does this mean that one of the soldiers will have a boyfriend soon. (I mean have you ever seen his human picture, he looks like a longer-haired Diamond
I DO NOT OWN SAILORMOON, but the names Arianna and Maia are mine (See endnotes for more information)
Thank you to LiNa and Takai for expressing interest in this story. Moon-girl888, I hope you will read this. I was asked about Luna's punishment and why is Serena so mad and Reeny and Darien. You need to refer to incidents in both the manga and the anime (i.e. the teasing and taunting) to understand, but I will use flashbacks to clarify the situation and Luna's sentence should decided on soon. PLEASE REVIEW
Key
'…' Thoughts
"…" Spoken
'…' Telepathic
A Tangent in Time
Chapter 2
By CrystalDove
After waiting for a few hours, Darien proceeded to take Luna and Reeny back home. Upon opening the door, Mrs. Tsukino looked questionably at the trio. At her door stood a dark-haired young man holding a black cat with one arm and the hand of a pink-haired child.
"May I help you?"
"Um I was wondering if Serena was home?" 'She did it, she erased her memories, I've met Serena's mom before and she doesn't know who I am!'
"Aunt Ilene, it's me Reeny!"
"Reeny? I don't have a niece named Reeny. I'm sorry child you must be mistaken."
In the house, Serena thought she heard Darien's voice on her porch, she went to investigate. As she walked to the door the precocious youngster verbally assaulted her.
"Serena, what did you do? She doesn't know me anymore; all I wanted was to stay someplace safe. I know you never liked me, but I didn't think you hated me!"
The child started crying and Darien gave Serena an evil glare. Reeny thought that her tears would work and Serena's mom would invite her inside. Serena on the other hand had other ideas.
'Silly child, and you Darien, yeah you really loved me'
"Mom!" Serena screamed with tears running down her face "I told you about that college guy that has been tormenting me, I knew someone was following me now he knows where I live!"
Mrs. Tsukino held her child, she remembered Serena telling her about a college-aged man making her life hell.
"How dare you follow my daughter here, then to con some little girl into trying to hurt her feelings!"
Darien didn't expect that, it wasn't like Serena was lying, he did like tormenting her, in a sense, when he first met her. That was his backwards way of gaining her attention.
"I don't know who you are, but I suggest that you leave now, and never bother my child again!"
"You stop talking to Darien like that, he has always been nice to me…"
"Reeny, show respect to your elders!"
"No Darien, Serena you are going to be in sooo much trouble when she remembers…LUNASPEAR KITTY MAGIC!"
Suddenly a pink and white umbrella appeared and Reeny began to twirl it. She thought that she had hypnotized Serena's mom again.
"Aunt Ilene, Serena has been mean to me and she left me at Darien's saying that I wasn't her responsibility and she hurt Luna's head and…"
"Who's the kid twirling the umbrella? Is she with the circus or something?"
Reeny stopped her manipulations to see that Sammy had joined his mom and sister, but what amazed her is that they all looked at her like she had rabbit ears sticking from her head.
"It's not working Darien, what did you do, you big doofus?!"
"Mom, why won't they leave?" Serena sobbed harder into her mother's arms.
"Hey you, you may be bigger than me, but my sister is crying, and as amazing as it seems, she doesn't like you; which is surprising since she likes everyone. You must be a really bad person, if you don't go, I'll get my dad!"
Sammy surprised Serena by sticking up for her, but that was his sister after all. Luna took this opportunity to make herself known.
"Meow"
"Hey isn't that Luna?"
"Of course not Sammy, Luna has that crescent-shaped bald spot on her head!"
Luna was about to scratch Serena's mom for that remark, for she hates being referred to as such.
Luna reared back, forgetting that she was already punished, no use in adding to the princess' anger. Reeny looked at Serena.
"Don't worry, I'll be back and I always get what I want!"
Serena gave a mock yawn out of the sight of her mother that said 'yeah, whatever kid' after which Reeny ran away. Luna on the other hand remained behind.
'Luna, why are you not following orders, watch that child!'
'Sorry princess'
Darien walked away also, but he didn't leave, he waited for Serena's family to depart. When he saw her about to enter the house, he grabbed her.
"Why are you doing this? You have no right to do what you did, punishing Luna, kicking Reeny out…"
"I have no right? Let me ask you this, whose kingdom does Luna serve?"
"Well I um…"
"Exactly, and who are you to tell me who can and can't live with me?"
"Well, it's just…"
"Just what, too inconvenient for you? I'm 'so' sorry you have to part from your precious Physics book, you should be honored that I'm trying to give meaning to your lonely existence! Just leave, leave before I call my father!"
Darien faltered some.
'Is this what I wanted for us? Did I want her to 'hate' me? Her eyes once full of love for me…they're now like mine. She's right, all the negative things she has learned, she got from me.'
"Why are you still here? Leave!"
"I'm sorry Serena, for everything."
Darien turned and left; Serena returned to her house but lingered by the window.
'I hope you are happy now Darien!'
A solitary tear ran down her face, wiping it quickly Serena rejoined her family.
High above Diamond watched the confrontation between the estranged couple. He hated that Serena was feeling this pain and confusion, but as long as Darien felt heartache, Serena's pain was the lesser of the two evils.
"I will make you forget all about him my dear, Serenity. You will realize what I have all along, how he takes your love for granted. And soon, we will meet…soon."
That night found Serena having the most restful sleep in months. She rose early since there were no nightmares that kept her up, thus causing her to be late for school because she was trying to catch up on missed sleep. She ate breakfast with a shocked family and laughed while walking out the door. There was no Reeny vying for attention or Luna speaking of the mission like she was GI Jane. When Serena erased her family's memories, she altered the records at Reeny's school making Darien her guardian. Neither one of them slept well that night. Darien gave Reeny his bed and all night he heard her muttering about the crystal.
'Hmmm, Serena may have had a valid point, Reeny never told us where she was from or why she wants the crystal. Most importantly, how does she know about it? She kinda reminds me of myself when I was pursuing the rainbow crystals. The soldiers didn't trust me either, and I never gave them reason to. It wasn't until I told Serena about my dreams that they understood. If I had told them sooner, maybe we could have actually worked together…this is so ironic!'
Darien sighed and wiped away a few tears.
'I got to find a way for Serena to trust Reeny. It's going to be hard; both are so stubborn. I just don't know, what if Serena was right, what has Reeny done to prove she is trustworthy? She stole the crystal and caused the soldiers to get captured. Then she always mentioned the 'bad people' coming for her and not knowing why they want her; all of them want her Silver Crystal. Who am I kidding, she's right I don't know what Reeny's intentions are and she hasn't done anything but get into trouble. She shouldn't be around the crystal, that is Serena's lineage and her duty is to protect it. Still I can't turn Reeny away, I feel a connection to her; I guess that's why Serena sent her here. So I guess I can't be angry with Serena about her attitude adjustment. I haven't done anything kind or compassionate towards her. Even before the dreams began I didn't do the things for her I dreamed of; never did the things she liked to do; yet she loved me anyway. Now she hates me…'
Darien held his head in his hands. Luna had noticed his solemn appearance and watched as the tears fell.
'I wish I could do something for him. He looks so sad, I wish I could understand you.' Luna thought.
'Artemis, can I speak to you for a moment.'
'Speak Luna.'
'Oh thank you. Something is wrong with Darien, he's crying…'
'And what do you want me to do, bring some tissue? How long has our Princess cried and I don't recall you trying to comfort her.'
'I just wanted to be able to talk to him.'
'Why, did you talk to Serena then or did you make it worse by adding salt to her wounds. You can't talk anyway.'
'There's nothing you can do?'
'Even if I could, why would I? Frankly Luna, to whom does your loyalty lie?'
'No, it's not a question of loyalty, just friendship. This confrontation with Serena has hurt him a lot.'
'Well score one for the Princess! What is one time compared to the many that Darien has hurt her? Who comforted her when he made her feel like dirt, when he questioned her leadership and her decisions? Who was there when he dumped her for no reason, when he didn't remember all she did for him, when he had turned against her? Yeah you were there, telling her that he was wiser and understood things or that she was thinking with her heart and not her head. This is one of the main reasons why Earth wasn't apart of the Alliance during the Silver Millennium; the Terrans were too analytical and didn't understand things like life and love. Queen Serenity ruled with both her head and heart and she would be proud at how the Princess is handing this situation. If you were apart of the Terran court and with Darien's temper, how do you think he would have handled your treasonous outbursts? Remember, Beryl was a Terran and so were the generals.'
'What are you saying Artemis, the generals were of the Negaverse?'
'Have you not realized the look of their eyes were the result of brainwashing, they looked the same as Darien did when he was evil. You don't remember them do you…the generals, they were apart of the Golden Kingdom...until greed and power influenced them to join the Negaverse'
'Wh…what?'
'The generals, or the men formally known as Guards of the Golden Kingdom. Yes, they were Darien's guard. I guess he was too intelligent to realize it. And yes Serena knows, she wanted to tell you her theory about Jadeite, she thought she met him before but could never place it until Queen Serenity told them about the final battle during the Silver Millennium and the realization dawned on her. But enough with the history lesson. We were speaking about you comforting Darien; he is strong and he can handle rejectment and if he can't, he shouldn't dish it out!'
'I guess I didn't think about that.'
'Well, that's not a news flash anymore. Are we done?'
'Well, are you still in human form?'
'Ha ha, yes I am, why do you ask?'
'Do you miss being a human?'
'It has its advantages…'
'Like what?'
'Wouldn't you like to know?'
'Like what Artemis, tell me! You mean Mina don't you?'
'Speaking of which, I need to head home and get some sleep.'
'You can't possibly go to her house like that!'
'Who said I was?' Luna could just imagine the smirk on his face. She knew very well what he meant.
'Who am I kidding?' She thought to herself. 'I shouldn't have expected him to help me if he could. And he's right, where was I when my princess was in such pain? What did I do; give her more grief by nagging her about her responsibilities instead of trying to console her. Darien is the cause of her pain, no matter how many shortcomings she has, he did this to her; yet I stand by his side. I don't deserve to be a member to the Moon Kingdom.'
That day at school was pretty normal; that was until Serena was running into class after lunch. Miss H was retrieving some maps from the hall closet when they began to fall towards her. The class braced themselves for the upcoming crash and wail…
"You need to be more careful Miss H. I could have tripped over these." The class looked towards the door to see that Serena had reflexively caught the maps. She handed them back to Miss H and took her seat. Amy just grinned and Serena grinned as well. After school Serena caught Amy before they joined Lita.
"Amy, I need for you to help me with a little project."
"For science?"
"As if, no it's for Reeny."
"Huh?"
"I have a theory I want to test involving my crystal."
"Ok, now I'm confused."
"Let's say I've made a better 'brat' trap. All I need for you to do is to replicate my brooch, I'll handle the rest."
Amy went to the science lab; she had been experimenting with her powers on a scientific scale and discovered, as well with the other soldiers, that they could use their powers outside of sailor form. Amy held her hands together and pooled her power until she had a solid block of ice between them. She placed a chemical on it to keep it from melting and being extremely cold. Then with other chemicals she formed and shaped it until it looked like Serena's broach. Submersing it into a paint -like substance she added the final details. Proud of her work she tried to mentally call Serena.
'Serena, Serena?'
She found that with the right amount of concentration her Mercurian language came back to her.
'Amy, you figured out how to talk to me!'
'Yes, but I'm not sure how much longer I can keep this up; I'm getting dizzy.'
'That's because you're concentrating 'too' hard.'
'Well that's a first! Hey, I do feel better.'
'Told ya! Anyway, what can I do for you?'
'It's finished, I've finished your 'broach'.'
'Great, I'm on my way.' In a matter of minutes Serena walked into the classroom.
"I told Lita we would meet her at Crown, Mina went to get Raye."
"Here it is."
"Amy, it looks just like it. Now for the finishing touch." Reaching in her pocket, Serena held up a piece of clear quartz.
"Quartz arise thee from my hand, base you with my silver light
Catch thee where thine thief will stand, hold thee with thy strength and might
Once you've captured your forlorn prey, appear the quickly to my hand
By the moon of this I say, protect the lives of those today."
Amy would have been surprised but when she spoke in her native tongue, she remembered the powers the princess held. Serena took the broach from Amy's hands and blew on it. This caused it to open and Serena placed the silver quartz inside it and it glowed like the silver crystal. She smiled.
"Go on to the arcade Amy, I need to go home and thanks Princess Maia."
"Anything for you Princess Serenity."
Serena walked home knowing that she was being followed. Lurking in the shadows, the pink-haired child had resumed her quest to steal the crystal. Once she reached home, Serena changed out of her uniform.
"Mom, I'm going to meet the girls at the arcade. Miss H didn't assign any homework for this weekend, is that ok?"
"Sure dear, have fun with your friends."
"Thanks Mom, bye."
When Serena left, she made sure that Reeny was watching her from her window. With everyone wanting her crystal, she had placed it in her lunar pocket. Reeny watched as Serena 'mistakenly' dropped her broach. 'The idiot! And she wonders why Darien dumped her. No matter what they say, she 'can't' be the most powerful soldier. I'm not afraid of her.' Reeny waited a few minutes after Serena left before approaching the house, upon knocking on the door Mrs. Tsukino saw the child from the previous day.
"May I help you?"
"You know what you can do…remember me! LUNARSPEAR KITTY MAGIC!"
"Are you ok little girl?"
She asked unfazed. Reeny thought that her spell didn't work because Serena was there, now she saw it still didn't work.
'Well, I'll still get the crystal, I won't need a place to stay after that anyway.'
"Lunarspear Kitty Magic!"
The ball exploded into purple smoke. Mrs. Tsukino couldn't see a thing as Reeny ran by with her spear following close behind. She approached Serena's bedroom and saw her broach lying on the floor.
'How is she supposed to protect people when she keeps losing this! Oh well, I got it, now to the future!'
Reeny retrieved the broach and suddenly it began to shake. She tried to drop it, only to find she couldn't.
"Hey what's going on? Why can't I drop it? Let go!"
Reeny screamed and released her energy, but the spell placed on the broach kept her family from knowing what was going on in the room and others from seeing the blast from outside. With a bright flash of light, the room was calm and empty.
After Serena left her house, she headed to the arcade. Upon approaching, she saw Darien hesitantly going inside.
'Wonder what's bothering him? Oh well, it's not like he would tell me anyway.'
Serena walked inside looking her normal self.
"Hey Serena, you look a lot better today!"
"Thanks Andrew, I feel better too. I think I'll have a triple sundae."
"Meatball Head stop yakking and come here!"
Darien sat pensively thinking that Serena was about to blow her top at Raye, was he ever surprised.
"Coming Arianna."
The girls looked at each other and laughed. Raye shrugged and continued…
"Whatever 'highness', how was your day?"
"Boy they are really close, huh Darien?"
"What Andrew?"
"Serena and the girls, they're even calling each other by pet names now. That is so cute. Hey, what's wrong with you?"
"Nothing, just thinking. Yeah, that's great."
"Boy you sound convincing, anyway are you sure you're ok, you look exhausted?"
"I haven't been sleeping well, I'll be alright."
"Let's go outside right quick girls."
"What's wrong Serena?" Amy looked at Serena and smiled.
"It won't take long."
'Serena?'
'She's in my room.'
"Why did you call us outside, you sense trouble?"
"Something like that Raye."
Serena opened her hand and a brilliant flash appeared. When the light faded, her 'broach' appeared.
"What the…Serena, you Meatball Head…"
"Shh, be very, very quiet; I've been hunting rabbit!"
Serena replied with her best Elmer Fudd imitation.
"Amy, bring Darien to the shrine, tell him it's about soldier business."
The girls looked at Serena and noticed her change from jovial to serious. They ceased their laughter and followed her to the shrine.
"Darien, I need for you to come with me to the shrine."
"Is there a problem?"
"Look, just come on, there's no time for this!"
Amy ran out of the arcade and Darien hesitated a bit trying to see if he felt Serena transform. He felt mostly a strange power from her. He ran up to the shrine to se the girls impatiently waiting for him.
"Took you long enough Cape Boy; Meatball Head won't tell us why she called this impromptu meeting!"
"Calm down Raye; are you ready Serena?"
The girls looked towards Serena and she appeared to be in deep thought.
"Uh huh, Artemis just turned onto the block."
"How do you know that?" Darien asked.
"Gosh Darien, have you been on another planet? He told her telepathically; and he's the college student."
Mummered Raye.
"Calm down Raye, I'm here."
"Hey Artemis, nice shirt, did you go shopping?"
"You don't expect me to wear the same outfit 'every time' you see me?" (AN: Sorry, but that green jacket has got to go, even though Darien is wearing other outfits in the 'S' season)
"So Darien, where is Reeny?" Serena asked.
"She's back at my place."
"Are you sure?"
"Of course I am; I told her to go straight there after school."
With mocking anger Serena replied… "How could you be so careless Darien? She's 'your' responsibility and you leave her to wonder around alone!"
"She's not alone, Luna's with her."
"Meow"
Darien looked at Artemis and noticed the ball of fur in his arms.
"Uh, Luna where's Reeny?"
"Like she can tell you. Anyway Darien what was Luna to do 'if' something happened? Teleport to you? Call a soldier meeting? Or better yet, transform into Sailor Kitty?"
That remark got an outburst of laughter from the girls and a few dazzling smiles from Artemis.
"Speaking of that Darien, when Rubeus took us a few weeks ago, Artemis told us about how you berated Serena, as usual, about being stupid; how were 'you' going to rescue us?" Asked Lita. "Teleport?"
"No, he was gonna give a cheesy speech." Answered Amy.
"Nah guys, he was going to leap from roof to roof until he jumped into space!"
Raye sputtered in between fits of giggles.
"So where did that leave Luna?" Mina finished.
The serene shine was alive with laughter. Artemis finally released his control and joined the girls in the merriment. All jokes ceased when Serena tossed her broach into the middle of the room and it hovered instead of falling.
"The reason why I called you here is because someone has stolen my crystal."
End Chapter
Oh no!! The Silver Crystal has been stolen and what happened to Reeny? Is she in the Twilight Zone, the Dead Zone or on King Kai's planet? Maybe Vegeta sent her to another dimension. And Serena proved that she did watch more than MTV, Discovery Channel rocks! What will happen now? Stay tuned because the next chapter is coming sooner than you think!!
OH Yeah, the incantations are mine, it took me forever to get the phrasing right, I guess watching Charmed and the Craft helps. Also the names Maia and Arianna are my princess names for Amy and Raye.
THESE NAMES ARE MINE!!! I WILL BE USING THEM IN OTHER STORIES!