Serena threw her bag into the bedroom and walked over to the answering
machine and punched the button under the flashing red light.
"Hey Serena! Well, you must be out." The voice of her brother began. "Well, I was just wondering if you wanted to hang out next weekend. Mom and Dad are leaving town for the weekend so you don't have to see them if you still don't want to but I thought you might want to see the house again or something. Okay. Call me on my cell sometime!"
Serena smiled sadly. Her brother never failed to amaze her. She would never be able to repay him for just being her little brother again. And he never pushed for her to do anything she didn't want to. Like now, he knew she still wasn't ready to face their parents again but he was giving her a chance to go home again.
Hopefully she would be able to.
There was a beep and then Darien's voice came on.
"Hey Serena. I miss you."
Yet another person in her life she didn't deserve. How a message consisting of only five words could turn her to mush, she didn't quite understand but it did and she suddenly desperately wanted to just be held in Darien's arms for a minute so that she could just forget all her worries and problems. Just for a minute. But he still wasn't due home for another week. But maybe he would make it to the scout meeting. She sure hoped so.
Serena looked at the phone. Rei would be home tomorrow and Mina was probably still in Paris. She'd wait to call Rei till after work tomorrow. Right now she was just too tired to worry about all the what-ifs of Ami and Zoicite and getting everyone together to deal with them.
* * * * *
Serena dragged herself home from work the next day. She was so tired. Work had been horrible. Several people had been sick and that meant she was trying to finish their projects as well as her own so that everything got done on time. And because of all the added stress, those people who were in were frustrated and taking it out on everyone else.
And she still had to call Rei and Mina.
And Darien. Though she really hated to call him, since he was with his friends, she also really wanted to talk to him. Just to talk to him. This was the longest they had been apart since finding each other again and she was beginning to realize just how much she had come to rely on his strength to help support her through everything.
But one thing at a time here.
Rei. Call Rei.
Serena plopped herself down on the couch with the phone and dialed the temple's phone number. And listened to the ringing on the other end. And then got Rei's answering machine.
"You've reached the Hino temple. Please leave your name and number and we will get back to you as soon as possible."
Sigh. Rei really needed a less generic message on her answering machine.
"Hey Rei. It's Serena. I need to talk to you as soon as you get back."
"Serena! Wait!" A breathless Rei suddenly came onto the line.
"Rei! I thought you weren't back yet."
"I got back this afternoon but you called just as I was getting out of the shower so I was going to ignore the phone till I heard you on the answering machine. What's up?"
"I need to talk to you and Mina. I got a lead on Ami but there are some things I want to talk about with you guys first."
"Ami? That's great! Um...when did you want to get together?"
"It's kind of urgent so...tonight?" Serena asked, hesitantly.
"Tonight? Sure. But it's going to be a late night. Don't you have to work tomorrow?"
"Yea. But I don't want to wait." Serena said.
"Serena? What's wrong?" Rei asked, hearing something in her friend's voice that brought a wrench to her heart.
"Tonight. I'll tell you tonight. I have to call Mina now, okay?"
"Okay. But what about Darien?
"I'll see if I can get a hold of him but there is a huge time difference and I'm not sure if I'll be able to."
"Alright. Good luck."
"See ya soon." Serena hung up and dialed Mina's number, praying that the scout would answer her phone.
After a couple rings, Mina picked up.
"Good afternoon!" came the cheery answer.
"Hey. It's Serena. What are you up to for the next couple hours?"
"Um...well, I was supposed to go out with some people and do a little shopping before we left Paris. But I can get out of it easily if you need me to. I was actually thinking of getting out of it anyway, in fact. What's up?"
"We need to have a scout meeting. Something has come up and I want to talk to you guys about it as soon as possible."
"No problem. I can be at Rei's in a half hour unless you need me any sooner?"
"No. No that would be great. It's not that urgent but I just don't want to wait to tell you guys, just in case. I was just worried that you wouldn't be able to get out of something."
"Hey Serena. We're Scouts first. Everything is cancelable when it comes to saving the world." Mina laughed.
"Right Mina. And who was it that said if any monsters attacked during this show they would personally rip into itty-bitty pieces?"
"But I would still be there. Alright, I have to go track down Luna and Artemis if we are all going to be there on time. Those two are certainly enjoying getting themselves lost in the city of love." Mina said and Serena could almost here her devilish grin.
Serena laughed, "You have to tell me all the details when you get here. See you soon."
Serena hung up and couldn't help grinning. She could just picture the monsters cowering in fear of Mina because they'd ruined her spring fashions show. And as for Luna and Artemis...well, she'd just have to see how much she could tease her guardian.
Now for the last call. Serena looked at the clock and cringed. She could never remember what the time difference was between Japan and the US.
Just don't let him be sleeping...
"Hmm..." came the muffled answer after several rings.
Damn. He had been sleeping.
"Hi Darien." Serena said quietly, resisting the urge to bang her head against the wall.
"Serena? What...Why are you...Hi." Came a rather confused reply.
"Umm...are you able to make a scout meeting tonight?"
"Huh? When?"
"In about an hour?"
On the other end of the phone she heard a little banging around before Darien answered.
"An hour? From now? Yea, okay. Yea, I can be there. Just...just give me some time here to grab stuff and get dressed and then I'll be there."
"Sorry Darien. I didn't mean to wake you up."
"Don't worry about it. There are much worse ways to wake up. See you in a bit."
"Bye."
Serena hung up. She had wanted to ask what time it was there but had been too afraid to hear his answer. But he was coming which was all that mattered for right now. This meant that they could all talk about what to do. Now she just needed to figure out what she was going to say.
* * * * *
The demon stood in front of it's master and smiled as it added the woman's energy to the reserves that the master was creating.
It's master was preoccupied, pacing back and forth in the huge cavern, so he failed to notice that this demon crouching there. Finally though, his head snapped up and he glared at the dark, grinning figure.
"What are you still doing here?" the master growled.
"I have news, sir."
"What?" the master said, the anger leaking out of his voice as it was replaced by curiosity.
"While I was out collecting energy, I saw a blonde woman teleporting out of an alley."
"What! A blonde woman? Was it Sailor Moon?" the master now was standing directly over the demon.
"She was everything that you said to look for in our search for Sailor Moon's identity, sir."
"Where were you hunting again?"
The demon then began to describe everything he had seen and heard in the alley in Germany. It wasn't much but this was the first time that any of the demons had seen any signs of Sailor Moon when she wasn't fighting them.
"But what's in Germany that Sailor Moon would want?" The master asked himself, forgetting the demon beside him momentarily. "There is no way that she could have been looking for us there. Then why?"
The master looked back at his minion.
"Go back there and watch. If anything happens I want you to send for me immediately. Stick to the shadows and do not fight her. This is too important to screw up because someone acts prematurely."
The demon's bowed, and began to back out of the room.
"Wait. A reward for your services." the master said, tossing a dark ball at the demon.
The ball engulfed the shadow demon for a moment and when it reappeared, it's red eyes glinted evilly as it bowed again.
"Thank you, master." It hissed, the shadows around it swirling and dancing ominously above it's head.
When the demon was gone, the red-haired master smiled.
"Well well. Let the other two waste time sitting around making their precious crystal. It looks like I'm about to find out who the mysterious Sailor Moon is."
* * * * *
Hey! Its the author again. I realize that there is a distinct lack of action here but bear with me. But I wanted to post this. I'll try and get the next part out soon. Thanx!
Okay, to my reviewers:
Adyen ~ Yea, things are about to get more interesting for Serena. Especially she the bad guys figure out who she is.
Marni ~ You'll just have to wait for the others reactions till the next chapter. Thanks for reading and reviewing and I hope that things are still interesting even though I'm making you wait.
Deny ~ I'm so glad that you got a chance to read my story. And I will do a big battle. Just may take me awhile to build up to it.
BenRG ~ no, no vampires...well...interesting idea...No! no vampires. Just evil monsters/demons. As for Serena backing off...well, I wanted to bring in the other scouts before they made any decisions about Ami and Zoicite. And I like to keep people guessing about whether he's good or not. Is that evil?
happygolucky111 ~ Hey, I love Lita too so she will be getting a very special entrance into this fic. Just for all the people who have been waiting for her.
Venus Smurf ~ Thanks! I was just a little worried because I had been thinking about your fic when I was thinking about the scouts dealing with the generals. Yea, and my villains are becoming more creepy. But that is because I'm actually going to try to have more confrontations with them and start making things even more complicated. Yea for complications!
MoonWonderer ~ I'm like 75% sure that Zoicite is good...and that tells you something about how little control I have anymore over my characters...But I would prefer a good Zoicite too. Adds to the angst and confusion. hee hee.
Bluejello ~ hee hee, well, hope this answered your question.
Alcandre ~ Thanks! It's always cool to hear that people care about my characters.
Random Reader ~ another update. hee hee. And I will *try* to write faster but I have all these stupid professors who think I should be writing for them instead of you guys. Go figure.
Freakiedgrl ~ Yea. I had to look up where she had gone. And the whole smacking the head thing that Serena talks about is what I did in real life.
The Misfit Dragon ~ I'll see what I can do to keep Ami and Zoicite together.
SJ ~ Thank you. I'll try to make my updates sooner.
Megolas ~ hee hee. Everyone wants to know if the generals are evil. Right now I am leaning towards not evil. But you never know...even if they don't start off evil, things happen (oooh! foreshadowing. yea right, like I have any control over my characters anymore)
PrincessSerena66 ~ no problem. And I was telling the truth when I said that your writing is getting better. Just keep at it.
Zorra ~ Well, I hope you got a chance to read the rest of the story. Thanx for the review.
lazzykane ~ well, I'll see what I can do with clones...but I make no promises.
"Hey Serena! Well, you must be out." The voice of her brother began. "Well, I was just wondering if you wanted to hang out next weekend. Mom and Dad are leaving town for the weekend so you don't have to see them if you still don't want to but I thought you might want to see the house again or something. Okay. Call me on my cell sometime!"
Serena smiled sadly. Her brother never failed to amaze her. She would never be able to repay him for just being her little brother again. And he never pushed for her to do anything she didn't want to. Like now, he knew she still wasn't ready to face their parents again but he was giving her a chance to go home again.
Hopefully she would be able to.
There was a beep and then Darien's voice came on.
"Hey Serena. I miss you."
Yet another person in her life she didn't deserve. How a message consisting of only five words could turn her to mush, she didn't quite understand but it did and she suddenly desperately wanted to just be held in Darien's arms for a minute so that she could just forget all her worries and problems. Just for a minute. But he still wasn't due home for another week. But maybe he would make it to the scout meeting. She sure hoped so.
Serena looked at the phone. Rei would be home tomorrow and Mina was probably still in Paris. She'd wait to call Rei till after work tomorrow. Right now she was just too tired to worry about all the what-ifs of Ami and Zoicite and getting everyone together to deal with them.
* * * * *
Serena dragged herself home from work the next day. She was so tired. Work had been horrible. Several people had been sick and that meant she was trying to finish their projects as well as her own so that everything got done on time. And because of all the added stress, those people who were in were frustrated and taking it out on everyone else.
And she still had to call Rei and Mina.
And Darien. Though she really hated to call him, since he was with his friends, she also really wanted to talk to him. Just to talk to him. This was the longest they had been apart since finding each other again and she was beginning to realize just how much she had come to rely on his strength to help support her through everything.
But one thing at a time here.
Rei. Call Rei.
Serena plopped herself down on the couch with the phone and dialed the temple's phone number. And listened to the ringing on the other end. And then got Rei's answering machine.
"You've reached the Hino temple. Please leave your name and number and we will get back to you as soon as possible."
Sigh. Rei really needed a less generic message on her answering machine.
"Hey Rei. It's Serena. I need to talk to you as soon as you get back."
"Serena! Wait!" A breathless Rei suddenly came onto the line.
"Rei! I thought you weren't back yet."
"I got back this afternoon but you called just as I was getting out of the shower so I was going to ignore the phone till I heard you on the answering machine. What's up?"
"I need to talk to you and Mina. I got a lead on Ami but there are some things I want to talk about with you guys first."
"Ami? That's great! Um...when did you want to get together?"
"It's kind of urgent so...tonight?" Serena asked, hesitantly.
"Tonight? Sure. But it's going to be a late night. Don't you have to work tomorrow?"
"Yea. But I don't want to wait." Serena said.
"Serena? What's wrong?" Rei asked, hearing something in her friend's voice that brought a wrench to her heart.
"Tonight. I'll tell you tonight. I have to call Mina now, okay?"
"Okay. But what about Darien?
"I'll see if I can get a hold of him but there is a huge time difference and I'm not sure if I'll be able to."
"Alright. Good luck."
"See ya soon." Serena hung up and dialed Mina's number, praying that the scout would answer her phone.
After a couple rings, Mina picked up.
"Good afternoon!" came the cheery answer.
"Hey. It's Serena. What are you up to for the next couple hours?"
"Um...well, I was supposed to go out with some people and do a little shopping before we left Paris. But I can get out of it easily if you need me to. I was actually thinking of getting out of it anyway, in fact. What's up?"
"We need to have a scout meeting. Something has come up and I want to talk to you guys about it as soon as possible."
"No problem. I can be at Rei's in a half hour unless you need me any sooner?"
"No. No that would be great. It's not that urgent but I just don't want to wait to tell you guys, just in case. I was just worried that you wouldn't be able to get out of something."
"Hey Serena. We're Scouts first. Everything is cancelable when it comes to saving the world." Mina laughed.
"Right Mina. And who was it that said if any monsters attacked during this show they would personally rip into itty-bitty pieces?"
"But I would still be there. Alright, I have to go track down Luna and Artemis if we are all going to be there on time. Those two are certainly enjoying getting themselves lost in the city of love." Mina said and Serena could almost here her devilish grin.
Serena laughed, "You have to tell me all the details when you get here. See you soon."
Serena hung up and couldn't help grinning. She could just picture the monsters cowering in fear of Mina because they'd ruined her spring fashions show. And as for Luna and Artemis...well, she'd just have to see how much she could tease her guardian.
Now for the last call. Serena looked at the clock and cringed. She could never remember what the time difference was between Japan and the US.
Just don't let him be sleeping...
"Hmm..." came the muffled answer after several rings.
Damn. He had been sleeping.
"Hi Darien." Serena said quietly, resisting the urge to bang her head against the wall.
"Serena? What...Why are you...Hi." Came a rather confused reply.
"Umm...are you able to make a scout meeting tonight?"
"Huh? When?"
"In about an hour?"
On the other end of the phone she heard a little banging around before Darien answered.
"An hour? From now? Yea, okay. Yea, I can be there. Just...just give me some time here to grab stuff and get dressed and then I'll be there."
"Sorry Darien. I didn't mean to wake you up."
"Don't worry about it. There are much worse ways to wake up. See you in a bit."
"Bye."
Serena hung up. She had wanted to ask what time it was there but had been too afraid to hear his answer. But he was coming which was all that mattered for right now. This meant that they could all talk about what to do. Now she just needed to figure out what she was going to say.
* * * * *
The demon stood in front of it's master and smiled as it added the woman's energy to the reserves that the master was creating.
It's master was preoccupied, pacing back and forth in the huge cavern, so he failed to notice that this demon crouching there. Finally though, his head snapped up and he glared at the dark, grinning figure.
"What are you still doing here?" the master growled.
"I have news, sir."
"What?" the master said, the anger leaking out of his voice as it was replaced by curiosity.
"While I was out collecting energy, I saw a blonde woman teleporting out of an alley."
"What! A blonde woman? Was it Sailor Moon?" the master now was standing directly over the demon.
"She was everything that you said to look for in our search for Sailor Moon's identity, sir."
"Where were you hunting again?"
The demon then began to describe everything he had seen and heard in the alley in Germany. It wasn't much but this was the first time that any of the demons had seen any signs of Sailor Moon when she wasn't fighting them.
"But what's in Germany that Sailor Moon would want?" The master asked himself, forgetting the demon beside him momentarily. "There is no way that she could have been looking for us there. Then why?"
The master looked back at his minion.
"Go back there and watch. If anything happens I want you to send for me immediately. Stick to the shadows and do not fight her. This is too important to screw up because someone acts prematurely."
The demon's bowed, and began to back out of the room.
"Wait. A reward for your services." the master said, tossing a dark ball at the demon.
The ball engulfed the shadow demon for a moment and when it reappeared, it's red eyes glinted evilly as it bowed again.
"Thank you, master." It hissed, the shadows around it swirling and dancing ominously above it's head.
When the demon was gone, the red-haired master smiled.
"Well well. Let the other two waste time sitting around making their precious crystal. It looks like I'm about to find out who the mysterious Sailor Moon is."
* * * * *
Hey! Its the author again. I realize that there is a distinct lack of action here but bear with me. But I wanted to post this. I'll try and get the next part out soon. Thanx!
Okay, to my reviewers:
Adyen ~ Yea, things are about to get more interesting for Serena. Especially she the bad guys figure out who she is.
Marni ~ You'll just have to wait for the others reactions till the next chapter. Thanks for reading and reviewing and I hope that things are still interesting even though I'm making you wait.
Deny ~ I'm so glad that you got a chance to read my story. And I will do a big battle. Just may take me awhile to build up to it.
BenRG ~ no, no vampires...well...interesting idea...No! no vampires. Just evil monsters/demons. As for Serena backing off...well, I wanted to bring in the other scouts before they made any decisions about Ami and Zoicite. And I like to keep people guessing about whether he's good or not. Is that evil?
happygolucky111 ~ Hey, I love Lita too so she will be getting a very special entrance into this fic. Just for all the people who have been waiting for her.
Venus Smurf ~ Thanks! I was just a little worried because I had been thinking about your fic when I was thinking about the scouts dealing with the generals. Yea, and my villains are becoming more creepy. But that is because I'm actually going to try to have more confrontations with them and start making things even more complicated. Yea for complications!
MoonWonderer ~ I'm like 75% sure that Zoicite is good...and that tells you something about how little control I have anymore over my characters...But I would prefer a good Zoicite too. Adds to the angst and confusion. hee hee.
Bluejello ~ hee hee, well, hope this answered your question.
Alcandre ~ Thanks! It's always cool to hear that people care about my characters.
Random Reader ~ another update. hee hee. And I will *try* to write faster but I have all these stupid professors who think I should be writing for them instead of you guys. Go figure.
Freakiedgrl ~ Yea. I had to look up where she had gone. And the whole smacking the head thing that Serena talks about is what I did in real life.
The Misfit Dragon ~ I'll see what I can do to keep Ami and Zoicite together.
SJ ~ Thank you. I'll try to make my updates sooner.
Megolas ~ hee hee. Everyone wants to know if the generals are evil. Right now I am leaning towards not evil. But you never know...even if they don't start off evil, things happen (oooh! foreshadowing. yea right, like I have any control over my characters anymore)
PrincessSerena66 ~ no problem. And I was telling the truth when I said that your writing is getting better. Just keep at it.
Zorra ~ Well, I hope you got a chance to read the rest of the story. Thanx for the review.
lazzykane ~ well, I'll see what I can do with clones...but I make no promises.