7 – The Dream Dweller.
"Hello? Hello is anyone out there?"
Alexia felt sure she was blind this time. The darkness was thicker than ever, almost suffocating her. She put her hand up to her face but it was no good – she couldn't see it. "Hello?" she called out once more, her voice shaking with anxiety. She wished it was over, she hated being here. Yet every night for the past week she had been transported here almost as soon as her head had touched the pillow.
"Charon!" the male voice that had become so familiar to her over the past week finally responded to her shouts. It seemed it waited longer and longer to reply every night. "I told you I would return!"
"But who are you?" the girl demanded. "Why do you bring me to this accursed place?" the words came out of her mouth so quickly that she didn't even have a chance for them to form in her head. She started to think that someone was borrowing her voice, for she had never in her whole lifetime used the word 'accursed'.
"You know who I am, don't be so blind!" he spat angrily at her. "Do not try and deny me Charon!" suddenly the voice felt very close – right in front of her, in fact.
"Please, let me see you!" she whispered her plea, feeling afraid. Suddenly it got lighter and she could see that she was dressed in a beautiful lilac dress with a long slit up to her knee on one side and a pink sash tied tightly around her waist. It's going to happen soon. she told herself. Perhaps I shan't wake up this time… she closed her eyes and waited for the words, and the final liberation from her dark prison.
"I can't." the voice answered at long, long last.
Then she felt it.
She gasped as she felt the searing pain of the blade against her stomach. Usually she screamed but this time her mind was calm as she looked down to see her blood-soaked hands and the long open gash across her lower body, her own blood trickling down her front like a red waterfall. She fell to the ground in shock, panting for much-needed air.
"Why?" she murmured, "Why…?"
"Why?" Alexia was talking in her sleep, and this was what had disturbed Estrella from her peaceful slumber at the foot of the Scout's bed. Pricking up her ears the kitten opened her green eyes slowly and groaned.
"What was that Alexia?" she inquired, stretching then getting to her feet. She walked up the bed until she could see the girl's troubled face. "She's having a nightmare." She told herself, then almost fell off the bed as Alexia sat up sharply and gasped. "Are you alright?" Estrella asked, holding onto the bed covers and she hung off the side of the bed. The Charonian looked down at her with wide eyes.
"Oh, Estrella." She sighed with relief and helped the kitten back onto the bed. "I'm fine, thank you." It was a blatant lie, but Estrella decided to ignore the fact. She nuzzled her face against the girl's bare arm.
"Lie down and try and get back to sleep – it was just a dream." She advised her.
"Thanks 'Strella." She rested her head back against the pillow and watched her cat return to the foot of the bed with a wondering look in her pale eyes. I wonder if Estrella knows what the dream's about… she thought to herself, then closed her eyes. I don't want to trouble her. She concluded, feeling a wave of sleep wash over her.
x x x x x
The next morning Alexia went into the kitchen to discover her mother sat drinking coffee and looked very annoyed as she read a magazine.
"Good morning mom." The girl greeted her and kissed her on the cheek.
"Oh, hello sweetie." Miaka looked up and smiled. "Help yourself to coffee, it's only just been made." She then went back to frowning at the magazine article.
"What are you reading?" Alexia inquired as she poured herself a cup then added sugar. She sat opposite Miaka and took a croissant off the plate in the middle of the table.
"I'm just reading an section on that silly model girl." She muttered as she continued to glare at the pages in front of her.
"Who?" Alexia asked between mouthfuls of croissant.
"Oh you know, that Riona Hiromi." She shook her head. "I don't know, children today! I cannot believe her family allowed her to drop out of school to be a model! She's 18 now, but to leave school at 16!" she let out an exasperated sigh. "If I was her mother I'd give her a piece of my mind!" she finally closed the magazine. "Well, when all the modelling jobs dry up she'll be sorry – she'll be wishing she'd stayed at school!" Alexia had to bite her lip to stop herself from laughing. "And they will dry up – I should know!" she muttered, mostly to herself, as she started doing the washing up. Alexia almost choked on her coffee.
"You used to be a model?!" the green-haired girl spluttered. Miaka turned from the sink and smiled.
"Yes…well I did a few jobs because I needed the money. Only clothing catalogues mind, none of this catwalk stupidity."
"How old were you?" Alexia inquired.
"Twenty." Miaka sighed, and looked at herself in the back of a spoon and sighed miserably. "Back when your old mom had no wrinkles, wasn't going grey and was halfway decent looking." She pushed a strand of hair out of her eyes and went back to the washing up. Alexia watched her and thought that Miaka's final words were the silliest thing she'd ever heard. She had always thought that her mother was one of the most attractive people she knew and looked very young for her age. She suddenly recalled a scene from when she was a lot younger and still lived in Kyoto. Her school had had a 'mother and child' day and she'd been so proud to bring her mother into school for the special occasion. At the end of the day they'd had a picnic at the park near to her school and Alexia had been stood near the buffet table they'd prepared when she'd overheard a conversation being had by a group of mothers:
"Have you seen Alexia Risolto's mother?" one of them said.
"Who's she?" one of the others inquired.
"Alexia's that lovely-looking girl with the big pale blue eyes." She replied.
"Oh, the one that danced so beautifully at the concert this morning?"
"Yes." The woman who had been first to speak looked around then continued. "You can see where she gets her looks from."
"Yeah…" one of the others sighed. "Her mother's the one who looks very stylish and youthful, isn't she?" she sounded very wistful.
"Can you believe she's 35? I swear she doesn't look a day over 25!" one of the others gasped.
"And she's so well spoken and polite, and her daughter's manners are immaculate too…I wish Maki would start playing with her…" the one who'd described Alexia murmured longingly.
"You know, she's probably had a few facial adjustments, if you get what I mean." One of the spoke up snidely.
"Hmmm…maybe." The one who'd spoken first said thoughtfully, and the group fell into silence.
"I must say though, there is something slightly odd about her daughter, she seems a little too perfect." One of them broke the silence, and the others nodded in agreement.
"It's not natural for a child not to get into trouble ever."
"Oh I don't know, perhaps it's just because Alexia listens to her mother." Miaka piped up casually. Her dark eyes were flashing wickedly as she saw the women visibly cringe as they realised they'd been overheard. Alexia couldn't help but smile – she knew what her mother could be like. She folded her arms neatly across her chest and stood up to her full height. Tossing her blue-black hair over her shoulder she smiled sweetly. "As for me having, ahem, 'facial adjustments' – this is all natural." She started to walk away, then froze and turned back, grinning like a wolf. "However I do happen to know an awfully good plastic surgeon if any of you'd like one." She lowered her voice. "I think some of you could do with a few adjustments yourself. Come along, Alexia." With that she'd sauntered off, Alexia by her side.
The green-haired girl grinned to herself as she thought of how terribly cool and sarcastic Miaka could be when she wanted to. She loved her mother so much, and it was hard when she thought about the fact that she wasn't actually her real mother. She shook her head – to her Miaka was her real mother; since she could not remember Queen Chara.
"Al, honey? Are you okay?" Miaka asked her daughter with concern.
"Yeah, I'm fine, just daydreaming." Alexia smiled at her.
"So what do you have planned today?" her mother inquired as she cleared away Alexia's cup and plate.
"I'm meeting the other girls at Amy's and we're going to the carnival to meet Rei – I'm taking my kimono with me, is that okay?"
"Sure sweetie. Your father and I were going when he gets back from work so we might see you there."
"Cool," Alexia got to her feet and gave her mother another kiss on the cheek. "I'll see you later."
"Bye." Miaka called as her daughter left the room.
x x x x x
When the girls got there the carnival was in full swing. Children were pulling their exhausted-looking parents from stall to stall excitedly. A band was playing music nearby which added to the lively atmosphere.
"This is so cool guys!" Alexia exclaimed as they looked at the stalls.
"We should try and catch a goldfish later!" Mina grinned. "It's so much fun!"
"I looove carnivals – they always have so many good things to eat!" Serena drooled, taking in the delicious scents of food.
"Just like you, always thinking about your stomach." Lita sighed, then her eyes lit up. "There's Rei!" she pointed to a stall nearby, where Rei was stood talking to a woman.
"This charm here will protect you from evil spirits." Rei was showing the woman one of her beautiful hand-made charms. "Oh hey guys." She grinned as she noticed her friends. "Wanna buy some lucky charms?"
"Maybe later." Mina smiled back. "How's everything going?"
"Everything's good – although I've lost Grandpa…" she looked around. "Say, where's Serena as well?" the others suddenly noticed they'd lost their blonde companion.
"She's more that likely gone to find something to eat." Amy spoke up. "Actually here she is now." She indicated Serena, who was walking over stuffing her face with fried noodles.
"Mmmm…shish shtuff's good!" she exclaimed, her cheeks bulging like a hamster's. Her friends rolled their eyes, but suddenly froze as they heard a scream. Serena started to choke on her noodles and so Amy promptly gave her a sharp slap between the shoulder blades.
"Thanks." The leader of the Scouts gasped as the food was dislodged.
"What was that all about?" Alexia wondered out loud, and another squeal was heard, this time a lot closer.
"Ahhh come on, make an old man's day!" Rei's eyes flashed with rage as she recognised her grandfather's voice.
"Grandpaaaaa…" she growled, charging off in the direction of the old man's voice. The next moment she'd returned, dragging him by his ear. "You're staying here with Chad! I wanna take a look around and I think you've terrorised enough girls for one day!" she declared.
"I was only asking them if they'd like a lucky charm!" he defended himself, and the raven-haired psychic laughed scornfully.
"Sure, and I'm a Pop Idol!" she snorted, then looked over at Chad, who was showing a pair of girls some charms. "Hey, make sure Grandpa doesn't scare any more girls." she instruced him. „I'll see you both later." The girls followed Rei as she stalked off.
"Right, what shall we do first?" The raven-haired girl turned to face them.
"There's this reeeally yummy looking crepe stall just down there…" Serena announced.
"Serena!" the others all yelled in unison in an exasperated tone.
x x x x x
Later, whilst the others were distracted trying to catch goldfish Serena successfully managed to drag Alexia off in the direction of the crepe stall.
"I'm absolutely starving!" the blonde exclaimed, clutching her gurgling stomach. "The noodles just weren't enough!" Alexia rolled her pale eyes and smiled.
"Come on then." She'd said good-naturedly. Since she'd not known Serena as long as the others Alexia was still amazed at the lively yet also terribly lazy girl's ability to put away huge amounts of food. "How can someone as slender as you manage to eat so much without getting overweight?" she asked with awe in her voice.
"I dunno, just can." Serena shrugged, them beamed. "Hey there's your mom and dad! Hi Miaka, hi Alfredo!"
"Serena, how lovely to see you!" Miaka beamed back at the girl; she'd become quite fond of the loveable blonde, as well as Alexia's other friends. "You look so pretty in your kimono! Hello sweetie, are you having a nice time?" the woman placed her hands on her daughter's shoulders. "My, you haven't worn your kimono for over a year and it still fits perfectly, doesn't it?!"
"It sure does, but it was a little big for me before remember?" she replied. She noticed Serena eyeing her father's crepe hungrily.
"Is it good?" she asked, her eyes wide and bright.
"One of the best I've ever tasted." He smiled. "I don't understand why the stall's so hidden away though!" Serena looked at the big crepe stall in confusion.
"Looks pretty out in the open to me." She remarked, and he laughed.
"Oh we didn't get them from there, but from the one over there!" he pointed to a small red stall, which was amongst the cherry trees.
"Strange…" Serena shrugged. "C'mon Alexia, I'm starved!"
"I'll see you at dinner." Alexia smiled at her parents.
"Hope the rest of the day's as good for you, Al." Miaka waved. "Enjoy your crepe Serena!"
"Bye Alexia, Serena." Alfredo led his wife away in the direction of Rei's grandfather's stall.
"Oooh it smells amazing!" Serena was visibly drooling again.
"It does, doesn't it?" Alexia agreed, suddenly feeling pretty hungry herself.
"Hello girls, how can I help you?" a pretty woman smiled at them as she cooked a crepe on the round, flat heatpad.
"I'd like a crepe covered in chocolate sauce and cream please!" Serena announced, rubbing her hands together and licking her lips.
"I'd like sugar and lemon on mine please." Alexia smiled. The woman's eyes sparkled merrily as she prepared the food then handed it to the girls. As Alexia took her hot crepe from her however she caught her hand on a ring on the woman's finger.
"Ouch!" she exclaimed, examining the small cut on her hand.
"Oh, I'm so sorry!" the woman exclaimed. "Please have the crepe on the house – this ring is so dangerous!" she showed her the ring, which had a sharp point sticking out of it.
"You're telling me." Alexia muttered as they walked away.
"Mmmmm yummy yummy!" Serena mumbled through mouthfuls. Both of them were too distracted to notice the woman's eyes suddenly flash yellowy-green…
x x x x x
Three days later.
Alexia groaned as she stirred from another terrible night's sleep – or lack of. The nightmare had continued to haunt her and it seemed to be getting longer and longer every night; although nothing new ever happened – the voice just delayed from responding even longer every night. As she sat up her head felt heavy and throbbed and she felt very warm. Slowly she got out of bed and went downstairs to see her parents. Alfredo was sat at the table reading the paper as she sat down with a cup of coffee. The front of the paper read:
'Mystery Illness Baffles Scientists.'
"What's the headline about?" she inquired.
"A few people have come down with some bug and are quite sick and no one can work out what's causing it. The only thing that they've got that links them is that they were all at the carnival on Sunday and they all had crepes from that strange stall. But a lot of people who had crepes from there haven't got sick, like you or me.
"Yeah…" Alexia's voice shook and she had to rest her head in her hands.
"Al? Are you feeling alright?" Miaka exclaimed, putting her hand on her daughter's head. "You feel awfully warm!"
"My head hurts a lot…" she murmured. "I think I need to go back to bed."
"I think you'd better as well. I'll get in touch with your school and let them know you won't be in." Alfredo looked at her over his reading glasses.
"Hmmm, high temperature, headache, and you ate at that crepe stall…sounds like you have this illness as well. I'll call the doctor." He stood up and got the phone whilst Miaka helped Alexia back up the stairs.
x x x x x
As much as Miaka and Alfredo wanted to stay with their daughter they both had to work all day. Miaka had thought it best not to ask for time off just yet since she'd only been working at the school library for a short time so reluctantly went about her job worrying about Alexia's health. At the start of lunchtime she was walking through the school carrying a pile of books when she heard Miss Haruna call her.
"Hello Miaka, I was wondering if you had that book for me?" she inquired.
"Why, yes I do, Patricia. It's riiiight…here!" she found the book in her pile and the teacher hugged it to her chest.
"Thanks so much – I love romance novels." She sighed. "How about you?"
"I prefer crime stories myself." Alexia's mother smiled. "I'm really sorry but I really have to get the rest of these books back to the library."
"Okay, thanks again." Miss Haruna disappeared into her classroom and Miaka continued to walk down the hallway. Her face was full of anxiety as she thought of poor Alexia at home by herself. She was so deep in thought that she didn't notice Serena come sprinting in the opposite direction.
CRASH!
Books went flying as the pair crashed into one another.
"Oh I'm soooooo sorry!!" Serena gushed, sincerely apologetic. "Let me help you!" she started to collect the books together and handed them to the troubled woman.
"Where were you going in such a hurry?" Miaka asked her.
"Ummm…" Serena blushed. "Hey you don't look so good, is everything alright?" she felt very proud of herself for being able to change the subject.
"No, it isn't, I'm afraid." The woman sighed. "Alexia is quite sick with that mystery bug. The doctor told us just to let her rest for now but Alfredo and I are both so busy today that we can't check on her…" suddenly an idea popped into her head. "Say, Serena, what are you doing for the rest of lunchtime?"
"Uuuh nothing?" Serena felt confused by this question.
"Excellent!" Miaka handed Serena the books and got a bunch of keys out of her pocket. "Would you be ever so kind and go and check on Alexia for me? I really trust you." Her dark eyes shone hopefully, and Serena couldn't refuse.
Anyway, it'll get me away from Lita for a while…she thought thankfully.
"Sure thing, Miaka!" Serena handed the books back and took the keys. "I'll report back to you a.s.a.p.!"
"Thank you so very much Serena." Miaka said gratefully. "Now I must get on…see you soon."
"Yup." The blonde grinned and turned to walk out of the school.
"SERENA!!" A very angry Lita could be heard charging up the corridor.
"Uh oh, better move it!" Serena gulped and ran as fast as her legs would take her.
"What's the matter, Lita?!" Miaka exclaimed as she met the irate brunette.
"Serena stole my entire lunch and copied my homework without asking me!" she explained breathlessly. "Wait 'til I get my hands on her!!"
x x x x x
Estrella stretched out on the wall and sighed contentedly as she felt the heat of the sun on her fur. The kitten had spent the whole of the night before until the early hours of that morning on patrol with Artemis, and she was now feeling the effects of not sleeping. She had spent the whole day in the Risoltos' garden basking in the sunshine, and so was blissfully unaware of Alexia's condition. She was just drifting off to sleep again when a high-pitched squeal erupted from inside the house.
"What the…?" she exclaimed, her heart pounding. "That sounded like Serena!" she sprinted in through the cat flap and up the stairs where Serena was sobbing at the bottom of the stairs. "Serena, how did you get here? What's happened?!"
"Mi…Miaka sent me to check on Alexia!" she wept. "She's sick – really sick!" she hiccupped as Estrella gasped and ran past the girl to get upstairs. "I'm scared!" The blonde Moon Princess followed her quickly. "I don't understand what's happening!"
"By the Stars!" Estrella gasped. "I don't understand this either, but I'm certainly glad her parents aren't here!"
They were stood in the doorway to Alexia's bedroom, staring in fear and confusion. Alexia looked still and pale as she lay in bed, but everything around her was a commotion. Everything in her room – furniture, ornaments, stuffed toys and books, even the bed – was floating a few inches from the ground! "The illness must be causing her psychic powers to go awry!" Estrella concluded.
"I can't take it anymore!" Serena suddenly yelled, terrified for her friend's well being. She ran into the room, darting around the floating objects, and to Alexia's side. She sniffled, grabbed her friend's hand then looked back at Estrella. "She's so hot, and hardly breathing!" she reported anxiously. "We have to do som…" her words were cut off as she felt a strange pulling feeling inside of herself. She looked down at her arm and gasped – it was disappearing before her eyes! She tried to shout to Estrella – but it seemed her voice had already vanished!
"Serena!" Estrella exclaimed as the girl totally faded out. "I've got to get in touch with the others!" she declared, still unable to take her eyes off the strange phenomena happening in her ill charge's room…
x x x x x
"Where…where am I?" Serena opened her eyes and looked around…well at least she attempted to do this. However her surroundings were so unbelievably dark that she wasn't sure if she had her eyes open or not. "Hello?" she got to her feet and tried to make out anything in the pitch-blackness. "Estrella, are you here? Alexia?" She felt tears stinging her eyes and her lower lips trembled violently. "No, I'm not gonna cry this time!" she scolded herself. "I have to help Alexia!" She grabbed her brooch and yelled out proudly.
"Moon Crystal Power – Make Up!"
Serena was surprised but also pleased to find that when she transformed into her alter ego she gave off a slight aura of light. "Hmmm, wonder if I can make it any lighter?" she thought out loud, then suddenly the jewel in her tiara lit up like a torch, illuminating the way ahead. "Cool!" she exclaimed, then started to walk around looking for any signs of her friend. "Alexia?" she called out, and then she suddenly saw someone slumped on the floor a little way ahead. It was a girl in a lilac dress with long dark green hair. "Alexia!" Sailor Moon called out joyously, and ran over to her. "Alexia wake up it's me Serena!" she pulled the girl into a sitting position, then promptly screamed in horror. The front of her beautiful silk dress was smeared in dark brown-red blood, which was trickling from a wound in her stomach. Her face was pale and she was hardly breathing. "No, Alexia, please no!" she finally let the tears she'd held back free. "You can't die – not here, not now!" she held her tightly, not caring about the blood. "You have to wake up, your family, they'll be so upset! And Estrella, and the others, and me!" she sobbed. "Alexia I refuse to let one of my fellow Sailor Scouts, one of my friends, die! We've only just met – I'm not allowing you to leave us! As the Inner Moon Princess to the Outer Moon Princess – we need each other!" she hugged her and hugged her. "I swear I will seriously punish whomever or whatever's done this to you!" she promised loudly.
"Ahhhh, then that would be me, then!" a voice responded in a soft feminine tone. However there was something in it that made Sailor Moon's blood run cold.
"Who's out there? Show yourself!" she gently placed Alexia back on the ground and stood up, blood all over her gloves and front. "Only cowards hide in the shadows watching their victims suffer!"
"Very true." The woman's voice spoke up again, and suddenly the Scout realised where she'd heard it before – the woman who'd ran the crepe stall! The woman finally appeared and laughed cruelly towards Alexia's limp body.
"Who are you really?" Sailor Moon demanded. "Because I don't think a lovely looking woman would cause such terrible agony!"
"Yet again, true." The voice that came out of the woman's mouth this time was hideous – harsh and scraping – like two pieces of rusty metal rubbing against one another. "But first of all, why don't you tell me who you are – and how you got into this girl's nightmare?"
"I am Sailor Moon – Champion of Justice, and I am seriously annoyed because I had the yummiest crepe the other day and now it has been spoilt by the taste of evil – shame on you!" she placed her hands on her hips.
"I she's here because I brought her into my mind to help me." Sailor Moon gasped as Alexia spoke up from behind her. She turned her head and broke into a relieved smile as she saw the girl shakily getting to her feet, the wound healed but the bloodstains still there. "Thank you, Sailor Moon – your love, concern and strength revived me." She said gratefully, then turned to look at the monster that had trapped them. "So, why don't you keep your end of the deal now and reveal yourself?"
"As you wish." The woman suddenly started to stretch upwards unnaturally, then burst open like a banana peel. Inside was something that could only be described as a huge black blob with tentacles. Yellowy-green eyes shone out of its head and a huge red mouth appeared, filled with terribly sharp bright yellow teeth. "My name is Neromostro, the DreamDweller." It hissed foully, a pink tongue flicking in and out of its mouth now and again. "And now it's time to defeat you!"
"Not so fast!" Alexia yelled, and closed her eyes. In a flash of light she became Sailor Charon, which surprised Sailor Moon.
"What about your Transformation Pen?!" she exclaimed.
"This is my imagination remember? I only have to think about something and it happens!" Charon grinned. "Let's get to work."
"Right!" Sailor Moon smiled back. Neromostro suddenly flattened itself right against the floor and so both Scouts became extremely wary as all was very, very still.
"Come oooon…" Charon growled, her eyes narrowed. She needed revenge for what this creature had put her through for the last few hours…
Without a word of warning it suddenly sprung up into the air and landed straight on top of Charon, crushing her against the floor and winding her. She gasped as she struggled desperately under the massive weight of the monster and Sailor Moon pulled off her tiara.
"Get off her – Moon Tiara Magic!" she threw the discus-like object at Neromostro, and successfully managed to slice one of its four huge tentacles off. It screamed in pain and rolled off the breathless Scout.
"Thanks for that." She said as she got back up. "You're sooo gonna pay for that cheap trick!" she yelled. "Charon Psy-Wave!" the attack was as effective as the tiara, slicing off yet another tentacles.
"You will die!" it howled as indigo blood poured out of the two stumps and the cut off tentacles flapped around on the ground like fish out of water. Suddenly however they flew at the two Scouts and wrapped around their waists, pinning their arms to their sides.
"Hey if this is your imagination then why can't you think about us actually getting outta here?!" Sailor Moon exclaimed and she wriggled.
"I wish I could, I'm still weak and Neromostro has some control over me." Charon admitted. "However, I can do this!" A smile crossed her face as she closed her eyes.
"What, what are you doing?!" Serena exclaimed – and suddenly Neromostro howled again.
"What is this?!" it demanded, spinning itself around and around and looked in all directions. The tentacles trapping the girls suddenly became lifeless and slid off them.
"Eeeew, gross!" Sailor Moon groaned as she looked at the mess her suit was in – now not only stained with Alexia's blood but with Neromostro's. "Say what have you done?"
"Destroy him – I've gotta concentrate or it won't work!" Charon said quickly and Sailor Moon saluted.
"You got it!" the Sceptre appeared in her hands. "Moon Sceptre Activation!" Neromostro yelled out as he turned into dust and Sailor Moon cheered, then stopped as she noticed Charon had slumped down to her knees. "Are you okay?" she asked anxiously.
"Fine, just tired." Charon suddenly hugged her tightly. "Oh Serena you don't know just how happy I was to see you!"
"I was glad to see you too, until I saw all the blood and stuff – what was it all about?"
"I will explain everything when we get outta here, come on." Alexia took her hands in hers and everything became light as Serena found herself sat on the edge of Alexia's bed, with the girl sat up next to her looking well again.
"Serena, Alexia!" the two girls discovered they weren't alone in the room. All the other Scouts were there, as well as the cats and Darien.
"What happened? We were so concerned about you!" Amy exclaimed, running forward to check Alexia's temperature. "You feel really cool, I think you're well again!" Alexia laughed.
"That's because I am! We fought the illness – literally!" she and Serena giggled.
"Will you explain please?" Luna ordered.
"Okay." Alexia took a breath. "I guess it all started at the carnival on Sunday. As you know Serena and I went for crepes and I got my hand cut on a ring that the stall worker was wearing. Little did we realise that the woman was actually a creature called Neromostro, the DreamDweller. The people who have been getting ill must've also got their hand cut, because that's how Neromostro got inside me. I know this because it told me personally. It lives in your dreams, hence the name, and poisons you from the inside. If you don't fight it then it will destroy your mind. Hopefully now we got rid of it, all the other sick people should also be well."
"Hey what I wanna know is what did you do to Neromostro to freak him out like you did?" Serena asked, and Alexia smiled.
"I thought of him being surrounded by lots of versions of us." She explained. "It was all I could do."
"Also…what was happening in your nightmare? I was really frightened when I saw you covered in blood…" the blonde asked anxiously, and Alexia sighed.
"I suppose it's confession time." She announced. "I've been having a reoccurring nightmare for the last week or so. In it I'm stood in a pitch-black room dressed in a long lilac dress. I call out and after a while an unfamiliar male voice calls back…" she explained everything, never stopping for a breath until she got to the worst part. "There's this awful, sickening pain in my stomach as someone invisible stabs me, then there's blood everywhere and I have a wound to my lower abdomen. It's so frightening – I always think that I won't wake up…and when Neromostro was in my mind I was sure that this time would be the final moment. If Serena hadn't come when she had…" she smiled at the blonde. "I don't know how to thank you enough."
"Don't mention it…" she suddenly gasped. "I have to get back to school, Miaka will be so worried!"
"It's okay we vouched for you." Amy smiled. "We told her Alexia wasn't feeling good so you decided to stay with her. School finished hours ago!"
"Wow, and it went so quickly!" Serena gasped. They were all so busy laughing and chattering that they didn't notice the cats glide out of the room.
"Oh no, no!" Estrella was weeping. "I can't believe she's having nightmares about it! What are we going to do?"
"There's only one thing we can do…tell her the truth." Luna sighed, and Estrella shook her head.
"I can't – I refuse to frighten her! It will destroy her life!"
"It will change everything for her." Artemis pointed out. "I think we should wait and see what happens."
"I agree." Estrella spoke up.
"Very well then." Luna sighed. "We shall wait and see…"
x x x x x
Hours later…
The steel drums in the distance were so relaxing as the purple-haired girl sighed and stretched out on her sun lounger.
"The perfect holiday, nothing like recharging your batteries and topping up your tan." Merula sighed, lifting the strap of her skimpy navy blue bikini to check her tan lines before taking another sip of her cocktail. She was in the Caribbean, and had been for a couple of weeks. After her little reunion with Sailor Scouts she'd decided it was time for a vacation, so had spent her time since then travelling around from place to place. The sun was so good here, and so was the sea. She could stay here forever…but she knew that the pull of Japan and the Scouts would be too much in the end.
Holidays are sweet…but revenge is sweeter. she smiled to herself as she soaked up the intense heat. She was about to take another drink from her coconut shell cup when she dropped it on the sand next to her and gasped with horror. Sitting up sharply she removed her sunglasses and her dark brown eyes were filled with disbelief and actual fear as she scanned the beach and ocean around her.
"No…" she shuddered. "It couldn't be…" the icy chill that had suddenly flowed through her veins had been so very familiar, yet she hadn't felt it for so very many years. "Ahhh stop it Merula, you're just imagining it!" she laughed (albeit nervously) and shook her head. Placing her shades back on she reclined on the lounger again. Well, I hope I was imagining it…but how could she have imagined something so dark?
x x x x x
Why was his heart pounding so hard against his ribs so suddenly, what had made all the air leave his lungs so quickly, and what had caused the warm summer air to turn as cold as ice for a split moment?
The red-haired boy shuddered as he thought about this combination of feelings again as he stood in the phone box, leaning against the door. He was turning a coin over and over in his fingers as he stared at the phone.
Just call…the sooner you get it over with the better. he told himself sternly. Taking a breath and picked up the handset. After pushing the coin into the money slot he swiftly dialled a number and listened to the ring tone. All you need to do is warn her and make sure she's safe… he advised as he nervously awaited an answer. He counted six ring tones and sighed. Must not be in, never mind, he told himself and was about to hang up when there was a click.
"Hello?" that beautiful and soft voice murmured. "Anderson residence?" his own voice suddenly ceased to function. "Hello?" It was all too much, and so he slammed the phone down and walked out of the booth. He hit his fist against his head as punishment – he was such a wimp! How could he be so selfish? He knew why he didn't want to speak to her, he was scared she'd ask questions – where he was, why he'd not been in touch before that day.
"About time too!" someone called to him. He looked up and saw a black-haired youth sat on a wall just ahead of him. He'd left his companion there so that he could make the call in peace – the dark-haired boy had a tendency of asking too many questions. "How long does it take to call the talking clock?!"
"It was busy." The red-haired youth muttered.
"Weird, I didn't know the talking clock could BE busy…" his friend murmured thoughtfully.
"It doesn't matter now, let's go." The stripling who had made the call suddenly recalled the conglomeration of feelings that he'd experienced an hour before he'd finally plucked up the courage to go to the phone booth and suddenly fell to his knees as they overcame him again – like he'd just been punched hard in the stomach after working out in the freezing cold. He screwed up his eyes – he knew the feeling well, but he'd not felt anything like this in such a long time.
"Hey what's wrong? Fargo?" his comrade exclaimed as he looked down at him.
"I'm fine, just felt a bit dizzy, that's all." Fargo replied quickly. He knew what this feeling meant - something evil was coming; and it wasn't your regular type of show-offish 'I'm better than you and I'm going to prove it' evil either.
This was blacker than black – cold, insane, hell bent on revenge and bloodshed – evil.
He just hoped that the Scouts would be strong enough to face it without him…
"Who was it?" Mina asked Amy as the girl stood looking at the phone distantly.
"Must have been a wrong number, they hung up without saying anything." She murmured.
Why had her heart leapt with hope and joy when the phone had started to ring? She wondered…
x x x x x
In the far reaches of space a streamlined silver ship was flying swiftly away from Earth. Inside the ship a woman with long wavy orange hair and pale blue skin was sat at the controls with a look of concentration on her face as she watched the stars through the window. A very important-looking man walked over her and placed a hand on her shoulder.
"You seem troubled…why?"
"I was just wondering if we were doing the right thing, bringing such an awful thing to such a wonderful place." The man smiled at the back of the woman's orange-haired head.
"Just like you. Earth is not wonderful, you have observed it for so long – you know what it is like. Full of war, hatred and destruction."
"But there are good things as well. We've witnessed that." He nodded.
"That's true…anyway if we want to reclaim what is rightfully ours then we have to do this. They will understand."
"Indeed, I'm sure they will." The woman smiled, feeling comforted by her companion's words; the man continued:
"Let us go and report back to His Majesty, he will be most pleased at our discoveries."
"Yes, and just think – the sooner we do, the sooner this whole problem can be resolved." The woman said in her gentle tone.
"We can only hope." The man sighed, and so they continued their voyage.
The End.