Chapter 7

Melissa Austin stood on her apartment balcony, staring out over the city. She couldn't help being worried about Reenie. Had she been caught by Nemesis or was she fast enough to get away? If she had gotten away, where was she now? Was she okay? Was she hurt?

It's funny, Melissa thought as she looked out over the city of Crystal Tokyo, I haven't thought about Reenie in years and now she's back here.
"Melissa?" a familiar voice asked from inside the apartment. "Why are you out on the balcony?"

The familiar voice belonged to Kristy Kirsta, who had just entered the apartment. "Are you okay?" she asked, walking out onto the balcony.

"I'm okay, Kris."
"Are you sure? You look kind of sad."
"I'm not. Don't worry. I'm just thinking."
"About?" Kristy asked, leaning on the apartment railing.
"Things."
"What things?" Kristy couldn't understand why Melissa was being so secretive. Usually, she was really open about everything.
"Kristy," Melissa began, deciding that now was the time to tell her, "There's something I have to tell you."
"What?"
"Do you remember back in high school?"

Kristy frowned. What did their high school days have to do with anything? "Not really," she replied truthfully.

Melissa sighed. It was going to be a bit harder if Kristy didn't really remember anything about their days in high school. "Do you remember a gir..." Melissa began but stopped and smiled when she saw a familiar person walking to her apartment.
"Do I remember a what?" Kristy asked, not understanding what Melissa was going to ask her.
"Never mind," Melissa said, waving it off and heading back inside.
"Melissa, what is it?" Kristy didn't understand her friend's sudden change. She had appeared so sad and thoughtful before and suddenly she was so jumpy and happy.
"It's nothing, Kris. Look, I'll be back in a bit, okay?" Quickly she left the apartment.
"Melissa?" Kristy asked, confused. What had Melissa been about to tell her? What's going on Melissa? Kirsty wondered, staring at the door Melissa had let slam behind her. What were you about to ask me?

Melissa took the elevator to the first floor and practically flew out of it when the doors opened. Quickly, Melissa opened the building's door and walked outside.

Where is she? Melissa wondered. I know I saw her! Suddenly, her eyes spotted who she was looking for and she smiled.

"Are the apartments still far away, Lillian?" Kara asked, just before the trio was going to turn a corner.

Lillian shook her head. "No," Lillian replied, as the group turned the corner, "They're right over there."

Kara looked to where Lillian was pointing, which was straight ahead.

Looking at the apartments, Lillian noticed a woman who was staring at them from the doorway. "Reenie, maybe we should wait awhile before we go to your friend's apartment," Lillian whispered to her future queen.
"Why?" Reenie asked looking at Lillian and not understanding why she didn't want them to go now.
"That woman," Lillian replied, motioning to the woman who was staring at them from the doorway of one of the apartment buildings.
"What woman?" Reenie asked, not seeing any woman.
"The one standing in the doorway of the apartment building," Lillian answered, "I'm not sure..."
"Oh, Lissa!" Reenie interruped Lillian, seeing the woman standing in the doorway of the apartment building that Reenie had been in not too long ago.
"Lissa?" the Scout asked.

Reenie smiled. "Melissa Austin," she said, "She must have seen us coming from her balcony. Come on." Reenie ran towards her old friend.

Kara turned to Lillian, a questioning look on her face. "Is it okay, Lillian?" the young princess asked, unsure as to whether or not she should follow her older sister's lead.

Lillian looked at Kara, then looked to where Reenie stood hugging Melissa, then back to Kara. Seeing how the two friends had embraced, Lillian smiled and nodded. "Yes. It's okay."

And together, the two of them headed towards Reenie and Melissa.

Raye Hino walked around the inside of her large mansion, feeling a little sad. Kirstein had stayed here for four years. But now, without her there, the large mansion felt so empty.

Come on, Raye! she told herself. Get out of this blue funk! You have a concert to perform in less than five hours. But no matter what Raye told herself, she couldn't calm herself down nor could she sit still. Something felt out of place to her and not knowing what it was irritated her.

I have to do a fire reading, she suddenly decided, knowing that the fire readings would tell her what she wanted to hear.

What she wanted to hear was that her future daughter along with those of her friends were safe, because deep down, even though she wouldn't admit it in front of the other Sailors, she was afraid for them. She had some horrible feeling that something had gotten messed up and that they were in need of help.

Quickly, Raye ran out of the house and to the garage where she climbed into her Ferrari and drove off, once thought repeating in her head: I have to get to Cherry Hill Temple. I must do a fire reading. It'll tell me what I need to know.

Kristy was sitting down on the couch in the living room, when she heard the creak of the front door opening. Surprised by the sudden noise, she turned her head so she could see who it was.
"Hey, Kristy," Melissa said, stepping inside the apartment and motioning for someone else to enter.
"Hey, Melissa," Kristy said, wondering who Melissa had brought with her. Once the three people had entered the apartment, Kristy smiled and said, "Hello."
"Hello, Kristy," the one with the long pink hair said.

Kristy looked at her and the blonde kid who stood beside her. For some reason, while she didn't recognize the one with the brown hair, she recognized the one with the pink hair and the one with the blonde hair.
"Do I know you from somewhere?" Kristy asked, trying to remember why she recognized the two girls.
"You do, Kris," Melissa replied for Reenie and Kara. "That was why I was asking if you remembered about our days back in high school."

Kristy looked at Melissa, confused. She still didn't understand what Melissa was getting at. The younger one wasn't old enough to have gone to high school. As a matter of fact, neither was the one with the pink hair.
"Kind of, anyways," Reenie said. "Kris, do you remember before Nemesis came here and back to the days when you and Lissa were in high school?"
"I already told Melissa that I don't really remember much of anything from when we were in high school," Kristy replied. "Why? You couldn't possibly have gone to school with me and Melissa."

Melissa smiled. "Actually..."
"I did," Reenie finished for her friend, "But back then, you knew me as Reenie Tsukino."

Kristy's eyes widened in disbelief and recognition. Now she knew why the two of them looked so familiar! Reenie had been her friend back in high school. Reenie was the reason why she and Melissa had become friends in the first place. And of course, she remembered Kara because of the friendship she had had with her younger sister, Michelle.
"Reenie!" she exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"

Reenie smiled. "This is my home, Kristy," she replied. "It's changed, but it's still my home."
"Reenie," Lillian began, interrupting the conversation, "It won't take long for the others to arrive."

Reenie nodded. "You're right, Lillian," the princess replied then turned back to her friends, "Melissa. Kristy. I have something that I need to ask of you both."

They nodded.

"I was wondering if we meaning, myself and the other Sailor Scouts could use your apartment as a place to plan our attack on the palace. I suggested it to the others, hoping that you would not mind. Do you?"

"Anything we could do to help the rightful crown rule over Crystal Tokyo again would be our pleasure, Your Majesty," Kristy said.

Hearing Kristy call her "Your Majesty", Reenie rolled her eyes. She hated being called that. Especially by her friends. "Cut the 'Your Majesty' stuff out, okay, Kris?" she asked. Then after a minutes or so of awkward silence, "Thanks."
"Yes," Lillian smiled. "Thank you both. We owe you a great debt for allowing us to use your place."

Melissa waved it off. "No problem. We want Nemesis gone just as much as you guys do. Everyone does. Besides, Reenie's our friend or at least she was and whatever we can do to help her and you guys out, we'll do it."

Lillian shook her head, disagreeing with what Melissa had just said. "It does not matter that you are friends with Reenie," she informed them. "The crown owes you a great debt and as a member of the Royal Court and as a Sailor Scout, I can assure you that as soon as we come into power again, it will be paid."
"Whatever," Melissa said, not wanting to argue with a Sailor Scout. Turning to Reenie, "Now who else is going to be coming here?"
"The other Sailor Scouts," Crystal Tokyo's future queen replied. "Both generations, younger and elder."
"Don't forget about Jordan and Kenneth," Kara reminded her older sister.

Reenie looked down at Kara and smiled. "You know I would never, Kara," she said. Suddenly, there was a knock on the door.

"Who's there?" Kristy called.

Silence. No response from outside. Without waiting another minute to ask who was there, Lillian opened the door. Standing outside in the hallway were Megan, Chantal and Kirstein.
"Hey, Lil," Megan greeted her friend and fellow Sailor Scout.
"You guys can come in and sit down, you know?" Kristy called out from where she sat on the couch in the living room.

Lillian stepped back to allow her friends enough room to enter the apartment. The trio entered, Lillian shutting the door behind them.
"We can leave so you can have more privacy," Melissa suggested before the three newcomers had time to introduce themselves.

Reenie shook her head. "No," she said to her old friend, "You and Kristy should stay here with us. I have a feeling that we're going to need your help in this plan." Then, turning to look at the other Sailor Scouts, she said, "You guys can sit down, you know?"
"Yes, Reenie," Kirstein said and motioned for the other three to follow her towards the living room. The group of four sat down in the living room. Kirstein and Chantal on the couch beside Kirsty. Lillian and Megan in two easy chairs on opposite ends of the couch.
"Lissa, Kris," Reenie began, "Meet..."
"Lillian Kino, Kirstein Hino, Chantal Aino, and Megan Anderson," Melissa said, looking to each Sailor Scout as she said their names. "Hi. I'm Melissa Austin, and this"pointing to Kirsty on the couch "is Kristy Kirsta."
"Hello," Kirsty said.
"How did you know who we were?" Chantal asked Melissa, wondering how Reenie's friend would know what their names and who they were.

The journalist smiled. "I'm a reporter," she replied. "I've kind of made it my business to know who's who. It kind of took me a while to realize who you were but then again, no one has seen any of you for four years."
"We haven't really been here for the past four years," Lillian said, smiling.
"When did you guys get back from the past, anyways?" Kristy asked.
"Not too long ago," Chantal replied.
"Kara, you can go and sit down, too," Reenie said, bending down so that she was the same height as her little sister.

Kara shook her head. She didn't really feel comfortable going to go sit down over there.
"Come sit over here, Kara," Kirstein called from where she sat on the living room couch between Kristy and Chantal.

Again, Kara shook her head. She didn't feel like sitting down unless Reenie did. She wanted to be near her older sister.

Reenie sighed. "Okay, Kara," she said, then looked to Kristy. "So Kris, how's Rodney?"

Kristy bit her lip and looked to the ground, not answering Reenie's question.

Not understanding why Kristy chose to remain silent, Reenie looked to Melissa for answers, her eyes asking why Kristy wasn't telling her anything about Rodney.
"Reenie," Melissa began, her voice sad.
"Something happened to him, didn't it?" Reenie asked before Melissa could say anything more. She recognized the tone of voice that her friend was using. It was the same tone that Melissa had used to tell Reenie what had happened to her family.

Both Melissa and Kristy nodded in reply.

Reenie blinked back tears. She had loved Rodney with all her heart and he had been taken away from her. At least if he had lived, she would have been able to see him, even if he was too old for her to go out with or marry.

Why is it that everyone I care about is dying? Reenie wondered sadly.

Raye was halfway to the Cherry Hill Temple, when she realized that the others should be aware of what she was going to do too. She knew that they, like her, were worried about their daughters in the future. Quickly, she picked up her cell phone and dialed Darien's and Serena's number.

Ring! Ring! Serena was sitting on their couch in the living room of their apartment when the phone rang. Surprised by the sudden noise, she jumped. She had been thinking about Reenie and Kara and had not been expecting any calls. Quickly, she picked it up. "Hello?" she asked, wondering who would be calling her. Was it for Darien? she wondered.
"Serena?"

It was Raye.
"Hey, Raye. What's up?"
"I'm heading over to the Cherry Hill Temple. I'm kind of worried about Kirstein and the others and I was thinking of doing a fire reading to see if it would tell us anything. You know, to see if they're okay and stuff. I was wondering if you and Darien wanted to meet me there. I know that you guys are worried about Reenie and Kara."
"Sure, Raye," Serena said, "Are you heading over now?"
"I'm on my way. I just called to see if you and Darien were interested in coming to check it out."

Serena nodded. "Definitely. Are any of the others going?"
"You're the first one I called, Serena. I was wondering if you could call Terence, Lita, and Jordan?"
"Sure. You're going to call Amy and Mina?"
"Yep."
"See ya there, Raye."
"See ya, Serena."

The two of them hung up.

Serena had just placed the receiver back in it's cradle when Darien came walking out of the bathroom, wearing black pants and rubbing his hair dry. He had just stepped out of the shower a few minutes before. "Who was on the phone?" he asked Serena.
"Raye," she replied, picking the phone up again.
"What did she want?" Darien asked.
"For us to meet her at the Cherry Hill Temple. She's going to do a fire reading there to see if she can find out anything about Reenie and the others. She's worried about them, too. I was just going to call Terence and tell him to meet us there."
"Hasn't it been a while since Raye's done fire readings?" Darien asked.

Serena nodded. "Yeah. I think the last time Raye did a fire reading was before I ran away to America."

Darien shrugged. He hadn't really gone to any of the fire readings.

"Anyways," Serena said, changing the subject, "I told Raye that I would phone Terence, Jordan, and Lita and since Raye was already on her way when she called me, I think I should phone them as fast as I can, so we can get going as fast as we can."

Darien nodded. "You phone Terence and Lita," he told her. "I'll phone Jordan and tell him to meet us at the Cherry Hill Temple."
"You sure, Darien?" Serena asked.

Again, he nodded. "I'm sure, Serena," the future king of Earth replied. Then he smiled, "After all, Jordan is my brother from our past in the Silver Millenium."
"And who knows, Darien?" Serena said, smiling. "He could be your brother from this time, too."

At this, Darien shook his head. "He can't be," he told her.
"You never know, Dar," Serena said, a sly smile of her pretty face, "After all, it was a while before I found out that I had a brother in this time, too. You, yourself, have told me that you don't remember much of anything about your childhood. Maybe you had a younger brother that ran away." Then, before Darien could say another word against her idea, Serena quickly dialed the number of Terence's cell phone. She didn't even have to wait for it to ring once. In the middle of the first ring, the phone was answered.
"Hello?" the voice on the other end asked.
"Terence?" Darien heard Serena say.
"Yeah," Terence replied. "It's me. What's up, Serena?"

Quickly, Serena told him what Raye had told her only a few minutes ago. "So, are you going to come?" she asked once she had finished explaining everything.
"Definitely," Terence replied.
"Okay," Serena said, smiling, "See ya there." Then she hung up.

About a minute or so later, she picked up the phone again and dialed Lita's number. It took Serena less time to get what was going on across to Lita than it had to Terence. Five minutes later, Lita was telling Serena that she would meet them at the temple.

Meanwhile, Darien had finished his conversation with Jordan, it ending with Jordan agreeing to meet them at the Cherry Hill Temple. When Darien saw that Serena had finished phoning Terence and Lita, he asked, "Ready to head over to the temple?"
"I am," she replied, smiling. "But you aren't."

He looked at Serena. "And why not?"

Serena bit her lip to stop the laughter that threatened to come bursting out of her mouth. Finally, when she was that she had herself under control, Serena replied, "Personally, I don't have a problem with you going to the temple shirtless, but I'm not so sure that the others won't."

Darien looked down at his shirtless, muscled chest. It was obvious that he had forgotten that he wasn't wearing a shirt. He quickly ran back to their room, grabbed a black shirt and put it on.
"Now, are we ready to go?" Darien asked.

Serena smiled. "Now, we're ready," she replied and quickly put on her runners.

Darien grabbed his leather jacket, and laced up his sneakers. Together the couple left the apartment and headed towards the Cherry Hill Temple on Darien's motorcycle.

Trista, Alex and Michelle laid in there cell, Alex still puzzling over Pluto's question.

Had Pluto known what was going to happen two and a half years ago? Alex didn't know what Pluto had meant by asking her, what do you think? How would she know whether or not Pluto had known what was going to happen? Alex was still thinking about this when three guards appeared in front of their cell.

Seeing the guards standing in front of their cell, Michelle and Alex straightened up while Trista sat up. All three looked at the guards, wondering why they were standing there, staring at them.

Finally, after a few minutes of staring at them, the guard in the middle of the three spoke. "Which one of you is Trista Meiou?"

Trista got up off the bed, and standing to her full height so that she was eye-to-eye with the middle guard she replied, "I am."

The guard nodded and motioned to the two other guards to unlock the cell. Quickly, the guard on the right pulled out the keys and unlocked the cell door. Once the cell door was unlocked, the guard on the left reached in to grab her arm. Roughly, he pulled Trista out of the cell.

Michelle and Alex stood up to try and stop them from taking Trista, but the middle guard pulled his hand from his pocket, which had a black glow surrounding it. Quietly, they sat back down, both knowing that the black glow meant that if he wanted to, he could shoot dark energy at them. Michelle and Alex knew that if the guard shot dark energy at them, he would shoot enough to kill. Since they weren't transformed into Sailor Neptune and Sailor Uranus, it wouldn't take much.

Trista looked at Alex and Michelle, the look in her eyes assuring them that she would be okay.

"Come on, Kilano," the middle guard ordered to the guard holding Trista's arm, "His Majesty wants her upstairs as fast as possible."

The guard nodded and pushed Trista forwards, not bothering to loosen his tight grip on her arm. "Move it," he growled.

Silently, Trista walked just a few feet ahead of the guards. She already knew where they were going to take her. To the throne room.

It didn't take too long for the other six to arrive at Melissa and Kristy's apartment.

Once all of the Sailor Scouts were gathered in the kitchen and the living room, Lita stood up to face them all. "Okay," she began, once everyone was silent, "Now that we're all gathered here, we can begin to plan our attack on the palace." She looked to Reenie, who stood up from the kitchen chair in which she sat and walked over beside Lita.
"Well," Reenie began, looking at her friends and fellow Scouts, "Considering the fact that we all grew up there, we all know the basic layout of the palace. What I was thinking was that we charge the gates with our powers. Not even all of us would have to use our powers to break down the gates. Three or four attacks all at once should be able to knock them down easily. After that, we would have to divide into two groups. One group would go and rescue Alex, Michelle and Trista, while the second group would go and find the stupid bastard that did this to Crystal Tokyo."
"Are you sure that we should go into two separate groups, Reenie?" Kara asked, speaking up. "I mean, if Nemesis could do this " she motioned outside the window to Crystal Tokyo which was pretty much destroyed in some areas "to our home city when there were thousands of guards there and our parents to protect it, then what chance do we possibly have of winning? Especially if we're separated into two separate groups?"
"But this time we have the element of surprise," Lita told the young princess. "That's what Nemesis had on their side: surprise. Had we been prepared, they never would have won and this would never have happened, but this time they don't even know what we're planning or that you guys are back in Crystal Tokyo."
"So, with this plan we should be able to overpower Nemesis?" Jordan asked.

Reenie nodded. "Hopefully. Now, are there any changes that you guys think should be made in this plan?"
"Just one," Kristy said, standing up. "The gate at the back of the palace would be easier for you guys to blast through with your attacks. I mean, there are less soldiers guarding that entrance. I think maybe five for every ten that are at the front."
"Kristy's right," Melissa said, speaking up. "There are about thirty guards at the front and about half that in the back. It would be much easier for you guys to break through that way. Also, they don't have half as many security monitors in the back as they do in the front. If only three or four attacks are going to be used to knock out the gate, then the rest of you can use your attacks to blast out the security monitors."

Both Reenie and Lita nodded.

Kirstein looked at Melissa. "They've added security monitors?" she asked, knowing very well that four years ago Queen Serenity had not had them installed.

Melissa nodded. "They hooked them up soon after they took over," she replied, "They didn't want to take any chances that the Sailor Scouts would attack them."
"But," Kristy said, "I don't think they would be expecting you guys to attack now. Especially not this many of you. I'm not even sure if they know that this many Sailor Scouts exist."

Lillian smiled. "We'll definitely be surprising them."

Reenie smiled in agreement. They would be definitely be surprising Nemesis. Then, her face all serious and business-like, she asked, "Are you guys ready?"

They all nodded.

"Good," Reenie said. Quickly, she took out her transformation pen and holding it high up in the air, she cried, "Moon CT Power!"

Following their future queen's lead, the others took out their transformation pens, and holding them high up in the air they cried out their transformation.
"Jupiter Star Power!"
"Mercury Star Power!"
"Mars Star Power!"
"Venus Star Power!"
"CT Sun Power!"
"CT S Power!"
"CT Mars Power!"
"CT Mercury Power!"
"CT Jupiter Power!"
"CT Venus Power!"
Almost immediately, bright lights surrounded each one of them (including Jordan, who doesn't really have anything to shout when he's going to transform) and less then five seconds later, the Sailor Scouts were standing in front of Melissa and Kristy, who's mouths were wide open in amazement. Melissa had already seen Reenie transform earlier that day, yet it still surprised and amazed her that one of her best friends from high school was a Sailor Scout.

Kristy had never seen any of them transform and her mouth was open in just plain shock.

Reenie smiled at her two friends. "If the attack on the palace doesn't go well, then we'll transform into our normal selves and return here," Reenie said. Then, "Is that okay?"

Both of them nodded, yes, their mouths still open.

Reenie smiled, trying hard to hold back the laughter that threatened to spill from her mouth; the looks on her friends' faces were just so funny. "Thanks," she said, when she was sure that she could speak without laughing. Then, looking to the Sailor Scouts, no sign of laughter anywhere on her face, she said, "Let's go. It's time to get our home back."