"Princess Cynthia," said
Queen Serenity. "You have done so much good for everyone
else; please do something good for yourself. You have a way of
escaping; use it."
"But if I escape from there, Grety
will go back and destroy Earth," Candra pointed out.
"But
if you don't, he will destroy you instead." With that, Queen
Serenity left.
"Mama, wait!" She sighed; Queen
Serenity was right, but Candra knew she was, too. All Grety really
wanted was Serenity. Now that he thought he had her, he didn't
need to revive the Dark Kingdom. But did she really want to stay
here, though? No, not hardly! she answered herself.
She
managed to make her way back to her third-story bedroom. She
opened the white doors to the closet and looked for a pair of
pajamas when the secret doorway caught her eye.
You have a
way of escaping; use it. If you don't he will destroy you.
Candra
picked up the outfit that had led to the door's discovery: the
black shirt and overalls. She stared at the clothing like she was
remembering something good. "Whenever I wore this thing, I
had freedom," she remembered. "I could ascend trees
without getting snagged and I could go out in public without being
noticed." She put the outfit on. It was a little loose, but
it fit.
Candra looked back at the square-shaped door. There was
this feeling inside of her, something she had not felt in a long
time. It was a mixture of excitement and fear and happiness.
She
redid her hair into a long, brown ponytail. Staring at her
reflection in the mirror, she reminded herself, "I could do
whatever I wanted in this outfit. I could get away from the
pressures of being a Princess and being compared to my mother and
my sister. I was my own person. No one could tell me what to do.
No one could make me do what I did not want to do."
She
opened the passage. It was dusty and dirty. But I have no idea
where this leads. She found her mind drifting back to eight
grade English. . .
"Two roads diverged in a yellow
wood/ And sorry I could not travel both /And be one traveler,"
recited her teacher. "Long I stood /And looked down one as
far as I could /To where it bent. . ."
"Oh, God, this
is boring," said the redhead.
"Krissy, shush!"
whispered Candra.
"Why are we reading this?" Krissy
whispered back.
"Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
/Though as for that the passing there /Had worn them really about
the same. . ."
"Well, if you would listen, you would
know," answered Candra in such a way that let her friend know
she really needed to shut up. Krissy quickly took the hint.
".
. .ing equally lay /In leaves no step had trodden black./Oh, I
kept the first for another day/Yet knowing how way leads on to
way/I doubted if I should ever come back. /I shall be telling
this with a sigh /Somewhere ages and ages hence/Two roads
diverged in a wood, and I- /I took the one less traveled by. .
."
"And that has made all the difference,"
she whispered.
She turned and headed out of the closet. She
marched right over to her dresser and found her brooch. "In
this life, all I have done is followed the leisurely, less-scary
path," she told her moon-shaped brooch as she picked it up.
"As the Princess, though, I took the 'road less traveled'.
And it was so much better."
Down one path. Left here,
right there. Even though Candra didn't remember the way through
the tunnel, Cynthia sure did, and with the help of the light from
her brooch, she was able to find the way out.
"Sweetheart!
Now that the Prince is dead, you have no other choice than to come
out like we talked about," said Sir Grety in a singsong
voice. "I know I'm ready.. . . Serenity? Sweetheart?" He
started pounding on the door. "Open up, bitch!" He
kicked the door open. "Fine! We'll do it here!
Serenity?"
Outside, Candra stopped brushing the dust and
dirt off her shirt when she heard the alarm. "That was
quick!" She headed into the woods. It was there that she
finally realized she hadn't thought of how to get back to Earth.
"What am I going to do?" For a girl with all the
answers, she was stuck. "If he catches me. . .no. I don't
even want to know. Besides, stuff like this has never stopped you
before, girl. Just think of it as an Algebra equation with a
variable . . .But in Algebra, all the answers are in the back of
the book! Oh, God! Oh my God!" She started breathing heavily.
She had her inhaler with her, but she can't calm herself down long
enough to take it. Her freedom was right in front of her and her
capture was not far behind.
Running out of ideas (or maybe it
was her first), Candra climbed to the very top of a tree were she
was able to see everything. Slowly, she was able to get her breath
back enough to where she could use the inhaler. "Hyperventilating
will not get you anywhere, Estelle. Your only hope is that the
Ginzuishou you have will be enough to get you out of here."
Managing to clear her mind of all useless thoughts, Candra focused
all her energy into the Ginzuishou.
Sir Grety and a few of him
monsters entered the woods. "Serenity!"
I believe
in myself. Ginzuishou, please, help me escape this place. Even if
takes something invaluable away from me, please! Just do it!
The
brooch opened and light spilled out. Grety recognized it. "There!"
Grety made it to the tree just as the light disappeared. .
.
She
didn't have to look at her friends and her brothers. She knew. She
had made it. I'm home.
"Candra-chan," Usagi
breathed. She couldn't believe it, just simply could not believe
it.
Mako started to run over. "Candra-chan! Oh, Kami-sama,
you're back!"
Candra opened her eyes. Her expression made
Mako stop and gasp in horror. "Oh, Kami-sama."
Her
brothers scrambled over to give her a hug but stopped when she
looked at them. Her face looked bleached and lifeless. Her once
beautiful brown eyes were now two blackholes. No one was really
sure she could see them. She looked like she was either being
controlled or the walking dead and her hair flowing in the wind
made the picture even scarier.
Usagi slowly walked over to her
sister and softly asked, "Candra-chan, what happened to
you?"
"Serenity . . ." was the only thing Candra
said before Mako and Oswald had to catch
her.
"We
are not real sure what happened, but we do know that whomever
kidnapped her also physically abused her," said the doctor.
"Plus, she lost a lot of blood. We unfortunately have a very
short supply, which probably now gone because of a patient that
came in before her. . ."
"What type is she?"
asked Ami.
"Type O," supplied Jim.
"Alright.
Please follow me, ladies."
Four Hours Later. . .
Greg, Oswald, Lance, and Jim followed the doctor into
Candra's room.
"I'm sorry; you're the doctor, right?"
asked Candra.
"Yes, I am. Do you remember my name?"
Candra
put her finger on her temple. "Dr. Kiwi?" she asked
child-like.
"Dr. Kishi," he corrected. Dr. Kishi had
short, jet black hair and brown eyes. He looked to be about 4'
11', 4'12 and about 30 years old. He wore a white lab coat with
many buttons and was one of the ten employees at the hospital who
were comfortable speaking English.
"You brought your
button collection!" squealed Candra. She clapped her hands
together with glee.
"That's right, Candra-san. Do you know
who these people are?"
Candra hooked her finger around her
bottom lip. "Um, my brothers?" she asked slowly.
"That's
right; they are here to visit you. Now, I am going to say a few
things to them, then I have to take care of a few other patients.
I will be back in a few minutes, okay?"
Candra took a deep
breath. "Okay. But you have to tell me more about your
buttons!"
"Okay. It is a deal. Please. Step this
way." Dr. Kishi lead her brothers behind the curtain.
"Candra-san has a bizarre type of amnesia. Now, I say bizarre
because in all of the amnesia cases I have dealt, the person has
no memories, yet is trusting of everyone who walks in. They assume
this person knows them. It took her four hours to get use to me
and I was the person in here the most."
"But why
didn't she scream when we came in the room?" asked Lance.
"I
told her several times you were coming. Also, she seems to trust
only me. But I hope you four can get her to trust you more when
you are done." Dr. Kishi pulled back the curtain. "Okay,
Candra-san. I have to care of some other people now, but I will be
back. These are your brothers and they are going to watch you
while I am gone."
"Will they hurt me?"
"No,
dear. They are going to take care of you." Dr. Kishi, out of
the corner of his mouth, added, "Plus, I am sure you guys
have already done that anyway, have you not?"
"Well,
she usually wins at wrestling. . ." started Greg.
Dr.
Kishi smiled. "Press that button on the wall if she starts
wailing. She probably misses me." He paused. "It feels
very strange to be telling a family that their loved one may not
trust them." He patted Jim on the shoulder. "Good
luck."
"In other news today, the rising American
popstar Estelle Candra, better known to her fans as Serenity, was
found late yesterday morning."
The group quickly looked up
at the TV. "Candra-chan?" asked Rei.
"The
sixteen-year-old had recently moved to Japan where she was
kidnapped while taking a walk." Jim's face popped up on the
screen. "We so far do not have any leads, but we want no
media attention during this case. It rarely ever helps and we want
our privacy."
"We just want our sister back. Please!
Leave us alone," pleaded Greg as he tried to dodge the
media.
"Hey! Isn't that Usagi-chan in the background?"
asked Minako.
"So that's why there were cameras when we
got here," added Mako.
"The police still have no
leads into who kidnapped her or just how she was able to escape.
She remains at the Tokyo Regional Hospital, where we have been
told very little about her circumstance. We are happy to report
that she is awake, though in critical condition. Serenity lives
with her four older brothers. Their mother died eight years ago
and their abusive father is still in a United States prison for
the murder. Back to you, Takenui-san."
"Popstar?"
asked ChibiUsa.
"You know Britney Spears?" asked
Minako.
"Yeah."
"Well, she's like that,"
answered Minako.
"Only with more clothes," added
Mako.
"Oh. I didn't know she was a popstar," said
ChibiUsa.
"Neither did I," said everyone else.
The
door opened. Candra was wheeled out by Jim. Her friends let out a
sigh of relief. "Candra-chan. . ."
Candra looked
around the room as Haruka, Michiru, Setsuna, and Hotaru ran
through the entrance. "Haruka-chan! Oneesan!" She
happily accepted their hugs, but was a little leery about the
other two. "Do you know them?" she asked.
"She
has amnesia," whispered Jim.
The confused looks left
Haruka and Michiru's faces. "Oh. Uh, yes, we do. This is
Setsuna and Hotaru."
Candra's face illuminated. "Okay!
Hug!"
"That's weird; ten minutes ago, she wouldn't
trust anyone but the doctor. Now she likes everyone," said
Jim in his broken Japanese.
Usagi walked over to Candra. "Oh,
Kami-sama! I'm so glad you are okay. . ."
Candra looked
over at Michiru and asked, in a child-like voice, "Oneesan,
do you know her, too?"
Usagi couldn't stop shock from
entering her expression. She could understand if Candra didn't
remember Setsuna and Hotaru; she didn't see those two very often.
And yeah, Jim said she has amnesia. But she remembered Haruka and
Michiru. Why not her?
"Yes, we do," said Michiru, who
was about as shocked as Usagi. "This is Usagi. She is a very
good friend of ours. And yours."
"Really? Huggie!"
Candra threw her arms open wide and Usagi leaned over for the hug.
A million thoughts ran through her head. Why doesn't she
remember me? I'm her sister!
"I wish I could remember
you. You seem nice."
Usagi couldn't stop the tears coming
down her cheeks. "I wish you could,
too."
"Okay,
the reason why we didn't tell you about Candra being a popstar is
because it just didn't seem necessary for you to know. This whole
thing started after a talent scout heard her while we were goofing
around at a Burger King. She has had a few top ten hits, she
doesn't have a full scale career," Jim told his audience.
"She wanted to finish her schooling, but when you are
popular, the kids won't leave you alone. So when we heard about
you other Sailor Senshi, we planned to move here. She wasn't
hiding anything; she just didn't tell. Although I'm sure she
wouldn't mind you not telling anyone else."
"We will
not tell a single soul," ChibiUsa promismed.
"Good
thing school was over before she left; she seems very into her
schoolwork," Ami uttered.
"She is," said Jim.
"She skipped first grade after only three weeks. I just hope
that she is able to recover before it starts up again." He
sighed. "One more year. I can't believe it. She is just
growing up so fast."
Haruka and Michiru were a good
distance away with Candra, who was very fascinated with the TV.
"Just who is he?" Haruka mumbled to Michiru.
"I
don't know, but I feel we should," was the answer.
"I
know now. He was the guy we saw walking her across the street!"
said Haruka.
"You mean the man you almost killed just
because they were holding hands?" asked Michiru.
"Yes!"
hissed Haruka. She turned to her brown-haired friend. "Hey,
Candra. What do you think about this TV show?"
"It's
pretty funny," giggled Candra.
"I too think it's
funny. I have another question for you: Who is the man talking to
our friends?"
Candra turned in the direction of Haruka's
pointed finger. "I will try to remember for you,
Haruka-chan." She crossed her arms, bit her lip, and lost
herself in deep thought.
Michiru covered her mouth. "That's
adorable."
Candra's tanned face lit up like candles on a
birthday cake, then fell. "I don't remember." Haruka and
Michiru hit the ground in funny little poses. "I am
sorry."
Haruka sat up, rubbing her chin. "Well, I am
sure you will remember his name
soon."
"Usako.
Gomen ne," said Mamoru.
The two stopped in front of her
house. "For what?" asked Usagi.
"For causing. .
."
Usagi put a finger on Mamoru's lips. "You always
think it's your fault. . . And sometimes it is. But saying sorry
once is enough and sometimes isn't even necessary." Usagi
stood on her tippie-toes and started to give him a kiss.
"TSKUINO
USAGI! YOU WERE SUPPOSE TO BE HOME TWO HOURS AGO!!!!!!"
Usagi's red-faced father stood at the front door, smoke pouring at
of his ears.
"Hey, now. You told me eight," said
Mamoru.
"Another thing you shouldn't be sorry about."
Usagi quickly pecked Mamoru on the cheek and ran towards the
house.
"You are SO GROUNDED, young lady!"
"Papa!"
Mamoru
placed his hand on his forehead and sighed. "Kami-sama.
Huh?"
"'Night, Mamo-chan!" ChibiUsa excitedly
waved to him. He smiled and waved
back.
"How in the HELL did she GET OUT OF HERE?" Another chair flew into the fireplace. "He's-he's brainwashed her; why else would she have left? That's it; he's controlling her to the point where she has to be with him or she loses control. Well, I will break that spell! I will revive the Dark Kingdom! I will make him pay!"
Chapter Twelve: Candra's Mysterious Letter! Sailor StarMoon's Power Up!
