"WHO ARE YOU?" Candra
screamed.
"It's Greg. . ."
"NO, YOU'RE NOT!
YOU'RE HIM!" Candra grabbed the brooch off her
desk. "GET AWAY!"
The beam of light that came out of
the brooch made a crater in the wall, but, thankfully, not Greg's
head. "Candra! Calm down!"
"GET AWAY FROM ME!"
This time, a shoe hit Greg's forehead. He hadn't been able to see
it in the dark as he had the beam.
"GET THE FUCK AWAY FROM
ME!" she repeated. "YOU'RE HIM! I KNOW IT! GET
OUT!"
Greg finally backed out of the room. He knew that if
he didn't, things could get dangerous. This didn't stop him from
pressing his ear against the door after he closed it,
though.
"Greg." Jim's head popped into the hall as
Lance and Oswald rushed down the hallway. "What's. .
.?"
"Shhhhh." Greg put his finger to his lips to
stop them from moving or speaking.
"Men are the devil. Men
are evil." Greg strained to hear the words coming from his
little sister's mouth. "They are all the same. They are all
like HIM." Her sobs were followed by, "WHY DID I GO
THROUGH THIS? DADDY! DON'T HURT HER! DON'T HURT ME! PLEASE!"
Her tormented cries probably could have been heard down the
block.
Greg took another deep breath and reentered the room.
Jim and Lance went to follow, but Oswald stopped them. "More
of us might make her upset."
"No!" said Candra,
now a two-year-old. "You'll make me go back!"
"Candra.
I won't make you do anything you don't want to do."
"I
don't wanna! I DON'T WANNA!" Something else hit Greg in the
head, telling him that he had better wait outside a little
longer.
The sweat and snot rolled down Candra's face as she
panted uncontrollably. "He is going to take me back!"
she mumbled. "Have to keep an eye out for him." Just
thinking about it brought her rage back and she slammed her fist
on the desk.
The sudden pain of this action caused Candra to
snap out of whatever mood she was in. She grabbed her fist in pain
as she observed her brooch fall to the floor. "Crap,"
she mumbled and got out of bed and onto her hands and knees to
find it.
"Come here. Come here." Her hand patted one
spot after another until it landed on the object of her desire.
Satisfied with her discovery, Candra started to return to her
bed.
A desk drawer, which had become partially opened when she
had attacked the desk, met her head on the way up. "Shit!"
Candra quickly grabbed her head. "Dang it!"
She felt
the envelope hit her arm and slide down. The envelope had come
from the desk drawer; when Candra's head had hit the drawer, the
momentum had sent the envelope up into the air, where it then
floated to the ground.
Candra picked it up. As she did, the
picture of Diana flashed into her head. She blinked once and the
vision was gone.
Once the envelope was opened, Candra read the
letter found inside:
Dear Candra,
I know that by the
time you read this, things will seem confusing. You will not know
who to trust. I want to let you know what is going on. You are
Candra Estelle, known in the entertainment business as Serenity
and to the rest of the world as Sailor StarMoon. As Serenity, you
are a raising star with talent. As Sailor StarMoon, you are the
sister and a guardian of Princess Serenity. The latter is really
what I want to talk to you about.
You don't remember this, but
in order to save Princess Serenity's boyfriend, Prince Endymion
(others know him as Mamoru, you call him, "Chiba-san"),
from death, you held off, and were later captured by, Sir Grety.
Grety thinks you are the Princess. You have been pretending to be
her to save her because without her, a lot of people would
suffer.
I won't sugarcoat it: he did some nasty things to you.
Nevertheless, you made it out. On your own. And now, you have to
realize something: you can't keep doing things like that. You have
help; USE IT! Don't keep it all bottled up inside. Tell someone
when you hurt, tell them when you know you can't do it alone.
There may come a time when you feel you can face a problem alone
and that's fine; just don't forget your backup.
There will come
a time when you face him again. Trust in your sister. Trust in
your friends. Just remember that, even with help, you still have
to remember to trust yourself.
And don't forget to trust that
guy you just threw your shoe at; he's Greg, one of your brothers.
I mean, he is a pain in the butt, but did you really have to do
that to him?
Queen Cynthia
P.S. Grab the necklace that you didn't notice fall out of the envelope. You'll need it for a power-up.
Candra picked up the necklace and smiled; if
the letter knew she hadn't noticed it, then it must be right about
everything else.
On the necklace was a see-through case to put
the brooch in. She did this and placed the whole thing back on the
desk.
"Candra?" Greg was pounding on the door again.
However, instead of yelling and screaming and throwing things, she
hopped back into bed and said, "Come on in,
Greg!"
"Wow.
And she doesn't remember any of it?" asked Minako.
Jim
shook his head. "I guess not. She was just as sweet as she
could be. I mean, we can't predict what mood she's going to be in.
One moment she's acting like a sixteen-year-old; the next, she's
like a two-year-old in the middle of a temper-tantrum. There is no
pattern and we can't figure out what makes her change. It just
happens." Jim looked at Minako. "I'm worried."
"I'd
be if you weren't. I mean, she is your sister. Of course you are
worried." Minako took another lick of her ice cream cone.
"sigh I just wish we were kids again. No worries,
everything was right. If we could go back in time, even five
years, I'd be happy."
"But then I wouldn't have met
you yet."
Minako stopped in mid-lick. "Huh?"
Jim
blushed. "N-nothing." That was just out of
nowhere.
"No." Minako gave him her full
attention. "Go ahead."
"I . . . I kinda have a .
. . y-you know. . ."
"No, I don't know."
Jim
sighed. "Do you really want to know? Fine. I've had a mad
crush on you since Day One."
"What? Could you
rephrase that?"
"I've had a crush on you since I met
you. Actually, I think it may be more." Nervous about what he
was revealing, Jim started focusing more attention to his ice
cream cone. "I really can't get you out of my head. When I'm
not thinking about Candra, that is."
"Jim-san. . .
why didn't you tell me this sooner?"
"Have you
informed all of your crushes that they are such?" Jim kindly
fired back.
"Well, no."
This was followed by a
very uncomfortable silence as each person tried to figure out what
had just happened and what they were going to do about it.
Minako
tucked a few more strands of hair behind her ear as the wind
gently picked up. She wasn't sure if this was the right time to
act upon the moment, but if he had taken the chance and laid his
heart out there on the table for her to see, then she figured she
better do something. "Well, I guess I'd better make a
confession, too. I've . . . kinda had a crush on you as
well."
This was not what Jim had expected. He thought
Minako's reaction would be anything but acceptance. "Really?
You mean it?"
Minako smiled shyly. "Yeah . . .. I
guess they all know now." When she saw the confused look on
his face, she quickly continued. "About informing my crushes.
They all know now."
"Oh." Jim nodded.
Both
returned to their ice cream cones and realized they had just lost
most of the ice cream to the sun. "Yuck. My hands are all
sticky," said Minako.
"Mine, too. The bathrooms are
over there. We can wash up there," suggested Jim.
"Okay."
Minako went to use the arms of the chair to help her up and
accidentally smashed Jim's hand in the process. "Kami-sama!
Gomen ne!"
"No 'Gomen ne's' necessary. My hand should
have stayed on my chair," Jim joked.
After they washed
their hands, they (purely by chance, mind you) walked out of their
respective restrooms and nearly collided with each other. They
immediately looked at each other to apologize, but neither could
find the voice to do so.
He has such beautiful blue eyes,
thought Minako. I wonder why I never noticed them before.
She
has such beautiful blue eyes, thought Jim. I can never tire
of seeing them.
Minako quickly cleared her throat. "You
know, Usagi-chan's having a difficult time dealing with
Candra-chan's return and everything, so I thought that maybe we
could, you know, take her out and . . . well, you know, something
like that."
"We could have her bring Mamoru
along."
"Yeah. We could bring each other. . ."
".
. .and only each other."
"Great! When do we want to
do this?"
"Tomorrow at noon-ish?"
"Sure!
I'll call Usagi-chan . . . wait! I don't have your number." A
server walked by at that moment and Minako noticed the pen in her
pocket. She quickly captured it from the unsuspecting woman and
handed it to Jim. "Here! Write it on my hand."
"Hey!"
said the server.
"Don't worry! You'll get it back!"
Minako told her.
Jim, red from embarrassment, quickly jotted
down the digits and handed the pen back to the irate server. She
snatched it back and glared at Minako. "Thank you for you
business; please come back," she said through clenched
teeth.
Minako quickly turned red, too.
The next day. . .
"Usagi-chan!" Usagi looked up as Minako
and Jim walked into the cafe. "Where's Mamoru-san?"
Minako asked.
"His last class ended ten minutes ago. He'll
be here. . . .What's up with that?" Usagi pointed to Jim and
Minako's hands, which were holding each other.
Both lovebirds
blushed. "We'll explain later," replied Jim.
A rose
appeared in front of Usagi's face. Usagi happily accepted it and
scooted over so that the giver could sit down. Mamoru and Usagi
gave the other a quick peck on the lips before the waiteress came
over for their drink orders. After she left, Minako gave Usagi a
serious look. "You know why we are here, ne?"
"I
only thought about it all night," Usagi said. "It just
doesn't make sense. How can she remember some people and not
others?"
"Well, I can see where she would remember
Ozzie, Lance, Greg, and me," said Jim.
"Well, of
course. You are her brothers. She had spent the most time with
you; therefore, it makes sense that she would remember you four of
all people," Mamoru pointed out.
"Wait! That's it!"
Usagi quickly exclaimed.
"What is?" asked
Minako.
"She remembers her brothers and Haruka-san and
Michiru-san, but not the rest of us. Maybe she's done something to
forget whatever happened while she was with Grety and that caused
her to forget the rest of us," suggested Usagi.
"That
does happen," said Mamoru. "If a person goes through a
traumatic event, they can take one of many roads to deal with the
event. One way is to forget the event even occurred. A lot of
times, happy moments and new faces can be victims, too."
"But
that doesn't make any sense," Jim cut in. "How could she
forget some of her friends and remember others? She had met them
all before she was abducted."
"When did she first
come in contact with Sir Grety?" asked Mamoru.
"About
three years ago."
"When did she first meet Haruka and
Michiru?"
"Maybe a month before that. Two, perhaps. .
. .Why?"
"Well, I'm guessing that maybe, and this is
just a hunch, but maybe she hasn't just shoved the event out of
her mind, she has shoved the whole Grety thing out as well,"
answered Mamoru.
"She talks about him at night, though,"
said Jim.
"Does she remember what she said in the
morning?" Mamoru probed.
"No," admitted
Jim.
"Just because she forgot about him doesn't mean he's
completely out of there. If she did remember what she had said,
then you would have had to explain and that could bring the
memories back."
"Why would a person surpress their
memory like that?" asked Minako.
"The more time
passes, the better it will be when they finally do remember. They
will be able to see it with clearer eyes and can work through all
the why's, if's, how's, and so on," Mamoru answered.
The
waiteress returned with the drinks. "Anything else?"
"Sure!"
blurted out Usagi. "How about four brownies?"
The
waiteress made a note and left.
"Okay, who's going to pay
for that?" asked Mamoru.
"Simple: Jim-chan pays for
me, you pay for Usagi-chan," explained Minako.
"Right
on!" Usagi high-fived her friend.
"I should have
known," said Mamoru.
"In any case, that makes sense,"
said Usagi, bringing the group back. "If she has forgotten
everything Grety, then her memories of me and everyone she met
after me would be gone, too."
"She might still
remember you, though," Minako said as the brownies made their
way to the table. "Thanks. Remember when she came back? She
said, 'Serenity'. Maybe if you visit more, Candra-chan might get
her memories back faster."
"But if that means having
her remember things that she doesn't want to, I don't think I
should. I don't want to force her to remember things too quickly
and, like, scar her for life." Usagi inhaled her brownie and
waited for a reply.
"Well, I think you should come over
more often," said Jim.
"If she starts to remember the
events, you could always back off," said Minako.
"If
anything else, she will see herself making a new friend,"
added Mamoru. "And there's nothing wrong with that."
"True.
But I want her to know me as her sister," said
Usagi.
Sir
Grety stepped back to look at his new creation: a female youma
that would catch the eye of any young man and powerful enough to
deal with him. "What would you have me do first, Master?"
she asked as she bowed.
"Kill Endymion first chance you
get."
"As you wish, Sir Grety-sama."
"You
are my last hope. Don't fail me,
Libertine."
"I'll
see you tomorrow then?" Candra asked Usagi as she headed out
the front door.
"You sure will." Usagi waved one more
time before she turned to head towards the sidewalk. As she did,
she saw a red car pull up to the curb. "Mamo-chan? What are
you doing here?" she asked as he stepped out.
Mamoru was
just as shocked to see Usagi. "I thought you left an hour
ago."
"Well, I stayed a little later. What? There's
now a time limit on how long I can see my own sister?" she
asked defensively.
"No. No!" Mamoru quickly tried to
cover up why he was there. "Uh, I, uh, just wasn't expecting
you to still be here, that's all."
She giggled and gave
him a peck on the cheek. "So, why are you here,
anyway?"
Mamoru tried to look her in the eye, but he
couldn't while telling a lie. "Well, I was just wanting to
see how she was doing."
Usagi knew something was up, but
decided to let it slide. "Okay. Are we still on for
tonight?"
Mamoru leaned over and kissed her on the
forehead. "Of course. Nothing in the world could make me miss
it." He leaned over again, this time, to kiss her on her
lips. "Six o'clock?"
They kissed again. "Yep,"
answered Usagi. They kissed yet again, this time longer and
deeper. Finally Usagi broke it off. "Sorry, but I promised
ChibiUsa that I would take her to her art lesson and she's going
to be late. Bye!" Usagi took off down the street.
"Hey,
Mamoru! What are you doing here?" called Greg from the front
porch.
"Well, actually, I need to ask Candra
something."
"Well, come on in and I will go get her.
Candra! Can. . .oh! There you are." Candra stepped out of the
kitchen drinking from a juice box. The flour on her nose served as
evidince that she and Usagi had baked something earlier. "Candra,
this is a friend of Usagi's. His name is Mamoru."
Princess
Serenity's boyfriend, Prince Endymion, Candra remembered.
"Oh,
okay. You here to see me, too? A lot of people have come to see me
lately. I must have been really popular!" Candra said as she
hid her knowledge from them.
"Actually, I need to talk to
you about something. May I sit down?"
"Sure!"
Candra led her guest to the couch and plopped down next to him.
"What do you need?"
"Well, has Usagi ever
mentioned me?"
Candra nodded.
"Did she ever say I
was her boyfriend?"
Candra nodded again, although it was
the letter, not Usagi, that had.
"Okay. Well, I have been
wanting to get Usako a really nice present and I need you to come
with me and help me pick it out."
"Why?"
"Well,
I have a good idea of what to get her, but I want to get her the
right one."
"What do you have in mind?"
"Well,
you have to promise me that you won't tell anyone," answered
Mamoru. "I want it to be a surprise."
"I
promise. Cross my heart and hope to die." She listened as he
leaned over and whispered the gift into her ear. She started
giggling. "You wanna. . .?"
Mamoru quickly put his
hand over her mouth. "Sh! Nobody is to know. Not Usako, not
even your brothers. I mean it."
Candra suddenly recoiled.
"You won't hurt me if I do, will you?"
"No. No!
I would be a little mad if you did, but I won't hit you if that's
what you mean."
"Okay. When?"
"Well,
right now. Her birthday is in two
days."
"Ohhh!
That one's pretty!" Candra slipped another ringon her finger.
"Are you sure you can't buy one for me, too?"
"I
don't know how Usako would feel about that," Mamoru
replied.
"True." Candra, in one of her "normal"
moods, put the ring back down. "Now, this is going to be a
very important ring, so I think it should symbolize the both of
you."
Mamoru picked up one with an ugly-looking green gem.
"Yeah, but this thing?"
"I don't know why we
still have that one," said the clerk. "It's not very
popular. In fact, I have worked here for five years. I don't think
I've ever seen anyone purchase that one."
"Jim-chan."
Minako tugged at Jim's sleeve as they walked past the jewelry
store. "Is that Candra-chan?"
Jim squinted through
the glass. "I can't. . .I think it is."
"What is
she doing with Mamoru-san?"
"I don't know.. . .and I
have a strong feeling you want to find out."
"And
these are our best sellers." The clerk pulled out a new batch
of rings.
"Kami-sama! How does a college guy propose with
these kinds of prices?"
"Well, we do have six-month
payment plan," explained the clerk.
Minako and Jim had
stationed themselves so they could see Candra and Mamoru, but
Candra and Mamoru could not see Minako and Jim. The location they
had chosen was not a good spot for overhearing conversations,
though. "Did he just say 'propose'?" Minako hoarsely
whispered.
"I think so," Jim hoarsely whispered
back.
"To Candra-chan?"
"I hope not."
"Oh!
That one's cute! I want that one!" said Candra.
Minako
covered her mouth. "Kami-sama! Usagi-chan would have a
fit!"
"I wish I could afford it," finished
Candra jokingly.
"What did she say?" asked Jim, now a
little more into it.
"Don't know," answered
Minako.
"Aren't you the popstar? You could buy the ring
for me," said Mamoru.
"I can't believe he would get a
ring for Candra-chan and make her pay for it!" said Minako,
suddenly switching loyalties.
"I hope we are missing
something here," uttered Jim.
"What about this one?"
asked the clerk.
"Do you know what I just thought about?"
asked Mamoru. "I can't remember her ring size."
"He
doesn't know her ring size?" asked Jim, now with interest.
"Why doesn't he just ask her; she's standing right next to
him."
Candra smiled. "Don't worry; I tried on one of
Usagi's rings. She and I are the same size."
"Great!
You won't mind modeling them for me, would you?"
"But
of course!"
Minako gave a "Duh" look. "Well,
if it's her ring, it makes sense she tries it on."
"I
really hope we are missing something here," Jim said.
"Wait!
That's the one!" cried Candra.
"Crap. She's blocking
my view," Minako pouted.
"Mine, too," added
Jim.
The band of the ring was pure gold. On it, there was a
green earth symbol and in the center of that was a pink crescent
moon. "This is perfect for you two!" Candra told
him.
"This one is on sale today actually. 25,000 yen.
Today only," added the clerk. The poor man had not made a
sale all day.
Mamoru sighed. "Good thing I brought my
credit card."
"Yea!" Candra wrapped him up in a
big hug.
The clerk looked at the two, confused. "Is this
for her?" he asked, pointing to Candra.
"Of course;
she is his girlfriend," someone answered.
Before Candra or
Mamoru could reply, a gust of wind entered the room, knocking over
everyone and everything. Mamoru threw his body over Candra's; Jim
threw his over Minako. Minako, whose back was now against the
wall, peered over Jim's shoulder to see what was going on. She saw
Libertine and knew it was time to take action. "Minna!"
she yelled into her wrist communicator. "I need backup!"
To Jim, she said, "As much as I appreciate you protecting me
like this, you're going to have to stop so I can do my
job."
"Well, tell her to turn her wind machine off,"
Jim replied.
Libertine approached her targets. "Say
'goodbye', Princess. Your Prince Charming dies NOW." She
pointed her finger at Mamoru and it started gathering energy from
everyone in the room.
Meanwhile, Jim had managed to part from
Minako. "Finally!" she said. "Venus Crystal Power!
Make Up!"
Jim started to feel the effect of Libertine's
energry drain and was on his knees when Venus was done
transforming. "Jim-chan!"
"Just save Candra!"
he told her.
Venus nodded. "Hai! Hey, you! Stop picking on
the innocent and deal with me!. . . Are you even gonna pay
attention? Ugh! Venus Love Me Chain!"
The chain cut
Libertine's wrist. The wind stopped along with the energy drain;
however, Libertine still possessed the energy she had already
collected. "And I have enough to destroy him!" she said,
pointing to Mamoru.
It was at this time Jupiter entered the
scene. "Oh, no you won't! Supreme Thunder Dragon!"
Libertine
just absorbed Jupiter's attack. "Keep this up and I may be
able to take you with him."
"No, you won't,"
said Candra. As she stood up, she had a grayish glow to her. Her
hair turned its StarMoon gray and moved as if blown by some
invisible, gentle wind. "Serenity and Endymion are meant to
be together."
"Oh, really? And just what are you
going to do about it?" asked Libertine
sarcastically.
Candra's brooch formed through her shirt, opened
up, and began to glow. "Moon Starlight Power! Make Up!"
Jim
smiled. "I hope this means she is starting to
remember!"
"Messing with a love is your mission!
Shame on you for accepting! No one should try to break apart a
love that's true. As Pretty Solder Sailor StarMoon, I will not let
you! Tiara Beam!"
Libertine laughed as she absorbed that
power, too. "Stupid humans. Well, I do need to give my Master
more energy to revive his kingdom. Goodbye, Prince!"
Mamoru
tried to dodge the attack, but it grazed his leg. The attack
didn't run out of steam after that, either. It also hit Jim in the
arm. Venus ripped off her back bow and tried desperately to
remember her first aid. StarMoon, however, was unmoved. "Do
not try that again," she said in a low, serious tone.
"Tsk,
tsk. You should really lighten up, Princess."
StarMoon
raised an eyebrow. "Oh. You mean, like this?" Her tiara
disappeared, showing her crescent moon. A gray outline formed
around her body. "I am giving you one chance to
leave."
Libertine laughed. "Why? I have not completed
my mission."
"Fine. Don't leave. Regret the day you
met me." The case that had held the brooch on the necklace
reappeared and fused with it. The appearance did not change;
however, the power inside began to grow. "Starlight Crystal
Power! Make Up!"
Sailor StarMoon transformed once more.
This time, instead of being covered in different shades of gray,
only one shade, a light-ish one, was predominate. This gray
covered her hairshields, choker, flap, both bows, and a majority
of her skirt. At the bottom on the skirt were a pink line and a
green line. On her choker, there was a pink heart and the gray
jewel in her tiara was replaced with a crescent moon. Her brooch
was still the same light gray, but its duplicate was attached to
her skirt.
"I am the American Champion of Justice, Super
Sailor StarMoon! On behalf on the moon and stars, you will regret
the day you accepted your mission!"
25,000 yen, at the time this chapter was written (August 26, 2003), is roughly 215 US dollars or 300 Canadian; however, currency rates change constantly.
Chapter Thirteen: StarMoon is Back! Libertine's Defeat!
