Chapter 22: The Problem's Not Over Yet
Bunny was walking in a rose garden. She looked down, 'Am I Bunny? Or Princess Serenity?' She was wearing a crimson satin nightgown. She wandered around for a while and then realized that she was in Elysion. 'Where is Darien? Or Helios? Or any of the others?' she wondered.
She rounded a corner of the garden and saw a palace before her. Then she heard a voice calling to her, "Princess Serenity...! You're problems aren't over yet!"
"Mother! Where are you?" Princess Serenity recognized Queen Serenity's voice. "And where am I? This palace doesn't belong in Elysion."
"You are right, daughter. The Redeans must be sent away, for good. Only then can you truly enjoy your happiness," Queen Serenity's voice faded.
Bunny woke up with a start. She looked around. Everyone was still scattered around, asleep where they had collapsed after the pillow fight. 'How could we all have forgotten that the Redeans are still in Elysion?' she asked herself. She looked over at Darien, he was still asleep. Bunny brushed some hair out of his eyes and kissed his forehead.
Darien stirred and opened his eyes. "What is it Buns?" he yawned.
"It's nothing. Mother just sent me a dream, that's all," Bunny cooed. "Go back to sleep."
Darien would not be fooled. He knew that look in Bunny's eyes, "What did the Queen say?"
Bunny looked at the others, she didn't want to wake them. She rose and motioned him to follow her to the kitchen. "She just reminded me that our fight isn't over yet."
"We know that," Darien whispered. "But you'll put everything to rights at your concert."
Bunny shook her head. "You're still forgetting the same thing I had," she said sadly."
"What? You're back, and the people are freed from the negative energy the Redeans had put on them." Darien stopped suddenly, "The Redeans..."
Bunny nodded, "That's right. We still have to beat them."
"How could I have forgotten. They're still in Elysion. It's their fault you were turned away from us," Darien was angry at himself for forgetting.
Bunny put a hand on his arm, "We all forgot about them. We were just happy to be together again." She rested her head against Darien's chest; Darien put his arm around her. "I don't want to have to face them again," Bunny sobbed softly.
"Shhh. Don't worry. Everything will be fine. We've never lost before, and we wont lose now," Darien soothed. "Lets get some more sleep." He lead Bunny back to the living room, where they carefully made their way back to their sleeping bags.
In the morning everyone was still very cheerful. Bunny and Darien didn't want to dampen anyone's spirits, but they knew the others had to be reminded.
"So Bunny. How did you sleep?" Mina asked when she woke up. Mina was the last one up.
"Pretty good," Bunny said cautiously. "Mother sent me another dream."
Everyone was curious now. "What was it about?" Ann inquired.
"Well, I was in a rose garden, in Elysion," Bunny started.
"The roses really are wonderful there," Jadeite recalls.
"Um-hum," Bunny agrees. "Anyhow, I was walking around when I came to this strange palace."
Everyone's eyes got wide. "You mean, not the Prince's palace?" Helios wondered.
"No, another one, on the other side of Elysion," Bunny continued.
"The furthest point from the prayer tower..." Amy began to recall.
"The prayer tower, that had been destroyed..." Pearl breathed.
Bunny nodded, "Then Queen Serenity reminded me that our problems not done yet."
"No, not yet," Rini echoed.
"Not until..." Hotaru added.
"... the Redeans are driven back to Redicea," Trista finished.
"That's right," Darien affirmed.
"How could we all have forgotten!" Kunzite demanded.
"I don't know," Ceres answered.
"We were all just caught up in Bunny being back, I guess," Lita speculated.
Luna jumped into Bunny's lap. "I don't know," Luna thought. "It seems a little to convenient that we all forgot completely about them."
"Luna's right. If we were just caught up in Bunny's return I don't think Queen Serenity would have thought it necessary to remind us," Artemis affirmed.
"So what are you saying? That the Redeans made us forget?" Raye asked. "Is that possible?"
They all looked at Molly, Melvin and Bunny, who shrugged. "I would say they are capable of anything," Melvin commented.
"Yeah, they had us completely under their control in no time," Molly added.
"So how are we going to fight them?" Nephrite wondered.
"How did you defeat them last time?" Fiori inquired.
"Well, they were attacking Pluto the same way they tried to attack Earth when I informed Queen Serenity about them," Trista recalled.
"Then the Queen called us inner scouts to help Uranus and Neptune," Mina remarked.
"The inner scouts, not including Sailor Moon," Luna put in.
Amy nodded, "And we just pushed them back to their planet with our combined power."
Zoisite nodded, "Well if the six of you pushed them back last time, without the help of the Silver Imperium Crystal, we should be able to handle this easily."
"Yeah, since it appears their new plan to divid the scouts has failed," Diana agreed.
Bunny had been sitting quietly listening to the others talk. Something about this was making her feel sad. She wasn't sure she actually wanted to fight the Redeans.
Amara looked at Bunny now, "What is it Bunny? What's with the long face?"
"Huh? Oh, it's nothing. I was just thinking that something about this doesn't seem right to me," Bunny sighed.
"How so?" Michelle pressed.
Bunny put her chin in her hands, "I don't know. I just don't think the Redeans are really evil, that's all."
"What! Bunny, your talking about the people who tried to take you away from us!" Juna exclaimed.
"I know, I know. But you don't know them like I do. They really are very nice," Bunny justified.
Darien sniffed "Yeah, their wonderful. Telling you that I never really loved you. They sound great," he mumbled sarcastically.
Bunny rested her hand on Darien's, "I know they lied to me. But deep down I think they really are good."
"Well what do you think Luna? Is it possible the Redeans might once have been good?" Vesta asked.
Luna and Artemis looked at each other. "It's possible," Luna stated.
"They could simply have been corrupted a long time ago," Alan speculated.
"Which means we need to find out why they turned evil, and simply reverse it," Amy summed up.
"Then let's get to work," Pallas shouted.
Bunny smiled at her friends, "Thanks you guys. I just know they aren't pure evil."
She looked at Darien for approval. He looked down at his love and smiled, "Well, you've never been wrong before. Let's give this a shot." Bunny smiled and hugged Darien.
"So how are we going to find out anything about them?" Jade asked.
"I'll start doing some research on the computers at headquarters. Maybe there's some information in the old files," Amy volunteered.
"I'll help," Zoisite offered.
"And me," Trista added. The three waved to the others and headed to the arcade.
"You know, it would be nice if we could simply ask them about their past," Molly sighed. Melvin nodded agreement.
Bunny looked up, "Hey, that's a good idea."
"What is?" Rini asked, startled.
Bunny looked at the others, "What if I just went and talked to them?"
"What!" they all cried.
"You can't do that Bunny!" Mina insisted.
"Yeah, what if they tried to make you evil again!" Helios demanded.
"I'd be fine," Bunny persisted. "They haven't been monitoring me. They told me to tell them when the people were "cured." They would never know."
"Ummm, Bunny, one look at you and they would see that you've turned good again," Fiona observed.
"She's right, your eyes are blue again, and your crescent moon would show up again," Rini pointed out.
"Well that's easily solved. I'll just use this," Bunny reached into her pocket and pulled out, "The Luna Pen."
"The what?" Jet asked, very confused.
"The Luna Pen. It lets Bunny look like whatever she wants. I'd almost forgotten about that," Raye admitted.
"But what are you going to tell them?" Amara questioned.
"Really, you've been gone for a while, and Tokyo's not really ready for their arrival. They may be suspicious," Michelle ventured.
"Besides I couldn't bear not having you with me again," Darien whispered.
Bunny looked into his eyes, "I have an idea about that. If you'll agree." Everyone was listening. "Well… if I was to bring back another follower… especially one that has as much power as I do… Ralcea and Rodo should except my absence unquestioned."
"Another follower? Who?" Nephrite asked softly.
Darien looked into Bunny's pleading eyes, "I think she means me."
"You Prince!" Kunzite shrieked, "You must be crazy."
Bunny turned to the others, "But think about it. If the Redeans find out about Darien's crystal then they are going to want to destroy him. I can easily say that he tried to stop me, but instead of him turning me back I turned him to their side."
"It would offer us access to their castle," Artemis thought aloud.
"And a new person would want to know more about them," Nephrite speculated.
"This is only if your willing to do it Darien," Bunny said softly. "It could be dangerous. And we will have to pretend to hate the Sailor Scouts. But it would also let us be together."
Darien look down at her. He put his hand next to her cheek and she lend her head into it, "Of course I'm willing Buns. I'd go anywhere with you." He looked up at the others, "It will give me a chance to see what they've done to Elysion."
"Umm, Luna, a question," Hotaru stated. They all looked at her. "Well, the Luna Pen will get rid of Bunny's crescent moon, and make her eyes red… But what about Molly's, Melvin's, and Darien's eyes?"
"Humm… Well, I think that because it will be such a small change that it can handle all of them," Luna speculated. "They just have to be careful."
Bunny nodded, "Well I guess we better get going." She, Darien, Molly and Melvin walked to the center of the room. She raised the Luna Pen and shouted "Disguise Power transform us into Redean followers!" The four of them were surrounded by stars momentarily and then they stood before the others, apparently unchanged. "Well did it work?"
Juna nodded, "All of your eyes are red."
"Better change into Princess Serenity and make sure that your moon is gone too," Diana suggested.
Bunny nodded and concentrated on morphing. When she looked down she was again wearing her red dress. By the looks on the other's faces she could tell she didn't have a moon on her forehead either.
"Be careful," Lita cautioned.
"Don't worry. We'll be fine, and back before you know it," Bunny assured them all. Everyone nodded and Molly, Melvin, Bunny and Darien left.
Once in the hall Darien thought of something, "How do you guys go back to Elysion."
The other three smiled. "That's simple enough," Melvin said, opening the door to the apartment down the hall. He pointed to the full length mirror. "We just go through that."
The mirror was showing Princess Serenity's bedchamber, because she had asked the King and Queen that it lead them there instead of the throne room. That way she could change before presenting herself. The four traveled through and where instantly in the dark red and black room.
"Where are we?" Darien asked.
"This is my bed chamber," Princess Serenity answered. "I know it kind of dark. But I still kinda like it. Oh, one thing I must tell you. The King and Queen are very beautiful. They can use their beauty to make people fallow them. Just don't let them use it against you."
"I wont. No one is as beautiful as you," Darien said sweetly.
Bunny blushed, "You should also probably be Prince Endymion. Rodo and Ralcea always expect me to be the Princess, so they'd most likely expect you to be the Prince."
Darien nodded and morphed into Prince Endymion. They all started to walk toward the throne room. They were trying to tell Endymion as much as they could before they faced the King and Queen. Just before entering the throne room Serenity stopped, "And remember, I'm their adopted heir, so I call them Mother and Father. You must not seem upset by this. Are you ready?"