By: SalrAnime
I didn't really know where I wanted to go with this chapter, but I do know one thing for sure, the whole "kissy face" thing that happened in the last chapter will NOT be talked about; they'd rather just forget it happened apparently :) BUT and they might get their memories, well at least one of them...who will it be!!?
"So," Luna began, "what do you think we should do, should we reawaken the scouts, or just wait it out and see if this strange man can help them win without bringing back their memories." Artemis looked at Luna almost as if she had suddenly lost her brains completely.
"Bring them back, of course!" He said the words as if it was such an obvious answer, but Luna just didn't know.
"I know I should probably bring them back so they can fight, but they were so happy just being normal girls, maybe...just maybe they can fight this enemy as normal girls, and once it's all over, they'll be able to be happy again, they don't have know about the pains they've felt in their past, they can just live in the present and look forward to their future!"
Luna let tears fall in warm salty rivers down her face as she remembered all the pain the young princess had been through. She had to sit and watch her only love die not only once but TWICE, she had fought and destroyed the most dangerous enemy the universe had ever even seen, and she received no recognition for it. The girls, all of them were unsung heroes, bearing the weight of the world on their shoulders, and not even getting a thank you, or even expecting one. They fought and watched the ones they loved die in battle like seasoned worriers, but they were so young. Now, now they had the chance to live like normal girls. To do normal things, shop, talk about boys, worry about exams, anything....and there was no destiny hovering over them. Suddenly she yelled at Artemis, letting the emotions inside of her take over.
"They don't deserve this! She doesn't deserve this! Why can't they just be HAPPY!? They don't have to worry about destiny now, they can...."
"But Luna they do!" He abruptly cut her off.
"Whether or not they remember who they are, they are STILL the Sailor Scouts, and the sworn protectors of this universe!" Luna looked up at Artemis with wet eyes. She knew what he was saying, but she just wouldn't give in until she heard the words loud and clear.
"Luna, they can escape their destinies about as much as they can escape who they are. It will always follow them, just like even now the memories of their past, will always haunt them. The small black cat let another sob escape her kitty lips as she nodded in agreement.
"Who will we awaken first?"
Never in all of his life had he wanted a woman so badly. The way she felt in his arms was intoxicating. Darien walked the streets of Tokyo; once more reprimanding himself for letting his basal needs take over his good sense, when he kissed Serena. And what the hell was that vision? Had it actually happened, had he made love to Serena? Was it some sort of waking fantasy, or a memory from a past life, could what Shukoroshi have said been the truth? He groaned softly as he once again pictured Serena's small body shivering beneath his own as he slowly and gently thrust himself into her. It had to be memory, it felt too real...all of it. He sighed deeply, and began to make his way back to his apartment, when he saw a blanket of familiar black silk bobbing up and down towards him.
Rayed almost jumped out of her skin when she saw Darien walking in her direction, she was so anxious to tell him what she saw in the fire, the she began to lightly jog to him, to meet him halfway. She needed to know if she had truly lost her mind, or if there was an actually the possibility that she had seen a forgotten past in the flames. She needed to know who she really was, if the horrible things she had seen come to life in the blue red flame of the sacred fire. She just had to know if was real.
" Darien!" She squealed in surprise when she saw him jogging towards her. His face scrunched into concern when he saw the urgency in her eyes.
"Rayed, what's wrong, what happened?" She took a few much needed breathes before answering his questions with more questions.
"Is Shukoroshi human?"
"What?" If the question hadn't come completely out of the blue, Darien may have not thought it was absolutely absurd, but since it did, he began to chuckle slightly.
"What do you mean in Shukoroshi human?"
"I saw, in the sacred fires, something that seemed like...it seemed like I was seeing a past life, like I'm not ...normal...." Darien abruptly stopped his little chuckle,
"Where, where were you in the vision?" Their eyes met momentarily, each knowing the other had seen the same vision before. Rayed answered in a small voice, almost as if what she was saying sounded crazy to even her.
"The moon...we were all on the moon." Darien exhaled the breath he unknowingly held inside, and took Rayed by the shoulders, forcing her to look into his eyes.
"We need to talk" he stated flatly.
Mina walked briskly towards Darien's apartment, eager to see how Serena was doing. The night before had been fun, and they had all eaten as if everything was normal, but the fact still remained, they were attacked by something totally abnormal. She felt strangely confident that everything would work out, as she made her way down the streets. She began to contemplate what she would do with Serena to keep her mind off of the danger they were in, when she spotted a white tail wiggling playfully just behind a nearby brick wall.
"Artemis? How'd you get out?" She began to walk towards the ally her cat was hiding in, when the tail suddenly disappeared deeper into the dark ally.
"Artemis, here kitty kitty kitty" she cooed as she stepped into the ally to find her little platinum cat. She walked further into the ally and into a dead end where she found Artemis, and Serena's cat Luna standing at the edge of the ally. Mina smiled at the two kittens.
"If I didn't know any better, I would say you lead me here" She reached for her cat, when Artemis began to talk.
"No, way...did you just talk!?"
"Mina, please, follow us, we don't have much time left" Luna sighed and repeated what Artemis' words again, a little annoyed that once again they had to go through the whole "talking cat!" thing again. Mina nodded wordlessly, and followed the two kittens through a rusted old door at the end of the ally, and into an abandoned building. Once inside, Artemis once again began to speak, and Mina began to ask herself, 'Is this a dream?'
"No Mina, it isn't we'll show you." Had she said that out loud? Was the last thing she thought before a strange yellow glow coming from Luna's crescent bald spot? Then suddenly she began to remember.
She was on the moon in a golden dress, following Princess Serenity; she was Princess Mina of Venus, and part of the Royal Court of the Moon Kingdom. She was also the Sailor Soldier of love and justice, sworn to protect the universe and Moon Princess with her strange powers, and warrior skills. She was assaulted with various memories. There was a man, Malachite. She ha been in love with him, and an evil monster took him away. There was so much joy, but so much pain in her memories. She didn't really want to be awaken again, she wanted to forget, to not know who she was, the love she had lost so long ago, his silvery white hair, his smile, his touch. He loved her so. Then she began to remember other things, things that weren't so long ago. There was a battle, she saw her beloved Malachite again, but at that time, she didn't know who he was, and she destroyed him. She gasped at the memory of the two in battle, once lovers, and now sworn enemies. Then there was another battle, and she fought beside the other Sailor Scouts. Ami, Rayed, Lita, and Serena, their Princess. They all fought together, died together, and were reborn together. Sailor Scouts, they were the Sailor Scouts. Mina chuckled slightly as she wiped a single tear of remorse from her cheek.
"I was my favorite Sailor Scout" She laughed to herself. Luna took a step closer.
"Mina, are you alright?" The blond girl smiled at the small dark cat, and ran one finger behind her pointed ear.
"Yes Luna, I am, and I'm ready to get to business." She stood to her feet, with a look of determination. Whatever threatened her friends, she was going to defeat it. She would protect her princess and closest friend.
Rayed sat back in the soft sofa and let out a whoosh of air as she let herself relax slightly. Darien, however, anxiously waited to hear just what Rayed had seen in the sacred fires. She brought her violet eyes to his midnight ones and began.
"Alright, I know this sounds crazy, but you have heard of the Sailor Scouts and Tuxedo Mask before right?" Darien looked confused momentarily then answered.
"Yeah, they're an Urban Legend right? They supposedly protected Tokyo from the "evils of the world" Silly if you ask me" Rayed looked at him sternly for a moment, as if she had taken slight offense to his "silly" comment, before pulling a red shoe box from under the sofa.
"What's this?" Darien surveyed the box, not understanding the connection between the Sailor Scouts, them, and an old shoe box.
"Open it, Darien it's what's inside the box I want you to see." Rayed sighed while she rolled her eyes, indicating her slight annoyance at his fascination with the outside of the box.
"Oh, yes of course" It was rare that Darien felt embarrassed, but at this moment, he cleared his voice to over his stupidity. He took the red box in his hands, and anxiously pulled the top off, tossing it on the nearby coffee table. He gasped at what he saw.
"I know I seem a little obsessed, but it piqued my interest, I guess you could say." Rayed blushed as she spread the numerous photos, paper clippings, and notes across the glass top coffee table. Darien picked up one of the blurry photos of a girl with a sailor suit on with a short skirt, and long hair, but he could make out no more detail then that. Then he picked up a newspaper article titled "Tokyo Angles" then another, "Saving Divas" then he picked up a piece of note paper with Raye's handwriting, with "Important Dates" written across the top. He read this and found the contents interesting.
1) Sailor V appears in UK 3-04-95
2) Sailor Moon appears in Tokyo 4-15-97 Sailor Mercury follows 4-25-97 Sailor Mars Follows 5-12-97 Sailor Jupiter Follows 5-29-97 Sailor Venus appears in Tokyo 6-1-97
3) 11-21-97 City has strange blackout and unusual lunar activity later on the next day, all returns to normal. Occurrence is never explained.
4) 12-05-97 Sailor Scouts officially said to have vanished, last sighting being 11-20-97, that day before odd occurrence.
Darien read the last line over again in his head, now understanding why Rayed showed him the box.
"You think they're real?" Rayed nodded shyly, feeling foolish for believing in such things.
"But what do they have to do with your vision?" Rayed turned an even brighter shade of red as she nervously fiddled with the hem of her priestess robes.
"Well, I think I was one of them...." Darien looked on in amazement at her words, then listened to what she saw in the fire intently, curious as to what vision she had seen.
"I did the ceremony because I was worried about you and Serena, I knew there was something going on, but I didn't know just what, so I turned to the sacred fire" Darien nodded and urged on for her to continue.
"At first, I didn't see anything, but then....I began to see places, and people I had never seen before, but recognized. Then, I saw myself, but...I was in a Sailor Suit, and fighting a man, that I knew...I knew I loved him, but we...were, fighting. Then I saw Shukoroshi standing amidst the battle watching, and when I saw that, the fire grew, and I saw myself with the girls, and we were all fighting together as the Sailor Scouts, but we all fell, all of us but Serena...she continued on. I couldn't tell where we were, but it looked like a snow tundra, then the fire just died down then went back to normal, and I couldn't see anything else." Darien looked at her amazed, before sharing his own vision...the edited version, of Serena as Sailor Moon, and a Moon Princess.
"Normally I would think that that serious head of your had finally had too little fun and gone crazy, but with what I saw in the fire...." Darien suddenly took Raye's hands in his. His eyes were pleading for an answer that she could not give.
"Rayed, who am I, I need to know who I really am" Rayed let her head fall regretfully to her lap.
" Darien, I'm sorry, but I don't even know who I am."
Serena was fuming, how dare he take her first kiss from her, and virtually grope her, then leave her alone in his dark and lonely apartment with no explanation.
"OOOO When he gets back, I'm going to give him a piece of my mind!" She stated out loud. She continued to stare at the locked door, waiting for him to return, when the sound of keys jiggling and the door turning could be heard throughout the apartment. She didn't even wait for him to step into the apartment before she began the verbal assault.
"YOU JACKASS! How could you Kiss me like that then just leave! Just leave me here all alone and .....eeehhh?" Serena stated in confusion when Shukoroshi stepped through the door, looking as if he was in the path of a super tornado.
"I suppose I'm not the one that was meant for" Serena blushed deeply.
"I'm so sorry, I thought you were Darien, and..."
"Wooa... Darien kissed you?" Serena said nothing, but Shukoroshi knew the answer when her blush deepened, and she suddenly changed the subject, and began talking about food. He didn't want to press the issue further, so he just let her ramble on about her favorite dessert in the whole wide world, the triple fudge uber nutty chocolate cheesecake sundae.
"Do you want to get one?" Shukoroshi asked, and Serena momentarily looked confused as she remembered what she was just rambling about.
"A triple fudge uber nutty chocolate cheesecake sundae? OF COURSE!!" Shukoroshi smiled inwardly at her enthusiasm as he handed her the little pink furry coat from the closet hanger, and led the way to the only cafe in Tokyo that served her favorite dessert, the Crown Arcade.
Serena let the cool seat of the leather topped stool chill her hot temper as she waited for Andrew to bring her the must luscious dessert ever created. She shifted slightly in her seat to pull down her short khaki skirt as she suddenly became of the hungry glances she was getting from the other occupants of the Arcade.
"Here ya go Serena!" Andrew's normal cheery smile relaxed her slightly as she took the dessert and thanked her long time crush. Shukoroshi glared unconsciously at the young man that stood on the other side of the counter, suddenly jealous that Serena could smile for anyone but him. He was surprised when Andrew suddenly looked in his direction, apparently feeling the heat of Shukoroshi's glare.
"So, who's your friend Serena." She smiled inwardly at Andrew's brotherly curiosity, before answering his question.
"This is Shukoroshi, my friend from...from...."
"I'm her friend from America, I'm just visiting for a short time." Andrew looked at the two suspiciously.
"That's funny, you don't sound American" Shukoroshi let a half smile cross his face as he met Andrew's challenge.
"I'm not from America, I just live there now."
"So, where are you from?"
" Sweden" He answered simply.
"You speak perfect Japanese, where did you learn it?" Andrew was still obviously suspicious of the dark haired man, and Serena was clearly tired of all the questions ruining her triple fudge uber nutty chocolate cheesecake sundae, and for once, she found a clever way to shut him up.
"Andrew, with all these questions, if I didn't know better, I'd think you were jealous or something." At first the blush was only at the tips of his ears, but then it quickly crept across his cheeks, giving him the color of a bright red tomato.
"No, No, you know you're like a little sister to me Serena!" He pat her on the head like a big brother, and magically found a dirty spot on the impeccable counter top that needed cleaning. Serena smiled when he left, letting herself acknowledge briefly that her long time crush saying that he only looked at her like a little sister, didn't really crush her. Finally feeling relaxed and safe for the first time in two weeks, she let herself enjoy her sundae and share a nice conversation with Shukoroshi. He was really very sweet and kind hearted. She couldn't believe that he was the brother of such a hateful evil monster. As if on cue with her thoughts, Serena looked up to the familiar chime of the door bells, to see the handsome man she had effectively avoided for over two weeks. Se felt the air freeze in her lungs, as the blood drained from her face, and her eyes became huge.
"Serena, Serena are you ok?" Shukoroshi asked not seeing the man that walked into the arcade behind him. She stuttered as she slowly let the air trapped in her lungs form words.
"Sh...Shigo..is..." Shukoroshi suddenly turned in his seat, shielding Serena behind him as realization hit him. Shigo laughed loudly at his brother's alarmed face.
"HAHAHA ... didn't hear me coming huh? Where you too caught up in you date!?" Shigo accentuated the word date by violently pushing a nearby glass dessert try to the floor. This action caught everyone's attention, most of all, Andrew's"
"Sir, Sir I don't want any trouble in my establishment, so I'm going to have to ask you to leave" Shukoroshi's green eyes glinted with a sick amusement as he set down a sizeable amount of money.
"That should be enough for the cake tray, now why don't you mind your own business as I collect what's mine" Andrew almost lost his professional cool when he saw "who" he came to collect.
"Serena? You want Serena!?" Andrew asked while catching the terrified look in Serena's eyes. Shigo answered without looking at Andrew.
"Yes, I have come for...Serena" Serena jumped to her feet when Andrew jumped over the bar and took a place next to Shukoroshi protecting her.
"There's no way you're leaving with that girl" Shukoroshi looked to Andrew and nodded, instantly becoming a team in the fight to protect Serena. Shigo just laughed at the two of them, before he lunged forward, letting his cold fingers wrap around Andrew's neck. Serena screamed loudly out of pure shock when she saw her friend's air supply being slowly cut off. Everyone in the crown arcade began to panic, and crowds of people ran for the door. The tingling of glass shattering could be heard from the street, as countless plates and glasses were knocked over in crowds attempt to escape the duel that had begun inside. When it was all over, Shukoroshi lay unconscious on the floor of the arcade, as did Andrew, bleeding profusely from a wound to his left side, and Serena was nowhere to be found. When Darien arrived, attracted by the amount of police and ambulances going towards the Crown arcade center, Andrew was being worked on in the back of an ambulance truck, and Shukoroshi lay slightly conscious on a gurney as the rolled him into another ambulance. He ran to Shukoroshi, knowing that Serena was with him.
"What happened?" He asked, panic evident in his tone.
"Shigo, attacked us....took Serena" Darien let a look of betrayal cross his features for a split second.
"How could you let him take her?" He shook his head, knowing that Shukoroshi obviously didn't "let" anything happen. He muttered a soft apology at his accusation, then headed off away from the police lights, away from the shattered glass, and towards Serena.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: OK you guys, I hope this chapter didn't suck too much, I tried, but I'm starting to have a little writers block. Also, I have two ideas for this story, and I need you help with them, SOOO I need my READERS TO VOTE!! Do you want Serena to be found (the bad guy) OR do you want me to let the story go a little longer? 1) Found next chapter or 2) Found different chapter. Let me know and LEAVE FEEDBACK!!!