One quick note before I start this chapter:
Sokai- Sorry, I like using the American names better, I've been watching the show since I was 6 or 7, and I've only always heard the American names. Sorry. (and I would have replied to this in a message, but it was an anonymous review). Okay, story time!
Chapter 6- The Great Escape
"Guardians of the Veil?" Amy repeated, "What Veil?"
"Finally, something Amy doesn't know", Serena said, smiling slightly, "Who woulda thought?"
"Be serious for once Serena", Rei said impatiently. She looked back at the guardians, "Keep going"
"Right", Will said, "Anyways…the Veil is just an invisible barrier, it separates our world from other worlds. The one glitch though is that sometimes the Veil becomes weak, so guardians are appointed to close the tears in the Veil- we just call them portals- and keep the evil out"
"Exactly", Taranee said with a nod, "It isn't easy, but we're not on our own doing this, we also have powers to help fight any evil that comes through"
"We thought all the portals would only just appear in Heatherfield", Hay Lin added, "Looks like we were wrong though"
"Amazing…" Rini said in a barely audible voice, "That's pretty cool. So what was that pink crystal thingy?"
"It's called the Heart of Candracar", Will said, holing up her hand. There was a flash of pink light, and the crystal appeared on the girl's palm, "It's what give us our powers"
It was an amazing story, Amy had to admit. But some how it just didn't seem logical. She'd grown up not believing anything unless she had proof. Those theories, of course, had all been shattered when she became a Sailor Scout, but still, she'd always tried to cling to her old beliefs.
"It's unbelievable", Mina piped up suddenly, "Then again, being a Sailor Scout gives you a taste to believe the unbelievable, so I guess this is pretty normal"
"Too true", Serena muttered. The moment of silence gave all of them time to think about how much their lives had changed. Amy, for one, enjoyed the changes, to an extent. She hadn't had any friends before she became a Sailor Scout, and she loved helping people now. It was all rather nice. Sure, there were dangers, and yes, she would hav much more enjoyed just curling up with a good book and forgetting about all of this, but she wouldn't want to forget her friends.
"Anyways, now that we're all filled in", Mina broke through her thoughts, "we have more important matters to look at"
"Luna and Artemis", Serena said with a nod, "We need to save them"
"But how?" Will asked, "We don't know where they are"
"We'll find them", Amy said confidently, "Don't worry"
"Ow!" Luna and Artemis cried at the same time as they were both thrown into a cage. They both straightened up as they heard the cage door slam. Luna looked up to glare at her captor, only to see that the face of whoever it was holding them was cast in shadows.
"Get comfortable", the person said roughly, "You'll be in there for a long time"
Luna heard the sound of footsteps, and then…nothing. "Artemis", she hissed as soon as she was sure they were alone, "Artemis, are you okay?"
"I'm here", he muttered, stumbling up, "Fine, not so sure, but here"
"We need to find a way out of here", Luna said, ignoring the white cat's grumbling, "Any ideas?"
"Luna we just got in here", he said, "I haven't had time to think up a way out"
"Right", the black cat sighed wearily, "This is bad. I hope the girls are okay, we need to find a way out of here"
"We need to figure out where we are first", Artemis said, "If we're half way out to sea we don't stand much of a chance of getting out of here, unless you've developed a liking of water, and I don't know about you, but I haven't"
"Yea, but for all you know wheretwo feet away from the city", Luna contradicted him carefully.
"Exactly", Artemis said with a nod, "That's why we need to know where we are, before we start thinking up escape plans"
"Right", Luna admitted, "Right, okay…so how do we figure out where we are?"
"Well…that's pretty much we're my stroke of genius ends", Artemis said with a sheepish grin.
"Of course", Luna said with a sigh, "Start thinking, we need to get out of here soon"
"I want to know why they wanted us so bad", Artemis said suddenly, "They had to have a reason, unless they just feel like torturing us"
"I wouldn't put it past some of these creeps", Luna muttered. Artemis gave her a smile.
"Don't worry about it", he said, "Lets just try and get out of here"
"Right", Luna sighed, "I feel like we're just chasing our tails though, this cage is sealed up tight, so unless you have the keys, we're stuck"
"Well, I don't have the keys", Artemis said cunningly, "But how hard could it be to outsmart one bad guy?"
"Something tells me it'll be harder than we think"
"Lets give it a whirl", Artemis said, stepping up to one of the cage walls, "Thin spacing, so obviously we can't squeeze through", he shifted his gaze to the lock, "Do you know how to picklock?"
"No"
"Too bad, neither do I", he said, "Well, we all have to start somewhere"
He extended one of his claws and carefully stuck it in the lock, twisting it around carefully. "Where'd you learn to do that?" Luna asked in amazement.
"Never learned", he said, concentrating no the lock, "Like I said, first time for everything"
"Hope this works", Luna said. She was starting to get worried. Or even more worried than usual anyway.
"You're going to overstress yourself if you keep going on like this", Artemis said distractedly, "Stop worrying so much. We'll get out of here"
"I just hope the girls don't do anything stupid while we're here sitting on our paws", Luna said.
"It wouldn't be like the girls to not do anything stupid", the white cat said, "They'll figure out what to do with themselves until we get back, until then, lets just work on getting out of here"
--
"So…any ideas?"
"No"
"Yea, me neither"
The girls sighed wearily. They were still at the park, and were still trying to figure out how to save Luna and Artemis. They were all worried, but Serena and Mina were beside themselves. After all, Luna and Artemis had been the ones that introduced them to the ways of the Sailor Scouts, and had always been there for them. It was pretty complicated.
"Do you think they're okay?" Serena asked suddenly.
"Why are you so worried?" Rei asked, "It's not like you to get beside yourself, especially not over Luna, you're always trying to be shot of her, you said she's just one annoying pain"
"But that doesn't mean I don't care about her", Serena shot back, "Okay, yea, she is annoying, and she is always picking on me and calling me irresponsible, and lazy, and calling me a ditz, and meatball head, and airhead and--"
"Cut to the chase, if you try to list every name she's ever called you", Rei said, "we'll be here for a week"
"The point is", Serena said, glaring at Rei, "I do care about Luna. So get to it, we still have to figure out how to save them"
"Yes master", Rei muttered sarcastically, looking back up at the sky, "I don't know if you've noticed, but we haven't had much luck figuring out any ways to save them yet. We don't even know where they are!"
"I know", Serena said, defeated, "But we have to think of something, don't we?"
"Yea", Rei said, "You're right, I guess"
"I've got it!" Irma said, bolting up suddenly. She'd been sprawled over the grass, looking up at the sky, but now she was sitting straight up, her eyes glittering excitedly, "I know what to do!"
"I'm guessing it's going to be something magical related, isn't it?" Will asked.
"Well, yea…"
"Lets try and keep the magic down to a minimum", Will said, scolding her slightly.
"I know, I know…" Irma said, "I know what you're getting at, give me a break"
"Great…"
"It's getting late", Rini said suddenly, yawning, "Maybe we should put up the planning for tonight"
"Yea…" one by one the girls are started to stand up, depressed and defeated. They hadn't come up with one decent plan to find Luna and Artemis, and it was pretty depressing.
"Yes!" Artemis said triumphantly as the lock clicked open, "Hehehe, that wasn't too hard"
"I'll give you credit", Luna said, pushing the cage door open, "Lets go"
The two cats stumbled out and quickly made their way out of where ever they were. "Wait", Artemis said, coming to a halt, "We still don't know where we are, if we really are half way out to sea or something, we could be in real trouble"
"Oh yea", Luna put the breaks on and turned back to face her friend. They were still in trouble, free of that cage or not.
"There's something else that's bothering me", Luna said, "Doesn't this seem too easy?"
"Now that you mention it… yes", Artemis said after a second of thinking.
"We should try--"
"Ah!" Artemis's yell cut through Luna's sentence. She whirled around and saw why it had been so easy: they had walked right into a trap. In front of them were about a dozen shadow creatures.
"Uh…" Luna backed away carefully, and whirled around to run, only to find that, like the area in front of them, was blocked by shadow creatures.
"We're in trouble", Artemis said.
"Oh gee, you think?" Luna snapped sarcastically, "Do you think we can get by them?"
"We're small enough, it's worth a shot"
Luna nodded, and darted underneath the legs of one of the shadow creatures. Artemis followed suit and the two of them ran down through the cave, with the shadow creatures on their tails; literally. This is not good, Luna thought as she ran, Not good at all
"They're gaining!" Artemis called from behind her.
"I know, I know!" Luna gasped. The running was starting to get to her, she'd spent too much time eating sweets with Serena. "Down there!" she said suddenly, "There's a tunnel, turn down there!"
The two cats pulled a sharp left and shot down the tunnel. It temporarily confused the shadow creatures, giving them time to run away. "The tunnel divides up ahead!" Artemis called, "Which way?"
" Split up", Luna said, "We can meet each other outside"
The cats skidded to a halt as they came to the divide. "Are sure about this Luna?" Artemis said.
"Now is not the time to ask questions", Luna said hurriedly.
"But what if one of us can't get out?"
"We'll have to figure it out on our own then", Luna said, "This is the only way to loose those things though"
"But--"
"Artemis!" Luna cried, "We can't question this, it's our only plan and our only hope of getting away, now go!"
She shot down the left tunnel, leaving a shocked Artemis behind. I'm sorry Artemis, she thought, trying to block out the tears that threatened to build up, But this is the only way. Be safe
She shot down another tunnel and looked back. Big mistake. She was still being chased. She looked forward a little too late and tripped over her own feet.
"Gah!" she tumbled head over heal and flew forward. "Oof!" she landed on her back, winded. "Oh…" she pulled herself up with a groan. That hadn't been a fun trip. She looked back and saw the shadow creatures still coming for her. "Uh…there'll be time to rest later", she said quietly as she took off again. Suddenly she felt the ground go out beneath her feet and was once again sent spiraling forward. "Aaahhhh!" she hit the ground with a thud and looked back. When will I learn to just look ahead and forget what's behind me? She asked herself as she stumbled up. Her front legs gave out as she collapsed again, shaking. She'd taken one hit too many. I have to keep running, she thought, I'm a goner otherwise
"Aaahhhh!" Artemis flew forward and hit the ground. "Ack!" he straightened up with a groan, "Don't they ever give up?"
He got his answer as the creatures started to attack again. They didn't give up. "Fine", he said, "Then there's only one thing to do. Run!"
He took off down the tunnel. He had told Luna splitting up was a bad idea. He had told her. Why did she have to be so stubborn, why couldn't she ever just listen? He looked back to see how much distance he had put between himself and the shadow creatures. It wasn't enough to make him feel comfortable. He pushed his self as hard as he could, but he had been running for awhile, and was tired. Faster, faster, he urged, Faster!
Suddenly he felt his feet give out from under him. "Ah!" he yelled as he was lifted up by one of the creatures, "Let me go!"
He twisted around and slashed his captor across the face. The creature roared and threw him. He land about five feet away, crashing with an "Oof!"
He straightened up with a grimace, and glared at the shadow creatures. They really don't give up, he thought, Great. Wait what's that?
He looked up ahead and saw a light. "A light at the end of the tunnel!" he cried, "Oh…I couldn't have worded that better, could I?"
He looked behind him, Worry about wording later Artemis, he told himself, Run now!
He turned and started to run, only to feel the ground beneath him blow up. "Aaahhhh!" he flew forward and hit the ground, skidding about five feet as he landed. "Ow…" he straightened up, shaking, "I gotta get out of here. Hey!" he yelled to the creatures, "behind you!"
Luckily they were dumb enough to look. He took off down the tunnel, pushing every part of his aching body as hard as he could. He'd put enough distance between himself and the creatures to feel safe, happily. He shot out of the tunnel and tripped over a tree root. "Wha!" he clawed at the air as he flew forward and hit the ground. "This is just not my day", he muttered as he pushed himself up. He was covered in various bruises and every part of his body hurt. I wonder if Luna got out, he thought, looking back at the tunnel, What if she's still in there? I have to go back, she could be in trouble
He turned to go back and nearly collapsed as he was overcome with pain. I don't stand a chance, I'd just be in the way
He looked around, trying get his bearings and figure out where he was. Wait a second… he thought, squinting, Is that…yes! Tokyo Radio Tower! That means I can't be far outside the city, if I can get back I can get the Sailor Scouts! Perfect!
He turned to go towards the city, only to collapse again. This is gonna take awhile
Hay Lin's eyes fluttered open. What am I doing awake? She thought, I'm exhausted, can't I just sleep?
She rolled over and saw Mina was sitting up in bed, looking at her covers. "What's wrong?" she asked, sitting up herself. Mina looked over at her, surprised.
"Oh, hey", she said quietly, "I'm worried about Luna and Artemis, that's all, I hope they're okay"
Hay Lin sighed and looked over at the clock. No time like midnight to have a chat. "I'm sure they're okay", Hay Lin said, "If that makes you feel any better, I mean, I'm sure they're fine"
"I hope so", Mina said, "Artemis was like my first real friend you know. A lot of kids never really liked me, I used to be really shy, and everyone thought I was just a snob. It was kind of a shock when I came home one day and found a white cat sitting on my bed, even more of a scare when I heard him talking. It was kind of funny, after I got through trying not to scream"
Hay Lin laughed, "Sounds like when first found out we were the Guardians, we completely freaked, it was kind of weird, the five of us regular school girls, two of them still brand new to the school, all of a sudden throw into some super hero business. Not easy"
"Sounds like most of us Sailor Scouts", Mina said with a nod, "Lita, Rei, Amy, and I were all pretty much a bunch of school rejects no one liked, Serena was the one that pulled us together. Being a Sailor Scout has been the best thing to ever happen to me. And if it wasn't for Artemis, none of it would have happened. I wouldn't have the friends I have, I'd still be just the shy girl no one likes. I owe a lot to Artemis, the least I can do is find a way to help him"
"We will", Hay Lin said with a nod, "We'll get him back, and Luna to. I promise"
Mina looked over at Hay Lin and smiled. She wasn't sure if she had made Mina feel completely better, but it was a start.
Scritch, scritch
Hay Lin and Mina's heads both swiveled around.
Scritch, scritch
"What's that?" Hay Lin asked shakily.
"I dunno", Mina said carefully, standing up, "Who's there?" She called, "What do you want? Answer me!"
Scritch, scritch
"That's it", she said, standing up. She made her way over to the door, and flung it open.
"Artemis!"
Hay Lin's mouth dropped as she heard the name. She scrambled out of bed and ran to the door. "What happened?" Mina asked, kneeling down. Hay Lin looked around Mina. Her eyes grew as wide as saucers.
"Poor Artemis", Mina said, scooping the white cat up, "What happened?"
Artemis was covered from head to tail in black and blues and various bumps and bruises. He had definitely seen better days. "Are you okay?" she asked, kneeling down next to Mina.
"Luna and I were taken to this cave outside the city", he said, wincing with every word, "We were thrown in some cave but we got out. We were…we were ambushed by those shadow creatures…we split up to try and loose them, but it didn't work…I wasn't to great against those things, I was thrown around a lot…"
He grimaced in pain, and squeezed his eyes shut.
"What happened to Luna?" Hay Lin asked after a second.
"I'm not sure", he admitted, opening his eyes to face her, "I wanted to go back and look for her, but--"
"It's a good thing you didn't", Mina said quickly, "You're in no condition to fight"
"So Luna could still be in danger?" Hay Lin asked, "We've gotta help her!"
"Right", Mina said, standing up, "Get dressed Hay Lin, I'm going to call the others. Can you lead us back to that cave Artemis?"
He nodded weakly. "Great", Hay Lin said as she made her way to get dressed, "Lets get this show on the road"
"Serena's always late!" Rei complained furiously. Lita yawned and looked over at her wearily.
"It is pretty late", Mina said, cradling Artemis, "I didn't mean to get you all woken up, but this seemed pretty important"
"It is", Rei said, "And seeing as how it's Serena's cat we're trying to rescue, you'd think she'd care more, but no!"
"Hey!" the girls looked around tiredly and saw a still looking bed ready Will dragging an even more tired looking Serena down the street, who was pulling a practically still sleeping Rini after her.
"What's the big emergency?" Serena yawned.
"You didn't tell her?" Mina shifted her gaze over to Rei, who smiled guiltily.
"Ah, oops…no wonder she wasn't in a hurry to get here, huh?" Rei said guiltily, "Uh, hehehehe…"
"You did that on purpose didn't you?" Serena said furiously, fully awake, "You purposely didn't tell me just so you could have a reason to be mad, huh?"
"I, uh, no, no, of course not, nothing like that, of course not!" Rei stuttered.
"What's the big emergency anyway?" Rini yawned, looking up at Mina tiredly. Suddenly she was wide awake, "Artemis!"
"What?" Will and Serena looked around, interested. "Artemis!" Serena said, "You're okay!" she looked around expectedly, "But…where's Luna?"
"Uh…" Lita stepped forward carefully, "Artemis was telling us…she might still be where they were being held captive--"
"What?.!"
"We split up", Artemis explained quietly, "I haven't seen her since"
Lita looked over at Artemis sadly. She knew he felt guilty, and Serena freaking out probably wasn't helping.
"It's okay", Mina said, stroking Artemis lightly, "We'll find Luna, I promise"
"Lets get going then", Serena said, "Artemis, take us to her!"
Where am I? Luna stirred and opened her eyes weakly. What's going on? She thought wearily. She tried to stand up but pain coursed through her body and she instantly collapsed.
"Don't bother little kitty", she looked up and saw a man standing above her.
"Who are you?" she asked weakly.
"My name, all though it is none of your concern, is Kinjo", the man said, "The original plan was to take you and the white cat and use you as bait for the Scouts and the pathetic guardians, but I guess you'll have to do"
"Guardians?" she repeated, "What are those?"
"Ah", another voice said, "the girls never told you who they are? Well, that will make things so much easier"
"Who are you?" she seemed to be getting a lot of use out of that question.
"In time", the voice said, "Lets just hope your little bait trick works, especially seeing we only have one cat"
"I'm surprised those retched girls haven't come yet", Kinjo said, "Maybe they just don't care about the cat, in which case this whole thing was a waste of time"
Bait? That was all she was? Bait? Still, his last words stuck in her head. Maybe they really don't care, she thought, Could it be?
She knew she bugged Serena sometimes, and she knew she had a tendency to bug the others, but could they really have abandoned her?
"No problem then", the first voice said, "We'll just dispose of her"
She definitely understood that. She tried to pull herself up, only to have her legs give out from beneath her. She glared at her captives, but that was all she could, she was in no condition to fight.
"Freeze!" she looked around in surprise. If she hadn't already been down she just might have collapsed with relief.
"You came!" she cried weakly.
"Well of course", Serena said, sounding surprised, "What'd ya think, we'd leave ya here?"
"Cut to the chase", Kinjo said harshly, "Looks like our plan did work, well didn't it? Next time maybe you won't doubt me Prince Phobos"
"Phobos?" It was only then that Luna noticed standing behind the Sailor Scouts were Will, Irma, Taranee, Cornelia, and Hay Lin. Or at least it looked like them. They could have easily been anyone else, if she hadn't seen the girls in those fairy forms before.
"Phobos?" Irma repeated, "No way, we got you locked up for good!"
"Or so you thought", Phobos scoffed, "Too bad, looks can be so deceiving can't they?"
"I don't believe this!" Cornelia said, "Can we do anything right?"
"We didn't come here to fight", Amy reminded them.
"Right, lets snag Luna and get lost", Mina said, nodding. It was only then Luna noticed who was with them- Artemis.
He's okay, she thought, relaxing, He's okay…
"You think it will be that easy?" Kinjo scoffed, "Think again girls! Shadows, attack!"
Out of no where about a dozen shadow creatures appeared and lunged at the girls.
"Now Mercury!" Serena yelled.
"Right", Amy nodded, "Mercury Ice Storm Flash!"
A fog of bubbles filled the small cavern they were in. "Good job", Luna heard Serena say, "Now lets find Luna in all this and get lost"
Suddenly Luna felt herself being lifted up, "No one is going anywhere"
She had a feeling it wasn't one of the girls grabbing her. "Let me go", she said, twisting weakly, "Don't touch me!"
"Don't fight little kitty", Kinjo said mockingly, "Come on now…"
She twisted around gave him a sharp scratch across the face. He howled in fury and dropped her. She scrambled away as fast as she could, which in reality wasn't that fast.
"Luna!"
She looked around and saw Will standing right next to her. "Come on", the red-head said carefully, kneeling down and scooping her up, "Come on, lets get going"
"Oh. Luna!" Serena cuddled the black cat happily, "You're safe! Oh I'm so happy you're not hurt!"
"Ow!" Luna cried, "Serena!"
"Sorry", Serena said quickly, loosening her grip, "I didn't hurt you did I, I'm so sorry, oh Luna!"
"Calm down Serena, you're giving me a headache", Luna muttered wearily.
"Calm on Serena, put her down for two seconds", Mina said with a hint of impatience, "Come on, I have to get her fixed up"
Serena reluctantly laid the cat back down her bed. Mina unwrapped some bandages and carefully wrapped Luna up in them. Artemis was laying next to her, having already been bandaged up himself. He opened one eye wearily, and Mina could have sworn she saw a small smile spread over his face as he watched Luna.
"You're all done", Mina said with a smile, "Just try not to overdue it for a few days"
"Me? Overdue it?" Luna muttered sarcastically, "When have I ever overdone it?"
"Come on", Mina laughed as she stood up, "Lets let Rini, Will, Serena, and Luna get some rest you guys. Come on Hay Lin"
She scooped Artemis off of Serena's bed and bade the others good night as her and Hay Lin left.
"Some night", Hay Lin commented as they made their way home, "I say we sleep to noon tomorrow. Later even. Maybe one. Or two. I say we just sleep the day away"
"I wish", Mina said, "Unfortunately, there's school tomorrow"
"You've got to be kidding, is it Sunday already?" Hay Lin asked, "No way, and we're going to be running off zip hours of sleep, wanna trade places Artemis?"
"Not for all sardines in the world", Artemis muttered, "All though maybe being one of you would be a little safer"
"I wouldn't push it that far", Mina said with a smile, "Come on, lets just get inside, I'm beat"
Hay Lin was asleep about two seconds after she lay down in bed. Mina couldn't sleep though.
"Artemis?" she said quietly, "Artemis, I know you're awake, come on, talk to me"
"About what?"
"Luna"
She felt Artemis, who was laying on one of legs, cringe, "What about her?"
"You seemed pretty guilty earlier, when you were telling us about leaving her, why is that?"
"She was the one that suggested splitting up", he said after a second, "I guess I figured if I'd argued with her a little more about it she wouldn't have gotten left behind"
"You love her don't you?"
A silence met her words. Mina's eyes glowed. She knew she was right. She could tell Artemis was mulling over her words.
"Well?"
Artemis stood up and turned to see her, a solemn look in his eyes. Even if the dark, she could see him. She saw him nod slightly, and smiled. I knew it, she thought.
"Do you think she knows?"
"I can honestly say I don't know", he said, laying down.
"I think she knows. And I think she shares the feeling"
Mina rolled over and quickly pretended to fall asleep, to give Artemis time to think.
"Luna?"
"Yes Serena?"
"What made you think we wouldn't come and help you?"
Serena listened to the silence that met her words.
"Luna?"
"I…it was nothing"
"Luna, I can tell when you're lying"
"I heard those men saying Artemis had gotten away", she explained finally, "I figured the first thing he would do would be to find you girls, but I felt like I had been there for so long, I was afraid you weren't coming"
"Luna we would never abandoned you", Serena said, sitting up, "You can be pretty annoying sometimes, but you're still our friend, we would never leave you, and I think even Will and the others have grown to like you and Artemis"
Yes, well…" Luna wasn't sure what to say.
"Artemis was really worried about you", Serena said suddenly, "He kept saying it was his fault you were still being held captive and that he should have tried to save you"
"He really is a stubborn cat, that Artemis"
"That must be why you're in love with him"
Luna's ears perked up at the words, "What?"
"Come on Luna, a blind man in America could tell you have a thing for each other", Serena said calmly, laying back down, "It's nothing to be ashamed of. I'm going to sleep, I still have school tomorrow. Good night"
"Good night", Luna muttered, closing her eyes. Her mind drifted back to what Serena had said. Where did the girl get these ideas? And more importantly, why was she suddenly right?
Tomorrow's a new day, she thought as she drifted to sleep, Lets see what it brings