Author's Note
I don't OWN Sailor Moon…. Yet the story concept is mine…. Please don't take it without my consent…. PLEASE……….
Thanks to anyone who reads and reviews… I truly appreciate it.
Serena or Catarina?
Chapter 3: Cast Aflame
Catarina found herself staring at the stars again.
"Why is it that creature comes every night for me, from the same hole in the sky, only to run away again at the sight of me? What is it about me that draws it here and yet pulls it away?"
The demon fell from the sky again, saw her face, and ran off.
"Why does it always return?" Catarina wondered, tears filling her pretty blue eyes…
They saw the girl this time, alone, crying. She seemed so—ethereal at that moment. Even Tuxedo Mask was stunned.
"She looks so much like her," Tuxedo Mask whispered. "But there's something, chilling, about her presence."
"Strike a conversation with her, in English," Sailor Mercury prodded. "She's the only link we have to Sailor Moon right now."
Tuxedo Mask felt himself shoved out onto the moonlit lawn, as the girl looked up, aware of his presence…
This man seemed sorely out of place on the moonlit lawn, Catarina noted. She quickly dried her eyes.
"What do you want?" she asked in English, praying this would be better than last night's encounter.
"I am Tuxedo Mask," he replied, presenting her with a red rose. "I thought you were someone I knew. Forgive me for the mistake."
"It's quite all right," she replied hesitantly, taking the rose gently. This man, he reminded her of all those horror stories the girls in the resident halls shared with her. She turned to leave. "I hope you will enjoy your evening."
"Wait!" he said, as she stopped. "The truth is, she, the person I'm searching for, went missing, and now I have to find her. She and I were—engaged."
Catarina looked back at the man. Now this guy, he was familiar.
"Have I seen you somewhere before?" she asked now. Although unsure of his real motives, she did recognize him from somewhere.
"No, I'm not sure we have," he said, now curious about her question.
"You remind me of someone I met a long time ago."
"How long?" Tuxedo Mask now asked.
"It's not that important. I was just curious," Catarina said quickly, not wanting to shoo him away just yet. She knew she had seen him so long ago, but to try and explain that to someone who was NORMAL, now that was hard. She turned to leave.
"Wait. Please, I need to find her," she heard him say, but didn't turn to his remark. "I can't let her stay lost anymore. She's too precious to me. Can you please help me find her?"
The man was getting hysterical. She turned back, a calm, emotionless look on her face.
"I," she started, but the area around her burst into flame. She looked around, terrified…
"What in," the sailor scouts asked, looking at one another. Tuxedo Mask looked back to the situation at hand, remembering what the girls said from last night.
"YEEE HAH!" a voice shouted, as two girls appeared, both laughing and cheering.
The first was decked in a pair of blue jeans and a green sweater, with a cowboy hat to boot. The other was in a black dress in which flames were embroidered on the bottom. They laughed away, their backs to Tuxedo.
He started to move in for the flames to go to her rescue, but the girl in green grabbed his shoulder, forcing him to do a double take. She had been over by the girl in black, but now she and her long brown hair, and fiery green eyes were staring at him.
"She's fine. That Imperial is gonna get out on her own."
"What?" Tuxedo Mask demanded. He looked back to the flames, unable to run to the rescue.
"And before any of you in those bushes tries to move, I advise against!" the girl shouted in perfect Japanese.
"Ken and the chickens?" Sailor Mars asked.
"Ken and the chickens," the group replied.
Tuxedo Mask watched helplessly…
She was screaming. Lost in the flames, terrified of a destruction she could hardly remember. Grabbing a crystalline object from her necklace, she prayed that the flames would die down. It was getting unbearable…
"Any minute now," the girl in the black fire dress said. "No Imperial would willingly stay in those flames for more than ten minutes."
"Are you trying to kill her?" Tuxedo Mask shouted.
"You, my friend, would be best advised to stay out of this," the green eyed girl said simply. "Unless you plan to die…"
"Her signal is fading fast!" Sailor Mercury whispered. "We have to do something."
"She's our only key to Sailor Moon," Sailor Mars said angrily. "I got the girl who has Tuxedo."
"We got the girl in the black dress," Sailor Venus and Jupiter replied.
"That leaves me with the fire," Sailor Mercury whispered. "Let's go!"
The group began to move, and realized quickly that they bush they were hiding behind, was starting to chase them!
"DON'T STOP MOVING FOR ANYTHING!" Sailor Mercury shouted…
Now lying in the middle of the circle of flames, she prayed it would end. She prayed for some sweet relief from the pain she felt…
"It's been ten minutes! Now what?" the green-eyed girl demanded. "How are we supposed to claim a prisoner if the prisoner is dead genius?"
"HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO KNOW? She was supposed to fight back," the girl in the black dress replied.
"You really are a brilliant one, you know that?" the first girl shouted at her. She saw the flames coming, as she let go of Tuxedo Mask.
"You back off from Tuxedo Mask you wench!" came a Japanese cry. Tuxedo Mask, knowing Sailor Mars would keep her occupied, ran towards the flames again. This time unhindered, he made in into the circle, to find the girl lying there and fading fast.
"Hang on!" Tuxedo Mask shouted to her, picking her up, and getting out of the fires by shielding her with his cape. The two landed outside the circle, where the girl in the black dress was waiting.
"You let her go this instant. She is our prisoner," she fumed.
"JUPITER OAK EVOLUTION!"
The attack was barely dodged, as the girl in the black fire dress looked at a running Sailor Jupiter, furious.
"You stay out of this!"
"Tuxedo Mask! We can't run much longer! We need to retreat and get her out of here!" Sailor Mercury shouted, just as she tripped, the bush looming ominously over her. Sailor Mercury screamed as it lunged at her.
"MERCURY!" Sailor Mars shouted, unable to stop her battle with the green-eyed girl. Suddenly, it was frozen solid. Tuxedo Mask looked down at the girl he held, and saw a single hand raised at the plant. She dropped the hand, and it returned to a crystalline object around her neck. The two girls stopped and looked at the girl that Tuxedo Mask now held with confusion unthought-of. Then, they were charging Tuxedo Mask—or rather, the girl.
"We knew it! Hand her over!" the green-eyed girl shouted.
"We're out! Now!" Sailor Venus shouted.
"VENUS LOVE CHAIN ENCIRCLE!"
The two were caught in the love chain, struggling. The group was gone, with the girl whom the two had so violently struggled for…