Author's Note
I don't OWN Sailor Moon…. Yet the story concept is mine…. Please don't take it without my consent…. PLEASE……….
Sorry for the late post… I got to meet a famous person today and I have been away from my wonderful computer all day… (sigh)… oh, by the way, you can either read this chapter or the side story SOC: Silver Millenium first. They both tell you an important plot detail that I waited until today to reveal! Enjoy!
Serena or Catarina?
Chapter 22: The Past Revealed!
"Catarina?" Sailor Moon asked, seeing her covered in a small field of flowers, as she finally stopped crying.
"I failed you Sailor Moon! I'm so sorry!" she cried, hugging the shocked Sailor Scout. "I remember! I remember! I came to the Moon Kingdom to escape from home! Then, then—"
"Then Terrance attacked," Thomas finished.
"No," Catarina replied. "It was never Terrance, and I was foolish to believe so."
"Catarina, calm down. What happened?" Sailor Moon asked softly.
"I heard that a demon was calling for Queen Beryl to attack the Moon Kingdom. I knew she was Terrance's aunt, so I assumed he had done so. It confused me that he would do something so violent, so cruel. It was nothing like him," Catarina said, letting go of Serena and composing herself. "So I decided to go to the Moon Kingdom to warn you, and when I got there—it was too late. They had already arrived."
"Who did it then, if not Terrance?" Thomas demanded.
"SAILOR MOON!" a voice cried. Thomas jumped in fear, as Catarina smiled.
"Jennifer," she whispered. Shortly afterward, she entered the secret chamber and met up with all three of them.
"Finally! It done took me too long ta find y'all! Aspera's comin' this way to kill y'all!" Jennifer exclaimed. Thomas's face went fierce.
"I knew it. That woman will die by my blade."
"Oh will I?" a voice asked, as Aspera appeared!
"Where's Terrance? What have you done to him?" Catarina demanded angrily, as the group stared.
"Why my dear princess," Aspera said, a devilish smile on her face. "I can't help that he loves me more than you."
If Catarina had not seen her fingers ready to snap, she would have dove at the woman who, in her heart, she could find no love for. Not even a little bit. Sailor Moon saw her face, and was curious.
"You like Terrance, don't you?" Sailor Moon asked. "WHY?"
"Because Terrance ain't bad. In fact, your friend Jupiter stopped him in his tracks earlier. He's still resistin' her command ta fight them," Jennifer explained. "Jupiter asked me to come get y'all outta here."
"I knew it," Catarina scowled. "You are the one responsible for this mess. You've caused all this suffering and pain."
"What?" Sailor Moon asked, looking at Aspera, who was laughing maniacally. However, this went on for several minutes, as the group looked at one another.
"Is that natural?" Catarina asked finally.
"No," Thomas replied, somewhat shaken.
"I thought she would have stopped at least after thirty seconds."
"Want me ta show y'all the way out?" Jennifer asked calmly.
"Sure," Sailor Moon replied, as the group left Aspera to laugh maniacally all on her own…
"Terrance, you're there, aren't you?" Sailor Jupiter whispered now. "That's why your eyes are teal."
"Jupiter, get away from him!" Sailor Chibi Moon shouted. "Don't let him hurt you!"
"Stop Chibi Moon," Sailor Mars said. "Look at him."
"He's faltering. He won't hurt Lita," Sailor Venus said. "Let her talk to him. She must know what to say to get him to stop."
"Jennifer's coming with the others from within the palace," Mandessa announced.
"Talk to me Terrance. What's going on here?" Sailor Jupiter asked. "I don't know why, but I want to help. As much as I hate you, I want to help."
"TERRANCE!" a male voice boomed, as the group turned to see a man followed by Jennifer, a girl with pale blue hair—and Sailor Moon!
"SAILOR MOON!" the girls all cried. Terrance froze in place as the man charged him.
"NO!" a familiar British voice erupted from the blue-haired girl.
"Catarina?" the group asked.
"Princess! He's got to pay for his crimes to our people!" the man cried, fighting with Terrance, who was simply blocking.
"Thomas! Stop!" Sailor Moon shouted to him. "Weren't you listening?"
"He has a one track mind," another nearby knight said glumly. "Yo! Loser!"
"Who just called me that?" the man, Thomas, said angrily. Suddenly, Terrance started to strike back, and he was forced to get back into the fight.
"What just happened?" Sailor Jupiter wondered. "His eyes are still teal, but now he's fighting."
"Jupiter!" the blue-haired girl, Catarina, exclaimed, running to her and hugging her. "Thank Galileo you're all right!"
"What happened to your hair?" Sailor Jupiter asked. Catarina smiled impishly, as the Sailor Scouts took a step back.
"I remember! My memories are back!" she announced. "The Imperium Silver Crystal did my hair though."
"You remember who you are?" Sailor Jupiter asked, shocked. "That's great!"
"Hello, I know it's great that she remembers who she is and all—wait, she had amnesia?" Mandessa demanded.
"I thought I done tol' y'all about that!" Jennifer shouted at her.
"When did you tell me that?"
"When y'all was doin' yer hair before we done left after her again in the first place!" Jennifer replied.
"I never listen to anything while I do my hair. You of all people, Nebulan, should know that."
"Doncha start up any fights wit' me. It's not proper!" Jennifer shouted.
"I'll start any fight with you that I feel like."
"Oh, so y'all's up for another war Fire Witch?"
"Born ready Speed Demon," Mandessa said, the two preparing for a standoff.
"Umm—"
"YOU STAY OUT OF THIS!" the two princesses shouted at the poor knight. He nearly fell over in shock. Sailor Moon came to his aid.
"Are you all right?" she asked softly, as he nodded.
"The Princess was like this only when the three of them are together. It really doesn't stick too well somehow that they see each other as friends," the knight said, as Sailor Moon nodded.
"Someone please tell me what's going on," Sailor Venus said, confused. "And why no one has stopped their fighting."
"Maybe it's a game?" Sailor Moon suggested, getting stares all around. "What? You should ask him what his definition of a game is! It's scary!"
"Catarina, can you stop them?" Sailor Jupiter asked, as Catarina suddenly had an even more devilish smile. The Sailor Scouts were now ridiculously confused.
"I think I know one thing," she said. She skated over to the fallen knight, and whispered something into his ear.
"Right," he muttered. He turned to the older woman. "This is merely a farse. Please excuse my behavior Your Majesty."
"Understood," the older woman said, sighing.
"I, Knight Samuel of Sandstonia, profess my love for you, Princess Catarina of Imperia," Knight Samuel said in a loud voice. He then spoke to her in a whisper, "If you don't protect me from those four, I will come back and haunt you for eternity."
"I will, just trust me."
There was a sudden silence in the woods. The two guys and two girls that had been so busy fighting and arguing, suddenly looked at the pair. The rest of the group stood in silence, too stunned to say anything at all. Sailor Moon kept back laughter.
"WHAT?" all four of them cried, charging towards the couple. Catarina waited only until they were close enough together, and then raised a hand to them all.
"Ice," she hissed, as they were all in a giant cage of ice. "Now cool off, all of you."
"Knight Samuel, you didn't mean that, did you?" Mandessa asked, as if she were a child.
"Please don't tell me you meant that," Jennifer asked, looking sick.
"He better not have meant that," Thomas and Terrance both growled, raising swords.
The Sailor Scouts then proceeded to start laughing.
"Oh you've got to be kidding me!" Sailor Mars roared.
"How could you not see they were trying to get your attention?" Sailor Mercury asked, suppressing giggles.
"Well they certainly got it, that's for sure," the older woman said, as even she herself was trying to keep a dignified posture, but was nearly reduced to a fit of laughter. Catarina smiled impishly.
"I wonder what I can possibly say in response to that," she said, her back turned to the group in the cage.
"NOT YES!" all of them cried.
"Well, it looks like I got you all in a cage, now don' t I? I can say whatever answer I want to," Catarina replied. "Besides, didn't one of you in there beg me to kill you only yesterday?"
Terrance was silent.
"You ran into Terrance yesterday?" Sailor Mars asked.
"However," she said, her calm British voice silencing questions. "I clearly remember telling you that I couldn't do it for one specific reason, which I'm sure you remember, right? Anyhow, my answer would be no, if it were a real request."
"I hate you Imperial," Mandessa muttered.
"I'll have to remember that the next time Meatball Head isn't listening," Sailor Mars muttered.
"How amusing," a voice said, as the group saw Aspera. "You seem to have gained a handle on your powers again. I had assumed my curse on your powers would hold forever. Please do tell me how you could have possibly found another love in your travels."
The group sat silently, only recently having heard the tale. Thomas and Terrance looked at Catarina, wanting an answer, and possibly plotting murder. She let the four out of the cage, and walked towards Terrance, and silently asked for his sword. He nodded, and gave it to her. She then walked towards Aspera.
"Wait," Sailor Moon exclaimed, running to her side. "You can't fight her alone."
"She wants an answer. I wish to be prepared for some sort of backfire," Catarina replied with a scared tone. "This includes Terrance losing it."
"Oh," Sailor Moon said, noting that the two men were extremely nervous.
"I met a man in Italy," Catarina started. "This man stayed with me for only a short while, and then faced the world again. He lived to be a legend, and died years after I had gone. He was a man of the truth, something no one besides myself ever understood. They saw him as a heretic until after his death. He spoke of the stars warnings of the sins of man. Especially the Polaris, the North Star, who would represent your greatest evil at a time. I thought foolishly of Terrance. However, I realize now that my greatest evil is a decision I ran away from, and refused to make in the past. It gave you, Aspera, this opportunity to destroy so many lives. I cannot possibly repent for such a harsh action. In fact, I expect no forgiveness in the afterlife for it. So simply put, if make one more attempt to control my Terrance, you may as well rot in hell!"
"Touchy," Aspera said, yawning. "Are you done boring me now?"
"Do you know why I took his sword—oh wait, of course you do Aspera! Who else would know better than the woman that destroyed the Moon Kingdom, blamed Terrance, and sent Terrance's aunt to her grave?"
"QUEEN BERYL IS YOUR AUNT?" the group exclaimed.
"You did WHAT?" Terrance roared.
"Oh, but Terrance dear, I am glad to tell you that these Sailor Scouts are the ones that slew her."
"She wouldn't have been slain if she hadn't been lured out by your ploy," Catarina pointed out, still holding Terrance's sword.
"I wouldn't have lured her out if you hadn't run for lame love advice that told you Terrance was the man you truly loved! You don't love him, you feel sorry for him. You always have!"
"I'm not playing this game with you Aspera," Catarina said finally. "In fact, I'm sure that you would lose."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Aspera chided. Sailor Moon watched Catarina shudder.
"You've brought down his father upon our people," Catarina said. "You will not be forgiven for such treachery to the throne."
"Who said the throne would survive?" Aspera said. "Terrance, kill her now and prove that once and for all you love me more!"
"Aspera," Sailor Moon whispered finally. "You've been so driven by your feelings for this man, that you've turned into more demon than human. Is that really possible?"
"Aren't you proud of her work?" a voice said in the shadows. The group looked around. "I mean, how often do you see someone so devoted they'd destroy their own planet to get the one man they could never have?"
Terrance seemed to be moving towards Catarina, who smiled some at his approach.
"She does love him," Thomas whispered. "But how? It's destiny."
"Destiny changes," Sailor Venus said. "However, it may have been your destiny to share Aspera's fate of loving a person who didn't love you."
"But she did," Thomas said. "That's what drove her away. She told us both that she intended to get an answer this time. She swore upon her family crest she would decide."
"You know, love triangles (or in this case a love square) were never the best deals," Sailor Jupiter said, sighing some.
"How can you all talk so calmly? Did you not hear Aspera? Did you not hear Rowan?" the older woman demanded.
"It's at times like this that you realize that worrying about every little detai—whoa! Wait, ROWAN?" Sailor Mars shouted…
Author's Note
Next time…
"So he repents."
The battles are a-coming! Hooray! Later!