Back from her Past, by Boyce
Chapter3 : The Past Awakens
/ Darien's Apartment \
Darien was unpacking his things. He just returned from a trip, where he went visiting some schools around the world
for his future studies. When he finished, he went on the balcony, to look at the city. "Serena... Where are you?". As he
was lost in his thoughts, he saw a blonde girl running on the sidewalk, and entering his building. He recognize Mina. He
went inside and waited for her to knock on his door. After about a minute, he heard a soft knock on his door. He walked to
his main door, and opened it. "Hi Mina. Come in", he said to his friend. "Thank you Darien", she answered. She entered the
apartment. She removed her shoes, exposing her feet. "Do you want some slippers?", he asked. "Don't worry. I'll be ok",
she answered. They went into the living room. "So, what happened while I was gone?", he asked the blonde girl. "Lots of
things happened. It started about 3-4 days after you left. We fought this bird-type creature. We defeated it easily. And
the next night, it was a bear-type creature. And it went on and on almost each night. Each of these creatures had this
star symbol somewhere on their bodies. So we guessed that these attacks were ordered by the same guy", she explained. "Hmm... And
nothing special that would explain the disappearance of the other girl?", he asked again. "Well, last night, we defeated
this lion, and as usual, we went our separate ways to our respective homes. Nothing there... But..." Mina ended her sentence with a silence, at the despair of Darien. "But
what? You know something? Tell me!", he said more agressively. Mina looked at him, almost scared. "I... I'm sorry Mina.
Please forgive me... I'm so worried about Serena. I want to see her again so bad", he said, almost crying. "It's ok
Darien... I understand it's not easy for you, not to know where she is", she said calmly. Darien looked into her eyes. She
continued : "Like I was saying, the thing that seems odd for me is that these stars remind me of something, but I
can't remember what it is, or where I could have seen it". "Maybe that's an explanation... There must be a reason why the
girls seemed to have disappear, and not you", he continued.
As they were still discussing, they heard a scratch on the door. Darien got up, and went to the main door. When he
opened it, he saw two cats, one in very bad shape. "Artemis... LUNA! What happened?", he asked. Without any hesitation, he
picked up the black cat and close the door. "Luna! What happened to you?", said Mina when she spotted her swollen body. "You shouldn't
have moved all the way from Serena's home to here", she continued. "That's ok Mina... I wanted to come here. I didn't want
to waste any time", she replied. "Why are you in such a bad shape?", Darien asked her. "Well, it happened last night.
Serena came back, probably from another battle, and went to sleep. But in the middle of the night, this guy appeared out of
nowhere, and was aiming something at Serena. I jumped on him, but he kicked me into the wall. The next thing I remember is
seeing Artemis licking my wound", she explained. "So she has been kidnapped by that guy", Darien replied angrily. "Yes...
But we don't know anything. He could be hiding anywhere", continued Artemis. Mina didn't say a thing. She was looking down
at her small feet. "But this doesn't explain why Mina wasn't kidnapped with the rest of them", said Luna, now looking at the
girl. Mina looked at the black cat. "I hope you don't think I'm responsible for this mess", she said sadly. "What are you
saying Mina? We know you would never do a thing like that", replied Darien. "I'm sorry... But I feel like I know something,
but I don't remember what", she said a tear running down her cheek. "What do you mean Mina?", asked Luna. "She told me that
the star symbols on the beasts they fought reminded her of something, but she can't focus on what it is", Darien answered.
They discussed a bit again. And when came supper time, Darien invited the group to stay and eat with him. Mina
refused at first, but finally accepted. While Darien was preparing the supper, Mina was sitting on a couch, thinking about
what happened. She already missed her friends. The phone rang, interrupting Mina's thoughts. Darien walked to the phone, and
picked it up. "Hello!"... "Yes, she's here. Just a minute... Mina, it's for you", said Darien. She got up, puzzled. Who could
be calling her at Darien's apartment. "Hello?... Oh Hi Mom... I'm fine thanks... What? For me?... But we are Saturday,
there's no... All right... Good-Bye". She hung the phone up. "So it was your mother then. She seemed like a nice person",
said Darien, smiling a bit. "Listen Darien. It seems I received a letter at my name, and it's written "Urgent" on it", she
explained. "But we're Saturday... There's no mail on week-ends", he said. "I know! That's really weird", she replied.
"Well supper is ready in 5 minutes. How about we eat, and after we'll go see that letter you received?", Darien asked the
blonde girl. "All right", she said. With these words, she went to prepare the table, and they started eating soon after.
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/ In An Abandoned Building, Tokyo \
The man was gone. The 4 girls were still locked into their cages. The sun was getting down, illuminating the room.
"This is really boring. That guy is gonna pay as soon as I get out of this cage", said Lita angrily. "Yes, but with your
ankle, you should not take any chances", said Amy. "Yeah... I'm still thinking though... What he said about Venus...
Do you think that's the truth?", Raye asked her friends. "I don't know... It would explain though why she's not here with
us. He seems to hate her so much", continued Amy. "Yeah, he called her a bitch... He's gonna pay for that. Mina doesn't
deserve to be called that way", replied Lita.
"YAAAAWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN... Oh what a nice sleep", Serena said. The girls turned their heads to look at
Serena. "I can't believe you Serena. How did you manage to sleep 8 hours in a cage?", asked Raye. "A cage? Hey you're
right", she replied. She tend a hand to touch one of the cage's bar. "SERENA! DON'T DO TH..". Too late... Serena didn't
hear Lita's warning, and touch the bar with one of her hand. She received an electric discharge into her body. She screamed
as high as her voice let her scream, and let the post go. "Ouch! Why didn't you tell me it was electrified?", she asked her
friends. They all shook their head. Silence filled the place. "So it wasn't a dream after all... That guy was really there
and attacked me", she said in a low voice. She looked around the room, and saw nothing interesting. She looked at her
friends... Amy... Raye... Lita... Mina... "Mina? Where's Mina guys?", Serena asked. "Well, she's not here obviously. Here's
what that guy said to us about her", said Amy. And so, Amy and her friends told Serena the story the man told them.
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/ Streets of Tokyo \
Darien, Mina, Luna and Artemis were now heading at Mina's house, to look at that mysterious letter. They didn't
talk a lot on their way there. Finally, they reached Mina's house. She used her keys to enter, inviting the 2 cats and the
man inside. "Is that you Mina dear?" "Yeah Mom, it's me", she answered. Her mother came to welcome her, and she spotted the
man with her. "Oh... Who's this nice man? Is he... Is he...", she asked. She blushed. "No Mom, he's just a friend. His name
is Darien", she answered back. "Hello Madame", he said politely. "He's the man who answered earlier then. Nice to meet you
Darien", she replied. "Anyway Mina, here's that letter", she ended. "Thank you Mom", Mina answered. "Have fun", her mom
said, before going back into the livng room. "Sorry about that Darien", she said to her friend. "That's ok Mina", he replied to his blonde friend, smiling.
They went to Mina's room. The cats jumped on her bed, watching curiously the envelop. Mina sat besides the cats, and
opened the envelop. Darien was still standing up. She got out the letter. She looked down at the signature. Her face turned
white. "What's wrong Mina? It looks like you saw a ghost", said Luna. "It's... That's impossible!", she answered,
having difficulties forming the words. "Who's it from?", asked Darien. "The... The Raven". "The Raven? A bird sent this
to you? That doesn't make sense", said Artemis. She didn't answer. "Mina!", Artemis insisted. "Artemis... That's not the
way to talk to a girl", Darien said. He remembered how he was rude earlier with her. "This Raven must be someone important,
isn't he?" Darien asked. She nodded slowly. "All right... How come you know this Raven? Who is he?", asked Darien
gently. "It's clear now... I remember him... I'll tell you everything I know", she said in a low voice. Darien took a seat,
and he and the 2 cats listened to what the blonde girl had to say.
"This goes back a long time. It was I think 2 years ago, when I still didn't know any of you. It was the time I was
known as Sailor V, in England. As you might know by now, there were monster attacks back then. I, with Katrina, were
battling them anyway we could. They were never easy victories, but we always did manage to beat the bad guys. But one day,
we met this guy, who proclaimed himself "The Raven". He was a very powerful man. He managed to hurt Katrina very badly,
with a back-stabbing blow. It was a hard battle between him and me. I barely managed to defeat him, and thought I killed
him with my Crescent Boomerang. I went to his body after the battle, and grabbed that star collar he had. I gave it to
Katrina as a proof he was dead. Except from our battle against Queen Beryl and the WiseMan, this had to be the toughest
battle I ever fought. But it seems I didn't kill him after all", she explained to the group. "That's quite a story", said
Luna. "Yes... I tried to erase all my memories of Sailor V from my head when I left England... That's why I knew I already
saw those stars somewhere, but didn't remember where", she completed. "Mina... Do you want to read the letter?", Darien asked.
"I don't think I have too", she replied. She handed the letter to Darien. "He seeks revenge. I know him. That's exactly
his ways of thinking. He kidnaps people, and force you to fight him", she continued. Darien read the letter. "You know your
enemies very well Venus... He has the girls trapped in a building. He gave you the address... He want to meet you one on
one tonight, for old times", Darien said to her. She put her face in her hands. "But he's strong. Can I beat him alone
again, knowing now he has my friends trapped", she said, almost crying. "You must believe in your powers", said Artemis.
"Artemis is right", Luna continued. "You beat him once, and you can beat him again". "Thank you... But I know how strong
he is", she replied to the cats. "We may have an advantage over him", Darien said. "Really?", Mina said puzzled. "Listen
to what I have to say". Darien sat near the girl and the two cats, and started explaining what he had in mind.
End Chapter 3