Chapter 9: Sealed Memories

Koaru woke the next morning feeling refreshed and exited. He got dressed, grabbed a towel and his swim trunks, and walked over to the pool, hoping to see Amy sometime that day. Sammy and Serena were going to show up later, and he knew that is Serena got involved, he wouldn't get a moment alone with Mizuno.

Koaru got changed, locked his clothes in a locker (duh) and walked with his towel out to the grass beside the pool, lying down and relaxing in the sun.

Amy and Serena were walking to the pool together, Sammy running ahead of them, yelling at them to hurry up. "God, I want to kill him sometimes, you know?" Serena said to Amy as she slung her towel and swimsuit bag over her shoulder. Amy smiled and shook her head, being an only child. "So, you said that Koaru will be there today?" Amy asked Serena, trying to sound casual. Serena nodded. "You going to risk it?" Amy stopped, lost in thought. "I…I don't know. I want to see him again, but I don't want to doubt Raye's vision."

Serena sighed, walked over to her friend and placed her hand on her shoulder. "Amy, I live with him. He is as safe as a soft blanket." Amy smiled. "Alright, Serena. You win."

Koaru looked over at the change room entrance as he prepared to dive off the high board. Amy and Serena both noticed him and waved, and he returned the gesture. He then bent his knees and dove off into the water. As he neared the water, his vision suddenly went white. He panicked, felt his body strike the water, then fell into darkness.

Amy dropped her towel as she watched Koaru's body strike the water at the angle he was in. "Koaru!" she screamed as she ran to the deep end of the pool. The lifeguard blew his whistle and dove into the pool, closely followed by Amy.

Koaru felt his body sinking in the darkness around him. In his mind, he saw images of people, places, dreams and battles. He saw Serena, Amy and their friends, all wearing dresses. He saw a man in silver armor with a black and red sword. Then he felt extreme pain on the mark on his shoulder, the feeling burning his arm like a thousand snake fangs. Then out of the darkness came an image of several figures. The one wore gold and blue armor with a white robe underneath. The second wore black and silver armor with a giant sword on his back and a pair of storm blue gauntlets. The third figure wore black ninja like armor with a silver tiara dropping over his forehead just above his eyes. On his back was the same giant sword, as well as a black crescent shaped blade and two katanas at his hips. The last figure wore pure white armor with blue and gold decoration and symbols. He had only two swords, each one easily 5' by 1', one of them a fire red blade with an ice blue hilt and a black handle. The other with an ice blue blade, fire red hilt and black handle.

The thing about all these figures that caught Koaru's attention was their eyes: each figure had silver and black eyes, each one in the shape of a ying yang symbol. As Koaru watched, all four figures reached over and removed their left sleeve. Koaru's breathe caught in his chest, then felt his body get pulled up, out of the darkness, then into the light.

The small crowd of people muttered as the young man coughed and sputtered, slowly getting to his hands and knees, the life guard returning to his post and a blue haired girl kneeling beside him.

"Koaru, what happened?" Amy asked as she and Koaru walked over to his towel. Koaru shook his head weakly. "No idea. Before I hit the water, everything went white. Then, black, then, these four guys appeared." Koaru described them to Amy, and she felt her breathe quicken at the mention of the Moon Envoy and Shadow Mercury, but the other two were new to her. Koaru finished the description, then ran his hand through his hair. "But, the weird thing was that, well. Each one of them had the same mark on their shoulder that I do."

Amy looked at Koaru, feeling nervous, more nervous then ever. "And, you are sure it was the same as yours? Exactly the same?" Koaru nodded. "I would bet my life on it." Amy sat next to Koaru, snuggling into him, trying to make herself feel more secure. Koaru put his arms around her and rested his chin on her head, his eyes closed. Amy looked around for Serena, spotting her relaxing on a floating mattress, watching her with a large smile on her face, causing Amy to have a sweat drop.

After a few hours, Amy dozed off to sleep, and Koaru continued to keep a watchful eye on his brother and sister. Over on the other side of the pool, a blonde haired man was relaxing on a beach chair, watching Koaru and Amy wit hawk-like eyes. "Hey, good looking. Wanna come swim with me?" a brunette girl asked the man as she passed him. The man looked at her, almost irritated. "No, now please leave me alone." The girl left, looking slightly hurt. The man then continued to watch the two teenagers.

Koaru slightly dozed off in the summer heat, Amy curled up in his arms. Serena walked up to him, casting a shadow over him, causing him to open his eyes and glare at her. "What?" he asked, feeling irritated. Serena pointed at the clock be the main office. 4:45 pm. Koaru sighed, supper was at five. Serena and Sammy went to the change rooms, and Koaru tried to wake Amy. "Amy, wakey wakey, I need to go home." Amy stirred slightly, Koaru continuing to look at her. He smiled, then leaned forward, placing his lips on top of her head, kissing her.

Amy felt something touch her head, and she slowly opened her eyes, realizing that she was still being embraced by Koaru. She released his arms, which she had been holding onto, then she stood up. Koaru stood up behind her, his knees cracking as he did so. "Well, I gotta go home, supper time." Amy nodded her head, then walked towards the girls change room. She suddenly paused, and turned to face Koaru, who was watching her go. "Did…did you kiss my head?" Koaru smiled, "Maybe…" he then turned and walked into the guys change room.

Jedite got up from his chair and walked into the change room after Koaru. "Time to work." He said, smiling.

"Koaru! Hurry up! We'll be late!" Sammy yelled at Koaru as he got his jeans on. Ho looked up at his little brother. "Sam, go without me, ok? I'll catch up." Sammy grabbed his bag and ran out of the change room, leaving Koaru with the blonde who had just walked in. Koaru looked over at the guy as he set his towel on a bench, never taking her eyes off him. Koaru found it quite unnerving.

The guy walked over to him, and Koaru tensed up a bit. "Can I help you?" Koaru asked, feeling ready to beat this guy if he was…how you say…queer?"

Jedite's answer was grabbing Koaru by the throat and throwing him into the wall. "Ouch." He said as he crashed onto the floor, a small trickle of blood seeping from his mouth. Jedite's body glowed a dark purple, then he stood in his Negaverse general uniform. Koaru got up, and ran over to his bag, grabbing his knife pouch and snapped out two switch blades. Jedite smiled, "Please, you expect to harm me with those?" Koaru said nothing, then grabbed another knife and placed it's handle in his mouth. "Let's dance, freek-o." Koaru muttered through the handle, rushing Jedite.

Serena and Sammy waited outside, growing impatient. "Sammy, go home." Serena said as she walked back inside, "I need to tell our brother to hurry up."

"Son of a-!" Jedite yelled as Koaru slashed his right arm, blood gushing from the wound. Koaru threw one of his knives at Jedite and grabbed the third knife from his mouth. Jedite blocked the knife with an energy shield and blasting Koaru in the chest with a black sphere of energy. Koaru got back to his feet, hacked, and a large amount of blood emitted from his mouth. "That is playing dirty, you freek." Koaru said as he struggled to remain standing.

Serena was three feet from the boys change room entrance when she felt it, the spine chilling feeling that she felt around the Negaverse. She quickly grabbed her pendant and ran into the girls change room.

Koaru lay on the ground, shaking, blood seeping from a few cuts on his arms and chest and leaking from his mouth. Yet he continued to try and stand, determined to fight, and to win.

"Give it up, fool." Jedite said as he walked towards Koaru, enjoying his victory. "Stop right there, Jedite!" Jedite looked over at the doorway, and his smile became bitter. "You…"

Sailor Moon stood in the entrance of the boys change room, feeling anxious, wondering if she was too late. Yet she launched into her speech. "I am Sailor Moon, defender of the innocent, and in the name of the- agh!"

Jedite cut her off with a blast to the chest, knocking her into the wall. "Sit down and shut up, you pest." He bent down and picked up Koaru's motionless body. "My mission is done, and I won't risk waiting around for you and your friends to stop me again." Sailor Moon got up, ready to fight. "Why do you want him?" she asked as aggressively as she could, yet the fear was clear in her voice. "Jedite smiled, "I thought so, you don't remember, do you? This boy is the reason that I was unable to exact my revenge on you and your friends."

Sailor Moon was shocked. "So Koaru was in the Silver Millennium!" she thought, watching Jedite create a black portal. She then snapped back to attention. "Oh no you don't!" she shouted grabbing her tiara.

Jedite smiled as she readied her attack. "Pitiful." He said, then walked into the portal, vanishing.

Serena slammed her fists on the floor, tears streaming down her face. "Damnit, damn damn damn!" she shouted, feeling that she had failed her brother and the other Scouts. She knew the danger; the Negaverse now had the powers of Shadow Mercury, though she still didn't know how much power that was.