The pastor was reading a few lines from a prepared speech. He was very good at speaking the right words. Rio was not paying all that much too the pastor. She remembered seeing Bobbie in his coffin. He looked he was just sleeping. She was a little unnerved with the whole idea. She wanted to go home.
"And with the life ending!" the pastor said with a sad smile, "we commit Brother Bobbie to his finally resting place!"
Rio watched with the others as Bobbie's coffin was lowered down the large hole that was previously dug just hours ago. She felt her life was closing one door and another was just witting to be opened. She did have a flash back on Bobbie when she watched him go. She remembered a long faced man with even longer legs and mop of curly brown hair. He came from the states he once told her Uncle Zigfeld who had befriended him in a local coffee shop in the heart of London's west end. They were both poor, struggling students who were looking for a better way of life. Bobbie had gone to London on a student grant from his high school exchange. He had found he liked London after a year, after graduating from high school in home town of Hibbing Minnesota. He did have ties to Pittsburgh from his mother side of bank clerks. He had been busking for a little while between classes at university. He played guitar and harmonica near a second hand shop.
What started as a friendship between two guys grew into a sort of brotherhood. When rio was a small child, Bobbie played babysitter when Uncle Zigfeld or Anthony needed a night off. Bobbie's girlfriend Trudy was studying to be a teacher, Rio was a great subject on being a little kid in the class.
Uncle another finally got into his research on petroleum products, Bobbie had played at his party at the farm house. Then, he played at Zigfield's first art showing. It seemed like Bobbie could had a great career in music, but he rather work with people who were having a hard time in getting back on their feet.
One day, he was not feeling so well. He had been staying with his sister, July in Pittsburgh. He talked to riot back and forth on the phone. He wanted to see her one last time. Everything was against their meeting. It hurt her like a bolt of lightning. She wanted to see Bobbie before he got too sick. He was unable to go out after the Christmas season. After checking in with his doctor, Bobbie found out he had stomach cancer. It was starting to move all around his body. He did talk to Rio from time to time. He cheered her on for being on her own. She was nearly an adult. The hope to see her finally get married and have kids was his only wish for her young life.
Then m it seemed like a cue from a higher power, the heavens grew grey and hotter. It mints a storm was coming. Rio hoped for no lighting. She loathed the lighting more than Reenie or Serena.
"Ashes to Ashes...dust to dust!" the pastor said as he looked from his bible. He noticed the rain started very gently, very softly
"It's raining!" a person remarked with a surprised tone.
Usually the rain was cold and refreshing. Instead it felt hot and biting like pain pricks. Rio had feeling it was hot tears of cancer which was falling down instead of the gentle sweet rain of release. Rio could sense, taste and smell the burning odor of sweet grass in the far distances to the southwest. The two sessions of water and fire mixed, mated into a bitter flavor of the mouth. Doorways that were kept closed for just a few stretches of the moon and the sun were starting to be forced opened into her soul once again. She wanted to cry for the loss of one so dealer to her heart at the time. Then, the tang of the future could be filtered into the sweet grass.
She breathed slowly, letting the smoke of the heat rain burn down to her lungs. The tears formed in her eyes. The sorrow was an overpowering reaction to her. Tilted her head back a little Rio let the tears flow in a quiet respect for the dead.
"How do you feel?" dusty asked as Uncle Zigfield's car was pulling out of the driveway and onto the connecting street.
It was done with a few minutes after the placed the body in the ground. It was final. There people said their last greetings to the dearly departed. Then, the flight to the cars to leave was done in hasty dash. "A little tired," Rio said, watching the rest of the world washing itself in the sea of hot, bitter rain. It was summer and nothing felt cool. Everything for the moment stuck in a honeyed sweat of the season.
"A little nauseated and tried. I think, once I'm home…I will go have a good lay down on the sofa. I can't believe I cried in front of everyone!' Rio sighed. She watched the places changes in a blink of an eye. She leaned back in the seat.
"That's normal…kido…" Uncle Zigfield said. He tried to smile for the rest in the car. He was hurting inside, yet he did not want to show it. He could understand what the feeling of missing someone was like. He had lost friends and family from the time he and others from Acarida was like. This was the earthling friend he had.
The car had stopped in front of a gas station. It brought memories of summers long ago. Once or twice a month, Rio would go to her aunts on a train or car. Her uncle would have a plan for the trip. He knew Rio wanted to see the world. The world to her was pretty big. He had a treat for her if she was good. She always worked on being good.
Rio said, "Why are we stopping here?"
"I have to check on the car…" he Uncle Zigfield said glancing over to his wife.
Olivia was looking out the window. She noticed a few teens that were hanging out at a local gas station. She noticed Rio's tired look. She asked, "Would you like to call your friends?"
"Yea…I can tell them that we will back in town before four," Rio said as she started to unbuckle her seat belt. Rio opened the car door and stepped out. She noticed a large cage which there was a few full gas canisters and other outdoor things. There was a faint noise coming from a distance car. She wondered if she was going to be the same after she had lost someone. She told her aunt that she going in for a soda. She needed a little bit of comfort.
Dusty knew Rio had a rough time of everything. He could see she needed a rest from all the pain. He told Aunt Oliva he was going to follow Rio into the station. He knew she was upset with everything that had happened in the past few days. She like she wanted to go home. Rio began to search for a can of soda in the coolers. She could hear the music playing in the background. It was nothing really too memorable. To her it was just there, like a clock on the wall.
"Hey…wait?" Dusty said as he entered in the station. He looked around the station for Rio. He noticed Rio walking toward a rather large glass door with a huge sign on the front of the door, he said, "Rio?"
She turned to see Dusty walking up towards her. She asked, "Are you following me?"
"Yea…in a way…" dusty said. He could not lie to her. There were a few ideas in his mind on how to speak to her when she was very down. He had been dating for some time now. He could pick up on the slight feelings she had for the world around her.
She was not going to be making a fuss, "That's O.K." she turned to see him standing near a display of beer. Rio sighed with a sad smile, "Did uncle put you up to it?"
"No…it's was my own idea!" he grinned. He loved her ease of being herself. She was a princess, but not too overly done. He wanted to talk about the news or music. He had to come up with anything as long it was good topic.
She glanced at the soda cans before opening the cooler. She spoke about how her life had real changed in the past few months. She did not know what was going to happen in the near future. She had a bad feeling when she found out people who were not connected to the moon kingdom were still getting hurt. She was careful not to mention the moon kingdom or the fact she was a sailor senshi. She stood there for just a minute before picking out a can of lime soda. She closed the door quietly. She said, "What's on your mind?"
"Eh?" he said, shrugging his shoulders. "I have been watching a few movies. There was a James Bond feast at Alliance."
Knowing she was a Bond fan, Rio said, "Did I miss it?"
Rio was starting to feel a little bit better. Yet, she had also a feeling of dreaded. Where was this feeling coming from? Was it the door way reopening to her dream time? She could not pinpoint the feeling. She had to let the powers to be taken over. She began to walk over to the check out.
Dusty followed her. He said, "I'm not really sure that you had missed it."
"Oh?" she asked as she pulled out a dollar from her fanny pack. She waited for the change. "I would like to see at least one film!"
Dusty caught a hint of a smile edging itself on riot's kips. She had felt grief for a little while, not she had to start to heal.
"Which one?" he questioned her. She was quick to the answer, "My favorite is always was Live and live die...or a..."
The clerk, little older girl with white hair said, "here...is your change!"
Rio thanked the clerk before she returned the change into the fanny pack. She asked dusty if he wanted to have a soda. He shook his head
He said, "I would like to take you out on a date!"
"Uh?" Rio said with a surprised look on her face. There other dates, yet they needed some alone time with each other. Dusty told her he was going to be in Alliance for the James bond film fest on the same day she was going to be at work at the radio station. Rio siad, "Yes. I would like that!"
The skies in Salem were turning from a bright blue to inky grey; a car was slowly rolling down the street. Hakura had opened the front door to see if Hotura and Reenie were still playing outside. They were in and out of the house all day. Reenie had been skipping rope while Hotura had been bouncing a ball on the drive way. She was getting good at the aim. She hoped someday she would get a spot on any team when she got older. She knew her health was at question, but she was getting better each day. Chibi-chibi was having a great deal of fun with dolls. She wanted to help with the planting of some bulbs rei was planning on planting for some time. She and Mina were going to figure out on where to put the blubs in the back yard. Chibi-chibi wanted to help out as much as she could. Rei knew the smallest Senshi was going to mess things up if given half a chance. She very kindly redirected Chibi-chibi into playing with her dolls. They had noticed the car pulling up at driveway. Reenie was the first to noticed Rio getting out of the car. She waited for a minute before calling out for riot. Rio started to walk up towards the front door. She said, "Hi…Pinky!"
Reenie walked over to walk alongside Rio... she had a feeling Rio had been through a bad experice. She said, "Is your Uncle and Aunt coming over?"
Rio knew Reenie was just making small talk. Trying to smile, Rio said, "they are staying with Jakten for a couple of days and they will come over tomorrow."
"Oh?" Hotura said as she interrupted the two. She and the other Senshi had only met with Rio's other Uncle Anthony.
"Hey there little firefly, how was your day?" Rio asked. She felt like she could relax for a minute.
"My aim is getting better,' Hotura said with a smile. She knew not be pushy. She heard the apology from Rio to Reenie. Reenie was still a little upset, but she told Reenie that Rio was just having some fun.
"What about you?" Reenie asked with a carouse look.
"I'm going over to Poal's tonight for a supper with the rest my family. Poal is an advisor to my family!" Rio breathed with a slight tang of the soda playing on her lips. She wanted to go to her room. She had to get changed into something a little more comfortable. She felt uneasy with the black dress and high heels on. She wanted to get out of them since she came home. "Tell Lite…I'm not going to be here for supper. Tomorrow you and the rest of the girls are going to be meeting with Zig field and Aunt Oliva."
There was a minute or two of awkward quiet. Reenie wanted to say what she had on her mind. Then, she said to Reenie that she was sorry for pulling the prank like she did. She was trying to keep her mind off the idea of going to Pittsburgh.
After a minute, Reenie looked at Rio and said, "It's O.K. I need to be on my toes."
Then, Reenie smiled. Feeling that Rio had just enough on her plate, Reenie could understand what it was to be like adult with hard choices in her own life.
That night, it was cooler night. Rio had changed into a pair of cotton pedal pushers and a shirt, that nighbt Rio coud not sleep. It felt dry and hot all day. She just lay in bed, listening to the fan going at the hall way. She had eaten light and listened to a few shows on the radio. It was like she was on edge.
She had a feeling she was going to be visited by a friend. She hoped it was a person she had known.
She went over to poal's house for a long supper and talk. She had the weight of the both worlds on her shoulders. She heard what Poal had to say about Acarida. She was surprised to hear the Troll king Aveel was on the march. He wanted to break through in his quest of getting rid of the Sand-sun young princess. With his own powers, Aveel had changed himself into a powerful wizard. It was from the all the years of secretly practicing the life force and dark elements magic his family used to enslaved Acarida.
With her aunt and uncle, Rio visited jakten's house. She had talked to her teacher for an hour. She had to on her toes about the Troll king. She had asked a few questions on subjects that she knew about. The Troll king was very powerful and did not bend to anyone.
When she came home, Rio was troubled.
There was some scratching on the door. Rio got up from her bed and walked over to the door. When Rio opened the door, she was surprised to see Luna standing in the hall. The little black cat asked if it was all right to come in. Rio said with a slight nod, "Yea…I need to talk anyways?"
Luna was surprised when Rio said she needed to talk. She asked, "About what?"
"I'm going to sound stupid…" Rio said, scratching her head. Rio went back to her bed and sat down. Luna followed her with a curious glance. She had wondered why Rio wanted to talk to her. It was the first time in a long while that someone wanted to talk to her. Rio watched as Luna sat down on the rug with her tail curled about her.
She asked, "O.K. what do you want to talk about?"
"It's the Black moon and Galaxia?" Rio said as she glanced over to the radio that sat on her desk.
"The black moon?" Luna asked. She had not heard about the black moon kingdom in quite a while. She wondered if Rio had hoped she and the others could save the people who were taken from them. It seemed like a hopeless idea, but Rio was determined to get Alex back.
"Yea…I have had a bunch of bad dreams of late!" Rio said her face became quite serious. She had the same look as did Serena when Reenie was kidnapped the first time by Prince Diamond.
Luna knew Rio was a strong and power Sailor Senshi. She had no idea how much Alex meant to Rio. Their relationship was that of brother and sister instead of best friends. Luna began to ask certain questions about Alex. She was a little surprised, but not shocked on Alex's true form, a vampire. Rio said with a wan smiled, "He's really wants to be human…like Nick. They are kindred spirits when you get right down to the end."
"How long did you know about Alex…" Luna asked.
"Since I was five, I was nearly scared to death when I found out he was a creature of the night," Rio said. Then, she looked out of the window near her bed. She could see the night sky. The stars were out and fireflies were dancing in the heat. "I know it sounds like I am hoping for a miracle, but I know it's not impossible."
Luna had a minute of thinking going on in her mind. She had been there before with Serena and Darien. There was so much to consider. It was going to be very dangerous if the plan went wrong. She remembered how heart breaking it was to watch Serena going through with trying to get Darien back, then Reenie. Serena was a huge crybaby, but Rio had something deeper than Serena. It was a sense of hope somehow Serena had lost.
"And what will you do if Alex is stronger than even Serena!" Luna asked the most impossible question. The black moon kingdom was a tough wall to scale. Yet, Rio had also a great deal of faith.
"I have been talking to God about it. I know that Alex is a vampire. Somehow he reminds me of Nick…there is still a great deal of humanity left inside of him."
"You talk to God?" Luna asked a little surprised at Rio answer.
"Sorry…" Rio smiled shyly. "I have been raised as a Christian. We keep idea of being from another world a huge secret."
Luna had never thought of Rio habiting a ton of secrets before. She said, "You were never part of the moon kingdom. Yet, I am still surprised you have the mark of the house of acarida and you are very powerful."
"Yea…most of us turned to the words and the parties of this home world to be very cession. The Troll kingdom is whacked and needs to be cleaned."
"And what about this Troll king?" Luna asked. Her face was that of one concern, a new foe to be healed of the darkness. "I have heard about him before, yet you are still in the dark about him?"
"Pretty much…there was always talk, but I knew if I to meet up with him…I would turn the other way and leave…he's just like Queen Beryl, extremely evil and jealous!" Rio had to be strong and find another part of her faith inside of herself as well as trusting in her heaven the two talked about a few things until it was getting late. Rio said,"I told Charlie to take over the newspaper route for a while."
Luna asked, "What about the radio station?"
"There is a fill-in DJ. Mister Sherwood and I had talked over for a while on the phone a few nights ago. I'm going to be back at the station on Tuesday."
"I hope for your sake that there is a straight path for you. This past month it's been very quiet. It's like Galaxia is putting a few finishing touches on something. Something I can't put my paw on!" Luna said.
"I did run into a spy. It was Tiger's eye at the station. He was dressed up like a man looking for a job!" Rio said with a sour look. She knew the Galaxia's minions were looking for a chink in the armor of the scouts. Rio was going to Luna for the time to fill in the scouts. She could trust the little black moon kitty. She had to be on the alert with the black moon warriors. She could easily fall into a trap if she was not too careful.
"What is going on?" Luna asked. She was thinking as her eyes narrowed a little. She had no idea what was gone to happen in the next twenty four hours.
"I wondered if Galaxia is getting for a battle that will destroy us all!" Rio forewarned. Her face was drawn up with worry. She had to give herself a great deal off hope.
The next morning, Rio and Serena were out on the back deck. They were sipping together their cups of juice. It was going to be another warm day. Serena had talked to Luna about what Rio spoke of. There were little ideas floating around. It seemed like Galaxia was just waiting for the right time. She had hooked up with Aveel the troll king. The time for the great strike was coming up. The planets of Earth and Acarida were just starting to line up. The powerful three moon system of the two planets was at their peak in the beginning of July.
Airtimes and Diana were watching the world from large picture window in the front room. They were on the alert with the birds. Artimes was trying to teach Diana about looking for the best birding. He would not hurt a bird. He would just scare the birds just a little. Luna on the other hand or paw, she would just watch the birds.
Reenie and Hotura were playing card games with a new deck of Pokémon. They were trying to learn from each other. They seemed to be having fun, away from all the crazy fighting they had expected in the past.
Rio and Serena were entering the dining area that was connected to the kitchen. There was the usual clutter of noises that followed. Mina was helped lite with dinner. A music station was tuned on the TV and Michuri and huruka were cleaning the room. Ami was talking on the phone to someone. Rio had guessed it was Taiki. Rei was in the front room with Reenie and Houtra. She watched as the two girls were playing with the Pokémon cards.
"I had this feeling for a while…" Rio said as she glanced at the clock on the microwave. It was on the counter. She noticed it was going on nine the morning. "This feeling was like they just waiting for the right time to strike!"
"They were very quiet for at least two weeks. They are just watching us for what reason…I don't know!" Serena said. She talked to Rei to have peace of mind. It was like Serena was hoping to help Rio get back Alex, Vachon and Nick.
"Do you know something?" Rio asked. There was a hint of trouble in the air. It smelt sticky and foul. Rio and Serena both glanced at each other for just a minute. Then, as they entered the dining room from the back yard door, Serena noticed the three youngest of the sailor senshi. Rio followed her with a quick step.
"And you take this card?" Reenie asked. She held out a card in her left hand. She was hoping for a good exchange from Hotura.
"Why that card?" Hotura asked with a skeptical glance at Reenie's offering. She had played with Reenie before. She hoped Reenie was not going Tobe playing a fast one on her. Yet, it was all in fun.
"It's a good card…I want you to have it!" Reenie shrugged.
A little surprised, Hotura said as she reached over to take the card, "O.K. Why that card…." Then, she shook her head. She was going to let Reenie have a little fun. When she received the card, she was surprised to see it was one Rennie's favorite cards. It was a Squliter. She asked, "Why are you giving up one of your best cards?"
"One day…we will be too old for this and I want to give you something to remember this summer!" Reenie sighed.
Rio had a smirk on her face, while Serena realized that Reenie was growing up. There was far more to this day then met the eye.
"And why this day…" Hotura asked. She had placed the card on the coffee table. There was a strange looking turtle with a large grin of its face. She had to take the card in good faith. She was not going to let her friend be upset with her if she did not take the card.
Ami had been working on her summer reading list. She did have time to read just little. She hoped to get at least a few books in her busy summer days. She remembered asking a senior what the senior class was reading.
She could not believe the time was going too fast for her. She had to stop and think what she will be doing for the rest of her schooling days until she was ready to graduate. She knew she wanted to be a doctor like her mother. She had also a taste of painting from her father. She was no great artist like Michiru, but she could have fun with a set of paints and a brush.
She was looking over the list on her book note. She was happy to hear about one of the books from Taiki. Taiki had been talking about a book called 'To Kill a Mockingbird'. He knew a few details about the book from a local librarian. After talking to a few seniors, Taiki needed to at least tell Ami on the book and the possibly of reading the book. Ami was going to get a head start with Taiki if she was going to make it through the summer.
Lita was outside in garden. It was rather small and quite neatly kept. All the scouts in the house had a hand in the care of the garden. Lita was the first to mention it to the others about having a garden. Rei had some knowledge of raising flowers. Rio remembered on how her Uncle Anthony had a large vegetable garden back home in England. Reenie was all for the garden while Hotura was hoping not to get her hands dirty. Michiru who know on how to get around such delicate matters with the youngest of the outers asked about the use of gloves. Mina thought she was too busy on chasing Yaten all throughout of the summer.
Serena and Setsuma were helping, but they needed to be careful as they did the weeding. They were hoping not to pull out any young budding plants. From time to time, the scouts did get help with the garden. First the help came from Belldandy. She had a great green thumb when it came to pulling weeds and watering. Then, poal did give a couple of talks on feeding of the plants. After nearly fifty years of growing his own plants, he had a great deal of knowledge about plants.
The garden was starting to shape up into a nice sized garden. Lita was very happy with the results. She was with house in hand. After weeding and feeding the garden, Lita was just standing there looking it over. She heard the birds as they flew past her. They seemed to be happy as well.
Then, there was a noisy motorbike roaring up the road. She heard the motorbike when she watered the garden. She wondered if Haruka was on a loaner bike from Keiichi. She looked at the growth of the plants. They were coming along very nicely.
It was a picture prefect day.
Rei had been up for a while. She was going to see Ryoko and Sasami about going to the butler to see a new showing. She picked out her red shorts and white top set. She had been in her bedroom put on the finishing touches. She checked herself out in the mirror. She was just reaching over to get her lip-gloss when she felt cold. It was not a nice breeze. This had all the earmarking as blast naive powers. Her eyes grew wide while she stared at her reflection in the mirror. There was so great darkness falling very quickly on the earth. It was like the time she had given the idea of Hotura was the sailor senshi of death. She could see the small town of Salem being smashed one building at a time. Her friends where turned into a stone statues before her then instantly distorted. Her heart beat so fast, it hurt. On swallowing back her fear, she wanted to scream. Her body was too frightened to move, all it could do was just breast. She tasted this fear once again.
What brought her back to earth was a simple clicking noise of her lip gloss case hitting the sink bowl. She gasped when it hit. On looking down, Rei swallowed hard and stared at herself in the mirror. Why was she so afraid? What was going to happen to her and her friends? She had to figure out somehow before the day was out.
"Hey….Rei?" Mina asked as the sailor scout of Venus entered the bathroom. She was going to change and get ready for the day.
Rei was just standing there with her mouth opened. She had a hand on the sink. Swallowing trying to get her grip, Rei said, "I'll be there!"
Mina had noticed the door was locked. She tried to get it opened after a minute of trying to turn the knob. She said, "What is going on?"
Instantly rei said, "I'm coming soon!"
The two girls stared at each other for just a minute or two. It was very strange to see Rei's expression be so distance. It was like Mina was not there. The blond said, "What's up with you?"
The images ached in Rei's mind. She did not to admit to herself that the future could be changed. She wanted to live for the present. There was not one clue she had to leave behind in her mind. The world was headed for a battle between good and evil once again.
"It's nothing really," Rei said in a distance voice. She stared at Mina for just a minute or two.
"Oh?" Mina asked, chocking her head to one side. She looked at her best friend. "Uhm…Serena wants to talk"
There was no real dread in her voice as Rei asked, "What it's all about?"
"She hasn't seen any of the three lights for a while. She hoped that they are ok, "Mina said as she entered into the bathroom.
"Is that all?" rei sounded a little puzzled. It was like Serena to be such a fan girl.
Lita noticed Rei's distress. She wanted to ask her best friend what was going on. Rei wanted to tell Serena what she had seen. She had to get her work done before everyone had an idea of going to be starved out of their breakfasts.
After a minute or two of trying to look for Serena, Rei noticed Haruka and Michiru entering the TV room. They were busy with their daily choice before breakfast. Rei asked the two, "Have you seen Serena?"
"She was with Rio…they were talking about a few things…one being Rio's visions!" Haruka said with a concerned look on her face.
"Rio's visions are coming back?" Rei asked. She was floored two hear the news of Rio's gift of second sight coming back.
"And she had been having a series of nightmares. She believed it was things to come…Rio are usually on the mark about her visions!"
"They are coming as nightmares," Rei asked, feeling a great deal of bitter fear hitting in the stomach!"
"And what makes it worst…Both Wicked Lady and Mistress nine are in the nightmares…
Rio cannot stop them from haunting her!"