Author Notes:
First, I would like to apologize about the lack of breaks in the first chapter. I thought I had done a decent job with the squiggly lines, but apparently not. So I will really make sure that there is some sort of symbol to denote breaks.
Second, I'm a little bummed that there were no reviews of the first chapter. However, I completely understand that your faith in me, as readers, hasn't always been rewarded by my inconsistent posting and subsequently not finishing of this story. Maybe this second chapter will show my commitment to finishing this story.
Third, I really don't have a third point except to say I do not own Sailor Moon, nor Kingdom Hearts. It would be pretty nifty if I did though.
Chapter Two: Scattered Dreams, like Far-Off Memories…
"I can't believe they bought that story about chasing you. At least dad no longer thinks I'm trying to go out on secret dates," Serena said as she plopped onto her bed. She ran through the recent conversation in her head. Her parents thought that she had snuck out of her room to meet up with a boy and were threatening to ground her for life. With some quick thinking, she told her family how Luna had been a bad kitty and ran out the window when there was a loud sound. Luna took this as a direct insult to her pride, considering that at the moment she was refusing to speak with her charge. Her parents bought the story, until they saw the burns on her legs and arms. Serena figured that the best lie was a half-truth. She told them how Luna had run into the park, right when there was a youma attack. They were not happy, but didn't blame her for running after her pet. Irene had taken care of her burns and sent her upstairs with her food to rest.
"See Luna, I'm learning to think on my feet," The blonde mumbled, worn out from the day.
The cat said nothing. She turned her face away from the girl. 'Hmph, the nerve of that girl. Turning a royal advisor such as myself into a common house pet,' Luna thought. She quickly shifted her thoughts over to what Sailor Jupiter had said. The scout of thunder had mentioned Artemis, a name she hadn't heard, nor thought of, in a long time. Just like Serena, Luna thought that they were alone. But now it seemed that they had all been sent to the future. The feline didn't know if that made her feel better or worse.
"So, I met the girls today. At the arcade," Serena said suddenly.
"You met them? In their civilian form?" Luna asked, worried about Serena.
"Yeah. Two of them go to my school. Thankfully, I've never spoken with them. But, it seemed like they had battled a youma before. They knew exactly where to move and their attacks were so powerful! How come we've never seen them?"
"Well, remember a few months back there were multiple attacks at the same time? Maybe they took on one battle, while you took on another. Therefore your paths never crossed. Until now."
With that last statement, Serena shot Luna a dark look. The implication was clear. They had only crossed paths because of Luna's interference. "Okay, fine. I am sorry that I sent out a signal. To be honest, I only thought that Endymion would answer the call," Luna admitted.
"Luna! That would be dangerous for him! Darien is just a normal guy in this timeline. How could he have helped me?" Serena burst out. "Anyway, it looks like Jupiter and Mercury attend my school. Gosh! I don't even know their names this time around. How very un-princess like of me."
"Well I will do some research to figure out exactly how long they have been awake. I'll also try to see what they remember," the feline replied, mustering her courage to find Artemis. He would have all of the information she needed. If he remembered her, that is. Serena nodded, now focused on the food in front of her, oblivious to Luna's trepidation.
/
While Darien had gone back to his apartment, the four scouts made their way to the shrine. Raye's grandpa had welcomed them, but quickly made himself scarce when he saw their dark moods.
"She may be the last scout, but she's got some nerve leaving like that," Raye said, kicking the small rock in front of her. In her anger, the rock flew and embedded itself into the trunk of a nearby tree.
"Especially since we helped her out!" Lita cried exasperatedly.
"Maybe she's scared," Amy ventured. After analyzing the entire sequence of events in her head, the one answer that kept coming up was fear. Sailor Moon looked scared of them. She couldn't get out of Tuxedo Mask's arms fast enough, once she had regained her composure. Amy was sure that any girl, herself included, would have loved to have a handsome guy sweep her off her feet. Even her exit from the battle was unusual, and pointed towards a fear of them possibly following her. Which, of course, Amy had already considered.
"But what is she afraid of? We are her teammates, her sisters, her, I don't have another one," Mina replied. The other three sat there quietly, contemplating who this new scout was, and what her motives were. Then Mina's head shot up quickly.
"Did anyone ask Darien if he was able to get any information from the Princess?" She asked.
"Ugh! Between the energy bursts and Sailor Moon, we forgot to ask him!" Raye pouted.
"We have a scout meeting here tomorrow after school. We can ask him then," Lita offered. Her stomach was beginning to growl.
"Amy, you are our resident genius. Can you start looking in Sailor Moon, and possibly come up with a list of candidates we can investigate?" Mina asked. Amy nodded. "I've already started a list in my head. I'll write it up when I get home. Speaking of that, I've got to go. I haven't done my reading for next week yet."
As she left, the girls stared incredulously that Amy was already thinking about next week's assignments.
/
Blue eyes scanned outside once again, a sigh escaping her lips. Was Serena always this late? Amy checked her watch for the third time. They only had thirty minutes before class started, where was she? After all that had occurred yesterday, Amy felt it prudent to talk to 'the blonde bomber' as Raye had referred to her. 'What is that poor girl going through that made her lash out at Darien? She also seemed terrified when she bumped into Lita and Raye. Hmm, Raye was quite vocal about her displeasure at being knocked down. And in looks alone, Lita can be intimidating,' She thought, losing track of time.
"Two days in row of not being late? This has to be a dream. Did somebody finally get that girl an alarm clock?" A voice called out, bringing Amy out of her thoughts. Sure enough, Serena was walking down the hall towards her. Taking a deep breath to steady herself, Amy turned to face her.
"Hello Tsukino! I'm Amy Mizuno, and I wanted to speak with you before class," Amy said brightly. Serena managed to hold in her shock, albeit barely, when she recognized who had spoken to her. It was the former Princess of Mercury, and current Sailor Mercury. Fear crept in, as Serena thought that this girl had figured out who she was.
"Hi. Uh, what did you want to talk about?" Serena asked, cursing her luck of being early. This was why she preferred to be late. That way no one could corner you at an inopportune moment. At least that was the excuse she told herself for always oversleeping.
"Well, um, I wanted to first apologize for Darien's behavior yesterday," Amy replied. Serena's face paled at the reminder of that horrible conversation. "After the girls and I bumped into you outside, he told us what had happened. I think that what he said was insensitive, especially considering that he does not know you well, and couldn't possibly know what your life is like."
'You have no idea! So, she knows him in this time. Luna better find out how much they remember!' Serena thought as Amy quickly finished her speech. She then noticed that Amy was waiting for a response.
"Thank you for checking up on me. I was just a little cranky yesterday, that's all," She answered giving a thumbs up. Serena winced, as the motion had tugged on the skin that had been burned. Although being Sailor Moon meant that she would always heal faster than the average person, the acid had been quite potent, leaving painful marks.
"Those look pretty painful. What happened?" A new voice asked, interrupting their conversation. Both girls looked up to see Lita standing there. "I'm Lita Kino, by the way." The other two girls had been so engrossed in their own thoughts, that neither one of them had heard nor seen her walk up to them. Serena tried hiding her hands, but Amy saw the burns on her legs.
"Oh goodness! You must be in so much pain from those," She said glancing at Serena to check for more injuries.
"I'm fine. My mom helped me clean the worst of them last night," the blonde answered, without directly addressing Lita's question. She did not want them asking questions about why she was at the park when there was an attack. Lita took a look at the petite girl in front of her. They didn't look like heat or fire burns. There were too many small spots for flames to have done the damage. The brunette's eyes widened when she realized where she had seen burns like that. Several bigger ones had littered the battlefield yesterday. What the hell was Serena doing at the park yesterday during the attack? As far as she knew, Lita hadn't seen her there. 'Although, we did arrive to the party pretty late. Maybe she was hit before we got there,' she thought, trying to think everything through.
"Serena! These are pretty bad. I may not be a doctor yet, but I can tell these are very painful," Amy said, rummaging in her bag. She sighed, looking at the various books in her bag, trying to pinpoint where she had left that Mercurian healing salve. A smile crossed her face as she spotted the small little sky blue pot at the bottom of her bag. It was something she kept with her at all times. After a particularly hard battle against Jadeite, Amy had found the miraculous minor cure-all formula in her computer. The healing salve had saved her and the others from some nasty wounds, and even nastier questions. She grabbed it and handed it to Serena.
"Here, take this. It's a healing cream from Europe. My mom's a doctor, with some pharmaceutical friends," Amy continued, ignoring the shocked look in Lita's face. The warrior of lightning couldn't believe her ears. Did little shy Amy really make up a lie like that so easily?
"Oh thanks! But why?" Serena asked, confused by their sudden kindness. 'Oh no! They must know who I am. Why else would they be so nice?' She thought, terrified. That thought was soon forgotten as Serena sighed in relief when she rubbed the salve on her hands.
"Well, I, uh," Amy stammered, unable to actually give an answer.
"Amy wants to be a doctor herself, so when someone is in pain, she can't stand it. But seriously? How did this happen? Is there someone hurting you?" Lita replied, ready to beat someone.
"It looks like the same burns on our classmates. They were caught up in the youma attack yesterday," A new voice chimed in. The three girls looked over and saw Melvin standing there, far too close for comfort.
"Yeah, I heard about that attack. Were you nearby, Serena?" Amy asked.
"Well, you see, I have a cat. And she got spooked and ran towards the park. I didn't realize that there was a youma attack until I got splashed by something. And man it burned!" Serena retorted, thanking the stars that she was able to fall back on the same story she had told her parents.
"A cat?" Lita asked, looking at Amy. Amy faintly nodded back, acknowledging this interesting turn in the conversation.
"Yeah, a super cute black cat, named Luna. Although, right now I think she's a real pain with all the trouble she's caused," the blonde said, hoping this conversation would end. She looked at the clock on the wall and wondered why time was going so slowly. Why couldn't class start now?
"So Serena, did you see Sailor Moon?" Melvin asked with a glint in his eye.
"Yeah, she was amazing! She yelled at that creepy monster, and it gave me a chance to run," Serena answered. It was always so nice to be able to pump herself up. Her appearances as Sailor Moon were always so quick to avoid widespread recognition, but a little adoration from fans never hurt.
"Sailor Moon? Who's that? I've only heard of the Sailor Scouts, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, and Venus," Lita said cutting in. She winced as Amy's arm collided with her shoulder. 'Damn, she's really been putting in some extra training. That hurt!'
"Sailor Scouts? Are they some knock off group?" Serena asked innocently. She wanted to see their reactions. Had they been back on the moon, Jupiter and Mercury would have pounced on her for making such an implication. She was rewarded when both Amy and Lita looked appalled and annoyed.
"Actually, both Sailor Moon and the Sailor Scouts are similar. Although, Sailor Moon did appear in Tokyo first, about a year ago, the Sailor Scouts soon followed about four months later. However, they don't seem to be working together, as every time Sailor Moon has been seen saving people, she's always by herself. Kind of sad, really. And the Sailor Scouts are a strong team, assisted by Tuxedo Mask," Melvin replied with a smug smile. He actively hunted down information about all of Tokyo's superheroes.
"Wow Melvin, what other information do you have?" Lita asked leaning forward to hear more. Maybe he was the key to finding Sailor Moon. Serena, however, was fidgeting the entire time Melvin spoke. She wanted nothing more than to be in her classroom, away from this conversation. Although she perked up at the mention of the tuxedoed man.
"Oh, who's Tuxedo Mask? He sounds dreamy!" She chimed in with a faraway look in her eyes.
"Serena, don't you ever stop thinking about cute boys," Molly interjected. She had come up to this curious little group, wondering what was going on. However, at the mention of a cute boy and seeing Serena's reaction, Molly just rolled her eyes.
"Come one, the bell is going to ring," the red-head said pulling Serena into the classroom.
"Maybe we can talk more about the Sailor Scouts later, Melvin," Amy said as she and Lita started to walk to their classroom. He nodded, clearly stunned that he knew more about something than Amy Mizuno. It was the bell ringing that broke him out of his confusion, "AH! Now I'm late!" He cried before running to the classroom.
/
Another sigh escaped his lips, the words of the open textbook blurring in front of him. He couldn't concentrate on anything after waking up this morning. He was in such a fog that he completely missed his morning meeting with Serena. An image of her face, contorted in rage, came to mind. With a small chuckle, Darien tried to read the same sentence for the eight time. However, halfway through the sentence, a different image popped up. It was one from his dreams.
Instead of a foggy void, Darien found himself standing at the top of marble stairs, looking out at the dancers in the ballroom. His parents had thrown a masquerade ball in celebration of their thirty years as monarchs. Usually he enjoyed these parties, but lately, his father had dropped hints of finding a wife for him. It was such an ordeal, that he briefly considered going back to his private chambers with the generals. At least he could always goad one or two of them into a few games of cards. It was this thought on his mind when a flash of gold caught his eye. He turned his head to see that it was long golden hair, done up in a curious style of two buns, with hair streaming from them. With an impish grin, he turned to follow this walking treasure to see what, or rather, who it was. He grabbed a small white mask from the pedestal. It was plain, and meant only for those who had forgotten their own masks. It would suit him for now.
It was quiet outside, as most of the attendees were too busy enjoying the wine and music. He quickly spotted gold once more, and saw a beautiful woman. Or at least she looked beautiful, even with her mask on. It was a delicate thing made of molten silver that hide the entire upper half of her face, reaching her hairline, and only exposing the skin from her nose down. It was an odd choice, but one that peaked his curiosity. Her entire being seemed to glow in the light of the full moon. She turned towards him as she heard his footsteps.
"Hello, and who might you be?" She asked in a lilting, musical voice. With a start, Darien recognized that voice as that of the ghostly princess.
"Wouldn't that be defeating the whole point of the mask?" He answered, his voice strong, echoing some authority. In his mind that was not the question he wanted to ask her. It seemed, however, in this dream, he had no control over himself. The woman laughed, but not cruelly. She seemed genuinely amused by his question.
"Yes, I'm sure that in some way it would be. But I have always been too curious for my own good," She answered, a smile curling on her lips. He followed that movement, wishing to know exactly what those lips felt like.
"Perhaps I could tell you my name, after a dance?"
"Hmm, pushing your luck I see."
"How so?" He questioned.
"Trying to entice me with a dance. For all you know, I could be someone very important or dangerous," She answered.
"And so could I."
"So we are at an impasse."
Darien enjoyed their banter, she wasn't like most of the court women, fawning and false, enamored with his looks and royal heritage. She was actually challenging him, and he liked the different feeling of it. Everything about her seemed to be enchanting, from her voice, to her dress, and even her mask. It all invoked a sense of mystery.
"Who are you, my lady?" He asked, seriously. He felt such a pull towards her. A small sad smile crossed her face.
"An interloper to this party, I'm afraid," She answered turning away from him. He was about to reach out towards her arm when a male voice called out.
"Your Highness? Where are you? Answer me, Prince Endymion!"
Darien turned to look behind him, to see who was calling him. When he glanced back to the mysterious woman, she was gone.
It was at this point Darien had woken up with an echo of that name in his head. Endymion. He could have sworn he had heard it before, some time ago. But every time he thought about it, he couldn't remember where. Everything about that dream had felt so real, and seemed so intimate to him. It was like watching a movie, with himself as the main character. Freaky, yet oddly compelling. He sighed again, knowing that today was not going to be a productive day at school. Darien ran a hand through his unkempt hair, making the connection between the woman in the mask, and the phantom princess. There was no doubt that they were the same, the voice, the dress, all of it. And yet, he still couldn't see who she was. He spent the rest of the day annoyed that the princess had managed to avoid identification in two separate dreams. 'If we ever do find her,' he thought 'she'll have hell to pay for all of my sleepless nights.'
/
The day passed quietly, for the two former planetary princesses. At lunch they were able to get more information out of Melvin about Sailor Moon. What he had said made sense as to why they had never seen her before. Almost every time they were out defending the city against a Dark Kingdom attack, Sailor Moon was also out destroying youma in a separate area. The attacks seemed to coincide with each other, always pulling them in opposite directions. And according to Melvin, Sailor Moon always finished her battles quickly. The most recent battle had been the first time she wasn't able to destroy the enemy on her own.
"Sheesh, she must be strong if she's been fighting on her own all this time. Could you imagine trying to take out one of those things by yourself?" Lita questioned as she and Amy walked to the shrine. Today was a real, scheduled meeting, unlike the impromptu one yesterday when they were so stunned by Sailor Moon's reaction to them.
"She must have been the one to take out Jadeite, if you think about it. All of a sudden he disappeared after our fight at the airport," Amy mused. They walked up the stairs to the Hino shrine, conversing quietly about the information gleaned from Melvin. When they reached the top they saw Raye sweeping, by herself.
"Oh good, now that you two are here I can stop sweeping," She said happily. The three of them moved to the courtyard to wait for Mina, Artemis, and Darien. Thankfully, they didn't have to wait long for them.
"Alright, Ames, how's the list going?" Mina asked, thinking of their discussion the day before.
"Well, I'm almost done compiling it. I received some last minute information from a reliable source at school about Sailor Moon," Amy responded opening her computer.
"List?" Darien asked.
"Yeah, after the battle yesterday, we came back here to figure out what the hell happened," Raye answered. "Which reminds me, what about that Princess huh? Did you get any new information?"
The girls looked at Darien, except Amy, who was typing away at her computer. Melvin's information was very helpful, because she could now triangulate all of the places attacked by the Dark Kingdom to predict the next one. Then they could meet up with Sailor Moon. They could also double check with the list of thirty classmates at Juuban High that fit the physical and mental checklist for being Sailor Moon.
"The dream changed," He replied simply. The girls gasped and waited for his next words.
"Well? What happened?" Mina said her eyes narrowing in annoyance with his hesitation.
"It started off like the usual. I waited for her to appear. She appeared, said the same crap as always. I asked her, nicely, the questions that we have all asked. That's when it changed. She said to bring her the crystal and she will answer my questions," he answered.
"That's an interesting change. Either your subconscious is close to remembering our past on its own, or the Princess herself is now actively sending messages," Amy chirped, looking up from her work. The other girls just stared at him.
"I wonder why she can't say anything until she has the Imperial Crystal?" Raye asked.
"Maybe she's under some sort of spell?" Mina retorted. "That might be why she always calls Darien her prince?"
"Mina, quit being the romantic. This isn't a fairy tale!" Lita said groaning. 'Leave it to the Scout of Love to see a budding romance everywhere,' the brunette thought.
At the word Prince, Darien looked up startled. Someone in his dream last night, had referred to him as a prince. Was there a connection? He had to remember where he had heard that name before. That might be the clue to finding the Princess and the Crystal. 'If we find the Princess, Sailor Moon would have to join with us, forming a full team. Then with all of us together, we can finally remember what happened all those years ago.'
Mina looked at him, as he concentrated on something. She battled with her own thoughts. Mina didn't want to tell the others that she was having weird dreams about dances and battles in some white marble palace. Artemis had told them that they had lived over a thousand years ago in the Moon Kingdom, and that it was super important to find their long lost Princess, but he was pretty unsure about everything else. Amy theorized that his memory had possibly been tampered with.
"Anyway, moving on, we need to talk about civilian safety at these attacks," Amy said butting in. Her mind was on Serena and her horrific burns. The bubbly blonde said that they didn't hurt, but they sure looked painful.
"What? That's an odd topic," Raye replied.
"She's thinking about Serena," Lita retorted. Mina watched as the name pulled Darien out of his reverie.
"What happened to Meatball Head?" He asked now invested in the conversation once more.
"She was at the park yesterday, and got caught in the early onslaught. Supposedly she was chasing after her cat, Luna, because it got out of the house," Amy answered. Up until this point, Artemis was slowly falling asleep. He'd had a big lunch earlier, and sitting in the sunlight made him drowsy. He was moments from falling asleep until he heard that name.
"Did you say Luna?" He asked, suddenly standing up, looking at Amy.
"Yeah, that's what she said the name was. Serena said she was running after her black cat named Luna," Amy replied, intrigued by Artemis's response.
"Is Serena on your list of possibilities?" the feline asked.
"Oh please Artemis! That klutz? Isn't that the same one who always runs into you, Darien?" Raye questioned. She couldn't believe that the girl who knocked them down yesterday could possibly be their lost scout.
"Yeah, that's her," Darien answered.
"Yes, she's on my list, due to the fact that Sailor Moon seemed to trip over her own feet yesterday. Why?" Amy supplied, turning the questioning back to Artemis.
"Because Luna and I were both advisors to Queen Serenity, the princess's mother. She was once guardian of the princess, as I was guardian of the scouts. It would make sense that she would either know the identity of the princess or be looking for her," He responded.
"But what about Sailor Moon? Do you remember her?" Mina said interrupting him.
"No, I have no memories of her. But I don't have my full memories back. Hell, we still have no idea about who Darien was, or why he has abilities. No offense," the white cat said turning to the young man. Darien shrugged in a none-taken kind of way.
"So Serena is a klutz, who has suspiciously has a cat named Luna. Maybe we should find a way to get Artemis and this Luna together to see if she's the same one. I mean the cat I spoke to yesterday seemed to freeze when I mentioned your name, Artemis," Lita offered.
"You met her yesterday? Mina! Why didn't you tell me?" the cat bristled.
"Sorry, I kind of forgot. I mean, its fine, you know now. What's the use of crying over ripped silk?" She replied.
"That's spilled milk!" Artemis cried.
"Whatever," the blonde said. The girls were giggling at the exchange between the scout of love and her feline guardian. The two felt offended and began bickering with the other three girls. After a few minutes of this, Darien could feel a headache coming.
"Enough! We are wasting time."
The others stopped, feeling the authority in his voice. They had never seen this side of him before, and frankly it was astounding. Even as the leader of the Sailor Scouts, Mina felt that she could not disobey, what sounded like an order.
"Look, how about we keep an eye on Serena, and go through Amy's list? That way we can possibly find the princess and Sailor Moon before the Dark Kingdom does," he offered to the group. The girls nodded, and continued on with their meeting. Several more topics were brought up, until Mina realized that she had a tutoring session coming up. Without so much of a goodbye, she rushed down the stairs of the shrine. Taking that as their lead, the others decided to end the meeting. Artemis sat thinking about everything he had learned this afternoon. It was exciting to hope that Luna had been reincarnated with them, yet, he was troubled by the fact she hadn't found him, er, them. He hoped that she was ok. With these thoughts in his head, he made his way down the stairs, ready to go back to Mina's apartment.
"Hello, Artemis. It's been awhile," A female voice purred to his right. Artemis turned, eyes widening in shock.
"Luna?"