The rest of the weekend passed without any attacks and Sunday evening rolled on. Cleo had been training hard with Craig and then studying with Ami before Rei came over. There was a knock on the door and then Rei walked into the sports hall. Cleo used the sports hall for their meeting place before they moved on to the den to watch movies.
"I heard about the attack and the mysterious sailor scout who destroyed it yesterday. Were either of you two still in the mall when it happened?" Rei asked, concerned.
"Yeah, but we ran just like everyone to hide." Ami said, hiding the fact that Cleo didn't want to lie to one of her friends. "Come on; let's go out for a walk. The stars are out and it is a clear night." Ami suggested, the girls nodded and stood up to leave. Cleo heard a door sliding behind her and looked up and saw Justin just coming out of the changing room.
"Where are you girls off to?" he asked "It is late and not really ideal to be walking around by yourselves." He continued as he walked up to them. Rei had a gleam in her eye, she liked Justin, and Cleo could see this and started to feel jealous… however she did not know why.
"We will be fine and won't leave the grounds." Cleo said as she pulled Rei's arm and the girls walked out, leaving Justin alone in the sports hall and Shadow running after the girls.
A shadow appeared out of a tree deep in the forest and smiled. Knowing that the time was right, he placed a crystal in the ground and watched it grow. Once it was complete, the creature bowed to the shadow.
"Bring me the sailor scout." The shadow said. The creature bowed once again and vanished. With a smile, the shadow went back to the dark depths it had come from.
Rei stopped in her tracks, holding out her arm and stopping the other girls.
"Something evil is here." She said. Cleo and Ami nodded, they knew that Rei's physic ability was never wrong. Cleo looked down at Shadow who meowed at her, she sighed, and she could not let Rei get in danger as she knew that this thing was after her.
"Ami, take Rei back to the sports hall. I will follow shortly." Cleo said, Ami nodded, knowing what she was going to do. Before Rei could argue, Cleo ran off.
"Time to transform." Shadow said to her, she nodded and grabbed hold of her locket, saying the words and allowing her transformation to take over. Once she felt her feet touch the grass, she bent down to Shadow.
"I am not going to get used to this, Ami-chan is not going to do what I asked." She said as she picked the cat up and scanned the area. She felt a chill down her spine as she saw something come out of the shadows. It was just like the monster in the mall. She gasped as she let Shadow jump out of her arms. She reached her hand out and the staff appeared there, but before she could get to the monster, she saw a piece of paper fly towards it and hit it; she knew that it was Rei.
"Sailor Stardust, I couldn't stop her." Ami said as she ran up to her. Cleo nodded and told Ami to find Shadow to help her transform as she ran to stop Rei.
The piece of paper that hit the monster had burnt it, Cleo looked at Rei and, just like with Ami, she saw a symbol of the planet Mars appear on her forehead.
"Sailor Mars! Move!" Cleo shouted as the monster went to hit her. Cleo blocked the monster before it struck Rei and looked back. "Please, run and hide. Let me take care of this monster." She said as she kicked it and heard Rei running back. The monster looked at Cleo.
"Just a girl, alone in the dark." It said.
"She is not alone! I am the pretty guardian of the water planet. I am Sailor Mercury!" Ami said. Cleo back flipped back during this time since the monster was distracted by the new scout.
Shadow was running to find Rei; he had to give her the transformation pen. He found her and dropped the pen at her feet.
"Time to awaken Sailor Mars." He said as the beam went from his moon crescent to her head. Once it was over, she nodded and picked up the pen.
Cleo and Ami were fighting the monster that turned out to be a lot stronger than the one in the mall, when all of a sudden, a fireball hit it. The scouts turned to see that Rei had become Sailor Mars. They smiled and nodded at her briefly. The monster stood up and looked at the three scouts now together.
"So, another one has been awoken. Well, let's see how you all hold up against me!" it said as it ran towards them only to be stopped by a rose hitting the ground. The scouts looked at it and saw that it was silver.
"Harassing these girls, I can not forgive. You must learn that evil will never win!" the figure in the tree said to them. Cleo knew just what to do. She closed her eyes and twirled her staff around, just as she did with the previous monster.
"Star cosmic power ignite!" she said as the stars turned into dust and went around the monster. Nothing was left once the dust had cleared. Cleo, again weak from the battle swayed side to side and fell.
"Got you!" was all she heard before she fell into the darkness.
Cleo opened her eyes and saw herself starring into deep blue eyes of a masked stranger.
"Sailor Stardust, are you okay?" he said to her. She nodded slowly and began to stand up, allowing the other two scouts to help her up.
"My work here is done." The masked stranger said as he jumped up into the trees and went into the shadows.
"Welcome to the team Sailor Mars." Cleo was able to say as she smiled at the scouts. "I am sorry to pass out." She continued as she looked at the ground.
"Sailor Stardust, it is only the second battle. I am sure you are using a lot of energy and are not used to it. We will be beside you to fight them." Ami said, Cleo smiled at both of her friends as they walked back to the house, powering down in the process.
"What I want to know is who that masked man who saved us was?" Rei said as they approached the hall, both girls nodded in agreement, but Cleo looked up at the stars, feeling like she knew who he was and that he was there for her.
It was the day of the nationals and Cleo was scared. She had managed to keep on top of her training, schoolwork and also cheer practice and was thankful that no monsters had appeared. Ami was researching all she could with a new small computer that Shadow had given her, but both girls were at the arena to cheer her on today. She let out a deep breath as she looked at Craig. He was just as nervous and did not know how to help. She nodded as she went over to him and he hugged her.
"No matter what happens today sis, you are always a winner. Now go out there and kick some butt!" she said, causing her to laugh. She put on her Ipod, and looked up at the crowd. She saw Ami, Rei and Shadow waving at her and she smiled in acknowledgment, however she did not see the person she was looking for and her heart fell. He had been avoiding her ever since the incident in the woods and she did not know why. She pushed it out of her mind and focused on the competition that lay ahead.
She was leading, and she had just one event left, with this she would win the nationals. Her friends where smiling at her all the time and her brother was always there to help her and she was about to compete in her favorite event, the floor routine. She rubbed her hands with chalk and looked at her brother one last time, allowing a tear to fall from her eye. She was hurting, more than he nor anyone would know. She felt a hand on her shoulder but she did not jump as she felt the kindness coming from the person.
"Don't shed any tears now, it is the time for happiness and not sadness, I know that you can do this." the voice whispered in her ear. She did not turn around but nodded that she understood and took the floor and performed the best routine she could. Sitting in her finishing position, she heard the cheering and clapping in the arena and she knew that her parents were with her, just as happy as her brother was. She smiled as she waved at the crowds and finally her eyes resting on the man in the corridor, the one who had whispered to her the words she needed to hear. He bowed before her and walked off. She smiled, knowing that she would see him later and watched as Craig's face fell as the scores were read out; she had done it and won the nationals.
"Cleo that was amazing!" Rei said to the girl once she was done with photos and interviews. Rei had never seen her friend compete before and for her it was an amazing experience.
"Thank you Rei-chan." Cleo said "but please, can you all excuse me?" she said as she pushed through the crowd of people who were wanting to talk to her about her future and locked herself in her changing room. Here, she finally let the tears fall that she had bottled up.
Ami and Rei were walking around the arena, waiting for Cleo; Shadow was draped around Ami's neck.
"She has a lot of strength, but she is troubled by something else." Rei said to both of them, they nodded in agreement. "We need her to tell us about it, otherwise it will never get solved." Ami said as she looked up and saw Cleo walking out of the changing room with her bag thrown over one shoulder and in her other arm, a bouquet of roses. The bouquet was full of red roses except for one, which the girls could tell was silver. Cleo wiped her eyes, and the girls knew that she had been crying. They went into the shadows of the stair well nearby so that she could not see them, as she was attacked again by a crowd of people. Cleo smiled and waved at them all, answering all of the questions as politely as she could, but all the time, was starring off into the distance. The girls diverted their eyes to where she was looking and they saw a figure standing in the darkness. Rei closed her eyes and concentrated on it.
"There is no evil energy coming from that person, just love and confusion... for Cleo!" Rei explained to Ami and Shadow. Ami gasped as she stepped out and went to find out who the person was. Shadow jumped down and made his way through the crowds to his owner.
"Yes, I mean I could not have done any of this without my brilliant brother and coach." she said to one of the reporters.
"I am sure that your parents are proud of you?" the reporter asked. Cleo heard a meow and saw Shadow on the ground and picked him up.
"My parents are dead, I am sure that you read about that in the newspaper." Cleo said bluntly, stopping new tears from falling down.
"Oh, my apologies, I didn't know." the reporter said, and blushed as she walked away at a fast pace. Cleo sighed and Shadow nuzzled against her to comfort her.
"Please, no more questions, I wish to go home and relax. Please all call by my house in a few days time where my brother has set up a press conference. Please ask him for the details." she said to the reporters who all smiled at her and went to find her brother. Cleo sighed, if she knew that winning the nationals would cause so much attention, she would not have done it.
"Why can I just not be Sailor Stardust and go back home?" she asked Shadow.
"You and the other senshi are here to protect this planet. I am sure we will find the other two sailor warriors soon Cleo. For now, who gave you those flowers?" Shadow asked, Cleo shrugged.
"They were in my changing room when I got back." she said as she allowed the cat to jump down. She picked up her bag and Rei came over to her. "Can we just go home please? Craig said he will follow later. I can do with the walk, since it is not too far." Cleo said to Rei who nodded. Ami came running back to them and Shook her head at Rei, who nodded in understanding. Cleo missed this interaction between her friends; she was starring out into space.
The girls walked home along the beach, the sun still bright on their faces. Cleo stopped, she felt strange. Her forehead glowed and her moon crescent appeared.
"Cleo, stop it! You need to control your feelings and emotions." Shadow said to her, but it was too late. A light engulfed her as she began to change. Once her feet touched the ground, Ami, Rei and Shadow bowed down, knowing who she was.
"Princess, you can not do this to her, she will..." Shadow began as he stood up.
"The power she has is strong, she knows I am here and she knows where I come from. Shadow, find him for me, he is here I can sense him. He needs to find his memories, without them, our future will never happen, the star kingdom will be destroyed by our enemy." Cleo walked over to her friends "Sailor Mercury, Sailor Mars, she needs you and the other senshi more than she would like to admit. Here, these are for you." she said as she waved her hand over their wrists, allowing bracelets to appear. "These will allow all of you to communicate while apart. Shadow, I give you the other two so that once the other senshi are found, you may present them with these. I must go; the hole that is being kept open for me is closing. Remember, find him before the enemy does." she said. They all bowed down one last time as a bright light engulfed Cleo who returned back to normal. She looked at her friends and smiled weakly before looking down at her wrist and noticing the bracelet.
"Are you okay?" Ami said as Cleo sat down on the sand.
"I just need something to eat and drink." she said as she reached into her bag for an energy bar and her flask. After a few minutes she felt better.
"We must move, there is no telling that the enemy felt that tear in time too, they will be able to locate us." he said, the girls nodded, Rei helped Cleo to her feet whereas Ami took her bag and they headed home.
Cleo was sick for a few days, missing the press conference but not school since it was the holidays. She kept running a fever and being sick, and no matter what Ami or Rei did, they did not know why it was happening. Since the princess had come from the future, she was having trouble controlling her transformations, her moon crescent kept coming and going, all the time, Cleo was delusional, calling out her dreams from her life in the star kingdom.
"Shadow, is there anything we can do?" Rei said to the cat on the second day.
"I don't know, I think that this is an internal emotional struggle she is having that has finally surfaced. We need to get inside her head somehow, to help her sort through this." Shadow explained to the other scouts. Rei nodded, she knew of a way to help her friend out.
"I need to get some stuff, Ami, can you look after her? I should be back in a few hours, I need to buy some of the stuff we need to help her." she said, Ami looked up from her book and nodded, taking over the job from her friend. The two girls and cat had never left her side, always switching for breaks and also sleep.
Craig saw Rei leave and decided to go and check to make sure that Ami was okay. He opened the door and looked in. Ami covered Cleo's face since her moon crescent was showing.
"How is she?" Craig asked Ami
"Still the same, we have a way that should help her. I know that you want to take her to a doctor, but please, let Rei try this." Ami said. She knew how worried Craig was, he was always checking up on his sister since she hadn't been well. "How was the press conference?" she asked.
"Short, questions about what is she going to do now, where she was, was she going to take a place in the Olympic team and so on. I know that she does not want to at the moment, we discussed this before the nationals in case that she did win." he said to her as he sat down. Cleo stirred under her blanket. She pushed it down, Ami making sure that the moon crescent was not showing and opened her eyes and saw her brother.
"Hey bro, how are things?" she asked as she tried to sit up. Ami helped her up and gave her a glass of water and held it while she drank through a straw.
"Cleo, I just want you to get better, nothing else is important. Ami and Rei have been with you the whole time, and I have been making sure that they do not get sick, they appear to be strong." he said as he touched his sister's forehead. She was burning up. He reached out and took the flannel that was resting in a bowl of ice water and put it on her head. Cleo closed her eyes as the cold water took some effect and lay back down and her eyes closed automatically. Craig sighed, he did not know what was wrong with his sister and he hoped that Rei's plan would work. Ami reached out and touched his shoulder.
"We will take care of her, please, go and get some rest before your next class." Ami said, Craig looked up at her and smiled weakly and nodded and left the girls in the room.
Ami was getting worried, no matter what she read and tried, nothing was working. She had taken notes about everything that Cleo was saying from her dreams so that she could maybe piece together and help her when the time needed. Rei came back into the room a few hours later, out of breath and with a bag in her hands. She sat down and began unpacking the stuff and making the mixture. Once she was finished, she lit some incense and went up to Ami, Shadow and Cleo. She pulled down the blanket to see her face and saw that she was sweating. She rubbed some of the liquid onto her forehead, and this caused her moon crescent to appear.
"We should transform, just in case something happens." Rei suggested. Ami nodded and they began the transformation. Once complete, Ami picked up the book she had kept her notes in.
"Be careful sailor warriors, we are not sure what demons are in there." Shadow said as the scouts held hands around the bed. The scouts closed their eyes "sailor teleport" Shadow said as the scout disappeared. "I hope that they can help her."