Journeys Through the Past
A Sailor Moon Fanfic by Sailor Chronos
Chapter Eight: Biding Time
The Sailor Senshi and Tuxedo Kamen had thwarted yet another enemy attack, but their facial expressions showed their reluctance to go back home and wait for the next one. They couldn't voice their concerns since Sailor Chronos was with them; they had to keep up the appearance of ignorance.
To her credit, Chibiusa unhesitantly asked the suspected Alyssa clone if they could go out for ice cream, and the two of them detransformed and went off.
"Do you think she'll be safe?" a worried Usagi wondered.
"I believe she can take care of herself," Mamoru said, putting his arm around Usagi's shoulders to comfort her.
Makoto grinned. "Yeah, Chibiusa-chan has been through a lot worse than this. Let her be. In the meantime, what do we do? We don't even know why this fake Alyssa is here."
"I've been thinking about that too," said Ami. "She could be trying to get our secrets for the enemy. Or she's waiting for the right time to betray us."
"Maybe if we confront her, we can turn her over to our side," Minako suggested.
Usagi giggled. "That only happens in the movies. You've been watching too much television, Minako-chan!"
"I'm sure we'll find out everything soon enough," Rei said. "I have this feeling of tension in the air, like something's going to break."
They all looked toward the place where the invisible enemy base was. Behind them the sun was setting, casting long shadows.
"TEMPORAL FORCE DISSOLUTION!"
Several of the advancing Lemures were destroyed, but were quickly replaced by others. .Sailor Chronos backed up until she hit the bar, then she jumped on top of it. There were more than twenty Lemures in the room, plus Tiger Eye and Hawk Eye. Kurisu was chained to the wall behind her.
"Sailor Chronos, go!" he shouted.
"Not without you!" she yelled back, and drew her sword. In the blink of an eye she dispatched five more Lemures who were crowding around the counter.
Hawk Eye laughed. "You'll never get out of here alive, so you may as well stop fighting!"
"Says you!" she retorted. She wasn't going to waste pleasantries on these people. "Now shut up!" Flinging out her left hand, she threw a disk at him, but he ducked just in time and the wall behind him flickered as her power affected it.
Tiger Eye smirked. "I'm impressed. Maybe we should just keep you and convert you to our side!"
"In your dreams!"
One of the Lemures, who looked like a stuffed bear wearing boxing gloves, leaped up onto the counter and began to rain blows on her. She blocked most of them, but eventually one vicious punch landed, sending her flying across the room. Her sword clanged to the floor and another Lemure picked it up with an evil grin.
"Look out!"
Kurisu's shout encouraged Chronos to scramble out of the way as a caricature of a ballerina attacked her with her own sword. A well-placed kick unbalanced the creature enough for her to retrieve her weapon, but by then she was surrounded. She leaped out of their circle and back to the counter, but the bear Lemure was waiting for her and punched her again.
This time she was flung straight upwards, but she twisted in midair and grabbed onto a chandelier hanging from the ceiling with her free hand. Panting, she swung from the fixture back to the floor behind the bar, next to Kurisu. With four carefully executed slashes, she freed him from the chains without leaving a scratch on him.
"You should have left me behind," he said sadly as the crowd of Lemures began to climb over the bar, led by the bear. "I'm only slowing you down."
"I don't abandon my friends," was her staunch reply.
"Then you'll die together!" Tiger Eye yelled, cracking his whip.
The situation looked grim. The Lemures were almost on them, and she was tired. She could attempt to teleport both of them away, but she realized she wouldn't be able to keep up the level of concentration that was required in her present condition. They could end up anywhere.
Lifting her weapon, she stood to face the oncoming horde. She was a Sailor Senshi! She wouldn't run from this! If she was going to die, at least she would go down fighting in the defense of her Kingdom and her Princess. And Kuri-chan.
"Alyssa."
Chronos was startled to hear that soft voice in her head. The voice of someone who was long dead.
"Alyssa."
She closed her eyes.
A grassy field filled with tiny yellow flowers stretched out toward distant snow-capped mountains. A gentle warm breeze was blowing. Alyssa walked, not knowing where she was going or why. Time seemed to have no meaning at this moment.
Beside her was a shimmering form that solidified into an adult woman with a beautiful face that gave the impression of great wisdom. Her long dark hair and white gown flowed in the wind.
She stared. "Mirai," she whispered.
The former Sailor Chronos smiled at her successor. "Dear Alyssa. Always true to your duty." She sighed. "It's time you started to think about your own happiness, child. I always wondered if I had done the right thing when I forced you to sunder your relationship."
"I was rather rebellious at the time," Alyssa admitted. "I needed guidance so I could carry out my duties as a Senshi when the time came. I don't blame you for that."
"I'm glad to hear that. However, the Princess is growing up, and soon won't need your protection any longer. Find yourself another duty when our Kingdom is reborn."
"I shall, Mirai. If I can get myself out of the situation I bungled myself into." She chuckled. "I may end up joining you yet."
Mirai stopped and pointed a finger at Alyssa's chest. "Your power is in your heart. Use it." She began to fade. "I will always be with you." Her voice became a whisper, then all Alyssa could hear was the wind.
Chronos opened her eyes to see the Lemures moving toward them, then glanced at Kurisu. The warm feeling that she got whenever she thought about him filled her heart. She would not let him down again!
She smiled.
The Lemures hesitated. Why would a doomed person be happy?
Sheathing her sword, she called out, "Twenty to two? That's not too shabby for a setup like this. Let's even things up a bit!" Words formed in her mind as she summoned her renewed power. "Chronos!" She put out her hand and sparkling silver light sprang forth, forming into a hourglass shape that hovered in front of her. Turning it over, she held it above her head, where it began to spin. "TEMPORAL VORTEX!" A tornado-like stream of energy sprouted from the hourglass and whipped into the massed Lemures, instantly rendering those it contacted into glittering dust.
The remaining creatures panicked and fled. Tiger Eye and Hawk Eye stared at her in shock.
"That's better," she said sweetly. "Are you two ready to play now?"
Tiger Eye disappeared through a portal. "This isn't finished, Sailor Chronos!" Hawk Eye shouted before following.
"It is now." She turned to Kurisu, smiled, and held out her hands. "Let's get out of here."
"How?" he asked, bewildered, as he took her hands. "We certainly can't leave the way we came. Don't tell me you can teleport too?"
"All the Sailors can. Just hold tight and concentrate on that park we met in earlier, okay?" She held that place firmly in her mind, hoping that she would be able to do this. There were two of them, but they weren't going far and maybe she wouldn't have to do any fighting for a while afterward.
She closed her eyes and focused her energy. "SAILOR TELEPORT!"
They were both encompassed in brilliant silver light. A bubble formed around them, then they were gone.
Rei was kneeling in front of the altar, praying. Behind her sat Minako, Makoto, Ami and Usagi. Artemis and Luna were nearby. "Sacred fire, show us who the false Alyssa is. Why is she here?" The fire flickered and an image appeared of Alyssa and Chibiusa sitting by a fountain in the shopping district. There was a faint aura around both of them: Chibiusa's was a bright pink but Alyssa's was black, and seemed to originate from a mark on her forehead that was hidden under her hair.
Gasping in horror, Rei turned to the others. "It's a Lemure!"
"I suspected as much," Ami said. "It's quite sophisticated for a Lemure, come to think of it."
"Chibiusa is in big trouble!" Usagi wailed.
Minako shook her head. "It doesn't seem so right now. Maybe it's like Ami-chan said, the fake is waiting for the right time."
"I still don't like this sitting around," grumbled Makoto.
"Neither do I," Rei agreed. "We need to do something!"
A chime sounded from Rei's computer. Artemis leaped up onto the desk and began to type, and the girls all crowded around it. "What's happening?" Makoto asked.
Luna stared at the screen curiously. "It looks like we just received an Email. But nobody knows this address except for you girls, Mamoru-san, Darla and-"
"Lia-chan!" Usagi crowed. "She's okay!"
"Not necessarily," Artemis said. "It could be the Lemure, using Alyssa's knowledge. Of course, that's assuming that the duplication was that complete. We'll see when I bring it up." He opened the message, but all it consisted of was a short series of periods and dashes, nothing more.
Ami peered at it. "It looks like Morse code. What does it say?"
The white cat frowned, then turned to face them. "You're not going to like this."
"WELL?" the girls chorused.
"It says, 'Wait'."