Journeys Through the Past
A Sailor Moon fanfic by Sailor Chronos
Chapter Nine: Destiny's Battle
Journal, April 9th 1995, continued
We made it. Barely. After seeing Kurisu-san home, I returned to my apartment and left an Email message for the others after teaching myself Morse code in a hurry. I hope they'll understand what I meant; I didn't want to take the chance of contacting them directly in case I was being watched. Actually I had expected company when I got back but there's no sign of anyone having been here since I left this morning. I'm grateful for that, because I'm sure there are going to be double problems tomorrow.
Lamplight was reflected from the highly polished surface of the desk. A young man in a uniform sat there, staring at the blank piece of paper in front of him and nervously twirling a pen in his right hand.
"Kurin?" a female voice asked from behind him. "The shuttle is here. Will you be long?"
He sighed. "I just want to finish this letter, Mother."
"All right, but it's best not to keep the Minister waiting. We're all proud of you." The door closed.
After closing his eyes for a moment, he began to write. A teardrop blotted the page. "I'm sorry, Lia-chan," he whispered to himself.
"He WHAT?" Alyssa shouted, furious at having her training interrupted, and worse, with news like this! "Why didn't he SAY something? Why didn't he TELL me!"
"Calm down, Alyssa," her mother said gently. "He couldn't tell you because you were in seclusion with Mirai and Sailor Mara. However he wrote you this letter." The willowy blonde woman walked up to her and presented an envelope bearing Kurin's family seal.
With trembling fingers, Alyssa broke the seal and read the letter. As she read, her hands lost all feeling and the paper fluttered to the floor. She didn't bother to pick it up. "He's gone already," she said softly, tears starting to flow. "He didn't even wait to say goodbye! HOW COULD HE DO THIS TO ME?"
"Please stop over-reacting," her father said, having come into the room when he heard her yells. "You knew he was training for the position." The wall lamps distorted the shadow of his muscular form.
"Yes, but I never thought he would have to leave!"
"Come now, dear..." Linae tried to put an arm around her daughter's shoulders but it was shrugged off. "This is an important appointment for Kurin. He was chosen over many other qualified boys to be a page for Minister Alcon. You should be happy for him."
Alyssa choked back a sob. "But-"
"No arguments now." Darin's deep voice was stern. "What do you think Mirai would say if she saw her protegee behaving like this? Your fifteenth yearing is coming soon, then you'll be confirmed as the new Sailor Chronos. You can't afford to be distracted."
Glaring at her parents with reddened eyes, she cried, "Distracted? The man I love is gone and I may never see him again! How can you stand there and tell me I should be unconcerned!"
Darin snorted in frustration. "Of course you'll see him again! When you become a Senshi you'll have ample opportunities to visit him on the Moon. You'll even meet Queen Serenity... Alyssa!" His call fell on deaf ears as Alyssa fled from the room and slammed the door.
"I didn't think she would take it this badly, Darin," his wife said apologetically.
"It's better that she knows now rather than later, Linae. She'll have to get over it eventually. If she's to become Sailor Chronos, she needs to control herself."
In the privacy of her room, Alyssa wept until she no longer had the energy to continue. She knew that Kuri-chan's situation had been unavoidable but that didn't help her feel any better.
As she sat morosely on the edge of her bed, she noticed the little leather-bound box that contained the diamond lapel pin that was a gift from her parents to wear at her confirmation. She removed the pin and gazed at the intricate facets of the stone, then made a decision. She WOULD become Sailor Chronos. Not just for her parents, but for Mirai and Darla. Most of all, for Kuri-chan, since he would have wanted her to succeed. And she would never allow her feelings to get the best of her again: she would keep herself apart, never getting too close to anyone.
It was a high price to pay. She hoped it would be worth it.
Alyssa woke from a fitful sleep and glanced at the digital clock on her nightstand: two A.M. Her bedclothes were rumpled and the pillow wet; evidence of another dream, and a bad one at that. Shivering despite the warmth of the room, she staggered to her feet, remade the bed and pulled a spare pillow out of the closet.
Sleep eluded her as the details of the dream slowly filtered into her consciousness. Now she remembered everything, and why she had forcibly locked that part of her life away. She had sacrificed her feelings for her duty. But that was in the past. This was the present.
This time she was going to get her life back.
"AAAHHH! WE'RE LATE!" Two blonde-haired girls ran haphazardly along the sidewalk.
"Why did you have to start playing that Sailor V game!" Minako panted. "Now we're gonna miss our study session!"
"It wasn't ALL my fault!" retorted Usagi. "You were flirting with that cute boy!"
"Look out!"
Usagi tried to stop but ended up careening into the woman that was walking ahead of them. There was a momentary tangle of arms and legs. Minako ended up on the bottom, the woman sprawled across her stomach face-down, and Usagi sitting on top of them both.
Minako groaned, then did a double-take. "Alyssa-san!"
The pale-haired girl lifted her head onto her raised forearms. "You know, we really ought to stop meeting like this!" Her tone was amused.
Immediately Usagi got to her feet, stammering apologies as she helped them up.
Alyssa laughed as she brushed the dust off her uniform. "I'm okay. Where are you going in such a hurry?"
"We've got a meeting at Rei-chan's. Come ON, Usagi!" Minako tore off again, hauling Usagi along behind her. Usagi looked back momentarily; was that the real Alyssa or the clone? She didn't have time to think about it, as she had to watch where she was putting her feet.
They were in for a surprise when they reached the shrine. Alyssa was already there, along with the rest of the girls. "Hey, we were just about to give up on you two," Rei grumbled.
"What's the problem?" asked Makoto, as Usagi was staring at Alyssa suspiciously.
"Huh?" Usagi suddenly remembered that she was supposed to play ignorant, which for her wasn't hard, and began to laugh. "Oh, I was just looking at Lia-chan's nice pin. I wish I had one too!"
Chibiusa pulled a face. "Don't count on it. That diamond is probably worth more money than you'll ever make in your lifetime!"
Luna and Artemis exchanged embarrassed glances.
"It is beautiful though," Minako commented. "Where did you get it?"
Alyssa hesitated. "I've always had it. I don't remember where it came from or how I got it, but I wear it because it's pretty."
"It suits you," Makoto said. "Just like these suit me." She angled her head so they all could see the red rose earrings that she wore.
Rei dropped a pile of books on the table and Usagi recoiled from them as if they were a youma. "We're here to discuss school, not jewelry. How'd your first day back at school go, Alyssa-san?"
"Well enough. It felt strange to be back after so long."
"I'm sure you'll be used to it again after a few days," Ami said. "It's always hard to make big changes in your routine."
"Are you all right, Lia-chan?" Usagi asked suddenly, for Alyssa was fidgeting uncomfortably.
"Uh... Yes, I'm fine." Alyssa stood up and smiled. "I just wanted us to stop the chat and get down to business." Her expression slowly changed to one of pure malice. "And my name isn't Alyssa... it's Assyra!" She held her hands out in a threatening gesture!
As the girls stared at her in momentary shock, papers on the table ruffled as a breeze blew through the room. Everyone looked toward the open door to see that Sailor Chronos was there, leaning against the door frame. "Your business is with me, reflection."
The clone gasped. "You escaped? Impossible!" In a moment she recovered her composure and glared at Chronos. "Just as well. I was looking forward to killing you myself." Her clothes warped and transformed into an exact duplicate of Chronos' Sailor fuku, and she tossed her hair, revealing the Lemure mark on her forehead. "There is room here for only one of us!"
"Fair enough," Chronos said casually, not moving from the spot. "But you'll have to keep the apartment tidy, go to school on time, do your homework with the girls, and make sure Chibiusa-chan doesn't eat too much ice cream." She ticked off each point on her fingers.
Assyra howled in fury and charged through the doorway into the yard, but Sailor Chronos wasn't there any more. "Where are you? Come out, or I'll start aging your friends to oblivion one by one!"
"Oh, so they're MY friends now?" came the same casual voice from somewhere above. "I seem to remember you saying that they were YOUR friends. Tsk tsk. If you're really me, then you ought to know who your friends are."
Assyra hesitated. "I have no friends. I live only to serve the glory of the Dead Moon!"
"Are you sure?" Chronos asked, leaping down from the roof of the shrine. "There are six girls here who were willing to be your friends, even though they knew your nature. Will you deny yourself the chance to live among real people instead of being at the Dead Moon's beck and call?"
"Don't try to confuse me!" the clone shouted. "STASIS DISK!" She threw the shimmering silver orb.
Sailor Chronos easily caught it. "You're my reflection. You know I'm right." She held the disk up with one hand until it faded away. "How about I just walk away and let you take over? I'm sure it'll be a whole new experience for you."
Usagi walked up. "We'd be happy to be your friends, if you'd give us the chance."
The Lemure stared at them, then roughly shoved Usagi aside. "You keep out of this, odango atama! This is between me and Miss Perfect!"
A tarnished sword appeared in her left hand and she thrust it toward Chronos, who backflipped away.
"I'm not perfect, not by a long shot," Chronos said, parrying another thrust with her own sword. "I'm just wise enough to know my limitations." For the next few moments she couldn't speak, saving her energy to fight Assyra. She had always hated fencing with a left-handed opponent.
"If you were so wise, you wouldn't have allowed your planet to die!" The Lemure made a savage cut across Chronos' midsection. Fabric ripped.
"Alyssa-san!" Makoto shouted.
"Don't interfere!" Chronos gasped. The front of her skirt now hung at her knees, and blood was flowing from a gash on her left thigh.
"First blood's mine!" Assyra gloated, holding up her stained blade.
Taking advantage of her opponent's carelessness, Chronos tripped her up with a scissor kick, rolled to her feet and held her sword at the Lemure's throat. "I didn't allow my planet to die; I had no choice in the matter, as you well know. Now, I really don't want to kill you, but if you persist in this insanity I won't have a choice about that either. My offer still stands."
Assyra sneered up at Chronos, "The only thing standing at the end of this will be me!" She held her hands above her head and a bright spark of energy appeared between them.
Rei, sensing what was about to happen, yelled "NO!"
Sailor Chronos leaped backwards as the Lemure made a throwing motion with her arms. A blindingly bright light enveloped both of them!
"LIA-CHAN!" Usagi screamed.
The girls were all forced to cover their eyes until the light finally faded. For a moment, the area was eerily quiet; not a bird chirped nor did a branch rustle. The place where the combatants had been was empty save for a few dead leaves.
A groan came from nearby.
"Over there!" Minako pointed, and they rushed to where a still form was lying on the ground. "She's alive!"
Chibiusa looked doubtful. "Which one is it?"
Makoto stooped and carefully moved the white hair aside. There was no mark. "It's the real Chronos."
"Let's get her inside," Ami said. Using a sheet as an impromptu stretcher, they carried her into the temple.