Character List for reference:
Author's Note: So Happy Memorial Day to those in the US. :) Sorry to take so long to update. Last week was a bit crazy, and trying to write on the bus to work while attempting to stay in my seat (because bus drivers are crazy) and protect my tablet from bored kids trying to grab it didn't really work out. LOL ^-^ I think I'll stick to writing at home in peace and quiet. :)
Thanks again for all the reviews and follows. Please let me know what you think of this chapter and what you'd like to see more of in future chapters. I can't express enough thanks fgor all the encouragement. You guys seriously keep me writing! ^-^
Character List:
Mamoru / Endymion = Matai Nazari
Kunzite = Kiral Nazari
Jadeite = Jian Je Zheng
Nephrite = Nate/ Nathanial Taylor
Zoisite = Zachary Brennan
Usagi / Princess Serenity = Sarah Thomas
Ami Mizuno / Sailor Mercury = Amy Stark
Rei Hino / Sailor Mars = Rhiannon Moonbeam
Makoto / Sailro Jupiter = Lise Reinhard
Minako / Sailor Venus = Margaret Stone
Sapphire – Cannot remember his human name
Diamond – cannot remember his human name
Rubeus - unknown
Petz - Patsy
Berthier - Beth
Chapter 5: Part 1 - Cat Nap Interrupted
The alarm klaxon pumped fear into the three boys' hearts as they took off, clambering amongst the rubble, but Zachary could not put out of mind what he had seen in the room. Why would they cage two cats so, and why would they set alarms over such a thing. It pulled and pulled at his curiosity like a missing piece to a jigsaw. He stopped short, Colin nearly slamming into him from behind. "You two go, I have to go back for something." he said, turning on his heels, ponytail whipping behind.
"Zach, are you daft? That alarm'll call the droids down here!"
"Don't worry! I won't let myself get caught. Meet you by the entrance in twenty!", Zach called back, flashing a mischievous grin as he jumped over a fallen pillar in mid stride. The sounds of the alarm grew louder as he neared the room. There they were just as he remembered seeing them. To his best guess those canisters held them in suspended animation of some sort, because they were old, covered in dust, yet the cats within looked as if they could spring up any second. "Now what on Earth is this all about?", he wondered aloud, rubbing some of the dust off with a sleeve. The black one had a strange mark on its forehead but basically, they looked like normal cats.
He gazed over the buttons on the panel, curiosity making his fingers itch to see what the controls did even though he knew he should be getting out of there and fast. It wouldn't be the first time his insatiable curiosity had put him in hot water, but he had come this far. The suspense was so thick he could hardly breathe as he reached out and firmly pressed the large green button on the right. A sudden hissing sound caused him to jump back as the glass covering flipped open and air seemed to rush out from within. His eyes were transfixed on the sleeping cat as it suddenly opened its eyes and climbed to its feet. The cat's eyes seemed to focus across the room on the sleeping white form beneath the glass and suddenly it was pouncing, leaping right for Zachary. He stepped back quickly but his foot hit something hard, throwing him off balance and he fell back into the wall. And then the cat was on his chest, eyes locked with his own.
"Release him. Release Artemis!", the cat spoke, its voice female but firm and urgent.
The cat spoke. That just would not compute inside of his mind. His mind flat out rejected it. Cats don't talk, he told himself. But his fingers reached up for the other green button anyway. "You….you talked…" he managed to spit out, still quite in shock as the glass to the other containment canister flipped open.
The black cat seemed to calm a bit then and to consider him rather than glaring at him. It retracted its claws from his shirt but did not avert its gaze. Both seemed to consider the other, and both seemed to see something interesting in the other's eyes.
Luna's mind was reeling, trying to piece together where she now found herself. It was not where she remembered having been, and her stomach knotted with the certainty that something terrible had happened. Now that she had her bearings, she had begun to sense an odd energy from the teenager, which she could not yet place. But based on his stunned reaction, he was not likely the one who had trapped them here. And she had already spoken once, so there was no point in charades anymore. With a sigh she retracted her claws. "Where am I?", she asked as Artemis began to stir.
Yes indeed, the cat was talking. There was no doubting now, and Zach wondered just what that said for the state of his sanity, "You're in the under-city below New Detroit." And then he added, "Um, New Detroit City…on Earth." Because the only time he had ever heard of talking animals was from an old science fiction book he had pilfered once. And it occurred to him, maybe , as crazy as it seemed, this one was not a normal cat at all.
"So, we're not on the Moon anymore.", the cat said, her eyes seeming troubled at the thought.
Zach's eyebrows went up. "The Moon? Lass, the moon's been gone for years, and no one has ever lived up there. You must be confused." A startled gasp went up from both cats, the white one having come to sit atop the canister. Before he could ask the female cat for an explanation there was an explosive sound as if something had just blasted through a wall. "The droids! Crap we've gotta get out of here and fast! The female cat leapt off his chest as Zach leapt to his feet.
He thought he realized now why so much attention had been paid to two small cats. As farfetched as it seemed, the only rational deduction was that they were not cats but beings from another world. For some reason the government didn't want them free to roam about. But were they dangerous? Something in his gut told him they weren't, and he made his decision. "Ah, well I've never been a good one for followin' rules anyway.", he said with a smirk as he rummaged in his bag. He pulled out two glass bottles and a few rags. He'd loved fire since he was a kid, and back in Ireland you got to know your way around a cocktail by age eight anyway. "You two make a run for it. I'll distract 'em!" He paused with lighter in hand, looking back at the pair. Their eyes were serious as if a heavy load rested on their small shoulders. "Hey, whatever you're looking for. I hope you find it.", he said before turning back to what he was doing.
Luna looked up at Artemis, nudging her head against his shoulder. She was doing her best to hold together but the dam of tears was threatening to let loose. "What do we do Artemis?", she asked, seeming small and lost in that moment.
"For now Luna, we had better run." He gently nudged her forward and they began to run.
Luna cast a quick glance behind, still trying to puzzle out what she sensed in that boy. It wasn't until she was near the surface, having climbed and clambered harder than she ever had before that it dawned on her. Shittenou. That young man was one of the four generals, she was sure of it. But could that really mean that her princess was out there too? Luna could only hope. Even when the sight of the wasted crumbling moon came into sight, Luna clung to that one hope.
Chapter 5: Part 2 - Keeper of the Blue Coat
A gentle breeze blew the clothes on the line, making the shirts seem to dance on the wind. Patsy sighed, closing her eyes for a moment as the breeze tousled her short obsidian hair. In the right light it sometimes almost seemed to have a greenish tint. Her and her sister Beth lived in a small apartment that shared a courtyard with two other buildings. Tenants took turns hanging their clothes on, because no one could afford the expense of drying them by machine.
She picked up the next shirt, a deep blue buttoned blouse that her sister owned. As she held it in the sunlight, a queer feeling of lightheadedness came over her, the blue shirt blurring in her vision. And suddenly it wasn't her sister's blue blazer anymore but a jacket, with buttons, stained at the shoulder crimson red, a red she had struggled for hours to get out, staining it again with her tears in the process. Petz had guarded that coat for such a long time. But where was it now? Yes, she knew her name was not Patsy. The dreams had made it clear to her, and it was also clear to her that she had left her heart with that coat somewhere in time. "Sapphire.", she whispered, feeling her knees tremble as tears ran down her cheeks. "Sapphire!", she called aloud as she sank to her knees.
Beth heard the shout from inside where she had been chopping vegetables and dropped the knife, turning to run towards the yard. "Oh not this again! She was doing so well!" Ever since Patsy had contracted that awful flu last year that nearly killed her, she had been having the strangest visions. And they came with such a sadness it made her heart ache for her sister, even though she knew Patsy was talking nonsense. Some of the things she babbled sometimes in that half delirious state would have her committed: other planets, different names, people and places that not only didn't exist, but they couldn't exist.
She reached the yard just in time to wrap her arms around Patsy as she slid to the ground shaking and sobbing. "Patsy, patsy, please calm down. It's just those nightmares coming back .You're overworking yourself too hard.", she said, taking out a tissue to wipe away her sister's tears. But her sister wouldn't be calmed.
"It's not Patsy, Beth. It's Petz, and you're Berthier! This isn't real. None of it should be the way it is! What about Usagi, Sailor Moon? They were all our friends and now and now…the moon….they're all…" She broke into a renewed sob.
Beth could only sigh and hold her sister tighter, not understanding. "Patsy, it's not real. I'm here, you and me in this apartment. It's how it's always been Patsy. Come on in and rest a bit. You'll feel better soon." With a little coaxing she managed to get the both inside, and her sister to bed, but she was deeply troubled. "I wish I knew what you're seeing Pat. I sure do.", she whispered to herself. "Maybe then I'd know how to help you." Beth was admittedly probably one of the smartest people living in New Detroit, but here, when her sister needed her, she felt so dumb and so helpless.