THEN AND NOW
Chapter 3: "A Chance At Redemption"
A Neo-Sailor Moon fanfic
By Bill K.
In a waiting room adjacent to the operating theater in the Crystal Palace infirmary, Ves and Jun watched on a closed circuit monitor as Ami Mizuno and her surgical staff operated on Cere. Palla-Palla sat off in a corner, facing the wall, her knees pulled up to her chin. The others said nothing, knowing Palla-Palla's aversion to blood. Besides, Palla-Palla had her ways and they'd learned long ago not to question them. With them, watching the holographic vital signs for news that the others wouldn't understand, was Hotaru Tomoe.
"This is just like Rudolfo," Ves whispered suddenly.
"Hotaru?" Jun asked, because she didn't want to agree with Ves without confirmation. "How is she?"
"Still alive," Hotaru replied. "Her blood pressure and respiration are reasonably good. And Dr. Mizuno and Dr. Takashima are very good at what they do."
"So why is it taking so long?" snapped Ves.
"The knife punctured the lung and came close enough to the heart to slice open the pericardium," Hotaru explained. "Dr. Mizuno has to use bio-electric cellular stimulation to repair the cardiopulmonary damage so her heart doesn't begin to bleed. That takes time."
"I didn't understand a word you just said," Ves grumbled impotently, "except it takes time."
"Miss Hotaru-Ma'am," Palla-Palla squeaked from the corner. "Is Cere-Cere going to die?"
"Don't expect the worst," Hotaru assured her. "Everything has gone very well so far. And Dr. Mizuno is the best. You know that."
"Palla-Palla doesn't want Cere-Cere to die."
"She's not going to die," they heard Usa say. Turning, everyone saw Usa stride in. The Princess went straight to the computer panel and pulled up the record of the current operation. She swallowed. "Man, she came close, though. Don't worry, Palla-Palla. We won't let her die."
"What the Hell was with that cop anyway?" rumbled Ves. "Why did she stab Cere? Cere didn't do anything to her! She was helping!"
"It wasn't the officer's fault, Ves," Usa told her. "Aunt Rei says everyone in the Promenade incident was controlled by a puppet master demon. Palla-Palla was right when she said she heard two sets of thoughts."
"Puppet master?" Jun asked. "Like what happened when we first started?"
"Yeah," Usa nodded as she looked at the monitor broadcasting the operation.
"I thought Hino-sama dealt with that back then."
"It may be another one," Usa replied, then turned to the others. "A bigger one - - more powerful. Aunt Rei said she's never heard of a puppet master demon controlling more than one person. But everyone slashing people on the Promenade was possessed by this demon. And as we dealt with the original attackers, the demon grabbed control of the CDP officer."
"Does she have any idea what happened to it? Is it going to be back?"
"Don't know yet. Aunt Rei is trying to track it down."
"If that demon could possess a CDP officer," Hotaru wondered, "what if it tried to take possession of-of one of us?"
Usa was silent for a moment. "Aunt Rei said that puppet master demons usually attack people who are in emotional turmoil. People in relatively calm states, without a lot of fear or doubt, don't have anything to worry about."
"But, say, people who are worried about someone they love dying," Jun suggested. "They might just be vulnerable?"
Three years ago: The four former members of the Amazoness Quartet sat at a conference table in a conference room in the Palace of Crystal Tokyo. Sitting opposite them, at a different table across the room, were the four inner senshi, in their civilian forms. The teens were understandably anxious. Ves, of course, bluffed an exterior of gruff indifference. Jun tried to do the same, but for some reason she no longer had the heart for her previous delinquent side. Cere tried to maintain an air of calm, but felt herself failing. Palla-Palla was, as usual, mystified. Then Minako got up.
"OK, ladies," Minako began, pacing back and forth before them with her hands behind her, affecting her best authoritarian manner. "This is how it goes. I am Minako. This is Ami, Rei and Makoto. We are in charge of you. That means you will address me as Sensei Aino-sama. You will address her as Sensei Mizuno-sama, her as Sensei Hino-sama, and her as Sensei Kino-sama. Is that understood?"
Cere and Jun nodded. Palla-Palla just stared. Ves just glared.
"I didn't quite catch that!" Minako growled.
"Yes, Sensei Aino-sama," Cere and Jun replied. Ves continued to glare.
"Yes, Miss Minako-ma'am," Palla-Palla said. "Palla-Palla understands."
"Apparently you don't," Minako said with a cocked eyebrow.
"You have to excuse her, Sensei Aino-sama," Cere offered. "Palla-Palla is, um, mentally disabled. That's probably the closest she can come. She didn't mean any disrespect."
"Minako," sighed Ami, "isn't this a bit much?"
"Just trying to instill a little discipline," sniffed Minako.
"What do you know about discipline?" Rei asked.
"She was on the receiving end of it for centuries," Makoto chuckled. "She must know something about it from experience alone." Ami giggled.
Jun leaned over to Cere. "We got beat by these guys?"
"You hens through?" Minako asked her teammates. She focused on Ves. "So what about you, tough girl?"
"I ain't calling you nothing," grunted Ves.
"Hey, that's your call," shrugged Minako. "Nobody's making you become a senshi." She paused a beat for dramatic effect. "So how soon can you be packed?"
Everyone in the room felt Palla-Palla's anxiety rachet up. Ves knew it without even looking at it. She glared daggers at Minako. For her part, Minako made it clear non-verbally that she saw the effect it was having on the others and wasn't above benefiting from it. That made Ves even more angry.
"Ves-Ves?" Palla-Palla asked urgently.
"All right," Ves heaved, then gritted her teeth. "Sensei. Aino. Sama."
"We'll work on that reading," Minako replied. "Now, King Endymion is to be referred to as 'Your Majesty' and you will kneel in his presence until he tells you to rise. You will also kneel in the presence of Queen Serenity. But at no time will you ever address her as 'Your Majesty'."
"Why not?" Cere asked.
"Queen Serenity doesn't like it," Palla-Palla said calmly. "She thinks it makes her seem snooty."
The room fell silent as the elder senshi stared.
"How did you know that?" Rei asked.
"Know what?" Palla-Palla asked innocently. Rei could see she wasn't lying.
"Um, Palla-Palla can, well, know things she really has no way of knowing," Cere explained. "We think she's always been that way."
"Indeed?" Ami responded. She looked directly at Palla-Palla. "With your permission, I'd like to conduct some tests on you." She saw the four grow anxious again. "I assure you they won't be invasive or painful in any way."
"I can make it an order," Minako added.
"No," Ami shot back, "you won't."
Minako shrugged. "You will be expected to attend school on a regular basis," Minako continued. "Absences will be penalized. You will also be expected to attend combat training. Absences will be penalized. You will live in the palace. Your comings and goings will be restricted until we decide that you're no longer a threat to yourselves or others. You will be under a curfew. Violation of restrictions or curfew will be penalized." Minako grinned. "And too many penalties will result in you getting the boot. Remember, this is your second chance to straighten your lives out. Make the most of it."
"Why do we got to go to school?" howled Ves. "I never been to school in my life!"
"Somehow that doesn't surprise me," Minako replied. "It's because we're not going to have some illiterate street kid being responsible for the life of Princess Usagi." She smiled sweetly. "So study hard."
Ves slumped back in her chair and scowled.
"We'll be giving you all IQ tests to determine at what level you should all start at," Ami added.
"And because nobody else could probably handle you," Makoto said, "we'll be doing the teaching. Look, Minako is right. This is a second chance for all of you. We're not trying to bust you. We're trying to help you. Serenity thinks you four have destinies that are better than what you are now. And she's got a pretty good track record when it comes to someone she believes in. So if you have as much faith in yourselves as Serenity has in you, you're all going to do fine."
Ves blew out air in disgust. But Rei read that Makoto's words had at least touched the others. It gave her hope that Serenity was right about this project - - and that she herself was wrong.
Cere opened her eyes. Confused, she looked around the room. After a few moments, she realized that it was one of the rooms in the infirmary. The girl attempted to get up, but there was no strength in her body. Her alarm spiked considerably.
Then she heard the scuff of anti-contamination boots on the floor. Glancing over to the door, Cere saw Ami Mizuno, wearing her standard form-fitting white with red trim sterile suit, which she always wore in the infirmary. The doctor walked over and bent down toward her.
"I'm glad to see you awake," Ami said gently. "You're in the infirmary."
"Yeah," Cere nodded. "Why," and she remembered the confrontation with the mob. "I was stabbed. It hurt so . . . Dr. Mizuno, why can't I move?"
"Your body suffered a very large trauma," Ami told her, placing her hand on Cere's shoulder. "It's still weak from shock and loss of blood." She smiled. "You'll get better."
Cere relaxed a little. "How," she began, "bad was it?"
"I'll be honest," Ami replied soberly. "The knife wound punctured one of your lungs and cut a seventeen centimeter incision in the outer wall of your heart." Cere was clearly horrified. "Fortunately, the wall of the heart wasn't pierced. We inflated the lung and used cellular regeneration to repair the damage to the heart and pericardium."
"How," Cere stammered. "How close was I - - to dying?"
"If the blade had entered four centimeters to the right," Ami told her reluctantly, "it would have pierced the wall of the heart and you would have died within moments."
Cere lay there, staring at nothing in particular.
"Cere, there are counselors on my staff who can help you deal with the emotional impact of a near-death experience," Ami advised her. "Or if you feel more comfortable talking with Rei or myself, or any of the elders, we'll clear time for you. But don't feel you have to deal with this on your own. Just because you're a senshi doesn't mean you don't have human feelings and human fears."
Just then Queen Serenity popped her head in the room.
"Is she all right?" Serenity asked desperately. "I heard she was all right!"
"She's recovering, Serenity," Ami told her. The Queen flew into the room and laid her hand on Cere's arm.
"Thank the gods," Serenity said. "I don't know what any of us would have done if you hadn't gotten better. If there's anything you need, Cere, please let me know. No request is too outlandish!"
"Thanks," Cere said. Just being in the Queen's presence seemed to lift Cere's spirits a little. "Do the others know?"
"They're in the waiting area," Ami informed her. "You can see them whenever you feel up to it."
"I'd kind of like to," Cere responded softly.
Moments later the door opened. Palla-Palla flew in, knelt next to the bed, buried her face against Cere's arm and started crying - - again.
"Please don't ever leave Palla-Palla!" she wailed. "Palla-Palla was so scared!"
"That makes two of us," Cere replied, patting the girl weakly.
"That was too close," Jun said, standing behind and to the left of Palla-Palla.
"Yeah," Cere nodded. She glanced at Ves. Ves was struggling to hide her concern behind a gruff mask and failing.
"Glad you made it," Ves forced out. Cere just smiled and nodded, not wanting to take the chance of provoking her sister unintentionally. Her gaze moved to Hotaru.
"I felt you," Cere said. "In the dark."
"Miss Hotaru-Ma'am kept you from dying until we could get you to Miss Ami-Ma'am," Palla-Palla sobbed.
"Then I owe you," Cere said to Hotaru.
"It comes with being part of the team," Hotaru offered. "You've done your share for me."
"Cere, you take as long as you need. You just get well again," Usa said. "And if there's anything you need - - anything - - you just let me know."
"Yeah," Cere grinned weakly. "That's kind of what your mom said."
Hotaru smirked and glanced at Usa. Usa was blushing slightly.
"And I looked at the sensory images while you were sleeping," Hotaru added. "Everything went very well. You should be up and around and back with the team very soon."
"Yeah," Cere replied unenthusiastically. "Great."
Three years ago: Four would-be senshi sat in what was now their quarters. There was a central room big enough for each girl to stake out a section, complete with furnishings and computer station. There were also four bedrooms that each girl could claim as her own. Ves draped herself over a chair and leaned back.
"Man, this place beats the jungle," Ves sighed. "And our place in the Dead Moon Circus. Hell, it beats anyplace I've ever lived!"
"Palla-Palla is going to get some pretty dollies!" Palla-Palla declared. "Enough pretty dollies to cover her whole bedroom!"
"This gig might not be too bad," Jun mused. Then she glanced at Cere. "So what's got you bugged. I would have thought out of all of us that you'd take to this kind of luxury the most."
"Sensei Aino-sama mentioned combat training," Cere recalled uneasily. "Are we going to be expected to - - fight?"
"That's kind of what senshi do," Jun replied. "If I remember correctly, 'senshi' is the Japanese word for 'soldier'."
"Yeah, it's like what those elders did for Sailor Moon," Ves added.
"So we might have to kill?" Cere continued. "A-And we could die?"
"That's what soldiers do," Ves told her. "If it comes down to a matter of surviving, you can do just about anything. Hey, there's nothing to it."
"For you, maybe! You've lived your whole life with one foot in the gutter! Some of us were civilized!"
"Yeah? Put them in the right circumstances and even 'civilized' people turn into gutter animals like me," Ves snarled.
"Oh, THAT'S something to look forward to!" Cere scowled.
"Cere," Jun said. "Do you want to go back to the orphanage?"
Cere sighed dramatically. "No," she huffed. "But I'm not sure I want to do this, either! Besides, how are we supposed to do it? Zirconia stole our powers!"
"I don't know," Jun shrugged. "Maybe that's what the combat training is for. Queen Serenity and her senshi seem to have a plan. Maybe we just need to trust them."
"That'll really get you killed," Ves maintained. "What we have to do is lay low, enjoy this life while we can, and be ready to bolt at the first sign it's going south."
"Palla-Palla likes it here," Palla-Palla declared. "Palla-Palla thinks the four Ma'ams are nice people, even though they still think we might be bad. And Palla-Palla likes Queen Serenity-Ma'am. She's very pretty and she makes Palla-Palla smile."
"You met her once, in the Amazon jungle," Cere countered cynically. "I'm amazed you even remember."
"Palla-Palla doesn't have to remember," Palla-Palla replied. "Palla-Palla can feel her. Can't you feel her?"
The others looked curiously at each other.
"Palla-Palla wishes Queen Serenity would be her new mommy," Palla-Palla sighed. Then she got to her feet. "Palla-Palla is going to go beddie-bye now." She walked over and pecked Ves on the cheek. "Beddie-Bye-Bye!"
"Get off with that stuff, Stupid!" Ves scowled, waving her arm dismissively. The blue haired girl smirked and then scampered into her room. "I wonder what kind of streams they got on this computer station."
As Ves slid her chair over to the computer, Jun got up and walked over to Cere. She put her hand on the girl's shoulder.
"Get some sleep," she told Cere. "Who knows. Maybe learning how to defend yourself will end up being a good thing."
Jun wandered into her bedroom. Cere, though, just sat and wondered about the path she was about to embark on.
Continued in Chapter 4