| Chapter V ~ Past Revelations |
| Serena sat staring out the window of her apartment at the streets teaming with people. They were all so busy and wrapped up in their own lives to notice a lone blonde watching them. It was moments like this that made the girl who was Sailor Moon feel her fate or destiny or whatever you wanted to call it the strongest. Somehow this scene seemed like the perfect metaphor for her life. A lonely vigil over all of humanity. She knew that she was no longer alone in her vigil but it was had at moments like this to remember that. The phone's ringing shattered her quiet reflections, and Serena reached over from her perch on the window sill to grab the phone. "Hello?" "Hi. Is this Ms. Tsukino?" "Yes." Serena answered, expectation a sales pitch at this point. "Oh good. This is Mrs. Mizuno. You called me about a month ago about the class reunion. I'm sorry it took me so long to get back to you. I've been helping out a friend of mine start up a new free clinic in Nigeria for the past two months and I only got home this week." "Really? Wow. We had assumed that we had a wrong phone number for you." Serena said, trying frantically to remember the lie that they had made up to tell Ami's mother to get information of her whereabouts. They had chosen a class reunion because it was the easiest to explain. "Is there still time to give you Ami's address?" the woman on the other end of the line asked, "I know she would love to come if she can." "Yea, the reunion isn't for awhile still. We wanted to give people plenty of time to plan ahead." "That's great. Here, I'll give you Ami's phone number along with her address, though if you call it'll be long distance. She's going to med school in Germany these days." Serena almost hit her head against the wall. Germany! Of course Ami was in Germany. The only reason she hadn't gone there before was because of the scouts. She should have remembered that. As she wrote down the phone number and address, she had to smile. Her scouts sure did get around when they weren't fighting monsters. Darien had gone to America, Mina to London and now Ami was in Germany. And she couldn't even keep them in this country once they were fighting evil monsters. Darien had gone back to America to visit his friends for a couple weeks. Part of her morose mood was due to the fact that she hadn't seen him for awhile. Rei was out of town at one of Chad's concert's for a long weekend and last she had heard, Mina was flying into Paris to go to some sort of fashion conference. This meant that there was no one to call to tell the good news to. Serena smiled even larger as she hung up the phone. She was getting spoiled. One weekend without any of her friends or Darien and she was moping like it was the end of the world. What had happened to that fiercely independent woman that had stood in her place less than a year ago? She knew what had happened, that woman had decided that independence was all well and good but it was a whole lot nicer to be able to depend on others. And she was even getting part of her family back. She had talked to Sammy every week since she had run into him at the grocery store. It had been a little awkward at first but her brother was an amazing kid. He told her stories about what was going on in his life that made her laugh till it hurt and had a way of making it seem like nothing had ever separated them. He was still obviously her little brother, for he had a little brother's knack of instinctively knowing how to irritate her to no end, and in a perverse sort of way she had missed that part of having a family as well. Well, she might as well go to Germany and track down Ami. That way she would have more to tell the others when they all came back. Serena grabbed a large duffel bag out of her closet threw pair of jeans and a couple shirts in it along with her tooth brush and a couple extra hair bands. And that was it. Serena grinned. Traveling was a whole lot cheaper when you just teleported everywhere rather than dealing with airports and trains. * * * * * Serena checked into a cheap hotel for the night and grabbed a local map of the area from the city's tourist information center. She also picked up a few other brochures on the local sights. After all, how often was she in Germany? Grabbing her purse and keys, she caught the local bus down to where Ami was living and decided to check that out first. It was a little hard to get around. She had never been good at learning foreign languages. Her English was horrible but it was a whole lot better than her German. When they had gone looking for Mina, it had been Darien who had done most of the talking to the locals. After living in America, he had been the logical choice for interpreter. But now she was by herself in Germany. Luckily, most of the people were understanding and patient with her as she tried to figure out which bus went where. Finally she got to Ami's neighborhood. It was actually on the fringes of the university's campus. The address Ami's mother had given her led to a two story house with four bikes parked on the front porch. A woman sat reading from a huge book on the porch railing as Serena approached. "Guten Tag!" the woman chirped happily when she noticed Serena. "Hallo...ist Ami heir?" Serena struggled to ask if her friend was there in the weird language. "Nein." The girl said, shaking her head before saying something else too fast for Serena to have any hope of catching and made a few vague gestures towards the school campus that Serena hoped meant that Ami was at class, or the library or something. "Danke." Serna said politely, trying not to show just how little of that entire conversation she had understood. The woman didn't seem to notice her confusion and went back to reading. Serena then began the hike towards the school. The campus was beautiful. There were trees everywhere and students lounged about reading text books and taking notes. Serena passed one class of students sitting around their proffessor as he lectured about somthing or other. All along the sidwalks, written in chalk were advertisements for differant activities going on and in the far distance she could hear music playing. For a second Serena allowed herself the odd thought of what life might have been like if she had been able to go to a university. She had never really felt bad about ending her education until now. There was something about being surrounded with thousands of people your own age, all there to learn, with a feeling of such expectation and hope everywhere...It made her realize for the first time what she might have missed out on and for the first time, she actually regretted that sacrifice. Just as Serena was about to give up on ever seeing her old friend, she spotted a familiar face and blue hair in the crowds of people. She had actually been looking in the right direction for a while but it had taken some time for her to realize that the woman she was looking at was Ami. Ami was taller and her old short haircut had allowed to grow out a little, so that it brushed her shoulders. In one hand she carried a laptop computer while her other hand was gesturing to help he make some point to the woman she was walking with. Neither one noticed the man running after them. But Serena notice. And if it had taken her a minute to recognize Ami, she recognized immediatly. Serena watched in shock as a man she had defeateded once came up behind Ami and hugged her around the waist, surprising a squeak out of her. Zoisite. But...he was dead. Killed by the queen he had served for his failure to kill her. How could he be alive? Serena remembered more now than she had the first time she had met Zoisite on Earth. With her second rebirth she had remembered the painful things that her mother had tried to keep from her child and her child's friends. Things about Beryl's four Generals and the last days of the Moon. But she wasn't sure how much Rei and Mina, or even Darien remembered. The pens that she and Luna had made for the scouts were rather crude compared to what her mother had once been able to do. She couldn't pick and choose what the scouts would remember. And Darien's memory had come from himself, from his own soul. But she had been a coward, unwilling to ask the painful questions. And now one of the very things that made their past on the Moon so painful was hugging Ami, whispering into her ear and making her laugh. Why was he alive? And if he was alive, were the others? Serena frantically thought of her final battle with Beryl. She had made a request of the Silver Crystal, to restore her friends to life and...to make them happy. Had the crystal somehow brought back their old lovers as well as the scouts in order to make them happy? Was this her fault? Was this even a bad thing? Her scouts had once loved those men as much as she had loved Darien. On the Moon, as Beryl had kept up the attack on the galaxy, devouring planet after planet, till only the Earth and the Moon were still free from attack, she had managed to get a hold of Darien's Generals and turned them against their own people. She had done it to try and get at Darien, who was to be her ultimate prize but the added hurt to the inner planet's Princesses and guardians had been an extra bonus to her. How would her scouts react to hearing that their one time lovers and betrayers were alive? After Darien had been taken from her so long ago she had been ready to move mountains to get him back but it was that very betrayal that had helped her to let him go when he hadn't remembered after their rebirths. An irrational part of her had feared that letting him get close again would only result in another betrayal. But later her love for that man had overridden all else. But would it be the same for her scouts? Their betrayals were so much worse in so many ways, the Generals having been with Beryl for so much longer than Darien and both sides having died...a couple times. And then there were the Generals themselves. Did they remember anything? Could she restore their memories and if she could, should she? Suddenly she was very glad that the others had all been busy this weekend and none of the others even knew where Ami was. Because suddenly awakening Mercury had more ramifications than it had had before and she needed to think about this for awhile before telling the others. She needed time. * * * * * Down in a cavernous room, the pervading darkness was broken by a circle of five lights, floating around the edges of a circle outlined in black fire. Inside the circle of fire was a woman sitting cross legged with her gray cloak spread around her, hiding all of her but her head from the two men watching from the outside the circle. Above her head floated a Black stone, pulsing slowly with the power that was slowly being forced into it. "How much longer is this going to take?" snared the younger of the two men. "Patience. This is delicate work and cannot be rushed." "Patience? She has been in there for over a week now. She'll die of starvation if nothing else before she is able to finish this." "She knew what this would entail before she started. Do not think for one moment that she would go into something this important ill prepared. She is doing something that neither you nor I could do. Now let her do it. And worry about doing your part.." "I don't understand why I am still harvesting energy." grumbled the young man. "Because, this is only phase one. The crystal's energy reserves will need to be replenished as we use them against Sailor Moon. And I want that energy to be available immediately. Sailor Moon has already proven herself a powerful enemy. I will not give her the chance to defeat us again." the elder of the two said, glaring at the other man, a cold wind beginning to circle him. "I hope that this is worth all the effort." The younger man said, finally dropping his eyes in the face of the elder's wrath. Stalking away angrily, he left the older man watching the woman alone, in silent vigil. * * * * * Ami ran towards her house. She was late. Again. Damn that man anyway. He was always making her late. No matter how much she swore to herself that she wouldn't let him this time, somehow she always ended up staying just a minute too long. She smiled slightly as she ran down the street towards her house. Zoicite had simply appeared in her life one day and refused to leave. She could still remember how at the beginning of her semester a year ago he had plopped himself down next to her and talked all during lecture. She had been so furious with him. Granted all the Professor had really done that day was go over the syllabus and course outline but that hadn't made her any nicer to him. But despite all her best efforts to ignore him, he had not taken the hint and actually had had the audacity to ask her out at the end of the lecture. And after she had carefully explained to him all the reasons why she did not date while in school he had asked her out again. She hadn't known whether to laugh or scream at this point, though she had been leaning more towards screaming. And the entire time he just stood there, grinning at her like a moron. A quick glance at the clock behind him confirmed that she now only had five minutes to make it all the way across campus for her next class. He had made her late the very first time she met him. In desperation she had tried to step around him but he had blacked her exit. "What will it take to make you go away?!" she almost yelled at him. "Your phone number." was the prompt reply. "Fine!" Ami recited her number as quickly as possible and, seeing her opportunity, had actually leapt over one row of seats and made a mad dash for the door. She had been late to her next class. That night, she had gotten a phone call. It had been him. She had been sure that she had spit out her phone number for anyone to catch but she had never encountered Zoicite before. After several minutes of him asking her out, her refusing and them his asking her out again she had finally relented, agreeing to a date, convinced that the man on the other end of the phone was a complete lunatic. But she had gone on that first date anyways. Mostly from curiosity but determined not to enjoy herself. But Zoicite had forced her to have a good time. The man wouldn't take no for an answer and forced her to do a bunch of random, impetuous things like cartwheels in the street that left her blushing furiously but laughing breathlessly. And at the end of the date he had kissed her, quickly before running off, yelling that he'd see her soon. She had spent a good part of the night laying in bed trying to convince her mind to stop thinking about Zoicite and let her go to sleep but her mind stubbornly refused and kept flashing scenes at her from there date and especially the kiss at the end. It was enough to make her feel like an idiot with a teenage crush. Not that she had much experience dealing with things like this. She hadn't dated a lot back in Japan and now here she had always told herself that she was too busy for a boyfriend. And it wasn't like there were a lot of guys fighting for that position. The next day, she had been sitting in the front row of another one of her classes when a gorgeous blue violet was suddenly in her field of vision. Turning, she was confronted once again with the grinning features of Zoicite. "What are you doing here?" she had exclaimed. Sticking the violet behind her ear Zoicite said "I have this class too, silly." She had just gapped at him. She had kind of assumed that since he was just a...a..goof off that he wasn't all that smart. But the more she got to know him, the more she realized she had found someone who was incredibly intelligent. He was actually going to school for biomedical engineering, and a lot of their classes overlapped each other. And he turned out to be her greatest competition for the top slot in test scores. As their relationship had progressed it had become an almost ritual between the two of them that the person with a lower score on a test they both had took the other one out to dinner. Snapping herself out of her reverie, Ami sprinted up the stairs of her porch, flying past Kristin, one of her roommates. "Hey Ami! You mom called! And did that blonde girl ever find you?" Grabbing her work clothes and shoving them into her bag she yelled back, "What girl?" "There was some blonde girl looking for you earlier today but I told her you had class and then had to work tonight so maybe she'll just come back." "Hmm..." Ami tried to think of anyone who might have been looking for her matching that description and finally gave up, shrugging, "Don't know who it was but if it's important I'm sure they'll come back. * * * * * Serena sat in her hotel room trying to think. Why could nothing ever be simple? All she had wanted was to find her friend but now she had to deal with this, what ever this was. Serena stood up and began to pace in front of the window. Why couldn't she remember what had happened in that last, final fight with Beryl? She knew her memories had been erased but she thought that they had all been returned when she had become Sailor Moon again. She could remember everything up till the very end fine but when she had used the crystal to destroy Beryl...there was something important that had happened, something she knew that she needed to remember but just couldn't. And then there were her memories from the Silver Millennium. The good parts she could remember clearly but she still felt like her mother's magic was blurring some of the more horrible things that had happened. And she couldn't afford to not remember. She needed the truth about the Generals who fought with Beryl. In many ways it was like trying to remember a dream. You knew, just knew, that the memories were right there, just below the surface but you couldn't quite grasp them. And why had her mother done this to her? It was one thing to try and let Serena and the scouts live normal lives here on Earth by not letting them remember the Moon but once they were forced to fight again, her mother had no right to still try and protect them by hiding their memories from them. What she needed now was in those memories, damnit! She needed to talk to Darien and the other scouts. Maybe if they all got together they could remember something that she could not. But how could she tell the scouts that the men they had once defeated might still be alive? That Beryl might still be alive? How could she tell Darien that the men that had once been his Generals were still out there? How could she explain to her scouts that the men they had loved in another lifetime and then killed, were possibly back, possibly healed? But she wasn't going to not tell them. The scouts were her friends, her family in more ways than one and the people that she trusted above all others. She couldn't expect them to trust her, to believe in her as their leader if she lied to them. And she would not lie to them. They deserved better. They were true warriors. People who did not flinch away from confrontation. And if she couldn't save them from having to fight this battle she could at least stand beside them as they did. * * * * * Ami listened to the message on the answering machine from her mother after work and frowned. Why would her old school be trying to find her for a reunion? She hadn't actually graduated from there. She had taken several exams that equaled out to be the same as graduating so that she could attend school here in Germany but that didn't mean that her old school would acknowledge her as a graduate from there. Maybe they had gotten their records screwed up or something like that. She'd just have to talk to her mother about it later. Right now she still had some reading to do for her classes and she was already tired from work. And she had to get it done because Zoicite owed her dinner for getting two more points than him on her biology midterm. * * * * * The next morning Serena packed her bag and checked out of the hotel. She needed to go home and talk to the others. As much as a part of her was screaming at her to stay and keep an eye on things, she had committed herself to a team now and those teammates of hers needed to know what was going on. Glancing one last time towards Ami's campus, Serena teleported home from the deserted alley. As the light faded, from deeper back in the alley, a human body was dropped with a soft thud and a pair of red eyes stared at the place where the girl had disappeared and smiled, evilly, revealing a flash of white fangs, before disappearing in it's own flash of light. * * * * * Serena threw her bag into the bedroom and walked over to the answering machine and punched the button under the flashing red light. "Hey Serena! Well, you must be out." The voice of her brother began. "Well, I was just wondering if you wanted to hang out next weekend. Mom and Dad are leaving town for the weekend so you don't have to see them if you still don't want to but I thought you might want to see the house again or something. Okay. Call me on my cell sometime!" Serena smiled sadly. Her brother never failed to amaze her. She would never be able to repay him for just being her little brother again. And he never pushed for her to do anything she didn't want to. Like now, he knew she still wasn't ready to face their parents again but he was giving her a chance to go home again. Hopefully she would be able to. There was a beep and then Darien's voice came on. "Hey Serena. I miss you." Yet another person in her life she didn't deserve. How a message consisting of only five words could turn her to mush, she didn't quite understand but it did and she suddenly desperately wanted to just be held in Darien's arms for a minute so that she could just forget all her worries and problems. Just for a minute. But he still wasn't due home for another week. But maybe he would make it to the scout meeting. She sure hoped so. Serena looked at the phone. Rei would be home tomorrow and Mina was probably still in Paris. She'd wait to call Rei till after work tomorrow. Right now she was just too tired to worry about all the what-ifs of Ami and Zoicite and getting everyone together to deal with them. * * * * * Serena dragged herself home from work the next day. She was so tired. Work had been horrible. Several people had been sick and that meant she was trying to finish their projects as well as her own so that everything got done on time. And because of all the added stress, those people who were in were frustrated and taking it out on everyone else. And she still had to call Rei and Mina. And Darien. Though she really hated to call him, since he was with his friends, she also really wanted to talk to him. Just to talk to him. This was the longest they had been apart since finding each other again and she was beginning to realize just how much she had come to rely on his strength to help support her through everything. But one thing at a time here. Rei. Call Rei. Serena plopped herself down on the couch with the phone and dialed the temple's phone number. And listened to the ringing on the other end. And then got Rei's answering machine. "You've reached the Hino temple. Please leave your name and number and we will get back to you as soon as possible." Sigh. Rei really needed a less generic message on her answering machine. "Hey Rei. It's Serena. I need to talk to you as soon as you get back." "Serena! Wait!" A breathless Rei suddenly came onto the line. "Rei! I thought you weren't back yet." "I got back this afternoon but you called just as I was getting out of the shower so I was going to ignore the phone till I heard you on the answering machine. What's up?" "I need to talk to you and Mina. I got a lead on Ami but there are some things I want to talk about with you guys first." "Ami? That's great! Um...when did you want to get together?" "It's kind of urgent so...tonight?" Serena asked, hesitantly. "Tonight? Sure. But it's going to be a late night. Don't you have to work tomorrow?" "Yea. But I don't want to wait." Serena said. "Serena? What's wrong?" Rei asked, hearing something in her friend's voice that brought a wrench to her heart. "Tonight. I'll tell you tonight. I have to call Mina now, okay?" "Okay. But what about Darien? "I'll see if I can get a hold of him but there is a huge time difference and I'm not sure if I'll be able to." "Alright. Good luck." "See ya soon." Serena hung up and dialed Mina's number, praying that the scout would answer her phone. After a couple rings, Mina picked up. "Good afternoon!" came the cheery answer. "Hey. It's Serena. What are you up to for the next couple hours?" "Um...well, I was supposed to go out with some people and do a little shopping before we left Paris. But I can get out of it easily if you need me to. I was actually thinking of getting out of it anyway, in fact. What's up?" "We need to have a scout meeting. Something has come up and I want to talk to you guys about it as soon as possible." "No problem. I can be at Rei's in a half hour unless you need me any sooner?" "No. No that would be great. It's not that urgent but I just don't want to wait to tell you guys, just in case. I was just worried that you wouldn't be able to get out of something." "Hey Serena. We're Scouts first. Everything is cancelable when it comes to saving the world." Mina laughed. "Right Mina. And who was it that said if any monsters attacked during this show they would personally rip into itty-bitty pieces?" "But I would still be there. Alright, I have to go track down Luna and Artemis if we are all going to be there on time. Those two are certainly enjoying getting themselves lost in the city of love." Mina said and Serena could almost here her devilish grin. Serena laughed, "You have to tell me all the details when you get here. See you soon." Serena hung up and couldn't help grinning. She could just picture the monsters cowering in fear of Mina because they'd ruined her spring fashions show. And as for Luna and Artemis...well, she'd just have to see how much she could tease her guardian. Now for the last call. Serena looked at the clock and cringed. She could never remember what the time difference was between Japan and the US. Just don't let him be sleeping... "Hmm..." came the muffled answer after several rings. Damn. He had been sleeping. "Hi Darien." Serena said quietly, resisting the urge to bang her head against the wall. "Serena? What...Why are you...Hi." Came a rather confused reply. "Umm...are you able to make a scout meeting tonight?" "Huh? When?" "In about an hour?" On the other end of the phone she heard a little banging around before Darien answered. "An hour? From now? Yea, okay. Yea, I can be there. Just...just give me some time here to grab stuff and get dressed and then I'll be there." "Sorry Darien. I didn't mean to wake you up." "Don't worry about it. There are much worse ways to wake up. See you in a bit." "Bye." Serena hung up. She had wanted to ask what time it was there but had been too afraid to hear his answer. But he was coming which was all that mattered for right now. This meant that they could all talk about what to do. Now she just needed to figure out what she was going to say. * * * * * The demon stood in front of it's master and smiled as it added the woman's energy to the reserves that the master was creating. It's master was preoccupied, pacing back and forth in the huge cavern, so he failed to notice that this demon crouching there. Finally though, his head snapped up and he glared at the dark, grinning figure. "What are you still doing here?" the master growled. "I have news, sir." "What?" the master said, the anger leaking out of his voice as it was replaced by curiosity. "While I was out collecting energy, I saw a blonde woman teleporting out of an alley." "What! A blonde woman? Was it Sailor Moon?" the master now was standing directly over the demon. "She was everything that you said to look for in our search for Sailor Moon's identity, sir." "Where were you hunting again?" The demon then began to describe everything he had seen and heard in the alley in Germany. It wasn't much but this was the first time that any of the demons had seen any signs of Sailor Moon when she wasn't fighting them. "But what's in Germany that Sailor Moon would want?" The master asked himself, forgetting the demon beside him momentarily. "There is no way that she could have been looking for us there. Then why?" The master looked back at his minion. "Go back there and watch. If anything happens I want you to send for me immediately. Stick to the shadows and do not fight her. This is too important to screw up because someone acts prematurely." The demon's bowed, and began to back out of the room. "Wait. A reward for your services." the master said, tossing a dark ball at the demon. The ball engulfed the shadow demon for a moment and when it reappeared, it's red eyes glinted evilly as it bowed again. "Thank you, master." It hissed, the shadows around it swirling and dancing ominously above it's head. When the demon was gone, the red-haired master smiled. "Well well. Let the other two waste time sitting around making their precious crystal. It looks like I'm about to find out who the mysterious Sailor Moon is." * * * * * Serena sat, staring at the floor. In the other room she could hear Rei. The Fire goddess had gone to grab snacks for the others who would be there soon. Serena suspected that the real reason that Rei had left her here though was that she was about as much fun to hang out with as a tree right now. Outside she heard a cheerful voice call out, "I've got kitties!" A second later, Mina came bouncing into the room, a cat slung over each shoulder. "Mina, you can put us down now. Please." a slightly nauseous Luna said. "Told you that riding on Mina's shoulder was harder than you gave me credit for." Artemis said, jumping down from his shoulder to the ground with a sly look. "So what is the news, ma petite?" Mina asked, plopping down across from Serena, "And where's Pyro?" " 'Pyro' is standing right behind you with food that she is now considering taking back." Rei said from the kitchen entrance. Mina bounced to her feet again and grabbed the food from Rei's hand, "Let me help you there." Serena watched as Rei tried to glare at the blonde energy bubble that had invaded her temple, but somehow it just didn't seem as threatening as it should of. Mina, meanwhile, began telling them all about the show in Paris, going into miniscule details about some of her favorite new fashions. Her energy was so contagious that Serena began to let herself forget a moment about everything and get wrapped up in her friend's enthusiasm for life. Suddenly her vision was blocked by a beautiful red rose. "Darien!" she cried, whipping around to hug him, taking note of his somewhat rumpled appearance before kissing him. "Damn girl. And I though Pyro caused some heat." Mina said. Serena pulled away with a blush, shocked by her own reaction to the sight of Darien. "Heh. If that's what I get for bringing you flowers, I'll have to remember to do it more often." Darien said with a slight smirk, holding Serena tightly to him when she had tried to pull out of their embrace. It took a couple minutes for everyone to get comfortable. Darien sat with his back against a wall, pulling Serena down so that she could sit between his legs, leaning back against his chest. Rei had plopped down in a small pile of pillows and Mina lay on her stomach with Luna and Artemis perched on her back. All eyes were now on Serena and she cleared her throat, trying to remember everything that she had planned on telling the scouts. "I found Ami. Her mother finally returned our phone call. She is going to school in Germany." she finally got out. "That's wonderful!" Luna exclaimed. Rei looked at her oddly for a second, "What's the catch Sere?" Serena looked down at the floor and felt Darien's arms tighten momentarily around her, reminding her he was there, offering her his strength and comfort. "What...what do you remember about the Moon Kingdom and the Silver Millennium?" she asked quietly. "I..." Mina began, hesitantly, "I don't actually remember that much. I remember Venus more than the Moon. It's like the memories dealing with the war with Beryl are still hazy and I can't...I don't know." Rei nodded, "I'm the same way. Memories that I have of Mars, if I close my eyes, are so real that I can still make out every detail, every emotion I was feeling at the time. But the Moon...I remember that like it was a story told to me a long time ago." "How about...Beryl's four generals?" "What about the..." Serena watched Mina and Rei as a look of utter shock came over their faces. They both looked horrified and she could only guess that Darien's face was similar to theirs. It was like there was a curtain that had been ripped away before their eyes, allowing them to see something that they had never even dreamed existed. "They...were...oh my god. Beryl's generals were..." Mina trailed off. "They were once my generals." Serena, leaning against Darien's chest felt each word rumble out of him in an utterly emotionless voice. "Why didn't we realize this sooner?" Rei demanded angrily. "We..I mean, I...I guess I always knew. I just..." Mina looked helplessly at the others. "We didn't want to think about it. Gods! What else have we missed?" Rei angrily said, glaring at something on the wall midway between Serena's head and the ceiling. "So, you know." Serena finally said, breaking the silence. Rei's eyes immediately focused down on Serena's, "And you've always known. What's going on Serena?" Serena flinched slightly at the fire goddess's dangerous tone of voice, "Not always. It took a lot of time looking at my own memories to realize what was now there. But yes, I've known since before I found you all again." Rei looked at her, a little of the anger fading as the shock began to fade, "So why are you bringing this up now?" Mina looked speculatively at Serena and Darien remained silent at her back. "I need to know what you guys remember. About the generals. We all had different encounters with them both in the Silver Millennium and then her on earth. I need to know what you remember because...I don't think they are dead." "Merde!" Mina swore softly to herself. The cats, who had been strangely silent up till this point, jumped off of Mina's back and walked over to stand in front of Serena, both of their tails lashing, showing their confusion. "Why do you think that Serena?" Luna asked in her gentle voice. Serena, looking down at her oldest friend and guardian felt her heart clench and she closed her eyes as she spoke, not wanting to see everyone's reaction, "Because I saw Zoicite. With Ami." Even with her eyes closed, Serena could almost feel the wounds in her scouts souls being ripped open, wounds that they had thought healed over. Their pain and shock slammed into her and only the weight of Darien's arm wrapped around her kept her from fleeing the barrage of emotions. * * * * * Darien looked down at the top of Serena's head. He could feel her pushing back into him, almost as if she wanted to crawl into him and hide from her own words. Those same words that he was trying desperation to understand. But his brain was trying to protect him by not letting their meaning sink in. But slowly their meaning got through to him. Zoicite. Alive. With Ami. * * * * * Rei's first instinct was to fight. To go out, find that bastard and send him back to whatever hell he had crawled out of. But she didn't know where he was and she couldn't seem to get out any words to ask. The thought that kept circling around and around in her mind was Ami was in danger. She clung to this, used it to fight off all the other thoughts, thoughts of another general that might be alive. That she might have to fight. That she might have to kill. Again. * * * * * Mina stared at her friend and princess. Her princess. Who had just announced that the scout's greatest loves and worst enemies might still be alive. And her only thought was why? Why did the universe delight in this sick, twisted joke that was their lives? Why was she, princess of Venus, so called goddess of love, one of those who had love snatched away from her in every life time? Why was she, a protector of the moon, always forced to watch as the very woman she tried to protect died protecting her? And why was it that her friends and her must always be the ones to fight the pain that the universe threw at them? Why? * * * * * Finally, Serena began to tell her story to the silent room, never once opening her eyes. She explained about finding Ami, about seeing Zoicite and about her doubts. She laid everything out for them and finally, when there was nothing left to say, let silence reign over them once again. After awhile the others began to share their memories. It was slow, and halting at first with lots of pauses. But momentum slowly began to build up and the stories began to flow faster and the pauses grew fewer. At first they talked about the battles on Earth and how they had never remembered who they were fighting. Then the battles during the Silver Millennium, and the anger and betrayal that had never been given reign to before was finally given voice. And then, slowly, hesitantly, they began to talk of before. Before the battles. Of the love and friendships they had all once shared. And eventually exhaustion claimed them. Though they had not figured anything out, it was like they had made the first step. They had accepted their pasts. They had dealt with them. This didn't mean that everything was now magically all better but they were all over the initial shock. And that was all once could expect from them this night. * * * * * |
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