Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ A Simple Knock ❯ Chapter 8 ( Chapter 8 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Title: A Simple Knock
Author: Maetel
Email: maemaechan@yahoo.com
URL: http://www.geocities.com/dawnbabu/
Rating: M 15+
Summary: I'll let the plot of the story remain a mystery until people
start reading.
Chapters: 8/16
Status: Incomplete
Year Completed: N/A

Usagi looked around fearfully at the darkness surrounding her. She had once again passed out during battle, and when she woke, she was in a place so empty that she could never have imagined it.

"H-Hello?" she called out loudly, shattering the silence, replacing it with deafening echoes.

"Please, don't cry out like that," she heard a familiar voice request softly. "This place uses the sounds of the scared to break their wills and shatter their minds."

"Who- Who are you?" she asked, her volume lowered to just above a whisper. "How do you know about this place?"

'Good going, Usagi-baka!' she scalded herself silently. 'Ask the only other person here about how they know this place.'

"I know because it was common practice for the Dark Kingdom to use this method to gather followers. My mother always warned me of this place should I ever be captured by Beryl's minions," stated the voice as a sense of longing and sudden sadness washed over her.

"Your mother warned you about the Dark Kingdom? Who are you?" Usagi asked again as she peered into the inky blackness, trying to see the source of the voice. A second had passed before a sad laughed sounded.

"I suppose, I'm not being fair by keeping myself hidden from you. I am... Not quite sure how to put this. I suppose you could say that I am Princess Serenity of the Silver Millennium." Usagi gasped at the idea of finally meeting the princess she was destined to protect, but almost fainted when she saw the Princess' face. "I suppose you could also say that I am you, Tsukino Usagi."

"You mean, you're me and... And I am the princess?"

"That is correct," Serenity replied with a slight nod. She watched as the blonde tapped her chin and chewed on her lower lip in thought. 'I guess I still have that habit in my next life as well.'

"Are... Are you the reason as to why I've been having memory lapses?" Serenity blinked and looked confused at Usagi's question. "Um... you've been gaining control of me or something like that?"

"Oh... I think I understand what you are saying, and yes I have been," the soft spoken royal replied. "I am afraid that duality is going to have to be put to the test. The Dark Kingdom is trying to put you, me, us, oh I don't know how to say it, but they are trying to turn Sailor Moon against the senshi. That has to be the only reason as to why we are still alive right now."

"I have to stop them..." Usagi muttered softly. "How can I stop them?"

"One of us has to submit to the Dark Kingdom's will," Serenity told her. "The other will become dormant until either the crystal is found or until we are either freed or destroyed by the senshi."

"It should be me then, I suppose," the blue eyed girl sighed as tears fell down her cheeks. "If the Dark Kingdom controls the princess when the ginzuishou is found then they will have control of it. If I am in their control, then you can take over and use the crystal to free us..."

"There is no way of telling that you will be unable to find the crystal and control as well as I should be able to. I am you, and you are me," Serenity saw the fear written on the face of Usagi, and tried to think of a way to lift her spirits, if only slightly. "We have just yet to merge into one persona... I think that is the right word. I never did listen to my instructors when concerning my vocabulary lessons."

"You too?" Usagi asked, as she realized what the princess was doing. She had done it for so many of her friends and even people she had just met who were looking depressed. "I guess we are more alike than Luna would like to think. From the way she sounds, you were intelligent, the exact opposite of me."

"Well, I wouldn't go so far as to say I am unintelligent, but I don't like being serious all of the time," Serenity stated as she walked up to her modern day counterpart.

"I think you had better go... The longer you stay active, the more... exposed you are to the dark energy," suggested Usagi. "Just make sure to wake up when the time is right, please?"

"You have my word, just please.. do not let any of the beings of this realm know of our... duality. That could put the senshi in grave danger," Serenity asked.

"I'll do what I can," Usagi promised before she watched the spirit of Serenity fade away. Falling to her knees, the blonde felt utterly and completely alone, for the first time in years. Once again, her life was being controlled, but this time it was also seemingly being destroyed.

Tossing her head back, Usagi released a pained scream, waiting for the echoes which Serenity had told her of.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Makoto paced the floor of her apartment, occasionally throwing glances at the blonde sitting slumped over in a chair, sobbing because of her earlier actions, and the unconscious man on her couch whose face was one of suffering.

The brunette's earlier anger had faded once she heard the girl, Minako's, explanation of who she was and her actions. All that was left was worry for her friend, and leader, as well as for the injured Mamoru.

"How is he, Ami-chan?" questioned the Amazon like girl.

"He should be fine. The attack did a number on him though. Had he been forced to endure that sound any longer, his body might have suffered permanent damage," the blue haired girl admitted, her tone a mixture of happiness and relief. "I am not sure when he is going to wake up, but hopefully it will be soon."

"Yeah... He has some questions to answer," the tall girl stated as the door she was facing opened.

Rei walked out of the bedroom and up to Makoto, leaving Artemis to try and wake Luna. She sighed softly, "She's back to her feline form. Artemis said that the energy given off when repairing Usagi's brooch forced her to revert to her true form."

"At least nothing was wrong with her," Ami said as she looked at the remorseful blonde. "Aino-san, everything is going to be all right. You had no way of telling that the youma was going to dodge. They usually don't."

"I could have moved so that the attack would not have hurt her. I failed in my duty of protecting the princess. I was careless, and because of it, she is now in their clutches. If they get the ginzuishou then this planet-"

Rei and Ami jumped at the sound of Makoto's palm smacking into the side of the distraught blonde's face.

"Gomen ne, Aino-san," she apologized. "Demo, you are a senshi! The leader of the senshi during the Silver Millennium nonetheless. You cannot allow yourself to dwell over the loss of Sailor Moon- the princess- Usagi-chan. She would not want you to. She would want you to carry on fighting for this planet. She would want all of us to try and think of some way to rescue her. She wouldn't want anyone to cry."

"Mako-chan is right, Aino-san," came Ami's soft voice. "Yes, she was captured. Yes, she is the princess. We are the ones who are meant to protect her. We are the ones who are going to have to be strong."

Rei nodded as she walked over and knelt in front of Minako. "We have to be strong for Luna when she wakes as well as for Mamoru-san. Luna has yet to hear the complete truth, but when she does, how do you think she is going to take it? Mamoru, who has been protecting her since day one, who cares about her, perhaps even loves her, is going to have to be told what happened."

"I understand," the blonde sighed as she wiped her eyes and stood tall. "Thank you all."

"So mind answering some questions for us?" inquired Rei, her eyes shining curiously.

"What sort of questions?"

"Well, you told us that you are Sailor Venus, or Sailor V. That you also are supposed to lead the senshi, and that Usagi was the princess, but if she is the princess, how is she also a senshi, when it is the senshi's job to protect the princess?" questioned the dark haired miko.

Minako looked thoughtful for a minute before answering. "How else hide a protected person aside from amongst the ranks of her own protectors?"

"That makes sense," Makoto said.

"That would be because that is what I told her when her memories returned," stated Artemis as he and Luna slowly walked out of the bedroom.

"Luna, should you be moving around yet?" asked Ami.

"I am fine, Ami-chan. Besides, I think that we need to discuss something that is much more important than my moving around or not because I lost consciousness. Artemis has filled me in on what happened at the last battle as well as told me just who Usagi-chan truly is. We need a plan to free her from the Dark Kingdom, and I have a feeling that we are going to need Mamoru-san."

"Who is out of commission right now," Makoto sighed.

"Oh dear..." Luna murmured. "Any idea of how long he is going to be that way?"

"There is no telling. He could wake up in a few hours or a few days. The last youma used the same sort of attack on him as it did on us, and even though it wasn't by much, he was exposed to the sound longer. And considering what I heard Zoicite say, he had each of us targeted specifically by our planetary powers. He said that he had one set just for Earth, meaning that not only was Mamoru being targeted, his representing planet was being harmed as well," Ami explained.

"So Mercury is still Mercury. The walking hall of knowledge," Artemis said proudly. "I was wondering how much each of them had changed. Venus is the slightest bit more... air-headed than she was in the Silver Millennium."

"Artemis... Shut up before I dye you pink," threatened the senshi of love causing the white feline to clam up.

Luna laughed softly, tears forming in her eyes as she thought of how Usagi would threaten her when she tried to wake the young blonde up. Thoughts of what could be happening to young charge flashed in her mind scaring the feline beyond words.

"Don't worry, Luna," said Artemis. "We will get the princess back safely."

"Hai... I know. I just can't help but worry about her. What if they are hurting her or killing her? She never wanted to be a fighter. She just wanted to be a normal girl. This is one of those times in which I wish I had never given her that blasted broach!"

The senshi didn't know what to say to try and calm the hurting cat. She was saying exactly what they were feeling, but didn't want to say.

"Oh, no..." gasped Rei. "I just thought of something."

"What is it Rei-chan?" asked Makoto.

"Usagi's parents. She is supposed to go home in a little while. How are we going to explain Usagi's sudden disappearance?"

"I understand that it is dangerous to reveal ourselves, but why not reveal who Usagi-chan really is? Perhaps we could think of a way to erase their memories later on... Once Usagi-chan is brought back," suggested Ami.

"Iie," snapped Artemis. "Besides there are more than just her parents to think of. Usagi has to go to school, and if she doesn't questions will be raised."

"We have tomorrow off so that gives us a day to think of something," said Ami. "But what happens on Tuesday?"

"We go from day to day when thinking of this, but for now, we might want to start trying to at least come up with a plan to rescue the princess," Minako stated.