Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ Awakening the Shadows ❯ Do You want Fries with That? ( Chapter 5 )

" Hey, guys. "

" Mamoru! " shouted Usagi as she looked up at the dark haired young man. She grabbed his hand and pulled him down into the booth, " These are our new friends. Mayoko, Nara, Aria, Luriel ah..." she faltered.

" Keridwen and Khamiya, " Mayoko reminded her.

" Oh yeah. Sorry! And you know Jedite. "

Mamoru nodded to each of them until his eyes came to rest on Jedite, " What are you doing here? Is this some kind of joke? "

" No, " laughed the blonde haired man, " No joke. I've been cured! "

" Cured? What do you mean cured? " Mamoru rambled almost hysterically.

" We'll explain later, but believe me we're safe, " Ami assured him.

Mamoru shook his head and took a long look around the table. This time his gaze stopped on Khamiya. A small crease appeared in his forehead as he tried to figure out where he had seen her. Though he tried to pass it off, he couldn't shake the feeling that he knew her.

Khamiya frowned. She was well aware that Mamoru was watching her, and she didn't like it at all. She turned her head so that the long violet tresses covered the side of her face closest to him. Biting her lip she fought the images that washed over her. They were the same old visions, but this time the faceless people had taken the appearance of the Earth guardians. She saw them fighting, and she saw them dying. One by one they fell beneath the black mass that was bearing down upon them.

" I need some fresh air! " she gasped leaping up from the table so quickly that she nearly knocked over her milkshake.

" Would you like one of us to go with you? " Minako offered, " Since you don't know your way around. "

Khamiya looked horrified as she stared at them, " No! I'll be fine. I just...just... " she didn't even finish her reply before bolting for the door.

Once she was outside of the cafe, Khamiya took a deep breath. The pictures in her head were so clear, so real, that her stomach turned and her body trembled. Something was happening, and she couldn't stop it. The walls she had spent years building were now crumbling apart.

" Are you alright? "

Khamiya's head snapped up and there was Jedite, " Get away from me! " she growled.

Her animosity didn't seem to phase him, " Your friends seemed worried about you, and quite frankly, so was I. Do you want to talk about it? "

Her jaw dropped slightly as she stared at him in disbelief, " Didn't you hear me? Go away! Get lost! I don't want your help. "

" I don't believe you. Something happened in there, and I think you need to work it out. "

" Look, you idiot, I'm going to tell you this one more time. I neither need nor want your help. There isn't a damn thing you or anyone else can do, so just let it be. "

" If you insist, " he said softly, " but when you're ready to talk, I'm there for you. " he went back inside the cafe without another word.

'If he only knew' Khamiya buried her face in her hands. She took a long deep breath to calm herself. From inside the cafe she could hear the noisy commotion as the group prepared to leave. Khamiya ran a hand through her hair to straighten it and smoothed a hand over her skirt. She was utterly humiliated by her actions and hoped that no one would mention it.

Luriel was the first one to leave and she immediately walked over to Khamiya. " Are you..."

" Not a word, " the violet haired girl snapped pushing away from the wall and moving a few feet away.

Luriel sighed and hung her head. It was always like this, Khamiya absolutely refused to discuss her problems with anyone, and Luriel was afraid that it would eventually lead to serious problems. It just didn't make sense. What was Khamiya hiding from them?

~*~*~*~*~*~

Many hours later the group sat whispering quietly outside of the Cherry Hill temple. They spoke of past battles, of books, and the Sailor Senshi recounted their memories of the Silver Millennium. Mayoko cocked her head slightly and furrowed her brow as she listened, " That's odd. We've never heard of this, Silver Millennium is it. "

" You haven't? " Ami said with a hint of disbelief, " I would imagine that you were Senshi then as well, but perhaps our galaxies discovered each other later in time. If you think about it, Queen Serenity sent us one thousand years into the future. Your scientists may not have discovered our galaxy until after the fall of the Silver Millennium. "

" That would make sense, " Makoto agreed crossing her arms behind her head and leaning back against the side of the temple.

" Perhaps, " Luriel mused half to herself, " I wonder if Meokan knows anything about it. "

Luna, who was dozing lightly by the little campfire they had built, lifted her head from her paws, " Did you say Meokan? "

" Why yes, " Luriel replied looking at the small black cat, " He's my father, the Phamerian High Priest. He is an oracle and possesses an unusually long life span. "

" The name sounds so familiar, " Luna said thoughtfully, " but I don't know where I would have heard it. "

" Are you an oracle, too? " Minako asked curiously.

" Well, " Luriel explained, " I am a seer which is slightly different. The visions I have aren't as strong or frequent as my father's, and I can't foresee the distant future. Also, my mother was a mortal woman, so I won't have the life span that he does. "

" That's fascinating! " Rei exclaimed, " You'll have to tell me more about your world. I would love to see it someday. "

Luna flicked her tail back and forth thoughtfully. Some little memory was lurking at the edge of her mind, and she couldn't, for the life of her, figure out what it was. She stretched and sighed, perhaps if she quite thinking about it the thought would come to her. With a small yawn she curled up into a ball and went to sleep.

Mayoko shifted nervously and cleared her throat giving an almost wary smile as the group turned it's attention to her, " Since we're on the topic of Meokan, perhaps we should discuss a bit about the reason we were sent here.. I really hate to push the issue, but we don't have a lot of time. "

A quiet murmur of voices met the statement. Keridwen sat forward a bit, almost in anticipation, while Usagi and Aria frowned worriedly. Everyone seemed to have a different reaction to the subject, but they all knew that it couldn't be avoided forever.

" How much do you know so far? Like, how much time do we have? " Makoto questioned.

" I'm afraid that we don't really have any details, " admitted Mayoko, " Meokan was adamant about getting us out here, but for some reason he wouldn't tell us the whole story. All we know is that the Dark Kingdom poses a very dangerous threat to both of our galaxies, and even though we have defeated them successfully in the past, they have somehow become much stronger. "

Several of the girls turned to look at Jedite. " What do you know about this? " Rei demanded.

" Me? Nothing. I don't know what she's talking about. "

Mamoru narrowed his eyes suspiciously, " I don't believe you. There's no way you were a general in their army and have no idea what's going on in the kingdom. "

The man sighed and hung his head a bit, " I really don't, but I'll tell you everything that I do know. We are only one small regiment of the Dark Kingdom's army, and we're not a very high ranking one either. The true ruler holds some kind of grudge against Beryl, and we're really not included in the overall plans. If they were planning something, we'd be the last to know about it. "

" So much for inside information, " Makoto muttered shaking her head.

" So now what? " Nara asked.

" Now we dispose of the traitor, " replied a deep voice from the shadows.

There were gasps and shouts from every member of the group as a large scorpion burst out of the trees nearby. At the same time a tall man with auburn colored hair stepped into view, " I would never have believed it if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, Jedite. Now you must pay. Scorpio, destroy them all! "

Jedite's eyes grew wide as his former companion sent the monster barreling after them, " Nephlyte! No, wait! " He leapt to the side as the creature's enormous tail came crashing down where he had been sitting a mere second earlier.