Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ Mercury Mask ❯ Memories of the Past and Present ( Chapter 6 )

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

Mercury Mask
Episode VI <<<LOOK…6!!! (READ BELOW!)
"Memories of The Past and Present"
Scene I
(A/N: I'm so sorry it took so long, but my disk erased chapter 5 and I still have to rewrite it. Thank God I printed it out, it needs one hell of a makeover though. This is CHAPTER 6!!!!! When I get Chapter 5 I'll add it, and make it a separate story maybe so you know when it comes out! As I'm doing this, this exact minute, I'm finishing Chapter 7!!! And then on to the next section of my story…THK GOD, NO MORE DAINEL AND MALINA!!! WHERE THE HECK DID I GET THEM! Well anyways…on with Chapter 6…)
Darien was dreaming, though not in Amanda's dream world. Instead it was dark and he was kneeling on the ground, holding Amanda. This seemed as strange to him as it would to anyone. He tried waking her up, but his attempts failed. She had several bruises and cuts. 'She must have been fighting,' he thought.
"No, you did this," a girl's voice said from behind him. Now Amanda disappeared and Darien stood up and turned around. In front of him a glowing ball of fuzzy dark red light was floating. "Or, that will happen if you don't stay away from her, not to mention what might happen to you..."
"What are you talking about, and who are you? What are you?"
"Who, I cannot tell you, what? Well, I'm an ally. You can trust what I say. But if you don't Amanda will die. And if that happens I'd be left without a leader, and a best friend. And I'm talking about what Dainel and Malina are capable of."
Darien seemed confused at what she was saying; "I thought Dainel and Malina were just a couple of wimps; since they always run away after a fight."
"They'd rather keep their job than screw around, wouldn't you? They are capable of easily taking on a team of Sailor Soldiers, and winning."
"Oh,"
"I must go soon, my magic needs work, I can't stay long. Before I go, you must know that Dainel and Malina are not the real enemies. And we will be testing you…"
Darien's dream then disappeared.
Scene II
Amanda was lying on her bed reading. She seemed to be having a hard time concentrating on her rather large book though. She was very deep in thought. The last month or so had been rather hard for her. She was trying to get Serena to be her friend. Getting the scouts to trust was becoming harder and harder because of the CNA scouts. Darien hadn't spoken to her in two weeks. Every time she had called he hung up when he knew it was she. In fact the last time she had seen him was when he had returned her diary. She thought it could possibly be what she had written, with the ink and all. But she had apologized for the mistake, and explained, emitting whom JJ was. Then gladly thrown the trouble-making book away.
Amanda then thought about when she had bumped into Julia at the market, and what she had given her. It was the large book she was reading. A book of magic spells. Magic, the one thing that made the CNA scouts different from any other Sailor Team. Amanda thought being a sorceress was cool, but knew it was hard work. She remembered when she accidentally turned Piper into a kitten once, trying to do a transfiguration spell.
Amanda's head was full of memories of home. Then she remembered the one thing that she missed the most. JJ, her absolute best friend. She knew she really liked him more as a boyfriend though. It was too bad he didn't show any interest in her.
Amanda remembered something she had brought with her. One of her few most treasured items. Amanda dug through her bag, then through a box in the corner, and then sat down on the floor sulking. She hadn't found it. She reached for the bag again and pulled out a stick, a wand; a magic wand. Sitting back down on her bed and opening to a page of the large book and started muttering something under her breath. Then she tapped her pillow with the wand three times, and set her wand down. She lifted up her pillow and pulled out a golden heart locket out from underneath it. "There you are, I thought I might've lost you…"
Scene III
Memories wanted to be forgotten…
A much younger Amanda was standing on the edge of a soccer field; she didn't look very well. "Hey, Amanda, you feeling okay?" Amanda nodded absent-mindedly, but didn't say anything. "Hello? Amanda? Anybody home?" he asked. He didn't get an answer before she collapsed.
It seemed like a nightmare to JJ, Queen Mercury had yelled at him because she thought he made her come to soccer practice. Rini stopped her from saying anything else. Rini spoke softly to him, "It's not your fault, she'll be okay."
"But Mrs. Urawa said she could've died!"
Rini cast a glance at Queen Mercury, then looked back at JJ, "Uh uh, don't worry, everybody gets sick, it's no big deal."
The next day JJ was sitting next to Amanda's bed in the hospital. He handed her the locket. "For you, a get well gift."
Amanda shook off the memory and continued reading.

Scene IV
Rini was standing on the roof of her apartment building; night was falling. For it was a late August evening. The CNA girls were sitting in one of the bedrooms of her apartment, apparently plotting something. Piper seemed to be skeptical of what Marie was saying. "Amanda's perfectly aware of this, but we have to prevent her from getting too involved... that's what's going to get her hurt... but we do need to all agree in order to strip her powers..."
"I don't agree!" Piper yelled, "This is ridiculous, absolutely ludicrous! Amanda should be able to help, she hasn't been in any mortal danger!"
Julia seemed stuck between the two arguments and almost didn't speak up; "I think..." she began quietly, "that we should give it a day or two. If she can help save the Queen though, I'll have to agree with Piper. But only if Serenity is the next target for sure."
"She has to be, no?" Venessa startled everyone with her anxiousness, "I mean, first the most powerful, and then the original four, they have to know that Serenity is Sailor Moon!"
"Not necessarily," Nell said in her usual calm voice, "But it would be a shame if they did, then they'd be after the Silver Crystal, and they'd surely try to kill her. Another reason not to temporarily strip Amanda of her magic."
"No!" Piper was still yelling, "She's the only one who can disapparate and apparate objects, if needs be she will with the Silver Crystal! My ruling shall be final! I am your temporary leader! Amanda will by my word, shall be left in peace!"
Piper's strong opinion seemed to have settled it. Venessa, Nell, Ursula, and Marie stood up and went to their own room. Piper walked out of the room after them, she still had something to add.
"Leave Amanda be, but keep Endymion away of her, that's when she will be in mortal danger," Piper had stopped yelling. 'Tomorrow, I know it, if this is gonna happen, it'll be tomorrow.' she thought.
Scene V
The very next day it was so cloudy, it looked as though the sun had never risen. Amanda made her way to school clutching the locket hanging around her neck. She was now wearing her other necklace, which held the sword, as a bracelet. She still seemed deep in thought. In Phys. Ed., Amanda seemed particularly absorbed in what they were about to do. A two and a half-kilometer run, for a personal time record. Six long laps around the track, Amanda thought there was nothing better than that to relax her mind and take it off the subject of home.
They had run in two heats. Hotaru and Mika ran in the first and slower one and had received times at about eight minutes. The faster heat began while the first group was still catching their breath. Amanda and Sammy were instantly in the lead. Agility and speed were Amanda's trademark in training. As this progressed, Sammy seemed to constantly match Amanda's pace, and when she sped up to get ahead, Sammy always caught up. This race went on until Sammy and Amanda had lapped several of their classmates.
When they finally finished Amanda's mind was on Sammy trying to impress her, 'It has to be a guy thing.' She turned to Sammy, not panting and gasping for air like he was, and said, "That was fun, shall we duel again my worthy adversary?"
"If-'duel'-means-race-then sure!" Sammy seemed triumphant at impressing Amanda. Amanda was thoroughly impressed that he could keep up, even though she was running about a third the speed she usually ran. Hotaru and Mika came up to congratulate Amanda at breaking the school record of five minutes and thirty seconds, and bringing it down to four minutes and eleven seconds.
Scene VI
"I've been thinking," Serena said to Darien while they were sitting on a bench in the park. He didn't seem to be paying an extreme amount of attention to what she was saying because he didn't look up from his book. "Is it just coincidence that Amanda shows up at the same time as Sailor Mariner? Or that Amanda looks incredibly like Amy, and Sailor Mariner has the same powers as Amy?"
"Yes Serena, it is coincidence," he lied. Darien looked at his watch; "They're all late, they were supposed to be here five minutes ago."
"Sorry Mr. Punctual, maybe we're trying to be fashionably late," Raye said from behind them. Along with Raye were Chad, Antonio, Mina, Michelle, and Amara. They were all going out to dinner apparently.
After dinner the four couples were walking through the park, the sun was already setting. As usual if any they did see anyone else there, they were also couples. Malina was watching from a nearby treetop. "Pitiful, they aren't even keeping their guard..."
The CNA scouts were slipping from tree to shrub, out of the sight of the unsuspecting scouts. Jumping and swinging silently from tree branch to tree branch was Sailor Mariner who didn't notice any of the other spies. Only one of them had cruel intentions, I think you can guess which one.
Malina, absorbed in her plan, did not know that there were other scouts around. She threw one of her marbles to the ground not far from where the scouts were walking, just out of their sight. The sound of a small explosion came from that direction. The CNA scouts exchanged worried glances, but Piper lipped to them "just watch them."
The scouts ran hurriedly towards the sound of the explosion. Serena didn't make it all the way there though. Malina stopped her. With one hand around Serena's neck she thrust her other hand through Serena's chest, retrieving the heart song which seemed to be glowing very brightly. From behind her this is what she heard:
"Uranus Planet Power!"
"Neptune Planet Power!"
"Mars Crystal Power!"
"Venus Crystal Power!"
"Mars Planet Power!"
"Venus Planet Power!"
Serena dropped to the ground still aware of everything that was going on.
"Damnit, it's not the right one, I was positive she was the one." Malina just noticed the scouts surrounding her. "Damn Sailor Brats," she said under her breath.
"Freezus!" yelled Sailor Callisto (Julia if you haven't read the profiles on my site). She pointed a staff apparently made of wood at Malina. Malina froze in place.
"Yeah, you go girl!" the short Sailor Dione (Sabrina) said from behind the much taller Sailor Charon (Piper).
"Very good Callisto... scouts, maybe you should help the princess and retrieve her heart song before the charm wears off," Sailor Charon said quietly. The scouts just stood there and stared at the seven girls. Sailor Phobos rolled her eyes and walked over to the frozen Malina and took the glowing orb from her hand. She then walked over to Serena and let the orb float in place for a moment before it disappeared inside her body.
"Man, you guys are slow, and I thought Mariner was bad at this," Phobos said curtly.
Sailor Mariner now revealed her hiding place in the tree behind Serena at this remark, "Excuse me Phobos, but I resent that remark!"
Phobos displayed a look of fear for only a moment before she wiped the expression off her face. Sailor Mariner hopped down from the tree branch and helped Serena up. "You're too much like your mother Phobos, you should show respect for your leader as they show the same respect for you," Mariner turned to Serena now, "I hope you're all right, this is my fault, I'm sorry if I'm failing my duties to the court your highness." Sailor Mariner bowed slightly to Serena who was looking very pale then said, "If you're feeling up to it princess you should to at least try to fight Malina."
Serena nodded and took her brooch in hand...
"Moon Eternal Power!" she said weakly.
Serena transformed. Sailor Mariner turned to the CNA scouts, "We should be going, our job is done."
"So now you're bailing on us!" Uranus yelled at them. Everyone around her looked alarmed.
"Bailing on you? My martial arts and acrobatic skills may surpass yours by far, but I can assure you, my Sailor Scout powers do not," Sailor Mariner said hotly.
"Stunnify!" Phobos said as she pointed an arrow at Sailor Uranus. Uranus dodged the ball of light. I can assure you readers, that Sailor Phobos did not see this coming.
"World Shaking!"
"Marie! Move!" Amanda screamed. She pushed Phobos out of the way and braced herself only a moment too late.
The look of the utmost hatred was in the CNA scouts eyes, except Charon and Dione who seemed to have drawn their attention to where Amanda lay. Astonishment came from the Sailor Scouts.
"You witch!" Sailor Triton (Nell) yelled, "Triton Tidal Wave!"
That's what started the wave of attacks that came from each side next. A four on five battle, though not nearly that close in the amount of sheer power. Sailor Neptune, Uranus, Mars, and Venus on one side, firing at every chance they got. Sailor Titania (Ursula), Triton, Phobos, Hesperus, and Callisto defending their leader.
No one was paying attention to the knights and Sailor Moon trying to fight Malina, whose freezing charm had worn off. "You think you're actually going to succeed at even landing a hit," Malina taunted. She was right though, they hadn't landed a single attack, and she had managed to hit them several times.
"Hey, Amanda, are you okay? You shouldn't have taken that blow for Marie, you're way too…" Charon's voice trailed off, she didn't want to upset Amanda.
"I'm fine," she said very distantly, "Just need to lie down for a minute, 'kay?" Then Amanda passed out.
'That's Amanda, trying to make a joke out of everything. Either that or Uranus's attack screwed her up more than she already was...' Charon thought.
"Piper, is Amanda going to be alright?" said someone from behind her. She turned to find Tuxedo Mask kneeling down next to her.
"How--?" she stopped abruptly and reasoned that he was the only one Amanda would tell about the future, "I think..." she said quietly.
Dione was standing a few feet away looked no less than confused and scared staring at her best friends and someone who had seemed like a fairy tale to her. Then she burst into tears, "I wanna go home!!!" she screamed. Serena was momentarily distracted by who was screaming and took a hit to her stomach that threw her through the air and into a nearby tree knocking her unconscious. The look on Malina's face was that of pure triumph. She sniggered at the Sailor Scouts and teleported again. Tuxedo Mask looked in Serena's direction stood, patted Charon on the head, and ran in Serena's direction.
The fighting amongst the two Sailor teams had not yet stopped. They were still throwing everything they had at each other. Uranus was raised he hand, about to throw another World Shaking attack at Phobos, when a strong grip grabbed her wrist.
"What the--?" she said in surprise but had no time to finish. This mysterious hand twisted her arm around her back.
"You even think of throwing another attack them, as much as I don't want to Amara, I will hurt you," a woman's voice said loud enough to draw everyone's attention. This voice sounded familiar to everyone but Mars and Venus Knight.
Charon looked relieved and stood up and was about to explain to the figure in the shadows what had happened.
"No need Charon, I've been watching." She pushed Uranus forward, not showing any signs of letting go of her wrist, her grip just tightened. Most of the scouts stared in amazement.
"Rini..." Tuxedo Mask said quietly holding the limp Sailor Moon.
"Sailor Mini-Moon," Sailor Uranus said, "You're definitely stronger than I remember you."
"And a hell of a lot less mini," she said exasperatedly. She reluctantly let go of Uranus's arm and swept past her to where Charon stood. Dione stopped crying and ran to Rini and clutched her leg. "Charon, can you manage to take the girl's back to my apartment without letting anything interfere?" Rini said hotly.
Charon looked frightened, "Yes, I didn't mean to-"
"Never mind about it I'll deal with all of you later,"
"But what about?" Charon glanced at Amanda who was still on the ground where she had landed.
"I'll take care of it, now get going," Rini shooed them in the direction of the exit of the park. Phobos stopped and turned around to face the abashed Sailors, "If you didn't want our help, you should've said it in the first place, then we wouldn't have bothered. Just remember, you're the ones at a disadvantage now." Then she turned and ran to catch up with her comrades.
Once they were out of earshot, Rini let everything she was holding back out of the cage, so to speak. "WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING? YOU COULD HAVE KILLED THEM! THEY'RE ONLY KIDS! NOT TO MENTION THE FACT THAT YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO BE A FEW OF THE MOST RESPECTED SAILOR SCOUTS IN THE UNIVERSE! THE DISRESPECT YOU GUYS HAD FOR YOUR FELLOW SAILOR SCOUTS! MY GOD! URANUS YOU NEARLY KILLED SAILOR MARINER!"
The Sailor Scouts stared at the angry Senshi from the future. Only slightly disturbed by Rini's yelling, Venus Knight quietly asked Darien who the mysterious girl was.
Because of the rest of the silence Rini heard him, "I can answer that Darien, you tend to Serena. I am Serena and Darien's daughter from the future, I do believe Darien has told you about me, and I am acquainted with your future self, so no need for an explanation on your part. And thank you for not attacking them as your Sailor Scout counterparts had." Rini turned now to the scouts still standing, burned and bruised, but still amazed at Rini's older appearance. It was like Rini was reading their minds, "Yes, I am older. It will seem weird for now. You'll get used to it, believe me you'll be seeing me around. I'm only here because I need to get a degree, I chose to be a teacher, and this is a great history lesson.
"Other Sailor Scouts would have reacted differently Uranus, to your accusation, but these find it an incredible disrespect to accuse their leader of bailing on another Sailor Scout. They have been brought up to know that there are three types of people. People who fear evil, people who fight evil, and people who are evil. If you want to be the latter to them, go ahead, you'll win. They're only in training, they're weak."
Sailor Uranus had gotten over the astonishment of seeing the old friend that she was ready to defend her own part, "They threw the first punch!"
The look on Rini's face went somewhere between disgust and resentment, "You punched back." The expression changed again to complete resentment. "It was only a stunning spell, it would have merely dazed you." She paused then continued, "I have to go, I need to punish those six, and take care of her," she pointed to Sailor Mariner. But before she left, she went up to Tuxedo Mask and kissed him on the cheek. Then she looked at Serena still unconscious in Darien's arms, it was apparent it was because of a blow she had taken to the head; there was a large cut on the side of her forehead. "Take care of Serena, okay?" Darien could see the worried look in her eyes, and nodded. Rini retrieved Amanda, carrying her as if she were as light as she herself had been when she was little. She walked away without even saying goodbye.
"Six?" Mina said quietly, "I thought there were eight of them."
Scene VII
The CNA girls were sitting in various places around Rini's living room, examining their injuries. Piper was helping Venessa nurse a bloody nose. Nell was wrapping Ursula's wrist with a bandage. She had attempted a one-handed back handspring to dodge a Flame Sniper attack. Sabrina was in bed and Marie was laying an extra bed near the sofa. Julia was on the balcony looking at the sky, 'Why did they attack us? I'm so glad Lita wasn't there. I'd feel a lot worse, but I hope Amanda is all right.'
The girls heard the door slam and they all jumped over to the sofa looking no less than frightened, Rini was fuming. She laid the now detransformed Amanda in the bed Marie had just laid out.
Rini was breathing rather hard and looked like she was going to explode again the she had in the park. "Piper-double chores-brush teeth-bed." She breathed. Piper got up and obeyed. Now the other girls looked twice as frightened, that was the punishment they had expected for them. "You," she pointed at the remaining six, "Two weeks-school-home-no TV-no computer-brush teeth-bed!" Rini looked incredibly menacing, and not sure what she'd do if they did, the girls didn't dare protest that the punishment was unfair. Even they knew it was fair. They went to bed and Rini sighed looking relieved that she had gotten that over with. "I'm sorry guys, but you know you shouldn't use those powers like that..." Rini fetched a bowl of water and a washcloth and tended to Amanda scrapes and cuts.
Scene VIII
Darien was doing the same to Serena who was lying on his bed. Serena was moving around and Darien was trying to keep her still so he could put at least a band-aid on her forehead. Serena opened her eyes finally, but it took a moment for them to adjust to the darkness of the room. She attempted to sit up but felt the stiffness in her entire body and remained the way she was. She noticed the pain in her forehead but it was hard to tell because of the headache she had. She saw someone lean over her, "Hmm? Darien?"
"Could you lie still for just a second?" he asked quietly.
Serena lay still for a moment while Darien put a band-aid on her forehead. Serena winced at the pain. Serena could see that Darien was worried, "What's wrong?"
"Just worried about you," he half lied. He was as equally if not more worried about Amanda, he had known Serena would be all right.
"That's not what's wrong," Serena struggled to sit up so she could level with his eyes. Once looking at him she said worriedly, "Darien, really, what's the matter?" When she received no response she processed what had happened at the park, "It's Sailor Mariner isn't it? I don't know why, but I just know you know more about her, that's why you didn't help fight Malina at the park. And why you didn't fight those new scouts, if that's what they were."
Darien sighed, Serena is smarter than she appears at first glance, "You're right about all of that, but I promised I wouldn't tell even you." Darien almost didn't say anything about Rini then decided it would be better for her to find out from him, and she would be mad that he hadn't told her in this first place, Raye and Mina were sure to say something. "Rini was there," he said quietly.
Serena didn't even look surprised, "I wish I could have seen her," she said sadly.
"You will, get some rest, will you?" Serena nodded and Darien kissed her and left her alone in the room.
In the living room of his apartment everyone who had been at the park was there. They were silent. Darien closed the door behind him. Amara didn't even look up when Darien came out, just simply asked, "Is she okay?"
Darien didn't seem to hear her; he walked past them all and out of his apartment. "I have something I have to look into," he called as he walked abruptly out the door.
Scene IX
There was a knock on Rini's apartment door. 'Who's calling on me at this time of night?' she thought. Upon opening she almost closed it immediately. "You shouldn't be here, there is a reason I asked you to watch Serena," she said quietly.
"Well I'm here now, no point in not letting me in," Darien said. Rini opened the door to let him in.
"Be glad I missed you, or I wouldn't let you in." Darien looked confused at this remark. "Only because you threaten Amanda's life at this point."
"You know about that? Was it you in my dream?" Darien said surprised.
"Shh…I don't want to wake Amanda, and no, it wasn't me." Rini whispered.
Darien looked at Amanda, who he had not noticed until now. Rini was fumbling around the kitchen taking cookies out of the oven and Darien sat down on a stool at the counter. "Why me?"
Rini looked Darien in the eyes with a look of the utmost respect. "Well, no, I can't, it's against the rules. Pluto would kill me."
"What is it?"
"Would you rather live in fear for the next few weeks, or get on with your life and be surprised," Rini pointed at him with her spatula, "You're their next target," she said quietly.
"What does that have to do with Amanda?"
"You should go," Rini said quietly, "Please Darien, watch over Serena, if they get Amanda, Serena is next. Dainel and Malina are the least of your worries."
"I didn't think they were the real enemies anyway, so who's behind them? Beryl's sister?"
"Olivius," Rini said shortly.
The look of concern on Darien's face could be more understood by Rini.