Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ Sailormoon Dark ❯ Episode 15: Memories Awaken. A Senshi Competition for Love. ( Chapter 15 )

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

Sailormoon Dark: Episode Fifteen
"Memories Awaken. A Senshi Competition for Love."

written by Laurel Wilson ( Sailorhathor@aol.com )
Inspired by the Japanese animated show Pretty Soldier Sailormoon.
The ideas for this fanfic were conceived in 1995, but this actual episode was written in June 2001.

As stated before, if you can't handle same-sex relationships, might wanna find another fic to read.


"Three coffins. Three orphans. Three spells. These things are eternally linked, and yet, have little to do with each other. How will the memories of the senshi bring such connections to light?"
"Tre' poetic, Usagi. But I thought this episode was going to be about a competition for love?"
"Isn't everything about love, Makoto?"
"Let me guess. You just got out of your poetry class?"
"Life is a class in poetry."
"Alright, Usagi-chan, I get it."
"Do we ever truly get it, Makoto?"
"If you don't stop that, you're going to get it."
Pretty Soldier Sailormoon Dark Episode 15: Memories Awaken. A Senshi Competition for Love. The moonlight carries the message of love.

        Taka and Maneshi were still trying to catch their breath as the talking fox told them of their destinies. "You protected the universe as Sailorcarbon , Maneshi. In this life, it will be your duty again."
        "How'd you learn to talk?! Are you a fox spirit?" *
        "Something like that. I am one of the guardians of the Elemental Senshi, of which you are a member. All senshi guardians can speak."
        "This is nuts. I mean, my parents have filled my head with this superstitious stuff my whole life, but I never thought things like fox spirits were real. You're really talking!" Maneshi shook her head in disbelief.
        "Apparently I am."
        "It's amazing! What about those lights that struck Taka and I? What was that about?"
        "Those were your Elemental Soul Shields, the last pieces of your souls, that contain your powers. Now you are whole."
        "My powers?"
        "Your powers as Sailorcarbon." Gogyou sat down next to her. "I will give you your transformation wand later, and you can see for yourself what you can do."
        "A wand?! How did I live all this time without a part of my soul?!"
        "The Carbon Shield was reborn in your brother by accident. Everyone is born with the shield of a regular human, and that sustained you. You need your Elemental Shield to become Sailorcarbon. Now, the Carbon Shield has been freed, and has returned to you," Gogyou replied, swishing her tail back and forth across the garage floor.
        Maneshi laughed. "My brother?!" Suddenly her face grew serious. "If the Shield was 'freed,' does that mean that my brother is hurt somehow?!"
        "No, he's just fine." Then she stressed, "Physically."
        "O h, good! So Gogog, what comes next?"
        The fox seemed surprised. "Gogog?" #
        "My little nickname for you. That's alright, isn't it?"
        One furry eyebrow raised. "I suppose. What comes next is I train you. Get you back up to speed. There's a very dangerous person on this planet who could destroy it. You must choose a side and fight."
        Letting out a deep sigh, Maneshi thumped Taka on the arm. "Are you listening to the crazy stories this fox spirit is trying to get me to swallow? Taka-chan? Hello?"
        The girl's eyes were wide, staring off into space. "The king and queen have been murdered."
        "Huh?!"
        Gogog stood before the frightened Taka. "Are you remembering something?"
        "Someone stabbed them to death."
        Squaring her shoulders, Gogog said, "Show me," and used her supernatural guardian's powers to dive into the eye of Taka's mind.
        The first scene she saw was a dark hallway, in the middle of the night. The hall just outside the royal quarters of the king and queen of Hathor. A girl in a long dress walked toward the opposite end of the hall, holding a sword with a strange blade at her side.
        "Who goes there?" Taka called.
        The figure turned to look at her for just a moment. A little bit of light streaming out of the king and queen's room glinted off the sword; was it made of crystal? Then she turned the corner.
        "Do you know who that was, Taka?" Gogog asked the Taka in the memory.
        "No, I'm really not sure. She was familiar... but..." She managed to turn a light on, and gasped. Leading out of the royal quarters was a trickle trail of blood left by the sword. "The king and queen!"
        Taka instantly ran through the open door and began to scream. Gogog caught a glimpse of the king and queen of Hathor draped across their blood-soaked bed before Taka's mind shut the memory away for the time being.
        "That was very unpleasant," Gogog commented. "Someone murdered them, a girl with a crystal sword. Why were you there, Taka? Can you remember?"
        "I was Queen Hathor's Handmaiden. My own parents had died of an epidemic of disease, and the queen took me in and raised me almost as one of her own." Gogog was shown a memory of a little girl, Taka, curled up in the corner of an overcrowded hospital, as Queen Hathor visited it.
        "The epidemic seems to be subsiding since you developed the new medicine?" the queen asked the head doctor.
        "Yes. The patients are responding well now. The lucky ones."
        "Many have died." Queen Hathor sighed with regret. "What about that child?" She pointed to Taka, her eyes growing sympathetic.
        "Her parents died of the epidemic, and we cannot find any other relatives. It appears that she is alone in the world," the doctor replied sadly.
        Queen Hathor looked at the child again, smiling with a gentleness only mothers had.
        "The queen wanted to adopt me, but a woman came forward to claim me--my grandmother," Taka explained. "The queen invited her to come live at the castle if she could raise me to be her Handmaiden. Grandmother agreed. I think she enjoyed the royal life. Grandmother was good to me, and we were treated very well. I regret that the king and queen were butchered so horribly--in my presence! There was nothing I could do to stop it. I just got there too late."
        "And what of your natural parents, Taka? What powers did they pass on to you?"
        "My parents were not royalty, but my mother had great supernatural powers. She didn't believe in using them to interrupt the natural course of life, and that is why she allowed the disease to kill her. But she did pass her power on to me. I am Sailornitrogen ," declared Taka.
        "Yes, you are," Gogog assured. "There are important memories coming to you now that you have your Nitrogen Shield back, aren't there? Would you show me more?"
        Suddenly they were taken to a new scene, another memory of Taka's past life. A grand hall with large windows, lit by nothing but a few candles on an altar. Taka could see a tall figure standing near it.
        "What are you doing here?" she asked.
        Lightning flashed outside, making stark shadows on the wall of the figure and Taka. In the flickering flash, Taka saw the face of Princess Hathor floating before the altar as she was thumbing through a thick book. Behind her were three flower-strewn sarcophaguses all laid out. @
        "I'm preparing for the funeral of the king and queen," Princess Hathor replied matter-of-factly. "The oldest child must participate in the funerary rites."
        "That's good. It's important to be prepared, especially when the funeral is for people so dear to you. The murderers must be caught!" Taka cried, emotion overcoming her.
        Princess Hathor looked at the floor. Her eyes shined in the light of the candles as the tears streamed down her face. "I fear we will never know why this was done. The important thing now is to see them to the Underworld safely. To do that, I must finish my preparations."
        There was another flash of lightning outside the large windows of the grand hall. Taka caught sight of the sarcophaguses again. Three. There were three? One for the king, one for the queen, and... "Princess Hathor, why are there three stone coffins?"
        Turning slightly, the princess picked up a ceremonial dagger from the altar.
        Taka suddenly gasped, coming out of the trance her memories had put her in. Maneshi looked at her expectantly.
        "Well? What happened?! What were you two doing just now?"
        Taking a deep breath, Taka replied, "I saw several memories of my past life as Sailornitrogen, and the Handmaiden of Queen Hathor. Some very important, emotional memories."
        Maneshi bounced with frustration. "Are you going to tell me about them?!"
        "Yes. But first, I think we should smuggle Gogyou up to my room, where we can all talk in private."
        "Good idea. But I've nicknamed the fox. Gogog," Maneshi informed her.
        "Gogog?!"
&nbs p;       "I think it's cute!"


      & nbsp; Limping around the room, Ursula got ready for her study date with Glen. Her legs still hurt from the squeezing the monster had given them, and she had to wear pants to cover up the bruises. Truthfully, Ursula had called Glen on pretenses so she could spend time with him. But now, she wasn't so sure she wanted to follow through with her obvious drooling over the green-haired hunk. Ursula's thoughts kept going back to the soldier who had saved her from the monster... and how there was more between them than just a mutual fight for good.
        From his place on the floor, leaning on a pillow, Nathan watched Ursula fuss to get ready. "So this guy who's coming over, what's he look like?"
        "He's got long dark green hair, pale skin, and muscular arms. The rest of him looks pretty much like a regular guy." Ursula checked her hair in the mirror.
        "Sounds cuuuuute," Nathan crooned. Maybe he was going to like this country at that...
        Tara's voice wafted out of the bathroom, its door ajar. "He's mine, Nathan."
        Nathan scoffed. "You got your name written on him and everything?"
        Ursula knocked on the door of their private bathroom; they were lucky enough to get one in their dorm room. "I need to finish getting ready, Tara. Will you be done soon?"
        "Yeee-eees," she sing-songed.
        "What are you doing in there?"
        "Shaving my legs."
        Puzzled, Ursula said, "But you just told me this morning that you didn't have any razors; you were really bitching about it. When did you get one?"
        Tara didn't answer.
        An unpleasant thought occurred to Ursula, so she pushed open the bathroom door. "Tara..."
        Smiling at her mischievously, Tara didn't even try to hide the fact that she was shaving her legs with Ursula's Razor Claw.
        Nathan covered his head with the pillow as the clobbering started.
        "How could you use my Razor Claw for something like that?! I left it in here for the polish to dry; you wrecked my polishing job! And after I got all that green monster slime off so well!" Bop!
        "I had to shave my legs with something; you invited Glen the hunk over without telling me! I can't walk around in front of him with bangs on my legs!" Sock!
        "Oh, so that's what this is about! You were trying to get even with me for going after Glen!" Crash!
        "You know I have the hots for him! You didn't even give me a chance to get him!" Bap!
        "I have just as much right to go after him as you do! And that's no reason to use my Talisman for feminine hygiene! You crossed the line, Carrottop!" Biff!
        "Well I'm sure I'm sorry!"
        "Oh that was soooo sincere! You know what I'm gonna do?! I'm gonna get your Bejeweled Goblet and use it to rinse out my mouth after I've brushed my teeth! And then I'm going to get my mouthwash and I'm gonna gargle and gargle and gargle, and guess where I'm going to spit when I'm done gargling!"
        "You have to get the Goblet first."
        Loud slams and bumps came out of the bathroom as the girls catfought. There was a knock at the door.
        "The hunk!" Nathan said to himself with mischief in his voice. He hopped up to answer it.
        Glen glanced into the room, a strange look on his face. "What's all that noise? Is Ursula here?"
        Smiling with delight, Nathan looked Glen up and down. Oh he is yummy. "She's here, but she's currently beating up my sister. Oh Ur-suuu-laaa-laaa? Sister deeeear? Your guest has arrived..."
        Glen made another face over how odd this was. Beating up his sister?!
        Tara's voice came out of the bathroom. "Then you know what I'm going to do?! I'm going to shave my armpits with this thing!" She suddenly paused. "What did you say Nathan?"
        Glen tried to hide his laughter.
        "I said your guest is here."
        From the bathroom came the sound of two girls trying to recover their dignity despite extreme embarassment. "This is all your fault," Ursula whispered.
        Tara turned on the water and started to rinse her legs. "Don't put this all on me you're the one who..."
        "I can't believe you used my Talisman for..."
        "You shouldn't have..."
        "Even though you're whispering, we can still hear most of what you're saying," Nathan scathingly told the girls.
        Trying not to chuckle out loud, Glen leaned against the doorjamb. "So can I come in?"
        Ursula abruptly scurried out of the bathroom. "Hello Glen!" She fussed at her hair. "Won't you come in?"
        "As long as I don't have to watch anybody shave their armpits."
        Still in the bathroom, Tara sported the biggest sweatdrop imaginable in reaction to that one.
        Before he could enter the dorm room, someone called Glen's name from down the hall. "Hm? Oh, hi Usagi!"
        "Hello Glen-kun!" she called.
        He saw who she had with her. "Hi Kiki-chan. Hi Nezumi-san." The nervous adoration was unmistakable in Glen's voice when he said Nezumi's name.
        "Hi Glen-kun," Kikan replied. The look in her lovesick eyes mirrored the love in Glen's eyes, but they weren't looking at each other.
        "Good afternoon, Glen," Nezumi said, smiling politely.
        Usagi reported, "We're on our way to the Student Center. Kikan-chan is my new dormmate! I didn't know you all knew each other."
        "My sister is the Kyomus' publicist," Glen added.
        Ursula and Nathan watched the exchange knowingly. This was some sort of sign, Ursula surmised, that her doubts about pursuing a relationship with Glen were founded. He was obviously in love with this Nezumi girl, and the other girl, Kikan, complicated things by being totally ga-ga over him. Maybe I should do the smart thing and voluntarily bow out of this twisted love triangle. Besides, my attraction to Glen is purely physical. I need a special connection.
        A feral smile crossed Nathan's face. That's alright, you can love that girl. My interest in your yumminess has nothing to do with love.
        Just as Usagi and the others were about to head off to the Student Center, Kitaeru came down the hall. She paused with apprehension at the sight of Nezumi and Kikan. The two girls regarded her with politeness, but the grins on their faces assured her that they knew her secret. Pushing down her fear, Kitaeru bowed to the group. "Good afternoon, everyone. I'd like to speak to Usagi alone for a minute, if I may."
        Kikan and Nezumi, wondering if she wanted to talk about them, looked at each other.
        "Sure, Kitaeru-chan." Usagi took her aside. "What is it?"
        "Are you going somewhere with them?"
        "Yes, we're going to the Student Center for a snack. Kyomu Kikan is my new dormmate."
        "Is she?" Kitaeru discreetly kept her voice even, as not to alarm Usagi. No sense in passing her fears on to the other girl if it was possible that there was nothing to fear. "That must be exciting, having a famous roommate. While you're gone, may I go to your room and speak to Luna? She is here, isn't she? I have some senshi business to discuss with her."
        "Is something wrong?"
        "No, I just want to talk to her about the Silver Millenium. If anyone is in danger, I'll tell you, okay?"
        "Okay." Usagi imagined that all the secrecy was to keep the others from becoming alarmed. "Luna is in my dorm room. Speak to her as much as you like; she has a much better memory than I do."
        "Arigato."
&nb sp;       While they were waiting for Usagi, Glen chatted with Nezumi; he noticed that she was looking at him funny. "So I came over here to help with her paper, and... what?"
        "You have a little furry creature on your shoulder." Nezumi and Kikan both giggled.
        It surprised Glen to see a blonde animal had crawled up on his shoulder without him knowing it. "I must of been too distracted to notice..."
        "Oh he's got the love jones bad," Nathan mumbled to Ursula. That was when he noticed Tara standing behind her, her face dejected and disappointed. He didn't realize until that moment just how much his sister liked the hunk. Seeing the way Glen interacted with Nezumi must've caused Tara to draw the same conclusions as Ursula and himself.
        "What kind of animal is this?" Glen joked. The furry creature glanced around at them all, giving Kikan and Nezumi a particularly long look.
        "He's a guinea pig," answered Kitaeru. "And he's mine. I put him on the floor so he could get some exercise. I guess Argo decided to come visit you." Smiling, she rubbed her arm up against Glen's so Argo could hop from one shoulder to the other.
        Kikan jealously eyed the girl's actions. Stop rubbing against him, wench. "Don't you ever worry that your pet will get lost when you allow him to run loose like that?" she asked with an edge.
        "No, Argo's very smart. He can find his way home if we get separated." Scratching Argo behind the ears, Kitaeru bowed her goodbyes and headed for Usagi and Kikan's room.
        Usagi, trying to do her part, hurried Kikan and Nezumi along. "We're off to the Student Center! Bye everyone!"
        "But why is that girl going to our room?" Kikan asked as she was dragged away.
        Ursula tapped Glen's shoulder; all of his attention was focused on Nezumi's form moving down the hallway. "Hm?"
        "Shall we get started?"
        "Oh. Oh, yeah!" A little embarassed, Glen headed into the dorm room.
        "I think I'm going down to the Student Center too," stammered Tara. "I don't have a religious paper to write; I'm not even in that class." She awkwardly hurried from the room.
        "Tara, wait, you've got-" Not wanting to embarass her, Ursula cut herself off. Tara still had a little shaving cream on the back of her knee. She sighed, feeling only sympathy for her best friend.


         Luna, startled, looked up sharply when the door opened. Oh, it was Kitaeru! "Afternoon, Kitaeru-chan. Come to visit Usagi?"
        "No, I came to..." She spotted the large tan cat marking all of the furniture with her scent. "Is that Kyomu Kikan's cat?"
        "Yes, that is Bastet. Don't worry, she can't blab anything we talk about. She's just a regular cat. Dish the gossip!" Luna hopped up on Usagi's bed.
        "Meeeow," Bastet purred in her deep, sultry voice.
        Leaving the door open a little bit, Kitaeru sat down next to Luna. "I wouldn't be too sure about that." She addressed Bastet. "Let's not beat around the bush. Sailorhathor knows who I am, and I know who she is. You are her guardian, aren't you, Bastet? You can understand us."
        Luna patted Kitaeru's knee with her paw. "Dear, she's just a regular cat."
        "I suppossse there's no reason to continue to pretend, then, isss there?" Bastet replied, slinking along the edge of Kikan's bed. Luna, shocked, gaped at her. "Why are you here, Vulcan? Do you bear my massster any ill will?"
        "No. I just want to discuss some things with Luna. But I'd like some privacy. Could we be alone?"
        Bastet grinned, showing her feline fangs. "Sssorry. I have no place to go. Although I'd consssider it if you let me eat that furry little rodent on your shoulder."
        Rolling his eyes, Argo retorted, "I'm a guinea pig, and no, you can't eat me. My fur would just get stuck in your teeth. Can I ask you something?"
        "Yesss."
        "Why are you wearing so much jewelry? Are you a kitty pimp?"
        Bastet hissed angrily. "I'll just pick your fur out of my teeth with your bonesss," she promised, before leaping up on Usagi's bed and going right for Argo.
        Argo simply jumped off of Kitaeru's shoulder and zipped out the open door. Once Bastet went out after him, Kitaeru shut the door behind her.
        "What was that all about?!" Luna exclaimed. "Will he be okay?"
        "Yes, Argo will be fine. He can take care of himself. He's my guardian."
        "What's this about Bastet being Sailorhathor's guardian? Is Kikan Sailorhathor?"
        Kitaeru nodded. "I attended her concert last night, and I had a vision. Her sister Nezumi is Sailorblackhole. That's what I came here to talk to you about. Those two sisters have some extremely strong powers at their whim. I'm worried about where their loyalties lie. Part of my vision was nightmarish and terrifying. They were killing the people in the concert audience. And they had these massive black wings. Tell me, what do you remember about them from our ancient past? Anything?"
        Thinking a moment, Luna said, "I remember a little of a story of how they came to be part of the royal family of Hathor. The three girls were orphans, you see. Kikan, Nezumi, and their sister, Adrianna. They showed up in the briar forest surrounding the castle unexpectedly one day. The kingdom of Hathor was located on the asteroid of the same name, so no one could understand how these three girls whom no one recognized nor claimed got there; after all, the kingdom of Hathor was not that overtly large. The children were all very young. At the time, the youngest was barely a month old. The oldest child had to carry the baby in a basket, which was obviously hard for her. The three girls were taken to the castle so their identities could be uncovered. Upon seeing the babies all covered in thorn cuts and dirt, the Queen instantly fell in love with them and wanted to raise them as her own. The Queen herself could not have children, so adopting these girls would be a good idea to ensure the kingdom of heirs. Since no one claimed them, the children were indeed adopted by the king and queen. There was a note inside the basket that asked the people of Hathor to take care of the children and identified them by age and name--Kikan was the oldest, Nezumiiro was the middle child, and Adrianna was the baby.
        "When they each reached the age of 14, Kikan and Nezumi mysteriously received the powers of senshi--Kikan became Sailorhathor, and Nezumi became Sailorblackhole. Many people were shocked at this turn of events because usually only the blood children of senshi, mages, and royalty become senshi. That's all I really know about their past life. In this life, so far I know that Nezumi and Kikan are sisters again; I wonder if they again have a younger sister named Adrianna... oh, and there was another girl the king and queen tried to adopt, who turned out to be Sailornitrogen, but she had some family left so she just became the queen's Handmaiden instead of her daughter. I think Queen Hathor liked giving homes to orphaned girls; she seemed to have a kind heart."
        "What happened to them when the solar system was attacked?" Kitaeru asked.
        "I suppose that the people of Hathor perished after a valiantly fought battle, just like what happened everywhere else. I was on the Moon at the time," Luna replied.
        "Do you think they could be working with the Dark senshi?"
        "Not unless you've seen some indication of it. Maybe your vision was a prophecy for a possible future involving Sailorhathor and Sailorblackhole. Perhaps that they could turn bad and use their powers for evil. Have your visions ever predicted anything before?"
        "No. They don't behave that way. They're basically a form of clairvoyance, because I feel what is presently happening to the possessor of a Talisman, no matter how far away they are," Kitaeru explained. "Or I see a senshi in their real form, like how I saw Nezumi and Kikan at their concert. The wings, the use of their powers to kill, it all fits in to their identities as senshi."
        "Alright, then they have the ability to sprout black wings and use their powers to harm others and take lives. And their powers are very strong. But many of the senshi have strong attacks that could be used to take human life," Luna reminded her. "Why do these two worry you so much?"
        "Luna, there's something about them that feels... evil." Kitaeru heavily sighed as she tried to decide if she should tell the cat about the rest of her vision. "There's more. I don't know if it was a threat, or a prophecy, or something else... but Sailorhathor's Talisman is the Sistrum, a mirror on the end of a rattle staff. She showed me a vision of myself; my boyfriend, Ban; and his sister, Nori, in the Sistrum's mirror. We were all dead. So you can see why I'm so worried."
        Taken aback, Luna's eyes widened considerably. "Yes, I can understand that." The cat tried to calm Kitaeru, patting her knee with her paw again. "Maybe there's nothing to worry about. There's no guarantee that any of this will come true, nor that Sailorblackhole and Sailorhathor will turn evil."
        "Yeah, I guess..." Still, Kitaeru had to sigh once more. "But Luna, where would they get such power? They're from a small asteroid. I don't understand it."
        "The distribution of power to the senshi has never had anything to do with the size of the senshi's home world. No one knows why someone like Sailormoon and her mother received so much strength even though they are from a small satellite. Besides, Blackhole and Hathor were not born of Hathor royal blood. Remember that their real mother abandoned them. They might've been from a whole other planet," reminded Luna.
        "I never thought about that..." Her eyebrows furrowed, Kitaeru asked, "Who was their real mother?"
        Luna shrugged. "You're guess is as good as mine. No one ever found out."
        Lost in thought, Kitaeru almost didn't hear the squeaking coming down the hall. She opened the door just in time for Argo to run in, leap up onto her shoulder, and partially hide behind her neck. Bastet, coming in behind him, skidded to a sudden stop.
        "You eat him and I'll feed you to a rottweiler," Kitaeru threatened, rubbing Argo's head.
        Bastet polished the doorjamb with her body, as if she had been leisurely hanging around the room all along. "I lost interest in eating him some time ago, but chasssing him was a different matter. Are you two done with your little talk?"
        "Yes. Tell your master that I bear her and her sister no ill will. I'm just trying to figure out what side they're on. Thank you for the talk, Luna." Kitaeru left then, closing the door behind her.
        Luna looked at Bastet, and sweatdropped. "I thought you were a regular cat! Eh hehhehhehheh!"
        "You think maybe you were wrong?" Bastet quipped, before promptly ignoring Luna and hopping up on the windowsill to sun herself.
        Annoyed, Luna tried to ignore her too. She stretched out on Usagi's bed to consider what Kitaeru had said. Through her thoughts she realized that Kitaeru had said a familiar name. "Nori?"


         "Guess what happened last night?"
        "A hot guy carried you off to a love hotel and ravaged you all night long?"
        "Shhh!" the first female, Kita, giggled. She gathered up a pile of dishes from a recently used table in the snack shop and put them on the cart. "Someone will hear you, Heri! You are so bad."
        Although Heri's mind was almost completely somewhere else, she was paying enough attention to her co-worker to give her a good teasing. Kita was a shy girl, and Heri knew the comment about the love hotels would get her blushing. Truth be told, her mind was on the Underworld. Earlier in the day Heri had left to go to work, leaving Sailorcharon alone... with Anubis. Thoth had gone back to the Pyramid of Nowhere, but Sailoranubis had stayed at Charon's home to continue to help her look for the spells that would free her parents from their spirit limbo. Heri was sure the girl's motives for hanging around Charon had much more to do with her desire for Charon than it did with helping her. That bothered Heri; it bothered her a great deal. The parting shot she had received upon exiting Sailorcharon's house, before Buster showed her the way up to the surface, was Charon and Anubis sitting next to each other on the couch, their noses buried in the Book of the Dead. Their hips touching. Have they ever been involved romantically? Heri wondered.
        Smiling at Kita, she placed more dirty dishes on the cart. "If you weren't carried off, then what happened to make you so giddy and excited?"
        Kita giggled demurely, her eyes shining. "You're right in that it does involve a boy. A very handsome one! He came into the snack shop last night, and although he was with two cute girls, he asked for my phone number! It was so exciting!"
        "Wooooow, that's awesome. You'll be romanced at a love hotel any day now. Or should I say, night."
        This made Kita titter insanely, covering her mouth with both hands. She was quite obsessed with the love hotels of Japan, as if it was some sort of right of passage for her to be romanced in one some night. Often she walked by them and stared at the purple neon signs and pictured all of the sexy rooms... and what was going on inside of them.
        Heri just laughed at Kita's reaction. "Let's get these dishes in the back before Tanaka thinks we don't work here anymore, you wanton sex goddess."
        Pushing the cart, Kita giggled shrilly and said, "Stop! My face hurts from all this laughing! Hey, there's something up with you, too, Heri-chan. You've been preoccupied all night. What's up? You meet a hot babe too?"
        "Well, yeah... I did," Heri replied, smiling slyly. "I am quite preoccupied thinking of her tonight, actually."
        Kita stopped in her tracks. "It's a girl?! You rebel!"
        Rolling her eyes with a laugh, Heri replied, "It doesn't have anything to do with rebellion; she's just who I care for. We met only days ago, but I already hate to be away from her. Things have gotten hot and heavy between us." Her face lit up from thinking of Sailorcharon, her sweet Ruki. "She's got the prettiest light green hair that hangs around her shoulders like a lovely silk curtain..."
        Kita suddenly pointed out the window of the front of the snack shop. "Like that girl?"
        A girl with hair exactly like Sailorcharon's was walking toward the shop with a thick book in her arms. It took Heri a moment to realize that it was Charon--it was Ruki. But she had seen her in her senshi uniform so much lately that the girl looked out of place in regular clothes. Another girl with dark auburn hair followed Ruki in. Was that Sailoranubis?
        Heri found it hard to speak as Ruki approached her; Ruki's face was practically glowing, her eyes alight with hope. "Heri-ai $, I think we've got a lead. We may have found three separate spells that will help my parents. I just had to come here and tell you. You're the first person I wanted to tell."
        Repressing the urge to grab Ruki and smother her with kisses, Heri smiled at her and stammered, "You look just as beautiful in everyday clothes."
        The auburn-haired girl scoffed and rolled her eyes, then shook her head.
        Ruki blinked and gave her a disapproving look. "Jakki, behave. Thank you Heri-ai." She touched the other girl's shoulder. "This is Jakkaru. I think you know who Jakki is."
        "Yes..." She gave Jakki a "go home" look. "You think you found the spells you need?"
        "Yes! We found three so far that deal specifically with this kind of thing. Your idea may just work out!" Ruki threw her arms around her and tightly hugged her, causing Heri to wheeze loudly from the thick book in Ruki's arms clapping her on the back. "Oh, sorry! I couldn't wait to tell you."
        "That's great," Heri rasped. "I've got a break coming up. Why don't we find a booth and you can show me these spells?"
        Mischief in her voice, Ruki traced the surface of Heri's necklace, which looked like a bunch of colored balloons, with her index finger as she spoke. "Is that all we're going to do?"
        A few minutes later, Kita came out of the snack shop's kitchen to tend to the new customers. There was a whole group coming in the door, many of them people she didn't know. Among them, though, was the hunk! The green-haired guy who had asked for her number! Kita, her eyes wide, scurried toward the booth where Heri was taking her break, but stopped when she saw Ruki and Heri in an intense lip-lock, with Jakki sitting across from them, her arms crossed and her face like stone. She turned on her heel and looked for the other waitress on duty. Hikaru, her neon pink hair pulled back in a tiny ponytail, was obviously busy with other customers.
        "Fiddlestick s!" Kita didn't want to wait on him; she was too embarassed! But she had no choice. Then she remembered the advice she had received once in dealing with guys--treat them casually, tease them, and they won't seem so overwhelming. That's what she would do!
        Across the snack shop, Glen and his group took up an entire section of tables. Once the class work was done, he had invited Ursula and Nathan out for some ice cream, and on the way out they had picked up Tara, Usagi, Nezumi, and Kikan from the Student Center. Tara still seemed very uncomfortable being around the girl Glen looked at with such googly, lovesick eyes. With sympathy, Nathan tapped his sister's arm. "Hey, there's something I've got to show you."
        Tara distractedly replied, "Hm?"
        Nathan produced a bouquet of fake flowers from his sleeve; they opened up right in her face. This made Tara jump in her seat.
        Usagi giggled. "That's the oldest magic trick in the book! But it's sweet. My stupid brother would never offer me flowers."
        Tara managed a small smile. "Thanks, bro. I think I'm just feeling sorry for myself."
        "Who wouldn't, after the disappointment you had today?" He spoke quietly. "Finding out an available hunk has the hots for a big star like that?"
        This took Tara aback. "Big star?"
        "Yeah. She's the international singing star, Nezumi Kyomu. But you probably haven't heard of her because she sings opera style stuff," Nathan replied.
        "Oh fine, my competition is a famous, beautiful young woman. What's the point." Sighing, Tara took her flower bouquet and looked at it absently. "How the heck do you know who she is? I didn't think you were into opera."
        "I'm not. But one of my ex-girlfriends insisted on listening to her music while we-"
        "Stop right there!" Tara cried. Everyone looked at her.
        "...studied," Nathan finished with a smirk. He leaned in closer to his sweatdropping sister. "Just because he's interested in her doesn't mean you should give up. Haven't you been paying attention? She hasn't given him two looks all night. The girl doesn't think of him that way. I'm not letting his attraction to her deter me from going after what I want."
        Sitting up straighter, Tara asked, "You want her?"
        "No." Nathan smirked again. "I want him."
        Tara angrily whacked her brother on the head with the flower bouquet.
        Glen flirted with Nezumi at the other end of the table. "When she asked me if I'd help her with her paper, I said yes right away. Why shouldn't I be of help to a studious college-goer?"
        "Yeah, that's right. He was a great help," Ursula added. Studious college-goer?! He's trying so hard to impress her! Poor dope.
        Nezumi nodded with enthusiasm, as if she was impressed. "That was very nice of you, Glen-kun. I'll be starting my first semester at Cherry Blossom College tomorrow. Perhaps if I do any papers on religion, I can get your help too."
        "Oh, sure! Sure!" Glen replied, a little too happily.
        Nezumi smiled to herself.
        "Why are you and your sister attending separate colleges?" asked Ursula.
        Politely, Nezumi answered, "The officials of Mirai Mugen asked us to do it this way. With Kikan already enrolled there and the other famous students and teachers they have, they thought myself attending the school would be too much distraction for the other students. I'm happy with the decision because Cherry Blossom has a better artistic program anyway."
        Ursula nodded in understanding. "Oh yeah, doesn't the racer, Ten'ou Haruka, go to Mirai Mugen too? And Kaioh Michiru teaches some music classes... those are the only ones I remember. I read about it all in the paper."
        "Or rather, had it read to you," Nathan teased. "We can't read much Japanese yet."
        "It doesn't matter what college you go to, Nezumi. You'll still get mobbed," Glen laughed.
        In response, Nezumi tittered, leaning closer to him. Kikan looked the other way.
        Their waitress came to the table. "Hi, it's your Yummy Snack friend, Kita!" she crooned, giggling. "Hello Glen-kun."
        When Glen looked up, one could almost hear him go off like a boiling tea kettle. "Oh, hi... are you working tonight?" He visibly sunk in his seat, sweatdropping. What a time to get caught acting like a wildcat, when Nezumi was there to see it!
        Too late to hide now, Nathan wanted to say. He smiled mischievously.
        "Of course; I'm your waitress, aren't I? I must be working tonight." Kita happily grinned, tapping her order pad with her pencil. "What would you like? Soda, tea, or me? Tee hee hee."
        Glen sank farther in his seat; he saw Nezumi staring at him out of the corner of his eye. "Ummm... soda, please."
        "You haven't called me yet, Glen. Don't go hurting a girl's feelings now."
        Another comment like that and Glen would be under the table. "Sorry. I had stuff to do today..."
        "But the day's not over!" Nathan added in a peppy voice. "Maybe you should check your answering machine when you get home."
        Kita giggled again, wiggling her pencil at him in a "naughty naughty" motion. This comment gained Nathan about the dirtiest look he'd ever seen from Glen. Nathan waved at him cutely.
        The other waitress, Hikaru, went by with a tray of goodies for the people at another table. Ursula eyed a large piece of cherry cheesecake and suddenly couldn't wait anymore. "Excuse me, could we order now?"
        Kita looked down at her. Her face came alight with recognition. "Ursula-sama!" She glanced down the table and did a double-take. "I knew I recognized you! Onii-chan! One-chan!% I never thought I'd see you again!" She leapt across Usagi's lap to hug Tara and Nathan mightily, one arm around each of their necks. Usagi nearly jumped back in surprise.
        "Oh no!" Nathan whined. He tried to wiggle out of the girl's embrace. "It's the hugger!"

"How is it that Tara and Nathan have a Japanese little sister?"
"No Usagi, see, she just calls them that out of affection. She's really a schoolmate from our past. And she could be the key to us finding the rest of Team Galileo."
"A Japanese girl was your schoolmate in America?"
"Families do move, you know."
"I see! Hey, Kita is the name of Makoto's roommate. I wonder..."
Sailormoon Dark Episode 16: The Javelin's Northern Course. Team Galileo's History. The moonlight carries the message of love.

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* In Japanese mythology, foxes are believed to have supernatural powers, including shape-shifting. They are the messengers of the god Inari. White foxes are the most sacred. The Japanese word for fox is kitsune.
# Gogog is the name of a stuffed animal my sister has had since she was a baby. I couldn't resist nicknaming my guardian character the same thing. ^_^ The O's sound like the "O" in "dog."
@ The idea of the three coffins came from an episode of Revolutionary Girl Utena. The rest of the story behind these coffins is fairly different from that episode, though.
$ ai means love in Japanese
% Onii-chan means Big Brother, and One-chan means Big Sister, very affectionately.


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