Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ The Saga of Mercury ❯ The First Day ( Chapter 25 )

The Saga of Mercury

Chapter 25

"The First Day"

Written by Jose I. Ramos

Portions based on "Mercury Knight stories" by Ryuuen No Miko

"Sailor Moon" and all related characters are copyrighted by Naoko Takeuchi, Kodansha, TOEI Animation and other agencies.

Storyline © 2003 Jose I. Ramos

DISCLAIMER

As usual, "Sailor Moon" and all related characters are copyrighted by Naoko Takeuchi, Kodansha, TOEI Animation and other agencies.

The Saga of Mercury story is copyrighted by me, however content in some chapters is based on the Mercury Knight Stories as described in the Chapter 1 Introduction.

Please feel free to write a critique or send your comments to JRHORSE98@AOL.COM with the subject line, in all caps, SAGA OF MERCURY.

Chapter 25 - The First Day

It was a cool and misty afternoon in the park near the newly rebuilt Hikawa Shrine, where Amy and Sasha had gathered for an afternoon mother-and-daughter… or should we say, future mother-and-future daughter picnic.

Sasha was wearing a yellow shirt with red horizontal stripes, and blue jeans with suspenders. She was with Amy, in the same blue dress and blue shoes that she wore when she kissed Greg for the first time (at the train station), carrying the picnic basket.

The grass in the park was slightly wet, dampened from the weather of the day.

Amy stopped walking and said, "This will be a good spot, right under this tree."

Amy took out the large yellow blanket that was in the picnic basket and spread it out on the grass. Amy and Sasha then sat down and relaxed.

"That was a lot of walking," said Sasha.

"Hope it was a good workout for you," said Amy. "I wanted to find the perfect spot, anyway."

Amy took out the sandwiches that she and Sasha had prepared earlier in the day.

While they were eating, Sasha asked, "Whatever happened to Serena?"

"What about her? Oh, do you mean Darien's proposal?" said Amy.

"Yes, did Serena give an answer? She was sleeping from the moment he asked her."

Amy smiled. "I'm afraid she passed out for the entire night, but I heard from Raye that when she got up from bed this morning, the first thing she said was `yes!'"

"Great!" yelled Sasha. "So they'll wait until Serena is done with school before they get married, right?"

"Yes, that's the plan…"

Amy's face was frozen, her head fixed on a thought.

"What it is, Amy?"

"Well… nothing…"

"Come on," said Sasha. "When my mom looked like that, she was thinking of something… which means you're thinking of something!"

Amy was blushing.

"Oh… you're probably thinking that Greg should ask you to marry him, right?"

"Oh, Sasha!" giggled Amy.

"It's true! It has to happen, or else I wouldn't be here!"

Amy looked at Sasha. "You're right! Greg and I do have to get married before you become our daughter… which means that soon, he has to…"

Amy then looked up into the sky. "Oh, the times I've had with Greg…"

Sasha gave Amy another sandwich, which she ate.

"I remember my mother telling me the story of how you met."

Amy gulped down her bite before speaking. "When, the time he temporarily moved into my school a few years ago?"

"No, not that," said Sasha. "The OTHER time."

Amy thought for a moment. "You don't mean… on planet Mercury…"

"Yep, do you remember?"

Amy smiled, then thought again. "I'd have to think about it… Greg still has his rainbow crystal powers, so if I were to ask him then he'd tell me," said Amy.

"But he's at a job interview…" said Sasha. "Don't worry, I can help you remember… It was during the Silver Millenium, you were in your room…"

Princess Amy was in her room in the high tower of her palace on the planet Mercury.

It was a very busy day for her. She had just passed her latest sailor scout exam along with the princesses from the other planets. After all, if she wanted to become the Sailor Scout of her planet, she had to train hard at it. It wasn't easy, but she did everything perfectly. And the good news was, there was only one more test to go before she'd become a fully certified sailor soldier.

One… BIG test.

Amy was lying on her large double king-sized bed, ready to fall asleep. She wanted to forget the word "big."

YAWN went the princess. I'm pooped, she said to herself. I'm just going to write in my diary and then take a nap…

Being the smartest of all of the princesses, Amy already had plotted out in her head what she was going to write. She was going to write about her performance in today's exam, how her princess friends felt, and how they fared as well.

Knock-knock went the door.

"Come in!" said Amy.

Opening the tall door from the upper hallway… was King Francis, the father of Princess Amy.

"Hello, Amy, how did you do?"

"I passed the exam, dad," she said.

"That's my daughter," said the king. "I… I've been hiding something from you… actually, your mom and I… for the past few weeks…

Amy looked at her father with a puzzled look.

"A surprise," he said.

Amy jumped out of her bed.

"Surprise?"

"Yep, and it's out front, with the castle herald, if you want to take a look."

Amy was about to run to the window to see…

"No, no, no you don't, come with me, please," said Francis.

Amy was still puzzled as her father walked her out of the room, and down the grand staircase, to the castle entrance.

Soon, Amy and her father were standing in front of the closed gate.

"Do you want to open the door?" asked King Francis.

"All right," said Amy.

Amy opened the door.

In the promenade outside the castle, Amy could see the black-tie herald speaking casually to a uniformed navy soldier. She then looked all around.

"Where is it," she asked.

"Right there," said Francis, pointing to the soldier. "Gregory, here she is!"

The soldier then stood at attention in front of the king and her daughter.

Amy didn't know what to say… and before she knew it she was standing face to face with the soldier.

Francis turned to the herald. "Michael?"

The herald then announced the guest.

"Your highness," the herald announced, "This is Gregory, the youngest captain of the naval forces of Mercury. He is expected to be promoted to vice admiral within the week, as he has been assigned by your mother and father, the King and Queen, to protect and defend you from any entity that may pose a threat to our planet."

"What?" said Amy.

"You, and all of us, may refer to Gregory as the Mercury Knight," said the Herald. "He will be given this title at the same promotion ceremony."

Captain Gregory removed his hat, then took Princess Amy's hand and kissed it. "May I say," he said, "it is a high honor to finally meet you."

Princess Amy responded by speaking as fast as a horse racing announcer: "Uh… hi there Gregory… er, Mercury Knight, knight to meet you, uh… I mean, NICE to meet you too, I really don't need a protector, I can defend myself because I am a Sailor Scout, now, I have to go now."

"Go?" asked Gregory, chuckling. "First, `now I have to go now' isn't a proper way to end a sentence. And second, with all due respect, Princess, we just met!"

"And you're not a Sailor Scout yet," said King Francis. "Are you all right?"

"Uh… uh… I promised to go see Serena on the moon… bye!" the Princess said, running back into the castle.

"Amy! What are you doing? Come back here right this minute!"

Normally the princess would respond at once to whatever her mother and father asked her to do.

But not this time.

After a moment, King Francis had thought of something.

"Well, she's always been shy around young men… she claims she doesn't have time to deal with suitors."

"I see," said Gregory.

"But your majesty," said Michael, the herald, "You don't have much time left on Mercury… your health is failing…"

"Come, now!" said Gregory to the herald. "How can you speak to the king like that?"

"No, no, Gregory, it's true…" said the king. "I'm… I'm getting old… he's right, I DON'T have much time left. I… have to remind myself of that each and every day."

"Let's not worry about your health right now," said Gregory. "Let's worry about Princess Amy. Is it like her to skip out like that?"

"When meeting young men, yes, but not with anyone else," said the king. "You'd better stay here talking to Michael some more, while I try to go upstairs to talk to her."

"Yes, sir," said Gregory.

As the king was walking back into the castle, Gregory asked the herald, "I wonder what she's all scared about."

The king turned back to Gregory for a moment. "She's afraid she'll fall in love with you," he said before walking in.

Gregory looked at Michael. "I see," he said with a smile. "Well from the start I'll have to be strictly business. Besides it isn't really my intention to have any romantic interest…"

"Ah, you're not like the others then," said Michael.

"Others?"

"Yes, sir," said Michael. "Such as Captain James on the planet Venus, Lieutenant Chadwick on Mars, Defense Officer Kenneth on Jupiter, and Prince Darien on Earth."

"They… they are the protectors of the princesses of their respective planets, except for Darien who is the protector of the moon princess, Serena, right?"

"Correct," said Michael. "And each of those princesses have fallen in love with their protectors."

"But what about Amy? According to the king, she's not like the others in that way," said Gregory.

"Keep in mind, sir, that since she is the only child, eventually she will have to take over as the Queen of Mercury… and by the decree of our ancestors, she must have a king."

"Yeah, well I honestly don't think it'll be me," said Gregory.

"Don't count yourself out," said Michael. "You never know…"

A computer alarm from outside the castle interrupted Michael.

CODE THREE SIX ONE… HIGH ALERT, went the computer. Loud, blaring alarms could then be heard throughout the immediate area.

"361, that's a Negaverse attack! We've got to secure the castle!" said Michael.

"My first test as Mercury Knight comes this fast, eh?" said Gregory. "All right. I'm going up to protect the princess. What are you going to do?"

"Run to battle stations and boost the deflector shield," said Michael.

"Ok," said Gregory, running into the castle.

Meanwhile, Amy was in her room when the alarms began to sound in her room. She quickly ran up and pressed the "silent" button to stop the alarms.

Immediately, the doors in her room were locked automatically, and steel plates began to stretch down from the ceiling and over the windows.

Princess Amy was now inside her room - by herself. Just in case, she could use the red emergency phone to call central command, where her mother and father would be during high alerts.

Until she became a Sailor Scout, this would be the same routine every time High or Severe alerts were issued.

She would be locked in her room.

The only way she'd be outside her room would be if the alert was Low or Medium, or if it was Critical… in the latter case she'd then be with her mother and father in Central Command.

It was the perfect opportunity, in her opinion, to start her diary entry. She had it all figured out… she could not believe that a young man was ordered to protect her… and she was going to tell her diary how much she disliked it.

Suddenly, the door to her room creaked open, and she heard a knock.

"Excuse me, Princess? This is Gregory, uh… I have my orders to protect you now… may I come in?"

Amy was about to say no… but then realized that her mother and father had chosen a protector in the best interests of their only child, and the future ruler of Mercury.

"Come in," she said.

The soon to be Mercury Knight made his way into Amy's room and closed the door… which then locked on its own again.

"I guess… they taught you how to get in here," said Amy.

"You mean override the computers, yes," said Gregory. "I was reluctant to learn that at first, since that would equal an invasion of privacy, but then I learned it was a security request from your mother and father."

"I see," said Amy.

Gregory kept in his head the fact that he wanted to keep his relationship with the princess strictly business, no fooling around…

Until he looked at Amy, wearing her blue gown, more carefully…

"I have to say, not only are you smart, but you are…"

Amy cut him off. "They told you I was smart?"

"They did… so hey, that's one thing in common! You're smart and so am I. I guess that's how I moved up in the ranks in such a small amount of time," said Gregory.

Amy thought for a moment.

"All right," she said with a smile, "if you're really smart, then try this…

"There are 375 freshmen, 293 sophomores, 187 juniors, & 126 seniors in the high school. One student will randomly be chosen to receive an award. What percent chance is there that it will be a junior?"

Gregory smiled. "Good one," he said. "But it's too easy, take the number of juniors divided by the number of students, then multiply by 100 to get a percentage. So… that'd be… 19 percent!"

Amy shot right back… "How many weeks have 156 hours in them?"

To which Greg immediately responded, "All of the weeks have 156 hours!"

When Amy heard that, she asked some more baffling questions. Gregory got all of those questions correct.

She froze for a moment… and did something very rare…

"Amy… are… are you blushing?"

Amy tried to keep a straight face.

Gregory walked a bit closer to her.

"You ARE blushing Amy, I can see it."

Amy couldn't control herself.

In the middle of a high state of alert throughout the entire castle…

Princess Amy was laughing.

Gregory smiled and laughed along. "What? What did I do?"

"I'm having fun!"

"Fun?" laughed Gregory, before straightening himself up. "Well we can't have too much fun if we're in high alert status…"

Amy started to settle down, too. "Yes, but for the most part nowadays, when there's an alert, it's…"

FALSE ALARM, ALERT TERMINATED blared the computers from inside Amy's room.

Immediately afterwards, the metal doors covering the windows began to retract.

"… A false alarm?" said Gregory, finishing her sentence.

Amy let out a huge sigh…

The red phone began to beep seconds later.

"I think that's for you… my beautiful princess," said Gregory.

Amy stared at Gregory for a few moments after he said "my beautiful princess."

And Gregory was staring back at her. What did I just say, he thought.

"Uh… thank you," said Amy, who in a flinch, curtsied to Gregory before going toward the phone.

Gregory stood in astonishment as Amy answered the phone.

"Hello father… yes I'm fine, thanks… yes, he's right here with me… all right… goodbye, father."

"It was my papa," said Amy to Gregory. "He's confirmed it was a false alarm, and that the castle is safe."

"Well all right then…" said Gregory. "In that case, there's no reason for me to be here any longer… I'll… I'll be in touch…"

Gregory started to turn for the door.

"W… wait!" said Amy. "You… have to leave?"

Gregory turned back to Amy. "Yep, if there's no danger, the only times that I am with you are whenever you leave the castle. Or if you specifically ask for me, but I don't think you'd do that… otherwise, I myself go back to central command."

"That's an awful shame… I was just getting to know you…" said Amy, looking down at her blue carpeting.

"Don't worry, there will be other times for us to meet, I'm very sure about that. Perhaps I can have a word with your father about it."

"Well," said Amy, looking back up, "if you think that will help, then go ahead…"

"All right then," said Gregory, bowing to the princess. "Until next time, your highness."

"Till then," said Amy.

Gregory then got to the door… then turned his head back.

"Do you play chess?"

"Chess?" said Amy. "Of course! I'm the champion chess player in the entire moon kingdom."

"That's right," said Gregory. "Perhaps next time we meet we can play?"

Amy smiled. "Sure!"

Gregory bowed his head to the princess… and left the room.

Outside the main hallway, Gregory leaned back against the wall and took a deep breath.

Inside her room, Amy collapsed onto the bed… and took a deep breath.

We certainly are into a lot of common things, Gregory thought to himself. Could Michael be right? Could this really turn into something?

Amy wasted no time going straight to her diary. She began to write to her diary about a wonderful person that she had met.

After ten minutes had passed, Gregory was ready to enter Central Command, when…

"Captain Gregory," said the front desk officer, "the princess requests your presence in her room."

"She… but I just came from there," said Gregory.

"I think it's princess' prerogative, if she wants you, you have to go," said the officer. "She said something about chess, by the way."

Gregory thought… and smiled. "Thanks," he said to the officer, before turning around and heading back to Amy's room.

"He came back to your room and you offered to play chess with him," said Sasha. "He accepted, and you played to a draw."

"That's right," said Amy, her eyes shut, head held high, as the memories of the past flowed through her mind. "I can remember the wonderful times we had…"

Eyes closed, Amy could hear the voices from that moment…

Greg was very handsome, said a voice in her head.

"Gregory was very handsome," said Amy.

I've had feelings about him ever since we played chess…

"I've had feelings about him ever since we played chess," said Amy.

He eventually told me that I was beautiful…

"Greg told me later that I was beautiful," said Amy.

Sasha was snickering.

I have lovely blue hair…

"I have lovely blue hair," said Amy.

I am going to take off my shirt…

"I am going to take off…. YAAAAH!"

Amy yelped out a big yelp when she discovered that Greg was right behind her.

Sasha and Greg laughed out loud.

Amy's eyes were wide open, her heart having skipped several heartbeats.

Amy then grabbed Greg's head and brought it close to hers, so that they were seeing eye to eye.

"You sneak!" said Amy.

"Sneak, what are you talking about?" said Greg. "After all, I've been behind you ever since you guys were talking about code 361!"

Amy had a huge sweatdrop on her head, her head bowed slightly to the ground. "I don't know how I ever let myself get carried away like that…"

"Those were some of your fondest memories of the Silver Millenium," said Greg. "I have some memories of my own as well… I can tell you about it on the way back home. How were your meals?"

"We had some nice mother-daughter time together, if you want to call it that," said Amy.

"For a moment, helping Amy with the story felt like a return to the 31st century," said Sasha. "How was your job search, Greg?"

"I've narrowed it down to a few of my favorites," said Greg. "I'm very pleased with the results…"

Greg's blue cell phone began to light up and sound.

He took out the cell and looked at the caller ID.

"Some guy named Darien," said Greg with a smile.

Amy and Sasha laughed as Greg answered the phone.

But they stopped when they saw Greg's smile wiped away from his face.

"When did this happen? … Is he… Oh, no… I'm with Amy and Sasha in the park… Ok… Shinjuku hospital? We'll be right there…"

"What happened?" asked Amy.

"Bad news… We have to take an emergency detour," said Greg.

"What's at the hospital?" asked Sasha.

Greg took a deep breath… and spoke in a low tone.

"More like who… It's Ken. He's in bad shape…"

Amy gasped and covered her mouth.

Sasha's eyes wanted some more information.

"He's been hit by a car," said Greg.

The Saga of Mercury Chapter 25 - The First Day 2

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