Dav walked out of the Door of Time and reencountered the same woman.
"Do you remember?" She asked.
"Yes, Sailor Pluto." He said, "I am the guardian of the Princess of Mercury, sworn to protect and defend her! Guardian Mercury! We were to
marry and the Negaverse destroyed it all!"
"That's correct. Each princess had a Guardian and you are the first to come through."
"What do you mean?"
"After you and Amy had separated at the bookstore, you had that feeling of dread in your chest your instincts for protecting her emerged and
you helped her. You didn't remember doing it since you hadn't fully remembered everything yet."
"But why wasn't I reborn? How come I just appeared out of nowhere?"
"People cannot be reborn until they have died. You didn't die and so you were put into suspended animation until you were needed. You
appeared right before the Sailor Scouts did. You destroyed that operation in the United States using your powers of Mercury."
"That's right, I can use the powers of the planet like Sailor Mercury can. I have limited usage at all times but if I transform I'm at full power.
But since there're still some gaps in my brain I don't know exactly what my powers are." A quick thought entered Dav's head, "But why am I
destined to fight Blade?"
"That cannot be answered now. You will realize when the time is right. The time has come for you to awaken and fulfill your calling. Go! Sailor
Mercury needs you!" Sailor Pluto waved her staff.
"Thank you." Dav said before he was enveloped in a white light that covered everything. Sailor Pluto smiled again and spoke quietly, "Thank
you for helping us all."
Sailor Mercury couldn't move. She didn't move by choice, not because she was restrained. After suffering from hours of being shocked she
was covered with several burns and her suit had several small and large holes where they had been burned away (and she became very
thankful for the bow on her torso). Since she was too weak to move for a very long time she couldn't do a thing as Rad chained her to a wall
in such a way that if she leaned too far forward or backward her arms felt like they would literally rip out of their sockets. Not only that but
her wrists were bleeding from how tight the shackles were.. She had no choice but to stand up, but she couldn't stay up too much longer. She
scolded herself again for the ten thousandth time about how she should've listened to her heart and her friend instead of her desire. It had cost
her her friends' trust in her as well as the life of the second man who cared about her for who she was. Tears were welling up in her eyes yet
again as she thought about it. Her energy reserve was so low that it hurt to breathe, but she had to stay standing or she'd be short two arms.
Sailor Mercury didn't know how long she'd been in this room, the only things in here besides four blank walls were her chains and the door.
She was starving, her throat was horribly dry, and she's had a very uncomfortable feeling between her legs for who knows how long. She
wanted this nightmare to end. The room was so quiet that the only sound that was audible was the sound of her tears forming puddles on the
floor.
"When will it all end?" She asked herself, then said to no one in particular, "My friends, please forgive me. I'm sorry I did this to all of you."
After what seemed to be several more hours she had fallen asleep upright and was just barely was able to stand, but that was slowly giving
away as her legs began to fail her. She managed to open her eyes far enough to see the door to the room open and a figure walk in. Her mind
was cluttered so much that she couldn't tell who it was. He only walked into the room and suddenly she felt that she was stabbed in the arm.
She didn't have enough strength to scream but she flinched and that was a mistake. The movement made her legs fail and she fell forward. The
intense pain in her shoulders only lasted a few seconds before she blacked out.
"The drug worked, sir." Rad said after he injected the girl with it, "She'll be out for several hours, her transformation has reversed and she will
have no memories other than the ones you give her."
"Good," Blade said, "Take her to her quarters and prepare her. Her memories may be gone but her intelligence will remain. Treat her
carefully, I don't want my 'wife' to suffer any brain damage."
"Yes sir." Rad unchained the rag doll-like Amy, carried her into a specially designed room with wallpaper showing Sailor Mercury attacking
the rest of the Scouts. Rad managed to find her transformation stick in Amy's school uniform and took it to the mansion's lab.
"Where am I?" Asked Dav, as he slowly and painfully got up off of the cot.
"You're awake?!" Raye, who just walked in, shouted.
"Yeah, and I remember it all. Where is this, Raye?"
"You're at the temple."
"Funny, never thought I'd come here like this. How long've I been out?"
"Two days." Dav's eyes nearly popped out of his head and Raye continued, "We thought you were gone for good, but we decided to wait."
"Where's Amy? Did she...?"
Raye closed her eyes and nodded. "I'm afraid so, we haven't had any contact with her since. She may be dead for all we know."
"Dammit!" He pounded a nearby table and Raye could almost hear it crack, "I swore to protect her 1000 years ago and when I finally
remember it she's dead already?!"
Raye gasped, "So you did live during the Silver Millennium!"
Dav realized what he just said, "Yeah, I know you're Sailor Mars. But before I say anything else you'd better get everyone else here, including
the cats. I know they can talk so I won't be surprised. But first..." He sniffed the air around him, "While you're doing that can I use your
shower and maybe borrow something to wear? Being knocked around and covered in dirt and grass for two days really doesn't provide a
nice smell."
"Of course. The bathroom's this way." She showed him the second door to the left in the hall, "Chad will find you a kimono to wear until your
clothes are washed. Do you want me to leave a note for your family in case they get back from vacation while you recover here?"
"Remind me to explain about that later as well. Thanks for everything Raye, I'll have to treat all of you to a few pizzas after we get Amy back."
"Don't tell that to Serena or she won't be able to wait until then." She laughed. "But why were you two in the park so late last night?"
"It's a long story. I bet her a book that I could beat her score on a game and she couldn't take it back. I lost and so we went for her to collect
her win. Afterwards we split up and I started playing my ocarina and after a few hours she appeared out of nowhere and it seemed she was
afraid of something so I offered to take her home."
"I see, but you were attacked while on the way. But why was she in the park for so long?"
"She didn't say exactly. She simply said she tripped and hit her head. But I think she was attacked once and she defeated the attacker as she
was hit or something." I helped her but I can't remember what happened to her.
"You can tell me more later. Go ahead and clean up, I'll get the others here and some food ready."
"Thanks again." Dav said and walked into the bathroom. After a quick shower he saw that his regular clothes had been replaced with a blue
and white kimono while the ocarina and sword hilt were placed next to it. So he quickly put it on, gathered the royal treasures of Mercury,
and walked out to see a group of four girls and two cats waiting for his story.
"Glad to see you're up and running again," Mina said, "Must've been one heck a time laying there for two days."
"Raye told us about you knowing who we are," Serena explained, "So you can tell us whenever you're up to it."
"In the meantime I made ya some lunch." Lita offered, "Must be incredibly hungry after that fight."
"Thanks you guys." Dav said and started eating, "I really don't deserve this."
"That's completely not true," said Luna, "You risked your life to help one of our best friends and you really stood up for what you believed in."
"I once heard this saying," began Artemis, "'Through Hope one can obtain Courage in order to protect the ones you Love. This leads to the
ultimate bonding power of Trust'. I can't remember exactly where though."
"You heard it from Queen Serenity," Dav said, "She said it to me two days before the Negaverse attacked the moon. But since I haven't
explained how I know so much I'd better do so." He took a deep breath and began, "I was born on Mercury. My parents are the only things I
still don't remember but I knew that I would love to spend time outside the palace and look at the fountains and watch any parades when a
celebration occurred..."
Amy was finally beginning to wake up, she couldn't remember a thing. She saw that she was dressed in a long blue dress and was wearing a
diamond necklace when she saw a man sitting next to her on the bed.
"You're finally awake, my wife." He said.
"Where am I? What happened? My mind's so foggy." Amy slowly sat up, "And who are you?"
"I'm your husband, Blade. You must've hit your head pretty hard when you were attacked."
"Attacked? Was I attacked by these people on the wall?"
"Yes, they are your mortal enemies. They've always tried to take you from me. In your last battle we were outnumbered and you were
knocked out. I barely managed to get you here. But you're alive and that's all that matters." Amy made a decision.
"Yes, I'm here for you." Amy leaned her head on his shoulder, "I'll make them pay for what they're doing to ruin our love."
"And since I didn't die I was put into suspended animation until Sailor Pluto sent me here three years ago. That's why I don't have a natural
last name here." Dav finished.
"It must've been incredibly hard to see everyone dead like that," Raye said.
"It's all so horrible. I had no idea anyone other than the queen and the two of us experienced that carnage." Luna said and noticed something,
"Serena? Are you all right?"
Serena was crying yet again, "It's just so horrible (sob) my mother and I wanted all of us to be happy. Now we learn that we were all going to
be married and we all were torn apart." She sobbed again, "Now I know that all of you feel the same way that I did when I lost Darien."
"It's all right Serena," Dav said, "We just have to find the rest of the Guardians. We all can use the powers you do but in a different fashion.
Since Sailor Mercury's are used mainly for defense my powers are mostly offensive. It's most likely the other way around for the others."
"You're right. Tuxedo Mask usually helps to protect us." Serena realized.
Dav continued, "But what I noticed only a few minutes before you came in is that I can manipulate water."
"That's something that can't be taken lightly," Artemis said, "Water is one of the strongest physical forces in the universe."
"Tell me about it. That shower became a little painful when I accidentally increased the pressure beyond its normal capacity." He received a
worried look, "I'll pay your water bill, Raye."
"Well now that we know there are more people to find from our past," Said Lita, "But first we have to rescue Sailor Mercury."
"If she were here we'd be able to track her with that computer she's got." Serena groaned, "But since she's the one we're looking for we're on
our own."
"You're forgetting something," Raye said, "I can easily do a fire reading."
"Oh yeah," Serena said in a small voice.
"Can I watch?" Dav asked, "I've never seen Shinto rituals and I've always been fascinated by seeing new things."
"Of course," Raye said, "Everyone usually does watch so come on in." The group quickly stood up and walked into the adjoining room where
the fire had been burning for several hours. Everyone watched as Raye began the ritual.
After several minutes of watching in fascination Dav really began to feel an aura of pure spirituality emitting from Raye. He'd never told anyone
since he appeared on Earth but after finishing school he wished to study about as many cultures as possible. That's why he was doing his best
to learn so many languages.
"Sacred Flame," Raye said, "Help us find out what happened to our friend on the count of 5... 4... 3... 2... 1... now!" The fire suddenly
jumped up and Dav couldn't believe what he was seeing! Images that were as clear as day suddenly appeared in the fire. Everyone in the
room gasped in total shock as the scenes unfolded themselves. They saw Mercury being shocked by several electrodes, she was being
tortured and forced to reveal everything she knew about her friends. She eventually lost all energy of resistance and was taken to a room and
was forced to stand for several hours while chained to a wall! The scene shifted to her in her normal form and she had her head on Blade's
shoulder.
"I know that guy!" Lita shouted, "He's the one who took her!"
"She must've been brainwashed after being tortured like that!" Luna said.
"Well I'm not going to stand for it!" Serena jumped up, "Nobody does that to one of our friends and gets away with it! Who's with me?!" Four
hands and two paws shot up.
"What I don't understand is why he'd want to brainwash her anyway." Mina wondered out loud.
"I'll explain that one," Dav said, "Blade is a drug dealer and he's always finding new sources and materials to 'improve' the already highly
addictive drugs today. He recently discovered some solution that can block out certain elements. As well as others that induce memory loss
and other effects. He must want Amy's intelligence to help him develop a drug that is so addictive he can control people with it."
"How do you know all of this?" Luna asked.
"I've fought him before." Everyone looked at him with their eyes popping out. Dav continued, "His organization was originally centered back in
the US. There was a $2 million reward (not offered by the government) for the operation's shutdown. Where I was living you always had to
be alert or you'd most likely be mugged, so I had plenty of contacts. Everyone who knew about it thought I was crazy but I felt that it had to
end. I did have Mercury's Royal Blade and even though I didn't want to kill anyone I had no choice, I hated the idea of him using little kids for
his profits. My destiny was to destroy his main factory and so I snuck in through the sewers and set up a chemical explosive to destroy the
factory. I don't why I did it, but I felt that I needed that money since I had the feeling that I was needed here in Japan. Now I know why."
"You said you fought that man," Mina said, "When did you see him?"
"I managed to trip a silent alarm and right before the chemical reaction was going to explode he and four armed guards cornered me on my
way out. But I had an ace up my sleeve."
"What'd you do?" Serena asked.
"I had a small device in my pocket, I told them it was an explosive capable of destroying the entire facility (But I'd already rigged that) and
they took the bluff. It was a smoke bomb. I threw it to the ground and killed the guards on with the sword on my way out. That was the first
time in 1000 years I took lives. But the thing that relieved me was that they weren't human. I only managed to kick Blade where it really hurt
so he was still rolling on the ground when I got out of there. I'm still living off that reward money and plan on doing so until after college. But
now Blade's in Japan and most likely starting another ring. But since he's got Amy he knows we're going in after her."
"There's just one small problem," Artemis began, "We don't know where they are." The girls looked at the cat in surprise then dropped their
heads.
"Not a problem," Dav said, "Guardians can sense exactly where their protectees are when they're in trouble."
"Just like Tuxedo Mask," Serena said quietly.
"Can you tell where Amy is now?" Luna asked.
"Give me a second," said Dav. He closed his eyes and let his thoughts drift in towards where Amy was located. His bond with her immediately
sensed where she was and she opened his eyes again, "The large mansion at the far east side of the city."
"All right!" Lita shouted, standing up, "We are going there and going to kick some drug dealer bootie!" Everyone looked at Lita with surprised
expressions.
"Before we go in there we really should plan our attack," Artemis said, "We're going up against two geniuses. Since that guy's brainwashed
Amy and he's expecting us they really are going to plan an attack."
"From the way I see it," began Luna, "Is that we should split up into two groups and approach from each side."
"No," Dav said, "That's what they'll expect first. There's a thing that's called 'Never a perfect plan'. No matter how smart anyone is he/she
always misses at least one option. And since we have two people with high IQs we do the simplest form of attack."
"Which is?" Raye asked.
"We all go in head on!"
Everyone but Dav immediately developed a sweat drop.
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