The Four Lovers: Interim
CHAPTER FOUR
REVELATIONS
Serena thought as she plopped
on the bed. Almost immediately she fished
out her broach, the crystal emitting a soft
glow in response. She still hadn't told any
of the Gens about it, despite the steadily
deepening friendship between the four of
them.
"Two months," she whispered to the crystal.
Her English was nearly perfect now, or as
perfect as it could be + slang; she'd picked
it up at a speed that had surprised everyone.
she thought with a tiny smile. It'd been
more than just her excellent tutoring, too;
her steady work with the crystal had somehow
allowed to just...well, do better.
she
thought with a sigh. but she
quickly cut the thought off, trying to rip
away the feelings attached--to no avail.
"Two months," she murmured again. It hadn't
seemed that long; days seemed to skip by so
rapidly here that she could barely keep
track. When she reacted with such surprise
this morning, Jared had told her (laughingly)
that she needed a calendar. He was the
closest of her four "brothers" and he doted
on her. She was trying to convince all of
them to grow their hair out, citing EXTREME
hunky-ness as a reason, but they refused.
Well, except for one...
"Poor Zach," she whispered softly as she
traced the facets of the crystal. Anytime
she thought of the Generals, her thoughts
turned to him. She wished she knew what was
happening to him...
A warm light formed under her fingers, and
before she knew what was happening a silver
bead of light drew her eye, and she fell....
/THUMP!/
/"Where am I?" she wondered softly. The
room-place where she now stood was a bare
white, and grayish light filtered in from the
uncovered windows. The floor was completely
bare, and she could somehow tell it was cold,
even though she didn't touch, couldn't feel
it./
/"Huh?"/
/Looking down, she noticed that she was no
longer Serena, but Sailor Moon...only she
wore goggles, like Sailor V. It was...very
odd!...and she had a million questions./
/Yet she couldn't voice them, for she saw
that a bed had been placed in the room, of
dark wood and darker covers, where slept
Zachary./
/"Zach!" she said, moving towards the boy,
light in her eyes./
/But the light dimmed suddenly./
/Over his bed swirled strands...of darkness.
Thick strands, thin strands, cables, spider
silk, all whirling, weaving, woven, swirling,
overlapping, knotting, touching his faces,
snapping at is splayed hair, cackling as they
turned above him./
/And he stirred, and cried out, and
something from him tried to sweep away the
black...but it seemed to giggle and scream in
amusement and crowded right back./
/Some of the black actually seemed to be in
him./
/Anger rose in her, and the odd broach she
wore began to shimmer and glow. The darkness
DID NOT care for the light that shone from
her chest, and seemed to vanish, huddling
away in the shadows./
/"Zachary," she said, kneeling, smiling,
touching his forehead. He stopped stirring,
his breathing becoming regular--and his eyes
opened./
/"Zach," she said softly./
/He stared blankly at her for a moment,
whispering, "Sere...no, it can't be!"/
/She swallowed, than smiled. "Zach, it..."/
/A sudden thumping graced their ears, and
both looked towards the door. Immediately
Zach let out a small whimper, then seemed to
shore himself up and say, "Whoever you are,
you've got to get out of here!"/
/"But Zach, I'm..."/
/"I don't care! You've got to get out of
her!" His eyes teared. "You're too
nice...too warm...to get hurt."/
/"Zach...but I..." he stopped her with a
raised hand./
/Hush," he said gently. "Mi arco iris, mi
chiquita rubia. My angel. You have given me
peace, and I'll hold onto it forever." His
eyes hardened. "Now GO!"/
/She stood, and even as he urged her to go
she could hear a sinister voice screaming for
her to stay. The two seemed to mesh with
each other, even as another voice like the
sound of wind chimes called out to her./
/"Step away, child, and come with me. Don't
dawdle! You have no TIME!"/
/A large, black, a crawling, oozing
darkness, crashed through Zach's door, just
as Serena *reached* out for the voice with a
scream.../
THUMP!
She opened her eyes, and saw the crystal
still shimmering at her fingertips. She sat
up, gasping for air and pulling her fingers
away, staring at the broach and its gleaming
crystal. Cautiously she touched it again,
feeling a warm, warm sensation from it.
THUMP!
The noise brought her completely back to
life, and she slid the broach under her
pillow. "Come in," she said.
Jade burst in, eyes wide. "Are you all
right?"
"Fine." She blinked twice. "Why?"
"I came to check on you, see if you wanted
to head out to the mall," he replied.
"But...you didn't answer for the LONGest
time...and.."
"I was, uh, thinking," she said softly.
"Daydreaming."
"You daydreamed right through my pounding?
Serena, are you all right?" he asked.
|At home, I could sleep through anything,|
she said softly, smiling. |Daydreaming too.
I love to dream...to relax.|
|I see,| he replied, eyes not so mellow.
|Are you coming?|
She shook her head no, and he sighed.
|Well, don't forget to relax through your
homework,| he added.
|Jared!|
|Serena!|
|All right,| she said. |I'll start my math
right away.|
"I know you don't like it," he said, subtly
slipping into that common-tongue-o'-Sol. It
sounded a lot like English, actually, but
smoother, easier--though its history wasn't
know, she assumed it was Moon Kingdom
originated. "But you have to at least try,"
he continued on. "Kev'll check it over
later."
"All right," she replied, then added with a
smile, "You're dismissed."
He automatically clicked his heels and then
bowed, then shot her a dirty look. "Don't DO
that, your majesty."
"My apologizes, Jadeite..Jade," she said.
Despite her memories, she still had some
trouble dealing with the fact that they were
Generals. She'd told them (in veiled terms)
of some experiences she'd had with the other
Four, and they'd grown angry and depressed.
On the good side, it helped to explain the
changes that'd happened over the last three-
quarters of a year or so before she'd
arrived. THEY also still had problems
believing she was the Princess Serenity;
after all, she was beautiful, but somehow
they couldn't mesh the two people. Heck, SHE
didn't want to mesh the two people half the
time...
He gave her a brief smile, then walked out.
She immediately dashed for the crystal,
pulling the brooch from under her pillow.
Her hands shook as she touched the shimmering
gem; she wondered, gazing in
near awe mixed with fear at the broach.
For in the crystal there had been a third
voice. Not hers, not Zach's, but...
>It was MY voice, child.<
She nearly tumbled off the bed as she
whipped around, looking for anyone in the
room; however, there was NO ONE else but her,
her furniture, and the crystal.
>Child? Hello?<
Her breath came faster, and she again looked
about. Nothing. She reached out for her
broach, ready to MCP it and dust whatever
kept calling to her.
>It is I, child, who calls you. I, the
Silver Crystal.<
The voice spoke in the shifting of wind
chimes, in the soft sound of tinkling glass,
its breath a gentle wind. She looked down at
the broach that rested in her hand, and a
soft, pulsing light answered her.
>What? Aren't crystals of infinite power
allowed a voice?<
* * * *
"Hey, Jade, enjoying the silence?" Nathan
asked.
The three of them--he, Jade, Kev--were
sitting at a table in the open court/food
part of the mall, a salad in front of each,
enjoying the sights. Well, sort of. He and
Kevy had each gotten most of the way through
his salad as they talked (and gawked) about
(at) those walking by. Despite the
occasional nagging thoughts of other women--
warm, loving females--they still looked.
he reminded
himself with an internal grin. There was
something about his eyes and his hair that
made young woman smile (swoon). In fact,
he'd only come up against a couple of woman
who'd been completely immune--Serena for
one--but they'd all had their reasons, mostly
being older and married. As to Serena...he
evoked a mental image of Endymion with his
sword...
"I guess," Jade broke in, reminding Nate of
his concern for his friend. Jade had been
somewhat out of it all day, and even more so
since they'd picked him up. Not that Jade
was always happy, but it was rare to find him
so QUIET; he was always (AL-ways) chatty,
even when depressed. Now, though...
"Are you all right?" Kevin asked haltingly.
He seemed to just be grasping the oddity of
Red's mood.
"I'm just thinking," he replied.
"Quietly?" Nathan asked incredulously.
He managed a grin. "It's Serena," he
confessed. "Something weird happened this
afternoon--that I know--but she was evasive
about it, and it bugs me." He let out a
heavy sigh. "I don't even understand why I'm
so confused about her." His grin turned
lopsided. "She's ONLY my sister."
They all spontaneously grinned now, little
grins that made them look like they had
something to hide. In the beginning she'd
made it very clear what Jade's declared
relationship with her was--and how it
extended to all of them. "Maybe you're doing
it for him," Kev said as Jared punched at his
salad with his fork.
His eyebrows raised. "Him?"
"Endymion..." Nate said, voice soft and
cautious and not quite...sure. he wondered, Yet sometimes...well, he understood
what Jade meant. After all, they knew HER,
but not HIM; he wondered if they ever would
know him. Serena said very little about her
past, and even the mention of the word
"Prince" seemed to cloud her eyes.
"I don't know him," Jared replied, as if to
echo Nate's thoughts. "But I do know her.
So, right now, I'm doing this all for HER."
His voice, eyes, and face hardened, beckoning
a challenge which would never come.
"Speaking of 'hers', Jared," Nate said,
"there are a couple of girls that have been
staring at us for the past few minutes. Care
to go over and say hi?"
"What about her, Nephrite," Kevin asked
quietly, eyes on the tomato he was trying to
stab. "Have you forgotten?" His quiet gray
eyes raised to look at him.
He felt anger surge to the surface, and his
face set. "Why is it that our future has to
be ruled by our past?" he fiercely spat out.
"Damn it all!"
The two stared at him, obviously shocked,
and he looked down. "Sorry," he murmured.
"I still have...some trouble."
"We all do, Nate," Kevin replied after
seconds of silence. "But just because we
remember out past doesn't mean that our
present is forfeit."
"Yea," Jade chimed it. "You'll always be
Kevin and Nathan to me."
"Awee...thanks," he replied, thinking,
They resumed peaceful eating of their
salads, letting the health food wash away
their angry/sad thoughts of the past. They
were on their way to a normal conversation
when suddenly, swiftly, Kevin shot straight
up in his seat. Nate barely had time to even
register it before a tingle shot up his own
neck. he thought, then noticed
Jared was now rigid as well. "You feel that?"
he asked quietly.
"It feels...wrong," Jared said, seeming to
struggle for a word.
"I concur," Kevin added.
Unintentionally, unconsciously, he reached
inside to his memory and found Nephrite. He
could feel a shimmer run up his neck, and it
seemed as if he could see his past
counterpart standing next to him, shimmering
a purplish color, hair blowing in an
imaginary breeze. That part of him gathered
his energy and found the man, demonstrating
slowly, as if trying to tell him what to
do...though it was something he couldn't do.
"Nate?" A voice startled him back to life,
and he looked back to find blue and gray eyes
staring worriedly at him.
"There's evil here," he said swiftly.
"Watching...not us, but the mall...and I
can't...can't..." he gritted his teeth in
frustration.
"Relax, Neph," Kev said, voice low. "We all
can feel it. It's here--somewhere--but we'll
find it." His eyes became steel, and he
whispered, "I know we will."
* * * *
As so it went on for two more weeks; as one
worked with the crystal, the others tried to
seek out the evil they'd felt. Neither told
the other; the thought didn't occur to
either. In a way, they were protecting each
other from the consequences of what COULD
happen. Serena had no intention of ever
telling the men she was Sailor Moon--it
didn't seem pertinent--and the guys didn't
want her to worry about them. So they
continued, oblivious.
Yet they had no idea how much they NEEDED to
depend on each other. Serena's break from
Japan had twisted history and Fate, and her
protection had been switched from the Senshi
to the Generals, in the same way Darien was
now under the Senshi's care. They needed
each other.
Oops...a small digression.
Two weeks from the day when Serena had heard
the crystal's voice, the boys were again at
the mall. The evil had grown so strong to
their dull senses that they could barely eat.
Most often they would speak of nothing,
concentrating the important part of their
mind on the unfamiliar sensations that
skittered around their bodies and minds.
Now Serena was here. The ONE day that they
set aside for searching this out, the ONE day
the evil felt so strong that their WHOLE body
TiNgLeD, she decided to join them.
Not that Serena really felt any better.
Increased crystal usage = increased
sensitivity, and she'd never felt so...uneasy
before. She could read it in the liquid eyes
of the guys as well, and FEEL the taste in
the air. Without even realizing it, she
reached out to the crystal.
>I am with you, Serena. Even when you are
away, I am with you.< A beat, and a shift in
the wind chimes. >There is danger around
you. You must go and become Sailor Moon.<
*But the boys!*
>They NEED this. Go, Sere, go! And HURRY!<
She broke out of her semi-trance and stood
up quickly, hitting her leg hard enough to
make an impression on it. She winced, then
softly said, "Please excuse me." Jared gave
her an odd look, but she ignored it and
walked towards the woman's bathroom. Her
hands were shaking so badly that she could
barely open the door, and fasten the lock in
the stall.
Back at the table, Jared still puzzled over
her. The conversation had been at a peaceful
lull, and she'd been lost in her lemonade,
when suddenly she SHOT up and like a rocket
to go to the bathroom. "Weird," he murmured.
"This all is," Nate said, an odd look in his
eyes. Jade wondered if he'd caught Serena's
behavior as well.
"Feels like something inside me is playing
the tingle button," Kev said dryly. He
pushed forward. "Something's going to happen
today. We all can feel it."
"So wh...are you saying that we may reach
our powers today?" Nate said, eyes glowing.
"That'd be sweet."
"But how...you think that only battle will
bring it out?" Jared guessed, brow furrowing.
"I think that only battle can break the
bonds that hold our powers down," he replied.
"But..." he started, when suddenly the
tingles crescendoed into a burst of static,
and it felt like something scraped across
their brain. Their eyes met instantly.
"It's time," Kevin said, rising.
"It's time," Serena whispered to herself as
she stared at the broach. "MOON CRYSTAL
POWER...MAKEUP!"
"It's good that Serena'll miss this," Jared
said. "She disdains violence."
"Oh...disdain, good word," Nate muttered.
"Will you two shutup?"
They'd walked to the edge of the court,
where the sensation seemed the strongest, and
waited. They knew it was coming--they just
didn't know from where or who or when or how.
They just knew it was soon. Their Memory
would be no help in these days; youma had
developed ways of disguising themselves, and
though they didn't know it, the one they
looked for was no more than five feet away.
He was one of the rare male youma, and
though not too powerful, fairly sure of
himself. He'd trained under Malice and
Kunzite, honing his powers of darkness in
wait of his own command. It'd been fortunate
that he'd been at the Antarctic base when
Beryl had been attacked; though they had to
lay low and gain strength for awhile, it was
time to take things over once more! The
Negaverse would rule again!
Besides, he mused, with the Negaverse in
power, he wouldn't have to eat penguin
anymore.
He quietly gathered his energy for this day,
the day when the transformation would be
complete. He was to strike and bring back
quite a bit of energy, for it would take that
much to bring back their Dark Lord. He
grinned at the thought; success her could
bring him quite a promotion.
Nate looked around again, the prickles on
his skin intensifying. he thought. His quick eyes
scanned the people nearby again, but there
was...
A drop of darkness appeared.
He blinked in surprise, but then came
another one, and another, and another,
quietly scattering on the floor. They pooled
with each other, and with other little pools,
until a three foot pool of blackness stood
there. It heaved a portion of itself
upwards, then twisted, pulling itself
together.
"Guys," he said, raking his hands down their
sleeves. "Guys, there's something you have
to see, NOW!"
They obediently turned to look, and all
three of them got their first glimpse of a
youma. He was tall, and made of dashes of
diagonal and straight lines, all edges, all
sharp, all dangerous. The rest of him barely
seemed human--he had pale, pale skin, dark
eyes, and a mop of hair that seemed made of
more diagonal lines that anything else.
And the tingling stopped.
Serena looked at herself in the mirror. Her
transformation had taken longer than usual
this time--and she'd been weary afterwards.
Weary enough to stumble against the toilet
before she got herself out of the bathroom.
And gaped.
She was the Sailor Moon of her dream!
Goggles covered her eyes, and long odangos
streamed from her head; her uniform seemed to
be more...more...well, not very different
except for the broach. It was more heart
shaped now, and the crystal glowed deeper
than usual, a faint salmon sheen.
she thought to herself.
A scream blasted her thoughts.
She obediently dashed from the bathroom, a
blur as she skidded out from it and turned.
Hiding in the shadow of a pillar, she looked
around and listened. Nothing.
But she could FEEL it...and the crystal
glowed darker.
She darted out from behind the pillar;
people ignored her, even with her odd costume
and odd hairstyle and odd way of moving.
They were too busy screaming or staring at
the creature.
It had grown in height some, and solid black
spheres surrounded it, glowing in dark
energy. Even now it was pinning people with
sharp diagonals, stopping them in time to
grab them with two flat sticks and drain
their energy. Several of the bodies were
cops.
she thought
as she took off again, then skidded to a stop
in front of it. |BACK OFF, CREEP!|
The creature blinked it's dark eyes, then
smiled. |A beautiful piece of energy for our
Dark King...good.| It nearly slavered.
|Come here, child.|
she thought. The compulsion to whine came
upon her so swiftly that she nearly did it;
she cut herself off, instead shouting, "Tsuki
ni kawatte o shioki yo!" She then leaped up.
"Sailor Moon...KICK!"
Her leg lashed out at the creature with a
force she thought would knock his head off.
Instead, he growled and dashed at her,
causing her to start and jump backwards. He
chuckled wildly at that, a grotesque smile on
his face, and charged again, lashing out with
his stick. |I know about you, Sailor Moon!|
he spat. |You're the whinny, cowardly
brat...|
|Who put Beryl away for good, sleeze!| she
retorted before he could finish. For the
second time in a fight she felt angry--REALLY
angry. Angry that he was here. Angry that
SHE was here, trying to dust his butt while
showing off hers in her short little skirt
that...that...
|With the crystal. Let's see you do that
now, Sailor Brat!| he interrupted, taking
another swipe at her.
|I AM SOOOOO SICK OF HEARING THAT!| she
retorted, dodging the energy blows and coming
in to kick him again. This time, though, he
managed to flat her with one of the dark
pieces of wood, throwing off her timing and
leading her to SMACK right into the ground.
She tumbled and ended up twisted on the
ground; he advanced on her. As she looked
up, the smile on his face was so unbearably
cruel that she nearly wretched.
|This ends here and now!| he roared,
swinging at her.
When the blond streak had first jumped into
the fight, the guys had barely noticed. The
attack had come upon them so quickly that
they'd barely had a chance to try and get
people out of the way before he struck.
Luckily they did posses the Generals' agility
and instincts; all three had escaped
basically unhurt. They then turned their
attention to getting the people out of their
as they tried to ignore the compulsion to
sleep that the sphere seemed to induce.
Then came the shouting in Japanese.
"In the name of the moon, I will punish
you?" Kev said. "Huh?"
Jared and Nate looked back, and they both
immediately paled. "My God," he whispered.
"WHAT?" Kev asked, coming around...his jaw
dropping.
A young, lithe, blond girl in an AWFULLY
short skirt was engaging the monster. She
darted as he attacked, and even managed a
good hit or two herself. She was shorter
than most comic book woman, and wore a
colorful splash of red, white and blue along
with red goggles. Her long hair streamed
around her, and he noticed it was pulled up
into...into...
"It's her," he breathed hoarsely. "Serena's
Sailor Moon!"
"Our little...I can't believe I'm seeing
this," Jared breathed. "She always seemed
so...nice."
They watched for a few stunned seconds,
until Nate said, "We HAVE to help her!"
"What? She's doing fine!" Jared said.
The flat of the black stick thingy caught
her then, and she fell to the floor.
"Now she's not!" Kevin cried out as he took
off running.
Serena only saw the cold eyes and the cruel
smile as he began to bring the piece around.
She knew it was going to be painful, but
she'd felt pain before; even death had
touched her before. Yet she knew that this
would be the worst of all, because there was
so much unfinished...
Yet Sailor Moon wasn't to taste pain nor
death this day. For as the sizzling, black
thing came around, three streaks of pale,
pastel colors blotted out her vision of the
creature. They alighted on it and forced it
back, and she scrambled away as the creature
screamed.
she thought.
She
leaped to her feet and looked to the beast,
then gasped.
her mind gasped; it was them
that were attached to the monster. It seemed
auras had grown out of them, auras of silvery
gray and fiery red and purplish blue, and
even as they fought by hand she could see the
seeds of magic working.
She had to use the Scepter. HAD to. But
they were...in the way...what would happen?
What...?
>Use it, Sailor Moon.<
*Huh? But my friends...my brothers...*
>USE IT, SAILOR MOON!< The thunder of
broken glass crashed in her skull, and as she
winced, she felt no choice but to obey.
The Scepter sprang to her hand, and she had
to stare for one moment...it seemed different
somehow...before she shook it off. She had
to save them...even if it cost her brothers.
The youma struggled on. Jared clawed at its
back as Nate smacked into its legs and Kevin
sparred with its clawed hands.
"MOON..."
It looked up, and they doubled their
efforts.
"..CRYSTAL..."
"..SCEPTER"
The youma's eyes widened. He knew what
came next, even if he'd never seen this
weapon before.
"...ELIMINATION!!"
For a moment, all seemed to stop. Then, the
twist of purple radiated outwards, and the
moon followed.
"NOOOO!" the youma screamed as his form
shattered into dust.
"ARHHHHHHH!" the three boys screamed,
falling on their knees, holding their heads.
Tears sprung to Sailor Moon's eyes, tears of
pain. she thought quietly,
She tried to turn away
from herself, but she stood stock still.
>Go help them. Get them away from here.
Talk with them.<
The crystal's voice was soft and smooth, and
she sighed internally. It was right. She
couldn't stand here and mope over their
pain--a crowd was forming, and she had to get
them away.
Quickly she sprung to their aid, kneeling by
them. "Are you all right...Jade?" she asked.
"I'm fine," he said softly, pain etched in
his voice. "And you?"
"None the worse. Listen, we've got to get
out of here. Do you know..."
But she never finished her sentence, for a
sudden swirl took a hold of them, and they
vanished.
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