Chapter Six: Jason, Nathan, Maren and Zella
Rose Apartments - present
2A
Jason - known once as General Jadeite, and known also
as Lord Jadeite, Guardian of the Third Star and Leader
of the Star Guardians - leaned against the railing of his
balcony, wondering at the feel inside him. It wasn't hard
to understand why Humans had so much energy to spend on
love. How could he have forgotten how much he'd loved
Verena... *What?* Jason shook his head, *That should be
Serena*. He thought. And wondered why the name 'Verena'
sounded so familiar.
The young man continued staring up at the full moon,
remembering how once, a long time ago, he'd danced on that
rugged surface among slender, silver pillars to soft music,
his one, and only love leaning against him. The memory
seemed so real that he could almost hear the music.
"Jason. JASON!" Nathan waved a hand in front of Jason's
eyes, and sighed, "Okay, he's gone again, people. Get the
bucket of water." He added with a grin.
Meren detached himself from Zella's embrace and grinned,
"Jason, Serena's at the door!" he shouted.
"Really?" Jason looked around then realized his friends
were laughing, "Give me a break, so I'm in love." He said,
"How's your pursuit with Molly going, Nathan?" he asked,
changing the subject before they could get any more laughs
out of him.
Nathan looked downtrodden, "She's dating somebody else." He
muttered.
Jason looked stricken, "Nathan, I'm sorry." He said,
putting his hand on his friend's shoulder.
Nathan turned away, "Don't worry about me, Jason. If we are
meant to be, then we shall be." He said, misquoting the
advice Queen Serenity had given them all those months ago,
"She SEEMS happy - and that Melvin boy is keeping her
content. That is all I can claim for her." He said.
"But things don't happen by themselves -" Jason began
when his face turned pale. The tall, blonde warrior swore
softly, "Another one of those monsters." He said.
Maren, Zella and Nathan concentrated as well, and their
faces turned pale too.
"They're so strong." Zella whispered, "Whoever is
creating them must be pouring enough energy to destroy all
of Tokyo."
Jason was still staring at the wall, his eyes far away as he
concentrated, "We must go." He said, shaking his head,
"This one is very powerful." He made as if to transform,
and Maren stopped him.
"We can't, Jason. *They* must call *us*." He reminded.
Jason swore again, "What is the matter with her. She's
slowly draining herself of even her *lifeforce*, but she
still won't call me. I saw we can go. If that dressed up
Tuxedo Mask can appear without being asked, then so can we!"
The three other Star Guardians shared a look, torn between
indecision and worry.
"We all want to go, Jason - but..." Nathan began than they
all clenched their ears as a mind-splitting scream sounded
in their heads.
*Star Guardians!*
"Well, it looks like this argument is a mote point."
Maren commented as they straightened groggily, "Jason, just
do us all a favor. Teach her how to call us." He shook his
head, "My ears are still ringing."
Jason ignored his friend, "Third star, the Guardian is
needed." He murmured, and felt a shimmer as he transformed to Guardian.
"Star Energy Transformation!" A blaze of light and Star
appeared.
"Comet transformation initiation." Comet stood there,
looking down at the armor he was wearing, he grimaced,
"Forgot how uncomfortable body armor is." He said.
"Red Dwarf Star transformation." Nathan's body flared
red, till only his outline could be seen, then Red appeared.
"Come on, the Negaforce monster's in Darkaon Street near
the shopping center." He said.
They nodded and ran for the balcony, jumping off the
railing. For a second, they fell, then all of them blurred
white as they used their powers to transport themselves to
Darkaon Street.
Darkaon Street
The fight was like a mirror of the other two: they were
loosing. Sailor Moon leaned against her staff, breathing
heavily as she readied for another attack with the
elimination. On the other side of the clearing, Tuxedo Mask
was a blur as roses shot out from his whirling body,
embedding themselves into Mute, not that the roses did much
good, after several minutes, they wilted or turned to dust.
Sailor Mars was on the other side of Mute, her new tiara
shooting out blast after blast of firebird rays, but the
monster reacted to that as it did with Tuxedo Mask's roses.
Sailor Mercury, Jupiter and Venus were blasting together in
joint efforts after Rei, but their efforts didn't even stun
Mute. Sailor Neptune and Uranus had been knocked out five
minutes before. Sailor Moon rose the staff and staggered
slightly as the weight was heavier than she remembered.
"MOON SCEPTRE ELIMINATION!" she shouted, sending out the
ray of power at the same time as Rei shot out another
firebird ray.
Mute roared, and staggered, but kept on blasting all of the
Sailor Scouts. Sailor Jupiter was thrown clear straight
against a tree, and didn't rise again.
"Why didn't you call us sooner?" a new voice asked.
Sailor Moon looked up blearily and saw four figures in the
tree she was standing under, "Star Guardians." She
breathed.
"At your service." Guardian bowed, then frowned, "Star,
how powerful is this monster?"
Star turned and stared at Mute, she pointed one finger at
the monster, "Star power watcher." She whispered. A thin
line of white star fire surrounded Mute for a second before
he managed to struggle from the line. "Very powerful."
"RED DWARF COMET BLAST!" the warrior -Red - with the
long fire colored hair shouted.
Mute opened his mouth in a silent roar, the first sign of
pain as the red beam of light shot straight through one arm.
Black blood sipped out of the wound.
Tuxedo Mask, Sailor Mars, Mercury and Venus stopped
their attacks to see where the attack had come from.
"The Star Guardians." Sailor Mars said in relief, then
was thrown back as Mute took her distraction to blast her.
Sailor Moon stared in horror as Rei crumbled on the ground,
her body smoldering.
"Sailor Moon." Guardian said softly, landing on the
ground next to her, "We can fight alongside the Sailor
Scouts and Tuxedo Mask, but even together, our powers cannot
hold this monster for more than several minutes."
Tuxedo Mask was still throwing his roses, but he was
staggering from the drain of his energy. Star stood next to
him, enforcing his own attack with her star power. Red
stood over Rei a globe of power protecting her still body
while Comet stood with Venus and Mercury shooting off his
attacks.
"What - what can we do? We can't run. There are too many
innocent people who'll suffer." Sailor Moon whispered,
"There must be something I can do."
Guardian touched her cheek, "There is, but it's dangerous,
even with me feeding you my energy." He said softly, "At
your last attack, the Blue Sapphire gave your friend a new
weapon to save all of your lives. It can do it again, but
at a cost." He paused, waiting for her to refuse.
Sailor Moon touched her neck, then lifted the thin thread of
gold holding the Moon Sapphire, "Then I'll do it." she
said, "Show me how to get these new weapons."
"You are very brave." Guardian said, "Your Mother would
be proud of you." He whispered before continuing,
"Concentrate, and the Blue Sapphire will do all else."
Sailor Moon nodded and closed her eyes, her face upwards.
Almost immediately the Blue Sapphire started to glow. Her
body began to shimmer as she poured energy straight into the
working Blue Sapphire. Guardian held her body to his chest,
and closed his eyes as well, "My brave princess." he
whispered, and leaned forward, kissing her as he fed his own
energy into her.
Ami felt a strange feeling soar through her body, and
suddenly, realized that she was transforming again. *What's
going on?* she thought in alarm, and then felt a new weight
on her forehead. She took down the tiara and saw that it
was now a ring of blue opals set into linked golden circles.
She saw Sailor Moon and Guardian glowing brightly underneath
the tree across the clearing, and knew instinctively that
this was their work.
"WATER OPAL TIARA POWER WASH!" Ami shouted, dragging
words from her memory to show the energy she felt shooting
through her where to go.
But it wasn't water that answered. Instead a stream of
ethereal water appeared, surrounding Mute. The monster
clutched its head and fell to its knees, mouth open in
soundless roars of pain. *A mental attack?* Ami wandered.
Mina jumped out of the path of Mute's attacks, dropping
onto her knees, panting painfully as her body reminded her
exactly HOW much she would have to pay in terms of pain,
tomorrow morning. *IF I live through today that is.*
THERE was one bright point about dying - she wouldn't need
to drag herself out of bed and pretend that everything was
fine tomorrow.
Something solid fell into her hands, and Mina stared
down at the tiara that had suddenly appeared there. It
looked like a miniature of her strongest attack - and only
'capture' attack, the love-me-chain. A glowing caught her
attention from the corner of her eyes. Mina turned, and saw
Serena slump in the leader of the Star Guardian's arms.
*Thank you Serena.* she thought, knowing that this came
from Serena's own energy. Holding, controlling and guarding
the two most powerful stones on Earth might make Serena one
of the most powerful beings in the world, but Mina didn't
envy her. Every time Serena used those self-same stones she
was feeding her own energy into those stones. *Once you
think about it, the Silver Imperium Crystal and the Moon
Sapphire are nothing more than powerful amplifiers.*
*Enough head-in-the-clouds.* she told herself sternly as
she slid the tiara on, *Time to get some REVENGE for the
pain I'm going to be in tomorrow!* "LOVE CHAIN TIARA
ATTACK!" she shouted.
A warm sensation seemed to surround her forehead, then she
thought she saw something blur just above her. A glowing
unicorn - burning fierce orange fire - ran on air towards
Mute. It pawed the air and speared Mute through a leg
before Mute could move. "Incredible." Mina murmured in
amazement.
Jupiter felt energy revive her and felt herself
transforming again. She stood up slowly, and stared down at
the tiara in her hands. Shaped like her 'thunder dragon',
it shimmered like blue diamonds. Instinctively knowing what
to do, she put it on and shouted the words that came into
her head: "DRAGON TIARA ROAR!"
Mute already weaken, seemed to grow misty as he struggled to
rise and attack again.
Darien felt like he would collapse in a second, even
with Star helping him, he could feel the roses drain more of
his power as he kept shooting them out. Then suddenly, he
felt Prince Endymion's armor surround him. He stopped in
amazement and looked down, true enough, the black armor was
on him.
"Prince Darien Endymion, heir to the third star, also
known as Earth." Star commented, her smile rather wistful and her eyes far away as she remembered. She shook her head, her smile becoming more firm as she reached up and took down the circlet that he hadn't known was there till
she touched it, "Your new weapon it would seem."
She said with a slight smile.
Darien stared at the tiara. Power radiated from the thin
circles of intertwined gold wire, but what drew his eyes was
the blood red ruby held in place by a round disk at apex of
the two circles. With numb fingers, Darien put it back on.
He saw Sailor Mercury sending out a ghostly wave of water,
and Sailor Jupiter and Venus attacking with a dragon and a
unicorn. And he also saw Serena being held up by Guardian
as Guardian kissed her and fed her power. Despair twisted
in his stomach, but Darien ignored that, knowing that his
attack would destroy Mute. He concentrated on the blood red
stone, imagining all the love he ever held for Serena.
"I will always protect you." he murmured and one hand
shot out, fingers splayed.
A stream of blood red roses shot out, thirty times more
powerful than his ordinary roses. Mute's form vanished into
dust and silence reigned.
***
"Sailor Moon?" the voice was faint, like from far
away.
Serena ignored it and looked around. She was alone, in a
white place. It felt good here. Very good, nothing could
hurt her here.
"Sailor Moon?" the voice was annoying, Serena wished
it'd go away, she didn't want to be Sailor Moon, she wanted
to be Serena.
*Just Serena. That's ALL I ever wanted to be. Just plain,
everyday Serena Tsukino. Is that so much to ask?*
The whiteness was very comforting, like warm arms around
her, protecting her against all hurt. Serena stiffened as
she remembered a time when she'd thought Darien's arms would
protect her forever, but she'd been wrong. *I was wrong
about so much.*
But this whiteness weren't arms, it was like -
*It is like somebody who has always been there for you and
would be there, always. Somebody who's been here since you
were born.* a voice whispered. *Because that is what I am,
sister.* she felt a presence, and turned.
"Serena." A girl stood in front of her, dressed in a
pale, creamy gown.
Serena stared at her for a second, then flew into her arms,
"Verena!"
Memories flooded through her - of sunny days on Earth riding across wide open plains with Verena by her side. Of learning how to dance and fight and sing - with Verena. Always with Verena. *How could I forget her? She was my life.*
The two twins held each other for a second, then something
twinged on Serena, and she pulled away, "You were dead."
She accused, "Am I as well?"
Verena shook her head, "We were all reborn, Serena. The
Imperium Crystal made a mistake." She said softly, "Mother
didn't know that I was dead and that I had made you heir
when she commanded the crystal. The crystal searched for
the heir, by Mother's reckoning, I was still heir, but so
were you. And our minds were so close together that the
Crystal made a mistake, we melded together. Two minds
becoming one."
Serena sighed, "And I never knew."
Verena sighed as well, "Neither would I if the trigger
hadn't gone off."
"Trigger?"
"Something where you would have done something I wouldn't
have." Verena said, "I guess it was all those times Darien
dumping you that started it off." She grimaced, "I know we argued about this in the past over you and Darian. I hated him for how much he hurted you, that's when we parted in agreements, and there's where the seperation started."
Serena nodded, memories returning of arguments that lasted
hours - long for twins so close they could have been one
person. *WERE one person all these years.*
"Then Jadeite returning."
"Jadeite?" Serena shook her head, "Jadeite is dead,
Verena. I destroyed the Negaforce's stronghold."
Verena grinned, "He's really alive for somebody dead,
Serena. Who do you think Guardian is?" she asked.
Serena gaped, "But Guardian is fighting with the Sailor
Scouts. He's *good*!"
"So he was once. The Star Guardians are very much like
the Sailor Scouts, only they protected Earth. There were
three of them: Jadeite - the leader and first Guardian of
the Third Star - Comet, Master-Warrior of the Shensiva
Warriors and Red, companion of the Princes of Earth. When
Jadeite, Nephrite and Malachite were turned to the
Negaforce, they were relieved of their powers." Verena
looked so sad, "Jadeite doesn't remember me. He thinks you
are me." A little memory rose, Serena remembered Verena and
Jadeite dancing, very much in love.
"You still love him, don't you?" she asked softly.
Verena nodded, "But that doesn't matter right now. Serena -
I must tell you, our identities are apart. There are two of
us in your body. Me and you. And there can only be one."
"Then I'll go." Serena said promptly.
Verena looked at her stunned, "What?"
"I've had over fifteen years of being alive, and you've
had none. It's your turn." Serena said selflessly,
"Anyway, there's really nothing left for me to stay alive
for."
Verena shook her head, sighing, "Darien still loves you."
she said reluctantly, "Whether YOU love him, you have to
choose.".
"It isn't whether I love him or not - it's the fact that
I can't trust him anymore. Every time we're close, he
dumps me." Serena said softly, feeling the aching emptiness
inside her that nothing seemed to fill. Even being with
Jason - *Jadeite* - only filled it marginally.
"Serena, you can't just die like that." Verena said
exasperatedly, "It's totally impossible. *I* must go. As
it is, at times, you - *we* - have done things that you
normally wouldn't do, and we must part, it's becoming
dangerous for us to share a body." Verena grinned despite
herself, "That sounds weird." She said.
"But *how*?" Serena asked - about the parting, not the
last part.
"Jadeite will know how. This happened once when he was
still the leader of the Star Guardians. Ask him, make him
remember me." Verena pleaded.
"SAILOR MOON!" the call was becoming more urgent.
The two girls looked up, "True love." Verena said
wistfully, "The Blue Sapphire knows of true love." She said
turning to Serena urgently, "It will glow and answer to any
who truly loves."
Serena felt woozy, the white room seemed to be shimmering,
as was Verena, "Verena?" she collapsed onto her knees and
felt Verena hug her tightly, "What's happening, Verena?"
"You can't stay here forever, Serena." Verena said, "The
Blue Sapphire will work only good, and will answer for any
who truly loves. Remember that Serena. The Blue Sapphire
will work good for any who loves, *any*. The Imperium will
kill any other than the Royal Family, but the Blue Sapphire
works only one way." She was growing fainter, and Serena
was falling... falling... falling...
***
The warm hands holding her - Verena's? Serena couldn't
move. She knew she was in the real world, but she didn't
want to return to it. *The pain... oh Mother, the pain.* she
didn't want to return to having to stay away from Darien, to
having to see Jason's hopeful looks and know that she
couldn't fall in love with him...
"I've failed, Princess, I swore I would never let
them harm you." a voice whispered quietly.
Serena tried to remember who's voice it was : Guardian's?
*No, Jadeite. He's real name is Jadeite.* Or was it Darien
who spoke?
"Come away, Darien. There is nothing more you can do."
Another voice - Jason's voice - said. Serena frowned, the
voice was Guardian's as well. In the dream state she was
in, she connected the two voices, and it didn't seem all
that hard to link two people together. *So Jason is Guardian
and Jadeite.* A wave of exhaustion flooded over her as she
struggled back to consciousness. *He knows how to help
Verena.* she thought, and pushed herself up further.
"I can't go - she might - she might die while I'm not
there." Darien said to Jason, "I'll never forgive myself if
that happened."
"Neither would I." Jason said seriously.
"You've fallen in love with her, haven't you?" Darien's
voice was accusing.
"I've been in love with her for as long as I can
remember." Jason murmured.
A sigh, "Maybe she's in love with you as well - I don't
know. Maybe it'd be better if she went with you." Darien
sounded beaten, "You certainly make her happier than I did.
All I ever did was make her cry."
Serena burst through into consciousness, and groaned in pain as every part of her body ached.
The two males ran to her side. She was in Darien's
apartment again, on his bed - *I seem to be spending a lot
of my time in his bed lately.* Serena thought, trying to
find some humor and failing.
"Serena, are you alright?" Jason asked as Darien took
her other hand.
"I'm - I guess I'm alive Jadeite." Serena said.
There was a flash of worry in Jason's face, and she could se him open his mouth to lie, then he sighed,
"How'd you guess?" he asked.
Darien was staring at Jason, "What?"
"Verena told me." Serena said simply.
"Verena?" Jason stiffened, "Verena." He nodded, as if something finally made sense, "Where
is she?"
"Inside me. The crystal made a mistake, and we've been
together in one body. She said you knew how to fix it."
Jason nodded, "So that's why I thought of Verena, and yet
didn't know why. She does exist." He said, "Yes, there is
a way for her to come out, but the procedure - the spell,
its chancy. . ." he trailed off, his eyes worried.
"Would somebody please tell me what's going on?" Darien
asked plaintively.
Serena turned to him, and he released her hand straight
away, looking stricken - Serena was surprised, until she
realized she was still frowning, "Jason is Jadeite, or
Guardian, leader of the Star Guardians." She explained
quickly.
Darien nearly fell on his face as he stared at Jason, "What
in all the -?" he shook his head, "The dream. . ." he
murmured, "So that dream *was* true!"
Serena saw that he was going to ask more questions and
levered herself from the bed, "I don't have the strength to
repeat this all over again." She said, "Please help me home
one of you, and we'll all talk at the temple tomorrow." She
begged.
Darien nodded, "I'll take her home." He said, then stopped,
"If you want me to, that is." He added, staring hopefully
at Serena.
*I want him to, all I want is to fall into his arms and
never worry about anything again.* Serena felt so tired,
but she knew she couldn't stand another betrayal from him.
She shook her head, "Jason, could you please take me home?"
she asked, and tried to ignore the sad look in Darien's
eyes.
"Good bye Darien." Jason said softly, scooping Serena up and cradling her in his arms.
She closed her eyes and was fast asleep almost immediately
so she missed hearing Darien slam his fist into the wall.
Darien rested his head in his hands, *She's gone from
me. Forever.* he thought helplessly as he sat in the
silent apartment. Everything seemed to be grayer, darker
now that Serena was gone. *Forever.* Perhaps it was time
for him to admit that. Darien looked unseeingly at the
opposite wall. He'd seen an American cartoon once, where a
boy had dreamed a girl had pulled out the heart of a boy. *That can't happen to me, though can it?* he thought grimly, *She already has my heart.* And she always would - even if she didn't want it.
And the worst part was that he knew it was his own fault
this was happening. That he deserved to live life always in
pain, always alone... always alone...
The End of Part Two of Second Chances
