Dream World Part 5: Princess Mars
A Sailor Moon fanfic by Mike Chenoweth [Ultrace@aol.com]
September, 1996
Serena was locked into a deep kiss with Darian--Prince Darian. He was outfitted in his royal plated armor, sword sheathed in a scabbard by his side. Serena was wearing the flowing, pale lavender dress indicative of the Moon Princess.
Darian's embrace was more reassuring than anything else in the world. Nothing was impossible between the two of them; their love could overcome anything. They had something timeless and everlasting...
Serena blinked when she noticed something was wrong. How could she be watching herself kiss Darian? And her dress should have been white--why was it lavender?
Serena had been looking at Darian's back, but now she started to walk around to the side of the entwined couple. As soon as she saw locks of long black hair, she knew what she was really looking at, but she was unable to stop walking, until she she could see both of their faces.
She was too stunned to scream, but she didn't have to. The pair finally seemed to notice her there. Slowly, gently, Darian removed his lips from Rei's, and the two, still entwined, turned to look at Serena.
"It was only a matter of time before she found out," Rei said to Darian, glaring at Serena.
Darian turned his back on Serena. "It's my destiny to be with her, but whatever happens, you'll be in my heart. You'll always be my true love," He bent to Rei and kissed her again. Serena could feel the resentment in his voice, the regret that he would have to leave his beloved Princess for Serena--someone he didn't care about at all.
Serena couldn't make anything come out of her mouth but a few tiny sobs. She slumped to the ground, tears dripping from her cheeks and waited, hopefully, for her life to end.
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Surprisingly, Luna was still asleep after Serena sat straight up, clutching the bed covers to her chest. There was no way she could get back to sleep. After that nightmare, she didn't want to, no matter how tired she felt.
She had tried to put the thoughts about Darian's past out of her mind after she ran into him the other day. She even thought the nightmare that kept her up that same night was a coincidence, a fluke brought on by a spark of jealousy in her that she couldn't deny. Now, though, Serena knew this was going to tear at her until she got the truth out of Darian, whether she really wanted it or not. She wouldn't like knowing that Rei or some other woman was one of his past loves, but it would be better than not knowing for sure--and never being able to look at either Rei or Darian with the same trust.
She glanced at her alarm clock, which for once it seemed she wouldn't have to worry about sleeping through. 12:47. She had at least six hours to go before getting ready for school, so she might as well make some use of them and maybe get her mind off things. She got up carefully, so as not to wake Luna, opened one of her books, and got started on homework.
Luna rolled over about half an hour later and saw Serena doing something that looked like schoolwork. She almost panicked before realizing it was okay because she must have been dreaming.
There would be no way for Serena to track Darian down before school--she knew he varied his jogging routes and could be anywhere, so she decided to wait until after school to go and see him.
During first period, Serena noticed that Molly hadn't shown up. `She's hardly ever sick...' Serena thought. `Except when she's being picked on by the Negaverse,' she continued, almost jokingly. Then it hit her: Molly was the first of them to have a strange dream. Then had come Darian, Amy and Rei, and now, Serena herself. Maybe Lita and Mina too.
Serena hadn't heard from any of them since Saturday afternoon. She was exceptionally tired and worn down after having been through only two nights of this. `Molly's been through... Four days? No wonder she might not have felt like coming to school. What about the others?'
After struggling against the desire to fall asleep through three classes, Serena saw at lunch that Amy, the living embodiment of determination, had indeed come to school. She didn't look well, however, and actually admitted relief that there were no exams that day.
Lita came over and joined the two of them. Apart from reddened eyes, she wasn't looking too bad, although it came out in discussion that she too had begun to experience the nightmares, beginning only the previous night.
"But it's not just us," Amy said. "It's happening to everyone else too."
"Really?" Serena asked, looking around. She had been so intent on trying to make it through classes and worrying about her friends that she hadn't paid attention to anyone else all day. She looked around. The lunchroom did seem a bit listless...
"This is getting really serious," Lita said.
"You're right," Amy agreed. "We've got to find out what's behind this mass insomnia, and soon, before we're no longer able to."
Serena, having about enough medical knowledge to know which end of the thermometer was stuck in someone's mouth, didn't know what Amy was getting at. "What do you mean?"
Amy paused to collect her thoughts. "People need sleep, especially so they can dream. It's the mind's way of resting. When they can't get that rest, they degenerate, mentally... Starting with problems like headaches, drowsiness and blurred vision. They begin to lose the ability to think straight and function properly. Eventually, the mind can't take anymore and they go insane. Soon, that'll happen to us, and we won't be able to do a thing about it."
Lita turned to Amy. "Molly had her dream first, and then you, Rei and Darian. If someone really is trying to drive everyone nuts, maybe they picked you guys first because they thought you were more of a threat."
Amy thought it over. "That's logical, but it doesn't make sense why they would strike at Molly, and wait until later to go after you and Serena. Unless Molly was a threat to them as well... But..." she seemed to trail off.
"How long do we have before it's too late?" Serena asked.
Amy brightened a little. "That's where we're lucky. It looks like whoever's doing this is having to make us lose sleep by sending nightmares to everyone. But nightmares are a form of dream too, so at least we're getting a little bit of the rest we need each night, even if we don't feel like we have. Whereas it usually takes no more than four days or so for someone to snap under sleep deprivation, it'll probably take a little longer now, perhaps a week, before people become mentally unstable and incapacitated."
Serena began to get very worried about Molly.
"So we've got maybe three days before you and Rei start to get hit really bad," Lita said.
"Probably less in my case," Amy sighed. "I was studying hard for upcoming tests before this even started, so I wasn't in tip-top condition to begin with. Rei seems to be handling it okay, though."
The schoolbell went off, signalling the end of their lunch break. "We need to meet at the Temple today," Amy told them.
Serena looked downcast. "I wanted to go see Darian after school."
"Well, Rei gets out later than any of us," Lita said, "so as long as you don't take too long, you should have time."
Fortunately, Darian was home and not at his job or hanging out somewhere when Serena showed up. He opened the door, and almost instinctively knew what she was there for. What other reason could there be?
Although it had been on her mind ever since the night before, Serena still hadn't come up with any way of approaching the subject that she felt comfortable with, and probably never would, so she just blurted it out. "I had a dream last night... About you and Rei."
"When I was the prince, right?" he asked her.
Serena's jaw dropped. She lapsed into panic. "Then--it's true?"
Darian could see her beginning to lose control of herself. "No, no, it's not true at all! I figured since you knew my dream was set in the past, you would have dreamed of me as Prince Darian. There was nothing between Rei and I in the past, okay?" He hugged her tight.
But Serena wasn't going to make it that easy on herself. "Who was it, then?" she asked cautiously, pulling back and looking up at him.
Somehow, Darian had foolishly hoped she wouldn't ask. Even though Serena really had matured a lot since he first met her, he still didn't know if she could accept his past--but he loved her, and there should be no secrets between them, no matter how unimportant they might seem.
He released her from his hug, led her by the hand into the living room, and sat her down on the couch. Serena listened as he told her everything about the past he had remembered: about himself, the true identities of Queen Beryl's four greatest warriors, and what they had meant to him.
After waiting ten minutes for Serena to show up, Amy, Lita, Mina and an annoyed Rei decided to go ahead with the meeting. Just as they were actually getting down to discussions, however, Serena ran in looking both energetic and tired at the same time; she was immensely relieved at the truth behind Darian's dream, but the release of her pent-up anxiety had left her drained, feeling even more desperate for a good night's sleep. Hopefully, now she could get one.
"It's about time," Rei snapped.
"Sorry," Serena responded, but she wasn't really sorry at all. Darian's story had depressed him almost as much as it had relieved her, and she wanted to stay around afterwards to make him feel better. Only after she was sure he was okay did she leave for the temple. `If they don't understand, too bad,' she thought. `Everything he was going through, and I was too busy being jealous!' It made her feel guilty beyond belief. At that moment she vowed never to doubt him again.
Serena's complete lack of remorse was the last straw. Without thinking, Rei raised her hand, and almost slapped Serena before she even knew she was doing. With an effort, Rei put her hand down again, and took a long, deep breath. Serena, who had instantly cringed, slowly resumed her normal position and sighed with relief.
Rei grumbled. "As I was saying, after the nightmare I did a fire reading." She described to them the images she'd seen in the flames, and her suspicions that, based on her nightmare, one of them could be Queen Beryl.
"When we went to invade the Negaverse Base, you used your computer to track down their energy," Lita said, to Amy. "Could you use it again to see if that energy is back?"
"I tried that," Amy said. "I didn't find any trace of that same energy signature, but if Queen Beryl somehow managed to resurface, she could be using an entirely different form of energy.
"On the other hand, with the information on the last monster that Mina fought, I was able to discover a definite pattern in these attacks. Serena and Rei caught the first monster before it actually hit any location, but it was near a jewelry store. The other two monsters both struck at jewelry stores, and were actually stealing jewelry when we found them."
"That's what they're after? Jewelry?" Serena asked, surprised. As an afterthought, she added, "Don't tell me the Negaverse is still looking for the Silver Crystal..."
"If they are, then someone really oughta bring them up to speed," Lita joked.
Luna looked puzzled. "If this ties in with the nightmares that everyone's been having, I can't imagine how."
"Not everyone," Amy noted. "Mina can't remember any nightmares. As far as we know, she hasn't been affected by this at all."
Mina had been silent, almost completely uninvolved in the gathering, but she now stood up, indignant. "What's that supposed to mean? You think I'm part of this or something?"
Amy was visibly embarrassed. "I didn't mean--"
"Well, what did you mean?? I--" Mina started and then stopped. She could see her friend's hurt feelings. "Oh, Amy, I'm so sorry... I-I'm just real tired."
"It's alright, we all are," Amy said, with a forced smile. For a few brief moments, she'd had to resist the urge to yell back at Mina in anger, something she was not used to.
Instead, she focused, and thought about what she'd just heard. According to Artemis, Mina had slept almost from when Amy and Rei left her house the previous day until the time to get ready for school that morning. `Seventeen hours, and she was still tired?' Amy wondered.
Mina sat back down, having calmed somewhat.
"Anyway, according to the computer program, the pattern left behind by the monsters indicates just two locations left for them to strike," Amy said.
"Assuming they didn't find what they were looking for at the mall, right?" Lita asked.
"That's true. We still can't tell where they're coming from, since we haven't actually seen them appear. But we can at least monitor those locations somewhat. The monsters have always struck in the afternoon, so if that pattern continues, we should be able to keep an eye on the jewelry stores after school. They're a few miles away from each other, but perhaps if we split up into two groups, each one could stay in the general area of a store."
"That's not how I wanted to spend the week," Serena pouted.
"Yeah, but if we can catch them we might be able to learn enough to get to the bottom of this and stop these dreams. I say it's worth it," Rei said.
"Me too," Lita said. Mina nodded, silently.
"Luna and I can each keep watch over a store while you girls go shopping or have some fun, as long as you stay nearby," Artemis said, hoping to improve Serena's attitude about the idea.
Serena's frown lessened. "Okay..."
Amy looked at her watch. "It's a little late to start today, but we could probably begin as soon as school gets out tomorrow. How do we want to split up, though?"
"Let's try to divide up evenly," Rei said. "Lita and Serena can stay near one store, while you, Mina and I guard the other."
"That sounds like a good idea. Now, all we have left to do is see if Serena's and Lita's nightmares can tell us anything about all of this," Amy suggested. Perhaps there was a clue in them that would turn out to be the missing piece in the ever-expanding puzzle, she hoped.
"I doubt it," Rei said. "Serena probably dreamed that she was locked outside of the chocolate factory again... Right, Serena?"
Serena just looked at Rei and laughed nervously.
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The shadow ran her hand across Sylvite's shoulder--he could feel her fingers and the tingle of excitement they sent through him. "They don't have a clue."
"That's the way I want it. That's the secret. As long as they don't have any idea what's going on, they can't stop us."
She laughed. "Still... You are going rather easy on them, aren't you?"
Sylvite looked back, warily. "I wouldn't think you'd want them hurt."
"Then you don't know me as well as you think. I'm not as patient as you; I don't like waiting. If they suffer so this plan can go faster, what a pity."
"We won't have to wait much longer," he said. "They're ready to break, and when they do... We win."
