Dream World Part 6: Adrian and Elara Forrester
A Sailor Moon fanfic by Mike Chenoweth [Ultrace@aol.com]
September, 1996
Lita had already unbuckled her seatbelt when the stewardess came over and politely asked what she would want for her meal: steak or seafood. Lita chose the steak, becoming hungry with the thought of how good it would taste; being served top-notch food was one of several nice perks of travelling in first class. But even the fancy accommodations and treatment couldn't take the edge off the flight.
She wasn't looking forward to moving to another city. It had been difficult enough for her to make friends in her old town, being overgrown and a tomboy, as some of the kids who were not her friends had so bluntly told her. `Too bad their parents never taught them not to judge the book by its cover.'
Now, at thirteen years old, she was going to have to start all over again. Lita didn't even know what their new house looked like; her father had taken a trip to Tokyo a couple of months earlier and, after some searching, bought one. She sighed lightly and glanced briefly at her parents before staring out the window.
Her mother was calmly reading a book, sparkling green eyes looking out beneath neatly trimmed long brown bangs, completely at ease. There was a beautiful grace in her, such effeminance. It would be difficult to believe that she and Lita were mother and daughter if the two didn't look so much alike.
The only thing Lita had inherited from her father, that she could notice, was an attitude. He didn't wait for life to bring things to him, he reached out and took everything it had to offer and she was no different. Even now he was busily negotiating some business deal on his laptop, black eyebrows over his blue eyes occasionally arching in frustration. Lita smiled. Fortunately for her and her mother, he didn't let business get in the way of his family when it counted.
She let her eyes rest on the clouds outside. They were flying beneath the scattered cover, and the moon was casting a wonderful light on the grey masses from above, only occasionally overshadowed by flashes of lightning.
It was only moments later that she saw a blur, without any sort of warning, rip through the wing of the plane.
------------------
Lita woke up in such an intense terror that it took her a full minute to come to her senses and realize that she wasn't aboard that plane. Her parents weren't about to die; they were already dead, and had been for almost three years.
Her hands were holding separate parts of the bedsheet; she had ripped it almost completely in two while asleep. Those hands were quivering now as though in fear.
Tears started to form in her eyes, but she fought them back with anger. `I cried enough last night... No more...' she said to herself with clenched fists. `But when we find out who's doing this, they are dead!'
Her head was pounding with a deep, throbbing pain. Although it likely could have been Lita's rapid breathing and state of near panic, the room felt like an oven. Her bedroom, though spacious and containing little more than plants, was beginning to seem like some sort of a nighttime prison. She got up, put on some street clothes, and went outside for a walk.
It was unusual to see anyone at the park after midnight, but not unheard of. Some people simply liked to watch the night sky, and the park was a great place to do it from; the city lights were few, and several spots where the trees thinned allowed the moon provide its own illumination. Others might come in couples for what could be considered a romantic evening.
Of course, there were also people like Lita, who couldn't sleep and needed a breath of fresh air. Apparently, Neflyte was one of them. Lita spotted him from a distance and was tempted to simply go someplace else, but she continued on.
Lita never felt entirely comfortable around Neflyte, or at ease with his having worked out their identities. Although she had seriously doubted him when they first met, he had proved his intentions were at least honorable several times to the Sailor Scouts. Still, there remained that unease. Not that it would take much this evening to make her feel uneasy.
She approached Neflyte, who was silently sitting on the park bench and staring into the trees. She could never remember him being particularly cheerful, but he looked positively morose now. His eyes seemed to reflect something sad that couldn't be captured in a facial expression.
"Are you okay?" she asked.
Neflyte shook his head, and continued to stare at the trees, as if watching something that Lita couldn't see. "Molly's mother took her to the hospital. I couldn't do anything about it."
"Will she be okay?" Lita asked. She remembered that Molly had been the first person they knew to be affected by all this, and yet, her dream had been just that--a dream and not a nightmare at all. Was it possible that her dreams were getting worse?
"When this is all over, she will be," he said.
Lita looked at him in surprise. "You know what's happening, don't you?"
"I don't know anything," he said, sadly.
"That's a lie!" She stood up, suddenly angered that he wasn't even trying to hide it.
"If I help you, Molly will pay for it."
Lita felt like biting her tongue after her remark. Now it made sense: Molly wasn't a threat to anyone, but Neflyte was, and their enemy must be using Molly as blackmail against him. Lita thought for a few seconds. "If you help us, we can get whoever's doing this."
"I won't take that chance. I'm sorry."
She could sympathize, but Lita still felt disappointed. They needed his help. "You can't do anything?"
Neflyte gave a sigh as he seemed to ponder her words for a while. Finally, he spoke. "The person responsible for this is a being from the Negaverse named Sylvite. He served under Beryl, but, like myself, he broke his allegiance to her before the Sailor Scouts invaded the Negaverse Base."
Lita sat down again. She was curious. As far as they had known, Neflyte was unique in having left Queen Beryl's control. "Did he fall in love with a human too?" she asked.
Neflyte frowned to himself. "Eventually, but that's not why he left the Negaverse. Beryl had come to fear him and was planning to have him killed, but he learned about it beforehand and escaped."
"Queen Beryl was afraid of someone?" Lita asked, in disbelief. Everything they had learned portrayed the ruler of the Negaverse as a mistress of iron-handed domination, a person who cowered from no one.
"Not physically, no. Beryl could have easily destroyed him, just like anyone else. Everyone of the Negaverse had some extent of special powers. Beryl was afraid of Sylvite because, of all the beings of the Negaverse, he alone was capable of dreaming." Lita opened her mouth in a sort of shock and was ready to ask several more questions, a few of which Neflyte intercepted as he went on. "Beings of the Negaverse are different than humans. We sleep, but only to restore our energy; I'm not sure how it works. Our minds don't wander while we sleep like yours do, so we never dream or have nightmares. Sylvite was different, somehow. Aside from having the ability to dream himself, he could also influence the dreams of others. He couldn't use that power against anyone from the Negaverse, of course."
Lita couldn't believe it. "You've... Never had a dream before?"
"No. Molly has told me about dreams she's had, and I can't understand the sensation she describes. I imagine it would be like trying to convey sound to a deaf person, or trying to tell someone who is blind what it's like to see."
"That's probably about right..." Lita said, looking at him. Neflyte's expression hadn't changed, but those eyes seemed to reflect something even more depressing than before. She stopped her mind from wandering and tried to get back on track. "If Queen Beryl could have just destroyed Sylvite, why didn't she?"
"There was more to Beryl's rule than her being the Queen and everyone being a servant. There were different levels of authority, and even respect among those in the Negaverse, although Beryl did rule above them all. Sylvite had a great deal of support, and had she simply destroyed him on the spot for what seemed like no reason, she could have been faced with a huge rebellion."
Lita wouldn't have imagined such a complexity to the Negaverse, but it made sense in retrospect. Clearly the many monsters the Sailor Scouts had dispatched over time were no more than lower minions, while high positions belonged to powerful beings like Zoisite and Malachite. And Neflyte.
But something still didn't make sense. "Why was Queen Beryl afraid of Sylvite just because he could dream? If he couldn't use his power against her or anyone in the Negaverse, how could he be any danger?"
Neflyte smiled for a very brief moment, as though Lita's question had stirred some amusing memory. "It was more than that. Sylvite was capable of dreaming--and he dreamed of an age for the Negaverse better than the one under Beryl's rule. He foresaw the disaster that would come if Beryl tried to revive the Negaforce and tried to warn others of it, including me. No one believed it--not even his strongest supporters--but Beryl was afraid they might start to and turn against her, so she decided to have him destroyed by some of her servants on whom she could lay the blame.
"Sylvite found out about it and left the Negaverse. Beryl sent others to track him, but he had retreated to somewhere they couldn't follow, a place he had only described as a sort of dream realm. That was before Jedite was ever brought to power. Sylvite never came back."
"And now Sylvite is doing all this? Why?" Lita asked.
Neflyte shook his head again. "I can't tell you anything else."
Lita was confused. "But I thought--"
"I can't help you any more," Neflyte said, standing up. "Molly means more to me than anything else, including the rest of you, and I won't put her at risk. But... I can't trust Sylvite, either." He looked at her face and found a total lack of understanding there. "Think about it," he told her, and before Lita could convince him to reveal anything further, he teleported away, leaving only a few vapors that quickly dissipated.
She sat there for a few minutes and tried to figure out what, if anything, she had been close to discovering which had driven Neflyte off. It was no good--she simply couldn't keep her thoughts in focus enough to reason it through, so she made an effort to remember what he said. Maybe the others could figure it out.
Her mind started to wander, and she imagined she was climbing the trees in the park, her father giving her that helping hand, but not afraid to let her go on her own when she wanted to. And when she was done, her mother would have a wonderful snack cooked up for the two of them, tired and hungry...
Despite her earlier resolve, she was crying again.
The school day dragged itself out and the end of it found the girls gathered near the cafe.
"That's all he would tell me," Lita said with a helpless shrug. Her reddened eyes were the only visible signs she showed of what she had gone through before and after she had found Neflyte.
Rei rubbed her temples; she had a headache, probably brought about more from worry than any actual loss of sleep yet. It was becoming increasingly obvious that she was the one least affected by this, so she was making an extra effort to control her temper and keep her thoughts straight--one of them had to. "Then that woman I saw couldn't be Queen Beryl. If she couldn't control him then, I doubt she could do it now," she reasoned. "But who was it, then?" she quietly added.
"At least it makes sense, that Molly was a target," Amy said, making a face as though lost in thought--a look she had been carrying all day as far as Lita and Serena knew. It made it impossible to tell if she was thinking something over or just trying to keep track of what was going on, although the latter was more likely at this point. Clearly she was having difficulties, but she had refused the offer for her to sit out on the watch over the stores.
"I can't blame him. I'm glad Molly's got someone like him to be there for her," Serena said, smiling through her irritability at not having been able to sleep much the night before. She knew the nightmare about Rei and Darian was false, but it still agitated her so much while she slept that she couldn't go back to sleep.
"We'll have to try and make some use of what Neflyte said later. If Amy's right, the monsters could hit those shops any time," Mina said. She was more talkative today and showed no symptoms that she might lash out in anger at any given moment.
They all agreed and went to their respective areas. It was already decided that Serena and Lita would go with Luna to the store a few blocks from Lita's house, and Amy, Rei and Mina would head with Artemis, to the other.
The idea of looking around at other stores and such while Luna kept watch over the one they expected to be attacked turned out to be much less fun than expected. Neither Serena nor Lita were feeling particularly energetic or cheerful. Lita found herself weighed down by the thoughts of her parents, and her attention had been grabbed by several things in windows that reminded her of her mother.
Serena noticed it, and hazarded a guess at what the problem was. "Lita... Are you okay? If you want to talk about your parents... I may not be able to understand what it feels like, but I can listen, you know." Lita had hardly ever mentioned her parents before telling the others what sort of nightmare she had. Serena knew it wasn't something Lita cared to discuss, but it couldn't hurt to offer.
Lita turned away from a display of clothes. "Do you want to be like your mom?" she asked, unexpectedly.
Serena made a face. "Well, sort of... I mean, she's real strict, but apart from that, yeah."
"I wish I could be more like my mom was," Lita said. "She was real pretty, and a perfect woman..."
"Just like you," Serena said. Lita gave her a confused look and Serena explained. "You're pretty, a great cook, housekeeper, and totally graceful. A perfect woman, right?"
Lita smiled and blushed. "Thanks..."
"What about your dad?" Serena asked, striking while the iron was hot. "He must've been pretty great to marry your mom."
"He was. He was always there for us whenever we needed him." She paused as the two of them moved a little further down the street. "I get the feeling he really wanted a boy, but if he did, he never let it show. Sometimes we'd go out and play in the yard..." she seemed to wilt at the last few words.
"Kind of like Dad and Sammy," Serena said. "Every once in a while--"
Their communicators beeped, and they both looked down. Luna was on the other end with the news they'd been waiting for.
The monster that had decided to strike this jewelry store didn't seem particularly intelligent, despite being more human looking than any of the others. It appeared to be a demon knight riding atop an appropriately horrific and armored steed. Like the other monsters, it had probably expected to come in, scare off the few humans present, and accomplish its objective--not to be attacked by an irate Sailor Moon and Sailor Jupiter.
The plan went fine, except for the last part.
"Hold it!" Serena yelled, drawing the monster's attention. She made a series of gestures. "I'm Sailor Moon, champion of justice! I will right wrongs and triumph over evil, and that means you and the horse you rode in on!"
Lita made a few impressive movements of her own, but remained silent. Serena turned to her. "Come on, you have to say something!"
The knight let out a growl and its horse responded by charging the two girls. A lance flashed into existence where none had been before. Serena barely avoided being speared.
"Jupiter Thunder Crash!" Lita yelled, blasting the knight with an electrical charge that stunned it momentarily but didn't stop it. Recovering quickly, it faced them again, this time pointing the weapon at Lita. She was ready for the knight to charge, but not for the lance to simply extend in her direction, which it did, nearly impaling her.
Serena wielded the scepter. She only got as far as "Moon Scepter Eli--" however, before the Knight whirled, and the lengthened lance knocked the scepter out of her hand. Serena dodged the wild swing, but only by backing into a corner, something the knight took full advantage of. With the same growl as before, he charged again.
"Venus Crescent Beam Smash!" Mina yelled. Her beam might not be powerful enough to destroy or even dislodge the knight, so she pinpointed it right on the lance and hoped. With astonishing luck, she hit dead center on her target, and the lance swerved, missing Serena by a foot and crashing through the wall instead.
Serena turned to look at her saviors; the knight did the same. Mina and Rei were near the entrance, with Amy close behind them, frantically using her computer.
"Mars Fire Ignite!" Rei shouted, hitting the knight with a blast of flame before it could pull back, but the armor covering it and its horse prevented most of the damage.
Serena scrambled out of the way of the lance that was being pulled from the wall, and grabbed her scepter before putting some distance between herself and their enemy.
"Moon Scepter Elimination!" she yelled, pointing the scepter. This time the knight was unable to stop her attack, and was instead reduced to so much dust.
The five girls stood, panting, Amy included; though she hadn't been fighting, she had run with Rei and Mina from their spot to this store when Luna called them.
"Man, that was tough," Lita said. "Nothing like the others."
"It's not just the monster," Rei said. "It's us. I'm beat."
"Yeah, me too," Serena said.
"Any luck, Amy?" Mina asked.
Amy frowned in frustration. "I couldn't get readings on it fast enough to do much good." She shook her head, chastising herself. "Sorry, guys."
"Hey, that's okay, your program worked, right?" Serena said.
"Well, yes, that's true..." Amy started, but she still sounded annoyed.
After transforming back to her regular clothes, Serena was about to head for home when she saw Lita, who was wandering forlornly down the street. She was still depressed, Serena decided. But there was always a way to get Lita's attention off something. She was commenting all the time on how she could never really cook fancy meals because she was the only one around to eat them. Maybe if Serena combined that with Lita's problem...
Serena walked up to her. The key here was subtlety, she knew. After a few minutes of casual chatting, she broached the subject.
"Your mom was a great cook just like you, Lita?"
"Better," Lita said. "Of course, she had a lot more experience..."
"So, like, what kind of stuff did she cook?" Serena asked. `Aha!' she thought, as Lita's eyes dragged themselves from the store window and looked brightly into the distance.
"Well, she could cook just about anything... Pork roast, sirloin steaks, baked chicken, beef stew, shepherd's pie--"
"Shepherd's pie?" Serena asked.
"You've never had shepherd's pie?" Lita asked. Serena shook her head. "It's beef and plenty of vegetables baked inside a layer of mashed potatoes."
Serena let her mouth water. "Mom never cooks anything like that. It sounds great. Think you could make it for me sometime?"
Lita smiled. "Sure. Actually I've been craving some myself, but you have to make a lot if you really want to cook it right, and it'd be too much of a waste if I made some just for me..."
"How about tonight, then?" Serena asked, brightly. "I'm sure mom and dad won't mind if I come over to your house for dinner." She mentally crossed her fingers.
Lita hesitated, and Serena was afraid she'd pushed too hard, but it turned out that Lita was only counting ingredients in her head. "I've got everything I need at the house, but it takes a little while to cook, so we better hurry up and get started," she said, grabbing Serena gently by the arm and starting in the direction of her house. "Of course, you can't have shepherd's pie without some home-baked bread, and for dessert I'll have to..."
Serena, only half-listening, smiled to herself: Success!
