Sailor Moon: Hidden Memories

Chapter 3

Anna, Tanya and the dogs stopped in the lobby of the hotel which was housing most of the contestants of the gymnastic competition. "Um, excuse me..." Anna cautiously approached the red haired man sitting behind the front desk. "Could you tell me where we could get something to eat for breakfast?"

The man looked her over, and recognizing her as one of the contestants, nodded his head."Oh, sure thing," He gave her a list of restaurants within walking distances and a cheap map, free to hotel visitors. She and Tanya thanked him shyly and left. It was chilly out in the early morning, and their breath formed clouds in the air. Anna pulled the hood over her head to block the light snow flakes. Beside her, Tanya was doing the same, but she soon got excited over the white flakes falling on her head and nose. She giggled, threw back the hood, and did a twirling dance in a circle while sticking her tongue out. She laughed in delight as the snowflake melted on her tongue. "Guys, try this, it's so cool!" the shorter girl giggled.

Anna slowly shook her head, "Only you would get excited over something simple like that. Baka no!" At Tanya's crestfallen look, Anna laughed and nudged her side. "Come on, you know it's only a joke!" She laughed and winked at her in fun. Tanya smiled and hooked her arm with her cousin.

"Yeah well, it's not everyday I got to see snow where I came from," she giggled. In the ancient country of Libya, the concept of "snow" was quite foreign to the native people there, including Tanya. Oh yes, she had often read books and saw plenty of pictures depicting the strange white stuff that fell from the sky, not to mention hearing about it from the many stories her father told her, but to actually see it, to feel it on the skin and tongue was a pleasure the dark-skinned girl relished in. It didn't matter to her that her cousin wasn't as excited over it as she was. She just loved snow now!

"Really? Tell me about it," Anna said, becoming interested about life in such an strange and interesting country. She had visited her mother's native country of Jamaica a few times during Winter when she was very little, and knew how fun it was to go to the beach on Christmas day, but it was still hard to imagine growing up that way, never seeing snow before. Tanya smiled broadly and began her tale of her life in Libya.

Marco and Dief trotted along with the girls, leaving little doggy footprints in the light dusting of snow that covered the sidewalk and listening contently.

As they left the hotel behind, someone else exited it also. He looked after them closely, gazing so hard that Anna and Tanya felt someone looking at them. However, when they turned around to see who it was, he ducked around a corner. They shrugged it off and continued to walk, returning in their conversation.

Out of sight, Travis took a deep breath and walked out of his hiding place after a few moments had passed, making sure they were far ahead. He could no longer see the two girls, but he followed the footprints he was sure belonged to them and their dogs. Soon, the tall man thought to himself, Soon, I will have you in my power, and there will be nothing you can do about it! But somehow, he couldn't shake that feeling he had every time he saw or thought about the taller one. It was almost as though he didn't want to hurt her, like he wanted to...to be actually NICE to her. Travis grunted and shook it off the disturbing thoughts. Well, it didn't matter now. They will be dead very soon, and the Dark Kingdom will prevail once again. Silently he chuckled to himself as he continued to follow them.

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Tai Cuisine Restaurant:

After finding a seat and ordering what they wanted from the breakfast menu, the girls began to speak about what was really on their minds; the gymnastic competition. For a long while they tried to put it off and think of it as just "nervousness", but now that the day was actually soon upon them, the girls...especially Anna, felt the pressure building up. Soon, their breakfast came and they dug in with relish.

"I'm so nervous!" Anna confessed to Tanya between gulps of her vegetable and scrambled eggs platter. "Tomorrow is the preliminaries. If I don't do well, I won't get to the main competition, and Dad would kill me!" Worry and doubt clouded the taller girl's as she tried to enjoy the food, but suddenly, her heart just wasn't into it much. How would she be able to handle it if she let her father down again? It always seemed like she was a let down to him, no matter how hard she tried.

"Don't worry about it," Tanya smiled. "I've seen you practice, you know your stuff better than anyone else here, I bet. I know you'll do great!" She reached over and gave an affectionate squeeze on her cousin's hand. She can understand how terribly nervous and high strung Anna was. If Tanya could have given her some of her strength, she would have. But deep inside, she knew this was something Anna had to do on her own if she was going to gain more confidence.

"If you say so," Anna commented doubtfully. "Do you think we could do some sightseeing before I'm on tomorrow? From what I remember, this is a really great city."

"Sounds fun!" Tanya grinned, but their lighthearted conversation was suddenly cut off by a scream. "What was that?" Tanya eyes widened in surprise.

"I don't know! I think it came from near the kitchen. Do you want to check it out?" Anna stood up and narrowed her eyes.

"I don't want to, but we probably should," Tanya said, her eyes saddening and silently hoping it was nothing major. She didn't want to have to become Sailor Sirius again, and knew her cousin didn't want to transform again either. Both girls just wanted to live normal lives, with normal teenaged girl problems...but it looked like it was not meant to be.

Quickly they abandoned their food, and with the dogs following, carefully made their way towards the sound of the screaming, more of which were filling the air. Both girls stood frozen for a moment, seeing the source: a large creature was standing menacingly near the back of the restaurant with unconscious bodies all around it.

It was about seven feet high with gray skin and long, stringy yellow hair. Instead of hands, it had a frying pan on one arm and a large chopping knife on the other. It was wearing what looked roughly like a dirty chef's uniform. A black glow was rising in the frying pan, which got bigger and bigger, and drifted out to the rest of the large dining room. It moved slowly over to nearby patrons as they tried to escape, and after a moment, they passed out. The glow returned to the frying pan, drop off the energy it had collected, and then float off for another victim.

"This doesn't look good," Anna murmured as she and Tanya ducked under a table with Marco and Dief.

The golden furred dog growled and looked at the dark-skinned girls with determination. "Hiyaku! HENSHIN YO!"

"This is just great!" Anna whispered to herself. First the competition, now she has to deal with this! After a sigh to say goodbye to a normal life, Anna nodded then called out, "Polaris North Star Power, Make-up!"

Next to her, Tanya yelled, "Sirius Emerald Star Power, Make-up!" There were a few moments of bright light, and when it disappated, Super Sailor Sirius and Sailor Polaris rolled out from under the table.

"Okay, you!" Polaris called, jumping up to land on a table and pose, pointing at the creature. "Representing the star that has guided humanity since the dawn of time, I'm Sailor Polaris and you will not be tolerated!"

Sailor Sirius followed suit, posing similarly. "As sure as the Star that shines brightest in the Heavens, I am Sailor Sirius and you WILL be vanquished!"

"Gyaarr!" growled the creature, pointing its knife-hand at Sailor Polaris. It let out a maniacal laugh as the knife was released and flew towards the North Star senshi. Another knife immediately replaced it, this one aimed at Sailor Sirius. It fired pass just as Polaris jumped out of the way, flipped neatly in the air, and landing expertly on her feet.

Sirius also managed to jump expertly out of the way, though less gracefully than Polaris's neat flip. She dove from the table, tripped over a chair and fell. The creature jumped over to her with speed that the girls didn't know it possessed and leveled a knife at her. "Take this!" it hissed, about to stab her. Sailor Sirius gasped loudly in fright.

"NO!" Polaris yelled in panic, "Polaris Magnetic Freeze!" The monster was struck dead on, which let Sailor Sirius scramble to her feet. The creature grunted loudly with frustration when it realized it couldn't move. "Take it away, Sirius!" Polaris shouted.

The shorter senshi nodded shakily. "Sirius Kiss of Death...Captivation!" Super Sailor Sirius called, blowing the monster a fatal kiss. It was caught by a crackling ball of electric energy when the power smashed into it, then was destroyed in a loud electric explosion.

"Let's get out of here!" Polaris suggested as the two Star Senshi waved to the recovering crowd. As the crowd woke up, they looked at the two senshi in amazement. They had heard about the Sailor Senshi in Japan, but now...they had their own heroes! The two nodded to each other then turned and ran from the restaurant before they were bombarded by the crowd. They called for Marco and Dief to follow them as they ran out, but didn't even notice the figure glaring darkly at their backs, his eyes narrowed in rage.

So... he thought to himself. This is what I'm up against. I'll have to think of a way to get rid of these annoyances. With a short growl, the man disappeared, leaving a shimmer in the air after him.

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Rushing back to the hotel room, Anna and Tanya quickly got ready to meet the tutor they were assigned too. They were to wait for the limousine to come and pick them up then carry them to the school building especially assigned for students in the gymnastics competition and their families.

"Listen, girls, if you have a minute, there's something Marco and I have to say," said Dief as he and his golden furred cousin stood before the two dark-skinned girls.

"What is it, Dief?" asked Anna as she picked up her large book bag and sighed. She did have SOME idea of what they were going to say, but she hoped it wasn't so. She didn't want to face another enemy anymore. She didn't want to have the fate of the world rest on her and Tanya's shoulders. She looked over to the smaller girl, and saw on her face that she was thinking the same thing.

"It's just that, well...there's a possibility...no...after what just happened, a FACT, that there IS a new enemy here, and if we're going to find out who they are and what they want, you girls are going to have to keep your eyes open and be very careful," said Marco, looking into the eyes of each girl. He lowered his golden his head for a moment at the crestfallen look on their faces, then looked back up. "Look, I know you all wanted to just lead normal lives, but as long as there is evil out there that wants to destroy all that is good, we have to be strong and keep fighting!"

At those words, Tanya sighed, sat down on the large bed, drew her knees up to her chest, and wrapped her arms around her legs. For a few moments, she was just silent, rocking slightly back and forth as her eyes held a slightly dull look. Concerned, Anna walked over and laid a gentle hand on her shoulder. "Are you going to be okay Tanya?" she asked, her voice a little shaky with worry.

After a long few moments, Tanya sniffed softly. "Yeah, I'll be fine. It's just that...that..." A small sob escaped her lips, and a tear fell down her dark chocolate cheek. Why? Why did it have to be this way? Why can't all those evil people or...whatever they were, just leave her alone? Why did they always have to show up and spoil her perfectly normal life? Well, what little she had of it so far. I just want it all to stop, just for once so I can be normal," Tanya thought sadly to herself. She was quiet for a moment, then looked up into Anna's eyes. "You know, I guess I really shouldn't be so upset. I mean, this is the life of a Sailor Senshi, right? We should have expected this when we accepted our new roles as champions of justice, right?" Tanya gave a short sarcastic laugh.

"Yeah, exactly," Anna smiled softly to give Tanya a little reassurance as she sat down next to her on the bed. She gave her cousin a soft hug, then turned to the guardians dogs. "Come to think of it, I wanted to talk to you guys about that guy we met at the airport. I think maybe he should be a suspect. I sense some...I don't know...strange vibes around him whenever he's near."

But just before either dogs could answer, a soft knocking was heard on the door, and a short bellboy walked in. "Excuse me, but your ride is here to pick you up," he said politely.

"Thanks. We'll be down shortly," said Tanya as she got up from the bed and picked back up her book bag. The bell boy nodded and closed the door behind him. The girls grabbed their coats and hats, and after donning them on, headed for the front door.

"Girls, remember what we just talked about. Please be careful," said Marco as the two canines walked up to them. Tanya smiled sadly, bent down, and gave the dog a soft hug.

"We'll be careful, I promise." said Tanya softly. With a final wave, the girls exited the room.

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Travis.. as he went by in this human world, walked up the Valera as she sat in her seat in front of the ships instruments and controls, inspecting them. When she felt Travis's presence, she turned the seat around and faced the dark-skinned man. "Well?" The tall woman flipped her long green hair behind her.

"There was a little bit of a...problem," Travis began, morphing back into his Dark Kingdom uniform of grey with dark purple linings, as was the standard.

"What problem?" demanded Valera, standing up to face him. Her eyes briefly flashed red with anger.

"It's the senshi, Valera. They revealed themselves and spoiled my plans of gathering energy," The man thought for a moment, his finger on the side of his chin. "Sailor Sirius and Sailor Polaris. That's what they called themselves."

Valera's eyes flew open. Those names seem so familiar! Where did she hear them from? She turned to the Dark Kingdom general. "Show me," she commanded. With a flicker of his hand, Travis, who's name was now Onyx, brought forth a small silver orb and replayed the whole scene at the restaurant.

When Valera saw the images, her eyes flew open again. "So, these are the ones my sweet King Meerages was destroyed by," she mused. She smiled a sinister smile. "They've made a grave mistake. I swear to my King that I will KILL these fools for what they've done!" Valera threw her head back and laughed loudly, her voice echoing throughout the small ship, then through out the whole icy cave it was nestled in. Plans of destroying them were already flowing through her mind. These fools thought they could destroy the man she secretly loved and get away with it. Well, she would show them! They will pay, and pay dearly.

Beside her, Onyx looked on, his eyes showing slight confusion. Somehow, he couldn't shake this feeling that this was...not right, that he was not being told something. He was about to ask Valera why he was feeling these things, why he was so confused, but stopped himself...he wanted to get more information first before giving her any reason to be suspicious of him. More information on these strange...senshi will come with time. With a sigh, Onyx turned and walked away, leaving Valera alone to her unbalanced emotions and thoughts.

To Be Continued.

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