Author's Note: Sorry about the last chapter ending so suddenly. I just had to stop writing because I was absolutely exhausted (well, it was about 2 in the morning). This chapter picks up where the last one left off. Enjoy chapter four!
Chapter Four: Auntie Adelaide?
Cassie heard Zoe and Addy's conversation regarding the harp as if it was a dream. Her vision was suddenly blurred and then became foggy. She slightly felt the sensation of the couch she sat on before her mind was plunged into a deep void.
Cassie gasped at what she saw before her. She saw herself singing on a small stage in the palace on Athena. She was dressed in a beautiful blue dress with a full skirt and fitted bodice. Her hair was pulled back with a blue ribbon. Cassie saw that her past self was in front of a group of teenage girls. She spotted Princess Michiru dressed in a green dress playing her violin and next to her in a black pants suit was Princess Haruka sitting at a grand piano. Cassie smiled warmly at the memory of the concerts she used to have with her two good friends.
Cassie's gray eyes opened in surprise at something that had not been in her memories before. There was a fourth girl on the stage with them. This girl was dressed in a satiny dress of blood red that spread around the stool she was sitting in. Her shiny ebony-colored hair was elegantly pulled up in a braided bun high on her head. This strange girl was playing a tall golden harp and smiling happily with her eyes shut.
Cassie watched dumbfounded the rest of the concert. At the end of the music, the four girls curtsyed graciously at the crowd that surrounded the stage. Cassie sensed that her vision was blurring again. Before the scene completely disappeared, she spotted the strange girl's eyes which were like emeralds shining in the light.
"Cass? Hello. Cassandra Whitmore, are you alive in there?" Zoe's voice rang into Cassie's ears. Cassie's vision cleared up to reveal that she was still sitting on the couch in Addy's apartment. Zoe was staring at her best friend strangely as did Addy who was sitting on the other side of her.
"Huh? Oh, sorry about that. I guess I just drifted off there for a minute," Cassie responded with a bit more cheer than she felt. Zoe's left eyebrow rose in surprise at Cassie's answer. Cass usually didn't space off like that unless something serious was happening in her memory. But, this wasn't the time or place to discuss that; not with Addy staring at them curiously.
"Whatever, Cass. Now, Addy and I were just discussing how she is an esteemed harpist," said Zoe to the embarrassment of Addy.
The girl giggled at Zoe's attempt at humor before rising off the sofa, "Well, help yourself to some cookies while I go fix my disfunctional hair, kay?" Cassie and Zoe nodded as Addy headed out of the room.
"So, spill Cass. What was it that caused you to blank out like that?" Zoe started to play with a stray piece of dark blonde hair that had fallen from her ponytail. Cassie shook her head as if to say, 'Not now.'
Cassie then got up from the sofa and started to look around the living room a bit more. Besides the huge harp in the corner, there were beautiful paintings that decorated the walls. Cassie, after peering closely, realized that they were all Michiru's works. What a coincidence! Then Cassie spotted a group of easels that were in the far corner of the room. She wandered curiously towards them.
She gasped at what she saw before her. The easels were covered in sketches of women and men dressed in amazingly beautiful clothing. They were unique looking styles and there were tons of little notes on each drawing. Also, there were scrapes of colored material tacked next to the sketches. It was then that Addy walked into the living room again with her long hair pulled back in a casual flip knot at the nape of her neck.
"Addy! Uh...what are all these sketches for?" Cassie tucked a piece of chocolate colored hair behind her ear.
"Oh, those? They are the beginnings of some styles that I'm going to send to a couple fashion companies to get a job."
"You're a fashion designer?" Zoe asked joining the pair with an awed look on her pretty face.
"Well, not technically. I mean, I can't be one unless I find a company that's willing to make them for me. I can sew a couple outfits, but I can't make thousands of the same style myself."
"But, you designed all these gorgeous outfits and you can't call yourself a fashion designer? I mean, I would pay tons of money to buy these dresses!" Cassie indicated the group of fancy evening gowns that adorned the bulletin board.
"You're sweet, Cassie. But, I'm afraid most of those designs need some serious work on them before I can even think of sending them to some companies. Thankfully, I have enough money to sustain me long enough to polish off some styles before sending them off," Addy started playing with a beautiful scrap of fuchsia satin that hung near the corner.
"Speaking of money, where are your parents, Addy? Are they back home in Paris while you're here in Tokyo working on your designs?" Zoe abruptly changed the subject as she again sat on the couch and patted the cushion next to her. Addy and Cassie joined her pretty quickly.
"Actually, my real parents died in a car crash when I was seven and I was adopted by a pretty well-off French woman a couple of weeks afterwards. Then she died from cancer a year ago and I took all the money that I inherited from her and came here for work," Addy stared calmly at the opposite wall. Cassie and Zoe gasped at Addy's answer, but seeing how calm Addy was about it they decided not to press the subject. The three girls talked for about three hours about everything from clothes to school. Then Cassie and Zoe left to go home after a day full of talks both business and pleasure.
After Cassie and Zoe left her apartment, Addy began heating up some pasta for her dinner. Soon, Apolla came strolling into the kitchen, stretching after her afternoon nap.
"So, what did you and the girls talk about today, Addy?" the black and white cat asked her princess.
"Oh, basic 'get to know you' things like our families and hobbies."
"Did you tell them about...."
"About what, Apolla?"
"About being Sailor Earth, you silly girl."
"Oh, that. Um...must have slipped my mind. You know how forgetful I can be, Apolla," Addy poured the pasta sauce on her noodles before fixing a bowl of fish for the guardian cat.
"Addy! How could you not tell them? They deserve to know that you are not a threat to them because you said yourself that they didn't trust you. Why didn't you tell them?"
"Because, Apolla, I have to come up with an answer to why Queen Serenity and Pluto made everyone forget me."
"Why can't you tell them the truth?" Apolla was getting a little frustrated with her charge.
"I will tell them the truth, but I have to come up with a way to explain things to them without getting my head ripped off. I can tell that seeing me both as Addy and Sailor Earth has shaken some of Endymion and Cassandra's memories loose. I have to find a believable way to explain things, okay? I'll tell them when I am ready and that's final!" Addy banged the plate onto the kitchen table with anger.
A week passed without any monster fights or sightings of Sailor Earth. Things were fairly peaceful and the 'court' meetings were becoming social gatherings. It was during one of these social visits that Mercury's communicator went off.
"Amy, get the others and get down near the library. There's a dangerous monster on the loose and I need backup," Mike's pale face blurred as he relayed his message to the Ice Scout before signing off.
"Okay, guys. You heard Mike. We need to get down to the library as fast as possible," Amy ordered as the girls quickly transformed before running off to the fight.
By the time that the Inner Guard, Sailor Moon, and Zoisite had gotten there, they noticed that Mike had indeed gotten his backup. Except, to the disgust of Athena, it came in the form of Sailor Earth. She already had the blood red monster trapped in her vines and was draining it of it's energy pretty rapidly. The expression on Malachite's face was priceless as he stared at the pretty girl who was quickly destroying that ugly monster.
Sailor Earth finished draining the monster and signaled back towards Sailor Moon who quickly turned the monster into moon dust. Sailor Earth prepared to walk off like before, but was stopped by a blast of black energy at her feet.
The ebony-haired girl glared at the tree in front of her and soon a figure jumped from the branches. This was most definitely a general of some kind. She was quite pretty with her long purplish hair that was pulled up into four high ponytails tied with black ribbons and her violet colored eyes that took in each scout and guardian. This general was also dressed in a skintight purple tank top, a black miniskirt, a black vest, black gloves and black boots.
"Hey, watch where you're throwing that, you pig!" Sailor Earth snapped at the woman who only stared at her in surprise.
"Pig? Interesting insult, brat. But, you should work on some better ones if you want to really strike fear into the heart of your enemy," the strange woman laughed as she tossed another energy blast at the group. Sailor Moon shrieked with terror as Mars pushed her out of the way.
"Now, that I have your attention I would like to congratulate you ladies and gentleman for defeating the first of my creations. Unfortunately, you will not find them so easy next time," the general responded.
She started to leave before catching another glimpse of Sailor Earth's angry expression, "What's the matter, Sailor Earth? Why don't you attack me?"
"I am going to attack you, you arrogant fashion reject!"
"Same smart words as always. You don't change a bit, Sailor Earth! But, I can pretty much guarantee that you can't hold a candle to your future self at the moment. Which is why I came here so that I could rid this world of you meddlesum children once and for all!" the woman shot off another pair of blasts that disentegrated some nearby trees.
Suddenly, the sky went dark and the breeze started to pick up. The group of people, including the general, stared around in surprise. Then a small pink cloud appeared above the ground and a person flew out of it. It was Sailor Mini Moon and she was staring daggers at the female general before her.
"Ah, Sailor Mini Moon. I should have known that you'd be coming back to stop me. Unfortunately, my dear, you are no more capable of defeating me in the past then you were in the future!" the purple-clad female snapped at the small pink haired girl.
"Amethyst! You will not accomplish your stupid mission even in the past. The scouts here are extremely strong and they will crush you and Princess Jet like bugs!" Sailor Mini Moon replied with a smirk.
Amethyst laughed heartily at the little girl's response for a moment before saying, "Mini Moon! You are so ignorant, aren't you? Do you really believe that these...children can defeat the might of the Nega-Moon? They are just as worse off as you are, brat!"
With that final statement, Amethyst blasted a huge ball of energy straight at Mini Moon. The pink-haired scout screeched as she spotted the energy racing towards her. Suddenly, a purple blur streaked across the ground and pushed Mini Moon out of harms way.
Amethyst growled at the sight of the girl's savior, "Sailor Earth. Should have known that you would save that pathetic excuse for a warrior. You always were her protector."
She was just about to attack again when a shrill female voice rang out from the area, "Amethyst. Come back now. We will defeat the scouts some other time." The general frowned, but quickly disappeared in a puff of violet smoke.
"Mini Moon! Are you all right, hon?" Sailor Moon came rushing towards the little girl who was being held by Sailor Earth.
"I'm fine, Sailor Moon. Sailor Earth saved me like she always does," she leapt from the purple and green scout's arms and looked at her, "Thanks a lot, Auntie Adelaide!" Sailor Earth straightened up at the girl's response. Her green eyes had widened in surprise and she was slowly backing away from the group.
"Auntie Adelaide? What's wrong?" Mini Moon asked the surprised scout.
"Rini," Mercury asked, "Do you know her?"
"Of course, I do. Don't you all?"
"We know that she's Sailor Earth, but that's it. We don't know who she really is or anyting like that," Mercury responded. Mini Moon gasped and clamped her small hands over her mouth.
Sailor Earth was then confronted by Sailor Moon, "Do you know who she is, Sailor Earth?"
"I have heard of her, but I don't know her personally, my princess," Sailor Earth stared up at the girl.
"Then how come she called you, 'Auntie Adelaide'?"
"I didn't say that, Sailor Moon!" Mini Moon blurted out, "I was confused about something."
"Mini Moon, you have always been a terrible liar and you haven't improved," Sailor Moon told her future daughter, "You know who she is and you are going to tell me!"
"I can't! Pluto has ordered me not to reveal to much of your future to you!" Mini Moon shouted in a panic.
"Look," Sailor Earth said, "I will explain some things about me that might help make sense of Mini Moon's...um...fondness of me, but you have to give me some time first." The scouts gaped at the girl as she walked quickly away from the group.
"Well, should we trust what she says?" Mars asked Athena and the rest.
"You don't have any other choice, Mars. And, Small Lady, try not to blurt something out like that again, okay?" Sailor Pluto appeared before them, "Sailor Earth will explain everything to you when the time is right. Just trust her, ladies." Then as quickly as she had come, Pluto vanished again. The scouts looked dumbfounded at what had just happened, but split up and headed for home.
Rini blew a sigh of relief as she walked home with Serena. She spotted Sailor Earth standing in a nearby alleyway and rushed over to her.
"I am so sorry about that, Auntie Adelaide! I didn't realize that they had no idea who you really are!"
"It's all right, sweetie. Pluto fixed it so we should be fine!" Sailor Earth responded as she became Addy Duboise again.
"When are you going to tell them?"
"Soon. Very soon."
"Well, if I can get away from Serena, do you think I could come visit you and Apolla until then?" Rini asked the ebony-haired young woman.
"Of course you can, I'd love to have some company. I'll slip you the address when I can, kay?"
"RINI!! Hurry up, slowpoke. We're going to be late for supper and Mom's got cherry pie waiting for dessert!" Serena's voice sounded down the street. Rini hugged Addy goodbye before running off after her future mother with a huge grin on her face.
Preview of Chapter Five: Surprise Revelation
The next few weeks pass pretty normally with basic monster attacks. The scouts are still waiting for Sailor Earth's explanation. Then Addy and the court go to a dance at the college and a monster attacks there. Then some secrets are revealed at the end.