The Forgotten Truth

A Sailor Moon Fanfiction

Chapter Four

Zoe sat on the bench in front of the windowsill looking a little wary. The pressure had been building in the house and she wasn't sure how long she could play peacemaker. I wonder how soon we will find the true scroll, the only one that can make a difference. She looked off at the horizon and saw a large group of balloons drift up into the sky. It lifted up so freely into the open sky.

"They must be from the carnival," Tendai said as she approached. She followed the same balloons as they disappeared into a cloud.

"Do you think it was right to leave? Should we have stayed to fight?" Zoe asked suddenly. She looked up at Tendai, then quickly back out the window. Her face seemed to say she wish she hadn't asked.

"We didn't have a choice," Tendai said, as reassuring as she could sound. "There's no way we could've survived."
Zoe quickly changed the subject. "Is Cadin almost ready? We should leave soon."

"She takes forever to get ready," Sri complained as she walked into the living room. "Sometimes I just wish she would care a little less about herself."

Just then, Cadin stepped out of the washroom. She was wearing a black long sleeve shirt.

"It's really warm out today Cadin," Tendai said, "you might want to wear something a little cooler."

"This is fine," she said. Tendai shrugged and the four of them made their way out.

"I heard that there are many talented acts at these carnivals like clowns and acrobats and even people that hang from their hair!" Sri said with excitement.

"Perhaps there will be someone that really shines," Zoe said hopefully.

Sri's zest was zapped a little. "Still," she said, "I wish we didn't have to hurt anyone."

"Well, Sri if you want things to be the way they were we have to find the scroll." Zoe also wished that things could have been different. She wished that she could go back and change everything. She felt that if she had been stronger or more focused, maybe she would've been more prepared for that final battle. Then again, could anyone have been prepared for that demon?

"Zoe, didn't you say you were working on a method of reading the scrolls without taking then from the body?" Tendai asked, breaking Zoe's thoughts. "That would help a lot wouldn't it?"

Zeo nodded in reply, "It's not coming along as well as I hoped though. I can't seem to create a way to make the writing appear within the body even if I can reveal it without removing it."

"Well, you'll get it!" Sri encouraged, "I know you will!"

"Soon I hope," Cadin said quietly. As they approached the gates of the park, Zoe gave out the money for the admission fee. As soon as they got inside the park, Sri spotted Chibiusa, the other girls and Mamoru at the back of a huge crowd of people trying to see something.

"I wonder what's going on?" Tendai asked. "Chibiusa-chan!" Sri yelled as she ran over to her, "What's up?"

"Oh, hi Sri!" Chibiusa said a little absentmindedly as she jumped up, trying to see better. "I don't know, I can't see anything!"

"I think it's a lion tamer," Usagi said, "it's a preview for another event later! Mamoru, hold me up so I can see better!"

Mamoru made a face which seemed to indicate that wasn't going to happen. Zoe stood on her toes and saw the scantily dressed young girl as she commanded the baby lion cub around a small stand which he leapt onto, roaring on command. With simple motions, she made the him stand on his back paws, jump through a hoop, and even allow her to put her hand in his mouth. "For the real act," she said, "you can see my put my head in his mother's mouth!" The crowd cheered with excitement and Zoe was also impressed.

"It's an amazing talent to control animals," Cadin said to her older sister.

"It is," Zoe nodded. She touched Tendai's shoulder and the three of them slipped away from the crowd.

As the young lady came to the closing of her performance, a stage hand came by to lead the lion cub off with a leash. She introduced herself and Nalia and told the crowd that her act started in half an hour. She also let them know that if anyone wanted to pet the lions, they would be able to later that day in the petting zoo on the other side of the park. Sri immediately turned to ask her sisters if they would like to go to that later, but they were nowhere to be found.

"Oh Sri, where are your sisters?" Rei asked, noticing Sri for the first time as the crowd began to disburse.

"I am not sure," Sri said, with some concern. "I guess they wanted to go off on their own. Is it okay for me to stay with you?"

"Sure," Minako said with a cheerful smile. "Do you think I could be a lion tamer?" she asked.

"As if," Usagi said. "You'd probably be too worried about your outfit, forget all your commands and get eaten."

"I beg your pardon!" Minako replied with gusto. "I'm a professional!" They laughed.

"Where should we go first?" Makoto asked, eyeing a cotton candy stand.

"Let's go on a ride!" Chibiusa said, with excessive nods of agreement from Sri. "I want to sit with Mamo-chan!"

"I don't think so," Usagi said. "You have to sit with Sri. Mamoru is MY boyfriend.".

"How about some cotton candy!" Makoto suggested, hoping it would be a neutral topic.

"Let's do that first!" Sri said, suddenly persuaded.

"Oh fine," Chibiusa said, "you guys wait here, we will be right back with enough for everyone!"

"Wow! Thanks Chibiusa!" Makoto sad.

"And just how are you going to pay for all that?" Usagi asked as Chibiusa ran off clasping Sri's hand. Chibiusa turned back and stuck her tongue out, waving Usagi's wallet in the air. "Oh you brat!" Usagi called after her. The girls tried not to laugh too much.

"I will go help out," Mamoru said as he walked after them, much to Usagi's dismay.

Nalia waved to straggling spectators as she walked through the starry curtain to her private staging area. She immediately walked to the cooler and pulled out a cool bottled water.

"How awfully tiring on hot days," she said to herself and she leaned against a light post. As she rested, a group of three girls dressed in costumes came around the side of a tent chattering to one another as they passed through the grounds. They each wore body suits of different colors and matching skirts, collars, capes, gloves, and boots. A tiara of silver with a matching jewel adorned each of their foreheads and a diamond shaped hole was cut in the center of their body suits revealing a portion of their stomachs as well as similar holes on the back of each hand.

"Oh I'm sorry," Nalia said, "this section isn't open to other acts." She smiled, "If you would like an autograph, I'll be signing them at the petting zoo later."

"Oh," Sailor Bellona said, "well we really weren't looking for an autograph." Her hands were clutched by her side and her tone was a little sarcastic.

Nalia frowned and thought that was quite rude, "Did the manager send you here or something? Is this some kind of joke?"

"No joke, we were actually hoping you could help us with something else..." Sailor Cybele replied, stepping forward.

"And what is that?" Nalia asked,

"We want to read your scroll," the one in blue said. She brushed her long blue hair out of her way as she raised her other hand in front of her, "Sea Opal Monsoon Splash!" The water bottle the lion lady was holding disappeared and in it's place strands of metallic looking liquid swirled momentarily before the wrapped around her wrists and ankles. She screamed as she fell backwards, crashing into the cooler.

On the other side of the tent, the crowd had dispersed looking for other acts. The girls chatted while the waited and Minako assured Usagi that she would buy a round of ice cream later to make up for the cotton candy. A big group of laughing girls walked past them followed by a man riding a unicycle while juggling. In all the noise and excitement, most people would have missed the terror filled scream of Nalia, but Rei heard it keenly, full of fear. The girls exchanged the same alert glance as they quickly followed the sound around to the back of the tent.

Makoto was the first to peer around the tent corner and see the three strange looking girls standing above the trainer, a bright light hovering above her. She saw someone else standing behind them, but the figure slipped away in a blur of purple before she could see what it was.

She turned back to her friends, "Let's transform." They all pulled out their transformation pens.

Their voices run out in unison, "MAKE UP!" In a flash the carnival going teens had turned into pretty suited soldiers, sworn to defend all that was good and just. Sailor Moon stepped out from behind the tent wall, her long blonde pigtails lifted in the light breeze.

The three tormentors turned around, a mixture of shock and frustration on their faces.

Sailor Mercury appeared, "We are the defenders of love and justice!"
Sailor Mars was next, "Pretty suited sailor soldiers!"
"We don't stand for scum like you!" Sailor Jupiter said.
"Talent like hers should never be destroyed!" The team was completed with Sailor Venus.
"So in the name of the Moon,"
"We will punish you!"

Sailor Amphitrite was the first to shake off the shock. She lifted an eyebrow and glanced sideways at Sailor Cybele, unsure of what to say.

"There are senshi on this planet?"Sailor Bellona asked rhetorically. Sailor Cybele shrugged.

Someone coughed.

"Well, I guess it's nice meeting you and all, but we really have to be going now," Sailor Bellona said, then added: "Nothing personal." Sailor Amphitrite grabbed the glowing mass above the trainer and the three of them took a leap backwards away from the other senshi.

"You aren't going anywhere until you return whatever that... thing... is to it's rightful owner!" Sailor Moon stated defiantly.

"Sorry, but we need it." Sailor Cybele waved as they sprinted away.

"Wait!" Sailor Moon said, taking a few running steps forward. But it was too late. "You can't just leave her!" she shouted after them angrily.

Sailor Mercury ran over to the trainer and checked her vital signs, "She's alive, but we should get some help for her immediately."

"I'll go and get someone," Sailor Venus said as changed to her regular clothing and ran off to find assistance.

"If they were sailor senshi, they were pretty powerful." Sailor Mars said as she looked at the place the other three had been seconds before. "Their auras were strong, especially the blue one."

"Looks like another creepy circus act to me," Jupiter said. "Did you see their outfits? I hope this isn't some kind of Dead Circus revival."

"Maybe they are from another time." Mercury suggested. "I don't know," Sailor Moon said, "but why would they go after these people?"

Sailor Mars tried to figure the connection between Thalia who was a talented artist and this girl who was a talented lion trainer.

"What was it they took from her anyway?" Jupiter asked. "Geese, how many magical items can we have inside us." Just then Minako came running back.

"There's help on the way," she said. The others returned to their civilian clothing just as the manager came running over followed by an ambulance. The paramedics quickly loaded the young trainer into the vehicle and asked the girls a few questions about how they had found her.

"We came back for an autograph," Minako said with such honesty, "and she was just unconscious." They quickly drove off, sirens sounding and lights flashing.

Chibiusa and Mamoru were running towards them as the came back out to the front of the tent, "What happened?" Mamoru asked, checking to make sure everyone was safe. "I saw the ambulance and everything!" Chibiusa said.

"The trainer was attacked," Usagi said, "where is Sri?"

Chibiusa looked at the ground, "Her sisters came for her and said it was time to go home. We barely just got here!"

Minako pulled playfully on a pink pigtail, "Don't worry Chibiusa, you still have us!" Chibiusa smiled as she handed out the bags of cotton candy she and Sri had bought, but no one felt terribly excited about the carnival anymore.

"Who attacked her?" Mamoru asked.

"It's hard to say," Rei said, "but I don't think this is the best place to talk about it." "Let's go," Usagi said, "this place is giving me the creeps now." Everyone else agreed.

I wonder why Sri has to spend so much time with her sisters..." Chibiusa thought, nibbling on her cotton candy as they left through the gates. "And come to think of it, they really don't LOOK like sisters....

* * *

Cadin handed the glisten scroll to Sri, "Read it," she said. Sri nodded and ran upstairs.

Zoe sighed as she leaned back against the wall, "This will be a problem," she said, "senshi on this planet? Senshi in this dimension?" She looked to her younger sisters. "I didn't even get a chance to talk to Rei."

"As if that's the worst of our problems, Tendai said sarcastically. "I wonder how many senshi there are though. Do you think there are only us and those five we saw?"

"I doubt it," Zoe said, "we thought we were the only four senshi until our little meeting with Sailor Pluto."

Tendai got a chill, "I will never forget those eyes, cold as death. She tried to kill us."

"She would have if Sri had not been fast enough to grab this key," Zeo lifted a sparkling silver chain around her neck and revealed one of Pluto's garnet-encrusted time keys. "Without it, we never would have been able to get here, nevertheless go back." She tucked it safely away again.

"I bet she's the most powerful senshi ever, even if there are more." Tendai said. "We don't HAVE to go back the same way, do we?"

"Why are they sticking their fat noses in this anyway," Cadin said angrily, "it's not like it's really any of their business!"

"That's not true Cadin," Zoe said, placing a hand over the key under her blouse. "If they have obligations that are anything like ours, it's their duty to protect those of this planet. In their eyes, we are probably the enemy."

"So be it then!" Cadin said, "I'll fight them! If it means saving the kingdom, I will do anything."

"Even if we find the scroll Cadin, that still might not solve everything. We still have to get it back home. Everyone's spirit scroll contains their dimensional heritage. Without this essential information, the spirit and the body of that person will not know what dimension it belongs in. Whoever holds the scroll we are looking for cannot survive when we take it." Zoe looked to see her sisters were understanding what she was saying.

"So we do have to go back the way we came?" Tendai felt sick just thinking about it.

"Yes, we have to go back. The scroll we want will serve a special purpose back home. The information in the spirit scroll we seek can revive the life of another in their lineage."

"Our king," Cadin said, "Nereus."

Zoe nodded, "Then we can fight again. Then we can save everyone."

"We can revive the king with the marking of our dimension; we just have to find the one that carries the scroll..." Tendai turned over the possibility of really going home, really saving their kingdom. With King Nereus revived, they might be able to take back what they had lost.

"But we have to get it right," Zoe said. "If the scroll instructions are read while the parent is living, it will have the same effect as if the parent's spirit scroll was taken." Zoe twisted a piece of her dark green hair around her index finger.

"So, they would disappear?" Cadin asked. Zoe nodded.

"Spirit scrolls define the dimension one is meant to be in. Without it, our bodies and sprits would spread themselves evenly throughout all dimensions of space and time."

"But you can return the scroll after it's been read, right?" Tendai asked, feeling badly that they would have to harm anyone.

"You can," Zoe said, "but there's no way we could bring it back again once we leave here." The three of them sat in silence for a while before Sri came running down the stairs. She stopped on the third step and Cadin ran over to her with a pleading look.

Sri shook her head slowly and handed the scroll back to Cadin. Tendai sighed and fell back into her chair heavily and Zoe clenched her fist. All this information was totally useless if they couldn't find the scroll they needed.

* * *

To be continued in Chapter Five!