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Chapter 2: Speak Fire
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Darien parked his motorcycle next to the curb and climbed off. He glanced around for a second and then, with a sigh, stared up the long set of stairs leading up to the Cherry Hill Temple. A quick stretch of his legs sent him off, climbing the stairs two at a time, tossing his keys up in the air as he did in an effort to make some noise and avoid sneaking up on anyone. When he reached the top, slightly winded but none worse for the wear, the temple looked abandoned; the cherry blossom trees blew in the breeze, fallen leaves did somersaults and cartwheels across the stones of the temple floor, and all the paper doors to the buildings were closed. Darien couldn’t even hear Raye’s grandfather yelling.
“Hello?” He called across the square, stone yard. After a moment he called out again and jumped when a voice rang out behind him.
“Can I help you?”
Darien spun around with a start and sighed with relief when he saw the man standing behind him, “Hey Chad, is Raye around?”
Chad was a bushy haired, unshaven, drifting rocker turned Cherry Hill Temple apprentice. He had been at the temple for about a year or so, had been studying some meditation and various forms of martial arts from the master of the temple, but was still in charge of sweeping the floors and keeping the corners free of cobwebs and dust. It was a long, strained, and difficult journey to become a temple master.
“Oh, hey Darien,” Chad said with a toss of his unkempt hair. His rocker drawl made the words spread out as he spoke, “Yeah, she and the girls are in the fire room.” He motioned behind Darien toward the wall of paper doors that made up the living areas of the temple and continued in a warning tone as Darien turned away, “I wouldn’t go in there if I were you though.”
“How come?” Darien asked with a glance over his shoulder.
Chad sighed and shrugged his shoulders slightly as he stared past Darien and to the doors, “Raye can get an awful temper when her meditations are interrupted.”
Darien smiled a cool grin and turned away again, “I think I will be fine.”
Chad shrugged and turned away to head back to his chores. Darien gave a small chuckle as he walked across the yard. Climbing the two small steps to the platform where the door was, he loosened his shoes and lightly knocked on the wall next to the door.
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It had been an hour since Raye had called the girls together for their meeting. Lita and Amy had arrived directly and they now sat together playing chess at the table in the middle of the room trying not to look at Raye as she paced back and forth over the carpet. Luna and Artemis sat at the table pretending to pay attention to the game.
“Maybe we should just start without her?” Luna suggested quietly.
Raye’s head shot around and her eyes glared at the black cat who stared at her, “She is supposed to be here.”
“Maybe she just got caught up in something.” Amy suggested as she stole one of Lita’s pawns.
Before Raye could say anything the door to the room burst open and a bubbly blonde bounced into the room with three boxes that she plopped down in the middle of the table. Lita and Amy were startled and jumped back a bit as the table rocked and a few of the chess pieces fell over.
“I brought snacks!” Her voice rang out happily as she began unloading the cakes and cookies that she has bought.
Raye walked up behind her and looked at the table for a moment before looking at her directly, “I’m so glad that you had time to stop to fetch snacks when we waiting here for you to show up so that we could begin our emergency meeting.” Raye said, her voice practically dripping with sarcasm.
Mina smiled an uncomfortable smile as she giggled a bit, “I had to have something to soften the blow.”
“What do you mean soften the blow?” Amy asked curiously as she picked up the chess pieces.
Mina looked at the faces of the two cats and slowly from face to face of each of her friends until finally landing on Raye’s and wincing. “Soften the blow because I have some information that I neglected to tell everyone about.”
Raye crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow as Amy slowly sat the chess pieces on the table. Lita sat up in her chair and listened intently while Luna and Artemis exchanged worried glances and then turned their attention back to Mina who sighed and closed her eyes.
“I saw Sailor Moon fighting a card yesterday.”
“A card?” Amy asked quietly.
“What do you mean a card?” Lita asked.
“A human sized playing card. The Ace of Spades. It was a walking, talking, fighting card and it was battling Sailor Moon in the park yesterday.
“What!” Raye screeched. “Why didn’t you tell anyone?” She raged, throwing her arms to her sides and squaring on Mina.
Mina winced, “I saw an explosion on my way home from the arcade and went to see what it was. What we might be dealing with before I alerted anyone; I didn’t want to raise the alarm of someone had just had an accident, you know?”
“Mina,” Lita started but was interrupted by Luna.
“Tell us everything that happened,” the black cat said calmly.
Mina sighed and hung her head. She took a seat, as did Raye, and told them all what had happened. She described what the card had looked like and what Serena had said to her before she had run off suddenly. Told them the dialogue that had passed between Sailor Moon and the card before Mina had killed it. When she was finished explaining everything Amy sighed and sat back, Lita looked to Luna and Artemis to see what they were thinking and Raye bristled.
“What did Serena say to you?” Artemis asked quietly.
“Nothing really,” Mina shrugged, “she avoided the subject and said that she didn’t know what it was talking about. I think she was lying though.” She paused and started playing with the jewelry at her neck and then her face lit up as if she had remembered something, “She gave me this!” She pulled the locket away from her neck to show the others, “When I tried to ask her about this, she had disappeared. It was all very strange.”
“And why, pray tell, did you fail to inform all of us of the pertinent information?” Raye asked tensely.
Mina smiled a dazzling smile as she offered Raye a cookie from the table.
“Do you really think that cookies and cakes are going to get you out of this?” Raye growled.
Mina winced again and placed the cookie on the table slowly. Her eyes were downcast and she was cradling her hands in her lap, “I’m really sorry. I know that I should have said something.”
Lita placed and hand on the blonde’s knee and caught her eye, “Then why didn’t you call one of us?”
Mina cast her eyes down again and didn’t say anything.
“Mina, it’s important that you talk to us, you know that right?” Ami said quietly.
Mina nodded slowly but kept her eyes cast down.
“Mina,” Raye sighed and walked over to kneel in front of the girl, “what happened? Why didn’t you tell us what happened with Serena?”
Mina sighed and her body went limp in the chair, “I ran into Andrew on the way here.” Mina broke down. “He told me about the new Sailor V game that was coming out today and how there were going to be dime milkshakes and that I should get there early so that I could beat the crowd. Then I started playing the original Sailor V game, lost track of time, went home and feel asleep.” Her voice quieted and she pulled her limbs in again, “I didn’t remember until I got the call from you about the emergency meeting.”
Raye’s eyes widened as her anger began to grow again but she checked it quickly when she felt Luna’s paw on her shoulder. She glanced at the cat out of the corner of her eye and nodded a small nod. She stood and walked away as Artemis moved across the table and jumped into Mina’s lap.
“Mina,” Artemis said quietly, in scruffy voice, “it’s OK to mess up sometimes. The most important thing is that you are honest with us.”
Lita gave her a caring look and Amy looked at Raye with a pleading look. Raye sighed and relaxed her shoulders as she stared at the girl.
“Gimme your necklace.”
Mina looked at her questioningly, “Why?”
Raye removed her necklace in an aggravated way and snatched up Amy’s book which was sitting on the table, “Because I’m going to go and read the fire and see if the spirits can help us find Serena or answer our questions for her. Since we can’t contact her it is the only other option that I can think of.”
“You can’t reach Serena?” Mina asked, quietly.
Amy hung her head and said, “No, she isn’t answering any of our calls and no one is answering at Darien’s or her parents’ houses.
“Lita didn’t bring her muffins with her, but the two necklaces and the book should have enough of a signature on them to get something,” Raye said holding her hand out for the necklace.
Luna brightened as Mina reached up to the clasp of her chain, “That’s a great idea,” the cat exclaimed.
Raye smiled a sarcastic smile as she took Mina’s necklace and stalked out of the room with the items. Luna and Artemis jumped down from the table to follow the irate priestess as Lita and Amy stood to follow. Mina grabbed one of the cakes from the boxes and as she bit into the tasty treat she moved through the door of Raye’s bedroom.
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As Darien brought his knuckles away from the wall, the exaggerated and annoyed reply from Raye shot through the door like a dagger.
“Yes?”
Darien slid the door open slowly and gave a slight bow. Raye sat on her knees atop a pillow three feet away from the sacred fire. Amy, Lita, and Mina all sat in a row two feet behind Raye; they were also on their knees sitting on pillows for a bit of comfort. Luna and Artemis sat together quietly in the corner, watching carefully at the happenings of the room. As Darien turned his attention back to Raye he noticed a group of items sitting on the floor between Raye and the fire. When he locked eyes with her, the annoyed look disappeared when she realized that it was he who had knocked on the door.
“Hey Darien,” Raye smiled, “come on in.”
The others smiled and welcomed him in as well. Luna and Artemis moved away from the wall and closer to the center of the room.
“What’s going on?” Darien frowned, “A Scout meeting without Serena?”
Raye’s eyes fell as the others lost their smiles.
“It’s actually a meeting about Serena,” Amy explained when no one offered. “She’s been acting strangely today, and something happened yesterday; we’re trying to figure where she is and what’s going on with her.”
“You haven’t noticed anything strange,” Luna asked, taking a step forward, “have you Darien?”
Darien entered and slid the door closed behind him, he kneeled next to the wall and looked on at the room, not wanting to interrupt the set up of the meditation. He motioned toward the items and asked what they were. Each girl told her story and explained where their items had come from. After Mina finished her tale of the park, Darien told them all about the flower that Serena had brought him and how she had run off in a fit of tears.
“When she started crying I was confused and when she ran away I was concerned. I tried to follow her but I lost her almost immediately outside of my apartment complex. Like she disappeared or something. I figured the next best thing would be talking to you guys.”
They all nodded slowly, Raye shifted in her seat and looked at Darien, “We were going to ask the spirits to see if they could get any answers from Serena’s gifts. If you want to stay you are more than welcome.”
Darien frowned but nodded, “I would appreciate being allowed to be here, but I didn’t bring the flowers.”
Lita smiled a soothing smile, “That’s alright, I didn’t bring the muffins either. Raye thinks that the pendants and the book should be enough to get something.”
“Anything is better than nothing right?” Mina piped up from the other end.
Darien nodded and moved to kneel next to Lita on the floor. Raye turned back to the fire and began her chanting. The others stared intently at the raging flames, concentrating on their questions.
“Great fire,” Raye began with a bow of her head, “please, help us with the mystery at hand. Please, read these objects and tell us who they have come from.”
Serena’s smiling face and interesting hairstyle appeared in the fire and stared back at the group. Her smile made Darien’s heart beat a bit faster as he invisioned her teary eyes from earlier.
“Great fire,” Raye continued, interrupting Darien’s thoughts, “Can you show us the reason for these gifts that we have been presented with?”
Serena’s face disappeared and the fire crackled and burned. It seemed like it took forever, but after a few minutes the fire slowly started to show a figure within its flames. It was severely distorted at first, but the fire gradually sorted out the features and the figure began to take shape, its appearance becoming easier to make out. An angry looking, older woman with tired, gray bags hanging under her eyes and crows feet cracking across her milky white skin looked out at the confused group. Her red, read lips were drawn into the shape of a heart, making the paleness of her skin that much harsher. Her eyes were large and black and seemed to be sunken into her face. Her black hair was pulled tight up into a bun and encircled by a golden crown with red hearts accenting the rim and base. Her large collar looked like a large horn and gave way to a black, gray and white dress with the same hearts for accents as the crown. The dress’s skirt was quite large, forming an enormous circle around her legs and feet. She looked to have a bustle under skirt at the small of her back, making the skirt jut out off of her backside in a rather peculiar manner.
“What or who is that?” Mina screeched, interrupting Raye’s concentration.
The image in the fire rippled a bit and Raye quieted Mina with an irritated hiss. Mina muttered an apology and sat quietly again.
“Great fire,” Raye spoke slowly and clearly, regaining her connection, “can you please show us where we can find the person who presented us with these gifts?”
The strange figure disappeared from the fire and the flames crackled and burned quietly, almost as if they were speaking to someone or something. The flames of the fire moved and danced and as they did another image appeared in the blaze. It appeared to be a dark alley with a dumpster and garbage bags surrounding it. Two buildings standing side by side creating the six foot wide alley, one stone and one brick. At the end of the alley a bright oval stood upright, it looked as if it was some kind of light but it was too far in the distance to make out, too distorted to distinguish.
“Do you guys,” Mina started and gulped quietly. “Serena’s in trouble isn’t she?”
Everyone gasped and jumped back as the fire raged, exploding with heat, threatening the paper walls with the flames that wanted to explode from its boxed home. Then, just as quickly as it had raged, the inferno died leaving nothing but smoke in its wake. The silence left behind by the angry flames was eerie and the group’s ears perked slightly as the smoke moved toward them. A disturbing whisper flew through the air, the word ‘yes’ hung on the transparent smoke as it slowly dissipated, a ghostlike hiss hanging on the ears of the five friends as they all looked with questioned and worried glances at each other.
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"Welcome to Wonderland" copyright 2006 by Bella Luna (beautifulmoon29@aol.com)
Bishoujo Senshi Sailormoon, its associated characters and canon, as well as all that is afflilated with the creation, distribution, and promotion of Bishoujo Senshi Sailormoon belong to Naoko Takeuchi and Kodansha.
The text of this work was created by Bella Luna (beautifulmoon29@aol.com) and is her exclusive property. Not to be used without her personal permission.
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