Terra sat woozily up and shook her head. The other scouts were crowded around the room looking at her expectantly. She blinked. She was in Serena's bedroom, underneath a soft, cozy bunny blanket. She blinked again.
"What happened?" she asked curiously, "I feel so strange."
"You had quite a day, yesterday," said Ami.
Terra blinked again.
"We brought you here when you collapsed," volunteer Lita.
"And then we hypnotized Serena's parents. They think we're having a slumber party," added Jettra.
Terra blinked again.
"You don't remember any of this, do you?" asked Celeus.
"Can someone tell me what's going on?" asked Terra.
Celeus sighed and said, "Well, it looks like I'm going to have to bring out the memory stone again. And here I thought we were doing so well . . ."
"No need for that!" interrupted Luttra, and she pulled a golden whistle on a silver chain out of her shirt. She puffed up her cheeks and then blew into it hard. It made no sound.
"Well aren't we the musician," said Celeus dryly, "First the harp and now the whistle. How is that supposed to help her excellency?"
A new voice from a corner of the room answered him, "It's not Celeus, cat of Ceres, I am."
Celeus turned to see a slender woman with silver hair standing in the previously empty corner. She was wearing a fuku exactly like the other Sailor Scouts, except her was entirely in shades of grey except for the white body suit and gloves. She held a quill and scroll in her hands and she curtsied elegantly to Serena.
"Allow me to introduce myself. I am the final scout outside of time. I exist wholly outside the time-stream in a time bubble. I am Sailor Keeper, historian of the Moon Kingdom, and your third cousin, Princess Serenity."
Play Opening Song
Series Title, Sailor Moon Remembered Senshi
Episode Title (9) Memories . . .
The Sailor Scouts were astounded. Luttra grinned happily.
"This is my pal Sailor Keeper!" she said, gesturing to the new woman.
Luna was speechless, and Serena barely managed to ask, "My cousin? But I don't have any cousins. Mom was an only child, and Uncle Ray isn't married."
Sailor Keeper was amused, "No, Princess Serenity, I was your third cousin in the past, during the Silver Millennium. Once upon a time, I was known as Arethusa, Princess of Imbrium, the largest sea on the moon. Now I am known only as Sailor Keeper. Please, call me that only, no matter what you may ever remember, Princess Serenity."
Serena nodded, seeing it was a touchy subject, "I'll make a deal with you. I'll call you Sailor Keeper if you call me Serena."
Sailor Keeper nodded in return, "As you wish."
Celeus, disgruntled and unamused by this display interrupted, "If I may pose a question. How is a historian going to help her excellency regain her memory? Teach her about the battle of Hastings?"
"However much it amuses you to make fun of me Celeus of Ceres, I advise against it, unless you would have me tell Artemis of your exploits with his sister," remarked Sailor Keeper.
Celeus immediately shut up, and Artemis shot a venomous look in his direction.
Sailor Keeper continued, "I am not unarmed as I record the lives of the people of the Moon Kingdom in my time bubble. I command one of the most dangerous forces of all, memory. It is this reason why Luttra summoned me, this and one other. Now, where is the subject?"
Terra gulped, and raised her hand tentatively. Sailor Keeper strode over and peered at her. After she had examined Terra thoroughly, she pulled out a small flat stone.
"Hey!" interjected Celeus, "That looks just like the Emerald Memory Stone, only, it's grey."
"Correct Celeus," said Sailor Keeper, "I gave that to the royal family of Ceres so that they wouldn't have to call me from my post every time someone in the Moon Kingdom lost their memory. Unfortunately, only a hundred years after I gave them this gift, they seceded from the Alliance of the Moon."
"Well then why couldn't we have just used the Memory Stone to heal her excellency?" asked Celeus.
Sailor Keeper answered simply, "I doubt the power of that stone is equal to this task. Besides, I believe you children are in for a history lesson."
She placed the stone over Terra's sign of Ceres, and then softly spoke,
"Keeper Total Recall."
Terra closed her eyes as the total euphoria of regaining a vast horde of memories at once overcame her. After a few moments, Sailor Keeper removed the stone from Terra's forehead, and she came awake once more. Terra looked at the Scouts in dismay.
"My planet is gone, Chaos and Void, and David and Aspen and, and . . . Why? How could he do such a thing?" she asked, struggling with her emotions.
At this point, only Mina and Luttra understood the gist of her melancholy, but Sailor Keeper soon remedied that. She explained everything about Terra's dreams, from Aspen to Lord Highlawn, from High Queen Iris to Terra's escape, facilitated by Ceres Knight. Then, in a hushed tone, she told them about Aspen's defeat and Thornbrush's sacrifice. Then she cleared her throat and began a tale that even Terra had not yet learned.
"The Knight who collected Aspen was one Lord Dis. The same Lord Dis whom you saw less than a week ago. He is the most powerful of all the Death Knights, and their Lord. He, at that time, was lover to the head of the Dark Kingdom, then Lord General Beryl. He sensed some great potential in the unconscious body that he was in possession of, so he did not absorb its life energy.
"Instead, he wiped its memory clear and nursed it back to health on dark energy. Thus, Naverght was born. Naverght could remember nothing of his past, except a vehement hatred for the Queen of Ceres, and a strange, possessive desire to own the Ceres Emerald Jadestone.
"Naverght grew to be a very powerful dark magic user, equaled only by Beryl herself. Metallia realized this and made Naverght a Lord General too, knowing that the strongest would survive. Beryl had a larger following, but Naverght's was more loyal, even containing a woman named Kazracite who claimed to be in love with him.
"It was Beryl's plan to attack the Moon, and thus gain control of the solar system. However, Naverght disagreed and counseled that the first attack should be on the rebel planet Ceres. His desires drove him on, and he explained to Metallia that Ceres was ripe for the taking and boasted the most power in the Solar System. With Ceres under their control, the moon would fall easily.
"She agreed with him, and much to Beryl's dismay, sanctioned the attack on Ceres. However, the attack was not entirely successful due to Naverght's feelings for Princess Terra, and the intervention of the Goddess Demeter. One of the Dark Kingdom creatures was killed, and the Jadestone was shattered into three pieces, one in Terra, and two in her shadow children, Chaos and Void. None of the energy liberated in the destruction of Ceres was contained by the Dark Kingdom, and Demeter, angered by this attack, sent Princess Terra, Celeus, and several members of her court, to the future on earth. Naverght was also sent, but his memory was wiped again, so that he might grow into his former self once again.
"After their disgrace at Ceres, Naverght's remaining supporters faded into the shadows, and hid from Beryl, lest they draw her wrath. Except for the addition of the shadow children, Chaos and Void, to their ranks, they gained no new strength, whereas Beryl, without an opponent was crowned Queen of the Dark Kingdom, and went forward with her attack on the Moon Kingdom. I believe you know that story.
"Anyway, only after Beryl's destruction recently, has this rebel faction of the Dark Kingdom felt safe enough to come forward again. Now, their leader, Kazracite, seeks the Ceres Emerald Jadestone so that she may restore them to their former glory. The Jadestone did not exist in this time until it refused and the spirit children Chaos and Void were absorbed. Now, Kazracite will stop at nothing to regain the stone, and Naverght. She is homicidally jealous of you, Terra, because she thinks that you stole Naverght from her when in truth, he never loved her yet always carried you in his heart, even if he didn't remember.
Now that you've had your little history lesson, do you understand?" asked Sailor Keeper.
The other Scouts nodded. Terra looked slowly up,
"I've told you before. I don't care what he did in the past. I'm no longer a princess, and he's no longer working for the Dark Kingdom. We're just plain ol' Terra and David now, and we have to rescue him if he's being held hostage by some emotionally unstable nutcase with pyrotechnical powers."
"Good," said Sailor Keeper, "I thought you'd see it that way. Now, on to other business. As you may guess, I'm terribly busy recording history. I'm going to have to work double time to catch up when I get back. The Memory Stone I gave to Terra's family is no longer as potent as it once was. Besides, it was made to help recall simple things, not tracts of time separated by millennia. I am faced with the dilemma of either gifting one of you, or leaving my station every time one of you can't remember where she left her transformation wand. Thus it falls that I must gift one of you."
She thought for a moment, then decided.
"Luna of Mau, come forth."
Luna eased herself forward and sat in front of Sailor Keeper, and looked her directly in the eyes.
"Ah," said Sailor Keeper, smiling easily, "It seems that I have made the correct choice."
She bent and placed her index finger on Luna's crescent moon. Luna closed her eyes. The moon glowed dully, then energy seemed to flash into it and it radiated brightly. Luna opened her eyes as Sailor Keeper drew her hand back.
"There small one. I have gifted you with the power to meld minds and restore memories. Use your power well, and remember, if you truly need me again, do not hesitate to call."
A cat-sized golden whistle fell at Luna's feet.
Sailor Keeper turned to Luttra, Jettra, and Meattra.
"Daemeon and Setsuna bade me to tell you to return soon, if you may, their own duties press them, but they understand the predicament these children are in."
The scouts outside of time nodded.
Sailor Keeper cast one final look around the room and the sighed, "I must be off Princess, I mean Serena. Take care!"
With that, she faded out of their time and into her bubble.
"Yes. Take care Sailor Scouts, you'll need it," she murmured to herself as the familiar sound of quill on parchment was heard in the bubble once more.
~*~
Kazracite fumed as she paced outside the chamber she had put David into. It was taking all of her powers and Dis's combined to keep David confined in the room, and it was placing a terrible strain on her.
She'd had no sleep since she'd returned to the negative temporal plane, and she wasn't likely to get any soon. With Qintozite dead, and Chaos and Void gone, the only person she had to relieve her was Lord Dis, and she didn't entirely trust him. He said that he had no power to lend her because a great deal of his was lost since he'd given the Bloodstone Amulet to Void. Now she was gone, and so, apparently, was the amulet, and his power. Kazracite had her doubts as to that story, but she had no choice but to trust him.
Kazracite was being spread very thin and she doubted her abilities to counter even the simplest attack. If things didn't immediately get better, she was in serious danger of losing David, and her chance to kill Princess Terra and take the Ceres Emerald Jadestone. However, just when she thought things could not resolve themselves, in the turmoil of her mind, a sound of peace came.
"Kazracite," it murmured, "Kazracite, child, you seek power, do you not?"
For once, Kazracite took the time to answer this question, which had been at the back of her mind for several days.
"Of course I desire power. If I had power then I would to be in debt to that accursed Death Knight. If I had power, I could have Naverght and the Jadestone all to myself."
"Would you be willing to guarantee loyalty in exchange for power?"
Kazracite thought for a moment, "Well, yes. Unless they wanted me to give up Naverght. This 'thing' giving me the power must obviously be more powerful than me, and worthy of my respect."
"Then Kazracite, would you be willing to serve me?"
"Who are you?" she asked for the first time, rather startled.
Suddenly, there was an explosion of blue foamy-mist, and a man with bright blue eyes and long, electric-blue hair stood in front of her. He wore a long sky-blue cape and a matching uniform and carried a seer's ball in his hand.
"Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Turquas, and I am the current Lord General of the Dark Kingdom. I desire your loyalty, will you pledge it?"
"I am guaranteed an increase in power?"
"Of course."
"You will help me make Naverght remember?"
"I will help you to my utmost ability."
Kazracite thought for a moment, "Exactly what does this loyalty entail?"
"You will deliver the Jadestone to me, and then assist me in the capture of the Imperium Silver Crystal."
Kazracite fumed, "I might have known that you were going to ask for something like this!"
"No, Kazracite, think about it," Turquas soothed, "You will be my second in command, with all the power you could dream of, and you will have Naverght. What more could you want?"
Kazracite thought it over for a moment. Turquas continued with his speech, "And just think, you couldn't dream of doing anything like that without my help. It's questionable if you could even capture the Jadestone alone, whereas with my help . . ."
Turquas trailed off when he realized that he didn't have to sell his line any longer. She smiled at him and offered her hand,
"If you put it that way, there's no way I could turn it down."
Turquas elegantly took the hand, bent, and kissed it gently.
"You know," he remarked, "I begin to believe we're going to get on together rather well."
~*~
"Are you sure you guys are willing to go through with this?" asked Sailor Chronos as she hefted her tuning fork staff.
After looking at the other girls in turn, and lingering for a moment on Sailor Ceres, Sailor Moon replied,
"Yes!"
Sailor Ceres looked grateful, but worried, "You guys don't have come with me, you know this all started when we didn't know each other. Anyway, it's Ceres fight and not yours."
"No way!" said Sailor Jupiter, "We're not about to abandon you!"
"Yeah, we like you too much!" chirped Sailor Venus.
"And what did I tell you?" asked Luna, "Now that you are a member of the Sailor Scouts, Ceres need not stand alone. It is our fight now too."
Sailor Moon smiled, "Anyway, I haven't dusted any creeps this week since those zombies at the mall, and I'm looking for a fight!"
Luna rolled her eyes.
"I'm sorry I can't go with you, excellency," apologized Celeus.
"I understand. It's too dangerous, even for a devil-may-care cat like you," Sailor Ceres snickered.
For once, Celeus took the joke well, "I suppose I am going to have to get in shape one of these days."
Luna couldn't resist, "For shame, Celeus. One of these days? What would Phoebe say?"
Artemis scowled at both Luna and Celeus.
Sailor Infinity interjected, "And I'm sorry we can't go with you. I wish we could. We'd show that Kazracite something!"
"But we have to go back to the time-stream," Sailor Eternity reminded.
"I know," said Sailor Infinity sadly, "But I sure will miss all you guys! By the way Terra, I hope you get David back, he was one mondo hot guy!"
"It's time," said Chronos, "Say good bye to Chad for me, will ya'?" she asked Sailor Mars.
Sailor Mars nodded, and the other Scouts braced themselves as Sailor Chronos tapped the staff on Sailor Moon's wall. The tuning for on the end began to vibrate and produce a musical hum. The hum grew steadily louder until the wall began to shimmer in time with it. Suddenly, a grey green portal opened up in front of them.
"Go on through," called Chronos over the loud hum, "I can't hold it open for long!"
The Inner Scouts nodded, and single file, entered the portal into the negative temporal plane. After they had gone, Sailor Infinity quizzically asked,
"Just one question Jettra, How, by Father Time's beard, are they going to get back?"
Chronos shrugged, "I guess they'll cross that bridge when they come to it."
Sailor Infinity shrugged too as the three Scouts Outside of Time joined hands and closed their eyes. After a moment, they too faded from the room, and though it had been crowded to capacity only a few moments before, the only things that occupied it were three worried cats.
End Ninth Episode
Roll credits and play ending song (Forever)
Final Edit Finished August 11, 1998 (9:43PM)
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Smiles and Ceres Cosmic Power,
Lady Ceres
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Lindsey Browning