Name: The Winds of Fate: Part 3-Secrets Revealed Author:Black Gryphon Rating: PG E-Mail: blackgryphon21@hotmail.com ---------------------------------- The Winds of Fate: Part 3 by Black Gryphon Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters in this story, they are the property of the people at DIC and all other companies involved in the production and distribution of Sailor Moon. Because of the abrupt ending to production of the North American version of Sailor Moon I decided to take matters into my own hands and write a season of my own. This season is frozen in time between the final battle with the Doom Phantom and The opening of Season 4. For the most part, all the previous points apply. Comments are welcome, look at the end for my address. On a separate note, while I am very flattered by some of the fan mail, please note that I am a straight male, thank you. Also, this is a *very* long explanation chapter, please bear with me, this is important to the story-line. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Episode 3: Secrets Revealed It had been several days since the battle with Brie'Og, to all eyes the days passed normally. The girls were curious about both who they were fighting and the appearance of the dark figure named the Mystic who had saved them, all the while Luna made no move to offer what she knew. Now they were at school, Serena, Amy and Lita were all in the computer lab trying to figure out who or what either of the newcomers were as they ate their lunch. Amy was running another test, Lita was watching fascinated as she began to understand the program and Serena was, as per usual, too confused to even look at the screen and was busying herself with her food. Finally Amy shut down the computer and turned to her friends, "I'm sorry, I've run a test on every part of the city for an energy signature and that cloak our new friend wears prevents me from getting a muscular structure scan." Lita nodded slightly and Serena sat there looking lost. "...Meaning?" She finally asked. Amy slumped back in her chair and answered with, "I have no clue what we're up against." Lita gently patted her girlfriend's shoulder, "You tried your best," She looked up at the clock, "By the way, Melvin and Molly said they have something they want to tell us, and to meet them outside our next class." They all stood and walked to the door, before even reaching it Serena broke out with, "you know that I'll have to cross the whole school to get to MY next class from there, right?" Lita just pulled her along with them. True to their word, Molly and Melvin were waiting in the hallway for them. Serena's old friend waved them over. "Hey you guys!" She called as they came into view. "Yeah, Molly." The blonde asked, "What's the big deal, what'd you want to tell us?" "Did you know that a new student just transferred here?" "Really? No, I hadn't." She turned to her friends who shrugged, "Who is it?" Melvin came in, "His name's Alex Wyvern..." Amy cut in, "Did you say Wyvern?" Lita turned to her, "Do you know him Amy?" "No. It's just that a Wyvern is something like a dragon. Its just an odd name is all." Melvin continued, "Anyway, I've been reading his file. He's from Canada and for the first nine years of his life he was nothing extraordinary." "And then?" Serena asked. "He disappeared, his entire extended family, two hundred and sixty people, disappeared too. He resurfaced a year later with six others from his family. Four went insane, another died in a hospital from loss of blood, and the last committed suicide a week after they were found." He pulled out his lap-top and punched a few keys, "In the hospital they found over two hundred scars on him, most on his back with about two dozen on his chest and stomach, a T-shirt would cover them all." Serena was starting to look sick, "My God! What happened to him?" "No one knows, he stayed in the hospital for less than a day before leaving, he has been living alone since. After whatever happened to him he became an A student and soared through everything. Here's the kicker, he's the North American first blood champion." Lita was confused and asked, "What?" "Its a sport, two sword fighters enter a field and duel until one is cut. Its not well known or large, but it does exist. It says that he has never lost a match." Molly came in then, "There's also some weird rumors about him, they say that he isn't human, they say it's because he can move without making a sound and you might miss him even if you're looking right at him, there's a lot of others like..." A voice came from behind a corner and they turned to see a young man coming around, brown hair, just enough muscle as not to hamper movement and just pushing six feet. "Let me guess." He said looking at Molly, "I keep a sword in my locker at all times that I can call to my hand, I have a dagger hidden under my own flesh in the small of my back. Let's see, "He scratched his head in thought, "I plan to open Japan up for invasion by slowly convincing everyone that tanks are a symbol of piece and I have replaced the Sun and the moon and keep the real ones carefully hidden under my clothes." He swept his arms down then out for emphasis, then he cocked his head questioningly, "Did I miss anything?" His voice had a light, joking tone to it, but he had a presence to him that made Molly nervous. "Uh, No?" Molly responded a little shaken. He bowed deeply with his fist to his heart and walked off, Lita and Amy noted that Molly was right about him moving without making a sound. When he was out of sight Serena, who was still staring after him, could only say; "Whoa. That was odd." Lita smiled slightly and said, "I like him." Molly looked shocked and asked, "I thought you and Amy were... you know, an item." Lita turned to her and asked, "Molly, do you have any friends who are girls?" Molly nodded, "Same thing as this, and yes we are." As she spoke Amy put an arm around Lita and smiled. Molly shrugged and said, "Different strokes, I suppose." The lunch bell rang soon after. ***************** After school all five of the girls had met up and were taking a walk through the park. The other two had been told what they had learned from Molly. "What do you mean you don't want to confront him?" Raye was starting to get annoyed with Serena, but that was situation normal. "Raye, what if Alex has nothing to do with this? I know that transferred students are usually involved, but what if he isn't?" Serena was doing her best to plead her case to her dark-haired friend. "And what if he is?" Raye was about to lose it and everyone knew it. Amy stepped forward and stopped the argument, "Listen, both of you. We can check him out without confronting him, but from what we know about him the last thing he needs is something like this." She looked back and forth between the arguing pair. Finally Raye nodded, "All right, we'll do it slowly. You said he's was missing for a year?" Lita and Serena nodded, and Amy finished, "So we have to be careful. Luna?" She turned her head and spoke to the cat on her shoulder. "Maybe you should do this." Luna shook her head sadly and replied, "I don't think that would be a good idea." Finally Mina, who had been in the background the whole time, asked, "Amy, why are we in the park?" "Mr. Baxter said that he had something to show me, I met him yesterday in the grocery store." Mina shrugged and they continued on, the walk took about five more minutes and they didn't say much, Amy made a note of it when Lita looked longingly at the boat rental by the lake, but that was about all. Finally they came to the center of the park, Mr. Baxter, the groundskeeper was there to greet them. "Hello girls, I suppose that Amy told you that I was going to show you something, so... here it is." He stepped aside and swept the small glade with his arm. All the girls stepped forward slowly, all of them in awe. About them were animals of stone, so beautifully made that they seemed to be alive. Off to the right a lion lay, its eyes seemed to follow their every move; to the left a bear played with its cubs, though they were made of granite, their fur seemed to flow in the wind; finally, near the center, was a half-finished horse, and along the edges were huge granite boulders waiting to be carved. Amy turned to her friend and asked, "Did you do this?" He laughed and shook his head, "No, some boy, about your age, came here a few days back. Asked if he could carve all these hunks of rock, and that if I didn't like it he would pay to have them removed and replaced." He pet the lion's mane as he paused, "It even feels real. Listen, I've got to go, he should be back soon if you want to talk to him." He left the glade and walked in the direction of the flower beds. They all walked over to the bears and began to feel their 'fur,' soon they spun around because they heard a scratching noise behind them. They found that it was Alex again, working on the horse with a small dagger. Raye was the first to get over the surprise, "Hi." She said sheepishly. He waved to them then stopped working as he recognized the girls from school, "Serena, Lita and Amy, right?" He asked pointing to each in turn, when they nodded he continued, "But I don't believe I've met either of you." Serena stepped forward and quickly made introductions. "This is Mina, and the black-haired one with a heart to match is Raye." He bowed and said, "Hi, I'm Alex Wyvern, nice to meet you. I'm sure you've all read my file by now, so please, don't sugarcoat anything you want to say." As he began the sentence Luna jumped off of Amy's shoulder into the underbrush. Mina stepped forward, privately hoping to score a date. "You did these?" she asked, pointing to the sculptures. He nodded sadly, "It's my hobby, and my livelihood. I use a pen-name like my friend: Peggy Jones. It's how I sustain myself after I..." He paused as he considered the word, "...Lost, my parents." "What happened to your parents? I don't think there's anything you could say we wouldn't believe." He laughed slightly and shook his head, "That's exactly what half a dozen therapists said," He paused and looked thoughtfully into each of their faces, "But... Somehow I think you would. Even so, its one of my secrets." He went back to work suddenly at that point. He did it courteously, but the girls knew that a nerve had been touched. After several moments Luna came out from the bushes. "Hello, Alexander." She said softly, slowly walking towards the young man. The dagger fell, forgotten, from Alex's hand, ringing as it hit the ground.. His eyes went wide as he recognized the voice. Raye and Amy were trying to cover it up, but it was too late. He looked up and saw the small black cat coming towards him. "Hello." Luna said again, her voice and eyes brimmed with tears. The young man knelt slowly down and stretched an arm towards the cat, fingers extended as an invitation. His eyes were filling with tears as well as a very private moment unfolded in front of the scouts. "My God, Luna." Tears began to fall from both sets of eyes; far to the side, Amy and Lita leaned together at the tender scene. "I thought you were dead." Luna was barely two feet away at this point, the two almost touching. "We all though you were killed when the..." A light almost visibly went on in Alex's head. Luna's tears tripled in quantity and she hung her head in shame; the hand that was once extended in invitation closed with white-knuckled force and his face went colder than the stone he had been carving. "When the help you promised never came." The final words were nearly a growl. Faster than the eye could follow, a hand shot out and grasped Luna's throat and hauled her into the air, Alexander stood upright and brought the cat to his eye-level. The girls wanted to help, but knew that their friend's life hung in the balance, and therefore stayed put. "We thought you had died in the attempt. We put you among the honored dead." His eyes burned and his voice was dripping with anger and hatred, Luna knew it was well placed and said nothing. "For seven years I thought you had died with some level of honor." He shook his head slowly, trying to check his anger. "How dare you be alive? How can you live with yourself with the deaths of two hundred and fifty people on your soul. Give me one good reason why I shouldn't tear you apart right now." Luna was crying openly now and could barely meet his gaze. "I'm sorry. But, I can't, there's no excuse. Just..." She looked at him, her eyes bagging pity. "Please, make it quick." He shook his head again and rolled up his right sleeve with his free hand, at the shoulder was a badly healed scar that circled the joint, it looked as though the arm was torn off long ago. "This was done helping you, my parents and twelve other good people died in that fight. You don't even deserve a quick death." Everyone watching was trying not to be sick at the thought of what had done the damage, all except Luna, she had seen it done. Luna braced herself for the inevitable, turning her head away and closing her eyes. Finally her captor just gave her throat a final squeeze and dropped her, the cat looked up amazed as he bent to get the dagger and walking away looked over his shoulder and said in disgust, "You're not even worth the effort." Luna slumped to the ground breathless and weeping, Lita started after the young man; Until the cat called up to her. "No, Lita. Let him go." The brunette turned and looked at her confused, "What? Luna he has no right to get away with something like that." Luna got angry and tried to get to her feet, but failed. "He has EVERY right. Please, get me to Raye's temple. I'll tell you everything there." ************************** After arriving at the temple the girls returned to the couches they'd occupied a few nights ago. Luna took the position near the head of the room where all could see her. "To begin, Raye, would you get the sword that you got the other night?" The priestess got up and returned a moment later with the blade and set it down near the cat. "This is a bloodblade, I'll explain later. The Mystic gave this to you... Alex gave this to you." The surprised looks she got were expected. "I recognized a scar when I saw him on TV fighting that Earth-thing." "Serena; its time you learned the whole story, so I'll start at the very beginning. Long ago, there was a princess of the negaverse. She was a beautiful young woman, powerful in magic... and she had a pure heart." She waited until the surprised chatter died down. "Its rare, but not nonexistent. She was banished from the negaverse by her father, into this universe. A very long story made short, Queen Serenity's ten times great granduncle: a recluse who hated the royal title, married her." Luna smiled at the remembered wonder, "I saw pictures of it and heard beautiful stories, the princess, Elandra, didn't know that he was royalty and he didn't know that she was of the negaverse; until the ceremony. There had to be a huge celebration for a noble wedding, at the alter though, she broke into tears: professing undying love and revealing the truth. He married her just as happily as had he not known. Years later their only child was born. He was very powerful, as the mixture of Imperial and Negaverse blood flowed together in his veins. Over several generations the power was bred out, stopping and remaining unchanged at about one sixteenth of the original, we called them the Mystics, not quite as powerful as either side, magic-wise, but coupled with their training they were incredibly deadly. For some reason, two generations before the attack by the Negaverse a war broke out between the Mystics, the forty odd separated almost equally. One faction, the Dragons, was fighting for the Imperial way, the other, The Demons, fought for the ways of the Negaverse." "Hold on a minute." Serena was confused. "The Dragons? The Demons?" "It was a dubbing given by the people. They used them since they fit." "What about the war," Lita was the questioner this time, "How can you have a war between forty people, a feud maybe, but a war?" Luna chuckled sadly and Artemis joined in from across the room. "You've never seen an angry Mystic have you? The war lasted a year, ten cities were destroyed over three planets." She nodded as they were looking at her in awe. "I'm quite serious. When it was over, two Demons remained and seven Dragons lived. They agreed upon the Imperial way and compromised the name to the Wyverns." Mina was starting to get a little restless, "Luna? How does any of this give Alex a right to hurt you?" "I'll get to that soon enough, this is important." She adjusted her position and continued. "Their power lies with knowledge mostly, incantations and science, as well as a very strict code by which they train and minor powers, making them our best warriors. At the attack they were our first line of defense, and the man Serenity loved was the first casualty of the battle." Serena sat straight up at that point, "My father was killed in that fight?" Her eyes grew wide with shock at a realization, "I'm a Mystic?!" "No, Serena you aren't. And no he wasn't." "But you said?" "Thirteen years before the invasion your father was killed in an accident. With him were two Mystics as a guard and some ambassadors from Jupiter. Your mother had been alone for almost a decade when she met him; a young man who was about her age who had climbed the ranks to become her personal bodyguard." She smiled at the memory. "He was to be with her wherever she went and it wasn't long before they fell in love. Of course they couldn't marry or anything like that, but everyone knew and they were for it, as a happy monarch makes for a happy kingdom." Serena was shocked, "My mother cheated on my father?" Luna sighed and slowed her speech slightly in an attempt to make her understand. "Serena, Serenity had been alone for ten years. The kingdom was suffering from her depression and we all thought she might have a breakdown; then, suddenly she was happy and the kingdom flourished," The cat looked at Serena questioningly, "I'm amazed you don't remember your brother." The blonde was about to say something so Luna quickly finished, "The man, also a Mystic as you guessed, was named Marcus. His wife had died in the same accident as the king, but she left him a son who was three years older than you, he was like your brother before he went to Earth as an ambassador." Amy had her hand to her mouth as she said, "And he fathered the line on Earth." Luna nodded and Mina stepped in, "It still doesn't answer my question." Luna sighed and said, "I'm getting to it Mina. Anyway, when I was reborn on Earth, I spent years searching for you, but had no luck. I thought that I might be able to enlist some help from Marcus' family, but I couldn't find them. After getting some help, I learned that they were trapped in the Negaverse; since Beryl had little energy she needed easy prey; their half-negaverse bloodline made them vulnerable to being caught, and their power made their energy more precious. I sought them out, eventually finding them and going to them." The black cat's eyes filled with tears of pain as she remembered the past. "They were driven like slaves, whips and knives cutting them constantly. I soon found a young boy, nine at the time, but a strong spirit. I worked with him for a month in secret, giving him books and lessons on his heritage, he learned fast and put his training to use helping and healing those he could without getting caught." Luna was having trouble keeping her tone strong, but was determined to get the story finished, "One day, about a month after I went down, maybe two since they were caught; I was discovered," Her voice became broken, but her resolve was still strong. "I was scared, I didn't want to be turned into a slave; I didn't want what was happening to everyone else to happen to me. And so I made the biggest, most regrettable mistake of my life. I told them I could help them escape, that if they got me out I would get help. Alex, as you know, is and always was a master with stone; using some obsidian that was smuggled in, he made a very lifelike statue of me. Then, five people made a diversion saying I was dead, the guards came and I ran. I looked back at one point as I fled down a tunnel I saw something which still gives me nightmares: a fight had broken out to cover my leaving. Brie'Og was closest and I saw him mow people down, with one arm he killed both of Alex's parents and with the other he ripped..." She fell into a kind of fetus position, crying, and made a vague chopping motion over her right shoulder. The girls all lowered their heads as they understood, even a few tears fell from their eyes. Finally Luna composed herself enough to speak again. "And so I ran, after I was free I just kept on going, never stopping to get the help I had promised. I paid for my life with those of over two hundred and fifty people. Almost a full year later I learned of the people who had escaped, and that only one was still alive and sane. That was when I came to Japan." She looked around at the faces in the room. None of them could believe what they had heard. "I would never have trained you as hard as I had, if that had not happened to me, I vowed that I would never let that happen again; not to anyone." None of their faces changed, Serena looked as though her entire reality had shattered, which, in a way, it had. The cat dropped her head again and finished, "But there is no excuse. He was robbed of innocence and his childhood while you and he were nine. He learned how to endure pain before anyone had even thought about Sailor V. I don't know how he got out or what he paid to do it, but there is your answer everyone; and as I said before..." She couldn't meet their gaze and stared out a window. "He has every right to do anything he wants to me, and I honestly hope he kills me for my crimes." ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thanks for reading. Send any comments or complaints to blackgryphon@hotmail.com