Justine's Memoirs By Chiba Hana chibahana@aol.com [Author's Notes: Okay. I feel this is a great achievement for me. I finally have reached the 8th chapter of Justine's Story. This is so cool. I can't wait to actually get this publish this work. I will one day. That is my dream. To make this a book and get money for it. Well enjoy this story. Oh one thing though. It will help if you read part one of Nephlyte. There will be a part 3 and 4 but don't count on them being too soon.] Chapter 8: Nephlyte - Part 2 This chapter starts out differently than the others. This time I was on Earth. Nephlyte was disguised as a rich young business man who owned his own company. He was using the name Maxfield Stanton. He drove a red and black Ferrari which made him look so cool. I looked at him weirdly when we bought the mansion. But the drive out there was great. I fell in love with him all over again. But on with the chapter. I was in front of the school doors, scared to even walk into them. I was about to turn back when I felt a strong, yet reassuring hand go to my shoulder. It was Hiro's. "Hi, Justine," he said cordially. "Hiro," I said, "what are you here for?" "I am a college assistant here, Justine," he continued while patting me on the back. "Oh," I said, "do you know where the office is? I can't find anything. I probably would lose my own head if it wasn't glued on straight." We both laughed at my little joke. I loved it when we joked. I wasn't as afraid that way. We went into the school. My fear was coming back. I didn't want anyone else to see me until I saw Lea. And who should come up behind me. "Excuse me," said a voice behind me, "are you the new student I am supposed to greet?" I whirled around to see Lea go from cheerfulness to pure surprise. "Hi, Lea," I said in a cheerful voice. All of a sudden I felt her arms wrap around me. I stood there for a moment unresponsive. I put my arms around her to return her affection. "Justine," she said after the hug had stopped, "how are you? Welcome to Crossroads. I am queen of the school. I am the one to greet new students, take care of school business, make sure no one picks a fight with anyone else. That kind of stuff. Of all the new students though, I have more pleasure in making you an official student than anyone else." "Lea, what do you mean by 'official student'?" I asked. She looked at me with her kind eyes. "By making you an 'official student', I mean we have to make an assembly, get your schedule, and make your first day here at crossroads as pleasant as possible." "So that is what an official student is? Gee, I wish I had stayed. It has been so long." "Five years it its been since you last saw me," she said patting my back. "That was five years too many, I mean where did you get the scar on your neck. What happened? Try to kill yourself?" "In fact I did," Lea said sheepishly. I knew what she meant but I pretended not to. "What do you mean?" I asked simply and casually. "Remember how unstable I was with Luc's death. Well after you left, two months later I took a butcher knife went out into the back yard and slit my throat. In a way I killed myself. I was so weak I almost died." "Yuck. Well, you're okay now." "So you found each other I see," said Hiro. He went around to hug Lea and he gave me my class room. "Well I better be getting on to class now," I said. "Wait, Justine," yelled Lea, "let me take you to your class." I gave her the piece of paper that had my classroom on it. After she had read it, she looked up at me and smiled. As it turned out Lea and I were in the same class together. This was going to be a hard thing to go through because she was not only my best friend but my enemy too. I smiled and let her lead the way to our class. I drank in every smile, every laugh, every hug. Once we were at the door, I felt nervous again. I didn't know anymore about these people than they did about me and it frightened me that I would be asked questions about where I lived, who my siblings were or if I had any siblings at all, if I had parents. What was I going to say? I just did not know how to handle this situation. Lea could tell I was scared and tried to comfort me. "Justine," she said, "it's okay to be nervous your first day in a new school. I think it is great you are at mine though, and I will try to make this day you best day ever." I gave her a hug. "Lea," I said, "I just don't know how I will explain myself when they ask me questions. I would be an orphan if Neph-I mean Max wasn't around. I don't know what they will ask, and I am afraid they will laugh at me if I say something weird." "They won't make fun of you, trust me it will be a piece of cake," Lea said putting a reassuring hand on my shoulder. We walked into the class and everyone looked up. They looked cheerful and happy and full of usable energy. I was about to take the energy when I heard Lea introduce me. "Everyone," Lea said, "this is Justine DiMarco. Not only is she a new student to Crossroads, but she, having been here before, is my best friend. She was there for me when my brother died and I am grateful she was." "Justine?" asked a voice from the back, "how old are you?" A simple question. "I am 16," I said, "I will be 17 in November." More and more kids asked me questions, but they didn't ask me any questions about my family or anything like that. What a relief. Lea led me to a seat next to hers which was in the absolute front. I sighed and then listened to the teacher and then when the bell rang for lunch, Lea pulled me to go with her. "Come on," said Lea. "Why?" I asked. "Where are we going?" "Lunch," she said. "Oh," I said, "yea right lunch." I followed her out to the school ground and met Amy and saw Serena. Serena ignored me and talked to Lea, while Amy probed me for what I knew about math and science. I told her that I was pretty good at Math and English but I did horrible with Science and World History. Spanish I had troubles with but not too many and Drama was my favorite subject of them all. Amy looked pleased and continued to ask me questions about where I came from and every other question that I was afraid to answer. I answered each question as well as I could, but it wasn't too easy. "May I intervene for a moment," asked a deep voice behind me. I jumped up, turned around and kissed Nephlyte-- who called himself Maxfield Stanton-so hard he almost fell over. After we were finished, the girls were looking at us with looks of confusion. "Justine," asked Serena, "who's the cutie?" "He is my boyfriend," I said. Serena gave me a disappointed look. "My name," said Neph, "is Maxfield Stanton. Nice to see you again Lea. Justine, who are these other young girls?" "Max, this is Amy. She is another girl genius. And this is Serena, Lea's cousin." I said quickly. "Nice to meet you all," he said, bowing. I made a face telling him to stop this screwing around and to tell me what he needed to tell me. "Will you all excuse me? I must talk to my girlfriend in private." He said grabbing my arm. "I will be back." I yelled. "Queen Beryl is worried about you dear," said Neph. "When isn't she?" I asked. "Well lets get through the day and then we should go back and get you some more energy," he said, "you are looking rather weak." "Okay," I said, "but let me be with my friend. She could have some really good energy that I could use." "I guess," he said. He gave me a kiss goodbye and transported back to the mansion in the woods. The bell for the end of lunch rang and I went on with the rest of the day. I was pretty weak by the end of the day and Lea definitely noticed. "Justine," she asked on the bus, "are you okay? You look kinda weak. You act as if you are running out of energy or something." "I am fine Lea," I said. I really wasn't, but that didn't matter right now. I would get some energy when I got to the house. When I got off the bus, I almost fainted. Thank god Neph was there to catch me. I fell right into his arms. "Justine," he said shaking me to consciousness. I woke up only to find myself in my room in the Negaverse. I was surprised to see him there when I woke up. He usually wasn't ever around when I woke up. "What happened?" I asked groggily, "Where is the mansion?" "You fainted right at the bus stop. I decided to bring you here. You need your energy." "Thank you Neph," I said. "Beryl wanted to see us after you got up. I think wants to hear my plan again." "I hope Zoicyte won't make you fail. She has been a real pest lately. I know I seem really worried, but I love you too much to lose you. If I lose you it's the end of the world for me." He looked at me with a smile on his face, and I wondered what he was thinking. "I know you and Zoey haven't been getting along at all. She seems to be getting on my nerves too. She is quite a heartless creature. But I have a heart. And I love you and I want you know that you will always be in my heart." "I know but be careful," I said. I had been having nightmares and they were of betrayal from Zoicyte. She was laughing over Neph's dead body while I sat and cried with another young girl with vibrant red hair. I swear, I thought, I will never let Zoicyte hurt you. And if she does I will punish all of the Negaverse for her treachery. Nephlyte and I teleported to the throne room where he gave his plans to Queen Beryl. She accepted them and we returned to the mansion. We stayed a bit to get ready for our first victim. Katie Sandler would have made a great servant for the Negaverse but of course the scouts had to burst our bubble. On our second attempt to get energy from humans, after fighting against the scouts, Sailor Sun tapped me on the shoulder. "Who are you, Masked Defender?" She asked. "Your enemy," I said as bitterly as I could. I wanted to say "your friend" but it would show I had betrayed the Negaverse, and I wanted to be with Neph forever. "You know what I meant," she said in an agitated voice. "I will never reveal myself to an enemy," I said, "even if in civilian form they are my best friend. I don't trust anyone Lea Adersen." I turn to see her face in disbelief. "How did you know who I was?" "The Masked Defender doesn't ever reveal her secrets," I said and then flew off in an angry rage. Well after that we didn't get much, but there were a few times I would have tried to get out of it. Especially the last time I would ever fight. At least, on the Negaverse. It was pretty much my nightmare but only it was in real life this time. "Neph, what's wrong? I asked as he looked at the Star Crystal sadly. He shook his head and smiled. "Nothing, Princess. I must be going soft that's all," he said. I looked at him worriedly. "What do you mean by 'going soft'?" I asked. He smiled and kissed me gently. "Nothing," he said. I still looked at him with a worried look on my face. He stroked my hair and then started asking me some really weird questions. "You really don't like being on the Negaverse, do you Justine?" he asked slyly. "What do you mean?" I asked pretending I had no idea what he was talking about. We both knew the only reason I went to the Negaverse in the first place was because I want to be with Neph and not against him, but now I was on this side because I knew that Lea wouldn't remember if her life had depended on it because it had been wiped away. "You know exactly what I mean. I have also noticed that the queen is sending you on more than your share of missions." He looked at me gravely but I stayed firm in my ground. "Neph, I know you want to know if I know who the scouts are. Well I don't know. I have wished and wished for them to reveal themselves to me. That will never come true unless I come at the right moment." "You are such a good liar, but I know you're lying." Neph kissed my cheek gently and disappeared. I know who you are sailor scouts, I thought, I am gonna reveal you to my love to help him out a little. I disappeared to earth. Everything went as it had in my dream. Neph died in my arms, while Zoicyte laughed overhead. My bitterness grew into a large energy ball which I socked at Zoicyte and covered Neph's head as it hit her. She didn't seem affected at first but she would feel it later on. The red headed girl was Molly and I knew after his death, my life would never be the same again. [an: Remember that you are required to read earlier works of mine in this series. If you haven't, make sure that you do before chapter nine comes out. I would want you to miss that one. It may be the best one.]