Well, I managed to get the second chapter out this week after all. Again,
title and name are all listed below for your convienience and it's pasted
below as well. Hope ya like it!

Title: Seals of Heart and Space
Author: E. Cypher
E-Mail: LunarEB2@aol.com
Rating: PG

Hey again, I'm back! I know I made some mistakes in the first
chapter, wording and all, but I hope you all can figure them out,
they aren't worth sending a revised version in for. Anyway, I
hope to get further with this one, and make it longer, I know
the last one was really short and I'll try to make up for it. If
any of you have ideas I'd love to hear them, I have trouble
thinking up things a lot. Also, if anyone thinks I'm not
portraying someone right, just tell me, I'll try to make it
better. Thanks again for any e-mail you may send or have sent,
it's always nice to have reading material :). Well, here comes
chapter 2, hope you enjoy it!

Chapter 2: Seals broken-First Encounters

::Lina::
        Earlier today I noticed my pendant glowing. The silver metal
of the pendant shone dully in any light, and the black onyx
swirled with some inner currents. Even with all my knowledge of
magic, this jewel is a mystery to me. The shine became brighter
the closer me and Gourry came to the seeming storm, so, as
something to do if nothing else, we decided to head that way and
find out what was going on. Currently, we're atop a hill looking
down on a small village. The storm is hanging over the village,
not moving outward in the slightest, only in its' constant swirl.
        "Lina, you have any idea what it is?" he asks, staring up at
the black gathering in the middle of a bright, sunny day.
        "Not at all, I've never seen anything like it. I guess we'd
better go find out what it is though, and why it's over this
village." I state softly, in a state of both awe and worry for
what this may hold in store. So we both start down the hill,
heading for the small town in this low valley.
        Upon nearing the town I notice no obvious signs of life. No
lights in the windows, no people walking the streets. Not even a
single merchant lines the street side. "Strange, I didn't think
this place was a ghost town." Suddenly a scream shatters the
silence and a child runs down the street towards them.
        "Help!! Help my mommy!!" She runs directly into me, sobbing
wildly. "Please..." she moans out pitifully.
        "Don't worry little girl, we'll..." I start trying to sooth
her, but then a demon comes sprinting down the street in the same
path that the girl traveled, screeching evilly. It's oddly shaped,
looking like a mix of werewolf and lizard, not a pretty sight.
        "Haaaaah!! Your energy isss mine!!" it yells out to us,
charging towards us at an amazing speed. Quickly we usher the
child over behind a building and leap out of the way just in time
to avoid getting run over. I roll out of the way and off to the
side, getting to my feet quickly. "Ahhh, a challenge, but you
have no hopesss!" With that it once again dashes toward me.
        I jump back and fling my hands out before me. "Diem Wind!" I
call out, and a burst of channeled air rockets from my hands. The
demon, unsuspecting but incredibly fast, avoids the spell with
only a stumble as the edge of the wind tunnel hits it. I gasp as
it regains it's balance and glares at me.
        "Thisss one hasss powerss ssshe doess," it hisses out, "but
sshe'ss ssstill no match for negaverssse!" And then it positions
for another charge, just as Gourry leaps at it from the side.
It's dashes off a moment before he brings down his sword, but
notices the newcomer and turns its' sprint around to him.
        I take the chance and throw my right hand over my head as if
to throw a ball. "Fire Ball!" I yell out and swing my hand
forward, releasing the ball of fire as I do so. It obviously hears
this, for it spins around just in time to look the fire right in
the face, before the ball impacts it, turning it, and the
surrounding area, to dust and ash. Panting, I walk over to the
pile, looking around at the various glowing clouds that it
released which are even now flying off. "What in the nine hells
was that?" I ask softly, more to myself, for Gourry would never
know. "It wasn't a monster or any other creature I've ever seen."
        Gourry then walks over to join her. "Lina, what was that
thing?" he asks, staring in wonder at the pile.
        "I don't know Gourry, I've never seen anything like this
either." I stare at it for a moment more, then I remember. "Oh
yeah, the little girl!" I turn and search for the girl, but she
runs off in the direction she came before I can find her.
Following her line of sight, I see a woman running toward her and
a whole group of other people spreading out, looking about
bewilderedly. I blink. "But..where'd they come from, this town
was deserted minutes ago." I head towards the area that the
people were coming from and Gourry follows along. "Or, at least
it seemed that way.."
        We arrive at the center of town and behold a large
black...hole in the air. I don't know how else to put it, it's
just there, yet it's not. "This is getting strange Lina," Gourry
says, stating my thoughts exactly.
        "No kidding," I walk toward the "hole" and look at and
around it. "It's not even thick enough to see from the side..."
Then I hold my hands out toward it, trying to identify it, or at
least if it's magical. I pull back after a short moment, gasping.
        "Lina!" Gourry exclaims, running over to me and catching me
in his arms. "What's wrong Lina? Are you okay?"
        "Yeah, I'm fine," I state steadily, never removing my eyes
from the object in front of me. "But we're in a whole lot of trouble."
        "What? Why? You know what this thing is?" he asks, gesturing
to the hole and looking at me worriedly. Sweet guy, but
incredibly dense I think to myself once again, then shake my
head.
        "Yeah, it's a portal, created by who knows what and leading
to who knows where," I say matter of factly. "But one things for
certain, that creature we fought came through here." I pull
myself out of his arms and head over to face the portal, staring
at it in wonder.
        Gourry gawks at me. "Lina, you're not actually thinking of
going through that are you??" I don't answer, just stare at it,
pondering possibilities and options. Then he jumps out in front
of me. "No Lina! It's too dangerous."
        I look from the portal, to him. "I know Gourry, but still.."
A look of indecision plays across my features. I've always been
intensely curious.
        He looks at me with a pleading face. "Oh come on Lina, give
it up for a while, things were just getting peacefu..." He
doesn't get to finish. Instead a gust of wind from the portal
pulls him IN, with me right on his tail. "Lina!" he yells and
reaches for my hand.
        I grab his just as everything goes black in my sight, and
the last thing I hear is his voice calling out my name....

Elsewhere...

::Serena::
        Panting, I finally gain the top of the steps and stand in
front of Raye's temple. I glance down at my watch. Yeeesss, I
made it on time, oooh, I can't wait to see Raye's face. I giggle
to myself and start to head inside just as Mina rushes up the
steps. Smiling, I wave a welcome. "Hi Mina!"
        "Hey there Serena, everyone else here?" she asks, walking
up to me with Artemis, literally, hot on her heels.
        "Don't know, just got here myself," I say, smiling down at
the cat. "Come on, let's go inside." We head inside to find Raye,
Lita, and Amy all there waiting. "Hi guys!"
        "Hi Serena, you've arrived just in time, the meetings just
starting," says Amy smiling.
        "Yep, I'm on time, what do you think of that Raye?" I ask,
smiling proudly at her.
        "I think that you get plenty of exercise dashing here at the
last minute to make up for your irresponsibility," Raye says in a
mocking voice.
        My head falls. "Ohhh, you're SO mean Raye!" I exclaim.
"Couldn't you just be happy that I got here on time??"
        She looks up at me, glaring. "I'll be HAPPY when you grow up
and show some responsibility towards what's important!"
        A comeback forms on my lips, but Amy cuts me off. "Stop it
you two, we have sailor business to discuss."
        I look at her pleadingly. "But she started it!" I whine.
        "Oh please Serena, can we just get on with it?" Raye
demands.
        "Oooh..." I complain as I sit down, awaiting the news.

::Raye::
        Serena slumps in defeat as Amy address' the group. "Okay,
lately Raye and I have been detecting some strange energy
readings." She pulls out her mini-computer and begins typing
away. Suddenly an image of a large dark mass of clouds appears
from the computer. "This cloud formation appeared over the city a
few days ago and oddly enough, when Raye felt a negaverse
presence yesterday, it disappeared into this area. I've analyzed
the area and found a strange anomaly, but it doesn't seem to be
evil in origin. In fact, it almost seems to be an illusion, it's
hard to pinpoint with Raye's senses or my scanning." She waves
her hand over toward Raye and a large fire burning near here.
"So now we're here to see what the fire has to say about this."
        She nods toward me. "Okay guys, now we have to concentrate
if we're to solve this thing," I glance around the room to see
Serena yawning and looking around. "That means YOU Serena!" She
snaps her attention back to me.
        "Oh, umm, what were you saying Raye?" She asks hesitantly.
        I exhale loudly, gods she can be a ditz. "WE were talking
about my reading the fire to find out about those black clouds.
Now, do you think you can pay attention Meatball Head?" I accuse
her, and instantly her eyes snap to mine in anger.
        "Don't CALLL me that!" she snaps out at me. Ha ha, here we
go.
        "And why not? It certainly seems to suit you, especially
with the spaghetti for brains you have!" I lash back at her.
        "Oooh, you're one to talk to me about brains! You
self-absorbed pyro twit!" Self-absorbed? Me? She'll pay for that
one. Still, at least she retorts instead of lapsing into tears
now.
        "What? Why you..." however that's all I can get out before
Lita jumps in between us.
        "HEY! Enough already!" she yells out. Serena and I both look
up at here as if she'd appeared out of nowhere. "Geez, I thought
we had business to discuss."
        I stick out my tongue at Serena, which she promptly returns,
and turn back to the flame. "Now, if there are no more
interruptions," I glare over at Serena, "let's find out what's
behind this." I put my hands together as if in prayer and close
my eyes. "Oh Sacred Flame, help us find our answers, show us the
origin behind the ominous black clouds." I open my eyes and gaze
into the dancing flames as an image slowly comes into focus. A
vision of a man appears, dressed in long, black robes. He wears
a pendant around his neck, a small, silver object bearing a
crescent moon design with a small onyx on one side, and images of
the four elements on the other. He stands with his arms wide,
laughing as the area around him becomes dark. Then suddenly, the
fire turns inward on itself and engulfs the image, leaving only a
faint trace of ash before that too fades away. Shaking our heads
to clear the trance, we all turn to each other.
        "Who was that man?" Amy asks. "Anyone know?" We all shake
our heads simultaneously, she sighs. All is silent for a few
minutes as we all ponder over what we saw. Why would the fire
just turn on the image like that, I wonder to myself, and why
would it leave that after image unless...Of course! The fire
that destroyed him was part of the image! Still, all we know is
that he was somehow behind this, him and that odd pendant...
        "That pendant he was wearing," Serena says, the first to
voice her thoughts, "it looked so much like my brooch, yet the
coloring was all wrong, and the back was different as well."
        "Yeah," Lita says slowly, "and he was doing something with
it. I swear it looked like it was glowing...black. Almost as if
it was shining with an absence of light." Man, this all sounded
worse and worse.
        "One thing I noticed," I speak out, "is how the fire
destroyed him in the end. It looked as if the Sacred Flame had
merely ended the image, but if so it wouldn't have left that
trace afterwards. No, I think that some fire killed the man
himself." I almost shudder, since I control fire and this
could be a premonition as well as an insight into the past. What
if I... No time to worry about that now.
        "So now what I wonder," Amy ponders aloud. "We still know no
more about what to do with the clouds then we used to." She sighs
aloud. "And the strange disappearance of the nega being is almost
as if.." Just then however both cats, whom none of the girls
noticed leaving, bolt into the room.
        "We've picked up an energy surge from the area around the
clouds!" Luna shouts as she runs into the room. "We must check it
out, transform scout, now!" Well, whatever it is, we'll find out
now.
        "Right!" we say together.
        "Mars Power!"
        "Mercury Power!"
        "Jupiter Power!"
        "Venus Power!"
        "Moon Prism Power!"
        They're each enveloped in their respective powers and emerge
in full suit. "Follow us!" Luna yells as she and Artemis sprint
out the door. "We'll show you the way!" Immediately we all take
off in pursuit.
        We all arrive just in time to see the dark clouds fading
away to the normal bright blue sky. "What in the world..." I
question to no one in particular.
        Amy looks down at Luna. "What happened Luna?" Luna however
was standing there gaping at the now empty sky.
        "I don't know Mercury, the surge ended and the clouds went
with it." She stood there looking around for any signs of the odd
occurrence, but there were none in sight. "Well, I guess we'd
better check in with Central Contr.."
        "Hold it scouts!" I exclaim quickly, silencing Luna. "I'm
sensing an evil presence nearby, could be from the negaverse."
We all glance around carefully as I try to pinpoint the source.
Then the feeling hits me again like a wave and I snap my head up
to see a large demon drop toward her. "Scatter!" The other scouts
shoot a look up before leaping to the side, as do I. We land in
almost a star formation around the creature as it lands an turns
to growl at us. It's very large, about eight feet tall, and has
brown hair covering it's body everywhere but it's feet and face,
with a strip of hair along the backbone. It has a horn over each
eye which bends backwards then up to the sides of its' head and
long teeth, unnaturally so. A bestially demonic face now glares
at them through bright red eyes.
        "Ahhh! What is that?" Serena screams. "The negaverse is
getting creative, I've never seen one THIS scary before!" She
shudders, but begins her routine. "Hey you! I am Sailor Moon!
Champion of Justice! In the name of the moon, I will right wrongs
and triumph over evil, and that means YOU nega scum!" It turns to
her and roars before shooting a stream of flame from its' mouth,
which she narrowly avoids with a shriek. I sigh, she always was
all talk.
        I clasp my hands with index fingers together, pointing
outward. "Mars Fire...Ignite!" A small ball of flame spirals from
my fingertips to slam into the creature. The impact jars it, but
then it turns to her with hair aflame and blows another blast of
its' own flame at her. I gasp in surprise but leap from the
fire's path just in time to feel nothing but the intense heat.
"Well, it's pretty tough!"
        "Don't worry Mars, I'll get it!" Venus calls out, taking
her stance she points her arm up. "Venus Crescent Beam Smash!"
With that she brings her arm forward and an intense beam of light
shoots from the end. Lurching forward with a growl of pain as
its' back is charred by the light, it swirls around and charges
on all fours directly for the unfortunate scout. "What?? How's
it still coming!" Quickly, Jupiter leaps from the side, knocking
Venus and herself from its' path. It slides to a halt and begins
to turn on the duo.
        "Jupiter! Venus!" Mercury yells in fear, then gathers her
arms against her body. "Mercury Bubble...Blast!" Flinging her
arms outward, the area is enveloped in an obscuring mist,
bringing the demon to a halt.
        "Thanks Mercury, my turn now!" Sailor Moon exclaims and
raises her hand to her tiara. It comes off with ease and she
pulls her arm back as if to throw a discus. "Moon Tiara...Magic!"
She then throws her arm forward and releases the now glowing disc
of energy straight towards their opponent. The demon opens its'
mouth in an attempt to deflect the disc with a burst of flame
right as the tiara pierces its' body, turning it a glowing white
before disintegrating into nothingness...

::Serena::
        "I may be wrong, but that didn't seem like the normal nega
monster." Lita was saying as we walked home from out encounter,
now in civilian dress.
        "No kidding," says Mina. "Not only couldn't it speak, but it
didn't try to drain our energy at all, it just seemed like it
wanted to kill us."
        We had all been discussing our battle the entire way home,
and we were no closer to really understanding it all then we had
been. "Ooh, it's getting late." I say suddenly. "I'd better get
home. See you later guys!" I wave as I head off a different
direction. They all wave back and continue on, talking amongst
themselves.
        As I arrive home I smell food cooking in the kitchen. Humm,
dinner, I didn't realize how hungry I was! "Hi Mom! I'm home!" I
yell and see my mom, Elaine, step out of the kitchen to welcome
me.
        "Oh hi Serena. You're just in time," she says, smiling at
me. "Now go wash up and get ready for dinner," Then she turns and
reenters the kitchen. I rub my hands together in delight and run
upstairs to wash my hands and redo my hair, it wasn't in the best
shape after the fight. As she heads back down the stairs, a
smaller form bolts past her.
        "About time you got home! And just in time to pig out, of
course you wouldn't miss that!" my little brother, Sammy, says in
his incredibly annoying voice as he rushes past me.
        "What?? I do NOT pig out! Get back here you little pest!" I
scramble down the stairs after him and head for the dining room.
        "Now calm down you two," comes my father's voice, Ken, who
is helping my mom with the food.
        Sammy is instantly forgotten as my eyes fall upon those
delicious dishes my mother made up and I plop into my seat,
almost drooling in anticipation. The meal passes without
incident, unless you consider my brother starting more arguments,
and I was just about done when a question from my mother caught
my attention. "Oh, and by the way Serena, I ran into a boy at
the store today, and he said he knew you. Nice boy by the name of
Darian, remember him?" she glances at me questioningly.
        "Nice Guy?? No Way! He is a totally conceited jerk!" I exclaim.
"He's
constantly teasing me! Although..." I pause
momentarily, "he was being nice for some reason the other day," I
begin thinking back to that time. He was so nice, I wonder what
it'd be like if he always treated me like that. I sigh dreamily,
then snap out of it quickly. NO! I don't like him!
        I wasn't quick enough to pass my brother's notice however.
"Serena's got a crush on Darian!" He began chanting, over and
over.
        "I do NOT!" I yell back. "Just wait till I catch you, you
little worm!" With that we both leap from our chairs and race
down the hall. The chase ends when Sammy bolts into his room and
slams the door behind him. "Sammy!"
        "Serena! Leave your brother alone and come finish your
dinner," my mom calls out to me. I trudge back to the table and
plop into the seat.
        "I'm really not hungry any more mom, could I just get to
bed? I'm really tired," I say, face hanging.
        "You not hungry? Are you alright Serena? You're not feeling
sick or anything are you?" she questions me with concern.
        "Yeah, I'm just really worn out, may I leave?" I look up at
her again.
        She smiles at me. "Of course Dear, good night then," she
says softly.
        "Good night mom, dad," and I get out of the seat and make my
way upstairs to my room.
        "Good night Serena," my dad says. Then glances at my mom
once I'm gone. "I wonder what's gotten into her today?" Elaine
just shrugs and they go back to their dinner and conversation.
        Once in my room I change into my pajamas and slip into the
bed. Suddenly I hear a cat screech, then a thud. Oh my gosh! I
forgot Luna was on the bed. I quickly sit up. "Oh I'm sooo sorry
Luna! I wasn't paying attention," I apologize quickly as Luna
climbs back up to the foot of the bed.
        "Going to be early Serena? That's not like you," Luna speaks
out. "Are you feeling okay?"
        I simply sigh. "Yeah, there's just been a lot going on
lately. What with that powerful demon, that strange almost
replica of my brooch, and even Darian's strange behavior..." I
add that last part on as only an afterthought, but it transforms
into my primary thoughts. Hmm, it's too bad I had to leave so
fast, he was actually being almost decent for once. I wonder...
        Suddenly my thoughts were..interrupted. "Serena!!" Luna
yells, trying to get my attention, and succeeds as I snap from my
daydream.
        "Huh? What did you say Luna?" I ask innocently. Her head
drops.
        "Oh never mind, just get some rest Serena," she then curls
up at the end of the bed.
        "Ok, good night Luna," I lay back down on the pillow and
stare out my window. So many strange things going on, too much
for me, leave the strategy up to the rest! With a yawn, I turn
over and fall asleep...

Midafternoon the next day...

::Gourry::
        Slowly, I wake up and open my eyes to a bright sky. My
head's buzzing, but I can't seem to remember why. I feel a body
on top of me and look down to see a head of red hair lying on my
chest. Lina's unconscious? What in the world happened? I shake
Lina gently to waken her. "Lina, hey Lina wake up."
        She moans softly and turns over to see me looking down at
her with my arms on her shoulders. "Wha.." then her eyes snap
into focus. "What do you think you're doing!!" She slams my head
backward and jumps to her feet.
        "OW! Lina, I don't remember either, I just woke up," I say
as I prop myself up on my elbow and rub my head. I swear, I get
more bruises from her temper then from all the battles of my
life. "So where are we Lina?"
        She glances around. "I'm not sure, I remember..." she looks
down. "I remember falling into that portal right behind you and
everything going black." Her head comes back up and she looks
over at me. "So I guess we're at the other end of the tunnel."
I climb to my feet and look around to see trees with pink
blossoms covering the area around us. Suddenly we hear the sounds
of people, a large group, approaching. A pack of kids led by a
woman in a red dress pass by on a path through the tree's, or,
they start to, but the woman turns and sees the pair of us
standing there alone.
        "Hey, you there!" she calls over, then turns and tells the
kids to wait for her before running over to us. "Where's your
group, are you lost?"
        Lina blinks up at her. "Group?" She glances over at me, I
shrug.
        "Yes, your class group, and why are you so dirty?" For the
first time I realize that Lina and I both are covered in road
dust and such, and the fight didn't help either. "Who's your
teacher?"
        "Teacher?" Lina asks, staring at her, looking confused.
"But I don't go to school." Hmm, she does look about the size
of those other kids, that woman must think she's a student! I
guess she passes me off as older then that.
        "You don't WHAT?" the woman gasps. "Well, we'll take care of
that, where're your parents?" She demands, looking around.
        "Umm, I haven't seen my parents in over a year." Lina states
 now looking calmly up at the woman. "I travel alone, well," she
pauses as she glances at me, "almost alone, and I haven't been to
school in years."
        The woman looks down at her compassionately. "Oh you poor
girl, you must've been abandoned." She doesn't let Lina express
an arguement before continuing. "Well, we'll fix that. I'm Miss
Haruna, you'll join my class for today and we'll see about your
schooling and housing when we get back." She grabs Lina's hand
and start's leading, or dragging, her off.
        Lina immediately starts arguing. "What? No wait, I don't.."
but then Miss Haruna shushes her. Lina looks back to me almost in
panic. "No, wait, Gourry!"
        Miss Haruna pauses and turns. "Oh yeah, your friend. Come to
the Junior High after school and we'll see what we can do about
you two." With that, she turns and drags Lina away again. Lina,
seeing that she's not going to win this argument and not willing
to harm the woman, uses her free hand to detach her sword sheath
from her belt, letting it fall to the ground.
        Then she looks up at me calmly and shrugs. "See you after..
school, Gourry." And then she's arranged with the class and they
all head off, with me standing with an incredibly dumbfounded
look.
        "Okay, what just happened?" I blink and shake my head before
heading to pick up Lina's sword. Man, that woman was determined.
"And I thought Lina was a ball of fire, I wonder how those two
will get along..." I shrug and head off to explore the world
that manages to contain THAT one...

Well, I got the second chapter out this week after all. It's a
bit longer, hope you all like it. Oh, and just in case you were
wondering, Lina and the scouts are all 14 years old and in 8th
grade. Darian's 19, and Gourry's 18. Less confusing now? Hope so.
Take care all, see ya next chapter!