Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ Crystal Flaws - Book 2 - Crystal Fears ❯ Chapter 1

Author's Note - This story, "Crystal Fears", is the second part of my five part series, "Crystal Flaws". Enjoy! ^_^

 

 

 

 

His eyes scanned the area. [Good,] he thought. [No one's here.] He took two quick steps then silently launched himself from the ground to the roof of the building concealing him. Immediately, he flattened against the roof by the edge, and his black fatigues helped him blend in. He peeked over the roof edge, smiling to himself as he spotted his victim. She wore an orange Planet Senshi's uniform and a red bow held back her long golden mane. He silently mouthed her name, “Sailor Venus.” She was carefully searching the area, but her mistake was in not looking up. Sailor Venus walked along the side of the building. When she walked under him he silently rolled off the roof. Grabbing her head, he pushed her face down in the dirt as he landed next to her. He had a large green dot in the hand he held over her eyes. He rubbed it on her forehead then sprung away out of sight before she sat up.

 

Venus started cursing under her breath as she tugged the dot off her face. “Damn him! Some day, powers allowed or not, I'm going to wrap my Love Me Chain around his neck and pull it tight! He knows I hate face plants!” Venus was still muttering to herself as she walked to a bench. She sat down, wiped her face and pouted as she waited for the others.

 

Sailor Mercury, who knew her enemy's favorite hiding places, nonchalantly walked under a tree. She heard a branch snap. Quickly, she sidestepped as a young man in black landed face down on the ground at her feet. Mercury winced as she thought, [I bet that hurt.] She checked his vital signs and saw he was only knocked out by the fall. Placing a large green dot on the back of his hand, she walked away.

 

Sailor Mars vaulted over a large boulder. She landed facing a man in black who had been crouched down behind the boulder. She held a green dot in her hand and so did he. They started fighting hand to hand. Almost immediately the man was face down on the ground with a green dot on his back.

 

Sailor Jupiter had also planted her green dot on a man in black. Jupiter, Mars and Mercury walked together into the clearing and rang a bell. They looked at Venus sitting on the bench and waved to her tauntingly. Venus stuck her tongue out at them.

 

The man who had tagged Venus heard the bell. He stood up from where he was concealed with a sigh. He knew he had one minute to get to the clearing or all three Senshi would come looking for him. He walked past one of his comrades, the one Mercury had tagged. [Thanks for your help,] he thought sarcastically.

 

As he stepped into the clearing, the morning sun caught the mahogany highlights in his dark brown hair. His startling, midnight blue eyes showed amusement as he walked past Venus and winked. Smiling back, Venus warned, “Don't be so proud of yourself. I will get you back for the face plant next time!”

 

Corporal Terrance Donovan, one of Crystal Tokyo's finest Elite Military soldiers, walked up to the other three Planet Senshi and stood at attention. He waited for the inevitable discussion on whose turn it was to fight.

 

Sailor Mars said, “As usual you're the only one left and there are still three of us. Whose turn is it to fight you today?”

 

Terrance answered with a smile, “It's Venus' turn.” He could see Venus scowl from the bench. She hated being tagged out on her day to fight.

 

Mars answered, “Yes, but she's out.” She turned to Mercury, “Did you fight this week yet?”

 

Mercury answered, “Yes, on Monday.”

 

Mars turned to Jupiter, “I guess it's my turn. You fought on Wednesday right?”

 

Jupiter tried not to pout as she conceded it was Mars' turn.

 

Jupiter and Mercury joined Venus on the bench while Mars and Terrance squared off. Terrance looked forward to practicing hand to hand combat with the Planet Senshi and that's why he volunteered for Planet Senshi practice duty. He usually got the tar beat out of him, but at least it was a challenge. Terrance and Mars exchanged fast kicks and turns and blocks. After a couple of minutes, Terrance knew he was on the defensive. He could not quite keep up with the speed of Mars' moves and she only needed his slightest hesitation to take him down.

 

“Thank you Terrance for a good match as always,” Mars said with a smile as she offered him a hand up.

 

Terrance brushed himself off and said, “Thank you, too, and I'll see you all next practice. Bye.”

 

The four Senshi walked away from the practice area together. “I did a scan while Terrance was fighting. His speed and agility are amazing for someone who's not a Senshi,” Sailor Mercury said.

 

“Well, it's our good fortune that he has exceptional fighting skills. It gets boring when we only have each other to battle,” Jupiter noted.

 

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Crystal Tokyo's Elite Military was instituted soon after the Darkmoon invasion. It consisted of the best soldiers in the Sol Planetary System and the Senshi. CTEM duties consisted of Royal Palace Guards, Interplanetary Diplomatic Escort Corp, Covert Interplanetary Missions and Interplanetary War Force.

 

Corporal Terrance Donovan of Earth's Northern continent was a CTEM soldier assigned to Royal Palace Guard duty. King Endymion was directly involved in overseeing CTEM soldier training. He noticed Terrance's fighting abilities, speed and endurance during training exercises. The King pointed Terrance out to Sailor Jupiter. She told him that Terrance was one of the few soldiers who could hold his own against the Planet Senshi during practice.

 

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Fourteen-year old Small Lady was ecstatic. She had finally managed to ditch the four young Asteroid Senshi assigned to her on her birthday. Her entire life she had been watched over by either her parents or the Planet Senshi, who were both her school instructors and guardians. It had been too easy to slip away from the inexperienced new Senshi. Small Lady was looking forward to many opportunities of blissful freedom and solitude. She used her first hard won chance to go horseback riding to a swimming pond at the base of a cliff, deep in the woods.

 

It didn't take long for someone to notice Small Lady was missing. Her new Senshi didn't know where she was, and soon the entire palace was alerted to find her. Terrance was searching the stables and he noticed a horse was missing. He found and followed the fresh tracks and quickly caught up to Small Lady. She saw Terrance riding toward her and attempted to use her budding Senshi abilities to hide from him. She failed, and fell off her horse into the mud. Terrance laughed at her as he caught her horse. He brought a dirty, furious and very embarrassed Small Lady back to the Crystal Palace to face an angry Sailor Mars and parents.

 

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A few weeks later, Small Lady managed to cajole and bully her Senshi into sneaking out of the palace to go shopping in Crystal Tokyo. Terrance, by sheer luck saw them at the public transport station while he was off duty. The Senshi blanched when they saw his familiar imposing face as they quickly stepped back away from him.

 

Small Lady scowled at them reproachfully as she thought, [Cowards!] She turned toward Terrance with wide innocent looking eyes and a smile. Small Lady then made the mistake of attempting to flirt with him as she asked him to join their little adventure.

 

Terrance laughed at her attempt to lure him into her plan. Suddenly, he stepped closer to her. He quickly bent down to stared straight into Small Lady's eyes with a firm, menacing glare. He stated loudly, so the Senshi would also be sure to hear, “Princess, I'd sooner put you over my knee and spank your royal ass than take you up on your offer! Now, march that ass back to the palace or I will be forced to use said method of persuasion. Please be assured, I would not hesitate to do so.”

 

Small Lady's face turned crimson as she gulped back her retort of, “You wouldn't dare!”

 

Terrance quickly led five very subdued young ladies back to the Crystal Palace. Small Lady and her Senshi got into a whole lot of trouble.

 

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That evening after dinner, Small Lady was standing in a hallway alcove. She stared out the window at the darkness resentfully. She muttered, “All I wanted to do was go shopping without having to schedule it 3 months in advance and without an entourage of thirty people plus paparazzi!”

 

As she sullenly sulked, she overheard her father talking farther down the hall, “Terrance, a moment please?”

 

Footsteps ceased and Terrance responded, “Yes, Sire?”

 

King Endymion continued, “I was told my daughter behaved inappropriately with you this afternoon. I wish to apologize for her rudeness. I also want to thank you for the wisdom, restraint and decorum you used to handle the situation.”

 

Terrance responded, “Thank you sir, I am honored to do my duty for you.”

 

King Endymion chuckled, “Well, I think having to deal with a disobedient Princess and her friends is well beyond a soldier's normal duty!” Both men laughed as they walked away.

 

Small Lady was seething and embarrassed. It was like someone had poured salt on her already wounded pride. [How dare they!] She thought, [They spoke about me like I'm a child!]

 

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One of Small Lady's punishments, decided by the Planet Senshi, was that she would now participate in military training with her own Senshi. They hoped this would build some discipline in her, and in all of them as a team. This would replace her training with the Planet Senshi.

 

Small Lady didn't really think this was a punishment until her first day. She was told to use her power and physical prowess to stay in the outlined playing area. The other team consisted of volunteer CTEM soldiers. The goal was to avoid being physically tagged by the other team while trying to tag as many of them as possible before the time was up. The markers were adhesive, fluorescent green, palm size dots that needed to be pressed on hard to make them stick. Small Lady soon realized her team was outnumbered and outmatched. There was almost no way they could win, even with their powers! It didn't help that the Soldier Team was increased by three but the young Senshi team was only increased by one. By the end of the practice all five girls were dirty, bruised, tired and grumpy.

 

Small Lady asked her Senshi, “Do you like this?”

 

Sailor Ceres answered with resentment, “No, and there's still more to come.”

 

Before Small Lady could ask what Sailor Ceres had meant, Sailor Jupiter called the teams to attention. The younger Senshi sighed as Jupiter declared the Soldier Team had won and could be dismissed.

 

Jupiter then pointed to a large pile of buckets, cleaning supplies, brooms and mops. She barked, “Girls, move it! You have two hours to complete the job and pass inspection, or you will loose the next practice by default even if you win.”

 

The younger Senshi grabbed their supplies and started to run. Small Lady could hear them grumbling about the time limit as they ran off. Totally confused, Small Lady grabbed her things and struggled to catch up. She wondered what they were going to clean.

 

They turned a corner and Small Lady gasped. They were standing in front of the soldier's barracks.

 

“Whaaaatt??!! We have to clean them?!” Small Lady shrieked incredulously.

 

The four Senshi turned toward her and glared. Sailor Juno growled, “Yes, we each have a building to complete then have it inspected by Sailor Mars. Also, thank you for our new time limit!” Her sarcasm was palpable.

 

Small Lady hung her head as she fought back the tears in her eyes. She whispered, “I'm sorry. I did get us into this.”

 

The four girls sighed then Sailor Vesta said, “Fine, just do your part so we have a small chance of winning next time. A list of jobs is posted on back of the front door. Do a good job. Mars doesn't miss a thing!”

 

Each barrack held twelve sets of bunk beds, twenty-four lockers, three shower stalls, three toilets, two urinals, four bathroom sinks, a full kitchen and a living room. The cleaning list was long and explicit. Small Lady groaned as she realized fifteen minutes had already gone by.

 

One hour thirty minutes later, the other four girls impatiently stood by Small Lady's barrack door while she frantically rushed to finish the job.

 

“Can't you help me?” Small Lady begged.

 

“Not if we want to keep our skins on, so hurry up!” Sailor Ceres tersely replied.

 

Five minutes later they started to yell out to Small Lady the things that wouldn't pass inspection. To her credit there weren't many, but she was in tears by the time she finished. The four girls bolted to Sailor Mars' office and asked her to inspect the last barrack. Three minutes later Sailor Mars proclaimed the job well done.

 

Each girl wearily and painfully headed toward her room for a much-needed rest. Small Lady's room was the farthest away and she decided to take a shortcut through the gardens. She wasn't paying much attention to anything and was startled when Terrance said hello. Small Lady was too tired and sore to even be angry for his part in her misery. She smiled wanly and continued to walk.

 

Terrance reached out and held her arm to stop her from walking away. He winced and quickly let go when he saw her expression of pain and heard her sharp intake of breath. “I'm sorry, I didn't realize your arm hurt,” he said.

 

Small Lady hugged her arms to her body and said, “That's okay. Everything else of mine hurts too. You can't make it much worse. Anyway, what do you want? I'm late for an appointment with my bed.”

 

Terrance smiled sympathetically at her feeble attempt at levity. “Um, I just wanted to see how you're doing, but I guess I already know the answer. Senshi training and barracks duty is pretty rough,” he said as he reached out to gently take her hands and look at her palms. “The hands get it the worst I think.” He winced again as he saw her scraped and reddened skin.

 

Small Lady was struck dumb by his sympathy. She started to try to find some energy to be able to resent him and his part in her agony, but an almost imperceptible warm feeling on her palms distracted her. She looked at her hands and realized his large hands completely engulfed, but were barely touching, her smaller hands. She thought she saw a slight golden glow between their hands, but then he slowly slid his hands away.

 

Small Lady was shocked to see her palms were healed and her hands didn't hurt. She looked up amazed then looked back down at her hands. “Thank you,” she quietly said.

 

Terrance smiled and said, “You better hurry or you'll miss that bed appointment,” as he walked away.

 

Later that night Small Lady woke up and thought about what Terrance had done. She almost thought she had imagined it, but her smooth hands and still aching everything else was proof it really had happened. She realized it had felt similar to the times her father had kissed the hurt away from the bumps and bruises, cuts and scrapes she had got while playing when she was a child. Her daddy was always the best at making the hurt stop. She wondered why Terrance seemed to have a similar ability.

 

 

 

Continued…

 

This story was edited by Meara, one of the *BEST* editors in the entire world! (I'm *SO LUCKY* to have had her help!! Thank you Meara! ^_^ ) Meara is also one of the greatest Sailor Moon Fanfiction authors around. If you haven't read her stories then do so right away! ^_^

Thank you for reading my story. I hope you enjoyed it. If you did like my story, or if you have any (politely worded) suggestions/comments about my story, please let me know. I truly appreciate feedback. (The notification emails also remind me to post the next chapter ^_^; ) You can email me at ndeblock@att.net .



Bye, Luna Hope



Disclaimer: Sailor Moon and all her friends (except for Terrance Donovan - He's mine! ^_^ ) don't belong to me. They belong to Naoko Takeuchi. I just borrowed them for a little bit of fun.