Chapter 6: Discoveries
Queen and Princess Serenity, Endymion, Ami, and Jadeite all sat down in Princess Serenity’s sitting room, which was across the hall and looked at each other for a few moments. Finally, Endymion spoke up. “Did you find out anything from the attacker, Jadeite?” he asked quietly. Jadeite shook his head slightly. “Not really. He refused to talk to me. He said he was from Earth and that his name is Toukai. That’s all he would admit to. He refused to give anymore information, including what kingdom he was from.” Jadeite responded as he looked around the room, his eyes settling on Endymion after a moment. “I think we all know who he’s from however. His attack was very similar to an attack years ago on me. Ami and Amanda’s mother died in that attack…saving me.” Queen Serenity said softly, looking away for a moment and taking a breath. It still hurt her to think about the loss of her friend Anna, the Queen of Mercury. “He was one of Metallica’s slaves…the attack was very similar to this one…except that it was a poison tipped arrow. I sealed Metallica into the void but she has escaped…we’ve heard rumors she may be haunting her old lands again and possessed Queen Beryl…but we haven’t been able to confirm that.” Queen Serenity added after a few moments. Endymion nodded slightly. “We’ve heard similar rumors. We know that Beryl has changed a lot of the past couple of years and that poison darts and poison arrows have become her specialty for assassinations and killings. This is very similar as you say, Queen Serenity. We will need to send an undercover team to investigate this now that her power seems to be getting stronger.” Endymion replied quietly.
The group turned as they heard Amanda and Edward walk into the room. “What’s this about Beryl?” Amanda asked curiously as she sat down on a nearby couch, Edward close at her side. “We think Beryl and Metallica are behind this. Amanda’s eyes widened slightly. “I’ve heard the rumors but I never thought…” she said and then sighed. “I should have mentioned this last night but I thought I was imagining things…When Edward and I announced our engagement and wedding, I saw someone at the back of the room…my first thought was that it was Beryl but I didn’t think she’d be stupid enough to come here…she knows she’s suspected of being involved with Metallica. It would be insane for her to come here… or so I thought.” Edward and Endymion stared at her in surprise, along with the rest of the room. Queen Serenity sighed. “So it begins again…” she whispered. The others looked at her questioningly. “Before I was attacked and your mother…was killed…Metallica showed up at the ball the night before. She was bolder then…she showed herself to everyone and threatened my life before the entire room full of guests. My guards tried to grab her but she disappeared into thin air. After your mother’s death, we searched everywhere for her but she was nowhere to be found. When we finally found her a few years later, I sealed her away. She was strong even then…near impossible to kill. I wanted to kill her then but I knew it would take the full strength of the crystal and it would require my life. I knew Princess Serenity was still too young to rule…and if I died at such a crucial time it would throw everything into chaos…so I sealed her away. I thought that I would be able to eventually cleanse her or kill her…whatever it took once things calmed down and Sere is old enough just in case.” Queen Serenity sighed softly. “So we need to work up a plan…we’ll need to get the captain of the guard in here and get some things set up…beef up security around the palace especially. If they’re coming out again we need to be prepared to bring them down for good this time. We also need to see if we can get anything more out of this guy that attacked today.” Amanda said quietly as she looked to Queen Serenity. “Also, we need to get some reconnaissance from Beryl’s kingdom. Find out exactly what’s going on in there.” She added a moment later as she looked over at Endymion and Edward. Edward nodded slightly. I’ll speak with Dad in a little while and have him get that set up. It may take some time to get the right person for the job but we’ll get someone out there as soon as we can.” Edward replied as he looked from Amanda to Queen Serenity. “I’ll see if I can scan the area and get some more information. With the right program, I should be able to at least get an idea on the location of Metallica and Beryl and perhaps even keep a tap on them.” Ami added a moment later. Queen Serenity nodded in agreement. “Ok then…I guess we should get started. I’ll call a meeting with my court and with the captain of the guard and we’ll all meet around…let’s say right after lunch. That’ll give us all a few minutes to relax before lunch and freshen up a bit. Let’s meet in the throne room office. That way we’ll have access to all the computers and everything as well.” Queen Serenity affirmed as she looked around the group. “I’ll find Minako, Makoto, and Rei in the meantime.” Princess Serenity added quietly. Endymion nodded. “I’ll help find them since I’m sure Kunzite, Zoicite, and Nephrite are with them.” Endymion added. Everyone looked at each other for a moment and then nodded. Queen Serenity headed back to a meeting that she had rushed out of while Ami, Jadeite, Amanda, and Edward all headed back to Amanda and Ami’s suite of rooms. Princess Serenity and Endymion headed out to locate the other Senshi.
In the Mercurian suite…
Ami quickly walked into her room, grabbing her laptop and minicomputer and carrying them back into the sitting room. She sat down at a desk against the wall and laid them out as Amanda, Edward and Jadeite discussed strategies for dealing with this. “We’re going to need as much information as we can get. Since Metallica’s last attack affected us so much, we’ve done a lot of research on Metallica. We have gathered quite a bit of information but so much of her has changed…she’s joined with Beryl and I’m sure her time in the void has given her time to strategize and plan for when she got out…We’ll need to get down to the dungeon and try to get more information out of that attacker. Jadeite…you did make sure the guards knew to watch him closely so he couldn’t try suicide or anything like that right?” Amanda said quickly. Jadeite nodded. “Yes, I gave them explicit instructions to watch him like a hawk and warned them of the possibilities of suicide and that we needed him for information. They swore not to let him out of their sight for a moment.” Jadeite replied. Amanda nodded slightly and looked over to Ami. “How’s that program coming, Ames?” she asked quickly. Ami glanced back at the group. “I’ve almost got the program ready for a practice run so I can test for any bugs in it. I’d say…maybe half an hour?” Ami replied. Amanda nodded slightly. “Good…we’ll have it ready in time for lunch then. Let me know when it’s ready…Jadeite, stay and help her out if you don’t mind. Edward and I are going to see if we can get anything else out of our little friend in the dungeon.” Amanda replied as she stood. Edward and Jadeite stood quickly and Jadeite bowed slightly before walking over and taking a chair to sit beside Ami as they began working together on completing the program. Amanda smiled back to her sister before she and Edward headed toward the dungeon.
They arrived a few moments later and stopped at the entrance while Amanda quietly transformed, smirking slightly at her new fuku. “It’s going to take me a while to get used to this…” she grumbled beneath her breath as her staff appeared beside her and she gripped it lightly. Edward chuckled as he placed a gentle hand on her back and they walked into the dungeon area and headed toward the guard. “Where is the prisoner that was brought in today?” Amanda asked. “He’s in cell C.” he said and opened the locked gate area and pointed down a hallway to the left. “It’s the 3rd cell on your right.” He said as they turned. Amanda nodded and thanked him as they walked down to the 3rd cell. They quickly noticed that there was a guard sitting in a chair directly in front of the cell. The guard jumped up, bowing quickly. Amanda motioned for him to leave. “We’ll call you when we’re done.” She said quietly. The guard nodded, bowing again before going back the way they had come in. Amanda looked through the energy wall at the man in the small cell. The energy wall was set to 1-way so they could see into the cell but the man couldn’t see out. Amanda motioned at the wall, telekinetically flipping a switch that made it where the man could see through the wall. The man’s eyes widened slightly. “No…you should be dead by now…” he whispered. Amanda chuckled as she telekinetically flipped another switch and walked through the wall of energy with Edward at her side, the energy wall immediately hardening again behind them. “Well I’m not…it’s amazing what healing powers can do isn’t it.” She said quietly, turning slightly so he could see there wasn’t even a scratch left. She glared at him slightly before extending her free hand and lifting him into the air, off of the cot he’d been sitting on. The man looked around in fear. “Now who are you?” Amanda asked, her tone deadly. “I…My name is Toukai…I’m from Earth…” he replied quickly, his feet swinging as he seemed to try to struggle against her powers and get his feet back on the ground. Her telekinetic grip tightened as she lifted him higher. “Who do you work for? Who sent you here?” she asked, her voice deadly quiet. “B-Beryl…She…She sent me here to try to kill the princess.” He replied, his voice shaky as she pushed him against the wall. “Is Beryl on the moon?” Amanda glared at him. “She was… yesterday at the ball…She gave me my orders this morning and left…I haven’t seen her since… I swear!” he replied, grunting as she pressed him harder against the wall. “Is Beryl working with Metallica?” Edward asked quickly. Toukai looked between them in fear as Amanda threw him against the other wall and held him there. “OK, OK! She has a mirror…in her room. I’ve seen her talk to herself while looking in that mirror. But there’s a different face in the mirror…not her own.” The man pause for a moment and Amanda squeezed slightly. The man grunted in pain. “Yes! Yes they work together…the face in the mirror is Metallica’s. Metallica is Beryl’s mother…when she escaped from the void Metallica possessed Beryl.” Amanda and Edward looked at each other in surprise. ‘Metallica was Beryl’s mother? Why didn’t we know that?’ Amanda thought before looking back at Toukai. “What are they planning?!” Amanda shouted. “I don’t know! Please…I swear I’m telling the truth…I don’t know anything else. All I know is that I was told to attack Princess Serenity!” Toukai replied, fear obvious in his voice. Amanda telekinetically threw him onto the cot as she and Edward turned and walked out, immediately replacing the barrier so that Toukai couldn’t see out of the room again. They watched for a moment silently. The man was crumpled up on the couch, looking at the energy wall that seemed like a mirror to him in fear as if they would kill him. “We have to get back to the others and let them know what we found out.” Amanda said as they quickly walked out of the dungeon, her transformation melting away to reveal her sundress she’d been wearing earlier.
They walked back into the sitting room to see Ami and Jadeite just finishing up on the program. “Well we found something out at least…Metallica is Beryl’s mother… and let’s just say them working together is no longer a rumor. Unfortunately, Toukai didn’t know anything about their plans. Metallica has possessed Beryl and they were here on the moon last night. They apparently left early this morning before the attack, giving the man orders to attack Princess Serenity today.” Amanda said quickly as she leaned over Ami’s shoulder to look at the program they had just finished testing. Ami looked up at her sister and blinked in surprise. “Metallica is Beryl’s mother?” she asked. Amanda nodded. “Yeah she is…How’s the program coming? We need to get information on where they’re located now.” Amanda asked quickly. Ami shook her head slightly. “Just finished. It’s up and running. All we have to do is load it onto Queen Serenity’s computer in the meeting room behind the throne room. It’s the one we’ll need to implement the program the best.” Ami replied. Amanda nodded and looked at her watch. “Well, bring it with you and we’ll load it up right after lunch. Right now we need to get to lunch or we’ll be late.” Amanda said as she quickly moved to gather up a couple of things they would need at the meeting.
They soon had everything together with Edward and Jadeite helping to carry a couple of things. They dropped everything off in the meeting room and then hurried to the small dining hall. They walked in just as everyone was sitting down to lunch. “Hey Amanda, Ami…I see you two finally made it.” Rei said with a grin as she sat down. Amanda chuckled lightly. “Sorry, we’ve had a few things going on. Did Sere and Endymion let you know what was happening?” Amanda replied as she and Ami sat down close to the head of the table with Edward and Jadeite on either side of them. Makoto nodded slightly. “Yes…I’m sorry we weren’t there to help out. We were on the other side of the castle when we felt it but by the time we got over to the gardens everyone was gone…we didn’t know what was going on…we just felt trouble.” Makoto replied. Amanda nodded slightly. “It’s okay…we were able to deal with it. We’ve gotten some more information about the attack and we’ll be meeting directly after lunch so no running off.” Amanda said with a wink to the other girls. Minako chuckled slightly. “No worries, we’ll not be going anywhere we’re not supposed to be.” She replied teasingly. Amanda laughed lightly as the servants brought in their food. Soon quiet reigned as everyone ate quickly, knowing that there were important matters that needed to be discussed.
Once everyone had finished,
Queen Serenity stood and motioned toward the door. “Come…we’ll be going to the
control room to discuss these…developments.” She said quietly as everyone stood
and followed her out of the dining room to the large control room that was
hidden behind the throne room. They all walked in, noticing the extra supplies
on one of the tables. Ami immediately moved to hook up her laptop and
minicomputer to the main computer and began downloading the program as Queen
Serenity, the planetary queens and the other Senshi and princes sat down at a
nearby table. “The purpose of this meeting today is to determine a strategy for
dealing with these attacks. I think most of us are aware of this now but just in
case I’ll run over what’s happened today. A man attacked Princess Serenity today
in the garden. Thankfully Ami, Amanda, Edward, Endymion, and Jadeite were there
as well and were able to protect her. In the process Amanda was badly injured
but due to Ami’s new gift of healing, we were able to save her. The man is down
in the dungeon now…I believe Amanda has some information on that so I’ll let her
continue from here.” Queen Serenity said quickly and nodded to Amanda. Amanda
stood and moved to a nearby screen and turned to face the group at the table.
“The attacker’s name is Toukai. He is one of Beryl’s slaves and he gave me some
interesting information. I’m sure all of you have heard the rumors about
Metallica and Beryl…however, there’s more to this than it seems. From what
Toukai told me, Metallica is Beryl’s mother. She has taken possession of Beryl
and she was here last night. This I know is true because I caught sight of her
at the back of the room. I should have done something about it then but I
thought I was seeing things. Unfortunately Toukai did not have any information
regarding their plans although I’m sure we can all guess the basic gist of her
plans at this point. She has grown more cunning through her fusion with Beryl,
though not as bold. At this point, we need to get together a plan for defense
and possibly attack.” Amanda said as she turned and touched a button at the side
of the screen. The screen flashed and lit up quickly as she entered commands to
zoom in on Beryl’s kingdom. “Beryl’s capital city is in the midst of the
northern lands.” Amanda said as she pointed to a snowcapped mountain. “From the
information we gathered about Metallica, I believe their common area is going to
be this fortress in the side of this mountain here. It’s well fortified and
nearly impervious to attack due to the constant icy weather there. Ami is
currently working on setting up a program so that we can keep track of what’s
happening with Beryl and Metallica. Hopefully we’ll be able to also hack into
their computers remotely and see if we can get some information about what
they’re planning. Until then, we’re all going to need to keep a close eye out
for anyone that looks suspicious and make sure Queen and Princess Serenity are
kept safe.” Amanda said as she looked back to the others. Rei’s eyes were glued
to the map Amanda had brought up until Amanda finally fell silent. “I suppose
this wouldn’t be a good time to mention I had some really bad nightmares last
night…” she said quietly. Amanda raised an eyebrow, glancing to Rei’s mother
quickly and then back to Rei. “What did you see?” Amanda asked quickly. “It was
horrible…it started out in the snow…I saw that mountain in the distance and then
I was walking through the palace. I heard people running around, talking about
an attack on the moon. Suddenly everything changed and we were all on the
balcony outside the throne room…facing the earth. There was a huge dark cloud
covering the earth…we could hardly tell it was there except for a small clearing
directly over Endymion and Edward’s kingdom. And then…” Rei grimaced, holding
her head as if in pain. Queen Mars gently touched her daughter’s shoulder,
encouraging her daughter to continue. “I saw a huge force…attacking the moon.
Beryl was at the front and there were monsters and…and four men…I couldn’t make
out their faces but they…they looked familiar somehow.” Rei said as she stared
at the table. Amanda looked to Queen Serenity in concern. “It seems that Rei’s
gift of premonition is starting out as visions during her sleep. I fear we may
all be stressed to the limit through this time ahead. Hopefully we can keep this
vision from coming to pass. Ami, how is that program coming?” Serenity said as
she looked around the group and then over to Ami who had just finished
installing the program onto the computer and brought it online. “I just finished
getting the program loaded up. I am ready to make it operational on your order.”
Ami replied as she looked to Queen Serenity. Serenity nodded and Ami turned,
striking a few keys on the keyboard before her and then looking to the screen as
the program finished loading in. The scene changed to Earth from space as the
program scanned, light blue grid bars showing up across the planet as is worked
to locate Beryl’s energy. Soon it began zooming in until it stopped on Elysian,
Endymion and Edward’s kingdom. The two young men looked at each other in alarm
before Edward stood and headed to another console, hitting a few buttons as he
brought up the communication device and called his parents. He saw his father’s
face come up on the screen and could tell that he was very upset. “Father,
what’s going on?” Edward asked quickly. He heard his father grumbling about
something. “That idiot Beryl is attacking, we’re holding her off but we’ve
received reports that she’s attacking many of the other kingdoms here on
earth…including the generals’ kingdoms. I think you might need to come home for
a while son. We’re going to need as much help and support as we can. She’s
stronger than we imagined. Edward’s face went white as he looked over to Amanda.
She nodded slightly and he looked back to the communicator. “Okay…we’ll be there
as soon as we can. I’ll see you soon Dad.” Edward said quickly and the
communication was terminated. He looked around to the others. “It seems this has
begun much more quickly than we had expected.” Endymion said quietly. Queen
Serenity nodded. “You must return to your planet, do what you can to help. Be
very careful not to get near Beryl at any time. It could be dangerous.” Queen
Serenity said as she looked to the young men from Earth. Amanda was staring at
Edward before finally looking back to Queen Serenity. “Serenity…I know it’s a
lot to ask but is there any chance I could go to earth as well. I won’t
stay…just a little while…I’ll be back this evening I promise.” Amanda said
quickly. Serenity looked down for a moment, thinking and then glanced around at
the others. “Okay…but remember, you must be back this evening. We’ll be waiting
for you.” Serenity said quietly. Amanda nodded and bowed slightly to the queen.
Amanda hugged her sister and waved to the others before following the group from
earth out of the room. They quickly walked to the transport pads and the
generals gathered in a circle around Endymion, Edward and Amanda. Edward nodded
to the controller and after a moment they disappeared from the moon.
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Last modified: 2/19/2006
