Notes: All the Characters of Sailor Moon are property of their respective owners. All other characters are my own creation and thus, belong to me. The Struggle of Life A prequal to "The Life Beyond Death" by Aneena Chapter IV Reenie's Court: The Birth of Hope Part III THE FUTURE: 3090 "I call this meeting of my court to order." Reenie stated, tapping her gavel lightly against the beautifully carved oak table which sat at the center of her meeting room. The Meeting room also doubled as a sitting room for the children to play when their parents were busy with more pressing matters. "Great. Let's get this over with quickly, I've got far more important duties to attend to." Flyte commented from where he sat at Reenie's right. Winking at someone down towards the end of the table, he leaned back in his chair and put is black booted feet up on the table. Reenie had allowed all of her court to choose their own seats at the rectangular table which they used during their meetings. She often wondered on the wiseness of this arrangement during the meetings in which private conversations and arguments flew throughout. Gypsy, who sat on Reenie's left shot Flyte a piercing look. "Mayhap you should shut your big mouth and then perhaps we'd all get out of here faster." Flyte narrow his eyes, "What's the matter Gypsy? Jealous? I never pictured you as the jealous type, but then again your father was reputed to have been very jealous of the relationship between your mother and..." "Well at least I know who my father is." Gypsy spat rising to her feet. Flyte quickly followed, "Why you low..." A loud crash silenced them both. Reenie's gavel quivered where she had embedded it in the far wall. "Quit it, both of you this bickering solves nothing." Flyte smiled and dropped back into his chair, propping his feet back onto the table. He made kissing noises at the frowning Reenie. "No problem, doll face." Gypsy sat back down reluctantly, murmuring a curse under her breath. Reenie sighed and shook her head, nothing was going as it was supposed to. Her "court" was a gathering of a bunch of people who should like each other and still there were arguments and worse. Just the other day, Sarah had picked a fight with Diana and the two had gotten into a no holds barred brawl right in the middle of the meeting. Sarah still wore the purple bruise proudly across her cheek as a reminder of the fight. She glanced around the table happy to see that all her court was in attendance, a rare event indeed. On Gypsy's left sat Tula, one of Reenie's best friends and the daughter of Sailor Mercury. Next to Tula sat Delilah, the daughter of Sailor Venus who cast looks constantly towards Flyte and Reenie presumed that she was more likely than not the young woman he'd been winking at earlier. On her right sat Maxine, the lovely and mysterious daughter of Prisma, who had been brought into the future by Sailor Pluto and trained in the time gate. Next to her and opposite of Reenie sat Helios, Reenie's only love and very best friend. He smiled at her quickly and Reenie brightened a little, until he turned his head to speak with the girl next to him. Sarah. The daughter of Hotaru Tomoe, otherwise known as Sailor Saturn. She had been shipped off to boarding schools all her life and when Neo-Queen Serenity discovered the girl's existence she'd invited her to stay with them. On her right sat Milan, the son of the aliens called Anne and Alan, who had been raised by Sailors Uranus and Neptune. He had only recently informed them all that he would be traveling to his birth planet to find his parents in a few short days. Between Milan and Flyte sat Nerissa, another one of Reenie's best friends, who had been the daughter of Neo-Queen Serenity's best friend, a girl named Molly. Nerissa didn't talk much about herself, but Reenie could see that the girl clearly was in love with Milan, something he was to dense to notice. Taking a deep breath, Reenie finally drew herself up from the table and began to speak. "I'm sure you are all aware of the coming alliance with Dark Nemesis." There were various grunts and nods in answer which told Reenie that they were all quite aware of the situation. "My parents and yours anticipate no trouble...but Gypsy does not trust their analysis and it is her advice that we prepare for the possibility that the alliance meeting might backfire on us. Gypsy, the floor is yours..." Gypsy spoke easily from her chair, "I can feel Dark Nemesis planning something and whatever it is it's going to be big." "You're paranoid." Flyte muttered, rolling his eyes. Gypsy slammed her palms down on the table and leaned forward towards him. "Must you contradict and criticize my every word, boy?" Flyte grinned, "Yep." "Enough, Flyte." Reenie said quietly. Flyte shrugged, but didn't say another word. Gypsy continued slowly, her words slowly regaining confidence. "I'm not the only one who felt it. Sailor Pluto has noticed disruptions in the time stream. Maxine has confessed to me that she feels a sort of ripping in her gut and a presence that is familiar to her in a way she can't understand. Sarah says that the spirits are restless. Milan can feel power building. Nerissa senses a presence that she can't explain, watching her. Helios can not revert to his pegasus form. Diana can sense an evil coming nearer. 'Tula even swears that she heard voices when she was in the graveyard with Nerissa, even though Nerissa says she heard nothing." Gypsy sat back quietly having finished what she had to say... Reenie shook her head slightly, "I have even heard my mother speaking to my father about some young man she once knew and my father speaks of his generals in his sleep." Gypsy raised an eyebrow at the young man who sat opposite her. "You look disturbed Flyte, have we touched on something that seems firmilar to you? Perhaps you have been affected as well?" Gypsy reached forward and laided her hand on his. Flyte had turned white as a fresh bed sheet, and he started the Gypsy's touch, falling out of his chair into a crouch on the floor. He leaped to his feet, still pale and began edging towards the door. Reenie cleared her throat, "Let's meet back her tomorrow night after my birthday celebration, we shall discuss our options then. Dismissed." Flyte literally bolted from the room. Delilah jumped to her feet and ran out into the garden and started after him down the forest path on which she was positive he'd fled. "Flyte! Wait!" Gypsy grabbed hold of the petite blond's arm. "Leave him be." Delilah tried to jerk out of Gypsy's grasp, to no avail. Gypsy outweighed her by a good fifty pounds of pure muscle. Delilah detested exercise, but Gypsy practiced it with zeal. Delilah knew that if she fought she would be pinned to the floor in an instant. Finally after much consideration, Delilah let her thin arm go limp. "Alright, I won't go after him." Gypsy dropped the girl's arm, "Good, he need's the time to himself." Delilah eyed Gypsy carefully, wondering if perhaps Gypsy was really stopping her for Flyte's own good. Gypsy was a pretty girl. She wore no make-up and no perfume. Her long black hair hung past her hips and she wore the robes of a high priestess of the temple which she had earned only the previous year. She wore no jewelry and her skin was tanned to a dark golden brown. Her eyes were her most attractive feature, Delilah supposed, they were a the color of lavender speckled with gold. Nothing in the way of competition for Flyte's affections. Gypsy felt uncomfortable under such close scrutiny. She narrowed her eyes and starred right back at Delilah. Delilah was beautiful, yet that wasn't strong enough a word to describe it. Delilah was a goddess. Five feet tall, petite, blond and perfect. Her wispy blond curls fell gracefully across her shoulders and forehead. Her eyes were the color of cornflower and her skin was pale and flawless. A small smile graced Delilah's lightly colored lips, "I'll just be getting back to my room. I'll see Flyte later tonight." With that and a wink, Delilah pranced out of the room. Gypsy grimaced, "I really don't like that girl sometimes." "Join the club." A male voice said from behind her. "Oh, hello, Flyte." "What? No reaction? Nothing? I expected at least a gasp of surprise. How long have you known I was here?" "Since Delilah stated off the garden porch." "Oh." "So, do you want to tell me what the hell happened in there?" Gypsy said quietly. "I freaked out that's all. There was a spider on the wall. I hate spiders." "Spill. You owe me for sending Delilah on her way." Flyte sighed, "I heard voices, okay?" "What kind of voices? What did they say?" Flyte shrugged absentmindedly, "I don't know." "Don't lie to me. I have powers and you are a poor liar." "There was a man's voice he said that everything was going to be okay. Then I heard my mother's voice...except she sounded much...younger...then she does now. She told him she loved him and that she'd never leave him. His voice became deeper and angrier as he said, 'You would if you really knew me.' I think the man's voice belonged to my Father." Gypsy grimaced, knowing how much Flyte wished to know about the father that his mother had denied him. She also knew that he never talked about it with anyone. "Why are you telling me this Flyte?" He looked at her directly his gaze grabbing her, "You're a priestess, Gypsy. I heard you mother talking about how you could summon the spirits to tell you things. I want you to find out who my father is." "Damn, I was afraid you were going to ask that." Gypsy breathed. From the day she'd turned thirteen, people had been coming to her begging her for her aid in finding out long buried secrets, telling them their future and their past. Occasionally her mother had been close by and able to fend off these people, but usually not. Her readings had made her alot of enemies for many people didn't like what she told them, even if it was the truth. "Gypsy?" Suddenly Gypsy could sense that this was a breaking point for herself and Flyte. They had never been close and at times their relationship had been straightened to say the least. If she didn't do this she'd lose his friendship, but if she did she might lose it anyway. "I can't do this Flyte. You won't like what I'll have to tell you." His eyes darkened, "Fine." His voice sent chills up her spine with it's coldness. "Then I'll go find someone who will." He spun on his heal and started off down the path that led deep into the heart of the forest. Sarah, Gypsy thought, he's going to see the witch. Gypsy had never trusted the girl, known of them knew her and she possessed powers that rivaled Gypsy's own in her power to tell the future, past and present. Except for one thing... Sarah lied about what her powers showed her. She told people what they wanted to hear and Gypsy was afraid of what she would tell Flyte. "Flyte!" Gypsy shouted after him. He whirled around his shoulder-length brown hair whipping around his face. "What?!" "Be careful!" He raised an eyebrow at her, "Sure, babe." Gypsy scowled, she really hated being called babe. "So what did you think of that meeting?" Nerissa asked Milan tentatively as they walked towards their home. He shrugged mildly, "I don't know. I'm just eager to get out of here. I've decided to leave to find my parents tonight instead of waiting." Nerissa started, "You're what?!?" Milan reached out and delicately placed a finger against her lips to silence her. "I'm leaving tonight, but you can't say anything to anyone...not until I'm long gone. Michiru would freak all out and Haruka would never allow it." Nerissa moved away from him and began walking faster towards home. Milan was forced to jog to keep up with her. "What's the matter? Why are you walking so damn fast?" Nerissa laughed lightly, "I'm just eager to get home. I'm not feeling so hot, I want to go in and lie down." Milan raised one dark blue brow at her, he looked worried. "You're not feeling well? Are sick, Rissa?" Nerissa almost laughed at that. Was she sick? Of course she was sick. One of her best friend's was leaving her alone here and her heart felt like it was being ripped from her chest. Oh, she was sick alright. But out loud she merely said, " No, it's nothing." "Okay, good. I have to get going. Um, Nerissa?" "Yes, Milan?" She wondered vaguely if Milan would tell her how much he would miss her or how much he wished he didn't have to leave or...something. "I need your help." Oh, well, figures. Nerissa shrugged, "What do you want?" "I need you to be able to get into contact with me if anything should happen." Milan said drawing a ring out of his back pocket. It was beautiful with a dark blue stone, the exact same color as his hair. "Wear this always and if there is any trouble all you have to do is take it off and it will send a signal to me, wherever I am." He slipped the ring onto Nerissa finger. "Take care of yourself Rissa. I pray that you will never have to use this ring." In the next moment he was gone. His teleporting abilities had developed greatly within the last few months and he was now able to teleport with little or no effort. "Goodbye, Milan." Nerissa said softly to the fading blue light which had marked his exit. "HE DID WHAT?!?!?!?!?" Haruka shouted smashing her fist against the table. Nerissa flinched, she'd known Haruka would be angry, but this was beyond anything she'd ever expected in her wildest dreams. "He went off to find his parents." "We raise him, we feed him, we cloth him for the first seventeen years of his miserable life and what does he do!?! He ditches us the first chance he gets!" Michiru shook her head sadly, "We knew that we'd only have him for a short time. He's a grown boy, we couldn't have held on to him forever, darling." "He didn't even say good bye!" Haruka shouted. "We wouldn't have let him go if he had, you know that and so did he." Michiru wiped another falling tear from her cheek. Haruka sat down hard in the armchair next to Michiru's. She put a hand over her eyes, "I know it's just...I wasn't ready for this. He's gone and we can't protect him anymore." "Milan can take care of himself." Nerissa interjected quietly. Haruka nodded, "I know darling. I just don't like not knowing how or even where he is." "He'll be okay, I know he will." Nerissa said quietly. "Tell me what I want to know, Sarah." "You didn't say please." "Why you..." Sarah held up a hand towards him, "Ah ah ah...I wouldn't finish that sentence if I were you." "....Witch." Flyte finished narrowed his eyes at the beautiful red haired girl. Sarah shrugged, "True." She smiled slyly at Flyte. He'd come to her seeking the identity of his father, something she already knew. His father had been very powerful and still dwelt in secret within the city of Crystal Tokyo. But that certainly didn't mean that she was going to release this precious information to Flyte. "I'm sorry Flyte, but I can see nothing of your father's identity." Flyte slammed his hand against the rickety table that stood in the middle of the room. "Damn." "Sorry. Please come again." Sarah shrugged noncommitedly and waved at Flyte's back as he stormed out of her little woodland cabin. Helios stood with Reenie watching the storm as it crested the horizon, crawling slowly through the sky towards them. He pulled her tighter against his side as if afraid that the rising wind would take her from his arms. "It's coming Reenie. The storm is coming and there is nothing we can do to stop it."