Faerie Queen: The Finding
Chapter One: Memories of a Day

        "All bars are the same.  Dirty, smelly, and full of bakas."
        Lady Sailor Augustine, friend to the sixth Queen of the Moon,
 Serenity, and member of the Royal family of Venus, wondered then
 just why it was that she was in a bar.  Not just any bar, but a bad
 bar in a bad  part of Nioka.  Not an easy reputation to achieve, much
 less maintain, but they somehow managed to do it.
        Nioka sprawled over nearly half of Mercury, under ground.  It's
 people weren't rich enough to have the Cooling Systems that the much
 richer city of Hyros, the Capital had.  While Hyros housed some of the
 most advanced scinitific labratories in the System, as well as some of
 the finest examples of pre-Silver Millinuim art, Nioka shared none of
 it's sister city's glory.  It was dark here, where the lighting had in
 many places broken down, and it smelled of garbage, and worse.
        Sailor sighed softly.  The past two months had been hectic.  To
 most, it seemed as if the warrior from the planet Venus had merely
 been chosen by the Queen to find the long lost Avatars.  They didn't
 know the truth.  She had been 'chosen', sure.  But not by Serenity,
 nor any other mortal.  It was destiny.  This had been established when
 she had first stepped foot on Earth.  Sailor had immediatly been able
 to sense things, feelings from another that she knew not.

***  FLASHBACK  ***

        'Wow.'  Sailor store out of the window, nose pressed to the
 glass.  'Earth sure is beautiful up close.  I've never seen one like
 this before.  Well, I saw Venus, but that was a long time ago, when I
 was a kid.'  It had been ten years since she and her family had left
 Venus for the Moon.  Ten very long years.  Sailor didn't have any
 memories of her life on Venus, only seeing the orange-red planet
 becoming smaller and smaller as they sped away to a new life.  She had
 been three years old when they had left.  She was now thirteen, and
 very proud of that fact.  She was a 'kid' no longer.  And as if to
 prove it, she was going to Earth for the first time.
        The blue-green planet grew larger in the window.  She had had
 to spend hours with the vidvision learning customs and language before
 her senseis had said that she was ready to go.  Gerune-sensei had been
the worst.  Always talking in that weezey voice of hers, and never
 getting to the point until _after_ you fell asleep.
        But all that didn't matter now.  The ship was about to land.
 Sailor grinned in delight.  She half heard the capton telling everyone
 to put the saftey belts on again.  She wasn't really paying attention
 to him.  They were almost there!
        Sailor looked out the window again.  The ground rushed up to
 greet her.  'It's all so green'  Then there was a stripe of
 yellow-white, followed by darkness.  'The sea,' Sailor thought with no
 small amount of awe.  She had never seen anything so big before.  It
 stretched onwards, never seeming to end.  There was a splotch of
 white, a cirrus cloud.  They plunged deeper still.
        At last the ride was over.  Sailor stood quakily, there had
 been a bit of turbulence towards the end, but nothing she couldn't
 handle.  Sailor reached above her to grab her bag that rested on the
 shelf above before walking out.
        She was immediatly assulted with sensations.  On the Moon
 everything was monitered, the humitity in the air, the level of
 oxegon, the scent of...of...well, what ever it was that the Moon
 smelled like. This smell was different though.  It was deep and wild,
 and ever so much alive.  Sailor hadn't ever smelled anything like it
 before.  She suddenly had the erge to run, free as the wind, and see,
 _feel_ everthing that this planet had to offer.  There too, mixed in
with the earth-scent was another, a feeling of darkness, one that scared
her.
        "Sailor-chan?" a voice spoke to her, breaking the spell that
 Earth had cast apon her.
        She started slightly.  "Er, hai, Micheals-san?"
        Sean Micheals looked at his younger charge lightly.  Although
 he himself was only eighteen, an infant compared to many of the great
 leaders, he had been given full responsiblity of the daughter of the
 embassitor from Venus, Lady Augustine of the Royal House of Venus.
 'Just my luck, too.' he thought.
        Aloud he said, "Sailor-chan, I think that we should go meet
 with your mother now.  She's been expecting us."   With that he
 started to walk towards the Castle.  'It's good to be home.' He paused
to speak with a friend of his.
        "Oh, okay, I guess,"  Sailor was too caught up in her own thoughts
 to really comprehend what was going on.  There was a, a -something-
calling her, not a voice, just a sensation.  Pulling at her.
'Gomen, Micheals-san,' she thought to her 'protector', 'but I
 have to find out what this is!'  Sailor waited until Sean had his
 attention drawn away before teleporting.
        "Gomen, Sailor-chan.  I didn't mean to exclude you" Sean called
 back over his shoulder.  He hadn't _meant_ to have ignored the kid for
 the past five minutes, but Gurio-kun had vital information to give him
 regarding the maritual statis of a certain young lady at court.
        "Sailor-chan?"  He turned to see no one there.
        "Shimatta!"

***

        "I'm going to be in sooo much trouble...I should port right now
 back to Sean.  He's probably worried."  An image formed then in
 Sailor's mind; a agonised Sean, weeping over her sudden disaperance.
 'Oh, why didn't I tell her how much she meant to me?  I shall never
 meet another like her...and she's gone now!  Oh Sailor-chan, my love,
 where hast thou gone?'  Sailor grinned at that thought.  Sean was
 definatly a hottie.  Dark auburn hair, dreamy hazel eyes, a wonderful
 bod,  'Forget it! Why would he spend jis time running after one
 so much younger then he?'
        The hall that she was walking in was huge.  Tall walls, at
 least fifty feet high lined the marble corrider.  On them hung
 paitings of the various members of Earth Royalty.  The walls
 themselves were a light grey, the marble of the floor rose.  Every so
 often there would be side passages leading back into the Castle.  Most
 of them led to guest rooms,all elegently and tastefully done, as was
 the Geian style. Sailor stopped in front of one of these passages.
 The calling was still there, louder then ever.  But along with it was
 a certain sense of fear and hatred that lingered despite all efforts
 to eradicate it.  It was then that she heard the scream.
        It was loud, and high pitched, and full of fear.  Sailor raced
 towards it, she had to be there, had to protect that voice, who ever
 it was.  She turned a corner and skidded to a stop.  Sailor's eyes
 widened as she took in her surroundings.  A young girl, maybe four
 years old, was on the floor, crying for all that she was worth.  She
 had bright red hair, and green eyes, wet with tears.  And on her
 forhead there was a glowing circle with a cross inside.  The symbol
 earth.
        "Shut up!"  Sailor spun to face the new voice.  A shadow was
 reaching for the child.  NO, not a shadow, a man dressed all in black.
Sailor shivered.  The strange man -felt- cold.  Wrapping her arms about
herself, Sailor moved between the monster and the girl.
        "Leave her alone!"  For the first time, he noticed her.
  It stared at her for a long moment before begining to laugh. Sailor
 sweatdroped.
        "Amazing." he said, "Simply amazing.  She has awoken you too,
 eh?"
        "Nani?  What are you talking about?!?"  Sailor was feeling
 slightly annoyed.  She hated being laughed at.  The child look on
 fearfully, both at her savior, and her attacker.
        The shadow figure grinned.  "The forces of light have sent
a child to do the impossible.  A child!  You can't be more then
 twelve, if that!"
        Nose in the air, Sailor retorted, "Humph!  I'll have you know
 that I'm thirteen!  Not that it matters.  You gonna leave the kid
 alone, or do I hafta get nasty?" 'What am I saying?  I can't take that
 thing on!'  In that moment, Sailor was wishing greatly that she had
 thought to tell Sean where she was going to be, even if she hadn't
 known at the time.  Still, a part of her whispered that she couldn't
 leave the girl defensless.  **It's your job to protect them,**a voice
 whispered.
        **Huh?  Protect who?**Sailor returned.
        **The girl...don't let Amos get his hands on the girl!  He'll
 take her to his Queen and she will be lost"
        "Protect the child...okay..." Sailor muttered to herself. "fine."
        Moving into a more defenisve postion, Sailor turned to face the
 monster.  'At least I have a name for him now,' she thought.  'Amos.'
        "Stay away from that kid!" Sailor exclaimed in a thundering
 voice.  Amos just looked at her, grinning like crazy.  She flushed
 slightly.  "And I mean it!"
        "What ever you say, Finder, what ever you say." Amos laughed
 shortly and raised his hand out, palm first.  "I won't go anywhere
 near her."  His hand began to glow with a dark purple light.  "I don't
 have to."  The child behind her cried out in fear and desperation
 again, and Sailor spun about only to see her disaper in a dark cocoon.
  She turned back to face her enemy, a look of hatred on her face.
 "Give her back to me!"
        "Oh, no, my little Finder.  Not now.  Not ever."  With that Amos
 saluted her and vanished in a column of night.  Sailor slunk to the
 floor and began to cry softly.  She wasn't sure exactly what had just
happened, but she knew it was bad.  Very, very bad.  The voice in her
 head, the one who had spoken to her earlier, whispered encoragment,
 saying that they would find the next one, when the time came.  Sailor
 had only nodded slightly before falling into a deep and restless
 sleep.

***  END FLASHBACK  ***

        Gunamitsi Aoi peeked out from her hiding place.  No one would
notice her here, of which she was greatful.  It was very hard to steal
 something when the shopkeepers were watching your every move.  Even
 so, it would be difficult, they were as wary of their goods as the
 King was of gold.  Still, it should be too bad...
        Aoi glanced out again.  The street was busy, but not crowded.
 The stand that she was looking at in particualier had three people at
 it.  Perfect.  She bent her head, and consentrated hard.  It had taken
 her awhile to realise that she'd the Gift, one in five did.  It had
 taken even longer to figure out what her's was, and how to use it.
 She was still learning.
        Aoi glanced up, happy to see that her spell had been
 successful.  The street was filled with a dense grey fog that seemed
 to cling to the stands and people.  Hurridly, she darted across the
 Square, and got to the shop.  She didn't know why, but she had never
 had a problem seeing through her self imposed fog.  To her, it was as
 bright as day.
        She grabbed a few Kapango, sweet fruits from Venus, and a
 handful of Bruin rolls before exiting the sceane.  It would do her no
 good to be caught.  Not if she wanted the Division to find out about
 her.  If they did, then they would discover that she was living with a
 pack of other kids like herself, the oldest one sixteen, under the
 streets below where any were susposed to go.  Then they all would be
 packed off, and her family broken.  Again.
        Aoi didn't really remember her old family, a kind woman with
 honey colored hair, and a dark man with a beard.  She thought about it
 as she munched on the fruit.  Aoi didn't really even know how old she
 was, she guessed about twelve, since it had been four years since she
 had joined the Pack, and she couldn't have lived on her own long
 before that.
        Her fog was despirsing.  Soon the shopkeeper would notice that
 some things had 'vanished'.  She was at least half a mile away from
 him by now, but she could help but to feel nervous.  She had the
 distinct impression that someone was watching her.  The street was
 crowded, more so now then before.  The keeper's voice rose up behind
 her in anger.  She forced herself to slow her steps.  Never attract
 attention to yourself, she berrated herself silently.  To do so was to
 invite the Division onto herself and the Pack.  Aoi pushed herself
 through the sea of people, trying to imatate a child at play.  The
 sensation of being watched grew stronger.
        Aoi sighed as she saw the dark opening to the old drainage
 facility before her.  'Through the hole and down the slide, that's the
 way to the Pack', she thought chanting the rhyme beneith her breath.
 Almost there...
        And then she was pulled, tugged through space, into a dark
 alley.  Aoi lay sprawled on the ground for a moment, before a grating
 voice brought her to her feet.  She hadn't really heard what it had
 said, she was too disorinatated for that.  She scrambled into a
 sitting position, blinking the haze from her eyes.
        Finally she could see again.  And her eyes focased on a man,
 dressed all in black.  He smiled slightly, and stretched a hand forth
 towards her.

***

        Sailor sighed, coming to the present again as her waitress
 brought out her drink.  No matter how may years had passed since then,
 Sailor still had never been able to forget the girl's final scream.
She had been taken back to the Moon soon after, and sent in to the
Queen. It had been then that she had realised her 'destiny' so to say.
 She was a Finder, a member of a very select group, only one
 born in a generation.  Generally they were a bit older then Sailor had
 been when she had been found, but then, it was thought that the Earth
 Senshi had been born way too soon.  'Which means that the others will
 probably be waking up about now,' Sailor thought to herself.
        She leaned back in her chair and glanced about the room.  Not
 really the type of place that she frequently visited, but what could
 she say?  Mercury wasn't really the cleanest of planets.  The division
 between the rich and the poor too great for that.
        Sailor could _feel_ her, close by.  She wasn't certain what
 this girl would look like, or what she would act like, but she wasn't
 about to let another one slip through her fingers.  Sailor downed the
 rest of her drink, and left a couple of credits on the table as a tip
 before exiting.  She wasn't going to find the Merconian Senshi by
 drinking poor ale in some third rate bar.  And time was of the
 essence.  She could _feel_ the old worries coming back, the old pull,
 the same as with the Earthling Senshi.  And the same sence that all
 was not well.
        But she was older now.  A full twelve years, actually.  She was
 no longer the scared thrirteen year old that didn't even know what she
 was doing as she stood against Amos.  No, now she was a twenty-five
 year old that had no idea what she was doing as she stood against
 Amos.  But he would not laugh.  Not this time.
        He was here though.  Sailor could feel him.  But he would not
 make his move until after she made hers.  No doubt he already knew
 where all the Senshi were.  He had had the time to look and search for
 them, time that Serenity had denied her.
        'But that doesn't matter now.'  Sailor told herself firmly.
 She would find them all when the time was right, and even get the
 young Earthling away from Mettalica's evil hands.  For now though, she
 had to find Mercury.  She was close by.  Sailor was certain.
 In this city, this district, this area.  Within a mile.  She would find
her.
 Sailor gave the street a sodelong glance.  Now was not the time
 to be wrapped up in one's own thoughts.  Not with the beggers and
 looters that periodically mobbed people.  It was dark, fitting
 perhaps, but certainly not welcome.  You could never be quite sire
 what hid in the dark...
        She was aware of the eyes that tracked her from the midnight
 windows, showing her to the one's inside, yet prevent her own veiwing
 of them.  The skin on the back on her neck prickled.  _He_ was here as
 well.  Amos.  Sailor glanced about her.  How had he known?
        But it didn't matter now.  She had to find Mercury, and get
 back to the ship, _fast_.  And she was, that way!  Sailor turned a
 corner, to reveal a young girl, pinned to a wall.  She was not much
 more then twelve, if that, with shoulder length deep blue/black hair,
 which was now flying wildly in the midst of a magical grip.  Mercury.
        What conserned Sailor more, though was the one holding her.  A
 shadow, carved from darkness gripped the ypung girl about her neck
 with one hand.  One that she had had nightmares about for years.  Amos.
        But this time things will be dofferent, she thought to herself,
 pulling together.  Sailor blinked, and slowly readied her throwing
 dagger.  It glinted in the dim light as she pulled it over her
 shoulder.  "Come on, show me!" the words were of the sound of nails
 going over a glass.
        "Show you what?!?" Mercury, still in his grip struggled uselessly.
  Amos ignored her, sending forth another blast of power.  Vaguly,
 Sailor wondered if he had tortured the young girl in the corridor in
 the same way,  so many years back.  She launched her knife at Amos'
 back, just as the girl's forehead erupted in blue light, the signal Mercury
 clearly visable at her brow.  Amos smiled, but it was a smile filled
 with vindictive glee, not meant for comfort at all.  He reached out
 his free hand towards her, and the darkness streamed forth from it,
 just like before.  The Sailor's dagger hit him hard in the shoulder,
 causing his consentration to be broken.  At the same time, Sailor
 reached forth her own hand, light emerging from it to conseal Mercury in a
 brillent cocoon.  It winked out, taking the young girl with it.
 Sailor smiled her own smile then.  She was safe.  She was at the ship,
 scared probably, confused certainly, but she was safe.
        Amos spun around.  Sailor stood, a catish grin on her face,
 awaiting his next move.  His eyes roamed over her body, until they at
 last came to her face, where they narrowed in recognition.  "Oh.  It's
 _you_.  I might have known."  His voice was waspish, the grating sound
 gone.
        Sailor smiled at him brightly.  She was annoying him, and
 having a damn good time of it, too.  "You remember?"  She gave him her
 best innocent look, batting her eyes at him.
        "Of course I remember.  Who could forget the mouse sent to do
 the impossible?  Though, it appears as if," his eyes trailed over her
 again, a blush that she refused to let show rising to her cheeks, "the
 mouse has grown up after all.  Where's the girl?"
        "Where you'll not get her.  I've one now, and I'm soon to
find more."
        He laughed.  "Don't think that you've won because you found a
 single Senshi.  They're are still others out there."
        "There are many.  And we are in a race to get them."
        "Racing indeed.  A race that I intend to win."
        Sailor narrowed her eyes.  "Then why haven't you already?
There was plenty of time between then and now."  He didn't reply,
but his whole precense seemed to change, become more threatening.  "It
seems to me to be quite an odd coninsidance, does it not to you?  I'll
admit, I don't really know a lot about my job, save that the Senshi are
to be found, and I'm the one to do that." She paused for a breath, taking
careful note on the effect of her words on her emenmy.  "But I think that
it's awful strangw that you showed up only after I arrived on a planet,
don't you?"
        "Coincidences can be astounding indeed,"
        "But I don't think that it's a coincidence.  You could have
killed me that time, thirteen years again, and yet you spared me,
knowning that I would standa threat to your own retrieval of the
Senshi.  There was a reason for it, wasn't there?" He remained silent
that time, his dark eyes glaring at her, boring holes into her own.
"You didn't kill me because you need me to locate the Senshi."
Sailor tossed her own glare back to him.  "For all your power,
you can distinguish one girl from another.  You can't Awaken
them, can you?  And do you know why not?"
        "Tell me, if you think you know,"
        "That's my job.  As the Finder, only my presence
can Awaken the Senshi!"
        Amos growled softly.  "perhaps the light did know what they
were doing, after all." He smirked, his visage changing from dark to
ironic. "We will have the Senshi.  All of them.  And who knows?"  He
looked her over a third time.  "Maybe you as well.  Until next time,
little Mouse."  With that Amos gave her a florid bow and vanished.
Sailor leaned back against a lamp pole, breathing deeply, before
 calling her dagger back to her hand.  It hadn't caused any real
 damage to Amos, though it had served it's purpose.  Sailor sighed before
 'porting back to her ship.  There was much to be done.
And not much time to do it in.

Authors Notes:

         Very short, I'm sorry.  But I have the first chapter done!
 The next one will be out, sometime...in the near future...I hope!
        This story is kind of different then the rest in that the only
 commen threads that I have with others is the names.  Names being
 Silver Milliunium, Senshi, and Serenity.  All the other stuff here is
 mine.  Aoi, Sailor, and Amos, all mine, and good old Sean too, I
 suspose. Also, Serenity's charater in this is mine, that is Katherine.
  I really would not like it if you used that sceane in one of your own
 fics.  I'm sure that it would be wonderful, but even so...
        I plan to have this last a good ten chapters, I don't think
 that there will be an epilogue.  But then again, I really don't know.
  I also intend to have TUiD 2 _&_ 3 out this week.  I tried to send it
 in before, I don't know what happened. It's really offbeat.  DRatQotW1
 should be out this week as well, it's a long title, but I think that
 it is worth it!  Is there anything else?  Hmmm...oh yeah!  Go read
 Crystal Heart-sama's stuff, her new story looks great.  Also,
 Razzz-sama's First Love is wonderful.

Let me know what you think.  I want to know of you like, or if you
 don't, and why.  I'm always here, even if I don't respond on time!

Dremdancer
dremdancer@hotmail.com