Over The Rainbow 15
Enchanted Music
I just own Lydia/Sailor Rainbow
Serena's parents decided to go on a family trip and they gave Serena permission to bring Lydia with them. She sat in the backseat with Serena and Sammy. Serena sat between them, just in case Sammy bugged her and she would be close enough to whack him in the head.
"This is great." Mrs. Tsukino said. "We haven't been on a family vacation in ages."
"Thank ya for bringing me along," Lydia thanked. "I really appreciate it."
"Sure, Lydia," Mrs. Tsukino said. "We're glad that Serena has made a new friend."
"But Mom? Really?" Serena said. "Hot Springs? Aren't they for the over-the-edge wackos?"
"Serena," Lydia whispered in her ear, "but you have been over-the-edge lately!"
"Oh, right."
Sammy's portable game buzzed, angering Serena. "Oh, I hate that stupid thing!" she took it away.
"HEY! HEY YOU!"
Lydia sighed and shook her head.
"Hey, give that back!" Sammy cried.
"Honestly, Serena, it is only a game." Lydia said softly.
"Serena took my game!"
Serena's locket fell from her pocket and Lydia picked it from the ground and handed it to her. "Ya dropped yer locket."
"Oh, thanks, Lydia!" Serena let go of Sammy's game. "Whew."
Her father saw the locket and laughed. "What's with that locket, Serena? Did some BOY give that to you? Ha-ha."
"You could say that," Serena whispered.
"WHAT?! REALLY?" He lost control of the wheel and almost crashed into another car.
"AH!" Serena cried.
"Dad, the car!" Sammy yelled.
"Oh no," Lydia whispered. She cleared her throat, "Um, sir, the road?"
"Watch it! Watch it! Watch it! Ah!" Serena cried.
He turned around and confronted Serena. "You're going out some guy and you haven't told us?"
Lydia decided she had to do something before they were all killed, thought it was dishonest. "Serena is not dating anyone, sir. I gave her the locket!"
"Oh?"
"Aye, for good luck." Lydia explained. "I have dozens of good luck charms and Serena has been down on her luck lately so I let her pick one from my collection. She liked locket the most so I let her take it.
Serena beamed at Lydia. She could have hugged her. 'Lydia lied for me! What a friend!'
"Oh," he said. "Well, that's nice of you, Lydia. Maybe Serena will get better grades in school for a change." He turned back to the wheel and assumed his driving.
"Whew!" Lydia and Serena sighed.
"Lydia, how can I ever thank you?" Serena asked in her ear. "You saved our lives and kept them from finding out about Tuxedo Mask too!"
"Tell your dad to be more careful driving next time," Lydia said.
"Done."
They came to the lake resort. Serena's breath was literally taken away. "Oh, wow."
"Aye. Enchanting, isn't it?" Lydia asked.
They got out. Serena and Lydia stared at the lake. "What a beautiful lake."
"It is." Lydia agreed.
"Hey, where's the arcade?" Sammy asked.
"Lydia, we have special memories of this place because this is where we first met," Mr. Tsukino explained as he hugged his wife.
"Seems like only yesterday," Mrs. Tsukino sighed.
"How sweet," Lydia said.
Serena looked around, awed by the romantic beauty. She heard a familiar tune. It was her Star Locket. Lydia noticed the sound too.
"Serena, your locket," she said. "It's playing."
"Oh, that's weird," Serena said as she pulled it out. "It only plays when it's open." The locket opened and Serena gazed at it with a sad expression on her face. "Oh Darien…"
Lydia looked a little upset too. Serena wasn't the only one who missed Darien. Even if Tuxedo Mask seemed to remember Lydia, he didn’t remember anything about Serena at all and that made her confused and angry. Was she closer to Darien in some way Serena wasn't? Or was he only strong enough to remember one princess?
"Serena, it's time to check in now," Mrs. Tsukino said. It surprised her and made her jumped.
"What's wrong, honey?"
"Uh, no-nothing."
"She's just overwhelmed by the beauty of this lake," Lydia said. "If you look at the lake just right and listen to the wind, you feel like a different person."
"So you've detected powerful energy emissions emanating from this lake?" Queen Beryl presumed
"It's exceptionally strong," Malachite said, "and similar to our power, but there's something very different about it."
"Proceed. Prince Darien, investigate this immediately."
"Yes," Prince Darien said and disappeared.
With Prince Darien gone, Malachite decided to have a word with Queen Beryl, "My queen."
"Hmm?"
"Prince Darien has been acting strangely lately," he said, "Do you think it is possible he's found out that all his memories have been erased, or at least few of them?" 'Especially the ones pertaining to Sailor Rainbow,' he added mentally. 'What is it about that girl?'
"I don't know, Malachite," Queen Beryl said. "But I don't want to take any chances. I want you to keep an eye on Prince Darien."
"As you wish my queen."
"He must stay under my control," Queen Beryl said, "Prince Darien is key to getting the crystal."
The Tsukino's were relaxing in the springs, wearing towels. "Oh unbelievable," Serena muttered, "no video arcade but the view is something else."
"And you thought this place was for old folks like us," Mr. Tsukino said.
"Come in, Sammy," Mrs. Tsukino said. "The water's very good."
"What's wrong, Sammy?" Serena asked, "forgotten how to swim?"
"Of course not," he retorted. "Water smells funny."
"It's only the sulfur in the water," Mr. Tsukino explained. "You'll get used to it."
"Not as bad as rotten eggs," Mrs. Tsukino added.
Serena pushed Sammy in. "There, now you're in!"
"Very funny," he groaned. They wrestled in the water and he took her towel.
She gasped and lowered herself in the water. "Give that back, dweeb!"
Lydia came to her rescue, taking the towel back and giving it to Serena. "You should wear a bathing suit, Serena."
Sammy looked up at Lydia and got dreamy-eyed. She was wearing a violet and green one piece under the towel she was folding to the side. She had a very trim figure.
"Wow," Sammy said.
"Hey, quit staring at my best friend like that, Sammy!" Serena ordered. "She's too old for you!"
Lydia stepped down in the spring. "Hmm, nice."
"Nice doesn't even cut it," Serena groaned. "Heavenly."
They relaxed in the spring and Lydia eyed something. "Serena."
"What, Lydia?"
"That man, doesn't he look familiar to yeh?" Lydia asked, pointing in the distance.
"Hmm, wait…"
"Darien?" they said at once.
"We've got to see him," Lydia whispered.
"Um, Lydia and I are going to go for a little walk." Serena said.
In their robes and flip-flops, Serena and Lydia hurried to the lake. "Did you see which way he went, Lydia?" Serena asked. "Are you sure it was him?"
"Sure looked like at him," Lydia insisted. The man turned. It wasn't him.
"Oh," Serena sighed.
"Maybe he is here," Lydia pulled out her harmonica, "and if he is, we'll find him. Cheer up. Maybe this will help." She started playing a song on her harmonica. It sounded a lot like Serena's locket.
Lydia wasn't far from right. Darien was near and he heard Lydia's music. "I heard that tune before." He said and went to follow it. He found Lydia and Serena standing by a statue. Lydia was playing her harmonica. The music kept repeating in his head. "Where…where did I hear that song?"
Lydia saved Prince Darien again from a day of boredom. Since she had given him the four-leaf clover that day when he was at a river, they were inseparable. They spent every day each with each other. Lydia taught him, though she was just a peasant girl, that the best things in life were free.
"Lydia?" Darien said, leaning on the trunk of a tree as they looked at the river where they first met. They spent a lot of moments playing in the river and climbing the tree, eating apples. It was their tree.
"Yes, Darien?" Lydia called from the tree branch on which she sat.
"Could you play your harmonica for me?" He proposed. "Please?"
"Of course," Lydia said and pulled it out. She began playing a song for him and it soothed him into a deep, peaceful slumber. "Hmm-hmm, sweet dreams."
Darien stepped toward the girls. A twig cracked under his feet. Serena spun around. "Darien!"
"Hmm, Darien?" Lydia mumbled, her harmonica still in her mouth. She pulled the harmonica down. "Darien, what are yeh doing here?"
"Something about that music seems so familiar," Darien said. He looked very strange. "That harmonica playing."
Serena's locket started playing. "My locket."
"And that music too," he mumbled. "Familiar."
"Darien, do you remember me?" Serena asked. "Do you remember Lydia?"
"Lydia? Serena? Darien?" he asked, "I don't know."
"Wake up, Darien. It's me!"
"Come on now, laddie," Lydia urged.
He looked at Lydia, "I have memories of you but I don't know where they come from. Have we known each other?" He looked down at the ground and found a four-leaf clover. He picked it up and held it out. "Did you give me one of these, ever?"
"It's a shamrock," Lydia said, "and I did leave one for you at your door. You got it, right?"
"Have you given me another one?" he asked, "from a long time ago?"
"Well, it's possible," Lydia suggested. "Are you saying…you remember me? But you don't remember Serena? Serena's your love for your past! I'm your best friend!"
"Lydia, he remembers you!" Serena cried. "Play your harmonica again! Maybe he'll remember me too!"
But as she reached her harmonica up to her lips, they heard Serena's mom. "Serena? Lydia? Are you girls here?"
"Mom?"
"Mrs. Tsukino?"
They turned to see her but when Lydia turned to check on Darien, he was no longer there. "Darien?" she whispered. She grabbed Serena's shoulder. "Serena, he's gone!"
"Are you girls all right?" Mrs. Tsukino asked.
"Yes, we're fine," Lydia replied.
"Oh, it's the guardians of the lake," Mrs. Tsukino said. “They have quite story."
"Guardians?" Lydia asked.
"What about them?" Serena asked.
“It's an ancient legend. There was a young man who fell in love with a water sprite who lived in the lake, but there was a girl from this town who also loved him, and when she saw them together, she got so jealous, she turned into a vicious monster and attacked everything in sight. The only way the young man and the water sprite could stop her was by harnessing the power of their love to seal her beneath the lake. Their energy all gone, they rose into the sky and became two happy stars guarding the lake, and the jealous sprit was doomed to be…miserable forever.”
"Talk about your bad luck," Lydia sighed. 'I hope Serena's not jealous that Darien remembers me and not her and turn into a monster on me.'
'They sealed her, in this lake?' Serena thought. 'I hope Lydia doesn’t think I'm jealous and change into a monster because Darien remembers her and not me. I'm just glad he remembers one of us.'
Serena sneezed suddenly.
"Bless you," Lydia said quickly.
"Thanks, Lydia," Serena sniffed.
"We'd better take yeh back until yeh catch cold," Lydia said, taking her hand.
"Yes, we can make you some hot cocoa," Mrs. Tsukino. "Now Serena, if you meet a boy you like…"
"Huh?"
"I want you to introduce him to us. Your dad would like that. Okay?"
"Uh, yeah, okay. Someday." And she added mentally, 'Someday when he comes back.'
"And Lydia, make sure she doesn't forget," Mrs. Tsukino said. "Make sure she doesn't get her heart broken, all right?"
"Aye," Lydia said. "If anyone hurts her, I'll knock their blinkin' block off!"
Mrs. Tsukino looked over at her in surprise. Lydia turned red. Then Mrs. Tsukino laughed. "You are a very funny girl. I'm so glad you could join us on our trip."
"Er, eh, me too."
Unbeknownst to Lydia, Serena and Mrs. Tsukino, they were being watched. Darien was listening to them.
"This about the evil spirit in this lake," Darien muttered, "Maybe it's not a legend."
Darien was also being watched. Malachite, unlike Darien, was a more loyal servant for Queen Beryl and he was making sure Darien wasn't making any mistakes. But how long would he act out his loyalty towards her, after Rainbow had told him he could be a free man? "So, Darien, you've figured out what the energy in the lake is, but what will you do with it?" He remembered Sailor Rainbow's words. He, like Darien, had a soft spot for her now. He wasn't sure why though. It was because of her he lost Zoicite, wasn't it? Or was she trying to help her too?
"Malachite, you can be a free man! You don't need to serve Queen Beryl anymore. She'll only dispense of you after she's done with you!"
'Hmm, Rainbow...can you be right?' he thought.
Darien decided to test his theory. He summoned dark power to awaken the spirit with his. 'You, spirit of the lake, wake up.' The lake rippled. He reached deeper down to the bottom. 'I am ending your captivity.'
"So, I am your master now. I COMMAND YOU TO RISE AND OBEY ME!"
Well, it worked halfway. The spirit rose out of the lake but she was not in the mood to obey orders from anyone. "Obey YOU?! Never!"
Darien suddenly had second thoughts. What had he unleashed?
"Free at last!" the spirit roared. She attacked him but he leapt out of the way.
Malachite was having fun watching Darien's plight. "Ha-ha. Poor Prince Darien. Looks like he dredged up more than he can handle. Should be fun. Ha-ha-ha."
"Revenge shall be mine." The spirit said. "Where's that wretched water sprite?" She stared at Darien for a moment.
"Huh?" Darien mumbled.
She floated around and spotted Serena and Lydia. "There she is. Now the fun begins. YES!" She headed straight for Serena.
"Hey, wait!" Darien called. "Where are you going?"
Serena sensed something and looked back at the lake. 'Darien I know you're out there somewhere. But it feels like you're not here at all.'
Lydia sensed the same, 'Darien, do yeh know how we feel about yeh? Do yeh miss us at all? Give us a sign, laddie.'
Serena's father sensed their distress, "girls, are you all right?"
"Oh, yeah," Serena said, "we were just looking at the moon. Isn't it something else?"
"It sure is."
"It's so bright," Serena said, "it's even making my eyes water."
"Mine too," Lydia added. 'I say it is actually bringing back old memories.'
"Oh, I'd better go have another bath before dinner," Serena said. "I'm starving. Lydia, come with me."
They walked away and Serena's family looked at them, bewildered.
"Huh?"
"Teenagers," Mrs. Tsukino said, "honestly, she acts like she's from another planet you know."
"Lydia does too."
Lydia and Serena walked away. 'I can't believe he doesn't remember me,' Serena thought.
"Revenge will be mine," the spirit said.
"Hey, did you hear that?" Lydia asked. They turned around and Serena screamed.
"What's that?" Serena demanded.
"You're scariest nightmare," the sprit replied.
"This lassie's ugly!" Lydia gasped.
"Sea monster with bad hair? Ew!"
"Serena, Lydia!" Mrs. Tsukino said. "Come here!"
"No prob, mom, I'm coming!" Serena joined her family but Lydia stood her ground, "Lydia, come on!"
“Not until I show this evil spirit a thing or two!” Lydia grunted.
"Let's get out of here!" Serena cried.
Lydia picked up a rock, "listen lassie, stay away from my friend!" she threw it at the ghost, but it went right through. "Oh, dear…"
"That wretched water sprite will pay dearly!"
"Water sprite? Yeh think Serena's the water sprite?" she gasped. "Wait, you're that spirit of the lake!"
"Don't think you can protect her!" she shot a nasty breath but Lydia jumped out of the way.
"Run, Serena! It's that spirit from the lake!" Lydia warned. "She's after yeh! She thinks yer the water sprite!" She got up. "I got to help them. RAINBOW PRISM POWER!" she changed into Sailor Rainbow. Before she went to help, she felt a hand on her shoulder. "Let go!" She whirled around to punch Tuxedo Mask.
"Ah!" he grunted. "Shh, it's just me!"
"Hey, you haven't exactly been on our side lately. I have to help Serena," Sailor Rainbow said. "The spirit thinks she's the sprite from the legend."
"I know."
"How could it get out of the lake?" she asked.
"Because…I set it free." He said hesitantly.
"Ya did what?" she demanded, "Tuxedo mask, why?"
"I wanted to control it," he explained.
"Yeh out of yer mind! No one can control a spirit," she told him. "And ya have mad her angry. Do yerself a favor and never taunt a ghost."
"I know," he muttered, "I know. We got to get her back to the lake before she destroys everything."
Sailor Rainbow smiled, "ah, so are ya finding yer way back to us, laddie?"
"No, not quite," he said. "I'm still gonna get that crystal, but I don't want a make a mess to get it."
She sighed, "fair enough."
The spirit hurried after Serena and her family. Another nasty breath blast shot out her mouth. Serena dodged the blast and it rotted nearby trees.
"All right! That's it! How dare you terrorize my family, you reject from a fish factory!" Serena shouted. "Go back and crawl back in whatever sewer you came out of!"
"Oh yeah!" Mr. Tsukino said. "Make my day, swamp thing!"
The monster growled, frightening him.
"Uh…uh, maybe we can do that another day."
The spirit grabbed him by the neck and pushed him into a tree.
"Daddy!"
"Honey!"
"AAH!" He choked. "LET ME GO!"
"I've got to do something," Serena said. "MOON…"
A rose hit the spirit's hand, making her let go of Mr. Tsukino.
"Tuxedo Mask?" Serena mumbled.
"STROKE OF LUCK!" a four-leaf clover with the leaves as sharp as cleavers whirred through the air. It made contact through the spirit's arm. It cut her arm halfway off and it began ooze back together.
"That's one big four-leaf clover!" Sammy mumbled.
"AHH!" Mrs. Tsukino said, "Honey, are you all right?"
"Who's the guy in the cape?" Sammy asked, "and that cute girl with him?"
"They must be here to help us," Serena said.
"Back off lady!" Tuxedo Mask yelled. "Bad form to attack innocent people!"
"You want a fight?" the spirit demanded. "I'll give you a fight." She lashed her tail at Tuxedo Mask and Sailor Rainbow. Tuxedo Mask picked up Sailor Rainbow and jumped out of the way just as her tail cut through a tree. It gave Serena and her family time to flee.
"I can take care of myself, yeh know," Sailor Rainbow muttered as Tuxedo Mask put her down on her feet.
"I know," he said. "But I don't want that thing to hurt you. I'm the cause of all this."
"You were so brave, honey," Mrs. Tsukino said to her husband, "You sure you're all right?"
"Really, I am," he insisted.
Serena was worried about someone else besides her father. 'I wish I could help Tuxedo Mask and Rainbow, but I can't right now. At least she's with him.'
"Back to your swamp, fish-face!" Tuxedo Mask growled.
He had offended her. Bad move. She hit him with her tail again and he was thrown to the ground.
"Poor laddie…he was trying to protect me." Sailor Rainbow mumbled. She glared at the ghost. "He freed ya from your watery prison and that is how ya show yer gratitude? RAINBOW SHAMROCK WREATH!" The wreath went right through the ghost. "I'm not having much luck."
"There's nothing you can do to stop me," the spirit growled.
"Oh, yeah?" Sailor Mars shouted. "We'll see about that!"
"Hey, Mars!" Sailor Rainbow cried. "Yer all here!"
"Thought you could use a hand," Sailor Jupiter said.
"It's the sailor scouts!" Sammy cried. "They're going to waste her good!"
'Not without me,' Serena thought, 'they won't.'
"MERCURY BUBBLES BLAST!" Mercury's bubbles created a fog, giving Serena the time to take her family to the inn.
"The inn is this way, hurry!" Serena said. "You'll be okay." Serena ducked behind a tree to transform. "MOON PRISM POWER!"
"I can't see!" the ghost cried.
Someone clapped his or her hands. Sailor Moon?
"Hey, over here, scale-face!" Sailor Moon shouted.
"Huh?"
"So I got your attention, huh? How dare you mess with my family!" Sailor Moon threatened. "I am Sailor Moon and there's no way I'm gonna let you hurt the people I really love! On behalf of the moon, I shall punish you!"
She joined the five other sailors and as Tuxedo Mask got up, she called to him.
"You've saved me again, Tuxedo Mask," Sailor Moon said, "so somewhere inside, you still care for me?"
"He might, lassie," Sailor Rainbow answered for him, "or he is helping ya because he wanted to fix what he did."
"Wha?" the scouts said.
"Care to explain, Tuxedo Mask?" Sailor Rainbow demanded.
It wasn't a good time for explanations. The spirit was raging mad. "You can't stop me!" The sailor scouts scattered and prepared themselves for a fight.
"JUPTER THUNDER CRASH!"
"VENUS CRESCENT BEAM SMASH!"
The two combined attacks made the ghost disintegrate.
"Hah! We gotcha!" Jupiter laughed.
But the ghost reformed.
"Looks like we didn't get her so good after all."
"You're mine!"
"Try this, sister-sludge! MOON TIARA MAGIC!"
"Sailor Moon, wait!" Sailor Rainbow warned.
Sailor Moon's tiara dusted her for a second, but she reformed. "Huh, what gives?"
"She's the spirit from the lake!" Sailor Rainbow explained, "She's not from the Negaverse. She died angry and miserable and so she's taking it out on the living."
"How did she get free?" Sailor Moon asked. "Wasn't she sealed underneath the lake?"
Sailor Rainbow looked at Tuxedo Mask. "Evidently, Tuxedo Mask believed he could control an angry spirit."
The scouts gasped. "No!"
"I was wrong," Tuxedo Mask admitted. "And I should be the one to take care of it."
"But you can't," Sailor Rainbow said, "No mortal weapon can harm this spirit. You'll need…"
"Me!" Sailor Mars cried.
"Aye…Mars!" Rainbow laughed.
"My spell scrolls will take care of it," Sailor Mars said. "I call upon the power of Mars FIREBALLS CHARGE! Check this out, swamp-trash!" she launched the spell to the spirit's face. It stuck and paralyzed her. She topped it off with, "MARS FIRE IGNITE!"
Now a circle of flame surrounded the spirit. "Cooooool," Sailor Moon awed.
"Oh…right. MOON HEALING ACTIVATION!" She healed the spirit and she changed back to the lady from the legend.
"I'm...myself again," she said, "Oh, thank you."
"Yer welcome, lassie," Sailor Rainbow said. "Yer free now."
"Wow, she's so pretty," Sailor Mars said. "Isn't she guys?"
"Beautiful," Moon said.
The lady spirit rose to the sky. "You've freed me. Thank you." She looked at Tuxedo Mask and he was smiling. She waved at him. "Goodbye. Goodbye."
"Good luck," he and Sailor Rainbow said in unison. They exchanged glances and quickly looked away.
"Tuxedo Mask," Sailor Moon said.
"So, Sailor Scouts, I guess we'll settle the crystal business later," Tuxedo Mask said, "'Til next time."
"Tuxedo Mask, don't go." Sailor Moon begged.
But he left. Sailor Moon sighed and looked at the ground. Sailor Rainbow went up and touched his shoulder.
"Don't worry, lassie," Sailor Rainbow insisted, "we'll see him again."
This made Sailor Moon smile. "Right."
The girls all relaxed in the hot springs. Raye had a question for Lydia.
"Hey, Lydia," Raye asked, "How did you know about the spirit?"
"Serena's mom told us," she explained. "And Tuxedo Mask told me he was the one who freed her."
"You seem to know quite a bit about evil spirits," Raye said, impressed, though Lydia sensed a tad bit of jealousy.
Lydia chuckled, "not as much as you. In Ireland, there are a lot of ghosts that hang around the castles. They won't leave for some reason. You might want to come and clear them out so they can rest in peace, or at least show me how you do what you do."
Raye nodded, "Sure. Then when you go back you can clean out all those castles so that people won't be afraid of them"
"Yeah, like Serena," Lydia joked and the girls started laughing, except for Serena.
"Oh, Serena, it was only a joke." Mina said.
"I was thinking about that lady," Serena said. "She was so jealous that she became a monster. I hope I don't get that jealous."
"Yeah, especially that Darien seemed to remember me and not you," Lydia said.
"How come?" Amy asked. "Where you and Darien closer than he was with Serena?"
"Oh, I don’t think it was that," Lydia explained, "Maybe he just knew me longer. Probably something happened when he got his memory erased. There probably wasn't enough energy or maybe he saw something that reminded him of me. Like…a gift or something."
"I'm sure we'll find out soon enough," Lita said.
"It's okay, Lydia," Serena said. "I'm not jealous. I'm just glad he remembers one of us."
"Really?" Lydia asked.
"But just in case," Mina said, "better take a dip in the hot springs." And the girls dunked Serena in the water. Serena didn't want to think where she would be without her friends, especially Lydia.