The cold air leaked through Vanessa’s curtains as she lie asleep. Everything seemed motionless as the cold air settled inside the room. Estrella sat awake at the foot of the bed wondering whether she should wake the girl up or not. She decided for now she would let her rest. She hoped off the warm bed and made her way down to the kitchen. She ate some of the remaining food in her dish then sat and looked up to the window. ~Why did I ever volunteer to come here? It’s so lonely and no knows of home. I wish I could give these girls their full memories back but that would just be too much for them. I suppose I’ll just have to wait and see what happens next.~ She continued to look at the window until the already cloudy sky became darker and started to rain. She turned as a slight shuffling of feet removed her from thought.

“Estrella, what are doing up so early?” Vanessa asked as she retrieved a glass from the cupboard next to the sink. She sleepily made her way to the fridge where she removed a pitcher of orange juice and poured herself a glass. Once done she put the juice back into the fridge and looked to Estrella for an answer.

The cat looked perplexed. Should she tell her the truth or give her a lie she know she would see through? Thankfully the cat’s answer was stopped as she heard footsteps approach. “Vanessa, dear, why are you up so early? No less on a Saturday? You really ought to go back to bed, it looks like a storms coming in and the news said it would rain and hail till tonight. Looks like you get out of chores for another day.” Vanessa’s mother patted Vanessa on the shoulder, gave her a kiss to her head and glanced at the cat. “You too, fur ball, we wouldn’t want you getting sick.” Estrella meowed as Vanessa’s mother smiled and left the kitchen to return to her room.

“That was close...” Vanessa sighed.

“Well look at it this way, if she only heard you you’d just be labeled insane and left alone. If she caught me, however, she’d send me off to a testing facility and I would never be fed again!” Estrella finished the last sentence quite loudly as she raised her paws.

“Well I guess it’s safe to say that silence is no longer needed...as you just made known to the world you can talk.”

Angela looked at the glass box and then quickly looked back to the doors. The coast was clear, if she wanted to do it, it would have to be now. She shuffled over to the box and stared at the many artifacts; books and scrolls lined the case. She carefully lifted the lid and grabbed one of the many scrolls. Silently she slid the box shut and turned to meet the cool gaze of Diamond. “Your Majesty!” She choked out.

“Why Angela what a surprise to see you. Admiring the legends again?” Angela, looking quite pale, nodded slightly. “Well they are magnificent if only we knew the power to unlocking them...” Diamond slowly walked past Angela and placed her hand on the glass case. “Anyway, though you might be innocent in simply looking at these old books you are in my chambers and that cannot be so easily forgiven.” Diamond walked calmly toward Angela. “Don’t let me ever catch you in here again, or else.” Diamond was only inches away from Angela as she spoke. Angela nodded and quickly ran from the room, scroll in hand. Diamond looked after the girl ~She’s up to no good. I’ll have Blayd follow her.~

Angela scurried down the hall like a rat fleeing a cat. She quickly turned the corner and entered her own room. After locking the door she turned and was met with a shocking image. There was Blayd, simply sitting on her couch and holding a glass of what appeared to be a red drink. She walked toward him, “What are you doing in here? I figured I was the last person you wanted to see especially after that little fight of ours.” Blayd stood and filled the space between them. Slowly he placed his arm around Angela waist and pulled her close. She nearly stopped breathing and almost dropped the scroll.

“Angela,” he started, “I know that we really haven’t been the best of friends, but you should know that I hold you high in my respects.” She nodded slightly. “So as such I would hope that you would always obey Diamond’s wishes and fall in line with the rest of us.” Before she could rebuttal Blayd leaned in and gently placed a chaste kiss onto her lips. “So please Angela, do not try anything stupid, for Diamond’s sake.” Angela pulled away.

“Why should I obey her? I have told you before, she hates me and wishes that I were not with the dark side. She treats me like I am a fool!” Angela stopped when she saw that Blayd was starring deep into her eyes.

“Please do it for me then. Do not try and awaken the elders. They will not respond the way you want them to and they will destroy us. Leave the powers that be alone, Angela. You do not know what you are dealing with.” Blayd walked close to her and then quickly vanished through the door.

~Let the powers that be alone? Not when those powers will make me stronger than both you and your beloved Diamond. I will have my way and you if it’s the last thing I do.~

“Due to the rain we will be having P.E. inside today.” The coach’s voice was low and he sounded almost depressed. Jaqulen didn’t care, P.E. was P.E., no matter where they were. She grabbed her backpack and left for the locker room.

“I wonder where this rain came from?” wondered Wendy out loud.

“You shouldn’t have said that.” replied Vanessa.

“Why?” Vanessa pointed up to their teacher, Miss. Stevens, as she looked at the girls as if she were going to explode.

“If you really find it necessary to disrupt my class, please do so on your own time!”

“Well then it wouldn’t be disrupting.” whispered Wendy.

Vanessa giggled as Miss. Stevens snapped her head around. The girls quickly settled down and went back to their labs.

Estrella was weary of sleep. She needed it to function correctly but didn’t wish to be assaulted once again with the graphic images of her past. She padded up the stairs to Vanessa’s room and hoped on the medium sized bed. She looked at the pictures that were placed strategically on the dresser and tilted her head. ~They all have other lives than Sailors. Why did I not come earlier and train them from their childhood? It would spare them the trouble they will soon have. Better yet, why did I come at all?~ Estrella put her head down by her paws and closed her eyes for what seemed like a second and fell into a deep slumber.

Estrella opened her eyes and moved her hands to rub her eyes. ~Wait, hands? What’s happening?~ Estrella stood from the bed and looked around. She was no longer in Vanessa’s room but in a room with a wooden floor and marble pillars. She looked through the large windows and saw the bright lights of Sirius. She made her way to the window and moved the curtain so she could see the vast gardens she remembered so vividly. To her horror she saw dead trees and plants, the soil was blackened and there were dead bodies that littered the ground. Banners were torn down and evidence of struggle was everywhere. Estrella with tears in her eyes, stepped back from the window.

“What do you remember of Sirius? Lezelia sent you to Earth before during the final moments of her home. All you remember was that the Moon Kingdom was draining your powers and soon all of Sirius would be powerless. You left before I came.” The woman stepped out from the dark. “You weren’t here when your beloved kingdom needed you; needed your help in defeating me. Well even with you they could have done nothing to stop me. Even now on Earth you try and stop my forces. It is quite noble, foolish, yet noble.” The woman walked past Estrella to the window, “Look at it. It’s beautiful. You won’t defeat me, as you train those little girls I grow stronger from your dead. Their spirits make me strong I’m nearly done, and when I am Earth will soon be this way as well.”

Estrella woke with a start, her fur wet from perspiration. ~It can’t be true...why now? Why is all of this happening now? They aren’t ready, we need more time.~

“Okay, so I have the scrolls what’s next. Hmmm. Ew my blood? I guess it will be worth it.” She gathered the ingredients and put them into a bowl on her desk. She placed them all there, except her blood. She picked up a knife she stole from the kitchen and placed it to her palm. ~Just do it quickly and then it’s done~ She pulled the blade and gasp as the blood trickled from her hand into the bowl. She began the incantation, “Spirits of old hear my call. Give me the power I seek. Make me stronger and able to defeat my wretched enemy, Give me the power of the Opal Sisters. Make them obey my call alone.” She placed the 5 jewels into the bowl and shielded her eyes from the light. Soon the whole room was white and five lights surrounded her; she screamed as they condensed, changing her.

Once the light was gone she was on the floor. She stood and looked to her mirror. She had long white hair and was clothed in a white long dress. She was holding a staff that held the 5 jewels she placed in the bowl. “Now this is power.”

“Estrella! Diner!” called Vanessa. The day had been somewhat okay with the exception of the terrible rainstorm. ~Hm where can that cat be?~ Vanessa walked up stairs to her room and opened the door. Estrella was sitting on her bed looking out the window. “Didn’t you hear me calling you? Why are you space-y all of a sudden?” Vanessa walked up to the cat and put her hand oh her shoulder. Estrella flinched away and turned clawing at Vanessa.

“Gah! What was that for?”

“Oh Vanessa, I thought you were someone else.” ~I must get this under control, it was only a dream, nothing more.~ “Where’s my food?”

“I called you but you never came. Is everything alright?”

“No, I don’t think so. This storm doesn’t feel naturel; it’s like something is coming, something bad. Almost as if Diamond is planning another attack and this one is going to be big.”

“So Diamond’s still alive? I thought we weakened her by killing off Caterina.”

“Caterina was one person. Diamond has four generals. You did away with one and now the rest are angry. You must be prepared to fight hard, Vanessa, harder than you have so far.”

“So far? There’s only been a few battles.”

“This isn’t a game, these bad guys won’t wait to build their strength before attacking. They will come at you with everything they have. You must be ready.”

“Ok Estrella, why don’t we call a training session than?” Estrella nodded and Vanessa grabbed the phone.

Angela continued to stare at her new self in the mirror. Her new dress was much different from her bright pink one. It was white with an iridescent overlay and it reached the ground; making the already short women look even shorter. ~Now how do I hide this from Diamond? I guess I’ll just have to show her up...first I’ll get rid of those Sailors, than Diamond.~

“What have you done?” the voice came from the opened door. Angela turned to see a tall woman dressed in green.

“Hello Jag. How nice of you to drop in.”

“You do realize that what you are planning is never going to happen, right?”

Angela scoffed and turned away.

“Even if you do manage to destroy those Sailors, you’ll never get past Diamond. She will kill you for this.”

“Let her try, I’m nearly unstoppable now. Go away; I’m tired of talking. I’m going to defeat those scouts once and for all.”

Jag scoffed and left in a puff of green leaves. ~She’s going to be the death of us all.~

Angela picked up her staff and teleported from the room.

“Okay Estrella, what next?” asked a panting Aquarius. Estrella had brought them to a park to train all night. The girls had been doing fine until she sped up the training. They were now slower and exhausted.

“You may take a break for now.” said Estrella, motioning the girls to come and sit by her. “Like I said, this will help you to defeat whatever may be coming our way.”

“Sorry to cut this little picnic short girls, but I do have some business to take care of.” The girls turned and stared at the white figure before them.

“Are you related to that Caterina chick?” asked Virgo. “‘cause if you are, stop wasting our time.”

Angela bit her lip in anger. “You might have been able to defeat her but she was weaker than I am now. You are nothing compared me. Soon you will all fall and there’s nothing you can do about it.”

“Oh yeah? Glacial Icicle!” Aquarius put both hands above her head and started the attack.

“Opaque Reflection!” Angela held up her staff and pointed the top end toward Aquarius. A white light came from the staff forming a shield around Angela. Aquarius’s attack bounced off of it and back at her. She tried to dodge it but was still to tired. She hit the ground with a thud. “Ha! You don’t stand a chance!”

“Aquarius!” called Sagittarius, she ran to where Aquarius had fallen. Virgo followed on her heals.

“What are we going to do? She just uses our own attacks against us.” asked Virgo.

“Hahaha! Powerless little girls? What to do now? Oh but this isn’t the end, Water Opal come forth and do my bidding!” She let go of the staff and a blue aura surrounded it. It lengthened and became a girl.

“Water Opal here, what do you wish master?”

“Destroy these sailors, and that pesky kitten!”

“Yes, my master.” Water Opal turned to the scouts and introduced herself. “Hello, I am Water Opal, but you may call me Marina. I am the eldest of the Opal sisters and my element....well why am I telling you? Why not show you?” She placed her right hand over the blue opal near her shoulder and it began to glow. She pulled her hand all the way to the right as a stream of water followed from the opal. “Fair well! Oceanic Curse!” The tiny stream of water grew and rushed toward the sailors.

“Run!” shouted Estrella. The girls wasted no time. They dodged the water once and looked for Marina. They could see nothing but blue around them.

“What is this?” asked Virgo. They walked around looking for any sign of the park. Suddenly a wave of water came from behind and swept them all apart from each other.

Angela cackled as she watched the sailors become even more lost once they were apart from each other. She stopped laughing as she noticed they were all not moving or panicking. “What are you doing? Marina finish them!”

“As you wish.” She began to place her right hand at her opal once more.

~Come on sailors just concentrate..you can do this.~ Estrella could do nothing but hope they had been listening to her many lectures.

“Hold it right there!” shouted Sagittarius.

“Huh?” Marina stopped and looked to the green-haired girl.

“I am Sailor Sagittarius!”

“I am Sailor Virgo!”

“I am Sailor Aquarius!”

“We are defenders of the stars of the past, present and future! We won’t let you get away with this!”

“Nice try, Sagittarius, but there’s no way you will defeat me now.” shouted Angela.

“Oh yeah? Serpents Kiss! Whip unfurled! Glacial Icicle!” The attacks flew toward Marina.

“What?!? No!!!!!!!!” They hit their target as Marina turned back to an aura of blue and returned to the staff. The blue mist surrounding the Sailors dissipated and they ran towards each other.

“Did I miss something? Don’t the enemies usually disappear?” asked Sagittarius.

“As I told you before sailors, there’s no way you will defeat me now. I have all the power of the lower kingdoms!” Suddenly a flash of green leaves appeared and Jag was floating by Angela. “What are you doing here?”

“I told you Diamond wouldn’t stand for this. She wishes to see you now.”

“I’m busy.”

“Blayd is waiting as well.”

“Oh fine then, you got lucky Sailors! Next time it won’t be like this! Until then!” They both vanished in a puff of smoke leaving no trace they were ever there.

“Are you alright girls?” asked Estrella.

“Yeah but what was that whole thing about?” asked Virgo.

“I feared this would happen. They are stealing powers from the different kingdoms in the universe; that’s why that storm occurred today. We need to get rid of them as soon as possible. It won’t be easy girls, but I do believe you can do it.”

“Yeah, it’s just water. We can mop them up in no time!” joked Sagittarius. The girls looked at her with annoyed eyes. “What? Too soon?”

“No, to lame!” shouted Virgo. The girls laughed and started home.

Thoughts:

TODAY- "Efficiency is intelligent laziness."