The airport was a giant
maze, but then again most were and Rei
could even get lost in the terminal back into Tokyo. She was thankful for the
assistance of the nuns who were the chaperones on this trip.
“Sister Caroline,” one of
Rei’s classmate’s ran up to one of the nuns. “Can I take a picture of the city
skyline?”
“Yes you may,” Sister
Caroline. “Make sure you don’t use up all of your film.”
“I won’t,” the student
said.
Rei looked out the big
glass windows of the luggage claim. She could not see much of the skyline,
maybe when they were on the bus. She had promised the others that she would
take plenty of pictures. She also promised that she would buy them plenty of
souvenirs.
She just wasn’t on the
five-day trip for fun and education. She had agreed to sign up for the trip and
asked her grandfather for permission for one main purpose. She was going to
meet with the three soldiers in New York. Artemis had told her they were called
the Galactic Ladies and he had been communicating with their guardian, Celeste.
“What were their names
again?” Rei frowned as she tried to remember their soldier names. One was
Andromeda, another was Comet, and the third was named after a star. They were
also the princess’s that had appeared in her and the other’s dreams. Luna had
called them the ambassador princess’s.
“Rei your suitcases,” one
of her classmates tapped her on her shoulders.
“Suitcases?” Rei blinked
and stared at the conveyor belt. Her red and black suitcases were about to pass
her by. “Oh,” she grabbed them. “Thank you.”
“You look lost in
thought,” Yuriko said. “Thinking about all the places you want to go to and
see?”
“I do,” Rei nodded. She
couldn’t tell her friends the exact truth. “I’m also thinking of the Hikawa
shrine. I hope the temple is ok with just Yuuchiro and Grandpa.”
“I’m sure it will be fine
with just the two of them,” Yuriko said.
“I believe you are
right.” Her only worry would be her grandfather trying to get a date with young
and pretty women and hopefully Yuuchiro will help keep her grandfather in line.
“Miss Hino, Miss
Toriyama,” Sister Caroline was standing several feet away from them with the
rest of her classmates. “We are going to miss our bus.”
“Sorry,” Rei and Yuriko
said before they hurried to catch up with the rest of the students and the
nuns.
-
Their hotel was a place
called Howard Johnson and from what Rei heard on the ride over it was a pretty
popular chain, even had a nickname of Hojo. They were on the same floor and Rei
and Yuriko were roomed with two other girls. Each girl received her own key.
“Nice,” Alice said when
they entered their room.
It was what Rei pictured.
There were two large beds with one nightstand in the center and two on each
side. There was a long dresser in front of the beds and on one side of the
dresser was a cabinet with a TV. There was also a table with two chairs and a
small refrigerator. The closet was large with wooden hangers, extra pillows and
ironing board and an iron. The bathroom had everything else including a coffee
pot with coffee, sugars, powdered creamer, and a blow dryer.
“What did we get?” Maya
asked. She entered the bathroom. “We have shampoo, conditioner, shower gel,
soap, lotion, and mouth wash.”
“You are not thinking of
swiping them?” Yuriko asked.
“Of course not,” Maya
said. “I just want to see how they pamper us.”
“You all are acting like
you never been to a hotel before,” Rei said. She dragged her luggage into the
room and set it down in the corner.
“Not the first time,”
Alice said. “But the first time without our parents.”
“This is going to be
great,” Maya flopped down on one of the beds. "Five days in New York
City."
"Yeah I know, think
of all the shopping," Alice said.
"Alice there is more
to New York than just shopping," Yuriko told her. "This city has a
rich cultural background."
"Yuriko’s
right," Maya said. "I'm actually looking foreword to the Broadway
play tonight we will attend.”
“My friends would love to
visit some of the restaurants here,” Rei said as she opened some of the
drawers. She thought of Makato and Usagi. Makato would marvel at the culinary
skills of the various chefs while Usagi would enjoy the food. “I have another
friend who would love the museums and another who would enjoy the play.”
“What are you interested
in Rei?” Alice asked.
Rei chewed her bottom
lip. She hadn’t thought of that. What would she be interested in? Her main goal was to find the soldiers. She
tried to think of what she would like to see as she put away her clothes.
“Rei?” Maya looked at
her.
“I would like to see the
sites,” Rei said, “I want to see the Empire State Building, the Statue of
Liberty, The Twin Towers, Time Square, The Chrysler Building, and Rockefeller
Center.”
“Everybody says that,”
Maya said.
“I also would like to do
some shopping,” Rei said. Not only did she want to buy souvenirs for her
friends, but she also wanted to see where Kooan’s new store. She put the last
of her clothes away and stood up. “There is nothing scheduled for tonight is
there?”
“Not that I know of,”
Maya said.
“Good,” Rei smiled. “I’m
going out for a walk. I need to move my legs after that flight and bus ride.”
“You can’t,” Alice said.
“Not without a chaperone.”
“I won’t be far, or
long,” Rei promised. “If anyone asks you can tell them that I’m in the shower.”
-
Rei had considered
herself lucky that no one was in the hall when she left. She still walked ever
so quietly to the elevator and paused whenever she thought she had heard a
sound. She already thought of a few excuses to use if she had happened to run
into any of the nuns.
She breathed a sigh of
relief when she finally made it onto the sidewalk. “Let me make sure I have
everything.” She checked her purse she carried a few things including a camera,
a map, a little cash that had been converted from Yen to dollars, and her Mars
Star Transform pen. “Got everything that I may need.” She glanced at her
communicator. She should touch base with the others, but she had no idea what
the range was. Might as well give it a try. She flipped open the lid and
pressed a few buttons.
“Rei-chan?” Luna’s face
appeared in the screen.
“Hello Luna,” Rei
greeted. “We landed about an hour ago and have checked into the hotel.”
“Good,” Luna smiled.
“Where is Usagi?”
Luna sighed. “She ran off
with Minako to the new store in the mall.”
Rei shook her head. She
shouldn’t be surprised, even though they should be keeping on the lookout of
the enemy. Usagi and Minako were still Usagi and Minako.
“Have you begun your
search of the New York warriors?” Luna asked.
“I have started,” Rei
confirmed. “I will let you know when I have found them.”
“Good luck Rei-chan,”
Luna said before the screen turned blank.
Rei rummaged through her
purse again and pulled out a slip of paper. She had gotten the information from
Artemis. The warriors here met at a castle at the top of a building. They also
had their names written down.
“Now where would this
castle be?” Rei consulted her map. It had all the landmarks pinpointed in pink.
She checked the legend. “Okay the castle is here.” She tapped the map with her
finger. “And I’m about here. Then that means.” She looked up in the direction
she believed the castle was in. There it was, an old European castle perched
right on top of an ornate building. “That’s where they meet.”
She ran towards the
building, taking care to mind the traffic and hoping that Artemis was able to
relay the information of her visit to Celeste. According to Artemis the
Galactic Ladies were on good terms with the owner of the castle and he would
let his security know that she was allowed inside.
She had only run a few blocks when her sixth
sense tingled. She stopped and tried to tune into the feeling. Was it the
enemy? Was it one of the Galactic Ladies? The vibes was coming from a nearby
alley.
Three tall and dangerous
looking men had surrounded a teenage girl who was nearly as tall as them. She
had brown hair thugs surround a teenage girl whose brown hair was cut into a
bob that had fringed edges
"C'mon kid give me
that watch," One of the men said.
He had his head shaved and a long nose that curved down. It made Rei
think of the beaks on her pet crows.
"Never," the
girl said.
“Oh I get it,” the one
that had the frame of a brick said. “It’s a gift from Grandma.”
“Too freaking bad,” the
one guy with sunglasses and a goatee said.
Rei will seek out the warriors
later. She couldn’t just stand by and watch an innocent girl being attacked
like this. She stepped into the alley.
"How dare you call
yourselves men," Rei started. “You attack a young girl.” If her English
was a little better she would have been using better phrases.
“What the hell?” The bald
man asked. “Who is this?”
“Must be an exchange
student,” the one with the beard said. “You know her?” He asked the girl.
“No,” the teen shook her
head and turned to Rei. “Get out of here. Find the police.”
“I will not let them hurt
you,” Rei said.
"Hey look her little
friend wants to play,” the big strong one said.
Beat it little
girl," Baldy told her.
While her English skills
were not as good as Minako’s or Ami’s she could understand the insult.
"Nobody calls me 'little girl'!" She shouted before kicking the punk
in the side.
The bald thug doubled
over and grunted.
The one with the beard
went to punch her.
Rei ducked and grabbed
his arm and twisted it to the back. She held him to the ground while the other
girl kicked the human brick in the shin and then in the chin knocking him out.
Rei did a chop into the back of Beardy’s head and got ready for the bald one who
finally caught his breath.
The other girl was ready
for him She slammed both fists into his back while Rei did a roundhouse kick to
his head.
"Run! "The
brunette yelled and grabbed Rei's hand and ran far away from there. After they
had run for several blocks they stopped and leaned against the building to
catch their breaths.
"Thanks for saving
me," the other girl said. "I could have taken on those creeps by
myself."
“Are you sure?” Rei was
certain she understood what she said. “Three on one, not a fair fight.”
“I might,” the girl
shrugged. “I didn’t want you to get involved. Thank you again though.”
"Your welcome,"
Rei told her and held out her hand. "Rei Hino."
"Sadie Von
Starkfelsen." The other girl
accepted her hand and shook it.
Rei blinked when she
heard the name. “Sadie Von Starkfelsen?”
“Yes?” Sadie raised her
eyebrows.
“Excuse me,” Rei pulled
out the slip of paper from her purse. The name she had just heard was
under Lady Centauri. “You are Lady
Centauri?” Rei whispered.
Sadie’s eyes widened.
“How?”
Rei pointed to herself.
“I am Sailor Senshi, Sailor Mars.”
“You are one of the
Sailor Soldiers?” Sadie asked.
Rei nodded and held up
her communicator. “I’m here to find you.”
“Oh,” Sadie flipped open
the lid of her communicator. “I’ll let the others know.”
Rei nodded and pressed
the button. “Luna I found one.”
“Good work Rei-chan. May
I speak with her?”
Rei nodded and handed her
communicator to Sadie.
“Oh?” Sadie accepted it.
She and Luna spoke to each other in English for a few minutes before she handed
it back to Luna.
“Celeste wants to meet
with you and the other Galactic Ladies in a few minutes,” Luna said.
“I’ll be there,” Rei
said. She hoped that her classmates won’t run out of excuses before then.
“Ask Celeste to report to
Artemis when the meeting is over,” Luna said.
“I will,” Rei said and
turned to Sadie when the screen went dark. “Sadie-san, what is the fastest way
to the castle?”
“The subway,” Sadie said.
“This way.” She led Rei to the nearest entrance to the station beneath the
streets.
-
Feldspar had got an early
start on his day. He had a quick breakfast of eggs and toast with tea. There
was no honey butter and his eggs were a little runny, but he did not complain.
There was a reason why the youmas respected him. He did not act like a tyrant.
He did not and would not abuse his power. He knew he could win more flies with
honey than vinegar
After he had finished his
breakfast he returned to his room where he had a list of things he wanted to do
that that day. The first thing was to sharpen knives. He threw a small knife to check it off.
The second thing to do
was locate a new energy source. He checked that one off with another knife.
The third thing was to
set a youma.
“This shouldn’t take too
long,” Feldspar said and closed his eyes. He opened them when he heard several
gasps.
He had reappeared in an upscale store.
Wherever he looked he saw shoes. He also saw four people wearing nametags on
their clothes.
“How did you do that?”
One of the employees asked.
“Magic,” Feldspar wiggled
his fingers around. These Terrans were dumber than he had originally perceived
them to be.
“What do you want?”
Another employee asked.
“I want this store to do
well,” Feldspar said as he paced around the store. He paused by several of the
shoes that were on display. Chrystia might like a pair. “I want you to have
lots of customers.”
“Thank you,” another of
the employees said. “We hope so to.” She was still afraid of him. They all
were.
“Because this store now
works for the Dark Kingdom,” he threw his knives at each of the employees. The
blades dug deep into their skin. Feldspar waited for them to stop screaming and
writhing and waited for them to stand still and stare straight ahead.
“Quicksilver,” Feldspar
called forth the name of his youma.
“Yes master Feldspar,” a
female youma with silver skin and long blue-black hair appeared before him.
“Take control of their
bodies,” Feldspar commanded.
“As you wish,”
Quicksilver said. She separated her self into quarters. Each quarter melted
into liquid silver puddles. The puddles slithered towards the employees. It
traveled up their bodies and entered them through their eyes, mouths and nose.
“Now touch all of the shoes and set up for a
sale,” Feldspar said before he teleported back home and appeared in front of
his list again. He checked off number three. He stood grinning while waiting to
check off four, gather energy.
-
Rei was still amazed that
the Galactic Ladies were able to have their meetings at a castle, especially at
a castle on the top of a building. She loved her temple and enjoyed having
Sailor meetings there, but she couldn’t help to feel a little humble, especially
after she and Sadie stepped out of the elevator and walked to the room that was
set up just for them.
"It is cool you have
your meetings here," Rei said.
Sadie nodded. “I was
pretty amazed myself.”
The door to the room was
guarded by a tall man with short blond hair and glasses. He was dressed in a
neat and firmly pressed suit and tie and he wore an odd glove that made his
hand look like it was made out of stone. There was something odd about him. His
aura was setting Rei’s sixth sense off kilter.
“Good afternoon Mr.
Burnett,” Sadie greeted.
“Good afternoon Miss Von
Starkfelsen,” Mr. Burnett said. “Who is your friend?”
“This is Rei Hino from
Japan,” Sadie said. “She is magical warrior like us.”
“Is there anything you
care to drink?” Mr. Burnett asked.
“I would like a ginger
ale,” Sadie said and turned to Rei. “What would you like?”
“ I would also like a
ginger ale,” Rei said.
“Your friends are already
inside,” Mr. Burnett said. “I will return with your drinks.”
Rei watched Mr. Burnett
as he walked away. “You have a servant?” The closest to a servant she had was
Yuchiro, and he wasn’t really a servant. He was an assistant, an assistant who
had a crush on her. She didn’t feel the same for him, not quite on the same
level he felt for her. He was good looking and he cared deeply for her.
“He’s not a servant,”
Sadie said. “Well he is but, not ours. He works for Mr. Xanatos and is ordered
to assist us when we are here. You can say Mr. Xanatos is the benefactor of the
Galactic Ladies.”
Rei followed Sadie into
the room where two other girls and a rabbit where. One girl had silvery white
hair and pale blue eyes. She was sitting on the edge of the couch with an open
book and a pencil in her hand.
The other girl had hair
in a shade of brown so dark that it was almost black and she kept it in a
ponytail. She was also looking at a book.
The rabbit had silver
colored fur, bright green eyes. She had a golden mark in the shape of a spiked
circle in the center of her forehead. She was sitting next to the girl with the
ponytail and was also looking over the book with her.
“Hello,” Sadie greeted
her friends.
“Sadie,” the girl with
the white hair sat up.
“Hello,” the other girl
did not look up from her book.
“Good afternoon Sadie,”
the rabbit hopped over to them. “Hello young sailor soldier.”
"Rei this is
Laurine," Sadie said introducing the girl with the pale silver hair.
"And this is Riley,” She introduced the girl with the raven colored
ponytail. “And this is Celeste,” Sadie pointed to the rabbit. "Laurine,
Riley, Celeste, this is Rei."
“Hello Rei,” Riley said.
She closed her book and set it down. “That is enough studying for today.”
"Hello Rei,"
Laurine said as she set down her pencil. “Enough for me as well.”
"Hello," Rei
greeted.
“Laurine you were not
studying,” Celeste pointed a paw Laurine. “You were doing your math homework,
and you need to keep at it until it is finished.”
“I only have three more
problems,” Laurine said. “I can finish while at home or during study hall.”
“You should take care of
it all right now,” Celeste said.
Rei tried to keep from
laughing. It reminded her of Luna and Artemis trying to get Usagi and Minako to
do their homework or to study.
“Studies have been shown
that taking small breaks during study and homework sessions improves a person’s
accuracy,” Laurine said. “And a good Lady meeting will be a perfect break.”
“I cannot find any fault
with that logic,” Celeste said.
"Celeste, why are we
at this meeting?" Riley asked. “Is it because of Rei’s visit?”
“That is one reason,”
Celeste said. “The other reason is that
Mr. Xanatos has sent for the solar pendant."
"A solar pendant?”
Rei asked. The name sounded similar to the star shaped necklace that was in
Osaka-san’s shop. “Like the one we sent?"
"Exactly except this
is the solar pendant reserved for the leader,” Celeste said. “There is also the
matter involving the fourth star pendant. We have no idea of its whereabouts.
We have thought we had found it, but the location turned out to be a former
location.
"Great,"
Laurine groaned. "What's the other reason?"
“Reason’s" Celeste
corrected and jumped behind the couch. “Sadie's crossbow has arrived." A
box was shoved out from behind the couch and Celeste pushed the box until it
was in clear view. “Sadie you may open this.”
“Thank you,” Sadie said
and opened the box. Inside was a small wooden cross bow that could be held with
one hand. In fact it had a leather wrist cuff that could wrap around a wrist.
All it was missing was its string and arrows.
"Where are the
arrows?" Riley asked.
"When Sadie receives
her pendant she will receive your arrows," Celeste said. "We also
located Riley's whip and are sending away for it."
“Awesome,” Riley smiled.
“Although I don’t think any member of the clan knows how to use a whip as a
weapon. Laurine has sparring lessons with Hudson and Brooklyn and Katana are
skilled with a bow and arrow.”
“Use your whip like your
yo-yo,” Laurine said and turned to Rei. “You should have seen her handle it.
She used it on this giant hawk and brought it down.”
“She saved my life,”
Sadie added.
“Everything looked grim,”
Riley added. “This crazy lade caused the others to hallucinate and then I…”
Rei tried to follow
along, but all three were talking and once and she tried to concentrate to
understand some of the discussion, but it was near impossible. She tried to
tell them one at a time but her words kept tumbling out in a mixture of English
and Japanese.
“Girls,” Celeste said in
a stern voice. “You are confusing our guest.”
“Sorry,” all three said.
“Gomen,” Rei blinked. “I
mean sorry.” She felt and odd sensation had entered the room. She turned to the
entrance and saw the serving man had returned with a tray full of drinks. What
was that odd energy that she sensed off of him? It wasn’t an evil energy. She
could tell that he was on the right side, but she couldn’t quite pinpoint why
she felt that. The energy also had a playful tone to it.
“I’m sorry if I’m
intruding,” Mr. Burnett said as he set the tray down.
“You are never intruding,
Mr. Burnett,” Sadie said as she took one of the glasses full of clear and
bubbly liquid.
“I help,” a small voice
said behind Rei.
Rei turned around and saw
a toddler with bright red hair and blue eyes. He was dressed in a bright red
shirt with a picture of Mickey Mouse on it. He also wore a diaper but no shorts
or pants, a pair of socks and brightly colored shoes. He also had a strange bit
of energy to him that was familiar to Mr. Burnett’s.
“Hello,” Rei greeted him.
He was adorable.
“That’s Alex,” Riley
said. “He’s Mr. Xanatos’s son.”
“I help,” Alex repeated
and held up his hands. “Pretty girl from far away, know the words that we say.
What our words sound to you and yours will sound that way too.”
Rei blinked a few times.
The child did something to her, but she could tell it wasn’t evil.
“What did he do?” Laurine
asked in Japanese.
“I should have explained
it to you,” Celeste said, also in Japanese. “Mr. Burnett is really a member of
what he calls the third race. You could say he is a fairy. He went against his
king and as punishment he is banished from his homeland and only can take his
fairy form when protecting or teaching Alex.”
“That is awful,” Rei
said. That would explain the energy; maybe it would also explain why everyone
was speaking in perfect Japanese. “What could he have done that was horrible
enough to merit such a punishment?”
“I kept Oberon from
taking Alex,” Mr. Burnett explained.
“Oberon?” Rei asked. The
name sounded familiar. She was certain she had heard Ami mention the name when
she was reading a book of Shakespeare plays.
“Isn’t that the name of
the fairy king from the play?” Riley asked. “A Midsummer’s night dream?”
“The very one,” Mr.
Burnett nodded. “I was also mentioned in that play.”
“You are obviously not
the fairy queen,” Riley said. Her eyes widened. “You’re Puck?”
Mr. Burnett nodded.
“Alexander’s grandmother is Titania. They wanted to Take Alexander because Fox
did not show any potential for magic. I fought against my king, using my own
powers to keep him from taking the infant.”
“Good for you,” Sadie
said.
“Did you hurt him?” Riley
asked. “Did you do the fairy equivalent of kicking him in the privates?”
“Fox stopped him with a
magical blast,” Mr. Burnett explained. “Proving that living in the mortal world
would not diminish his powers, since I did not want to return to the gathering
I was suggested to be a teacher and a protector as well.”
“This Oberon sounds like
a real jerk,” Rei said. She looked down at Alex.” I guess that explains why
everyone can speak Japanese now.”
“Huh?” Laurine asked.
“I’m not speaking Japanese. We are all speaking English.”
“Yours is perfect,” Sadie
said to Rei. “You sound like you have been speaking English all your life.”
“So that is what the
spell did,” Celeste said. “To Rei we are all speaking her native tongue, but to
everyone else she is speaking English.”
“That’s a useful spell,”
Laurine said.
“It is,” Rei smiled at
the toddler. “Thank you.”
“Welcome,” Alex smiled
back.
“I will take young
Alexander,” Mr. Burnett scooped up the toddler into his arms. “Is there
anything that you may need you can ask.”
“Thank you Mr. Burnett,”
Sadie said as the two left.
“Now back to the
meeting,” Celeste said. “I have more news from Central. The fourth Lady will be
joining us soon. Apollo has found her.”
“Apollo?” Laurine raised
her eyebrows.
“He’s guardian like me,”
Celeste said.
“Is he a rabbit or a
cat?” Rei asked. “Our guardians, Luna and Artemis are cats. In fact Central is
Artemis.”
“What?” Celeste stared at
her in shock. “I thought Central was the Moon Kingdom computer.”
“Artemis had been in
contact with the computer,” Rei explained. “Luna was as shocked as he was.”
“I wish he told me
sooner,” Celeste shook her head. “To answer all of your questions, Apollo is
also a rabbit, and now the final part of our meeting is the reason Rei is
here.”
“I came here to provide
some help,” Rei said. “And to learn more about your enemy.”
"The Dark Kingdom?”
Celeste asked.
"We had thought we
had destroyed them," Rei said. “Or at least sealed them away.”
"You have fought
them before " Laurine said. “How did you defeat them?”
“We had our whole team,”
Rei said. “We also had the power of the silver crystal.” She closed her eyes.
She didn’t want to tell them the truth, but they had to know. “During the
battle we died. I gave my life to defend Sailor Moon so she could face off
against Beryl and Metallia. It was because of the crystal we were restored.”
“We don’t have a whole
team yet,” Rile said after a few minutes. “I’m not sure if I’m ready to die
yet.”
“Neither am I,” Sadie
said. She sounded scared and Rei wanted to comfort her.
“If we die we might come
back,” Laurine said.
“But we don’t have a
powerful crystal.”
“Sailor Moon will use
it,” Rei said. “We will come and help you with the battle.” Hopefully the will
have fought and defeated the leader of the daimons by then. “I still want to
know how the Dark Kingdom came back. May I use your fire place?”
"Yes, but why?"
Celeste asked.
"I can read the
fire," Rei explained. “It will tell me what we need to know.”
"Cool,“ Riley
complimented.
"Not cool hot,"
Laurine told her. The others chuckled at her little joke.
Rei made sure there was
enough wood for the fire. She lit a wooden match and set it to the log. The
flame came to life and started to feed on the wood. She kneeled in front of the flames and held her hands together.
She sensed the others gathering around her to watch. She waited until the heat
felt just right before she called to the spirit of the flames.
"Please fire tell me
did we or did we not destroy Metallia?" she asked.
“No,” a whisper came from
the flames.
“Why did we not?” Rei
asked and stared into the flames. She saw two figures in the flames. One was a
woman, and the other was a man kneeling in front of the woman. As she
concentrated the woman became clearer. She had long red wavy hair, red eyes,
pointed ears, and pearly white spikes on each shoulder. She wore a long bluish
purple dress, a black tiara in the shape of a crescent moon with a jewel at the
top.
“Beryl,” Rei whispered.
“You may rise Bornite,”
the image of Beryl said.
“As you wish my queen,”
the man said. He had dark curly hair, golden eyes and was dressed in a gray
uniform that was similar to the uniform of Beryl’s generals.
“Kunzite told me you were
the best of his colonels,” Beryl said. “And now he is also gone. I now promote
you to the role of general and your majors are now your colonels.”
“Thank you my queen,”
Bornite said.
“The Sailor Soldiers are
closing,” Beryl said. “I am most certain they will not win. My powerful
servants, the D and D girls are fighting them and they have already killed two
of them. Endymion is also in my control and shall awaken soon.”
“This world will be
ours,” Bornite nodded.
“However there is a small
possible chance they might defeat us. They have the silver crystal with them.”
“My colonels and I will
defend this kingdom with our lives. I will give my life to defend you.” He had
a look of longing in his eyes.
Beryl smiled at him. “I
knew I could trust this in no person but you.” She held out her hand. A crystal
sphere no larger than a ping pong ball floated above it. There was a dark cloud
inside the sphere. “This contains a fragment of Metallia. I want you to take
it.” She raised her hand up and the sphere floated from her hand towards
Bornite. “I want you to take it, your colonels and the youmas and seal yourself
in sector ten.”
“Sector ten?” Bornite
blinked. “That is reserved for emergency’s.”
“This is an emergency,”
Beryl said. “If we succeed you will be awoken early. If not you will sleep for
six months and when you awaken you will find another weak spot, break through
and begin again.”
“You should seek shelter
inside sector ten instead.”
Beryl shook her head. “My
fight is with Sailor Moon.”
“I still should be with
you.”
“He assigned you to watch
over me when we first lived,” Beryl closed her eyes. “Now he is with me. Go to
sector ten, take your soldiers, and youmas. Protect that fragment at all costs.
This I command.”
“As you wish,” Bornite
said and rose.
The flames shifted and
the image vanished.
“That is how it
happened,” Rei said and sat back. “Beryl had one of soldiers hide away with a
piece of Metallia. Now his soldiers are feeding energy to Metallia.” She told
the others everything she saw in the fire.
“This Beryl sounds
persistent,” Laurine said.
“Some people really want
to rule the world,” Riley added.
“It’s Metallia that
really wants to rule,” Rei said. “I don’t think she wants to rule rather than
destroy it.”
“Rei is correct,” Celeste
said. “Metallia is a powerful demon created from the sun’s energy. She broke
free and went to the Earth to persuade the people to rage a war against the people
of the moon.”
“Why?” Sadie asked.
“The people of the Earth
did not trust the people of the moon,” Celeste explained. “Beryl was a
sorceress from the Earth that Metallia felt would be the fitting leader. She
bestowed upon her great power.”
“She fought against the
Moon Kingdom before,” Rei said. “Long before we fought her on Earth. She and
her army destroyed the peaceful society of the moon and because of Queen
Serenity she was defeated in the past. We died in the battle and were reborn on
Earth.”
“Reincarnation?” Laurine
asked.
Rei nodded. “Exactly. I
was once the princess of Mars and part of Princess Serenity’s court. Our role
was to guard and defend the kingdom and the princess.”
“Azurite," Laurine
said and pulled out heart shaped box. She opened it. Rei’s eyes widened at the
star shape as it danced around and music played.
“Where did you get that?”
Rei asked.
“Azurite gave it to me,”
Laurine said. “He is one of the Dark Kingdom’s generals. He said I was his
princess reborn. I didn’t believe him at first, but now after what you said…”
She closed her eyes.
“Azurite saved her,”
Riley said. “He doesn’t want her hurt and killed like the other generals. I
think believe he is in love with her.”
‘And Laurine loves him
to,’ Rei thought. She had seen this before, and she hoped Azurite would not
meet the same fate as Nephrite.
“Celeste,” Sadie said.
“Were we also committed to protecting the moon princess?”
“No,” Rei shook her head.
“Luna said you were the ambassador princesses. You were favorite guests to the
moon kingdom.”
“Ambassador princesses,”
Celeste repeated. “I remember the name and title, but everything is not yet
clear.”
“You will remember it,”
Sadie assured her.
“Unfortunately I can’t
help out with that,” Rei said. “I only know what Luna and Artemis has told me.”
“We will meet again when
more returns,” Celeste said. “Or Artemis tells me. Laurine you can finish your
homework now.”
“Joy,” Laurine grumbled
and opened her book again.
“I’ll ride back with
Rei,” Sadie said. “Make sure she gets back to her hotel.”
“The hotel,” Rei blinked.
She nearly forgot. Her poor roommates were still covering for her. She smiled
sheepishly and turned to Sadie. “Thank you Sadie-san.”
-
Feldspar leaned back in his black leather chair as energy gathered in a glowing
ball in his hand. He stared at the
walls. He had several knifes on display. Some of them were ornate works of art,
and only used for decoration. The others were used when he fought and
practiced. There were also pictures of Chrystia and pictures of him and
Chrystia together on the walls.
“Soon my love,” He said
as he stared at the sphere. It was almost full and complete and ready to send
to Borice.
He heard the door slowly
creak open. A knife ever ready in his other hand Feldspar turned and smiled
when he saw that it was Chrystia. He dropped his knife as he kissed her.
"I just wanted to
see how you’re doing?" She said after their lips touched.
“Excellent,” he closed
his eyes and drank in the scent of her perfume. “Soon we will have reached our
goal and be married. No one will oppose us now." He thought of their families and their people on two separate
planets who were at war.
"Those that did
oppose us have been dead for centuries," Chrystia said. Was she having
second thoughts?
"Borice said this
planet are filled with people with similar views," Feldspar said. “Several
countries are a war within themselves, people judge each other based on their
spiritual views and the color of their skin. This is a hateful planet.”
"You are
correct." She snuggled up to him closer. “We will clean this planet and
make it better for us and everyone.
-
Rei tried not to look too
disappointed as their group neared the mall. She should be thankful that they
were going to be allowed to go to the mall in the first place. Still, it would
have been nice to walk around the mall without being chaperoned.
“Now remember to stay in
the group,” Sister Marie said. “We are going to walk through the mall together
as one large group.”
Rei joined in with the
others with their groaning.
“What are we?” Yuriko
asked, “Children?”
“You are not adults,”
Sister Marie said. “We could always go back to the hotel.”
Rei bit her lower lip to
keep from complaining out loud. If they go back then she wouldn’t be able to
meet up with Sadie and the others.
“Are we not being a
little harsh?” Sister Holly asked.
“Sister Holly is
correct,” Sister Nicole said. “Perhaps we can divide up the girls and decide
how we should go about this?”
Sister Marie nodded.
“That does sound plausible.” She turned back to the girls and rattled off a
list of names.
Rei held her breath. She
did not want to be in Sister Marie’s group. She was the strictest of all the
nuns and she treated the students as if they were children. She released her
breath when she didn’t here her names and braced herself when Sister Nicole
read off her list of names. She wasn’t part of that group either.
“The rest of you are with
me,” Sister Holly said.
“I wonder how this is
going to go,” Yuriko said.
“I’m not certain,” Rei
said.
As soon as they entered
Rei tried to look around for her friends. She spotted Sadie near the entrance,
standing in front of a directory.
“Rei?” Sadie said out
loud as soon as she spotted the girls. “Rei Hino?”
“Hello,” Rei said. “Sadie
Von Stark Felsen.”
“I’m so glad we finally
get to meet,” Sadie walked up to them. “How do you like New York so far?”
“I like it a lot,” Rei
said. She hoped the nuns would buy their story.
“Miss Hino,” Sister Holly
approached them. “How do you know her?”
“We are pen pals,” Rei
explained. They came up with the idea while riding the subway back to the hotel
yesterday. “I promised that we would meet.”
“I am sorry if I’m
disrupting a lesson,” Sadie said.
“You are not,” Sister
Holly said. “We are here at the mall, basically for fun.”
“Sister Holly is it okay
if Sadie-san comes with us?” Rei asked.
“I don’t see why not,”
Sister Holly shrugged. “Now to decide on where to go.” She walked up the
directory. “I think we will start in the purple section.” She pointed in one
direction. “This way.”
Rei walked close with
Yuriko and Sadie on their way to the section. Rei and Yuriko explained to Sadie
how hectic their day was. First they had to wake up at six thirty to get ready,
eat breakfast in hotel restaurant, followed by two hours of lessons in one of
the conference rooms. Then they were bused to the museum of natural history,
then lunch, and finally they toured Wyvern castle.
"Shipping a castle to his building is the craziest thing I have ever
heard," Yuriko said.
“He fell in love with the
architecture,” Rei said “That is what the tour guide said.”
Yuriko shrugged. “I still
think it’s odd.”
“Let me know which stores
you would like to go to,” Sister Holly said.
“There are a lot of good
stores in this area,” Sadie said. “Tell me what you are interested in and I’ll
point it out.”
“I would like to see a
shoe store," Yuriko said. "I need some new high heels."
“There is at least three
in this section,” Sadie chuckled. “There is the foot locker, Roscoe’s and
Peyton. Peyton is a bit pricey though.”
“I guess I’ll try the
other two then,” Yuriko said.
Rei noticed the other
shoppers, and a lot of them were buying shoes. She read the names of the
shopping bag and the name that appeared the most was Peyton.
“Are you certain Peyton
is expensive?” Rei asked. “A lot of people seem to be shopping there today.”
“I guess they are having
a sale,” Sadie said. “Let’s go have a look.”
Several people were going
into and coming out of Peyton and there were several sale signs on the outside
displays. The shoes did look fancy but if they were a low price then no wonder
the store was crowded. There also seems to be an odd energy coming from that
direction but ignored it when Yuriko chirped again.
“I’m going to try on so
many shoes,” Yuriko squealed in delight.
Rei nodded, but her eyes
were drawn to the store next to Peyton.
It was called Ayakashi Accessories. She caught a glimpse of what they
were selling. It looked like jewelry, perfume, make up, and hair accessories.
They sound just like the items that Koan and her sisters would be selling.
"Okay Yuriko we’re going
to the boutique next store," Rei told her. "We'll meet out here in
about twenty minutes."
“Which one?” Sadie asked.
The store on the opposite side sold children’s clothing. “You want the
accessory store?”
“Yes,” Rei nodded. “I
think it’s owned by some old friends of mine.”
There were several neat
looking items that caught Rei’s eye. Including what she had originally saw she
also noticed items for nail care, hair brushes, combs, and mirrors, various
kinds of lotion, scarves, watches, belts, hats, gloves and purses as well as
black light candles and bubble bath products.
Rei ran up to the front
where a young woman with short light green hair was ringing up a customer. Rei
waited until she was done before she ran up to her.
“Petz,” Rei greeted her.
"Rei?” Petz was
surprised to see her. “It is so nice to see you. What brings you here?"
"Educational field
trip,” Rei answered. "Where are the others?" She would love to see all the sisters, but
she especially wanted to see Koan since she was the one she felt closest too
and Rei was the one to see the goodness in her heart.
"Koan is with a
customer, Berthier in the stockroom taking care of inventory and Calaveras is
recovering from the flu."
“Oh no,” Rei didn’t like
the idea of anyone being flu stricken. “I wish I had brought some tea with me.”
“We have been taking good
care of her,” Petz said.
“How long have you been
here?” Rei asked. She remembered the Ayakashi sisters moving, but they didn’t
say where they were going too. She wished they had mentioned the move so Rei
could write to them.
“We moved her last
summer,” Petz said. “Sorry it was short notice.”
“I’m glad your shop is
doing well.”
“Things for us are going
well, but not for the city.”
"What do you mean
Petz?"
"There has been dark
forces here, but don't worry three soldiers called the Galactic Ladies are
taking care of it."
“Oh that,” Rei chuckled.
“I’ve met with them. In fact one is here with me.” She turned to where Sadie
was standing in front of the bath salts. “Sadie-san.”
“Yes?” Sadie approached them.
“Sadie-san this is my
friend Petz Ayakashi,” Rei introduced and then whispered to her friend.
“Petz knows about me as Sailor Mars.”
“Oh?” Sadie’s eyebrows
rose up.
“My sisters and I are
thankful for what Rei and the others have done for us,” Petz said. “And I want
to thank the new Galactic Ladies for trying to keep New York nice and safe.”
“Your welcome,” Sadie
said
“For you two everything
in the store is half off,” Petz winked.
“Your really don’t have
to do that,” Sadie held up her hands.
“Oh but I insist,” Petz
said. “You two go on and shop around and have fun.”
“We are only doing our
duty,” Sadie said. She was blushing. She reminded Rei of Ami in that sense.
“Well if you insist then
we must,” Rei said. “I’m going to look for some gifts for the other sailor
soldiers.”
“I would like to get some
bath salts,” Sadie said. “Maybe a headband or too for when I play basketball.”
“Sound’s good,” Rei said
and grabbed a basket. She decided to start looking in the candles section. She
saw one that looked like a white cat. She held it under the black light lamp
and the candle glowed yellow. “I found one for Minako.” Next she checked out
the jewelry and found some pretty pink and green bracelets for Makato. Next to
those were the charm bracelets. She looked through then and found one that had
cute little chess pieces as charms. After the bracelets she wandered over to an
area that had pretty pens with ornate caps. She saw a white glittery pen that
was topped with a pale pink glittery crescent moon and not to far from that pen
was a pink one with bunny on top.
She found Sadie talking
with Koan about the various kind of bath salts.
“This is perfect for
after a long work out or practice,” Koan said as she held out a jar in front of
Sadie. “It helps relax the muscles and the scent is heavenly. I use it in my
baths after a long day on my feet here.”
“That does sound good,”
Sadie nodded. “I work as a lifeguard at a pool.”
“Then you are going to
defiantly want this.” Koan set the container down in Sadie’s. “Also make sure
you use plenty of lotion. Chlorine dries out the skin.”
“Trying to go for that up
sale?” Rei remarked in a sly tone.
“Rei-chan?” Koan looked
up at her. “Rei-chan.”
“Koan-san,” Rei embraced
her.
“Petz explained
everything to me,” Koan said. “I know Sadie is a Galactic Lady.”
“I’m so glad to see you
and to see that you are doing well.”
“Not as well as the
Peyton shoe store,” Koan said. “But that isn’t what worries me.”
“What does worry you?”
Sadie asked.
"People coming out
of there seem weak and tired,” Koan answered. “A lot of them go to the nearest
bench to take a nap. I believe in the whole shop until you drop saying myself.
In fact, I have been guilty of doing that, but some of those people only have
the one bag from Peyton. It just looks kind of suspicious.”
"Okay thanks
Koan," Rei said. “We’ll check it out.” She knew she should have listened
to her instinct. She turned to Sadie. "We should check on Yuriko."
“Yeah,” Sadie nodded. “It
has been almost twenty minutes.”
They paid for their items
and walked out. Yuriko was sitting on a bench half asleep. The pink and white
striped bag from Peyton was in her lap. A few other classmates had also gone to
Peyton.
“Yuriko,” Rei ran up to
her. “Yuriko wake up.”
“Hmm?” Yuriko’s eyelids
twitched. “Is it time to go?”
“Yuriko you fell asleep,”
Rei said.
“Oh,” Yuriko yawned. “I
guess I’m just a bit sleepy.”
Rei looked toward the
direction of Peyton. She noticed that other people coming out of there were
also half asleep. The energy she had felt before was also there and in full
tune.
“This is just like when
we went to the beauty salon,” Sadie said. “Riley and I also felt just this
tired.
"We need to contact
the others," Rei said.
"Agreed," Sadie
said. She flipped open the lid on her
communicator. “Guys we think the enemy have set up shop at Peyton shoe store in
the mall.”
“Now where is the nearest
bathroom?” Rei asked.
“This way,” Sadie led her
to the nearest department store. They walked up the escalator and into the
ladies room, which to their luck was deserted.
"Ready?" Rei
asked.
"Ready," Sadie
said and pulled out her pen. "Centauri galaxy Power Make-Up!"
"Mars Star Power
Make up!" The red rings and twirling yellow lights stopped.
As they ran back Sailor
Mars noticed the difference in Lady Centauri’s outfit. They both wore white
leotards, high heels and skirts, but that was where the similarities ended.
Lady Centauri’s collar was not a sailor collar, instead it reminded Rei of the
petals on a flower. Her skirt was just a little bit longer and there were
ribbon like streamers attached to in the front and back. Her uniform had
sleeves that were yellow and trimmed in brown. She also had arm bracers, a
headband and two star shaped barrettes in her hair
“That’s enough for
today,” Lady Centauri said.
“That’s enough forever,”
Sailor Mars added.
“No one attacks a shop in
my mall,” Lady Centauri said.
The employees looked dazed.Their eyes started
to glow and liquid meal poured out of their mouths, out of their nostrils,
their ears, and the corners of their eyes.
Rei shuddered at the
sight, but did not turn away. She watched as the liquid metal pool together
rose up and changed it’s shape into a shiny youma with a jewel in its chest.
"Who wants to play
today?" The youma asked.
“I do,” Sailor Mars said.
“I am the soldier of love and fire, Sailor Mars.”
“I am the soldier of
stone and justice,” Lady Centauri introduced. “Lady Centauri.”
“We shall give you divine
punishment.”
“I wasn’t expecting one
of you here,” the youma said.
“That is unfortunate for
you,” Mars said. “Fire Soul" She sent her flame to the youma.
The flames struck the
youma but did nothing. “You will have to do better than that.”
"Let me try,” Lady
Centauri said "Centauri Stalagmite slash!"
Slivers of the ground
jumped out and flew towards the youma. The youma became liquid as the stone
shards shot through it.
"Is that all you
got?" the youma asked and laughed.
"No its not,"
Riley’s voice was heard. “Try some of this.” A yo-yo shot out through the
monster’s neck. The others had arrived.
“This is just laughable,”
the youma said. “And to think Feldspar said you might be tough.” Her hand
lengthened and reshaped itself into a blade. “Now it’s my turn.”
“Not yet,” Riley or
rather Lady Comet said. Her yo-yo shot out again and wrapped around the blade.
“You probably made it solid.”
“Think again,” the youma
said as the string went through the sword.
‘Now is my chance,’ Mars
thought. She had an Ofuda in her hand. “Evil spirit begone!" She tagged
the youma's head.
“I can’t move,” the youma
said.
“Not laughing anymore,”
Andromeda said. “Comet try your tracking thing.
"Okay, Comet
Tracking, how do we stop this thing?" A small glowing pink ball appeared
in front of the youma and it rose up and down before centering in front of its
jewel and started to flash
“Thank you,” Andromeda swung
her ax against the jewel causing it to break.
"No!!!" The
youma cried.
"Comet Interstellar
Explosion!" Comet shouted.
"Andromeda Soundwave
Shatter!" Andromeda yelled
“Burning Mandala,” Mars
sent her attack finishing off the monster.
“Good job,” Celeste
jumped in front of Rei. “We are thankful you have assisted us.”
“Me too,” Centauri said.
“We work well together.
Mars was about to say
something when she sensed something near Andromeda. “Get down.” She pushed the
Galactic Lady out of the way.
Sharp tip of a blade
appeared and made a circle in the air. Energy filled the circle that it
created. A man stepped through the circle. He wore a black leather jacket and
had red hair tied into a ponytail. His eyes were like steel.
“Feldspar,” Centauri
gasped.
"So you managed to
finish off another one of my servants," the man said.
“We will keep defeating
them,” Comet said.
“Where is Azurite?”
Andromeda asked.
“He is home,” Feldspar
said. “Waiting for his next turn to fight you all. He is also waiting for you.
You can come with me to see him.”
“She is going to have to
decline,” Mars said. “We know you are working for General Bornite.”
Feldspar chuckled. “He is
no longer called that.”
“He can tell us his name
when he sees us,” Mars said.
“Don’t count on that
Sailor Brat. You will not have the same amount of luck this time.” He climbed
back into the gate and sealed it with his knife.
“What a jerk,” Comet
said.
“He’s to proud of
himself,” Andromeda said. “And you know the saying. The pride goeth before the
fall.”
“Do you think the people
will be okay?” Centauri asked and pointed at the employees.
“They will be fine,”
Celeste said.
“Good,” Mars nodded. “I
need to return to my group.”
-
It was almost a few more minutes before the plane would take off. Rei enjoyed her trip to New York. She has plenty of pictures and stories now. She looked at her communicator. She has also let the others back home know what is going on. They would help the Ladies with the Dark Kingdom, while they learned more about the daimons and the witches five.