They were able to find a payphone not far away and after informing Mr. Burnett of what had just happened, and receiving assurance from him that Kayla will be able to enter both the tower and the castle they flagged down the bus.
“Crap,”
Laurine said after she sat down. “I forgot. I was on my way to gymnastics.” She
turned to Sadie. “How did you get out of work, and I thought you had basketball
practice today.”
Sadie
shrugged. “Practice was canceled today. I called work to see if they needed me
and they didn’t, so I went in for just a swim. It’s good for toning the
muscles.”
“I never
miss practice,” Laurine massaged her head. “What am I going to say?”
“Tell
them you came down with a stomach bug,” Apollo suggested. He rode in the back
of Kayla’s backpack.
“You
could blame it on the lasagna we had today,” Sadie said. “You could say it
didn’t agree with you.”
“That
would work,” Laurine sat up. “Donna can back me up on the lasagna.”
“Lasagna?”
Riley blinked.
“Bad cafeteria
lasagna,” Laurine explained. “Usually it’s pretty decent. It wasn’t good, but
it wasn’t bad, just so-so.”
“They
burned it,” Sadie added.
“Say no
more,” Riley held up her hands. “So Kayla. How long have you been in the Lady
business?”
“It is
not exactly a business,” Celeste stuck her head out of Laurine’s duffle.
“You know
what they mean,” Apollo said to her.
“You two
need to keep hidden,” Kayla pushed her rabbit’s head down back into her bag,
“and maybe we shouldn’t talk about our secret lives.” She nodded towards the
directions of the other bus riders.
“We are
in New York City,” Sadie said.
“Exactly,”
Riley added. “We have become experts of screening everyone out.”
“Oh,”
Kayla blinked. “In that case I’ve been Lady Sun since August. In fact it was just
a couple of days before my seventeenth birthday.”
“You’ve
been a Lady longer than me,” Laurine said. She had first met Celeste back in
September.
“Were
there any monsters in Connecticut?” Sadie asked.
“Nope,”
Kayla shook her head. “I first transformed to help take care of some mobsters
that took hold of the library. Yeah mobsters in Hartford, who would of
thought?” She shrugged.
“Yeah,”
Sadie nodded. “You don’t usually read about mobsters there.”
“Ever
since then I’ve been taking care of criminals,” Kayla said. “Bank robberies,
jewelry store heists, armed robberies at convenience stores. When I don’t have
too much homework or practice Apollo and I go out and patrol areas that have
been known to have criminal activity.”
“She
became a bit of a local celebrity,” Apollo said. “But I didn’t let it go to her
head.”
“No you
silly rabbit,” Kayla scratched the area on Apollo’s head that was right between
his ears. “You let it go to your head instead. He acted like he was my agent.”
“Why am I
not surprised?” Celeste sighed.
“Kayla
you mentioned practice,” Riley said. “What do you play? Is it a sport or an
instrument?”
“I like
to play tennis,” Kayla said. “I know schools don’t have Tennis meets until the
spring, but I want to keep in top shape. A few friends and I meet up at the
courts for practice and a few games at least twice a week.”
“Are you
going to try out for the team this February?” Laurine asked.
“Probably,”
Kayla said.
The six
of them got off the bus and walked the few blocks to the Aerie. Laurine, Riley and
Sadie showed their passes and the guards let Kayla in since she must be the red
head friend of the girls with passes that Mr. Burnett described to them.
“The
elevator ride is a bit long,” Sadie said.
“That’s
okay,” Kayla said. “I know how to pass the time. How do you tell the difference
between a Canadian and a New Yorker?”
“Oh no,”
Apollo sighed.
“How?”
Sadie asked.
“A
Canadian says ‘Up yours eh, and a New York says Eh up yours.” Kayla stressed
out the Eh for the New York the way Fonzie did on Happy Days.
“Um,”
Riley blinked while Sadie chuckled and Laurine snorted.
“I got
another one,” Kayla said. “One day there was this huge funeral procession
coming out of St Mary’s cathedral. The casket was real heavy and the church was
on top of the hill. The casket slipped away from the pallbearers and went zoom
down the hillside. It went down Main Street past the police station, past the
grocery store, past the arcade and the mall, past the laundry mat and the
school and the fire station. It continued to zoom several miles until it
stopped at the pharmacy. It stopped right in front of the desk. The corpse sat
up and was hacking away. He says. ‘Hey do you have anything to help stop this
coffin?”
Riley’s
hands flew to her mouth, whiles Sadie chuckled again, only this time more
politely.
Laurine
also laughed weakly. ‘Oh yeah she and Ricardo are made for each other.’
“Please
stop,” Apollo begged.
“We do
have some business to take care of,” Celeste said. “We’ll have a brief meeting
tonight and then another after school tomorrow.”
“We can introduce Kayla to the clan,” Laurine suggested.
She had to meet them sometime.
Sylvite was early for the
meeting. She decided to do her best to sooth what the injured couple. They
might not have been physically wounded, but their pride certainly was ailing.
She had heard that both Feldspar and Chrystia were teaming up to face of
against the Galactic Ladies. She had wished them the best of luck. She wanted
them to fight their enemies. It gave her plenty of time to seek out a new
harvesting target and develop the right kind of plants that would help her.
She had also prepared
herself for the meeting. She brewed a soothing tea mix that contained the hint
of apples in the flavor. She had discovered that the scent and flavor of apples
does wonders to boost the mood. She had also gathered several jars with her
that contained various medicines made from her plants.
Azurite had arrived a
minute after her. After he had met his gaze wit hers he shrugged. He was
worried for their teammates as well as for his princess, his Lady Andromeda.
There was no doubt that he had been watching the battle closely for fear that
Feldspar and Chrystia might succeed. He would have leapt through at the last
minute and swept up Lady Andromeda into his arms and carried her back to the
Dark Kingdom.
After a few more minutes
Chrystia and Feldspar entered the room. Feldspar’s lower lip had seemed to
double in size and there was a noticeable cut.
"What
happened?" Sylvite asked.
"We were so
close" Chrystia told her. She kept staring down at the ground. "So
close again."
“Then a fourth Lady
arrived,” Feldspar, said. He seemed to be having slight difficulty speaking.
“I have just the thing
for that lip,” Sylvite said and pulled out a small jar of ointment. “Just apply
this to your mouth.
“Thank you,” Chrystia
said and snatched the jar out of her hand. “You wouldn’t have anything for
scrapes on the body, sore muscles, and a few burns now would you?” She removed
the lid and dabbed some of the medicine onto her finger.
“Actually I would,”
Sylvite said and dug through her pockets and pulled out three more jars and
placed them into Feldspar’s outspread hands.
"There was once five
Ladies," Borice spoke up.
"What?" Sylvite
turned to him.
"Memories are
returning," Borice began, "When the Dark Kingdom fought the Moon
Kingdom, there were Five Galactic Ladies fighting along side the Sailor
Soldiers.”
"So who's' the
fifth?" Feldspar asked.
"That I do not
know," Borice scowled. “All we can hope is to have provided Metallia with
enough power before the fifth is fond and awakened.
“Five princesses from a
neighboring galaxy,” Azurite said. “Aurora, Harmony, Kyrielle, Cipher, and Kytoon.”
“Why do you remember
their names?” Sylvite asked as she went to where her tea set was.
“I have no idea,” her
brother shrugged. “I just do.”
"What will we do
now?" Chrystia asked.
“The same,” Borice said.
“We will continue to gather energy.”
"From a very large
group." Sylvite said. She poured
tea in to the four cups.
“Hopefully from a very
large group,” Borice said. “Unless you already know of such a large group.”
“Of course,” Sylvite
said.
"Somebody has a
plan," Azurite noted.
“Very astute brother,”
Sylvite said as she finished pouring the tea. “This Friday night at Madison
Square Garden there will be a big concert event." Sylvite set her tea pot
down and her dress changed into a professional business suit." As Miss
Sylvia Write manager of The Dark Rotting weeds, I booked them for the post
intermission concert."
"Dark Rotting Weeds?
Never heard of them," Feldspar said.
"Duh, I grew them
myself,” Sylvite said as her clothes changed back to normal. “ They are quite
talented." She continued to work
on the tea. One cube for her brother and a whisper of cinnamon, two cubes for
Chrystia, just a dollop of honey for Feldspar and one cube and a few drops of
lemon for Borice. She handed her king his cup.
"Talented like you
my dear." Borice told her, staring into her eyes as she accepted the cup.
“Thank
you my king,” Sylvite said before she handed her brother his cup.
“Two packages,” Riley
repeated as she and the other girls entered their room in the castle.
“That is correct,” Mr.
Burnett said. “One for you miss Dipoesia and the other is for miss Dargrian.”
He gestured two his hand where there were two packages placed on the coffee
table. One was long and took up most of the coffee table. The other one was
small, the size more suitable for jewelry and placed on top of the larger box.
“I wonder if we should
open them now,” Kayla said. “Or should we wait until Laurine feels better.”
“Go ahead,” Laurine said.
She sat down on the couch. “It’s not like it’s one of those cluster headaches
or a migraine.”
“Yeah but it still
hurts,” Kayla said. “Are you certain you don’t want to lay down?”
“Maybe I could for a
bit,” Laurine said. She removed her shoes and spread out on the couch.
“I’ll return with some
refreshments,” Mr. Burnett said. “And some Tylenol for Miss Chancerdd. There
are a few wash cloths in the adjacent bathroom.”
“Thank you,” Sadie said
before she ran to the bathroom.
“You didn’t have to
come,” Celeste said to Laurine. “If you were not feeling up to it.”
“I always make the Lady
meetings,” Laurine said. “If I say I’m going to be there, then I’m going to be
there.”
“I should still stay by
your side,” Celeste said. “To make certain you are feeling all right.”
“I’ll watch over her,”
Apollo said. “You also have the other girls to watch over her. You go to speak
with Central.”
“Are you certain?”
Celeste asked. Her long ears were drooping.
“We are positive,” Riley
said.
“I won’t be too long,”
Celeste said and ran off towards the direction of Xanatos’s office.
Riley kept staring at
Laurine and then at Kayla who just shrugged at her.
“No one is going to open
their packages?” Apollo asked. He had hopped onto one the armchairs and
stretched out.
“Apollo,” Kayla said in
an annoyed tone.
“He has a point,” Sadie
said. She had a folded damp washcloth in her hands. “I have a hunch of what
those packages are.” She kneeled down
next to Laurine and placed the damp cloth on her forehead.
Riley handed Kayla her
package and ripped through the wrapping of hers. After she raised the lid she
was what was inside. It was a bullwhip, leather bound wooden handle with a long
braided whip.
“My weapon,” Riley said
as she removed her weapon from the box.
"Are you going to
power it up?" Sadie asked Riley.
"No, I want to know
how to use it first." Riley said lightly flicking her whip back and
forth. “I wonder if I should tell
Celeste?”
“Celeste already knows,”
Mr. Burnett said after he had entered. He was carrying a tray with glasses full
of iced drinks. “While you were introducing Miss Dargrian to the clan Mr.
Xanatos informed her of the packages.”
“Now all I need is a
teacher,” Riley said as she removed the box so Owen could set the tray down on
the coffee table.
"I know how to use
my weapon,” Kayla said. She had unwrapped her box and opened it. Inside was a
gold necklace with a round pendant. In the center was a bright orange gemstone
surrounded by a multi pointed decoration. “ How to power it up is the hard
part."
"Shout Solar Pendant
Power up." Apollo said and closed his eyes again.
Thanks," Kayla ran
over to the mirror to put on her necklace. “Yeah this looks good on my.”
“Very nice,” Mr. Burnett
said. He handed Sadie the bottle of Tylenol.
“I can take my own
medicine,” Laurine said when Sadie handed her the bottle. She unscrewed the
cap, popped in a couple of pills, took a long drink from her glass and laid her
head back down on the sofa cushion.
Riley
stared at her whip as it trailed across the ground. She was going to have to
learn how to use it. She no longer had her yo-yo.
"Central Control
this is Celeste,” Celeste said as she typed in the command. “Password: The
Ladies protect the moon." She
still had no idea why they were still using such protocol. She was certain Rei
had informed Artemis that they knew it was him.
"Hello Celeste,
please report," Central said.
“Do we really need to
keep using all of these passwords, Artemis?” Celeste typed.
“Not exactly,” Artemis
replied. “But please let me have this.”
Celeste rolled her eyes.
“He is almost as bad as Apollo.” She typed in the latest information. "As I have reported last night, Lady
Sun and Apollo joined. Today Lady Sun's pendant, the solar pendant and Comet's
whip arrived."
"Excellent, its
obvious your leader is Lady Sun."
"I don’t know how
the girls will take this. They have always thought of Laurine as their leader,
but that’s not the main problem."
"What is the main
problem?"
"We don't have a
trainer for Riley," Celeste typed. “Let me explain. The clan has been
helpful in teaching the girls how to use their weapons, many are skilled in
archery and Brooklyn knows how to use a crossbow and Hudson has been sparring
with Laurine. Kayla already knows how to use her chakram, but we do not know
anyone who knows how to use a whip as a weapon.”
"The Ayakashi
sisters are there, correct?”
“Yes, the girls love to
visit their store in the mall.”
“Calaveras is skilled
with a whip. She might be able to teach Riley."
“That is perfect, thank
you Artemis.”
“Don’t forget you still
have to find the fifth Lady and her pendant.”
“Both finding her and her
pendant are next to impossible,” Celeste typed. “We have located her staff
though and we have already sent in the money for it.”
“You must find both the fifth
Lady and her pendant.”
“We are searching. Please
inform us if you have any leads or clues.”
“We will let you know.
Artemis…I mean Central out.”
“He
has always been quite the character,” Celeste said as she finished typing and
turned off the laptop.
‘How am I going to inform
the girls that Kayla is the destined leader?’ Celeste thought as she reentered
the room. ‘Should I tell Laurine now when she isn’t feeling well, or maybe
having the stress of being leader being removed actually relieve the tension of
her headache?’
Laurine was right where
she had left her, lying on the couch, although now she an ice cool drink next
to her and a cool damp cloth on her forehead. Riley was practicing cracking her
whip against the wall while Sadie watched and was trying to offer advice. Kayla
was thumbing through a guidebook of some sorts and Apollo was sleeping on a
chair.
“Unbelievable,” Celeste
grumbled. “I do all the hard work and he just sleeps.”
“Hi Celeste,” Sadie
turned to her. “What did Central have to say?”
“Central, or I should say
Artemis have been informed of the arrival of Kayla’s pendant and Riley’s whip,”
Celeste said. She noticed the disappointed look on Riley’s face. "What's
wrong besides Laurine's headache?"
“Not much,” Riley said.
“I mean it is cool that I have my own weapon, but I don’t have any idea of how
to use it. I mean I got a basic idea, but I can’t keep going into the battle
flicking this thing like an amateur.”
“You have nothing to
worry about,” Celeste said. “I have been informed that Calaveras Ayakashi is an
expert when it comes to wielding the whip.”
“I’ll stop by the mall
tomorrow,” Riley said. “And it would be purely Lady business. I will stop by
Ayakashi accessories to ask if Calaveras will teach me.”
“There is a little bit of
something else,” Celeste said. She kept her eyes on Kayla who had her eyes
glued in the guidebook. “It would be nice if I had everyone’s attention.” She
fixed her glare on the still sleeping Apollo.
“Sorry,” Laurine said
from where she was. “I may not look it, but I am listening.”
“Oh sweetie not you,”
Celeste said, softening her tone.
“Oh,” Kayla lowered the
program guide.
“Is that the multi
concert going on at the Gardens?” Sadie asked.
“Yup,” Kayla said. “Got
to be at least ten bands. There is only a couple that I don’t know.”
"You have tickets?”
Riley asked.
“I wish,” Kayla sad.
“Those tickets are hard
to come by now,” Sadie said.
“And everybody who is
everybody is going to be there,” Kayla said
"Everyone including
the Dark Kingdom?" Celeste asked. A large concert of musical event would
be the type of place the Dark Kingdom would set up a way to harvest energy from
both the performers and the audience.
"Dark Kingdom?
Where?" Apollo woke up.
“About time,” Celeste
muttered.
"Not here silly
bunny," Kayla said. "Celeste thinks they might be at the concert
which is another reason we should go."
"Spoken like a true
leader," Celeste said. “That was another detail Artemis informed me. The
leader of the Galactic Ladies wore the solar pendant.”
"Leader? Me?"
Kayla asked with surprise.
"I still see Laurine
as our leader," Sadie spoke up.
“No,” Laurine said. “I’m
no leader.”
“You have been a Galactic
Lady longer than the rest of us,” Riley said.
"Kayla has been at
this since August," Apollo reminded them.
“Ahem,” Me. Xanatos stood
at the entrance and cleared his throat. “I hope I’m not intruding.”
“You are never
intruding,” Sadie told him.
“Is something wrong?”
Celeste asked.
“Nothing was wrong,” Mr.
Xanatos said. “Owen had informed me that miss Dargrian had a certain music
program with her and considering how popular such an event is plus the fact
that you are all teenage girls I could not help but two and two together.”
“Oh?” Riley asked.
“I have purchased four
tickets to the concert,” Mr. Xanatos said. “Consider it a thank you present for
defeating even more monsters and as a welcome present for Miss Kayla Dargrian.”
“You didn’t,” Sadie said.
“I have,” Mr. Xanatos
said. “And done.”
“How can we repay you?”
Riley asked.
“Actually I should be
repaying you,” Mr. Xanatos said. “And these tickets are part of that repaying.”
“It’s
all a part of our duty,” Riley said.
Laurine glued the shellacked blossoms to the hair clips using her hot glue gun.
Making jewelry and hair accessories was easy when you have the right materials.
Laurine had been doing it for the past few years, even made a few Birthday,
Christmas and Mother’s day gifts that way. It was pretty easy. While she
watered the plants she collected a few of the blossoms. She used tweezers to
dip them into shellac and set them to dry.
“Doing an art project
now?” Celeste asked as she inspected the hair clips.
“Not now,” Laurine said.
“I have a few hours until the concert and I want to look my best.” She tugged
at the hem of her bright blue shirt and ran her fingers down her black skirt.
“Is this outfit okay?"
"Yes its fine."
Celeste told her.
“Great,” Laurine cleaned
off the tip of her nozzle. “I just need a few more details and I will be
ready.”
“Well you do have plenty
of time.”
“Just enough to do some
chores and finish getting ready.” Laurine grabbed the various packages of fish
food and went around the apartment dropping the flakes into all of the tanks.
Now all she had to do was fold and put away her laundry.
“You going out tonight?”
Tracy asked. She was blocking the entrance to the hallway.
“Why do you want to
know?” Laurine asked.
“I’m just curious.”
“I’m seventeen and it’s a
Friday night. You do the math.”
“Where are you going?”
“None of your business,”
Laurine said as she tried to step around her.
“Why won’t you tell me?”
Tracy refused to budge.
“You aren’t my parents,”
Laurine said.
“Do they know?”
“Who?”
“Mom and dad.”
“Yes. They know and they
gave me permission,” Laurine said as she shoved her way past her sister. “Now
get lost. If you want to know ask them.” Honestly, why did her sister have to
be so nosy?
“What was that about?”
Celeste asked as Laurine set her basket down.
“Tracy being a pest
again,” Laurine said as she removed various shirts, nightgowns and jeans from
the basket, folded them and set them in neat little stacks on her bed.
“Hopefully she won’t be
too nosy and discover who you really are,” Celeste said as she wiggled her
nose.
“Maybe then she might
give me a little bit of respect,” Laurine said. She opened her closet and
pulled out a few bare hangers. “Speaking of which, do you really think Kayla is
our leader?” She placed some of her jeans and shirts onto the hangers and put
them back into the closet.
"She is destined,”
Celeste said. “Although there is more to that. The role of leader was granted
by Queen Serenity herself.”
“The Moon queen,” Laurine
said as she continued to hang her clothes. “ I never really thought of myself
as the leader but now that I'm losing the role I feel like I’m losing an
important part. It’s like that whole saying. You don’t know what you had until
you lost it.”
"I understand."
"But she is probably
better at it," Laurine said. She
went through the rest of the cloths in the basket and rolled up her socks into
little bundles. "She has been longer at it and I am kind of a ditz." She placed the rest of her clothes into her
drawer.
"Ditz? You?” Celeste
blinked. “I refuse to believe that. Remember what Rei told us, or more
specifically what she told you."
“She admired us for being
mature yet having a sense of fun and holding onto our dreams,” Laurine said.
She checked her clips to see if the glue had dried.
“And what did she say
about her friends?”
“She said Ami is sweet
and shy and Makato is strong, mature, and loved to check out men,” Laurine
said.
“And what did she say
about Usagi and Minako?”
“That they were ditzy,”
Laurine said as she opened her closet. “I shouldn't judge them since I never
met them” She continued to look through her closet. She wanted to wear a belt
with her outfit. She had a handful and several of them would be perfect for
tonight. She narrowed her choices down to two. One was a stretch belt covered
with tiny metallic silver plates that were similar to the scales of a fish and
the other was a cool vinyl belt in a bright blue color.
“Are you all right?”
Celeste asked.
“Yeah,” Laurine said as
she pulled out the two belts. “Which one should I wear? My silver belt, or my
electric blue one?”
Celeste
sighed. “Ditzy no, flaky? Yes.”
Riley took in a deep
breath before she stepped forward and lashed out the whip making it crack. She
and Calaveras was in a rented room that looked like it might have been used for
dance or karate classes with its wooden floor,
"Good now lets try
it again only a little faster," Calaveras instructed.
Riley held the handle of
her whip. She pulled it back and quickly snapped it foreword, making the
braided leather crack even louder.
“Excellent,” Calaveras
nodded.
The little alarm on
Riley's watch went off.
“What’s that?” Riley’s
instructor asked.
"An alarm,” Riley
explained. “I have to get ready for the concert. Is there a place where I can
shower here?"
"Sure. I'll show you
where it is." Calaveras said and led Riley toward the bathroom. "I'm
going to straighten up."
“Thanks,” Riley said. She
quickly showered and used her blow dryer to dry her hair before she put it back
into a ponytail.
There was a knock at the
door. “Need a ride?” Calaveras asked.
"Yeah thanks, just
let me finish with my jewelry and makeup." Riley said putting on her
earrings, eye shadow, mascara and lipstick. After she was done she placed
everything into her purse and stepped out.
Calaveras took a look at
her and blinked. "Black lipstick?"
"Isn’t it the latest
shade?"
“Sure if you are into the
Goth scene,” Calaveras said. She rummaged around in her purse and pulled out a
small golden box that was the length and width of a finger. “The shade that is
in is a deep reddish violet. Here have a free sample." She handed Riley
the box.
“Thanks,”
Riley wiped off the lipstick she was wearing and applied the new sample.
“How long have you been
living in New York?” Riley asked. They were in Calaveras’s car.
“We’ve been here for six
months,” Calaveras explained. “I’m the only one with a license, although Petz
is about to take the test real soon.
“This is a pretty sweet
ride,” Riley said as she leaned back into the upholstery.
“Thanks,” Calaveras said.
“ I think it is so cool that you are going to the concert."
"Your not able to
come?" Riley asked
"We couldn’t get
tickets, besides Berthier wont go anywhere with out Matt."
“Matt?” Riley raised her
eyebrows.
“Her boyfriend. He’s a
detective and lead of some king of task force. He is kind of good looking. He’s
tall, got red hair and steel blue eyes.”
“Wait a second,” Riley
recognized the man in question from the description. “Your sister is dating
detective Bluestone?”
“Yeah, you know him?”
“Sort of,” Riley
answered. “He’s a friend of some friends of ours.” She decided not to mention
how Laurine was not a fan of the good detective. "Where did you meet Rei?
In Tokyo?"
"Yeah my sisters and
I were in a bit of a jam and she and the other sailor soldiers helped us
out."
Calaveras pulled up one
block in front of Madison Square Garden. “I'm going to let you out here.
”Should we meet at the
same time tomorrow?" Riley asked
"Sure,” Calaveras
said. “Have fun Riley."
"Thanks gain
Calaveras, good bye." Riley headed towards the entrance and then along the
line trying to find her friends. She noticed a tall girl with short brown hair
and silver tinted sunglasses wondered if that was Sadie.
"Yo Riley over
here." Kayla stuck her head out from behind Sadie and waved her hands
called from farther up the line. Laurine and Sadie were with her.
Riley ran up to join
them.
"Cool lipstick
color," Kayla commented. She was wearing an orange version of the little black
dress with a golden belt and orange flats and a black vinyl jacket. She was not
wearing her usual hair clip and instead wore a black headband.
"Thanks its called
Raspberry Mystery," Riley said. "They sell it at Ayakashi
Accessories. Calaveras gave me a free sample."
“How was your training?”
Laurine asked. She was wearing two flower covered hair clips in her hair, a
light blue top, black skirt and a shiny blue belt.
“Not too bad,” Riley
said. “I think I’m starting to get the feel of the whip.”
“That is good,” Sadie
said. She wore a yellow shirt along with dark blue jeans and brown leather
jacket.
“Where you waiting long?”
Riley asked.
Kayla shook her head.
“Not too long. We’ve been here about thirty minutes.”
“And we still have twenty
minutes to go before the concert starts,” Laurine said.
Riley noticed that both
Laurine’s and Kayla’s bags were moving. “Uh guys?” She pointed at the bags.
“Just our guardians,”
Laurine explained as she opened her bag just a little bit.
Celeste’s head popped
out. “I know the four of you are looking forward to having a good time, but
don’t forget the enemy may be here.”
“Celeste is right,”
Apollo, said when Kayla opened her bag. “The four of you have to stay on your
toes.”
“Don’t forget your job,”
Laurine said. “You both have to feel for the Fifth Lady.”
“And try not to grab too
much attention,” Kayla added. “You don’t want everyone to stare at you two and
know that you are much more than a couple of mere rabbits.”
“Sorry,” Apollo said as
he slipped deeper into the bag.
“I have a small worry,”
Sadie said after a few minutes. “What if the Fifth is like Kayla.”
“A red head with a great
sense of humor?” Kayla asked, earning a sigh from her rabbit.
“No,” Sadie shook her
head. “I mean she could be from out of town. She could be living in a different
city, or in another state, or even in another country.”
“Aw crap,” Laurine’s face
fell. “We’ll never find her.”
“Don’t give up,” Celeste
said. “Artemis has told me that all of the Sailor Soldiers are in Tokyo. They
were in different parts of the city, but they were all reborn in the same
area.”
“I was born in Chicago,”
Kayla said.
“And I was born in
Florida,” Laurine added.
“I don’t think that is
the point she is trying to make,” Apollo said. “You were in the same area when
we came into the picture.”
“Hello,” Kayla waved her
hand in front of Apollo. “I was in Connecticut.”
“Connecticut is a
neighboring state,” Celeste said.
“So we should also think
about finding some way to visit the other neighboring states?” Sadie asked.
“Even New Jersey?”
Laurine asked. She had a weak look on her face.
“Hey,” Riley frowned.
“What’s wrong with New Jersey?”
“Are you from there?”
Kayla asked.
“No,” Riley shook her
head. “I just have some relatives
there.”
“There is that whole joke
about it being the armpit of America,” Kayla said earning a snicker from Sadie.
“And Florida is America’s
wang,” Laurine said.
“Kansas is the heart,”
Riley said. She had always referred to it as America’s heartland. “I wonder
what state is the butt.”
“Could we move on?”
Celeste asked.
“Yes,” Apollo nodded. “We
are talking about something serious.”
“Right,” Laurine said.
“But even if the Fifth is in one of the neighboring states how would we find
her? I know Riley has a car.”
“It’s not my car,” Riley
said. “Not officially my car until after I graduate and Start College. That’s
what my parents tell me. If I slip up on my grades then I can kiss it goodbye.
I wasn’t even allowed to use it today, cause my grandmother wanted to borrow it
and she has seniority over me.”
“Okay,” Laurine held up
her hand. “You are the closest to actually having your own form of
transportation.”
“How would we do it?”
Sadie asked. “Are we just going to drive around to the different schools and
malls and try to feel for her?”
“Hopefully it will not
come to that,” Celeste said. “We will look everywhere for her here first. We
will try to feel for her here at the concert and if not then we will accompany
you to all sporting events.”
“One of us will go with
either Laurine or Kayla at Central Park High,” Apollo said. “The other will go
to Riley’s school for events.”
“I know Laurine will not
like it, but I will bring one of you guys to my school,” Riley said. “I’ll let
you spend the day there.”
“If you promise me you
wont get hurt I will take you to work,” Laurine said. “I know how important it
is to find the other Lady, but Celeste you have got to promise me you won’t get
hurt.”
“I promise,” Celeste
said.
“And I won’t let anything
happen to her,” Riley said. She knew how much Laurine cared for and loved her
rabbit. She would never forget the image of a grieving Laurine when she thought
Celeste had jumped off of Wyvern.
“What am I chopped
liver?” Apollo asked. “I get no respect I tells ya.” His voice was a spot on
Rodney Dangerfield.
“I won’t let anything
happen to you either,” Riley said and scratched Apollo between the ears.”
“After Manhattan we will
check the other boroughs,” Sadie said. “The team and I are playing in a few
games against some schools from Brooklyn and the Bronx real soon and we will be
bussed to those schools.”
“Good,” Celeste said. “We
will be able to cover all of our bases.”
“Then when we find her we
can discuss about the role of the leader,” Kayla said.
“I thought it was already
decided,” Apollo said.
“Not yet,” Kayla shook
her head and turned to Laurine. "Laurine I feel bad about taking away the
role of leader from you."
"It’s no
biggie," Laurine said. “I never thought of myself as the leader. I don’t
even think we had a leader.”
"Celeste and Orion
did say it was destiny," Riley said.
Destiny or not I want to
be fair," Kayla said. “After we find the fifth Lady we should all vote for
who will be our leader.”
"Sounds good to
me," Laurine said.
"I like that,"
Riley nodded. “We will all have our voice.”
"I agree,"
Sadie said. “But until we find her who will be the leader?”
“Laurine,” Kayla pointed
at Laurine.
“Kayla,” Laurine pointed
at Kayla at the same time.
“You can both be the
leader,” Sadie said.
“Why not everyone?”
Laurine asked. “Sadie and Riley too?”
“I don’t think it can
work that way,” Apollo said.
“Yeah,” Riley said and
turned toward the entrance. She saw some movement out of the corner of her eye
and when she turned she saw that people were entering. “Maybe we can discuss
this later. The line is moving.”
“Get down you two,” Kayla
instructed the rabbits.
Celeste and Apollo
slipped down into the bags and Laurine and Kayla zipped them up before they
slung them over their shoulders.
The girls gave the woman their tickets and
entered. The building was large and
filling up fast. There were signs hanging from the ceiling and directing people
to which number sections they would be sitting in. There were also several
booths selling souvenirs and food.
“I don’t know about you
guys,” Riley said after they had entered. Both Laurine and Sadie were studying
the tickets and Kayla was looking at the program guide. “But I want to wait
until after the concert to get a poster or a t-shirt.”
“Agreed,” Kayla said. She
folded her guide and stuck it in the side pocket of her bag. “What about food?”
At the mention of food
Riley felt a small gurgle in her stomach. “Food is good. We can get plenty to
munch on.”
“Like hot dogs?” Kayla
asked. “I haven’t tried a real New York hotdog yet and I heard they are the
best.”
“Hot dogs do sound good,”
Laurine said. “That and something to drink.”
“We can more later,”
Sadie said.
The four of them sought
out one of the food vendors and bought four hot dogs with the toppings the
love. Riley had hers with ketchup, mustard and onions, Sadie had hers with
cheese and bacon, Laurine got ketchup and relish and Kayla ordered one with
everything on it. They also got their drinks. A sprite for Kayla, diet Pepsi
for Laurine and Sadie and an orange flavored soda for Riley.
“Which section are we
in?” Riley asked after the food was paid for. She was in charge of carrying the
hot dogs, Laurine and Kayla were carrying the drinks and Sadie was trying to
find where they were going to sit.
“Section K 5,” Sadie
explained. “And you are not going to believe this but we got the sixth row.”
“Sixth row?” Kayla asked.
“Are you serious?”
“I’m not kidding,” Sadie
said. “We are in the Sixth row.”
“Mr. Xanatos loves you
guys,” Kayla said.
“Correction,” Laurine
brought up. “He loves us, and that includes you Kayla.”
“Well he certainly is
generous,” Kayla said.
“I hate to be the
downer,” Sadie said. “But all of his generosity seems kind of suspicious.”
“He did just hand over
Laurine’s pendant,” Riley said.
“But he was told to give
it to me,” Laurine said.
“Yeah by who?” Riley
asked. She remembered when they first met the billionaire and he knew who they
were.
“Goliath,” Laurine
answered. “He told Mr. Xanatos to give it to us.”
“Who told Goliath?” Kayla
asked.
“That’s a good question,”
Laurine said. “Nobody asked him.”
“There is more,” Sadie
said. “He lets Celeste use his computer to contact Artemis and he gave us a
large room with a fireplace for us to conduct our meetings and all because we
are keeping his city safe from the Dark Kingdom. He doesn’t own the city.”
“Maybe he loves it?”
Kayla asked.
“He doesn’t own the city,”
Laurine said. “He just own parts of the city and maybe all that money has gone
to his head and he thinks he own the city. He probably sees it as a huge toy.”
“The clan doesn’t exactly
trust him,” Sadie said. “Or at least they used to not trust him. Lexington told
me they used to be at odds and things sort of changed after Alex was born.”
“Mr. Xanatos told me that
the clan forever has his gratitude since they helped save his son from Oberon.”
“Oberon?” Kayla asked.
“Some criminal named himself after that guy from a Shakespeare play?”
“Uh,” Riley wasn’t sure
how to explain that little detail to Kayla, not now anyway. “It’s kind of
complicated, best done at Wyvern.”
“Okay,” Kayla said as she
handed Sadie her drink and sat down.
“Still got time until the
concert starts,” Laurine said as she slowly sat down.
“Plenty of time to chow
down,” Riley said as she took her seat. She passed two of the hot dogs to Kayla
and Sadie before she accepted her drink from Laurine and handed the white
haired girl her hotdog.
“Chow down?” Apollo stuck
his head out of his bag. “What about us?”
“There is a small bottle
of water and a baggy of carrot sticks in the left pocket,” Kayla said.
“I also got water,”
Laurine said. “And a mixed bag of veggies. There are radish slices, cucumber
slices and celery sticks.”
“Thank you,” Celeste said
as she rooted around in the side pockets and pulled out the treats.
“See?” Kayla asked. “We
always plan ahead for you guys.” She took a bite from her hotdog.
Riley took another bite
from her hotdog and the lights dimmed. She looked up in time to see a light
blue beam settled down onto the stage.
“Good Evening New York
City,” an over eager guy who looked like a roadie on too much caffeine took the
mike. “May I have your attention please?”
“You already have it,”
Laurine said under breath.
“Asking for it is kind of
moot,” Riley nodded.
"Ladies and
Gentlemen, Punks, Goths and fans of the Alternative and Hip Hop scene, are you
ready to rock?" the announcer asked.
"Yes!" The
audience shouted back.
"I can't hear
you."
"YES!"
“I still can’t hear you.”
“YES!” The crowd shouted
even louder.
“Does he have a hearing
problem?” Apollo asked.
“I think he may have a
thinking problem,” Laurine said.
“Don’t you mean
drinking?” Kayla asked.
“Probably,” Laurine said.
"Good,” the
announcer said. “Because we have ten
bands read to bring the house down!"
The laser lights and
smoke machine fired up the second the first drumbeat started. The audience
cheered as a popular Alternative band belted out their number one hit.
“Damn I love this song,”
Kayla said. She took another bite from her hotdog and got mustard onto her
nose.
“So do
we,” Riley said and handed her a napkin.
Riley waited for the
second intermission to go use the ladies room. “Okay, now I gotta go.”
“Me too,” Kayla said and
picked up her bag containing Apollo. “Anyone else?”
“Sadie and I went last
time,” Laurine said.
“Anyone want anything
else to eat?” Kayla asked. “Another hotdog? Or maybe some popcorn or a
pretzel.”
“I want a pretzel,”
Apollo said.
“Anyone else?” Kayla
asked.
“Get another one for
Celeste,” Laurine said. “And some popcorn.”
“I don’t really want a
pretzel,” Celeste said. “But I would like to share some of your popcorn.”
“Two bags,” Sadie said.
“And we’ll split that between us and Celeste.”
Laurine handed Riley some
money. “And I need another diet Pepsi.”
“Gotcha,” Kayla said.
“We’ll be back soon.”
There were several other
people leaving for the intermission at the same time and that didn’t bode too
well as far as Riley was concerned and when she got to the restroom her
uncertainties were confirmed. There was
a line leading out of the closed room to the ladies room.
"Crud a line,"
Riley muttered.
“Why is it there is
always a line for the ladies but never for the guys?” Kayla asked.
“They got stalls and
urinals,” Riley said. “We just got the stalls.”
“Lame,” Kayla said and
took her place behind Riley.
They still had a few
minutes left before the intermission was over but when they went to get
Laurine’s soda and the rest of their snacks they saw another crowd in front of
one of the concession stands.
“Okay we got three
options,” Riley said. “We can either wait here, walk around and find another
concession stand, or just forget it.”
“Laurine’s probably
thirsty,” Kayla said.
“And I’m hungry,” Apollo
said.
“Let’s go find another
place,” Riley said. They ran around looking for another stand that didn’t have
to many people. The found one that had three lines about three people deep.
“This will do,” Kayla
said.
Riley checked her watch.
“We only got a couple more minutes. Who is scheduled next?” She wouldn’t like
she was missing out if it was a band she didn’t particularly care for.
“Let me check,” Kayla
said and pulled out her program and opened it up. “Some band called the Dark
Rotting Weeds.”
“I’ve never heard of
them,” Riley said feeling a little bit relieved.
They had to wait for over
five minutes before it was there turn. The first person in line had a big order
and after they were done the poor cashier had run out of ones and had to page
her supervisor to get her some more. Finally they were able to buy Apollo’s
pretzel, Laurine’s soda and a couple bags of popcorn.
“I wonder how many songs
these guys will play,” Kayla said.
“I don’t know,” Riley
said. “I do know is if we miss too much then Laurine and Sadie will fill us in.
Kayla was about to enter
her section when her bag started to shake. “Good lord Apollo, can’t you wait
until we sit down to eat?” She opened up the bag a bit.
“It’s not that,” Apollo
said as he leapt out of the bag. “There is something creepy going on.”
“Creepy?” Riley asked and
stepped inside. The hairs on her arms and the back of her neck stood up. She
watched the band. They seemed normal and the music was pretty good. She looked
around expecting people to wave their arms around and bounce around in their
seats, instead she saw people sitting back, looking relaxed and blinking their
eyes.
“Apollo is right,” Riley
said as she stepped back out. “I think the enemy is draining people as we
speak.” She reached into her pocket and pulled out her transformation pen.
Kayla held out her hand.
"Sun Spectrum Power Make-up!" Her brooch flashed before her whole
body was covered in light. A glowing orange sun like shape flashed in front of
her wrapping her up in its beams. Her leotard and collar were formed. Two
little stars danced around Kayla's arms forming her bands. The stars then
danced around her toes to her shins, forming her boots, tights and skirt. A
gold band of light glowed across her forehead while orange star shaped lights
appeared along with her crown shaped hair clip.
"Comet Galaxy Power
Make Up!" Riley's pink sparkly explosion took place.
"Ready to go trash some Dark Kingdom
scum?" Lady Sun asked.
"You two go on
ahead," Apollo said. "I’m going to check on the others and let them
know what is going on if they haven’t already."
The two of them ran for
the stage and leapt onto it.
"A Galactic
Lady!" The lead singer said. His skin turned orange and his hair became
green and leafy. The drummer became yellowish green and thorns sprouted on his
baldhead, the base guitarist turned dark green and his long hair became vines.
“That is all we needed to
see,” Lady Comet said. She felt her whip materialize in her hands. “Star
Pendant Power-up.” Her whip glowed with a light pink light. The handle turned
reddish brown in color with purple and pink gemstones.
Lady Sun held up her
Chakram. “Solar Pendant Power-Up.” Her weapon glowed and turned bright gold.
The lead singer grabbed
the handle on his guitar and pulled it from the base. At the end of the handle
was a blade.
"Don't you just hate
it when someone crashes the party?" A small olive green gargoyle dropped
from the ceiling and landed on the lead singer.
“Lexington?” Riley asked
as Broadway and Angela tackled the other two band members. Their eyes glowed
and their claws slashed the youmas skin spilling green fluid.
The Bassist kicked Angela
and jabbed his guitar into her ribs. She reeled back. He strummed the cords and
electricity began firing at her.
“We’ll ask later,” Lady
Sun said. She threw her chakram at the guitar destroying it. “Sun Light Disk
Spin!" Her three glowing orange disks slashed through the youma destroying
it.
Meanwhile Broadway
smashed a drum on the drummer's head. "I hear you guys like to bang your
heads"
The drummer held his drumsticks
together. A sonic wave was generated and sent toward Broadway.
Lady Comet lashed her
whip against the sticks. It met its mark, but the end of the whip did not grab
around the sticks and pull them back to her like she had wanted. It did manage
to lash at the drummer’s hands and sent the sticks flying across the stage.
"Comet Interstellar
Explosion!" Her fireworks knocked the youma out.
“Save some for us,” Lady
Andromeda said as she climbed onto the stage. She turned around to face the
audience. “Andromeda Protection. Protect the people from these youmas."
Her Ax appeared in her hands.
Lexington jumped back and avoided the strike
of the lead singer’s blade.
“Stand still you little
grasshopper,” the youma snarled.
“Grasshopper?” Lexington
asked. “That’s a new one.”
“I’ll take it from here,”
Lady Andromeda said and brought her weapon against the youma’s sword. She kept
lashing at the youma while blocking his attacks. All of sudden its eyes bulged
and it fell over with a glowing arrow sticking out of his back.
Behind it Lady Centauri
lowered her crossbow.
"Andromeda Sound
Wave Shatter!"
"Centauri Stalagmite
Slash!" the two attacks destroyed the youma.
“Still have the last
one,” Lady Comet said. “Comet Interstellar Explosion.”
“Sun Light Disk Spin,”
Lady Sun sent her attacks to the unconscious youma along with Comet’s attack.
The combined power fried the monster into dust.
“That wasn’t too hard,”
Lady Centauri said.
“It could have been a bit
more difficult,” Lady Sun said. She approached Angela. “Sun Healing.”
“Don’t forget Broadway,”
Lexington said as he pointed at the large gargoyle.
“I barely got hit,”
Broadway said. “Stone sleep can fix that.”
“What were you guys doing
here?” Riley asked the small gargoyle.
“We kind have overheard
Xanatos talk about the concert,” Lexington said. “The three of us decided to
check it out and hopefully run into you.”
A small tornado of leaves
appeared on the stage. Sylvite appeared in the center. She had her hands on her
hips and her eyes were narrowed.
“Should have known it was
her,” Lady Andromeda said.
"That’s just great
they were about to record their first single," Sylvite said. “You four
just had to go and ruin everything.”
"Hello
Sylvite," Comet said sarcastically "So nice to see you."
"What do you
want?" Angela demanded.
"What I want is too
manage the latest and greatest band,” Sylvite said. “I want to help the man I
love to purge this planet of everything that is trying to destroy it. To clean
it and then start anew and rule by his side as his queen.”
“You could still be the
manager of a band,” Lady Andromeda said. “You can help make the world a better
place. There are many people trying to do that.”
“Those people will still
remain here,” Sylvite said.
“You don’t have to force
plants to attack everyone,” Andromeda said. “You grew these band members. I bet
they were beautiful before you used them to attack us.”
“They were lovely,”
Sylvite nodded. “But your flattery is useless on me." She disappeared.
“The people are going to
revive soon,” Lady Centauri said.
“We better return to the
castle,” Angela said and started to climb the back of the stage.
“Who says you have to
leave?” Kayla asked.
“She’s right,” Comet
said. “There is plenty more bands to listen to.”
“We are neglecting our
patrols,” Angela said. “We did say we would only watch for a little while.” She
gave both Lexington and Broadway a look.
“Oh yeah,” Lexington
smiled weakly.
“We’ll see you girls
later,” Broadway said.
“Bye,” Comet said before
she followed the others out of the arena. They let their transformation drop,
upon changing back Riley found herself holding two bags of popcorn and Kayla
had a pretzel and a glass of soda.
“Huh,” Kayla said. “I
guess when we transformed they went into some subspace pocket or something.
“Lets get back to our
seats,” Sadie said.
The girls returned to the
sixth row where Celeste and Apollo were waiting for them. The golden rabbit was
really pleased to see his pretzel, which he broke off a piece for Celeste.
After several minutes the
announcer came back and said that the next performers would be on stage within
a few minutes.
“That’s a relief,”
Laurine said before she took a sip from her drink. “I thought they were going
to cancel.”
“Me too,” Riley said. She
helped herself to some of the popcorn. They can talk about who is the leader
and the search for the Fifth Lady later. Right now she just wanted to kick back
and enjoy the show.