Cold Showers: The Fifth Lady, Lady Nebula

Thanksgiving was one of Kayla’s favorite holidays. She loved it when her family gathered together in either their house, or at one of her grandparents or one of her aunt’s and uncles. There would be the scramble to help set up places to sleep when it was at their place. At her old house there was a small bedroom in the basement, but the also set up the sleeper sofa down there so at least four people would have a place to rest their heads. The furniture in the family room and den would also be set up for more people to sleep, or Kayla and Brad would sleep on the couches and love seat and give up their own beds for the relatives.

The night before, Kayla would help prepare the turkey. She would either mix the stuffing or the dressing. After the stuffed the turkey and place it in the pan, she would drizzle on more the dressing and place it the refrigerator. When she woke up she would place the turkey in the oven and turn it on.

Everyone would eat a small breakfast while they watched the parade. After the parade was over the men would gather around and watch football while drinking their beers and the kids would go outside to either play in the freshly fallen leaves or run around and play their own version of a football game.

Kayla would be in the kitchen with her mother, one of her grandmothers and if they were there, her aunt Bridget and or her uncle John and together they would cook and prepare the rest of the meal. That was one of Kayla’s favorite parts of the day.

She loved helping with the holiday meals on other days as well; the Christmas Eve and Christmas day dinners, the New Year’s Day dinner, Saint Patrick’s Day tradition of corn beef, cabbage and potatoes and the Easter meal. She even helped her father with the Memorial Day, Fourth of July and Labor Day barbecues. On Halloween and Valentines Day she baked special cookies and cupcakes.

This year was going to be different. Since Kayla’s family recently moved to New York, the other family members felt it would be better if everyone had their own separate Thanksgiving meals instead. They would get together for Christmas though.

Kayla wasn’t too disappointed though. When she heard that Mr. Xanatos was working on a Thanksgiving drive to provide enough food for everyone who live in the homeless sanctuary called the Labyrinth she was eager to pitch in and help. She, Sadie and Laurine got several students at Central Park High involved and Riley got several of her friends and classmates from Dr. Turner to help.

She hoped she would be able to get everything done, or most done as possible. She promised her family that she would join them at her father’s company dinner in Queens later that day.

"Lets see Buford's meats will be delivering the turkeys," Sadie said looking over a list. She along with Laurine, Kayla, Gina, Riley and Riley’s friend, Latisha were walking around with clipboards.

“Okay you are coming up now?” Donna asked. She along with Ashley, Leslie, Ricardo, Ethan, Garret and a few of Riley’s friends were manning the phones. “Sadie, Laurine we have the drive from the YMCA coming in.”

“Sweet,” Laurine said and checked it off of her list.

"Wow look at all the food our school drives gathered!" Kayla exclaimed. She and Riley were standing in front of many boxes filled to the brim with non-perishable foods. She pointed at two of the boxes that were spilling over. “This was from Central Park’s football team alone.”

Riley let out a low whistle. "We better start cracking on dividing these up. I call stuffing and gravy."

"That’s kind of easy Riley, since the stuffing is the only food in a box," Kayla pointed out.

Riley just shrugged. ”Okay I’ll also take on the carrots.” She reached into one of the large boxes and pulled out one of the small boxes. It was for Betty Crocker’s Instant Mashed Potatoes. “Only the stuffing?” She raised an eyebrow.

“Whoops,” Kayla chuckled. “I guess I never really counted those before.”

“You’re a traditionalist when it comes to mashed spuds?” Riley asked.

“Yup,” Kayla said as she reached into one of the over filled boxes. “I never use the box stuff. I make them with potatoes and milk and cream, and I like to leave the skins in. To me it adds a little bit of flavor.” She placed cans of cranberry sauce into one of the smaller empty boxes behind her, and cans of corn in another box.

“I guess I’ll take care of all the boxes,” Riley said. She went through one of the piles and placed the boxes of stuffing into one and the boxes of the instant potatoes into another.

“How is everything going?” Laurine approached them.

“It’s going good,” Kayla said. “We have just started to organize the food.”

“I might join you before the day is over,” Laurine said as she read over her clipboard. “We are getting a lot of people to donate. I’ve filled out five of these sheets with names.”

“Are you working on food or money?” Kayla asked. The drive was set up pretty simple. Those on the phones will take the names of everyone who donates. One half of the people with clipboards would be in charge of the food and the other half would be in charge of money. They will go to the two people on phones they were working with and write down what people had donated. In the end they will give the results to Mr. Burnett.

“I’m on the money,” Laurine said. “I think Gina is also on the money, and Sadie and Latisha are on the food.”

“I was also working on food,” Kayla said.

“I was with the money,” Riley added. “I guess when we want a break from sorting out the food we will go tally up the names again.”

“Sadie,” Ethan cried out. “I got some good news.”

“Oh?” Sadie asked. She was working with Ethan.

"Yeah,” Ethan nodded. “Grandma Daisy's Bakery will be donating a variety of pies."

"That’s great," Sadie said writing it down.

Kayla continued to organize the cans until she had filled the smaller boxes and her arms hurt. She was about to ask Riley if she was ready to go and help with tallying the foods but she glanced at her watch. She had to meet with her parents in half an hour.

"Frogs!" Kayla shrieked. "I'm going to be late."

"Late for what?" Riley asked

"My dad's company lunch! Come on Apollo."

“Coming,” the golden rabbit followed Kayla a few floors down to the lobby and jumped into her bag.

Her father stood waiting

"Dad? What are you doing here?" Kayla asked. She had thought they were going to meet at the apartment before they head off to Queens.

"Thought I do you a favor by picking you up," her father said. “Your mother and brother are in the car.”

"Thanks," Kayla said as she followed her father outside.

"How’s the food drive?"

"Great we have millions of cans from the schools and other places, people are donating cash and other people are donating turkeys and pies."

“Sounds like you will have enough food to feed an army,” her father said.

“Yeah it does,” Kayla nodded. She hoped it would be enough to feed the homeless.

-

Sylvite stood patiently in front of the stove with her wooden spoon in hand. She had to practice and through trial and error will she achieve her goal of having prepared a delicious victory dinner. She had to start with one dish at a time and she had decided to start with some of the vegetables she grew in her garden.

The first was the turnips. She had picked the fattest and pinkest turnips from her garden and after she cleaned them she brought them to the kitchen to peel and mash. A few of the youmas had offered their hands to help her, but she insisted in doing it all by herself. After she had mashed she brought them to the pot to cook. She added just a little bit of butter, some salt, sugar and cinnamon.

“Now for the taste,” she said as she stirred the turnips around once more before tasting them. "Hmmm good." She murmured. She can cook after all. Everyone will love her delicious meal, especially Borice.

"May I inquire what your doing?" Chrystia asked. She was standing in the entrance of the kitchen with a bored expression on her face.

“I’m cooking as you can plainly see,” she stared at her pot and reduced the heat. There was another advantage to cooking. The delicious scent of the food over covered up the overpowering scent of Chrystia’s cheap perfume.

“Why are you cooking?” Chrystia asked. “We have our youmas to do that for us.”

“Maybe I just felt like cooking,” Sylvite said. “But if you must know I learned about one of the holidays the Terrans in this area celebrate. On the last Thursday in this month they celebrate a holiday with a parade and a big feast. I'm going to gather energy from that parade. It will be enough to take over this world and we will celebrate with the delicious feast that I'm practicing on."

"You think I won't succeed?" Chrystia asked

"Chrystia, what makes you think your plan will work?" Even she had found a new target she will only be able to extract a little bit of energy before the Galactic Ladies show up

Because I'll be gathering it in Floral Park Queens,” Chrystia said in the smug tone. “If you don’t know by now this city is separated into five boroughs. Where we have been attacking is called Manhattan. The area called Queens is located miles away.”

"You will be away from the Ladies," Sylvite said. There was a good chance that even Chrystia might succeed. “Oh no.”

"What?"

"I have to really make sure this meal is perfected," Sylvite said as she moved the turnips to another burner. She had to work on the carrots, the peas, the potatoes, and the string bean casserole, before she would try the stuffing, rolls, turkey, gravy, and pies.

“Well whatever it is you are doing keep it up,” Chrystia said as she stepped away from the entrance. “It actually smells delicious.”

Sylvite blinked before she turned back to the stove. If even Chrystia would compliment her food then she knew she was doing something right.

-

This wasn’t the first time Kayla had attended a social gathering that was put together by her father’s company, and she was certain it wasn’t going to be the last time either. What made this special was this was the first event where the event will be at the estate of the founder, president and owner of Tempest INC. While there were several business offices and buildings in other states the main corporate office and hub was in Manhattan.

The estate was large. There was the main house of the Detempestades family that was forbidden for everyone to approach for the event. Everyone was to gather around the smaller pool house that was still larger than the Dargrian family apartment. There were small apartments for the maids, butler, chefs, gardeners, handyman and or woman, and stable hands. There were plenty of stables with a large paddock where Kayla counted about six horses that were grazing around. An Olympic sized pool that no one wanted to swim in, not during this weather, a golf course, croquet field, volleyball net and tennis courts.

It was the tennis courts that had caught Kayla’s attention when her father pulled in the area and parked the car. Her father had mentioned there would be tennis courts and she brought her racket.

“You all know where you can and can’t go?” Kayla’s mother asked.

“We are to stay away from the main house, the apartments and the horses,” Kayla said. She glanced over to her brother to see if he was paying any attention, but Brad’s attention was focused on his Gameboy.

“Good,” Mother said. “I think there may be a pond with gold fish, ducks and swans for you to walk around and look out.”

“That sounds nice,” Kayla said. What did her mother want her to spend the entire time watching the ducks. There was a good chance that she might be bored during this event, but there had to be some activity that was age appropriate for her and something for thirteen-year-old boys to do. All thee was so far was tennis.

“I’m sure there will be plenty of activities for everyone,” Dad said as he opened the car door.

“I hope there isn’t too much,” Kayla said. She had unbuckled her seatbelt and got out of the car. “We don’t want Brad to get over stimulated.”

“I took my pill before we left,” Brad said. He managed to undo his own seatbelt and get out of the car while still playing his game.

“I hope you find something to do besides that game,” mom said while dad locked the doors. “Hopefully something that involves exorcises.”

“We do want him to get worn out,” Kayla said in a teasing tone.

“I said I took my Ritalin,” Brad said. “Leave me alone about it.”

“I will when you put that game away,” Kayla said. “We have to help make a good impression, not just for us, but also for our parents.”

“I will when I get to a save point,” Brad said.

“Don’t tease your brother,” Mom said. She removed compact from her purse and used it to check her make up.

“I won’t,” Kayla said. She unzipped her bag and looked inside.

Apollo stared back as to say ‘what?’

“Just checking,” Kayla whispered and zipped the bag up.

“There are the Hendersons,” dad said. “Come on everyone.”

Kayla plastered a large smile on her face as she was introduced to her father’s co-workers and their families. She stood patiently while her parents were talking with some of the other adults. When she was spoken to she used her best manners, made light and friendly small talk, and when the situation involves it she would make a joke.

“My son graduated from high school last year,” one of her father’s associates said. He was a rotund man with a graying beard by the name of Cunningham. “He was Valedictorian of his class.”

“What is he doing now?” Kayla’s mother asked.

“He’s going to Yale,” the man said. He never lost his proud tone of voice. “He’s going to be a doctor. What about your kids, Henderson, Dargrian?”

“My oldest is in his junior year,” Henderson said. “He’s point guard on his basketball team, plans on going to UCLA.”

“UCLA is a fine school,” Cunningham said in a tone that made him sound like he was saying. “It’s a fine school, but not as fine as Yale.”

“It certainly is,” her father agreed.

“I wonder if Henderson’s son is going to play basketball there,” Cunningham said in his still smug tone.

“He hopes too,” Henderson said

“Mr. Henderson how’s your son’s team doing this year?” Kayla asked.

“They are doing quite well,” Henderson said. “Are you interested in the sport?”

“I’m more of a tennis player,” Kayla said. She glanced over to the tennis courts. Some of them appeared to be occupied.

“More of a?” Her father chuckled. “I had to had build a cabinet to hold all of her trophy’s because I ran out of shelf space.”

“So Kayla what do you plan on doing after you graduate?” Cunningham asked

“I really want to go to culinary and design school,” Kayla said

“That’s right,” Henderson said and nodded. “Your father is always going on about how you are going to own your own restaurant someday. He brought some of your orange glaze chicken wings to work once, after tasting them I want to know is how soon can you open this restaurant?”

“Thank you?” Kayla smiled

“She does more than cook and play tennis,” her father said. “Right before we left she was working on a charity food drive with her friends.”

She listened while her father bragged about her recent good deed, but her eyes kept darting to where the tennis court’s was. People were lining up to play despite the fact they had to wear coats due to the weather. She had to find some way to break free from this crowd so she can go play as well.

"Kayla honey, do you want to play tennis? "Her mother asked.

“How did you know?” Kayla asked.

“I saw the way you kept looking at the courts,” her mother said and leaned in to whisper to her. “And I know how dull these things can get. Why don’t you go play, maybe make even a few more friends.”

"Thanks mom," Kayla said before she raced back to the car where she kept her racket.

-

Chrystia had decided to down play her appearance as she walked through the estate. She wore a gold and beige skirt with a matching coat and a purple blouse. She had forgone her usual tiara and pulled her hair into a bun. She only wore on necklace, one bracelet on each wrist and one ring on each hand. She did not stick out in the crowd and did not attract any attention.

“Now to find someone who will help me harness the energy from these guests,” she said as she made her way inside the pool house.

There were several people around; many were drinking some kind of beverage. She had no idea what they were talking about nor did she care. She was on a mission and she had to find the right person.

“Maybe they will be in here,” she said as she stepped inside the kitchen.

“Do you need any help?” The plump chef asked. He was standing in front of trays that were filled with hor dourves.

“Oh yes,” Chrystia smiled. “You will be perfect help.” She removed one of the crystals from her necklace and threw it at the chef’s arm.

The man gasped. “Why did you do that?” He pulled the crystal from his skin.

“I got to get you under my power some way,” Chrystia said as the chef collapsed. She approached him and looked over his body. "Lets give you a more suitable form." She said and removed a small emerald from her ring. She implanted it into his hat. She then rained down some of her energy.

The Chef's body became green and bloated. His head doubled in size. His nails grew longer, his mouth widened and filled with long sharp teeth. His nose shrank to being just two nostrils on a bump of flesh. He opened his orange eyes

"What is your wish my mistress?" The chef turned youma asked.

"Send energy to me." She waved her hand around indicating the kitchen. “Use the food. Everyone wants to taste some good food.”

The youma nodded and changed back to looking like a regular chef again. He touched the trays that held an assortment of food.

“Excellent,” Chrystia said and left the kitchen. Now all she had to do was wait.

-

Kayla watched the game in progress while she waited her turn. She would have played on one of the other tennis courts but the people that were playing there already knew each other. Being new in town, she did not know any of the children of her father’s co-workers and wondered if half of them even went to her school. The third court was set up so that who ever won would face the next person as the new challenger, it was a bit more fun and a bit more of a challenge.

A crisp breeze blew by that caused everyone to shiver and hold on tighter to his or her coats. Kayla’s knees felt a little bit more colder than usual but the rest of her body was warm, especially the back of her neck and shoulders where Apollo was resting. She wondered if her rabbit was keeping an eye out for the Fifth Lady.

She looked around at the other players. The people who were playing were between the ages of twelve and twenty. There were a small handful of teenagers in that group who was close to Kayla’s age. One of them could be her, but Apollo made no motion to try to get near them so they were probably not the fifth. Her focus wandered from the tennis courts to where a group of people was playing crochet. Nope, they all looked too old, although one of them looked like a teenage girl. She stared up at the sky where three kites danced in the wind. She looked to where three teenagers are flying them. One of them could be a possibility.

The sound of applause brought Kayla’s focus back to the game. The champion had won his fourth game in a row. Kayla swallowed a small lump in her throat as she clapped along with the crowd. Her father was not lying when he said he had to build a cabinet for her trophies. She had won several for her old middle school and high school back in Hartford. She knew she was good, but the guy she was about to play against was amazing.

She felt Apollo jump down from her shoulders and looked down to see him sniffing in the grass.

"Good game," The champion said to his opponent.

“Thank you,” the opponent said. “And congratulations." He left the court as he passed by Kayla he put his hand on her shoulder. “Good luck.”

“Thank you,” Kayla said as she stepped onto the bright green tennis court. “Hello.”

"Hello,” the champion smiled. “I love it when my challenger is a cute redhead."

“Oh?” She tried not to blush. “Do you have name, champion?”

“Rick,” the young man said. “What about yours?”

“Kayla.”

“Haven’t seen you around before.”

“My family just moved to Manhattan a few weeks ago,” Kayla said. "Your serve."

Rick nodded and with his racket he sent the ball towards Kayla.

She sent the ball back towards his side of the net and was ready to strike again when he backhanded the ball toward her.

He was good. There was no doubt about that. He probably had good muscle tone and if the weather was warmer he would have been wearing shorts and she could see how well toned his legs were. The had to be, considering how fast he was and he also had to have nice sculpted arm muscles to work the racket like he did.

Kayla was not going to hold back. She met every one of his serves with a ferocious that made sure he worked those legs of his. She scrambled around her side of the court to receive the ball and send it back. She made sure he got a good look at her backhand and she used ever one of her tactic and skills that she used when she was playing against the other team at school.

They were both sweating by the time she used an over hand swing that sent the ball hurling toward him.

Rick tried to get under it but this time he wasn’t fast enough. He missed the ball by a hair.

“Wow,” Kayla whispered when she won. She couldn’t believe that she had beaten him.

“Wow,” Rick repeated. He kneeled down on the court before he sat down. “That was an amazing game. Where did you learn some of those moves?”

“I learned some from a few old team mates,” Kayla said. “And a couple I made up.”

“Those are good,” Rick said. “You have to teach those to me sometime.”

“I will,” Kayla said. She looked back to the crowd. They had stopped clapping but she was more interested in where her rabbit may have run off too. To her relief she saw that he was still acting like a normal rabbit, just sniffing around and nibbling the grass.

"Congratulations, Kayla," Rick said. “I think I may have forgotten to tell you that before.”

“Thank you,” Kayla smiled at him. "Thanks, that was close though. You have played a lot of games before I entered the court. I think it would have been more fair if we both entered refreshed and full of energy.” She couldn’t have helped but to wonder if they both entered the court at the same time.

“That is a possibility,” Rick said. “But then you still used those neat moves.” He held out his hand for her.

Kayla shook it and watched as Rick left the court. She looked up at the sky and noticed the three kites were closer than before.

“Hello,” a young woman entered the court. She had dark wavy hair that was long enough to brush against her shoulders. Her eyes were a little bit odd. One eye was blue and the other was green.

“Hello,” Kayla said. “I’m Kayla and what is your name?”

“Marcy,” the young woman said. “The champion serves first.”

“Right,” Kayla said and picked up the ball. She swung and sent to Marcy who struck it with her racket.

Marcy was good and a determined player, but she was not as good as Rick. Kayla was able to defeat her after about five minutes.

“You really are good,” Marcy said. “Congratulations.”

“Thank you,” Kayla said as she shook Marcy’s hand. “You played a good game yourself.”

After Marcy left the court a young Hispanic girl who was a couple years younger than Kayla entered the court.

“Hello,” Kayla greeted. “My name is Kayla.”

“That’s a pretty name,” the new challenger said. “Mine is Tia.”

“Thank you,” Kayla said. Not many people tell her that her name was pretty. It was usually from guys that wanted to go out with her. “I think your name is pretty.”

“Thank you,” Tia smiled.

“Are you ready?” Kayla asked and held up the ball.

“I was born ready,” Tia said.

“Okay,” Kayla said and served the ball.

Tia had her game face on as she swung back.

Kayla thought it was going to be another short game. Tia was on the same playing level as Marcy was.

She swung again and kept her eye on the ball when something fell from the sky and crashed into the back of her head. She dropped her racket and fell on her rear.

"Oh my gosh,” Tia gasped. “Kayla, are you okay?”

Kayla blinked. Whatever had hit her didn’t hurt. It was on the light side. "Yeah I'm fine. I was more startled than anything else.” She rose to her feet. A few inches from her she saw what had attacked her. It was a glossy black kite in the shape of a bird. “Where did this come from?" She asked as she picked up the guilty kite.

Three teenagers ran into the court. Two of them were holding on to kites. The third was a girl with honey blond hair that fell past her shoulders and bright green eyes. She was holding onto the string that connected to the kite.

"I am so sorry, " The blond girl apologized. "I lost control when the direction of the wind changed. Are you hurt?"

"Not hurt I was just taken by surprise." Kayla handed it back to her "It sure is pretty design."

"She made it," One of the other kite flyer’s said.

"Really?” Kayla stared at the kite again. “That’s a neat gift you have." She never knew anyone who made kites. One of her old friends from Connecticut, Samantha, liked to design sailboats and made several models and floated them in ponds and pools. There were a lot of people who liked to have unique hobbies.

"Thank you very much,” The blond said. “I’m sorry I disrupted your game.”

“It’s no biggie,” Kayla said.

A squeak was heard near Kayla’s feet. She looked down to see Apollo was pawing at her legs.

"Apollo want up?" Kayla picked him up. "That’s my good sunny bunny."

“What a cute rabbit,” the blond girl said. “May I pet him?”

“Sure,” Kayla said. “He is very well behaved.”

The other girl pet the top of Apollo’s head. “He is so soft.”

“I try to keep him brushed,” Kayla said. Lucky for her Apollo loves to be brushed. She also didn’t have any trouble trying to give him a bath.

"Look at hers necklace," Apollo whispered in her ear as soon as the blond girl had stepped back and was talking with her friends.

“Okay,” Kayla whispered back and took a good look at the blonde’s necklace. It was light blue with a star shaped pendant that had a green gemstone in the middle. It was the fifth pendant.

“You see?” Apollo asked.

“Yes I do,” Kayla said as she approached the blond girl. “I couldn’t help but notice your necklace. It’s very pretty."

"Thank you very much,” the blond girl said. “I think yours is prettier."

“Really?” Kayla asked. “My father sent away for mine in Paris. “Where did you get yours?"

"When I went to Kenya.”

“You went to Africa?” Kayla felt her jaw drop. “Wow. You certainly are lucky.”

“Thank you,” the girl said. “My family took me on a trip a few years ago. We visited this one village. This necklace originally belonged to shaman who said he was holding it for the right person. He said that I was the right person and the pendant belonged to me in a previous life."

"Wow!"

“Kayla,” Apollo whispered into her ear again. “That story seals the deal. I felt some odd energy from her and I believe she is the Fifth Lady.”

Kayla nodded. “Sorry. I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Kayla.”

“My name is Merlee.”

“Uh Merlee,” one of her friends turned to her. “Weren’t you supposed to meet with your parents at fifteen minutes till six?”

“Oh,” Merlee stared at her watch. Her eyes widened. “Uh oh. I’m sorry Kayla, but I have to cut our meeting short Good bye.” She ran off toward the direction of the mansion with her friends.

“Great,” Apollo said. “We have to get her alone to tell her she’s the one we are looking for.”

“We could ask around,” Kayla said. She watched as Merlee continued to run towards the mansion. “I thought we were supposed to stay away from there.”

“Do you know who that is?” Tia asked.

“Who, Merlee?” Kayla asked and pointed at the direction Merlee had run off towards.

“That is Merlee Detempestades,” Tia said. “Her parents own this place and the company our parents work for.”

“Wow,” Kayla blinked. It wouldn’t be too hard to find her.

"Do you want to serve?" Tia asked.

"Oh," Kayla had forgotten about the game. “You can be my successor.”

"You are going to forfeit?" Tia asked. “But you are one of the best players I’ve seen. You shouldn’t just give up like that.”

“I know, but I need to check up on my brother,” Kayla explained. “He has ADHD and even though he took his Ritalin I still need to check on him.” She hated to use Brad as an excuse like that. His condition wasn’t that bad and once he took one pill he would be good for several hours.

“Oh, I understand,” Tia said.

"That and I’m cold and thirsty. I want to see if I can get some cocoa, and maybe some warm milk for Apollo."

"Okay I’ll see you later."

"Good luck on your next game," Kayla said before she headed off toward the pool house.

-

Kayla was about to enter the pool house when a few thoughts ran through her head. The first was that the people inside might not like the idea of a loose pet walking around, even if it is small and cute and harmless looking as a rabbit. The second was the she should let the others know.

“Wait a sec,” Kayla said as she turned on her communicator.

“Good idea,” Apollo said. “We should let the others know what we have found.”

Kayla pressed one of the buttons on the communicator. “Kayla to the gang, please come in.”

“What is it?” Sadie’s face appeared on the screen.

“Apollo and I found the Fifth Lady.”

Sadie stared back at her for a few minutes. “You said the Fifth Lady?”

“That’s right,” Kayla said. “She also has her star pendant with her. She’s here in Queens at the Detempestades Estate.”

“Does she know yet?” Sadie asked.

“No, she ran off before we could inform her, but we plan on telling her about it soon.”

“That’s great,” Sadie said. “I’m going to tell the others.”

“We’ll see you soon,” Kayla said before she turned off her communicator. “Now all that we have to do is reveal the truth to Merlee.”

“We’ll have to find her first,” Apollo said.

“That won’t be too hard,” Kayla said. “You heard what Tia said. Her parents own the estate. That means when everyone gets together at the dinner she will be sitting in front of everyone along with her father and the other CEO’s of the company.”

“Are we going to tell her before or after?” Apollo asked.

“After and possibly during,” Kayla said. Her communicator went off. “Or possibly now if the others have encountered a youma.” She flipped open the lid. “Kayla here.”

“Hi Kayla,” this time it was Laurine’s face in the screen. “Sadie told me, Celeste and Riley. Celeste thinks we should leave now so there will be several of us to speak with her.”

“Are you certain that is not overwhelming?” Kayla asked. “We don’t want to scare her.”

“That’s what I told Celeste, but she didn’t want to listen.”

“We’ll wait for you then,” Kayla said and turned off the communicator. “Looks like we are going to talk with her together.”

“What are we going to do now?” Apollo asked.

“I’m going to do what I said I was going to do,” Kayla said. “I’m going to get some cocoa.”

“Well since we are just waiting I don’t see why not.”

"Sorry Apollo but I don’t think pets are allowed inside," Kayla looked down at him. “I will bring you back some treats.”

“That’s okay.”

“You are not going to be too cold?”

"I'm wearing an exquisite fur coat," Apollo joked.

Kayla entered the building walked over to the table that was set up to be a hot beverage station. There were heated pitchers of coffee, tea and cocoa and surrounded by thick paper cups and various condiments including the bowl full of lemon slices for the tea. She grabbed one of the cups and filled it three fourths of the way with the hot chocolate beverage. She used the tongs to place some marshmallows in the drink and then topped it all off with some whipped cream.

"Hmmm," She took a sip and felt the warm liquid go down her throat. “Now for the food stuffs.” She grabbed a paper plate and walked over to the small buffet table that was set up.

There were several different kinds of finger food. Some of it was fancy and exquisite such as the caviar and the pate and the rolls of sushi. Kayla selected a few tuna rolls for her self and a couple cucumber rolls for Apollo before she added a few a few finger sandwiches, crackers topped with cheese, sticks of celery filled with a cream cheese like spread and a few fruit kabobs.

All that was left to do was grab a beverage for Apollo. She filed a child size cup with some of the milk that was used for the coffee and tea and balanced it, along with her cocoa in the center of the plate.

Along her way out she noticed several people were sitting on the chairs or on the floor as they ate the food that was on the plates. There were even a few who looked half asleep with the paper plates resting across their laps. They weren’t quite asleep, but they did look lethargic and couple of them looked sick.

“Some people tend to party too hard,” Kayla said as she stepped outside. Apollo was no longer there. “I wonder where he went.” She found a place and sat down. After a few sips from her cocoa before she wolfed down her sushi. It was delicious. She grabbed one of the sandwiches and took a few bites.

“Kayla,” Apollo ran up toward her.

“There you are,” Kayla pointed to the milk. “Got you something to drink and plenty to eat.”

“Drop the sandwich,” Apollo said and kicked the plate out of her hands.

“Hey,” Kayla shouted as the food rained down around her. “What the hell? You just wasted a bunch of good food.”

“That food isn’t good,” Apollo said. “It’s been tainted.”

“Tainted?” Kayla raised her eyebrows. “It’s been poisoned?”

“Magically tainted,” Apollo said. “Did you eat anything?”

“I had a few tuna rolls,” Kayla’s eyes widened. “Some of the people looked fatigued and sick.” She grabbed her stomach.

“Do you feel drained?” Apollo asked.

“A little tired, but I thought that it was because of the games of tennis that I played.”

“I’ll admit I was a bit curious of what they were going to serve at dinner,” Apollo said. “I snuck into the kitchen to look. I saw the chef speaking to a strange woman. The both had creepy aura to them and the woman mentioned The Dark Kingdom.”

“The Dark Kingdom," Kayla said and stood up. “Apollo I’m going to tell the others what is going on and transform. I know this is going to be a bit of shock to her, but you have to find Merlee.”

“I’ll try not to scare her,” Apollo said. “You be careful.” He ran off towards the direction of the mansion.

Kayla turned on her communicator. "Sadie sorry to bother you again, I know you are already on your way over here.”

"Its no bother," Sadie said. “Especially if it is important.”

"It is, Apollo found some people working for the Dark Kingdom here."

"We’ll try to transform in the copter," Sadie said.

"Copter?"

“We are flying to Queens in a helicopter.”

“Ah,” Kayla said. She wondered who was flying them. “I’ll take care of the youma until you arrive.”

"We’ll try to be there as fast as we can," Sadie said before the communication ended.

Kayla turned off her communicator and made sure she was hidden by a small copse of trees. "Sun Spectrum Power Make-up!" The sunbeams and stars wrapped and danced around her.

Lady Sun stormed in through the back entrance and walked straight up the chef.

"Ok bub, the gig is up!" Sun said.

“Oh really?” The chef said and chuckled

“I know who you are working for,” Lady Sun said. “Good and delicious food should not be used to spread your evil around, even if it is snack food it should be used to make the taste buds happy and fill empty stomachs. How dare you use it for evil? I am the pretty soldier of warmth and justice, Lady Sun.”

“Oh ho ho ho,” The chef laughed. His body expanded until it ripped through his clothes. His skin turned green and wet. His head and eyes bulged while his nose shrank. His mouth widened and filled with teeth. His fingers grew longer and developed long claws.

"Oh frogs," Sun said and threw her chakram.

The fat youma bounced off the floor and through the roof, leaving a large hole behind.

“You are not getting away from me that easy,” Lady Sun said as she caught her chakram. “She leaped on top of the counter and then leapt through the hole and onto the roof.

The youma landed on the cold hard ground. Those who weren’t affected by the tainted food screamed and ran off.

"Huh huh huh silly humans," The green youma laughed.

"Laugh it up frog face." Lady Sun leaped down and landed in front of him.

"I will," The monster told her and resumed his belly laugh.

Sun glared and threw her chakram again.

Again the youma bounced while the chakram spun underneath him. He bounced again when it returned.

"Huh huh nice try Red."

"Leave your mouth open like that and you'll catch flies,” Sun said. “On second thought you might want that. Sun Light Disk Spin!" The golden discs of light hurled towards its intended target, but the target jumped out of the way at the last minute. Sun stomped her foot in frustration.

-

Apollo continued to race around the front of the mansion until he spotted Merlee talking with an older woman, most likely her mother. Great he found her. Now he had to get her away so he could speak with her alone. He thought of one way and hoped that it would work.

He ran up to Merlee’s feet and squeaked.

“What was that?” The older woman asked. “A mouse, or a rat?”

“Neither,” Merlee said looking down. “It’s Kayla’s rabbit.”

“Who is Kayla?” The older woman asked.

“A girl I accidentally hit with my kite,” Merlee said. “It looks like Apollo here got separated from his owner.”

“You know his name?” The woman asked.

“Hard to forget a name like that,” Merlee said as she bent down. “What’s wrong Apollo? Did you get lost from Kayla?”

Apollo hopped backwards and walked away a few feet. He turned around and looked at Merlee.

Merlee walked up to him with a confused expression on her face.

Apollo walked and hopped a few feet more towards the direction of the pool house. He slowed down and looked back over at Merlee.

“Do you want me to follow you?”

Apollo nodded and ran towards the pool house. He stopped when he came across Lady Sun and a frog like youma fighting.

"Brraaap!" The youma belched and a dozen jade colored bubbles erupted from his mouth and headed towards Lady Sun.

“You are disgusting,” Sun said as she gracefully dodge the bubbles.

“Oh my god,” Merlee said when she caught up with Apollo. “Where did that monster come from? I have to call the police.”

“To answer your question that monster came from the Dark Kingdom,” Apollo answered. “And the police won’t be able to do anything. Only the Galactic Ladies can stop him.”

"Where and how did you learn to talk?" Merlee asked.

“That’s not important,” Apollo said. “Lady Sun needs your help.”

“My help?” Merlee pointed at her chest. “But I thought you said that only the Galactic Ladies are able to defeat that thing.” Her eyes widened. “Are you saying that I’m a Galactic Lady?”

“Take this pen.” Apollo leapt through the air and performed a summersault. A streak of light followed his tail and centered in a flash. A cerulean colored transform pen appeared and fell to the ground. “Hold it up and shout Nebula Galaxy Power Make-up!”

"This will turn me into a Galactic Lady?"

"Yes.”

Merlee's gaze kept switching from the pen to the battle scene. She breathed in and bent down to pick up the pen.

“Don’t be afraid,” Apollo said.

Merlee closed her eyes and held up the pen. "Nebula Galaxy Power Make-up!" light blue rings formed from the ground from the left side and moved to the right, forming light blue arches over her.

Merlee’s blouse and coat were changed white leotard with a light blue petal like collar. Her pants turned into a light blue skirt that was smooth at the hem and had pleats at the edge and light green tights. Her shoes became light blue fancy shoes with a strap. Light blue armbands, with a matching headband had formed. There were two star shaped green barrettes in her hair.

“I still don’t know what to do,” she said.

“Lady Nebula, you need to look inside yourself,” Apollo said. “You will feel your attack. You also have a defense attack.” He heard a helicopter not to far away. He turned around to see a black copter as it landed not too far away.

“A defense attack,” Lady Nebula said. She turned to the monster. “I can feel it.” She pointed at the monster with her hands. "Nebula Mist Confusion" Mist swirled around the youma blocking its vision.

"Huh?" Lady Sun and the youma asked at the same time.

"I've awoken the fifth Lady," Apollo said triumphantly.

“Merlee?” Sun asked.

“Actually I think I’m called Lady Nebula,” Nebula said.

"Well the good thing is he can’t see us," Sun said. “But I can’t see him.”

"He's over there," Nebula pointed. "I don't know why but I feel that he's there.” She blinked. “I feel another attack. Nebula Rainstorm Shower!" Rain poured down the froggish monster. The ground beneath became slippery.

“Let me try this again,” Lady Sun said. "Sun Light Disk Spin!" She sent her three glowing disks of light towards the youma

Despite the fog the monster must have been able to see the glowing discs of light, but when he tried to bounce he slipped and landed on his butt. The disks hit their target.

“Yes,” Sun said. “Finally I got him.”

The fog dissipated and the youma got back onto his feet. He belched out more bubbles.

“Duck,” Nebula said as she shoved Sun to the ground to avoid the bubbles.

"Comet Interstellar Explosion!" Lady Comet shouted as she ran up towards them. Her attack struck the target while the rest of the team ran up to them.

"Apollo you've found the fifth Lady," Celeste said in a shocked yet somewhat pleased tone of voice.

"Did you ever doubt me?" Apollo asked.

“This guy has been a pain in the butt,” Lady Sun said.

“Hard to beat?” Comet asked.

“It seems so,” Nebula said.

“Lets see what makes this guy tick,” Comet said. “Comet Tracking: what is his source of power?"

The pink ball floated up and down in front of the youma. It flashed above the green stone in the chef’s hat.

“I see it,” Lady Centauri said as she aimed her crossbow.

"Andromeda Sound Wave Shatter!" Andromeda sent her attack the same time Centauri shot her arrow. The attack combined with the arrow before it struck the emerald shattering it.

The youma collapsed.

“Let me finish him,” Lady Sun said as she cracked her knuckles.

“No,” Nebula grabbed her arm. “"I sense someone good trapped inside."

“I feel it too,” Celeste said.

Lady Centauri nodded. "Centuari Magic Dissipation.” Her gold dust fell on the monster.

They watched as the youma turned back into a human.

“Charles,” Nebula said. “He works for my parents. He’s really a good person.”

“They tend to turn good people into monsters,” Andromeda said. “And have them attack us.”

“So did Mr. Xanatos get to fly you guys over here?” Sun asked.

“It was Mis—I mean it was Fox,” Lady Centauri said. “She said she hadn’t flown in few months and wanted to bring us here.”

“David and Fox Xanatos?” Nebula asked. “You know them?”

“The Xanatos family has been quite helpful,” Celeste said. “He set up one of the wings in his castle for us to use as a base.”

“We will be happy to show you,” Lady Andromeda said. “I know it is kind of overwhelming about meeting there but you will get used to it. Trust me.”

“I’ve been to the castle,” Nebula said. “I have met the family before.”

“I think Mr. Xanatos will be able to explain,” Lady Sun said. “We will meet with you tonight after the dinner.”

“What will Mr. Xanatos explain?” Riley asked.

“How he knows Merlee Detempestades,” Lady Sun explained.

“See you two later then,” Lady Andromeda said.

“Have fun,” Centauri said.

“Later guys,” Comet said.

Celeste nodded before she followed the three ladies back to the hillside where the copter had landed.

“We should be getting back to our families,” Lady Sun said.

“My mother will wonder where I have run off to,” Lady Nebula agreed.

“See you at dinner.”

-

The dinner was delicious and filling. They were quail with potatoes in savory spices, green beans topped with almond slivers, croissant rolls and a choice between a salad with walnut dressing or cream of pumpkin soup. Their dessert was a choice between a chocolate or fruit torte.

After everyone had eaten Merlee had convinced her parents to let her go with Kayla to Wyvern. She had said she was inspired by what Kayla was doing earlier and she wants to be able to help in any way that she can. She didn’t need a pass to get to the castle. Like when Kayla had first joined Mr. Xanatos and Owen were called ahead.

"So you are now complete," Owen Burnett said as he led the two girls and Apollo to their meeting room.

“The complete team of the Galactic Ladies are back in action,” Apollo answered.

“I hope you don’t mind if I view this meeting,” Mr. Burnett said. “Unless you want me to get you anything.”

“We are fine,” Merlee said. “Thank you for asking.”

“She’s right,” Kayla gave her stomach a light pat. “We are stuffed.”

The two of them entered the room and sat down in the empty love seat. Apollo took his place next to Celeste while right in front of them.

“Now that we are all complete and here it is time to begin the meeting,” Apollo said.

"It will be a short meeting," Celeste said. “It’s just to vote for the leader.”

“Oh that,” Kayla shrank back into her chair.

"I know I'm new but I think it should be Kayla," Merlee spoke up.

“New or not, your vote still counts,” Celeste said.

"I agree," said Laurine.

"But I think it should be you Laurine," Kayla told her

"I also think it should be Laurine," Sadie said.

“Looks like it will be up to Riley,” Apollo said

"I thought about this for a while," Riley started. "Laurine has displayed good leadership skills, but she doesn’t really want the responsibility. Kayla has been a Galactic Lady longer than and she handled today pretty well and destiny does favor Kayla. I think she should be the leader.”

“Then it is settled,” Celeste said. “Laurine, I hope you are not disappointed.”

“I’m cool,” Laurine said.

"I’ll try,” Kayla took a deep breath. “No not try. I know I can be my best at being Leader."

"That’s the spirit," Apollo said.

"Yes it is,” A strange voice said. Where Owen once stood there was now a shorter man with long white hair and pointed ears floating in the air He was dressed in a tunic of red, purple tunic, dark blue leggings, bright red boots and gold armbands. "Don't worry girls Owen and I one and the same." The strange man said.

“Was Owen a monster in disguise?” Merlee asked. She shook her head. “No, I don’t sense anything bad about him.”

“So this is your real form,” Laurine said. “Why are you showing us your real form now?”

“I think it is now time” the faerie said. “Or felt it. Think and feel, sometimes I get those two confused.

"What should we call you?" Merlee asked. They had a lot to tell her.

"Call me anything but late for dinner," Puck said. “But since you insist on a name you can call me Puck.”

"Puck? "Merlee asked. "As in the Faerie from the play?"

"Yes no autographs please,” Puck said and bowed. “Now its time for young Alex's lessons." He disappeared.

"I had no idea,” Merlee said and turned to the others. “But you did.”

"Since I’m now voted the leader I guess I have to explain it to you," Kayla said. “There are a lot of things I and I guess we will have to tell you.” She had to tell Merlee about their past lives, the sailor soldiers, the Dark Kingdom and the gargoyles.

-

Chrystia was shaking as she entered the throne room. She knew Borice was not going to like the information she was about to deliver but he must know the truth.

“Kneel before me,” Borice commanded. There was no emotion in his voice.

Chrystia was too afraid to look into his eyes as she kneeled. She was afraid to see his eyes. She didn’t want to know how angry he was. He may not express it with his mouth, but he would certainly show his emotion through his eyes.

“You have always have great ideas when it comes to harvesting energy,” Borice said. “Because of you we are close to our goal. It won’t be long and you and Feldspar will be married.”

“Thank you,” Chrystia said. “I have some bad news. The Fifth Lady has been awakened.”

Borice was silent for a few minutes. “I knew it would have come to this. You may rise.”

Chrystia tried to stand, but she was shaking so hard that she stumbled and fell back. Feldspar caught her and helped her to her feet.

“You caught me,” Chrystia said.

“I will always be there to catch you,” Feldspar told her.

“Generals of the Dark Kingdom,” Borice said. “The Galactic Ladies are complete. We know have to face against all five of them.”

“What should we do now?” Azurite asked.

“We will gather energy from large groups,” Borice said. “And we will use our most powerful youmas. We will succeed. For the Dark Kingdom and for Beryl.” He raised a fist.