-
The harvesting of energy
was going smoothly, a least as smoothly as it can without the interference from
those five girls. Their queen was complete and strong. She just needed the
right amount of energy to break through the barrio so that they can take over
the planet.
“We just need a little
more,” Borice said as he stared at the half developed sphere in his hand.
Sylvite’s idea of stealing energy from the audience of the parade had been a
success, not only did she gather another energy to complete the previous sphere
but she managed to start a new sphere and complete it half way. He looked up at
the three generals that stood before him. “You have done well Sylvite.”
“Thank you, your
majesty,” Sylvite said. She seemed to be blushing. “I want to say it has been a
pleasure swerving you.”
“Thank you for those kind
words,” Borice said. He knew she had feelings for him. Only a blind man or a
complete idiot could see that she was not. He did not feel the same way for
her. She was beautiful; there was no doubt about that. She was almost as clever
as her brother when it came to coming up with ideas on stealing energy, and she
certainly made delicious tea, but he still had no feelings for her. His heart
belonged to Beryl, even though she preferred prince Endymion, even though she
was gone. He still loved her.
"We shall strike
soon?" Feldspar asked.
"Yes, as soon as
Azurite finishes up." Borice said. He had faith in Sylvite’s brother, But
he knew it would be best to plan ahead. “However there is a good chance our
enemy shall arrive and stop him before we are complete. I want the three of you
to work on finding new targets.”
“Yes your majesty,”
Feldspar said before he nodded his head and turned around to leave. Chrystia
had nodded her head as well before she followed her fiancé. Sylvite took the
longest to leave. She allowed her eyes to linger on him a few seconds longer
before she also left the throne room.
Borice stared at the half
developed sphere in his hands for a few more seconds before he sent it into a
storage pocket. He thought about visiting Metallia again and hoped she would
take the form of Beryl. He was also in the mood for some wine. Perhaps he will
request one of the youma’s to fetch him a glass before he would go and speak with
his queen.
However he might not have
to summon a servant. He had a feeling one was already in the throne room with
him. He certainly wasn’t alone.
"Who's there?"
He demanded.
"Me," A shadowy
youma appeared before him. She was tall with a svelte figure, hair that fell past the shoulders that
seemed to have a life on its own. She wore a bright red swath of cloth that
stretched across her chest, a mini skirt, high heels, and gloves that ended at
the elbows.
“Mystic," Borice
said when he recognized the youma. She was one of the few that wasn’t loyal to
any of the generals and served Metallia. “Is something wrong with our queen?”
“She is quite well,”
Mystic said. “Queen Metallia wanted me to keep an eye on Azurite.”
“To provide back up for
him?” Borice asked. “He has taken one of the most powerful youma’s with him. I
am certain he can handle the situation by himself.”
“That is not why she sent
me,” Mystic said as she floated to the door.
Borice arched an eyebrow.
Metallia did say that she didn’t trust Azurite. He hoped for his general’s sake
that Metallia was wrong about him.
-
Laurine sat on the roof
of her apartment building, gluing pieces of wood and clay together in the shape
of a reindeer. It was the first day of December. Christmas was just right
around the corner and she was in the mood to work on Christmas related crafts.
Her kiln sat a few feet away always ready to make bowls hold Mom and Tracy’s
home made cookies, as well as Christmas candy, and vases to hold poinsettias.
She was glad the building’s
owner and super didn’t mind that she kept her kiln up here. Other tenants
stored their art supplies, exercise equipment and mini gardens in a neat and
non-tacky way. It was one of the biggest draws to the complex and the main
reason her parents picked out the place when they moved in to it about seven
years ago.
“Lets see there is twenty
four more shopping days until Christmas and nine days till Sadie's birthday,”
Laurine said as she wound up the cord of her glue gun and placed it in her
tackle box. She'll shop for Sadie’s present this coming weekend and maybe begin
her holiday shopping as well.
She touched her creation
with her gloved hand to make sure the glue was dry. It was. She nearly forgot
how the cooler weather cut the drying time in half. It was one of the reason’s why she had to work quickly.
She carefully dragged it away to out it away in the wooden shed that was set up
to store any art projects over night. It was supposed to snow tonight and she
didn’t want her sculpture to get covered in frost.
The sun began to set as
she entered her apartment. She wondered what she was going to eat. She also
wanted to see if any holiday specials were going to be on tonight. She loved
watching some of the classics like Rudolph and Frosty.
"Mom told us to fix
ourselves TV dinners," Tracy’s voice came from the kitchen. "But I
made everyone cocoa."
"Thanks sis,"
Laurine said as she accepted the warm cup from Tracy. She set down and pulled
out a shrimp and pasta meal from the freezer and stuck it in the microwave.
While it was heating up she used the can of Reddiwhip to spray a can of whip
cream onto her cocoa.
Once her food was cooked
she grabbed it, a fork, a napkin and her drink and retreated into her room
where she wolfed it down.
"You could have at
least shared some that." Celeste complained when Laurine finished her
meal.
“I thought rabbits didn’t
eat shrimp.”
“We don’t,” Celeste said.
“But the pasta and sauce smelled good, and you had some nice green veggies and
a fruity dessert.”
"You have rabbit food,"
Laurine told her. “And before I went to work on my sculpture I gave you some
more radish slices, and I chopped up a little bit of apple.”
“It still would have been
nice,” Celeste said and retreated into her hutch, probably to pout.
Laurine placed her fork
into the empty tray. She was about to take it outside where she would put the
fork into the sink and the tray into the garbage when her communicator went of.
"What is it?”
Laurine asked.
"Laurine turn on the
news," was all Riley said.
Laurine turned on the TV and switched the
channel to the local news.
"Another monster or
"youma" has made its presence known." Travis Marshall reported.
The camera cut away to reveal a squid like creature threatening the ice rink at
Rockefeller Center.
"Here we go again,"
Laurine groaned. “Where are the others?” She said into her communicator.
“Sadie and Merlee were
ice skating when it happened,” Riley said. “They just called to tell me and
Kayla what had happened.”
“I’ll get there as fast
as I can,” Laurine said. She decided to leave the TV on so her siblings won't
get suspicious. “You heard all that, Celeste?”
“I heard everything,”
Celeste said as she jumped out of her hutch.
Laurine opened her window
and crawled out towards the fire escape. Celeste followed after her. After she
closed her window she held up her pen.
"Andromeda Galaxy
Power Make Up!" The glowing light faded and Lady Andromeda leaped up on
the stairs until she reached the top. She ran towards the direction of
Rockefeller Center, leaping from building to building along the way.
-
Sailor Pluto stared into
the time stream, her fingers wrapped around her staff. "The time is
near." She said. It was so very near, and while a part of her did want to
assist them, but she new she could not leave too early for it would affect the
flow of time.
-
Lady Centauri, Lady
Nebula, Lady Sun and Apollo were already there battling the monster. Several civilians were hiding in the corners
while they watched in what they perceived to be a safe distance. There were a
few people with new camera’s taping it all, there were several police cars with
men and women in uniform ordering everyone to keep back and to Lady Andromeda’s surprise the
Quarrymen were also there in full uniform, but they were not wielding their
hammers. They were handling large guns that they were aiming at the monster.
The greenish gray monster
was more of a squid than an octopus with its long arrow shaped head that had
black spikes lining the edge. Its bulb like eyes was the color of pus and they
wiggled around as it tried to stare at everyone. There was horn like growths
over each eye. All ten of its long tentacles held an innocent human. A large
gray beak snapped at the air. Black blood oozed from the five arrows that were
stuck in the creature.
“We got a big one this
time,” Lady Andromeda said. “Did it just appear of was it once human or what?”
“We were just skating
along with everyone,” Lady Centauri explained. “Merlee wasn’t long on the ice
when she said she sensed a creepy energy nearby. We both got off the ice and
transformed and then the youma appeared.”
“I wonder how they were
stealing the energy this time,” Lady Sun said.
“Most likely through the
ice,” Apollo said. “Or maybe through rented ice skates, or maybe through the
cocoa they were selling. I don’t think that really matters right now.”
“Apollo is correct,”
Celeste said. “You four need t-“
The combined sound of
electricity made with gunfire was heard behind them. Several energy blasts came
from the direction of the Quarrymen and struck the Squid monster in the head.
There were several burn marks and little more of its oil slick like blood
dribbled down from the wounds.
“What are they doing?”
Celeste asked.
“I think they are trying
to help,” Lady Andromeda said as she turned around and stared at the Quarrymen
as they were preparing for another assault
“They shouldn’t be
fighting it,” Celeste said.
“May I ask why?” Lady
Nebula asked.
“They are not equipped,”
Lady Centauri said. “They don’t have the abilities.”
“Not to mention they are
going to get hurt if they tried,” Lady Sun said. She walked up a few feet
towards to where some of the police were and waved to get their attention. “You
have to get them out of here.” She pointed to the Quarrymen and made shooing
and sweeping gestures.
Either the cops saw her
or they were already on their way after the quarrymen had fired their first
assault but there were a group of officers ordering the Quarrymen to leave the
area.
“Now that’s settled,”
Apollo said and pointed at the youma.
“Don’t need to tell me,”
Lady Sun said as she carefully stepped on the ice. The bottom of her boots
started to glow. “Hey what the heck?” The glowing stopped and ice skate blades
were now part of Sun’s boots.
“It was a bit of a
surprise to us as well,” Lady Centauri said as she stepped on the ice. Blades
magically appeared on the bottoms of her shoes.
"I hope you didn't
try to cut off the tentacles," Lady Andromeda said after she stepped on
the ice.
"Why," Apollo
asked.
"Squids regenerate
their limbs," Lady Sun told him. "I know some stuff about science I
make straight B’s in Marine Biology."
“They would be A’s if you
were less lazy about homework,” Apollo said.
“Details, details,” Sun
rolled her eyes. “Lets make calamari out of this monster.”
They skated closer to the
monster. Centauri had her crossbow raised and Lady Sun was about to throw her
chakram.
The youma roared and
opened its beak. Globs of dark green goo shot out of its mouth.
“Yikes,” Andromeda said
and stopped short. The goo landed a few inches in front of her.
“Be careful,” Lady Nebula
said as she and the others tried to dodge the sludge.
“Maybe we should scoot a
little bit back,” Centaur suggested.
They skated back a few
feet before they turned around to face the monster.
“Hey,” Lady Comet skated
up besides them. “Sorry I’m late but I had a little bit of trouble trying to
get away from my family. I did bring some friends.” She pointed to the sky.
Five gargoyles glided
around. By their size and coloring it looked like it was Lexington, Goliath,
Broadway, Brooklyn, and Katana.
“This is a bit of a
tricky monster,” Lady Andromeda said.
"Sun light Disk
Spin!" Sun sent her attack from a safe difference. “I had to try something.
The squidish youma opened
its beak and spat two streams of viridian sludge. The goop stopped two of the
disk's in their tracks, but the third one hit it right between the eyes. The
youma began thrashing its tentacles from the pain, dropping two of its victims.
Goliath and Broadway dove down to catch them.
"Nebula mist
confusion." The fog clouded over the battle area. “Now it won’t be able to
see us while we plan our method of attack.”
"How do we stop this
thing?" Lady Centauri asked. "Can't get near the head because it
spits out this vile stuff." She turned to look at Lady Sun.
“Why are you all looking
at me like that?” Lady Sun asked.
“Because you are the
leader,” Lady Comet said.
“But Andromeda is a
genius when it comes to sea life,” Sun protested.
“And you make straight
B’s in the subject,” Apollo reminded
her.
"Okay fine,” Sun let
out a sigh. “Lets see Mollusks are cold blooded?" She waited for Andromeda
to nod. "It’s like thirty degrees here and if it would just rain."
"We'll freeze it
easily," Apollo finished. "Smart move Sun."
"Nebula rainstorm
shower!" The cold needles of rain pelted the youma.
The creature became frost
bitten and barley could move.
The gargoyles dove down
to rescue the remaining humans from its weakened grasp.
Lady Andromeda ran
foreword and thrust her ax against the squid slicing deep in its face. More
black blood oozed out.
The creature tried to
spit more of its sludge but it was still too cold to move.
Lady Nebula grabbed her staff and shoved the
blunt end into the things eye.
"Comet
Interstellar..." Lady Comet charged up her attack.
"Andromeda Sound
Wave..." Andromeda Joined in
"Sun Light
Disk..."
"Centauri
stalagmite..."
"Explosion!
"Shatter!"
"Spin!"
"Slash!"
The four attacks centered
on the youma destroying it. Black blood erupted from the explosion and
splattered everyone, including the gargoyles who had just landed next to the
girls.
"Now That’s what I
call a battle." Broadway said and began to rub his hands together. Or at
least he tried to. The blood from the monster made his hands stick together.
“This stuff is like glue."
"Ewww," Lady
Sun said as she looked down at herself
"Gross," Lady
Comet gagged
"It
stinks," Brooklyn said as he
grabbed his nose.
"This is
disgusting," Katana, said as she tried to shake some of the goop off by
flapping her wings.
"Hope this washes
out of my hair," Nebula said as she touched the goo the clung to her hair.
Everyone clamored about the goo and hoping
that they would be able to either wash it off their bodies or it will be
removed when the girls turned back to normal and when the gargoyles turned to
stone.
Andromeda felt someone
was approaching them and she turned to see Azurite as he skated up to them.
“Someone is here,” Nebula
said. “I can’t tell if they are good or bad.”
“It’s Azurite,” Comet
said as she narrowed her eyes. “He’s a bad guy.”
“You were the one who
sent this monster here,” Goliath said as he pointed a claw.
“Are you going to try to
attack us?” Lady Centauri asked.
“Not quite,” Azurite said
and held up his clarinet. He played a few notes and Andromeda became clean.
"Uh gee
thanks," Andromeda said as she checked herself out. “My friends are still
covered in that stuff.”
“I know.” Azurite played
a different melody and her friends hovered over the ground and begun to spin
around them rapidly.
"What are you
doing?" Andromeda demanded. She could barely see the expressions on their
faces as they zipped by her, but she had a feeling they all had horrified looks
on their faces.
"Now its time for
you to choose," Azurite told her. "I know a part of you still
remembers me. You still love me. We can be together." He held out a hand
to her. “Come with me and join the Dark Kingdom.”
I can't do that,”
Andromeda said. She felt a hard lump in her skirt. She reached inside and
pulled it out. "I'm not sure if it is love. I don’t know what my feeling
are too you but when we danced last Halloween it felt so right, so
magical."
“Do you remember?”
“Some of it in my
dreams,” Andromeda said. “In one we were going to sneak of to be married. We
were going to run away to the Moon Kingdom so we could always be together.”
“Now we can.”
She shook her head. “I
will never join the Dark Kingdom.”
"If you won't do it
for me then do it for your friends." He pointed to where her friends were
still spinning around them. “Join me and I will release them from my spell.”
"Azurite this isn’t
love. Love isn’t something that’s forced upon and people don't hurt another's
friends for love.” She stared at the music box and flipped open the lid. Their
song started to play. “If you really
were in love with me then you wouldn’t be doing this. Please let them go."
She stared into his blue eyes. He really did look like he was deep in thought.
A swirling blue cloud appeared behind him.
Andromeda let out a gasp as a shadowy dark youma wearing a skimpy red outfit
climbed through the gate.
“What are you doing
here?” Azurite demanded of the Youma.
“I have come to oversee
your work,” the youma answered.
“As you can see I have it
all under control,” Azurite pointed to the still spinning Ladies and Gargoyles
"Not quite,” the
youma shook its head. “Borice and Metallia wants you to destroy them." She
pointed at Lady Andromeda. “What are you waiting for? Kill her now.”
"No,” Azurite shook
his head. “She is the reason why I joined the Dark Kingdom. It’s so she and I
can be together.
"Don't be a fool. Do
you think she will want you, after all that you have done?"
"I will never harm
her."
“I gave you an order,”
the youma’s voice grew even more demanding. “Now kill her.”
“I said I will never harm
her,” Azurite glared at the youma. “I don’t care if she loves me or not. I
don’t care if she doesn’t wish to be friends with me. Even if she doesn’t want
to have anything to do with me I will not hurt her.”
"Fine! Stand aside
and I'll destroy her." The youma raised its hand and a dark beam lashed
out and headed straight for Andromeda.
"No!" Azurite
pushed Andromeda out of the way and took the blast in the chest. He was sent flying back a few feet before he
landed on the rink.
His spell on Ladies and
the Gargoyles were broken and they fell to the ground
”No Azurite!"
Andromeda cried she ran towards the youma with her ax. She slashed at it
several times before she dropped her weapon. Andromeda Sound Wave-" She
held the attack for a good long minute, building up its energy.
"Shatter!" The sound wave struck the youma and caused it to vibrate before
it turned into smoke and dust. Tears streaming down her face, she collapsed on
her knees by Azurite's side.
“Andromeda,” Azurite
whispered.
"Don't talk
now," She choked between sobs.
“Princess Harmony.”
“Please don’t die, please
Azurite, stay with me.”
-
‘Now,’ Thought Sailor
Pluto lifting her time staff. She closed the time gates before she stared at
the amulet in her hands and concentrated on the right area and event. She felt
the sphere of fiery light surround her.
-
Lady Andromeda continued
to cry while she covered Azurite’s injury with her hands. The blood was
spilling through her fingers and across the back her hands where it drizzled
down to her wrists.
A flash of red light
caused her to look up. If it was another youma that came to try and finish them
off she will destroy it as well. She blinked away the tears and sat up on her
knees.
To her surprise it wasn’t
a youma. It was a young woman close to her age. She had long green hair with
some of it gathered up into a bun. She had bright red eyes that matched the
jewel on her necklace, the jewel in her tiara, her earrings and her bow button.
She wore a white leotard with a black skirt and black sailor collar. She wore
black boots and the trim on her white gloves was also black. The bow on her chest
and the back of her skirt were maroon. She was carrying a large black staff
that was shaped like key. A bright red orb was at the top of the staff.
"A Sailor
Soldier?" A teary eyed Andromeda asked. She noticed that the gargoyles had
woken up and several were sitting up. Goliath was trying to stand up. The other
Ladies and rabbits were stirring
Pluto nodded and raised
her time staff. A large sphere of fiery red light surrounded them. When the
light faded they were in the Gargoyle’s wing of Wyvern. They appeared right in
front of Hudson and the two garg beasts.
"What in the
world?” Hudson asked as the two beasts
barked their heads off. “Lads, lasses how did ye just arrive like that?”
"I brought
them." The sailor soldier replied, as everyone was now standing up.
“And who are ye?” Hudson
asked as he pointed at the Sailor.
“I am Sailor Pluto.” She
held out her hand in front of the beasts. As soon as Bronx and Fudog sniffed her they wagged their tails, or at
least in the case of Bronx a stump of a tail.
"What’s the
commotion about?" Mr. Burnett asked as he entered the area. Angela and
Nashville followed him. The blond man pulled a phone out of his pocket and
pressed the buttons.
"He did it for me,
He took the blast for me, he really does love me," Andromeda cried. Her
body shook with grief.
“I can help,” Lady Sun
said as she crawled over to them. "Sun,” She charged up her energy as the
same way as Andromeda did earlier. “Healing!" the orange glittery light
slowly showered down on Azurite. His wound closed, and Sun collapsed.
Azurite breathed deeply a
few times before opening his blue eyes.
"Lady
Andromeda." He said looking up at her.
“Don’t talk,” Lady
Andromeda smiled at him. “Lady Sun?”
“Just five more minutes,
mom,” Sun said as she rolled over and went back to sleep.
“You all need to leave
this area at once,” Mr. Burnett said.
“This section is our
home,” Goliath said
“What?” Lady Comet
clenched her fists. “Can’t you see we have a couple of emergencies right here?”
She pointed at both Lady Sun and Azurite.
“I have just called the
medical wing,” Mr. Burnett said. “Paramedics are on their way to bring this man
to be operated on.”
“That means we have to
get out of here and fast,” Brooklyn said. He picked up Lady Sun into his arms.
“We’ll go to where the Ladies
have their meetings,” Goliath said.
“I’m not leaving him,”
Andromeda said and took Azurite’s hand into her own.
“Andromeda we have to
go,” Celeste said.
“No,” Andromeda shook her
head.
“We can’t have them see
us,” Nebula said. “They might guess correctly that we use the castle as a
base.”
“Protect yourself,”
Azurite said. “I’ll be fine. Your friend healed most of it.”
Comet grabbed Andromeda
by the arm. “Let’s go.”
Andromeda stood up and
followed her friends out of the room. As soon as the doors had closed she heard
more people rush inside. She placed her ear against the door and listened as
Mr. Burnett directed the paramedics as they carried Azurite out of the room.
“I’m sure he will be
okay,” Angela said as she placed a hand on Andromeda’s shoulder.
“What about Sun?”
Andromeda asked.
“She’ll be fine,” Apollo
said. “She’ll just need a nap and maybe something to snack on.”
“After we change back we
can get her some food,” Lady Nebula said.
“Lets get everyone to
your wing first,” Goliath said. As he lead everyone through the hallways
towards the large room where the Ladies conduct their meetings.
“You can rest here,”
Brooklyn said as he set Sun down on the couch.
“What’s going to happen
now?” Lady Centauri asked before she changed back into Sadie. Andromeda, Comet
and Nebula also changed back into their civilian forms.
“They are going to heal
Azurite,” Lexington said. “And then he’s going to go back to his kingdom.”
“No he won’t,” Laurine
said. “He defied a direct order that came from his leaders.”
“That means he’s on our
side now?” Broadway asked.
“He might not be on any
side,” Katana said. “He may choose to live as a normal citizen, but he made his
true feelings known when he performed such a brave and noble act.”
Things went quiet for a
minute. Riley and Sadie had volunteered to grab some beverages from the
kitchen.
Laurine sat on the floor
next to Lexington. “It’s the waiting that’s the hardest part.
“I am certain he will be
fine,” the web wing said. “Lady Sun did rain down a lot of her healing energy
on him.”
“I have faith in Sun,”
Andromeda said. “I want to be a hundred percent sure that he will make it.”
“Can Sailor Pluto tell
us?” Nashville asked. “Or is that one of those things I’m not supposed to ask?”
“You can ask,” Sailor
Pluto smiled down at him. “He will be fine.” She approached Brooklyn and
Katana. “I am sorry I had to wait to greet you until now, Time Dancer.”
“You do not have to
apologize for that, Guardian of Time,” Brooklyn said to her.
“Wait,” Lexington
blinked. “You two know each other?”
“We crossed paths
before,” Brooklyn said. “It was during my dance through time.”
“She’s a time traveler?”
Goliath asked. He studied Sailor Pluto for a few seconds before his eyes
widened. “The phoenix gate.”
“It has come to my
possession before,” Sailor Pluto said as she held up a flat metal disk the size
and shape of a police badge. The center was a sky blue with the image of a
phoenix placed in the center. “When you threw it into the time stream, Goliath.
I had to send it to Brooklyn so he could fulfill his destiny.”
“You were the one who
sent Brooklyn through time?” Goliath asked. “Why?”
“She had to,” Brooklyn
said. “Because I did. Time travel is funny like that, not to mention if I
hadn’t I wouldn’t met Katana or Fu-dog.” He placed an arm around his mate. “Nashville
would have never hatched and our second egg would have never been laid.”
“My role in the Time
Dancer’s travels is not why I came here,” Sailor Pluto said. “I came here to
show the Galactic Ladies their past.”
“Life during the Silver
Millennium,” Celeste said.
“We should wait,” Apollo
said. “For the others.”
They did not wait long.
Riley, Sadie and Mr. Burnett entered the room carrying small coolers and bags
of chips.
“The doctor says he will
be fine,” Mr. Burnett said as he set one of the coolers down. “I placed a
kettle on the stove for you, Hudson.”
“Ye didnae have t’ do
that lad,” Hudson said. “But I do appreciate it.”
“What did we miss?” Sadie
asked as she handed Laurine a diet Pepsi and a bag of Lays.”
“Sailor Pluto was about
to show us our life back on the moon during the Silver Millennium,” Merlee
explained as Riley gave her a Sprite and a bag of chips.
“I should wake up Lady
Sun for this,” Apollo said. He climbed onto the couch and sat on Lady Sun’s
chest. He brought his nose to her nose and wiggled his.
“Wha?” Lady Sun asked as
she opened her eyes. “Apollo?”
“It’s story time,” Apollo
said. “You can return to normal now.”
“Oh?” Sun asked. She
dropped her transformation and turned back into Kayla. “What happened to
Azurite?”
“The doctor is seeing him
right now,” Mr. Burnett explained. “His wound was not completely closed but it
wasn’t deep. Miss Dargrian I believe you have healed whatever internal damage
he may have suffered.
“Oh that’s good,” Kayla
said as she sat up.
“I have something special
for you,” Sadie said as she handed Kayla a pink can and what looked like a
candy bar. “It’s an energy shake and a energy bar.”
“Thanks,” Kayla said as
she opened the can and took a long big drink. “Strawberry is yummy. Now what
did you mean about story time?”
“Sailor Pluto is about to
show us our past,” Celeste said.
“Oh,” Kayla said before
she took another drink. She set down her can and opened up her energy bar.
"Now this will all
be like an illusion to us," Pluto began. "The people in it can't see
or hear you." Everyone understood. Pluto spun her staff.
The castle interior seemed to have dissolved
and was replaced with a pearly white surface and a night sky. Pillars that
lined the path had fountains that sputtered up from the tops of them. The path
led to a beautiful white palace. A small fireworks display exploded over the
palace. Three winged creatures glided towards the direction of the palace.
"Gargoyles on the
moon?" an Lexington asked.
"They were the
bodyguards of the princess's," Pluto explained. “Each princess had their
own body guard. Prince Endymion of Earth brought them to the Moon.”
-
The vision blurred and
was replaced the by the image of a young man kneeling in front of beautiful
woman in a long white dress with what resembled gold rings resting across her
chest. Her long white hair had a unique style. Some of it was gathered into
long pigtails and some of it was also gathered into two buns on the top of her
head. She had the image of a crescent moon on her forehead.
The young man had short
dark hair and was dressed in a dark blue tunic and slacks He wore black armor
with silver shoulder pads and belt with hip protection. He also wore a black
cape with red lining.
Behind the prince were
fifteen gargoyles and one garg beast. They were in a plethora of colors, and
there was a variety in their tails, wings and horns.
“I want to thank you for
bringing some of clan from your kingdom here,” the queen said.
“They help protect my
kingdom,” the prince said. “They volunteered to help protect your kingdom.”
“I will assign your roles
soon,” the queen said. “First why don’t your rest?”
-
“Queen Serenity,” Celeste
said as the vision blurred again.
“That was Queen
Serenity?” Laurine asked. She had never seen a woman that was more elegant or
beautiful than that queen.
“That was her,” Apollo
said.
“She’s beautiful,”
Broadway gasped.
“That prince is kind of
handsome,” Riley said.
“Prince Endymion did have
many admirers,” Pluto said. “Including a young peasant girl named Beryl.”
As Pluto spoke a young
woman with long dark wavy hair and dressed in peasant clothes appeared. She was
staring at Prince Endymion who appeared to have been ignoring her.
“She was in love with the
Prince but he did not love her,” Pluto
said. “He was in love with the princess of the moon, who also was named
Serenity.”
A young girl appeared.
She was wearing a gown similar to what Queen Serenity wore and kept her blond
hair in the same style as her mother’s. She also had a crescent moon mark on
her forehead. She was in a deep embrace with Prince Endymion.
Beryl stood a few feet
away with an angry expression on her face.
“Beryl felt jealous
towards the princess,” Sailor Pluto said. “She felt if she cannot have Prince
Endymion then no one can. She started to spread around vicious rumors about the
people of the moon using the Earth people’s original fear about them. They
feared the citizens of the moons longevity and the way they watched over the
Earth. She had also turned to black magic.”
Beryl sat before a
strange pot and waved her hands in front of it as smoke floated out of it.
“Her anger and jealousy
over the moon princess and her skills with magic is what lured Metallia to
her.”
A shadowy demon appeared
before Beryl and held out its hand Beryl accepted it. Her dark hair turned red.
Her peasant clothes turned into a long blue-purple dress. Her ears grew pointed
and her canines grew long and sharp. Her fingernails grew longer and white
spikes sprouted from her shoulders.
“Where do Laurine and the
others fit in?” Angela asked.
“The time of the Silver
Millennium was a time of peace,” Sailor Pluto said. “All of the planets were in
perfect balance and the royal leaders were friends with each other. Because she
was the reason why the Silver Millennium came to be the other kings and queens
agreed to Serenity as the queen of the system. The news of such a prosperous
kingdom had spread far and wide, including planets from the Andromeda Galaxy.
Several planets from the same system sent their princess to the Moon Kingdom to
represent their planets.”
“The Ambassador
Princesses,” Celeste said.
Sailor Pluto nodded. “The
Ambassador Princesses were good friends with the moon princess and the guardian
princesses. Each one of the Ambassador Princesses bonded with one of the five.
Princess Kytoon of Terpsichore was good friends with Princess Tyche of Mercury.
The scene changed to two
girls playing a game. One girl looked like Merlee and she was dressed in a
light blue dress. The other girl had short dark blue hair that seemed to
billow. She also wore a long gown that was in two different shades of light
blue.
“Princess Harmony of
Euterpe was good friends with princess Aphrodite of Venus,” Pluto said.
The scene changed to two
girls riding around on horse like creatures. One of the girls looked like
Laurine in a silver gown. The other was a girl with long blond hair in a golden
yellow dress.
“Princess Cipher of Clio
was good friends with Princess Eny of Mars.”
The scene turned to two
girls feeding the crows. One looked like Sadie in a yellow dress and the other
looked like Rei Hino in a red dress.
“Princess Kyrielle of
Erato was good friends with Princess Helen of Jupiter.”
The scene changed again
to two girls ice-skating around on a rink that was part of the moon kingdom.
One of the girls looked like Riley and she skated around in a pink dress. The
other girl kept her brown hair in a ponytail and wore a green dress.
“And Princess Aurora of
Thalia was good friends with Princess Serenity.”
The scene became that of
a beautiful garden where Princess Serenity was making a flower crown along a
girl that looked like Kayla dressed in a orange dress. Seven strange
individuals surrounded them. Two looked like a armored knights, another looked
like an angel, one looked like a women with butterfly wings, another woman and
a unicorn horn, one looked like a gnome like creature and one resembled a lion
with wings.
-
“Who are those guys who
are surrounding us?” Kayla asked.
“The seven guardians of
light,” Sailor Pluto said. “They were seven soldier who were in charge of
protecting Princess Aurora and the rainbow crystal.”
“Rainbow crystal?” Kayla
asked.
“It was a powerful
crystal,” Apollo said. “It was about on par with the silver imperium crystal
that belonged to Queen Serenity. Some might even say it was your sailor
crystal.”
“What’s a sailor
crystal?” Sadie asked.
“All sailor soldiers have
a sailor crystal inside them,” Sailor Pluto said. “It is what gives them the
power to become sailor soldiers.”
“Is that why we are not
sailor soldiers?” Laurine asked. “Because we don’t have sailor crystals?”
“No you do have them,”
Celeste said. “They have just been nullified.”
“Who would do such a
thing?” Goliath asked.
“It happened centuries
before the Silver Millennium,” Apollo explained. “Some of the sailor soldiers
in your old system became corrupted. The other soldiers battled against them.
One soldier was Sailor Thalia who used the power of the rainbow crystal to
nullify those in the corrupted soldiers. In the process she had nullified her
own and the others who fought on her side.”
“But ye lasses became
some kind of warriors,” Hudson said.
Sailor Pluto nodded. “The
Ambassador princesses have seen the others in action and they wanted to be able
to help. They were given special weapons that have been forged on their own
planets.”
“I thought they were
forged on the moon,” Laurine said and looked at Celeste. “You said my ax was.”
Celeste shrugged. “The
memory was still not quite clear at the time. All I knew was that you needed to
get it.”
“Once the princesses had
the weapons they returned to Queen Serenity,” Pluto said.
-
The image changed to the
five princesses curtseying in front of Queen Serenity while they held onto
their weapons.
“I know you all wish to
protect this kingdom,” Queen Serenity said. “But you do not quite have the
power to do so.”
The five princesses
nodded.
“I shall use this crystal
to help bestow a new power onto you,” the queen said as she approached Princess
Aurora first “Princess Aurora you are the closest to my daughter. You will be
the leader of this group of warriors. I give you the power of the sun.” She
touched her finger against Aurora’s forehead.
The solar brooch appeared
on Aurora’s chest. She touched it and turned into Lady Sun.
“Princess Cipher I grant
you the power from the brightest star after the sun,” Queen Serenity said as
she touched Cipher’s forehead. “The power from Alpha Centauri.”
Centauri’s transformation
pen appeared before her as soon as Cipher grabbed it she became Lady Centauri.
“Princess Kyrielle I give
you the power from the cosmos and comets,” Serenity said as she touched
Kyrielle’s forehead.
The pink transformation
pen appeared before Kyrielle. She grabbed it and became Lady Comet.
“Princess Kytoon I give
you the power from the nebulas,” Serenity said. “They represent the new stars
that are being born.” She touched Kytoon’s forehead.
Nebula’s transformation
pen appeared before her. Kytoon grabbed it and turned into Lady Nebula.
“Princess Harmony I grant
you the power from your home galaxy.” Serenity touched Harmony’s forehead.
The silver transformation
wand appeared and Harmony grabbed it. She became Lady Andromeda.
“And to help you with
your weapons,” Queen Serenity opened up a silver elegant box. “These pendants
shall help you.” She removed the golden Solar pendant first. “For Lady of the
Sun I give her the Solar pendant.” She placed the other star shaped pendants
around the other Ladies necks.
The jewels on the
pendants glowed, as did the weapons. They became the Melody Ax, Stellar
Crossbow, Cosmic whip, Solar Chakram, and the Storm Staff.
The queen turned away
from the girls. “Celeste, Apollo, you may come here.”
Celeste and Apollo ran up
to the queen.
“Yes your majesty?”
Celeste asked.
“I need you two to help
train these Ladies,” Queen Serenity said. “They do not quite know how to fight
with their powers.”
“We will train them the
best that we can,” Apollo said.
-
“That’s how we came into
their care,” Merlee said before she took another sip from her drink.
“How did such a beautiful
kingdom come to its end?” Angela asked.
“It was the Dark
Kingdom,” Riley answered. “They were the ones who destroyed it.”
“Riley is correct,”
Sailor Pluto Said. “Jealous Beryl was chosen by Metallia to be their queen. She
enlisted the citizens of the Earth who were as jealous of the Moon Kingdom as
she was and she brain washed several soldiers who were loyal to Prince Endymion
to carry out her orders.”
The vision changed to a
pristine white tower. The Moon Princess was at the window, staring up at the
sky, at Earth. Prince Endymion approached the tower and the princess was
overjoyed to see him, but the joy did not last long before Endymion was chased
off by the palace guards,
“Because of the tensions
were brewing between the Earth and the Moon many of the Lunar guardsmen did not
trust the people of the Earth, not even Prince Endymion.” Sailor Pluto said as
she continued to the story. “The prince new about Beryl’s intent to attack and
came to warn Princess Serenity but he was chased away. He caught up with
Serenity during the ball.”
The scene changed to a
large ballroom Princess Serenity and Prince Endymion were dancing together.
“I wonder where we were,”
Kayla said.
“You all were at the
ball,” Pluto answered.
More scenes from the ball
appeared before them. Princess Aurora and Princess Aphrodite were dancing with
some of the guards. Princess Tyche and Princess Kytoon were engaged in a deep conversation with
several people. Princess Enya and Princess Cypher were walking along with two
young men following closely behind when Enya stopped suddenly. She looked to
her right and saw a young man dressed in a blue suit wearing a cloak and a
headband jump through the window.
“Azurite,” Laurine
whispered.
Princess Kyrielle and
Princess Helen were sampling some of the wares from an elegant and elaborate
buffet table.
There were three other
princesses that Laurine did not recognize. One had short blond hair and was
wearing a dark blue dress. The second princess had wavy sea green colored hair
that matched the gown she wore. Both of them seem to be watching over the third
princess. A young girl who’s dark hair was styled into a bob and was wearing a
purple dress.
“Where am I?” Laurine
asked.
“You are away from the
others,” Pluto explained.
-
The vision blurred and
changed to an elegant room. A saddened woman wearing a silver gown stared out a
window. She had silver-white hair and a crown of lilies on her head. When she
turned around they could all see that it was Princess Harmony.
Princess Harmony returned her gaze back to
the window and stared up at the sky. She was staring towards the direction of
the Andromeda Galaxy. She sighed deeply causing her crown of lilies to fall.
A minute later a silver
skinned gargoyle climbed through the window.
"You dropped this
princess," The gargoyle said. He had long blue-black hair that was kept
out of his eyes by a V like brow ridge. His large black wings had a single claw
with a gold lining. He was wearing a red tunic and matching loincloth. He wore
gold bands on his wrists and ankles.
"Thank you
Sirrah," Harmony placed the lilies back on her head," Denebola is
waiting for you."
"I know but-"
the gargoyle was cut off when the princess placed her fingers over his mouth.
"Go on enjoy
yourself," Harmony said. “That is
an order.”
Sirrah released his old
of the windowsill and glided off toward.
“At least one of us
should be with the one they love,” Harmony closed her eyes and sighed. She
opened her eyes when the door opened and Azurite stepped through.
“Azurseus?” Harmony
asked. Her eyes were wide with shock.
“My princess,” Azurite
said as he walked straight up to her.
“I thought you were still
on Euterpe,” Harmony said. “When did you come here?”
“Just recently,” Azurite
said. “Your father’s guards will not track me down here. They will not keep us
apart while we are here.”
“This is the perfect
place for us," The princess said as she leaned against his chest. “We will
always be together.”
“You and I are one,”
Azurite said.
“Now and Forever.”
"I have a present
for you" He reached into his pocket and pulled out a heart shaped music
box. “Princess Serenity gave one to her prince.”
"Thank you its
beautiful," Harmony said before she cast a suspicious glance towards him.
“Where did you get it?”
“I asked for it to be
custom made,” Azurite said as he opened it. The star danced around the music
that played was their song. “See? It’s our song.”
“Our song,” Harmony
repeated and held him close.
The two of them danced
together in the room, even when the song stopped they continued to dance.
"Were under
attack!" The alarm rang out. “We are under attack. We need all available
fighters.”
Azurite and the princess separated from their
embrace. Harmony ran towards the door but her hand was held by Azurite.
“Don’t go out there,”
Azurite said. “We can escape together.”
“I have to fight,”
Harmony told him.
“You became a warrior by
choice,” Azurite said. “You are under no obligation to protect anyone.”
“I still have to go,”
Harmony said as she pulled her wrist free. “I still choose to go.” She placed a
kiss on his cheek. “I want you to escape. Be safe my love.”
-
The vision changed again. Youmas and human
soldiers fought against the palace
soldiers and against the gargoyles. Seven powerful youma’s were fighting
against the seven guardian warriors of Princess Aurora. The Sailor Soldiers and
Galactic Ladies were also battling against youmas and human soldiers
A screeching hiss was
heard before a shadowy monster loomed over the kingdom. It rained down a
powerful blast onto the human soldiers, the guardian rabbits and the purple
garg beast, killing them all.
“Attack that demon,” A
bronze gargoyle with black hair ordered as he, Sirrah and thirteen others
glided towards the demon with their claws brandished. A few were also wielding
weapons.
The demon hissed and
fired another blast of energy at the clan, also killing them.
“We have to stop that demon,”
A sailor soldier with long blond hair said. She was wearing a sailor suit with
an orange collar, skirt, and shoes and blue chest bow. She pointed at the demon
“Crescent Beam.” A beam of light shot forward to the demon.
"Shabon
Spray!" The attack was shouted by
a Sailor Soldier in a blue suit and had blue air. She launched a barrage of
bubbles at the monster.
"Fire Soul!"
Sailor Mars sent out her flame toward the demon.
“Supreme Thunder!”
Electricity was gathered on a small antenna that sprouted from the tiara of a
sailor soldier in a green suit. Her brown hair was pulled back into a ponytail.
“Sun Light Disk Spin!”
Lady Sun sent out her golden disks
"Andromeda Sound
Wave Shatter!” Lady Andromeda sent out her attack.
"Comet Interstellar
Explosion!" Lady Comet released
her pink fireworks
"Centauri Stalagmite
Slash!" Lady Centauri sent her shards flying
"Nebula Rainstorm
Shower!" Lady Nebula shouted as the rain fell down onto the demon.
The magical attacks
seemed to have bounced off the demon with no effect. She rained her blast down
on the warriors. All except Lady Sun met the same fate as the gargoyles and the
rabbits.
“Can’t give up,” Lady Sun
said. She held up a bright red wand. The top of it was a round disk and in the
center was an iridescent crystal in the center. “Sun Isis Cleansation.” She
aimed the wand at the demon. A shimmering beam shot out from it and hit the
demon in the chest.
The demon reeled back
form the pain and fired her shadowy energy down. The beam pushed it back. Both
the dark energy and shimmering beam kept pushing back and forth.
Lady Sun was wearing out,
but her face was set in determination. She was giving everything she had. Sadly
it was not enough. The dark energy pushed back against the beam until it struck
her and killed her on the spot.
The scene shimmered to
reveal a different part of the castle where Prince Endymion and Princess
Serenity were watching the destruction. Serenity’s eyes were shimmering with
tears and Endymion had a look of pure shock on his face.
Queen Beryl descended
onto the parapet next to them. She held out a hand to Endymion.
The prince ran towards
her with his sword drawn.
The demon rained another
blast of energy onto Endymion and killed him.
“No,” the princess cried
and jumped after Endymion’s floating body. Her hand was about to grab his when
the demon killed her.
Beryl and the demon
cackled. Their remaining soldiers gloated behind them.
Azurite stepped away from
them. A tear traveled down the side of his face as he stared at the dead body
of Lady Andromeda floating with the others.
He played melancholy song on his clarinet until his eyes rolled back and
he breathed his last breath.
"The Princess,"
a black cat gasped. She had a crescent moon mark on her forehead.
Queen Serenity raised her crescent wand.
"Cosmic Moon Power!" She cried. The power of the moon crystal swept
everyone, generals, gargoyles, and princess’s into the crystal.
The Queen stared at her
wand. She removed the silver crystal threw it up. It shattered into thousands
of spheres. Each sphere held someone inside it. One sphere held the rainbow
crystal. It broke into seven pieces.
The weakened Queen
collapsed onto the ground. “Luna, Artemis,” She gasped. “I’m going to send you
along with the others. You need to find my daughter and protect her.” She
closed her eyes and took her last breath, dropping her wand.
The second the wand hit
the ground the cats were sealed in capsules and began to head towards Earth.
The vision faded to
reveal the interior of Wyvern again.
"Who was that demon?"
Broadway asked.
“I saw her before,” Riley
said. “When I held that moon rock at the museum.”
“Metallia,” Goliath
answered. “I have also seen her and Queen Serenity. She was the one who told me
to tell Xanatos about Andromeda’s pendant.”
"Queen
Serenity," Apollo sighed. “She gave her life making sure we all would have
a happy future."
"We were all
reborn," Sadie said. "To have a second chance."
There was a knock at the
door. “The doctors are done,” Mr. Burnett said as he entered the room. Laurine
hadn’t noticed that he had left. “You may see him now.”
“Where?” Laurine stood
up.
“Follow me,” Mr. Burnett
said. He led Laurine down one of the many paths in the castle to what could
only be the medical wing. As far as Laurine was concerned, he was not moving fast
enough.
“He is in this room,” Mr.
Burnett said and opened a door.
“Azurite,” Laurine said
as she ran inside. She ran straight to the bed where Azurite was sitting up.
“Harmony?” Azurite asked.
He was dressed in a pea green colored hospital gown. There was a large square
of gauze held to his chest by medical tape.
“Laurine,” she said. “I
was reborn as Laurine Chancerdd.”
“I was reborn as Asten
Wright,” Azurite said. “Borice and Beryl traveled around the planet taking us
who once served on their side and brought us back to Metallia to have our
memories return. Most of the former generals were brainwashed again because
they refuse to serve her. My sister, friends and I had our memories of being
born and raised on Earth erased, but I remember everything now.”
“You have Earth parents?”
Laurine asked.
“Yes,” Azurite nodded.
“Sylvite and I have the same—Sylvite! She’s still with them, and Feldspar and
Chrystia.”
“We can convince the
others to leave,” Laurine said. She understood why he wanted Sylvite to switch
sides, being that she is his sister, but she had no idea he was close to the
others as well.”
“I hope so. They will
have to know the truth.”
“I know the Earth won’t
be quite the utopia you wish it was.”
“That’s okay,” he
embraced her, “Being with you makes it a utopia. Now I just have to find a job,
and contact my parents.”
“I know of a perfect
job,” Laurine said.
-
Another day of classes and gymnastics had ended and Laurine did not have to
work that night. She skated towards the park. She was going to meet Azurite
there. She rolled across the sidewalk, enjoying the scenery until she saw
Azurite sitting on a bench.
“Laurine,” Azurite stood
up to embrace her.
“Easy there,” Laurine
said. “I don’t want you to pop a stitch.”
“Trust me,” Azurite
smiled. “I won’t.”
"Well,” She asked?
"Did you get the job?”
"I'm second chair in
the symphony," Azurite said. “I played a few classics and then a few of my
own songs and they were impressed.”
“How could they not?”
Laurine asked as she leaned against him. “When you play it’s like magic. I’m so
happy for your Asten.”
"Thank you," He
never stopped smiling. “We should celebrate.”
“You mean like a date?”
She asked.
“Yes a date. I should
take you out to one of the nicest restaurants.”
“How about we go to a
diner?" Laurine suggested. “We
could go right now. They have good burgers, and you have to try their
cheesecake.”
-