The Most Beautiful Song: Love For A Sister

Sadie yawned as she left the subway station. It was far to early for her to be up on a weekend when she didn’t have to go to school, or to work. She just hoped this Lady meeting would be worth it. Maybe they had found an entrance into the Dark Kingdom.

Someone had snuck into her room early this morning, or last night while she had slept and set the alarm for seven. When she had turned the alarm off she noticed a note that said to come to the dining room as soon as possible. After she had gotten out of bed she had come to find a stack of banana and walnut pancakes waiting for her on the table, right where she usually sat along with a cup of coffee and hand written message from her mother. It was a happy birthday message along with message saying she had to be at Castle Wyvern at ten AM.

Sadie yawned again when she reached the double glass doors of the entrance and pushed it open. She held up her usual pass as she walked past the security desk.

“Good morning, Sadie,” the young man behind the desk greeted. He had a sharp cheekbones and piercing steel gray eyes and some of his red hair was peeking under his security cap.

“Good morning, Mr. Spars,” Sadie said to him. She knew it was her former enemy, Feldspar.

“Uh-uh,” he waved a finger at her. “Since we are now friends, I want you to call me Felix.”

“Okay, Felix,” Sadie smiled. “How are you this morning?”

“Great,” Felix said. “And I will be off in time to see the afternoon news.”

“That’s wonderful,” Sadie said. She knew the only reason why he would want to watch the news was because Chrissie would be one of the newscasters. She had signed up for a full time job with WVRN.”

Felix picked up his radio. “Hey Joe could you cover me for a few minutes? I have to take someone up to the top.” He removed his thumb from the bright orange button.

“Sure thing,” a voice came in between the static.

“I’ve been up there several times,” Sadie said. “ I don’t really need any help.”

“I don’t mind,” Felix said and winked. “Besides we can talk.”

“Oh, in the case yes. I would love the company.”

"Great," Felix said. He recently took off his security jacket and hat and replaced it with his black leather trench coat.

Another security guard with a large and bushy mustache walked over to them.

"Take care, Joe," Felix said to his coworker taking over before he followed Sadie onto the elevator.

"So what would you like to talk about?" Sadie asked as the elevator rose to the top. She almost felt it was hard to believe that he was once the enemy. He had turned one of her co-workers into a monster in the past and attacked her and her friends with knives.

"I'm glad you have forgiven me and Chrissie for all we have done."

"We forgave Azurite, I mean Asten," Sadie said. “In a way you thought you were doing the right thing.”

“We were going about it all the wrong way though,” Felix said as he placed his hands behind his head.

Sadie just nodded. At least they were all on the same side now. Mr. Xanatos had also offered Chrystia and Feldspar a place to stay in the castle until they find a place of their own. Sadie did wonder what Feldspar would really like to do unless he was perfectly happy being a member of the security team.

“Besides getting married what are your goals?” Sadie asked.

“Well Chrissie and I would like to get our own place and have children,” Feldspar said. “Chrissie likes being in the media and hopes that one day she can cross over and be on one of the main national news shows, or maybe be on a show like Good Morning America or Sixty Minutes. As for me I would love to start my own fencing school.”

“I’m sure that when you have enough money you will be able to see that dream come alive,” Sadie said.

“I sure hope so,” Feldspar said. “One of my short term goals is to hopefully convince Sylvite to come over to our side."

"She will after all her brother and her friends are on our side."

"Borice never really loved her, yet she loves him."

The elevator stopped and the doors opened to a darkened hallway

"This is odd," Felix said stepped out

Sadie felt a touch of fear. "Laurine, Riley, Kayla, Merlee?"

“Hello?” Felix called out. “Mr. Xanatos can you hear me?”

“Laurine, Celeste, are you all right?” Sadie said as she followed Felix as they walked down hallways until the came to a door that was slightly ajar.

"You stay here," Felix told her and slipped inside.

Ten minutes later Sadie became worried. Something wasn’t right. Felix and her friends might be in a lot of trouble. She stepped inside and turned on the light.

"Surprise Happy Birthday!" The room was filled with people: Her family, the rest of the Galactic Ladies, The Xanatos family and Mr. Burnett, the Ayakashi sisters the former members of the Dark Kingdom, Detective Maza and Bluestone, her boss from the YMCA, some of the members from her basketball team, Ricardo, Gina, Garret, Ethan, Ashley, Leslie and Donna.

Happy 18^th Birthday Sadie was written on a banner that hung over a table covered in a white paper tablecloth. There was a cake in the middle of the table along with stacks of pizza boxes, another large plate that was covered in foil, several bright yellow paper plates, bags of chips and dip. Another table held most of the presents.

“Oh no,” Sadie couldn’t believe they set this up for her. She started to laugh. “You did it.”

“Of course we did it,” Kayla said. “How could we resist?”

"My baby girl is officially an adult," her mother said as she hugged her.

“Mom,” Sadie felt her cheeks heat up with a blush.

“All right everyone,” Laurine held a large hat in her hands. “We should all thank Kayla for this idea of hers.” She shook the hat and Sadie heard a rustling inside of it. “Okay we all take a slip of paper. Most of us will get a blank piece. Two of us will get one marked detective and one of us will get one marked murderer. The birthday girl is automatically the third detective.” She walked around with the hat and got everyone to take out a piece of paper. “I got the last one. Unfold what you have and make sure you are the only one who sees it. If you are blank or the murderer do not say anything, but if you are a detective then raise your hand.”

“I’m a detective,” Ethan said and held up his hand.

“Looks like I’m also a detective today,” Mr. Xanatos said.

“Remember Xanatos it is only for a game,” Elisa said.

“Now someone needs to turn off the lights,” Laurine said. “And then we will walk around this room and hall way and only the open rooms of this hall. The murderer will tap the shoulder of the victim and the victim will scream and lay down and it will be up to one of the three detectives to find out who done it.”

“I got the lights,” Uncle Robert said and flicked off the switch.

Sadie waited for her eyes to adjust before she walked around the room. She had heard about the game but never got a chance to play it before. She knew why she was an automatic detective. Her friends knew how much she loved to solve mysteries and read the novels.

She walked around the room and nearly bumped into someone. “Sorry.”

“Whoops,” it was Cynthia, one of her teammates. “You okay?”

“Yeah I’ll be fine,” Sadie said as she continued to pace around the room, trying to take note of all who was in there before she made her way towards the hall.

A girl screamed. The murder had taken place.

The lights went back on.

“What do we do now?” Koan asked.

“I think we are supposed to go see who got murdered,” Sadie said as she stepped out into the hallway. She saw hands and part of an arm sticking out of another room. She ran up and saw that it was Miriam, another teammate.

“All right everyone,” Ethan walked up to where Miriam lies. “Step back way from the body. We have to investigate.”

“Hey hermano,” Ricardo called out to him. “You know this is just game. You are not going to draw and outline around his body and call the forsenics team.”

“It’s forensics,” Sadie corrected.

“Uh oops,” Ricardo placed his hand behind his head.

“Sorry, just got swept away with the role,” Ethan said.

“Everyone back to the birthday room,” Xanatos ordered.

Everyone squeezed back into the large room used for the Lady meetings with barely any shoving, bumping or stepping onto each other’s toes.

“Now for the first question,” Sadie said. “Who is the first person to discover the body?”

“That would be me,” Gina held up her hand.

“How did you come across the body?” Ethan asked.

“I heard a scream near the entrance of the room I was in,” Gina said. “I ran to the front and saw the victim lying on the ground and dead.”

“Was there anyone in the room with you at the time?” Xanatos asked.

“There was Riley, Asten, and Mrs. Xanatos,” Gina answered.

The three of them went back and forth asking everyone different questions while they tried to figure out who was the murderer. They narrowed down their range of subjects until each detective had selected their number one suspect. Mr. Xanatos had chosen Petz Ayakashi, Sadie had chosen Garret Miller and Ethan had selected Aunt Jaime.

“Now which one of you is the actual murderer?” Gina asked.

“I am,” Petz said. “I guess that means Mr. Xanatos has won?”

“Yeah,” Riley said. She had a sheepish smile on her face. “We tried to think of a prize that everyone would like and we got a gift card for Banjo Grill.”

“Just because I’m wealthy doesn’t mean I always want to go to an expensive restaurant,” Mr. Xanatos said as he accepted his gift. “I love having business lunches there.”

“All right dear,” Sadie’s mother approached her. “We want you to sit on the couch while you unwrap your presents.”

“Okay,” Sadie said as she sat down.

“This one is from me,” her mother said as she handed Sadie her first gift.

“Thank you,” Sadie said as she unwrapped the gift. It was a new portable CD player. “Oh thank you mom.” She set the gift down before she unwrapped the next gift.

She received CD’s from her aunt and uncle and from her little cousin she got a Tamagochi. Laurine got her a special edition Sherlock Holmes novel; from Merlee she received a beautiful raincoat with a pitcher of a dolphin leaping out of the sea. Riley bought her a fun looking mystery board game. Kayla made her a yellow and brown basketball shirt with Sadie’s jersey number on the front and a couple of dolphins on the back.

From her other friends she received several shirts and sweaters, a dolphin necklace, a bottle of perfume that was shaped like a dolphin, dolphin plushies, a beach towel with a dolphin on it to take to work, a few mystery novels, several issues of a mystery manga series, jigsaw puzzles, a puzz 3D of the Empire State Building, gift cards, birthday cards with money inside, a miniature manicure set, pretty hair accessories, a bubble bath gift set, and several pretty scarves from the Ayakashi sisters, a plasma ball from Ricardo, and a couple of tickets to a Knicks game from Ethan.

“The ball is for next year,” Ricardo said when Sadie had opened her gift. “To decorate your dorm room.”

“I do have to think about that,” Sadie said. “Thank you Ricardo.”

Sadie’s eyes had brightened when she opened Ethan’s gift. “Ethan, you didn’t.”

Ethan shrugged. “I know you love basketball.”

“But still,” She set the tickets down and embrace him. “Thank you so much.”

“Don’t mention it,” Ethan said. He was blushing and had an odd smile on his face.

Her last gift came from Fox. It was full of several different items. There were about ten scratch off lottery tickets, A voter registration form. A twenty-five dollar gift card to a store called Naughty and Nice and a brochure to some place called Candymen. She read through it and felt her face get hot when she realized it was a place where men took off their clothes as they danced.

“I guess it is kind of embarrassing when your family is in the same room,” Fox whispered to her. “But since you are an adult now it’s time to enjoy the benefits of being an adult.”

“I agree and I’m going to fill out the registration form as soon as possible,” Sadie said as she looked through the box again. She figured the store was an adult store.” I just never had been to some of these places before.”

“I’ll be happy to take you,” Fox said.

“That will be great,” Sadie said. “But I want to wait until my friends have turned eighteen.”

“No problem,” Fox said.

Food was next on the agenda and they ate slices of pizza, Kayla’s home made tacos. Chips with Kayla’s home made dip and soda. Dessert was the cake of course along with ice cream.

Sadie blew out eighteen candles on her cake and wished for the return of her father. She got a good-sized piece and ate it with a scoop of Neapolitan ice cream.

After the food was eaten the radio was turned on everyone danced until Chrissie had to get ready for work and Asten had to get ready for tonight’s performance. Sadie couldn’t wait until she could see that performance later tonight.

-

Sylvite had to keep herself composed. She was not going to allow herself to break down, not now when she was on a mission. Borice had said that they needed just a little bit more energy and Metallia would have enough to take over and when they do she will make sure the Galactic Ladies will suffer long and painfully for what they have done.

The killed her brother first. The one had fallen in love with one of them. He who tried to keep Lady Andromeda safe and sometimes tried to convince the others to only capture the other Ladies, and this was how they repaid him, by killing him. A few days later they had killed Chrystia and Feldspar. While she was not as close to them as Azurite was she still felt a pain to her heart when Borice had announced the enemy had also killed them. She was the Dark Kingdom and Borice’s final hope and she will not let them down by falling over and crying like a baby.

She had chosen the symphony concert for a few reasons. One it had a touch of elegance and maturity. The perfect bit of energy to top them off with. The second reason was that there will be plenty of people there, both the members of the symphony and the people in the audience, and the third reason was that the symphony was not considered a popular place for teenagers. The Galactic Ladies would not attend such an event.

Sylvite had snuck onto the premises and walked around, searching for someone to be the perfect target.

"Teresa your such a perfectionist," man said. He wasn’t too far away.

Sylvite approached the source of the voice and came across to people. One was a man with a violin and the other was a blond woman with a cello

"Sorry Frank I'm just nervous," the woman told him.

"Don't be too nervous your great," the man said as he placed a hand on her shoulder.

“I guess it’s just pre performance jitters,” the woman said. “This my first time performing in front of an audience for this ochestra.”

“You and our newest clarinet player,” the man smiled at her. “We all have our first concert experience. Just do what I do. Imagine everyone in the audience naked, or wearing funny hats or wigs, or imagine them as kittens.”

“Kittens?”

“You are not afraid to perform in front of a bunch of kittens are you?”

“No,” she laughed. “Of course not.”

“There,” the man said as he gave her a light pat on the back. “You are going to be okay. I'm going out for a bite before the other musicians show up."

"By Frank," She sat back down in her chair and gently set down her bow before applying lotion to her hands.

While the cellist massaged her hands, Sylvite stepped out from her hiding place and approached the woman.

The cellist picked up her bow and paused. "Frank?" she asked in an unsure voice

"Not Frank, Just me," Sylvite said when the cellist turned around she threw a seed at her.

The seed landed on the woman and sprouted green mossy strands that wrapped her up. After a few minutes the green pod formed lines and unpeeled like a banana and remained in the form of a flower under the transformed woman’s feet.

The cellist’s skin had turned green. Her hair was turned into several ivy vines. She wore a tank top made out of white daisies and a skirt made out of palm tree fronds

"You are now a servant of the Dark Kingdom," Sylvite said.

"What is my assignment Mistress?" The human turned youma asked.

"Steal everyone’s energy." She ordered. What she really wanted to ask of her youma was to avenge her brother’s death.

-

Sadie took a glimpse of herself in the mirror. She loved her new yellow dress, a gift from her grandparents that arrived just that after noon via FedEx. The V-neck had a shimmery diaphanous fringe. The same fringe decorated where the dress ended just above her knees and the short sleeves. It was the perfect dress to wear that evening.

She checked herself once over. She had taken a bubble bath earlier using one of her gifts and done up her nails with another. She applied bronze eye shadow to her lids with dark brown eyeliner and just the right amount of mascara and copper hued lipstick to her lips. She had put just a teeny dab of her new perfume to smell nice. The last detail was the fake tiger lily that she pinned to her chest.

She walked down the stairs and paused when she heard a gasp from her mother.

"Oh Sadie you look just like a princess," Her mother beamed.

“You look gorgeous in that dress,” her uncle said.

Aunt Jaime signed that Sadie appeared very elegant.

“Pretty Sadie,” her cousin added.

"Thank you everyone," Sadie giggled.

“You have fun and enjoy yourself,” her mother said.

“I promise I won’t stay out too late,” Sadie said before she stepped outside. She found Riley’s car parked not too far away and as she approached she saw Riley step out from the driver’s side.

"Your Chariot awaits madam." Riley stood opening the backseat door. She wore a shimmery pink, dual shoulder strap dress with a feathery, white collar.

Sadie slid in next to Merlee who was had appeared to be a bit upset about something.

“Merlee is something wrong?” Sadie asked

"Don't mind her. She's a little upset that Kyle couldn’t make it," Laurine explained from Merle's other side. Laurine's gown was silver with spaghetti straps. Her silver evening gloves fully completed her outfit.

“I am sorry for being upset Sadie,” Merlee said. Her pale blue gown ended in a bell shaped skirt with shiny green bands wrapped around. “I don’t want my attitude to ruin your evening.”

“How would you being upset ruin my evening?” Sadie asked. “Merlee it’s okay to be slightly upset about that. Kyle is a wonderful and sweet guy. I’m almost jealous that he isn’t my boyfriend.”

“Thank you, Sadie,” Merlee said. “I guess it would be nice if he was with us. I didn’t notice how much I missed the fact he isn’t coming until I was getting all dressed up.”

“I guess I could relate,” Laurine said. “At least now I can relate.”

“You are going to be seeing you boyfriend tonight though,” Riley said.

“True,” Laurine smiled and sighed. “But I’m saying is now that I do have a boyfriend I can relate to girls who have boyfriends and won’t be able to see them for a short while.”

“Merlee doesn’t have to wait that long,” Kayla said from the passenger seat. “She can probably see him tomorrow, and if not then at school.”

“You guys just don’t understand,” Laurine said as she rolled her eyes.

“Because we don’t have boyfriends?” Sadie asked and immediately covered her mouth with her hands. “I didn’t mean it like that.”

“That was what she was hinting at,” Riley said.

“Exactly,” Kayla added.

Sadie might not be able to relate to Laurine and Merlee but she sort of could understand. Hopefully they will all find someone to love who will love them back and if Ricardo got the guts to ask Kayla out then Kayla will have a boyfriend.

“I hope you don’t mind if we ease the tension,” Celeste said.

“Not really much tension,” Laurine said.

"Celeste and I were talking,” Apollo said. “And we agree that you look a lot like your princess selves."

"Really?" Kayla asked.

"Yes, except your gown was gold and not red, Kayla"

"My old planet’s name was Thalia?"

“That is correct,” Apollo said.

“What was it like?” Kayla asked. “Unless you never been there, or if you can’t remember what it was like.”

“I so remember it,” Apollo said. "Thalia, second from the sun. The equator was mostly oceans and desert. The rest were jungles, rain forests, tropical beaches, vast mountains and mostly warm and serene climates. Your kingdom was known as the Sun kingdom and in the middle of the land known as Solaria. The palace was golden and the gardens were filled with a rainbow of flowers.”

Celeste just stared at him. “That was quite a lot.”

“It sounds so beautiful,” Kayla said. "I can imagine those flowers."

“Don’t you remember anything else from the past?” Apollo asked Celeste.

“I remember plenty of things about Euterpe,” Celeste said.

“Like what?” Laurine asked, "Where there pretty flowers on my planet?"

"Yes Euterpe was well known for its flowers," Celeste told her.

“Is that it?” Apollo asked.

“I know the country where Princess Harmony’s castle was is called Rhapsody,” Celeste said. “And that Clio had many caverns that were filled with crystals, Therpsicore was known for its horses and that some of the most eloquent speakers and poets came from Erato.”

“Guys fight nice,” Riley said.

“Sorry about that,” Apollo said with one of his paws on the top of his head.

Sadie had been quiet during their guardian’s conversation. She tried to remember her own planet and what life was like way back then. She tried to imagine the castle and kept on picturing something from Disney until a different castle appeared. It was made out of brown stone and with yellow banners that danced in the breeze. The kingdom was built in a cliff overlooking the sea.

Her princess self emerged from the main city and walked towards the wall that allowed people to watch the sea from a safe distance. She placed her hands on the edge of the wall and looked over the side at the waves.

A slick gray face with a long snout broke through the surface. The snout parted, making the animal appear as if it was smiling before it sank beneath the surface. A few seconds passed before a dolphin leapt out of the sea, did a perfect arc and dove back down again. Several more dolphins leapt into the air, some doing spirals or circles in the air, all the while the squealed, whistled and clacked.

Sadie was still thinking of the castle and the dolphins when the car had stopped.

“What?” She looked through the window and saw that they were in a parking garage.

“We have arrived,” Kayla said.

“Hey I did it,” Riley said in an amazed tone of voice. “I actually brought you all here safe and sound.”

The car was quiet for a few minutes before Kayla laughed.

“That was a joke?” Laurine asked.

“It was a good one,” Kayla said.

“You are a bad influence, Kayla,” Apollo said

“Okay enough kidding around,” Kayla said as she opened her door. She and Riley opened the doors to the back seat.

“We really can’t bring you two inside,” Laurine said to the rabbits. “Not through the front entrance at least.”

“Don’t worry about us,” Celeste said. “We will find our way in and then look for you.”

“You five just concentrate on having a fun time,” Apollo said.

“We will try,” Sadie said before she followed the others towards the entrance.

-

Sadie was not about to allow herself to be intimidated, or feel intimidated as she walked around the main lobby of the concert hall. She and her friends were surrounded by people wearing beautiful and elegant dresses and tuxedos, especially when these people were clearly adults. Granted she was technically an adult and she and the others were wearing beautiful dresses, but some of the dresses and jewelry worn by the other women looked expensive.

“Not as good as the last concert we went too,” Riley said as she looked over the tickets.

“Are we in the nose bleed section?” Kayla asked. She had grabbed five of the programs that were available for everyone.

“No we are in the ninth row,” Riley said.

“Ninth row is still pretty good,” Laurine said. “It would have been nice if we were closer, but these are still pretty good seats.”

“Are we going to meet up with Chrissie and Felix?” Sadie asked.

“What about our guardians?” Merlee asked.

“They said they are going to meet up with us,” Kayla said. She glanced up while a waiter was walking around with glasses of white wine. “I wonder if those are available to everyone or if you have to order it.”

“I don’t think they are available for us,” Merlee said.

“I know that,” Kayla said. “I was wondering if we would have to order glasses of water or if another waiter will be walking around with some glasses.”

“Talk about long time no see,” Laurine said as an older tall man with gray hair and a beard was walking by them. “Mr. MacDuff?”

The older man stopped. “Yes?” He turned towards them and smiled when he recognized Laurine. “Miss Laurine Chancerrd is it?”

“That is right,” Laurine said. “How have you been doing?”

“Quite well,” Macduff said. “The students at Colombia have just finished their finals. I just need to grade them and send out the final grades, as well as prepare for the next semester.”

“I still have a few weeks before my finals,” Laurine said.

“That is right, you are still in high school. How are your friends, Gina, Ashley and Leslie?”

“They are doing great,” Laurine said. “They all have boyfriends now.”

“And you are feeling out of the loop?” Macduff asked. “You feel like they may be abandoning you?”

“Not really. I also have a boyfriend. He plays the clarinet. You’ll get to see him on stage.”

“Well that is interesting,” Macduff smiled. “Usually when a young girl about your age says they are dating a member of the band it’s a rock band.”

“I am a bit of an odd one,” Laurine said turned to the others. “I want you to meet some more of my friends. This is Sadie Von Starkfelsen. I’ve known her as long as the others and she’s real smart, good with puzzles.”

“Hello,” Sadie said as she held out her hand.

“Nice to meet you,” Mr. Macduff said.

“This is Kayla Dargrian. She cooks and designs clothes, Riley Dipoesia can sing and write beautiful poetry and Merlee Detempestadas designs kites and can speak several languages.”

“Hi,” Kayla said as she shook Macduff’s hand.

“Hello,” Riley greeted.

“Hello sir,” Merlee said as she shook his hand. “It is very nice to meet you.”

“It is quite nice to meet all of you young ladies,” Macduff said as he shook all of their hands. “You all have taken a bit of a shine to the musical arts?”

“I guess you can say that,” Riley said. “You can’t really have a song without music, unless you are singing acapella, but it isn’t quite the same without music.”

“It does add the perfect background,” Kayla said as she managed to grab a glass full of ice and water from one of the waiter’s passing by. “It helps paint the scene.”

“My parents brought me to such events since I was a child,” Merlee said. “Each time I have gone to one it felt like an enchanted evening.”

“It is beautiful,” Sadie said. She wished she could have phrased it much better, as good as the others. Even Riley made it sound quite elegant. “Sometimes I close my eyes when I listen to the music and imagine my self on a raft in the middle of the sea and there are dolphins dancing in the waves.”

“You all have a quite way of saying it,” Mr. Macduff said as he scratched his chin. “I would like to know a bit more about your boyfriend, Laurine.”

Sadie only half listened to the conversation between Macduff and Laurine with the others adding their thoughts. She had glanced over to a couple that was in the middle of their thirties. One was a man with brown hair and stylish bangs. The other was a woman with blond curly hair that was styled short and wore a light green dress that hugged her hips. The woman seemed familiar and she was staring at Sadie and the others as if they were a piece of garbage that was just dropped on a nice clean floor.

"Brendan would you look at that?" The woman said as she pointed at Sadie and her friends. “What do they think they are doing here?” She may have been trying to keep her voice low, but Sadie could hear every word that she said.

“They had tickets,” her husband said.

Sadie turned her head and tried to look like she wasn’t listening.

"Don't they know this is a symphony not the prom?"

"Now Margot honey," Brendan begun, "Try not to make scene. After all its a welcome change to see teenagers in formal wear, not to mention they know Lennox Macduff."

“Figures,” Margot said. “They are probably students of that man.”

“Nothing wrong with college students going to the symphony,” Brendan said. “After all we were in college when we went to the symphony for the first time.”

“We were graduate students,” Margot said in a tone that made it sound like that graduate students were highly superior than just mere college students.

Sadie gritted her teeth. Every time that woman spoke she wanted to smack her across the mouth. She remembered being talked about in that way by the snotty girls in middle school and during her freshman year. It died down during her sophomore year after she made the junior varsity team.

She felt a hand on her shoulder and nearly jumped.

“Sorry lass,” Macduff said. “You seem to be troubled.”

“Just listening to her,” Sadie whispered as she pointed to the yuppie couple.

“Oh?” Macduff’s eyebrows were raised when he looked up and lowered after he had seen Margot. “I understand what ye mean. They are right next to a couple neighbors of mine.” Macduff said as he walked up past Margot and to the elderly couple. “Albert, Doris. So nice to see ye this evening.”

“Why thank you Lennox,” the elderly woman said. She wore a long black dress with a matching wrap and had her silverware styled on top of her head. “Are those girls your students?”

“Maybe next year they might be,” Macduff said. “They are friends of mine. I met one of them during the sculpture contest in Central Park a few months ago.” He turned back to where Sadie and the other stood. “Lasses come and meet my neighbors. This is Albert and Doris Capin.”

Sadie was the first to shake all of their hands. “It’s very nice to meet all of you.” She stood back to allow her friends to greet the couple.

“It is quite nice to meet you five,” Albert said. “And a bit refreshing to see teenagers in formal wear for a change.”

"I agree," Doris said "Its so encouraging to see young people take an interest in the arts."

"Doris is right," Said her husband, "Kids today are mainly interested in rock music and mutilating their bodies."

"They look so elegant." Doris commented.

“Why thank you for your kind words,” Merlee said as she blushed.

“I don’t think my dress is that special,” Riley said. “But thank you.”

“I’m glad you like my dress,” Kayla said as she twirled around. “Bought it at a thrift store, got some fabric and spruced it up.”

“You will make a fine seamstress someday,” Doris said.

“Or a fashion designer,” Albert nodded.

“I forgot to thank you,” Laurine said.

“Me too,” Sadie said. “I just got this dress today from my grandparents.”

“It’s her birthday,” Riley placed an arm around her shoulders. “Today she turned the big one eight.”

“Happy birthday,” Macduff, Doris, and Albert said at the same time.

"I think they all look like Princess's," Chrystia said as she approached them in a purple dress. “And here is someone I’ve been meaning to get a hold of.” She walked straight towards the yuppie couple. “Margot Yale DA it’s nice to see you."

"Chrissie Trezzor?” Margot said in shock. “Well it’s nice to see that you made it.” Margot shook her hand.

“My Chrissie,” Feldspar said. He had stopped by the group. “She doesn’t mind mixing work with pleasure.”

“It does make work more pleasurable,” Riley said.

“This is another friend of ours,” Laurine said. “You saw Chrissie this her fiancé, Felix Spars.”

Felix exchanged greetings with the couple and Macduff and shook their hands.

"When is the special event?" Doris asked

"February 14," Felix answered.

"Valentines day? That is so romantic," Doris said

"We can hardly wait," says Felix. "Its like we waited a thousand years."

“Have you chosen a church?” Doris asked.

“We have finally selected a place,” Felix said. “Some of our friends here will help out with the wedding. I’ve asked Riley to sing for us, Laurine is going to help us with the flower arrangements, and we asked Kayla to help plan the dinner for the reception, bake the cake, and help design Chrissie’s wedding dress.”

“I can see why you asked Kayla,” Albert said. “She is quite a talented young lady.”

“I uh,” Kayla blushed. “Thanks.”

“Don’t be too humble lass,” Macduff said to her. “Ye have talent and ye should be proud of that.”

"Chrissie, Felix?" A man wearing a tuxedo and carrying a music case approached them.

"Hello Asten," Felix greeted, "Mr. Macduff, Mr. And Mrs Capin, This is Asten Wright. He plays the second chair clarinet."

“And Laurine’s main squeeze,” Riley added with a wink.

“Riley,” Laurine stressed out her friend’s name through clenched teeth.

“What?” Riley held up her hands. “It’s true is it not?”

“So you are the lucky young man,” Macduff said as he held out his hand. “Ye look a bit familiar t’ me.”

“We may have met before,” Asten said as he shook his hand turned to shake the Capin’s hand.

"Oh my its a pleasure to meet you" Doris held out her hand.

"Shouldn’t you be getting ready?" Albert inquired.

"I just needed to see Laurine before the show," Asten explained. “She’s my lucky charm.”

“Well I try,” Laurine said as Asten pulled her close.

“I also came to see my friends,” Asten said. “Felix I’m glad you were able to make it.”

“How could we miss it?” Felix asked.

“Where is Chrissie?” Asten asked.

“Over there,” Felix pointed over to where his fiancée and the yuppie couple were talking.

“I better say hello to her before I go on stage,” Asten said as he and Laurine walked over to them.

Sadie watched as Chrissie introduced Asten and Laurine to the couple. The husband, Brendan seemed pleased to shake both of their hands and while Margot did not have any problem with shaking Asten’s hand, she had a look on her face as if Laurine had sneezed into her hand before she offered to shake. Margot eventually pursed her lips and accepted Laurine’s hand. Asten and Laurine spoke with Chrissie and the couple for a few more minutes before Asten kissed Laurine on the cheek and ran off.

Sadie wished she had a camera. Margot’s mouth was hanging open as if she couldn’t believe that a musician in the symphony would date a lowly high school student. Sadie had to keep her hand over her mouth to keep from laughing.

“What are you looking at?” Merlee asked.

“Them,” Sadie said as she pointed at the yuppie couple. “I hope you won’t think less of me, but I enjoy seeing snobs like that Yale woman get put into her place.”

“Sadie I would never think any less of you,” Merlee said. “And I also enjoy snobs being shown up and being shown that the world doesn’t involve around them, unfortunately I have to deal with them every day.”

“I’m sorry,” Sadie said. “I hated getting picked on by people like that.”

“They don’t pick on me,” Merlee said. “They pick on the poorer students. They insult their clothes, their backpacks, where they live, their hairstyles and everything. The snobs want to be my friends but I only know they want my friendship because of my family.”

“I’m sorry you still have to deal with those people.”

“Thank you, and I admit I was watching them as well,” Merlee said as she pointed at the yuppies and Chrissie. “But mostly at Laurine and Asten. It made me realized how much I miss Kyle.”

“Oh Merlee,” Sadie said and gave her friend a hug.

-

"Are you sure this is the right direction?" Apollo asked. He and Celeste had made their way from the parking garage and across the street to the concert hall. They managed to find a window that was open a crack and squeezed in before Celeste told him to follow her up the stairs.”

"Yes the right balcony should be just right ahead,” Celeste said.

“Why are we going up to the balcony?” Apollo asked. He also wondered why he wasn’t leading the way, but decided not to bring that up. “I took a look at their tickets. The girls will be sitting.”

“I know they are going to be in the ninth row,” Celeste said. “I don’t actually know how to get to the ninth row. This isn’t like the concert at Madison Square Gardens.”

“Then why are we going to the balcony?” Apollo asked.

“We will be able to see the ninth row from there,” Celeste said. “Also the balcony has been closed tonight. We can either listen to the concert from sitting on the floor in front of the girls feet, or have a spectacular view.”

“When did you get to be so conniving?” Apollo asked.

Celeste smirked. “I guess you can say that some of Laurine is rubbing off on me. Now we turned here.” She turned once they reached the top landing. “And one of the balconies should be in he--oomf." Celeste bumped into large lavender foot with three toes ending in sharp talons.

“Is she okay?” The owner of the foot asked. She was a young lavender female gargoyle dressed in a white tunic and loincloth. Most of her sable hair was tied back

"You know, Celeste you should watch where your going," Apollo tried to stifle his chuckle. He looked up at the other pair who as in the balcony with them. “She will be fine.”

“It is not funny,” Celeste glared at him before turning to the gargoyles. "Good evening Broadway, Angela. What brings you here?"

“I guess you can say that Angela and I are on what humans call a date,” Broadway said. “Even though we are already been declared mates.” He took Angela’s hand into his own and rubbed the back of it.

"Married humans still go on dates," Angela said as she reached up and rubbed Broadway’s brow ridges with the back of her knuckles.

"This concert sounds like the perfect idea," Broadway added as he pulled Angela closer. “It sounded so perfect.

"I totally agree," Apollo said. He couldn’t resist getting another dig at Celeste "Too bad I don't have the perfect doe to go out with." He stared at Celeste to see what her reaction would be.

Celeste’s face was stoic at best, as if she was trying to ignore his comment. She jumped on the ledge and stared over the side.

Apollo jumped next to her. “Do you see the girls?” He counted the rows from the stage and when he reached the ninth row he searched around for the girls. His eyes were trying to focus on anyone with bright red hair. Whenever he found a woman with that hair color he would see if she was sitting with a couple of brunettes, one dark and one medium, a blonde and a girl with white hair. He found them almost instantly.

“Not the girls,” Celeste said. “I’m trying find where Asten would be.”

“The clarinet players are close to the back,” Angela said and pointed towards the directions of some of the men and women with woodwind instruments, “On the left side.

“All the string instruments are up front,” Broadway said. “Then you have the brass on the right and the woodwinds on the left and behind the brass would be the percussion instruments, all the drums and I forgot what was behind the woodwinds.”

“The contra-basses,” Angela told him.

“Thank you,” Celeste said.

“Was this on a television show or in a book?” Apollo asked.

“It was in a book,” Broadway said with a smile.

“I think I see him,” Apollo said as he noticed a young man with a clarinet and brown hair that was mostly slicked back save for a few spiky bangs. “Yeah that is him.” He proceeded to watch as Asten fine-tuned his instrument.

The Audience stood and applauded as a man in a tuxedo made his way across the stage and approached the podium. He had to have been the conductor.

"Good evening Ladies and Gentlemen," The Conductor greeted.” My name is Nigel Maxwell and for your viewing pleasure this holiday season we will perform Tchaikovsky’s 'Nutcracker Suite'."

Nigel turned back to face the orchestra and everyone applauded again. The man waited for the audience to quiet down before he tapped his wand against the stand. Everything became still for a few seconds before Nigel waved his wrist gracefully and the first notes were played.

Apollo listened as the magical notes were played. He kept his eyes on the conductor’s baton and his other hand as he weaved them around before he shifted his gaze to Asten. The young man knew his stuff and was in perfect sync with the other performers. Apollo tried to watch everyone as they played. But his gaze kept freezing when he passed over the female cellist.

“Isn’t it beautiful?” Angela asked.

“Very,” Broadway agreed. “I don’t trust the conductor though.”

“Why not?” Angela asked.

Broadway shrugged. “I dunno. There is just something about him that I don’t like.”

“I think you are being paranoid,” Angela said.

“He does have a right to be paranoid,” Apollo said and looked over to Celeste who nodded.

“See,” Broadway said. “I told you.”

“But you were wrong in your assumptions,” Apollo said. “There is a lot of strange and powerful energy given off by several people here. Some is given off by Asten, but his is good, no longer that dark energy that we used to sense about him. It’s on the same level as the girls and another couple in the same row.”

“Chrystia and Feldspar?” Angela asked.

“I’m assuming that it is them,” Apollo said. “But there is this odd and dark energy coming from the female cellist.

"Apollo is right,” Celeste said. “ I'm also getting strange vibes from two other women."

"Who?" Broadway asked

"The woman wearing black with the dark green hair in the second row, but her energy is the same as the girls and there is that woman in the left balcony." Celeste pointed at the balcony that was across from them. There was a woman wearing green and had long brown hair.

“I thought the balconies were closed tonight,” Broadway said as he rubbed the top of his head.

“They are,” Celeste told him. Her ears went flat against the back of her head. “I would not be surprised if that was Sylvite.”

“We need to tell the girls,” Apollo said as he jumped down from the railing and next to the gargoyles.

“You tell them,” Angela said. “Broadway and I will go after Sylvite.”

-

Sylvite watched the concert through her opera glasses. She wanted to focus on the musical performance sine melody was so beautiful and so enchanting, but instead she focused on two people. One was her minion who kept up her former guise as Teresa Imperoli while she performed. The other person she focused on was one of the clarinet players. He looked so much like Azurite she could have sworn that it was him. She gritted her teeth. She had to get that thought out of her head. She missed her brother so much that nearly every guy she sees looks like him.

‘It's Time,’ She thought and clanked around the room. Her heartbeat increased when she a glimpse of the two gargoyles. They were with two rabbits and she was certain those were the guardian rabbits of the Galactic Ladies. It was best to leave now. She slipped her opera glasses into her bag as she ran towards the hallway.

‘Attack the musicians and the audience and steal all of their energy,’ she sent as she ran towards the direction of the stairs. ‘Be extra careful of the two gargoyles that are there.’

As she reached the steps she heard something galloping behind her. When she turned around she saw the two gargoyles were chasing her on all fours. If she ran now then they would catch up to her.

“Nice try,” she shouted a cyclone of leaves spiraled around her. When the leaves stopped she was back in the Dark Kingdom and in front of the mirror where she will be able to watch everything.

-

Sadie sat back into her chair as the merry notes of the 'Dance of the Sugarplum Fairies' began. This song had always filled her with delight whenever she heard it and when she saw the faces of her friends she could see they were also enjoying the music, except for Merlee.

“Merlee?” Sadie asked as she whispered to her friend.

"Something's wrong," Merlee whispered.

The people in front of her turned around to shhh her.

“Sorry,” Sadie mouthed and felt her face turn hot. She glanced over to Merlee who also blushed and apologized.

The female cellist dropped her instrument and stood up.

The rest of the musicians stopped playing and stared at her. Nigel even set down his baton and walked over to see if she was all right.

The cellist shoved him to the ground. Her skin turned green and she grew several feet taller. Her hair turned into long leafy vines that lashed around like the hair of a gorgon. Her legs covered itself into bark as her toes grew into long roots. Vine like tentacles sprouted all over her body. The vines in her body and hair lashed around, ensnaring most of the musicians and spraying thorns into the audience.

Sadie and the rest of the girls dove beneath their chairs. She gasped when she felt something warm and wriggling and turned to see it was Celeste. Both rabbits had found them.

“Asten,” Laurine said in a worried tone.

“They only way you will be able to save him is to fight this youma,” Celeste said.

“I know,” Laurine said in a cold tone and stood up. “Andromeda Galaxy Power Make-up!”

"We better help her," Kayla said and held out her hand. "Sun spectrum Power Make up!"

"Comet Galaxy Power Make-up!"

"Nebula Galaxy Power Make-up!"

"Centarui Galaxy Power Make-up!"

The girls had begun their transformation when they heard someone shout out. "Pluto Planet Power!"

As they ran toward the stage they saw two more people who had missed being struck by the thorns stand up. They were Chrissie and Felix.

Purple glittery dust covered Chrissie’s body and grey bands wrapped around Felix, changing them into Chrystia and Feldspar.

The two ran towards the stage with the ladies.

Azurite was already on the stage dodging the thorns while he played on his clarinet and caused blasts of energy to shot from it and strike the vines. Several of the vines were burnt of where they were hit.

Lennox Macduff had also managed to dodge the vines and was trying to fight the monster by wielding a music stand like a sword.

“Need one of these?” Feldspar said as he handed a sword to Macduff. He had another sword on him that he used to slash at the monster.

“Thank ye lad,” Macduff said as he accepted the blade and swung at the vines of the monster cutting them off.

”Random Laser Blades,” Chrystia shouted and sent her attack at the youma. Blades of glowing energy shot from her and danced around over the monster, cutting into one of her legs and some of her vines.

Angela and Broadway leapt onto the stage. Broadway tackled the middle of the monster while Angela leapt onto her shoulders.

"How dare you ruin a magical evening," Angela growled, her eyes glowing crimson. Her claws dug in deep.

"Watch out for those thorns." Chrystia warned before cutting off more vines with her crystal shards.

The youma shrieked and shook her body around, spraying more thorns. A few struck Chrystia, but most were focused on Broadway.

The gargoyle groaned when he was struck. His eyelids dropped and he released his hold on the youma before dropping to the ground

Lady Andromeda used her ax to slash through several more vines while Lady Sun threw her chakram. As the weapon flew through the air and back it cut through even more of the green material

"How are we doing?" Andromeda asked

"Bad,” Azurite replied. “We barely cut off half the vines ,although it seemed to run out of thorns." Azurite replied

"Thats where your wrong traitor!" The Youma screeched before shooting out 20 more thorns.

Everyone scrambled to dodge them. Lady Nebula spun her staff really fast, causing the thorns to bounce of.

The youma used the confusion to take Mcduff's weapon before it wrapped it’s vines around his mid section and pick him up. It used more vines to ensnare Angela, Celeste, Lady Sun, and Lady Nebula.

“Sylvite had to have used her most powerful transforming seed,” Feldspar said as he tried to cut Macduff free.

The youma grabbed Feldspar by the leg and held him up before it removed his sword

"Ok that’s all I can take!" Lady Comet yelled. "Comet Interstellar Explosion!" Her pink fireworks struck the youma leaving an oozing burn across its chest.

"Ha ha ha ha you have to try better than that," the youma laughed

"Centauri stalagmite slash!" the stone shards slashed through the overgrown weed leaving behind oozing holes.

While she attacked Andromeda had cut Sun free, Azurite freed Feldspar, and Apollo had chewed through the vines that held Celeste.

The youma was still unfazed. It continued to laugh.

“Keep on laughing,” Lady Sun said. “Sun Light Disk Spin.” All three of her glowing disks struck the youma, causing it to double over.

“Get the others free,” Andromeda said as she cut through the vines that held Angela.

Lady Sun nodded and used her chakram to free Lady Nebula. Azurite and Feldspar freed Macduff.

“Still not good enough,” the youma said. All of her broken and damaged vines regenerated themselves.

“Nebula Rainstorm Shower,” Lady Nebula caused rain to fall on top of the youma.

“Cold,” the youma moaned as it wrapped its arms around itself and shivered.

"May I try?" a strange but familiar voice said.

Lady Centauri turned around to see Sailor Pluto as she stepped on stage.

"Go ahead," Sun told her and stepped out of the way.

Sailor Pluto held onto her staff and closed her eyes. “Dead Scream," she whispered. Dark pink beams zoned in on her staff and gathered into a sphere. The sphere shot foreword.

The youma screamed as it struck before falling backwards.

"Nebula is it pure youma or a human trapped inside?" Centauri asked. Feldspar had said that Sylvite used a transforming seed and she wanted to make certain.

"Human inside," Nebula answered.

“Centauri magic dissipation," she sent the energy onto the youma.

“Re, re, Refresh,” the youma screamed as it glowed and shrank back down to normal human size. The cellist was curled up into a fetal position as she slept.

A cyclone of leaves appeared on the stage and Sylvite stepped out from it. “I can’t believe it.” She was staring at the former generals with moist eyes. “You three are alive.” She smiled. “You are alive.”

“Syl,” Azurite said as he ran towards his sister with open arms. He and his sister were about to embrace each other but she lowered her arms at the last second and took a step back. “What is it?”

“You are alive,” Sylvite said as her face shriveled into a scowl. “And you have betrayed the Dark Kingdom.”

“Borice lied about our deaths,” Feldspar said as he helped Chrystia up to her feet. “Doesn’t it make you wonder about what else he lied about?”

“He didn’t lie,” Sylvite said. “He just didn’t know.”

“He did know,” Azurite said.

“No,” Sylvite shook her head. “Even if he did then he lied to protect me. Knowing that my own brother has betrayed our cause is worse than him being dead.”

“You cannot possibly believe that,” Lady Comet said.

“Shut up,” Sylvite hissed as she glared at them. “You did this. You were the ones who poisoned their minds.”

“Our minds were not poisoned,” Chrystia said. “The Galactic Ladies showed us the truth. Borice lied. He was using us, and he is using you.”

“You better keep your tongue still you little tart.”

“Don’t you dare talk to her that way,” Feldspar said as he stepped in front of Chrystia.

“Sylvite, Borice doesn’t love you,” Azurite said. “He knows how you feel about him and is using it to hold you in his sway.”

“Shut up all of you,” Sylvite cried out. “You truly are lost to me, brother.” Sharp green throwing leaves appeared in her hands.

“Azurite,” Andromeda said and ran towards her boyfriend but stopped when he held up his hand.

“Stand down,” Macduff said. “This is between them.”

“You are really going to end it this way?” Azurite asked in a soft voice. “Then go ahead and hurt me but before you do remember what life was like when we were growing up both times. I remember those two messengers on Euterpe. They were a bit pathetic and good for a few laughs. We used to drop rotten eggs on their heads.”

“Mixle and Pixle,” Sylvite said. “And stop. You are not going to appeal to my better senses in that way.”

“As a child both on Euterpe and on Earth you were clumsy,” Azurite said. “You used to get hurt a lot and when our parents were around who was the one to tend to your injuries?”

“I said stop,” Sylvite said. She no longer had the murderous glare in her eyes.

“When you first got into plants you had trouble growing them,” Azurite continued. “I read about how music helped and I played my clarinet for them and they grew stronger. I used to beat up the boy bullies who made fun of you and I sent the girl bullies running. I gave you private concerts when you were sick in bed. Whenever you were grounded I would sneak you a couple of cookies.”

Sylvite was shaking. She had lowered her arms and tears were streaming down her face.

"Sylvite please remember the Silver Millennium," Azurite told her. “We were shown everything, except for the battle on the moon.”

"We fought against the moon kingdom," Sylvite said. “We fought because Borice promised we would have our revenge on King Cephus of Euterpe and you would be with your princess.”

"What happened?"

“Your princess died,” Sylvite closed her eyes. “Your princess is Lady Andromeda and when you saw her lifeless body floating you played your suicide song. I couldn’t believe it.”

“What did Borice do?”

“I was crying,” Sylvite said. “I ran to Borice for comfort, but he shoved me away and was laughing. I pointed out what you had done and he just shrugged. He didn’t care. He didn’t care at all.”

“Would someone laugh when the brother of the person they loved died?” Azurite asked.

“No,” Sylvite said. She kept staring her brother as Andromeda ran up to him and they embraced him. She turned to Chrystia and Feldspar as they held onto each other, the same as Angela and Broadway. "Borice never loved me...he used me...used us!"

A circle of leaves whirled around and a gate opened up. A blue and scaly youma was standing in the gate.

"Give Borice a message," Sylvite instructed.

"What is it mistress Sylvite?" The youma asked.

"Tell him I hope he rots in hell." She snapped her fingers and closed the gate.

Lady Centauri smiled. Sylvite had come over to the other side and she was ready to welcome the former general as a friend but she could see that Sylvite was not ready yet.

Sylvite still had tears streaming down her face. Her body was shaking as her crying in creased. She collapsed on the ground as she continued to cry. Azurite helped back to her feet and she wrapped her arms around him and bawled into his chest.

Now was not a good time to congratulate the woman on doing the right thing. They needed to wait until Sylvite was ready to move and Azurite would escort her out of there. The Ladies and Sailor Pluto would de-transform and give their statements to the police. The concert was clearly canceled. They will reschedule soon and hopefully the will get to see the performance peacefully.

-

Sylvite tried not to look nervous as she sat in the chair in front of the desk of a young woman named Sheri Zodie. She was now living in Castle Wyvern and trying to find a job. Mr. Xanatos had helped her with her resume and Mrs. Xanatos helped her dress for the interview at Nightstone. She had chosen a dark green pantsuit with a light green blouse and black flats. Her hair was pulled up into a bun and instead of her usual dark green eye shadow she wore a light shimmery green shadow that Mrs. Xanatos told her was suitable for the daytime and the office.

"Impressive very Impressive Miss Wright,” Ms Zodie said while reading Sylvite's resume. She had the appearance of a woman from the Middle East with her dark hair styled in a French twist. She was wearing a black blouse and matching skirt. She was very young looking, almost to young to be a CEO but from what she had heard she was the executive secretary of one of the business’s owners, Alexander Thailog.

"Thank you Ms Zodie," Sylvia told her .

"We could use someone with your skills in our botanic department,” Ms Zodie said. “ I just have one more question."

"Yes?"

"When can you start?"