Celeste stretched as she
made herself comfortable in Mr. Xanatos’s chair. They had found the other Lady
from Laurine’s school and woke up the warrior that was inside her. Now she and
the girls were at the castle. She told Sadie everything she knew about the
mission from the Dark Kingdom, to the weapons and the pendants to the Sailor
Soldiers. She gave the girls a break to study and do homework while she went to
meet with her contact.
“Central this is Celeste,”
she typed into the message box. “The password is I can hop over the moon.”
“Password is correct,”
the message box replied back. “Please report.”
“I have found the third
lady,” Celeste typed.
"Three Ladies now?
Good work Celeste" Central said.
“I have some information for you.”
“Excellent. Sometimes I
feel like I am flying blind.”
"I have located the
whereabouts of two more pendants, "Central said. "One in Sydney
Australia and one in Tokyo Japan."
“How are we going to
locate them?” Celeste typed. She had a heck of a time trying to find the Silver
Star pendant.
“The one in Tokyo will be
easy. It is in a store called O-Sap. You can send the money to Mrs. Osaka. Here
is the email address and the shipping address.”
“Thank you,” Celeste
typed and grabbed a pen and a stack of post it’s. She wrote down the
information. “I have written down the information. My only concern would be
that Mrs. Osaka would not understand the writing.”
“Mrs. Osaka speaks and
reads English quite well,” Central said. “Here is the information for the store
in Sydney.”
Celeste wrote down the
information for that store. “I have it written. I wish I knew the name of the
store in Paris, and we still don’t have the faintest idea of where the fifth
pendant is nor the Cosmic Whip or the Stellar Crossbow.”
"Do not feel
discouraged. You have done excellent work. You will find all the ladies and the
necessary items. Don’t forget that Apollo is still out there."
“I
will keep my spirits up,” Celeste typed. “Celeste out.”
Laurine glanced at her watch.
It was almost sundown and the gargoyles were going to wake up and enter. She
had briefed Sadie about the clan on their way over to the castle.
“Spell Torrid,” Sadie
asked. She was seated on the loveseat next to Laurine with a copy of today’s
crossword puzzle in her lap.
“T-O-R-R-I-D,” Laurine
said. She didn’t have to glance up from reading Sailor V to even think about
it.”
“What is its definition?”
Sadie asked.
“Hot,” Laurine answered.
The Manga wasn’t going to fast, poor Sailor V was being scolded by her mother
again.
“Could you elaborate?”
“Burning hot, an extreme
heat.”
“What are you three
doing?” Celeste asked. Laurine couldn’t remember the last time her rabbit and
sounded this upset.
“Uh,” Laurine set her
comic down on her lap.
“I’m preparing Laurine
for her vocabulary test tomorrow,” Sadie explained.
“That is not what it
looks like,” Celeste narrowed her eyes. “To me it looks like you are reading
comic books, doing puzzles and listening to music while performing yo-yo
tricks.”
Laurine glanced to Sadie
who seemed to try to sink into the couch and then to Riley who did not hear the
rabbit. The dark haired girl had her headphones on and was dancing to her music
while she made her bright pink yo-yo go up and down.
“I really was quizzing
Laurine,” Sadie said as she set the crossword down on the small coffee table.
“And I’m not reading
comic books,” Laurine glared at her pet. “These happen to be Japanese Manga.”
“It is the same thing,”
Celeste said as she shifted her glare over to Riley “You three are all wasting
time.” She jumped up and tugged on the chord connecting Riley’s headphones to
her portable CD player.
“Hey,” Riley stopped
dancing and stared down at Celeste. “What gives?”
“I am doing important
work and the three of you are lounging about,” Celeste said. “You should have
been doing homework or studying.”
“I already did my
homework,” Riley pulled out her folder and pointed to the ten written questions
and answers. “From Government Studies.”
“And I’m helping Laurine
study for her vocabulary test,” Sadie explained. “She knows all the words and
their definitions.”
“What about you?” Celeste
pointed at her with her paw. “Don’t you need to study for the same test?”
“Laurine and I have
different teachers for English,” Sadie said. “My test won’t be until Friday.”
“You went to speak with
someone on the computer,” Laurine decided to change the subject. “Who did you
speak with again?”
“Central Control,”
Celeste’s voice relaxed but she still had an annoyed look in her eyes.
“Who are they?” Sadie
asked. She had folded the newspaper and put it away.
“You can say they are the
boss,” Celeste explained. “I am to report to him about our progress and they
will give us advice on what to do next.”
“What are we going to do
next?” Laurine asked.
“They have given us the
location of the pink and bronze star pendants,” Celeste’s scowl had turned into
a smile. I have written the locations right here.” She held up a sticky note
with two addresses written down.
The door to the room
opened and one of the most beautiful women Laurine had seen walked into the
room. She was Fox Xanatos, wife of the billionaire and former television
actress. She had strawberry blond hair in a neat style where some of the bangs
fall over her eye. She also had a blue tattoo in the shape of a Fox’s head over
her eye.
She was not alone. In her
arms was her sixteen-month-old son Alex Xanatos. He was holding on a large
rubber red ball that was covered in gold stars.
“May I see?” Mrs. Xanatos
asked as she set Alex down on the floor.
“Here,” Celeste held up
the note. “One is in Tokyo, hopefully Central will speak with the sailor
soldiers and they can help.”
“Hmmm,” Mrs. Xanatos read
the message. “The second is in Sydney.
I have a friend who lives there. At least he used to live there. I’m not sure
about his whereabouts. I can try and contact him and see if could send it.”
"Thank you Mrs.
Xanatos," Said Celeste.
"Please,” Mrs.
Xanatos waved her finger. “None of those formalities with me. You can call me
Fox. Actually I would prefer it."
“If you insist Fox,” Celeste
said. She jumped back just as the ball had escaped from Alex and rolled her
way.
“I’ll have David send the
money to both locations.”
"I have a
question," Sadie said. “You have mentioned the Sailor Soldiers, but you
have you haven’t mentioned the what they are like.”
“Are they like Sailor V?”
Laurine held up her comic.
“Let me see?” Celeste
stared at the cover and for few minutes. Her eyes widened and for a brief
second Laurine thought she saw the sun shaped mark on Celeste’s head shine.
“Are you okay?” Riley
asked.
"The soldier of
Venus," Celeste said. “She just looks like Sailor Venus.”
“Sailor Venus?” Laurine
repeated.
“One of the four guardian
soldiers who protected the moon princess,” Celeste said.
“There is a moon
princess?” Sadie asked.
“There is always a
princess,” Riley chuckled. “Are the rest of the Sailor Soldiers guys? They
probably try to fight over for both the affections of the beautiful Sailor
Venus and the moon princess.” She laughed until she noticed everyone was
watching her. “What. I work at an arcade. You tend to get familiar with all the
video game clichés.”
The sounds of yawning were heard outside the
door along with footsteps.
“They woke up,” Laurine
whispered and inched closer to Sadie. She didn’t want her to scream.
“Don’t be afraid,” Riley
whispered to Sadie.
“I’m not afraid,” Sadie
whispered back. “I’m just a little excited.”
The two gargoyle beasts
were the first two enter. Both Bronx and Fu-dog’s noses wiggled when they
stepped into the den and the muzzles smiled and tongues lolled for a few
seconds before they sniffed again. Fu-dog was the first to approach Sadie.
“Hi doggy,” Sadie greeted
to the beast and held out her hand for him to sniff it.
Fu-dog sniffed her hand
and gave it a lick.
“What an amazing
creature,” Sadie ran her hand through Fu-dog’s lion like mane. “You even have
some fetlocks.” She pointed at the tassel like locks of red hair at his ankles
before she let Bronx sniff her.
Goliath entered in after
the beasts and walked in with a majestic and pride gait. His large wings were
folded over his shoulders, as were the wings of Hudson, Broadway, Angela and
Katana. Brooklyn’s wings were not quite folded and instead rested on his
shoulder pads. His son Nashville had
his wings unfolded and it was impossible for a gargoyle like Lexington to fold
his wings like the others.
“They’re here,” Nashville
beamed.
“Aye lad,” Hudson said
and nodded at the girls. “I was hoping to see ye lasses again.”
“We have another new
guest,” Katana said.
“Everyone this is Sadie,”
Laurine said. She stood up and made a grand gestured towards her friend. “Sadie
you have already met Bronx and Fu-Dog. The others are Goliath the leader.” She
pointed at the tall lavender gargoyle. “Brooklyn is his second in command and
this is his wife, er I mean Mate, Katana.” She had already got corrected on
that bit once while she was being carried toward the terrorist activity that
turned out to be Azurite and the giant Youma. “Their son Nashville. The teacher
is Hudson and the others are Broadway, Lexington, and Angela.”
“Hi,” Sadie waved to all
of them.
"Three Ladies,”
Broadway blinked. “Those energy sucking monsters won’t stand a chance.”
“Celeste says there will
be five of us,” Riley said and looked over to where Celeste was. The rabbit was
entertaining Alex by hopping around him.
“Which Lady are you?”
Angela asked.
"I’m Lady Centauri,”
Sadie told them.
“What kind of powers do
you have?” Lexington asked. “Laurine uses sound waves and Riley has fireworks.”
“I make slivers of the
ground jump up and impale the enemy,” Sadie said.
“Wow,” Lexington blinked.
“That sounds powerful.”
“And with great power
comes great responsibility,” Broadway held up a claw. “I read it in Spiderman.”
“Tis a good quote,”
Hudson said as he settled down in his favorite chair.
“It is good you came
again,” Goliath said. “We hope you will visit more often, even when you do not
have to have a meeting.”
“We will come by more
often,” Riley promised. “On nights when we don’t have to work, or when I don’t
have to practice for track.”
“Or have gymnastics class
or in Sadie’s case when she doesn’t have Basketball practice,” Laurine added
"Good," Goliath
nodded. “We will discus patrols after we eat.”
“I better go start
breakfast then,” Broadway said.
“Wait,” Laurine said. She
picked up her comic and grabbed a few more from her backpack. “Since you like
comics, Broadway. Would you like to read these?”
"Sure," the
pale bluish green gargoyle said and accepted the comics before he left the
room. The others, except for Hudson and the beasts followed him.
"They are kind of amazing." Sadie
said of the gargoyles.
"Yeah at night they
fight crime. We trash Dark Kingdom slime," Riley said.
"Cute," Fox
said before bending down to pick up Alex who was still playing with Celeste.
"Bunny," the
toddler gurgled.
"You can play with
the bunny tomorrow" Fox said. "Now is time for bed. Riley can I
borrow your singing voice for a moment.”
"No problem,"
Riley set down the CD player.
"Oh before I forget
I have a gift for the three of you." Fox removed three envelopes from her
pocket. “They have coupons for the new
beauty parlor that is opening up. It’s free for facials, pedicures, manicures,
massages, and waxing if you choose.”
"Wow cool!"
Riley exclaimed. "Thanks Fox."
“Yeah
thank you,” Laurine said.
The whistling of her favorite
teakettle brought Sylvite into the kitchen. It was about time that boiling
water made enough steam to whistle. She had to make a nice cup of tea for her
king. Poor Borice was stressed. Sylvite had seen a vein pop out in his head
when Feldspar informed of a third warrior.
“This should calm him
down,” Sylvite said as she poured the hot water into the cup filled with herbs
from her garden. She had selected chamomile, lemon balm along with some mint
and tea leaves, set them to dry and combined them together into what she called
her relaxing tea mix. She waited until the cup had cooled just a bit before she
stirred in a little bit of sugar and carried to her king.
Borice was pacing back
and forth. He was really agitated. His
face was crimson and his eyes were bloodshot. It looked like he hadn’t slept.
"Borice my
king. I have brought you some
tea," Sylvite said held out the cup before him.
"I don’t want
tea," he growled and Borice smacked it out of her hand. The cup shattered
on the floor and the tea spilled everywhere
"I want those Galactic Ladies dead. All three of them!"
“Borice,” Sylvite
whispered as she stared at the tea puddle with pieces of the cup mixed in. She
liked that cup. She could feel the warm salty tears well up in her eyes.
“What is it Sylvite?”
Borice asked. His voice was still low.
“I,” she blinked away the
tears. “I promise to kill them when I harvest more energy.”
“You may have to wait on
that,” Chrystia said waltzing in. “It
is my turn to harvest more energy.”
"You have a
plan?" Sylvite asked. Sure it was Chrystia’s turn, but did she have any
idea of what she was going to do?
"The female Terrans
are a lot like us Sylvite. They are obsessed with looking beautiful. They spent
so much money at salons for their hair, buy make up jewelry and clothes. They
read how to become more beautiful in magazines.”
“I don’t spend the half
of the time in front of a mirror as you do,” Sylvite said.
“And which one of us is
more dazzling and beautiful?”
‘It’s not the one who is
as gaudy and garish as a cheap strumpet,’ Sylvite thought. She decided it would
not do any good to say it out loud.
“Could you get to the
point?” Borice asked.
“The point is our enemies
are young girls who obviously want to look beautiful,” Chrystia said. “I bought
a place, fixed it up into a beauty parlor, hired a staff ,and gave out a bunch
of coupons." Chrystia ran her fingers over one of her necklaces.
"They'll be there and when they do, Bam!” She smacked her hands together.
“And while we wait for them, we can gather plenty of energy."
“Do we have to kill
them?” Azurite asked from the entrance. “Maybe it would be best if capture
them. I want to study them and then we can kill them.”
Sylvite just stared at
her brother. What was he getting at? He seems obsessed with Lady Andromeda. He
had been praising her beauty and intelligence. There was no way he could
possibly be falling in love with her.
“Chrystia try to capture
them, but if you can’t kill them,” Borice said. He no longer seemed angry.
“This is one of your best plans."
“Thank you my king,”
Chrystia said in the sickliest sweet tones of voices that Sylvite had ever
heard. She curtsied and left.
Sylvite had glared at
her. What was that bitch thinking? She had Feldspar. She will not have Borice
as well.
“What happened here?”
Azurite asked and pointed at the broken cup on the floor.
“Oh?” Borice stared at
the mess. “There was a bit of an accident.” He pointed at the shattered
remains. The pieces levitated and combined reforming into the cup once again.
“I believe this is yours.” He sent the cup floating back to Sylvite.
“Thank you my king,”
Sylvite said as she accepted the cup.
“That tea did smell
good,” Borice said. “I think I will like a cup, and I know it will be delicious
because you made it.”
”I
will return shortly,” Sylvite said before she curtsied before them.
Why couldn’t they have
met up for a Lady meeting during the weekend? Riley stared at the results of
her vocabulary test. It was a sixty, which meant either an F plus or a D minus
whichever way you looked it at.
“Riley you need to eat
something,” her best friend, Latisha said. She and Latisha had been friends
since kindergarten. They were both on the track team and both were the fastest
runners at their school.
"I can't believe I
failed another vocabulary test," Riley just moaned and set down the test
that was covered with red marks. "My parents are going to skin me."
"Riley watch out or
you will be kicked off the track team," Katie said. She was another good
friend of Riley They met during the fourth grade and had been friends since.
While in middle school Katie had put on a little weight, but she was still
beautiful and she did exorcise. Riley believed it was because of hormones.
“Why me,” buried her head
in her arms.
"Riley?" Latisha said.
"What
now?" Riley asked and wished she
hadn’t snapped at her friend.
"Your almost got
your hair in my potato salad," Latisha said.
“Oh sorry,” Riley sat up.
“I gotta bring this up.”
“Maybe you could do a
make up test,” Latisha suggested.
“That’s
it,” Riley smiled. “I will do a make up test.” She was just going to have to
study extra hard.
Despite her determination
and Latisha’s help during study hall Riley lost her confidence and positive
attitude when she neared her apartment. If her parents see the result of the
test they would yell her ears off. They would also ground her for a week, take
away her car keys and make her ride a bus, and make her quit her job.
’Please don't let my
parents be home,’ She thought as she entered the lobby. She stopped by the
mailbox and picked up the mail. There was a letter from her sister at
Princeton. ‘Please please don't let anyone else be home. I don’t want them to
compare Carla and me.’ She breathed in deeply when she slid the keys into lock
and opened the door. No one was home.
"Whew!" She leaned against the
doorway and let out a big sigh before she dropped off the mail and went to the
fridge and poured herself a glass of orange juice. She sat down and started on her math homework. Why couldn’t
vocabulary be like math? Math wasn’t the easiest, but she was making straight
B’s and As in it.
She was nearly done when she heard the phone
ring.
"Hello Dipoesia
residence, this is Riley." She
greeted.
"Hi Riley this is
Laurine. I just finished talking to Sadie and we felt like going to that beauty
place."
“The one Fox gave us
coupons too?” Riley asked.
“That’s the one,” Laurine
said. “Unless you have track practice or work. Sadie is off and like me only
has practice on Monday and Wednesday.”
"Then I guess it
might be a good idea to go. It might lift my spirits."
"What’s wrong?"
"Failed another
vocab test."
"Why didn’t you
study with us?"
“The test was yesterday,”
Riley said. “This was a first time we actually met like that.” She was aware
she was yelling and she didn’t care.
“Jeeze sorry,” Laurine said.
“Please don’t bite my head off.”
“I won’t and I’m also
sorry." She shouldn’t be attacking
her friends like that.
“Okay we will have a
meeting when we are done. We can help you study for a make up test, that is if
they will let you have one.”
“I think they will,”
Riley said and finished the last of her orange juice.
"Okay we will meet you in a bit."
"bye
Laurine." She hung up the phone. She just had a few more math problems to
work on before she can go.
Riley checked her watch.
She was about five minutes early. The store was called Skin Deep. She made sure
she was not in anyone’s way and that she was nowhere near the line that had
formed.
“They shouldn’t be too
angry,” Riley said thinking about her parents. She did leave a note for them
telling them where she would be. She hadn’t left her test out for them. Usually
she didn’t mention tests except after they were over and if she did good on
them, but they had overheard her talking about it with Latisha on the phone.
She already thought of an excuse for it. She will mention there was a glitch
with the copy machine and the tests didn’t copy and her teacher will have new
tests soon. That should work and after she did better on the make up test she
will show that one.
"Hi Riley."
Sadie greeted.
“Hi,” Laurine greeted.
“You really do seem to be lost in thought over this.”
Celeste’s head popped up
out of Laurine’s backpack. “Hello girls.”
“Good afternoon Celeste,”
Riley gave the rabbit a nice pat between the ears.
“Laurine told me about
the test we'll all help you with that subject," Celeste said.
“She did?” Riley gave
Laurine a look. Her associate did not have to blab to everyone about her test.
“I just want to help,”
Laurine said.
"What test? What
subject?" Sadie asked.
“The test I had on
Monday,” Riley said. “The morning before we had our first Lady meeting at the
castle. I failed it.”
“Oh,” Sadie’s eyes looked
sad. “I’d be happy to help you with it.”
Riley shrugged. “Laurine
said we will study later at the castle. Right now I want to have a nice
relaxing facial.” She took her place at the back of the line.
“You and me both,”
Laurine said and stared at her fingernails. “I could also use a manicure. My
nails are a wreck.”
“Mine too,” Sadie added.
“And I never had a pedicure or a facial. I’ve trimmed and painted my toenails
in the past, but they were never buffed or done professionally.
“Neither have I,” Riley
said.
The line had the wait was
long, but they eventually made it to the front and were able to enter the
salon.
"May I help
you?" A young African- American girl asked.
“We have coupons,”
Laurine handed hers over to the salon worker.
“Oh,” the young woman
stared at the coupon. “What would you all like?”
“I don’t know about the
others but I would like the facial and the manicure and the pedicure,” Laurine said.
“The same for me,” Sadie
said and handed her coupon over.
“Me too,” Riley said as
she handed hers over. From what she has heard, waxing was painful and she did
not want to have anything to do with pain that afternoon.
"All right,” the
girl said in a chipper tone. “With the manicures anything special? Would you
like acrylics?”
“Acrylics?” Riley asked.
“They are like press on
nails,” the young woman explained. “Except they are painted on as a paste so
they last longer.”
“They make your nails
longer?” Laurine asked.
“That is right,” the
salon worker nodded.
“I don’t think I can have
long nails,” Sadie said. “I’m on the basketball team and I’m a lifeguard.”
“Yeah,” Laurine nodded.
“We need to keep them nice and sporty.”
“We can do that,” the
young woman continued to smile. “We can make them pretty and sporty. Perhaps in
your schools colors and paint on something indicating your mascots?”
“I would like that,”
Sadie nodded. “Our school’s colors are red and gold and our mascot is the
eagle.”
“My schools colors are
purple and white and our mascot is the rams,” Riley said.
“My sport is gymnastics,”
Laurine said. “And it has nothing to do with school. Can you paint them silver
please?”
“Sure,” the young woman
was writing what they wanted done on a note pad.” Would you like a design? We
can do flowers, stars, hearts, diamonds, pretty much anything.”
“I would like flowers and
can it be done in fuchsia?”
“Certainly,” the salon
worker wrote it down. “I just need your names and your skin types for the
facials.”
“My name is Riley, and I
have oily skin.”
“Sadie, and my skin dries
out easily.”
“ I’m Laurine and mine is
normal, but sensitive."
"Oh dear,” the salon
worker frowned. “Our shipment for sensitive products hasn’t arrived yet."
"That’s ok,” Laurine
assured her.
"Well here is
another coupon for a free facial.” She handed Laurine another coupon.
"Thank you."
“Now if you three will
follow me to the chairs,” she led them to three chairs that each had arm rests
with three round tables attached and an extra wide foot rest propped up. “Just
take of your shoes and socks and lean back in the chairs.”
Riley removed her
sneakers; her lavender socks and sat down in the chair. She put her feet on the
foot stand and her hands on the rests.
“Hello which one of you
is—“ the young beautician that approached her was her cousin from her father’s
side. “Riley?”
“Olivia?” Riley greeted
her.
“What are you doing here
kiddo?”
“I’m getting my face and
nails done,” Riley said. She hated when her cousin called her kiddo. There was
only a four-year difference between them.
“Let me guess you got a
coupon?” Olivia smirked.
“Yes,” Riley tried to
keep her eyes from rolling. “Are you
doing my face or my nails?”
“Your face of course,”
Olivia continued to smile. “Now first I’m going to use a cream cleanser. It
opens up your pores and lets your skin breath. “ She applied a cream cleanser
across Riley’s forehead, cheeks, nose and chin and gently massaged it.
Riley felt her hands
being submerged into warm soap water. Her feet was also placed in what she
pictured was one of those massaging footbaths. She closed her eyes as her
cousin scrubbed and she felt someone take a nail brush to her fingers and her
toes.
“Next we will apply a mask,” Olivia said as she used a damp
cloth to wipe up the remains of the cleaners. “This will stay on for fifteen
minutes and will help you relax.”
Riley felt a creamy and
gritty mixture being applied to her face. She was kind of disappointed that it
wasn’t green. She had always imagined people getting facials were wrapped in a
bath robe, had their hair in a towel or curlers, wearing a green creamy face
mask and had slices of cucumbers over their eyes.
A rubbing sensation on
her feet made her body tense up. She tried to stay still and keep her mouth
closed, but she couldn’t help it. The rubbing sensation tickled. She laughed.
“Are you okay?” Olivia
asked.
“Yes,” Riley giggled. “My
feet. They are tickling my feet.”
“They are giving the
bottoms of your feet a good rubbing with a pumice stone,” Olivia explained. “It
removes dead skin cells and files away calluses and corns. You need this girl.”
“Because my feet are
messed up?” Riley asked between laughs.
“Not yet, but being an
athlete you need to give your feet a nice treatment once in a while,” Olivia
said as she finished applying the last of the mask. “It’s never tickled anyone
before.”
“I guess I’m just
special,” Riley said. The tickling sensation stopped until they started on her
left foot.
“Yeah. I have heard about
all the awards you received from school,” Olivia said. “Still on the track
team?”
“Yeah,” Riley said. She
did feel a little bit more relaxed. “I’m one of the fastest.”
“I have heard that. Okay
I will leave you alone and let you relax. I will be back when the fifteen
minutes are up.”
“Okay,” Riley yawned. She
felt beyond relaxed and was getting sleepy. She could feel her manicurist
trimming her fingernails and toenails.
“Riley,” Olivia gently
shook her shoulder. “Wake up.”
“What?” Riley asked.
“You fell asleep,” Olivia
said.
“I did?” Riley asked. She
no longer heard or felt her nails being trimmed. She didn’t feel them being
filed either.
“Yeah you did,” Olivia
removed the mask with a damp cloth.
“You did see the mask is
relaxing,” Riley said.
“Yeah bit not that
relaxing,” Olivia said. “You’re the fifth person who fell asleep on me today.”
“Fifth person?” Riley
asked.
“Yes, now let me use this
cleansing scrub to clean of the remains of a mask.” Olivia said as she finished
cleaning off the mask. She proceeded with the rest of the facial by swabbing
Riley’s face with a cotton ball that has been soaked in astringent and finished
with a moisturizer for her skin type.
“That’s it?” Riley asked.
“That is it. You just
need to go to the drying tables to finish drying your nails.”
“Thanks,” Riley sat up.
“I’ll tell my folks I saw you today, Olive Oil.”
“How many times have I
asked you to stop calling me that?” Olivia asked.
“As many times I have
asked you to stop calling me Kiddo,” Riley said. She stood up and had to sit
back down again. She slowly stood up and stumbled to what looked like a long
bar or desk with ultraviolet light lamp overhead.
“Just put your hands
under the lamps,” a manicurist said.
Riley slid her hands
under the lamps and her feet on the footstool under the table lamps. She took a
glance at her nails. They were eggplant purple with creamy white spirals that
resembled the horns of a ram.
“Nice,” Sadie said as she
slid in next to her. Her nails were bright red with images resembling gold
eagle heads on them.
“Yours are also pretty,”
Riley said before she yawned.
“You two haven’t seen my
nails yet,” Laurine slid into the seat on the other side of Sadie. “So what
were those facial’s like?”
“Very relaxing,” Sadie
yawned. “I nearly fell asleep.”
“I actually did.”
“Are you two feeling all
right?” Laurine asked.
“Those facials are very
relaxing,” Riley said. “My cousin works here. She did my facial. She said she
had four other people fell asleep.”
“Four others?” Laurine
asked.
“That sounds suspicious,”
Sadie said.
“It sounds like the
enemy,” Celeste poked her head out from Laurine’s backpack. “You three need to
transform now.”
“Can’t we wait until our
nails are dry?” Laurine asked.
“No. This is serious.”
“I am asking for a little
more time not just because of my nails,” Laurine said. “Sadie and Riley need a
little more time to recover from having their energy drained.
“I still feel tired,”
Sadie.
“I do need some extra
time,” Riley said.
“We’ll wait until then,”
Celeste said.
They had waited only a
few more minutes until the manicurist said they could lave. They put their socks
and shoes back on and left the shop.
“In here,” Laurine led
her friends to the nearest alley. She
pulled her pen out and held it up.
“Andromeda Galaxy Power Make-up!" When the transformation sequence
ended. She stared at her friends. "C'mon you guys what are you waiting
for?"
"Sorry," Riley
apologized " I guess I’m a still a bit tired.”
“If you two tired then
that’s okay,” Andromeda said. “I can take care of the monster.”
“By yourself?” Sadie
asked.
“I have done it before.
You guys rest.”
“No,” Riley shook her
head. She pulled her pen out of her pocket and held it up. “Comet Galaxy Power
Make up!" She could not quite
explain it, but the transformation had actually energized her.
"Centauri Galaxy
Power Make up!"
“Great,” Andromeda said.
“Let’s go.” She led everyone back into the shop.
“All right you nasty ugly
slimy monster,” Lady Comet shouted shouted. “You better show your disgusting
face.”
“We will not stand by and
allow you steal energy,” Lady Centauri added. “People just want to feel good.
They want to feel pretty. This is a form of therapy.”
“To help them forget
their troubles,” Comet closed her eyes.
“Give it up,” Lady
Andromeda said. “We might even go easier on you if you just stop.”
“I am Lady Comet.”
“I m Lady Centauri.”
“And I’m Lady Andromeda.”
Andromeda held up her ax. “We are the Galactic Ladies.”
Lady Comet said. She looked around the shop.
Olivia, the rest of the beauticians and the other customers were just staring
at them.
“It’s Lady Andromeda,”
someone said.
“What are they doing
here?” Another person asked.
“Maybe one of those
monsters is here?” Someone else asked.
“I don’t see any.”
“Uh Celeste,” Lady
Andromeda stared down at her rabbit. “Are you certain the enemy here?”
“Positive,” Celeste said
"Well, Well I was
wondering when you will show up." A cloud of sparkling dust appeared.
“Sorry I’m a bit late, but then I’m fashionably late and I do like to do
everything as fashionably as much as I can.”
The cloud dissipated and
standing in its place was a short woman dressed in the tackiest and most gaudy
outfit imaginable. She wore a dress that started as purple around the collar
and shoulders and chest, then was rose around the arms and midsection and then
gold around the hips and all the way down. Her hair was dark purple and wavy
and reached her backside. The bangs were kept out of her eyes by a gold tiara
that held several jewels in it. The jewels didn’t stop there. She wore dangly
amethyst earrings in her ears. Three different necklaces dripping with jewels
were hanging around her neck. She had two jewel-encrusted bracelets on each
wrist and several rings on her fingers. She wore purple and pink eye shadow,
bright pink blush, and crimson lipstick.
“You must be the fourth
general,” Lady Andromeda said. “Has anyone told you that less is more?”
“Did she miss a color?”
Lady Comet asked.
“Silence,” the gaudy
woman said and pointed at them. “My name is Chrystia and I shall be the one to
kill you.” She glanced over her shoulder. “The rest of you peasants get out
unless you wish to join them.”
Olivia and the rest of
the salon workers, and the customers raced out of the building.
“And now for you three,”
Chrystia held up three gems. “My jewel beasts shall do the trick.” She threw
them onto the ground.
The jewels melted into
shimmering puddles that expanded and rearranged themselves, each taking on the
different shapes of different creatures. The green jewel turned into a wolf,
the red into a bird of prey and the yellow turn into a shark.
"Garnet Hawk, Topaz
Shark, Emerald Wolf Attack!" She ordered
The three beasts leapt,
lounged and flew towards the Galactic Ladies.
Lady Comet leapt out of
the way of Garnet Hawk's talons.
The bird flew down and
tried to swipe again.
Comet threw herself to
the ground and rolled out of the way of the bird. She needed to get into a good
range before she could use her attack, but the hawk kept swiping at her.
“Damn it,” she rolled
again. A hard plastic lump pressed into her thigh. It almost felt as bad as
landing on her keys. “What is this?” She reached into her skirt pocket and
pulled out her yo-yo”
“What are you doing?”
Celeste asked. “There is no time to play.”
“No,” Comet stood up
“There is time to fight.” She waited until the hawk flew again. She dodged to
the right and swung her toy and whipped it around. The yo-yo wrapped itself
around the bird’s neck. Comet pulled down toward the ground, causing the bird
to crash to the ground.
“Excellent,” Celeste
said.
“The yo-yo was used as a
weapon before it became a toy,” Comet explained. She turned to help her
friends, but she saw they were doing quite well.
Lady Centauri kept
leaping away from Topaz shark.
"C'mon get me,"
She said standing in front of a wall. The shark torpedo's ahead and Centauri
leapt just in the nick of time. The shark struck the wall.
"The dolphin always
outwits the shark." Centauri said when the shark fell over unconscious.
Lady Andromeda repeatedly
struck Emerald Wolf with her ax. She held it high in the air. "In the name
of the Andromeda Galaxy, Star Pendant Power-up!" Her pendant and ax
glowed, She slammed it against the wolf knocking it into the other two beasts.
"Ready?"
Andromeda asked?
“I was born ready,” Comet
said.
“Me too,” Centauri added.
“Okay Together Andromeda
Sound wave.."
"Comet
Interstellar..."
"Centauri
Stalagmite..."
"Shatter!"
"Explosion!"
"Slash!"
The combination of all three attacks blasted
the creatures into a mound of glittering dust.
"You Brats!"
Chrystia reappeared "Those were my babies. I grew them myself.”
“You were a horrible
mother,” Lady Andromeda said.
“You are dead,
bitch." Chrystia glared. She held up her hands. "Random Laser
Blades.” Several different colored bolts of light jumped out of her rings and
bounced around the room. A bolt struck Andromeda, and Centauri each but they
all centered on Comet.
Comet screamed when the
searing pain cut through her. She felt torn apart and fire burned through her
flesh. She fell to the ground and couldn’t move. The pain was too much.
“Lady Comet,” Andromeda
shouted.
“Lady Comet,” Centauri
gasped.
Lady Comet felt two pairs
of hands gingerly touch her.
"Now for you two,”
Chrystia said. “Chaotic
hallucination!"
Comet opened one eye and
watched as a spiraling beam of light rained down from two rings and struck
Andromeda and Centauri in the heads.
“Scorpions,” Centauri
gasped. “Get them off me.” She ran around the room and slapping at her arms,
chest and stomach. “Get them off me.”
“Everything is melting,”
Lady Andromeda collapsed on her knees and grabbed her head.
Celeste was also crying
out and rolling on the floor. She was also hit by the attack
Chrystia laughed. She
removed a blue jewel from one of her bracelets and it melted and reformed into
a sword. “Time to end this” She walked right up to Andromeda.
“No,” Comet choked out.
She tried to push herself up with shaking arms. She still felt pain all over
but she had to help.
Chrystia held the sword
up high.
Musical notes from a
clarinet echoed through the room and a lasso encircled around the sword and
pulled back.
“What are you doing?” It
was the man in blue. The one Andromeda had called Azurite.
"What does it look
like I’m doing?" Chrystia asked.
“I thought we had agreed
to just capture them,” Azurite said and played a few more notes. More streams
of dark blue light shot out from his clarinet and wrapped around Andromeda
forming a net.
Lady Comet quietly sat
the rest of the way up and was resting on her knees. The yo-yo was only inches
away from her.
“Fine you can have her,”
Chrystia said. “But I will have the rest of their blood for what they did.” She
marched straight towards Centauri with the sword in hand.
Lady Comet whipped the
yo-yo out straight towards Chrystia and struck her in the back of the head.
Chrystia collapsed. She
was still breathing.
“Looks like no one will
die today,” Azurite said and started to play his clarinet.
“Centauri Stalagmite
slash,” Lady Centauri sent her shards to slice through the net that Azurite
created.
“Except for you,”
Centauri gasped.
“No,” Lady Comet held up
her hand. “Lady Andromeda would be dead if he hadn’t arrived.”
“You saved me,” Lady Andromeda
rose to her feet. “This is the second time you have done that.”
“Yeah,” Lady Comet
remember seeing Azurite catch the falling Andromeda and set her down when they
were fighting the giant monster. “Whose side are you really on?” Maybe Azurite
was really on their side and he was working undercover.
“I am a general first
class of the Dark Kingdom,” Azurite said. “This world will be ours. I fight for
them and my princess.”
“Do you mean the moon
princess?” Centauri asked.
“The moon princess,”
Celeste whispered.
“Are you her boyfriend?”
Comet asked.
“Not the moon princess,”
Azurite shook his head. “My princess.” He turned to Andromeda. “And she reminds
me of her.”
A moan came from
Chrystia’s direction. The gaudy woman stirred and opened her eyes.
“I’ll try again another
day,” Azurite said. He approached Chrystia. “I’ll take you home.”
“Take me home?” Chrystia
raised her head. “No you can’t.” She bolted up. “I’m not done.”
“You are.” Azurite played
a few notes on his clarinet. A dark blue sphere surrounded them and
disappeared.
“They are gone,”
Andromeda kept staring at where they disappeared.
"You guys
okay?" Centauri asked. “Lady Comet are you still hurt?”
“I feel sore all over,”
Comet said. “How are you two feeling?”
“Better,” Andromeda said.
“Great shot with that yo-yo.”
“Thanks,” Comet said.
“I believe you won’t have
much trouble with that whip,” Celeste said. "That was too close of a call.
We need to get those pendants and the whip and crossbow."
“Time to change back,”
Lady Andromeda said. “Maybe Mr. Burnett will have an nice snack for us when we
have our Lady meeting.”
Celeste nodded. “I’ll
also report to Central what has happened. We can also help Riley study.”
“Oh
man,” Lady Comet grabbed her head. “I nearly forgot.” She would rather deal
with the Dark Kingdom, than think about her failed test.
‘How dare he,’ Chrystia
thought when they had teleported back to the Kingdom. ‘How dare he stop her
like that when she was so close.’ She didn’t care about the pain in the back of
her head. She was so close.
“How is your head?”
Azurite asked. They had teleported into the throne room.
“Why do you care?” She
hissed.
“Your are important to my
closest friend,” Azurite said. “I care very much.”
“What happened?” Feldspar
ran up to them.
“She received a
concussion,” Azurite explained. “I brought her back so she can be healed.
“You are a fool,”
Chrystia closed her eyes. She had to squeeze back the tears. “I was so close to
killing them.”
“Chrystia he is right,”
Feldspar held onto her. “You had to go back. You need someone to see your
head.”
“But Borice will have my
head.”
“I will do no such
thing,” Borice said. He was sitting on his throne with a pleased smile on his
face. "Good work Chrystia, We now have another worthy offering of energy
for Metallia. “ He held up a silvery white ball of energy.
"But I didn’t
destroy the Ladies. I should be punished shouldn’t I?" Chrystia asked.
"No. You were close.” Borice could not
remove his gaze from his energy. “We
just need a little more knowledge of them like Azurite suggested. You are too
valuable of a soldier to punish.” He stood up. “Feldspar, take her to see a
doctor. Azurite. Tell your sister I would like to have some more tea.”
“He
values me,” Chrystia said as she leaned against Feldspar. The next time she
faces against the Ladies will be their end.
Borice carried the energy
unit towards a different room. This was the second offering he was going to
give to his queen. The tiny blip of darkness had grown to a shadowy spirit
twelve inches tall and had begged for more. He will not let her down.
He bowed before the
crevice where Metallia rested "Metallia please accept this energy."
Dark bubbling ooze slid
forward and shaped itself into a head. The mouth on the head opened and sucked
in the energy. The head grew until it was over four feet tall and reshaped
itself into its demon form.
“How do you feel?” Borice
asked.
“Better,” Metallia
whispered. She reshaped herself to resemble a woman with dark blue hair. She
had pointed ears and had the same spiked shoulders and Tiara as Beryl. “Please
give me more.”
“I will bring you more,” Borice said. “Much more.”