It was about two more days until Rose recovered. She stayed in Darien’s apartment, having conversations with Darien and laughing with Phoebe and Sonny when they visited. Serena and Rose had become closer throughout the two days, and the two along with Phoebe would chat about school. Phoebe also brought Rose’s homework, which kept her busy. But the fever and sickness subsided and Rose found herself working in the garden that warm Saturday late afternoon (5:00 PM to be exact), wearing a sunhat to shade her face.
She sang a few tunes as she gardened, watering her roses and tulips among many other plants that she raised. As she was sprinkling water over her sweet peas, Sonny came up to the gate, watching her in amusement as she spun around, singing. When Sonny started clapping, Rose turned crimson red and wanted to hide behind her patch of vegetables.
“Hello there!” Sonny called cheerfully.
Rose stopped blushing. “Hi, Sonny. Nice to see you.”
“Have you been feeling better?” the 17-year-old boy asked, draping his arms over the gate.
“Lots better, thanks,” Rose answered, setting down the watering can and picking up her spade.
“I’d like to help you garden if you don’t mind,” Sonny added, swinging himself over the gate and walking towards her.
“Sure thing. There’s an extra pair of gloves on the porch. You’ll find them next to where Comet is sleeping.” Rose didn’t look up from the little hole she was digging to add some late-growing flower seeds.
Sonny came back with the gloves on his hands and picked up another spade. He began digging where Rose was and Rose shook her head.
“Not so close, Sonny. The flowers need to be a little further apart.”
“I knew that,” Sonny teased, “I was just testing you.”
Rose grinned and pressed a couple of seeds into the hole. Covering it up with excess dirt, she squinted at the road ahead, wondering if Phoebe or maybe even Serena and Darien would show up somehow. She got to her feet, brushed the dirt on her old jeans, and reached for another packet of seeds. Just by coincidence Sonny’s hand was nearby, and her hand brushed against his. A tingle went up Rose’s spine and she gave a weak smile, pulling her hand away with the seeds resting on her palm.
“So,” Sonny attempted to start a conversation, “anything new?”
“Oh!” Rose had just remembered. “Phoebe’s moving.”
“That’s not good news,” Sonny groaned.
“No, no, no. She’s not moving out of town. She’s moving to a new house in this same town,” Rose giggled. “Her old house is empty except for a couple of trinkets and some trash. Phoebe and I went in and laughed since our voices echoed. She’ll be arriving at her new house in two days.”
Sonny’s eyes were on the seeds he was dropping. “Sounds cool.”
Rose sighed contentedly and began working on putting some seeds in another spot. She was just pressing the last seed into the dirt when Sonny stood up and looked around frantically.
“Rose…I smell smoke,” he stammered.
“Oh my gosh…” Rose gasped.
Pillars of black smoke rose high in the sky. Rose leaped to her feet and knew the horrifying truth; the smoke was coming from somewhere close to Phoebe’s old house…it could even be Phoebe’s house burning! Rose threw off her sunhat, grabbed Comet, and ran as fast as she could.
“Wait! Rose! Rose!” she heard Sonny scream behind her. It was too late. Comet clutched onto her shoulder and she ran.
Her feet pounded on the sidewalk and her heart banged against her ribs as if trying to break them. She breaths came short as she grew tired, but just thinking of Phoebe trapped in flames made her keep running. She dodged people, adults and children alike, many who were murmuring about the fire.
As she neared Phoebe’s street, she heard sirens wail and screams for help. She nearly burst into tears when the full sight came into view. It was Phoebe’s old house burning. The firefighters were desperately trying to put out the fire. Strangely enough, every time a bit of the fire went out, it was suddenly replenished with a new flame.
“What the bloody hell!” Rose shrieked as she saw a brand new flame hit the burning roof.
A sobbing woman with red hair was wringing her hands in disbelief.
“Mrs. Martin!” Rose gasped, rushing over to her.
“My baby’s in there!” Mrs. Martin wailed.
“Oh God!” Rose yelled, for once breaking the 2nd commandment. “Phoebe!”
“Something keeps relighting the fire!” a firefighter cried. Another firefighter swore.
Unhappy and afraid, Rose, with Comet still hanging on to her shoulder, crept to the side of the house. She tiptoed, dodging the pieces of falling timber. Her stomach turned at the thought of poor Phoebe burnt and bleeding. Ashes blew all over her face, making her cough loudly. Then…she screamed.
A large huge, ugly thing—whatever the heck it was—was blowing flames at the house. Its own scaly body was flaming, smoke billowing from its back. It roared softly whenever a flame was extinguished, sending another blast of fire at the house. Rose knew that the roof would surely cave in.
“There’s surely…no such thing as youmas!” she suddenly burst out, realizing what the thing was.
The youma (demon) turned, growling at her. It roared loudly and began stomping towards her.
“Aaaaah!” Rose screeched, ducking as a line of inferno rushed at her face, singing her clothes. Comet’s claws dug into her skin as a voice came into hearing.
“Rose! Quick! Behind those trees!”
Blindly Rose obeyed, fleeing into the midst of trees that grew on Phoebe’s street. She rubbed her eyes, freeing her sight of the cinders, and watched, leaning against a tree trunk, as the demon shouted angrily while searching for her. Comet leapt off her shoulder and stood in front of her. A gold symbol appeared on his forehead.
“Rose, get a grip, hurry, and save your friend!” he exclaimed.
Rose gasped. “Whoa…my cat talks! Now this really feels like a movie!”
“Listen, Rose. I know you think this is stupid, but you’ve got to believe me. This isn’t a movie.”
“Well, obviously,” Rose growled. “But how am I supposed to beat this flaming, ten foot creep?”
“Hold out your hands,” the brown cat commanded.
Rose did. White light sparkled as a mysterious wind blew away her bangs. A strange symbol shone on her forehead…Rose suddenly had a glimpse of a circle with a cross running through it. Remembering her astronomy class, she gasped as the symbol on her forehead responded to the white power she was somehow holding.
The light vanished and in her hands laid a necklace. The chain was shining silver, with a charm hanging off of it. The charm confirmed Rose’s hypothesis; it was shaped like the earth, continents and all. The symbol and charm fit perfectly…the symbol was of Earth, and the charm looked like Earth!
“This is nuts!” Rose called out loud.
“It’s the only way you can save Phoebe,” Comet urged. “Quick! Twirl the necklace in your hand and shout ‘Earth Life Force Power’!”
“Um…Earth Life Force Power…” Rose recited with absolutely no feeling.
“You can do better than that! Say it like you mean it!”
Not used to having to obey a talking cat, Rose’s eyes sharpened and she stared at the youma and shouted:
“Earth…Life Force…Power!”
The necklace twirled in her hand, sending out rays of white energy. Spinning gently, Rose felt the necklace twine around her neck. Amongst her starry, magic surroundings she did a back bend. A white top formed on her body. Lifting her feet, she saw black shoes with silver buckles clasp onto them. She spun like a ballerina and turned, a black skirt, spraying out from her waist. She leaned sideways, giving a close shot of her face. A gold tiara with a white gem stretched across her forehead and golden earrings dangled from her ears. She opened her eyes and grinned. Finally she kicked her legs out and crossed her arms, the Earth in the background.
“This is amazing!” she shouted happily, turning her head and letting her braid fly over her shoulder.
The cries for help sounded in her ears.
“Now, time to kick some serious youma butt!” Rose called.
She flew over the trees and landed at the feet of the youma. It turned, looking surprised. For the first time, Rose got a good glimpse of the demon. It looked like a huge, flaming dinosaur.
“The Earth shall not stand still to your evil acts! For I am Sailor Earth, one of the guardians of this planet! In the name of love and the Earth you are going down!” the girl shouted. She sighed. “I felt so stupid saying that.”
“Sailor Earth? Impossible!” a booming voice cried. “Young Tuxedo Mask is a protector of Earth! My master doesn’t need another.” It took a while for Sailor Earth to realize that the voice was coming from the Fire Youma.
“I don’t need details! Uh…” A sweat drop rushed down her cheek. “I have no clue what to say…”
“Use your attacks! Remember them!” Comet’s voice hollered.
Sailor Earth rolled her eyes. “I thought I’d never see the day when I was taking orders from my cat. Oh well. A Sailor Scouts gotta do what a Sailor Scout’s gotta do…”
She raised her fist into the air.
“Earth Holy Spark!”
White energy coming from all directions flowed into her fist. She reached back and punched forward, millions of white stars pouring out. They pierced the youma, flooding into its skin. The demon cried out of pain, and a jet of fire streamed from its mouth.
“Whoa!” Sailor Earth leaped away. “Easy with the temper!”
“I don’t have time for this,” the demon growled.
“Neither do I, but let’s just settle it quickly. Earth White Magic Entangle!”
Threads of pearly material stretched from Sailor Earth’s palm. It floated gracefully in the air, twisting and turning. It intertwined into a large net, connecting. Sailor Earth threw it with all her might at the youma and the net tightened itself around it. The youma bellowed as its flames extinguished, but it could not move.
“That should hold you until I get an innocent girl out of the building,” Sailor Earth informed.
“I hate you,” the youma grumbled without thinking.
“I hate you too,” Sailor Earth snapped, leaping up onto the flaming roof. “A little hot over here…now where’s a window that isn’t surrounded in flames?”
“Help!” Phoebe’s voice shrieked.
“I’m coming!” Sailor Earth slipped in, dodging the flaming boards that were coming loose.
She coughed at the ashes and the smoke that were clogging the room. Her eyes watered, and she was starting to wish she had uniforms like the firefighters. It was incredibly hot (honestly) but Sailor Earth didn’t give up. She jumped away from the flames, almost not able to see where she was going.
Ducking underneath a flaming plank she saw Phoebe, huddled up in a corner. Everywhere around the redhead were fiery pieces of wood and fire. Phoebe shrieked, the smoke clinging around her. Sailor Earth jumped over a blaze and snatched Phoebe’s hand.
“Ahh! Let go! I can’t see!” the redhead shrieked.
“Just…uh…hold onto my skirt and be sure to crawl now! The smoke’s getting thick,” the sailor scout urged.
The two got on their hands and knees, Phoebe clutching Sailor Earth’s skirt. It was if they were in the horrible underworld itself, the flames billowing upwards. Sailor Earth pulled Phoebe out of the way of a falling beam and brought the frightened girl over to the window.
“You have to jump!” Sailor Earth screamed over the crackling of fire.
“I can’t! It’s too high!” Phoebe wailed, rubbing her eyes in an effort to see her rescuer.
“Just jump! I’ll protect you!”
Phoebe leaped out the window. A beam of light shot out of the symbol on Sailor Earth’s forehead, carrying the girl to safety. Phoebe got to her feet as her sobbing mother rushed over to her. Phoebe was yelling and Sailor Earth caught the words.
“But that girl! She came in to rescue me! We can’t let her burn in there!”
Sailor Earth felt a flaming board hit her leg. She screamed out in pain, feeling the fire burn her skin. She jumped out the window and landed next to where the youma had lay. All that was left of the demon was a pile of ashes and the white net over them, Sailor Earth figured that due to the lack of his flame covered body, the youma had wasted his energy trying to blow fire or struggle against the net. She touched the white threads and they vanished. Wincing at the pain of her leg, she carefully and quietly hid among the trees where Comet would be waiting.
“The fire is out,” a firefighter called.
“Thank goodness!” Mrs. Martin cried.
“But the girl!” Phoebe shrieked.
“The girl can’t be in there…you were dreaming.”
“I wasn’t, Mom! Maybe I didn’t see her, but I grabbed her skirt!”
“Come on now. We’ll get to our new home…luckily we have insurance…we’re so lucky the house was empty and you’re safe.”
Night had fallen. As Phoebe was led away two eyes peered out into the descending darkness.
“Sailor Earth, huh? You’re not the main Senshi I’m looking for…but I certainly know all about you…”
The eyes vanished as Rose stepped out, Comet at her heels. Rose had noticed the gold symbol that had appeared on Comet’s head, which proved it wasn’t a dream. She breathed in the night air, gagging at some leftover ashes that had flown into her throat. Her sneakers made a soft patter as she headed towards the burnt remains of the demon and the house.
“What the…” Rose spotted something shining in the youma’s ashes. Comet watched as Rose bent down and picked out the object. She rubbed off the ashes and looked at it. It was a silver brooch, with a beautiful red stone shaped like a phoenix. Rose wasn’t sure, but she thought it was a phoenix. Anyway, it was a bird.
“I’m taking it, Comet,” she said absentmindedly.
“I can see, Rose, I can see.”
Rose jumped. “Gah! I keep forgetting you can talk!”
“And you’re forgetting the time. Sonny’s probably worried sick. You better get home.”
Rose nodded. “Thanks for reminding me, Comet. You know, you can be bossy, but I’m glad that now you’ll answer to what I’m saying.”
Comet meowed and leapt up onto Rose’s shoulder. She pocketed the brooch and headed down the street, leaving Phoebe’s former and now charred home behind her.
There had been enough excitement for one day.
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