An Empty Apartment
The sun beat down on the Palace grounds brightly. Neo Queen Serenity and her
husband, King Endymion were in the den reading. All of a sudden, a loud crash came
from the kitchen, causing the couple to jump their feet. They were about to go investigate
the mysterious crash when they heard, "Please, Luna? I'll do anything!" They sighed.
Non-other then their darling daughter.
"No, ask your mom or dad, but leave! I have to prepare for the party!" an angered
Luna yelled. The next thing to be heard was pat-pat-pat-pat, tiny foot steps running down
the hall, then bursting into the den.
"Mommy, daddy, what's my birthday present?" The poor parents sighed and
shook their heads slowly. Today was the little princess's birthday, and it seemed the
whole kingdom was rejoicing, at least to Rini. To Rini, today was special, and totally
different. Her mother and father were throwing her a party, and all the kingdom would be
there. Not only would there be cake, ice cream, friends, and music, but a whole lot of
presents. And of course, Luna being the nag that she is, had taken it upon herself as her
responsibility to make sure everything was in order for the night, which made her a little
crazy and grumpy.
"You'll find out tonight, stop asking," her mother said. It wasn't Rini's first
attempt to find out what her present was, "Anyway, it's almost time for the ball, and you
should get ready soon." Slowly, Rini glanced up at the clock. The ball started at 7:30 and
it was already 6:00. She ran out of the room as fast as she could and to her room. As soon
as she got to her room she slammed and locked her door, checked to make sure no one
was looking, and took a cookie out of her jewelry box and ate it.
Today is a big night, she thought to herself. I need to look great! I'm finally a
lady! So she changed into her gown and combed her hair. When she looked in the mirror,
she felt like something was missing. Then an idea popped into her head, and she walked
to her mom's room. When she reached the vanity, she looked around aimlessly. Slowly
she picked up a dark pink colored lipstick and applied it thickly to her lips. Wonderful!
Now go back to your room before they see you! Slowly she crept back to her room and
sat down on her bed. She lied down, and looked up at her ceiling. Soon she fell asleep
and was deep in a dream.
She dreamt that it was her party, and right before she got to open her presents,
screaming came from the foyer. They rushed to the foyer to see what had happened, and
a dark shadow came forward from the mirror, and put it's hand on the woman's mouth. It
had a horrible grin crept across it's face. One look at her made every hair on Rini's body
stand on end, and every bone in her body shake. the creature approached her and she
started screaming. She woke with a startle, screaming and yelling. Her mother stood
before her with a worried look on her face.
"Darling, are you okay? The ball is starting," Her mother asked. Rini sat up and
looked around. She noticed that some of the lipstick had smeared onto her pillow. She
blushed and put her hand on it, and looked up at her mom. Her mother smiled down on
her. "You have lipstick smeared on your face, sweetie," Rini blushed more, "Here, I'll
show you," her mom said walking over to the mirror.
"No!" Rini cried. Her mom frowned, "Umm, that's ok. You go on ahead to the
party. Don't let Daddy scare the guests away. I'll take care of it." Her mom simply
nodded silently and walked out of the room. Rini got up and walked over to her mirror.
She peeked around the side and looked to make sure the shadow wasn't in it. She wiped
off all the lipstick and ran downstairs.
Her friend, Adalane, was waiting for her at the bottom of the grand staircase. As
soon as Rini saw her she hugged her, nearly knocking poor Adalane over. "I missed you
so much!" Rini screamed loud enough for a whole crowd of people to hear. Adalane had
been sent to private school and she hadn't seen her in about five months.
They pracitally danced the night away, as most 13 year-old girls do at parties, and
made a couple boys dance with them. After everyone ate cake and ice cream they
crowded around Rini and her tower of presents. The thought of the shadow entered her
mind again. She looked over to the foyer, and no one was in it. Maybe it wont happen,
she thought. All of a sudden, a bright light appeared outside the window, then faded. No
one else seemed to have seen it, since they were all quiet and all watching her.
After she unwrapped all of her presents, she was able to sneak outside. She
walked over to the window where she saw the light. Sitting on the windowsill were two
rather talkative, what looked like fairies, about the size of Rini's pinky. "Excuse me,"
Rini tried inturupting their comversation, but they still chatted on. "Excuse me, could I
ask," She was once again inturupted. "Excuse me! Could I ask why you're here?" She
said, and they finally stoped talking and smiled up at her.
"I'm Chini," said the one on the left.
"And I'm Thini," said the one on the right, "We're here to deliver a message to
Small Maiden. Do you know where we might find her?" she asked, still smiling.
"I'm Small Maiden, but please call me Rini. Why are you here?"
"Our master of the temple we stay at has asked us to tell you that one the day that
Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, and Jupiter line up, we have to take you to our temple,"
andsered Chini.
"Why?" Rini asked puzzled.
"Because he needs to talk to you. He --" Thini tried to explain, but was
inturupted.
"What are you doing, Rini? They're playing music again. Who are you talking
to?" Adalane said giggling.
"Sure, I was talking to Chini and Thini, They're adorable little fairies. Come here
and see them." Rini said smiling. But the Two lights flew up and dissappeared into the
heavens. Adalane walked over and looked at the windowsill.
"You have to stop talking to yourself, Rini. People will think you're insane, and
people don't want a psycho for a future queen." Adalane said, still giggling.
"They, but they...I," but before she could finish Adalane grabbed her hand and ran
with her back inside.
*~*~*
That night, after the party, Rini was called to her mother and father's room. When
she opened the door and peeked in, she was surprised to find Luna, Artemis, Diana, her
mom and dad, and four big suit cases sitting on the bed. She sat down inbetween Diana
and her mom. Luna and Artemis were crying like babies, and Rini got a horrible aching
in her stomach. "Mommy, is Diana moving away?" she asked looking up at her mom.
Her mother looked down at her and shook her head.
"Darling, when mommy was your age, she didn't know about sailor scouts or any
of that. You do, and we feel it's time for you to learn about being a real scout. Me and
your fatehr have rented an apartment in the far corner of Tokyo, and you're going to live
there, with Diana posing as your mother. Diana will get a job as a waitress to support the
both of you, with our help, moneywise that is. You will go to school at Crossroads Junior
High, just like I did. We have everything set up." Rini wanted to fight back. She wanted
to refuse everything they said and go to bed, but she knew not to. She could see the pain
in her parent's eyes, so she sat quietly and nodded.
"You'll be leaving in the morning," added a sobbing Luna.
"Diana is 18 now, and looks old enough to be our mother," her father said. Diana
glared at him and he noticed, "But she's still, beautiful, young, and healthy looking," he
added and faked a smile.
"Much better, smart one!" Diana smiled.
Rini hugged her mom and dad. "I'm a really tired so I'm gonna go to bed now.
Goodnight." She said and walked to her room. She lied down and closed her eyes, slowly
drifting into a deep sleep.
*~*~*
The next morning she got dressed and walked down to the kithen. She ate
breakfeast in silence, not even looking at her parents. She spent the rest of the time in her
room. Around 12:00 her father came in and sat next to her on the bed. He put one arm
around her and took her hand with his free hand. "We're going to miss you around here,
Sweetie. We're not trying to get rid of you, we just want you to learn about what being a
sailor scout is really about. We love you, but this is something we have to do."
"I can learn here, though!" she cried.
"You can learn better out there. We'll visit you, and you can visit us. Please don't
be mad at us." She smiled down at her.
"But I -" Rini began, but the door swung open. In burst Diana with a huge smile
on her face.
"Come along, darling daughter, the cab is waiting," She said, smiling more. Rini
hugged her dad and stood up, a bit happier. He picked her up and carried her downstairs
to the front gate of the Palace and set her down. She hugged her mom and blew them a
kiss as she got in the cab.
*~*~*
When they got to the apartment, Rini looked around slowly. It had two rooms,
one bathroom, a kitchen, a living room, and a balcony. the Palace had 118 rooms, at least
150 bathrooms, 3 kitchens, about 90 balconies, 10 living rooms, 4 studies, a garden,
patio, breeze way, deck, 40 acres of back yard and a stable. It was empty, and as she
looked around a chill went down her back.
To be continued...
The sun beat down on the Palace grounds brightly. Neo Queen Serenity and her
husband, King Endymion were in the den reading. All of a sudden, a loud crash came
from the kitchen, causing the couple to jump their feet. They were about to go investigate
the mysterious crash when they heard, "Please, Luna? I'll do anything!" They sighed.
Non-other then their darling daughter.
"No, ask your mom or dad, but leave! I have to prepare for the party!" an angered
Luna yelled. The next thing to be heard was pat-pat-pat-pat, tiny foot steps running down
the hall, then bursting into the den.
"Mommy, daddy, what's my birthday present?" The poor parents sighed and
shook their heads slowly. Today was the little princess's birthday, and it seemed the
whole kingdom was rejoicing, at least to Rini. To Rini, today was special, and totally
different. Her mother and father were throwing her a party, and all the kingdom would be
there. Not only would there be cake, ice cream, friends, and music, but a whole lot of
presents. And of course, Luna being the nag that she is, had taken it upon herself as her
responsibility to make sure everything was in order for the night, which made her a little
crazy and grumpy.
"You'll find out tonight, stop asking," her mother said. It wasn't Rini's first
attempt to find out what her present was, "Anyway, it's almost time for the ball, and you
should get ready soon." Slowly, Rini glanced up at the clock. The ball started at 7:30 and
it was already 6:00. She ran out of the room as fast as she could and to her room. As soon
as she got to her room she slammed and locked her door, checked to make sure no one
was looking, and took a cookie out of her jewelry box and ate it.
Today is a big night, she thought to herself. I need to look great! I'm finally a
lady! So she changed into her gown and combed her hair. When she looked in the mirror,
she felt like something was missing. Then an idea popped into her head, and she walked
to her mom's room. When she reached the vanity, she looked around aimlessly. Slowly
she picked up a dark pink colored lipstick and applied it thickly to her lips. Wonderful!
Now go back to your room before they see you! Slowly she crept back to her room and
sat down on her bed. She lied down, and looked up at her ceiling. Soon she fell asleep
and was deep in a dream.
She dreamt that it was her party, and right before she got to open her presents,
screaming came from the foyer. They rushed to the foyer to see what had happened, and
a dark shadow came forward from the mirror, and put it's hand on the woman's mouth. It
had a horrible grin crept across it's face. One look at her made every hair on Rini's body
stand on end, and every bone in her body shake. the creature approached her and she
started screaming. She woke with a startle, screaming and yelling. Her mother stood
before her with a worried look on her face.
"Darling, are you okay? The ball is starting," Her mother asked. Rini sat up and
looked around. She noticed that some of the lipstick had smeared onto her pillow. She
blushed and put her hand on it, and looked up at her mom. Her mother smiled down on
her. "You have lipstick smeared on your face, sweetie," Rini blushed more, "Here, I'll
show you," her mom said walking over to the mirror.
"No!" Rini cried. Her mom frowned, "Umm, that's ok. You go on ahead to the
party. Don't let Daddy scare the guests away. I'll take care of it." Her mom simply
nodded silently and walked out of the room. Rini got up and walked over to her mirror.
She peeked around the side and looked to make sure the shadow wasn't in it. She wiped
off all the lipstick and ran downstairs.
Her friend, Adalane, was waiting for her at the bottom of the grand staircase. As
soon as Rini saw her she hugged her, nearly knocking poor Adalane over. "I missed you
so much!" Rini screamed loud enough for a whole crowd of people to hear. Adalane had
been sent to private school and she hadn't seen her in about five months.
They pracitally danced the night away, as most 13 year-old girls do at parties, and
made a couple boys dance with them. After everyone ate cake and ice cream they
crowded around Rini and her tower of presents. The thought of the shadow entered her
mind again. She looked over to the foyer, and no one was in it. Maybe it wont happen,
she thought. All of a sudden, a bright light appeared outside the window, then faded. No
one else seemed to have seen it, since they were all quiet and all watching her.
After she unwrapped all of her presents, she was able to sneak outside. She
walked over to the window where she saw the light. Sitting on the windowsill were two
rather talkative, what looked like fairies, about the size of Rini's pinky. "Excuse me,"
Rini tried inturupting their comversation, but they still chatted on. "Excuse me, could I
ask," She was once again inturupted. "Excuse me! Could I ask why you're here?" She
said, and they finally stoped talking and smiled up at her.
"I'm Chini," said the one on the left.
"And I'm Thini," said the one on the right, "We're here to deliver a message to
Small Maiden. Do you know where we might find her?" she asked, still smiling.
"I'm Small Maiden, but please call me Rini. Why are you here?"
"Our master of the temple we stay at has asked us to tell you that one the day that
Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, and Jupiter line up, we have to take you to our temple,"
andsered Chini.
"Why?" Rini asked puzzled.
"Because he needs to talk to you. He --" Thini tried to explain, but was
inturupted.
"What are you doing, Rini? They're playing music again. Who are you talking
to?" Adalane said giggling.
"Sure, I was talking to Chini and Thini, They're adorable little fairies. Come here
and see them." Rini said smiling. But the Two lights flew up and dissappeared into the
heavens. Adalane walked over and looked at the windowsill.
"You have to stop talking to yourself, Rini. People will think you're insane, and
people don't want a psycho for a future queen." Adalane said, still giggling.
"They, but they...I," but before she could finish Adalane grabbed her hand and ran
with her back inside.
*~*~*
That night, after the party, Rini was called to her mother and father's room. When
she opened the door and peeked in, she was surprised to find Luna, Artemis, Diana, her
mom and dad, and four big suit cases sitting on the bed. She sat down inbetween Diana
and her mom. Luna and Artemis were crying like babies, and Rini got a horrible aching
in her stomach. "Mommy, is Diana moving away?" she asked looking up at her mom.
Her mother looked down at her and shook her head.
"Darling, when mommy was your age, she didn't know about sailor scouts or any
of that. You do, and we feel it's time for you to learn about being a real scout. Me and
your fatehr have rented an apartment in the far corner of Tokyo, and you're going to live
there, with Diana posing as your mother. Diana will get a job as a waitress to support the
both of you, with our help, moneywise that is. You will go to school at Crossroads Junior
High, just like I did. We have everything set up." Rini wanted to fight back. She wanted
to refuse everything they said and go to bed, but she knew not to. She could see the pain
in her parent's eyes, so she sat quietly and nodded.
"You'll be leaving in the morning," added a sobbing Luna.
"Diana is 18 now, and looks old enough to be our mother," her father said. Diana
glared at him and he noticed, "But she's still, beautiful, young, and healthy looking," he
added and faked a smile.
"Much better, smart one!" Diana smiled.
Rini hugged her mom and dad. "I'm a really tired so I'm gonna go to bed now.
Goodnight." She said and walked to her room. She lied down and closed her eyes, slowly
drifting into a deep sleep.
*~*~*
The next morning she got dressed and walked down to the kithen. She ate
breakfeast in silence, not even looking at her parents. She spent the rest of the time in her
room. Around 12:00 her father came in and sat next to her on the bed. He put one arm
around her and took her hand with his free hand. "We're going to miss you around here,
Sweetie. We're not trying to get rid of you, we just want you to learn about what being a
sailor scout is really about. We love you, but this is something we have to do."
"I can learn here, though!" she cried.
"You can learn better out there. We'll visit you, and you can visit us. Please don't
be mad at us." She smiled down at her.
"But I -" Rini began, but the door swung open. In burst Diana with a huge smile
on her face.
"Come along, darling daughter, the cab is waiting," She said, smiling more. Rini
hugged her dad and stood up, a bit happier. He picked her up and carried her downstairs
to the front gate of the Palace and set her down. She hugged her mom and blew them a
kiss as she got in the cab.
*~*~*
When they got to the apartment, Rini looked around slowly. It had two rooms,
one bathroom, a kitchen, a living room, and a balcony. the Palace had 118 rooms, at least
150 bathrooms, 3 kitchens, about 90 balconies, 10 living rooms, 4 studies, a garden,
patio, breeze way, deck, 40 acres of back yard and a stable. It was empty, and as she
looked around a chill went down her back.
To be continued...