While walking along my street one day, I found an old lamp in the gutter.
'Hey,' I thought, ' maybe it's magic and will give me wishes!' I eagerly
rubbed it and out popped a fat purple genie. 'Master,' he said, ' your
wish is my command. You have three wishes to make.' The first thing out
of my mouth was, ' I wish I own Sailor Moon!' 'Sorry, no can do,' he said,
' It's already owned by Naoko Tekuchi and a bunch of other companies.'
'Um... okay, how about My Little Pony?' 'Nope, Hasbro and Disney.' 'The
Wizard of Oz?' 'The Baum family, MGM studios, and a whole mess of other
people.' I pondered a while on what to wish for, then it came to me. ' I
wish that I can own my characters. I wish that people would not copy my
character or other peoples explicitly, (they can use the name, I didn't
originally make up the term "Sailor", Naoko did). And I wish that people
would review my stories, good or bad.' 'Done, although the last one is a
bit iffy, I can't make people review, they have to do it out of the
goodness of their hearts.'
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~
The Darkness of the Past. Hotaru's Strange Dream.
" Are you sure you will be all right by yourself baby?"
" Cut it out Mom! Of course I'll be okay. I'm just going a few hundred light years away, and it's not like I've never flown a spaceship before. Besides, you and sis are coming after me tomorrow."
" I wish you would wait and go with us, why don't you want to be at your sister's party?"
" She doesn't need me there, she has all her friends to help her celebrate it."
Making a face at the thought the girl turned to get into the ship.
" Princess Aveta will be there," the mother said softly.
The girl stopped and turned slowly, a look of uncertainty crossed her young face.
" I know, but..." she paused unsure how to continue, her mother looking at her expectantly.
" It's just that... I don't think we're friends anymore. Lately she's been with sis and Princess Sakti and all the others and I just feel out of place. Anyway, if I go ahead of you guys there will be time for me to visit Borealis."
Nodding her head, the older woman looked at her daughter sadly and motioned her to her. Holding her close she kissed the top of her head and stepped back.
Looking at her at arms length she smiled, " I will never get used to how short your hair is now, and that color," she shook her head, " I wish you had chosen something more natural looking."
" Mo-om, there's nothing wrong with my hair, Princess Yemana's hair is teal and it's natural. Ice blue is a perfectly natural hair color and no one can tell mine isn't."
" Don't you want to wait and say goodbye to your sister? She is just finishing the last details of her party."
" She's probably too busy staring off into space again. It won't break her heart if I leave without saying goodbye."
With that, the girl turned and strode to the ship, leaving her mother's protests to fly away into the wind. Climbing into the cockpit, the familiar whoosh of the door comforted her. She yawned and leaned back in her chair, cracking her knuckles in the way her mother particularly hated: pulling the fingers one by one out of their joints.
" On the road again at last," she sighed as she punched some figures into a few of the many buttons on the control panel. As the engines roared into life, she eased back on the control stick and began to leave the atmosphere of her home.
On the ground her mother stood, her arm up in a motionless wave, lavender pigtails blowing in the breeze. And then, she was gone. Out of her life again. Suddenly, her older daughter came flying down he stairs, blonde hair trailing wildly behind her.
" Where...is she?" she huffed as she looked around, her blue eyes finally settling on her mother.
" She left without saying goodbye again didn't she," the words twisted out of the slight girl in a stifled sob. There was no question in her hollow tone.
" She said that you would not care, do you have any idea what she meant?"
" No, why would she think that? Of course it upsets me!" she said angrily, twirling one pigtail with her finger. " I want to go now too, cancel the party."
" You cannot cancel your birthday party now. I see the first guests arriving already."
As they looked, they saw two ships landing nearby and finely dressed people stepping out of them. The queen led her daughter over to the first group of people.
While greeting the people, her mind was nagged with a shadowy doubt. What had changed her happy daughter into the recluse she had just said goodbye to? Inwardly she shook her head, ' For her sake I hope it is not what I am thinking.'
Continuing on into the ballroom, she seated herself in the throne and continued the social niceties while only half attentive. She noticed her daughter dancing with a masked man and wondered who it was. Then, the two slipped away in the direction of the balcony. Just as the queen was getting up to find them, a great crash rocked the palace flinging her onto the floor. Pulling herself up she continued over towards the balcony hoping to find her daughter there. There was no sign of her. As she turned looking for her, a loud explosion nearby caught her attention. She summoned a strange wand into her hand and ran towards the sounds hoping to protect her daughter. ' I hope my daughters are safe,' she thought as she plunged into the panicked crowd and disappeared in the sea of faces.
As the quietness of space enveloped her, the girl turned her unnerving silver stare onto the control panel. Looking at the space map, she checked it for the patterns of possible meteor showers, asteroid fields, and comet orbits. For a second she thought she saw something blip by on the screen, but when she looked again it was gone.
" Computer, analyze that object."
" The object was metallic in nature, and small. I believe it was space junk."
" Okay, well, then prepare to jump to light speed."
" Light speed activated."
The girl leaned back as the engines revved beneath her. Suddenly, the ship seemed to rip from the very fabric of time and space as it surged forward towards the distant planet of Mau. As the system rushed past her, a strange force suddenly came at the ship and hit it with great strength. The pilot was knocked out of her chair and as she struggled to get back into it, she noticed the coordinates were now scrambled. The strange craft had sent her flying in the wrong direction. All of a sudden, her seatbelt came down and clasped itself around her.
" Hey! What's going on here?!"
" We are now entering Deep Space, Hyper Sleep engaged."
" No, no! Computer stop! Abort light speed!"
" That is impossible, light speed will continue its designated course."
As the glass of the Hyper Sleep capsule came down around her, the blue-haired girl struggled vainly against the strap. Her pounding on the glass slowed until, finally, it stopped, the gas having taken its effect.
Hotaru woke up screaming.
The frail girl clutched her blanket to her chest while her breath came in ragged gasps and her terror-filled eyes stared wildly about her. Slowly, the realization came that it had just been a dream. 'No, not a dream,' she corrected herself, ' a nightmare.'
Still shaking off the effects of it, Hotaru threw back her twisted covers and rose unsteadily to her feet. Slowly she made her way out of her room and into the dark hallway. Feeling her way along the wall, she found the bathroom, flipped on the light switch and stepped inside. She splashed her face with the icy water a few times as the dread slowly faded, replaced by they urge to fall asleep right where she stood.
The girl dried off her face, and made her way back to her bedroom, the cheeriness of her desk lamp leading her forward. Switching it off, she climbed back into bed and was asleep without another thought.
Hotaru shifted uncomfortably in her seat as her English teacher droned on and on. Glancing furtively over at the clock, the girl's purple highlights shone in her black hair. Five more minutes. Sighing, she drummed her fingernails on the desk and continued to doodle in her notebook. Propping her head up to stave off boredom, Hotaru distractedly scribbled on her paper. Glancing down, she started in astonishment at what she saw.
" Is something the matter Tomoe-kun?"
" No! Uh, no, nothing's wrong, Saruka-sensei."
" May we continue with the lesson?"
The teacher did not wait for an answer, but swiftly turned her attention back to the lecture. Hotaru looked again at the drawing in front of her. Yes, it was still there. But how could it be? It was a picture of the Solar System from the Sun to the last icy planet of Pluto. The Moon was close to the Earth, and along with the planets had its symbol drawn on it. When she looked closer at the Moon, she saw a small comet-like object traveling away from it. At first she thought it was just her mind playing tricks on her, but there it was again. The comet was moving. As Hotaru watched it, she felt herself drawn away with it. It moved past endless planets, systems, and galaxies. It seemed to go on forever. At last the planet Earth came into view and the comet slowed its speed. Hotaru jerked awake at the loud thud of the classroom door as the last student left for the day. She looked up to see her teacher standing in front of her, an annoyed look on her face.
" It is not like you to fall asleep in my class, Tomoe-kun. I think you should try to get more sleep."
" Yes, Saruka-sensei."
As Hotaru walked out of the school she studied the notebook. The comet was now by Earth. She shook her head and shut it, sticking it back in her bag.
'First that awful dream, now this,' she thought, ' what next?'
As she walked, the tall stairs of the Hikawa Jinja came into view. The sunlight streamed through the branches of the cherry trees making dappled shadows on the steps as the frail girl walked up, wondering what it all meant. She approached the large wooden doors of the temple and grasped the dull bronze knocker. The heavy metal made a loud thud against the door that was opened almost immediately by a very angry-looking girl in whose black hair red highlights flickered like low flames.
" Uh...hi, Rei-chan," Hotaru's dark purple eyes glancing nervously into the priestess' dusty violet ones.
" Hey Hotaru-chan!" the older girl trilled, the anger burning out of her eyes.
Hotaru was relieved she wasn't Rei's target.
" Come on in and join the party waiting for our leader to show up,' Rei motioned no longer cheery, " she's late as usual."
" Don't sweat it Rei-chan, she's still got five minutes to go. Your clock is probably fast, check your watch," Makoto yawned from her spot on Rei's bed.
" Yeah," Minako continued, " she's probably just trying to be passionately late."
" Minako..." the group of girls groaned.
Artemis made a face and shook his head, " Minako-chan you never will learn will you? The saying is 'fashionably late'."
" Oh," the blonde girl face-faulted and tugged embarrassedly at her red hair bow.
The room grew silent as Hotaru took a seat on the floor near her friend Chibi-usa. Looking at her watch, she noticed Usagi had one minute left. Her destruction was imminent.
Just then another loud thud warned them that another person was at the door. As Rei got up from her desk chair to answer it, Hotaru silently hoped it was Usagi.
" Hi minna-chan!" merrily chirped the blonde odango-atama as she came bouncing into the room.
Rei stalked into the room behind her, half surprised and half irritated that she didn't have to lecture her friend on her tardiness.
Usagi yawned and sprawled herself on Rei's bed and grabbed a nearby manga, " Let's get this meeting started, okay?"
Luna nodded and padded over to Ami who pulled out her Mercury computer.
" Ami-chan and I have been analyzing readouts from the computer. It seems that all negative energy has disappeared from our entire galaxy," the cat looked at the confused faces of the girls.
" This does not bode well," Ami added, " whatever the cause is. Even during times of peace, negative power flows through the positive universe. That is the natural way of things, dark and light existing in tandem, neither able to thrive without the other."
" As you can see," Luna continued, " we need to find the source of this imbalance and fix the problem immediately."
" What if the problem is a new enemy gathering allies," Usagi voiced worriedly, "what would we do then? How could we ever defeat them?"
At this Chibi-usa piped up, " Don't worry Usagi-chan, you've always found a way to defeat your enemies. You won't fail now."
Usagi looked gratefully at her future daughter, yet she was very puzzled, " How did I ever raise such a smart kid?" she asked ruffling the girl's pink pigtails.
" Besides that distressing information, anything else that needs to be discussed?" Rei looked around the circle expectantly.
" I have something," Hotaru said quietly.
" Go on Hotaru-chan," Luna said gently.
" I had a very weird dream last night. It started out that I am walking alone in the park and I see someone far off that I recognize and wave to. I can't see her face, but I see that she has icy blue hair. As I run to catch up with her she turns and is suddenly no longer the same person. It is still her, but somehow....different. I watch her closely as she smiles at me and beckons me forward. Then she turns and screams something I can't quite catch and then we're running together, her holding tightly onto my wrist. When I woke up this morning, my wrist was actually sore. After running for what seems an eternity, we come to a cliff and in front of it rises this horrible dark thing. I can't even describe it. It was like something and yet nothing at the same time. It reaches out as the girl tries to run, but she is too late. It reaches into her chest and pulls out her still beating heart. I'm frozen to the spot and as she turns to look at me, her face a mask of pain, she asks me, ' Why didn't you destroy me when I told you to?' Then, she slowly turns towards the mass, and grabbing me, shoves me at it. That's when I wake up screaming."
" Eww, creepy," Minako and Usagi chorused.
" Please, spare us the dumb comments guys. Is that it for the meeting, Luna?"
The cat nodded.
" Well, I'll see you guys tomorrow for the study session, I have too much to do today."
The girls all said their goodbyes and left the room. Hotaru was still gathering her school supplies and was going out the door when Rei stopped her.
" Hotaru-chan, could you stay? I want to talk to you some more."
Hotaru put down her things, " Yeah, sure. What is it?"
" I want you to describe your dream for me again."
Hotaru told it again while Rei looked thoughtfully out the window. When Hotaru finished, Rei turned towards her again, her spiritual advisor look on her face.
" Was there anything else you can remember, anything at all?"
" Well, not really, other than that the park seemed familiar."
The older girl looked at Hotaru closely, as if reading her thoughts. Hotaru shifted her feet nervously.
" There was something else that happened to me," she said almost whispering.
The priestess looked at her expectantly.
" I had a sort of vision in class today; I blacked out."
" That settles it. Come on Hotaru-chan, I want to do a fire reading on you."
Hotaru followed her friend into the small room that held the sacred fire, explaining her vision on the way. Just about the only furnishing in the room was the rug that Rei knelt on in front of the fire.
Hotaru sat silently to the side and watched as Rei's face contorted in concentration. She mumbled words while making strange figures with her hands. Suddenly, her eyes flew open and she fell forward on her hands, her breathing ragged.
" Rei-chan! Are you all right?" the younger girl put a worried hand on her shoulder.
" I'm fine, thanks Hotaru-chan. That was just...more difficult than usual. I feel a little drained."
" I know how you feel, you just need to lay down and rest."
" I will, but you must promise me something, be careful. The vision I received was unclear, but it gave me a bad feeling. Keep alert and watch out for yourself."
" I promise, Rei-chan."
" Okay then, I guess I'll see you at the study session tomorrow."
" See you then," Hotaru said more cheerfully than she felt.
The girl walked through the courtyard and down the steps, she was so deep in thought, that before she knew it, she was walking into a park.
" It's the park from my dream!" Hotaru wondered out loud.
A few people nearby turned and gave her weird looks, and then hurried away. She decided to keep going even though the place gave her the creeps after her dream. Strolling along the path, she gazed up at the brilliant blue sky and watched as the clouds chased each other across the sunny afternoon. As she watched, something out of place caught her eye. A silver streak arched down from above and traced a path towards the park. It came nearer and nearer and crashed with a loud sound into a small woodland a short distance from the trail on which Hotaru stood.
She turned towards the cluster of trees where the strange object had fallen.
'Did anybody see that?' she thought.
Looking around, the slight girl noticed that no one was in sight.
" Where is everyone?" she yelled.
Silence.
Eyeing the thicket warily, she cautiously stepped forward. As she drew closer, an uneasy feeling settled upon her. She stopped, uncertain what to do. Should she turn back or continue on? The weaker human screamed for her to go, to run away and never look back, but the soldier within her commanded her onward. It reminded her of her duty to protect the weak and destroy evil.
The two options pulled at her mind and heart when, at last, one triumphed. She walked on, though not entirely of her own will. Something tugged at her as though she was being led on a string. Stealthily creeping to the edge of the trees, she peered into the gloom. Under their eaves, all was quiet, but that did nothing to comfort the girl. No sound of beast or bird broke that utter stillness. Stepping on a dry twig, the loud crack startled her, but there was still no sound except that of her stifled scream. The musty smell of moss and the sharp odor of bark drifted on the breeze that ruffled her hair. The sunlight filtering down through the boughs created a place of gray twilight.
It was beautiful with that mysterious quality of nature that makes the untamed seem frightening and wonderful at the same time. In spite of this, Hotaru was filled with a growing sense of foreboding as she paused to look back the way she had come. She shook her head and marched forward with renewed determination. Pushing her way through the thick undergrowth, she saw ahead of her a bright light that cut through the dimness of the grove. Slowing her pace, though her heart beat faster, she approached the clearing.
The silence was broken when a loud roar sounded from somewhere nearby. Startled by she knew not what, Hotaru turned to run when she heard a sound of pain, quickly cut off. Steeling her will, the petite girl pulled her henshin pen from her pocket. She grasped the cool surface of the dark purple wand and went down onto her hands and knees. Crawling now, she peeked through the foliage and saw a small metallic black craft.
Sensing a sudden movement off to her right, she quickly somersaulted into the clearing, rolling under the attack. She spun around, searching the trees for her unseen assailant. Tensing as she heard rustling in the bushes, she held up her pen.
" Saturn Star Power, Make-up!"
As the power of Saturn surged through the small girl, her fuku and her Silence Glaive shimmered into being. Holding the wicked blade in front of her, Sailor Saturn ended crouched in a defensive posture. Her eyes narrowed, her senshi powers sensing a strange presence.
Then, to her surprise, a cloaked figure emerged from the circle of trees and slowly advanced toward her, hands to its sides. It stopped just before her glaive, and bowed its head slightly forward. The Senshi of Silence was puzzled at this and nodded her head in return.
" Anor, Serna Ti'alla," it said in a lilting female voice.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~
The Darkness of the Past. Hotaru's Strange Dream.
" Are you sure you will be all right by yourself baby?"
" Cut it out Mom! Of course I'll be okay. I'm just going a few hundred light years away, and it's not like I've never flown a spaceship before. Besides, you and sis are coming after me tomorrow."
" I wish you would wait and go with us, why don't you want to be at your sister's party?"
" She doesn't need me there, she has all her friends to help her celebrate it."
Making a face at the thought the girl turned to get into the ship.
" Princess Aveta will be there," the mother said softly.
The girl stopped and turned slowly, a look of uncertainty crossed her young face.
" I know, but..." she paused unsure how to continue, her mother looking at her expectantly.
" It's just that... I don't think we're friends anymore. Lately she's been with sis and Princess Sakti and all the others and I just feel out of place. Anyway, if I go ahead of you guys there will be time for me to visit Borealis."
Nodding her head, the older woman looked at her daughter sadly and motioned her to her. Holding her close she kissed the top of her head and stepped back.
Looking at her at arms length she smiled, " I will never get used to how short your hair is now, and that color," she shook her head, " I wish you had chosen something more natural looking."
" Mo-om, there's nothing wrong with my hair, Princess Yemana's hair is teal and it's natural. Ice blue is a perfectly natural hair color and no one can tell mine isn't."
" Don't you want to wait and say goodbye to your sister? She is just finishing the last details of her party."
" She's probably too busy staring off into space again. It won't break her heart if I leave without saying goodbye."
With that, the girl turned and strode to the ship, leaving her mother's protests to fly away into the wind. Climbing into the cockpit, the familiar whoosh of the door comforted her. She yawned and leaned back in her chair, cracking her knuckles in the way her mother particularly hated: pulling the fingers one by one out of their joints.
" On the road again at last," she sighed as she punched some figures into a few of the many buttons on the control panel. As the engines roared into life, she eased back on the control stick and began to leave the atmosphere of her home.
On the ground her mother stood, her arm up in a motionless wave, lavender pigtails blowing in the breeze. And then, she was gone. Out of her life again. Suddenly, her older daughter came flying down he stairs, blonde hair trailing wildly behind her.
" Where...is she?" she huffed as she looked around, her blue eyes finally settling on her mother.
" She left without saying goodbye again didn't she," the words twisted out of the slight girl in a stifled sob. There was no question in her hollow tone.
" She said that you would not care, do you have any idea what she meant?"
" No, why would she think that? Of course it upsets me!" she said angrily, twirling one pigtail with her finger. " I want to go now too, cancel the party."
" You cannot cancel your birthday party now. I see the first guests arriving already."
As they looked, they saw two ships landing nearby and finely dressed people stepping out of them. The queen led her daughter over to the first group of people.
While greeting the people, her mind was nagged with a shadowy doubt. What had changed her happy daughter into the recluse she had just said goodbye to? Inwardly she shook her head, ' For her sake I hope it is not what I am thinking.'
Continuing on into the ballroom, she seated herself in the throne and continued the social niceties while only half attentive. She noticed her daughter dancing with a masked man and wondered who it was. Then, the two slipped away in the direction of the balcony. Just as the queen was getting up to find them, a great crash rocked the palace flinging her onto the floor. Pulling herself up she continued over towards the balcony hoping to find her daughter there. There was no sign of her. As she turned looking for her, a loud explosion nearby caught her attention. She summoned a strange wand into her hand and ran towards the sounds hoping to protect her daughter. ' I hope my daughters are safe,' she thought as she plunged into the panicked crowd and disappeared in the sea of faces.
As the quietness of space enveloped her, the girl turned her unnerving silver stare onto the control panel. Looking at the space map, she checked it for the patterns of possible meteor showers, asteroid fields, and comet orbits. For a second she thought she saw something blip by on the screen, but when she looked again it was gone.
" Computer, analyze that object."
" The object was metallic in nature, and small. I believe it was space junk."
" Okay, well, then prepare to jump to light speed."
" Light speed activated."
The girl leaned back as the engines revved beneath her. Suddenly, the ship seemed to rip from the very fabric of time and space as it surged forward towards the distant planet of Mau. As the system rushed past her, a strange force suddenly came at the ship and hit it with great strength. The pilot was knocked out of her chair and as she struggled to get back into it, she noticed the coordinates were now scrambled. The strange craft had sent her flying in the wrong direction. All of a sudden, her seatbelt came down and clasped itself around her.
" Hey! What's going on here?!"
" We are now entering Deep Space, Hyper Sleep engaged."
" No, no! Computer stop! Abort light speed!"
" That is impossible, light speed will continue its designated course."
As the glass of the Hyper Sleep capsule came down around her, the blue-haired girl struggled vainly against the strap. Her pounding on the glass slowed until, finally, it stopped, the gas having taken its effect.
Hotaru woke up screaming.
The frail girl clutched her blanket to her chest while her breath came in ragged gasps and her terror-filled eyes stared wildly about her. Slowly, the realization came that it had just been a dream. 'No, not a dream,' she corrected herself, ' a nightmare.'
Still shaking off the effects of it, Hotaru threw back her twisted covers and rose unsteadily to her feet. Slowly she made her way out of her room and into the dark hallway. Feeling her way along the wall, she found the bathroom, flipped on the light switch and stepped inside. She splashed her face with the icy water a few times as the dread slowly faded, replaced by they urge to fall asleep right where she stood.
The girl dried off her face, and made her way back to her bedroom, the cheeriness of her desk lamp leading her forward. Switching it off, she climbed back into bed and was asleep without another thought.
Hotaru shifted uncomfortably in her seat as her English teacher droned on and on. Glancing furtively over at the clock, the girl's purple highlights shone in her black hair. Five more minutes. Sighing, she drummed her fingernails on the desk and continued to doodle in her notebook. Propping her head up to stave off boredom, Hotaru distractedly scribbled on her paper. Glancing down, she started in astonishment at what she saw.
" Is something the matter Tomoe-kun?"
" No! Uh, no, nothing's wrong, Saruka-sensei."
" May we continue with the lesson?"
The teacher did not wait for an answer, but swiftly turned her attention back to the lecture. Hotaru looked again at the drawing in front of her. Yes, it was still there. But how could it be? It was a picture of the Solar System from the Sun to the last icy planet of Pluto. The Moon was close to the Earth, and along with the planets had its symbol drawn on it. When she looked closer at the Moon, she saw a small comet-like object traveling away from it. At first she thought it was just her mind playing tricks on her, but there it was again. The comet was moving. As Hotaru watched it, she felt herself drawn away with it. It moved past endless planets, systems, and galaxies. It seemed to go on forever. At last the planet Earth came into view and the comet slowed its speed. Hotaru jerked awake at the loud thud of the classroom door as the last student left for the day. She looked up to see her teacher standing in front of her, an annoyed look on her face.
" It is not like you to fall asleep in my class, Tomoe-kun. I think you should try to get more sleep."
" Yes, Saruka-sensei."
As Hotaru walked out of the school she studied the notebook. The comet was now by Earth. She shook her head and shut it, sticking it back in her bag.
'First that awful dream, now this,' she thought, ' what next?'
As she walked, the tall stairs of the Hikawa Jinja came into view. The sunlight streamed through the branches of the cherry trees making dappled shadows on the steps as the frail girl walked up, wondering what it all meant. She approached the large wooden doors of the temple and grasped the dull bronze knocker. The heavy metal made a loud thud against the door that was opened almost immediately by a very angry-looking girl in whose black hair red highlights flickered like low flames.
" Uh...hi, Rei-chan," Hotaru's dark purple eyes glancing nervously into the priestess' dusty violet ones.
" Hey Hotaru-chan!" the older girl trilled, the anger burning out of her eyes.
Hotaru was relieved she wasn't Rei's target.
" Come on in and join the party waiting for our leader to show up,' Rei motioned no longer cheery, " she's late as usual."
" Don't sweat it Rei-chan, she's still got five minutes to go. Your clock is probably fast, check your watch," Makoto yawned from her spot on Rei's bed.
" Yeah," Minako continued, " she's probably just trying to be passionately late."
" Minako..." the group of girls groaned.
Artemis made a face and shook his head, " Minako-chan you never will learn will you? The saying is 'fashionably late'."
" Oh," the blonde girl face-faulted and tugged embarrassedly at her red hair bow.
The room grew silent as Hotaru took a seat on the floor near her friend Chibi-usa. Looking at her watch, she noticed Usagi had one minute left. Her destruction was imminent.
Just then another loud thud warned them that another person was at the door. As Rei got up from her desk chair to answer it, Hotaru silently hoped it was Usagi.
" Hi minna-chan!" merrily chirped the blonde odango-atama as she came bouncing into the room.
Rei stalked into the room behind her, half surprised and half irritated that she didn't have to lecture her friend on her tardiness.
Usagi yawned and sprawled herself on Rei's bed and grabbed a nearby manga, " Let's get this meeting started, okay?"
Luna nodded and padded over to Ami who pulled out her Mercury computer.
" Ami-chan and I have been analyzing readouts from the computer. It seems that all negative energy has disappeared from our entire galaxy," the cat looked at the confused faces of the girls.
" This does not bode well," Ami added, " whatever the cause is. Even during times of peace, negative power flows through the positive universe. That is the natural way of things, dark and light existing in tandem, neither able to thrive without the other."
" As you can see," Luna continued, " we need to find the source of this imbalance and fix the problem immediately."
" What if the problem is a new enemy gathering allies," Usagi voiced worriedly, "what would we do then? How could we ever defeat them?"
At this Chibi-usa piped up, " Don't worry Usagi-chan, you've always found a way to defeat your enemies. You won't fail now."
Usagi looked gratefully at her future daughter, yet she was very puzzled, " How did I ever raise such a smart kid?" she asked ruffling the girl's pink pigtails.
" Besides that distressing information, anything else that needs to be discussed?" Rei looked around the circle expectantly.
" I have something," Hotaru said quietly.
" Go on Hotaru-chan," Luna said gently.
" I had a very weird dream last night. It started out that I am walking alone in the park and I see someone far off that I recognize and wave to. I can't see her face, but I see that she has icy blue hair. As I run to catch up with her she turns and is suddenly no longer the same person. It is still her, but somehow....different. I watch her closely as she smiles at me and beckons me forward. Then she turns and screams something I can't quite catch and then we're running together, her holding tightly onto my wrist. When I woke up this morning, my wrist was actually sore. After running for what seems an eternity, we come to a cliff and in front of it rises this horrible dark thing. I can't even describe it. It was like something and yet nothing at the same time. It reaches out as the girl tries to run, but she is too late. It reaches into her chest and pulls out her still beating heart. I'm frozen to the spot and as she turns to look at me, her face a mask of pain, she asks me, ' Why didn't you destroy me when I told you to?' Then, she slowly turns towards the mass, and grabbing me, shoves me at it. That's when I wake up screaming."
" Eww, creepy," Minako and Usagi chorused.
" Please, spare us the dumb comments guys. Is that it for the meeting, Luna?"
The cat nodded.
" Well, I'll see you guys tomorrow for the study session, I have too much to do today."
The girls all said their goodbyes and left the room. Hotaru was still gathering her school supplies and was going out the door when Rei stopped her.
" Hotaru-chan, could you stay? I want to talk to you some more."
Hotaru put down her things, " Yeah, sure. What is it?"
" I want you to describe your dream for me again."
Hotaru told it again while Rei looked thoughtfully out the window. When Hotaru finished, Rei turned towards her again, her spiritual advisor look on her face.
" Was there anything else you can remember, anything at all?"
" Well, not really, other than that the park seemed familiar."
The older girl looked at Hotaru closely, as if reading her thoughts. Hotaru shifted her feet nervously.
" There was something else that happened to me," she said almost whispering.
The priestess looked at her expectantly.
" I had a sort of vision in class today; I blacked out."
" That settles it. Come on Hotaru-chan, I want to do a fire reading on you."
Hotaru followed her friend into the small room that held the sacred fire, explaining her vision on the way. Just about the only furnishing in the room was the rug that Rei knelt on in front of the fire.
Hotaru sat silently to the side and watched as Rei's face contorted in concentration. She mumbled words while making strange figures with her hands. Suddenly, her eyes flew open and she fell forward on her hands, her breathing ragged.
" Rei-chan! Are you all right?" the younger girl put a worried hand on her shoulder.
" I'm fine, thanks Hotaru-chan. That was just...more difficult than usual. I feel a little drained."
" I know how you feel, you just need to lay down and rest."
" I will, but you must promise me something, be careful. The vision I received was unclear, but it gave me a bad feeling. Keep alert and watch out for yourself."
" I promise, Rei-chan."
" Okay then, I guess I'll see you at the study session tomorrow."
" See you then," Hotaru said more cheerfully than she felt.
The girl walked through the courtyard and down the steps, she was so deep in thought, that before she knew it, she was walking into a park.
" It's the park from my dream!" Hotaru wondered out loud.
A few people nearby turned and gave her weird looks, and then hurried away. She decided to keep going even though the place gave her the creeps after her dream. Strolling along the path, she gazed up at the brilliant blue sky and watched as the clouds chased each other across the sunny afternoon. As she watched, something out of place caught her eye. A silver streak arched down from above and traced a path towards the park. It came nearer and nearer and crashed with a loud sound into a small woodland a short distance from the trail on which Hotaru stood.
She turned towards the cluster of trees where the strange object had fallen.
'Did anybody see that?' she thought.
Looking around, the slight girl noticed that no one was in sight.
" Where is everyone?" she yelled.
Silence.
Eyeing the thicket warily, she cautiously stepped forward. As she drew closer, an uneasy feeling settled upon her. She stopped, uncertain what to do. Should she turn back or continue on? The weaker human screamed for her to go, to run away and never look back, but the soldier within her commanded her onward. It reminded her of her duty to protect the weak and destroy evil.
The two options pulled at her mind and heart when, at last, one triumphed. She walked on, though not entirely of her own will. Something tugged at her as though she was being led on a string. Stealthily creeping to the edge of the trees, she peered into the gloom. Under their eaves, all was quiet, but that did nothing to comfort the girl. No sound of beast or bird broke that utter stillness. Stepping on a dry twig, the loud crack startled her, but there was still no sound except that of her stifled scream. The musty smell of moss and the sharp odor of bark drifted on the breeze that ruffled her hair. The sunlight filtering down through the boughs created a place of gray twilight.
It was beautiful with that mysterious quality of nature that makes the untamed seem frightening and wonderful at the same time. In spite of this, Hotaru was filled with a growing sense of foreboding as she paused to look back the way she had come. She shook her head and marched forward with renewed determination. Pushing her way through the thick undergrowth, she saw ahead of her a bright light that cut through the dimness of the grove. Slowing her pace, though her heart beat faster, she approached the clearing.
The silence was broken when a loud roar sounded from somewhere nearby. Startled by she knew not what, Hotaru turned to run when she heard a sound of pain, quickly cut off. Steeling her will, the petite girl pulled her henshin pen from her pocket. She grasped the cool surface of the dark purple wand and went down onto her hands and knees. Crawling now, she peeked through the foliage and saw a small metallic black craft.
Sensing a sudden movement off to her right, she quickly somersaulted into the clearing, rolling under the attack. She spun around, searching the trees for her unseen assailant. Tensing as she heard rustling in the bushes, she held up her pen.
" Saturn Star Power, Make-up!"
As the power of Saturn surged through the small girl, her fuku and her Silence Glaive shimmered into being. Holding the wicked blade in front of her, Sailor Saturn ended crouched in a defensive posture. Her eyes narrowed, her senshi powers sensing a strange presence.
Then, to her surprise, a cloaked figure emerged from the circle of trees and slowly advanced toward her, hands to its sides. It stopped just before her glaive, and bowed its head slightly forward. The Senshi of Silence was puzzled at this and nodded her head in return.
" Anor, Serna Ti'alla," it said in a lilting female voice.