Chapter One: Beginnings
The entire room was bathed in darkness. The only light came from a small orb placed on the floor in the center of the room. A figure was knelt beside it, his messy black bangs falling into his deep purple eyes as he gazed into the orb, staring intently at the figure of a fair-haired girl. She was sat on a bed, reading a book.
"It's her.. definitely..." Lux mumbled, "But why doesn't she remember?"
"Maybe it's something to do with the process of being reborn?" said a quiet voice belonging to the petite girl who'd appeared beside him.
"Well then how come Iremember?" Lux replied, not bothering to look at Tenshi.
"I don't know. I've never examined this process closely enough."
"Hmm.. Well if she won't remember, I'll have to make her remember."
Alethea opened her eyes, and blinked them rapidly. She was lying on her side in the bedroom of her apartment. The first thing she noticed was that it took longer than normal to remember the previous day's events; and they seemed like they happened weeks ago, not the day before.
Yawning, she sat up and pushed her knotted light brown hair out of her eyes. She got up, and walked over to the window, and peered out. The house directly across the street had Christmas decorations. Alethea snorted. "Stupid people.." she muttered.
"They probably think you're just as stupid."
"Who said that?!" Alethea spun around, and was surprised to see there was no one there.
"My, you should know by now who we are. You've spoken to us enough."
"Oh," said Alethea, a disgusted tone to her voice. "So why would they think I'm just as stupid? They're the ones with their Christmas decorations up in May!"
"Actually, it's the ninteenth of December."
Alethea blinked. "No it's not. Yesterday was May the eleventh."
"For you, yes. You don't remember anything later than that, thanks to us."
"Whaa? You mean you blotted out six whole months of my life?!"
"Basically, yes."
"WHAT?! Why the hell?!"
"We had to. You cause too much hassle."
Alethea sighed. "Nice. So what did you have me doing for half a year?"
"Sleeping."
"What?! Couldn't you have given me something more interesting to do?"
"You cause too much hassle."
"Pff. Nice."
"And besides, you messed up. We should have sent you straight to hell."
Alethea frowned. "I di- Oh.. The train.." The memories came back to her now, clear as ever. She suddered as she recalled the moment when she looked over her shoulder and saw the train hurtling towards her.
"Yep."
Alethea shrugged. "I thought I'd make it. The train was going faster than I'd expected it to. So do I get to come back again this time?"
"Don't you remember the deal?"
"I'd rather not."
"Too bad. You belong to us now."
Alethea folded her arms, feeling sorry for herself. "So I don't get to go back?"
"Why should you? We keep bringing you back time and time again, just so you can kill yourself again."
"But I don't mean to keep dying.." Alethea whined. "It just happens."
"You could prevent it."
Alethea snorted. "I'd rather die knowing I did something fun." What would be the point in living at all she never did anything scary or exciting?
"Well that's your problem."
Alethea frowned, her bottom lip pouting. "Please?"
"We're too nice. Very well then. On one condition."
"Okay! I'll do anything you say," replied Alethea.
"Very well then. You're going to become a guardian to someone."
Alethea tilted her head to the side slightly. "Like.. A guardian angel?"
"No. A guardian cat."
"Oh. That's not too bad.." Alethea considered it, "Do I-"
"No you don't get nine lives."
"MAN that sucks."
"We'd be stupid to give you more than one life."
"So.. Do I get brought back if I die?"
"No. If you die, or if the girl you're looking after dies, you go straight to hell."
"Nice. What if I succeed?"
"You will get your original form back and will automatically go to heaven when you die."
"Neat! So what's so special about this girl?"
"She's a senshi."
"Oh.. And she has bad guys stalking her, no doubt."
"Yep."
"And I gotta help her fight off these bad guys?"
"Kind of. But you gotta get her to believe she's a senshi first. She's stubborn and skeptical."
"Great," she said. "I'm screwed."
"I suppose you could put it that way."
"Shut up," replied Alethea. "So.. What do I do, exactly?"
"Actually, we were just getting to the details."
A while later, Alethea was standing in a long corridor, in front of a door that she assumed belonged to this kid she was supposed to be looking after. Everything looked huge from her point of view, as a smaller-than-usual cat. In this form, she couldn't even reach halfway to the doorhandle standing on her hind legs. 'I don't like this idea anymore..' she thought.
"Well you agreed to it."
'I hate you,' she.. thought.. angrily at the voices. 'Isn't there anyway I can get my normal form back?'
"Yes. Say 'I'm a pretty kitty'."
'I'm a pretty kitty.'
"Now say 'I'm a fluffly pretty kitty'."
'I'm a fluffy pretty kitty.'
"Now, 'I'm a fat fluffly pretty kitty'."
'I'm a fat fluffy pretty kitty.'
"Okay. Now say 'I'm a damn guillible pretty kitty'."
'I'm a damn guilli- YOU BASTARDS.'
The voices laughed.
'I hate you,' thought Alethea.
"Oh, and one more thing, you're name's Phoebe while you're a cat, okay?"
'Phoebe?! Why torment me with such a vile and disgusting name?!"
"Because."
'Man, you suck.'
"Meh, you're supposed to think that."
'Phoebe' was about to respond when she heard someone coming.
Celeste was coming back from her job at one of the local stores. She was unlocking the door to her apartment when she noticed the little black cat gazing up at her.
"How the hell'd a cat get in here?" she asked herself, but picked it up anyway. She noticed a white piece of paper sticking out from under a blue collar. It read: 'To Kallisto: I'm a lost homeless kitty. Will you please give me a home? If you don't, I will be very sad. P.S. My name is Phoebe.'
Phoebe sweatdropped. 'Such an idiotic sounding note..' she thought.
"Who the hell'd send Kallisto a cat? She doesn't even know anyone, and she doesn't have any friends.." Phoebe was surprised that this girl wasn't Kallisto.
"..and how do they suppose she'll look after it? The stupid girl can't even look after herself, let alone a cat as well. But I suppose if it's going to be dead soon then it doesn't matter," she was carrying the cat into the apartment now, reading over the note. "I'd better go get some cat supplies." Celeste tucked the note back into Pheobe's collar, and then dumped her in Kallisto's bedroom. A short while later Phoebe heard the door to the apartment slam.
"Why am I struggling to think about the situation positively?" she said to herself. Then she blinked, alarmed by the fact that she could talk.
Kallisto unlocked and pushed open the door to her apartment. Celeste briefly glanced up from the magazine she was reading, before continuing to read as though Kallisto wasn't there.
"Good afternoon to you too! And I'm just finethanks!" Kallisto was clearly not in a good mood, from the tone and volume of her voice. She proceeded to stomp into her room, and Celeste began to wonder if she should have hidden Phoebe, to prolong the poor cat's life. A loud, horrified shout from Kallisto's room confirmed her thoughts.
"CELESTE! Is this your idea of a joke?!" Kallisto was fuming, and holding Phoebe up by the tail. Phoebe was swinging back and forth, and trying to scratch Kallisto desperately, but failing. She would have just yelled at this clearly crazy girl to put her down, but that probably wouldn't do any good.
"Why would I waste money buying something that'd end up dead within a few days?" Celeste replied, not bothering to look up from her magazine. Kallisto growled, and shook Phoebe.
"Well how the HELL did this THING end up in MY ROOM?" Phoebe lashed out almost crazily, aiming with her claws for any part of Kallisto's body she could reach. But she could reach none, and Kallisto hardly noticed the movemeny.
"Someone left it for you on the doorstep," replied Celeste, putting down the magazine as she attempted to reason with the furious Kallisto. "Just calm down, okay? The cat's done nothing wrong."
"It was violating my personal space!" shouted Kallisto, shaking Phoebe about so violently that she felt dizzy.
"I..It's a she," Celeste said feebly.
"How do you know that?" Kallisto's fierce blue eyes glared at Celeste.
"Her name's Phoebe. It said on the note."
"Note?"
"In her collar."
Kallisto held Phoebe up and inspected her collar. She soon found said note, still miraculously tucked under the collar. She pulled it off, and read it, letting Phoebe go in the process. As soon as her paws made contact with the ground, Phoebe dashed towards Celeste, who picked her up and placed Phoebe on her lap. At least someone in this house was safe.
"Well," said Kallisto, in a calmer tone. "Whoever wrote this note is a complete psycho."
"I agree," replied Celeste. "But the cat has to go somewhere, and I bought a load of cat stuff earlier, just in case."
"You did? Oh.. That's what all those shopping bags were for.." Kallisto had been hoping to throw the cat in some trash can and forget about her completely, but now Celeste had spent money getting equipment, she couldn't. "I suppose she can say."
Kallisto walked over and took the cat from Celeste's lap. Phoebe tried to cling on, but Kallisto managed to prise her off. She mewed unhappily.
"Look," said Celeste, smiling as Kallisto walked towards her room. "She likes you already."
Rolling her eyes, Kallisto entered her room and dropped the cat on the floor. Ignoring her, she began to unpack all the cat things Celeste had bought. Various things that Phoebe had no intention of ever going near came out of the bags; mouldy-looking treats, a plastic stray that would serve as a litter box, a couple of ugly-looking cat toys, and several tins of catfood, which honestly looked like it'd just come out of a dog's behind, especially the way it came out of the tin, clumped together and slimy-looking.
"Come on cat. Eat up," said Kallisto in an only vaguely interested voice, as she left the room to go and fill up the water bowl. Had Phoebe been in her human form, she would have immediately tipped the entire contents of all the (twelve) cans of catfood into the bin. But she would never have been quick enough as a cat, especially considering how little time Kallisto was gone.
When she came back, she looked suprised that Phoebe hadn't touched the food. "Aren't you hungry?" she asked, placing the water next to the food.
"I'm not eating it," said Phoebe simply. The reaction this sentence caused was amazing. Kallisto's eyes widened in horror and her mouth dropped open. For a while, there was silence.
"Y-you spoke!" Kallisto exclaimed. Phoebe sighed. "Congratulations."
"But... You're a cat!"
"Not really," said Phoebe, a bored tone to her cat-like voice.
"How can you not really be a cat? You look like a cat to me," Kallisto's expression had changed from horror to disgust as she gazed at the cat.
"Well actually, I am a human trapped in the body of a cat," Phoebe replied, drawing out the sentence to make it sound more dramatic.
"A cat ate you?" Kallisto questioned, raising her eyebrows.
"No!" Phoebe sighed, "I got turned into a cat for.. causing too much hassle."
"What did you do?" Kallisto inquired.
"I.. uh.. Got myself killed a couple of times, but that's beside the point. I'm here to be your guardian," replied Phoebe.
"Guardian?" said Kallisto scornfully, "I can look after myself."
"Well the people who appointed me as your guardian don't seem to think you can," replied Phoebe.
"Well what's so special about me that makes me need a guardian?" questioned Kallisto. "I'm normal."
'I wouldn't say that,' thought Phoebe, thinking about the temper Kallisto had been in when she'd arrived home earlier. "Well maybe it's something to do with the fact that you're a senshi."
"A senshi? What's that?" Kallisto asked.
"You ever heard of Sailor Moon?"
"Yeah. Is she a senshi?"
"Mhmm."
"So I'm like Sailor Moon? And I can transform and kill monsters and stuff?" Kallisto raised her eyebrows, disbelieving.
"Basically, yes."
"But I thought Sailor Moon wasn't real. Does this mean she is?"
"Mmmmm.. yeah, but she's Japanese and lives in Japan so it's very unlikely you'll ever meet her," said Phoebe, and Kallisto wondered for a moment or two whether Phoebe could read her mind.
"Oh that's too bad.." she said, "But I don't believe you when you say I'm a senshi."
"What?" Phoebe had thought she'd already accepted this.
"I can't be. They're not real. And besides, I'm normal."
Phoebe sighed. A glittering metal pen appeared from nowhere, hovering in the air in front of Kallisto.
"Ah! The hell?!" Kallisto jumped, but then reached out and took the pen from the air. It was beautifully crafted, in a heavy metal that Kallisto knew would definitely be very valuable. Most of it was coral-colored, but the cap was made of a metal that looked somewhat like gold, but shinier- more magical, as Kallisto put it. On the cap was a symbol, a circle surrounded by three smaller circles.
"It's so pretty," breathed Kallisto, then she turned to glare at Phoebe. "What is it?"
"It's.. It's your transformation pen. In order to transform into Sailorselene, you need this item," she said. Kallisto snorted in disbelief. "You're crazy."
"I'm not the one talking to a cat," replied Phoebe. Kallisto considered this, and sighed.
"What do I do with it?"
"Just hold it up, and say 'Selene Celestial Power'" replied Phoebe.
"You better not be trying to make me look silly," said Kallisto, but did as she said anyway.
For a moment, there was silence. Then a bright light enveloped Kallisto, so intensely bright that she was forced to close her eyes. When the light faded, she looked down to find she was in a costume similar to a sailor's, but with an extremely short skirt. The skirt and Kallisto's collar were coral-colored, like the pen, and the front and back bows of her outfit were bright jade green. She wore elbow length white gloves with coral-colored rings around them, and on her feet she wore coral-colored pumps, with bright jade green ribbons winding their way up her legs, to just below her knees. Her light blonde hair was swept to one side, where it fell in a loose curl on the left side of her head.
"Believe me now?" asked Phoebe. Kallisto shook her head.
"I'm dreaming. This is impossible," she said.
"I assure you, you are not dreaming," replied Phoebe.
"Prove it!" replied Kallisto.
"Very well then," Phoebe walked up to Kallisto and bit her ankle.
"OW! Okay, I believe you!" said Kallisto, attempted to kick Phoebe away.
"Good," Phoebe moved out of the way before Kallisto's foot could come into contact with her, and retreated. "To detransform, just think about returning to normal."
"Uh.. okay.." Kallisto detransformed, and sat down on her bed, gazing at her pen.
"I'm not dreaming, am I?" she said quietly.
"Nope."
"So I have to fight?" Kallisto questioned, not taking her eyes off of her pen.
"Yeah," replied Phoebe, causing Kallisto to let out a pained moan.
"Why me?" she whined.
"Because you are the reincarnation of the princess of the planet Luna," replied Phoebe.
"What? I'm a princess? And I've never heard of a planet called Luna!"
"Luna hasn't been discovered by scientists yet, and yes, you are a princess."
"Surely they'd be able to find a planet that has people living on it!" exclaimed Kallisto.
"Meh.. There is an explaination, something about it being hidden. I wasn't really listening when they were explaining that."
"Well that's useful. I'm a princess from a planet I'm not even sure exists," said Kallisto, rolling her eyes.
"Oh, it does exist."
"Luna's latin for moon, right? Why is my planet named after the moon?"
"No idea."
Kallisto sighed. "Am I the only senshi fighting?"
"No, there are others. You'll have to find them as you go along though."
Kallisto sighed again. "And I suppose I can't back out?"
"Nope. If you do, the world will most likely perish," replied Phoebe.
Kallisto groaned. "I suppose I'll just have to try my best then."
"You do that."
"What if I die?" Kallisto asked.
"Not likely. If you weren't able to defeat these villains, you wouldn't be a senshi."
"Oh. I suppose I can accept that."
"I'm hungry. You got any food?" asked Phoebe.
"Yeah, that catfood," replied Kallisto.
"It looks like someone was sick in the bowl."
"True.. But Celeste spent a fortune on it."
"That's her problem! I'm not eating it," replied Phoebe grumpily.
"Well then you'll starve."
"If I die, there won't be anyone to tell you what to do when we meet a new enemy."
"I could handle them myself!"
"You don't even know what your attack phrase is," Phoebe pointed out.
"True.." said Kallisto, with a sigh. "Fine, what d'you want?"
"Uh.. Got any fish?" Phoebe asked, finding she had a strange craving for fish all of a sudden.
"Sure."
END OF CHAPTER ONE!