A.N.: Hi there, welcome to the second story in the Sailor Moon P saga, written by myself, Angelic Moonlight! I'm afraid this one is possibly the least exciting of the stories, but hey, I had to introduce Sailor Charon somehow! Don't forget to review now!
Disclaimer: I do not own 'Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon', however I do own Alexia Risolto, her family and Estrella (not to mention a few others). Sailor Universe/Merula and Fargo belong to The Mysterious Traveller
The Arrival of Sailor Charon.
1 – The Tragic Tale of Princess Charon.
It was going to be the beginning of a wonderful adventure.
The girl closed her pale blue eyes for a moment and smiled to herself. Her elbow rested on the removal van door as they drove along, and she balanced her chin onto her hand.
"Are you excited, Alexia?" a male voice enquired from next to her. Jumping slightly her eyes flicked open as she turned her head.
"Oh, dad, of course I am." she grinned, flicking a strand of her long hair out of her face. "I wish I'd tied my hair back or something, it's getting on my nerves." her father smiled to himself and shook his head.
"You're never satisfied, are you? I've told you a thousand times you ought to get it cut short."
"What, and give mom a heart attack? She'd kill me if I cut it! Anyway I like it this length." Alexia ran her fingers through her dark green, waist-length hair and sighed. "And I am satisfied, absolutely." she sat back and closed her eyes again. She'd counted down the days, months to today - the day she moved from Kyoto, her home since she'd been born just fifteen years and two days ago, to Tokyo.
"Well, we're almost there." her father announced. Alexia's eyes unclosed once more as they turned into a street and pulled up outside a house. "Welcome to our new home."
"It looks pretty." Alexia said softly. She had no idea what she'd been expecting of her new home, but she was pleasantly surprised with what she saw.
"You'll love it honey, now come on, let's go in and start unpacking this lot." he indicated the back of the truck, and the many boxes there.
"This could take a while." she sighed, and they both laughed heartily. She opened her door and slid out as gracefully as she could. "Hello house." she murmured, then turned to look up the street.
That was when she saw her.
A girl was stood nearby, exchanging her glances at the removal van to look at Alexia herself. She was begrudgingly beautiful; with waist length, pale blonde hair that was tied back by a red bow and big medium-blue eyes. She was slender and just as she stood in her school uniform oozed grace and sophistication. Their eyes met at once, and Alexia felt a shockwave run through her.
Whoever this girl was, there was definitely something about her. Something…familiar?
Whatever it was, it felt to Alexia as if it were meant to be.
"Ahem," the girl cleared her throat, "Hi! I'm Mina and I live next door."
Mina…what a perfect name for her, Alexia thought instantly.
"Good morning! My name's Alexia." she replied courteously, bowing slightly. "Good to meet you, Mina!" Mina's face beamed brightly, making her look even more beautiful.
"Same here! Which school will you be going to?" she inquired.
"I'm not really sure…" Alexia began.
"Alexia! Come and help me with this!" her father's voice drifted from inside her new home. "I have to go into the house now but I'll see you around, huh?" she said with regret, she didn't want the conversation to end yet.
"Yeah uh-huh!" Mina enthused. "I hope we'll be friends. See you around Alexia!"
"Bye for now Mina!" she waved, and walked up the path and closed the door behind her. She peered through the spy-hole and saw Mina still stood looking up the path with a comfortable smile on her face, then turn and walk away. "You know what, I think we already are friends, Mina." she grinned to herself.
"Alexia!" her father yelled again, this time a little more irritated.
"Oops! Sorry dad!" she ran into the lounge to find him sat amongst boxes.
"What were you doing out there? You could have at least brought in something with you!" he exclaimed.
"Sorry again, I was talking to our new next door neighbour - her name's Mina." she smiled.
"Oh, really? How did she seem?" he asked with interest.
"Cool, totally friendly." the girl started to open a box. "She's about my age as well."
"Ah that's good, I've never seen the neighbours before, so I'm glad there's someone about your age - perhaps you'll become friends."
"I hope so, like I said she seemed cool." Alexia got up and looked out of the window - she noticed a kitten sat in the path, licking its paws clean. "Oh how cute! I wonder if it belongs to Mina?" she exclaimed out loud.
"Excuse me?" her father inquired.
"Oh, there's a kitten in the path, that's all." she smiled at him, then turned back. To her surprise and disappointment the cat had vanished. "Oh." she said sadly, then brightened again as a car pulled up behind the van. "Hey mom's here at last!" she grinned and ran out of the house. "Mom!"
"Alexia, I see you guys made it okay." she smiled.
"How was the drive?" Alexia gave her a hug.
"Terrible, you try driving with a zoo!" she laughed, indicating the car.
"How were they all?" the green haired girl asked anxiously. looking through the window at the row of cages in the back of the car. In them was a hamster, a rabbit and two green and red lovebirds.
"Fine, noisy but fine." her mother sighed. "Where's your dad?"
"Inside, trying to unpack but not doing too well." her daughter answered, picking up the hamster cage. "Hello Tawny, you should be asleep!" the hamster stuck its pink nose through the bars in greeting.
"You and those pets of yours, you have such a way with them!" the woman laughed again, taking the hamster off her; immediately it hid in its house. "See? He doesn't like me at all!" Alexia laughed once more, grabbed the rabbit's cage under one arm and the bird cage in the other hand, and they walked in.
Meanwhile, the kitten watched from under the hedgerow.
x x x x x
Artemis hummed as he wandered in through his cat-flap and sniffed the air.
"Cookies! Just what the doctor ordered!" he grinned to himself, wandering into the kitchen. "Mina, you know I could just eat a…ooh how did you guess??" he exclaimed as he jumped up onto the kitchen table.
"Not a chance Artemis, they're for our new neighbours." she smiled at him.
"New neighbours?" the white cat inquired.
"Are you blind? Didn't you notice the car on their drive?" she asked. "Anyway I'm making them these cookies then going over to get to know Alexia some more."
"Alexia?" the cat was puzzled.
"Alexia's their daughter, she must be about the same age as me." her eyes sparkled. "She's sooo pretty! Long green hair, really pale blue eyes - the colour of that jewel…argh what's it called? Aquamarine? Long legs, really graceful…" she sighed. "She seems nice enough too."
"Would it be alright for me to tag along? I'm interested."
"I don't see why not." the blonde smiled as she wrapped up the cookies. "There, a culinary masterpiece."
"For once." Artemis muttered.
"I heard that!" the Venusian snapped, hitting him upside his head as she passed him.
"Hey, wait for me!" he exclaimed as he jumped down and ran after her. Quickly they went down their path, and up the other.
"Here we go." she said, and pressed the doorbell; Alexia answered.
"Mina!" she exclaimed. "How nice to see you again!"
"I just thought I'd come round and see if I could help, and I made some cookies as a welcome gift." the blonde smiled.
"Oh yum! Please come in!" Alexia took a side-step to let the girl in.
It was then that she noticed Artemis, and crouched down to get a better look at him. "What a beautiful cat, what's its name?"
"His name's Artemis."
"Hi, Artemis! Hey what a peculiar mark, it's like a crescent moon!" she pointed out the bald patch on his head as she patted him, making him purr instantly.
"Yes, it is unusual isn't it?" Mina smiled. "Well he's certainly taken to you, he's not usually this friendly with strangers!"
"Well my parents say I have a way with animals…say you have to meet my parents!" Alexia got back up and let the girl and her cat in. "Mom, dad we have a visitor!" she led them into the lounge, where Alexia's parents were sat on the couch drinking coffee, still surrounded by boxes.
"Oh, well hello there!" Alexia's mother stood up and smiled.
"Mom this is Mina, and her cat Artemis." Alexia introduced.
"Hello, welcome to our neighbourhood. I hope you're settling in well." Mina said graciously, holding out the plate of cookies. "I baked these for you, I hope you like them."
"Well, what a polite girl you are Mina!" she exclaimed, taking the plate.
"Why, thank you Mrs…ummm…" Mina blushed.
"It's Risolto, dear, but you can called me Miaka." she replied. "And this is my husband, Dr Alfredo Risolto."
"Just Alfredo will do." he smiled at Mina, she bowed to him.
"You're a doctor? My friend's mother is a doctor too." she told them. "I'll have to introduce you to her Alexia, my friend I mean, not her mother!"
"Actually dad's a vet, maybe he can look at Artemis sometime." Alexia grinned.
"Well looking from here he looks very healthy." Alfredo remarked. Artemis was looking up at Alexia curiously. "And he seems taken with our Alexia too!"
"Heheh, silly Artemis!" Mina laughed, picking him up. She took a moment to inspect her neighbours. Miaka was of an average height, with a gentle face and shoulder-length black hair, which under the light Mina noticed shone with hints of deep blue and violet. Her eyes were large and deep chocolate brown. Alfredo was a handsome man, extremely tall and of a good build; his complexion was olive and his hair and eyes were jet black. On first impressions anyone would be rather nervous of this stern-looking man, however Mina could tell by his smile that really he was a amiable person.
"Why don't you take Mina up to your room Alexia? I'm sure you two have lots to talk about." Miaka smiled.
"Good idea, come on up." Alexia grinned and led the way to her bedroom.
"You unpacked already?!" Mina exclaimed as they walked into the neatly arranged room.
"Yup, I hate boxes." her new friend laughed. "What do you think?"
"It looks really comfortable and neat." Mina announced, sitting down in a chair by the desk. "So Alexia, tell me aaaall about yourself, we're dying to hear!" Artemis leapt into her lap, and Alexia positioned herself on her bed.
"Well, where should I begin? My full name as you know is Alexia Risolto, and I was 15 on the 24th June - so just two days ago. I've just moved from Kyoto where I've lived all my life; my best friend out there is a girl called Manami Hiyome, whom I've known since I was four. The reason we've moved is because my dad's taken over a veterinary practice here. My mom was a librarian back in Kyoto, and she's hoping to get a job at a local library here. I have four pets - a hamster called Tawny, a rabbit called Snuggles and two lovebirds called Rosa and Cupid. My interests are gardening, I had the garden to myself back in Kyoto because mom and dad never had time - I won the local best garden competition three years running; animals - mom blames dad being a vet! And ballet - I've been dancing since I was three, I've got a place at the local dance school already so I'm starting classes two nights a week from next week."
"Wow, ballet? Cool!" Mina gushed. "I knew you must be a dancer of some sort, you even walk sooo gracefully!" Alexia blushed slightly.
"Thank you. Mina, do you think you could introduce me to some of your friends sometime? You see you're the only person I know here…"
"Sure!" the blonde exclaimed. "It'd be a pleasure!" suddenly she felt a sharp pain in her leg as Artemis dug his claws into her. She looked down, and he moved his eyes towards the clock. "Eek! Is it that time already? I'm really sorry to cut this short, Alexia, but I'm supposed to be meeting my friends right now! How about I bring some of them here later?"
"Sure, that would be wonderful." Alexia grinned. "Thanks ever so much for stopping by Mina, and you too Artemis." she tickled him behind the ears and he purred again. "If you ever need someone to watch him, let me know. I've always wanted a cat."
"I'll keep that in mind, thanks." Mina beamed as they descended down the staircase. "It's been fantastic to talk to you again."
"You too, Mina." Alexia bid her new friend farewell as they left. Just as she was closing the door she noticed something in the shadows of the hedgerow - the kitten she'd seen earlier.
"You again?" she remarked gently. The cat's green eyes widened, and scooted away. "Oh well." she sighed, and closed the door.
x x x x x
"I'm sorry I'm late!" Mina gasped as she and Artemis reached the top step of the Hino Shrine. The others were already there, and they all peered at her curiously.
"What happened?" Rei asked, handing her a glass and filling it with lemonade.
"The most amazing thing - I have new neighbours!" she exclaimed, taking a seat. "Hope I haven't missed too much of the party?"
"No, we were just about to start - Serena was late as well." Lita remarked. The Scouts, although they had been together just a few short hours before had decided to meet again to celebrate their recent victory over Emperor Mu and the evil Sailor Universe. However each one of them realised their revelry would be marred with the absence of who should have been their guest-of-honour - Fargo. Mina looked over towards Amy, who was sat looking reflective.
"Did you say new neighbours, Mina?" Serena piped up quickly to change the subject from her tardiness.
"Yup, the Risoltos." she smiled.
"Do they have a cute son?" Lita inquired.
"Nup, but they have a daughter our age! Her name's Alexia and she seems really sweet. I've spent a little time with her just before I came here, that's why I was late. Hey Artemis you obviously liked her!"
"Yeah, there was something about her…" he murmured. "When she stroked me behind the ears it was really nice, familiar almost." the white cat looked towards Luna. "Say, can we talk in private, it's about Sailor Universe."
"Of course." Luna replied, and they left the group. "What is it?"
"It's not really about Universe, but I needed to get you away from the group without suspicion." he muttered.
"Oh yes?" Luna tilted her head as she sat down.
"Luna…do you remember Princess Charon?" he asked hesitantly.
"Why of course I do! The poor, poor girl…" Luna said sadly.
"Well, what do you think the chances would be that she wasn't killed?" he whispered.
"Don't be ridiculous! You saw the explosion!" Luna exclaimed rather loudly. "There's no way she could have survived that!"
"But we thought Universe was dead, but she wasn't, was she?" Artemis pointed out.
"True…but what makes you think of her?" Luna inquired.
"Well first of all it's that Amy asked us about her earlier, remember? She wanted to know about her because she was mentioned in that memory that Mu gave her. Do you think we should tell them about her?"
"I don't see why not, she is dead, after all." Luna answered.
"I'm still not sure about that…" Artemis sighed. "It's the new girl next door - everything about her screams Charon's name."
"Sorry?" Luna was puzzled.
"First, when I looked into her eyes I saw it." he said in an even lower voice.
"It?"
"You know…it. The light of a true princess, shining right there in Alexia's eyes! Then when she touched me it brought back memories of the Moon Kingdom and curling up in her lap. The way she looks - long, dark green hair, and the palest blue eyes I've ever seen; long legs, graceful mannerisms. She spoke of her interests - and they were animals, gardening and ballet! How's that for a coincidence?" he declared.
"Hmmm…most unusual." Luna murmured. "However we mustn't jump to conclusions Artemis, if Charon is still alive then there's the huge possibility that Estrella is too."
"Who is Estrella?" Amy asked. The cats turned to look up at her.
"Amy…" Luna murmured. "Well we might as well tell you all, come on." she walked back to the group. "Everyone, could we have your attention? Now I'm sure Amy's told you all about her ordeal with Emperor Mu, and the memory he bestowed upon her."
"So that means she'll have mentioned Princess Charon and Estrella, am I right?" Artemis took over; the girls nodded. "Good. We've decided you might as well hear about them both - Luna?"
"Thank you Artemis. I'll begin with Estrella - she was the third feline advisor of Queen Serenity and the youngest - hardly a year old when her life was tragically taken away." she sighed. "She was very sensible for her age, quite independent when she wanted to be as well. She liked nothing but to show that she was as good as us older advisors, just because she was younger certainly didn't mean she was worth less. Charon's tale is a lot longer, so I will only tell you the basic things you need to know. Her full title was Outer Moon Princess – you, Serena, were Inner Moon Princess. She was the daughter of Queen Chara, Outer Moon Queen and best friend of Queen Serenity, and King Char of Charon, moon of Pluto. No one knew Charon existed until a month after her fourteenth birthday, which happened to be the same day that Estrella had been born. Up until then she had been a legend - nothing but a fairy tale."
"But why didn't Queen Chara and King Char tell people she was real?" Rei asked.
"Because they were worried for her safety." Artemis took up the story. "You see they had two children - a much older son called Char after his father and Charon. They knew they couldn't have any more children and their daughter was the apple of their eye. I personally think there was more behind it but we were never told. Anyway on her birthday and the day of Estrella's birth war broke out between Pluto and a planet in a neighbouring galaxy. The war grew more and more severe each day and finally Chara and Char had no choice but to help out Pluto, which was ruled by Chara's parents; Sailor Pluto is actually her sister. Anyway they didn't want their daughter to witness the atrocities of war so Chara wrote to Serenity, pleading her to take the girl in. Serenity immediately agreed to it, and so the Princess was brought to the Moon Kingdom. Having had no contact with anyone apart from her family and the workers of the palace of Charon she was naturally terrified, however you princesses soon helped her settle in. She and Estrella became extremely close, and Serenity asked Charon if she would like to look after her, which she quickly accepted. She was incredibly graceful - the best dancer in the galaxy, polite, had a love of nature and moreover was a powerful fighter. She was a psychic, with psychic-based powers. During the battle against the Dark Kingdom for the Moon she was determined and a real asset to the team, however tragedy struck - just an hour or so before the end of the war she left the group to head back to the palace, believing that Queen Serenity, myself and Luna were still stuck in there. Estrella followed quickly and we believed they might have been ambushed by an enemy - as you know there was a huge explosion and they were both killed."
"How sad," Amy murmured. "Thank you for telling us about them."
"I hope it wasn't too hard to talk about for you both." Rei added.
"Not at all, there's a lot more of good things I could say about them both and so many stories of what they did - however if I told you them all we'd be here for days!" Luna told them, a tear in her eye. "Oh dear, I didn't think I'd be this affected!" she sniffled a little. "They were both so young and had such potential for great things in life…"
"Wow, I've never seen Luna so emotional!" Serena murmured to Lita, who nodded in agreement.
"I'm sure wherever they are, they're happy." Rei reassured the cat.
"I certainly hope so…" Luna sighed.
x x x x x
The orange kitten meandered up the street with her head down.
"I can't believe, of all the places they could have moved to, they had to move to the same town as the Sailor Scouts." she muttered to herself.
"Ever thought it could be fate, Estrella?" a voice inquired from over her. Estrella looked up, and she gasped. Stood over her with her arms folded and a slight smile on her face was a young woman with long dark green hair and crimson eyes.
"P…P…Pluto!" the kitten finally whimpered; the woman nodded.
"Yes Estrella, and I have been watching you closely." the smile faded and she gazed at the cowering cat sternly. "And I thought I told you to resolve this back in Kyoto? So, why haven't you done your job yet?" Estrella relaxed, and looked up at the Plutonian bravely.
"There's been no need to, any problems have been cleared up by the other Scouts - they're strong enough without her!" Pluto shook her head.
"They have been, but there's something that's going to happen soon and it involves her."
"But…she's so happy! I don't want to ruin her life!" the kitten exclaimed angrily.
"Don't argue with me Estrella - you must do it." Pluto said firmly.
"Well if it's so important, why don't you do it?" she retorted irately.
"Because it's not my mission - it's yours." suddenly she scooped the kitten up in her hands.
"Let go of me!" she yelled, trying to scratch the Scout.
"No, you're going to do this even if it means dragging you to her house." Pluto said firmly and started to walk off.