PART 3: "…Something Evil This Way Comes…"
Yomi was convinced that this was all some crazy dream…because in her reality, foxes didn't burst out of boulders or talk. Yet here one was, telling her strange things that she would have never thought possible. Even stranger were the two older women, yes women – Sirius had corrected Yomi's first impressions of Haruka. But, wasn't the blonde hitting on her earlier? The Shinto Priestess immediately shot that thought out of her head, realizing she was wandering into territory she'd rather not go. But Yomi thought it odd that they didn't seem phased at all by the giant talking fox. Luckily, her uncle had gone out for the night and left them all to themselves so Sirius was free to do whatever she wanted..
"So…um, what exactly is going on here? Why do you keep calling me Princess Io?," Yomi questioned. Sirius grinned and wrapped her long fluffy tail around her paws.
"Because you are a member of an elite fighting force, destined to protect the heir to the Moon Kingdom. Yomi you are a Mystic Senshi, a mighty demon slayer and the guardian to the gates to the underworld. You alone hold the power to manipulate them. In short, it makes you one of the most powerful warriors the Moon Princess has as an ally," the silver fox explained.
"What're you saying, I'm some kind of god or something?"
"No no, nothing quite that drastic. But you are not the only one with special powers. Your fellow Senshi, such as Neptune and Uranus here,' Sirius nodded to each of the older women as she spoke, '…are only two of the elite warriors you will be fighting beside. You are a member of the Outer Senshi so your powers will be especially powerful. Here, take this and never go anywhere without it," the female fox reached over with a single dainty paw. Without asking why, Yomi extended her own hand and within seconds a silver ball of light materialized in front of her. The light slowly took the form of a long thin object topped off with a sphere. Replacing her fear and confusion with curiosity, Yomi watched as the object turned into a jet-black and gold wand with a golden-brown sphere encircled with gold rings. It looked like some kind of pen but on closer inspection she found there was no pen-point.
"What do I do with this?"
"It's your transformation wand, of course. Now listen carefully. When the time comes for you to battle, all you need to do is say loud and clearly 'Io Mystical Power, Make-up!' Make sure no one sees you. Unwanted attention could be very bad," Sirius patted down a few stray furs on her head then turned her attention back to Haruka and Michiru. "Can I ask your assistance in helping train her? There's only so much I can do in my current state. I also suggest we alert the Princess of Senshi Io's revival."
"Sure. We were planning on paying a visit soon, anyway," Haruka replied as she took a sip of her juice. She turned her attention to Yomi and flashed a friendly smile.
"How does that sound to you? You can ride back with us, okay?"
"O-Okay, I guess so. Uncle can bring me back my car." Sirius nodded and stood, shaking out her fur.
"Good. I'm sure the Princess will be pleased that another of her warriors has come back to her."
"USAGI-CHAN!!WAKE UP, YOU'RE LATE!" Luna yowled in the pig-tailed girl's ear, only to be promptly shoved away. The cat growled and pounced on the girl's head, this time jolting her awake.
"Come, on Luna knock it off!," Usagi yawned rubbing the sleep from her eyes. She started to nod off to sleep again but Luna smacked her awake with her paws.
"Don't you know what time it is!? You'll be late for school!"
"Huh?," the blonde glanced drowsily at her alarmclock…It was almost eight o'clock. Scrambling, the Moon Princess jumped out of bed and tried to dress as fast as she could, nearly tripping over her clothes that lay strewn across the floor. Luna watched the pitiful display and shook her head.
"Why must you insist on staying up and watching television all hours of the night? If anything you should be studying your schoolwork. It's a disgrace seeing the kinds of grades you get…"
"I don't have time for a lecture, Luna! If I'm late again the teacher's gonna make me stay after for detention," Usagi whined as she stuffed her school supplies into her bag and dashed out of her room. Luna followed her down the stairs and into the kitchen, hopping up on the kitchen counter as the girl dug through the fridge looking for her lunch.
"Listen, I know I'm hard on you, but I'm merely looking out for you're best interest."
"Yes, I know Luna. 'Kay, later BYE!!" Luna watched as Usagi dashed from the kitchen and out the door. She didn't get very far before she collided with someone and they both screamed and tumbled heavily to the ground.
"Oooo! Ow-ow OW! That hurt…", Usagi groaned rubbing her knees and elbows.
" Ah! Oh, damn my skirt ripped ," the dark-skinned girl cursed in English. The flash of beautiful shining silver hair caught Usagi's complete attention.
"Uh…I-I'm so sorry! I'm such a klutz!," the pigtailed girl sighed and began to stand, but the foreigner was already recovering her things and dashing off in the opposite direction.
"Forget about it! See ya!"
"W-Wait, hang on a sec!," Usagi went tearing off after the girl until she was right beside her.
"I'm sorry but I really don't have time for this. I had to stop by home to change and my…er…dog was up all night doing who-knows-what. So I overslept," Yomi huffed. She began to pull away from Usagi.
"Hey, isn't that a Gakuen uniform? I have friends that went there for a while. Anyway, my name's Tsukino Usagi."
"Uh, nice to meet you, Usagi-san. Katasei Yomi. Now, if you'll excuse me…", Yomi picked up her pace an dashed away, too fast for Usagi to keep up with. The pigtailed blonde skidded to a stop and turned around remembering that she herself was late.
"I didn't think anyone was that fast except for Haruka-san…"
Yomi just couldn't concentrate in classes that day, not even in her favorite Japanese Literature class. Although she didn't really need to pay much attention seeing as she had read the particular book being discussed several times as a young child. Her mind kept traveling back to the night before. To learn that she was actually the reincarnation of a powerful space priestess was a bit overwhelming, kinda hard to believe in fact. But after her two 'partners' had proven the fact to her by showing her their true selves well, she had no choice but to believe. It was her destiny after all to help battle evil that threatened to destroy her future queen. Her queen…Yomi wasn't sure what to think about that part. She was always a fairly independent person, relying only on herself and only helping others if they asked her – she wasn't one to interfere in the lives of others, butting in when she wasn't needed. But from everything Sirius told her, this was a group effort. Yomi glanced around her to make sure no one was looking and reached into her pocket where her transformation wand was hidden.
Yomi jerked suddenly as something clicked in her head, a new feeling. She wasn't sure what she was feeling but it was making her feel sick to her stomach. It took a while before she began to understand the sensation as pre-cognition. She never really believed in psychic things, but here she was sensing something approaching and even seeing flashes of images. She suspected they were alien, two of them and if she could measure power, they seemed to have a lot of it. Yomi pushed out her chair, the harsh sound of metal scrapping against the tiled floor caused everyone to look up from their reading.
"Pardon me professor but may I be excused please?," Yomi didn't wait for a response before walking out of the classroom. She needed some fresh air, her head was becoming fuzzy. Just what had Sirius done to her? The fox had made her take something, something she claimed would help awaken special powers she would always have access to even when she wasn't transformed. Yomi took the stairs to the roof and closed the door behind her, making sure it wasn't going to lock her out first. Leaning against the railing, Yomi sighed and closed her eyes. The images got a bit clearer as she concentrated fully on it. Yes, there were definitely two of them…one male and one female. At their current rate, they'd arrive on Earth in a matter of days. She had to warn Haruka and Michiru somehow. The problem was that she didn't know how. But this was extremely important and Yomi, however skeptical she still was, was determined to find a way to get them the message.
