The Lost Princess
Part Two: Discussions
Serena: Oh, great…so I'm a ghost now?
Starlily11: Deal with it…I'm the author here, not you.
Serena: You're just crabby because you didn't get enough cookies today…
Starlily11: Quiet, please.
That afternoon, as soon as school was over, Rae went to the Outers' house. It was time to see exactly what was going on. Everyone had been having flashes of a girl with long blonde hair and cerulean blue eyes. At least, the Inners and the boys had, anyway. Even if the Outers weren't getting weird flashes, it had happened too many times and to too many connected parties to be considered a mere coincidence. It was too strange to be considered even remotely coincidental, actually. She just hoped that Trista would be able to give her even a miniscule amount of helpful information. Praying that she would get some answers, Rae knocked on the door.
She was in luck; Trista opened the door. It would have been incredibly awkward to explain the reason behind her visit to anyone but the time soldier. Even though they had all seen weird things, you could still receive odd looks if you talked about seeing things that made no sense whatsoever. Unless, of course, you spoke to Trista. The time soldier had quite possibly had the most experience with the weird, strange, and unfathomably confusing parts of being a Sailor Scout.
"Um, Trista, do you have a minute?" Rae asked.
"Certainly." Trista let the hot-headed priestess in, knowing perfectly well exactly what this was all about. In a few minutes, both were sitting down and sipping a cup of tea. Once the younger girl was settled, Trista broached the topic. "Now that you're settled, I believe you have a few questions concerning our missing Princess, and the odd visions some of our number have been experiencing. Am I correct?"
Rae nodded in relief. So Trista knew about the strange events…oh, right…of course she did. You couldn't really pull anything over the soldier of revolution. So that surely meant that she knew what it all meant. "So you know about the strange flashes Amy's been having, and the recurring dream that Seiya has?"
"Yes; among other events. Hotaru has told me that she feels that much of what we believe has happened is in fact a fabrication, and that she senses danger is coming."
"Wait…what we believe has happened?"
"Yes. And I must say that there is some merit to this belief. I have been watching the Time Gate, and have noticed some anomalies, and things that don't quite fit. It appears that our perception of events has been tampered with, but the Time Gate will not reveal the cause."
"Seriously? Do you know when it started?"
"I did manage to wrangle one small piece of information from Cronos. Whatever caused this was apparently last on the radar almost a year ago. The power responsible has not been seen since."
"Almost a year ago…that was when all those monsters suddenly appeared and then disappeared!"
"Yes. Apparently, another dimension bled into ours and almost brought about the apocalypse. Strangely enough, the same power that caused such a thing was also what saved us."
"We wouldn't have lasted the night if those winged people hadn't shown up and helped us."
"That is possible. So you say that the strange occurrences have increased?"
"Yeah…Seiya's had the same dream three nights in a row now, and I just have this feeling that something isn't right. You mentioned Hotaru sensed danger; does she know what it is?"
Trista became visibly worried, and shifted slightly. "That is the most disturbing part, you see; we have reason to believe that Chaos has returned."
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"WHAT?" Serena shrieked. "CHAOS IS BACK?"
"Unfortunately, yes," Arriane answered in a consoling tone. "I needed to inform you, as you are the one who defeated it last time. I also want to help you to do something about it."
"Um, Arriane…aren't you forgetting something? I'm a spirit, nothing more. I can't even turn the page of a book. How am I supposed to defeat Chaos when I can't even be seen or heard, much less fight?"
"There are ways to make yourself heard, and you can cause things to happen. Hollywood has one thing right about haunted houses; ghosts can make things happen if they are taught correctly."
"So I could do something?" Serena was listening.
"Of course. I'll teach you."
"Fallen angels know how to do ghost stuff?"'
"It's part of our quest to attain redemption. We help trapped ghosts take care of unfinished business, and then help them move on."
"Oh…so I don't have to spend any more time just floating around wishing for an end to the monotony that is currently my life? I might actually be able to watch TV or something?"
"Among other things. You could also push someone out of harm's way, or keep them from falling off a skyscraper or a bridge. If you worked really hard, you might be able to reveal yourself and be heard without having to rely on some faulty EVP recorder or thermal camera."
"I could really do that?"
"Certainly."
"I'm in."
"Well, then! Let's get down to business."
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"What?" Rae was alarmed. "Chaos is back? We only defeated it two years ago! Speaking of which, I'm still not exactly sure how that happened…oh, right…I remember. The Light of Hope was awakened when only the Starlights were left, and it sealed Chaos away. What happened? How was it released again?"
"I don't know."
The priestess almost fainted. This was bad…this was worse than bad! It was a flipping catastrophe! Chaos was on its way back, they weren't sure how to defeat it this time, and Trista didn't know something! This was turning into a terrible day. "So it's hopeless?" she asked worriedly.
"No. I have a hunch that if we find Princess Serenity, it'll be all right. The Silver Crystal has a great deal of power; and as the heir to the Silver Crystal, our Princess can certainly help us to defeat it."
"That's great; but where do we find her?"
"She has yet to be awakened; but I have a feeling she will do so soon. We'll just have to do what we can until that time comes."
Rae sighed. "We're screwed," she mumbled.
"Have a little faith; we'll find her."
Rae nodded, and promptly resolved to try harder to sort out the clues she saw in the flames. There had to be a hint somewhere!