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9
The Moon Also Rises

I'll never know how we managed it, but somehow, by nine o'clock on Thursday evening we had everything set up for the next day's sale. The shop floor was laid out with an array of cabinets, everything neatly cleaned and polished, and all full to bursting with sparkling jewels; and all our wares that weren't part of the sale had been stacked away. The lighting was arranged so that we could turn off the main lights, leaving the audience in shadow, and still have our displays shining as bright as sunfire.

I said a weary goodnight to Mother, but as soon as I left her, there was a spring in my step as I rushed up to my room and once again summoned Thetis.

"Everything is ready, Mistress," she said in response to my question.

"And Jadeite?"

"I have found somewhere for him to stay, and shown him how to use his powers. He will be waiting until a large crowd are present, and then he will strike."

"Good," I said. "Then we just need to sort things out with the cat."

I wrote a few lines, and almost immediately heard the cat mewing just outside the window. I let her in, and she jumped into Thetis's arms. I sat down and wrote again, and the cat curled up and at once fell unconscious.

I wrote busily for a while, giving her the power of speech and a personality that I hoped would go well with Usagi's. My friend could be a bit too bubbly and enthusiastic at times, and I hoped that having a more level-headed companion would help to keep her in check a little.

"Are you ready to wake her up?" Thetis said at last.

"I don't know," I said. "What am I meant to say to her?"

"Do you mean you haven't worked that out yet?"

I sighed. "I've had a lot of things to think about, as you know," I said. "Come on, you could give me a bit more help here."

"You are the writer," said Thetis. "Think about what you need to happen, and then tell me what her character must be like to make it so."

"All right," I said, taking a deep breath. "We want her to tell Usagi about her magical powers. So… she has to believe that it's her task to find and awaken the sailor warriors."

"Sailor warriors?"

"You know, the other superheroes like Sailor V," I said. "They are agents of justice who awaken at times of great peril – such as this, the resurrection of the Dark Kingdom."

I stopped, and looked inquiringly at Thetis. She shook her head.

"It sounds just a little flimsy," she said. "Where is Usagi supposed to believe she gets her powers from? If she is a chosen agent of justice, then who chose her? What do the Dark Kingdom want, and why is it so important that she fight against them?"

"Look, this is just her first battle," I said. "She doesn't need to know the whole story."

"But you should know the whole story before you begin. What happens needs to be part of a bigger picture; otherwise it does not seem convincing."

"I don't see why," I said. "So long as we can make it part of a bigger picture later on, we don't have to know everything now. We don't have time to work out all the details, anyway."

"If you don't have time for details, then you don't have time to be a writer," said Thetis. "It's just as you saw with Jadeite; the details are what makes a story, just the same as a person, really come to life."

"I'm not asking you to teach me how to write," I said crossly. "For now, we've just got to get this thing started, and we can sort out the details later."

"Very well," Thetis said with a resigned sigh. "Are you going to wake the cat up, then?"

"Yes," I said. "And by the way, her name is going to be Luna."

Thetis nodded and put the cat down. I wrote another line, and she stretched herself awake and tilted her head up to look at me.

"Luna," I said, "I am so glad to see you awake again."

"That may be so," she said. Her voice was high-pitched and reedy, not at all like anything I was expecting. "I'm afraid I don't remember having seen you before."

"I am... um... Sailor Naru, the sailor warrior of fantasy and compassion."

"Ah, indeed."

"And your task is to find and awaken the other sailor warriors."

"Oh, is it?" she said, stretching out again. "And, might I ask, who is it who wants this task performed?"

"I do," I said crossly. "And you're my cat, Luna, so you should do what I ask of you."

"And why do you want me to do this?"

"The sailor warriors have to be awakened so that they can fight against the evil Dark Kingdom, who are threatening to take over the world."

"Ah, I see."

I was beginning to get impatient with her casual attitude. "Don't you understand?" I said. "The world's in danger! We have to gather the sailor warriors together in order to save it. Don't you care about the fate of the world?"

"I don't know," Luna yawned. "To be honest, you're not doing a very good job of sounding like you care about it."

"What!" I took a step back, and took a deep breath to make sure I stayed calm. "I take offence to that," I said quietly.

"It's not my problem if you do."

She was really starting to get to me. I closed my eyes and counted to ten. "Luna," I said, "I don't have time to argue with you. There are evil forces at work in the city right now – an enemy the police can't handle." I tried to put as much conviction into my voice as I could, remembering those lunch breaks I had spent with Usagi, reading her my stories, and the techniques I had used to get into character. "The enemy are growing stronger. You must awaken Sailor Moon and teach her how to fight."

"And how will I find her?"

"That's better," I said. "I happen to know where Sailor Moon is. She is living close by, as a girl named Tsukino Usagi; Thetis will show you her house. She doesn't yet know anything of her true nature, so you much teach her how to use her powers."

"I will do that," said Luna. "And what then?"

"Then – well, just look after Sailor Moon," I said. "She may need your help while she's still getting used to fighting. But whatever you do, don't tell her about me yet – not until it's time for me to appear and fight with the others. It's better for now that I operate in secrecy, so that the enemy don't know about me and won't take me into account."

"I understand," said Luna. "But what if I need to communicate with you?"

I considered. "You'd better not come back here," I said. "Our meeting-place will be the Crown Arcade. I'll set up a computer there so you can leave a message for me at any time."

"Very good," said Luna. "Do you want me to go now?"

"Yes, unless there's anything else you need me to tell you."

"I do not think there is."

"Thetis?"

"I can think of nothing."

"Excellent!" I said, clapping my hands. "Then we're all ready. Thetis, show Luna where Usagi's house is, and I'll see you tomorrow at the sale. Luna, she'll probably be asleep by now, so don't approach her until the morning."

Thetis made a bow of acknowledgement, and stretched out an arm; Luna leapt up onto it, and Thetis gathered her up, stepped through the mirror, and was gone. I de-transformed and stood for a while, hugging myself with excitement, and then shook out of it and got ready for bed. The next day would be the fulfilment of all my planning, and there was nothing I could do now except wait for it.

Mother had concocted an excuse to get me the day off school on Friday; she was hardly going to admit that she was keeping me away just so I could help her in the shop. As soon as our doors opened, the shop floor was packed, and we were both very busy. Mother went round with a megaphone, advertising our offers with such enthusiasm that I felt sure she would be unable to speak at all the next day – and would consider that a price well worth paying. My task was mostly to stand by the display cabinets, answer customers' questions if they were looking for anything in particular, and try items on if they wanted to see what they looked like being worn. Sometimes, my wearing an item would prompt the customer to say that it was not quite right and they would like to buy something else instead; and when this happened, I usually kept the items on so as to look more decorative, as I am not exactly what you would call a natural beauty. By the end of the first hour, my arms and head were festooned in glistening metals and shimmering stones in all manner of colours, and I wore two garish, unmatched earrings that swept across the bare skin of my shoulders whenever I turned my head.

The two of us were not, of course, the only staff. We had hired half a dozen security men especially for the occasion; two stood outside the door while the others patrolled inside. Once, I glanced at a pair who were walking through the shadows behind where I was stationed, and I caught my breath as I recognised one of them as a well-disguised Jadeite. Even though I felt sure I had everything under control, I was just so nervous; I nearly dropped a valuable necklace on the floor, but fortunately the customer standing next to me caught it just in time. I made a flustered apology.

Our regular shop assistant, Kisaragi Noriko, was on the tills; I knew her only slightly, as I was normally in school when she was working. Mother had hired a second assistant for the day, a European girl named Morgan, and she was on the other till. She seemed friendly, and smiled when she caught my eye, but as we were both so busy I did not get a chance to speak to her.

Morning wore on, and noon came at last. Normally, Mother would just eat a packed lunch in the shop, but for today she had decided to close the shop for an hour's lunch break to give us all a chance to unwind and recover some energy before the afternoon session.

Mother was locking the doors, and Morgan was tidying up the cabinets where a few unsold items had not been put back as neatly as they could be. After giving them a glance and an encouraging smile, I accepted the offer of Noriko's arm, and we walked off to the kitchen together. She was a young woman of quiet, business-like appearance, and we made a little small-talk about how I was doing in school and how well the sale had gone so far.

We made sandwiches, and then Noriko said she was popping out to get a drink. I took mine and Mother's sandwiches to her private office, and gratefully sank into a chair and tucked in. A minute later, I heard the door open behind me as Mother came in.

"Hello!" I said, without looking round. "Would you like a sandwich? I've made your favourite."

"Naru?" she said. "What are you doing here? This room is private."

I laughed as I got up; it was so rare to hear Mother making a joke that, even though it wasn't a very good one, it might me feel quite light-headed. But when I saw her coming towards me, something about the way she was moving made the laughter dry up in my throat. Her face was rigid, the eyes narrowed and unblinking, as though she was staring at something in front of me that I couldn't see. Her hands swung monotonously at her sides.

"Mother, what's wrong?" I said.

She somehow seemed to click into focus; I could see now that she was staring at me.

"What is it?"

"Who are you?" she said slowly.

"Mother!" I cried, stepping backwards. "You know me; I'm your daughter Naru!"

"My daughter?" Her eyes were blank and empty. "Do I have a daughter?"

"Of course!" I said. "Don't you remember me? We set up the shop together…."

I stopped. I wanted to go on and list all the things that we did together, everything that should have reminded her of who I was; but I could not. I couldn't think of anything. What did mothers normally do with their daughters? She'd never read me stories, even after Father died. She never asked me about school – well, she made sure I got my homework done on time, but she never let me tell her how I was getting on with my friends, or who my favourite teachers were. We had holidays together – no, it was more that she took me on holiday and then did her own thing. Cooking? I couldn't remember the last time we'd done that. Watching television? I never watched much, and anyway, the sort of shows she liked didn't appeal to me. We worked together in the shop, of course; but there was no personal feeling in that, nothing that couldn't have been done by any old assistant.

Why couldn't I think of anything? I looked up blankly and started to cry.

I was backed against the wall, and she was still coming towards me. It was like something out of a horror movie – and that was what provoked the sudden realisation.

"You're not my mother!" I cried. "Who are you?"

She smiled.

"Naru, Naru, just think what you're saying," she cooed. "Haven't we been together all day? If what you are saying is true – wouldn't you have noticed?"

"Maybe I wouldn't," I said through my tears. "I'm sorry, Mother…."

"Sorry?" she said. She was very close to me now. "What are you sorry for, my child?" Her hand slithered upwards through the air. I knew what this meant. In a few moments it would be at my throat and I would be helpless. I had to struggle against a feeling of hysterical panic that was rising in my stomach.

"I'm sorry for this," I said, and grabbed her wrist with my left hand, using my right to push her aside so I could slip past her. I wasn't rough; I don't have much physical strength, and I could hardly bear to hurt someone who looked like Mother, whether it was really her or not.

I raced out of the office and down the stairs. "Noriko-san!" I screamed, even though she couldn't possibly have returned yet. I was desperate. "Thetis, anyone! Help me!"

A man was standing in front of me on the stairs, blocking my way. One of the security staff. I almost fell into his arms, I was so relieved.

"What's wrong?" His voice was soft and soothing.

"I've been so frightened! Something's happened to Mother…."

It was only then that I looked up at his face and saw that it was Jadeite.

"What's the matter, my pretty?" he said as I flinched away from him. He smiled, and caught me by the wrist.

"Jadeite, stop that!" a cold voice cut across the air. The staircase was a wide spiral one, and the voice was coming from the landing above us. Thetis, I knew at once.

"What do you mean, stop?" he said. "I've only just started!"

"You don't realise who this is!" There was panic in her voice, and I felt a chill in my blood. If even Thetis was panicking….

"Don't tell him!" I screamed.

"Mistress!" Thetis exclaimed. "But…."

"No, you mustn't tell him!" I cried, as loudly and fiercely as I could manage.

"But…."

"I order you," I hissed.

Thetis stepped back, looking confused. Jadeite grinned and pushed me down against the banister. I closed my eyes and made no movement, breathing heavily as I waited for what was about to happen. There was still time to change my mind and tell Thetis to save me… but no. At all costs, I couldn't have Jadeite knowing that I was the true identity of Queen Beryl. He had to believe in her as a magical being of immense power; otherwise I would lose my hold over him. Besides, what if he gave the whole game away by revealing my secret to Usagi?

I felt a wave of nausea coming over me as my energy was drained by his touch. It felt so unnatural that my body desperately wanted to resist, in any way it could. But I could no longer fight back; I couldn't even stand up any more. I allowed myself to slump to the floor, knowing that it would not be long now before I lost consciousness. I just had to hope that things would still go according to plan, that Usagi would turn up and save the day….

And it was just as I was thinking this that a door slammed, and, from the foot of the stairs, there came a voice that I recognised at once as that of my friend.

"Hello?" she said. "Um… can I be of assistance?"