Chapter 3
Enter the Knights!
Three days later, it was Saturday. Melody always slept late on Saturday's so she didn't wake up until noon! By that time, Lita and the others had already gone out shopping. Deciding to just be lazy today, Melody got dressed and decided to walk to the park. Looking outside her window, Melody saw that today was a perfect day. Racing outside Melody was greeted by a nice warm breeze that made the temperature a great 75 degrees.
The sun was shinning, the birds were singing, and the sky was a clear clean blue. The grass was a deep green, the flowers smelled like sweet honey and children ran and played in the parks and playgrounds. Skipping along the sidewalks of Tokyo's most famous park, Melody suddenly stopped as she felt a small hand slide into hers. Looking down, Melody saw a small girl with lilac hair and cornflower blue eyes looking up at her. "Wanna play freeze tag with us?" Pointing to a small group of toddlers, the girl said, "Great! Let's go!" Laughing, Melody allowed the girl to pull her into the game.
"Now you look here! When I tag you no go nowhere,okay?"
"Alright. I won't go anywhere." Then the small child, laughed and tagged her! "Why you little imp!," starting to move her foot the child squealed, "NO! You can't move you said you won't go nowhere!"
Smiling Melody said, "Alright you win....for now!" Laughing and playing, Melody spent two hours with the toddlers before they let her leave. Once she got away, Melody headed straight for the Crown Arcade. "Whew! That was tiring!" Sitting in a corner booth again, Melody ordered a soda and sat sipping it slowly. Watching the people pass, Melody noticed that a man was sitting across the street from the arcade and he wasn't moving.
He was wearing black shorts and a white t-shirt with nothing on it and a black baseball cap, which looked like it'd been rolled in the dirt a few times. She couldn't see his face because of his hat, but she could see that he was muscular, like he worked out every day, and he had a nice tan. He was tall, as far as she could tell and he seemed to be watching the arcade. 'I wonder if he's looking for someone?'
Watching and waiting, Melody wondered about the strange man in the hat. 'He hasn't moved for over an hour. I wonder what he's doing out their?' Just then Melody realized that she'd been in the booth for over an hour and had finished her soda a long time ago. Quickly getting up and paying her bill, Melody exited the arcade. She quickly looked for the man in the ball cap but found him to be nowhere in sight. 'Hmmm... That's odd...'
Then she realized that it was now close to 7 p.m. Starting her walk home, Melody suddenly felt that she was being watched again. Turning around, Melody didn't see anyone. 'That's odd. Its usually swarming with people this time of night.' Starting to walk again, Melody couldn't shake the feeling that someone was watching her.
Turning the corner, Melody gasped at what she saw! The little girl who had pulled her into the freeze tag game was being attacked by a teddy bear looking monster. "Get away from her!," Melody cried. Rushing forward, she picked up a rock and threw it at the monster. Not looking to see if she hit it, Melody dashed in front of the monster, grabbed the girl and ran behind a tree. "Shh...don't cry. I'm here to help." Melody tried to calm and quite the child so the monster wouldn't know where they were. "Please, if you scouts are real, help me." Melody whispered the words into the still night air.
The monster was temporarily distracted by the rock hitting it square in the head but was soon back in fighting mode. Noticing that her quarry seemed to be gone, she said, "I know your out there, little birds. I may not be able to see you, but I can hear you. If you come out now I promise not to hurt you."
The little girl gasped as the monster said it could hear them. Melody held onto her and whispered in her ear. "As long as we don't move we'll be okay. Just don't move or say anything." The little girl shook her head and kept quite. Melody peeked out from behind the tree to see the monster in full battle mode looking for them. "Please, someone help us...anyone..." Melody whispered as tears coursed down her face for fear that the child wrapped in her arms would be hurt.
Suddenly, as though someone had been watching or waiting for some sort of sign, four men stood up and jumped down in front of the tree that Melody and the child were hiding behind. They were all wearing tuxedos and each of them held a sword out in front of them.
Stepping in front of the other three, the strange man in the gray tuxedo said, "Picking on innocent children? I see that some things never change. Well, I'm here to make sure that the innocents of this world are safe from the likes of you! So eat this, you slime ball! Cosmic," a white light surrounded the strange man's sword and grew into a ball of light at the end of his sword,"...Fury!" The ball of white light left the end of his sword and hit the monster dead in the chest. Screaming only once, the monster disintegrated into dust before Melody's horror stricken eyes. As the dust settled, Melody found that the four strange men now surrounded her and her small charge.
Slowly, Melody stood up and placed the child behind her. She didn't know who who these men were but she knew one thing, they were dangerous! "Who are you?" Melody asked in a soft voice.
The man in the gray tuxedo stepped forward again, and bowed before Melody. "Princess...I am your loyal servant." He had blond hair and sky blue eyes that sparkled with hidden humor. He was tall, almost 6 feet tall!, and was built like an athlete. He smiled to reassure Melody, but he didn't know if it was working or not.
Melody was startled that the man who'd just saved her life had bowed to her! "Thanks, but I'm not a Princess. My names Melody and thank you for saving our lives." Bowing to him, Melody bent down to the girl's level and asked softly, "Can you tell me where you live? I want to take you home to your mom and dad."
The girl was shaking and began to cry softly. "I live on Georgia Street. House number 3345. Thank you!" Suddenly the child threw herself into Melody's arms. She clung to Melody with the force of desperation. Softly whispering, "You are a nice lady. Please take me to my mommy."
Melody was touched by the softness in the girl's voice and her complete trust that she couldn't hurt her. Picking up the child and holding her in her arms, Melody turned to the men and said, "Well, I'm on my way to Georgia Street. I've got to get her home." Walking softly, so as not to scare the girl anymore, Melody asked softly, "Can you tell me your name sweetie? My name is Melody." Looking down at the girl in her arms, Melody tried to calm and sooth the frightened child.
"My name is Jessica. Jessica Heart. Nice to meet you Melody." Slowly Jessica began to calm down to where she wasn't shaking. She felt safe in Melody's arms and was soon fast asleep.
Melody smiled down at Jessica and wondered how this would effect her life. "Poor thing, she's been through the ringer, tonight. I hope she'll be okay. Good night, Jessica." Melody watched in fascination as Jessica slowly fell asleep in her arms. Smiling, Melody finished walking her home and returned her to a very happy mother and father.
'Great! I'm late getting home again. I wonder who those guys were. Oh dear, what are Lita and the gang going to say when I get home?' Walking home, Melody thought about how she seemed to be attracting trouble. 'Maybe I should leave...' Walking through the door of her shared apartment, Melody was greeted by four worried roommates.
"Melody! Are you okay? I was worried..what kept you? Do you..."
"Before anyone else says anything!," Melody interrupted, "I just want to say, I'm fine. Thanks for asking Ami. There was a monster attacking a girl I met today and I went to try and help. I didn't do too well, but these four strange men in tuxedo's saved us and walked with me to the little girl home. Then they just vanished! I'm really sorry I'm late. Why are you guys still up?"
"Oh, we were waiting for you. We wanted to ask you something but it can wait until tomorrow morning. Goodnight Melody." Giving the others a look, Rei motioned them all into their respective rooms and then entered her own room. "See you in the morning."
"Goodnight everyone." Walking back to her bedroom, Melody smiled to herself. 'Sometimes I wonder if I mean something to anyone and last few days...I've come to realize that I mean a great deal to at lest four people.' Falling asleep, Melody dreamed again of a man in a gray tuxedo with a small key necklace in his hand.
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