SAILORS OF THE ELEMENTS: PART II
~ ~Sailor Soul ~ ~
TWO DAYS LATER . . .
"Well, there must be some reason you've been revealed," Mina said sensibly as she caught a flower petal drifting on the breeze.
"Yes, and that reason probably is that Serena will soon be in danger," Amy said seriously. Lita looked at her curiously.
"What makes you say that, Amy?" She asked.
"Well, look at it logically, Lita," Amy replied. "Celeste is destined to protect Serena at all costs - even at the cost of her very own life. She is a valuable warrior and defender, and I'm willing to bet Queen Serenity and Sailor Pluto both wouldn't want to put her at risk any earlier than was entirely necessary. They would need a very good reason to reveal her identity, lest she be injured or possibly killed at any time when the danger to Serena was not so very great. I personally believe that now they have that very good reason - and the only reason I can think of is that Serena's life either will be in danger or is possibly in danger right now." My thoughts whirled.
Can all this really be true? I wondered. A glance at Serena told me that she was thinking the same thing.
"Hmm, that makes sense," said Rei thoughtfully. "Should we prepare for a battle?"
"Actually, that sounds like a good plan," My guardian, Hermes, put in. "Time to start training!"
Three days and several minor battles later, my sleep was interrupted by a vision - not of Sailor Pluto, as I would have expected, but from Queen Serenity herself. I bowed deeply before her, but she would have none of it.
"Up, Celeste," She said kindly. "You know we are too close for such formalities."
"Yes, My Queen," I said formally, smiling into her eyes.
"Now we must move quickly, Celeste, for the time has come for me to reveal to you your mission." I said nothing, but my ears perked. "As Amy has logically predicted, danger is on the move, and coming faster and faster towards Earth. Now, your mission is this:
"As you are a protector of Sailor Moon, the other Inner Scouts have protectors as well. Their protectors are the Sailors of the Elements - Light, Soul, Water, Fire, and Air. You - as you may have guessed - are the Sailor of Light, and you protect my Serena, who uses the element of Soul. You are opposites, and yet very similar - as you are sure to discover shortly. The fact that the elements you use are opposite are key - for it gives you the power to restrain her if necessary. You must activate and train the Sailors of the Elements, and quickly as possible, for it is likely that our enemies will be upon us before the
New Moon."
"Yes, My Queen," I said. "But how do I find these Sailors of the Elements?"
"I have their identities," she said. "And I will give them to you one by one. The first Element you must find is the Sailor of Soul. Her identity is Avaris Tumns. She attends school with Rei Hino and goes to the Art Classes at her school every Wednesday. I suggest you feign an interest in attending those classes in order to grow closer towards her. When the time is right, and you will know when the time is right, the Soul Crystal will appear. Give it to her and explain your duties. While you are searching for these new Sailors, you will grow apart from the Inner Scouts. Explain only to Sailor Venus and detail her to protect Serena while you are on your mission. I will come to you once you have found Avaris. Until then, farewell . . ." She said and drifted away. I nodded and bowed once more before drifting back to sleep.
The next morning I woke up and found Hermes studying a sheet of paper on my desk.
"Morning," I yawned, sitting up and rubbing my eyes.
"Morning," He said absentmindedly.
"What's that?" I asked.
"Oh, its an art class schedule. The class you're going to meet Avaris at starts at 10:30, and it's 9:00 now so you had better get a move on," he said. I stumbled out of bed and to my closet, where I threw on the first clothes that came to hand, which happened to be khaki capris, a yellow v-neck shirt, and black sandals. I bounced down the stairs and sat down to a quick breakfast and a glass of orange juice.
"Morning!" My aunt Felicity chirped at me.
"Good morning," I replied.
"What are you up to today?" Inquired my aunt.
"Oh, not much," I said. "I thought I'd stop by some art classes and see what's up."
"Well, that sounds like fun," My aunt said, glancing at the clock. As usual, she was late. "Oh, my!" She spluttered. "Is it really 9:15 already? I have to go - see ya!" she said, and rushed out the door. I giggled.
"Oh, she reminds me of Serena," I chuckled. I had grown to know her fairly well over my two week visit. "Hermes?" I asked. He looked up at me. "How is it that my plane leaves for home in eight days and yet I have a whole new mission to fulfill?"
"Oh, that," He yawned. "Don't worry about that. You're about to win an internship here in Japan for the next four years, or less, whatever you need."
"Four years?" I asked incredulously.
"You can visit your parents whenever you wish," he asked.
"No, it's not that," I said. "How can I ask my aunt and uncle to support me for the next four years of my life?"
"Don't you know how an internship works?" Asked Hermes. I shook my head slowly. "You'll be taken in by another family, one who's willing to have you for the next three years. Or you can start working at Rei's temple - whichever you prefer." I paused. I was not a very religious person.
"I guess I'll live with a family," I said slowly. But I was a bit sad. How could I live in Japan, and not my native California? I would miss all my friends and family and even my school terribly.
"I know what you're thinking," Hermes said. "And it won't do you any good. You can't change your destiny, and besides, your duty to Serena and the rest of the world comes before any personal feelings."
I sighed. I knew he was right.
"Oh well," I said. "Such is the life of a soon - to - be super hero!"
"Soon to be?" Hermes asked. "I'd say you're already one!" He said as he pushed the newspaper towards me across the table.
"NEW SAILOR SCOUT SAVES CIVILIAN AND SAILOR MOON -what on earth ???" I read aloud. Moving my eyes further down the paper, I saw an article documenting our latest battle.
"Not too long ago, a new and mysterious Sailor Scout has appeared, calling herself Sailor Sun.
After saving the Sailor Scouts' and Sailor Moon's life in particular, she defeated a monster and sent a would-be world conqueror running with his tail behind his legs . . . see more, page 4D."
"Well, what do you know?" I asked, laughing. "Who would have thought?" I wanted to read the rest of the article, but I had to get a move on.
"I'll read that later," I said, putting it aside and standing up. "Time for me to get to that art class. See ya later!" I called as I walked out the door.
Half an hour later, I reached the building where the art classes were taking place. Wandering around, I found several young boys and girls chatting or walking around. One girl in particular caught my eye. She had shoulder length, wavy green hair, and blue eyes. She was sitting on a bench in front of a merrily tinkling water fountain, sketching quickly in her sketch book. She looked to be a few years older than me, but not by much. I sat down on the bench next to her.
"Hi," I said, shyly. She paused in her sketching and looked up at me.
"Oh, hello," she said. "I'm sorry, but do I know you?" I laughed.
"No, I don't think so. I'm just here for the art class, to see what it's about, and I figured I'd make some new friends."
"The art class at 10:30?" She asked. I nodded, and she smiled.
"Why, that's the art class I'm teaching!" She exclaimed. I was surprised - she hadn't looked much older than 16!
"Oh, really?" I asked.
"Yes!" The girl laughed. "What's your name?"
"I'm Celeste Stevens. I'm visiting my aunt and uncle from America."
"It's nice to meet you, Celeste," she said, extending a slender and delicate hand. "I'm Michelle."
"Hi," I said, shaking her offered hand. "Nice to meet you, too. Who else will be in your class?" Michelle looked around, a slight frown on her face.
"Well, not too many of them are here right now," she said. "Most of these students are here for Mr. Clydesdale's 10:00 class. But there is Rini, and Masenori, and oh, there's Avaris, and . . . hmm . . . well, that's all I see for now." I recognized Rini as Serena's 'cousin' - actually her future daughter from the 30th century, and the boy Masenori, who was standing right by her, must have been her boyfriend. Avaris, the hopefully soon to be Sailor of Soul, was a young girl about two inches shorter than me (that would make her around 5'5'') with straight red hair that swung freely around her shoulders. Her eyes were a bright, vivid green, and many freckles sprinkled her face. She was chatting with Rini and Masenori now, and I decided it would be a good time to meet her. Thanking Michelle, I walked over to the little group and waved to Rini.
"Good morning, Rini," I said.
"Celeste!" She said in surprise. "What are you doing here?"
"I'm happy to see you, too," I laughed. "I'm here for the art class, what else?" She smiled.
"You'll be taking the class, too?" She asked. I nodded.
"Well, I think just for today - after all, my plane leaves for home in almost a week! Now, who are your friends?" I asked.
"This is Masenori," She said, pointing to the brown-haired fellow I had just seen. "And this is Avaris," she said, pointing to the red - head.
"Hi," I said, shaking hands with first Masenori and then Avaris. "I'm pleased to meet you."
"I'm pleased to meet you, too," they responded in unison.
"Hey, do you go to school with Rei Hino?" I asked Avaris. She nodded her head vigorously.
"Oh, yes, Rei and I take almost the same classes! How do you know her?" She asked.
"Through a friend - Serena Tsukino, Rini's cousin." I said. Avaris laughed.
"So, you know Serena, do you?" She asked. I nodded.
"Do you?"
"Oh, yes, Serena and I go a long ways back. I used to baby-sit for her - and Rini, too - but now she's all grown up!"
"You used to sit for Serena?" I asked incredulously. "Aren't you her same age?"
"I'm her same age, but at a higher maturity level," Avaris laughed. "Not that that's exactly difficult." I laughed too. Suddenly my and Rini's watches started beeping insistently. Rini and I exchanged glances. She knew what it was - as the Scout Sailor Mini Moon, she participated in most battles, too - it meant trouble for the Sailor Scouts.
"Oh, this watch," I said. "It always goes off at the wrong times." I said. "It's not even ten o'clock yet!"
"Celeste, we need to go," Rini said.
"Oh, Rini, I can't go this morning. Here," I said, handing her a letter addressed to Mina. "Give this to Mina and it will explain everything. Don't read it yourself, and don't let anyone else read it. It's a secret." I said. Rini nodded, though she looked a bit puzzled, and accepted the letter.
"Oh," she said. "All right then. Well. I'll see you later, guys. Bye, Celeste," she said, and hurried off.
"Bye, Rini!" I called cheerfully to her. "Have fun at your brunch!"
"Where is she off to?" Masenori asked.
"Oh, a family brunch. She forgot, I suppose, that she had it today. Oh, well! She must be hanging out with Serena too much,"
"That isn't like Rini to forget something important like that," Avaris said under her breath. I pretended not to hear, but alarms went off in my head. Avaris seemed to be a smart girl - I would have to be careful.
Later that day in class, Avaris and I had ended up sitting next to each other as she worked on her sculpture and I began an abstract painting. We had laughed and chatted away almost the entire lesson when a frazzled and frightened looking man burst into our room.
"Trouble -" he panted "In the hall - monster - scouts - hurt - hide - " Michelle, Avaris, and I rose from our desks.
"Quickly," Michelle called. "Everyone out the back window and into the storage building. Hurry! Masenori, I leave you in charge," she said. Masenori nodded and helped everyone out the window and through the bushes to the building behind the art room. Once every one was safely inside, Michelle looked directly at me. In the same instant, we gasped as visions came into our heads. I saw one of Michelle, in a Sailor Suit, and it came to me that she was Sailor Neptune, and I knew that she knew that I was Sailor Sun.
"And Avaris -?" She asked quietly.
"Not yet," I whispered. She nodded, and Avaris looked at us curiously. I knew it was time. I nodded.
"Sun Crystal Power!" I cried out, raising my hand. As I transformed, I heard Michelle cry out the words,
"Neptune Planet Power!" And I knew that she was transforming, too. As Michelle and I, now Sailors Neptune and Sun, completed our transformations, a glimmer appeared before Avaris. There was a flash of light, and a tiny crystal appeared before her at eye level. It was roughly the same size as my Sun Crystal, but pale pink in color and in the shape of a phoenix.
"What -" she asked. I stepped forward.
"This is your crystal. It is known as the Crystal of Soul, and offered only to those worthy of it. If you wish to embrace your destiny, take it, and you shall become Sailor Soul. If not, leave it there and it shall never be offered to you again, and the duty to protect shall go to someone ready for it. Make your choice, we have precious little time." Avaris hesitated a second, but only a second, then grasped the crystal and cried out:
"Soul Element Power!" And her first transformation began. A blinding flash of light, and Neptune and I shielded our eyes. When we looked again, Sailor Soul stood there, in a white sailor suit with a pale pink skirt and collar, and white boots that went above her knees. She wore a pale pink cape and white gloves, and her tiara was a white material similar to pearl, or mother of pearl, with a pink stone in the middle. I nodded in satisfaction as she stepped towards us.
"I'm ready!"
We needed no other urging, and hurried out the door. Neptune stopped.
"Wait," she said. "Won't they recognize you?" I stopped. I hadn't thought of that.
"Hmm, I guess they will. I have to change my costume - but how?" Suddenly an idea came into my head. "I know what to do. Neptune, go. Don't speak to anyone of what you've seen!" I warned her. When she had left, I called out:
"Light Element Power!" And my newest transformation began. When it was complete, I looked down and saw that I was in a white and gold Sailor Suit, with a floor length white cape streaming out from behind my shoulders. I had white gloves and white boots identical to Avaris's, and as I carefully lifted my tiara off my head, I saw that it was golden with no jewel, but a design of a small splash of light was engraved into the soft gold. I smiled at Avaris.
"Now I am ready, too!" We ran out of the classroom and towards the sounds of battle. When we came around a corner that led into the lobby below, we saw a monster on the beautiful white marble steps leading up to where we stood. His back was to us, and he was facing a small and pitiful looking group of sailor scouts, all on the floor, exhausted and some maybe severely wounded. Sailor Soul took no longer to observe what was happening, and raised her hands.
"I call upon the power of the element of Soul," she cried, "help me to protect these people!" She brought her hands down and crossed her arms over her chest. "Soul Bird Attack!" A white, transparent phoenix appeared before Avaris and flew towards the monster, knocking him over. It then circled the scouts twice, and a bubble appeared around them, hovering above ground for a moment before floating up to the top corner of the lobby. The monster stood up and faced us.
"Who are you?" He growled. Avaris's eagle swooped again, this time with talons outstretched. The monster ducked, but one of the Eagle's knife-like talons caught him on the shoulder, and he cried out. Seeing my chance, I raised my own hands up to the ceiling.
"I call upon the power of the element of Light," I called, "Help me to defeat this evil!" I brought my hands down in a sweeping motion and pointed ten fingers at the monster. "Solar Flare Ignite!" A burning fireball swooped towards the youma. He stood, frozen in fear, as the fire drew nearer and nearer. He let out one terrified scream, and his existence was extinguished.
Avaris and I exchanged glances. She pointed at the bubble and then at the floor, and the eagle, which had been perching on her shoulder, flew towards the bubble, circled it twice, and returned to Avaris. The bubble began drifting down to the floor, and the scouts, who had mostly regained consciousness, stood up and squinted at us. I knew they couldn't see Avaris and me, the light was at our backs and our faces were in the shadow.
"Who are you?" Asked Mars. I gave Avaris a warning glance, and we said nothing.
"Venus!" We heard a sudden voice cry out. We looked and saw Venus, still unconscious, on the ground, bleeding badly. Avaris gasped - Venus was the scout she was supposed to protect! We exchanged glances, and hurried down the steps to Venus. We stood over her, joined hands, and began to summon our powers.
"We call upon the powers -" we started together:
"of Light!" I cried.
"of Soul!" Said Avaris.
"Help us to heal this young woman!"
A beam of light formed between our joined hands, and shot down into Venus's broken, bruised body. It moved through her like water, and we could see her wounds healing before our very eyes. She sighed deeply and looked up at us. We parted hands and stepped away.
"Who - thank you,' Venus said, rubbing her head. We nodded abruptly, then turned and walked away, ignoring the Scout's bemused stares.
Avaris came home with me that day, to my Aunt's delight.
"It's so good that you're making friends!" She exclaimed. I led her up to my room, where we sat on my bed so I could explain to her who she was and what her duty was.
"So . . . who am I, exactly?" She asked. I settled myself on the bed, cross - legged and facing her.
"You are the Sailor of Soul, Guardian of that Element and Protector of the Warrior of Light, Sailor Venus. I am the Sailor of Light, Guardian of the Sun and Protector of the Warrior of Soul, Sailor Moon - who, believe it or not, is none other than Serena Tsukino." Her eyes widened at that, but allowed me to continue. "Before today, I was Sailor Sun, Sailor Daystar, the Sailor Of Life. Last night, Sailor Moon's Mother and my adoptive mother, Queen Serenity, appeared to me and told me of my mission. My mission - now yours, as well - is to awaken the Sailors of the Elements - Light, Soul, Fire, Water, and Air. She told me that as Sailor Moon is the leader of the Sailor Scouts, I shall be the leader of the Sailor Elements. And as Sailor Venus is the leader of the Inner Scouts, you shall be my second, my co-leader. Our duty, and the duty of all the Elementals, is to protect the Warriors of our Element to the extent of our powers, even if it costs us our very life."
"Oh," she said quietly, looking at her hands. I looked at her with compassion. Even though I, myself, had only been a Scout for barely a week, I felt much older and experienced than Avaris. And perhaps because I was so new to it, I knew what was going through her mind.
Can I really protect the world with these two hands of mine? I feel so small and weak, so alone and scared. But if it's my duty -
I took her small, dainty hands in mine.
"Maybe you can't protect the world alone, but the two of us together, and the Sailor Scouts and Sailor Moon combined, will be able to. Without a doubt. But you have accepted your destiny by taking the Crystal, and now you can't get out of it. There will be times when you would like nothing better than to chuck that thing into the Tokyo Bay, and there will be times when you are longing to transform and kick some youma butt. There will be times when you feel alone and scared, but always know that I will be there for you. Some of my duty goes to my scouts, as well."
Avaris looked up and smiled at me.
"Thank you," she said. Suddenly Hermes jumped up onto the bed.
"Welcome to the Sailor Elements," He purred.
"Oh, my goodness!" Avaris exclaimed. "Did - did your cat just talk??" I laughed.
"This is Hermes, my Guardian. He revealed my true identity to me and will train all the Sailor Elements once they are all awakened. Do you have something for Avaris, Hermes?" I asked him. Hermes yawned while he thought.
"Hmm . . .yes, I believe so, now where did I put it . . .ah yes, here it is." He did a backflip and a communicator identical to mine, but for the face, which was pink, appeared.
"What is this?" Avaris asked.
"This is your Scout Communicator," Hermes said, pointing at the watch. "Whenever you hear coordinates given for the Sailor Scouts for battle, go there and hide yourself. The Sailor Elements do not interfere until their warrior is endangered. Wait for the other Elementals, especially Light, before going into battle."
Suddenly the doorbell rang, and Celeste listened intently as the door opened and a familiar voice sounded from below.
"Hi, I'm Mina! I'm here to visit Celeste."
"Oh, of course. One moment, let me call her." I heard my aunt respond. I looked at Avaris.
"Come on," I said. "You're about to meet Sailor Venus in person."
"Celeste!" My aunt called. "You have a visitor!"
"Coming!" I called back. I stood up and headed downstairs, Avaris behind me. Mina was standing in the front hall, taking off her shoes. She looked up as she heard me coming, her well - known smile on her face. When she saw Avaris, though, her smile wavered some and the smile in her eyes became false.
"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't realize you had company," she said, straightening up as she finished taking off her shoes.
"No, not at all," I said. "This is someone you needed to meet, anyways. Why don't we go up to my room and chat?"
"Fine with me," Mina said. Avaris nodded.
"All right then, let me just nip to the kitchen to get some snacks for us." I said, heading through the door to my left. After transferring several cookies from a package to a plate along with three glasses of milk onto a tray, I went back to the hall where Mina and Avaris were waiting. I walked up the stairs, hearing my two friends following me. When we reached my bedroom, I set the tray on the bed and pulled up a chair for me to sit in, while Mina and Avaris sat on my bed.
"So what's up?" I asked Mina. She looked at Avaris.
"Maybe this isn't the time . . ." She said.
"Oh, my, I forgot to introduce you! Mina, please meet Avaris. Avaris, this is the one and only . . . . . Sailor Venus." Mina's eyes widened.
"What are you saying?!" She exclaimed, jumping off the bed. Avaris laughed.
"No, no need for alarm. I already knew who you were. I'm the Sailor of Soul - pleased to meet you."
"The Sailor - of Soul?" Mina asked, sitting back down slowly.
"I believe you two met earlier today," I said gently. Mina paused a moment, then suddenly it dawned on her.
"Earlier to- oh! Then that means - wait - you were there, too, weren't you?" She asked me. I nodded. "Well - who were you?" "The Sailor of Light."
"Who?" I sighed. This would take a while.
"Did you get my letter?" I asked. She nodded and pulled a piece of crumpled paper out of her pocket.
"Well, yes - but it didn't explain much," she said, handing it to me. I accepted it and reread it.
"Mina - I won't be able to perform my duties of Sailor Sun for a while, I'm needed to do something else for the time being. But Sailor Moon still needs to be protected, and Queen Serenity has decided that the duty of protecting her has fallen on your shoulders. I can't tell you how long you'll be needed, but it could be a very long time. If you have any questions, come and ask them, but I can't promise I'll be able to give you an answer. Don't tell anyone else of this, and see to it that no one else reads this letter.
- Celeste"
"Yes, I kept it short so that no one would learn too much if it fell into the wrong hands. But now that you're here, I can explain things to you. First, let me tell you what has happened, and then after, if you have any questions, you can ask me then. Okay?"
"Okay," Mina agreed.
So I launched into the story of my vision from Queen Serenity, and explained all about the Element Sailors, and how a great danger was approaching. All in all, the story took about ten minutes, because Mina kept interrupting and asking questions. When everything was finally explained and Mina had no more questions, I said;
"Now that you know, you can not tell anyone else about this - not a soul! It's very important to keep it a secret for as long as Queen Serenity wants it to be. Understand?"
Mina nodded, gazing out the window. Suddenly Hermes jumped onto the bed.
"Hi, Hermes," she said absentmindedly, stroking him. Suddenly she blinked.
"Wait a second," she said, knitting her brow. "Did the Elemental Sailors exist in the Silver Millennium?"
"I've been waiting for someone to ask that," Hermes said. "Yes, and no."
"What is that supposed to mean?" Asked Avaris.
"They existed, but none but the Sailor of Light were activated."
"What was their planet?" Inquired Mina.
"They lived on the Sun with Celeste. They were basically her ladies-in-waiting; the daughters of the local Lords and Dukes. They all knew of their duties and their powers, but only the powers of light were needed in the battle against Beryl - or so we thought."
"Or so we thought?" I repeated. Hermes nodded.
"It was the opinion of many," he said, "That the battle would have ended differently had we activated the Elemental Sailors.
"What are you saying?" I pressed. Hermes turned his amber gaze on mine.
"I'm saying," he said quietly, "That perhaps both the Moon Kingdom and Queen Serenity might have lived on if it weren't for the insistence that the Elements weren't needed to be put into battle."
"Who insisted?" Avaris asked him in a whisper.
Hermes was quiet for a time. He gazed off into the distance, apparently deep in thought.
"Well?" I asked. He looked at me out of the corners of his eyes and mumbled something.
"What?" I asked. He mumbled something again.
"Speak up!" Mina cried. Hermes sighed and lifted his head.
"I wasn't supposed to restore these memories," he said, "But I guess I don't have a choice." He lifted his paw up to my forehead and touched it lightly. My sign - the crescent moon encircled by a thin golden line - glowed for a moment and then faded. I gasped as a new rush of memories came flooding back. Through slitted eyes, I saw Hermes touch Avaris's and Mina's forehead also. Then my consciousness faded away as my mind began to relive the memories.