Crystal Magicians
Book One: Reincarnation
By: Anime's Angels
Crystal Magicians
By: Anime's Angels
Part One
Cherri Armstrong chewed on her eraser. How could she put the finishing
touches on this paper?
As editor, she had to. But this wasn't looking very good. The columns
where wrong, the pictures
were fuzzy and they had been reduced to 1-dye from there printer.
The hapless layout sheet of the next issue of The Patrical looked up at her.
The Patrical. Who invented that?
Probably the first editor. Combination of the Patriot, their mascot, and
periodical. Truly, it was
inventive.
*But, really stupid,* Cherri had to add.
Pulling out her long ponytail, she used the holder tp pull her hair into a
tight bun atop her head.
*One, two, three. There!* she thought as she secured her long and extremely
fine hair.
Bending over the layout again, she moved Charlie's article about the
basketball team down, the
picture of the champion wrestler up... but she wasn't satisfied.
Mrs. Crone came over. "How's it going, Cherri?" the older lady asked
looking at the sheet,
impressed by the work.
"Not good. We REALLY need those computers. Don't worry about the training,
I could teach
them, it's isn't hard and we wouldn't have to invest in rubber cement
companies."
The teacher's laughter wasn't the reaction Cherri wanted. "Cher, we don't
have enough money.
Even a school like us, outside of 150 can't get that type of funding. And
well, you already know
the rest."
Cherri knew alright. Stupid district 150 had grown so big, they squashed
the medium sized
school in comparison. Ah well. She would keep pushing. She wanted those
computers. Heck,
she would BUILD a computer if it meant that she would never have to look at
another style sheet.
*Ring!*
*Oh, boy study hall. Woohoo. At least I have Mrs. Miller this year.*
Mrs. Miller, history teacher extrordinaire, was already grooming Cherri as
her teacher's aide next
year, and Cherri graded a lot of sophomore and freshman papers. In fact,
she spent most of her
study hall doing so.
When she went to lunch, her hands where red. She didn't think she could
take another week
running around like this. She put her hands back to her head, taking out
her now sloppy bun and
pulling it back into a tight pony tail.
Or she tried until..*Twang!*
Looking at the woven cotton/elastic holder, she noticed the metal clasp that
usually held the two
ends together had broke, leaving her with all her hair and no way to tie it
back.
*Great. Just great.*
She dug down into her lunch. *'Maybe mom snuck something in....*
"Hey Cherri!"
"Hi Aurora! I heard you and *Ben* both got accepted to that state string
thing."
"Oh, the IMEA, yeah... why didn't you try?"
"Didn't feel like getting another rejection letter. Oo! Cheesecake!
Thanks Mom!" Cherri said,
pulling out a wide slice of the dessert with cherries on top.
"Cher, your always complaining about how fat you are but you keep eating!"
Aurora exclaimed.
"And don't give me that 'I'm just no good exercise' because we used to
practice together."
"Yes, your Miss Professional, and I'm Miss Leave-me-Alone, I'm eating me
cheesecake. And,
I've decided that if your mom baked like mine dose then you would be
complaining about your
weight to."
"Speaking of desserts...."
"No! It's mine! Ooo..." her voice dropped, "Aurora... lookie at the
beefcake!"
"Where?"
"Doorway, second on the left!"
"Yum."
*Ring!*
The two made disappointed faces.
"Ror, see ya after class? I heard that Children's Castle has some new lion
plushies."
"You're just doing this because you love cats and Best Buy is next door!
And because you don't
have a license yet."
"Please? Come one. You KNOW you want to buy them out!"
She sighed. "Alright. 3, on the dot. Kay?"
"Kay."
Neither of them knew, that they would never even make it out of the school
that day, let alone the
shopping spree they had just planned.
The 5'8" girl known as Cherri ran down the halls. She was going tech
shopping! But she had to
suffer through two more icky classes - Trig and Spanish 3. Yucky. At least
she had Mr. Henz
tomorrow.
As a cluster of teens stopped in the hall way, the girl, slightly taller
than average, wove in and out
of the mess, reminding herself to yell as some freshman later. So what if
she wasn't a senior?
Okay, she was a junior, the youngest in her class... so what? And so what
if her shoes added
enough to top her off right at 5'8"? She was still 5'7.5" so, she was
average.
But she would be in trouble if she didn't make it to class.
*Have to make it.... No staying after tonight.... Come on.... come on....
Move! I'm gonna be late!
Move it!*
~~~~~~~~
"Relena! Come on, if they are coming... we have to lea.. now...."
"Got it. Your breaking up. Meet you at the rendezvous point," the
Peacecraft princess answered
before turning to her friends. "You got that guys? We have to move... NOW.
Most of the
people have already been shipped from the colonies to Mars, Io, or this
colony, and we have to
see what we can do for Earth. I only hope we can make it."
Heero got up and looked at her. Some thing flashed. Then he boarded, with
the other pilots
behind him, Dorothy, Hilde, and finally Relena. Zechs and Noin where planet
side and Sal and
Une where dealing with the people on Mars. The Lunar colony where they
where one wasn't as
full as Mars or Io... but she hoped that THEY couldn't harm the people. It
was time.
"Sere.... Sere come in," she said, calling on her vidphone.
"Serena here."
"Cus', we're off the Lunar base and are in route to Earth. How long?"
"The girls say that most of the population has been moved to Io, almost
three weeks ago. But
that still leaves almost a million. It seems that these are willing to
fight, and there families have
taken shelter underground, safe... for the moment."
"Thanks. Say hi to the girls for me...and to you boyfriend."
"Darien? Sure. You guys get your butts down here though. I think the boys
may have a bit of a
surprise in store for them. Serena, over and out."
The pilots stared at Relena's militaristic style as she quickly dialed
another number. She was fast
and furious... putting this together as quickly as possible.
"Come on Mia... pick up... pick up" she muttered under her breath.
When the brunette finally did, all the Foreign Minister could see was chaos
on the habit of Io.
"Ree! The boys stayed on earth. Anubis had a premonition... we may have to
fight them off in
droves. But, I think we have some others who would rather duke it out back
home, so to speak.
And we have found some rather interesting artifacts. A cave, a sword, and
what appears to be
some new allies. Here, I'm transmitting the communication codes. Her name
is Ayeka and she
might be able to pull out some big guns for us. Also, on the info you've
given me...."
"The technology seems to be organic. Self healing. And there weapons are
far greater than the
power of Wing's buster cannon. I think all those abductions... from all
those exploratory
missions... I fear that I know where the those people are... or what they
have become. I *need* a
ship to analyze...."
Mia hung her head, and sighed. "We thought that the war of 195 AC was bad.
We fought Talpa,
Chaos, Beryl... separately, we all had our own battles. But I don't know
how much magic, or
science or luck it will take to beat Them back...."
Relena's voice was strong and powerful. "But we *will* drive them back.
They CANNOT win!
I won't allow it. And if They even TRY to blow up something..." her eyes
flashed dangerously,
hand moving down to a small transformation pen, "I will make them pay....
Mia, we can't lose."
Her voice dropped. "For if our plans fail, the Earth, our solar system...
life as we know it... is
doomed."
"How long?"
"Sere doesn't know yet. What I do know is that Pluto has gone looking into
the time and space
stream and beyond to find help. I only hope that every thing can come
together.... Relena out."
"Roger."
The blonde slumped against her chair. She was tired. Just as one of her
party start to speak, the
captain came in saying something about stowaways.
Before she could move, a boy with black hair, a girl with a pendent, plus
some more of there
group came forward, and another group of 10-year olds came from another
entrance. The
teenage, black haired boy came up.
"I'm Van Fannel, and this" he said putting a hand on the smallest girl, "is
Sakura Avalon. And
we are here to help."
Despite the situation, Relena smiled, noting the similarities between Van,
Heero, and Trowa.
"Welcome, well... I guess we all have some explaining to do."
************
Janis Hunter, JJ, dodged students left and right as only she could. Her
books were clasped firmly
to her chest and she bit the inside of her bottom lip in concentration as
she headed for class,
Spanish 3. After taking all the French and German classes the school had
all she needed now
was Spanish. *If only I had time to work on my Japanese and Chinese studies
more! I'm
_nearly_ fluent in them!* she thought as she entered the class room.
The 5'4" 18 year old senior headed straight for Cherri and Aurora's desks
and crouched down
next to them. "Sorry I wasn't at lunch ladies," she greeted with a friendly
smile, "I had the dentist
to see."
Cherri smiled. "We know," she said.
"You were complaining about it for ages!" Aurora whined.
JJ just grinned sheepishly. "I did, didn't I?"
"Hey! We're going shopping after school! Care to join us?" Cherri asked.
"Shopping! I'm there!" JJ exclaimed grinning widely. Besides making her
own clothes, the
brunette liked shopping and had wonderful, if sometimes odd, taste. Right
now she wore an
outfit she made herself. The ankle length linen skirt had slits on each side
up past her knees and
outlined in violet designs and a top also made of linen, long sleeved,
tight, outlined in the same
violet designs, with slits up the sides partway, and a V-neckline. Above
the ankle boots covered
her feet and her long brown hair was pulled into a high pony tail with the
crown braided.
"Can you drive?" Aurora asked. She moved away from Cherri. "My cars in the
shop."
"What?!" Cherri demanded. "You said...!"
"I got a note in my last class saying my dad took the car after he heard odd
noises from the engine
and put it in the shop."
"Oh."
JJ laughed. "Yeah I'll drive us," she said. The bell rang and she got to
her feet. [See you after
class!] she said in Spanish as she moved to her seat in the back.
She listened patiently to the teachers lesson, which seemed to be more
boring then anything
before, but her eyes kept creeping to her watch, wanting to get out of there
and be anywhere but
there. Anywhere....
************
Cherri looked at her watch... then at JJ in the back of her Spanish class,
then her watch again,
then Aurora, then her watch.
Time was in slow motion, it seemed. Could Senora do anything more to make
it stop?
*No,* thought Trista Meiou, a.k.a. Sailor Pluto, *but I can.*
And soon, she would make good on her threat.
Cherri couldn't believe it. They surely didn't need to go through pronouns
again. She ran her
fingers through her long goldish hair, the silky strands all the way from
the top of her head to the
middle of her back... well almost the small if she trimmed it and waited for
it to grow again.
The back of her head was still damp from the shower this morning. She noted
that she needed to
go to Sally's beauty supply and pick up more conditioner. And talk to her
chem and English
teachers, and finish her band stuff, and key club, and PE testing was next
week, and the paper....
Suddenly laying her arms on her desk, Cherri crashed her head on her desk.
She mentally scolded
herself. *Why do I have to be in so many things?* Of course, without a hair
tie the silk mass
followed, flowing over he shoulders and down in front of her head. The
space heat wasn't on,
and despite her raspberry sweater and her light blue flared jeans, she was
freezing.
*Probably has to do with this wet hair.*
JJ, threw Aurora a wondering look. Aurora shrugged. She sure didn't know
what was wrong.
"Teresa! Isabel! Is there something you would like to share? No habla
espanol en el clase, el
maestro es instruir!"
"Si, senora Gibbons" JJ and Aurora answered. Usually, she was pretty nice,
but today she was
being a real bitch.
"Mercedes? Cherri? Cherri, are you okay?"
Aurora shifted out of her seat, rolling up her shirt sleeves, "Cher, are you
okay?"
A pair of olive eyes looked back, "I feel really weird and exhausted."
Giving her best groan and
puppy look to the teacher, she laid back down.
"Aurora, Janis, could you escort Miss Armstrong to the nurse station?"
"Yes ma'am"
~~~~~~~~
Duo didn't quite get it. They where about to land too. What WHERE they.
Rele didn't have a
name. But what they did know was that they have pinpoint accuracy and they
killed to conquer
inferior races... species. SOMEHOW, they had crossed some border and was
invading their
galaxy.
This didn't make sense, why here? Why now?
Well, at least they had more than one form of back up. Escaflowne was
hidden in the docking
bay, and they had another psychic, plus some girl who could control forces.
This was getting a little to weird for him.
"Serena!"
"Relena!"
The pilots noticed how the girls immediately started making plans, and how
similar they where.
The cousin, Serena, had changed her hair, now up in a pony tail instead of
odangos with a man at
her side. There faces lit up and paled at similar points of conversation,
while the man made his
way over to the vehicle.
"My name is Chiba Darien. I'm supposed to show you around the camp."
Heero glanced at Relena.
"She will be fine. Like Serena and their other cousin, Mina, she has power
that none of you can
conceive."
"What do you mean power?" Trowa asked warily as he saw the Vice-Foreign
Minister escorted
away with another blonde and a girl with hair blacker than Darien's.
"You'll see please, come with me."
He escorted them to a small room. "I know these aren't your originals, but
when we went for the
original plans, we couldn't find them. However we found what would have
been the upgraded
models. The 'Custom' models."
"What does this mean?" WuFei asked.
"It means, we have our Gundam's back," Heero said gazing down at the new
Wing.
~~~~~~~~
Relena looked at her friends... well... her cousin's friends. Hilde and
Dorothy had been ushered
in as well. Relena grasped her transformation stick tighter. She didn't
want to do this. She had
no choice.
Hilde and Dorothy had both been given suits, much greater than a Leo or
Virgo, though. Like
stealth Gundams. Each was outfitted in some simple space suits like those
of the pilots (cut for
women and different colors) and had guns.
Hitomi had been lead in as well and was talking with Rei, trying to seek out
the enemy. Mia and
Catherine where coming to incorporate stealth tech into the senshi, and now
Relena's powers.
"Rel! Come here. I want to introduce you to one of the best mecha
designers, Bulma."
*Bulma? What kind of name is that?* The girl with turquoise hair waved and
continued to build
helpful machines. If she recognized correctly, she was one of the few who
brought many others
down to Earth to help fight. Relena was both sickened and happy.
"Oh, Sere! I almost for got! Mia gave me these codes. Some princess
across the galaxy wants to
help us, I think her name was Ayeka."
"Great! The moon princess, the earthen princess, the court, Ayeka... how
many princesses is
that?"
"As long as we can win...."
Serena placed a reassuring hand. "I know you miss him, but we have to
keeping on, if not for
ourselves, then for others. Darien's gonna be fighting in a mech as well
and we will be there to
back them up. We figure on one senshi, psychic, or what not per 3 ships and
we will be fine. If
not, will just do it on our own. We haven't trained every way for nothing."
"I know, but doesn't the fact that we are looking our existence right in the
eye bother you? I
know it does."
"Well, that's why we where given this power, to save. Wanna practice?"
"Why not?"
"Moon... Crystal... Power!"
"Earth... Crystal... Power!"
The pilots looked down in time to see the cousins change before there very
eyes and begin a
training technique.
Heero was amazed..."Relena....."
~~~~~~~~
Cherri stopped them half way to the office. "Guys, I'm okay. Really, I
just felt weird."
"Weird enough to cut class?" JJ asked.
"Everyday is a good day to cut class!" Cherri quipped, smiling broadly...
before gripping her
temples and falling into a row of lockers.
"Cherri!" Aurora cried, helping her up. "Are you okay?"
"Never... been... better... got any Advil or something?"
JJ nodded to her worried friend, and the pair hauled the taller one to her
feet taking her up to the
nurse.
Something wasn't right, and they needed to figure out what.
Sailor Pluto looked on, better her time.
JJ helped the poor girl up the steps. Again. Cherri was looking
progressively worse, and from
the look on Aurora's face, she wasn't looking any better on that side
either.
Cherri hated nurses and doctors. Okay, she hated needles more. Her biggest
fear probably would
being 'needled' to death. But now, she didn't seem to care... just had to
make it....
Aurora looked at her friend, maybe even her best friend. Cherri's skin had
lost most of it's
natural peachy complexion, her eyes looked glazed and sunk in, not the
blight glittering orbs that
where usually there. Her form looked extremely frail, unlike the joyous
girl scarfing down
cheesecake at lunch hour.
************
Cherri, Aurora, and JJ were almost halfway to the nurse's office when they
saw Ariel walking
down the hall. She was immediately concerned when she saw Cherri and came
running up to
them. "Hey! Cherri, what's wrong?"
Cherri gave her a small grin. "Just cutting class," she said in a small
voice. Ariel gave her the
'yeah right' look.
"She doesn't feel that great. We're helping her to the nurse's office.
What are you doing in the
hall?" Aurora answered.
"Mr. Coleman, my chem teacher, sent me on an errand to Mr. Calgaro the
physics teacher. I'm
on my way to class now. Need me to help?" she replied.
"No, I think we got it. I'll tell you what happened later, as soon as we
know," JJ said.
"Okay. Cherri, get better!" Ariel yelled as she ran down to her chemistry
class. She silently
groaned as she entered, realizing that she missed half the lesson on
chemical bonding. She sighed
and just sat in her seat, becoming totally confused as he continued.
************
JJ finally guided the younger one into the office and convinced her to lay
down. Cherri complied
without hesitation. JJ Hunter quickly left, quietly shutting the door
behind her to find anxiously
awaiting Aurora Johnson awaiting her.
"J? What's wrong? I mean, she's been sick before but never like this.
This is almost like
something is forcing her to be weak. Like and allergic reaction or
something."
"Rora, you know that the best thing is to hurry and find the nurse."
~~~~~~~~
Trista Meiou slipped into the office of Marquette Heights High. She
addressed the secretary,
"Hello, I'm Dr. Susan Setsuna, and I'm here to examine your facilities. You
know the routine."
"Sure thing, Dr. Setsuna. Right this way. I think Nurse Thomson has a
patient a waiting her."
Trista looked at the pale and feverish form of Cherri Armstrong as she
entered the otherwise
empty room. *This is one. Of how many?* Quickly, she took some readings
with a scanner
from some girl named Bulma, and another set from another mech designer -
Washu. They came
back positive....
*How could she have been affected? These readings only show up in people
who have been
pilots inside of the organic tech... unless she's a telepath. That's it!
These people have
extraordinary gifts! She is probably the empathic girl. Do *they* have
someone here? There
isn't any choice. I have to move her *now* and collect the others. If I
could get them out of this
area, I could give her something that will help her transition. And I have
to get the others out of
here too.*
Carefully, Trista picked up the silent form of Cherri Armstrong, lifting her
heated body off the
table and caring her to the door. If she could find the two who carried her
here, she had a good
chance of finding the majority of her help.
But before she could move, the whole situation hit the fan.
~~~~~~~~
Aurora slagged down in her chair, feeling rather ill herself. It was so
sudden. JJ looked
curiously over to her companion, before feeling drained herself. Down in
chemistry, Ariel
seemed faint. Almost immediately, Nurse Thomson came in to the office
asking multiple
questions.
Then she came storming into her office.
"Who are you!"
Cherri's head snapped up, suddenly surprised. *That* wasn't the nurse.
Looking hard she
realized something was different... something weird was going on.
Trista tried her ID again, "I'm from the state, Dr. Susan Setsuna. This
girl has strep throat and
mono, she needs to be taken to the hospital... NOW!"
"Your not taking her anywhere!" As the woman shouted her face morphed a bit
showing that it
wasn't human... but it wasn't clear enough to see what it was.
The creature's eyes glowed an eerie red and she began her attack on Trista
to get Cherri for some
reason. When the sixteen year-old made the mistake of looking it in the
eye, she let out a scream
that echoed throughout the school.