The Perpetual Lurker
angelamarie@neo.tamu.edu
Dark Side of the Moon: Chapter 2
The library was a huge place, ornately decorated with crimson and red hangings on the walls and potted plants scattered across the floor. Ami held the large door open for Queen Rose, then waved her hand across the scene. "This is the library, Your Majesty. What can I help you find?"
"Well, I was hoping to find some information on magic users and training techniques. Is there a librarian on duty here at all?"
"Oh, most of the clerical staff got the day off, because it's Sere's birthday. But I can find that easily!" Ami led the way unerringly to a large bookcase and pointed to select shelves. "I think this would probably be what you're looking for, Your Majesty. Maybe you want to start with this one?" She stood on her toes to pull down a leather tome. "I wouldn't suggest the De Montercy - at least if you aren't familiar with much of the subject, he can be confusing. But this one" she tapped the book's cover confidently "should be a fine introduction. And after that," Ami pointed to a book several shelves above her head, and waited for Rose to take it down. "Rausenberg can give you more details. There's a very good index, so you don't have to read the whole thing through." Ami fell silent, as if she had suddenly run out of steam.
Rose looked back and forth from the heavy books in her hand to the small child in front of her. "Surely, Ami, you haven't read all these books? How old are you?"
'Oh...." The Mercurian princess blushed and looked at her toes. "I'm seven. I'll be eight in a few months."
"And you've really read these?"
"Well, not all of them. Most of the books on the top shelves, I haven't read. Ana didn't like me climbing on the shelves to get them, but sometimes she'll bring one down for me. And she says there's some I can't read until I get older."
"I..... see." Rose said slowly, feeling very outclassed. "Well, shall we?"
"Sure! There's a table right there.... I'm going to get a book, and if you have any questions I'll be right here."
* * * * *
"I could have HAD her!" Makoto slammed her fist into her other hand, and jumped up from her seat to pace around Michiru's bedroom. "If Queen Serenity would just let us use our powers...."
"Oh, sit down," Haruka said from across the room. "You don't have enough control over your lightning yet, you know you're not allowed to use it in the palace."
"Well, what about you guys?" Makoto said angrily. "You didn't do anything!"
Michiru turned another page in her book and spoke without looking at anyone. "Do you think I wanted to risk an ocean wave through the banquet room? And besides, we aren't allowed to use our powers indoors either, not until we have more practice. If things had gotten really bad, Queen Serenity would have used her crystal."
"I still think I could have done something," Makoto muttered. "Just one good blast...."
"At least you guys have powers," Hotaru said quietly from her perch on the bed. "How do you think I feel? I wasn't any help at all."
"Oh, it's okay, Hotaru..." Haruka got up to put an arm around the tiny girl and glared at Makoto. The brunette wilted a little under the angry gaze.
Minako climbed onto the bed beside them. "Sure it's okay, Hotaru! You just wait a little, till you get older like me!" She got carefully to her feet and began jumping, shaking the mattress until Hotaru cracked a smile.
Haruka stuck her tongue out at the blond girl and slid off the high bed. "I wonder where the others have gotten to?"
"Well, Ami's - in the li - brary again - and I - think Sere - went to - the - gardens with Ana - and Prince - Endy - mion..." Minako said between bounces on the mattress. Hotaru squealed as she was thrown into the air by the force of Minako's landings.
"So where's Setsuna and Rei? And the others who came up from Earth?" Michiru looked up, interested.
Minako collapsed on the bed and shrugged. "No idea. I haven't seen them since we came up.'
Haruka went to the door. "I'll be back later."
"Hey, where're you going?" MIchiru asked her friend.
"I dunno, out? I'll be back."
* * * * *
"Now, you've got to be really quiet here. They can hear us downstairs if you get too loud," Setsuna whispered to her companions. She carefully pushed a decorative shelf sideways to reveal a tunnel reaching back into the depths of the palace.
"Cool!" Kunzite said.
"Hey, how come I didn't know this was here?" Rei demanded. "I've lived here as long as you have."
"Yeah, but I know how to ask the right questions. And," Setsuna moved aside to let Kunzite and Jadeite go in first. "I can keep a secret."
Rei glared at Setsuna before following her into the tunnel. "I can keep a secret," she muttered under her breath. "Where's this go, anyway?"
* * * * *
The pale white flowers glowed softly in the dim light. As Endy walked through the gardens with Princess Serenity, he couldn't help but wonder about them...
"What makes them glow?"
"Huh?" The Princess, not paying attention, looked at her companion.
"The flowers. How come they shine like that?"
"Oh..." She looked around the garden. "I don't know. They've always done that."
Ana interrupted the children's conversation. "Those are Lune Blossoms, Prince Endymion. They absorb light, then give it back for a few hours a day. We think it's to attract pollinators...."
As she continued her explanation, Sere leaned over to whisper to Endy. "Now you've done it.... She thinks she's found a 'learning ex- preeince' and she won't be happy until we go find some books or something."
"Is she really that bad?"
"Naw.... but once in a while she goes off on these kicks...."
"Yikes. What do we do?"
"Just wait till I say."
Ana was still talking, oblivious to the side conversation going on. "You see, when the flowers bloom, they produce these little bits that glow, all through the petals. They show up.... oh here, I'll show you...." She turned and bent over the flower bed.
"Now!" Sere grabbed Endy's hand and they ran off under the trees. Ana straightened up with a Lune Blossom in her hand.
"Here we go, now you can see how....." Her voice trailed off as she took in the empty path. "Serenity? Endymion? Serenity!" Ana looked around at the gardens. "Oh, bother...."
* * * * *
"This is fascinating," Queen Rose said. She quickly flipped back and forth from the page she was on to the one before it. "According to this, you senshi draw your energies directly from the planets of your birth?"
"As far as we can tell, yes." Ami held up a scroll. "This is the first research they did. It seems rather flawed at this point, however, especially when you consider results found just last year by Simen and Geref. Their paper is right....." she dug through the new mountain of documents on the table, then emerged triumphantly with a sheaf of papers held aloft in one hand. "Here!"
"May I?" Rose accepted the document from Ami and began leafing through it. "I can't believe there's been so much research done already. There haven't been any strong magic users to study from in decades!"
"That's why they used us," Haruka interrupted from her post leaning on the door. "The palace here was filled with scientists a few years ago, all running tests and examinations to find out how our magic works. It works, isn't that good enough?"
"Haruka!" Ami was startled to see the sandy-haired girl in the library. "What are you doing here?" She remembered her manners then. "Oh! Queen Rose, this is Princess Haruka of Uranus. Haruka, this is Her Majesty, Queen Rose of Earth."
"Pleased to meet you," Haruka said quickly. "Ami, you don't know where Setsuna is, do you? I'm worried she's gone off exploring again, and you know what happened last time...."
Oh, dear." Ami quickly pulled a couple of books out from under a stack, and then tossed tehm on the table and caught the stack before it toppled over. "Queen Rose, I'd suggest these two next once you finish those. There's a notepad and stylus there if you need it, and if you would excuse me...."
Rose watched, bemused, as the two girls ran out of the library. It was almost like a tutoring session, being around the Mercury princess. She shrugged and picked up the next sheaf of papers.
* * * * *
"Ouch!"
"Hey, get off, that's my foot!"
"Hold on, I'm trying, I - "
"HEY! Back up!"
"I can't see a thing!"
"Oh, you...." Setsuna crawled across Jadeite's back and stepped on Kunzite's elbow before she reached the wall. She felt around for a candle, finding it in a small niche, and finally managed to light it with an accompyaning match.
She turned back to the others to see them all tangled up in the narrow passage. "Oh honestly, you guys!"
"Well, if Jadeite could have held still....." Rei said angrily. "OW! Don't move, my hair's caught on your button!"
Jadeite froze. Setsuna stalked over to them. "Here, I'll get it. Hold still...." She carefully freed Rei's dark tresses from the gold button on his jacket. "Okay now?"
Rei rubbed her scalp. "Yeah, I think so." She looked around at the tunnel. "Where are we?"
"I'm not sure," Setsuna said. "I've never been down here before."
"You got us lost?!?" Jadeite said.
"Well, maybe-kinda sorta-I guess so?" Setsuna said carefully, not looking at him.
He shrugged his shoulders, and a grin spread across his face. "Cool!"
"Um, guys?" Kunzite said. "I'm not too sure about this....."
"Aw, come on!" Rei started walking down the passage. "Let's see where it goes!"
"Well....."
Jadeite quickly caught up with Rei and pushed past her to run down the hall. "Come on, Kunzite! Don't worry about it, let's go!"
Rei glared after him and rubbed her arm as Setsuna came up to her with the light. "Yeah, it'll serve him right if he - " And a thud came resounding back to them. "Trips in the dark," she finished, satisfied.
* * * * *
"Wow." Endy looked around at the giant trees that surounded them. "This is amazing!"
"You don't have trees on Earth?" Sere said, astonished.
"Oh, there's trees. I'm just not allowed to go out and see them much. Not like this, anyways."
"How come?" Sere jumped to put her arms around a low-hanging branch and dangled from it, her feet waving a few inches above the ground. "I love the trees here."
"I'm not supposed to be outside much, not ever by myself." Endy joined Sere in hanging onto the branch, and pulled himself up until his feet left the dirt. "I can't believe your nurse just let us run off like that."
"Why?" Sere wiggled her wrist. The small watch on her arm glowed a soft pink from the crystal inside that powered it. "I know what time it is, we won't be late."
"If I ever tried something like this at home, my Dad would have me confined to my rooms for the next twenty years. I don't know what he's worried about, the others go out all the time and nothing happens to them."
"Oh. That's weird, I love being outside. It's so nice in the gardens.... Do you have gardens on Earth?"
"Yeah, right outside the palace there's a really big rose garden. My mom's. She goes out and walks there all the time. I think she helped plant them."
"Ooh! Roses? That's a pretty name. Are the flowers that pretty?"
"You've never seen one?" Endy let go of the branch and waited for Sere to do the same. "There's loads and loads of them right outside my window."
Endy wished more than anything that he had a rose, right then, to show Sere. His new friend had already shown him so many new things....
"Wow....." Sere said slowly. "How'd you do that?"
"Do what?"
"That!" She pointed to his hand. Endy followed her gaze to see a perfect red rose in his grasp, that he hadn't noticed until then.
"I.... don't know. Here, let's see if it happens again!" He held out his hand and concentrated. Another blossom materialized next to the first.
"Wow! That's so cool! These are pretty..."
"They're roses. Why don't you take them?" Endy handed the flowers to Sere, who was immediately thrilled.
"Thanks!" She gave her friend a giant hug.
Metallia felt a shiver, some strange sensation that roused her from her lethargy. It took her long moments before she could reach her conciousness outside of herself to search for the cause, but when she found it she was furious. One of her people, using strange magic?
The spirit of Earth decided then that she had waited much too long. Her territories and thralls would not be subverted by outside influences! She stretched out her conciousness further and further, searching......
A young girl, ten years old, living in a small village toward the north. She was already closely in tune with the old ways, which would only put her in nearer sympathies with Metallia. Between this girl and Dagan, she could begin to retake her ground. Now she needed a plan to bring them together......
Haruka watched as Ami stuck her head around a bend in the hallway. "Coast's clear!" The blue-haired girl whispered over her shoulder.
Haruka dashed up to her. "Okay. You go that way, I'll go this way. Meetcha back, soon as you're through?"
Ami nodded, and took off toward the left and through the large doors. Haruka double-checked to make sure no one was coming, and nearly flew down the hallway to the right.
"Oh!" Haruka slammed into a white-gowned figure exiting a doorway. She was about to start running again, hoping whoever it was hadn't seen her face, but then realized it would be pointless anyway. There weren't that many sandy-haired tomboys around the palace.
Queen Serenity got to her feet carefully and looked down at the young princess of Uranus. "Well, Haruka? What in the world are you doing?"
"Um... well, you see, Your Majesty, I...." Haruka looked down at her feet, then up at the face of the woman who ruled most of the solar system. "Ami and I were.... racing, I guess you'd call it.... She went that way and I went this way."
"Oh, Haruka..... I need you to find something else to do. There're a lot of important people around the palace today, and for the next few days. It wouldn't be polite for you to be running into royalty from other planets.... I'd like you to find something to do in your rooms. Do you understand?"
Haruka nodded carefully. "Yes, I do. Can I go find Ami now?"
The queen smiled. "All right. But tell her not to race anymore, okay?"
"Okay." Haruka started to run back to where she'd left Ami, but remembered herself before she'd gotten two steps and slowed to a walk, glancing sheepishly over her shoulder at Queen Serenity.
"Sorry...."
* * * * *
Nephrite knocked carefully on the door. He waited several moments before it cracked open and a small head poked out. "H-hello?"
"Hi, I was looking for Makoto; she said she'd show me the gym. Is she here?"
"Nope," Hotaru told him. "She and Michiru and Minako all went to look for Haruka and Ami."
"Oh...." Nephrite said slowly. "So where's Haruka and Ami?"
"They're looking for Setsuna." Hotaru said. She added in a confiding whisper, "They think she might have gone exploring again."
"Oh, okay. Is that bad?"
"Prob'ly...."
Nephrite began to feel a bit unnerved. Hotaru's large purple eyes hadn't left his face since she'd opened the door, and they seemed too dark for her pale skin. He wasn't sure what to make of her. "Well, I guess I'll come back later...."
"Okay. I'll tell Makoto you were looking for her."
He watched the tiny girl close the door, then turned to go. He hadn't gotten more than a few steps down the hall when he heard the sounds of furniture crashing and a high scream. He ran back to the door.
"Hotaru! Are you all right?"
She didn't answer, but the crashing noises continued. Nephrite jumped back from the door as a chair punched through, right by his head. As the chair flew into the opposite wall, he made up his mind and quickly jumped through the hole in the door.
The sight that greeted his eyes was frightning. Hotaru was struggling in the grip of a wierd creature on stilts.... Stilts?
He didn't have time to think about the oddness of a monster on stilts. The creature was advancing toward him, still holding Hotaru by the throat with one hand. It screeched at him in a high voice.
"Step right up, ladies and gentlemen! Don't miss this event! Today's special admission price..." Its eyes glowed a deep red, and it materialized a blade in its other hand.
"Half off."
Nephrite concentrated his magical energy in his hand, then ran toward the monster. He clenched his fist and swung with all his might.
The monster screamed and dropped Hotaru to the floor. As it raged wildly around the room, smashing furniture, Nephrite helped the tiny girl to her feet.
"Are you okay?"
Hotaru nodded. "I think so..."
"Then go find help! Run!" Nephrite gave her a push to the door and turned to face off once more with the attacker. The monster glared at him fiercely and brandished its sword.
Nephrite gulped.
* * * * *
The passage was filled with twists and stairs. Soon even Setsuna, who'd been wandering there before, admitted to the group that she was lost. Jadeite grew more and more bored as the novelty of exploring a secret labyrinth wore off.
"Isn't there anything else to this?"
He noticed Kunzite glaring at him. "What? It's getting boring, and nothing's happening."
"You know, I might have to agree with him," Rei spoke up. "Much as I hate to do it..."
"Nobody asked you." Jadeite folded his arms. "You aren't half as bored as I am."
"Well fine!" Setsuna said heatedly. "You didn't have to come, you know. It's not like I twisted your arm into doing anything!"
"Yeah, well if I'd known how not-fun this would be, I wouldn't have come! So there!" Jadeite said back.
"Shhhh!" Setsuna tilted her head to the side, a far-off look in her eyes. "I think I hear something."
"Like what?" Kunzite asked.
The girl placed her hands on her hips and looked at him angrily. "If I knew that, I wouldn't have to listen! Now be quiet a second."
She leaned down and set her ear against the wall. The others remained silent until she straightened up. "I think there's trouble," Setsuna said.
"What kind?" Kunzite asked immediately.
"I'm not sure, but listen.... I can hear shouting and noises...."
"We need to find out what's going on...." Kunzite said. "Let's get out of here."
He set off determinedly down the hallway, with the other two trailing behind. Setsuna watched them go in amazement. "What do you think I've been trying to do?" She had to run to catch up with them.
* * * * *
"What is it?" Makoto yelled over the roaring noise.
"I don't know...." Michiru called back, as she tried to keep away from the wildly swinging arms. She ducked under a fist and slid a little closer, trying to grab Minako's skirt. If she could just get ahold of her friend....
The three of them had made their way to the library while searching for Haruka and Ami. Queen Rose was still looking through her pile of books, and had told them that the other two girls had left to find Setsuna's exploring party, She was asking Michiru about a point in one of the papers when the monster appeared. It had swiftly dispatched Rose with a blow to the head, then turned to the three girls.
"That's it!" Makoto said. "I don't care if we aren't supposed to attack in the palace, this is more important than rules." The Jupiter princess concentrated, summoning up a ball of lightning. She hurled it at the monster with a yell. "Take THAT!"
The lightning burned through one of the creature's arms with a smell of ozone. It fell to the floor, detached. Michiru wrinkled her nose at the sight. "Ew....."
The monster reacted by hoisting Minako even farther into the air and switching from a roar to a high pitched shriek. The sound echoed around the high walls and ceiling of the library, reverberating until it became deafening.
The noise was so discordant and loud.... Michiru fell to the floor, covering her ears vainly. She could see Makoto doing the same beside her, and managed to vaguely wonder how Minako was holding up before her brain overloaded and shut down.
* * * * *
Ami worked her way down the hall, carefully scanning the walls with her computer. She thought she'd seen a passage along this way in some old maps once.....
She turned quickly at the sound of footsteps, only to see Hotaru standing quietly behind her. "Hotaru! You startled me."
The look on the tiny girl's face brought Ami up short. "Is something wrong?"
"Ami....." Hotaru flung herself forward and grabbed Ami's waist. As Ami folded her arms around the little girl, she was surprised to find that Hotaru was crying.
"Shhhh... It's okay, what's wrong?"
"They - I - Ami, it's a monster!"
"A monster? Where?"
"In - in Michiru's bedroom! Nephrite's in there, it tried to get me!"
Ami was stunned. "He's still there?"
Hotaru nodded, with tears in her eyes. "He told me to get help. Ami, I'm scared!"
"Shhh... it's okay. You go find Queen Serenity, I'll help Nephrite. Okay?"
"Okay!" Hotaru wiped her eyes quickly and set off down the hall, then turned back. "Where is Queen Serenity?"
"Try her rooms, or the meeting hall!" Ami didn't take the time to watch Hotaru go. She began running down the hall to Michiru's room, wondering what in the world a monster was doing there and why she thought she could do anything about it.
angelamarie@neo.tamu.edu
Dark Side of the Moon: Chapter 2
The library was a huge place, ornately decorated with crimson and red hangings on the walls and potted plants scattered across the floor. Ami held the large door open for Queen Rose, then waved her hand across the scene. "This is the library, Your Majesty. What can I help you find?"
"Well, I was hoping to find some information on magic users and training techniques. Is there a librarian on duty here at all?"
"Oh, most of the clerical staff got the day off, because it's Sere's birthday. But I can find that easily!" Ami led the way unerringly to a large bookcase and pointed to select shelves. "I think this would probably be what you're looking for, Your Majesty. Maybe you want to start with this one?" She stood on her toes to pull down a leather tome. "I wouldn't suggest the De Montercy - at least if you aren't familiar with much of the subject, he can be confusing. But this one" she tapped the book's cover confidently "should be a fine introduction. And after that," Ami pointed to a book several shelves above her head, and waited for Rose to take it down. "Rausenberg can give you more details. There's a very good index, so you don't have to read the whole thing through." Ami fell silent, as if she had suddenly run out of steam.
Rose looked back and forth from the heavy books in her hand to the small child in front of her. "Surely, Ami, you haven't read all these books? How old are you?"
'Oh...." The Mercurian princess blushed and looked at her toes. "I'm seven. I'll be eight in a few months."
"And you've really read these?"
"Well, not all of them. Most of the books on the top shelves, I haven't read. Ana didn't like me climbing on the shelves to get them, but sometimes she'll bring one down for me. And she says there's some I can't read until I get older."
"I..... see." Rose said slowly, feeling very outclassed. "Well, shall we?"
"Sure! There's a table right there.... I'm going to get a book, and if you have any questions I'll be right here."
* * * * *
"I could have HAD her!" Makoto slammed her fist into her other hand, and jumped up from her seat to pace around Michiru's bedroom. "If Queen Serenity would just let us use our powers...."
"Oh, sit down," Haruka said from across the room. "You don't have enough control over your lightning yet, you know you're not allowed to use it in the palace."
"Well, what about you guys?" Makoto said angrily. "You didn't do anything!"
Michiru turned another page in her book and spoke without looking at anyone. "Do you think I wanted to risk an ocean wave through the banquet room? And besides, we aren't allowed to use our powers indoors either, not until we have more practice. If things had gotten really bad, Queen Serenity would have used her crystal."
"I still think I could have done something," Makoto muttered. "Just one good blast...."
"At least you guys have powers," Hotaru said quietly from her perch on the bed. "How do you think I feel? I wasn't any help at all."
"Oh, it's okay, Hotaru..." Haruka got up to put an arm around the tiny girl and glared at Makoto. The brunette wilted a little under the angry gaze.
Minako climbed onto the bed beside them. "Sure it's okay, Hotaru! You just wait a little, till you get older like me!" She got carefully to her feet and began jumping, shaking the mattress until Hotaru cracked a smile.
Haruka stuck her tongue out at the blond girl and slid off the high bed. "I wonder where the others have gotten to?"
"Well, Ami's - in the li - brary again - and I - think Sere - went to - the - gardens with Ana - and Prince - Endy - mion..." Minako said between bounces on the mattress. Hotaru squealed as she was thrown into the air by the force of Minako's landings.
"So where's Setsuna and Rei? And the others who came up from Earth?" Michiru looked up, interested.
Minako collapsed on the bed and shrugged. "No idea. I haven't seen them since we came up.'
Haruka went to the door. "I'll be back later."
"Hey, where're you going?" MIchiru asked her friend.
"I dunno, out? I'll be back."
* * * * *
"Now, you've got to be really quiet here. They can hear us downstairs if you get too loud," Setsuna whispered to her companions. She carefully pushed a decorative shelf sideways to reveal a tunnel reaching back into the depths of the palace.
"Cool!" Kunzite said.
"Hey, how come I didn't know this was here?" Rei demanded. "I've lived here as long as you have."
"Yeah, but I know how to ask the right questions. And," Setsuna moved aside to let Kunzite and Jadeite go in first. "I can keep a secret."
Rei glared at Setsuna before following her into the tunnel. "I can keep a secret," she muttered under her breath. "Where's this go, anyway?"
* * * * *
The pale white flowers glowed softly in the dim light. As Endy walked through the gardens with Princess Serenity, he couldn't help but wonder about them...
"What makes them glow?"
"Huh?" The Princess, not paying attention, looked at her companion.
"The flowers. How come they shine like that?"
"Oh..." She looked around the garden. "I don't know. They've always done that."
Ana interrupted the children's conversation. "Those are Lune Blossoms, Prince Endymion. They absorb light, then give it back for a few hours a day. We think it's to attract pollinators...."
As she continued her explanation, Sere leaned over to whisper to Endy. "Now you've done it.... She thinks she's found a 'learning ex- preeince' and she won't be happy until we go find some books or something."
"Is she really that bad?"
"Naw.... but once in a while she goes off on these kicks...."
"Yikes. What do we do?"
"Just wait till I say."
Ana was still talking, oblivious to the side conversation going on. "You see, when the flowers bloom, they produce these little bits that glow, all through the petals. They show up.... oh here, I'll show you...." She turned and bent over the flower bed.
"Now!" Sere grabbed Endy's hand and they ran off under the trees. Ana straightened up with a Lune Blossom in her hand.
"Here we go, now you can see how....." Her voice trailed off as she took in the empty path. "Serenity? Endymion? Serenity!" Ana looked around at the gardens. "Oh, bother...."
* * * * *
"This is fascinating," Queen Rose said. She quickly flipped back and forth from the page she was on to the one before it. "According to this, you senshi draw your energies directly from the planets of your birth?"
"As far as we can tell, yes." Ami held up a scroll. "This is the first research they did. It seems rather flawed at this point, however, especially when you consider results found just last year by Simen and Geref. Their paper is right....." she dug through the new mountain of documents on the table, then emerged triumphantly with a sheaf of papers held aloft in one hand. "Here!"
"May I?" Rose accepted the document from Ami and began leafing through it. "I can't believe there's been so much research done already. There haven't been any strong magic users to study from in decades!"
"That's why they used us," Haruka interrupted from her post leaning on the door. "The palace here was filled with scientists a few years ago, all running tests and examinations to find out how our magic works. It works, isn't that good enough?"
"Haruka!" Ami was startled to see the sandy-haired girl in the library. "What are you doing here?" She remembered her manners then. "Oh! Queen Rose, this is Princess Haruka of Uranus. Haruka, this is Her Majesty, Queen Rose of Earth."
"Pleased to meet you," Haruka said quickly. "Ami, you don't know where Setsuna is, do you? I'm worried she's gone off exploring again, and you know what happened last time...."
Oh, dear." Ami quickly pulled a couple of books out from under a stack, and then tossed tehm on the table and caught the stack before it toppled over. "Queen Rose, I'd suggest these two next once you finish those. There's a notepad and stylus there if you need it, and if you would excuse me...."
Rose watched, bemused, as the two girls ran out of the library. It was almost like a tutoring session, being around the Mercury princess. She shrugged and picked up the next sheaf of papers.
* * * * *
"Ouch!"
"Hey, get off, that's my foot!"
"Hold on, I'm trying, I - "
"HEY! Back up!"
"I can't see a thing!"
"Oh, you...." Setsuna crawled across Jadeite's back and stepped on Kunzite's elbow before she reached the wall. She felt around for a candle, finding it in a small niche, and finally managed to light it with an accompyaning match.
She turned back to the others to see them all tangled up in the narrow passage. "Oh honestly, you guys!"
"Well, if Jadeite could have held still....." Rei said angrily. "OW! Don't move, my hair's caught on your button!"
Jadeite froze. Setsuna stalked over to them. "Here, I'll get it. Hold still...." She carefully freed Rei's dark tresses from the gold button on his jacket. "Okay now?"
Rei rubbed her scalp. "Yeah, I think so." She looked around at the tunnel. "Where are we?"
"I'm not sure," Setsuna said. "I've never been down here before."
"You got us lost?!?" Jadeite said.
"Well, maybe-kinda sorta-I guess so?" Setsuna said carefully, not looking at him.
He shrugged his shoulders, and a grin spread across his face. "Cool!"
"Um, guys?" Kunzite said. "I'm not too sure about this....."
"Aw, come on!" Rei started walking down the passage. "Let's see where it goes!"
"Well....."
Jadeite quickly caught up with Rei and pushed past her to run down the hall. "Come on, Kunzite! Don't worry about it, let's go!"
Rei glared after him and rubbed her arm as Setsuna came up to her with the light. "Yeah, it'll serve him right if he - " And a thud came resounding back to them. "Trips in the dark," she finished, satisfied.
* * * * *
"Wow." Endy looked around at the giant trees that surounded them. "This is amazing!"
"You don't have trees on Earth?" Sere said, astonished.
"Oh, there's trees. I'm just not allowed to go out and see them much. Not like this, anyways."
"How come?" Sere jumped to put her arms around a low-hanging branch and dangled from it, her feet waving a few inches above the ground. "I love the trees here."
"I'm not supposed to be outside much, not ever by myself." Endy joined Sere in hanging onto the branch, and pulled himself up until his feet left the dirt. "I can't believe your nurse just let us run off like that."
"Why?" Sere wiggled her wrist. The small watch on her arm glowed a soft pink from the crystal inside that powered it. "I know what time it is, we won't be late."
"If I ever tried something like this at home, my Dad would have me confined to my rooms for the next twenty years. I don't know what he's worried about, the others go out all the time and nothing happens to them."
"Oh. That's weird, I love being outside. It's so nice in the gardens.... Do you have gardens on Earth?"
"Yeah, right outside the palace there's a really big rose garden. My mom's. She goes out and walks there all the time. I think she helped plant them."
"Ooh! Roses? That's a pretty name. Are the flowers that pretty?"
"You've never seen one?" Endy let go of the branch and waited for Sere to do the same. "There's loads and loads of them right outside my window."
Endy wished more than anything that he had a rose, right then, to show Sere. His new friend had already shown him so many new things....
"Wow....." Sere said slowly. "How'd you do that?"
"Do what?"
"That!" She pointed to his hand. Endy followed her gaze to see a perfect red rose in his grasp, that he hadn't noticed until then.
"I.... don't know. Here, let's see if it happens again!" He held out his hand and concentrated. Another blossom materialized next to the first.
"Wow! That's so cool! These are pretty..."
"They're roses. Why don't you take them?" Endy handed the flowers to Sere, who was immediately thrilled.
"Thanks!" She gave her friend a giant hug.
Metallia felt a shiver, some strange sensation that roused her from her lethargy. It took her long moments before she could reach her conciousness outside of herself to search for the cause, but when she found it she was furious. One of her people, using strange magic?
The spirit of Earth decided then that she had waited much too long. Her territories and thralls would not be subverted by outside influences! She stretched out her conciousness further and further, searching......
A young girl, ten years old, living in a small village toward the north. She was already closely in tune with the old ways, which would only put her in nearer sympathies with Metallia. Between this girl and Dagan, she could begin to retake her ground. Now she needed a plan to bring them together......
Haruka watched as Ami stuck her head around a bend in the hallway. "Coast's clear!" The blue-haired girl whispered over her shoulder.
Haruka dashed up to her. "Okay. You go that way, I'll go this way. Meetcha back, soon as you're through?"
Ami nodded, and took off toward the left and through the large doors. Haruka double-checked to make sure no one was coming, and nearly flew down the hallway to the right.
"Oh!" Haruka slammed into a white-gowned figure exiting a doorway. She was about to start running again, hoping whoever it was hadn't seen her face, but then realized it would be pointless anyway. There weren't that many sandy-haired tomboys around the palace.
Queen Serenity got to her feet carefully and looked down at the young princess of Uranus. "Well, Haruka? What in the world are you doing?"
"Um... well, you see, Your Majesty, I...." Haruka looked down at her feet, then up at the face of the woman who ruled most of the solar system. "Ami and I were.... racing, I guess you'd call it.... She went that way and I went this way."
"Oh, Haruka..... I need you to find something else to do. There're a lot of important people around the palace today, and for the next few days. It wouldn't be polite for you to be running into royalty from other planets.... I'd like you to find something to do in your rooms. Do you understand?"
Haruka nodded carefully. "Yes, I do. Can I go find Ami now?"
The queen smiled. "All right. But tell her not to race anymore, okay?"
"Okay." Haruka started to run back to where she'd left Ami, but remembered herself before she'd gotten two steps and slowed to a walk, glancing sheepishly over her shoulder at Queen Serenity.
"Sorry...."
* * * * *
Nephrite knocked carefully on the door. He waited several moments before it cracked open and a small head poked out. "H-hello?"
"Hi, I was looking for Makoto; she said she'd show me the gym. Is she here?"
"Nope," Hotaru told him. "She and Michiru and Minako all went to look for Haruka and Ami."
"Oh...." Nephrite said slowly. "So where's Haruka and Ami?"
"They're looking for Setsuna." Hotaru said. She added in a confiding whisper, "They think she might have gone exploring again."
"Oh, okay. Is that bad?"
"Prob'ly...."
Nephrite began to feel a bit unnerved. Hotaru's large purple eyes hadn't left his face since she'd opened the door, and they seemed too dark for her pale skin. He wasn't sure what to make of her. "Well, I guess I'll come back later...."
"Okay. I'll tell Makoto you were looking for her."
He watched the tiny girl close the door, then turned to go. He hadn't gotten more than a few steps down the hall when he heard the sounds of furniture crashing and a high scream. He ran back to the door.
"Hotaru! Are you all right?"
She didn't answer, but the crashing noises continued. Nephrite jumped back from the door as a chair punched through, right by his head. As the chair flew into the opposite wall, he made up his mind and quickly jumped through the hole in the door.
The sight that greeted his eyes was frightning. Hotaru was struggling in the grip of a wierd creature on stilts.... Stilts?
He didn't have time to think about the oddness of a monster on stilts. The creature was advancing toward him, still holding Hotaru by the throat with one hand. It screeched at him in a high voice.
"Step right up, ladies and gentlemen! Don't miss this event! Today's special admission price..." Its eyes glowed a deep red, and it materialized a blade in its other hand.
"Half off."
Nephrite concentrated his magical energy in his hand, then ran toward the monster. He clenched his fist and swung with all his might.
The monster screamed and dropped Hotaru to the floor. As it raged wildly around the room, smashing furniture, Nephrite helped the tiny girl to her feet.
"Are you okay?"
Hotaru nodded. "I think so..."
"Then go find help! Run!" Nephrite gave her a push to the door and turned to face off once more with the attacker. The monster glared at him fiercely and brandished its sword.
Nephrite gulped.
* * * * *
The passage was filled with twists and stairs. Soon even Setsuna, who'd been wandering there before, admitted to the group that she was lost. Jadeite grew more and more bored as the novelty of exploring a secret labyrinth wore off.
"Isn't there anything else to this?"
He noticed Kunzite glaring at him. "What? It's getting boring, and nothing's happening."
"You know, I might have to agree with him," Rei spoke up. "Much as I hate to do it..."
"Nobody asked you." Jadeite folded his arms. "You aren't half as bored as I am."
"Well fine!" Setsuna said heatedly. "You didn't have to come, you know. It's not like I twisted your arm into doing anything!"
"Yeah, well if I'd known how not-fun this would be, I wouldn't have come! So there!" Jadeite said back.
"Shhhh!" Setsuna tilted her head to the side, a far-off look in her eyes. "I think I hear something."
"Like what?" Kunzite asked.
The girl placed her hands on her hips and looked at him angrily. "If I knew that, I wouldn't have to listen! Now be quiet a second."
She leaned down and set her ear against the wall. The others remained silent until she straightened up. "I think there's trouble," Setsuna said.
"What kind?" Kunzite asked immediately.
"I'm not sure, but listen.... I can hear shouting and noises...."
"We need to find out what's going on...." Kunzite said. "Let's get out of here."
He set off determinedly down the hallway, with the other two trailing behind. Setsuna watched them go in amazement. "What do you think I've been trying to do?" She had to run to catch up with them.
* * * * *
"What is it?" Makoto yelled over the roaring noise.
"I don't know...." Michiru called back, as she tried to keep away from the wildly swinging arms. She ducked under a fist and slid a little closer, trying to grab Minako's skirt. If she could just get ahold of her friend....
The three of them had made their way to the library while searching for Haruka and Ami. Queen Rose was still looking through her pile of books, and had told them that the other two girls had left to find Setsuna's exploring party, She was asking Michiru about a point in one of the papers when the monster appeared. It had swiftly dispatched Rose with a blow to the head, then turned to the three girls.
"That's it!" Makoto said. "I don't care if we aren't supposed to attack in the palace, this is more important than rules." The Jupiter princess concentrated, summoning up a ball of lightning. She hurled it at the monster with a yell. "Take THAT!"
The lightning burned through one of the creature's arms with a smell of ozone. It fell to the floor, detached. Michiru wrinkled her nose at the sight. "Ew....."
The monster reacted by hoisting Minako even farther into the air and switching from a roar to a high pitched shriek. The sound echoed around the high walls and ceiling of the library, reverberating until it became deafening.
The noise was so discordant and loud.... Michiru fell to the floor, covering her ears vainly. She could see Makoto doing the same beside her, and managed to vaguely wonder how Minako was holding up before her brain overloaded and shut down.
* * * * *
Ami worked her way down the hall, carefully scanning the walls with her computer. She thought she'd seen a passage along this way in some old maps once.....
She turned quickly at the sound of footsteps, only to see Hotaru standing quietly behind her. "Hotaru! You startled me."
The look on the tiny girl's face brought Ami up short. "Is something wrong?"
"Ami....." Hotaru flung herself forward and grabbed Ami's waist. As Ami folded her arms around the little girl, she was surprised to find that Hotaru was crying.
"Shhhh... It's okay, what's wrong?"
"They - I - Ami, it's a monster!"
"A monster? Where?"
"In - in Michiru's bedroom! Nephrite's in there, it tried to get me!"
Ami was stunned. "He's still there?"
Hotaru nodded, with tears in her eyes. "He told me to get help. Ami, I'm scared!"
"Shhh... it's okay. You go find Queen Serenity, I'll help Nephrite. Okay?"
"Okay!" Hotaru wiped her eyes quickly and set off down the hall, then turned back. "Where is Queen Serenity?"
"Try her rooms, or the meeting hall!" Ami didn't take the time to watch Hotaru go. She began running down the hall to Michiru's room, wondering what in the world a monster was doing there and why she thought she could do anything about it.