SAILOR MOON HARMONY
EPISODE 7-THE FOREST OF SILENCE
Her crystalline eyes sparkled as they took in the amazingly
lucid color of her surroundings. Deep, shadowy greens
spread before her in a collage of soft leaves and wispy
grass. The sunlight poured through in perfect rays,
illuminating the forest floor to a comforting wood-like
color. She brushed along many hidden thorns, but she didn't
mind. They were all hidden behind rosy, thick-petal blooms.
Jillian could barely gather her thoughts at first. She
finally managed to whisper, "I never thought I'd find
woods like this around here. Especially in September-"
A warm breeze brushed through, lifting a few crunched,
golden leaves up into the sky. Some of them landed in
Jillian's fluttering hair, but she didn't take notice.
After all, one didn't go into a forest and expect to take
a little bit of it home with them.
Her thoughts began to stray away from the tranquil woods.
At least there was one good thing about being here and
not in Montana. At least it wasn't freezing cold yet. She
might as well find good things about the place, since her
father had made it clear they weren't going back to Montana.
It was probably for the better anyway. Obviously, he still
hadn't figured out a healthy way to deal with the loss of
his wife. And Jillian knew from many of his patients that
he'd probably cling to her like fuzz off a cottonwood tree.
Maybe for the rest of his life. Jillian felt like she was
stuffed in a CD case in that apartment.
He kept telling her, "You're only 12, you're only 12. You
sure seem older, but you're not old enough to go out on
your own. It's a typical teenager train of thought- you
think you know everything now. But trust me, you don't-"
She shuddered in disgust at the thought. He'd probably
still be saying that when she was 18. But there would be
no way he could keep her there when she was legally an
adult.
And with the recent events, she would have to find time
to get away. "It's a secret identity-type deal" Orion
had told her, just before he gave her the communicator.
"But you should know when Sailor Monoceros is needed."
Yes, Sailor Monoceros. She had to keep that from her dad.
At least it was hard to tell the real person from the
Scout. When she looked closely at Sailor Aquila, her
features were exactly the same as Skyler's, but the aura
was completely different. She had an essence of strength,
courage, maybe even a little bit of wisdom. Jillian could
not imagine a bit of wisdom coming from Skyler, though
she would never say that to her face.
And how would she just know when Sailor Monoceros was
supposed to be somewhere? That was a little much- and
why did she get stuck with a weird name? Skyler had
said her own name came from a constellation, she even
pointed it out to her in the night sky. But she had
never even heard of a Monoceros constellation.
"If my friend Adrian were here, I could ask him, but
he's off in college now" Skyler had explained.
"Can you call him?"
Her silvery eyes brightened. "Hey, yeah! He has a cell
phone! And he's probably out watching the stars-"
Adrian told them that Monoceros was the Unicorn, but it
wouldn't be out until November, up in the east. He
couldn't tell Jillian anymore of what she wanted to know.
What she did want to know was if there was some meaning
behind her Scout name and the constellation. Neither she
or Skyler had any books like that. On top of that,
Galesburg didn't have a library. An airport, but no library.
"No wonder the Sailor Scouts are needed here" Jillian
mumbled. "The citizens are just as crazy as the bad guys."
These thoughts were making her tense, so she decided to
let them go and enjoy her surroundings. She recalled a
song she heard on the radio that morning. It was early
and the sleep was still in her eyes and hair, but this
song had played through her head so clear it was almost
as if she could hear it now. She had never thought music
could touch her like it had then. The lyrics moved from
her thoughts to her voice-
~Everyday, a shadow spills over the sky~
~But not for everyone~
~My life is under the shade, I wonder why~
~And people say, it hasn't yet begun~
~They say no one does it alone~
~They already have someone to share~
~What can a person do when all paths fall away~
~When another's understanding is so rare~
~Where can you go~
~When home isn't home anymore~
~In ice and snow~
~You can't find the key in your own front door~
~I'm standing in a blizzard, waiting~
~For the welcome I always know~
~But I'm only taken in by the storm-~
She was interrupted when her foot caught under a large
root. She almost tripped, but managed to step over with
the other foot before the massive branch could take her
down. Once she regained her balance, she took a look at
what had wanted to keep her there.
It was a giant tree. It towered over her like a
skyscraper. She wondered briefly why she hadn't seen it
from the outside. It's leaves flitted in the wind like
glimmering sunlight in a brook, changing from a creamy
jade green to a brilliant gold, and back with every
turn. It's bark was cracked and chipped, but each piece
was fit and the colors melded together so perfectly no
one would have ever noticed. Thick, tightly-woven bushes
protected the trunk of the tree with it's jewel-like
blackberries. Jillian's eyes lit at the sight of them.
"I thought it was way too late in the season for these!"
she exclaimed, dashing over and kneeling by the tree.
A metallic chirp rang out from overhead. Jillian was
too occupied to see the neon green-spangled sparrow on
a pine branch nearby. The melody drowned out the rapid
beating of it's wings as it flew closer.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"How cheerful her song is-"
Quayke's sorrowful eyes glimmered with faint tears as
she turned up the volume on the control panel. It had
taken her a little while to adjust to all this
machinery, after all, there had been none at all where
she had come from. Definetely not birds that could show
what they were seeing and hearing.
"The words carry a tone of a lost soul- but I see
laughter in her eyes, joy in her music. Joy she isn't
even aware of. But it will eventually diminish-"
"No, it won't-"
She heard Enygma's muffled voice through the headphones,
and placed them down on the panel with extreme care.
Inpherno had made it clear she didn't want to see
anything more damaged than she already had to fix.
"What do you mean?" Quayke asked softly, nonchalantly.
She knew Enygma had heard her talking, but she didn't
want her to see any tears. It might get back to
Inpherno, and though the short-tempered redhead was
not in command, Quayke was deathly afraid of her. She
was a very tall woman, with a lot of raw strength
from all the manual work she had done in her past.
And she wouldn't take any "weak-minded chicken !@#$
thinking" from anyone.
"That girl has a Melody Crystal. This aura you speak
of, it sounds to have the power of a Melody. She
seems enchanted by the forest. That could be the earth
Melody."
"What should we do, then?"
"One of us has to go after them. I would handle it
myself, but I have other things to attend to. Quayke,
you and the others decide what's going on, 'K? Call
me when you have the Harmony and Melody."
Quayke swallowed hard as she hurried out of the dark
control room, her sandals padding softly under the
swishing folds of her robe. She hated doing this-
most of the time, the others were not friendly to her
and from her previous meetings with them today it
seemed that they would stay that way. Typhune would
be the easiest to persuade, she got excited over
practically every little thing that happened. Quayke
headed to her room first.
The short steel hallway gleamed with the dreary
violet of Quayke's spiky hair as she approached
Typhune's door. It was closed, and locked tight with
a tiny red light. Quayke wasn't sure what to do,
usually when the doors were locked they didn't want
to be disturbed. But this was pretty important. If
she wanted to go back home, she would have to do
everything she could to finish this mission. She
tapped on the door with her nails, a light knocking
was all that was necessary to contact the person
inside, despite the thickness of the walls.
The light switched to one side, lighting up green.
With a loud clank, the door squeaked open. She slid
in through the crack, trying not to catch her robe
on the corners.
Typhune lay on her bed in the back corner, halfway
curled into a ball and looking rather worn. Her face
had warmed to a soft, bright pink, her normally
clear, spirited eyes had dulled with a somber mist.
Quayke approached tentatively, and when Typhune
didn't send anything negative her way, she placed
her hand on her cheek.
"Just like Meruno" she whispered, remembering the
steaming star that scorched her dusty home planet
every day of the year. She was careful not to raise
her voice, it was obvious that Typhune wasn't
feeling well. Just to be sure, Quayke asked, and was
answered with a thick mumble.
"You'd better rest then. I may have something-"
She reached into the deep, hidden pockets of her
robe and retrieved a tiny glass vial, filled with
a churning lavender mixture of foggy liquid and
shredded petals. She removed the cap, letting loose
a overwhelming stench that quickly left the room
with Quayke.
She returned with something with a much more
pleasant smell, not to mention appearance. It had
settled to a deep, soothing midnight blue, with a
tiny but powerful fragrance. Something that made it
seem like it would be a taste beyond what any human
had ever experienced, like a piece of the sky itself-
"Here-" she helped Typhune sit up and gave her the
glass. Typhune didn't even bother to help out Quayke,
she let the elixir go where it wanted and almost
choked on it at least five times, but she didn't
resist it. Quayke laid her back down and shut down
the lights in the room.
"Leave the door open" Typhune whimpered. "Just a
little bit-"
Quayke didn't want to leave her alone. Her tone, her
weeping eyes called for someone to guide her at least
to her dreams, but there was other things to do. She
forced herself away from the door and continued down
the hall to Rayne's room.
Rayne wasn't there. Her door was wide open. It
figured, if anyone wanted to root through her
belongings, it wasn't like she'd give a care. But
this was Rayne's usual off-duty place. She didn't have
any hobbies at all. Where was she?
Quayke didn't have a clue of where to start. The only
thing to do was to search each part of the ship. It
wasn't that big.
The first room she came to was one of the "brain"
rooms, a place that was blocked off when the ship
was on the move. Most of the things that made the
ship work were here, and it didn't look nearly as
clean or bright as the other rooms.
It didn't seem like a place Rayne would hang out, but
the place Quayke expected her to be was empty, and she
didn't want to pass her up. She started through the
stilled devices, with little light to guide her way. A
few old lamps, ones that seemed like they belonged in
a dim restaurant, stuck out from the walls, a couple
strangled with wispy cobwebs. Quayke was intrigued by
these cotton-like threads- but they had an essence of
abandonment and decay. She didn't like it. She shuffled
down the narrow corridor, distantly hoping that someone
wouldn't try to start the engines. It wouldn't happen,
she knew it, but the darkness of the room intensified
her deepest thoughts, bringing them to the front of her
attention in unusually lucid images. She started to
hurry, her sandals now heard clearly across the cold
floor.
Suddenly, one of her feet stepped down on a different
surface. Something soft, definetely not right. It was
accompanied by a startled roar, and Quayke could see
the furious glow of thin red eyes near one of the lamps.
Quayke could only let go of a terrified shriek before
completely freezing up.
In an instant, she found the eyes above her head,
attached to a giant shadow, at least two feet taller
than she was. The creature breathed heavy, tensely,
and Quayke knew it was going to strike. She didn't know
what it was, all she knew was that it was after her.
She couldn't even gather enough of her mind to close
her eyes until she saw a swift movement, something
headed right towards her face from the side.
The blow struck her with a stunning force, yet it was
with much less intensity than she expected. It spun her
halfway around, ending with a tiny rush of wind.
"WHAT in the the name of Kalthre are you doing, Quayke?!"
A human voice. That's all she needed to know. It hadn't
even occurred to her that an animal had no way of getting
on the ship. She whirled back around, her breaths as
heavy as her attacker's, but with relief.
Inpherno paid no attention to that, however. She had no
idea what had been going through Quayke's mind. "You're
tryin' to kill me, aren't ya?! Don't you ever watch what
you're doing?"
She continued yelling with a slew of Phoenocian words
Quayke didn't recognize, she guessed she probably didn't
want to. She was still stunned about the first scare that
her usual terror from Inpherno didn't set in, until she
tossed a wrench down on the floor and yanked her off her
feet by the collar.
"You EVER step on me again, I don't care what Enygma says,
you're as fried as that desert you came from, you get
me?!"
Quayke nodded slightly, unable to speak or even whisper.
Inpherno let go, leaving her to drop to the floor in a
quivering pile of robes. With a few more Phoenocian
mutters, she picked up the wrench and returned to the
side of the machine she was working on. Quayke turned
and ran out of the room.
Right about then she decided to take the mission herself.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jillian finished singing the song for about the fiftieth
time, and once again kneeled down by the tree. She was
done with the berries now, if they were going to stick
around this long, she might as well save them for another
day. She picked a leaf off the ground and examined it.
"I can't believe how much time I spent out here. Tomorrow's
a school day, I should probably do my-" she paused and
stuck her tongue out, "-MATH homework. Ugh-"
She picked herself off the ground, brushing the dirt off
her dark, stringy jeans.
Along with it, she heard a similar sound, from behind her.
A sniffle.
A boy stood there. A little one, couldn't have been more
than 6 years old. His eyes were wide, a dark, shady
brown. His hair obviously hadn't been combed in a while
it's green strands stuck out in spiny tufts off his head.
He clung nervously to his own gray Quad Cities River
Bandits t-shirt, one hand occasionally found its was into
his jeans pocket. She noticed he was wearing a backpack,
one of those cheap plastic Power Rangers ones that were
on sale at the end of August.
"Hey" Jillian smiled. "You get lost on your way from
school?"
That wasn't right, she knew it. Today was Sunday. The
boy confirmed it by shaking his head slightly.
"Then what are you doing out here by yourself?"
He remained in a stony silence. Jillian sat down on
the root she had almost tripped over earlier. "C'mere,
talk to me" she coaxed, patting the branch next to her.
He moved forward, hesitantly, but eventually reached the
branch. He didn't sit down on it, though, he sat cross-
legged on the forest floor in front of her.
"What are you doing out here by yourself?" she repeated.
The boy gulped, wiping away some stray tears with one
stubby hand. "Y-you sing real- re-real pretty" he
stammered.
"Thank you" Jillian beamed, picking a blackberry off
the bush nearby and offering it to him. He snapped it up
like Skyler's golden retriever. "Um, maybe- are you going
somewhere?"
"I'm not going back home."
"Huh?" her eyes widened. "Not going home? Why not? Where-"
"B-because they took away my c-cat- and they said I
couldn't have her back."
"Hmm-" Jillian wondered if she could maybe help him out.
After all, she had read many of her father's books. She
could at least talk him into going home.
"Were you taking care of the cat?"
"Yes. I spended a lot of time with her and I fed her and
gave her water and milk and let her sleep whenever she
wanted and I made sure her fur was nice and soft and-"
"OK, I see."
"But after the mean old guy next door hit her with the
car, she wouldn't do much, but I still played with her.
Then one day they took her and said I couldn't play with
her anymore."
"Oh-" Jillian breathed deeply. "Your cat- OK. So- they
didn't look mad at you, did they?"
"No" the boy replied in a sniffle.
"You didn't tell me your name yet."
"It's Jay."
"Jay- that's a nice name. The cat slept a lot, didn't she?"
"Yeah, and she wouldn't eat or sleep or meow-"
"I understand. See, I don't think your parents took the
cat to be mean. You don't want her to feel bad, right?"
"No."
"Even if the only way for her to feel better is if she
has to leave?"
The boy started, but took the question in serious thought
for a moment. "If I made kitty stay, that would be mean,
if she wouldn't feel good."
"That's why they took her. They didn't want her to feel
bad anymore. You'll miss her, but you know that your cat
isn't hurting anymore-"
"How touching-"
Quayke appeared from behind a tree, her eyes hidden in the
shadow of her split bangs. Jillian remembered her, and
sprang to her feet, but if she let her know she recognized
her, then she'd know about the Sailor Scout. "Who are-"
In the blink of an eye, Quayke's hand shot into her pocket
and whipped something at Jillian. It shattered across her
forehead, something like glass, but soft, and surprisingly,
with no pain. Now she knew, Sailor Monoceros was needed.
But when she tried to turn, it was almost like there was
nothing to turn. She could feel everything fine, but there
was no muscles that could move, like her ears. She melted
to the ground, her golden hair washing over her face and
settling there in a loose, whispy cover. She managed
to squeak out an intelligible question, not expecting a
response.
She didn't get one. Quayke slowly walked towards her,
deliberately stalling each step as if to scare Jillian
into a more frozen state than she already was.
Jay was still there, she could see him backed into a
bush, his little backpack held out in front of him as if
it would protect him. She tried to tell him to run, get
out before Quayke went after him as well, but only got
out a garbled yell. She knew Quayke was right behind her
head. The only thing she could do was wait for- whatever
would happen next.
But nothing happened.
Jillian felt her muscles tense, and rolled back and onto
her feet, waiting for the next move.
But Quayke's expression had changed drastically- not the
physical position, it was like she had seen her before,
but the spirit- just like the exchange between Skyler and
Sailor Aquila. Her eyes had the melancholy tint of a pine
tree buried under the pressure of a snowstorm. Jillian
almost eased up, but quickly reminded herself that letting
her guard down was how she got caught in the first place.
Quayke stood opposite of her, now without a clue of what
she was doing. Even if there was a Melody, she couldn't
take it. There was too much to ignore in this girl's
future, too much for Quayke to take for her own purpose.
But there had to be a Harmony released, or she was in
trouble-
Jillian saw Quayke's eyes flicker towards Jay.
But she had to leave. There was a better way to handle
this. As soon as Quayke turned to jay, she dashed off
into the woods. "No, don't leave!" Jay screamed.
'I'm not leaving' she thought, concentrating her voice
towards Orion.
As soon as she was far enough away, she looked to the
sky. "Orion, you there?"
"I'm flying over the airport" the eagle's voice came
clearly through her mind, as if he were right next to
her. "What's up?"
"Oh, good, you're close. There's an attack in progress."
"Should I call Sailor Aquila?"
Jillian thought for a second. "Probably not, she'd take
too long to get here. I'll handle it."
"OK, good luck."
She grasped the ivory pendant and brought it out from
under her shirt, then screeched to a halt, facing the
direction she came from. "UNICORN STAR POWER!"
A brilliant sparkling flash exploded from the moon-white
stone, wrapping her in streams of light. she could feel
powerful but gentle energy all around her, through the
trees and bringing them all together, the sky, the earth,
all into one dream-like song. In another luminescent
fuschia flash, she stood in her Sailor uniform.
Quayke didn't even think of the possibility of Jay having
a Melody Crystal. She let the earth Harmony drift quietly
to the ground, sighing deeply and hoping no one was
watching. "Harmony Disrupt" she whispered faintheartedly.
"Stop it!" A strong voice commanded.
The voice had come from above. On a thick branch stood
a tall Sailor Scout, her arms crossed and glittering
high heels clicked together in perfect symmetry. Her
hair gleamed in an invisible light.
"People come to this forest looking for refuge, and
here you are making all this noise? You won't disturb
the peace anymore! In the name of unity, I am Sailor
Monoceros, here to bring harmony back to the world!"
Quayke only watched for a minute. Their equally green
eyes met and locked, then Quayke vanished in a beam
of light.
Monoceros turned her attention to the Harmony,
expecting some huge monster to lunge out at her from
the crystal like Skyler described. Instead, she found
a kitten. It hissed at her softly, arching its back
and digging its tiny claws into the dirt. She couldn't
help but giggle a bit.
"What's funny?" Orion chirped as he descended from the
trees.
"Jay's Harmony isn't big enough to do anything yet."
Orion padded over to the kitten. It lashed out at him,
the needle-width claws gleaming. Instictively he
fluttered back, then scurried behind Monoceros. "Um,
maybe you could just use a little of your power? Make
it sleep?"
"Um, I could try ^_^()"
Monoceros aimed her finger at the kitten. "Umm- Cosmic-
Soul-- uh, Chime?"
A tiny, thread-like beam, no brighter than a flashlight,
absorbed into the animal. It gave a little yawn and
curled into a ball of green fur. Orion, still a bit
jumpy after the attack, practically pounced on the
sleeping creature and used his starbeam.
"So this is a Harmony" Monoceros said to herself,
lifting the crystal with extreme care.
"Yes. I think I know what out enemies are after now.
Give the Harmony to him so we can go."
She brought it toards Jay. It floated from her palm
and down into Jay's mouth.
"Why-?" she heard Jay whimper.
He opened his eyes. "Why did she run away? I thought
she was nice-"
"She went to get me so I could save you" Monoceros
explained quickly. "She didn't leave you, but she
knew that she could fight by herself."
"Oh-"
"Why don't I take you home?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Chicken" Rayne scoffed as she sauntered by, heading
for the door.
"Hold it" Enygma snipped. "We have to find out what
caused this."
"There's no question about it."
The glanced around, only to find that simple, calm
statement had come from Inpherno. "Either that
Sailor Scout was obviously too powerful for Quayke,
besides the fact she didn't launch a single attack
while she was there, or we have a traitor on our
hands."
Quayke's trembling eyes followed her every movement.
Inpherno appraoched slowly, rather placidly, as if
she didn't want to stand out (depite that she was
at least a foot taller than anyone else in the room)
She stayed and turned her gaze from Enygma to Rayne,
and to Quayke.
In one swift motion, her hand latched around
Quayke's neck and yanked her into the air, the other
hand swiping at the steel chair she had been seated
in, tearing it from the floor and sending it to the
opposite wall with a frightening slam.
Quayke clawed frantically at the scorched hand at
her throat, forgetting she had no fingernails there
to help her out. She kicked her feet, searching for
some bit of solid ground to get control of the
situation, but she was some four feet up. Inpherno's
tightened vermillion eyes caught her attention from
the corner of her eyes, and she found herself staring
into them, the violent red freezing her in a lifeless,
terror-stricken state.
"Well?" Inpherno hissed, strands of smoke rising into
the air with her intensifying tone. "WHICH ONE IS IT?!"
"Inpherno!" Enygma barked, with such sharpness and
force that Quayke felt her grip loosen for a second.
"If we want this mission to succeed, we can't be
fighting against each other! Save your energy for
those who intend to make problems for us. Put her
down."
Inpherno shot a glare at Quayke, then set her on the
ground quite roughly- Quayke couldn't handle the
pressure of her hand, and collapsed like a house of
cards.
"Quayke said the girl had a strong force within her.
That is a definite sign- she probably has a Melody.
We have to find her again, Quayke, we need you to-"
Quayke was too shaken to listen. She stayed right
where she had been left on the floor, her face
buried in her robe's crumpled sleeves. At least
Enygma wouldn't allow Inpherno to come after her
anymore, for now-
Why had she been taken? She had been on the verge
of healing her entire planet, which was headed to
the opposite. She had finally found a place where
she fit in- where she was essential. Why, of all
times, did she have to leave?
She felt a hand on her back, and tensed up, thinking
Enygma had left and Inpherno was standing there. But
the hand was way too small, too light.
"She's tired" she heard Typhune tell them. "Let her
rest a bit."
"Where were you?" Inpherno snarled.
Typhune ignored her. "C'mon Quayke, you got a break.
I think-" she glanced at Enygma, asking for permission,
though she knew she wouldn't be refused.
Enygma nodded. "Can't work on low energy if you don't
have to. Besides, so far we still have plenty of time.
No one else is in the area. Go on-"
Typhune led Quayke back to her room, and turned off
the lights. She left the door open, just a little bit-
~*In Memory of Sparkey*~
~*1982-2000*~
~*Emerald Eyes Never Lose Their Spark*~
EPISODE 7-THE FOREST OF SILENCE
Her crystalline eyes sparkled as they took in the amazingly
lucid color of her surroundings. Deep, shadowy greens
spread before her in a collage of soft leaves and wispy
grass. The sunlight poured through in perfect rays,
illuminating the forest floor to a comforting wood-like
color. She brushed along many hidden thorns, but she didn't
mind. They were all hidden behind rosy, thick-petal blooms.
Jillian could barely gather her thoughts at first. She
finally managed to whisper, "I never thought I'd find
woods like this around here. Especially in September-"
A warm breeze brushed through, lifting a few crunched,
golden leaves up into the sky. Some of them landed in
Jillian's fluttering hair, but she didn't take notice.
After all, one didn't go into a forest and expect to take
a little bit of it home with them.
Her thoughts began to stray away from the tranquil woods.
At least there was one good thing about being here and
not in Montana. At least it wasn't freezing cold yet. She
might as well find good things about the place, since her
father had made it clear they weren't going back to Montana.
It was probably for the better anyway. Obviously, he still
hadn't figured out a healthy way to deal with the loss of
his wife. And Jillian knew from many of his patients that
he'd probably cling to her like fuzz off a cottonwood tree.
Maybe for the rest of his life. Jillian felt like she was
stuffed in a CD case in that apartment.
He kept telling her, "You're only 12, you're only 12. You
sure seem older, but you're not old enough to go out on
your own. It's a typical teenager train of thought- you
think you know everything now. But trust me, you don't-"
She shuddered in disgust at the thought. He'd probably
still be saying that when she was 18. But there would be
no way he could keep her there when she was legally an
adult.
And with the recent events, she would have to find time
to get away. "It's a secret identity-type deal" Orion
had told her, just before he gave her the communicator.
"But you should know when Sailor Monoceros is needed."
Yes, Sailor Monoceros. She had to keep that from her dad.
At least it was hard to tell the real person from the
Scout. When she looked closely at Sailor Aquila, her
features were exactly the same as Skyler's, but the aura
was completely different. She had an essence of strength,
courage, maybe even a little bit of wisdom. Jillian could
not imagine a bit of wisdom coming from Skyler, though
she would never say that to her face.
And how would she just know when Sailor Monoceros was
supposed to be somewhere? That was a little much- and
why did she get stuck with a weird name? Skyler had
said her own name came from a constellation, she even
pointed it out to her in the night sky. But she had
never even heard of a Monoceros constellation.
"If my friend Adrian were here, I could ask him, but
he's off in college now" Skyler had explained.
"Can you call him?"
Her silvery eyes brightened. "Hey, yeah! He has a cell
phone! And he's probably out watching the stars-"
Adrian told them that Monoceros was the Unicorn, but it
wouldn't be out until November, up in the east. He
couldn't tell Jillian anymore of what she wanted to know.
What she did want to know was if there was some meaning
behind her Scout name and the constellation. Neither she
or Skyler had any books like that. On top of that,
Galesburg didn't have a library. An airport, but no library.
"No wonder the Sailor Scouts are needed here" Jillian
mumbled. "The citizens are just as crazy as the bad guys."
These thoughts were making her tense, so she decided to
let them go and enjoy her surroundings. She recalled a
song she heard on the radio that morning. It was early
and the sleep was still in her eyes and hair, but this
song had played through her head so clear it was almost
as if she could hear it now. She had never thought music
could touch her like it had then. The lyrics moved from
her thoughts to her voice-
~Everyday, a shadow spills over the sky~
~But not for everyone~
~My life is under the shade, I wonder why~
~And people say, it hasn't yet begun~
~They say no one does it alone~
~They already have someone to share~
~What can a person do when all paths fall away~
~When another's understanding is so rare~
~Where can you go~
~When home isn't home anymore~
~In ice and snow~
~You can't find the key in your own front door~
~I'm standing in a blizzard, waiting~
~For the welcome I always know~
~But I'm only taken in by the storm-~
She was interrupted when her foot caught under a large
root. She almost tripped, but managed to step over with
the other foot before the massive branch could take her
down. Once she regained her balance, she took a look at
what had wanted to keep her there.
It was a giant tree. It towered over her like a
skyscraper. She wondered briefly why she hadn't seen it
from the outside. It's leaves flitted in the wind like
glimmering sunlight in a brook, changing from a creamy
jade green to a brilliant gold, and back with every
turn. It's bark was cracked and chipped, but each piece
was fit and the colors melded together so perfectly no
one would have ever noticed. Thick, tightly-woven bushes
protected the trunk of the tree with it's jewel-like
blackberries. Jillian's eyes lit at the sight of them.
"I thought it was way too late in the season for these!"
she exclaimed, dashing over and kneeling by the tree.
A metallic chirp rang out from overhead. Jillian was
too occupied to see the neon green-spangled sparrow on
a pine branch nearby. The melody drowned out the rapid
beating of it's wings as it flew closer.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"How cheerful her song is-"
Quayke's sorrowful eyes glimmered with faint tears as
she turned up the volume on the control panel. It had
taken her a little while to adjust to all this
machinery, after all, there had been none at all where
she had come from. Definetely not birds that could show
what they were seeing and hearing.
"The words carry a tone of a lost soul- but I see
laughter in her eyes, joy in her music. Joy she isn't
even aware of. But it will eventually diminish-"
"No, it won't-"
She heard Enygma's muffled voice through the headphones,
and placed them down on the panel with extreme care.
Inpherno had made it clear she didn't want to see
anything more damaged than she already had to fix.
"What do you mean?" Quayke asked softly, nonchalantly.
She knew Enygma had heard her talking, but she didn't
want her to see any tears. It might get back to
Inpherno, and though the short-tempered redhead was
not in command, Quayke was deathly afraid of her. She
was a very tall woman, with a lot of raw strength
from all the manual work she had done in her past.
And she wouldn't take any "weak-minded chicken !@#$
thinking" from anyone.
"That girl has a Melody Crystal. This aura you speak
of, it sounds to have the power of a Melody. She
seems enchanted by the forest. That could be the earth
Melody."
"What should we do, then?"
"One of us has to go after them. I would handle it
myself, but I have other things to attend to. Quayke,
you and the others decide what's going on, 'K? Call
me when you have the Harmony and Melody."
Quayke swallowed hard as she hurried out of the dark
control room, her sandals padding softly under the
swishing folds of her robe. She hated doing this-
most of the time, the others were not friendly to her
and from her previous meetings with them today it
seemed that they would stay that way. Typhune would
be the easiest to persuade, she got excited over
practically every little thing that happened. Quayke
headed to her room first.
The short steel hallway gleamed with the dreary
violet of Quayke's spiky hair as she approached
Typhune's door. It was closed, and locked tight with
a tiny red light. Quayke wasn't sure what to do,
usually when the doors were locked they didn't want
to be disturbed. But this was pretty important. If
she wanted to go back home, she would have to do
everything she could to finish this mission. She
tapped on the door with her nails, a light knocking
was all that was necessary to contact the person
inside, despite the thickness of the walls.
The light switched to one side, lighting up green.
With a loud clank, the door squeaked open. She slid
in through the crack, trying not to catch her robe
on the corners.
Typhune lay on her bed in the back corner, halfway
curled into a ball and looking rather worn. Her face
had warmed to a soft, bright pink, her normally
clear, spirited eyes had dulled with a somber mist.
Quayke approached tentatively, and when Typhune
didn't send anything negative her way, she placed
her hand on her cheek.
"Just like Meruno" she whispered, remembering the
steaming star that scorched her dusty home planet
every day of the year. She was careful not to raise
her voice, it was obvious that Typhune wasn't
feeling well. Just to be sure, Quayke asked, and was
answered with a thick mumble.
"You'd better rest then. I may have something-"
She reached into the deep, hidden pockets of her
robe and retrieved a tiny glass vial, filled with
a churning lavender mixture of foggy liquid and
shredded petals. She removed the cap, letting loose
a overwhelming stench that quickly left the room
with Quayke.
She returned with something with a much more
pleasant smell, not to mention appearance. It had
settled to a deep, soothing midnight blue, with a
tiny but powerful fragrance. Something that made it
seem like it would be a taste beyond what any human
had ever experienced, like a piece of the sky itself-
"Here-" she helped Typhune sit up and gave her the
glass. Typhune didn't even bother to help out Quayke,
she let the elixir go where it wanted and almost
choked on it at least five times, but she didn't
resist it. Quayke laid her back down and shut down
the lights in the room.
"Leave the door open" Typhune whimpered. "Just a
little bit-"
Quayke didn't want to leave her alone. Her tone, her
weeping eyes called for someone to guide her at least
to her dreams, but there was other things to do. She
forced herself away from the door and continued down
the hall to Rayne's room.
Rayne wasn't there. Her door was wide open. It
figured, if anyone wanted to root through her
belongings, it wasn't like she'd give a care. But
this was Rayne's usual off-duty place. She didn't have
any hobbies at all. Where was she?
Quayke didn't have a clue of where to start. The only
thing to do was to search each part of the ship. It
wasn't that big.
The first room she came to was one of the "brain"
rooms, a place that was blocked off when the ship
was on the move. Most of the things that made the
ship work were here, and it didn't look nearly as
clean or bright as the other rooms.
It didn't seem like a place Rayne would hang out, but
the place Quayke expected her to be was empty, and she
didn't want to pass her up. She started through the
stilled devices, with little light to guide her way. A
few old lamps, ones that seemed like they belonged in
a dim restaurant, stuck out from the walls, a couple
strangled with wispy cobwebs. Quayke was intrigued by
these cotton-like threads- but they had an essence of
abandonment and decay. She didn't like it. She shuffled
down the narrow corridor, distantly hoping that someone
wouldn't try to start the engines. It wouldn't happen,
she knew it, but the darkness of the room intensified
her deepest thoughts, bringing them to the front of her
attention in unusually lucid images. She started to
hurry, her sandals now heard clearly across the cold
floor.
Suddenly, one of her feet stepped down on a different
surface. Something soft, definetely not right. It was
accompanied by a startled roar, and Quayke could see
the furious glow of thin red eyes near one of the lamps.
Quayke could only let go of a terrified shriek before
completely freezing up.
In an instant, she found the eyes above her head,
attached to a giant shadow, at least two feet taller
than she was. The creature breathed heavy, tensely,
and Quayke knew it was going to strike. She didn't know
what it was, all she knew was that it was after her.
She couldn't even gather enough of her mind to close
her eyes until she saw a swift movement, something
headed right towards her face from the side.
The blow struck her with a stunning force, yet it was
with much less intensity than she expected. It spun her
halfway around, ending with a tiny rush of wind.
"WHAT in the the name of Kalthre are you doing, Quayke?!"
A human voice. That's all she needed to know. It hadn't
even occurred to her that an animal had no way of getting
on the ship. She whirled back around, her breaths as
heavy as her attacker's, but with relief.
Inpherno paid no attention to that, however. She had no
idea what had been going through Quayke's mind. "You're
tryin' to kill me, aren't ya?! Don't you ever watch what
you're doing?"
She continued yelling with a slew of Phoenocian words
Quayke didn't recognize, she guessed she probably didn't
want to. She was still stunned about the first scare that
her usual terror from Inpherno didn't set in, until she
tossed a wrench down on the floor and yanked her off her
feet by the collar.
"You EVER step on me again, I don't care what Enygma says,
you're as fried as that desert you came from, you get
me?!"
Quayke nodded slightly, unable to speak or even whisper.
Inpherno let go, leaving her to drop to the floor in a
quivering pile of robes. With a few more Phoenocian
mutters, she picked up the wrench and returned to the
side of the machine she was working on. Quayke turned
and ran out of the room.
Right about then she decided to take the mission herself.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jillian finished singing the song for about the fiftieth
time, and once again kneeled down by the tree. She was
done with the berries now, if they were going to stick
around this long, she might as well save them for another
day. She picked a leaf off the ground and examined it.
"I can't believe how much time I spent out here. Tomorrow's
a school day, I should probably do my-" she paused and
stuck her tongue out, "-MATH homework. Ugh-"
She picked herself off the ground, brushing the dirt off
her dark, stringy jeans.
Along with it, she heard a similar sound, from behind her.
A sniffle.
A boy stood there. A little one, couldn't have been more
than 6 years old. His eyes were wide, a dark, shady
brown. His hair obviously hadn't been combed in a while
it's green strands stuck out in spiny tufts off his head.
He clung nervously to his own gray Quad Cities River
Bandits t-shirt, one hand occasionally found its was into
his jeans pocket. She noticed he was wearing a backpack,
one of those cheap plastic Power Rangers ones that were
on sale at the end of August.
"Hey" Jillian smiled. "You get lost on your way from
school?"
That wasn't right, she knew it. Today was Sunday. The
boy confirmed it by shaking his head slightly.
"Then what are you doing out here by yourself?"
He remained in a stony silence. Jillian sat down on
the root she had almost tripped over earlier. "C'mere,
talk to me" she coaxed, patting the branch next to her.
He moved forward, hesitantly, but eventually reached the
branch. He didn't sit down on it, though, he sat cross-
legged on the forest floor in front of her.
"What are you doing out here by yourself?" she repeated.
The boy gulped, wiping away some stray tears with one
stubby hand. "Y-you sing real- re-real pretty" he
stammered.
"Thank you" Jillian beamed, picking a blackberry off
the bush nearby and offering it to him. He snapped it up
like Skyler's golden retriever. "Um, maybe- are you going
somewhere?"
"I'm not going back home."
"Huh?" her eyes widened. "Not going home? Why not? Where-"
"B-because they took away my c-cat- and they said I
couldn't have her back."
"Hmm-" Jillian wondered if she could maybe help him out.
After all, she had read many of her father's books. She
could at least talk him into going home.
"Were you taking care of the cat?"
"Yes. I spended a lot of time with her and I fed her and
gave her water and milk and let her sleep whenever she
wanted and I made sure her fur was nice and soft and-"
"OK, I see."
"But after the mean old guy next door hit her with the
car, she wouldn't do much, but I still played with her.
Then one day they took her and said I couldn't play with
her anymore."
"Oh-" Jillian breathed deeply. "Your cat- OK. So- they
didn't look mad at you, did they?"
"No" the boy replied in a sniffle.
"You didn't tell me your name yet."
"It's Jay."
"Jay- that's a nice name. The cat slept a lot, didn't she?"
"Yeah, and she wouldn't eat or sleep or meow-"
"I understand. See, I don't think your parents took the
cat to be mean. You don't want her to feel bad, right?"
"No."
"Even if the only way for her to feel better is if she
has to leave?"
The boy started, but took the question in serious thought
for a moment. "If I made kitty stay, that would be mean,
if she wouldn't feel good."
"That's why they took her. They didn't want her to feel
bad anymore. You'll miss her, but you know that your cat
isn't hurting anymore-"
"How touching-"
Quayke appeared from behind a tree, her eyes hidden in the
shadow of her split bangs. Jillian remembered her, and
sprang to her feet, but if she let her know she recognized
her, then she'd know about the Sailor Scout. "Who are-"
In the blink of an eye, Quayke's hand shot into her pocket
and whipped something at Jillian. It shattered across her
forehead, something like glass, but soft, and surprisingly,
with no pain. Now she knew, Sailor Monoceros was needed.
But when she tried to turn, it was almost like there was
nothing to turn. She could feel everything fine, but there
was no muscles that could move, like her ears. She melted
to the ground, her golden hair washing over her face and
settling there in a loose, whispy cover. She managed
to squeak out an intelligible question, not expecting a
response.
She didn't get one. Quayke slowly walked towards her,
deliberately stalling each step as if to scare Jillian
into a more frozen state than she already was.
Jay was still there, she could see him backed into a
bush, his little backpack held out in front of him as if
it would protect him. She tried to tell him to run, get
out before Quayke went after him as well, but only got
out a garbled yell. She knew Quayke was right behind her
head. The only thing she could do was wait for- whatever
would happen next.
But nothing happened.
Jillian felt her muscles tense, and rolled back and onto
her feet, waiting for the next move.
But Quayke's expression had changed drastically- not the
physical position, it was like she had seen her before,
but the spirit- just like the exchange between Skyler and
Sailor Aquila. Her eyes had the melancholy tint of a pine
tree buried under the pressure of a snowstorm. Jillian
almost eased up, but quickly reminded herself that letting
her guard down was how she got caught in the first place.
Quayke stood opposite of her, now without a clue of what
she was doing. Even if there was a Melody, she couldn't
take it. There was too much to ignore in this girl's
future, too much for Quayke to take for her own purpose.
But there had to be a Harmony released, or she was in
trouble-
Jillian saw Quayke's eyes flicker towards Jay.
But she had to leave. There was a better way to handle
this. As soon as Quayke turned to jay, she dashed off
into the woods. "No, don't leave!" Jay screamed.
'I'm not leaving' she thought, concentrating her voice
towards Orion.
As soon as she was far enough away, she looked to the
sky. "Orion, you there?"
"I'm flying over the airport" the eagle's voice came
clearly through her mind, as if he were right next to
her. "What's up?"
"Oh, good, you're close. There's an attack in progress."
"Should I call Sailor Aquila?"
Jillian thought for a second. "Probably not, she'd take
too long to get here. I'll handle it."
"OK, good luck."
She grasped the ivory pendant and brought it out from
under her shirt, then screeched to a halt, facing the
direction she came from. "UNICORN STAR POWER!"
A brilliant sparkling flash exploded from the moon-white
stone, wrapping her in streams of light. she could feel
powerful but gentle energy all around her, through the
trees and bringing them all together, the sky, the earth,
all into one dream-like song. In another luminescent
fuschia flash, she stood in her Sailor uniform.
Quayke didn't even think of the possibility of Jay having
a Melody Crystal. She let the earth Harmony drift quietly
to the ground, sighing deeply and hoping no one was
watching. "Harmony Disrupt" she whispered faintheartedly.
"Stop it!" A strong voice commanded.
The voice had come from above. On a thick branch stood
a tall Sailor Scout, her arms crossed and glittering
high heels clicked together in perfect symmetry. Her
hair gleamed in an invisible light.
"People come to this forest looking for refuge, and
here you are making all this noise? You won't disturb
the peace anymore! In the name of unity, I am Sailor
Monoceros, here to bring harmony back to the world!"
Quayke only watched for a minute. Their equally green
eyes met and locked, then Quayke vanished in a beam
of light.
Monoceros turned her attention to the Harmony,
expecting some huge monster to lunge out at her from
the crystal like Skyler described. Instead, she found
a kitten. It hissed at her softly, arching its back
and digging its tiny claws into the dirt. She couldn't
help but giggle a bit.
"What's funny?" Orion chirped as he descended from the
trees.
"Jay's Harmony isn't big enough to do anything yet."
Orion padded over to the kitten. It lashed out at him,
the needle-width claws gleaming. Instictively he
fluttered back, then scurried behind Monoceros. "Um,
maybe you could just use a little of your power? Make
it sleep?"
"Um, I could try ^_^()"
Monoceros aimed her finger at the kitten. "Umm- Cosmic-
Soul-- uh, Chime?"
A tiny, thread-like beam, no brighter than a flashlight,
absorbed into the animal. It gave a little yawn and
curled into a ball of green fur. Orion, still a bit
jumpy after the attack, practically pounced on the
sleeping creature and used his starbeam.
"So this is a Harmony" Monoceros said to herself,
lifting the crystal with extreme care.
"Yes. I think I know what out enemies are after now.
Give the Harmony to him so we can go."
She brought it toards Jay. It floated from her palm
and down into Jay's mouth.
"Why-?" she heard Jay whimper.
He opened his eyes. "Why did she run away? I thought
she was nice-"
"She went to get me so I could save you" Monoceros
explained quickly. "She didn't leave you, but she
knew that she could fight by herself."
"Oh-"
"Why don't I take you home?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Chicken" Rayne scoffed as she sauntered by, heading
for the door.
"Hold it" Enygma snipped. "We have to find out what
caused this."
"There's no question about it."
The glanced around, only to find that simple, calm
statement had come from Inpherno. "Either that
Sailor Scout was obviously too powerful for Quayke,
besides the fact she didn't launch a single attack
while she was there, or we have a traitor on our
hands."
Quayke's trembling eyes followed her every movement.
Inpherno appraoched slowly, rather placidly, as if
she didn't want to stand out (depite that she was
at least a foot taller than anyone else in the room)
She stayed and turned her gaze from Enygma to Rayne,
and to Quayke.
In one swift motion, her hand latched around
Quayke's neck and yanked her into the air, the other
hand swiping at the steel chair she had been seated
in, tearing it from the floor and sending it to the
opposite wall with a frightening slam.
Quayke clawed frantically at the scorched hand at
her throat, forgetting she had no fingernails there
to help her out. She kicked her feet, searching for
some bit of solid ground to get control of the
situation, but she was some four feet up. Inpherno's
tightened vermillion eyes caught her attention from
the corner of her eyes, and she found herself staring
into them, the violent red freezing her in a lifeless,
terror-stricken state.
"Well?" Inpherno hissed, strands of smoke rising into
the air with her intensifying tone. "WHICH ONE IS IT?!"
"Inpherno!" Enygma barked, with such sharpness and
force that Quayke felt her grip loosen for a second.
"If we want this mission to succeed, we can't be
fighting against each other! Save your energy for
those who intend to make problems for us. Put her
down."
Inpherno shot a glare at Quayke, then set her on the
ground quite roughly- Quayke couldn't handle the
pressure of her hand, and collapsed like a house of
cards.
"Quayke said the girl had a strong force within her.
That is a definite sign- she probably has a Melody.
We have to find her again, Quayke, we need you to-"
Quayke was too shaken to listen. She stayed right
where she had been left on the floor, her face
buried in her robe's crumpled sleeves. At least
Enygma wouldn't allow Inpherno to come after her
anymore, for now-
Why had she been taken? She had been on the verge
of healing her entire planet, which was headed to
the opposite. She had finally found a place where
she fit in- where she was essential. Why, of all
times, did she have to leave?
She felt a hand on her back, and tensed up, thinking
Enygma had left and Inpherno was standing there. But
the hand was way too small, too light.
"She's tired" she heard Typhune tell them. "Let her
rest a bit."
"Where were you?" Inpherno snarled.
Typhune ignored her. "C'mon Quayke, you got a break.
I think-" she glanced at Enygma, asking for permission,
though she knew she wouldn't be refused.
Enygma nodded. "Can't work on low energy if you don't
have to. Besides, so far we still have plenty of time.
No one else is in the area. Go on-"
Typhune led Quayke back to her room, and turned off
the lights. She left the door open, just a little bit-
~*In Memory of Sparkey*~
~*1982-2000*~
~*Emerald Eyes Never Lose Their Spark*~