Chap. 9 The Emperors' Runaways

Hakura, being escorted to the master chamber, requested for the guards to bring her a few ladies in waiting so she could begin preparing. They brought her the ladies she'd requested and left them to be of other service.

After the door was tightly sealed, Hakura addressed the ladies. "Hurry, we don't have much time. We have to leave now! He doesn't know I was the Princess's lady yet, and we need to keep it that way!" She ran to his side of the room, looking for something to dent in the 2 emperors' plans. She opened every box and ripped every paper. Then she found something. It was a deep purple crystal, almost black. She put her hand near it and it glowed and made a place for her hand to fit. Knowing better than to put her hand in it, she wrapped it in a towel and slid it in her apron pocket until she could find out more about it.

Ripping every plan, memo, and note to shreds, the girls soaked them in water and buried them in the garden, under rose bushes. The room was immaculate, as the queen loved it, not a trace of an evil plan or deed. Then Hakura went to the closet and took all the outing clothes and placed them in a bag. Going to the Queen's old vanity, she grabbed all the make-up that could be used as consealant to hide their features. While scrabbling inside, she found 3 disguise compacts and 6 extra recharged power packs. Now all they needed were the perfumes, to cover their sent so they couldn't be tracked by the hunting dogs and the energy mists Galaxo used when the poor creature wasn't worth saving, and transportation. Ranet and Lynn found hidden weapons in the King's closet. Enough to suite a small unit, Hakura concluded, probably hidden before that horrible accident.

The time had come, they were going to leave. Hakura called the guards and asked them if lunch was being served on time. It was being pushed back an hour, for the ceremony. When they left, Hakura and the others snuck out to the courtyard then out to the road, where several hover bikes and cars were setting, a waiting their owners. There were two cars that the ladies planned on taking. They were going to borrow them until the princess came back, then return them to who they belonged to.

Praying not to attract attention, the girls got in the 2 cars and loaded one of them with fireworks and gunpowder. They put the second car into auto-pilot, and headed for Earth. Once out in space, the girls shot at the other car with a flare gun and it exploded, having anyone who found it thinking that half of them were dead. Then they headed for Earth and the princess, and hopeful safety.

Chap. 10 Haunted by the Past

Now the pressure of silence was too much. The girls sat at the table, digesting what had taken place. Bonatha couldn't blame them, it was scary for her too. She looked at the clock again. She did that a lot now. The papers had been sent to the school and the girls were staring at Bonatha as if she would suddenly explode and they could stop it by staring.

Annay would be getting out of school soon. Bonatha found out that her earth name would be Vivian. She hated that name. It was so phoney. The good thing about it was that she would be going to the same school as Annay. North Creston School was the school and Vivian Smith was the name, but where were the guardians going to be? No one would answer her questions. Janus said every detail would become clear when she came back, so she had to be patient.

"Bonatha, why are you staring out the window?" Amy quietly asked. Bonatha hadn't realized she'd been focusing so hard. Then she realized what she was staring at. It was a boy who looked uncannily like Hophter. Oh my goodness, IT WAS HOPHTER!

When the others heard her they ran to look. He was still there like he was looking for something. Then someone came up behind him. "Oh no!" thought Bonatha, "Desert Wells, the Bounty Hunter!" Bonatha couldn't stop herself, she ran to the window and through the cup she was holding as hard as she could and ducked. She was then rewarded with a female's shriek then a thud as she collapsed. The boy called out to her and started running up the apartment stairway. Then blessed darkness overtook Bonatha.

She awoke looking into Janus's eyes. Then she remembered what time it was. Annay! She was waiting! Janus said that Annay was here on a visit, as well as some other friends. Bonatha had no idea what she meant, but she didn't have time to ask. Janus had walked to the center of the room, and her whole body began to glow.

Suddenly, Janus wasn't there anymore. In her place, a young girl, no older than the princess, stood. She had straight purple-gray hair and green eyes. "I should have explained before, princess, but I couldn't chance your life to Galaxo by giving you the chance and will to fight. You would have endangered the universe. You have to open your mind and let me put back all that was taken away. Lay on your back and close your eyes. It's Okay, I'm still Janus, just the form is different."

Bonatha did as she was told. Then she felt Janus standing over her, moving. Bonatha felt that she was being lifted up and she saw memories flashing in her mind's eye. Memories of the palace before Galaxo invaded, memories of her mother and father. Then she saw memories of people she didn't know the names of. Then she remembered Annay. She was different though. Something was different, an energy was there she hadn't noticed before. Then she remembered what was so different. Annay was a Sailor Knight, as were several other girls. Then symbols flashed through her mind. Water Knight, Fire Knight, Stone Knight, Botany Knight, and so many more.

When it was over, Bonatha felt like a cup that was overflowing. Then she looked at Janus. She was laying limp on the floor. She looked up and smiled weakly, "Don't worry about me. That kind of strain happens only once in a while, its not permanent." Bonatha had noticed that when she was tired, Janus couldn't stay as a human.

Then Annay and a line of girls that Bonatha now had a few memories of came in.