The Guardian, Part 1
Ikeno Asami
By Taerir
All Sailor Moon references are the property of their respective owners. Any concepts, characters, world names, plotlines, and so on not found in the Sailormoon television series or manga are the sole property of the author, Taerir, copyright 1999. No duplication is permitted without written permission from the author.
Out of the darkness, a figure began to form. The eyes, glowing ice-blue in the shadows, came first. A brilliant light expanded and then collapsed on itself, revealing a brown-haired man of about thirty, dressed in army regalia. Glancing over his new form, he began to laugh menacingly. The dark forces had done well in bringing him back.
With a wave of his hand, he changed his gear into some more... appropriate clothing. Then, spreading his hands wide, he called his dark powers to him and watched the dark blast explode from his hands. He smiled slowly; he was much stronger than before.
Making ready his plans, he travelled down to earth. Once more would he awaken the dark powers and make known his dark reign.
The senshi would die, and with them would fall all of Earth's inhabitants.
With a laugh that sounded chilling in the darkness, Ishino Kado teleported to Earth.
Ikeno Asami walked down the street on her way home from Azabu High School, and sighed. Life had been so uneventful lately, especially with college entrance exams coming up.
"What now?" she asked herself, but could only find one answer. "More homework," she groaned. She was a good student, at the top of her class, but she felt as if school made up her entire life. She chuckled to herself.
I need a boyfriend, she thought, half-joking.
She glanced up as she made her way past the park and stared. Walking past her were three people. The first, a girl of about 16, had twin odango on either side of her head, with two long tails of golden hair. The girl looked so familiar, as did the others...
Asami pulled a small pen with an intricate symbol on it out of her pocket; she had found the item in an antique shop a few months ago, and had felt drawn to buy it. Who could these people be, and why did Asami feel as if they were somehow connected to this strange pen?
Tsukino Usagi walked down the sidewalk, flanked on one side by Kino Makoto and on the other by Aino Minako. She laughed out loud suddenly.
"It's such a beautiful day," she said airily.
Perched atop Usagi's shoulder, Luna rolled her eyes. "Yes, and you're going to go spend it playing video games, aren't you, Usagi?" the cat frowned. Usagi had certainly developed more sense since her last battle had ended, but the girl still had her lapses.
Usagi pouted for a moment. "Luna, you're so mean!" Then she began to think. "Um... Since it's such a nice day, I have an idea. Let's go to the park instead! It'll be more fun, ne?"
Luna groaned, but held her tongue before noticing that Usagi was headed straight for an innocent passerby. Not wanting any part in the impending crash, she smoothly jumped from Usagi's shoulder to the ground, just in time. Usagi ran into the girl head-on, causing Usagi to fall to the ground and the girl's schoolbooks to meet a similar fate.
The girl calmly brushed her red hair from her face and bent to pick up her books.
Usagi scrambled to her feet, looking flustered. "Gomen nasai! I'm so clumsy!" Squinting, Usagi looked at the girl more closely. "Ara, do we know you?"
Makoto stepped in, looking embarrassed. "Please excuse Usagi-chan. She sometimes gets... a little mixed up."
The red-haired girl smiled. "It's alright. No broken bones, just a few dropped books."
Usagi glared at her friend. "Mako-chan!" She turned to the unknown girl. "My name is Tsukino Usagi. These are my friends, Kino Makoto and Aino Minako." Makoto grinned, and Minako stuck up a hand in greeting and smiled brightly.
"And I'm Ikeno Asami," the girl replied, smiling again. "It's nice to meet you." She looked at her watch worriedly and scooped up the rest of her belongings. "But I've really got to get going. Hope to see you around!" Finally gathering all her dropped items, Asami hurried off.
Usagi stared after the girl. "She has such pretty hair! I wish I looked like that..."
"But then you wouldn't have your trademark hairstyle!" Minako giggled. Usagi flushed.
Luna was still watching Asami make her way down the street. "Did any of you notice anything strange about that girl?"
Usagi looked baffled, and the other two seemed to be faring only slightly better. Luna sighed and decided to tell them anyway.
"I watched her pick her things up off the ground. She was carrying a henshin wand."
The three girls stared at the black cat in shock.