Among Friends, Part 3
Sailor Ilia
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.
Elina glanced around her, still being held hostage by the youma. Sudden tears filled her eyes as the daemon pulled on one of her braids. Her vision cleared, and she blinked with confusion. Where had Asami gone?
"I will have your energy for my mistress!" the daemon yelled. As he held Elina back, a circular gem appeared on his forehead, and the crowd stuck inside the ice cream shop began to lose consciousness.
Asami, nearby, had shooed all ice cream shop employees from the back room and shut the door behind her. She had never fought in Guardian form before, but she supposed there was always a first time. Closing her eyes in concentration, she felt, rather than saw, the maroon glow that surrounded her as she transformed. When the light cleared, she stood in maroon battle gear as Taerir Guardian.
Taerir smiled briefly as she opened the door and re-entered the main area. The expression left her face as she saw the daemon still holding Elina, and most of the shop's patrons still beginning to collapse to the ground. She would need help this time. Taerir locked eyes with the other girl for a moment and then turned her gaze away.
Taerir silently crept behind the daemon, her sword in her hand. Swiftly, she dealt him a blow to the knees and jumped out of the way as the daemon dropped Elina. Pulling the girl out of the way, Taerir locked eyes with her once again. Now she remembered. The girl would be Sailor Ilia. Taerir called a henshin wand to her hand and gave it to Elina.
I'm going to need some help, she mindsent to the girl, hoping Elina would either remember or just take the communication at base value. Raise the pen and say 'Ilia Gate Power, Make Up.' Then Taerir went to try to waylay the daemon, leaving Elina to take or leave what she had been told.
Elina gazed after the strange, red-haired warrior who had seemed familiar.
Asami? she thought, frowning. But the serious, battle ready look in the girl's eyes seemed different, somehow. Elina gazed down at the pen the warrior had given her. It's worth a try.
"Ilia Gate Power, Make Up!" she yelled. Spirals of light surrounded the girl, and when they cleared, Elina stood clad in a fuku with a red-brown skirt and collar, and peach bows. Staring in surprise for a moment, Sailor Ilia rose and narrowed her eyes at the daemon.
"Ilia Earth Crumble!" she yelled, summoning her strength. The daemon yowled in surprise at the tile floor fell from under his feet, sending him toppling over. On the way down, his head smashed into the serving counter, causing him to emit a plaintive sound again. The daemon landed just as the floor beneath him re-solidified.
Lucky shot, Sailor Ilia thought, grinning, and crossed to stand beside Taerir.
Taerir grinned and winked at the new senshi, and then took the chance she had been given. Pulling to her all the psychic power she could muster, she sent the forces crashing toward the daemon. When the air cleared, the daemon lay unconscious. Crossing the shop to reach the enemy, Taerir knelt and placed a hand to his forehead.
Inside, she felt yet another human mind.
Go figure, she thought ironically. She closed her eyes and removed the offending forces inside of him and returning human thoughts to his mind. After a while, she opened her eyes to see the man back to normal but unconscious. As Taerir stood, she faltered a little, and Sailor Ilia rushed to steady her.
Taerir waved the aid away. "It's alright; the healing just took a bit out of me." She noticed the girl staring at her in amazement, and continued. "Come on, we need to detransform."
Sailor Ilia followed Taerir out of the ice cream shop and into a secluded area. The two detransformed, and Elina found that her earlier suspicions had been correct. Asami now stood where Taerir had been moments before.
Asami smiled warmly. "That was my other form: Taerir Guardian." She looked around. "Do you want to talk out here, or away from prying eyes and ears?"
"Wherever you think is best, I guess," Elina said, grinning weakly.
Asami looked worried. "I think we'd better go somewhere else, but we can talk as we go." She frowned. "How much do you remember?"
Elina considered for a moment. "I don't remember much at all about my life in the past, but I do remember a little about the Gate senshi. There were other senshi, too... Those were Usagi and her friends, weren't they?"
Asami nodded. "Yeah, and that's who we're going to see, now. They were off to a senshi meeting when they left so suddenly earlier."
The other girls looked surprised when Asami showed up with Elina at Rei's temple, but dismissed it.
"There was an attack at the ice cream shop after you left," Asami informed them. "And we found out that Elina here is Sailor Ilia." She looked around at the others. "How much do you remember about the Gate senshi?"
Ami cleared her throat. "There were originally about eight of you, weren't there? You were from worlds that could be reached only through the Gates." Asami nodded.
"You were another team completely, though, really," Rei volunteered, looking thoughtful. "Sailor Taerir was the leader, weren't you, Asami?"
Asami flushed. "Well, back then I was. I honestly don't know what's going to happen now." She watched the others self-consciously. Asami had never really been part of most of the senshi meetings. "Well, that's all... I think Elina probably wants to go home and think this through." She smiled gently at Elina.
Elina only nodded, dazedly leaving the temple and heading vaguely in the direction of the apartment she shared with her mother. Asami watched the girl go and then turned towards home herself.
From the shadows, Nami glared at the spot where her beautiful creation had once stood. Those two warriors had defeated the monster too easily-- Nami needed more power. Too bad she had not seen the civilian identities of her creation's adversaries, or else she could get rid of them easily... Frowning at her thoughts, Nami walked away.
Thanks to Andromeda for picking the attack name for Ilia and cool stuff like that ^_~