Waah! I bet the world on a stupid horse race and I lost it to Michael Jackson. Now I really don't own anything! Oh well, at least he'll heal it.
An Ancient Scourge. The Moon's First Fight!
After dinner, the system rulers held an emergency conference in the council chamber. Grim faces lined the circle as the King and Queen seated themselves. Everyone was silent, but they all knew the others were thinking the same thing: why now? If this had happened but a day earlier, the Passing would have been postponed, but now, their young, inexperienced daughters would be left to face a new enemy alone, just as they had once needed to.
King Lord Elios cleared his throat, "I take it you have already heard of Shi's encounter in the woods. Now, I'm not sure if she could have defeated the demon on her own, first attacks are usually too weak to eliminate a monster without softening it up first." He shook his head, "There was also some strange blood at the scene which did not match Shi's nor the profile we received from the remains of the monster. We can only assume that some otherworldly creature found her and took it upon itself to protect her.
"I'm not saying that all of the young senshi will get unassigned guardians; traditionally, only Sailors Moon and Venus receive guardian cats. The son of Diana and Sin will be Ryouya's guardian of course. Oh, and Minako-chan, we've just received word that a kitten with the moon sigil has finished her training and is bound for Crystal Tokyo. When she arrives, the guardians will be presented and any mysterious guardians will be invited to attend and receive their commendations if they will."
He looked to his queen as he finished and the pink odangoed monarch nodded in assent. She briefly closed her eyes as if pained by some thought and upon opening them, looked briefly at each of her old friends in turn.
"I have only one thing to say: all the young senshi are to travel in groups of at least two at all times when not within the palace walls. Make sure to stress this to them as we all know they sneak out sometimes, although they know the rules. I hope this is favorable to everyone? Good. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go comfort my daughter."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Entering after her quiet knock was anwered with a "come in", Usagi crossed the plush, white carpet to her daughter's bed. She sat herself down on the black bedding next to her preteen child. She looked straight into the dark girl's russet eyes that were at once so much like and unlike her own.
There was fear there, yes, and sadness too. But mixed in the maelstrom of emotions, that solid kernel of spirit was unbroken. Shi was still strong after her encounter, stronger because of it. The mother smiled with pride and relief, glad that her little girl would be able to carry the world on her shoulders and not buckle under the pressure. It was difficult, but duty was unshakeable.
All at once, Fushi fell into her mother's arms with a sob. The doe eyed woman held her, stroking her dark, loose hair.
"Shh...It's okay. I'm here with you know; I'm only sorry I wasn't there for you earlier. My poor baby all alone!" she hugged her daughter tighter and then held her at arms length, a smile on her lips.
"But I wasn't alone, mama. Someone was with me."
The woman nodded, "I know. So, who is your guardian?"
Here, the girl stopped, unsure whether to continue or not, "I-I don't know if I should tell you; you wouldn't even believe me if I did."
"Well, when Sailor Venus' guardian arrives from Mau, all th eguardians will be blessed and swear the oaths. If you guardian will attend, we will honor it."
"I will tell him, mama. Thank you."
"Now, off to sleep with you, for it is long past your bed time," the pink haired mother tucked in her mysterious daughter and kissed her forehead.
By the time she turned out the light, the girl was already asleep.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Hurry up, bungirl!" Rekkano Kanshaku tossed her black hair over her shoulder.
The new Mars senshi's lavender streaks in her knee length hair matched her intense eyes. She was already taller thanher mother at fourteen, but she still retained the famous Martian temper.
"A lady always walks with grace and dignity: she never hurries, Shaku-chan."
Kanshaku gave her friend a look, "Yeah, whatever miss priss. You're my buddy for today and we're already late for training so hurry!"
The other girls were already waiting for them. Even their instructors the unpredictable Asteroid Senshi were ready to go. As the tardy students seated themselves in the bleachers, Sailor Ceres stepped forward at a nod from her teammates.
"Our last training session was a good start but, now, especially in light of recent events, we're going to be tougher on you. Also, I'd like to welcom Fushigiko to her first training session having been awakened just yesterday," she now nodded to Sailor Vesta who continued the instructions.
"You will all pair up facing the targets at the far end of the field. Try to control your attacks; last time they went pretty wild."
Sailors Pallas and Juno went among the girls and paired them together. Ry found herself with Irokeno Mitsukai, the new Sailor Venus and leader of the inner senshi. She had long, silver-blonde hair and mischievous aquamarine eyes. Her hair hung loose to her mid back,but her bangs were pulled backby red clips.
"Hiya Ry-chan!" Mitsukai sqealed as she came over, "We get to be partners!"
Ryouya smiled at the blonde. She seemed overly perky sometimes, but she had a very serious side and was the perfect general. She excelled in the dramatic, being even more talented than her famous idol mother.
"Right!" Sailor Juno barked, "Get to work!"
Transformation calls filled the air and the stadium hummed with energy. Ryouya went first and Mitsu quickly followed.
"Venus Power, Make-up!" the blonde held up her light orange pen and molten gold spouted from it in a gilded fountain, covering her body. The metal cooled around her body, forming a magnificent golden statue, then burst away to reveal Sailor Venus in light orange and sunny yellow. "Do you want to go first?"
Sailor Moon shook her head and the Senshi of Love prepared her attack.
"Venus Lovely Knives!"
A number of sharp, glistening pieces of silver energy flew from her hand and straight at the target. All of them, however, missed.
Venus' mouth hung open, then she laughed self-conciously, "Oh well. Your turn now."
Sailor Moon took a deep breath and removed her tiara. Shouting "Moon Tiara" she spun on her right foot. Then senshi released the shinning disk upon saying "Diamonds!"
The spinning beam of light missed the targetand boomeranged back to the group of senshi. Sailors Jupiter and Uranus had to dive out of the way to avoid its crash landing on the very spot they were practicing. It exploded in sparkles and had to be pulled from the earth.
She looked around, embarrased, but no one else had fared any better. The formally pristine field was charred, broken, and fried. No one was doing any better, except Sailor Gibbous Moon. Her "Moon Depression" hit the target dead on every time, much to the astonishment of Sailor Saturn, her partner, and the Solar Asteroids.
"Wow! What's your secret?" Saturn asked, her heliotrope eyes wide in awe.
"I dunno," Gibbous Moon shrugged, "You just need to concentrate, but at the same time, be relaxed."
"Concentrate, but be relaxed," the petite senshi muttered to herself as she spun with her glaive, fuschia hair spinning around her.
As the afternoon wore on, the girls greatly improved in the aiming of their magical attacks and their trainers decided to call it a day.
Sailor Pallas smiled cheerily at the girls, "You all did very well today; you promise to be capable soldiers."
The group detransformed and headed back to the palace, the dying sunlight lengthening their shadows. Mars and Moon were the last the leave as the bunhead was not happy with her improvement.
"I just can't seem to get it to go where I want it to, Shaku-chan. It's so infuriating!"
"Don't worry about it Ry; it's only our second training session you know."
"Thanks. I guess we should head back. Wow, it got really dark all of a sudden," the white haired teen started out of the stadium and turned back to her friend, squinting into the dark, "Are you coming?"
"Huh?" Shaku started out of a daydream, "Oh...yeah, I'm coming."
"Okay, but don't do that again; you really creep me out sometimes, you know?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The woods were terrified. The beast charging throught the forest was so evil that thevery trees shuddered down to their roots. The leaves of little shrubs wavered in the deathly still air.
The gakidou could smell its prey. The scent of magic, white magic, filled its nostrils and the thought of tearing into that pure flesh was almost intoxicating.
He would not fail as the last soldier had. That had been an embarrassment to his regiment and to save face, he had volunteered for the next mission. But not unwillingly. He would enjoy every minute of his time spent in the Sunlit World.
Tonight, he would feed.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The gates of the palace were in sight when an inhuman cry pierced the night. The two girls froze and looked at each other with terror-filled eyes. Ryouya mouthed to Kanshaku torun,but the priestess shook her head, choppy layers flying. Her feet wouldn't move even if she could be so cruel as to abandon her friend. The sound of something hungry coming quickly their way reached their ears and they catapulted into action.
"Moon Prism Power, Make-up!"
"Mars Power, Make-up!"
A huge fire ball sprouted from Shaku's crimson henshin wand and wrapped itself around her body. The liquid flame carressed her skin, filling her with power and burning away her clothes. The flames quickly died and revealed her crimson and lavender fuku. The two senshi caught sight of the thing as it broke the cover of the forest.
"I think I'll take the first shot," Shaku nodded, "Mars Liquid Fire!"
The fire senshi swept her arms out to the side and a huge sea of flickering flames sped across the gournd and towards the oncoming devil. It was knocked down and over come by the fire, dissapearing beneath their writhing fury.
The girls' victory celebration did not last long, for the beast rose up from the inferno and charged towards them faster than ever. They stood paralyzed with fear, watching the hideous form draw closer and closer. But it stopped about five feet from them and cocked its head to the side, watching the young women intently. The thing blinked its bulbous blue eyes and licked thin, white lips with a black and scaley tongue.
"Tasty ones of the Sun world," it rasped at the senshi showing lethally serated teeth, "Thank you for being my meal. You fight and make yourselves more tasty."
"Moon Tiara Diamonds!"
Sailor Moon had finally unglued her senses and threw her attack, hoping against hope that it wouldn't miss the demon only feet in front of them.
The glowing disc hit the fiend in the mouth and exploded in sparkles, taking the creature with it.
Picking up her tiara, Moon grabbed Sailor Mars' hand and ran with her into the palace. The two friends detransformed and collapsed in relieved sobs on the entryway steps.
Ryouya's tears dried and her voice hardened, sounding dead in the glittering stairwell, "Shaku-chan, that thing wanted to eat us. It didn't want our energy or our pure hearts or our dreams. It wanted our _flesh_!" The teenager shuddered, "This is unlike anything our parents fought. What are we going to do?"
Kanshaku shook her head, "I don't know. Believe in goodness and justice and truth I guess. Wouldn't the old Sailor Moon have said that? Use her strength that lies in you andwe will beat this new evil." The priestess stood, "I will speak to mymother about this. Maybe she will be able to discern something in the fire."
Ryouya nodded dumbly and waved her best friend away. She sat for sometime on those silent stairs and what tortured thoughts ran through her head none know but she.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Well, how do you like it this chapter? Are you getting scared? Don't worry, I'm scared too! Not really, but I wanted to make you feel better!
~Jinjur
An Ancient Scourge. The Moon's First Fight!
After dinner, the system rulers held an emergency conference in the council chamber. Grim faces lined the circle as the King and Queen seated themselves. Everyone was silent, but they all knew the others were thinking the same thing: why now? If this had happened but a day earlier, the Passing would have been postponed, but now, their young, inexperienced daughters would be left to face a new enemy alone, just as they had once needed to.
King Lord Elios cleared his throat, "I take it you have already heard of Shi's encounter in the woods. Now, I'm not sure if she could have defeated the demon on her own, first attacks are usually too weak to eliminate a monster without softening it up first." He shook his head, "There was also some strange blood at the scene which did not match Shi's nor the profile we received from the remains of the monster. We can only assume that some otherworldly creature found her and took it upon itself to protect her.
"I'm not saying that all of the young senshi will get unassigned guardians; traditionally, only Sailors Moon and Venus receive guardian cats. The son of Diana and Sin will be Ryouya's guardian of course. Oh, and Minako-chan, we've just received word that a kitten with the moon sigil has finished her training and is bound for Crystal Tokyo. When she arrives, the guardians will be presented and any mysterious guardians will be invited to attend and receive their commendations if they will."
He looked to his queen as he finished and the pink odangoed monarch nodded in assent. She briefly closed her eyes as if pained by some thought and upon opening them, looked briefly at each of her old friends in turn.
"I have only one thing to say: all the young senshi are to travel in groups of at least two at all times when not within the palace walls. Make sure to stress this to them as we all know they sneak out sometimes, although they know the rules. I hope this is favorable to everyone? Good. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go comfort my daughter."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Entering after her quiet knock was anwered with a "come in", Usagi crossed the plush, white carpet to her daughter's bed. She sat herself down on the black bedding next to her preteen child. She looked straight into the dark girl's russet eyes that were at once so much like and unlike her own.
There was fear there, yes, and sadness too. But mixed in the maelstrom of emotions, that solid kernel of spirit was unbroken. Shi was still strong after her encounter, stronger because of it. The mother smiled with pride and relief, glad that her little girl would be able to carry the world on her shoulders and not buckle under the pressure. It was difficult, but duty was unshakeable.
All at once, Fushi fell into her mother's arms with a sob. The doe eyed woman held her, stroking her dark, loose hair.
"Shh...It's okay. I'm here with you know; I'm only sorry I wasn't there for you earlier. My poor baby all alone!" she hugged her daughter tighter and then held her at arms length, a smile on her lips.
"But I wasn't alone, mama. Someone was with me."
The woman nodded, "I know. So, who is your guardian?"
Here, the girl stopped, unsure whether to continue or not, "I-I don't know if I should tell you; you wouldn't even believe me if I did."
"Well, when Sailor Venus' guardian arrives from Mau, all th eguardians will be blessed and swear the oaths. If you guardian will attend, we will honor it."
"I will tell him, mama. Thank you."
"Now, off to sleep with you, for it is long past your bed time," the pink haired mother tucked in her mysterious daughter and kissed her forehead.
By the time she turned out the light, the girl was already asleep.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Hurry up, bungirl!" Rekkano Kanshaku tossed her black hair over her shoulder.
The new Mars senshi's lavender streaks in her knee length hair matched her intense eyes. She was already taller thanher mother at fourteen, but she still retained the famous Martian temper.
"A lady always walks with grace and dignity: she never hurries, Shaku-chan."
Kanshaku gave her friend a look, "Yeah, whatever miss priss. You're my buddy for today and we're already late for training so hurry!"
The other girls were already waiting for them. Even their instructors the unpredictable Asteroid Senshi were ready to go. As the tardy students seated themselves in the bleachers, Sailor Ceres stepped forward at a nod from her teammates.
"Our last training session was a good start but, now, especially in light of recent events, we're going to be tougher on you. Also, I'd like to welcom Fushigiko to her first training session having been awakened just yesterday," she now nodded to Sailor Vesta who continued the instructions.
"You will all pair up facing the targets at the far end of the field. Try to control your attacks; last time they went pretty wild."
Sailors Pallas and Juno went among the girls and paired them together. Ry found herself with Irokeno Mitsukai, the new Sailor Venus and leader of the inner senshi. She had long, silver-blonde hair and mischievous aquamarine eyes. Her hair hung loose to her mid back,but her bangs were pulled backby red clips.
"Hiya Ry-chan!" Mitsukai sqealed as she came over, "We get to be partners!"
Ryouya smiled at the blonde. She seemed overly perky sometimes, but she had a very serious side and was the perfect general. She excelled in the dramatic, being even more talented than her famous idol mother.
"Right!" Sailor Juno barked, "Get to work!"
Transformation calls filled the air and the stadium hummed with energy. Ryouya went first and Mitsu quickly followed.
"Venus Power, Make-up!" the blonde held up her light orange pen and molten gold spouted from it in a gilded fountain, covering her body. The metal cooled around her body, forming a magnificent golden statue, then burst away to reveal Sailor Venus in light orange and sunny yellow. "Do you want to go first?"
Sailor Moon shook her head and the Senshi of Love prepared her attack.
"Venus Lovely Knives!"
A number of sharp, glistening pieces of silver energy flew from her hand and straight at the target. All of them, however, missed.
Venus' mouth hung open, then she laughed self-conciously, "Oh well. Your turn now."
Sailor Moon took a deep breath and removed her tiara. Shouting "Moon Tiara" she spun on her right foot. Then senshi released the shinning disk upon saying "Diamonds!"
The spinning beam of light missed the targetand boomeranged back to the group of senshi. Sailors Jupiter and Uranus had to dive out of the way to avoid its crash landing on the very spot they were practicing. It exploded in sparkles and had to be pulled from the earth.
She looked around, embarrased, but no one else had fared any better. The formally pristine field was charred, broken, and fried. No one was doing any better, except Sailor Gibbous Moon. Her "Moon Depression" hit the target dead on every time, much to the astonishment of Sailor Saturn, her partner, and the Solar Asteroids.
"Wow! What's your secret?" Saturn asked, her heliotrope eyes wide in awe.
"I dunno," Gibbous Moon shrugged, "You just need to concentrate, but at the same time, be relaxed."
"Concentrate, but be relaxed," the petite senshi muttered to herself as she spun with her glaive, fuschia hair spinning around her.
As the afternoon wore on, the girls greatly improved in the aiming of their magical attacks and their trainers decided to call it a day.
Sailor Pallas smiled cheerily at the girls, "You all did very well today; you promise to be capable soldiers."
The group detransformed and headed back to the palace, the dying sunlight lengthening their shadows. Mars and Moon were the last the leave as the bunhead was not happy with her improvement.
"I just can't seem to get it to go where I want it to, Shaku-chan. It's so infuriating!"
"Don't worry about it Ry; it's only our second training session you know."
"Thanks. I guess we should head back. Wow, it got really dark all of a sudden," the white haired teen started out of the stadium and turned back to her friend, squinting into the dark, "Are you coming?"
"Huh?" Shaku started out of a daydream, "Oh...yeah, I'm coming."
"Okay, but don't do that again; you really creep me out sometimes, you know?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The woods were terrified. The beast charging throught the forest was so evil that thevery trees shuddered down to their roots. The leaves of little shrubs wavered in the deathly still air.
The gakidou could smell its prey. The scent of magic, white magic, filled its nostrils and the thought of tearing into that pure flesh was almost intoxicating.
He would not fail as the last soldier had. That had been an embarrassment to his regiment and to save face, he had volunteered for the next mission. But not unwillingly. He would enjoy every minute of his time spent in the Sunlit World.
Tonight, he would feed.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The gates of the palace were in sight when an inhuman cry pierced the night. The two girls froze and looked at each other with terror-filled eyes. Ryouya mouthed to Kanshaku torun,but the priestess shook her head, choppy layers flying. Her feet wouldn't move even if she could be so cruel as to abandon her friend. The sound of something hungry coming quickly their way reached their ears and they catapulted into action.
"Moon Prism Power, Make-up!"
"Mars Power, Make-up!"
A huge fire ball sprouted from Shaku's crimson henshin wand and wrapped itself around her body. The liquid flame carressed her skin, filling her with power and burning away her clothes. The flames quickly died and revealed her crimson and lavender fuku. The two senshi caught sight of the thing as it broke the cover of the forest.
"I think I'll take the first shot," Shaku nodded, "Mars Liquid Fire!"
The fire senshi swept her arms out to the side and a huge sea of flickering flames sped across the gournd and towards the oncoming devil. It was knocked down and over come by the fire, dissapearing beneath their writhing fury.
The girls' victory celebration did not last long, for the beast rose up from the inferno and charged towards them faster than ever. They stood paralyzed with fear, watching the hideous form draw closer and closer. But it stopped about five feet from them and cocked its head to the side, watching the young women intently. The thing blinked its bulbous blue eyes and licked thin, white lips with a black and scaley tongue.
"Tasty ones of the Sun world," it rasped at the senshi showing lethally serated teeth, "Thank you for being my meal. You fight and make yourselves more tasty."
"Moon Tiara Diamonds!"
Sailor Moon had finally unglued her senses and threw her attack, hoping against hope that it wouldn't miss the demon only feet in front of them.
The glowing disc hit the fiend in the mouth and exploded in sparkles, taking the creature with it.
Picking up her tiara, Moon grabbed Sailor Mars' hand and ran with her into the palace. The two friends detransformed and collapsed in relieved sobs on the entryway steps.
Ryouya's tears dried and her voice hardened, sounding dead in the glittering stairwell, "Shaku-chan, that thing wanted to eat us. It didn't want our energy or our pure hearts or our dreams. It wanted our _flesh_!" The teenager shuddered, "This is unlike anything our parents fought. What are we going to do?"
Kanshaku shook her head, "I don't know. Believe in goodness and justice and truth I guess. Wouldn't the old Sailor Moon have said that? Use her strength that lies in you andwe will beat this new evil." The priestess stood, "I will speak to mymother about this. Maybe she will be able to discern something in the fire."
Ryouya nodded dumbly and waved her best friend away. She sat for sometime on those silent stairs and what tortured thoughts ran through her head none know but she.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Well, how do you like it this chapter? Are you getting scared? Don't worry, I'm scared too! Not really, but I wanted to make you feel better!
~Jinjur