"Good morning," she said as he caught up with her. Thunder rumbled in the distance, and she glanced in the general direction with a frown. It was like the sound made her suspicious or said something only she could understand.
"Good morning. Looks like it's going to storm," Darien observed, glancing up as lightning lit up the sky.
"Look out!" Atia laughed suddenly, taking off a playful jog. Darien followed her gaze and saw the sheet of rain coming, then took off after her with a yelp. They were both too late and got thoroughly soaked by the time they entered the school building.
Atia was smiling as she wrung out the water in her ponytail. Suddenly a good portion of the student body came sliding into the building, soaked through and through, more so than Atia and Darien. Some of the boys slid, creating a barricade and causing a traffic jam to form behind them. Darien couldn't help from laughing, and Atia began giggling.
A bell rang, signaling ten minutes till class started. The two walked to their lockers and then to the restrooms in an attempt to dry themselves off from the rainwater.
Atia stared at herself in the mirror. Her make-up, thankfully, wasn't running. Her shirt was plastered to her along with her skirt, and she made a face. The boys would be staring for sure. She grabbed some paper towels and rubbed her face dry, then her legs and arms. She dabbed helplessly at her uniform and sighed. "Damn rain," she muttered, heading out of the bathroom.
The school was in an uproar.
Frightened students were running around, screaming at the top of their lungs. Shrieks of "Monster!" rang out from every direction. Atia found herself caught in the tide of terrified teenagers, but she was able to hold her ground. They were all going one way, which meant she had to go the other.
A blast of water knocked the monster away from the victim in front of her. "Hey! Who are you?!"
"Lured from the future to the past, under the planet Neptune, I am Sailor Neptune!"
"Also pulled to the past and under the planet Uranus, I am Sailor Uranus!"
"Drawn from the Gates of Time under the planet Pluto, I am Sailor Pluto!"
"And you're finished!" the trio chorused.
"Hardly!" the woman snorted. With a shout, she blasted at the senshi, who scattered like ninepins. "Now hold still, this won't hurt a bit."
"She must think we're stupid or something," Uranus retorted with a smirk.
"We can't destroy it until Sailor Moon gets here," Neptune reminded her.
Pluto looked out the window. They had been the coffee shop next door when it had happened, hence their quick arrival. But this storm would more than likely prevent the others from arriving. What if that was the whole plan?
"I see one of you understands!" the woman laughed with glee. Pluto's eyes widened. This monster could read minds! "As I said, my master is no fool!"
"That's what you think." Sailor Solar stood in the doorway, arms crossed. "He's the biggest fool I know." She started to walk forward. "He played my heart, and now he'll pay the price."
The woman clearly looked uneasy. "You. You're the one he talks about. You're the one who can foil all his plans." She began to back up as Solar advanced on her. "He says you know that you can't beat him and that you'll give up."
Solar's eyes flashed. "He should know me well enough by now. I never give up. I'll fight him to the death for the pain he caused everyone, for what he did to the senshi." A sword glimmered into existence in her hand. "He'll pay for killing my sister."
"Solar, no!" Pluto cried, rushing towards her friend, but it was too late. The sword cleaved the woman's head right off of her shoulders. She didn't even have time scream. Blood gushed freely, and the headless corpse fell to the ground as a bird-like shadow soared from its back.
"We can't possibly beat that thing, not without Sailor Moon!" Uranus shouted in alarm.
"How easily you doubt." The sword vanished from the sailor's hand. "Hey, bird!" The thing roared, and the college shook. "Is that all you can do?!" It roared again and dived at her. She watched it come expressionlessly. When it was no more than five feet away from her, she jumped an impossible height - and remained hovering in the air as it crashed into the floor.
Floundering, the shadow tried to regain altitude. Solar landed in front of it, and it squawked angrily. "Be still." As though it understood her, as though she commanded it, the bird ceased its struggle. Frowning, she touched the part of the bird closest to her. "Return to your master. Tell him I'll be waiting." She backed away from it. "Now go."
The shadow shoved itself brutally off of the ground, crashed through the ceiling, and disappeared from view. A fading scream echoed through the air, and rain lashed down in the hole in the roof. "How did you do that?!" Neptune demanded, alarmed.
"My powers go beyond that of normal boundaries." The gap in the ceiling and floor vanished. The incoming rain disappeared, the skeleton with it.
"Who are you really, Sailor Solar?" Uranus demanded to know, stalking up to her. Solar stared her dead in the eye, a warning look that a mother would give to her daughter but loved her too much to raise her hand to strike her. It confused her. "Don't do that!" Uranus shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts.
"You know me, Uranus. Stop fighting. If it were my decision, I'd give you all back your memories. But I cannot. I won't go against Queen Serenity's promise. I won't let you remember me."
"Can't you see? That's just it! We don't remember you! How do we know you're not the enemy in disguise?" Neptune cried.
"If you really thought that," Solar replied evenly, "then you would've killed me the moment you first saw me. But you remember me a little, with or without your memories. I can tell. And so can you."
"Just tell us. Who are you?" Uranus struggled not to think of the past, tried to stare at her without staring into her eyes.
Solar smiled a little. "I am many people. But you know one better than the others." Uranus's eyes began to narrow, and Neptune had a slight frown on her pretty face. "I am the princess of Saturn."
"P-princess of Saturn?" Uranus stammered, taking a leery step backwards. "Planet of destruction?"
Solar's face ceased into a slight scowl. "That would be Luna and Artemis. Saturn is perfectly harmless."
"But isn't Destruction a sailor from Saturn as well?" Neptune found her voice.
"Yes." Solar was becoming distracted by something. "Destruction is a princess as well. My twin sister was the queen. Destruction was her daughter." She paused, looking lost in thought. "Pluto! There's a tornado coming. Take these two and the Inner Senshi to your house."
"I don't have your powers."
Solar grabbed her friend's hand. Their hands glowed, and Pluto stared at her incredulously. "Now you do." Solar hugged her. "Whatever you hear during this storm, pay it no heed. You may hear any of their voices. But don't listen to them." The sailor vanished.
