"Yes, m'lord?" she asked timidly, curtseying.
"Who do you see here, Sastiana?" he asked easily, gesturing at the crystal ball-like object before him.
"My princess!" the girl cried. "The princess of Saturn!"
"Very good."
"What have you done to her?!" the girl wailed, falling to her knees. "Please, lord, do not hurt her!"
"I have done nothing to her, not yet. And I won't hurt her; I'll put her out of her misery so quickly it'll make her head swim." The girl burst out sobbing. "No use crying over spilled milk, Sastiana." He waved a hand loftily. The girl fled the room.
The man clutched a hard object in his hand, then brought it up to the light to stare at it. As long as he held it, he held his opponent's greatest weakness. Or so he hoped. He would check it, but he hadn't the nerve. For all of his strength, his cunning, and his power, he feared the power of this gem. He feared the wrath of the one it held and who once owned it. And, being the one to kill her, he had every reason to fear her.
He stared at the pendant uncertainly. He could almost feel it glowing with hate and was beginning to doubt the fact that, once released, he could contain her power. His dark hazel eyes narrowed at the thought. He had to; he just had to!
And he had to do it soon, while the princess was still weak...
"Atia!" Rini was at her side instantly. "Atia, wake up!"
Autumn sighed and rubbed her temples. "It'll do no good, Rini. She won't wake for a while. She's unconscious."
"She didn't even do much," Mina objected awkwardly.
"It had nothing to do with the fight. She just does this when she's overly stressed or bummed out."
"She seemed out of it all day," Darien said in concern, walking over to the girl and kneeling beside her. "She just said-"
"She was cold," he and Autumn chorused, the girl a bit sarcastic.
"Aye, God," Autumn muttered. "I knew she should've stayed home."
"Autumn, if you'll come with me, I'll take her home for you," Darien offered.
"Would you?" Autumn looked relieved. Darien gently sat Atia up and was about to pick her up completely when she opened her eyes. Autumn's eyes widened, and she knelt down in front of her. "Atia?"
"Autumn?" She sounded strangely tired.
"Atia, do you know where we are?" Autumn asked calmly.
"Raye's temple. And...you made me sit down." She was so quiet that Autumn could barely hear her. "My head hurts." Her eyes were half-closed and glazed. Suddenly she looked up, over Autumn's head, and tried to stand up.
"No, no! Sit down," Autumn began, grabbing for her wrists but missing.
Darien stood up and balanced her. Atia sidestepped Autumn impatiently, stumbling like a two year-old just learning to walk. Darien grabbed her elbow. "Atia, maybe..."
"No." She pulled out of his grasp and walked to the steps, then stared down them intently but made no move to go down them - much to the senshi's relief.
"She's not fully awake. She's still out of it. God, if she tries to go down the steps..." Autumn stood up and made as to walk to her cousin, then appeared to reconsider and stopped.
Suddenly a figure came face-to-face with Atia. The stranger and girl simply stared at each for a moment, then embraced. Atia was leaning on her heavily, but the weight seemed not to have an effect on the stranger. The purple-haired girl's eyes closed, and the other held her tight. The senshi could see Atia's mouth moving but could not hear what she said until her voice began to rise in panic. Trista quieted her and murmured something. Atia visibly relaxed.
"Who's that?" Autumn asked instantly, amber eyes furrowed.
"Her name is Trista Meiou. But how does she know Atia?" Many weird things had happened that day, and Darien guessed that this was another.
Rini shot Autumn a sidelong glance. The brunette glanced down at her and winked, a smile hovering at the corners of her lips. The pigtailed one smiled and looked back at Atia and Trista.
Atia straightened up as though she had not been affected by her fainting spell, then smiled. "I thought I'd never see you again after graduation!" she exclaimed, smiling.
"Wha?!" Serena squeaked. "How'd she do that?! A moment ago she was unconscious! Now..."
"She's completely normal," Raye finished in a low voice.
"I know! Ironic, isn't it?" Trista agreed with a giggle. "Now it can be just like the old days, huh?"
"You bet!" Atia beamed. "Say, what are you doing here, anyway?"
"I came to pick up Rini for dance lessons. Hey, you want to come?" Trista asked as they walked up to the senshi.
Atia laughed. They'd never heard her laugh. Earlier, only the two cousins had. It was a pretty sound. "I almost have to. I'm helping teach her class. Oh, Autumn! This is Trista. She's my best friend from high school. Trista, this is my cousin, Autumn."
"Hi," Autumn smiled, shaking her hand.
"Yo, hold up!" Lita exclaimed, staring at an evidently confused Serena. "Now, how do you two know each other again?"
"We were best friends in high school." Atia grinned apologetically.
"After we graduated, Atia moved, and we lost contact. I came to Tokyo because of better schooling. And here we are." Trista made a helpless face and shrugged.
"That's weird," Serena said flatly. Her blue eyes stared at them, and then she reeled back. "Aie! I've seen you two together somewhere before and it's completely freaking me out!"
"Impossible, Serena," Amy said, shaking her head. And yet...
"Sorry to come and go, but we need to get going," Trista said to the senshi, leaning down and picking up Rini as the girl ran up to her. "We're going to be late, Atia. Bye, guys." Echoes of 'bye' went back to her as she, Rini, Atia, and Autumn left.
Atia flinched as though she'd been physically hit. "Amara and Michelle..."
Trista froze and turned to face her. "You've found them?"
Atia touched her elbow unconsciously. "More like they found me. They don't trust me anymore, Trista. Amara would've killed me if I'd let her."
The Guardian shook her head and continued down the steps, a stunned Rini still in her arms. "What did she say?"
"She said she hated me."
"No way."
"Way."
"Why?"
"I guess they're going to blame me for what happened."
"It's not your fault."
They reached the bottom of the steps in silence, and Trista set Rini down. The girl stood beside Autumn, staring up at her uncertainly. Autumn glanced down at her with much of the same look. Atia looked like she was holding something back. "But it is my fault."
Trista put a hand on her friend's shoulder. "Atia, come on. You didn't know."
"Even if I had known, do you think it would've made any difference?" Atia was struggling not to cry and not to go into a rage that would surely blind her. "Everyone's dead because of me!"
"Atia, everyone dies at some point or another," Trista said calmly. Atia looked at the ground. "Listen, you did the best you could. The prince and princess are still alive. You kept your promise. Now let's go or we're really going to be late."
Silently they all filed into the car. "Luna and Artemis know you're back," Rini said quietly. "Atia, you have to stay away from them."
"Rini's right." Trista kept her eyes on the road. "They're ready to jump your throat the moment you show any sign of weakness." Atia looked ready to punch something but said nothing. "They're determined to stop our gift."
Atia stared at her in open-mouthed astonishment. "No! That's one thing they cannot do! I won't stop singing! Nothing they say or do can stop me!"
"They're worried about the others returning," Rini objected.
The tall girl closed her eyes. "I've...blocked the signals."
"What?" Trista glanced at her in despair.
"I've blocked the signals we send out when we sing. They can't hear us...and we can't hear them."
Rini watched Atia intently, then copied the move herself. It was odd; when Atia taught her, she understood and could perform the dance perfectly. "Good, Rini," she heard her say, then looked up to see her execute a perfect standing back-handspring back tuck. "Very good."
"Wow! How'd you do that?!" Rini squeaked.
"What? This?" Atia did it again, this time landing on one leg and doing a partial back walk-over, stopping when she was in a handstand and staring at the girl up-side down.
"Yes! That! Woah!"
Atia laughed and did a summersault, standing. "It's taken some practice. Do you want to learn to do it?"
"Can I?" Atia nodded. "Yeah!"
"We'll start in a moment. Hey, Trista!" Atia called, walking over to her friend. "Would you mind staying after for awhile? I'm going to start Rini on gymnastics."
"I don't care." Trista smiled. "You like training her." Statement, not a question.
"Mm." Atia grinned. "It's like training them all over again."
"Teach her like you taught them and she'll be a hit."
Atia laughed and grabbed Trista's hand. "Come join me. You know you want too." Trista flushed ever so slightly. "Ah, come on. They can't hear us. Luna and Artemis aren't here. It'll be fine and fun." Trista stood up reluctantly and walked with her back into the class.
"Puu!" Rini ran up to them. "Are you going to dance too?" Trista smiled. "Cool!"
"I am going to warm up so I don't sprain anything," Trista said in a tone that hinted sarcasm at a sighing Atia. She elbowed her taller companion as she walked past her. "Some of us aren't so flexible."
Atia snorted. "Yeah, whatever you say. Okay!" She clapped her hands, and the students walked over to her. "Since Mrs. Cayoni couldn't make it today, my friend Trista is going to help me. And since Mrs. Cayoni isn't here, today is free day. You can work on the dance, work on the songs, or just play around. Mind you, remember the rules." The class cheered, then wandered off to do various things.
Rini looked over at Trista in time to catch her do the same thing Atia had done, standing on her hands without a wobble to find. The young girl's mouth popped open. Her guardian then jumped in a full 360? turn - on her hands.
"Good, isn't she?" Atia smiled at her young charge's reaction.
"Uhhh....huh..." Rini replied dumbly.
"Warmed up enough?" Atia called jokingly.
"Ha, ha!" Trista snorted, still upside-down. She landed herself in a back-bend, then stood up from it. Her face wasn't even red. "I haven't done that for awhile."
"I didn't know you could do that!" Rini finally found her voice.
"She can do more than that," Atia smirked.
"So can you." Trista flipped her hair over her shoulder. "Well, now what?"
"The squirt wants to learn to do that." Rini squeaked and poked Atia in the leg. Atia giggled. "I meant that in a good way," she added hastily.
"Yeeah," Rini said, rolling her eyes with a smile. "So, teach me!"
"Can you do a backbend?" Atia asked, eyes sparkling with amusement. Rini preformed one and stayed in that position. "Back walk-over?" Rini did that too. "Splits?" She was almost all the way down in her good-leg splits. "Straddle?" Here, she was all the way down. "Heh. Can you do a back handspring?" Here Rini stopped. "We'll start from there."
After the rest of the class left, Rini sat down on the floor, tired. "I want to hear you two sing."
"Wha?" Trista stared at the princess in surprise.
"I want to hear you two sing," Rini repeated. "Please?"
"I don't see why not," Atia said with a shrug. She looked at Trista. "What'll it be?" Trista shrugged. "How about Shadows of the Night?"
"Sure."
The CD player suddenly kicked on. Rini started; she knew every track on the CD currently in the player - and this song was not on it, just like nobody had hit the play button on the boom box. But she decided not to ask questions.
The intro ticked past. The duo looked perfectly calm, as though they'd done such a thing hundreds of times before. The moment they started singing, Rini was entranced. The harmonies were stunning, and the sound made her head swirl. She felt like she was flying. It was so beautiful. When the song ended, she could only stare in astonishment as Trista turned and stared Atia full in the face. "We can still do it, can't we?" She looked pleased and slightly remorseful.
"You bet. There's no way Luna and Artemis could've heard us, is there?" Atia frowned.
"No." Trista noticed Rini's astounded expression and smiled. "Like it?"
"How do you two do that?" Rini whispered. "That's amazing! The best I've ever heard! Puu, why didn't you tell us you could sing??"
Atia looked like she was going to laugh. "Our little secret."
Trista smiled widely. "You never asked."
Rini could only smile.
The next day, Serena found herself at the city barn, watching Atia ride a huge black horse around the arena. Atia didn't know she was there - not yet. They had long since been done with study buddies, and Serena had forgotten to ask the girl if she was coming to the upcoming dance.
Atia started jumping the black horse. Suddenly the beast slammed his forefeet into the ground and stopped at a dead run, refusing to jump a brick wall. Atia shrieked as she was thrown over the horse's head and right into the wall. It crumbled when she hit it, and the girl rolled a few feet before stopping. "Oh. Ow." The horse ran to the other side of the arena, and Atia staggered to her feet, removing her helmet and tucking it under her arm. She dusted herself off, looking non the worse for wear. She walked over to the stallion, who backed away from her as though expecting to be struck.
"Ow," Atia whispered, rubbing her shoulder. "Sleet, easy boy," she murmured, setting her helmet on the ground and taking a step closer. The horse made a roaring noise and reared, fore hooves nearly coming down at Atia's head. "Easy, Sleet! It's all right, come here, I won't hurt you," she crooned, grabbing his reins as he landed before her. "There's a love." She stroked his head gently, and he stood shaking. "It's okay." He lowered his head against her chest and snorted. She laughed. "Come on. Let's see that scary brick wall, hm?"
She picked up her helmet and led the horse back to the brick wall. He sniffed at it, snorted when it proved uninteresting, and then butted Atia in the thigh. She staggered under his force and scolded him with a tsk. "You're too big to play with me now. You're not a baby anymore. Come on, let's be done. I'm hungry."
Serena's mouth was still open. How had Atia managed to walk after being thrown into a brick wall? Why hadn't the horse's hooves hit her? Wasn't she afraid of the giant horse? She made her way to the entrance of the barn and walked in, right in time to see a boy begin shouting at Atia.
"I've told once, and I'll tell you again! That stallion is dangerous, Atia! He threw you for the thousandth time this week alone!"
At the boy's tone, the stallion snorted and backed, then balked and tried to get out of Atia's grasp when the boy took a step forward. "Get back, Roddie! You're scaring him!" Atia held onto the reins and talked baby-talk to the horse, whose nostrils flared and eyes rolled with fright.
"He's not trust-worthy. How many times do I have to tell you that, Atia?" Roddie said in a low tone.
Atia reached up and hooked a clasp onto her horse's bridle that was attached to the wall. Then she turned around and slapped him clear across the face. He went stumbling backwards. "I've had it with you! You make me sick! Your father is dying and all you can do is come out here and bitch at me and my horse! Don't you have any respect? Dignity?!"
Roddie stared at her in surprise. "I...I..." Blushing, he whirled around and stalked out of the barn.
Serena walked in as he stormed past her. "Serena!" Atia nearly went as red as Roddie. "I didn't see you there."
The girl smiled. "It's nothing. Are you okay?? I saw you get thrown into that brick wall out there."
"Oh, I'm fine. It's a special type of wall that collapses when something runs into it - prevents the horses from getting hurt. Hit my shoulder on the ground, though," Atia smiled.
"Your horse is beautiful," Serena said, walking up to her and stopping at a distance. "He's huge!"
Atia laughed. "Thanks. You can pet him if you want; he just doesn't like men. Or brick walls, apparently." She walked to one side of him, humming, and undid his saddle. The horse whickered and extended his nose towards Serena.
"Oh; uh, hi." Serena reached forward and touched his nose. It was like velvet. When he didn't act to bite or rear, she moved closer and stroked his nose, then his face. "You're a pretty thing, aren't you? What's his name? How's old is he?" she asked as Atia hauled the saddle off of his back and out of the horse's kicking distance.
"His name is Sleetcold; he's six years old, but he still thinks he's a baby." Atia flipped his reins over his head, then buckled the headstall part of his halter around his neck. She took off the bridle, the horse spitting out the bit. Atia dropped the bridle carefully and put his halter on completely. "There."
The horse's sparkling blue eyes stared at Serena intelligently. "Oh, yeah. Atia, are you coming to the dance this Friday?"
"Uh...this is Tuesday, right?" Serena nodded. "Hm." Atia slung the bridle over her shoulder and picked up the saddle effortlessly. "I suppose I could." She disappeared into a room, putting up the tack.
Sleetcold took a step forward and nudged Serena's shoulder. She petted him again, smiling. Atia walked back out of the room and glanced at her watch. "I don't suppose you've had supper?" she asked, grinning at Sleet's obvious pleasure to Serena's attention.
"No, actually, I haven't. What time is it?" Serena asked in surprise.
"It's going on six thirty. I have yet to eat myself; wanna come with me? My treat." Atia clasped a lead rope to the stallion's halter and unhooked the chain from the wall.
"Sure!" Serena stepped to one side as Atia led the horse into his stall, rolling the door shut behind him. He began munching on some food of his own. As they walked out of the barn, Serena asked, "Do you come out here everyday?"
"I try to. Where do you like to eat?" Atia replied, leading Serena to a sky blue mustang convertible.
"Oh, gosh! Just about anywhere, really," Serena giggled, getting into the passenger's side of the vehicle. "I like your car."
"Thanks. How does Keiochi's sound?" Atia started up the car. There was an immediate, blaring response from the radio, and Atia turned it down hastily.
"I love Keiochi's!"
"So do I!"
"No way!" they chorused, then started laughing.
Serena didn't get home until eight. One thing led to another - eating, shopping, browsing, all the things girls do. She found Atia to be like the big sister she never had, just as fun as the other senshi - only with a license.
When she got home, the girl explained everything to her mom, who was fine with it. Serena went upstairs and sat down on her bed, exhausted.
Luna jerked awake from her catnap as she heard the door slam. Serena walked in. She thought nothing of it until she sniffed the air. A familiar scent like that of lilacs and roses lingered on the air, only noticeable by her sensitive cat nose. Her tail fluffed ever so slightly. She knew that smell.
And she did not like it at all.
