Ok! Hi all – I just wanted to clear somethings up right here - implies mental thought, italics represent telepathic speech between characters.
Part 6: Destiny and Fate Make the Scene
Michelle smiled as she watched the couples below from her balcony seat. "The nice thing about this restaurant is the way that one couple can seem totally alone and yet we can watch over all of the little groups so nothing can really interfere."
She and Alex were seated up on a wide terrace balcony that overlooked the stylish restaurant's main room. From her seat up there, she could see Ryo and Mia, tucked back in one corner of the room. The two were eying each other nervously and not speaking. Separated by trees and rocks, Ami and Rowen were seated a little further along the wall. Even from here, Michelle could see that the two were arguing something. She sighed. They were probably talking about some theory or other.
On the facing wall sat Mina and Cye. Mina was quickly working her way though her second drink and Cye looked very intrigued by a spot on the tablecloth. Raye and Sage at another table were calmly talking and eating calmly. Kento and Lita looked about ready to start and arm-wrestling contest. Because the two were directly below Michelle, she could hear the conversation. She giggled as Lita complained that the food wasn't that good. Kento barely stopped shoveling it in his mouth to complain.
Michelle smiled at Alex and took a sip from the champagne she held. The tiny bubbles tickled and she giggled at the feeling. Alex was staring intently at Michelle's face and she shifted nervously. With one hand, Alex leaned across the table and captured Michelle's empty hand. Lifting it to her lips, she smiled at her partner, whose blush spread upwards to the roots of her blue-green hair.
In the far background above the soft chatter, she could hear the sounds of a piano start up and a moment later, a violin rose to accompany it. The quiet sonata was very familiar and Alex sighed as the memories swept over her.
"You remember this one?" Michelle smiled.
"How could I forget our first piece together? That was one of the most important moment of my life when we first performed that piece." Alex gave Michelle a tiny half-smile.
"I miss the way we used to practice together and do concerts. I miss the days when we were just the two of us."
"Oh Alex, we haven't lost those days. It's just that now there is so much more for us to do. We have so much more to do now. Back then, the only thing that mattered was each other and music. But now we have the rest of the group. We have more friends and family then we have ever had in our lives and it isn't so lonely. We have a purpose. We have to protect the princesses and fight for everyone's future. And I promise that when we have achieved that future, the first thing I will do is sit down with you and play again." Alex smiled.
"You're right. Let's not worry about the past or the future. Let's just enjoy now." Michelle had just reached for her fork when the screams erupted from outside the building.
As people all around the room stood up, a large telephone pole piece shattered the window. Glass flew, and Ryo and Mia, who were seated closest to the window, dove behind their table. From outside they could now see the three or four large monsters draining people's energy. But with the restaurant so full of people, there was no possible way for the group to transform. They watched helplessly, hoping that Serena and Darien would show up soon.
***
Across the park, Serena, Darien, Margot, and Julie were
sitting around finishing up the last of their French fries. The four laughed happily as they speculated
what might be happening in the restaurant.
Suddenly, Serena sat up straight.
"Monster attack. Somewhere downtown there are a bunch of monsters. We gotta go. They're quickly creating havoc. This could get dangerous. Margot, Julie, maybe you ought to go home." The two girls shook their heads determinedly. Without another word, the four started running across town.
The monsters downtown were at work when the four arrived. About seven or eight feet tall, each monster had a set of about five or six tentacles, each of which was busy draining a person. One large purple monster was about to enter the restaurant that the four recognized as the restaurant they had sent the couples to. Serena and Darien hurried to transform into their sub-armor and follow the monsters into the restaurant. Before Serena entered she turned to look behind her.
"Stay here both of you. I can't risk you getting hurt if something goes wrong." Margot and Julie glanced at each other with a "yeah right" look on their faces and followed Serena anyhow. Inside the restaurant was a mess. Tables were overturned all over the place and broken glass and China littered the floor. Ryo and Mia were pressed up against the wall, Ryo in front of Mia protectively. The two girls glanced around and felt the rage begin to boil up inside of them.
Serena and Darien had just started to face off against the four monsters now grouped in the middle of the room when a pair of enraged voices caught their attention.
"How dare you wreck our beautiful plan?" Julie asked angrily.
"You guys are so deader than dead," Margot forced out through gritted teeth. Serena and Darien gaped as two signs flashed across the girls' foreheads. In bright blue green across Margot's forehead was the Japanese symbol for fire shone brightly and across Julie's forehead in burgundy was the symbol of wind.
"Holy…" Mia started to say and then stopped as she pulled Ryo down behind the cover of the table. Across the room, Darien and Serena dove for cover as they realized with awe and fear what precisely those symbols meant. The rest of the people followed their examples as the two girls began glowing menacingly. Even the monsters looked like they wanted to find a hole in the floor to crawl in. With a huge flash of dark blue green and burgundy, the two girls stood there in armor like the Universal Warriors'.
Where the Mystical Warriors' sub-armor was white, Margot's shone with gold and Julie's was a soft copper. Against the dark blue green of the armor and sub-armor, the gold of Margot's shone bright, while Julie's burgundy set off the copper with a soft glow. In one hand, Julie held a staff just as tall as her eyes. On the cap of the staff stood a falcon, wings spread as if in flight, its glowing eyes a pair of garnets imbedded in the copper. Margot held in both hands a double-edged sword, the hilt engraved with a dragon, the tail wrapping around the blade to create a grip. "FIRE OF…"
"WINDS OF…" Flames leapt up from the ground, racing up Margot's body and down her outstretched hands until it reached the sword, gathering together near the edge. Similarly, wind leapt up around Julie's staff, gathering around the cap of the staff, where the falcon's wings seemed to be flying now. "DESTINY!"
"FATE!" With a roar, the flames shot off the sword, hurtling across the room as likewise, the wind rushed towards the monsters. The attacks combined partway there and with a loud crash, the combined air and fire slammed into the monsters and they disintegrated instantly.
Pieces of flaming debris flew across the room, still buffeted by the typhoon strength winds. As the wind and flames died down, people began to peer out from behind the tables and chairs. Mia moved away from behind the tables and surveyed the scene. "Holy…"
"Cow," Ryo finished as he joined her. The place looked like it had been barbequed and then torn apart. Great big charred sections of the carpet were pulled up and thrown everywhere across the area. Plants, chairs, and other small things had been thrown by the wind to lie in piles against overturned tables. Surprisingly enough, not one person had been hurt in the chaos that had ensued. The other people emerged from under tables and behind rock walls and fled towards the entrances.
Mia smiled. "Well, that wasn't quite the word I would have used, but it definitely is a lot cleaner." In the center of the room, Margot and Julie still stood, weapons pointed at the most charred section of the carpet where the monsters had previously stood. Totally unaware of the chaos around them, the two were trapped inside of their memories, things from their past lives. Scenes flashed through their minds and slowly the two began to get an understanding of who they were and why they were now here.
Slowly, they two girls came back to the world to see their friends now gathered around them, staring at them in awe and surprise and confusion.
***
Somehow, Serena herded the whole group out of the building and back to Celia's house, where they all convened in Margot's room. It was a rather funny sight actually, with all fourteen people, excluding Margot and Julie who were sitting on her bed, crammed into the room and sprawled all over the place. Not that the room was small. Merely crowded, Margot thought as she claimed a spot on her bed next to Julie. She smoothed her hand over the dark blue-green bedspread and smiled at the irony of the color. It completely matched her armor, down to the same shade of gold from the sub-armor that was like the gold threads that were running through the sheets.
Ryo led the inquisition, along with Kento and Rowen.
"What they heck is going here?" Ryo asked, sounding slightly irritated at the lack of knowledge, "Who the heck are you two really and where did that armor come from?" Mia and Darien shared a small smile and Mia answered before Julie or Margot could speak.
"Those are the armors of Destiny and Fate, two of the most powerful armors in the Universe," Mia explained. Mina piped up from across the room.
"But I thought that the Universal armors were connected to the royalty of each planet," Mina said, her brow crinkled in confusion. Serena smiled.
"That's right Mina. The armors of Destiny and Fate are the…" At that moment, a burst of light filled the room. As the light cleared, there was a shriek from Margot and Julie and the rest of the Universal Warriors sprang into position.
"DADDY!" came the joyous cry from the two girls. The warriors looked to see the two girls now enfolded in a hug from a man who hadn't been standing there a moment ago. They blinked and gaped. The two girls were hugging whom they knew to be Apollo, god of the sun.
According to legends, Apollo was unable to be touched by mortals, because he would burn them to cinders. The only people able to touch him were his wife and soulmate…and his daughters. Ryo, Cye, Kento, Sage, Rowen, Ami, Mina, and Lita gaped at the two girls now hanging from the sun god's neck. Raye smiled as she now understood the vision she had had in the flames all those months ago. Rowen stuttered, his mouth totally agape.
"What the… How can you touch him and not turn into dust?" Rowen thought he knew what the answer was going to be and he didn't like it one bit. Apollo looked over at the confused boy and smiled as he tried to detangle the clinging arms from his neck before he was strangled.
"I thought that would be obvious. These are my kids."
"WHAT!" came the collective reaction. Margot smiled.
"Yes, I am Princess Margot of the sun and this is my sister Julie!"
"You mean you two are related? Sisters?" Kento spluttered out. This was like a nightmare come true; these two mischievous girls, although he may love the two of them dearly, were sisters and that frightened him to no end. Julie smiled smugly at Kento.
"Twins!" she exclaimed. Kento only groaned. That was even worse. Margot looked at her twin with superiority gleaming in her eyes.
"Yes, but I happen to be five minutes and forty-two seconds older."
"Oh big whoop-de-do," Julie said mundanely, waving her finger in the air, "A whole five minutes and forty-two seconds. Let's give you a medal." Margot smiled brightly, her whole being radiating with arrogance.
"Thank you," she said smugly. Julie looked steamed at Margot's flippant answer. Lita stepped forward.
"You mean, you two are the twin princesses of the sun?" Margot smiled.
"Yup, and one day, I will be the queen of the Universe!" Julie reached out and smacked Margot on the head.
"No need to rub it in," Julie scolded, "After all, it's just because you're older that you get to rule the sun and the Universe."
"Ouch Julie, that hurt!" Margot whined, rubbing the hurt spot of her head.
"Serves you right for acting so arrogant," Julie said, crossing her arms over her chest.
"I didn't mean to. It just slipped out!"
"Girls…" Apollo said loudly in an annoyed tone, "I would like to finish this sometime this decade." Two contrite faces turned to look at him.
"Sorry Daddy." Kento glared at the two.
"You mean this whole time, you have known this and you never told us?"
"Not really," Margot said, "See, until we got angry and transformed, we didn't know the armors existed and until we got the armor, we didn't have any memories. So we had no idea until about a half an hour ago."
"What memories?" Ami asked.
"Well, you see, we lived back in the Silver Millennium along with you guys, although most of you were three years older. Serena was the only girl our age. We lived on the Sun and died during the assault on the solar system just like everyone else. It was after the planets got rearranged, but before the Moon Kingdom was destroyed," Margot explained blithely. Apollo glared at his oldest daughter.
"Margot, there are some things you know that you are NOT allowed to talk about. So please, don't let out any more about the past until I have explained everything. And since I know you two can now see into the future, not to mention all the things you may have seen in the other world. If I hear one peep of the future being let out…" he drifted off menacingly and fingered the tall and spiky gold, silver, and copper staff he carried. The two girls gulped and eyed the staff warily.
"We promise Daddy! Don't hit us with the sun staff, please. We promise we'll be good! No past facts or future slip-ups!" Margot cried. She then stopped and stared at the tall twisted staff. "Wait a minute. Didn't I design that thing?" Apollo glared at her.
"Yes Margot, you did. You remember a lot of things. Both of your memories have been coming back over time slowly, which is why you drew the staff design. You think I didn't know about that, did you? I know everything about the two of you, at least until you transferred between worlds. So, be warned, I am keeping an eye on you two." Turning to face the rest of the group, he began to explain.
"Anyway, the Sun Kingdom was ruling over the Universe. Margot and Julie were the youngest two out of you all. When Metallia tried to take over the Universe, she sent Beryl to conquer the Earth with Talpa and the Generals to take over the other planets while she herself tried to take over the Sun. There were three battles, one in which the Earth was lost, the next when the Moon fell, and lastly, the one where the Sun was attacked.
"During the battle on the Moon, everyone on the Moon died. Julie and Margot were not there and, therefore, could not try to save you. They knew that you would die, but they could not stop you. They died protecting the Sun and myself from Metallia. Literally, they bashed me unconscious with my staff, took my power stone, and defeated Metallia themselves. But they died in the process from using too much power." Apollo stopped and drew in a breath. "That's about all you really need to know now. I know that a few of you know more, but there is only a certain amount that those who have not regained all of their memories should know."
Margot and Julie shuddered as they thought about the horrible battles and the pain and agony of watching each of their friends die. That was such a horrible time, Margot thought.
I agree. That was so not fun. The only thing I am proud of is that we saved the Sun and Daddy from the same fate as the Moon, Julie replied mentally, not realizing that Margot hadn't opened her mouth. As the two girls realized what has just happened, they looked at each other in surprise. Did they really just mentally communicate?
Apollo looked over at his two children. And that's the other thing. You two are not to tell them about the telepathic link. Don't argue with me; that's just the way it has to be. If you two tell them that, eventually, who knows what the two of you and your loose lips could spill? Margot and Julie glared at him, but silently nodded in agreement. This having a father thing was really hard! Suddenly, Margot thought of something and she turned to her father.
"Dad, what happened to our little sister? I don't remember her name right now, but where is she? And who is she?" Apollo only smiled as Julie nodded in agreement at Margot's question; she wanted to know too.
"You mean the Warrior of Prophecy? Well, the only thing I can tell you is that she is someone who is close to you; I can't tell you anything more. I'll let you think about that for a while and see if you figure it out. You two are smart girls; I'm sure you'll remember eventually." Julie and Margot looked physically perturbed by that answer. Apollo smiled at the dissatisfied looks and stood up.
"I must return to the Sun now. I had to make certain that the girls were okay, but now that I know they are, I have to go." With no further ado, he disappeared from the room with a small flash. Mina spoke up.
"Wow, that was the most interesting meeting I've ever had. So, now we know the Sun King. Won't Celia be upset that she missed this?" Julie grinned tiredly.
"No, she knows him pretty well. After all, Dad and Celia have both been alive since the Silver Millennium." Margot sighed and flopped backwards onto her pillows. "I am so tired. I am going to sleep. You people can do whatever you like, but I warn you, I throw pillows at people who disturb my sleep." With that, she pulled her nightgown from under a pillow and disappeared into the bathroom to change. The group slowly left the room, still talking about the events of the day. Sage grumbled.
"I still can't believe that those two menaces to society are the princess of the Sun and Margot will be queen of the Universe one day." Raye laid a hand on his shoulder.
"Don't worry, you'll get used to it. After all, we accepted the fact that Serena will be a queen one day. And that was a hard lump to swallow." Serena turned to Raye, her face absolutely livid.
"Hey, that's not nice!" Serena yelled at Raye, who only sweetly smiled at her best friend. The door shut behind the large group, but Julie could still hear the squabbles of the two as they walked down the hallway. She honestly didn't know whether to be amused or hurt at the fact that the Universal Warriors were having such a hard time accepting who they really were.
Margot entered the room, hair braided and face washed. She sat down on the bed across from Julie.
"Well, this has been quite a day. I mean, would you have ever believed that we could be twins?" Julie smiled.
"Explains how similar we are. But, the truth is, I never thought any of this could be real in my wildest dreams."
"Dad sure mad it tough on us, putting those restrictions on and everything," Margot grumbled. Julie yawned before responding.
"Yeah, he was really mean about it all. But, I'm too tired to care. I'm going to bed too. Good night!"
"Good night Julie," Margot said as Julie wandered into her room through the bathroom to get ready for bed. Within minutes of climbing into bed, both girls were asleep. In the darkened rooms, the small flash of light was hardly noticed by the two sleeping girls. Julie murmured restlessly as Apollo brushed a kiss across her forehead and whispered good night to her. Margot snuggled deeper into the covers and sighed as he kissed her also. He stood back and stared at the sleeping girl.
"I'm so glad I found you two. Now at least I know you'll always be within my sight. Sleep well my angels, and this time around, no bashing me unconscious with my own staff. I love you and all, but that hurt last time!"
***************
Hey all! So, really, how many people thought that Margot and Julie would stay civilian throughout all four remaining books? And yes, it's a bit cliché to have them come from the sun, but, you know, as long as its not overdone, it can work. So, constructive criticisms are good, but flaming this honestly won't do you any good.
CTRNikki – glad you like the haircut. I take personal claim on that idea. We had an interlude somewhere where we burned all her thigh-high socks too – frankly, socks and shorts don't work together when they're thigh-highs!
Thescientist – thanks for the review and the luck. Obviously, I have survived. The only thing keeping me going was the thought of birthday cake today!
Ninmast – of course we play dirty. It makes it some much more fun! : )
Ok, I'm gonna go eat another big piece of my birthday cake and then work on the interlude some more! Have a great day everyone! ~DestinyBabe
