Hi minna! It's me, the Queen_of_Nemisol again. I'm here with the second installment of TPW. Hope you enjoy it. Same disclaimers as before.
Chapter One: The Stranger
"Everyone, this is our new student. She just moved here from Ireland. Miss Donovan, why don't you introduce yourself?"
" 'Twould be my pleasure," I replied, in flawless Japanese, thinking ::I just won't be telling you everything about me, not without freaking you out.:: "As you know, I am from Ireland. To be more precise, I am from Donovan Castle. My name is Kethryveris Donovan. I am majoring to be a Professional Musician. My interests are: swords, fencing, history, music, languages, and reading, among other things. I am looking forward to making some friends here, and trying to fit in, as much as possible."
"Thank you, Miss Donovan. That was very informative, without being too much so. Now classes have been delayed long enough. Minna, to class."
I walked over to the building that held my classes (most of them), and with a minimum of effort, I found and entered the room, taking a seat next to a young woman with turquoise hair, Michiru Kaioh. She had a violin with her.
"Konnichi wa. Atashi wa Kaioh Michiru. You're the new girl, right? What instrument do you play?"
"Atashi wa Donovan Kethryveris. Kethry for short. Yes, I am. The lap-harp."
"Neat. Ever do any gigs?"
"Yes, I do. As a matter of fact, I play at such-and-such a club, from 3 to 6pm."
"Isn't that the club where the Three Lights play? I've heard them, and they're quite good, at least I think so."
"Yes, it is. So do I. I perform under the stage name 'Divided Legacy'. You've probably never heard of me, though."
"Actually, yes, I have. And from one musician to another, I think you're quite good as well. Really, you don't even need to come here."
"You really think so?"
"I do."
"Well the reason I'm doing this, is because this is the best way to learn the new techniques, among other things. You see, I learned to play by ear, and by trail-and-error."
"Oh."
"Here's the teacher."
"Ok, as this is the first day of term, I want everyone to introduce themselves; name, age, major, instrument, and career goals."
Finally, they reached me, "Atashi wa Donovan, Kethryveris (Kethry for short). 19yrs. Professional Musician. Lap-harp. Performer/songwriter."
"Arigato, minna."
Finally, class ended. As I had an hour before my next class, and as it was 1:30, I went over to my bike to get my lunch out of my saddlebags. I had just refastened them, when I heard an excited comment come from behind me. I turned to see someone get off their bike and remove their helmet.
"Gomen. I didn't hear what you said."
"I said, 'That's some bike.' What make/model/year is it?"
"It's a 1953 Harley Davidson. I restored it on my own. Of course, it took me longer than it otherwise would have."
"Oh?"
"Hai, for at the same time, I was also restoring a 1960 Chevrolet Corvair."
"Wow! I'd like to see it sometime. Oh, gomen. Boku wa Ten'oh Haruka."
"Donovan Kethryveris."
"Why don't you eat with my friend Michiru and me?"
"I'd like that." We walked over to where Michiru sat with her lunch and violin.
"Oi, Haruka. I see that you have met Kethry."
"Hai. How'd you meet her?"
"She's in most of my classes. She even has the same major as me."
"Oh."
"So, why did you move here to Japan?"
::Can I tell them, 'Nika? Will they believe me? I mean, the Lights would, and so would the Senshi. But will civilians?::
::They are not civilians. They are Senshi, Outers to be precise, most of them, at any rate. Haruka is Uranus, Michiru is Neptune, and the one that just joined you, the one with the long, dark green hair, is Setsuna, called Pluto.::
::The Guardian of the Gate of Time, possessor and wielder of the Garnet Orb?! You are positive about all of that?!::
::Yes and yes.::
Looking around to make sure that there was no one near enough to overhear what I was about to say, I replied, "You see, it was because of the Senshi."
"How did you know of the Senshi!?!" cried 3 voices in unison.
"Keep you voices down, will you?! Give me a moment, will you Uranus, Neptune, Pluto, and I will explain. You see—"
"How did you know who we were?"
"If you keep interrupting me, I won't be able to tell you. As to how I knew, Annika told me, just now. Besides that, I knew you 1,000yrs ago. Of course, I was already old then."
"Huh? Already old? Just how old ARE you!? What do you mean, you knew us then? Who's Annika?"
"Look, I've got 15min. till class. Here," I wrote down an address, "Come to this place, anytime after 6:30pm. I'll tell then. I'll even introduce you to 'Nika. See ya."
Picking up my lunch, I ran so that I could make it to make it to class. I managed to make it, but just barely. :Great. The one thing I had hoped to avoid.: I thought. When 6:45pm rolled around, I heard the sound of closing car doors outside my house. Opening the door, I saw Haruka, Michiru, and Setsuna on my doorstep. Looking behind them, I saw a great looking car.
"That your car, Haruka-san?"
"Hai. Just what were you talking about earlier today? You nearly scared us to death, then."
"Sorry. I'm just not used to being around people a lot. I'm normally a loner. I didn't mean to do that. Please have a seat. Where to start? You know about the Negaforce, right?"
"Hai. You could say that. You could also say, we found out about it the hard way."
"I know, believe me, I know. So did I. But it was even worse for me."
"How could anything be worse than seeing your friends fall to it before your very eyes?!"
"TRY HAVING YOUR MOTHER BECOME IT!!!"
"What?!"
"Just what I said."
"How could the Negaforce be your mother? You're not evil, my mirror would have told me that." Michiru spoke.
"For you to understand properly, I'll have to go back over 2,000yrs into the past."
"OK."
"Here goes— 'That which you know as the Negaforce, was once a human woman known as Queen Metalia, who was descended from the Sun Princess Solaris by 12 generations, and was the soulmate of the Moon Prince Adrian. Those twain had twins who were named thus=the girl, who was firstborn by 3min Tsornin Isfahel; the boy-secondborn, Danol. Now, you see Metalia had been born under a prophecy that stated only one of her blood could kill her. So, when the twins were born, she forbade them to ever be given weapons training. Her generals, despite this, did give the twins the training. When the twins were 12yrs old, their father died. Their mother, who had always delved deep into the dark arts such as blood magic, proceeded to delve ever deeper at his death. Over the next 6yrs, she would delve so deep, that by the time her body was killed at the end of the 6yrs, there was nothing left of the woman the twins had known as mother, at least, nothing human was left. The only thing was that which was you call the Negaforce.
"Upon her death (at least as far as the twin were concerned), the twins left the Negaverse, where they had been born and raised, to go the Kingdom of the Sun where they were received with open arms. As a sign of this, they were each granted a kin-gift. Danol chose a lap-harp. Tsornin would have chosen a quiver of arrows and a bow. She did so, but, after she chose though, after a day, she felt a call, a drawing, a summons. Following the summons, she came at last to the doors of King Solarin's treasure vault. When King Solarin found her standing there, he asked her why she stood there. She told him of the summons. He looked at her with narrowed eyes, nodded once, sharply, took out the key to the room, opened the door, and gestured for her to precede him into it.
"Entering the room, she went straight toward the back of it. There, resting on a pedestal all its own, was a sword and harness. That sword was the Phoenix Blade. Not know where she was, not what she did; she picked up the sword, buckled it on and drew the blade.
"She was brought back to reality, abruptly, at the sight of the ghostly flames playing along the length of it. The king asked her to come with him to the throne room. There he made an announcement: 'This very day has The Phoenix Blade chosen a new wearer—Tsornin Isfahel.' It was then that she understood what had happened. What those flames meant. And knew. Knew that of the twins, she would be the one meant to fulfill the prophecy.
"Three months later, the twins were sent as part of his delegation to the coronation of Queen Serenity. There too, they were welcomed with open arms and given kin-gifts. Danol was given a set of books of music, popular and once popular in the Moon Kingdom. There was a book for each phase of the moon. Gladly did he accept them. Tsornin was given a circlet and diadem to cover her birthmarks, so that her mother could not track her very easily. For the next 1,000yrs, the twins would travel in circles between the three kingdoms of the Sun, the Moon, and the Earth.
"Then three days before the final battle, Tsornin took oath as Queen's Champion and was sent as Envoy to the Court of the High King of Earth. Three days was she but there, when the news came of what happened on the moon.
"For the next 1,000yrs, the twins would be forced to wonder the Earth, changing names and homes every 60 to 80yrs. Then came the awakening of the Senshi, and the Princess. The twins moved to Tokyo, where they could watch for, and over them.
"At the death of her servant Beryl, the Negaforce ordered the torture and death of her son Danol. At this time, Tsornin was clear across town. When she felt the dying of her twin, she literally dropped all that she was doing and rushed to their apt. where, in her arms, her twin died.
"Tsornin Isfahel is/was/and will always be me. The sword you see me wearing is the Phoenix Blade. My name means Sungold Fireheart. And I am the Phoenix Warrior, and will not let you interfere with what I have foreseen."
"What do you mean, '…what I have foreseen'?" Setsuna half shrieked/half asked.
"Yes, what do you mean? You haven't said anything to me about it," came a voice from behind us, and in the shadows, and was then followed by the appearance of a seemingly young woman with an equally seeming young man by her side, "Oh, hello, younger sister. I haven't seen you since you received your Time Staff from my hands." This last was to Setsuna.
"That's because I haven't had a chance to. Oh, and everyone, this is Princess Annika, the adopted sister of Queen Luna, and the Senshi of Memory and History; my heart-and-blood sister. She also happens to be 6, maybe 7,000yrs old. Oh, and I'm 2019yrs, almost 2020yrs old."
Well, minna, that's enough for now. Did you like that? E-mail address is still the same.