"Oh, no," yelled Rini.
"What?" was the reply.
"It's 7:45. There is no way we'll make it in time for homeroom."
"Damn," Celeste swore. "Just grab everything, you can change en route. If we leave now, we may make it on time. Just pray there's no traffic."
"When are you going to change?"
"Don't worry. Let's get going." The pair grabbed their stuff and ran outside. Celeste threw the car in reverse and backed out of the driveway. Once out, she put the car in drive and put the petal to the metal. In the backseat, Rini was getting changed. By the time they had reached the end of the road, she had her uniform on and was climbing over the seat. "Seatbelt," Celeste reminded her and she put it on. After, she glanced over at the dashboard, according to the speedometer (which she hoped was wrong), Celeste was doing 60-65mph in a 40mph area. Miraculously (probably because of Celeste's lead foot), they hit the school parking lot with five minutes to spare.
"That was close," Rini remarked as she got out. It was the first time she noticed Celeste's pajama's looked like her practice outfit. She now knew why Celeste hadn't stopped to change.
"Now we run like the wind to homeroom and hope the bell is a couple seconds off." Rini nodded. "I'll catch up with you after school."
"Bye," but it was too late, Celeste was already inside the building.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Across town, Seraphina Damon was just waking up. For her, school didn't start till 9 on a normal morning. Then again, this was no normal morning. Since it was Friday, she had no classes. However, eighth-graders and teachers from Pinebrook Academy would be coming to the temple. The headmistress had cleared the trip weeks ago and now the morning had arrived.
Seraphina jumped out of bed and raced to the shower. She was anxious and excited at the upcoming day. She wanted to be sure everything was in order when they arrived. Thankfully, the temple had retreat space, because the trip was an overnight one. If it went well, Seraphina was thinking of hosting weekend retreats for others. Before long, the bus was pulling into the temple's driveway. She went out to greet her guests.
Teachers and students started to pour off the bus. In the meantime, another bus pulled in behind the first and also started to unload. Seraphina started to panic, trying to go through everything in her head. Had she remembered to tell the cook to come in? Yes, he'd arrive around 11 to begin preparations for dinner. Had the retreat area been cleaned? Several times over.
"Students, please!" one of the teachers yelled, snapping Seraphina back to reality. "Quickly and quietly gather around. This is a special overnight trip and I expect everyone to be on their best behavior. I'll have no problems calling anyone's parents if they misbehave." Seraphina realized that the teacher speaking was actually the headmistress. "Now that I have everyone's attention, I'd like to introduce our hostess, Miss Seraphina Damon." Seraphina stepped forward.
"I'd like to welcome you all to the Pantheon Temple. Before we begin, I believe that everyone would probably like to put their things away. The girls will be in the North House and the boys will be in the East House. All lunches should be left in the gazebo in the Courtyard in the middle of the four houses. They'll stay cool there. In ten minutes, we'll all meet in the Main building behind the temple." The group of students ran to their assigned areas, many having been to the temple before. Seraphina smiled, knowing that everything would be fine.
After a quick tour and lunch, the students were broken into groups and assigned tasks. Since the trip was focused around learning the temple life, Seraphina decided the best way to learn it, was through living it. She assigned one group to the kitchen to help the cook, another was sent to the clerk in the temple shop, other students were sent about to clean and sweep, a fourth group was given leisure time. The last group, Seraphina kept to teach herself. She was looking for an assistant for the summer. She was hoping to find one through the retreats she was having. She taught her group the basics of being a priestess or priest of the temple. They learnt prayers, etiquette, and other skills needed. After dinner, the groups rotated of the final time and Seraphina received a new final group to instruct. This time, one of the girls caught her attention.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Darissa Ashland really didn't want to go to the temple on this field trip. Now she felt strangely at ease here. She loved to cook, but today, for some reason, she couldn't focus her mind on it. Home Economics was her favorite class, but today, she was all thumbs in those areas. She had no skill for selling and had become frustrated when her group had been assigned to help the clerk.
Here, under the watchful eye of Seraphina, she felt a strange calm. Yet, she didn't know how to explain it. It was almost as if it was a combination of peace and serenity as well as feeling of being home. Home for her though was not the temple, but a small apartment close to the school. Her parents, foreign ambassadors, were never home. They had lived in outside the country since she was 10, and since then she had lived on her own.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Celeste was waiting after school to drive Rini home. Her practice had been canceled for unknown reasons. Rini was silent on the drive, but once they reached her house, she invited Celeste in.
"Come on in and stay for dinner. My mother won't mind."
"You sure."
"You kidding? She makes enough food to feed an army."
"Ok, then. I'll stay," laughed Celeste.
"Is your mom home?" Rini asked, unlocking the door.
"Not for a while. She called this morning to say she's flying out to be with my dad."
"Ugh.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Seraphina was impressed with Darissa's work and attention. She considered Darissa to have potiential and decided to keep her after.
"I'd like you to remain after," she said, addressing Darissa.
"Yes, Seraphina." The other students filed out, heading to their bunks for the night.
"What's your name?"
"Darissa Ashland."
"Tell me about yourself."
"Most people call me Dari. My birthday is December second. I'm 13 years old. I live in a small apartment near the academy. I live alone and have since I was 10. My parents are foreign ambassadors; they've been out of the country for three years."
"Do you have a job?"
"Not yet. The government sends a stipend each month as part of my parent's benefits."
"Would you like one?"
"A job? That depends on what it would be."
"My assistant."
"Your assistant." Darrissa squeaked.
"Yes, I need help running this place. My original plan was to hire someone for the summer, but if you'd like to start Monday, that'd work."
"Monday? So soon? Can I think about it?"
"Sure. Sleep on it and let me know in the morning."
"Thanks. Night"
"Night." Darissa headed to the North House for the night. Seraphina watched her walk away. After Darissa was out of sight, she sighed, wondering if she had made the right choice. There was one way to find out. Seraphina left the main temple and headed for her special meditation room. This was where she did her fire readings. She decided now would be the right time for one.
She consulted her herb book for the right ones to add. Normaly, she'd use her own, but she wanted to add Darissa's too. Since Darissa was born December second, that made her a Sagittarius. Seraphina went the cabinet and pulled out the correct herbs and spices. Kneeling in front of the fire, she placed the herbs in front of her. Gazing into the fire she began to chant:
Lord and Lady, please be with me tonight
Help to keep this fire burning bright,
So that the answers I seek will be revealed
Fire, burning bright, let nothing be concealed
Seraphina threw the herbs in the flames and waited for the vision. Suddenly, an image became clear, but Seraphina recognized none of the figures, there were two girls in what reminded her of the old sailor senshi uniforms she had read about. The other figure was an extremely weird male figure, which looked like something out of the ancient myths of Greece or Rome. She was troubled by this, for it was not the answer she seeked, yet something seemed urgent about it. She released the powers of the deities she had invoked. She gave up trying to comprehend the meaning and went to bed.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Diana jumped awake when the computer alarm started to ring. She hopped off the bed where Rini was sleeping and ran over the terminal. Quickly entering her password, she silenced the alarm before the entire household awoke. She grew pale as she saw the alert that had set the alarm off.
Jumping back on the bed, she batted Rini until she woke up. Rini quickly got up and woke up Celeste. After the two changed, they were out the door.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Seraphina was ready for bed when she remembered that had left her planner in the meditation room. Sighing, she got back up, threw on her housecoat and slippers. Walking down the hall, Seraphina felt a presence behind her.
"Who's there?" she asked, receiving no reply. Probably just one of the kids paying a trick on me, she thought. She tried to shrug of the uneasy feeling. Upon reaching the main temple, she quickly located her planner. She turned to leave and bumped into something. She screamed and started to back up. In the moonlight, she could see what she bumped into was not human.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Darissa was out for a walk, when she heard a scream come from the main temple. She dashed across the gazebo and into the temple. She skidded to a halt when she saw the creature standing in one of the doorways.
"Holy crap," she swore. What the hell is that thing? Bet yet, what is it doing here?
Quickly recovering, she felt her Karate skills kick in. Feeling the kick on its back, the creature swung around, grabbed Darissa and spun back to its original position. Seraphina used the distraction to grab the largest stick she could find. Once the creature was facing her, she charged at it, hitting it over the head. The monster got extremely ticked at this new fighter and threw Darissa against the wall. As she blacked out, she saw the monster grab Seraphina with its hands.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Celeste followed Diana's instructions to the location the terminal had specified.
"Oh my god," Rini muttered as they pulled up in front of the Pantheon Temple. "This is where the monster is??"
"According to our information," replied Diana.
"Let's do it," Celeste said, looking at Rini. Before Rini could answer, Diana interrupted.
"Celeste, Command Central gave us a new transformation phrase for you." She explained, "The first one you used was designed to identify you to your powers. You're new phrase is Uranian Action, make-up."
Celeste nodded at Rini.
"MOONLIGHT ACTION"
"URANIAN ACTION"
"Make-up!" shouted the two girls. As soon as the transformations were complete, they ran for the main temple. Seeing the monster, Sailor Uranus attacked.
"URANUS CLOUD SHOWER." The creature shrieked in pain. It reacted by throwing the unconscious Seraphina on top of Darissa who was still out. Sailor Moon gasped at the sight of the two girls in a heap. She recognized one as the temple priestess
"How dare you hurt a priestess and an innocent girl. I am Sailor Moon, protector of the innocent. In the name of the Moon, I shall punish you."
"You are evil and have no right to be in such a sacred place. I am Sailor Uranus, and on behalf of Uranus, I'll make you pay."
"MOON MAGIC." The disc hit the monster's left arm, severing it. Uranus took advantage of that and grabbed its right. Using all her strength, she flipped the monster onto its back. She glance met Sailor Moon's and she nodded in silent agreement.
"MOON MAGIC"
"URANUS CLOUD SHOWER." The two attacked combined and upon hitting the monster, the creature turned into dust and disappeared. Sailor Moon ran over to the heap of girls and pulled Seraphina off Darissa. As she did so, Darissa groaned. She opened her eyes and nearly screamed.
"Please don't scream," Sailor Moon pleaded. Darissa's mouth was open, but no sound was produced.
"We got company coming," Sailor Uranus announced, pointing outside. The fight had woken the whole complex and the people were starting to run over. "We got to get out of here."
Sailor Moon nodded. "Take care of the priestess," she told a startled Darissa, who just nodded. The two scouts ran for the car and took off. Sailor Uranus pulled off the main road into an alley. There the pair detransformed.
"That was too damn close for comfort," Celeste said.
"It doesn't matter if the world knows the Sailor Senshi exist, but not until you have all been awakened," Diana explained. "You did the right thing without being told."
"I was afraid someone would recognize us," Celeste explained.
"Not possible," Khons announced. "Your powers protect you from that."
"That's good," Rini replied. "Can we go home now?"
Diana nodded. "It's been a long night."