A.N.: Holy cheeses! I'm sorry that it took so bleepin long for me to get this chapter up but here it is. I won't talk for long 'cause you probably have a really short attention span (I know I do) so on with the fic! (BTW to all those who reviewed any of my stories, the answers to your various questions are in my bio)
Disclaimer: I do not own GW or SM. But I do own any original thought inputted here so if you copy...WATCH OUT!
Chapter 3: Two Worlds, Two Lives
Ami strolled happily down the sidewalk as a warm spring breeze made her short hair dance wildly around her. Today was the day that 'he' finally made a fatal error. Yes, her dear rival Mercurius had gotten only ninety-nine percent on the national math exam. She began to skip and hum quietly to herself as she made her way to the long flight of stairs that would lead her to Rei's temple. Of course being the quiet and shy person that she was, Ami Mizuno would never even dream of celebrating her victory in plain view of the public. That is why she decided to arrive at the temple as fast as possible so that her friends could do the celebrating for her, while she simply basked in the satisfaction of finally beating her rival.
Running up the numerous steps as fast as her legs would carry her, Ami's small smile grew with every passing moment until it became a full-fledged grin that lit up her whole face. Arriving at the temple gate, Ami bent over with her hands on her knees in an attempt to control her heavy breathing before bowing quickly at the shrine set up in front and dashing around and opening the sliding door with a small thud. Her friends stared at her; Ami was never late for a senshi meeting, ever! Besides that, she was standing in the doorway panting slightly with her cheeks all rosy and grinning like the Cheshire cat from Alice in Wonderland. Curled inside her clenched fist was a magazine that she promptly threw onto the small table before sliding the door shut and slowly making her way to her usual spot and collapsing in a heap on the floor. Rei, Usagi, Makoto, and Minako all crowded around her in concern seeing her lay there on the floor eyes closed with an expression of pure joy written all over her face.
"Hey, whaddya think is wrong with Ami?" Minako asked with alarm.
"I hope she isn't sick!" Usagi exclaimed as all of her friends looked at her with an exasperated expression.
"You dummy, if Ami were sick do you think that she'd be smiling like that?" Rei said angrily.
"What? Maybe it's a new kind of sickness."
"Yeah the 'blonde, meat-ball head syndrome'." Rei replied sarcastically.
Usagi's eyes widened in fear. "Do you think it's contagious?" came her whispered voice from behind the hands that covered her mouth in shock. Rei was close to really losing her temper right about then when Makoto interrupted.
"You know you guys, her expression really reminds me of when I first met Freddy."
"Huh? You mean your first boyfriend?" Minako questioned.
"Yup."
It was Rei's turn for her eyes to widen. "You don't mean that she's-"
"In love." They all said in unison before turning back to Ami who now had her eyes open and was staring at the ceiling blankly. She sighed and struggled to sit up cross-legged on the small cushion. Reaching forward to grab the magazine that she had deposited on the table, Ami flipped to the center of the magazine with an anxious itching. They all watched her with interest as she showed them the results.
"I'm not in love, I am merely happy that I finally achieved my goal." she explained.
"What goal?" the rest of them all asked at once.
"I finally beat Mercurius."
The sound of four heads slamming into the table echoed throughout the shrine as Ami stared at them.
"What?" Ami asked innocently
Makoto was the first to recover and took the magazine in her hands as three other heads slowly rose from the table, each with a red mark on their forehead.
"First place, Mercury: 100" She read aloud as the girls congratulated Ami with pats on the back and much hand shaking. Ami blushed modestly.
"Second place, Mercurius: 99" Makoto continued. With that statement the entire room erupted in cheer. Minako made a joyous comment about the intelligence of females compared to males and jumped up and began to dance. Makoto gave Ami a hearty hug that left her gasping for air as she got up to try and calm Minako down. Rei clapped her on the back and told her that they were all proud of her while muttering about 'meat-ball heads that couldn't tell a multiplication sign from an addition sign'. Usagi sat grinning from ear to ear before erupting loud enough that everyone could hear her.
"HA! TAKE THAT YOU UMINO LOOK ALIKE!"
All action in the room stopped at once as they all stared at Ami to see her reaction. She merely cocked her head to the side and asked what Usagi meant. Before Usagi could get them into more trouble they all clapped their hands over her mouth and shouted a unanimous "NOTHING!" Ami looked at them in confusion before the whole room erupted into chaos. Apparently Rei had mumbled something about 'dumb blondes' again and Usagi, fuming with anger, had bitten Rei's hand.
Rei chased Usagi around the room with her broom before tripping on Minako who had been thrown unceremoniously onto the floor when Rei stood up abruptly, thus causing the fiery girl to turn her attention to this blonde as well. The priestess chased both Usagi and Minako around as Makoto got up and tried to calm them down which resulted in her getting whacked in the head by the broom. And now two blondes and a brunette were running for their lives. Ami sighed as she lay back down on the floor, her mind drifting away from their normal chaos. Despite being elated over her victory, Ami couldn't help but feel like something was missing. Like some important part of her memory was still locked away somewhere in the dark hallways of her mind. Often she had tried to open that locked door, but found it jammed. Turning on her side, Ami let it slide. She didn't want to think about that right now, not knowing that someone else was thinking about it for her.
Ruby eyes watched the scene with an amused smile. Watching the queen and her senshi grow was to say the least very comical. Her smile faded however when she turned her gaze to the blue-haired girl resting on the floor. Setsuna Meioh, also known as Sailor Pluto in her senshi form, sighed gently in silent understanding at the young one's plight. The guardian of the Gates of Time waved her hand over the shimmering pool of liquid as the image was distorted until it became the picture of a girl the same age as the Inner senshi and who also looked almost exactly like Ami.
Pluto watched as she stepped out of a glowing circle and looked around her. The relieved smile was evident on her face although the smile didn't quite reach her glittering blue eyes. She ran down a dusty path that led through the forest and towards a large mountain in the distance. Blue hair streaming behind her like a small rippling wave, the guardian watched as she faded away. Urging the image upward with her mind, her gaze focused on the mountain in the distance. Atop the mountain a large structure was seen faintly. Turning away from the pictures Pluto willed the bowl that contained the liquid away before once again taking up her constant vigil at the Gates of Time. While gripping her garnet rod tightly in her right hand, in her left she fingered a beautiful golden ring. On the inside of the ring the dull light of her domain reflected off of strange words that were engraved there. Etched onto the surface of the ring was a rough and woody looking vine that encircled the whole ring, growing on the vine were beautiful budding and blooming stephanotis flowers.
Pluto realized with a start that she had somehow begun to stare at the ring in all of its mysterious glory. Sighing heavily she gazed far off into the distance.
"Do not worry Ami, your mind's door will be unlocked soon enough."
Looking back at the ring in her hand, the sides of her mouth lifted into a small smile.
"Hikari." She whispered to the band of gold as it glowed brightly for a moment before the light faded, it was a simple ring once again.
A.N.: Hmmm, should I stop here? Nah, I think that I will continue because I am dying to know what happened to Ms. Hikari Mizuno! .
Her feet pounding into the ground, Hikari followed the winding path to the edge of the forest before coming to an abrupt stop as a spear point materialized out of nowhere right between her eyes.
"What the-!" She fell backwards onto her butt as her eyes traveled up the golden spear to the small paw connected to it.
"Halt! Who dares to pass into this sacred territory?" The small creature said in a surprisingly authoritative voice.
Coughing on the dust that she had kicked up when she fell backwards Hikari tried to rise until that same spear point poked her in a sign that she should stay down.
"Kira, it's-" she dry coughed "me!" She managed while eyeing the little thing as it floated in mid-air.
'Kira' was an Ancat. Her body was round and orange with pointy cat's ears and little pink feet and orange paws A.N.: .' think of an orange Kirby with cat's ears. The odd thing though was that she had a pair of white angels' wings protruding from her back and a shiny golden halo floating above her head. Her golden spear had a shooting star underneath the blade showing others that she was part of something that was best left alone.
Ancats were sort of like little guardians that were meant to watch 'travelers' like Hikari and question their reason for being in Faore. There were only four of them left.
"Who is 'me'?" Kira asked critically.
"It's me Hikari."
At once her demeanor changed and Hikari was pummeled backwards as Kira launched herself at the girl sprawled out on the floor in a hug. Lying on her back, eyes wide in surprise Hikari stared at the sky as Kira apologized over and over into her hair.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm-"
"It's okay Kira, you were just doing your job."
Kira detached herself from Hikari and helped her up. Blushing slightly Kira apologized one more time for good measure as Hikari smiled and said it was all right. Dusting off her skirt, Hikari's blue eyes looked up to see Kira peering curiously at her.
"What?"
"Well, I was just wondering if you were headed for Leannine."
"Yes as a matter of fact I was, I need to get to the Temple."
Tapping her spear against her head gently Kira seemed to come to a decision and she hopped on top of Hikari's head and seated herself comfortably there. Looking up Hikari tried to steal a glimpse of the Ancat that sat upon her head.
"What are you doing?" she asked
"I will be your guard until we reach the town gate." Kira replied happily
"Did you really need to seat yourself upon my scalp?"
"My wings hurt."
"Is that my fault?"
"No, that's Tori's fault."
Hikari bent down carefully to pick up her knapsack off of the ground.
"Tori? What did he do?"
"He flew up and yanked on them while I wasn't looking."
"Well aren't you supposed to be vigilant?"
"He was in super stealth mode."
Trying to stifle a laugh Hikari began walking down the hill.
"By the way, how is your little family anyways?"
"Hm? Oh we're doing fine. Mhera had to deal with a bunch of crazy sprites last week."
"Really? Doesn't your sister really dislike sprites?"
"Yup. They scared the living spirit out of her."
Hikari laughed at that comment and Kira joined in picturing the dark pink sister of Kira screaming at a bunch of little sprites that were just as tall as the Ancat herself was.
"How's Mori?"
"Oh you know the usual. Acting way to cocky for his own good."
"How so?"
"He nearly got his wings singed off last week when he wouldn't let a Firdra pass because it didn't seem to have that shine that all Firdras have." She sighed, "That led Mori to believe that a sovil was disguising himself as a Firdra so that he could attack one of the smaller villages to the north of here."
"What? Was Mori alright?"
"Oh yea, he's fine but he is really nervous now," Kira giggled "he screamed loud enough to wake Mordrin when Tori threw a small branch at him."
The two of them burst into helpless fits of laughter. But as a shadow fell on them their laughter slowly died away. There they stood facing a large wooden gate. Even though both had seen it many times before, its awesome supremacy was still awe-inspiring. Compared to it, Hikari was an ant. Her fingers traced lightly over the deep gashes in the wood, clear evidence of what had happened a year ago. Hikari felt a small breeze on the back of her head as Kira began to flap her wings. She hovered in front of the girl smiling.
"Well this is my stop. I hope you visit again soon." She said
"Yes, of course." Hikari replied.
Kira flew away leaving Hikari to face the gate alone. Taking a deep breath she placed a hand on the door and gave a small knock. Stepping back she shielded her eyes from the twin suns and looked up at the wall. A small black dot appeared and then disappeared as a loud crunching noise was heard. The gate opened slowly, and when it was wide enough for her to slide through she stepped inside. Sights, sounds and smells invaded her senses as she gazed at the busy town that was Leannine.
Walking along the main road, Hikari strolled through the busy market that made up the center of the town. People running around doing their shopping, little children playing in the streets, elderly citizens yelling at youths for being too disrespectful, and vendors leaning over their stalls to yell bargains at those who passed by. Taking a shortcut through the stalls and throngs of people, Hikari quickly found herself near the end of the major center of the town. Looking up, the mountain she had seen in the distance before was much closer. In fact very much closer. Running the rest of the way she reached the base of the mountain.
Placing her body flat against the mountain Hikari inhaled the scent of moss and damp rock as she slowly felt her way to a small crevice, unseen by the human eye. It was just big enough for her to slide in. It was dark inside of the small cave; the only light that was visible was an odd golden one coming from deeper inside. Making sure that she didn't trip on any debris lying in front of her, Hikari made her way to the light. In the center of the cave, on the floor, was a circle. To her it looked like star charts from long ago, it had many odd symbols and signs. Stepping inside of the circle, Hikari closed her eyes and let the warmth that was radiated from the light seep into her body. A sudden rushing feeling flooded through her; it was as though she was floating for a split second before she felt the solid ground beneath her feet.
Opening her eyes again, it was clear that Hikari Mizuno was no longer in the same cave. The last one had been very messy with rocks strewn all over the place; this one however was clean and had the same markings as on the circle drawn on the walls. Heading for the opening of the cave she emerged into the sunlight. Looking in front of her a large and beautiful temple stood, staring serenely back down at her. The large door that protected the inside like an oyster would a precious pearl had the exact same circle engraved into it. The whole place gave off a very holy aura. She felt safe here, felt comfortable, something that Hikari could never feel while living with the Myersons. A hand on her shoulder caused her to jump before a familiar feeling made it's way into her senses, relaxing her considerably. How she hadn't been able to 'feel' him before was crazy. 'I must be losing my touch.' She thought. She turned around to face him with a small smile on her face.
"Hey." He said smiling back at her.
A.N.: Oooooo. Who is this mystery man? Lol. He isn't a…well I shouldn't say it because it would give the whole complexities of it away. All will be explained next chapter. By the way all pairings are set, sorry. I put SM in this like I promised last chapter but I just had to put in more of Hikari. The GW part will definitely come in after the next chapter. In the next chapter Hikari is finally going to meet the SM girls. If you have any more questions put them into your review. Remember no flames only constructive criticism! Thanks, ja ne!
Glossary
Faore: A sacred and ancient world where magic though rare was not uncommon.
Leannine: The lively town that was situated at the base of the great mountain. Leannine is the center of Faore's magical essence since the Temple is located at the top of the mountain where it's base makes up part of the town. Odd thing is, most of the people that live in Leannine don't have any magical abilities.
Ancat: Four of them left, they are a mix between cats and angels, almost, to tell you the truth they look like Kirby with cat ears, wings and a halo although the only thing 'catty' about them are their attitudes and ears. They are in charge of protecting Leannine from 'foreign' visitors who wish to do evil.
Kira: The orange colored leader of the four remaining Ancats who just happen to be her brothers and sister. Kira is the most responsible and resourceful of her siblings. She protects the western side of the town with her 'Spear of Shining Star'.
Tori: The yellow colored joker of the four. He is rather immature at times and loves to bug his siblings, but when the time comes for them be serious he is quite reliable. Tori protects the southern side of the town with his 'Spear of Dawning Sun'.
Mhera (pro: Meeh-rah): Mhera, the dark pink colored Ancat, is the quietest of all her siblings. She is very dependable but has a weird dislike for sprites. They seem to scare her. Mhera protects the eastern side of town with her 'Spear of Silver Moon'.
Mori: He is the blue colored and the cockiest one of them all. He takes great pride in his job as protector and sometimes may take it a little bit too far. Mori protects the northern side of the town with his 'Spear of Twilight Sun'.
Firdra: A bipedal half dragon half lizard. They tend to spit out vast amounts of fire when they are angry, extremely upset, or very happy. Known for their fierce loyalty and strong personalities.
Sovil: A soldier working for the cause of evil.
Mordrin: The mythological God of Rock in Faore who was supposedly put into a deep sleep by the King of Gods because whenever he heard music he began to dance, thus destroying vast amounts of the planet with his boulder-like feet.