Disclaimer: I do not own anyone from "CardCaptor Sakura". They are all owned by the ladies of CLAMP who are much more talented than I. (smile) I also do not own anyone from "Sailor Moon". They are all owned by Takeuchi Naoko whose vision will live eternally. (smile) (Much to Elflina's dismay...) All other characters are my own. Feel free to steal them.
I do not hold chapters ransom for reviews, but I sure appreciate compliments, constructive criticism, and grammatical corrections. So if you feel like it, please press that little review button, and let me know what you think.
Hello to my faithful Taeniaea and aserene. (smile) Serenity's not scared anymore... She's finally got her Mamo-chan back. The world is right once more, hahaha. And hello once more to Miss Takin. Whew! Lucky I checked my e-mail, or you would've had to wait until next week to have been recognized, hahaha... I'm glad you liked the Card reading. I worked pretty hard on that scene. And, yes, I went back and forth about whether to give Jupiter Shield or Thunder, but... She IS the Senshi of Protection, so Shield it just had to be. For all you wondering, that's why I chose the combination that I did. Haha, wait until you see the NEXT one. It drove me nuts!
Enjoy, everyone! - Raya
Moonlit Sakura
Chapter 18 - Cold Metal
Pallas closed her eyes and leaned her face against the aviary window. Briefly, she contemplated banging her head a few times for good measure. She sighed as she dismissed the idea. 'It would probably set a bad example for the birds, and definitely give me a headache without jarring anything important loose,' she thought wryly to herself. 'And just my luck, it'd break the window, too."
"Pallas-chan?" Lady called looking at her friend in surprise.
Pallas blinked her eyes open, and then spun around to face her friend with a wide smile. The smile became natural as she saw that Lady was dressed casually in a pink short-sleeved sweater and a white miniskirt with big silver star-shaped medallions down the left side. In the distance, visible but out of hearing range, were Super Sailor Mercury and Super Sailor Venus.
"Hi, Lady-chan! No meetings this morning?" she called, startling a pair of crows above her. She winced and looked up into the maple apologetically as they cawed and flapped across the aviary.
"They must've forgotten you were there," Lady said as she laughed at Pallas' expression. "Which means… You must've been there quite a while," she concluded, giving her friend a serious look.
Pallas debated with herself a moment. On the one hand, Lady was already under a lot of pressure and strain, and Pallas didn't want to add to her burden. On the other hand, Lady sometimes had really good suggestions that helped a person get around a problem. It didn't always sound that way at first and sometimes the problems were settled in an unusual or completely unexpected manner, but they usually worked out for the best.
Lady watched her friend a moment, and then grinned. "Come on, you want to tell me," she teased as she walked over to sit on a nearby bench. "You can add it to your grand experiment."
"Huh? What grand experiment?" Pallas asked in confusion as she moved to sit on the bench. Out of habit, she smoothed her light blue capris under her as she sat, and then smoothed her white tee shirt.
Lady giggled. "Your experiment to prove that I instinctively use psychic abilities to find answers to problems. Why do you do that?" she asked curiously
Pallas looked at her blankly. "Do what?"
"Brush your pants under you then smooth your shirt. You do that almost every time you sit down."
Pallas flushed a little. "Oh. I do? That must be a holdover from home. Mother always told me to make sure my clothes stayed straight when I sat down so they didn't wrinkle."
"Hey, it's all right," Lady said reassuringly. "I was just curious. You do it often, but I never thought to ask you why before. Now, what's got you looking so frustrated?"
Pallas gave her a half smile as she sighed. "Oh, nothing much. I'm just not as much help to Ami-san as I'd hoped to be," she said, casting a quick glance at Super Sailor Mercury who was typing away on her mini-computer. Beside her, Super Sailor Venus surveyed the aviary vigilantly. "She gave me a copy of the spell or incantation that the enemy is using because the computer couldn't figure out what language it was in." Pallas frowned in frustration as she fingered the headphones around her neck. "It's so frustrating! It sounds vaguely familiar, but I can't put my finger on why or where I would've heard something like that before."
"Hmmm…" Lady said looking down at the ground in front of them. A few minutes later, she looked up at her friend who was waiting expectantly and smiled. "Looks like this is one for the failure column," she said. "I don't know how to help." As she looked at Pallas' frustrated, disappointed face, she continued. "But you know? I will say one thing. I think you're trying too hard. I know I do that sometimes. Like on a test. I know I know the answer, but the harder I try to think about it, the further away the answer goes. Ami-chan told me once that it's just a matter of relaxing and letting it come, but I find that hard to do. So, I try to think about something else." She tugged on one of her pink ponytails and laughed self-consciously. "That doesn't always work, though. Usually I end up daydreaming and forgetting all about my test until it's almost too late."
Pallas laughed at her friend's expression. "Right. Blame it on the test. You just enjoy daydreaming and you know it," she teased.
Lady turned and stuck her tongue out at her. "Hey, I'm trying to help here!" she said in mock hurt anger.
Pallas laughed a bit more then took a deep breath. "Thanks, Lady-chan. Actually, thinking about tests and distractions gives me an idea. Maybe if I go look through some of my old language dictionaries and such, something will jar loose."
Lady blinked at her, and then smiled. "So I did help? Cool! Good luck!"
Super Sailor Venus smiled as she saw Pallas duck and look up at the scolding birds. "It's all right," she told Super Sailor Mercury who had stopped typing and looked up alertly. "Pallas-chan just startled some birds." Super Sailor Mercury relaxed and looked back down at her computer with a smile.
Super Sailor Venus looked up at the birds, who had settled nearby still cawing, and smiled again. "Why, I do believe it's Phobos and Deimos. Oh, she'll be in for it now," Super Sailor Venus chuckled as she began to survey the aviary again. "They'll be after her brushes and paints for sure the next time she pulls them out."
Beside her, Super Sailor Mercury laughed softly. "She really ought to offer to do a portrait of them. That would smooth their feathers."
Super Sailor Venus nodded. "Yeah, appeal to their vanity. Although, that might actually make things worse the way she paints. Maybe she should offer to let June do a portrait of them."
Super Sailor Mercury chuckled again. "That's true. Poor Pallas. She likes to draw and paint, but she's just not good at it. Even Celeste is better at it than she is."
Super Sailor Venus smiled at that comment, still looking around the aviary. "I think she's determined to beat this 'flaw' one way or another. Speaking of advisers, vanity, and determination, what's the latest from Luna, Artemis, and Diana?"
"The traces in Egypt have finally dispersed. Artemis and Diana have poured over every piece of ancient Egyptian writing they can find without any success. Since there's nothing more they can analyze or do there, they're coming home," Super Sailor Mercury replied glancing over at her friend who nodded.
"No pink cards, huh?" Super Sailor Venus asked absently. "Well, it'll be good to have them home. I never said this, but I'm actually missing that little white talking fur ball. And Luna knows so much more about royal protocol and such. I hope they get back soon."
"Mmm…" Super Sailor Mercury nodded, smiling at her friend's admission. Suddenly, she paused. "No pink cards? What pink cards?"
Super Sailor Venus looked at her in surprise. "The pink cards. The ones Rei-chan told us about before she…"
Super Sailor Mercury shook her head, then reached out and grabbed her leader's arm. "What pink cards? Rei-chan said something about pink cards? What? What did she say?"
Startled baby blue eyes met intense sapphire blue ones. "You don't know?" Super Sailor Venus said softly. "Just before she disappeared… Rei-chan said 'A girl with pink cards.' That was all. Her final words…"
Super Sailor Mercury looked at her a moment more, then sighed and released her arm. "No, I must have missed that." She turned back to her minicomputer and typed in the new information. "I wonder what she saw… The person behind this? The person who has the answers we need?"
As the two guardian senshi were distracted, King Necro and Queen Fey suddenly appeared in the aviary on the path between the senshi and their princess. With a triumphant grin, King Necro raised his wand and aimed it at the two unsuspecting teenagers on the bench.
"LADY!" Super Sailor Venus screamed, rushing forward. Queen Fey smiled evilly as she reached out and took control of the golden senshi's body.
Lady and Pallas turned to see what the commotion was about, and found themselves frozen by King Necro's spell.
"Lady-chan!" Super Sailor Mercury cried, pressing the all-call button on her communicator. "Mercury Bubbles BLAST!"
Instantly, the aviary was filled with a thick, dense fog. Only one section remained unaffected: a long corridor between King Necro and the younger senshi. "Why you little…" Queen Fey called in frustration.
Pallas struggled frantically to move. 'Lady! I've got to protect Lady-chan! Noooo… Lady-chan!'
Lady stared with wide-eyed fear into the icy black eyes of her enemy. "Now you're mine, Princess," he sneered triumphantly.
A moment later, he cried out in surprise as he was dive-bombed by two furious, screeching crows. He instinctively ducked and raised one arm over his head even though the birds could not get through his shield. The open corridor in the fog disappeared as his concentration was broken.
Pallas threw herself at Lady, knocking the princess to the ground. "Run, Princess!" she yelled. "Head for the hidden door! Pallas Power… Make-UP!"
Lady stared at her friend a moment in surprise. 'Hidden door? What hidden door? Idiot! She means hide so you can transform!' She hit her hand on a pointed odango in frustrated realization, and then quickly squeezed between the maple and the glass side of the aviary as the fog began to dissipate. She reached up and climbed onto the lower branch of the tree, trying desperately to climb without making any noise.
Behind Super Sailor Venus and Super Sailor Mercury, all of the remaining senshi except Super Sailor Pluto raced into the aviary.
"Lady-chan! Where's the Princess?" Sailor Vesta cried as she saw Sailor Pallas.
"Gone. Safe. Sailor Moon will be with her by now," Sailor Pallas said with a triumphant smile towards the enemy. King Necro curled his lip and raised his wand angrily, only to be attacked by Phobos and Deimos once more. Growling, he glared up at them, and then flicked his wand in their direction. They tumbled out of control across the room and slammed into the glass wall by the maple tree.
"Phobos! Deimos!" Sailor Pallas cried, running over to the dazed and winded birds.
Up in the tree, Lady raised a hand to her mouth to stifle her cry. Her eyes hardened as she dropped her hand back to her side. 'Time to move, then transform and take care of that creep,' she thought to herself angrily.
"Leave them alone!" Super Sailor Mercury called, stepping towards the enemy as they turned towards Pallas.
Queen Fey threw an irritated glance over her shoulder at the Senshi of Wisdom. King Necro just smiled grimly and raised his wand.
Pallas whimpered softly as she felt herself freeze again. Glancing out of the corner of her eye, she saw that Phobos and Deimos were beginning to move feebly and breathed a sigh of relief.
"That's ENOUGH!" a young voice called out loudly.
King Necro jerked, losing his concentration yet again. Furiously, he turned to find the source of the latest interruption. Queen Fey watched him warily out of the corner of her eye.
Super Sailor Moon slowly walked around the side of a tall cedar tree and posed, glaring at the enemy with hot, dark pink eyes. "Leave them alone," she said evenly. Her friends and protectors stared at her in shock and terror as she deliberately made herself vulnerable. "You've taken enough of my friends. You can't have any more. I am the pretty sailor-suited soldier of hope and justice, Sailor Moon! In the name of the Moon, I will punish you!"
"Sailor Moon!" Sailor Juno, Sailor Vesta, and Sailor Ceres cried as they started to run forward.
King Necro just snorted, and then used his wand to throw Super Sailor Moon into the racing senshi. She screamed in surprise as she flew threw the air, and crashed into her friends.
"If you're here, that means the Princess is unguarded," he said with a sneer. "I'll just trace her down and she'll be gone before you can stop me!"
Super Sailor Moon shook her head as she rose shakily to her knees. "The Princess is in the protected part of the Palace. No-one can get her in there," she said as she watched Sailor Pallas run around the enemy to join her friends.
King Necro's sneer crumpled into a furious glare as he raised his wand yet again.
"Necro! Not them," Queen Fey said calmly eying the senshi. "You're letting your hatred distract you. I can help you get over that, but…"
King Necro paused, clenching his wand so tightly his knuckles turned white. "But?" he asked icily.
"You have to get rid of my chosen target," she replied with a small, evil smile.
For a long moment, he instinctively resisted her control. The senshi used the time to regroup and reorganize. Before they could call out any attacks, however, he suddenly spun and pointed his wand at Super Sailor Mercury.
"NO!" Super Sailor Venus screamed as he began chanting his spell.
Sailor Vesta summoned a giant, flaming crow using her Dream Beast attack, but this time, he did not flinch. Super Sailor Neptune, Super Sailor Uranus, and Sailor Juno all threw attacks at Queen Fey, but she ignored them as they bounced off of the newly rebuilt shield.
Recognizing the last words of the spell, Super Sailor Venus threw herself in front of her immobilized friend. As she felt the spell slam into her, she saw a flash of white out of the corner of her eye. She quickly forgot about it as she began to scream in agonizing pain, her voice blending with another's.
"Sailor Planet BOMBARDMENT!" the younger senshi yelled in unison, their voices blending with the screams.
Queen Fey blinked in shock as she felt the shield go down. Before they could react, she and King Necro were flung across the aviary and into the glass wall. Around them, the birds screeched in fear and anger.
"Neptune Towering TSUNAMI!" "Uranus Mach WIND!" the two outer senshi yelled, seeing their chance. Desperately, the two enemies dodged the attacks.
"Ve.. Venus… Cr.. Crescent… SHOWER!" Super Sailor Venus struggled to yell. She straightened her body momentarily to point at the enemy, but as the attack left her, she collapsed with another scream of pain. Her blanketing attack, however, hit the enemy several times before they disappeared.
"Venus! VENUS!" The senshi cried as they raced to their fallen leader. Super Sailor Mercury slowly gathered her and a familiar white bundle of fur into her arms.
"NOOOOOO…" an unexpected voice wailed. "Venus! ARTEMIS!"
All of the senshi, except Super Sailor Mercury, turned in surprise at the sound of that familiar voice. Diana and Luna raced across the aviary, eyes fixed on the two fallen comrades.
"Ar… Artemis?" Super Sailor Venus whimpered as she painfully raised her arms to reach for the unresponsive cat. "I.. Is that you?"
"No!" Luna wailed again in agony as she saw her mate disappear. "ARTEMIS!" Super Sailor Moon snatched her up as she tried to leap past, and then held her tightly as she struggled to follow him.
Super Sailor Venus whimpered. "Artemis!" Legs, arms, and stomach gone, she slowly turned to her friends. "Don't worry,… Luna," she gasped out through tears of pain. "I'll find him… And I'll protect him for you… Artemis and Usagi-chan and everyone…"
"Why!" Super Sailor Mercury wailed unexpectedly, tears rushing down her face. "Why, Minako-chan!"
Super Sailor Venus turned her face up towards her crying friend. "Because… you're the best chance we have,… Ami…" she whispered as she disappeared from view.
Sailor Pallas and Sailor Ceres slowly walked over to the sobbing Super Sailor Mercury, and then knelt beside her to hold and comfort her.
Super Sailor Moon squeezed the wailing, struggling Luna tightly as she sobbed and cried for yet another lost friend. Sailor Juno put an arm around her trying to be supportive, as Sailor Vesta scooped up Diana and held her tight. No one saw Super Sailor Uranus and Super Sailor Neptune exchange hard glances.
As they turned and quietly left the room, Super Sailor Neptune pulled out her Aqua Mirror.