Chapter 20: The Lonely Ivy
Footsteps. Giant, frightening footsteps coming closer. Parallax sat up quickly, only to breathe a sigh of relief when she saw that it was just Ahmed. He set Zelda down next to her.
"What are you doing sleeping in the garden?" the hyrax asked.
"I wasn't sleeping. I think I'm going to be the Love Angels' next target," Parallax answered cryptically.
"Are you praciticing stealth techniques out here?" Ahmed asked curiously.
"No, I had a vision, and I blacked out," Parallax said quietly. She then looked up at Ahmed, sadness obviously showing in her red eyes. "What would you do if Pierre went over to the enemy's side?"
"Don't ask him foolish and scary questions like that. Are you trying to imply something? Are they going to target Pierre next?" Zelda blurted out, sounding panicky and angry at the same time.
"No, it's just that I think...I think I made Mozzarella get turned into a Love Angel," Parallax admitted with a sigh.
"You didn't do it, it was them. Or rather, Sailor Nemesis," Ahmed answered quickly, and in confusion, he added, "How could you do that, anyway? Do you also have some magic powers that turn people into Love Angels?" Parallax shook her head.
"You wouldn't understand, because I think they split up into two groups that day. Two of them went after you and failed, but the others got Mozzarella at the same time and turned her into Angel Ivy. Earlier, she ran out of my room, having a fit because I tried to get her to write spooky poetry with me. I think she's been lonely ever since Seiya started dating Miss Kino, and that maybe she was coming to me to get attention since we're in the same class at school," Parallax explained. As she spoke, tears began to run out of her eyes.
"That selfish meanie. Leaving me alone like that," Mozzarella snarled to herself. Though she was also on the palace grounds, watching Parallax and Ahmed from afar, she was not close enough to notice the pigtailed girl's tears. If she had, she might have reconsidered her mission, which was to get rid of that hateful hyrax forever. It was Mozzarella's idea that Parallax would've been her friend if Zelda hadn't come and stolen her attention away that fateful day way back before Mozzarella ever received her Sailor Marshmallow powers. Well, she knew how to do it. It was the same method that Excel had used to kill Luna and Artemis.
"You two should transform. I think I saw someone rustling around in the bushes, like they were sneaking up on us," Zelda spoke up. Parallax wiped her eyes and stood back up.
"Cinnamon Power, Make Up!"
"Vanilla Power, Make Up!" While the two of them were busy transforming, Mozzarella leaped out, brandishing a knife and charging at Zelda with a loud, maniacal scream. She suddenly skidded to a stop when she found the blade of the Silence Glaive pointed at her head.
"Stop. Leave Zelda alone," Sailor Vanilla ordered coldly, although Mozzarella smirked when she noticed that his eyes told otherwise, that he probably couldn't go ahead and slice her head off.
"Really? How about this deal? I'll spare the hyrax if you join the Love Angels and give up your evil affection for men," she said smugly.
"No, that is not a fair deal," he retorted.
"How about you just give up being gay then?" she asked impishly, her hand moving to her own transformation position. Before he could answer that, she shouted "Wedding Powerful Flower!" and was dressed in her green wedding dress.
"Stop it, Mozzarella! What do you want to kill Zelda for? What did she ever do to you?" Sailor Cinnamon burst out.
"What DIDN'T she do to me! She ruined my life and any chance I had at being your friend! She stole you away from me!" Angel Ivy cried back. Sailor Cinnamon was stunned. Was Mozzarella actually jealous of Zelda? Why didn't she say so before, then? As Parallax mentally asked this question, the heartbreaking answer came to her as she remembered all the times that Mozzarella HAD wanted to play with her, and Parallax had just told her classmate to go hang out with Seiya instead, since she thought they would make better friends. Ever since Zelda came, Parallax admitted to herself, I haven't paid much attention to Mozzarella at all, because I thought she would be better off with someone else interested in sports like Seiya. And I completely forgot that Seiya might want to have a life outside the palace, too.
At that same time, Neo-Queen Serenity and King Endymion decided that they, too, would like to take a walk in the palace gardens. This was merely for their own enjoyment, because, lacking the psychic powers of some of their comrades, they did not know what was occuring there. Gazing across the rows of flowers and elegantly trimmed plants, Endymion spotted the scene; Sailor Vanilla, Sailor Cinnamon, and one of the Love Angels were there too!
"Serenity, we should possibly leave. I don't want that traitorous girl to harm you in any way," he said firmly, gesturing back towards the door they had just came out of. Serenity pouted.
"Oh, but if I reacted that way to YOU when you had been turned over to the enemy in the past, this beautiful world of Crystal Tokyo would never have come into being because our love would have been for nothing. I think this is a perfect time to turn her back to our side with the power of love," she said sympathetically. And with the power of the Silver Crystal, too, she added mentally. Despite Endymion's protests, she walked over to where the Senshi were.
"Hey, Usagi! Come tell this freako that he should love women like you!" Angel Ivy called cheerfully, waving to Serenity with one arm and at Sailor Vanilla with the other. Serenity rolled her eyes.
"I don't think so. I think that Ahmed has the right to love who he wants to. Love is a beautiful thing. Why have you let yourself be taken into this false idea of love only being between a male and a female? I mean, I'm personally not attracted to woman in that way, but if other people are that way, why should I stop them from falling in love?" Serenity pleaded.
"Didn't you hear me! Parallax abandoned me! So did Seiya, it's all her and Makoto's fault! If they hadn't been making googly eyes at each other so much, they wouldn't have abandoned me!" Angel Ivy retorted.
"That's no excuse! Don't make the mistake Chibi-Usa once made! And if I could heal her and bring her back to see the light, I can do so for you as well! Silver Crystal Power!" Serenity called, holding out the Silver Crystal. A beam of light shot out of it, but Angel Ivy ran into it anyway, charging at the Queen in an attempt to steal her royal jewel. Just as she got close, however, a streak of pink knocked her to the ground with a thud.
"Don't take Mama's crystal! I understand what you're going through, but please don't be a thief!" Chibi Moon pleaded from where she was sitting on Angel Ivy's chest.
"Get off of me! If you understand, then let me take it! The Love Angels need the Sacred Candle, and I bet the Silver Crystal can help them! I must do something for them, since they became my friends when I was alone!" Angel Ivy protested, though she did not make any move to fight off the pink-haired princess.
"Why didn't the Silver Crystal have any effect on her? I thought it turned people good again," asked Sailor Cinnamon tearfully.
"You should know, you're the psychic here. She must not have any evil energy in her. The Queen once said that Hikaru was the same way," snapped Sailor Vanilla.
"I just thought I could revive her Senshi self; I don't think she's evil, just misguided," Serenity admitted. Endymion shoved through and grabbed Angel Ivy out from under Chibi Moon.
"You're coming with us, then," he snarled, then he turned to Serenity with a softer expression and suggested "Maybe if we keep her here we can figure out how to revive the Sailor Senshi part of her."
"Angel Crystal...MPPPHHH!" Angel Ivy struggled as Endymion clamped a hand over her mouth, effectively stopping her from completing her transformation to the Fighter Angel form.
"Wait! Isn't this just going to make her think we're evil even more?" wondered Sailor Cinnamon aloud.
"Look, I'm just going to put her in a dungeon-type room, but in there, you can visit her as much as you like and renew your friendship with her. I'll even try to get Seiya and Makoto to come as well," Endymion replied. Mozzarella went limp in his arms, going back to her usual form. As the King carried her back into the Crystal Palace, a bracelet fell out of her pocket and Chibi Moon picked it up.
"This looks like her usual one, except instead of being just lavender it looks like it has weird green marks all over it. Let's take this too and get it untainted," she decided, "This reminds me of how Luna-P got the Black Moon symbol on it's head too, when I was Black Lady."