Chapter Four: How It Manifests
A little note: Only the planets of Mars and beyond have moons, so for the two that don't (Mercury and Venus), they just get Mini versions of their planets.
Sakura thought Usagi was losing her mind, just as Reiko and Keiko did with Rei, when Usagi gave her a compact and told her she would know what to do with it. Assuming that it was a normal compact, Sakura opened it and was ready to powder her face when the compact started glowing white and turned itself into a stick that was half a foot long, white, and was topped by a gold orb with stars inside. Sakura blinked a few times, hoping that she was somehow hallucinating, but she wasn't. As she held the stick and examined the stars inside, she remembered feeling free as she flew down the hall. This feeling coursed through her brain and caused these words to come to her all of a sudden. She surrendered her tongue to them.
"Comet Star Power, Make Up!" she shouted, holding up the stick. It glowed gold and covered her in stars, one of which she reached out to touch but was disappointed by because her finger went right through it. The stars disappeared quickly, but Sakura was changed. She looked in her vanity mirror and gasped at her new appearance. She now wore a senshi uniform with a gold collar and bow, white gloves with gold cuffs, and a gold skirt with a white hem. There were gold knee-high boots on her feet, a tiara with a gold jewel on her forehead, and two gold star earrings dangling from her ears.
"What the?" she asked her reflection. "What's happened to me?" She argued with herself for a moment, whether or not to tell her mother, so she took off running through the house and found herself flying once more. "Moooooom! I'm flying! I look different! What's happened to me?" She stopped in the living room, where Usagi was watching TV with a satisfied smile on her face.
"Your powers have come out," Usagi explained. "Only use them for good, okay?" She giggled. "By the way, gold looks good on you."
"Um, thanks?" Sakura asked, still thoroughly confused.
Sayaka lay in her bed, fluffing up her short brown hair and thinking about the weird thing she did when walking home from school. She especially remembered the scorch mark left on the stones when she was done and wondered if someone would have to fix that wall now. The rain fell steadily outside her window and she turned to watch as a particularly bright flash of lightning crackled over Tokyo.
"Wow," she whispered. Makoto opened the door behind her, holding her transformation stick in one hand, and smiled.
"Sayaka, I have something for you," Makoto said gently, smiling.
"Is it cake?" Sayaka asked, her eyes bright as she turned to face her mom.
"No, it's not cake. Dad brought some of that home for you." Makoto pointed downstairs. "This is something better than cake."
"Two cakes?" Sayaka suggested.
"Very funny, Sayaka." Makoto closed the door to Sayaka's room and showed her the stick. "Do you know what this is?"
"Pretty?" Sayaka asked.
"Well, it is that," Makoto replied, nodding. "But it's so much more. This is the reason that I met Usagi and the others. This is the way to harness the powers that I already know you have." She touched Sayaka's shoulder. "You can't fool me, you know. I can see it in your eyes. You're magical, just like me." She handed over the stick. "You'll know what to say." Sayaka grabbed the stick, which caused it to change and become like Reiko, Keiko, and Sakura's sticks, except with a green crescent moon carved into the white orb. Makoto stood back and smiled warmly as Sayaka's eyes widened with the realization of what to say.
"Ganymede Satellite Power, Make Up!" Sayaka stood up from her bed, held her stick aloft, and was covered with magical lightning bolts that changed her into her senshi outfit. She stopped to look at herself in the mirror and flexed her strong arm muscles as she admired how the white gloves with green cuffs made her arms look. She touched the green jeweled tiara on her forehead, shook her head to make the green crescent moon earrings dance, and admired the green bow, green skirt with white hem, and green ankle-length boots. After she looked at her new outfit, she immediately turned to Makoto for advice. "Mom, what's all of this?"
"It's a manifestation of your magic. I was just around your age when I discovered my powers. I was just one of a group, though, that included Usagi, Ami, Rei, Minako, Haruka, and Michiru."
"Haruka wore this?" Sayaka asked, tugging on her skirt.
"Yes, she did. Hers was blue, though." Makoto smiled. "Oh, Sayaka, this makes me so happy. Now, press the white button in the middle of your bow and let's go eat some cake." Sayaka obeyed her mother and pressed the button, which caused her outfit to glow and be replaced by her school uniform.
"Cool," Sayaka said as she watched this de-transformation.
Natsumi sat on her bed, under her down comforter, doing her homework, when she suddenly felt hungry and wanted a snack. There was a box of chocolate cookies in her room, but it was all the way across her room and she didn't want to leave the comfort of her bed. She looked around to make sure the coast was clear before imagining a rope and creating another chain of orange hearts. It unfurled from her hand, stretched across her room, and wrapped itself around the box of cookies. Natsumi felt victorious and started to pull the chain back when the door suddenly opened and Minako entered, holding her transformation stick.
"Mom!" Natsumi exclaimed, making the chain disappear, which caused the box to fall to the floor. "I, um, I…"
"You are like me!" Minako exclaimed, grinning and doing a little victory dance as she kicked Natsumi's door closed. "Take this, Natsumi, and do what you feel is right with it."
"La la la la la la?" Natsumi sang into the stick, thinking it was a microphone. She took the stick, dreaming up a plan to sing one of Minako's most famous songs back to her, and was more than a little shocked when the stick glowed and changed into a stick much like the others, but topped with an orange carving of the Venus symbol in a white orb. Natsumi's tune began to change with Minako looking on happily. "Mini Venus Power, Make Up!" She was engulfed by the very same hearts she was able to control and came out feeling different, both inside and out.
"You look like how I did about 20 years ago!" Minako chirped as she saw her daughter, dressed in a nearly identical senshi outfit with a few changes (namely, Natsumi's skirt had a white hem and she had a white button in the middle of her bow). "Strike a cute pose!" Natsumi nodded, winking and flashing a victory sign.
Aiko was bored after finishing her homework and getting chewed out by Michiru about detention, so she decided to relax for a while in a bath. She thought of filling the bath up the normal way, by turning on the tap and waiting for the water to get warm, but she simply concentrated and pushed her hands forward, causing water to gush forth. While she was doing this, though, she accidentally left the door open and was surprised when Michiru walked in a moment later (but also glad that she was still fully clothed due to modesty).
"Hi, Aiko," Michiru said gently. "Do you forgive me for yelling at you?"
"I always do, Michiru," Aiko replied. While most mothers would find their children calling them by their first names to be strange or disrespectful, Haruka and Michiru taught Aiko to do such a thing to avoid any confusion. Aiko displayed a small smile.
"Good, because I have something for you." Michiru gave Aiko her transformation stick.
"Is this an antique?" Aiko queried. "Like, an old makeup container or something?" She took it in her hands to look at it closely and was shocked to see it glow and transform, the orb changing colors and style to incorporate an aqua-colored crescent moon. Michiru's eyes lit up with delight. Aiko blinked and knew what to say in the very next moment. "Triton Satellite Power, Make Up!" she called out as a wave of magical water washed over her and changed her clothes. Her accessories were all aqua-colored and made her blue eyes stand out even more. Michiru clapped when the transformation was complete while Aiko walked over to the mirror to examine herself.
"Haruka!" Michiru called. "Come see how beautiful Aiko looks as a senshi!"
A senshi, Ami thought as she dug around in her room for her transformation stick. Could Suzumi be one? I don't want to deny her powers if she has any. But I can't find my stick!
"Mom?" Suzumi, who felt able to talk to her mom about anything, asked meekly as she entered the room, holding the bottle of frozen water. Her blue eyeglasses slid down her nose and she quickly pushed them back as she watched her mother search for some mysterious object.
"Hold on, sweetie, I'm looking for something," Ami said, finally finding the stick buried away with work from Ami's doctorate course. "I found it!" She held it out to Suzumi. "So, what is it, honey?" She smiled until she saw the bottle of frozen water, which caused her to gasp in awe.
"I did this today," Suzumi explained, much like other, less magically-gifted children would show off their art class work.
"Then this will suit you." Ami gave the stick to Suzumi, who took it and watched it immediately transform, though the symbol stayed the same.
"Mini Mercury Power, Make Up!" Suzumi called out, and she was transformed by streams of ice flowing around her. She was now clad in a senshi outfit of blue, her favorite color, and the outfit made her feel empowered, something she rarely felt. Feeling this way, she smiled at Ami, who excused herself to go find the camera so she could take a picture.