Broken Melody
Chapter One: Harder to Breathe
Kamisama nante inai
Dakedo dareka shinjitai
Ima wa mada toki wo tomete
Otona ni narenai kara
There's no such thing as God
But I want to believe in someone
Now still keep time at a stop
Because I can't grow up
It all began six months after the defeat of Galaxia, starting with one Hino Rei. The senshi had gathered at Rei's annual school festival to hear her perform a piano composition she had written for the event. Things had been proceeding smoothly when halfway through the piece, Rei faltered, hitting first one sour note, then another. She composed herself and continued on for another few bars when she suddenly slipped from the piano bench, grasping her head in pain, tears leaking from the corners of her eyes. It was written off as a migraine created from the stress of preparation for the festival. Several days later, Minako had a similar episode, then Ami, then finally Makoto. It was after Makoto's episode that the senshi agreed that there must definitely be a link between the girls' headaches, yet the cause continued to elude them. The headaches continued among the inners for two weeks when the affliction similarly struck the outer senshi, beginning with Hotaru then moving on through Michiru, Setsuna and finally Haruka. The headaches grew with intensity as the days moved on but they could not seem to find an answer. Curiously, Usagi seemed unaffected by whatever was wrong with the senshi. The only things she experienced were slight dizziness and nausea whenever a headache struck a senshi. Tensions were high within the group as this mystery illness continued to plague them but the answers they sought would hurt them more than any illness could.
Three weeks had passed since Rei experienced her first headache on stage at her school festival. Three long, grueling weeks of some of the worst pain she had ever felt. And now she was sitting in her least favorite class of all, rubbing her eyes, trying to clear out some of the fuzziness she felt still lingered. She hadn't slept much last night, ever since the headaches had begun she had also been having nightmares of faceless people, fantastic animals, and a menacing shadow hidden by a bright light slowly taking something from her. She hadn't told the others about her dreams, they had enough to worry about with their own headaches. Despite the lack of sleep and the fuzziness, she still felt more energized than she had any right to be…like she had something just out of reach that would make everything better. Letting out a soft sigh, she returned her attention to the Sister at the front of the room who was talking about the Betrayer who gave up his teacher to the Romans. Suddenly, her world exploded in pain. She tumbled from her chair, biting her lip to keep from crying out. Blood trickled from her nose as she fought a losing battle with unconsciousness. Her teacher and classmates gathered around her in concern and the last thing Rei Hino saw before blacking out was the small vase of dried flowers on her teachers' desk bursting into flame.
Simultaneously, in Haruna Sakurada's classroom, three students known as Minako Aino, Ami Mizuno and Makoto Kino also fell from their desks, screaming and grabbing their heads before blacking out. In the panic that ensued, nobody noticed Usagi Tsukino moan and drop her head to her desk unconscious. Or noticed that the globe at the back of the room had frozen solid, one of the overhead lights begin to intensify then explode, or the tiny bolt of lightning that struck one of the basketball hoops just outside the classroom window. At Juuban Park, the small pond beside which Michiru Kaiou and Hotaru Tomoe had decided to have their picnic, began to swirl with a terrifying intensity, creating a whirlpool worthy of the deep seas as Michiru lay prostrate on the picnic blanket she had set out earlier. Hotaru was curled up in the fetal position, her body rapidly aging from the age of ten to the age of seventeen, catching up with the inner senshi in a manner that was far from painless. At the racetrack, Haruka lay by her motorcycle, unaware of the strong winds keeping the people who were attempting to help her far away. Setsuna Meiou was in her studio, working away at several designs that had popped into her head that she thought would be wonderful for some of her friends when the headache struck, around her, a potted plant began to shrink, reverting to a seedling then a seed while a stack of paper seemed to age rapidly, yellowing then crumbling to dust before blowing away from an unseen wind.
It was a dark day for the senshi, all their forces struck at once by these mysterious headaches, effectively leaving Tokyo open for attack. They woke up exactly one hour after they had blacked out, finding themselves in either their school infirmary or the hospital. After being released, each girl found themselves headed towards the Hikawa Jinja for an impromptu senshi meeting. Each girl except for Usagi however. Usagi had woken up ten minutes after falling unconscious on her desk and had been immediately sent home by the principal. Subconsciously, the other girls refrained from contacting her to inform her of their awakening. Consciously, they assumed that she was already waiting for them at the shrine. She was not.
The mood in the room was tense. Each sat apart from the others, looking either nervous or anxious or both. In the centre of the table sat an untouched pot of tea and platter of biscuits. Finally, Haruka broke the silence, "It isn't right. Usagi should be here. We can't hold a senshi meeting without the princess."
Setsuna eyed her speculatively, "Technically, the princess isn't a senshi but if you want to call her, go ahead."
Haruka went for her communicator then hesitated, glancing around at each of the others before settling back down in her previous position.
"I thought so," Setsuna said, "Every one of us knows that the princess should be here, but none of us are willing to call her to let her know. I think, instinctively, that we know that there is some sort of connection between the princess and the attacks we've been having."
"That's treasonous talk Setsuna," Minako growled.
"Can you deny it Minako?" Rei asked softly, "I don't want it to be true but we have to look at the evidence and consider it. Why is Usagi the only one not afflicted? Why does she get dizzy every time one of us has an attack?"
Minako backed down at the defeated tone of the normally fiery priestess. "We need to know what is going on before we go to the princess," Ami stated finally, "We want to have solid facts so that it doesn't seem like we're accusing her of anything. I'm sure that after we sort things out, she'll understand that we had to go around her for this one."
Makoto and Haruka, two of Usagi's staunchest protectors, grumbled under their breath a little, but said nothing to contradict Ami. "Where do we go from here?" Minako asked, turning to Setsuna.
"Honestly," Setsuna replied wearily, "I have no idea where to even start. Perhaps a scan of each of us would shed some light and then we can go from there. Ami?"
Ami took out her mini computer and began in-depth scans of each of the present senshi. As the results scrolled past her, her eyes widened and she began rapidly clicking files open and closed, making calculations and comparisons at a lightning pace. The others watched her with a growing sense of awe and concern. Finally, she looked up from the tiny screen, surprise evident on her face. "What is it Ami?" Makoto asked, worriedly biting her lower lip.
"I don't know how it's possible," Ami said slowly, "I thought our eternal forms were supposed to be our highest power level, but it seems our power level has jumped almost 30 in the last three weeks."
"Ever since the headaches started," Rei breathed.
"I don't feel more powerful," Hotaru stated thoughtfully, "But there's something…I don't know…It's like it's…"
"Just out of reach," Minako finished.
The girls fell into silence, contemplating the bombshell that had just been dropped. "Why didn't we see this sooner?" Makoto asked.
"I don't know," Ami replied, perplexed, "Luna and Artemis have better scanning equipment then I do, they should have recognized it when it started. I don't see how they could have missed something this obvious unless…"
"Unless," Michiru put in flatly, "They knew and purposefully kept it from us."
"Artemis and Luna would never keep something like this from us," Minako yelled hotly at the aqua haired senshi, "They've guided us since we were fourteen, they've been beside us always. They wouldn't hurt us."
"But their first loyalty isn't to us is it," Hotaru said quietly, "It's to someone else."
None of the girls had any reply for that statement. "What if it isn't over yet?" Rei asked, "Today was bad but it could get worse, we need answers and we need them now. Otherwise the next time we might not get off with just a headache and nosebleed."
"There is a spell…" Setsuna began, "It's dangerous but it might work. It would involve unlocking all our past memories at once. We might not know how to deal with what we're facing but I'm almost positive we knew how once."
Minako stood, a grim look on her normally cheerful features, "Let's do it then…we gain nothing if we sit around and talk around the subject. What have we got to lose?"
"Our sanity?" Rei questioned softly.
"Something like that could literally overload us," Ami put in, backing up Rei's comment, "But it's true, we need answers and we need them now."
"Then it's settled," Haruka said decisively, "We do the spell and worry about the consequences afterward. Anybody want to argue?"
The senshi looked at each other then shook their heads. Setsuna nodded to herself and then stood. "We're going to need to go somewhere a little more private. We can't be interrupted while the spell is taking effect or it could kill us and whoever interrupts us. I think we should head over to our house," she said, indicating the outers as she spoke.
"How long should the spell run?" Makoto asked, a little worried.
"A couple of hours at least," Setsuna replied, "When we get there you can contact your respective guardians and let them know that you'll be out studying or something with us."
"All right," Minako said, speaking for the others, "Let's get this done then."
And there we have it ladies and gents. Chapter one of Broken Melody is officially done. I'm rather proud of myself. Please let me know what you think. I like reviews. Really I do. I thought this was a good place to stop and chapter two is already in the works, although, I've been thinking of looking for a beta. Oh yes, and if anyone can guess where the first lines (the italicized ones, the romanji with English translation) comes from, they can win a special surprise! Well, whoever guesses it first. If no one does, I'll give a hint next chapter. Remember, please review…thanks to those who already reviewed my prologue…and Priscilla, see, I came back and wrote something, how about you now? Please? With a cherry on top?