Chapter 5: Leo
Stormy Spumoni was in the room she had at the Crystal Palace, reading on her bed, when there was a knock on her door. It was Zylphia McDuff, with a message for her.
"Um...the King, well, he wants to see you. I think it's about Senshi powers," she said nervously. Stormy nodded.
"I hear you," she said quietly, and she turned back to her book.
"Aren't you going to come? You'll get in trouble," whimpered Zylphia.
"No, I don't need Sailor powers. I merely came here as an exchange student, not to be a pawn of the government," Stormy replied, her silver eyes staring at Zylphia calmly. Zylphia backed away, frightened, and immediately crashed into Yaten, who was being followed by Miharu.
"OW! Watch where you're going!" Yaten snapped.
"I'm so sorry, great and powerful Star Healer! Please don't hurt me!" Zylphia cried, going to her knees in a begging position. Miharu rolled her eyes.
"I thought you were going to get Stormy so she can receive her Senshi powers. What happened?" she asked.
"Well, um, Stormy said she doesn't wanna be a Senshi, and I know she's supposed to, but she scares me because she doesn't like monarchies," Zylphia whimpered. Miharu yapped at her.
"Have you even considered that I've come from Endymion too? He guessed that she might be stubborn, as Leos are wont to be, and so he gave me the pendant," the puppy retorted. It was then that Zylphia noticed a blue star pendant hanging around Miharu's neck, and it was definitely too long for a small Beagle like her. Zylphia took the pendant into her hands.
"Then should I give this to her? Or would that be His Majesty's job?" she asked hesitantly.
"Obviously since he sent you to give Stormy her powers, either way you're gonna give it to her. Come on, you're a Gemini, you should be able to convince anyone of anything! All she needs is a little flattery; Leos easily fall for that," Miharu declared with a doggy grin. Zylphia nodded, though she was unsure how to flatter someone. Yaten decided to come too just in case. From what she had observed of how Stormy was, the best bet seemed to be to convince the Italian girl with logic and use her own beliefs in equality against her.
"So, um, Stormy, you're very beautiful. And don't you think such beauty should deserve beautiful magic?" Zylphia asked nervously.
"Not necessarily. Although, if the magic is a punishment for beauty, perhaps," Stormy replied calmly.
"A punishment? Why would it need to be a punishment?" Zylphia asked, forgetting about the flattering plan.
"Because one might use the fact that others think one is beautiful to get undeserved power. Thus, a punishment of some sort might make sure that it does not happen," explained Stormy.
"You like the idea of equality, right? Thus, you believe you are Neo-Queen Serenity's equal?" Yaten asked, butting in.
"Yes, I do. I would assume that someone has paid for me to stay with her so I do not see the point in being a soldier for her like a sold slave," Stormy shrugged. Yaten glared at her.
"You are so ignorant. Do you EVER remember anyone paying for this! Your family? I think you're deluding yourself. From what I know, Neo-Queen Serenity let all 12 of these new Zodiac Senshi people come live here for free. So if you believe that you are her equal, perhaps being a Sailor Senshi would repay that debt. And as long as you're living here, there's going to be enemy attacks, so it would just not be safe for you to have no protection. Senshi powers offer a great form of protection," Yaten retorted, flinging the blue star pendant to Stormy, and it landed on her bed. She thought about what she had just been told. She didn't know, honestly. She had been under the impression that someone would have to have paid a huge sum of money for her to be allowed to live at the Palace as an exchange student. But no. She did not remember any talk of such matters, which would be unusual. In fact, she did hear something about it being free. And when she heard that, she had assumed that she was going to work off the debt by being a servant, not a Sailor Senshi. But since there WERE attacks, being a Sailor Senshi made more sense.
"Perhaps I will be a Senshi then. I do not like violence, but I do believe in defending oneself from danger. And if it repays the debt, then so much the better. Although, is it enough? Should I do some extra chores for Serenity?" Stormy asked. Miharu gasped in shock. What was this all about! Leo was being humble and talking about repaid debts! She was supposed to assume she was Queen of the Zodiacs! There was something seriously wrong with her, the dog thought.
"Quit being so humble! That's not how Leo is supposed to act! You're supposed to be more arrogant and think that YOU deserve to be given this. You would NOT want to do chores for the Queen unless it would get you more status with her," Miharu scolded. Stormy just stared at the dog, innocent confusion written all over her face.
"Why? Why must I follow the dictates of a horoscope that was based off of an arbitrary arrangement of connect-the-dots with the stars?" she asked.
"How DARE you insult your own Sailor Leo powers like that! You must respect the Zodiac or it will punish you!" Miharu shouted. Stormy kept staring at Miharu, although now she was more frightened, because she saw the dog baring her teeth and raising a claw as if to strike. She held her arms up to protect her face as Miharu leapt at her, snarling. She then heard a scream, and Miharu was on the ground, angry but not attacking her. Nearby, Yaten was fighting with a girl who wore her turquoise hair in a long braid.
"Come on, Leo, transform! I got her to stop using those illusions against you!" Yaten called, and then she was knocked down by the girl.
"Shirahime Tenou will not be defeated by the likes of you. How can you be an effective warrior if you are afraid to sweat?" the girl sneered coolly at Yaten. She then flicked her fingers at Stormy, and seven rainbow-colored energy beams shot at the startled Italian girl, who was knocked off her bed.
"I suppose I must defend myself. Leo Zodiac Power, Make Up!" she called. At the end of her transformation, she was wearing a blue Senshi outfit with orange bows. Shirahime sighed.
"Really, why are you doing this? Aren't you a pacifist? Shouldn't you leave the palace?" she asked. Sailor Leo shook her head.
"No. I must repay my debt to the Queen, and that means doing some things I don't necessarily like. Leo Fizzy Carbonation!" she yelled, and she shot a stream of root beer out of her hands that slammed Shirahime to the floor as if she had been blasted with a fire hose.
"I'll help her too. Healer Star Power, Make Up!" Yaten shouted, and she transformed into Sailor Star Healer. Shirahime watched her, and then she suddenly disappeared in a flash of golden light.
"Where'd she go! I don't remember Haruka's daughter to be a coward!" Miharu exclaimed.
"Sometimes it's better to be a living coward than a dead brave person," shrugged Sailor Leo before she detransformed.
"NOOOO! You are NOT supposed to think like that! You're supposed to be all concerned about honor and stuff and demand that your enemies fight fairly!" Miharu yelled at her. Stormy sighed and then looked the dog in the eyes.
"Would you truly want me to obey you? Or would that go against the rules themselves? What does one do when one's orders are to be angry and defiant?" she asked, somewhat rhetorically.
"That's why you should stop telling her how to act. If she gets arrogant like you want her too, she might not want to take orders from a dog any more," Yaten snickered at the yapping Beagle dog.
"Um...I'm sorry...I forgot to help out and I'm really sorry," came Zylphia's timid voice.
"That's okay, the enemy ran away," shrugged Stormy.
"I just feel like I haven't done my duty," Zylphia sighed.
"Maybe you did in a way since she escaped? Or did you think you needed to knock her out? Yaten barely just got to transform herself, and she's more experienced than us," Stormy replied.
"You really need to stop being so calm, Leo," Miharu snapped grumpiily.
"Maybe, maybe not. Since it seems my powers work without my personality being the way you want it to, I believe that I can continue behaving this way," Stormy shrugged.