Chapter 10: Capricorn
The day after Emily awakened as Sailor Saggitarius, Alexandra could tell it was going to be her turn next. She wondered which of the original Sailor Senshi would give her her powers, and so she decided to go ask Chinatsu.
"Hey, you astrology-obsessed dog, I bet you can answer this riddle. What planet is connected to Capricorn?" she asked when she found the green Yorkie.
"Saturn. So you will probably receive your star medallion from Hotaru Tomoe. I'm glad you came to me, though, so I can start giving you lessons on how to be Sailor Capricorn properly," said Chinatsu.
"No, I don't need lessons, you and that silly Akiko are the weird ones anyway. You need to learn how to loosen up about those things because it will make your brain twist tighter and tighter until you not only have a headache all the time, but your brain will eventually become like a corkscrew and poke through the top of your little puppy head," Alexandra cooed. Chinatsu backed up, frightened.
"I...I don't think that'll happen. I mean, Capricorn people are supposed to be rather morbid, but that interest in the occult is more typical of a Scorpio," she whimpered. Alexandra just looked confused.
"I'm not into the occult, that's Emily's thing. Go talk to her about that. I'm going to find Hotaru," she said, starting to head off on her search.
"But Emily is with her. Just follow me and I'll take you to them. I think the two of your should have a talk, there are things you could learn from each others' personalities," Chinatsu asserted.
"Fine, I'll go see Emily too, maybe I'll give her a psychoanalysis and fix her weirdo problems," grumbled Alexandra. The girl and the dog indeed found Hotaru, who was listening to a story Emily had made up. This was a recommendation given to her by Makoto, who thought the two of them might get along quite well.
"And so, as she plummeted through the bottomless pit, she swore never again to forget to feed her poor dogs. The dogs' spirits swirled around her, barking ceaselessly for their food. Every time she reached for the bag of kibble, it danced out of her reach. 'You missed your chance,' it said, 'Now I shall ignore you," Emily was saying to Hotaru, telling her story.
"I like that one. You should always remember to take care of your dogs," commented Chinatsu.
"Really? You don't think it was too gloomy for her to tell?" teased Alexandra. Chinatsu ignored that remark and nudged Hotaru's foot with her nose.
"It's time. Alexandra is ready to be Sailor Capricorn," she announced. Hotaru nodded and produced a red star pendant from her pocket, handing it to Alexandra.
"This is for you. I don't think I have to tell you about being a Senshi, I heard you already saw a battle with Sailor Gemini," Hotaru said.
"Yeah, I did. I helped her, but it was easy 'cause the silly bad girl got scared of the giant muffin. Akiko said I smelled like candy, and that was because of my powers. So do I have candy powers or something? That sounds kinda silly," Alexandra answered, pouting a little.
"Good. I'm glad you think it's silly. Capricorn is supposed to be quite serious and stern," smiled Chinatsu.
"Okay, then I think candy powers are a good thing! I want to be silly!" Alexandra retorted.
"Perhaps the enemy will eat it anyway, no matter how much we throw. Together, all we can do is create pizza and candy," Emily sighed, "Although it might help if we poisoned it."
"Hey, maybe you need some candy right now so you stop acting so gloomy! Capricorn Zodiac Power, Make Up!" called Alexandra, and she transformed into her new Senshi outfit. Hers was mostly red, with dark green bows. Surprisingly, Chinatsu did not try to stop her.
"Good idea. Emily does need more energy to be a proper Saggitarius person," she agreed.
"How is eating candy going to make her happy if she doesn't want any? I just don't think you should be using your Senshi powers so wastefully," worried Hotaru. Chinatsu yapped at her happily.
"See that, Capricorn? You need to act like her. Why don't you observe Miss Hotaru here and try to emulate her," she advised.
"I thought you just said it was GOOD that I was going to give Emily some candy with my powers!" Sailor Capricorn exclaimed.
"If I wanted candy, I could get some from the store or ask the palace cooks if we have any here. This IS the Crystal Palace," Emily pointed out coolly.
"Or you can get it right here!" shouted a voice, and a bunch of candies came flying at the girls through the door. Most of them missed and exploded on the floor but a few hit Emily and Alexandra, who were knocked over.
"You want a candy fight?! I'll give you a candy fight!" yelled Sailor Capricorn, Emily groaned, pulling herself back up.
"I suppose I must do my duty as well. Saggitarius Zodiac Power, Make Up!" she called, the brown ribbons turning her into Sailor Saggitarius. By now, the attacker had revealed herself, and it was Chibi. Hotaru gasped, in spite of herself.
"Chibi-Usa! Please come back to us! Don't you remember being friends with me and Setsuna-mama?" she pleaded.
"Don't call me that! I'm Chibi now!" shouted the pink-haired princess, shooting a pink energy beam at Hotaru, who was thrown into the wall roughly.
"I'll punish you for being cruel to your friends! Capricorn Delicious Candy!"
"Saggitarius Pizza Magic!" While Chibi ducked under the candy, the pizza hit her in the face, and she yelped as the hot tomato sauce and cheese burned her skin. Hotaru, who was laying on the floor, gave her former friend a sorrowful look.
"Just stop fighting us, please, Chibi-Usa. You won't be hurt if you do," she whimpered. Chibi screamed wordlessly and knocked the pizza off her face.
"If I come back, I'll have to grow up and have responsibilities. I don't wanna do that! And you're the worst, being so dutiful even when you were so young. I hate you, Hotaru! You were always so PERFECT!!" she screamed, shooting two energy beams, one at Sailor Capricorn and another at Hotaru, who just cried out in agony, both physical and emotional. Surprisingly, Sailor Saggitarius stepped in front of Hotaru, blocking her but not actually attacking.
"Why do you think Hotaru is perfect? She was shy and always weak, those are flaws," she pointed out.
"Because they weren't her fault!" Chibi retorted, stamping her foot childishly, "It's like she's always so good and anything bad about her was caused by Mistress 9! Once she wasn't possessed anymore, she was perfect!"
"I'm not perfect, Chibi-Usa, I still mess up at things..." pleaded Hotaru.
"But you don't have any flaws! Usagi is a stupid crybaby, Ami's shy and studies too much, Rei and Makoto have tempers, Minako is silly, Haruka and Michiru are cold, and even Puu was too secretive! But all of your flaws can be explained away by that stupid possession thing!" Chibi accused, now choosing to merely use verbal attacks. However, these were just as painful for Hotaru, who not only was shocked to hear such harsh words out of her friend's mouth, but it also hurt for her to think that there was nothing interesting about her besides the fact that she used to be possessed by a demon.
"Hey, I know a flaw for Hotaru! She's not creative enough!" Sailor Capricorn suddenly exclaimed, "She always just does what others want her to do and she doesn't think for herself enough!" Hotaru blinked at that in surprise, was that true? She wasn't sure whether or not she should be insulted by that or glad that Alexandra was trying to defend her.
"Look, I don't care what you think, you candy-flinging fatso. Well, you can just eat your candy, because I'm leaving!" Chibi snapped, and she disappeared in a flash of pink light.
"I'm not gonna eat that candy, it's for attacking!" Sailor Capricorn yelled back at the place where Chibi had stood.
"Stop shouting at nothing, you fool, we need to get Hotaru to the infirmary area," ordered Chinatsu.
"Sure! And when she gets better, I can teach her how to be creative! I bet she has something weird about her psychologically and that's why she's scared to make her own decisions," declared Alexandra. As for Hotaru, she had fainted, so she wasn't able to answer that comment.