Chapter 15: Air
Zylphia McDuff woke up on the morning of her 19th birthday to find a cold wet nose in her face. It was Akiko, the purple Keeshond puppy, who had been eagerly waiting for her to awaken.
"Hello, Akiko. Did you want to be petted?" Zylphia asked, a little confused.
"No, I wanted to tell you that Samantha, Heather, Rei, Seiya, Ami and I are all going to have a party for you. The theme will be spontaneous storytelling, to fit your Gemini eloquence and versatility," Akiko announced happily, "That's going to be after breakfast, so come to the palace library when you're done eating and we'll have some creative fun!" Zylphia nodded quietly, she wasn't so sure she would be good at making up a story on her own, but it might be okay if the others helped her. She didn't want to disappoint them, anyway. And if they were telling stories, maybe Ami, Rei and Seiya could tell her something about their past battles as Sailor Senshi, something real like that.
After breakfast, Zylphia went to the library, where she found the dog, along with the other 5 people who had been invited.
"Happy birthday, Zylphia!" Seiya called cheerfully, waving for her to sit by the group. Zylphia did so, and noticed that there was a large cookie cake nearby.
"Even though this one is from the store, we still got you a birthday cake. We don't normally like to eat in the library, but today is a special occasion," Ami explained, setting down the physics book she was reading.
"Um...Akiko? In this story game, can the story be about a beautiful princess?" Heather asked shyly.
"Sure! Do whatever you want, this is the day for you girls to learn how to be creative!" Akiko yapped excitedly, "You go first, Aquarius."
"Once upon a time, there was a beautiful princess who lived in a beautiful castle," Heather began.
"But this princess was not very happy. She was abused by her wicked neighbors, who hated her," Ami added, since she was next to Heather in the circle.
"Her neighbors were mean?! It's supposed to be a wicked stepmother, a stepsister, or a witch!" Heather blurted out, but then she clapped her hands over her mouth, blushing. Rei was glaring fiercely at her.
"It's not your turn. It's the birthday girl's turn," she snapped. Zylphia looked nervous, but added her part to the story anyway.
"These neighbors hated the princess because they wanted to steal the special stone she possessed, a stone that made the people in her family have extremely long lives."
"That sounds familiar," Rei commented, and then she continued the story. "So one day, a girl named Monica snuck over to the princess's castle, intending to steal the Stone of Life."
"However, the princess knew people wanted to steal her stone, so she set up traps that exploded and blew Monica into little bloody bits of evil girl," Samantha added with an evil grin.
"Her father, James, was very angry when he heard about this, and he vowed to kill the princess to get revenge," said Seiya.
"Just then, a handsome prince name Lancelot came up on a white horse and challenged Evil James to a duel," Heather declared, feeling like it was up to her to save the beloved princess she had just created.
"Evil James feared he would lose if he tried to fight Lancelot, so he decided to reason with the prince," Ami continued.
"Evil James asked 'Why are you protecting such a greedy princess? That stone should be used to help everyone have long lives, not just her family!'" Zylphia stated.
"Lancelot got so angry at the idea of his beloved princess being called 'greedy' that he chopped up Evil James with his sword and ran him over with his horse," Samantha smirked. Heather gasped in horror.
"No! Not like that! Please stop making it so gory! I wanted it to be a happy story," Heather suddenly pleaded.
"I like gory stories better. They're more chaotic," Samantha retorted, sticking her tongue out at Heather.
"Please stop fighting, you two. With this game, you have to understand that not everyone is going to make the story go the way you want it to," Ami lectured them.
"Do we have to play this? I mean, if we have to, I'll do it, but I don't really like this game. I would rather hear stories about the real history of the Sailor Senshi," Zylphia piped up meekly.
"Sure, we don't have to play this, it's your birthday. What stories would you like to hear?" asked Rei. Akiko let out an angry yap.
"But it's perfect for you! You need to learn to be more spontaneous and creative, Gemini!" she protested.
"Don't boss her around, Akiko. This game is causing nothing but arguments," Seiya snapped.
"Since it's Zylphia's birthday, we should do what she wants now, but this would be a good game to play with all the Zodiacs some other time. It is a good lesson in learning to work together with people who don't agree with you. I do think that Heather and Samantha need to learn teamwork," Ami argued, being surprisingly assertive for her.
"I don't need to learn teamwork! That 'harmony and love' thing is too sappy," snorted Samantha, and she got up to leave.
"No, it's not like that. You don't have to love the other Zodiac Senshi, but if you're fighting with them, you'll be too distracted to fight your enemies," Ami continued, though her eyes showed that she didn't like having to tell the Zodiacs to fight her daughter and the other Senshi's kids. Samantha stopped, thinking about what Ami had just said about teamwork. She turned around and faced Honoka Kaiou, who had reappeared.
"I heard about you. You're the one who likes chaos just as much as I do," Samantha stated. Honoka smirked at her and then shoved her to the ground.
"How's that for unexpected? I don't care to be your friend, I'd rather watch you wiggle in agony," Honoka replied, pulling a knife out of her pocket.
"Then you're just like the bad guys in stories! Aquarius Zodiac Power, Make Up!" called Heather.
"Gemini Zodiac Power, Make Up!" added Zylphia. Honoka turned away from Samantha and blew a gust of strong wind at the two Senshi, blowing them off their feet.
"Fighter Star Power, Make Up!" shouted Seiya, rushing in to help the Senshi. Honoka stared at her, surprised, and then she grinned excitedly.
"I know who you are! You're the one who tried to mess up Crystal Tokyo. If you had succeeded, Chibi would be dead!" she shouted, and then she began to laugh maniacally, slashing her knife wildly at Star Fighter.
"Gemini Muffin Exaltation!"
"Aquarius Fruit Blaster!"
"Star Serious Laser!" Honoka fell down to her butt as a giant blueberry muffin and a giant banana fell out of the ceiling and hit her in the head, and her knife was knocked out of her hand by Star Fighter's attack.
"You know, Honoka, if you succeed at getting Chibi-Usa on the throne, she probably won't let you just do whatever you want. Her mother is much more lenient and playful, maybe you should join us and rebel against Chibi-Usa," suggested Samantha, who still had not transformed.
"Maybe I don't care if Chibi succeeds or not. Maybe I just want to kill you Zodiacs for the fun of it," Honoka grunted as she tried to shove the giant muffin and banana off of her. However, both the overgrown fruit and pastry were very heavy, and Honoka gave up and just teleported away.
"I don't see what's so dangerous about her. She's a wimp anyway, saying she's going to kill us all but she just got stuck under giant food," Samantha stated as the other three Senshi detransformed.
"Even if Honoka is weak, the others aren't all weak. It's still our duty to fight them," Zylphia reminded her. Samantha stuck her tongue out at the others and before anyone could stop her, she ran out of the room.