The Makaiju Arc
Chapter 2 – The Cardians and the Flute
By Lebnaniya

Disclaimer
I do not claim any rights to the Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon series in the animated format or the manga books. All copyrighted materials belong to their respectable owners. The following story is entirely fictional and pays tribute to the amazing characters developed by said owners. As a fan, I am writing this out of respect to the owners as well as to elaborate on this couple because I don't think the series gave Ail and En enough attention.

Commentary
I'm excited about this story but I will admit…I'm a little nervous because I don't know many people who are fans of this couple. Take note, that lists them as "Ali and An" but if you watch the subtitled anime, the actual spelling is "Ail and En" – the creators did this as a play on the world "Alien," so I'm going to follow their example. I know some of you have been waiting a long time for me to update this story and I am sincerely sorry. But, I am pleased to say that I am finally in the process of finishing up this story. To those of you who have followed, reviewed, and encouraged me to continue, I thank you very much for your support.

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They had been floating over the canopies for so long, that eventually, their bodies lost strength, the adrenaline dissipated and sleep engulfed the children despite the ache in their hearts. In her sleep, En pulled Ail tighter, his head resting on her chest, his arms wrapped around her as they slept soundly together. Zahi and Hiba were also huddled together, Hiba resting her head on Zahi's chest with his arm draped lazily over her waist.

How long had it been? They knew not. They floated for at least a few days in the bubble, barely able to form anything other than a few hollow words before the pain and numbness would set back in and they'd fall right back to sleep; their bodies working so hard to keep them alive.

Ail and Zahi had both realized that they didn't know much about their world except from what Fiore had told them. And if the projection of the bubble was any indication, they were heading to the middle of the forest, something they both feared. For if they were intended to be released there, yes, they'd be close to the mother tree, the Makaiju, but they would also be in the middle of the fight… where the children weren't the only ones being slaughtered, but the adults as well.

They would have no safe haven except with each other and yet, they resigned themselves to their fate and allowed sleep to overtake them instead of dwelling on the inevitable danger that lay ahead. However, their tired minds could not formulate any plan and they did not have the power that Fiore had at such a young age. Granted, they were aware of the potential they'd gain when they grew up, but no child had ever exhibited – to their knowledge – the kind of power that Fiore had just demonstrated.

So the four closed their eyes, not knowing if these were the only moments of peace and quiet they would have before facing reality once again.

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Hiba opened her eyes and glanced around herself. She was cuddled against Zahi while Ail and En were sleeping together. She slowly pushed herself up, still sitting next to Zahi but she looked around, trying to access which way was north or south…or was it east or west? Their sun-star had yet to rise, so she wasn't sure where they were. Looking down, she noticed they were significantly closer to the canopies now. With a start, she blinked before realizing, actually…they were mere feet away from the canopy.

"You guys! Wake up!" She said, as she shook Zahi awake.

"Ugh," Zahi groaned, before opening his eyes.

Ail and En woke up as well, as they both sat up and turned to Hiba.

"What is it?" Ail asked, slightly annoyed. He would very much rather fall back to sleep in En's arms and never wake up. He was already sick of their world and the pain he knew that was inevitably in their future.

En gasped, as she looked down to see the canopies below.

"We're going to land." Hiba said wearily.

Barely finishing her sentence, the four crash landed on top of the mantle of a very large and very lush, spinel-colored tree. The moment the bubble touched the mantle, it burst, sending the four crashing through the tree branches as they all struggled to grab onto a branch.

Hiba struggled and found herself free-falling before Zahi grabbed her wrist. He had managed to grab onto a branch with one hand and used the other to grab a hold of her.

With amazing strength, he pulled her up and she managed to reach out and grab a branch. As she pulled herself up, she then turned her attention to Zahi, grabbing him under his arms as she helped hoist him up onto the same branch.

Hiba's jade-colored eyes met Zahi's gold-colored ones as an understanding passed through them. As strange as it was, the four of them had developed a silent language with their significant other. They couldn't form words because they were constantly on the run. They were always forced to remain as silent, quiet and meek as possible. Yet despite all the odds, they had formed a language all its own that was relayed through their eyes. They could read each other's gratitude, concerns and even irritations with the cock of an eyebrow, the twinkle in one's eye or the furrow of a brow.

Hiba leaned forward, resting her forehead against Zahi's as they stared into each other's eyes. They both lost count on how many times they saved each other but at this point, Hiba knew she had to concede him the victor; he had saved her more times in the last week than she cared to count.

Without realizing it, a tear slid down her cheek as she uttered the words she had always conveyed with her eyes, but found the need to express them openly.

"Thank you."

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Ail and En had managed to gracelessly grab onto a branch and pull themselves up before they scanned their surroundings for Zahi and Hiba. They spotted them on a branch not too far away, but they were in a world of their own. En turned to scan their new environment where they had landed and to her surprise, she realized that they were lucky enough to land on a tree that provided them what they were desperately in need of…flowers were blooming everywhere, with beautiful citric nectar glistening in the light.

"Ail!" En shouted, unable to contain the enthusiasm in her voice, as she plucked a flower and made her way to his side. Ail had also noticed their fortunate turn of events and just as he was about to grab a flower for En, she was by his side offering him nectar.

"You first," he said, but she shook her head no.

"Not until I see you drink first." She said firmly, furrowing her brows in stubborn resignation. He sighed. He pushed the flower towards her, but she pouted and remained resolute as she pushed the flower back towards him.

Realizing that this wasn't a battle he was going to win, he conceded and pulled the flower to his lips, savoring the taste and relishing in the fact that his thirst was finally quenched. He then offered En the flower, watching to make sure she drank some of its nectar as they desperately needed the nourishment that would help sustain them in their survival to live the next twenty-four hours.

Their silent moment of reverie was interrupted though when Zahi yelled in their direction. "You two are so selfish!"

"Eh?" Ail turned, cocking an eyebrow. "We were just giving you two lovebirds the privacy you so obviously needed…" With that, he stuck his tongue out before turning back to En, smiling devilishly as he whispered, "…and our own privacy." En grinned from ear to ear as she playfully smacked Ail on his shoulder.

"I can't believe our luck!" Hiba said, as she swung closer to Ail and En, before latching onto another branch, pulling herself up and finding a flower for her and Zahi. She jumped gracefully down onto a nearby branch, just as Zahi joined her as the two of them drank the nectar that would help sustain their lives.

"Where are we?" En asked, finally looking towards the sky.

"Based on the sun-star's position, I'd say we're right smack in the middle of our planet. No way we'd be able to see it like this if we weren't." Zahi said, as he finished drinking from one flower and reached for another. Hiba pulled the flower over his head; he frowned and reached for it, but she moved it away again, so instead of playing her game, he grabbed her under the arms and started tickling her. She yelped and tried to get away, but not before Zahi triumphantly jumped back with the flower in his hand, grinning like a Cheshire cat.

"Idiot." Hiba said nonchalantly.

"You love me though." Zahi said, the words escaping his lips before he could actually think about what he just said.

An awkward silence filled the air as none of the four kids knew how to respond or react to what was said. Even Zahi himself looked dumbfounded at what he just said, before he shrugged it off and moved closer to Hiba as he drank some more nectar before offering the flower back to her.

She accepted it without hesitation, a little blush staining her cheeks before Ail stood up. He was curious as to how it could be so quiet and peaceful if indeed they were in the center of the forest, the supposed location of their mother tree - the Makaiju.

"I'm going back up. I want to see what our surrounding looks like," he announced, before he turned to En. She was just about to get up to follow him when he put a firm hand on her shoulder, stopping her in place.

"Stay. I won't be long."

En opened her mouth to protest, her eyes clearly screaming that she didn't want to leave him when he squeezed her shoulder in reassurance. "I won't be long," he repeated, before he jumped up and latched onto a branch. He maneuvered around, continuing on his way up. Zahi looked around, and decided he'd follow Ail. Glancing quickly at En to make sure she wasn't looking – or so he thought – he leaned over to Hiba and took his chance and placed a very quick kiss on Hiba's cheek.

If he thought she was cute before, now she was downright adorable as she blushed every so prettily, her cheeks were stained with a darker shade of pink.

"We'll be back before you notice." And with that, he followed Ail up the tree.

A soft giggle to her side snapped Hiba out of her little episode as she realized that En had in fact seen the entire display of affection. Scowling, she couldn't help it as she blushed even further, turning beet red. All she could do was huff, before adding, "Shut up, En."

En smiled, before looking up into the canopy. She wondered if Ail would ever show that kind of affection, especially after losing Fiore. Ail and Fiore were closer as friends than Zahi and Fiore, but it didn't change the fact that despite their current turn of events, they were still aching so very badly inside for the loss of their friend.

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Once they reached the mantle of the tree, Ail and Zahi both gaped and awed at their surroundings. It was a sea of mantles but the tree they landed on was far larger than any of the others.

"Any idea on what we should do next?" Ail asked, turning to Zahi.

Zahi frowned. He didn't know what to do. If Fiore was here….shaking that thought away, he turned to Ail. "I don't know."

Ail nodded. They had to formulate a plan. However, just as they were about to head back down, both Zahi and Ail flinched and gasped in unison as the branches they were holding onto started to glow.

"Ail!"

"Zahi!"

The branches burst and the two fell down several branches before landing on their rears. They could hear Hiba and En cry out to them, asking if they were ok. Zahi and Ail both looked up in time to see the branches that they were holding onto, glow in mid-air before changing shape.

Ail was shocked to see an incredibly detailed moon-stoned colored flute with jade and ruby detailing on its side float towards him and hover there, as if waiting expectantly for him to acknowledge and claim it. Ail turned towards Zahi and noticed that he had two objects floating towards him…two armor armbands were encased in light and they both levitated to each of his arms.

"What's going on?" Zahi asked, as he looked over to Ail.

Ail turned to his object just as Zahi turned back to his and the two reached out simultaneously and touched each of their items. Immediately, light flashed around them and Ail could feel the energy emanating from the flute. The moment Zahi touched his armbands, they disappeared and then reappeared on his arms, glowing and also emitting a strange energy.

"Zahi? Ail?" Hiba and En called out, starting to make their way up.

Both boys were confused but quickly decided to descend to get back to the girls.

"Let's go." Ail said, as he jumped down several branches. Zahi followed.

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"What was that light we just saw?" En asked, as Ail finally made his way back down to where they were.

"We saw a flash of light. Are you guys ok?" Hiba asked, as she looked Zahi over, spotting the armbands. She arched an eyebrow before Zahi explained what happened.

"Well, I don't like it." Hiba said, crossing her arms and glaring at the objects. Zahi sighed. What could he do? They latched onto him the moment he touched them and as he tried to remove them they wouldn't come off. That only added more to Hiba's distress.

Ail was inspecting his object as well, with En right by his side as she clasped her hands behind her back. She was glad his object wasn't designed for fighting, it was a mere flute after all, but Ail looked a little down-hearted. He kept glancing towards Zahi and his armbands.

En shrugged her shoulders before nudging Ail on his side. "Play something for me."

"I don't know how…" he answered truthfully. En's request now completely taking his mind off Zahi and making him focus on the task En asked him to complete.

"Just play what feels right."

Ail felt his body relax and brought the flute to his lips. He didn't even realize that his fingers on their own accord managed to find their positions on the flute and he blew into the instrument. For a moment, they all stood still and quiet, relishing in the sound of the beautiful music coming from Ail's lips and talented fingers. He didn't know what he was doing; he just let his body and mind do what appeared to come so very naturally to him. But just as he was on the pinnacle of the last note, he heard En, Zahi and Hiba gasp. Abruptly, he stopped and was shocked to see two glowing spheres appear before Hiba and En.

En reached out and from her glowing sphere thirteen miniature creatures emerged, encircling her as they each busied themselves with studying her in detail.

Ail was dumbfounded as he approached, but as soon as the creatures caught sight of his flute, they too, started examining him in detail before two perched on his head while the others made themselves comfortable on his shoulders. Ail couldn't hide the annoyance from his face as En started to giggle as several of the small creatures started rubbing their cheeks against her own. They were absolutely adorable in her opinion!

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Additional Notes
Ail's got his flute now and En's got the Cardians, although in this situation, they aren't cards yet. At this point, they're basically mini-versions of the Cardians in their "pure" forms. Think of little sprites. I'll go into it in more detail as the story continues, but basically, just so you guys have an idea, they're no bigger than three inches tall, they can easily fit in the palm of your hand and they are the equivalent forms of the Chinese Zodiac. As always, let me know what you think & thank you for reading ^_^