Episode One: Awake
A/N: Thanks to Bushtuckapenguin for your awesome C&C! I'll try to integrate the intro more into the story. And I'll try to work in the aging thing.
"Hey. Hey, girl. Wake up."
Shizue stirred, but didn't open her eyes. She was afraid of what she might open them up to. She could still feel the cold, hard street beneath her. This was a good sign, it meant that she hadn't been taken anywhere.
I wonder if anyone saw what happened with that stone?
"I know you're awake. Look. I'm not going to hurt you. I can't." The voice belonged to a man. It was a very deep, soothing voice. "Come on. Open your eyes."
Shizue sighed and grudgingly opened her eyes. She quickly sat up, looking for the man who had been speaking. "Hello...?"
"Look down," said the voice. Shizue slowly lowered her gaze, and saw a small bird looking up at her. It was blue, with a white belly and reddish-orange sides. Its black eyes glittered intelligently.
"Well, hello," the bird finally said, in the deep, male voice that had been coaxing Shizue out of sleep. Shizue blinked, and stared at the bird.
"I think I need to stop drinking so much," she muttered. "I think I just heard that bluebird talk."
"I did just talk!" the bird said. It clicked its beak, mildly irritated.
"And now I'm arguing with it. Am I dreaming?" Shizue muttered.
The bird sighed, flew up into Shizue's face, and bit her on the nose before perching on a nearby powerline.
"Ouch! What the hell did you do that for?" Shizue snapped, rubbing her sore nose.
"I'm just letting you know that you're not dreaming," the bird said in a smug tone. If he hadn't had a beak, Shizue swore he'd be smiling.
"So what do you want, bird?" Shizue asked.
The bird fluffed up his feathers. "My name is Uni. I've been looking all over Crystal Tokyo for you. You see, dear girl, you are blessed, and cursed, with the ownership of the Ginzuishou--"
"No way, bird," Shizue interrupted. "First of all, Queen Serenity II is alive, and second, only the heir to the throne gets that crystal. Do I look royal to you?"
"Not in the least," Uni snapped, ruffling his feathers, "And you've got no manners either. You shut your mouth when I'm talking to you."
"Oh, now who has no manners?"
"Listen to me, or mark my words, I'll peck out your eyes!"
Shizue groaned, crossed her arms, and glared at Uni. "Continue, then, featherbrains."
"Queen Serenity II died tonight. Her daughter, Hypatia, should have received the Ginzuishou and she and I should be having this conversation now, but it went to you, instead. Why this is, I do not know. Anyway, you are blessed and cursed with the power to save worlds, girl. You are Sailor Zirna, the holder of the Ginzuishou!"
Shizue started laughing. "Oh please."
Uni groaned and clicked his beak in a way that clearly indicated exasperation. "You don't believe me."
"Well, why should I?" Shizue said.
"Touche. Well. Why do you think that crystal you picked up from that crater over there sunk into your chest?"
"Because I have consumed so much alcohol and other illicit substances in my lifetime that my brain is shot and I'm hallucinating. The whole thing with the flying crystal was a hallucination, and, shit, I'm talking to a songbird with a very deep, manly voice. You've got to be a figment of my imagination."
Uni shook his head and ruffled his blue feathers. "I see that there's only one way to get you to believe me."
In the deepest, darkest part of the slums, a hooded woman sat in the corner of a filthy room. Despite her surroundings, she was very clean, and her clothes were very well kept. She sat in the dark, with her hood and some stray tendrils of golden hair obscuring her face. She was surrounded by a group of young men and women. Some were filthy and poverty-stricken, some were clearly wealthy, some were somewhere in between.
"Have you been distributing anti-Royal propaganda?"
They nodded.
"Good. Make sure as many people as possible can see it. We must sow doubt in the minds of the people! We must show them that the Royals are not as they seem...for the revolution!"
"For the revolution!" exclaimed the youths.
The woman smiled serenely. "You may all leave now. Please go distribute as many flyers as you can. We must convince the people that we care more about them than the Royals do!" As the crowd dispersed, the woman's smile changed to one of malice.
A thousand years I've waited...my power, broken by that young Queen...sealed away to rot in the dimension between dimensions. Ah, but the Queen was foolish. There were others in that place, others who made me their Queen! They helped me to break her seal, and soon, I will liberate this planet, no, this galaxy from the Moon's oppression. She started laughing maniacally, finally doubling over while she held her stomach.
Still laughing, she snapped her fingers, transforming the filthy room around her into a crystal cavern.
"Helbindi! Come forward!"
A young man approached the hooded woman and bowed deeply. He was strikingly handsome, with a lean, lithe body, white hair that fell to his shoulders in a trendy, layered haircut, and deep, coffee-colored skin. He had high cheekbones, violet eyes that glittered with malice and thin lips, which parted into a smile.
"Lady Hela...how may I serve you?"
Hela smiled. "A thousand years ago, when I tried to free this planet from the oppressive rule of the Moon, Queen Serenity II destroyed the crystal which housed my power, the Kage no Celestite. She split it into nine pieces and sealed them away, so that no one could find them...I have done some reconnaissance, and it looks like the crystal shards are sealed away in the souls of the people of the Earth."
"So, you want me to search this planet to find these crystal shards?" Helbindi said.
"Precisely. To get the shard, use a wraith to draw out the target's soul."
"Suppose the target doesn't have a shard?"
"Well, then the wraith will get a little treat, won't it? Use any means necessary to get the shards, Helbindi. Kill anyone who stands in your way!"
Helbindi nodded.
"I will not fail you, Lady Hela!"
Back in the "more pleasant" area of the slums, Shizue was still staring skeptically at Uni.
"How exactly are you going to prove that I am Sailor Zee or whoever?"
"Like this!" Uni flew off of the powerline and began a series of aerial acrobatics which left Shizue impressed. As he finished with an elegant loop-the-loop, he flashed white and dropped a bracelet made of freshwater pearl beads. Puzzled, Shizue picked it up.
"Well, don't stare at it. Put it on."
Shizue rolled her eyes and obeyed. The bracelet was a perfect fit, and it was certainly very pretty. For a moment, she wondered how much she could pawn it for.
"Now, repeat after me: Zirna's Light, make up!"
"Zirna's Light, make up!" Involuntarily, Shizue held up her hands above her head. She felt herself spinning around, and around. There was a flash of bright white light, and when it was over, Shizue was standing in a very confident pose, with her hands on her hips. Almost at once, she broke the pose and looked down. She was wearing a gray leotard. The sides of the leotard were pale purple, and there was lighter gray piping on the whole bodice. She had a flower-shaped brooch with purple gems for petals in the center of her chest, a gray pleated skirt with purple stripes, gray, handless gloves with purple ruffles at the wrist, and a pair of gray and purple high-heeled platform boots. Catching a look at herself in a reflective window, Shizue saw that her hair had turned silver.
"Woah...what is this?" Shizue asked.
"I told you. You're Sailor Zirna," Uni explained, pausing to preen his feathers. "Look. There isn't a lot of time. A long time ago, Queen Serenity II sealed away a powerful witch, but somehow, the seal broke, and she's free! She's going to try to overtake this world. You mustn't let that happen!"
Shizue crossed her arms and rolled her eyes. "Okay, and how do you expect me to do that? She's some kind of uberwitch, and I'm some kind of girl superhero in an outfit that's more for decoration than combat. Seriously, Umi--"
"Uni."
"Whatever, bird. I don't stand a chance. Give this Ginzuishou to someone else. Give it back to the Royals. Let them deal with it. "
Uni groaned, and fluttered down beside Shizue. "If I could take that accursed thing away from you, I would. But the Ginzuishou chooses its holder, apparently, and this time, it wasn't a member of the Royal Family. Look, I don't want this any more than you do, but we have to start training you at once."
In the Crystal Palace, Hypatia sat motionless in front of her mirror with a blank expression on her face. She was wearing an elegant black , violet, and mauve gown with no sleeves and a long train. Her champagne blonde hair was done up in the customary odangos favored by the Moon Royals. Her hair was shorter than her mother's had been, so her odangos were shorter, too. She had decorated her hair with pearls. All in all, she was the picture of absolute melancholy.
How could the Ginzuishou not have been mine? she thought. She was all too aware of the problems facing the planet lately. There was a revolutionary group called The Star's Dynasty publishing all sorts of anti-Royal propaganda. A lot of it was true, Hypatia mused, and she wondered which of her advisors was in league with them. She grew concerned again. If there were any rumors of Hypatia being illegitimate, any at all, The Star's Dynasty would have a field day. They might even be able to overthrow her.
That musn't happen! Hypatia slammed her fist down on her vanity. Whatever course of action I take, it will be for the best of the planet. Whatever I must do, I will do, even if it means that my people lose faith in me for a time...
Someone knocked.
"Enter," Hypatia said, curtly.
Ixchel entered the room and bowed deeply. She was dressed in the same gown as the night before, but she'd removed the glasses. "My Lady. I was sent to tell you that...that it's time to go to your mother's funeral." She smiled sadly. "I am so sorry for your loss, Princess. Are you all right?"
Hypatia bit her lip to hide her tears, and nodded. I cannot cry anymore. I'm the Queen now, if only in name. I have to be strong now. For Mother. For everyone.
Ixchel, ever observant, did not stop smiling. She saw how fast Hypatia bit her lip to stop her words. "If you ever want to talk about it...well. I'll be around."
Helbindi stared hard at the crystal wall in front of him. It was a scrying crystal, one he hoped he could use to find someone who might have a shard of the Kage no Celestite hidden in his or her soul.
"Oh, Spirits of the Doh-K'alfar...show me what I want to see," he intoned. He reached out and placed his palm flat against the clear crystal. It shuddered, and filled with a gray fog. The fog swirled around malevolently until it began to take the shape of a city. Helbindi studied it closely.
"So...Crystal Tokyo is where to look...now, show me a person!"
The crystal wall shuddered again and the fog swirled around, until the image of an older man was visible. Helbindi studied his face closely and watched as the fog slowly shaped itself into a name.
"Hm...Yuu Kikuizumi, is it...?"
He took down the name in a notepad and walked to a different chamber of the crystal cave. There was a table in the center of the room with a basin full of marble-sized stone spheres. Helbindi casually picked one up.
This one will do, I think.
"Can we start training tomorrow? I'm exhausted. I have to work in the morning."
"Well. I guess." Uni fluttered up onto Shizue's shoulder. The young woman pushed her hair out of her eyes and started walking back toward the apartment building.
"How do I un-transform, anyway?"