Deep, deep down in a buried cavern in the earth, a centuries old sorceress awoke suddenly. With a snarling sound, she opened her blood red eyes and listened intently.
Bloom beautiful flowers of the meadow
This is the Earth's lullaby
This is the Earth's lullaby
Ah, she thought, my spell has awoken me perfectly. That sounds like the voice of one that would hold an item known as powerful and pure. I must awaken my minions and make haste in my preparations to rule this planet. Soon, very soon, I shall finally be called what I always should have been; your majesty.
"Oh!" Kisha exclaimed with an open excitement," your car!"
"Yes?" Amara responded.
"It's yellow! My favorite color!"
Michelle laughed at her new friend's spontaneous squeal.
"How old are you again?" Amara teased.
"You know that I'm nineteen, almost twenty. In fact, I'm almost as old and stuffy as you," Kisha stated with the arrogance of a queen.
"Are you saying that I'm stuffy as well?" Michelle inquired.
"Of course not," Kisha reassured her," you're just old."
It was so great to be laughing and joking with people. For most of her life, Kisha was frowned upon for being too stubborn, or too courageous, or too random. She had the manners and the grace of royalty, but she longed for the family that she had never had. Friends had been few and far between, mostly because she was constantly changed from orphanage to orphanage. Finally, even almost two years after escaping that restrictive life, she had the chance to become close with people.
The girls hopped into the car and started for the lounge. Amara and Michelle had explained that they had heard her name from a crazy psychic. After quizzing her on everything in her life, they had been shocked to learn that she was living in her dressing room at the club. It became clear to Kisha that they would not tolerate that, and so she agreed to move in with them temporarily.
When they were about three blocks away from the place, they stopped at a stoplight and a red sporty car pulled up next to them. The window rolled down to reveal a young girl with bright blonde hair in a funny, but cute style and a man about their age whose looks could have been killed over.
"Hi Amara, Hi Michelle!!" the younger girl called.
"Hello there, Serena," Michelle said with a soft smile.
"Hello Serena, Darien," Amara responded in kind.
The light turned green and before the two cars took off, Kisha looked straight into the eyes of the man called Darien. For a brief moment, she couldn't breathe. Her heart skipped a beat and everything around her swam out of focus. He's the one, she thought. Now she just had to figure out what that meant.
"Who do you think that other girl was, Darien?" Serena questioned while she rummaged through his refrigerator. "You know,the gorgeous one with Amara and Michelle?"
"Probably a friend, Serena."
There was a knock on the door and it opened up with Mina popping her head in. "Hello?" She called. "Everyone decent?"
"Of course, silly," Serena replied. Magically appearing in front of Mina, she looked around slightly confused. "Did you bring something to eat? I thought I smelled food."
"Stop stuffing your face so much, pig brain," Rei stated as she walked through the doorway. "One day your weight will catch up with you."
"Oh, stuff a sock in it, Rei," Serena retorted.
At that moment, Lita, Amy, Rini, Luna and Artemus all stepped in.
"Aha! I should have known the little brat would have the food." Serena exclaimed.
"There's plenty for everyone," Lita said with a smile.
"Come on in, ladies and Artemus," Darien shouted cheerfully.
Everyone gathered in the living room and sat down in a sort of circle.
"Alright scouts," Rei said with an air of importance," the meeting can begin now."
"I'm the leader, I make that call," Serena stated.
"Enough fighting," Amy said softly," we need to be serious right now. Rei and I both feel that something is going on."
"What's up?" Lita asked.
"Well, it all began at the Time Lounge," Rei started. "While we were listening to that singer, Autumn, I felt a weird vibe. It wasn't bad, but it bothers me because I'm usually not alerted to good vibes."
"Not just that," Amy continued," but while that performer was singing, I pulled out my computer. Her song was literally entrancing people, but it didn't show to be harmful in any way."
"Could it be that the girl was just really good?" Mina asked.
"That's just it, she was good," Rei responded," but Amy and I talked and we both feel like she is important to the Scouts in some manner."
"So, this is all based off of feeling?" Serena questioned.
"If so, I agree," Darien chimed in, earning a surprised look from the scouts. "It's just, something about that lady called out to me. I haven't felt that way since I first became Tuxedo Mask."
Pushing aside the jealous feeling that Darien's statement gave her, Serena looked to Luna and Artemus. "What do you think, Luna?"
"To be honest girls, Artemus and I can not figure out why the girl might be important. The only thing that we have recently turned up was a reference to an old story about a hidden savior one day appearing on the Earth to save it from its hidden evils. That, of course, would be Princess Serenity."
"I'll keep consulting the flames," Rei said with determination, "they'll guide us in the right direction."
"There's just something about her energy," Amy agreed.
"Then it won't hurt to keep a close eye on her," Lita stated.
"Wait!" Darien said loudly, "Listen!" He turned the television up higher and stepped back to pay better attention to what was being said.
#Earlier this evening, the famed singer, Autumn, from the Time Lounge was reported missing. The last time she was seen was late last night after her grand performance for a packed show. No evidence has arisen to suspect foul play, but everyone is asked to please keep their eyes open for this girl.#
A picture of Autumn with her long reddish-gold hair and soft brown eyes was put up on the screen. At the bottom, underneath the picture, a hotline number was displayed.
#Due to Autumn's quick climb in fame, this alert was sent out with the strong possibility that she was abducted. Please call the number at the bottom of the screen with any information.#
"Oh no!" Rini yelled. "Something evil could have gotten to her. We need to help her. We need to find her!"
"Don't worry, Rini," Serena soothed," we'll all keep our eyes open."
"Yeah," Darien agreed. "I'll even go out as Tuxedo Mask tonight and see if I can't spot her."
Serena felt a lurch in her stomach at Darien's promise, but she knew that she couldn't call him out in front of Rini. Biting back her angry questions, she pulled her future daughter close and then let her mind wander as the rest of the group talked. Maybe I'm just too possessive, she thought. The last thing I want
to do is run Darien right into another girl's arms. With a soft sigh, she picked up a pastry and started finding some comfort in food.
"Maybe I was a little hasty in leaving like that," Kisha said after watching the alert on the television.
"Of course you weren't," Michelle countered," you said yourself that you were tired of fighting off the owner's intentions."
"Maybe I was a little too nice in not beating him down for you," Amara returned with a look of anger. "No man should think he has a right to a girl's body just because she is living in something he owns."
"It's okay," Kisha replied, adding with reverence, "I have the two of you now."
"That's right, you do." They agreed.
This is it, Kisha thought happily as she sat down on her bed a little later. I'm finally finding a new life with a lot of new horizons.
