Chapter Two
Meanwhile, as Sylvia and Rolando were still meeting with each other in Christ Church, in the Mohammedan mosque The Dome of the Rock, several people, including assorted Arabs, were present. In one rather isolated room off the main part of the mosque, in fact, a Negaverse General by the name of Jeddite was still setting up a base of operations for himself in the Jerusalem area.
This Jeddite was a Negaverse General serving directly under a quite evil Queen named Beryl. He'd attempt to gather energy for Queen Beryl. He'd do this so that the Negaverse's true leader could hopefully be freed from a prison of sorts, and so could their Negaforce. The Negaverse's true leader was Queen Metallia. And the Negaforce was the Negaverse's armed forces, so to speak. About a millennium earlier, more or less, the Negaverse, the Negaforce, and the Negaverse's leaders had been trapped inside a crystal by a wise Queen of the Moon Kingdom named Queen Serenity.
Serenity had eventually been forced to sacrifice her Kingdom in order to save as many sentient beings and things from it or near it as she possibly could. She'd been forced to sacrifice her Moon Kingdom to do that somehow after Beryl and the Negaverse had attacked it, and nearly destroyed it completely. And after she trapped countless sentients within a crystal she then had, she'd sacrificed her Kingdom to gain futures for as many as she could gain them for with her crystal's help. These countless sentients were generally from either side of the related conflict, by the way. Even at the cost of her own life, she'd sacrificed her Kingdom to save as many sentients and things from it or near it, in fact.
Jeddite had been one of the Negaverse's leaders that'd been trapped by Serenity within her Imperial Silver Crystal. And he'd spent most, if not all, of the last millennium in a state of suspended animation of some sort. He'd only recently regained knowledge of his past as a Negaverse General, once he'd awakened as such somewhere in the Negaverse, and resumed his previous career as such, under Beryl.
Now he was still setting up his Jerusalem-area base of operations somewhere in that very same Mohammedan mosque. And he was doing so quite energetically, if and whenever possible. Only a few people were present quite near him as he did so, in fact. And only those who he'd sworn to absolute secrecy, for he didn't want anyone to find out what he was doing there, if it could possibly be avoided at all. Especially sentients who might have actually survived the Moon Kingdom's end somehow, of course.
He worked for a while longer on his new base of operations, at least until such time as he thought it was possible for him to create various monsters of assorted sorts there for potential future use. Eventually, he finished setting up that base of operations there, and prepared to release his first monster into the Jerusalem local area at the earliest possible time for him to do so.
That first monster would be named Morga, in fact. And they would capture, and control another person's body until such time as their unknowing and unwilling host body died or they were completely forced from it by somebody else entirely.
Somebody like Skyhorse, for example. Skyhorse would shortly find herself fighting against that monster of Jeddite's, and she'd have to defeat them before it was too late for her to do so at all, by the way. Though nobody mortal knew that quite well at the moment, most likely.
After Jeddite had completed all the things that he had to do at the current time in his new base of operations, he donned an Arabic-style outfit, hiding his Negaverse General's uniform from public view again. Deep within part of that outfit, then, he hid a moderately small cube with sides about two inches in size along each edge of it. Inside the cube, there still rested Morga, where she'd rest until such time as Jeddite released her wherever he chose to elsewhere in the city.
Jeddite soon left The Dome of the Rock, and went to the same mall where Sylvia and Rolando had first met each other earlier. He eventually placed Morga's cube in a jewelry store in that mall, behind a counter on the floor, rather secretly. That done, he soon vacated the store where he'd left Morga's cube. Minutes later, from about half a mall away, then, he pressed a button on a remote control in a hidden pocket under his Arabic-style robes, and released Morga from her cube.
Morga soon took over a saleswoman's body, at least in terms of controlling it, though the woman's body still appeared to be just as it should be. As it still would until such time as Morga decided to act as she'd need to in order to hopefully gain energy for the Negaverse, of course. Morga hid herself in the woman's body, not revealing her true nature yet, for it wasn't yet time for her to act here, in fact.
Meanwhile, as Morga, Jeddite, Rolando, and Sylvia were doing whatever then came to mind for each of them, a horse elsewhere in the city was now beginning to get rather restless. This horse had begun to get this rather restless feeling not long after having been ridden by Sylvia earlier that day. This particular horse was mostly black, except for a white blaze on his nose, at least. His name was Moonlight Serenade, and he was about 16 or so hands high at the shoulder. He was now about 4 or 5 years old, more or less. He was now in his stall at the stables where he currently resided. And he had just eaten some hay and drunk some water there when he suddenly began to get restless in his stall there.
He began getting rather restless after a breeze that'd been blowing gently through the stable area where he now was had suddenly picked up for some yet-unknown reason. And eventually, he began vocalizing quite spiritedly. When nearby grooms came somewhat near him to try to find out what was causing him to be rather restless at the moment, he got even more excited. Not yet knowing what the problem or problems were, they soon came to his stall, and unlocked it, so that they could hopefully enter it and check him out much easier. As soon as they'd opened the door far enough to allow him to do so well enough, he shoved his way through the applicable stall door. All while nearly running them all over in the process of his making his escape from his stall. He soon broke into a full gallop, just as soon as he could do so well enough. And he eventually began heading toward where Sylvia's residence was elsewhere in the city, once he'd gotten his bearings well enough in it, in fact. He didn't yet know how, but he'd eventually learn how, he'd found his way to Sylvia's house well enough, of course.
Sylvia wasn't yet home from her meeting with Rolando, but he didn't know that yet, and wouldn't for at least some time, if not a long time. He wouldn't even arrive on her family's premises until she'd gone to bed, for that matter. It'd take him a while to find his way to her house, elsewhere in the city. But he'd eventually do so, just the same. After which, things would progress as needed or desired for him and for her, in fact.
As Moonlight Serenade restlessly searched for Sylvia's residence elsewhere in the city, he also gathered whatever information he possibly could related to it in whatever ways he possibly could gather it here. This was just in case he or others might need to know such information in the future, of course. Up and down several streets all over the city, then, Moonlight Serenade searched for her residence in the city. Even with many cars traveling those streets whenever possible for their drivers here, in fact. Where necessary, he dodged those cars as needed, quite obviously enough. And he continued to search for her house. At least until such time as he was able to find it well enough elsewhere in the city.
When he finally found it well enough, based on a mental impression he'd gotten while searching for it all over the city, courtesy of God above, he came to her house. And he went to the back of the premises near her garden. As soon as he was there, he eventually got another mental impression from God. Which soon told him where Sylvia now was in the Wakefield family's residence. After he experienced that second impression for a long enough period of time, he soon backed up and made a short running leap onto an attached balcony outside her bedroom. He reached it with that leap. Though only just barely did he clear the necessary balcony outside her room, in fact.
He raised his right front hoof, while hoping that he could open one of the doors, if not both of the doors, leading to her bedroom from the attached balcony well enough to allow him access to her bedroom. He couldn't, for they were locked, at least at the current time, anyway. So he began tapping on those doors with that hoof several times, almost immediately. And quite obviously hoping to make enough noise to cause her to wake up well enough at the current time.
After about five or ten minutes of this, Rebecca suddenly came to Sylvia and shook her awake, for she'd heard some yet-unknown noises coming from Sylvia's part of the premises. Nobody else on the premises, except for Moonlight Serenade, of course, had heard such noises besides her, in fact. And everyone else was then quite asleep elsewhere in the house, for that matter. When Rebecca woke up Sylvia, Sylvia asked, "What's the matter, Becky?"
Rebecca told her in very short order. So Sylvia arose from her bed, and turned on a light. Sylvia picked up a riding crop, just in case she might need to use it, from a can near her desk. And she went off in search of what might be making the noises that Becky had been hearing just now. Eventually, Sylvia moved toward her balcony, and prepared to draw the curtains in front of it and the doors leading to it, so as to see what might possibly be making such noises here. As she did so, she suddenly caught a very brief glimpse of a horse's silhouette, and not just on her balcony's railings, in fact. This silhouette belonged to Moonlight Serenade, though she didn't yet know that well enough. As soon as she saw that silhouette, she said to Rebecca, "It seems that the wind might be projecting a silhouette of a horse on my balcony's doors. And possibly doing it while perhaps blowing things to and fro on my balcony, if I'm not mistaken. I think everything will be just fine here in a little while. Just give it a little time, Becky. I'm going to check things on my balcony, to see if that's what the case might be here. Go back to bed, and if I can tell you what was making those noises well enough, I will, just as soon as I can."
"Are you sure you want me to go back to bed now?" Sylvia stood still briefly as Rebecca then asked that of her here. It was now just before local midnight, in fact.
"Yes, Becky, I am. Please do so. If I can do so, then I'll tell you what was making those noises you were just hearing, whenever I can, okay?"
"Fine, Syl. But I'm holding you to that promise, if at all possible, of course."
"Understood, Becky. Now back to bed with you, please." Rebecca did so right away, with no further comment or objection to what her older sister had just said to her, in fact. After Rebecca had left, and she'd secured her bedroom door again, Sylvia resumed her moving toward the balcony outside her room. When she reached the doors, she unlocked them as needed, and slipped through them onto the balcony.
As soon as Sylvia unlocked her balcony's doors, Moonlight Serenade backed away into a part of the balcony near the outside wall of the house, and behind a large potted plant. He hid there briefly until she was far enough onto the balcony, and then suddenly said, while still hidden by that plant and nearby shadows, "Miss Sylvia Wakefield, I have searched for you for a while now. It has been many years since we were last together for a long enough period of time in our lives. Your assistance is now required to battle certain evil beings of assorted kinds from all over the Universe."
"Show yourself, whoever you are, or I will have to hunt you until I find you," said Sylvia, as she continued to check out everything that was then on her balcony, of course. At least to the best of her current ability to do so here, in fact. As she did so, she also flipped a few switches near the outside doors of her balcony. That was so as to hopefully light it up better while she sought to identify the source of those words and noises.
Eventually, those lights coming on forced Moonlight Serenade to show himself to her, and he walked up to her as best as he then could do so here. She asked, "What are you doing here, Moonlight Serenade, if I remember your name here well enough?"
"I am here because a situation has now arisen that requires your attention elsewhere in the city, Miss Sylvia Wakefield. Your assistance with said situation is now required, in fact. Evil people and beings now have begun to stir in this area, and they'll be up to no good here, most certainly. I don't have much time to explain this to you right now. I do know that your immediate assistance is required here now, just the same, Miss Wakefield."
"Horses can't talk, can they? This must be an illusion I'm experiencing here," thought Sylvia, for the obvious reasons, of course. She scratched her head, and then asked, "If you're actually talking, then how am I supposed to help you out here, if you can possibly tell me this here, young horse?"
"You must become the Sailor Scout named 'Skyhorse,' Miss Wakefield. You must fight these people and beings for as long as possible at least until such time as the Moon Princess is found, if not even longer than that. When she is found, you may be able to cease fighting in your life, or you may not. I can't really get into major details about things here, for your immediate assistance is now required."
"And just how do you expect me to help you, seeing as we're conversing on my balcony here, then, young horse?"
Moonlight Serenade suddenly raced as best as he could around her balcony once, stood up on his hind legs after doing so, and spun around to his left twice. He did this until such time as a mostly medium blue blanket materialized suddenly on his back underneath a saddle. After that blanket and saddle materialized on his back, he had her reach under the pommel of his saddle, and she found a neckerchief and a locket there. Then he lowered himself back into a much more normal equine-style orientation, of course.
He had her hold up that locket, in one hand, and the neckerchief in the other, and say as quietly as possible, "Skyhorse Crystal Power." Serenade did this so that if there were any nearby people who were then awake, they'd hopefully not be able to hear her call out her first transformation phrase very easily, if at all. This, of course, was for all the obvious reasons.
She called out that transformation phrase as directed by him as quietly as she could, and a pillar of multi-colored light soon surrounded her while she and Serenade were still on her balcony. A gold tiara with a reddish-brown gem, specifically a garnet, appeared almost immediately on her forehead. A royal blue choker then appeared near the base of her neck. Her neckerchief then appeared just over a sailor-style royal blue collar with two stripes of gold piping all the way around it, wherever possible, and tied as needed there. Her new power locket then appeared just above a knot in the now-tied neckerchief with a checkerboard pattern on most, if not all, of it. The squares in that checkerboard pattern were primarily royal blue and white, with some squares of other colors also present in it. On at least half of the squares in that checkerboard pattern, either there were gold and royal blue six-pointed stars, or there were brown crosses bordered by thin gold lines on the crosses' perimeters, if not both. Often the squares had at least one of each on them at the exact same time, if not more than one of each on them here. Under the neckerchief, then, and on the backs of her new Scout uniform's shoulders, there were also four small brown horse heads at the corners of a rectangle. A rectangle that they were forming outside a larger star than any of them that was placed exactly in the center of that rectangle, but still within the piping along the edges of her collar. And this star was a six-pointed star as well. But instead of this star being royal blue and gold, as were the stars on her neckerchief, this particular star was a white one with gold trim on a royal blue background just below her neck on her collar. The inside hexagon was solidly royal blue inside it. As were the triangles that were inside the lines that formed the sides of that star. The gold trim was only on either side of the white lines between each point of that star, and nowhere else. A royal blue and white skirt that fell at least halfway to her knees, if not farther, below her mostly white blouse, and a pair of moccasins completed the current look of her Scout uniform. A pair of moccasins fringed with rabbit fur and turtledove feathers, in fact. But she'd probably not always wear the same footwear whenever she was in her Scout state as Skyhorse. She'd likely choose her footwear whenever she transformed herself into Skyhorse in the future, whenever she possibly could. Most situations might allow her to do that. But they'd not likely always allow her to do that, if she lasted long enough as a Scout, at any time in the future.
Moments later, then, the rest of the light pillar that'd just surrounded her temporarily here dissolved into thin air, so to speak, if it hadn't already done so. When it was all gone, without any doubt at all, she was fully in her Sailor Skyhorse uniform here. After she realized this, she soon asked, "What should we do now?"
"Secure your balcony's doors with the nearest pipe or something that you can find here, to the best of your current ability, so that nobody can hopefully access your balcony from your room. Then climb onto my back. After you do that, you should see a bridle and the other necessary gear appear where needed on my body, Skyhorse."
She did as he directed her to do here, and soon climbed on his back. He suddenly leaped up, and barely cleared the nearest part of her balcony's railing, as they left her balcony behind. A few seconds later, they landed as safely and as softly as possible on the ground below her balcony, near the entrance to her garden. There was a little bit of a jolt, of course, as they landed on the ground below her balcony, but it wasn't too strong a jolt for either of them, just the same.
Minutes later, they were heading toward the mall where Jeddite had left Morga to eventually act as desired. As they headed there, they conversed with each other for a little while, of course. She asked, "Can't anyone fight these evil beings and people besides me, Serenade?"
"Not at the moment, it seems. You're the only one that I've been able to find and locate so far since I sensed them beginning to stir here a little while ago. Others to fight alongside you against them may appear later. But for the time being, at least, you're the only one that I've found so far that might be able to oppose them in this area."
Skyhorse asked, "How will I know what to say or do in order to fight them, then?"
"I believe the words will come your way when needed, Skyhorse. I don't know exactly what they are yet, of course. But I still have a feeling that they'll come your way during your future battles, no matter what they happen to be, somehow."
As they neared the mall, they wondered just exactly what was waiting for them there. For they began seeing people running away from it in the opposite direction they were going, whenever possible. Others were congregating there, due to Morga's current presence in the mall, for she'd also begun to drain energy from assorted largely random customers in the mall as she'd seen fit to do so currently.
By the time they arrived at the mall, with Skyhorse on Serenade's back, about 100 people or so, more or less, were beginning to wreak havoc. They were beginning to do so in and around the jewelry store that Jeddite had left Morga in. And it was rather considerable havoc, for that matter, in fact.
On the way toward where the disturbance was primarily coming from, Skyhorse found a few art-related supplies, a scabbard, and a sword, among many other things, lying on the mall's floors near two different stores in it. While also trying to avoid being run over or attacked by the people that Morga was now controlling, she picked up a palette, a bow, a quiver of arrows, the scabbard, and the sword. This was so as to have some things that she could hopefully defend herself with against Morga, when the need arose for her to fight them, of course. Eventually, she reached the entrance/exit for the jewelry store where Morga was currently located. And she slipped into the store without Morga yet noticing her presence there.
This was because of the fact that Morga and several other people were proceeding to try to corner several other people in one corner of that store, in fact. When she felt she was far enough into that store, she suddenly shot an arrow above everyone's heads so that it landed near Morga, after getting a brief glimpse at the being in the middle of the crowd there. That being, of course, was Morga.
That stopped Morga and her current crowd short, and they turned to see who'd made them do so. Morga asked, "Who shot that arrow?"
Skyhorse emerged from behind a large supporting pillar in the store, and said, "I did. As one who seeks to serve the One True God of the Universe, I stand as Sailor Skyhorse against all who seek to do evil in His Universe. Leave now, or suffer the justified consequences of your actions, evil being that you are! This is your last warning!"
Morga thought for a moment, then asked, "Who is this One True God of the Universe you speak of, child?"
"This One True God of the Universe is God the Father, who sent Jesus to Earth to save the lost souls of Creation who would accept Him as Lord and Saviour! Make your choice! Life, or Death! The choice is yours!"
"I scoff at your Jesus! Prepare to die, Skyhorse!" shouted Morga, moments later, at most.
"Not likely! Prepare to die, yourself, and prepare to meet your doom!" replied Skyhorse.
Several dozen people began moving toward her, including Morga. As they did, Skyhorse fired more of her arrows in hopes of slowing them down in front of them, where possible. Where needed, she also shielded herself with the help of her palette, which expanded suddenly to an appropriate size for that purpose. She used her shield to protect herself against assorted flying objects and energy blasts, in fact, when she could. However, she took a few hits periodically trying to dodge their assorted attacks, even after leaping up some stairs leading to a second floor of the store she was now in. Mostly on her arms and legs.
As she found herself backing up those stairs under the aforementioned attacks, she eventually found herself having to draw her sword from its scabbard. She drew the sword, and swung it in such a manner that her besiegers were only hit with it by the flatter parts of its blade, if at all possible, of course. For she didn't really want to possibly cause permanent harm to any of the people Morga was then controlling in the jewelry store, for the obvious reasons.
They closed in on her rather quickly, under Morga's control. And they were just about to grab her in a big mass of people, when several pen-like and quill-like items struck the stairs, a nearby catwalk or two, and the store's main floor between her and them. When those items did so, her current opponents ceased moving toward her, and faced toward the person who'd evidently thrown those things toward them.
In another part of the store, there was a young man in a rather simple black tuxedo, black trousers, black shoes, white shirt, navy blue cummerbund, and a red mask on the upper half of his face. A black beard covered the bottom of his face. And he was sitting on Serenade's back near a jewelry display directly across from Skyhorse's current position in it, and barely under a skylight of some sort. Skyhorse looked at him as well, while everyone else in the store then wondered who he was, of course.
He said, "The Pilgrim seeks the true lights of the world, and he feels that this special person may very be one of them. For she seeks to serve the Universe's One True God, and as such, she may be one of those true lights. The Pilgrim will not allow such a light to be snuffed out if he can possibly avoid it at all while he still lives. Cease and desist, you evil demon who now seeks to wreak havoc all over the local area, and return from whence you came, or you shall most certainly die!"
Several energy blasts headed his way, direct from Morga, at least. But he and Serenade dodged them, at least long enough for that young man to reach into an interior pocket of his tuxedo, and withdraw several small apparently empty scrolls from it rather quickly. He threw them in Morga's direction, and when they hit the ground near her, a fog of some sort appeared briefly around her and those people closest to her at the present time. The scrolls sprayed an antidote to the gases that Morga had been using to get other people in the store and mall to wreak havoc and drain energy from assorted people in either, in fact. The fog resulting from the scrolls' hitting of the ground near her soon knocked out the unwilling civilians that had been unknowingly helping Morga here, as well. They all fell silently and limply to the store and mall's floors, in very short order. Only Morga remained standing of all the beings in her current crowd. And only by not getting a strong enough effect from the fog was she not rendered unable to fight at the present time. At least not yet, anyway.
After that happened, the masked man said, "Skyhorse, you should be able to take care of the rest of this battle now. Do your righteous duty, and destroy this demon for the glory of God above! She will not survive, once you do so!" Morga began backing away in fear, looking for a way to escape her fate, once the Pilgrim said that here and now. After he said that, Skyhorse's sword began glowing with a rather bright light, in fact.
"Right, Pilgrim." Skyhorse then made a great leap as Morga frantically tried to get away from her. But Morga still wasn't quite fast enough to evade Skyhorse's sword. As the Pilgrim and Serenade departed the scene, Skyhorse engaged Morga in close-quarters combat. Just three strokes of Skyhorse's sword later, then, Morga was headless, she was cut in half at the waist, and her cube was destroyed. Morga died when her cube was destroyed, for she'd not died instantly upon losing her head and being cut in half at the waist, due to her having been a demon. As for the host body, it was left totally unharmed, due to it being fully restored upon the eviction of Morga from it by Skyhorse when she cut off Morga's head like she had. Morga was forced from the host body when Skyhorse took off her head, never to return to it again. And just to be doubly sure that Morga had been evicted permanently from that host body, Skyhorse had also cut her in half as already stated. Skyhorse's sword also fully restored the host body's lower half as it made doubly sure that Morga could never return to that host body again, in fact. With the host body fully restored to the way that it should be, in any possible way whatsoever, that host body went silently limp just like all the other previously-affected people anywhere in the store and the mall. It did so as Skyhorse then destroyed Morga's cube. Morga's body turned into dust upon the destruction of her cube, and all the energy that she and her unwilling civilian aiders had just gathered was returned to the appropriate beings anywhere at all in the store and mall.
From still another part of the mall, Jeddite saw the ball of energy he was currently carrying secretly shrink, and then disappear into thin air, so to speak, mere seconds after it began shrinking in size. When he saw those things happened, he soon said, in a very upset manner, "Someone is going to pay, and pay dearly for this!" That said, he found a rather isolated place in the mall to hide briefly. No more than a few seconds or so later, he was back in his Jerusalem-area base of operations, and beginning work on his next monster. While also hoping to avoid a repeat of the defeat that he'd just received here, of course.
As soon as her foe was unquestionably dusted once and for all, Skyhorse left the jewelry store behind just as soon as she could do so well enough. She left her weapons and things behind, where needed, when she did so. This was because of the simple fact that they weren't actually hers to begin with, for all the obvious reasons. When it was safe enough for her to do so, she found a rather empty area of the mall to hide in briefly, and soon heard the words, "Skyhorse Crystal Power, Exit," in her head. Those words, in fact, had just been said to her by God, though she didn't yet know that.
When it was safe enough for her to do so, she said those four words, and transformed back to her civilian state as Sylvia Wakefield. It was now about 1:30 in the morning, at the very latest, when she did so. After she did so, she left the mall behind in rather short order.
Just outside the mall, she met up with Serenade, and asked, as soon as it was safe enough for her to do so here, "How come the Pilgrim was sitting on your back earlier?"
"Because he found me while being drawn to the battle, and he asked me if it was all right for him to ride on me to it. I let him climb on my back, so as to help him get to there better, if at all possible." She soon climbed on his back, of course. They began heading back to her house in rather short order, as well.
"Okay. But that doesn't explain how you got so high up in the store and mall above the applicable floors, then."
"God made it possible for us to get that high, just like he did when I jumped up on your balcony, Sylvia. We went to the roof of the store, and came through the skylight. And we were near there when you then saw us together during the battle."
"I see. And do you know exactly who this Pilgrim is yet?"
"No, not yet, but I somehow have this feeling, as I did all during the battle, that he's going to be an ally of ours for some length of time, if not for a long time."
Some length of time later, they were near her balcony again. He leaped back up to her balcony, as needed. And he did that so she could remove the block she'd placed on the doors there. No more than a few moments later, he said, "Good night, Sylvia. Sleep well."
She asked, "Where will you go now, Moonlight Serenade?"
"I must return to my lodgings now, Sylvia. People are undoubtedly looking all over the area for me, since I ran away to get to you like I did. I hope I'm not going to be in trouble for running away like I did with them, of course."
"I'll see you after school today, if I can. Okay, Serenade?" asked Sylvia, hoping that he'd not be in trouble for running off like he did with assorted people at the stables he now resided at. This, of course, was for all the obvious reasons.
"God willing, you will. We have much to discuss for quite a while, Princess. Much to discuss, indeed." Without another word being exchanged between them both, he then left her balcony the same way that he and Skyhorse had left it earlier. She watched him leave her family's premises, and the area around those premises, for a little while, before she left her balcony and went back to bed not too long after that. When she eventually returned to her bed, she then stayed there until she had to arise again for school, in fact. As she slept, any injuries or wounds that she'd received in the course of her first battle as Skyhorse healed themselves quite well, as well, by the way.