Hello, everyone! Nothing much to report, just another chapter of my story going up before I go away on holidays. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: Roses are red, violets are fine,
Sailor Moon Rights, why can't you be mine?
Last time: "Melina, as your guardian, it is my duty to stay by your side at all times, and make sure that nothing happens to you! That is the law of the Silver Alliance, and even though the Silver Alliance no longer exists, I am still faithful to it, and will therefore obey its law!" Sunshine said impatiently. Melina spun around.
"Silver Alliance? What's that?" she asked, confused. Sunshine stared at Melina for a moment before shaking her head.
"I can't tell you. Not yet, anyway. I'm sorry for upsetting you, Melina," Sunshine said, before jumping up into the tree and then onto the school roof, where she turned and sat watching Melina. I'm sorry, Melina, but I can't tell you anything about Amaterasu, even though I'm sure that you're her. I can't tell you what I don't know. I don't know what's happening to you, and I don't know what happened to her... Sunshine suddenly sat bolt upright as another memory pounced on her...
"Welcome, everyone! As you know, it is tradition for the royal family to bless the heir's Pure Heart Crystal with the power of the Bronze Crystal. Today, on Princess Amaterasu's fifth birthday, we are gathered to carry on this tradition by blessing her Heart Crystal," said a tall, beautiful lady with a golden crown half-hidden in her floor-length ginger hair. The inhabitants of the Sun had been called to the palace, and were now gathered in the throne room. King Alexander and the other lady stood behind a low table made of marble, the ancient language carved intricately into its sides long forgotten.
"Bring forth the princess!" King Alexander shouted, and the throne room doors swung wide to reveal 5-year old Amaterasu, her brown hair and icy blue eyes twinkling, her blood-red, silk dress shining, and a cheerful, curious smile on her face. Her hand was entwined with that of a tall guard, and in the other hand she held a pink and blue unicorn toy. The crowd parted to let Amaterasu pass, and she was escorted to her parents and the table. King Alexander picked Amaterasu up gently and laid her down on the table. Amaterasu looked around curiously, wondering why she was lying here with all these people staring at her. The Queen picked up a gold staff with a large, copper-coloured gem on the end: The Bronze Crystal. She passed the staff over Amaterasu's body, which began to glow ith bright golden light. Amaterasu groaned and twitched as the golden light gathered on the front of her dress, and then, as Amaterasu's eyes went blank, a pink, cross shaped crystal with a glowing center appeared above her chest. The Bronze Crystal began to glow very brightly, sending gold and bronze-coloured waves of light flowing over Amaterasu's Pure heart crystal, which glowed brighter with every wave. The royal family and the court were so enraptured by the Bronze Crystal's effect on Amaterasu's heart crystal, that no-one noticed a dark, smoke-like shape charging, again and again, against the protective shields that had been erected around the castle. Slowly, but surely, the shield began to crack, until finally, an area of the shield shattered, and the shape floated silently through, and floated at the window. The light given off by Amaterasu's heart crystal kept growing, until, finally, it let out a huge burst of golden light. It was then that the shadow attacked Amaterasu's Heart Crystal. Amaterasu screamed in agony as the shadow merged with her Heart Crystal, turning the glowing light black.
"Amaterasu!!! No!!!" King Alexander shouted, grabbing at the shadow. Amaterasu screamed again as Alexander's fingers brushed her Heart Crystal. The Queen grabbed King Alexander's hand and pulled it back, then lowered her staff towards her daughter's Heart Crystal, the Bronze Crystal glowing even brighter. Amaterasu began to thrash and shriek in pain as the bright light flowed over her Heart Crystal.
"I-it's no good, Alexander, it's not working!" cried the Queen, taking her staff away from the Heart Crystal.
"Wh-what are we going to do, then?!?" asked King Alexander frantically. He suddenly noticed that the Queen's face had turned oddly calm. "NO! Solaris, I know what you're thinking, you CANNOT use the full power of the Bronze Crystal! You KNOW what happens if you do that!!"
"I'm sorry, My King, but I have no other choice. We need to loosen that spirit's hold on Amaterasu's Heart Crystal, or it will never be pure again! She needs to be able to fight this thing, and clearly, the only way that she'll be able to do that is if I use the Bronze Crystal's full power!" Queen Solaris said impatiently. The King opened his mouth to protest, then he shut it again as his eyes filled with tears and resignation.
"I love you so much, Solaris. Always know that," Alexander whispered, before kissing his wife for the last time.
"It'll be alright, Alexander. I love you too, and I always will," said Solaris, before raising her staff, and the Bronze Crystal, high above her head. The Bronze Crystal began to pulse with waves of gold and bronze light, which bounced around the room and washed over Amaterasu's Heart Crystal. Amaterasu screamed and writhed in agony, tears streaming down her cheeks. Seconds later, she collaped, unconscious. A roaring echoed out of the Pure Heart, and pitch-black smoke began to pour out of its black center. Soon, the waves of golden light began to die down, and the Bronze Crystal suddenly shattered, the shards glowing for a moment before reforming into a small white and gold object, which fell onto the marble beside Amaterasu's still body. Queen Solaris collapsed to the floor, her eyes fluttering as they watched Amaterasu's Heart Crystal (which was still slightly black) float back down into her chest.
"Solaris!" cried Alexander helplessly, grasping his wife's hand.
"Take... care... of... her... Alex..." Solaris whispered, her eyes sinking.
"SOLARIS!!!" cried King Alexander, his anguish shared by all present. King Alexander hugged his wife's still body to his chest, weeping freely. Suddenly, Solaris' eyes opened wide, and her body began to glow with a bright golden light. She stepped away from Alexander, staring in wonder at her golden hands. Then Solaris' scream rent the still air, and her body seemed to become liquid gold as it began to change shape, getting smaller. Eventually the bright light died down, and everyone stared at what Queen Solaris had become: a ginger cat. Everyone's eyes widened as the Solarian symbol appeared on her forehead, and she opened her eyes. She looked down at herself for a moment, before turning towards Amaterasu. Everyone turned with Solaris, and found Amaterasu standing up, her icy blue eyes filled with both fear and hope as she held the white and gold object above her head. Solaris stared at Amaterasu for a moment, before smiling.
"Thank you, Amaterasu. You saved my life," Solaris said. Amaterasu smiled.
"Sunshine!" the young girl squeaked, before bursting into a fit of giggles. Solaris smiled, noticing that this was the nickname that she had given her daughter. That seems rather appropriate for me now, she thought.
"Well, King Alexander, it seems your daughter has decided to call her first creation 'Sunshine'," said Solaris, smiling and turning to her husband.
"Solaris, what are you saying? Amaterasu is our daughter," asked Alexander, confused. Solaris smiled sadly.
"I highly doubt that she will remember this, and it would be extremely confusing to say that a cat was her mother. I think it would be best if we pretended that I was merely one of your servants, rather than the Queen," Solaris whispered to her husband. Alexander sighed, then lifted a yawning Amaterasu off the table and setting her on the floor.
"It seems that you are wise as always," said the King, before adding, "Sunshine." Sunshine smiled and bowed.
"I shall become Amaterasu's guardian, and shall work hard to finish expelling the spirit, My King," she said, before raising her new tail for Amaterasu to take. The young girl timidly took the tail, and Sunshine led Amaterasu out of the throne room and down the hall to her bedroom. King Alexander stayed where he was, watching them go.
"Eternity," he breathed, shaking his head. "What is this world coming to?"
Sunshine silently cried as she thought of the enormous sacrifice that she had made to save her little girl. She stared down at Melina, and her heart skipped a beat as her eyes came to rest on her brooch. The image of Amaterasu holding the white and gold object above her head flashed through Sunshine's mind, making her gasp. The Bronze Crystal! Melina's got the brooch that was formed from the Bronze Crystal! Sunshine grappled with this thought for a moment. Just another reason to add to the list of reasons why Melina is probably Amaterasu, she thought. Suddenly, Sunshine felt a surge of negative energy flow down her spine, and knew what was about to happen. And sure enough, Melina stood, pulled out her flute and began to play. The entire school seemed to stop dead as they listened to the beautiful, sad lullaby.
***
"Minako, did you feel that?" asked Artemis, spinning around as youma energy flowed down his spine. Minako nodded, pulling out her communicator.
"Everyone, there's a Youma here!" she said, looking at the four people on the screen. All four nodded, then the screen went blank. Minako tucked her communicator into her back pocket, then ran to the nearby bushes.
"Venus Power!" she shouted, before being surrounded by a globe of orange light. The globe disappeared with a flash, and Sailor Venus jumped out from behind the bushes and ran towards the auditorium with Artemis at her side.
***
Melina sat watching Sunshine, wondering what was going on in her furry head, when suddenly, she felt herself being thrown to the back of her mind again. Oh, no, she thought. What horrifying thing am I going to be up against today? Fortunately, she didn't have to wait long to find out. She drifted off to sleep once again as the music floated through her ears and the sun shapes floated around her body...
Melina jerked awake to find herself perched in the rafters of the school auditorium, looking down at the Senshi and a youma that looked like a huge black puppy, except that it wasn't anywhere near as playful. Not only did its breath stink of garbage, bones and raw meat, but its oversize teeth looked razor sharp. Melina looked around in horror at the chewed up seats, and noticed a microphone stand in the middle of the stage. She also noticed that her brooch was beginning to glow again, and then she was once more thrown back into her own mind. Her body jumped down directly behind the microphone, raised her flute to her lips and began to play. Amaterasu's lullaby drifted through the auditorium, making the youma stop dead as it heard the music. Its eyes slowly began to droop, and as the music got louder, the youma's eyes got lower. Finally, the youma fell asleep, toppling over onto the pile of chewed up seats with an almighty crash.
"Its weak spot is that white mark!" the one in blue declared, pointing at the youma's stomach.
"Are you sure, Mercury?" asked Venus, moving around the youma to find the spot. Just as she stepped past the youma's head, a glowing golden sun flew straight at the spot Mercury had indicated, causing the youma to explode into a dust pile. The Senshi turned to see Melina, half hidden behind the glow of her brooch, pointing her flute at the spot where the youma had been. The flute began to hiss and shoot out sun shapes again, and then Melina disappeared in a flash of golden light.
"Her again! How does she always know where the youma are?" asked Luna furiously. The Senshi shrugged.
"I see what Sailor Moon and Jupiter mean, though. That really does look a lot like Melina," said Venus, staring at the microphone.
"You know her now too?" Luna asked, turning to Venus.
"Yeah, we met her today, her and that cat you were talking about," said Artemis, sitting down next to Luna. The two cats exchanged looks for a moment, before Luna turned back to the Senshi.
"Well, I think that we should all meet her, and find out if she's genuine or not. In the meantime, have any of you made any headway as to our Princess' identity?" Luna asked, her question met with an awkward silence. Luna shook her head. "I'll take that as a no. Best keep your eyes open, she could be anywhere."
"Luna, what if Melina is our Princess?" Sailor Moon asked. Luna looked at her for a moment, a thoughtful expression on her face.
"It's possible. We'd better keep a close eye on her. If she is our Princess, she'll need protecting," Luna said curtly, before flicking her tail and walking out the auditorium door with the Senshi and Artemis in tow. Venus turned back in the doorway to look at the demolished auditorium.
"Well, this is gonna be a fun job to clean up," she remarked, before following the others.
"There you are, Melina! I've been wondering where you'd got to," David said walking over and sitting down beside Melina, who was sitting on the same seat as before, her eyes shut tight and her breathing shallow and harsh. "Are you alright, Mel?" David asked, concerned.
"Oooh, look who we have here! The two little lovebirds, David and Melina. What say you leave that little baby of a girl here and come on a date with me, David?" said a short blonde girl wearing a rather revealing red dress. David scowled at her.
"No, I don't think so, Olivia," he said, putting his arm protectively around Melina.
***
Sunshine hissed quietly at the short girl as she heard her call Melina a "little baby of a girl". Sunshine knew that Melina was hardly a mature girl, but this girl was being extremely rude and hurtful. She leapt from the roof into the tree behind Melina and David's seat, scrambling silently down to the lowest branches. She watched as the girl's expression turned sour.
"Well, I never! How dare you reject me! No one ever rejects me and gets away with it!" Olivia said, pulling back her hand to slap David across the face. It was then that Sunshine leapt onto Olivia's head and began scratching her face. The girl shrieked and tried to pull Sunshine off, falling over onto the grass. David was sitting watching Olivia's hysteria with an amused smile on his face. Melina was still sitting with her eyes closed, her breathing getting shallower and shallower by the second. Just as Olivia managed to pull Sunshine off her head and toss her on the grass, Melina opened her eyes. Sunshine stopped attacking Olivia when she saw Melina's eyes: the irises had turned pitch black. Melina stared coldly at Olivia for a moment, before throwing herself off the seat at the blonde. Olivia shrieked and rolled out of the way, scrambling to her feet and running off. David and Sunshine both sat completely still, staring in horror at Melina's eyes. As they watched, her irises faded to their original icy blue, then her eyelids fluttered down as she collapsed.
"Melina!" David cried, catching Melina before her head hit the ground and laying her on her back. Sunshine sat beside Melina, patting her hand gently. Melina groaned and opened her eyes.
"Melina, are you OK?" David asked, stroking her hair. Melina slowly sat up and looked from David to Sunshine.
"What happened?" she asked them.
"I'm not sure, Mel. You... Your eyes turned black, and, well, you kinda looked like you were going to throttle Olivia," David said, helping Melina to her feet. Melina clasped her head, trying to remember what David had just described. But the last thing she remembered before waking up was the gold suns surrounding her.
"R-really? I w-wonder why I don't remember any of that... I-I'm going to go for a walk and clear my head, OK, David?" Melina asked. David looked concerned, but nodded. Melina picked Sunshine up gently and walked down towards the school oval. David stared after her, wondering what was going on...
"Sunshine, wh-what happened to me back there?" Melina asked timidly, setting Sunshine on the grass and flopping down beside her.
"Melina... I... I really don't know..." Sunshine said, turning away.
"But you have a pretty good idea, don't you?"Melina said, turning away angrily. Sunshine nodded sadly. Melina sighed, tears forming in her eyes.
"I just want to know what is going on! I didn't think that was such a big thing to ask for, but clearly I was wrong," Melina said, angry tears now flowing down her cheeks. She rose and started marching across the grass back towards the school building.
"Melina, I want to tell you, I really do, it's just that.. oh, alright. Look, Melina, I'll make you a deal. If my suspicions aren't proven by tomorrow night, I'll tell you everything," Sunshine called after her. Melina froze, then spun around.
"Everything?" she asked.
"Every single little thing I can remember," confirmed Sunshine. Melina stood thinking for a moment, before nodding.
"Deal!" she said, before giggling and running back towards David.
Sunshine smiled a little that Melina was happy again. I don't regret making this deal with Melina, she thought. After all, my senses are telling me that big things will happen tomorrow, and I'll be telling her everything anyway...
Author's notes: Everyone, I just want to say that there are big things coming in the next couple of chapters, so stay tuned! Please review! I'd love your opinions on my story!