SINS OF YOUTH
Chapter 9: "Challenge of a Princess"
A neo-Sailor Moon fanfic
By Bill K.
"Let go!" Usa howled as the palace guards held her back. "I can reason with her! I can get her to stop!"
"Usa!" Cere appealed, grabbing onto her upper arm. "It's too dangerous for you! I know that look! If she's regressed to her Circus days, she'll kill you without a second thought!"
"But not at first!" Usa argued. "And while she's toying with me, I can try to reach her!"
"Princessssssssssssssssssss!" Pallas called out again. "Pallas is going to think you don't like her anymore! And then she'll get angry!"
"No, Princess," Ishii the gate guard stated flatly. "I can't let you go out there."
"It's all right," they all heard a kind voice say. Everyone turned and found Queen Serenity in the entry hall. "Let the Princess do what she feels she has to do."
"But Queen Serenity!" protested the guard captain.
"The Asteroid Senshi are her responsibility, Captain, as protection of the palace is yours," Serenity told him in a manner that normal humans had a hard time opposing. "If she feels she can end this peacefully, we must all have faith in her."
Reluctantly the guards let go of Usa. The teen nodded to her mother.
"Thanks, Mom," Usa said gratefully.
"Be careful, Honey," Serenity grimaced. The teen nodded and headed out the gate. Serenity watched her leave, barely acknowledging Cere's approach.
"Queen Serenity, I don't think this is a good idea," Cere advised. "Pallas can't be reasoned with in this state."
"I think you're wrong," Serenity replied. Then she weakened just a bit. "But - - perhaps you should transform into Sailor Ceres - - just in case."
Usa walked out the gate and instantly spotted Sailor Pallas. The senshi was standing amid debris from the wrecked garden. Pallas instantly flashed a smile, but it was a mirthless smile, the smile of a wicked child who has just gotten her way.
"Hi, Princess!" Pallas chortled. "Pallas has been waiting for you! Do you like her pretty picture?"
She gestured toward the palace wall and Usa turned to look. Flowers had been ground into the marble so that there were streaks of color smeared randomly. Some of the marble was pitted where rocks had impacted with it. Usa turned back to Pallas.
"I think it would have looked prettier on a digital tablet," Usa replied. Instantly Pallas scowled.
"Pallas didn't want to use a tablet," Pallas huffed. But seconds later she brightened up, the subject forgotten. "Pallas wants to play dollies. Would you like to play dollies with Pallas, Princess?"
"OK," Usa nodded carefully. "But I have a question first. Can you hear someone else's thoughts right now, Pallas?"
"No," Pallas replied petulantly. "Pallas wants to play dollies now!"
"Are you sure you don't hear anyone else?" Usa continued. "Because I think he's telling you to do things you don't want to do."
"There's no other voice!" snapped Pallas.
"Why are you doing this to her?" Usa persisted. "Can't you feel how much it's hurting her to be like this again? Can't you see she wants something better for her life? Leave her alone, please!"
"Fine, then Pallas will play dollies by herself!" Pallas fumed. She turned away petulantly.
"Tell me what you want! Tell me why you're doing this!" Usa pleaded, undeterred. "Maybe I can help you!"
Ignoring Usa, Pallas gestured toward the remainder of the garden. Then, suddenly, two men bounded out of the fading green. Usa recognized them as maintenance workers who worked the palace grounds. The two men moved haltingly, jerking around as if they were marionettes dancing on invisible strings. Then she realized the strings were telekinetic - - it was the new way Mars had shown her to use her telekinetic attack. Inside the palace, everyone watching on the monitors reacted with similar surprise and alarm.
"Pallas, let them go! It's not nice for you to do this to people!" Usa admonished.
Pallas gave her a wicked grin. "But that's not what they say." She turned back to the men.
"No, Princess," one of the workers was forced to say. "We - - love this."
"Pallas is," grunted the other, "just having - - fun."
"See?" Pallas asked. She turned to the men. "Dance!"
Immediately the two men began bounding around helplessly in a mockery of a dance. Usa watched in horror for a few moments, then grabbed Pallas by the arm.
"Please stop this!" Usa demanded. Pallas stared at her, her eyes taking on a blue hue. Then Usa shot backwards for forty feet, flung away from Pallas. The teen landed hard and lay stunned. Pallas glared at her for a moment. Then her mouth curled into a sadistic grin.
Inside, Ishii turned to the Queen and silently appealed to her. Serenity was visibly torn.
"No," she choked out. "We have to wait. We have to let the Princess try to succeed."
"Oh, does the Princess want to play, too?" Pallas chuckled.
Usa was jerked to her feet by invisible strings. The strings kept hold of her arms and legs, and she found herself hopping and bounding over to the captive workers. Her best efforts to resist were for nothing.
"Oh, kind sir," Usa said without meaning to, "I am a simple peasant girl and I have loved you from afar." She bowed to one of the workers, then cuddled up to him. "Please say you will be mine!"
"Fair maiden," the worker grunted out, seizing Usa roughly in his arms, "you have answered the longing in my heart! Oh happiest of days!" And he kissed Usa with a passion born of the twisted imagination and telekinetic power of Sailor Pallas. As Usa endured the kiss, she heard Pallas chuckling with glee behind her.
"Unhand my daughter, cur!" the other worker bellowed. He pulled the two apart and it was then that Usa saw he held a sword. "Soil my child with your worthless presence!"
"Father, no!" Usa was forced to cry out. "I love him!"
"Worthless girl!" he snarled. "I'll kill you both!" The sword came up menacingly for all to see.
"Oh my goodness!" Serenity gasped in the palace as everyone watched the monitor with alarm. She turned to go outside, but Sailor Ceres had beaten her out the gate.
"FLORAL STIMULATION!" Ceres yelled.
Instantly a plant sprang up at the feet of Sailor Pallas. It shot up with unnatural speed and jammed itself into the senshi's mouth before she could react. Pallas bit down reflexively, then recoiled. Usa and the two workers dropped to the ground, free of the telekinetic strings. Seeing Pallas turn back to Ceres, Usa geared up to move.
"You're mean!" Pallas bellowed at Ceres. "Pallas will show . . ." Suddenly the senshi's eyelids began to droop. Her posture began to wobble and she staggered back a step to brace herself. "Pallazz . . . will show . . . make you . . ." The senshi teetered on the brink of consciousness for a few more moments, then sank in a heap and sprawled on the ground, unconscious. Usa and Ceres ran up to her.
"Sorry, Pallas," Ceres whispered, caressing the girl's cheek tenderly.
"What was that plant?" Usa asked.
"Henbane," Ceres responded. "In the right dose, it's a pretty quick acting anesthetic. I hope I didn't give her too much."
"Thanks," Usa grinned. Ceres nodded shyly.
"Let's get her up to the infirmary," Ceres suggested. Between them, the two girls propped Pallas up and carried her into the palace. On the way in, Ceres glanced furtively at the remains of the garden. When she spotted the tree Gallan hibernated in was still intact, she allowed her concerns to return to Pallas.
"Hey!" Ceres said suddenly. "I'm not supposed to be out of the palace!"
"I don't think Pop will say anything," Usa grinned.
Hotaru said good-bye to Rei and headed down the corridor toward the infirmary. Ves had run on ahead the moment she'd heard about the confrontation between Pallas and the Princess. Rei chose instead to confer with Ami, Makoto and Minako and pool their knowledge. She wished the girl luck and offered her prayers for Palla-Palla.
Emerging from the entrance into the infirmary, Hotaru found Usa sitting on a sofa by the room assigned to Palla-Palla. She approached and Usa only noticed her when she was right next to her friend.
"How's Palla-Palla doing?" Hotaru ventured cautiously.
"She's still asleep," Usa replied. "That henbane that Ceres gave her was pretty strong. Ves and them are in with her now."
Hotaru sat down next to her friend. "Did the yurei possess her and turn her evil?"
"Is that what it was?" Usa mumbled. "We haven't had a chance to find out yet. I tried to find out, but - - well . . ." Usa's words trailed off into a silent cauldron of shame and frustration.
"Usa?" Hotaru inquired, noticing immediately.
"I was so useless, Hotaru," Usa scowled. "She played with me like I was a marionette and I couldn't do anything! I couldn't even talk her down! I would have done more good if I hadn't even been there!"
"Usa, you can only try your best," Hotaru told her. "No one succeeds every time."
"What good am I, Hotaru? Even when Mom had her powers shut down on her, she could charm her way along. I remember what she was like back then. Most people didn't stand a chance against her. And it's the same today." Usa's gaze lowered to the floor. "I can't do that. I'm not her."
"No, you're not her," Hotaru sighed, because this was a familiar refrain from her friend. "But you're a lot better at it than you give yourself credit for." Usa didn't respond and it distressed Hotaru. "I know this is tough for you, but we still need you to lead us - - whether as Sailor Moon or as Princess Usagi. And if you ask all the Asteroids, I know they'll tell you that they have faith in you. You know how I feel."
"Yeah, I know how you feel," Usa mumbled. "I just can't help thinking that you've all put your faith in the wrong person."
Cere stuck her head out the door. "Hey, you two," she said. "Palla-Palla's coming around." Usa nodded and, together with Hotaru, went in.
Ves and Jun hovered at her side while Palla-Palla took a few moments to recognize her surroundings. When she grew acclimated, a wave of sorrow washed over the blue-haired teen.
"Palla-Palla was bad again, wasn't she?" Palla-Palla asked, her voice thick with emotion.
"I thought I told you to stay here?" Ves fumed, though those close to her could see the fear still in her eyes.
"But Cere-Cere was afraid you would make things worse," Palla-Palla responded timidly. "She was scared that someone would make you do bad. Palla-Palla had to warn you before the someone made you do bad and got you punished for it."
Cere and Jun glared with condemnation at Ves. She scarcely noticed it.
"Good one, Ves!" Cere snapped. "If you hadn't been all 'nuke first and ask questions later' like you always are, Palla-Palla wouldn't have gone after you and put herself at risk!"
Ves just sat, stunned into silence.
"Ves, what happened to Palla-Palla is exactly why we were told to stay away from that club!" Jun fumed. "Will you ever for once in your life think!"
"LEAVE ME ALONE!" Ves roared like a wounded animal. Tears trickled down her distorted cheeks. "I SCREWED UP, OK? VAPORIZE ME!"
"All right," Usa interjected, her voice soft but commanding. "It's done. Everybody learn from it. Besides, there's more important things to worry about than blame."
Cere and Jun backed down reluctantly. Ves, though, reached out and seized Palla-Palla's hand in hers. Her head was down and her shoulders bent.
"I'M," Ves choked out before her voice seized up. The girl struggled for several moments silently. "I'm . . . sorry."
Palla-Palla covered the hands with her free one. She looked over to the bowed Ves with a smile of innocence.
"Palla-Palla knows," was her response.
"So, Palla-Palla," Hotaru asked cautiously. "Could you tell what was controlling you?"
Palla-Palla clouded over. Her innocent smile disappeared.
"It was a man," Palla-Palla murmured. "Only he wasn't a man anymore. He doesn't eat or sleep or breathe."
"A yurei," Hotaru concluded.
"Um, Palla-Palla," Usa began hesitantly, "when the yurei had you, do you remember anything?"
"Yes," she squeaked. "Palla-Palla heard some of the ghosty's thoughts before she went beddie-bye. They were very angry and mean. The ghosty hates Palla-Palla - - and her sisters, too."
"Did you sense why?" Jun asked.
"No," Palla-Palla said, the trauma of the memory fresh in her. "Just that he hates us very much. He was very mean and scary."
"Why hate us?" Ves asked, her voice still thick with emotion. "What did we ever do to him?"
"With our past?" Cere ventured.
"But that was a thousand years ago!" Ves protested. "We've tried to go straight! We haven't done anything in this century!"
"There's one way to find out for sure," Hotaru suggested. "Usa and I can go back to the club with Hino-Sensei and try to capture it."
"Why the club? What's so special about that club?" Cere asked.
"I don't know, yet," Hotaru replied. "But the spirit seems to be bound to that spot. It's the most likely place to find it." She rose to leave and Usa reluctantly followed.
"Hey!" Jun called after them. They turned to her. "Good luck. If there's anything we can do to help, let us know."
"Maybe there is," Hotaru nodded. "Keep digging into the records and history of that location. Maybe I didn't go back far enough."
Outside the room, Usa stopped Hotaru.
"Are you sure you want me along?" Usa asked.
"You don't have to come if you don't want to," Hotaru said. "But I'd like you to be there."
The Princess felt her melancholy fade just a little. "OK," she replied. "But don't say I didn't warn you."
"This is ridiculous!" roared Kobayashi. Rei calmly stood and took the man's wrath. Usa and Hotaru lingered behind her, sorry for the news they bore and for the reaction they'd provoked. Minako Aino, who had joined the foray at the behest of Queen Serenity, used the moment to survey the room. She was looking for anything that struck her as out of the ordinary. And if she spotted a cute guy, so much the better.
"I apologize for this, Kobayashi-San, but this has become a clear and present danger to the general public," Rei told him. "We have to do this. If there was a way to wait until after your business hours, we would. But this is just too dangerous."
"You're telling me that a-a yurei has been haunting my club for years now?" Kobayashi demanded. "You do realize that this is the thirtieth century, don't you Sensei?"
"Why yes, I do. Thank you," Rei bristled. Minako instantly noticed the warning signs and slid in between the priest and the club owner.
"Look, we all understand where you're coming from," Minako said, using her most charming manner. "But this has to be done now. Now you can fight us on this and we can do the job right in front of all these clubbers. Then by this time tomorrow the word will have gotten out that the place is haunted and nobody but goths and thrill-seekers will show up. Or," and Minako tilted her head in just such a manner that the light caught her eyes and made them twinkle, "you can say you have software difficulties, close down for the night and we're in and out. The palace will even compensate you for lost revenue. That sound like a plan?"
Kobayashi sighed and Minako knew she had him hooked. Inhaling so that her chest thrust out, she peered up hopefully at him.
"All right," Kobayashi relented. "If this will be the LAST time you people come here. Just try not to break anything."
The club owner walked away to inform his staff. Minako turned triumphantly to Rei, who was staring with sour incredulity at her.
"Negotiation is an art," Minako preened, "Sensei. And sometimes big blue eyes and a low cut bodice will get you quicker results than righteous indignation will."
"And Serenity actually trusts you to be a teacher to these girls," Rei scowled. Hotaru and Usa giggled to each other in the background.
Once the club was cleared, Rei walked to the center of the room. Minako and Hotaru transformed into their senshi forms while Usa warily watched the room. The staff who remained watched from afar with a mixture of confusion and anxiety.
"Unnamed Yurei!" Rei announced forcefully. "Hear me! I summon you! Come before me!"
Sensing the temperature of the room drop suddenly, Usa looked around. She couldn't see anything, but something suddenly didn't feel right. She glanced at Sailor Saturn and noticed her friend felt the same way.
"All right. We'll do it the hard way," Rei muttered. She extended her hands before her. Nimbly the priest began to run through a series of hand gestures as she spoke the sacred sutra, "rin, pyou, tou, sha, kai, jin, retsu, zai, zen." Then, dramatically, her hand arced down and her index finger touched the floor as she crouched. Rising back to her feet, Rei calmly slipped her hands back into her sleeves, her arms folded across her stomach, as everyone in the room gaped.
For on the spot she had touched, the ghostly form of a man began to appear.
Continued in Chapter 10