A/N: Warning: This is a fairly dark chapter. It contains severe child abuse and corporal punishment. Aryanna's early life is terrible! As such I have provisionally raised the chapter from T to M. If you think it's unnecessary then I'll change it back but until I get the all clear it will remain at M from now on. Probably better that way as it gives me more leeway to write more brutal scenes, use curse words...and maybe even a romantic scene if I decide to do one.
This chapter was very difficult for me to write. Originally I had a completely different version and I must have discarded over 3000 words several times, only to start from scratch and write it all over again.
I hope the obvious abuse won't turn too many readers away. I know a lot of people can be very vocal about it, however, we should not forget that corporal punishment was normal in the past and still is in several countries.
Just remember that no real children were harmed in the creation of this story!
Now, on with the story:
The New Princess
The Early Years - Part 4 Chapter 5
Introducing a new (super) hero.
Previously:
That night people would raise their glasses and praise her name. But little Aryanna would not know anything of this.
Instead, during the next few days she would be hand delivered to her muggle relatives. Relatives who didn't want her and indeed hated her, but who would be forced to take her in, never given a choice, by a foolish yet well-meaning old man.
There she would remain for the next 8 years of her life, unwanted and unloved by those meant to take care of her.
But she would survive. Kept alive by the powerful entity which now slept inside her, waiting patiently for her to grow stronger.
And now the continuation:
7 Years Later - 4 Privet Drive, Little Whinging, Surrey
Seven long years had passed since that fateful Halloween day. Aryanna Potter was no longer the baby who had slept in her crib while her mother defended her from the evil dark wizard who had come to kill her.
Now, at almost eight years old, Aryanna lived with her aunt and uncle - two people who hated her and had never wanted her but had been forced to take her in.
She knew that the Dursleys were not her true family. After all, they made it clear, telling her so, on a near-constant basis. They treated her with disdain and made her sleep in a tiny cupboard under the stairs, where she slept on a thin mattress among spiders and dust.
They dressed her in Dudley's outgrown clothes, which hung loosely off her body, giving her a disheveled appearance.
They forced her to do all of the housework and garden work around the house and even made her cook elaborate three-course meals for them and punished her severely whenever she made a mistake.
Burning the bacon, or forgetting her cousin's orange juice?
That would earn her a harsh slap across the face.
Breaking a plate or incorrectly pruning a flower?
A painful trip over her uncle's or aunt's lap.
Mess up a meal completely, forget to bring out the bins, or forget to cut the lawn?
No food for the day and they would bring out the strap.
Meanwhile, her cousin would jeer and laugh at her and sometimes even try to sabotage her while she worked.
Even if she succeeded, she would then have to stand in a corner and watch them eat.
Only then, only when they were finished, would she be allowed to eat her meals, meals which often barely consisted of the leftover scraps which they 'graciously' left behind for her.
They forbade her from having toys and only allowed her to have books that were strictly for school. Anything that could bring her joy or ignite her curiosity was strictly off-limits. If they discovered a book that they deemed as fun, they would promptly destroy it, hoping to crush any hope of happiness.
In short, Aryanna was treated like a slave, a prisoner, or an unwanted pet by the Dursleys. They ignored her most of the time unless they wanted her to do something, to yell at her, or punish her for something she hadn't done or couldn't help doing. In short, they did everything in their power to make her life as miserable as possible.
Still, against all odds, despite all of their best attempts to make her feel small and insignificant, she had defied their wishes and had grown into a stunning young girl, with bright green eyes that shone like emeralds and glossy black hair that partly covered the lightning bolt scar on her forehead.
Aryanna hated her scar, not because it deformed her face or made her look ugly, but because it made people stare at her and gave her headaches. This made her feel self-conscious and weak. She had once asked her aunt and uncle about the origin of the mark. They had spun a story of a car accident and then told her to be silent when she sought more information.
Something about that story always felt off to Aryanna. She was unusually perceptive and insightful for her age, and she could sometimes sense when people were lying to her. Reading minds? That was beyond her reach. But picking up on dishonesty? That was something she could do when she concentrated. Sometimes an inner voice, which existed inside her would whisper warnings when danger was approaching or gave her advice when she felt unsure - not with words, but rather with feelings and sometimes with images. It wasn't always easy to understand and it took a lot of concentration and practice, but while mistakes did happen from time to time, she had learned to listen and trust these feelings whenever she could.
Unfortunately, this ability also came with a rather unfortunate downside: it made her feel lonely and isolated. Aryanna had quickly found out that children often told lies and they resented her whenever she saw through their deceptions.
Consequently, most children tended to avoid her instead of befriending her. Sometimes they even feared her.
Those few brave enough to try and befriend her soon realized it was not worth the risk; Dudley - her cousin, and his group of bullies would constantly harass her and anyone who tried to approach her.
It was a game they liked to play. As such, it came as no surprise that Aryanna had no friends at all. The few who tried didn't stay for long. Not that she blamed them. Not really. After all, who would want to be someone's friend, if it meant getting beaten up daily by her bully of a cousin and his gang?
Despite the constant challenges and even more constant setbacks, however, Aryanna reveled in her individuality and saw it as a strength.
To combat her loneliness, Aryanna buried herself in her books and assignments to escape from her isolation. However, she was forced to do so in secret as her relatives resented her for being smart and independent. They made it clear that they didn't like it when she excelled at school or enjoyed herself, especially whenever she outshined Dudley, which was unfortunately unavoidable.
She hated bringing home report cards or having her homework signed. She had quickly found that out the hard and painful way the first time she brought a test home to her aunt. She had received an A+ on a spelling test, while her lazy cousin had received an F. She had expected a reward for getting everything right. Instead, her 'reward' turned out to be a painful trip over her aunt's lap and a full weekend in her cupboard without food and with just minimal toilet breaks, for showing up her cousin. Meanwhile, her cousin got to play computer games instead.
Ever since then, she had intentionally failed all her tests and frequently 'misplaced' her homework. She still completed her assignments, she even did them twice: one correct version for herself and if she had the time, another version filled with errors for her teachers. But if time was scarce, she simply didn't submit it anymore. When forced to complete an assignment during class, she would deliberately botch it. Although it was frustrating and humiliating to be perceived as a lazy student by her teachers, the alternative was a sore bottom - not a desirable outcome!
On the plus side, failing tests and not doing homework often meant being kept back after school for detention. Whenever that happened, she did not have to worry about chores that would otherwise be waiting for her at home. So it wasn't all bad.
The library soon became her favorite place in the world and any homework she had, always had to be completed and then safely placed in her locker before she went home. If she didn't manage to finish her work she would try to complete it some other time. There was no rush. She would never bring any homework home. Doing so was suicide. After all, if she was caught, her completed homework would be destroyed and she'd get a beating with her uncle's strap. It wasn't fair and she knew it was highly illegal, but that was the life she knew and how it had always been.
Aryanna once attempted to report her relatives' abuse to the police. A huge mistake! For reasons unknown to both her and her relatives, any social or police officers who arrived to investigate after a call of abuse would leave shortly after entering the house. They would usually have no memories or altered recollections of what had transpired - if they arrived at all. This mysterious phenomenon was something that Aryanna had learned to both fear and despise.
That was the first and last time she had ever tried doing that. It just wasn't worth the pain. Even now she sometimes shivered at the mere memory of the vicious beating she had received from her uncle for her first and only attempt. It was the first time they had introduced her to Vernon's grandfather's old cane.
From that day on, her relatives knew they could get away with excessive physical violence.
And then there was that other time, while at school when a teacher had seen a bruise on her arm.
Instead of someone coming to her house to take her away from her abusive relatives, the teacher was accused of making deliberate false claims and fired instead. Only later did she find out that the headmaster was a close drinking buddy of her uncles. They probably chose that school for her for that very reason too. She'd bet that 50-pence piece she found the other day on it.
At least it had stopped her relatives from beating her in obvious easily seen places, for fear it could happen again. Not that it wasn't any less painful, but still, at least she could now avoid the many stares of pity other people used to give her. Those were just annoying at this point and never did anybody any good. Least of all herself.
Aryanna soon lost trust in authority figures and realized that her situation wasn't normal. However, despite her dark and lonely existence, she refused to let anyone dim her passion. Instead of turning to a life of hatred and retaliation, she saw how other people treated their children with love and understood that they didn't deserve her hate. Only the Dursleys did. As such, Aryanna reserved any hate she felt for the Dursleys. However, she also realized that actively turning against them was useless. At least for now and as such decided to wait for the day she could pay them back, in full. In the meantime, she would rebel in her own way. The only way she could. She would defy them as best as she could and immerse herself in books and wisdom.
Despite all of the Dursleys' efforts to make her miserable, Aryanna refused to let them win and remained resilient. She had something they could never take away from her - a mind of her own and... a secret companion who helped her when nobody else could.
While she didn't know its name and wasn't sure of what it was yet. She knew that something that looked like a crystal had found a new home inside her. It shared her body and helped her whenever it could. Although she couldn't see it, she could communicate with it through images and thoughts. This is how she knew what was inside her and that it was responsible for her ability to sense lies from her relatives and had been with her for all of her life.
It was a little, yet extremely powerful symbiont known as the Legendary Silver Crystal… and it had chosen her as its new host.
Aryanna's 'crystal companion' always seemed to sense when she was in trouble or being punished by her uncle or when she was being hunted by her cousin and his gang. In those difficult moments, it would make her stronger and faster, helping her to escape danger, or heal her from injuries if she could not.
The crystal had always been there for her for as long as she could remember. With its support, Aryanna never felt truly alone even when all others abandoned her, the crystal was always there, waiting and willing to help. All she had to do was ask. She knew that no matter what the Dursleys did to her, she would always be able to survive it and have someone on her side.
That was not all either. Despite all of her hardships, the crystal had slowly enhanced her ability to learn and retain information giving her a near-perfect memory. Aryanna was unaware of this change, but it made her an incredibly intelligent girl for her age. Where a usual child would have failed, she could succeed. Despite the Dursleys' attempts to stifle her education, she soon managed to teach herself to read and write by secretly obtaining books from the library, school, or even the rubbish bin.
Aryanna learned about various subjects, including maths, science, history, geography, art, and music, by reading library books and listening to teachers, radios, and the Dursleys' television. She often listened through her cupboard door or while cleaning the house, or simply by observing the world around her. Her curiosity and thirst for knowledge drove her to explore anything that caught her interest.
By her seventh birthday, Aryanna had learned to speak several languages, including a runic language that no one else seemed to know, which she seemed to learn while sleeping at night. Often she would pick up words and phrases from neighbors or strangers she overheard when she was locked out of the house. Other times the crystal inside her would even supply her with memories of its former hosts. All she needed to do was ask. Aryanna learned to think critically and question the world around her using logic, intuition, and creativity.
Aryanna Potter was also remarkably brave. Despite the constant cruelty and neglect she faced at the hands of the Dursleys, Aryanna Potter remained strong and dignified. She tried not to cry or complain, no matter how much it hurt. And when the pain became too much and she did cry out, the crystal would soon heal her and give her strength. She never gave up or let them break her spirit.
Aryanna was a fighter. She stood up for herself and fought back with fists, feet, teeth, or even words when she thought it would do any good. She hated bullies with a fiery passion and refused to bow down to them.
Aryanna Potter was also kind and compassionate. But only to those who deserved it. Despite the constant cruelty she faced from bullies like her cousin Dudley and his friends, as well as her relatives' constant mistreatment, she always tried to be kind to others whenever possible. She never let their cruelty dampen her spirit for long.
She had a soft spot for animals, plants, and people who were hurt, lonely, or sad. Knowing what it felt like to be the underdog, she often went out of her way to help those in need, even if it meant putting herself in danger. Aryanna tried to make friends with anyone who would give her a chance and remained loyal to those who treated her with kindness.
Despite her difficulties and hardships, Aryanna Potter was a truly special girl. She had a spark in her eyes, a fire in her heart, and magic in her soul, and on the night of her eighth birthday, something extraordinary was about to happen. Her inner friend, who had been waiting for her to grow stronger, was finally ready to fully complete its bond with her and change her life forever.
But Aryanna had no idea what would happen later that night. For now, she was enjoying a rare moment of peace and freedom, watching TV while her relatives were away on a business trip. They had left her alone with a long list of chores, a warning not to do anything 'freaky', and a threat of severe punishment if her chores were not completed by the time they returned.
But Aryanna was not doing her chores at that moment. Instead, she was watching the TV, something she wasn't usually allowed to do. For freaks like her were not allowed to watch television. Television, or so her uncle had said, was for normal girls, good girls. Not for good for nothing freaks, like herself.
Aryanna was watching an anime program about magical girls, super-powered female heroes who fought evil monsters and saved the world against all odds. As she watched, she dreamed of also being one of those super girls. But how could she? She was just an ordinary girl, not a superhero.
She was just Aryanna, a little unloved girl who lived with her relatives, who didn't even want her but cared for her all the same. Yet, she had this sudden feeling that she was supposed to be like them, but not quite ready yet. What was her inner friend trying to tell her this time? Could she become a supergirl like one of those?
Aryanna's eyes drifted to a nearby newspaper, carelessly tossed on the ground during one of her uncle's rages. She remembered the fuss he had made about the front cover story, losing his temper and roaring about it.
The newspaper article showed a picture of a young woman dressed in some sort of black-garnet Amazonian warrior custom, wielding a long staff. She even had a garnet tiara on her head to complete her Amazonian princess look.
She was called Sailor Pluto, the Guardian of Time and Space, and had rescued a family from a house fire.
Aryanna dreamed of being like her, a superhero. If Sailor Pluto existed, then maybe even she, Aryanna 'call me Arya' Jasmine Potter, the unwanted freak of the family, could be the same.
'If only I could be like her,' she thought, dreaming of future heroic actions as she gazed absentmindedly at her hero's picture.
Aryanna had no idea that in just a few short hours her wish was about to come true. Even now, at that very moment, her friend; the crystal which lived inside her, was preparing her body for the transformation.
It had heard her plea and had decided that the time was right. Aryanna had finally become strong enough to survive the transformation that would turn her into a superhero like Sailor Pluto.
Tonight, after six long years of waiting, the final steps in its pact with its host would finally be complete.
A few hours later, 5 minutes to midnight and Aryanna's 8th birthday
That night Aryanna lay asleep on her little cot in her cupboard. As she slept, her mind was filled with thoughts of the difficult day ahead. She knew that her relatives would be returning home the next day and that she would have a long list of chores to complete. The thought of not finishing them all in time filled her with dread, as her uncle was not known for being forgiving. It wouldn't matter if it was her birthday; if anything, that would only make them stricter and even more cruel. They seemed to take pleasure in punishing her for any perceived misstep. But despite the fear and uncertainty, Aryanna slept on, hoping that somehow, things would turn out alright.
It was now 11:55 p.m., and in just five short minutes, Aryanna would turn eight years old. Unknown to her, deep within her body, the crystal was undergoing its final preparations for the upcoming transformation. The transformation would finally fully complete the transfer from its former host to its new one, and their partnership would finally be made official.
Slowly, ever so slowly, the miniature hand of the Dursleys' prized grandfather clock gradually moved forward, inching closer to its rendezvous with its larger counterpart at midnight. This fateful moment would signal the start of a nightly symphony of chimes and the beginning of a new day.
The larger hand moved forward lazily, while the smaller raced on, always in a hurry yet seldom late. Soon, only a few seconds remained until they reached midnight, heralding the bells of a new era as they began to chime.
The moment Aryanna had been waiting for, for nearly her whole life, but had never known to expect, had finally arrived.
Suddenly, slowly, her sleeping body began to glow and then pulse - like an alien egg pulsing in rhythm to an unseen heartbeat inside her. It started slow at first but steadily picked up speed near the end. A bright glow, an eerie glow, mixed with an assortment of different colors, from white and red to yellow and blue, with other colors mixed in as well. Like a shell of protection and transformation, it proceeded to envelop the body of the young sleeping girl, keeping her safe and making her stronger. Fulfilling an age-old prophecy.
Gradually, each color started to expand as if briefly seeking dominance over the others, only to wane again just as suddenly before each could reach its apex. Never enough to completely drown out the rest but always present and willing to make an impact nonetheless.
Aryanna's body started to morph and contort like a twisted sculpture finally emerging from the shadows. She was becoming something else - something ancient, powerful, and unrecognizable. A being that hadn't been seen by human eyes for ten thousand years.
At that moment the little human girl that once was seized to be and temporarily transformed into a woman. Her long black hair grew longer until it nearly touched the ground and even gained two buns, while a crescent moon briefly appeared on her forehead and then turned into a tiara instead. Then, suddenly, she gained large white wings that spread out behind her, complete with feathers and jewels. During all of this, she had a serene and graceful expression on her face as if all of her worries had temporarily disappeared and nothing could harm her any longer.
This new form would eventually disappear throughout the night turning her back into her original girlish form before dawn. But for now, this cycle would continue as Aryanna began to change to fully heal herself.
The transformation was a gradual process. Inside her body, the crystal worked tirelessly to repair and enhance its host, fulfilling its commitment to their partnership.
First, Aryanna's many injuries, inflicted by years of abuse from her relatives, began to heal until they were no longer visible. It was as if they had never existed at all.
Next, her bones, weakened by years of malnutrition, began to mend and grow stronger. They reached the proper height and strength for a girl her age, undoing years of damage.
Even her eyesight, which had always been poor, suddenly improved. In a matter of seconds, her vision went from blurry and unclear to focused and sharp. No longer would she be forced to wear broken second-hand glasses or mocked by her peers for doing so.
Even her appearance was enhanced, if only slightly. While she would never possess the ethereal beauty of a Veela, she would no longer have any unseemly blemishes or other facial imperfections brought on by stress or age. Her aging process would also be slowed, allowing her to grow older for a while yet, but once she reached her peak, it would stop entirely.
After all, it would not do to have a weak host. The Crystal understood that only the strong survived, and weakness, including the weakness of age, was something it had long learned to deny. It was determined to ensure that its host was as strong and capable as possible, to fulfill their partnership to the fullest extent.
For the next hour, the crystal continued to heal its host's body, taking care not to miss anything of importance. Then it began to delve even deeper, exploring Aryanna's magical core. It expanded and unblocked her core, removing a block that had been placed upon her by an old man with a long grey beard several years before. The crystal even unlocked an old family ability, long thought lost through time, from its maternal side. It would be up to Aryanna to discover and practice its uses.
Finally, having completed its tasks and deeming its host's body strong enough to withstand its full powers in time - though it would still require years of practice and learning - the crystal turned its attention towards something else. For some time now, it had sensed something alien within its host's body - something that should not have existed before. Something it had only been able to suppress… until now.
It didn't take long for the crystal to find what it was looking for: the intruder, the leech; a black shadowy spot in its host's core. Whatever it was, it was leaching its host's powers and using them to keep itself alive.
Now, that by itself wasn't necessarily a punishable offense. After all, the crystal too did the same to sustain itself and survive, as all living things must. The intruder even gave its host an ability as payment.
However, unlike the crystal, the intruder had a direct desire to harm its host - a desire to harm and take more than it needed to survive. And that would not do. A true symbiont would never seek to deliberately harm its host. Harming a host deliberately for no gain meant weakening the host with no gain. That was not logical.
A proper symbiont like the crystal may take enough to survive, sometimes even harm, but never more than needed, and always seek to give equal or better payment in return whenever possible. It was only right.
The intruder's only wish, however, was to harm. Even the ability of snake speech which it gave as payment to the host was done unwillingly.
Unacceptable!
The intruder could not be allowed to continue its harmful actions.
It would need to be terminated.
Resistance would be futile, and termination would be swift.
By the end of the night, the intruder would cease to exist.
The host would keep its former payment as restitution for its grievances and would be better off for it.
The crystal would see it done!
That night, a legendary princess of the Moon was reborn into the body of a young girl, but little Aryanna knew nothing of this. By the time she woke up hours later, it was already all over.
Throughout the next day, Aryanna felt different. For some reason she couldn't explain, she suddenly felt better than ever before. Not just better, but great! She felt stronger, faster, and more flexible than ever before and for the first time since she could remember, she could see without her glasses.
She no longer felt so tired anymore. She was brimming with what seemed like near-endless energy. In the past, it had always felt like something was constantly sapping away at her strength and energy. Now it was as if she had suddenly become an entirely different person overnight as if she had been remade anew and a huge weight had been lifted from her shoulders.
But that couldn't be true… could it? After all, such things are impossible and only happen in fairy tales, she reminded herself as she sped through her remaining house chores like a possessed professional cleaner running late on an important deadline. In a way she was - her relatives were due home soon and she had to be ready before they arrived.
Not that she was complaining. Her newfound strength made lifting heavy boxes and furniture easy. Her new height and flexibility ensured she could now reach even the highest of areas, and her new stamina ensured she didn't get tired as often as she used to.
Still, by the time she finally finished her last chore - cooking a three-course dinner for her relatives who were about to return at any minute - she couldn't help but wonder just what had happened to her.
She may be a young child, unsure, inexperienced, and innocent of the world. But even a child noticed when something extraordinary happened to them. Especially a child as perceptive as herself.
Taking a last few moments of freedom to inspect herself in the bathroom mirror, she couldn't help but marvel at the changes she seemed to have gone through overnight.
Gone were the cuts and bruises from when her uncle and aunt had hit her. Even her lightning bolt scar had vanished during the night.
And then there was her hair… it was suddenly long. Not just long, but extremely long.
She had woken that morning with her hair nearly touching the ground and had been forced to cut it off with a kitchen knife to make it shorter. Already she could see it getting longer again. Soon it would be as long as it had been that morning.
Aryanna knew she wasn't normal, not by a long shot. Strange things sometimes happened around her, and her relatives never let her forget it, often reminding her of her differences in painful ways.
She thought back to the time when her aunt had once chopped off all of her hair, leaving her nearly bald. She remembered feeling afraid of the teasing she would no doubt receive the next day, only for her hair to grow back overnight. Her relatives had been angry with her the next day, and even now she sometimes shuddered at the memory.
But this was something else entirely - it was so clearly magical. The thought alone made her feel uneasy. She knew that her aunt and uncle would not be pleased with the situation, especially her uncle.
'Oh please no!'
Slowly, her feelings of wonder turned into feelings of worry and then fear as she realized what this would mean for her once her relatives arrived back home.
Another beating!
She was going to be in for another beating!
She was going to be in pain again.
'Why me?' she thought miserably.
If there was anything her aunt and uncle hated, it was when strange things happened around her. She was always blamed for those. Always! Even when it wasn't her fault. Even the smallest things could set them off.
'They were going to be so furious when they returned,' she thought to herself, tears of frustration already appearing in her eyes.
'What am I going to do?' she wondered miserably as she stared at the nearby clock in dismay. She didn't want to be in pain again. What child did? But what other option did she have?
There wasn't any.
Was there?
That very moment, not that far away.
At that very moment, just as Aryanna was about to have an emotional meltdown, a certain very special cat was scouting out the neighborhood around the house. This cat was not just any cat, but a Mau named Luna, a black cat with a golden crescent symbol on her head; a mark that showed her position as a servant and advisor to the old royal family of the moon.
Although Aryanna didn't know it, Luna was one of five Maus who were desperately searching for her. Luna was following up on a lead she had received from a family of Kneazles that lived nearby with an old woman. According to the Kneazles, a young girl who matched the description of the girl they were looking for lived in a nearby house. To make matters even more urgent, they were also concerned for her well-being and urged Luna to check up on her quickly.
Ever since Pluto's vision of the attack six years ago, they had doubled their searches in areas occupied by magical communities, especially those of the British Isles. It had been easy to find out who the child had been that night - after all, she was the most famous child in the whole magical world right now. Unfortunately, that is where their luck ended.
For some reason that frustrated Pluto, she had been unable to get a single vision of the girl's current living place. No matter how many times she tried searching for her in the gates, there had simply never been a sign of her since. It was as if something was blocking her.
As time went by, it only became more difficult.
Pluto next tried asking old friends of the Potters if they knew where Aryanna had been left. Most of them became very suspicious of anyone they didn't recognize asking about their savior and even fewer seemed to have a clue. Those few that did seem to know had only one bit of advice: Ask Dumbledore.
It always came down to the same person: ask Albus Dumbledore.
And so she had. Or at least she had tried to.
The problem was, not only was Dumbledore a very powerful and high-ranking individual in the magical hierarchy, but he was also a very secretive and, according to Pluto, 'a highly annoying old goat'.
Dumbledore had refused to answer any of Pluto's questions, saying simply that Miss Potter was in a safe place, taken care of by a loving family, and not to worry about her. After that, all further attempts to gain any information about Aryanna's whereabouts or state of health were either met with blank looks or polite requests not to stick her nose into business that didn't concern her.
And so, with no valid legal actions they could take to force an answer, they were stuck once again. With no further leads, besides the fact that she was supposedly somewhere safe and loved, they had no other choice but to continue the search as they had for the past few thousand years.
Who knows what had been happening to the princess since then? It was simply maddening!
That's why, plagued by setback after setback, they always took every possible sighting and any possibility of her whereabouts very seriously whenever they received one. And that's why Luna was currently nervously checking out the house of a proven family of cat haters.
Slowly and carefully, Luna crawled through the bushes near the house at number 11 Private Drive. She then climbed up a nearby tree and settled on a branch, hoping to get a good view of the house from her perch. Luna had been warned by a kneazel that it was best to keep her distance from the family that lived there, as they were rumored to be cat haters. This was not a good start, and if finding the princess hadn't been so important, Luna would have stayed far away from such a place.
Luna couldn't help but wonder what it would mean if the new princess belonged to a family that hated cats. How could she gain the girl's trust if she had been brought up to hate cats? Luna could only hope that the rumors weren't true, or at least that the girl hadn't been turned into one of 'those' people.
As Luna settled down to wait and see if she could catch any sign of the girl, she soon saw three people arrive in a car and enter the house. 'These must be the family I was warned about,' she thought to herself as she watched them. The woman had a tall, long neck, while the man was beefier and looked almost like a walrus - just as the kneazel had described them.
She watched as the son waved goodbye and walked away, presumably to go find and play with a friend.
But where was the daughter? Luna continued to watch and wait, hoping to catch a glimpse of the girl she was searching for. She knew that finding her was of utmost importance, and she wouldn't give up until she had succeeded.
'Great! By my luck, she's probably not even there at the moment. She's probably away at a friend's house,' Luna thought, wondering whether it would be okay to come back later. Suddenly, she heard a roar of anger from inside the house. It was a man's voice.
Almost instantly, a plea for mercy followed from a distinctly more feminine voice, followed by a near silent slap and a whimper of pain. Luna only heard the slap due to her enhanced cat hearing.
"Right girl, you knew this was coming. I said no freakish business and I meant it. Turn around, pants down and bend over," came the voice of the man.
Soon, she heard the unmistakable sound of a loud whack and another cry of pain.
Alarmed, Luna sprang up from her resting place on the tree, her eyes widening at the sound. She hoped it wasn't what she thought it was.
Then her eyes widened even more as she heard another even louder whack, followed by another, then another. The whacks were soon followed by first quiet sobs, then ever-increasing cries of pain as the evident punishment continued.
Yes, she was sure of it. Those were the clear and unmistakable sounds of someone getting hit. And if the voice of the victim was to be believed, then it was almost definitely female.
Somehow Luna doubted that the man was hitting his wife…so that meant…
'By the Void,' she said out loud, horrified at what was happening inside that house at that very moment.
That wasn't a common - for this time period - spanking given from a parent to an unruly child. No, those were clearly the unmistakable sounds of someone receiving a beating. A very harsh and excessive beating.
While it was indeed allowed for parents and guardians to inflict corporal punishment on their children in the current day and age of the planet's current social development, only moderate and reasonable amounts were permitted by law. But this… this wasn't reasonable at all. This sounded like anything BUT reasonable.
Judging from the sounds coming from the house…it was clear abuse!
Suddenly, as if supporting her thoughts, she heard a woman's voice asking another - the man's - to stop as the neighbors might hear. He did stop, but only long enough for the woman from before to close the front door before the sounds started all over again, albeit a bit more silently.
For a moment Luna was frozen in shock. She didn't know what to do. This had never happened before. Back in the Silver Millennium Corporal Punishment was forbidden. It was unthinkable.
Then suddenly she heard an almost silent plea from a young female voice saying… 'Not the cane. No...please not the cane.'
That did it! She had to act!
Unable to just sit there any longer and listen as an obvious young girl was beaten senselessly, Luna did the only thing she could think of. She quickly summoned a small communications device from her pocket subspace- a small magical tattoo on her right leg that was, in fact, a highly technologically advanced personal doorway to another mini-dimension, a personal storeroom only she, or someone who was keyed into it, could use or access.
Using her paw, she quickly pressed and held down a small button on the device and spoke into it.
"This is Luna, calling headquarters. Code Red, I repeat we have a code red. Please respond, over!" Luna spoke urgently into her communication device.
Almost instantly, another voice could be heard answering calmly from the little device. "This is Artemis, go ahead!"
"Need immediate backup at Point Privet. I repeat I need immediate emergency code red backup. I hope I am wrong, but if I'm not then the princess is currently getting a severe beating by an abusive guardian. I repeat the princess needs help! Her life may even be in danger. Come quickly, over!" Luna relayed the situation to Artemis.
Hearing this, Artemis's demeanor turned frosty serious. If there was one thing he hated, it was abusive parents who abused their children, a fact that was mirrored in his voice.
"Understood, Huntress team Orion is on its way. I'll inform Pluto myself. Expect her arrival shortly. Team Orion ETA five to ten minutes, stat. Luna…protect her at all costs. Good luck, Artemis out!" With that, the call disconnected and Luna dismissed the communication device back into her subspace.
That done, she jumped from the tree and sprinted towards the house. Quickly looking for an open window but seeing none, she did the next best thing: she looked for and spotted a doorbell. Performing a leaping jump, she leaped right up to press it, managing a second later to hit and press the button with a headbutt, thereby allowing the door's alarm bell to ring.
Almost instantly she could hear swear words coming from inside the house as the beating stopped, leaving only the agonizing sounds of the girl's sobbing and whimpering behind.
Luna wasted no more time. As soon as the door began to open she pounced inside, right through the woman's feet, before she even had the chance to fully open the door.
Using her cat senses to pinpoint the location of where the sounds were come from, she began to sprint toward the still-open door.
From there it was easy. Taking only a split second to pinpoint the location of the child and the man she was looking for - a man who was standing aggressively over a bent-over crying young child with a cane in his hand, - she yowled aggressively and pounced, her sharp claws spread out as sharp as miniature knives, aiming right for the man's face.