Series Title: Moon Over Chicago

Created by December Lewis, Chivon Ruddock and Horosha

Written by December Lewis and Horosha

Disclaimer: "Sailor Moon" is the property of Naoko Takeuchi, Kodansha
Ltd. and Toei Animation Ltd. As such, I'm getting no compensation for
writing this fiction other than my own enjoyment and to bring pleasure to
the fans of this wonderful series.

If you have any comments, our e-mail addresses are:

http://V_Bashaw@hotmail.com

http://cemberl@yahoo.com

I also want to thank December Lewis for deciding I'm good enough to work
with her and create this series.   I would also like to thank Amy and
Fate Testarossa for inspiring me once more.

WARNING: Moon Over Chicago is a violent series with adult situations,
slang and bad language. As such, this series is rated R and anyone under
the age of fourteen should get parental approval before reading it.

Interlude 

A tired groan and the rustle of papers came out of the soundproof room
when its door was cracked open by a middle-aged lady in a conservative
business suit. The study room in the library of Northwestern University
was one of several places throughout the Greater Chicago Area
reserved for the state study on public and private schools. Looking
through the thick-panned window in the door, the woman can see a tired
young man with ruffled black hair, his steely blue eyes staring at the
screen of a laptop while leaning back in his chair. It is a chance look
in the direction of the door that brings a smile on his face, "Oh, Doctor
Shabon, you're up late?" 

"Doctor, Darien?" The Asian woman with the petite body slips into the
room, waiting for the door to close before she leans down and lightly
kisses the young man's lips, "Why so official when we know each other on
more intimate terms."

"Because the door was open, Rikomi," the young man returns the kiss with
the same lightness, "and because I broke off our relationship."

"I know but I wish you hadn't," a disappointed sigh comes from the woman
as she pulled over the other chair in the room, her raven hair sliding over
her shoulders as she sat in the seat, "my marriage to Jehu had already failed
thanks to our combined high intellect egos."

"Your daughter hates me, plus you and your husband are only separated,"
Darian's voice is polite, "so it would do horrible damage to your career,
if word got out about your relationship with a student at the university
you're  teaching at."

Rikomi sighed from hearing this old argument, "Ami would've gotten use to
you, everyone knows my husband is now living in Arizona with a girl half
his age, whose career is to make him happy," her  black eyes show she has
resigned herself to the situation, "and furthermore I could always return to
being a pediatrician. With my accomplishments, any hospital in the world
would want me on their staff, so there wouldn't be this teacher-student issue
between us."

Darien turned his seat to face Rikomi, his eyes never leaving her eyes,
"I saw Ami yesterday at her school, the rage in her eyes was so horrible, I'm
sure she would've sent me to the coldest part of Hell if it was in her power." He
saw the petite woman cringed, before he added, "She loves her mother and her
father and anyone who gets in the way of her plans to reunite them is dead meat."

Rikomi sighed again, running her hand through her  hair, "You would think
the genius of my daughter would be enough to show her how futile those plans
are," the long day starting to show in her voice, "the only reason I've not
divorce Jehu is because it would complicate how we would raise her. The last
thing I want is to put her through is a custody battle."

"Love doesn't take a backseat to anything," Darien smiled softly, "it was
why I let you go, Rikomi. I refused to break the bond that is between you
and Ami."

Rikomi's  dark eyes look away from the young man and out at the view of the
campus from the window, "Well, maybe Jehu can talk some sense into Ami
when she goes to visit him during Thanksgiving." She paused for a moment
when she saw the stitches along the bottom of his chin, "I hope my daughter
wasn't responsible for that cut."

Darien blinked before he chuckled, showing a real smile to his ex-lover, "Oh,
you mean this," he touched his chin with one finger, "although Ami might
approve of this wound, it didn't come from her, it was a reward for getting
myself mixed up in teenage love."

"Oh?" Rikomi's expression turned curious, "Did some boyfriend object to
you being friendly with his girlfriend?"

"Nope," Darien leaned his chin against his pressed fingers, "just a girl with
this strange hairstyle and angry blue eyes." When he noticed Rikomi was
smiling and seemed to be waiting for more, he continued, "She was in the
first class I gave out the questionnaire for the study," his smile touching his
fingertips, "sitting next to Ami by the way, and looking very comfortable
with her."

That statement from the young man increased Rikomi's interest big time,
"A new friend?"

"I think so, but I don't know for sure. I don't even know her name until
I pick up the questionnaire tomorrow," he glanced at the pile of papers
from the two other schools he was handling, "but she was bad mouthing boys
in general in front of Ami, so I decided to drop in my two cents."

"And the wound was the result?" Rikomi's tone showed she wasn't sure she
wanted her daughter sitting next to someone who was violent in class.

"No," Darien slowly shook his head, "we traded barbs with her getting in
the last shot by asking Ami what was the Japanese word for moron, which
your daughter happily supplied."

"Happily? You mean Ami actually smiled?" A small smile appeared on the
black-haired woman's lips. Ever since the separation, the mother hadn't
seen her daughter's smile.

"That quick smile of your daughter has refined so well. And no, I got this
cut later when I caught the blonde peeking around the corner of the back
of the gym." His smiling turning lopsided, "you know where the students
go to do their kissing while at school."

"Oh," Rikomi blushed and broke eye contact with her ex-lover, seeming to
be remembering her own time in such a situation.

"Anyway, she put on an innocent act, accusing me of ruining her friend's
first kiss," Darian leaned back as he put his hands on his knees, "and I
told her that I wasn't buying it and even gave her permission to correct
me, which she did with her lunch box."

Rikomi giggled softly, her right hand covered her ruby lips, "So sparks
flew between you two."

"In a matter of speaking," Darien leaned back in his chair, "I will say
she doesn't seem to be afraid of anyone," his eyes shift to the screen of
his laptop, "if I may use your daughter as an example."

Rikomi nodded and stood up, "I better let you get back to your work." It
looked like she was about to kiss Darien but added instead, "Would you
like to go out for a late bite of food?"

A broken smile was a part of Darien's reply, "Too much of a temptation,
Rikomi," a knowing look in those orbs of blue steel, "and I don't want
Ami to be right about me being a home wrecker."

There is heartbreak on Rikomi's face, "I wish it could've been different,
Darien."

"It could've been if you gotten a divorce in the first place but not
now,"  the young man watched the lady open the door, "too much water over
the bridge."

"I understand," she slipped out of the room, "Good night."

Only when Rikomi is gone does Darien's eyes fill with soulful pain. He
stares at the laptop screen until he notices that the door didn't close.
Looking back he saw a FTD man standing there with short-stem red rose in
his hand. He was startled for a moment, which allowed delivery man to
say, "Darien Mamoru Terra-Daniels?"

"Yes?"

"This is for you," the African-American with the afro hairdo held a
single red rose out to Darien.

Darien looked at the rose and then at the man standing before him, "So it
begins?"

The man nods somberly, his green eyes flash with approval when Darien
stands and takes the thorny rose, "A sword to be carried, a cup to be
drank from, and a book to be read." 

A gasp comes from Darien at feeling the thorns of the stem prick his
fingers and thumb, his eyes getting wide as he watches the rose blend and
flow into the wounds. He can feel his soul awaken to a level he had never
experienced before and a flood of knowledge washing into his
consciousness that sent him to his knees. His hands clawed through his
raven hair, "This...hurts!"

"A crown of thorns," the ebony man's voice sounded unearthly, "a heart
blooming."

"Protect...who?" Darien fell onto his side and curls up in a ball, tears
dropping to the floor as the pain grew more intense.

"Your soul already knows, my son," the sound of the door can be heard by
Darien, "let its light guide you."

A click of the door closing can be heard, just in time to prevent anyone
outside to hear Darien scream.
********
A note: 
The telephone in the lab at Northwestern University ringed and a middle-
aged woman with dark red hair picked up the receiver, "Northwestern
University Lab, Doctor Bellamonte's office. How may I help you?" She
listened to the voice over the phone before adding, "I understand, sir, I
will tell him immediately," another pause, "thank you, sir, he is very
interested about the results it will produce as well," she licked her
ruby red lips, "goodnight sir."

The tall woman left the small office to enter the main lab. It is a huge
place, located in the basement of the school's science building and
separated from the lab used by the students. The division not only is a
means to protect the advance equipment from the students but to keep
innocent eyes from seeing the experiments done here. The lady in the
white lab coat seemed to know where the doctor is because it took her
only a few minutes to find the man with the messy mane of white hair,
standing next to another woman dressed in a lab coat, "Professor
Bellamonte?"

"Yes, Professor Kali?" a slight French accent to his words. He turns his
attention back to the technician, "You may go now, Miss Eugene."

"Yes, Professor Bellamonte,"  the technician glanced at the redhead, her
green eyes blaze with emotion to match her orange hair before she left.
The look the redhead gave in return was one of a greater being to a
lesser being.

Once the technician was out the door, Kali joined the doctor, "That was
President Peel on the telephone, Richard," her East Indian accent
harmonized the way she spoke his name, "he wanted me to inform you that
Operation Reawaken can commence as of now."

An evil smile  appeared on the pale man's face, "That is good news,
Kamilla," he used her first name while placing his right hand on her left
shoulder, "it means we will bring about the end product of a experiment
which has been planned for twelve thousand years."

There was a cold fish tone to the man's words but the squeeze of the hand
on her shoulder and the passionate expression on his face melted
Kamilla's insides, causing her to lean a little into his grip, "I'm just
glad to be here to help you, Richard," she paused for a second before
looking up, "but I'm worried about that the  Masters are moving us too
fast on this project," a serious look on her face, "this one appearance
of Sailor Moon could be a deception set up by Sailor V to discover our
plans."

A demonic chuckle came from Richard, "Done worry, Kamilla," he let go of
her and began to walk further into the lab, the redhead following on his
heels, "it is the nature of the beast which tells me that this is the
real thing."

"Nature of the Beast?" the tall woman was taken aback by Richard's
statement.

"The Sailor Scouts are predictable by their goody-goody nature, Kamilla,"
  professor Bellamonte stopped at a huge machine filling the back of the
lab, his coat billowing out as he turned back to his assistant, "they
know human civilization on Earth has reached a critical condition thanks
to the Fallen, as well as mankind's own incompetency."

Kamilla nodded with her own contempt for humans showing in her gray eyes,
"True, our own projections show human civilization will destroy the Earth
and thus themselves within fifty years  and they won't be able to stop it
as long as we are here."

"A selfmade genocide," More chuckling coming from Richard as he turns
back to the machine  pushing a big red button. A deep gurgling sound from
above draws the attention of both to the human-sized glass cylinder held
over twenty feet from the floor by shining metal tubing and panels with
pulsating lights. It wasn't hard to follow the tubing to the many smaller
cylinders with liquids of various colors inside them. The redhead is so
taken by the marvel of the machine that she is taken off-guard by white-
haired man's next words, "Even if this is some plan thought up by the
spirit guides  it will give us a chance to test the prototype against
Sailor V."

The causal way in which the man said those words ran delicious chills 
down Kamilla's spine, , "Is it good to test a prototype against the
Sailor Scouts, Richard?" Her expression showed a great deal of worship
for the professor, "since your daughter will be involved, shouldn't we
refine the combat capabilities with computer simulations before live
combat?"

Another loud laugh came out of Richard, "Don't be absurd, Kamilla, these
Sailor Scout are not even close to the level of those we faced when we
attacked the Moon Kingdom." His hands furiously typed in commands at the
machine's control console, "Up until recently the cultures which
dominated human civilization thought it was idiocy to train women for
combat, believing females are too emotional to be any good beyond taking
care of the home, working in the fields like animals and producing
babies," the tone of his voice heavy with scorn, "as such our prototype
should clean their clocks ," the professor paused his work to look up
with adoration at the large cylinder, barely able to make out the small
figure submerged in bubbling sea green liquid , "for after all you should
fight fire with fire."

Kamilla's eyes glowed with awe at the professor's words but it didn't
stop her from saying, "But your daughter," she moved a little closer to
the man, "to risk her in open combat without knowing the full extent..."

Richard scoffed and  turned to face the woman, "Oh I will know the combat
abilities of the Sailor Scouts by the time the prototype is ready," he
smiled  wickedly, his face veiled most in shadows, the light of the
computer monitors makin the lens of his glasses appear to glow "but why
should you be so concerned about my daughter, Kamilla," her hand slipped
under her lab coat and caressed her tummy through her white blouse,
"after all, I can always make another daughter."

A gasp came from Kamilla and her legs shook with excitement, "Yes....
Richard...."
******** 

A cool late summer breeze came off of Lake Michigan, its breath cooling
off the buildings, concrete and blacktop so only a fragment of the day's
heat could be felt. It being so late in the evening, only a few people
were still awake near in  the old brownstone apartment buildings near 
the old port and none seemed to notice when two costumed figures landed
on the roof of a neglected warehouse, one that would soon be demolished.
The two had slid down a gold heart-shaped chain from one of the apartment
building, over the heavily barb-wired fences and onto the flat tin roof.
The two did make an interesting pair, a slim bodied blonde wearing a red-
white-and-blue costume with a vague resemblance to the school uniforms
worn by Japanese teenage girls, and a equally wiry white-haired young man
wearing an white tuxedo with a black demono  perched on his nose. The
female  wore  a similar mask except hers was crimson lined with pink
rhinestones.

"This looks like something out of an old movie serial," the young man  
frowned as he looked around the cracked and chipped roof.

"You sound positively boring Artemis," the blond teenager smirked as she
skipped over to the warehouse's skylight and looked inside, "besides this
is where our informer told us that firebug kept  his goodies."

"I wouldn't call the Chicago chief of police an informer V-chan," the man
in white knelt by the dust covered skylight, took out a roll of duck tape
and tapped the window pane next to the latch, "after all he is helping us
because of his friendship with that Scotland Yard inspector fan of
yours."

"Police are just like men ," the costumed girl gave her companion a wink,
"even the female ones."

Artemis grumbles at Sailor V's saucy statement while his right fist gives
a quick blow to the middle of the taped glass, breaking it with very
little noise, "You should be more considerate of people's feelings, V-
chan."

"The bobbies  only care about enforcing laws and their pints of warm beer
," her baby blues watch as  her companion slowly removed the broken glass
from the frame, "they forgot what those laws are suppose to do."

The eyes behind the black mask narrowed slightly , "If I remembered right
I had to pledge my body to your  lust," he reached inside and undid the
latch, "to get you to wear that red mask."

"Just your human body, you hunk of spirit guide. especially since I'm not
into furries."

"Have I've ever told you that you have a dirty mind for a Royal ," his
white cape billowed with a sudden chilling breeze as he slipped in the
open skylight and dropped down on a catwalk just a few feet below.

"Many times," her pleated skirt fluffed up as she landed next to him,
"and I keep telling you that I'm the one with the rod up my pussy." 

"The rod up your..." Immediately Artemis stopped  from finishing his
remark. His charge might have a garbage mouth but he didn't, "Never mind,
let's just hurry up."

"Tallyho," A playful wide grin grows on Sailor V's  face as she took the
lead but Artemis used his better dexterity to get ahead by leaping to one
of the hanging warehouse lights to another, his white cap billowing
behind him and the lights swinging barely from his landings and takeoffs
. From her angle the blonde superhero couldn't miss the frown upon his
angelic face, "Why the sourpuss look?" The grace of the costumed girl's
own young legs moving would have left many drooling, "Fur ball in your
throat?"

"I feel like a corporal impersonating a five-star general," he landed
next to the metal stairs leading down, waiting, "whenever I'm dressed
like this."

Sailor V rolled her sapphire eyes as she joined her comrade , "I wish you
would get over this thing you have for this guy," the two went down the
stairs together, "It's sort of gay  and just a little ghoulish to have
feelings for someone who's been dead for... eh... well... forever."

 Artemis gave Sailor V a flash of irritation with his masked face, "Prince
Endymion was the greatest to hold the title of Defender of the Faith!" There was
pride in his voice that Sailor V recognized whenever Artemis spoke of the prince,
"It was only because of his deeds did the title survive the dim and shadows of
the centuries until it was recreated by the Catholic Church and given to warriors
who fought against the enemies of Christianity." 

"A bloody bunch of Popist  poppycock," the sound of high heels and hard
shoes upon concrete announced the two reaching the ground floor, "Though
I will say that white tux, top hat and mask makes you look like the cat's
meow. " Artemis was about to retort when he got a snout full of what he
was breathing  in while they were coming down to ground zero, sneezing
loud. Sailor V waved her hand as she looked at all the broken fifty-pound
bags that were thrown about the place and the piles of white substance
that covered the hard floor, commenting, "What's this?" She pressed her
right fingers into the closest pile of dust-like substance taking a lick
of her forefinger, "Flour?" Her blue eyes confuse, "Did someone plan to
break the Guinness Book of Records for the biggest cake?"

"Maybe someone smug..." the guy in the white tux sneezed again, "smuggled
cocaine in the bags," but then he frowned, "but there is something
about..." followed by another explosion from his nose.

The blonde giggled as she took hold of her comrade left elbow, leading
him toward the enclosed room located under the staircase, "We better get
you inside the office before you air mail your nose back to London."

Once they entered the office, Artemis' sneezing did subside and he tied a
handkerchief around his head, covering his nose and mouth, "I hope this
helps."

"Hope so," the magical girl commented over her shoulder as she continued
to scan the room, spotting  discarded wafer boards, electrical lines and
microchips. She also spotting a number of different gutted cell phones on
the desk located in the back of the room, "It looks like we found our mad
bomber."

"Eyolf James is a high class arsonist," Artemis' muffled words correct
his partner as his eyes spot several large canisters, "who suddenly sets
fire to two youth centers in Chicago in the last four days without
warning or ransom demands."

"Aye, I don't think his bread and circus slumlords  would pay for
something like... that..." Her eyebrows go up at the sight of the yellow
box on a banged up table surrounded by rusty metal chairs, "Baking soda?"

Artemis' head snapped over to look at the table and his blue eyes go wide
at spotting the white tin next to the yellow box, "Run!"

"What?"

The man in white doesn't waste time explaining, he grabbed Sailor V by
the waist and in a quick stride his hand is about to close on the door
handle when he spotted the wires running from it, "Oh-oh."

"My turn!" Sailor V raised her right hand with her palm up, "Sailor V
Love Me Chain!" From the hand a gold chain of heart-shaped links shot
straight up, stabbing through the ceiling and erupting out of the roof to
wrap around a railing near the skylight.  Artemis wrapped his arms around
the curvy blonde's body, his eyes scanning around the room as he tried to
find any kind of timer or what could be a bomb. "Hold on, Kitty!" There
is jerk causing him to squeeze his teammate tighter and the glittering
metal lifted the two out of the room as the insides explode into an
inferno but what came next was even more unexpected; the air of the
warehouse exploded as well.

A whoop of sheer pleasure came from Sailor V as she and Artemis smashed
through what is left of the skylight as a flash of light and air blasting
carried the two several feet above the building. Quickly the man in white
gathered the blonde in his arms and with twists and rolls of his body he
successfully landed on another warehouse without incident .

"That was so cool!" Sailor V grinned wide, jumping out of Artemis' arms,
"Can we do it again?"

Artemis groaned and sat down hard on a vent, lifting his top hat off his
head as he pulled the handkerchief from her face to use it to dried his
brow, "You are..." then her sneezed, looked confused by it until he
noticed the change in color of his partner's uniform, "V, you're covered
in flour."

The red-white-and-blue heroine blinked before she looked at herself,
making a face, "Eww..." she takes out her crescent compact and popped the
lid, scowling at her partner when he chuckled before sneezing again,
"Listen here, Little Boy White," she expression darkened at every inch of
head being white, "I want my fans to see me at my best,"  then she
smirked, "besides you're probably covered in it too."

"Tell..." sneeze "me...." sneeze, "about..." sneeze, "it..."
******** 

Raye was lying on her back at the foot of the altar in the church. The
white cloth of the bridal gown she wore glowed thanks to the bright
moonlight coming through the pentagram window  over the main entrance.
She felt at peace, relaxed, but that didn't mean she wasn't curious about
why she rested on the stone steps , especially when her dark eyes watched
as the main doors creak open and the soft light defined a figure standing
just outside the archway. With footfalls reaching her ears, her gaze
followed the figure coming toward her. She wondered why she didn't stand
to meet this person but for some reason her body wouldn't move. Instead
she noted the richness of the black tuxedo, walking cane in the left hand
and the dignified motion of the tall body surrounded by a billowing cap
although she felt no wind. This produced an impression to her of this
being a man, who  stopped a few feet from her, despite her inability to
see most of his face due to a black  mask he wore.

He stood for several minutes, staring at her and, no words of greeting,
no sound within the church, just the moonlight filling the air around
them. Then he raised his right hand and she could see a beautiful red
rose held delicately in the hand. Her heart skipped a beat, the feeling
of the flower as an offering, the expression upon his lips gentle. Again
she wished she could stand to accept the gift, to blush and give some
words of thanks, yet her body wouldn't do either.

Suddenly there was motion from the red rose. Was it dew trickling down?
Was it a ladybug creeping out? No. It was the petals themselves, before
her eyes the velvety leaves began to fickle and weave upon the thorny
stem. The awe of the sight was quickly replaced with concern as she saw
the man lift the fire flower to his face, his lips look ready to kiss it.
She wanted to shout at him, to tell him not to, to break whatever
enchantment that held both of them, but no matter how strong her
compassion, she couldn't form a single word. She was sure her eyes were
wide with horror, ready to see a face scarred, yet at the last moment,
his hand stopped. He held the tiny flames less than an inch from his
face, her dark eyes saw his mouth opening through the transparent blaze
and in the dead silence she heard him breathe out.

In an instant Raye's vision was awash in orangey-red cone of fire,
everything she saw before had disappeared to be replaced by the
conflagration, its roar of primal hunger came to her ears and its flesh
eating heat made her dark hair dance under her veil. She waited to be
consumed, wondering how long the agony would last before she was
incinerated, but it wasn't to be. Instead she felt her body lifted from
the gray stone, the hot wind sending her hair billowing but what shocked
her to her very soul was the roaring red tongues were doing. No longer
did she wear her virgin bridal gown, instead from neck to ankles she was
draped in elemental flowers of volcanic creation, the petals in constant
motion, the living energy crackling in a thousand voices, yet she was
left unharmed. Out of the firestorm she burst out, her body still
horizontal, fiery petals stroking over her body and cloaking her modesty.
She wanted a moment to absorb what all this meant, yet she didn't have
the time for what she descending upon her took her breath away. 

The church was gone but the moon was still there, full, bright and
filling most of the heavens above her, and in-between there was another,
an angel of ice. Clouds of white fog swirled tight around the divine
figure, giving glimpses of a feminine body, her long blue hair dazzled
with the structure of ice icicles, her face as white as snow, her eyes of
icy oblivion and her lips the color of a mountain lake. Raye felt her
heartbeats within her chest as the distance shrank between them, the ice
angel descending while flame-cloaked girl ascending, her eyes becoming
more fix upon what was held in the supple right hand of the angel: a
silvery short spear.

There was only a few inches between Raye and the angel when they stopped
moving, the divine female hovering above the floating fiery girl. The
raven-haired girl looked up, not sure what was going to happening, the
expression she saw above her showed no emotion, no anger, no love, no
fear, no joy. The angel's pale face was pure cool when she pulled back
her right arm back, raising the short spear above her ice-sculptured hair
and brought it down, plunging the spearhead into Raye's forehead. There
was pain of skin pierced the blood of flesh punctured and the sound of
bone fractured. The arctic freeze of the invading metal in her brain
spread throughout her arching body and a scream ruptured from her wide
mouth, but it wasn't agony she heard, it was rapture.

Raye awoke from her dream, almost rolling out of her bed with only her
right hand grabbing the bedpost to stop her fall, her eyes stinging with
cold sweat as she pulled herself to sitting position, "Lo que siembres
cosecharas ..."

A gentle knock came from her door, "Are you alright, granddaughter?"

"I'm fine, granddad," The raven-haired girl struggled to get a handle on
the emotions raging inside of her.

The door opened a crack, "May I come in?" the Irish lithe of the old
voice showed Patrick Deiria noticed her distress.

"Please," Raye turned on the lamp next to her bed, thinking the comfort
from her only relative in this city would help her.

Raye's lip twitched in amusement at the sight of her fifty-something
elder coming in wearing the threadbare housecoat he brought in Dublin,
the mix once bright orange and Kelly green having faded. He sat down next
to her and his leathery right hand taking her clasped hands, "Another
dream?" She looked guilty at him and he chuckled, "It's alright, lass, I
don't mind being wakened," he leaned over and kissed her forehead,
"although they do seem to becoming pretty lively."

A tint to her cheeks showed the result of her grandfather's words, "I
know..." she hesitated for a moment before adding, "they are becoming
stronger... becoming true," she glanced down, having trouble looking into
his Irish gray eyes, "but I can't tell you why... it... it involves the
confessional."

Bushy eyebrows go up to silvered red hair, "Aye... I see someone else
besides Alithea knows our little secret," his affection showed when he
squeezed her hands.

Raye smiled and she paused for a moment before asking, "Granddad, is it
normal for dreams... prophetic visions... to be erotic?" Rayed quietly,
her cheeks rosy once more.

Patrick reached up to rub his chin, "Well, since I never had dreams or
visions like yours, lass, I can't say yay or nay," his voice thoughtful,
"but my own research has shown visions operate on the receiver's
emotional core," his hand dropping to his lap, "and you have always been
a passionate lass so I don't see why a little honey wouldn't part from
your hive."

"Father!" Raye's cheeks burning bright as she used her elder's title,
which she did whenever her anger was raising. In some way, the old man
thought she did it as a way to channel her temper away from him and
toward the person she hated and blamed for every bad thing that happened
in her life, her father.

"Oh, you mean you didn't notice the musk?" Patrick decided to defuse his
granddaughter's anger.

"Musk?"

"Aye, women sense of smell isn't as sharp as a man's" he used a matter-
of-fact tone, "but I would think the wetness would give it away."

"Wet..." her eyes go wide and her right hand slipped out of her
grandfather's hold, "I..." the hand touched the crotch of her pajama
bottom, "I think I better take a shower and a change of clothes."

"I think so too," he watched his grandchild get up, grab a clean set of
night-ware from her dresser and rush out the room, "See you in the
morning, Raye." The old Irish Priest stood, his knees popping, "I thought
it might be something like that," he murmured to himself as he walked
toward the door, "I haven't heard a girl squeal like that since the first
time me and my departed wife made whoopee."
******** 

Chapter Three: Defender of the Faith Unfurled

First Period: Room 222 Japanese Language Class, Juuban High School 

Molly, Serena and Luna had stayed up for several hours after returning to
their room following the ice cream desserts with their parents and Sammy.
They planned out what they were going to do the next day, Luna making
sure the two teenagers worked out the details in their heads, but at the
same time they were able to get a few more concessions out of the spirit.
It took the combined effort of the redhead and the black cat to get the
odango blonde on her feet when her alarm clock went off the next morning.
Since Molly was being kept from school by doctor's orders, she finished
up on the questionnaire given to them byheir science teacher while
waiting for her friend to get out of the bath, also checking to make sure
Serena had filled her copy out. Thanks to the early morning help, Serena
got out of the house on time without having to rush through her
breakfast, although she did find her nose itched a little at having a
fresh split and bandages applied to it. Her parents made it abundantly
clear to their daughter that she was still going to their family doctor
after school even though she showed no outward appearance of a broken
nose or a concussion. The extra time also gave Serena a chance to pick
out her clothes, dressing in a butter yellow blouse,  knee-length teal
green skirt held to her midriff by cross-crossed straps decorated with
white bunnies and finished off with butter yellow socks and white
sneakers. At the entrance of the school she met Lita and they chatted for
a moment, the petite girl noticed her tall friend was checking her over
before they parted for their first period classes. 

Serena had just sat down at her desk when she spotted Ami entering the
classroom, looked directly at her and came over, "Ohayo, Odango-kun," her
tone had that self-confident ring Serena had come to expect from the Goth
girl.

"Ohayo, Idzumi-kun ," she notices her pale friend was dressed in full-
length purple leather coat, with three top buttons undone to show the top
part of ruffled cyan blouse while her feet and lower calves were encased
in light leather boots of the same color, "I wanted to thank you again
for your help yesterday."

Ami's head bowed slightly but instead of acknowledging the compliment,
she asked, "Do you know how to play chess?"

"Chess?" the odango blonde is caught by surprise, "Ano... hai... I
learned chess in India."

The slight move of her thin eyebrows show the answer did surprise Ami,
"Then would you like to join the Chess Club?"

Serena was both surprised and delighted by the offer, "Hai!"

Ami's dark eyes flash, which the petite girl was starting to recognize
was the only yield to emotion the pale girl would allow herself , "Good,
the club meets during lunch time." The Goth girl watched the odango
blonde blink several times before she asked, "Commitment problems?"

"I planned to eat lunch with Lita... Lita-chan..." she remembered to add
the honorfic to the name.

"No problem," Ami's voice remained calm, "she can join too."

Serena wasn't sure, the emotions in Ami's bottomless eyes looked
different but she couldn't put a name to it. In the two days she has been
around Ami and the reactions from Molly and Melvin, it seemed to suggest
to her of someone who carefully planned things out with contingency plans
on top of contingency plans, "Alright, Lita-chan is going to meet me at
my locker so I'll fly it by her before I give my final decision."

Another thing Serena noticed was how Ami kept her neck covered all the
time, this time with a ruffled neckerchief of the same color of her
blouse, but before she would ask about it, the pale girl caught the
odango blonde off-guard, "So ka, Odango-kun wa te o kakete, ran o
sodatete imasu ne?" With that the teen headed for her seat.

Serena watched Ami go to her desk before the petite blonde grabbed her
Japanese-American dictionary, "Damn! Leave it to Idzumi-kun to wrap a
clue in a mystery." When Mr. Takei  entered the classroom, he was both
surprised and pleased to see Serena's bandaged nose press to her opened
dictionary, looking at it and at a pad of paper while she wrote.

Third Period: Room 322, Biology Class

Serena had picked The Hobbit from the list of books her English teacher
had given her yesterday and made a quick trip to the library to check out
their copy. She hadn't read the book before although she knew about it
and watched the animated version of it, liking the music created for it.
Once she reached her biology class, she gave Ami a puzzled look as she
came up to sit next to her classmate. She was still having trouble
figuring out what Ami meant with those last words before the first period
class started, and the look of superiority the pale girl returned to the
odango blonde showed she knew it. Serena had worked out what the Nihongo
word meant but she was still having trouble with the meaning. She knew
the word, hands, was probably an idiom but for the life of her she didn't
know what Ami meant by orchids .

"Hey, Serena."

"Oh, Melvin," Serena looked up at the boy with his bottle-bottom glasses.

"How is Molly doing?" Serena closed her dictionary at Melvin's question.

"She's doing well, Melvin," she noticed the bulge of the cellphone in his
skirt pocket, "although I would think you already knew that."

Melvin looked sheepish, "Well, you know, Molly," he had his laptop up and
running , "she never wants people to worry about her."

Serena smiles a little wider, "Don't worry, Molly ate almost as much as I
did for breakfast." Then she noticed Melvin had the questionnaire out,
"Oh, I better get mine and Molly's out so I don't forget to turn them
in."

The bell ringed and Andrew's voice drew Serena's attention, "Please take
out the questionnaire and..." her baby blues spotting Darien sitting next
to the standing science teacher, "Serena, would you please gather them
and bring them to my desk?"

"Okay, Andy!" Serena bounces to her feet with hers and Molly's
questionnaires in her hand. She went to each student, smiling and taking
the stapled papers from them before she returns to Andrew, the ruffle
sound of the neatly shuffled papers being placed on the teacher's
hardwood desk, "Here you go, Teach."

"Thank you, Serena, but please call me Andrew when you..." from the
corner of her eye Serena's train-of-thought is derailed by the glare
coming from Darien, losing the rest of her teacher's words. She returned
the expression with spades, her eyes almost glowing with glee at the
sight of the bandage on the man's chin, at least until her teacher
coughed. She blinked at the break of concentration, hearing from Andrew,
"Darien, from the looks you and Miss Guerisser are giving each other and
the bandages on both faces, do I assume you two duked it out somewhere?"

Serena spotted raven-haired young man's jaw tighten at the almost
bullseye by his friend, "I was taught never to hit a girl," Darien
scolded at the odango blonde, "although I might make an exception."

"You asked for it, mister," a shark's grin on Serena's lips, "you even
pointed at where I should hit you," then her baby blues spot what Darien
is wearing, "and why the tux? You going to some fancy dance ball?" The
tuxedo the young man wore wasn't from some rent-a-tux either, the blonde
could tell from the lack of diminished color due to constant washing. The
midnight black, the glitter of silver buttons on the double breasted vest
and the polished perfection of his shoes spoke of it being custom made.

"You could say that," Serena frowned at the vague answer from the man in
black, but before she could fire back a smart ass answer, Andrew motioned
her to go back to her seat. With a parting stare she turned on her heel
and went back to her seat. Once more she noticed the nasty look on Ami's
face at the exchange of words between the trio before it disappeared
behind that gothic mask. This was starting to get her blonde radar  going
big time but she just wasn't sure how to go about to find out if there
was a history between the two. 

Lunch Period

Serena was surprised to find Lita already waiting at the blonde's locker,
"That was fast Lita," she bit her lower lip before saying, "Mind if we do
something besides eating?"

Lita's green eyes flash with curiosity, "Depends on what it is, GF,"  she
grinned, "although I do have to tell you that despite where I live, I'm
still a virgin."

Eyes go wide, ears perk up and a few of the surrounding students half-
turn, "Whoa, too much information!" Serena blushed, pulling out her 
lunch and shutting her locker,  "Why I'm asking is because Ami invited me
to come to the school's chess club and they meet during lunch and I
wanted to see if you might like to go too."

"Well.... I could seduce you with my chicken pot pie and chilled orange
sherbet  to make you forget about anything so anal as chess," Lita almost
giggled at the drooling look coming from Serena at the mention of food,
"but I'll relent and go with you.




My parents  wanted me to play chess but I couldn't stand just sitting
around, moving pieces on the board and hitting a clock," Lita fell in-
step with her blonde friend. When the ebony teen spotted Serena's nervous
look, she asked, "What does chess mean to you?"

"A way out of poverty," Serena answered simply as she spotted Ami
standing by the door of the Mathematics Class.

"Oh... How?" This time Lita sounded very interested.

"I don't know about here in the United States, but in the big world chess
can get you out of a whole lot of horror," Serena's tone showed she was
perked up by Lita's change of attitude, "boys and girls can write their
own tickets by becoming masters at chess."

"No jive ?" Lita's reddish eyebrows lift.

"May a lightning bolt make me twin," Serena grinned up as they joined
Ami, who's owlish expression showed she heard the last part of the
conversation, "you should see five-year-olds playing with sixty-year-
olds." 

"Hey, Ami," Lita's attention switched to the Goth girl, "is Serena right
about chess being a big game outside the US?"

Ami's expression didn't change but Serena noticed a sparkle in those dark
eyes that never left the odango blonde's face, "The current retired grand
master, Gary Kasparov, is a major political force in Russia as well as
very wealth, including his own commercially successful computer chess
game." Then she looked up at the redhead, "are you thinking of joining
the club, Lita?"

"Now I know you're jiving  me, Ami," Lita held up her lunch box, "but are
there any rules where I can't watch you and Serena play while I'm
eating?"

A rumble came from Serena's tummy as a plea and Ami's tiny smile curled
her black-coated lips before nodding, "No rule against watching and
eating," she turned and led the two into the room.

The first thing Serena noticed, besides the numerous chess sets placed on
bunched up desks,  was the fact there was only three girls in the room,
her, Lita and Ami. Her ears pick up a mumble from Lita, "Now why do I
feel suddenly naked?"

"We're ready for you, Shabon," the arrogance in those words drew Serena's
baby blues to three guys up front where six desks were pushed together
and three chess sets put together, "just remember the bet you..." the one
speaking, the middle one with the pierced left eyebrow, then looked at
Lita and then Serena, "Oh, I see you brought a couple of small brains as
witnesses."

"Small brains?" Serena blinked and then blinked again when she heard
Lita's growl, "What's this small brain stuff?"

"I haven't seen this fox here before," the one on the left commented, the
waving one of his hands in front of his face showed off his multiple gold
rings, "but her uniform suggests she's from Saint Mary's School for
Snobbish Bitches."

"Eh?" Serena hadn't really looked that closely at Lita's clothes, the
black blazer worn over a plain white blouse and black shirt going down to
her knees along with white ankle socks and black shoes. The blonde even
missed the ripped threads where once a school emblem would have been,
"Does he mean Raye's school, Lita?"

"Another reason I don't like chess," Lita's green eyes burned bright in
her ebony face, "full of Richie Riches who don't know about things like
saving every penny and nickel or not throwing away perfectly good
clothes."

"I'd bet the one with the wooden nose could be a cutie if she dump the
crazy hair," guy with the gold braces in his mouth commented from where
he stood on the right. His blue eyes shifted from Serena to Ami, "Is this
your attempt to make your own clic in the club, Ami?"

"Well, it would take two small brains to equal one big brain," the one in
the middle spoke again, his brown eyes show nothing but contempt for the
girls, "but on the other hand we could use more members just so we have
backups for tournaments."

It didn't take any more comments for Serena to figure out what small
brains and other rude words meant, "Lita, I think we should find another
place to eat our lunches."

"I'm ahead of you, GF," but instead of moving backward, Lita had edged
forward to protective position just in front of Serena.

"Furthermore I am resigning from membership with the club," Ami clasped
her hands to her stomach, "I recently found the climate here eroding to
my chess skills," the words were delivered so smoothly that Serena
momentary surprise was replaced with suspicion.

"Hey, one fucking minute," the boy with the rings made a grab for one of
Ami's arms, "we had a be-" he stopped when Lita grabbed the guy's
outreached hand by the wrist, "Fucking let go of me you nig-" he let out
a gasp of pain when Lita's hand tightened.

"What was that, white bread?" Lita gave another squeeze which produced
another gasp of pain and a fury of curse words from the boy. Serena
watched the ebony teen scan the other two, making sure they weren't going
to butt in before she opened her hand, "All bets are off. Clear?"

"Crystal..." the boy with the injured wrist whispered out, holding it
with his other hand, "but you three are asked for a whole lot of
trouble," his pain laced eyes lock on Ami's calm expression, "Get out of
here, freak."

Ami turned on her heel and headed for the door with Serena next and
Lita's covering the rear. This was totally unexpected by Serena but there
was something about Ami's expression that got the blonde thinking and
wondering if this was all planned out by the Goth. She drifted back just
a little, whispering to Lita, "Did Ami know ahead of time that we were
eating lunch together?"

"Yeah," Lita showed a thoughtful expression to Serena, "you thinking what
I'm thinking."

"Probably," Once out in the hallway, Serena spoke up, "Now what, Ami. You
going to set up your own chess club?"

"Can't," Ami stopped and waited for the two to reach her, "the school
only allows one chess club."

"We could set up another gaming club," Lita nodded her head toward the
staircase leading to the roof, "I'm willing to join despite not liking
board games."

"Yeah... a different gaming club," Serena chewed the inner side of her
lower lip, wondering if the rooftop might still stink of what she did
yesterday, but she headed in that direction, "a girls only club?"

"Won't the vice-principal get on our ass about that?" Lita pointed out as
the three started going up the stairs, "Unconstitutional and all that."

"The chess club can be used as an example of abrasive male environment
where teenage girls can't have good clean fun," Ami followed the other
two, "and we could select a game very few actually play but can be easily
taught."

Silence followed for the rest of the journey before they reached the
stairs, "What about Go?" Serena asked with a billion dollar smile on her
face.

"Go?" Lita echoed as she opened the roof door, "Never heard of it?"

"You wouldn't, Lita, Go is highly competitive board game in China and
Japan," a touch of a frown at the corners of Ami's lips at the brightness
of the September day upon the roof, "but outside of those countries only
a few play at a non-professional level, although its popularity has grown
recently."

"I learned to play Go when my family was in the Tibet and from what my
teammates told me," Serena noticed Ami made a beeline for one of the
umbrella-covered tables, "Go has existed as long as chess but because of
China's purposeful isolation, it didn't spread."

"It reached Japan when Asian pirates established homes on those islands,"
Ami sat down at the table with Lita and Serena joining her, the redhead
slowly nodding her head, "since then Go hasn't made any inroads because
of the popularity of chess and Western board games, plus the culture Go
represents, China and Japan, hasn't been impressive until the last thirty
years."

"Sounds interesting," Lita was about to ask how easy it was to learn how
to play Go when she got a peek at Ami's lunch box., "That's a lot of
sandwiches!"

"I like sandwiches," Ami calmly commented, her lunch box a simple blue
workingman lunch bucket, "I fix them in the morning and snack on them for
the rest of the day."

"Don't you eat with your mother, Ami?" Serena asked as she pulled  out
her red apple,  using a small knife to cut it in thirds.

"My mother works most nights," Ami's expression showing a hint of pride,
"and when she isn't working, she is doing volunteer work at the free
clinic."

Serena smiled at how those good vibrations from Ami seemed to be
spreading to Lita, "So, Go uses a two-colored checkerboard with two sets
of colored stones, black and white," she rides those feelings with her
description, "and unlike chess pieces, the stones have the same abilities
so the objection of the game is to take and control territory by placing
the stones on the lines of the boards in a pattern," she gave Lita and
Ami a piece of apple, "black is given three points because white goes
first and there are four key points on the board where you can build your
pattern from."

Lita kept glancing  at either Serena or Ami as the two took turns
explaining Go, "It sounds more complicated than chess," she smiled a
little as she pulled out  plastic containers and opened them, "and more
interesting."

"It's actually very easy to learn and like chess, timers are used in
tournaments," Serena noticed Ami pulled out a container of grape juice
while the pale girl spoke, "but unlike chess there are various strategies
you can use to capture your opponents stones if he or she isn't careful,
although it could be a trap by your opponent to distract you from his or
her goal."

"True," Serena cut her sandwich in thirds, "skill levels is more
determined by strategy and concentration than by execution of a offensive
pattern known by all," Ami noticed what Lita and Serena are doing with
their food, dividing it into thirds and giving parts to the others to
each, getting her to follow suit and share her food with the others, "so
except for the four points, the combat between black and white can be
different from board to board."

"Combat" Lita's eyebrows go up, "I know chess is like a rumble but so is
Go?"

"Yes, Go is based on Chinese strategy and tactics," Ami waited for the
others to be ready before she picked up a piece of food  and took a bite,
her owlish eyes blinking and then the corners of her lips perk, "so think
of the stones as fortresses being built upon territory claimed by
opposing rulers, who are trying to keep the territory they have taken but
at the same time they each are trying to reduce the control of the
other."

Lita ate but Serena could tell by the way her friend was leaning forward
in her seat that she was hooked on the idea of the club, "Okay you got
me, but who is going to be president?" her gaze shifted between Ami and
Serena

"I'm unranked," Serena sighed before looking at Ami, "How about you,
Ami?"

"I'm ranked third in the United States," the jaws of the other girls
dropped from hearing this, "and I prefer Go to chess, where I'm ranked
tenth in the United States, but there wasn't a Go club nor anyone
interested in starting one."

"So who's going to be doing the legwork for this new club?" A mild look
of dismiss on the ebony face, "I can't because I'm already involve in a
lot of after school activities at my church and I'll probably be involved
in the school's women basketball team once that gets going."

"I'm limited by my need to maintain a high level in my studies so I can
achieve my goal of entering Oxford University," Ami added her two-cents
between bites of food , "Thus I'm limited to giving minimum time for the
club."

Serena grinned at Lita, "Don't worry, Lita, since this is my hair-blonde
scheme," Lita grinned a little wider at the pun while the blonde gave Ami
a Gracho Marx  look, "same for you, Ami, I can get Molly to help me with
designing, printing and handing out flyers." The odango blonde giggled at
her own humor before she paused for a moment to think, "Where and when
should we have the first meeting of the Go Club?" Then she noticed Lita 
looking over the roof edge, "Something catch your eye?"

"Sorry, GF," Lita grinned embarrassed at Serena, "I thought I saw Raye
down there?"

"Oh..." it was Serena's turn to look over the roof edge, "Where?"

"There," Lita pointed with a sandwich wedge, "by the fountain."

Serena looked at the fountain in the square and it only took her a moment
to spot a raven-haired girl dressed the same way  as Lita, it also took
her a second to note something else, "It looks like Raye is looking for
someone."

"Indeed," Ami commented as she joined the two lookers. Raye's head was
turning left and right as she walked clockwise around the fountain.

"Shit!" Lita halfway got out of her seat as she dropped the sandwich from
her hand, "she doesn't see them coming."

"Uh... what..." then Serena saw what Lita spotted, the three boys from
the chess club,  heading in a sideways path toward Raye, "why are they
going after her?" Not getting a reply, the petite blonde glanced in
Lita's direction and then locked in that direction when she found Lita
not there. She did see Ami pointing behind her and pointing to the roof
door and seeing Lita dart in. 

"Wait for me!" Serena took off after Lita, already hearing the thunder of
feet on stairs. Snowballs chance in Hell, Serena knew her chance of
catching up with Lita matched the old saying, especially at the sight of
those ebony legs taking the steps  three at a time, " Lita! Don't break
your neck!"

Despite Lita's recklessness, Serena did close the gap between them on the
stairs, probably all those times she played tag with her little brother
over fallen trees and crumbling rocky paths, but when the redhead hit the
ground floor first, it was like watching someone do a one-minute-mile.
Serena didn't have much choice, she followed her friend down the hallway,
breaking the rules of no running in the halls and praying the hall
monitor wouldn't catch her. She lost sight of the crimson ponytail when
the tall teen crashed through the doors , the petite blonde going through
the same doors two minutes later.

Serena slowed as she came out into the daylight as her baby blues adjust
before she caught sight of Lita halfway across the school square, but she
caught sight of the three boys around Raye, the three towering over the
raven-haired girl, who frowned at them. Raye's frown turned into surprise
and a shout when the guy, the one who suffered at Lita's hands, shoved
her backward at the shoulders hard enough to send her stumbling
backwards, her arms wind-milling. So close yet so far, she could even see
Lita slowing, knowing the redhead couldn't save their friend from a
watery doom. This focus, this narrowing of vision by Serena stopped her
from seeing anyone else so she was startled in a good way when the
glittering, bubbling background behind Raye was replaced by darkness, the
teenager impacting against a tall figure, two strong arms, gloved hands,
enclosing around her. A blooming smile appeared on Serena face only to
turn into a scowl at recognizing Raye's savor, Darien Terra-Shields.

Now confronted by a college student in front of them and noticing Lita
had renewed her charge, the three boys shattered in different directions.
It wasn't hard for Serena to see Raye and Darien exchange words. She
spotted the grateful expression given by the nun-in-training, which was
rewarded by a modest smile by the young man. Serena even noticed how
reluctant Raye was to leave the protection of her rescuer's  embrace. A
sour look was upon Serena's face by the time she reached her friends,
even with Darien already leaving, "Are you alright, Raye?"

"Yes..." Raye's cheeks were rosy and coupled with her gaze having trouble
leaving the back of the retreating Darien, she gave both Lita and Serena
an inquiring expression, "What just happened? Those three boys seem
pretty angry at me after they asked me if I was Lita's friend and I
replied yes."

"I'm sorry, Raye," Lita sighed as her hands carefully held Raye's hands,
giving them a gentle squeeze, "Those boys slammed you because of me."I
sort of helped one of Serena's friends against them."

"I see," Raye smiled, squeezing Lita's hand in return, "then it was a
worthy cause."

"As for the guy who saved you, well, I would just forget about him,"
Serena bitched, "the guy's a real creep."

"But Mr. Terra-Shields saved me," Raye blinked several times at Serena's
harsh words.

"Even a bandit can act like a white knight," Serena blistered out, "if he
thinks he can get something out of it."

"Well, you are a hot chick in that uniform, girl," Lita's teasing sounded
like she was trying to take the edge off of Serena's own tone.

Raye blushed at Lita's compliment but she gave Serena a puzzled look, "He
didn't seem the nasty sort when he spoke in front of our science class
about the university project."

"Well..." Serena didn't really want to tell the nun-in-training what she
did to Darien, but her glancing gaze looking for comeback spotted her
hook, "if you don't believe me, just ask my friend, Ami. I don't know why
but she seems to think of him as something on the level of cat dodo."

"Oh?" Raye turned to follow Serena's line-of-sight. Serena began to raise
her hand to wave at Ami but never finished. First came the gasp followed
by the odango blonde staggering under the weight of the raven-haired
teenage, the nun-to-be swooning and clinging to Serena's arms, those
fingers digging into the balls of her shoulders and Raye's warm breath
filling the petite blonde's ear, "Behold the pale messenger... her body
shrouded by wings of ice." 

Sixth period (room 124 Algebra class)

The incidents of lunch period left Serena's head in jumble of thoughts
and emotions and she found herself going through her Home Economics class
on autopilot, doing  the same thing for Physical Education. She had
expected to see Mina during the last class but found the other blonde
wasn't there. Lita was worried by what looked like Raye's near collapse
and Ami's penetrating gaze showed she was curious too, but the nun-in-
training smiled and waved off all concerns by saying she tripped. It was
clear to Serena the raven-haired girl didn't want Lita to know about her
visions, knowing their tall friend was intelligent enough to figure out
who those images were about. So Serena smiled and nodded, accepting
Raye's apology with grace. Now Serena was searching for the room where
her Algebra class was located. Thanks to the first day assembly and her
ill-timed encounter with a volleyball, her schedule of classes had been
truncated; and, since there was a state law that physical education
classes were required for all high school Freshmen and sophomores, Juuban
High cancelled the only period where there were no gym classes scheduled,
sixth period. Serena was already a little worried about the class; math
wasn't her strongest subject, and trying to concentrate after rushing out
of gym would most likely prove to be difficult.

Just as Serena settled into her desk, the teacher walked into the room.
Tall, with red hair pulled back into a loose ponytail and flashing green
eyes, the teacher looked approachable while still conveying that she was
no nonsense.

"Good afternoon, everyone, and welcome to Algebra. Or welcome back, to a
few of you. My name is Hattie Smith and I will be your teacher. You may
address me as Ms. Smith. And, before anyone asks, yes there is a Revered
Smith who is pastor of a church in the area. Yes, he is my ex-husband.
And yes, I would prefer he was never mentioned in this class or in my
presence."

As she was introducing herself, Ms. Smith had been walking around the
room. As she reached a desk in the back right of the room, she pushed a
set of boots, attached to a student's feet, off of a desk. "Mr. Heming. 
As you are repeat offender, you should know I do not tolerate feet
propped up in my class. Or sleeping in class."

"As I was saying," the teacher continued. "This is Algebra. This is also
a required course for graduation. Now, I am available for after school
help and I can put you in touch with tutors, if you need them, BUT I
expect you to work hard in this class as well."

Ms. Smith continued her monologue, walking around the classroom. Just as
she was about to take role, she stopped at a desk to Serena's right.
Sitting at the desk was a girl with chestnut brown hair who seemed to be
a little distracted.

Clearing her throat, Ms Smith tapped on the student's desk. "Excuse me.
Your name is?"

"Oh!" the girl turned to face the teacher, clearly startled. "Scarlett. 
Scarlett Arnold, Ms. Smith."

"I see," Ms Smith said. "Well, Miss Arnold, this is Algebra, not
Chemistry and not a restroom. I'll have to ask you not to put on makeup
in my class." As the student nodded and closed her mouth, a popping sound
was heard. "And you can spit out your gum while you are at it," Ms. Smith
added.

After Ms. Smith had finished dealing with Scarlett, she returned to the
front of the room and began to take roll. All through class, however,
Serena kept finding herself looking over at Scarlett. She wasn't sure of
what to think of her classmate. She sported what seemed to be a great
summer tan the girl was showing off in a tight, mid-rift baring blouse
and mini skirt. She also seemed to working more at flirting with the guys
in class than paying attention to the teacher. But, she had smiled in
Serena's direction, and there was something about her.

But, before Serena had much time to think about her classmate, the bell
indicating the end of school rang. Knowing that she had promised to meet
Lita after school, she quickly gathered up her things and left. She made
a mental note to ask Melvin about Scarlett tomorrow.

********

Location: Heaven's Crown Center

Serena was relieved once school was over and she was picked up by her
mother in their SUV, with Molly along with them with a large bamboo-
weaved bag next to her, a bag was large enough to carry a black cat with
the weave loose enough to give both air and light. The lunchtime events
had given her lots to think about and she wanted desperately to talk to
her redheaded friend and her Spirit Guide, but she knew she had to wait
until after visiting the doctor. Molly greeted her friend from the
backseat while Ilene kissed her daughter's cheek as the blonde sat in
front. It was a thirty minute ride to their new family doctor, Dr. Jola
Stone. The examination only took a couple of hours, X-rays and prodding,
with the white-haired old woman of thirty years of experience reporting
the nose was never broken, saying the school nurse probably overreacted.
All three women smiled, thanked the doctor for making time for them, paid
the bill and left. Of course Serena knew her nose was broken and it was
healed miraculously by Raye. How? Serena believed it was her friend's
role as a priest, the raven-haired girl's representing Christ on Earth,
able to heal the body and the soul and to forgive sins and  to have
visions of things hidden.

"We're here, sweetie."

"Eh?" It took a few seconds to get Serena back to the here and now,
"Thanks, Mom!" A kiss on the cheek and the odango blonde quickly slipped
out of SUV followed by Molly, "We'll make sure to be home for dinner,"
anticipating her mother's reminder.

"Alright, Serena," Ilene gave a knowing smile before she looked at Molly,
"I'm depending on you to keep her word, Molly."

"I will... Ilene ..." the redhead wearing a pink jumper giggled at the
put-upon look Serena gave her mother.

Once the SUV disappeared from sight, Serena turned to Molly, "How is Luna
doing?"

Molly's eyes sparkled as she opened the bag hanging from her right
shoulder,  "I lined the bottom of the bag with a cat blanket," there was
no mistaking the snoozing out of the black cat, her small satin body
curled and her tummy moving slowly up and down, "I think we should let
her sleep until we can get that room from Andy. What do you think?"

"Luna can't really help us so I see no harm," Serena straightened as
Molly closed the bag, "but are you sure we can sweet talk Andy and his
sister into letting us use the room?"

"Only one way to find out, Serena," Molly moved toward the entrance of
the Royal Crown complex.

The last time Serena was inside of the entertainment complex, she hadn't
known about the private karaoke rooms located next to the first floor
bathrooms, where the arcade center was located on the other side. The
entrance to the movie section was located on an elevated platform that
could be reached by a short staircase or wheelchair ramp once you paid
for your ticket at the ticket booth positioned in front of them. After
the movie the family watched on Saturday, they had gone through the twin
glass doors to enter the Heaven's Crown Creamery. The sandwiches were
simple but very tasty.  It was the ice cream creations that even after
the intervening days still made Serena's tummy rumble with desire,
causing Molly to giggle and Serena to blush, "Down, girl," the blonde
rubbed her tummy, "business first, treat later."

"Hi there Andy!" Molly's greeting helped Serena spot Andrew sitting
behind the cashier booth for the arcade center.

"Well-well, nice to see you, Molly," the young man looked up from the
books and papers he had spread out over the glass and metal of the booth,
"I see you are well enough to play hooky."

"Please, if I had a choice I would've been in school today," Molly
playfully let the tip of her tongue to stick out, "but the nervous
neilies at the hospital want me to rest for the rest of the week."

Andrew chuckled as did Molly, making it pretty clear to Serena the two
were old friends, "I'm glad you are doing better," his gaze shifted to
the blonde, "and I see a lack of bandages on your part, Serena."

"Yep!" Serena lightly rapped the side of her head, "Knock on wood!" That
got more sounds of amusement from the other two.

Andrew relaxed even more as he lean back in his seat, "So did you two
want to play an arcade game or see a movie," his smile got a little
bigger, "I would suggest the creamery but I don't know if my sister
recovered from the last time Serena was in there."

"Hey!" Serena stomped her right foot, "It wasn't that bad, it was just a
banana split."

"Yeah, the Celestial Bull," Andrew's smile getting bigger and bigger,
"and Lizzy told me in a dazed state of how you down it in five minutes."

Molly burst out into laughter and then Serena heard a muffled giggle come
from the bamboo bag hanging from her friend's shoulder, "What's this,
Pick-On-A-Blonde-Month?" Truly with the way September had started, this
blonde was starting to wonder about that.

"I'm... I'm sorry, Serena," Andrew got control over his humor, "but from
what I witness between you and Darien, I would think you can give just as
good as you can get."

Serena frowned at the mention of the satin black-haired man, but Molly
opened her mouth first, "Andy, I was wondering about how things were
going with booth number seven?"

"Don't ask." He slumped more when he notice Molly's expression showed she
wasn't going to take that as an answer, "We just spent two-thousand
dollars to replace the music system inside of it after it caused a hair
raising experience for the last group to use it."

"Hair raising?" Serena blinked a couple of times.

"A group of girls used the booth the last time," Andrew nodded slowly,
"and someway, somehow, the music system produced a substantial charge of
static electricity."

Serena's eyes widen, "They got jolted?"

"Let's just say their skirts cling to their shirts, blouses and tank
tops," the expression on Andrew's face told he wished the circumstance
wasn't so dire, "crackling sounds was coming from inside their pants or
panties."

Molly blushed and Serena tried to hide hers by glancing into the arcade
center like she was scoping out the games, it took a couple of minutes
for them to get the image of those revealed girls out of their heads
before the redhead asked, "What happened afterwards?"

"My Dad gave each girl a year pass and gift cards before they signed
legal papers so their parents couldn't sue us," Andrew ran his right
fingers through his hair, "but this is just the last in a string of
accidents involving number seven since we added those karaoke rooms."

"Geez, sounds like the number seven isn't so lucky," Serena peeked
between the books and papers on the booth to look at the prizes for the
arcade games.

"I'm sure no one will use number seven," Andrew's tone spoke of resolve,
"already we had clients come in a wait for one of the other rooms to free
up instead of using it."

"What if someone was to rent the room on a monthly basis," Serena heard
the cunning in Molly's voice was when she made the offer, "do you think
your father would accept such an offer?"

"Let see...." Clearly Serena wasn't the only one who spotted the gleam in
Molly's eyes, "I am in charge of the arcade as well as the karaoke
rooms," his smile showed it, "but Dad will want a reasonable rental so I
really couldn't give you that much of a discount, Molly, despite me
knowing you such a long time."

"We're quite willing to work here," Molly cleared her throat at Serena's
interruption. "Well, we are, aren't we, Molly?"

"I think Molly wanted to do a little bargaining," Andrew chuckled, "and
use you working here as one of her chips."

"Oh..." Serena gave Molly an apologetic look, "Sorry, Molly."

"It's alright, Serena," Molly sighed as her gaze  shifted to Andrew,
"What about it? Part-time work, in exchange for a monthly rental of room
number seven?"

"Have either one of you held a job before?" Andrew rubbed his chin.

Molly shook her head while Serena said, "Well, I was offered one a couple
of times in India but Dad told me I was too underage for that kind of
profession." 

Fly-catching expressions was Serena's reward from the other two before
Andrew commented, "Okay...." he shook his head to clear his thoughts
before continuing, "Dad does believe young people should learn how
business works from the bottom up so I don't see any problem both of you
working here."

"What hours?" Molly leaned forward a little, giving Andrew a flirting
look.

Andrew laughed a little at Molly's teenager attempt to influence him,
"Turn off the sex, Molly, I know Melvin is your boyfriend."  Then he
blinked a little, "By the way, where is he?" The college man looked
about, "I wouldn't think he would let you out of his sight after what
happened."

"Melvin couldn't get out of the first meeting of the Science Club this
school year," Molly did sound disappointed, "since he is club president.
"

"Cool!" Melvin's stock kept going up and up by Serena's opinion, then the
odango blonde shifted back to Andrew, "So about our offer?"

A serious expression returned to Andrew but both girls could tell he was
trying not to smile, failing, "What about ten hours a week?" His smile
got bigger at the eager nod from both, "That way you get some pocket
change plus discounts and the job won't have a big impact on your study
time," then his voice turned serious, "but you will have to work
Saturdays." Pouts were their reaction to the last word but when he didn't
relent, they both nodded, "Then you're hired."

Both girls grinned and hugged each other followed by Molly asking, "When
do we start."

"Well first you both need to fill out job applications while I call Dad
and give him the lowdown on the deal for his approval," Andrew pulled up
the job application forms and a couple of pens followed by his cell
phone, "and even after that we'll need to work out a contract between you
two and Heaven's Crown."

"Okay!" Twin shouts of glee coming from the girls and they dived into
filling out the forms.

Halfway through the girl's paperwork, Andrew spoke up while he held the
cellphone to his ear, "Dad just approved the deal," he listened some more
before adding, "He wants me to handle it since I'm in charge of this
section."

Serena and Molly nodded, followed by another fifteen minutes of intense
pencil-pushing before each gave back the job application forms,
"Finished!" 

"Good," Andrew accepted the forms from both girls before he took a form
from a printer and put it down in front of the teenagers, "Here is the
contract." The heads of the blonde and redhead touched as they read the
form, carefully studying it before they each took turns signing it. When
the blond young man put his signature on it, Serena and Molly bounced on
their toes and hugged each other, not noticing the gasp coming from the
bamboo bag being compressed between the two teens. "Why don't you two go
see the place you just took responsibility for?"

With key in hand, Andrew led the two girls pass the bathrooms and down
the hallway where the booths are, each with a number over the door. Upon
entering the room with seven over the door, Molly blinked hard while
Serena let out a squeal, "It's just like a Japanese one!" 

Indeed, there was a huge and very expensive karaoke machine fixed to the
left side of the room with a LCD monitor for various uses, from grading
performances to watching videos to viewing television; in fact Serena
spotted a keyboard under a monitor probably to allow the user to create
their own music videos. Of course there are several cordless microphones,
each in their holder upon an oblong table located in the middle of the
room, and finally the seating was a long curved sofa of bright blue upon
black steel legs, the same style as the table. There were strobe lights
located at each corner of the room with multiple-colored lens along with
tall corner speakers. Following Molly further into the room, Serena felt
her feet sink and looked down to notice the floor was covered by spongy
white matt.

"The rubber matt is meant to make it easier to clean," Andrew answered
Serena unspoken question, "and the walls and ceiling are covered with
easy clean paint."

"The ceiling too?" Molly asked while she bent down to look closer at the
brand name of the karaoke machine.

"You'd be surprised how high a drink can spatter or food thrown," a
knowing tone coming from Andrew as he came up the rear. He paused for a
half-a-minute before asking, "So how you like it?"

"It's groovy!" Serena bounced around in the middle of the room.

"I second the motion," Molly giggled at the blonde's enthusiasm, "can we
use it now?"

"With all the paperwork done, I don't see why not," he motions at the
surroundings before holding his hand out to the girls, "Welcome to the
entertainment business."

"Thanks!" Serena shook his offered hand.

Molly shook Andrew's hand after Serena,, "So when is our first day of
work?"

"Saturday, five p.m.," Andrew switched to a business-like tone, "I will
need you to bring written permission from your parents and I'll need your
measurements for your uniforms," a touch of a smile on his lips, "Dad
likes to have his employees wear a custom made uniform so they can work
in any part of the center."

"Gotcha, Boss Teach!" Serena nodded as she picked up one of the cordless
microphones, "I'll be here with bells on my toes!"

Molly giggled a little more, "Same here..."

"Then I'll leave you two to get acquitted with your room," Andrew headed
for the hallway, "Hopefully you guys can break the jinx."

"Me too," Serena shivered a little at the prospect; she really didn't
want an accidental meeting with static shock.

Andrew was about to close the door behind him when he said, "Oh, the door
doesn't have a lock so you should keep things in here PG unless you don't
mind an audience."

Serena gave Andrew a hurt look while Molly groaned, "Andy!"

"You'd be surprise what teenagers think they can get away with here,"
Andrew closed the door.

There was a paused of activity in the room ended by Luna poking her
black-furred head out of the bamboo bag hanging from Molly's arm, looking
about, "So this is our new headquarters?"

"Yep!" Serena put her hands on her hips, "You like it?"

Luna hopped out of the bag with little effort, "It looks okay," she peeks
under the sofa, "doesn't seem to be any rat droppings."

"Okay?" a letdown tone came from Serena, "Our headquarters is a teenager
dream, Luna."

"Not mine, Serenity, I'm more into silk, goose feathers and oak," she
went under the table, "this is like a Roman Consul visiting a German
chieftain's camp in the wilds of the Black Forest  after living in the
Eternal City of Rome."

Serena muttered something about spoiled furballs while Molly covered her
smile with her hand, then she cleared her throat before saying, "The
karaoke machine is top of the line."

"Then we go to phase two," with those words Luna's form became an image
of translucent sparkles, then it begun to grow, larger, fuller, and in a
few heartbeats Luna is standing before Molly and Serena in her humanoid
form, her long, tumbling curly black hair caused her porcelain skin to
glow like moonlight. You could have heard a pin drop, so soundless the
room, Serena felt so enchanted by Luna's beauty and the gasp from Molly's
direction reflected the same feelings. Luna opened her eyes and checked
out the canary yellow dress, "Do I look good enough to be mistaken for an
American?"

Luna's professional tone pulled both girls out of their daze, "Eh... yes,
Luna," Molly answered.

Serena then spotted the oblong black case in Luna's dainty hands, "Is
that the moon crystal you told us about, Luna?"

"Yes, Serenity," Luna walked over to the kaoroake machine, "although
calling it a moon crystal does make it sound too much like a piece of
magic than a complex scientific device," she put the oblong box on top of
the entertainment center and opened it, "I just hope the different
technological level of this," inside the box Serena and Molly saw a
transparent eight-sided or octagon crystal that looked like it was built
by smaller and smaller versions of itself until the last one was too
small to see, "isn't too great to merge with this," she motioned at the
what the box was sitting on.

"Only one way to find out, Luna," Molly sat down on the sofa and picked
up the largest pillow she could find within reach, "what worse could
happen than a city wide power outage."

At the mention of possible consequences, Serena realized they might have
forgotten something, "Luna, what about the Fallen?" She looked deep into
the Spirit Guide's golden eyes, "Could they detect the moon crystal
power-up or trace its signal."

"No, when the sky kingdoms fell, their destruction also destroyed the
culture the Fallen had used as their pawn, thus sending themselves along
with human race back into the depths of ignorance and superstition," Luna
looked away from the large crystal as if its existence was a reminder of
a task left unfinished, "nor do the Fallen supernatural abilities give
them the capacity to sense the creations of sky kingdom science," the
glitter of her long polished fingernails showed her stroking the clear
crystal, "but I am pleased you asked that question, Serenity, it shows
you have an deductive mind." At this moment Luna turned to Molly, "What
of you, Molly Eve? Once I active this ancient relic, there is no turning
back for you either?"

Serena's baby blues flash with anger at Luna's question, thinking they
had already gone over this subject the night before, but her own protest
was stopped by a look from her redheaded friend. Molly smiled and faced
Luna, "Luna, I know you think little of me as an aid in the holy war you
are taking Serena...Sailor Moon into, but I do have a question for you."

Luna's long lashes flow as she blinked, "Which is?"

"Could it be by your stubborn reluctance to include me," Molly kept her
voice soft, "you might be denying the destiny given to me by God?"

Serena smiled at the surprised look upon Luna's face, both knowing Molly
was flinging back at the Spirit Guide the argument used on Serena to
accept her destiny. Those amber orbs stared deep in emerald eyes before
three words whispered, "Let it be."

Was it the words or Luna touching the moon crystal in a certain way?
Whichever was the cause a sparkling glow appeared in the center of the
octagon object before the shine slowly spread to filling the transparent
structure with a soft glow. Serena felt the hairs on the back of her neck
raise at the soft sigh she heard at the crystal descended into the
karaoke machine, seeming to pass into the device of plastic, silicone
chips, wires and power supply. What followed was described on the local
evening news as a brownout, a power flux of unknown origin causing the
lengthy flickering of lights and the rebooting of many-many electrical
devices. As to what the moon crystal was doing to the insides of the
karaoke machine, Serena could only guess and a quick glance at Molly told
the blonde her friend was wondering too. Only when beams of light came
out of the corner strobe lights and converged in the center of the room,
the white incandescent core taking on a three-dimensional form of
humanoid mass;  a woman crowned with lunar bright hair. Only then Serena
understood the transformation of the simple earth device. To Serena, the
woman held the same embodiment of elegant femininity she saw in Luna. In
the lost past some Michelangelo or Raphael created this image of the
perfect female body, the clothes she wore looked like something from
China's Chin Dynasty, colors of white and pale yellow with trappings of
silver, yet the material so wispy it did nothing to hide the light brown
tan of her full-figured body. Her eyes so blue even the upturned horned
moon upon her forehead couldn't break the enchantment those pools reign
in Serena's thoughts. In fact it wasn't until the teenager noticed what
style the newcomer's hair was in that the spell broken.

Odango-style.

"Luna!" Serena wheeled about on the startled Spirit Guide, "You told me I
wasn't royalty!" She then pointed at the equally startled woman standing
on the table, "Then why does her hair copy my hairstyle?"

"Serenity," Luna hissed as her own cat-ear buns flattened , "you are
being impolite."

"Listen, furball," Serena leaned forward, "I want a better answer than
one of my ancient ancestors was a refugee."

"Serenity, I would think your teenage shop-til-you-drop nature would
recognize a trend when you see one," Luna leaned too, their noses almost
touching, "and odango hairstyle was a trend half the women in the Moon
Kingdom indulged in!"

A chime-like giggle cut off Serena's retort, "I see God has given us an
interesting Sailor Moon." The white-haired woman turned and held her hand
out to Molly, "Child, could you help me down?"

"Of course," Molly blinked out of her daze and took the hand with one of
her own, blinking even more as she helped the lady to the floor, "Ooo...
I can feel you... but I thought you are a hologram."

"I am, child, it would take too much energy to solidify my body and it is
not necessary at this point in time," she smiled gently at Molly and gave
the redhead's hand a little squeeze, "what you feel is an electrical
stimuli of the nerves in your hand."

Serena straightened while Luna's form shifted to her cat form and jumped
onto the table, "Lady Selene, I am glad you are still functioning," a
sigh of relief coming from the black animal, "your inactivity made me
worried."

"Selene?" Serena knew that the use of the moon crystal was to make
contact with what Luna described as a super computer existing under the
ruins of the Moon Kingdom, at least a hope to make contact, "That name
sounds familiar but the only Selene I know is the singer from Mexico."

"The name should be familiar to you, Lady Serenity, since it is the name
of the Greek moon goddess  as well as the name of the co-founder of the
royal family of the Moon Kingdom, Selene Serenity." She giggled again at
the hot glare Serena gave Luna, who rolled her amber eyes, "And yes, I
have examined your DNA chain and family history," the depth of her blue
crystal eyes made her look so wise, "and I have come to the conclusion
your ancestor is from the Moon Kingdom with a 55 percent chance you are a
surviving member of the royal family."

A shit-eating grin  appeared on Serena's lips, a look of putting one over
Luna, but then her eyebrows went up, "Examined?" The clogs spinning
inside her blond head, "You were able to hack into the internet in the
few seconds after Luna activated the moon crystal?"

Selene shook her head, "No, Lady Serenity, when you first used the
transformation wand, it sent a sample of your DNA to me and I analyzed
it."

"So you have been active since her use of the wand?" Molly asked, still
holding the hologram's hand and marveling at the feel.

"I have been active since Sailor V was awakened," A sad expression
appearing on Selene's ivory face as she looked down at Luna, "and I have
come to understand you and Artemis have been having one of your
differences of opinion on that subject."

Luna looked down, mortified, "Yes, Lady Selene."

"Please try to be patient with him, Luna," Selene slipped her fingers
under Luna's chin and gently rubbed it, "both you and Artemis scored
genius level on your scholastic tests but like most geniuses, you both
have ideas on how to solve a problem."

"Geniuses..." Serena felt a little proud,  having been selected by Luna.
Her baby blues gained a curious look, "Selene, can I ask some questions?"
She drew the attention of the black cat and the hologram, "I know we
don't have much time today but there are a few things I'm curious about
that I haven't asked Luna."

"I will answer your questions, Lady Serenity, but first," she turned her
attention fully on Molly, "Lady Molly Eve Baker, I don't know why Lady
Serenity let alone Luna are allowing you to be here, but I presume it is
because you know who is Sailor Moon, correct?"

"Yes, I know Serena is Sailor Moon, she saved my life," Molly felt the
weight of her words on her young shoulders, "but even more I want to
help, I believe God is calling upon my generation to save the future and
I can't let Sailor Moon and the other Sailor Scouts be the only answerers
of that call."

"Your parents should be very proud of your decision, Lady Molly," Serena
saw the air ripple between Selene's face and Molly's face, the hologram's
eyes flashing sky blue followed by Molly's eyes glowing neon green,
"Catch her."

It was a lightning move by Luna, her cat form going to her humanoid form
in mid-air as she leaped from the table, sliding under Molly's falling
body and let out an oaf as the redhead collapsed in her arms. Looking
down at the shaking body in the Spirit Guide's embrace, Serena's own eyes
flood with anger, "What did you do to MOLLY?"

Selene looked over her shoulder at Serena, "For Molly to use the wand
given to her by Luna at maximum effectiveness, it was necessary to alter
her body and DNA." The hologram knelt next to Luna, "Lady Molly, can you
hear me?" A shaky nod came from the redhead, "You are now a Guardian,"
her pale hand reaches across raven-haired woman and strokes Molly's
sweaty forehead, "your duty is to protect the secret identities of the
Sailor Scouts and their families." Molly's expression changed from
confusion to weak delight before her eyes close and her body relaxed
against Luna, "She will sleep for a while as her body finish its
transmutation." Selene turned back to Serena, "I'm sorry if my action was
so abrupt but my source of power isn't infinite."

At seeing how sincere Selene was, Serena nodded and even smiled, "I think
Molly would've been disappointed if you hadn't." She moved over to Luna
and looped her arms around Molly's calves, "Let's put her on the sofa,
Luna." Luna nodded and helped to lay the redhead upon the sofa with the
Spirit Guide's lap as a pillow. Serena then turned to Selene and she was
about to ask the first of her questions when her gaze caused her shyness
about the hologram's lack of underwear to kick in, "Eh... Selene," the
blonde blushed, "could you make your clothes less see-through."

More chime giggles and in a blink of an eye Selene's clothes were solid
in weave, "Now for your questions, Lady Serenity."

"Yeah..." Serena composed herself before asking, "Were the Spirit Guides
created by God and how much have they and the Sailor Scouts changed over
the centuries?"

"Yes, the Spirit Guides were created by God," Selene smiled at Luna, who
gently combed Molly's crimson hair from her forehead, "and they have
changed over the centuries just as the Sailor Scouts have," her voice was
gentle, "some of the existing Spirit Guides are the offspring of unions
between Spirit Guides, both Luna and Artemis are from such unions."

Serena's mind became more interested due to Selene's answer, "How many of
the original Spirit Guides remain?"

A sad expression appeared on Selene's face, "Only three are left," her
crystal blue eyes take on a distant look, "unlike the Sailor Scouts, the
Spirit Guides are vulnerable to the contrary exposure of time and the
continuous hunting of them by the Fallen," a spark of anger flicker in
the hologram's eyes at the mention of the Fallen, "two of them you most
likely will meet but the third one has withdrawn from the world, its
grief at the lost of so many comrades and friends has left it unwilling
to bear any more pain."

Sympathy stabbed into Serena's heart and to avoid more bad feeling, she
turned her attention to another question, "Luna mentioned an earth
kingdom used by the Fallen to bring about the destruction of the sky
kingdoms."

"Yes, Pacifica, or at least that is how the name would be translated into
your tongue, Lady Serenity," Selene raised her right hand, palm up, and a
ten-inch blue globe appeared above it. "what remains of Pacifica you call
Australia and Southeast Asia." Her tone once more becoming sad, "But
Pacifica wasn't a desert or a chain of islands, it was once a land with
an inland sea of immense size and freshness, immense forest of giant
trees, high tech farms and cities built on artificial islands."

"Did the people of the sky kingdoms come from Pacifica?" Serena kept
glancing down at Molly every so often.

"Yes at first, the drive exploration took the first people of Pacifica
into space and to establish the first outposts upon the Moon and the
planets," Selene nodded, "but the ebb-and-flow of politics and public
attention upon these first settlements, forced these first astro-settlers
to become independent and this self-efficiency drove their science."

"You mean Pacifica took for granted their colonies?" Serena guessed. 

"Correct, Lady Serenity, they established settlements in what became
China, Egypt and the Middle East, becoming involved in something similar
to what happened here on this continent," Selene frowned, her voice
showing disapproval, "the native population becoming servants, slaves and
farmers for the Pacifica born rulers." The pale woman paused for a minute
for her words to sink in before adding, "By the time Pacifica turned
their focus back to space, those space colonies weren't any more, they
were independent kingdoms, able to support each other as well as offer
goods and services Pacifica could only get from them."

"What happened?" Serena had a bad feeling what the answer would be.

"A single pebble dropping into a pool." Selene glanced down at Luna, her
eyes very sad, "The people of Pacifica and their leaders could barely
stomach the idea that their neglect and hunger for new lands caused the
space colonies to become the sky kingdoms. They couldn't understand why
the people of the sky kingdoms and their leaders felt resentment at being
maltreated by them," suddenly her tone turned icy, "but what really
turned Pacifica's hubris attitude into anger and loathing, the pebble,
was the birth of the Sailor Scouts in the sky kingdoms."

Serena heard two gasps and sort for the source of the other, finding
slits showing Molly's green eyes, "How you feeling, Molly?"

"Like I have a front row seat at a progressive heavy metal concert," her
words groaned out more than spoken, "I think the drummer is using my
skull."

Luna began to gently massage Molly's temples, "The transmutation can be
very painful, Molly Eve," the Spirit Guide kept her a whisper, "I'm glad
a headache is your only suffering."

"Thanks...." Molly let out a positive sound as Luna's fingers work their
magic, her teenage eyes closing, "please... continue... Selene..."

"Alright," Selene smiled at the prone girl's pain being soothed by the
loving care of the Spirit Guide. "To understand the outrage of the people
of Pacifica at the birthing of the Sailor Scouts amongst the populous of
the sky kingdoms, I will need to give you some religious background of
the nation," her expression a little regretful, like she knew she was
about to go into a subject most people find boring.

Serena sat at Molly's feet, looking up at the hologram, "Go on, Selene,
I'm actually curious about this subject."

"Very well but let me know when it gets too much for you," Selene cleared
her throat, "The first book of what is called the Torah, Genesis, only
contained a thimbleful of the early history of the religion given to
Abraham by God, in some ways this was a second chance for the rebirth of
direct worship of him by Adam and Eve and their descendants."

"A rebirth?" Serena interrupted, "Like how one of the names for God,
Elohim, is plural in Genesis?"

"Correct, Serena," Selene leaned against the table, "From the history of
the Garden of Eden, Adam, Eve, their children, the Fallen and the Sailor
Scouts, a religion grew where God wasn't worship directly, it was even
considered a sin to even mention his name even in prayer, and so you had
the development of a religion with God as a godhead while aspects of him
was worshipped under different names."

"Sounds similar to what I saw in India," Serena's hands upon her knees,
"the Hindu's gods and goddesses representing different parts of the
godhead."

"It reminds me of that dualistic religion of the Persians," Molly added
weakly, keeping her eyes closed, "Zoroastrianism I think it's called."

"The religion of Pacifica remained monotheistic instead of becoming
pluralistic or dualistic as what happened to those two religions,"
Selene's hands held the edge of the table, "but a major part of the
religion was the worship of the Sailor Scouts as God's appointed
protectors of the children of Adam and Eve."

"Like the worship of the saints and Mother Mary?" Serena's fingers
squeeze her knees.

"Yes," Selene leaned a little forward when she spotted a frown on
Serena's lips, "Is something wrong, Lady Serenity?"

Serena sighed, looking down a little, "I just don't like the idea of me
being worshipped like those Sailor Scouts were," her frown deepened, "I
can understand it happening, I've read several biographies of the saints
so I sort of understand how it could happen," she shrugged a little, "I
just don't see myself as saint material that's all, kind of makes me feel
like a pretender, a fake."

Serena heard a soft, protested groan  followed by a hand touching her
shoulder. She looked up and found Molly had struggled to a sitting
position, "Don't worry, Serena, I'm sure those saints thought the same
thing."

"Really?" The bright-eyed surprise on Serena's part showed she didn't
consider that possibility.

"Sure," Molly winced at the volume of her own voice, "besides I think
Luna will keep your head from swelling up too much," she painfully looked
over her shoulder at Luna, "right, Luna?"

"Right, Molly Eve," Luna smiled at Molly and then looked at Serena, "I
will double my efforts to make sure Serenity won't get big headed."

"Jezz..." Serena grinned wide, "you guys are all heart..."

Serena couldn't finish her statement due to a knock on the door followed
by a feminine voice, "Molly, are you and your friend still here?"

Serena's eyes go wide and she waves her hands to get everyone's
attention, "We'll meet here tomorrow," she looked at Luna and then
Selene, "Okay?"

Selene smiled and nodded, her form fading into nothingness, "We can begin
your training then too."

Serena blinked at the idea of training and turned to Luna, but the Spirit
Guide had already changed into her cat form and made a beeline to the
bamboo bag. Molly got in a more comfortable position on the curved sofa,
saying feebly, "We're still here, Lizzy."

The door opened a crack and then was pushed slowly wide by a foot with
Elizabeth carrying a tray with two ice cream sundaes, three scoops each
with whip cream crowns and chocolate ribbons, "I'm glad you two are
here," her brown eyes matching the cute smile upon her lips, "I wanted to
treat both of you to a welcome aboard desserts."

Serena's smile turned into a big bad wolf grin, "I think my sweet tooth
is going to like working here."

Molly giggled at the way Serena picked up the spoon and dug into her rich
delicacy "Thank you, Lizzy, I hope you and Andy won't regret having us
here." 

"Of course not," Elizabeth tucked the tray under one arm, "you were the
best kid I babysit, always ready to do your homework, take your bath and
go to bed," her shoulder-length brown hair frosted with rusty red, "the
only thing I think I'm going to have to worry about is your friend's
bottomless stomach."

Molly and Elizabeth giggled while Serena winked, "Could be!"
********

Location: Room 222 Japanese Language Class, Juuban High School

Friday rolled around and by the first period class Serena was on pins-
and-needles. Her baby blues kept glancing over at Ami, the pale girl
wearing another of her gothic creations: a violet English riding dress
with equally dark purple leather knee boots, pale purple ruffles where
the skirt ended just above her her ankles. The pale girl was typing away
on her laptop, her bottomless blue eyes watching the teacher and seemed
to be taking down the oral exercises when the students did them. Once the
school bell rang, Ami slightly inclined her head when the blonde nodded
to her. They both stood almost at the same time with Serena saying,
Takei-sensei, can we have a moment of your time?"

"Hai," the teacher's old eyes watched as Serena and Ami came to him.

Ami's expression remained aloof, making Serena a little nervous when she
asked, "Me and Ami and a few of our friends and other students are going
to start a Go club and we were hoping you would be our teacher
supervisor."

Takei's expression became thoughtful as he took his time studying each
girls face, "A Go club?"

"An all girls' Go club," Ami clarified, "I was a member of the chess club
but found the male members lacking in maturity."

"They're a pain in the ass," Serena knew she wouldn't forget what those
three boys did to Raye.

"The girl students here need a club where they can compete in an
international game," a drop of acid in Ami's tone, "without harassment
from boys."

Those eyes in Takei's Asian face hardened at the mention of the treatment
experienced by Ami and Serena, "Hai, I can understand such occurrences,"
then a thin smile appeared on his lips, "so I will be your teacher
supervisor for the Go club."

"Awesome!" a flash of a smile appeared on Ami's face at Serena's cheer,
her dark eyes saw the blonde pull a sheet from her backpack, "Takei-
sensei, do you think you could do something for the club?"

"Oh?" Takei blinked at Serena's eagerness.

"Yes," she handed the sheet to the teacher, "Me and a friend of mine
worked on this flyer all night." The white sheet had a Go board as
background with the printing overlapping, pleading for female students to
join the club. "Could you use the school printer to run off some copies
so we can spread them all over school and some of the hangouts?"

Takei took a moment before replying, "I believe this can be done,
Serena," a concern look appearing on his weathered face, "but have you
thought of where you would like to have your first meeting? You might get
more lookers than actually ones wanting to join so you might need a large
meeting place." Both girls looked at each other before shaking their
collective heads, "What about the old Levy Center ? The place is about
one hour walk from the school."

Serena liked the idea but was a little worried, "Can we get it on short
notice? I was hoping to have the first meeting Monday." She pointed at a
spot on the flyer, "See, we left a spot where we can put the date, time
and location."

"I'll call," Takei looked over the flyer, "and if it is available, which
one of you should I page ?"

"Me," Serena touched her  chest, "Ami is going to be the commander-in-
chief while I'm going to be an elite scout!" The grinned wide, looking
back and forth at the thoroughly confused looks other two faces, it took
a moment for her to realize what she said, "Ah...I mean Ami is going to
be club president while I'll be club vice-president." The puzzled looks
cleared so the petite teen added, giving the teacher a CD disk and a
piece of paper with her cell phone number on it, "Will fifty copies be
alright? I can get a few of our friends to help post them."

Takei nodded slowly before glancing at the wall clock, "You two better
hurry to your next class. I will let you know soon about the hall."

"Takei-sensei ," both girls bowed and departed as befitted their
personalities.
********

Location: Fountain Square, Lunchtime

Takei contacted Serena by cell phone to report the Levy Center would be
available for the Go club recruitment meeting, even revealing the guy
running the place was an old army buddy when the teacher was a three-
stripped sergeant in Vietnam. Serena smiled and turned to Ami and Lita,
"Well, it looks like we got our club up, I just hope there are enough
girls here interested in Go to join."

"Don't worry, GF, I'll help you get those flyers out," Lita held a
plastic container in one hand and a fork in the other, the aroma of black
bean sauce arising from it, "which reminds me, how many playing sets do
we have?"

"I have three sets I can donate to the club," Ami used chopsticks to
daintily take a bite of piece of glazed roasted pork. She chewed slowly,
swallowing before saying, "This is very well done, Lita, the texture and
taste is very much like pork."

"Yeah..." Serena picked up once more her share of their lunch, "I didn't
know going vegetarian could taste so good!" She picked up her own fork,
pausing for a second to add, "I have three sets I can bring if Mom allows
me to use her set."

"Ah... come on, sisters, you're turning my head," the wide smile and
blush upon ebony cheeks showed Lita taking the compliments to heart. She
used a moment to eat some of her food before she continued, "I hate to
say this but if we really want our club's recruitment drive to work, we
might try to get a popular girl to join," her expression showed she
didn't like the idea herself, "while Ami is well-known she isn't popular,
you're totally new, Serena, and I'm a transfer from Saint Mary's so my
rep is limited to those into women sports."

A frown appeared at the corners of Serena's mouth as she took a sip of
her milk, she knew Lita was right and with her hand coming down , she
spotted a tight knot of girls sitting at a stone bench and table on the
other side of the square from where the threesome sat, "Hmm... maybe one
of those girls would like to join."

Lita looked over her shoulder while Ami looked around the tall redhead.
Those emerald eyes belonging to the tall teenager spotted each girl of
the group wearing a canary yellow ribbon in their hair. "Go get them,
GF," Lita grinned very wide.

Serena was too eager in getting into her backpack to noticed Ami's mild
puzzlement nor the wink Lita gave the goth girl. Molly helped her print
out several copies of the flyer so the blonde pulled out one of them,
scribbling in with a black marker the time, date and location of the
first meeting, "I'm off!" Her first stride carried her from her friends,
a nod from Ami and Lita trying to cover her grin with a fork loaded with
food was their response. The odango blonde noticed the yellow hair
ribbons the girls sported and she even spotted the very baggy white knee
socks they wore, what many viewers of anime mistaken for leg-warmers wore
by Japanese school girls, but her keenness to get her feet wet in this
venture kept her going. "Excuse me?" Those yellow-ribboned girls turned
to face her and while the curious looks from some of them was something
the petite girl expected, it was the hostile looks, bordering on
possessiveness, which caught her off-guard, causing her to take a step
back, "Ah..."

"Yes, can I help you?" 

The voice echoed inside of Serena's memories, coming out of the blinding
fog of pain and loathing she experienced two days before, a feminine
quality yet brash, boyish in tenor. The rampaging of emotions left
Serena's voice as fragmented as she felt inside, "Would...would you..."

"Girls, please part."

A name, Serena could remember there was a name connected to that voice.
What was it? Was it...was it...Alex? The girls gave the odango blonde a
wary look, very reluctant to move, the wall of blue jeans, skirts,
blouses, shirts, flesh and colorful hair opened slowly to reveal a figure
sitting with a stone table before her. It took a moment for Serena to
really see the person seated there, a face of healthy continents, very
short blond hair in a sporty style, high cheekbones, prominent nose,
gentle lips and a Kirk Douglas cleft chin. The faded green shirt looked
old, baggy, washed often, covering her shoulders and arms with the rest
of her body hidden by the table and the lunch boxes and bottles covering
it. There seemed to be a staring match between the two blondes before a
clearing of a throat got Serena to say, "You are... Alex Kennedy?"

A manly smile appeared on the person in question, "Yes, and you are the
one I carried to the nurse's office a couple of days ago," amusement in
those blue eyes, "Serena, right?"

The feelings Serena experienced being carried upon Alex's back, how nice
it felt being carried by a supple yet muscled body, the flowing gait of
the run from the gym to the nurse's office, but then she saw the looks of
some of the girls standing around Alex go from hostile to green-eyed
jealousy and a couple of them even looked like they were about to burst
into tears. These daggers of negativity Serena was getting from them
burst her bubble, causing her to hold up the Go club flyer by the upper
corners, acting like she was trying to hide behind it, "Eh... Alex... do
you think your friends might like to join a Go club?"

Questioning looks spread over the girls faces but not Alex, who folded
her arms and leaned back, "A Go club? Interesting, but why just my
friends?" Alex glanced around at all the roses surrounding the seated
youth , "Why not me?"

"Umm..." Serena didn't want to insult Alex, not after what the youth had
done for her, "you see..." she shook the flyer like a bullfighter does
his cape, "it's a girl's only club."

"Oh?" Alex smiled a little wider, "Then I say again, why not me," she
held her hands out, palm up, "I'm a girl after all?"

Jaw-dropping shock plastered upon Serena's face, triggering a cascade of
giggles  from all the girls around Alex, the odango blonde was even sure
she heard Lita's high-pitched laugh, making the girl shut her mouth with
a loud click and her cheeks rosy. Then she noted Alex had stealthily
unbuttoned her shirt when she unfolded her arms, the rumpled slit between
the folds of cloth revealed what look like a sport bra and the slight
valley between the breasts hinted at the smallest mounds she ever saw on
someone of Alex's age. When the laughter faded, the short-haired blonde
licked her lips, "It's okay, kitten, almost everyone thinks I'm a boy
when they first meet me and I sort of get a kick out of how long it takes
someone to find out the truth," her blue eyes glitter, "it can get even
more funny if they meet my twin brother."

Brother? Twin? Serena blinked several times before she made the
connection, "Gilbert?"

Serena was really surprised when Alex slowly clapped her hands,
displaying fingers with blunt, unpainted fingernails, "I see someone has
told you about me and my brother," those sapphire eyes looking behind
Serena, "Did you, Alithea?"

"Nope," Serena glanced over her shoulder to find Lita standing close
enough for the petite girl's left shoulder to almost touch her tall
friend's very ample chest, "and Alex, its Lita."

The teeth in Lita's correction  reminded Serena of the last exchange
between the two athletic girls so to head off another such an encounter,
the teenager asked, "So, Alex, you want to join our Go club?"

"I don't know, kitten," Alex ruffled the back of her head, "I'm involved
in women sports and I'm on several of the boys practice squads," Serena
noticed a hoodedness  in the lean blonde's gaze, a pretense to
reluctance, "so I'm not really sure I'll have the time."

Serena nibbled her lower lip, already believing she knew a way to get
Alex to join, if Molly was right about what the Kennedy twins were doing,
"How about a kiss from me, Alex?" She noticed the boyish girl's relaxed
look slip a little, "It would be my first kiss."

"Holy Shit!" Lita's shout caused Serena to cringe, making her look even
smaller next to the tall mass of black, "GF, he's ...she's not worth your
first kiss!" Lita waved dismissively at the grinning butch blonde. Serena
noted the mixed reaction of the girls around Alex, the temperature of
jealousy going up for some while others having expressions of envy.

Alex stood up, her kaki pants so baggy that only her wide black belt
around her narrow midriff kept them up, "First kiss eh?" Serena couldn't
miss the way those sapphire's eyes was scrutinizing her as if she was in
her birthday suit, "Probably means you don't know how to even pucker
right."

Pride. There was so many things Serena knew she couldn't do, she wasn't
sure about being Sailor Moon despite the support coming from Molly, Luna
and now Selene, but there was a few things she thought most girls should
be able to do naturally. She heard a huff coming from Lita, "Full of
yourself aren't you, Alex," she felt a hand, probably Lita's, touch
between her shoulder blades, the ebony youth continued, "forget this..."
Nope, that wasn't in the odango blonde's plan, which was made clear when
she deliberately stepped forward, Lita's hand slipping from her back,
pushing through the girly crowd to leave her nose to chest with the
boyish girl.

'Jesus H. Christ, how tall is she?' Serena's eyes went wide. Alex stood
head and shoulders above the groupies around her, taller by a good eight
inches than Lita , and here she was, four feet eleven inches of bouncy
blondness, having to look up at what she found to be a very fine-looking
face, even bishonen in an anime way if it wasn't for the fact Alex was a
girl, 'She does have a twin brother and all of those other brothers and
only one sister, maybe that's the reason she looks so much like a boy?'

A smirk lined Alex's lips, her eyes seeing Serena standing so close to
her, seeming to hesitate. She turned her head, her legs binding slightly
as she began to lean down, "Virgins, got me doing all the..." the boyish
girl didn't even get a chance to look surprised when Serena stood on her
toes, wrapped her arms around Alex's neck and yanked her head down into a
smothering kiss.

Serena was using everything she could remember from watching movies all
those winter nights up in the Yukon, all those black-and-white classics
with the passionate kisses, because she wanted to make Alex eat her own
words. She meshed her lips against those other lips, slowly turning her
head to rub her mouth against the other mouth. She was even feeling a
little giddy at catching Alex by surprise, but she was also enjoying the
feel of the short hair her right fingers comb through, enjoying the light
scent of jasmine coming from her skin. It was only when she felt Alex
responding, feeling those lips opening against her lips and the tip of a
tongue licking just the inside of her mouth, did Serena break the kiss
off. Serena couldn't miss the looks and sounds of dismay coming from the
groupies, and then there was a dazed look on Alex face, the expression
causing Serena to gasp out, "How...this...virgin...do?"

Alex licked her lips, tasting the apricot flavoring of Serena lipstick
smeared there, taking her time to recover her senses from the soft yet
firm assault upon her butch nature, "I'll say you got basics down pat..."
a lopsided smile appearing, "you're going to be scary after you get a
some more lip locks under your belt." 

Serena giggled while Alex looked about her, "Alright, girls, it looks
like I'm joining the Go club," she pulled out a plain white handkerchief
, "anyone coming with me?" Serena gawked when all of the groupies raise
their right hand, despite the jealous or envious looks they were giving
the odango blonde. Alex bent down and picked up the flyer from where
Serena had dropped it, "So when are the rest of the flyers going to be
ready?"

"Oh... eh... I'm suppose to pick them up from Mr. Takai after school,"
the effects of the kiss was starting to catch up with Serena, her cheeks
blushing at all the envious and outraged attention she was getting, "at
the school office...fifty copies."

Alex nodded and lifted her eyes to the group, saying, "You heard her,
girls, we meet at the school office after school," to Serena there was a
charismatic quality to the boyish girl's pose, "I'm sure we can
distribute fifty copies without any trouble," her tenor voice strong,
"Right?"

"RIGHT!"

The outburst from the girls around Alex caused Serena to back up quickly,
her eyes blinking as she felt her backside bump into another, obvious
feminine body. Two hands clamped onto her small shoulders and slowly turn
her around. She wasn't really surprised to see it was Lita moving her
with those strong ebony hands. She half expected a disapproving look on
her tall friend's face, Serena having used her first kiss to bribe Alex
and kissing a girl on top of that. Instead she saw two green pools
rippling with humor which matched her words, "So this is what happens to
sisters who live in the land of the midnight sun?"

The moon was barely bigger than Serena's baby blues , vigorously shaking
her head as her mouth rapid-fired,
"ImnotintogirlsLitaIwantagorgoushunkofmanbutIknewAlexandhistwinbrother...
" 

"I was just teasing, Serena," a few muffled, flustered sounds came from
the petite blonde, "Ami told me about the contest," Lita kept her hand
flat to Serena's mouth as the blonde look to one side and saw the goth
girl had joined them, "so we're cool, GF."

Serena nodded and Lita's hand dropped from the blonde's lips, allowing
the petite girl to pout, "Am I so black and white?"

"Is Martin Luther King Jr. black ?" Lita chuckled softly before she
looked at Alex, "You heard her, Alex?"

"Too bad, she going to melt her future boyfriend's lips," Alex shrugged
but Serena noticed the girls around the boyish girl weren't disappointed.
Then the short-haired blonde moved forward and gave Serena a hug around
the shoulders with one arm, "Of course we can be friends," her eyes were
shifting to Lita, "with your permission, Lita?"

"My permission?" Lita's hands coming to rest on her hips covered by her
old pleated skirt.

"I saw the pitbull stare you gave me," Alex's face was alite with good
humor, "one false move on my part and I might have found myself flying
without wings."

"Eh?" Serena turning so she could face both tall girls.

"You probably haven't had a chance to notice how calloused your friend's
hands are or feel the killer handshake but I have, kitten," Alex's teeth
flashed in the sunlight, "That's not from just women's sports either."

"Pitbull eh?" Lita frowned at first but it melted into a grin, "I do know
judo, Big Sister," then her eyes glittered like gems, "and if you or your
bro even try to kiss me, I'd be happy to give you a demonstration."

A hearty laugh came from Alex, "Okay-Okay," she lifted her hands in mock
surrender, "I get the message, no kiss-kiss for Lita from myself  or my
brother," one of her hands did come down to rest on the back of Serena's
neck, "maybe one of these days I can invite you two to my home and you
can meet my family," her gaze shifted to Ami, "you can come too, Miss
Shabon."

"Unfortunately, Miss Kennedy, with my busy schedule of school, study and
club activity, I prefer any social activity to stay at a minimum," Serena
blinked at the cool words coming from the girl genius, "besides I believe
your twin brother has yet to forgive me for what happened to his
bicycle."

"Bicycle? Oh..." Serena remembered the Melvin-Molly-Ami exchange about
the boy's science project.

"Dad was really impressed how you expertly disassembled Gilbert's bike
down to its individual parts without any sign of damage to them," Alex
bowed slightly to Ami, "he even wondered if you might be interested in
becoming a Mechanical Engineer?"

"I did it to remind you and your brother there are limits to this contest
you two are indulging in," Ami ignored Alex's compliment, "which is why I
left the note there with suggestions."

"And we took to heart your suggestions, Miss Shabon, as well as the hint
from the sight of the pile of metal," Alex motioned her head at her
groupies, each one of them displayed either confusion, insight, jealous,
envy, amusement or a mix of any of the above, "especially the one about
us becoming sport stars."

"Both you and your brothers are exceptional physical specimens," Ami
speaking like a professor, "especially you, Miss Kennedy, despite lacking
an extra male chromosome, your female body is sixty percent male."

Pressure came from Alex's hand upon the back of Serena's neck, the petite
blonde could feel the tension radiating off of boyish girl, realizing
that Alex found the issue of her gender a sore spot, "Hey, let's stop all
this Miss Kennedy-Miss Shabon stuff," Serena moved out of giantess' grip,
looking at Alex and then Ami, "we are all going to be members of the Go
club so bury the hatchet and start anew." The odango teen skipped behind
Ami and without asking she hooked the pale girl's elbows, pushing her
friend into Alex's shadow, "Ami this is Alex," her voice almost purring,
"I don't know much about her but she does seem to be a good person from a
large family," Then her baby blues look up at the short-haired blonde,
"Alex, this is Ami," a big time smile on her lips, "she is really smart
and her fashion sense is the cat's meow !"

Startled?

Awkward? 

These are small words to compare with what Serena saw in those eyes
belonging to Ami and Alex, both of them forced out of their cool or
charming shells by a girl with a unique hairdo, for a moment they felt
vulnerable and Serena could sense it. She took hold of both of their
right hands and press the palms together, "Come on, buds, we're too young
to act like this." For a long moment Serena held her breath, wishing she
could cross-her-fingers yet not wanting to let go of the hands. Finally
she saw a ghost of a smile on Ami's black-painted lips while Alex's
cheeks turn the color of sunset. Serena internalized her hooray when her
hands felt the hands in her grip tighten and slightly shook.

"Looks like we got no choice... Ami," Alex's smile returned, shook Ami's
hand a little firmer before letting go.

"Indeed... Alex," Ami's mask was back in place and her gaze turned from
one blonde to another blonde, "Serena, is this your way of showing your
displeasure of what happened with the chess club?"

"Displeasure?" Serena gawked at Ami, shocked so bad she let go of the two
hands, "Well...eh... I wasn't happy thinking you might have steered me
and Lita into that situation," the odango blonde was looking everywhere
except to Ami and the others, "and I wasn't happy with what happened to
Raye because of it," her baby blues returned back to Ami's dark eyes,
"but it's not the reason for this, Ami." A gentle expression on her lips,
"Maybe it's too early to say this, but I...I would like us four here to
be friends," she slowly looked at Lita, Alex before returning to Ami, "I
know I really don't know much about you three but each of you have helped
me beyond what strangers would do. Lita is such a nice person, a great
cook and I feel safe when she is with me. Alex helped me to the nurse's
office when my nose got smashed due to my own fault and she didn't have
to let me use her kissing contest on her or honor the agreement but she
did. Then there is you, Ami..." Serena hesitated for a second before she
squared herself in front of the goth girl, "I must appear like some
mental midget to you, but at the same time I think you are so special, so
much so I feel like I have to find a way to have you as a friend and a
friend for my friends." Serena knew she was taking a gamble with Ami, but
she remembered what Raye told her yesterday, about the pale messenger
shrouded in wings of ice. She was sure the rider was Ami not only because
her complexion but also the symbolism of the messenger as being part of
the myths surrounding Mercury as the messenger of the gods. She was also
sure the reference to wings of ice meant Ami could be one of the Sailor
Scouts, which one she didn't know since she hadn't asked Luna nor Selene
specifically about each scout. 

There was murmur of sound rippling through Alex's groupies but neither
Alex nor Lita said anything, both seem to sense what Ami would say
outweigh anything they could say right now. Ami seemed to notice the
waiting. To the petite blonde those eyes were animated, relishing the
attention in her aloft demeanor. Finally rising her right hand so the
back of her fingers could gently stroke the back of Serena's left hand,
"I have never had anyone ask me to be their friend."

Serena nodded and gently took Ami's soft fingers in her left hand, "You
told me," giving them an affectionate squeeze before letting them go,
"and I hope you can forgive any miscues on my part." Before anyone else
could add anything the school bell rung, telling the end of lunchtime,
Serena saying, "Oops... looks like anything more we'll have to save for
later!" Each nodded and the group scattered to what was left of their
lunches and their backpacks.
********

Location: Girl's Gym

Was it Volleyball Demon Two being played? Serena was starting to get that
kind of feeling and it all seem to start the moment Lita, Serena and Ami
stepped out of the locker room and into girl's indoor gym, "Return!"

A white and black-stripped ball was coming down out of the heavens, the
shout giving Lita enough time to form her arms and hands into the classic
position in front of her bent legs, shooting the ball back up into the
air and when it came down. It was caught by the person who sent it up
there in the first place, Mina. "Nice return, Lita-kins," the red hair-
ribboned girl complimented as she walked around the volleyball net, "your
form was perfect."

Lita gave Mina a long look before replying, "We missed you yesterday,
Blue Eyes."

A soft giggle came from Mina, "Got involved in the family business," but
then she spotted Serena coming from behind the redhead, "Jolly Good, you
are here, Serena-kins," she tossed underhand the volleyball to Lita, who
easily caught it, while the pony-tailed blonde took hold of both of the
petite blonde's hands, "I wanted to apologize to you for ringing your
bell."

"Its...its alright...eh...Mina isn't it?" Serena was a little confused by
the -kins being attached to her name, "It was my fault more than yours. I
was having a really bad blonde day."

Lita blinked as she looked over the white orb at the two blondes holding
hands, faces so close together, "You know, Ami," she whispered as the
pale girl came up her left side, "I wonder if Serena and Mina are
distantly related."

"I agree, Lita, except for their accents and slang usage, their voices
are very alike," Ami whispered back as she glanced across the gym and
spotted Alex with her twin brother, once more playing basketball in the
far corner, "Speaking of twins, I see our gym teacher is keeping Alex
separate from the rest of the class."

"I wonder why?" Serena asked as she continued to hold Mina's hands.

"You don't know the answer?" Mina blinked at Serena, "I would think Ami-
kins  would've clued you in by now?" Her grip on Serena's hands pulled
the odango blonde forward as she stepped back, "You must not be a sport
fan."

"Sports? Well... I didn't watch many sports up in the Yukon," Serena
looked questioning at the other girls, "except for some of the anime
sport series like Princess Nine and Slam Dunk."

Lita looked a little surprise at the glee coming from Mina and the bored
look coming from Ami, "if I remember correctly, Alex said she was into
girl's sports."

"And the girl wins a biscuit!" Mina let go of Serena so her right fist
could punch the volleyball up out of Lita's grip so ponytail blonde could
catch it once more, "While her brother Gilbert is a great American
football receiver and a good point guard in basketball, Alex is simply
astonishing," her crystal blue eyes burn with excitement, "basketball,
volleyball, track and field, you name the sport and she can ace it."

Serena gawked at Mina, "Wow..." her baby blues turn to watch Alex and
Gilbert, "is that why Alex is on those boy's practice squads? Because she
is good enough to play with them?"

"On the snoop, Serena," Mina toss the black-strapped ball with spin,
catching it upon right index finger, "I'll bet my last schilling  Alex
will probably make it to the next Olympics, she broke all kinds of
records for her age group in junior high and will the do the same thing
now she is in high school."

"In other words our P. E. Teacher sees Alex as a professional while we
are the amateurs," Ami's dark eyes mirror the stillness of her voice,
"she doesn't want Alex presence to cause any problems."

"Righty-O!" with a flick of her right hand she sends the volleyball up
and begins to bounce it repeatedly with the top of her head, "Except
I'm... the professional...Alex is a...superstar."

Serena studied the twins but then an odor hit her nose, not able to stop
from wrinkling her little nub of flesh and cartilage, "Peu...what's that
smell?"

Lita blinked and took a sniff, "It smells like someone burnt a loaf of
bread."

"Strange," Ami took a step forward, turning her head from side to side,
"It seems to be getting..."

"Oh! It looks like class is about to begin!" Mina rolled the ball off her
head but fumbled catching it with her right hand, "See you tots later!"
The three girls watched Mina trot away, yet Serena thought she heard the
ponytail blonde mumble, "Bugger shampoo... five times.... bloody five
times."

"That girl has some issues," Lita frowned just before the sound of the
teacher's whistle.

"At least she did apologized," Serena commented as the three went over to
where everyone was gathering around MacClean.
********

Location: Heaven's Crown Center

"There!" A big grin framed upon Serena's face, her baby blues looking at
the poster she just pinned up on the public message board at the center.
She felt really proud of her accomplishment. She didn't realize when she
roped in Alex that she would get the superstar's posse in the bargain.
Sure, she did expect a popular girl like Alex would give the club much
needed publicity and get a few more students interest in joining, but she
didn't expect the mob she found at the admin room, standing with Alex and
a surprised Takai. Luckily the teacher printed up more posters when he
saw the group arriving. 

"That's not a good idea you know."

That voice!

It couldn't be!

Serena turned on a dime to find herself face-to-face with Darien,
"You..." the word loaded with venom.

"You do you know this little ego trip of you and your friends," there was
a stoic look on Darien's features, "is going to put all you chickens in
one coop for a fox to raid."

"Is that so," Serena stalked over to where Darien was leaning against the
gift display for the arcade center, "for your information we girls don't
need macho brats to take care of us."

"Do all girls from Canada act this way," Serena noted Darien was still
dress in formal wear, the black tux, "or just the blonde ones?"

Serena's baby blues flash but she gets no farther, "So I see Darien is
getting to know you better, Serena," Serena jumped when Andrew comes out
of the arcade and stood behind the counter, the young man already
switched from his professor's clothes to the theater uniform.

Serena waved one hand at Darien as if she was trying to shoo him away,
"Andy, Why is he here?"

"I work here," hard black beads are Darien's eyes.

"What?" Serena's eyes narrow at the smug expression she was getting from
the raven-haired male, "When did he become the curse of my life?"

Andrew chuckled, "Actually Darien has been working here since he
graduated from high school," the paper towel he was cleaning his hands
hit the garbage can, "that is when the orphanage gives you your walking
papers and tell you to take care of yourself."

"Orphanage?" the fire inside of Serena immediately cooled. Her eyes
glanced at Darien, seeing an irritate look on his handsome face, like he
didn't like hearing Andy playing the pity card for him. That look got
Serena to say, "Well, didn't they teach Mister Black there any manners?"

Was that a half-smile on Darien's face? "They taught me to use my head,
Buns," nah, it must have been a mistake Serena concluded, "better than
any pair of parents could."

Serena scowled at Darien before she turned her attention to Andrew, "Bad
enough I have to see him at school, now I have to see him here," she
pouted, "next you know he will be haunting my dreams."

Andrew chuckled, "Darien is our bookkeeper so you shouldn't see him
unless Dad has a massive sickout," he clasped his hand on the young man's
shoulder, "then you see him down here helping."

"May I not see the day," Serena muttered only to catch the sound of
someone coming in and turned, "Molly!" the odango blonde brightened
considerably and trotted over to her friend, giving the redhead her one
remaining flyer, "They liked your design."

"Our design, Serena," she has the heavy bamboo bag with her. "Do you
think your Go club is going to take off?"

"It already has," Serena clasped the back of her neck, "I got Alex
Kennedy to join the club and all of his groupies followed on his... her
heels," she giggles nervously, "and all I had to do is give him – I mean
her, one little kiss."

Molly covered her lips as she giggled, "At least this time the masher had
to give something to get something."

Serena giggled more, "Why didn't you tell me Alexandra was female?"

"Just to see your reaction when you first met her," Molly's expression
turning a little serious, "but you do know she was the one who carried to
the nurse's office the other day?"

"I know, I remembered her voice," Serena began to lead the redhead down
to the karaoke booths.

"Good afternoon, Molly," Andrew waved while Darien stood like stone next
to his friend, "You well enough to work your first day here?"

"I'm not skipping school on purpose, doctor's orders," Molly showed the
tip of her tongue to the male blonde, "I just glad me and Serena have
some of the same classes and Melvin comes over with the rest of my school
work."

As soon as the two girls are out of earshot, Serena said, "Speaking of
keeping secrets from me, what about that guy Darien working here?"

Now Molly sweat-dropped, "Ah... I knew if you knew he worked here, you
wouldn't accept my idea of this being the Sailor Scouts headquarters."

"You're right," Serena grinned as she opened the down to room seven, "so
I'll forgive you this time."

"Don't talk so childish, Serenity," a voice came from the bamboo bag,
"you know as well as I do, you would have still agreed to use this
place," out of the item leaped out Luna as soon as Molly entered the
room, "this decision is too logical even for you to deny."

Eyebrows touching the bridge of her nose, Serena closed the door, "Watch
out, Luna, I'll see to it Andy makes you this place official rat
catcher."

"Hunt those awful flea-ridden rodents?" Luna looked like she was about to
caught up a hairball, "Your hair buns are wring too tight."

Molly giggled but Serena's retort was cut off when chime giggles echo  in
the room and a human-sized globe of light appeared next to the sofa, "I
see everyone is doing well today." The orb condensed and took on the
continents of Selene, those blue eyes full of mirth, "Are Serena and
Molly ready to begin their training?"

"Training?" stereo voices coming from Molly and Serena with the petite
blonde adding, "Well... before we get going with that I do have some good
news."

"Oh?" Luna jumped onto the table and turned around to face her charge,
"What kind of good news?"

"I've found two other Sailor Scouts," Molly grinned wide while Selene
smiled sweetly. On the other hand Luna gave the blonde a hard look, which
caused Serena to add, "At least I pretty sure they are Sailor Scouts."

"Who are they, Serena?" Molly asked, "Do I know them?"

Serena sat on one of the sofa's armrest, "One of them you do, Molly," she
put her book bag on the floor between her bent legs, "They are Ami Shabon
and Raye Perez."

Molly let out a whistle, "Ami... I can see her as a Sailor Scout," she
rubbed her chin with one forefinger as she sat next to Serena, "She is a
out-of-this-world type of girl already."

Serena smiled at Molly's estimation of Ami, nodding, "Raye Perez goes to
Saint Mary's, plans to be a nun and is a friend of Lita."

"Which Sailor Scouts do you think these two are?" The way Luna asked the
question made it  clear that she was testing Serena's skill of
observation.

A funny look appeared on Serena's face as she thought, "I'm not really
sure... Raye seems to have prophetic visions and mentioned seeing, 'a
pale rider cloaked in wings of ice'."

"If you have seen Ami's pale skin," Molly looked at Luna, "and felt her
icy personality, you'd know that description would fit her to a tee."

"There are two Sailor Scouts who have water as their primary element,
Sailor Mercury and Sailor Neptune," the other three turned to listen to
Selene, "as for prophetic visions, there are many who can have the
ability to see the future. That alone would not be enough to deem on a
Sailor Scout."

"Raye told me she had been waiting for me... for Sailor Moon to come and
help save everyone..." Serena's shoulders fell a little as the burden of
her words weigh on her, "she healed my nose after it got smashed in PE."

"Healed?" Luna's eyes wide before they narrowed, "Serenity, you let me
think your nose wasn't broken," those orbs narrow more, "like you did
your parents."

"She is already a Catholic priest," Serena decided to bypass Luna's
outrage, admitting, "so her healing powers and prophetic visions might
come from there,"  some passion returned to her words, "but Raye also has
seen the Fallen in her visions."

Selene's translucent eyebrows went up, "There are two Sailor Scouts who
have the gift of prophecy, Sailor Mars and Sailor Neptune, each drawing
upon the power of sight their element has, fire and water."

Luna nodded at Selene's words before turning back to Serena and Molly,
"Is there anyone else who might qualify to be a Sailor Scout? Anyone who
seems to feel special to you, Serenity."

"Jezz..." Serena's expression became more studious, "there's Lita of
course, I feel safe and protected when I'm with her. Alex Kennedy might
be but nothing's there to say yes or no about her..." then he eyes light
up, "but there is one of the school councilors, Wynona Tempus, she sends
off a lot of strange vibes."

This brought Molly's eyebrows up, "You mean more than just the way she
dressed?"

"She has two pet ravens and the perch she has for them looks really
strange," Serena nodded, "the crossbeams look like my hair and the face
in the middle doesn't look Native-American."

Luna licked one of her forepaws but then she looked up at the mention of
the perch, "A crossbeam? Does this perch look like a cross?"

"Yes..." Serena closed her eyes, trying to remember what the perch looked
like, "the pole looked like a tree... an old... ancient tree... each side
of the face had a hair bun like mine... there were images... birds and
squirrels... in the crossbeam."

Luna's expression showed she was listening carefully to Serena's words
before she looked over her shoulder at the white lady, "What do you
think, Selene?"

"The Tree of Redemption," Selene rested her elbows on her knees and her
chin on her fingers, "one of the few symbols besides the title, Defender
of the Faith, to survive the destruction of Pacifica and the sky
kingdoms," a soft sadness to her voice, "later the symbolism connected
with it merged with those symbolisms surrounding the Cross of Christ. You
can see the same symbolism surrounding the Norse myths associated with
World Tree, Yggdrasil."

"Yggdrasil?" Serena's baby blues blink several times, "I watched an anime
series where the name of a world supercomputer was called that," she
smiled a little, "even had a three girls who were goddesses and a young
man who was a boyfriend to one of them."

Luna rolled her eyes, "Focus, Serenity, focus. We don't have time for
your pop culture."

Molly giggled as did Selene before the redhead asked, "So Miss Tempus
having this ancient symbol in her office might mean she is connected to
the Sailor Scouts or Pacifica or both?"

"Could be," Luna answered along with a thoughtful look, "but we are going
to need more evidence before we can be certain." Then the black cat
smiled as much as a cat can, "Good work, Serenity, I'll checkout Ami and
Raye."

The sun couldn't have glowed as bright as Serena's smile thanks to Luna's
compliment, "Thanks!" It was followed by a more subdued look as her
vision shifted to the holographic image, "Selene, could you tell us more
about the Sailor Scouts? Luna told us the Sailor Scouts of the sky
kingdoms were different from the way they were on Earth when they
protected Adam and Eve from the Fallen."

Selene nodded to Serena's question and with a wave of her left hand, a
cup and saucer with stream rising from it appeared in her right hand,
"That is correct, Lady Serena. The first appearance of the Instrument of
Peace and her guardians  were in the form of angels, and the people of
Pacifica saw them as protectors of mankind and built temples to worship
them," she brought the cup up to her lips, taking a little sip, "the
Instrument of Peace and the Sailor Scouts were worshipped and looked upon
as physical manifestation of God's Will," she rubs the edge of the cup
against her full pale lips, "so you can imagine the shock and outrage
amongst the population of Pacifica with the rebirth of the Sailor Scouts
occurred not on Earth but in the realm of the sky kingdoms."

"A real kick in the gut?" the curiosity of watching Selene drink could be
seen in Molly's green eyes.

Selene smiled over the cup, "The real kick in the gut as you say, Lady
Molly , was the fact the Sailor Scouts were fighting the Fallen on Earth
while they lived in the sky kingdoms," another sip from her cup, "and
when they died, they were reincarnated within each of the Royal Families
of the sky kingdoms."

"So the Instrument of Peace was born as Sailor Moon of the Moon Kingdom?"
Serena piped in.

"Very close to the truth, Lady Serena," whatever the hot liquid was in
the cup, it seemed to be relaxing Selene. "In a vision sent to Queen
Selenity, God told her the Instrument of Peace would be born to the House
of the Moon and be known as Sailor Moon . She would be raised with love
and taught to carry on her duty as protector of mankind from the Fallen,"
once more the warm liquid filled her mouth, "each of the Queens of the
sky kingdoms received the same vision, each was told a Sailor Scout would
be born into their Royal Family."

"So each of the Sailor Scouts are named after the sky kingdom they came
from?" Molly wetted her lips.

"It was more than that, Lady Molly, it was also the merging of their
angelic powers with the elemental life force of the planet as well," with
a simple flick of her fingers the cup and saucer disappeared, "For
instance, Sailor Mercury was the Sailor Scout of Ice but she also
represented healing, travel and in its darker elements, she also
represented thievery and trickery."

Serena's baby blues became like saucers, "Ami is going to become a
thief?"

Chime giggles came from Selene's lips which caused the odango blonde to
realize her leg just got pulled, "No, your friend isn't going to become a
thief," it didn't help with Luna snickering at her too, "but it is
possible as each Sailor Scout is awaken, their powers and abilities will
take on new parameters, some cosmetic, some major, due to the nature of
your present world."

At the mention of change, Serena was reminded of something, "Selene, you
said you had to change Molly's DNA so she could use her Disguise Pen to
its full power. Is that also true of the Sailor Scouts," she licked her
lips nervously, "will we change too?"

"Yes, Lady Serena, your body as well as the bodies of the other Sailor
Scouts will change even when you are in your human guises," a gentleness
to the moonlight lady's words as she stood, "even from the time you were
born, each of you are physically unique from other humans." With grace
she walked over to Serena and knelt at the surprised blonde's feet, "You
and the others had to be, not only because of the divine powers within
your souls but also the elemental powers sealed within your flesh and
bones," her shimmering gown pools around her and Serena's feet, "without
the metamorphosis caused by becoming a Sailor Scout, your human bodies
would burnout."

To Serena it felt like everything inside of her had gone as silent as the
room around her, "Would... would I have died... if... if I hadn't become
Sailor Moon?" her own voice sounded so loud in her ears.

"No, you wouldn't have died, Lady Serena," Selene put her hand on
Serena's right knee, "but you wouldn't have lived a normal life," the
hand was so cool upon the blonde's warm skin, "and if the Fallen had
found you, they would have made you their creature."

Shudders ran through Serena body, from the corners of her eyes she could
see Molly going very pale but there was a horrible sadness in Luna's
eyes, a more muted version in Selene's crystal blue eyes, "Did... did it
happen before?"

This time it was Luna who answered, "Yes, Serenity, it did," her black
head drooped down, "Sailor Saturn... there was something wrong with her
mother, inside the head. When Sailor Saturn was born, her mother took the
child and fled from the Cassiel Court on Titan, one of the moons of
Saturn."

"Didn't anyone stop her?" Serena blurted out.

"The court knew about Queen Hadassah hatred of living on Saturn. She
loved her husband but she was born on Earth and raised to believe the sky
kingdoms were realms belonging to elitists and people who weren't fully
human anymore," Luna's head dropped lower, "and she wanted her child to
grow up on Earth."

"The Fallen found her and the child," Serena couldn't stop herself from
stating the obvious.

"Not at first, Hadassah hid from her own family and used her skill as a
herbalist to find a job in a town called Eridu in the delta area of the
Tigras and Euphrates Rivers," gently Molly lifted Luna from the table and
onto her warm lap, stroking the black cat's back as she talked, "but it
was only a matter of time before someone found her and it was the Fallen
who found her."

"Oh... no..." Serena's hands clutch her knees.

"Hadassah hid her eight-year-old girl just before the Fallen captured
her," Luna's voice became more and more sad, "but where the child was,
she could watch as her mother was tortured by them because they wanted
the child as well, knowing the girl was Sailor Saturn." Luna stopped, the
words to heavy for her to speak them.

"The Sailor Scouts found the girl, Agiel, and the dead remains of her
mother," Selene's voice not much better than Luna's, "but the damage was
done. While the Fallen didn't get their hands on the child, they left a
darkness inside of her by what they did to Hadassah, a darkness greater
than what each person carries, a darkness that made her powers even more
destructive and horrific."

"The Sailor Scout of Destruction and Rebirth," the words ring with grief
from Luna, "even after her death and rebirth, the darkness remained. I
pray after seventy thousand years the mark of Cain has left that noble
Sailor Scout."

For a long time there was silence, reaching a point of dominance, until
Serena ended it, "Did someone say something about training?"

The ice broke.

The pain, the loss, the darkness, gone for now.

Old wounds closed once more.

"Yes, training," Luna stood and leaped from Molly's lap to the table,
turning around, "We do need to get you two on a regular training
regimen," there was forced professionalism to the black cat's voice. "Let
us start with you, Serenity."

Serena made a face at being picked first, a goofy look, which got Molly
and Selene to giggle despite the fact it looked a little forced, "Okay-
okay, I'll go first." Today Serena was wearing a peach-colored blouse
with short sleeves, a knee-length green cargo shorts, white knee socks
and green mary jeans. She stood up and unclipped the jeweled broach from
her top and held it over her head, "MOON HOLY POWER!"

It was just like before except Serena wasn't in a panic this time,
adrenaline coursing through her veins, instead she could savor as her
soul was filled with the Holy Spirit to overflowing, her senses revealing
the world as God first created it and her body freed of shadows, the
divinity of the release caused the petite girl to raise to her toes, arch
her back and lift her face to the heavens.

"Amazing..." Molly breathed out, her green eyes glowing with the light of
God coming from her transformed friend. If the redhead weren't sitting,
her butt would have kissed the floor.

"Very good, Sailor Moon," Luna nodded slowly, her golden orbs showing
approval.

Serena looked down her body, teenage energy in the way she posed, showing
how much she loved the way her costume looked on her: the navy blue mini-
skirt hugging her hips and rear, her crimson chest bow clinging to the
curves covered by her virgin white blouse, her candy apple red knee boots
encasing her strong thighs and feet, and her sailor collar shaped to the
roundness of her young shoulders. Serena was so taken with the way she
looked, she even took hold of the edge of her skirt at the sides of her
thighs and did a little curtsy, getting some clapping from Molly along
with several wide grins. Letting go, she asked, "What now?"

"Next we will see how Molly Eve will handle her disguise wand," Selene
suggested, her crystal eyes showed she was curious about how well the
redhead would do.

The humor fled from Molly's features, becoming very serious as she pulled
out her disguise wand from her skirt pocket and stood up. Today the
redhead was wearing a little Chinese number with a silky lightning blue
shirt, black baggy pants with elastic at the ankles and heelless black
shoes. When Serena first saw her come into the entertainment center, she
had to bite her tongue to keep from calling her friend, Ranko.  Molly
looked nervously to her companions, saying, "Who should I transform
into?"

"Sailor Moon," Luna supplied the answer, the black feline waited as Molly
blinked with surprise as did Sailor Moon before she added, "The reason to
do Sailor Moon is two-fold: one, since she is standing before you, Molly
Eve, it should be easier for you to get it right the first time. The
second reason is you are probably going to be helping Sailor Moon to
cover her Serenity identity. There will be times when she either is
unable to transform due to crowds or because the Fallen are watching her
because they are suspicious. Either way, Molly Eve will help by appearing
as Sailor Moon."

Now it was time for two set of eyes to pop wide, "What?" Molly and Sailor
Moon leaned toward Luna, who face looked like it was set in stone, while
Selene remained silent. Then the two girls looked at each other before
they turned by to the moon cat, "Luna, I... I think I can act like Sailor
Moon," Molly began, glancing at Sailor Moon, "but what if something
happened and I had to fight as Sailor Moon?"

"You will be able to fight, Molly Eve," Luna stood up on all fours, a
look of confidence on her feline face, "the Disguise Wand will give you
all the powers and knowledge  of Sailor Moon or whatever person you have
transform yourself into," her confident look became a little serious,
"although it is only temporary as I told you when I gave it to you."

Molly looked at the Disguise Pen, than at each of the others before
smiled, "Okay, how do I activate it?"

"Hold it above your head and say, 'Holy Moon Transform Me Into..." Luna's
tone on a ritualistic sound, "and include what you want to be transform
into."

With ears forward Molly listened to Luna before she straightened and held
the Disguise Pen above her head, spreading her feet, "HOLLY MOON
TRANSFORM ME INTO SAILOR MOON!"

Sailor Moon's heart leapt into her throat when Molly's clothes burst from
her body like colorful confetti and the light of the Holy Spirit drowned
out most of the redhead's features... but not all. The odango blonde
could see the pure joy in her friend's green eyes, the power of the
feeling causing the girl to slowly spin upon her toes and move her hands
along her glowing body. Flames radiate from petite superhero's cheeks at
how beautiful her friend's nude body looked while she performed her
dance, how her soul revel in God's grace. The heroine's lips part as
slowly swaying body before her changed, the hair changing, the face
changing, the body changing and then came the uniform, a perfect copy of
Sailor Moon's clothes. The holy aura faded, colors returning and before
the group stood another Sailor Moon, those baby blues blinking rapidly,
soft panting from her ruby red lips.

Luna smiled in that cat way, "Well don... Molly Eve!" 

Selene must have expected this. As soon as Molly's eyes rolled into the
back of her head and her legs gave way, the moon lady was off the couch
and effortlessly she caught the transformed Guardian in her pale arms,
slowly sinking to the floor, her gown billowing out to give Molly a silky
place to lay. Sailor Moon was only seconds behind Selene,  not even
thinking about the amount of energy it took Selene to take on solid form,
her attention was fully on her friend as she knelt and took Molly's right
hand between her soft hands, "Molly..."

Even Luna was kneeling on the floor once more in her humanoid form, her
curly raven hair made her standout vividly with all the pale hair around
her, with her right fingertips pressing to the jewel in the gold tiara.
Those cute lips murmur softly and her polished nails glow softly followed
by Molly's eyes moving under her closed eyelids, finally she groaned,
"Owe... did someone get the number of that truck?"

It was so weird to Sailor Moon to hear her own voice speaking and it
wasn't her talking, but it did make her look more closely at her
transformed friend. Yes, she did look older as Sailor Moon, maybe in her
thirties; the lankiness of a teenager was replaced with a look of full
maturity. Serena also spotted details she missed the first time she
transformed in the heat of battle, including the white forearm gloves
with crimson elbow pads. Making sure her friend was all there, Sailor
Moon leaned down to her copy, kissing the other Sailor Moon on the
forehead, "Are you okay, Molly?"

"Err... my head... my brain feels like mush," Molly tried to open her
eyes but she immediately shut them, "damn... my eyes hurt."

"It is the intake of information from the transformation, Lady Molly,"
Selene continued to hold Molly's upper body on her folded legs and lap,
"which have made your eyes supersensitive, but the effect will fade
shortly once your brain organizes the data."

"Once you practice enough with your Disguise Wand, Molly Eve," Luna's
hand gently ruffles Molly's white bangs, "the data intake will become
painless."

"Hope so..." Molly blinked her now baby blues rapidly, "how long will I
remember it?"

"As long as you use the form, Lady Molly," Selene replied tenderly, "the
duration of the transformation is based on how active you are in it,
approximately thirty to sixty minutes."

Molly moved her head slightly and her blinking slowed until she could
keep her eyes open. She then looked at Sailor Moon, "So, Sere... Sailor
Moon," a cupid smile on her lips, "how do I look?"

Sailor Moon grinned, "You look exactly like me, Sailor Moon," a twinkle
in her baby blues.

A ripple of a giggle comes from Molly and she struggled to a sitting
position, helped by Selene and Luna, "You look pretty good too, Sailor
Moon."

"I know," Sailor Moon giggled as well, then she blinked and looked at
Luna, "I didn't know how 'revealing' the transformation was," her
eyebrows came down, "Why?"

"Serenity, God created man in his own image and that image is pure and
noble," Luna put her hands on her hips, "there isn't anything wrong
seeing it nude."

Remembering what Luna said about the Holy Bible and a few other things,
she nodded and turned her attention back to Molly, "Feeling better,
Molly?"

"Yeah," Sailor Moon stood and helped the other Sailor Moon to stand. Both
looked the other over and both grinned, saying together, "We look like
twins."

Luna cringed at hearing both of them, "I think I created a monster."

Selene's chime giggles filled the room as she stood up, "Now it is time
for your first training session, Sailor Moon." Both Sailor Moon looked
nervous while the moonlight lady turned to Luna, "Lady Luna, could you
give Sailor Moon her mask."

"Mask?" Sailor Moon blinked and the watched as with a wave of her white-
gloved hand, Molly produced a crimson domano mask and slipped it onto her
nose. The action took Sailor Moon's full attention so she is startled a
little when the raven-haired lady gave her the same type of mask, "Eh...
thanks, Luna..." She turned it over in her hand, staring at it, "Why the
mask? I didn't have it when I transformed the first time."

"The mask is part of your auxiliary equipment, Sailor Moon," Luna frowned
at how Serena's face lightened up at the mention of auxiliary equipment,
"since the Sailor Scouts have a glamour that changes their features
enough to prevent the loss of public identities, a mask to hide their
faces isn't necessary."

"Okay!" Serena put in on and posed a little, which got Molly to grin more
while the original super-girl asked, "So what does it do?"

"Besides making us look good wearing it," Molly added with a grin.

"Along with enhanced vision," Luna trying to be matter-of-fact, "each
Sailor Scout will be able to see what other Sailor Scouts are seeing." 

"Cool!" white eyebrows touch the horned moon upon Serena's brow.

"I agree," Molly nodded, "it'll make it easier for the Sailor Scouts to
help each other."

"More so once Sailor Mercury becomes active," Selene added as she sat
back down on the couch, "part of her equipment is an advanced visor
instead of a mask along with a portable supercomputer."

Serena almost burst out in laughter at the puzzled look on Molly's face,
the play of emotions on a face like her own tickling her funny bone more
than her face reflected in a mirror, "I think the reason Sailor Mercury
has the visor and supercomputer is the Greek God Hermes, called Mercury
by the Romans. Correct?" 

"Very true although not the way you think it is," Luna smiled approvingly
at Serena's insight, "many of the myths, legends and folktales of the
gods is based on the Sailor Scouts of the Sky Kingdoms so many of the
areas and powers of these gods were modeled on them."

"Interesting," Molly nodded to Selene before she turned to Luna, "Next?"

"Alright, Molly Eve," Luna acknowledging the Sailor Moon copy shift of
the discussion back to the original subject, "both you and Serena take on
a battle stance, giving each of you plenty of room," her cat-like eyes
shift to Selene, "then Selene will activate a shooting gallery so you can
practice your Holy Tiara Attack."

"Holy Tiara Attack?" both Sailor Moons blurt it out, looked at each other
and giggled with fingers touching their chins.

Luna shook her head and touched her forehead, "Give me strength, God."
Selene's bashful glee got a look from the spirit guide before the
parttime cat cleared her throat, "Yes, Holy Tiara Attack, it is your
level one attack, Sailor Moon."

"Level one attack?" this time Serena spoke by herself, "like in Final
Fantasy games??" 

"If that helps you, yes, Sailor Moon," Luna was finding Serena pop
culture knowledge more helpful than she originally thought, "each of the
Sailor Scouts have levels of attacks, which they can access as they gain
experience and skill with their powers. Some will even have abilities due
to their biological nature."

Something went off in the back of Serena's mind, something about the last
part of Luna's words reminded her of Ami, but she wasn't sure what,
"Okay." She thought for a moment and with an amount of uncertainty she
took up her battle stance, which Molly copied. She jumped a little when
everything around her, except for Molly blurred, drained of color before
snapping back into focus.

"Wow...did we just go into the Matrix?" Molly asked. 

Serena was speechless, what was in front of her was some kind of high-
tech shooting gallery but it was what else was now around them. It was
simply gorgeous. The walls weren't just simply marble or stucco, not by a
long shot. Every inch, including the ceiling, was covered by murals. For
some reason the one on the ceiling gripped Serena's attention. In the
left corner stood a nude angel with an uplifted sword with its back to a
luscious grove of trees, brushes and flowing water. Two figures wearing
only fig leaves kneeling on barren ground in the center. Black-feathered
winged humanoids flooding the right corner with swords of black flames
and whips that crackle with lightning. Swirling around the kneeling man
and woman there were white-feathered winged girls, each as nude as the
rest of the figures of the mural, their eyes blaze with compassion and a
couple of them touching the pleading man and woman with sympathy. Above
all of them was the Instrument of Peace, upturned faces alit by its holy
light, downturn faces cloak in darkness.

"Selene... the ceiling..." Molly spoke again.

"The first triumph of the Instrument of Peace," Selene's voice echoed in the two
Sailor Moons' ears, "those girls surrounding Adam and Eve are the first
manifestation of the Sailor Scouts," respect was her tenor, "its holy
illumination gave them birth."

Insight, just like the dream Serena had before, the dream when she
accepted the Instrument of Peace into her body, the depiction emptied her
of all doubt while moon queen's words fill her, "My children..."

Molly's face mirrored Serena's face, the shock of revelation there,
followed upon its heels by Luna's voice, "Yes, Sailor Moon, when you
accepted the Instrument of Peace into your bosom, the Sailor Scouts
became your children."

It took superhuman effort for Serena to take her gaze from the ceiling,
her eyes dazzlingly scanning the wall murals and finding they were also
about the Sailor Scouts, but this time they wore the school girl uniforms
like they had stepped out of some Japanese anime or the world of Harry
Potter . She didn't miss the figure wearing the Sailor Moon uniform nor
did she miss the figure's hairstyle, the twin buns and pigtails, but she
decided not to let it distract her. The murals were more depictions of
combat, the way the Sailor Scouts' bodies were posed and the expressions
upon their faces suggested these were images of victories. Finally her
head tilted down, her heartbeats rapping in her ears as she saw the floor
was beautifully tiled with the astrological symbols of the Sailor Scouts,
each done in the cardinal colors of the rainbow .

"Selene... Luna... is this why the people of Pacifica hated the Sky
Kingdoms," once more Molly gave voice to what Serena was thinking, maybe
"they believed the Instrument of Peace and the Sailor Scouts abandoned
them?"

The sigh came from Selene, "Not all of them, Lady Molly, but enough did
believe just that, and they became vulnerable to the influence of the
Fallen."

"A boil of doubt festering and spreading its poison in the body until the
corruption becomes the body," Luna's words made Serena's heart hurt.

Was this how a Jew, a descendant of Abraham, felt when he or she heard a
Christian declare Jesus Christ was the only path to God? Was this how a
Muslim felt when he or she heard a Christian declare Mohammed was a fake
prophet?  Did the person want to strike out to defend their beliefs? To
show God was on their side? To take back what was taken, to destroy the
Sky Kingdoms? Was this how the Fallen work? Was this what made the Fallen
evil?

"Lady Serenity, are you ready to continue?" Selene asked gently, "I know
this must be very heady for you."

"Yes... I..." she forced her eyes and mind upon the shooting gallery in
front of her and Molly, flashing a weak smile to her  friend, "I'm ready
to learn my Holy Tiara Attack."

The targets of the gallery were simple yet complex, three-dimensional
images outlined in white light with red dots on the foreheads, necks,
chests, abdomens and groins. There were also green dots upon shoulders,
elbows and knees while there are yellow dots on the hands and feet. "We
are starting with something simple here, Sailor Moon, Molly Eve," Luna
nodded her head to the display, "to gauge your eye-hand coordination as
well as judge what is your accuracy with the attack and improve it." The
guardian waited for the two blondes to nod their agreement before she
continued, "Now concentrate, find the spiritual center of your being.Feel
the Holy Spirit in your soul awakening as you reach up with your right
hand, take hold and remove the tiara from your forehead."

Serena felt it, the electricity,  power in-tuned with her, her blue eyes
saucer-size at the transforming of the tiara in her right hand into a
disc of energy floating millimeters above her fingertips. "Don't let the
moment overwhelm you, ladies, concentrate" Luna's words sharpen Serena's
focus, "look at the target, aim at it as you cock your arm for a underarm
throw," a quick glance from the corner of her eye showed Molly following
the commands, "pull back as far as you can and then release, shouting,
'Holy Tiara Attack'."

"HOLY TIARA ATTACK!"

She could feel it, a bowstring release running out of her body, down her
arm and out of her outstretched hand. Excitement was only followed by
pouting look at Serenity hitting her target but missing only a yellow dot
of the left hand , "Shi..." a groan cut her off and she bare had time to
turn to see Molly dropping to her knees, "Molly!"

"I'm... I'm okay..." Serena and Luna were at each side of the faux Sailor Moon,
holding her by the elbows, "feeling... so drained... dizzy..." the skin an
unhealthy white, eyelids droopy, "just need... to rest."

"Power down, Lady Molly," Selene spoke softly, her moon-glow eyes holding Molly's
glassy orbs, "relax your mind, let go of the Holy Spirit as you would a
butterfly."

"Bullseye..." A spent sigh from Molly, her magical girl body melting back in the
mortal form, which sagged into Serena's arms, the blonde's neck could feel how
clammy the redhead's face was.

"Bull's-eye?" Serena blinked first at Molly before shifting to Luna, "Bull's-
eye." The guardian smirked and motioned at the shooting gallery. Looking, the
petite heroine pouted at the blinking red dot on the chest of Molly's target,
"Beginner's luck."
********

Location: Heaven's Crown Center.

The weekend was a whirlwind of activity for Serena and Molly. At no time
did they get a chance to go the Sailor Scouts headquarter for more
practice of the Holy Tiara Attack or more information from Selene. After
getting home Friday evening, a still weak Molly ate dinner and went to
bed without complaint or even making an attempt to stay up and discuss
things with Serena or Luna. Feeling the need for Molly to be with her,
Serena put off any magical girl brainstorming until later. Of course
later came too quickly, their parents decided a family outing to the
Chicago Zoo was in the cards, which ate up most of the extra time before
the two teenagers reported for their first day of work at Heaven's Crown
Center. Serena wasn't sure about Molly, but the blonde was higher than a
kite about her job, full of adolescent energy at learning everything
Andrew and Elizabeth taught her. Of course mistakes and accidents did
happen, but by the time their shift ended early Saturday evening, the
petite girl was still imitating the Energizer Bunny, much to her
redheaded friend's amusement. After work Molly got a chance to practice
with the Disguise Pen but following Luna's advice, she didn't try to copy
Sailor Moon and stayed with simple alterations to her physical body: skin
tone, hair color, eye color etc... Sunday wasn't as excitable as the
previous day but still full of activity. First form them was church, then
a Sunday dinner followed by work at Heaven's Crown Center.

Serena banged open the door of the employee's entrance and literally
hopped out of the opening with all the impatience of youth, "Let's get
home, Molly, so we can talk..." she froze in the doorway.

"What Serena?" Molly bumped into her friend's back, "Why you blocking..." the
redhead wiggled around the odango blonde, "the exit..." her green eyes catch what
her friend's baby blues did, "Oh, Melvin..." hearts in the redhead's voice.

Not in a million years would Serena think of Melvin as a biker, but here
was Molly's boyfriend, leaning against, "Whoa, this isn't a Harley?"
Serena took a couple of steps toward the kid in a red-white-and-blue
crash suit.

"Nope, it's a 1948 Indian Chief," Melvin pushed off the parked motorcycle so he
could meet Molly in a hug, "with a 74-inch V-twin side-valve, three-speed
transmission, sprung frame, front end girder, 16-inch wheels, drum brakes, six-
volt battery and valance fenders."

"You can make a geek into a biker," Molly grinned at Melvin as she lightly kissed
his chin, "but you can't take the geek out of the biker."

Melvin blushed at the greeting, the crimson strengthening at Serena's
giggle, "Aww... no fair..." he stuttered but continued to hold Molly, "I
wanted to make up for not being here yesterday and I figured Serena might
like to see Grandpa's bike."

"Family heirloom?" Serena's closer look revealed a classic motorcycle kept in
perfect condition, including the DuPont paint job, a combination of brickyard red
and reddish-orange. Then she caught sight of something more, "Oh, Cool! A
sidecar!"

Molly giggled a little more, "Yes and its very comfy," she slipped from
Melvin's arms as the two turned to their blonde friend, "Melvin has a
driver's permit for it so it's all legit."

"Nice..." Serena stroked the front fender before she blinked at the two bags in
the sidecar seat, "Oh, what are those?"

"Crash suits for you and Molly, Serena," Melvin retrieved them and held one out
to both, "both are in bright pink."

Serena did several bunny hops, "Great!" clapping her hands before taking
the bag, "Boy am I glad our uniforms are pants and tight vests."

"I thought it was because the tight uniform made your body sexier, Serena," Molly
held up her crush suit and shook it out.

Serena giggled, the late dusk of the evening barely showing her blush, "I
got to have something to make up for being so petite." She looked at the
hot pink crash suit, blinking, "Melvin, this suit looks like something
out of an anime show."

"The original Bubblegum Crisis actually," Melvin acknowledged while Molly
unzipped the suit, "I ordered them online for Molly but you shouldn't have any
trouble wearing them."

"So you are an otaku like me?" Serena unzipped her suit, "This does look like the
crash suit Nene wore," her twin ponytails swirl around her as she wiggles her way
into it.

"Otaku?" Melvin helped Molly into her heavily-padded suit, "Oh, you mean a fan of
anime," he shook his head slightly, "nope, I liked Bubblegum Crisis and its
remake."

"Melvin is a motor-head, Serena," the brown-haired boy blushes as the redhead
slipped her arms into the sleeves, "what with his father once being a motorcycle
cop, as was his grandfather."

Picking up the helmet, Serena noticed it looked like the helmets from
that particular show, "Does that mean you are going to go into the family
business, Melvin?"

"I'm not sure," he zipped up Molly's suit for her, "my parents and Granddaddy
want me to go to Northwestern, get a degree and make a career for myself," he
watches Molly pick up her helmet and slip it over her red hair, "yet the phase,
'to serve and to protect', does mean a lot to me." Then a frown appeared on his
face, "Plus I have some bad news, Molly, Dad and Mom told me your family won't be
able to move back into your home for probably another week or two."

"Why?" The blonde girl pulled the pink sleeves down her slim arms.

"Since the guy who attacked Molly died in the hospital," Melvin gave Molly her
helmet, "the home has been upgraded to a homicide scene."

Serena knew her eyes reflect her dark despair over the man's death, "It's
okay, Melvin," she put up a happy smile front, "I'm sure Molly's family
can stay at my home as long as they want to," then she ups the ante, "and
I'll even let you two neck in my bedroom."

Blazes of scarlet painted both of Serena friends' faces, Molly trying to
hide her face while Melvin laughed nervously, saying, "Please...
Serena... we haven't gone that far!"

"If you say so, Stud," Serena teased more, "I'm sure Molly wants more sugar on
her lips," the blonde got into the sidecar and buckled in.

"Serena!" Mortification was plain in Molly's voice but then she broke into
giggles, "Maybe..." Serena couldn't miss the gentle squeezing of Melvin's hand by
his girlfriend.

"We better get going before it gets any later," a husky sound to Melvin's voice,
letting go of Molly's hand and getting onto the motorcycle, followed by the
redhead getting behind him.

The ride home gave Serena time to watch how Molly snuggled against Melvin
and how her hands held his waist. Clearly the two have ridden together on
the Indian without the sidecar and even with the helmet buttoned down,
the petite blonde couldn't miss the blissful expression on her friend's
soft lips. It was a short ride, not even forty minutes  with Melvin
staying at the speed limit. During the ride Serena thought about what
Melvin told her. A homicide scene, it would mean the police now look at
Sailor Moon as a dangerous vigilante, something she hadn't expected but
now realized she was naïve about it. After everything Luna and Selene has
told her, has shown her, this was a war between the Sailor Scouts and the
Fallen with the future of mankind held in the balance, which would mean
people were going to die, some of them innocent victims, some of them not
so innocent.

Once the threesome reached the Hope residence, Serena was the first out
of the gate, bouncing out of the sidecar, "I'll go ahead and do a little
blocking to give you two sometime together."

"Wait!" Serena dropped her helmet in the sidecar, blinking at Melvin's cry.
Twisting around on the motorcycle seat with Molly still tight against his back,
"Serena, you have a black cat with a moon on her head?"

"Luna?" Molly turned around on the machine, her arms around Melvin, "Yeah I do,
how do you know and why?"

"I asked Molly this morning over the cell phone if she knew who owned a cat like
that," Molly nodded to acknowledge Melvin's words, "I was curious because I've
been seeing the black cat all over town the last few days."

"Oh? Where?" Only the darkness of the night kept Melvin from seeing the curiosity
in Serena's eyes.

"Over at the library at Northwestern and the campus church at the Saint Mary's
School for Proper Ladies," Molly took her helmet off, dropping it into the
sidecar, "I wanted to warn you about your cat wandering so far.It was a little
amusing seeing the cat dropping from the top of a book shelf to land on Ami's
shoulder."

"What was Ami's reaction?" Serena blinked at this news.

"Positive, actually," Melvin's expression becoming a little distracted from
having Molly snuggle against him, "after getting over the surprise, our local
Goth girl petted, chatted softly and even fed part of her lunch to your cat."

Serena stored away this information before asking, "What about over at
the church."

"Didn't see anything..." Melvin words fade when Molly popped his chin strap and
pulled off her boyfriend's helmet.

"I'll remember to tell mother to make sure Luna doesn't get outside anymore,"
Serena grinned as she back away from the lovebirds, "but now I will give you two
some kissing space." Serena jumped the fence without waiting for a farewell and
didn't stop her retreat until she reached the welcome mat. Serena didn't miss her
mother peeking out of the window for a moment, causing the petite girl to sigh
with relief when her parent pulled back from the window. Her redheaded roommate
didn't join her until after  ten minutes, with the blonde asking, "Feeling
better?"

"Much better..." the green mirrors to Molly's soul shined brightly, "Why do you
ask?"

"After the Disguise Pen sucked you dry like some vamp in a cheap horror flick,"
Serena fished out her key to the door, "I was hoping Melvin could recharge your
battery."

"Oh, he did," a purring tenor was in Molly's voice.

"Oh..." Serena giggled as the door's lock clicked open, "does that mean you're
glad the suit's padding is protecting your honor?"

"Serena!" Molly giggled back, blushing and jostled her friend through the front
entrance, where both saw their mothers, Ilene and Mary, both amused at the
display of affection between their daughters, "Oh, hi Mom... umm... Ilene."

"You know my husband, Ken, wouldn't be very calm if he saw our daughter having a
kissing session in front of our house," Ilene's arms were crossed over her chest
but her smile was sweet.

"I think Morgan accepts it because he knows Melvin's parents," Mary was close to
laughing at the look her daughter was giving her, "and their son knows where the
line is drawn in the sand."

Molly rolled her eyes and began to drag Serena toward the stairs, "Come
on, Serena, before I give our moms anymore target practice." That brought
the laughter from both mothers, "Jesus..."

Stumble-footing behind her redheaded friend, Serena was having a hard
time not busting a gut, "See you in the morning, Mom, Mary," she waved
back.

"Goodnight, dear. Goodnight darling." 

Once both were out of their pink crash suits and work clothes, they made
a beeline for the bathroom for evening baths, with Luna in tow, "So
anything happen at work?" the black cat asked once they bathroom door was
closed.

"Nope," but before Serena could add more, she was wrapped in the gentle embrace
of her taller friend from behind.

"I saw the pain in your eyes, Serena," even wearing their bathrobes, Serena could
feel her friend's youthful body, "the way Melvin spoke of my home as a death
scene."

The darkness... the grief... the forgiveness... Serena could feel the
barely healed wound on her heart. Sister Raye gave her penance, Molly
gave her support, affection, "Thank you... Molly..." the blonde reaches
behind her, gently stroking her friend's wavy curls.

"No, thank you, Serena," a tender squeeze before Molly released her friend,
"You... Sailor Moon... saved me," Serena turned to face the other teenager, "and
now we live like sisters."

Serena blushed deeply at Molly's open display of affection, "We are all
brothers and sisters..." she rubbed the tears from her eyes before they
could fall, "we all come from the womb of Eve."

Molly nodded at Serena before her green gaze switch to Luna, "Oh, Luna,
Melvin said he saw you over at the university library and at the Church
of Saint Mary."

The look on Luna's face showed the guardian approved of Molly's support
of Serena, "I was carrying out my mission of checking out Ami and Raye,
Molly Eve," the black cat jumped onto the dirty clothes hamper, "to see
if either one of them are sleeper Sailor Scouts."

"Yeah, Melvin saw you at the library, Luna," Molly was doing the same thing
Serena was doing , saying, "He even saw you doing your attack from above on
Ami's head."

Serena giggled as she got a sponge, squeezing the bottle of soap while
Luna rolled her cat eyes, "I had to get close to Ami to make certain,"
Molly sat on the stool and began to wash herself, "I was getting a lot of
feedback from the girl."

"Feedback?" Serena paused with her sponge pressed between her developing breasts,
"Was it because Ami has a genetic disease... eh.... what she called..." she
fought to get the word out, "vitiligo?"

Luna blinked at Serena's words, "So Ami does know she is different from
others?"

"Yes, Luna, for as long as I've known Ami," Molly worked her own soapy sponge
over her soft stomach, "she has done everything to increase her difference from
others."

"I wonder why?" Luna sounds thoughtful, licking one paw.

"Ami told me she was always treated differently by others," Serena vigorously
worked the sponge over her trim arms, "even going so far as saying she never had
anyone ask her to be her friend."

Molly shared a gaze with Serena before nodding, "It's true, Melvin and I
sort of adopted Ami as a friend," going back to scrubbing her coltish
hips, "we never asked her and at times Ami didn't act like a friend."

"Like the volcano thing?" Serena grinned as she began to work her own legs.

Molly giggled, nodding, "Yeah, Ami has a sneaky side to her as you
probably know by now," Serena nodded too before she dumped a bucket of
cold water  on herself, letting out a shout at the quick freeze of her
body. Molly grinned wider, finishing her feet, "Luna, you make it sound
like Ami's difference is something more."

"It is, Molly Eve," Luna watched Serena begin to wash her long blonde hair,
"Ami's genetic code tells me which Sailor Scout she is."

"Selene told us each of the human host has to change to contain the Sailor Scout
divine power." Molly started on washing her own hair, "So what you are saying,
Luna, is the genetic differences from when the Sailor Scouts were a part of the
Sky Kingdoms has been passed on?"

"Yes but Ami's genetic fingerprint is even more unique," Luna pulled her head
back as a few drops of water reached her whiskers from Serena dumping another
bucket of cold water to wash her hair clear, "if she is the Sailor Scout I think
she is."

"Which Sailor Scout do you think she is?" Serena asked as Molly washed the
shampoo from her red hair.

"Sailor Mercury."
********

Location: Levy Center.

Monday started out nice and calm for Serena and Molly. This was the first
day for Molly's return to school. It was also the date for the first
meeting of the Juuban Go Club at the Levy Center. As beginning of a
school week, it did start out fortuitous. Thanks to Molly both girls got
to breakfast on time as well as making sure their homework was in their
backpacks. Both even decided to have a little fun by wearing the same
type of outfits for school: pale pea green blouse with lemon yellow vest
and matching knee-length skirt, dark green ankle socks and neon pink
moon-shoes; only their hairstyles were different, Serena with her buns-
and-tails while Molly has a forest green hair bow. Once the pair reached
school and all of Molly's friends welcomed her back, things went smoothly
until lunchtime when Lita told her friend she wouldn't be able to make it
to the first meeting of the Go Club, due to her prior commitment to choir
practice at her church. Not having her tall brunette friend at the
meeting did disappoint Serena, but she was still a bundle of energy at
trying to get everything ready with help from Ami and Mister  Takai. Even
Alex took a moment to make sure where she and her groupies would need to
be after school, much to odango blonde's delight.

The Levy Center was located at the cross-streets of Dodge Avenue and
Mulford Steet, in the south-east corner of James Park, where the city's
animal shelter is located on the park's north-west corner. It was clear
by the building's design that it was built sometime after World War II,
named after a war hero who came home and became a political and social
bigwig in this sleepy college town and suburb of Chicago. The building
offered two stories, with several glass doors for the front entry into
the wide gallery. Two ornate oak staircases took people to the second
story where balcony seats set at the back and balcony boxes along the
side. Clearly at one time this place was used as a theater but was later
converted into a multipurpose room with most of the first floor seating
removed to expand usage area. Besides the emergency exits for the second
floor, there were two more fine-crafted staircases which took people to
the several small rooms used for group meetings and office space.

Serena walked through the entrance of the low brick wall surrounding the
grounds of the Levy Center with Molly in tow, saying, "Ami and Alex are
already here and set up everything."

Molly nodded slowly, having spotted all of the posters located on
telephone poles, mail boxes and etc...declaring the use of the main room
at the Levy Center for the Juuban Go Club, "I still find it a miracle you
were able to get Ami and Alex to work together after the history between
them."

"I had to do a lot of puppy-eyes to get them to agree," Serena looked about the
parking lot located to the side of the building, "and Alex must've really liked
my kiss."

"Kiss?" green eyes go wide before Molly giggled, "So the twins got their kissing
game turned on them?"

"Yep!" Serena couldn't keep from blushing at how it felt to have Alex's lips
against hers.  She tried to turn her thoughts to something else, "I'm just glad
Ami let go of her grudge against Alex."

"Ami did get her pound of flesh already from Gilbert," Molly noticed several
teenage girls standing in some groups just inside the entrance, "so it was in
Alex's court to make the first move."

Serena was about to talk more but when she entered the building, several
of the girls came to her and began to ask her questions about the Go
Club. The odango blonde at first was caught off-guard by all the teenage
horde's attention, but then she shifted gears and politely told everyone
to follow her into the main room. The girls had neutral expressions as
they followed Serena and Molly through the swinging doors and into the
main room, where they found twenty tables and at least a couple of dozen
folded-out chairs along with several set of cheap Go sets. There was also
a seventy-inch projection screen along with a DVD player and speakers in
front of the layout, which was where Ami was standing. It took a moment
to spot Alex, who was moving slowly between different groups of girls
with an easy smile on her lips. There was also Alex's groupies with
stick-on badges on their chests, Go Club Organizers, who where helping
the continuous stream of girls coming into the huge room, giving them
little pamphlets and where to sit.

For a moment Serena was stunned by the number of girls coming in and
sitting down, some of them with bored expressions, clearly showing they
were here just to see what was going on, but there were many here with
looks of eager excitement. A quick head count of Alex's groupies showed
there were twelve of them , hopefully  willing to learn the game as well.

"Wow..." Molly whispered to Serena as the two headed for Ami, "There must be
around twenty to thirty girls here."

Serena nodded but held her tongue until she was with Ami, "Hi, Ami," a
little smirk appearing on her lips, "I'll bet you didn't think this would
happen, right?"

"Actually I did," those facial features of the pale girl not changing but her
voice had a subtle glee to it, "unlike the other clubs at the school, there isn't
one where girls, who aren't involved in sports, to come and compete and bond
together."

"Oh, what about Alex?" Molly countered, picking up one of the pamphlets from a
table.

"Alex is the other reason for girls to come," Ami glanced at the tall blonde
making her way to where the trio stood, "many girls are still trying to figure
out their sexual orientation and would find an all girls club a place where they
can relax and be themselves."

"Eh... okay," Serena sweated a little at this hint of lesbianism from her pale
friend. When Alex joined them, the odango blonde grinned, "Thank you for helping
us organizing this club, Alex."

"My pleasure, kitten," Alex placed her hands upon her blue-jean covered hips, her
strong legs covered by patch-riddled leggings , "besides I couldn't pass up
the opportunity of being in the same room with so many kissable cuties,"
she flashed her wonderful white teeth and winked at them.

Ami rolled her eyes, Serena and Molly giggled, blushing, only for the
redhead to get in the first words, "Oh... who brought in all the movie
equipment?"

"I did," Ami keeping her voice neutral, "it will help in teaching the basics to
our members," the girl wearing a rich purple and night blue dress with light pink
stockings and violet tresses around her knees and elbows, "along with these," she
moves over to the table, reached into  a box and pulled out a single DVD case.


"Hikaru No Go!" Several of the girls in the huge room reacted to Serena's joyful
sound, her hand snatching up the DVD case those pale, dark-dark purple painted
fingernails, a mysterious expression on Ami's black-purple lips, "So you are
going to use episodes of this cool series as a teaching aide?"

Ami retrieved the item from Serena, "Yes, it should help in showing Go is
an enjoyable game."

"Great idea!" Serena gushed while Molly touched her own lips to hide the small
smile at the blonde's gaiety.

Serena did notice Alex scanning the crowd, the petite blonde turning and
noting the sports-girl's groupies nodding in return, then Alex said,
"Okay, everyone is in and seated, Serena," her glittering blue eyes come
to Serena, "it's your show now."

Unease rippled through Serena at how much attention was  focused on her,
but then Molly squeezed her upper arm, saying, "You can do it, Serena."

"Thanks, Molly," Serena looked at Ami, "Ami?"

"I'm not much of a social speaker, Serena," a cool tone from Ami, "and your sunny
and energetic personality wins more winning then my persona."

"Oh..." Concern etched on Serena's face at Ami's harsh judgment of her own social
skills, but quickly Serena grinned and tenderly held one of Ami's hands, "I'll do
my best, Ami," then looked at Molly and Alex, "everyone."

Serena let go of Ami's hand and took a moment to concentrate before she
did her bouncy walk to the main table in front of the group and picked up
a wireless microphone, waving to the group, "Hi-Hi! I'm Serenity Hope but
you can call me Serena!" She flashed her million volt smile and waved to
everyone, "I'm the vice-president of the Go Club and it's my duty to
introduce you to the fun of the game of Go!"

Those baby blues of Serena scanned the crowd, noticing how several of the
girls were already responding to her words, before she went into the main
part of her pitch, "I'm glad you have decided to come and see if an all-
girls Go Club would be something you would like to join," she waves her
empty hand at the Go sets on the tables, "Go is a very old game, dating
back  further than chess but it is much more flexible game and is played
internationally. So if you think this club is only here for fun, think
again. There will be competitions and contests against other Go clubs as
well as using the internet to compete against other Go players in other
nations." There was a change in the expressions of the audience, Serena
could see several of them straightening, many bored expression turning to
interest, "Before I do any further, our president, Ami Shabon, will show
you the first couple of episodes of an anime series that uses Go as a key
element of the plot, including many of the basic concepts and moves," she
turns to her pale colleague, "Ami?"

With a proper gait Ami walked over to Serena and accepted the microphone,
leaving Serena to step away, "Good day, I will be showing you Hikaru No
Go. While it is in Japanese, there are English subtitles so please pay
attention to the screen."

As Ami went over to the DVD player to start the teaching aid, one of the
girls near the edge of the crowd stood and walked to the closest
organizer, this being Serena, "Serena?" Her voice a little nervous, her
brown eyes shy, "Can you tell me where the girls bathroom is?"

A blank expression was Serena first reaction to the brown-haired girl's
question, "Oh... eh..." the petite blonde spotted a partial of a bathroom
sign on a door, "This way... eh..."

"Galya."

"Okay, Galya," Serena turned and led the tanned-girl toward the bathroom, "Here
you go," she stood next to the entrance of the hallway to the bathroom.

"Thank you," Galya said before hurrying towards the restroom.

From this angle Serena could still see the anime on the projection screen
and the reactions from the seated teenagers, seeing many more becoming
interested in the subject matter. Glancing up she could see the ceiling
went all the way to the building's roof, the top covered by several
layers of curved glass held in place by steel beams. She also noticed the
third story conference and office rooms had glass walls facing the main
room so anyone could see what was happening down below... "Who?"

"What is it, kitten?"

Startled by Alex sudden appearance next to her, Serena turned fast to
face the tall blonde, "Someone is up..."

First came the muffled explosion, second came the scream and third came
the two blondes turning in the direction both occurrences came from, the
girl's bathroom. "Stay here!" Alex shouted as she bolted for the bathroom
with another blonde  hot on her heels. Only after going a couple of feet
inside Serena froze, her eyes like saucers at the sight of Galya
shivering upon the bathroom floor and a pillar of fire shooting out of
one of the bathroom's trashcans. 

"Galya!" Serena slid to a kneeling stop next to the crying girl while Alex pulled
off her shirt, buttons flying, and after dowsing it in water from a basin she
threw it over the flaming trashcan, smothering the fire. The smell of burnt
flesh, the skin melted upon Galya's hand, her body writhing in pain, "Don't
worry, Galya," Serena tried hard to be reassuring, "me and Alex, we're get you to
the hospital."

"Guarantee," Alex voice was calm, the tomboy kneeling and with Serena's help,
scooped up Galya, "next stop, Saint Francis Hospital."

Serena couldn't take her eyes off the charred hand Galya tried to hold.
Serena opened the bathroom door, shouting as Alex went by her, "Anyone
with a cellphone, call 911! Galya is hurt bad!"

The reaction was immediate, several of the girls look confused but Ami;
she was pulling out her cellphone as was Molly abet more slowly. Serena
noticed some girls heading for the exits; her insides tighten at the
sight of trashcans next to each of the doors, "No! Don't use the exits!"

It wasn't enough. Those leaving froze just far enough from the exits to
avoid the jetting towers of flame erupting from the tops of each of the
trashcans. Shouts of surprise and gasps were drown-out by the thundering
sounds of whatever was producing the flames. The odango blonde was just
able to hear Molly yelling, "I can't get through, something is wrong with
my cellphone!" Serena's gut knotted more when Ami nodded to her. Her baby
blues scanned the room, saw girls clumping as they tried to get as far
away from the fiery gushers, but it wouldn't last as Serena saw the walls
around the hellish geysers turning black . 

"WE GOT TO GET OUT!" More than a few voices were shouting this. Serena glanced at
Alex, the buzz-cut blonde arms occupied by the trembling Galya, her attention
pulled by Molly reaching where the odongo blonde stood, whispering against
Serena's ear, "Sailor Moon."

A magic phase.



A magic door opened in Serena's mind, the growing panic disconnecting
from her psyche, "Thanks..." Molly smiled at Serena just before the
odango blonde turned and ran from her.

"Serena!" It was Alex, making Serena smile, probably thinking her fellow blonde
had lost her marbles.

Cool air hit Serena face at entering the girls bathroom, she hoping there
was only one booby-trap here, but the temperature difference between the
auditorium and the bathroom told her things were going to get worse very
fast, the white cross on her broach glittering in her hand.

"MOON HOLY POWER."

The Tree.

The Lamb.

The Garden.

If there was one reason for Serena to become Sailor Moon, this was it.
This feeling, the sensation of every inch of her being harmonizing with
the Holy Spirit, her senses open to the divine world, the shades of gray
gone. Once more she had to grab out for support, finding the cool ceramic
tiles of the washbasin. Her eyes focused and found a face in the mirror
looking at her, one with a crimson domino mask with bright blue eyes,
pink skin vibrate with color, red lips perfectly made and her moon white
bangs ripple with the glow of a crescent moon, its horns pointing upward,
before it faded into her ruby-crested gold tiara.

"I got to get going..." Sailor Moon stumbled out of the room and found Hell-on-
Earth. Girls were screaming, trying to get their cellphones to work, eyes full of
tears and not from just their emotions. The superheroine caught the smell of
chemicals in the air and a concentrated look at the walls closest to the flaming
trashcans told her everything. "EVERYONE! Get down on the floor and cover your
mouth and nose with handkerchiefs or anything!"

Sailor Moon jumped a little at the volume of her words, just realizing
her odango hairpins had acted as loudspeakers. One result it caused every
girl in the room to turn to the blonde, their eyes showing disbelief.

"You heard Sailor Moon," Thank God for Molly, "everyone on the floor and cover
your face," not as loud as Sailor Moon, it didn't need to be with only the noise
of the fire to deal with.

Still some were slow to act until, "Get down!" Alex added her two cents
as she lay on the floor, taking out an emerald green handkerchief and
pressing it to Galya's nose and mouth.

The automated fire sprinkler system should have kicked in by now, Sailor
Moon knew it, but what got her attention was the shadowy figure she saw
earlier was still there, watching the drama down below, "Time for a
little frisbee action."

Despite her words, the blonde's stomach was doing flip-flops and she was
more than a little scared, not for her life or harm to herself, it was
the gut wrenching dread of letting her friends down, of fumbling her hold
on the tiara, of stumble-mouthing her attack words or just missing her
target by a country mile. 

"Holy Tiara Attack!"

The surge of power, it was nothing like when she and Molly had practiced,
it rattled her brain like a gong, made her feel out-of-control of her
throw. She stared at the spinning, whirling disc of gold, swearing she
saw it wobble, saw it curve in flight, "Go... go... GO!" She jumped in
the air and pumped her fist when her tiara ruptured the glass wall into a
thousand pieces, the shadowy figure disappearing at the same time.

"Sailor... Moon... the sprinklers..." Cold ice hit Sailor Moon at hearing the
ragged coughing mixed into Molly's words.

"On it!" the odongo heroine acknowledged, noticing the chemical smell getting
stronger, a backward glace showing her that everyone was huddling together on the
floor, except for Ami, she was kneeling on the floor, clutching herself so tight
that her head was almost touching her knees. Something was wrong with Ami, Sailor
Moon could sense it.

"Hurry!"

The cry from one of the other girls put Sailor Moon into action, "Can't
take the low road so..." her red boots clack on the floor, quickly
building up her speed and she could feel her body tensing up before she
jumped up, her arms reaching for the second tier of seating, "Yes...
yes... YES!" Grab and pulling, in one action she was crouching on the
brass railing,  her leg muscles tight as cords, before she leaped
straight up, throwing one arm up and reaching as far and she could. Her
fingers clinched the edge of the broken window, glass crunching under her
gloved hand and with strength she didn't know she had, she was able to
vault into the toothy opening, "Sailor Moon is here to PUNISH YOU!" 

"I got news for you, Instrument of Peace," The shadowy figure turned out to be a
man, wearing what looked like a security uniform, his middle-age face covered
with bleeding cuts with slivers of glass in them, his right hand holding a small
black box with a button, "punishment is handed out in Hell."

Sailor Moon froze, her baby blues wide, her mind desperately searching
for a solution, her gaze searching the room, realizing she was in the
center's security room, the walls full of camera and control boards,
keyboards, mice and LCD dials, "You don't have to kill them!"

"Kill..." his eyes, there looked to be something going on behind them, causing
Sailor Moon to remember what Luna told her about the Fallen.

"No, you don't need to," her eyes continue to search for an option, "I'm right
here at your mercy."

"Instrument of Peace..." he twitched and looked away from Sailor Moon, but then
he jerked, his body going rigid as a dog does by its leash, "sheep slaughtered
for the sacrifice," he holds the control device high over his head. The petite
heroine could feel icy freezing  eat at her mind, struggling to come up with
an idea when her eyes zeroed in on a small four-legged critter of black
fur creeping, stalking behind the man, the door into the room jarred
open.

A scream.

A rolling wave of cold slammed into Sailor Moon's back just seconds after
she heard the scream, causing her to stumble forward, the same impact
sending the man to one knee, "Wha..." he mumbled, then a scream of his
own as Luna locked hour set of claws to his bare hand and her feline
teeth into his trigger thumb.

Everything was jerking into the Twilight Zone for red-white-and-blue
Sailor Scout, sensations piling on sensations. The man dropping the
device, Sailor Moon twisting to look over her shoulder, the ring of fire
transformed into a ring of blue ice and the walls along with the steel
doors layered in ice. She also saw Ami, the Goth girl's head now flipped
up and her arms slack around her. There was no doubt in the blonde
heroine's mind, the scream and the power came from Ami, the icy holy
light burning from the pale girl's forehead, the horned circle and cross
symbol of Mercury there.

"Come on everyone, now's our chance!" Alex, Sailor Moon saw the tomboy roll to
her feet, still holding Galya. A dam of passivity broke, the other girls
following the blonde's lead, following her while picking up chairs to break the
ice, not thinking about the amazing transmutation which they had just witnessed.
Only Molly had wits enough to go to Ami, helping the shocked girl to stand,
saying something to the Goth girl, but Sailor Moon was too far to hear it.

"No... I will not be... defeated..." Sailor Moon turned by to the man, the corner
of her eye spotted a couple of the screens showing what was happening below, "you
will... still die..."

Sailor Moon  grabbed up the dropped trigger and crushed it , "So much for
the Forth of July." Her hot breath freezing to fog in the freezing air ,
taking on the characteristics of a Yukon winter she knows very well.

"You are wrong... Instrument of Peace..." Sailor Moon spun on her heels but it
was too late, the man had another black box in his hand, "This room... will be
your cremation urn..."

Explosions.

Fire.

Crimson Silk.

Silk?

From the cascade of images, Sailor Moon's mind was able to only piece
together bits and pieces of the details. There was a man squeezing the
box... another man bounding into the room from the scattered window... in
a tuxedo? How... how dashing, like some hero out of old black-and-white
movie or shojo anime. Was he holding her? His hands... his arms... his
body... they were so comfortable, and strong... she remembered the times
her father held her like this... hearing the beat of his heart... how
secure... how safe it made her feel... like now.

Then the crimson around Sailor Moon swirled open and for the first time
she looked up into the face of her savor, his raven mop of hair crowned
by an equally black top-hat and a white domino mask covered his dark
eyes. He was much taller than she was, yet he seemed so gentle to her,
not a towering body of intimidation. She also noticed for the first time
she held Luna in her arms, an amazed look on the cat face, those eyes
wide with reverence. Not saying a word he helped her to a stand, the girl
keeping a firm hold on her guardian, "Tha... thank you... ah..."

"Tuxedo Mask," his voice, it sounded familiar yet not familiar, his lips , his
expression so much like a Victorian aristocratic, noble, as his white
gloved hands continued to hold her by her elbows.

"Tuxedo Mask," Sailor Moon nodded, smiling at him.

"Sailor Moon!"

The odongo heroine turned at the calling, "Molly!" she waved at the
redhead coming toward her, Sailor Moon able to see Alex and the other
girls in the background, the tomboy laying Galya under a tree and the
sound of sirens getting louder. "Tuxedo Mask this is..." she stopped as
the space where her rescuer had stood was now empty, "where..."

"I saw him running away ..." Molly stopped next to Sailor Moon, "Who was
he?"

"He called himself Tuxedo Mask," Sailor Moon adjusted her own domino mask,
looking at what was left of the Levy Center, smoking pouring out of the top
floor, "Did everyone get out?"

"Yeah, some cut and bruises and a few asthma attacks," Molly's crimson locks
stained with smoke.

"I hope Galya will recov-" the sirens got noticeably louder  "it looks like it's
time for Sailor Moon to exit and Serena to return," there was a happy smile upon
those red lips as she gentle dropped Luna to the grass.

"No regrets this time?" Molly asked, her hand squeezing one of Sailor Moon's
hands.

"None this time," Sailor Moon squeezed back before letting go disappearing into
the landscape with a black cat bounding after her.

End of Chapter Three.