This is from a story me and a friend have been working on two years ago, but they never came back. My new helper is December Silvervale. Please understand my first helper.
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Hi everyone, I'm Ayame Mascari. I'm a 14 year old girl and attend Juuban Middle School. I support a lot of charities and I'm very bright, even though I am a bit restless. I always thought that Japan's peace would last forever.
But lately, there have been a lot of strange paranormal incidents that involve a trio called the Sailor Guardians: Sailor Moon, Sailor Mercury, and Sailor Mars.
Even though they've saved many people, they've been creating trouble since they first appeared. People had started leaving Japan when they found out that the police couldn't help us. The night before last, this hot guy showed up in the sky and threatened the Sailor Guardians to show up at one of the airports at a certain time last night otherwise he was going to burn Toyko to the ground! The police went there and were simple put to sleep. They didn't even see the guy. Plus all the missing person reports that were solved due to the Sailor Guardians help. They're useless against the strange paranormal incidents that has been plague Tokyo as of late.
But I wasn't going to let all this freaking paranormal stuff affect me. However, little did I know that this morning something strange would happen. Who knew that with just an observation, you would go through so much.
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Ayame heard the alarm clock go off at 7:45. The beeping grating on her ears. She turned it off, got up and stretched.
"Time to get things started." she yawned.
Thirteen minutes later, Ayame was heading towards the kitchen while reading a book. Being so drawn into the book she was quite looking where she was going so before she knew it she felt her feet trip over something causing her with a shriek as she fell to the floor. Groaning at the small amount of pain she moved her atomic tangerine hair she looked to see the cause of her current position.
"Dad! Are you okay? What are you doing?" She asked as she picked up her book and stood up. She found her father was laying on the ground as he seemed to be reaching into the cabinet. His legs spread out which had caused her to trip prior to this. With a few ouches and mutter of what Ayame assumed was curses he withdrew from the cabinet and greeted her.
"Good morning, sweetheart. Sorry about that, are you okay?" He asked as he hissed in pain of a few scratches he now had on his hands.
"I'm fine. I wasn't looking where I was going. But what happened to you? Why are you all scratched up and why were you like that to begin with?" She asked.
"Well. This morning your mother was making some fish to go with breakfast and the window was open. Then this darn cat came in and ate one. Then when I tried to catch it and get it out of the house, it was spooked and ran all over the place. I finally cornered it in the cabinet and I've been trying to get it to come out without hurting it. Unfortunately the feelings aren't mutual." He explained as they heard a meow from the cabinet.
"Here, let me try." Ayame said as she reached down into the cabinet.
"Sweetheart! Be careful, it's not afraid to scratch someone." Her father warned. This did not stop Ayame as she bent down to get a better look at the feline that caused her father so much trouble.
It was an adult cat with tan fur that looked well fed for a supposed stray alley cat. It's eyes were a crystal blue and what made it really stand out was a mark on it's forehead. She couldn't tell quite yet if it was just an odd patch of fur or a bald spot due to the lighting put oddly enough it was the shape of a perfectly round circle with a cross in the center connected to the edges. And it had red, yellow, green, and blue colors all blended together.
The cat let out a hiss as she reached her hand out to it, but that did not stop her. She made hushing noises and spoke to it softly. "It's okay. It's okay. I'm not going to hurt you little one. Don't you want to come out of the cramped cabinet? Please?"
The cat was still hissing but after a moment it stopped. Hesitantly the cat came closer and sniffed the outstretched hands. Soon it began to lick her hand. With a smile, Ayame dragged the cat out by the scruff of it neck and pulled it out of the cabinet. As she stood up and cradled the cat in her arms her father gave her an amazed look.
"Good job sweetie."
"Thanks dad." She said as she petted it, getting a purr from it. "I think it would be best when the next time it comes by, we give it a little food outside for it. Maybe next time it won't go after our breakfast for it's own." She said as she moved to the window it came from.
"What are you anyway?" She asked as she lifted it up to check.
"Well, Mr. Kitty. I hope you've learned your lesson and I better not catch you in the cabinet again." After that she let it go and shut the window.
Ayame's mother came into the kitchen wit the morning paper and looked around. "Did you get the cat out?" She asked her husband.
She raised an eyebrow at his disheveled and scratched up appearance.
"Ayame managed to get it out. She sure has a way with animals. She's an animal guru." He answered.
"Dad~!" said Ayame dragged out as she washed her hands. "I'm not that great." Her mother gave a small nod and turned her attention to the newspaper.
"Anything new?" Ayame asked as she made herself some toast.
"Those Sailor Guardians striked again last night. Honestly! Those girls should be careful to where they attack. It says here that one of the planes at the airport almost got set on fire by that Sailor Mars," her mother said, clearly displeased.
Ayame grabbed her lunch from the table and faced her mother. "I'm definitely going to help organize another charity."
She checked the time and her eyes widened.
"Gotta go now! See you later, Mom!" She kissed her mom on the cheek and ran out of the kitchen.
She moved aroundher dad and ran towards the door.
"Bye Dad!" And Ayame ran out of the door while eating toast.
Mrs. Mascari met Mr. Mascari at the door and watched their daughter before she disappeared around a corner.
"We're lucky to have Ayame," Mrs. Mascari murmured quietly.
"We sure are," Mr. Mascari muttered.
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"Morning!" Ayame exclaimed happily as she passed a milk man.
"Good morning," the milkman greeted politely.
Ayame walked on before taking out the book she had been reading earlier. Well more like seeing the pages since it was technically an art book. There were dozens of pictures along with information about the artists that created them, their subjects, and techniques.
Ever since Ayame could remember, she had always been fascinated by art because of it's colors. Never had she seen a painting that bored her.
Looking up from her book to make sure she wasn't going to have a repeat of earlier on the kitchen, she noticed something she could only describe as paranormal. So it was no surprise that Ayame stopped walking and let the book fall on the sidewalk as she watched a mansion appear out of thin air. It was in a gothic style of architecture and surrounded by pine trees so much that she could barely see the mansion.
Ayame blinked and looked around her. Nobody seemed to have noticed how a mansion just appeared out of thin air. Well more like a hill, that is.
Ayame felt something stir inside her and she suddenly felt dizzy. She leaned against a pole and gasped. She had felt something. It was something she had never felt before. She just couldn't describe it.
She heard a car speeding by and dizzily looked up. Everything went into slow motion.
Ayame saw a red car. She only got a glimpse at it, but she thought is was a Ferrari Testarossa 512 TR model. However, it wasn't the car that got her full attention. It was the man in the car.
The only thing she managed to see of him was putting on sunglasses and hiding his blue eyes.
Then he was gone and time returned to normal. Her dizziness passed and picking up her book she shook it off. While she was curious as to what happened she wasn't going to question it. She had already decided that all the paranormal junk wasn't going to let this affect her. Noticing the time she rushed to make it to school.
After the day seemed to drag on and Ayame tried to get what happened and the man from before out of her mind she went to meet up with her friends Usagi and Naru at the tennis court.
"Hey girls! What's up?" She asked as she walked over.
"Hey, Ayame! Glad to see you. Not much. Just watching Rui play." Usagi answered pointing towards the said girl. Ayame followed her line of sight to see Rui, one of the talented tennis players from her school. She had brown hair in a ponytail with blue-gray eyes, and she wore a green polo shirt, a white skirt, white sneakers, and a green sweatband.
While the girls talked, the same car from earlier drove up to the curb and parked.
"Hey, check out that guy!" A girl who was also watching the tennis matches pointed out to her group of friends, catching the attention of Ayame, Usagi, and Naru. Ayame held in a gasp as she recognized him as the man who came from the mansion that appeared out of no where and drove that red car. 'What is he doing here?' She wondered.
"Oh my god, he's gorgeous!" Another cried out as she blushed. Ayame wondered if the guy could hear them since they talked to loudly even though their group was to close together.
"Wait, I think I recognize him!" The third told her friends.
"Yeah? Who is he?" the second asked.
"He's the president of some new company that opened up around here." The one who recognized him answered.
"So he's super rich?!" The first asked. Ayame could have sworn she saw yen signs in her eyes and a bit of drool.
"Wow, he's hot!" Naru and Usagi whispered unlike the other girls. Ayame swore she saw hearts in their eyes.
Ayame blushed much to her own embarrassment. They were right he was hot, but she couldn't shake the feeling that there was something about him. He was a little suspicious. Suspicious, but hot. She didn't get a good look at him before, but she couldn't deny it now that she had. He had thick and wavy maroon hair that reached to his mid-back and dark blue eyes she had already noticed. He wore a pale yellow button up shirt with a pale blue overcoat, a black belt, tan pants, and brown shoes. He also had small yellow stud earrings.
While the others around him gossiped, the man payed them no attention but focused on the match on the court, more specifically Rui. Then the man somehow jumped the tall fence onto the court.
"Excuse me, you can't just walk onto the court right now!" Rui's opponent told him.
"You should be putting more weight behind the ball." The man said paying her no attention.
"Huh?" Rui asked confused.
The other students whispered in awe and confusion as to what was going on and Ayame couldn't help but want to get closer to the action. At least that was what she told herself and not get closer to the mystery paranormal man.
"What's going on?" One of the spectators asked their equally confused friends. One giving the intelligent answer of "Uh..Uh.."
"Give me your racket." The man told Rui's tennis opponent. It almost sounded like he nearly ordered her. No wonder he was the president of some new company. He had an authoritative air about him.
"Uh, ok." The girl said as she quickly handed over the racket. Taking it in his hands and giving it a twirl, he faced Rui.
"Now, serve me the ball!" He called out. Doing as he said, Rui tossed to ball up and served to ball. When it reached him he returned it with such force that it knocked the racket out of Rui's hand.
Everyone was shocked. Ayame couldn't help her gasp.
"That serve was so slow, that a fly could have landed on it." The man scolded Rui.
"I'm sorry, but just who are you?!" Rui demanded to know holding her hand and rubbing it to sooth the pain.
"My name is Masato Sanjouin. I'm a coach, and I can help you." The man finally introduced himself.
'A couch? But the others said he was a president of a company. Maybe he did tennis when he was younger? A hobby maybe?' Ayame wondered. This Masato Sanjouin was getting more suspicious as time went on in her eyes.
"Let me get that for you." Masato said as he handed Rui's original opponent her racket and headed over to Rui to pick up her racket.
"Oh, thank you." Rui said still a little unsure about what was going on. When he picked it up Ayame could feel something in the air. It seemed to chill her to the bone. It felt wrong somehow. But soon the feeling past and looking around no one else seemed to be affected by what just happened, if it happened at all. Ayame couldn't help but wonder if something was wrong with herself.
"Focus on putting your weight behind the ball." Masato advised handing the racket back to her.
"Ok." Rui complied with his advise. When she took the racket, Ayame thought she saw her eyes go dark and blank. It too sent chills down her spine.
"I need someone to receive." Masato said.
"Hey, right here! I'll volunteer!" One of the boy tennis players jumped up at the chance.
The other students clearly displeased couldn't help but ask, "Him?"
Masato didn't seem to care who Rui went against as long as there was someone to do it and ignoring the others protest nodded and motioned for him to get on the court.
"Ha! Snooze you lose, guys! But, uh, hey, could you please go easy on me, Rui?" The volunteer boasted to his peers, but quickly changed his tune when he spoke to Rui with a blush on his cheeks and a chuckle. Clearly having a crush on the girl.
Ayame looked back a Rui and noticed the look on her face. The only way Ayame could describe it was that it looked pretty sinister. She clearly wasn't going to go easy on the boy. Serving the ball, it was so fast and hard it knocks the boy to the ground and the ball disintegrated.
"Oh, wow!" Naru exclaimed.
"Wow, cool!" Usagi said in agreement.
The boy looks at the hole in the ground where the ball hit. Rui looked surprised at what she just did. Ayame noticed to blank look in her eyes and the sinister smile was gone. Did she imagine it?
Then Rui smiled. Remembering who made that possible however she turns to Masato to thank him.
"Thanks for the tip!" Rui said delighted. But her words didn't reach the supposed coach. He was already leaving the court. Only this time like a normal person without jumping the fence.
Ayame was standing right beside the door out so as he pasted by, his hand gently brushed against her. This feeling was different from the darker feelings she had gotten earlier. It was . . . warm and nostalgic. She could feel like she had felt this same hand brush against hers prior to this meeting even though the two of them never met face to face before.
Apparently, he felt something too. His eyes widening as he turned to look at her. Ayame felt like she couldn't breathe, he was even more handsome up close. She could feel her cheeks heating up.
"Have . . . Have I met you before?" His voice was deep and gentler than when he was ordering the tennis players before. It was almost as if he was speaking to himself. He seemed almost out of it, dazed somehow.
"I-I don't think so. Not like this an-anyway. I think I saw you coming out of your driveway this morning. S-So that might be where you've seen me before." Ayame explained.
He continued to stare at her for a brief moment before shaking off whatever had come over him and nodded in agreement. Without another word he left and headed back to his car.
Ayame watched him leave until Naru and Usagi practically tackled her.
"WHAT DID HE SAY? WHAT DID HE SAY?" The girls cried out in unison. Jealous that such a hot guy talked to her.
"Calm down. He just asked if we had met before. Which I haven't. Are we going to get back to watching Rui or are you guys going to keep shaking me?" Ayame asked.
Soon the let her go and continued to watch. After a while, Rui keeps hitting one opponent after another. All the boys who faced her cowarded at her presence. Even Ayame was intimidated and she wasn't even on the court.
"This feels great!" Rui cried out this dark chuckle. All the while the dark, blank eyes showed themselves the more Rui played with her racket. Whoever this girl was now wasn't the same Rui from before.
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That night after dinner, Ayame sat in her room reflecting once again on the day. She thought about how she had told herself that all the paranormal stuff wasn't going to affect her, but weird things kept happening left and right. She couldn't help but feel drawn to this Masato Sanjouin. She was tempted to do some research on his company and stuff but couldn't bring herself to do it yet. A part of her felt like she was going crazy.
Ayame sighed at he own foolish thoughts and decided to call it a night. She worried though about having to pass Masato Sanjouin's house every morning to get to school. After much tossing and turning, she finally fell asleep.
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Meanwhile someone else was up late. Down in the Juban shopping district, inside the game center crown a meeting was taking place.
"Code name 0091. This is Luna. Passphrase: The rabbit on the moon is pounding rice cakes." Luna the talking black cat of the Sailor Guardians told the screen of the Sailor V video game.
"The moons rice cakes are sticky." The computerized male voice answered.
"And they puff up when you toast them as well." Luna finished the phrase.
"Good news! We've uncovered information on the enemy were up against." The computer told her.
"Are you sure about that?" Luna questioned.
"Yes. Of course!" Came the answer. Almost upset that Luna would question him or the research he had put a lot of effort to get.
"Sorry." Luna said with a bow.
"The enemies organization goes by the name Dark Kingdom. Their trying to collect human energy. But as of yet we haven't been able to uncover their master plan." The computer explained.
"Why would they want human energy?" Luna asked confused. But looking back on all the past run-ins with the enemy, that did seem like they were trying to absorb tons of energy all at once. But why human energy specifically?
"We don't know yet Luna. But we'll figure it out eventually. Until then we must stop them at every opportunity. How has the search of the other guardians gone?" The computer asked.
"So far it's just Sailor Moon, Sailor Mercury, and Sailor Mars. They seem to be handling things well so far so another Guardian is necessarily needed right now. Besides, Sailor Moon the rest were found by pure coincidence." Luna said sheepishly.
"Don't be hard on yourself, Luna. What matters is that you found them and they're on their way to becoming great Sailor Guardians. However, I have a feeling that Sailor Gaea might appear soon. So keep her transformation broach handy." The computer warned.
"Sailor Gaea! Are you sure?" Luna asked.
"I don't have any thing to prove it, just a feeling. But it's best to be prepared for anything. Good night Luna." The computer said cutting itself off.
"Good night." Luna said with a sigh. As she left the Arcade she took a moment to get the transformation broach for Sailor Gaea.
Luna sighed as she looked at with its circular shape with a turquoise background. On top standing out of the background was a orange heart and within it was far more hearts of different colors. From orange to purple, from purple to red, and a tiny jewel in the center of the hearts. It was certainly different from Sailor Moon's broach or the other sailor guardians transformation pens. Luna couldn't help but wonder why Gaea was different from the others. She knew Sailor Moon was the leader so maybe that was why she had a broach instead of a pen but that didn't explain why Sailor Gaea was different.
While she was at it, Luna took out the other object for Sailor Gaea. A white glove similar to all the others had when they transformed with green on the end and on the back of the glove a special design that made it different from the others. On it was the eight cardinal directions. Each designated with it's own color.
'Just what did it all mean?' Luna wondered. She was so distracted with her thoughts, she didn't hear something coming closer fast. Before she got a good look she was tackled to the ground and away from the transformation broach and the glove for Sailor Gaea.
"HEY!" Luna cried out as her assailant as they got off of her and picked up the two objects and ran off with them.
Luna tried to keep up with what she could make out to another cat, but couldn't see anything else that made it stand out but after many twists and turns, the thief managed to give Luna the slip.
"OH! What do I do now?! Without it, Sailor Gaea won't be able to fight when we find her! Why would some other cat steal it? Could it be the enemy?! No. They would have tried to catch me too to get information and hold me ransom... I hope. Not try to just kill me. Control won't like this. I'll have to get the girls to help or something." Luna said as she walked with her head held low and tail between her legs.
Hoping that nothing dangerous would happen to the broach and glove. Hoping that they could be found and returned safely.
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The next day Luna sighed once again at Usagi's antics and her habit of liking a new hot guy at the drop of a hat.
"You know, I'm really glad Ami and Rei are part of the team. If it was just you Usagi, I have a feeling that the Dark Kingdom would have taken away all of humanities energy a long time a long time ago." Luna told her depressed.
"What's that mean?!" Usagi asked offended.
"She means that maybe there was a mix up with you becoming a guardian." Rei answered annoyed with her teammates lack of understanding.
"What?! Come how can you guys say that!?" Usagi asked them sadly.
"Speaking of taking away. There is something else I need to tell you besides the new information about the enemy." Luna said with a somber expression. Interrupting Usagi's upset moment.
"What is it Luna?" Ami asked.
"As you might already know there are other guardians besides the three of you. Last night I got this feeling that another Guardian will appear." Luna explained.
"Really?! That's great!" Usagi said happy to have another friend.
"But, what's gotten you so upset Luna. Why aren't you happy?" Rei asked noticing Luna's mood unlike Usagi.
"I got out the transformation broach of that particular guardian to get a good look at it. I was so distracted in my thoughts that while I wasn't looking, this other cat tackled me to the ground and ran off with the broach. I tried to catch them, but they gave me the slip. Without it, if and when we do find that Sailor Guardian, they won't be able to transform." Luna explained in shame.
"That's terrible!" Ami cried.
"How could you let that happen!?" Rei cried.
"And you guys say I fall down on the job!" Usagi added.
"Please, you two. Luna didn't mean for this to happen. I'm sure if we try real hard we can find it. Do you remember anything special about this cat?" Ami asked.
"No. It was to fast and dark. But I know the area it disappeared. When we get the time, I would like for you to help me search for it. There's no telling what could happen if it falls into the wrong hands." Luna answered.
"You and Usagi are hopeless." Rei said.
"Hey! How can you guys say that!?" Usagi asked.
"I think you're being too hard on Luna and Usagi." Ami said giving a look to Rei for her harsh words at Luna and Usagi. Luna furthered to lower her head down in shame.
"OH THANK YOU AMI! You're the only one who really understands me." Usagi cried as she hugged the girl.
Luna sighed and left before Usagi could ask Ami to go play tennis with her.
Determined to find that thieving cat and make up for her mistake.
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As a few days passed, there was no sign of the mystery cat or the broach. However, Rui was getting meaner and meaner.
This time Rui's opponent was a girl and she clearly wasn't enjoying it was much as Rui. The force of Rui's serve made the the girl on the court fall, covered in dirt and knocking the racket out of her hand, breaking it.
Rui chuckled and walked up to the girl. Stepping on the broken racket.
"Rui, we should stop now." The girl said timidly with mild exhaustion and a hint of fear.
"What's wrong? I brought you a spare racket. Now come on, get up on your feet. Let's finish this." Rui says in a deceptive sweet voice. Getting more slightly aggressive as she spoke. Kicking away the broken racket with her foot. Now useless.
"Okay..." Her opponent answered. Clearly not happy and forced into it.
Watching the game Naru stood behind the fence. Worry marred her pretty face.
"Something's wrong. Sis has never acted like this before now." Naru whispered to herself. She decided now was the time for some friendly advise and how better than her best friends Usagi and Ayame.
She invited them over to her house to talk.
"Sorry for calling you here last minute." Naru apologized to them as they say down on the floor a tray with tea set up for them. They were no longer wore their school uniforms instead trading them for more comfortable clothes. Naru wore a tan sleeveless shirt, orange long shirt, and her trade mark blue ribbon in her hair. Usagi wore a pink button-up shirt and blue jean skirt. Ayame wore a tie-die shirt and a pair of blue jeans. She was never one to really wear really short skirts. Shorts and pants were more her style.
"Don't worry about it!" Usagi assured her. Then noticing Naru's mood asked "Mmm-Is something wrong?"
"What is it?" Ayame asked as she moved over to comfort her friend. Placing a reassuring hand on her shoulder.
Naru gave her a small smile of gratitude at the gesture, but frowned again as she explained. "I don't know, but Sis has been acting really strange the last couple of days. She's become so aggressive whenever she plays tennis. In all the time we've spent together, she's never been like this. It's as if she's become a different person." She informed them.
"Do you think she's just on-edge because of the big tournament coming up?" Usagi suggested.
"That was my first guess too, but now I think it's more than that. I don't know..." Naru said, tears forming in her eyes.
Usagi gasped. Shocked and realizing how much this situation with Rui was effecting her friend.
"What could of happened to her?" Naru asked.
Ayame continued to comfort her friend as she thought about when Rui started acting odd. She was just fine the other day when the three of them watched her play. Until that man appeared. Masato Sanjouin. If what Naru said was true, then Rui had been acting strange since he gave her that advise. Ayame remembered those blank eyes as she had served that ball so hard, it disintegrated.
However, Ayame didn't want to jump to conclusions. Plus she didn't have any proof that he was behind Rui's actions of late. Besides how his house appeared out of nowhere, but then again no one else seemed to notice and she could still be going somewhat crazy.
"Did you try talking to her?" Ayame asked,
Naru looked down as she told them what had happened earlier when she had tried. How Rui said it had nothing to do with it and to leave her alone when Naru was just trying to help.
"What?! That's so cruel!" Ayame said. Thinking about how the two were like sisters.
"I've never seen Sis act like that toward me before. It makes me wonder if maybe something really terrible has happened to make her behave this way. She won't even talk to me." Naru said as more tears filled her eyes.
"I see." Usagi said. Thinking about what to do to help her friend as Naru drys her eyes. Suddenly, she was struck with an idea.
"Hey, listen! Why don't we do some poking around and see if we can find out what's going on with her!" Usagi suggested.
"I'm sure we can fine out something. Three heads working together are better than just two or one. Though I have to stop by my house for a second before we all go see Rui. But we're right here with you to help!" Ayame explained.
"Usagi... Ayame..." Naru muttered, moved by her friends willingness to help.
"We'll figure it out!" Usagi assured her.
After leaving Naru's house, Ayame headed back to her house while Naru and Usagi when ahead to the tennis court Rui went to after school. She needed tell her parents and get a few things. In her room she got her purse and packed it with pepper spray. With the weird things happening around Tokyo it was better safe than sorry.
What she didn't notice was that her window was open and she had a visitor.
"Meow."
Turning around she saw the same cat that was stealing part of their breakfast the other day.
"Oh, hello there little one. Now how did you get all the way up here and enter through my window? I'm afraid I don't have any food to give you right now." Ayame explained as she petted the cat on her window seal.
"I'm not here for you to give me food. Instead, I'm here to give you something." A male voice said.
Ayame's light blue eyes widen as she looked at where the voice came from.
"What's wrong, Ayame? Did a cat catch your tongue?" The cat, the owner of the voice, once again spoke.
"Y-You! You just talked! How'd you do that? I thought I was going crazy, but this takes that cake! And how do you know my name?" Ayame yelled as she backpedaled away from the cat grabbing a pillow to throw if he came closer.
"Please, Ayame calm down. I promise I'm not going to hurt you. I'll explain everything if you calm down and you let me. You're not going crazy. As to how I know your name is simple. I heard other people address you by the name Ayame so I assumed that was you. I've been keeping a close eye on you ever since you helped me get away from your father. But where are my manners? You may call me Actaeon. It is a pleasure to finally meet you Ayame." The cat now known as Actaeon explained with a bow.
Ayame was still wary of the talking cat but calmed down enough to listen to it. Actaeon didn't move from the window an just sat down to not spook Ayame again.
"Actaeon? You mean the same name as the Greek god of the wilderness, wild animals, the hunt, and male animals?" Ayame asked.
"You're quite correct. That is the same name, but I assure you I am no deity. But I'm not ordinary cat either. I have been searching for you for some time now, Ayame. Let me tell you a story. Long ago there was an ancient kingdom that covered the entire earth which was part of an even greater system of kingdoms. I was from that kingdom. The kingdom of Earth. This time period was called The Silver Millennium. A peaceful time period during the prehistoric age when there were kingdoms on every single planet in the solar system and they all existed in harmony. The very center of it all was the Moon Kingdom. That existed on the very same moon orbiting this planet now." Actaeon explained.
Ayame was about to interrupt but Actaeon raised his paw to silence her.
"Please wait until I'm done for questions. While it was peaceful, the peace couldn't last forever. The Kingdom of the Moon and all the other planetary kingdoms were different than the Kingdom of Earth. They were blessed with long lives and possessed a special crystal called the Silver Imperial Crystal. Said to have the power to destroy an entire planet. The people of Earth harbored a jealousy deep inside towards the Kingdom of the Moon and one day, a witch by the name of Beryl," Actaeon said with scathing hate.
"Contacted a source of great evil and with her dark magic and taking advantage of the people's jealousy swayed the people of Earth to wage war against the Moon Kingdom. Those who did not join willingly were forced. They became known as the Dark Kingdom. The Moon suffered great losses but they were finally able to seal the Dark Kingdom away. However, over time the seal has weakened. They are the reason paranormal activities have been happening in Tokyo recently. The only way to stop them is to find the princess of the Moon. She has been reborn as an ordinary human on Earth and in her possession is the Silver Crystal. But one person cannot fight the Dark Kingdom alone. To make protect her are different guardians. Each one named after the planet they represent. I think you already know the name of some of them."
"Sailor Moon, Sailor Mercury, and Sailor Mars!" Ayame exclaimed.
"Correct. Each were chosen to become the guardian protector of the princess and help defeat the Dark Kingdom. You, Ayame are another one of those guardians. You are Sailor Gaea. Representative of the planet Earth. It is your destiny to help stop the Dark Kingdom. I've been searching all over the place just for you." Actaeon said with much hope and admiration in his eyes.
"Actaeon...I-I don't know what to say. I want to believe you. Really I do. But I'm no super hero. I don't know anything about Moon and Earth Kingdoms. Or any princesses from the Moon either. How do you really know it's me?" Ayame asked.
Actaeon just gave her a sad smile. "I had a feeling you would have a hard time understanding. Like I said earlier I have something for you." Moving back outside Actaeon left for a moment before coming back inside with what looked like a broach. It was circular in shape with a turquoise background. On top standing out of the background was a orange heart and within it was far more hearts of different colors. From orange to purple, from purple to red, and a tiny jewel in the center of the hearts.
"This is your transformation broach. Only the one destined to be Sailor Gaea. If you want further proof take it and say "Gaea Founding Power! Make Up!". Then you'll see." He explained as he tossed it closer to her.
Seeing she had nothing to lose and wanting to know for sure, Ayame repeated what Actaeon said. Before she knew it a rainbow of colors swirled around her and she was transformed into what she assumed to be Sailor Gaea.
Looking into her reflection she saw a golden tiara similar to the other sailor guardians with a purple jewel with in it. Around her neck was a fuchsia chocker type necklace. Her sailor uniform at the top light blue and pink ribbon over which was her broach. Her skirt was short like the others, much to her dismay, but had the seven colors of the rainbow and fuchsia at the end. Her boots were orange with a blue heel and the leg part ending in blue as well.
As she looks at herself she could hardly believe her eyes. Actaeon just smiled with a proud look on his face.
"Oh... my... god. Is this... me?" She said in awe.
"Yes. And I must say you look amazing, Ayame. Or should I say Sailor Gaea. I'm sorry if I gave you an information overload. You should transform back soon. You still need to meet up with your friends. I'll come back later and we can talk some more okay?" He asked.
Ayame nodded absently and transformed back. Then looking at the time realized the cat was right and ran out to meet up wit her friends. Naru needed her right now. This wasn't the time to get caught up in her head about all of this paranormal stuff.
While she wasn't looking, Actaeon watched her go. "Soon we will all be reunited. When that time comes, me and the one who loves you will tell you everything. I promise you. My princess."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Soon after that, Ayame was able to meet up with her friends.
"Sorry I'm late! Something came up that delayed me a bit." Ayame explained as caight up to them.
"Glad you finally got here, Ayame." Naru addressed her. Usagi nodded to her but kept her eyes on the place they were about to enter.
"So this is the place where Rui comes to get tennis lessons?" Usagi asked.
"Yeah. She comes down here to train every single day after school is over." Naru explained
"Hmm." Usagi hummed thoughtfully. Which was rare.
"Is something wrong?" Naru asked noticing the expression on her friends face.
"No, it's nothing!" Usagi said pulling a 180 in her emotions.
Ayame wasn't so sure. After what just happened when she was at home she thought nearly anything was possible. Usagi's expression returned to a thoughtful one as she look at the place with suspicion then turning into what Ayame could only describe as smug. Ayame just shook her head at her friends antics and briefly wondered how they became friends to begin with. But deep down Ayame knew she really cared and liked Usagi. Valuing her as a trusted friend.
They soon entered when they hear a grunt from a man and decide to investigate. The place is nearly empty except for Rui and two other male players. Rui practically bullying them. Trash talking how they were suppose to be pros and couldn't return her new killer serve.
Naru had enough and moved onto the court. Blocking Rui from the two boys. Uasgi and Ayame joining her. Rui's eyes darker and even more blank than the last time Ayame saw her. Naru was right, Rui was like a totally different person. How no one else, besides Naru, seemed to notice this drastic change in her personality was astonishing.
"Stop it!" Naru told her.
"Hm." Rui said clearly not impressed. "Move it!" She ordered as the two boys took their chance to run away.
"No way! Not until you stop acting like this Sis, I mean it!" Naru yelled, clearly upset.
"Get out of the way, Naru!" Rui ordered again getting angrier and angrier.
"I won't!" Naru said firmly.
"Naru is just worried about you, Rui! Please listen to her!" Usagi pitched in trying to reach the sweet Rui deep inside.
"Just shut up!" Rui yelled.
Ayame couldn't take it anymore. "NO, YOU SHUT UP!" She yelled.
Everyone, perhaps even Rui jumped a little when Ayame yelled.
"Who do you think you are, missy?" Ayame demanded.
"Who does it look like, girly? I'm Rui Saionji. Juban Middle School's best tennis player ever!" Rui answered.
"No, you're not! Rui would never act like this. You're not the best tennis player either. A true player won't hurt their opponents like you do! You're a monster!" Ayame shouted back.
That only made Rui angrier. Grabbing her racket with both hands the air around her shifted. The netting of the racket glowing. The air almost surrounding her then creating a visible whirl wind as Rui swung the racket back and then forward like she was hitting a ball. The air zoomed into netting and then out in to a concentrated blast of air. Strong enough to blast all three of them off their feet. That being the last thing she saw before blacking out.
When she opened her eyes once again she had sneezed. Clearing her eyes she saw Actaeon there with his tail tickling her nose to wake her up.
"Actaeon!? What are you doing here?" Ayame asked as she looked around. Naru was laying beside her, but Usagi was nowhere to be found. Rui had collapsed on the ground, but she seemed to be out of harm's way. Looking out of the bushes, she saw Sailor Moon and a man who she assumed was Tuxedo Mask, who she had heard about from her friends. Seriously, his name wasn't that imaginative. It was literally a description of what he was wearing. What really drew Ayame's attention however was who they were up against. It truly was a monster.
The monster was humanoid in form with pale white skin, pointed ears, orange hair, and seemed to be wearing red lipstick. Though one would mostly over look it because of you know the fangs! It's green eyes were pupil less. It's nail red and no doubt sharp. For a second looked like it was wearing a black suit, but soon realized it was more like fur. On it's shoulder were furry red shoulder pads pointed out. On it's arms were bangles. Who knew monsters had fashion sense?
In its hand was a flaming racket without the netting and a glowing ball in the center.
"Curse you!" The monster bellowed at them.
"Get ready!" Tuxedo Mask warned Sailor Moon.
"Right!" Came Sailor Moon's chipper reply.
Raising it's racket the Monster yelled. "Take this!" The glowing ball turning into fire and shooting out repeatedly.
"Ayame!" Actaeon whisper shouted to get her attention. Seeing that he had her attention again he spoke quickly. "Ayame. I know that this will be difficult for you and scary, but you must transform now into Sailor Gaea! That monster was the cause of Rui's change of personality. It was helping to build up her energy until it's peak and took it all away in one fell swoop. We must defeat that monster or Rui's life will be in danger! Originally, I had hoped to give you some training practice before the real deal but they need your help now. Don't worry! This is part of your destiny. To attack just shout 'Dawn's Rose!' and point it to the enemy. Believe in yourself. Because I already do believe in you."
Ayame was shocked at the cat's belief and faith in her. She was still nervous, but when she looked back at Rui she knew what she had to do. Making sure she was out of sight, she transformed.
"Gaea Founding Power! Make Up!" Once again a rainbow of colors swirled around her and she was transformed into Sailor Gaea.
Sailor Moon was once again being attacked by the monsters flame attacks when Sailor Gaea shouted. "Dawn's Rose!"
As if on instinct, her arms moved in to a cradling positon as golden light formed in her arms as an image of a rising sun rose behind her. When it reached to top of her head, she released the rose. It's petals scattering as if the wind has carried them away. The petals quickly raced towards the large fireball aimed at Sailor Moon and upon contact the energy colliding and canceling each other out.
"What in the world?" Sailor Moon mutter to herself. Tuxedo Mask wondering the same thing as he stood beside her. He had been planning to get them both out of the line of fire when that attack stopped it.
"What was that?!" The monster asked in rage, about to take another step.
"Not another step! You monster! You Dark Kingdom scum! I might not know that much about tennis, but I do know flaming tennis balls of death are strictly prohibited." They heard Sailor Gaea shout, but did see her until they turned towards her voice.
"I am Sailor Gaea! The protector of humanity and nature. On behalf of Mother Earth, I shall brighten the darkness and vanquish the evil within. Your game is over Monster!" Sailor Gaea introduced herself.
"Sailor Gaea?!" Sailor Moon cried out in shock.
'I got out the transformation broach of that particular guardian to get a good look at it. I was so distracted in my thoughts that while I wasn't looking, this other cat tackled me to the ground and ran off with the broach. I tried to catch them, but they gave me the slip. Without it if and when we do find that Sailor guardian they won't be able to transform. There's no telling what could happen if it falls into the wrong hands.' Luna's words ringing in her ears.
'Is this the Sailor Guardian Luna had a feeling would appear? But the Transformation Broach was stolen! How did she get it? Is she really a Sailor Guardian? Is this a trick somehow? How does she even know about the Dark Kingdom?!' Sailor Moon wondered.
"Another pest! Get off my court. Those who don't play should stay out of this. Or even better. I'll destroy you as well! Take this!" The monster yelled as even more fireballs were shot out at her. Using her skills honed from years of cheerleading and exercise from volunteer work Sailor Gaea was able to doge the attacks. Though the skirt really wasn't helping.
"Sailor Moon! Tuxedo Mask! Finish this match once and for all! I can't keep her distracted forever!" Sailor Gaea shouted to them.
"Right!" Sailor Moon shouted. A little peeved another one of her 'teammates' was bossing her around. Though she did have a point.
Tuxedo Mask, not missing a beat, throws one of his roses at the monster. Temporarily blinding it. After throwing it he looks at Sailor Gaea once again. She seemed familiar to him...somehow. As the thought crossed his mind, pain suddenly shoots threw his skull. The feeling excruciating. Almost ripping it in half. Forcing him to his knees. Sailor Moon noticing, tried to go to help him, but he told her he was fine and to use her tiara already.
Still worried about the man, she did as he said. "Moon Tiara Action!" She shouted as she did her posing and released it.
The monster had finally removed the rose petals from it's face to see it's demise at the hands of Sailor Moon's attack. Releasing a scream and in a flash of light, reduced to dust in the wind. Vanquished and vanished. Rui's energy returned to her.
Seeing that her part was done, Sailor Gaea left. She needed to find a place to de-transform before anyone noticed Ayame was missing. She jumped over the fence only to come face to face with who she assumed were the other Sailor Guardians, judging from the outfits, and what appeared to be another cat much like Actaeon. Only it had darker fur and a crescent moon mark on her forehead. Sailor Mercury and Sailor Mars come running up to the court, but pause when they get close and see her. They each look at each other. Them with utter disbelief. Sailor Gaea looked at them with critical eyes and some curiosity.
"Are you Sailor Mercury and Sailor Mars?" Sailor Gaea asked. Breaking the silence.
"Um, Yeah." Sailor Mars answered.
"And, just who might you be?" Sailor Mercury asked.
"I'm Sailor Gaea, and it looks like you're a little too late. Sorry you had to come up here for nothing." Sailor Gaea commented as she looked back at the court to see Tuxedo Mask had already left.
"Sailor Gaea?!" The three of the asked in alarm. The cat included.
Sailor Gaea paid them little attention as Actaeon came out of the bushes and rubbed his head against her leg.
"Correct. This is the new Sailor Guardian. Sailor Gaea. We look forward to working with you in the future." He said to them.
"You!" Luna cried.
Actaeon ignored her and turning to Sailor Gaea he said. "Let us go, milady. You've done well for your first battle."
They tried to tell her to wait but their words went unheeded.
Sailor Gaea nodded and with a wave to her fellow Guardians, ran off and disappeared into the night.
Or so it seemed. Sailor Gaea quickly went around the building and returned to being Ayame. She laid down beside Naru and pretended to be knocked out. She could hear the other Guardians having a fight and asking Sailor Moon questions. Soon they were forced to stop and head home. Apparently, Usagi came back and woke up Naru, followed by herself, even though she had to pretend to.
Ayame asked what happened and Usagi told explained she managed to stay awake and tried to go get help when Sailor Moon arrived and fought the monster. Ayame accepted her answer and when they checked on Rui she was still unconscious. After they took her home they went home themselves.
The next morning, things were back to normal. Well, besides the fact Ayame was now a Sailor Guardian, but Rui was herself again even though she didn't remember anything that happened the past few days.
Watching Naru play with her big sister figure and Usagi get hit by the ball, Ayame sighed.
"This is going to take some time getting used to this." She said dejectedly. But soon smiled. If Sailor Moon who was so clumsy could become a guardian, then surly she could too.