Sailor Moon: Destiny of the Stars
Chapter 2:
The young friends stared in shock as the scene unfolded before them as if in slow motion, almost unable to move. Then with a shake of his head to snap himself out of the stupor, Mamoru rushed forward. "Stay here!" he yelled over his shoulder to the girls. With lightning quick moves, the young man dashed into the narrow street. Quickly he grabbed the small body of the mysterious child in his arms, then dropped to the ground and rolled away from the speeding car to the edge of the sidewalk on the other side. The driver skidded to a halt a few feet away, yelled out a curse or two, then speed away again, his tires skidding loudly in the street.
After a moment, the girls ran across the street to Mamoru as he slowly got up to his feet with the child in his arms, breathing hard. "Mamo-chan, daijabu? Are you okay?" yelled out Usagi. Her lips quivered and tears pooled in her eyes in worry over him.
"Hai, hai, I'm fine Usako." said the young man, trying to calm his girlfriend down before she went into another of her trademark hysterics. He looked at the small figure in his arms. "But right now, I'm worried about her." The little girl's eyes were still closed as she let out a soft moan. Her body shivered as though she just came from somewhere that was cold...oh so very cold.
"Who is she?" asked Minako, looking around at everyone in the group then at the gathering crowd.
"I have no idea, but if we're going to find out, we have to get her out of here to where she can be taken cared of." said Tanya. Ami placed two fingers at the side of the little girl's dark neck to feel a pulse, then nodded.
"She's not seriously hurt, just stunned. Come on, looks like the beach would have to wait for another time." The young group nodded, then following Mamoru with the child still in his arms, they quickly left the scene, much to the curiousity and amazement to the onlookers.
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The Future
3207 A.D
Silver Palace, The Throne Room:
Captain Sha'krani looked at the the two figures before him, trapped inside a crystal cocoon-like substance. They stood before the two jeweled thrones upright and floated a few inches above the ground. Although the faces were not visible, the figures inside could be seen as a dark outline from the outside. He smiled in satisfaction. The King and Queen of B78 Sector 101, as his people called this planet, was finally in his grasp, safely tucked away in the crystal cocoons. But yet, he was troubled. The King took down many of his Vishtri soldiers before he was finally felled in battle; soldiers that he personally trained, and that didn't go well with him. As soon as the conquest is complete, I will take personal pleasure in doing away with you myself, oh great King! Sha'krani thought to himself, his red forked tongue flicking out as he looked at the cocoon containing the silvery-haired man who ruled this world for so long. But first, there was another problem he had to deal with.
Two sets of footsteps sounded behind him, and he didn't even bother to turn around to see who it was, so used to them was he. "Captain, we have looked everywhere for the hatchling...the offspring of the King and Queen, but she still alludes us." said a gruff voice. It was then that the commanding Vishtri turned to his two most trusted and competent officers, Commanders Va'trini and O'mashki. Both were close in age to the captain and proved themselves in their bravery in battle time and time again. As typical of their species, the red tongue flicked out from the reptilian mouths over razor sharp teeth, and their long tails swished heavily back and forth behind them. On the shoulders of their red and black uniform, the insignia of their rank flashed gold.
Sha'krani regarded them with a weary look. "Of course she has. She is not in this palace, not in the continent...not on this planet as a matter of fact."
The commanders gave him a confused look. "Sir?" asked the daring Va'trini.
Sha'krani looked back at the crystal cocoons. "Listen closely, for I will not repeat this. Somehow, the Queen has sent her brat back into the past, and not only that, but into the past in system 7-5A, sector 7-09. Otherwise known as Earth of the Solar System to the...humans." He almost spat out the word. "The Queen thought she could outsmart me, but she was wrong, dead wrong." The captain turned back to his officers, and held out a clawed hand. In it, two devices sparkled. They had the look of wristwatches, with a digital window that showed the hour, minute, and second, but they were much bigger, and the black shining color showed that it was constructed of black crystal. On the sides, they had large nobs that stopped or started the watch, and under the digital window were touch buttons to program where and when to go.
"These are the Time Skipper Devices. They are modeled from the same technology we use on our ships to travel in hyperspace, but made for individual use. I was able to find out from the Queen, through a little...persuasion..." the Vishtri captain hissed in pleasure at the memories of the sadistic methods of "persuasion" he used on the black haired Queen for the whereabouts of the child, and he smiled sadistically at how her screams echoed loudly through the palace halls. "...exactly where the little hatchling is. You will go to this sector and find the brat."
With that, he threw the two devices at the officers. Each caught it, a satisfied smile on their large reptile mouths. "I have also programmed the devices to react when they detect the energy signal of the child. She may have piece of the Star Stone, since the Queen couldn't make it appear when I tried to force her." Shak'rani's eyes narrowed in anger as he remembered the defiance on the woman's face and in her eyes when she didn't produce the Star Stone. It was almost like she was laughing at him. But he made sure she suffered for it...oh how he made sure.
"As you command, Captain!" both officers said together. At once, they donned the watch-like devices on their green wrists, and began to punch in the coordinates of the the system and time they were to go to with the help of the captain. After a few moments, a rumbling sound verbrated through out the large room, then the palace as the device locked onto the coordinates given to them. The wind picked up, and suddenly, a large black vortex opened up before the three Vishtri, lightning flashing around the edges. Va'trini and O'mashki prepared to step through, determined to finish their mission, when they were stopped by the Captain.
"Here, you are going to need these." Shak'rani hissed out. His clawed hand went inside is uniform jacket, and he pulled out a medium sized black box. He then threw it to the two soldiers. Crystals could be heard clinking against one another inside.
"The Queen said something about facing a group of warriors called the...senshi...that will try and stop our efforts. If you do meet them, use those to stop them, at any cost. Understand?"
The two Vishtri looked to one another, then to the Captain, and nodded. After saluting to Shak'rani, Commanders Va'trini and O'mashki disappeared through the time vortex. Immediately, the black hole closed, and all was silent again in the throne room. Shak'rani turned back to the crystal cocoon casing and walked up to them. "Soon, your world with be destroyed, and the Star Stone in my possession. You will rue the day you defied me." At that, his tongue flicked out, and he hissed loudly, victory flowing through his veins.
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Present Day
Tokyo Hospital
Late evening
Tanya sat down in the uncomfortable chair next to the hospital bed, silently watching the small girl. Her chest rose and fell in rhythm to each breathe she took as she remained unconscious. Poor thing, where on Earth could you have come from? Where's your family? Tanya thought. As far as she and everyone else knew, they were no other Black families that recently moved into her or her friends' neighborhood, as the child was obviously Black. Her brow furrowed with worry as the small child shivered slightly again. But she's a cute little thing though, really cute... Tanya gave a soft smile as she continued to watch the child. The little girl's young features already began to show what a great beauty she would be when she grew up one day, with her softly shaped nose, refined cheekbones, and full, pouty lips.
Tanya's thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a soft knocking on the door, and Ami walked in right after, a soft smile on her lips. "Hi. My mom is going over the results of the medical examination with your dad and the other doctors. As I thought, it's not that serious, and there's a good chance Child Welfare will let her stay with you and your father while they conduct a search for her parents." the blue-haired girl said happily.
"Yokatta!" Tanya smiled, joy on her face and in her voice as she stood up and gave Ami a soft hug. "The others are still outside?" she asked. Ami was about to answer when a soft moan escaped from the child's lips. As the two girls looked on, her eyes slowly fluttered open, and her dry lips parted in a small "O". She jerked upright and gave a loud shriek. Eyes that were so green, they looked like leaves from a deep forest tree stared at Ami and Tanya in fright as they rushed over to the bedside of the child.
"Shhh, it's alright honey, you're going to be fine!" said Tanya, placing a hand on the small child's shoulder. The child looked away for a moment, her hand on her small chest and breathing hard. Then she looked back up at the older girls.
"Where..where am I? What am I doing here?" she said, a tear trickling down her cheek. Tanya and Ami looked at each other in amazement. The child spoke fluent Japanese in a soft, bell-like voice, but it was in a strange accent that was unheard of to them. Not only that, she spoke with an intelligence that the two girls could already feel somehow and was so different from other children her age.
"You're in a place where you'll be safe." answered Ami, looking at the child with gentle interest. "As to what you are doing here, we were hoping you can tell us. Please, what's your name, and how did you get here?" Ami asked softly.
The little girl was quiet for a few seconds as she concentrated hard to find her memory. She scrunched up her small dark face in frustration. "My name...it's...it's...I think it starts with a "T". I don't...remember. I'm sorry!" The child let out a small sob of hopelessness, and Tanya gently took her small hand in her own dark ones.
"It's okay. sweetie. Please, just try and remember. We're here to help you." Tanya said with encouragement. The girl concentrated again and closed her dark green eyes. A moment later, she opened them.
"It's Tilly..I think. My name is...Tilly, or something sounding like that." She looked into Tanya's brown-hazel eyes. Why do all I feel I can trust her all of a sudden? she asked herself silently.
"Well Tilly, I'm Tanya, and this is my friend Ami-chan." Tanya said, smiling and pointing to the girl standing next to her. "I'll introduce you to my other friends a little bit later, but right now, do you remember anything else?" Tanya gave Tilly a serious look.
"I don't remember..." the child stuttered. Pain shot through her head then, and suddenly, flashes of faces that looked like lizards entered her mind's eye. Faces that looked like they could devour her gawked and yelled at her. Tilly screamed and shrank back into the arms of Tanya and sobbed softly.
"Hey, it's okay!" said Tanya, stroking the little girl's short black hair. "Don't worry, we'll be here when you need us, and we won't let anything bad happen to you, alright?" She leaned Tilly away from her, looked into her eyes, and smiled "You can trust me."
Tilly looked back into the young woman's eyes, then turned to Ami. The genius girl smiled and nodded in agreement. The little girl turned back to Tanya and smiled back. "Thank you. I think something bad happened, but I don't know what, and I can't remember why."
"We'll find out what it is in no time. Meanwhile, you'll be staying with me and my dad. Will that be alright with you Tilly?" Tanya winked at the child.
The little girl thought for a moment, then nodded and smiled back. Suddenly, Ami's mother and Tanya's father walked in. "Well there, looks like my little patient is finally awake!" the tall blue-haired woman said. For the next hour or so, they discussed Tilly condition and where she would stay for the time being. Afterwards, when she and Tanya was alone, the child fell asleep, exhausted to the bone. Standing beside the hospital bed, Tanya leaned forward and softly kissed Tilly's dark forehead.
"We'll find your family, I promise!" Tanya whispered. She then quietly left the room to talk with her friends waiting outside.
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Ichinohashi Park
Midnight:
The moonlight from the half moon shone brightly down the park's green grass and tall trees. All was quiet and the air was still. Suddenly, the wind began to rise and started whipping the fallen leaves and treetops.
Lightning flashed, and right then, a very large black cloud began to form and swirl to existence. Lightning still flashing on the edges, the cloud disappeared, and a large black vortex opened up. Two figures carefully stepped out, one after the other.
Their faces were green, and resembled a bug-eyed lizard. Red tongues flicked out and tasted the air before them, and they looked around cautiously. The vortex flashed one last time, then disappeared as fast as it came into being. When the two reptilian figures in uniforms saw that they were alone, they smiled and looked to each other. Without a word, they laughed deep in their green scaly throats. Then, their eyes flashed a cruel and brilliant red light, and they laughed louder.
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Hikawa Jinga Shrine
Sitting in the Fire Room, Hino Rei sat Indian style before the great burning fire, her eyes closed in concentration and sweat pouring down her face. Her hands were clasped together in prayer, and her mouth was set in a grim line. Her violet eyes then snapped opened, and she stared at the huge burning fire.
"Oh Great Fire of Mars, who is the little girl that came to us so suddenly? Does this mean our time of peace is over? Do we have new enemies?" The Shinto Priestess sighed in exhaustion and interlaced her fingers. Taking a deep breath, she began chanting, "Please Great Fire, tell me what you know. Rin, pyu, tou, shai, kai, zen, retsu, shai ZEN!" At each word she said, she turned her hands and fingers in different positions. There was a moment of silence, then the Great Fire blazed higher and hotter, as though gas was suddenly poured into it. Rei gasped as she scooted back from the heat. In the middle of the fire, an image of a strange looking face was staring at her. It was reptilian, like one of those velocioraptors she had seen a picture of from a museum once before, yet had a humanoid appearance too. The face hissed once at her, its tongue flicking out, then disappeared. Seconds later, the Great Fire died down to its normal size.
The black-haired girl sighed after a moment of staring wide-eyed at the blazing fire, then placed her shaky hands her on heaving chest. A sense of foreboding and danger like none other raced through her like wildfire, and Rei couldn't help but shiver slightly in the warm room. "Oh boy, this is going to be bad...VERY bad!" she whispered, fear of what was to come already entering her heart.
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To be continued.
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