After much thought, I have decided to go through with my Sailor Luna fan fic idea! So far, half of chapter one has been finished, and I'm actually enjoying writing it! I should have the first chapter finished soon. I don't want to give an exact date because I usually don't get things done by certain times and I don't want to disappoint anyone with false promises. But when it's finished, I'll definitely post it here and on my Fanfiction.net account for all to enjoy!

Here's the premise I have so far:

Quote :

Koike Luna is your typical eleven year old girl living a normal life. She loves her friends and family, draws fan comics, watches cartoons, enjoys school, and dreams big. But when a white talking cat named Artemis comes into her life and gives her the power to turn into a superhero, Luna becomes Sailor Luna and she is ecstatic to become a superhero. She, Artemis, and her friends have to defeat an evil organization called the Red Rose Sanctum because they want to destroy the world. But Luna will soon learn that being a superhero isn't fun and games, and that there may be more to the strange phenomena going around town than it appears. She also has to deal with other things such as her own disability, bullies, her sister's rebellious stage, and other issues going on around her.

Now, a fair warning: this fan fic is STRICTLY an AU fan fic, with its own universe and characters, and the only canon characters appearing will be Artemis, Serenity, and Endymion for story reasons. If you don't like AU fan fics, that's fine, and you're more than welcome to read something else. And yes, I'm writing this fan fic to make use of this as I think the whole Sailor Luna concept is just too cute to go to waste. I'm also going to try and make use of other concepts that Takeuchi-san scrapped (such as Diana being a fairy, senshi having unique outfits, etc.). It'll also deal with serious issues such as disabilities, bullying, illness, and even suicide (but at a T rated level!). I really hope people enjoy this, and if not, that's okay. I just want to write and get back to enjoying writing again.

Heeeeeeeeere's chapter 1! (Chapters will be split into two parts due to their length and probably because there might be a potential word limit).

***

The Lunar Tales of Sailor Luna
 
Mythos 1: Glimmering Under The Moonlight, I Am Sailor Luna!
 
(dream)
 
It was a perfectly clear day, with the sun warming a sleepy little town down below...it would have been nice if the piercing wails of a woman didn’t echo through the air, scaring birds into flying away.
 
“Please!! No!!” A hysterical woman bawled as she sat on her knees, surrounded by good samaritans. “Don’t kill my baby!!”
 
A man draped entirely in black with a monocle on his left eye held a crying two year old girl by her arm, holding a small knife to her neck. “Come closer, and the child dies!” The man hissed, his lips curling up in a way that made him look like he would actually do it. Everyone could see the evil in his eyes, staring at them as though he enjoyed the suffering on their faces.
 
“You’re terrible, Count Killer! How could you attempt to kill a child?! You’re heartless!” A bearded man shouted as his wife comforted the child’s bawling mother.
 
“It’s your own fault for getting in my way, you stupid little cockroaches!” Count Killer howled as the baby cried harder. His ears were ringing, and the screaming stomped on every single nerve he had in his body. He wished the baby would just shut up already. Get it done and over with! Make them suffer! “Now give me all your money!”
 
“Stop right there, Count Killer!” A voice boomed, seemingly from out of nowhere.
 
“Huh?” Count Killer looked around for the source of the voice, his smile fading. “Who’s there?! Show yourself!”
 
“Gladly!” With a forward flip, a small girl draped in a dark purple cape descended between the mother and Count Killer. The girl was wearing a dark purple dress, matching pants and shoes with silver bells on them, felt cat ears on her head, and a tail with lighter tinted stripes on it. The girl’s coal black hair was tied into pigtails with white bows, and her eyes were covered with a silver, jeweled eye mask.
 
“I am the warrior of the moonlight, defending at all hours, protecting the peace! I am Moonlight Cat!” The small girl, Moonlight Cat, pointed an extended finger at Count Killer. “On behalf of life itself, I will make you see the light!”
 
Instead of cowering in her presence, Count Killer suddenly burst into laughter. He laughed so hard that he dropped both the knife and the child. Unbeknownst to him, the little girl trotted over to her tearful mother, who was only too happy to embrace her child. Thank goodness she was safe. “My goodness! This is just too much!! My first adversary is a little kid in a costume!! Bwahahaha!!” Count Killer found himself slamming his fist on the concrete. “Oh, this is too good!”
 
Moonlight Cat smirked, and threw a yellow, star shaped shuriken at Count Killer, managing to pin his black top hat to a brick wall. That made his laughing cease. “What?!”
 
The masked child pulled out a long, silver wand with a black, cat head shaped jewel at the end, donning a purple bow. “Don’t let my looks fool you! I’ll make you pay for what you’ve done!”
 
“Tch! You little brat! I’d like to see you try!” Count Killer pulled a cutlass out of its sheath and readied himself for combat.
 
Moonlight Cat’s wand glowed in a purple light. With screams echoing in the air, the two engaged in combat. Count Killer attacked first by attempting to slice Moonlight Cat several times. Being as agile as she was, she managed to block all of his attacks before blasting a purple ball of energy at Count Killer, throwing him into the sky. He descended downward, his sword ready for slicing. Moonlight Cat was ready for him, as she created a dome shaped barrier around herself, causing Count Killer to bounce right off.
 
She found an opening and went right for it. She punched Count Killer in the face once, completely shattering his monocle. Then, she unleashed a roundabout kick that left him crawling on the floor. Before he could pick up his cutlass, she yanked it out of his hands and threw it away. She placed one foot on his back to symbolize her victory. “You lost, Count Killer. Still think I’m an innocent kitten?”
 
Count Killer trembled in her presence, and his mouth hung open. No words came out until he finally begged, “Uh...okay! Okay! I give up! Let me go! Please!”
 
“You don’t have any special powers, so don’t think you’re so high and mighty. I know this Arsene Black persona is just a facade. You’re pretending to be a villain so you can feel powerful, right?” Moonlight Cat insinuated, without any hint of mercy.

Surprised by what she said, Count Killer looked down at the concrete, avoiding eye contact. “...You read me like a map. Am I that obvious? I’m just...so sick of everybody picking on me and walking all over me all the time,” He whimpered sadly.
 
“I understand your plight, but resorting to hurting people and pretending to be some bad guy will only make things worse for you. Wouldn’t you want to be someone they can look up to? Someone they can rely on?” Moonlight Cat asked.
 
Count Killer gave her no answer. With that, the police arrived and arrested him on the spot. Some little kids flocked around Moonlight Cat with radiant smiles and twinkling eyes full of wonder. “Wow! You’re awesome, Moonlight Cat!”
 
“I wanna be just like you!”
 
“Thank you for saving my baby!”
 
“No, she saved all of us!”
 
“You’re the best, Moonlight Cat!”
 
Pumping their fists in the air, all of the citizens began chanting happily, “Moonlight Cat! Moonlight Cat! Moonlight Cat!”
 
Moonlight Cat smiled and blushed in embarrassment. “Thank you, everyone!”
 
(end dream)
 
Alas, Moonlight Cat was just a made up character in a comic that Koike Luna was finishing up before school. Her blue eyes were glued to her drawing as she drew outlines over the final panel. She didn’t avert her gaze once, not even as her bluish black pigtails were starting to get in the way. She was still in her white and yellow pajamas. The clock on one of her many bookshelves read 6:53 AM, and sunbeams were already coming through her window shades, dappling the room in a warm, luminous yellow morning light.
 
“There! Finished!” Once she filled in the last line, she pulled her picture up and stashed it in one of many vanilla folders piling up on her bureau. If she pulled at least one of them out, they’d probably topple over, and the whole room would be covered in an ocean of drawings.
 
A woman whose bluish black hair was tied into a ponytail popped her head into the room, her blue eyes twinkling with joy. “Luna. Breakfast is ready. You better get dressed.”
 
“Thanks! But school doesn’t start until 8:20!” Luna reminded her. Her mother smiled before closing the door.
 
Since it was relatively nice out, Luna changed out of her pajamas and decided on her outfit for today: a short sleeved black shirt, pale pink overalls, white socks, and black and white sneakers. Dangling from her neck was a gold, crescent moon shaped necklace. She arranged parts of her hair into round dango shapes, with her pigtails dangling from them.
 
Once she was dressed, she stormed downstairs and welcomed her breakfast with open arms: white rice, buttered toast, and bananas. She treated herself to a glass of water. She sat at the dining room table, right across from a bulky man with chocolate brown hair, eyes of a lighter tint, and a fluffy beard clinging to his neck. His face was buried in the newspaper.”
 
“Morning, Dad!”
 
“Morning, Luna. You’re pretty excited today.”
 
“Yep!” Luna was quick to drink the last of her water. “The application period for the school’s newspaper comic strip contest is coming up, and I’m gonna sign up as soon as I get there!” Luna’s blue eyes sparkled in anticipation. “I’ve been waiting for this day for months!”
 
“I didn’t know your school newspaper allowed comic strips,” Her dad pointed out with his lips curling up. “But that sounds wonderful.”
 
“There is gonna be a contest to pick which student’s strip will be in the newspaper, and they won’t announce the results until next month, if what Yuyuko-chan told me is correct,” Luna said after she ate some banana slices.
 
“I think you’ll do just fine, dear,” Luna’s father said.
 
“Tohru?” Luna’s mother popped into the dining room. “Can you pay the water bill today? I have to be at work early,” She straightened out one of the sleeves on her suit.
 
“Sure, Keiko. I can do that,” Tohru replied.
 
“Ohh! Thank you!” Keiko bent over to him and planted a kiss on his cheek. “You’re the best husband in the world.”
 
Tohru’s face turned red as Luna went to put her plate in the dishwasher. “Thanks, honey.”
 
Keiko’s eyes suddenly slammed open. “Oh! Why isn’t Tsuruko up yet? She’s late!” Keiko scurried up the steps.
 
Luna stayed downstairs and made sure her schoolbooks were all in her pink, cat themed backpack. Before she could even check if her math book was there, her ears caught the sound of yelling from upstairs. “Mom! I’m not going to school and you can’t make me! Can you NOT see the snot dripping out of my nose?!”
 
“Tsuruko, I get that you’re sick, but please don’t yell.”
 
“Just leave me alone! I’m sick of you always getting on my case!” SLAM! The sound of Tsuruko’s door slamming made Luna flinch, and she covered her ears.
 
She wished Tsuruko wouldn’t do that. Then again, she had been doing it for months now. Yelling at her parents had become an almost everyday occurrence, and as much as Luna put up with it, she never got used to it. Since there was still time before school, Luna decided to watch TV. Surprise surprise, a rerun episode of Feline Senshi was on!
 
Luna’s eyes sparkled joyfully as she watched the trio of cat eared superheroes beat up more monsters. Ever since she was little, she had never missed an episode, and owns many books and other merchandise such as figurines, DVDs, T-shirts, plush dolls, and many music CDs. Even seeing reruns of episodes she already saw made her joy bubble over. It ended at 84 episodes, but for Luna, she would always be a fan. She even had a keychain of one of the Feline Senshi dangling from one of her backpack zippers, and another one on her phone.
 
“Luna! You ready?” Keiko called out.
 
“Yep!” The episode ended, and Luna hopped into the car with her mother.
 
The school wasn’t far, but Luna was never one for walking to school, so Keiko drove her to school every day. It was basically routine. Once she dropped her off at Tsukimura Middle School, Luna waved goodbye as she saw her mother’s silver car drive away. All of a sudden, a set of fingers danced on her sides, sending her into a fit of laughter.
 
“Bwahahaha! Whoever’s doing that, quit it!! Bwahaha!” She managed to free herself from the hands that tickled her sides by pushing them away.
 
“Guess who, Luna-chan!” A sweet, ladylike voice said.
 
Luna turned around to find a girl with light pink hair tied into two flat pigtails curling at the ends. Her green eyes had an elegant shine to them, and she was wearing a red dress, white stockings, matching red shoes with white bows on them, and a light purple backpack was tucked into the back of her wheelchair.
 
“Mairu-chan! I told you not to do that!” Luna told her with a smile.
 
Mairu let out a merry chuckle. “Sorry. I couldn’t resist. By the way, here,” Mairu pulled out a piece of paper and handed it to Luna. “It’s the sign up sheet for the contest.”
 
For a brief moment, Mairu thought Luna’s eyes had stars in them. Luna let out a squeal as she took the paper, pulled out her pencil, and wrote her name on one of the empty spaces. Koike Luna. She wrote it in hiragana because she still had trouble with kanji. “Thanks soooo much, Mairu-chan! This is why you’re my bestie!”
 
“You’re welcome. You have to turn it into the principal’s office by the end of the day,” Mairu told her.
 
“I see! In fact I’ll do that right now!” Luna raced into the front of the school, dashing up the stairs.
 
Mairu’s lips curled upward. “She’s not one to mess around, isn’t she?” That was what she liked best about her. When she had her mind on something, she was going to get it done no matter what. Within seconds, Luna came racing right back.
 
“Finished!”
 
“Hey, Luna-chan!”
 
Luna turned around to find a boy and a girl approaching her. The other girl was slightly overweight with plenty of pudge on her legs, but it didn’t detract any beauty points. Her brown hair was tied into a flouncy ponytail, setting off her dark blue eyes. She was wearing a blue and white top, black leggings, and blue and white sneakers. The boy’s raven black hair was in a perfect bowl cut, his eyes being the same hue as Mairu’s. He was wearing a sleeveless red shirt with black feathers on it, beige khaki shorts, black and green sneakers, and tall white socks.
 
“Akari-chan! Koushun! Morning!” Luna wasted no time hugging them both.
 
Koushun rubbed his hair with his hand. “I think we’re getting our English tests back today.”
 
“Morniiiiiing!” Announcing her presence with a gleeful shout, Akari suddenly glomped Luna and trapped her in a tight hug.
 
“M-M-Morning…” Luna almost choked a bit before Akari got the message and let go.
 
“Whoopsie! I still don’t know my own strength! Hehehe!” Akari’s face turned red with embarrassment.
 
Mairu clasped her hands together. “I really hope we passed our tests. If I don’t, I’m gonna cry!”
 
“Me too!” Luna added.
 
“Come on, girls! Don’t look so glum!” Akari’s smile was too contagious to ignore. “You studied like crazy for it, so you’ll pass with flying colors!”
 
“Just because we study for it doesn’t mean we’ll pass…” Koushun added.
 
Ring ring ring ring ring
 
The harsh sound of the school bell resonated all throughout the area. “We better get going!” Luna exclaimed, dashing for the door. Akari, Koushun, and Mairu followed suit, or in Mairu’s case wheeled to the door. None of the students noticed a snow white cat with green eyes and a crescent moon on its forehead watching them all run inside.
 
 
“Uuuugh! Takemaru-san! Stop sticking pencils up your nose and pay attention!” A female teacher scolded, smacking the white board. The kid in question, Takemaru, turned red with embarrassment as he took the pencils out of his nose. It must be confessed that some kids laughed. Takemaru was the class clown, after all.
 
“Everyone! Calm down, everyone! Now, can anyone here tell me what an integer is?” The teacher asked.
 
The answer popped into Luna’s head right away. An integer was a whole, natural number and its negative, such as 4, 0, and -10,984. Decimals and square roots aren’t integers. She raised her hand, along with other students, but the teacher called on Mairu. “Sawai-san? Can you tell me what an integer is?” Mairu told her exactly what Luna had been thinking, only Mairu used 6, 19, and 2,010 as examples.
 
The teacher nodded. “That’s correct,” She then wrote numbers on the whiteboard. Negative 12, 400, negative 96, and 8. “Can any of you tell me the opposites of these integers?”
 
Luna raised her hand again. This time, the teacher called on her. “Koike-san?”
 
“The opposites are 12, negative 400, 96, and negative eight, Osawa-sensei,” Luna replied without missing a beat.
 
“Good,” Mrs. Osawa went on to talk about how integers could be used in real life situations as well. It must be confessed that some kids weren’t paying attention. Two girls way in the back were passing notes to each other. Takemaru tried to fold one of his notebook papers into an origami swan, but the head didn’t come out right. Another girl was doing her nails.
 
Mrs. Osawa happened to notice the girl’s pink nails and stomped over with a stern look. “Kubodera-san! This is math class, not the salon!” Mrs. Osawa scolded, fixating her angry gaze on the defiant, purple haired girl. “Now hand it over!”
 
Kubodera turned to face Mrs. Osawa with her own glare. “Shut up, you old hag! Your screechy voice makes me want to gag!” A gaggle of kids laughed at that caustic comment. Luna just gave them disappointed looks, though she had to wonder if Kubodera made that bad rhyme on purpose.
 
Mrs. Osawa didn’t find it funny at all. She balled her fists, clenched her teeth, and pointed to the door. “Off to the principal’s office, young lady! March!”
 
One of the girls whispered, “You really showed her, Shouko-chan!”
 
Shouko stomped off to the principal’s office, but not before saying right out loud, “Oh, by the way, you’ve got gum on your skirt. You must have sat on it.”
 
More laughter. Mrs. Osawa looked down at the back of her skirt and found a wad of gum on it. She yanked it off as Shouko left before yelling, “We are in class, kids!! Pay attention!!”
 
Luna kept her ears covered throughout the entire brouhaha, and she rocked back and forth just a little bit. Mairu put a hand on her shoulder and gave her a soft smile that seemed to say, “It’s okay. It’s over now.” But in Luna’s mind, Mrs. Osawa’s screechy voice didn’t go away.
 
The white cat peered into the window, going unnoticed.
 
After an hour, lunch time came around, and Luna, Akari, Mairu, and Koushun sat at their table. “Uugh. That Shouko girl really shouldn’t have been so mean to Osawa-sensei. What’s her problem?” Luna asked before eating a piece of dorayaki(1).
 
“Who knows?” Koushun crunched on some crackers. “I never did understand her.”
 
“Hey! Did anyone catch the news earlier today?” Mairu asked as she finished her orange juice. “They say there’s been strange phenomena going on. Large groups of people have been falling into comas. Others being turned to stone. Others turned into literal zombies with no emotions or anything.”
 
“Really?” Luna raised an eyebrow. “There’s no way people can be turned into stone unless they were evil villains, and we all know magic doesn’t exist, as much as I want it to.”
 
“It’s true. My mom saw someone get turned into stone two days ago,” Akari piped in after she ate a cookie.
 
“Wow. That’s gotta be creepy,” Koushun added.
 
Mairu finished one of her fruit strips. “I hope they get to the bottom of this…those poor people must be so scared and sad…”
 
Koushun turned his head toward Akari. “Did you get your English test back yet?”
 
Without another word, Akari pulled it out and showed it to Koushun. At the top right hand corner was a red 85 trapped in a circle. “Jeez. You passed?”
 
“Yeppers! How about you?”
 
“I got a 75,” Koushun murmured. “My dad’s gonna kill me.”
 
“It’s not bad! At least it’s not a big fat F!” Akari exclaimed. “Did you girls get yours back yet?”
 
Both Mairu and Luna shook their heads no. Luna turned to face Mairu. “Do you wanna go to the library with me after school? They’re having the anime club today.”
 
“Sorry. I can’t. I have a flower arranging lesson today.”
 
“Aww. I see. That’s okay. Maybe another time. I’ll fill you in on what’s going on.”
 
The kids didn’t know that Shouko was watching them with a scornful look on her face, eating melon bread and finishing her soda. That was all the lunch she had.
 
At recess, Luna and her friends played four square on the blacktop, passing the ball around. At one point, Akari threw the ball too hard and it bounced out of their play area. “Whoops! Sorry!”
 
“I’ll get it!” Luna dashed for the ball but stopped when Shouko of all people picked it up. Luna looked away so she wouldn’t look Shouko in the eye. That didn’t stop Shouko from giving her that scornful look she always gave everyone around her.
 
“Is it true?”
 
“What’s true?”
 
“That you go to an anime club at the library?”
 
“That’s none of your business.”
 
Shouko gruffly threw the ball at it. It almost hit her face, but Luna managed to catch it before it could. “Tch. You’re such a baby. Grow up already.”
 
Koushun ran in between Luna and Shouko, giving the purple haired girl a stern look. “Leave Luna alone, Kubodera. You better not be up to anything skeevy.”
 
Shouko put a hand on her hip. “Ugh. Seriously, shouldn’t you be doing better things than hanging out with little miss I like to rock back and forth and watch cartoons I’m too old for?”
 
“We’d rather hang out with Luna-chan than someone who makes fun of teachers and writes graffiti on the walls!” Akari snapped, with Mairu by her side.
 
Shouko shrugged. “Whatever,” She turned on her heel and left.
 
“You okay, Luna?”
 
Luna looked up at Koushun. “Yeah. I’m fine.”
 
The white cat from before watched the scene from the blacktop.

Part 2 of chapter 1!

****

The final bell chimed at 3:00 PM, and a torrent of children stormed right out of the building, happy to be out of school. A car came for Mairu and it loaded her inside, wheelchair included. Luna waved goodbye before walking three blocks to the Tsukimura Library. It was big, famous, and had a lot going on. For Luna, the library meant two things: books and anime club. She had been coming here since last year, and it was a dream come true. It was a weekly event where kids her own age or older watched anime they would vote on and do other activities like drawing, origami, and other things.
 
It went on for two whole hours, but Luna didn’t stay very long. The president of the club broadcasted two anime she didn’t like during the final hour, so she decided to clock out early. She left the library, but before she could pull out her phone, she heard the sound of children yelling.
 
“You’re so weird, you dumb cat!”
 
“Yeah! Maybe it’s a monster!”
 
“Do some tricks, stupid cat!”
 
Luna gasped. Three little boys were poking a poor cat with sticks. One of them had a rock on his hands. Luna’s joyful eyes blazed with anger, and she balled one of her fists. She was NOT going to let them hurt that kitty! “Get away from that cat, you bullies!!” Luna roared like a lion as she charged at the kids. This proved to be enough to scare the kids away.
 
Luna sighed and crossed her arms. “Don’t parents these days teach their kids it's wrong to hurt animals?” She kneeled down to the cat and picked it up. “You poor thing. Did those mean kids hurt you, kitty?” She could see some red marks on its snow white fur. The cat itself licked some of the wounds on its leg, but it could walk just fine.
 
But something about the cat was...odd. An odd feeling crept into Luna. She felt warm, and the cat had a kind look in its eyes. It was as though she knew the cat from a long time ago. But she knew this couldn’t be possible. All of a sudden, the cat darted off. “Wait! Come back!”
 
The cat disappeared into the bushes. “Awww. I wanted to pet it. Oh well. Gotta get home anyway,” Luna pulled out her cell phone and called her father so he could come and pick her up.
 
 
Roses.
 
Roses were everywhere. All of them were bloody red. A large room was completely covered in roses, from little sticks wenched onto the floor to the transparent canopy strung over a large bed. This was a place far from Earth, far from Luna’s concerns about the white cat. A young girl with golden hair cascading down to her ankles sat on the bed, her eyes nothing but eerie clouds of dark energy. One had to wonder how she could see, if she could see at all. Instead of actual eyes, there was nothing but pure darkness seeping out of her eye sockets.
 
Bowing before her at the foot of her bed was another woman in her early twenties, with fiery red hair tied in a low ponytail, and matching eyes. She was wearing a black dress, black leggings, red boots, and red gloves. Her lips donned bold red lipstick. “You don’t look very well, Brunhilda-sama.”
 
“Lydia? Where is Locria?” Brunhilda asked, her voice low but soft. It didn’t sound anything like an evil villainess.
 
“She’s in her room perfecting her powers,” Lydia replied tersely. “Are you alright, Brunhilda-sama?”
 
The golden haired girl said nothing. Her whole body felt like lumpy plum pudding. There were days when she just couldn’t get out of bed no matter how hard she tried. Her body would ache with pain, and depending on the severity, it would completely cripple her from head to toe. “...I am fine, for the most part. What are you...planning on doing, Lydia?”
 
Lydia stood up, pushing a strand of hair out of her pale face. “Artemis has awakened. You know what that means, don’t you?”
 
Brunhilda had an idea, but she wasn’t sure on how to visualize it. “Uhh...that means someone’s gonna get his powers and attack us, right?”
 
“You have a way with words, Brunhilda-sama,” Lydia complimented.
 
“I know you don’t really mean that,” Brunhilda retorted weakly.
 
Lydia extended her hands out as a sphere of light appeared. It glowed in a white light, brightening up the room, even though the room was bright enough as it is, with the large chandelier dangling from the white ceiling. The sphere projected an image of a white cat running through a small neighborhood. “Artemis is sure to find the Sailor Soldier. I wonder who he’s picked?”
 
“Wouldn’t Locria be more suited for this mission?” Brunhilda asked. “You are still inexperienced, Lydia. I don’t want you getting hurt.”
 
“Rest assured, Brunhilda-sama,” Lydia didn’t take her eyes off of the sphere for one moment. “I can handle myself just fine.”
 
The sphere than projected an image of a pigtailed girl arriving at her house. Bluish black hair in dango style, radiant blue eyes...something about her sent a chill down Lydia’s spine. Was this the one Artemis was seeking? She didn’t look like she could be sailor soldier material. How old was she? Ten? Eleven?
 
The girl in the canopy bed stirred. “Is something wrong, Lydia?”
 
Lydia shook her head. “No no, my lady. Now we know what we’re looking for...and I have the perfect plan to keep her out of our affairs.”
 
Brunhilda pulled a pink teddy bear out and clutched it tightly, as though she didn’t want her mother to go to work. She pressed her lips, suppressing a shudder. She had seen her friends go on missions all the time. It had been going on for years, yet she still couldn’t get used to it. Too many worries would plague her mind. What if something happened to her friends? Would someone catch them and arrest them? Would they get hit by cars? Would someone attack them and kill them? She never exuded the confidence and dominance of a leader, not that Lydia minded.
 
The sphere in Lydia’s hands dissipated. “I will make sure Artemis doesn’t get what he wants.”
 
“I think Locria should go. I don’t think--”
 
“I’m fine, Brunhilda-sama,” She had to wonder if Brunhilda was genuinely worried or if she was only projecting worry. But nevertheless, she had to go on this mission.
 
A brief silence, then, “Please come back.”
 
Lydia smirked. “Don’t I always?”
 
“Yes, but...I can’t bear to lose you...if anything happened to you...I could never…” Brunhilda buried her face in her teddy bear. “...forgive myself.” The whimper in her voice made her sound like a real ten-year-old kid.
 
“I’m stronger than you give me credit for. I’ll be back, then we can have tea,” Lydia told her reassuringly, not that it eased Brunhilda’s worry any. With that, Lydia disappeared in a swirl of rose petals.
 
 
“So, Luna, did you sign up for that contest?” Tohru asked at the dinner table. Since Keiko wouldn’t be back until seven, Tohru made spaghetti and meatballs for dinner tonight, along with some bagged vegetables consisting of broccoli, carrots, and corn.
 
“Sure did! I’m gonna get started this weekend so I can at least have something to go on,” Luna replied as she scarfed down a big meatball. “Where’s Tsuruko?”
 
Tohru let out a sigh. “She won’t come down. I tried getting her to come but she yelled at me. I swear, those friends of hers are a bad influence....”
 
Luna knew what he meant. Ever since Tsuruko started high school, she began hanging out with the wrong crowd. She was seen sitting around school smoking both cigarettes and marijuana, skipping class, and even getting into fights with both kids and teachers at school. All in the course of one month. Luna had overheard her mother yelling at Tsuruko about her behavior many times, and it always ended with Tsuruko storming out. She wished it would stop.
 
After dinner, Luna cleaned her plate, went to her room, and immediately started her homework. She left her window open so she could get some cool air in her room. She was so glued to her worksheets that she didn’t notice a white cat crawling through her window. When she finished, she turned around.
 
Her eyes slammed open. There was the white cat from before! “Whoa!” She was so surprised she dropped her pencil. “You’re the kitty from before!”
 
The white cat raised an eyebrow. “I have a name, y’know. It’s Artemis.”
 
Luna’s eyes widened even further. Did that cat just talk?! Since when could cats talk?! “You...you can talk?! C-C-C-Cats don’t talk! How...how is this...possible?!” She scrambled to her stuffed animals, hiding behind a big moose plush. “I have got to be dreaming! Yeah! This is gotta be a dream! I must be dreaming!”
 
“No, I can assure you you’re not dreaming,” Artemis hopped off the foot of her bed. Luna had to admit, she liked the sound of his voice. It was suave, warm, and kind, and he sounded like a college student. “I am an emissary from the planet Mau, and I’m looking for a hero who can help me defeat some bad people.”
 
Hero? Planet Mau? Defeat bad people? Was this what she thought it was? “YES!” Luna squealed as loud as she could. Artemis squeezed his eyes shut, flinching at her yelling. “Are you some kind of magical companion who’s going to make me into a magical girl superhero?!”
 
“Uhh...when you put it that way, yes. Here,” Artemis did a backflip, and a purple colored light appeared before dissipating into what appeared to be a red and white cellphone. It plopped onto Luna’s bed, and she hopped out of her pile of stuffed animals to get a closer look.
 
“Woooow!” Luna held the phone closer to examine its features. “Is this my transformation item?! Awesome!”
 
Artemis’s cat lips curled upward. “You know your stuff, don’t you?”
 
“So do you want me to help?”
 
The white cat nodded. “I apologize for this, but Earth is in grave danger. We need a hero who can defeat the enemy, and as my research dictates, you happen to meet my criteria.”
 
Magical hero. Cry for help. Earth in danger. She didn’t ask about his research and who the enemy was. She flashed a thumb’s up. “I’m Koike Luna! Leave it to me! So...what do I need to do?”
 
Artemis used one of his paws to point to the phone. “Press the numbers 6, 7, and 2 in that order, hold the phone up, and shout ‘Luna Prism Power, Make Up!’ Got that?”
 
Luna did a sailor salute. “Right!” She pressed the numbers like he asked and held it in the air. “Luna Prism Power, Make Up!”
 
The phone glowed in a purple light before it completely consumed her. After a short while, out came Luna, but dressed in different raiment. Her dango hair was replaced with a set of fuzzy black cat ears, though her flouncy pigtails were in tact. Wrapped around her forehead was a gold tiara with a purple jewel in the center. Wrapped around her neck was a yellow choker, with a ribbon on the back, matching the bow on her chest. The bow itself had a silver bell dangling from it with a moon decoration on it. Her top consisted of a white torso, a dark blue sailor uniform neckline, and short, fuzzy pink sleeves. Her gloves were white with the pink fluffs at the end. A dark blue ribbon was on the back of her shirt, closest to her yellow skirt with dark blue, transparent ruffles peeking right out. She wore dark blue, low heeled boots with pink fuzz at the top, and a black cat tail protruded out from underneath her skirt.
 
When Luna opened her eyes, she noticed the change in outfit. “Whoooooa! No way! I’m a magical girl superhero!” To say she was ecstatic was an understatement. She jumped up and down, squealing like a fangirl. “Yay yay yay! This is sooooo awesome!” But then she noticed the skirt. “But did my skirt have to be so short? I don’t want people seeing my undies!”
 
“You look great,” Artemis piped in. “So what are you going to call yourself?”
 
She already had a name in her head. “Oh! I know! Sailor Luna! How’s that?”
 
“Very fitting,” That was when Artemis turned his head out the window. “Oh no!”
 
“What’s wrong?”

“A monster’s on the loose! Look!”
 
Sailor Luna raced to the window and saw what appeared to be a large, red, glowing creature with the body of a wolf and the head of a snapping turtle. Its entire body was a mass of red light, and its eyes were black as a pitch black void. It growled like a monster. At the tip of its tail was a large jewel shaped like a red rose.
 
Sailor Luna found herself shivering. She had never seen a monster before. As much as she wanted to be a magical girl, she wasn’t sure if she could fight it. It wasn’t as though she was good at fighting. She didn’t know karate, judo, taekwondo, or any of those. How could she possibly fight that thing? She thought about backing out...but a scream pulled her out of her doubts.
 
The scream came from a girl in a wheelchair.
 
“MAIRU!!” Fear morphed into courage. Something inside Luna snapped. How dare that monster attempt to eat her friend! Courage blazed in Luna’s heart. She leaped out of the window and punched the monster square in the face, sending it rolling down the street. It rolled right into a tree, knocking it all the way down. Luna turned to Mairu. “Are you okay?”
 
Mairu nodded.
 
A smile formed on Sailor Luna’s lips. “Go somewhere safe. I’ll handle this,” She told her before charging at the monster with a kick.
 
All Mairu did was wheel behind Luna’s house, watching the battle play out. ‘She looks and sounds a lot like Luna-chan. Could it be…?’ She was lost in thought.
 
Despite the monster’s attempt to eat Sailor Luna, she managed to hold it off by continually punching and kicking it. Her whole body was surging with power, and every punch and kick sent jolts all throughout her body. She had never felt so strong, so powerful, so magical. She was going to like this. “This is what you get for trying to hurt my friend!”
 
“Sailor Luna! Don’t let it distract you!” Artemis yelped as he leaped to the scene with something in his mouth.
 
“I know!” She punched the monster in the face again. All of a sudden, he threw something at her. Sailor Luna extended her arms out and caught the item. As she looked closer, it was a yellow stick with a silver sphere on it that looked like a cat’s head. It had a tiny silver and gold crown on it, and a string of gold beads dangled from the bottom of the cat’s head. “What’s this?!”
 
“That’s the Luna Light! Swing it in a circle, and shout ‘Luna Moonrise!’ It’ll destroy the monster!” Artemis explained in a voice loud enough for her to hear.
 
Before Luna could use it, the monster let out a deafening roar that sent visible sound waves all throughout the area. On impulse, Luna covered her ears and fell to her knees, the sound was too much for her to bear. “Hurry, Sailor Luna!”
 
“It’s so loud!!”
 
With a howl, Artemis hopped over to the monster, leaped on its long face, and scratched it with its claws. “NOW!”
 
Sailor Luna got the message and swung the Luna Light around in a circle. It glowed in a radiant purple light before forming a large, crescent shape. “Luna Moonrise!!” The purple crescent shaped light shot at the monster, consuming it entirely. Artemis was quick to leap out of its way. With a piercing screech, the monster was reduced to nothing but fallen rose petals, which turned brown before shriveling up. A small breeze blew them away.
 
Sailor Luna fell to her knees. “Did I...just do that…?”
 
“You did it, Sailor Luna!” Artemis complimented joyfully. “Great job!”
 
However, instead of smiling, Artemis could see tears in Sailor Luna’s eyes, and she was already sobbing. Soon she let out a big cry. “Bwaaahh!! I thought I was gonna die out there!! I don’t know if...I can do this after all!!” All Artemis did was amble over to her and put a reassuring paw on her knee. After a few minutes, Luna stopped crying and turned back to normal.
 
“Wow...this is so weird and crazy…” Luna mused. “But...I might as well do it.”
 
“I’m glad,” Artemis added.
 
“Luna-chan!”
 
Luna’s eyes widened. “Mairu-chan?!”
 
“You’re Sailor Luna, aren’t you?! I saw you transform back just now!”
 
Both Artemis and Luna let out a “GEH!” Mairu found out?! Already, unimaginable scenarios were running through Luna’s mind. What if Mairu reported them to the police? What if scientists took Artemis and planned to experiment on him? What if--
 
“That was awesome!”
 
“Huuuuuuh?”
 
Mairu wheeled over to Luna and helped her up. “I recognized you the minute I heard your voice. I don’t know what’s going on, but I promise I won’t tell anyone about it. I’m sorry I didn’t run like you told me to. I...I want to help you out!”
 
Artemis walked over to Mairu. “It’s too dangerous for a normal human being to handle. You saw the destruction that happened just now, didn’t you?”
 
Mairu’s eyes glimmered. “Ohhhh! A talking cat! How cute!” She extended her hand out. “It’s so nice to meet you!”
 
The white cat wasn’t sure what to make of this. But she seemed nice enough, and she and Luna clearly knew each other, so perhaps it wouldn’t hurt to trust her. “Are you sure you want to get involved? You could die and I don’t want you getting hurt.”
 
“Me too,” Luna added. “I almost died out there.”
 
“That’s exactly why I want to help,” Mairu clenched her fists and gave her friend a courageous, determined look. “I know I may not be able to do much, but anything is fine! I want to help you in any way I can!”
 
Artemis smiled. “I know what you can do,” He did another backflip. This time, two items appeared: a black scarf with a yellow crescent moon on both sides, and a transparent revolver. “These are the Lunar Scarf and the Lunar Revolver.”
 
Mairu took them both into her hands. “Hold on!” Luna yelled. “You’re giving her a gun?! It’s dangerous!!”
 
“Don’t worry. The Lunar Revolver is magic. It doesn’t have bullets. It shoots light rays, and they’re only programmed to attack those monsters. They are incapable of harming normal humans. I checked,” Artemis explained calmly. “The Lunar Scarf helps you move around.”
 
“Really?” Mairu wrapped the scarf around herself. It was much longer than a regular scarf. Both ends went way past her feet. The scarf suddenly pulled her out of her wheelchair and stood up all by itself. Mairu found herself hopping around. “Wooow!! This is wonderful! I can move around!” The scarf bounced all around, and Mairu found herself laughing merrily. She could move and go places with this. “Thanks so much! I’ll take good care of them!”
 
“By the way…” Luna crossed her arms. “What were you doing here anyway?”
 
The scarf set Mairu back in her wheelchair. She pulled out a book and handed it to Luna. “I wanted to give this back to you but I forgot.”
 
“Ohhh! My copy of The Feline Senshi Secret Files! Thanks!”
 
“You’re welcome. I better head back now. Thanks for saving me.”
 
“We’ll have a meeting about this after school tomorrow. Okay?”
 
“Okay!” With that, Mairu happily wheeled away.
 
“Hey, Artemis. Want something to eat?” Luna asked as she opened the door for him.
 
“Sure. Thanks. I’m starving!” Artemis followed Luna inside.
 
Luna wasn’t sure what the future held, but she knew one thing for sure: she was a magical girl superhero now, and since the fate of the world was in her hands, she needed to keep her promise. She couldn’t back out, not that she intended to.
 
Footnotes:
 

1. Dorayaki is a type of Japanese sweet which consists of two pancake-shaped patties with red azuki bean paste in between.

Announcement: 1 1/2 chapters have been written out, I have almost 30 chapters outlined, and I'm planning it to be at least 42 chapters long in length. I thought about making it 54 chapters but I wasn't sure if I could fill up that kind of amount with such a simple plot.

Meh. Not my best chapter, but oh well. The next one will be better.

Warning: this chapter deals with issues such as euthanasia, animal attacks on people, and poverty. Let me know if it causes problems for you via PM or other modes of contact.
 
Mythos 2: Trouble In Tsukimura! Animals Are Humanity’s Friends!
 
Lydia returned to Brunhilda’s rose adorned room as soon as she witnessed her monster fall at the hands of Sailor Luna. The first to see her was none other than Brunhilda herself. “Lydia? Is that you?” Relief peppered her young voice. “You’re okay! Thank goodness!”
 
With a look of shame, Lydia bowed before Brunhilda. “I apologize, Brunhilda-sama. Although my creation was a success, I was not able to prevent Artemis and his soldier from meeting. My sincerest apologies.”
 
Brunhilda hopped off of her bed and patted Lydia on the head. “It’s okay. I’m happy you at least tried. Plus, your creation was a success, so you can make more of them,” Brunhilda told her reassuringly.
 
Lydia’s lips curled up in response to Brunhilda’s reassurance. “I am most grateful, Brunhilda-sama. I’ll do whatever I can to make you better. I promise.”
 
The golden haired girl clutched a part of her dress tightly. Once again, her body ached with pain. She didn’t dare tell Lydia this. She didn’t want to make her any more worried than she already was. The last thing she wanted to do was worry her faithful subjects. “Are you going to Earth again?”
 
“Yes, but...” Lydia stared at some roses and took in their lovely aroma. How soothing. “I’m going to try and come up with a new plan.”
 
“Try not to overdo it or make yourself sick,” Brunhilda told her, as though she were her mother despite their drastic age difference. “You know using your powers too much will make you nauseous. Remember what happened to Mixolydia?”
 
Lydia waved her hand around. “I know. I know.”
 
Although the sight of the many roses surrounding them was a wonderful sight, Brunhilda’s eyes were mostly clouded by darkness. She could barely see anything. All she could see were the colors of the roses and Lydia’s figure, that was it. To Brunhilda, the room was dim and dreary, even though it was very brightly lit. She wondered when the darkness would disappear.
 
The red haired woman stretched her arms out. “Alright then. I do believe it’s time for tea. Care to join me, Brunhilda-sama?”
 
Brunhilda clutched her teddy bear and shook her head. “No thank you. I’m not in the mood for tea. I’ll join you tomorrow.”
 
With that, Lydia left the room, leaving Brunhilda all alone with her teddy bear and the roses. The teddy bear in Brunhilda’s arms was a light cotton candy pink color, with little light blue button eyes, a purple triangle shaped nose, and little white angel wings on its back. Like a lost child trapped in darkness, Brunhilda clutched her teddy bear tightly and squeezed her eyes shut. “Angel...do you think this’ll end soon?”
 
The angel winged bear said nothing, like any stuffed animal would.
 
An exciting night brought forth a warm, bright morning. Sunbeams pushed right through Luna’s window, telling her to wake up, as the new day had come. Luna got the message, sat up, and stretched her arms out toward the ceiling. She had slept like a log, and now she felt great.
 
“Wow...that sure was a weird dream…” Luna mused to herself. She remembered something about meeting a talking white cat, changing into a magical girl warrior named Sailor Luna, fighting a red monster, and saving Mairu from danger. She wondered if it was a dream.
 
The white cat from before stretched its front legs out and smiled at Luna. “Good morning.”
 
“Yep. Not a dream,” She confirmed. She looked to her night stand. The Lunatia L was there. Further confirmation that the events of last night were real, not fabricated. Then it hit her. Mairu saw everything as well, and she had promised to fill her in on everything after school. Mairu didn’t have any lessons today, so she was free.
 
Before she left for school, she asked Artemis to meet her in front of the school at precisely three. She even told her parents that she was going to Mairu’s house and that her parents were picking her up and dropping her off. Though it was sudden, they were okay with it so long as she was back by 5:30. But the school day seemed to drag on forever. The teachers kept rambling on and on about boring lessons Luna wasn’t interested in. She did her best to take notes and pay attention, but all she wanted to do was talk to Mairu.
 
Finally, the school day ended, and Luna stood in front of a tree by the school, stretching her legs from too much sitting. She saw a white blur come her way. “Luna! There you are!” Artemis hopped in front of her.
 
Luna kneeled to his level and pet his head gently. “Glad you made it.”
 
“Where’s your friend at?”
 
“She should be here right about now.”
 
“Sorry to keep you waiting!” Speak of the devil, Mairu just happened to wheel her way to the tree. “I suppose you’ll do the honor of filling me in on what happened last night?”
 
Artemis wasted no time telling Mairu what he told Luna: that he was a cat from the planet Mau and that he needed Sailor Luna’s help to defeat some bad people. “That isn’t a whole lot to go on,” Mairu added.
 
Artemis’s ears drooped downward. “I know. I don’t know very much about them, only that they’re responsible for everything that’s been going on on Earth recently.”
 
“Do you mean like falling into unexplained comas? Turning to stone? Having their emotions be stolen?”
 
“Yes. All of that is their doing,” Artemis confirmed.
 
“So that’s why…” Mairu mused out loud. “But exactly...why is Luna-chan the one you need to have help you out? I mean, it seems kind of random that you’d pick her.”
 
“The Lunatia L reacted to her,” Artemis explained. “Becoming a Sailor Soldier requires that people meet certain criteria, and Luna here happened to meet those criteria.”
 
Luna tilted her head to one side. “Like what?”
 
“Here are some of the criteria: a kind heart, a wish to protect the world, and a resolve hard like stone. There are others, but they’re not clear,” Artemis elaborated further. “But that doesn’t mean Sailor Soldiers are the only ones who can defeat the enemy,” He turned to Mairu with a soft expression. “Mairu. You can use the Lunar Scarf and Lunar Revolver to help her out.”
 
Mairu clenched her fists. “I’d be more than happy to help you out.”
 
“I’m only sorry I had to drag you both into this mess. Whoever’s doing all of this must be stopped, and if not, Earth could be destroyed…” Luna could see Artemis’s green eyes tremble. “...just like...my planet…”
 
“You said you came from a planet called Mau, right?” Luna asked. “It was destroyed.”
 
Artemis shook his head. “Not destroyed, per se. The enemy was too strong for us to handle, so...most of its residents got killed. Some escaped, like I did. I’m sure the planet has survived, but I don’t think it’s habitable anymore.”
 
Memories of billowing smoke clouds, energy beams, people screaming for their lives, dark silhouettes, lives lost, and walls of fire invaded Artemis’s mind. He tried shaking his head three times to push those bad memories away. This was no time to dwell on the past. “I lived in the Moon Kingdom for a time, but even that fell to ruins.”
 
Mairu held her hands up. “Hold on. Moon Kingdom…?” This was new. Since when did other worlds exist? Weren’t they only fantasy? “There are...other worlds?”
 
The white cat nodded, his tail stirring. “Yes. You’d be surprised. There are many planets with life on them. They just exist in other solar systems. The Moon Kingdom is on the moon. There are planets like Chuu, Mermaid, Lethe, Dark Sirius, Cocoon, Coronis, etc.”
 
Luna couldn’t believe it. Other planets? Other solar systems? All with life on them? This was too much to take in! Her eyes were wide as she absorbed the information Artemis gave her and Mairu. But she had to admit, some of the planet names were a bit unoriginal. Chuu? Mermaid? Cocoon? Since when were mice, mermaids, and cocoons planets? She couldn’t help but wonder.
 
What Luna, Mairu, and Artemis didn’t know was that both Koushun and Akari had come out of the school building, talking about how great it was that the school was serving imagawa-yaki(1) for lunch. But they noticed Luna and Mairu sitting at the tree. “I wonder what they’re doing there?” Koushun asked.
 
“Who knows? Hm?” Akari peered closer and noticed the white cat. “Awww! They’re playing with a kitty!” She cooed. “Sooo cute!”
 
“Wanna go and say hi?” Koushun asked.
 
Akari let out a sigh. “Can’t. Mom wants me to do the dishes tonight.”
 
“I see. That’s fine,” He waved at Akari as she dashed off for home. But he couldn’t help but wonder what they were doing over there, and with a white cat, no less. Was it a stray? Was it lost? Abandoned? He didn’t know. His phone beeped once. He opened it and his face contorted upon reading the text.
 
To: Koushun
 
From: Mother
 
Where are you?! You better not be skateboarding on the blacktop again! Stop lazing around so much and help me out around here!


Koushun let out a sigh. “Is she EVER gonna get off my back?” He stuffed his phone in his pocket and walked away. To be honest, he wanted to stay away from home for as long as possible. Coming home to screaming babies, dirty dishes, piles of laundry, and his mother’s screechy nagging wasn’t something any child his age looked forward to.
 
He did take a second to glance at a dog barking on the other side of the street. It was yelping louder than usual, and it was hopping around left and right as though it were chasing something, even though it was tied to the porch.
 
Even Luna and Mairu noticed a tiny squirrel scurrying around in circles, making high pitched squeaking sounds. Luna had to cover her ears. “Is it me or are the animals acting weird?”
 
“I dunno.”
 
Artemis looked up at Mairu. “I’ll stay with Luna for today. You go home for now. Let me or Luna know if you see anything strange or suspicious.”
 
Mairu did a little sailor salute. “Will do!”
 
With that, Mairu wheeled back home, and Luna found herself walking home. Although this was the first time she walked home on her own, she knew the way. It only took her thirty minutes to make it home. As soon as she went inside, the first thing she did was dash up to her room and work on her comic.
 
Letting a bout of curiosity take over, Artemis peered down at the drawing. He was speechless. The details were intricate, Moonlight Cat’s pose was practical, the clothing design was appealing, and there wasn’t one lead line that was out of place. “This is very good.”
 
“Thanks,” Luna didn’t even meet his gaze. She kept her eyes glued onto the drawing, focusing only on drawing one of Moonlight Cat’s pigtails. “I’m not that good, though.”
 
“Oh, but you are. I’ve seen great artists in my time, and you happen to be one of them,” Although Artemis was genuine in his praise, Luna couldn’t help but think he was only being polite or flattering her.
 
“I knew someone who was very good at drawing. In fact, she drew exactly like this,” Artemis tapped the drawing once, taking care not to leave any dirt marks. He cleaned his paws, though he didn’t want to take the chance. “She mostly drew flowers and landscapes. Sometimes people. She drew me once. She was very good at capturing the beauty of living things.”
 
Luna’s lips curled up. “She must have been awesome.”
 
The white cat sat down next to her, curling himself up into a comma shape. “She sure was…” An image of a woman in a sunny yellow dress, with flowing bluish black hair came into his mind. She was frolicking in a field of flowers, and the silky voice she used to call out his name was faint, but strong in his mind.
 
“Arf! Arf! Arf!”
 
A dog’s barking pulled Artemis out of his reverie. He was surprised Luna didn’t move from her spot. Not even an inch. “What was that?!”
 
“That’s my dog, Saoirse,” Luna said it like it was the most normal thing in the world.
 
Artemis scratched behind one of his ears. “Does your dog...always bark so often?”
 
“Yes. She barks at everything. Other dogs, other people, the mailman, people coming through the door, there’s no stopping her. She’s nice, though,” Luna explained. She took her mechanical pencil and sketched out Moonlight Cat’s tail.
 
“Uuuuugh!! MOM!! Make Saoirse stop barking, will ya?!”
 
“I don’t know why she’s like this today! She never barks this much!”
 
“Make her shut up!!”
 
Now this was odd. Usually Tsuruko never complained about Saoirse’s barking. She got up and went downstairs to find a small Australian shepherd barking up a storm, scurrying all over the house, from the front door to the den in seconds without stopping. “What’s wrong with Saoirse?”
 
Some hair on Keiko’s head stood up, and she brushed her hands through it. “I don’t know. She’s been barking like this for an hour now.”
 
An hour? An alarm was going off in Luna’s head, but she wasn’t sure what. But she did know that Saoirse usually calmed down after two minutes. How can a dog bark for an hour straight? “I can take her for a walk if you like,” Luna offered as she grabbed the leash.
 
“Please do.”
 
Putting the leash on Saoirse proved to be no easy task. The little dog kept running throughout the house, barking constantly. Luna could barely grab her and keep her still. It didn’t help that Saoirse was naturally very fussy and hated being still.
 
“Sit! Stay!” Despite repeating the commands over and over again, Saoirse didn’t listen. Finally, Luna grabbed her by the collar and put the leash on her. She grabbed her house key and stormed out the door, with Artemis following from behind.
 
But walking her wasn’t the only problem.
 
Before Luna even got to the end of the sidewalk, a high pitched scream caused her to fall to her knees and cover her ears. Artemis’s green eyes slammed wide open.
 
A cat was biting a young girl’s arm. The girl kicked and screamed, struggling to force the cat off. Artemis was quick to run over and push the cat right off. The cat’s back arched, its tail ruffled up, and it let out a loud hiss. Artemis hissed right back. He managed to get a good look at the cat: its eyes were glowing in a pitch black light.
 
Luna ran over to the girl and helped her up. “Are you okay?!”
 
Although she was still crying, the girl nodded. Luna looked down at the teeth marks on her arm. “What happened to you?”
 
“I don’t know…” The girl whimpered, wiping her tears with her other hand. “I tried to make Miko-chan come inside. But she started hissing and meowing for an hour straight. When I tried to make her come in, she bit me. She never bites me! She’s a nice kitty!”
 
Luna wrapped her arms around the girl and held her close, hoping it would console her somewhat. The cat was still hissing at Artemis. “...If Mom finds out, she’ll make the vet kill her, won’t she?”
 
“What?”
 
The girl looked up at Luna with brown eyes drowning in tears. Luna averted her gaze. She hated seeing sad faces. “I’ve seen it on the news! When a pet does something bad, police take them to the vet, stick needles in them, and kill them! I don’t want Miko to die! She’s not a bad kitty!!” The girl wailed.
 
Already, memories were drowning Luna’s mind. She had been just like this girl once. She had been to the vet once...only they came home with a plastic bag, with their old cat in it.
 
“We’re going to bury her, Luna.”
 
“What?! No! She’s not dead! You said--!!”
 
“She’s DEAD, Luna! She’s gone!”
 
“You said you were gonna put her down! On the floor!”
 
“Put a pet down means kill them, stupid! She was too sick to go on any longer! Stop deluding yourself!”
 
“Tsuruko! Stop it!”
 
“Luna! Someone must be controlling the animals! They’re not acting like this intentionally!” Artemis exclaimed.
 
Luna clutched the girl’s shirt tightly. She went through that pain once. She didn’t want another person to go through it, especially since the cat wasn’t doing this on purpose. “That won’t happen,” She told her. “Go find your mom. Leave Miko alone for now. We won’t let that happen to her. We’ll find out what’s going on. Tell your mom that a squirrel bit you. Can you do that for me?”
 
The girl nodded. Luna didn’t feel good about telling a little girl to lie to her mother. She always knew that lying was wrong. But in this case, she knew she had to. If her mother found out what happened, she was sure she would call the vet and have them euthanize Miko, and they certainly wouldn’t believe a story about her being mind controlled. Luna couldn’t let that happen.
 
She stood up. “Artemis. Let’s go.”
 
Artemis nodded in agreement. “I sense dark energy. Let’s follow it.”
 
Artemis and Luna disappeared into the woods...only two pairs of eyes saw them leaving. Akari and Koushun.
 
“That was Luna-chan, wasn’t it?” Akari asked. “Where is she going?”
 
“I dunno. I swear I heard that cat talk,” Koushun added. “Wanna check it out?”
 
Akari nodded.
 
Lydia sat on top of a tree, watching as birds, rabbits, squirrels, and deer were engaged in all out war against each other. A red monster was watching them, it's eyes glowing in an eerie black light. Same as the rest of the animals. One red bird managed to successfully pluck huge chunks of feathers out of another bird, causing it to fall to the ground. The red bird continued to relentlessly peck at the other bird as though it wanted more. A fully grown deer managed to stab a young doe in the stomach with its antlers. The rabbits were ripping at each others’ ears with their teeth, drawing blood.
 
“Good job, my pet,” Lydia crooned. “Soon, humanity will dispose of these wretched creatures. They deserve it.”
 
A montage of images played out through her mind. Lydia being chained to a wooden pole by angry townspeople. Three large dogs with sharp teeth charging at her. Lydia screaming as she felt three sets of teeth digging through her skin. A black explosion encasing everything. Herself lying on the ground, looking up at Brunhilda, who had extended her hand out.
 
The words she spoke that day shone a new light on her dark life. “Come with me. You don’t deserve this. You deserve better.”
 
Lydia took her hand without a second thought.
 
“You saved me that day…” She mused to herself before clenching her fists. “I’ll find the Rainbow Crystals...and heal you!”
 
What Lydia didn’t know was that Luna and Artemis had squatted down behind a bush, watching from afar. Luna had already transformed into Sailor Luna, so she was prepared. “I see a monster. That thing must be controlling the animals.”
 
“Yes,” Artemis agreed. “But who’s that woman?”
 
“I don’t know. But she must be the one who made that monster.”
 
Sailor Luna’s hands flew to her ears when she heard a dog squeal in pain. Unfortunately, her tail rustled against some leaves. Even though the sound was faint, Lydia could hear it all the way from atop the tree. She dropped from the tree and with a swing of her finger, a sword made out of wood and leaves appeared in her hand. “Who goes there?! Show yourself, you coward!!”
 
Sailor Luna clenched her fists. ‘I am no coward!’ It was too late. She noticed them. She figured she might as well fight. “You’re the one messing with the animals, aren’t you?!”
 
Artemis stood beside Sailor Luna with a glare. “Who are you?!”
 
“I am Lydia of the Red Rose Sanctum!” Lydia pointed her sword at Sailor Luna. “You’re in my way! Either scram or die at my hand!”
 
Sailor Luna summoned her Luna Light. “You’ll pay for hurting those animals! Lunar Cycle!” A swirl of black, star covered energy surrounded the Luna Light before spilling right at Lydia. The red haired woman leaped out of the way and descended, her sword ready to slice Luna to ribbons. Sailor Luna did a backflip and managed to knock the sword out of her hand with a single kick.
 
“You think that’ll stop me?!” Lydia roared, raising her hands to the sky. Before Luna could do anything, five, vine like appendages with leaves on them sprung up from the ground. One of them coiled around Luna’s leg.
 
“Owww!” Sailor Luna kicked and scratched at the vine in a futile attempt to free herself.
 
“Luna!” Thankfully, Artemis sliced the vine with his claws, sending Luna rolling on the grass.
 
“Thanks!”
 
Artemis let out a chuckle and scratched an ear with his paw. “Don’t mention it.”
 
“Get her!” Lydia pointed at Sailor Luna. The monster leaped toward the cat eared girl with a roar. Oddly enough, Luna didn’t run away. She just waited for the monster to come close before punching it square in the face. Power was surging through her body, dying to spill out. She didn’t know she had this kind of strength in her.
 
“Luna Moonrise!!” With a final attack, the monster was reduced to a pile of dust, being carried away by the wind.
 
Lydia almost lost her balance. Her eyes slammed open, shocked by the girl’s power. “How…?! How are you so…?!” Brunhilda entered her mind. Her fear morphed into anger. “You should know better than to get in my way, you brat!!”
 
Sailor Luna kept herself composed and crossed her arms. “You should know better than to turn innocent animals into vicious monsters! They never did anything to you!” Sailor Luna yelled.
 
“You don’t know ANYTHING!!” Lydia roared, throwing a sharp twig at Luna like it was a piece of chalk. Luna simply walked one step out of the way. “The people on my planet tried to feed me to those furry beasts you call dogs!! All because I stole a loaf of bread!! Had my master not saved me, I would have been dinner!!” Lydia’s eyes turned red with rage. “So don’t you DARE say they haven’t done anything to me!! They all deserve to be euthanized!!” Lydia kept stamping her feet.
 
More memories spilled forth. A young Lydia found herself sleeping in a box, her stomach growling louder than ever, begging for food. She was dressed in rags, using a newspaper as a blanket, even though it didn’t shield her from the pouring rain. She wasn’t sure how many nights she spent going to sleep hungry.
 
“Tch! I’ll deal with you next time! Stay out of my way, or else you’re dead meat!” With that, Lydia disappeared in a swirl of rose petals.
 
“So her name’s Lydia…” Sailor Luna mused.
 
“She said she’s from the Red Rose Sanctum. I’ll have to investigate this,” Artemis said. “Anyway, another job well done, Sailor Luna.”
 
Artemis was expecting Luna to smile and say thanks. But instead, she ran to a tree, sat down, squeezed herself, and started rocking back and forth. Artemis froze, completely speechless. What in the world just happened? Some squirrels scuttled about, and as happy as he was about the animals being free from the monster’s mind control, Luna should be happy, too. Why wasn’t she? All Artemis could do was walk over to the tree and watch as Luna rocked back and forth.
 
“...Luna? Is...something wrong?” He wondered if he said something he shouldn’t have. Maybe Luna was scared? He looked everywhere for answers as to what started Luna’s behavior. Nothing came up.
 
“Sorry, Artemis. I...I...I need to...calm myself down…” Luna told him with every rock.
 
Some of the worry left his heart. So she does this to calm herself down. Artemis’s lips curled up a bit. He was glad it wasn’t anything serious. “I see.”
 
“...I had a cat once. Her name was Caroline.”
 
Artemis sat down next to her.
 
“A year ago, she got sick. She was really old. Eighteen years old. Her kidneys were failing, and there was nothing we could do for her,” Luna didn’t stop rocking, but she kept her voice loud enough for Artemis to hear. “Mom said we had to put her down. I thought she meant put her down on the floor. But as it turns out, putting an animal down means...euthanizing them,” Luna choked as she said that word, as though it was a word so horrible she couldn’t bring herself to say it. “Sticking a needle in them and killing them. I never knew...that vets were allowed to do that. I was sad that Caroline died, but I was even sadder...that vets basically killed her! I know it was to put her out of her misery, and I know illnesses like that are terminal...but still! It’s the same as murder!!”
 
Luna stopped rocking at this point. “You want to know what’s worse? I’ve seen stories on the news where if an animal attacks someone, they get euthanized!” The tears flowed right out of Luna’s eyes, trailing down to her chin, leaving wet spots on her skirt. “Why can’t people just train dogs not to attack people?! They don’t have to...resort to that…”
 
Artemis’s heart sank. He didn’t know what to tell her. He wished there was some way he could comfort her, some words he could say that would make Luna smile. Nothing came. Instead, he just placed a paw on her arm and gave her a sympathetic look.
 
“It’s hard. I know. There are times when sick animals just can’t be saved. Just like people who get terminally ill. But sometimes...euthanasia is necessary. As for the animals that attack people…” Artemis’s ears drooped downward. “...I don’t know what to say about that. Sorry.”
 
Luna wiped her tears away. “No. It’s fine. I get it. This whole thing...just brought back some bad memories, that’s all. It’s just...that little girl...I told her to lie to her mom about her cat biting her. I know lying is wrong, but...if her mom found out about what happened…” Her hands began trembling no matter how tightly she clenched them together. “...She’d probably euthanize the cat, even though it was mind controlled. I just...I don’t think I could bear something like that happening…”
 
Artemis nuzzled up to Luna and purred as loud as possible. “You’re a good girl, Luna. You did the right thing.”
 
“Did I, really?”
 
“Arf! Arf!”
 
Saorise leaped into Luna’s lap and showered her with licks. The darkness in the dog’s eyes had completely disappeared. “Saoirse!! You’re okay! Thank goodness!” Luna didn’t hesitate to hug her dog and squeeze her so tight she didn’t want to let go.
 
“Luna?”
 
That voice was...familiar. Luna opened her eyes to find… “Koushun?! Akari?!”
 
There they were, standing before her, their eyes wide with surprise. Luna was quick to stand up, her own eyes slamming wide open. “How did you--?! How long have--?! Whaaaa…?”
 
“Did you seriously just turn into a magical girl and fight some evil villain?” Akari asked.
 
“What’s going on, Luna?!” Koushun snapped, causing Luna to recoil. “What were you thinking?! You could have killed yourself out there!”
 
Akari got in between Luna and Koushun. “Quit it, Kou! You know she doesn’t like yelling!” She turned to face Luna. “Sorry. We saw you and the white cat running...and that battle with the red lady.”
 
Just like Mairu, they found out. “I see. Sorry,” All Luna could do was stare at the ground.
 
Akari put a hand on Luna’s shoulder. “Can I ask why you didn’t tell us?”
 
“I just...Mairu already found out. I didn’t want you or Koushun to be in danger. I didn’t want you guys getting hurt or killed,” Luna explained in a low whimper.
 
“Maisa knows, huh?”
 
Luna nodded.
 
“I get it now,” Koushun scratched his head. “Sorry I yelled at you.”
 
“It’s okay.”
 
“Wooooow!” Akari’s eyes twinkled with excitement as she balled her hands into fists. “So you’re a real life magical girl now?! This is awesome! Can we help you out?! Pleeeease?!”
 
“We’d be more than happy to have your assistance,” Artemis told them.
 
“Whoa!” Akari yelped before hiding behind Koushun. “Did that cat just talk?!”
 
Koushun facepalmed. “Yes, he just talked. It’s not special effects, y’know,” Koushun then crossed his arms and glanced at Luna. “Care to explain what all this is about? And what’s this about Mairu already knowing about this?”
 
Like she did with Mairu, Luna told her friends everything that had happened since yesterday. Both of them listened intently with wide eyed curiosity. “Whooooa. I had no idea,” Akari mused.
 
“So that’s what happened,” Koushun added. “I see now. So exactly what does Luna have to do?”
 
“For now, we know that Lydia is from a group called the Red Rose Sanctum,” Artemis explained. “I don’t know what their modus operandi is, nor what they want. But I know it can’t be good, and I plan on doing some investigation later on.”
 
Akari slammed her fist into her palm. “Oh yeah! We’re gonna fight monsters! This is gonna be awesome! I can’t wait to see you go all magical girl, Luna-chan!” Akari tackle hugged Luna and caught her in a tight squeeze.
 
Instead of choking, Luna found herself liking Akari’s large arms being wrapped around her. Considering everything that happened today and the bad memories that plagued her, she felt she really needed that hug. Akari always believed that the best cure for someone’s sadness is a big hug. It definitely worked here.
 
“Since now you know our secret and want to help, I have gifts for the two of you,” With a graceful backflip, a light appeared before dissipating into two Lunar Revolvers, both of which fell into their hands.
 
“You do realize you’re giving us guns, right?” Koushun asked. He wasn’t sure if he was comfortable carrying a real gun, even if it is a magic one.
 
“It’s okay!” Luna told them reassuringly. “Artemis says they’re magic, have no bullets, and that they only hurt monsters, not humans.”
 
“That’s good to know, because I don’t want people thinking I’m planning to shoot someone,” Akari was quick to stuff the revolver in her book bag. “We’ll talk more about this at school tomorrow. Okay? If you want, I can help investigate this Red Rose Sanctum or whatever!” Akari flashed a thumb’s up.
 
Artemis nodded. “That would be wonderful. I’m sorry you have to get dragged into this mess.”
 
Koushun shook one of his hands. “No big deal. Luna’s our friend, and we have her back. Yours, too,” He looked down at his watch. “Shoot! Dinner’s almost ready. We’ll talk more about this tomorrow! See you all later!” With that, he dashed away.
 
“See ya!”
 
With that, everyone dispersed. But before Luna went back home, with Saoirse and Artemis beside her, she noticed the little girl from before. She was playing with her cat Miko happily. Miko wasn’t biting her. Luna’s heart grew warm and her lips curled up with joy. What a relief. She prevented a potential tragedy. To Luna, that’s what a hero does: make people happy.
 
Now that she was Sailor Luna, she could try and do just that.

Here we have the obligatory weight/diet/exercise episode...or is it?

***

Mythos 3: My Weight Is Just Fine! I Like My Body!
 
The sky was still a pristine dark blue, with lighter shades creeping right in, a signal that the morning sun was about to wake up. But while others are still sleeping in their comfy beds, Akari, dressed in a white shirt and black pants, was jogging around the block. Her face and head band were wet with sweat, but Akari could feel her legs burning. With every step she took, she felt as though she was free, like a bird flying through the sky.
 
After about an hour, the sky was completely lit up by the morning sun, and Akari stopped jogging. She wiped some sweat off before going back inside. The first person she saw was her mother, preparing some miso soup with tofu. Akari herself grabbed a banana and prepared herself some buttered toast.
 
“Morning, Mom!”
 
“Morning, Akari. How was your morning run?”
 
“Refreshing as usual! A good run is the best way to get your gears going!” Akari wasted no time scarfing down her soup faster than a hungry wolf. She was never a fan of tofu, but she liked it best if it was dipped in soup broth.
 
After that, a boy of fifteen came into the room. He had shaggy dark hair like Akari’s and deep blue eyes that were still weary from sleep. “Uuuugh…”
 
“Morning, Chihaya,” Akari said as she ate a piece of banana. All Chihaya did was sit on the dining room table and lay his head on it.
 
“Chihaya! Wake yourself up! You’ll be late for school!” Akari’s mother scolded.
 
“Dun wanna go,” Chihaya murmured. Akari had already finished her meal and stuffed her schoolbooks into her purple backpack.
 
Akari’s mother let out a sigh. “Goodness, Chihaya. You really do take after your father. Akari? Are you coming straight home after school?”
 
“No. Luna-chan, Maisa, Yuyuko, Koushun, and I are gonna go to the ice cream shop after school,” Akari told her. “Is that okay?”
 
“Sure. Just be home before five, okay?”
 
Akari nodded and waved her arm at them. “See you later!” With that, Akari dashed out the door, running toward the school building as though she was close enough to reach it. Though admittedly, Tsukimura Middle School was fifteen minutes away by foot. Akari didn’t mind, though. Walking outside meant getting sunshine, going for another good run, and soaking up the scent of nature.
 
It didn’t take long for Akari to find her friends in front of the school. Luna, Mairu, Koushun, and another girl. The girl had wavy pale brown hair that went down to her lower back, thick glasses obscuring her brown eyes, wearing a simple black dress underneath a white, short sleeved lace cardigan. She was also wearing white stockings and black shoes. Akari was quick to tackle hug Luna faster than Luna could notice. “Moooooorning!!”
 
“Whoa!” Luna almost fell over as soon as she endured the impact. Thankfully, she didn’t fall and managed to regain her balance. “H-H-Hello, Akarin…”
 
“You’re peppy as usual today,” Mairu noted.
 
Akari let go of Luna and did a mock sailor salute. “Aren’t I always?”
 
The blonde haired girl let out a scoff and turned away from Akari. “You sure are bold to keep us waiting like that.”
 
Koushun gave the blonde girl a gentle push on the shoulder. “Give it a rest, Yuyuko. She’s fine.”
 
Yuyuko crossed her arms. “I suppose I can let you off the hook for today. But dare do it again and I’ll suck your blood.”
 
“Vampire obsessed, much?” Mairu asked.
 
Akari straightened out one of her shirt sleeves. “We’re still going out for ice cream after school, right?”
 
Luna gave Akari a high five. “Of course! Wouldn’t miss it for the world!”
 
“They have a new ice cream out. Pistachio Pizzazz. I want to try it,” Mairu mused, clasping her hands together.
 
“I’ll just be happy to stay out of the house for as long as possible,” Koushun added.
 
“I wish they’d sell Halloween Tangerine every year,” Yuyuko piped in with a gloomy look on her face. “I love the little black bat shaped candies they put on it!” She shook her fists up and down like a little kid waiting to get on the roller coaster.
 
“Of course you do,” Mairu said before leaning towards Luna. “Is Artemis coming with us?” She whispered.
 
“Yeah. I told him to meet us there after school,” Luna whispered back. “He says he wants mint chocolate chip ice cream.”
 
With that, the bell rang, and everyone ran to class.

“Dudette! What’s with you messing up all the time?!”
 
Lydia stood in Brunhilda’s room, squeezing her eyes shut in shame as a short, pudgy woman with lightning yellow hair and eyes scolded her severely. She was dressed in a yellow dress, white pants, and darker yellow boots, with one of her eyes covered with a pink, heart shaped eye patch. Despite being shorter than Lydia, this woman was wagging her finger at her right in front of Brunhilda.
 
“Jeez! You mess up way more than I do! We’re not here to make humanity kill all their animals!” The short woman scolded. “We’re here to find the Rainbow Crystals and get Brunhilda back to normal!”
 
Something snapped inside Lydia, and her eyes slammed wide open, flaming with anger. “That’s kinda hypocritical coming from you, Locria!” She roared. “All you do is lay around, stuff your face with potato chips, and hang out with Doria and Aeolia all day! You lecture me on my own failures yet you don’t even lift a finger!”
 
“Both of you! Stop your squabbling!” Another voice boomed. This time, a woman taller than the both of them walked into the room. The woman had lilac purple hair tied into two thin braids, setting off her steely grey eyes. Her thin purple dress made no attempt to hide her large hips and legs, and she walked gracefully in her matching high heels as though she were a model.
 
Locria immediately scuttled behind Lydia, her eyes trembling with fear. A far cry from the stern scolding she just gave earlier. “I-I-I-Ionia…”
 
Ionia kept the two women in place with her own stern glare, her grey eyes devoid of emotion and warmth. “Look at you two. Squabbling like children. You two are a disgrace to Brunhilda and the Red Rose Sanctum!” She boomed.
 
“Ionia! Please don’t scold them so,” Brunhilda leaped off the bed and stood in between Ionia and Lydia. “Retrieving the Rainbow Crystals is not an easy task. They could be anywhere on the planet by now. Don’t scold them so harshly. It’s like the saying goes, Rome wasn’t built in a day,” She used a soft voice when talking to Ionia, hoping it would pacify her a little bit.
 
“What she said!” Locria cried out.
 
Lydia didn’t hesitate to hit her on the arm with her elbow. “Ow!”
 
The purple haired woman crossed her arms, glaring at the two women. “If I had my way, I’d have kicked you out years ago. We’d find the Rainbow Crystals much easier if you two didn’t let yourselves get distracted all the time,” Ionia told them sternly. She was never one to coddle her compatriots. Brunhilda wished she would be more gentle and lenient.
 
“I WILL get the Rainbow Crystals for Brunhilda-sama! Just you wait, Ionia!” Lydia shouted before disappearing in a swirl of rose petals.
 
Ionia facepalmed. “I just know she’s going to screw up again.”
 
Locria sat on a nearby couch, stuffing her face with potato chips, not caring about the snot running down her nose. Ionia looked away in disgust. This was the woman who was scolding Lydia for her recklessness? “Hehh Ionia. Want shum?” Locria showed the bag to Ionia, her cheeks bulging.
 
“No, and don’t talk with your mouth full,” Ionia sneered.
 
“Come now, Ionia,” Brunhilda said. “She’s fine. Have faith in them.”
 
Ionia facepalmed once more. ‘How can I possibly have faith in these lazy bums?!’ She had to wonder what Brunhilda saw in them.
 
All Brunhilda did was smile and return to her bed, watching as Locria scarfed down the whole bag of potato chips. She secretly hoped Lydia would be successful in her endeavors and come back safely. But as soon as she leaped back on her bed, the aching pains plagued her body again. She didn’t dare cry out, as she knew her subjects would cower over her with worry.
 
“Find the Rainbow Crystals…” A deep, eerie voice echoed in the confines of her brain.
 
Brunhilda clenched both sides of her brain, lying in her bed and squeezing her eyes shut to take her mind off of the pain and the voice. It didn’t work. Ionia had left, Locria was too busy eating, and a small girl with short, curly indigo hair watched from another room, clutching a large blanket. The girl’s blue eyes were consumed with worry.
 
She knew very well that any time Brunhilda would clutch her head while in bed was a time when she was in pain. The girl looked down at her bare feet, lamenting her lack of ability to help Brunhilda.

Ring ring ring ring ring
 
“Yay!” Akari sprung out of her seat faster than a jack-in-a-box. “School’s out! Time for ice cream!!” She dashed out the door.
 
Luna, Mairu, Yuyuko, and Koushun managed to catch up to her. They had to admit, for someone with Akari’s weight, she sure could run fast. Even Mairu couldn’t help but wonder how Akari could do it. “So...we’re going to Hinaki’s, right?” Yuyuko asked, holding a black lace parasol over her head.
 
“Yeah. That’s the hangout,” Koushun added. “And why are you using an umbrella? It’s not raining?”
 
Yuyuko clutched the parasol shaft and gave Koushun a stern glare. “It’s a parasol, and you know vampires such as myself cannot stand sunlight!”
 
“Yes yes.”
 
Hinaki’s, formerly known as Hinaki Ice Cream, was a tiny, family run restaurant that didn’t have a lot to its name, but their food prices were both good and cheap. It was right near the school, so children often flocked there when they wanted to, so anyone who came in between three and five would see lots of kids huddled at tables, either eating food or talking their ears off. There were outdoor tables for people who wanted to eat their food outside.
 
Everyone made sure to bring money with them so they could all pay for their own food. As soon as Luna came within five feet of the place, she saw Artemis huddled up near a bush. He waved his paw at her, and Luna waved back. She knew what that meant. ‘Better get him the mint chocolate chip ice cream he wants,’ She thought as she placed her order. She brought extra money with her so she could get some for Artemis.
 
It took about ten minutes tops for all of their ice cream to get made, but once they received it, they flocked to the wooden outdoor tables right next to the parking lot. “I’ll be back!” With both cups of ice cream in her hands, Luna ran to the bush she saw Artemis at. There he was, sitting on the concrete, and Luna placed the small cup of mint chocolate chip ice cream in front of him, complete with a plastic spoon. “Here you go!”
 
“This is so nice of you. You didn’t have to do this for me,” Artemis told her kindly.
 
“It’s alright! You’ve done a lot for me, so I figured you deserved a little something nice,” Luna replied and gave him a gentle pat on his head. Artemis purred loudly, basking in Luna’s gentle touch. He had to admit, her hands were very warm and soft.
 
In a way, a sense of deja vu overtook him. Those hands felt familiar somehow…
 
A silhouette of a wavy haired woman stood in a field of flowers, waving at him from afar. “Artemis!!”
 
“What’s wrong?”
 
Luna’s sweet voice pulled Artemis out of his reverie. He shook his head. “Sorry. I just spaced out for a moment. Thanks for the ice cream.”
 
“You’re welcome! Sorry you can’t join us. Yuyu-chan’s here and she doesn’t know about my Sailor Luna identity,” Luna explained. Another thought entered her head. What if Artemis could show up and just hang around? He looks like a cat, so he could easily pass for a real one. Yuyuko could assume he was just a stray who liked to hang around Hinaki’s.
 
“It’s alright. When I finish this, I can join you silently,” Artemis said, flashing a smile.
 
“You just read my mind.”
 
“But we still have to be on our guard. Whoever this Lydia woman is, she may strike again at any moment.”
 
Luna dug into her pocket and flashed her Lunatia L. “It’s a magical girl’s duty to always be prepared, right?”
 
Artemis’s lips curled upward again. She sure was diligent. “That’s good to know. But you better eat your ice cream or it’ll melt.”
 
“Oh! You’re right!” But before Luna could return to the table, she stopped when she saw a familiar, gloomy face she didn’t want to see.
 
“Leave Akari alone!” Mairu yelled.
 
There was Shouko, standing before them with her usual grim look, clutching a chocolate donut in her hands. Koushun, Mairu, Yuyuko, and Akari were all glaring at her. “Seriously, Kitagawa. Go easy on the ice cream. With you being as fat as you are, you’re gonna keel over someday,” Shouko sneered. “You’re better off going on a diet. Do you even exercise?”
 
“I’m just fine, no thanks to you!” Akari snapped.
 
“Yeah! Why don’t you just buzz off?!” Koushun added.
 
“Pick on Akarin again, and I’ll suck your blood!” Yuyuko flashed her pearly white teeth.
 
Shouko scoffed. “Shut up, vampire freak,” With that, she turned on her heel and left the premises.
 
“What just happened?” Luna asked, arriving on the scene.
 
“Kubodera just popped up and started pickin’ on Akari and her weight,” Koushun explained.
 
Mairu crossed her arms. “Who does she think she is?”
 
None of the kids noticed Akari clenching her fists, breaking her plastic spoon in half. But she still ate her ice cream anyway. She ate it faster than usual. “Are you okay, Akarin?” Luna asked.
 
Koushun put a hand on Akari’s shoulder. “Don’t worry about Kubodera. She’s just a jerk.”
 
“It’s not that.”
 
“Huh?”
 
Akari finished her ice cream and threw the cup in the trash. “I DO exercise and eat healthy food. Every day. My body’s just like this,” She took a small rock and threw it at the trees, scaring off some birds. “She had no right to tell me all that!”
 
“We know that,” Mairu told her gently. “You run every morning. That’s great.”
 
“And we don’t care whether you’re skinny or fat. You’re Akari, and you’re our friend! We like you for you!” Luna added.
 
Akari’s lips curled up for only a brief moment. “Thanks, guys. You’re awesome.”
 
After that, the kids and Artemis finished their food and went back home. However, even though Akari tried to take her mind off the incident, it must be confessed that Shouko’s words pierced the girl’s heart like a hunter’s arrow hitting a deer. She never minded her weight, and for the most part, nobody called any attention to it, not even her friends. There were plenty of people she knew who were morbidly obese or the same weight as her. It wasn’t as though being overweight was tantamount to being an alien.
 
For Shouko to call attention to it like that...anger blazed in Akari’s heart like a house fire. What did she know? Akari clenched her fists once more. Who cares what she says? Akari liked her body, and as far as she knew, she was perfectly healthy.


“So who was that purple haired girl from earlier?” Artemis asked, curling up on Luna’s bed.
 
“Just a classmate,” Luna explained as she read through a manga. “Kubodera Shouko. She isn’t very nice. She sass talks the teachers, gets into fights, and picks on people, me included.”
 
Artemis licked his paws. “I see. I’m sorry I didn’t intervene. I wanted to.”
 
“It’s okay. She hates pretty much everybody,” Luna told him. “But still...she was really rude to Akarin. She shouldn’t have made fun of her weight like that. That’s rude and inappropriate. Well, that’s what my mom says, anyway.”
 
“Very true,” Artemis added. “Your friends seem like wonderful people.”
 
Luna put her comic down. “They are! I’ve known Mairu-chan since second grade, Koushun and Akarin since third, and Yuyuko-chan since last year,” Luna stretched her arms and legs out. “They’re great! They’re all my best friends forever!...or BFFs, as the girls in the movies would say.”
 
Artemis scratched one of his own ears with the paw he was licking just now. “...I had a group of friends like that once, back on Mau,” He whispered so low, he hoped Luna wouldn’t hear him. “It’s great that you and the kids stood up for Akari like that.”
 
Luna crossed her arms. “Tell me about it. I don’t know where all that weight stuff came from. Akarin’s always been like that, and for the most part she’s healthy,” Luna said. “If someone told me I was fat, I’d get angry, too. By the way, how did you like the ice cream?”
 
“It was…” Artemis murmured. “...good. It tasted just like the ice cream I had on Mau.”
 
He kept mentioning Mau. That was his home planet. “...So what was Mau like? Was it like Earth?”
 
Artemis shook his head wistfully. “Not really. It was less technologically advanced than Earth. But during the spring, the entire planet would be covered from grass to tree top with flowers in all kinds of colors!” His green eyes sparkled with joy, remembering the fields of flowers that would go on forever. “And during the summer, we would hold the Sunshine Festival. The trees and flowers would be glowing with light. They also had very good food not like Earthian food. I’d love for you to try the Mau Cherry Blossom Cookies.”
 
Mau Cherry Blossom Cookies. Just hearing it made Luna feel like she was going to drool. “What are those like?”
 
“They’re cookies shaped like cherry blossoms with chocolate cream sandwiched in between them. They smell like cherry blossoms and they just melt as soon as you taste it,” Artemis explained. “If we ever get Mau back, I’d be more than happy to make some. I have the recipe memorized,” Artemis used his paw to tap on his head so as to empathize the point.
 
“Wait...you can cook?”
 
Artemis nodded.
 
“How can cats cook?”
 
“Well...I have a human form.”
 
Luna tilted her head to one side. “You do?”
 
“Yes. I keep it hidden for privacy purposes. The enemy’s on my tail enough as it is,” Artemis explained. Truth be told, he wished he could reveal his human form. Even though being a cat had its perks, he missed the days he spent as a human. “But when it’s safe for me to become human, I’ll be sure to make those cookies. I have a feeling you and your friends will fall head over heels for them.”
 
“I can’t wait. Oh! Better get my homework finished!” Luna pulled out her worksheets and immediately wrote on them. Artemis admired her diligence to not just her school work, family, and friends, but to her sailor soldier work as well. “If you ever cook some, let’s share them with the rest of the gang.”
 
Artemis’s lips curled upward. “That sounds like a plan.”

“Uuuuuugh!!” Akari groaned as she struggled to solve a math problem on her homework. It had been an hour since she started it, and she still couldn’t get past problem five, and it was the last problem on her worksheet. “I hate math!!” With a roar, she plopped her face on her worksheet.
 
Stuffed in the red trash can were crumpled up papers. Math tests with varying grades on them. 56. 72. 68. 45. There were also problem sheets that were crumpled into paper balls. “I can’t stand this…”
 
Knock knock
 
“Come in!”
 
Her mother came into the room with a silver tray in her hands. “Akari? Here’s dinner,” Akari’s mother said, gently placing it down on the table. It was Akari’s favorite: miso soup with tofu, tonkatsu with gravy, and vegetables such as broccoli and carrots.
 
“Thanks.”
 
“Is something wrong?” Akari’s mother asked.
 
Akari stretched her arms out, still lying on her desk. “Other than my math homework driving me up the wall, no.”
 
Her mother crossed her arms. “Akari. You know you don’t have to hide things from me,” She said, leaning closer. “I can tell when something’s bothering you.”
 
Akari sighed. “Am I that easy to read?”
 
“Yes!” She said with a wink. “I’m your mother. That’s why,” Akari’s mother sat on the bed, gesturing for Akari to join her. “Tell me what’s wrong, sweetie.”
 
Akari told her mother about Shouko picking on her at Hinaki’s and the comments she made about her weight. “Do I...exercise enough? Do I eat healthy enough?” Akari asked. The worry in her eyes and voice was unmistakable to her mother.
 
“Of course you do. You always take care of yourself. I don’t know anyone else who runs during the early morning hours,” Her mother told her with a merry chuckle.
 
“But...I look like this!” Akari pulled up her shirt a little bit to show some pudge on her belly. “I don’t get it! I exercise every day and eat healthy foods, but…”
 
Akari’s mother put a hand on her shoulder. “You are healthy. You may not think so, but sometimes our bodies take shape in ways we don’t exactly like. Some people can laze around all the time and not gain any weight. Others exercise all the time and can still be...overweight.”
 
Akari’s eyes widened. “Really? That can happen?”
 
Her mother nodded. “Yes. Sometimes. There’s nothing wrong with gaining a little weight, but it’s important to stay fit, and you’re doing a good enough job of that. But at the same time, you shouldn’t focus on not eating completely, as our bodies need energy to get through the day and help us live.”
 
It didn’t take long for it to dawn on Akari. “So...my body’s just like this?”
 
“Could be. But don’t stress out over it. We all have things we don’t like about ourselves,” Akari’s mother pulled her daughter close and stroke her on her arm. “Look at me! I still have stretch marks from when I was pregnant with you! And I have this mole on my nose! See?” Akari’s mother pointed to the big mole in question.
 
Soon, Akari found herself being pulled into her mother’s arms. “The most important thing is, you’re my daughter and I love you for you, and it’s important to love yourself and everything about yourself, no matter what everyone says.”
 
The warmth that creeped into her body was unmistakable. She always loved it when her mother hugged her, such as during times when kids would bully her and make her cry, or when she got bad grades on math tests. A hug always made everything better. “Thanks, Mom. You’re the best.”
 
“You’re welcome, and next time that girl picks on you, tell her to buzz off. If things get worse, tell me, okay?”
 
Akari nodded.
 
Her mother’s lips curled upward. “Good. Now you better finish dinner. It’ll get cold.”
 
Akari didn’t hesitate to chomp down her dinner. After that, she asked if her mother could help her with her homework. Surprisingly enough, her mother found the answer right away, and Akari managed to understand it this time. “Wow! You never told me you were good at math!”
 
“I participated in the Mathletes when I was in high school,” Her mother mused with a laugh.
 
After that, a scruffy man with a goatee peeked his head in the door. “Narumi? Where’s the remote?”
 
Narumi facepalmed. “Again? Goodness! You and Chihaya! It’s in the kitchen on the counter!”
 
“Oh. Okay.”

“Morning, giiiiiiirls!” As usual, Akari tackle hugged anyone who was in her line of sight, such as Luna and Yuyuko, in that order.
 
“Goodness! If your tackle hugging gets me thrown in a mud puddle, I’ll suck your blood!” Yuyuko snapped.
 
Akari let out an embarrassed chuckle and scratched her hair. “Hehehehe. Sorry about that. Guess I don’t know my own strength!”
 
Yuyuko’s lips curled up. “At least you have good intentions, so I can forgive you.”
 
“Really, Yuyu,” Luna said.
 
Yuyuko’s ears caught the sound of someone singing. “I know that voice anywhere,” She, Luna, and Akari found the source of the singing right underneath one of the small trees: Koushun.

“Stirred by impulses that there’s nothing I can do
That has begun for me now, feelings searching for you,
Just like predictable movies and books are boring,
When life is a little bit off, it might be more fun,
This warm feeling is c’est la vie,
As long as I am me,
C’est la vie, I want to keep on being in love with you,
Running through the place where this moment lives,
Right in front of me.”
 
When Koushun finished, his ears were warmly greeted by the sound of hands clapping together in applause. He saw his friends Luna, Akari, and Yuyuko right in front of him with radiant smiles on their faces. “You sing beautifully!” Luna exclaimed, her blue eyes wide with wonder and joy.
 
Koushun gracefully bowed before them as though he were a knight in waiting. “Your praise is too much for my fragile heart to handle, lovely ladies.”
 
“You should be a singer when you grow up,” Akari said.
 
“Indeed I will.”
 
“I suppose your singing does earn my seal of approval,” Yuyuko added as she adjusted her glasses a bit.
 
The black haired boy looked around curiously, noticing they were short one member. “By the way, where’s Mairu?”
 
“Last I heard she has a check up at the hospital today, so she’s coming in late,” Luna explained with a shrug. “I have the text message to prove it.”
 
All four of them were oblivious to the fact that an ever scowling Shouko was watching them from afar, leaning against the brick wall of the school building with her arms crossed. Just watching the group of friends smile and have fun made her feel like she wanted to throw them a hundred yards. Their happiness, the warmth and affection they exuded, the unbridled joy and cheer...it was just too irritating to Shouko. They were almost always together, through thick and thin. To Shouko, it was annoying.
 
Perhaps it was time to ruffle their feathers a bit more. “Hey, fatso!”
 
Fatso? Akari’s ears perked up upon hearing the awful word. She didn’t waste time turning on her heel and marching right up to Shouko. She was so close and peered so deep into Shouko’s eyes that it seemed as though their noses would touch at any moment. Even Shouko couldn’t help but feel invaded by how close she was and backed up. “Never. Call. Me. That. Again.”
 
“Yeah! What she said!” Luna added.
 
“You better exercise or go on a diet or you’ll get diabetes,” Shouko retorted.
 
Akari clenched her fists before wagging her index finger at her like she was a mother scolding a naughty child. “Listen up, you! You don’t get to tell me what I should and shouldn’t do! That’s MY job! And my parents’ job! I exercise every day, I keep a well balanced diet, and for the most part I’m as healthy as can be!” Neither of them noticed a crowd of kids circling around them, watching with curious, interested eyes. “My body’s just like this! And you know what?! I’m FINE like this! I can’t control it, nor do I feel the least bit bad about it, and why should I? So buzz off!”
 
Normally, Shouko would fight back with sarcastic remarks or even resort to name calling. Luna had seen it before, and usually the ensuing results would not be pretty. Now? Nothing came. Shouko was utterly speechless. Her permanent scowl didn’t leave her face as usual, but she didn’t utter one sarcastic remark. Instead, she just scoffed.
 
“Fine. Suit yourself,” With a swish of her purple hair, Shouko left the kids behind.
 
At first, the area was silent until someone clapped their hands. Then two. Then the whole crowd was clapping. Some were even whistling. “You go, girl!”
 
“You really showed her!”
 
“Be proud of your weight!”
 
Even though Luna covered her ears because of the noise, she couldn’t help but smile at the ensuing applause. “You were awesome back there!” Luna exclaimed.
 
“Was I really?” Akari asked.
 
Koushun gave her a gentle nudge on the elbow. “Come on. Take the compliment. You totally shot her down, Akarin.”
 
“If it were me, I would have sucked her blood right then and there,” Yuyuko added.
 
Akari turned red with embarrassment, letting out a chuckle as she scratched her hair. When the final bell rang, the children dispersed and made their way to the classroom for yet another school day. None of them noticed Artemis standing on the sidewalk, his white cat face all smiles. Even the crescent on his forehead looked happy.
 
‘You did great, Akari-san,’ Artemis thought warmly. ‘Those kids...they’re very good friends. They’re going to need each other for what’s to come in the future...but I’m sure they can pull through. They’ll need that kind of courage, too.’

As overjoyed as Artemis was, he wasn’t sure what the future would hold for them...and for himself.

Working on chapter 4 as I speak. Also, spoiler: I plan on showing Artemis's human form later in the story, for all you Artemis fans out there. Also, random question: how am I doing in keeping Artemis in character? Do you think he's OOC? I wanted to tone down any nagging and show a more gentle and understanding side, as nagging characters get annoying to me. But let me know if I'm doing anything wrong! Any concrit is fine!

Chapter 4 is here at last!

(note: Some of the kids' last names are mentioned here. Can you guess where they're from?)

***

Mythos 4: An Annoying Little Sister Ruins Our Sleepover!

Today was a day Luna had been looking forward to for weeks. But she hadn’t planned to wake up to the sound of her sister arguing with her mother. “Mom! I am GOING to Naoki’s house and you can’t stop me!”

“He’s a bad influence on you! Why do you keep seeing him?!”

Yelling was never something Luna found herself fond of. In fact, if anyone raised their voice, her hands would fly to her ears like they had minds of their own. Artemis was forcefully pulled out of his beauty sleep, his green eyes weary. “Goodness. What is all that racket?”

“He actually gives me the time of day and treats me like I’m worth something, unlike you!!”

Artemis buried his face in the pillow Luna put down for him. That answered his question. Luna buried herself underneath her comforter, her ears protected by her hands. Not even the two of them together could block out the yelling. Wanting to escape it himself, Artemis crawled underneath the comforter, planting himself next to the cowering Luna.

The sight of his chosen soldier balled up underneath her covers, helplessly covering her ears tugged at his heart. This reminded him that Luna was still just a young girl, trying to deal with life. He gently placed a paw on her arm. “It’ll be okay. I’m here.”

“Thanks,” Luna mused, her voice muffled by the pillows.

Artemis stroke her arm gently, his gaze downcast but his lips curled up. He couldn’t help but wonder how yelling would scare her so much, yet she could handle a monster’s hissing and Lydia’s evil boasting. In fact, lots of things about Luna stood out to him. Whenever she would run down or up the stairs, she always did it on her tip toes. She never looked anyone in the eye, not even him, her parents, or her friends. In regards to that, he assumed she was just shy. Sometimes when she was angry, she would shake her fists or flap her hands.

But he never thought anything bad of them. They were just Luna’s normal habits, he reasoned to himself. Everybody has them, even him. Even her sensitivity to loud noise was of no reason for alarm. Even he hated loud noise sometimes, and with him being a cat, his ears became more sensitive. It got to the point where the sounds of trains, boat horns blaring, and motorcycles would hurt his ears, and he used to be able to deal with them just fine before.

“Tsuruko! Don’t see Naoki anymore! He’s a bad kid!”

“You don’t know him like I do! Just shut up and leave me alone!” Loud footsteps echoed through the hall. Even Luna could hear them since they pounded on the floor.

“You come back here this instant, young lady!”

SLAM! The sound of the door slamming had become commonplace. Artemis crawled out from underneath the comforter and perked his ears up. He didn’t hear a thing. “It sounds like she’s gone.”

Luna popped her head right out from underneath the covers. “Good! Because I don’t want to deal with any yelling for sleepover day!”

Artemis’s ear twitched and he turned around, confused. “Sleepover day?”

“Yep!” Luna said as she put some games, game consoles, her cell phone, and Lunatia L in her black and pink bag. “Akarin, Yuyu, and I are going to Mairu-chan’s house for a sleepover today! Her mom’s supposed to pick me up at noon!” Luna looked over at her kitty clock. It read 7:12 AM. “I haven’t been to a sleepover since last year, and Mairu’s house is super cool!”

The white cat liked the cheerful sparkle in her eyes. They just radiated pure, unadulterated joy. “That sounds nice.”

“I know, right?” Luna began throwing in some DVDs. “I am SO going to have a blast! We’re gonna watch movies and eat dinner with her family and have pillow fights and watch videos on the internet and play frisbee in the backyard and yeeeek!” Luna balled her fists and shook them up and down with a squeal. “I just can’t wait!!”

He had never seen anyone so excited about a sleepover before. But if Luna was happy, then he was happy. “I’m glad you’re looking forward to it,” His expression turned serious, but still had a soft look about it. “But if you don’t mind...I’d personally like to accompany you. Just in case any monsters appear.”

“Mairu’s mom is allergic to cats. I don’t think she’d appreciate you just coming around,” Luna told him. “Also, no offense, but...you’re a guy. I don’t want the girls thinking you’re a pervert.”

Artemis had suspected this. At least she was concerned for his well being. To him, a good sailor soldier was always considerate of others. “I understand. Don’t worry. I’ll just stroll around outside. I can be on the lookout for monsters.”


“I see. I’ll be sure to sneak some dinner out for you when we get there,” Luna told him kindly before gently shooing him out so she could get dressed.

Once she finished, she ran into the kitchen and got her breakfast for today, a banana and some vanilla creme yogurt. Sitting on the floor, playing with Saoirse was a little girl of about six years old, with Luna’s bluish black hair and blue eyes, her hair tied up in two flouncy pigtails. “You’re a funny doggy, Saoirse!”

“Hey, Megumi!”

“Hi, Neechan. Where ya goin’?”

“To Mairu-chan’s house! She’s having a sleepover!”

Megumi’s smile turned into a frown, and she stuck her lips out. “Awww! No fair! I wanna go!”

Luna’s lips curled up as she ruffled Megumi’s hair. “It’s okay! Maybe I’ll hold a sleepover here so you can hang out with me and my friends? How’s that?”

Megumi’s smile returned. “I can’t wait!” Saoirse crawled up to her face and showered her with licks and kisses.


The four hours seemed to drag on. Luna tried to occupy herself with things to do. Drawing, fan fic planning, watching TV, playing with Saoirse and Megumi. It worked somewhat, but it didn’t make time go by any quicker. Finally, Luna heard the sound of a car beeping outside. Beep beep!

“They’re here!” Luna was quick to grab her bag and greet Mairu’s mother.

“Do you have everything, sweetie?” Keiko asked.


“Yep! Phone, keys, DVDs, books, I got it!”

“If anything happens, please call me.”

“I will!”


Megumi came out on the porch and waved happily as she watched Luna crawl into the van. “Bye bye, Neechan!!”

With a small wave, Luna smiled as the van pulled away.

---

“No. No. No. No.”

Lydia scoured through some bushes in a meadow, searching for one of the Rainbow Crystals. She pushed back some branches of a particularly large bush, but all she found were animal droppings and scattered pine needles. “It’s not here either.”

She even went as far as to look inside tree holes, where birds or squirrels would sleep. Again, she came up empty. With a growl, she pounded her fist into the tree she just looked inside. The force wasn’t so strong that it would pull the bark off, but her hand throbbed with pain right afterward, not that she cared.

“Durn! I know Brunhilda-sama said they wouldn’t be easy to find, but can’t there at least be something?! Anything?!” Lydia wished those crystals would give her some kind of sign. Maybe a faint glimmer in the bushes. A mysterious voice calling out to her. The crystals moving on their own. Anything. Alas, there was nothing.


Lydia let out a groan, her gaze downcast. “I wonder how the others are doing...they probably haven’t made any progress either…” She sat down on a stump, losing herself to her thoughts.

She knew what they looked like, as Brunhilda told her and the others about them. Small, pyramidal crystals the size of Nintendo DS game cartridges, each of them glowing in the colors of the rainbow. There were seven total: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, purple. She figured they’d be easy to find, but to think she and the others haven’t found them yet...a dark cloud swirled in Lydia’s heart. She buried her face in her hands.

She needed to find them. She had to. For Brunhilda’s sake.

If only that blasted Sailor Luna didn’t get in the way.


“Sailor Luna…” She growled under her breath. “I don’t know why you’re doing this to me...but you’re going to stay out of my way!”

---

“We’re here!” Mairu announced as she wheeled into the living room. Luna, Akari, and Yuyuko all removed their shoes before entering, as was the custom.

Yuyuko’s eyes turned wide upon seeing the decor of the house. “Wow. Your house is fancy,” Yuyuko mused out loud. “Perfectly fitting for a vampire such as myself.”

Mairu flashed a smile. “Do make yourselves at home.”

Luna rummaged through her bag and pulled out some DVDs. “I brought some movies we could watch.”

“Great! I have a few myself if any of you want to try them out,” Mairu added.

It was here that Akari noticed a girl a little younger than she, probably ten, looking at them from afar. The girl’s wavy crimson hair went to her shoulders, tied into two small braids in the back with a black ribbon. The girl was wearing a purple tank top, a white skirt, black sneakers, and tall white socks. The girl eyed them with a scornful look, like she was saying, “I don’t want you here.” Akari didn’t dare say anything, but she simply smiled and waved.

“My mom made cookies and other snacks if you want something to eat,” Mairu explained.

Luna’s ears perked up as though she were a cat. “Are they--”

“Chocolate chip? Yep!”


“Yes please!” Luna raced into the dining room to find a plate of cookies, crackers, strawberries, cheese squares, apple slices, carrots, broccoli, and small celery sticks. Luna treated herself to cookies, carrots, and cheese squares. Akari didn’t waste any time chomping down a strawberry and an apple slice.

After that, they went to the living room to decide on a movie they could watch. “How about we decide with rock paper scissors?” Akari suggested.

“Good idea!” Yuyuko said as she adjusted her glasses.


“Alrighty! Ready?”

All four girls shook their hands thrice. “Rock, paper, scissors, shoot!” All of them came out with paper. One more time. “Rock, paper, scissors, shoot!” All rock this time. Again, “Rock, paper, scissors, shoot!” Luna held two fingers out to make a scissors shape. Everyone else held their fists into balls.


“Yay! I win!” Luna cheered, holding up a DVD. “Let’s watch Dog of Flanders!”

Yuyuko looked down at her feet. “Awww. I wanted to watch Millennium Rain…”

Akari put a hand on Yuyuko’s shoulder. “It’s okay! We can watch it next time!”

The girls sat on the big couch. Luna watched movies at Mairu’s house before, so she knew how the DVD player on the TV worked. What the girls didn’t know was that they were so engrossed in the movie that they didn’t see the girl from before curiously watching it alongside them. She was standing by the entrance to the dining room, so she didn’t sit with the girls. Later, Yuyuko sat on the floor, chomping on some crackers.

“I’m so glad your mom bought garlic crackers,” Yuyuko mused out loud.

“Aren’t vampires supposed to hate garlic?” Mairu asked.


Yuyuko adjusted her glasses again. “Not all vampires are the same.”

The girl’s face contorted somewhat. ‘Seriously? That girl thinks she’s a vampire? That’s so weird. And why is everyone not freaking out about that?’ The girl thought. A piece of wood beneath her foot made a creaking sound. It was loud enough to catch Mairu’s attention.


“Hi, Kururi!” Mairu exclaimed.


Luna took the remote and pressed the pause button. “Huh? What?”


“Who’s that?” Yuyuko asked.

‘Durn! They saw me!’ Kururi thought, her face turning red with embarrassment. She turned away so she could avert their gaze.

“That’s my little sister, Sawai Kururi,” Mairu explained. “Wanna watch with us?”


Kururi gave her older sister a scornful glare. “I...I...I’d rather eat poison than hang around a bunch of freaks!” She yelled before storming off.

“Hey! We’re not freaks!” Akari yelled.

Mairu’s big sister instincts came through, and she was helpless to stop them. “Kururi! Come back here and apologize this instant!”

“My blood sucking urges are a-tingling,” Yuyuko mused.

Mairu facepalmed. She just had to call them names. “Sorry, girls.”

“It’s okay,” Luna told her reassuringly. “Does she...hate us or something?”


The pink haired girl let out a sigh. “I don’t know. All we know is that she’s been...hanging out with the wrong crowd at school. She got in trouble recently for picking on a kid at recess. Then again, she’s always been rather…” Mairu couldn’t come up with the right word for it. She didn’t want to describe her little sister as being naughty, but she knew she couldn’t deny it either. How could she phrase this as gently as possible? “...Closed-minded. She cares too much about her reputation, and she wants to be popular.”

Akari straightened out her ponytail. “I see.”


“In fact, she’s always away whenever I invite friends over,” She turned to Luna. “That’s why you never see her when you come over. She’s either at her own friends’ house or going off on her own. The only reason she’s here now is because she’s grounded.”

“That’s a pretty sure sign that she hates us,” Akari mused out loud.

“Let’s get back to the movie,” Luna suggested. Everyone nodded in agreement, and she played the movie again.


By the time it was over, the girls were all blubbering messes. Their red faces were drowning in tears at the tragic ending. Kururi couldn’t help but watch them cry. ‘How embarrassing,’ She thought. A nagging pang of envy tugged at her heart. What made Mairu so special? How is she allowed to have friends over and Kururi can’t? Add to the fact that her friends were freaks! Kururi knew that if Mairu or her parents heard her say this about her friends, they’d really lay it on her. But she didn’t care if that was wrong.

Once the movie ended, Yuyuko suggested they watch funny videos on the computer to get the sadness out. They watched as Mairu sat on the chair lift on the stairs, and it pulled her right up to the top of the stairs. She then climbed into a manual chair that happened to be right at the top of the steps. Once Luna, Yuyuko, and Akari caught up, they all went into Mairu’s room and watched funny videos. Yuyuko suggested they watch Epic Hip Hop Battles, and by the time they finished a third video, their guts had been busted.


After that, Akari and Luna pulled out some toy microphones and began singing some of their favorite songs, while Mairu and Yuyuko clapped like a pretend audience. Their timing was off, their dancing didn’t match the rhythm of the song, and at one point, Akari forgot some of the lyrics. But nobody minded at all. Today was their day of fun, and they were going to make the best of it.


The only person in this house who wasn’t happy was Kururi. She sat on her bed, her legs pretzel style and arms crossed, her face covered with a petty frown. She could hear their singing three rooms down from the hall, even though all their doors were closed. She tried everything to block it out. Covering her ears, listening to her own music on her I-pod, watching her own videos. Nothing worked. Rage bubbled up inside her, and she was dying to let it out. A memory from two days ago lingering in her head didn’t help.

“What?! I’m grounded for a week?! Why?!”


“The school called. One of the teachers said you were bullying another student at recess!”

“It was her fault! She went on and on about peacocks and tigers and wouldn’t shut up!”

“Kururi. You should not have ousted her like that. You could have gotten suspended, or even expelled. And what’s this we hear about you putting a tack in someone’s shoe?”

“This behavior can’t go on. You’re grounded, young lady. No TV, no phone, and no inviting friends over.”

“But Mom! I promised my friends I’d have them over tomorrow!”

“You shouldn’t have reacted the way you did. I’m sorry, but you can’t have them over.”

“Oh! I can’t have them over but Mairu can?! I hate you!!”

The lid that had locked her rage in had been ripped off. Balling her fists, Kururi stomped over to Mairu’s room. ‘I’ll show her! Who says she gets to have all the fun?!’ Without warning, she flung the door open. “Will you keep it down?! Your annoying voices are making my ears bleed!!”


Luna covered her ears in fright, flitting to Mairu’s bed. Akari kept the microphone in her hand but stopped singing. Yuyuko simply buried her face in a vampire manga she brought with her. Mairu put her microphone down on her table and gave her sister a stern glare.

“What have I told you about coming into my room without permission? And don’t be rude to my friends,” She told her in a calm voice. Yuyuko noticed her hand was tightly gripping her wheelchair. So tight her knuckles turned white.

“Quit acting like you’re so special, Neechan! Why do you always think you can do whatever you want?!”

“Doesn’t that describe you more than anything?”

Kururi didn’t know what to say. Once again, Mairu won the argument. As usual. Boy, did she hate that. Her rage bubbled over once again. “Uuuuugh!” With a loud screech, she stomped out of the room. She went right back into her own and pulled out a large boom box.


“What was that all about?” Akari asked.

Luna didn’t remove her hands from her ears. “Were we too loud?”

“I don’t think so,” Mairu replied. “She’s probably still angry.”

---

Artemis circled around the Sawai mansion twice ever since the girls had arrived. So far, no enemies had appeared, nor was there anything suspicious. But he kept his ears perked up and his eyes wide open. He had to be alert and on guard at all times.

He had to admit, though, he liked the scenery. Delicate, pinky white cherry blossom petals floated down from a tree in the backyard. Dappled sunlight fell upon the grass, blessing it with its warmth. No wonder Luna was looking forward to today. This was truly a day that would make anyone happy to be alive.


Artemis’s lips curled up and he stopped on a stump. “I hope the enemy stays away today. For Luna’s sake.”

But deep in his heart, he knew something would go wrong sooner or later.

---

“Hey! Anybody wanna play chess?” Akari dug through her bag and pulled out a chess set. Adorning the box were blue contest ribbons with the words #1! First Place Winner of 2012 Tsukimura Middle School Chess Competition embroidered on them in tiny gold letters.


Yuyuko’s glasses gleamed underneath the light. “Ohhh! I do! I challenge you!” Yuyuko was quick to help Akari set up the chess pieces on the table. Luna simply sat on the bed and read a manga that she brought with her.


Before Akari could make the first move, the piercing sound of heavy metal music suddenly sent the entire house into what could be mistaken as an earthquake. The blaring noise assaulted everyone’s ears, Luna’s especially. Her hands flew to her ears as quickly as they could, but not even that could muffle the noise. Akari’s hand accidentally knocked over some of her pieces. Yuyuko found herself crumpling into a ball.

“Oh my God!! What in the world?!” Akari yelped, squeezing her ears shut with her hands.

Mairu wasted no time crawling to her wheelchair and rolling to the source of the noise. Kururi’s door was wide open, and her boom box was playing the music. Kururi herself was dancing to the music like she was a hard punk rocker. Mairu wheeled over to the boom box and pressed the stop button, much to everyone’s relief.

“Hey! Why’d you turn it off?!” Kururi yelled, stamping her foot once.

Mairu turned to face Kururi. “I told you not to blast that thing a hundred times! You just scared me and my friends out of our wits!”

Kururi crossed her arms and turned away. “Just because Mom and Dad let you have fun doesn’t mean I can’t do what I want!”

“Look at me when I talk to you! And I told you that Luna’s autistic, and she hates loud noise!” Mairu clutched her wheelchair handle again.

“What? So you want me to be bored out of my mind all because your stupid baby friend hates cool music? Come on! Why do you have to be such an eyesore?!”


“You’re the one not being considerate of everyone’s feelings!” Mairu was not backing down. “You wonder why you got grounded, because all you ever think about is yourself!”

Kururi turned back to Mairu and stamped her feet twice. “You’re stupid, you know that?!” Even Kururi knew she sounded like a petulant child. But she couldn’t stand it. She hated being told that she was selfish, even from her own sister. “You always get whatever you want! You and your freak friends have it easy! You have no right to act all high and mighty!” Kururi took a stuffed animal and flung it at Mairu, but the older girl caught the plushie before it could hit her. Kururi wished it hit her right in the face. Her tone of voice was escalating to the point of coming off as hysterical. “I’m sick of being told I can’t do what I want so you and your freak friends can be happy and get everything you don’t deserve!!”

“Kururi!” The younger girl shivered at her mother’s voice. She turned around to find her mother and father in her room, freezing her in place with stern expressions. “Outside. Now.”


As defiant as she was, Kururi knew better than to disobey her parents. Her throat shut, and her parents escorted her out of the room. Mairu wheeled back to her bedroom, finding Akari comforting a weeping Luna. Her ears were still shielded by her hands. Yuyuko sat on Luna’s left.

“You okay, Luna? It’s gone now,” Akari crooned in a soft voice.

Mairu let out a tired sigh, her gaze downcast. “Sorry, girls.”


“It’s okay. You didn’t know,” Yuyuko told her.


“Yeah, but I told Kururi about Luna’s condition in advance. I thought I could teach her to be considerate and responsible, but I guess that backfired,” Mairu brushed her hands through her cotton candy colored hair. “Uugh! I can’t do anything right!”


Akari shrugged. “She’s at that age. What can you do?”

Nobody but Luna noticed Artemis peeking through the window, his green eyes brimming with concern. Luna forced a smile and waved at him, and he waved right back, folding his paw twice. Oh, how he wished to go in there and comfort her. But he saw that Akari, Mairu, and Yuyuko were doing a good enough job of that, so he figured she was in good hands.


Soon, dinner time came around. Everyone, Kururi included, sat at a long table, and Mairu’s parents happened to cook a lovely feast. Spaghetti with meatballs, salisbury steak, broccoli, carrots, white rice, crescent rolls, and potato salad. Yuyuko chowed down her food. Mairu took her time, whereas all Kururi did was poke her steak with a grim look on her face.

“So, Kitagawa-san,” Mairu’s mother turned to Akari. “I hear you won the chess competition at school last year. Is that true?”

Akari flashed a victorious smile, along with the ribbon she had on the box that contained her chess set. “Yep! Got the ribbon to prove it!”

Kururi was lost in her thoughts. ‘Quit flaunting your fake victory, stupid braggart,’ Kururi thought. She wanted to say this out loud, but she was in enough trouble already. For all she knew, her parents would probably take away her Ipod.


Mairu’s father adjusted his glasses before scratching his beard. “My father and I would always play chess together whenever he was home. I always lost every time we played,” He and his wife let out some merry chuckles.


“Akari’s been practicing since she was eight,” Mairu told them.


“My philosophy is educate your children early so they can learn more about the world as soon as they can,” Mairu’s father added. “It makes for educated people with intelligent minds.”


“Oh, Joji! You and your philosophies!” His wife laughed heartily before turning to Yuyuko. “I don’t believe we’ve met, have we? You’re...Yuyuko-chan, right?”

Yuyuko’s cheeks turned a rosy pink as she nodded. “Yes. Azama Yuyuko.”


“Oh! I thought your name sounded familiar!” Joji exclaimed. “Does your mother work in the bank?”

“Yes, she does. My dad’s a tax lawyer.”

Kururi couldn’t help but notice that Luna held her eating utensils differently from everyone else. Instead of holding them with her hands underneath them, she held them with her hands above them. Before she could stop herself, Kururi blurted out, “Why do you hold your fork and knife like that?”

“I...I just do,” Luna replied and continued with her meal.

Kururi gave her a glare. “You’re not holding them right. Hold them like a normal per--”


“Kururi!” Joji interrupted.

“What? It’s true!”


Mairu could tell this could get bad if she didn’t change the subject. At this point, she blurted out whatever came to mind. “Mother, Father! There’s a newspaper strip competition going on at school, and Luna-chan applied for it recently!”


“That sounds nice,” Mairu’s mother said.


Kururi facepalmed before standing up. “I’m done.”


“Kururi! You haven’t touched your food! Come back and finish it,” Joji exclaimed.


“Why? So I have to be stuck with all those freaks?!” Kururi slammed her fork on the table before storming out the front door.


“Kururi! Come back here this instant!” Mairu’s mother chased after the younger girl, leaving Joji and the other girls alone in the dining room.


After dinner, night fell, and the girls changed into their pajamas. Yuyuko couldn’t help but smirk when she saw Akari quietly reading her vampire manga. She picked up a nearby pillow and with a strong swing, flung it right at Akari. “Ow!” The pillow flew right into Akari’s face before falling right off.

Yuyuko couldn’t stop herself from laughing. Akari smirked right back, getting the idea. “Oh! Is THAT what you want?! Take this!” Akari grabbed the pillow and threw it right back at the bespectacled blonde.


“Uh oh!” Luna covered herself with her hands for protection. “Pillow fight!”

“Darn tootin’!” Mairu exclaimed before throwing another pillow at Yuyuko. Soon, pillows were flying all over the room. They were careful not to throw them too hard lest they destroy some of Mairu’s things.


Luna sat on Mairu’s bed, watching the chaotic but playful pillow fight play out when a red light caught her attention. She looked out the window and let out an inaudible gasp. Lydia was on the street, creating another red monster.


She knew what she had to do.

“I’m gonna go to the bathroom!” Luna exclaimed. Nobody said anything back, but she took it as a chance to get out of the room. She made sure to grab her Lunatia L before leaving. She was going to need it.

Luna raced out the back door and found Artemis waiting for her. “I take it you see what’s going on outside?”

Luna nodded silently before running to a nearby tree. “Luna Prism Power, Make Up!” She hoped her friends wouldn’t see her transformation, especially not Yuyuko. She didn’t know about her Sailor Luna identity, unlike Mairu and Akari. She hoped Lydia would keep her friends out of this.

---

“Alright, Monstrouge(1),” Lydia said, snapping her fingers. “Find the Rainbow Crystals at any cost!”

The Monstrouge hissed with a nod, and was about to leap into the neighborhood… “Luna Moonrise!” A ray of light suddenly shot at its leg. The Monstrouge leaped out of the way, evading the attack.


Lydia clenched her teeth, balling her fists. She knew that attack. “Durn! It’s you!”


Sailor Luna leaped gracefully off a tree, descending before both Lydia and the Monstrouge as though she had done this for years. “I am the pretty guardian who fights for love and life itself! I am Sailor Luna!” She pointed her Luna Light at the Monstrouge. “I will put an end to your evil deeds!”

The red haired woman let out a petulant screech. “What part of stop getting in my way don’t you understand?!” Lydia flung her hand out in a commanding pose. “Monstrouge! Tear her to pieces!”

With a loud roar, the Monstrouge charged right at Sailor Luna. Instead of running away, Sailor Luna gripped her Luna Light. It glowed in a white light before forming a cat head shaped shield, blocking its attack. As it dissipated, she quickly raced to the monster and gave it a punch in the face. It swung its tail at her in order to knock her away, but she did some cartwheels to evade the attack. When it tried again, she grabbed the tail this time and threw it on the street. She was careful not to throw it on any houses or trees.


Before Sailor Luna could do anything else, she felt a strong tug on the back of her shirt. She yelped as she found herself being lifted off of the concrete. “Yeeek!!”


Artemis’s eyes slammed open. “Luna!!”


Lydia’s free arm had morphed into a red spike, sharp like a sword. “I don’t want to silence you like this, but you give me no choice, you little brat!”


Luna tried to free herself, but Lydia’s grip on her shirt was too tight, and she couldn’t bend her arms far enough to reach back there. She had dropped her Luna Light and couldn’t reach it. She couldn’t even shove her elbow into her abdomen because Lydia was holding her too far from her body. Was this how her life was going to end?


“LEAVE HER ALONE!” With a loud hiss, Artemis landed on Lydia’s face and dug his claws into her skin. He dug them so deep that Lydia let out a piercing scream, forcing her to release Sailor Luna from her clutches.


Another scream. It didn’t come from Lydia this time. Sailor Luna turned around, grabbing her Luna Light.


The Monstrouge was sitting on the street.

A crying Kururi was stuck underneath one of its paws.

“Let her go!” With a swing of her Luna Light, she fired a beam at the monster, aiming right for the eyes. The monster squealed as its paws flung to its eyes, freeing the frazzled Kururi. Sailor Luna helped her back on her feet. “You okay?”

“I...I...I guess so…”

“It’s dangerous here. Run somewhere safe.”

Without another word, Kururi darted from the scene. Sailor Luna hoped she didn’t recognize her. “Luna!! Finish off the monster!!” Artemis yelled as Lydia pried him off of her face.

Sailor Luna obeyed as ordered. “Luna Moonrise!” The Monstrouge squealed and roared as the purifying light made it dissipate into nothingness. Lydia let go of Artemis and dropped him to the ground. He would have gotten hurt had he not managed to land safely on his feet.


“You’ll pay for this, you brat!!” Lydia screamed as she disappeared in a flurry of rose petals.


Artemis ran over to Sailor Luna, his green eyes brimming with worry. “Luna! Are you okay?”

“Yeah, for the most part,” Luna brushed her hands through her hair. Some strands had gotten wet from sweat.

“Is...is it over?”

Sailor Luna turned around. Kururi had returned. But still, at least she was safe. “Yes! The monster is gone!”


Kururi folded her hands together and shuffled her feet shyly, not knowing what to say. “Umm...thanks for...saving me.”

Sailor Luna’s lips curled up as she crossed her arms proudly. “Don’t mention it. It’s my duty to save those in need. But…” She found an opportunity she couldn’t pass up. “I would appreciate it if you did me a favor.”

Kururi looked up, confused. “Uh...sure. Like what?”


“If you meet people who you may think are weird or different for some reason, such as holding their utensils a different way, using a wheelchair, or loving vampires, etc., don’t call them freaks. Some people just do what they like, and some people have to use wheelchairs or crutches, and it’s not hurting anybody, so there’s no need to make a big deal out of it,” Sailor Luna explained. “Would you like it if people called you a freak or bullied you because you like heavy metal music?”

The red haired girl looked down at her feet. She never thought about it like that before. “No, I wouldn’t.”


“Now you know how the kids you pick on feel. Instead, try to understand why they do what they do, and that they don’t do it to annoy or hurt people. Have a good night!” With that, Sailor Luna leaped into a tree and disappeared, leaving Kururi alone.

Luna made sure to de-transform when she got back. She went into Mairu’s bedroom right as Akari was working on braiding Yuyuko’s hair. “Gee, you sure took your time, Luna,” Akari piped in.


“Sorry!”

“It’s okay. Do you want to play go fish with us?” Mairu asked, holding some cards in her hands.

“Sure! I love that game!”

Down on the front yard, Artemis’s lips curled up. He could hear their merry laughter all the way from the yard. He figured it was safe to go home and let Luna spend the rest of her night with her friends. She deserved it, after all. She was sure to get a good night’s sleep tonight.

---

Footnotes:


1. Monstrouge is a combination of the French words monstre (monster) and rouge (red).

I found someone who's going to help me improve the story a lot, as he pointed out some flaws with it that I didn't notice, and he's been really nice about it, so expect some changes and improvements to early chapters later on.

Haven't posted chapters in a while, so here's chapter 5!

***

Mythos 5: A Moonlight Melody! The Vampire Girl Sings Her Heart Out!

Yuyuko stood before a classroom full of students, clutching a music sheet so tight she made rumple marks on it. Her legs trembled, her glasses fogged up, and any words that came to her mind just refused to come out of her mouth. All eyes were on her, including the teacher’s. She was frozen in place, shaking from head to toe.

“Azama-san. We’re starting now,” The teacher said, playing the first stanza of the song that she assigned the students to sing today.

Actually, the song they were assigned to sing was Kimi Ga Yo, Japan’s national anthem. It has been the national anthem of Japan since the Heian era, and it’s one of the shortest songs in the world. But even the short length and easy to remember lyrics didn’t ease Yuyuko’s nervousness any. But she knew she had to sing. The singing test was coming up next week, and if she couldn’t pass, she’d get a bad grade.

Here goes nothing.

“Thoooousaaands of yeeears happy reeeeign be thine…” Yuyuko’s voice was scratchy and off tune, she dragged out the words so none of it matched the music, and everyone’s eyes widened at how completely shaky her voice was.

The blonde girl could feel everyone’s stares, their eyes fixated on her, her shaky voice, and her drawn out rendering of the famous song. It wasn’t until the teacher stopped playing the piano that everyone looked away. “That’s enough, Azama. Next up, Takeuchi!”

Yuyuko wasted no time running to her seat and burying her red face in her arms. Her face was completely red with embarrassment. She wanted to cry, or at least retreat into a vampire coffin and hide from the world. Already, she could hear some snickers from a few desks away, even as another student was singing the song just as badly as she did.

The sadness consuming her heart didn’t fade, even as both lunch time and recess came around. “Uuuuugh!!” Yuyuko ruffled her blonde hair with her hands, letting out a screech. “I just can’t do it!!”

“Sing in front of other people?” Koushun asked, tilting his head to one side.

“YES!” Yuyuko pulled out a vampire manga and buried her face in it. “I’m not that good of a singer anyway, but...sing in front of other people?! Who I know are gonna laugh at me and make fun of me for it for the rest of my life?! All so I can get a good grade in music class?! No way, no how!” Yuyuko shook her head side to side, her wavy hair flowing right along with her. “It’s too embarrassing!”

“I know how you feel,” Luna added. “I don’t like talking in front of huge crowds of people either.”

“You’re all lucky none of you are in music class with me,” Yuyuko mused. She didn’t like the petulant whine that was peppering her voice.

“Why are you in music class anyway?” Mairu asked.

“My dad signed me up. He thinks that if I’m involved in some kind of art, it’ll increase my chances of scoring a potential husband,” Yuyuko explained with a shrug. “He’s too rooted in old traditions that nobody follows anymore. I’d rather be in art class!” She complained.

A light bulb went off in Akari’s head. She snapped her fingers. “Azama Yuyuko-chan! We’re gonna help you!”

“Huh?”

“How about this? After school today, we all go to the park, you can practice singing, and we can be a pretend audience, that way you can practice both singing and doing it in front of an audience!” Akari explained proudly. “You need the A grade, right?”

Yuyuko nodded, her eyes wide with confusion. “I...I do…”

“Or we could go to a karaoke place,” Koushun suggested.

Mairu clasped her hands together. “Great idea! What do you think, Yuyuko?”

The bespectacled girl folded her hands together tightly. As much as she appreciated their help, she wasn’t sure if she could sing in front of other people no matter how hard she practiced. She was never one for standing up in front of crowds. Seeing all those eyes fixated on her, expecting her to be perfect, and if she messed up, she would never live it down.

However, she knew that if she didn’t pass the test and get a decent grade, it would leave a big mark on her grade in music throughout the entire year. She couldn’t fail this test. She had to at least try. For her own sake. “...S-S-Sure. I’ll...do it. I need to get an A in this, or a B at least.”

Akari threw her fists in the air. “Alright! So 3:30 at the park, tops, right? Let Operation: Help Yuyuko Pass The Singing Test commence!” She announced as though she were a game show announcer. Everyone found themselves rolling on the blacktop with laughter.

---

The school day seemed to drag on forever. But when the final bell rang, the kids scurried to the park. It was relatively close by, so they were in no rush to get there. Yuyuko made sure to bring her music sheet with her so she could look it over. But her hands kept on trembling the entire time. As much as she liked being in the company of her friends, even singing in front of them proved to be too much for her to handle.

Luna, Akari, Mairu, and Koushun all sat in front of a tree whereas Yuyuko stood in front of them, clutching her music sheet. Artemis slept near the tree, keeping a close eye on them. Yuyuko didn’t even notice him.

“Take deep breaths. Imagine everybody in their underwear. Or turned into vampires or garlic,” Koushun suggested.

The bespectacled girl imagined everyone’s heads turning to garlic. Or dressed in black and red Dracula capes. The shaking in her legs stopped somewhat. But the garlic heads still had those expectant eyes. She clutched her music sheet further as she pushed the song out of her throat. “Thousands...of years...happy reign...be thiiiiiine…”

“STOP!” Koushun shouted, raising his hand up. “You’re making your voice shake. Here, I’ll help you,” He stood next to Yuyuko and took her music sheet before singing his own take on it.

“Thousands of years of happy reign be thine;
Rule on, my lord, until what are pebbles now
By ages united to mighty rocks shall grow
Whose venerable sides the moss doth line.”

Akari and Mairu found themselves clapping, their lips curled up. “Awesome! That was great, Kou-kun!” Akari exclaimed cheerfully.

Koushun rubbed his hair with his hand sheepishly. “Sure. Thanks,” He turned to Yuyuko. “Try not to think so much about impressing them. Instead of singing for them, sing for yourself.”

“That’s the thing!” Yuyuko exclaimed. “Even when I try to sing for myself, I know that I’m singing this to get a good grade, nothing more! And how can you stand all those eyes staring at you, wanting you to be absolutely perfect no matter what?!”

Luna stood up and put a hand on Yuyuko’s shoulder. “You can do this. We know you can. In fact, instead of thinking about them, think of us. We don’t expect you to be perfect. Just do the best you can.”

“She’s right, y’know,” Mairu added. “Loosen up a little, and sing to the best of your ability.”

“That’s what we can work on. Relaxing,” Akari added.

Yuyuko hid her face behind her paper. “Yeah. Definitely.”

With that, Yuyuko spent about an hour singing in front of the kids. Unfortunately, the whole time, her voice was shaky and drawn out, and her hands kept trembling the whole time. Finally, she fell to her knees, her gaze downcast. “Sorry, guys...I can’t do it no matter what I try…”

“It’ll be okay!” Akari chirruped with a smile. “Hey! Here’s an idea! How about we do some karaoke?”

Artemis’s ear twitched at the sound of the word. ‘Karaoke? That’s a new one,’ He thought calmly.

After some discussion, the kids decided to walk to the karaoke center down the block. It was also a popular hotspot for kids and middle schoolers, namely older kids. Akari paid the admission and for food, so they were okay for now. Koushun was the first to jump into the fray and sing a rock song like a pro. When he finished, he flashed the peace sign as though he were an idol.

A happy applause broke out. “You’re definitely gonna be a great singer when you’re older,” Luna added. Artemis waved at him from within Luna’s backpack.

Koushun spun the microphone in his hand and flashed a grin. “Oh yeah.”

Akari flung her hand in the air. “I call dibs on next song!” She grabbed a microphone of her own, picked her song, and sang her heart out. It must be confessed that she sang rather loudly, so Luna covered her ears, but Akari wasn’t loud to a point where Luna wanted to run out of the room.

The white cat covered his ears as well, squeezing his eyes shut. ‘Sorry, Kitagawa-san, but...your voice doesn’t seem suited for singing,’ He thought. He didn’t dare voice this opinion though, partly to spare her feelings, and partly to make sure Yuyuko didn’t find out that he can talk.

After she finished, Akari plopped down on the couch. “Whew! That felt great! Sorry I had to grate on everyone’s ears. I know I stink at singing.”

Mairu turned to Luna. “Do you want to sing?”

“No thanks! I’m good.”

Yuyuko picked up a microphone. “I’ll try this out,” She murmured.

She stood before everyone, microphone in hand. She had to do this. All she needed was practice. If she could sing just fine in front of her friends, then she could sing in music class no problem. She needed this grade. Here goes nothing. “Thousand yeeeears of happy reign…be thiiiiiiine…”

“You’re getting nervous again,” Koushun added.

“Indeed,” Artemis agreed in a very low voice, scratching his ears.

When she finished, she sat down next to Mairu. “Uuugh. Just knowing people are looking at me makes me feel like one mistake will define my whole life.”

Luna uncovered her ears. “I feel you, my friend.”

Finally, it was Mairu’s turn to sing. Out of all the girls, she actually sang the best, only behind Koushun. When their session ended, they left the building and made their way home. “I guess karaoke wasn’t the best way to help Yuyu with her singing,” Luna said, twisting one of her pigtails around her finger as she walked.

Yuyuko walked next to Luna all smiles. “That’s okay. I still thought it was kinda fun anyway. It’s a shame they didn’t have any dark, gloomy songs, though,” She stopped at Osawa Avenue. “This is my street. See you girls later!” With a wave, Yuyuko trotted home. Everyone else said goodbye and they went their separate ways for the day.

As soon as she got home, she did nothing but practice her singing the whole time. Admittedly, her voice wasn’t as shaky as when she was in front of other people, and she sang for an hour straight. If someone graded her right then and there, she’d have gotten a perfect score. When she was done, she sat down and did the rest of her homework.

Her walls were a deep maroon, her bed covered with a black and grey comforter with red pillows. Two black bookshelves were filled to the brim with books and manga, all of which were related to vampires. She did have some framed photos hanging on the walls featuring herself, her family, and her friends at varying ages. After about another hour, Yuyuko finished her homework, took a shower, and went to sleep.

The night was her favorite time of day. It gave her time to be lost in her dreams and thoughts. However, memories from a time long ago lingered in her mind. Memories she wanted to keep out of her mind.

(flashback)

A ten year old Yuyuko stood in front of the big, rectangular mirror in her room, dressing herself up in a long black dress and a red and black cape. She even had fake fangs in her mouth. The dress went way past her ankles, and it was too big for her. Even so, she relished her new outfit...and her new persona. She held her hand to her mouth and smirked as though she wanted to suck someone’s blood.

“Mwahahaha! Puny humans! I dare you to cross the great and powerful Azama Yuyuko, daughter of Count Dracula! Your blood is my most favorite meal of all!” Yuyuko boomed in a powerful, commanding voice, raising her hands straight in the air as though commanding lightning to fall down and strike.

Before she could play act even more, the door flung open. It made such a loud thud noise that it scared Yuyuko witless for a brief moment. A black silhouette stomped into the room and ripped off her cape to the point of tearing off a shred of it.

“This is what you’ve been doing all this time?! Playing pretend?! You should know better than this!!” A man’s voice bellowed so loud, Yuyuko fell to her knees.

“I’m sorry, Dad...I just…” Yuyuko sputtered the words out like she had forgotten how to talk properly. Just the sight of her large father looming over her was enough to render her paralyzed with fear.

“This is absolutely unacceptable!!” He roared. “You’re ten years old now, Yuyuko! You’re too old to be playing pretend and dress up!” He kept waving his finger at Yuyuko as though he was a police officer catching her impersonating a doctor. “Don’t you dare dress up like that at your new school! It’s embarrassing!”

Another silhouette shaped like a woman came into the room. “I’ve had it with you! Come with me right now, Narushi!” Taking him by the wrist, she dragged him out of Yuyuko’s room. She was quick to shut the door and hide in the closet, clinging to her ripped cape. But not even the two doors muffling the sound completely blocked out their yelling.

“What in the world are you doing?! How can you berate your daughter like that?! She isn’t hurting anyone, Narushi!”

“I never should have left her in your care! She’s ruining her future if she keeps playing pretend like this! If you keep letting her do what she wants, she’s going to end up a hikikomori!”

“At least I actually do what I can to make her happy, unlike you! All you care about are lawsuits and getting re-elected, and you drag Yuyuko to all these meetings and don’t even give her time to hang out with friends!”

“She needs to have a secure future as a doctor or a lawyer! She’s not suited for anything else!”

“I can’t stand you! I’m filing for a divorce! You don’t have the right to hurt her like this!”

“She’s MY daughter, Aya!”

“Funny you say that, because you treat her more like your personal reputation booster than a human being! You’re never even home half the time! Where were you when she got an A on her science test? Where were you when she got that tumor in her leg when she was six?! Where were you when she cried herself to sleep after grandma died?! Do you care about anyone besides yourself?!”

The yelling continued for another half hour. Despite Yuyuko’s attempts to block the sound out, covering herself with dirty clothes or covering her ears, the yelling persisted. Warm tears trickled down her face. She couldn’t control them.

Dad was a popular politician. He was often never home, and worked a lot. He never liked that I was into vampires. He wanted me to be a doctor or a lawyer, or someone just like him. Anything else was unacceptable. I hated him for that. Mom did, too.

(end flashback one, begin flashback two)

Yuyuko sat in her new bedroom all alone, reading the newest volume of The Season of the Vampires, her all time favorite manga. She couldn’t believe the author would kill off her favorite character like that. Oh well. At least the villain got his comeuppance. She looked at the clock. It read 8:30 AM.

After putting her book away, she walked to the kitchen, hoping her mother would be there, making breakfast. To her disappointment, however, her mother wasn’t in sight. She did see a note on the counter and took a look at it.

Sorry, Yuyu! My colleagues wanted me to come in early today, and I’ll end up staying until 9:30 PM tonight. You can just heat up the leftovers from last night. There’s instructions on how to do it in the microwave manual in the drawer. I promise we’ll spend the day together tomorrow after school. We can go to the bookstore so you can pick up that new vampire manga you love so much.

Love, Mom

Yuyuko smiled. At least her mother worked hard for her sake and actually cared. But still, even though she knew her mother loved her and her reasons for working so much, she wished she’d stay home a bit more. Then again, she’d rather have her mother than her father any day.

(end flashback two)

---

Morning dawned on Tsukimura, and Yuyuko, dressed in a white shirt, a brown vest, and a ruffled black skirt scurried down the street. It was almost 8:00 AM, and if she didn’t get to school by 8:20 at least, she’d be tardy, and Yuyuko didn’t like being tardy.

“Uuuugh! I just haaaad to stay up later than usual, didn’t I?!” Yuyuko’s hair pushed against her face, mingling with her glasses. She kept pushing the strands away, but because she was running so fast, they kept coming back.

“Come one, come all! Want to learn how to sing better?! Come to our caravan and see if you’ll be our idol mascot!!” A voice shouted from further up the block.

“Huh?” As Yuyuko walked closer, she saw a crowd of people up against what looked to be an old, wheeled caravan. There was a woman standing in the entrance, wearing a flashy pink and white dress, holding a bejeweled microphone in her hands.

“This might be your chance to make your big debut!” The woman exclaimed, her voice sickeningly cheerful. “Come on up and sing! You’ll love it!”

As soon as Yuyuko made eye contact, however, her eyes glowed red. The blonde girl felt her body go limp, and everything went black. The last thing she saw was a white cat walking her way.

---

“Aino?”

“Here!”

“Amamiya?”

“Here!”

“Azama?”

No answer. Luna, Mairu, Akari, and Koushun looked at each other with confused faces. Where was Yuyuko? “Hm. Look like she’s absent today,” The teacher marked Yuyuko absent on her clipboard.

“This is odd,” Akari said.

Luna straightened out one of the pages of her textbook. “You’re right. Yuyu never misses school.”

Things got weird during recess. As soon as the kids hopped onto the blacktop, they saw the caravan sitting right on their street. Someone was singing in a very loud voice, and not very well. Luna inched closer, and her eyes slammed wide open when she saw the person singing.

“...Yuyu?!”

There was Yuyuko, dressed in a frilly pink and white dress, accompanied by the woman from before, singing her guts out. “Yuyu! What in the world are you doing?!”

“I’m fulfilling my dream, nutso!” Yuyuko replied with an angry hiss.

A teacher stomped over to the girl with a stern look on her face. “Playing hooky, huh? Come down here right now, Azama-san! I’m calling your mother!”

Luna felt the hairs on her neck stand up. An eerie, chilling feeling shot through her spine. For just a brief moment, Yuyuko’s eyes turned a bloody red color. As soon as the teacher got on stage, Yuyuko did the unthinkable.

“Shut up, you old hag!”

With one swing, she slapped the teacher right across the face with the microphone. Since the caravan was so high up, the teacher fell down on the concrete. She would have cracked her skull had one of the teachers not intervened. The kids gasped.

Luna’s hands flew to her mouth...and she knew why. The real Yuyuko would never assault a teacher or play hooky. Someone was controlling her, probably that woman. She snuck away from the crowd and hid behind the bleachers.

“That’s what you get for getting in the way of her idol debut, you stupid teacher!” The woman sneered condescendingly before pulling out a microphone. She sang one note, and before anyone could react, their eyesight blurred and their bodies went limp before falling unconscious.

“Hmph! Now where are those Rainbow Crystals?”

“Stop right there, knave!”

Sailor Luna hopped out from the bleachers, aiming her Luna Light at the woman. “You let my friend go this instant!” She bellowed like a gladiator at war with another kingdom.

The woman flashed an eerie smirk. “So you’ve arrived, Sailor Luna!” The woman snapped her fingers once. A tornado of rose petals consumed her for a brief moment before dissipating. It was Lydia! As soon as she revealed herself, Yuyuko’s clothes turned back to normal and she fell unconscious.

Sailor Luna wasted no time attacking Lydia with a flurry of punches. They would have worked had Lydia not blocked every single one of them with just one arm. Before Sailor Luna could punch her again, Lydia grabbed her by one wrist and threw her into the blacktop. She fell against the chain link fence, and the force of the impact bent it in an odd angle. She got right back up, leaped into the air, and stretched one leg out in a kicking pose. Lydia evaded it so Sailor Luna wound up leaving a huge hole in the caravan’s roof.

“Oww!!” Sailor Luna tried to pull it out, but her leg was caught in some wires. “What?! Oh no!” She pulled and pulled, but her leg was stuck in there.

Lydia floated behind her, smiling. In her hand was a ball of blazing red fire. “This is where you perish, you stupid little pest!” Sailor Luna squeezed her eyes shut. She didn’t want things to end here. Not like this! She still had a life to live!

But the killing blow didn’t come. She heard a cat hissing, and a scratch, then a yelp. “YEEEEK!! Get off me, you white furball!!”

Luna’s eyes slammed open. “Artemis!”

After leaving bloody marks on her face, Artemis scurried over to her leg and dug his teeth into it. Once again, Lydia let out a yelp before swinging her leg around to force him off. He finally let go, and leaped on the roof of the caravan. Unsheathing his claws, he ripped the wires in half, freeing Sailor Luna’s leg.

“Are you alright?” Artemis asked, his voice brimming with concern. “I’m sorry I didn’t get here sooner.”

“It’s okay!”

“Quit getting in my way!” A gale of rose petals shot forth, and Sailor Luna and Artemis were quick to dodge it.

Unfortunately for Sailor Luna, a hand suddenly gripped her neck from the front. Her airway was suddenly cut off, leaving her unable to breathe. Once again, Lydia had her by the neck, and her hand had a flame floating in her palm. Artemis had fallen on the chain link fence, and one of the protrusions scratched his leg so hard that he couldn’t move it.

“NO! LUNA!!” He screamed. He tried to run after them, but his leg was consumed by pain. The white cat’s body limped forward, and he fell on the concrete, unable to move.

Sailor Luna kicked and howled, but Lydia wouldn’t let go. “Time to meet your end.”

Once again, Sailor Luna was walking towards death’s door. Was this really how her short life was going to end? Right after Artemis put his life on the line to save her just now? Perhaps...the end had come, and she was helpless to stop it.

“Ouch!”

What was that? Luna fell to the ground, her airway having been freed. She could breathe again! When she looked down, she saw a shard of ice about the size of a small pencil case right in between herself and a perplexed Lydia.

Lydia was beside herself. “What in the world?!”

Sailor Luna looked up at a tree. There was a man standing on a tree branch. He looked to be in his late teens or early twenties. His midnight blue hair cascaded down to his shoulders, his goldenrod eyes obscured by a dark blue face mask that had a silvery white jewel in between the eyes. Some blue feathers protruded from the sides of the mask. The man was also wearing a blue shirt with a white neck ruffle, a grey vest, matching blue pants, and grey shoes, with his lighter blue cape flowing in the wind.

The red haired woman clenched her teeth. Where did he come from? “Who are you?!”

“They call me…” The man put a hand on his hip. “Azure Blitz.”

Although surprised, Sailor Luna managed to get back on her feet. Azure Blitz? Who was this guy? Lydia balled her fists. “This is too much! You know what?! Just forget it! I’ll deal with you two idiots next time!” With that, Lydia disappeared in a flurry of rose petals.

Sailor Luna turned to the blacktop. Artemis was limping toward her, his leg bloody. “Artemis!” She ran to the white cat with worry in her eyes. “Oh no! She really got you good, didn’t she?”

Azure Blitz descended before them gracefully. With a wave of his hand, a blue light covered the laceration on Artemis’s leg. Soon, the wound gradually disappeared. The pain was gone, and Artemis stretched his leg out as though he had never been hurt. “Wow! I’m healed!”

Sailor Luna picked the cat up and trapped him in a hug. “You’re okay! Thank goodness!”

The blue clad man’s lips curled up before he swished his cape, disappearing into thin air. “Awww! I didn’t get to tell him thanks!”

“Oh well. But who was he?”

“I don’t know…”

---

Everyone woke up from the incident, but nobody had any memory of it, not even Yuyuko. But the week passed, and Yuyuko stood before her classmates, her music sheet in hand. But something else was in her hands. It was a small piece of pink stationery paper, with lots of writing on it.

To Yuyuko-chan

You can do it! Just relax and believe in yourself! - Luna

Imagine everyone as vampires or garlic - Mairu

We’re here for you! You go, girl! - Akari

Sing your heart out. Loosen up and don’t worry about what they think. - Koushun

Do your best, honey! We’ll go get chocolate cake after this! - Mom

Yuyuko’s lips curled up. Immediately, her nervousness faded away. ‘My friends...they’re here for me. In school...and when I’m singing right now...I’ll do it!’

She took in a deep breath before starting. The words just came right into her mind, and for once, her voice didn’t sound shaky.

“Thousands of years of happy reign be thine;
Rule on, my lord, until what are pebbles now
By ages united to mighty rocks shall grow
Whose venerable sides the moss doth line.”

Yuyuko kept her eyes closed the whole time. She didn’t dare look at the audience. But as soon as she finished, she heard a set of hands clapping. Then two. She opened her eyes, and the entire classroom was lauding her in applause.

During recess, Yuyuko told them all the good news. “I did it! I did it! I got an A+!!”

The kids cheered and trapped her in a group hug. “Awesome!! You did it, Yuyu! Yay!!” Luna was the first to tackle hug her.

Mairu gave her a high five. “We knew you could do it! Did you imagine everyone as garlic?”

Koushun ruffled her hair. “Told ya you could do it!”

Akari tackle hugged Yuyuko so hard she almost fell over. Again. “You did it! You must have totally nailed it!”

“By the way, did you all sneak that note into my bag?”

“Yep!” Luna confessed. “It was my idea! We even went to your house and had your mom throw in a little something!”

Her heart grew warm. “Thank you...everyone…”

The bespectacled girl smiled. She didn’t care if her glasses were out of place or that she almost got knocked over. She felt so warm, being trapped in her friends’ embraces. To her, this was the most wonderful feeling in the world.


She hoped it could go on forever.

Chapter 6!

***

Mythos 6: A Battle At The Beach! Sailor Luna VS Lydia!

Brunhilda sat on the floor with two girls older than she, one of them being an indigo haired girl, holding cards in her hands. The oldest girl was sixteen, with lime green hair tied into two large braids tied in place with darker green ribbons, the same color as her eyes, cascading down past her rear. She wore a sleeveless dark green shirt, black pants, and brown boots. The three girls sat in a circle, with a deck of cards sitting in between them.

“Got any threes?” Brunhilda asked innocently.

“Daw! You got me!” The green haired girl handed a three card to Brunhilda, who paired it with another and placed it on the ground.

“Wow. You’re good at this, Aeolia,” The indigo haired girl mused in a clear, pretty voice.

“I’ve played this game a thousand times, Doria. That’s why,” Aeolia retorted. “I don’t give up so easily, unlike you.”

Doria’s face turned red in offense to this comment. “I do not!”

“Now now,” Brunhilda held her hands up to make sure no quarrels would break out. “Let’s get back to the game. Your turn, Doria, dear.”

“Got any fives, Brunhilda-sama?”

Brunhilda shook her head, the eerie darkness around her eyes following her with every shake. “Nope. Go fish.”

Doria pulled a card out of the deck and put it in her hand. It was here that a cloud of rose petals appeared, dissipating when Lydia came forth. With a loud screech, she banged her fist against the closest wall she could find. With a squeak, Doria scurried behind Aeolia, still clutching her cards. Brunhilda turned around, noticing Lydia’s hunched posture and heavy panting. “Welcome back, Lydia. How was your day out?”

“Curse you, Sailor Luna!!” Lydia roared, slamming her fist on the wall three more times. Her fists shivered, recoiling in the pain of having punched the wall. She didn’t care. Let her fist throb. She then turned to the group sitting in the middle of the room…

Playing cards? Just the sight of the group made her see red. “What the heck are you idiots doing?!” She directed this at Aeolia and Doria, not Brunhilda. To insult Brunhilda was tantamount to being banished from the Red Rose Sanctum. At least, in Lydia’s book. “Brunhilda’s health is declining and the Rainbow Crystals are still out there, but you’re lazing around playing pointless card games?!”

Aeolia gave Lydia a glare. “Hey! We literally just got back from searching for those blasted things all day!” She exclaimed. “We searched everywhere, top to bottom! We didn’t find anything! Take a chill pill, will you?”

Boy, how she hated being told to take a chill pill. Why should she take a chill pill when Brunhilda needed those Rainbow Crystals RIGHT NOW? “You two are absolutely useless!! I can’t imagine why Brunhilda-sama bothered to adopt you worthless swines!!”

Cards still in hand, Brunhilda stood up. “What have I told you about insulting and berating your comrades?” She told her, her small voice adopting a stern tone like that of a parent scolding a naughty child.

Lydia’s throat sealed itself shut for a brief moment. She looked down at her feet in shame. She was not one to go against Brunhilda, not even over the tiniest, most trivial matter. Brunhilda was everything to her. She would die for her if she had to. But she wished she would make Aeolia and Doria take their mission seriously! How she hated lazing around doing nothing all day!

“You know what? Screw this!” Lydia stamped her foot once. Doria cowered behind Aeolia’s back, shivering like a cat in the frigid cold. “That Sailor Luna’s the one responsible for getting in my way all the time!”

“Who’s...Sailor Luna?” Doria squeaked, her voice trembling with fear.

“The cat eared, cat tailed idiot who’s been destroying all my monsters and messing with my plans!!” Lydia roared, swishing her hair out of her face.

“Inside voice,” Brunhilda advised.

The red haired woman balled her fists tightly. ‘Sailor Luna...I’m done with you! After this, I’ll make sure you never get in my way again!!’ She told herself before turning to the girls. “Doria!! Aeolia!! Make yourselves useful and find those Rainbow Crystals!! Nobody likes a lazy group of idiots who can’t pull their weight!!”

“We’re not lazy!” Doria chirruped.

“Yes you are!”

“Quit with the dramatics, Lydia. It’s not the end of the world,” Aeolia snapped. “Doria. Got any jacks?”

Doria handed her a jack without protest. Lydia facepalmed. “You stupid girls...you don’t understand the gravity of the situation, do you?! Uuuugh!” With that, Lydia disappeared in a swirl of rose petals.

“Of course we do…” Doria murmured, her voice adopting a sad tone.

“It’s alright, girls,” Brunhilda told them reassuringly. “I’m in no rush, so take your time. They’re not easy to find anyway.”

Aeolia put the cards in her hand into a small pile. “Are you sure? Ionia says your nightmares have returned.”

The golden haired girl looked down at her cards, her gaze downcast. What Aeolia said was true. Sometimes, Brunhilda would wake up screaming, her face completely covered in sweat. Usually it was Doria, Aeolia, or Lydia having to calm her down and bring her back to reality. But Brunhilda shook her head. She didn’t want to worry them any more than she already had. “I’m fine now.”

Doria crawled out from behind Aeolia. “So...got any fours?”

---

A bluish black sky hung over Tsukimura like a princess’s cape, bejeweled with glittering stars, crowned by a half moon. Luna sat in her bed, reading a new manga while chomping on some taiyaki that her father had brought from a store earlier today. Artemis curled up at the foot of her bed, chomping on some taiyaki himself.

“Wow. These are really good,” Artemis said, his mouth covered with paste. “We never had this stuff on either Mau or the Moon Kingdom.”

Luna didn’t take her eyes off her manga, but she heard him loud and clear. “Pretty good, huh? They’re my favorite. Next to carrots, I mean.”

After Artemis finished his food, however, he anxiously looked out the window. “Luna...I think it’d be best to try and track down the enemy’s hideout right about now.”

The girl sat up on her bed, putting her manga down. “Exactly how are we going to find it? You haven’t had much luck with it yourself, have you?”

The white cat’s ears drooped downward. “That’s true, yes.”

Something popped into Luna’s mind. “Come to think of it, I heard Lydia say something about rainbow crystals…” She turned to Artemis and straightened out one of her pigtails with one hand. “Do you know anything about them?”

Artemis tapped the floor with his paw once. “I remember hearing a story about them once. Something about them containing souls of dead senshi who defended their planets to the end. But that’s about all I remember. Speaking of, who in the world was that man who saved you?”

“You mean Azure Blitz? Yeah, I wonder who he is.”

“I suggest you exercise caution around him. For all we know he could secretly be working for the enemy.”

“But if he really was working for them, then why would he bother to save me at all?” Luna asked, cuddling with one of her stuffed animals. She never did like it when people assumed the worst of things. But then again, she did it often herself so she felt she had no right to complain.

“It could be a trick. You never know,” Artemis curled up against another one of her stuffed animals. A large, pink teddy bear.

As much as Luna wanted to agree with Artemis, something inside her just couldn’t wrap around the concept of Azure Blitz being evil. He did save her, after all. Any bad person would just let her die. Who was he? What did he want? Why did he save her? Questions kept lingering in Luna’s mind.

Red flashes of light coming right outside Luna’s window pulled her out of her reverie. Artemis’s ears twitched, and all the hairs on his body stood up. He leaped to the window, his green eyes widening with shock. “What the--?!”

“What’s going on?” Luna pushed her window up to get a better image of what was outside. Hovering over the sky was a glowing, red, flat oval. It looked to be the size of a mushroom cloud after a large explosion. Soon, the oval fizzled a bit before an image of Lydia’s face appeared.

“It’s Lydia!” Artemis hissed. “What’s she up to now?!”

Lydia flashed a wry smile, and her eyes kept squinting. “Sailor Luna! Wherever you are, I challenge you to a fight to the death! Come to your nearest beach, and be there at 10:00 PM tomorrow, pronto!” Lydia announced. The red oval was being displayed all over the neighborhood. Everyone was watching. People on the streets were staring at it. Others were recording it with their cell phones. Lydia balled a hand into a fist. “If you don’t, I will see to it that everyone here, including your family and friends, dies a horrible, painful death unlike any you’ve ever seen!”

“How dare she!” Artemis roared. He knew what was going on. She was blackmailing Luna. What a dirty tactic.

“If you don’t want that to happen, you better accept my proposal. Hmph!” Lydia pushed some hair out of her face. “Not that you have any choice. Tomorrow at the nearest beach, 10:00 PM! If you don’t come, you’ll surely regret it! I’ll make you perish no matter what!”

With that, the red oval fizzled out, leaving no trace of its existence. Luna just stood there with her head out the window, her eyes wide with horror. She pushed it back down and sat on her bed, her hands trembling. Even Artemis could see the fear in her eyes. “Luna?”

“If I don’t fight her...my family and friends...and everyone here…” Luna blurted out sadly. She buried her face in her hands and found herself rocking back and forth. “If they all die it’ll be because of me!!”

Artemis hopped on her bed and put a reassuring paw on her knee. “No they won’t! We won’t let her have her way. You’re strong. You can do this. Nobody’s going to die. For all we know, Lydia probably won’t go through with that threat,” He told her reassuringly. “You’re stronger than you give yourself credit for.”

Although he meant to encourage her, Luna’s sudden rocking and breakdown only further reminded him that she was just a little girl forced to fight evil. As much as he liked Luna, he wished someone older and more mature could take on Luna’s role so they could handle it better. Why did it have to be an eleven year old girl of all people? What was the Lunatia L thinking when it chose her? She wasn’t a bad fighter by any stretch, and could hold her own in battle. But she was still a child.

“We can get through this. Let’s plan this out,” Artemis said.

Luna stopped rocking and nodded in agreement. They spent another hour planning out a strategy to try and beat Lydia. Since she wasn’t going to use monsters this time around, it was evident that Luna had to face her head on, and her fighting skills weren’t exactly the most polished. The most they could try and do was hold her off, as they don’t know how strong she really is on her own. Artemis could only assume that she could be stronger than Luna.

Despite their planning, Luna’s aching anxiety didn’t ease up. Even after she went to bed, she found herself squirming underneath her covers, her face contorting with pain. Nightmares of Lydia killing her friends and family with one attack plagued her mind. She didn’t wake up screaming or covered in sweat, but they were still scary enough to keep her awake.

“Can’t get to sleep, Luna?” Artemis’s voice was peppered with concern.

Luna nodded. “I keep dreaming about Lydia killing everyone I love. I hate that.”

“It won’t happen. Not if you have anything to say about it.”

She had to agree with him on that. She grabbed a stuffed animal and covered herself with her blankets. This time, sleep came to her more easily.

---

Last night was harrowing, but the commotion of the morning didn’t make things any better. In fact, the school was abuzz with kids talking constantly about Lydia’s projection. “Hey! Did you see that big red oval last night?!”

“Yeah, I did! It was right over my house!”

“I recorded it with my phone!”

“What was that anyway?”

“My dad thinks it was probably people making a movie with special effects.”

“Those looked way too real to be special effects.”

“It was sooooo freaky!”

“It gave me nightmares!”

Luna spent most of the day covering her ears because the kids wouldn’t stop talking about it. It wasn’t because they were loud, nor were they talking about it out of malice. Rather, all it did was remind Luna of her battle with Lydia today, and her anxiety from last night hadn’t faded. She really didn’t need people constantly talking about it to make her more scared than she already was, for both herself and her family and friends.

“Jeez. News goes around fast,” Koushun mused as he took a bite out of some taiyaki.

“Seriously! I’m sure it was just special effects for a movie! They need to get over it,” Yuyuko added, scarfing down a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Luna had to admit, Yuyuko was always straight up and never did like gossip. Luna was happy she thought it was a movie effect, even though she knew it wasn’t true.

Luna managed to finish her lunch, but a full stomach didn’t ease her worries at all. Even Mairu and Akari couldn’t help but notice Luna’s sullen expression. “Are you okay?” Mairu asked.

The pigtailed girl dropped her taiyaki. No way was she going to get them involved, even though they knew about her escapades as Sailor Luna. “...Nothing. Nothing at all!”

It came out forced. Mairu and Akari could tell. Akari gently nudged Koushun and showed him Luna’s sullen demeanor. He got the idea. “She doesn’t look so good.”

“I’m guessing it’s Sailor Luna stuff. Want to ask for intel at recess?” Akari whispered.

“Sure. Count me in.”

Recess came around. Mairu, Koushun, and Akari surrounded Luna, their arms crossed and expressions stern. “Alright, Luna. Spill the beans. We know something’s going on,” Akari said.

“Uhh...nothing’s going on.”

“We can tell when you’re lying. You make absolutely no attempt to hide your real feelings,” Mairu said. Koushun and Akari nodded in agreement. “Plus you ate your food slowly today, and all throughout classes you were lost in thought.”

“You can tell us about it if you want. Is it about that Lydia oval thing?” Koushun asked. “I saw it outside my window too.”

Luna found herself growing even more glum than she was earlier. She held her head down, her pigtails dangling against the sides of her head. She knew she couldn’t hide it now. If they had seen and heard it, then they knew. Luna told them everything. The group fell silent for a brief moment until Koushun broke the silence. “...We’re coming with you!”

The girl’s eyes slammed wide open as she flung her head upward. “WHAT?!”

“You heard us!” Akari made a fist. “We’re gonna help you fight Lydia!”

“NO!” Luna shouted, waving her arms around. “Absolutely not! She’s powerful! Like, super duper powerful! She could kill you all!”

“We have Lunar Revolvers,” Mairu added.

“That’s not the point!” Luna shouted again. “If I lose, she’ll kill you all and my family! I can’t lose you all!” She fell to her knees, balling her fists. “I don’t know what I’d do…” Her eyes burned, and warm tears trickled down to her chin, melting onto the concrete of the blacktop. “If you all died...I couldn’t go on…”

“All the more reason to go,” Mairu countered confidently. She pushed her braid to her back. “If you died, we couldn’t go on either. You’re our friend. If she messes with you,” She flashed a confident smile. “She messes with all of us.”

“Are you...sure? You could...die…”

“Of course we are!” Koushun exclaimed. “If we weren’t sure, we wouldn’t be saying all this! We’re going with you and that’s final. Nothing can change our minds!”

More than anything, Luna wanted to keep them out of harm’s way. They were normal humans. They didn’t have special powers, nor could they transform into magical heroes like she could. She was sure they’d die if they fought Lydia, and if their parents found out, they’d probably be angry at Luna and never forgive her. Luna didn’t want to lose her friends. She didn’t know what she’d do if she lost her dear friends. But she had to admit, the fact that they were so adamant about fighting alongside her proved how much they adored her despite their own limitations.

She thanked God for giving her these wonderful people as friends.

Luna wiped away her tears and nodded. “Everyone...you’re all so great…” She hugged Akari first, then everyone joined in on the group hug. “Artemis and I came up with a strategy for when we fight her, so I’ll fill you guys in on it, too.”

Once she filled them in, the tension between them dissipated. The anxiety nagging at Luna’s heart didn’t ease up any less, but as worried as she was about her friends, she knew they wouldn’t change their minds. She figured she might as well make do. She made a mental note to tell Artemis about it when she got home. She was sure that he’d get pretty angry or worried about it.

---

“Lydia!” Ionia boomed. “Do you realize how rash you’re being right now?”

Lydia swung at the purple clad woman with one hand, throwing a vicious glare at her. “So what?! That Sailor Luna’s getting in the way of our plans, and I’m going to eradicate her for good!”

The purple haired woman sat on a nearby chair. A piece of metal formed in her hand, taking the shape of a triangle. “I understand where you’re coming from, but don’t you think challenging that girl is a little reckless? She HAS beaten your Monstrouges, after all,” Ionia explained in a calm, insouciant tone of voice.

“I can beat her in one fell swoop!” Lydia boasted, slamming her chest with her hand. “The longer Sailor Luna is around, the worse Brunhilda’s health is going to get! Do you even care about Brunhilda-sama at all?”

Ionia opened one eye, fixating her gaze on the angry red haired woman. “Of course I do. Why else have we been searching for those Rainbow Crystals? Last I checked, Phrygia’s been looking for them since this morning.”

“Why do you have to be so indifferent?!”

Ionia rolled her eyes. “Why do you have to be so whiny and annoying?” She retorted.

“Hey!” Before they could argue further, Doria ran into the room, clutching a rabbit plush. “Brunhilda-sama is sleeping. Stop yelling!”

“Shut up, Doria!!” Lydia roared so loud, Doria let out a squeak and scrambled to the nearest piece of furniture to hide behind. “Why aren’t you out looking for the Rainbow Crystals?! You’re so useless you’re too scared to even leave the palace!!”

The purple haired woman held her head down on the nearest table and wrapped her arms wound herself. This wasn’t exactly a rare occurrence. In fact, Lydia had always been resentful of little Doria, always yelling at her, going on and on about how whiny and useless she was, how cowardly she was, how she never left the palace for anything, how she always shirked their mission, etc. Ionia had grown used to it by now, but it didn’t make Lydia’s wanton anger any less irritating and annoying.

She waved her hand at Lydia. “Just go already!” She shouted. “We’re sick of your yelling!”

“Fine then! I’m the only one who actually does anything around here!” With a swish of her hair, she disappeared into a tornado of rose petals.

---

Night fell. At about 9:30 PM, Luna transformed into Sailor Luna, snuck out the window, and hopped away from her house. She had never snuck out of the house before, and she hated having to do so. But she knew she had to, for her family’s sake. Artemis stayed by her side, his ears perked up and his eyes alert for any danger. It took them about 20 minutes to get to the nearest beach on foot.

When Sailor Luna arrived, she found Akari and Koushun had arrived first. Akari had a baseball bat in her hand. Koushun had a frying pan in his hand. Both had their Lunar Revolvers in their pockets. “Wow. You guys came quick. How’d you manage to sneak out?”

“My parents are out at a dinner party, and they won’t be back until eleven,” Akari told her.

“Back door,” Koushun added tersely, holding up his frying pan. “We brought these just in case.”

“I’m not comfortable about you guys being here,” Artemis said. “I know you want to help, and we appreciate that, but you don’t know what Lydia is capable of. She could easily--”

“Kill us all? We kinda get that,” Koushun interrupted.

“Ah! Here comes Mairu-chan!” Akari exclaimed. She was right. With her Lunar Scarf holding her up, Mairu hopped on the sand.

“Sorry I’m late! It was hard sneaking out,” Mairu said with a sweet smile.

“You didn’t take your wheelchair with you?” Akari asked.

“No. It’s expensive, and it’d only get in the way,” Mairu explained. “Plus, this Lunar Scarf is far more convenient to use.”

Artemis’s lips curled upward. He couldn’t help but bask in Mairu’s kind compliment. “I’m glad you like it. It suits you. Anyway, be careful. She’s dangerous. Who knows what she could do?”

Everyone nodded in agreement. Right then and there, a harsh wind pelted them, forcing them to cover themselves with either their arms or whatever they had on them. In the case of Akari and Koushun, they used their baseball bat and frying pan. A swirl of red rose petals scattered all over the sand. A flash of red appeared, revealing Lydia. She descended on the sand with her wry smile.

“So you’ve accepted my challenge, Sailor Luna.”

Sailor Luna pulled out her Luna Light. “You left me no choice.”

That was when Lydia noticed she had company. Her wry smile morphed into clenched teeth, and her eyes blazed with rage. “You brought company?! You weren’t supposed to! I didn’t ask for this!”

Akari glared at her before pointing her baseball bat at her. “Anyone who dares mess with our friend gets a beating from us, lady!” Akari proclaimed like she was some gung-ho military leader. Koushun clutched his frying pan. Mairu said nothing.

The red haired woman stomped once on the sand. “I only asked for Sailor Luna, not you wimpy humans!”

“Deal with it!” Artemis hissed.

“We’re not leaving our friend!” Koushun shouted.

“Fine then! I’ll make sure none of you see the light of tomorrow!!” Lydia roared, charging right at Sailor Luna with the fury of a lion attacking its prey.

Akari and Koushun were the first to attack, as they charged right at Lydia and rammed her so hard, she almost lost her balance. This gave Sailor Luna the chance to land some punches and kicks on her. The red haired woman held up her arms to block the punches, and dodged the kicks, but two of them managed to hit her. Akari grabbed a huge chunk of her hair and tried to pull her away from Sailor Luna. The red haired woman let out a roar before taking Akari by the hand and throwing her on the sand.

“Akari-san! Are you okay?!” Artemis exclaimed, running to her aid.

The large girl managed to get back on her feet without difficulty, flashing both a smile and a thumb’s up. “I’m fine! This is nothing!”

Koushun pulled out his Lunar Revolver and shot spheres of energy at Lydia, but the woman deflected them all. Some of them almost hit Koushun, had he not managed to dodge them all swiftly. “Luna Moonrise!” Sailor Luna fired a beam of light at Lydia, but like before, she also managed to evade the attacks.

“You can’t beat me with those puny attacks!” Lydia boasted with a chuckle.

“Think again!” Mairu shouted. With the Lunar Scarf snugly around her neck, she hopped right toward Lydia, and the scarf itself managed to extend far beyond its original length, wrapping itself completely around her. Mairu kept floating in the air, and the Lunar Scarf threw Lydia onto a pile of wooden boxes. The force of the impact was so strong that she managed to break every single one of them. Mairu didn’t even stop to give her time to breathe, as she shot five balls of energy at her with the Lunar Revolver.

Despite her back hurting from the splinters and the wood from the boxes, she managed to scurry away from the attacks. Sailor Luna and Artemis stood before her, with their arms outstretched. “You’re not getting away from us!” Sailor Luna proclaimed.

Something about the girl’s eyes sent chills down Lydia’s spine. It was clear that they were brimming with determination. There was also a kind of warmth about them. But she didn’t care. “Stop getting in my waaaaay!!” With a roar, she sent a blizzard of rose petals flying, blowing them all over different parts of the beach.

“Luna Moonrise!!” But not before Sailor Luna managed to surprise her with another attack. This time, it hit Lydia right on her side. The feeling of her skin burning was too much for Lydia to bear, and she howled like an animal being sent to the slaughter. It didn’t kill her, but she certainly felt like she was dying. Mairu was quick to get back on her feet thanks to the Lunar Scarf, and helped Akari and Koushun up.

Lydia gripped her arm tightly, wobbling as though she were drunk. The angry glare in her eyes was unmistakable. Even Sailor Luna found herself quivering in fear for a brief moment. She never did like it when people were angry for any reason. “You...your existence...does nothing but vex me!!”

Mairu and Artemis stood in front of Luna, but the latter wasn’t going to give up. “Why are you attacking people?! They never did anything to you! You have no reason to hurt innocent people!”

“Innocent?!” Something inside Lydia snapped, but it wasn’t enough to make her completely lunge at Luna. “You humans...I lived a life of neverending squalor!” She swung her hand once to make rose petals appear. Artemis was quick to cut them to ribbons with his claws and blinding speed. “It’s humanity’s fault for making me suffer! I was your chew toy before my master saved me!”

Awful memories went through Lydia’s head. A red haired girl dressed in rags, digging through trash cans for food. Four large shadows looming over her. The feeling of fists and cleats pounding on her fragile skin. Lydia breaking into a bakery to steal bread. Angry townspeople, beating her with large sticks and rakes, shouting all kinds of horrible things at her.

“Creatures like you don’t deserve to exist!!”

“Your mother should have aborted you, you monster!”

“How dare you bring disaster to our planet?!”

“Have you come to kill us all?!”

“Get out of our lives!!”

“Filthy garbage!!”

“We don’t want you here!!”

Lydia thought they all deserved to die. All of them. That the world should just fall apart and end. Leave nothing before. Why should she care about her home planet when it and the people on it never cared about her? For all she knew, it deserved to be erased from the universe forever!

“Brunhilda is everything to me! I’m doing this for her!!” Lydia shouted. Sailor Luna covered her ears, as the red haired woman’s voice was bordering on hysterical. “All you’re doing is killing her faster by getting in my way!”

“Do you really think hurting others will make you or your master happy?” Mairu asked in a stern voice. “What good will this do you?”

“Shut up!! You will all DIE!!” Lydia charged at them with her sharp fingernails unsheathed...that is, until a flat, black frying pan slammed her right in the face. It wasn’t enough to knock her unconscious, but it was enough to make red blood trickle down her nose.

“Whatever you went through, you don’t hurt my friends,” Koushun hissed.

Warm blood trickled down to her upper lip. Her nose was throbbing with pain, and her face was red, both from pain and anger. Sailor Luna and everyone else had turned red. The sand was red. The sky was red. Artemis was red. Everything in her line of sight melted into nothing but red. With a piercing, animal like roar, she charged at them once more.

“LUNA!!” Artemis pounced on the woman’s face and scratched it twice, leaving more marks on her face. This didn’t deter her, however, as she yanked him off by his fur and threw him on the sand. She marched over to Akari and pulled on her baseball bat.

“Hey! That’s mine!!” Akari yelled, pulling it back to no avail. Koushun and Mairu tried to help her pull it back, but Lydia yanked it out of their hands. Before Sailor Luna could help her friend, Lydia managed to outrun her.

She loomed over the helpless white cat, holding the bat high in the sky. Oh no. Not that. Luna couldn’t let that happen. None of them could. “NOOO!!” All four children charged at Lydia, ramming into her so hard that she dropped the bat. Not even that subdued her, as Lydia grabbed Luna by the neck and lifted her in the air. Luna’s airway was cut off, and no air entered her throat.

“Luna!!”

“ENOUGH!!”

A booming voice echoed all throughout the beach, sending waves throughout the area. The kids almost lost their balance, and Sailor Luna had to cover her ears, it was that loud. A flash of lightning roared through the sky. A golden thunderbolt rained down on Lydia. But it didn’t electrocute her or anything. The force was so strong that she had to release Sailor Luna. She was happy to be able to breathe again. The kids and Artemis helped her up. “Are you okay?” Koushun asked.

Sailor Luna nodded. When they turned to look, they found Lydia trapped in a red, egg shaped force field. Standing next to her was a small girl with curling hair of gold, her eyes nothing but smoky clouds of darkness. Akari pulled Sailor Luna close, her eyes trembling with fear. “Who is she?” Akari asked.

Artemis shook his head. “I don’t know.”

“Another lackey, maybe?” Koushun suggested.

The small girl turned to them with a stern but soft expression. No one could tell what was in her eyes, nor what she was feeling. Something popped into Luna’s head. Was she...Lydia’s beloved master? The small girl turned around as if to leave, and Sailor Luna gently pried Akari’s hands off before running toward her. “Hey! Wait!”

“Excuse me!” Luna cried.

The small girl looked up at the moonlit sky. “Ummm...what’s your name?! I want to know!”

“Luna! Get back here!” Mairu called out like a stern parent. “She could be dangerous!”

Luna didn’t listen. The tiny girl stood unmoving for a moment until she uttered, in a small voice, “Ori...no...Brunhilda.”

With that, a sphere of yellow light consumed them both, and dissipated into thin air just as quickly. With this, the battle was deemed over. “Whoa! That was like…” A huge grin appeared on Akari’s face, and she jumped up and down, her large arms outstretched. “...Wicked awesome!!”

A concerned Mairu placed a gentle hand on Sailor Luna’s shoulder. “You’re not hurt, are you, Luna?”

“I’m fine. For the most part, anyway,” Luna untangled one of her messy pigtails. “But are you guys alright?”

Koushun flashed a thumb’s up. “Of course we are! It’s a good thing she’s gone now.”

“And that we’re all okay,” Akari added.

Sailor Luna nodded. As opposed as she was to their coming here, it actually turned out to be for the best. They helped her out and came out relatively unscathed. This didn’t mean she wanted them to fight alongside her all the time, as they were still normal humans. “We’ll probably end up battling more enemies from now on. Isn’t that right Arte...mis?”

This was an odd sight. Artemis was trembling, his green eyes so wide they looked like saucers. His mouth was ungracefully open, and he looked as though he was witnessing a bloody murder. “What’s...wrong?” Sailor Luna kneeled down to his level and held him in her arms. “Artemis! Is something wrong? What happened?”

“Mau…”

“Huh?”

“Spit it out, cat!” Koushun snapped.

Artemis buried himself in Luna’s torso ribbon. “That girl...the little one...she did it!!”

A confused Mairu tilted her head to one side. “Did...what exactly?”

With a wail, Artemis shouted with all his might, “She destroyed both Mau and Silver Millennium!!”

Chapter 7, coming through!

***

Mythos 7: I Can Wear Whatever I Want! A Fashion Dilemma!

In a dark room lit only by the glow of tiny flames on red wax sticks, Lydia floated in the center of the room, sleeping peacefully inside a red, egg shaped force field. This time, it was full of some kind of liquid. She didn’t seem to have any trouble breathing, and she wasn’t in any pain. Brunhilda looked up at the sleeping woman, with Doria and Aeolia behind her.


“I take it she pushed herself too hard?” Doria asked shyly, clutching her stuffed animal. All Brunhilda could do was nod in agreement.

She knew Lydia had gone after Sailor Luna. She had made no attempt to stop Lydia, as she knew how passionate she was about their cause, and she didn’t want to get in the way. Plus, she was too weak to go outside their hideout anyway. But Doria observed Lydia’s battle with Sailor Luna out of worry, and reported that she had gone berserk. Brunhilda was happy she did that, because she knew Lydia had yet to confront her personal demons, and that if Lydia was angry enough, she could be as bloodthirsty as a crazed serial killer.

Brunhilda couldn’t bear to lose one of her friends, even if it meant using up nearly all of her energy. She had to protect her from herself before it was too late.

Aeolia scratched her green hair with one hand with furrowed eyebrows. “So...when’s she gonna get better?”

“I don’t know. Maybe about a few weeks or so. She needs her rest,” Brunhilda said.

“Well...at least we don’t have to put up with her yelling all the time!” Doria exclaimed.

Aeolia let out an exasperated but relieved sigh. “That IS a relief! Wanna go find the Rainbow Crystals again?”

“Sure--”

A scream interrupted their conversation. Clutching her head as though she were seeing bloody hallucinations, Brunhilda had fallen to her knees, the dark clouds in her eyes increasing in size and intensity. Her piercing screams were loud enough to make the girls flinch. “Brunhilda-sama!!” Aeolia was the first to scoop her in her arms and rush her to her bedroom. “Doria! Go get Mixolydia! Phrygia! Get anybody!!”

Doria didn’t say a word and fearfully stormed out of the room to get the others.

Brunhilda laid in her bed, clutching her golden hair, screaming for dear life. She saw nothing but darkness. The voices of her friends were practically nonexistent. Her whole body ached with pain. “Find the Rainbow Crystals...Find them! At any cost!!” A deep, menacing voice bellowed in her head. Nobody else heard it but she, and to Brunhilda, it was louder than anything she ever heard. The voice seemed to attack her eardrums.

A gangly woman with very short, orange hair rushed into the room, putting a wet cloth on the screaming Brunhilda’s head. Locria, accompanied by Doria and a woman with long, blue hair wearing a lighter colored dress, rushed into the room. Aeolia pushed her hands through her hair and let out a groan. “Why did this have to happen now?!”

“We haven’t...found them...just wait…!!” Brunhilda whimpered in her nightmarish sleep.

“Stop wasting time! Find them!!” The voice bellowed once more.

“Mixolydia!” Locria yelled. “Do you have your spells ready?!”

“Yes. Stop talking,” Mixolydia hissed in a low voice. She held her hands out, palms facing the child. Her hands glowed in an orange light, which soon wrapped itself around the child. After a short while, the screams ceased, and the pain in Brunhilda’s body vanished. Brunhilda now laid on the bed dormant, her face dripping with sweat. A single tear drop trickled out of one of her eyes, traveling down to her pillows, melting onto the fabric.

It was Doria who spoke, her gaze tearful like an abused child. “Is...Is she better?”

“For now, yes,” Mixolydia replied, her voice cold.

“Seriously, what makes her do that?” The blue haired woman asked. “Does she have hallucinations or something?”

“Phrygia,” Mixolydia held one of her hands out, but not in an inviting manner. “We don’t know. Stop asking questions we can’t answer.”

What none of them knew was that Aeolia was lost in thought. Her hand rested underneath her chin, her mind thinking back to the times Lydia kept harping on about Sailor Luna, the new warrior who awakened just recently. Could she be the one behind Brunhilda’s episodes? “...Maybe it’s this Sailor Luna girl.”

“Hey!” Locria shouted, grabbing the green girl’s cheeks and pulling them outward. “You might be onto something there, Aeolia!”

“Ow! Ow! Quit shrechin mah sheeks!!” Aeolia groaned. The tubby yellow woman got the message and let go. The green girl’s cheeks were red, burning from the pressure from Locria’s large fingers.

“So...do you wanna go find this Sailor Luna girl?” Doria asked.

“Awwww yeeeeahhhh!!” Locria cheered like she was a hardcore baseball fan. “Yeeaahh!! Let’s jack it up, yo!!”

“Locria!” Mixolydia scolded like a stern parent. “Keep your voice down! You’ll wake Brunhilda-sama!” She facepalmed. Locria continued to make whooping noises. “Honestly, you’re such a disgrace…”

“Whoop whoop! Whoop whoop!”

“Brunhilda-sama doesn’t care about that stuff,” Doria piped in, clutching her stuffed animal.

“Alrighty then. Have a nice day, gals! I’m goin’ on an adventure!” Locria exclaimed, waving at them before disappearing in a bolt of lightning. Mixolydia stretched her arms out and left the room.

“I’m gonna go make some soup in case she’s hungry,” Phrygia told them before leaving the room.

“I’ll go to this Hong Kong place and see if the Rainbow Crystals are there,” Aeolia turned to Doria. “Can you help Phrygia watch Brunhilda-sama?”

Doria nodded without a word. Aeolia’s lips curled upward, and she disappeared in a tiny, windy tornado that made Doria’s hair blow into her face. Brunhilda slept in her bed, dormant and unmoving. She couldn’t hear anyone’s voices. All she could hear were the thundering of her heartbeat and the menacing voice ravaging her eardrums.

“The Rainbow Crystals...I need them more than anything in the world…”

Images flashed through Brunhilda’s mind. Huge walls of fire towering over even castles and palaces. People screaming for their lives, becoming nothing but charred corpses with faces frozen mid-scream. Explosions and beams of light blowing everything to pieces. Entire planets reduced to nothing.

When would these nightmares end? Or did they plague her for a reason?

No, she knew. She knew these nightmares well.

---

Everyone made it back home safe and sound. Luna managed to make it back just before midnight, and threw herself in bed before anyone could suspect something was wrong. But to Luna, something was wrong. Artemis had become sad and fearful, like a child who lost everything. He snuggled in the utterest corner, trembling as though someone had hurt him.

“That girl...the little one...she did it!! She destroyed both Mau and Silver Millennium!!”

At first, Luna thought he was mistaken. How could a small girl like that be responsible for the destruction of entire planets? When Lydia kept mentioning her master, she expected an adult, an authoritative figure. Someone taller than she and her friends, dressed in dark clothes. Someone menacing, intimidating, scary, fearsome, someone who would strike even their minions with a snap of her fingers. That was how most villains of her favorite anime, manga, and games were depicted. But Lydia’s master was a tiny little girl of about ten? Who didn’t look even the tiniest bit threatening and scary? Oh well. It is what it is. She had to wonder why she took Lydia away, though.

But although Luna didn’t think she was scary, Artemis’s reaction after her disappearance seemed to say otherwise. Whatever happened to his planet, that Brunhilda girl must have done something horrible for him to react that way. She wished she could hug him and tell him everything would be alright. But what did she know? Her world wasn’t destroyed. She had it easy compared to Artemis. Did she even have a right to comfort him? She wished there was something she could do. And what was Silver Millennium? The darkness loomed over them both, and all she could do was sleep.

The first thing she did was talk to Artemis. “You okay, Artemis?” She asked in a small, concerned voice. Artemis was awake, but he stayed in his corner, his head hanging downward. He shook his head.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

He shook his head again.

“Okay. You can tell me when you’re ready. No need to rush.”

“Mau…”

“Huh?”

“I remember her,” Artemis squeaked, scratching the ground beneath his paws. “I saw her...she...she destroyed my home...her minions, too…”

She couldn’t help herself. Luna crawled over to Artemis, picked him up, and held him close. She wasn’t sure if it’d help much, but she knew it’d be better than nothing. The white cat got the message, and buried himself in Luna’s warm bosom. “She took everything...away from me...even the one I loved the most…”

Luna couldn’t imagine what he went through. All she could do was hold him close and let him cry softly. Thankfully, Artemis didn’t mind her comfort. In fact, this was what he had wanted all along. He cried softly into her bosom, basking in her warmth. Yet...something about Luna’s warmth was familiar. Like he had felt this warmth before.

A silhouette of a wavy haired woman entered his mind and called out his name in a ladylike voice. “Artemis!!”

“Hey! Since it’s the weekend, do you want to have fun with me?” Luna asked.

Artemis pulled his face out from Luna’s chest, his green eyes puffy and red from crying. “Huh?”

“We can do so much together! We can play video games, watch anime, go on walks around the neighborhood, cuddle up in fluffy blankets and stuffed animals, all that good stuff!” Luna exclaimed cheerfully before her smile turned back into a frown. “I...I know I’m a sailor soldier and all, and I know I have a mission...but sometimes we need a break once in a while. Even you. I don’t know what you went through, but I don’t like seeing you sad.”

Artemis’s ears twitched. She made a good point. Wallowing over Mau’s demise wasn’t going to get him anywhere. Perhaps fate was right in pairing him up with this girl. The fact that she wanted to make him happy despite her own problems said a lot about her. The white cat’s lips curled upward. Who said having a little fun was a bad thing? “Sure. I’d like that. Thank you.”

True to her word, Luna and Artemis found themselves spending a lot of time together. Reading and talking about books, watching cartoons, playing video games, playing games like tag and hide and seek in the backyard, going for walks around the neighborhood...gradually, the fear left Artemis, and his green eyes got their shine back. She was right. Having fun did prove to be good for him.

On Sunday morning, however, he had woken up earlier than the sun did, and found himself walking to the dining room to stretch his legs. A book had fallen out of the shelf. Normally, he never tended to notice these things, but something about it drew his attention. The book was titled “All You’ve Ever Wanted To Know About Autism/Asperger’s Syndrome But Were Afraid To Ask.” That’s when it hit him. He often heard her parents talking to people about Luna, and whenever they did, they described her as autistic. He often wondered what that meant, but never got the chance to really think about it.

Now was his chance.

Despite the lack of light, he poured through that book, taking in all of its information. The more he read, the more he realized that many of the traits autistic people often displayed, he saw Luna display. Fear of loud noise, rocking back and forth, flapping hands, an intense obsession with routine, fixations on things or events...Luna did all of those things. So they weren’t just personality traits after all.

None of this made him think less of Luna, however. Autistic or not, Luna was still the kind, sweet, compassionate girl who offered to help him fight the Red Rose Sanctum. She was still the girl who loved her friends and family, and comforted him when she didn’t know anything about what happened to his world. So what if she was autistic? It wasn’t as though she was some brain sucking alien from outer space sent here to kill everyone. He couldn’t believe all the stigmas that autistic people were subjected to upon reading about them.

“Hey, Artemis!” Luna exclaimed, hopping into the dining room, her pigtails bouncing with every hop. “Mom bought some dorayaki! You’ve got to try some!” She held out three bags of dorayaki(1).

Artemis’s lips curled up. Luna’s smile faded when she saw the book underneath the white cat’s paw. “They look delicious.”

They went to Luna’s room and snacked on them. But Artemis noticed the grim look on Luna’s face. “You know, don’t you?”

The white cat tilted his head to one side. He didn’t even get to eat one bite of his dorayaki. “Hm?”

“That I’m…” She got cut off mid-sentence with a single nudge to her arm. It was Artemis snuggling up to her, rubbing his head against her arm with a content smile on his face. Luna’s smile returned to her face. This was the best kind of comfort. She knew they both deserved it.

---

The next day at school, Luna was tapped on the shoulder by Koushun in the middle of homeroom. “Hey, Luna. You see the new girl yet?”

Luna tilted her head to one side, giving him a confused look. “Hm?”

All Koushun did was point to a tall girl with dark skin, with black hair neatly tied into two little odango buns. The girl’s eyes were a radiant chocolate brown, and she was wearing a dark blue jean jacket over a black and white striped shirt, a short magenta skirt, purple stockings, and black shoes with medium heels. She was surrounded by boys with hearts in their eyes, and she tried walking away from them to no avail.

“Dang, she’s popular,” Akari said, holding her hands over her eyes like she was looking through binoculars.

“She’s probably mean, too,” Luna mused.

“What makes you say that?” Mairu asked. “We just saw her and you’re already judging her?”

“I see it in all the movies. Usually pretty girls like that who wear trendy clothes and short skirts are mean snobs.”

“You watch too much TV,” Mairu told her gently, but Akari could hear a firmness in her voice. The same tone of voice she used when dealing with Kururi. “Just because girls wear trendy clothes and are popular doesn’t mean they’re snobs.”

Luna dropped the conversation after that. But Mairu would prove to be right, as during recess, Luna sat against the chain link fence, reading a favorite manga. Magical Fairy Bella Rosa, it was. She had just gotten up to the part where the fairy and her friends find a magic crystal, when a piercing screech pulled Luna right out of her reverie.

“Yeeeek!! I love that manga!”

“Ow!” Luna covered her ears and wound up dropping her manga.

“Oh! Sorry!” Luna looked up and saw that it was the girl from earlier. Her star studded eyes were twinkling with delight. “I probably shouldn’t have screamed like that.”

“It’s...fine…” Luna mused shyly, averting her gaze.

“Ohmigosh! I’ve never met anyone who loves Magical Fairy Bella Rosa before!”

What? Luna’s ears perked up. She liked the manga? “You...like it?”

“Yeah! Have you gotten up to volume seven yet?!”

Luna thought her ears were playing tricks on her. Someone right in front of her actually liked one of her favorite mangas of all time? Luna couldn’t believe it. Was this a dream come true? She knew her other friends liked it, but not nearly as much as she did. Luna took back everything she said about her in homeroom. She had to make a new friend right here and now. “...Yeah! I have volume seven!”

“Like, oh my gosh! I cried so hard when Lazarus died in Selenius’s arms! He was my favorite character!”

“I know, right? He worked so hard to be with him again yet stupid Maverick killed him when he was at his happiest!”

“I hope Bella Rosa gives him what he deserves! Oh! Who’s your favorite character?”

“Bella Rosa, obviously! She’s so much like me it’s not even funny! We’re both kinda shy but love animals and drawing and all that stuff!”

“What about that creepy ghost kid who follows everybody around? I don’t really like him.”

“Really? I think he’s cute.”

The two girls went on and on about Magical Fairy Bella Rosa, their faces radiant with joy. They seemed to jabber for hours, though their conversation only lasted about ten minutes before the girl changed the subject. “Sorry! I’ve never met someone else who liked it before. Oh!” The girl’s eyes widened. “I forgot to introduce myself! I’m Sugimoto Kotoko! I just moved here from Kobe.”

“Koike Luna,” Luna mused shyly, her face turning red.

Kotoko squealed a little bit before talking again. “This is like, sooooo great! The first day and I already made a new friend! This is awesome!”

Luna was speechless. Kotoko considered her a friend already? Now she really felt bad about those comments she made about Kotoko. Anyone who liked Magical Fairy Bella Rosa would count as a friend in her book. But before she could stop herself, she found herself asking, “How are you able to wear that skirt?”

Kotoko tilted her head to one side, raising an eyebrow. “Huh?”

“Uhh...I’m not trying to be mean or anything! It’s just…” Luna scrambled to come up with the right words to phrase her question. She didn’t want to hurt her new friend’s feelings, but nothing was coming. She did manage to put something together, though. “I mean...aren’t you scared someone’s gonna see your underwear and make fun of you forever? And doesn’t it get cold when you sit down?”

“No,” Kotoko replied in a matter of fact tone, completely unhurt by anything Luna asked. All she did was smile. “I just like dressing like this. I like pretty stuff, and I want to enjoy every day like it’s my last. Why? Do you not like skirts?”

Luna shook her head, her pigtails bobbing right along with it. “No. I’m not a big fan of dresses or skirts. I never did like them,” Luna expressed similar disgust for her Sailor Luna skirt in the past, but Artemis reassured her that she was wearing a leotard, so the possibility of anyone seeing her underwear was slim, not that it consoled her anyway. But she knew she couldn’t change it if she wanted to, so she had to bear with it. So far, she came out unscathed as far as privacy.

“That’s okay!” Kotoko clasped her hands together. “Everyone has their tastes! My big brother’s really into dressing in black leather jackets and putting his hair in a mohawk. But he helps me with my homework a lot and even works on science projects with me, so he’s cool!”

“Do you want to meet my friends?”

Kotoko’s eyes sparkled with delight once more. “Yes please!”

With a friendly smile, Luna escorted her new friend over to her group. “Everyone! Let’s welcome our new friend, Sugimoto Kotoko-chan!” Luna turned to her new friend and extended her hand out to the group. “Kotoko-chan, these are my friends, Sawai Mairu-chan, Izumi Koushun-kun, Kitagawa Akari-chan, and Azama Yuyuko-chan!”

From then on, Kotoko was welcomed into their group. They had even made plans to hang out outside of school later on. Kotoko turned out to be quite cheerful and friendly. She was especially good at science class, something Yuyuko could never quite wrap her head around along with English. But what the girls didn’t know was that when the final bell rang, Locria happened to watch Kotoko leave. She sat on a big stump across the street, with a big hand on her chin.

“Jeez. How do people wear those things?” Locria asked, eyeing Kotoko’s short skirt. Then an idea hatched in her head. If she could make some kind of huge ruckus, it would draw Sailor Luna out, and she could defeat her once and for all. The wheels began to turn in Locria’s head, and it would be perfect.

She stood up, extended her index finger out, pointed to the sky, and shouted, “Hey, Monstrouge! Help me out here, will ya?!” A yellow lightning bolt flashed from her finger, and a Monstrouge appeared just as instantly. “I need you to brainwash these bags of bones.”

Locria leaned into the Monstrouge’s ear and whispered something. The Monstrouge nodded with every whisper, and when she finished, it nodded and hopped away. Locria slumped back on the stump, closed her eyes, and snored loudly. It must be confessed that some drool trickled out of her mouth. For someone who was intent on battling Sailor Luna, she sure didn’t seem very motivated.

---

Another beautiful morning kissed the town of Tsukimura. Unfortunately, it wasn’t so great for Kotoko. “Kotoko-chan! Morning!” Luna exclaimed, waving at her new friend as she ran down to the blacktop. But she stopped as soon as she saw a kid throw a ball of mud at her face. Luna’s hands flew to her mouth. Kotoko tried to run away, but three girls grabbed her.

Their eyes were glowing in an eerie red light.

“Get off me!” Kotoko tried to swing her hand at one of the girls, but they all restrained her.

“Why? So you can flaunt your legs and butt to every boy in school?” One girl sneered.

“You must think you’re soooo pretty!”

“You’ve gotta be a s-lut!”

“Nobody likes a girl who shows off her legs and butt to everyone!”

S-lut? Luna’s eyes slammed wide open. How could they say that to her? Something inside her snapped. Without thinking, she ran to the girls and shouted, “Leave her alone!!” She pried their arms off of Kotoko, took her by the wrist, and dragged her inside the school building. The two of them stopped to catch their breath.

“What in the world…?” Luna exclaimed through shaky gasps. “Kotoko-chan! Are you okay?”

One look at her puffy red face told Luna that she wasn’t. The girl’s eyes were puffy and red from too much crying. Kotoko covered her face with her hands. All Luna could do was put a hand on her shoulder. “There there. It’ll be okay. What happened?”

“I have no idea…” Kotoko whimpered, shaking her head. “The minute I got out of the house this morning, people were saying all sorts of bad stuff to me. Some of them even threw rocks at me! They kept saying stuff like how I must be a snotty mean girl because I like wearing short skirts. I can’t even repeat some of the other stuff they said!”

On impulse, Luna pulled her new friend close and trapped her in a hug. Something in the back of her mind was telling her this wasn’t normal. She couldn’t ignore this. Her new friend needed her. “I’ve been picked on about it before, but it was never this bad! I don’t know what to do!” Kotoko cried.

“It’ll be okay. We’ll tell a teacher about it. Maybe Masuo-sensei can talk to those kids who were picking on you,” Luna wasn’t sure if this would work, but she had to reassure her friend somehow.

Much to their horror, even the teachers had glowing red eyes. When they approached a female teacher who was passing by and told her everything, they couldn’t believe what escaped her mouth. “Sugimoto-san! Why did you come here wearing that indecent clothing?! You’re giving our school a bad image! Make yourself decent!”

“What?! Hirai-sensei! What’s gotten into you?!” Luna couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Mrs. Hirai had always been one of the nicer teachers. She was even Akari’s favorite teacher. She never judged anyone before, whether it was by their clothes or their backgrounds. She always tried to connect with every child she taught and help them however she could.

A chill went up Luna’s spine. She needed to do something.

“Come on!” Luna grabbed Kotoko by the hand and dragged her out of the school. It must be confessed that some kids shouted all kinds of obscenities at Kotoko. Some even threw rocks and mud. Luna was quick to evade them, so Kotoko wasn’t hurt in any way.

“Where are we going?!”

“Away from them, that’s where!”

Despite the sky being blue as the ocean, a lightning bolt struck out of nowhere, hitting Kotoko. The girl screamed as electricity shot all throughout her body. Although she wasn’t charred or burned, she fell unconscious. “Kotoko-chan!!” Luna was able to grab her before she could potentially hit the concrete. Saving her spared her the tragedy of suffering some kind of concussion or even brain damage.

“Bwahahaha! You should have seen yer faces!” A voice echoed from atop a nearby tree.

Luna looked up to find a pudgy blonde woman with a pink, heart shaped eye patch on her eye sitting on a branch, with a Monstrouge at her side. ‘Another enemy! She’s gotta be with the Red Rose Sanctum!’ She thought, gently putting Kotoko down on the ground. She wasted no time transforming. “Luna Prism Power...Make Up!!”

Luna pulled out her Lunatia L and pointed it at the woman. “You’re the one turning everyone against Kotoko-chan, aren’t you?!”

“You’re Sailor Luna, right?” The woman asked, twirling one of her fingers around her hair. “Looks like my plan pulled you out in the open after all! Man, am I great at this or what?!” The woman boasted with a raspy laugh. “Oh, name’s Locria, by the way.”

“You’re horrible to brainwash everyone and hurt Kotoko-chan like that! Luna Moonrise!” Sailor Luna wasted no time throwing an attack at Locria. The Monstrouge was quick to deflect the attack with its tail.

“Jeez. Aren’t you a little brat? Hey, Monstrouge! That’s your cue! Chop her into little pieces!” Locria commanded.

The Monstrouge leaped at Sailor Luna, with its large mouth ready to eat her as though she were dinner. Sailor Luna was quick to do a cartwheel before shoving both legs into its stomach, sending it rolling on the street. Before she could give it a chance to get back up, she leaped on it and punched it twice in the face. It slapped her with its tail, sending her into the sky, but she regained her balance and used it to power up another kick. This time, she slammed her heel right into its eyes, making it let out a raspy roar. It must be confessed that Sailor Luna had to cover her ears.

Locria watched the battle as she hopped from the tree, onto the grass. “Wow. She’s good. Lydia wasn’t joking around after all.”

Once Sailor Luna managed to land another kick on the monster, she readied her Lunatia L once more. “Luna Moonrise!!” A bright light enveloped the Monstrouge, turning it into nothingness.

Oddly enough, Locria wasn’t disappointed or even angry at the loss of her Monstrouge. In fact, her lips were curled up, and she clapped her hands five times. “Daaaaang. I thought you were gonna be some wimpy, whiny brat who couldn’t fight for the life of her, but you really wowed me. Congrats, Sailor Luna maaaaaan!”

Sailor Luna was not flattered by her compliment, and pointed her Lunatia L at her like before. “Stop messing around! Don’t mess with me or my friends! Got that?”

Locria held her hands up. “Whoa whoa whoa! Chillax, cat girl! I just wanted to see what you were like! That’s all! I had to come up with some way to make you show up!”

The glare in Luna’s blue eyes was filled with anger. “You actually thought making my friend suffer for being who she is was a good idea?!” She roared, her voice overflowing with rage. “You’re horrible, you know that?!”

The blonde woman shrugged. “Yeah yeah! Don’t forget reckless, vulgar, loud mouthed, crazy, inconsiderate, all that good stuff! But that’s just what makes me so awesome!” She kicked a stone into a gutter. “Oh well. I’m bored. Later!” She snapped her fingers and she disappeared in a lightning bolt, leaving Sailor Luna alone with an unconscious Kotoko.

“Wow...that was…the shortest battle I’ve ever had.”

---

Mixolydia was the one to witness Locria returning to Brunhilda’s room empty handed. Mixolydia had her arms crossed, and she had a cross look on her face, which worsened when she saw that Sailor Luna was nowhere in sight. “Locria! You’re back early! Did you find her?!” She shouted.

The blonde woman held her hands behind her hair and looked away. “Yeah, I found Sailor Luna.”

“Well?! Where is she?!”

“What do you mean? Can you shut your yap?”

The orange haired woman tugged at a piece of her long, trailing dress. “You mean to tell me you didn’t even bring her here?!” Mixolydia roared, the hair on her head standing right up.

“You never said I had to bring her here!”

“We told you to find Sailor Luna! You should have figured it out, you brain dead scum of the universe!!” Mixolydia roared, wagging her finger at her face like a parent scolding a naughty child. Locria stuck her tongue out, exacerbating the orange haired woman’s fiery anger. “Don’t you stick your tongue out at me, you slime!”

“You should have been more clear!”

“You’re supposed to be smarter than this! No wonder your family abandoned you on Coronis!”

That was all it took for Locria to snap her fingers and disappear in another bolt of lightning. Mixolydia stomped her heel on the floor. “Come back here!”

Aeolia popped her head out of the door. Some of her pale green hair was dangling in front of her face, but she didn’t bother to push it out of the way. “Hey! Would it kill you to be quiet? Brunhilda is still sleeping!” She exclaimed.

Mixolydia stopped talking and walked away without another word. Aeolia closed the door behind her, watching as Brunhilda slept in her bed, with Angel trapped in one of her arms. Doria sat right next to her, clutching her own stuffed animal. “So how is she?”

“She isn’t screaming anymore. That’s good, right?” Doria asked timidly. “Phrygia’s soup helped too.”

Aeolia sat at the foot of the bed, finally pushing her hair out of her face. “That’s a relief. I wonder what made her what she is now?”

“I don’t know."

“Sailor...Luna…”

Aeolia and Doria whipped their heads around. Brunhilda’s eyes were open, and she stared listlessly at the ceiling. Again, her eyesight was clouded by darkness, and the faces of her beloved friends were hard to make out as usual. “You’re awake! How are you feeling?” Doria asked.

“I...remember…”

“Remember what?”

“Mau...a Sailor Luna was there too. I...I killed her…”

Doria turned to Aeolia, her eyes trembling with fear. “What is she talking about?”

“You weren’t there, were you?” Aeolia began. “Before we were adopted, Brunhilda-sama destroyed lots of planets and killed everyone on them. I think some of them were...let’s see…” Aeolia began counting the planets on her fingers. “Coronis, Mau, Astarte, Chuu, Cocoon, Grimm, Lethe, Kinmoku, Mermaid--”

“There’s a planet called Mermaid?” Doria tilted her head to one side, baffled by the concept of a planet being named after a half-human, half-fish creature.

Aeolia shrugged. “As hard as it is to believe, yes there was.”

“But aren’t we on Mau right now?”

“I recreated it to suit our needs,” Brunhilda interrupted gently. “I figured everyone needed a home we could inhabit,” The blonde girl put a hand on Doria’s. It was cold and frigid, like she had been sealed in a refrigerator for God knows how many millennia.

Her heart was pounding her chest.

Th-Thump.

Everything was dark. She knew it. No one else did.

Th-Thump.

She was tired. Cold, too. She knew how inhumanly cold she was.

Th-Thump.

It was time to wake up now, wasn’t it?

Th-Thump.

Then again, she didn’t want to. Why didn’t she? Aeolia and Doria were there, right?

Th-Thump.

Images of planets being blown to smithereens entered her mind. Would they ever leave?

“The Rainbow Crystals...Where are they?!” The menacing voice in her head bellowed, but not to a point where it sent Brunhilda into a screaming fit.

“Just wait…” Brunhilda mumbled in a trembling voice. “Just wait a little longer. They’ll find them...please…”

The menacing voice faded. It wouldn’t be the last time she heard it. She wished it would be, though. For her own sake.

Hello, I've been reading Sailor Luna, and the episode about the bullying threw me off?? I have some problems with it that I feel ought to be addressed.

Like what? Want to talk about it? Feel free to PM me about it if you want! I'd be more than happy to answer your questions.

Heey I started reading finally! I only got through the first couple of parts though but i wanted to post that I like it so far. And now i am watching this topic.

Eh. Hi guys. Sorry there haven't been many updates. School combined with writer's block. I'll post the chapters I have up on FF.net here when I have the time so you guys can catch up.