Enter Star Navigators 
Claire de Lune <pwinram@coastnet.com>

Chapter Nine
Two for the Price of One

        The curly haired young man from the art class was sitting on a wide flat
rock in the middle of Beacon Hill Park writing in a small book.
        "Ice-fire, what rhymes with ice-fire?  Higher?  Dire?  Pyre?  Aspire!
That's it!  So the verse would read: 'eyes like a snowflake/ Glinting with
ice-fire./ Just one spark to wake/ My heart does aspire.'  Yes, that works."
        "What're you working on Comgan?" asked a voice behind him.
        "Hello Artan." he turned around to look at his twin brother, "I'm trying to
describe the woman I keep dreaming about.." he explained.
        If anyone had walked by at that moment they would have seen a strange
sight.  Two young men facing each other, both with black ringleted hair
which reached almost to their shoulders, pencil-thin black moustaches, and
deep blue-green eyes.  Although they were basically almost identical, it was
easy to tell them apart, because Artan had neatly arranged hair, all pulled
back behind his ears so that short little half-curls framed his face; and
Comgan let his coal-black ringlets fall whichsoever way they arranged
themselves, making him appear somewhat rakish.  Appearances couldn't have
been more misleading than here, however.  He might have looked like a
Byronic hero, but he was, in fact, a reserved young man, mature for his
years, whose main interests were poetry and gardening.  His twin brother
Artan, for all he looked the more responsible, was much more outspoken and
adventuresome.
        "I'll leave you to it then," Artan said, "I have to go to fencing."

        Triese was sitting at home, rather bored.  She had finished all her
homework, and she wasn't hungry for lunch yet, as she'd had a late breakfast.
        'I wonder if there's anything interesting on the noon news today." she
said, flicking the TV on.
        "Many of you have already heard about the odd report from Madrid, Spain."
the commentator announced, "This morning we received reports of an alleged
attack on a group of Spanish citizens who were heading home from a soccer
match yesterday.  The group of six men and two women who were taken to the
hospital suffering from what seemed to be heatstroke, claimed that they had
been attacked by a giant wasp about the size of a horse."
        "No way!" exclaimed Triese, "In Spain?"
        "Since no such creature was found, the whole thing was assumed to be a
hoax; but in the last hour, an American tourist has come forward with this
videotape of the incident.  Is it indeed a hoax?  I'll let you judge for
yourselves." The station showed a short clip of what clearly looked like a
Negaverse wasp hovering over the eight prone victims, then vanishing.
        "Well, this is an unexpected development." Triese said to herself, "I think
I need to discuss it with Raye and see if she's had any visions."  "Elwing,"
she called mentally, "I need to see Raye about something rather disturbing I
just saw on the news, can you arrange it?"
        "Of course." said Elwing, "What's so disturbing?"
        "I think there was a Negaverse wasp in Spain yesterday." Triese explained.
        "Alright, here you go." said Elwing, and transported Triese to Raye's shrine.

        Lita and Mina were walking along discussing the new threat.
        "Why do you think Raye can't discover more about this new enemy, it doesn't
make any sense!" said Lita.
        "I know!" said Mina, "It's almost as frustrating as our memory blocks from
the Moon Kingdom."
        Lita stopped in her tracks.  "Mina," she said, "didn't Triese say something
about traitors from inside the palace?  What if the reason Raye can't get a
reading on them is because they're also protected by the Empyrium Silver
Crystal?"
        "Oh my gosh... Lita, I think you've just figured it out!" exclaimed Mina.
They both went running off to Cherry Hill temple.

        Comgan was still sitting on the same rock in Beacon Hill Park.  He had
finished writing his poem, and was now debating whether or not to deliver it
in person.  He had never expected to meet the "girl of his dreams" in the
flesh, and seeing in reality those eyes which had haunted his dreams for a
year had been a bit unnerving.  He thought back to the afternoon of the day
before.  He had seen the drawing class advertised, and had thought it a good
opportunity.  He had always wanted to be able to illustrate his poems.
When he found the room he was a bit late, so he tried to sneak in quietly,
and that was when he saw HER.  The woman at the front of the class.  She was
the one whose eyes he knew so well from his dreams, and here she was before
him, a living, breathing, real person.  It was, to say the least, a shock,.
But he got over it and sat down, since he was interrupting the class.  He
had intended to talk to her after class, but that odd girl with the long
braid who had rushed out of the room as though she were going to be sick
just wouldn't leave.  Finally he decided it would be better to follow his
greater skill and put his words down in a poem.         'Now,' he thought, 'what
to do with this poem I've written?'   He pondered and decided the best
course of action would be to leave the poem where she would find it, and
introduce himself after she had read it.  This decided, he got up and walked
to his car, then headed to the University.

        At Cherry Hill Temple, Triese was explaining to Raye about the strange news
story.
        "So you want me to do a fire reading to find out if this is in some way
significant?"asked Raye.
        "Yes, I'd appreciate that." said Triese.
        Just then, Mina and Lita burst in.  "Raye, Lita's figured out a possible
reason you can't get a fore reading on the forces behind those bugs!" Mina
said excitedly.  "Oh, hi Triese.  This is perfect, our explanation is based
on the information you brought us."
        "Really?" asked Triese, "so lets hear it."
        "Well," explained Lita, "We thought that maybe this new enemy is from the
Moon Kingdom; those traitors you told us about Triese.  If that were it,
knowledge of them would be blocked form us by the power of the Empyrium
Silver Crystal."
        "Y'know, Lita, that just might be it!" exclaimed Triese, "It would
certainly explain a lot of things."
        "Hmm," Raye mused, "if that really is the reason, then we could have a real
problem.  They may know things about our past which we don't remember, and
fire readings won't be much of an advantage because, although the memory
blocks, it seems I am."
        "Well, at least you can do fire readings on the drones." said Triese.
        "Okay, I get the hint!" Raye said, "Just give me a few minutes to meditate
first."

        Bayatekt was kneeling before Lord Anord's throne.  He now wore the same
dried blood coloured uniform as everyone else.
        "So Bayatekt, what dreams have you to report?" asked Lord Anord.
        "Nothing substantial, my Lord.  I dreamed of going to a party early in the
evening of the night of the attack.  All the star Navigators were sitting at
a table near me, and they were making a fuss over two of their number, I
don't know why."
        "Which two was it?"
        "Sailor Alphecca and... That's odd, I can't remember his name or what he
looked like.  I know he was also a star navigator, though." answered
Bayatekt, confused.
        "The result of that wretched Crystal." Lord Anord fumed, "It seems the
fighters were the most carefully protected of all.  No doubt the Star
Navigator you dreamed about hasn't woken up yet.  Which ones can you name as
having been there?"
        "Elwing, Polaris, Vega, Altair, and Alphecca, as I previously said."
Bayatekt listed them off.
        "What about Sailor Rigel?"
        "I don't know, I guess she wasn't there."
        "Hmm, that's odd.  Were there any other dreams?" Lord Anord queried
        "None from the Silver Millennium my Lord."
        "You're dismissed then.  Continue with your present activities for now."

        As Comgan was driving along on his way up to UVic, he noticed a florist's
shop, and decided to get a flower to go along with the poem.  In the store
he noticed a selection of the different roses they sold.  One in particular
caught his eye.  It was a very pale blue, and for some reason it seemed to
bring her to mind.
        "I'd like to buy a single rose." he told he florist.
        "What colour?" she asked.
        "That blueish one, I don't know its name."
        "Ah, that's called a 'Sterling Silver Rose'.  We don't get them often,
you're lucky you came today."  She handed him the rose and he paid for it,
then continued on to UVic.
        When he got to the art classroom, there was no one around.  Thanking
whatever benevolent entity was smiling upon him today, he tried the door.
Locked.  That wasn't really a big problem for him though.  Years ago he had
discovered a little magick trick which enabled him to disable locks.  He
concentrated for a second, then heard a click.  Satisfied, he opened the
door.  Everything was quiet inside, better and better.  He placed the
envelope containing the poem on top of an art portfolio which was lying on
her desk.  He cast a small magick on the rose to keep it from dying, then
laid it on top of the envelope.  Not wanting to push his luck, he quickly
snuck back out of the room and locked the door.  And not a moment too soon,
as it turned out.
        Catrina and Ailine were walking down the hall.  "I hope you don't mind."
Catrina said, "I forgot my portfolio when we left in such a hurry yesterday.
I'll just duck in quickly and get it, you wait here."
        Ailine waited patiently, unaware of Comgan, who had ducked behind a nearby
open door.
        "Oh!"  Catrina exclaimed, "How on earth...?"
        "What is it?" asked Ailine worried.
        "It's alright," said Catrina, coming out carrying her portfolio and the
letter and rose, "Someone left these for me, I was just surprised.  I don't
recognise the handwriting, but somehow whoever put this there knew my
favourite flower.  Sterling Silver roses aren't all that common."
        "So what's in the letter?"Ailine asked.
        "A poem, but I haven't read it yet."
        Reyltain wandered up.  "Come on girls, you promised you wouldn't be long,
we need to be going."  Catrina and Ailine sighed in unison and walked off
with him.
        In his hiding place, Comgan was wide-eyed with shock.  He could hardly
believe it, the cat had talked!  And it had a crescent moon marking on its
forehead which he was sure hadn't been there before.

        "Well, no greater luck finding out the identities of our enemies, but the
fire did confirm that it's my own memory which is causing this block." Raye
announced, "Also, it was definitely a Negaverse drone in Spain yesterday."
        "That's bad." stated Mina, "If they're deploying drones to other parts of
the world, how are we going to stop them in time?"
        "I think we need to have a meeting." said Artemis, who had just jumped in
the window, " I was coming here to tell you the latest dispatch from Central
Control, but it can wait until the others get here."
        "I'll call Elwing, she should be finished class by now." said Triese, and
proceeded to do so.
        "You said we needed to come?" asked Elwing, sa she and Treyor appeared
behind the others.
        "Yes, there has been some important information come to light in the last
half hour, and we need to meet to decide how best to handle it." explained
Artemis.
        "I think everyone's out of class by now," said Elwing, looking at her
watch, "I'll warn them to get out to sight, then bring them here.  Where are
Amy and Serena?"
        "Amy's studying I think." supplied Lita.
        "And Serena told me her mom made her stay home and do chores today." said
Mina, "I'll call them on the communicator."

        After a brief debate with himself, Comgan decided to follow Ailine, Catrina
and Reyltain.  He was not normally nosey, but a talking cat was definitely
not a normal occurrence!  All of a sudden, all three of them stopped and
seemed to be listening to something.  Comgan could almost hear it; as he
stretched his awareness out toward them he "heard" static, but there was
definitely a voice behind it.  Just as suddenly the voice stopped, and the
three of them ducked into a nearby alley.  Comgan got there just in time to
see them disappear, but since he was partially connected to their awareness,
he was able to know how to go where they had gone.  He ducked into the alley
himself, and called mentally to his brother.
        "Artan, something really weird just happened.  I saw, or heard, a talking
cat, then, when I was following it, it and the two girls it was with were
teleported somewhere.  I think something strange is going on, and I want us
to follow them.  How soon can you be at the campus?"
        "I'll be there in five minutes, I'm not far away." Artan replied.

        At the temple, everyone except Serena and Amy had arrived, and they were
all chattering to each other.
        "Well, we have a bit of time, so why don't you read that poem now?" Ailine
asked Catrina.
        "Alright, alright miss nosey, I'll read it!  But not aloud."  She took out
the poem and started to read it, and everyone, having heard their
conversation, gathered around.
        "What's it about?  C'mon, read it to us!" Mina urged.
        Catrina started blushing and clutched the poem to her chest.  "No!
Nobody's allowed to read this!"
        "I bet it's a love note!" said Serena, who had walked in without anyone
noticing.
        Catrina blushed even brighter and quickly folded the poem up, put it back
in its envelope, and sat on it so no one could grab it.  Then Amy walked in
and the cats ordered everyone to sit down and come to order.

        Artan arrived at the alley where Comgan was in five minutes, as promised.
        "Okay, now I'm here can you please explain what's going on?" he asked his twin.
        "Sorry, but that'll just have to wait.  I don't want to give them too much
of a head start from their arrival point.  C'mon, just link with me so we
can find them!"
        "Well, if it's that big of a deal to you that you're actually ordering me
around, it must be important."
        Artan and Comgan linked minds and began pulling in energy to follow the
girls and talking cat.  When they were both ready, they used their close
bond to amplify their power, then translocated themselves, landing right in
the middle of the joint Scout and Navigator meeting.  Having underestimated
the distance they were to travel, they both found on arrival that their legs
could no longer support them, and they sat down rather quickly.  Artan,
completely by accident, landed on Triese's foot.
        "Who are you, and what are you doing here?" demanded Elwing.
        "I'm Artan Bermor, and that's my brother Comgan.  If you want to know why
we're here than you'd better ask him, this was his idea."
        "So nice to meet you, now would you please get off my foot?!" said Tries,
who was in a slightly undignified position trying to extricate her foot from
its predicament.
        "I would gladly do so if I had the energy." Artan told her, "It's not the
most comfortable thing in the world to sit on."
        "Tair, would you do me a favour and get this dead weight off my foot?"
Triese sighed.  Tair obliged her and levitated Artan off her foot and put
him gently down next to Comgan, who was being grilled by Elwing on his
reasons for coming.
        "Anyway, I heard that cat talk, so I followed it and those two until they
disappeared." he was explaining.
        "I know you." said Catrina, "You're the one who walked in late into my
class.  Which means you're the one who wrote this." she pulled out the poem
she had been sitting on.
        "Yes, that's me." confirmed Comgan.
        "Why did you write it?" she asked.
        "I may be able to explain that." said Reyltain, handing Comgan a tan power
stick with a bright green leaf inside a crescent moon, "Say  'Alcor
Navigator Power!' and hold this up."
        "And you say 'Mizar Navigator Power!' and do the same" Caiona instructed
Artan as she dropped a bright green power stick with a copper mountain
inside a crescent moon at his feet.
        Although they were quite confused, they did as instructed.  Comgan was
surrounded by a flurry of leaves which became a sailor suit with bright
green shorts and a tan bow, the last one becoming a silver fillet with a
peridot leaf.
        Artan appeared to be standing on a platform of energy which exploded around
his feet, chunks of coppery light travelling upwards and becoming a copper
sailor suit with a bright green bow.  One last bit became a silver fillet
with a carnelian mountain.
        Allow me to introduce Star Navigators Sailor Mizar and Sailor Alcor."
Reyltain announced.
        AS Catrina's eyes met Sailor Alcor's, their memory blocks broke and they
rushed to each other.  "How could I have forgotten you?" Sailor Alcor asked.
        "It was the Silver Crystal." Catrina explained.  "I had forgotten too, but
I knew there was some connection between me and Mina."
        "Yes, my dear cousin Venus.  Mizar's going to have his hands full being her
personal protector once again, but my brother's up to the job."
        "I am indeed." affirmed Sailor Mizar, "Any time you need a hand just ask,
Mina."
        "Why don't you two detransform, we have a lot to talk about." Luna suggested.
        "Oh, and one more thing, guys." Elwing said jokingly, "The next time you
need to go somewhere, just call me, okay?"
        Everyone laughed and they detransformed and sat back down, still a little
tired, but glad to be awake and aware of their destiny once again.

FIN

