Solar Revolution

Saturday, March 21

The five Inner scouts and Amara and Michelle were having a study session at the temple. It was one of the most dreaded times of year: end of the quarter, which meant midterms and lots of exams. Despite the collective of girls present went to four different schools (Miracielo, Corazonlindo, Mercy, and Saint Monica's), they were still studying together. Trista's classes didn't have midterms, just lots and lots of exams, so there wasn't much use for her being there. Besides, she claimed she studied best by herself. And both younger senshi, Hotaru and Rini, went to schools that didn't focus quite as much on midterms. Hotaru had studied for all of her exams and had her papers written for Muegen school, which had recently reopened. And Rini, she hadn't studied for her exams but had written her papers for Crossroads Middle School. So instead of being bored by the rest studying, they had resolved to go to the movies with Dr. Tomoe. Darien had gone to a study session with some of his classmates, and Celeste, she didn't have midterms period. Hence this accounts for why certain people were present while others weren't.

Usually Amara and Michelle would never had come to a study session with the girls, but the scouts had insisted. They really did not want to have to leave the two-some alone so soon after Robert's death. Everyone tried not to think about it too much, distracting their sorrow with vicious devotion to their studies and just overall keeping busy. The Inners feared that if Amara and Michelle were left to mourn alone, they would do something drastic. All of them were taking this study session very seriously, except Mina and Serena. But to give them some credit, they were trying to pay attention and be somber. The fact that Lita and Raye still hadn't learned to not have food present during the actual studying process didn't help.

"Amy, I can't figure out how to factor this problem. Can you help me?" Raye asked. Raye handed over the math book to Amy and awaited the response. "That is because you can't factor it. You have to use the quadratic formula." Lita piped in, "That's the one where it goes: negative b + radical b² minus 4ac, right?" Michelle commented, "Almost. All of that goes over 2a. And you'll get both possible answers by adding and subtracting the stuff under the radical. Does that help?" Raye nodded as she tried out the problem. Mina idly commented, "I never did understand what the letters a, b, and c stood for." Amy quickly wrote down an equation and explained, "This here is y= 5x² - 4x + 3. It follows the outline of y= Ax² + Bx + C. So in this case, when you go in and plug in the numbers, where there is an A, you put in 5; for B a -4; and for C..." Mina exclaimed, "You plug in 3! I think this finally makes sense." While they weren't fighting evil villains at the time, they did have little successes such as this that made regular life worthwhile. Though, Serena had taken the quadratic formula lesson to mean that every formula you plug in 5, 4, and 3. For her sake, the others would hopefully remedy this misconception.

Celeste had walked over to her condominium complex with mix feelings. She needed to get her house key from Lexie, for Phoebe was busy still sleeping wherever she was. But Celeste partially wanted to confront Jess about the attack and partially loathed the very thought of so much as breathing air molecules that had touched his vile lungs, let alone conversing with him. She fortunately knew how to get in the lobby without a key, and then jogged up several flights of stairs until she reached Lexie's and Jess's floor. Celeste braced herself as she approached the door and knocked. Will Jess answer, or will it be his sister? Or maybe nobody's home and I'll continue to be locked out. Or possibly their parents will answer.

Celeste was relieved as Lexie answered the door. "Hey kid. Can I ask you a favor?" Lexie nodded as she walked into the hallway and closed the front door behind her. "You can ask, but that doesn't mean I'll do it," Lexie honestly stated. Celeste smiled at that, glad to see that Lexie wasn't going to be upset with her. "I want to talk to you first before I ask the favor. As you should know, yesterday Jess and I broke up. That means you aren't going to see me lounge around your place like I used to . Actually, I only did that for about a week and a half. But back to the point. Just because I'm no longer dating your brother, let alone speaking, that doesn't mean I'm going to stop being your friend. Listen, you are invited over to my home anytime. And that is whether or not I'm home. This offer is open 24/7, and I am also always happy to just talk to you. This brings me to my request. I misplaced my purse yesterday in a hectic moment, and my house key was in it. So, could you grab the spare I gave you."

Lexie nodded furiously before running back into her condominium to grab the house key. When Lexie came back, Celeste hugged her. Lexie squirmed for a moment, for she was not a particularly affectionate child. But after that one moment, Lexie returned the hug with fervor. Reluctantly Lexie let go of Celeste. "Remember what I said, Lexie. You are always welcomed." And Celeste rushed to her place, needing to get ready for a hectic day.

The girls from the study session waited for their fellow friends to arrive. There was a quick meeting to be held, discussing senshi business in general. Dr. Tomoe dropped off Rini and Hotaru, and called out, "Have a nice time honey." But his face looked sad and accusing as he looked at the senshi. Trista arrived promptly, shortly followed by Darien. The cats had also arrived. This left only Celeste (and maybe Phoebe), to arrive. It is too random to explain how this topic came up, but they started talking about the Silver Millennium.

"What do you guys remember?" asked Hotaru. Amy responded, "I remember that my parents were both wonderful, and how much I loved my younger brother and sister. Planet Mercury prospered so much under my parents' and Queen Serenity's rule." Everyone got comfortable, for they had never tried to piece together their memories before. Michelle admitted, "When I think of the past, I think of the oceans. Neptune thrived from the ocean, and I keep imagining corral walls with pearl and abalone decor. That and," she coughed for a moment before blushing, "frequent visits to planet Uranus." Uranus also blushed and said, "It was for a year or two of fostering. But my childhood was full of hunts, falconry, and camping trips. Mom always hated the confinement of the keep, and whenever possible would whisk us away for a weekend vacation."

Lita wistfully sighed as she recalled her past, "On Jupiter, there were huge forests of trees. On summer nights, we would go into the nearby forest and climb the treetops to better view the moons and rings. And in the winter, there was this pond within the castle grounds, and it would freeze over and we would go ice skating on it." They all smiled dreamily, the recollections so far seeming so heartwarming. Mina dazedly said, "I think of the court and balls and banquets and other festivities. I loved all of the beautiful finery and the complex social games." Trista just softly said, "I don't have memories that tangible. I had many duties, being an only child, the heiress to Pluto, a Sailor senshi, and the Guardian of Time. I was often overworked and lonely, but I have memories of contentment."

Raye closed her eyes as she relived her past, "There was two aspects of Martian life; the diviners and priests, and the warriors. And my parents managed to retain a balance between these two opposite aspects." Hotaru told them, "I don't remember having a family, but I do remember learning the gaian magics and medicine. Both of which were specialties of my planet." Darien told them honestly, "I only remember finding Serena."

Serena loudly exclaimed, "You'd better. Me, I just remember how amazing of a queen my mother was." No one had noticed that Celeste had arrived. Her face, which before the past couple of intergroup conflicts had been constantly sunny, was now disgusted. "Do you honestly believe that was all there was to the Moon Kingdom? Those are just the sugary-sweet surface memories. I would think that you would be intelligent enough to question the Utopian exaggerations Luna and Artemis told you. Those are fairy tales to give you something to fight for. Each planet had internal strife, for there was civil wars, political uprisings, illegitimate children, assassinations. It was at the end of the Silver Millennium that each planet's rulers were finally secure in their reign. And that was just on each planet. There was attacks by Nehellenia, the Negaverse, the Snow Queen, and raids by renegade Stellarians."

She took a breath before exclaiming with exasperation, "Do you even know why it was called the Silver Millennium? I'll tell you why. Serenity was descended from a long line of queens. There was always a threat of war from the Stellar Empire, and it left the Moon Kingdom's authority over the other planets battered. Finally during Serena's and my grandmother's, Queen Theia's, reign did war finally erupt. It was horrendous and known as the Stellar Wars, and there was one thing that stopped it. Both the Moon and Stellar Empire wanted to annex the Sun and give it to a specific member of their royal family. Those people were Dutchess Clarice and Lord Starblade. During the most famous of battles, the two met on the battlefield. They conversed and fell in love. Since both held the two opposing leaders' ears, they helped bring an end to the war. Upon their marriage, the Solar treaty was signed, which declared the two empires at peace, and that the Sun would remain absolutely independent of both empires. Also upon the marriage, the two rulers of the Sun changed their names to Queen Clarity and King Sunblaze. Those two are my parents, and the Silver Millennium came about that day. It was a few decades before Sereni became Queen Serenity. And while she was a good queen, she was not a spectacular queen. Perhaps it would be best if I left you to ponder this on your own."

Celeste then turned around and ran. It was as she was running away from those ignorant fools that Phoebe decided to recreate contact between the two of them. #You judged them too harshly. It is not their fault that they did not remember this. Their memories were blocked, which yours weren't, and it is not such a bad thing that their few memories are so happy and light hearted. It gives them incentive to fight for the future, where Serena will bring about the same policies and ethics from the Silver Millennium. Stop blaming them and accept the truth: you are always pushing people away.# Celeste would have yelled at Phoebe for such an absurd idea, except mind speech didn't make yelling particularly effective. She was extremely defensive as she responded, #When have I pushed people away? What about Mina?#

A mental sigh was sent by Phoebe before she responded, #Your friendship with Mina predates what happened last year. You're going to need to move on, and let people into your life. Why do you think you tend to date jerks? Because you have easy justification to get them out of your life. And now you are doing this with the Sailor senshi. Stop holding them to your unrealistic expectations. You are here to help guide them, not judge them. You are going to need to trust others and once in a while depend on them. Let them into your heart, and put more out than mere gestures of welcome. They've accepted you, and it is now time you return the favor. Celeste, you need to forgive your parents, trust the senshi, and let the past remain in the past. Otherwise you'll never be able to use the Scriptures to find the Great Scribe. And you will never retrieve the relics.#

Celeste knew better than to ask for clarification when Phoebe was this vague about future missions. It was something she had learned back in the Silver Millennium. But she finally did admit to herself that while her actions did in fact seem to try incorporating the senshi's lives in hers, her actions hadn't had authentic sincerity. Even with Lexie, she had befriended the child because she wasn't affectionate nor clingy. Phoebe does have it partially correct. But it's not that I don't want to be in peoples' lives, it's that I don't want somebody to be in my heart and then get hurt. Look what happened to Amara and Michelle with Robert; they got attached to someone and he gets hurt. Not just hurt, he died. Mina was my constant. She always envied how many people I knew and hung out with. But she would be shocked at how much I envy her and Serena and the rest; they can make people really touch their hearts. I know how to touch others' lives and hearts, but not vice versa. Celeste then sent a mental surge of apology, and then added, #I'll try to let people into my heart. I can't promise it will happen all at once, but I'll work on it.#

Tasia (1^st Captain of Pisces; a.k.a. Crustacean) wanted to get to the obstacle course watchtower in time to watch him. Him meaning the object of her infatuation; Cornelius (4^th General of the Swarm; a.k.a. Scorpion). Tasia's group of friends didn't understand the attraction. Scorpion was devoid of expressing emotions, except for anger, rage, and vengeance. Betrayal would have been added to the list, except one must be capable of the feeling known as loyalty in order to be betrayed. He was eerily mechanical, precise and without conscience, thorough and fearfully intelligent. He didn't even have indulgences. But there was something about Cornelius that made Tasia unable to stop thinking about him.

Hence she was trying to reach the watchtower. Cornelius kept nocturnal hours, which made him go to bed around 1:00 PM, which was allowed since the Swarm dined breakfast from 8:10 to 8:40. And every day before going to bed, Cornelius ran the obstacle course. Tasia knew that, though it wasn't something everyone knew. She had taken to learning everything she could about her Scorpion, from his daily routine to his favorite food. Had she been an earthling instead of an Evolite, she would be called a stalker.

Tasia arrived in the watchtower just in time to watch Cornelius start, the synchronized stop watches all over the place no longer flashing zero in dormancy. He did some quick somersaults down one of the corridors, and as soon as he finished his 6^th, he pushed off his feet, his toes leaving the ground last. This caused him to leap high in the air with a little spin, in time to avoid the trap door and spikes underneath him. His leap had him dive into a tunnel that went at a downward slant, which's gravitational pull he braced himself against. He was in a crouch as he slowly climbed down, the oiled tunnel led into a drop filled with scalding hot venom which was not a pleasant experience. When he reached the bottom opening, he flung himself out and grabbed a piece of rope hanging from the ceiling. He had to quickly grab the next one, for the ropes would only hold weight for 2.47384 seconds, and they were suspended over the scalding venom. Cornelius swung from rope to rope until he reached the last rope, which dangled against a brick wall. He had to get himself from the rope to wall before the rope fell, and the wall had to be scaled bare-handed when there was no hand or foot holds.

Tasia watched with admiration as he scurried up the wall with intense speed and agility. From the top of the wall, he had to walk across a rope. Some Evolites did hand over hand across. But Cornelius was one of the few who did it tight rope walker style. On the other end, there was a pole he slid down. He had only a few seconds to watch the timing of the next set of traps, a set of walls that quickly slammed together to crush what came into their grasp. He proceeded to run, pause, go back a few steps, pause, run, pause, run, back a few more steps, run. Once he reached the end of these traps, there was the last challenge. Get past a group of five Petty Minions. The rules didn't care whether you just out maneuvered them or simply killed them. One stood in the way of the direct path to the exit, and Scorpion deftly struck the with his stinger, and the Petty Minion collapsed, undergoing the symptoms of poison applied to the spine. Only two of the other Petty Minions tried to attack him, who were quickly neutralized by the cool 4^th General. The other two avoided Scorpion, who let them be. He then reached the exit of the obstacle course, and the moment his foot touched the red line, the clocks stopped. They all said three minutes, 23 seconds and three tenths.

That was an exceptionally impressive time, considering how there was over three thousand variations of the course and the Evolite average was seven minutes and 35 seconds flat; for Generals the average was six minutes and 28 seconds and one tenth. The exit of the obstacle course led to a stairway that went up to the watchtower, where Tasia was waiting to meet up with Scorpion. There was something about Tasia that made her always seem to belong in her surroundings; even that one time she sneaked with Sebastian (3^rd General of the Swarm; a.k.a. Wasp) into the men's public bathing room, there seemed nothing odd about her being in there. So it didn't create a reaction from Cornelius that she had been watching him.

He didn't acknowledge her presence as he walked by, with the exception that his eyes darted in her direction and back. She told him in a very friendly voice, "That was an amazing run. It showed how you have stamina, endurance, and physical prowess." He was walking out as he let his voice carry to her (he didn't bother to turn to face her) and mechanically replied, "Thanks." Tasia ran up to walk stride for stride alongside him. "So, what are you up to next?" she asked, bringing her lips very close to his ear. "Heading to my quarters to take a shower and go to bed," he expressionessly said, as he rolled his shoulders to shrug her off. Tasia was a very singled-focused person, and clingy once she finds her target. Since Cornelius wasn't reacting to her subtle overtures, she exclaimed, "Sounds like a great idea! Mind if I join you?" It was only then that Cornelius halted.

"Why?" There was millions of questions in that single word. Tasia responded lovingly, "Because I'm attracted to you; you are a mystery, and a gorgeous one at that. Because you are uninvolved with anyone." He just shook his head as he started walking again; she followed behind him. He stopped again and said, "If you want a purely physical relationship, there are plenty of Petty Minions more than willing. For there is nothing more you can expect from me. You will receive no affection whatsoever, and there are other Generals you can bed for prestige. So why?" Tasia pushed her lips onto his, which neither responded positively nor negatively. She pulled away and smiled as she said, "I'm not looking for a Petty Minion, I'm looking for a challenge. And the fact that your a General has nothing to do with my attraction; I've previously was with 3^rd General Wasp. I want you." Sebastian tried one last time to get her to leave, not that he cared for her well being, but he was a person of rationale, and hated people who don't think things through (this is hypocritical since he was often impulsive). He brushed her off, but Tasia just smiled.

Luna and Artemis and Diana took seats on Celeste's couch after entering the apartment. Artemis soberly lectured, "What you said to the girls was very unkind. We trust you will do the right thing and apologize." Luna added, "We know that a big part of your duty is to unite the Inners and Outers under Serena's rule. But you are undermining your words of unity and trust when you don't let the others in on what you are doing. You too are a part of this team, whether or not you like it. And as for only telling them the beauty of the Moon Kingdom, that is what we primarily remember. That, and the fight against Beryl. We may not have had our memories blocked, but we struggle to remember any precious tidbit about our past." When Luna said 'our' that last time she had said it to include all of the senshi, and not be excluded to herself and Artemis.

Celeste nodded, remembering how Serenity didn't seem displeased with what the Sailor senshi did, and didn't, know about the Moon Kingdom, just that she thought they were mature enough to handle the darker side as well. Not that any of the others knew that she conversed with the deceased queen during her trances. They figured Phoebe was the one that gave Celeste tasks, not Celeste and Serenity with a little advice from Phoebe. The idea wouldn't occur to most of them: setting up and executing missions all by yourself.

It was then that Celeste came to the point of her invitation. "Artemis and Luna, you know all of the Lunarian legends, correct?" Luna responded, "Not quite all of them, but a good deal." A nod came from Celeste as she responded, "Good. I was hoping you would say that. For here is how things are according to my observations. You two know the legends, but don't remember much about the Silver Millennium itself. Me, I'm able to remember all sorts of bits and pieces of the Silver Millennium, but I had never learned the legends. That was something only either the highborn and priests in the Moon's Court had the luxury of time to learn them properly, or they were mixed in with the local superstitions of the common folk. Though my mother was as highborn as you could get, she thought it was more important and practical to learn about each planet and its respective cultures, dialects, superstitions, and politics rather then the legends. Now then, do you two know anything about the names Fauna or Bona Dea?"

Luna just said, "Fauna and Bona Dea are the Greek and Latin names respectively of the same goddess. It is a goddess of animals." Artemis added another interesting note, "In Latin, Bona Dea literally translates into good goddess. However, Fauna in mythology and when talking about forest scenery, is almost always associated with Flora, her sister and goddess of flowers." Celeste muttered to herself, "That explains where the name came from, and why she named that planet Bona Dea." Then to the cats she asked, "Have you ever heard of a planet known as Bona Dea?" Both adult cats shook their heads, and Diana also did so. That meant that it was neither something remember ever hearing nor was written in the half a dozen scrolls they possessed that was written in the Lunar language, archaic Lunarian to be exact. This meant that Fauna was an enemy that had never encountered the Sailor senshi before.

There was one last question to be asked before this informal memory collaboration was over. "What do you know of the Golden Scriptures and Great Scribe?"

Luna and Artemis gasped as their voices hushed with awe at the greatness of this topic. Luna began describing them with a dreamy tone, "The Golden Scriptures is a huge collection of writings. The Scriptures have the power to withstand time, even determine which of the many paths the future holds will be taken. The Scriptures can only be manipulated by Scribes, who have the power to write in them and lock their words into the Scriptures. If one wrote in the Scriptures that they won the lottery, they would win a lottery of some sort. Should they write down what they want to be the next winning numbers, that would be so. Whatever is written happens. But it takes much skill and strength and training to become so much as a minor Scribe. But few Scribes ever so much as glimpse the Scriptures, let alone write in them. That is the job of the Great Scribe, to protect the Scriptures, study them, and write in them should it be required."

"Mnemonsyne," Celeste whispered. Artemis nodded as he said, "Yes, she was the next Great Scribe. Another thing about the Scriptures is that in addition to being written in a large amount of languages, it does not always let one read all it says. It has prophecies and all possible futures within its pages, and the Scriptures choose what an individual can know. The Great Scribe is the only person from whom the Scriptures cannot hide its script. Mnemonsyne was the one to discover that Beryl was going to give a fatal blast and destroy the Kingdoms, which in turn gave Serenity the time to give the future hope. It was a prestigious position, to be so much as a minor Scribe, let alone a major Scribe or masterScribe. For a minor Scribe could lock in a person's existence, meaning that they will have a rippling affect on lives and should they die, the effects won't fade away. But it took ten years to be considered a minor Scribe, an approximate decade more to advance in placement. For it took much caution to consider changing events, and proper procedures and wordings took years to practice and perfect."

Diana, who had been quietly swishing her tail asked, "If the Golden Scriptures stayed with the Great Scribe, how did all the other Scribes affect things?" Luna responded, "A Scribe learns how to enforce what he writes, no matter the surface. The stronger the Scribe, the bigger the change he can cause. A powerful Scribe could write down that a cruel king decided to abdicate the throne and let his kinder heir take his place. But a Scribe's work on paper can be burned or ripped, erased, or neutralized by a stronger Scribe's work. But the Golden Scriptures cannot be neutralized by other Scribes, for the Great Scribe is the strongest Scribe there is alive, and the Golden Scriptures cannot be changed, for as I said before, it withstands time itself, let alone fire and brute strength. Time cannot deteriorate it, and should you manage to travel in the future to read it then, the Scriptures would not show even a Great Scribe what has been written since that person's real time. The Scriptures know and possess all that shall ever be written in it."

A pleased grin was on Celeste's face as she remembered where she hid the Golden Scriptures at last. She then decided to word the cliché, "I suppose this proves that the pen is indeed mightier than the sword."

Tasia wasn't put off that Cornelius had turned down her explicit overtures. The challenges he would bring up was a big part of his appeal. So she wasn't irritable during her Clan meeting led by Colonel Shark. Had a stranger looked at Colonel Shark of the Clan of Pisces, he would have been frightened. Not that he had unpleasant facial features, they were actually quite attractive. But the way he held himself, the set of his brows and eyes, the way his lips only knew how to either sneer or smile viciously, all added up to a presence of intimidation. Shark was absolutely lethal, and the only ones absolutely safe from him was the members of the Clan of Pisces; not that he murdered Evolites, but that didn't necessarily mean they were safe from him. He happened to have studied the papyrus scrolls thoroughly (the scrolls that say the name of humans with the brightest futures), and had chosen his victim carefully.

He announced to his Clan, "This mission shall be perfectly executed. I've done careful thinking, and have decided on the following. Captain Crustacean will be the seeker, I am the grounder, and Petty Minion Lobster is assistance. Crustacean, you are to have the Bright Future immediately go into Lobster, and then sprint on out of there. If the Sailor senshi arrive, let Lobster be your sacrificial lamb, but I will not allow any casualties on my team. I've got a picture of the target right here!" He handed a picture to be passed over to Tasia, and continued, "We will attack tomorrow at 1500 hours." Tasia studied the picture until the person it captured was embedded in her memory. A pale young girl of approximately 12 years of age, shortly cut purple hair so dark it was black, violet eyes, and apparently according to the note on the back of the picture, very sickly.

Start playing song: “I Try” performed by Macy Gray.

Mina met Celeste at the video arcade. And Mina was shocked by how drastically different Celeste looked. Celeste wore an inch-above-the-knee plaid orange and black skirt with yellow lines, a red v-neck sleeveless shirt with black pinstripes, a pair of knee socks with one solid yellow and the other being entirely orange, and a pair of red lace-up platforms. But the striking difference in Celeste's appearance was due to her blue eyes now being orange, and her wearing a red and black hooded hat to cover the black of her hair. Mina's outfit of a white shirt with red and purple and blue flowers and denim jumper in comparison to Celeste's ensemble made Mina feel bland and childish in comparison. "What on earth did you do to yourself!" Mina demanded.

Celeste shrugged in response, "This is my way of mourning a relationship. Jess and I broke up, so I changed my appearance. The orange eyes are due to colored contacts; I've got a dozen of them. Now then, where are the two guys I'm suppose to meet? Well, "meet" doesn't apply to Jamie, but that is besides the point." Mina smirked at Celeste's abrupt subject change and uncaring tone. "They should be here in ten minutes. I told you to come here early since you do have a bad habit of not always being prompt," Mina jibed. Celeste snorted with derision, "That is quite an insult coming from you. Whenever I'm tardy, I have a legit excuse; whenever you're late, it is usually because either you overslept or you forgot." Two pairs of feet walked behind Celeste and Mina, one a perfectly normal sounding pair, the other was stealthy and unobtrusive. One of the owners of the feet responded, "I'll second that assessment."

Mina pouted and stuck out her tongue while Celeste glanced over her shoulder at the newcomers. One of them was Jamie, whom Celeste recognized, who wore a pair of khaki slacks and a volleyball shirt, wore a sporty watch on each wrist (a peculiarity she noted for later investigation), all that seemed to go with his cheerful outlook and dark blonde hair. But that cheerful smile is just a mask, a good mask, but I can see some creases in it. I just hope Mina realizes it. If she doesn't or refuses to acknowledge it, this relationship is going nowhere and fast.

Celeste then looked at the other boy, and didn't want to look away. He was gorgeous, with broad shoulders and a slender body, and though toned muscles did not show from underneath his T-shirt, there was apparent strength in his posture and attitude. His green-gray eyes appeared the same color as the earth, for describing them associated with anything else would be unjust. His hair was just-a-tad-too-long, and was dark brown with auburn undertones. Sculptors could not have made a better sculpted face, with an expressive mouth, soft chin, high cheek bones, and one of those perfect noses that could make an otherwise homely face handsome, which was definitely not required in this case. So this is DJ. Not bad, not bad at all. Question is, is he more than a pretty face? Pah, I'm being judgmental. I'm sure he has a perfectly lovely personality. He'll be humble, kind, sincere, tactful, and able to hold his end of the conversation. Right, like I really believe that. But Celeste had to compliment him on his comment, for he had agreed with her as his greeting. Always a good relationship starter: the guy saying I'm right. Celeste was more cynical than usual, what after Phoebe's scalding lecture. But Celeste was here tonight to prove Phoebe wrong.

"See Mina, I'm not the only one who thinks you're a flake. I'll bet even Serena would say so," Celeste pointedly exclaimed. But DJ changed sides immediately, "Now that is going a touch too far. Mina is not a flake, just marvelous at being fashionably late. And don't bring Serena into the conversation, for she is not here to either express or defend an opinion. And you, my most assertive lady, must be Celeste. Now then, speaking of opinions, here is one of mine: a person should only speak for themselves, feeling no compulsion to neither affirm another's opinion nor associate one of your opinions with another's." Damn, Celeste thought to herself, this guy is certainly something else. And if it weren't for the fact that I don't want to read Mina's mind without her permission, I'd confirm that this was a setup to get me and DJ interested in one another. Maybe I should be perverse and resist this attraction. Then again, I just met the guy.

They had walked over to the arcade games, and Mina squealed for joy when they came across the newest race car game. "Jamie, want to go a full round against me? This is suppose to be absolutely wicked, with loads of obstacles and secret features!" Jamie found her passion amusing and consented. Racing didn't appeal to Celeste or DJ, so they went in search of a different genre of interest. In the very back, there was a game DJ hadn't seen in years. "Vampire Saviour! I had this game way back when on Sega Saturn." "Never heard of it. What is it about?" admitted Celeste. He exclaimed, "It is this awesome fighting game with a gothic feel to it. The storyline isn't particularly strong, but the way we're going to play is each of us pick out a character and battle each other. I'll give you a chance to get use to your character, but after that I won't hold back."

Celeste archly smiled and said, "Thanks. Give me a minute to adjust. By that I mean exactly sixty seconds." DJ tilted his head and asked, "Cocky, are we?" Celeste's face was intent on deciding between the characters as she absently responded, "You bet!" Celeste decided on the zombie girl while DJ picked Demitri, a male demonic vampire. It took a minute of practice before Celeste declared herself adjusted. She quickly discovered that Demitri had some wicked moves and her character had weak defense. And her attacks were strongest on the ground, and DJ tended to leap into the air frequently. Unfortunately, Celeste lost. But she was undaunted. She picked a new character, Morgana, a vampiress with long hair who looked like she had an awesome arsenal. Surprisingly Celeste did nothing to learn about her new character's moves. She just attacked, learning quickly how to use the special moves. DJ responded by unleashing some of the more powerful moves. And then it came to her his weakness: he was strong at dodging attacks obviously directed at him. But if she made it appear she was leaping over him to get his back, or scurrying under him, but instead attacking while he is changing direction. This strategy worked, for she won this round. Afterwards she interrupted him and said, "Let's leave it as a draw. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to use the lady's room." With that she bounced to the restroom.

DJ stared after her, amazed. I can't guess her next move, and the only good claiming her win was a fluke would be to soothe my ego. I should see how Jamie and Mina are faring. DJ walked over in time to see Mina perform a victory dance. Now then, it wasn't one of those dances that was spastic or anything. Her sense of beat and rhythm had improved over time (or maybe because she didn't have to worry about stepping on her partner's toesies). DJ thought her victory dance was cute, but the whistles from some senior and junior high schoolers indicated that she appeared hot and sexy to them. This caused Mina to react with a blush and throaty chuckle. "I assume you won," DJ mildly stated. Jamie responded, "She won only by a couple of seconds. How was I suppose to know that the bomb I tossed would cause a rock slide and delay me a couple moments?" Jamie then turned to talk directly to Mina and challenged, "You may have won on this field, but how do you think you'll do in beach volleyball?" Mina looked intrigued and responded, "I'd rather team up and take on someones worthy of having a humility session." The smile that Jamie and Mina shared was very heartwarming, and made DJ feel obtrusive watching.

"Ehem," Celeste sharply interrupted. She then sent a quick #Mina, remember what I told you earlier! Cool the flirting. While I think the two of you look cute together, you will regret becoming a rebound date. Trust me, I've been on hundreds of dates, and being a rebounder is strictly the pits.#

DJ found it peculiar that Mina randomly (from his perspective) glared slightly at Celeste and rolled her eyes. Celeste subtly shook her head, regretful and sympathetic; Mina in turn flared her nostrils, then shrugged her shoulders. The hand of Celeste momentarily rested on Mina's shoulder; the two silently came to an agreement and truce. I've never had a friend I could communicate with like that. Mina and Jamie are my closest friends, and I still don't know them that well. I can see why she brought us, me being a close friend with Jamie and Celeste being her best friend. Great set of reinforcements. And I'm actually enjoying myself, being with my closest friends and an attractive girl with a great personality. Glad Mina decided to make this a definite non-date. Otherwise it could get weird with how the interactions would change.

"So Mina, where's Andrew? I thought he works here, and I haven't seen him since the concert. It was my hope to quickly say 'hi,'" Celeste asked. To exaggerate her absentmindedness Mina knocked on her head and explained, "He does, but he's off tonight. Elizabeth has a poetry reading tonight at the Java Hut, and he wanted to go. That and Rita, his fiancée, is on a flight back here for the week. He's told me that if Rita is staying permanently, he's going to look for a new place to work. I remember how a long time ago that would have had me upset, cause I had this massively huge crush on him a few..." As fascinating as Mina's discussion was, Jamie's stomach was growling and DJ was hiccuping. Jamie looked sheepish as he said, "I didn't mean to interrupt, but can we stop off for food and finish up talking there? We can always come back." Mina smiled and exclaimed, "No problem. I know this really hip and fresh pizza joint two blocks away. And Celeste, you have got to try their salads and vegetarian pizza! You'll love it, absolutely honestly. Now let's boogie!"

And the pizza place was amazing. Each got a personal pizza which none of them could finish, a large soda, and some of the joint's famous salads. Jamie got a supreme pizza, Mina a Hawaiian, DJ a pesto-sausage-mushroom, and Celeste got a half- vegetarian half- vegan. "Hmmm, this is a great pizza, each having five different kinds of cheese, some of it baked in the crust. The tomato sauce is slammin', the crust nice and thick, crunchy on the outside and soft and fluffy in the center. And the toppings are perfect. Did you know my pizza has three kinds of mushrooms and four sausages?" DJ gushed. Celeste grabbed a clean napkin and rubbed a bit of sauce off of his cheek and removed a strand of cheese from his chin. "Sloppy eater, but right about the pizza. DJ, something I've been wondering about: how did the name DJ come about?"

Jamie saw DJ's discomfort and suggested, "Mina, want to play a round of ping pong? There is a table right there." His jerking head was enough of a hint for Mina to understand and act on it. "Yeah, that sounds fun. You two will be fine a few minutes without us." Jamie pushed her forward softly towards the ping pong tables, next to the foozball and pool table and indoor hoops. DJ sighed as he said, "My birth certificate says my name is Derek Arthur Avalin. However, when I was little, my parents and older brother got into a car accident. I was left an orphan and went through several foster homes." DJ stopped for a moment to clutch the table end with a fierce grip. He then continued in a tight, soft voice, "Finally, at age ten, Charlie and Margaret Johnson fostered me and ended up adopting. I never wanted to change my last name, for that is all I have left of my family. However, I didn't want to insult my new family, so I let them think of me as Derek Arthur Avalin Johnson. Eventually teachers and peers disliked writing all of that, so they condensed it to Derek Johnson, and then finally into DJ. I've just let it stick." DJ braced himself against sympathetic and hollow phrases such as, "I'm sorry," "That is so sad," "I can only imagine how that feels."

It never came. She just looked at him squarely, willing to accept whatever reaction he gives. He could tell that he could cry on her shoulder, and she would let him without making him feel babied or embarrassed. She placed her hands lightly over his table-clutching claws. They did not squeeze his hands or anything as pushy such as that. The gesture was an offering, of the warmth of her hands/heart, and someone to lean on should he need it. Her eyes told him however that she would not tolerate self-pity from him nor giving up, and she would gleefully push him to deal with his problems. He let go of the table and instead gently held her soft, amicable palms, and lifted them up above the center of the table until their elbows were barely touching the table. "Thank you," was on his lips when she interrupted, "So that explains why you are called DJ. I personally think the name Derek seems much more classy, but then again that is just my opinion." He smiled and reluctantly let go of her hands, for he knew her redirecting the conversation was to give him the chance to wait for a better moment to break down rather than her being callous. Somehow he understood her intentions very well.

I wish I dared to touch his mind. There is something more to him than is apparent. But I would first want to have better control of my powers, especially after inadvertently using Gazelle as a marionette. I wonder why so many fools seek power? Me, I think skill is far more appealing. But I want to help DJ open up, and I'm going to need both to do so. Power I've got in abundance, but skill, that is something I've just started to acquire. It doesn't make sense why I want to help him so much, when there is no benefit to it besides helping him. It's got to be because he is a challenge. Phoebe's right, I don't let people into my heart; I can't because I'm incapable. I'm just not able to all out care for people. Not after Mom and Dad and their incidences, nor with what happened to Jonathan last year. Or my loved ones in the Silver Millennium all dying around me while I survived. Phoebe and Mina, they're the only ones I'm able to let down emotional guards around.

"Why did you tack on 'I personally think' and 'just my opinion'? These phrases are devaluing your comments. It is demonstrating self-doubt and belittles your message," DJ brought up. Celeste shifted her weight so she was comfortable for the oncoming debate. "I 'tack on' those phrases to demonstrate my acknowledgment that these are merely opinions and not necessarily facts, and that they are solely my opinions. And something I would like to say to refute your statement earlier. Or rather, a question. What do you think of people using famous quotes?" DJ smiled and said, "Touché. While quoting can be interpreted as lacking the individualism to paraphrase, it is in actuality a demonstration of worldliness and awareness. But I respect only quotes, not clichés." A devilish light was in Celeste's eyes as she quoted, "Tantaene animis coelestibus irae?" DJ looked shocked as he translated, "In heavenly minds can such resentments dwell? Impressive. And for some reason I thought you were going to be a spoiled, rich ditz." Celeste sweetly replied, "If it were just an misperception directed towards me, I would not be insulted. But this is Mina here; do you honestly believe she would have such poor taste in friends?"

DJ shook his head, "You are correct. Forgive me." Celeste shrugged her shoulders, tilted her head, and made a little high pitch grunt with the message, 'It doesn't really matter.'

There was a moment of silence before DJ thought of a good topic of discussion. "You know about the ancient Romans and Greeks?" Celeste saw the challenge and responded, "Not only am I well versed in the mythology and history of both cultures, I am nearly fluent in Greek, Latin, and Italian. But that also goes for the Egyptians, Scandinavians, and a few other cultures. Being home schooled gives the advantage to choose a wider variety of courses, as does traveling all over the world. Actually in the summer my father is planning on sending me to this professor of archaeology and linguistics that is an expert on the Babylonians, Mesopotamians, Sumerians, and Nubians. It is suppose to be a blast."

An impressed whistle was DJ's response. "You are quite something else, Celeste. Now then, what is you opinion of the mythological character Ganymede?" "I find it amusing that it was a favorite of Plato's, and was apparently used by him to justify his feelings towards his all male students," Celeste told him. "Ah, so I take it you have nothing against homosexuality," DJ stated. Celeste lifted her eyebrows and said, "I don't see why I should. My opinion why homosexuality exists is that sometimes people's soulmates are born into the body of someone of the same gender. That and it is nature's way of kindly trying to cut down on the overpopulation problem rather than causing a plague or flood or such." DJ smiled and softly said, "You are really something else. You are very intellectual yet you seem to have a strong spiritual side. It is hard to describe you." In a vain tone she prompted, "But do feel free to try." Her arrogant facial expression and tone made DJ start to laugh. Celeste couldn't help but join in. Mina and Jamie finally returned and found the laugh fest humorous, if odd.

The night dwindled quickly to an end. None of the foursome wanted to leave quite yet, but the departures was inevitable. A moment before Celeste and DJ parted, he did something impulsive. "May I have your phone number?" Celeste thought it over and responded with a question, "What do you think of the mythological character Ganymede?" DJ surprised her with his response, "I think it was the Greek's way to encourage male domination. Ganymede ended up replacing the goddess Hebe, and the reason many Greek philosophers used it as an example of men being able to do without women. I'm surprised that incident didn't cause Hera to castrate Zeus, considering how many infidelities he committed." Celeste coolly replied, "You know, you don't have to put on an act to appeal to the feminist in me." DJ stuttered, "But I wasn't..." "Pah! DJ, I've known hundreds of guys and know hundreds of acts. Don't bother trying to impress me with an opinion you don't passionately believe. That is hypocritical, considering your earlier statement. I admire sincerity above all else. But I will give you my phone number. You are a sweet guy, and I hope we'll come to be as close of friends as we are with Mina.

DJ was disappointed, having opened up his heart to someone. But I do trust her. I can't explain it, but she is so wonderful and honest and sharp and humorous. And I trust her. I've known Mina and Jamie all year, and I don't trust them to the extent I do with Celeste, whom I've known for only a few hours. She is quite a mystery. But I've gotten to be such a lovesick puppy, first that incident with Vickie, then the Solar Sailor, and now Celeste. But Vickie was lust, and the Solar Sailor is beyond my reach. And Celeste... she isn't interested. It should be enough that she wants to be friends; it will have to be enough. "Night DJ, it was marvelous meeting you. Hopefully we'll see one another soon," Celeste said. He softly said, "Likewise, mi amiga." DJ walked off to Charlie's car while Celeste slipped into her roller blades.

While Celeste bladed off, Phoebe smugly greeted, #Enjoyed your evening, and proving me right? You and DJ would make a cute couple, but nooooo. You once again decided to push someone away from you, not that I don't agree he was hypocritical, but that is besides the point.# Celeste continued blading, but was blading backwards to face Phoebe who was flying right behind her. # I have the feeling he has some serious underlying pains, and I can best address them if I can maintain a friendship and read him. And before I read his thoughts, I want to have better control over my abilities. You saw what happened with Gazelle; I don't want that to happen again, especially with someone I care for. Besides, there is something a little important we need to deal with at the moment: I remember where I left the Golden Scriptures.# Phoebe was startled enough to land on Celeste's shoulder, and Celeste faced forward again. # You’re serious! demanded Phoebe. Celeste nodded and continued, #Yes, and we can get it tonight, if possible. That is, if you feel up to another flight through space.#

Stop playing song.

Start playing song: “Ray of Light” performed by Madonna.

Once more the Solar Sailor and Phoebe were one being. It was glorious to once more be flying in space, though this time it was a shorter trip, and in the opposite direction. The Solar Sailor aspect said, #We first need to make a stop at the ruins of the Moon. I stored the key there, for that was where I stood last before my rebirth. You remember where the palace was approximately, right?# The Phoebe aspect primly retorted, #An astral phoenix has an outstanding memory when it comes to location and direction. Of course I remember where the palace is located. Now, you remember where you hid the key, right?# The Solar aspect snorted. Within minutes they reached the Moon and separated, for both could survive in hostile environments so long as they were transformed. The Ruins were as Solar remembered, and not as devastating to see as she had expected. Some part of her was expecting to see Queen Serenity greeting her, which was a ridiculous expectation. But still... she had more important things to do. She had to get to the Palace Museum and grab the key to the Sol Temple on the Sun Kingdom. Only she could return to the Sun and reach the Sol Temple, which held the relics of the Sun and Nine Kingdoms of the Moon. Only she knew where exactly the Golden Scriptures were hidden, and how to open its container.

Solar stood and mentally recalled the layout of the Moon Palace. Here is where the entrance hall was, so it should be about two miles 'til I reach the Royal Quadrant. From there I can find the Palace Museum. And I believe I hid the key with the marble statue of Serendipity. Amazing that of all the things to survive, the statues remained intact. She called out to Phoebe, "Let's go!" And Solar put her skills at running to good use as she sprinted the twists and curves of the Ruins.

It was about another fifteen minutes before they reached the first part of their destination. Before them stood the remnants of the Palace Museum, with beautiful artwork destroyed and treasures severely damaged. All that survived were marble statues of each generation of the royal family, the most prominent figures being the most prominent statues. The six greatest statues were of Selene, Serendipity, Theia, Hyperion the 1^st, Serenity, and Pandion. Solar brushed her finger tips along the faces of each statue, brief memories of the significance of each figure surfaced. At the statue of Serendipity she stopped and placed her fingers in the intricately carved hair style with beautiful trinkets and jewels. One of those trinkets was in fact a key, which Solar grabbed and tied to her sun glasses. With beautiful synchronization the Solar Sailor and astral phoenix united once more and sped into space to reach the Sun Kingdom.

As they neared the bright yellow star we know as the sun, Solar spent an idle moment wondering why she wasn't going blind. The warmth of the sun intensified, but to them it felt nice and welcoming rather than an inferno. But it eventually came so that the figure had to slip on the sun glasses of the Solar Sailor to be able to continue on. It was because they were both born on, descended from, and guarded the sun that they were allowed to reach the gate. The gate was a flaming portal of light with its own amount of intelligence to recognize a gate keeper; anyone born on a star had the potential to be a gate keeper, and in the Silver Millennium Celeste had fulfilled that potential for this very purpose. #I am a Gatekeeper, vessel to the power of the Sun and pawn to its will. But I am also an individual, using my abilities given to me to determine how I shall perform my destiny. And as a Gatekeeper, I ask for passage to my home. Is my passage granted?# both the Solar and Phoebe parts asked the gate.

The light from the reached out and surrounded them, either to embrace them like a blanket or suffocate them. The gate greeted back, #Welcome back Tertiary astral phoenix Phoebe, welcome back princess and heiress Celeste diigien Spiritshine of the house of Solar. Remember the laws of the Sun Kingdom and obey them. Tu ne cede malis, sed contra audentior ito.# That was all the gate was able to say, for while it did possess some intelligence, the amount of intelligence was severely limited. Not that this was the only gate, for there was 1,001 gates, one for each province. But the gates were only capable of responding as it did. Solar smiled as she translated for her own benefit, Yield thou not to adversity, but press on the more bravely.

They were able to land on the Sun itself because of one thing: the rhean prism. Back in the Silver Millennium, each planet and star and moon within the galaxy had its own rhean prism, making the atmosphere and planet itself inhabitable. But after the destruction of the Silver Millennium, somehow, the rhean prisms had disappeared and had appeared in the Sol Temple, on the only celestial body which still maintained its full defense system. The rhean prism meant for the Sun made it so there was a layer of habitable space between the actual surface and the burning light, which was where Phoebe and Solar had landed and separated once more. They had chosen the gate that was nearest to the Palace, and had arrived within the keep grounds. This is the place from my dreams, except that this place is now in ruins. There are no tapestries and portraits in the palace. Not anymore at least. But the Sol Temple, it was protected against destruction by the writings in the Golden Scriptures. And we need the Golden Scriptures. It is a gut feeling that they are essential, and I'm the only living being with enough training as a Scribe to use them. In actuality, I should by now be of equal ranking to a major Scribe. That is besides the point. Phoebe and I can't dawdle, which is what I'm doing.

The Sol Temple was a white marble building with intricate engravings of popular blessings in all sorts of languages used throughout the universe. Those trained as Scribes on the Sun had to make some of those engravings as part of their training. Solar and Phoebe walked to the entrance, which was only a simple doorway. The items themselves and their containers were enchanted to prevent thievery and abuse, so there was little use for guards and locks. That however did not prevent Queen Clarity and King Sunblaze from taking the precaution of having it built like a labyrinth. And since Solar had grown up here, she knew it like the color of her eyes, where everything was stored and all the shortcuts. She wove through the maze, walked through secret passages, and triggered hidden doorways. And finally she reached her destination, not the exact heart of the Temple, for that is too obvious of a place, but the room which held the most prized of relics throughout the reaches of the Moon Kingdom.

But something was wrong, for there was more relics than there should have been. The Gleipnir, for instance, should have been on planet Venus, not here. Same with the Trident, which belonged on planet Neptune. "Phoebe..." Solar started to say. But Phoebe interrupted and said #The relics found their way here, how is superfluous. Will you please grab the Golden Scriptures already? We have a long flight home, and I don't want to be flying until past dawn.# Solar did not bother to question what was wrong with "flying past dawn," for that was just one of Phoebe's traits.

Solar walked to a case she had not seen for centuries and peered inside. Inside was a thick bound book, with thick and thin pages of Ivory, Gold, and Ebony. There was no cover, nor title, for anyone aware of its existence would recognize this as the Golden Scriptures; and besides, a title would require restricting which language could be contained with its contents. She placed the key in what appeared to be an ornamental hole, and held her breath as sparks of power came from the simple action. The key turned within the keyhole without any aid, and after a full rotation, the lid of the container lifted and disappeared for the moment for convenience's sake.

Letters appeared in midair, being written across from left to right in carefully scripted strokes. But the letters weren't in the physical world, but something apparent only to the eyes of Solar and Phoebe, and written in no particular language. Solar somehow knew that the writing (or rather the protection spell) wanted her to pick a language, so it would be easier to progress further. From her mind the letters plucked a language, and finally became coherent. Relinquish this spell, Scribe, and gain access to one of the greatest treasures of the universe. But you will also take on one of the greatest responsibilities, and what can easily become the greatest curse. But what the words didn't explicitly tell her was that by releasing the Golden Scriptures, she would also let loose all the relics within the Temple. Solar knew it was futile to mind speak the spell, let alone speak normally, but she knew she had to communicate with it. Her past training as a Scribe came up with the answer, reminding her how to call forth a Inscription utensil. She focused her mind on words in the ancient Genoikan language that meant approximately: "The pen is mightier than the sword; the sword can decide between life and death of the body, but the pen can decide between enlightenment and misguidance of the mind, heart, and soul. Does the pen then tell me that the blood on the sword is of less value than the ink from the pen?" Solar never learned the answer to that riddle, for it was one of those brain teasers meant to relax oneself. In Solar's hands appeared a feather quilled pen and three bottles of ink.

Only one of those three bottles was filled with a sacred ink which were the only substances capable of binding permanently to the Golden Scriptures. The sacred inks were Gold, Ivory, and Ebony. In midair Solar wrote a complicated spell, calling forth the physical world to lend her a chair and desk, a very advance spell but essential for dealing with such intricate spells as those used to guard the Golden Scriptures. Solar sat down on the materializing chair, and placed her three inks down on the desk, one Gold, one Sapphire, and one Pearl. She brushed the quill in the Pearl ink, it being essential that she not insult the fabric of the spell with inferior and improper ink. With great penmanship Solar "communicated" with the protection spell, discovering the boundaries placed on it. A very good Scribe wrote this spell, for it both lacks loopholes (demonstrating skill), and is thickly layered (demonstrating power). But the style seems familiar, though I can't place my finger on whose it could be.

It took great concentration to learn the details of the protection spell and what would happen to the relics. It took great skill and much power to gently redirect its configurations to allow the relics to go to earth and become apparent only to the senshi of their respective home planet. Solar set the guidelines so it would happen gradually, so as not to greatly affect the balance of power within the universe and create backlash; one of the earliest lessons a Scribe learned was that every action has a reaction, and that the purpose of a spell was as important as the effort used to minimize the backlash. Finally Solar was satisfied with the precautions she took and used the Sapphire ink to identify herself and her personal signature, and took the first step to actually relinquishing the protection spell.

The letters from the protection spell blurred and hurt Solar's eyes as they rearranged themselves. In Ivory ink it replied This is your last chance to stop, for once you start to relinquish the spell, it cannot stop unraveling. Remove your signature, and you may leave without fear of consequence. Continue on, and you risk releasing all hell, dying, and leaving no one able to stop it. But there is a chance, a very slight one, that you will release the Golden Scriptures once more and have the capability to utilize them for the overall well-being of the universe. Do you dare to press on? Solar mentally applauded the creator of the spell, for the wording was perfect, with all the appropriate nuances and inflections.

Solar used the Gold ink to write the Stellarian word for "unlocking the key," which ironically was a glyph that resembled a turning key. That was the next step of relinquishing the spell, and revealing that she was serious about this and not some punk looking for a challenge. Words appeared in Solar's mind, in all sorts of languages, requiring her to place power in the appropriate ones for relinquishing the spell. As she powered up the appropriate glyphs, words, letters, symbols, and pictures, they glowed with all the colors of the rainbow, and appeared as such in the physical world. The ones that she did not power up faded away. This process left zero room for error, which was fortunately something Solar was not prone to do. The words then laid flat on her desk and became a comprehensible sentence, which she had to read outloud. To give an approximate translation of the sentence would be unjust, for the inflections and extent each word indicates has no appropriate counterpart in our language.

Then all was absolutely still, from the flickering soft lights that had kept the Sol Temple lit for millenia, to the sound of Phoebe and Solar's breath and their actual heartbeats. This was the moment of truth, the moment of judgment. Had Solar pronounced one syllable incorrectly, or put too much stress on a consonant, or chose one wrong glyph, she would die at that moment. The only reasons Solar had dared to go through with this by herself without refreshing her memory was because this was time critical, and because she had to have absolute faith in her abilities. Then torrents of wind blew, a thick mist of water soaked the chambers of the Temple, fire flared from the lights, and the floor beneath their feet shook. I did not fail, I did everything exactly as I had been taught. This spell is wrong, it has erred.

That mental confidence in her abilities was what finally relinquished the spell, for it wasn't arrogance and pride, but knowledge that she had done everything to the best of her abilities and a conviction how that should always suffice. The fire, wind, earth, and water continued to go at it, but the relics floated softly to Solar's feet, those farthest from her coming first. As the items arrived at her feet, it became apparent that the fire, wind, earth, and water formed a barrier between what was near her proximity and the universe outside. Lastly the Golden Scriptures floated out of the container and landed at an ideal height for holding before Solar. Solar's will allowed her desk, chair, inks, and quill to disappear, leaving her hands free to outstretch for the Golden Scriptures. Once physical contact was made, the relics vanished, all except the Golden Scriptures and the rhean prisms.

The Scriptures flipped open to a page, with a spell written in it that it desired Solar to read. Solar skimmed over it, learning the basic contents without invoking the spell. It was a way to store the rhean prisms of the other planets within the contents of the Golden Scriptures. Since there was no reason not to, Solar read the spell, storing each rhean prism on a page of the Scriptures, an indication of the amount of power each prism held. The Scriptures then sent mental letters into Solar's mind, for it had intelligence in the same sense as the gates, being more pure power and purpose than individuality. The letters were words that she could "read" rather than "hear" the way she did with telepathy. Well, well, so you are the Scribe I've been waiting for. I remember you; you possess great potential but not the destiny to be my Scribe. But for now you shall be a worthy companion and Scribe, for you have good intentions, discipline, creativity, knowledge, power, and skill. I will allow you to use my powers and spells so long as you promise to find my Scribe for me, the Great Scribe. There is little need for promises against corruption. Solar was surprised at how intelligent the Scriptures seemed, and felt undertones of how much of an honor this was, and that the Golden Scriptures had spells that would enable the senshi to strengthen considerably.

The Scriptures disappeared from sight, condensing to a minuscule size and hiding in Solar's ring. The barrier disappeared, and the Temple was empty of all except bare walls, empty containers, and a few lights. Solar started glowing as she called to Phoebe to join with her, #Come on featherhead! Let's fly!# And once more Solar left her home of her past, to return to her home of the present and perhaps the future.

Stop playing song.

Sunday, March 22

Hotaru was a morning person, otherwise she would not have been up at 8:00 in the morning on a Sunday working on homework. She was doing some serious research on-line when she got a pop-up message that she had e-mail. She checked it and was pleasantly surprised to find it was Brian. With a quick glance she saw that he was on-line, and decided to take a short break and instant message him.

Hotaru: Hi Brian! How are you? And why on earth are you up at this time of day on the computer?

Brian: Hey Hotaru! I'm fine, and was about to ask you the same question. I'm doing some on-line research for midterms. Ughh! Whoever invented the concept was seriously deranged. And you? do you have midterms?

Hotaru: Nope. But I have a five-pager due Tuesday on the Dark Ages.

Brain: Fun (sarcastically, do not take tone seriously whatsoever!) So... yeah. Did you read my entire e-mail?

Hotaru: Not yet. Just give me the details since I'm not a forwarding fan.

Brian: It is a flier about an art exhibit at the museum. It is suppose to be this neat presentation on all sorts of artwork about nighttime and darkness. It's called "On the Edge of Darkness." There are loads of professional pieces, but also a section dedicated to works done by students and novices. I think I saw somewhere that there was a marvelous painting of the ocean made by your friend Michelle. And I was hoping that

Hotaru: Michelle has some artwork in something like that. I always found it humorous how she is so upbeat and tends to create such disturbing paintings.

Brian: you would be interested going with me on Saturday night. The two of us, together.

She paused, shocked before writing her response. Hotaru: Brian, I'm not sure how to say this, but... You are a freshman and 15. I'm in 7^th grade and 12. That is a big age difference. If we were closer in age, I would love to...

Brian: I get it. I should have known better. I just thought that since you were so mature and worldly and beautiful, that you would be willing to look past the age difference, and my disability.

Hotaru:It has nothing to do with you being deaf! My life is a lot more complicated than you think. But maybe, just maybe, we can go as friends to the art show. My friend Rini could use some culture. So if you don't mind that arrangement, I'll go. What do you say?

Brian: Sure. I'll meet you two at the entrance at 5:00. Don't forget!

Hotaru: I won't. Good luck on your midterms

Both got back to doing some serious work. Hotaru first spent a minute thinking to herself. I really, sincerely like Brian. And by like, I mean like-like. If he knew I was the senshi of destruction, guardian of the Silent Planet, he would then realize how I find his 'disability' an asset. But I will not have him be burdened with my other self. I can just imagine how he would react should he meet my other persona; he would faint from shock and fear. Hell, I'd be scared to death of Sailor Saturn and her powers and her intentions were it not that I am, in a sense, Sailor Saturn. It is bad enough that I burden Rini and the other sailor senshi with this horrid knowledge, but I barely know Brian and he does not have a common link such as I do with the other senshi. It is best if we leave things as they are. Hotaru went back to typing, oblivious to the reason the computer text was getting fuzzy having nothing to do with her vision or the screen. No, instead it had everything to do with the tears coming from her eyes.

Celeste patiently waited for the perfect dramatic moment to present her recent acquisition. When it came, she carefully explained the powers the Golden Scriptures hold, the training undertaken as a Scribe, and the rigors she went through to retrieve it. If it weren't for the fact that Celeste did not make up things such as this, the group would constantly be asking her, "Are you kidding?" Amy thoughtfully asked, "Do the Scriptures mention anything about the Shining Star Warrior?" Lita exclaimed, "Yeah! Cause if none of us know anything about him, maybe the Golden Scriptures say something. And Celeste, do you think he might be Stellarian? I mean, Shining Star does sound like it might be from the Stellar Empire, and you are the only one of us who knows anything about the Stellarians..." "Because Celeste, you are half Stellarian," Michelle primly finished.

Celeste rigorously shook her head, "There is no way someone of the Empire would take on a name such as 'Shining Star Warrior,' let alone take on the name in anything but translated from the Stellarian language. The only being I know of who had a name that so much as resembled that title was my father, when he was Lord Starblade. Stellarian names when translated are compounded. My Stellarian name, for instance, is Spiritshine or Lumien-ya gon Anim-a-gein. In the Stellar tongue, gon indicates a compound word or an appositive." Trista quietly reminded Celeste, "And the Scriptures say..." Celeste shook her head and said, "I just acquired them, and it is not as easy as skimming through the pages. The Scriptures are written in numerous languages and dialects, first off. Secondly, there is no apparent organization. And finally, the Scriptures choose what they allow one to possibly interpret, not having all its wisdom available to all. It would take days, maybe even weeks, to decipher anything referring to the Shining Star Warrior."

Darien softly commented, "That name reminds me of something." Everyone stared and demanded, "What!" Darien offhandedly finished, "When we first came back from the fight with Beryl, we had no memory. But a part of me continued to protect Sailor Moon and the Inner Scouts. That part of me called himself 'The Moonlight Knight.'" Artemis commented, "While there is a name similarity, I think it stops there. Although, I do believe the Shining Star Warrior is more of a traditionally chivalrous knight in shining armor than the Moonlight Knight was. Besides, he didn’t strike me as not being entirely there."

After a few minutes more of discussion, it came to the point where everyone agreed to leave, having midterms to work on. Raye hesitated leaving, having a weird feeling something was going to happen. It was stronger when it was only her and Hotaru left, and she just could not shake off the weird vibes. Finally she offered walk Hotaru home, not quite trusting fate to allow Hotaru to remain unharmed should she be left alone.

Tasia found it highly amusing how the temple-girl kept looking around while walking with the frail target. It was especially amusing how the temple-girl kept looking directly at Tasia, and not realizing the danger she posed. But as mentioned before, Tasia possessed this instinctive ability to blend in with her surroundings. Even to the extent of throwing off Raye's psychic abilities. But Tasia was getting wary of waiting for the pesky temple-girl to leave.

Tasia took her purse off of her shoulder and retrieved one exceptional tool. It was a multi-purpose Evolite ray-beam; in better words, it was a stun gun with four key settings: Paralyze, Phuter Beam, Future Extraction, Future placement. This time there was no alternate future settings to deal with, or too many devices to keep track of. After Colonel Draco's "accident," Fauna had focused on the B.F. blaster (B.F. being short for Bright Future). A nice feature Colonel Shark had added for his Clan's purpose was all the measurements attached. It could give all sorts of statistics that would help a Pisces Clanmember to make an informed decision.

Tasia set the B.F. blaster on Paralyze and took careful aim. Then a better thought came to her, and Tasia beckoned her Petty Minion, Lobster. Should there be any problems, I want Lobster to distract them from me. There is absolutely nothing wrong with a little self-preservation. Tasia indicated for Lobster to hide in the tree above where Tasia stood. Another little nice bonus with the B.F. blaster is that it is next to impossible to pinpoint the source of the blast, which was helpful when Tasia fired Paralyze at the temple-girl.

The temple-girl gasped as she fell over, her body ceasing to respond to her will. The frail target was aghast and yelled after her, "Raye!" It was odd that the target kneeled beside the fallen temple-girl and placed her hands on the temple-girl's hands. Odder still was that there was a faint purple light coming from the target, feeding, so it appeared, into the temple-girl's body. Tasia didn't want to have to worry with being spotted, so she grabbed her special remote and punched in the numbers to cause a costume change. A moment later Tasia felt more like herself, being in her form she referred to as 1^st Captain Crustacean of the Clan of Pisces. Crustacean (Tasia) then proceeded to aim the Phuter Beam at the target, simultaneous to the moment Lobster rushed out of the tree and towards the two helpless children.

Trista had been doing some research in professor Tomoe's laboratory. She alone was given this privilege, for Dr. Tomoe was very territorial of his lab. Trista suspected it was because he feared the Bureau of Bad Behavior would return to his lab and repossess Hotaru. He didn’t trust any but himself to be able to prevent that reoccurence. Himself and Trista. Once Trista had asked him why she was so privileged; he responded, “You remind me of my sweet little Hotaru.” Trista wasn’t sure what to make of this comment. However, it was useful to be able to research her “stuff.” Trista never told anyone what her research was on, let alone whether it was successful or what she learned from it.

Trista sharply looked up as out of thin air the garnet orb appeared, and seemed to be trying to tell her something. For a moment Trista simply gazed at it, and then it made an insistent humming noise, impatient for Trista. Trista transformed on the spot and allowed the garnet orb to lead the way. While running, Trista spent a moment to contact Amara and Michelle on the communicators. This has got to be happening nearby, and to someone key. Otherwise the garnet orb wouldn't be reacting to this extent.

The group of girls (and Darien and the cats) hadn't gone far, having hastily decided to stop off for a quick bite to eat. Then simultaneously the Mercury compact computer started beeping with the soft yelp from Rini, the distant disturbed faces of Serena and Darien, and the psychic call from Phoebe. Amy quickly took out her computer and punched in her password. "The program I set up has detected a disturbance associated with the phuter spray used by the Evolites. It is only a few blocks away; in fact, just where we were..." Phoebe psychically told them, #Hotaru's the victim! Celeste and I were heading back, and out of nowhere Celeste fell to one knee and was muttering something about the coldness burning out. Meet you all in a few minutes.# Had the situation not been so critical, it would have been funny that Serena exclaimed loudly, "Right!" when seemingly no one had spoken.

Raye struggled to open her eyes, especially after hearing Hotaru shriek. When she finally did manage, she saw Hotaru surrounded by a bright aura, a misty aura that was so bright that Raye could not look directly at it. Out of the corner of her eye, Raye saw a woman, who though dressed oddly, blended with the surroundings. Her eyes kept telling her to dismiss the woman, while her Sight abhorred the thought. The woman aimed something in Hotaru's direction, while Raye just lied there unable to do anything but watch. The aura surrounding Hotaru flared for a moment, and then ebbed, being dragged away from her. It was heartwrenching to see the sweet Hotaru become even weaker and paler than usual. For a moment the aura was out of sight and Hotaru tottered over, her face absolutely gray and sickly. The weird woman, (No, Evolite. I can sense she isn't human) then aimed the something at the red-clad female-Evolite before her. At first the ray-gun fired light, the bright aura of Hotaru's Bright Future, into the lobster-costumed-Evolite. But a moment later, the ray-gun started smoking, and the beam of light disappeared. When Raye looked back at Hotaru, she saw the aura surrounding Hotaru again and seeping back into Hotaru's body.

Fauna knew that the mission had failed, but today it did not matter as much as it used to. She was reviewing the footage from the attack Gazelle and Ox had executed, and was finding it informative. But maybe I don't need Bright Futures anymore. I've gotten stronger, and perhaps no longer need the determination and power they hold to fight back against Them. I must have finally gotten out of their control. That's it. I'm finally free of Their influence. Right when the senshi split up did Fauna stop the footage and turn off her viewing device. It was getting late, and a certain previous excursion had exhausted her. Fauna was leaning back to relax into a light nap when she heard it. The mocking laughter that had haunted her for most of her life.

Fauna was immediately as wound up as a spring, and lurched to her feet. The lightly sleeping Colonel Draco did not stir from Fauna's bed. Fauna then heard the laughing voice speak coherent words, not in the Evolite tongue, nor Genoikan, nor even the language the senshi used. No, it was in Fauna's native language. "You honestly believed you could escape me, let alone our Master? Fauna, dear, that is classic! It is silly that you hold onto that absurd idea of free will. Hate to break it to you, but you're wrong. Tell me, what good does it do to steal Bright Futures?"

Fauna took a deep breath and built up the nerve to be assertive while talking to Her. "It gives me the strength to fight against your compulsions, the ones to wreak havoc and become an ugly old hag like you!" The voice patronizingly tsk-tsked Fauna. "Oh honestly, we both know I am not much older than you; and besides that, my powers preserve my youth perfectly, so I am hardly 'an ugly old hag.' And for that insult, I'll let you in on a secret: You have played exactly into Our hands. You think that by having gone to the Ankhphars you now have enough power to stop Us by not coming back. Dear, you know that the only reason I try bringing you back has nothing to do with you having power. Hell, you were never that important. Stealing to gain the strength to resist Us is not the answer, for you are weakening the very people We are trying to conquer. Fauna, you are a pawn on a chessboard, something lacking any significance except being able to be moved to make way for more valuable pieces."

Fauna gave a soft moan as she realized She was right. By trying to prevent returning to Their hands I eternally damned myself to Their will. I've tried to sabotage Them, and instead aid Them by hurting Their opposition. For a moment, Fauna saw the face of the She whom she loathed so much. The face was still patronizing, but offering a solution. "Dear, dear Fauna, you are so confused. Stop trying to fight Us, and let me tell you what is best. Continue fighting the senshi, continue destroying young Derek, and continue stealing Bright Futures. Be a good girl and do what I ask." Fauna nodded, giving in to the inevitable. The voice then made one last request, "Oh, and dear, would you mind getting me another set of three masks. None may be made by you, they must be created by different hands, and they have to have been made with different purposes. You'll do that for me, won't you?"

Fauna gave a resignated sigh, and replied, "Sure thing. Whatever you say." The face nodded triumphantly and disappeared. Fauna just sank back into the bed and curled up besides the resting Draco, completely devoid of hope. I should have never bothered to fight back, to try and let the Ankhphars get rid of Their influence. Fauna spent a moment fiddling with her obsidian ring and orange necklace. The ring was a symbol of Fauna's connection to Them; the necklace a symbol of her connection with the Ankhphars. Some impulse made Fauna want to try to take off both pieces of jewelry and throw them into space or crush them; it was a futile hope, getting out of her position as a pawn. "Damn you all," she whispered.

Shortly Fauna fell asleep, and Draco popped open an eye. He had been awake during the whole encounter, and did not see the face nor hear the voice. All he experienced was Fauna's unexplained actions. He mused to himself, So Fauna has finally fully flipped her lid. I always knew it would happen one day. Now perhaps I can manipulate her into giving me more power and performing my revenge on Monarch Butterfly and his pesky Ant.

Hope you enjoyed this episode. I assume the amount of action and twists and secret plots was satisfactory. Be prepared for more upcoming episodes and an entirely new look for the whole site. Please E-mail me at [email protected]. Keep reading. =vD
Love, Sailor Eeveon Girl: Monday December 31, 2001 (day of the Moon)