The Power of Serenity

Chapter 5

Crystal Seminar

"Oh, great and powerful Queen of Darkness, pardon our failures!" said Calaveras from where she knelt on the ground before the throne.

"It was not our fault! There were unforeseen forces that got in our way," pleaded Koan from her sister's side.

Queen Beryl rose to her feet. "Explain," she replied coldly.

Koan bowed her head, face nearly colliding with the cold obsidian floor. "I fought two schoolgirls with magic powers. One of them decimated my puppet."

"And I was defeated by a very powerful sorcerer. He called forth great power which caught me off guard, and the boy with him crushed my crystal."

The two women cowered in fear as the queen quietly paced back and forth across her dias. Her hand glided slowly over her magic crystal. She tapped it twice with a long fingernail.

"Tell me, what magic did your opponents call upon?"

Koan glanced up at the queen quizzically. "Th-The girl who defeated me called upon the power of the moon. I didn't catch what the other girl used, but she had talismans that increased her natural abilities and gave her new ones."

Beryl tapped the glass. "I see, and you, Calaveras?"

"The man called upon the Earth, your majesty."

The queen dragged her nails along the glass of her crystal. "Leave my sight. The pair of you."

"Yes, your majesty."

Scrambling to their feet, the sisters bowed deeply and hastily departed the room.

"This bears much thinking, doesn't it, my Queen," drawled Prince Demande from his place beside the throne. He had enjoyed watching the sisters bow and scrape in fear. However, the news they brought was both alarming and intriguing.

"Yes. It does," Queen Beryl responded, seating herself quietly on her throne and summoning the power of her crystal.

#

Despite the night's unusual events, Usagi's morning progressed pretty much the same as normal. Although she had a rather nasty scratch on her upper arm from the fight, she was able to bandage it easily and hide it under her sleeve.

A brusk run through town and she slumped in her chair just as the bell rang. That was a little close for comfort.

"I swear!" Naru said talking to the girl beside her. "There was a crazy monster in my mom's shop! And we were saved by two real-life superheroes."

"But you said you were unconscious the whole time," her classmate replied.

"Well, yeah, but I saw them, just for a second, as they were running out of the building."

"Uh-huh," the girl said, skeptical.

Usagi felt like banging her head against a wall. She wanted to tell Naru everything, but she had a feeling that it was better to keep quiet about the whole thing, at least until she saw that Sakura girl and they figured out what was going on. Usagi scratched her head wildly and wiggled in her seat. This was too much for her poor, addled, fourteen-year-old mind.

The homeroom teacher walked in and plopped her folders down on the podium loudly. "Eyes up here, class," she said. She paused for a moment while everyone settled. "Before we get started, the loudspeaker system is down, so the teachers are giving announcements today. Firstly, the National Practice Test results have come back. One of our students won first place. Please congratulate Miss Ami Mizuno from class five if you see her. Secondly—"

Usagi's mind wandered. She wondered what it was like to be that smart. To be able to pass tests without problems and have the adoration of the teachers… That sounded heavenly. Though, now that there was such a smart student in the school, a lot of the parents were sure to get ideas.

"Sure hope Mom doesn't find out about this," she sighed.

#

On the other side of town, Yugi and Artemis sat outside on the quad, resting under a cherry tree. Yugi absentmindedly stroked Artemis's head, causing the cat to purr quietly. While it would be very convenient for the next Celestial Warrior to fall into their path, they knew that it wasn't very likely.

Masahiko had decided to stay in his dorm for the afternoon. Something about needing a little extra time to process.

Not that Yugi blamed him. He was used to weird things happening to him, but this was a lot even for him to wrap his head around.

Artemis's ears twitched.

"Yugi," he said. "I think… I think someone's nearby."

Yugi turned his head, but he didn't see anyone unusual. "Are you sure?"

Artemis hopped off his lap. "Yeah. I'm going to look around. You get to class."

Yugi shrugged. "Okay. Keep me informed."

Artemis nodded and disappeared into the bushes.

#

"Hey look, I think that's Ami Mizuno," Umino said, pointing across the courtyard.

Usagi looked up to get a good look at the girl. She had expected her to have huge glasses and messy hair, kind of like if Umino was a girl. What she saw was a pretty young lady with blue hair and pale skin eating her sandwich quietly under a tree. Her eyes flicked up and caught a glimpse of Usagi and her friends.

Usagi could have sworn that her expression was… wistful as she sighed and looked back down.

Naru saw too. "Is she trying to pick a fight? Does she think she's better than us?"

"I… don't think so," Usagi replied, gathering her lunch bag and walking over to Ami. "Mind if I sit here," she asked.

"Huh?" gasped Ami, jumping slightly and nearly dropping her book in the process.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to startle you. I just…"

"If you're going to ask about tutoring, I'm not available for anything," Ami replied quietly.

"I wasn't planning on asking," said Usagi, though the thought had passed through her mind. "I just wanted to sit with you. You seemed lonely.

Ami blushed as Usagi's words registered. "Oh, I see. Well… if you want to… I suppose it's okay."

#

"Come on, Ami! You got this!" cheered Usagi as she watched Ami play her way through the last three levels of the Sailor V game in the Crown Arcade. Ami had been destroying level after level on the game, and many others who had stopped to watch were betting that Ami would end up having the highest score. And sure enough, she even did it in record time.

Out of the prize slot came a wrapped card, which when opened revealed a game card featuring the shrouded figure of a girl on a background of shiny blue. Surrounding the girl were ribbons of blue water.

Usagi stared at it, brain tingling, like she ought to remember something about it but couldn't.

"Oh wow, Ami, that's so pretty!" she said.

Ami smiled, actually feeling glad she'd agreed to come with Usagi to the arcade. She glanced at the clock and was surprised to see the time.

"Oh, I have to hurry, or I'll be late for Crystal Seminar," said Ami as she grabbed her bag and hurried to the door.

"That's the super fancy night school, right?" Usagi replied. She'd heard some of her classmates mention it.

"Yeah. Thanks for having me. Gotta go."

#

"Mistress. The gathering of energy is going as planned," the servant bowed.

"Excellent…" purred a white haired woman. Berthier smirked to herself and crossed her legs as she looked over the bright Tokyo skyline. She'd heard that two of her sisters had run into trouble with their missions.

She grinned, doubting the same fate would befall her, she was a lot smarter than her sisters.

"Is there anything else," Berthier asked her servant.

"No, Mistress," she replied.

"Then get back to work," Berthier snapped.

#

Yugi walked out of the building and stretched in the warm afternoon sun. Being locked in a grey, windowless room for an hour and a half really did a number on him sometimes. As he stood there enjoying the weather, he heard a clatter to his right.

A student was bent over a pile of books and loose paper trying to gather it back together. Yugi dashed over and started gathering the papers before the wind picked up.

"Here you go," Yugi said, handing the papers to the other boy.

"Thank you," he replied absently, still stacking his books. His hair was a dark brown color and pulled into a ponytail at the base of his neck. Yugi thought he looked a little like a human dust bunny. When they stood up, the man was, unsurprisingly, a good head taller than Yugi.

"Would you like some help getting to your next class?" Yugi offered.

The other man looked at his stack, it started at his hips and nearly reached his neck, and that was without the sizable stack of papers in Yugi's hand.

"If it's not a bother, I would appreciate it," he said.

Yugi reached over to grab some of the books off the stack. "I'm Yugi Muto."

"Daichi Mikio, School of Science and Technology."

#

The next day, Usagi had been feeling that something was off with Ami. She was absent and moved automatically. She didn't even look up when Usagi called her name. When she asked around, Usagi learned that everyone who attended Crystal Seminar's night classes came out of it depressed and quiet.

Usagi started to get really worried when she went to visit Ami during lunch and found her sitting in front of the computer, except that the screen didn't show math problems or language questions, it was just static. And Ami was staring at it blankly.

Usagi decided then and there that she would follow Ami to her class that night. It was a good thing she did. When she arrived, the Silver Princess card started glowing vibrating in her pocket and glowing.

"Moon Prism Power — Make Up!" she called. The transformation was quick, and the teenager felt more ready to face whatever was inside that classroom. She heard a shriek and bolted.

Inside, a monster had Ami in a choke hold and the other students were passed out on the floor. Sailor Moon dashed toward the monster, prepared to punch or kick or do whatever she had to, but she soon found herself pinned to the wall with razor sharp papers.

Sailor Moon fought against the blades, but the more she wiggled, the deeper the papers dug. "Ack!" she cried.

The monster chuckled and dropped Ami to the ground. "How pathetic. You can't even save yourself."

Ami huffed quietly and crawled over to her bag. There had to be something she could use. She found the card she'd gotten as a prize at the arcade glowing softly and whispering to her. As if in a trance, she grabbed the card.

"Mercury Power — Make up!"

A bubble of water appeared out of nowhere and encased her. Unafraid, she felt her clothes harden and adjust around her body. Understanding dawned on her. This was her true self, a warrior. The sphere expanded, as if there was a growing bubble of air that was about to explode. It became too much and the surface tension broke, causing the water to cascade onto the floor where it turned into steam.

"Protected by Mercury, the planet of water, Guardian of Wisdom, Sailor Mercury! Douse yourself in water, and repent!" the new Celestial Warrior cried, raising her arms defensively.

The monster growled and launched itself at Sailor Mercury. The girl disappeared into the fog and made her way to Sailor Moon.

Sailor Mercury held up her fingers and concentrated. She could hear the monster's nails on the tile, it was getting closer. "Mercury Aqua Mist!"

The fog in the room froze over, then erupted, shooting shards of ice in all directions. It destroyed the papers holding Sailor Moon in place. She dropped to the ground and glared at the monster, who was riddled with scratches and rubbing its face. It wasn't enough.

Sailor Moon removed her tiara and spun it. "Moon Tiara Action!"

The disk flew through the air and struck the monster in the chest. It screeched and poofed into a cloud of dust.

As the girls' heart rates steadied, Sailor Moon looked at Sailor Mercury, who was staring at her hands. She grasped her forearms and pulled the other girl close.

"I guess you're like me," Sailor Moon said.

"But… what are we?" Sailor Mercury replied, voice shaking.

Sailor Moon shrugged. "Warriors, I think. We need to get going, everyone is waking up."

Sailor Mercury looked around and saw her classmates stirring. "But… what about…"

"They're okay, but we can't stay."

"Okay."

"Let's go." The two girls held hands as they jumped from the second story window and ran across the city.

#

Sakura was sitting in the park and swinging slightly when Sailor Moon and Sailor Mercury bounded across the mulch.

"I thought so," Sailor Moon said.

Sakura smiled. "I felt the spike of magic, but I didn't know where to go. Sorry."

Sailor Moon waved it away. "We figured it out, right… Sailor Mercury?"

Sakura glanced at the blue-haired girl and smiled politely. "Nice to meet you. I'm Sakura Kinomoto."

"Yeah, she's the one who knows what's going on," Sailor Moon proclaimed.

"I'm not sure about that, but I might know who does," Sakura replied. "But first, you two need to transform back."

"Oh," Sailor Moon said, glancing down. "Oops."

Sorry that it's been so long since I've updated. I hit a bit of writer's block. :)

If you enjoyed the story, please leave a little comment, it helps to keep the creative juices flowing.

Happy Reading!