Disclaimer: I do now own any of the characters used
in this fic nor am I making any money from it. Saban Entertainment owns
them all. I hope you all like it!
Gazing at the Stars
By: Emily
No matter what she was going through, she could always find strength and
reassurance by sitting beneath the stars. Whenever she gazed upon their
majestic beauty, she felt a sense of peace and happiness. She had always
been able to get strength from the stars. Maybe it was because she had
grown up exploring galaxies. Or maybe it was because her only home for
years had been in a spacecraft, where there had been little else to do other
than staring at the stars. Whatever the reason, she didn't care. All
she knew was that she had always felt safe under the stars.
I felt like I belonged out there, Karone thought wistfully as she
stared at the stars from the small window in her house. I love living
here on Earth, but I don't feel like I really belong here. I belong out
there, exploring the galaxies, watching the stars.
Though it had been five years since she had settled on Earth, she still
missed space. Here she was confined to one planet, usually once
city. Out there, she could travel where ever she wanted, whenever she
wanted. She could explore different worlds and meet people of different
race and customs. She would appreciate them now, since the curse of evil
had been lifted from her.
I know that it's been years since I've been evil, but I still feel
unclean, she sighed, turning away from the window and closing her
eyes. I still feel like the mark of evil is on me and I'll never be
able to make up for everything that I've done. I destroyed people, their
cultures! How is a person able to make up for something like
that?
As tears slowly began to fall down upon her cheeks she stood up suddenly,
knocking into the table as she did. She paid no heed to the slightly
spilled coffee that had splashed upon the table. In just a few steps she
had left the house and entered her backyard. Starlight spilled over her,
illuminating her shoulder length blonde hair. After years changing her
hair color daily as Astronema, Karone had never changed her hair. She had
let it grow naturally, trimming it every now and then.
It feels strange, she thought, separating Astronema and
Karone. It seems as though I have been two different people, with no way
of connecting them. I've even begun to talk about Astronema as if I was
never part of her. As much as I hate to admit it, I was part of her.
Part of the shadows and evil that Astronema lived for were part of me.
Even now there is a shadow over part of my soul, crying out for
redemption.
"I wish I could find someway to make up for the sorrow I have caused,"
Karone whispered, tears slipping down her cheeks. "I have no right to live
without trying to make up for my wrong doings. I have to do something, but
I don't know what."
"Ecliptor would have told me to do what was right for the situation.
He would have told me to do what my heart said." Karone turned her gaze
upwards as thoughts of her former guardian came to her head. "Even though
we both were evil, I always felt that Ecliptor cared for me. He never
yelled at me or hurt me. He only scolded. He always wanted me to do
what my heart said, even though at the time my heart was as cold as ice.
But when I realized the truth about my past, he let me go. He sacrificed
himself in order for me to have my freedom."
I miss him, she admitted. I did care for him. I
felt as if he were a father that I never had. He protected me from Dark
Spectre, from the true evil that could have taken me. I'll never forget
him. If I did, I would be forgetting a part of myself, the part that I
grew up in. I was Astronema, Queen of Evil.
She sighed as the memories of Astronema once again came back to her.
It seemed that lately, no matter what she did, thoughts of Astronema and what
she had done would come back to her. More and more she had been filled
with a sense of discontent of the life she had on Earth. Sure, she loved
being with her friends and her husband but even they could not fill the void in
her life. She needed to get away from Earth, just for a short while.
But she did not know where to go or how to get there.
Karone was broken from her thoughts as she heard footsteps behind
her. She turned around to see Zhane slowly walking towards her, a look of
shock on his face. She slowly stood up and walked towards him, concern
evident on her own face.
"Zhane, is something wrong?" she asked softly, looking into his eyes.
For a few moments they stood there in silence. Zhane opened his mouth to
say something, but quickly closed it again as he looked away from her.
"What is it? Is it Andros? Has something happened to him?"
Zhane merely shook his head as he averted his attention back to
Karone. He took a deep breathe as he began to speak. "Andros just
contacted me, telling me that they were coming home. He said that their
work on Terra Venture was finished for the time being and that they had to get
back to Earth."
"But that's good, isn't it?" she asked, her forehead wrinkled in
confusion. Why would Zhane be upset if Andros and the rest of the
rangers are coming home? There is something he is not telling
me.
"That's not all though," Zhane sighed, his voice lowering down to a
whisper. "Andros was very upset when he contacted me. When I asked
him why, he couldn't even talk. Finally he told me that there had been an
accident. Somehow, Trakeena had gotten hold of the data cards with
information about the Psycho Rangers. She brought them back. Andros
said that with the combined number of rangers, they had been able to defeat the
Psychos. Or so they thought. It turns out that Psycho Pink had not
been destroyed. She found out where the Savage Sword was and she went
after it. Kendrix Morgan, the Pink Galaxy Ranger, and Cassie went after
her. After a huge battle, Cassie was separated from her morpher.
Psycho Pink drove the Sword into Cassie's morpher. Cassie was
immediately filled with pain, so much so that she could not
move. A pink forcefield surrounded the Sword and the
morpher, so nobody could enter it. As Cassie began to cry out
from the pain, Kendrix realized that they only way to save Cassie would be
to save her morpher. Against everything that she was being told,
Kendrix went into the forcefield. She managed to reach the center, where
the Sword and morpher were. She was able to destroy the Sword."
Tears had slowly begun to fall down Zhane's cheek as he recalled
everything that Andros had told him. Karone slowly put her arm around
his waist, trying to comfort him from the pain he was obviously going
through. Zhane gave her a slight smile before continuing with the
story.
"After she had destroyed the Saber, a wave of energy burst into her.
She fell to the ground while the pink forcefield disappeared. All of the
rangers quickly demorphed and ran over to her, only to find that she had
disappeared. Andros said that Kendrix's spirit smiled at all of them,
telling them she was okay. After that, her spirit disappeared and
her Quasar Saber shot into space. She's dead, Karone. Kendrix
gave her life in order to save the others."
Zhane was silent as he looked away from Karone. She was oblivious to
all of this, as her thoughts came crashing down onto her.
Oh God no. Because of the Psychos, one of the rangers has
died. Because of the Psychos which I had employed, she's dead. If I
had not told Ecliptor to put information of the Psychos on data cards, none of
this would have happened. She would still be alive.
Tears blurred her vision as she became lost in her thoughts. Even
after my days as Astronema, I am still causing people pain. Even after the
curse of evil was lifted from me, I can still manage to kill people. If
only I had not told Ecliptor to put the Psychos information on data cards, none
of this would have happened. How can I ever make this up to the
rangers? How will I ever be able to face this one?
Suddenly, as if someone had heard her thoughts, a shooting star flew
across the sky. Karone watched it, a sense of desire filling her.
She had been filled with information, as if someone had whispered it in her
ear. The Pink Quasar Saber is incredibly powerful. If it is to
fall into the hands of evil, all is lost. I have to find that Saber,
because it is partly my fault that they lost Kendrix in the first
place. But where would it be?
Karone closed her eyes, desperately reviewing the galaxies she had traveled
through. Planet after planet she named, but none of them seemed to be
right. Suddenly, the name of a small planet popped out at her.
An image of Kendrix passed through her mind. Kendrix seemed to
be smiling, nodding her head as the name of the planet came to Karone's
head.
Gwinit.
She did not know how she knew, but she did. The Quasar Saber was on
the planet Gwinit. This is my mission. This is how I can start
to make up for all the evil I did while I was Astronema. Then maybe I can
put her behind me. Then I can settle down on Earth without a void in my
life.
Karone looked up at the stars, smiling as she did. This is what
I'm supposed to do. Who knows what will happen now. All I know is
that this feels right. In order to make up for the pain I have caused, I
will return what rightfully belongs to the side of good.
The stars really are beautiful. And now that I am beginning to
make up for what I have done, it is a lot easier to enjoy their beauty.