Part One : Lights in the Sky! Is This a New Enemy?
Listen to Heart of Sword.
Kino Makoto walked along the sidewalk towards her school. She stretched as she continued to walk, hating the fact that it was Monday, and she still had an entire week of school ahead.
"Look at that!" a young girl who was walking in front of Makoto said as she pointed to the sky. Makoto glanced up at the sky, not caring what the girl was pointing at, but then she looked up again. In the sky were three balls of light, each a different color- purple, orange, and green. Makoto stared up curiously at them for a second before she started walking once again. A new enemy? Makoto asked herself.
Makoto neared her school, and she could hear other students talking and looking at the strange balls of light. The bell rang, and Makoto hurried into her classroom. She felt that somehow today was going to be one of those days. She took her seat and listened as many of the other students entered the classroom, continuing to talk about the strange occurance.
"School... I hate school. I'm never going to get used to it," Tsukino Usagi groaned as she walked down the sidewalk on her way to school. Something purple caught her eye, and she looked up to where she thought she saw something. Above in the sky she could see a bright purple light stream though the sky quickly. As Usagi looked closer she noticed a gray light as well as a green one follow the first one. No one else seemed to take notice in the lights besides Usagi because they were all busy heading to school and going to work. Usagi’s eyes widened as the lights began to speed up as they came closer to earth- some distance away from where she stood.
Usagi could hear the bell ring as she continued to look up at the sky. Usagi let out a wail, and she quickly ran the rest of the way to the school where all of the students where entering the main school building and heading off to their homerooms. Usagi let out a sigh of relief as she realized that she had just made it on time and for once was not late. Usagi dashed into her homeroom where she took her seat towards the back of the classroom; the thought of the three lights in the sky quickly left Usagi’s mind as the teacher called the class to order.
"Did you guys see those three lights in the sky on your way to school?" Mizuno Ami asked as Makoto and Usagi met up with her for the lunch period.
"I did. Some girls from Rei's school where pointing up to the sky as I was walking to school. I looked up to see what they were pointing at; I didn't think anything of it at first glance," Makoto answered.
"I was nearly late because I was looking at them," Usagi said through mouthfuls of her lunch.
The girls tuned out the yells and calls from the rest of the students who were busy talking with others. "Hey, Kaichuu, there you are!" Usagi heard one girl call out as she walked towards a silver haired girl with bright silver eyes to match her hair.
"Usagi, pay attention!" Makoto said as she brought the ondango haired girl back into the conversation.
"Did you see those three lights this morning?" the silver haired girl named Kaichuu asked the black haired girl who had called her over to where she had been standing. The statement caught Ami's attention immediately and she quieted the other girls so they could listen.
"I saw them. Did you see what colors they were, Kaichuu?" the taller girl, Shakaku, askedKaichuu.
"That's what's getting to me. They were purple," a pause came from her, "gray and green," Kaichuu said as she closed her eyes as if trying to remember the exact colors that they were.
Shakaku looked up from where she had been looking at Kaichuu, and for a second it looked as though she was looking over at Ami; their eyes locked until Ami quickly turned around the other girls.
"They know what's going on," Shakaku finished as she looked back at the other girl. The two girls then departed from each other, Shakaku walked toward the library, and Kaichuu walked to a clear table to eat her lunch at.
"They know something about those lights," Makoto commented after a short while.
"That's very odd," Ami said. Makoto took one last look at Shakaku and Kaichuu, who were far apart by now, before turning back to Ami and Usagi.
"Oh great spirits from the fires send me a vision. Do we have a new enemy on our hands?" Hino Rei chanted as she opened her eyes to look straight into the fire that she was kneeling in front of. Rei stared straight for a long while, hoping to get some sort of sign from the fires.
"Hello, Rei!" Usagi beamed as she entered the room Rei was in quite loudly.
"Usagi!" Rei yelled as she got up from her kneeling place, and she lunged at the shorter blond.
Usagi let out a wail as she saw the young priestess come towards her with a look of anger written on her face.
"Rei," Makoto said firmly as she took hold of the girl's arms to stop her from attacking Usagi.
"Sorry," Rei said as she put her head down.
"So you saw them too?" Ami asked Rei after they had all sat down around the table in Rei's room.
"It was all over the school; no one could talk about anything else," Rei explained. "I was just looking for an answer when I was... interrupted," Rei finished as she cast a glare in Usagi’s direction.
"Did you get anything?" Makoto asked.
"No," Rei answered as she looked down at the table.
"Ouch!" the girls heard from outside. A sweat drop formed on all of their heads as Anio Minako walked through the door into Rei's room.
"For once I'm not late!" Usagi beamed as she saw her friend trying to scrap off some dust from her uniform.
"I hate detention," Minako groaned as she sat down at the table next to Makoto.
"You're right, Usagi. For once you're being good, and Minako gets a turn in your shoes," Makoto said. Minako frowned, and she let her head fall on the table.
"Minako, get out your books so that you can get caught up," Ami said as she lifted up Minako's head from the table. Minako let out a groan, and then she finally opened up her book bag to get out one of the books that she had in there.
"Come on, Minako, where's the life that you usually have with you?" Makoto asked as she saw Minako work on her math slowly.
"Ami!" Usagi exclaimed as she stared at her science book.
"What is it?" Ami said as she looked up in alarm.
"I think I've got it!" Usagi screamed as she looked at her paper and then back at the science book. The chapter was on the evolution of dinosaurs, and it had a listing of all the different epochs and periods.
"What is the question?" Ami asked as she leaned over to see what Usagi was working on. Ami looked at the science book and read: "If algae were plentiful in the Paleozoic Era, when did spore-bearing plants appear on land?" Ami then read what Usagi had written down on her paper in messy handwriting. In the beginning of the Dinosaur Era.
"No, Usagi, algae came before spore-bearing plants. Algae were plentiful in the first half of the Paleozoic Era, so spore-bearing plants came after the algae," Ami explained.
"They came in the Paleozoic Era!" Usagi exclaimed, trying to pronounce "Paleozoic" correctly.
"Yes, that's it," Ami said with a smile. Usagi grinned from ear to ear and set out on the next problem. In what era did dinosaurs live in? Usagi frowned and let her head drop the way Minako's had been.
"Don't give up, Usagi!" Rei said as she shook Usagi by the shoulders.
Usagi looked up and made a devilish grin. "You do the problem then," she said.
"Stupid, that's an easy question. The dinosaurs lived in the Mesozoic Era," Rei answered. Usagi’s jaw dropped, and then she made a sour face.
"Don't say anything," Usagi warned as she saw Rei's mouth open up to speak.
"Lighten up, Usagi," Minako said, looking up from her book. Usagi let out a sigh and then continued to read from her science book.
Rei let her gaze fall from Usagi to stare down at the literature book in front of her. No one noticed as they continued to study that Rei hadn't said anything for a while. Rei didn't even realize that she closed her eyes until Makoto was shaking her shoulders. Rei opened one eye, and she saw the other girls looking at her very quietly. As Rei looked up at Makoto, she saw a flash of red behind her tall friend. Rei suddenly blanked out but continued to stay in her sitting position.
The fire cracked loudly as Rei tried to get a message from it. In the fire began to form the outlines of a group of five girls all standing together in a strange pattern. The tallest of the girls stood at the far left with a shorter girl standing next to her and slightly in front of her. Next to her stood an even shorter senshi who stood shoulder to shoulder to the tallest girl. Apart from the group stood the second tallest of the entire group, and in front of her stood the smallest of the group.
The tallest one, who was on the left, could been seen wearing a black and red fuku. Her gloves were the same style as Sailor Uranus and Neptune's had been only they had black on the ends. Her collar, brooch, choker, skirt, ends of her gloves, her short boots were all black, and her bows were a deep red. The odd thing about this senshi was that she did not wear a tiara.
Next to the girl stood a shorter, silver haired girl in a similar senshi suit. Her choker, collar, brooch, skirt, ends of her gloves, and boots were silver and her bows were a light blue. This senshi's gloves where the same styles as everyone elses' and her boots were the same style as the other girl's, and she did not wear a tiara either. Rei tried to look at the other three girls, but their figures were hidden, and only their outlines could be made out.
Rei took another look at the entire group and realized something else. At the feet of the tallest girl stood a foot long dragon who was black with red highlights. A slightly smaller dragon stood at the feet of second tallest senshi. The smallest dragon, about ten inches long, stood in front of the smallest senshi and could not be seen besides the outline that showed where it stood. The biggest dragon flapped its wings, and then a masculine voice could be heard in Rei's mind, saying a phrase which was too quiet to understand quickly.
Rei snapped her head up as she could see the other girls looking at her. Rei recalled the voice in her mind. Don't tell anyone. Why? Rei said quietly to herself as the rest of the vision seemed to fade from her mind.
"Earth to Rei!" Minako said in a loud voice as she waved her hand in front of Rei's face. Rei looked back up at the other girls, and she smiled.
"I'm sorry, but we have to stop here," Rei said as she closed her book.
"What? Why?" they all exclaimed at her.
"There's something going on that I really need to take care of," Rei said as she looked at the door, indicating that they needed to leave. The girls looked at Rei with question on their faces, but they did what she told them to do.
Just as everyone left from the room, Rei walked over to where the fire burned. Rei settled herself in front of the fire, and she closed her eyes. "If I am not supposed to tell anyone, what does this mean?" Rei asked the fire. In her mind, the vision from earlier came into Rei's mind, but nothing had changed in it. By just looking she could tell that the other girls where also wearing the senshi uniforms, but she could not see what they looked like. Suddenly things began to change; the smallest dragon flapped its wings and left the scene, none of the others moved. Rei watched as a second dragon, the one who could not be seen, left just as the other had. The four senshi standing to the right, the second tallest, the second shortest, and the shortest, walked away from the scene, leaving the tallest senshi, who could be seen, the largest dragon, the silver haired senshi. The largest dragon left next and did not return, leaving the others.
The largest dragon then flew back. The new scene puzzled Rei; the tallest, black haired senshi remained with her arms crossed, the dragon on her shoulders, and the silver senshi standing next to her. The whole thing stayed frozen for a few seconds before more movement took place. The shortest of all the senshi walked back into the scene, and they all took they places they had been in; minus the absent senshi, and the smallest dragon flew in and landed at the girl's feet. The second tallest senshi also came in with the second largest dragon following, and they took their place. Last came in the second shortest senshi, who was know holding a staff in her right hand.
Nothing happened, and Rei just looked at the figures standing in front of her. They all seemed alive, yet they had the stiffness of statues. The only ones who could still be seen where the tall senshi, the silver haired senshi, and the largest dragon. Rei continued to watch until the vision blurred, and she opened her eyes.
She still had no idea as to how the vision was connected to the three balls of lights in any way, but it was a vision of some kind, and that was enough for now. Rei stretched in a relaxed sort of way and made her way out of the room.
From the fire emerged the shape of a phoenix. The bird, being about two feet in length, flew around the room silently with a trail of fire following it. The bird let out a scream that seemed to resemble that of a hawk, and then it flew back into the fire.
Back to the introduction ~
On to Part Two