see exactly how strong she is. And to see if she has as few scruples as her
former master in the Moon Kingdom...she would be quite a valuable addition to
our cause, indeed..."
"Do you honestly believe that this foolish wimp of a girl is the key
to finding the Codex Enchantra?" Variscite demanded in amazement.
"It could very well be so," Bowenite confirmed. Lucinite merely
scowled and shook his head.
* * * *
Wren shuffled softly into the kitchen, yawning.
"Tired from studying that spellbook?" Darian asked with a grin.
"Yup. But I think I found a few fun little spells...."
"Practical jokes?"
"Who, me?" Wren replied innocently.
"I wouldn't."
"Why not? And please don't say,'With great power comes great
responsibility', because I'm not Peter Parker, okay?"
"Please don't mention him, that theme song gets stuck in my head like
you wouldn't believe. And your eyes glow when you use magic. That's how I knew
what colour your eyes were from six stories up on a building."
"Oh. Hmmm....that does put a damper on things." She took a bowl from
the cupboard and rooted through the cereals there. Darian finished pouring
himself a glass of orange juice and sat down at the table. Wren noticed he
was wearing his workout clothes -why did he roll his sleeves up so much?- and
realized he must have just come back from a run. Amazing, she thought, he
smells terrific even when he's sweaty! Stay focused, girl, find food...
"Hmm...Special K, Raisin Bran, All Bran, Shredded Wheat, Cornflakes,
Oatmeal...my god, do you have anything that isn't---hello, what's this?" Wren
grinned triumphantly as she held up a box of Count Chocula cereal. Darian
blushed.
"You weren't supposed to find that," he said.
"Private stash, eh?" Wren smiled as she poured herself a bowl, "You
want some, too?"
Darian groaned. He couldn't resist anything chocolate. "Please."
Wren grinned even wider and poured another bowl. She set the bowls
down on the table and went to the fridge for the milk. She passed it to
Darian, who poured it over the chocolate-loaded puffs of who-knew-what and
passed it back. Wren poured a nice quantity over her own cereal (she liked
her cereal a little dry), then put the milk back into the fridge.
They munched in silence for a while. Wren had just brownish sludge
left in her bowl, and Darian had a few puffs left which were slowly sinking in
the brown milk. He started to dip his spoon after those (before they lost
their chocolate kick totally) but sensed Wren was about to ask him an
important question. He stiffened. He wasn't so great at stuff like this.
"Darian..." she toyed with her spoon. He looked up at her.
"Yes?"
"What happened to...my family's..."
Darian sighed. He had known this conversation was bound to happen and
had been dreading it.
"The police found them and think it was some sort of random violence.
They were cremated, as the will indicated they wished."
"I see." Wren paused for a moment.
"How is it that I'm able to stay here?"
"I called a friend in administration at my old orphanage who has
contacts in the Social Services Department. She let me become your legal
guardian with a minimum of fuss."
"Your family...is...gone...too?"
"Yes. My parents were killed in a car crash when I was really young."
Wren looked up into his eyes, tears shining in her own.
"Tell me...when does it stop hurting?"
"It doesn't, you will never forget. But friends ease the burden."
They sat there for a while together.
* * * *
Wren shut the Math textbook and let herself fall forward onto her
desk, cradling her aching head in her arms. She closed her eyes and was just
nodding off when she felt a paw touch her face. She opened one eye and saw
Artemis standing by her.
"Go 'way, kitty," she mumbled, swatting drowsily at the cat, who
leapt aside nimbly at the clumsy attack.
"Whoa, she's out of it," Artemis remarked.
"Tough. Wake up, Wren!" Luna said in a drill sergeant-like tone. Wren
suddenly found herself sitting up, blinking rapidly.
"It's the voice you use with them," Luna said smugly.
"Wren?" Artemis tested.
"Yeah?" she mumbled.
"We're here to talk to you about your Sailor Scout identity. We had a
few problems coming up with a name."
"Oh, really?" Wren said.
"But we think maybe....Sailor Earth?" he tried. Darian, who had been
leaning in the doorway, frowned in puzzlement.
"Um, isn't that sort of my job?" he asked.
"Yes, but you don't wear the cute Sailor outfit, so that's not how
people think of you," Luna replied.
"Unless you want to start," suggested Wren, eyebrows raised.
"Pass," said Darian. He was a little uncomfortable at where the
conversation was going.
"Well, it's better than Artemis' other idea, 'make up a new planet',"
said Luna defensively, "That was just stupid." Artemis frowned at her. Darian
backed up a step. Those cats had sharp little claws, he wasn't getting into
the crossfire. It was hard explaining all those little scratches the next day
to Andrew...
"Why not just call me what I am, the Magist. Or Sailor Magus. Would
that work?" Wren suggested. The cats pondered it for a moment.
"It has merit," said Artemis.
"It could work," admitted Luna.
"There. Now, isn't that nice. Now go away and let me sleep," Wren
said as she put her head on her desk again.
"Not so fast. Did you study your spellbook today?" Luna demanded.
"Um, er...I-"
"Get cracking!" Luna scolded. Wren groaned and pulled out the heavy
book.
Luna and Artemis left, feeling perhaps Wren in a slightly violent
mood with a heavy book might pose a threat to their well-being. Darian left,
too, only to return a minute later with a few cans of Dr. Pepper.
"Caffeine, anyone?"
* * * *
"There. Problem solved," said Bowenite as the scrying image came into
sharp focus. It showed...a bowl of dog food.
"How exciting," commented Lucinite, "Now we know exactly what dear
Nellie is seeing. And no colour, either!"
"It's better than nothing," returned Bowenite.
"Oh, look, the dog's finally moving," said Variscite. They watched as
Wren came into view with a leash.
* * * *
Wren shut her locker door and was surprised when she looked up to see
a guy with shaggy brown hair and dark brown eyes standing there smiling at
her. Wren stood up quickly. Rob Paulsen?
"Hi, Wren," he paused, looking very uncomfortable, then continued on,
quickly, "Do you know about the party on Saturday night?"
"I've heard about it," she said slowly. Rob took a deep breath.
"Would you like to go with me?" Wren's eyes widened. Then, she
yawned. This seemed to worry Rob, who was already nervous.
"Sorry. Stayed up late last night," she said sheepishly, "Party
sounds great." Rob looked relieved.
"I'll pick you up at eight-ish?" he said, "But I'll need your
address."
"Sure," Wren quickly tore out a blank page from her English notebook.
She started to write her old address down, but caught herself in time and
gave Rob Darian's -no, HER- address.
"Oh, right...see you then!" he gave her his cute crooked smile and
ran off. Wren thought she heard something along the lines of "YesYesYesYes!"
when he turned the corner. Amazing, such a cute guy still gets all nervous
when he asks a girl out. Waitaminute. He asked me out! Me! The realization
hit Wren full in the face. I have a date with one of the cutest guys in
school! Must be the 'Shine' and 'Detangle' spells I use on my hair now...I
*like* magic!
Lita, Ami, and Serena appeared.
"Wren! Buzz is you and Rob?" Serena demanded, excitedly.
"Um, yeah, just now...word travels fast."
"That's because it's Rob Paulsen, he's so dreamy, he-" Lita was cut
off.
"Looks just like your old boyfriend?" said Ami, Serena, and Wren in
unison.
"How did you know?"
* * * *
Wren almost skipped home, it had been such a great day (for once). No
one had died, she hadn't almost been killed, no crazy accidents...and Kelly
had glared at her a lot. Wren realized this was because Rob had gone out with
Kelly for a while, something Wren could never understand. How could sweet,
down-to-earth Rob go out with a prima donna like Kelly?
Wren yanked out of her thoughts as she felt someone tap her shoulder.
She turned and saw silver-haired Daphne standing there.
"Wren? How are you?" Daphne asked.
"Um, getting along better..." she mumbled. Her great mood, ruined.
Did someone have to remind her about her family *every* time she was happy?
"Listen, I have something for you. Actually, Kim bought it for your
birthday and asked me to keep it so you wouldn't find it. Since your birthday
is in a few days-"
"Actually, a week."
"I thought I'd just give it to you now, in case I didn't see you
before then." Daphne thrust a package into Wren's arms. "Goodbye. Hope you
like your present!" she ran off. Poor girl, thought Wren, she must be pretty
upset about this, too...
She unwrapped the package. It was a silly plush dinosaur or
something, about a foot high. It had the goofiest grin on its face. Wren
looked at it and had to laugh.
* * * *
Daphne turned a corner and entered a dark alleyway. Standing there
a man in a gray uniform trimmed with red. He held out his arms and smiled,
green eyes twinkling.
"I gave her the 'plush toy'," said Daphne, now wearing a gray uniform
also, hers trimmed in blue-gray, and a long cape, as she put her arms around
Lucinite and smiled up at him.
"And she will be compelled to keep it?" he asked.
"Of course. Not only because of the spell, but also because she
thinks it comes from her dear departed brother." 'Daphne', really called
Variscite, laughed.
"The one you dated to collect more information on Wren?"
"The very same. Bowenite will never know she has it." He laughed, and
they kissed as they teleported back to the Negaverse.
* * * *
Wren flopped on her bad, shopping bag in her arms. Lita, Serena, Ami,
Rei, and Mina had insisted that she get a new skirt for the date. Wren rarely
wore skirts outside of school (she found them drafty) but thought maybe her
baggy grunge outfits weren't terribly appropriate either. She also thought
that maybe the Scouts were more enthusiastic about the date than she was!
She had just finished drying her hair after her shower and was
playing tug-of-war with Nellie (carefully avoiding drool) when suddenly she
felt something was wrong...something with the magic. At the same moment she
realized this, Darian burst through the door of the apartment.
"Quick! We have to go!" he shouted, holding the door open for her.
"Go where? I have a party in a half hour!" Wren said.
"That isn't important, we have to go, NOW!" Darian grabbed her arm
and pulled her out the door, slamming it behind him as he started running
down the hall. Wren has hard pressed to keep up with him and too out of
breath to ask questions when he finally stopped, in an alley.
"Transform! Quickly!" he said as he held out a rose. Wren took out
her brooch and concentrated, refreshed as the magic poured over her. When it
was gone, she was wearing the Sailor Scout uniform and next to her was a man
in a tuxedo and cape. He leaned forward and pulled up a sewer grate.
"Ladies first?" he said as he stepped aside.
"You expect me to go into the sewers?" she said in amazement.
"Yes...that's where the Negaverse is. The other Scouts are probably
down there, we have to find them!"
"But...ewww!"
"Could you just go, NOW, Sailor Magus?" Magus could tell he was
getting impatient, maybe a little angry, so she took a deep breath and
dropped down into the sewer, landing with a splash and almost falling. Tuxedo
Mask landed next to her and steadied her, then took off running down the
tunnels. Sailor Magus gagged on the horrible smell, then ran after him.
After running through the labyrinthine tunnels, guided it seemed only
by Tuxedo Mask's infallible sense of where Sailor Moon was, they finally
found the Sailor Scouts, surrounded by short, dog-like humanoids with swords.
They were under five feet tall, black or dark-brown furred, with glowing
red eyes. They howled as they slashed at the Scouts, who were having a hard
time holding them all off, as this was melee combat and the Scouts' attacks
were long-range. Sailor Moon beat at the dog-headed creatures with her
Scepter, Jupiter punched at them, Venus used her crescent beam at close range
(the only source of light for brief bursts at a time), Mars whirled in a
flurry of attacks (she was actually enjoying this test of her impressive
close combat skills), and Mercury was just getting destroyed. The Scouts were
surrounded by a veritable horde of dog-creatures which separated then from
Sailor Magus and Tuxedo Mask...Darklings? Sailor Magus seemed to remember
that this was their name...
Tuxedo Mask swore under his breath and pulled out a handful of roses,
hurling them at the Darklings, some of which had turned to attack the new
arrivals. About eight fell right there, but there were many more coming.
"We need some sort of large attack to hold then off before they
surround us, too!" yelled Tuxedo Mask as he slammed his extended cane into
one.
Magus desperately tried to remember the fireball spell, she had
studied it just last night....
"Ast...kiranann....Soth-aran/Suh kali...Jalaran..." she chanted as
she raised her hands towards the advancing creatures...the chamber lit up
with the green glow from Sailor Magus' eyes, and to her amazement, a ball of
fire materialized between her hands...she concentrated on making it bigger,
and it responded...
"Hurry!" shouted Tuxedo Mask as he swung his extended cane in an arc
to ward off the Darkling's advancement...but the cane wouldn't keep them away
forever, he knew...Sailor Mercury fell, and Sailor Moon stood over her to
protect her as best she could.
Magus had the fireball up to beachball size now...instinctively, she
felt the magic start to slide from her control...She had to use the force
before something went wrong...
"NOW!" she yelled, and released the fireball, which blossomed forth
and multiplied on size, roaring into the Darklings, who screamed as the
searing flames engulfed them. The few that survived, due to being close to
the Scouts when the attack came, turned and fled into the dark tunnels,
yelping...
"Wow! Pyro-girl the second!" said Sailor Mars.
"That was amazing!" Sailor Jupiter congratulated her. Sailor Magus
felt a bit dizzy, but otherwise fine, just a little tired. Sailor Mercury
stood.
"I'm okay, guys, I'll be fine as long as they don't swarm us like
that again."
"How are we supposed to fight them?" demanded Venus, "There are so
many!" The Darkling corpses began fading out of sight, leaving behind no
trace of their presence.
"And I think there are limits to how many times I can do that," said
Sailor Magus. She withdrew a bright flashlight from her pocket dimension and
turned it on.
"I guess we have to catch them in smaller groups and roast them with
our ranged attacks...we've never fought in close quarters like that before!"
said Mercury.
"You mean, you've never fought Darklings before?" demanded Magus.
"Darklings? How do you know what they're called? And, no." Sailor
Moon replied.
"I don't know, that's what I remembered them as. I think they were
Negaverse low-lifes, grunts in the armies. And if these aren't your usual
enemies, what do you normally fight?"
"Not stuff like that!" said Moon.
"Yeah, usually we get these deformed women with spiky shoulders and
names like Mop-head!" said Mars.
"Mop-head?" said Magus.
"Yeah, she was tough. I remember, she trapped us with these big green
vines or whatever." Sailor Jupiter said.
"You're kidding, right? Why was she called 'Mop-head' anyways?"
Sailor Magus was still astounded by that name.
"Well, she had big hair," said Sailor Jupiter.
"And she shampooed and blow-dryed it really quickly before attacking!"
said Sailor Moon.
"What does that have to do with green vines?"
"Um, nothing...but we got trapped by green vines a lot." said
Sailor Mars.
"Oh, that is just so stupid!" Sailor Magus' head hurt. "Sure, we
have to fight the scary and dangerous monsters when I join, it can't be odd
theme monsters, like 'Mop-head'."
"She was still pretty dangerous!" protested Moon.
"And we didn't even start on the tennis youma, who turned you into a
giant tennis ball, or that goofy-looking ski bunny youma, or that time
Neflite enchanted that girl's pencil, or the shadow warrior who was a boxer
and had a bell on his belt, or-" Mars was cut off by Sailor Mercury.
"Whatever. While you guys talked about the dubiously named enemies of
our past, I called up a map of these sewers on my computer and ran a program
to search for life-forms, other than things like those cockroaches on the
wall behind you, Sailor Venus."
"EW!" screeched Venus as she leapt away from the wall.
"Don't forget the rats," said Tuxedo Mask with a sigh.
"Let's hurry up and kill those stupid Darklings or whatever so we can
get out of this creepy sewer!" said Sailor Moon. Mercury nodded and led the
way, computer in hand. They began sloshing through the waters.
"It smells like poo-gas in here," whined Sailor Moon, a pigtail in
either hand to hold them clear of the water.
"Poo-gas?" Sailor Mars raised her eyebrows, "Look, don't complain. At
least you, Mercury, and Magus have boots!"
"Yeah!" said Jupiter and Venus with scowls. Tuxedo Mask tried to hold
his cape out of the water, but was failing miserably as the putrid water
soaked it thouroughly...he just gave up and stomped miserably on, muttering
to himself.
They continued through the sewers, blasting half-heartedly any
Darklings that came their way before they had a chance to close in....
"Hey, guys...there's a big concentration up ahead, all the leftovers
from the first encounter, plus all the small groups that managed to avoid
us," Mercury reported.
"No problem! Magus can just blast them all in a second!" Sailor Moon
said cheerfully. Mercury nodded in agreement. Jupiter, Venus, Mars, and
Tuxedo Mask just mumbled, but that was all they had been doing lately anyhow,
sloshing in smelly, filthy water, wondering why they didn't have boots, too,
and in Sailor Mars' case, debating whether Sailor Moon's boots were in her
size...
Magus shut off the flashlight as Mercury signalled that they were
very close to the concentration...They could all see the glowing eyes up
ahead...Magus moved to the front of the line.
"Ast kiranann Soth-aran/Suh kali Jaloran," she whispered. Her eyes
widened as instead of a fireball, she got a puff of smoke, and loud music
started booming!
"LUMP SAT ALONE IN A BOGGY MARSH, TOTALLY MOTIONLESS EXCEPT FOR HER
HEART! MUD FLOWED UP INTO LUMP'S PAJAMAS, SHE TOTALLY CONFUSED ALL THE
PASSING, PIRANHAS! SHE'S LUMP-"
"Oh, SH*T!" shouted Magus over the din of the Presidents of the
United States of America's catchy song, "I'm sorry, guys!"
"Where are the Ninja Turtles when you need them?" yelled Tuxedo Mask.
"Everybody attack!" screamed Sailor Mercury as the Darklings rushed
them, howling. Tuxedo Mask pulled the bewildered Sailor Magus out of the way
as the other Scouts rushed forward.
"VENUS CRESCENT BEAM, SMASH!"
"JUPITER THUNDER, CRASH!"
"LUMP LINGERED LAST IN LINE FOR BRAINS---"
"MARS FIRE POWER, IGNITE!"
"MERCURY BUBBLES, BLAST!"
"MOON SCEPTER ELIMINATION!"
"IS LUMP FAST ASLEEP OR ROCKIN' OUT WITH THE BAND? SHE'S LUMP, SH---"
A huge mass of Darklings fell, with the remaining few advancing...
"SHE MIGHT BE DEAD!"
Tuxedo Mask pulled out a handful of roses and slaughtered the the
leftover Darklings.
"What's this?" said Mercury as she held up a small figurine of a dog-
creature she had found on a ledge nearby. Sailor Jupiter took it and crushed
it in her hand.
"Whatever it was, it's gone now."
"LUMP WAS LIMP AND LONELY AND NEEDED A SHOVE, LUMP SLIPPED ON A KISS
AND TUMBLED INTO LOVE---"
"I could have analyzed that, it could have been the source of those
creatures!" scolded Mercury.
"If it is, I bet we'll find more," said Tuxedo Mask sourly.
"What happened to your magic, Wren?" said Jupiter.
"I don't know!" Magus was upset and confused, "It just went wild
again!" She felt dizzy. Sailor Moon, seeing that she wobbled, went over and
supported her for.
"MIGHT BE DEAD....WOOO!"
"Thanks, I'm fine now...it passes," said Sailor Magus in relief.
"Oh, no! You're really late for that party, aren't you?" shrieked
Sailor Venus.
"Ohmigosh! Rob must have waited forever, too!" Sailor Magus waved her
flashlight around and saw a ladder leading up to the street. She scrambled up
it, the others following, until just the rats were wondering about the loud
music, the bass rattling the pipes...and one other.
"IS THIS LUMP OUT OF MY HEAD? I THINK SO! IS THIS LUMP OUT OF MY
HEAD?" The song ended.
"I *like* that, the person grinned and disappeared, humming the song.
* * * *
Wren went slowly down the stairs and into the basement, searching the
crowd of people for Rob. She had rushed home, said a quick minor spell (small
ones never seemed to go wrong) to clean herself up, gotten dressed, and hopped
on a bus to arrive at the party at 9:47 on the dot.
A slow song was playing. Surprised and more than a little hurt, she
saw Rob dancing with Kelly! Wren bit her lip and turned to leave before
anyone saw her when she bumped right into someone. Wren mumbled an apology
and started to brush past the guy, who grabbed her wrist and drew her
towards him. Wren looked up in total surprise and saw Darian! He took her
hand and guided her onto the dance floor. They started to dance.
"I think after all that trouble you should get one dance," he said as
he smiled down at her, damp hair falling into his eyes. He had just gotten
out of the shower.
"How did you know Rob would---?"
"I've been doing this for a long time now, I know what happens when
you stand a person up due to urgent matters involving the Negaverse."
"Oh...thank you...." As they slowly danced, Wren realized that Darian
was probably one of the best friends she could ever ask for, nothing more than
that. Who needed anything more?
* * * *
Wren shut her locker door and came face to face with Serena.
"Just what do you think you're doing?" Serena looked very angry.
"What?" Wren was astonished. Holy hostility.
"You know very well what I mean. Why were you with my Darian at the
party?"
"How on earth did you find out about that?"
"There were other people there, Wren, who saw you dancing with him!
Since THEY know he's MY boyfriend, they wondered! And so do I!"
"Look, it's not what you think. I didn't ask him to show up, he
just did! He knew that Rob wouldn't wait around for me, so he came to cheer
me up."
"I still want to know what my guy is doing, trying to cheer you up.
It just looks suspiciously like you two are doing something behind my back!"
"Darian is my friend. I live in his apartment. If we weren't friends,
that would get nasty fast. There is nothing romantic between us! The only
person he is interested in is you. You two are destined to be together, or
so I keep hearing. But that doesn't mean you own him. He can do whatever he
wants!"
Serena stormed off. Wren sighed and leaned against her locker. This
was all she needed, Serena thinking she was out to steal her boyfriend. Which
was pretty crazy...or was it? Wren suspected she had a bit of a crush on
Darian. But that's all it was, a silly crush. Wren felt she was better off
with Darian as a friend. How to convince Serena of this, she wasn't sure.
"Hey, Wren! Have you seen Serena?" Wren looked up to see Ami.
"Unfortunately, yes. She thinks I'm trying to steal Darian," Wren
gave a weak little laugh.
"Oh, right, the dance," Ami said.
"Right. Isn't that goofy, thinking I like Darian that way? I mean,
he's only my friend, right?"
"Is he?"
"Not you too!"
"It just seems a little fishy, that's all. But I'll believe you if
you say you don't like Darian as more than a friend."
"Darian is just my friend."
"Gotcha."
"Um, where's Lita?" Wren asked after an uncomfortable pause.
"She had to have her wisdom teeth removed, so she won't be here for a
day or two."
"Ouch! Maybe we should drop by her house later today?"
"Good idea. She could probably use some cheering up."
"Some ice cream would do her a whole lot of good. We'll call Mina and
Rei, too. And Serena will want to come, even if she's still mad at me."
"Trust me. If ice cream is involved, Serena will want to come."
* * * *
Bowenite watched the black and white scrying image (which Lucinite
had playfully dubbed the 'Nellie-Cam' for some reason) as it shot from a chew
toy Nellie had been playing with, bounded through the kitchen, and shot over
to the couch in the living room, where Darian and Serena sat, arguing
presumably. Nellie jumped onto Darian, who started sneezing violently and
flailing around beside him for a box of tissues. It was just out of his reach,
and Serena let him suffer for a few minutes before she finally handed it over
to him. I had no idea she was so vindictive, thought Bowenite, who had found
out a while ago that Serena was really Sailor Moon (in fact he knew all the
Scout's identities) as he settled back with interest to hear the argument.
* * * *
"Thanks, Serena," Darian's voice was muffled by the tissues. He blew
his nose loudly. He wondered why the dog sat staring at them.
"Don't bother," Serena's tone was icy. Darian sighed.
"Look, Serena, I didn't mean anything by dancing with her. I just
thought that Rob would disappoint her-"
"So you took her date's place?"
"Yes. Well, no. You didn't let me finish. WAA-CHOOOO!" His eyes were
getting red. He rubbed them and continued.
"She went through a lot just to go to that party. You should have
seen her face when she saw Rob. I was just trying to be a good friend."
"Oh, Darian, it's just that lately with Wren around, you haven't had
enough time with meeeeeeee-" she started crying. Darian took her in his arms
and smiled at her.
"I know, Meatball-head, and I'm sorry. I should be paying more
attention to you. It's just that I know what Wren's going through, and she
really needs a good friend now. But I love you, and I promise I'll spend more
time with you."
"I love you too, Darian!" she threw her arms around his neck and was
about to give him a kiss when he suddenly sneezed so hard he bent over
double.
"Ew..." said Serena.
* * * *
Bowenite released his hold on Nellie, who trotted off to investigate
the wonderful world of the hall closet. He wondered briefly if he could kill
Darian just by using Nellie. It seemed entirely likely (yet another reason
humans were so inferior -allergies). He also wondered yet again why he could
no longer scry on Wren.
* * * *
Ami nearly dropped the carton of ice cream when Lita opened the door.
"I know, I know!" Lita's voice was muffled because her cheeks had
swollen up, making her resemble a chipmunk. Mina stifled a giggle.
"We brought you some ice cream," said Wren, the first to get over the
shock.
"Thanks...sounds yummy. Come on in, you guys." The girls walked in
quickly, lest some passerby saw Lita's face.
"Where's Serena?" Lita asked once they were safely inside.
"She's talking to Darian about well...you know," Rei indicated Wren
with her hand, who glared at her.
"Oooh, I---owowowowowowow!" Lita exclaimed. She ran off to get an ice
pack.
"What have you been doing today, Lita?" Mina asked when Lita
returned.
"I hope you took the opportunity to study for that History test,"
added Ami.
"That History test is a week away!"
"Right..." said Ami, not understanding.
"No, I have not started to study a week ahead for a test, I have been
watching the idiot box," Lita indicated the T.V. Ami sniffed.
"What's on? Anything good?" Mina walked over to the set.
"No, just the news," said Lita.
"Hey, look! It's about the Darklings!" Mina exclaimed. They hurried
over to the set.
"Police are baffled by reports of odd noises coming from the sewer
systems last Saturday, notably howling sounds and later on, abrupt loud
music." The announcer was replaced with a recorded interview with an old
lady.
"Excuse me, madam, but you say you heard odd noises from below? Could
you please describe them?"
The woman squinted up at the camera. She was shrunken and wrinkly, and
skinny beyond belief, a slouched bag of bones. In one hand she clutched a
gigantic black purse. Her wispy wispy cap of white hair was topped by a
ridiculous little hat with a flower tucked into the band.
"Oh, this should be a hoot," said Rei with a sigh.
"Get that contraption out of my face!" the camera obligingly backed
up a step.
"That's better. Well, I was out walking. I was going to the store,
actually. I believe I wanted to pick up some shampoo. Oh yes, and a lottery
ticket. I haven't missed the lotto in fifty-two years, ya know. Gotta play
my lucky numbers, ya know. Never miss it. Why, once I won five hundred
dollars with those numbers-"
"Uh, that's great!" the interviewer said with cheerful, if false,
enthusiasm, "About the noises you heard?"
"I was just getting to that! Young people today, no patience! No
patience at all!" She waggled an accusatory finger. A sigh was heard in the
background.
"Hey guys, what are you watching?" Serena came into the room.
"Some crazy lady talking about last Saturday in the sewers," answered
Mina.
"So are you still---?" Wren asked.
"I talked to Darian. I understand now." Serena said cautiously.
"Serena, what is that on the edge of your skirt?" Ami asked.
"Darian loogie."
"Ech! That's really disgusting!"
"He SNEEZED on you?"
"Ew!"
"Hey, look! There's another guy talking about Saturday!" Rei said.
Everyone turned their attention back to the T.V. The old lady was gone, and
now they were showing an interview, this time with a young man. The guy had
longish blonde hair, wore a plaid shirt over another gray one, and ancient
jeans. His most notable feature was the pair of green-lensed glasses he wore
over his unusually slanted eyes.
"He looks like a slacker."
"No, he looks just like my--"
"Save your breath, Lita, we know."
"And what did you hear?"
"Well, I heard these weird dog noises, like howling and barking. That
was really freaky! Do they have dogs in the sewers? I stuck around to listen
more 'cause I was curious. Then, all of a sudden, I heard this great music
blasting really loud! It was at least as good as the Pixies or the Rainbow
Butt Monkeys, which are, like, my favorite bands!" the guy was getting really
excited now. Mina had started laughing when he said "Rainbow Butt Monkeys"
and couldn't stop.
"And then?" the interviewer prompted.
"Well, it stopped," replied the guy.
"What a piece of junk," said Rei as she switched the T.V off, "I
wonder where they found those idiots!"
"Seriously. Was it a slow news day, or what?" Ami said.
"I wonder when people are finally going to realize the Scouts exist
so we can get some credit for once?" said Lita.
"I really wonder how someone came up with band names like the Pixies
or the Rainbow Butt Monkeys!" laughed Mina.
"I wonder if there's any ice cream left?" Serena said.
* * * *
A few days later, Wren stood in the center of a crowd of kids. They
were at a park. Nellie was sniffing around by a bench nearby.
"Watch carefully, now," Wren said as she waved one hand over her other
hand, which was spread out flat with a yoyo laid on it. The kids leaned
forward in unison as she waved her hand once, twice, three times, and then
suddenly, the yoyo had vanished in the blink of an eye! (Of course, the kids
were so determined to see where it disappeared to that none of them blinked.)
"Where did it go?" shrieked one little girl.
"I don't have it," grinned Wren as she showed her empty hands. The
kids were speechless.
"You better not have lost my yoyo, my mom will have a cow!" yelled
the boy who the yoyo belonged to.
"We can't have that, can we? While you'd save a fortune in milk, cows
are generally stinky creatures." The boy's eyes grew wide. Somehow, she had
the yoyo again, strung from one finger. Wren gave it a few twirls, spun the
yoyo above her head (and mumbled a short spell under her breath) and it hung
there, suspended! The kids watched with awe and didn't even notice the brief
glow from Wren's eyes. After letting it float there, defying gravity for a
minute or so (the duration of the minor spell's power), Wren calmly gave it
back to the boy, who stared at it, slack-jawed with wonder.
"How did you do that?" he whispered.
"How do you think I can do this?" Wren asked him. She clapped five
times, using the noise to cover up the chant she used to weave a spell. Then,
she opened her hand. A glowing blue ball the size of an orange of light sat in
her palm. She let the kids look at it a moment before she tossed it up into
the air and rapidly called five similar balls into existence, each a different
bright colour: purple, red, orange, yellow, and green. She tossed the new balls
up into the air after the first as soon as she magicked them up and began to
juggle.
Wren concentrated carefully on the balls as the rose and fell
gracefully. This was a bit more complicated than using her pocket dimension.
She hoped the glow from the balls would cover the very faint, but noticeable,
glow from her eyes. When she felt she had the rhythm controlled perfectly,
she used the magic to change the balls...
The children gasped as the coloured spheres seemed to burst with tiny
explosions. A bit of sparkling dust was sprinkled down on the kids nearest to
Wren, who hardly noticed, because each explosion had created a glowing
butterfly, which now circled around Wren's head. The butterflies were
slightly smaller than the balls had been -it was necessary that they lose a
little volume because it took more concentration to make their movement
patterns, which is why there had been sparkling dust- and quicker. Wren sent
them into elaborate aerial displays, diving and swirling like real butterflies
in a performance better than anything real butterflies could possibly come up
with. Wren made the butterflies spiral upwards together, until they collided
to form one large, multi-coloured rainbow butterfly. Wren laughed as the
giant glowing butterfly landed in her hands. The kids leaned in even further
for a closer look. A few braver ones actually touched the butterfly's lovely,
delicate wings and marveled at the softness. Their eyes shone with wonder.
Wren suddenly felt a disturbance. The butterfly in her hands trembled a bit.
The feeling was over in a second, but Wren knew that something had happened.
She counted, "One, two, three!" and lightly tossed the butterfly up into the
air. The butterfly soared upwards, then burst in a rain of brilliant glowing
rainbow sparkles. The kids laughed as the shower of sparkles fell on them.
Wren took this opportunity to quickly untie Nellie and run off, back to the
apartment. When the sparkles had finally faded, the kids wondered where she
had hurried off to. As did one other, previously unnoticed man, who stood
beneath some shady trees not so far away and had been watching with interest.
* * * *
Wren was hardly surprised to find Darian waiting outside the door of
the apartment. He was surprised to see her.
"You know?" Darian said as Wren shooed Nellie inside the apartment
and locked the door.
"I felt something, a disturbance in the magic, like I did before."
"Let's go."
* * * *
Tuxedo Mask and Sailor Magus met Sailors Moon, Mars, Mercury,
Jupiter, and Venus shortly after, behind an old abandoned building, possibly a
warehouse, in one of the more dangerous parts of town.
"What is it?" asked Tuxedo Mask.
"I got serious evil vibes around here," replied Mars tersely. She
could feel a strong malevolent prescence, and it was making her edgy.
Sailor Mercury looked up from her computer. "There's been reports of
missing house pets around here, and there's a suspicious lack of strays, too."
"OoooWeeeeOOooo," said Jupiter, covering her mouth with her hand,
"Scaaaaaaary," she held out her arms, wiggled her fingers, and giggled.
"Ummm..." Tuxedo Mask's eyebrows rose.
"What's she on?" demanded Sailor Magus, who was perhaps a little more
blunt.
"She was given codeine for the pain, and for some reason felt this
wasn't working enough. So she also took aspirin," reported Sailor Venus.
"It had an effect, as you can see. She's on a bit of a 'trip', just a
slight high." Sailor Mercury said, "I really wish she had told me about it.
That was a dumb thing to do!"
"Be quiet, Miss Smarty-Skirt!" Sailor Jupiter ordered imperiously.
"Anyone could have made the same mistake," sighed Sailor Moon.
"Well, then, are we going in or what?" demanded Sailor Mars.
"I'd rather NOT," said Sailor Moon,"It looks really creepy in there!"
"Does it have putrid, fecal-ridden water?" asked Tuxedo Mask.
"NO!" cheered Jupiter.
"Then I'm all for it," he said grimly as he looked at the boarded-up
window. He experimentally pulled at an board.
"It's really solid," he reported.
"It won't be for long," said Mars as she stepped in front of the door
and steepled her fingers, preparing to blast the door down.
"Hold it!" Sailor Moon grabbed her hand.
"What?" Mars glared at her.
"This is someone's private property, not a Negaverse construction. I'd
feel a bit guilty if we fireballed the door down. Plus, setting a building on
fire doesn't seem terribly safe." Sailor Moon said.
"You're SMART!" Jupiter stabbed at Sailor Moon with her finger. Mars
stepped aside.
"She has a point," she admitted,"Now what?"
"Let me try something. It's called a knock spell," said Sailor Magus.
She held her hand against the door.
"Faer....ast rinorae/Doran....delios....daedros," she intoned.
"That is CREEPY," yelled Sailor Jupiter as the boards fell away, the
lock clicked, and the door swung open with a rusty creak.
They cautiously went into the building and entered a small hallway.
It was very dark inside, there only being trickles of light filtering through
the boarded up windows. A rickety looking staircase led upwards, where it
appeared to be even darker.
Sailor Moon climbed up the stairs slowly, to avoid making it creak so
they would not alert whatever was up there that they were coming. The other
Sailor Scouts and Tuxedo Mask followed.
They arrived on the second floor. For a moment, they stood motionless
unable to hear anything. Sailor Magus pulled her flashlight out of her pocket
dimension the and started to swing the beam of light around the surprisingly
large room.
It seemed they were indeed in a warehouse of some sort. There were
piles of boxes stacked all around on the floor. No one paid attention to
those, however. They all stared at the huge spider web that stretched across
the warehouse.
"Holy Moly call me Dave Foley!" said Jupiter in amazement.
Sailor Magus slowly moved the beam of light up. The web was thick and
there were strange bundles of webbing stuck here and there. Her stomach
lurched when she realized that this was where the missing cats and dogs had
gone.
Suddenly, Sailor Venus screamed. Magus turned around to see Sailor
Venus lying on the floor, with two large bloody wounds on her leg. Venus tried
to stand up again, but her muscles locked and she collapsed, paralyzed. Magus
moved the flashlight up and saw a huge, dark-furred spider that was at least
the size of a horse for only a second as it scuttled out of the beam of light.
She had seen blood and venom dripping from its fangs.
"Cool spell, Wrensie! I like all the pretty patterns the lights
make!" Sailor Jupiter yelled out with an idiotic giggle. Sailor Magus had very
little time to ponder that as she suddenly heard a sound very much like rope
uncoiling and instinctively she dove to her left. She twisted to her feet,
bringing the beam of the flashlight around. Sure enough, there was a large
area of sticky webbing covering the area where she had just been. Sailor Mars,
who had been next to her, had dodged to her right, and had landed in the web.
Mars realized she was trapped in the webbing and she struggled with no effect.
Magus knew that this meant the spider had been right on top of her,
on the ceiling, so it was probably going to---There was a clattering sound.
Tuxedo Mask had dropped his cane! She turned the flashlight beam on him and
saw the spider towering over Tuxedo Mask, fangs sunk into his shoulders! The
spider released him and scurried off. Tuxedo Mask's eyes rolled back as he
collapsed.
"We need light," Magus yelled, "The flashlight isn't good enough!"
"There weren't any windows!" replied Mercury.
"And I want an baloney sandwich!" whined Jupiter.
Magus felt something warm and furry slam into her. She was slammed
into a stack of boxes and fell to the floor. Unfortunately, the flashlight had
been knocked from her grasp and it was now totally dark! She realized as
Sailor Moon screamed that she hadn't been the target of the spider's attack. I
have to make light! She frantically searched her memory to remember the
light spell and began to chant....
She knew the spell had gone wild the second she finished it. Sailor
Magus groaned as she suddenly felt itchy all over, like someone had encased
her in a giant itchy knit wool sock. It was a horrible sensation and very,
very distracting.
Mercury shrieked. Sailor Magus knew that Mercury had been hurt
because she couldn't control her magic properly. She sobbed in frustration
and fear.
"Try it again, Magus!" Sailor Mars yelled from the web. Sailor Magus
started to chant again, trying desperately to ignore the itchiness....
Sailor Magus shut her eyes as brilliant ball of light burst into
existence high up near the ceiling, illuminating the room clearly. The spider
wailed with pain as it was partially blinded. It stood still for a moment,
but the moment was all they needed.
"Jupiter! Blast the baddie!" Sailor Magus yelled as she cast a green
energy beam at the spider, slamming it back into the wall. The web trembled
violently as the walls shook and snapped at one end, dumping Mars onto the
ground, though she was still stuck. Sailor Magus suddenly felt very tired.
"JUPITER THUNDER, CRASH!"
The electricity crackled as it slammed into the spider, filling the
air with the smell of burning flesh. The spider gave a last twitch and then
died.
"I'll sit on my tuffet if I damn well want to!" shrieked Jupiter at
the spider's corpse. Magus knelt by Sailor Moon.
"She's hurt really bad! They need healing, now!" said Mars with fear
apparent in her voice.
"The Moon Crystal?" Magus asked.
"Pretty!" commented Sailor Jupiter.
"Only Sailor Moon can use it, and she's unconscious!" said Mars.
Sailor Magus groaned.
"This may not work," she warned as she placed her hand on Sailor
Moon's forehead and began to chant the words to a healing spell. The spell
would actually transfer her energy into Sailor Moon, healing her in the
process. Sailor Magus only hoped that she had enough energy to give...
She finished the spell and closed her eyes. Magus felt a pleasant
warmth flow from her arms, through her hands, and into Sailor Moon. She
sighed as she slipped into the peaceful blackness...and slumped forward,
unconscious.
* * * *
"Wren..."
Wren's eyes slowly opened. She saw that she was still in the
warehouse. She sat up groggily.
"Feeling better?" Luna asked her.
"I'm still so tired. But at least I'm not itchy anymore. How long was
I under?"
"A few hours. The magic really took a lot out of you, you used a lot
of powerful stuff, especially that heal spell," Artemis said.
"That worked?"
"Yes. You healed Sailor Moon, and then she was able to restore
everyone else. They're all fine now."
"But you drained yourself totally. You're going to have to rest to
regain strength," Luna said.
"You handled yourself very well," Artemis congratulated her. Wren
snorted.
"Hardly. My first light spell went wild, which got Ami hurt. If I'd
have thought to use it earlier, we'd have all come out a whole lot better. If
the heal spell had gone wild, too, they could have died!"
"You can't keep expecting that the magic will come naturally to you.
You just spent fifteen years without it, so it's not going to be the first
thing you think of, especially in crisis situations. You're not used to
fighting, you're not used to magic," Artemis returned.
Wren sighed.
"And why am I wearing normal clothes again? I didn't de-activate the
brooch, did I?"
"It seems the disguise doesn't work when you're unconscious like
that," he replied.
"Which could be very dangerous in a public battle," cautioned Luna.
Sailor Mercury came over, computer in one hand, a figurine in the
other, and a frustrated expression on her face.
"What is it, Ami?" Luna asked.
"My computer can't seem to analyze this figurine," Ami replied. She
turned to Wren. "Shortly after we all recovered, Sailor Mars found this." Ami
passed the figurine over to Wren.
It resembled the last figurine they had found inasmuch that they had
both been constructed out of the same polished black stone, possibly a gem.
This particular figurine was an exact miniature version of the spider they
had just fought. The skin on Wren's fingers tingled where it came in contact
with the figurine. She automatically set it down, a strange look on her face.
"What is it?" Artemis asked.
"How can you hold that...thing?" Wren asked Ami.
"What, it's a statue," said Ami, puzzled.
"It's....bad, wrong. I can feel it. It's not good magic," Wren said,
not really understanding why she felt this so strongly.
"If it's magic, then it would make sense that my computer can't
analyze it at all," Ami said, "It seems magic and technology don't mix well."
"You can bet those little statues are the key to these monsters we
fight," Wren said.
"Bowenite's magic entities," Luna suddenly said.
"I remember them now, too!" Artemis exclaimed.
"Explain!" said Sailor Mars. The other Scouts had come over.
"Wait, where's Tuxedo Mask?" asked Wren. Serena frowned.
"He had to go to work an hour ago," she said flatly.
"Anyways," said Luna, "Bowenite is a powerful mage. He experimented
and created many magical entities, dangerous monsters. He had so many that he
couldn't keep them all at once. So he decided to lock their powers into
figurines. It saved a lot of space, he could call on them when needed, and he
didn't have to worry about feeding them all the time. The only disadvantage is
that, in this form, they are fairly easy to destroy." Luna crushed the spider
figurine with her paw to demonstrate.
"You said he made many creatures. Are we going to wind up fighting
them all?" Sailor Venus said, a pissed look on her face.
"Probably not," said Luna, "I bet he couldn't take them all along
with him when he escaped the destruction of the Negaverse."
"So he probably just grabbed his toughest," Artemis cheerfully
informed them.
"Great," said Sailor Mars sarcastically.
"Then, can we go home now?" Wren yawned.
"Well, not until you get rid of that," Artemis indicated the ball of
light that was still glowing near the ceiling. Wren frowned, and began to
chant. When she was done, the ball of light exploded with a small fireworks
display.
"Dramatic, but unecessary. Couldn't you just have dispelled it?"
Luna said.
"That's what I tried to do," sighed Wren.
* * * *
Wren walked over to Darian, who was writing down things onto a
shopping list. He had various flyers and clipped coupons spread out in front
of him as well.
"Do you think you have enough coupons?" Wren demanded, pointing to the
gigantic stack.
"They're a necessity. How do you think I afforded that car?" He
didn't look up from his writing.
"Hmm...Count Chocula cereal, razor blades, milk, bread...why is
'tissues' written in red ink and circled like that?" Wren read the list over
his shoulder.
"No reason," Darian mumbled as Nellie wandered by. He sneezed. "By
the way, if you need anything, write it down." he slid a paper and pen over
to her and went over to the cupboard to get his Count Chocula.
"*Anything* anything?" she asked with a wide grin. Darian, pouring
a heaping amount of cereal into his bowl, didn't even blink.
"Yup, anything," he said.
Wren scrawled a few things down. If Darian had been paying any sort of
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