Setting the Stage

Erika Fischer was taking it easy coming home from school. She had just aced her Physics test, and was planning on taking the rest of the afternoon off. Maybe she'd check e-mail to see if Ami Mizuno (or Mizuno Ami, as was the polite way of addressing her) had written her back, or maybe she'd catch a nap while the news was on. It was nice to feel like a gigantic weight had been lifted from her shoulders. Erika's best subject in school was Physics, but it was still challenging. The afternoon sun felt warm on her back, and the cobblestone street was still damp from the early afternoon rainstorm. As she approached a small intersection in the twisted cobblestone street, Erika caught a glimpse of a small white and tan cat racing across into a narrow back alley. Hearing a crash of cans and breaking glass, she ran in after the cat to see what had happened. The alley was tiny and dark, and all Erika could see was a tipped over tin garbage can and a pile of trash. Not wanting to touch anything, she carefully bent over to see if she could see the cat. The trash was foul-smelling and rotten, and it was all she could do to keep her lunch from making a grand re-entrance. Just as she was about to run back to the street and gasp for air, a spot of white off to the side caught her eye. Erika turned toward the patch, and noticed two bright blue eyes staring out at her.
"Well, hello there kitty," she started. "I was just hoping that you were okay." The cat cautiously stepped out of the trash pile it was buried in and blinked at her. A little crescent-moon shaped patch of yellow fur marked its forehead.
"Ooooh, what a pretty cat," Erika half-whispered. She crouched down to get a closer look at the mark. The rest of the cat was white with large tan splotches through its fur, but this little mark was a bright gold-yellow color. Looking decidedly bored, the cat sat down on its haunches and began to give itself a bath. Erika let out a small laugh.
"Well, I'd pet you if you hadn't jumped into this trash pile, but I don't dare think about what might be in here." The cat paused from its bath and looked at her questioningly. Suddenly, Erika got the impression that the cat could understand every word she said. Shaking her head at her absurd imagination, she stood up and began to walk back to the street.
"Stay out of trouble, kitty," she laughed.
A little while later, Erika was resting in her bedroom. She had checked e-mail, but Ami hadn't responded, and it would still be a while until the news came on. So for now she was lying on her bed half-dozing. A gentle breeze was blowing and her room was filled with the light scent of pansies that grew in her window box. Erika took a deep breath and was just about to fall asleep completely when she heard a faint scratching at the window box. Irritated, she opened her eyes and propped herself up on her elbows to see what was causing the noise. The same white and tan cat she'd seen earlier was perched on the box edge and was sniffing the flowers and dirt.
"Oh, kitty," she started. "That's my flower box, not your litter box. Get down from there!" The cat paused for a second to glance at her, and then went right back to sniffing around.
"I don't think so!" Erika snapped. She lunged at the cat who nimbly jumped out of her reach and into her room. Immediately, it made itself at home and sprawled out on the braided rug in the middle of the floor.
"Oh no," she groaned. "Now I'll have fleas in my rug." The cat looked at her, indignant. "Well, I don't know where you've been, except for that awful trash pile. I suppose if I'm going to kick you out, I'll need rubber gloves." Erika began to head for the door, and the cat jumped up and swiped at her leg. "Hey!" Erika side-stepped, just barely missing the claws. "You know, if I didn't know any better, I'd think you could understand every word I've said - you certainly do act like it." Shaking her head, she started toward the door again. This time the cat ran to the door and arched it's back, hissing at her. Erika stopped, now thoroughly confused.
"Ooooooookay," she mumbled to herself. Resigned she sat back down on the bed and sighed. "Let's start this over from the top." The cat walked primly back to the rug and sat. "First," she began, "my window box is not a litter box, so I'd rather you not use it, or even act like you're going to use it." The cat blinked. "Next, I don't know where you've been or whether or not you have fleas, so I have to assume you do." The cat yawned this time. "Look, I'm sorry - obviously you can't tell me how clean you are, can you?" It was meant to be a rhetorical question, but Erika found herself jumping in surprise.
"Well, actually I can," the cat replied in a light female voice. "And I'm not that bad, but it has been a while since I had a decent place to live. Is there a problem?" the cat finally noticed Erika gaping at her in shock.
"Y - You - You're a cat!!" she exclaimed. The cat merely cocked her head.
"I thought we had established that in the alley."
"B - But, you're not supposed to talk!"
"Hmpf," the cat took a small lick of her paw. "Well, not all cats can talk. In fact, only a few of us do, so don't go talking to every cat you see and expect a response." Erika was still staring at the feline with her mouth hanging open.
"Ha!" Erika blurted. "Oh my, I wonder if I actually did fall asleep and this is some incredibly bizarre dream," she shook her head and laughed at herself.
"Does this feel like a dream?" the cat asked as she reached out with one claw and left a small red scratch on Erika's bare foot.
"Hey! That hurts!" Erika pulled her foot up and began to examine the mark. "Thanks a lot," she glowered. "And, no, it doesn't feel like a dream." Satisfied, the cat sprawled herself on the rug again.
"Good. Then maybe you'll be more reasonable about what else I have to tell you - what's wrong?" Erika was blowing the top of her foot where the scratch had become bright red and was beginning to swell and itch.
"I'm allergic to cat scratches," Erika snapped. The cat looked alarmed and jumped onto the bed for a closer look.
"Oh no. I'm sorry - had I known..."
"How could you? We just met. Anyway, I'd better go wash this out before it gets bad." The cat looked at her apologetically. "Hey don't worry," Erika said. "It's just a scratch." She got up and walked down the short hall to the bathroom. A few minutes later she returned with a small bandage covering the scratch.
"Now," Erika began. "What's your name?" The cat had resumed her spot on the rug and was dozing slightly. She yawned before answering.
"My name is Cynthia. I am a guardian cat from the Moon Kingdom."
"Cynthia? Isn't that kind of elaborate for a cat?"
"Is that a problem?"
"Well, no."
"Alright then. I am a guardian cat from the Moon Kingdom," she repeated. Erika chuckled.
"Now I know I'm dreaming." Cynthia looked at her in surprise.
"What do you mean?"
"There is no kingdom on the moon. There's nothing on the moon except for astronaut footprints and a flag!" Silence filled the room as the two stared at each other. Finally, the cat hung her head in disappointment and jumped onto the bed. She began to sniff at the window box again.
"Where are you going?" Erika asked.
"It seems as though I've made a mistake," Cynthia sighed.
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"Well, I was sure that you were one of the members of the royal court of the Moon Kingdom. But that was a thousand years ago - how could you possibly remember?" Cynthia turned and jumped back onto the window box.
"Well wait! No! Tell me about this moon kingdom - I mean, you do talk, so it's possible there's some truth to this." The cat turned and eyed Erika carefully.
"Alright," she finally agreed.
Some time later, Erika was curled up with her head propped against some pillows, deep in thought. Cynthia was washing her face.
"So, all of Queen Serenity's court was sent to earth to be reborn?" Cynthia paused her bath for a moment.
"Well, we're not sure, but most of the Sailor Senshi that have been found were important, well known and respected members of the royal court." Erika nodded, still deep in thought. She knew of Sailor Moon and was a fan of the Senshi fighting in Tokyo. She'd actually met her friend Ami in a chat room about the Senshi. But this side of the story was, well, hard to believe.
"So, where do you come into all of this?" she asked the small cat.
"I am one of the several guardian cats who were sent to find the Senshi and help them remember their past and their mission."
"Oh, okay," Erika paused again. "So, where do I fit in to all of this?" She sat up on the bed and hugged a pillow to her chest. A sudden wave of anxiety swept over her. Cynthia took her time washing her face and then looked solemnly into Erika's eyes.
"Well, if I'm right, you are one of the Sailor Senshi - although I'm still not sure which one."
"You mean, there's more than the five in Tokyo?"
"Yes, and there have been several suggestions that three, maybe more, are here in Hamburg."
"Ooohhhh..." Erika let her thoughts drift for a minute. "So which one am I?"
"Well, like I said, I'm not sure, but I think you may be the Senshi for the center of our galaxy - Sailor Quasar."
"Quasar!? But a quasar's not a planet or a star!" Cynthia sighed again.
"Just help me out, please?" the cat pleaded. Erika suddenly felt bad for the outburst.
"Okay, what do you need me to do?"
"First, look into my eyes and concentrate. Don't look away."
"Alright." Erika stared straight into the pair of sapphire blue eyes staring back. Suddenly, a bright yellow beam of light shot from the crescent moon mark on Cynthia's forehead onto Erika's forehead.
"Hey!" Erika jerked back in surprise, but didn't break her stare from the cat's eyes.
"Concentrate!" Cynthia scolded. Erika forced herself to calm down and let the cat do... whatever she was doing. Suddenly, everything she'd been told was real and in front of her. It was moving too fast and was silent, but the pain and emotions were real enough. She remembered everything. Her father, the High King, the shadow attack, Queen Serenity and Princess Serenity, Princess Mercury... eventually Cynthia broke the stare.
"Yes, it's you!" she exclaimed as the mark of the quasar dimmed from Erika's forehead. "Sailor Quasar! Hey, are you alright?" Erika had begun to cry, quiet sobs shaking her shoulders and tears flowing freely. "Erika!" Cynthia placed a small white paw on the girl's ankle.
"Yeah, I'm okay. I just can't believe that for so long I didn't..." she broke off, slowly shaking her head.
"It's okay, Erika. You weren't meant to remember until the appropriate time. It's not your fault." She let the girl cry for a while and then jumped down from the bed. Then, without warning, she back-flipped into the air. Erika forgot her tears as she watched a small gold ring drop to the rug.
"What's that?" she asked, wiping the tears from her cheeks.
"It's a special transformation ring to be used when a Sailor Senshi is needed." Cynthia picked up the ring in her mouth and jumped back onto the bed. She dropped the ring into Erika's open palm. Erika sniffed and slid it onto her right middle finger.
"It's beautiful," she squeaked through her tear-choked voice. The dark purple jewel sparkled in the light.
"Well, would you like to try it out?" Cynthia asked. Erika shrugged.
"Can I? I mean, nothing's happening."
"Well, nothing yet, but you might as well try it," Cynthia replied, every bit as curious as Erika.
"Okay, what do I do?"
"Say, 'Quasar Light Power.'" Erika stood up from her bed and walked to the middle of her room.
"Okay, here goes," but she hesitated.
"Go on," urged Cynthia. Finally, Erika took a deep breath and raised her right fist over her head.
"QUASAR LIGHT POWER!!" Suddenly a blinding white light burst from the jewel. Forming two bands, the light quickly twisted and twirled around Erika's body. Where it touched, a Sailor uniform appeared. When it finally broke away in a final burst of light, Erika was left standing in a yellow uniform with a purple skirt, collar and boots. Her tiara had a purple jewel in the point. Staring at her reflection in the mirror on her door, Erika began to finger the uniform. A smile gradually spread across her face.
"Oh - Oh my - this is amazing!" she laughed. Cynthia chuckled as well.
"It looks great on you!" the cat complimented.
"You think?" Erika gently pulled off the tiara and inspected it. "Wow... this is... this is... oh great. I'm really in trouble now," she grinned.

"Well, not yet, but soon enough, I'm sure," Cynthia purred.To be continued...
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