Part Six: Arachne Attacks?
The temple Rei called home was once again
filled with the sound of youthful voices. Nine beautiful young women and
one handsome young man cluttered the walls, furniture, and floor of the
large room. Their chatter ranged from weather to school to food. A black
cat and a white cat entered the doorway. As they moved to the center of
the chaos the black cat spoke, "We have something important to tell
you."
Those in the room did not hear her words. With a
firmer voice, the cat repeated herself. Still no one listened. The cat
took a deep breath to begin again, but the male voice of Artemis erupted,
"Quiet! Luna has something to say!"
The noise stopped and everyone turned his or her
stunned faces toward the cats. Luna now resumed her normal voice,
"Thank you Artemis. I have some important information to give you
about Sailor Arachne." The word "sailor" seemed to drip
with a tone of disdain. "As you know, Arachne targets large
gatherings of people. We have reason to believe her next target will be
the nearby beach."
Usagi squealed, "The beach! How much fun! Maybe we could go
and...um...scout out the area ahead of time."
"Usagi that is a great idea," Minako
agreed.
Rei countered, "Usagi and "great idea" don’t belong in
the same sentence." She pointed towards the two blondes, "You
two just want to go play at the beach."
"That’s not true Rei...ok maybe it is, but
if we go to the beach we know we’ll be there when Arachne shows
up."
A more mature voice entered the conversation,
"I must agree with you Usagi. We must go to the beach to wait for
Arachne’s attack...and I do long to swim in the waves of the sea."
"Luna," Setsuna asked, "how did
you figure out where Arachne would attack next?"
"Well you could say a little birdie told
us."
Haruka stood up. "You mean Animalia or
Kouken or whatever her name is told you." The cats nodded. "I
don’t know. I respect her as a warrior, but she seems to know too much.
Why didn’t she destroy Arachne in our last battle? I don’t think she
used her full abilities in their hand-to-hand fight. Can we really trust
her? What if she is under the control of Arachne?"
Luna supported Animalia. "Haruka you must
not say such things! Animalia never betrayed her Queen and would never
betray the Princess either. Artemis and I trained with her for many years
in the distant past and I know she is devoted to her calling, to her
destiny."
Setsuna nodded her head. "I agree with Luna,
besides only the Moon family can enter Faunalina without Animalia’s
knowledge. She would never allow Arachne’s evil to taint her island.
Especially by one who has taken the name of an animal to use for hatred
and darkness."
"Fine, but I will still keep my eye on
her."
Mamoru tried to change the subject, "So when
are we going to the beach?"
They departed the next morning and arrived to
find the beach particularly crowded. They walked between blankets, towels,
and scantily clad bodies littered across the sand until they found an area
just big enough for the group of ten (and two cats). In a flurry of
activity they laid out towels and stripped off clothes to reveal
multicolored bathing suits. Usagi looked around and then grabbed Mamoru’s
hand. "Well there is no sign of Arachne right now so let’s
go for a swim! Come on Mamo-chan."
The girls laughed as Usagi pulled Mamoru down the
beach. Neptune turned toward Ami, "Ami how about a race from the
shoreline to that buoy?"
With a quick glance to the proposed race area Ami
answered, "Ok, you are on."
The tall Haruka turned a cocky grin toward
Makato, "Well I may not be a swimmer like those two, but I will
challenge any of you to a race to those rocks over there."
Makato replied with a chuckle, "Hey I could
use some exercise, but it would only be fair if you gave me a head start
Miss Senshi of the Wind."
The remaining girls prepared to lie out and
perfect their suntans. Setsuna pulled Hotaru under the large umbrella she
had set up near her towel. "You can’t go out unless you put some
strong sun block on your pale skin. We can’t have the Senshi of Silence
unable to raise her Glaive because of sunburn."
The girls giggled while she gently applied the
sun block. As Setsuna watched the young girl run down to play in the waves
she noticed a shadow in the shape of a bird pass over the sand. The bird
issued a loud call that alerted the sun bathing Rei and Minako. They all
looked up and followed the owls decent onto the arm of a woman with long
jade hair tied in a braid. "Do you see her hair?" Rei asked,
"That has to be Kouken. Only she has hair that color."
"Come on Rei, let’s go talk to her,"
Minako replied.
Setsuna stopped the girls as they got up to walk towards Kouken.
"Girls why don’t you ask her to join us up here. She doesn’t
appear to have a spot to herself."
The girls quickly returned with Kouken. The
jade-haired woman bowed her head slightly. "Setsuna, I am honored
that you have asked me to join all of you."
"Kouken," Rei said quietly, "we
told you not to keep bowing to us. We may have been princesses, but here
in this form we are all just normal girls...equal girls."
"Well at least she didn’t bow her entire
body, just her head," Minako added.
Setsuna interceded, "That’s enough girls, Kouken understands our
feelings and we must respect hers as well. Anyways, since we are all here
for the same reason we might as well sit together."
"Thank you Setsuna and both Rei and Minako
as well. I realize I am no longer on Faunalina." She smiled,
"Now I would love to join you in waiting for a certain black-haired
woman."
Meanwhile on another part of the beach a woman laid underneath a red umbrella. She wore a revealing bikini of red with a black edging. Strangely, she also wore long red gloves on her hands and arms. She lifted her body to a sitting position and looked at her watch. An amused and sly laugh erupted from her mouth. "Just a few more minutes. I will so enjoy seeing Animalia’s face." She again laughed loudly as she laid back down.
Minako turned her questioning eyes toward the
jade-haired woman. "Um, Kouken can I ask you a question?"
"Of course Minako. You can always ask
questions, but I cannot always grant answers."
"Okay, why do you think Arachne will attack
here?"
"I must admit that at the time of the last
battle I was able to establish a close connection with Arachne’s mind.
As our weapons clashed, so did our minds. Yesterday I tried to single out
her mind from the others in the area. I succeeded, but I was only able to
see one image with true clarity. She was thinking of this beach and the
image seemed so vivid...it was consuming her thoughts and feelings. I just
know that this beach is her target."
Rei looked at her watch and sighed, "It is
almost three and nothing has happened yet. Do you think you could have
been wrong?"
"There is no science to telepathy therefore
it is impossible to be truly sure."
"Well," Setsuna mused, "they say
patience is a virtue. Perhaps we should wait a few minutes longer."
A painful expression crossed Kouken’s face.
"An animal in pain." She quickly scans the shoreline with both
her eyes and her mind. "There! Those boys are harming a beached
jellyfish. Please excuse me."
She jumped up and ran to the aid of the animal.
The boys scattered and she gently and methodically lifted the creature
into her hands and carried it to the water. She swam with it far from the
other swimmers.
Loud screams filled the sky. Large crabs were
attacking the people who were lying on the beach. Each crab pinched
its prey and a flower appeared on his or her heads, but still no starseeds
appeared. The piercing cackle of the despicable Sailor Arachne rose
above the chaos. The senshi gathered to fight, but they needed a hidden
place to transform. They hurriedly searched for a place of seclusion, but
they were interrupted by Faunus’ cry of "Enough!"
In a flurry of foam and water, Sailor Animalia’s
jade hair broke through the ocean’s surface. As she strode toward the
shore more of her fuku-clad body was revealed. She seemed to be encased in
a soft green glow and her eyes shone like two jade stones. When she was
free of the water’s grasp she leaped into the air as though she were a
gazelle. She soared over the bodies that now littered the sand. Animalia
brought down her staff upon the false senshi in black as she ended her
flight. Unfortunately, Arachne was ready and blocked the tall staff with
her own gleaming swords. "We fight again Animalia," Arachne
screeched. They were constantly moving and clashing their weapons
together. She continued, "Why do you fight me Guardian of
Animals?"
Animalia replied, "I fight all evil."
"No, I think it is more than that. I can see
true fury in your eyes. When you fight your eyes are definitely not
human...they are the eyes of a raging beast."
Animalia swings her staff around and knocks
Arachne off her feet. She plants her staff firmly atop Arachne’s
trachea. "Better the eyes of an animal than those of a scared little
girl who must take the name of arachnids to disperse your evil. For that I
hate you, but for falsely taking the title of "Sailor Soldier"
they hate you!" She points to the true sailor soldiers rushing to her
position. "As you say Arachne I am consumed by my animal instincts.
My disdain for you has released them. Now I kill you on behalf of the
arachnids."
Animalia raised her staff slightly and prepared
to strike a deathblow, but Arachne smiles and disappears in a chaotic mass
of spiders and scorpions. Her awful laughter lingers behind with these
awful words: "Foolish Animalia your anger has hurt you and your
friends, not me."
The jade-eyed woman drops her staff and grabs her
head. She elicits a terrible scream that sounds more animal than human.
"What have I done?"