~Who We Are~ Chapter 2-Amethyst

By: Meatball Head

E-mail: pomprincess@hotmail.com

Rating: PG

Hi minna-san!  You should all be thanking your lucky stars that Odango didn’t feel like doing her homework today.  My poor Chibi-Hamham will probably be torn between scolding me and thanking me.  Ah well, such is life, and I didn’t feel like doing my homework, so I might as well do something useful like writing the next chapter of this epic, ne?  OK.  This chapter examines Amethyst.  We all love her, but no one knows her very well, though this is the second fic she’s appeared in.  Let’s see if we can remedy that, shall we?  BTW… the cliffhanger on the last chapter… they get worse.  Boy, do they ever.  Much much worse.

Disclaimer: I own this fanfic, and I own Ai and Amethyst and Seisui and so on… But the planet Nemesis and the Sailor Senshi and the original show belongs to Naoko-sensei.  And while I’m nowhere NEAR as good as her, I’m trying!  So don’t sue me for trying to be my best^^;;;;;;

            From my position slightly to the right of the throne, I could see White Lady shaking slightly.  In an unbelievable measure of self-control, her forehead stayed clear though sweat beaded her upper lip.

I myself would not have bet on the steadiness of my own hands at that moment.  We had expected it for months, planned for it, prepared for it, but hearing it said like this was something else again.  She swallowed once in the utter silence, then her melodic voice rang out calmly in the oppressive air.  “Very well, Onyx, I suppose this was unavoidable.  Please go to the Council and send the High Councillor to me at once.  Amethyst, I want all the numbers of enrollment from the Academy.  Who has gone through, how many we have of each classification, and who is nearly ready to finish.  Onyx, go now.  Amethyst, stay for a minute, I have a few personal instructions for you as well.”

Onyx, amazingly enough, simply bowed, said “Yes, my Queen,” and left the room, not arguing with her for once.

I sent my own beacon spell to check for intruders even though White Lady had sent one.  We had to be even more sure, now.  Then, I walked around the throne, and calmly asked, “You had special instructions for me, White Lady?”

She nodded.  “Alert the Academy that learning is to be sped up even more.  I want as many ready as possible.  Those who are near finishing, raise at once, but keep them under constant supervision and additional instruction until they can repeat their commands in their sleep.  Send the ten top elite soldiers to me by tomorrow, I have special commands for them that we will discuss later.  Make sure they are young, new.  Their faces need to be unfamiliar.  Any questions?”

I looked at her carefully.  She seemed to have everything under control.  I could almost see her mind working furiously, and I thanked God, the stars, fate, everything, for bringing this ruler to our side in a time of need.  But she seemed to have forgotten one very important thing.  “Just one, White Lady.  What about the…”

She smiled half a smile.  “I’ll take care of it personally.  I am going to see my mother and Neo-Queen Serenity at once.  I will be back in exactly one minute.  I will not miss anything.”  So, she was going to use her forbidden time-sliding to alert the Alliance.  I thanked every entity out there again.

I bowed.  “I understand.  Any further commands for me?”

She nodded.  “One more.  If possible, I need to see the new elite officer Alexandrite as soon as possible.  Good luck.”  She lifted her transformation locket, transformed, and with a wave of her staff was gone.

I followed her example and made a portal into the Royal Armed Forces Academy.  Stepping out in the central office, I discovered the person I most needed to see was not there.  I cursed under my breath, and set off to find him, ignoring or only half answering the bows that followed me wherever I went.  He was in the restricted section of the library, writing something out of one of the few paper-bound books we had preserved.  The rest were kept on microchip.

“Niichan.”  My brother lifted his head from the book and looked at me inquiringly.  My older brother, Serpentine, was the head of the Academy.  He was only one year older than me, 27, but his serious nature made him seem much older.  His hair was the same deep purple color of mine, and quite long too.  He tended to wear it in a ponytail.  His eyes were almost black in their darkness, unlike my lilac colored ones.  Still, we looked very much alike.  “We are in trouble.”

He nodded gravely.  “I suppose you mean real trouble, or you would have waited until I got home instead of interrupting my research.”

“Of course.”

“I am assuming also that you’ve come to tell me that the Alpha Federation has finally stopped playing with hidden threats and declared war, not on the Silver Alliance, but the planet Nemesis in particular, and you now have a job of gargantuan proportions on your hands.  Not that you can’t handle it, but you want my help.  And that of the Academy, of course.”

“As usual, you hit it right on the spot.”  I sat down across the table from him, glad in the comfortable relationship that allowed us to bounce ideas off each other at times like these, and had gotten us out of numerous scrapes (caused by me, of course) in our childhood.  “White Lady has ordered you to speed learning even more.”

“A difficult task, with the speed it’s already at.  We’ll do it.”  He didn’t sound hesitant at all.

“All the students in the last year are to be raised immediately, training at the reserves to increase to six days a week, and the ten very best new elites to be sent to her immediately.  These, I feel, will include a certain Alexandrite, as well as a few of her class.  I will pick them myself, but I am open to recommendations.”

“Alexandrite is a good choice.  She shows great promise.  You have good judgment, Imouto-chan.  I’m sure you’ll pick well.  You had better put in a commission for the building of a few new starships too.”

I nodded.  “It’s my next stop.”

He then asked a very important question.  “Where is White Lady?  She should be here with you, usually she would have come.”

“She is in the Crystal Palace on the Earth at this moment in time, I believe.  She will return soon.”

We then moved on to the quick balancing of ideas that made us work so well together.  He asked questions first.  “Peace talks?”

“Doubtful.”

“Prince Kyogou?”

“He may be young, but he won’t talk.”

“The Alliance?”

“Behind us.  The Outer planets especially.  I expect special and needed help from the Uranian military.”

Serpentine sighed.  “It looks like this will be a very long war.”

I nodded.  Then it was my turn.  “The upper elite class?”

“Will be alerted as soon as you leave.  You can make your choice today.”

“Common regiments?”

“Already in training today.  In uniform and at call by tomorrow.”

Finally I asked the most important question of all.  “The media?”

He answered as I knew he would.  “Uncontrollable.  Try to keep the Queen out of their clutches.  Smart as she is, she wouldn’t be able to deal with so many.”

“Well I know it.”  I nodded and, bowing slightly, added, “I will be back for the elite selection tonight.  Right now, I’m off to meet the Queen.  Good luck.”

“Same to you.  We’ll need it.”

I made another portal that was supposed to lead me to the throne room to check if White Lady was back yet.  As I appeared there, I noted her presence back on the tall green throne, a small computer screen in front of her, her beautiful face showing deep concentration.  The High Councillor must have come and gone in my absence.  As soon as I entered the room and disturbed her delicate wards to warn against intrusion, she looked up.  “Amethyst, any news?”

“Serpentine is at work.  I will have the top ten elites to you by this evening.  Alex will be among them, and informed you want to see her privately.  I am about to go and commission the building of the new fleet.”

She waved her hand and a spark of violet light floated up and disappeared.  “Taken care of.  I will need you here.”

“Yes, White Lady.  May I ask why?”

“Serenity and Endymion should be arriving shortly.  The Queens of the other Inner planets have been summoned as well, and the Outer Senshi are already in the city, I believe.  They should be here any minute.  Except my mother, she can’t come now, but will be in to talk to me this evening, possibly.  I need those numbers from the Academy now if you please.”

I rattled them off to her, and she took them down in her computer, nodding approvingly or shaking her head.  Once I was done, I waited for further commands.

“And now, sit down, relax, and wait for the others to arrive.  We are having a small council.  The entire Alliance is on our side.  Of course, the Federation is much bigger.”

“Three times the size of the Alliance,” I confirmed, sighing.

“I want an honest opinion Amethyst.  Do you think we can do this?”

I looked steadily into her eyes.  “I don’t know.  Perhaps, but with great loss to our army, and the armies of the other planets.  If there were any way to avoid it, I would say that was the best thing to do.”

She sighed deeply.  “That’s what I was afraid of.”  Suddenly she tensed up.  “Someone other than the Senshi has entered inside my wards.” 

I stood straight.  In a minute, the golden Lady Topaz entered, and curtsied deeply.  “If you… if you please, White Lady, I have something here that I believe will be of interest to you.”  Her voice shook.  She had become tame and quite likeable in the past years.  Still, she rarely stuttered.

“What is it Topaz?” White Lady asked.

“I… I was in my rooms… and suddenly… suddenly a dark haired man in the uniform of… of the Federation appeared.  I thought he was going to kill me, but he simply handed me this and… and told me to give it to you immediately.  He was smiling.  He left, and I came as fast as I could.”

White Lady used a flick of her wrist to levitate the small object to her.  “A projection.  We shall see what they have to say.”  She entered the microchip into the computer, and a lifelike hologram of a very handsome man appeared in the center of the throne room.  He was tall, his skin a dark tan color, his hair black.  Most of the people from the Alpha Federation did tend to be dark.  His smile was a brilliant white as the hologram bowed ceremoniously in the direction of the throne.

“Good evening, White Lady, and you, honorable General, who I trust is present at this screening.  I am Prince Kyogou, head of the Alpha Federation.”  As if we didn’t know.  “I trust I find you well, in health as well as spirit.”

White Lady let out a slow hissing breath.  Her symbol flashed black against her alabaster forehead.  How DARE he?

“I have sent this hologram not to aggravate you, as you may think, but with a proposition of peace.”

All three of us turned and stared in startlement at the hologram.  As if reading our reaction, although it was impossible, the handsome prince paused for a moment to calmly brush his bangs back.  A politician to rival our own White Lady.  I would have admired him if he weren’t the source of my growing impatience.  I forced my fists to unclench.  Finally he continued.

“This war would be very bad for the entire Alliance right now.  The fragile economic balance would shatter, and the people who were not lost in battle would be broken in spirit.  In fact, it would be positively disastrous for all of you.  The Federation could profit greatly and expand its borders to another solar system.  Still… I will call off all imminent attacks and sign a peace treaty with the entire Alliance that will last through my lifetime.  Under one condition.”

Again he paused for effect.  I was ready to stomp my feet and scream at the hologram, demanding to know what it was that he wanted.  Topaz looked on the brink of it herself.  She was already silently mouthing words at the hologram.  I wasn’t sure I wanted to know what they were.  Only White Lady stood like a marble statue, growing increasingly paler each silent instant.  The silence was almost tangible. 

Back to the fics now!