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 Posted: Sat Feb 06, 2010 12:23 pm
It had been a beautiful day. Three teenage girls, enjoying a day of shopping, a movie, and more shopping. Really, even in Destiny City a debutante could find things that would satisfy an innate sense of style and taste. Especially when it was daddy's unlimited credit card that was doing the buying. Prada, Gucci, Ralph Lauren and Jimmy Choo, all very important names for a young woman to know. A lovely early dinner at the most expensive restaurant they could find, and back to shopping! Jada Chamberlyn and her two hangers-on were loaded down with bags as they entered one last store of the evening.
"What time do we need to be back at your little school?" the speaker was a voluptuous blonde, obviously dyed, who minced as she walked in boots with heels obviously too tall for her to balance properly. "And goodness, Jada, why did you encourage me to get these silly shoes?" she pouted, not at the girl she was speaking to, but in the direction of a particularly handsome young salesperson who was looking over at the three bag-laden girls. "Please tell me these pants are as tight as they feel." her voice was lower now, a hissed sound.
"Vivian, you look wonderful." the dark-haired one of the group spoke up. "And those boots are cute. It isn't their fault you're tottering around like that." Violet eyes gleamed. "Now, a bookstore and cafe. Please tell me we'll get to sit outside for at least a little while." Jada's face was wreathed in smiles for her public, her voice like iron. "You know how I love fresh air." The two little blonde sycophants with her almost jumped on her unveiled suggestion. Of course they would love something to drink! It was Mr. C who had paid (or would pay next credit card statement) for the little outing they were having. He'd even offered the car for their use, even if Jada had turned it down, preferring the walk. If it weren't for her daddy's money, they would hate her. "And we don't have to be back until eleven. Plenty of time to get back, if we are very careful." The unspoken curfew of Destiny City wasn't mentioned.
Also not mentioned was Jada's concern that she hadn't taken the car like her father had offered. After dark wasn't a good time to be out. She hadn't planned to shop like this, with not even a free hand between the three of them to wave about the mace or pick up their cell phone should something happen! Still, ten o'clock came all too fast. The bookstore was closing, so they got their last drinks in the cute little Styrofoam cups that the cafe offered. Last purchases were all bagged up and placed inside other, less-full bags.
Finally, slowly, the three started walking back in the direction of Crystal Academy. By this time, between the three, chatter was minimal enough. Giggling, however, was common, especially between the two girls in the back. Turned out, based on the conversation Jada was only half minding, Lisa had gotten the phone number of the salesperson Vivian had her eye on. World War XCIX was about to start, just between the two countries of their ego's alone. They had just started bickering when Vivian finally tripped, bags sprawling to the ground. At least it would diffuse the phone number situation.
"Classy, Vivi." Lisa mocked, her nasal voice carrying. "Forgot how to walk, and you haven't even sneaked a drink yet." Jada turned back around to see, and for a moment, none of the girls were worrying about any kind of a curfew.
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Posted: Sat Feb 06, 2010 1:55 pm
There it was again. That ringing bell in the back of Ophelia's head that screamed Stop lounging in the sun and go save the world. It was an incredibly annoying thing, to have your afternoon nap interrupted by some sort of Spider Sense for Unawakened Senshi, but it was the purpose for which Ophelia had been brought into the world. Thus, she sprang up from the windowsill of the bookstore whose owner had welcomed her in from time to time and stretched her small body out with a wide, salmon-scented yawn.
The next few hours were perhaps the most dreadfully boring of her life.
Ophelia had picked her way through the shopping center until she found the girl who had set off the bells ringing in her head. Bells that said Here, here! There's a senshi here! She was a pretty thing, as so many of them seemed to be, but flanked by two of the most annoying, leech-like children Ophelia had set eyes on. The girls babbled more than talked, and the way they clung to her dark-haired target made the guardian hold back more than one disappointed sigh.
Kids these days.
The feline followed them from store to store, lingering behind garbage cans and under patio tables until they emerged from the last shop. Ophelia eyes the small wall clock that signaled the approaching curfew and couldn't hold back the renewed sigh of agitation. It wasn't their fault, really. They were children. Teenagers with no idea of the dangers that lurked in Destiny City after dark, of the lengths to which the Negaverse would go to further their own power. Even at the expense of innocent lives, they would stop at nothing. It was a fact which Jada – Sailor Scylla, as Ophelia saw her – would soon know all too well.
It wasn't until the bratty blonde fell that Ophelia finally made her presence known, padding quietly out of the darkness with one soft, awkward sounding, “Meow!” No matter how hard she tried or how many times she practiced, her attempts at meowing always came out awkward and very much not catlike. Ignoring her own inability to accurately sound like a cat, she hopped up onto the fallen girls back, staring up at Jada with wide blue eyes.
“Meow.”
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Posted: Sat Feb 06, 2010 6:15 pm
Serandite didn't know who they were but they were annoying, annoying and annoying. It couldnt be said once. It had to be emphasized thrice. She had been peacefully lying on top of a tree, a distance away, and she could already hear that nasal voice and other high pitched voice fighting over something. It was typical enough to assume, the fight was over a male.
She really would have skipped over their starseeds for the night in that far tree she was sleeping in, if they had just been a little quieter. THey could have passed by silently and nothing would have ever happened that night. Except for the inconvenient fact, they did not.
Oh, how Serandite and the both of them would soon wish that they did stay quiet.
Serandite had just woken up and was still a little disoriented, crawling down from the tree rather than jumping down. She had yet to see the fallen girl or the cat that jumped on her, simply making out the two girls fighting in her slightly blurred vision. Her target, as far as she could see, was the two previously bickering girls alone.
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Posted: Sat Feb 06, 2010 7:50 pm
"Unlike you, I don't need a drink to be bubbly." The two blondes started off at it again, one high pitched and nasal, the other just annoying as s**t. Somehow, over the two other voices, she heard a faint meow, and glanced a little past the fallen (and starting to rise) Vivian. And then the platinum blonde was toppling over a bit as a lovely little stray leaped up onto her back. "Ew! What's on me?! What's on me?!"
So shrill. Why, again, had her mother encouraged her to cultivate a friendship with these people? Ah, right, the social advantage. "Oh shut up and stop moving." she snapped, and the honey-blonde Lisa was giggling nervously. Jada's body was still partially hidden from the unseen Negaverser by Lisa's, who was also hiding Ophelia from view by virtue of the luck of the situation. It would not necessarily stay that way for long.
The dark-haired girl bent down. "Hello, lovely. You are a pretty kitty cat." she held out her hands. It was obviously a friendly enough cat if it came up to three people it had never seen before in the middle of the night. She moved the hands closer to the cat, intending to scoop the animal up off of Vivi's back and get the other girl up before she started shrieking about fleas. "Come here, sweetheart!"
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Posted: Sun Feb 07, 2010 12:04 pm
Quite suddenly, Ophelia's newfound perch was moving around and squealing in that horrible, horrible voice. The little feline winced visibly and released a low, agitated growl, but did well to keep her claws in. She had half a mind to ruin the prissy girls shirt, but thought better of it after only a half-second of consideration. After all, it wasn't her fault that she had obviously been raised by a television and a credit card instead of proper parents.
It was only Jada's outstretched hands that saved Vivian from having a furball hacked up between her shoulderblades. Ophelia leapt into those arms with only one last, disgusted glance at the blonde. It took only a moment before she was curled up quite happily in the soon-to-be senshi's arms. It was a relief that the girl was a kind one. Ophelia had half expected her to be as selfish and snobby as her two clingy, bickering companions.
Her moment of relief was exactly that, only a moment. As Serandite awoke, so did that telltale energy signature that set Ophelia's hair on end. The cat curled up tightly in Jada's arms and stared off into the darkness with a low growl. She couldn't tell where the Negaverse agent was or if it was an actual agent or just a youma, but Ophelia could feel something there in the darkness. Whatever it was, it was most certainly Negaverse.
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Posted: Sun Feb 07, 2010 2:42 pm
They didnt even see it coming. Honey-blond Lisa suddenly fell backwards, to the liekly surprise of the other two girls. She fell into a pink haired girl's arms, or the lieutenant that Ophelia would recognize to be Serandite. Serandite was smiling smugly. Crystal girls. Annoying little things that were like noisy puppies, all yap and no bark. Yap, yap, yap. Noisy little pests.
Lisa's corpse dropped to the ground, the warm body slowly becoming cold, a shiny starseed in one hand. It emitted an unearthly glow, the sound of the fallin body echoed loudly through the area.
"Hi there girls. Nice night to be out, isn't it?" By now, Serandite saw that there wasn't just two girls. There was three. She saw the back of the two girls, the cat was blinded from her vision.. for the moment. She didn't think that they would be a match for her. After all, it wasnt as if Crystal girls usually had any fighting experience.
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Posted: Sun Feb 07, 2010 9:16 pm
Jada patted the strange cat gently, her tone like ice as she reached down again to help Vivi to her feet. "I mean, really," she started, and paused as the cat started to grown. "Get up." she hissed, yanking at the other girl and dragging her roughly up. "I think we should-" listen to a cat? Remember the fact they were out long after curfew without a car, three little fools about to get mugged? Oh, the number of things they should do or should have done. "Brush yourself off and switch your shoes if you need to."
It was at that moment that it happened. Lisa started falling backwards, and Jada's blood ran cold with annoyance; she watched the darker blonde fall back, only to be caught by a smaller girl. "Lisa!" Vivi started, only half a step, then backed up two as the pink-haired girl seemed to just let her fall. Lisa's face was even more unnaturally pale underneath her makeup than normal. "Look here, she is injured, can't you tell? Why are you dropping her?" Vivian and Jada both flinched as the limp body made a thud on the ground. Vivi didn't step forward towards the other girl and Lisa's limp body, not any more than Jada did. In fact, the two girls stepped backwards rather than stepping forwards, both of them suddenly nervous. What was that in the stranger's hand? What glowed so in the small hand?
"It is a very pleasant evening." Jada agreed, holding the cat closer to her. Why was she so frightened right now? The other girl was smaller, after all. And there were the two of them.
Vivian was backing up faster now, towards the street. "We'd better get some help for Lisa." The platinum blonde said after a second. "A heart attack, maybe? I mean, she is pretty out of shape. Inactivity and all. Total bookworm, ate way too much ice cream." The corpse was almost supermodel thin. She dropped one of the bags, reached for her cell phone. Why were her hands shaking so?
Why couldn't Jada move? She was almost paralyzed by her own fear. There was no reason to be scared aside from the cavalier attitude of the small girl who had just watched someone collapse to the ground and ignored it. You didn't even ignore a hobo like that, much less a girl who had been holding a bag clearly marked with the name of a sickeningly expensive Italian designer. The black shoulder purse fell from her shoulder, caught by the crook of her arm, and she ignored it. Her purse not being in its proper place was the least of her worries right now.
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Posted: Mon Feb 08, 2010 8:09 pm
As Ophelia laid eyes on Serandite, she felt her heart sink. It was not fear which gripped her now – Ophelia was certain that if she must, she could handle a Lieutenant – but sadness. Sadness because she had failed to pull Serandite from the grip of the Negaverse and now... now there was no going back. She was willing to kill even when she knew exactly what she was doing. It saddened Ophelia to see such a young woman fall, but fallen she had.
Now, there was no going back. Ophelia did not believe in the shades of grey that lingered between black and white, in the alternatives to the absolutes of good and evil. This was a war, and those who were not with them could only be against them.
“Run,” the cat was suddenly talking, though this was the least of the things Jada should have been worried about. She couldn't give the girl her henshin pen here, where Serandite would know her civilian identity. Jada - everyone she knew, everyone she loved – would spend the rest of her life with a target on her forehead if Ophelia wasn't careful.
“Run now. Find somewhere secluded. Somewhere safe.”
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Posted: Tue Feb 09, 2010 12:52 am
Serandite did a round house kick that knocked the cell phone to the ground, out of reach unless they lunged to the ground and reached for it. If that happened, that would make it much easier to grab their starseeds. She giggled over the girl's nervous assumption, a sly grin crossing her face.
"Oh, you think it' a heart attack? How priceless. And police try to warn kids to go home early but little brats like you just have to--" Her grin froze for a moment and then faded to an "o" expression, hand in front of mouth in a slight view of shock.
Serandite's heart sank for similar reasons-- as soon as she caught sight of the familiar cat, she felt as if her heart had been stabbed. At their first meeting, Serandite had proceeded to run out on her, her corrupted starseed pulled her away from the little hope that had been left.
But.. as fate would have it, they would have to run into each other eventually again. And now wasn't a good time. But when was it ever?
Serandite steeled herself although a look of sincere regret flashed across her face. But only for a moment, her face taken over by obviously conflicting emotions. "Running won't get you anywhere. What are you doing here Ophelia? I didn't come here for you." Serandite asked, trying to keep the conflict from rising in her voice.
You can make an omelet without breaking a few eggs. The words Rohan had told her was repeated like a mantra. You have to. You can't back out of the negaverse now. She had to stay firm. Her corrupted starseed wouldn't allow her otherwise-- and doubting the negaverse meant her death. And dying wasn't on her list of priorities yet.
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Posted: Tue Feb 09, 2010 1:22 am
Vivian shrieked as the pink-haired stranger kicked at her hands. And when the cat spoke, that was it for her. She didn't even bother to kick off her heels before she took off, not looking behind her at the corpse, or the dark-haired girl, or the freaky cat. She wasn't particularly fast, but she was also shrieking like a ninny.
Meanwhile, Jada had dropped the cat almost the moment that it started talking to her. Run? Run?! And the pink girl knew the cat? Okay, well, maybe the cat could be a distraction! Wordlessly she darted off obediently, for the first time glad that she hadn't chosen to wear impossible shoes. Jada went for a different street than the panicked Vivian, who was apparently running for who knew where. She believed the police station lay in that direction. But the cat had told her to get somewhere safe. Somewhere secluded? Why was she listening to a cat?
Because she'd just seen something that even she knew wasn't right. Something even she knew was dangerous, and if that cat had the ability to talk, she would put money on it being more likely to stop whatever had knocked out or killed her companion than she was. And frankly, if something happened, she hoped the little pink-haired girl would go after Vivi first. Not that she wanted anything bad to happen to her, but she knew the blonde was wishing for the exact same thing. Her feet hit the pavement like dull thuds. To her own ears her running was so loud. She felt as though she were moving so slowly.
Find somewhere secluded. Somewhere safe.
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Posted: Tue Feb 09, 2010 7:59 am
“I'm doing what I must,” the feline said, landing gracefully upon the ground as Jada dropped her and took off in the other direction. There was a faint glow, a sight that was familiar to Serandite, as the cat took on that rarely used human form. The pretty blonde, appearing to be in her mid-twenties but with eyes that spoke of much older knowledge, stood between Serandite and the fleeing girl she had to protect. Her bare feet did not seem disturbed by the cold concrete as she took a step towards the Negaverse agent.
"To protect these people from your evil."
Nearly everything about her seemed the same. The pristinely clean white dress, the board-straight river of pale blonde hair, even the strands of tiny blue crystals that chimed lightly with the wind. The only difference was the expression painted on those pretty features. There was no sadness now, nor any look of pity. There was only the cold, calculating type of anger reserved for enemies of the Moon Kingdom.
She had given Serandite her chance, there would not be another. The attack came suddenly, a burst of white-hot light speeding towards Serandite. It was not capable of damaging her, but it was more than enough to knock the girl off of her feet and disorient her long enough for Ophelia to catch up with Jada and help her transform. If the attack hit, Ophelia would waste no time. She'd take off running, shifting back to her natural form mid-step, in search of Jada.
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Posted: Tue Feb 09, 2010 5:59 pm
Even though Serandite had seen it once already, Ophelia's stunning human form drew a look of brief amazement but she reminded herself, this would turn to a battle. Ophelia had no more pity for her than Serandite had for the cat. They were enemies now.
But she still wasn't prepared for the beam of light that hit her, falling back onto the concrete, her fall cushioned by her rabbit. Her vision was spots of white and red, her vision disoriented from the sudden exposure. She used her elbows to prop herself back up, hand to head in a confused manner.
Oh. Ouch. Her body hurt from falling on her rabbit. Although it had cushioned her fall, ten pounds of firm stuffing was not the softest material she could have fell on. She cursed the cat aloud, a deep frown taking over her face. Who knew that cats could have magical powers? Sheesh, why wasn't there a manual to explain this stuff? She grumbled these thoughts, wobbly making her way back up. She should jump on a building and look for them-- but her legs were wobbly from the fall and she struggled to stand up after the blinding attack.
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Posted: Tue Feb 09, 2010 9:21 pm
Jogging had never prepared her for the all-out sprint that was wearying Jada. It didn't help that she'd kept a grip on the bags she carried, the plastic rubbing against itself. She had to breathe before she could continue running. Crystal was still three-to-five minutes away, even if she had been driving! But not here, she couldn't rest here. Did she have a choice? The student threw herself off of the sidewalk, pressing her back to a tree and huddling there, taking slow, deep breaths.
It was hard not to gasp for air. She needed to be focused. She knew she was more athletic than this, she jogged for at least twenty minutes every morning! But the fact that she was running, possibly for her life, was making her throw every fact she knew out the window. She glanced back in the direction she had come from, trying to see if someone was chasing her. Had she been followed? Had Vivi?
She set the bags down in the dirt, pretending that the rustling of the plastic was quieter, and that the zipper on her purse was silent. Luckily her own cellular phone was on silent, so as she pulled her cellular phone she decided she would try and pray instead.
Slow, deep breaths. Please God, please Buddha, please Zeus and all the Olympians, please I DON'T CARE WHO, let me get home safe tonight. With shaking fingers she started texting a short message. Lisa had a heart attack, Vivi and I are running like hell from a scary little girl. She couldn't even bring herself to send it, instead snapping her phone shut and sliding it back into her purse. Purple eyes went back to the direction she'd come from and the trees above, before she started to move back for the sidewalk.
Just a few more minutes to safety, right?
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Posted: Thu Feb 11, 2010 2:26 pm
The moment Serandite hit the ground, Ophelia took off running. The shift back to her natural form was fluid, but the transformation had taken its toll. She was slower than before, but urgency granted her the speed that tiredness had stolen. Following that natural tracking signal in her mind, Ophelia made a beeline for Jada. When she found her, it was off to the side of the sidewalk, in an area secluded and dark enough that Ophelia felt comfortable creating her henshin pen here.
Not that she had a choice. Time was vital now, and it was not on their side.
“Jada!” How did the cat know her name? Because she's a magical cat, duh. “Jada, listen to me and listen well. You don't have much time.” Ophelia was speaking between panted breath, her tiny frame skidding to a halt at Jada's feet. Tiny claws raked the dirt, and Ophelia clumsily tumbled once before springing to her feet. There was a backflip and a very unconvincing meow, before a blue and white henshin pen came rolling across the ground, stopping as it hit the heel of Jada's shoe.
“You are a senshi. To be specific, you are Sailor Scylla, Senshi of the Kraken,” Ophelia spared the girl any snarky comments about how spheres seemed to get more and more wild, “That girl is an agent of the Negaverse, and please believe me when I say that she wants nothing more than to kill you. Given the chance, she will kill you. I need you to pick up that pen, Jada, and accept this calling. Pick it up and say, 'Scylla Power, Make-Up!' "
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Posted: Thu Feb 11, 2010 3:12 pm
The cat was back! Jada managed to catch herself before she uttered a shriek when she saw the small animal appear in front of her. It was a very acrobatic cat, a part of her mind whispered. "Sailor Scylla? Like, the monster from Greek mythology?" She hissed the question as she bent to pick up the pen, which she promptly shook at the cat, frustration clear on her face. "And what is a pen have to do with anything?" It was blue and white, and looked nothing like anything she'd ever seen before. "What is the Negaverse, why are they trying to kill people? And more importantly, what will happen when I say this 'Sailor Scylla Make-Up?'"
Oh, that was the dumbest question she'd ever asked. Even as she said it, like a ninny, she felt something happening inside her. It felt like her body was hot and cold all at once, and was she sparkling? And then when her head cleared, she realized her legs were very, very cold. In fact, nothing about what she was wearing was exactly the same as it had been.
"What is going on?!" she hissed, reaching up to pat the weight on her forehead. It was a rather interesting little brooch she was wearing. That was a positively lovely gem. No, bad Jada! Focus. "Who are you, and what is happening to me?" And Vivian! "What about my companions? What about Vivian?"
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