Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ Sailormoon Dark ❯ Episode 16: The Javelin's Northern Course. Team Galileo's History. ( Chapter 16 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Sailormoon Dark: Episode Sixteen
"The Javelin's Northern Course. Team Galileo's History."

written by Laurel Wilson ( Sailorhathor@aol.com )
Inspired by the Japanese animated show Pretty Soldier Sailormoon.
The ideas for this fanfic were conceived in 1995, but the actual episode was written in July 2001. Revised September 2002.


"It turns out Kita is an old friend of the American exchange students! She knew them, and then she moved back to Japan, and now Tara and Ursula are here, and Kita will move back to America... no, that's not right..."
"Huma rocasa.*"
"Huh? Who are you?"
"I'm Holly Marshall, and this is Sa, and these are the Sailorskulls. We're here to help."
"Another American girl! Did you know that's where the history of Team Galileo began?"
"What's a Team Galileo?"
"Eh heh heh, I forgot, you haven't been here lately, have you? My thinking gets pretty muddled these days."
"Huma nichi.#"
Pretty Soldier Sailormoon Dark Episode 16: The Javelin's Northern Course. Team Galileo's History. The moonlight carries the message of love.

        Sitting outside in the grey of the twilight, Tabitha sketched the trees around Valhalla as she had many times before, but not necessarily at this exact time of day. Her aim was to emulate her artistic idol, Claude Monet, by drawing the same landscape at different times of day to capture the play of light and shadow as the sun moved through the sky. It was amazing how different a simple bunch of trees could look from noon to evening.
        Tabitha suddenly noticed that a strange fog was crawling along the ground, so she looked in the direction from which the wind was coming. There, between two trees, was an oval-shaped patch of fog that was quickly dissipaiting.
        "Weird," Tabitha thought aloud, putting her watercolor pencils aside to glance around the grounds of Valhalla. There were distinct footsteps behind her; the grass and leaves crunched under the person's feet. Naturally, Tabitha turned around. There stood a teenage girl in a red plaid shirt, with long blonde braids.
        "Excuse me, but is this Valhalla?"
        "Yes," Tabitha replied. "Can I help you with something?"
        The girl let out a sigh of relief. "I'm so glad, I was afraid it would be hard for us to find this place. My name is Holly Marshall, and I've been sent here to help."


      & nbsp; "Get 'er off me, get 'er off me!" Nathan screeched as Kita started to smother his cheek in kisses.
        "Onii-chan!" Kita squealed with delight.
        Glen gently pulled Kita off of Usagi's lap and disengaged her arms from Tara and Nathan's necks. "Kita-chan, you gotta open up; it's so hard to tell how you really feel."
        That got her attention; she looked at Glen with confusion. "Huh?"
        Nathan wiped at his cheek. "Do you ever just say hello, Kita? Maybe shake hands, send a postcard?"
        Embarassed, Kita bowed to the entire table. "I am very sorry to have gotten so overwrought and made a scene. It's just that I have not seen Ursula-sama, Onii-chan, and One-chan for years. I am very happy to see them again." She smiled sheepishly.
        "It's good to see you too, Kita-chan," Ursula said. "This is a big surprise."
        "How do you all know each other?" Usagi asked. "Kita can't really be your little sister. Can she?"
        "Well, there was that one affair Mom had with the Japanese guy..." Nathan joked, just to see Usagi's confused "should I believe him?" expression. "But there were so many, who can keep track?"
        "Oh you're impossible." Tara scoldingly whacked his arm. "No, Kita used to live in America and we went to the same school," she explained. "We all became very good friends, but Kita's family moved back to Japan a few years ago. Along the way, we just sorta lost touch..."
        "But she still thinks of you as her big brother and sister? That's so cute!" Usagi giggled.
        Kita grinned sweetly. "My very protective big brother and sister. And Ursula-sama. I'm so happy you're here. What are you doing in Japan?"
        As Kita was told the entire story, Heri and Ruki sat in their booth across the snack shop and looked through the Book of the Dead. Ruki pointed out a spell. "Then I'm supposed to perform this one, and give my parents... what did you say these glyphs meant Jakki?"
        "Coins." Jakki leaned forward. "You give each parent a coin so they have the payment for safe passage."
        "Good. So you see, it's really very easy," Ruki assured happily.
        Jakki shook her head. "I don't think you understand. You can't give your parents the coins that you already have, the ones that were given to you by the dead. Those coins have already been used. The coins that you will give your parents must be freshly minted."
        Blinking, Ruki asked, "Where do I get those?"
        Jakki shrugged. "I'm just telling you what the book says. I don't know where the coins come from. Perhaps Isis knows."
        "How can you two spend so much time in the Underworld and not know where the coins are minted?" Heri suddenly asked, in an almost scolding tone.
        Ruki and Jakki shrugged in unison. "You do your duty and take care of yourself in a place like that," Ruki answered. "Some questions just never get asked because they don't occur to you, or you really don't want to know the answer. The ghosts just show up with the coins; I never bothered to ask where they come from."
        "Are you guys rehearsing a play?"
        The three girls in the booth looked at the source of the voice with a start. Hikaru stood near their table, her face confused by all the strange things she'd just heard.
        "Uhhh, Hikaru-chan... you heard what we said?" Heri asked with alarm. How would she ever explain this one to her close friend? Hikaru could always tell when she was lying.
        "Some of it, yeah. Sounded pretty... odd."
        Heri slid out of the booth. "I'll be right back. Hikaru, come with me." She discreetly pulled her friend into the back of the restaurant.
        Jakki shook her head again. "Well that was irresponsible, letting her friend hear us talking about the Underworld."
        "Jakki, knock it off. None of us knew that she was there," Ruki retorted.
        In the back, Heri struggled to tell her friend what was going on without telling her what was going on. "I met Ruki and Jakki earlier in the week. Ruki's pretty, isn't she? I feel really special about her."
        "I'm happy for you, but what were you guys talking about? It sounded so strange."
        Heri sighed. "I can't lie to you, Hikaru-chan. I'll explain everything to you, but I'd rather wait until after work, okay?" She grasped Hikaru's arms; it was a habit of hers to touch people while she spoke to them, especially about serious matters.
        Hikaru painfully hissed through her teeth as she wrenched her arms out of Heri's grasp.
        "What's the matter?" Quickly Heri pushed up her friend's sleeve before Hikaru could stop her. Hikaru's arm was covered with cuts, each around three inches long, that she had tried to hide with many Band-Aids. "Kami-sama!$ What happened to your arm?! Is the other one like that too?"
        Before Heri could push up that sleeve also, Hikaru backed away, sighing and looking at the floor. "I promise you I didn't do this to myself. I guess I have something to explain to you too, and it's probably going to sound just as weird." How am I ever going to explain that I got these cuts as some sort of warrior of the universe named Sailorneon? That the cuts were caused by a magical attack in which the planet Saturn's rings unraveled and slashed me to bits? How can I explain to her, or to my coach, that these cuts cover half of my body?!
        Thinking some very similar thoughts of her own, Heri curtly nodded. "Alright, after work tonight, we'll have our weird talk. Then I can find out who I have to hurt for cutting up my friend."
        Laughing, Hikaru rolled her eyes. "Heri..."
        The two girls had no idea that their explanations would be eerily similar in some respects, and that they were bonded in ways they had yet to rediscover.


     &n bsp;  "I'm lucky I got out of that one!" Glen exclaimed to Usagi as they walked through the trees toward Valhalla. The others who had been with them at the snack shop had gone back to the dorm. "It was stupid of me to just assume that Kita wouldn't be there tonight."
        "You got out of it?" Usagi giggled. "It looked like to me that-"
        "That's enough," Glen chuckled. "Smart-alec."
        "Why'd you ask her for a date anyways? It's obvious you love Nezumi."
        Sweatdropping, Glen squeaked, "No I don't!"
        Usagi giggled again. "Sure sure. Anyway, did Tabitha-chan say why she wanted you to bring me home with you when she called?"
        "Not really; she said very little. Just that some new girl showed up at the house asking for you." Glen let them both into the house.
        Tabitha and Laurie waited for them in the living room with a stranger, a blonde American teenager. "There she is," Tabitha said to the girl.
        "Hello, I'm Glen. And who are you?" he asked in his best flirtatious voice.
        "My name's Holly Marshall. Are you Usagi Tsukino? Er, Tsukino Usagi? I'm sorry, I don't know what to call you. I've never been to Japan before. I can't believe I'm in Japan!"
        Smiling, Usagi told her, "That's okay. Usagi is my first name, and Tsukino is my family name. Please, call me Usagi. Why did you want to see me?"
        "I was told to ask for you. You're the strongest warrior in this solar system. I can help you."
        This took Usagi aback. "Warrior?"
        "No use pretending, Usagi. She knows about all of us," Laurie explained. "Ask her who told her."
        Clearing her throat, Usagi fidgeted as she asked, "Who told you?" A stranger knowing her secret identity made her nervous.
        "The Skulls told me," Holly replied.
        "The... Skulls?"
        "Tell her what year it was the last time you saw America."
        Holly answered, "1974."
        Usagi and Glen looked at each other.
        "And what year do you think it is?" Laurie asked, a little snickery.
        "Uh, about 1978?"
        Glen guffawed at her answer. "Where have you been girl? The 70s were over years ago."
        "Huh?" Holly seemed genuinely confused.
        "We shouldn't laugh at her, guys, really," scolded Usagi. "Why do you think it's 1978, Holly?"
        "Because when I left Earth, it was 1974, and-"
        "Left Earth?!" Glen exclaimed.
        "Yeah... my family and I fell through a dimensional doorway and wound up on another planet called Altrusia. I've come back here with my companions to help you save the universe."
        Glen discreetly pointed at Holly where only Laurie could see and mouthed, "crazy!" Covering her mouth, Laurie laughed again.
        "Guys, come on, don't brush off what Holly's saying. I've met aliens from other planets before. It's really not so unbelievable," Usagi said to the giggle twins.
        "But I'm not an alien," Holly protested with frustration. "I'm an Earthling. I just got displaced to Altrusia." She sat down, sighing. "I guess I'm not explaining it very well."
        "Uh... huh." Looking from Holly to Usagi, Glen added, "You've met space aliens?"
        He didn't see Samantha coming as she strided up behind him and smacked him in the back of the head. "You weild powers most people on Earth would never believe, and you tease Usagi about meeting space aliens?" she scolded. The child, Shuriko, was with her.
        "Weirdness is relative to what you're used to," Glen spat back, rubbing his head. "If the girl told me she was a sailor senshi, I could accept that-"
        "I am a sailor senshi," Holly replied indignantly. "We all are. And we're here to help."
        "First, you're from another planet. Now you're a sailor senshi too?"
        "I'm not from another planet!" she cried. "Not really."
        Samantha cut in with, "Glen, do you accept that the strange visions I get are real?"
        "Of course," he replied, confused as to why she would ask that question now. "Your visions always come true."
        "Then I'd like to introduce you to the representatives of the Builder."
        Both Glen and Laurie's faces showed shock and regret for laughing at Holly and Usagi. "The Builder? That being from another planet you had visions about?"
        "One and the same."
        "Oh geez, I'm sorry, Holly, for laughing at you. You gotta be telling the truth if Sam had a vision about you," Laurie said sheepishly.
        Glen nodded. "Yeah, me too; I'm sorry. Sorry to you too Usagi. I guess you're not crazy after all."
        "Of course I'm not!" Holly growled with a stamp of her foot.
        Shuriko spoke up. "There's a great deal to explain, as we'll be living here as long as we're needed-"
        "Living here?!" Shaking his head, Glen amended, "I guess it's not such a big thing, just a kid and an extra teenager to feed."
        "This isn't all of us," Shuriko informed him. "There are four more."
        "Ugh." Again Glen shook his head. "I'm glad the country built this house big. We don't get to live here for nothing, you know. You all will have to pull your weight around here."
        "I was never afraid of a little hard work," Holly replied proudly.
        "Come, let's join the others and have a talk about the Builder's plan," Shuriko suggested, taking Glen's hand.
        He hesitated; the child didn't speak like a normal kid. "Plan? I don't know if I want to follow someone else's plan. I'm a do-my-own-thing kinda guy."
        At that moment, Sailorpaku nervously entered the room from a back hallway. Because she was still in her senshi form, everyone saw her as the lovely human woman. "Arri?" She didn't like being away from Holly in this strange place for too long.
        Glen instantly perked up. "Well hello pretty senshi. Who are you?"
        Sam and Laurie both rolled their eyes; they'd heard that catting tone of voice plenty of times.
        Blinking, Sailorpaku looked at Holly and replied, "Me Sa. Sha em me, sha huma anuanu se.%"
        "Errrr... yeah. That's not Japanese nor English... well, why don't we all head to the guest rooms and talk over the Builder's plans, and I can figure out a language both me and miss pretty senshi can speak?" Glen draped an arm over Sailorpaku's shoulder to walk her back down the hall.
        As the others moved to follow, Holly burst into girlish giggles. "If only he knew what 'Sailorpaku' really looks like..." she said as an aside to Usagi. "Oh Glen, be careful there; she's a married woman."
        In the back hallway leading to the guest rooms, Sailorskull of Index stood outside the last room to the left with her ear to the door. Faintly she could hear... something... faintly. Like someone was speaking inside this room, but down inside a tunnel. There wasn't supposed to be anyone else back here in this part of the house. This troubled the Altrusian wise one.
        Only one person in the house knew that this room was actually occupied. It's main resident sat on her "throne" with the Boron Soul Shield in one hand and a fat, chocolate-filled pastry in the other. As usual, the residents were hidden behind their viel of shadows. Sailordarkcosmos took a bite out of the pastry while staring at the brilliance of the Shield. "My first magical object to feed to the Dream Eater. I wish it could be more, but it's a start." She looked sidelong at Baby Baby Love. "Yes, I wish it could be more."
        "I'm sorry, Mother, but the Shields flew awfully high. That was the only one I could catch," Baby Baby Love replied. "Next time, I'll bring back more. And lots more treats, too."
        This seemed to make Darkcosmos happy; she stuffed her face with more of the goodies. "Yes, next time, bring back more pastries. And Talismans." She glanced down at Dark Luna, who was working on a small piece of machinery with a screwdriver. "What about my Dream Eater, cat? How's that coming?"
        "You shouldn't talk with your mouth full," Dark Luna sniped with a kitty grin. "But is there ever a time when your mouth is not full? As you can see, I'm working on the battery casing right now. It's not that easy with the piddly amount of materials I've got to work with. So far, I've gutted two radios from this house, and it's just not enough to build your machine.
        "You could help me build it, you know. You're the one with opposable thumbs; do you know how hard it is to use a screwdriver with these paws?"
        "We'll get you more materials. And don't think I didn't hear that crack about my mouth." The Boron Shield began to float out of Sailordarkcosmos' hand. "Oh no my little lovely, you're staying right here with me." She stuffed it in one of Sailorarsenic's velvet pouches and tied the pull strings to the leg of her chair. The pouch floated forlornly as if it couldn't wait for its chance to escape. "Send Sailorsulphur and Sailorarsenic out to find more parts for my machine. The Boron Shield needs a proper home."
        "It's proper home is with the senshi who owns it," Sailoralbatross said from her veiled place in the shadows. She stepped out to face Darkcosmos. "Somewhere there's a girl who owns that Shield, and she should be defending the universe with it. You can't keep it from her! You have no right!"
        "Since when do you lecture me?" Sailordarkcosmos asked with a bored tone. "Shut your mouth before I smash that music box. I have no use for your preachy ramblings." To her, the conversation was over; Darkcosmos plopped back into her chair and chowed down on another pastry.
        Sailoralbatross desperately held her tongue, clutched the music box to her chest, and melted back into the shadows.

      &nbs p; It was midafternoon the next day when Tara and Ursula set out to keep their meeting with Kita. The plan was to get some American-style pizza and gossip over old times, but something about the fact that they met again at all was unsettling to Tara. "Do you think there's some reason we've run into Kita again, in a whole other country? I mean, what are the odds that we would ever run into her again, especially in such a heavily populated place?"
        "All of this is happening for a reason," Ursula steadfastly declared, as the two of them walked from the elevator to the front door of the Mirai Mugen building. "Think about it--the way we met Kita involved senshi business, and we didn't come here to Japan just to check out their colleges. We came here because we had a feeling..."
        "Yeah... a feeling of dread. A feeling that something terrible was going to begin here in Japan unless we were here to help stop it," Tara added with a shudder.
        "Yes... maybe we're being led toward more important senshi business. Perhaps Kita..."
        "What? You think she could be... no... she's too doofy to be a senshi."
        Ursula shushed her. "Not so loud, Tara. All I'm saying is maybe Kita is related to our secret identities somehow. Maybe she's the conduit through which we'll find the rest of our team. She already brought us together." Pushing open the doors, Ursula strided across the front plaza toward the stone steps that led down to the rest of the campus. "Why isn't Nathan coming with us to the pizza party?"
        "And spend a whole afternoon with 'The Hugger'? No way." Tara spotted a familiar face about 30 feet away. "Hey, isn't that Kita over there?"
        "In the middle of that group of people?" Shielding her eyes, Ursula took a good look. "Yeah, that's her. What's going on?"
        The voice of one of the persons surrounding Kita carried over to them on the wind. This girl was holding a brown terrier dog that had wandered onto the campus in both hands and was shoving him in Kita's face. "You can't be serious; you're really afraid of this sweet little dog? A girl your age, afraid of a harmless little dog like this?" Kakoku asked with a cruel laugh.
        Cowering, Kita tried to escape from the circle of people, but they just laughed and pushed her back in, Senetsu doing the hardest shoving. "Please stop it!" Kita cried.
        "Ohmigod, she's going to cry! Can you believe this?! A girl her age is this afraid of a dog that she's going to bawl like a little baby!"
        "It's so funny!" Senetsu snickered. The sheep who had flocked into her and Kako's fray snickered along with her.
        "Please let me out of here," Kita sobbed.
        "You're going to have to explain it to me, because I don't understand how a grown woman can be this afraid of a dog," Kako chuckled. The dog squirmed in her hands, but otherwise remained obediantly still.
        "Should we put a stop to that?" Tara questioned.
        Ursula shook her head. "Remember what happened the last time we made a habit of saving Kita from every little threat?"
        "Yeah..." Sighing, Tara took herself back in time four years. "I remember how it all started..."


     &n bsp;  "Class, today we will be working with some special clay imported from Japan. As this is still a Ceramics class, please sculpt things like cups, bowls, and vases--no phallic symbols this time, okay?"
        Fourteen-year-ol d Tara Mason giggled at her teacher's joke as she squashed the long snake-like roll she had just made out of her clay. Hmm... maybe an ash tray this time... nah. This was special clay from Japan. She should make something Japanese.
        "Mrs. Trainor, could I make a sake cup?"
        "A what?"
        And so Tara's idea for her Ceramics project was born, and she set about making the cup for her mother's birthday. Hey, if she could get a grade and a free present all in one shot, why not? Moms loved to get stuff made by their kids.
        But the cup didn't quite turn out like Tara had planned. "Why is it so lumpy and lop-sided?" she had asked Mrs. Trainor.
        "Not enough time spent on the potter's wheel, Tara. I can't believe you bothered to put that thing in the kiln. A 'C' at best. Sorry," the teacher shrugged.
        Tara sighed and left her class with disappointed, slumped shoulders and a lumpy lop-sided cup in her hands, and wandered the school campus for awhile trying to figure out what she was going to do now. She had spent all of her money on a clothes sale, so she didn't have any money left to buy her mother a gift, and she certainly couldn't give her this cup. Thinking she had the cup to fall back on, Tara had spent it all.
        "I thought it would look better after it had been fired," Tara whined to herself, looking at the cup again. All she had done was make a little mistake tons of kids had surely made; how was she going to get out of this?
        Trying to think of people she could borrow money from, Tara wandered outside. Nathan? Did he have any money squirreled away? It was worth try--
        "You dumb slut!"
        Tara turned her head just in time to see a boy slap his girlfriend hard across the face, knocking her back against the brick wall behind her. She recognized the girl as Kitakaze Norite, otherwise known as Kita, and the boy as her main squeeze, Adam Hanson. What a bastard, hitting Kita like that. Maybe this hideous cup will be useful after all. I could brain him upside the head with it.
        "Don't lie to me! I saw you sitting on Kent's lap with my own eyes. How could you do that to me you tramp!"
        "I couldn't help what you saw!" Kita sobbed, holding her cheek. "Kent yanked me onto his lap. I got right up! I didn't want to sit there!"
        Adam hit her again, bringing blood from her nose. She cried out in pain. "Don't lie to me you dumb bitch!" After kicking Kita in the gut, he raised his hand to strike her again.
        Something swished over Tara's head as she quietly snuck toward Adam with the cup raised to hit him. It made a foom foom foom sound, like it was spinning, as it sailed into Adam's upraised hand and sliced into it with its serrated blade, then flew back in the direction it came like a boomerang.
        "Auuuuuuuugh !" Adam screamed, clutching his hand.
        The bladed weapon was caught by a black girl in a short pleated skirt and a bodysuit with a humongous orange bow on the front. "You vile dog. How dare you treat someone you're supposed to love like that. I defend those who cannot defend themselves. I am Sailorcallisto, the soldier Satellite of razor sharp aim! You will taste the edge of my claws!"
        "What the hell are you talking about?! You crazy bitch, you cut my hand!" As he spoke, Adam picked up his backpack, like he was going to leave.
        "You're not going anywhere until I've taught you your lesson," Sailorcallisto declared. She looked at Tara. "Take the girl and get out of here. Get to safety."
        The lecherous Adam took advantage of the distraction that Tara and Kita provided to remove a thermos from his backpack. He threw its contents in Sailorcallisto's face. It was hot coffee.
        She covered her eyes and yelled, "Ahhhh, that's hot! It burns!"
        Adam quickly kicked the Razor Claw out of her hand, then pushed the temporarily blinded Callisto down. "Dumb psycho bitch." He picked up the Razor Claw. "Now I'm going to teach you a lesson."
        The whole thing happened too fast for Tara to prevent any of it. But she would be damned if she was going to stand by and allow him to carve on Callisto for revenge.
        Tara remembered that she had her own thermos full of fruit punch, which her mother insisted on giving her for lunch even though she didn't like it. Too sweet. It wasn't hot, but she figured Adam wouldn't like a face full of it anyway. Give him a taste of his own medicine! Quickly Tara poured some of the punch in her cup (I'll get some use out of this ugly thing yet!) and approached Adam as he stood over Sailorcallisto and ranted at her.
        "See how you like it!" she cried, and splashed the punch in his face. It was odd how the juice caught the light as it sailed through the air, almost like rubies would. Well, it was Red Ruby Fruit Punch... Tara then realized that the punch had lost its fluidity. It stuck out from Adam's face in a line that led back to her cup, frozen in midair. The hell?!
        "Auuuuugh, my eyes! I can't open my eyes! What did you throw on me?!" Adam screamed. He desperately clawed at his face, which Tara realized, to her horror and wonder, was covered with real red rubies. In fact, Adam's eyes were crusted shut with them.
        Not knowing what else to do, she jumped back, pulling the cup away. The stream of rubies broke off from the cup's rim and Adam was able to stumble away, falling on his backside. "Somebody help me! I can't open my eyes!"
        Sailorcallisto was wiping her eyes on her glove; her skin had a red cast to it, but she didn't seem to be burned. Noticing Adam's face, she gasped. Her eyes instantly went to Tara. Callisto gasped again. "What's that?!"
        "What's what? My lumpy cup?" Tara finally took a look at what had become of her cup. She couldn't help but gasp too. The lopsided monstrosity had been transformed into a lovely golden goblet with four jewels embossed into the circumference of its bowl. It was positively magical, the way it looked now, like something out of a fairytale. Now it would make a fine present for her mother! But... could she really give her something so expensive-looking? Mom would never believe she could have actually afforded something so beautiful! "It's... it's my cup!"
        "My wonderful protective big sister!" Suddenly Tara was bear hugged about the waist by a tearful Kita. "You saved us with your magical goblet! How'd you do that?"
        "Well... I'm not sure..."
        "And you, you are my Callisto-sama! Thank you, thank you so much! I am forever your humble servant!" Kita dove at Sailorcallisto, hugging her too.
        All Tara could do was stare at the beautiful goblet while Adam flailed on the ground nearby and wonder how it happened--how did her ugly under-sculpted sake cup become something so magical?


       ;  "Yes, I remember how it all began," Tara repeated as she and Ursula watched Kita cower away from the little brown dog. "I remember how we all became friends, after you came to me as Ursula and told me you were Sailorcallisto."
        "You thought I was crazy," Ursula laughed.
        "Yeah, that was until you described the Bejeweled Goblet to me, and proved that you knew the truth about Adam's eyes that 'miraculously produced rubies' or so the newspapers said. You told me about your dreams, the ones about a full team of soldiers like you, and how one of them had a jeweled goblet as her weapon... Sailorganymede. I didn't believe that I was one of these soldiers, not for awhile. But Kita was always there, relying on us to save her whenever she got in the littlest bit of trouble," Tara sighed.
        Ursula nodded. "That's why we can't save her today. Kita ran to her Callisto-sama and her protective One-chan way too much back then. She's 18 now. We should be her friends, but not her caretakers. Let her stand on her own two feet."
        "But... she's just plagued with phobias. Fear of dogs included. She can't help it. She was always there for me up until the day her family moved back to Japan. Kita was there when my parents died in the accident, when the drunk driver plowed right into them--she stayed up all night with Nathan and I."
        "I know, Tara. I know that was important to you, but we wouldn't be helping Kita by rescuing her now."
        Tara, frustrated, bounced on her heels. "I can't just leave her out there! No matter how afraid she was, Kita didn't run away the day I got my transformation wand, even though it was delivered by a little brown dog that snapped at her. She really is like the little sister I never h-" Pausing, she repeated, "Little brown dog?"
        "Looks like you won't have to do anything, Tara. Someone else is rescuing her this time," Ursula pointed out.
        Indeed someone had stepped into the circle and snatched the dog out of Kako's hands--Momono Koji. The young girl who had been seen in the park with Kako and Senetsu, who had befriended Chibiusa's daughter Nozomi. "Kako, you do have better things to do than this. Leave the girl alone."
        Rolling her eyes, Kako snapped, "Why do you have to be such a drag Momo?"
        This distraction gave Kita the chance to escape. She quickly ducked between two people and ran for the front steps.
        "Kita! Hey, Kita!" Tara tried to catch her, but Kita ran by sobbing and kept on to the elevator. "I think we should go after her."
        Momono's eyes followed Kita into the building. Suddenly she put the dog down on the ground and bolted from the area with a mumbled, "Excuse me."
        "What's with her?" Senetsu said with a roll of her eyes.
        Back up on the steps, Ursula agreed, "Right, let's see if we can catch her," and turned abruptly, slamming straight into Ban Chochin as he was walking from the building. "Oh sorry Ban! I didn't see you."
        "That's okay," he replied with a smile, and walked on.
        They lost sight of Kita in the lobby. "If only we'd bothered to get her dorm room number..."
        "She was supposed to give it to us at our meeting today," Tara reminded. "I'll go look over here, you look over there."
        Ursula tapped a nearby student on the shoulder. "Excuse me, did you just see a brown-haired girl run through here; she was crying?"
        Turning around, Midori smiled. It was the lovely exchange student. "Hello Kuroibi-chan."
        Ursula's face slowly came alight as she realized just whose shoulder she had tapped. "Oh... hi Midori-san..." The smile on her face and the giggle in her voice never failed to give away her attraction to him. "Uhhh... Kuroibi-chan?"
        "It means 'Dark Beauty.' And I believe I did see a girl run off in that direction." Midori pointed towards the elevators.
        "Who went that way? ... Oh! Kita..." Ursula blushed with embarassment; she was usually more in control of her emotions. But he called her Dark Beauty!! Off her heart went, soaring high above her head. Why was this guy so good at shaking her up and getting her all flustered? She'd been staring at his face and listening to his voice like some junior high kid in love! "I'm looking for my friend Kita. Yeah, that's her name." Ahem. "She got kinda upset and ran in here. I wish I knew what floor her room was on... maybe... if you're not busy... you could help me find her?" Oh you are so pathetic Ursula! What a lame excuse to spend time with him!
        Smiling with half-closed, bedroom eyes looking down at her, Midori replied, "There's nothing I'd rather do more."
        Ursula couldn't help but giggle; she blurted, "You're so charming," and happily giggled some more. Oh this was embarassing! But wasn't it nice?
        "Why don't we just waltz right over here to the information desk, and check the Student Directory?"
        "That's a great idea." She followed him to the desk, then watched him open one of the directories available there. "Um, it's Norite. Her last name." Ursula discreetly leaned over Midori's shoulder, touching his arm. Just reading the directory, yup, that's all I'm doing... "Aha! Fourth floor! Norite Kitakaze and Kino Makoto." She ran her finger under the names, leaning in closer. "I sure am glad these directories are in English as well as Japanese! Thank you, your idea worked!" Again Ursula giggled.
        "Hm, the fourth floor. You know, a lot of things can happen to a woman between here and the fourth floor," Midori said, jokingly rubbing his chin. "Perhaps you should have an escort?"
        Ursula knew his suggestion was a ploy to continue to spend time with her, and her heart soared for it; now she wouldn't have to think up some lame ploy to keep him around! "Works for me," she replied, and took his arm. "Tara, come on, we know which room is Kita's. Let's head up there."
        "Oh, okay!" Tara sprinted back to join them as a smile spread across her face. "I see you have some company, Ursula."
        Up on the fourth floor, Kita slumped into a corner of her dorm room. She was glad Mako-chan wasn't here, because she didn't feel like explaining the crying fit. "Why do I have to be so afraid of such dumb things? I'm such a baby," she sobbed to herself.
        Makoto's cat Artemis was staring at her; his expression almost seemed sympathetic. But cats couldn't feel sorry for people... "Hi Artemis. Are you being a good kitty? Don't scratch me or anything..."
        The door to the dorm room came open just a little bit; Kita didn't close it properly when she came in. She slowly looked over at it as something small and brown pushed the door open a little more and padded in.
        "Ahhh! It's a dog! It's that dog!" Kita yelped, grabbing Artemis and squeezing him to her chest. The white cat's eyes bugged out.
        The brown dog that had previously been shoved in Kita's face started to bark at Artemis as if by instinct, but then caught himself. "Oh dear, where are my manners? I'm far too intelligent to be barking at cats just because they're there," he said.
        There was a pause before Kita started screaming and squeezing again. "You're a dog! And you talked!"
        "Naturally . I'm your guardian, dear."
        Artemis' ears went straight up. Her guardian?! He didn't want to blow anyone's cover, but maybe he should try talking to this dog--he had to be telling the truth, if he could talk.
        "I'm sorry that those girls shoved you in my face, but it wasn't my fault! Please don't bite me!"
        "I have no intention of biting you, my dear, unless you really want me to," the brown terrier assured. "My name is Laelaps, better known as Lappie. Don't you remember me?"
        "Lappie? What do you want here? Why are you able to talk?" Kita asked.
        Sitting on his haunches, Lappie sighed and began to scratch his ear with his back foot. "I love ya, kid, but you always were a little slow. I can talk because I'm a guardian, a senshi guardian. The guardian of Team Galileo."
        Artemis perked up even more; that name was familiar.
        "A senshi guardian? Oh, you're looking for my friends Callisto-sama and the Ganymedes. I... I was supposed to meet with them today! I'm late, oh my!" Kita scrambled to clean off her tear-streaked face.
        "No, I'm not looking for them. I've already met with them. Remember that day I brought Sailorganymede her transformation wand? No, I'm looking for you," Lappie said.
        Kita thought about that for a moment, remembering the incident the dog was talking about. "Why would you be looking for me?"
        "Because, my dear, you are a member of Team Galileo." Lappie paused to let this sink in. "Perhaps it would help if I gave you your transformation wand." He instantly began to chase his tail, going around and around in circles.
        "You've gotta be kidding me; I'm not one of those soldier people. You must have the--what are you doing?!"
        There was a sudden flash of light in the middle of the circle Lappie had made with his body, and the transformation wand of Sailoreuropa fell to the floor. Kita yelped in surprise. "What is that?! It's so beautiful!"
        "The transformation wand of Sailoreuropa," Artemis mused.
        "You can talk too?!" Kita screeched.
        "Kita, shhhh! You'll bring other students in here! They can't see me, remember? I'll get kicked out," Artemis advised.
        "Artemis! I remember you!" Lappie grinned.
        Kita lamented, "I'm going nuts. I must be losing my mind," and dug her hands into her hair.
        Lappie shook his furry head. "Dear, please, just touch the wand, and it will all come back to you."
        Carefully Kita reached for the wand. Her hand drew closer, and closer... Artemis leaned in, Lappie leaned in, they all leaned closer to the wand in anticipation of what might happen when Kita touched it. Her fingers were only centimeters away... and suddenly, Lappie nipped at them.
        Kita yelped, yanking her hand back as if she'd touched a hot stove.
        The dog chuckled. "Just keeping you on your toes, Sailoreuropa."

"Who's that girl with the javelin in her hand? Can she save us from the latest attack of the Dark senshi?"
"Usagi! You botched up yet another rescue from Usagi's Island! I should smack you with my skipper's hat!"
"Huh?!"
"N.R. Mason has been shot! Who will get control of Mason Oil if he dies?!"
"Who's been shot now?"
"Usagi, Ma is terribly ill, Pa is away working his six jobs, and I'm going bliiiiind! Please tell Nori Oleson to stop kicking my puppy!"
"But none of this is real! We're trapped inside the television! I am NOT really Charro, so help me! ...... Coochie coochie."
Sailormoon Dark Episode 17: The Passing of the Javelin. Cadmium and Tungsten's Primetime Program. The moonlight carries the message of love.

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* "huma rocasa" means "strange human!" in Pakuni, Sa's language
# "huma nichi" means "silly human" or "The human is silly," in Sa's language
$ "kami-sama" = roughly the equivalent of saying, "Oh my God!" in Japanese, or one way to say it, at least
% "Me Sa. Sha em me, sha huma anuanu se." = "I am Sa. This isn't me, this is a human false face."
For those in the audience curious about Japanese, Midori calls Ursula "Kuroibi-chan" in this episode. Kuroi = dark, as an adjective. Bi = beauty. -chan, of course, is an affectionate honorific for loved ones and small children, which could be thought of as calling someone "darling."


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