Sailormoon: Reloaded - Act 1 I

By: Sokai

Disclaimer: I, Sokai, do not claim ownership to the workings of W.I.T.C.H. -- I leave that honor up to Elisabetta Gnone. Nor do I own one of Takeuchi Naoko’s most beloved manga/anime/live action series, “Bishoujo Senshi Sailormoon.” However, I can and DO claim to own this story and its inspired ideas FROM said series, in addition to the original song, "Starlit Destiny," which will be featured later within this particular chapter.

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This chapter was created/written in April 2009.
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ℓ Act 1 ℓ

RING!!

“Gooood, morning, Heatherfield!! It’s seven-twenty-five! Davis, here, with my usual ‘Early Bird’ morning crew, bringing you the music, fun, and contest trivia you crave! It’s another beautiful, warm and sunny typical Florida day this early Tuesday, and at sixty-two degrees already, you know it’s just going to get better and better as the day goes on! With that said, before I bring on more of the tunes again, with the latest single from Cornelia Hale coming up, I’ve just got one more thing to say: Time to wake up and get goin’, all you sleepy heads out there!!”

“Mmm . . . just . . . ten more minutes, Mom. . . .” Fourteen-year-old Elyon Brown groggily murmured, half asleep, from underneath her baby blue colored comforter inside of her pretty spacious bedroom. She let out a tired yawn, before shifting around to roll onto her other side, away from her similarly blue colored wall and towards her star decorated dresser where her alarm clock sat.

Letting out a relaxed moan, Elyon slowly cracked open her sleepy, periwinkle hued eyes and gave a soft smile as she looked at the time within a fatigued daze.

“. . . . Ahh!! Seven-twenty-seven!! Holy geez, I’m late!!” she screeched within sharpened realization, immediately bolting upright and springing out of her bed at near lightning speed. “I can’t believe I overslept!! I knew I shouldn’t have stayed up, writing within my diary and chatting with Alchemy online afterwards, putting off my studying for today’s Algebra quiz until the very last minute!!”

Within the next several minutes, Elyon was already dressed (albeit clothes already worn the previous day and were now a tad wrinkly as a result) and ready to go, with no time to shower or properly comb out her shoulder length, dishwater blonde locks before styling them into her usual and simple pigtails.

She stole a quick glance at her reflection as she raced out of her bedroom and down the hallway, and grimaced at the sight.

“Ugh . . . not exactly off to a great start for the new life I’m determined to make for myself, am I?” Elyon muttered to herself with a scrunched up expression upon her fair countenance, gazing at her chaotic-looking appearance. Reaching up to smooth down her disheveled hair, she looked back at the clock upon the wall behind her and gasped. “Yikes!! The warning bell has already rung!! I better book it, if I wanna make it in time for the quiz -- Which I can’t believe I actually want to!”

Forgetting about her overall appearance, if only for that moment, Elyon, with her book bag now in hand and sandals quickly thrown on, scurried out of the front door and just managed to snag a green apple from off of the kitchen counter in passing.

“I can make it, I can make it, I can make it. . . .” the petite blonde chanted breathlessly to herself in between bites of her juicy and slightly tangy flavored fruit, running as swiftly as she could down the street and towards the direction of her new school, Portrait High School. “Mom could have at least woke me up before having gone to work this morning!”

It was true. Elyon’s mother, the laid back as she was authoritative, Eleanor, usually woke up around six o’clock every weekday morning, before heading off to her occupation as an art curator by seven. And given that the girl’s more strict (at least, when it came to academics) but still humorous father, Thomas, an astronomer, was already out of the house by five-thirty, it could have been helpful to her if her mother would have popped in her head inside of her only child’s room to see if she was already up and ready for school today.

“Figures. Now, if I don’t do well on another Algebra quiz again, I’ll never hear the end of it from Dad! Why can’t he just get that I’m an artist -- kind of, anyway -- like Mom, not a mathematical and science whiz like he is??” Elyon lightly asked herself within tired huffs as she rounded a corner, groaning heavily at the thought of having to endure yet another lecture from her father about the “importance of math and science within everyday life.”

Shaking her head in order to break free from what could quite possibly become her potentially near future, provided she truly wouldn’t do well upon her quiz, Elyon took a hurried, last bite of her apple, before perfectly tossing it into the outdoor receptacle bin housed outside of a convenience store as she passed.

“There we g -- Ahh!!” the high school freshman yelped out in alarm, suddenly toppling over as her sandaled feet then tripped over something soft and relatively small. Rolling over with a pained moan, Elyon slowly sat up as she tenderly rubbed at her slightly bruised nose. “Oww . . . this is definitely not my day. . . . What was that??”

Reaching out to collect her belongings, Elyon turned around and was surprised to see what looked to be a bluish-gray colored cat, curled up upon the pavement with its eyes closed. It wasn’t moving; however, it also did not appear to be dead, as Elyon could vaguely catch sight of its long, whitish gray whiskers lightly twitching.

“Oh! My gosh, I’m so sorry, little kitty!! I honestly didn’t see you!!” the blonde gushed in apologetic concern, immediately crouching back down to effortlessly scoop up the fluffy feline into her arms. It was then that she was able to get a better view of its face, and noticed what looked like a bandage of sorts peculiarly placed upon its forehead. “What is this?? Who would do such a thing to such an adorable cat?? It’s all right, sweetie -- I’ve got you.”

Tentatively stroking the cat’s slate gray colored back in attempts to both calm and distract it, Elyon, using her other free hand, gingerly peeled off the adhesive strip from off of its head as it then at last opened its tea green tinted eyes and blinked.

“There, now. Isn’t that better? I -- Ack!!” the dishwater blonde began with a warm smile, before gasping in alarm as the previously afflicted feline promptly pushed at her chest before climbing up and over her shoulder to jump back down onto the ground.

Dusting herself free of cat hair and various speckles of dirt and gravel, Elyon whirled around, now with a slight frown upon her face, to gaze after the animal, which she’d presumed would have then began to run off. However, much to her surprise, it remained, merely staring back up at her, almost expectantly.

For a few moments, Elyon mimicked its actions, or lack thereof, as it were, and simply looked back at it in perplexity. She had effortlessly become so caught up within the moment, that she hadn’t even yet taken notice of the curious looking, seven-pointed and light green colored star bald spot adorning the cat’s forehead where the bandage had been.

It wasn’t until the abrupt sound of a passing car horn startled them both that Elyon at last broke free of her unexpected stupor. Blinking her soft blue eyes for a few moments, she then immediately looked down at her blue colored wristwatch to check the time and saw that it read seven-thirty-nine.

“Ahh!! What am I doing?? I don’t have time for this!! I’m super late now!!” she cried out to herself within dread, resuming her previous run and rushed past the discarded feline without another word, already forgetting about it.

It, on the other hand, remained within its spot, looking after the retreating teenager with interested, almost knowledgeable eyes and a slow swish of its long and slender tail, before proceeding to follow after her. . . .

~*~

“Wow . . . I can’t believe you scored a fifty on the quiz this morning, Elle -- Your dad is gonna freak!” Elyon’s newly pixie cut, russet haired best friend, Alchemy Selwyn gushed at lunchtime later on that day during sixth period. The blonde seated next to her at their usual round table for the last month now since school had started, outside within the high school’s vast courtyard, gave the newly turned fifteen-year-old a look of sharp disdain, causing Alchemy to give a sheepish grin in response. “S-Sorry! But, I mean, you have to admit that you know it’s true.”

“Of course I know it’s true, Alchemy! Why do you think I’m enjoying my last day -- My last meal on earth, before I head home to have my father cremate me once he sees this stupid grade??” Elyon muttered with a sharp scowl, looking from her comrade since elementary school, to the sheet of paper lying upon the table’s smooth surface before her.

She gave a slight wince as she looked it over for what felt like the millionth time that day, and took in the frequently appearing red marks of incorrect answers which riddled nearly the entire page. And, perhaps the most dreaded sight of all, was the large, blatant and undeniable “fifty” which gleamed back up at her with a red, almost devilish glare.

Alchemy gazed at her best friend with sympathetic, electric blue colored eyes after taking a small bite of her turkey breast sandwich, and smiled softly.

“Well . . . at least it’s mainly because you didn’t get to finish the entire quiz as the reason why you got such a low score. Maybe your dad will take pity on you for that,” she weakly tried to console the other girl, before taking a sip of her beverage.

Elyon merely shook her still quite disheveled head, having long since abandoned her hopes of impressing the older student populace (if only for one day, at least) with her would be fashion sense, and sighed heavily.

“No, way. He’ll only just completely look right over that and go straight to the fact that I had woken up late this morning in the first place. I’m honestly surprised that Mr. Cedner even let me take the quiz at all even though I came in late, as strict as he is. You are so lucky he likes you, at least, which is why you got an eighty on yours,” she said with another exhale, before taking a rough, savage-like bite out of her hamburger.

Alchemy giggled at this, with a slight roll of her eyes while patting her friend upon the shoulder.

“That’s not true. I still get him in the morning like you do, remember, when he’s still extra surly. I just . . . I don’t know. I kinda just get the lessons he teaches, is all,” she delivered as delicately and as modestly as she could, gradually beginning to feel guilty as another thought had then come to her. “I probably shouldn’t have chatted online with you last night, even though we both needed to finish studying. I know that you’re not exactly . . . well, the greatest at math at times, so I could’ve waited until today to talk to you again. Sorry, Elle. . . .”

Elyon waved a hand within dismissal upon hearing this and smiled cheerfully at the other girl, trying her best to put the Algebra incident behind her . . . for now.

“It’s all right, I guess. It’s not like it’s your fault the math and science gene from my dad completely bypassed me when I was born, after all. I’ll just approach him like an adult, and have a nice, calm discussion about this and --”

“-- Hey, there, ladies! Whoa, Elyon! What’s with the crazy look? You usually are better put together than this. Yikes! B-But, a-anyway! How did you guys do on Mr. C’s quiz in Algebra class this morning? I just took it last period, and got a ninety-eight! I’m so upset with myself that I’d actually made such a careless mistake like forgetting to put a negative sign in front of the two within the answer to that one quadratic equation,” the girls’ childhood friend (sometimes regrettably so) and Elyon’s neighbor, fourteen-year-old Martin Tubbs, suddenly called out from behind them, before plopping himself down at their table with his own lunch.

He gave each girl a broad grin in greeting, steely blue eyes twinkling behind his round, small framed and silver tinted eyeglasses.

“Ugh. You make us sick, Martin, with your constant bragging about how wonderful and smart you are, and then have the nerve to vent about, ‘Oh, no! I was two freaking points shy of a perfect score!!’” Elyon hissed toward the cornflower haired boy now blushing profusely from across the table, choosing to ignore his comment about her unkempt appearance. She then swiftly lifted her failed exam from off of the table and stuffed it blindly into her book bag.

“Yeah, brainiac -- Have a little sympathy, will you?” Alchemy chimed in with a disapproving frown, chucking one of her raw baby carrots at her male friend.

Grimacing after having been unexpectedly hit by the vegetable projectile, Martin lightly picked it up from off of his lunch tray where it promptly landed and placed it to the side.

“H-Hey! I’m sorry! I wasn’t trying to be upsetting about it, you guys. I didn’t even know that you guys failed yours, and --”

“-- Whoa, hey! I didn’t fail! I got an eighty; Elyon’s the one who got the fifty . . . ooh. Sorry, again, Elle!” Alchemy immediately apologized once more after having realized her mistake, smiling awkwardly at the now blushing Elyon, who stared back at her with an incredulous glare.

“God! Thanks a lot, Alchemy! Tell the whole world about my horrible grade, why don’t you!” she cried, her friends able to catch tears of embarrassment beginning to form within her soft eyes, before she then buried her face within her hands within defeat.

Both Alchemy and Martin sighed gently at this, having gotten used to their mutual childhood friend’s slightly frequent tendency for over-theatrics from time to time, as well as the occasional crying fest she would produce over certain matters.

“I-It’s okay, Elyon, really . . . it won’t be so bad. You didn’t get to finish the quiz, and were up late studying, remember? You probably would’ve done well if you’d had had the proper chance,” Alchemy tried her best to console her best friend further, gently caressing the back of her wrinkled tank top, while Martin reached across the table to timidly pat his neighbor’s hand. “Maybe . . . maybe you could take a marker and go over the five, to make it look like an eight? Hey, Marty -- You’re always ‘Mr. Prepared.’ Do you have a red pen or marker on you?”

Martin gave a disapproving frown of his own towards his friend and shake of his head as he recoiled his hand away from the still sniffling girl before him, and took a quick sip of his soda before responding.

“Nope, I don’t. And anyway, that would be dishonest, and to a multitude of people: Mr. C, Elyon’s parents, and even Elyon, herself. And besides, if she got a score as low as a fifty, I’m sure there are loads of red marks all over the page which she wouldn’t be able to hide from her folks, as well,” he replied a bit too matter of fact-like for the girls’ taste, immediately regretting his choice of words as he watched the both of his friends then award him with the most icy, piercing look he had ever received from them throughout the course of their friendship. “Uh . . . oops. S-Sorry, again, you guys. Just trying to help. . . .”

“Yeah, and you have helped, Martin . . . only in succeeding in making me feel a whole lot worse!” Elyon moaned with a light smack to the sole male’s arm, before stealing his napkin to blow her nose with.

Suddenly, Alchemy smiled knowingly as she turned her entire body to face her best friend continually trapped within self pity and misery.

“Well, I know what will make you feel a lot better, and forget all about this pesky little quiz!” she said with a growing grin, playfully tugging at one of Elyon’s light blonde pigtails.

Martin gave a thoughtful look before venturing a guess, whether or not it was wanted by either girl.

“Finding her a math tutor? Yow!!” he asked innocently, before crying out in abrupt pain the moment Alchemy blindly stepped onto one of his sneakered feet from underneath the table. “Boy, you guys are really laying into me today! I think I’m gonna go finish my lunch over there with the chess club, instead, and talk to you both later. F-Feel better, though, Elyon!”

Waiting until after the flax haired boy had gone, Alchemy cleared her throat and began again.

“Now that that little nuisance is out of the picture, let me try again. What is the one thing which usually cheers you up instantly? Besides drawing, eating ice cream, or daydreaming about boys, too,” she spoke with another broad smile after having torn her eyes away from Martin, who now sat, at an elongated table within the distance, with a gaggle of students both male and female, alike, who each welcomed him warmly and nearly all wearing glasses like he.

Now feeling a lot more calm, although her face still retained its reddened hue from her previous crying, Elyon thought for a moment, before suddenly squealing with glee.

“Ooh! Listening to one of my favorite Cornelia Hale CDs!!” she cried happily, her formerly gloomy mood effortlessly dissipating and being replaced by her usually positive and cheerful disposition. She then paused for a bit, as her brilliant smile faltered a tad. “Oh, but wait. I was running so late this morning, that I didn’t even have time to snag my CD or MP3 player. So, I guess that’s out. . . .”

Alchemy merely shook her copper colored head in disagreement, seizing both of her friend’s hands and squeezing them within furthered excitement.

“No need! Because have I got a surprise for you!” she said with a giggle, happy to see the former light returning to Elyon’s soft blue eyes as she awaited the other girl to continue. “I wanted to tell you this last night while online, but decided to wait until today to tell you in person. But, anyway! You know how my dad’s been busy lately, promoting his new jewelry collection? Well, he recently teamed up with that hot new and popular store, ‘Forever Youthful,’ to display their latest line of new clothes for the fall and winter season! And guess whose clothing line is also going to be featured??”

Elyon’s eyes widened nearly beyond their limit at this.

“Oooh!! No, way!! You mean your dad’s actually going to get to be one of the first people to witness some of the new clothing Cornelia Hale’s designed?? Ugh, I wish I were a famous jeweler like him! Then maybe I could get to do business with one of the world’s most popular teen idol sensations,” she swooned with a smile, clasping her hands together after Alchemy had released them.

“Maybe, but I’ll do you one better in the meantime: Because Cornelia’s apparently a fan of my dad’s jewelry, she personally sent him a note which came yesterday, complimenting him about it, and giving him free merchandise from both her clothing line as well as music albums, autographed and everything! She’s even going to wear one of his new necklaces for her next music video, he told me!” Alchemy gushed with tittering pride for her father, causing Elyon to emit another squeal in merriment. “And, the most important part, guess where all of that free merchandise is going? Yeah! To the both of us! Well, to me, since Dad’s not a girl and my mom’s too ‘old’ to wear the type of clothes Cornelia designs or listens to the music she sings, not to mention is away on business right now, anyway. But as my best friend, you totally are going to share within this moment with me later this afternoon at Dad’s exhibit!”

Elyon nearly knocked the other girl over as she promptly enveloped her within a fierce embrace, she was that overwhelmed with jubilation at the unexpected news.

“Oh, my God! I love you sooo much, Alkie!! This definitely makes me feel a lot better over having failed my dumb quiz!” she cried happily, sharing within the fit of giggles Alchemy had then fallen under. Suddenly, Elyon stopped laughing as a sobering realization had then come to her. “Oh . . . but I can’t bring any of those gifts home with me, though, even if they’re free. There’s no way my dad will ever let me keep them once he sees my grade. . . .”

Alchemy bit her lip in thought, after promptly ceasing within her own laughter.

“Hmm . . . yeah, that might be true. But, maybe I can hold them for you until after things have cooled down with him! Then, afterward, he’ll no longer care!” she ventured with a returned grin, watching as Elyon did the same.

“Brilliant! Thanks, Alchemy! You’re the best!” the blonde complimented with a relieved sigh, rising to her feet as the bell had then rang, signifying the end of that particular period. “Oh! But isn’t your dad worried that his exhibit might be robbed? After all, there have been a string of robberies pertaining to jewelry stores lately.”

Alchemy shook her head as she, too, rose from her spot, collecting her belongings to take with her and empty food containers and wrappers to throw away into the trash.

“I know! Isn’t it scary?? But, surprisingly, my dad doesn’t even seem fazed by that. In fact, he seems a lot more confident within his business lately, even to the point of offering a tremendous, opening discount to his new jewelry!” she revealed, tossing her brown paper lunch bag into the nearby trash as the two approached, Elyon then doing the same for her partially empty paper plate. “The prices are so low, that even teens like us could afford it! You should definitely come with me after school to see the exhibit set up and watch the models ‘Forever Youthful’ sent over to practice wearing and modeling off both Cornelia’s clothing and Dad’s jewelry for later on tonight!”

“If the prices for some of your dad’s awesome and impressive jewelry really is as low as you say it is, then you know I will! But, I think he should still be careful, and maybe hire a lot of security to be on the safe side,” Elyon cautioned with a worried glance at her best friend, as the duo headed back inside of the school to their next period classes.

Alchemy nodded in agreement, then waved a slightly dismissive hand into the air as she gave her slightly shorter friend a confident grin.

“Yeah, he has all of that taken care of already. Besides! Even if someone actually tries to steal any of my dad’s jewelry, I’m sure Sailor V will be right there, waiting and ready to stop them, just like she has for every other criminal and would be thief!” she remarked boisterously, speaking of both hers and Elyon’s most cherished superhero with the utmost respect and pride.

“Definitely! How could I forget about that? The ever faithful ‘ally of justice,’ Sailor V, is always around to swoop in and save the day like the brave heroine that she is!” Elyon added with a nod of approval and daydream-like grin, as she and Alchemy reentered the building. “It must be something spectacular, to boldly fight crime and help protect innocent people like that. . . .”

“You know, I heard that Sailor V is actually in affiliation with the FBI, secretly helping them out with their various cases!” the girls suddenly heard Martin comment from behind them, before moving to walk alongside Elyon.

“Man, are you on a roll today for eavesdropping,” Alchemy muttered towards the returned male blonde, giving him a flat look. Elyon, meanwhile, bestowed upon her neighbor an expression of curiosity, as she prompted him to continue.

“Huh? I never heard anything about that before, Martin, and next to Alchemy, I’m always on top of anything related to Sailor V, from video games, toys, to news coverage!” the pigtailed girl slightly bragged, feeling a bit pleased that she could at least one up her male friend about knowing more about the infamous sailor suited crime fighter than he, if not about mathematics, instead.

However, Martin merely shook his sunlit colored head at this, already opening his mouth to offer a rebuttal as the trio walked down the crowded, busy hallway.

“No, no, it’s true! One of my friend’s mother works for the CIA, and he said that he overheard her telling his dad all about how Sailor V is cooperating with both them and the police force in catching all those bad guys!” he revealed excitedly, reaching up to push back his glasses.

Alchemy scoffed loudly at this.

“Yeah, but here’s a thought, ‘Mr. Know-it-All:’ If Sailor V were really working for the government, basically, and your friend’s mother is in the CIA, do you really think that she’d just let something that obviously top secret and important out, even to her own husband?? When it comes to classified things like that, both the FBI and CIA are always very ‘hush-hush’ -- Especially with their loved ones, because they know that their nosy little son may happen upon the information and go blab their mouths to gullible people like you,” she teased with a roll of her blue eyes, reaching behind Elyon to lightly tap the back of Martin’s head in further jesting.

Elyon giggled at the display between her two friends, nodding slightly in agreement with the other girl.

“Yeah, that’s true, I suppose . . . I mean, if it were true, then the media would have somehow found out and leaked it to the public by now, I’m sure . . . not to mention that Sailor V or even the police would have a lot more enemies on their hands if any of them knew that they were working together,” she spoke thoughtfully, as the trio rounded a corner.

“Maybe . . . but, you guys gotta admit that it would make sense if it is true, though. You know, since lately jewelry store burglaries and other crimes have been happening one after the other, and either Sailor V or the police are always right there to stop the crooks from getting any further with their loot,” Martin reflected, after rubbing his head from Alchemy’s blow. “I wonder what the fascination is with jewelry and the necessity to steal it lately? In any case, I’ll catch you girls later, all right? And cheer up over your quiz, Ellie! You’ll get it next time, I’m sure!”

And with that, Martin gave a quick wave towards his two oldest companions, before disappearing into the first classroom they had come to on the right. Briefly returning the gesture, both girls continued on within their journey to their respected classes, as Elyon spoke again.

“While I appreciate his confidence within me, I really wish he hadn’t advertised it like that,” she murmured with a faint blush in reflection of her momentarily forgotten Algebra exam, as Alchemy gave her a light squeeze upon her arm.

“Hey, don’t sweat it, Elle. It’s Martin, remember? He’s always speaking before he thinks, like right now, about how he can’t understand why anyone would be trying to rob jewelry stores in the last couple of weeks. I mean, hello! It’s jewelry! Who wouldn’t want to steal some if they could get away with it? And I should know: I wish I could just take half of my dad’s collection without consequence most of the time, myself,” she said with a giggle, causing Elyon to do the same as the pair stopped before a broad staircase. “Anyway, he’s still right, though; next time, you’ll knock Cedner’s next quiz or test right out of the park! We’ll both help you study if we have to, even, okay? Until then, though, I’ll meet you after school to head over to my dad’s exhibit, all right? And do what ol’ Marty suggested: Cheer up!”

Elyon smiled generously at the darker haired girl and nodded in appreciation, before giving her a quick hug.

“Okay, okay, you guys win; I will! And thanks again for inviting me along, Alchemy -- It’ll do me some good to have an active excuse to stay away from my house until I have to see my own father,” she remarked with a slight shiver at the thought, releasing her friend from her embrace. “I’ll see you later, then!”

Elyon hung by the staircase for a little bit, watching Alchemy ascend them, before carrying on a little further down the hallway to her own seventh period class, art, which was currently her most favorite.

Just one more period to go after this, and then I’ll be surrounded by all the free merchandise and discount jewelry I could ever ask for . . . even if I can’t actually buy or bring any of them home with me just yet, she thought to herself in growing anticipation, as she walked into her class just as the second bell had rung.

(TO BE CONTINUED IN NEXT PART, Act 1 Part II. . . .)