Title: Sailor Minerva: Protector of Light
Overall rating: PG-13
Part: Chapter 1
Author: Aimee*Dee*Dee
E-mail: sailorminerva@yahoo.com

:::PG-13 for violence and language...it probably is
PG, (if we're going by television ratings) but I 
don't want to offend people:::

>>>>>>Chapter 1<<<<<<
    )))Cynthia(((

"The Protector of Eternal Light? Sailor Minerva Revived."

Cynthia sighed wistfully as she thought of her dreams 
the previous night. It was the most realistic nightmare 
she had ever had, although it hardly seemed feasible. 
Every star in the galaxy was losing its radiance, and 
the light on planets everywhere was gradually 
diminishing. Foul demons who emerged in droves were on 
rampages, destroying cities and farms alike. A perpetual
gloom was descending on the universe, and she was 
helpless to do anything but observe this atrocity. This 
was just too genuine to be an ordinary dream, but she 
didn't know how it could be real. *How am I supposed to 
interpret it?* she pondered.

"Cynthia-san! Cynthia-san, are you listening?" her 
calculus teacher demanded. [Sweat drop and irritated 
bug-eyed look on teacher's face] [Startled look on 
Cynthia's face as teacher hovers over her, yelling in 
her ear] "You haven't been paying attention all day! 
Now, go up to the board and solve for x."

*There goes another eardrum,* Cynthia thought, rolling 
her eyes upward.

++A dark, box-like room unfurnished except for a round 
table with a dozen chairs around it. A dark creature 
shrouded in a blood-red cloak sitting in one chair, 
drumming his/her/its fingers on the table.++

Slowly human-like demons appeared. They all bowed deeply
to the thing in the cape.

"What the hell is going on out there?" the red thing 
ordered in a strange, squeaky voice. ===It is impossible
to tell if this "thing" is male or female or somewhere 
in between, so don't ask!===

"Your Excellency, the demons we command are running 
wild," a female demon explained. "There is no way to 
control them."

"Failure is unacceptable." A red blaze came from deep 
within that blackness inside the cloak. They looked like
a pair of eyes made of fresh blood. "My master will 
_not_ allow such insufficiency among his demonlords. 
Begone, traitor!"

In a flash of red light, the female monster who was 
protesting vigorously dissolved, leaving not a trace.

"I hope I have made myself clear," the red thing said as
the flames in his eyes faded.

"Your Grathe," a hideous demon lord bellowed. "I have 
total control of my demonth. We can do anything you 
dethire." ===A distinguishing characteristic of this
demonlord is his lisp. His s's are prounouced like 
"th" so I decided to write his dialogue this way.===

A wicked red glow in the shape of a smirk gleamed in 
that terrible dark "face." "Very well. You know what 
needs to be done. You are dismissed." Laughing wildly as
the demon lords disappeared to do their homework, the 
evil thing smirked once again. "What pathetic creatures!
I will have no need for them any longer as soon as they 
finish my dirty work." He continued to laugh 
egomaniacally.

++Sidewalk in the city with various tall buildings all 
around++

Trudging home from school that day, Cynthia realized 
that she had been moping all day. Her usually cheerful 
disposition had given her the nickname "Perkia." 
(Cynthia rhymes with "Perkia," kind of.) ===My nickname
is "Perky," and I just couldn't resist. ^_^=== She
always took pride in being optimistic, but this strange
dream was really getting to her.

"What's wrong?" a deep, sensitive voice asked. "Frowns 
don't become you, Perkia."

Glancing up, Cynthia's face immediately brightened up. 
[Big, flashing hearts replace eyes and a huge smile 
covers face--along with a blush] "Kenshu-san! I--I 
didn't expect to see you here!"

"I'm heading for the caf鬢 Kenshu said. *She's kind of 
pretty when she smiles...* "I have to work tonight." 
*...Well, for her age, anyway.*

Fujiwara Kenshu was a tall, well-built college student 
who Cynthia had met through her best friend's older 
sister Miwa, his classmate. He had dreamy dark green 
eyes and smooth black hair styled fashionably. He loved 
many sports and excelled in basketball, soccer, and 
karate. Not only was he athletic, but he was very 
intelligent and paid attention to detail.

"I was just...uh...going to the arcade," Cynthia 
finished lamely. *I wish he was my boyfriend.* "I'll 
walk with you until we get there."

++In front of a building with a sign: "Makoto's (Lita's)
and Motoki's (Andrew's) Arcade" ===Coincidence? I think 
not.===++

"Thanks for the advice on that geometry problem, 
Kenshu-san," Cynthia said. *He is really smart...*

"No problem." Kenshu smiled as he waved goodbye.

"See ya later!" *...and _so_ hot, too*

"Hey, Cynthia! You said you weren't coming to the arcade
today." Cynthia's best friend, Chiaki, popped out from 
the corner. Her shy smile engulfed her often withdrawn 
face. She was a timid, quiet girl in contrast to 
Cynthia's vivid personality. Her petite body matched her
demeanor and her blonde braids always bounced nervously 
at the slightest disruption.

"Change of heart, I guess," Cynthia said flatly, still 
preoccupied with Kenshu. *Even though he's older than 
me, I wonder if...*

"Hello? Cynthia, you there?" Chiaki asked. [Waving hand 
in front of Cynthia's face]

"Nani!?" Cynthia was brought out of her reverie. "Oh, 
yeah. Lets go play some Sailormoon video games!"

The girls walked into the arcade together, talking and 
giggling.

++A dim stairwell and a hallway with many doors.++

Cynthia pulled a key out of her pocket and unlocked her 
door. Her apartment was small, but tidy. Sighing, she 
slammed the door shut. *I had so much fun this 
afternoon. I wish I could just forget that dream, and my
life would be perfect.* After thinking this rather 
hastily, she gasped. Perfect? No, her life could never 
be perfect again. 

Dropping her book bag on her desk, she studied the two
sculptures she had painstakingly created. They were of 
her beloved parents, who had died last year in a plane 
crash. The day she lost them was the day she began her 
life anew--all alone. She felt detached from the rest of
the world; everyone else had family and friends, a 
purpose to their lives. *My parents should be living 
right now, not me,* Cynthia realized. *I don't deserve 
life.* Cynthia had lost her memory in that tragic 
accident, and she did not even know her real name. A 
lovely woman once said to her years ago, "You are a 
shadow of light, a little trace, just like the moon. 
Cynthia." Thus, her name.

*Was that woman my mother?* There was just so much 
Cynthia did not know. Only a wrinkled, smoke-stained 
snapshot of her parents posing with her had survived the
crash. Cynthia never knew her real identity, because she
had no living relatives, as far as she could tell. *Just
who am I anyway?*

Staring at the mirror on the wall, she carefully 
scrutinized herself. *I am Cynthia,* she reassured 
herself. *Cynthia, with smooth black hair that falls 
midway down her back and is accented by a sharp widows 
peak. Cynthia, with big gray eyes that are described by
Chiaki, ever the poet, as "luminous dark pools" and ears 
double-pierced with pearl earrings. Cynthia, the slim 
girl of medium height with long legs. Cynthia, who has 
pale skin and a straight nose. Cynthia, the quiet flirt 
with long black eyelashes and just the right amount of 
makeup. See, Cynthia is right here. But how do I know 
I _am_ Cynthia?*

She suddenly heard a deafening siren-like sound coming 
from outside. "What is going on? That noise is bursting 
my eardrums for the second time today!" [Very large 
sweat drop]

Cynthia was definitely unprepared for the chaotic scene 
before her. Terrible demons were everywhere, trying to 
kill people in the streets. Sharp claws tore at throats,
faces, or any other convenient part of the body. 
Desperately the demons fought with mechanic precision. 
They all seemed to chant in monotone voices 
simultaneously, "DO-MIN-ION. We must find DO-MIN-ION."

A loud voice interrupted the demon's little party just 
as soon as Cynthia was about to rush them and attack. 
"Taking precious lives is _wrong_, because life is a 
cherished gift! For love and justice, I'm the pretty 
soldier Sailor Moon. In place of the moon, I'll protect 
life!" 

Mystified, Cynthia gaped at the lovely figure standing 
above on the roof of a building. Sailor Moon...it could 
not be. It had to be her, because she was as amazing in 
real life as she was in the video games. Then she 
spotted Sailor V, and the other Inner Senshi as well. 
*This is incredible, but can they stop the monster?*

"In the name of Mars, I'll punish you!" Sailor Mars was 
apparently angry as she jumped off the roof.

"Douse yourself in water and repent!" Sailor Mercury 
floated down to the battle scene flowingly.

"Don't try to defy my thunder!" Sailor Jupiter 
leaped agilely down to the street.

"My love and beauty should shock you!" Sailor Venus 
flamboyantly hopped off the building. ===Sorry, bad 
pun!===

Sailor Moon followed, tripping on the roof and awkwardly
dropping to the ground. Wincing, she tripped on a rock 
and fell on her face. [Sweat drops on all the senshi] 

"We're the Sailor Soldiers. We won't stop until we've 
destroyed you, demons!"

The mechanical demons moaned and turned away from their 
prey towards the new foes.

"Flame sniper!" Sailor Mars shouted. The demons, 
burned by fire hotter than the fires of Hell, ignored 
her attack. [Perplexed look on Mars' face] "They didn't 
even dodge!"

"Don't worry, Mars, we'll defeat it!" bellowed Jupiter. 
"Jupiter oak evolution!"

"Venus love and beauty shock!" Venus strained to give 
her attack maximum efficiency. "Nothing is working! How 
can we destroy them?"

"I'll try," Mercury said as calmly as she could. 
"Mercury aqua rhapsody!"
[Baffled expressions on all senshi's faces]

The demons, still unaffected by the powerful attacks of 
the Inner Senshi, started walking towards Cynthia!

Sailor Moon pulled out her moon power tier (moon wand, as
this hasn't been in the dub yet I'm not entirely sure of
the exact name), but a much larger demon materialized 
behind her. He snickered. "I'll take that toy for you,"
he said, snatching her wand.

"Hey, my wand!" she whined. [Large sweat drop on Sailor 
Moon] "Come on--please give it back!"

"Finderth Keeperth," the demonlord with the lisp taunted.
"Thayonara." With that, he walked into a passageway 
between the Dark Kingdom and the world. There was no way
to follow him!

"The only hope left is for us to pool our powers," 
Sailor Mercury suggested.

"Let's get them!" the sailor senshi chorused.

Dust whirled around the scene, blurring it, but the five
figures donning colorful uniforms stood tall against the
devastated landscape. They joined hands, forming a 
circle, and concentrated on their target. The foul wind 
enticed them, gently tugging their bodies and tempting 
them to follow its course. Stubbornly the Inner Senshi 
kept together, ignoring the temptations of the wind. 
They began to yell fiercely, to lock the power they had 
called on the target before them.

"Mars Crystal Power!"
"Mercury Crystal Power!"
"Jupiter Crystal Power!"
"Venus Crystal Power!"
"Moon Eternal Power!"
"Sailor Planet Attack!"

At this last chorused phrase, rays of colored light from
high above caressed their faces. The violent wind halted
for the briefest moment, then changed directions to gust
upward. Their hair and clothing struggled against the 
great draft, but was forced above them, where their 
powers met. Gliding along the breeze like a falcon on a 
windy day, the multicolored power shimmered with awful, 
raw energy. *The demons can't survive against that,* 
Cynthia thought smugly.

"What!" [Bug-eyes and mouths dropped on faces of the 
senshi]

The demons remained undaunted and kept loping towards 
Cynthia. She frantically searched for an escape. Cynthia 
was leaning up against a wall, and the demons were ten 
yards away!

At the last hopeless moment, Cynthia thought, *I am 
going to die.* It surprised her immensely when a gray 
light surrounded her, and pushed the evil spirits away. 
The sailor senshi gazed at the ball of gray light they 
had not noticed before. Was there something inside that 
globe that they had been previously unaware of? What had
been there before the glowing ball had appeared?

*Did the demons get me?* Cynthia thought desperately. 
She was spinning around and around, and her heart caught
in her throat. Her breath was trapped in her nose and 
mouth, and she wondered if this was the end. *I'm going 
to get suffocated if this doesn't stop!*

The twisting of her body ceased, and she panted for air.
The gray dome that encompassed her was a strangely 
comforting presence like a soft woolen blanket on a 
chill winter day. A vision flashed in front of her hazy 
eyes, and she observed it in astonishment.

A queen bent over a cradle, her soft white hair gently 
draping over it. A young girl stood a few feet away, 
sighing with delight over her baby sister.

The same young girl stood tall years later, fondly 
storing the picture of her now grown-up little sister in
her memory. The queen was nowhere to be seen. Tears 
streamed down her sibling's face, but the older sister 
did not cry. She merely sighed disconsolately.

A gray jewel rested in the palm of a soldier after 
laying dormant for years. It gleamed once, and then 
faded away, warped to the distant future. The soldier 
was a sailor senshi, and she concocted her strategy for 
battle. Devoid of any readable feeling, she sighed 
briefly while absently biting a nail. ===Strange how 
sighs are such versatile expressions, is it not?===

The vision concluded. The strange gray gemstone from the
vision now lay in the palm of Cynthia's hand. *Am I--am 
I a sailor senshi?*

Without knowing why, Cynthia instinctively held up her 
hand, where a wand with a symbol on it appeared. 
"Minerva Dominion Power, Make-up!"

Cynthia was rather inexperienced at transforming, and 
her first transformation was...well, less than perfect. 
There is really no need to describe it, because it would 
just embarrass her. Because the gray sphere concealed 
her, the sailor senshi had not seen Cynthia transform. 
They were overwhelmed at the sight before them.

Gray, Cynthia's favorite color, fit her well, so her 
sailor suit was absolutely gorgeous. Her gray collar and
skirt flounced airily, and she quickly smoothed them out
with white kid gloves that reached the wrist. Most
prominently, her fuku was a two-piece hooked
together by silver beaded ribbons. Rather than a tiara,
she had an intricate crown woven into her hair, which was 
elaborately braided. The white bows on the bodice and sash 
matched her white boots with pointing toes and three-inch 
heels. A gray jewel adorning the white ribbon choker 
that encircled her slender neck complemented her sad eyes,
and it twinkled once in the sudden burst of light that
ascended down to splash her with color. ===I know that, 
psychologically, liking gray as a favorite color is 
supposed to mean a person is unstable mentally, but I
find gray a pretty color...well, when I'm _really_
depressed. Gray, to me, is a more serious, somber color,
so it matches Minerva perfectly.===

It was the light that got the demons' undivided 
attention. They paused slightly before moving forward 
again. Menacingly they kept coming. *Am I supposed to 
fight them?* Minerva thought incredulously. *I don't 
even know what to do!*

Then, quite suddenly, it all came crashing down on her. 
She _did_ know what to do. "Purely and wisely I battle 
for the Aurora, the true love and light! I'm the pretty 
soldier Sailor Minerva, and I have _no_ mercy for demons
threatening the Light!"

"Spinning vines, intertwine!" she called out with a 
little uncertainty. Bright silver vines shimmering with 
an inner light spun through the air towards the demons. 
They locked around the demons, trapping them, but soon
started to fail. *Oh no! It didn't work!*

Commercial break! (Scroll down and skip if you hate to 
laugh.)

"I feel--
as graceful as a ballerina,
as agile as a gymnast,
as coordinated as an athlete--
I don't fall down anymore.
It's all because of this new medication,
Clutsstop.
It's changed my life. [Sniffle]
And it could change yours."
[The actress trips and falls. Hear in the background, 
"Don't you remember where the stop button is?" ; "I 
thought this actress was _coordinated_!" ; "I forget how
to edit tapes!"]
[Spoken quickly] "Side effects include short attention 
span, poor study habits, and overly emotional behavior. 
Please see your doctor before taking any medication."
[Note in tiny print at the bottom of the screen: Yes, 
this is all an evil scheme to make money for pharmacists
and doctors. Clutsstop has been proven to make people 
lose control of certain important voluntary muscles. If 
you are ditzy and gullible you will believe this 
advertisement.]

"I am Mizuno Ami, M.D. (Amy Anderson, M.D.)
I care for people.
I care for animals.
I care for all living things.
Bring in the wounded, the sick, the dying.
I will care for them."
"Hey, Ami! It's free, right?"
"_Usagi_ (_Serena_)! The script said it's '_easy_,' not 
'_free_!'"
"Well, I couldn't read your handwriting! You're a doctor
now, and--"
"What? You say that you don't know how to edit tapes, 
director?"
"Oh, Ami! I'm sorry for ruining--"
"STOP THE TAPE! STOP--"

===The quality of commercials is definitely going 
downhill, don't you think?===

We now return to the story!

@}-->--- A single red rose sliced through the air, 
landing in front of the demons, who were approaching 
Minerva with more determination than before. An 
invisible force field from the rose kept them from 
advancing.

"This is unacceptable, you demons. I shall personally 
insure that the havoc you have wrecked upon this 
neighborhood will not go unpunished," the man in the 
cape said firmly. *It's Tuxedo Kamen (Mask),* thought 
Minerva. *He can save us...he's so dreamy in that 
tuxedo....What am I thinking? He is Sailor Moon's 
boyfriend!*

"Sailor Mars--these are demons, right? Try your ofuda 
(anti-evil signs) on them!" exclaimed Tuxedo Kamen 
(Mask).

"Here goes." Sailor Mars shrugged. "Evil spirits, 
begone!" ("Mars fireballs charge!")

The demons were stopped in their tracks. Sailor Mars was
perspiring heavily. "It won't last much longer!"

"I'll try to distract him while you do Sailor Planet 
Attack," Tuxedo Kamen (Mask) said in the pause provided.

The sailor senshi powered up as Tuxedo Kamen dueled with
the demons. Secretly, Minerva started to wrench off the 
gem on her tight choker. *It _must_ work!* she thought 
emphatically. 

"Mars Crystal Power!"
"Mercury Crystal Power!"
"Jupiter Crystal Power!"
"Venus Crystal Power!"
"Moon Eternal Power!"
"Sailor Planet Attack!"

The same process occurred, but, once again, the senshi 
were losing. *They _cannot_ lose faith or it won't 
work!* Minerva gave the jewel a particularly hard tug, 
and it finally dislodged. Clutching the precious gem, 
she leaped towards the demons, shouting, "Arch kick!"

The blow caught the merging group of demons off-guard, 
and they were more susceptible to the senshi's planet 
power attack. However, Sailor Minerva was not even 
warmed up. Reaching for the gray tiara-stone, she slowly
elevated it, as if it were a heavy weight. "You attack 
the Aurora, you will have to deal with me!" *Where are 
these strange words coming from?* "Leave this dimension!
Return to Hell, and remain there!"

The demons were too weak to resist, and their resolve 
crumpled. They were whisked away to Hell for eternity.

"We--we beat them!" Sailor Moon asserted. [Huge, 
ridiculous smile on her face]

"Sailor Minerva," Sailor Mercury said, her blue eyes 
kind, "welcome."

"Maybe I can bake a cake for you, to welcome you to the 
club," Jupiter suggested.

"Yeah," Mars repeated. "Welcome to the club."

"Hey, Sailor V is for Victory," winked Venus, "and 
Sailor M can be for--"

"I am sorry, but I am _not_ a part of your team," Sailor
Minerva found herself saying. *What am I doing!?* "My 
planet is lost. Minerva is no more. This causes me great
sadness, and Sailor Minerva's Dominion Orb would never 
have been reactivated if the Aurora were not in some 
kind of danger. I _can't_ fight against evil as you do, 
even if I wanted to, but I will protect the Eternal 
Light."

"What does that mean?" inquired Tuxedo Kamen.

"I don't know. I only know that I must continue in my 
battle, alone. I cannot fight demons with you; I am not 
capable of it. Do not pester me any further about this, 
_understand_?"

"But, you showed incredible power--" Tuxedo Kamen 
persisted.

"Please excuse me," Minerva interrupted. *Why am I doing
this? Am I crazy? I always wondered what it would be 
like to know the sailor senshi.* 

She turned briskly and glided away. Tendrils of fog 
swirled as she disrupted their usual path. She walked 
softly in order to overhear the senshi's discussion.

"What was all that mumbo-jumbo gibberish?" Sailor Moon 
asked as she watched the fog close in on Minerva.

"I don't know," Mercury replied. "Let's talk to Luna 
and Artemis about this. It concerns me..."

New name meanings in this chapter: Minerva, as you may
know already from the introduction, is the goddess of 
wisdom, purity, agriculture, handicrafts, logic, and 
defensive warfare. Cynthia's "meaning" is in the prologue.
Kenshu means "clever." Fujiwara means "field of 
wisterias." Chiaki means "beautiful in autumn." Not 
mentioned: Chiaki's first name, her family name (last
name) is Kawazoe, which means "river side." Beautiful
names, ne?

...Previews for the next chapter...
>Chapter 2<  )Chouko(
A little girl named Chouko finds out that her world is 
quite suddenly a cesspool of danger. She might be able 
to protect herself, but beware! Her strange new powers 
could get her into more trouble than imaginable!
"Ayumi Attacked! The Senshi Nowhere to be Found!"
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