NeoConstellation: Rift
I stretched. All night at a computer sorting through files is not a good thing for my back. Not at all.
I felt Draco come in and sit down on the desk. "What do you think you're doing?" She asked.
"I'm sorting through all these files… it can't be too good for a person, (I know that now) but I'm doing it."
"You never went to bed you must be tired."
"I am. But I like doing this… even if it is painful at times."
"Grrrr!" Draco got this look of extreme annoyance in the form of some kind of growl/smile that looked very, very strange.
I smiled. "What would you ever do if your face froze like that?" I said, and stretched again.
"I'd swipe your face off, Pegasus. Now go to bed you haven't slept a wink all night you've been staring at that computer and you're going to feel awful if and when you wake up!"
"Stop talking so fast. My head hurts." I said.
"Grrrr! Pegasus!"
"No, I'm serious… it's like I have absolutely no energy… " I said.
"Probably a result of staying up all night. Now, you have two choices: either go to bed right now or fight me."
I grinned. This was getting interesting. "Okay." I said. "I fight you."
She unsheathed her claws and held them two inches from my face.
I grabbed her paw and placed it back down on the ground.
She hissed.
I picked her up and put her down on the ground.
"Draco, have you been watching TV too much lately?" I asked.
"Go to bed." She said. "No, I have not."
"Oh. 'Cause it seems like you were."
"I'm not the one who looks like she's going to fall down any second."
"I do not look that bad. And I feel fine- I'm just a little tired."
"You look like you're very tired and it's impossible to get that look without actually being tired. I used to try it to my mother to stay in bed longer."
"Awww…" I said. "Little baby Draco is tired-wired?"
She hissed. "Don't do that! Pegasus, you are a mess! At least go take a shower and I'll do some of this stuff for you."
"Fine, fine." I agreed. I headed for the bathroom and shook my head. I really was tired, but it'd be a million years before Draco knew that.
I mean, it was more than just tired. I'd been tired. For like, the last few weeks tired.
Stretching yet again, I decided to go turn back around and push Draco out of the way. I was going to file that information, whether it meant a face full of cat claws or not. I picked her up and put her out of the way, sat down at the computer again, and started typing.
"Pegasus! I thought you were going to take a shower or something."
"Or something, Draco. Ever had one of those days-er, weeks- er, months when you're really tired?"
"You've been tired for a month? And why haven't I heard of this?"
"You're starting to sound like my mother… no, um, can I rephrase that?" I said quickly.
"Pegasus, look- if you're not feeling good then…" She started.
"No, Draco! I feel fine… I'm just… tired." I said. "It's nothing… I just fell really tired some of- all of the time."
"Pegasus, something's wrong. And I think I know what: You're suffering from that thing that has no real name and we don't know why it really happens but it does and we used to know but now we don't because we lost the information somewhere."
My head hurt. "Draco, could you explain that any faster?"
"You're being really tired for about three months and your powers start to degrade and then they come back again. No one really knows why it happens. Probably…"
At that point, I jumped into her definition. "The computer files! The information got lost in the computer files!" I said. Running back to the computer, I typed in the keywords, and there it was- the file we had been looking for.
"Wow." I said, scrolling through the information. "There's a lot of stuff on it in here… including the cure… or what looks like one."
Draco jumped up onto the desk and read the screen. "North Star Crystal." She read aloud, "Guarded by the representatives of the three main astronomical phenomenon The North Star, the Orion Nebula, and the Andromeda Galaxy. Hmmm."
She turned and looked at me. "So all we do now is find this Crystal and everything I'll be okay. However, we have to assume that the Omega Constellations know exactly the main thing: something's up when you don't hear anything threatening from them for awhile."
I agreed. "Yeah, and while we're at it, we still have to find the rest of the Delta constellations, including the Zodiac Constellations and Scorpio."
"Yeah." She said, a little too quietly.
"Oh… I think Draco has a crush on Scorpio…" I said.
"I do NOT!!!" She snapped back.
"I think you do and since I'm leader, it's true."
"You can't do that!" She shrieked in a state of panic.
"Drop it." I advised. "Now, what can we do to get that crystal?"
******
Chibi-Ursa paced the floor. "So basically what I'm being told is that you two are too lazy to go and get it YOURSELVES!!!??"
"No, not at all…" Gemini responded. "We're not telling you, we're asking you to go and get it. But if you're going to act that way, yes, we're telling you."
"I'm not getting that stupid crystal for you." Chibi-Ursa responded. "Unless there's something in it for me."
"I assure you there is: you don't get kicked out." I said harshly.
Gemini shot me a look. "You know, you remind me of Pegasus so much."
"What do you expect?" I shot back. "For me to just be silent? No thanks, Gemini."
"Look, Sagittarius, Chibi-Ursa, Cassiopeia, Hercules, and Leo: we get that crystal, we win over the Delta Constellations for sure. They get it… and we're going to have a hard time getting it from them!" He said. "Any questions?"
"Yeah." Said Chibi-Ursa. "What does this things look like?"
"How am I supposed to know?" He said, and shrugged. "It's a crystal… it looks like a crystal."
******
"So basically what you're saying, is that we need some Crystal thing that we don't have and don't know where to get, and we're supposed to get it with three people on our side and six on their side? That's insane." Said Shelby.
"So what? We've done insane things before." I said.
"Yeah." He snorted. "Insane things that um, get us killed, get our memories erased, do crazy things to our lives, yeah, I'd say we've done plenty insane, stupid things."
"You're just jealous 'cause you haven't done as many stupidly insane things as I have." I said.
"This conversation is too weird. Tell me more about the whatever-it's-called-crystal."
"The North Star Crystal. We need it. The Omega Constellations need it. We need to get it before there's an all-out war."
"There's already been an all-out war, Pegasus." He said back.
"Well, then, another one." I said. "But I'm proving a point: we need that crystal!"
"How do we get it?" He asked. "It's not like we can just go to the store and buy one."
"There are three special Earth people : Ryma, the guardian of the North Star, Cata, the guardian of the Orion Nebula, and Anastasia, the guardian of the Andromeda galaxy. We find them, we get the crystal. I guess."
"You guess. Well that's just peachy." He said, with a definite tone of sarcasm. "This is nuts."
"Yeah but it just might be the only way to truly end this thing, Shelby." I said. "If we don't end this… confrontation, it might go on for… years- wait, already has… decades, centuries, millennia, etc, etc, etc?"
"So basically we're just sitting here talking about what we should be out doing." It wasn't a question, it was a statement. But it was as close as a statement can come to being a question.
"Yes. Once Draco gets back, we're going to have to find the first guardian: Ryma, guardian of the North Star. If she won't give the crystal to us, we're out of luck."
******
It took us five weeks to find Ryma. And then, she wouldn't give us the crystal.
"What ever makes you think that I would ever give it to you? And who are you, anyway? And who are you that you think I would give the crystal to you?"
I took a really deep breath before answering. "I'm… um…" Not exactly sure of what to call myself, I considered options. Was I still Queen Pegasia? No. Sailor Pegasus? Maybe. Some idiot who called herself a Constellation? Yes, but I couldn't say that.
"I am Sailor Pegasus," I said, hoping I sounded surer of that then I felt. "Guardian of the Millennium Crystal."
"You are?" She said skeptically. "You don't sound very sure of that."
"Well…." I turned toward Shelby. "Should we tell her the very long very very long really very long story?" He shrugged. "This is your deal."
"Fine." I said, turning back towards Ryma. "I am Sailor Pegasus." I stated again. "And I always was… I think. No, I wasn't… never mind. And um, before that I was Queen Pegasia and everything was all peachy and then I made this huge mistake that I won't go into all the details about and…"
"…Wait." She said. "You mean like, Queen Pegasia, you were Queen Pegasia?"
I rolled my eyes. "Yeah… there's sort of only one of me, you know."
"But then why…"
"I told you," I stated, "I made a few little… okay, not so little mistakes! So ANYWAY like I said, I USED to be and now I'm NOT, okay? And I'm in NO MOOD TO NEGOCIATE NICELY!!!" I was yelling, but I didn't care.
"I want proof." She said.
"Fine!" I said, calming down. "Millennium Crystal Power!"
"Didn't that used to be Pegasus iRodot?" Ryma said.
"You don't get out often, do you?" Asked Shelby.
"There? See? If that PROOF enough for you?" I said. "I am Sailor Pegasus. Now, hand over that crystal!"
"Why should I, Pegasus?" She asked. "What's in it for me, huh? And why do you want it so badly?"
"Because I'm tired… well, yeah… but I'm tired of being tired!"
"This is not going your way." Muttered Shelby.
"Shut up!" I yelled. "We're leaving!"
******
"That worked out well, didn't it?" Said Draco.
"Oh yeah, it did:" I said, "it worked out real well.
"Yeah. I can tell by the way you walked in the door that it didn't go well. You do this little thing where-"
"Do I look like I care?" I asked. "I'm tired, don't feel like talking, and I don't want to do anything right now, okay?"
"Are you sure that's you or the disease talking, since you don't have that crystal?" She asked.
"Draco, I'm fine! Just leave me alone right now, okay? I'm tired."
"Well I can see that. And don't get so snippy with me."
"I can get snippy if I want to get snippy so don't say a word!"
******
Cata sighed. "This is not good. We need to be careful with giving the Crystal to Pegasus… she's not going to give up until she gets it and if she finds out about the Crystal of Oblivion while she's at it…"
"Our chances of remaining the driving force of this part of the heavens are very, very slim." Finished Anastasia.
"Very well. Then we all agree that Pegasus should be watched and not given the Crystal. If I find out anybody has leaked then some serious guardian butt is going to be kicked… got it?"
They nodded.
"Good. Meeting dismissed." I turned around and walked over to the window, watching Cata leave out of the corner of my eye. Cata left, however, Anastasia did not.
"Ryma- something's up. Pegasus is not going to leave us alone. She is bound and determined to get her hands on the North Star Crystal and once she gets it she's going to find out how to unlock the Crystal of Oblivion and then she's going to find out everything that we've been keeping from her and the whole system that we stand for is going to-"
"Anastasia. Your mind keeps going in circles and going nowhere at the same time. I don't know what I'm going to do… except maybe keep you shut up."
"Ryma you don't know what Pegasus-"
` "Neither do you, not for sure."
"Ryma-"
"Anastasia, shut up. Go away."
"Maybe I will, Ryma. Go away and take my knowledge to Pegasus."
******
There was a knock on the door. Looking at Tori zonked out on the couch, I decided to answer it myself.
I jumped up and grabbed the doorknob, swinging the door open and nearly crushing myself to death in the process. "Cats…" I muttered, "were never meant to open doors."
"Hello?" Said the voice on the other side.
"Meowwrrrrr?" I said. It may sound stupid, but a cat sounds like a cat.
"Hey kitty." Said the voice. "You wouldn't happen to be Pegasus's guardian cat, would you?"
I gasped. How does she know that? I thought. "Meeooorrrrrr."
"How do you know that?" I said, after I was done with the kitty-talk.
"Good. You are Draco." Said the person- she was tall, maybe a few inches shorter than Shelby, and had some look in her eyes that made my understand that she was here out of the kindness of her own heart. Hmmmmm. I thought.
"Well?" I asked.
"I'm Anastasia. You've already met Ryma, I presume?"
"I think Pegasus needs to tell me some details. I have no idea what you're talking about."
"Where is Pegasus?"
I nodded in the general direction of the couch.
"Ah. Sleeping?"
I nodded again.
"The disease."
I nodded a third time.
Anastasia walked over to the couch and gently shook Pegasus awake.
"Huh?" She said.
I rolled my eyes. "What a stupid remark for you to say to company, Pegasus." It was more of a statement to her that Anastasia knew what was going on.
Anastasia began her long, long story.
"Once, when the Millennium and Platinum Crystals were joined-"
"The iRodot." Pegasus interrupted.
Anastasia nodded. "-to form the iRodot, when Pegasus was still living as Pegasia, she didn't know and still doesn't know-"
"Who my family is." Pegasus interrupted again.
"-who her family is slash was. Then, when the destinies of the Constellations went nuts, the Crystal of Oblivion had to be locked somehow: to keep you form finding out the way to make everything right. The destinies stabilized and we didn't want them to go basillistic again. So we locked the Crystal using the North Star Crystal and-"
"And now I'm not allowed to find it because it'll make my future right again? Please, you people have the etiquette of pigs!" Pegasus said.
"Pegasus!" I scolded.
"That's why I'm here: Ryma and Cata are not giving up the Crystal. I want them to. You deserve to know what happened."
******