Here's Lavender #3.
Disclaimer:
All SM characters owned by Naoko Takeuchi.
The originals are mine. If you wanna use them
ask permission first.
C&C and MSTs are encouraged and wanted !
Could you help a poor fellow fanfiction writer ?
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Lavender # 3: Cat Chase
-----------------------------------------
The cat was feeling so strange. It was realizing for the first time it was seeing the
world in totally new eyes. Not in the mental way but in a physical way also. In the
old days it only saw in two colors, black and white. Now it had an entire pallette
of colors to marvel at. Red, greens and blues bombarded it's sight as it slinked
around in the bushes. It emerged from the bushes, following its instincts. A part
of it was drawing it to this place, though it did not know where it was going all it
knew that it would be safe.
Then it saw her.
She was a young girl. She had black shoulder-length hair that framed a cute face.
She was wearing a school uniform.
School ?, the cat the thought emerged in his head. Then it knew. School was a
place to learn. Humans went to them because they were not born with what they
needed to know.
It looked again and observed her closely. Her eyes had a look of sadness as she
looked on the other children who all seemed to shun her. She was sitting alone under
the tree as she ate.
It felt reassured somewhat as it neared her. It was safe it told itself. It did not know
why but it knew it would be safe with the girl.
Then it realized why as it neared her. This girl was the one it saw in it's memories.
***************************
Hotaru Tomoe was eating lunch alone once again. And she hated every minute of it.
Why do people hate what they can't understand, she thought bitterly to herself as
she looked out into the schoolyard. Hotaru sighed once again. No use thinking about
it, it'll just keep her depressed all day. She tookanother bit of her lunch when she
firts noticed the cat.
It was a white cat, a lot like Artemis but this one didn't have a crescent moon mark on
his forehead. And the fact that it had an eyepatch like a pirate had made it look a bit
cute. It meowed as it looked at her curiously. It was definitely hungry from the way that
it looked at the fish she had for lunch and considering how thin it looked. It meowed
once again.
Hotaru took pity on the poor animal and picked a piece of the fish that she was eating
and gave it to the animal. She smiled as she saw the cat devour the piece. For some
weird reason she felt smiling, felt happy.
That was when the bell rang.
Hotaru quickly packed up her bento and stood up. She looked at the cat who was cutely
looking at her with his one visible eye. ' Bye now.', she said as she ran to the school
building.
****************************
As Hotaru walked home from school, once again feeling down from another round of
insults and taunts, she sensed something following her. She turned around. No one
there. Then she heard a meow coming from above. She looked up and saw the weird
cat that she fed earlier standing on the wall. It meowed again before leaping downwards
and landing at her feet.
Hotaru looked down in wonder as the cat moved to her legs and nuzzled them with it's
nose and rubbed it's furry body against them. She smiled as she felt the smooth fur
on her legs.
' You really like me don't you ?', Hotaru asked the cat as she looked down into it's one
eye.
The cat did what all cats do and nuzzled her legs once again.
Hotaru giggled. She really liked the cat. She picked the cat up and looked into it's cute
face. The eyepatch made the cat even more cuter.
' Wanna go home with me ?'
The cat leaned it's head forward and licked her nose. She giggled once again.
' OK. And when we reach home I'll treat you to a can of tuna.' Hotaru said as she put
the cat down once again. ' Now follow me ,', she gestured the cat as she mock-posed
and pointed in front of her,her mood brightening ' , forward to home ! ' She was definitely
feeling better as she lead the cat to her home. Hotaru wondered why she posed. Must
be hanging around Minako a lot, her smile widened at the thought.
Hotaru was so happy that she didn't notice the human-like smile on the cat's face as
they marched on home.
***************************
On the top of a tall building, a pair of eyes looked down on the lights of the city of
Tokyo. Eyes that were hidden behind a mask, as they roved over the city. To an
outside observer they would see a man who was currently standing on a very
dangerous looking ledge. They would see his lavender cloak billowing in the soft
wind, hiding his form beneath it, and a wide brimmed lavender hat on his head. But
what would attract their attention would be the white mask. The face painted on it
was smiling but if the observers were close enough the voice they would hear
would tell them the face behind the mask was not.
' Damn ! The masking spell is still too strong ! ' The man said as he wrung his white
gloved hands in frustration.
' Time for plan B. '
The man's gloved hand came out of the cloak holding a sheaf of papers. A sound
came from behind the mask, a sound like the low blowing sound of the wind. The
wind answered in kind as the wind picked up whipping up the cloak around the
man. The hand released the papers into the wind sending them down to the city
below.
If one were to pick one of these odd pieces of paper up one would see a picture of
a white cat wearing an eyepatch over one eye and the plea of an anxious pet owner
to call the number below if they saw it.
***************************
Haruka-papa and Michiru-mama were out for a performance so Hotaru was alone in
the apartment. Ami had dropped by earlier to check on her. Ami couldn't get anything
on the Mercury computer so she assumed that Hotaru was fine but should rest for
awhile. Which was what she was doing. She was sitting comfortably in front of the TV
watching a tape of 'Marmalade Boy'.
' That's Yuu, Koko. Isn't he cute ?' Hotaru pointed to the screen. The one-eyed cat who
was currently being called Koko looked up. Cute ?, the cat thought wonderingly. Then
it returned back to sleeping on Hotaru's lap. Hotaru didn't mind since she was currently
entranced by the anime she was watching.
The cat drifted deeper into it's sleep, unmindful of the chatter of the TV, spiraling deeper
into unconsciousness. That was then the voices started. So many voices rising up in a
loud cacophony. Then there were the pictures. Pictures of scenes and of places it knew
it hadn't gone to, but he knew he had been there all the same. Then a great explosion of
light..............
..............His name was Apollo. He was running through the flaming ruins of a beautiful
palace. He was hoping he wasn't too late, though he didn't know why. He heard the sound
of clashing metal.
He was near, yet he did not know what he was near to. He moved in the direction of the
sound not knowing why but still moving as if he was just an observer and someone else
was still in his body. He saw them.
A woman dressed in black wielding a double-bladed glaive and a man also dressed in
black wielding a sword, deftly blocking and parrying. Then the woman stopped. She was
holding the glaive, The Silence Glaive, he remembered, high above her head. She was
obviously concentrating on keeping it up there, from the look on her face. She started to
tell something to the man, tears running down her face. The face looked familiar to
Apollo as he looked on. Like the girl who fed him, that's what she looked like, the girl
who fed him.
The woman was now begging the man to do something. The man raised his sword, tears
streaming down his face and moved to stab the woman. Then Apollo's world filled was
once again with light...........
....Voices once again leapt into his hearing as the light rushed all around him.But some
voices came to him much more naturally...........
..............' Kill me now. Please !'..........
..............' No! Dammit, fight it !'............
..............' I can't ! Please, beloved, kill me now !'..............
.............A mask suddenly loomed before him. A smiling face smiled eerily at him. It was
the mask of the man. The man called Lavender. And once again the light blasted into his
consciousness.............
Koko shivered a bit and Hotaru wondered if cats could catch a cold. She stroked the cat's
fur and it purred.
............. Apollo purred. He liked it when Lavender stroked him like that. And it sure calmed
his nerves. And he was quite nervous.
The mist soon parted to reveal them in the center of a very dark place. Him and Lavender
were in the center of a column of light that was wide enough for both of them. Lavender
put him down.
Apollo sensed something happening. He heard voices coming from the darkness, asking.
Lavender responded. He felt power filling him as tendrils of light sprang from the darkness
surrounding them. He felt himself being changed............
..............' Is he your chosen ?'............
..............' Yes.'.................
..............' Then he shall be your companion till the end of your duties'..............
.............. He was once again at Lavender's feet. Mist was around them once again.
Lavender was facing him, looking down at him behind the ornately painted mask he
wore.
' We are now bound forever. You are my companion till I discharge my duties. Though
you die wou will be reborn to accompany. Though I die I will be reborn to fulfill my duties
until I have paid in full. Thus has been said and thus are we bound.'
With this, Apollo's world was once again bathed with alabaster light
***************************
Apollo woke up in a start as he heard the door open. He remembered most of what he
was but still his memories were still Swiss cheese. All he knew was that he needed to
find Lavender.
' Hello , Haruka-papa, Michiru-mama !', the girl Apollo heard being called Hotaru said
from her position on the couch. She moved to set Apollo aside, which Apollo obliged by
moving off her.
' Hello, Hotaru-chan. What have you got there ?', the green haired woman that Hotaru
refered to as Michiru asked as she set a violin case on a nearby table.
' He followed me home from school. Can I keep him ?' Hotaru asked, blinking her cute
eyes. Apollo smiled a bit. She always did that when she wanted something. Then Apollo
became confused. How did he know that, he asked himself, as he sniffed the air to smell
everyone's scent.
The blonde which Hotaru called papa was actually a woman. Apollo disregarded that. He
knew that humans were sometimes like that. What interested him was Hotaru's scent.
Haruka then looked at Apollo.
' Hey. Michiru ain't that the cat on the flyer ?'
Flyer ?, Apollo thought while he contemplated Hotaru's scent ransacking his memories.
' Flyer ? ' Hotaru asked dejectedly. Apollo could sense she really wanted him as a pet.
Michiru moved towards him and looked at him closer.
'Yes. It seems so.' she said as she pulled out a piece of paper from her pocket.
' Well, I think we should call the owner.' Haruka said as she picked up the phone.
Hotaru went back to sit on the couch, a bit down. In an attempt to cheer her up, at least
for awhile, Apollo leaped on to her lap once again. There he finally realized who this girl
was.
She was the one in most of her memories. Feeding her. Seeing her grow up. Fighting the
man in black.
Yet there was something in the back of his mind telling him otherwise. And Apollo could
notice minor differences in the way she acted and her scent.
This was her yet it wasn't her. Apollo couldn't understand it but he knew that Lavender
could explain it to him. He really hated leaving. The girl was kind enough but this was not
his place. He looked up in Hotaru's eyes and curled up once again on her lap as he heard
the blonde woman called Haruka dialing the number on the flyer.
***************************
' Hmmmm.... I still don't get it.' Pluto was currently rubbing her chin as she looked at
the Time Gate. One of Pluto's little quirks that developed from her guardianship of the
Gates of Time is that she has the idiosyncracy to talk to herself when she is alone.
She managed to control herself when the others were around. She really didn't need
the other Senshi questioning her sanity. Besides, the others might not understand it
was inevitable for one like her to develop at least minor psychosis when isolated for
large amounts of time entailed by her duties.
And Pluto has been alone for a very _long_ time.
' OK, let's try this again.' she said as she focused once again. Her eyes were closed
in concentration. The mists that enveloped the Time gate seemed to solidify in the
point in front of her. They became a dark mirror, reflecting Pluto's visage. She opened
her eyes and her eyes looked into the darkness. Images began to form in the mirror.
' Damn !', Pluto swore as she saw mists and the Sigil of Saturn in the darkness of
the mirror.
' Still the same.', she said as she dismissed the mists before her with a wave of her
staff.
Pluto stood there once again rubbing her chin. She shook her head once or twice and
frowned one instance, other than that she didn't move from her position for several
minutes. Her eyes brightened up as she stopped her rubbing her chin and smiled.
' If the result of the visions are like that then the object that's causing it has no temporal
signature I could detect.', she reasoned out loud,' and since everything has a temporal
signature, if I scanned the city I'll turn up a blank spot on where it's located.'
' All I need now is a high enough place for a high level temporal scan.', she declared
before fading from view.
***************************
*rrrriiinnngg*
If a person had been observing they would have heard the sound of a cellular phone
ringing from the cloaked figure jumping from rooftop to rooftop. If they were near enough
they would see a gloved dip into a tuxedo jacket and pull a cellular phone out as the
figure silently landed, crouching on the roof of a building. And because of their nearness,
they would hear a woman's voice answering from behind the mask.
' Hello ?'
' Yes, I was the one.'
' You found him ? Great ! May I ask your address ?'
' Oh... is that 25....yes...yes....across town...'
The listener would hear it as if the person was taking down an address.
' Thank you ! I'll be over immediately ! '
The observer would then see the figure return the phone into the jacket and resume
it's rooftop course, except now it was going west and doing it much more quickly.
***************************
Pluto looked down on the city from her vantage point on Tokyo Tower. She closed
her eyes as she held her staff up.The gem on the tip glowed brightly for a few minutes.
Pluto's concentration was obvious on her face.
When she opened her eyes, she let out a deep breath.
' Gotcha. Now to teleport.', the Guardian of Time said as she lowered her staff and
closed her eyes once again. She faded from view.
Seconds after she disappeared, a figure stepped out from the shadows. It was a man.
He was of medium build , though he was quite extraodinary in some other aspects.
His hair was as white as snow, though his face did not betray any wrinkles or signs of
age.To the contrary, his skin had the smoothness of youth. His clothes were all black.
Black shirt, black pants, black shoes, black socks, black gloves and a long black coat
that reached his ankles. But the last remaining items of his outfit would be the merit of
great attention.
First, though it was night, the man wore sunglasses. They were ebony black and should
have impeded his vision. But the man was walking with ease, balancing quite well on the
metal girders of Tokyo Tower.
Second, was what he held in his hands.
It was a Time Staff.
If M.C. Escher and H.R. Giger collaborated to design a Time Staff that is.
The oily black surface of the staff had an intricate amount of designs sculpted into it.
Cthulhoid mostrosities,mobius strips and other exotic designs decorated the staff. It
emanated an aura of both horror and fascination. It was tipped by an onyx gem held
by a monstrous many-veined hand.
The man walked to where Pluto stood and raised his staff. The onyx glowed ebony black
as power crackled up the staff length.
' Disrupt ! ', the man said in an imperious voice. The onyx glinted once withe power. Then
it returned back to normal.
' Good. She has been diverted. But that is not enough. I will have to tell Lavender to delay
her more.', he said in a slightly aristocratic accented voice, as he lowered the staff.
He snickered.
' Great, I'm starting to talk to myself like Pluto. We _are_ getting senile.', he said
self-deprecatingly as he held the black Time Staff with both gloved hands and faded from
view.
***************************
Pluto blinked.
She blinked again.
The reason of her blinking was obvious. She had appeared in a totally deserted
alley. Nothing but a garbage bin was here.
' Where's the temporal anomaly ?' ,she said as she looked around. She closed
her eyes and the gem that tipped her staff glowed. She opened her eyes
' What the hell's happening ?', she said as she looked around once again.
***************************
' What the hell do you mean I have to knock her out !?'
' She needs to be delayed long enough for you to do what you need to do.
It seems my interference was not enough to slow her down sufficiently.'
' You knock her out ! '
' I already diverted her teleportation point. It is quite fortunate that the planets
are in position so she can blame it on the planetary conjunction that happens
tonight. If I interfere anymore she will be able to sense me.'
' Is there any other way ?'
' I have seen the possibilities. A direct intervention by you is the best solution.'
' That means I have to knock her out. But she'll figure it out anyway. Who the hell
would punch her out anyway ? She'll be really suspicious.'
' Not if you make it look like a robbery.'
***************************
Setsuna was walking down the street visibly peeved by the failure of her teleport.
And since she had exhausted her power by doing a high-level scan of the entire
city and a teleport she decided to just go on foot. Her high-heels clacked on the
cement as she strode angrily down the deserted sidewalk. She muttered under
her breath about damnable planetary conjunctions.
' Ma'am , excuse me but what's the time ?' a voice behind her asked with a
slight tap on her shoulder.
She was caught by surprise and whirled around automatically, quickly enough to
catch a fist striking her full in the face.
Setsuna's world was suddenly filled with light which gave way to the darkness of
unconsciousness.
****************************
' Now drag her back here.'
' OK. *huff* She really should go on a diet.'
' You're just rusty, old friend. Now her wallet.'
' Here. Oooh, she's got a gold card !'
' Stop being juvenile, Lavender. Give it to me.'
' You know she's just going to track down the temporal signature I duplicated then find
out that whoever is on the other end didn't knock her out. Then she'll get curious and
she'll find out about us.'
' That would be true in ordinary circumstances. But the ruffian whose temporal signature
I asked you to duplicate is about to meet an unfortunate accident right about ...... now.'
The screech of brakes and a shrill scream could be heard in the distance.
' Now time to deposit this on the body of the deceased. And you go get your cat. Pluto
won't wake up in quite awhile.'
The sound of someone leaping upwards and landing on the roof could be heard, as well
as a hurried,' Bye,Carl.'.
' The name's Carlyle. Bye, Lavender. Now scat'
If one had the sharp ears of a cat, they would hear someone softly jumping from roof to roof.
' Hmmm... do you think I should give her a mindswipe while I'm at it ?', an amused voice could
be heard saying in the shadowy alley.
****************************
Haruka opened the door to see who had knocked. It was a young woman wearing a
businness suit. Piercing green eyes peered from behind wire-rimmed glasses framed
by long ,strangely purple, hair.
Apollo immediately recognized one of his master's many quirks. When Lavender was
in disguise he usually has something noticeably purple or a variation of the color as a
prominent part of it. He meowed as a sign of recognition and leaped from his place on
Hotaru's lap towards his master.
' Were you the one who - OH ! ' The woman's line of questioning was suddenly interrupted
as a white streak of furry energy leaped into her arms. Haruka smiled a bit as she responded
' I think you already found the answer to that. '
' Yes, I think so too.' the woman said cheerily.' Oh, Pol-chan made Mommy worry didn't he ?'
Haruka could swear that the cat smiled. I really should lay off the caffeine, she thought to
herself as she blinked at the cat. The cat was back to normal it seemed after a good decent
head shake. The owner of the cat was practically gushing with gratitude , showering her with
so much thank-yous that Haruka was starting to get embarrased. Hotaru and Michiru too ,
since they had joined her at the door.
' Don't mention it.' Haruka said trying to interrupt the woman's monologue on how important
her cat was to her.
' That's a coincidence. That's what I wanted to say too.' the woman said , smiling , as a purple
light engulfed all three senshis' visions.
****************************
Haruka and Michiru were watching television while Hotaru was doing her assignment in
the kitchen.
Hotaru was quite surprised at the sight of the Guardian of Time suddenly materializing
across her. She was more surprised at the sight of the Guardian of Time pulling an
icebag out of the kitchen drawer and opening the fridge to get some ice.
' Puu, what happened ?!? ' she exclaimed as she moved to help the elder woman in what
she was doing.
' Oh, I made a mistake in teleporting and got mugged.' Setsuna said non-chalantly as
she put the filled icebag to her eye. Hotaru saw that she had a really nasty black eye
there. And Hotaru knew the tone that the elder woman was using meant that was to be
no further discusssion of the incident. Hotaru shrugged and returned to her assignment.
For all she knew Setsuna _needed_ to be mugged for the benefit of the timestream.
Though she didn't see any logic in that, but if Setsuna didn't want to talk then she won't
talk.
She looked up at Setsuna , who was currently looking strangely at a piece of paper held
to the fridge door by one of the magnetic stick-ons. It was the flyer that Haruka-papa and
Michiru-mama brought home after the concert. She didn't know why but she couldn't help
but smile at the picture of the cat on it. Pluto was giving it a very interested look then she
shook her head.
' What's the matter ?' Hotaru asked.
' Nothing. It's just that cat reminds me of something.' Setsuna said as she sat down to
nurse her black eye.
' Puu ? About cats...' Hotaru asked tentatively. She didn't know why but she had this urge
to get a pet.
' Yes, Hotaru-chan. You can have a cat, just be quiet for awhile. My head's still hurts.'
, the Guardian of Time said as she laid back in the chair and relaxed.
Hotaru could swear she was muttering something about a bad day.
_______________________________________
OK, Any C&C about this, I welcome since I need someone
to beat my style into shape again. Technically this ends the
Awakenings story arc. Technically because there is still one
more part but it's technically an interlude between the story
arcs and helps elaborate on what Lavender and Apollo do.
It's up next so don't miss !
About my other fics and the Synopsis List Review. They'll be
out but I'm not sure... I started up this weird idea of making
the FFML Author Encyclopedia or as it is tentatively titled The
Hitchhicker's Guide To The FFML ^_^
Rest assured I'll try to finish my fics so I can fix my webpage
and I hope to have everything in order before going off to college
in a few months.
____________________________________________________________
' Writers are the torchbearers of civilization. We're set in a corner only we
can illuminate.Some of us are searchlights, able to cast a beam into the
far reaches of the human soul.Some of us are candles , barely able to
sustain a glow against the darkness. Nevertheless the words I write
are important, because light is additive. Another's light doesn't diminish
my own. Our lights together make us stronger.'
- (After much paraphrasing and reaaranging) Roger Martin
' ... there's a hell
of a universe next door ; let's go '
e.e. cummings ' Pity the Busy Beast Manunkind '
' How can a person live in a world where she can hear voices only she
can hear and visions that only she can see ?'
- (Paraphrasing) Shirley Jackson
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