Sailor of the Blue Water

Nova’s Tale – Part 5

Things are finally settling down around here. I have some time to myself to think of everything that has gone on in the last two years and there have been major changes in my life. Marriage is a stress on most people but when you are in my position, it affects you more or that’s at least what I tell myself. Serena left us to our own devices when Ami joined our little group. Ami, she’s a breath of fresh air around this place. She’s so little but she possesses a mind beyond her years that she’s a joy to be around. She reminds me so much of Serena when she started to talk. Serenity almost lost her patience with all her questions but she was an inquisitive child. It’s not unusually for the two of us to stay up late playing chess or discussing a book that we had read that day. I think that she’s still in awe of being accepted in our small group. I actually thought that she would faint when we joined Serenity for dinner after it was revealed that she is Sailor Mercury and had to stay close to us to train for the future. The look on her face when she saw Serenity in an apron preparing some rice while I was cooking some fish on a grill was priceless. I don’t know if it was the shock of seeing someone that she had only seen from afar cooking for her or just that her family didn’t cook together, I may never know but soon she joined us in the food preparation ritual. She is a good cook, not a great cook but may be one day she will see that if you stray away from the cookbook you can put part of yourself into the meal and make it better.

Ami is a special child because of her vast intelligence. She has an untapped reserve of mental energy that shown brightly the first time that I saw her. She will be the brain of the Sailor Warriors in the future but as of now she needs to develop her powers and absorb all the knowledge that she can find. She has already found my library and Serena has to pull her from the books to eat her meals. Serenity worries about her development because it all seems mental at the present and she has not grown in power since she joined us. She is able to generate a screen of bubbles and some ice formation but nothing on the order of Mina or even Serena with the use of artifacts.

We thought it was strange that Serena and my powers operate through artifacts but it was Ami that found the solution. She deduced that our power reserves are so vast that we need a focus to direct the power or the streams of energy that are released would destroy everything around us. A focus appears to be the way our gems are handling a tough situation where we could endanger others in battle. Well, back to Serenity worries about Ami. We conducted some test on her and the results led me to form a theory that she will never develop her power reserves towards fighting because it was being used to develop her mental powers. She will never equal the power of any of the others but she may become more intelligent that all of us combined. She’s not worried about it so who are we to dispute the findings.

It was strange when Ami joined our little group. Serena determined that Ami and her would share a suite of rooms next door to our original rooms. I think that she wanted this arrangement so Mina would not be forced to share a room with me but I would hate to disillusion my niece but almost every night Mina finds her way to my room and my bed. No, don’t get that thought in your mind, we sleep together and that’s all, well, I may put my arms around her and hold her close and she does caress my thighs once in a while but we never went beyond those simple lover’s touches. I had never discussed this situation with Mina but I want to give her the choice of staying with me after her eighteenth birthday or leaving me, as is her decision when she reaches the age of majority. Kanly law allows a virgin in a Kanly marriage to dissolve the union on her eighteenth birthday. I would never take her decision from her even though it hurts to have her so close to me and all I can do is touch her body and mind. I can tell you that cold showers on a daily basis is not one of the things I enjoy in life.

I do miss having Serena around all the time. She was a great help in keeping our marriage in line. Whenever I would have those feelings or Mina gave me that look in her eyes, all I had to do was call Serena and the mood would be broken. It was during one of these periods that I started to ‘talk’ with black hole outside the palace. We agreed that the Sailor Warriors needed to live apart from Serenity to train and to give Serenity protection from the Negaverse. A fortress infused with the power of the black hole would provide a tempting target for the Negaverse instead of Serenity and the Crystal Palace. The Fortress of the Warriors would provide a structure that Negaverse could throw their entire force against and it would never break or falter. Nothing in this universe could affect the power of a black hole, it would be useless to even fight against it but knowing the Negaverse, and they would throw everything against it and reduce their forces against an obstacle that they could never defeat.

I brought Ami into the early design of the new structure but I didn’t reveal the great power that would lie under the foundation of the structure. No, only Serenity and the generals share that knowledge with me and that’s the way it must be until some distance time in the future. “Nova, you realize that with the special Martian fire stones and the Jovian wood that this building would cost a small fortune to construct.” I laugh so loud that Serena and Mina entered the room, “Ami, don’t worry about the cost.” The two newcomers looked at each other and started to giggle among themselves. Serena put her arm around Ami’s shoulder, “Ami, don’t you realize that Nova is the richest man in the Silver Kingdom. He could buy planets with his wealth. It doesn’t matter how much he spends, he could always generate more funds than he needs.” Ami began to understand that money was no problem but we held our little secret from the others. They asked Ami why she was worried about money and all she said was, “It’s just a little project that we are putting together. We’ll want to surprise you at dinner tonight so please don’t ask now.” That must have satisfied them because they left the room to return to the task that they were doing before the laughter. Ami and I went back to work. I wished that she hadn’t said that the plans would be ready by dinner because we have a lot of work to do but we could have the preliminary designs drawn by that time.

We started the design with a central room with ten sides. Each of the Sailor Warriors including the ones that appear in the future will have a wing to themselves. Forming a second core was a larger ten-sided enclosure that will house the common rooms such as the kitchen, libraries, and training rooms. Surrounding these two inner rooms is another ring of rooms holding the command and control centers where the computers and other equipment directly attached to the black hole would be stored. These rooms will also serve as a residence for the generals and my personal bodyguards. I wish we could add another section to house the gardens but a ten-sided common room is the perfect shape for the structure. Ami pushed hard to finish the plans to show to Mina and Serena. She is so proud to have helped me on these plans. He intelligence is coming in handy as she figured the structural strength and integrity of the materials needed to finish the Fortress.

We showed the plans to Mina and Serena while we were starting dinner and I was taken aback by Mina’s outburst. She told me in no uncertain words that if we weren’t housed in the same wing that I could live there by myself because she wouldn’t live in a house where we weren’t together. Mina rose quickly from her meal and Serena followed her out our suite. I stood there staring at Ami and I didn’t know what to say. Ami took my hand in hers, “Nova, you have to understand Mina’s position. She is your wife but you sometimes don’t think about her feelings. It might be that you are a man and can’t understand a woman but I think that you are so afraid that you will lose her you try to protect yourself. You have to think of her not as a woman but your wife. Serena and I know that she sleeps in the same bed with you most of the time but you don’t think of her as your wife. She is someone that you can hold dear to your heart because she will be there for you no matter the situation. She loves you more than life itself.”

Ami’s words cut me more than a hundred knives and started me thinking about my Mina. May be I don’t think of her as my wife as I should. I have put aside our feelings for each other because of the Kanly contract. I love Mina with all my heart and soul. I never want to be away from her even a moment of the day. I hope that I haven’t hurt our relationship and can win her back. Ami went to the library and changed the floor plans to include the gardens that I wanted in the first place. She placed a pencil in my hand and pointed to the plans, “Nova, make it official.” I didn’t at first know what she had in mind but then I realized what she wanted. I took the pencil and wrote on the paper where it showed my wing, ‘Venus and Nova Forever’. Ami helped me finish cooking and took two plates back to her and Serena’s suite. I placed dinner on the table for Mina and myself and added candles and flowers as a centerpiece. She always liked pink roses and I found the best ones that I have seen on the moon. I took the floor plans and folded them as her napkin and place it by her plate. She came in the room without a smile on her face and sat down before I could seat her. She unfolded the plans and stared at them and suddenly rose from her seat and hugged me around the neck and kissed me. We spent a wonderful night in each other’s arms. The next morning she had Ami and Serena move all their belongings in our suite. She moved all hers belongings into my room and placed a sign on the door. The sign simply read, ‘Venus and Nova Forever.”

Ami started the next morning to finish the final design plans and a material list for the project. To help her with the project I gave her a small hand held computer. It was actually a part of the Fortress’ system and she had complete access to its computing power without the knowledge of what she held in her hand. She decided that she needed to visit earth to see some of their architectural design and see if she could incorporate it in the Fortress. She said that she knew the architecture of Mercury and Venus but had never studies building designs of our nearest neighbor. She wanted to include designs from all the planets that owed fealty to House Moon as a tribute from them to my family. She left with Zoicite in the early morning hours. They were to stay just a couple of days exploring the planet but I knew that they would find more than they were expecting. The following details of the trip are from Ami’s own lips as she related the story to us at dinner when she returned.

The sun was just peeking over the horizon as we landed on some islands close to the main land. Zoicite thought it would be better if we landed away from the general populace because it was draw less attention to us and allow us freer access to the job before us. We landed in the courtyard of the island’s main city and were quickly greeted by the local baron. Recognizing the emblem of the High Guard and Nova’s starburst brought everyone to the city’s main square excited by the prospects that one of their liege lord’s ship were visiting their small city. I guess it wasn’t every day that someone from the High Guard paid a visit to the Earth especially in such a remote area of this world. Zoicite spent about twenty minutes talking with the local baron convincing him not to call his superiors to report our coming to his lands. The baron was an older gentleman that decided that he would act as our escort. He carefully extended his arm to me to lead me around his lands and buildings. I gently place my hand inside his arm and we strolled down the streets at a leisure pace, “Sir, we are looking at the design of buildings in this area. Nova is building a Fortress on the moon and wishes to incorporate some of his vassal’s architecture in its construction.” The baron stopped suddenly, “My Lady, do you know His Grace so well that you call him by his first name.” I never thought about but I have been calling all of them by their first name since I met them two years ago. “Baron, I am a personal friend to all the royal family. They brought me to the moon so I could be close to them. I even share a suite with Princess Serena and I always take my meals with them. To tell you the truth, they are more reserve in public than they are when they can be at ease with family and friends.” We started walking down the street admiring the buildings, “Then the stories are true. By your blue hair and bearing, you must be the Princess Ami of Mercury or, as we know you, Sailor Mercury. It’s such an honor to have you visit us. We will always remember your coming to our small city.” I couldn’t understand how this man knew who I was or where he gained his knowledge but I didn’t say anything to dispute or reinforce his words. We just kept walking and taking in all the sights of his city.

I learned a great deal about this city’s building designs. Most structure were low to the ground but are decorated grandly with structures attached to the main building that had no useful purpose except to make them more beautiful. The flow of the structure interested me as every room had multiple purposes even their meeting room. We need to incorporate these design for the common rooms in the Fortress and give them more functionality than they would otherwise been given in most designs.

I like the people of Earth. They are open with strangers and answered all my questions. I began to think that here was some place where I could live without the troubles and problems that living on the moon had on a daily basis. The moon is a harsh mistress and requires a daily upkeep in energy that would drain most planets but ever since Nova assumed the protection of the realm, the moon seems a lighter and happier place, well, at least according to my parents. I have seen videos of the moon before Nova’s birth and it always was a struggle to keep it habitable even with the tremendous power of the Silver Crystal but in the last years that has changed. The moon has become a paradise, a diamond among all the shining jewels of the universe. Life changes around Nova as I have found out in the past two years. I hope that I am always near Serena and him. I think that if I can just be near them on a daily basis, I would be happy forever.

I decided to journey to the mainland and observe the architecture of their building. Zoicite was against the idea but I persuaded him with my girlish charm in the end. Serenity taught me that trick when she wanted Nova to attend a function in her place. She batted those blue eyes at her brother and pouted her lips and he melted like butter. Not only did he attend the function but gave the opening speech. If you want to learn always learn from an expert.

We arrived with an entourage of minor nobles from the island. Everything went well for the first three days but it seemed to me that some force, just outside my reach, was observing us. We visited a small village that contained a shrine to one of the local deities and that’s when the creature struck. It came suddenly upon us and swept aside Zoicite and my bodyguards. I faced it alone. It was not a huge monster just a little taller than me but I could feel the power that it had inside its body. I was scared but I knew that I had to face the monster by myself.

I quickly changed into Sailor Mercury and raised a bubble fog around the area to confuse the monster but also allow the people in the area to escape. I didn’t want to endanger anyone beside myself. The bubble fog dissipated and left only Zoicite and myself on the field of battle. I took out my computer and scan the beast before me trying to find some weakness in its structure. I saw that Zoicite had taken a blow to his ribs and was bleeding profusely from his side. He had taken two blows from the beast’s spikes and was in no shape to defeat the monster alone so I stepped in front of him willing to take a blow in order for Zoicite to get in the killing stroke.

Suddenly, I felt him press his body against mine as he lost consciousness. I stood alone against the creature but I couldn’t run; I had to protect Zoicite like he would protect me. I pulled the dagger from my belt and face the monster. I could see the spikes protruding from its body with each oozing a viscous liquid. Poison was the word that sprang to my mind. That’s why Zoicite fell in the midst of battle. I had to defeat it without it touching me. I wish to I had powers like Mina. She could just point her finger at the beast and that beam of light would spring for her body. One blast would all it will take to defeat the opponent before me.

I needed to attack swift and with such power that it couldn’t close the gap between us. I looked into myself and found what I needed. The monster started running towards me and I drew power from within my being, “Shine Aqua Illusion”. The water in the air that surrounded me started to condense around my hands. I pushed both hands towards the beast and as the power from me traveled towards it, the water started to freeze. The water and ice that hit the creature must have been well below freezing because the beast was frozen in place. I sank to my knees. This attack took much out of me and I didn’t feel the touch of Zoicite’s hand on my shoulder, “Princess, Let’s go home’, was all he said as he slowly lifted me to my feet. I placed my arms around him, supporting him as we struggled to return to the village.

There were more to the story but that’s where Ami’s tale ended. I never told anyone except Mina of what happened next. You see; I followed Ami to the Earth. I had a vision of her battle and knew that I had to be near her to protect her from harm.

They were gone from sight when I lifted the veil of illusions that concealed us from Ami and Zoicite’s eyes. Jadeite went to look at the creature frozen to the Earth, “My Lord, it’s solid ice. What a powerful attack! I knew that she had power inside of her.” He continued to look at the beast, “I just can’t understand why we didn’t help. You saw in your dream that the Negaverse would attack them but we just stood behind a shield of light while she fought against the beast by herself.” I went to my dearest friend, “Jadeite, she had to fight today by herself. She was just too innocent to deal with the struggles that are ahead of her. Each of us had to survive such a test. Serena’s association with me tested her and she passed the test by her staying alive through difficult times. Mina’s test was the death of her parents and I had the same test when they died. That test brought the two of us closer together but it almost drove me to madness.” I placed my hand on Jadeite’s arm and started to lead him from the field of battle, “Ami’s test was to draw the power from within her soul to protect others. She passed the test brilliantly and showed that she has the ability to face the terrors of the future. She’s a survivor, my dear general, and she gained valuable insight into herself today. She will place herself in danger for those close to her. She will develop into the young lady that she was destined to become and take her place as one of the defenders of the universe. I’m proud of her.” Jadeite looked at me and started to laugh, “Nova, I will never understand you but I’m glad that you are on our side. Someone too innocent to fight the Negaverse is one of your pipedreams. All innocence is left behind when the Negaverse is concerned.” We quicken our pace to our ship and I thought to myself, ‘Yes, Jadeite, there will be the innocents in our upcoming fight but who side will they fight on.’

So ends part 5, Ami lost some of her innocence in her fight but she gained the power and may be the understanding that sometimes that you have to fight to preserve something close to you. The next part will provide some insight into the time when Ami and Serena found Sailor Mars and Sailor Jupiter. Stay tune for Part 6, “Those Left at Home.”