SAILOR MOON HARMONY
EPISODE 5-SILVER LINING

"Rayne, are you lazy or something? Why'd you leave?"

Inpherno paced around impatiently in front of Rayne,
who only responded with an annoyed roll of her eyes.
This irritated Inpherno even more, but she contained
her anger. After all, if she blew up, Rayne wouldn't
care anyway.

Of course, Rayne was like that about everything. A
whole world war could start right before her eyes
and she could care less, she would shrug it off and
find somewhere else to go. Not like Typhune, who
would get excited about every little thing. Still,
she had no clue what was going on most of the time.
Quayke was a different story. Inpherno almost felt
sorry for her at times, but more often she would feel
more anger towards her. What was she so sad about
all the time anyway? She would tell her mentally,
it's time to move on. Forget about it! There's
nothing worth this kind of bleakness- but Quayke
would only curl up into a corner if she said that
out loud-

Then there was Enygma.

No one could quite tell what was going on in her
mind, but whatever it was, she wouldn't tell them.
It seemed to be a game to her-

"Now peoples, there's no need to argue."

Enygma had stepped in, along with Typhune. Inpherno
scowled- Typhune followed Enygma everywhere. Didn't
she have her own life?

"Seems we do have a problem though- Earth's got a
few Sailor Scouts. Quayke did some research for us."

"Yes" Quayke said, with an unusual hint of authority
in her tone. "The Scouts of this planet system seemed
to have all gathered on earth- they may be the have
the Melody Crystals. Sailor Mercury, the first of the
system, has powers based on water and ice. The second
of the system, Sailor Venus, has powers based on
light and metal. The fourth of the system, Sailor
Mars, has powers based on fire. Sailor Jupiter, the
fifth of the system, has powers based on lightning.
There are also three more but we can't seem to get
any more information on them- the sixth, Sailor Saturn,
the seventh, Sailor Uranus, the eighth, Sailor Neptune."

"But there's a planet called Pluto on the edge of the
system" Enygma added thoughtfully. "Where's that Scout?"

"She's not on Earth at this time, at least our sensors
haven't picked her up."

"And what about the Scout of Earth?"

"Well- we aren't picking up one. But there is another,
from Luna, Earth's moon. Sailor Moon is a very powerful
one, we must be careful not to alert her."

"OK, so who's the one that keeps trashing us?" Rayne
asked.

"She's not from this system, apparently. She's from the
planet Kumori in the Aquila star system. At the time Sailor
Kumori Aquila is the only Aquila scout on the planet Earth."

"Well, she's the only one that's bothering us, too"
Inpherno snarled.

"Relax" Enygma said, with a gleam in her eye. "I've
got a plan-"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Wow-" Orion whispered as the tiny rush of wind gently
ruffled his feathers. "Well, I guess that's one thing
Sailor Aquila won't have to work on."

Skyler stopped in her tracks. "Well, yeah, I run all the
time" she beamed. "People say I'm the fastest runner in
school" she added informatively.

Orion grinned, as much as an eagle could. "You can't
beat me."

Skyler's smile faded a bit, and Orion's did with it.
"What's wrong?"

She shook her head. "It's nothing-"

Orion cocked his head curiously, with a questioning
chirp.

"It's- my brother. That's what he always used to
say to Turbo."

"Um- sorry" Orion dropped his head. "Didn't mean
to upset you. But there are a few things I'd like
to know. Like, what was he like? It's obvious he
looked up to you, I can see you cared a lot about
him."

"Yeah. We got along really well. But I had to be around
him at school to protect him."

"Why?" Orion inquired.

"Because everyone teased him because he was so short."

Skyler's eyes turned cold, and she glanced back
at the creek. Orion decided to stop the questions. He
would have to keep this girl's  mind focused if he were
ever to help her fight better.

She made it clear that she was done with training for
that day, though, and headed for the house. Orion
followed tentatively, landing on her roof as she went
inside.

"Tonight" he mumbled. "Tonight we'll try something
different-"

"It's you again!" a familiar voice called.

Skyler's father stood in front of the house,
staring up at Orion. "You got a nest around here or
something, don't you?"

Orion decided it was best not to acknowledge that.
After all, normal eagles didn't talk.

"You're a nice-looking bird. I wonder if Skyler's
seen you around yet. She loves eagles, you know." He
put the newspaper he was carrying on a patio chair on
the porch, continuing on as he went. "I'm surprised
those people in town haven't been looking for that
eagle instead of that silver bracelet. That has to be
worth a lot-"

'Silver bracelet?' Orion repeated.

As soon as he heard the screen door slam, he fluttered
down and unfolded the paper with his beak. It was a
little difficult for him to open the pages, but he didn't
have to go that far. There was a large advertisement on
the next page.

Skyler stared into the mirror, and was startled a bit
by her own serious expression. Her eyes were a frozen
color, of snow on a moonlit night. She blinked a few
times, but she couldn't lose the look.

And then, a sense of familiarity came to her. She had
been doing this before. This same look, different
background, different lighting-

And her hair was totally frizzed out.

She couldn't help but laugh after that, and picked up
a hairbrush lying on the dresser. She straighted her
hair out in the mirror.

Orion's reflection appeared behind hers as the wind
chimes announced his arrival. "Skyler, something's up."

"What?" she replied, a bit more cheerfully that she
had been speaking before. "Like my new hair style?" she
added with another giggle.

"Skyler, may I see the Hurricane Ring, please?"

He studied it. "Just as I thought-"

"What? What's going on?"

"Someone's lost a bracelet that looks exactly like this.
There is a full-page ad in the paper offering a 10,000
dollar reward for it."

Skyler's eyes widened. "Really?!" she narrowed her eyes.
"Orion, you didn't steal this bracelet, did you?"

"No!" Orion's feather fluffed as a flapped his wings.
"But if this is the bracelet their looking for, you might
not be the only Scout around."

"Huh? Another Scout?" Skyler said excitedly.

"Yes. Could even be another Sailor Aquila."

"What do you mean?" Skyler blinked. "How can there be more
than one-"

"Think about it. Not everyone in the universe sees the
constellations the same way. The geography was worked out
that way because- oh never mind. See, your Scout powers
actually come from a planet in a solar system in the
Aquila constellation, Kumori. That technically makes you
Sailor Kumori Aquila. But you just say Sailor Aquila because
you haven't seen any other Aquileans around."

"I AM an alien?!" Skyler squealed.

"Nononono" Orion replied. "You were born here. It's your
powers that come from that planet."

"So back to this newspaper ad. What is it, really?"

"I don't know. But-" he glanced at the Hurricane Ring. "I
don't suggest you walk around with that in public."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The streets were very busy this day, most people's eyes
towards the ground. Skyler happened to be on her way to
the airport.

"Wow" she breathed. "It's like that carnival last week-

Orion lit in a tree above her head. "This could be more
of a problem than we thought" he said.

"Orion, someone will hear you-" Skyler warned quietly.

"Relax, no one can hear me unless I want them to. But they
can hear you, so I'd advise you keep walking. Meet me out
at the cornfield right past town."

He fluttered away. Skyler took off on her rollerblades.
As she passed through town, she noticed that even Karen
was out searching. Skyler laughed out loud when she
thought of how similar they looked to her chickens-

Something caught her eye that had been catching it
ever since she came into town, but now she stopped and
paid attention to it. Red signs, copies of that wanted
poster in the newspaper. She pushed the Hurricane Ring
farther in her pocket and continued on her way.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"All right, what's up?" Skyler asked as she rolled into
the ditch.

"I've been talking with some- friends of mine" Orion
started as he flapped over to her. "See, you're right.
It is risky to be seen talking directly to each other,
or for me to be around you when I'm with Sailor Aquila
as well. Too many people could make a connection. So
I got a two-way communnicator for us.

Clutched in his talons were two objects. One was a blue
bracelet. The other was a tiny blue ring, no larger than
Skyler's finger. "Put the small one on me and the large
one on you."

She did so, placing hers on the opposite hand of where
Hurricane Ring usually was, and his around his leg. "Now,
wherever you are, if you want to talk to me just say it,
and if the bracelet senses it's for me it will send the
message to my ring. The same goes for me."

"All right, brain paging" Skyler said, smiling.

Orion hopped up on a corn stalk. "They've closed the
airport. You might as well go home."

"HUH?! Why?"

"Not sure, but I don't have a good feeling. I'll meet
you back at the house."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On the way back through town, Skyler passed by Karen
again. "Hi!" she called.

Karen didn't even look up. Skyler frowned. Karen heard
everything headed in her direction, and the area was
pretty quiet, despite all the people.

That realization got Skyler creeped. There were so many
people there- but no one spoke a word. Her greeting had
shot through the silence like an explosion, but no one
noticed. She skated faster.

As she left, Karen watched, and her eyes gleamed-

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Skyler's house was empty when she came home. She thought
she had gotten over that chill that came to her when she
found no one was home- but her memories still haunted her,
no matter how much she showed on the outside.

"Oriole" she whispered. "It's too quiet in here-"

She looked over to Turbo, who was resting peacefully on
the floor for once. The cats were nowhere in sight. 'C'mon,
something move' she thought.

'Please do something-'

Flashback feeling again. She had been standing like this
again- somewhere-

"Skyler"

Skyler blinked back into reality. "Huh? What?"

"Did you say something before? I think I know what's-"

Someone opened the door. "Hold on Orion, I think my parents
are home."

But it wasn't her parents. It wasn't even a tall figure.
It was Karen.

"Hey!" Skyler called. "I said hi in the town square, what
were you doing?"

Skyler turned her back for a minute. She had to feed Turbo
and the cats. She was about to open the cabinet doors when
she felt a hand on her shoulder. An ice-cold hand that
startled a scream out of her.

"Geez, Karen- what-"

She trailed off when she found herself staring into a pair
of glowing crimson eyes.

"WHAT?!"

"I know you have it" she growled. "Give up the ring-"

Skyler froze. She couldn't drag her sight away from
the eyes. They were digging into her soul-

"Skyler, what's going on?!"

Orion's voice snapped her back. She raced up the stairs.
"It's Karen! She-"

"That's what I was trying to tell you! Those posters all
over the town are making people obsessed. You either have
to leave the town or find the source of the posters."

"Well, I'm kinda in a situation here-"

"Give it up. Now" Karen hissed from the doorway.

Skyler backed to the corner, the wind chimes tangling
in her hair with muffled clanging. Karen advanced, her
hands clenched in claw-like forms. She lashed out with
her fingernails.

The bracelet clattered to the floor and rolled to Karen.
She picked it up.

"I've got it-" she chuckled.

A blinding flash of light exploded in front of Karen,
sending her crashing to the opposite wall. Out of the
light appeared a pink-haired woman.

"It's Enygma-" Skyler whispered towards Orion.

"Hello there, Miss Aquila" Enygma grinned, taking the
bracelet and flinging it back towards Skyler.

Skyler's eyes widened. 'So this was a trap for Sailor
Aquila-' she realized.

She snuck over to the open window and out to the roof.

Enygma glanced at the crystal in her hand. It glowed a
soft, reddish-yellow glow, warming slowly with a steadily
increasing flame. But it was not what she was looking for.
"I would have thought someone with that power-" she sighed.
"But it's not even the right element. Oh well-"

"HEY!"

The wind chimes turned in an unseen wind, with the hair
of the figure standing in front of the window.

"Guess who?"

"What?!" Enygma shrieked. "It can't be you- you're-"

"I am Sailor Aquila, here to bring harmony back to the
world!" she grinned.

Enygma scowled, and reached to her belt. Out came a large,
plastic-like gun.

A sapphire laser whooshed right by Aquila's ears and
exploded into sparks on the wall behind her. Aquila rolled
to the floor with a small squeak. "A-a laser gun? Orion-"

"Don't be afraid-" Enygma coaxed with a smirk. "Come on out.
It'll only hurt for a second."

Aquila's hand stuck around the corner of the bed. "RAZOR
FEATHER FLURRY!"

Feathers flooded the room. Enygma growled and put up her
arms to shield her face, but the feathers tore right through
her jacket, leaving large slashes in whatever was in the
feathers' path.

Aquila peered out from behind the bed. Enygma had her arms
crossed, trying to cover the bleeding cuts that showed
through her clothing. "I don't have time for this" she
snarled, tossing the flaming Harmony in front of Aquila
before disappearing in another flash.

The Harmony flickered and roared, and a rabbit appeared
out of the fire. It was no more than a foot tall. "Umm-
0 0()" Aquila approached it. "What is it-"

Without warning, flames roared up in Aquila's face. She
jerked back and fell, covering her eyes. Her gloves were
scorched. "Razor Feather-"

But she couldn't even see her target. Smoke had flooded
the room, blocking out all light and clouding into her
lungs. She searched blindly for the window. "Orion" she
choked to the communicator. "Help-"

"Aquila, where are you?"

"I'm-"

She was seized by a fit of coughing, and felt the air
practically drained out of her. It was followed by a light
sensation, she lowered to the floor as the smoke thickened
even more. She could see flames through the fog, blurring
slowly as a distant pain flowed through her chest.

Then, a cool spray gently touched her face, calming the air
around her. She looked up in time to see a beam of water
go by, sending the rabbit to the wall in a cloud of white
smoke. Then the fog seeped into her mind like a shadow,
and there was nothing but a sleepy darkness-

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Skyler"

Orion's calm tone persuaded her eyes to open. She was staring
at her ceiling, lit by a single ray of yellow moonlight. The
eagle stood on Skyler's nightstand. "Good. You're OK now."

"Huh?" Skyler sat up, still a little dizzy. She was back to
normal form. "Orion, what happened? Where's-"

"Karen's at home. She won't remember anything- and neither
will your parents. This evening will not exist in other's
minds, we will be the only ones to remember."

"But what about that water blast-"

"What?"

"The water that put out the fire."

One of Orion's eyes widened. "I think you may have been
hallucinating-"

"No. I didn't put out the fire."

"Just rest up. You're going to need it, if you're going to
be up tomorrow."

Skyler rested her head back down on the pillow. Her stomach
churned painfully, and she squeezed out a few small tears.
"Orion-" she whimpered.

"Yes?"

"I don't know if want to be Sailor Aquila anymore-"

Orion nestled down by her. "I'm afraid you don't have a
choice."

"But why me? Why would I-"

"Some things you're not meant to know yet. Skyler, you're
handling your responsibility very well. I'm sure your
brother would be very proud of you, you know. I mean, it
wouldn't be every day that your big sister really was
saving the world-"

Skyler smiled a tiny smile as she looked at the bracelet.
Despite all the smoke and soot that had filled the room
it had remained in it's perfect sparkling condition.

"Yeah, I think he is-"