**Hi again! Here?s some more destiny coming atcha. Have fun, hope you like it.** Destiny Thwarted Part 2 By Charma & Jana Six weeks later? "Serena! You?re late again! What were you doing?!? No, forget it. I don?t want to hear it. It?s probably something dumb, like you were stuffing your face or something," Rei yelled into Serena?s face as she walked into her bedroom. Everyone, minus the cats, who were at a political meeting with Queen Serenity that night, plugged their ears in preparation for Serena?s wail, which to their surprise, never came. "Oh, chill out, Rei. It?s not like this is a meeting or anything. It?s just a sleepover. And, for your 4-1-1, I was actually stopping by the kitchen to get the cookies and cake the cook made especially for us tonight. But, if you don?t care where I was, I guess you don?t want them. I?ll just take them back now," came Serena?s reply. The girls? jaws dropped in surprise that she was actually standing up for herself. Suddenly, Jana and Mina realized the full impact of what Serena had said. "No!" Jana cried out. "Don?t take them back!" "Yeah!" Mina added. "Please, Serena. Rei didn?t mean what she said. She?s sorry." "No I?m not!" Rei yelled. "She doesn?t know what she?s saying! She?s?uh? delusional!" "Mina!" Ami exclaimed in shock. "How on earth did you know that word?" The room fell silent. "I read it in the Moon Magazine Comics. I asked Artemis what it meant, but he made me look it up." "And you actually did?" Ami asked, amazed. "No, but Anya did and she told me what it meant," Mina answered airily. The ten-year-old girls looked at each other in relief, grateful that that they hadn?t reached the end of life on the moon after all. The room exploded into noise again. "COOOOKIES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Jana screamed. "Jana, you are so annoying!" Charma shouted. "Serena, will you ever get anywhere on time in your life??" Rei shrieked. "Will you people shut up? We?re supposed to be princesses!!" Lita commanded. "Yeah, some princess Rei is! She must?ve been switched at birth with the real princess of Mars!" Serena shouted, reverting back to her old ways. "What?? How dare you?" "COOOKIIIESS!!!!" Jana interjected powerfully. Rei glared at Jana and continued. "How dare you say such things! I don?t care that you?re the Princess of the Moon! In the name of Mars, I shall punish you! MARS POWER!" "What are you doing? This is insane! Princess Rei, you cannot show such disrespect to our leader and Princess!" Ami reprimanded. "If you don?t transform back, I?ll have to do something severe! So you won?t? Fine! MERCURY POWER!" "Ami! Rei! Get a hold of yourselves!" Charma ordered. "Detransform now, both of you! I can?t believe you let yourself get so worked up, Ami!" "I?m sorry, Charma, but we must protect the Princess at all costs!" Ami said. "What??? I?m in danger?" Serena wailed. "Where? Where? Get me out of here!" "This is nuts! Rei is no threat to us! Are you kidding me?" Charma asked. "What?? I could beat you in a fight any day! Especially now that I?m transformed and you?re not!!" Rei taunted. "Oh yeah?? CALLISTO POWER!" "Why is everyone shouting and transforming?" a bewildered Mina shouted to Lita. "COOK?" Jana started. "Because no one here is normal, that?s why!" Lita screamed back. "COO?" Jana attempted again. "And if everyone doesn?t get back to normal in a couple of seconds?" "LISTEN! In the name of Europa, I shall right wrongs and get my cookies! EUROPA POWER!" Jana thundered. "Well, if you can?t beat ?em, join ?em, right?" Mina speculated. "VENUS POWER!" "Just wait till I get a hold of Rei when this is all over," Lita grumbled. "JUPITER POWER!" The shouting continued for a few minutes longer, continually interrupted by Jana?s oh-so-intimidating orders for cookies. "Uh, guys? I think Anya?s sort of upset here," Jupiter said. The chaos ended abruptly with this statement, and Venus and the still untransformed Serena went over to the crying Anya who was sitting by herself in a corner of the bedroom. "Anya, we?re so sorry we?ve been so annoying with all this fighting stuff. We?ll stop now, right guys?" Serena promised, looking at the Sailor Scouts in front of her. "Yeah," they mumbled, each looking ashamed of herself, except for Rei who looked a little put out by the fact that Serena was ordering her around. "No," Anya sniffed, "your fighting?s not what got me upset. It?s just that? well look at you! You?re all Sailor Scouts, and I?m not. Sorry, I just get a little lonely sometimes when you?re all out training and stuff." "Oh Anya! I had no idea you felt like that? I?m sorry for being such a mean sister," Mina apologized quietly. "And we?re sorry for being such mean friends," Callisto added with remorse. "You?re not! It?s not like it?s your fault that I can?t be a Sailor Scout. It?s no one?s fault, really," Anya said. "And we thought you were having such fun in your garden!" Mercury exclaimed. "We were afraid you liked being there better than being with us." "What? That?s not true! I love my flowers and all, but you?re all like my sisters, and I?d rather be with you than anywhere else!" Anya said sincerely. "But the Scout thing takes up so much of our time?" Venus mused. "Oh wow, I think I have just about the coolest idea ever!" Serena suddenly screeched. "Serena has an idea? Who?d?ve thought?" Mars smirked. "Mars?" Jupiter warned. "Anyway," Serena continued, glancing warily at Mars. "I know Mother has this magic book thing that she almost never uses because no one needs it. I mean, with the technology we have today, who needs dusty old books, right? Well, Mother used to always complain because the book had lots and lots of magic spells that she said were useless, but when I saw the book last year I saw that they were pretty cool. Like, you could make it snow in July, and turn school books to chocolate, and other awesome stuff like that! Well, after I saw all those neat things, I tried the snow thing out and, of course, Mother found out. She said I wasn?t responsible enough to handle the magic book yet and now it?s off limits," Serena concluded with a frown. "So what?s your point?" Mars asked impatiently. "I?m getting to it, Princess Mars!" Serena said sharply, but checked herself. "I remember seeing a spell that had to do with the Sailor Scouts! Okay, get this. We can make someone a Sailor Scout with that spell! You know what that means, right?" "Is that possible? How can you just make someone a new Sailor Scout?" Mercury?s logical mind wasn?t satisfied. "How can Mars shoot fire from her hands? How can Jupiter summon lightning from the sky with just words?" Venus asked rhetorically, surprising everyone with her practicality. "It?s magic," Serena said in a hushed voice. "All I?ve been taught since I was born is that magic is all around us, and it is sacred, to be respected, and unexplainable." "I think we should do it," Callisto said decisively. "Definitely," Venus agreed. "Maybe we should ask Anya first," Europa suggested. Anya was so obviously happy that she was practically glowing. That was enough of an answer for the others. "Great! First, detransform everybody! Done? Okay, by order of the Princess of the Moon, Anya must be made a Sailor Scout by tonight!" Serena said happily and led the other girls to the magic book. "But guys, what about Luna, Hunter, and Artemis? They?re definitely going to find out about this! Not to mention Queen Serenity!" Ami protested weakly, but only Charma heard her. "If it?s going to make Anya happy, then we can face the other stuff later, together," Charma reasoned. "Okay?" At Queen Serenity?s chambers? "Okay guys, this is it," Serena whispered. "The magic book should be around here somewhere." "Hey, don?t old-fashioned magic spells usually require snake blood or something weird like that?" Jana asked. "I think you?ve read too many fantasy witch books," Rei answered quietly. "I think I found it!" Lita exclaimed in a hushed voice. "Oh, wow, that?s it!" Serena shrieked, but immediately lowered her voice. "I?ve been wondering where Mother?s been hiding it all these months." "Alright? Sadness, Safari, Sahara? here it is! Sailor Scouts! Ami, I think I?m gonna need your help with this one," Lita admitted. "Hmmm? It doesn?t look too hard. Serena, come here," Ami said, her usually timid tone changing to one of command. "You know where everything in the kitchen is, don?t you?" Rei snorted. "Of course she does. She?s the resident pig, isn?t she?" Serena?s eyes began to fill with tears, and before she could open her mouth and let loose with her trademark wail, Lita jumped in with, "It?s okay, Serena. Rei didn?t mean it, DID YOU, REI?" She looked at Rei meaningfully as she added the last part. "No, I didn?t mean it. Sorry," Rei apologized, this time sincere. She actually kind of liked Serena?s quirks. "Yeah, Ami, I know where most of the stuff is," Serena sniffled a little, though it was mainly for effect. "Good, because we?re going to need a bunch of stuff-" "Cookies?" Jana interrupted, her yellow eyes shining with hope and visions of cookies. "Sorry, Jana, it doesn?t call for cookies. But it does call for all of our powers, so when we get back to Serena?s bedroom, we?ll have to transform again, and be really careful," Ami said. "Why?" Charma asked, a bit confused. "Because, we let loose a lot of power already, and if we release anymore, someone?s gonna come and check it out. Which is exactly what we don?t want to happen," Jana said, her normally cheery voice laced with disappointment. Then, all of the girls heard it. The soft patter of footsteps coming down the hallway. Anya?s pale blue eyes grew wide, and she whispered, "Let?s get out of here, guys." "I?m with Anya on this one," Serena agreed, heartily. "If my mom finds out that we were in here without her permission, we are so going to be dead!" Softly, with as little noise as eight girls can make, they tiptoed out of the Queen?s chambers and down the stairs to the kitchen. When they got to the kitchen, it was completely dark. "Phew," Serena let out a whoosh of breath. She led the girls in and flipped a switch. Some dim lights turned on. "Thank goodness the cook isn?t here. He would have gone and gotten my mom if he thought we were up to anything." "But I thought that he liked you, Serena," Mina said, softly, following her into the kitchen. "Oh, he does, but he believes in being firm with children. It really sucks because my mom usually listens to him." Serena replied, as she stuck her head out the door. Making sure no one was coming, she turned on some more lights. Then she grabbed Rei by the arm, and said, "Rei, stay by the door, and be on the look-out." "Who died and put you in charge?" Rei asked. "No one had to die, silly," Jana said, giggling, back to her cheery self. "She always was in charge." Rei glared at her, and Jana shrunk away from her. "Come on, you guys. Let?s find this stuff and get out of here," Charma said, uneasily. Ami read off the list of ingredients, and soon everything was gathered in an old potato sack the girls had found in the corner. "Great timing, guys, because, if I?m not mistaken, someone?s coming!" Rei said, quietly. She slowly backed away from the door, and bolted for the steps, right on the heels of the other girls. Once they made it back to Serena?s bedroom, the girls collected themselves in preparation for the spell they were about to cast, a thing that was new and exciting to them, but a little frightening too. "Okay," Ami began solemnly. "First, everyone transform, and quietly, please. Alright, now we can begin the spell. First we have to get into the shape of a mandala." Seeing everyone?s blank expressions, she explained, "Three girls sit in the shape of a triangle in the middle of the room, some lit candles have to be arranged in a circle around them, and then the remaining four of us must sit in the shape of a square around the whole thing. That triangle inside a circle inside a square shape is a mandala. For this, Moon, Venus, and I will make up the three people of the triangle in the center of the mandala. Europa, Callisto, Jupiter, and Mars, you are all the four points of the square. Wait, Anya, before you feel left out again, you get the most special part of all. You get to stand (not sit) inside the triangle that Moon, Venus, and I will make. Before you do that, though, you must have in your hands something that is very important to you. I must admit, though, I?m a bit baffled by that. Very important? does that mean a picture of her family? Or a token of her health or something? It doesn?t really specify?" "Oh, Mercury, don?t worry! I have a feeling deep inside that?s telling me what I should have. I?ll be right back." Without further explanation, Anya hurried out of Serena?s bedroom to the other princess? room, which was adjacent to Serena?s. She ran back into Serena?s room with a bright smile on her face and a bouquet of flowers picked from her infamous garden in her hands. "These. I want to be holding these during the spell." "Wonderful idea, Anya! Oh, Europa, Jupiter, thanks for setting up the candles for us. They?re beautiful! Okay, now after we form the mandala, Sailor Moon is going to have the magic book in front of her and, if things go right, she will be able to levitate it with her eyes so that it floats in front of Anya, who will be standing in the triangle, directly in front of Serena at that point. We need the magic book in front of Anya so that she can chant the spell that will turn her into a Sailor Scout!" Ami concluded, her face glowing with the excitement of the anticipation. "That?s great, Ami, but what do the rest of us do while Anya?s chanting?" Jupiter asked. "Yeah, do we just stare at the ceiling or what?" Europa added. "Oh! Right! I forgot about that part. Each of us, minus Sailor Moon, will have our respective fruit that we got from the kitchen in front of us. While Sailor Moon is raising the book into the air to Anya, the rest of us must murmur our transformation phrases and concentrate as much power as we possibly can into the food in front of us," Ami said. "Wait a second here. How in the name of Selene am I supposed to ?levitate? that book up to Anya?" Sailor Moon asked dubiously. "You have it inside of you. It?ll come to you when you need it, if you would just concentrate," Mars murmured. "Okay?" Sailor Moon assented warily. "But why fruit? It seems a little corny to me that we?re using fruit in this spell," Venus said with a frown, looking at the banana in her hand. "You know, fruits have seeds, so they?re like reproduction personified. Maybe that?s why. You know, since this is all sort of about creation? of a Sailor Scout, that it," Callisto conjectured. "Right," Mercury agreed. "Anyway, after we all do the fruit thing and Serena has levitated the book to Anya?s level, she will chant the passage I?ve pointed out to her until something happens, I guess. I really don?t know what?s going to occur though. It?s all really a mystery." "An exciting mystery, that?s what," Europa corrected. "Very exciting. I can?t wait!" Venus cried, clutching her step- sister?s arm. The two smiled at each other with joy. "Is everyone ready? Alright. Girls, assume position," Sailor Moon commanded in a mock deep voice teasingly, but also with a bit of fear since she?well, everyone?didn?t know what would happen that night. The Sailor Scouts and Anya went to their respective positions and bowed their heads to gather strength and energy. Sailor Moon stared intently at the magic book in front of her, her brows furrowed with concentration. Each girl head her breath as the candles began to flicker and they seemed to be about to go out when suddenly the magic book began to rise, floating up to Anya?s waiting eyes. The rest of the Sailor Scouts softly murmured their transformation phrase. "Mercury Power!" In a hushed voice. "Venus Power!" Oh so quietly. "Mars Power!" The barest of a whisper. "Europa Power!" Softer than a pin drop. "Jupiter Power!" Almost inaudible. "Callisto Power!" Not quite noiseless. Each girl concentrated her power into the fruit, pouring sparkling color into the pulpy mass in front of her. The flames of the candles returned full force when the book reached Anya?s height, and it automatically opened and flipped to the right page. Haltingly, she read the first verse of the passage. Then, gaining confidence, she chanted with more and more strength as she went along. Reaching the end of the passage, she began reading it once more, never hesitating. Without warning, rays of light rose to the ceiling from Anya?s hair, her hands, her arms, her flowers, until she was encased in a cylinder of soft white light that went from the floor to the ceiling. Then, colored light began shooting out of each of the fruit, in a direct path to a point above Anya?s head. Blue, orange, red, yellow, green, and purple light all met at the same point above Anya?s head. All the power that was blended at that spot above her began to trickle down into her hair, streams of color that traveled down her arms to her flowers. Suddenly, there was a flash of glaring fuschia light all around Anya and gravity reclaimed power over the room. The book fell, and all the girls collapsed onto the floor from the energy drain, Anya still clutching her bouquet of flowers. To be continued?