AUTHOR'S NOTE: Just as a reminder, Circe/Sailor Ariel is Ookalf's creation, not mine.
Chapter One: The Orphan, the Heiress, and the Ditz
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Annabella liked to think she was an average person, discounting her wealth. She went to school. She did her homework and got passing grades. She hung out with friends (well,
a friend, anyway; that was good enough, right?). It was her second year as part of the school's cheerleading squad. She lived what she felt was an all-around decent life, and she was happy with it for the most part. Granted she had a few minor regrets, but then again who didn't?
But she hated it when things were out of the ordinary, and a gray fox following her while she was trying to get to school for a basketball game counted.
It's still trailing after me, she thought to herself as she was three blocks away from her school.
It's smart enough to stop at red lights, and it keeps trying to stay around three meters away from me where possible. What should I do? Should I call Animal Control and have them try to catch it? She crossed the street in a hurry, noting that the fox picked up its pace to try and catch up while the light was still yellow.
It doesn't look like it's being aggressive, but you can never really tell with wild animals.Having trouble believing she was about to do this, she finally stopped when she was partway down the block and turned to the fox. "Look, I don't have any food for you," Annabella told it impatiently. "Go home already."
The fox looked up at her, meeting her gaze straight on... and then it
spoke, its voice comparable to that of any man on the street. "It's not food I'm looking for, young miss. It's you."
Not having expected this at all, Annabella stumbled backwards and fell. She only barely managed to catch herself in time before she could give herself any accidental scrapes on the sidewalk. "Wha...what? You
talked...?!" she stammered, eyes widening.
"Do try to get over your surprise, miss," the fox continued to speak. "I don't want to speak out in the open for long, and I can't keep people from noticing us forever. Are you listening?"
Annabella shut herself up, feeling this side of overwhelmed. The wild animal took this as a signal to continue talking. "Now, then. I assume you are aware of a business mogul who calls himself 'Adonis'?"
The girl nodded quickly, trying to get her voice back. "It... he has his representatives involved with almost every major industry i-in the Northwest," she managed to say. "Even agriculture. It's difficult
not to have heard of him."
"Good," the fox replied gravely. "Because this entire valley, and possibly all of Oregon, are in danger because of this man."
"W-what? Danger...?" Annabella stuttered, having trouble believing where this was going. "Is it some sort of e-environmental thing, or...?"
"It's not just an 'environmental thing', as you put it. It's a
'humanity' thing. Adonis is gearing up for an out-of-this-world attack that will ensnare the entire valley, leaving them convinced that he can do no wrong. Within weeks, people will live believing that this buisnessman is behind them 100 percent, when in reality he will use them as fuel for his monsters day in and day out. He needs to be stopped before he can carry out this attack, and soon, lest the military and law enforcement be taken in by his approach as well."
Wh..wha...wh...WHAT?! Annabella wailed mentally.
This is happening too quickly! I'm no fighter! I don't have any real physical training! I'm just a girl with a lot of money and a year's worth of experience as a cheerleader! ...Okay, maybe that last part was good enough for Kim Possible, but this isn't fiction! This can't be!If those sentences were overwhelming to her, though, then what the fox said next would prove to be a life-changer she'd never forget. "And that is where
you come in...
SAILOR HYPERION."...The urge was overpowering, and no amount of will that Annabella could've exerted would have been able to stop it. Unbidden, a commanding presence slipped into her voice as she called out:
"Hyperion Moon Power, Make Up!"A rush of power filled Annabella to her core, lifting her to her feet. For some strange reason, her thoughts began to focus on the time she'd taken a trip up North with her parents and had gotten to see the aurora borealis. These thoughts distracted her as her clothing inexplicably dissolved and reformed, creating a uniform where before there'd been nil. Her vision was filled with purple; she saw nothing, felt nothing, and heard nothing.
Nothing but the luxuries she secretly wished all people possessed, the magnificent beauty of the northern lights... pure and total energy. She found herself wanting more...
The sea of purple washed itself away, clearing her vision. The power did not leave as the rush faded; it lingered within Annabella, waiting to be utilized. For a few moments, she believed as if she really
could deal with the supposed problems surrounding Adonis, and single-handedly at that.
...
And then she looked down at herself to get a better idea of what had happened, and those thoughts came to a jarring halt.
Annabella recognized the general outfit style, of course; anyone who had ever seen
Sailor Moon did. Where the Senshi's uniforms were white, however, hers was blue to roughly match her hair. The skirt started off blue before fading to purple the closer it got to the hem. The ribbons, gloves and boots were colored similarly. The jewelry that were part and parcel with the uniform had a star motif going for them. In her right hand was a curved sword nearly three feet in length, its hilt turquoise and its blade the blackest ebony, glittering jewels decorating both sides.
Most people who had gained magical powers in the span of a few minutes might have been ecstatic, or at least been inwardly thrilled. Others might have shied away quietly, or humbly acknowledged the responsibilities of their newfound power.
Annabella was not most people. Her initial thrill at the power coursing through her was immediately overwhelmed by what she felt was a violation of common sense.
"Are you out of your ever-loving mind?!" she shrieked, sending the fox's fur flying backwards.
"Do I look like the hero type to you?! I can barely stand people at all, never mind putting on a show for them! This skirt is positively ridiculous! Just look at it!""This is not entertainment, Annabella," the fox stated bluntly. "This is the real deal. Your job from now on is to keep Adonis's ambitions in check and stop him from corrupting the valley. You are the Soldier of Auroras and Luxury, Sailor Hyperion, and you're expected to tackle this assignment with all the seriousness it entails."
"Forget you!" Annabella barked in the fox's face. "Get me out of this stupid costume right ever-loving
now. I've got a basketball game to get to,
and I refuse to embarrass myself---""Hi, Annabella," Calli's blissfully ignorant voice greeted her nearby.
"Hi, Calli," Annabella greeted her politely in return before returning her attention to the fox.
"---in front of who knows how many---"...
Annabella whirled around. Sure enough Calli was standing there, her face happily blank and her flowing brown hair waving about in the breeze. "Oh, son of a..." she grumbled.
Calli just tilted her head curiously. "What's the story with the costume?" she asked. "You
do know it's, like, 40 degrees out here, right?"
"I
know, Calli. I
know," Annabella growled, seething.
"It's supposed to drop into the teens tonight," Calli continued, oblivious to her anger. "They say a gi-normous blizzard's supposed to hit half the state."
"Yes, I know it's gonna be cold, I get it, it's not my fau... ...wait," Annabella said, finishing in the midst of a double-take. "A
blizzard? But December's barely started! And even then we
never get that much all at once!"
Calli shrugged. "That's just what they said on the weather. You're not feeling cold at all?"
Annabella paused at that.
This is getting freakier by the minute. No person in their right mind would walk around like this at these
temperatures. But I'm not shivering, I don't have goosebumps or anything like that. What's going on here?"Your uniform grants you limited protection from the elements," the fox said, "with emphasis on
limited. Any colder than -10°F or hotter than 120°F, and that protection is next to useless."
"ADORABLE!" Calli squealed, diving for the fox... and missing as it did a short jump into the air. Annabella facepalmed at this.
As Calli slid to a stop, the fox landed between her shoulders without dividing its attention. "Anyway, it's imperative that you learn to control your powers, find Adonis and put a stop to him quickly. The lives of hundreds of thousands are depending on you. I'm not going to tell you again, Sailor Hyperion."
"My
name is Annabella Alarbor, you self-serving weasel, and for the last time,
I want nothing to do with this!" the school queen stated emphatically. "Now change me back and find someone else to do your dirty work, and
go away!""Oooh!" Calli exclaimed enthusiastically, her words muffled by the ground. "If you're not going to be a superhero, can I be one instead?"
"If you don't mind jumping around like some brain-dead floozy and giving everyone a free show in the name of love and justice, go right on ahead," Annabella spat, turning and walking away.
Calli pushed herself to her feet, ignoring the fox that had chosen to drape itself over her head and neck. "But you never had problems wearing a leotard for your gymnastics training. Why so grumpy?" she asked with honest curiosity.
"..." Annabella replied with equally honest cluelessness, stopping before she could get more than a few meters away. "...Wait, that was part of a leotard?" she mumbled. "I thought it..."
"And you joined the cheerleading squad last year, right? Don't they do a lot of jumping around?" Calli continued to point out.
"Yeah, but..."
"So, wouldn't that mean that you just insulted the entire squad, yourself included, by calling them a group of brain-dead floozies?"
Annabella's face turned red, though whether it was out of discomfiture or anger she wasn't sure yet. "Calli..."
Calli turned distraught, raising her hands to her mouth. "My best friend is a brain-dead floozy! Someone give her a fish and make her smart again!"
"Stop mocking her, girl," the fox chided her. Annabella wasn't good at judging facial expressions on magical wildlife, but it seemed a bit irritated. "I suppose I was wrong to force this decision upon her---"
"What do you mean, 'mocking'?" Calli asked, no longer acting up. "I was being completely serious."
"...Calli, sometimes I look at you and wonder. Other times I just look," Annabella groused, a hand covering most of her face as she turned back around.
The fox tilted its head a fraction. "So, just to clarify... is she always like this?"
"Known her since kindergarten," the heiress confirmed with a long-suffering expression, her anger at her current predicament slowly fading. "I don't think she's ever really grown up."
"In that case I worry for humanity," the fox said, slowly shaking its head, "because judging by her aura and personality, she's looking to be Sailor Ganymede."
Calli barely had enough time to squeak in delighted surprise before a cry of
"Ganymede Moon Power, Make Up!" escaped her lips, and with a flash of magical power her coat and jeans immediately shifted into a uniform similar to Annabella's.
...Huh, she muttered mentally, eyes wide at the revelation that the ditzy girl really
did get to transform into a superhero.
Wonder why hers was a lot quicker."I'm probably going to regret saying that later," the fox deadpanned as it jumped down off Calli's head.
The differences in apparel were obvious. Where Hyperion's uniform was purple, Ganymede's was white to match the source material. The rest of it was dark blue with gold-colored trim, with bands of the same color on her boots and gloves, and unlike Annabella she didn't seem to have much in the way of jewelry or regalia outside of her tiara. Held between three fingers was a well-crafted flute that was decorated in...
...well, she didn't really know. Looked nice and shiny, though.
Annabella was expecting Calli to geek out over her new uniform and celebrate her newfound hero-ness. What she didn't expect was for her to tap first her choker, then her ears with no small amount of confusion. "Annie's got rocks in her ears," she stated. "Why don't I?"
"The uniform varies from person to person, and tends to reflect their likes and dislikes to some degree," the fox informed her. "If you don't have any jewelry, it's probably because you didn't like them to start with."
"...Oh, now
that is so cool."
There was that beaming smile Annabella was expecting, albeit for the wrong reason. "I always thought it was incredibly stupid for Mom to go around with those rocks in her ears all the time."
"Those 'rocks' are what help a girl look her best," Annabella told her indignantly, pointing at her. "Look at yourself in the mirror sometime and ask yourself if you have
any sense of fashion and beauty at all."
"Jeans are
perfect fashion." Calli folded her arms proudly. "Mom always told me that if you want to keep from looking like eye candy, wear something that says 'Imma gonna knock you out' at every opportunity."
"Your mother's a by-product of the 1970s who thinks chainsaws and shotguns are the answer to everything, so I wouldn't be looking to her for fashion advice," Annabella fired back. "Seriously, what kind of messed up family do you---"
"Excuse the interruption," the fox cut in, "but didn't you say you had a game of some sort to get to?"
"...
$&♪!(," Annabella snarled as the realization shrunk in. "Change me back! Now!"
The fox wasn't very helpful. "Do it yourself."
"Myself?! How in the world am I supposed to---"
With a lilac-colored flash, Annabella's uniform shifted back to the coat, blouse, knee-length skirt, and flats she'd been wearing previously. Her jaw dropped open as she looked back and forth between them and the fox, then closed as she shook her head. "Not going to argue. Not going to argue," she repeated to herself as she took off at a run, pushing the matter out of her head.
...
...
"...So," the fox hesitantly brought up, "chainsaws?"
"Mom's a retired drug addict and biker queen who believes that friendship requires violence," Calli stated as if it made perfect sense. No sweatdrop, no nervous twitch, no sign to indicate that she felt that sort of behavior was out of the ordinary: just a matter-of-fact explanation. "Dad fell in love with her when she beat him in an arm wrestling match at a bar in Los Angeles. I've seen her bench press both of the neighbor's Labradors at once."
"... ..."
"She picked me up from school on her motorcycle for years, knows the entire script for
The Evil Dead by heart, and bakes the awesomest chocolate chip cookies in Oregon," Calli continued, her beaming smile back in force. "She's the best Mom
ever!""... ..."
The fox's mouth worked for a few seconds as it tried to parse Calli's statements before giving up with an irritated growl. "Let me reiterate what Sailor Hyperion said: what in the name of every moon in the solar system is
wrong with your family?"
"They can't be that bad," Calli protested. "They had
me, didn't they?"
Yes, they did. Callista Metallium. Nice and friendly almost to a fault. Couldn't hurt a fly (though she drew the line at spiders). Worried about the silliest things at times. Was so different from her parents that people often wondered if she was adopted, even though she had the birth certificate to prove otherwise.
...And if the fact that they were having a conversation about this out in the open
while she was fully transformed was any indication, she was also her school's greatest ditz; people were finally starting to notice the magical girl out on the streets, and a few were beginning to take their phones out. The fox shook its head and reasserted its weakening glamour, misleading those present into thinking they'd just been seeing things. "We'll talk more about this after Hyperion's game. Do you know of anyplace private where we could start having team meetings?"
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As it turned out, Calli's idea of a private meeting place involved either her home's dining room or one of the conference rooms at the nearest recreation center. The fox shot down both ideas for varying reasons, and after Annabella returned from her game it was suggested that one of the work rooms at the local library would be ideal for how much privacy it offered. Anyone who looked in through the windows would just see a group of girls conversing, working on projects for school or what have you.
Unlike the rec center where anyone could just barge in, laughing and hollering... or the dining room. From what they said, the fox didn't think Calli's mother was very... trustworthy.
Smuggling the fox into the library the next morning was easy. Annabella's family was one of the wealthiest in Oregon, and it wasn't out of the ordinary for them to flaunt that wealth on occasion by wearing items that were gaudy and just plain tacky. Passing off the fox as a fancy scarf was child's play, and the blizzard that was pounding the entire Valley only doubled the ruse's effectiveness.
The fox finally gave a formal introduction at that first meeting, introducing himself as "Silverest" (emphasis on the first syllable) and describing himself as a magical being that had lived in North America since before any Europeans ever found the continent. He was a sentry created by an advanced alien race, designed to protect populated worlds throughout the universe from major threats such as Adonis. In order to share that protection, he would create teams of magic-using soldiers to fight off the threats in question, since he was not given the power to take part in combat himself. Earth was very much an out-of-the-way locale, so enemies rarely ever appeared; this most recent iteration of the Senshi was only the third team he'd put together during his tenure.
When Annabella inquired about the similarities to
Sailor Moon and explained what that meant, Silverest shook his head and said that the resemblance was entirely coincidental. He rarely ever paid attention to entertainment and news due to needing to maintain his cover as wildlife, so he didn't have any way of knowing about them beyond the occasional wayward newspaper page (through which he admitted hearing about
The Evil Dead). He admitted that the similarities
were on the spooky side, though, and that prior to empowering Hyperion and Ganymede, the few other teams he ever created were comprised entirely of young men.
The discussion then turned towards who else Silverest had in mind for the team, and if they were anyone the girls knew already...
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"...There's this one student a grade higher than both of you," Silverest was saying. "A bit tall for her age, has the longest hair I've ever seen on a human. I think I overheard her saying her name was 'Circe'...?"
Calli blinked in realization. "Heyyy, I know who she is," she said. "She's the orphan!"
"I'm almost afraid to ask, but..."
"She and her little brother lost their parents in a car accident while she was in junior high," Annabella explained. "They got taken in not long after, but their legal guardians are incredibly lackadaisical and have next to nothing to do with their upbringing beyond giving them spending money, so it's almost as if they were never adopted at all. She's been the target of a lot of mockery for her background and circumstances." She winced. "...And I'm a bit ashamed to admit I've taken part in that a few times myself..."
"Why is she called 'Circe'?" Silverest asked. "That doesn't sound like the kind of name a parent would give their child in this day and age."
Annabella shrugged. "Maybe her parents were just into mythology?"
"Or maybe it's because boys keep turning into animals around her," Calli suggested.
"...I can't wait to hear your miracle explanation for
that," Annabella deadpanned.
Calli tilted her head a fraction in confusion. "You're saying those whistling noises they keep making around her
weren't supposed to sound like wolves?"
Annabella predictably facepalmed at this. "We've been over this before, Calli," she grumbled through her hand. "Life is
not like a Tex Avery cartoon!"
Calli's puzzled look could not have seemed any more genuine. "...It's not?"
"Regardless of her circumstances," Silverest interrupted before Annabella could slam her head into the desk, "you'll want to get in contact with her as soon as possible. If it weren't for the weather I'd suggest calling her here to the library, but---"
The door to the work room opened, filling the entranceway with blonde hair and traces of snow. The girl who entered the room took a step back when she saw its occupants, including an apparent wild animal, staring at her. "Um, I'm sorry," she hastily apologized. "I was looking for someplace to do homework, I wasn't paying attention, and..."
"No no no, it's alright," Calli replied with a grin. "Come on in, Circe, the water's fine!"
Circe gave Annabella an uneasy look, but nodded and took a seat as far from her as possible... which ultimately placed her next to Silverest. The rich girl for her part tried her best to be polite. "So, uh... why here?"
...And failed miserably. Circe offered her a glare as she brushed some snow off her hair and coat before hanging the latter around her seat. "What?"
"Eh heh heh... I think what she was trying to ask is 'Why do your homework at the library when you could save yourself the trouble and finish it from home?'," Calli attempted to translate. "It's not exactly Cancun out there."
Circe's glare softened as she opened up her geometry folder, shuffling through the pages inside. "Oh. Well, Ookalf's spending the day with a friend. With him gone it was too quiet for me to concentrate, so I decided to go someplace with at least a
little bit more noise." She looked down at Silverest. "This is going to sound like a stupid question, but what's with the fox? He doesn't bite, does he?"
"We're playing 'Magical Girls', apparently," Annabella sighed, resting her chin on her hand. "The fox is supposed to be our resident 'Mr. Exposition Animal Advisor'."
"...I think I preferred it when you were insulting me," Circe said, shaking her head. "Seriously?"
"We kid you not." Calli folded her arms and nodded. "We're magical girls now. The fox even talks! It's awesome!"
Circe snorted softly and closed the folder she was looking through. "Overactive imaginations, huh? Okay, I'll bite. Who are you two supposed to be?"
"The Soldier of Auroras and Luxury, Sailor Hyperion," Annabella declared. She scowled. "Okay, how can something be so corny and so
natural at the same time?"
"And I'm the Soldier of Ice and Proverbs, Sailor Ganymede," Calli introduced herself with no trace of embarassment. If anything, she seemed proud of it.
"And you," Silverest spoke, startling Circe with his voice, "are---"
"Sailor Ariel!"Circe didn't have enough time to voice her surprise before, unbidden, she called "Ariel Moon Power, Make Up!" An orange and yellow flash later, and the team's third member was now official.
Annabella and Silverest turned to Calli with glares that could've melted steel. "What the actual
#$♣&(?" the former hissed heatedly. "I don't think this whole naming scheme is up to us!"
"Correct," Silverest growled in a similar tone. "She was supposed to be Sailor
Triton, and you just disrupted it."
Calli shook her head, folding her arms. "No. She's an Ariel. Triton's a guy's name, not a girl's. Besides, she looks just like an 'Ariel' to me!"
"Haven't you paid
any attention in school?" Annabella's fists tightened as she tried to resist the urge to just punch her in the face. "Haven't you noticed
anything with the transformation phrase? Hyperion, Ganymede, Ariel and Triton are all the names of
moons!""What does that have to do with anything?" Calli protested. "She could totally pass herself off as a mermaid if she wanted to! I'm just saying!"
"...I need to double-check protocol to see if it's alright for a sentry to maul his charges on the grounds of 'not getting it'," Silverest muttered to himself as he watched Annabella struggling to prevent a meltdown. "Seriously, how'd she override my magic like that...?"
...
For her part, Circe wasn't as concerned about the practicality of her uniform as Annabella had been. If anything, she was confused about something else entirely. "Not going to lie," she said aloud after she'd looked herself over and confirmed that both girls had been telling the truth, "this actually feels kind of cool. Weird, but cool. Still..."
This got her schoolmates' attention. "Still?" they chorused, temporarily forgetting their dispute.
Circe shrugged. "Well, I'm just confused as to why the heck I look like Sailor Venus now."
"...I'll admit there's a lot of similarities," Annabella admitted as she gave Circe a lookover. "Color's not quite right, though, and I don't remember Venus's uniform having shoulders like that."
Calli scooted her chair back, giving herself enough room to check Circe's footwear. She shook her head as she pulled her chair back forward. "Boots instead of shoes," she confirmed. "Completely different."
"As I discussed with them before you arrived, any similarities between your uniforms and those of the 'Sailor Senshi' are entirely coincidental," Silverest confirmed, reminding Circe that
there was a talking fox sitting next to her. "Though now I'm thinking I need to see that program for myself."
"You could probably use Annie's place for that if you wanted to." Calli gave the other girl a questioning look. "Right?"
"Well, I
could pass him off as a pet," Annabella admitted. "I have to believe there's no shortage of legalities surrounding the idea of having a fox as a pet, though. I'll have to look into that."
Circe nodded as she took it all in, then stared down at her gloves with a wondering expression. "So... I guess I'm Sailor Ariel now? ...Well, that's a thing, apparently. Wonder what Ookalf would think if he could see this." A dim orange light surrounded her for a split second as her transformation reversed itself, and she smiled. "Yeah, you know? I think I could get used to this idea."
"...Wow, Annie," Calli breathed. "She got the hang of it a
whole lot faster than you did."
"Sure, sure," Annabella said, rolling her eyes. "Rub it in, why don't you?"
...
"At the very least, that's the third soldier sooner than I was expecting," Silverest admitted. "Though admittedly, my previous prospect for Sailor Ariel's going to have to swap with Triton."
"Speaking of," Calli asked, "who's your pick?"
"For Triton? A girl with dark blue hair, almost black. From what I could tell she has a poor voice, so she doesn't talk much. She seemed like the type who could walk into a classroom on five hours of sleep and not doze off during the teacher's lecture, no matter how boring. Any of that ring any bells?"
Annabella and Calli looked at each other for a few seconds, then back at Silverest before they replied in the negative. Circe thought a bit longer before a mental image clicked in her mind. "I think I know who you're talking about," she stated. "Linda Dennis. She's in my biology class. She had some sort of accident in grade school that wrecked her vocal cords something fierce, so she can't really contribute to lessons out loud." She chuckled, a bit bemused. "And she's the only person in class who
likes Mr. Rawling's super-dull speeches. Try figuring
that one out."
"Would this really sound like her sort of thing?" Annabella asked, wincing when Circe turned an intense stare on her. "I mean, obviously she'd have to call out that transformation phrase, but if she has trouble talking..."
"An inability to speak is no barrier to my magic," Silverest declared, the confidence in his tone obvious to them all. "I'll be able to tweak the transformation protocol to allow her to talk during those times." He looked down at his seat apologetically. "It won't be able to cure her condition in her civilian state, though. That's beyond my power."
Circe smiled. "That's still a massive step in the right direction, though. I'll try to get a hold of her when I get the chance and see what she thinks of the idea."
"Mm," Silverest grunted, then opted to continue. "Moving on to my candidate for Phobos, we have a girl with tri-colored hair in a ponytail. That's cyan, green and yellow, for those curious. Is somewhat obnoxious---"
"Dierdre Harley," all three girls chorused, making the fox jump.
"She was on the girls' varsity basketball team at our rival school, at least as of this past year," Annabella snarled, more heat in her voice than anything she'd previously used with Calli. "She's their ace athlete
and one of their best students, and it's no secret that she plans on playing in the WNBA after she graduates from college. Mostly because the rest of her team won't shut up about her."
"But she's a massive jerk! I mean,
skyscraper-massive!" Calli whined. "I went to one of our games once, she saw me in the bleachers eating a cheeseburger, and she immediately called me a cow! And started
giggling!""It's her sheer uncaringness for what other people think of her boasts that really gets me," Circe added, eyes narrowed. "The only thing that's keeping her afloat is the fact that she has the ability to back them up."
"...Okay, maybe 'somewhat' is a severe understatement," Silverest admitted. "Though I was going to add that she's also rather conservative."
One of Annabella's eyebrows became a lot more fascinating. "How conservative are we talking about, exactly?"
"And what does her political standing have to do with any of this?" Calli wanted to know, getting her a light smack to the forehead from Annabella.
"From what I've observed about adolescent humans in this day and age, they have fewer and fewer reservations with doing whatever it takes to attract romantic attention," Silverest explained. "This includes showing as much skin as they can legally get away with, especially in sunny locales. She...
doesn't.""So what you're saying is that she's hesitant to show off her body in any way, shape or form?" Circe inquired, scoffing. "Ch... poor baby."
"At least when it comes to getting a boyfriend," Annabella suggested. "If it were total, would she be playing on a basketball team?"
Circe frowned. "I'm just saying that there's such a thing as being
too conservative. You have to be willing to make changes in your life if you want to reach a specific goal. Be more bold, more daring if you have to. It's pretty much what life's about, as long as you want to succeed. And if that means finding someone you want to date seriously, well... do the math, do what you have to do."
"Hey, don't knock it if you haven't tried it," Calli warned. "It may save your life."
A quiet sigh. "Calli, what are you talking about?"
"And here we go again," Annabella murmured.
"Hmm..." Calli looked up at the ceiling for a minute. "...Would any of you say I'm cute?"
Silverest shrugged minutely. "For a human."
"Not really," Annabella bluntly stated. "I don't find nuisances 'cute'."
"I'd say you are," Circe admitted. "What are you getting at?"
"What if I had on the sort of clothes that track stars in the Olympics wear?" Calli asked. "Would you still say I'm cute?"
Circe thought about this for several long moments before closing her eyes. "...I guess at that point, 'cute' wouldn't be doing you justice."
"You see what I'm getting at?" Calli said, her voice much more serious than normal. "Not all of us like that sort of attention. Not all of us like being the chocolate on a Monday."
"'Sundae'," Annabella corrected.
"Yeah, that kind of day. People go into that sort of thing not knowing what they're getting into. They don't understand the sort of pain and aches they're setting themselves up for. But me? I do." Calli fidgeted, looking a bit awkward. "I guess what I'm trying to say is that I kind of understand Dierdre's reluctance to show herself off. Much as I don't like her."
"Um, how do you know that sort of thing?" Annabella asked despite herself. "The only thing I've seen you show any sort of love to is cafeteria pizza."
"Because my Dad raped my Mom after seeing her in a local swimsuit calendar. ...Well, local for Los Angeles, anyway. It's one of Mom's favorite stories."
Circe's mouth dropped open. "...I just don't understand how you can say that with a completely straight face," Silverest uttered, stunned.
"Because I'm not kidding," Calli insisted. "Out of nowhere,
whoom! Then Mom broke his arm,
slam! Nine months later, 'Hi, my name is Callista and I love you both.
Ding!'" A sunny smile. "Then they got married two months after and moved here to Oregon."
"...And they're
still married?" a visibly appalled Circe asked, to which Calli confirmed it. "They're still together? Not separated or anything? Still in love?" Another confirmation made her facepalm heavily. "And you're acting like all this is perfectly acceptable! What the $#☺♫╧!^ is wrong with your family?!"
Annabella rolled her eyes. "Haven't we been saying that...?"
"As weirdly entertaining as all this is, we should really get back to the point," Silverest chided them, shaking his head. "If all this talk about Dierdre is true, then I'm going to have to try to talk some sort of sense into her and find out the truth for myself."
"Does she
have to be part of the team?" Annabella queried him reluctantly. "None of us like her."
"Yeah," Calli agreed. "I don't like it when people call me a cow. It hurts."
"Well, I suppose I
could investigate a few other possibilities elsewhere in the valley," Silverest said, "but that would make working together on a regular basis to stop Adonis much more difficult and inconvenient for everyone. Nothing less than a full team of six will do the job, and it's for the best if they're not scattered across the state. For me, that means meeting up with Dierdre, finding out exactly why she behaves as she does, and getting her to make an allowance for the sake of doing what's right." He looked each of them in the eyes. "Will you allow me to do this?"
The girls listened to Silverest make his request, then looked each other in the eyes as a silent conversation took place. One by one, they reluctantly turned their faces back towards the magical fox and nodded quietly.
"Thank you for giving me the opportunity," Silverest commended them, pleased at their decision. Seeing a fox smile was a bit of an odd thing, though. "Now that that's settled, all that's left on the agenda is to discuss the likely candidate for Sailor Charon..."
