The Lone Sailor Soldier - Part Five
Despite the morning's earlier occurances, May was able to get through the school day in a fairly ordinary manner. Aidan commented on how spacey she was a few times, but other than that, she was able to act more or less normal. Maybe she was finally getting used to this routine...
Before the end of her last class, an announcement was made over the loudspeaker. "Attention students," said the principal, "Please remember to report to your homeroom after last period for report cards and second semester schedules. Thank you."
The students either groaned or paid no attention, but May was left feeling puzzled again. She had only been to school for two days. What sort of grades would she get?
The bell rang then, and May followed the students out the door. Aidan was waiting for her. "Ready, May?"
"Uh... I hope so," May replied, as they walked down the hall together.
"You remember our deal, right?"
"Deal?" And I thought I'd finally gotten through a day without these unexpected situations, May thought.
Aidan grinned at her cheekily. "Yeah. You know. Whoever gets higher grades has to buy dessert for the other."
"Oh... right. I still remember," May lied, nudging Aidan with her elbow. She hoped the mystified look on her face was unnoticeable.
May thought Aidan had a look of concern on his face for a moment, but it quickly changed to a sly smile. "You look so worried," he said, taking her by the arm. "I don't see why... you always get good grades."
May smiled with the corner of her mouth. "Well... we'll see about that."
They filed into the homeroom along with the other students. "Please take your seats," the teacher said, holding a stack of papers. "As I call your name, come to the front to receive your reports and schedules."
Her last name starting with "s", May was practically last in line. When the teacher finally called, "St. Lawrence, May," she stood up from her seat a bit too quickly and made her way to the front of the room.
The first paper she saw was the class schedule. She quickly moved that one to the back, so she could see her report card first.
"So?" Aidan asked, as she returned to her seat. "What's the verdict?"
"I'm not dead!" May grinned, showing him the report of straight A's. She wasn't sure how she achieved that, but she wasn't about to complain.
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After school, Aidan and May headed to the culture center, as promised. It was about a twenty-minute walk from the school. There were a few light grey clouds in the sky, which probably meant rain later in the day, but naturally May didn't mind rain.
Along the way, they made small talk, mostly about the chess club and the upcoming tournament. May tried to keep her mind on the conversation, but she kept being distracted by the odd differences in the city. Certain buildings weren't where they should have been - they were either somewhere else, or replaced by a different building.
"We're almost there," Aidan said, as they reached a street lined with tourist stores. May didn't recognize it, and stopped at one of the storefronts.
"Oh, wait... is it all right if I take a look here first?" she asked, peering at the display of handcrafted jewelry.
"Sure," Aidan replied, joining her by the window. "We've got all day."
They walked along the shops a bit slower, stopping at every window. May stopped the longest at an art store. A large oil painting hung in the window - it seemed to be a combination surreal and abstract piece, but May was positive she could make out the image of a woman with long green hair, surrounded by flowers - Evelyn? May blinked in confusion. She looked at the painting again, but this time it was just a swirl of green and pink paint.
As May stared, wondering how she was able to see a human form in the random blobs of paint, a woman walked into the display holding another painting. She smiled at May and Aidan, then proceeded to take the green picture down. After placing it carefully on the floor, she hung another large painting up, this time done in acrylics.
Aidan raised both of his eyebrows. "Wow. What do you think about that?"
This new painting was definitely a contrast to the cool greens and pinks of the last. It was done mostly in flaming red tones, framed in orange and bright wisps of yellow. A wavy black curve ran down the center of the piece. One could see that it was simply a line, but when May closed her eyes slightly - it also looked like a human figure... one distorted by flames.
May opened her mouth to answer, but was cut off when a sudden powerful gust of wind nearly blew them through the storefront window. "Whoa!" May gripped her bookbag by the strap, as it was almost blown off her shoulder. "Geep... wind..." she managed to sputter, as the wind whipped her long hair against her face in stinging strikes. Then, almost as soon as it started, the wind stopped. May ran her fingers over her head, trying to free her face of the tangled brown strands, and looked up to the sky. The wind had blown all the clouds away, and it was now a blindingly bright blue. The sun also seemed awfully bright... and hot.
"Ugh," Aidan said, trying to loosen his collar. The heat was starting to be oppressive. "Weird weather we're having today."
"I'll say," May replied, glancing warily at the sky. Her clothes were starting to cling to her body. "I hope the culture center is air-conditioned."
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By the time Aidan and May reached the culture center, they were panting. May wished she had a hair elastic so she could put her ponytail up into a bun or something... it was sticking to her neck and feeling a lot heavier than usual.
"It isn't summer yet," Aidan complained. "What's with this heat? And wasn't it almost cold when we left the school?"
May raced for the front door and yanked it open, sticking her head inside. Aah... the center definitely was air-conditioned. "Yeah..." she said, as she breathed a sigh of relief. "I thought it was going to rain."
They walked over to a nearby bench and collapsed into it. Aidan smiled meekly at May, who looked just as exhausted as he felt. "Let's catch our breath first," he said. "Then we'll go see where they're going to hold the tournament."
May nodded and leaned back. The center, from what she could see, was just as she remembered it. But newer. There were a few people mililng about, and May watched them absentmindedly. She didn't notice until Aidan sat up straight that something was a bit odd...
"Where's everyone going?" Aidan was saying. May sat up too. There seemed to be a commotion at the front door...
"Let's go see," May got up and followed the crowd. When they reached the front entrance, she stopped. Everyone was gathered at the doors and windows and looking outside. May stood on her toes to look over their shoulders, and was nearly blinded.
She stumbled backwards and bumped into Aidan. "What is it? What's out there?" he asked, looking concerned.
"It's... bright! I don't know if it's a fire, or what..." May shook her head, and Aidan started to push through the crowd to get to the front. May followed close behind, shielding her eyes.
"It isn't a fire... it's..." Aidan was squinting. "It's the sun!"
"The what?!" May had to look for herself. It did appear to be the sun... a bright white orb was floating just feet away from the closed entrance doors. But the real sun still stood in the sky, in its proper place. May was trying to figure it out when the rays of the orb grew brighter, and the heat more intense...
"Look out!!" Aidan pushed May and the crowd back from the window, just seconds before the orb exploded through the glass! May landed painfully on her side, but quickly got back up to her feet.
"Aidan! Are you all right... ?" she trailed off when she saw the blazing white orb stop in the center of the room. It began to shift and course - it was changing shape. Slowly at first, then almost instantaneously, it grew into the figure of a woman, but still firey white. Yellow flames grew from her limbs, flickering and waving. She tilted her head back, and a long mane of white fire rose from her head and surged upwards like a massive flame.
Then, with one flick of the wrist, she blasted the entire room with a powerful wave of heat - May was surprised her feet were able to remain on the floor. she yelped and threw her hands up to cover her head, and felt a rush around her. Just when May was sure she couldn't hold on anymore, the wave slowed down to a pulsing, sweltering heat.
"Aidan," May croaked, seeing that the creature had blasted all the people out of the building - they were lying outside, on the ground, unconscious. Only she and Aidan remained... coincidence?
Apparently not. The fire demon slowly turned her head and gazed at the two remaining humans. Her expressionless features remained unchanged as she set her eyes on May and Aidan and started to walk slowly towards them, hand outstretched.
Aidan grabbed May's hand to support him as he struggled to his feet. "May... you've gotta transform!"
"What?!" May looked at him, shocked. "What did you say?"
"Just do it! Water will defeat fire!"
May stared at Aidan for a moment, astounded. How on Earth... well, now wasn't the time to dwell on that.
May glared back at the fire creature as she reached for her locket. "I don't know who you are or what you want," she said through clenched teeth, "But as a Sailor Soldier of justice I will not let you harm innocent people!"
She raised the luminescent blue locket high above her head. "AQUA COSMIC POWER!!"
~To be continued in Part Six~
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~~Back to Chapter Four / Back to Sailor Aqua's Realm~~
