Senshi Illusions

Prologue: It Begins

A young, blue-haired child stood peaking around a curtain as the doctor and nurses hovered around her mother. She heard a baby's weak cry and leaned closer and the nurses gently wiped the baby down and the babe in her mother's arms. She watched her mother smile weakly at the newborn baby in her arms. She slid out from behind the curtain a little more and accidentally kicked something on the floor, causing a small racket. Her mom looked up and smiled. "Come here Amanda...come and look at your new baby sister...Ami" her mom said softly as she smiled over at her 2-year-old daughter. Amanda quietly walked over to her mother's bedside and stood up on her tiptoes to peer at the bundle in her mother's arms. Amanda smiled and reached out a small hand to gently touch her younger sister's feet. "She's pretty, Mama." Amanda said softly. "Yes she is. You'll always help me take care of your little sister right Ama?" Amanda nodded her head solemnly. "Yes, Mama, just like Aunt Akira takes care of you." Amanda said. Her mother, Anna, chuckled lightly. "Yes dear, just like Aunt Akira takes care of me. One day you and your sister will make great queens and you'll be a great protector of your sister and of the Moon Princess, just like your Aunt Akira and I are." she said quietly before trying to stifle a yawn. One of the nurses curtsied slightly from behind the young princess. "Come dear, your mother and sister need their rest. They're very tired right now." she said quietly. Amanda looked up at the smiling nurse and nodded. She turned back to her mother and leaned in to kiss her hand since she couldn’t reach far enough to kiss her cheek. "I'll see you later Mama. I love you." She said softly and reached up to touch her already sleeping sister lightly with a smile and then turned to walk out as her mother waved goodbye sleepily.

8 years later...

Amanda and Ami were playing in the garden near the entrance to the castle when they saw the floating litter carrying their mother hover towards the castle. It was surrounded by a blue orb and escorted by their Aunt Akira. The two girls ran toward the bridge in curiosity. Amanda noticed that her mother was laying still and quiet on the litter with blue rose petals spread around her and her arms crossed over her chest. Ami tugged on her sister's sleeve. "Ama...what's wrong with mama?" she asked quietly as they watched their aunt walk by beside their mother's litter followed closely by the royal guards. Everyone looked sad and fearful of the days to come. Amanda shook her head slightly and took her sister's hand, leading her quickly but quietly to walk beside their mother's litter into the palace. They wound through the corridors until they reached a room the two girls had never seen before. There was a platform in the middle of the room on which the litter finally came to rest and the blue orb slowly disappeared. The two girls walked over to their aunt's side and looked up at her questioningly. Aunt Akira was trying to hold back her tears as she looked at her sister and then down at her two young nieces. They were 10 and 8 now...hardly old enough to rule. She sighed softly and knelt down to look into the young girls' deep blue eyes. They were both so much like their mother. Ami resembled her mother the most with her short blue hair and her short but slim stature. Amanda had taken on the old family looks with the long flowing blue hair and a taller slender physique. Akira could already tell that Amanda would be following in her own footsteps as the Queen's Protector and that Ami would be the next queen, as it seemed had always been the tradition. While both were intelligent, Ami seemed to surpass her sister in many ways while Amanda was always the physically stronger. It had always been that way...but now her counterpart was gone. She sighed and looked over at her sister, Anna, once more, remembering briefly their trip to the moon...

**Flashback**

Akira and Anna were in the courtyard speaking with Queen Serenity. There was a sudden movement from the rose garden and in the moment of their surprise, a man leapt out from the gazebo, letting loose an arrow straight at the queen of the Moon. Akira had been walking a few steps behind them as Anna and Serenity discussed some policies and had no time to react as Anna threw herself in front of the queen, taking the arrow square through her heart. It had gone straight through, barely missing the queen as Akira pushed Serenity away and Anna fell to the ground. Akira turned and rushed at the man, throwing a bolt of icy energy through him in pure hatred and fear of what had just happened. The man had fallen to the ground moments later, frozen...and dead. She had turned back to see Serenity crying over Anna’s fallen body...she was already dead. They found out later that the arrow was tipped with a quick-acting poison. The man was from Metallica of earth who had long been trying to kill Queen Serenity and take over the Moon Kingdom. This was the first time that anyone had managed to get through the strict guard around the palace. She had stayed one more day before returning home with Anna's body and to begin training Ami and Amanda for their roles as queens of Mercury. They would need to begin their training sooner than expected due to their mother's untimely death. She would have to rule the kingdom in her nieces stead until they were old enough of course...

**End Flashback**

Akira was pulled out of her memories by Ami's tugging on her sleeve. She sighed again and took each girl’s hand. She took a deep breath before breaking the news that she knew would devastate the young girls. "Amanda...Ami...As you know, your mother and I were with Queen Serenity this weekend on the moon. I told you about the bad lady...Metallica on Earth right? *Both girls nodded* Well Metallica sent a bad man to hurt Queen Serenity and your mama saved her.... but your mama got hurt real bad and we weren't able to save her. We did everything we could but we couldn't.... She’s dead...but she'll always be with you...in your hearts. She said to tell you she loves you and always will...she just can't be with you in person anymore." she said quietly, fighting hard to keep back the tears she so wanted to shed. It took a few moments before the girls understood what their Aunt Akira was saying and soon they were sobbing softly. Akira gently pulled the young girls into her arms, holding them gently as she finally let her own tears fall silently. Behind them, the servants were beginning to prepare the queen's body for the evening ceremony. She would be committed to the waters of the Mercurian sea behind the palace that evening, as was the custom of the Mercurian royalty. The news was spreading across the palace and slowly across the planet as everyone mourned the loss of their beautiful Queen Anna.

Some hours later, at sunset…

Akira stood at the seaside with Amanda and Ami at her sides. Their mother, Anna, laid deathly pale inside a blue orb, her dress streaming around her. She slowly began to float on the waves as a chant began. It was an old chant from the beginning of their family line, many generations old. Akira watched sadly as her sister's body floated out into deeper waters as she began to sing in a low sweet voice while her two nieces and the other attendees who lined the beach and back up to the castle walls and beyond continued the low chant. It was a song of sadness and beauty, telling of her sister's grace and strength. As the song ended there was a flash of blue lights as her sister's body disappeared. She saw an upsurge of water that showed her sister's form smiling back at Akira and her two young charges. Anna reached out her hand as blue lights surged across the distance between them and hovering around them before sinking into her sister and two daughters. They heard Anna's gentle voice once more before the watery form disappeared. Everything was quiet as the people slowly parted, allowing the royal family to silently walk through the crowd back to the palace. As night fell, the courtyard emptied of the mourners and quiet reigned.

Website Copyright © to Ami-chan of Twinity Designs. All images and information has been created by Ami-chan. Do not copy any information or take any image without explicit information from me, Ami-chan.

Last modified: 2/19/2006