"Flip Side of the Coin"

by: Jateshi

Hana felt tears run down her beautiful face but ignored them, her emotions slowly dying as she watched Emmi. Emmi stood with her back to her, holding a young girl with long brown hair as the child cried. How could Emmi welcome the little brat with open arms but reject her? She had much more talent than that little reject from another planet!

Closing her bright silver eyes, the tears stinging, she turned away from the sickening pair and blindly ran out of the Palace. Her anger transformed itself into energy as she ran past the last home in the city and into the forest. Gasping for breath, still crying, Hana tripped and fell onto her hands and knees. Weakly pounding the ground with her bloody fists, the young girl wept.

"Emmi doesn't know the great power within you, dearheart."

A woman knelt before Hana, her black eyes emotionless. The woman placed her fingers on Hana's balled-up fists, the cuts and scrapes vanishing, leaving no mars on the girl's pale skin. She placed a finger under Hana's chin and titled the girl's face up to look her in the eyes. Hana's tears dried and her light silver gaze darkened a shade and lost their pain expression.

"Emmi doesn't know the great power within you dearheart, but I can sense it inside your soul. The dark throbbing fury, dearheart, that is your power. If you embrace my gift, dearheart, I can make you more powerful than that brat Emmi chose over you. Let me into your soul Hana, and I can make you so powerful, not even Emmi could stand up to you."

The lady stood, Hana slowly following her actions. The girl's now dark silver eyes darkened further. "Me, more powerful than Emmi?" Hana's voice was soft but the lady heard her whispers easily.

The lady smiled emotionlessly. "Much more powerful than Emmi, my child. Embrace me, accept me into your heart Hana, and I will make you the most powerful force in the universe." The lady's voice was soft but laced with hatred. "Accept me Hana. Accept my gift into your soul!"

Hana's now slate-gray eyes were filled with awe and greed. "Make me powerful; I want my revenge! I want you to make me greater than Emmi!"

The lady's smile turned evil, laughter escaping her lips; the lady bent down towards Hana's face, her body fading into wisps of black energy. Lightly touching Hana on the lips, the black wisps surrounded the girl, whipping Hana's long hair violently around her body. Surrounded in a glowing black cocoon of energy, Hana's mouth opened in a silent scream as her body stretched. Her legs grew longer, more refined as her torso lengthened, her breasts growing to maturity. Her hair lengthened until it almost became a cape from her head, her neck elongating to an elegant, smooth full length, her body changing from that of a teenager to a mature woman; suddenly, the energy entered Hana's open mouth, leaving the woman standing, her head tilt back and her narrower eyes closed.

Slowly opening her eyes, Hana's skin glowed briefly with dark power before it faded, a regal pitch black gown shimmering into essence and wrapping itself around Hana's frame. Her hair rearranged itself as if moved by unseen hands, twisting into an elaborate coiffure that cascaded down her back. A small dash of pale blue lipstick darted across her lips as dashes of silver eye shadow sparkled into being above her now dark slate-gray eyes. Slowly, a small gold tiara and crown faded into her forehead. As the last wisps of magic faded away, a soft, cruel chuckle left her lips. Closing her eyes, Hana basked in her new-found glory, her chuckle becoming a cruel laugh that shook all who heard it to their very souls.

~*~

Slowly, fearfully, Emmi turned her soft eyes towards the forest, where the young girl Hana had run off to. Hugging the brown-haired child even closer, Emmi whispered a prayer to God that Hana would be safe. She knew that the girl was disappointed about not being able to be a senshi, but surely Hana would realize there were other ways to serve the universe without defending it with her life? Emmi felt torn also, about the child in her arms.

Deep within the older princess from the moon, she could feel the star of a true senshi, one of purity and good; Emmi also knew that if the child was made into a senshi, her pain would be greater than that which she felt now.

//How can one know two things at once?// Emmi thought softly. //Princess Selena has the power of a senshi, as princesses often do, but her path, already made hard by her exile, would be full of great pain…why do I have the power to see the futures of those I care about?// Emmi pulled the girl closer to her body, feelings mixed between fear for Hana, love for this unknown child, and her desire to create lasting peace.

Smiling serenely, Emmi knelt down before the girl, her brown eyes meeting a pair of bright greens eyes, still full of tears.

"Don't cry now Princess," Emmi said, her voice pitched to be playful but caring. "I've been waiting for you all day long now; I have a wonderful meal laid out for you but I don't want a grubby guest in the Palace." Emmi's brown eyes sparkled as she left her caring for the girl show forth, the girl looking into her eyes curiously.

"Why would you be waiting for me?" the girl asked, sniffing as a tear rolled down her cheek.

Emmi smiled at Selena's question, proud of the girl for being so forthright so quickly. "I've been waiting for you all day because your mother thought you might be lonely here on Jyran. She asked me to make you feel welcome and to give you her love."

Selena pulled away slightly from Emmi, her green eyes hurt and confused. "If Mommy loved me, why would she send me away? Why does she hate me so much?" Fresh tears brimmed up in Selena's eyes and Emmi held the girl close again, letting the child sob softly as she spoke.

"Queen Serenity, your mother, loves you very dearly Princess. Never, ever, think that she doesn't love you." Emmi let Selena pull back slightly from her, the girl sniffling and rubbing her eyes as the tears stopped.

"Really? Mommy does love me?"

Emmi felt tears well-up in her own brown eyes, her heart going out to the strong, brave girl. While she understood Queen Serenity's decision, able now to sense the deep power within Selena, Emmi felt her heart break at the immense pain that they had put the child through.

"Selena, do you like horses?" Emmi kept her voice strong and bright, her eyes closed and happy as she tilted her head down to the princess.

Selena sniffed and rubbed a hand across her face, wiping away her tears. "I…love horses…" she said uncertainly. Her green eyes blinked as she stared into Emmi's eyes.

Emmi smiled and stood up, lightly holding Selena by the hand. "Well Princess, may I show you the stables? If you don't cry, you can pick out any horse you want to ride after the dinner."

Selena's eyes glowed with happiness as she smiled up at Emmi. "Really? We can go riding after dinner?"

Emmi nodded her head 'yes.' "As long as you don't cry that is."

~*~

Emmi gently brushed a wisp of Selena's soft brown hair from her face as the child slept, innocent in her vulnerability. Walking silently away from the bed she had tucked the girl in, Emmi parted the soft curtain of gossamer fabric that acted as a doorway and turned down a well-lit hallway. Stopping at the third door on the left, Emmi gracefully parted another gossamer curtain and then drew a darker sheet across the doorway, blocking out any sound from the hallway.

Brown eyes soft and wistful, Emmi tapped a full-figure silver mirror with her right hand, gems along the side glowing and blazing to life. As the gems glowed, the mirror reflection of the room behind Emmi faded away until it was replaced by the image of another room, this one draped in elegant white marble and waterfalls.

Soft blue eyes stared into Emmi's as Queen Serenity's silvery hair wafted in the slight breeze evidently residing at the Palace of the Moon. Emmi closed her eyes and dipped her head to Serenity, her blue hair falling around her as a wind rustled through Jyran's Palace.

Serenity's soft voice carried perfectly through the mirrors, her voice like music as it waved its way through Jyran's rooms. In her bed, Selena smiled softly without waking up.

"Emmi, how is my little brave Selena? Does she hate me?"

Emmi cast her eyes down slightly, taking a strengthening breath as Selena's tears rushed through her thoughts. "Queen Serenity, Selena doesn't hate you, she feels alone, unloved. Afraid."

Serenity's blue eyes clouded with pain and she sighed, a little bear on a table behind her, just inside the mirror's sight. "Emmi, you know what needs to be done. I…I want to see my little Selena again but…for the Kingdom's sake, I cannot. Please Emmi, make Selena happy." A tear rolled down the queen's pale cheek, her eyes downcast. "While I cannot hear her crying, I can almost feel her sadness and it is tearing apart my soul."

Emmi closed her eyes in understanding of what Serenity was asking her to do, knowing how in her heart that the queen was right; Selena, if she knew about her past, would never be happy. But, if Selena knew nothing of her past on the moon, she might have a chance for joy again.

"I understand Queen Serenity. I know how to make Selena happy." Emmi turned her head from the mirror, her mind sad but resolute. Before she could step away from the mirror, Serenity's voice made her turn her head around.

"Emmi, friend, please watch over my Selena. At the end of the Millennium, after the Silver Millennium's banquet, maybe you could bring Selena to the Moon Kingdom's Palace. It may be a thousand years but I would love to see my oldest child again. Maybe…a portrait? Something of hers…she's not even been gone a day but already I miss her laughter and smile."

Emmi nodded to the queen, agreeing to the condition. If, in a thousand years, the Queen still ruled over the Sol System, Emmi would return the princess to her true home. Until that time, however, Emmi turned her mind to alleviating the girl's pain. As the gem's glow faded from the mirror's frame, Emmi decided on her course of action.

Walking down the hallway into the sleeping princess's room, Emmi knelt by the girl's bedside and placed her hand on her forehead, her magic glowing softly around her body and flowing and through her hair. Placing the tip of her first two fingers on Selena's moon symbol, the sign of royalty, Emmi whispered softly to the child while she slept.

"Selena, dearest…when you wake up, you will not be Selena but Avalon, a child left at the door of my home when you were born." The slightly pained expression in Selena's face eased as her memories slowly were magically blocked, her moon symbol fading from her forehead. "I know this will cause you great pain Avalon, Selena, but you must not know who you really are until the proper time. At the Silver Banquet, you will once more regain your memories and return to your mother."

Feeling the last of the magic required fade from her hand and settle into the child's mind, Emmi brushed back Avalon's hair that she had mused up when she touched her forehead. Emmi knelt next to Avalon's feet and pulled up a blanket the girl had scrunched at her feet. Tucking the edge under Avalon's chin, Emmi slowly and silently rose from the bedside and walked out of the room, pausing momentarily at the doorframe before pushing aside the curtain and leaving the hallway.

After she rounded the corner, Emmi turned to face the direction in which Avalon's room lay, her brown eyes soft. She smiled slightly at the knowledge that Selena would no longer exist to cause Avalon pain. But Avalon herself would be in pain. "If only the circumstances were different…" Emmi whispered softly. "If Queen Serenity was anyone other than the Queen…maybe things would never have gone this badly…"

~*~

Hana lightly brushed her now-elegantly long hair from her face, her red fingernails long and claw-like. Inside her mind, the woman replayed the feelings of anguish she had felt from the Palace the first night of the girl's arrival. Slowly, the child's pain had faded and with the pain had gone Hana's newfound joy at her transformation. Day by day, the brown-haired moon brat became happier, making friends with other abandoned and unwanted children. Also, as the days went by, Emmi pain of loneliness vanished completely, taking Hana's source of comfort with it.

A silvery shimmer floated before Hana's eyes, the shape the same one that had awoken her immense powers. "My dearheart, why do you let Emmi be happy? Why do you not destroy the girl-child that made Emmi cast you off, reject you?" The dark figure's shape pulsed menacingly but Hana smiled as her eyes clouded and her features twisted into a mask of hatred.

"I can make that little brat tremble at the sound of my name…yes, oh yes!" Hana stood up from her throne, her long hair falling behind her darkly-clothed body. Eyes closed as she imagined her perfect revenge, Hana's mocking laughter echoed dully off the hills and traveled into the Palace's walls, Avalon and Emmi shivering at the sounds.

Walking across her marble floor, Hana's hand rested on a tree trunk as she emerged from her secret lair. Stepping gracefully around stones and dead leaves as she traversed the forest floor, Hana regally walked the pathway from the forest to the Palace. As she passed the gates, the guards not recognizing her but not daring to stop her, Hana smirked.

As she crossed the opening gateway into the Palace's halls, the lady stopped, a spark of pain flashing through her body. Whirling to face the source of the pain, Hana saw the columns beside her blaze with magic. All around her, an alarm sounded and the guardsmen ran towards her, fear written on their features. Emmi ran down the hallway and came to a stop before Hana, Avalon fearfully behind her, clutching Emmi's gown in fright.

"Who are you?!" Emmi demanded, her brown eyes hard and almost dangerous. For over a hundred years, Emmi had not heard the runes sound in alarm; the runes had been made by the original builders of the Palace as a warning system against evil enemies. When a creature bearing malice to the inhabitants of the Palace attempted to cross their magical barrier, a shrill bell rang throughout the Palace to alert people of danger. The last time the runes had stopped a person, the runes helped to prevent the Dark Lady of the Forest from walking onto the marble hallway.

Hana smirked at the frightened woman, throwing her head back and laughing evilly. Bringing her gaze level with Emmi's, Hana's slate-gray eyes glowed with malice. "How could you forget me so easily, Emmi? Oh, I forgot, I've changed a bit since we last met." Hana's eyes locked onto Emmi's brown gaze, their light mocking the woman who held a hand back to Avalon even now to comfort the girl.

Emmi's voice caught in her throat as realization dawned on her; Emmi's brown eyes hardened as she locked gazes with the woman standing before her. "Hana…what did the Lady offer you? Peace? Magic beyond your imagination?" At the mention of the Lady, the guardsmen made the sign of the ward of evil, backing away from the two magic-users.

Hana laughed again, the sound chilling Avalon to the bone. "The Lady has made me better than you, Emmi! I can be anything I want - I always could have been! But you, you were scared of me, weren't you?" Hana's eyes flashed dangerously, almost as if she were insane. "You were jealous of the power you knew was within me! You didn't make me a senshi because you knew you couldn't control me, am I right? But that little moon brat, oh she you could control! That," Hana said, her voice loud enough for Avalon to hear, "Was why you took her in instead of me."

Hana made a movement towards Avalon but the runes held her back; instead, Hana looked down on Avalon's small frame and smiled into her frightened green eyes. "No matter what you become child, you will never be as good as I am; no matter how hard Emmi will train you, I will always be stronger." Avalon drew away from Hana, Hana's mocking voice etching itself into her memory.

Emmi took hold of Avalon's arm gently, pulling the girl to her side and kneeling down beside her. "Avalon, don't ever listen to a word that she says to you…her heart is poisoned with pain and jealousy." Emmi turned around and stood up again, facing Hana.

"You had a heart full of such purity and goodness Hana; you could have done so much for others but you listened to the Lady of the Forest, against my warnings. And now, your heart is so filled with hatred Hana…you have become a urami youma, a hateful demon." A tear fell from Emmi's brown eyes. "I cannot let you harm Avalon, or any other person. Leave this Palace Hana, and never return." Emmi raised her hands up to the sky, magic glowing around her fingers as her eyes slowly glowed; as the power built, Hana's face twisted into that of a monster's, backing away as if Emmi's hands caused her pain.

"Leave Urami Youma, leave Jyran now!"

Hana felt her body flung away from the planet, forced away from Emmi, the Palace, and Avalon. After what felt like centuries, Hana felt her body stop moving and she opened her dark silvery eyes. Teleporting herself to her domain, a world she had created for her own pleasure, Hana sat down in her black marble throne.

"An urami youma, am I?" Hana laughed. "Than Lady Urami I shall become." Hana swiftly stood up from her throne and faced Jyran, the air before her fading until it became a picture of Jyran's surface, Emmi playing with Avalon and two other girls. Cursing at the look of joy on the people's faces, Urami pointed straight at Emmi, the lady feeling a bolt running through her body.

"Emmi, I, Urami, swear that I will destroy you, and all that you hold dear. I will destroy your peaceful life, you allies, your family, your home, and your proteges. And Avalon, Selena, Princess and Senshi…Urami's eyes glowed menacingly as she focused on the happy brown-haired girl.

"Avalon, I will kill anything that you love. Whatever you treasure, I will obliterate. And, when you are crying for mercy, begging on your knees for me to stop, I will kill you myself."

As Urami once more occupied her throne, Emmi turned her brown gaze towards the heavens, a sense of dread filling her bones. Shrugging it off as unimportant, Emmi turned her attention back to instructing the to-be senshis, Stella, Lina, and Avalon.