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When the feline squirmed out of the teenager's arms, Minotaur made one half-hearted attempt to get at the kitty--it was getting away before he had a chance to play!--but Penelope kept him on a short leash. She still wasn't totally clear about what was happening, and if distance would allow the talking cat to feel more comfortable in answering her questions, then that was alright by her. At the bulldog's half-mournful bark, she bent down to pat his head, "Shush, Minotaur. Maybe later, okay?"

Youma. Penelope silently repeated the word to herself, determined that she would not use the incorrect term again. Clearly it was an important word and an important distinction. Star Seed. Energy. She didn't fullow understand it--but maybe her companion would explain more. When she looked up again, the tailless cat was performing... a back flip? Yes, yes, that was certainly a back flip. She almost laughed from the cuteness of the scene, but the mood grew more tense when two objects appeared before her. From where? Had the manx... summoned them?

Minotaur barked gruffly at the appearance of the objects, and Penelope shushed him as best she could, pinning his leash to the ground with a smaller trash can near by. She then moved towards the pen and picked it up, ignoring the other item fro now because the cat hadn't mentioned what to do with it. Staring at the pen, and then once more at the manx, she briefly considered again how odd her situation was. Still, she had followed the rules of fantasy so far - she wasn't going to break them now.

Brandishing the pen into the air like Princess Aurora brandishing her sword, she yelled out the words as loud and fervently as she could, "Pasiphae Power, Make-up!"

As soon as Penelope shouted the phrase, the top of the pen glowed with a maroon energy, emitting ribbons composed of several energy beads that showered around Penelope. Two strings of these beads crisscrossed across her chest, binding her in place firmly, but not painfully. The remaining beads systematically covered her entire body until it was consumed by the energy, hiding her from sight momentarily until it fully dissipated.

When the energy disappeared, Penelope realized that something had changed. The most obvious physical sign was the clothes; she had been wearing sneakers, and now she was wearing heels. She had been wearing cotton socks, and now detailed stockings covered her legs up to the knee. She was still wearing a skirt, but this one shimmered silver and had a trim of garnet beads. She had no shirt with sleeves, just a bodice with a kind of collar; she had a choker around her neck that had beads dangling from it, earrings, and on her head she had a mask that rested on her temples and the bridge of her nose.

But the change ran deeper than her clothing. She felt... energized, like she was tapping into a well of power she had never known that she had. The manx indicated a change in name was in order as well. Sailor Pasiphae. She tried the name on for size and found it... odd. But perhaps that was to be expected--she had only just heard it, after all.

Listening to the feline, she picked up the cellphone and then carefully placed it on the ground behind her, seeing that she didn't have any pockets to store anything in. The magic pen she kept clenched in her hand, too distracted by what shambled on scene to think about letting it go, "The tree... followed us. So that's the youma you were talking about? The one that wants to hurt us?"

Minotaur, who had remained remarkably silent during the whole transformation process, now let out an uncharacteristic whine, straining against the weight holding him in place and wanting to go hide behind his now dolled up owner. This was not the kind of walk he had wanted at all!

Minotaur yelped, obviously distressed at the situation and cowering beside the trashcan that pinned him in place. Penelope couldn't blame her dog for his reaction--watching the youma change from a tree into a bug and then click with that horrible sound... was far from comforting.

She took a deep breath and continued to follow the manx's instructions; as strange as they continued to be, they had also proven to be worthwhile. She had made the decision to follow them initially, and she did not intend to stray from this path. She shouted as loud as she could, "Pasiphae Shameful Isolation!"

As soon as she spoke the words the beads off of her mask snapped off, glowing with maroon energy similiar to that which had just covered her. Instead of pressing against her, the energy beads multiplied and surrounded her, keeping her from moving more than a step in any direction but otherwise with no obvious changes. Did she do it wrong? Was this... was this supposed to happen? If so... WHAT DID IT DO?!

She opened her mouth to try the call again, but by then the youma was charging. Instinctively, the teenager threw out her arms in an effort to protect herself and screamed, fully expecting those claws to hit her forearms soon.

Nothing happened. Well, that wasn't entirely true, Penelope realized. She just hadn't gotten hurt, which she was so certain would happen that it caught her off guard. She slowly lowered her arms to see that, yes, the youma was trying to attack her. That part hadn't changed. The maroon energy that surrounded her did not change either, except that she now realized it provided more than just a light show. It was actively blocking the attacks from the youma, making sure that its wooden claws could not get to her. A shield of some kind, then... it had to be.

The shield did not last long, but it lasted long enough to do the job. With a shout that summoned an attack of her own, the feline pushed the mantis-like youma a fair distance away. The shield around Penelope fell, and she immediately leapt to complete the manx's most recent order. Running towards the creature, she made sure to plant her heels firmly so that she wouldn't slide, and she then kicked the youma in the side as hard as she could.

Penelope clapped her hands over her ears at the insect youma's cry, but her maroon eyes widened as it literally fell apart, piece by piece, into black dust. It was over? They had... they had won? Thank God!

Seeing the evil creature gone, Minotaur barked for the fukued girl's attention, and Penelope was happy to oblige. She ran towards him and fell to her knees, jerking his leash out from under the trash can and pulling her dog into her arms. Minotaur, happy and excited to be free after having to cower in terror, licked at his owner's gloved hands. He wasn't satisfied with this level of contact, however, so he reared on his hind legs to lap at her face. Penelope laughed in relief, hugging her dog close to her and soothing him as best she could. Now that the moment had passed, she could feel herself shaking slightly, almost unable to believe that she had fought this youma. Without the talking feline to guide her through, the teenager was certain that both she and her pet would have been toast.

The cat! Penelope ran towards where the manx had fallen, and her bulldog followed suit. His snuffling of the cat's form was very gentle and soon devolved into a desperate licking of her fuzzy face, but his owner pushed him away to give the smaller creature some space. Then, much as she had with Minotaur a few moments before, she moved to take the manx into her arms, "Hey... are... are you okay? Did the youma hurt you?"

Hearing the amusement in the manx's voice made Penelope relax, and she even smiled as she admitted, "Minotaur is friendly, thankfully - the most danger anyone's ever in is from being licked to death. I don't think I've ever seen him bite anyone, aside from play nips as a puppy."

The teenager shifted to sit on the ground, glad to have a rest and a chance for her buzzing brain to quiet down, now that the youma had been defeated, "I'm glad you're alright, and... thanks, for helping. I wouldn't have known what to do if you hadn't been here..."

Minotaur tilted his head, obviously still confused to some extent by the fact that a human voice was coming out of a cat. Still, he accepted it fairly readily and sat as tall as he could, plump little tail wagging all the wihle.

At this newest set of instructions, Penelope closed her eyes and concentrated. Slowly, but surely, as she pictured herself in the outfit she had worn when she first left her house today, she could feel the power that surged through her fading away. When she opened her eyes again she had once more changed into her normal self. She looked down towards the cat and smiled, amazed at how tired she suddenly felt, "Well, there we go. Good as new..."

And then she realized that she had never once asked the manx her name or given her name in return, and her smile faded slightly at the rudeness. Uneasy, she blurted out, "Oh, I'm sorry... I never told you, but my name's Penelope! Penelope Seneca."