Pandora's Senshi

A Sailor Moon Spin-off Fanfiction

By mew-tsubaki

Note: Ha-HA! This time, I have copyright power over these characters because their MY OWN! (Woo-hoo!) Anyway, I want to give some credit to Naoko Takeuchi-sensei, though, because I used the original names she had planned for the Sailor Moon characters (Sorano Hikaru, Yoruno Miyabi, Chino Mamoru, and Artemis; only Amano is hers- I came up with Kako), and the original scouts (Moon through Saturn) are hers. By the way, I know that the senshi names (Phlegethon, Cocytus, Styx, Acheron, and Lethe) come from rivers in Hades (I read it somewhere) and have nothing to do with Pandora's Box, but read on to discover what they're really about. - Don't forget: READ, REVIEW, AND ENJOY!! P.S.- the Artemis in this fanfic isn't the same as the cat-turned-human Artemis from the original series. She's someone completely different. Also, the other senshi will not be making anymore appearances. It's original from here on out. P.S.S.- This chapter kind of picks up where seven left off…

Chapter Nine: Artemis

"So…did I tell you guys that my birthday is two weeks from now?" Hikaru bubbly asked.

"YES!!" her friends answered in unison. Mamoru spoke up: "You've been telling all of us since god knows when, Hikaru!"

The genius blinked. "Have I really?"

"Oh, yes. And don't mind that it's my birthday, too," Genji sulked. Kako patted his head. "Dammit…"

"There, there, baby," Kako muttered. "If you want, just the two of us could celebrate."

Genji grabbed her hand. "I'd very much like that," he said suggestively, kissing her hand playfully.

"Get a room, you two," Harume whined. "God, it's barely spring and already it's in the eighties."

Miyabi halfheartedly smiled. "And the weather will sometimes jump around like this. We just have to adapt."

"I'll adapt when I feel like it…!"

Finally, it was the end of the day. Of course, it had not come to pass without Hikaru reminding everyone of her (and Genji's…) birthday fifteen more times. As Hikaru was walking out of the school building, she ran into a…familiar face.

Leaning against Azusa Yomi Municipal High's gates was the silver-haired girl Hikaru had helped a while ago. She saw Hikaru and kicked off the wall, a thin-lipped smile on her face. Her eyes weren't very expressive.

Hikaru felt somewhat nervous. "Uh…hi. Can I help you?"

The girl let through some emotions as she beamed. "I was just hoping to talk to you on your way home," the girl replied.

"O-Okay…" The hazel-haired genius continued walking and the girl joined her by her side. "So…uh, what's your name?"

The girl blinked. "Oh, did I not tell you? Sorry." She held her hand out. "I'm Artemis."

Hikaru shook her hand. "Nice to finally and formally meet you, Artemis. Do you have a last name?"

At that, Artemis faltered. Brow furrowed, she mumbled quietly, "…I…don't know. I don't really know anything about my past."

"I'm sorry. I-I didn't mean to bring up such an uncomfortable subject."

"Nah. It's okay." While Artemis tried to sound fine, though, Hikaru could…really feel that she wasn't. "By the way," she started, changing the subject, "I didn't mean to scare your friend a while ago."

At that, Hikaru was puzzled. "What do you mean?"

"Didn't one of your friends tell you that she saw me?"

"No… No one's mentioned you to me. Besides, why would they say anything about you?"

Artemis fished around in her pocket and revealed a dark silver brooch, with two intersecting light silver boomerangs on it. "I'm sure this set up seems familiar. Your friend dropped hers when I saved her and her boyfriend a while ago. She didn't tell you guys?"

Hikaru stopped walking. "W-Wait. You're a…a sailor, too?"

The silver-haired girl nodded. "Yes. My senshi name is Sailor Cocytus."

"'Sailor…Cocytus'?" Hikaru repeated. "That's the fifth river in Hades! The genius smiled confidently. "So I was right. There are five of us!"

Artemis frowned. "Kinda… You see, you guys have all of your powers, but I'm limited to one attack."

"Why?"

"I'm not so sure myself. All I know is that I have to retrieve my other powers. And soon."

Hikaru thought for a moment. "Then I suppose you wouldn't know anything about our real mission, huh?"

The silver-haired girl shook her head, several wispy layered strands of hair hitting her in the face. "I'm afraid not. All I know is that I have to collect all of my powers and fulfill my mission along with you four."

"Well, this is my house." Hikaru and Artemis stopped in front of the giant two-story building Hikaru and Genji called home. The hazel-haired genius turned to Artemis. "Do you have a place to stay? You could sleep here tonight, if you wanted to."

Just then, Genji came up behind the two. He tapped Hikaru on the shoulder. "Hey, Hika-chan. Who's your friend here?"

As Hikaru yelled at him for calling her 'Hika-chan' again, Artemis stood in the background, her hand covering a gaping mouth. Slowly, it escaped her lips: "…Gen-chan?"

Both Genji and Hikaru turned to Artemis, bewildered expressions displayed on their similar faces. They had definitely heard what Artemis had said.

Blushing, Artemis stuttered, "Uh, I-I have to go. Thanks for extending an invitation, Hikaru, but I'll take a rain check. B-Bye!!" And with that, the girl ran off, her heart pounding so fast in her chest and so loud in her ears that she was sure the rest of the world could hear it.

Genji and Hikaru kept staring at where Artemis had been even after she had rounded the corner. "Had you…told her about me?" Genji asked after another silent minute.

Hikaru shook her head, but she was unsure. "I don't think so. But then again, maybe it slipped my mind and I did." Even though she reassured Genji, Hikaru couldn't reassure herself. It doesn't add up, she thought as she shut the door to her room. The fireplace (which was the only one in the house) was in her room. As she threw in a few logs, Hikaru reviewed the events in her head. She, too, felt like she knew me. But…would she feel the same way about Genji?

Suddenly, Hikaru jumped out of her thoughts as the fire spewed flames dangerously close to her. The blaze had almost touched her arm when it veered away like a scared animal. Then it turned black and grew big as if it was ready to engulf her.

Hikaru screamed as it came at her, but as soon as Genji burst into her room, the fire grew tame and resumed its natural color. The genius girl nearly collapsed as her twin brother cradled her in his arms. He rocked her gently and whispered calming shushes into her ear, but Genji's words wouldn't be reaching Hikaru for a while. Her eyes were blank as things screamed in her mind- the vivid picture of a black fire eating her alive terrified her. How could she get away from something that was right in her room? More importantly, why would she have to get away from a strange, black fire?

Meanwhile, on the other side of town, Artemis shut the door to her dusty, dingy apartment. Well, it wasn't technically an apartment. It was more of the ruins of an old hospital room that had gone under years before. But the silver-haired stranger had done an okay job of fixing it up well enough to live in.

Artemis unzipped her gray, hooded sweatshirt and tossed it on the dilapidated couch. As she undid the front of her tank and let it hang open, her eyes fell to her brooch. Huh… She sighed, removed the top and reached for her nightshirt when her locket fell between her breasts. Artemis shivered at the sudden coolness on her skin. Quickly, and almost instinctively, she placed a hand over the white gold spade and gripped it. Should I try? she thought. Ignoring the call of warmth that the nightshirt would give her, Artemis turned the spade over in her hand and read the inscription. Carefully carved in wispy script were the letters h, a, and g, with a period after each. I highly doubt it's branding me a hag, she thought. Then Artemis remembered the scene that had played in her head earlier.

She was younger and with two children a little younger than her. They looked so familiar to her, like she had known them all her life. She called to one of them as both the girl and the boy looked at her.

That's when she had called out 'Gen-chan' and startled Hikaru and the boy whom Artemis had guessed to be her brother. Now that Artemis could think clearly, the two somewhat resembled the boy and girl in her memory. She shook her head. I'm reading too much into this, Artemis told herself. She let the locket fall back to her chest as she pulled the nightshirt over her head. Maybe I'll be able to think straight after a good night's sleep. With that, Artemis climbed under the cover that were on the cot in the corner of the room and drifted off into a somewhat hellish nightmare.

Several days had passed and nothing too out of the ordinary had happened since that night with the fire. Yet, Hikaru was so scared that she was on edge any time she was near open flame. She had started sleeping in the guestroom of their house just in case the fireplace acted up again. Hikaru also felt somewhat uneasy around Genji, too. Even though he hadn't mentioned anything to her, Hikaru was pretty sure that he suspected something was up and Hikaru didn't want him to find out about the senshi thing. And that was a whole other story.

All of the other girls found it odd that they hadn't been fighting lately. Surely, not all the shadow monsters had been taken care of- but where had they gone? Hikaru wasn't sure whether or not the black fire was related so she didn't mention it to the others, but she didn't have to. The other girls had their own little experiences.

Mamoru drew in a deep breath, smiled, and walked into the bookstore where Takeyuki worked. She made eye contact with him and he plopped some books down to meet her. "How was work?" Mamoru asked. "They don't need you to close, right?"

Takeyuki grinned mischievously and kissed her on the top of her head. "Nah," he said, chuckling to himself slightly, "so I'm all yours tonight."

Just as Mamoru wrapped her arms around his waist, a head popped out from behind a large stack of physics texts. He had chestnut-colored hair that was layered short around the nape of his neck. He obviously hadn't had a trim in a while because his bangs brushed the tops of his wire-rimmed glasses. Slowly, he stood up and his eyes went wide as he watched Mamoru squirm under his gaze. Clearing his throat, he softly stated, "So you're Boss's girl."

Mamoru blushed a little as Takeyuki turned to the effeminate male. "Keita-kun, cut it out! Those magazines won't put themselves away, you know."

Keita straightened up and saluted Takeyuki. "Aye-aye, sir!" And with that, he disappeared into the back of the store.

"Who the hell was that?" Mamoru asked.

"It's more like, 'What the hell was that'," Takeyuki stated. "He's one of the two others that work here, Yamazaki Keita. The other one is Hanamori Takako, but today's her day off."

"'Hanamori Takako'?" Mamoru echoed. She frowned. "I hope you're not tempted here at work."

Takeyuki chuckled again. "You're so cute when you're jealous. Ah, to finally wrap my arms around you like this," he said, pantomiming his words, "feels so good."

"That's nice and all, but we've got to get going if you're going to cook dinner tonight. I highly doubt either of us wants fast food for the third night in a row." Mamoru let Takeyuki go so he could get his things. The heels of her boots clacked on the pavement outside as she waited for him. Way off in the distance she could see Fuji-san Mountain. It was a beautiful sight; year-round, the mountain was dazzlingly snow-capped while the citizens changed from heavy winter jackets into tank tops. Although, it wasn't quite tank top weather yet.

Mamoru smiled as she thought of summer vacation. Maybe she and Takeyuki could visit one of the hot springs up there. The taupe-haired girl dreamily opened her eyes to see Fuji-san, but she looked on in horror: Fuji-san was black!

She stumbled backwards and turned around, but she saw that the nearby trees had turned the color of ash as well. Something's very off, Mamoru thought. She moved to head back into the bookstore to stop Takeyuki from coming outside, but Mamoru was frozen. Tree roots had shot up form the ground and grasped her feet and ankles, making it impossible for her to move. A scream welled up deep within Mamoru, but she knew better than to let it out. If Takeyuki came running and the roots shot up to get him and pierced him instead- No, she couldn't think of the worst-case scenario; she had to figure out a way to escape!

Yet, it was easier said than done. As Mamoru pulled on her leg to get it free, the roots tightened around it, cutting into her leg. She winced and grew even more frightened as the nerves in her legs numbed. Numbness wasn't a good sign; if her legs hurt so much that they couldn't feel anything anymore… Even as her vision blurred from the tears, Mamoru forced her eyes open to reveal a shocking sight: everything was back to normal!

Amazed, the taupe-haired girl straightened up and looked all around her. Fuji-san wasn't black anymore and neither was the soil or the trees. And that was another thing: the ground around Mamoru's feet was unharmed as if the trees roots had never shot up and grabbed her legs. She bent down and checked her legs. No marks… The only thing Mamoru felt in her legs was that needles-and-pins feelings.

"Did I miss something?"

Blushing, Mamoru realized that someone was standing over her…and that someone was Takeyuki. She quickly stood up again and mustered a smile. "Oh, no, no. You see, I was just, uh…just…checking to see if my boots were zipped up all the way! That's all!"

Takeyuki eyed her suspiciously for a minute, then softened his looked. "All right. I believe you. Come on," he said, throwing an arm around her shoulder, "let's go home."

"YEAH! YORUNO!!"

"GO, GO, GO!!!"

"YOU'RE THE BEST OUT THERE, YORUNO!!"

"YORUNO- YOU WANT TO BE MY GIRLFRIEND?!"

"NO, YORUNO! GO OUT WITH ME!!"

Harume glared sideways at the large group of male students that had assembled. If Miyabi was anyone's girlfriend, she was his. The bleach-blonde inhaled and-"HEY, YABI-CHAN! WHEN YOU WIN THE RACE, I'LL TAKE YOU OUT FOR SUSHI LATER, OKAY?!" Haru smiled to himself as Miyabi swam even faster. An air horn was sounded in mere seconds. Miyabi smiled at Harume and he smiled back, only to receive his glare back from the male student body. M-Maybe I should get out of here…

"I can't believe how hard you push yourself, Yoruno-san," Coach exclaimed.

Miyabi chuckled. "I'm almost done for today. Just a few more laps and then I'll head into the showers. You can go on ahead, Coach." The dark-haired mermaid shooed her coach away with her hands until Miyabi had the pool all to herself. She doggie-paddled to the middle of the pool and pleasantly sighed. No sounds, Miyabi thought, except for the splashing of the water.

As Miyabi was lost in her oneness with the water, several tides spiraled around her, slowly at first, but they gained speed with each passing second. The girl who doubled as Sailor Styx turned around just in time to see a huge wave rise above and then come crashing down over her head. Miyabi was completely under water!

The dark-haired girl struggled to reach the surface, but the water kept rising and crashing over her head. Miyabi had no idea what was going, on, let alone no idea as to whether or not she could survive.

Just then, a hand dove into the water and groped around until it could get a good grip on Miyabi's swimsuit straps. Up she went and Miyabi choked on the air as she gulped it between gasps. She looked over her shoulder to see Harume, a look of worry on his face, patting her back so she would spit up the rest of the water. "Are you okay?" Haru asked. "It's not like you to start drowning like that."

"It wasn't me!" Miyabi managed.

"What?!"

But before she could repeat herself, all of the water in the pool turned ebony. Several threads of liquid shot up and entwined themselves, transforming into a spear of water, which proceeded to harm Miyabi. She shoved Harume out of the way and moved back herself, but the water pierced her right hand, causing Miyabi to utter a shriek of pain. Satisfied that it had finally done some damage to the girl, the water finally died down and resumed its blue color.

Harume stumbled to his knees and cradled Miyabi's hand in his. "It went all the way through," he said sadly. "We need to get you to the nurse's office right away. Are you okay to walk?"

Miyabi's didn't answer. She looked straightforward as she held her hand in front of her eyes. Deep, rich, thick blood oozed from the hole in the middle of her right hand. The girl felt numbness crawl up her arm until she couldn't feel it at all anymore. Overall, she felt cold, but once Harume picked her up in his arms, warmth flooded over her, and she snuggled closer to his damp chest. Yet- would everything turn out all right like before? Or could this be a premonition of what lies ahead?

Kako gulped. "So, you each had a run-in with a black element?" she squeaked.

Hikaru shuddered, then humbly nodded. "It was horrifying. I just wonder why the heck we were attacked." Everyone in the group fell silent. They had taken this opportunity to talk because Genji had a lunch/recess detention, so it was just the girls and Harume.

Harume gently lifted Miyabi's hand and kissed it. "I only wish there was more I could do. For each of you." The rocker teen slumped a little as he clenched his fists. "But maybe I shouldn't have gotten involved because of how little I can do…" Again, no one said anything. What could they say to that? He had stated aloud what everyone in the group already knew to be true.

"So," Hikaru began, trying to lighten the mood a little, "just three days 'til my birthday. Everyone's coming, right?"

A groaned 'yes' swept over the others and the bell rang. They cleaned up their mess and headed for their respective homerooms, chittering about other subjects. When Kako reached her freshman classroom, she swung the door open and sat down at her desk. Everyone else settled down and took out their textbooks. Kako felt lost in the sea of words as someone began to read out loud. She dazedly gazed out the window; it's not like the teacher was going to reprimand her for daydreaming. All of the staff knew about her mother's death, so they let the small things slide most of the time. Of course, it didn't make it right and Kako tried to be good as hard as she could.

Sighing, she moved her eyes away from the window, but wait- what was that? Out of the corner of her eye, Kako identified something that resembled a black-winged, one­­-winged angel. Petrified, the shrimp rubbed both of her eyes and looked out for it, but it was gone. Unnerved now, Kako sighed and turned her eyes back to the blackboard, not noticing the skies turning the dark gray one sees after an explosion. Yet- just how long would it really take her to notice?

"Dear lord. Someone save us," Harume muttered as he, Miyabi, Mamoru, and Kako were greeted at the door by confetti and a grinning Hikaru.

"Come in, come in!" Hikaru urged, dragging the four inside her house and slamming the door closed behind her. "I'm so glad you all made it!" she said as they gathered in the living room.

"You'd kill us if we hadn't," Mamoru mumbled.

Hikaru sent her a nasty glare. "What was that?"

"Nothing, nothing…"

Upstairs, a loud noise could be heard, and the vibrations from someone's stumbling feet shook the entire house. A muffled 'Shit!', although intended to be whispered, reached everyone's ears, and Genji finally came running down the stairs a few seconds later, beet red. "Oh, uh, hey, guys… Didn't realize you were here already. Heh."

"What's the 'heh' for?" Kako asked. She furrowed her brow. "You knew we were coming, you dork."

Genji smiled, rustled her hair, and then bent down and kissed her forehead. "Yes, and I couldn't wait to see you."

"A-HEM," Harume coughed. "Isn't this supposed to be a birthday party?"

Hikaru and Genji half-heartedly smiled together. "Yep!" they said in unison.

"Then can we please celebrate?"

Satisfied, Harume patted his stomach. "That was a party."

"What are you talking about?" Miyabi whined. "All you did was devour the food!!"

"But it was so good… Besides, who're you to complain, Yabi-chan, who drank all of the soda?" At this, Miyabi blushed, too embarrassed to spout anything back at him. "Yeah, thought so."

Hikaru snickered. "I can't believe how Genji just conked out on the couch. It must be tiring to get all of those detentions, you know."

Kako frowned. "That idiot… Of course, I guess it's not that bad when you consider he's too smart for his own good."

They nodded in silent agreement. It was late at night and Hikaru was seeing each of her friends home after one heck of a birthday party. Genji was tucked in on the couch back at home, so it was just Hikaru and the others. Suddenly, a can was kicked out into the street behind them. They all turned around, scared. When nothing showed up, everyone in the group was unsure if they should be relieved or even more frightened than they already were.

Hikaru straightened up and took one step forward when a voice stated behind her: "I wouldn't go that way if I were you." The hazel-haired genius wheeled around on her heel and locked eyes with the mysterious stranger known as Artemis. The air around Hikaru suddenly felt icy, and her breath was visible as she muttered, "…Artemis!!"

Before the others could question Hikaru about the stranger and how she knew her, four figures shot up from the ground, cloaked in the blackness of night. For a moment, everyone was caught in a split-second time freeze. Just as quickly, the girls all pulled out their brooches and transformed, and Harume dealt a lethal round-house kick to one of the creatures, hurtling it into several trashcans nearby. "Hurry up and attack already…!" the bleach-blonde uttered.

"Styx Hatefulness Epithet!!" Sailor Styx screamed. Acidic crimson waters pierced the creature in front of her, but it had no effect!

Shocked, the senshi in the blood red sailor fuku looked all around her, and the stunned looked she wore was mirrored back to her on her friends' faces.

Crap…, Sailor Cocytus thought. Their attacks aren't working and I don't have any attacks!

Harume saw that the girls and the monsters were equally matched –but what could he do? Sure, he knew some martial arts, but if the senshi couldn't hurt them, why should expect to? Frustration gathered inside Haru as it turned into desperation. I want to do something, anything…but I can't!!

Yes, you can. Rather, I can.

Haru blinked. Who was this? He scanned the area; it was just him, the girls, and the creatures. No one else was around.

I'm inside you, Harume, the voice continued. I always have been.

Who-who are you? Harume asked it mentally.

That's not important right now. Do you wish to help?

But-

Do you wish to help? Answer me quickly, man! We haven't enough time.

Harume sighed. …Yes, he replied at last.

Good. I'll take it from here.

Just as Harume was going to interrogate the voice some more, he felt a heat developing in his chest. Meekly, he placed his hand over his heart. "It's…hot!!"

Of course it is. Release me and sleep for a while, Harume.

Styx turned around to see Haru faint. Startled by the sight, she rushed to him, but his eyes flew open to reveal blood red eyes that were not his at all. "H-Harume…?" she squeaked.

Harume was covered in darkness at once and Styx thought him missing for a minute, but when a long, blonde ponytail-ed figure emerged from nowhere with a scythe much like a harvester's, she knew it was not Harume at all. The character lifted the scythe above his head with on hand twirled it once. Then, when he at last grasped it, he smiled. "Ah, how goods it feels to be in control again," he said; this man's voice was really just a deeper version of Harume's.

"Who…are you?" Styx asked.

The man raised his scythe above his head again and slashed the creatures behind him and one in front of him. He turned to the last one and sighed. "There aren't any formidable foes anymore… How sad."

The last monster was right in front of the man with the scythe. It was trembling, but it had a right to. Who wouldn't be scared if someone had decimated their cohorts in the blink of an eye? It smiled, though, revealing yellowed fangs dripping with gooey saliva. It knew it was going to die –and it did. In one quick movement, it was decapitated, and blood spurted from where its head had been resting on its shoulders.

Everyone was quiet once again as a dim light left the monster and its body faded away. The light floated about in front of the man for a second, then it disappeared below ground.

Finally, Styx stepped forward and touched the man's arm. "H-Haru…?"

He turned to her. "Harume is asleep now."

"What…?" Styx blinked and changed back into Miyabi. "But…you're right in front of me. I see you and you're anything but asleep."

"I am not Harume."

"But, how can't you be?" Miyabi blinked back tears. "Don't you remember me? It's your Miyabi. Yabi-chan."

The male held his gaze still as he locked eyes with her, and Miyabi could see there was hurt in them, but she didn't know why. "I don't know a Miyabi." Coldly, he turned away from her and walked into the shadows away from the others, but she followed, leaving the others behind, as well.

This bites, the man thought. To be in control of this body at last and already… He was torn from his thoughts as the girl who named herself Miyabi shoved him against the brick wall and crushed her mouth over his, wiggling her tongue into his mouth and kissing him hard. After a minute, she pulled back and he caught his breath.

"Are you saying you don't even remember that?" she murmured.

His red eyes went wide as she so resembled… …her, he thought, but he pushed his feelings and memories aside. "I am not Harume. My name is Charon and I am simply here to fix this catastrophe, or, instead, help carry it out, really."

"'Charon'…?" Miyabi's eyes glazed over as Charon stood up straight. A long, blonde ponytail…silver pants and a black, long-sleeved tunic surrounded by a gray belt…a towering scythe…and a skull on the back of his tunic. It was topped by piercing red eyes, and Miyabi believed that he was Charon.